Aethelgard: The Survival Game (Chloe) novel Chapter 24

Chapter 24 Another Encounter

Chapter 24 Another Encounter

Even the normal–weather price of clothing was more than Chloe could comfortably stomach, let alone the rainy–season markup.

She could afford it, but she wasn’t willing to pay the equivalent of a Restorative Item for a single set of clothes. Still, she could understand the pricing. She’d seen a player vent on the Trading Post once. The woman had been weaving straw baskets for over a decade and was genuinely skilled.

But even when she had Plant Fibers and used a Crafting Table to synthesize basic rope, every basket she tried to weave came out loose and misshapen, clearly an inferior product.

It wasn’t until she’d pulled a Straw Basket blueprint from a chest that she could finally produce a decent basket. Blueprints were simply that miraculous, and that broken.

A Crafting Table could synthesize some basic items: Plant Fibers into coarse burlap or basic straw rope, stone and wood and iron scraps into axes and Wooden Pickaxes.

But the Durability on those was always abysmal, usually around ten. They’d break after a couple of uses, and as weapons, they shattered even faster.

It was as if the game was deliberately pushing players to hunt for blueprints. That was why basic items remained expensive, and clothing had always been a luxury good.

LilNimbus’s prices were high, but production took time, and the styles she could currently make were limited. Any combat would inevitably damage clothes, and Chloe wasn’t nearly that extravagant yet.

She used Plant Fibers at her Crafting Table to synthesize coarse burlap and then rope, and she lashed together a simple top and skirt that let the wind whistle through from all sides. It wouldn’t hurt her feelings if it got ruined.

She still had all that plastic she’d scavenged. She poked a hole in a large plastic sheet, stuck her head through it, and cobbled together a makeshift Raincoat.

It was undeniably ugly and unquestionably shabby. But it was better than nothing.

Chloe set a wooden bucket outside to collect rainwater and dumped her filthy clothes in to soak. The blood and grime clouded the water almost instantly.

She scrubbed the garments clean, wrung them out, and hung them over the hoe propped inside the wooden cabin.

She’d also dragged the Basic BBQ Grill indoors. It was currently in a soaked state, and she’d dry the clothes beside it once she got a fire going again.

With MintyGrass’s bandage applied, Chloe’s condition had improved noticeably.

She might even be able to try fishing again. She’d never imagined she’d turn into a diehard angler in a game like this.

The rain soaked through her burlap clothes in an instant, bringing a sharp chill. She let out a breath, telling herself she’d spend an hour and a half outside at most.

She checked her Basic Arcane Dew Collector. It didn’t need any attention. The dew collection point was a fully sealed, detachable little bottle with a 1.3–gallon capacity.

Chloe picked up her Unstable Arcane Wish Rod and silently repeated the words in her mind. ‘Arcane Workbench, Arcane Workbench… She needed that Arcane Workbench so badly.

The rain pelted her, sending shivers wracking through her body. Water trickled through every gap in her clothes and clung to her skin, chilling her to the bone.

It was far more biting than a normal rainy day, just as the sun in this game was far more oppressive than a normal blazing day.

When she checked her status, she found new debuffs she hadn’t noticed before: [Damp: Your body is

173

Chapter 24 Another Encounter

thoroughly soaked.

[You feel deeply uncomfortable. Current Dampness level: 35%. When Dampness reaches 200%, Health will begin to drain.

[Chilled: You feel a biting cold. Endurance reduced by 10%. Energy consumption increased by an additional 5%. Remaining in this state for an extended period has a chance to trigger the Low–Grade Fever status.]

Chloe recalled the system’s more humanized notification from that morning, the part about environmental damage being reduced.

A nameless chill that had nothing to do with the rain crept down her spine. She decided not to dwell on such distant worries.

With a patience that was half gritted teeth, she waited in the rain for the rod to catch something.

Fishing demanded patience. It meant holding back expectation, waiting quietly, and accepting that sometimes nothing would come at all. Fishing in near darkness was purely a matter of luck. Calling it fishing wasn’t even quite right. There was no real technique to speak of. Chloe waited in the rain for an hour and a half. The rod didn’t so much as twitch.

Her Energy was draining far too fast in the wet. It had already fallen to 73, and her Dampness was climbing steadily. On top of that, she still had the Low–Grade Fever debuff, though it was now tagged as healing.

The smart move was to cut her losses and leave. But she couldn’t quite bring herself to reel in. Chloe pressed her lips together. She checked her Energy again. ‘Ten more minutes,‘ she told herself. Ten minutes passed. The rod remained perfectly still. Chloe stared at it. ‘Maybe just a little longer.’ Another ten minutes slipped by. Her Energy had dropped to a precarious 54. She gripped the rod. ‘Just a little more.’

After another ten minutes with no bite, Chloe found herself thinking, ‘I’ve already been out here for two hours. A little longer, just a little longer. What if there’s an even bigger treasure waiting?‘

Just as she was about to keep going, a sneeze jolted through her. The sudden spasm snapped her clean out of her trance.

‘Wait, Chloe thought, her mind sharpening. ‘I’m not a greedy person. I set a limit of an hour and a half. Why am I acting like a gambler who can’t walk away?‘

Her eyes shifted to the purple fishing rod. In the rain, it gleamed with a cold, unsettling light. Only then did the realization hit her: the rod had a Greedy trait and a Mid–High Risk rating.

Clarity surged back into her mind like ice water. She stared at the rod in her hands, and in an instant, her wariness snapped into full alert.

‘No. From now on, I have to remember no matter how good or bad the haul is, I can’t let this rod drag me past my own limits, she thought.

With that resolve, she began reeling in the line. She turned the spool, and the line started coming up. Then, without warning, the line wrenched downward and gave a savage, violent pull.

Chloe’s heart seized. The line shot down several yards.

This force was hardly any less than the giant Slime she’d faced the day before. The odds were high that this was a monster of the same tier.

If she was forced to fight a Water Slime in the middle of a rainstorm, she’d have absolutely no chance. All the more so with the stack of debuffs on her, her Energy already half drained, her condition utterly wretched. She made the split–second decision to snap the line and let whatever was on the other end escape.

But in that instant, the rod behaved as if it were alive. It tore itself from Chloe’s grip. The reel spun wildly on its own, and the rod hauled the creature up from the darkness entirely of its own accord.

A chill of horror shot through her. What landed before her was an enormous Ignis Slime. A Fire Elemental

2/3

Chapter 24 Another Encounter Slime.

Flames blazed across its entire body, and its massive spherical form was nearly the size of half a sedan. The cold rain struck its surface and erupted into great billowing clouds of steam. The vapor was so thick it nearly blinded Chloe.

The Ignis Slime let out a roaring hiss, and the moment it registered Chloe, it unleashed a massive, wide–area Pyro Sphere.

A crimson magic circle flared to life in midair, and a torrent of fireballs began raining down from it like a meteor shower. If any of those struck, her wooden cabin would be finished.

Chloe gulped down several mouthfuls of Premium Arcane Dew, shoving her Energy back up to a hundred, then summoned a volley of Aqua Spheres to target and extinguish every fireball threatening her cabin and