Feeling a pounding headache, Evelynn struggled to open her eyes. She could feel the sun against her stiff neck, scorching her. She could just barely make out the sounds of rustling leaves through the piercing sound ringing in her head.
Putting a hand to her head, she felt a dry sensation of something reminiscing dirt fall on her face.
No. Not dirt. Dried blood.
Suddenly remembering the events before she passed out, Evelynn tried to force her eyes open to check on the young girl.
The sunlight crept into her eyes like stabbing needles, making her already blurry vision worse, as tears started to gather. Closing her eyes again, she pressed the palm of her hands against her eyelids, before attempting to look at the young girl once more.
By the weight on her lap, she knew the girl was still there, but Evelyn desperately wanted to know if she had survived. If she had been able to save her.
Carefully opening her eyes again, Evelynn gazed at the girl in her lap. Though her vision was still blurry, the sunlight no longer stabbed her with its bright rays.
"She seems better," Evelynn sighed, feeling some relief. The young girl's face was no longer deathly pale, and Evelynn could see some movements behind her eyelids. 'She's probably dreaming.'
Not forgetting that they were still in the tower, Evelynn looked around to make sure that there were no enemies around, neither monsters nor humans.
Not seeing or hearing anything but the rustling of leaves in the soft wind, Evelynn let out a small breath.
Gently putting the girls head on the ground, she tried to stand up.
Only to fall right down again as her legs gave out...
"It feels like I've been run over by a truck," she grumbled as she tried to stand up again. Much slower this time while supporting herself with her hands.
"I don't think my body has ever felt this bad before. Sure, it was bad when I was dying, but I was too out of my mind then. The pain was easier to ignore."
Standing up shakily, she tried to get the blood circulation back into her legs, which had gone numb under the girls weight while they were both unconscious.
As she was stabilizing on her feet, she finally gave attention to the notifications that were hovering in the corner of her vision.
*Congratulations! Your egg is hatching!
To see the information on your new pet, please open the system page. *
Seeing the first message, Evelynn's first instinct was to pat her shirt.
'The egg is really gone…', she marveled, before she looked around her again.
"Did it run away? Where is it?" Looking inside her shirt, she saw the remains of the cracked egg, but nothing else.
She quickly put the egg shards in her inventory, before looking around again.
"Pet are you here?" she hesitantly called out, as she searched through the nearby shrubbery. "Please come out… I'm not dead…" She implored, hoping it would come back, but there were no creatures in sight.
"It couldn't really have run off, right?" she questioned herself as she opened the system page. As she was opening the page, a new notification popped up before her.
*As someone who has acquired previous knowledge of the slimes creation and elemental acquisition methods, relevant pet information has been updated*
*Black Slime (Lvl. 3)
Though originally an ordinary slime, it has evolved under the careful ministrations of the Black Healer. By acquiring the Black Healer's life force during its incubation, this slime has evolved into a unique being and acquired the title 'The first of its kind'.
The first of its kind: As the first of its kind, and progenitor of a new species, all abilities and skills will be enchanted.
Abilities:
Consume (Enchanted): By surrounding a target, you can consume it.
Steal life (enchanted): You may take a small amount of life force from your opponent. Higher proficiency in the skill will allow a greater amount of life force to be extracted. *
Looking at the information, Evelynn marveled, "Guess I can't see it's stats, but it seems I was right to give it life force."
Happy with her new pet, Evelynn opened the next notifications.
*??? Takes pity and has decided to provide ??? To help ???.*
*Error
??? is too low. ??? has been provided instead as a replacement by the system. *
"What is happening with the system? What are these question marks supposed to mean, and 'error'?"
Sitting down, Evelynn carefully contemplated what the meaning of the messages was.
"So, someone helped me by providing something beyond my means… But who? A God? Do they exist inside the tower? Or is there some other supreme being? Are they watching me now?"
Feeling a bone chilling shiver running down her spine at the thought, Evelynn snapped her head up to look above and around her. There was nothing different from when she had searched her surroundings earlier, but the thought of someone watching her…
"To whoever helped me, thank you," she said as she bowed her head. 'Better to be on the safe side… Just in case…' she thought, but the feeling that someone was watching didn't disappear.
'And why is it always pity? First the system with the dagger, and now some unknown entity,' she grumbled.
Not wanting to dwell more on the subject, Evelynn shook her head and stood up once more.
"I'll check the surroundings once more while the girl is asleep, and then I guess I'll have to make a plan. Since the egg has hatched, I need to find it before going to the next floor. And I need a wash," she thought as she looked down on herself.
Both her shirt and pants were covered in dried blood, and her body still felt heavy and numb after the past ordeal.
Deciding to steal the life force of some nearby vegetation, Evelynn quickly changed her mind.
"No, I should do it somewhere a bit more hidden. A bit farther away. I need to make a good first impression this time. And being surrounded by dead and crumbling vegetation will make me more suspicious…"
"So, how should I introduce myself when she wakes up?" She once again wondered, as she started to look for her pet and a place to regain her spent life force.