Chapter 41: Chapter 39 – Halls of Old

I awoke, once again today, to an unfamiliar ceiling. Or I would, if I could see it. Unfortunately it was too dark and too high up. Levelling my vision brought the sight of a dead monstrosity infront of me, in turn bringing me confusion. I don't remember killing it, only blacking out after...

Right, my arm. I quickly spun my vision to my arm, and was shocked to see something else had replaced it. A metallic arm, with glowing blue seams and menacing claws. After trying different movements, I determined that it had replaced my old arm.

Licht: "Do you distrust me so with our own body, comrade?" Licht piped up during my investigation.

Iris: "Not especially but, I would like to know what exactly is going on." I replied, holding my head.

It was only now that I started to realize how much pain my body was in. Everything ached, even my now-mechanical arm. Was it phantom pain from losing my original, or could I actually feel things with my new arm? I briefly wondered that after taking a spot to lay down and relax, while Licht filled me in.

~~×~~×~~

I grimaced after the man in my head finished talking.

Iris: "So that's why my arm hurts like a motherfucker. It's because you cauterized it with magic."

Licht: "Next time I'll let us bleed out and be eaten." He said, almost as though he were pouting.

Iris: "fine, fine, thank you for saving me. Surely there is some healing magic for pain management...?" It would be great if there was. I would rather not be in pain every waking moment of my life, if it's like this.

Licht: "I'll think of something." I groaned in response abd sat up before climbing to my feet. I stretched my body a bit and heaved a sigh. Nothing to do but bear with it.

First things first, my arm... I considered retrieving it. But I would rather not carry around a limb in my bag, and I wasn't going to reattach it when I had this prosthetic. I made my way over to my remain, and picked it up. I cringed, something about holding my own severed arm was extremely unsettling. But I at least removed my gauntlet and stored it. Perhaps I could have it remade to fit my right arm.

Settling that, I discarded my "spare" and left the scene. Better left forgotten, there's more important matters to be had anyway. "So I suppose this is the only way out, now." I muttered to myself, standing infront of the massive doors to the entrance hall. They extended all the way up, nearly to the ceiling, and were wide enough to fit two cars through at the same time.

I considered my options and possible scenarios beyond this door. It was my only path forward, but I decided against being hasty. If there were monsters beyond this, how should I deal with them? I decided to open my status for the first time in quite a while to take stock of my options.

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Iris - Age 14 - Female - Level 43

Body - Sp: 156/253(35^) MP 84/264(44^)

Stats - Str: 30(7^), Dex: 34(8^), Agi: 36(6^), End: 25(6^), Int: 32(5^) Luk: -

Skills - Parallel Thought {3}(1^), Sword skill {4}(1^), Gunsmithing {1}, Mental Resistance {3}, Disease Resistance {1}, Mana Control {5}(1^), Dagger Skill {3}, Critical Point {2}, Dark Vision {2}(1^), Marksmanship {2}, Pressure {3}(1^), Appraisal {1}, Falsification {1}, Primal Enhancement {2}(1^), Cleave{1}, Magic Bolts {2}(1^), Acting {1}, Wild Brawling{1}[NEW], Mana Coating{1}[NEW], Mana Blade{1}[NEW]

Title: A Sapling in Stone, Bloody Cat > Crimson Wildcat, Sky-Slayer, Cruel, Light in the Darkness

You are reading story An Account of Steam & Blood at novel35.com

Capability: 320 (568) with Limited PE) (784) with PE)

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My "Bloody Cat" title transformed... Is it because of my fighting style...? And this "Light in the Darkness". Is it because I killed a deep one? I had other thoughts, but I put them aside for the time being. My capability was quite high, much higher than before. It seems the deep one leveled me up several times, and I've gained new skills ontop of my old ones upgrading.

Aside from that, my condition is... Less than optimal. I don't have a lot of mana to work with and my stamina is down considerably, but I don't have time to rest. Time to make my move. I placed my hands on the door and began to push...

In vain. The massive doors I had been deliberating in front of wouldn't budge. I pushed harder, scowling and shoving my weight into them- before collapsing in a puff and sitting with my back to the doors. "Ugghh, why can't anything be easy in this damn world-!" I groaned, venting my frustrations into the dark hall.

Licht: "Perhaps there's a mechanism? This is still reality, you know. I doubt they used manpower to open these gates." Licht suggested, while poking fun at me. I puffed my face in a pout and stood up once more.

I began looking around, starting with this side of the room by the gateway. A lever, or pully of some kind... A button even? I continued searching the walls and room, until, on the opposite side of the hall from the antechamber I came from, I noticed something behind a collapsed bit of rubble. It looked to be a door, and so I used primal enhancement to begin moving aside the rubble.

Soon enough, I had found myself to be correct, and had uncovered a regularly sized door. I pulled it open, greeted by a cloud of dust and a dark corridor. Waving aside the dirty cloud of particles, I stepped into the corridor to begin exploring it. Perhaps this would lead to the mechanism that opens the gates in the audience hall.

Along the way there were several doors. Investigating them led to many somewhat ornate rooms, some more destroyed than others. I wondered what they could be for, servants of some variety? Then the path forked. The way straight ahead had been buried under stone, so I turned right. There were two doors down this way, one led into a storage of some kind, and the other into a dining area, much alike a cafeteria. The only similarities I could find to any of the other rooms was the accumulation of dust and debris.

I continued a bit further down and arrived at a door leading into another storage room, except this time for armaments. There were only a few, dusty and ancient blades and polearms. I inspected the blades, only to find them degraded by time. Using them would merely be a detriment. Then, against the back wall, was a large lever. Given the location of it, and being the only mechanism I could even find, I decided to give it a try abd pull it.

It was heavy and hard to move, but I finally pulled it down, and could feel under the stone, a large, ancient mechanism turning once more. I turned to leave the room, only to catch myself spotting something wrapped up and leaning on an empty weapon rack. I stepped forward and took a look at the bundle, unwrapping it in my arms. The cloth was exquisite, extremely high quality, and had a faded red emblem on it.

It was a gilded kite shield frame with an ornate wigned helmet in the center, with a sword and rifle underneath. The emblem was one I had never seen before, but I was quickly distracted by what I found within the cloth. It was an ornate long rifle, similar in shape to a bolt-action rifle from Licht's world.

Only there was no bolt, nor a magazine well. There was nowhere to insert or attach ammunition. Then what did it run on...? Taking a closer look, I spotted something glass-like lining the center of the stock, running towards the barrel. Perhaps..? I channeled some mana into the weapon, and I felt a soft hum in my hands, as a minute amount of blue light entered to glass line embedded in the stock. The ammunition was mana, then.

The rifle had a strap attached, so I slung it onto my back, stuffed the flag into my bag, and left the room. This rifle would be a great help, and it looked to be in decent condition despite being so old. Perhaps the weapons in the armory were simply spares, and these rifles were kept there for emergencies only? Then this area would be the barracks for the royal guard.

I left the corridor in good pace, returning to the audience hall, and could see the doors had finally ground open, if just enough to allow passage. I approached carefully, and could see the corridor stretching out beyond the audience hall. It diverged into three paths, the left path blocked by a massive pile of rubble.

I chose one of the two paths arbitrarily and began to walk, observing my surroundings carefully as i began to get lost in my thoughts. Christy is gonna be shocked when she sees my new arm. I'm sure everyone else will too... I wonder if Y'vanna and Ghost Squadron is alright. What was the aftermath of the suicide bomber...?

And Dior. In the scuffle of everything, I was nearly forced to forget about her. We still have things to settle. It may be wrong of me, but I hope Y'vanna calls off the reconnaissance so that I can fight Dior myself. There were so many things still left to do in this world... 

Down here in these ancient halls, I promised to myself then and there that I wouldn't die until I had finished my business.

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