by R K Billiau
All together at the top, we watched as the globs tried- and failed- to make it up the ramp. Every time they tried, they couldn’t get past the first few tiles before they lost traction and slid back down.
We caught our breath there for a few moments, letting all the debuffs fade away. Carl set down the orb and nodded toward it. “Are we going to have to do that for each one of these things?” he asked.
I sighed, watching as the globs continued to throw themselves at the ramp below, only to slide back down again time after time.
“Probably,” I said.
Chapter 23
Carl picked up the red orb and walk over to one of the podiums. He lifted it to the top and was about to set it in when Madison shouted. “Wait! Don’t do that!” He jerked to a stop, with a puzzled look on his face.
“Why not?” he asked with his hands and orb hovering over the pedestal. “I thought we were trying to solve this puzzle?”
“We are, but right now it’s calm. Those buggers can’t get up here, and we’re safe for a moment. If you put that thing on the pedestal who knows what will happen? Maybe it gives them wings, or makes stairs, or blasts us off the top here. Let’s just... not, for a moment, okay?”
Carl didn’t argue and he moved the orb away from the pedestal, setting it down gently on the ground just in front of it and copping a squat.
“So what now?” he asked.
“Well, we have to get the other orbs,” I said, “but the question is, do we fight these things or just try to rush it?”
Madison rubbed her chin. “They are pretty slow, so maybe rushing is a good option. We don’t want to die anymore and risk failing the whole dungeon.”
“If we fight however, we could raise our skills,” Kai, ever the pragmatist, said.
“Screw that,” Carl said. “I don’t want to fight those things. Didn’t you get burned like I did? That crap hurts!”
I lifted my arm in the air, my poor leather sleeve barely hanging in there. “I did. It burnt the hell out of me. But the thing you have to realize is, pain is a part of the game. This world literally goes by the ‘no pain, no gain’ rule. The difference is you can learn skills to help with the pain. Do you have the Toughness skill?” I felt silly asking. One look at the guy and Toughness was the last skill you’d think he’d have.
Carl paused a moment, his face shifting through some emotions that I couldn’t discern, moving into the blank stare of focusing on something we couldn’t see. “No... what’s that?” he asked.
“It’s a skill that reduces the Pain debuff,” I said. “There are probably plenty of other skills you could learn that could do something similar. Sure, you can’t level them very high if they aren’t class skills, but if you were desperate, you could swap out a Personal or Secondary skill to help you out.”
I waited for him to respond, but he didn’t.
“You have to come to terms with the fact that this is our life now. Stuff like fighting weird slime monsters, or running through a hallway of traps-”
“Or starving in a forest desert,” Madison added.
I pointed at her. “Or that. All this stuff is just part of what our lives are like now and we have to learn to live with it and find ways to overcome it.” I sighed deeply and laid back, resting my head on the palms of my hands crossed behind it, staring at the ceiling. “Believe me, you aren’t the only one who suffered by coming here. I was pissed that I got selected to ‘ease the burden on the planet’ by being uploaded. When I got to that starter island, I wanted nothing to do with this world. But eventually I accepted it and found that acceptance is the key to staying sane. Otherwise you end up like other people we’ve met: defined by your misery.”
Congratulations! You have increased your Projection attribute!
Madison came and sat by me on the floor. “The game doesn’t care if we don’t like it,” she added. “It’s going to throw at us whatever it throws at us. May as well learn how to best overcome it.”
I smiled at her. “Besides, it’s not all bad. I’ve met some pretty cool people I wouldn’t have if they hadn’t forced me here.” I winked at Madison and she grabbed my hand, squeezing it gently. I tried super hard to not smile like a big, cheesy fool.
Carl just stared at us, his eyes unblinking and his mouth opened slightly. “Wow. Okay, well, I, uh. I don’t really know what to say.”
“Say nothing, do more. Act in a way to better yourself. The game recognizes what you want to do, and will help you achieve those things,” Kai said.
“Intention is everything,” Madison said.
“Is that how you guys stay so positive?” Carl asked, the tone of his voice sounding like he was genuinely interested. “You live like this is a game?”
“It is a game,” I said, “it just also happens to be our life now.”
Carl closed his mouth, opened it, then closed it again, his eyebrows scrunched down in thought.
“Okay. I guess what you’re saying kinda makes sense. So how would I do things to get skills like this Toughness or whatever, that you’re talking about.”
“That’s the fun part,” Kai said. “You have to actively be pursuing your goal. If your goal is to become more tough, put yourself in situations where you will earn it. Intentionally aim to be tougher. Go down there and fight one of those things, get hit, get hurt, get tough.”
“Git gud,” I said, and Kai nodded at me in agreement.
Carl’s shoulders slumped as he thought about that. Madison spoke up, and even though it was obvious she didn't like him, she still offered good advice.
“It’s not that bad, really. I once spent I don’t know how long slowly suffocating in a spider cocoon, waiting to be its dinner. I don’t know if the game eases our memories of these kinds of things or what, but even though I remember it, it’s only up here,” she tapped the side of her head, “not here,” she tapped her chest. “Think about it yourself. Think about the Burn debuff you just had, sure you can remember having it, but can you really remember the pain of it?”
“You know,” I said, sitting back up, “I think you have a point, Mads, I bet-”
“Mads?” she said with a tilt to her head and a raised eyebrow. “Let’s not go there.”
“Er, sorry,” I said, “but I bet you’re right. I bet the game eases our memories of all this crap, a little dose of sensory amnesia, otherwise we would all have PTSD like a mother, just from the death trap alone.”
“That does make sense,” Kai said.
Carl was following our conversation, his head bouncing in each of our directions. “I... I guess I could try to be more, uh...”
“Intentional,” Kai said.
“Intentional,” Carl agreed, “with what I do. I don’t know. I’m not this kind of guy. I’ve never been adventurous or brave or… tough. I was plenty satisfied with a mediocre, status quo kind of life. This is just a lot for me.” He paused, as if lost in thought, then looked up at us. “Look, I’m sorry if I was kind of an ass. If what you guys are saying is true, then I’ve got a lot to learn. I’m sorry.”
I stood up and reached my hand out to him. “Come on, let’s experiment, huh? Try to get some new skills, what do you say?”
“So we are fighting then?” Kai asked.
“We’re fighting,” I said.
“We can always come back up here if things get too... hot...” Madison said. I groaned.
“Do you have a skill for terrible, untimely puns?” I asked.
Chapter 24
We spent a few minutes figuring out how we were going to cheese this fight so we could maximize skill gains. Our plan was to set up the formation on the incline the globs couldn’t climb with Madison in point so she could capitalize on using her shield, and with Carl and me on the sides so Carl could learn to use his dagger and I could hit them with the red light spectrum of my baculus stick.
Madison targeted one of the four red globs and attacked it straight away to gather up the aggro, while Kai ran down and struck the other three so t
hey would follow him. His plan was to dodge-tank as much as possible while kiting the remaining three globs to keep their aggro on him. It was a decent plan considering how slow they were. The only problem was that every time Kai hit one, he had a chance of getting the Burn debuff. It made him cranky as his armor was slowly reduced to practically nothing. Again.
While he played tag with the globs, the rest of us were working well together as a team, and dare I say Carl seemed to be enjoying himself now that we were employing some tactics. It wasn’t long before we burned down the HP of the glob and we had to duck behind Madison as the thing expanded like an overfilled balloon, exploding its sticky hot goo all over everything. We were extra thankful for the shield, as it took most of the spattering.
We pulled back, all of us moving up the ramp to take a break and rest.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Carl said.
“Right?” I asked, “Did you get the Dagger skill yet?”
“Nope, not yet, is it supposed to happen that fast?”
“It can,” I said, “but not always. Kai, can you give him some pointers, maybe that will help speed it up a little.” Kai nodded and took Carl off to the side to show him how to properly hold and use the dagger.
I looked over at Madison and smiled at her, the bangs of her hair obscuring one side of her face.
“What about you, did you get the Shield Use skill yet?” I moved the hair behind her ear, my fingertips brushing her cheek. I swear I could feel electricity coming off her, but then it might have just been me.
“Not yet, but I think I’m getting the hang of it. This shield is damn heavy and I have gotten a couple strength increases since I started using it.” She chuckled, and the sound made me grin.
“Do you think we should rotate out using the weapons and shield and whatnot so everyone can learn the skills? You know, kinda like we did in the cave with the old tribe. Make us more effective,” I said.
Madison paused, a contemplative look on her face. She leaned in and my heart started racing, thinking she was going to kiss me. She looked serious and her lips were so close. But they didn’t press against mine, instead she moved them close to my ear and whispered. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I don’t trust Carl. He seems selfish, and kinda gross. I don’t know if he would even give back any of the tools we share,” she said.
I almost didn’t register her words because of the closeness of her and the warmth of her breath on my skin. “Uh, yeah, that’s, uh, a fair point,” I said. “Maybe we can just teach everything we can without swapping gear.”
“Hey you two! Get a room!” Carl shouted as he sauntered back to us. Kai smirked and I felt a blush rise again. This dungeon was interesting and some of it even fun. But it would be nice to have a little space sometime.
“You ready to go again?” Carl asked. “I think I can get it now.”
“Let’s do it,” I said. “You sure seem eager.”
Carl nodded, his mouth set in a line of determination. “I’ve been thinking about what you guys said. I really have been going about this the wrong way, worrying so much about getting hurt or the fear of combat. When I think back to that last fight, I just remember it being… I don’t know… fun? It’s like you said, I can remember that I was on fire, or that I had been hurt, but only objectively. I think if I want to be like you guys in this world, seeming so… able… I should dive right in just like you have.”
“That’s wonderful to hear!” Madison said. “This is a game world, it’s supposed to be fun!”
“Right,” Carl said. “I think I just needed some time to get to that mindset.”
“Shall we continue then?” Kai asked. “Same routine as before? I was able to raise my Dodge skill up a couple points, but I would like to end these things quickly. I don’t really care to burn the rest of my armor away.”
“That reminds me,” I said. “I have a skill called Center that can help with the Panic debuff. I figure you guys should try to learn it too.” I told them how I got the skill and we took our positions and repeated our training exercise.
We fought the red globs, Carl trying hard to use what Kai had shown him. “Yes!” he shouted, after he scored a hit. “I learned the Dagger skill! All the way to level 10 because of some skill you have Hudson? That’s awesome! How come you didn’t say anything about that?”
“I wanted it to be a surprise,” I said. “I knew you would get the Dagger skill soon enough and now you have it maxxed out even.” I smiled at him and raised my fist for a fist bump, he obliged with a small laugh.
“Well, that’s helpful. How did you get that skill?” he asked.
“It’s kind of a long story, I’ll have to tell you when we get to a safe spot.” I hedged, not sure if I wanted to tell him about my job with the Adjudicator and all that just yet. Or maybe even ever.
After Madison blocked a particularly hard hit with the shield, she shouted, startling me. I looked at her health and she was fine, so I breathed a sigh of relief as I read the system message indicating my increase in Audeo.
“I learned Shield Use!” She pumped her fist in the air.
“Nice!”
After we killed the glob we decided to switch things up, since there were only two left. We all moved down the ramp and fought, taking our time and giving everyone who hadn’t learned them the chance to pick up some Dodge skills, and I got another increase to Audeo. The rest of the team were able to pick up the Center skill as well.
Carl was able to open a few slashes on the creatures, and since they couldn’t heal themselves, they would slowly bleed out, their health dropping steadily. When they died after this, they didn’t even explode as violently. It was nice to work as a team.
By the end of battle, all of us not in indestructible armor were back in our system provided undies again. I could tell it was going to be important to have good armor smiths in this world or carry around multiple sets of armor. It reminded me about a book series I had read once where the characters all had tons of inventory space and just swapped out gear mid-fight like it was a combat tactic. I was thankful that the underwear was not only immortal but also seemed to maintain a nice, clean appearance. Can’t imagine what they’d look like if they weren’t virtual.
Our Spirits were high after we finished off the last red glob and took a break to decide which path to go down next. We went with the yellow glob room, since we had already killed one of the globs. We decided Carl would run in and slash the globs, pissing them off with bleeding wounds and drawing them out of the room. Once he made it back to the ramp, Kai would run in and grab the orb, and we would repeat our antics of kiting and cheesing the yellow globs.
With our plan in place, I gave Kai the baculus so he could use yellow light, and he and Carl headed to the tunnel leading to the blue room. Madison and I waited, watching the tunnel entrance for Carl. We were also keeping an eye on his health bar in the group window. With the yellow globs inflicting a Poison debuff, we were being cautious. Carl made it out of the room though, with his health still full and a gang of yellow globs behind him. He had really taken to combat since we had our talk.
After only a few seconds we saw the tunnel light up yellow with Kai running out soon after, glowing yellow orb in hand. As soon as the yellow light started filling the room, the yellow globs lost all interest in Carl and started glorping after Kai and the orb.
Everywhere the globs went they left trails of floating yellow gas that stunk terribly, but quickly dissipated. We did our best to avoid this, but it was inevitable. The gas gave another Poison debuff, and the smell was so bad it made us retch.
Kai was fast and made it to the ramp before any of the globs could get him, rushing up and setting the yellow orb next to the red one on the ground. The light eManating off the two orbs merged, and we were bathed in orange light.
We performed our kiting actions on this group and had a much easier time defeating them than we did the red globs. For one thing, these didn’t inflict a panic-inducing debuff, merely a
poison that just fleeing and a quick rest cured. Carl finally picked up the Toughness skill after a pseudopod to the face.
“I think my skills have leveled beyond what these enemies can provide me with,” Kai said. “I did not gain a single point in anything in that last fight.”
“Yeah, I think my skills are leveling off also,” Madison said. “Hopefully this dungeon will be over soon.”
Carl flipped his dagger in the air, catching it by the handle. “I can’t wait until I can figure out how to change my skills around,” he said. “I really want to be able to level up some of the things I’ve gained in here beyond 10.”
“I’m pretty sure you have to be in a safe place to play with skills,” I said. “So as soon as we get out of this place and back to the village, we should be able to do all of that.”
“Let’s go get the next globs then, shall we?” Carl asked. One battle in and the guy is ready and raring to go.
“Hold up,” I said. “I kinda want to check out the rooms and see if there are any secrets. When I went through the starter zone, I got a completion percentage, I wonder if we can get one here too. We should check out those rooms before we take on the last globs in case getting the orb triggers some kind of change.”
We ran to the red room first, but when we got there I pulled up suddenly, causing the rest of the group to bump into me. “Look!”
There were four red globs doing their red globby things in the room that we had left empty of all globs. Another pink bubble was slowly forming on the small bit of exposed pedestal that otherwise was sunken in the ground. I watched as the thing grew larger and larger, filling in with redness, and soon there was a new glob nearly formed on the pedestal.
“Damn that is terrible,” I whispered and signaled for the group to push back out into the main room. “It looks like the globs are respawning,” I said.
“Let’s not mess with them,” Madison said, turning around and heading towards the last room. I shrugged and the rest of us followed suit.