13 Hijacked II Edited

Trying to adjust to her new body was frustrating for Jayde. It was weak. The legs were too damn short. After a lot of stumbling and tripping, Jayde eventually got the hang of maneuvering her new body.

Jayde was busy cursing her luck that she couldn't even die properly, as she picked her way carefully over the rocks and exposed roots when her thoughts were interrupted by that disembodied voice again.

"Jayde I am sensing a small cave to the north-east of you."

Sensing?

What was this thing that it could sense the environment around me, she thought. Is it some type of computer?

"Um Proteus artifact, are you a computer?" she asked out loud.

"Computer?"

Jayde could hear the question in the tone of the Proteus system.

"Yes a computer its a machine, a man-made device," Jayde tried to explain.

"No, I am a divine artifact, created to help cultivators like you to reach your full potential," the Proteus System answered carefully.

Divine Artifact? Cultivators?

Jayde was even more confused. As soon as she heard the word cultivators a whole lot of information assaulted her mind, but she was too weary to even think about it, and just pushed the data to the back of her mind, once she was safe she would analyze the memories stored in her head and interrogate this so-called divine artifact.

Moving north-east, the landscape was utterly alien yet familiar in some way. Jayde could hear the birds and smell the freshness in the air. The green grass beneath her feet gave way to a rocky landscape.

Looking ahead Jayde could see a mountain. The mountain rose into the deep blue sky, the steep craggy face seemed familiar, but Jayde couldn't think of what it reminded her off.

As Jayde gazed at the mountain in front of her, she could make out a rocky mountain path, Jayde followed it. After a couple of hours, the trail seemed to snake around the side of a mountain with a sheer drop to the right. A few trees twisted out of the side of the mountain with strange thorns. The alien purplish leaves underlined that Jayde was in an unknown environment.

The mountain path Jayde was following suddenly ended. Loose stones were scattered on the path causing her to trip as she got closer to the rock face. Exhausted, thirsty and sweaty Jayde was feeling irritated, she was pissed that she had wasted so much time and energy just to come to a dead end.

"Yo Proteus System, there is no cave here."

"The cave entrance is right in front of you," replied the Proteus system.

Looking carefully Jayde finally saw the cave, the entrance was so tiny she almost missed it. The cave was built into the grey rock of the mountain, the greyish stone guarding the entrance to the cave was jagged and uneven and was arranged in such a way, it would be nearly impossible for anyone to spot.

"Ahem, Proteus System can you scan for life signs?"

"Scan? — If you are asking if there are animals or people in the cave, there are some dingbats, but they pose no danger to you" answered the Proteus System.

Wrapping one of the rags around a sturdy stick that she had picked up earlier, Jayde took out the flint as well as the small jar of oil in her handmade carry bag. Pouring the oil over the rags, Jayde then used the flint to set the cloth alight. Holding the torch in her left hand, Jayde entered the cave cautiously. The inside of the cave was dank, and the only sound was dripping water.

The cave's general shape was ovoid, it was about 15 meters in diameter, the walls smoothly curved to the floor, the walls above arched about 30 feet up. As Jayde explored further into the cave, she came across a frigid pool of water. Water ran down the fissures, feeding the pool, while dingbats flew above like small shadows.

Seeing a strange heap near the rear of the cave, Jayde curiously walked up to investigate.

Once she got closer, Jayde saw a skeleton, examining the remains Jayde could see no visible signs of death, from the bone structure Jayde could tell that the person was male, quite old, whoever he was he had lived a hard life, as Jayde could see numerous old breaks in his bones. It seemed like he had lived and died here quite some time ago.

Looking around Jayde was pleasantly surprised with the number of items piled up around the rear edge of the cave, everything was covered in dust, but Jayde could make out that there was a stone campfire, cooking utensils, bedding, a large stack of wood which was covered with a waterproof tarp, and oil lamps. There were also several chests and boxes that she didn't open, there would be enough time later to investigate what was in them.

Moving closer to the wall, Jayde noticed an old desk and chair and above the desk were shelves packed full of books.

Too tired to explore further Jayde carried some of the wood to the campfire and using her torch which was about to expire, lit the wood. Since the wood was dry, it caught fire quickly. The heat from the campfire soon sucked the frigid air around Jayde, and she started to warm up.

The fire crackled, projecting long shadows on the surrounding walls. The light cast by the flames lit up Jayde tired and dusty face.

Removing the gourd of water from her makeshift carry bag, Jayde drank some water to quench her thirst. After placing the gourd back into her carry bag, Jayde stared into the flames, mesmerized, without meaning to she soon drifted off to sleep, her small body exhausted.

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