by A F Kay
“Pretty much.”
“Are you immortal?”
“Don’t be dumb. If someone stabs me, I’ll bleed out just like you.”
“But if they strike you with lightning, you’re fine.”
“Yes, now you understand.”
“How in Uru’s name is that possible?”
Sift shrugged. “By being half the person my parents want me to be.”
Ruwen had more questions, but he swallowed them because of the depressed look on Sift’s face. Instead, he searched the area until he found his staff. Yet another fight in which he’d lost the weapon. He just hoped he gained the skills he needed before his ineptness killed him.
They walked in silence to where Sift had fought, what Ruwen’s log called, the Roasting Lizard. The body of the beast had already disappeared. Ruwen’s loot bag sat next to Sift’s reward, a golden sword that stuck out of the sand like crystalized sunshine. As Ruwen drew near the sword, the hair on his arm stood. He quickly grabbed his bag and returned to Sift. Carefully, Ruwen poured the contents of his bag onto the rocks. A single jar rolled out.
Tring!
The Black Pyramid has rewarded you…
Name: Fire Mucus
Quantity: 1 Medium Jar
Quality: Uncommon
Durability: 5 of 5
Weight: 1.0 lbs.
Description: Ingredient in various potions. The secret sauce in the Boomer Omelet.
Ruwen placed the jar in his Void Band.
“Let’s hug the wall as we move,” Sift said. “It’s too easy to get surprised out here.”
They walked back to the wall, and Ruwen let Sift lead. Ruwen wondered how long the Bleed spell would last on his staff before expiring, so he took a moment to cast it. He didn’t see a countdown anywhere in his vision or in his inventory. Maybe it stayed active until it triggered.
After a minute, Sift slowed, and Ruwen tensed. He looked around for the danger but didn’t see anything. His Detect Temperature had turned out to be a disappointment when the animals were near the same temperature as their surroundings. That probably meant it wouldn’t work well underwater either. He activated Magnify instead and looked around.
He immediately stopped as the sudden closeness of his surroundings confused his brain. It appeared this ability worked best when looking at something specific, not when walking around. No visible scale appeared, and he wondered if he could modify the magnification or if it was stuck at 200%.
After a few seconds of trial and error he learned how to control it. When he activated Magnify it automatically started at maximum. If he wanted to decrease the magnification, he had to unfocus his vision and it would decrease. He slowly scanned the room, but he didn’t see anything that seemed dangerous or out of place.
Turning off Magnify, he saw that Sift had continued walking and was twenty feet in front of him.
“It’s a Stabber!” Sift shouted as he dropped to the ground.
Before Ruwen could respond, a small boulder crashed into the wall where Sift had been. Ruwen jerked in surprise and shielded his face from the flying shards of rock. Wondering what had thrown the rock, Ruwen looked out into the field, just in time to see a boulder flying at him. He moved, but it wasn’t in time, and the rock struck his right side.
His Health dropped by thirty, and his head swam from the sudden loss of Health. He dove to the ground as another rock smashed into the wall above him. When no more rocks came, he cautiously looked to see if Sift was okay, but his friend was no longer along the wall. Rapid clicking from the middle of the cavern drew Ruwen’s attention, and he found Sift, dashing toward one of the tall rock cylinders in the middle of the room.
The shock of the blow wore off, and Ruwen’s whole side throbbed in pain. His eyes blurred from the intense pain, and he wiped them clear. Triggering Magnify, he focused where Sift was running. Movement drew his attention, and his stomach turned in fear.
The creature Sift had called a Stabber looked like a giant snake with two arms that were shaped like spears. It grabbed a rock with its mouth and tossed it to the side. In a blink, it had spun on its spear arm, and its tail struck the rock, flinging it directly at Sift. Sift jumped fifteen feet in the air, and the boulder passed harmlessly below him.
“No way,” Ruwen whispered.
As Sift dropped back to the ground, the Stabber used its spear arms to drive itself forward. The Stabber flew through the air like an arrow. As it neared Sift, it thrust its arm outward and pierced Sift’s shoulder. Sift landed hard, and the Stabber pinned him to the ground. Blood covered Sift’s side, and rage filled Ruwen’s chest. He sprinted toward the Stabber’s back. Channeling Leap, he jumped.
He realized too late that jumping in this rocky area was a terrible idea, but he had too much momentum now to stop. As he made his final leap toward the Stabber, his foot half-landed on a rock, and he wasn’t able to keep his balance. His body rotated sideways as he flew the last few feet through the air, and he worried he might miss the Stabber entirely. Ruwen aimed for the only part of the creature he could reach, the joint where the spear arm connected to the body.
Ruwen’s angle was terrible, and with a Strength of only eleven, the Stabber would barely feel his blow. As he swung the staff, he heard the chimes from Temple Yulm. The Stabber heard them too and froze as the Distraction effect struck it. As the staff grazed the Stabber’s arm, it flashed red as Ruwen’s Bleed spell activated. Loud clicking hurt his ears as the Stabber regained control of itself and reared back.
Ruwen struck the ground hard and lost another five Health. He rolled over and looked at Sift, who grinned.
“Seriously,” Ruwen said, “what’s wrong with you?”
Sift pulled a two-foot section of the Stabber’s leg out of his shoulder. He must have snapped the leg off after it impaled him.
“That was really gutsy. I’m proud of you. Only fools get in front –”
The Stabber came down and smashed its broken leg into Sift’s groin. It tried to strike Ruwen as well, but he had severely damaged the joint and the Stabber’s leg dangled uselessly. The Stabber and Ruwen realized this at the same time, and the Stabber slammed its body into Ruwen.
Ruwen lost another twenty-five Health along with his breath as the Stabber rolled off him. He had lost a total of sixty Health in the few seconds the fight had been going. His Health bar flashed yellow letting him know he’d lost over 50% of his total.
Sift leaped forward and landed on the exposed belly of the snake. He raised the broken Stabber leg taken from his shoulder, and slammed it downward, pinning the Stabber to the ground with its own leg.
Gasping, Ruwen rolled onto his stomach and then pushed himself up. He cast Bleed again and then brought his staff down onto the Stabber’s head. Sift snapped off the Stabber’s remaining leg and shoved it through the small black eye of the creature. The Stabber thrashed around for a moment and then stopped as it died. Sift jumped off the monster and cupped his groin.
“They always find a way to hit me here,” Sift groaned.
Sift’s shoulder had already healed. A wound that bad should have taken a few minutes at least.
“Your shoulder,” Ruwen said, pointing at Sift.
Sift still held his groin, half hunched over. “Even after healing, my stomach is in knots for the next hour. Ugh.”
“How did you heal so fast?” Ruwen tried again.
“I still have some of the energy from the Spitter.”
A thousand questions exploded in Ruwen’s mind. “Not only can you absorb the energy, but you can store it and then use it for other things?”
“That’s the whole point, isn’t it?” Sift asked his face confused. He winced in pain. “Hey, do you have any magic to make this feel better?” Sift said, pointing at his groin.
“That line might work on Black Pyramid women, but—” Ruwen stopped when Sift’s face grew even more confused. “Nevermind. There’s one thing I can try.”
He thought of the Campfire symbol and focused on it for th
e required five seconds. Crackling flames appeared between them, and Ruwen’s Mana bar flashed red. He only had twenty Mana left in his one hundred seventy-point pool.
“Ah, that’s nice,” Sift said. “The nausea is gone. Thanks, brother!”
Chapter 24
Ruwen watched as the Stabber disappeared into the ground like water into sand. In a couple of heartbeats, it had vanished entirely, and a familiar leather bag appeared along with a small book.
“Bodies melting into the ground is really uncomfortable to watch,” Ruwen said as he walked over and knelt by the treasure.
“What is the title of the book?” Sift asked.
“The Three Minute Whistler. Guaranteed Methods to have you Whistling in Minutes,” Ruwen read.
“Ugh. IT’S NOT FUNNY BLAPY!” Sift shouted.
Ruwen heard faint giggling but couldn’t tell where it originated.
“Are you going to take it?” Ruwen asked.
Sift looked mournfully at the book. “No, because then she’ll win.”
“It seems this game hurts you more than it does her.”
Sift tried to whistle, but mostly spit came out. He half-turned like he was looking over his shoulder. “I am doing it your way, Io. If I pucker my lips anymore, no air comes out.”
Ruwen let Sift talk with Io and turned to the bag. He opened it and gently emptied it onto the ground. He didn’t trust Blapy enough to actually stick his hand in it, and the eggs had now taught him caution. A ring dropped out and rolled in a little circle. The ring looked mostly white and had red lines running through it like veins. He picked it up.
Tring!
The Black Pyramid has rewarded you…
Name: Rock Serpent Ring of Health
Quality: Uncommon
Durability: 20 of 20
Weight: 0.1 lbs.
Effect (Passive): +25 Health.
Description: The blood of a rock serpent flows through this ring. Let’s be honest, it will probably do you as much good as it did the serpent.
Ruwen shook his head and put the ring on his right hand. The ring shrunk snuggly around his finger. He wondered if the blood came from the Rock Serpent they’d just killed. That thought made him uncomfortable, so he opened his Profile and looked at his attributes.
His Health had expanded to one hundred thirty-five. Not bad. Killing the Rock Serpent had given him almost a hundred experience, and he now sat at one thousand four hundred eighty-six out of six thousand toward the next level. Just a quarter of the way there. He wasn’t going to do this quickly by killing things. He really needed more of these quests. They were obviously meant for higher-level people since they gave so much experience. It sucked that Blapy hadn’t given him another ingredient. He only needed one more for his quest. Maybe Sift’s parents would give him one.
Sift removed Io from the indestructible Traveler’s Belt and held the dagger near his face. Sift alternated between talking with Io and trying to whistle.
“Why is whistling so important to you?” Ruwen asked.
Sift put Io away and looked down. “How can I learn hard things, if I can’t do simple things?”
“I don’t think things work that way.”
“Maybe not, but it feels that way.”
Sift looked miserable, and Ruwen felt bad for bringing it up.
“If you want to talk, let me know,” Ruwen said.
“Thanks, I appreciate that. Let’s see if Blapy has anything else on this level.”
Instead of going back to the wall, Sift started directly for the far tunnel. Ruwen ran to catch up.
“Aren’t we going to use the wall?” Ruwen asked.
Sift looked around. “I don’t see anything else. Which means if there is anything left in here, it’s underground. You won’t be able to hide the vibration of your steps, so we might as well make good time.”
Ruwen nodded. They had walked for a few minutes when Ruwen felt the same sensation he’d had when the Floating Clasper was behind the door on level one, and his Keen Senses ability had activated. It emanated from above him, and he looked up. Grey fog covered the ceiling and gave the appearance of a cloudy day outside.
“Does anything ever come from up there?” Ruwen asked.
Sift glanced up. “Sometimes. But I didn’t sense anything. Although…”
“Although what?”
“Well, this is a big room. And since I can’t bring the energy to me, if Blapy created something after we arrived, it might take a bit for me to sense it.”
“Like, how long?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we should pick up the pace.”
Ruwen alternated between finding the best path through the rocks and staring up at the clouds. They were about two-thirds of the way to the exit tunnel when he looked up to see a winged creature diving toward them. The body was narrow, like a snake, and it had a long tail that ended in a sharp point.
“Above us!” Ruwen screamed.
Sift looked up. “A Sleeper! Watch its tail! Run!”
Then Sift jumped straight up into the air like he’d been thrown by a giant. Ruwen stood in awe as the young man collided with the Sleeper, and the two spiraled to the ground. Sift turned the Sleeper as they fell, so it struck the ground first.
The creature used its wings to flip itself off its back. Its head looked like a large mouth with teeth. Ruwen couldn’t see any eyes. The tail arced back and hovered over its head like a scorpion. Ruwen sighed in relief when Sift stood. He looked ridiculous standing in just his underwear, his hands free of any weapons.
“Run!” Sift said again.
Ruwen wanted nothing more than to get away from this horrible-looking creature. He would probably only get in Sift’s way. Cleary the young man had abilities that made him far more capable than Ruwen. They were supposed to be a team, though. And that meant helping each other. Instead of charging in, Ruwen took a moment to study the creature.
He triggered Magnify and carefully looked at the creature’s head and tail. There were no eyes that Ruwen could see and detecting vibrations didn’t seem likely since it lived up in the clouds. Maybe it used some sort of sound-based mechanism to see? That gave him an idea.
Turning off Magnify, he took a second to cast Bleed on his staff. He thought about using Leap again, but the ground was just too uneven for his level of Dexterity. Without any more thought, he focused to the right of the Sleeper and cast Distract. At the last moment, he wondered if he could control the volume of the sound and concentrated on making it loud.
A thunderclap detonated to the right of the Sleeper. Ruwen dropped his staff, fell to his knees, and covered his ears. A debuff flashed under his bars, and he saw what he already knew; he’d been deafened.
Sift hadn’t collapsed, but he held his head, and his face twisted in pain. But the Sleeper had taken the worst of it. Blood ran from hundreds of small holes all along its body. Ruwen realized these were its ears, and he’d probably just ruptured all of them. Not wanting to take the chance it would recover, Ruwen picked up his staff and staggered toward the beast. Having learned from his fight with the Rock Serpent, Ruwen struck the creature where the wing met the body. The wing immediately fell against the thing’s body as the Sleeper thrashed.
Ruwen turned to run and felt a terrible pain in his back. A moment later, a large spine burst from his chest. He looked down at his own blood covering the brown tail of the beast. His Health bar flashed yellow as he instantly lost fifty-seven Health. The Sleeper flicked its tail, and Ruwen sailed across the room. He struck a large boulder, and another twelve flashed across his Health bar. Dazed, Poisoned, and Bleed debuffs appeared next to his Deafened debuff. His Health bar pulsed a three with every heartbeat.
He knew he should be trying to stop the bleeding or cure his poison, but his brain felt fuzzy, and he couldn’t keep his thoughts organized. Pressing his hand against the wound dropped the Bleed damage to two per second. The Dazed debuff scattered his thoughts, and he couldn’t do the math, but by the red flashing of his Health
bar, it didn’t look like he had much time.
Sift appeared in front of him, pulled something from his belt, and tied it around Ruwen’s shoulder and over the wound. Then Sift disappeared again. The Bleed debuff vanished, and Ruwen focused on his Health bar until he could see what he had left: Twenty-eight. He hadn’t even needed the twenty-five Health from his new ring.
Sift appeared again and picked him up. They walked for a while and then Sift gently put him back on the ground. Ruwen smelled burning wood and turned to see the Campfire he’d cast earlier to help Sift. A minute later Ruwen’s head cleared, and he pushed himself up. The Dazed, Poisoned and Deafened debuffs had disappeared, and his Health bar was a third full. He looked down to see Sift’s shirt tied around his shoulder.
“This was your favorite shirt,” Ruwen said.
“That’s okay. I’ll get a new one.”
Ruwen felt bad for staining Sift’s shirt. “I’ll clean this for you.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you’re okay. I told you to run.”
“I know. I’m sorry. But we’re a team.”
Sift smiled. “True. Speaking of that, how about you warn me before,” Sift slammed his hands together, “whatever that was.”
“Sorry about that. I’m still figuring out what my stuff does.”
“How do you feel?”
“Better.”
And he did feel better. With the extra Health Regen from the fire, his Health bar was already half full.
“Can you walk?” Sift asked.
“Sure.”
“Okay. Let’s collect your loot, and then go get your pass. I’m hungry, and I need to get some new clothes.”
Ruwen didn’t know what Sift meant by pass, but he didn’t bother asking. He’d find out shortly. Pushing himself to his feet, Ruwen untied Sift’s shirt and handed the bloody thing back to Sift.
“Sorry,” Ruwen said again.
Sift took the shirt and placed it in his belt. “Don’t worry about it.”
They walked back to where the dead Sleeper lay, but Blapy had already absorbed it.