The Mother of Monsters

Ianna pulled out her bag of holding and prepared to sift through her new pile of loot. At first glance, it was a pretty incredible haul. The rarities and qualities were a bit arbitrary at the moment; she had no idea what each of them meant or how impressive they were supposed to be, but at least having 'Epic’ items sounded impressive. She snorted a little at the name of her new 'Unique’ weapon and decided to inspect it first.

The object that appeared in her hand was about what she would imagine a wizard’s staff looked like. It was long enough to stretch over her head by about half a foot when set firmly on the ground. It appeared to be made of the same metal that the Guardian had been; a coppery red one with a matted rusty finish. Thin cords of dark rubber-like tubing wound up the shaft until they reached a single mechanical hand grasping a pale white gemstone at the end.

She eyed the hand coolly; “Looks like you’re going to be following me around for a while, huh?”

She set it at her side, planning on testing out its’ special effect later, and drew out the [Vial of Sanguine Arcanis]. It was about the size of a large test tube, made of glass, and filled with that viscous black liquid that was hidden inside the Guardian. Her expression soured and she put it away, knowing full well what the stuff smelled like and not caring to smell it further. It felt like a bit of a waste of time just to dump the ingots out and admire them. It’s not like she could do anything with them. So she didn’t.

Instead, she turned her attention to the Aspect Stones.

“Resurrections, tomb guardians, magic staves, and now stones of mystical power,” She murmured to herself, sitting down and pulling out the first of the two stones.

It was a large white gemstone about the size of her fist; obviously valuable. It weighed far less than she imagined it was going to. Strange. She turned it over, examining the vaguely transparent gemstone from a few angles. The more she looked at it, the more the edges of the stone seemed to blur with the surroundings. It was like its’ shape was indistinct, as if she held a ball of light in her hand.

A window appeared.

“The cold chill of death,” Ianna muttered, eyeing the stone. She remembered the spell, attack, whatever it was that the Guardian had used on her. It had been called the [Aurora of the Pale Dawn]. She looked back at the stone. It made sense that she’d gain resistance to death magic if the “Pale Dawn” was all about it. It all sounded sinister. Though she had to admit, it also sounded pretty cool.

“So if I say 'yes’ I’ll be able to do that Aurora thing?” She thought to herself and sighed.

She put down the stone, deciding to mull it over before consuming it, however that was done. Instead, she moved on to the other stone she had.

This stone looked vastly different from the first. It seemed to change color as she looked at it, the surface and texture changing with every movement. In her hands, it began to take on a tone akin to her new arm, with a smooth skin-like surface.

“Haha, gross,” She laughed, setting it down on the ground and watching it turn into the black-gold marble the entire tomb was made of.

Predatory will of a mimic? What? Was the Tomb Guardian some kind of Mimic? She turned to stare back at the pile of white dust that was all that remained of the guardian. Her eyes flicked back to the stone. Again, it sounded a little too creepy to consider right off the bat, but at this point, she didn’t have much of a choice. The notifications she’d seen after her ‘fight’ with the guardian were clear about her needing an Aspect to grow.

And if the Guardian is any indication, I’m not going to survive very long without some tricks of my own.

She sighed and picked up the [Aspect Stone of the Pale Dawn].

“Alright then, creepy powers it is.”

“Yes.”

The reaction was immediate; the stone cracked in her hands, fragments beginning to fall away in clumps and dissolving as they hit the ground, the shards flashing into tiny motes of light. Those motes began to rise from the floor, rotating around Ianna in an ever-growing swarm of pale white light. The light was not some saintly or holy glow; it was dim and cold and the already chilly tomb became all that much colder for it. The shadows it cast on the room were eerie. Ianna stepped back, wide-eyed, and turned around only to find the same vision no matter which way she looked.

Then, as one, the motes swarmed at her, peppering her body with darts of cold that left her staggering to her knees. The chill went up to her spine, through her arms, into her skull, and down to the tips of her toes. It was bone-chilling in every sense of the word and left her reeling. Her vision darkened and she fought to stay conscious, her world becoming dimmer even as more light poured into her. She tried to stand, only to fall flat on her face. The cold wouldn’t stop, but it didn’t kill her either; instead, she suffered until the last mote pressed through her throat.

She laid with her knees curled up to her stomach, shivering until a notification window appeared.

She rolled onto her back, staring up at the words, shivering too violently to speak properly. “A-a-a-a-an attribute?”

She tried to dismiss the prompt to give herself some time to warm up and think, but it remained exactly where it was. Teeth chattering, she thought back to the loss of willpower experience she could have gained through her ordeal with the Tomb Guardian and selected willpower.

Unlike the awakening, there wasn’t nearly as much discomfort. Quite the contrary, as an overwhelming sense of calm and ease washed over her. It felt as if the world had suddenly righted itself even though she’d been through the single most confusing and terrifying experience of her life. She felt her muscles relax, her whole body easing into the sensation.

“That’s not so bad,” Ianna murmured, smiling to herself. She was still freezing, but she felt she could mentally power through it now. She checked her notifications to read through the rest of her new ability.

Unfortunately, she didn’t receive the Guardian’s aurora. she guessed that skill was significantly higher in level. Given how much this world seemed to function like a game, the menus even featuring phrases like “Aspect Trees”— Ianna realized that it might take a little while, but obtaining the Guardian’s beam for herself was still possible. More interesting to her was how it felt to have an ability. It was like there was an extra part of her now— an extension of her will that she could call up at any time.

She looked at her hand and concentrated, frost beginning to form on her fingertips as the air around her hand chilled to the point of creating a small amount of mist. Drawing upon her power felt like exercising unworked muscles; not quite sharp or prepared for active use. Still, she turned her hand over, looking at the back of her hand in awe. “Magic.” This is so cool!

She wasn’t sure if it was worth dying over and over for, but if she had to think of something she would demand as a tradeoff for all she’d been through, magic was pretty high on that list.

She glanced over at the other Aspect Stone sitting quietly on the ground to her left and swallowed.

“Taking on the mimic aspect can’t be that bad, can it?”