Meandering Forward
Listening to the shrieks echoing up from the abyss below her, Kasdeya didn't stick around to see if the hunter died, since she'd know of its fate judging by whether or not her experience went up, and started progressing forward at a substantial pace thanks to the recent buff, which was still applied.
[Name: Kasdeya Votumea
Race: Runic Devil
Gender: Female
Age: Ageless
Level: 23
Strength: 82
Endurance: 114
Soul: 195
Luck: 3
Assignable Points: 6
Current Effects: Runic Empowerment, Weakness
Weakness:
Due to the influence of a mental attack and subsequent attempts to resist, your body and mind have entered a weakened state.
-25% soul
-30% strength
-30% endurance]
Runic Empowerment:
Activated runic empowerment.
+150% soul
+100% strength
+120% endurance]
'That's one hell of a buff!' Kasdeya exclaimed in her mind while running across a naturally formed ramp leading up to the next series of plateaus. 'It completely cancels out the negatives from weakness then adds some more on the top!'
Utilising this boost to the maximum, Kasdeya covered quite a bit of distance in a short time when she started to notice a strange feeling. Stopping for a minute next to a small cave opening, she glanced down at herself and saw the glowing symbols starting to grow dim in proportion to the feeling which was welling up within her.
Having a good idea on what was happening, Kasdeya jogged into the small cave next to her when all of a sudden the symbols on her body dimmed completely and a horrible feeling of fragility and fatigue overwhelmed her.
Not even having the energy to muster a cry, Kasdeya's legs gave out beneath her and she fell down in an ungraceful heap before blacking out.
------------------------------
"NOTHING?! YOU MEAN YOU STILL HAVEN'T LOCATED HER AFTER ALL THIS TIME?!?"
"W-w-we've looked everywhere my lord, scouring every stone and pebble."
"DAMMIT! HAVE YOU ANY IDEA HOW MUCH IT COST ME TO TRANSPORT HER TO CUPIDITAS? AND YOU TELL ME THAT YOU CAN'T FIND HER?!"
"F-f-forgive the insolence of this question m-my Lord, but what if the coordinates m-m-malfunctioned? She could have ended up anywhere..." The stuttering high imp's voice slowly died off as the sentence progressed to the point where the end was hardly audible. This was due to the face of Harjin Mammon, the Lord of Greed, who was currently livid beyond description and gazing at the imp with a face that just about screamed, 'Do you think I'm an idiot?'.
"I know that the f*cking coordinates malfunctioned. That b*tch used a rune to mess with the gates formation so no shit it would've spat her out in some godforsaken slum somewhere. But your job was to find her, no matter where she ended up."
"But we searched everywhere! She's not he-"
"THEN LOOK OUTSIDE OF MY DOMAIN! GO INVESTIGATE THE LAND OF THAT INDOLENT GONIA! OR THAT SLUT KARLIN! I DON'T CARE WHAT IT TAKES! GET ME THE LOCATION OF THAT DEVIL! NOW!"
With that one final scream and demand, Harjin waved his hand and sent the pitiful imp flying out of the throne room before the greatly adorned doors slammed shut, leaving the imp to drag its injured body away and the Lord of Greed to sit on his throne with a hand on his chin.
"You needed me, my Lord?" A shadowy figure asked as it manifested beside the throne.
"Yes, it appears that, once again, my observation of imps being worthless is correct."
"Well, they are a lesser species, not even having distinct characteristics or abilities to the point that they're all androgynous and look almost identical. Truly only good for menial labor."
"Indeed… I would like you to go and start monitoring the information network between the courts again, I need more information about current events. Additionally keep an ear out for the whereabouts of our little devil friend."
"As you wish my lord." The shadow responded as it slowly sank into the ground again, leaving Harjin alone.
-----------------------------
"Come to me~, lost little lambs… join under my banner. Rise and form a legion…"
John jolted awake with a terrible premonition in his heart. Getting out of his bed, he realised that he'd somehow overslept and it was now just past 8:30am.
Quickly getting dressed, he headed out of his designated residence which he shared with Joey and Michael, who had already left, and headed outside to find the two of them.
Taking a moment to meander passed the living quarters of the mages he noted that they'd clearly already left to conduct their experiments for the day.
Arriving next to his two friends who were talking to Tycheros, he seamlessly joined into step next to them before immediately asking, "Has there been anything of note happening recently?"
He got three pairs of perplexed looks in response to his question as well as a slightly confused no, so he decided to leave it for now.
Though, even many hours later, he still felt unsettled and restless, like something was going to happen.
----------------------
Slowly opening her eyes, Kasdeya blearily looked at the wonderful stone scenery right before her brain registered the aches and pains afflicting it.
'Ain't this wonderful.' Kasdeya thought with a groan as she slowly pushed herself into a better position, propped up against the wall.
Glancing at her status page again, she noted that her level hadn't increased, most likely indicating that the hunter was still alive and that the definition of weakness had changed to encompass side effects of using runic empowerment and adding a slightly harsher penalty.
Some time later she awoke again feeling a lot less exhausted, though the penalties were still in play, so she decided to stay here a while longer.
Dragging her bag to herself, she fumbled around inside until she found the relic, which she'd stolen from the Bone Weaver.
[Crystal Altilium]
'What an amazing discovery. I'm so glad the ability to inspect stuff with the system exists.'
Flipping the disc over, she looked closely at the convoluted runes inscribed throughout the disk but couldn't make sense of any of it so, lacking any other ways to figure out its function, she imbued mana into it… and nothing happened.