"Fumbling through the underwoods, skulking through these walls of wood…" I hummed a tiny song that I made up on the spot. "I don't think skulking is the right word though, seeing as we're going probably like 50 kilometres per hour." I watched as the scenery flew by, it was a beautiful sight the first couple of minutes but the treeline around us wasn't the most amazing thing that I've seen. Just a bunch of trees, shrubs, and more trees. It makes sense though, Mama has always said that most of the Eastern Isles have been made by Bu'Wan into a viridian paradise of all types of vegetation, it had something to do with a burning of sorts I think.
"But damn, this is so incredibly boring. It was fun the first few minutes. Can't you guys talk or something? Actually, nevermind, the last time I gave a mouth to a toy they ended up saying they wanted to die. Not you, Horsey, another toy. Mama ended up breaking it apart cause she thought it was some sort of demonspawn, I can't say I blame her though, even I found it terrifying." I rambled, I was so bored. Every couple seconds I had the urge to ask 'Are we there yet?' But seeing as there's no one to ask it to but myself, I've kept it inside me.
"Anyway, with your six eyes you should know if we're getting closer to a city or a town right? Some kind of sixth eye sense. It's just basic anatomy." I tapped the head of Horsey, desperate to get some sort of answer from it, though I knew it wouldn't give me one, 'cause it physically couldn't. I didn't want to give it a mouth after what he said when I first gave him one. I think I did promise to give him one, but he has to learn that the world is a cruel place and not all promises are kept.
"Bummer, ugh. I really thought going on an adventure would be far more exciting than this." Groaning in dissatisfaction with the lack of any fun activities popping up, I just kept my eyes on the road and my hands on my steed. Riding through the forest and waiting for any sign of civilization. In light novels and stories that I used to read, they always go to an adventurer's guild for information. Or at least that's what I remember, I'm not entirely sure.
I need to know how to cast basic spells and do that fancy magical formation stuff if I want to get back to my mother in one piece, so I needed books, even though I can't actually read, the pictures will help me. So the local adventurer's guild will be my first stop, if I remember correctly checking out a book is free too, so for a penniless child like me then it should be pretty easy to get a book or two to study.
"I can't help but feel as if I'm wrong though…but I mean adventurers need information on lots of stuff so books should be something that the adventurer's guild should have. I'm probably overthinking things." I let out a deep breath and proceeded to focus on the ride once again. "Then wait…what are libraries then? They're places where I used to read books too, I think. Gah! Nevermind it all, I'll just check both buildings then."
I materialized my sewing bag, and pulled out a three meter long, and half a meter wide needle. "I'm way too bored. I'll just play with this needle… poke through mine enemies needle!" My voice was dramatic and a bit exaggerated in tone as I sent it flying in front of me. I couldn't see very well due to the meter-long neck my trusty Horsey had, so I just hoped and prayed that I wouldn't hit some travelling merchant or something and be branded as a murderer.
"Oh, god fucking damn it." Was all I could say when a resounding, monstrous scream, reached my ears. I peeked from behind Horsey's head and found, a fair bit of a distance away, a pierced monster standing by a tree. It looked big, around twice the size of a bear, but it looked more like a mixture between a cat and a badger, had white fur and brown-tipped spiky ears. It was absolutely adorable.
"Well, at least it isn't human. I should probably make a stop-over and try to fix it up… God, I feel horrible." As I got closer, I realized that the monster–actually, animal–wasn't bleeding at all. I could tell as there was no puddle of blood forming beneath it. It probably just screamed because it was just so suddenly pinned to a tree by a massive needle."Weird." I said out loud. I ordered Horsey to stop when I was directly in front of the badger cat thing.
Oddly enough, as I looked into its eyes, it looked back at mine with concern and worry. As if it was taking pity on me, it can also be interpreted as a look that you'd give to someone you want to protect. It was a bit off-putting to say the least, I mean, I'm the person that got you into that situation, I don't think you should be using those motherly eyes on me, weirdo.
"Hold still." I said as I focused on the needle and got it out by commanding it telepathically to leave the creepy catdger–cat badger–alone. I must've pierced only fur as there was no blood to be found on the needle, or around the entry point. I looked up at the catdger a mixture of confusion and aversion on my face. The creepy look it was giving me was making its cuteness factor really drop down by a few notches. 'That's the exact look Mama would give me whenever I'm hurt or sick. The resemblance is eerie.' Too afraid to say it out loud, I just kept it to myself.
"Uh, good luck then. I'll be going now." I gave the catdger a small and rushed salute before hopping onto Horsey hurriedly, whispering to him to go as fast as possible. I was absolutely terrified of the catdger, the uncanny resemblance to motherly love that it was emitting was really throwing me off.
"It's following us…" I could hear light pawsteps and the slight crunching of leaves. Odd, with its size and body shape you'd think that it'd have heavier-sounding steps. But it just sounds like a whole bunch of fur fwopping on the forest floor. I was so afraid of turning around, as I could hear it gaining speed, and fwopping faster and harder than ever before. "HORSEY, FASTER!" I commanded, forcing its 5 pairs of legs to go even faster.
Unfortunately, that isn't very possible it seems, as Horsey just looked even more stressed but unable to actually move any faster. "SHIT!" I yelled out as I could hear the fwopping get closer, and faster. I could only hope that the catdger thing didn't have a taste for divorakks, I'm almost 100% sure eating us gives really terrible mana sickness, Mama said that was the reason why we don't get attacked by many animals, and when we do they never eat the bodies.
"I'M A DIVORAKK! YOU CAN'T EAT ME!" I screamed, hoping that the catdger could understand speech. Unfortunately it seems that isn't the case as it ran faster, its footsteps were frantic and desperate, as if its chasing after its child that was running around the mall.
"YOU ASKED FOR THIS!" I closed my eyes and concentrated, imagining a ball of water-type mana surrounding me. I didn't know how to cast spells yet, but I knew how to use magic and manipulate mana. Words came into mind, the words that my Mama has always told me to speak when I felt as if I was in danger. "Suprema Kalamita, Depths of The Harrowed Lakes."
Suprema Kalamita, a spell suffix that can apparently only be used by Diancias. Every single Diancia has their own unique Kalamita that is available to them at birth, even if I had no idea how to cast spells, using my Suprema Kalamita was more or less a natural skill that's been given to me at birth.
The moment those words left my mouth it was as if time was put on an indefinite pause. Everything had a tint of blue, and deep green bubbles full of an unknown blue liquid suddenly materialized all around me. I tried making sense of everything, but it was hard as the terrible feeling of my mana being sucked out at a terrifying pace was all I could think of.
Then I made the mistake of looking down.
A deep hole, full of murky green water, was there, in place of the ground Horsey was treading on. I couldn't see it, but I could feel it, eyes staring up at me. Waiting in anticipation for the exact moment it had taken enough mana from me. It was peering into my soul, the endless abyss did, and the monsters that lay within it. But instead of getting scared, I felt relief, as if a long-lost part of me recognized these monsters and finally felt satisfied after seeing they were safe and sound. I felt at ease, and I felt as if the abyss below me had acknowledged me. Whatever that actually means, it’s just an odd feeling all around.
Then the blue faded, and the bubbles burst. Nausea overtook me and racked my brain, which was still processing what I just saw.
