by Ryan DeBruyn
Chapter 32
September 3rd, 151 AR
Jeff Turle
The first things we need are bitcoins. After purchasing breakfast, my spear, the arming swords, and Mur eating more than half of the Leporid meat, we only have two bitcoins remaining. I sell one hundred and five pounds of the meat for seven more, but that only brings our total to nine. If we want to renew our buff today, we will need money to cook a meal before heading out to the dungeon.
That brings us to the daily workout holo-puck. I study it from the floor as I begin stretching. My two new skills still worry me, and I don’t want to end up impairing my flexibility because of them. Stretching melts my tension and I greatly enjoy the sensation.
A chime sounds in the room, and the holo-screen changes.
*Home Gym App [Green]*
Warming Up (Secret Daily)
Complete the following menu to receive your reward(s).
●30 seconds of Jumping-Jacks
●Spiderman Lunge with Hip Opener–10 per leg
●Cat-Camels – 10
●Groin Rocks
●Squat Stands
●Wall Angels
●Scapular Push-Ups
●Windmills
Reward(s):
1) +1 Bitcoin
Do you accept this quest?
Yes | No
I hurriedly accept the quest and can feel only a slight disappointment that it took me this long to find. Still, Crash demonstrates the movements while Mur and I follow along. As we receive our rewards, I notice I am already sweating and wonder if that’s why the term for the quest is warm up. Then again, I am always sweating lately.
The screen changes back to the workout.
*Home Gym App [Green]*
Strengthening Your Body (Daily)
Complete the following menu to receive your reward(s).
Main Lifts – 4 sets in 15 minutes
Exercise – Reps
Bench Press – 12, 12, 10, 10
Bent Over Row – 12, 12, 10, 10
YTWs – 15
Small Stability Lifts – 3-4 sets in 15 minutes
Bicep Curls – 8-12
Skull Crushers – 8-12
Reverse Lunges – 12
Single Leg Glute Bridges – 12
Core Finisher – 2-3 sets in 10 minutes
Sprinter Sit-Ups – 25 per side
Rocking Planks – 30 seconds
Big Babies – 30 seconds
Reward(s): Choose one.
1) 15 Bitcoins [Green]
2) +3 Free Physical Points [Green]
3) 1 random small box [Gray]
Do you accept this quest?
Yes | No
The rewards! They are somehow at a new rank! I didn’t get to the end of the screen on my earlier perusal, but it’s unmistakable that they have improved. I look around the weight room and remember that I put weights on every exercise today. I did it to increase my Iron Muscles and Jade Bones skills but now realize that there is a secondary benefit to it as well.
Experimenting with it, I realize that I can gain even more rewards if I further increase the weights. I manage to get everything to be blue in color but then scale it back to a full green list. The reward ends up at twenty bitcoins, 4 free physical points, or a random green box. I need to save my qi for the dungeon run tonight, so I can’t be going too crazy now. Maybe in the future.
A quick check of my qi reserves tells me I was off in my early estimations. I forgot to consider how much it takes to heal microtears after the workout. As I shower off the sweat, I hope that two hundred and eight drops of qi will be enough for a dungeon run tonight. After I complete the excruciating workout—that Mur didn’t have any trouble with—I check if we receive more bitcoins from Mur’s exercises before choosing the physical points. Strangely, we did receive extra bitcoins, but only fifteen. Mine said twenty, right? I stop to replay the workout in my mind. Each exercise was set up with weight added, and I double checked to make sure the screen was green. Yet, did Mur actually struggle with a single one?
To claim the goblin struggled at all is hard. I struggled and used qi often to try and even keep up with him. And yet, there were a few exercises that he performed at a slightly slower rate. If the difficulty of the quest scales per individual, and Mur is a physical beast, then I likely need to ensure his weights are higher than mine in the future. I smile to myself; maybe I will see him actually struggle—like me—in a workout!
A quick [Identify] confirms my thought.
Goblin
Rank: F-8
Mur is growing stronger and has grown by two minor ranks. I wonder what will happen when he advances to the E-rankings. Still, thanks to the new warm-up quest and the cooldown one, we have a total of twenty-eight bitcoins.
I stop at the mirror and smile at my changes. Speed went up on its own! Too bad I missed the breakthrough moment. Those feel really amazing. . .
*Status*
Overall rank: F-2
Free points: 4
Free Physical points: 4
Free Mind points: 0
Status Effects: Chef’s Physical Boost [Green] (29 Hours remaining), Well Fed (21 Hours remaining), Fetid Odor [Yellow] (35 Hours remaining), Training Room [Purple]
Total Bitcoins – 28
Physical Stats – Chef’s Physical Boost +1 [Green]
Strength – F-2 {1 / 10}
Speed – F-2 {2 / 10}
Endurance – F-2 {8 / 10}
Mind Stats
Capacity – F-1 {5 / 10}
Synapse – F-2 {5 / 10}
Recovery – F-1 {4 / 10}
Spells & Skills:
Gartusk Language – F-4
Iron Muscles – F-3
Jade Bones – F-3
Sea of Qi Size – F-5
Current Fill: 15 / 15
I place two points into Endurance and increase it to the third minor F rank. If you include the status effect, all of my physical stats are now at F-3, or above, and I can feel my body buzzing with energy. I’m not talking about the Sun qi, either. It’s only been a few days, but I am truly beginning to gain strength. Soon I won’t be the easy prey that Ride or Die thinks I am. Maybe I will even revisit the Adventurer’s Guild again if this continues.
Back in the kitchen, I contemplate my best option for food choices. We lost four flasks of soup yesterday, which leaves us with ten in the subspace, and I open the fridge to find the three flasks still there but empty. Great, Mur ate half the Leporid and drank the three portions of soup. I smile despite the inconvenience. If Mur gets stronger, we get stronger.
“Sire, are you planning on making the same soup again?” Crash asks dejectedly from the other side of the island, where he sits beside Mur.
*Small Kitchen App [Green]*
Please choose a recipe to initiate a daily quest.
●Gallus Breast with Broccoli and Rice [Gray](3 bitcoins)
●Rodentia Stew with Carrots and Potatoes [Gray](3 bitcoins)
●Leporid Haunch with a Red Wine Demi-Glace. [Green](6 bitcoins)
●Mushroom Rodentia Hock Soup [Green](8 bitcoins)
●Stewed Chunkalunk with Gravy [Green](10 bitcoins)
●Chunk-a-Lunk Shepherd’s Pie [Blue] (18 bitcoins)
I ignore Crash and review the list. The final option of the D-rank food is extremely appealing, as it always has been. Still, I can’t justify spending the bitcoins. So today I make Stewed Chunkalunk with Gravy. It’s only slightly more expensive and can be a special treat to celebrate both Mur’s and my rank-ups. Once I make the selection, Crash blinks into the space right beside me.
“Excellent choice, sire. Allow us to assist you with the preparation,” Crash says as it claps noiseless hands in delight. I roll my eyes and look back at Mur, amending an earlier thought. The way to keep both of my teammates happy is food.
The cooking of the meal is surprisingly simple, especially with Crash’s eager help. Today I look at the rewards. The option of the two free points
every second day is still very appealing, but I waffle. The improvements I have seen in my physical stats all started thanks to this quest’s status boost. Would choosing the mind boost prove as valuable? I put off making the selection as I sit down to eat.
“Mur like best,” the goblin growl-barks around a full mouth of the stew. Seeing how much he ate earlier, I tilt my head, attempting to find where he stores the stuff.
“Master, what did Mur say?” Crash appears right behind the goblin. I take a mouthful of stew and groan in pleasure myself. “Please, sire, what flavors stand out to you most? Is the meat gamy or melt-in-your-mouth tender? Do the smells of the food overpower your Fetid Odor?” Crash shoots questions at me until his last one receives a glare.
“Mur, blue-man want food taste again!” I bark in Gartuski as I take another bite and moan in pleasure. The sound is completely unnecessary and quite a bit of acting, but to watch Crash frown at me makes it worth it.
Mur elegantly describes the food while looking at Crash. “Blue-man, meat taste full of life. Flavor good, easy chew. Smells good. First flavor is of fat-drip, big taste.”
Crash stares at Mur and then back at me with his mouth open. “What did he say, Master?”
I smile and take another spoonful and groan. At least Crash is calling Mur him and by his name now. Crash narrows his eyes at me before moving to sit beside Mur. The AI manages to coax a few English words out of Mur, and I chuckle, enjoying that Crash is finally coming around. . .
After my meal, I again choose the free points, not wanting to change up what’s working. Not yet, at least.
Chapter 33
September 3rd, 151 AR
Jeff Turle
The first Leporid from the dungeon lies dead at my feet. Mur stands on the opposite side of the corpse with his arming sword bloody and hanging at his side. After my success from the night before, Mur chose to accept a new tactic and weapon. It wasn’t an easy discussion, and I don’t want to think about the lengthy back and forth, but since the arming sword isn’t worth the mithril it contains, Mur gave it a better home.
Still, with minimal effort, or qi expenditure for that matter, this Leporid was bled out. My spear is actually the less effective of the two against these monsters now. I think I will try a weapon change myself in the future. The only problem is, I like the reach of the spear. I store the Leporid in my subspace with a shrug. Still, I am definitely a complete amateur at wielding weapons and just hope a new one won’t find me sticking myself with the sharp end.
“That cover Mur’s gluttony,” I bark at Mur while indicating the spot the corpse was. After a short pause, I ask, “Should tribe try farther?”
“If Mur eat another, Mur gain Ancestral Spirit rank. Tribe go deeper and slay enemy!” he concludes in a muted cry to arms. At least, he wasn’t stupid enough to shout it. In fact, since our strategy talk, he seems to be a bit more thoughtful in terms of combat.
I nod, and both of us move toward the Leporid dungeon entrance. I study Mur as we walk. He seems to understand more of my and Crash’s conversations. So just like our strategy talk, his improvement in English is becoming more noticeable. Perhaps a talk on economics might help him understand the cost of his appetite? I shake my head, dismissing the tangent as we slide into the dungeon.
The hallway we’ve struggled to move beyond on previous nights is now empty, and we follow the glowing roots deeper. As we continue, tubers descend out of the earth and these also glow, adding more light to the muted darkness. It takes me about fifteen meters before I realize that the path is sloping down deeper into the earth.
“Mur know about dungeon?” I ask as I stop walking and look back. The goblin shrugs and follows my gaze.
“Little. Why?”
“Could Leporid appear behind?” I ask while indicating the area we have found a Leporid each night. Mur shakes his head adamantly.
“No, all goblin come out portal. New portal not create-keep goblin outside. Over time, Chief collect summon-point. Boss send goblin out portal using summon-point. If goblin die, point return to Chief. Boss make new goblin. Come out portal.”
His confidence in his answer immediately calms my nerves, and I resume walking. Part of me wonders how many people know this information. It is odd to see it from the other side of the equation. There is also an issue that pricks my mind like a thorn. How is Mur still here if his portal is gone?
Everyone knows that once a boss is dead, its dungeon portal closes, and slowly, the landscape changes created by the monster go back to normal. Still, a dungeon portal can close, but monsters already outside of it can stay? If these summoning points create a creature that ranks up outside of the dungeon, and then they die, do more of the points return? Finally, where exactly does a new minion come from? I voice my concerns to Mur in the best way I can, still missing many small nuances in the Gartuski language. In response, he shrugs.
“Mur not boss. Mur come out portal with all tribe—hear boss in head. Mur not remember time before portal. . .”
The look on his face goes blank, and I tap his shoulder to bring him back to the present. I am not sure where he just went, but I figure it’s probably best not to remind him that he is a newborn, created from a power neither of us can hope to understand.
We continue our walk deeper, and thanks to the glowing tubers, I realize the tunnel is widening out. The slope of the tunnel also begins to level and, before long, takes a ninety-degree turn straight up. By this point, the tunnel is wide enough to fit four or five Leporids, shoulder to shoulder, and I feel much more comfortable facing the brutes here than nearer the entrance.
Making an upward motion, I begin climbing the roots that jut from the wall. At the top, I can just see a hint of soft blue light. The color lets me know that, at the top of this wall, there is a dungeon portal. I expect that there may be a few other Leporids above as well, but I still have one hundred and ninety-six drops of liquid that are spurring me onward, giving me confidence in advancing deeper tonight than we have in the past.
I peek my head over the lip and survey the warren. That’s the only word I can use to describe the circular hollow space I see. We’re technically on the edge of the round room, in a pathway that connects to it but isn’t part of it. The glowing roots and vertical portal hovering in the center of the space illuminate something I would call a nest if I didn’t know new monsters come out of the portal, thanks to Mur. The amount of fur against the walls creates an illusion of being inside some sort of coiling hairy beast. From furry wall to wall, the space is twenty feet with the portal smack dab in the middle, and two Leporids hop around the hovering blue disc halfway between the monsters and the walls.
Glancing back to Mur, I hold up two fingers and receive a squinty look from the goblin. Okay, hand gestures in combat will be a conversation to have later. Can we take on two rabbits at once? Probably not. Our best bet is to surprise attack one of the two so we can bleed the other one like we did outside. Should we take the risk? Two more Leporids would go a long way if sold to the shop. . .
They are spread out enough that it should work. I begin a mental countdown, waiting until one of the Leporids passes by the shaft’s exit and then spring up into the room.
Mur follows just a split second behind. Together we attempt a surprise attack on the Leporid hopping away. I infuse my legs and arms with a few drops of qi and sprint after the slowly moving rabbit as it presents its back. I can hear the soil grinding under my feet and Mur’s feet doing the same right behind me.
The roof here is at least ten feet high, and I leap upward, adding gravity to my attack. The Leporid begins turning, likely hearing our approach, as I bring the point of the spear down in a blur of speed.
The point plunges deep into the back of the giant rabbit’s neck, and I feel the beast go slack under me. It slowly crumples to the ground, and I glance over to find Mur’s sword severing the spinal column. I try to summon the beast into my subspace but it fails. A few muscle spasms occur in its final throes of life an
d it goes still again.
I try again and the corpse vanishes. I hear an ominous clink. My spear is about four inches shorter, and I can tell the point came off the staff’s end. A glance tells me Mur’s weapon is thankfully still whole. It looks like Mur will need to take the lead—
An angry squeak reveals that the final Leporid has seen us. I spin on a heel and find a charging Leporid still ten feet from us but cutting near the portal to close in.
“Dodge and bleed,” I call in Gartuski. He is going to be far more effective than I am with my broken spear. Not that he wasn’t already. . .
I tuck into a roll, and manage to get my feet back under me about two steps from the wall. Without setting my feet for a blow, I attempt to thrust out the broken point of the shaft in the path of the Leporid. Mur was much better with his dodge and begins a strike just before he vanishes as the streak of brown fur passes by. He reappears after the monster speeds by. My spear missed entirely. Instead of sliding to a stop, the Leporid jumps onto the fur walls three feet from me and leaps off right back toward Mur.
“Mur, watch out!” I shout in English—forgetting Gartuski in my panic.
Mur leaps back, moving toward the central portal, while simultaneously raising his sword for another strike. I turn and lunge in, bringing myself nearer to where we killed the first Leporid. My ‘spear’ connects as the pressure on my hands, wrists, and arms increases in jerking, skittering bursts. A large open wound in the beast’s side from Mur is obvious as it flashes by again.