Arianna
"... Okay," the half-demon said in front of her, "this is kind of starting to get a little cramped. Are we at the right place?" She asked, but Arianna figured she was talking to herself as she, of course, had no idea.
A short while after the two of them had been in front of Bin's bar, they took a couple of turns, and now, they were walking upon a narrow valley, where the walls were much closer to each other than Arianna thought they'd be. Ahead, she could faintly see a green glow, coming from the valley itself. The ground itself was slightly rising as well, hinting that they were going up to the top of the canyon again.
She had been nervous throughout this entire journey so far, but now, she was feeling anxious enough to where the beating of her heart was almost all she could focus on.
That, and Ash's words as she told her to keep going.
Still, they'd gotten far enough to where now, the thought of what would come after she'd managed to escape Amber was beginning to creep into her mind.
What is there for me? She wondered. Will I be able to form a life for myself outside of my city?
Throughout the entirety of the sixteen years of her life, not once had she left Amber, even on a short trip or a vacation. Amber, and, more specifically, the Manor, was all she knew.
What is the world even like out there? She wondered. Small beads of hope were starting to form in her chest. Ones that she knew were foolish to have this early, but, they were there nonetheless.
"... bit, as long as nothing jumps out."
Arianna heard that and looked up at Ash, confused.
"Were you listening?" Ash asked. Arianna shook her head. "I just said we'll be there in a bit. We just need to keep an eye out."
She made an, "oh" expression, nodding.
"Alright then," Ash put her hands on her hips. "Let's get this over with."
On that note, they continued along the path.
Soon, that green glow was surrounding them as they ventured deeper down the valley. A strange sensation began to fill Arianna's lungs, and it began to feel harder to breathe.
"... Oh, great," Ash said, ahead of her, and Arianna was confused.
Until words appeared over her head, and she understood the source of Ash's concern.
Poisoned
[Health and certain stats will deteriorate based on the intensity of the factor
that caused the poison. Remaining poisoned will cause these effects to
worsen.]
What? Arianna was confused. Then, she checked her stats.
Level 1
MP: 100/100
---
STR: 1 (-10)
DEX: 1
CON: 1 (-10)
INT: 75
WIS: 10
L: 5
It... I suppose it doesn't make much of a difference for me.
"Hold on a second, I'll get rid of this," Ash told her. "Sickness is but a stain on the graces of Lumina. Let those stains wash away."
Ash recited an incantation, and the status effect went away. They kept walking, but just a couple of seconds later, the same message appeared.
Poisoned
"Shit," Ash hissed out as she looked over her own head. "Okay, change of plan. We'll just have to deal with it until we get to the other side."
Arianna tugged on Ash's sleeve, before writing in her notebook.
"How bad is this? Did the other people go through this too?" She wrote.
"Probably, so, if they did, it can't be too rough in here. We just need to be quick, and careful."
Hearing that, Arianna let out a relieved sigh and the two kept going. A lot of that earlier hope and optimism was slowly fading as she saw animal bones scattered around the area. There were weird glowing plants letting out green fumes, and she guessed those things were the source of the poison.
A few distant clicking noises and what sounded like snarling made every step feel just a little bit worse. Ash, however, maintained a steel-eyed look, right up until she saw a strange, humanoid creature eating what appeared to be a human body.
Arianna paled when she saw it ripping pieces of the corpse out and stuffing it into its gaping mouth. This was like something out of a nightmare.
"... Guess the smugglers had a little bit of trouble," Ash said, as she took her cube from her waist. "Let's hope that plan is still on the table."
Then, her cube transformed into a sword, and Ash ran forward.
What level is it? She wondered, and she checked at the creature stood up, and spread its arms, showing off a long wingspan and blade-like fingers.
Level 39
MP: 100/100
Ash should win easily then, right? Arianna thought as the woman ran up to it.
The half-demon got up close to it.
The creature breathed in, just as Ash was pulling her sword back to let loose a wide swing. Then, the monster let out an ear-piercing screech, and Ash froze, mid-charge.
Ash stopped moving.
What?
As though Ash had been turned into a block of ice, she fell over, her pose kept exactly the same as it was when the creature screeched. She still wasn't moving.
Uhm... What is happening?
Then, the monster raised one of its blade-like hands, and brought it down on Ash's midsection, stabbing into her body. The half-demon's violet blood spurted out onto the ground. When Arianna saw that, her eyes widened. The creature stabbed Ash again, as Ash's body appeared difficult to cut through, and Arianna shook her head.
I need to do something!
So, she employed the use of one of the Primordial Spells her father had taught to her, throwing her notebook and pencil to the ground.
The Fire variant, Blaze of Divinity.
"Flame of truth, gift of Magia," she mouthed the words, "unleash ambition upon this plane!"
And so, she stretched her right palm toward the monster, which was too distracted to even notice her.
And, a pair of dragons made of flames shot out from her hand. The dragons spiraled, dancing with each other in the air as they flew out toward the monster. When they reached it, they covered the entire creature, and the monster promptly disintegrated.
"Eeeaaaaagh!" It screeched before it turned into ashes in front of her.
EXP Gained: 2300
EXP: 10/10
Level Up!
Arianna, however, ignored the message as she ran over to where Ash had fallen. The half-demon was bleeding from her midsection.
How much mana do I have?
She wondered, looking up.
Level 23
MP: 1/100
Dang it, she thought. What do I do? Ehm, wait, what do I get for leveling up?
Then, as she checked her status, she saw the 46 attribute points she'd just gained from that kill. Wait! I can put it all into my mana, and I'll have enough to heal her!
Doing just that, bringing her Wis to 56, she took a deep breath.
Now, she used the Primordial Light spell, Total Healing.
"Lumina's caress, for those in need, let them feel the touch of pure kindness," she mouthed, and she placed her hands on Ash's body.
Even though she was bleeding out and still frozen, Arianna saw an annoyed expression on her face. However, soon, both the wounds and this strange condition of hers went away, as Arianna's entire body glowed white, and Ash's did as well.
Then, the half-demon took a deep breath and quickly sat up, looking down at her own body.
"I... Holy shit," Ash said. "What did you do?"
Arianna just shrugged. She walked back over to her notebook, picked it up along with her pencil, and scribbled down:
"I guess you could consider that a peek into the rewards I offer."
"Yeah?" Ash chuckled. "Well, I'm glad I'm doing this shit then. That was really good."
Hearing that praise, Arianna beamed at her.
"Let's not sit around here for longer than we need to. If you're ready, let's keep going."
Nodding along, the half-demon stood up and they continued on their path.
On the way to the other side of this valley, they saw a few other bodies like the one the monster had been devouring earlier. Additionally, they saw some dead creatures, looking like they'd been torn apart by a mix of arrows and swords. Eventually, though, they saw the green mist clear up ahead, and the ground began to balance out as they made it to the top of the canyon.
"We're done," Ash quickly declared, hurrying a little, and Arianna followed her, quickening her pace as well. Just a few seconds later, they came out into an open area, and ahead, they could see three carts stationed just a short walk away. They were being protected by some people dressed in armor. Inside the carts, were dozens of regular-looking individuals.
"Pretty sure that's them," Ash said. "We made it. Let me get this poison off of us."
Seeing the vehicles like this, just a short walk away, made Arianna tear up. She turned toward Ash, writing down:
"Thank you."
"Yeah, no problem," Ash replied before casting that same poison-curing spell from earlier. And, with that out of the way, both of them had made it out safe, and secure.
Their illusions faded soon after that, as they made their way to these carts.
... Father, mother, Arianna thought. I know your prayers and spirits protected me today. Thank you.
As they arrived at the caravan, one guy said:
"You're the girl Bin talked to?"
"Yeah," Ash answered.
"Okay," the guy pounded his fist against the cart. "Last one's here! Get ready!"
"Hold on, hold on," Ash said. "I need something first. Okay," she turned toward Arianna. "Pass me those spells."
Nodding, Arianna ripped out a page of her notebook.
She held out a hand over it and performed the same ritual that her father had performed to teach these spells to her.
Her hand glowed with multiple colors at once, circling her arm, before embedding themselves in the page.
The first one she gave Ash was the Fire spell.
She ripped out another, and did the same process, giving Ash the Light spell. A couple of pages later, she had done the same for the Dark spell, and the Illusion spell.
There's still the Ice, Wind, Earth, and Water spells, Arianna thought, tearing out another page. She got started on the Wind spell, as Ash suddenly turned to her left.
"... What the fuck?" Ash asked, and Arianna went to look at the thing she was staring at.
In the distance, she saw a carriage drawing closer. It was being pulled by a pair of golden-decorated horses, and at the coach's seat, Arianna saw someone dressed in a white robe.
"Shit, shit!" The armored guy said. "Go, go!"
"No, leave one! You, stay!" Ash told one of the drivers. "The rest of you can go. We aren't done yet!"
"A-Are you sure?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Ash nodded. "Arianna, just keep passing over those spells."
Taking a nervous breath, she tried to do just that. Two of the carts quickly departed, but one remained, with each of the people inside looking on nervously.
With trembling hands, Arianna did as Ash asked.
How did they know? Arianna asked herself. Then, as she had a thought, she looked up at Ash. Did... Did she betray me?
As the incoming vehicle then reached them, Arianna saw exactly the man she hadn't wanted to see.
Zafir hopped off the cart, with some knights by his side, as Ash took her cube off of her belt, and held it in her hand.
"Ash.... How disappointing."
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