I was left in that darkness for who knows how long. Suddenly, after what seemed like a whole eternity of that cold, wet darkness, what I could only assume was my left arm was enveloped by a sensation of burning fire. My eyes opened, and I saw the ceiling of the cavern. I looked around as cold sweat trickled down my cheeks and saw that I had fallen over on my back, arms and legs sprawled outwards.
The burning fire sensation swelled up to a ferocious high and I snapped my head around to look at my Left Arm and saw that it was not on fire, but was instead covered by the dark matter that had made its way from the Left Arm to all over my body.
The pain swelled once more to a record high and my vision blackened again. I must have passed out again and was now returned to the darkness. This time the darkness felt normal. Like the darkness after I was flung away by the Goblin Alpha. The pain was gone, and I felt like I was floating peacefully once more.
I don't know how long I was in that peaceful darkness, but after an uncertain while, I opened my eyes slowly.
I was still lying down on the floor covered in sweat. The tomb loomed over to my side, and the torches lining the outer edge of the room were still lit. Even the liquid fire was still oddly not emitting any heat under my body. The burning sensation was gone, and my head was clouded with a haze I'd never felt before even when I was sick. I heaved myself up on my left side and pushed myself off the ground, using my left arm to hold myself steady against the tomb.
A Window popped up.
The realisation that I was leaning on my left arm, and I could feel the pressure of that lean without the warning Window about Nerve Degradation finally hit me like I had just run into a wall.
I can use my left arm again! I flexed my muscles. I closed my hand into a tight fist and nearly sobbed with happiness when I could feel my nails pressing against my palm. I swung my arm around a bit and stared in wonder at the sensation of the air rushing past my skin. I was able to feel the air rush past my skin!
For the first time in my memory, I swiped my Status Window into existence with my left arm and didn't recoil from the pain. A laugh sputtered out of me as I started to cry.
On the screen in front of me, a '(+5)' was present at the end of all of my physical attributes. I reached out and pressed my finger at STR. A message popped up:
I checked my Inventory Window and took out the Sword of the Chief with my left arm. As I gripped it tightly, no debuff message appeared in front of me. I laughed out loud in disbelief. I can use my dominant hand to equip a weapon! A joyful force rose from my lungs and my chest and I cried out in happiness.
I discarded the Windows and took a look inside the tomb once more. The skeleton was still laid there in its peaceful pose but where the mummified arm was held in the bone grasp was now a thin layer of ash and dust. Looking through the skeleton at the bottom of the tomb, I could see a small pile of ash and dust roughly in the shape of the arm.
I looked at my arm once more and this time I paid close attention to where the massive encircling scar had been. There was no longer a scar. All that was left was a tiny line of discolouration where the scar was. The only way to notice the discolouration was if you were looking for it and you were studying the arm close.
Paradigm played a victory chime and I heard stone scraping, which signalled a walkway had appeared for me. A Window appeared in front of me.
Before I was able to check if what the message had said was true, everything disappeared into nothingness and a force felt like it was pushing me forward. I lost my balance and stumbled forwards and suddenly I stepped on the grass that lined the cliff wall and I heard the low buzzing of forest bugs and night life. I was suddenly back in the forests outside of town and out of the dungeon.
How long had I been in the dungeon? I noticed an abandoned fire pit and a makeshift log seat were nearby. That was odd. Ohda may be a small town, but it had facilities for travellers to rest overnight. Why did someone camp out here?
Mental fatigue washed over me, and I decided to make my way back to the orphanage. With the gold reward, I would be able to get so much meat for everybody to enjoy. I hope they didn't miss me too much.
I don't know how late it was, but the torches that lit the town pathways were starting to grow dim. At the very least, it was very late, and the town was very quiet.
As I found myself a little further out of town, near where the orphanage was, something didn't sit quite right with me. I didn't know what it was, but something made me start to walk faster and faster. When I reached the front gate of the orphanage, I was surprised to find it closed and... bolted. There was a sign placed in front of the gate and I was just able to read what it said in the low light of the night.
No Trespassing.
What?
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