I woke up to a fuzzy feeling, like I was wrapped in a silky warm blanket. I opened my eyes and everything was dark. Then, slivers of light broke through, followed by a blinding light.
"The hell? Whats happening" I breathe out as I watch white vines recede into my arm. An intense burst of panic shot through me before I watched all the vines turn into a white tattoo of a vine wrapping a bone.
"The fuck happened?" I called out, paranoid as my finger traces the tattoo. I pulled up my status and stared at it in awe.
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Sitting there staring at my status was one of the most surreal moments I've had in this damn ruined forest. I looked down at my arm in suprise as my skin looked smooth like the vine. Then, I tapped on the bone vine in my status.
Staring at its status was interesting but something weird caught my eye. Bone devour and bonded made sense but serpentine didn't.
While I was at it, might as well check the other ones.
I'm really glad I chose to check them all because I learned something from each of them. So, it needs bones to survive, and eventually evolve. Wait. How close is it to the next evolution? Guess I'll figure out when it happens?
Then, the vine and I can share our koi and whatever energy it uses. Though, I thought it was koi too. And finally, we can communicate with our minds?
'Hello?' I call out in my mind, expecting something similar to how Gavin used to appear.
'Human, what did you do?' A woman's voice rang out in my head, sounding fresh and vibrant. Her voice stunned me for a minute until I realized I could see her form in my mind. It was a foot long vine with a really faint black energy in it's core.
'I tried to use my trait to understand you' I admit and it stood there for a minute.
'I see, a name' She calls out, clearly expecting an answer.
'My name is felix' I call out and I swear I could hear her chuckling ever so slightly.
'No, I need a name, give me one' she demanded and I felt an a little flustered. Should I give her a pet name like snowy? Scale? No, she is a spirit beast with a personality. Then, it hit me.
'Veil' I called out with confidence, not sounding entirely like me and I swear on the golden flame. I could see a smile forming somewhere on her.
'Thank you' i hear her whisper before she freezes and disappears from my mental space. Then, I openned my eyes.
I was surrounded in these black flowers that looked like roses but not quite.
"Hello?" I called outloud, hoping I would get veil to respond and luckily, she did.
"Master, I am here in you. I will be in your body for a few days for my ascension. You can still use my body as you please. Just will the vines to move and they will. I won't be able to talk much h longer " veil spoke a lot more than she ever has and it left me stunned.
"Ascension?! How is that happening? What does that mean? Are you ok?" I asked all at once and I heard her laugh again.
"Yes master, I am fine you named me" she replied before slowly dying off into nothing. I stared down at my arm for a little bit before nodding slowly.
"Good luck veil" I whisper before looking around. I need food, and I need it now. I slowly stepped towards the pond, dunking my head in to take big gulps. A minute later, I looked up to see my surroundings and paused.
I never realized how beautiful the ruined forest was from above. I could see the crowns of the trees, along with a plethora of different colorful birds, along with a handful of bony birds and insects.
I nodded slowly before walking to the edge of the pond and looking for any other way down. Surprisingly, I saw two streams coming off of the pond. The one I took yesterday and the one on the other side.
I sighed before taking a deep breathe and sliding into the stream. Water rushes all around me as I slid into it. As soon as I was submerged, I felt the water guiding me down through the path, carrying me with tender care.
After 6 minutes, the fast paced water slowed down significantly, letting me get my footing and scan my surroundings. I saw a lot of trees and surprisingly, a dirt road down the ways. I walked towards it in anticipation as more and more of my surroundings came clearer.
Then, I felt a piercing pain in my calf. My eyes narrowed as I kicked my leg up, revealing a weird bone arrow type thing? I held my leg in the air as I tried to figure out how it got there until it started to move.
The tail of it split open, revealing 3 tentacle like limbs, feeling around my leg. In a panic, I swung my arm down on it but what happened next stunned me. The bone vine grew out of my arm and hit the bone arrow creature, breaking it clean In half. That wasnt the weirdest part.
The arrow beast thing stuck to the vine, slowly getting absorbed by it untill it was no more.
Rang out, scaring the hell out of me. I ran out of the water in a hurry and stood on the shore, out of breathe. I looked down at my calf that wasnt bleeding but still held a small hole through the back part of it.
"great... at least I have some attack options now" I breathe out in sudden defeat. Looking up, I saw the path not too far ahead but suddenly remembered the one thing im forgetting. That spark in my soul space.
Closing my eyes, I looked into my space and saw two things floating freely. I saw the golden spark floating freely and on the other side, a deep red, translucent viper with a gold spark in the middle, along with a red halo around the spark.
Focusing on the burning soul, a small note appeared
I nodded slowly as this soul looked more and more promising. I guess that makes sense with a 0.01% drop rate. These things dont just come and go. Then, I stared at the spark and it slowly faded out of my soul space.
This time, I braced for the pain and it came just as suddenly. A burning pain radiated from my mind as it slowly spread out. Then, I felt the flow of koi in my chest speed up and double in size before settling down again. The pain left just as soon as it came.
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I spotted the differences immediately as a spark left from my soul space, increasing my total from 1 to 2. I looked around and saw no changes in my surroundings before nodding. Maybe i should have done that by the pond... no point caring now.
I slowly walked forwards, limping slightly but making progress. eventually, I made it and smiled before walking down it. The path was long and winding, weaving between countless trees. Then, I saw it.
A green deer was laying of to the side of the path. It looked about 2.5 meters tall while its brown antlers had green markings.
<10% cance to drop a spark. 3% chance to drop a spirit skull>
I stood as still as I could as I though of how to do this. My hunger growing stronger as I watched it lay prone to the world. I need it dead, now. Then, I got an idea.
It's trait, tough body means its going to be incredibly hard to hurt its body, and my only option was my bone vine. Yet, I doubt it can break its bones, at least for now. Then, why dont I choke it to death? I would need to get close enough to wrap the vines around it and it will take a bit for it to work but I think it's possible.
Making up my mind, I slowly crept forwards, extending the vines towards it's neck. A minute later, I was in position and launched myself. The vine curled around it's neck and tightened as I pulled back on it, trying to tighten it even more. The deers eyes bulged as it tried to stand up but struggled fiercely.
The deer swung its antlers towards me but I ducked, almost laying on the ground. It fell again and I saw foam forming at the corners of its jaw. A minute later, it finally stopped struggling but I knew it wasn't over. I hadn't heard the system. 2 minutes later, I finally heard it.
Well, it's disappointing but not unexpected. It was bound to happen but still sucks. Looking at the deer, I nodded slowly while I looked into my soul space. From there, I pulled out all the sticks and started rubbing them together, forming a fire.
15 minutes later, I had skinned the deer with a nearby stone and cooked up its front leg. The oils falling onto the soil as it got tender. Now that I think about it. Is today the 2nd day or the third day? Did I sleep and entire day after bonding with veil? I'll have to ask when I see her next.
Then, the smell of cooked meat got to me and i dug in, devouring all the meat I could. The taste was better than I thought it would have been but still not great. After I finished, I pulled out all the bones and set them aside as I stored the fur and meat in my soul space, taking up half the room.
From there, I held its shoulder blade and stored the rest of the bones in my space. The fire cracked rhythmically as I held the bone blade. Laying down, I relaxed in the warmth of the fire until I fell asleep for the night.