Chapter 19: Aftermath

Note: Somewhat messed up imagery ahead.

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{Rin}

[... Where am I?] Rin asked herself as water dripped into the pool she was currently standing in from the ceiling.

It just didn't make sense to her. One second, she was in a lush green forest, being held down by a kobold while the other was casting a spell, and then, when the spell was cast, she was suddenly here. [Can magic even do that!?]

As the surprise subsided, the smell was the next thing she registered. She gagged, bringing a hand up to cover her nostrils. [What is this?] She asked herself, looking down at the black pool she was standing in with disgust. The torch's low fire crackled while she tried to get her bearings.

[The road! Maybe I'm still close,] she hoped as she waded across the water and got out of the pool. Moments later though, Rin could hear a sort of snarling coming from the hall next to the sconce. It sounded like two kobolds making noises at each other.

[Crap, what do I...?] Rin looked around trying to find a place to hide in. The only option appeared to be the pool.

As gross as it was, Rin had no other choice. So, she went right back into the water and, as she heard the kobolds coming into the room, she took a deep breath and submerged herself in the water.

Moments later, she could vaguely see the outline of the kobolds' bodies as they entered the pool. And, when she saw what they did next, she wished she hadn't opened her eyes at all.

It took everything she had not to vomit as she saw the kobolds taking a dump under the water. After a few seconds, both of them walked away, out of the room, and Rin came up, gasping for air and puking as she realized she was currently neck-deep in a pool of kobold filth.

She got out as quickly as she could and spilled what was left of her stomach's contents onto the rocks beneath.

[... I need to find a way out of here,] she thought as she quickly walked out of this cramped room and went out into the hall.

The more she looked around, the more she realized this place fit a description she'd only ever known from classes she took as a kid. A "cave". Somehow, she'd ended up in one of those, with nothing but dim torches to let her know where she was going.

Hoping not to run into those kobolds again, Rin took her time as she moved, shaking and trembling as her skin felt freezingly cold from having been in that water. [Where...? Where do I go?] She wondered.

There were a few natural paths ahead of her. Of course, since she had no idea where the hell she was, they were all equally as likely to be the right way out of this mess, as they were equally likely to lead nowhere.

[Uh, I'll do the left first...] She decided, jogging through there.

It didn't take long until she started hearing sounds in the distance. She moved a little more slowly, hoping she wouldn't run into anything too strong for her to fight. And, right now, she feared most creatures in the world fell into that category.

However, the path she was on only took her closer to those sounds. Just as she was considering turning around, more of those noises came from behind, and now, she was surrounded.

[Crap, crap, crap...]

Rin kept going until finally, the path led her to a wide room of sorts. Here, she heard something being ripped and cracked. She reached the room's door and peeked inside.

As soon as she saw where that sound was coming from, her eyes widened and Rin's entire body froze.

Two kobolds had several human corpses in front of them. Bodies belonging to what looked like regular travelers, which they were in the process of devouring. As Rin's eyes darted from one corpse to another, she realized that this had been a family. A mother, with her entrails, sliced out of her stomach and sprawled out on the floor. A father, who the two kobolds were currently eating from, as they ripped out chunks of his shoulders and thighs. A young boy who had a deep gash on his neck.

Rin felt like she couldn't breathe.

Many different emotions went through her, all at once. Shock, sadness, pity, fear. However, after a moment passed, she settled on one.

Anger.

These didn't look like the other kobolds, the ones who were stronger. So, Rin took a sharp breath and walked forwards. Both monsters were so entranced by what they were doing that they didn't hear her approach them.

Rin loomed over one for a second. She just watched it as it took a bite out of the man's right arm.

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And then, she snaked an arm around its neck and pulled back with as much force as she could. She'd put more strength into it than she'd expected she would because as soon as she did, she heard a crack and the kobold went limp.

"Auagh!?" The kobold next to it fell back, surprised. Then, it started making incoherent low snarling sounds, and Rin tossed the dead kobold away.

The one that was still alive got up and tried to swipe at Rin's face, but she leaned back, dodging out of the way, and then, she grabbed it by its neck. Throwing it down just in front of the dead man, she wrapped both her hands around its neck and pressed down as hard as her arms allowed her to.

The kobold's draconic eyes bulged, as it tried to breathe, but Rin didn't let go until the kobold, still wide-eyed, went still. Even then, Rin punched it twice. The creature was already dead, but she felt so angry at what she'd just seen that she couldn't help herself.

She stood up then, backing up as she looked at the scene in front of her. With both kobolds dead, Rin nodded to herself and decided to keep looking for a way out. However, those animalistic sounds from earlier, the ones who had been behind her, returned then, and they were far too close.

Rin looked around, trying to see a place where she could hide.

There was nothing around her that she could use for cover. Just as the sounds were getting too close though, an idea came to her, and Rin turned around. Desperately, she laid down by the bodies of the dead people around her, throwing the dead boy over her own body, and she pretended to have perished as well. By now, she had acclimated to the terrible scents around her, so she was able to focus entirely on remaining as motionless as she could while two figures walked into the room.

One was a woman, wearing black and purple robes while the other was a simple kobold.

Rin held her breath and kept her eyes on the ceiling as the woman noticed the dead kobold bodies.

"Hm? Who did this?" The woman asked aloud.

As she inspected the kobold's wounds, Rin heard the sound keys clanking against each other.

From the corner of her eye, Rin saw that she had a keyring on her belt. That sent two simple messages to Rin's mind.

First:

[There are locked doors in this place.]

And second:

[If I kill her... I can open them.]

The woman stood up and turned around, ready to walk out of the room and probably alert whoever else was here to her presence. In that instant, Rin did the first thing she could think of.

Letting Essence flow through her body, she used it to boost her strength as high as she could make it. She would only have one shot at this, after all. She pushed the boy's body off of herself, stood up, and ran at the woman from behind, all in one motion.

Then, she grabbed her from behind and smashed her face into the rock wall she was standing next to. Blood splattered in front of her and she fell to the left, groaning, and very much still alive.

Rin stopped the Essence in her body, feeling her muscles cry out before she grabbed the shocked kobold who'd come into the room with the woman and snapped its neck. Then, she looked down at the woman on the ground and used one of the most effective moves she knew.

She pulled the woman up, wrapped her arms around her neck, and started choking her. At first, the woman flailed like all of the kobolds had, but as she was human, she was marginally more intelligent. Rin felt her body become stronger suddenly, and quickly.

[Essence?] Rin thought, trying her hardest to hold on as the woman elbowed her in the ribs. She was sure she broke something, restraining a cry as the woman continued to fight to get out of her grip. She got elbowed two more times for her trouble, but, soon, the woman stopped, and slowly, her body lost its strength.

Until finally, she'd stopped moving and Rin threw her off.

"Ow, ow... Shit..." Rin genuinely cried as she felt her right ribs burning with intense pain.

[I... I have enough Essence in me for one spell, right?] She thought, remembering the measuring that she and the other students had done. So, she drew a circle in the air and her palm began glowing white, as she pressed it to her ribs while she cast the [Heal] spell.

It took a minute or two, but later, she felt like she could move, and she ripped the keyring from the woman's belt.

[Okay, okay...] Rin breathed heavily. [Now, how do I get out of here?]

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