Volume 2 - Chapter 1: The Tongue that Feels
Roxanne woke up to a world filled with cannots.
She cannot see. She cannot remember anything. She cannot feel.
The moment she opened her eyes and found herself inside this dark forest, she could only see black everywhere. For a moment, Roxanne thought she was blind. Wait, was she blind? She tried tapping into her mind to remember.
Nothing.
Roxanne's head was reeling, forcing the gears inside the tiny little brain of hers to try again. She endeavored with all her willpower to remember where she was and what she was doing inside this creepy place.
She blinked her eyes once, then twice.
Still nothing.
Not only was there any memories about her whereabouts, but also she realized that she had no memories of who she is, her purpose, neither her reason for being here.
Roxanne cleared her throat. She called out three times, "Hello? Hello? Hello?"
"Oh, that's good, I can still speak and hear," she said robotically.
The poor girl didn't even mind how her circumstances were odd. She had amnesia. She couldn't see anything but blackness.
But Roxanne didn't even set aside thoughts of worry for her lost identity and memories. Her heart couldn't fathom what worry was, neither could it understand how overwhelming the fear of the unknown could be.
Because Roxanne wasn't an ordinary girl.
She was a girl who couldn't feel.
Out of nowhere, a bloodcurdling roar interrupted the stillness of the forest. Although Roxanne's eyes were gradually adjusting to the darkness so she can already see a few feet in front of her, it was still pitch black everywhere, rendering her unable to see the source of the sound.
Walking further at the sound of a predator was no better than a blind man groping his way near the ledge of a chasm and not expecting to fall over. That is why Roxanne decided to use her sense of hearing instead of her useless eyes. She paused and curled her fingers around her ears.
A branch snapped into two. Someone or something is out there.
Another branch snapped, the sound was merely a few feet away from Roxanne this time.
It's close.
Her eyes managed to adjust fully to the darkness now. Roxanne could make out a creature that sneaked up behind her. It had a polar bear's snow white fur and enormous arms but with the mane of a male lion.
"A lion and a polar bear. Are you a Polion?" Roxanne asked the predator without even a thought of running for her life. The moment she christened the creature's name, a name popped out on top of its head.
Polion (Lv. 5)
It answered with a snarl. Without even flinching, Roxanne stood still, oblivious to the dangers that the Polion posed.
The Polion jumped at her, brandishing its deadly claws, eager to tear Roxanne apart.
One second.
One second before Roxanne was dead. One second was all it took for a window to pop up and display the words "Auto-Fight mode enabled. Engaging battle against Polion".
And in that one second, a miracle had occurred.
How Roxanne procured the sharpened tree branch, she wasn't exactly sure. In an instant, a tree branch that was as thick as an average human's waist, sharpened until its deadly tip was jutting out dangerously, appeared in her hands.
As the Polion jumped, it speared itself into the sharpened tree branch that appeared out of nowhere.
Instead of Roxanne's own death cries, the Polion's fading whimpers echoed throughout the forest. The Polion struggled vigorously for a few moments, every movement caused numbers to float overhead. Sometimes it was a normal number at two digits, sometimes, it was in bold red letters averaging about 50, with an arrow beside the last digit. Above the occasional bold red numbers are the words "Critical damage".
With each movement, the blood splattered in all directions, and found its way to Roxanne's mouth, prickling her taste buds with the numbing acidic taste of vinegar.
Roxanne tasted the predator's fear of death, how in its last moments it thought of the finality of dying and how terrified it was when it felt its life slowly snuffed out like a tiny ember doused of its flames.
The Polion gradually ceased its fruitless attempts to withdraw itself from the sharp branch that pierced its abdomen, its movements becoming slower and slower by the minute.
Roxanne let go of the tree branch, the body of the Polion fell with a heavy thud. After that uncanny outburst of fear that obviously belonged to her attacker rather than her own, Roxanne was once again empty of empathy towards the creature she just murdered.
The sight of the predator unmoving at her feet made Roxanne clutch at her chest, as if feeling for something that was supposed to be there. The Polion was dead because of her.
"Why don't I feel guilty?" Roxanne asked to no one in particular.
The Polion's body shimmered then started to disappear by the feet and gradually up to the head until there was mothing left behind. A blue window popped up.
"Hurray! You killed your first monster!"
XP↑
Item dropped: Polion Fangs x1
New skill acquired: Plant Control
Roxanne's inventory list popped up and showed her she had one Polion fang in her inventory.
"What in the world is this?" She poked at the buttons on the screen hovering in front of her but it didn't go away. She poked harder, but still it obstinately stayed. Roxanne tilted her head wondering what to do.
She flicked her hand and said, "Well, whatever, I don't care if it followed me around anyway."
At her hand movement, the inventory list disappeared.
"Oooh," Roxanne repeatedly flicked her arm back and forth, causing her inventory list to appear and disappear as it hovered in front of her.
She carried on like this while walking for about a few minutes until she tripped on an unseen obstacle, perhaps a rock or log, sending her unceremoniously landing on the ground face-first. Roxanne hurriedly got on her knees, spitting out bits and pieces of dirt she accidentally swallowed in her ungraceful descent.
Roxanne tasted the ocean. It was like she swallowed a mouthful of seawater, leaving her throat parched and thirsty for something that can satisfy the thirst deep inside her soul.
Water. Food. Meat.
She longed to devour anything she can lay her eyes on, and she'll do anything, rip everything to pieces so that she can quench this hunger and thirst.
A deep primal growl interrupted the overflow of emotions that possessed Roxanne. The emotions she felt disappeared as quickly as it came but it did not leave without destruction in its wake.
She found herself face to face with another predator.
It was a bizarre mutation with the face and carnivorous feline teeth of a tiger but with antlers on top of its head. Roxanne could faintly make out the bright orange and black stripes and yet it had nimble, slender legs of a gazelle.
Hovering above the creature was a HP and SP bar with the name Tizelle above it.
The Tizelle's dangerous jaw was inches away from her face, the saliva dripping from its mouth like raindrops, merely seconds away from snapping her in half.
It was then that Roxanne knew she was about to die.