by Wolfe Locke
Luca looked at 2Face in dubious surprise, not trusting the man or his motivations. As far as Luca was concerned, he thought 2Face hated him, or at the very least, couldn't stand him and actively disliked him. "Why are you helping me? What do you get out of this? I know you’re not exactly my biggest fan," Luca challenged 2Face, pressing him for an answer, genuinely curiously, wanting to know.
"Alright, Luca, since you're wondering, I still dislike you. Actually, I hate you and everything about you. You’re not one of us, not really. But that’s not my decision to challenge. If you're going to be part of this team, I need you to be able to watch my back and perform to standard whatever tasks you get assigned. If my life is going to be dependent on yours, I want you to have the tools to do that. I’m not doing this to help you. I’m doing this to help myself," 2Face explained in unapologetic hostility.
Luca wasn't sure how to take it, but he figured he would just accept it as is. "Alright, thanks, I guess. Is that how everyone else feels?”
The rest of the group took no time at all to agree with 2Face’s position. Mother tried to put it in as nice of terms as possible under the circumstances. "It’s nothing against you, Luca, but you’ve been added to our team, a well-oiled, high-functioning team, because our boss’s boss thinks you have merit and carry potential, but so far, none of us see it. You’ve got high stats, but so far, that’s all you bring to the table."
Tatiana chose that moment to interrupt, trying to ease the tension a bit. "You need to understand it from our perspective, Luca, you wouldn’t be the first new guy to get attached to our team, and new guys have problems. You’re dangerous, you don’t know what you're doing, and you tend to make mistakes that get yourselves killed or get members of the team killed. I’m telling you from experience. That’s just the way it is. Let's go."
Luca understood and shook it off. They're going to need to get over that. I’m not some liability.
Chapter 19: First Blood
With nothing else to do but to head off towards the ability shop, they set off down the beaten path leading through the trees. Luca took his position next to Mother in the formation and Steele took her place next to him. 2Face went to the back, his face hard and unreadable as Tatiana set the pace and made sure the group moved faster than she had initially intended. She was already irritated that it had taken so long. She looked back just once to make sure her team was following her.
Luca had to change his original thoughts regarding the maul he was carrying. It was large and cumbersome, and at the first chance he got, Luca planned on ditching the weapon for something better. He wasn’t going to be some brute or some beater smashing things with a hammer. If his dad had taught him anything, it was that you can’t brute force your way out of all of your problems, sometimes you have to finesse, and sometimes you have to just endure.
The five of them walked along in silence, setting down that winding path towards the ability shop. Though the road doubled as a game trail, not once did Luca see a single animal that was using it. That’s a bad sign. I’m pretty sure, Luca thought to himself with a sigh of boredom as he scanned the horizon.
The path they were on led them down a steep incline, deeper into a dark forest that seemed to extend far off into infinity. It did not take long for the dungeon gateway suspended on the island behind them to completely disappear, hidden by the trees, and eventually lost beyond the horizon.
Everything looked the same, and that made Luca extremely anxious. As far as he could tell, there was no way for him to figure out the cardinal direction, and he couldn’t see any sort of discernable landmarks by which to navigate. Helpless, that’s what he was. Luca had no idea where they were headed, and was glad for the moment to have somebody else guiding the group.
The facts though, didn’t sit well with him. Luca knew if the group left him behind, or if he was separated from them somehow, he would never find his way back to the gate. Luca knew he would wander aimlessly out here until dying. The thought was sobering. Once again, Luca was in a position where he depended on other people for his survival, and he hated every second of it.
Regardless of his tumultuous feelings, they all walked along in silence, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention on themselves. Each of the members of their group kept their heads on a swivel, looking for hidden enemies, traps, and the occasional opportunity for loot that presented itself. When Luca saw Tatiana start to ease up, he knew they were making good progress to their destination. She had been strongly driven to get them there quickly.
It took a while for Luca to catch on that Mother was the one keeping the pace count. Luca watched as Mother kept shifting rocks from one hand to another in the center of the formation, holding up a finger every time they had walked another mile. It was one of the many things Luca was steadily starting to notice. Above their heads, a grating noise could be heard. The loud shuffling of tree limbs and the falling of leaves made Luca wince each time he heard it, but whatever it was causing the sound never appeared, and the others didn’t seem too worried about it, and in this, Luca knew he was the rookie, if they weren’t worried, he wouldn't be either.
At least that’s what he told himself, but even then, Luca couldn’t get his heart to stop frantically beating in fear every time he heard the noise. A noise that followed them and never stopped. The first time that Luca tried to mention it, Mother politely but firmly rebuked him, "It’s just first-time jitters, Luca. We all get those. Plenty of things crawl around here, but nothing we need to worry about yet, not until we're a lot deeper into these woods."
The second time he tried to bring it up, Luca dropped back a little, trying to catch 2Face’s attention. "Hey, I think I hear something above us. It’s been following us since we got here and started walking through the woods. I think you should tell Tatiana and find out what we should do."
2Face glared at him, dismissing Luca’s warning outright. "This is what? Your first time here and suddenly you think you know the sounds of monsters better than the rest of us? We’ve all made this trip hundreds of times. If you start freaking out, it won’t matter how much potential they think you have. You’ll get left behind if you become a problem, so shut your mouth, get back in formation, and just hope they have some good abilities when we get to the shop to make this whole trip worth it."
Sullenly, Luca got back into formation, but not once did he avert his eyes, and not once did he stop hearing the sounds from above.
After they had been walking for a few miles, the group finally encountered their first monster. Tatiana raised her hand, making a fist telling the group to stop. She pointed outwards with her index finger at the rustling of underbrush up ahead of them, just a bit off the path. Luca could see a cloven paw reach through the underbrush as a pig snout followed behind it, sniffing on the ground as it used its razor-like tusks to shift through the dirt looking for roots and grubs. After it had found what it was looking for, the pig-like thing grasped the roots in its mouth, tearing the roots upwards out of the ground and shoved them down into its gullet, making loud disgusting sounds of contentment after.
It was then that Luca knew he had been mistaken. This was no pig. The closest thing he could think of was an orc or something like it. The monster stood up on two legs, upright like a man. "What do we do now?" Luca whispered to Mother, recoiling in disgust at what he was seeing. It was not as terrifying as the hell hound or the shadow had been, but it was still quite alien to him and more revolting than anything.
Steele walked over and put a hand over Luca’s mouth, putting a finger over her mouth telling him to be quiet. She whispered faintly, "Obviously, we're going to kill it, stupid," as Tatiana stepped forward in a low crouch, brandishing a short sword with its edges blackened to prevent any sort of reflection off the blade. Stalking like a predator coming after prey, she crept forward, keeping her profile low as she approached the monster for a stealthy execution.
Steele nudged him to get his attention, holding her nose and pointing at the orc, whispering
again. "It knows she’s there, but she’s trying to not draw the attention of anything else that might be nearby." Luca’s eyes narrowed at the admission, worried as he cast his eyes towards the canopy over head for signs of monsters besides what he had been hearing. Luca couldn’t tell, but Steele, Mother, and 2Face all were grinning at each other, having a little joke at the expense of Luca’s newness and naivety.
Sensing the woman behind it, the orc roared up on its legs to lunge forward and attack her, but she was far too agile as one of the most powerful humans in the World Dungeon. She easily sidestepped the monster, sinking her sword deep into its side, cutting through the leathery skin covering the abdominal wall.
She did not want the orc to cry out or roar in its death throes. Tatiana pulled a separate dagger from the belt around her hips and slid it across the throat of the monster, cutting straight through to its vocal cords, rendering it mute as it rapidly began to bleed to death. Luca was surprised when she reached around, embracing the dying orc, holding the neck wound to stem the bleeding.
"Get over here, Luca, now, run. You need to finish it off before it dies from blood loss. Don’t be loud though, there should be a whole tribe of these nearby for us to farm." From behind him, 2Face pushed Luca forward, the force causing him to trip over himself, but Luca was able to recover easily enough and avoid the fall, even as he glanced backward at 2Face and made a promise. When we face off in this guild arena. If I’m not allowed to kill you outright, I’m going to go as far as I can to hurt you and make sure you never recover. Revenge was a new concept for him, and in this new world where Luca had the power to settle scores, he planned on it.
As soon as Luca came close, Tatiana let the orc fall forward towards him. Luca could see it was close to death, mere seconds left on its life. Luca knew what to do. He’d practiced it once already. Luca lifted the maul in his hands and swung it in a two-handed forward arc, crushing the orc’s skull and killing it instantly as brain matter and gore went flying in all directions. The gore landed on both Luca and Tatiana.
NOTIFICATION: Experience Gain - "You have killed an Orc"
Details: For killing one of the pig children you gain +24 experience and +35 Sol
A feeling of ease and comfort came over Luca as his body was given experience for the kill. Tatiana, seeing the way that Luca was starting to relax, put a congratulatory gore-covered hand on his shoulder, saying, "No time is quite as good as the first time, but it does stay a pretty consistent high." The moment was interrupted as Luca realized to his horror that he had just killed something and was covered in its brains.
Luca looked down at his gore-covered body in self-disgust as the entire team came up to congratulate him, all except for Steele who kept overwatch for danger. 2Face noticed it, and rather than chew him out or make him feel guilty about it said, "We've all been there. Killing doesn't come naturally for most of us, but you need to get used to it, and get used to it quickly or you won’t make it here. Killing, violence, all of it, I was an accountant for god's sake and the first time I killed a monster, I threw up all over myself. Both from the sight of all the blood and from the stink of my own fear, but it goes away after a while. You get used to it. You have to."
Luca looked at his hands again, wiping them off on the dirt below. He wasn't sure he would ever be as cavalier about it, but he did appreciate the pep talk. It was Mother who gave him the browbeating. "The dungeon is full of monsters, some look like men, but most don't. Never forget that if you give them a chance, they will kill you. Never underestimate the capacity for violence you're going to see here. And most of all." Mother paused in recollection of a harsh memory. "Never forget that not all monsters are monsters. People can be monsters, elves too. Never forget this isn’t a fairy tale, and none of us are heroes."
Above them, a dark shadow began to fall. "Get back!" Steele screamed as a giant shadow descended on them from above. Quickly she activated an ability that made her skin harden like iron, pairing it with another ability to forcefully throw the rest of the group in all directions, pushing them away from the rapidly descending monster.
Knew it, thought Luca as he flew through the air.
Chapter 20: The Shield Wall
Luca and the rest of the team were tossed through the air, roughly propelled by the force of the ability Steele had activated. I really should have listened to my gut and forced the issue, thought Luca, as he looked forward. Luca almost wished that he hadn’t looked as he saw his body was flying straight towards one of the more giant nearby trees. Luca was on a collision course, and though he tried to manipulate his wings and alter the flight path, it made no difference. In resignation, Luca folded his arms over his head and braced for what he thought was going to be a rather painful impact.
The sound of his body colliding, crashing into the tree, was loud, and Luca fell to the ground with a pitiful gasp, stunned from the impact. That really hurt, he thought. When he had impacted on the tree, Luca was positive he had broken something. He had felt a sharp stabbing pain that followed the sound of ribs breaking, which followed the sound of bones fracturing with a sickening snap after the crash.
Falling to the ground, Luca heard another snap as he landed on the grass below, thankful in part for the minimal cushion the green carpet provided. From within his chest, Luca could feel loose bone rubbing against raw nerves. The site created another source of sharp and lingering pain for him. A warning from his body that damage had been received, and that for the time being at least, he wouldn’t be healing.
As Luca groaned in pain on the ground, he looked to see how the rest of the party was doing, only to find the others were similarly struggling to collect themselves, each in the same sort of state that he was. Steele stood alone against the monster that had descended on them. Undaunted, she stared the monster straight into its many eyes as she held both of her hands up, her entire body straining as she did. As if she was holding up the very weight of the world. Her body glistened with a metallic hue, having activated her defensive abilities.
The monster lingered above Steele, its jaws salivating as it continued to try and bite at her. Luca judged by the outstretched appendages it was a huntsman spider, just a giant version of the ones he had learned about in school. A real monster, significantly larger than any man or animal Luca had ever seen.
At that moment, Luca knew pure unadulterated fear. This was a killing machine, and it had been stalking them for miles, waiting for gods only know what reason before attacking them, finding them an easy enough meal to be worth the trouble. The thought made Luca cringe.
The Spider was the size of a small yacht or plane, and seeing how hungrily it looked at them jolted Luca with a fear he had never known before, completely eclipsing the fear he felt on the road when his father was killed. This was a primal fear that touched on nerves and instincts deeply ingrained in his primal brain. It took every ounce of courage Luca had to not run away screaming.
The Spider had thick, coarse brown hairs covering its appendages. Each of the hairs was standing stiff. Luca knew on an instinctive level each of those hairs would be sharp as needles. Venom dripped freely from its mandibles. The Huntsman Spider backed away from Steele, and for a moment, Luca could see the strain on her body relax, only for the Spider to redouble its efforts as it tried to pounce on her again, eager to consume her, hoping to catch her off guard during an involuntary recoil.
But still, Steele did not recoil, she was a tank, and she was not defenseless. The Huntsman Spider’s jaws bit deep into a now-translucent blue shield of magic that Steele had erected between her and the Spider. The shield was a power unto itself, enforced by Steele’s protective factor and fueled by both her vitality and mana. It was a formidable power, but still, no power could hold forever.
The sheer strength of the force behind the Huntsman Spider’s attacks was pushing Steele backward and forcing her feet through the grass and into the dirt as the magical shield sparked under the constant strain. Luca could see as he struggled to get up that
the Huntsman Spider’s mandibles had gotten caught within the shield. It struggled to remove the fangs it had got trapped, long appendages trying to pull them free.
"Move it now. Everyone or she’s going to die," screamed Tatiana as blood dripped into her eyes from a minor cut above the eyebrow. "Throw everything you’ve got at it while Steele has the monster immobilized." Hearing the words commanded seemed to work on everyone as the scattered team got moving, motivated to engage the Spider in combat. The commands worked to get the scattered team moving. Though Luca didn’t really know what he was supposed to do to help. The maul he had been carrying had been knocked out of his hands when he was sent flying by Steele’s force ability.
Doesn’t matter if I don’t know what to do. Doing something is better than sitting around and doing nothing, hoping to live through this. I promised myself never again after the Highway with Dad and never again includes now. With that thought motivating him, Luca shakily got up off the ground.
When Luca stood up, the pain he felt in his chest only increased exponentially, but he pushed it aside out of necessity. This was a time he just needed to do, and not hold anything in reserve. To survive meant he needed to dig deep and do something now, and with that, Luca started moving towards the Spider.
Even as his teammates pulled ahead of him, already engaging the Huntsman Spider. None too soon either as cracks and faults began to show on Steele’s metallic form, adding another degree of urgency to the battle. The girl really was in danger of dying.
In front of him, Luca saw that 2Face was running at full speed, and then some as his silhouette became a red blur that trailed behind him lingering like an after image. Luca realized the man had used an ability to buff himself, an ability that at the least increased his speed, and likely a lot more.