The Soul Springs
To be honest. Maybe Elderbug just needs to get around some more. There is a bunch of people down at the forgotten crossroads. The picture he had painted was that this was going to be nothing but depression and zombies. But there seems to be a lot of life down here.
In front of me was a man wearing refined clothes. He had a pair of circular glasses on his face, a comically large nose, and two large antennas on his forehead that drooped towards the ground.
He had a bag full of paper and drawing supplies and when I met him he was humming a song without a care in the world.
Apparently, he was the person Elderbug had told me about, Cornifer. He was someone whose goal was to draw a map of the entirety of Hallownest. And he was beginning his journey by mapping out the forgotten crossroads.
"So, are you a good fighter?" I asked him with interest.
Cornifer laughed a little as he continued to draw on the paper.
"Do I look like a fighter to you?" He asked with a chuckle. "No, I am not good at fighting at all. My wife is the one who can wield a nail like no other. I specialize in sneaking around. Can't get attacked if they don't know I am there."
He said as he continued to sketch.
"You know you were humming quite loudly… Right?" I asked
"Well, I only hum while I am drawing. And I only draw in places that I know are safe." Cornifer said as he did some finishing touches on the paper.
"Here you go, it has been a while since I have done portraits. But it is always good to practice my skills before I lose them." he said as he passed me a drawing of myself holding my nail up in a victorious pose.
Searching through my bag I gave him a couple of strange-shaped coins I had found as payment. The husks that I had been fighting were carrying with them, and even though I wasn't sure what they were I still picked them up because they were shiny.
What can I say? I think I am part insect now. Any shiny stuff is my weakness.
"Thanks for the map Cornifer. It gives me a better idea of what this place looks like."
Cornifer gave a slightly smug expression as he adjusted his glasses.
"Well, no need to thank me. That right there is an unfinished map since I still haven't been able to go through all of the crossroads.
Remember to go back to Dirtmouth when you have the time to speak to my wife. She should be running the shop. You can buy a lot of supplies to make your navigation of this place easier."
"I will keep that in mind." I told him as I carefully placed the portrait inside my armor and began walking away.
Taking a quick look at the map I saw something that looked interesting. There was a drawing of a helmet over in the distance.
'Perhaps there is armor over there?' I thought as I looked over the rest of the map.
I might have to go visit Cornifer's wife soon. I might as well finish the map myself and save myself some geo. From what he told me she should be selling a quill and some other map supplies.
After taking a quick moment to memorize the path toward the helmet I stuffed the map inside my armor and began making my way through it.
— — —
"Maybe I should buy a notebook and start a journal about all of these creatures."
So far I had encountered a couple of different bugs that I had simply ignored as they had ignored me. These were the ones that I categorized as the "Nice bugs"
There was the little buddy whom I had met when I first woke up that was called a crawlid. There were the smaller little buddies that were all over crawling on the ceilings that were called tiktik. The chubby fly that went around bumping into walls called a gruzzer.
But then there were the "bad bugs"
In this category where all of the husks, the vengeflies, and this new weird thing I was fighting. Based on the descriptions Elderbug and Quirrel had given me this was called an aspid hunter.
A strange little flying bug with a big ol' orange butt.
The thing that I disliked about flying creatures was that my jumps that would make any basketball player jealous were not as effective. And it was showing as I was surrounded by 3 of the aspid hunters.
The big ol' butts of the insects were filled to the brim with a corrosive acid that they kept on shooting at me using their mouths. And as I dodged another shot of the orange acid I saw the ground around me releasing fumes and getting slightly corroded.
"How the hell do these bugs keep this thing inside of them without getting melted?" I asked myself as one of them finally got close enough for me to jump on it and attack it.
Swinging my nail at its butt I was able to get a clean hit rupturing the sack containing the acid. Which seemed to have dealt an extreme amount of damage to it but it was also a bad idea in hindsight.
"Argh!" I screamed in pain after a portion of the acid landed on me.
Clearly, I wasn't following rule number 4: Always think things through.
I quickly shook the acid off my body before moving on to the other two aspids.
Taking a look around my surroundings I saw several sharp stalactites hanging from the ceiling. And with one big jump, I jumped right next to them and hit them with my nail causing them to drop.
Grabbing one of them with my free hand I quickly threw it at one of the aspid's butts causing it to rupture and killing it. This time avoiding the aftermath splash.
"I really need to get myself a ranged weapon of sorts." I mumbled before reaching for the other fallen stalactite on the ground and promptly throwing it like a spear once again at the last remaining aspid.
Piercing the big ol' butt with my spear….. Erhm I mean, destroying the aspids butt…. Nevermind.
After the stalactite killed the bug I took a moment to focus my soul on the acid burns. Thankfully I had gotten enough from killing them to heal the damage that they had dealt. But this wasn't always going to be the case. So I knew that I had to be more careful, or at least find a way to generate soul by myself.
I really had lucked out by getting this skill straight from the beginning. If I still had all of the injuries I had received since I had gotten here I probably would have to quit using the nail and just simply become a miner with Myla. But hey, she seemed to be having a blast mining, so maybe it wasn't such a bad fate.
Taking a look around the room I was greeted by a strange smell coming from one of the rooms above me. It smelt both pleasant and humid up there. And well, not being able to resist my curiosity I made my way up to the room. And what I saw shocked me.
"A hot spring? Elderbug never mentioned anything like this…" Taking a moment to analyze the room it appeared to be completely empty of any other people, so I cautiously approached it.
The almost crystal clear pinkish waters were glowing with a mystical white light. And they seemed to be emanating a pleasant feeling. On the side near the springs, there was even a bench to rest. So there was a pretty good chance that this place had been used by others before me.
Reaching down to touch the water I felt a strange yet familiar energy flowing through the waters.
"Soul…" I said softly.
Placing my entire arm into the water I felt the rush of energy slowly enter my body. And sure enough, my core was slowly getting filled with soul.
"Interesting…."
I wanted to practice the usage of soul. I believed there was more I could do with it than just heal myself. I had even slightly manifested it outside my body back in my room on Dirtmouth. But I couldn't properly practice with it since it would require me to constantly search for enemies, fight them without getting injured, and then find a safe place to practice.
But this hot spring seemed to make the entire process of using soul way simpler. All I had to do was enter it and I wouldn't have to worry about having to refill my soul. And it also helped that the springs themselves would be calming, allowing me to clear my mind easily.
Taking some minutes to analyze the spring from the outside I determined it not to be a trap. Or well, I at least hope it wasn't.
'The armor can wait. I should probably take advantage of this now. It might come in handy with future fights.'
And so, I took off my armor and placed it near the bench. Though I kept my nail with me in case I was attacked. Stepping into the waters I felt the rush of soul entering me until my core was full. And once that happened the soul stopped flowing into me.
Taking in a deep breath I closed my eyes and began meditating.