A group of three stormed from the same direction Aurora and Skadi originally came from. There was a dwarf in heavy plate armor holding what looked like a very, very sharp flute, someone who was dressed in the same sort of black clothes as the guy who was killed first, with no visible features, and a wizened old man in classic wizard robes, levitating slightly above the ground. The old man held a gnarled wooden staff, and one of his legs was shriveled and black, about half as thick as his other leg. And judging by her feelings from looking at their essence, the dwarf and clothed figure seemed to have about the same strength as the man Aurora just killed. 

 

On the other hand, Aurora’s spirit yearned for the old man’s essence. He was by far the strongest being Aurora had seen since she left the Void, and she even began salivating slightly, just looking at him. The old man, at the front of the group, surveyed the area with a scowl, looking at the surrounding corpses. And then locked eyes with Aurora, who was directly above the limp body of Skadi, whose stomach was caved in. His frown deepened, and he raised his staff up into the air, staring at Aurora. And then his face turned white as a ghost.

 

As soon as his expression changed, something resounded from his staff, almost like a ripple of some sort. Aurora had no idea what it was, other than the fact that her body partially ate into it as it passed over her, and she probably wouldn’t have even noticed it without eating a part of it. On the other hand, the two people by his side froze, the dwarf seeming just as shocked as the old man was. And then the dwarf and the person who looked like an assassin levitated up, bobbing slightly above the ground along with the old man. The three of them rocketed off back down the corridors, far faster than Aurora could follow even with her eyes. They were gone in an instant.

 

After watching the party of three leave in a hurry, Aurora flipped open Skadi’s backpack and shoved Skadi’s sword into it–even if it wasn’t that useful–before rummaging through it to see if Skadi had any healing medicine she could identify just laying there. There were actually quite a few multicolored flasks, but Aurora had absolutely no idea what any of them did, and with Skadi unconscious for now, she probably wouldn’t figure it out for a while.

 

Scooping Skadi into her arms, princess style, Aurora ignored the way Skadi’s skin was slowly dissolving as she started running down the tunnel as fast as she could, to flee in case they came back, with whatever reinforcements they thought they needed. Out of immediate peril, though, fatigue hit her like a wave; with both her mana pools almost completely drained. Stumbling down the hallway, Aurora kept moving, the tips of her tails dragging against the floor. She had to leave; based on their reactions, the man probably recognized her as a Void Horror.

 

Stumbling past the end of the cracked walls and broken torches, Aurora rounded a corner to see the next hallway unscathed; entirely untouched by the battle that just occurred. Stumbling down that hall, Aurora moved one foot after the other, making it to the turn at the end of the hall, and then the next one, and then the next one. With the light from the torches flickering, Aurora readjusted her grip on Skadi again; there were multiple bloody gashes from Aurora’s arms. And then the torches all went out.

 

Despite being plunged into utter darkness, Aurora could still see the hallway just fine; exactly the same, even, other than the absence of light. She kept moving, and after what felt like an eternity, Aurora stumbled upon a long, slightly rusted ladder, looking exactly like the one she came down on. She shifted Skadi’s limp body to dangle under one arm; the heavy weight of the girl and her bag combined strained Aurora’s already exhausted body.

 

Upon reaching the top, a large chunk of earth began automatically floating upwards from the ceiling. Climbing out, Aurora drearily looked backwards, catching a glimpse of the sun setting behind the city. She actually came out pretty far from the city, on the edge of the forest near it. As the sun turned a deep orange, it dyed the horizon pink behind Aurora as she stumbled into the trees, leaves crunching underfoot.

 

Navigating through the various trees and foliage, after who knows how long she had been going for in her delirious, panic-stricken state, Aurora’s foot got caught on a root while ascending a rather steep hill. As she tumbled onto the ground, Aurora dropped Skadi’s body. Forcing her eyes to crack back open, Aurora reached out a blood soaked hand, covered in blood that wasn’t her own, towards Skadi’s backpack. Aurora stood up, but her legs didn’t move. In her rapidly fading vision, the last thing Aurora saw was Skadi’s back, and the sun finally dipping below the horizon.

 

— — — — — — —

 

Groaning, Aurora stretched out her limbs, only to find herself fully immobilized. As her eyes shot open, Aurora jerked her head upwards, and apparently that worked, but she could only see stone walls on all sides. Looking up, she was in a pit… the exact dimensions of her body. It went down for about a meter or two, to where Aurora currently was. 

 

Looking inwards, Aurora noticed her mana pools were both completely full again. While quickly composing a Void spell to carve out some handholds into the stone, Aurora opened her Status.

 

Name: Aurora Dreamfire

Class: - Unavailable -

Class 2: - Locked -

Level: Level 13, F Rank

Species: Void Horror - Nine Tailed Kitsune (Void, I*?u$i•n)

Sex: Female

Age: 17

Affinities: Void, I*?u$i•n

Soul: Void Horror (Void, I*?u$i•n).

Forms: Void Horror - Nine Tailed Kitsune (Void, I*?u$i•n); Void Horror - Nine Tailed Fox (Void, I*?u$i•n) 

 

Skills (0/10)

 

Coating her hands in more condensed Void energies, Aurora scooped out some footholds and handholds to climb out of the pit she made from just laying down. “Ugh, I guess I might need to get used to this whenever I fall asleep now… but hey, level thirteen! Woohoo!”

 

As her fox ears poked over the rim of the hole, Aurora’s head followed shortly after. Looking around the area, Aurora saw Skadi leaning against a stalagmite, with her eyes closed. They were apparently in some sort of cave, the entrance nowhere in sight among the damp, humid environment.

 

“Skadi, you asleep?” Aurora said, hoisting herself completely out of the hole. Skadi actually seemed surprisingly unharmed, other than some bloody gashes on her arms and chest. She did see some sort of round vial strapped to the side of the backpack now, though. Aurora thought she saw it earlier, containing what looked like grape juice. Some sort of healing potion, and most likely an expensive one, too, by how Skadi seemed almost completely unharmed now.

 

“I’m sowwy…” Skadi mumbled, eyes closed as her head slowly fell onto her shoulder. “I’m sowwy, Aurora.”

 

Aurora crouched down, cupping her hands around her mouth as she brought it next to Skadi’s ear. “Wake up, Skadi.”  Skadi didn’t even shift slightly. “Wake up.” 

 

Reaching for Skadi’s shoulder, Aurora hesitated before making contact with the torn fabric, and some of her skin underneath. And with that contact, Aurora realized that she felt hungry. Very hungry, actually. Making physical contact with Skadi was almost like holding a bite of food in between her lips, but not biting down. 

 

Aurora felt her spirit yearn with hunger, even though Skadi… Well, Skadi seemed pretty unappetizing, especially compared to the man she fought earlier, much less powerhouses like the penguin or basilisk she saw. Skadi’s essence seemed about as appetizing as a singular potato chip. “Maybe I could just eat a little, she wasn’t helpful in the slightest during the previous fight…” And while that thought seemed greatly appealing, Skadi didn’t exactly mean any harm, though it didn’t change the fact that she was less than useless in a fight. 

 

Aurora didn’t want to kill or harm her in cold blood, even if she had every right to. Literally. Skadi’s behavior earlier would have violated the terms of the contract Aurora was unable to sign, as even after she literally crippled the man, who threatened her life and probably Skadi’s, to tie up loose ends, Skadi didn’t even try to help until the fight was practically won. Teaching her would probably just be a waste of time, though. While killing her would sate her hunger, her moral compass didn’t like the thought of just killing her like that in cold blood.

 

But thinking about it now, she never felt like she got any hungrier while in the Void. Was it because of her getting more injuries now? No, it couldn’t be that, she had lost an entire arm in the Void earlier, and didn’t get any hungrier. Maybe because she was practically swimming in the same energies that composed her body? That would make sense.

 

Whatever it was, after blinking a few times, Aurora refocused on the matter at hand. “Skadi, wake up.” She said with a frown, raising her voice as she rapidly shook Skadi back and forth. However, Aurora forgot that she was nine levels higher than she was a little bit ago, and accidentally used a little bit too much force. The back of Skadi’s head was literally slammed into the stalagmite she leaned against, with far more force than Aurora could have generated previously. And it was even an area without any moss, providing absolutely no cushion.

 

Wincing, Aurora withdrew her hand and looked sideways as Skadi groaned, immediately clutching the back of her head with both hands. She flexibly bent forward so that her head rested against her legs. “Whoops, I guess I overdid it a bit.”

 

Groaning, Skadi’s eyes flickered open, as she lightly rubbed the back of her head with one hand. “What happen–” Pausing for just a moment, looking like a deer caught in headlights, Skadi then swiftly slammed her forehead against the rough stone floor, her hands following immediately after, in a prostrated position. “Lady Aurora, I sincerely apologize for the events that occurred the previous day; I can swear on my soul to do my best to help until I have saved up enough to hire a D-grade healer, I–”

 

“What’s she talking about? Am I wounded?” Aurora thought, zoning out as she glanced over her body. Patting down her tails, she didn’t see anything necessarily wrong with herself, and her tails felt as fluffy as ever. “Is there something wrong with my face?” She said, while reaching up to grab her ears– yup, they were still perfectly intact on top of her head. 

 

Skadi’s jaw literally dropped, her mouth forming an O. “You– You haven’t noticed, Lady Aurora?”

 

“Noticed what? Is something wrong with me?” Looking at herself again, Aurora could see absolutely nothing than Skadi might be talking about.

 

“You haven’t noticed the curse?”

 

“What c–”

 

“Pardon my rudeness, Lady Aurora, but were you cursed prior to yesterday's fight, not as a result of my incompetence?”

 

“No, I wasn’t, what curse a–” Aurora began, starting to get panicked as she looked at herself again. Turning around to face her tails, she saw nothing wrong with them, the only other notable thing in view was the hole she made while asleep… and that would probably be what Skadi was talking about, wouldn’t it. “Are you talking about, well, that?” Aurora asked, gesturing back to the kitsune-shaped hole in the ground.

 

Peeking up from her prostrated position, Skadi slowly looked behind Aurora, where she was pointing.  “Lady Aurora, I most certainly was talking about the curse on your body and possession so that you, well, eat through stuff. Did you receive this preceding your arrival here?”

 

“Yeah, uh, it's complicated.” Aurora said, fidgeting with the hilt of her katana as her frown deepened further. “Please don’t push it…”

 

A little taken aback, Skadi continued, her voice quivering. “Lady Aurora, please, I can still assist you in hiring a D-grade healer nevertheless, even if the curse wasn’t my fault directly. I will be more useful than I was the previous day, so don’t abandon me, please, I beg of you.” Halfway through that statement, Skadi placed her forehead back on the floor—more gently this time—as her voice died down to a whisper.

 

And while Aurora technically didn’t have any official, magically enforced contract with Skadi, working together was… a skeptical proposition. While she wouldn’t really get anything by killing Skadi, other than maybe a level, Skadi could help provide her with information about things, like the locations of dungeons. But since she didn’t have a contract with Skadi, if she met other people and whispered a few words into the right ears… there could be an angry mob of high ranked people chasing Aurora down around this entire planet. Skadi seemed like she genuinely wanted to help and improve herself… but she also seemed far more competent when Aurora was first summoned than she turned out to be.

 

After a brief moment of hesitation, Aurora reached up to scratch one of her big fox ears. “So, what’s in it for me? As you know, after the previous fight, I’m no longer bound to train you based on the payment you gave.”

 

“Yes, Lady Aurora. I can assist you in finding a D-grade healer as well as take you to multiple dungeons, and yield all profits to you.” She said, her face pressing against the rough stone floor.

 

“Skadi, just a D-grade healer won’t be able to do anything about my… curse. And just the locations of dungeons isn’t the fairest of exchanges for me, I’m taking the time to train you for months. It’s especially worse if you don’t pull your weight in fights.” Aurora said. “Even though I really need to level up more.” 

 

Her head peeking up slightly to look at Aurora, Skadi’s mouth formed an O once again. “Lady Aurora, I-” she started, her voice choking slightly. “I am unsure what other payment I could offer for one such as yourself. Is there anything you might need?”

 

“Well, first off, do you have any food in your bag?” Aurora asked. After all, throughout the conversation her soul seemed to hunger even further; Skadi’s essence was looking more appetizing by the minute.

 

“O- Of course! I apologize for not thinking of that sooner, Lady Aurora!” She said, sitting up and frantically reaching around the stalagmite behind her to grab the large, leather sack. Hurriedly reaching in, she fumbled around for a moment, before withdrawing some sort of square wrapped in leaves, easily fitting in her hand.

 

“What’s that?”

 

“This is Wayfinder bread, Lady Aurora. It’s a nutrient-packed meal for us low levels, and this one square can sustain us unevolved F grades for an entire day. Please take it.” Skadi said while holding the square out in a bow.

 

“Thanks, I guess.” Aurora said, gingerly grabbing the corner of the leaf-wrapped square. Looking at it, she didn’t see its essence, as it had none. Her spirit was still calling out to feast on Skadi, and not even a mote of that hunger was directed towards the wayfinder bread. Nevertheless, she still unwrapped the leaf coating and promptly popped it into her mouth, while Skadi reached back into her bag, withdrawing another leaf covered square.

 

Whatever Aurora was expecting to get out of eating normal food, well, not too much came of it. When she squeezed the entire square into her mouth, the increased flexibility from higher levels definitely showed itself, but the bread kinda just… sat there, slowly dissolving. Sure, she tried chewing it, and apparently her teeth could still function, though the bread tasted about as good as some dirt. And when Aurora swallowed some of the bread, it felt as though she was trying to swallow some large, pointy rocks.

 

Grimacing, she forced the rest of it down, which honestly didn’t help at all. Her hunger remained completely unchanged, and swallowing that was extremely unpleasant. That clearly wasn’t a quality of the bread; Skadi was eating hers just fine with a smile. If anything, it just made her want to vomit—could she even do that anymore?

With that extremely unsatisfying meal, Aurora watched as Skadi slowly bit into hers. “No more food, huh? Well, I guess I was already prepared to eat a lot less after I leveled some… oh. No more kitsune udon from my mom.” Aurora thought, her tails drooping as she wished she could still cry. “Skadi might have been right about being cursed…”