12. <Mana Expulsion>
[Hilda]
Age: 1/34
Race: Gnoll
Grade: White
Level: 19 (5.7/20)
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Virtue:
Sin:
Condition:
Strength: 23.9
Dexterity: 29.2
Constitution:33.8
Intelligence: 100
Wisdom: 100
Charm: 12.1
Free point: 7
Element: Earth/Water/*****/*****
Skill: [*****]. [Bite]. [Claw]. [Night Vision]. [Dominance]. [Mana perception (Violet)]. [Ancient language knowledge (9.5%)]. [Earth Breathing]. [Water Breathing]. [Aqua Bind]. [Ground Spike]. [Light Healing (II)]. [**********].
Her status was the last thing she cared about at the moment. She didn't care about anything, not even living.
Her head buzzed as if thousands of bees were flying inside her skull. Millions of ants were crawling beneath her skin, biting her bones, internal organs, and veins. Then, there was the eye that fell out of her eye socket.
Hilda didn't know how, but it was regrowing. It was sending a piercing pain from her eyes to her brain. Considering the fact that the curse was continuously trying to destroy her body, the pain from recovering her body parts had increased a fewfold. She really wished it didn't regrow.
Hilda wasn't sure how much time had passed, but the sky had turned dark once. It had even rained once. The water whipped her inner organ clean of any excess blood that she hadn't bleed out.
"That bitch." Even if the pain was overwhelming her mind, she couldn't stop herself from growling loudly. "That piece of shit knew that it would happen. She knew I have inherited it from…"
Hilda didn't know if it was just a hallucination or if she had heard it wrong, but it sounded like that elf wasn't an omen. Now that she thinks about it would make sense.
Why would an Omen come to a small gnoll tribe for help? Why would he even care about a hyena? And if he cares about it, why would he even negotiate with a lowly gnoll instead of forcefully taking it away? And the inheritance circle!
If her lungs weren't hurting like crazy, she would have sighed.
'You thought you were someone important, someone special… Huh! You are someone who would get duped and scammed even with the memory of the last like and wisdom of 100. Huh!'
"But that witch." The rage almost popped her somewhat finished eyeball out of the socket. "Even if she is a real witch, I will kill her with my own two hands. I will kill her, torture her, and get her cursed. I will make sure she wasn't even born."
Hilda had no idea if she would ever be able to survive. Even if she survived, she wasn't sure if she could ever return to the desolated land.
"Even if I die, I will make sure that God sends me into this world, just so…" Her thoughts came to a sudden halt as she felt an overwhelming feeling growing inside her. She felt like she would vomit. However, nothing was in her stomach.
Next, she noticed that her body was heating up as if it were burning with a high fever.
[Due to
[
Hilda continued growling as her recently recovered furless skin started to bubble up like pork fat in hot oil. Pus and pieces of skin splattered everywhere when an enormous amount of mana began to shoot out of her body into the air.
It created a thick pillar of light in the middle of the forest. Even if it was daytime, the pillar of light could be seen from miles away.
Hilda wasn't in a situation to worry about exposing her position. If anything, she was more worried that her body would go through the restructuring process again.
"Kill. I will kill that bitch. I will kill that bear. That eyeball shit… I will." She continued cursing, hoping the pain would reduce a little. Alsa! It didn't.
Even if she was enduring the pain for the N-th time, she couldn't stay conscious throughout the ordeal. She lost consciousness.
Little did she know, someone from a distance saw the light pillar.
"What the hell happened here?"
"What is this thing?"
"It looks like a wild hog."
"Hog? Have you seen any hog without any fur? And look at its nose. It didn't even have a tusk."
One sat beside her, confirming, "I think someone has attacked it. Fire! Its fur must have burned away."
"What should we do?"
He stood and looked around, saying, "It would die anyway. Why should such a good thing go to waste? Tie it up. We should leave before the mage hunting this thing comes back."
"Yes, the mages are scary."
As soon as he ordered, both tied Hilda's limbs to the pole.
"We are going to have a feast."
"Not today." They pulled the pole on their shoulders, adding, "The chief will come back from the town the day after tomorrow."
"But will it survive that long?"
"If it doesn't, we can just clean it up. A couple of days won't be much of a problem."
"Okay." Although he wasn't happy, he knew having a feast without the chief wouldn't be right. Nonetheless, he was excited that they were going to have meat again.
As they excitedly walked back to their settlement, they failed to notice the heap of human bodies, without their hearts, that Brom had piled up behind the trees.
"Uhhh… the stench." That was the first thought in her mind when her consciousness returned to her. When her mind cleared up, she realized the smell was good. It was a smell she was accustomed to.
"Meat." Hilda groaned as she tried to move in that direction, only to realize she was tied to a post. Waves of pain washed over her body, and it took a good few minutes before she could breathe again.
"Where the hell am I?" She had no recollection of what happened to her. "Last thing I knew was the light coming out of my body… Could it be that it had attracted someone?"
That was the only explanation she could think of. Even if she was wrong, she didn't want to think about it much. Right now, the only thought on her mind was food.
It had been almost two days since she had eaten the last time. And after the ordeal she had to go through, it was enough to squeeze out every ounce of blood, much less any nutrition.
The pain hadn't decreased at all. It was still like having thousands of bees and millions of ants inside her body. It was just that she had started to get used to it. More than that, she had learned to live with the pain.
"This rope." She struggled. Hilda didn't know what type of material the rope was made from. When she tried to move, she could feel the rough rope biting into her soft skin and flesh.
"This…" She was too tired to curse. Instead, with a wave of her paw, a rope made of water materialized and encircled the meat that was hanging to dry.
"Oh! The [Aqua bind] is much smoother now." Hilda gobbled down on the meat of the unknown beast. But it was just a drop in a bucket. Hilda saw other drying meat from birds, unknown creatures, and even decaying internals at a distance, so she saw no reason to stop.
"Now I can breathe a little." Her body was like a hungry piranha, devouring every ounce of energy it could find. "I need more."
But the bind was a problem. Hilda lay beside the pole she was tied to and started chewing on the rope. It took her some time, but she got herself freed at last. "The thing that captured me..."
From the moon's position, Hilda was sure there were still a few hours left till dawn. She moved with cautiousness.
"Aren't these huts a little too small for humans?"
It was, as Hilda said. The houses were about six feet tall. It was enough to fit a human barely, but the door didn't look big enough for a human to enter on their legs.
"Dwarves or halflings! Dwarves don't generally live in the middle of a forest. More importantly, they don't live in such shabbily made huts. So, halfling."
Hilda looked around to find about 11 huts in the opening. Four of them are empty, while the rest of them have at least two halflings inside them.
A wooden fence surrounded the opening. Compared to the shabbily made hut, the wooden wall looked sturdy with its sharpened tip. As Hilda was walking by the wall, her steps paused.
[Roy
Race: halfling
Age: 21
Level: 16]
[Venki
Race: halfling
Age: 19
Level: 14]
Under the tree by the wall, she could see a couple of statuses. Even though there was not much information, it was her first experience seeing anything other than the names of creatures of different races who were lower level than her.
She kept her body low to the ground while moving closer. "Their breathing is calm. They must be sleeping." Hilda didn't hesitate.
[Ground Spike]
About ten spikes shot out of the ground, making their body a mangled mix of blood and flesh. Hilda sprang at them and bit down on their throat. Hilda ensured they couldn't make any sounds even before checking their status.
Although the warm blood and fresh meat felt like delicacies in her mouth, she did not indulge in the free food.
"21 statuses and one I can't read." Hilda made sure she knew how many halflings were in the settlement. "I know where to start."
Hilda moved the hut with the one she couldn't read. Other than the one she couldn't read, there were still three. Two of the halflings were children."
Hilda regretted that she couldn't use fire, as she used her head to open the door.
[Ground Spike]
Their proximity while sleeping allowed the area of effect to be somewhat effective. Hilda succeeded in killing the one whose status she could not read, but she failed to eliminate the youngest child because of it.
"Ahhhh!
[Aqua Bind]
The water rope shot out of the ground. To Hilda's surprise, due to the erratic movements of the frightened child, the water ropes missed her. To make matters worse, Hilda was closer to the higher-level halfling.
"Monster. Monster." The child escaped the room screaming. Hilda still snapped the other's throat before she followed her.
By the time she made sure the kid could not use her voice again, the harm had already been done. Other halflings started to come out with spears, axes, and scythes from their huts.
[Ground Spike]
[Ground Spike]
[Ground Spike]
[Ground Spike]
[Ground Spike]
…
For the first time, Hilda felt lucky for her high intelligence and wisdom, which had, in turn, increased the amount of mana she could use. She continued spamming the earth's spell in every direction.
HP: 76/112
SP: 22/66.4
MP: 61/156.05
When Hilda stopped spamming the spell, the ground around her had turned into a slaughterhouse. To her surprise, a few of them were still hiding inside the hut.
Even if they were just children, Hilda didn't hesitate to send them to their friends as soon as possible. It was only then that she started to enjoy the first.
[Level: 19 (8.9/20)]
After stuffing her stomach to the point where she couldn't anymore, she noticed the prompt at the edge of her vision.
"Killing the saint really has boosted my level. Alas! Killing him not only cursed me, but it also gave me an endless pain that I have suffered continuously. No wonder even a witch didn't want to touch a saint… That bitch." She cursed as she walked towards the gate in the wall.
She was really curious about the changes in her status, but she knew there would be better times.
"I don't know what type of beast is hiding in the forest, and the blood will surely attract a few. It is better to leave this place as soon as possible."
However, she couldn't walk a hundred meters away from the settlement before a familiar feeling overwhelmed her body.
"Shit. Shit. Shit." She cursed, knowing what would happen. Yet there was nothing she could do to stop it. "This is night time. Where the hell am I getting light mana from?"
[Due to
[