by Tao Wong
“What’s there to talk about?” Aiden’s voice comes clearly over the channel, his West Coast accent tinged with doubt. “We split everything evenly.”
“The Yerick actually use a different system. They give a bigger share to the tanks, the guys taking on the monsters directly, because they have to more stuff to replace. Seemed more fair, whether its potions or armor or just fixing up their weapons.” I detail my recent experience. “I actually thought it was quite appropriate. What do you think?”
“What’s the split?” Aiden asks, his tone doubtful.
I shrug. “I guess we should figure out who’s tanking. Amelia?”
“That’s what I do,” she answers. “How about Richard’s dogs?”
“Well, unless he’s changed recently, they’re mostly kept back a bit to hurt. They harass and deal with leakers so, like Mikito, they don’t really count as tanks,” I reply and get a confirming nod from Richard.
“Great, so we got Amelia as a tank and the rest of us dealing damage. Aiden, I’m assuming you’re our main spellcaster and healer?”
“Yup,” Aiden replies. “Most of my spells are actually support spells, so I’ll be casting them on all of you before we enter. I have a couple of damage dealing spells, but not much.”
I nod slightly, opening my mouth to clarify the split before Mikito speaks up. “John, you should tank too.”
I grunt, rubbing my neck, and nod. “Yeah, I can do that. If you guys don’t mind the pot being split three-fifths to the tanks and the rest among you three.”
“Okay.”
“Yes.”
“Uhh… sure,” Aiden adds last, his voice tinged with doubt.
“John’s a good chew toy. Even without Sabre, he’s very good at soaking up damage,” Mikito clarifies.
Ali smacks his forehead as he listens in on the conversation.
“Why would the bike help?” Amelia asks, and Mikito shuts up, silence hanging in the air. “Guys?”
“Sabre has a few tricks up her sleeve,” I finally answer, grimacing. Well, that cat is partly out of the bag.
“Look, lively people, we’ve got a pair of monkey-horses coming up,” Richard says.
I smile. Good timing, monkey-horse creatures.
“This is a dungeon?” I whisper as we peek over the hill, staring at the encampment laid out before us. A simple wooden wall surrounds a dozen thatched huts, the material for the buildings obviously taken from the surrounding countryside.
“I know, right?” Richard mutters and shakes his head. “Orel found them a week ago, and when he flew over, he got the notification that it was a dungeon.”
“What are those things?” I mutter to Ali, who’s crouched down low too surprisingly.
Beneath us, a small swarm of thin, green, and barely dressed creatures with long ears and big noses scramble around, carrying an array of melee weapons and crude rifles.
“Closest translation I’ve got for you is Goblins. In this case, it actually suits them. They’re... semi-sentient monsters created twenty thousand years ago by a rather mad individual. Give or take a few hundred years. They’re the cockroaches of the Galaxy,” Ali says. “Should be an easy job for you guys.”
“About that…” I frown, shaking my head. “We should report this to the others.”
Richard nods and we head back to where the group is hidden. At his command, the puppies spread out, watching over us as we talk.
Still, I keep my voice low. “So we’ve got a problem guys. Ali…”
I gesture for him to explain about the Goblins.
Amelia frowns, shaking her head. “They have houses?”
“And a wall and a town square. That’s a village down there,” I mutter.
“What’s the problem?” Mikito says, leaning forward and pointing toward the hill. “They’re monsters. We kill monsters because if we don’t, they kill us.”
“Ali said they’re sentient. Maybe we can, you know, talk to them,” I answer. “I’m pretty sure I saw kids.”
“They’re monsters,” Richard says, shaking his head. “They might look human, but they’re not really. Anyway, they’re a dungeon, right, Ali? So they’re not really real either. Just something the System created.”
“Are any of us real anymore then? The System has changed me, you, your puppies drastically. What makes them any less real than you?” Aiden asks, growing intense.
“You siding with them now?” Richard says.
“No, but we should be clear that we are choosing to add to our karmic burden,” Aiden says, lips twisting under his goatee. “We might have no choice to kill to survive, but we must do so with eyes open.”
I do my best not to roll my eyes, though Ali doesn’t bother hiding his snickering.
Amelia shakes her head, crossing her arms. “I came to kill monsters, not little green men.”
“They’re not men. They’re Goblins. Little nasty fuckers who breed like rabbits and, if left unchecked, become a swarm. You don’t want a Goblin swarm. Trust me on this,” Ali says.
“I know what you’re saying, but killing sentients…” My doubt shows in my voice. Ever since I actually talked to Labashi, I’ve been getting occasional nightmares about the Hakarta I killed. Nothing that I can remember, just vague, unsettling memories upon waking. “They haven’t attacked us yet. They’re just living out here peacefully.”
“That’s because they haven’t seen you!” Ali growls. “Trust me, these guys will eat you, your mother, and your bike and ask for seconds.”
Mikito nods firmly. I continue to frown while Amelia keeps her arms crossed in support of me.
Richard rolls his eyes before he finally sighs. “So why don’t we have John try to talk to them then? Ali can translate, right?”
It isn’t that easy of course. As much as I think we should try talking to them, going in dumb is stupid. We plot and plan for half an hour before I finally find myself walking down the hill with Ali floating alongside and grumbling. I understand his reluctance—I’m not entirely happy about the idea either—but since I’m one of the ones protesting genocide, we get the chance to establish peaceful communication.
“Hello, the settlement,” I shout.
Thanks to Ali, my words come out as a weird clicking, grunting noise. Not that I needed to say anything to get their attention. A large number have already started clambering onto the walls, staring at me while wielding crude melee weapons. I shake my head, trying to imagine how anyone could be scared of a bunch of low-level monsters like these, even if they are sentient.
They say nothing, but since they see me, I figure the next step is theirs. Keeping my hands to the side, I walk forward and stop when I get the message.
Dungeon Located!
Warning! The current dungeon has not been categorized at this time due to System limitations. All XP rewards are doubled. Successful completion of the dungeon by a System-registered individual will generate additional rewards.
My nose can’t help but wrinkle as an errant gust brings the smell of unwashed bodies tinged with lemon, rotting garbage, and feces to me. Okay, step one in on-going relations, teaching these guys about soap and water.
“Boy-o,” Ali says worriedly, and my minimap flashes.
I look up and blink as what were a few gray dots have become a flood. “How the…”
I never finish the thought because at an unspoken command, the Goblins open fire, launching a barrage of loud gunpowder slugs and arrows at me. As their attack arcs toward me, they splinter on an invisible barrier that flashes bright white. I snarl, dropping to a knee as I call forth a tower shield from my inventory. I drop it in front of my body as I channel a Lightning Strike spell in my free hand. Aiden’s single-use, short-lived spell, the Guardian’s Embrace, will protect against anything short of a dragon’s breath, but it only lasts a few seconds once activated. It’s his most powerful protective spell but it costs a ton of Mana, which is why he doesn’t use it often.
Even as the spell fades, I see gray dots rus
hing toward me, Goblins dropping over the wall in a wave. I ignore them, sticking my hand far enough around the shield to direct my spell at the range attackers. Lightning escapes my hand, its sudden appearance leaving behind the familiar pungent, almost chlorine smell of ozone. A blink of an eye and the lightning smashes into a Goblin on the wall. I continue to channel the spell, sweeping the wall and watching the lightning dance from body to body. As corpses fall, I cut off the spell and stand to meet the charging warriors. Now that they’re actually trying to kill me, I’m done dithering over the morality of this.
Behind the warriors, the gate has opened and more Goblins flood out, their four-foot-tall bodies spilling out as they try to close on me. As the first Goblin gets within a few feet of me, they fall back, small holes appearing in their bodies, accompanied by the hiss of fast-moving pellets. Standing to my side, firing in a classic two-handed pose, Amelia guns down the attackers with her modified Gauss pistol. Even as fast as she can shoot, the Goblins make it to me, the first launching itself at my shield to pull it aside for his friends.
As the monster reaches the peak of his jump, I pull the shield back into my inventory and let the Goblin meet my fist. A sickening snap of its neck accompanies the body flying backward into its compatriots before I counter-charge, calling forth my sword. I find myself grinning, killing the very creatures I was attempting to speak with. Truth be told, I’m glad they decided not to talk to me. This is so much simpler. Kill or be killed.
I dance through the monsters, blade appearing and disappearing as swords, pistols, maces, and axes flash around me. I’m no legendary swordsman, no impossible anime character, so I get cut, stabbed, and shot, each blow sapping just a little of my health. Sadly, it’s really hard to stack regeneration effects on an individual. Mostly, you can get away with a spell and a potion, or if you’re really good, two spells. Of course, I’ve also got my Skill, which helps as the creatures keep coming and coming.
As I spin a Goblin around by its arm, using it to clear some space before tossing him into his friends, I spot Amelia. Unlike me, she’s staying still in a single position, a sword in her off-hand. She continues to shoot and stab her enemies while a series of five glowing octagons swoop around her, blocking attacks with impunity. Her face is fixed with a look of grim determination as she fights, moving only when the bodies that pile up around her feet get too deep. Even with her Skill, attacks are sneaking in and she bleeds from a dozen different wounds. It won’t be long before she goes down, just like me.
For once, my little Spirit friend seems to be getting his hands dirty. No nasty spells or just floating in front of monsters, incorporeal. He’s swooping in and out, doling out Superman punches before swooping away. While he stays out of the majority of the fight, he still sports a bruise and a cut along one leg that bleeds blue light.
As good as we are, as high level as we are, the fact that we’re literally getting swarmed is beginning to tell. I slice apart a Goblin who’s latched onto my leg and backhand another trying to jump onto me, even as a third stabs into my collarbone with its dagger and hangs off my body while another drops a mace onto my foot. I snarl, spinning in a circle and loosing a Blade Strike that buys me a few moments, the blue cut of power ripping through Goblins. A few seconds to hear the screams and shouts from the other side of the field as the cavalry finally arrives.
The puppies and Mikito smash into the flank of the horde, their attacks ripping a giant hole into the swarm and relieving the pressure on us. Behind them, Richard fires his shotgun in pellet form, raking the archers and riflemen to keep their heads down. Aiden finishes casting a spell and the earth beneath the wall shifts, heaving and rippling in a mini-earthquake. The wall tears apart, its foundations turned to mud. I watch as he stands there, headphones on to drown out the noise, his face pained even as he begins casting another spell. Reluctant or not, Aiden is doing his job. Above, Orel swoops in to aid us, blades of wind slicing ahead of it as it banks.
“About damn time!” Ali shouts as he floats, finally letting go of the Goblin he hoisted into the air and dropping the monster onto its friends.
Freed for a moment to focus, I raise my hand and channel Lightning, playing it across the screaming Goblins. One after another they fall, twitching, then I’m running to help Amelia, hoping I’m not too late. The pile of Goblin bodies that mark where she fell erupts as I close in on it, reformed shields shoving aside Goblins. I breathe a sigh of relief, casting a quick healing spell on her as I absently cut another monster apart. Surprisingly, she isn’t as badly injured as I thought she would be after seeing her go down.
As the horde flees back into their settlement, broken by the sudden attack on their flanks, I pant in relief, Stamina quickly recovering. At least fifty bodies lie on the field before me, even more fleeing back, and untold numbers hidden underneath the collapsed walls. The puppies rush through the rout, biting and tearing apart Goblins with savage ease. As the creatures reach the wall, Mikito and the puppies pull back, returning to where Richard and Aiden eye the wall, joined soon by Amelia and me.
“I thought you said there was around twenty!” Aiden points out, pulling his headphones off his ears to hear my reply.
“That’s all we saw! What the hell, Ali?” I look at the Spirit, who blinks.
“What? We saw twenty, so of course there’re about four hundred Goblins.” At our incredulous expressions, Ali blinks. “My bad. I forgot you guys don’t know that one. It’s like your cockroaches—see a single cockroach, there’s about another twenty hidden. Goblins live underground mostly, so there’s always a lot more underneath.”
“And what, the most dangerous Goblins live at the bottom?” Amelia says incredulously.
“Don’t be stupid. Goblins like fresh air just like we do. The Chief and his guards live on the surface, the others beneath,” Ali replies.
“Four hundred.” Even Mikito looks a bit daunted by that number.
I can’t help but agree with her. Looking at the carnage around us, as blood cools and adrenaline leaves, a part of me feels sick. Blood, entrails, and limbs lay scattered all around, the fallen already rotting. A part of me wonders what kind of loot we could even get from this.
“Richard, you said there were about four or so that Orel saw a week ago?” I ask, and he nods.
I can see everyone doing the math. Four Goblins equals about eighty monsters. That’s another three hundred that appeared in a week. If left unchecked, these four hundred could become a few thousand in another week. No wonder they called them a horde.
“We started this. We need to finish it,” Richard’s voice grows firm as he gestures toward the settlement. “Ten minutes. We loot what we can, then we finish this.”
I draw in a deep breath, pushing aside my doubts and my nausea. He’s right. There’s a job to finish, and whatever I feel, whatever I think, we need to finish it before the Goblins truly become a threat. I reach for that ocean of anger, letting it rise and bathe me in its cleansing clarity. I bend down, touch the nearest Goblin, and pull up its loot. I flinch slightly as I stare at the ear that hangs in my hand.
Yeah, fuck you too, System. Fuck you too.
Dark warrens with ceilings barely five feet high at times filled with smoke and screams. Flashes of pain as Goblins drop from ceilings or crawl from unseen holes. Fire, thrown in close confines, forcing us to switch to gas masks and helmets. Occasionally, very powerful wind spells by Aiden.
Goblins charging us, again and again, until even Amelia is out of pellets and we’re all fighting hand-to-hand, death wherever we go. Monsters clambering over each other, swarming Mikito and bringing her down by the sheer weight of bodies to stab at her, again and again. The pain which I share with her during the attack as Richard punches, kicks, and smashes Goblins with his rifle, Shadow by his side.
Aiden, headset on to drown out the screams and cries, vomiting in the corner, none of us daring to ask if its Mana exhaustion or something else. A Goblin mother, clutching her child as an impromptu shield, u
sing my moment’s hesitation to plunge her blade into my stomach. Richard forced to call Max back from eating a Goblin’s body.
Flashes of pain and death and brutality and finally, finally we’re done.
One last look, then I give the command, none of the others wanting to do it. Cobbled together and real explosives we placed next to magically weakened supports throughout the dungeon go off. At first, nothing happens beyond a small dust cloud and a tremor. Both grow as the ground collapses beneath the dungeon, the burrows burying the corpses and our memories.
When we leave, the only sign of the dungeon is a deep depression and a few scattered bodies for the ravens and other scavengers. No one says anything, faces drawn and haggard as we walk away, blood dripping from our armor.
Gods, I hate this damn System some days.
Chapter 11
“Minion.” My voice drips with scorn when I walk into the City Council’s offices.
After yesterday’s dungeon and today’s hunt, I figured it was about time I updated the Council’s map with my latest findings. I’ve been popping in every once in a while, letting them know of new monsters, new hazards, and the like. Most of the time, it’s Miranda or one of the many other workers in here. This time, it’s Minion.
“Mr. Lee.” Eric’s lips thin and a little part of me grins. Gods, but I really want to punch that face. Just seeing it makes my fist itchy. “What is your business today?”
“Map update.” I walk over to the table and reach for some paper. At Minion’s raised hands, I blink, then I remember a moment before the screen appears.
Eric Roth would like to share map data with you
(Y/N)
I really, really dislike Minion. Perhaps mostly because he’s just so damn efficient at being a bureaucrat. I agree and watch as he blinks, staring into space from my viewpoint. It only takes him a few moments before he nods, swinging his hand up to dismiss the screen.