Project Alpha 2

by R. A. Mejia

  The monster drops to the ground with a wet plop, and I quickly reassess just how helpless she is. The swarm seems to sense something. Maybe they smell the blood from the fight, or maybe they have some hive mind, but either way, they stop their contest for the playground equipment and turn toward the old lady almost as one. A low chittering sound starts among them. Then they slowly start to shift. The quiet noise gains volume as the group moves toward the old woman. As their mass gains momentum, so does the noise they make. Finally, they charge her, and it seems like a tidal wave coming to shore. The old woman does not try to run but stands in one place, ready to meet the mass with the club. She swings as they reach her, and several small green bodies go flying through the air, but the rest of the swarm is close behind. Despite her superior strength, she is quickly overwhelmed by the swarm and buried underneath their bodies. The swarm withdrawals after a few minutes, and the sounds lessen until they are once again silent. The green goblins return to their contest for the playground equipment. The only sign that there was ever an old woman is a few pieces of shredded clothing. Not even the bodies of their fallen swarm-mates are left behind.

  “Oh, god. They ate her,” Nancy whispers beside me. I turn from the grisly scene and see her wide-eyed, a hand to her mouth, an expression of disgust on her face.

  Crouched there, I place a hand on her shoulder and whisper, “Don’t worry. I won’t let that happen to you.”

  I must have misread her expression though because she turns to me, a raised eyebrow expressing her ire. “Don’t you worry, Anthony. I won’t let it happen to me either.” She pats her rifle as if that’s explanation enough.

  I smile to myself. Nancy has spunk alright. That’s probably why I trust her. Still, I don’t think her rifle is going to get the job done this time. There are just too many of them. I nod toward the rifle and tell her, “I don’t like our odds in a straight-up fight with the swarm.” I pull my grenade launcher from my inventory space and share the item description.

  Grenade Launcher

  Damage 2-3

  Deliver grenade up to effective firing range of 480 feet

  Ammunition types: Smoke, Fire, Ice, Electric, Corrosive, Explosive, Trap

  Grenade - Ice

  Slow creatures by 50% in a radius of 15 feet

  Her eyes widen appreciatively after reading the description, but then her brow furrows. “If you’ve had that this whole time, why have I been using up my ammo?”

  I feel myself redden a little, embarrassed. “Well, I hadn’t really planned ahead of time for this dungeon. I only have two grenades.”

  “So, fearless leader, what’s your plan if you only have the two ice grenades?”

  Feeling a little flustered, I pause to gather my thoughts and explain, “The AOE radius of the grenades is 10 feet plus 1 foot for every level in the Explosives skill I have, which means that, with a perfectly-placed Ice Grenade, I can cover up to 707 ft². That’s huge. But I doubt the swarm of goblins will oblige us by staying in perfect formations. Still, if I hit them right we can just get by without dying.”

  She shrugs. “Well, I don’t have a better plan.” She gives me a smirk. “Well, I do, but it involves using you as live bait and me making my escape. But I think that plan breaks good group etiquette.”

  I chuckle softly at the joke, but see her ready herself for the fight ahead, and I do the same. I double-check that the grenade launcher is equipped properly and loaded with my last two Ice Grenades. My war hammer is safely in my inventory, just a quick call away. If I have to use it, it’ll mean my plan’s gone to heck, and we’ll be shortly sent to respawn. Instead, I try to stay focused on the plan and activate Sneak, bringing up the stealth UI. It indicates that I’m already pretty visible, and I can’t help but agree. There’s not much cover to hide in, and the sun is high above me in the sky, providing few shadows to hide in. Still, I do what I can and crouch down, step off the sidewalk, and slowly creep toward the building by cutting across the field. I don’t know if Nancy has some similar skill but she crouches beside me, softly sneaking through the grass.

  We approach the sand-filled playgrounds, and I am thankful that the dead grass muffles the sounds of my footsteps. I can see the swarm off to my left, scrambling and fighting for a place on the jungle gym. I think that we might be able to get past them without being noticed until we approach near to the swings and I accidentally brush one. The rusty chains creek loudly in the relative quiet, and I look back to see if the goblin swarm notices. For a moment it looks like we’re in the clear, then one single goblin turns towards the sound. It’s a beady-eyed little creature that comes up no higher than my knees, but it may be the death of me. We stop moving and hope that my stealth doesn’t break. The creature sniffs the air as it approaches, swinging its head back and forth.

  The stealth eye pops open fully as the small goblin’s eyes lock onto me. I lunge at the goblin, hoping to kill it quickly and quietly, but the swings are between us and they prevent me from making the kill. Nancy is able to grab the little creature by the neck, and while she tries to strangle it, the goblin chitters loudly, and the rest of the swarm turns as one. My blood freezes as the group slowly starts moving toward us. I know where this is going, and I raise the grenade launcher, aim at the center of the oncoming group, and pull the trigger. There’s a loud thump as the grenade is launched and arcs through the air. It hits a little farther back than I was aiming but slows all the goblins in its radius. Unfortunately, this means that the closest ones in front aren’t hit with the slow effect and continue their charge.

  Nancy drops the dead body of the swarm goblin she strangled, and her rifle appears in her hands. The unwieldy weapon swings downward as she kneels, and aims at the quickly approaching creatures. She pulls the trigger, and a loud crack splits the air and not one but two goblins drop to the ground, the shot having killed one goblin and gone through it to kill the one behind it.

  Then the swarm reaches us, and the lead goblin moves around the swings, making it too close for me to shoot with the grenade launcher. It lunges toward me with sharp claws and latches onto my leg. I feel the claws dig in as it wraps itself around my right leg, and I’m thrown off balance and struggle to stay standing. A sharp pain spreads through my leg, and when I look down, I see that the vicious little creature has bitten me. I punch down with my right fist and hit a tough skull. The blow sends a red 5 floating away from it and dislodges the monster. However, the time spent allows the now much smaller swarm the time it needed to reach us fully, and a dozen green goblins soon tackle me to the ground and begin biting me. I don’t know how Nancy is faring, but I hear the crack of the rifle and hope that she’s surviving. A steady stream of red 4s and 5s fly from me. I knew this might happen, but hoped it wouldn’t. Still, plan B. I shout, “Naughty Children!”

  Naughty Children - Level 1

  E

  Active

  20 mana

  Krampus punishes naughty children. When activated, this debuff effects all enemies in a ten-foot radius. Causes all living beings to cower and beg for forgiveness. It allows spell resistance and a will save. On a failed save, the creature cowers in fear. On a successful save, it's shaken for a round.

  The scream isn’t really needed to activate the ability, but it makes me feel kind of badass as a wave of energy explodes out from me in a ten-foot radius. I can see when the energy hits each goblin. More than half of the creatures drop to the ground cowering in fear, chittering with their hands covering their heads. The rest seem frozen, and I know from experience that even hitting them will cause them to lose what little fear they have and renew their attack.

  I’m ready to turn and run at top speed toward the building when I notice that Nancy isn’t with me. My heart pounding, I search for her, only to find her squatting near the swings, crying. Her rifle has been discarded on the ground, and she is covering her head with her hands. I’m confused until I use Inspect on her.

  Nancy Scott

  Level 11

  H
ealth 205/340

  Mana 230

  TP 140/240

  *Fear - Stricken with such terror that the affected is unable to move for 30 seconds.*

  Shit. She got hit with the Naughty Children ability. I berate myself mentally for not thinking of this before I used it. It affected all living beings in its range aside from the caster. It’s the reason I don’t normally use it when I’m in a group; or, at least, I try to keep them out of range of its effect radius.

  I know I can’t abandon her here, but a look back shows me that the majority of the Goblin Swarm are still approaching, even if the Ice Grenade has slowed them down. I use Inspect, hoping that there is something I missed.

  Goblin Swarm

  Level 16

  Health 530/580

  Young goblins are voracious eaters and are in constant competition for resources. Only the swift and viscous make it to adulthood.

  *Slowed - 50% movement speed reduction*

  The swarm is now down to 530 HP. I’m momentarily confused until my eyes catch sight of the few dead goblins that Nancy and I killed, and I realize that the massive amount of HP is the combined total of each member of the swarm. I can see that the larger group is slowly getting closer, and I have to decide whether to run or test my theory. A single look at the shaken Nancy decides it. I grit my teeth and decide to go for it, knowing that Nancy and I will be torn to pieces like that old lady was if I’m wrong.

  I take a few steps back and raise my left hand. I form a Fireball, and it goes shooting into the middle of the twelve shaken goblins. It explodes, and each of the goblins takes 15 points of damage. They each cry out briefly but drop to the ground dead and bit crispy. The total health of the swarm drops to 410, and I know that my theory is correct. The swarm may be powerful because of their numbers, but individually, they have little health.

  In the time that it takes me to realize this, the larger, slowed swarm is almost upon us. I quickly raise both hands, spread them wide apart, and Dual Cast Fireball. The seconds it takes to form and release seem like forever, but two fiery globes shoot from my hands. The left is aimed directly at the closest cluster of creatures, and the right is aimed at the middle of the group. The two Fireballs go off moments apart, and the swarm screams almost as one. I’m caught partially in the blast radius of the first Fireball and also take fire damage, but it’s worth it to see so many of the creatures die.

  Unfortunately, the Fireball’s area of effect isn’t as large as the Ice Grenade’s, and only about half of the swarm dies. The remaining half continues forward, undeterred by the deaths within their group. Once again, I’m swarmed with the small green creatures. This time, however, I can’t use Naughty Children since it has such a long cooldown. Another stream of 4s and 5s quickly flows away from me as the monsters bite and claw at me. I feel like I’m being eaten alive, and a glance at my health shows me that it’s already down to a quarter. I activate Shadow Step, the world turns grey, and I stumble back, frantically trying to escape assured death.

  I pass through the mound of bodies, but in my panic, I take a third step without realizing it and return to the normal world. It’s the shortest time I’ve spent in the shadow-verse, but it’s enough to get me a few steps away from the swarm. My mana is nearly two-thirds gone. I glance back at the building and realize that it’s too far to make a run for. Instead, I turn back toward the swarm, who are only now are realizing that their prey has escaped, and Dual Cast one last pair of Fireballs. I try to spread them apart, but as they launch and impact, I can see that their effects overlap. Still, I catch most of the remaining swarm in the blast, killing them. I take 28 damage again from the blasts, bringing my health down to 40, but the swarm fares worse with only 50 HP left or 5 remaining members still alive. I don’t have enough mana to cast even a single Ice Needle and have to kill the last of the swarm with my war hammer. My weapon rises and falls bashing in the skulls of the creatures until my hammer runs slick with their green blood and the last of them lies still on the ground.

  Your party has defeated a Goblin Swarm, level 16. You receive 180 XP.

  You’ve increased the skill Resist Fire to level 2.

  I laugh at the last notification. Yeah, I guess burning yourself with your own Fireball spell would be a way to practice fire resistance. I hobble over and pick up my dropped grenade launcher and then make my way to the swings where I rest and wait for Nancy to recover. She does so only a few seconds later and I marvel at the fact that she was overlooked by the swarm and actually has more health than I do.

  “Sorry about hitting you with that AOE. I didn’t mean to catch you in its effect,” I tell her as she sits up and looks around. Her expression tells me that she’s still afraid, and a tear rolls down her cheek as she looks at me. As my words reach her, her expression changes to one of anger, and she grabs the rifle at her feet and raises it up to her shoulder. There’s a crack as the rifle fires, and I am blown back off the swing and hit the ground hard. Looking up at the blue sky, a red 25 floats away from me, and I hear her say, “Now, we’re even.”

  Chapter 28

  The gunshot, while very painful, didn’t send me to respawn. It might have if she’d aimed for my head, but the body shot wasn’t enough to kill me. She helps me up after, and the two of us sit, resting after our fight.

  “I’m sorry I shot you, Anthony, but you don’t know what you did to me. That stupid spell made me see and hear and imagine things. Horrible, terrible things.” I see her shiver and wrap her arms around her drawn-up knees.

  Her words remind me of my own experience with a spell that affected my mind. In the French Dungeon, the Queen used a mind-control spell that made me think that I was defending Lillian from terrible monsters, when in reality I was attacking the NPCs that I was supposed to be helping. It felt terrible to realize after that I’d killed Pierre, who had been so kind and helpful to me while I was there. I can only imagine what it would feel like for a fear spell to affect me so strongly that I curled up in a ball and openly wept.

  “I’m sorry, Nancy. I know I said it before, but I had no idea that you were in range of the spell. I have issues taking other people into account when I do things.” Hesitantly, I ask, “Do you want to talk about what you saw when you were under the influence of the spell?”

  She shakes her head vigorously. “No, it wasn’t real, and the memories of it are already fading like a bad dream. If you give me a few minutes, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

  I respect her wishes, and by the time our pools are full, Nancy seems back to her usual self. When I ask her if she wants to continue on, she assures me that she’s ok and won’t quit on me. I nod, and we head inside of the building together. The quiet outside is replaced by the buzz of fluorescent lights. The inside is cement hallways like the rest of the dungeon, but there are no more monsters to fight. The hallway turns left and right and ends at single door that, when opened, leads me right back to the Boss Room with the double doors and the prompt to enter the 4-digit code to unlock the doors. I’m stymied. We beat the other parts of the dungeon, but we didn’t get anything resembling a code. I try to mentally retrace our steps through the dungeon for something that we missed, and then it clicks. There was a number on the door to the Grendeline apartment, number 53. Which means that there is likely another number on the goblin-swarm side too. A vague recollection of the side of the building crosses my mind, and I run back down the hallway and out of the structure, Nancy calling after me. Looking up, I see the name: Madison Gardens #13. I berate myself for not seeing it sooner, but now that I have the numbers, I make my way back to the locked door.

  Nancy standing besides me, still asking where I went, I eagerly enter the code 1353 into the prompt, but it turns red again. I realize I don’t even have a weapon equipped or a spell prepared as the flash of light spawns a random monster. My mind conjures images of the most terrible creatures being created and I turn, ready to be eaten alive by some horrible entity. Only, instead I see a small white rabbit with a horn on its head. N
ancy’s shaking hand on my arm is all the warning I need to use Inspect on the creature.

  White Rabbit of Doom

  Level ??

  Health ??

  Mana ??

  Contrary to its innocent appearance, this rabbit is one of the most vicious, bad-tempered creatures around. It has long, razor-sharp teeth and the ability to leap nimbly from opponent to opponent, ripping them apart. It would be best either to avoid any aggressive actions toward it or run away if it attacks you.

  That such a creature could exist is proof that I made the right choice by not trying to randomly guess the code. I stay perfectly still, not wanting to attract the creature’s attention. It casually sits there cleaning itself, and I fight the urge to run. A few minutes later the White Rabbit of Doom hops away, and I breathe a sigh of relief that I did not have to face such a powerful enemy. I do make a mental note to look for something like ‘the holy hand grenade of antioch’ in the system store when I have a chance though. A solid hit on the back of my head is the only comment Nancy has for not explaining things and entering a code without talking to her. I explain that it wasn’t a random code but based on the only numbers we’d gotten. She admits that I’m probably right, but that I should have told her what I was doing.