Inside Out_Bloodfeast Book 1

by Ellis Michaels

  “So there you have it: The story of the mines. That's everything I know.”

  The friends stood up and so did the elf. Luke stretched out his arms as far as he could and unleashed a long, loud yawn.

  “Thank you so much!” Mitch said. “Any idea what happened to those adventurers who recently went down the unmarked tunnel? Did they encounter that powerful monster? How did they survive? What happened to them when they were down there?”

  “That, I can't tell you,” Theren answered. “No one knows. All I can tell you is that they were down there for quite a while.”

  “Thank you,” Alyssa said. “We'll let you get back to mining now.”

  Theren smiled and picked up his pickaxe. The friends walked back to the main tunnel. They were all anxious about the dangerous monster the elf described, though Luke was more curious than anything. The four of them stood at the entrance to the unmarked tunnel and looked at each other.

  “The orb that's gonna get us home is down this tunnel somewhere,” Mitch said. “Let's be careful and keep our eyes out for any clues as to its whereabouts.”

  The two girls nodded.

  “Let's fucking do it,” Luke yelled.

  Chapter 14 - Rockin' Out

  The friends headed down the unnumbered hallway. It was considerably wider than the numbered tunnels. They all enjoyed the added space, especially Luke. He was the tallest of the group and had to bend down to get through some of the smaller tunnels.

  They walked for quite a while. Being down in the mines for so long, the friends had no idea what time of day it was. All of them were quite tired but continued onward.

  “Where the hell is this monster?” Luke asked. “I'm really starting to get sick of walking down these long tunnels.”

  “You heard the elf,” Alyssa replied. “He said the group of adventurers that were here recently spent a lot of time down this tunnel.”

  “She's right,” Mitch added. “We should all be prepared to be down here for a long time – as long as it takes to find The Orb.”

  Luke didn't say anything. He just kept walking down the tunnel. They continued onward, mostly in silence. Every once in a while, two or three of them would strike up a conversation but it always fizzled out within a few minutes. When Luke noticed that the tunnel opened up into a large cavern up ahead, a smile instantly appeared on his face.

  “Fucking finally,” he muttered.

  They entered the cavern and looked around. All four of them were disappointed when they didn't see anything of interest – or anything at all, really. It was just a large, open cavern.

  “Oh, what the fuck!” Luke shouted. His voice echoed throughout the chamber.

  “I don't get it,” Stephanie said. “This doesn't make any sense.”

  The four friends spread out around the large room. They examined the walls, floor, and ceiling for anything out of the ordinary. None of them found anything of interest – at first. Then, Mitch noticed something directly across the room from the tunnel where they came in.

  “Hey guys, come check this out,” he said.

  Mitch pointed to a barely-noticeable line carved into the rock, shaped like a door. They all examined it closely and tried to figure out a way to open it. Naturally, Luke's strategy was to use brute force – the same general strategy he applied to most things in both his normal life and in Bloodfeast MMO. A lot of the time, this strategy worked. In this particular instance, it did not.

  “Fuck!” Luke yelled after trying to both push and pry it open.

  “Let me try something,” Alyssa said.

  She flipped through her spell book, recently repaired in Northwind for the second time since their adventure began. Alyssa came to a spell called Open Sesame! and started casting it. She'd only used it once or twice before but it always worked. This time, it didn't.

  “Fuuuuuu.....dge,” Alyssa yelled.

  She almost dropped an F-bomb but didn't want to give Luke the satisfaction. Alyssa regularly scolded him for his frequent use – overuse, really – of that particular word. She knew that if she said it, he'd certainly give her shit. The last thing that Alyssa wanted was to be high-roaded by the foul-mouthed warrior. She prided herself on always being the one to do the right thing.

  Mitch knew that he wouldn't be able to open it if Luke and Alyssa couldn't. The last one to try was Stephanie. She had a spell in her book of black magic called Chisel. It was one of her more-powerful spells and could be used to break through rock or to attack certain monsters. Stephanie only learned the spell recently and had yet to try it out.

  She started reading from her spell book. Stephanie held out her arm, pointed her finger, and read the final words. Loud clanging sounds filled the large cavern and sparks began flying out of the rock where the outline of a door was. It reminded them of the all-too-familiar sound of jackhammers they frequently heard around Boston – a city that seemed to be under perpetual construction.

  Dust and smoke made it hard for them to see if the spell was working. After about ten or fifteen seconds, the spell ended. When the smoke cleared, the four friends looked at the wall and shook their heads.

  “Wow,” Stephanie said, disappointed. “Nothing. Didn't even leave a scratch.”

  “So what do we do now?” Luke asked.

  No one answered. They all just looked around trying to think of anything they might have missed or of anything they might have heard that could be of use. None of them came up with anything. At a loss for what to do, they decided to head back up the tunnel to see if they missed something. But as soon as the first one of them stepped out of the room and back into the tunnel they came from, the cavern started to shake. All of them stopped and stood still right where they were.

  “You guys feel that, too, right?” Luke asked.

  “Oh yeah,” Mitch answered.

  The cavern continued to rumble. They stood at the tunnel entrance, ready to run if the ceiling started to fall. All of them looked around the room with wide eyes, trying to figure out what was happening. Stephanie was the first one to notice.

  “Oh my god!” she yelled, pointing across the room at what they thought looked like the outline of a door. “You guys! Look!”

  They all looked across the room at the wall where it looked like there could be a door. And it returned the favor, looking back at the four of them. Near the top of it, two bright-red eyes had appeared. The ground continued to shake as a stone monster slowly worked its way out of the wall. All of them spread out around the room and readied their weapons and spell books, as they knew a battle was imminent.

  The Rock Monster - its official name - made its way completely out of the wall, revealing a tunnel behind it. The tunnel was still blocked by a slab of rock behind where the monster had been, but at least now they knew it definitely was another tunnel.

  Massive arms and legs sprouted out of it and the monster stood taller than any of them, even Luke. It had no nose, no mouth, and no ears – just a huge slab of rock with arms, legs, and glowing red eyes. The friends knew that if they wanted to see what was down that tunnel, they'd have to defeat the Rock Monster.

  Stephanie began casting Chisel again. She hoped that it would have more of an effect on the monster than it did on the wall. Luke ran up to the monster and swung his longsword at its right hand. The sword made a loud cling sound when it made contact. One of its fingers came flying off, almost hitting Mitch in the face. -27 HP floated out of the monster.

  It immediately retaliated, punching Luke dead in his chest. The powerful blow sent the warrior flying across the chamber, -56 HP appearing above him.

  Mitch sold his old dagger in Northwind, buying two brand new ones. With a dagger in each hand, he rushed at the monster and stabbed it twice in the chest. Both hits landed, each causing a spark and chipping away a little piece of rock. -12 HP, -16 HP floated above the Rock Monster. Above Mitch appeared New Skill! Two-Handed Weapon Use +1.

  Stephanie finished reading her spe
ll and pointed at the stone creature. Like before, they heard the sound of metal rapidly chipping away at stone. Sparks began flying out of the monster, leaving it surrounded by a cloud of dust. Just barely visible above the monster they saw -999 HP.

  “Awesome!” Mitch yelled. “Go Steph! Cast it again!”

  A huge smile appeared on her face but only stayed there for a second. Chisel was a powerful spell and as such required a lot of magic points (MP) to cast. Stephanie only had enough to cast it twice and when she realized this, her smile instantly vanished.

  “I don't have enough magic points to cast it again!” she said.

  “I got you,” Alyssa replied. “Hold on.”

  Alyssa rifled though her bag and took out a potion. She handed it to Stephanie who opened it and started chugging. A few seconds later, +99 MP appeared above her. Stephanie immediately started casting another spell.

  Luke ran up and took another swing at the rock monster. Like before, he connected with its hand. This time, Luke lopped off two fingers. The monster didn't seem to even notice but it did lose another 42 HP. As soon as his sword hit the monster, Luke jumped back hoping to avoid getting hit again. The rock monster could swing his arms fast, but seemed to move slowly otherwise.

  It didn't attack Luke. Instead, the monster turned toward Stephanie and started slowly walking toward her. Each step made the ground shake. Mitch and Luke both tried to stop it, but the creature just plowed right through them.

  Though Stephanie was focused on reading her spell, she could see the massive monster approaching in her peripheral vision. Each time she felt the ground shake, Stephanie knew it was getting a little bit closer.

  “Come on, Steph!” Alyssa cheered.

  Right when the rock monster got within striking distance, Stephanie finished her spell. She held out her arm and pointed a finger at it, now just a few inches away. Like before, sparks started flying and the monster became surrounded with dust. It was so close to Stephanie that it made her start coughing. -999 HP floated above it and the monster stumbled backward, losing its balance.

  Luke held his longsword behind the rock monster's leg, hoping it would trip. But the sturdy creature just knocked it out of the way as it continued to stumble backward. Eventually, several steps later, the Rock Monster fell and landed on its back. Gradually, its bright red eyes closed, arms and legs falling off. Eventually, the monster became no more than a pile of rubble in the middle of the chamber.

  Once the Rock Monster was defeated, +635 EXP appeared above its rubbley corpse. Above Mitch read Congratulations! You've reached level 36! He put his extra stat point into strength.

  “We were at a party,” Luke started singing as he stood atop the defeated monster. “His earlobe fell into the deep. Someone reached in and grabbed it. It was Rock Monster!”

  Luke's singing got everyone to laugh – even Alyssa. She insisted on casting a healing spell on him and this time he agreed.

  “That monster wasn't so tough,” Alyssa said.

  “It certainly wasn't what I was expecting,” Mitch agreed.

  Once again, the ground began to shake. The friends reached for their weapons but relaxed when they realized it was just the tunnel opening up. The huge slab of rock blocking the way slid backward, then up, allowing access to the new passageway. They all smiled.

  “The adventure continues,” Mitch said.

  After taking a short break to eat – and so Luke could urinate on the dead Rock Monster – they started walking down the newly-revealed hallway. There were no torches on the walls like the other tunnels, so the friends had to rely on magic for lighting. They walked for what felt like a long time down the narrow tunnel. Eventually they came to a large room, so big that they couldn't see the entire thing even with the illumination spell.

  “This room is fucking huge,” Luke said, slowly walking into it.

  “You think this is where The Orb is?” Stephanie asked.

  “I don't know,” Alyssa answered. “It could be. It's gotta be down here somewhere.”

  Alyssa and Mitch made sure they all had lighting spells cast on them. The friends spread out and started exploring the massive room. It was even bigger than any of them had imagined. Luke stopped suddenly when he saw something at the edge of the lighting spell surrounding him. Then Stephanie saw it and stopped, followed by Mitch. Alyssa was the last to notice.

  “Ohhhhhh fuck,” she said and swallowed hard.

  Chapter 15 - We've Got To Get Out Of This Place

  Back in Boston, the four characters sat around Luke and Mitch's living room, talking. They'd been watching the computer screen, keeping an eye on everything the four friends were doing. That and eating absurd amounts of junk food. They were all enjoying Mitch’s stash of stoner snacks.

  “These are quite possibly the greatest thing I've ever eaten,” Alalia said, holding up a bag of Sour Patch Kids. “Any of you guys wanna try one?”

  “No thanks,” Dwyndolin answered, orange crumbs falling out of her mouth. “I'm hooked on these cheese curls.”

  The boys gluttonous behavior had slowed, as they'd started pigging out long before the girls got there. Eventually, they all ended up eating a little more than they should have and sat around the living room with achy stomachs.

  “Look!” Ethelwulf said, sitting up and pointing to the computer screen. “They're going into the mines where we found The Orb!”

  The other three sat up slowly and looked at the screen. They could see the four friends going down into the mines in the northeastern part of Northwind.

  “What does this mean?” Alalia asked.

  Dwyndolin smiled and replied, “I think it means they're trying to find the Orb of Displacement so they can get back here to their own reality.”

  “But how could they possibly know how to use it?” Arnold69 asked. “And how are they gonna get past the Rock Dragon? We only beat it because we got lucky.”

  “Lucky?” Dwyndolin angrily asked. “You think Alalia got lucky? If it wasn't for her outside-the-box thinking, we never would've gotten past that dragon.”

  “Whatever,” Arnold69 replied.

  “What if we were able to help them?” Ethelwulf suggested.

  “Help them?” Dwyndolin replied. “How?”

  “They were able to control our actions, right?” Ethelwulf answered. “I'm guessing that however they were able to do it, it had something to do with these magical devices right here.”

  He pointed to the desktop and laptop computers. As the characters looked at what they thought were magical devices, a newfound optimism filled the air. They realized that if they were able to control the friends as they had been controlled, they could help them find The Orb and use it to get back home.

  Pointing to the desktop computer, Ethelwulf said, “It looks like this device could be used to control Arnold69. See? It shows his stats and items. Everything is from his point of view.” He then turned and pointed to the laptop and continued, “And I bet this device could be used to control me. It has my stats, info, items, and everything.”

  “What about us?” the girls asked in unison.

  “I bet your devices are back in your living quarters,” Ethelwulf suggested. “Was there anything there that looked like these devices?”

  “Yes, there was!” Alalia replied, smiling.

  “Excellent!” Ethelwulf said, rubbing his hands together. “Let's see if we can figure out how to use these strange devices. Then, if we are in fact able to control them, you girls should head back to your living quarters so you can get on your devices, too.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Dwyndolin agreed.

  Ethelwulf picked the laptop computer up off the floor and examined it. He looked it over top to bottom, eventually sitting down and putting it on his lap. The others gathered around him. Ethelwulf looked the keyboard over, doing his best to make sense of it. He recognized all the numbers and letters but didn't know what any of the symbols meant or how the touch pad w
orked.

  “Press something,” Arnold69 said. “See what happens.”

  “But what?” Ethelwulf asked. “I don't know what's gonna happen.”

  “That's the point,” Arnold69 replied. “Here, I'll make it easy for you.”

  Standing behind the couch where Ethelwulf was sitting, Arnold69 leaned over him and pressed a random key. Dwyndolin tried to stop him but didn't react fast enough. Arnold69 pressed the letter I and Ethelwulf's inventory screen popped up.

  “That was so stupid,” Dwyndolin said. “You had no idea what was going to happen.”