by Tao Wong
“Well, it’s a good thing you aren’t going in. It’ll give me a new story to tell,” Ali says, and I snort. Seeing his goading isn’t working, Ali adds, “To Luthien.”
“I know what you’re doing and it isn’t working. I know you don’t talk to her.”
“True, true. I do have Minion’s contact information though. And Richard’s. And Lana. And Roxley’s,” Ali continues, and I glare at him.
“Really? You think this is going to work? Threatening me with shame?” I growl, turning to face him as anger spills out.
“Why not? You don’t like having your… face, was it? taken away. This should do quite well,” Ali points out with that smirk that makes me want to beat him into a pulp.
“Fuck you, you spineless little twerp. I’m going to fucking banish you,” I shout, my hands moving to dismiss him.
“Sure, boy-o. And while you’re doing that, why don’t you buckle on your gear and get going, you big baby,” Ali adds.
Finger hovering over the dismiss button, I realize he’s right. I’m way too angry to be scared. At least not right now, and not if I… if I stop thinking, making myself move and strap on the equipment. The Yerick stare at me as I slap on the facemask then take a running leap, jumping directly at the whirlpool before the rest of my brain catches up.
“I hate you!”
I hate the water. I hate the water. I hate the water. Even if I was taught to swim later, even if I know I won’t drown, I still hate it. It’s entirely irrational, and while I can fight through it, I still hate it. It makes my chest tighten, my breathing come shorter, and my adrenaline spike.
Funny thing though—you’d think that having razor-teeth fish and squid-humanoid hybrids trying to kill me would make this my worst nightmare. It’s actually the opposite. At least fighting them, I have something to distract me. So what if one of them has pinned me in the side with a stinger? Or that the fish are swarming me, tearing chunks of flesh from my body? It’s all good—I’m not thinking about how I’m not entirely sure where up is. Or where the Yerick are. Or why I’m doing this.
Also, something new and fun to note. Lightning Strike is very, very effective at clearing your surroundings in the water. Of course, you and your friends end up a little crispy too and you get shouted at a lot for doing it, but that’s just details. If they didn’t like me using the Spell, they shouldn’t have invited me down here.
That’s really all I’m going to say about underwater dungeons. I’m never, ever going back into one, no matter how good the loot is.
“John?” Richard finds me later that evening, sitting outside in the garden at home with a very large keg of beer and a big bowl of chocolates, ice cream, and braised short ribs.
“Richard!” I wave hi to him before refilling my mug. Yes, I’m indulging myself. No, I’m not getting piss-blind drunk. It’d take Apocalypse Ale to do that, and I’ve avoided drinking it because, well, my sense of control is shaky at best most days. On the other hand, this amount should get me a bit of a buzz.
“You okay?” He looks over my sprawled form and the various pets that have gathered around me, waiting for the bones I discard. While technically short ribs, the mutated pieces of beef are nearly a foot long each.
“Oh, I’m great. Just great. Just completed another dungeon. It was so much fun,” I drawl while Ali snorts, busy on his own meal.
“Yeah… okay.” Richard slowly sits down on a lawn chair next to me. “Which dungeon?”
“Miles Canyon. It’s an underwater dungeon. Real pretty, you know, with all that freezing glacial water and carnivorous fish. Did you know that there are fucked up mermen in the dungeon?” I grin widely, waving a rib at Richard. “Want some?”
“No, I’m good,” Richard says. “So… you partying with the Yerick now?”
“Why is everyone so interested in that?” I complain after I swallow, waving the rib around to make my point. “I like them. All they want to do is fight and kill and get sweet, sweet loot. It’s real easy.”
“I see.”
“Yeah, we clear all the dungeons we find. We’re getting a bunch of bonuses for completing them first too.” I burp slightly. “But we’re nearly done now. Then I guess I’ll be back soloing… unless you guys know of any.”
“A few,” Richard answers. “We were hoping you’d come with us to try to clear them actually.”
“Me? And you?” I frown, staring at Richard. “You sure you trust me not to go crazy?”
“John, you were strangling a man to death!” Richard snaps.
“Yeah, but he was an asshole.”
“You still don’t do that shit, man,” Richard says, voice growing angry. “That’s not what heroes do.”
“Who says I’m a hero?”
“No one. But I’m not standing by watching you do that.”
“Oooh, you’re so fine and perfect, aren’t you?” I snap, anger flaring.
“You asshole—”
“Enough already!” Ali shouts, waving. “Oh my god. You girls are worse than Sooki and JWOWW. Get over yourselves!”
“Shut up,” we chant in unison at the Spirit.
“Bite me. You lost control, boy-o. You know it. And you, pretty boy, you could have tried something a little more useful than fighting. What’s the point of all that Charisma if you aren’t using it? Outside of bedding women,” Ali says.
I glare at the Spirit, anger flashing in my eyes. On the other hand, he is right. I know he is. I just… ugh.
I finally say, “Are they in the water?”
“No, not at all,” Richard mutters.
“I’m in then. Sure. No water dungeons though, nope. No water dungeons. Don’t like them.” I frown, touching my head with the hand that still clutches the stripped rib. “I’m feeling a bit… off.”
“Yeah, funny thing about that. I can actually alter your Resistances a bit,” Ali says and points at me.
“Oh… so I’m drunk?” I blink. I frown, raising my hand to cast a Healing Spell. I twitch my fingers, Mana flowing then shorting as I mess up the incantation, pain flaring. “Oops…”
“Maybe you shouldn’t be casting a spell right now,” Richard says. “Come on, let’s get you into your bed.”
“No. No,” I snarl, anger spilling out, and I find myself shouting at Ali. “Don’t do that. Don’t ever do that. I don’t like being drunk. I don’t get drunk. I don’t like losing control.”
“Sorry.” Ali shrinks back, a hand flickering slightly. “I thought I was helping. I’ve changed it back.”
I nod, slumping back into the chair again, anger draining away as quickly as it came. Richard lets out a breath of relief next to me. The animals slowly relax too, fur no longer bristling as the threat passes.
“Just don’t do that. I don’t want to get drunk, I just want to relax, damn it.”
“Okay.” Ali stares at me for a moment longer before he slowly relaxes too.
“John,” Richard starts again, concern etching his face, “are you really okay?”
“I’m good. I’m good.” I exhale, tossing the bone aside and reaching for my mug. I pause and change directions to grab some chocolate from the bowl. “I just… it wasn’t a good day. I’m fine though.”
“Okay,” Richard relents, staying seated. After a time, he grabs a rib and chews on it.
We eat in silence for a while, the fog in my brain slowly clearing.
“You know, these Dungeons have been appearing more and more often,” he says.
“I know. Not much we can do about it. Clearing the Bosses helps reduce the incidence, but they’re still going to appear. All we can do is try to contain them, clear them enough that they don’t start spilling out and overrunning us.”
Richard sighs then glances sideways at me, sipping on his own beer. “Sorry by the way. About, you know, all that shit.”
“Whatever. Shit happens. That’s our life now, isn’t it? Shit happens.” I stare at my hand, shaking my head slowly. “I’m over it. Have to be, don’t I? We’ve g
ot more shit to kill.”
“That’s…” Richard shakes his head as he decides not to tackle the giant signs of denial I’ve posted. “You going to join us for our dungeons then?”
“I said I would, didn’t I?” I sigh. “I can’t tackle them, not by myself. Some, sure. But most, especially the uncharted ones, the ones deeper—it’s just not possible. Not at my Level anyway.”
“All right then.” Richard falls silent, and I join him in quiet contemplation and eating.
“Why do you do it?” I ask suddenly, tossing the latest bone into the distance to watch the puppies rush for it. “I mean, Mikito’s all about revenge. Me, I’m just angry and stupid. You, you’re a bit more, you know, normal. Yet you keep heading out just like the rest of us, killing and maiming.”
“Thanks, I think.” Richard pauses before saying, “It’s stupid. You’ll laugh.”
“Yeah, probably. I’ve got a fucked up sense of humor. Ask Minion.”
“Not funny.”
“A little funny,” Ali says.
“Spider-Man,” Richard finally says.
“Uhh…?”
“When I was a kid, my father used to have these old Spider-Man comics around. Read them from cover to cover. I, well… when this happened, I just wanted to get safe at first, get Lana safe. But then I started seeing that not everyone had a fighting class. Not everyone could go out, or would go out. I-I needed, I wanted to be better.”
“With great power comes great responsibility?” I’m not a giant geek, but I lived with one and the movies were fun. And yeah, I’ve read a few comic books in my time.
“Yeah. Told you it was stupid.” Richard shrugs.
I consider what he said for a moment, staring at the man before I smile slightly, guzzling down the last of the beer. “Yup, stupid.”
“Asshole.”
“Yup.”
“Seriously?” I mutter the next day, walking behind Aron and Tahar as they tear through this newly discovered dungeon.
“Not all dungeons will be dangerous,” Capstan points out as we walk along.
A hare manages to get past the pair in front and he casually flicks a stone at it. The empowered pebble rips a hole through the Level 5 monster and drops it to the ground. The creatures are no larger than a normal-sized animal, but they’re faster with barbed fur. Their major mode of attack is to rush you and run across your body, their fur gripping and tearing off strips of flesh. I bend down and loot the corpse before tossing the body into my Altered Space.
“Ugh,” I grumble as we continue through the giant burrow.
At least I find walking easier than the Yerick, who have to crouch as they walk. Ali’s ahead of us all, guiding the front pair, his tiny orange-clad body shining with light.
After a time, I talk to just fill the silence. “Why’d you come here?”
“This dungeon probably would not last. Another monster would clear it for us. Best for us to do it and get the experience,” Capstan points out, and I nod, accepting his point.
What will and won’t be permanent is still very much in the air right now. I brighten up as I realize that might mean the dungeon in Miles Canyon could disappear. On the other hand…
“Not really what I meant. I mean, why Earth? Why Whitehorse?” I clarify.
“Dungeon Worlds are where we thrive,” Capstan says, glancing at me. “You know of our history?”
“A bit,” I say.
“The Yerick were introduced to the System five hundred or so of your years ago. We were always few in number and we had not progressed much in technology. Not like some of the other civilizations.” Capstan absently grabs a hare that jumps at him, killing the creature before tossing the looted body to me to store. “We did not adapt well. Some of my people refused the System. Others fought the invaders. Eventually, all those who refused the System died. All that were left were those who embraced the System. By then, it was too late. We had lost our leaders, our builders, our artists. All we had left were our fighters.
“We needed Credits, we needed places of safety. All we could do was to hire ourselves out to work as Adventurers. We found we were good at it. In time, that’s what we became. A world of Adventurers. At least, most of us.”
I nod slowly, wondering if that was to be humanity’s future. We’ve already lost so many—how long before we could grow again, live again?
“As for why Whitehorse…” Capstan looks me over. “I am unsure you will find the explanation satisfactory.”
“Try me.”
“We came because Lord Roxley asked,” Capstan explains simply, and I frown. Seeing my expression, he continues. “There is much of this world, of this System you do not understand still. Lord Roxley is not what you consider a typical Truinnar. What he has done for the city, how he has managed it, is unusual. Among the Council or the Truinnar in particular.”
“Oh?”
“Most others who have arrived have been much more… forceful in their acquisition. More direct in their introduction of Galactic Law.” Capstan’s placid brown eyes darken, his voice coming out as a low rumble. “The Yerick have experienced the yoke of Galactic Law before. Indentured service for many is no better than slavery.”
I nod slowly. It doesn’t take a genius to realize what Capstan means. It’d be a simple enough thing for Roxley to charge us for the use of his guards while Whitehorse was desperate. To charge us rent for the safe zones he’s provided, increase the tax on the Shop until we were indebted to him constantly. Raise the interest rates on the loans he made to us, charge us late fees when we couldn’t pay, and dictate all payments be made in Credits. Humanity had a ton of history with things like that. Still, I can see why he didn’t. We’ve done slavery and it doesn’t work, not when you need people with knowledge and skills. At least, not efficiently. Then again, sometimes efficiency isn’t everything.
“Are you coming?” Nelia turns toward us, stamping her foot.
Realizing we’ve fallen behind, Capstan and I focus on picking up the loot. Still, what he said has left me with some serious food for thought.
Chapter 10
A week later, we’re finally done with all the dungeons we’ve found. With the Yerick, I’ve cleared a total of five dungeons, of which at least three will be permanent. I’ve even managed to gain first clear bonuses for four of them, pushing my Level up another step. Working with the Yerick has been quite relaxing overall. Since I’m not a front-line fighter with them, I don’t take as much damage and I need to replace my armor a lot less. About halfway through, I made enough Credits to fix Sabre up if I wanted to. However, on consideration, I’ve left her with Xev for a series of upgrades. A lot of the material we need will take a few months to arrive via “regular” delivery rather than picking it up direct from the Shop, so for now, Sabre just sits cooling her heels.
Interesting fact—while it’s possible to teleport via the System, most commerce is actually done by spaceships. The cost of porting goods is significant, so using freighters and automated delivery ships helps reduce the cost of transportation. That’s what makes people like Xev more competitive than getting the Shop to just “fix” everything. Paying through the Shop, amusingly enough, usually means hiring smart Shopkeepers using a combination of teleportation, rush contracts, and time dilation to allow products to be fixed. Or in a few cases, just swapped out entirely.
Finding ourselves done with the dungeons, the Yerick go back to “farming” the dungeons and hunting raid bosses. I am not invited along though. I have a feeling it’s more because they want me to go hunting for more dungeons for them to raid than because they don’t like me.
What I don’t mention to them is that I’m going dungeon delving with Mikito and Richard instead. Which leads me to today, standing outside my house, waiting for Richard to detach his lips from his latest lady.
“We good to go?” I grumble, leaning against the truck. Damn it, it’s been months since I’ve gotten laid. I know it’s my fault but still…
“We’re
waiting—oh, there they are!” Richard nods down the street.
I blink as Aiden and Amelia drive up on a pair of quads. As usual, both quads make no noise at all since they run off the installed Mana engines and batteries, though I’m pretty sure their weaponry wasn’t part of the dealer package. Amelia’s quad has a pair of smaller rifles, each on their own mount, while Aiden has gone for a series of rocket tubes strapped to the side of his quad. I guess heavy weaponry is the new fad post-Apocalypse. I bet road rage has a whole new meaning.
“Hey, toots,” Ali greets the pair, looking at Aiden and his manbun.
As always, Aiden just ignores Ali. I’ve never actually hunted seriously with Aiden though we’ve run into one another on the training sessions. Hopefully, he’ll do fine – it’s one thing to deal with the low-level monsters that surround Whitehorse, another to fight Dungeon monsters. Then again, Richard and Mikito trust him, so I guess I’m going to have to too.
“You guys coming?” I nod to the pair before glancing back at Richard.
“You have any objections?” Richard asks as he gestures his pets onto the truck bed before personally carrying Elsa the fire-breathing pet turtle on board.
The huskies don’t bother the turtle as she settles into her usual spot. Mikito grips the edge of the truck bed before leaping in. Above us, Orel, Richard’s mutated eagle, perches on a chimney, waiting.
“Not at all. Amelia would make a great tank.” I grin.
“Your bike still not fixed?” Amelia asks.
“Not yet.”
“Let’s get going. It’ll take us an hour to drive there and at least another hour to hike in,” Richard says.
I nod, opening the passenger door and sliding in. Richard doesn’t take long before he guns the truck, taking us out of Whitehorse and further north. A brief explanation later and I touch my helmet, pulling up the appropriate communication channel.
“Before we reach the dungeon, let’s talk loot,” I say over the channel while watching out for potential trouble.