Chapter Thirty: Inescapable, Disaster. (1/2)

Heightened breathing, orifices leaking red fluid that sparkled lightly before fizzing out.

Numb.

“-lmost there-” Her Shadow’s voice was in the distance.

How many times has she had to go through this-

And for what?

Hands shaking, she could feel herself breaking down but couldn’t stop herself from giving more.

The once amalgamation of seemingly random materials had come together. Glazed over in a mixture of white, grey and streaks of purple and white.

The bones had turned to spiked, embedded within the guard.

Her eyes teared away from the sight to see herself on the other hand, in the same state.

A person, not herself.

Feeling the headache come back at full force Waynev felt her hands give out.

Falling to the ground below-

No, to the void below-

Did the void have any end?

Slowly moving her head up she saw Shadow looking back.

Her body wounded but amber eyes unflinching, all she saw was a nod before the world gained color again.

Breathing in deeply, her eyes flashed open with the finished product in front of her.

Regrown Bone Knucks

DUR (Durability)

9.8/10

ATT (Attack)

24.00

Ability:

Teleporting strike.

Emotive discerning.

PRO (Protection)

1.00

UPG (Upgradable)

Bone vambrace, ***** and ***.

The knucks were beautiful, enchanting and-

“They stand out now. Oh well, we’ll find out the new abilities in action, let’s move before the demons get close enough.” Shadow’s voice snapped off the introspection.

Grabbing the now gauntlet like knuckle where weight was expected, instead it felt like a part of her.

Equipping it felt like she was holding nothing, but from Shadow’s emotions she could tell it was more powerful than it seemed.

Picking up her pack, expecting pain from moving there was nothing felt.

Did the gauntlet heal her, or did her stats improve?

“Shadow, when was the last time you checked our stats?” As Waynev asked she looked around at her surroundings, something was missing.

Opening the menu on her own, Waynev’s eyes met blue.

Current Status: ([Hollowed] Rank 2)

Agility:

5.25→(+1.3)10.33AH

Strength:

4.99 → (+1.3)10.08AH

Vitality:

4.99 → (+1.3)10.2.20AH

Wisdom:

2.99 → (+1.3)6.20AH

Mana:

(Locked)

“W-what?” Her voice sounding like a whisper.

The stats were buffed?

“We… You have done a lot lately but it seems the artefact pushed us to Hollowed Rank 2, still I didn’t expect us to reach it the same week we got to the first rank.” Her voice matched Waynev’s in disbelief.

Looking back at the gauntlet, she could feel her innate power grow.

“We should be able to use our innate power twice a day now, which means two uses today for me and two for you.” Shadow began working through a plan.

“Well, just once. I used it once today trying to get the bone root.” Waynev’s voice turned sheepish, underestimating nature was stupid.

“Hmm, that should be fine. We only need to use it to protect ourselves and Blake-” Noticing the discrepancy, Waynev looked around but couldn’t find anyone.

“Did she leave? Or was she tak-” As the words left her mouth another blue screen appeared.

Quest:

Congratulations!

Who knew that following the quest would make you stronger? Try to survive the demons!

Find or create a Magic Catalyst.

Find an object that can be used as a Catalyst. OR Create an object that can be used as a Catalyst. Merge with the Catalyst.

Consequence:

You lose your innate ability.

Time Limit:

Three days, 3 hours, 12 minutes remaining.

Closing the window immediately, Waynev was met with another screen she didn’t even wait to fully open before closing it as well.

Quest:

Survive the Demon Invasion!

Stop the main demon summoni-

“I’m looking for red blips, keep turning your head around. If anyone or anything took her we’ll find out.”

Moving into gear, trees, bushes and even tree tops were looked through.

Faster and faster until the full 360 had been checked.

“I’m seeing lots of red outlines in the distance, but they aren’t moving. Just standing still with their arms out. Wayne, to your right.”

Instantly she went off at a jog then to a sprint when dodging plants and roots turned out to be easier than she thought.

Travelling through the forest it was barely a minute before Shadow stopped her.

“Wait someone’s coming, it could be Blake but if it isn’t…” Understanding Shadow, Wayne hid behind the bush and waited.

Slowly the figure crept closer, almost falling over a hidden root and covered in bruises-

Popping out of the bush the figure jumped back and nearly fell before Waynev caught her.

“Blake, what happened?” Looking over her body, Waynev could easily tell her injuries were from nature and flora rather than demons and claws.

“T-t-he- haa-” Huffing and puffing she stood her upright and waited.

“Out of breath, and out of her depth. Was she looking for death?”

‘The same could be said of us, Shadow.’ Waynev whispered as Blake recovered.

“Slaves-and-cultists, their trying to sacrifice them to summon one of the bigger demons-we. Waynev you have to do something or Aestern will be-” Her torso fell as her arms grabbed onto her thighs, still huffing and puffing.

Waynev began to consid-

“No. We save Blake, find our group then leave. Aestern is not ready and neither are we.” Hearing the voice of reason, Waynev couldn’t help but agree.

“Blake we can’t just,” Seeing the smaller girl under her, she knew she could compromise.

‘Shadow, what if we just freed a few slaves, enough to stop the mass summoning then left? If we do it quickly enough all I would need to do is teleport out while you watch for any cultists.’

“…”

While she waited for Shadow’s response, Waynev looked back to Blake.

“Show me where they are, I’ll see if I can do anything.” Giving a small smile, Blake began retracing her steps.

Following the path turned out to be easy for Blake, she had lived near the forest for years and with each annual clearing of demons the nearby forests were also cleared.

But the red that constantly followed them along with the lack of colour and greyed out surroundings kept Waynev aware on her toes that something was off and could spell the end in a moment of distraction.

Getting closer to the site, Shadow’s voice came to Waynev.

“If.”

“And only if.”

“The threats are below the Forlorn rank, otherwise we’re not taking the chance.”

Nodding slightly, so only Shadow could notice the action Waynev continued following Blake.

A few times Shadow warned Waynev to tell Blake to hide in the bushes as the red outlines came closer, after a few more minutes however they reached the slave camp.