Approaching the makeshift tent, I noticed Ella and Emily fashioning a stretcher from sturdy vines. "Need a hand?" I offered. "We're almost done, don't worry about it," Ella replied.
Meanwhile, Benjamin reclined in a makeshift bed, a silent observer to the scene. Sitting down in the dirt next to him, I inquired about his well-being. "I'll live, and that's what matters most at the moment," he responded after a moment's pause, though a hint of discouragement lingered.
"Weird having only one arm, huh? But I guess it beats losing both legs," I remarked, attempting to inject a bit of humor. "On the bright side, you get to be carried." Benjamin's demeanor lightened a bit. "And who knows, with all this strange stuff, you might be able to regrow your legs. Maybe if you eat a magic apple, your legs will grow back. You never know," I joked. "I guess you're right. With what we've seen, there's a chance," he conceded.
"Anyway, how's your arm? Turn a bit so I can see how well it healed," Benjamin requested. Twisting toward him, I showed him my bandages. Removing them, I was surprised to find that the skin had already grown over the stub, and it wasn't bleeding anymore.
"That's amazing, the healing abilities these cores give. What I would give to be able to bring something like this back to Earth. It would help so many people," Benjamin marveled. "Well, I'm glad it healed all right.”
Once Ella and Emily finished the stretcher", Amelia arrived with Henry, and we gathered to discuss our next steps. Henry suggested heading back to the crater to see if there was anything useful. Benjamin was hesitant but thought it was a good idea.
With our plans set, we packed up camp, and with Amelia and Henry carrying Benjamin on the stretcher, we headed to the crater. As we descended slope, the stench of battle overwhelmed our senses. "Oh man, this smells bad," Henry remarked, covering his nose. Looking about i observed Creatures feasted on the fallen around us, adding a grim backdrop to our search.
"Ella, that's gruesome," Emily remarked, her tone filled with distaste, as Ella approached a corpse and cut away at it using one of my knives. Ella shrugged off Emily's comment. "How else are we going to determine if a core will match with anyone? We need to check if there's an intact one."
However, her optimism was short-lived. A second later, disappointment shadowed her features as she discovered the core shattered within. "I'll have to find an intact one," Ella said with determination, moving on to inspect another corpse.
After cutting away at several more bodies, Ella finally discovered an intact core with a golden hue, but it showed no reaction to anyone. Despite our efforts, the pile of intact cores grew, and none seemed to resonate with us. Ready to abandon our search, Emily's excited exclamation pierced the air. "Yes! I found one that's glowing." As we approached, she pointed to a core half-buried in a mass of flesh, glowing with mesmerizing light blue and light green hues. The creature it came from was unrecognizable, but the core unmistakably responded to Emily. Upon her touch, the core liquefied and dissolved into her. With a gleeful squeal, her eyes widened with excitement.
"I'm at level 1, and my stats are hanging around the average mark for now, but the exciting part is my two skills," she burst out. "There's telekinesis, and then there's wind's protection. Titles are still missing from my repertoire, though," she shared in a rapid, enthusiastic ramble.
"Whoa, whoa, slow down. I could barely understand you. Did you say you have telekinesis?" Henry asked.
She explained that while she wasn't sure about the specifics of "Wind's Protection," she believed that "Telekinesis" was exactly as she had imagined. Emily's excitement about her newfound powers was palpable, urging us to explore further.
After searching the rest of the corpses, we were disappointed not to find anything for Ella or Benjamin. Henry, on the other hand, was sure excited to get out of that disgusting hole. He ran up the side of it, getting some fresh air. "Get back down here and help me carry Benjamin out!" Amelia yelled. "Oh, sorry," he yelled, sliding back down and assisting Amelia in carrying Benjamin out of the hole.
Reaching the top, I took a deep breath of fresh air. Helping Ella up, I watched as Amelia and Henry finally made it up. "Okay, let's start to get going," Amelia said.
Slowly guiding everyone, I started to head in the direction I saw the shadow. Still, as we walked, I couldn't resist the temptation to test Emily's newfound powers. "Telekinesis," the name itself seemed to hint at its capabilities. I had a hunch about what it might entail, so I picked up a small rock and tossed it toward her. Before I could blink, the rock hurtled back toward me, propelled by an invisible force, and smacked me right in the face. The gust of wind that accompanied it added insult to injury.
My friends burst into laughter at my expense, and even though I was nursing a bruised ego along with my throbbing cheek, I couldn't help but join in. Emily's powers were nothing short of amazing. "Did you use telekinesis just barely?" I asked Emily. "No, that actually wasn't. It must have been my wind protection," Emily said. Then, a rock got flung at me from my back, smacking my head. "That was my telekinesis," she said with a smile. "Okay, I get it. Sorry," I said, rubbing my head.
As we pressed forward, the density of the forest seemed to conspire against our progress. The tightly packed trees created an almost impenetrable barrier, challenging us at every turn. Frustrated by our futile attempts to navigate through the thick vegetation, we opted for a more direct approach: cutting our way through the dense foliage.
"Henry, think you can climb over that vine and scout ahead?" I proposed, gesturing towards a particularly stubborn cluster of vines obstructing our path.
Henry, never one to shy away from a challenge, accepted with a confident nod. "Piece of cake, watch this," he asserted, striding towards the vine with determination.
With a burst of energy, Henry leaped towards the vine, aiming to scale it with finesse. However, his momentum betrayed him, and mid-jump, his foot snagged on a stray vine, sending him tumbling face-first into the forest floor.
"Whoa, you alright?" I exclaimed, jogging to his side as he picked himself up, dirt smeared across his face.
"Yeah, just a little more intimate with the forest floor than I'd planned," Henry grumbled good-naturedly, brushing debris from his clothes.
"Nice jump, Henry. You really know how to make an entrance," Ella teased, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
"Yeah, well, let's see you do any better," Henry shot back, his competitive spirit undeterred.
"I think I'll stick to chopping, thank you very much," Ella quipped, a hint of amusement in her voice as she readied her tools for the task ahead.
As Amelia led the way, conjuring molten rock from the earth, I marveled at how effortlessly she shaped the lava, clearing a path through the dense forest. "Doesn't that exhaust you?" I inquired, catching up to her.
She grinned, her eyes gleaming with determination. "It's like building muscle. The more you use it, the stronger and more enduring it becomes. It's good practice."
"Just don't push yourself too hard," I cautioned.
"Don't worry, I'll give you a heads-up when I start feeling the burn," she reassured with a nod.
With Henry trailing behind, assisting Ella with Benjamin, our group moved forward. Emily's gentle breezes swept through, clearing obstacles and lightening our load. Each breath of fresh air brought relief, making our journey through the dense forest a bit easier to bear.
Playing my part, I summoned my void creation to craft tools that aided our progress. While I couldn't replicate modern machinery, I fashioned makeshift tools that helped with cutting and clearing obstacles along our path.
As we ventured further through the thick forest, signs of a past battle became increasingly apparent. Destruction marked the landscape, as if the very vegetation had risen to assail an unknown adversary. Burn marks scarred the terrain, and plant life seemed to have devoured whatever crossed its path.
The rhythmic thuds of blades slicing through stubborn foliage filled the air as we pressed onward. Ella, ever vigilant, abruptly stopped, her ears perked at a faint hiss. I followed her gaze, locking eyes with a creature whose malevolence seemed directed solely at me.
In an instant, it pounced, its jagged teeth sinking deep into my right arm. A grotesque fusion of serpent and avian features, its bite sent waves of searing pain through me. Its mouth glowed with a menacing red hue as it spewed forth scorching flames.
Panic surged within me, but I forced myself to focus, conjuring a protective shield around the wounded area. The barrier quivered against the onslaught of heat, testing my control to its limits. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I struggled to contain the inferno unleashed by the creature.
With every ounce of strength I could muster, I sent a surge of electricity surging through my arm to the creature, determined to teach it a lesson. It screeched and writhed in agony, letting go, it tried to flee. But I grabbed it, refusing to release it while continuing the Surge of electricity. Desperation filled the creature's eyes as it tried to bite down again, but this time, I acted swiftly. Summoning a spike from my arm, I pierced it through the serpent's neck, impaling it even as it was electrocuted. My companions watched in horrified silence as I held the creature in my iron grip, allowing electricity to flow into it until it became nothing more than a fried husk, lifeless and motionless on the forest floor.
I exhaled deeply, my heart racing with adrenaline. "Wow, that was exhilarating," I admitted, my voice shaky from the intensity of the encounter.
Henry chimed in, his voice tinged with awe, "You're kinda scary sometimes, you know, man."
I couldn't help but chuckle despite the pain radiating from my burns. "Is that so? Well, I'll just sit here for a bit," I replied, shifting to a more comfortable position, "Dang, these burns hurt."
Emily offered her assistance. "Would you like me to cool your burns down?"
I nodded gratefully. "Yes, I would appreciate that."
A gentle, soothing breeze caressed my scorched skin, and I closed my eyes, relishing the relief that washed over me. We decided to take a moment to rest, leaning against the resilient trees of this mysterious forest.
"I think this is a good spot to make camp," Amelia suggested. Henry gathered wood for a fire, and I sat with Emily, cooling my burns. Benjamin called me over, and as I approached, he reached into his bag and pulled out a plant.
"What is that?" I asked, puzzled. It shared some characteristics with aloe vera. "I found it a couple of days ago, and it should help with burns," he explained. Breaking it open, he extracted some of the slimy goo. Then, he paused. "Get lower down; I don't have legs, you know," he said.
"Oh, sorry," I chuckled.
"Who are you laughing at?" he retorted, smacking my burns.
"Ouch, don't smack it!" I yelped.
"Don't laugh about my missing legs and respect your elder," he said with a smile then started to have a coughing fit.
"Ok, I'll stop joking, I wouldn't want you to die on us," I promised. As he rubbed the substance on my burns, it felt much better—even heavenly when Emily used her air on me.
Soon enough Amelia had a sizable stack of wood in a pile and used her lava creation to light the fire, and soon, we had a functioning camp. Henry took the first watch while the rest of us relaxed. Ella prepared a meal from the snake, and Emily tasted it with a confused expression.
"That's weird. It kinda tastes like fish but extremely elastic," Emily explained. "Here, try some," she said, handing me a piece. Biting into it, she was right; it tasted like tilapia but made of rubber. I had to chew for a bit before swallowing. "That's interesting," I said, intrigued.
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