TAKE ON ME [Survival LITRPG Apocalypse]

Hana closed her eyes and reached out with her mana, letting her awareness settle upon the Headless bone arm she was already wearing as a [Bone Prosthesis]. She could feel it faintly thrumming with its sickly [Malnutrition] power. Now, though—as she examined its bone energy with her newfound [Osteology] information—Hana didn't like what she was sensing.

It was painfully clear that the dominant essence suffusing the Headless limb—and the other Headless remains in her collection—was one of [Perception]. The creatures had possessed an uncanny awareness of the world around them, and their undead limbs still pulsed with their primary essence.

Not knowing then what she knew now, Hana had neglected to capitalize on the [Perception] essence when she created the first Headless [Bone Prosthesis]. She had instead chosen to bond with the lesser essence of [Hunger], and modified her [Sickness] spell to produce the lackluster [Malnutrition] effect.

Using [Osteology], she now knew that if she had instead elected to enhance [Radon Light]—which did offer a bond with the [Perception] essence—the resulting [Headless Gaze] would have enhanced the [Radon Light]'s damage. In addition, Hana would have been able to detect—and infect—the auras of hidden enemies by using the aura modification to the [Headless Gaze] spell.

She couldn't change it now. Once selected, all Headless bones would forever only modify her [Sickness] spell.

Turning her attention to the collection of Boar limbs, Hana was heartened to find that her creation of [Swine Flu] had bonded to the dominant [Swine] essence. The synergy between spell and essence were strong, and the damage of [Sickness] was boosted from XS.05 to XS.10.

The same, unfortunately, could not be said for the Goblin arms. The [Goblin Shiverpox] spell was a merge of [Sickness] with the very small essence [Frostbite], which apparently Goblins were susceptible to. The spell only took [Sickness] from XS.05 to XS.06: so that was a waste.

Hana sighed with frustration. She opened her eyes, and surveyed the limb pile anew.

Most of them were deboned. Some still had chunks of blackened flesh clinging to them. Many were beginning to stink. Out of place—and looming over the other assembled bones and limbs—was the massive Troll arm. It was over four feet in length from shoulder to fingertip. Hana wondered if her magic would be able to bond with something so huge.

She extended her left hand to touch its scales once again. She channeled her mana down through her own flesh and into the severed arm. With a mental click, she cast [Debone].

The Troll's skin began to wither and pucker, dissolving away into the air like leaves from a dying tree. Writhing tendrils of sickly green light arced between Hana's splayed fingers and the rapidly decaying flesh, stripping away the last stubborn bits of sinew. In a matter of moments, all that remained was a dark green skeleton.

Hana inhaled deeply, both hating and savoring the electric tingle of magic that raced up her arm as the connection was forged. It was a sensation at once exhilarating and repulsive.

[Please select a spell you would like to merge with the Troll Murkbrute's essence.]

She pushed the prompt to the back of her mind, waiting to select the spell until the full [Bone Prothesis] was completed. Only then would she have the most information available to make the best choice.

Next, she cast [Bone Graft]. As her mana wove magical tendons and muscles, she began to connect with the essences found within the Troll bone. The dominant essence suffusing the Troll's skeleton was one of intense [Regeneration].

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Hana recalled her mounting fear and desperation when they had fought the first Troll. Her own spells—and those of her team—had seemed so weak against the creature, its body healing almost as quickly as the wounds were inflicted. Only timing their attacks—and delivering rapid, decisive blows—had allowed them to overcome the Troll's [Regeneration].

But as she pressed deeper, other—subtler—essences began to show themselves within the marrow. The next largest essence was of raw [Strength], followed by a smaller essence of [Scales].

Fainter still were the echoes of decay, putrefaction, and the septic stagnation of a festering swamp. Smiling, Hana was also clued in on some essences that displayed the Troll's weakness to fire and acid.

If I do this for every new monster we fight, I can learn all its weaknesses, and then pass that info along to Tess.

Hana refocused on the bone, and on the task of modifying her spells. By far the strongest essence was [Regeneration]. However, when she looked at the modification of each spell, it wasn't always [Regeneration] that was the linked essence. [Sickness]—for some reason—was paired with a very small essence of the Troll's sensitivity to light. The resulting spell—[Blister Scourge] —would cause painful blisters in the sun, inducing a small painful debuff to the creature's movement. However, through [Osteology], Hana could feel the spell would be weak.

On the other hand, looking at the modification to [Contagion]—which was coupled to the Troll's very strong essence of [Regeneration]—she ended up with [Everlasting Blight]. Hana could tell that the spell was powerful. The upgrade from [Contagion] warped the spell to regenerate faster than most target's immune systems, ensuring it spread faster, and delivered a stronger payload of her [Sickness] and [Infection] spells.

Hana checked the other spell modifications to be sure, but the [Infection] spell was connected with a small essence of the Troll's ferocity. [Infection] could potentially be upgraded to [Rage Rot], which sounded scary but had only had a +.01 XS upgrade. [Radon Light] had a similarly disappointing bond.

Finally, Hana pulled up the prompt for her other new Level 5 spell [Miasma], which—for some weird reason—actually made her feel less sick when she cast it. She had tested it on the walk back from the Dungeon, and it was almost like some of the backlash sickness left her body.

The spell formed a cloud of defensive magic around her party members. It also carried trace amounts of her other [Sickness] spells within it: such that, when a monster attacked a party member with [Miasma] cast on them, the cloud would infect the attacking creature and dose them with her active [Sickness] and [Infection] spells as well—including the modified ones.

The spell was listed as a defensive buff; however, to fully utilize the spell, she would need to cast it when she had both a [Sickness] and an [Infection] spell active on the field, or the [Miasma] cloud would be purely defensive.

Hana—having examined the bones enough—cast the [Fossilize] and [Bone Prosthesis] spells on the Troll arm.

With the ritual completed, the most powerful choice for the Troll bones was to mix [Regeneration] with [Contagion]. She pulled the prompt back up, and assigned the spell.

The exercise seemed somewhat fruitless, though; she could barely drag the giant arm now attached to her stump. She toyed with the idea of leaving stationary Troll arms around the town in case she ever needed to hook into one.

She unhooked from the Troll bone and dragged it to the side for the moment. She turned her attention to the rest of the limbs.

Systematically, she began the painstaking process of testing each remnant against the matrix of her available spells, searching for the most potent synergy or tactical utility. It was a gross undertaking, and Blake's images threatened to creep back into her brain. However, she was able carry out the task with a clear head thanks to Chloe. Squeamishness was a luxury she could no longer afford.

And so, she soldiered on, her magic probing the essences of each bone remnant.

She found several potent spell upgrades. One such discovery came from a set of armadillo bones. The arm was incredibly short and stubby and ended in claws, making it impractical as a functional prosthetic. However, Hana ran her magical senses over the dense arm bones, and she was struck by the very prolific essence of [Armored Defense]. If she were to merge these bones with her [Miasma] spell, the result would be a much stronger defensive cloud.

Hana added the armadillo bones to her mental shortlist of important bones to keep with her.

How the hell am I going to carry all these different bones around with me?

The sudden, sharp rap at the door pulled her from her thoughts.

Hana looked around at the bones scattered all over her floor. For a moment, she thought about ignoring the door.

However, the knocking persisted.

Sighing, Hana walked to the door and pulled it open.

A small girl stood there with wide eyes as she took in the armadillo bone arm Hana had opened the door with. Next to her, a slightly taller boy, fascinated, almost leaned through the door to get a better look.

"Ummm . . . L-Lady Hana?" the small girl said.

"Yes, that's me." Hana moved her undead arm behind the door and out of sight.

"Lady Bridget says that the final death toll is fifty-three." The girl spoke quickly, looking everywhere but at Hana. "About half the families have nowhere to sleep tonight. Bridget would like to meet later to discuss the losses from last night's battle, and plans for the immediate future."

"All right. Thank you, Piper. I'll head over in just a minute." Hana pulled out a Copper Coin from her robe with her human hand, and held it out.

The girl nodded and—after a moment's hesitation—she plucked the Coin from Hana's hand. She took a few steps backward.

"Thank you, Lady Hana!" Piper yelled, before she whirled around and bolted down the path.

The boy followed close behind, and Hana heard him say to Piper, "Did you see her arm? That was wicked cool."

Hana smiled. She picked up her bones, stacked them back in the corner.