Kaede steadied herself, pnting her feet firmly. The weight of the shield felt f in her grip. The exhaustio her body, but her resolve burned brighter.
The man chuckled, low and mog. “A shield that big... Do you pn to turtle your way out of this?” He brandished his sword, red energy crag along its length. “Let’s see if you block this.”
With a roar, the bandit leader surged forward, his bde a blur as it arced toward her in a deadly horizontal ssh. Kaede braced herself, raising her shield just in time. The impact reverberated through her entire body, the red energy spshing off the shield like sparks from a fe.
“Is that all you’ve got?” Kaede taunted, hiding the strain in her voice.
The bandit growled, pressing the attack. His sword rained down blow after blow, each strike faster and heavier tha. Kaede’s movements were precise, thanks to her training with the holy Tempr knights, her shield shifting and tilting to deflect the worst of the force. The forest clearing echoed with the etal against metal, a deadly rhythm that left no room for mistakes.
He pivoted suddenly, sweeping his bde low to catch her off-guard. Kaede smmed her shield into the ground, blog the strike with a burst of sparks. “ry.”
The bandit leader leaped back, red energy gathering in his free hand. He hurled a trated ball of fire toward her, the heat searing the air.
Kaede tilted her shield, angling it to deflect the projectile harmlessly to the side. The fireball exploded against a nearby tree, leaving a smoking crater in its trunk. “Fire won’t work either. Got anything else?”
His expression darkened, his bde crag with a renewed surge of energy. “You’re starting to irritate me.”
“Good.” Kaede lunged forward for the first time, smming the edge of her shield toward his midse. He twisted away, the strike narrowly missing him, and tered with an upward ssh aimed for her exposed side.
Kaede spun her shield with surprising grace, defleg the bde upward. Taking advantage of the opening, she rammed her shoulder into the shield and bashed it forward. The bandit staggered, grunting in surprise but rec quickly.
The two fell into a deadly dahe bandit’s swordpy quid aggressive, Kaede’s defense unyielding ahodical. Her shield absorbed every strike, her movements flowing seamlessly from one block to the .
“Enough games!” the bandit snarled, his bde erupting in fmes as he eled his energy into oating overhead strike.
Kaede crouched slightly, gripping her shield with both hands. The world seemed to slow as she calcuted the angle and timing.
The bde came down like a guillotine, a roar of fire trailing behind it. Kaede thrust her shield upward, meeting the attack head-on. The force of the impact shook the ground, a shockwave of heat and energy rippling outward and washing over her.
For a moment, it seemed like the bde might break through. Fmes licked at the edges of the shield, but Kaede held firm, her muscles screaming in protest. “Not today!” she shouted, shoving the attack back with all her strength.
The bandit stumbled, the fmes on his bde flickering as his energy faltered. He growled, frustratioched across his face.
Kaede exhaled sharply, sweat dripping down her face. Her arms trembled slightly from the strain, but she didn’t let it show. 'Yes! It works!' Instead, within her mind, she cheered.
While Artificia wasn't able to transfer skills to her equipment, she was able to create nodes. Nodes, are actually artificial structures resembling that of a skill, while elling the energy of said skill. The result is a weakened version of the inal skill.
While Kaede could not grant her shield the power of devour, just like her in-game self. She was able to grant it a different ability.
[Drain] Absorbs magicules from an attack, person or object, that es into tabsp;
The bandit's attack was absorbed, and a glowing red crystal appeared on the shield.
The bandit sneered, raising his bde again, but the weariness in his movements was obvious. Kaede could see it now—the slight hesitation in his strikes, the slower recovery after each swing. His attacks were not the only thing her shield was abs. [Drain] could absorb magicules from anything, as long it touches her shield, and they had cshed quite a few times.
“Give it up,” she said, her voice calm but firm. “You’re not strong enough to break through my defense.”
The bandit chuckled darkly, though there was no humor in it. “And you’re not strong enough to finish me off. So what now, little shielder?”
Kaede tightened her grip on her shield, but she didn’t reply. He was right. Her body ached, her stamina was almost gone, and she had no offeeiques capable of taking him down.
They stared at each other across the clearing, both breathing heavily, both unwilling to back down.
“Artificia,” Kaede whispered under her breath. “Any ideas?”
Kaede smirked faintly. “Guess we’ll see who runs out of gas first.”
The bandit’s eyes narrowed, as if sensing her pn. He lunged again, his attacks growing more erratic, more desperate. Kaede weathered them all, her shield a wall he couldn’t breach.
Minutes dragged on, each etal sapping their strength. Finally, the bandit stepped back, his chest heaving, his bde trembling in his grip.
Kaede didn’t lower her shield, but she didn’t press the attack either. “Had enough?”
He spat on the ground, his expression a mixture of anger and grudging respect. “You’re a stubborn one, I’ll give you that. But ht will have to be postponed."
*p*
"Huh?" Kaede never got to finish her sentence before her visio dark. "Wait, what? What's going on? Did somethi me? Artificia?"
Indeed, Kaede and the bandit's fight had moved to a space crowded with trees and different pnts. One of those pnts had apparently opes mouth and swallowed her whole.
Chug, the bandit sheathed his bde and turned, retreating into the shadows of the forest.
Kaede heard him go. "Hey you better not leave. Get back here! We're not done!" Of course, he didn’t.
“Artificia,” she murmured. “Track him. Don’t let him get away.”
Kaede closed her eyes for a moment, letting the tension drain from her body. She was in the belly of a monster. "No damage huh? Feels like déjà vu. Hey Artificia you wanted me to rest right?"
"Good night Artificia."
<...>
---
Kaede floated in an odd limbo, her body encased in the warm, damp fines of the pnt’s stomach. She could hear the faint gurgling of digestive juices bubbling all arouhough they weren't any dao her. Lucky for her, the flora seemed to be used to digesting at a snail’s pace, or perhaps it was fused about what to do with her.
“Artificia,” Kaede said, her voice muffled in the fined space. “How long have I been asleep?”
Kaede blinked. "Four hours? I’ve still got a lot of time to waste.”
With her senses slowly returning, Kaede realized that she was wobbling or rather, the stomach she was in was wobbling. Was the pnt moving? "Hello?" She called out.
"Kaede? You're alive!" Kirara's voiswered from outside the pnt. "Are you alright? How long have you got? I was afraid if I used my skill o monster, you might get affected too. So I just a to follow me bap."
"Nah, it's cool. I was actually using this time to rest. I haven't slept in a while." Kaede yawned as she answered. "How'd you find me anyway?"
"Well I saw you leaving back then, and ran after you. Then I watched yht with the ogre. I wao help, but I wasn't sure if my skill would even work. The snake was able to resist it after all." Kirara began.
"Are you sure, it wasn't because the snake 't uand human words?" Kaede teased.
"Shut up." Kirara whined. "When I saw you get eaten. I wasn't sure what I would do. I almost killed the pnt, but then I realised. What if I hurt you... Again?" The silehat followed was heavy.
Kaede shifted slightly, testing her limbs. The pnt’s fleshy interior was soft and pliable but closed tightly around her. “Yeah, yeah, gimme a sed. Here we go.” She adjusted her shield, feeling the weight of it press reassuringly against her forearm. "Time for a little gardening."
---
Kaede bent her knees slightly, brag herself. With a practiced motion, she shoved her head upward with all her strength. Immediately taking a bite, her teeth tore through the pnt’s soft interior, creating a wet, ripping sound. A gush of thick, sticky sap poured over her, but she didn’t stop. She twisted as she chewed, carving a wider opening. The flora shuddered violently, its walls trag in protest.
“This… doesn't taste as bad as I thought it would." Kaede grunted, drivieeth into the wound again.
Outside the pnt, Kirara was unnerved by the ripping sounds ing from the pnt, and, was that chewing? "Hey Kaede, what are you doing?"
Kaede's voice was crisp and sharp. "Eating. Turns out, I haveen in a while either. What is wrong with me?"
Raising her hands to her mouth, Kirara resisted the urge to puke right then and there. "Ew... That is so gross. I'm gonna be sick."
The pnt slowly stopped moving, an hour ter, before falling over. Another hour ter, and Kaede pulled herself out of the gaping hole in the belly of the monstrous pnt and nded on the forest floor with a wet spt. She was drenched in sap and reeked of earthy decay. “Ugh. That’s much better.”
<
Kaede shot a gre toward the sky, as if voice of the world were physically present. Kaede wiped some of the sap from her face, muttering under her breath, and looked around. The clearing was quiet now, save for the faint rustle of leaves.
“Bleurgh” a distance away, Kirara was releasing the tents of her stoma a nearby bush.
Kaede took a long, deep breath, her lungs filling with the fresh, damp air of the forest. The earthy st of crushed leaves mingled with the sour tang of the pnt’s sap still ging to her. Stretg her arms, she rolled her shoulders, the fatigue from her earlier fight lingering but manageable. Her shield hung at her side, spttered with the viscous remnants of her unventional meal.
“Feelier,” Kaede muttered, half to herself. “But I’m still bming Artificia for this one.”
“Yeah, yeah, teicalities,” Kaede said, waving a hand dismissively. "You should program some humour into yourself."
In the distance, Kirara finished her not-so-graceful enter with the bushes, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Her face ale, her usual energy dulled by the se she’d just witnessed. “Kaede, I have to know,” she started, her voice shaky. “Did you have to hahings this... grossly?”
Kaede turned, her gleaming with faint amusement. “Not the first monster I've eaten.” She flicked a k of sap from her shoulder, the sound of it sptting against the forest floor making Kirara gag again. “Besides, what’s a little pnt goop pared to staying alive? You’d do the same if you were in my shoes.”
Kirara pointed a fi her, her voice rising in exasperation. “I absolutely would not!” She hesitated, looking Kaede up and down. “Wait—how are you even okay? You were swallowed whole! Digested, maybe!”
Kaede raised an eyebrow, pattiomach. She smirked. “I’ve got pretty tough skin.”
“More like an iron stomach,” Kirara grumbled under her breath, stepping cautiously toward the fallen pnt. She peered at it, wrinkling her he pnt was massive, its broad leaves curled inward like a dead spider’s legs. “You’re sure it’s dead?”
“Positive.” Kaede tapped her shield against the carcass. “I ate the part that mattered.”
Kirara shivered, shaking her head. “Okay, no more details."
Kaede chuckled as she started ripping out ks of the pnt.
Kirara raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"
Kaede smiled. "Making dinner. It's te."
Looking around, Kirara realized that truly, it was te. "Wait hold on. What do you mean making dinner. You wao eat that? We're ing that."
Kaede rolled her eyes. "Not raw like I did. Make a fire or something, we'll cook it. For a pnt, it's rather fleshy..."
_p_
"Ehh?" Kaede looked at her forearm, whiow had a tiny version of the pnt she had eaten biting on it. It was a tiny little thing, only reag up to half her knee height.
"The monster had a baby?" Kirara asked, eyeing the tiny monster as it tinued biting on Kaede's forearm. "Kill it and be doh it."
"What? No way, it's too cute for that." Kaede raised her forearm, carrying the pnt with it. "Look at its adorable little face."
Kirara rolled her eyes. "Its face is a giant mouth!"
Kaede snorted. "Mouth, face. They're all the same." Bringing the pnt moo her face, she whispered. "I think I'll call you..."
"Acer!"