She held silk between her fingertips, observing the soft strands, and practicing weaving a few of them together with one hand. It had been many years since the kitsune had sewn anything. At least since after basic training, I imagine.

Emily took a deep breath before unwrapping her current wound dressing. She grimaced from the sight right away. Dried blood coated the severed limb, and the piece of her elbow joint stuck out. She shivered as the wind blew by, the pain making her bite down and grit her teeth.

She shoved a handful of silk in her mouth before sticking her severed limb in the softly flowing river. She groaned into the piece of cloth, tears pricking at her eyes. Dirt and dried blood flowed into the water, and the fox girl used the makeshift rag to pat down the injury and clean it of filth.

The lone woman stood from the river with her cleaned injury. Though, she understood that eventually she would need to find some medicine. This kind of treatment wouldn't last, especially if there was a bacterial infection. She checked her surroundings and looked at the trees nearby. Though, none of them resembled medicinal trees from earth.

I might have to start inspecting plants with this cybernetic eye, but how long will my magic hold out? I definitely should decrease my amount of mana usage, until I can gain levels. Should I start killing some of those monsters before they wake up as an easy way to obtain experience?

Her stomach grumbled, reminding her that she'd not eaten. She wrapped her wound with silk, creating a large white bandage over the affected site. She tightened it as much as she could.

When she was done with the cast, she worked on her temporary clothing. For now, cloth wrapping would have to do. She found a sharp rock and cut away at the material to make long strands that could wrap around her body. One by one, she wrapped them around her legs and inner thighs, making her private parts like she imagined a mummy's.

After she finished on her lower extremities, she got to work on her chest. The two sizable assets were pressed down beneath what was essentially silk gauze. Lastly, she did the same to her feet.

The only problem was the loose strands at the end. She could only tie them so tight for them not to come undone.

Maybe my magic can do something about this?

She called forth the small nanobots, noting how much easier it was to control them when her skill leveled up. The little things floated in the air in front of her, and she lowered them towards her bandaged wound first. The magic droids settled onto the dressing, and she imagined it all being stitched together.

It was much like sewing. A few nanobots formed a needle and wove the silk together at the end. Her eyes widened as she watched it happening. Controlling them was much easier now. Wait, can they form a permanent structure?

After the wound was sealed up nicely, she tried to attach a dozen nanobots to the end of her severed arm, but once she felt her magic depleting, the bots faded away into obscurity.

Emily sighed, but her stomach grumbled again. Dammit, I guess I will have to seal the other pieces of clothing later.

She grabbed her lantern and pressed it into the ground, using it to walk as an old man would his cane. She searched across trees and bramble to find what she was looking for, and eventually, she spotted it.

Juicy blue berries dripped glowing blue substance onto the ground below. There was a large bush full of them not far from the water. The fox girl activated her cybernetic eye, the last of her mana draining.

In small quantities. I am guessing I can't eat much, then. This place really is starting to feel more and more like a game.

She walked up and looked at the vines the berries grew from. They had little prickly bits that she avoided. The fox girl plucked only a few small berries to test if what she read was true.

Emily placed one on her tongue and bit down on it, the berry's soft juices exploding into her mouth. She was met with a pungent bitter flavor and only a hint of sweetness towards the end, but the bitterness was almost overpowering.

"Blegh, I think even if I could eat a lot of this, I wouldn't want to." Though, as she said that, she felt a resurgence of energy permeating into her body. The new familiar feeling of mana was being topped off like a dripping sink filling up a small cup.

Overall, she had to eat two of them to refill her entire pool. The fox girl started grabbing handfuls of them and shoving them into her pendant. At least these things don't take up that much room.

With her small haul of berries, she searched for other bits of food. She pulled a glowing yellow flower out of the ground and exposed its roots. Underneath the soil, there were small round root vegetables, much like potatoes. She narrowed her cybernetic eye again, and another screen appeared.

Her crimson eyes shone with renewed vigor for her rumbling stomach. She immediately walked over to the water and washed them off in the river. They were exactly like yellow potatoes from Earth, but they had a slight glow to them. Emily's eyes marveled at the little black spots running along the skin.

She swallowed nervously before calling upon her nanobots again. They wrapped around the vegetable and started peeling away at the yellow crust. The inside glistened with whiteness, and she took a little nibble.

Sure enough, the taste was like a potato, yet it was an uncooked potato. The piece was overly crunchy and starch. Though, it was still enough to bring a smile to her face.

However, there was a problem. If she was going to cook it, she'd have to make a fire. In wet environments, starting a fire would be harder, no doubt.

Her eyes narrowed, and she began thinking of a solution. The image of her blasting away at a bug popped into her mind. Wait, I've already made fire.

When in a panic, the round had created an explosion of flames before rifling forwards. I only need to create that small ball of fire instead. Theoretically, this shouldn't cost as much mana either, and then I can eat some more of those berries. But how long will my body be able to keep eating them?

It was risky, and the sun was already passed the midway point. She'd filtered out many poisonous plants along the way, and all of that led to her being nearly drained of magic again. Even if I can ignite it, how many berries will be too much?

She clicked her tongue and shook her head, her fluffy ears waving around and twitching. An image of her past self flashed into her mind.

Emily sat slumped against a tree, holding a brown bag with the label "MRE". She pried it open with her fingertips, exposing all of the packed contents within. There was a piece of bread in one package, the main course in another package, a protein bar, and an energy drink. Aside from that, there was the heating source, a piece of gum, two matches, and a little bag of coffee.

Back then, the dim early morning light shone above a canopy of woodland trees. She took her canteen from her rucksack and slipped off the canteen cup. The piece of metal reflected her dull brown eyes.

She lit a bundle and started a fire with the two matches, and then she placed her canteen cup after filling it with water. The water came to a boil, and she sprinkled the coffee inside. Before long, the smell of boiling coffee reached her nose, and all other cares seemed to vanish within. The platoon around her settled in for their glorious packaged feast.

The fox girl flashed back to reality, the pain in her arm reminding her where she was. Boiling water was a great idea, if she had something to boil it in. Alas, there was nothing like her canteen cup, nor was there any aluminum foil to wrap them in.

She snapped a piece of bark off a nearby tree with great effort of her remaining hand. The inside of the brown material formed a plate, and she sat down a couple of the peeled potatoes.

Alright, this time I need controlled fire, not an explosion.

The fox girl imagined it would be hard, but she called upon her small minions. They answered her call and swirled above the food items like a dome of metallic insects. She closed her eyes and pictured those same matches. Warmth spread out in front of her hand.

Those tiny robots obeyed her will and summoned a sustained heat source from each of them. A slightly warm glow illuminated yellow between them, and the heat started spreading around.

Her eyes widened, and sweat dripped from her palm. These little bots are really working overtime, but my mana reserves...

She could feel each second that they worked, the mana was being drained from her. It was incredibly frustrating. If I could just get more mana...I desperately need to level up again.

After what amounted to a couple of minutes of cooking, the mana from her body faded away again. She took two more berries from the small pendant around her neck and crunched down on them with her sharp teeth. Her brow and nose wrinkled from the pungent bitterness, but she chewed through it and swallowed. Somehow, they are even worse the more you eat them, and they make MREs seem tasty.

Her stomach acid started disagreeing with the berries by the forth one. It bubbled, but thankfully, she successfully resisted the urge to vomit. I guess four is the absolute maximum I can eat? It's almost like a prescription drug or something.

She sighed and pressed her little bots against the potatoes again. The warmth surrounded them until they started becoming mushier and mushier. She groaned as they finished.

"It was a mistake to not cut them up first. That would have saved me a lot of mana."

Nonetheless, she held up her handiwork, using a small twig she cleaned in the river to stir them up. She got another small piece of flat bark to act as a spoon. She used it to shovel up the white mashed yellow root into her mouth.

Her crimson eyes flashed with rays of hope. Minus any seasoning, this is the best meal I've had in a long time.

The fox girl couldn't resist scarfing them down her throat. She ate bite after bite, until they were finished and sighed in content at the end. She would have savored this moment if darkness didn't start to descend inside of the dungeon.

Emily's eyes flashed towards the setting fake sun, and her heart started beating in her chest again. She threw the plate to the ground and hurried to her feet, grabbing her lantern. She was amazed that it was still shining, but she didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth.

She headed off in the direction of that cave, noting that her mana seemed to be about halfway full. The more she used it, the more she felt it, and such feelings would be necessary if she wanted to survive. She clenched her teeth and narrowed her eyes up the slope.

Each step towards the top made her heart thrum even faster. Passing the dead skeleton, reminded her of her own mortality. Even still, I will be free. If I have to kill every single one of you, I will do it.

Her lantern shone into the cave mouth, and wings fluttered to life above. The hive was waking up.

Kurayami