DTK 26 (Patreon)

AN: Edited, added current system status

There was an ear splitting cry. Then the copper mole shot backwards, tearing apart the earth as it rolled end over end. The clearing lit up as if illuminated by a firework as dozens of Gerald’s enchantments erupted simultaneously. The glowing translucent projection of a shield flared around Gerald’s tower shield.

The monster landed in a heap in the dirt, stunned. The crystal golems were sent flying across the clearing.

I rushed forward, passing Gerald as I dashed towards the gigantic, copper mole, and stabbed down.

[Running Stitch I] [Mana: 7/10] [Cancel]

The needle made a sheering noise of metal on metal as it passed through the creature’s head and out the other side. I sat there for a moment, needle stuck in its head, wondering what was missing.

There was no experience pop up.

I yanked on the needle, trying to pull it out, but it held firm in the monster’s head. Instead, I pulled the monster’s head up off the ground, bending its neck toward me. It gnashed sharp, dirty, metal teeth at me, its face eyeless, instead just a featureless plate of metal.

Sandy appeared out of the shadow, her cleaver flashing unnaturally, separating the monster down its spine. That was normally enough to drop the wolves to pieces. On this, it just left a gouge a hands length deep. Blood like oil seeped from the wound.

I let go of the needle and jumped backwards, the monster biting the air where I had been a second ago. It whipped its head back and forth, the thin wires hanging from its face searching the ground.

The needle pierced clean through its head from one side to the other, iridescent black blood seeping from the wound.

It still had health points left. The system forcefully kept it alive, despite the needle running through its head.

I tripped on a rock and fell backward right as the monster’s jaw lunged for the ground. It chewed through dirt and rock, swallowing a chunk of earth.

Sandy’s blade sent sparks flying as she hacked at its side, the blade scratching down the beast but not finding any purchase to split its side open.

“Gerald? You going to help?” Sandy asked.

“Help how? I only have a shield!” Gerald shouted from the other side of the clearing.

I didn’t turn back to look at him. Instead, I activated [Quick Change,] replacing my clothing piece by piece while the monster turned to Sandy. The strength stat made my limbs feel like they were full of power.

The monster bit down toward her. She held out her knife with both hands as the monster’s mouth closed around the middle, yanking on it like a dog with a chew toy.

[Running Stitch I] [Mana: 6/10] [Cancel]

[+5 XP] [Excess Discarded]

My second needle exploded through the side of its head, sending chunks of metal flying. My second needle clattered to the ground of the dusty clearing, the monster’s collapse bringing Sandy down with it. She pushed its mouth open with a boot, pulling her sword from its mouth.

“Really?” Sandy asked, calling out to Gerald. “It’s dead now!”

“What about the little monsters?” Gerald asked from behind his tower shield.

“They’re gone too.” I said, looking around in the clearing. The tiny crystal golems ran away as soon as the monster was knocked back by Gerald’s enchantments.

Sandy kicked the side of the monster, staring thoughtfully at the mouth of the cave. There wasn’t even a shadow of human industry here, the Wild having erased any trace of it. In the mouth of the cave, however, were gouges in the stone, presumably from where support beams once stood.

“What you gonna make out of this?” Sandy asked suddenly, turning back toward me.

“Dunno. Feels like a waste to make a mining outfit.” I said, leaning down at the monster’s side. “Doesn’t quite fit the shell dress either.”

Sandy looked around the clearing then down at the monster.

“We’re not going to be able to carry it home like this.” I said.

Sandy grunted in affirmation and then pulled out a knife from her belt. She looked between it and the monster. Gerald slowly saddled up, every footstep a tremendous hulking noise.

Sandy put the small knife away, picking her cleaver back and up. She kicked the monster onto its belly and stabbed down into the hole she had cut open earlier.

“You guys check out the cave. I’ll get to work on this.” Sandy said. She grunted, pushing down on the blade. When it didn’t budge, she leaned into it with her knee, standing on the monster to press down.

“Let me get the lantern.” I said, staring back off to the cave. I really needed a set of armor with a light enchantment.

“Oh! I can get the light.” Gerald said, raising a hand to his helmet again. The glow coming from the armor’s sockets intensified until it hurt to look at, rays of light pouring out of his helmet.

Me and Sandy turned to look to each other.

“You know that means you’ll be walking into the — potentially monster infested — cave first, right?” Sandy asked.

“Oh.” Gerald said. “Yeah!”

He stared for a moment at the cave before stepping forward.

“Lead the way, then.” I followed behind Gerald, the sound of Sandy grunting as she cut the monster apart fading into the clearing.

“I’ll yell if anything is trying to kill me!” Sandy shouted behind us.

Gerald stopped at the mouth of the cave, eyes sweeping wall to wall. The light moved with his gaze. With a gesture, one of his iron gauntlets disappeared and return to his inventory. He ran a finger over the wall streaked with orange veins.

“How does your inventory work? Can you just store the iron right out of the wall?” I asked, following behind him.

Gerald pressed a hand to the wall and grunted.

“No luck.”

The cave was a single, long path, leading deep inside. We found remnants of the crystal golems camp.

The cave split into four directions, one of them collapsed in and filled with rubble. Sections of the wall were mined clean, piles of rubble and unrefined metal littering the floor.

Piles of tools littered the corner in varying states of disrepair. It looked like they had hurried to grab what remained of their belongings, running deeper into the cave.

Gerald dove into the rubble instantly, storing some of the pieces he found on the floor according to some unknown logic. The other doorways hung thick with darkness while his light was affixed on the ground.

“Where did the monsters go? Is there another exit to the cave?” I asked.

Gerald looked up, then around.

I gripped the needle in my hand before forcing myself to relax a little. If the golems had another monster like that, they wouldn’t have ran.

“Let’s check all the passages out.”

We turned down the right passage first. It curved about before ending abruptly in a wall, the veins of iron disappearing where the next passage was carved open.

Turning back, the crystal goblin camp was still undisturbed. There was only one route left. The tunnel at the back of the room slanted downwards ever so slightly, a degree or too into the earth. A soft breeze flowed up the mine shaft intermittently, the air smelling progressively more damp.

Branches in the tunnel led to collapsed pathways or dead ends, reaching deeper and deeper until the tunnel changed in a subtle but noticeable way. The walls gained new texture and grew wider, not a shape that would be achieved if they were carved by pickaxes. It looked like they were clawed open from the earth.

The cave ended, not in a wall, but in a pile of rubble. There was a small hole on the top, big enough for the crystal golems to climb through, but not enough for a human to get by. The monsters had retreated into the earth.

“How deep does this place go?” Gerald asked.

“It looks like something dug its way up here.” I said, looking around at the walls. “So… probably… very deep.”

We turned around and climbed out of the mine, mentally noting where the iron veins ran thick as we crossed.

“You think those monsters are gonna come back?” Gerald asked, voice nervous.

“There’s no place in the Wild without the threat of monsters.” I replied. Uncleared and unoccupied dungeons poured monsters into the world. The powerful ones typically ranged far from human territory, chased away or hunted by the nobles. The only real safety, though, was within the bubble that surrounded a well maintained town.

I activated my system to spend the one skill point I received. I could only buy one new skill from the shop; the other point was forced to be spent on either a pattern or leveling up a skill. With [Warddrobe] sufficient to hold my entire current outfit, I didn’t have to level it.

[Skill Shop]

►Cross Stitching I

[COMMON] Enables system assistance with a new stitch type. Additional levels increase proficency.

►Pattern Projection I

[COMMON] Seamstress vision skill. Grants user access to a pattern overlay on fabric.

►Pattern Mirroring I

[Uncommon] Mirrors cuts along worked material. Additional levels allow additional simultaneous cuts.

I frowned as I looked over the skills, thinking. Sandy was able to use her butcher skill on live monsters. I wondered if I could do the same. What was the difference between an unprocessed bolt of cloth and an unprocessed body of leather? One was alive, sure.

“Hey Gerald…” I asked, walking behind him. “Do you think you could craft a giant pair of scissors?”

[Gwendolyn Tailor][Human, Lv11][Seamstress]

[Health: 52/52][Mana: 7/10][XP: 0/10]

[ATTRIBUTES]

►SPD: 24 ►WIL: 5

►STR: 5 ►DEX: 10

►CON: 26 ►PER: 9

[SKILLS]

►Crafting I ►Running Stitch I

►Hand Spinning I ►Thread Mastery IV

►Wardrobe V ►Quick Change I

►Embellishment II ►Pattern Mirroring I

[PATTERNS]

►[Hunter Pattern] ►[Shell Dress Pattern]

[RESISTANCES]

►Light: 10

[TEMPORARY SKILLS]

►[Thread Sensing III] ►[Thread Mastery II]