Chapter 15: Chapter 12: Suffering

Suffering

About two hours later I finally can move… barely. I’m still next to the “ravine” made by the tendril of the monster, my muscles are sore… and the right side of my face still feels bloated, even after I stopped making venom in that side

‘I’m sorry…’ all of this is my fault… ‘So… the update was to avoid you getting absorbed?’

-What update? IDIOT!-

‘Right, godly topic… are you going to get Absorbed in the future?’

-Not unless you do something COMPLETELY MORONIC…! I’m doomed…-

‘Give me some credit… as long I don’t upgrade or empower Absorb you should be fine, right?’

-Do you have the self control to do that?! NAMELESS IDIOT!-

‘MY NAME IS MIRIAM!’

HISS!!!

Great! Now I’m-!

-FINALLY!-

‘…’

-Instead of thick skinned, you are actually thick skulled, Miriam-

The window closes and I cover my face by curling my body around it…

‘Aaahhh!’ this is embarrassing… ‘It doesn’t suit me! I’m not…! Status…’ its there… ‘Aaahhh!’ I dig my head again

I don’t have enough magic to make the earth swallow me… I look up, there is a new message in front of me

-The Deed means: name are meaningless, what matter is who you are-

…

‘Ok, I like that one…’ perhaps… ‘Do you have a suggestion on what Deed to focus?’

-The ONLY ONE! That you can do right now…-

‘Deeds in progress… oh, the fishing one…’ the message closes ‘Right… yeah, I should do that one… wait… I only have two out of ten fished right now…? At best I’ll get this one done in tree days… IF I get a different fish every time…’

I can go fishing along the river to the south… and reach the white flowers, where I smelled another-!

‘There is a Spawner under the city!’ and a rapist… ‘Forgot about that one… damn it…! Getting in the city… difficult… no-!’

Hiss!

‘Can I get inside the city without getting killed…?!’

The river passes next to the city and the water is clean… I have no idea why they don’t use that river… not complaining, I drink that water after all, but…

‘If they throw their waste in a river, is from somewhere in the western side of the city…’ that means… ‘Spider…’

In order to avoid the spider I would need to get in the city by the east, check the south side, find and kill the rapist… I never saw his face… then get in the sewers… tunnels… track and kill Spawner number two… and any monster that gets in the way there… get out… using the waste disposal exit…

‘All of that, while avoiding humans…’ I rest my head on the ground ‘Yeah… not happening… ugh…’ think… ‘She was walking towards the group that was tracking me… I sure hope they helped her!’

If that means, that the bastard is taken care of… that just leaves the Monster… how… can… I…

‘Give me the nail with the local languages please…’ bracing for pain…

…

‘Hello?’

-You serious?-

‘I know I can’t talk, but I can write… maybe… I also might need to steal parchment and ink, though…’ I really need thumbs…

-No-

…

‘WHY?!’

-The city is full of competent people, unlike you. So, Miriam, getting close is SUICIDAL! Remember that you called me a SURVIVAL SYSTEM?!-

‘Fine… ok people, this one is all for you… if I become humanoid and that thing is still there, I’m going to be… disappointed…?’ the boar smell… ‘…? One is getting closer?’ vibrations coming in this direction, fast ‘Shit!’

/////

She had no time to react or hide, as soon as Miriam untangled herself, the boar appeared next to her side of the clearing, glaring at her

SQUEAL!!!

‘Aaahhh!’ the fear she felt, pierced her to the core, making her move backwards as the boar charged, incidentally making her fall in the open space left by the tentacle

The boar quickly jumped above the opening, turning around as it landed, and she moved away from the monster’s remains, under the bridge she had made. In the next seconds the boar jumped inside the opening and charged towards her again, slamming its enormous frame against the space under the root squealing in rage, causing the whole tree to shake

‘Nonono!’ she saw with growing fear that the structure she made was cracking

HISS!!!

SQUEAL!!!

Miriam tried to scare the creature, but it only resulted on another challenging cry from the boar making her freeze in fear

She couldn’t get close, even if this boar was missing the horn she had seen previously, the two sharp, blade like tusks moved from left to right with the head making it clear that they were going to cut her in one swing if she did. Compared to the beast, her arms were weak and her claws might as well be made of wet clay, the animal was too big for her to get in a constriction position and she lacked the necessary muscles and size to even attempt a hold

And using magic to drop the tree on top of the creature was beyond her current stored magic

HISS-!!!

‘WHAT?!’

OINK?!

She tried to hiss again, this time pushing her venom glands to see how far away the venom reached… but the results stunned her and made the wild pig stop in confusion

‘The Sleep Venom is VOLATILE?!’

As soon as the liquid came out, it turned into a pink mist that dissipated quickly in front of her, the venom from her other fang didn’t reached far either

The pause was short, as the boar moved backwards and rushed towards the bridge again

‘IA!’ but she had one last idea, she closed her mouth and squeezed her venom inside the cavity, first the normal kind, to keep the air away from the sleep variant, and as the two mixed she hastily made another spell ‘Gather, mix, aim, motion, speed! Venom Dart!’

Miriam opened her mouth and from it she fired a small liquid tube (smaller than she hoped) that impacted against the snout of the beast in front of her, instantly turning into a pink cloud, that the surprised boar inhaled and choked fumbling backwards

She couldn’t stay to see if that desperate attempt worked or not, Miriam was out of venom and options, so as fast as her stiff body allowed, she climbed from the “ravine” and moved towards the trees

Not far, she saw that the boar had been there for longer than she realized, the remains from her previous kill were destroyed, and the blood soaked ground around the broken pillar she had made, was covered in swine footprints

Looking with fear over her shoulder she moved away, realizing how a simple berry almost killed her

…

But the boar wasn’t going to follow her, even if it was immune to the yellow drops of venom in its snout, the pink mist was different

Its body was still tired of all the chases and kills it had committed that day, so the soothing effect of the cloud, even if it did absolutely no damage, was enough to drop it, after it saw the unreasonably alluring prey getting away

And sleep came soon after… something that the Watcher was happy about

The gigantic living being was grateful to the weird reptile for her clumsy efforts to help, the tree wasn’t going to fall, but her magic was tasty and the structure she had made meant that the plant could remain in that place without using its own magic, in order to adjust its positioning

The boar in the other hand…

Saying that the whole forest was… unhappy… about the entire species, would be an understatement

So, the Watcher moved its roots out of the ground and making sure that the sleeping creature was under it as it shifted, the tree prepared to go down

The attack of the tree was very slow and it took minutes to reach the optimal position for it, but when the boar started to feel the weight and it woke up, it was too late

Its squeals were loud and once they reached the white snake, they terrified her again, even after the creature went silent

She would never know what happened to that boar…

/////

‘Launch!’

Crunch!

‘Eh? Status?’

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‘Did I…’ I let go of the lizard, its chest looks a bit sunken… ‘Did… I got it in the heart?’ pray and swallow ‘Sorry, but hey good hiding spot up here… boars don’t climb trees… right?’

I look down from the branches of the Sturdy I climbed…

‘Good thing I only fell once, and that the lizard didn’t hear me… I hate this…’ that was… awful… ‘I can’t get out of the forest… I could have done that before Absorb, but not now, right?’

-Taking into account your increased metabolism and the size of the prey you have found out of this place so far. Yes, thinking that an ANOMALY! Can survive, is STUPID!-

‘Then I can’t save the points… Status… EP Shop… the Magic Organ is not going to go away, right? After evolving, I mean’

-It… can go away, depending on what evolution you pick-

‘Can I still see my choices?’ I get out of the shop ‘Species…’ three unknowns and…

‘One more than before…’ but no hints ‘So… my bigger version, the bigger version of my cousins… lizard…? And… another snake, maybe…? Are those question marks my fault too?’

-Surprisingly. No Miriam. THIS TIME! Is not your fault-

‘Ok… yes, that actually is surprising… but what is the deal with the lizards then?’ no answer ‘I suppose that I’ll figure it out by looking at my choices later…’

I close that screen and open the store again…

‘With the Magic Organ I might have enough to make more Eye Stones… but what is the point if I can’t survive?’ the kind of things I need to tell myself… ‘Alright… Three upgrades of bones and muscles for my arms… I can’t for one point, bleh… the sleep venom made me very hungry and was uncomfortable… but is my only option for boars when I am out of spells…’

I get out of the shop again and see… my…

‘Eh…? I know that I am bad at magic, but adding question marks to my spell is a bit harsh, no?’ at least no one can see this… ‘Can people see my Status Screen?’

-People next to you? Only if they use a very specific ritual-

‘Why did you worded it like that…?’ the window closes… ‘I… never mind that, focus… I don’t think the dart itself did any damage… and making a dirt “spear” as a boar is charging at me, sounds terrifying’

The boar broke the pointy pillar that I made before, without me realizing… so I have no idea of how tough it actually was

‘Having the option of sleep and flee would be useful, not only for boars… the extra storage for venom and the upgrade for the paralysis is fifty five points…’ my best option, I think ‘After that… no, lets not make plans, they aren’t really working for me and every time I fail to do one I feel bad. Buy Extra Venom Glands for 20 EP’

The heat focuses behind my head and-?!

‘BLEH! UGH! What the-?!’ it stops ‘Gah! Ugh! That was disgusting! Aaahhh!!!’ there is a new screen in front of me that tells me that I have four venom sacks now… and the item is gone from the store ‘Ugh… one and three are on the left, two and four to the right, assuming three and four, are the new ones. One, full kill venom production. Two, full paralyze production. Three, an equal part mix of the previous two. Four… low priority, sleep venom until the half mark, stop if it might make me too hungry…’

Now I wonder for how long I can store my venom before it goes bad…

‘I can’t remember my teacher telling me about that… it should last for a while, my cousins eat way less often that me… oh right, upgrade my Paralyze Venom please’

The upgrade happens without a problem and my mouth start making my weapons like I wanted

‘Good… now i-!’

SQUEAL!!!

‘Hide! Hide! Hide!’ I curl as much as I can in the branches…

Ding

‘Later… not safe right now…’

-----

Nightfall approaches… but I finally see the river, I move closer and “down the step” to be near the river. There is a rock on this side of the water further downstream, but I don’t see the need to climb it

‘The shelter… should be to the north, I’ll use it one last time before going south…’ no boar on sight… but the smell is there… ‘Different one… hopefully they fight between themselves instead. Getting really hungry… waiting as I tried to calm down gave me some magic back… fishing?’ I drink some water… ‘That’s one’ as I do that, I see a shadow move near the surface… ‘How would the Sleep venom react if I milk my fang inside the water…? Better not test that, until is needed’

Making the volatile liquid is really expensive for my body… just getting to a quarter of capacity in the way here, almost made me starve… full must be similar to evolving or worse…

‘But for some reason my face doesn’t feels bloated…’ I move up and look at my reflection ‘I don’t look bloated, nor different in size… must be because it reacted with a compound of the paralytic one…? I wasn’t paying attention as I was making the Venom Dart… but I think is safe to assume that is better to keep it pure… the fish is… moving?’

The water above the shape curls above it, as it flows downstream… not in the middle of the stream, but not getting as close as the Raider… its looking at me?

‘Again, the fishes have a really good stealth-!’ MOVE!

SPLASH!!!

‘AAAHHH!!!’

/////

The light of the sunset against her scales might as well be a moving beacon, it wasn’t too bad while she was moving under the shade of the trees, but next to the light reflecting in the water, Miriam was more exposed than she thought

Something that the fish took advantage of to prepare

It gathered water on its mouth, aimed while it was barely under the surface and using a similar mechanism to the Venom Dart of the snake, it fired an arrow of water at her

Miriam managed to avoid the narrow tip of the attack, but the body of the projectile still hammered her in the neck, pushing her to the side briefly cutting her breath, as the attack impacted against the edge of the riverbank above her, breaking part of it and throwing mud around her

‘AAAHHH!!!’

She started to panic, unable to understand the situation as she couldn’t detect the minute amount of magic that the fish gathered for its attacks, Miriam barely managed to lift her head, before another arrow left a crevice in the ground, right were her eyes had been

‘Kill it!!! Ia! Imbue Arms!’

A part of Miriam managed to break the hold that her fear had created and started to use the same spell she had used against the other fish

‘Current-! AAAHHH!!!’

Crack!

HISS!!!

But this time the attack struck her face, just as she lifted her arms and went backwards from the impact. Her spell still triggered, launching the water with the fish inside up in the air, the creature flew for a few moments before landing between Miriam and the edge of the river, still alive and moving to the water

‘AAAHHH!’

Miriam hissed again, and she noticed a blood covered fragment of a fang in the ground, her fang

‘DIE!!!’

She threw herself to the fish, biting without using her fangs on the back side of the tail trying to ignore the pain, but her momentum pushed both of them into the liquid, where the water dweller had the advantage and pulled her partway in

And the current started to drag her along with the creature, as her claws scored the underwater floor and what remained of her tail outside it, tried to get a grip

Miriam felt regret and fear filling her

When both her and the fish impacted against the rock she had seen before, her tail, claws and body held to it, fighting both the current and the creature to go ashore one more time, but was unable to win against them

‘AAAHHH!!!’ and as her body started to feel faint, due to the pain and lack of air ‘CURRENT!!!’ she used the last of her magic around her

Thanks to that, she managed to get out pulling the fish along with her, once in the ground the fish tried to shoot at her again, but missed and she collapsed on top of her food, coughing water with every hiss she made

Hiss!

Hiss!

The electric blue fish was still trying to return to the water, but it was smaller than the previous one, so as Miriam was above it breathing, it slowly choked on air

/////

‘Ia stop… I’m stupid…’

Ding

Prayer and swallow…

‘What are you? Status… EH?!’

‘NO! ANYTHING BUT THAT!’ I nearly regurgitate what I’m eating ‘NOT THAT NAME!’

-WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!-

‘That is the name of an ecoterrorist group in my previous world!’

-Oh… alright then-

‘Thanks you!’ the message closes ‘Alright… wait… are Water Shooters, rare? Or is this specific fish that is rare…?’ I get all my food inside…

No answers…

‘Fine… Absorb please behave, I don’t-!’

HISS!!!

‘WHY?!’