by Tao Wong
“Uhhh…” Richard looks confused, his gaze flicking to the girl then back to the man.
“You slept with my wife!” The man stomps over, shoving a table aside and sending it crashing to the floor.
Richard stands up quickly, setting himself for a fight.
“No!” Lana snaps, her Red Queen Aura snapping on. Everyone freezes, dread kicking them in the stomach while she adds, “Take it outside. Both of you!”
Richard blanches at her words, casting an imploring gaze at his sister.
She snaps at him, “Now!”
Richard moves, staying outside of the man’s reach, and when he’s halfway to the door, Lana snaps off the Aura. The man has already turned, his feet happy to obey the instructions of “get away from the scary woman.”
As Richard reaches the door, he’s followed by one last instruction from his sister. “No pets!”
“Not helping him?” I say to Lana while Ali heads off to enjoy the show, already calling out for bets on the winner.
“I warned him this might happen. He’s a big boy. The pain won’t last long,” Lana says, shaking her head. “Idiot.”
“You not worried he’s going to beat up the husband?”
Lana shakes her head. “He might be an idiot, but he’s got a good heart. He’ll take his beating.”
I chuckle softly, and then remembering Patti, I shoot her a look.
She snorts, shrugging. “Before my time.”
“Right,” I add, voice doubtful.
She doesn’t bother explaining herself, and after a moment, I let it go. None of my business after all. The table falls into an awkward silence, punctuated by shouts and cheers from outside as the beating draws a crowd.
Richard finally comes back, sporting a deep shiner and holding his side. “She told me he was dead.”
Patti just shakes her head at him, though there’s the ghost of a smile on her face.
Lana, on the other hand, props her head on a hand while asking, “How did he find out?”
“So about that…” Richard clears his nose, blowing clotted blood into a tissue. “Congratulations? You’re going to be an aunt!”
“Didn’t you fix that?” Lana almost shouts, and he winces.
“I thought so! I think the Beast’s Vitality actually overrode the System fix. I guess going for the cheapest option might not have been the smartest thing,” Richard says sheepishly.
“What are you going to do about it?” Lana’s voice is calmer, though colder.
Patti’s lips are thin and tight, the smile gone as she waits for Richard to answer.
“I don’t think I’m wanted, you know? She’s keeping it, but, yeah…”
“So you’re going to leave her, them, alone?” Patti asks, her voice cold.
Richard looks away from his sister and pales even further. “No. Yes. They don’t want me, I think. I…” Richard draws a deeper than normal breath, wincing. “I just let myself get beaten, damn it. Let me, you know, process this. Figure it out.”
Patti’s eyes flash, and she gets up. “Well, when you figure it out, don’t bother calling me.”
Richard opens his mouth to protest then shuts it with a clack.
Ali, who has finally returned, catches the last couple of sentences before Patti strides out. “I really like her. Can we keep her?”
Chapter 12
“Aiden!” I scream as I grab the stinger coming at my face and use it to throw the gray, eight-legged, bastardization of a scorpion at its friends. Three pairs of eyes and a mouth, with rows of needle sharp teeth, that take up the entire torso help complete the horror of a monster.
Mikito steps back, the naginata glowing with red light as it cuts through the claw targeting her head. Her movement opens up a space for another of the creatures to scramble past, but the monster is blocked by Max as the husky teleports in close enough to tear off a leg.
Aiden claps and the ground ahead of us rises up, earth turned to mud that swamps monsters that attempt to push past it and then hardens. The entrance before us blocked off, we turn our concentrated attention on the remaining monsters. I snarl, severing a stinger that pins Bella to a wall before booting the monster away from the puppy. As the monster rises, I throw my Mana Darts into its face before following up with a Blade Strike that kills the creature. Together, Max, Shadow, and Richard finish off a third while Aiden freezes a monster for Mikito to kill.
Frakin (Level 58)
HP: 980/980
As I dash over to tackle the last Frakin, the impromptu wall cracks.
I snap a command immediately. “Go! Ali, lead them out.”
The group listens for once, fleeing for the exit as I dance back from a pincer strike and cast another group of Mana Darts into the monster’s face. As it rears back, I channel a Blade Strike to rip off its legs, accidentally tearing down a part of the wall. Scrambling through a crack, one of the Frakin gets stuck and chitters angrily. All the monsters on this side are either crippled or dead, so I run for the exit too. It doesn’t take long to reach the entrance to the cavern, where I slap down a pair of bounding mines. A short distance away, I chain together three of the modified claymores before adding the laser tripwire. I spin around, watching as the last of the wall breaks free and the monsters clamber over each to get to us. Bastards. I take the time to cast Polar Zone to slow them down further to give my friends a little more of head start.
Preparations complete, I run down the passage, headed for the dungeon’s entrance. Gods, I hope I’ve bought us enough time.
I didn’t. Thankfully, Aiden took the time to narrow the dungeon entrance before he ran for it. Made for an uncomfortable moment for me, but it was even harder for the damn Frakin to escape. We find ourselves regrouping a distance away, the monsters having decided to give up after circling the entrance for a bit.
“Bella okay?” I ask.
Richard nods grimly, running a hand over his dog. The wounds seem to have closed up pretty well, but he still spends some time looking her over carefully.
“We nearly died!” Aiden says, sounding half-panicked.
For a moment, I pity him. Second time out with me to a dungeon and it’s the second time we’ve run into something outside of our league.
“Easy,” Mikito says, placing a hand on Aiden’s arm.
Aiden looks at it then draws a deep breath, actually saying, “Ommm,” as he tries to center himself.
“He’s right,” Richard adds, standing up slowly. “Those things were tough.”
“Level 55 to 60,” I clarify, and the startled looks from the group makes me smile grimly.
“You can read levels?” Aiden says, pointing at me.
“Yes.” I pause before looking at the others. “We can’t tackle that dungeon alone. We’re going to need more help if we want to do it.”
“Can we smoke them out?” Mikito asks.
I contemplate the question. Last time, we basically poisoned a group of Crilik Shifters in their lair, choking them out with carbon dioxide and a lack of oxygen.
“No idea. It’s a thought.” I swallow to clear my throat once again. “So… another dungeon?”
“Uhh…” Aiden looks worried.
“I know one around here that’s Level 20. The Yerick and I cleared it a few weeks ago. Should be ready for another group,” I add.
The others nod slowly. As good as the bonuses for checking and clearing new dungeons are, we still have to deal with the existing ones too. Anyway, something a little easy would help settle Aiden’s nerves.
After receiving agreement from everyone, we head out while I get Ali to bookmark this location. We’ll be back, one way or the other.
“You okay?” I ask Aiden as he leans against a tree, breathing slowly and regularly.
The others are seated in a loose circle watching the dungeon entrance, slowly relaxing after coming out of the dungeon. A Level 20 dungeon with this group was a cakewalk and we blasted through the location within a few hours. The only thing that slowed us down was
the mazelike corridors that had changed in configuration since the last time I was there.
Aiden looks up, pulling his headphones down as I repeat my question. He opens his mouth, glances to the side where the puppies are tearing happily into their lunch and our most recent nemesis—a creature that vaguely resembled a hippopotamus without its sunny disposition—and turns a little green again. Once more, Aiden shuts his eyes and forces himself to breathe. “I’ll be fine. I just need a moment.”
“You sure?” I ask, slightly concerned. I can’t understand him, not really. Aiden did well in the dungeon and every time we’ve been attacked, but now, when things are quieter, he’s panicking and looking like he’s about to throw up.
“Yes. I just need to find my center. And stop looking at… that.” He waves toward where the dogs are ripping into the body, tearing off chunks of flesh and gulping it down. The crunch of bones and the wet, tearing noises of their meal ripple through the clearing, making Aiden flinch every time. He’s the only one who seems disturbed by it, probably because the three of us are much more used to this scene.
“Okay then.” I pause, considering. “Mind if I ask a personal question?”
“Maybe. It depends on how personal,” Aiden says.
“Why are you out here? You’ve got a pretty good gig in the city, teaching and training. You might not earn as much as a hunter, but I can’t see you being poor.”
“Don’t want me here?”
I shake my head. “I’ll take all the competent help I can get.”
“I need to Level,” Aiden replies. “It’s, well, I need it. Leveling is the only way to be safe in this world. I need more Skills, more Spells, all of it. Being weak in this world, you die.”
“Yeah, there’s not much space for the weak.” I look around us, at the corpse of the monster being torn to bits. “You going to be okay doing this then?”
“Yes. I have to be.” Aiden slowly straightens up, exhaling one last time. “How about you? Why do you do it?”
I open my mouth then shut it, lips twisting wryly. “Well, I’m kind of stupid.”
I’m running back through the evening summer sunlight, breathing in clear, clean air filled with fallen pine needles and the remaining spring flowers. I enjoy the fresh air, especially after having just escaped the twisted, poisoned air of the land behind me. The world is changing and so is our environment. The trees in that particular location have warped to become poisonous, releasing a nearly undetectable toxin that starts doing damage only after it hits a certain toxicity level. If it hadn’t been for my Class Resistances and my greater than normal regeneration rates, I’d never have escaped. I’ve got the location mapped, and I’ll need to come back at some point to work out how large and how dangerous a threat these new trees are.
At the least, after escaping the trees, hunting was good. I even found a relatively newly spawned Boss. I only needed to wade through a half-dozen of its minions before I got my chance to chop off its twisted, bulbous legs then carve its heart out. I know it sounds gruesome, but I couldn’t figure out where its head was in the weird, knobby sphere that made up its body. Cutting bits and bobs off it didn’t seem to actually kill it, so heart it was. Sometimes, mass violence is the only answer.
Coming in from the wrong side of the river, I decide to dive in and swim across. I don’t like the water, but considering it’ll take me all of three strokes before I’m across, it’s a lot better than running to the nearest bridge. One day perhaps I’ll be able to bridge the distance with one solid jump.
Running through the industrial lands that make up this part of the city, I can’t help but note how the buildings have begun to come apart. Wood rots, plants grow between cracks, and roofing sags under the onslaught of untamed Mana. Without being brought into the System, these buildings will eventually come apart at the seams—unless they get converted into something else of course.
First stop for today is the butchering yard, then the Shop. By the time I reach Whitehorse, even at the slow jog I’m moving at, I’m nearly dry. Love these high-tech one-piece suits, even if this one needs replacing soon. Somehow, a wild boar had made its way into the wild and doubled in size with some truly nasty tusks. I hadn’t even heard it coming till it was on me, which was surprising in itself. Either way, the armor took most of the damage but would need fixing.
A crowd around the butchering yard isn’t unusual. The size of this crowd is, and I find myself slowing down, checking for potential problems. I find it in the haggard-looking form of Rachel and another member of the Brothers of the Wolf. Jim stands next to them, speaking softly while the crowd mill around the trio.
“…not your fault…”
Reading Jim’s lips from this distance is hard with the way the crowd keeps shifting, so I give up, instead threading my way through the group. My eyes narrow slightly as I note it’s a mixture of First Nation civilians and hunters.
“You should rest,” Jim murmurs, putting a hand on the shoulders of the pair.
Rachel flinches away from his hand, and the young First Nation teenager’s face is filled with tears but obstinate.
“No. We have to go back, we have to help them!” Rachel cries, looking around desperately for help and latching on to me. “John! Please. You have to help me. Please!”
“Uhh…” I pause as the crowd parts. I step forward, looking between Rachel and Jim while the other teenager continues to shake.
“Please!” Rachel rushes up to me and grabs my hand. I let her take it, staring at her as she blurts out, “I couldn’t… they told me to run. But they were stuck, we’ve got to save them. Please.”
My eyes widen slightly and I look at Jim, who shakes his head ever so slightly. I draw a deep breath, looking at the distraught girl, then nod slowly. “Okay, I’ll go. Ali, map projection.”
When the map comes up, Ali shares it with Rachel. who bites her lip, staring at the map. She stares at it for so long that I have to clear my throat.
“I don’t know. I… I’ll just show you,” Rachel blurts out.
“No. You’re not going, Rachel,” Jim says, his voice brooking no argument.
He glares at me, but I ignore him, focusing on the other kid, who has begun to stare at the map too. “Kid, do you know where you were?”
“I… maybe.” He raises a hand then lowers it.
“If you tell me, I’ll go. Alone,” I urge him, holding out the carrot of rest.
He presses a hand to the map and I watch as a small blinking dot appears. I nod in thanks.
Rachel grabs at my arm again. “I’m coming.” Her voice breathy and desperate, she digs her fingers into my arm.
“No.” As she opens her mouth to protest, I cut her off. “You’ll just slow me down.”
She clamps her mouth shut, knowing that I can move faster than she can. Her goal complete, she deflates, tears refilling her eyes and running down her face. “Please, save them.”
“I’ll check out the spot.” My voice soft, I make sure not to promise anything.
Another woman comes up, grabs Rachel by her arm, and pulls on her. The tired young lady gives in, letting herself be led away.
Jim looks at me, his eyes dark. “I’m coming. Unless you think I’ll slow you down too.”
“Got a truck?” I murmur, keeping my voice low to ensure Rachel can’t hear.
He nods, and I gesture for him to get moving. Jim’s lined face tightens as he turns and leads me to a nearby red pickup. A pair of hunters peel off to join us. As he puts his hand on the door, he’s stopped by a toddler who rushes his legs, hugging his body.
He bends down, rubbing the child’s head. “I’ll be fine, Aya. I’ll be fine. I got to go.”
She hugs his leg again, refusing to let go, and finally has to be pried off by a harried-looking youngster.
I keep silent till we’re out of the gates, following the map we’ve shared with Jim. “Your granddaughter?”
“Yes,” Jim answers tartly. I nod as he puts his foot to the accelerato
r, taking corners a little faster than I’d like. After a time, he says what we both know. “They’re dead, you know.”
“I know. Do you have more details?”
Jim falls silent, chewing on his thoughts. “Not much. They were sweeping the area, looking for Boss monsters. It seems like they found one.”
“Levels? Type? Strength?” I ask, and Jim shakes his head.
Joy.
“Ali, how far can you range now?” I ask my Spirit, watching as we slowly, ever so slowly, close in on the dot.
“About five kilometers from you in these Mana densities. You want me to check it out when I can?” Ali asks.
I just nod. It’s better than nothing, and Greater Awareness should keep us safe enough while he’s gone.
“Can do, boy-o,” Ali says.
I close my eyes for a moment. There were six Brothers before Rachel joined, so if one came home with her, we lost five. And they were some of our most promising new hunters to come out from our training program.
I bite my lip, forcing myself not to curse as we make our way through the forest and carefully hike up the mountain. Jim and his hunters are so damn slow. I could have run to the marker by now! I push the anger down, knowing it isn’t worth it. It took us nearly an hour and a half to drive out this far and Rachel would have taken just as long, if not longer, to come back. Whatever happened happened a long time ago, and rushing now would add nothing but four more bodies.
Still, I can’t help my impatience. I’ve released my drone as well as Ali in the hopes of picking up more information, but unfortunately, the drone was smashed an hour after release. A massive bug launched itself from the treetop and landed on it, ripping fuselage and wings off before attempting to feast on my expensive piece of junk. Since Ali can only range a set distance from me, I’m stuck waiting as we hike the rest of the way in.
I grit my teeth, and to stop myself from killing anyone, I pull another chocolate bar from my inventory and chew on it. The taste, the motions, the sugar rush all help a little. Jim flicks a glance to me, his lips tightening, but he says nothing as the group sneaks forward. I wonder if he’s more annoyed that I’m better than his group is at sneaking or that I’m eating. One of the benefits of my Subterfuge Perk is that I’m quite practiced at these stealth skills.