by R. A. Mejia
Cerberus
Level 14
Health 363
Mana 150
“Shit,” I say. Before I can do more, all three heads turn towards me and growl. I take a step to the left, trying to position myself to gain more room to back away. The middle of the three heads burps out a wave of fire that spans the distance between us, catching me in an intense wave of heat. I feel the exposed areas of my skin burn, and a red 20 floats away from me. In the corner of my vision, a small flame appears, and another red 5 floats away. I smell burning hair and realize that I’m on fire. I sense movement as I frantically slap at my hair with my free hand and then see the monstrous three-headed dog charging towards me. I don’t have time to dodge, so I quickly activate Shadow Step. I feel a terrible pain in my leg as the world turns grey, and the creature’s movement slows to a crawl. I realize that two of its jaws just bit into my left thigh and that the third was inches away from biting into my crotch. I shudder slightly at the sight and take a step back from the slavering monster. I realize my error as soon as I make it but force myself to stop and assess the situation.
Ignoring the pressure in my lungs, I take a long step away from the Cerberus. Having put more distance between me and my enemy, I quickly put out the fire and note that, in just those few seconds, I’ve lost 55 HP. I look around at the grey world surrounding me. The monster is currently focused on me, but looking beyond it, I see Nancy looking surprised, her rifle dropping down from her shoulder. I don’t doubt that she’ll soon have a bead on the monster and fire. But she didn’t have time to activate her Overwatch ability, and the recoil from the powerful weapon will make it hard for her to be effective this close to her target. I decide that I’ll have to keep the creature distracted to give her a chance to get set up properly.
Instead of trying to attack directly with my war hammer, I decide to test out something I’ve theorized about. I drop the war hammer into my inventory, hold both hands out towards the Cerberus, and activate Ice Needle. The familiar, thin, sharp object forms in front of my left palm, and then I activate Ice Needle again, focusing on my outstretched right palm. I am rewarded by the sight of a second frozen projectile forming. Two notifications pop up.
You’ve learned the skill Dual Cast
Dual Cast
Level 1
You can now double fist it. At a slightly higher mana cost, you are able to cast the same spell from each of your hands, doubling the output. Higher levels of the skill reduce the extra mana cost. Add 30% more to the mana cost for each dual cast spell. I.e.) If a spell normally costs 10 mana, then the dual-cast version costs 13 mana per spell. So, two of them will cost a total of 26 mana.
I’m ecstatic that my idea worked, but I also note that between the extra cost of Dual Cast and the doubled cost of casting in the shadow-verse, the experiment has eaten up more than a quarter of my available mana. With two spells prepped and my chest starting to burn, I take my third step, which shoves me back into normal space. The monster’s third jaw snaps shut on empty air a fraction of a second later, and while it is still confused, I unleash both Ice Needles. They fly directly into the side of the creature, and to my surprise, a purple 26 floats away from each impact site instead of the normal 13-15 damage.
There’s the crack of a rifle shot and the creature yelps in pain as it is shot in its hindquarters, and a red 25 floats away from the monster. The closest head instinctively snarls and bites towards the sensation in its backside. The other two heads look around for an enemy to fight, confused by the two directions that attacks are coming from. I turn quickly and dual cast two more Ice Needles. By the time one of the two heads spots me, the magical projectiles are formed. The creature lunges at me again, but the move puts it directly into the path of one of Ice Needles I’ve launched, which pierces the middle head’s snout. The other Ice Needle misses, but a purple 42 floats away from the middle head, and its eyes gloss over as it dies. The creature awkwardly stumbles around with the other two heads suddenly forced to take over the bodily functions they aren’t used to. Not wasting the advantage granted by the creature’s bewilderment, I form two more Ice Needles and launch them directly at the left head. One hits its target, but the other strikes its main body as another of Nancy’s rifle shots impacts the creature. The leftmost head drops dead, leaving the last head completely confused as its entire left side stops functioning. The final head of the dog starts to spew out a stream of fire from its mouth in all directions, desperate to burn the source of its pain and confusion. Nancy and I are caught in the edges of the flames and take fire damage and quickly retreat out of the range of the attack. The fight ends with another double cast of Ice Needle and a few more shots from Nancy’s rifle.
Your party has defeated a Cerberus, level 14. You receive 90 XP.
All told, the fight cost me most of my mana and almost half of my health. I decide to use Absorb on the creature. After all, I’ve never run across its kind before. Nancy watches as I touch the creature and the body disappears.
“Is that your Absorb ability?”
I nod, only now remembering that she’s never seen me use it up close. “Yeah, I’m trying to see if this guy will give me a good ability.” As the ability finishes, I get a notification.
Resist Fire
Level 1
If you’ve ever wanted to walk across the top of a volcano barefooted, this skill is a must. Level increases with exposure to fire damage.
Bonus: Resists 10% of fire damage.
“Oh, this is new,” I say. “It’s the first time I’ve gotten a skill from a monster, though I guess I shouldn’t be surprised they have them. After all, I’ve gotten tools and skill books as loot drops.”
“What did you get?”
“A skill called Resist Fire. It simply resists fire damage.”
“If it’s a skill, that means you can practice with it to increase its level. How are you meant to do that with fire resistance?”
“That’s a good question. I guess I’ll have to catch myself on fire or something.” The idea of needing to expose myself to fire damage in order to raise the skill level seems painful, but on the other hand, being able to ignore this kind of elemental damage could be a lifesaver. I put the thought of how to raise the skill out of my mind as I sit and consider my other new skill, Dual Cast. Turning to Nancy, I ask, “During the fight, I got another skill related to magic called ‘Dual Cast.’ Ever hear of it?”
She sits down next to me, and the rifle disappears back into her inventory. “Yeah, it’s a pretty common skill among System Users that have magic. I hear it’s pretty expensive to use, but if you raise the skill’s level enough, that cost comes down some, and it becomes a good way to double your magic damage.”
I consider Nancy’s words as I read the skill description again. From its wording, the skill lets me cast two of the same spell at a higher mana cost. It makes sense that doubling a spell would come with a greater cost, but 30% extra is a lot to spend. I pull up my character sheet and see that I still have the free 21 skill points from my last two levels just sitting there. I can’t think of another skill that I’d rather spend the points on if raising this one will reduce the extra mana cost for dual casting. I drop 20 skill points into Dual Cast, bringing it all the way up to level 6. I sigh as the hard-earned points go, but the result is that there is only an extra 20% mana cost. I pull up my character sheet to figure out exactly how many Fireballs or Ice Needles I can cast.
Anthony Tinoco
Level 12
Unspent stat points: 0
Unspent skill points: 01
XP to next level: 140,227
Health215/270
Mana71/320
TP340/370
Strength10
Dexterity 12
Constitution 15
Intelligence 20
Wisdom25
Charisma18
Credits 18,600
At 20% extra mana cost, that means dual casting two Ice Needles will cost 43 mana, and I will be ab
le to cast it a maximum of 7 times. Fireball will cost 96 mana and have a max dual cast of 3 times. In a protracted fight, I can do more damage with normal casting, but doubling my damage per second might be worth it depending on the situation. It’s not like I have to use Dual Cast--it’s just a cool new tool in my magical arsenal--and I’m satisfied with my investment of skill points.
While I rest and let my health, mana, and TP regenerate, I wonder just how I can exploit the monster-spawning feature of this lock, but decide not to chance it. Just because we lucked out and got one that was vulnerable to cold doesn’t mean that it won’t spawn something we can’t handle. I imagine it randomly spawning a dragon or something and shiver. Instead of pressing my luck, I sit and ponder what the code could be for this lock.
Turning to Nancy, I say, “Obviously, we’re meant to have found some clue as to what the code is for the door, or this dungeon would be unsolvable. After all, the chances of us randomly guessing the correct four-digit code are something like 1 in 5,040 or something. Do you have any idea what it could be?”
You’ve increased the skill Mental Math to level 8.
I laugh at the notification but am more sure than ever that I have missed something.
“The only number we’ve come across so far is the one carved into the door of that gross apartment. I think it was fifty-three. But that wasn’t a four-digit number.”
I nod, recalling the same thing about the door to that apartment. After our pools regenerate, we get back to our feet, ready to continue exploring. I decide to keep the war hammer in my inventory for now. After all, the damage from dual casting far outweighs the small amounts of damage that I can do with the war hammer, especially now that I don’t have a damage-boosting ability like Bash anymore.
Carefully examining the double doors doesn’t reveal any other information, and exploring the rest of the hallway only leads us to another locked metal door. This one doesn’t have any kind of handle. I guess that it’s not meant to be opened from this side and remember that I took that first passageway to the right instead of left to get here. Perhaps going down the other hallway will give me the information I need to unlock these doors.
We head back the way we came, and since we’re not being stealthy, the trip back only takes 5 minutes. I’m a little hesitant to open up the door to Mother Grendeline’s apartment. I tentatively touch the door handle and find it mildly warm, not hot. Opening the door, a small amount of smoke comes out of the room, but it thankfully looks like the blaze has already gone out. The apartment, however, has been completely destroyed by the fire. Everything is burnt and charred black. The carpet, once squishy to the step, is now completely gone, and the cement floor beneath is visible. The wallpaper is nothing but bits of charred film, and if not for the cement walls, the entire place looks like it would have collapsed. The once-neat bedroom, the only place that looked normal, is ruined. But as I step inside, a blue glow appears amongst the remnants of the broken dresser, and I feel the loss of mana as my All Seeing ability goes off. It takes a few minutes to move the burnt wood around, but I finally take a necklace with a heart-shaped locket from the pile. Opening the locket shows me a picture of a young boy whose face is burnt away and an inscription on the opposite side.
My beloved Billy.
I stare in wonder at the locket, confused by the specificity of the item. Is this a quest item, and I’m not realizing it? Or is it randomly generated loot? It seems too specific, especially considering the child’s room I found in the apartment. I shake my head at the things these dungeons can create before exploring and searching the rest of the apartment.
I don’t find anything in any other rooms except for more burnt furniture. In the kitchen, Nancy finds her shotgun, but the wooden grip is destroyed and the metal barrel is warped. She curses as she drops the item into her inventory, and I continue to look though the kitchen for loot. Unfortunately, I only find a loot bag from the defeated Mother Grendeline in the kitchen. Her corpse is long gone, and the bag’s contents are all junk, just melted cards, silverware, and a broken lighter. I don’t bother taking any of it since I don’t have any free space in my Inventory. Instead, we leave the apartment and retrace our steps back to that first turn off.
Chapter 27
It takes less time than I thought to get back to that first turn off, likely because there are no monsters to impede our progress this time. Once we reach the intersection, we slow down. I’m sure that there are monsters down the left path, just like there were up the right. And I’m right. There are more simple, tethered goblins and taller, lankier hobgoblins. Thankfully, we’ve already learned the trick to luring them out. This time, however, it takes half as long to mow through them since I can Dual Cast. The left path is as straightforward as the right was, and by the time we reach another red door, we’ve each earned 750 XP for our kills.
We rest long enough to fully recover our mana and health before turning the door handle and stepping through. I am blinded by a bright sun for a moment, but when my vision clears, I see that I’m standing outside on a cement sidewalk that leads through a field of dead brown grass. My brain takes a moment to process the change, and it’s strange to look behind me and see an open doorway that leads to the hallway just floating an inch off the ground with Nancy looking out at me. Once I’m assured that the door will not close on its own, I walk back through into the open sunlit area and motion for Nancy to follow.
This new place is quiet. There’s no wind and no insect or bird noises, and the only thing that I can hear is the sound of my footsteps on the cement sidewalk. And that makes me nervous. I’m not the only one that feels that way either.
After looking around for any possible enemies, Nancy gives me a nervous smile and says, “Is it me, or is this place a little too quiet for an outdoor space?” She looks up at the blue sky, and a more genuine smile reaches her lips. “Still, it’s good to be in the sun again.” She closes her eyes, obviously appreciating the feel of the sun on her skin. I understand how she feels. Even with this unsettling scene, the view and sunlight is a welcome change from the fluorescent lights and monotonous cement hallway.
After a moment to appreciate our new surroundings, we get moving. As we walk, the landscape changes slightly. There are a few leafless trees that have a sickly dark brown or black hue to their bark.
We crest a hill, and a tall brownstone building appears in the distance. It’s hard to tell just how tall it is, but I would guess that it is at least fifteen-stories high. The sidewalk leads down the other side of the hill and directly to the building. As we get closer, I notice that there are playgrounds around its base, circling it like an invading army. They are composed of metal swings, slides, climbers, and various other equipment set in white sand, and for the first time, there’s movement in this place.
Nancy notices the movement first, and she quickly kneels down and sets up her heavy rifle on its bipod so that she can look through the scope. “There are a lot of these short green creatures down there dressed in children’s clothes. I mean, I guess they could be short adults with a thing for kid’s clothes, but I doubt it.”
She looks up from the scope, a small smile on her face telling me she’s joking about that last part, and I can’t help but smile back. It feels good to smile, and I realize that I haven’t done much of it since I learned about Samantha. The reminder that I’m not here for myself but to help her settles a familiar weight of responsibility on my shoulders.
It’s fairly clear that we’re meant to head toward the building, and we do. We pick up the pace now that we have a destination, and a quick fifteen minutes later, we’re close enough to see that the building looks more like an apartment complex than an office building. Additionally, I can tell now that the children running among the playground equipment aren’t children. At least not human ones. They’re squat, green, and pretty mean looking. They’re wearing a variety of kids clothing, and their behavior is distinctly un-childlike. Nancy crouched beside me, and I creep just close e
nough to use Inspect.
Goblin Swarm
Level 16
Health 580
Young goblins are voracious eaters and are in constant competition for resources. Only the swift and viscous make it to adulthood.
As a group, they live up to their name and swarm from one piece of playground equipment to the next. The first there uses and plays with it for only seconds before being pulled down by its peers. Each green little creature is vying for just a moment on the prized plaything. Their efforts get more and more violent until someone along the edges of the mass decides to try for something different, and then the mob slowly bleeds off toward the new prize, and the whole process starts over.
I consider whether my previous plan to lure the monsters would work here, and then I wonder if I even need to. The little creatures seem rambunctious and a bit rough with each other, but they’re not hurting anyone. At least, that’s what I think until a grey-haired old woman, also green-skinned, comes out of the building, walking slowly with a bag in her hand. The swarm notices, peels off one by one, and slowly approaches her. She doesn’t seem to notice until one makes a chittering sound, which carries in the quiet. The lady turns towards the creature and pulls a heavy-looking wooden club out of her bag and bashes the small goblin with it.