Chapter Twenty: Power, vigorous but a mark.

Her eyes were burning with tears as she suddenly pushed off the ground, her limbs were aching, but there was no tears or blood to be seen.

Quickly swinging her head around, she could neither see nor hear any indicators of the avalanche of ants that had nearly ended their journey.

"We. Did. It." A whisper became an elevation of emotions.

As Waynev realised the implication-

"Statu-"

Before she could finish the magic words, a screen flashed before her eyes.

Congratulations Waynev on surviving until the Hollowed Rank.

Your gift has been upgraded to include weapon and armor stats.

DUR = Durability, how long the item can last.

ATT = Attack, how much damage on average the item can inflict.

PRO = Protection, how much the item protects the user from damage.

UPG = ???, an item with ??? included.

Good luck.

Jaw slack she could hardly believe the words illustrating the hologram.

"How did he-" Shadow words never finished as Waynev's previous enquiry suddenly expressed itself.

Current Status: (Hollowed Rank 1)

Agility:

4.99 → 5.25AH

Strength:

4.99 → 5.30AH

Vitality:

4.99 → 5.20AH

Wisdom:

2.99 → 3.10AH

Mana:

(Locked)

"We-" Her words caught in a blend of excitement and-

'-DID IT!" The first real smile flowered on her face since coming to Temporous.

"We did… somehow. We actually did it." While Waynev was celebrating and laughing, waving her hands in the air as the translucent screen bobbed around her, Shadow was convinced they were dreaming.

"How did we? We have to u-" Shadow was trying to piece together what the previous message claimed, their next move, thei-

Getting overwhelmed by the choices and Waynevs emotions, she decided to ride them out for once.

"We almost died-My god I couldn't find you anywhere until your eyes shone at me-" Shadow bubbled out ecstatic, revisiting their near-death.

"I thought we did die! I can't believe we were thinking the same thing too-" Her eyes flashed back to Shadow diving off the queen's head, a sudden idea in her mind.

"Wait Shadow… I think I know where the queen is." A bigger smile formed on her face as she turned toward the massive tree, the roots blocked the corpse, but as she made her way closer, she saw it.

"Oh. This. This is perfect." Looking at the small colony of ants which were scattered around, looking to be searching for something.

"How the turns have tabled." Shadow's reference went over Waynev's per usual, but it didn't matter.

With a raise of her leather shoe, she stomped on the small colony, especially the queen ant.

After a few minutes of making sure they were all dead Waynev and Shadow began checking their armour and equipment.

Leather Corset

DUR (Durability)

5.3/10

ATT (Attack)

0.00

PRO (Protection)

5

UPG (Upgradable)

(Locked)

Her chest-piece was… alright?

"We don't have any references to these numbers… I'll need to take some data when we're outdoors." Shadow cut in, already beginning to check her pants which were still in rags… how did she even get accepted into the group.

"How did you get accepted into the PKayWaV group? Hmm, maybe just PK group-Hold on, Waynev check the pants so we can check out the pack and the bone knuckles." Shadow's thoughts mirrored her own, not the first nor the last time Waynev idly thought as she brought up the status menu again.

Threadbare pants

DUR (Durability)

1.2/5

ATT (Attack)

0.00

PRO (Protection)

0.5

UPG (Upgradable)

(Locked)

"Jesus, how haven't they fallen off yet?" Feeling a lot less confident in her outfit, she began noticing the long strips of cloth missing in her pants, a fashion statement in her own world but in this one?

"Shit, we need to buy new ones. Maybe ask Kresley to show us around…" Waynev still wanted to experience what a regular outing with friends was like, going with Elise was fun but felt a bit sad since she was the only one she went out with.

Taking a look at her pack, it's quality was better than the others and…

Durable old pack

DUR (Durability)

8.9/10

ATT (Attack)

0.00

PRO (Protection)

1

UPG (Upgradable)

(Locked)

When even her pack protected her more than her pants did, Shadow was right about them not falling off.

"The upgrade slot," Waynev started peering at the locked symbol "do you think it's like the mana slot in our status? We have to reach Forlorn before we can even touch on upgrading our gear?" Waynev's questions, however, went unanswered but before she could repeat them, Shadow's voice whispered, almost scared of who could hear her.

"Wayne. Check the knuckles."

Bone Knuckles

DUR (Durability)

9/10

ATT (Attack)

8.00

PRO (Protection)

0.00

UPG (Upgradable)

Royal Slime, Self-Hardened Bone-root, Hollowed Imp ribcage.

"I always felt there was something more to the knuckles but this?" Her eyes retraced over the materials, the words were unfamiliar to her, but it was a start.

"The materials… I have heard of demon sacrifices near the guard buildings, hmm. Maybe holding the knuckles while we advanced gave it unique properties? Or made it unique… Hmm." Shadow's silence didn't stretch longer than a short moment, her voice changing tone from curious to serious in a flash.

"Wayne. Now that we're Hollowed we need to focus on three things." At their first rank, things had to change; she needed to speed up now that she was familiar with the basics of the world.

"Upgrading our weapons, upgrading ourselves and beginning to search for signs of the inevitable, hopefully on the way we become strong enough to fight them but I doubt we should leave it up to chance."

"Instead let's pursue it" Shadow's words overlapped in approval with Waynev's, in sync again they were ready to meet the PK group.

Beginning the walk back, the walk became a jog and then a sprint once Shadow reminded her that the air around her was starting to affect her.

Sprinting to the corridor, she found it deserted, a note in the campfire's remains.

Fearing the worst she grabbed at the note, turning it over to find-

In large letters:

"WAYNEV. KRESLEY, VAUD AND I WENT BACK TO THE ADVENTURER'S INN TO HAND IN THE MATERIALS BEFORE THEY SPOILED. IF YOU FIND THIS NOTE PLEASE MEET US THERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. PILL"

"Huh. We must've taken longer than I thought."

Nodding her head, "Mmm I swear it's only been a few hours… though I guess they didn't want to waste the day lazing in the dungeon." Waynev rolled her shoulders, the stress of her newfound friends not being kidnapped or killed rolled off with them.

Beginning to walk back, the voice of reason came back.

"Also, we may have gotten a bit distracted, but, can you use your innate ability yet?" Shadow's words felt like a shot through left field.

Instead of dumbly saying 'No, I forgot after seeing our cool upgradable weapon.' she closed her eyes and felt within herself calling for an answer to her call.

At first, nothing happened her ability felt innately disabling so far. Did it's pairing with Apt control weaken it? Calling for the power again, eyes still closed nothing happened.

"Hmm. So no deal then? We can only use them once a day, but I guess that's too much for you, huh?" Shadow's cockiness was in the open, and her feeble taunting was influential on the exhausted being.

Waynev, still calling for her power, ripped her eyes open to scream at Shadow to shut up but then the world around her burst forward, the wall meters away from her suddenly directly in front of her eyes.

So surprised was she that despite having the reflexes and dexterity to stop herself from slamming into the stationary object she continued falling into it for an agonising second, thankfully headbutting it instead of nose-butting it.

"Oww." Her head ached, but she couldn't help but smile and giggle at the development.

"Wayne! Nice! You have a pOWWer!" Giggles and laughter rained down, but even Shadow's teasing and the dull ache on her forehead couldn't stop her smiles.

Though the terrible joke nearly did.

Inside a heart- Ahem.

Inside a shield-shaped building, roughly an hour or two later.

Stepping through the doors she accidentally slammed open, eyes were drawn from all over, but she continued undeterred.

At least on the outside, much like high-school pretending you didn't notice people's stares made them not care as much so as usual Waynev strode through in her rickety outfit, looking to get pai-

-reunited with her dear friends.

"If we don't change these pants within a day some of these patrons," Waynev passed by a drunk and decrepit looking man as Shadow continued.

"Will think we're on the menu." An involuntary shiver followed the dark humour, Waynev's eyes scanning the room until she unexpectedly found Kresley chugging down a beer.

What was expected was where she was, in the corner of the room with what looked like Vaud's bag on one of the seats.

Passing by to the bar side of the guild, Waynev expertly dodged the many tables, chairs being shoved back, random toasts and waitresses who all had a bright pink crystal acting as a contract on their wrists.

"It's a good thing the first time we came here, and it was midday. Else I doubt the receptionist would've even let us ask about registering a contract." Shadow shouted, the noise of the inn being so great that whispering or even talking within Waynev's head wouldn't have been heard.

Finally making her way past the inn-goers, Kresley's table was well-used.

Stains decorated the surface, and some were thankfully blocked with Kresley putting down her tankard.

"Waynev!" Even Kresley's voice had to be raised above her familiar whisper, the corner of the bar not helping dull the other occupants at all.

"Kresley, he-"

Pooh

The air burst out of her as the brown-haired young woman slammed into her stomach arms wrapped around her.

Peeking up at Waynev, her face was between her chest before backing away flushed.

"Oh. She's too cute." Shadow's tone was unusual, slow-paced, and she seemed to stare at Kresley through her.

"Sorry. I, uhm, was worried," Kresley measled out barely audible, only Waynev's improved senses let her words be witnessed.

"You were there for hours, an-and Vaud wouldn't let us go in. Even Pill hesitated when leaving.." Kresley mumbled her head was facing the stairs on the other corner, scanning for someone but no one came.

"Wayne, she's pure, she's cute, she's a cinnamon bun. Don't let her down." The threat was pointless.

Not because Waynev would let Kresley down but because it would be the last thing she would do to a distressed teen.

"Kresley, please don't feel bad. I chose to stay, and besides," Waynev trusted Kresley to guide her on what to do.

"I ranked up. I'm now Hollowed."

What followed was a mix of upheaval, hugging, congratulating and drinking.

Though Waynev's mouth didn't touch a mug at Shadow's request, they still celebrated with a small meal and Waynev received her pay when Vaud came back half-way through the celebration, what followed was more of the same and a new emotion. Surprise, genuine by the looks of Vaud's tail.

"-shame Pill slept early but alas, enjoy the honest pay, Wayne." A dozen silvers dropped into her purse, enough to buy paper and to spend the night.

"It's a good thing the Warlock left when she did, the Ghoulbounds materials sold for the most. So Kres and I agreed to give you the king's ransom." Vaud's graciousness surprised the young woman-

"No, I can't, it's too much." Waynev tried to bring up her coin purse but was stopped by two voices.

"Waynev. Shut up and accept it please." Kresley and Shadow's voices stopping Waynev in her tracks, looking at the coin purse her eyes trailed over her threadbare pants, and she understood another reason why they wanted her to have the majority of the pay.

After a few jokes and finishing her meal, Waynev was about to retire, her mind leaving her as she bid goodbye and began padding towards the exit before hearing running behind her.

"Wayne! Wait!" Kresley shouted, now in the receptionist area where it was surprisingly quiet, Shadow had guessed magic as to why Kresley blushed at the glaring patrons and apologised before mousying the rest of the way to Waynev.

"Sorry for shouting, uhm did you upgrade your badge?" Kresley mumbled, looking down at her feet.

"No? Do I need to?"

"Yes, it's required and I, I want to ask you something," Kresley's voice lowered even more, barely audible despite the relative quiet of the reception area.

"Are.. are you going to leave our party now?" Her eyes shifted to the side, avoiding Waynev's gaze altogether.

"Pretty, with pity, ultimately on the cutie committee," Shadow whispered, looking at the sheen of sweat painting her body and red cheeks.

"What? No, why would I." Waynev's words initially confused began taking on an angered tone, did she misread Kresley? Was she trying to kick her out?

Hearing a puff from Shadow at her reaction's didn't help either.

"Because… we're all unranked. We're weaker, and you could find much better teams than ours now that you're Hollowed." Kresley looked hopeful at Waynev's denial, looking closer she was also shifting left and right slightly, the definition of tipsy.

"Don't worry Kresley I won't leave the team. Now, why don't you go to Vaud and let him know you need to sleep. It's late, and it's been a big day already." Waynev unconsciously began treating her like Elise, Shadow noticed but simply ignored it, she knew when to give Waynev a break.

Walking towards the reception, she asked the guy going through a thick book about her' ascension to the Hollowed' as Shadow called it.

Pulling out another book, he asked for her badge and her hand.

"Put your hand on the orb." His monologue voice told the story of another bored receptionist having to say the same thing thousands of times.

"If you are Hollowed then you should glow in your affinity," The orb was colourless, black.

"But if you aren't your body will reject the mana, and you could faint, get injured or in some cases die." But inside she could feel something calling to her.

"The guild will of course not have responsibility if such happens." The more she heard, the more she was reminded by the contract she signed, did the staff also have to sign one for their jobs?

"Are you sure you want to proceed?" What were the limits? How far could she go-

Shadow mentally bumped Waynev into gear. Noticing she was staring at the bored and now uncomfortable receptionist, she quickly put her hand on the orb.

The moment the tips of her fingers touched the opaque orb, a shock went through her body, similar to putting a battery on her tongue. It shocked and hurt but she was in no real danger, however unlike the battery the feeling continued with her hand gripping the glass-like orb fiercely.

Her eyes burned with a violet tint, her skin her body ached for it to be released-

Then the shock slowly began receding, by the time her vision was back to normal, she could release the orb from her palm.

Sweat had formed, and a few drops had touched the surface of the artefact before evaporating.

The receptionist, on the other hand, seemed unfazed by the experience and was already hammering away.

From the looks of things, he began by adding a piece of metal atop of her badge, the holes between the shield quickly holding the grey mystery metal.

"Every time I think I've finally got used to things," Waynev murmured, eyes finally gaining back the black dots that corrupted her vision.

"The orb artefact. I can't scan it." Shadow interrupted her thoughts.

"It's visible yet not identifiable. Almost invisible to this critical ability. Perhaps the meaning lies in its material?" Shadow mused, thoughts clearly still ruminating about the elusive orb.

Looking down at the book off to the receptionist's side, she saw a unique plant that seemed to be made stone.

"What book were you reading?" Waynev asked, seeing the perfect illustration despite the terrible paper it was drawn on.

"It's just the guilds material book." The disinterested receptionist remarked, still hammering away.

"Hold on, material book? Wayne. Buy it." Shadow asked seriously.

"How much does it cost?" Waynev put on a poker face, feigning disinterest.

The clerk however answered without missing a beat.

"12 gold pieces."

Crack

With a single word, her poker face was in shambles, her mouth nearly falling to the ground in surprise.

"How the hell is anyone supposed to afford it?" With a mighty clang he finished with the badge the receptionist handed it to her while he finished writing something in one of the books.

"You don't. It takes months to transcribe and isn't worth it." About to turn around and leave with a huff and her spoils, she was stopped as the receptionist continued talking.

"But you can rent it for one silver an hour, as long as you read it in this lobby." Eyes locking her's, his mouth barely lifted at the corners, but it was enough.

From the smirk on his face, his thoughts were clear about how funny it was teasing Waynev.

She didn't agree, of course.