Stopping at the top of the stairs to catch her breath and have a few Kijimu Leaves, letting Akihiko heal her, Kao scanned the area for any nearby monsters. The creatures here were level 40 and could drain half her HP if she wasn't lucky. A wandering Blunder Chocolate caught her eye. Casting Protection on herself, she carefully approached the Blunder and attacked it critically with her weapon. With a rush of burnt-black slime, the Blunder hurled its sludgy mass at her, splashing some dark goop in her face.
KAORU
What's going on? The entire area is getting dark! I looked down at the Blunder that hat attacked me. I could see it right in front of me but everything behind it melted into a black abyss. And my pet was gone. Was this an Ailment? Tentatively I stepped forward with my hands outstretched in front of me, groping through the darkness and calling out "Aki?...Aki?" in the hopes that he'd make some noise in reply. I immediately tripped over something thick and clammy. I was caught by the substance as it crawled up my ankle. Squinting through the hazy gloom I could make out two glowing orange lights. The Blunder Chocolate was trying to eat me alive! Panicking, I swung wildly at the thing trying to destroy it, and more often than not I missed it. When I did it started creeping higher up my leg and attacked me with its painful bite. I became weak and weary from attacking it. Suddenly I saw a faint greenish...light? I felt stronger and realized that Akihiko was healing me! With each hit I felt somewhat at ease, and with his help I could feel the cold repulsive feeling fading away. I had destroyed a higher-level creature in whatever was causing the darkness.
I took a moment to think of all the ailments I had committed to mind. Poison, paralysis, fear, bleeding, draining, stunning, dizziness, lethargy, burning, freezing, and...blindness. Had I gone blind?! Oh well, I thought. It's an Ailment, it'll go away eventually...