Ammy decided to go with lighter armour, but the insistence of the soldiers to give her some extra padding put her in gambeson with plates, particularly for her legs, over the skirt, shoulders, and her entire left arm. Her right arm just needed a little, as she had her new morning star to bash some heads in with. When she left the barracks after taking her pack of supplies, extra weapons, two more morningstars, insisting she could manage the weight, a short sword, dagger, but left the bow and quiver behind as she had no idea how to use them. These people, however, were quite advanced; hand crossbows were readily available and mass-produced. The strange thing was this relatively thin shield they stuck on her left arm and packed a spare to either replace it or put on her right arm. If she punched someone with it attached, even without the mass adjustment, they'd choke on their teeth. Especially considering her base strength has gone up.
Akatsuki waited silently outside with her shortbow and an assortment of knives and short-bladed weapons, plus two hand crossbows.. Sabreman, giving her a nod the moment he saw her, the man carried a short-sword, a short-spear and a poleaxe. A crew of supply men followed behind them as they made their way to the mine's entrance. Dorcus Seamine, an underground tunnel that smells like seawater due to some materials they couldn't be bothered to explain the value of what they were mining. This would be a short expedition to the first level and a good opportunity for her to fight the commonplace monsters she was familiar with in fiction.
Goblins, ghouls, hobgoblins and other fae creatures that were simple to kill as they wouldn't expect her power to drastically increase her strength. She also assumed, if she consumed them in some form, that she would gain the unnatural strength of a hobgoblin and other creatures down there who weren't a simple slam to the guts to bring down. The information she'd been given, goblins are degenerates (obviously,) and they are born through sacrificial rituals to Ephem, Hamala and the other demonlords. She'd have to quiz some locals on that stuff to get clued up later.
"Carbyne," Sabreman said, "For how we play this—"
"I'm taking the front," she said, "I'm the only one, I'm assuming, who can come back from being dead."
He glanced at Akatsuki, who shrugged, "As we're all set, shall we be off?"
Sabreman started off at a soldier's march, which, with all she'd been through recently, she had no issue keeping up with. Ammy expected to be knackered; maybe the video game regeneration had kicked in?
"When it comes to reavin', Carbyne, I prefer to stay back and shoot larger targets like hobs and trolls. If I sneak on 'em I can slit throats and take eyes, but matters rarely go to plan in dungeons." Akatsuki said, "Sabreman, favours spears and a hammer as you can see by the poleaxe he hugs like his lover."
"Kell," he glanced back at her, "What she is failing to say, much as I don't like working with a gangster, Kell is reliable when it comes to shooting eyes and cutting arteries. However, usually I am on the front lines alone. It's nice to have someone with me."
"No problem, Sabreman." Ammy said, "Any advice for the new girl?"
"Keep the visor on your helmet down in battle, goblins and their ilk tend to use wood as they know it splinters and blinds," he said, "And when we take breaks, stop thinking about action so you can get valuable rest. I'm a trained medic and sapper. I can get most things done, but I'm not as skilled a fighter as Missy Criminal next to you, so when we're in a pigsty, you follow her lead."
"Yes, boss."
"We've arrived." Akatsuki said darkly and gave Ammy a light jab to the side, "Let's see how you fight."
The entrance to the mine seemed to yawn like the maw of a dead kaiju that had become a den to man-eating creatures. The smell of strange bitterness and horrid spices lingered in the air around the place. She wondered how long it had taken the guards around the spot to get used to it. Or if they wore rags soaked in piss. She gripped her morning star and noted the logistics crew that saluted them with their bags and handed Sabreman a bird in a cage that made no sound, even when it flapped its wings. The obvious idea began to seep into her consciousness.
"This is a Coriowing, they make no sound and have excellent memories. When we secure a location for supplies to be moved in for an outpost inside to be set up, Akatsuki releases it, and they will be led inside by him. The females only care about guarding their nests and fighting predators, except humans. They domesticated themselves, like cats." Akatsuki took the cage from Sabreman, then Sabreman handed Ammy-Carbyne a lantern of her own and took his shortly after from the logi crew.
Sabreman said before he stepped across the border between the outpost and the dungeon. Two floors down, but they were tasked with the first floor. So just the first floor, if they went below that, they were probably dead to unknown factors, if they had leadership among them, or Ephem had concocted something new. Amelia went to the front and started their venture into the mine, three routes that all split off. No horror movie logic here, they went through the left to find bones of small creatures picked clean by little slug-like things. Sabreman made a point for them to be stomped. A loop back around to all three paths gave them no indication for the scouts except for when Akatsuki whistled for them to stop.
Her gauntleted fist scraped away at a wall revealing a cross marking, "They were here, went along this path, look for more of these."
Sabreman nodded, "I'm disappointed in myself for not seeing this."
Akatsuki rolled her eyes.
"Well done, Akatsuki." he swung around and followed behind Ammy when they continued making headway into the depths of the mine.
Broken tools stuck in human, goblin, hobgoblin and warg bones. The miners who were caught off guard by the demonic summoning died hard, taking the enemies with them. The corridor opened to a wide oval space that had been cleared out and held the remains of a human camp where they likely hauled in and out resources. This confused her. This site should be at the front of the mine. There needed to be a map of the place.
"That marking was an attempt at cover; someone's organised the gobbos." Sabreman said, "Goblin chief?"
"Let's hope not." Ammy replied, "But why is this area here?"
"The plans were to clear the front of the mine and move logistics before Ephem." Sabreman nudged her to move forward, "Stars wheel."
She arched an eyebrow and continued. Stars wheel?
"The material mined here isn't in public records." Akatsuki said, "So what is it?"
Sabreman raised a hand, "None of our business."
Ammy-Mel or Ammy-Carbyne was smart enough to avoid the poking and prodding of this mildly - who am I lying to? - an extremely attractive woman whose eyes only seemed to look for violence. In a world full of conflict and strife, secrets kept close to the chest by an empire were necessary due to information leaks. And if the wrong person knows, they're a spy. What would they do to Ammy-bloody-Mel if she found out something? Good lord, have grace.
Gravel and scraps crunched under their boots as they began their investigations of the camp as a unit of three. Deflated tents, knocked buildings, and a well filled with shit and piss - feel sorry for the men that'll have to clean that up. They hadn't uncovered any human bones or remains, blood stains still lingered dried on posts, the floor and the few tent rags that remained, with most of them having been stripped. A rustling and scratching of something to their right had Sabreman hurl a rock that drew the sound of a miniature grunt.
The goblin leapt up at them with a mace and found itself split in half by Akatsuki's sword. More warcries that were low-pitched squeals in Ammy's ears came from the front. She left her lantern on the ground and paused. She dabbed her fingers in goblin blood and took a sip of the revolting fluid.
Enhanced Eyesight (darkness): three minutes.
She grabbed the goblin's top half and squeezed it after increasing the mass of the muscles in her hand to gulp down more blood. In the corner of her eye, she saw the goblins freeze in shock, but then dashed at her furiously, wielding human-sized weapons.
She hadn't increased the density of a weapon before, so she took the dead goblin's mace and increased its density slightly. When she clashed with the crew of goblins alongside Sabreman, who joined her. The mace shattered bones, ruptured organs. But quickly fell apart. She'd expended too much mana for what that was worth. A few pants for breath between avoiding and blocking attacks, and she took out the morning star and greeted the fucker that swung for her good morning with a broken skull for his effort. And she set out to get herself used to the consumption of monster blood. Organs and flesh could wait.
"That's disgusting," he said, "Is that a Nullshade power?"
She made a point to not notice that his smell was delicious while she drank and claimed more goblin abilities.
"Seems we've got a voracious vampire." Akatsuki had a chuckle to herself, "I brought your lanterns, drink up, girl. You look good doing it."
When Amelia finished with the skills being set for five hours, she looked them over again:
Minor enhanced healing: 2 hours
Enhanced Eyesight (darkness): 4 hours
Minor enhanced strength: 3.5 hours
Minor enhanced adaptation to environments (immunity to natural gases): 4 hours
Increased libido, stamina: 4 hours
Mana gained: 25% -> Mana is now at: 70%
Stored:
Genitalia augmentation -> lost when used to enhance or add genitalia
"I've gained some of their abilities, enhanced my healing and strength temporarily," she said.
"Bloody right by the Rakes." Sabreman said, "Let's wheel."
She spat out a few dregs of blonde and what she assumed were bone chips and wished she had some tobacco to cover up the vile pus she'd consumed. And for everything else she'd have to do.
Ammy gripped the lantern and took a few of the goblin maces to carry with her to practice. They finished their search of the outpost site, and Akatsuki released the bird to inform those outside to make their way inside. Chittering of goblin talk came from their right, the path they had not yet explored. Ammy could see the little creatures darting around as they brought up a hobgoblin behind them to fight. Akatsuki had already knocked an arrow into her shortbow and waited like a predator.
"Did they sacrifice the people here?" Amelia asked.
"More than likely, yes, and the scouts may be on the preparation plate." Sabreman said, "We deal with this lot, then wait for them to set up the outpost."
The hobgoblin was at least as big as Sabreman and twice as broad when it came for them. Akatsuki and Sabreman's cool expressions turned to flashes of fear and confusion.