The System notifications turned into nothing but a blur as my entire field of view narrowed, black void crept at the edges of my vision. And as soon as it came, it vanished with a jolt of pain. It shot through my spine, and my vision was snapped back into place as everything turned into nothing more than a fuzz. Warmth filled my aching body as I sprawled on what seemed to be ground. Dust billowed from a distant place as I saw the snake’s hulking body laying there. A distant sound called to me. One that wasn’t too familiar, but one that I felt should be recognizable to me.
The sound, which turned into a voice, got closer, the tone clearly distressed. Whatever it said I couldn’t register.
A cold object a second later was pressed onto my mouth, and liquid flowed down. Ah a potion. My body instinctively relaxed as the aches spread, and a sudden sense of nausea struck. I did my best to hold it in and stay awake, knowing that I was about to faint.
The following minutes turned into nothing but a haze.
I didn’t know how long passed as I struggled to grasp onto reality with my conscience. I just knew that Matt was by my side. Which made me feel a smidget of reassurance before remembering he was way weaker than me and would provide no protection. That thought filled me with anxiety instead. But even being awake was too much for my body, the churning from the lack of mana made me feel sickly to my very core.
Time ticked, and as the potion warmth subsided the colors returned to the world.
[Now that you’re better,] Glim spoke with a hiss. [What the fuck are you doing?!]
I didn’t have time to reply as I struggled to even move, Matt spared no time and gave me another potion which I happily chugged.
[Are you trying to get yourself killed? Why would you stack four Explosive Shots on top of each other and be next to the target?! Why?] Glim screeched, its light ball body wobbling in anxiety. [If you died, if you died— If you died! Why? You’re lucky it was your own attack! Otherwise you’d be 100% dead! Do you think you’ll always have potions to just not die!?]
Glim spent a few more minutes reprimanding me before he finally seemed to come to a stop, with a final breath he bobbed once more.
[Just don’t do that again, you told me to keep you in check but how am I supposed to guess you’ll try to kill yourself mid battle? I thought you were gonna use a make-shift Explosive Shot to distance yourself and fire three arrows instead!] It took a second. [Next time I see you doing something stupid I’ll stop you as well.]
Glim’s warnings ended, its words lingering at the back of my mind as the potion effects finally ended, and feeling better I finally got to see the state of everything around me.
It was all black with billowing smoke, the snake was dead and the tree was split in half. Matt looked at me worriedly but said nothing as I took everything in. And finally I looked at the time.
[Incubation Period: 4 days 0 hours 11 minutes]
There was still time. I smiled to myself with slight self shame. Even after consuming two potions my body felt as if it was torn apart, my muscles protested against every twitch and I still felt light-headed. I made myself a promise, a simple one.
Never use Explosive Shot at point-blank range.
I closed my eyes once more taking deep breaths to distract myself from the pain, but this action was simply met by panic from Matt.
“Hey, hey, don’t pass out, you’re going to be okay!” he called a bit too loud for my liking.
I sighed, my voice croaked from pain. “Not passing out…”
“Oh…” Matt paused before he did something. “I see, sorry. I panicked a bit.”
I shook my head and simply breathed in and out for a minute or two. Unfortunately I couldn’t spend hours sleeping the pain away, or simply sitting there in silent suffering. Instead, the timer constantly ticked down. That reminded me, there were a few System notifications that I had skipped. I opened the System Log and there was a new category.
[Rewards: Expand (1 New)]
I expanded.
[Claim your rewards at the chest.]
Oh, there was a chest? Did every Guardian give a chest? I smiled to myself before finally opening my eyes. Matt’s eyes peered into mine like two candle-lights, his warm breath crashed against my face. In that moment I saw indescribable panic pass through his face, he trembled and fell on his back. He drew heavy breaths, struggling to stand up.
“Shit, sorry.” He looked at me in shame. “It’s just…”
I stared at the Human as he struggled to make up his mind, the entire thing was so awkward I didn't even know what to make of it.
He dragged his gaze to the ground until he finally looked at my feet. “It’s just… I found you… really pretty…”
My eyes remained on him, unchanging. “Pretty?” Was I an object of beauty? Something like a snail-shell? That sounded weird to me.
My question seemed to aggravate his awkwardness as his eyes now darted around until he finally met my gaze, his lip trembled as he spoke. “I found you attractive, Blair.”
Attractive? A ton of memories flashed through my mind of the village. Until it finally arrived at a single conclusion. Partner? My father had found my mom attractive and that kindled their love. It was a supposedly arduous process for us to get attached to someone though, at least based on what I had heard. I stared at Matt rationalizing what he had just said. Finally I arrived at a less than pleasant conclusion.
“So, you want to have a family?” I asked with skepticism.
His eyes widened. “W-Wha?”
Seeing I had guessed properly, I shook my head. “No, I don’t want to have kids with you. Nor do I want you as a partner.” Seeing his face changing to one of betrayal, I made sure to explain it to him. “Besides, who knows if a Human can reproduce with an Elf. Elves couldn't even reproduce with a different type of elf after all.”
There was also the fact that I had no time to go have a kid. And the process was supposedly painful, even bringing the strongest of our female warriors to their knees. Needless to say I had no interest in offspring for the time being. Not when the elves were still alive anyway.
My thoughts ended as my hand pushed onto my knee to stand up, pain flaring up through my legs and arms, my innards felt dry and empty, and my head still felt light. Matt on the other hand looked incredibly confused, his mutters nonsensical to me;
When did I say I wanted kids?
What?
I only thought she was pretty…
Seeing whatever he was muttering was unimportant to me I made sure to simply move along, waddling at a snail’s pace as I approached the smoking crater. The fallen Osthus Tree seemed to have dried, and its golden and silver leaves were no more, instead the entire thing was an ashen gray. All of its life drained.
I shook my head as Glim followed to my side.
[Are you looking for the chest?]
I nodded.
[You better not look into the crater then, it’s definitely not there.]
Normally I would’ve chuckled and played along, but that was the place I was originally headed for first. There was no way I was going to try to look around the massive tree that was now taking the entire clearing, or the massive snake that took half of that length. Well, Glim tried to be useful so I appreciated the gesture, but this time around it felt unnecessary.
Matt stayed behind, still confused by my declination. Meanwhile I walked ahead, past the snake whose body seemed to be falling apart — scales falling and its flesh slowly losing volume — past the ashen tree whose radiance had been drained, and finally to the crater. It was deep, it was as if the ground had been consumed and eaten away by acid itself.
I sighed as I stared at the bottom, the smoke now mostly cleared. There it was; an unassuming wooden chest, though it was much longer than usual. I didn’t really understand why they were like that, but it was loot, in the form of a box. It was a lootbox. I slid down the crater, my skin hurting with the dried dirt. Under the cloak I got to see my bare feet, most of my skin was still missing. That’s when something clicked on me with the explosion.
“Glim…” I called.
[Yes Blair? Are you having regrets now?]
I shook my head instead. Another thought was present. “Why do I still have legs?”
Glim bobbed. [Because it was your own damn mana! It was a mana explosion, sure there is metal shrapnel; but most of it is just condensed mana. Your own mana won’t kill you, but it still launched you back— think of the conversion of energy, think of the heat from the impact. Of course it’s gonna send you flying against a tree! And you almost died from that simple aftershock!]
“I see…” I committed it to my mind, it was something useful to know; whether it was the fact that my own mana would not harm me, or the fact that the conversion of the mana itself caused the physical damage. Either of them were useful.
Though so far my mana had left my body through an object, did it mean that if I managed to extract pure mana outside I’d be able to mold it into a sword and it would actually be able to cut? Huh. Hmm, it was something that I wanted to try later, but something that I might forget at some point.
[I can remind you!]
“You can?” I asked Glim who just so happened to read my mind.
It bobbed excitedly. [Leave it to me!]
I simply nodded at it, and headed to the center of the crater, reaching the chest. I wasted no time opening it, Glim shone its light upon its contents and— There were three health potions, I reached for my belt only to realize I still had mine. I made quick work of it, its warmth spread through me, and then I reached for the potions, wasting no time in stowing them away.
There were another two objects inside the chest. There was a spear, and then there was a necklace. The necklace was made with a black thread, and its centerpiece was a fang, embedded on a golden sphere.
[Blessing of the Osthus Tree (Rare Item) — A blessing from the legendary Osthus Tree. Able to bring a being from near-death condition to peak condition, granting its power along with it. Activation: Supply mana.]
So that was how the snake had gained so many levels? I quickly passed it over my head and placed it under my cloak. The bead touched my clavicle with an odd coldness, letting me know it was there. Part of me almost felt like activating it right now, but I had to remember that the snake did not get to keep its levels.
If only… I sighed in regret before turning to the spear, its edge was sharp. Its body jet-black drifting into white at its end. I reached for it, forgetting about the chest. Its entire body was a black finish almost glossy, at its end there was a tip made out from the same material as its body, except it faded into a pale white milky color instead of black.
[Acidic Fang (Rare Item) — A weapon inspired from a mighty snake, replicating its effects in great detail. (Passive) Poisonous Acid: it will corrode any surface it stabs at a slow rate.]
Two rare items from the same chest? Well… I actually didn’t know how rare was Rare grade, but—
[Rare is rare!] Glim intervened. [Rare is equivalent to D grade! Though granted, it's not unusual to have abilities or items of a higher tier, even if Explosive Shot was only offered to you simply because of the Feats you had achieved before that…]
I stared at Glim. “So if I didn’t happen to acquire my two Feats, would I not have Explosive Shot?”
It bobbed. [Yes, maybe at level 15? Maybe then you would have gotten it.]
My eyes didn’t move. How was I supposed to feel about the fact that being the last one of my race made me stronger? And if I didn’t happen to fight a Knell Boar to reach level 5, then what about my skills? Had I gotten lucky? I frowned, suddenly feeling as if I didn’t deserve any of my successes.
[No— that’s not what I meant!] Glim trembled. [I was just saying that you should count yourself lucky! Wait no, sorry. No… I am saying that— Ugh! I suck at this don’t I? More like, you’re great, yes! You’re really great!]
It attempted to make me feel better, but I simply looked away from Glim. Not really wanting to deal with the topic any longer. My eyes looked at my hands and my still somewhat injured body. My muscles still hurt, and nothing from my home remained; my clothes were mostly gone, my original knife was god-knows-where, and my bow too. The arrows were destroyed by the Knell Boar. I worked hard to be here… I clenched my fist. I had worked hard…
And that was all the loot, which reminded me. There was no Prophecy this time around, perhaps that was the reason why I got better loot here, than from the Boreal Kame. I used the spear like a walking stick, everytime it embedded itself on dirt it would lose its footing rather quickly, fumes melting off constantly. It was supposedly slow corrosion but it certainly did not feel like it, in the end, I had no choice but to use its butt instead.
I stared at the timer as I made my way up, there wasn’t much time remaining now.
[Incubation Period: 4 days 0 hours 1 minute]
Finally leaving the crater I stood next to Matt, who was waiting for me there. He awkwardly smiled as my gaze passed by him, and then I paused. I reached to my side and grabbed two vials, before handing them to him.
“This is?”
“The potions you used on me.” I shortly answered before continuing my walk.
Matt followed after me as we headed back to his camp. A few seconds went by as we left the clearing, my heart rate rose feeling the timer slowly tickle.
“There is not enough time,” I finally said.
“You mean?”
[Incubation Period: 4 days 0 hours 0 minutes]
[Incubation Period: 3 days 23 hours 59 minutes]
When the switch occurred, the entire sky lit up, every single star shimmered like the scales of a snake, all sparkling like grains of sand. What were once distant dots, were now bright like suns. And then once more, the cold unfeeling voice spoke in my head. The voice of The System.
[The stars shine with brilliance, revelations from beyond the veil appear. Minor Voting Interference has been decided. The stars have begun to fall, and all that awaits is Fate. The power to change fate is for the taking, will you grasp for it? Struggle for it? Let your own path begin.]
The System notifications turned into nothing but a blur as my entire field of view narrowed, black void crept at the edges of my vision. And as soon as it came, it vanished with a jolt of pain. It shot through my spine, and my vision was snapped back into place as everything turned into nothing more than a fuzz. Warmth filled my aching body as I sprawled on what seemed to be ground. Dust billowed from a distant place as I saw the snake’s hulking body laying there. A distant sound called to me. One that wasn’t too familiar, but one that I felt should be recognizable to me.
The sound, which turned into a voice, got closer, the tone clearly distressed. Whatever it said I couldn’t register.
A cold object a second later was pressed onto my mouth, and liquid flowed down. Ah a potion. My body instinctively relaxed as the aches spread, and a sudden sense of nausea struck. I did my best to hold it in and stay awake, knowing that I was about to faint.
The following minutes turned into nothing but a haze.
I didn’t know how long passed as I struggled to grasp onto reality with my conscience. I just knew that Matt was by my side. Which made me feel a smidget of reassurance before remembering he was way weaker than me and would provide no protection. That thought filled me with anxiety instead. But even being awake was too much for my body, the churning from the lack of mana made me feel sickly to my very core.
Time ticked, and as the potion warmth subsided the colors returned to the world.
[Now that you’re better,] Glim spoke with a hiss. [What the fuck are you doing?!]
I didn’t have time to reply as I struggled to even move, Matt spared no time and gave me another potion which I happily chugged.
[Are you trying to get yourself killed? Why would you stack four Explosive Shots on top of each other and be next to the target?! Why?] Glim screeched, its light ball body wobbling in anxiety. [If you died, if you died— If you died! Why? You’re lucky it was your own attack! Otherwise you’d be 100% dead! Do you think you’ll always have potions to just not die!?]
Glim spent a few more minutes reprimanding me before he finally seemed to come to a stop, with a final breath he bobbed once more.
[Just don’t do that again, you told me to keep you in check but how am I supposed to guess you’ll try to kill yourself mid battle? I thought you were gonna use a make-shift Explosive Shot to distance yourself and fire three arrows instead!] It took a second. [Next time I see you doing something stupid I’ll stop you as well.]
Glim’s warnings ended, its words lingering at the back of my mind as the potion effects finally ended, and feeling better I finally got to see the state of everything around me.
It was all black with billowing smoke, the snake was dead and the tree was split in half. Matt looked at me worriedly but said nothing as I took everything in. And finally I looked at the time.
[Incubation Period: 4 days 0 hours 11 minutes]
There was still time. I smiled to myself with slight self shame. Even after consuming two potions my body felt as if it was torn apart, my muscles protested against every twitch and I still felt light-headed. I made myself a promise, a simple one.
Never use Explosive Shot at point-blank range.
I closed my eyes once more taking deep breaths to distract myself from the pain, but this action was simply met by panic from Matt.
“Hey, hey, don’t pass out, you’re going to be okay!” he called a bit too loud for my liking.
I sighed, my voice croaked from pain. “Not passing out…”
“Oh…” Matt paused before he did something. “I see, sorry. I panicked a bit.”
I shook my head and simply breathed in and out for a minute or two. Unfortunately I couldn’t spend hours sleeping the pain away, or simply sitting there in silent suffering. Instead, the timer constantly ticked down. That reminded me, there were a few System notifications that I had skipped. I opened the System Log and there was a new category.
[Rewards: Expand (1 New)]
I expanded.
[Claim your rewards at the chest.]
Oh, there was a chest? Did every Guardian give a chest? I smiled to myself before finally opening my eyes. Matt’s eyes peered into mine like two candle-lights, his warm breath crashed against my face. In that moment I saw indescribable panic pass through his face, he trembled and fell on his back. He drew heavy breaths, struggling to stand up.
“Shit, sorry.” He looked at me in shame. “It’s just…”
I stared at the Human as he struggled to make up his mind, the entire thing was so awkward I didn't even know what to make of it.
He dragged his gaze to the ground until he finally looked at my feet. “It’s just… I found you… really pretty…”
My eyes remained on him, unchanging. “Pretty?” Was I an object of beauty? Something like a snail-shell? That sounded weird to me.
My question seemed to aggravate his awkwardness as his eyes now darted around until he finally met my gaze, his lip trembled as he spoke. “I found you attractive, Blair.”
Attractive? A ton of memories flashed through my mind of the village. Until it finally arrived at a single conclusion. Partner? My father had found my mom attractive and that kindled their love. It was a supposedly arduous process for us to get attached to someone though, at least based on what I had heard. I stared at Matt rationalizing what he had just said. Finally I arrived at a less than pleasant conclusion.
“So, you want to have a family?” I asked with skepticism.
His eyes widened. “W-Wha?”
Seeing I had guessed properly, I shook my head. “No, I don’t want to have kids with you. Nor do I want you as a partner.” Seeing his face changing to one of betrayal, I made sure to explain it to him. “Besides, who knows if a Human can reproduce with an Elf. Elves couldn't even reproduce with a different type of elf after all.”
There was also the fact that I had no time to go have a kid. And the process was supposedly painful, even bringing the strongest of our female warriors to their knees. Needless to say I had no interest in offspring for the time being. Not when the elves were still alive anyway.
My thoughts ended as my hand pushed onto my knee to stand up, pain flaring up through my legs and arms, my innards felt dry and empty, and my head still felt light. Matt on the other hand looked incredibly confused, his mutters nonsensical to me;
When did I say I wanted kids?
What?
I only thought she was pretty…
Seeing whatever he was muttering was unimportant to me I made sure to simply move along, waddling at a snail’s pace as I approached the smoking crater. The fallen Osthus Tree seemed to have dried, and its golden and silver leaves were no more, instead the entire thing was an ashen gray. All of its life drained.
I shook my head as Glim followed to my side.
[Are you looking for the chest?]
I nodded.
[You better not look into the crater then, it’s definitely not there.]
Normally I would’ve chuckled and played along, but that was the place I was originally headed for first. There was no way I was going to try to look around the massive tree that was now taking the entire clearing, or the massive snake that took half of that length. Well, Glim tried to be useful so I appreciated the gesture, but this time around it felt unnecessary.
Matt stayed behind, still confused by my declination. Meanwhile I walked ahead, past the snake whose body seemed to be falling apart — scales falling and its flesh slowly losing volume — past the ashen tree whose radiance had been drained, and finally to the crater. It was deep, it was as if the ground had been consumed and eaten away by acid itself.
I sighed as I stared at the bottom, the smoke now mostly cleared. There it was; an unassuming wooden chest, though it was much longer than usual. I didn’t really understand why they were like that, but it was loot, in the form of a box. It was a lootbox. I slid down the crater, my skin hurting with the dried dirt. Under the cloak I got to see my bare feet, most of my skin was still missing. That’s when something clicked on me with the explosion.
“Glim…” I called.
[Yes Blair? Are you having regrets now?]
I shook my head instead. Another thought was present. “Why do I still have legs?”
Glim bobbed. [Because it was your own damn mana! It was a mana explosion, sure there is metal shrapnel; but most of it is just condensed mana. Your own mana won’t kill you, but it still launched you back— think of the conversion of energy, think of the heat from the impact. Of course it’s gonna send you flying against a tree! And you almost died from that simple aftershock!]
“I see…” I committed it to my mind, it was something useful to know; whether it was the fact that my own mana would not harm me, or the fact that the conversion of the mana itself caused the physical damage. Either of them were useful.
Though so far my mana had left my body through an object, did it mean that if I managed to extract pure mana outside I’d be able to mold it into a sword and it would actually be able to cut? Huh. Hmm, it was something that I wanted to try later, but something that I might forget at some point.
[I can remind you!]
“You can?” I asked Glim who just so happened to read my mind.
It bobbed excitedly. [Leave it to me!]
I simply nodded at it, and headed to the center of the crater, reaching the chest. I wasted no time opening it, Glim shone its light upon its contents and— There were three health potions, I reached for my belt only to realize I still had mine. I made quick work of it, its warmth spread through me, and then I reached for the potions, wasting no time in stowing them away.
There were another two objects inside the chest. There was a spear, and then there was a necklace. The necklace was made with a black thread, and its centerpiece was a fang, embedded on a golden sphere.
[Blessing of the Osthus Tree (Rare Item) — A blessing from the legendary Osthus Tree. Able to bring a being from near-death condition to peak condition, granting its power along with it. Activation: Supply mana.]
So that was how the snake had gained so many levels? I quickly passed it over my head and placed it under my cloak. The bead touched my clavicle with an odd coldness, letting me know it was there. Part of me almost felt like activating it right now, but I had to remember that the snake did not get to keep its levels.
If only… I sighed in regret before turning to the spear, its edge was sharp. Its body jet-black drifting into white at its end. I reached for it, forgetting about the chest. Its entire body was a black finish almost glossy, at its end there was a tip made out from the same material as its body, except it faded into a pale white milky color instead of black.
[Acidic Fang (Rare Item) — A weapon inspired from a mighty snake, replicating its effects in great detail. (Passive) Poisonous Acid: it will corrode any surface it stabs at a slow rate.]
Two rare items from the same chest? Well… I actually didn’t know how rare was Rare grade, but—
[Rare is rare!] Glim intervened. [Rare is equivalent to D grade! Though granted, it's not unusual to have abilities or items of a higher tier, even if Explosive Shot was only offered to you simply because of the Feats you had achieved before that…]
I stared at Glim. “So if I didn’t happen to acquire my two Feats, would I not have Explosive Shot?”
It bobbed. [Yes, maybe at level 15? Maybe then you would have gotten it.]
My eyes didn’t move. How was I supposed to feel about the fact that being the last one of my race made me stronger? And if I didn’t happen to fight a Knell Boar to reach level 5, then what about my skills? Had I gotten lucky? I frowned, suddenly feeling as if I didn’t deserve any of my successes.
[No— that’s not what I meant!] Glim trembled. [I was just saying that you should count yourself lucky! Wait no, sorry. No… I am saying that— Ugh! I suck at this don’t I? More like, you’re great, yes! You’re really great!]
It attempted to make me feel better, but I simply looked away from Glim. Not really wanting to deal with the topic any longer. My eyes looked at my hands and my still somewhat injured body. My muscles still hurt, and nothing from my home remained; my clothes were mostly gone, my original knife was god-knows-where, and my bow too. The arrows were destroyed by the Knell Boar. I worked hard to be here… I clenched my fist. I had worked hard…
And that was all the loot, which reminded me. There was no Prophecy this time around, perhaps that was the reason why I got better loot here, than from the Boreal Kame. I used the spear like a walking stick, everytime it embedded itself on dirt it would lose its footing rather quickly, fumes melting off constantly. It was supposedly slow corrosion but it certainly did not feel like it, in the end, I had no choice but to use its butt instead.
I stared at the timer as I made my way up, there wasn’t much time remaining now.
[Incubation Period: 4 days 0 hours 1 minute]
Finally leaving the crater I stood next to Matt, who was waiting for me there. He awkwardly smiled as my gaze passed by him, and then I paused. I reached to my side and grabbed two vials, before handing them to him.
“This is?”
“The potions you used on me.” I shortly answered before continuing my walk.
Matt followed after me as we headed back to his camp. A few seconds went by as we left the clearing, my heart rate rose feeling the timer slowly tickle.
“There is not enough time,” I finally said.
“You mean?”
[Incubation Period: 4 days 0 hours 0 minutes]
[Incubation Period: 3 days 23 hours 59 minutes]
When the switch occurred, the entire sky lit up, every single star shimmered like the scales of a snake, all sparkling like grains of sand. What were once distant dots, were now bright like suns. And then once more, the cold unfeeling voice spoke in my head. The voice of The System.
[The stars shine with brilliance, revelations from beyond the veil appear. Minor Voting Interference has been decided. The stars have begun to fall, and all that awaits is Fate. The power to change fate is for the taking, will you grasp for it? Struggle for it? Let your own path begin.]
