9 Too Much?
"You don't look so shocked, but even this isn't enough to freak you out?"
The Lightning Meteor Bird began by asking the Hellcat why she wasn't freaking out too badly as Mina ate a rather large quantity of stones. They varied, many being rather small. The look on her face, however, showed her disappointment.
'They're so small, most of them don't even give experience, let alone a stat boost. A second chance at life, and I'm here just trying to make sure I don't die again! I'm just eating though...'
She huffed slightly, staring at her current Sword Body stats.
[Sword Body-
Name: None
Race: Shadow Iron Shortsword (Enhanced)
Level: 5/20 Exp: 0/700
Durability: 750/750
Sharpness: 280/280
Attack Power: 34
Element: Dark
-
Passive Skills:
Sword Sense
-
Active Skills:
Astral Projection, Devour, Dark Aura
-
Affinity:
Fire Blade affinity: .64%
Earth Blade affinity: .02%
Wind Blade affinity: .04%
Water Blade affinity: 2%
Dark Blade affinity: 60%]
'This sucks. The bigger crystals and ores I can't eat. They're stuck to the wall and no matter how many times I try, I can't get them. [Devour] is useless if I can't mine the stuff it's used on! I don't want to rely solely on monster cores and random ore I find lying around!'
She started to play with the rocks around her, most able to be eaten. She had had enough watching ones pop up whenever she ate a decent rock, so she just stopped. Looking at her companions, Mina pouted.
"They're all useless. They don't give me enough for a serious boost."
The War Wolf got to her feet, then popped out a rather dangerous looking claw. She dug it into a wall, pulling out a beautiful purple crystal. Mina could practically see lightning within its core.
"I noticed this one was kinda loose. Think you can munch it?"
Mina held out her hand, accepting the crystal that her lupine companion dropped from her mouth. She eyed it curiously, noticing that it was rather pure.
"[Devour.]"
Her Sword Body reacted, pulling the crystal into her core. It took a moment, Mina noticing a strong current shift inside of her Sword Body.
[You have successfully devoured:
1 Large Pure Crystal (Lightning)
Lightning Guard: 1%
Earned 300 Exp.
Sword Body> 300/700]
Mina blinked.
"Lightning... Guard? Do any of you know what elemental guards are?"
The beasts practically fell over. They didn't understand her incredibly innocent question, thinking she may be messing with them. The first to speak was the Hellcat.
"Is this like the affinity gaining we talked about on the way here? Did you get a guard from the crystal?"
Mina nodded.
"I got a single hundredth of Lightning Guard."
The Lightning Meteor Bird flapped her wings.
"What?! How? I'm a variant, yet I can only guard around... wait how much is a hundredth?"
Mina shook her head.
"Think of a hundred pieces of say... a rock. All together, I'd say I'd be immune to lightning attacks? Maybe even reflect them. I have one piece of that rock."
"Oh. I should have two then. Wait! One is half of two... aww. I'm not that strong compared to you."
The War Wolf used her paw to pat the Meteor Bird on her head.
'I wish I could just name them or something!'
[Naming a creature, no matter the race, must be accepted. This will grant them your blessing, as well as a minor version of your system.]
"Ack!"
Mina fell back, causing slight concern.
"Did she trip?"
"No you dummy! She's not corporeal. You big ol' wolf. She can't even touch stuff with her feet!"
Mina sat up, calming the bickering bird and wolf.
"Sorry. Just got a weird surprise, but I can deal with it later."
'Names are important to them. I need to be more important to them for it to have a real value beyond the name itself.'
Mina continued her search, asking the beasts to help her with the crystals and ores if they seemed to have a chance to be removed. Many didn't, but Mina wasn't saddened. She got a good deal of crystals, shocking the girls as she devoured many in a single instance.
"No special ore. Kinda bad that none have been loose enough for me to try it out. And these crystals. So many are purple, but I've found nearly equal amounts of them all! Red and blue, even green and yellow!"
Mina seemed excited, but inside her mind she wasn't as happy. Of all the crystals, a small fraction were pure. Even then, the pure ones were quite small.
'I should probably see how many I actually... I've never been happier to have this body right now.'
[You have been unsuccessful in devouring numerous crystals. As it is dangerous to your core, excess experience shall be void.
Sword Body> Level Up 20/20 0/--]
Mina grimaced, realizing she had overfilled her Sword Body. Allowing her sense of touch to return to the weapon, she buckled over. Her chest raged with pain as she coughed violently. The beasts surrounded her, unable to touch her to help. Worry clouded their eyes until Mina sat up, breathing heavily.
"Sorry. *pant, pant* I guess I went too far. I didn't realize I had a limit. I messed up. Heh. I need to evolve my Sword Body again, but there's something I should have noticed sooner. When my sense of touch returned to my Sword Body, I felt that strange tug. I think... I think that thing pulling me wants me to go deeper. Where that source of magic is."
Mina could see the beasts shiver as they thought of the magic presence that they had been ignoring. With a soft sigh, Mina returned to her feet. She grabbed both of her weapons, ready to fight the creature no matter what. She wasn't fearless, but she was prepared to at least meet it... or run away with her tail between her legs.
She was limping heavily, making her realize something was wrong with her. She looked at her Sword Body, gasping as she witnessed her core. Slight cracks had formed across it, some even bursting out and damaging the sword itself.
'Do I really have a limit this serious?'
She trudged forward, opening her stats screen as she walked. Behind her, the beasts walked slowly. They could see her determination, as well as her pain. Unwilling to go onward, they began to force themselves. They fought their fear for the girl they barely knew. The girl that they had begun to respect as well as fear.
'Dammit. That's what's wrong.'
[Sword Body-
Name: None
Race: Shadow Iron Shortsword (Enhanced/Damaged)
Level: 20/20 Exp: 0/--
Durability: 200/650 (1300)
Sharpness: 400/400
Attack Power: 79
Element: Dark
-
Passive Skills:
Sword Sense
-
Active Skills:
Astral Projection, Devour, Dark Aura
-
Affinity:
Fire Blade affinity: .64%
Earth Blade affinity: .02%
Wind Blade affinity: .04%
Water Blade affinity: 2%
Dark Blade affinity: 60%
-
Guard:
Fire Guard: .3% (3 uncommon pure crystals)
Earth Guard: .4% (4 uncommon)
Wind Guard: .18% (8 common, 1 uncommon)
Water Guard: 1.35% (1 rare, 3 uncommon etc)
Lightning Guard: 6.3%]
'That damaged status. It cuts my durability to half the regular maximum. Then there's the guard effects. Only pure crystals actually boosted it. This doesn't account for the other impure crystals I ate en masse.'
Mina cursed herself as she finally reached a wide open cavern. Her eyes fell onto a statue situated in the middle. The magical energy came from it, drawing her deeper. The beasts were curious now, as they could not see a beast or a monster of any sort. With every step their stride grew until Mina could reach out her hand to touch the statue! Yet she did not.
"I've overdone it with my Sword Body, so what will happen if I touch this?"
A voice suddenly erupted all around the girls.
"Dost thou seek mine power?"
Mina's hand clamped her mouth shut. She stared up at the statue, realizing it was something akin to an angel. Graceful wings, a pearly white cloak and a blade plunged into the base of the stone.
"Who are you?! Where are you?"
"I'll kill it. Just let me find you for a second!"
"Mina?"
The beasts crowded Mina, trying to keep her safe. Mina let her hand fall from her mouth.
"If I take in your power... what will happen to me?"
The voice answered her alone.
"You shall fall into a line of unchangeable events that you must overcome. Surpass them and grow, then you shall see the truth within the power I shall grace you with."
Mina sighed as she turned around.
"Nevermind. Not interested. I've already nearly broken my core. I'm not gonna force myself to be placed on an unchanging path for a faceless statue!"
An overwhelming force erupted from the statue.
"You're smart to want to control your fate, Mina. I thought you'd recognize my voice, yet here we are."
Mina turned around, a smug little smirk on her lips.
"Shouldn't you be keeping a low profile, Dyn?"
