"Not a ghost," Pandy told him. Then, seeing his expression, she emphasized, "Not a ghost. An elemental. It just… got enough power to become visible for a moment." Or something. She could examine that idea later. Right now, she had something else to look at.

Holding out the pouch, she motioned for Isidor to take it. She had an empty inventory slot, but if the container and whatever lay inside counted as separate items now – and she was definitely taking that up with Keros – then one wasn't going to be nearly enough space. Besides, Isidor had carried the spider all the way here, so it felt right to give him the thing she'd traded it for.

Hesitantly, Isidor tucked his weapon and his turtle away again, though Tempest popped her head out to watch with beady, curious eyes. Pandy really wanted to know what was in the bag, but as soon as Isidor felt its odd, scratchy surface, he almost dropped it. "Where did you get this?" he hissed.

"The elementals traded for it," Pandy told him, now more curious than ever. Isidor shook his head, then, rather than opening the bag, he tucked it into the front of his shirt, grimacing as he did so. Pandy took a step closer. "Aren't you going to open it?" she asked, feeling almost like she'd been tricked.

Isidor seemed to suck in his belly, trying to avoid touching the material even as he slid the two buttons back into place, so his shirt was completely closed again. "That material is called kivit. It's made from the fur of a goat-like creature that's native to the mountains of East Altheric. It's rarely used elsewhere, since it's not particularly comfortable, but it's warm, and it's supposed to be resistant to elemental magic – specifically Dark magic."

Now Pandy really wanted the pouch back. If she tried to use Innate Magic on it, would the contents actually remain untouched? Was it a non-magic magic pouch? And why had the Duskin had it, if the thing was specifically resistant to them? Not that Pandy herself had noticed anything other than the scratchy texture when she touched it.

Isidor's hand hovered over the small lump, which was nearly invisible compared to the larger protrusion created by the spider's remains. "We need to go," he said, voice full of suppressed excitement. "I'd rather have this and the spider, but this is definitely better than nothing." He looked back and forth from the small gap between the stones, to the circle of dusty, webbed street visible in Pandy's glow, clearly torn about which way they should go.

"We have to go back," Pandy told him, once again feeling that strange certainty. "If we disturb this place, the Duskin will have to leave." She tilted her face toward the darkness, feeling something she couldn't describe, though 'stagnation' came close. Humans had no place here any longer. Not that Pandy was exactly human, but Isidor certainly was.

The boy looked confused, but said, "All right. But how are we going to get out?"

That was the question, wasn't it? The cavern was filled with knights, and those knights weren't going to overlook the presence of a child and a strange woman, especially one who might or might not have this world's version of an All Points Bulletin out on her. Pandy could probably slip out as a rabbit, but how had Isidor intended to escape?

"How were you supposed to get out?" Pandy asked, suddenly realizing that he had to have a plan. Isidor was far more impetuous than anyone would guess upon short acquaintance, but surely the friend who'd helped him had thought to create an exit plan?

"I wasn't supposed to leave the tavern," he admitted reluctantly. "My friend was one of the knights who came in after us. He was going to get me out."

"But you did leave," Pandy pointed out, and Isidor glared at her.

"Because you were there," he growled. "How was I going to explain suddenly having a rabbit?"

Pandy's heart melted. She was pretty sure he'd just wanted to continue exploring, hoping to find some clue that all of the great Knights of the Royal Eagle had missed, but she also thought there was a grain of truth in that. Isidor had been worried about her. Now, how was she going to repay that concern?

Closing her eyes, Pandy thought, <Status.>

Name: Pandy

Race: Human? (Deceased)

Age: 24

LF: 2/2

Mana: 312/875

Stats▴

Skills▾

Hop: Lv. 20 (120/190)

Bite: Lv. 24 (254/550)

Scratch: Lv. 13 (7/46)

Dance: Lv. 10 (4/19)

Dual Wielding: Lv. 1 (0/2)

Spells▾

Minor Heal: Lv. 23 (63/460)

Wings of Glory: Lv. 2 (2/3)

Verdant Surge: Lv. 1 (1/2)

Vita Herbalis: Lv. 1 (0/2)

Spark: Lv. 20 (21/190)

Shifting Faces: Lv. 6 (1/7)

00:20:43

Radiant Presence: Lv. 3 (0/4)

Innate Magic: Lv. 23 (43/460)

Shield of Darkness: Lv. 1 (0/2)

Air of Superiority: Lv. 1 (0/2)

Boons▴

Corruption Points: 572

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

After noting the addition of Dark Affinity to her Stats, Pandy reduced both that and Boons. Neither of them were going to help her right now. A quick glance at her Skills told her they didn't have any more to offer. If she was alone, she might have tried sneaking out, and making a break for it if someone noticed her. Most people weren't interested in chasing down bedraggled rabbits, and between Hop and her Dexterity, she would actually be pretty hard to catch, even for a knight.

But she wasn't alone, so instead she focused on her spells. Several could be crossed off immediately, including Wings of Glory and Air of Superiority. She couldn't fly away in a cavern, even if she could carry Isidor while flying, and she doubted Air would have much effect on the knights in general. They were specifically meant to be members of the nobility, as well as serving the royal family directly, so even if they weren't Air elementalists themselves, they were probably trained in battling people who used Air.

For a moment, she imagined summoning grasping vines that would hold the knights in place while she and Isidor escaped, but not only would it be difficult – if not impossible – to catch all of them, that would almost guarantee they'd put every effort into tracking her down. Spark was out, other than as a distraction, since she didn't really want to burn the place down. If there were any more clues hidden here, she could destroy them. Then her eye fell on one option, and she thought, <Info, Shield of Darkness.>

Shield of Darkness – Create a protective sphere of Dark around a subject, which will absorb up to ten percent of the target's health in damage, and has a small chance of dealing an equal amount of damage to any Light elementals who get close. Costs twenty Mana.

Well, that wasn't very helpful. No information about the Corruption Point cost, or what stat it should give her when it leveled. In fact, if she remembered correctly, this was exactly the description of Shield of Light in Gacha Love, except with the words 'Light' and 'Dark' reversed, and Stamina in place of Mana. Which made sense, but she was hoping for more. For one thing, in the game, Clara's Shield was visible every time she used it, creating a sphere of beautiful light around her or whoever she cast it on. Would Dark have some similar effect?

Moving a good distance away from Isidor, Pandy thought, <Cast Shield of Darkness on Pandora. Use Corruption Points.>

Shield of Darkness successful.

It's about time.

What did you think would happen?

Oh, and that cost 10 Corruption Points, so I'll just take that off your total, shall I?

What did Pandy think would happen? Well, it was possible that a Dark spell might actually hurt the person she was trying to protect, for one thing. She didn't really think that would happen, not anymore, but she certainly hadn't been willing to take the chance before.

"Throw a rock at me," she told Isidor, squinting as she tried to see if there was actually a sphere of darkness around her. He didn't answer, so she looked back over at him, only to see that the boy was squinting back at her, his lips moving as he said something she couldn't hear. Her name? <Cancel Shield of Darkness.>

"-andy!" The quiet yelling stopped as Isidor blinked, then rubbed his eyes. "What did you just do?"

Pandy felt a bit embarrassed. Really, when would she learn to tell people what she was going to do before she did it? To be fair, though, she'd only been able to tell them for a few weeks now. Balance that against a lifetime of having no one who cared to listen, and it wasn't that surprising that she might need some time to get used to it.

"I used a spell," she told him, deliberately omitting the name of that spell. "What happened?"

He shook his head. "You… faded. Even with the glow, I could barely see you. I tried calling you, but you couldn't seem to hear me."

Now that was interesting. The shield definitely had some visible effect, then – or maybe anti-visible? And what about the sound muffling? Did that go both ways?

Crouching, Pandy picked up a rock about the size of her fist and tossed it to him. "When you see me fade again, throw that at me." His brows lifted, and she hastily added, "Not too hard, and maybe at, um, a shoulder or something, not my head."

Before he could tell her how happy he was to have an opportunity to throw rocks at her, Pandy recast the Shield, still using Corruption Points, so she wouldn't use up her slowly-regenerating Mana. This time she noticed that Isidor, too, seemed to lose color as she did so. She could still see her own-

Something hit a bit of empty space about six inches in front of Pandy's shoulder, changed trajectory slightly, then bounced off her arm, just above her elbow. She yelped and rubbed the spot, while words scrolled across her vision.

-1 LF

Shield of Darkness broke!

Did you forget you don't have any health?

Argh! The System was right! This spell was based on the target's health, and Pandy only had two Life Force, which probably wasn't even the same thing as a normal person's Health Points. Any shield cast on her would be as fragile as blown glass. She was eating through her Corruption Points at a prodigious pace now, and for what?

"Are you all right?" Isidor asked, drawing her attention back to him. He looked nervous, apologetic, and slightly defiant all at once. "You told me to throw it."

Pandy stopped rubbing the spot where the stone had struck her. It barely hurt anyway, and she'd yelped as much out of surprise as pain. "It's all right, but… can I try casting that spell on you?" Before she could say no, she added, "I don't think it will hurt you. I mean, it makes things look a little odd, and it's a bit like having cotton stuffed in your ears, but it's not dangerous. In fact-"

"Sure," Isidor said, and Pandy almost bit her tongue.

"What?"

He shrugged. "You had an idea, didn't you? On how to get us out? So you can try that spell on me."

Pandy didn't question her good fortune further, just drew closer to him and cast the spell, wincing as another ten Corruption Points was subtracted from her total. Thinking about that number going down made her take another look at her Mana. She'd grown accustomed to its slow but steady rise, so when she saw it rolling upward at a noticeably increased pace, she froze, eyes locked onto the numbers. Something had changed, but was it something good or something… very, very bad?

There was nothing to be done about it, though, so she tore her eyes away. Bending down, she picked up a small handful of rocks and tossed them at Isidor. The underhand throw was so cautious that some of the larger pebbles didn't even reach him, but the rest pattered off of a shadowy veil that had appeared around the boy's body. Another, slightly larger, stone bounced off as well, but a third rock only hesitated before arcing downward as most of the momentum was leeched away. A moment later, Pandy got a notification that the shield had broken.

Isidor stood there, wide-eyed, then grinned. "I could see that glow around you, but it was faded, with all the colors leached away. Do you think we can sneak out if we use this?"

Pandy waggled a hand. "I think that if someone notices us, they might have difficulty catching us, or at least not be able to describe us. I'll have to cast the spell on you, and you'll have to carry me, though." Isidor looked slightly horrified, and Pandy bit her lip. "As Bunny," she clarified, trying not to laugh at his expression of relief.

Isidor cast a longing look down the street behind Pandy. She understood. There was something about abandoned places that called to people – perhaps driven by the urge to see what had been left behind by those who had gone before, to briefly experience some remnant of a history they could never truly understand.

But this wasn't a human place any longer, so she motioned for him to turn around and wiggle back through the crevice. Isidor hung the necklace around his throat, shrinking back to his smaller size, placed a protective hand over the bundle hidden beneath his shirt, and vanished into the gap. Pandy waited only a moment before dismissing both Shifting Faces and Radiant Presence and hopping after him.

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