[9] - Re: Danger


There was a garden once.

They said it was most beautiful. They said it was the place where faeries lay, where all magic came, and where all shall return to. It was a garden of life and memories, grown and nurtured by the beings long gone. It was a place where all gods would come to rest.

It was said that only those who were close to death would see it. It was said that only those with a pure heart could see it. It was said that only those with true understanding could see it. It was said that only the gods could enter it. It was said that only those blessed by the world could come upon it.

It was said that the flowers grown within began to wilt, their life dragged away as the world heaved its last few breaths. The vibrant glow it had faded into a muted afterglow, and what once was shall never be.

There was a garden once.


[Gained 120 Exp and 60 Credits]

The Cardbird shook. Its brethren had fallen in a single strike, and it could do nothing and sit as the girl slowly approached. Her crystal daggers shone under the sunlight, and it closed its eyes and waited.

IF stabbed her daggers down.

[Gained 120 Exp and 60 Credits]

She smiled. The Exp these monsters gave weren't all that different from those in the Inner Virtua Forest. Which made sense. The Gapain Field was an entry-level dungeon after all.

Except it wasn't, not really. The Elemental Dragon at the far end of the field was a beast compared to the Fenrisulfr, and there were two incredibly powerful boss monsters hiding in a cave not too far away from the entrance. Not that she'd go in there. She didn't have a death wish thank you very much.

…This was nice, she admitted. After waking up, Vert had pampered her with all sorts of food and games. Chika had unexpectedly joined in as well. She found that she didn't mind. The oracle was clingy for her 'Dear Sister', but she was…nice, in her own, special way.

But having some time to herself was definitely needed. She enjoyed their company, but the two were…eccentric, to put it simply. She needed some time alone to recharge herself.

And so here she was, running across Gapain Field as she tore through the local fauna. The Cardbirds, Sunfloweries, and Pumpkimons fell with a single swipe of her daggers. It was extremely satisfying to watch.

She wasn't going anywhere close to the Elemental Dragon however. She might be able to take down the Fenrisulfr now, but that damned dragon would still blow her away like a damned leaf. She'd need to build more speed and power before she even dared to attempt a battle against it.

She smiled as swung her daggers, idly linking the sounds of her notifications into a nameless melody. She wasn't sure if her song actually sounded any good. She hoped it did.

She didn't plan on grinding her way towards the next level, at least not today. Her Exp requirement was getting rather high. A single trip through the Gapain Field wasn't going to grant her enough Exp for that.

She eventually reached the end of the field. If she went any further, she'd risk angering the Elemental Dragon, and she wasn't going close to that thing.

With a small sigh, she brought out Soul Blazer and rode her way back to Leanbox. She passed by the entrance to the Underverse on her way back, and she couldn't help but smile wryly. She could still remember being swamped by Dogoos. She shivered slightly. The feeling of slime crawling up her clothes was unpleasant.

Ah, curses.

She stopped and deposited Soul Blazer back into her inventory. She really shouldn't, but she couldn't help it. She wanted to see how she fared against the monsters in the Underverse. Aside from the boss monsters. Once again, she wasn't suicidal.

She brought out her crystal daggers and entered the cave, keeping herself steady as she descended. The sunlight from above faded, replaced by the orange glow of distant lava. The air grew hotter and heavier, and IF took a deep breath.

A wave of heat washed over her, and IF stepped forward.

A ruined underground facility, its halls rusted and covered by soot. All the equipment had long gone offline, and she could see the hole that led deeper into the lava-filled caves. She wouldn't be heading there any time soon.

She could see Plumindigos and Babyvaders crawling the facility, sliding and hopping and generally wandering aimlessly. The latter was a 3D rendition of a monster from that old arcade game, and the former was just a giant sliding green pipe. She wasn't quite sure how the latter was actually alive, but she'd stopped questioning Gamindustri's weird fauna.

A Plumindigo wandered towards her direction, and she leaned forward.

It came closer, and closer, and closer-

She leapt forward and slashed.

Tang!

Her crystal dagger cut a deep gash on the pipe's side, but it wasn't quite enough to kill it. Spinning on her heel, she slashed right at the wound she made. The Plumindigo shook from her attack, and it bent backwards unnaturally. She easily stepped aside and dug her daggers into it. It shook again, and she reversed her grip before she pulled her daggers away.

The Plumindigo gave one last shake before it broke into shards of light.

[Gained 300 Exp and 180 Credits]

…Fairly easy overall. Her Dagger Mastery's armor penetration was truly a blessing. Then again, she doubted she'd have much trouble against it anyways. The pipe was far too slow to actually catch her.

Those boss monsters on the other hand,

She shivered. It was truly unfair how much stronger those boss monsters were compared to the normal mobs.

She continued on, stalking a nearby Babyvader and waited for a moment to strike. The little thing spun around for a moment, before it began walking away. Gripping her daggers, she sprung forward.

Stab

[Gained 220 Exp and 100 Credits]

IF blinked. A single stab through its back was enough to kill it, it seemed. That was…nice, she supposed. She wasn't sure if it'd be this easy if she tackled it from the front, but she Babyvaders didn't have any other attack aside from slamming its face against her, so she should be fine there as well.

She…didn't expect it to be this easy. She hadn't met the ghosts, but those guys were slightly deeper into the caverns, and she wasn't heading that way.

Oh well.

She continued stalking the abandoned facility, taking out Plumindigos and Babyvaders as she went. The sum of Exp she got from killing the two swiftly approached the amount she received from her time hunting in the Gapain Field.

Then, she felt a chill run down her back, followed by a wave of heat.

Cold sweat trailed down her neck.

Slowly, she turned around and found herself faced with a very angry Flame Fenrir, its orange fur seeming to glow as wicks of flames rose around it. IF gulped.

She shouldn't have come.

She quickly leapt out of a wave of fire, and she kept running towards the exit. She wasn't ready to face it. Not now. She could feel the wolf following her, the fires it carried burning away the walls of the facility. She ran and ran, and the moment she got back to the entrance,

She found the entrance blocked by a pile of fallen rocks.

Her eyes widened, and she jumped away just in time as a pile of molten steel splashed onto the floor. She spun and faced the Flame Fenrir, her heart pounding as she brandished her crystal daggers.

This was the worst case scenario. She'd encountered the Flame Fenrir, her escape was gone, and she was trapped in this confined facility. At least all the monsters inhabiting it were cleaned out beforehand. That'd be an ever worse nightmare.

The Flame Fenrir growled. IF grit her teeth.

She had to do this.

IF leapt under the jet of flames that came out of the wolf's jaws, and she slammed a powerful Cross Impact onto its lower jaw. The Flame Fenrir flinched from the attack, but her impact hardly showed any damage. She launched another Cross Impact. Hardly anything changed.

IF grimaced. This would be hard.

The Falem Fenrir swung its claws, and IF leapt over its head and slammed a Cross Impact between its eyes.

Suddenly, it turned up to her, and she jolted. She could see flames building in the back of its throat, and she quickly fired a Cross Impact at its mouth.

The Flame Fenrir staggered back this time, her daggers digging into the inside of its mouth. She pulled back, only to find her daggers stuck.

Her eyes widened. Her daggers…!

Gritting her teeth, she let go of her daggers and jumped away. The Flame Fenrir growled, and it shot out a giant wave of fire at the ceiling, melting the metal plates above into molten blobs. Her crystal daggers had completely evaporated from the heat.

Her heart ached at the sight, but IF shook her head and leapt back.

She was weaponless now. The bonuses from Dagger Mastery and Cross Impact were gone-

No. Not gone. Not yet. After all, she had nearly 200 Iron Knives left from that forging spree she did back in Planeptune.

She grabbed a pair of knives and rushed in. She ducked under its claw and slammed a Cross Impact at its lower jaw, tearing open a small wound. Her iron knives immediately broke.

She grabbed another pair and struck with another Cross Impact. Wind shot out as the wound grew, her knives shattering again. She gleefully grabbed the jagged remains and slammed them into the wound. The Flame Fenrir howled in pain and slammed its mouth down. IF quickly jumped back.

She landed, and jumped back as a wall of flame erupted around the wolf. The air grew thick, and IF quickly grabbed an ice pack from her inventory and pressed it onto her forehead. It'd be her immediate loss if she fainted from heatstroke.

The flames slowly died down, and she breathed out a sigh as she threw the ice pack away. The thing was clearly hurting now.

She could win.

She rushed forward, and leapt up as the Fenrir fired a stream of flames at her. With another pair of knives, she slammed a Cross Impact onto its skull, before she twisted and seated herself over its neck. With a small grin, she grabbed a knife and slammed it into its left eye. She then grabbed another, then another, slamming knife after knife into its eye.

The Fenrir tried shaking her off, but she kept holding on, digging more and more shards of metal into its head. After thirty knives or so, she grabbed a fresh pair and leapt off, slamming a Cross Impact onto the injured eye. Fur and blood flew into the air from her attack, and it howled as even more jagged shards dug into its insides.

She drank two SP Chargers and threw their bottles at it. Pained and blinded, it swept its burning claw at them. The bottles exploded into a shower of dust, and IF ducked under its mouth and struck its lower jaw with a couple Cross Impacts. Blood showered down on her palms, but she simply took out another pair and fired off another Cross Impact.

The air suddenly grew hot, and IF leapt away as another wall of flames rose around the injured wolf. Once again, she grabbed an ice pack from her inventory and pressed it onto her forehead, waiting for the flames to die out.

Her head was spinning. The two SP Chargers she downed were getting to her, and the intense heat in the air wasn't helping. Her vision was beginning to spin. She wasn't sure how long she could stay awake.

She needed to end it now.

The moment the flames died, she leapt forward with a new pair of iron knives. She swerved under a jet of flames and fired a Cross Impact onto the wound she'd been tearing. Her knives shattered, and she quickly grabbed another and struck with another Cross Impact.

She grabbed another pair, and cried as the Flame Fenrir suddenly slammed its head down, smashing her head onto the ground. Her ears rang as she wheezed, and she roared as she smashed a Cross Impact onto its lower jaw. The wound grew.

Her head was spinning. Her vision had gone blurry.

But the redness of the wound she made was clear as day.

"Cross Impact!"

The Flame Fenrir growled as its wound grew. The air grew hot again, and IF grit her teeth. She needed to be faster.

"Cross Impact!"

Another pair shattered. It still wasn't enough.

Faster.

"Cross Impact!"

Her hands bled as some of the jagged shards dug into her palms, but she could barely feel it.

Faster.

"Cross Impact!"

The wound was massive now, stretching across the entirety of its lower jaw. Its blood poured down onto her chest, and the heat they carried burned her alive.

Faster.

"Cross Impact! Cross Impact! Cross Impact!"

The Flame Fenrir howled as the wound finally dug through into its throat. The force of the impact forced its head upward, and IF heaved a breath. With barely enough MP left, she grabbed one last knife from her inventory.

And swung.

"SPECTRAL FLASH!"

A blade of electricity shot out, cutting into and straight through its neck. The Flame Fenrir's head was severed in a single cut, sending it crashing into the wall. The headless corpse remained standing for a few seconds, before it fell over onto its side, and IF finally allowed herself to breathe.

[Gained 30000 Exp, 20000 Credits, and x1 Blaze Claws]

[Level up!]

She stared at the bolded words, and she closed her eyes. Her eyes stung, her ears rang, and she ached all over. With what little strength she had left, she raised her hand and activated Green Noah, sighing in relief as she felt some of her pain disappear. She still felt terrible, but the aches were no longer crippling, and her vision had cleaned up.

Name: IF | [ Wolf Slayer ]

Lvl 13 (+1) [ 19150/30000 ]

HP: 334/950 (+100) | SP: 5/1850 (+200)

Str: 17 (+2) | Vit: 14 (+1)

Int: 24 (+2) | Men: 16 (+1)

Agi: 25 (+2) | Tec: 17 (+1)

IF grinned weakly. Well, at least she leveled up because of it. That was nice, at least.

She sighed. She'd…lay there for a bit. The Flame Fenrir had basically thrashed the entire place. It'd require a couple days before the ambient SP could repair the damage to allow for monsters to begin spawning again. She could rest there for a bit. It'd be fine.

She idly stared at the melted ceiling. That Flame Fenrir was tough. Really tough. If she didn't have her giant stock of iron knives, she would've lost.

She would've died.

She closed her eyes. It was close. It was really close. Again, she'd nearly lost the chance she'd been granted. She clenched her fists.

She needed to be better.