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Post by Nadia on May 5, 2021 4:17:18 GMT -6
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Post by Nerius on May 7, 2021 15:35:24 GMT -6
[156]
Still, it was a good thing he'd brought a first aid kit, and had the knowledge of how to use it. Nerius took out the kit, and retrieved the bottle of anti-septic. This was not going to be pleasant, especially since he'd need to get it into all of the teeth holes. He poured out some of the anti-septic, and set to work. Nerius had been expecting the burn as he applied it to his wounds, but still couldn't keep from making small noises as he worked. Ice gave another sad whine, nestling as close to him as she could without getting in the way, and he swore he could feel the concern coming from the gem dragon.
It felt like it took much longer than it really did, but finally he got the bite cleaned. Well, as best he could down in the depths of the mines. Nerius had tried to work quickly, blood loss was a bigger concern here.
(Nerius: 16/20) (Ice: Lv 50, 251/255 | Lyl 50, 251/255)
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Post by Nerius on May 7, 2021 15:44:48 GMT -6
[157]
He'd have the injury looked at properly later, but he needed to have the strength to actually leave the mines. And who knew how long that would take, he was still looking for a way out. He needed to finish bandaging the leg first though; at least this part was less painful than than the cleaning had been. Once he got the bandages applied, he looked over them to make sure they were secure. Everything looked right, and, at least for now, he didn't see any blood seeping through.
There was no guarantee it would stay that way once he started walking, and Nerius decided to wait a bit before trying; hopefully it would give the wound a chance to stop bleeding, at least a little. For the moment though, he turned his attention to the gem dragon. Ice was still a little bundle of concern, and he gave the mining familiar headpats in an attempt to reassure her.
(Nerius: 17/20) (Ice: Lv 50, 252/255 | Lyl 50, 252/255)
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Post by Nerius on May 7, 2021 15:53:49 GMT -6
[158]
She was enjoying the affection, and nuzzled back against his hand, but was wasn't exactly reassured. Nerius wasn't sure how he was so aware of the gem dragon's concern... no, no actually he recognized this. It was similar to what had happened with Schism, except instead of being bitch slapped with sudden drake rage, it was the gem dragon's affection and concern. And if he could feel that from her, Ice could probably feel that he was in pain. It was hardly the worst thing he'd experienced, but it was still enough of an injury that needed proper medical attention, and it helped explain why she was so upset.
He didn't think there was anything he could do to block the sending of the sense of pain, but at least she wasn't actually feeling it herself. At least, that was how it had worked with Schism, and Ice looked more worried than in any kind of pain herself.
(Nerius: 18/20) (Ice: Lv 50, 253/255 | Lyl 50, 253/255)
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Post by Nerius on May 7, 2021 16:05:16 GMT -6
[159]
Nerius rested there a while longer, looking out at the water, and petting the gem dragon. Ice was unusually clingy right now, but that wasn't surprising given the circumstances. He'd found it surprising how many gems, and especially magical crystals he'd found here. He'd thought maybe they had been washed down here by the current, but now he wondered it that water monster had eaten other miners, leaving their mineral finds behind, which wasn't a comforting thought.
He wasn't entirely sure what it was either, it reminded him of a stunted pliathor. Had someone brought their baby pet down here, had gotten lost (or killed), and left it to live wild in the underground lake? Nerius had three fully grown pliathor, and they could eat him in one bite, this thing hadn't even managed to take of his leg (thankfully), but the lack of food and space could have limited its growth.
(Nerius: 19/20) (Ice: Lv 50, 254/255 | Lyl 50, 254/255)
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Post by Nerius on May 7, 2021 16:19:02 GMT -6
[160]
This had sure turned out to be one of his more hazardous mining trips, he'd fallen into a ravine and gotten chewed on by a sea serpent. Not to mention he was still lost. On that point, he'd probably rested long enough now. He didn't want to walk through the cavern with its rough floor barefoot, so he dried off his feet and legs before putting his boots back on. Nerius was glad he'd chosen shorter boots today, they only came up past his ankles, and the bite was high enough the boots didn't chafe on the wound.
After he put the rest of his gear away, he gently moved the gem dragon off his other leg, Nerius cautiously stood up, testing the leg. It didn't exactly appreciate it, but it held his weight. He just hoped it wouldn't start bleeding again. There was nothing to be done about that though, he needed to get out of the mines.
(Nerius: 20/20 +Added!) (Ice: Lv 51, 255/260 | Lyl 51, 255/260)
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Post by Nerius on May 7, 2021 16:36:11 GMT -6
[161]
There was only one way to go, unless he wanted to get back in the water with the beastie, which Nerius most certainly did not. The ledge continued to wrap around the lake, it twisted and turned, and the were large stalagmites, so he couldn't see how far it went. It was still the best way to go, and Nerius started off in that direction.
Carefully at first, unsure of how the bite would effect things, but he was able to walk, though with a limp, and a little slower than usual. It hurt with each step, or, well, hurt more with each step, but it was nothing he couldn't manage, and Nerius pushed on through it. Ice was following along right at his side, for once not darting off to investigate any hint of gems or metals. Finding more gems would be nice, but he couldn't blame the gem dragon for that right now.
(Nerius: 1/20) (Ice: Lv 51, 256/260 | Lyl 51, 256/260)
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Post by Nerius on May 7, 2021 16:43:05 GMT -6
[162]
Their trip went uneventfully for a while, until Nerius felt a sudden spike of alarm from Ice. She'd spotted something behind an outcrop of rock, Nerius could see movement, but couldn't tell what it was. With a loud scree she leapt at the creature, landing with a loud clatter of stone on stone. There was an alarmed squeak, and something black and purple darted out around the rock, before dipping around to hide behind the closest source of cover.
As it so happened, that was Nerius, and as he looked down, he saw the gemmorn hide behind his uninjured leg. Ice screeched again, looking around for the little critter. "It's okay Ice," Nerius tried to reassure her, "It's just a gemmorn, not a threat to either of us." It might have been his words, or the calm feelings he was sending, but after a few tense moments of glaring at the gemmorn, Ice started to relax.
(Nerius: 2/20) (Ice: Lv 51, 257/260 | Lyl 51, 257/260)
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Post by Nerius on May 7, 2021 16:49:55 GMT -6
[163]
Relax, and investigate. She could smell gems, and following her nose to look around the rocky outcropping, Ice found the gemmorn had a little stash of gems back there. Nerius could feel the sudden excitement, even before she chirped to let him know she had something. Nerius looked up, asking "Did you find something?" Ice chirped again, before ducking around the rock to gather up the little horde.
Nerius let Ice do her thing, and looked back down to the gemmorn currently hiding behind his boot. It didn't seem nearly as frightened of him as it was Ice, and he did his best to be friendly. "Hey little guy, I'm not going to hurt you." After a moment he added, "I won't let Ice eat you either." Though to be fair, Ice probably wouldn't eat the critter, as far as Nerius knew the gemmorn was made of flesh, not the stone, which was what the gem dragon consumed.
(Nerius: 3/20) (Ice: Lv 51, 258/260 | Lyl 51, 258/260)
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Post by Nerius on May 7, 2021 17:01:36 GMT -6
[164]
The gemmorn was cautious at first, but when Ice poked her head around the rocks, it took decided to scamper up his arm. It seemed to be trying to hide in his hair, which Nerius didn't find ideal, so instead he unzipped one of the backpacks outer pockets, and let the gemmorn scurry in there to hide.
Ice was no longer quite so interested in the critter though, she was setting a collection of shinies on top of the rock, chirping again as she wanted Nerius to come over. He was curious about the horde too, and headed over to look at what the gem dragon had found in the gemmorn's stash. It was quite the haul, for such a little thing, a geode, a chunk of ore, malachite, and, was that a diamond? It was always hard to identify stones for sure down in the mines, but the colorless, sparkly gem looked an awful lot like diamond.
(Nerius: 4/20) (Ice: Lv 51, 259/260 | Lyl 51, 259/260)
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Post by Nerius on May 7, 2021 17:21:36 GMT -6
[165]
Nerius gathered up the stones and ore, giving Ice a pat on the head, before continuing along the shore ledge, the gem dragon sticking close to him. He'd gone a fair distance when he felt the thrum of magic. Another crystal; there were so many within such a close distance of each other. That was unusual.. and really did make him suspect all the gems and ore might be the result of the creature in the water eating people.
He really hoped this one wouldn't be in the water too, the crystal felt like it was further ahead, but the shore ledge twisted and turned, and there was no telling if it would open up into more water up ahead. The crystal's magic also felt cool and slick, but not quite like water, and gave that sort of chill on the back of the neck, but in a good way. It had to be a tainted crystal.
(Nerius: 5/20) (Ice: Lv 52, 260/265 | Lyl 52, 260/265)
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Post by Nerius on May 7, 2021 17:22:28 GMT -6
[166] Maybe it said something about him, but a shadow node was highly appealing, and finding his first tainted crystal was exciting. Ice looked up at him, able to feel this, but not the crystal's magic, Nerius suspected. She could sniff them out like any other gem, sure, but the gem dragon didn't seem to be able to pick up on the magic from a distance like he could, and she didn't understand why he was excited. Well, she'd probably figure it out once he found the crystal, which Nerius still needed to do. The ground was getting more lumpy an uneaven, thanks to the minerals dripped from the ceiling. It wasn't just the sharp stalagmites and stalactites, but more rounded buildups of stone as well, and it wasn't the easiest thing to walk through, especially with an injured leg. It was manageable though, and as he rounded a large mass of dripped stone, he could see a faint purple glow.
(Nerius: 6/20) (Ice: Lv 52, 261/265 | Lyl 52, 261/265)
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Post by Nerius on May 7, 2021 17:26:11 GMT -6
[167] The crystal was stuck to the side of a large mass of stone, and half covered in the drips. Which.. still reminded him of glazed desserts. ...Great, now Nerius was suddenly aware of the fact that he was getting hungry, ugh, not the time for that. It was understandable though, they'd been down here quite a while, and he'd been doing a lot of activity. He'd packed a lunch as well, but first, the crystal.
Nerius inspected the half buried stone, the dipped minerals wouldn't be hard to break, it'd be easiest to do so with a chisel. As he removed the tool, Ice spotted the gem, scampering over and chirping at it. It was too high for her to easily reach, but easy for Nerius. Well, mostly, his leg didn't really like that he had to half kneel to reach it, but it was manageable, and carefully, Nerius dug the crystal out.
(Nerius: 7/20) (Ice: Lv 52, 262/265 | Lyl 52, 262/265)
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Post by Nerius on May 7, 2021 17:40:53 GMT -6
[168]
It looked to be in excellent condition, despite being half buried, and after inspecting it, Nerius put the tainted crystal safely away with the other crystals he'd found this trip. He glanced around, just in case there were any other gems from a horde that had gone along with the tainted crystal, but he didn't see anything. It was always possible something was fully buried, but Nerius wasn't about to dig into solid rock, even relatively soft rock, without something to suggest a minerals were actually there.
Ice had been sniffing around the stones as Nerius dug out the crystal, but she hadn't found anything either, and the two continued on. He'd always make a detour for magical crystals, but otherwise at this point his priority was finding a way out. There was no end to the ledge in sight, but there was also no sign of any way up or out.
(Nerius: 8/20) (Ice: Lv 52, 263/265 | Lyl 52, 263/265)
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Post by Nerius on May 7, 2021 17:48:56 GMT -6
[169]
There could be something on the other side of the lake, too. It was long, but relatively narrow, and Nerius could still faintly see the far wall. He really didn't want to go back in the water, but he hadn't seen anything on that side either. So he kept going along the ledge he was on, though the terrain was getting worse. It was entirely covered in mineral drips now, and very lumpy and uneven.
Ice wasn't having much issues with it, scampering over the rough ground, but for Nerius, with his injured leg, going was starting to get slow. Still, he pushed on, though his leg was starting to hurt more. There was no other option, so his leg just needed to deal with it. Their journey continued uneventfully for quite some time, until, after rounding a particularly large stalagmite pillar, the wall opened up into another tunnel. It could be a way out!
(Nerius: 9/20) (Ice: Lv 52, 264/265 | Lyl 52, 264/265)
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