The hallway above ramp was small.
Tiny and cramped, I could barely crawl through it - clearly it wasn't designed for a large-shelled snail.
I was angry and irritated. Without thinking, I powered forward. Streams of cold mist continued to caress against my body as I felt even colder. I shivered as I felt my body tingle even more as if it was being pricked by sharp needles.
[Status: Cold] (Updated)
[Status: Freezing] (New)
- 34.8% to all stats (Reduced by Cold Resistance and Cold Mastery)
- 4.974% per hour (Reduced by Cold Resistance and Cold Mastery)
Total debuff: - 34.8% all stats
Suddenly, I heard a snap. A quiet snap, but a snap.
I paused but saw nothing. Moving forward I felt it. A single strand of white filament broke below my body as it slid off to who knows where.
Another brush of cold wind hit my body, but this time it was from behind.
I turned.
A wall of white.
Just like the day before, another wall dropped down from behind me and blocked off my way backward. If I wasn't a snail who could melt the walls with my mucus, I would be trapped and forced to move forward.
'We have to be more careful.' I told myself as I touched my foot against the wall to remove the wall that had appeared.
I was getting angry and I had enough.
'STOP!' I shouted in my head. 'STOP COMPLAINING! I'M DOING THIS FOR US! TO PROTECT US!'
'NO! JUST STOP.' I yelled as I stopped it short.
Not listening to the voice anymore, I finished destroying the wall of filaments before sundering forward down the hallway.
I was more vigilant the second time.
Looking closely for anything that was out of place I travelled forward ahead of me.
But it wasn't enough.
Snap. Another snap.
This time it was followed by a rumbling noise as I felt another cool breeze hit my body from behind.
Another wall.
Spending a few more seconds I began to clear the wall once more as the noise of the gluttonous voice entered my head.
'Wasting time? How about you quit wasting your breath and nagging?'
I was done listening to the voice. It hadn't been helpful so far and I knew that it was selfish. If the voice only worried about wasting time, then I could have accepted it, but it was only worrying about eating - worrying about our next meal.
But before it could finish, I felt the floor vibrate. Bending my head backward, I glanced quickly of what was behind me.
Round and blue, like a bowling ball, it rolled down the hallway towards me at a fast rate.
Reflexively I pulled my head back as I felt my heart begin to pound as I stared at the wall before me.
Only covered with tiny streams of my mucus, it maintained almost all of its integrity.
'Should I continue?' I asked myself as I turned my head backwards once more. 'No time.' I answered myself as I gathered my strength in my muscular foot.
I pulled back then pushed. And it resisted. like a well-trained linebacker, it bent backward ever-so-slightly before it pushed back against me.
Another snap. Another rumble.
It was coming closer.
I pushed and smashed my body against the wall again and it bounced me back as I tried.
'Again!' I thought to myself.
Bam. Bam. Bam.
I pounded my body against the wall like a battering ram using the weight of my body to the utmost fullest.
Unable to take the string of barrages filaments that had begun to break due to my mucus snapped one by one.
But still, the wall held strong.
I felt a feeling of panic well up within me as I felt the ground below me bounce with its weight.
'It's heavy and it's coming closer.'
I knew I had to run.
I put my new body and strength to use as I pushed with all my might against the wall.
Ping. Ping. Ping.
Strands of filaments snapped before me and whipped against my body and shell.
It finally gave.
Feeling the lack of resistance, I cheered internally until I felt my body begin to flip forward.
'Damn.' I thought. Falling forward, I was unable to stop my momentum. I rolled. With a perfectly round shell and tight walls around me, I rolled forward like a coin rolling into a slot machine.
Womp. Womp. Womp.
Momentary spurts of wind hit my body as my foot was pressed against the floor and raised back into the air again.
My vision became a world of white as I continued to roll.
I clenched my jaw shut as I felt the weight of my shell crush against my body with each rotation. I kept my foot outward through the pain. I tried hard to take advantage of the brief moments that my foot made contact.
Seconds later, I managed to stop myself and regain my footing.
But my vision didn't recover. Like a whirlpool of white, the hallway and the room spun before me.
I was disoriented.
Feeling a sickness develop in my stomach, I wanted to lean up against the wall of the passageway to recover...
But I didn't.
'No time.' I thought as I moved forward leaving a twisted trail of mucus as I did.
The floor shook even more as it seemed to bounce behind me.
'Move!' I shouted in my head as I tried moving forward again as the world continued to spin before my eyes and as my stomach began to revolt against me.
Unable to take the wooziness, I paused briefly and bit down hard.
I bit down on myself. Feeling a tinge of pain and blood enter my mouth, I managed to keep myself from tipping over completely as I approached the ramp.
My stomach growled in response.
[Skill: Hungering LV 1]
Current stacks: 6
+ 30% all stats
The Reward System dinged in my head, but I ignored it as I tried to steady myself.
With complete concentration, I moved as quickly and carefully as I could as I entered the thin angled path.
My body began to tilt to one side as I couldn't hold my body upright anymore. Like a tightrope, the path seemed to tilt with my body as I begun to feel my body slip with it.
'No' I thought as I shifted my weight to the other side to re-adjust myself.
But it was too late.
Slamming against my body, the blue thing - whatever it was smashed against my body hard as I felt my shell crackle with its weight and my body turn.
I closed my eyes.
My world had begun to spin once more before I felt the path beneath me just... disappear.
I lost my footing...
... And I fell. I fell down into the frosty mist filled room below.
...