The light spread out into the cave, and shone on the monsters, reflecting their slimy bodies. Their wings twitched, and a few of them started moving slowly. In their early wakefulness, they were still not as vicious as they would be.

Emily swallowed and considered how she wanted to go about this. To these insects, rounds were devastating. The previous time she'd shot one, it exploded. She imagined she could get two in one go if she tried hard enough. But what happens when they start flying at me?

She aimed her light pole towards two of the worms buzzing to awareness. Their wings flapped in synchronization. The pain lingering in her left arm, and the phantom pain of a forearm that once was, made her more resolute.

One deep breath in, and she was locked on. Nanobots materialized a round in the air above the light, and then she pulled the mana trigger.

The bullet lurched forwards and crashed into the two, exploding both of them, and crashing into the ceiling above. It ricocheted further into the cave until it landed in the water, the sounds reaching Emily's sensitive ears at the same time.

Those ears and her tail waved around uncomfortably from the noise. Her ears rang, but she was already moving again.

The entire cave buzzed to life, and she ran to the exit. They slammed against the edge of the cave's light before stopping. A few of them collided with the ones in front, sending them sprawling towards the sloped cliff side.

Glow worms squealed from the light above, their bodies writhing. Smoke started rising from their goop covered carapaces.

"Oh, no you don't."

She stabbed the bottom of her staff into one of the creature's struggling to crawl back towards the cave. Insect blood and mucus splattered onto her body and rags, but she didn't care. She went to the next one crawling away and stabbed the staff into its head as well.

Another one had nearly made it into the darkness, but she formed a row of nanobots into the air, pressing them together with her mind. She launched them forwards, and the magic acted like a thrown dagger. It stabbed into the head of the worm, killing it instantly.

All of the worms buzzing at the entrance shrieked and started flying away, but Emily chased after them.

The kitsune's eyes darted towards what must have been a thousand large bugs in her path. She caught a wave of them in her light, causing their bodies to start smoking.

She summoned even more nanobot drones as if she was a queen of a hive herself. They rushed forwards and started producing their own light with charged electricity between them. It was no brighter than a few bulbs, but it was enough to send the creatures careening towards the cave floor.

Emily grinned and rushed forwards, stabbing her staff into another one and then another one. More, I need more levels.

All of the previous pain had faded away to a surge of adrenaline within. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she whacked another monster in the head.

A cracking sound echoed around her. The stick snapped from her strike, and the light flew further ahead onto the floor, leaving her in momentary darkness. That one instant was enough for many to descend, and they started channeling what meager magic power they had to gain a burst of speed on the way down.

The moment of her first death flashed into her mind.

There she was inside of what was supposed to be a protected base. In the middle of the desert, the blaring heat was a constant enemy, but at least she had other soldiers around her to rely on. They'd all been to the deployment the same as her, but not everyone had the same job.

She remembered her mother telling her that she'd at least have the comfort of an office job, befitting of a woman. But what office job landed you in the middle of a desert in a tent? Because communications sure wasn't that. She'd spent hours raising a comms device towards the sky, and during her normal lunch break, it happened.

There was a special tent for the dining facility where everyone was lined up around green containers. They were placed on tables delivered from the LMTVs. If Emily was honest with herself, she might've even preferred MREs to the slop here.

"Sergeant Vander," a voice behind her said.

She turned to see First Sergeant Grant standing behind her, and her arms immediately went to her sides. She snapped to attention before going to parade rest.

"At ease, you don't have to do that in the D-Fac. I was just going to check on things. Is your team set up?"

"Yes, First Sergeant. We can perform a relay and..."

A singular mortar shell crashed into the building, exploding on impact, and sending her flying. She heard the chaos above her, but her ears were ringing. The base came to life with the sound of alarms.

The dining hall was wrapped in a ball of fire. Emily tried to stand, but she couldn't. The equipment was already gone. Her legs were separated from her body, and she looked down to find intestines splattered against the ground. Are those mine?

"Sergeant Vander!" A voice shouted. The private tore bits of rubble away from her body. A piece of the convoy truck was sticking into her side. His eyes widened in horror from her state. "We need a med evac!"

Stop, I am not gonna make it. It burns...

At least, the burning didn't last long. Her life faded fast, but the real hell came after.

The kitsune's eyes took in all of the descending bugs. With her remaining magic power, and nanobots started forming all around her. They created a thinly connected barrier in the shape of her body, much like a shield. They sparked and hummed to life before expelling a massive amount of magic energy outwards.

The result was an explosion in all directions except for inwards. Several of the closest bugs were immediately incinerated, and a chime followed.

She didn't linger after those bugs died. She dove back towards the separated light part of her lamp, but a few insects crashed into her body. Smoke formed around them from the contact with light, but they became determined.

One of the worms bit into her leg, tearing out a small chunk of flesh, and another snapped a piece of cloth from her waist.

Emily cried out in pain as the circular row of teeth dug into her leg, but thankfully, the creature's power didn't last long under the light. She clenched her teeth, and her eyes glared at the piece of shit wriggling on the ground.

She bit into it with her teeth, ripping a piece of its neck in revenge. She spat out gooey flesh before stabbing the bottom half of her splintered staff into its cranium. Bug brain splattered on her face, and she pulled out two little blue berries from her inventory.

Emily wrapped her tail around the lamp head and waved it around to keep the buzzing creatures away from her.

The moment she started digesting the mana berries, they started disagreeing with her. Her vision started to blur slightly, and acid reflux assailed her. Vomit climbed up her esophagus, but mana circulated within.

Nanobots flowed into the bottom half of the staff and connected it to the top half once more. They wrapped around the splintered part and created a new seal. This time, they didn't disappear at all. They locked each part together.

She raised her staff, and more mana bots came to life. They formed a ball at the tip and summoned another wave of energy, increasing the force of the light beneath them. White light spread in all directions as if Emily had turned on a high lumen flashlight.

The light didn't only affect the insects. It spurred her internal condition on, and she hurled onto the cave floor, adding to the muck of insect blood, insect organs, and glow worm goo.

She fell to her knees at the same time many of the insects fell to the floor. They writhed in agony from the light, smoke filling the cave from their burning bodies.

The scent of burning insect forced more vomit out of Emily's throat. She coughed violently while waiting for the insects to die. Their death was agonizingly slow, but it came.

As her light started dimming from mana exhaustion, the last insect twitched on the floor.

Only two times? I guess this is some kind of diminishing returns?

She chuckled in exasperation before coughing again. Remind me to never eat more than four berries again...

The fox girl stood up slowly, observing the chaos around her. Large worms all lay curled up in the fetal position, but she didn't find it cute at all. She glared at their corpses, her tail waving in agitation behind her.

She limped as she walked forwards, her leg remembering the bite painfully. She struggled to maintain her balance, relying on her staff, and trying not to slip on all of the liquid beneath her.

Emily had to kick carcasses out of the way on her way to the only water source. As she reached it, the moss around it started to glow, and she readied her staff on instinct.

"What is it now?"

The pool of water in front of her started to evaporate, and she clutched her staff tighter.

Little lights flowed upwards towards the cave's ceiling along with the water. After a short while, all of the liquid vanquished, leaving behind a pristine chest.

There it was. A trunk like Emily had only ever seen in pirate movies. It was made up of brown wood with gold trimming around the edges.

The fox girl's pointy ears perked up, and she poked the chest with the tip of her staff. She poked it again for good measure, but this time, the lid flew open.

She leapt backwards and grimaced from the pain in her leg. Though, luckily for her, no monster jumped out to attack her this time.

Inside of the large box, there was red cushioning and items glittered. There was a vial, a dagger with a fox engraved hilt, and a few gold coins.

Emily's breath caught in her throat. She almost didn't want to believe it. Was there someone out there trying to help her? Or was this another game-like mechanic? She used her cyberkinetic eye on the items.

The kitsune laughed dryly. "Seriously? Kurayami again? There that name is again, but why is it only a potion of minor healing? In case you never realized..."

She sighed and waved around her stumpy arm. She swallowed whatever she was about to say and knelt onto the ground. The fox girl pressed her palm near the end of her stump in a gesture of prayer.

I don't know who you are, but thanks for helping me.

There was no voice to answer her prayer. The only thing remaining was the darkness of the cave around her and her little light. She uncorked the potion of minor healing and drank it.

Green light formed on her skin, and cuts and bruises started healing. Even the wound on her leg closed up. She looked towards her arm in anticipation, but it never reformed itself. Though, some of the pain that bothered her did go away.

The sharp, stabbing pain she'd felt as background noise faded as the effects of the potion ended. She placed the empty bottle back into the chest, having no room for it at all. Almost immediately, the chest faded away into particles of light, taking the bottle with it.

The gold coins fit into her pendant, but there wasn't enough room for the dagger.

What am I gonna do about this?