by Konrad Ryan
*Tad Harrington
Rank: Soldier
Level: 21
Health: 400/400
Mana: 42/42
Str: 10
Dex: 27
Con: 30
Mag: 21
Cou: 5
Cha: -9
Points to allocate: 16*
Tad eyed the courage and charisma stats. He hadn’t even touched them yet. The other stats were self-explanatory in what they did. But both hardly seemed useful. In fact, he didn’t understand what they did, except courage helped tanks like Gruff somehow. It had helped him move freely during the battle with the mosquito boss. Courage at least seemed useful, but it kind of felt like a waste to increase charisma. What would that do? Help him get a girlfriend?
Actually. Maybe charisma wasn’t so bad. Although Tad would have to raise his courage a lot more before he felt like he could approach a girl, just the thought made the butterflies in his stomach go into a frenzy.
After minutes of agonizing over where to put his points, Tad would use his remaining stats to bring courage to ten and his charisma to one. There had to be more to these stats than met the eye. Low charisma had made him a target for bullies, but would high charisma really make him more magnetic or teach him social skills? Seemed unlikely.
“All right, here goes nothing.” Tad held his breath as he brought his courage to ten. The familiar ding came at eight points and again at ten points.
*You have learned the passive skill ‘Pain Resistance 2’*
*Pain affects you less.*
*You have learned the passive skill ‘Intimidation Resistance 1’*
*Bosses with less than 50 intimidation, no longer halve your stats.*
Tad let out a sigh of relief. Increasing courage was definitely the right move. ‘Pain resistance 2’ seemed like a luxury. He’d almost gotten used to the pain. How much would it lessen?
Intimidation resistance seemed invaluable. It was the real winner from upgrading his courage. How could you fight a boss with your stats halved? It was crazy dangerous. No wonder Gruff’s spell ‘coat of courage’ had let Tad breathe again during the mosquito boss fight. Hopefully, it was enough for the dungeon boss.
Last but not least, Tad brought his charisma up ten points. Finally, as his charisma went positive, the electronic ding rang out.
*You have learned basic social skills!*
*You are aware of basic social faux pas!*
Tad blinked. Charisma was worthless after all. He wanted to be excited, but… it didn’t seem like it would be useful in combat. But wait… what was this sensation?
Embarrassment grew in Tad’s cheeks as several events flashed before his eyes. Voices in his mind’s eye replayed events. ‘Nice bike, is it your mom’s?’ ‘Thanks. Yeah, it’s my mom’s bike.’ Had been his reply. Tad wanted to crawl under a rock. What on earth was this! That had been an inappropriate response! Scar had been making fun of him, not complimenting him! What had he been thinking? Why had he thought it was all right to ride his mom’s bike to a man-eating dungeon wearing only bloodied, torn sweatpants and a ragged t-shirt? He hadn’t even brought any equipment! Why had they even brought him along! It made no sense! He was a civilian. No skills, no power, showing up on his mom’s bike, already bleeding from a few tumbles. No wonder Scar hated him. Tad kind of hated himself. What a terrible first impression!
Another image flashed through Tad’s mind.
Jean shorts. Tad had been wearing jean shorts when he had a meeting with the Regional Director of the Department of Dungeon Defense. Not the kind you can buy, no. Tad had cut a pair of old jeans because they were too hot. Halfway up his thigh! With strings hanging out all over the place. Tad suddenly wanted to crawl back inside the roach. All the weird looks, all the socially awkward stuff he’d done in his entire life suddenly made sense. The bullies hadn’t bullied him because he had some mysterious aura. They had done it because he was friggin’ weird! Not that it made the bullying right, but Tad’s low charisma, his lack of understanding, had totally sabotaged his entire childhood!
Tad glared at his stats.
*Tad Harrington
Rank: Soldier
Level: 21
Health: 400/400
Mana: 42/42
Str: 10
Dex: 27
Con: 30
Mag: 21
Cou: 10
Cha: 1
Points to allocate: 1*
His embarrassment turned to annoyance. Annoyance that he hadn’t known these things before. That he struggled his entire life over something he couldn’t control, something that came so naturally to most people. Tad’s glare swept across the cavern. His gaze settled on the roaches, still in a feeding frenzy. Tad put his last point into dexterity. His body felt slightly lighter. Sleeker. A tight-lipped smile grew on his face.
At least he had something on which he could take out his annoyance.
With barely a thought, the obsidian dagger materialized in his hand.
Chapter 23
The last roach collapsed to the ground. Without the queen roach’s buff, they were easy to dispatch. Too easy. Hunting them hadn’t even been satisfying, but the dungeon was now free of roaches. At least behind Tad’s party. He knew the rockfang was still inside the pile of husks, but he didn’t want to bother it. He kind of liked the weird pet rock monster. He’d only leveled up once more, despite killing all the roaches in the dungeon. There hadn’t been too many stragglers, not near enough to kill the strange annoyance he felt. Most of the roaches had moved into the largest cavern where the queen had been. Where they waged their war.
Monster essence still glittered in the cavern from Tad’s first battle. Including the roaches that perished in his firewall. There might be fifty just there. Tad pulled out Raekast’s Fang and examined the properties again.
*Absorb 100 monster essence to unlock active skill.*
Tad approached a small golden roach essence. It floated in the air as the roach skittered above its corpse. About the size of Tad’s thumb, it almost looked like a regular roach, except for the glowing golden color. Something nagged at Tad. Something about the roach was wrong… different.
Its pincers. The glowing golden roach had no metal pincers. Just like the queen. The corpse below, however, was a metalroach. Iron pincers dully gleamed in the lightsphere’s light that floated over Tad’s right shoulder. This was a metalroach. Why was it different in death? It seemed odd. Tad reached out and tried to touch the golden critter. His hand passed directly through it. He felt nothing. The roach didn’t react either.
“All right, how about this?” Tad held his breath as he stabbed the tiny roach with the obsidian dagger. A piercing shriek of pain and anguish filled his entire head as the golden glow of the roach sucked into the dagger. Tad jumped back from the sudden sound, ready for battle. What remained made Tad’s skin crawl. An inky black miniature roach floated upward through the cavern, no longer attached to its fallen corpse. Tad couldn’t believe his eyes as the dead roach slipped through the cavern ceiling as if it weren’t even there.
Titanspawn! Tad’s dagger had turned the monster essence into titanspawn. The same creatures that poured out of Titan in billions every second. The same creatures that choked the world and clogged the skies. Mankind’s greatest threat were monsters defeated in dungeons. Did essence turn into titanspawn when crafters used them? What about dungeon pouches, or Gerald’s dungeon car? Had those consumed essence and made titanspawn in the process? Did the world know about this? Did they knowingly use the power of monster essence while creating titanspawn?
Maybe it wasn’t an enormous compromise. The creator rank slayers could destroy the bug-like creatures. If they closed Titan, humankind would never use enough essence to cloud their own skies. They could clean it up. As long as they had creators.
But what did this say about titanspawn itself? Had Tad just released that titanspawn out on earth? If so, where had the other ones come from? The ones that trickled from the top of the du
ngeon before Tad entered? Tad thought answers were supposed to clarify the picture. Now that he knew the origin of titanspawn, he only had more questions than before.
Tad eyed the notification that floated above his dagger.
*Absorb 99 monster essence to unlock active skill.*
Didn’t his party members sell these spirits? Wasn’t that how everyone made their money? Tad felt a little guilty. It felt like he’d stolen from his friends. Even if he killed a lot of them on his own, there was a signed contractual agreement that all monster essence would be sold, profits divided. What to do?
Tad wanted to see what an unlocked Raekast’s Fang could do. What kind of active ability would be unlocked? What if… he alternated, one for him, one for his party? It didn’t seem fair to the rest of his group, especially since it was hard to tell which ones his party killed and which ones he killed. He’d killed hundreds by himself. That had to count for something.
Not to mention that any strength Tad received would directly help the group in the boss fight. Especially with the current state of their group, they needed all the help they could get. He was doing them a service by absorbing essences. Right?
Tad decided. It was for the greater good. Raekast’s Fang would eat its fill. Tad went from essence to essence. Each shrieked in pain, golden glow and glory absorbed into the blade, leaving only an empty black husk that floated through the cavern roof shortly after.
Next to one dead roach, Tad found his missing silver dagger. The one he’d left behind with the rockfang. It felt good to have one in each hand. Tad lost the other inside the queen roach’s mouth. He wasn’t sure what to do with his empty hand in combat without it. He felt naked, in fact.
Tad went from cavern to cavern as he absorbed monster essence. He took turns. One essence for Raekast’s Fang, one essence for the soul lantern he’d taken from the dead mage slayer. Finally, a dark musical chime played inside his head. The dagger in his hand glowed red. Across the surface of the blade, a pattern etched from the tip of the blade and across both edges of the weapon - almost as if an invisible laser carved the pattern. Tad took the blade in both hands. Teeth. Teeth etched along the entire length of the outer edge of the blade. It looked like bared teeth. Like a lion, fangs bared, about to bite. Along with the pattern, text floated above the blade.
*Well done. You have unlocked the active skill: Raekast’s Bite.*
* * *
“Kid, you look… stronger. We were just about to send Bunta back after you.” Gruff looked relieved.
“Sorry for sneaking off, I had some unfinished business. With these.” Tad grinned as he pulled out the golden soul lantern. Hundreds of tiny golden roaches crawled in every direction in the center of the glass-like chamber. A large roach queen wriggled among them. Something glowed in the corner of his vision.
The soul lantern tumbled to the ground below as Tad’s hands opened reflexively. Gruff dove and caught the lantern just before it smashed into the ground.
“Careful, this is fragile! How did you get so many?” Gruff said.
Tad didn’t answer. He stared at the corpses of the possessed slayers they had killed. Above their bodies, miniature golden humans walked back and forth. Tad had seen these hundreds of times. Monster essence. The golden human essence paced back and forth.
“Does that lantern absorb human souls too?” Tad almost couldn’t find the words to ask the question.
“What? No. What would make you think that?” Gruff said. The man glanced toward the bodies, where Tad’s stare was still fixed.
Why could Tad see human essence? No… that was the wrong question. Why couldn’t Gruff see the human essence? Tad watched Gruff’s face closely as his gaze passed over the corpses of the humans. No reaction. If Gruff couldn’t see the golden human spirits, then why did Tad, what was different? Ice chilled Tad’s blood at the sudden realization. If you couldn’t absorb humans with the lantern, then it could only be his dagger. Raekast’s Fang could feed on human souls. Tad’s stomach churned.
But why hadn’t he seen them before? He already had the dagger before he went back to kill roaches, but he hadn’t been able to see the human essence. Was it because he’d identified the dagger?
“What’s wrong with you? You look sick.”
“It’s nothing. I’m just tired from all the fighting.”
Gruff didn’t look convinced, but he nodded all the same. Scar, however, didn’t seem to accept this excuse. As usual he looked like he was about to explode.
“You owe us some explanations. When you showed up to us in front of that first dungeon I could have killed you without a second thought. Now… I think you could take on any of us, except maybe Bunta. What is going on?”
Even Gruff and Bunta’s faces looked at him curiously. It was clear they were all dying for an answer that made sense.
Flashes of the poison-induced spectres popped through his head. His stomach clenched even further. He had admitted to the spectres he was voidboy, and they had spoken his worst fears. Tad was nothing. He would always be nothing. Tad almost couldn’t find his tongue, but courage swelled. Suddenly his fears seemed silly. Why had this been such a big deal?
“I’m voidboy.” Tad’s voice was calm. “Well, I was. If you saw the news at all on the day that Brad the creator was reborn, then you may have heard about the kid reborn with a zero power score.”
Looks of shock and surprise showed on Bunta and Scar’s faces, Gruff furrowed his eyebrows, his face turning into a scowl at the unexpected news. Tad wasn’t sure how much of the details he wanted to tell them. Would they even believe him if he told the truth that he had access to stats and menus like a video game? He wasn’t sure he even wanted that information out there. Better to keep it vague.
“But then I joined you on the first dungeon and… as we beat monsters, I got stronger. By the time we beat the boss, I was strong enough to help Bunta get out of that ice prison. I even went back, just now, to kill roaches and make sure that that’s what was happening. Sure enough, I’m stronger than before. I may have started out less than civilian rank, but I’m somewhere near middle of the pack in strength, as far as soldier goes.”
Scar’s mouth moved, but no words came out. Unexpectedly, it was Bunta who first spoke. His pleasant smile reappeared.
“I’ve never heard of anyone being able to get stronger and move between ranks like that. I’m glad you’re on our team.”
Gruff furrowed his eyebrows even farther. He seemed troubled. Tad usually couldn’t read Gruff’s emotions, but now, it was like he could see his feelings written on his face. Was that his non-negative charisma at work? After a lengthy pause, Gruff finally spoke, his voice even more hoarse than usual.
“Your abilities have been useful… and I like you, Kid, I really do. But after this dungeon, I think it’s best if we part ways… all of us.”
Gruff handed the soul lantern back to Tad. He packed his stuff and walked away from the group.
“We should get a move on, I’m suddenly sick of this dungeon.” Gruff said.
Tad froze. It made no sense. Why would Gruff want to part ways, not just with Tad, but with the rest of his friends as well? Bunta accepted him without even a moment’s hesitation. The old Tad would’ve turned and ran from this with tears in his eyes. Even now he had the urge to flee and cry, but he’d changed. Gruff was his friend. And Tad was worth something. He wasn’t worthless. He deserved a response, an answer. Tad wouldn’t let Gruff off the hook without a reason.
“Gruff… no, Brando. Wait.”
Gruff’s back stiffened at the sound of his name. Tad wasn’t sure how to navigate the conversation. He’d never confronted someone like this. His words might not be perfect, but he’d try. Somehow it was more intimidating than the queen roach fight had been.
“Why does that change anything? I’m still me and you said you liked me. Why can’t we keep raiding dungeons together? I won’t let it end like that, not without a reason.” Tad’s hands were clammy and sweaty.
; Gruff turned back toward Tad. His eyes burned like fire. Filled with guilt.
“You want the reason? Fine. The day before we met, before the slime dungeon, a man approached me and offered me cash to keep an eye on you. He told me you signed up for our dungeon, but you were just a civilian. He said that you were his nephew or something. That you wanted to experience a dungeon, that once you saw how dangerous it was you would change your mind and do something else. Stuff like that happens all the time.”
Wait, what? Tad’s stomach lurched. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but it wasn’t this! Tad’s hands trembled as Gruff continued.
“So I accepted, it was extra cash for the same amount of work. Our other fifth’s before you hadn’t been that useful, anyway. I thought you were just some civilian kid who wanted a thrill, or maybe you were just delusional.” Gruff paused for a moment. “After the dungeon though, you’d been useful. I was happy to have you along. Maybe the man was just mistaken about your power score. Wrong scores on rebirths aren’t unheard of.”
Bile filled the back of Tad’s throat as Gruff continued, his stare locked onto Tad’s. News like this would have crushed Tad before. Instead, anger filled his belly. It grew and twisted. Before, Tad had missed the nuance of human relationships. He assumed the fault to be his. He hadn’t gotten mad. Not like this.
“The man came back, paid extra for details too. This time, he said he would recommend a dungeon, said the last one must have been too easy. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said, ‘it’s still soldier difficulty so you shouldn’t have any trouble with it.’ He paid even more to take you along this time. He didn’t know we’d already planned to take you along. But, if you’re growing stronger like you said, then this is a whole different scenario. I wasn’t helping you; I was spying on you. If you’re some special slayer or something, then this could be more dangerous than what I signed up for. What I signed us up for.”