I am so sick of being afraid.
More than this crushing weight on my chest when I think about my family. More than the pang of guilt when I smile or laugh or think about Hecate and Morrigan. I don’t want to be afraid anymore. I don’t want to be scared that the big bad wolf is gonna gobble me up. I can feel something under the fear now. Looking at this giant snake, a dozen levels higher than me I feel something new. Anger.
How dare you world. How dare you take my mommy and daddy and Benji and leave me here to fend for myself? How dare you let me find Hecate and Morrigan and then just stop me from seeing them? What is wrong with you? I am sick of you taking and taking and then you put this thing here? I almost die to a stupid ground hog and that’s not enough? No, here’s a giant snake that could fit your whole body in its mouth and you almost died to a rock. I hate this world so much. I hate it. I hate it, I HATE IT!
“ENOUGH,” I yell at no one in particular.
The snake raises its head, tongue flicking out to taste the air. I’m safe up in the air, I’m sure it isn’t the only thing I startled, but it’s the only thing I’m even a little bit worried about. It looks at me and then that giant head turns and goes back into the cave out of my sight. That’s right you better run, I’m not afraid of you. I’m coming. Not today or tomorrow, but as soon as I’m strong enough. I’m gonna come show you what it’s like to be afraid.
I make my way to the treehouse at this perimeter, forgetting all about the mushrooms for now. All I have on my mind is brand new snake boots. Maybe some gloves. What was it I read the other day? Oh yeah, I’m gonna take my pound of flesh. Out of the snake. Out of the System. Out of the world. I wipe my face. No more tears Marie. Don’t let it make you cry any more. Make it cry.
It’s too late today, I’m still injured. No reason to spiral and make dumb mistakes. Fine, I can prepare. Sitting in the tree house I start researching early warning powers, senses, magic. I keep coming back to the same thing, sensing electromagnetic fields. Spiders, bees, sharks, and platypuses are only the start. Some birds and turtles use this sense to migrate. I know I can do better. Electromagnetic fields, changes in air and mana, even changes in microscopic particles. My original idea was a bubble of mana around me, with a semi-permeable (thank you guides to making glue for that word) shield. That costs too much mana. I may have found an answer in trichobothria. Tiny hairs on spiders that detect everything from air pressure to microscopic particles. I’m starting to really understand that if I can imagine it I can probably figure out a way to do it with mana. I can use the tiny hairs on my face, hands and feet. These are actually fairly new, but my homework assures me it’s normal for kids my age. I don’t need my whole body like a spider or bee, I can already sense mana this will just be an extension of that.
I don’t think it’s late enough to go to bed yet so I spend my time with the treehouse door open trying to detect wind movement, changes in temperature and mana fluctuations. It’s nearly impossible. Not because the task is too hard but because I keep finding my face turning into a scowl. Everything just goes round and round in my head and the more it does the angrier I get. I finally give up and try to watch some tv but I can’t focus on the show, instead constantly wanting an answer to how I’m going to destroy that snake.
When it’s finally late enough to go to bed I toss and turn for who knows how long. My brain won’t shut up and let me sleep. I do sleep eventually but not well. It’s one of those nights where you know you slept because of quick hot flashes of dreams but they feel like they happened in moments just a trick your brain is playing on you.
The dreams themselves are frustrating things. Someone is beating on frosted glass trying to tell me something while I scream back that I can’t understand them. Memories that never happened of my mother talking to me from the kitchen while I’m in my room and I can’t open the door or really understand what she’s saying. It seems to be the theme of the night. I get it System, I learn all this stuff but I don’t truly understand any of it. I remember the psychology homework that I’ve stopped working on because of how it makes me feel. Dream interpretation is sometimes viewed as a way to determine what issues you’re not consciously aware of. And sometimes it’s viewed as your brain letting off steam, not having any real meaning at all. If it’s the first one, how am I ever supposed to figure it out?
I get up after getting tired of turning the blanket into a mess of wrinkles and semiknots. I can tell I’ve slept and that it wasn’t a lot. Today was going to be a headache. I wasn’t hungry, even for leftover cake so I head outside. I think about trying to continue my electromagnetic sense training but I know I don’t have it in me to concentrate right now. Instead I head out to get the mushroom and look for something to take my frustrations out on.
I’m staying away from the snake cave for now, even though all I want to do is destroy it. I don’t know why I hate it so much, really. It's not its fault that it's strong and I’m not. I think the “poor” in its species is really bothering me. It’s huge and still the worst of its class. I try really hard not to think about it but its like an itch inside my skull. I can’t get at the itch or do anything about it and trying not to think about something is almost impossible. Finding enough mushrooms to last me for a month isn’t even enough to make me feel better. I use identify to make sure I have the right thing. I don’t take all of them, I want more to grow. I know that mushrooms are kind of like plants and most of it should be underground but I haven’t studied them enough to be sure that taking all the tops won’t kill it.
By this point I’m hungry and fry some of them up in my pot with some rabbit tallow. It’s the best thing I’ve eaten in a long time. Not that I have an issue with meat, I love meat. Or it’s the familiarity principle and I’ve convinced myself I love it because it’s all I have. Stopping my study of psychology is starting to feel more and more like the right call. Unless I’m avoiding it because it makes me uncomfortable. Ugh. Shut up brain. I need to go hit something. Preferably with magic. I wrap up most of what I cooked, despite it being delicious my stomach rebels against me after a couple of caps. I know I need to eat more but I need to do something. Anything but sit around and think about it.
Unlike my long walk here I start carefully surveying, mostly back the way I came from. I don’t want to accidentally get into a fight with that snake. I walk a good half a mile before I seriously start inspecting the area. On the way I mostly paid attention to the forest floor but now I’m looking in the trees and sky as well. There’s definitely more animals about, I can’t go ten minutes without seeing something. I even see a couple of fights, which I stay out of sense there’s nothing in it for me. A pack of rabbits surround a huge grasshopper. I watch it jump and start fluttering its wings only for one of the rabbits to jump on top of it and gnaw one of them off. They both tumble to the ground and that’s it for the grasshopper. It’s almost weird how often I run into rabbits, but I guess they have big families.
It’s two hours before I finally find something worth going after. Much to my surprise it’s another ground hog. This one is definitely different from the last one though, it’s actually even bigger. Unlike the last one though this one just looks fat. It’s almost cute in a goofy sort of way. It’s got a bucked tooth grin and is so fat there’s a roll over its nose. Despite that, its head is tiny compared to its body. The cutest part though is that it's sitting up like people and it looks like one of those sumo wrestlers. I think old Marie would have left it alone. Probably. I know I can’t throw away experience. Or food. Now the question is how do I fight it? I inspect it while I think of a plan.
Level 20 Crushing Groundhog
This thing just leveled up too. I wonder if I’ll start seeing similar animals hit the upgrade at the same time? It kind of makes sense. They have the same advantages. I should probably start looking for wolves quickly before they out level me. Actually I need to make sure that I find and remove as many predators as I can. Both for experience and my own safety.
It shouldn't be throwing rocks at me I don’t think. That’s a plus. I had a lot of time to think about my mistakes yesterday. I’m trying to take Morrigan’s advice but also do what I think is right. Trapping it would be good but I need to get out of that mindset except in cases where I need every advantage. I want to be a ranged attacker, which means I need to keep it far from me. I should try to stop its movement instead of relying on mine to get away. My movement should be for getting into a better position. No more multiple blasters for now, it takes too much mana and I don’t understand tactics well enough to use them correctly.
I have an idea. Three shields use too much mana but I could make a corner with two. Set the diagonal to the ground hog and…No. I’m overthinking this. I have the element of surprise, Use that and react smartly.
I turn my gravity off. Hmmm. Getting a shell ready I cast Burden of Atlas on the groundhog as soon as the blaster fires. The ground hog rolls forward and face plants as the shell hits its back and bounces off. Luckily it still hit hard enough to burst. The ground hog wildly rolls around on the ground. After the shock wears off it starts running in circles much faster than I expected, chirping angrily. It doesn’t know where I am. I release the gravity spell as it nears a tree and the stupid thing runs right into it. I fire another shell at its head and get it right behind the ears. It’s furious but its cries of pain actually make me feel kind of bad.
NO. You can’t afford that Marie. I fire another two shots while it’s still locked up. This thing seems to be able to take a lot more damage than the last one. This time it manages to figure out where I’m shooting it from and it looks right at me. It takes off again. The big old chonker jumps and I wonder what it’s doing since it barely gets off the ground. It splays its legs wide doing a belly flop on the ground. Then it bounces. It makes it halfway to me before falling again and repeating the move. It bounces again.
Against an unsuspecting target this might work. Or maybe a dumb animal that would dive at it. I bet this thing is super strong and can crush most things its level. For once the System has decided to be nice to me. I take four steps to the left and it missed me entirely. To my surprise though it manages to angle its landing to bounce at me again. I move again. For the first time in a fight I don’t feel the least bit scared. Annoyed, absolutely. Unlike my last groundhog, this one doesn’t seem to take much damage from my blasters. All that fat must be something electricity can’t move through very well. It has some singed fur for sure but its nothing like the horrible site of the last one after I hit it.
That’s fine, what else can I use? I’m betting this thing isn’t great against stabbing. Blunt force probably doesn’t affect it at all, and slashing has to get through all that fat. Maybe I should have made a pit fall trap after all. Maybe I still could. I start trying to move in a circle, only moving after it’s left the ground so it can’t figure out where I’ll be. If it’s even smart enough to do that. Watching where it lands I shoot some fireworks at the ground, spreading my mana. Then I watch it. I trick it into bouncing almost straight up by moving as it falls and quickly jump out of the way. I manage to get four mana spikes up below it before it starts falling. Then for good measure I cast Burden of Atlas.
The groundhog is skewered, but still alive. Its wriggling, trying to get off my mana spikes but I made them more into teeth than poles and it can’t get a grip to get off. It’s upsetting to see and somehow that just makes me angrier. Why couldn’t you just die? I wait for my mana to fully regenerate before I walk down to it. I’m not dumb, I have a mana sword and shield ready. I lengthen the mana sword enough where there’s no way the thing can stretch and reach me and attempt to cut its head off. The first swing cuts maybe a quarter through its neck, showering the ground and my quickly raised shield with blood. I yell as I swing the next one and poor pure gravity magic under it furious that I have to do this. A loud thud hits the ground and dismiss the sword before I accidentally cut myself with the wild swing. My vision turns white for a second and I’m breathing hard.
*Ding*
Level 20 Crushing Groundhog defeated
Experience rewarded
Still no level? Do I have to kill every groundhog in the woods? Maybe next I can find a water one. With my luck the next one will actually be electric and my attacks will hurt me instead of it. Or something else equally as stupid. I want to go hunt something else. Anything to get this, whatever this is, this feeling out of me. I breathe for a minute and let the blood run down from the ground hog. Creating a hanging hook I hang it to bleed dry while dismissing the spikes. Headless it takes less than ten minutes before I can skin it and start butchering the meat. I bury the head so I stop feeling like it’s looking at me. There’s so much I can’t possibly take it all with me so I take enough to last me for a few weeks. When I’m done I only have a couple of brown wax papers and about 4 feet of twine left. I want to keep some for Morrigan’s list just in case.
By this point I’m hungrier than I’ve been since when I first ran out of the food Hecate gave me. I go back to the treehouse to eat. Finally hunger outweighs this awful feeling. Again I try to watch something while I eat and can’t focus. This can’t continue. I have to figure out how to calm down, but I honestly don’t know how. I manage to focus on some more research into how animals detect movement and prey. A lot of it is useless to me like heightened smell or hearing. The last thing I want is to be so tuned in that my brain never stops freaking out about everything around me. I need something controlled, something… A few minutes later I find the word I need, copascetic. Something in my head rebels against that word. I’m not copascetic at all right now.
Fine. I need something that only bothers me when it’s important. I just showed that stupid groundhog how good I can be. I must be doing something right. I am doing something right. Right? Shut up Marie, it’s time to find your next target. I’m going to level up today. Period.
I almost smile in relief at my next target. There’s nothing cute about wasps. Those things really deserve to die. Not that the groundhogs should have been left to keep getting stronger. It’s smaller than most of what I’ve been fighting, which means I need to be more accurate. It’s maybe as long as one of my legs but bigger around. I really need to figure out a way to measure things. It can fly so staying out of range isn’t really possible. The worst part is that it’s fast. I already saw it take down what I’m pretty sure was an evolved chipmunk. I say pretty sure because it died before I could identify it and Identify hasn’t generally worked for dead things. Works fine on the wasp though.
Level 21 Wespendoder Wasp
What? No fire wasp or something? I guess this is probably a better class of wasp so I better hit it hard. I walked in on the fight near the end. The Chipmunk already had several holes in its stomach and was holding on to the limb it sat on as tightly as possible. Despite the fur I can see the area around the holes is purple and swollen. The Wasp hovered over it just out of reach. Then CRACK SQUISH, the wasp's tail was through the head of the chipmunk and it just fell to the ground. The only real information I got was how fast the wasp was and that its venom was doing something awful to the chipmunk.
If I’m going to fight this thing I need to contain it. Stop its ability to fly. My first thought goes to the water wolf trap but getting that close to it would be stupid. I’m not sure I can dodge that stinger. I wish there was a way to test blocking it. Oh, I have a stupid idea. A really, truly dumb idea. Unfortunately it’s the best one I’ve thought of. I walk down to the ground keeping an eye on the wasp, its still kind of hovering around the limb, as though it’s waiting on the enemy to come back. Dropping my bag at the base of a tree I shoot some firecrackers over the chipmunks body and the wasp starts going down towards it.
I have mana all around the dead chipmunk at this point. The wasp reached the body and SQUISH right through the same hole in the brain. Now! I push three shields out of the mana making a kind of fallen over triangle using the chipmunk’s body as one side. There are holes in the construct but nothing the wasp can squeeze through. The best part is it can’t pull that stinger out. It’s thrashing wildly but it can’t fly and its back is leaning against one of the shields. It doesn’t have enough movement to really do anything to the shield. Now for my problem. Three shields is using more mana than I can regenerate and I have less than half my mana remaining. I summon Voltaic Railblaster and fire a shot from my hand into one of the holes. To my surprise one is plenty.
*DING*
Level 21 Wespendoder Wasp defeated
Experience rewarded
Well that was easy. Maybe little always means less health? Nah there’s no way it’s that simple. I drop the shields and let my mana start refilling. Wait a minute is the chipmunk moving? The whole thing is twitching and shaking. How is it still moving after being stabbed in the head twice and dropped out of a tree? I get when little animals fall out they take less damage because they don’t weigh a lot but this thing is the size of a bulldog.
It stops shaking and starts to stand up. Nope, nope, nope, nope, absolutely not. My mana is still recovering but I have enough to at least fire off a shot. I aim for the open wound on the head. Unfortunately my shell is too big for the hole so it just hits and explodes. Right back to a horror movie just like the first groundhog. In fact this thing is now on fire. I shoot again, knowing it’ll be several seconds before I’m full enough for a third. It’s still standing but it’s confused or something. I’ve definitely blinded it and it’s stumbling around. It’s almost pitiful. What is this thing?
Level 24 Wespendoder Chipmunk
I know I tried to inspect this earlier. How does it have the same class as the wasp? Did the Wasp somehow make a zombie? My breath catches and I can feel my face heat up. Dammit and shit aren’t good enough for this. Something about it still seems like I’m playing. Like a kid going “oh gosh this is bad.” Or maybe whining “that’s not fair!” Zombies? No, of course there are zombies. Why wouldn’t there be?
It’s fine. The chipmunk is already on fire. I have a skill for that. I push mana into the fire and take control over it. I make it hotter and hotter and eventually the chipmunk falls over dead.
*DING*
Level 24 Wespendoder Chipmunk defeated
Experience Rewarded
Level Up
Stat Points Awarded
Finally! Also wow. My mana is still below half but that added almost 40 points to my mana pool. I really am out of the tutorial class now, each level is going to mean more resources and that my magic hits harder. It also means that my fast mana recovery will start to be less and less impressive. That’s ok. It feels nice to have made a trap that actually worked right. I had done it before but it was mostly just pit fall traps against weaker enemies. I really needed to… I feel something in the air behind me and jump forward
“Aaaaaaaah,” I screamed as a sharp pain exploded in my back and stomach. Looking down there’s something sticking out of me. Something familiar. I turn in time to get stung again, this time from the front. I don’t even think I just grab it and pull it into a hug so it can’t get away. Pyrrhic Shock activates and the wasp bites down on my shoulder. My mana is dropping fast, I have to do something right now. I make my own stinger on my fist and punch it in the face. It’s head practically explodes.
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*DING*
Level 21 Wespendoder Wasp defeated
Experience rewarded
“Ugh, ow, oh ow,” I’m repeating myself as I pull the wasp stinger out of me. My health is in serious trouble. Stabbing is the one thing these clothes are supposed to help against stabbing but this thing went right through them. Going to my bag I pull out the remnants of my sweatpants from before the system. They’re clean but full of holes. I manage to tie them around my midsection and at least slow the bleeding. This is real real bad. I pull the zipper off of the bag and get in my tent. My health is still dropping, 45/160. 44. 43. 42. Oh no. My vision is blurry and I’m struggling to stay awake. Come on no, don’t die like this. Some part of my brain thinks about the tree limb that went through me at a similar spot. Maybe I was always meant to die like this and not even a goddess can stop it.
Wespendoder Wasp Venom Resisted
Health is at 38. 38. 38. 39. I pass out.
*****
My mouth is dry and my throat is on fire when I wake up. A little bit of my dream follows me as I wake up, really understanding the term tunnel vision for the first time. I was chasing someone or they were chasing me, it doesn’t matter. I’m on the floor and I’ve clearly thrown up a little. Gross. I feel for my stomach and realize the hole in my shirt is completely gone already. My stomach still feels sore. I check my health and it’s at 112. I know I heal a lot faster when I sleep but I’ve never really figured out a good way to test it. Truthfully I hadn’t thought much about it. Taking my flask I drink more than what I should have but it makes me feel better. I check the tent’s mana. It was evening when I entered so it should have been fully charged when I passed out. (63%). I slept for about 3 hours. It should be somewhere between 9 and 11 o’clock at night. At least I think. I need to get back to the tree house.
I unzip the tent and start to step out. Shield! I manage to block a stinger before going back into the tent and zipping it back up. There are at least three of them out there. Three that I saw. OK, I’ve been in worse situations. I hate these stupid things so much. As though being a wasp wasn’t bad enough they make stuff into zombies too. Time to think Marie. I should find out what wespendoder means, maybe it’ll give me a clue how to beat them.
20 minutes later and I’m rethinking my love of mushrooms. OK not really, they’re still delicious but I’ve learned a lot. I already knew that fungi weren’t plants or animals but has some things in common with both. What I didn’t know was that there were some that could take over insects. Of course the System is going to make that ten times worse. That great thing is that I think I actually have a plan to deal with it. Kill it with fire.
First I need to get out of here and get back to the treehouse. I don’t think the thing can actually track me. Instead it just sent drones to where it lost a wasp. I can’t avoid it either, this thing could be a lot worse than anything else I’ve seen so far. It was able to turn that chipmunk into a zombie, something I don’t think they’re supposed to be able to do. If it can do that then the whole forest is in danger. And of course it’s my job to clean it up. I’m going to kill this thing so hard.
Step one, kill the stuff outside the tent. I’ve made a hypothesis that these things are not hard to kill because they’re already pretty messed up. That’s why I can one shot the wasps and I probably could have just stabbed the chipmunk in the head and been done. In a way they’re kind of like me. Dangerous offence, not a lot of health. Their defence was different though, they were faster than me, and so far I hadn’t seen any of them raise a shield. That’s what makes me change my strategy up. I thought about pulling down the zipper and rapid firing to take them all out but that wasp near the zipper had been super fast. Yeah I could use a shield but if I understood right all of them should be near that one now that I was spotted.
I make a little ball of flame and float it near the zipper. Grabbing the zipper and either side I pull down and out, using very little mana. Instead I pour mana into my little ball and push it outside. More! Hotter! POP. POP. POP. Loud sounds like actual firecrackers ring out and I’m instantly rewarded.
Level 21 Wespendoder Wasp defeated
Experience rewarded
Level 23 Wespendoder Wasp defeated
Experience rewarded
Level 21 Wespendoder Wasp defeated
Experience rewarded
Probably not a lot of experience. I have a weird urge to stomp all the bodies into paste but I manage to keep it together. I put up a shield and head out looking around. Clear, at least I think so. No time to think I take off running to the tree hideout as fast as I can using Mana Walking. I stop after about 30 seconds and turn back realizing I need something for my plan. Luckily it seems like I actually am alone. Finding the first wasp I killed with lightning I cut its head off and stick it in my bag. Then I’m off again. I don’t stop till I’m in the tree.
I’m thinking about compasses when I get into the tree house and shut the door. I can draw a magic circle and something connected to the master fungus. It would be absolutely stupid to chase that thing down tonight. I still want to so bad. This thing deserves to die worse than even the wasp. It’s killing things and making puppets out of their bodies. I have to stop myself from imagining my body roaming around, completely brain dead attacking things for the fungus. I have to do something about it.
I use mana to make a little candlelight so I can examine the wasp head. There’s a yellowish substance spread all inside of it. This is the fungus. I use mana to scoop the fungus out before opening the door and throwing out the head. I don’t want to track wasps, I want to track this fungus. I have some ideas of how to do this but most of them need a map, which I don’t have. I can kind of draw one out of where I’ve been but this thing might be off the map completely. I wrap the fungus in one of my remaining brown paper bags and put it away. I’m not chasing this tonight so it doesn’t make sense to try and track it right now. From what I’ve been able to tell, putting things in my bag is something like freezing them without it being cold. I’ve looked a little into it and the best explanation I can find is that while in my bag no atoms contain any energy or potential for energy. That should also make them be at absolute zero but I guess it doesn’t because magic? I really hate that explanation after getting really into science, but it’s the best I have right now. For all I know the bag has a way of storing potential energy separately or something. The point is I don’t have to worry whether this fungus can be used to track me until in the morning. At least I think that’s how it works.
I try and concentrate on something else. Right before that wasp got me I felt something. I start researching and find that wasps actually create their own electro magnetic field. I wish that’s what happened but I think I just felt the wind off its wings. It does give me an idea though, hopefully a good one. One of the things I had figured out already was how to pull in more mana myself. I still wasn’t super great at doing it while doing other things, even just automated skills. What I was doing was circulating my mana through my body and dragging more mana in as I did it. There’s a core above my stomach where I think most of my mana is pooled. The end goal is to pull mana there. If I understand wasps right, and I think I do, their wings beating creates a really weak electromagnetic field. What if I do that with mana? Circulate it and let some of my mana spill out as I pull ambient mana in? Time to find out.
Before I start I draw a magic circle. I had already made up my mind to draw one of theat all my hideouts. Strangely I don’t have a hard time focusing this time. Every time I think about that dead wasp a little bit of my anger drips away. I can still feel it there, boiling away but there’s a little bit of distance from it. It takes a while to realize its exhaustion. I’m just too tired to be that angry. I realize it as my attention starts to lag. No. It’s too soon to go back into the tent, I have to let it charge. Keep focusing.
Breathe in and pull the mana around me, letting some fall out. Breathe out and push the new mana down leaving some of mine behind. The point is that I’m always trailing a little bit of mana all around me. Not sure how that’ll work when I’m moving but that can wait till later. Try to make it so there’s no gap. I pull and push, pull and push. I can “see” the entirety of the inside of the tree now. There’s not a lot to see, just me and my book bag and the magic circle I drew on the floor. My mana hasn’t dropped at all. “Help me Hecate,” I say. Then I get a blinding headache. For the second time that day I feel myself lose consciousness. This cannot be good for you.
*****
Ow my head. I can actually hear a bird singing outside so I’m pretty sure it’s morning. I had kind of forgotten that sound, it was nice. I sit up and almost throw up again. Leftovers from the venom? That’s dumb I was feeling much better before. So why do I feel terrible now? I was just trying to make an early warning skill. Something tickles the inside of my head, oh I have a system message.
*DING*
Poor Electromagic Aura
Constantly create an aura around yourself. Mana Manipulation and recovery within the aura becomes slightly easier.
WARNING! System Tampering Detected. Penalty Given. Further Attempts to Manipulate Skill Access Will Result in Heavier Penalties. FAFO.
That was a warning? I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to do that! Why not warn me about what I’m doing before you try and make my brain explode. I rub my temples and run my fingers across my face before realizing there’s something on it. It doesn’t feel like dirt exactly, I rub some of it on my fingers and look at them. Dried blood. Around my eyes and ears and nose. It tried to kill me! Are you kidding me? The snake isn’t enough, the wasps aren’t enough, zombie fungi isn’t enough. No, the stupid System has to attack me directly because I don’t know the rules.
I realize my anger is back, If anything it’s growing with the throbbing of my head. I want to scream. I want to kick my feet and demand the System take this headache back. I can’t do anything to the System though. What I can do is kill this stupid fungi and all its little zombies. My eyes refocus and my anger kind of clears my head while I realize what I have to do. I really don’t want to but I think I just realized how to use the fungus I have.
It might surprise Morrigan to learn that my class actually read a fairytale or two pre-System. One of them was called The Fairy Nurse. The story is about a nurse that takes care of some pixies and puts an ointment in her eyes to be able to see them. You would think I’d be scared to call on Hecate again so soon. Maybe I was. Maybe fear was still there, but I had already said no more fear so let's let anger take the wheel. I’m killing that fungus.
I still have a wolf eye left and I debate before using it. It’s tied to Hecate, might as well try it. I take the eye and fungus and put them in my pot. Using mana I start a fire under it inside the magic circle but far enough off the ground to not risk setting my treehouse on fire. Bringing it to a boil I stir it with a mana spoon. “Goddess Hecate grant me the ability to see my enemy wherever they hide.” The contents start glowing purple, so bright I start to shield my eyes before dying back down. The water is now violet and there doesn’t seem to be any remains in it. It’s just colored water. I take some and put it in my eyes, not even hesitating. I trust her, she’s not going to lead me wrong. I wait for the sting or heat or something but it’s actually cool and refreshing to my eyes. I blink a few times and realize there’s something glowing on my door. Actually no, it’s something in the distance I realize as I open the door. I can see my enemy .
Seeing no reason to delay or skimp out on training I shove some jerky in my face and take off. (I’m not wasting cake when I don’t feel great). It’s going to be a hike but something I should be able to do and get back today. The weight magic makes this worse and I feel like I might throw up the entire way. Too bad, I’m not going to break my new routine just because I had a bad day. This will teach me to stop making stupid mistakes. One way or the other. I keep my eye out as I march but I’m somewhat distracted by my new aura. It doesn’t seem like something I turn on and off, it’s just always kind of there. I’m more aware of the wind, the sun, literally any change or difference in anything with a few feet of me. Unfortunately it’s not really helping my headache. It does seem to be slowly dying down but my aura is kind of like being car sick. I notice every little movement, every little change in the worst sort of way. Luckily I’m awarded on my way there.
*DING*
Strength +1
Dexterity +1
I try to think through the pain. I was knocked out for part of yesterday but all in all I had kept the weight skill active most of the day. Like the day before. Add the couple of hours walking this morning and this definitely took longer than the first day I got an upgrade. It's fine I knew this would happen. Eventually I’ll stop getting any rewards at all from this level of weight. Not yet though, so might as well keep it up.
I’m not sure what I was expecting but as I finally start to get near the glowing place I notice other glowing objects around it. They weren’t visible from far away and I have to get close before I realize why. I’m tracking the fungus and there’s only a little bit of that in the stuff it takes over. There are 6 wasps flying around a hole in the ground. Down that hole, according to my site there’s a lot more. There’s also another end to the hole, maybe a 5 minute walk away. Only 3 wasps on that end. That doesn’t include a couple of glowing things I can barely see off in the distance and a real problem sitting by the hole. A skunk
Level 22 Wespendoder Skunk
Can this stupid thing stop cheating? How the hell am I supposed to even deal with all of this? There’s at least 9 wasps, any of which can kill me, they all have venom which can kill me faster. There’s a fungus that can make zombies and now there’s a skunk. I’ve been near a skunk when it let loose before. Nana’s dog had gotten out of her backyard fence and chased one. We all went outside to see what it was freaking out about when it fired. Fired is the right word too. If you’re close enough it’s not a bad smell. It’s a burning smell that takes your breath away. It’s almost impossible to breathe for a second and then the bad smell hits. It gets in your nose and mouth and throat. It sticks to everything. You’ll smell it for weeks or months afterwards. In fact you may randomly get a whiff of it a year later.
I cannot get hit by that. With the System I’m sure it’s even worse. I bet it would poison you or maybe act like acid. Then I spot something that gives me an idea. I already know I need to seal up one side of the hole so I can take out the stuff inside with smoke, or more likely with fire. I was trying to think of how I could take out all the enemies without what I know are a lot more coming out of the hole. Maybe that’s the wrong attitude. What if I just close up the end with only three and then cause something terrible at the other end. First I have to make sure I can do this,
I let go of my weight spell and head to the other end of the hole. By complete luck one of the wasps heads back inside. The holes actually aren’t that big and it has to squeeze in. That’s good luck for me since I think a shield will cover the whole thing. I shoot a firecracker at it and immediately pop a shield over the hole. No reaction. I push some mana around the shield to feed it. I’m not completely sure if that will work but it’s the best idea I have.
I start back to the other side but this time I’m walking higher and higher. It’s weird that the skunk is the only non-wasp right? Nope. So what did I see that made me think I had a chance? Dead, rotted out bodies. A lot of them Between the venom and the fungus and maybe blood loss it looks like non insects bodies are terrible hosts. I don’t recognize many of them, I do see some antlers and tusks though, both things that would have made better food than a groundhog. What a waste. Still, that’s great news for me. That means that just like the chipmunk the skunk should be really easy to kill. It should also have terrible senses just like that thing I killed. So basically this thing was killing them and then making puppets until they literally fell apart. Oh it was going to deserve this.
I’m far enough in the air that the wasps and skunk look like toys when I feel some mana drain from me and realize it’s now or never, one of the wasps on the other end has discovered my shield and just stabbed it. Fine, I shoot three quick shots at the skunk and start trying to pull mana in faster, my aura actually noticeably helpful. Something to investigate later. I don’t hear the impact but I do get the ZAP ZAP ZAP. The skunk practically explodes and I get exactly what I was after. I can smell it from here.
I have mana on the ground and I turn it into fire. BOOM. I’ve never heard anything so loud in my life. My ears are ringing. Then the breath gets sucked out of me and in my dizziness I start to fall. NO! I catch myself with mana, barely. I ignore the System messages for now because I know there’s one still missing. The hole has completely collapsed, there’s lingering fire all around it, the wasps are completely destroyed. I feel another pull on my mana and start half jogging back to the other hole. I don’t go straight there, instead cutting out to the side, I don’t want to run into wasps if they come this way. I’m too busy trying to catch my breath to try and get more mana on the way. My mana is low, like 42/259 low. Funny enough without the skunk I don’t think I could have done this. Another drain and I’m at 28 mana. I let the shield go.
Strangely this doesn’t result in all the stuff underground coming out. Instead the wasp trying to get in just goes on like nothing happened on the other end. My mana starts ticking up as I rest. A few minutes later the two wasps that went underground (I think it’s the same ones) come back up and start flying towards where the other hole was. Another wasp comes out and just hovers. I look at my zipper (12%). I really don’t want to have to use this if I can help it. My mana returns as I watch everything with my enemy ointment. Or whatever I end up naming it. I’m tired already and it’s making me angrier. I just want this dealt with so I can go back to enemies that aren’t complete cheaters. I check my System messages while I wait for my mana to come back.
*DING*
Level 21 Wespendoder Skunk defeated
Experience rewarded
Level 22 Wespendoder Wasp defeated
Experience rewarded
Level 21 Wespendoder Wasp defeated
Experience rewarded
Level 21 Wespendoder Wasp defeated
Experience rewarded
Level 22 Wespendoder Wasp defeated
Experience rewarded
Level 22 Wespendoder Wasp defeated
Experience rewarded
Level 21 Wespendoder Wasp defeated
Experience rewarded
Mana back it’s time to make my next move. I start picking up dead branches and leaves and using my mana knife to cut them so I can stick them in my bag. I still have a little mana left at this hole so I cover it with a shield again. Then I target the wasp protecting the hole. Fire!
*DING*
Level 21 Wespendoder Skunk defeated
Experience rewarded
Running over to the hole I make sure nothing is trying to come out of it before removing the shield. I start pulling the stuff I just got out of my bag and stuffing it down the hole. When I’m done I take several big chunks of groundhog fat and stuff inside. Then I light it on fire. I keep pushing the fire down the tunnel a little at a time. It’s a long tunnel so it would be hard to get fire all the way down it like this, but I can push the smoke pretty easily. The three wasps are on their way back so I take my tent zipper and hang it in the air. I step inside and leave just the tiniest crack open so I can still kind of control the fire. Against a smart enemy or even an enemy with hands or claws this would be idiotic. Against brain dead zombie wasps it works perfectly. They come right down to me and I envelop them with fire from the hole.
Level 21 Wespendoder Wasp defeated
Experience rewarded
Level 21 Wespendoder Wasp defeated
Experience rewarded
Level 22 Wespendoder Wasp defeated
Experience rewarded
I’m starting to think most of my experience last time actually came from the groundhogs. These things suck. These things that almost killed me. What does that say about me? I can see the little points in the distance are coming my way but it’s going to take a while. Now I’m playing a different game. I push a little mana as far down the hole as it can reach and shoot off some firecrackers from it. Rinse and repeat. Eventually I make it to the big blowing violet center. And I pour every bit of my mana into making it burn. Burn baby burn.
*DING*
Level 26 Wespendoder Fungal Colony defeated
Experience rewarded
Level Up
Stat Points Awarded
I’m somehow disappointed. I was actually expecting more than that, I know there were a ton of individual things down there I assumed were wasps. Why didn’t I get individual experience for them? Hey, what about the ones in the distance? Gone. So I could have killed this thing at any time and gotten experience for all of them? Or did I lose experience for not killing them one at a time. My head still hurts. I head back, not even bothering to walk in the air. I bring Burden of Atlas back up because I’ve already decided I want to be literally stronger as well as figuratively but I still feel terrible. Maybe if there had been something there to stab or squish but everything went down too easy.
My mana is full and I’m trying to focus on making my aura not make me woozy when some bushes rustle to my side. I’m almost too late as a huge hairy pig with what look like metal tusks comes charging out of a bush. I get a somewhat sideways shield up and manage to duck around it. The pig hits it and actually slides a little against it before it drains almost 20 mana out of me. I let it drop and shoot a quick shell from Voltaic Railblaster. I shoot it in the but and it definitely does some damage, squealing angrily at me as it turns. This time I have a good idea and place myself in front of a tree. I jump before it hits me. Unlike earlier attempts I’m starting to really get some air when jumping, so I easily avoid it, landing on solid mana when it rams into the tree. I’m close enough to use a mana sword so I aim for the heart. It starts shaking to pull loose so I take a chance and activate Pyrrhic Shock. Ow, I really need to upgrade this to stop hurting me. It’s almost a tickle compared to the damage I’ve been taking lately but I still don’t like it. The pig manages to shake itself free and stumbles to the side. I shoot it in the face with Voltaic Railblaster. Blinded and angry it half lunges half jumps at where I was. I’ve already moved to the side and dropped down. When it jumps I put up two spikes which it immediately lands on.
I cut its throat and every other vein I can reach. It’s screaming is getting quieter but I have no sympathy for it. I punch it in the face with a mana blade. Then again and again and again. “Just die already!” I yell at it. I release the mana and I’m just hitting it. My hands hurt but I can’t even imagine stopping. “You could have left me alone! Now you’re just bacon!” I Ignore the System messages again. While I slam my hands into it. They’re becoming numb and I finally stop. It’s dead and I don’t want it to be. I want to keep punishing it. I check my messages as I turn it upside down. I hate to throw away that ground hog I worked so hard on but no way am I taking that over pork chops.
Level 20 Slicing Wild Sow defeated
Experience rewarded
Level Up
Stat Points Awarded
I wait while the blood drains out of it, knowing I’m in for some work again. Still, two levels in two days is the best I’ve done since the very beginning, when levels were much easier to come by. I bet the colony gave me so much I was right at this one. It’s taking forever, or feels that way anyway. I’m so mad. The fungal colony shouldn’t have been that easy. It was almost like it was set up to fail against me. Which makes getting stabbed and dying almost worse. Did I almost die to trash or am I just good against that kind of opponent. Am I strong or weak or somewhere in the middle?
The same bush as before rustles and this time I don’t even hesitate. Three shells hit and explode almost immediately. The lightning created sets the bush completely on fire and I’m smiling as I check my System messages. I told you I wasn’t afraid, I’ll kill this whole forest before you scare me again.
Level 1 Wild Piglet defeated
Level 1 Wild Piglet defeated
Level 1 Wild Piglet defeated
Level 1 Wild Piglet defeated
Level 1 Wild Piglet defeated
“W-what?”
Oh no. Oh no. Please, no. I use my mana to put the fires out and rush over. Oh goddess no. It was a mommy pig and it was just trying to protect its babies. I got too close and it attacked me. There was nothing cute about them anymore but I could almost see how they could have been before. Before me. I’m a monster.
My anger drained out of me and I realized just what it had been shielding me from. Choking, sobbing, nose running I turn away from the bush and the little bodies. I hate myself right now and nothing is going to take that away. I should have died with my family. Somehow I don’t sink all the way into it before another thought hits me. As close as we are, the fungus might have come after the pigs. In fact, given all the corpses near the hole it was almost certain they would have. The momma pig would have went after the wasps and eventually it would have gotten killed and taken over.
I’m still upset. I still want to scream and yell. Why can’t I just be angry all the time? It doesn’t hurt as much when I’m mad. Then I look towards the bush and it hits me again. Killing their mother made me feel good. Hitting her until she died made me feel better. I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I threw up hard. I didn’t try and stop it this time though, I just let myself cry. I hate trying to be an adult. Why can’t someone come fix this? Anyone? I knew no one was coming. But that’s not what really made me hate myself. What really hurts me is knowing, really knowing, I can't let that meat go to waste. I don’t have that luxury.
