A Deer’s Journey - Chapter 43 Second Expedition Viii

Deer was paralyzed. His body wouldn’t move. Nausea wracked his whole body and with it a sudden pouring of information as he somehow recovered bits and parts of his memories.

He’d remembered who he was but this didn’t help at this moment as he was still captured. Slowly calming himself down he tried to go over step by step what had happened to him in the last day. It was clear that he was in another realm, this was the Second Expedition, but a lot of things had happened: ‘Sunder…’ how could he forget him. If it wasn’t for Sunder he might not even be alive right now. Recalling the strange dream he had, he now realised why the fruit was so strangely familiar, he had a feeling that that fruit was Sunder, he hadn’t disappeared but ‘where are you Sunder?’

Quietly putting his thoughts in ordered, the first thing Deer did was to bring up his status screen. He knew without looking that there had been changes to his body. Looking at the familiar screen in front of him, a surprise caught in Deer’s mouth like a breath of air that was trapped. ‘This!’

Opening up his status screen he was also greeted by the following notification:

“Due to entering a symbiosis with a Bark Gecko your current body had been upgraded, permanently increase in Strength +2, Stamina +1, you’ve also obtained the following Talent and Skill: [Mimicry of Nature] and [Corrosive Bark Armor]”.

> Honeykeeper of Party Zilver Bee

Lvl 3

Race: Duende

Stamina 8

Strength 5

Agility 4

Wisdom 7

Intelligence 5

Charm 2

Luck 9

Talents

[Heart of the Pure]

[Mimicry of Nature]

Skills

[Contract of a Demon Weevil]

A strange creature summoned by a ritual sacrifice from the Netherworld with overbearing strength.

[Corrosive Bark Armor]

Temporary gives the user enhanced armor for three minutes which will apply a corrosive effect on an enemy attacking the armor.

The first thing he noticed was that his race was now named and it clearly said what it was while before this has came up with unknown. It was a strange word, ‘Duende’, rolling the word on the tip of his tongue, Deer was slightly confused. ‘I wonder what it means..’

It was a welcome change to see that his attributes had gone up especially considering that he knew this would not be the first time he would end up in a helpless situation like now, tied up like a fish on a chopping block: he needed to quickly find a way out and escape from this place. His mind was running on over time but still a sense of loss temporarily hit him as he saw that the contract with Sunder had disappeared. Although it wasn’t true to say he had died but it didn’t look there was anything he could do about it at this point in time.

Focusing on his new abilities he quickly found that [Mimicry of Nature] was more like a passive skill which complemented his [Heart of the Pure], one made it easier to approach creatures, the other allowed him to talk to them and understand what they said. Thinking about it, his new ability must have been gained as a result of Sunder’s ability combining with his existing body but he was still confused what he was.

The most useful skill was probably [Corrosive Bark Armor], it seemed like his chances of survival would definitely go up and in his heart Deer could only vehemently make a promise to himself to see if he could bring back Sunder. He knew somewhere Sunder was still alive, the problem was his abilities now were not enough to bring any changes to his current situation.

Almost immediately he activated his new skill. A sudden change appeared in the air around Deer, like an extra layer of skin, his body was soon covered with rough textured plating that was oddly alive and moved as he did. It was similar to an exoskeleton on an insect. His clothes though torn and shredded could still be seen underneath. The armor was similar to the colour and texture of Sunder’s body, the only difference other than being darker was that it emitted a strange daunting aura. Looking at his new body Deer could see instantly that the bindings that held him in place was starting to melt and fray possibly as a result of the armors effect.

To think that the effect of the armor still worked on things that restricted him was reassuring, at least it made it easier for him to break free. However the important point was the increases to his Strength and Stamina, having rested while captured his body was finally restored to his previous condition if not better after the symbiosis. “Pwaaak” the sound of the bindings breaking as Deer stood up from where he lay on the floor could be heard.

It was unclear whether Wiseman was wary of damaging him for whatever nefarious purposes he had or because of his stronger attributes but the poison that slowed his body and caused it to become limp had already worn off. It was a blessing in disguise. Looking at the room where he was locked up, Deer cautiously made a note of what he could see while excitedly looking forward to his new increased attributes.

Light could be seen from an open cross-barred window slatted with wood. Reaching out his hand he found he could feel himself strong enough to break the wooden bars. The only problem was whether he could climb out and remain undiscovered. Figuring out that his chance of escaping was best now rather than later where any moment he might be visited by Wiseman, he quickly gathered his strength and braces against the wall of the room and the wooden bars.

His new skill was more useful than he thought because a slight corrosive effect seemed to extend to the wood when he grasped it in his hands making it easier for him to yank the bars out. A sudden noise could be heard as he completely destroyed the window and hurriedly climbed out, scraping his body against the frame. Unfortunately he wasn’t quite able to make it before he was stuck. Half hanging out and half inside the room, it was at this time that his skill finished and returned to his own smaller body. Luckily he didn’t waste too much time, if he had been stuck for too long it would have been dangerous. The same could be said if he spend too much time waiting around as his skill only lasted three minutes, who knew if it would have been as easy as it was without the corrosive effect of his armor.