.
.
.
—-------
"... How?..."
In a mix of shock, confusion, and even a bit of happiness, Dale looked around, baffled.
"This is... My room."
'Somehow... I'm now here, someone must've carried me here.'
'But all the way from the forest? Just how long have I been knocked out?!'
'Even if they flew with Ubuk, how come I didn't awaken?'
"The... The time..." He mumbled as he looked at the window, seeing how dark the outside was
'What time is it?'
He opened his System Menu, ignoring everything as he read the clock...
"Half a day has passed... It's not midnight yet but it'll soon be."
'Did I sleep for this long?'
According to the time, Dale and the others left for the expedition on the same day Babylon was announced, and on the same day the Village Rating was updated.
On the day the Golden Bells rang in the sky...
After a lengthy day of preparations, meeting with the Caravan and Muddan, they departed during the dead of the night to not alert the others.
From then on, for two days and two nights, they walked in the forest without rest, finally reaching the Central City during the morning of their third day of expedition.
Following that, the events of Dale departing with Testros in search of any possible survivors, culminating with their meeting with Sarferato and the others ensued.
This would mean...
"It's almost the end of the third day and the start of the fourth... There's three more days until Babylon opens..."
'So I still have some time to prepare.'
'Though first... I need to figure out what happened as I was... In that place.'
...
Closing his eyes as he laid his head on his pillow, Dale pieced together the puzzle, coming to a conclusion as to what likely happened:
'If everything the Old Spirit is to be believed, then I failed the original Ritual Tina had in mind for me when the Devil escaped.'
'However, I managed to make do for it by… Uh… I…'
"What… Happened after the Devil escaped?" He asked out loud as his eyes trembled
'Actually…'
The more he tried to remember, the less he started to understand the situation.
Dale could remember most of what happened from his arrival to the Central City to his meeting and discussion with Tina, but after that, things started to get blurry.
He did remember being in pain… A lot of it.
But the specifics... Were all missing.
'Shit… Is this a side effect of the operation? Or maybe even one of those situations where the Brain shuts off highly stimulating and traumatizing memories for its own sake?'
'I can appreciate that, I wasn't keen on remembering what transpired during that agonizing time… But I need to get the context of what the fuck happened!'
'She carved me up, that I remember, but then I... It's all in shambles...'
Clenching onto his head, Dale eventually shook his head, as he tried to focus.
"Either way… Since I'm here… What about my Quests?"
'Was the Greater Devil killed? What about my rewards? Is everyone okay? Were the Survivors escorted safely back to the Village?'
'Did I... Level up again?'
With a flurry of questions rushing into the tip of his tongue, Dale figured out it would be best to start with the old reliable, the System.
By opening his Game Menu, Dale saw how the System Log option had a small icon next to it, there were new messages, and it was time to open them.
"..."
'It's now or never.' He thought as he opened his notifications
[DING]
[The Ancient Ritual, Vermin's Pot has come to fruition]
[The Tripodal Mark stimulates your body]
[All conditions have been met]
[The receptacle has shattered]
"!!"
'This!...'
As he read that, a small memory resurfaced in Dale's mind, a small reddish object, one he ate.
'Yes… I remember, that was how I made up for the mistake.'
'I ate… That, and the Ritual was completed.'
'However, my… Shattered?'
'What does that mean? Is it referring to my Heart?'
'That doesn't seem to be the case, even if my heart were to shatter, would the pain really be enough to be as mentally anguishing as the Old Spirit said?'
'Not that I'm aware of how many nerves there are in the heart...'
'Thinking about that also, I never really asked his name... Unfortunate.'
'But if they live in the forest, I'll likely meet them again soon enough.'
Dale's confusion was still at an all-time high, but he pressed on, there was still much to read.
[The Mark of the Witch ignites the receptacle]
[You are experiencing a surge of Vitality, revitalizing your flesh and bones]
[The Tripodal Mark burns brighter]
[The receptacle is being reconstructed]
[The Secrets of the flesh are many, but today, one opens up for you]
[You have Attained a new Tale! Flesh Rebirth!]
[DING]
[The Shard of Belterix is reacting]
[The Skill, Vital Heart 2-Star is being absorbed into your body]
[The Aspect of Might is reacting]
[The Heart Gate is experiencing a change]
[Under the resonance of multiple odds, the Skill, Vital Heart 2-Star has transformed into Blast Chamber]
[May the Embers of life never extinguish]
[Your Skill, Prime Source 2.5-Star has Leveled up to 3-Star]
[DING]
[Hidden Quest, Overcome the Limitation of the Heart has been completed]
[The Blast Chamber stabilizes]
[Aspect of Might has been strengthened]
[Maximum Skill Slots have been increased]
[DING]
[Corrupted Vitality has begun to overwhelm your mentality]
[Your consciousness fades away]
[The power of the Old Spirits shields your mentality from corruption]
[DING]
[Opening Monster Log:]
[Greater Devil Zongrogen
Challenge Level: 250-260
*Elite*
*World Boss*
*Superior Species*
Affected by:
#Vitality Well (Shattered)
#Compromissed Mutation
#Heavily Injured
#Berserk
]
[DING]
[The blood of a Unique existence stimulates Failure!]
[The flesh of a Unique existence greatly stimulates Failure!]
[Your raging emotions greatly stimulates Failure!]
[Failure Manifests a new Skill, Flash Recall 4-Star]
[Focus your will and call upon your weapon, causing it to fly in your direction at breakneck speeds, piercing through everything in its path, dealing increasing damage the longer it flies]
[Failure Manifests a new Skill, Predatory Instinct 4-Star]
[Slaying an enemy adds a stackable buff that debuffs all beings within range, friends or foes that can be resisted by one's mental fortitude; The higher the difference between both, the stronger and broader the effects become]
[Failure Manifests a new Skill, Bloom ???-Star]
[When all conditions meet, ???]
[DING]
[You slew the Monster, Greater Devil Zongrogen]
[No rewards shall be given due to it being a Quest-related Kill]
[Even that which exists within nightmares may feel fear]
[You have Attained a new Tale! The Fear of the Devil!]
[Like the sun in the sky, your body burns with strong crimson flames]
[You have Attained a new Tale! Vital Unleashed]
[DING]
[Your Skill, Spatial Awareness 2-Star has Leveled up to 2.5-Star]
[Your Skill, Land Raptor 2-Star has Leveled up to 3.5-Star]
[DING]
[You have completed the Quest, Visitor of the Wooden Heart part 2]
[Reputation with the Karkavan has been adjusted to Master Hunter (149)]
[Due to the dissonance between Soul and Body, Experience rewards have been added into Optional Objective rewards]
[You have received the item, White Comet's Tail x1]
[You have completed the Quest, The Unknown Devil]
[Due to the dissonance between Soul and Body, Experience rewards have been added into Optional Objective rewards]
[You have received the item, The Flame of Prometheus 0-Star Skill Book x1]
[You have completed the Quest, Forest Hirerarchy]
[Reputation with all Descendents of the Survivors has been adjusted to Savior (149)]
[Due to the dissonance between Soul and Body, Experience rewards have been added into Optional Objective rewards]
[You have received the item, Southern Imperial Sigil x1]
[You have completed the Quest, The Final Doubt, Over Limit!]
[Due to the dissonance between Soul and Body, Experience rewards have been added into Optional Objective rewards]
[You have received the item, Memory Shard x1]
[As easy as it is for the River of time to flow, some waves are not easily forgotten, and despite how little time you have spent traversing its chaotic waters, the splashes you caused will cascade into titanic waves...]
[You have attained a new Tale! Forest Silencer]
...
"..."
The moment he opened his system log, a wall of text that reached the ceiling and beyond appeared in front of him, causing his eyebrows to twitch as his head arched up.
He closed his eyes, annoyed and irritated, but glad and proud.
Just from the few glimpses he was given of what was written within those messages, he could already tell he would soon be smiling.
Yet, with the many challenges ahead of him, should he give himself the time for that?
Without further ado, he started to read it all, one line at a time.
And by the time he was done with the last line, Dale was certain of one thing...
"Will I survive logging off?" He asked out loud with a helpless smile
…
.
.
.
Notes
Sorry for how... Hurried this might've seen.
I wrote this after I realized I would need to go somewhere in the morning, so I ended up rushing the edit so I could post this before going to sleep.
Otherwise I would spent the entire damn morning worried about the time, and if I did that, my family would likely get angry at me for hurrying them in what was supposed to be a fun little trip.
That's about it, thank you for reading!
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