Paul nodded in approval but inwardly groaned, reminded that these guys were all rookies. "Sure, that’ll work. Just try to be careful you don't stab any of us. Most of you are new to holding a weapon so try to be careful, no flashy movements or power moves, this isn't television and you'll just hurt yourself or someone else."
He then looked at the other two his expression changing to one of hardened anger. "Well what’s the problem you two, where are your weapons?"
Erin avoided his gaze, her eyes downward unable to meet his as she wrapped her fingers around each other in a show of anxiety. "I've got a claw. I think I wear it like a baseball glove. But I don't feel comfortable getting that close up, I’m not a fighter, I’m not strong like the rest of you."
Seraph looked at her arm down towards her wrist where a leather strap wrapped around her forearm that ended in multiple blades. A Cat’s Claw he guessed. It was a weapon he was more used to, far more used to than the mace in his hand. If she wasn’t going to defend herself, he had no issues with taking it from her later.
"Fine." Said Paul irritated, "You can stay with my son towards the back, just make sure you keep him safe. And as for you." He said as he pointed a finger a Jack, "Where’s your weapon?"
"Yeah, about that, I don't actually have one." Answered Jack. "They gave me a defensive piece instead of a weapon." Jack explained as he opened his shirt to show dark chain mail with razor edges. "Basically, anything that attacks me, is going to get hurt too, it’ll help shield me from harm. Your kid can hide behind me too, it's fine.”
Paul glared, furious at the level of cowardice he was seeing between these two but whatever score he was keeping, this was not the time to settle it.
Seraph tried not to be too obvious with rolling his eyes. While technically correct, thornmail did reflect damage back on the attacker, but this wasn’t thornmail, it was razormail, a weapon of the melee fighter, a way to inflict additional damage as bodies crashed into it each and maneuvered in close combat. This was no shield; it was a weapon.
"Alright, new plan." Said Paul "Because wearing razor blades isn’t going to help us right now. So, Jack listen up I'm counting on you. You and Erin will be in the back with Luca. Protect him, if anything happens to him, you’ll have to answer to me. I'll be up front taking the brunt of the attack, and Alexander will be supporting me as he can from the rear with the reach of his spear.
Paul continued shifting his gaze. "Alexander if there’s something I can't kill; I’ll be pitching it back to you to pin down with your spear. Hopefully the lot of you can finish off whatever I don’t kill."
Paul turned to the other man with his hand pointed like a knife " And Jack just milling around in the back isn't going to cut it, you can grab that mop over there and snap it in two. It might not be much, but it’s better than just sitting on your hands and you’ll at least have something to stab with."
Seraph couldn't fault the plan on such short notice, but he had no intention of waiting safely in the back. The dungeon by nature punished those who avoided growth and rewarded those who dared. That was the mark of the warrior, the willingness to engage the enemy and Seraph was willing. He would not allow himself to fall behind due to the well-meaning actions of his father who didn't seem to realize that the action he suggested would put do nothing but endanger him if his growth did not keep up with the demands of the dungeon.
It was a mistake Seraph had seen many families make before as he recalled a memory of screaming families he had separated when he had chosen just those he thought would survive in the dungeon and left or killed the rest.
A loud scream reverberated through the gym as a monster flew through the air and landed with a sickening wet thud on the ground directly in front of them as blood began to spread and pool from the splattered corpse, the moment of truth was at hand.
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." Screamed Erin as she pressed her body against the far wall of the bathroom curling up. "This can't be happening. I make coffee for a living, I can’t do this, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” She started sobbing, throwing her weapon off as she ran into the stall and locked it behind her. They would have to figure that one out later.
Paul gave her a look of contempt, a look Seraph appreciated that his father could give but quickly banished the look as his father's face was replaced with an expression of grim worry as whatever he was going to say to her was quickly cut short as the sound of monsters fighting each other to fit through the gymnasium doorway echoed and filled the air.
His father grasped his knife and motioned with his hands for the rest of them to hunker down and be quiet, Seraph ignored it as he pushed forward to look at the swarm of monsters as his father tried to grab him and haul him back. He needed to know what came through that door, all their lives might depend on it. What he saw made brought him some relief. Short and furry Kobolds, their faces long with a rat like face on skinny pale bodies covered in short matted fur slick with grease and grim, walking hunched over on two legs with long arms that end in clawed hands of three fingers, basic fodder.
Seraph counted twenty-two of the rat faced monsters, but they were not the primary threat that made stood between them and continuing onward. It was the Gigas that stood at the splintered doorway, a giant man-monster that stood feet above a regular person, weighing at least hundreds of pounds, all of thick corded muscle. Though slow, it was deadly, the force of its blows the same as being struck by a moving vehicle, its fists were devastating. It was a monster that Seraph with all his experience did not believe they could beat as they were without a measure of luck and the use of skill Seraph did not believe the group possessed.
He felt hands on the shoulders pulling him back into the relative safety of the bathroom.
As he turned and looked to see Paul and Alexander looking at him like he was crazy. “What are you doing?” Asked Paul. “You could have been killed, what part of listen do you not understand? You need to stay behind me where I know your safe.” From behind them Jack tried to hide a grin as he snickered.
Seraph looked at his father, his own face just as grim, and he hesitated to do or say more, he had not wanted to expose himself more than he already had, but felt he had little choice.
“I needed to know what was coming at us, so I could advise you. Those things on the other side of this wall, there called Kobolds, their nothing, their trash, and we won’t have a problem killing all of them, but that monster that leads them, it’s a Gigas. That’s something that’s going to be hard to kill, if we get trapped in here and it connects an attack, it’ll likely kill all of us. It’s going to be difficult to hurt it too, it has a tough outer skin that’s hard to penetrate.”
Paul looked at him suspiciously, as did the other two men. “Just how exactly do you know this Luca?”
In another life Seraph knew of an old saying that applied here, in the absence of a good lie, tell the truth or at least parts of it. “We don’t have time for that, but I promise I’ll tell you everything when we have the time.”
Paul put his hands on his wrist and Seraph’s eyes lit up in anger as Paul demanded his voice raised, “No, I don’t think I will. Tell me now, tell me why I should trust you on this.”
Seraph responded. “I have the Restart ability. It’s a super rare ability, so I'm discouraged from mentioning it without a good justification. I’ve already used it a few times. When I die, I go back in time to certain points in my adventures. This is one of them. I’ve already been through this battle before.”
Paul seemed to contemplate the viability of the answer, and simply nodded, he would go for it, for now, as would the other men. They might not believe him, but they had few reasons to doubt that what he said was true.
The look Paul gave Seraph let him know that Paul had his doubts and had noticed a few contradictions and things that didn’t make sense. But this was not the time to figure out the reason for half-truths and lies.
"Guys, hey guys, this has been a nice little chit chat you all are having, it re
ally is, but they're here." Screamed Jack as the 1st group of Kobolds approached, crossing the threshold leading away from the gymnasium into the bathroom where they are hidden.
Paul gripped his knife tightly as they braced themselves as Erin stumbled out of the stall sobbing and went to hide beneath the sinks as she rocked back-and-forth unable to aid the party as she quaked with fear and shame.
Eyes moving, Seraph watched as Alexander took up position behind Paul. Something was up with Jack though, Seraph could tell by the way he was shifting his eyes, he was a man looking for a way out. Like a rabbit looking for a chance to run. The weak always had such a look. Seraph moved to back up Alexander, his father making a wordless protest that died in his throat as he realized the safest place for his son was right beside him, even if it was fighting at his side.
As the 1st of the Kobolds ran into the lockers that Paul had pushed over, their movement halted. Their numbers could not easily navigate the wedge that had been created with the bulwark and the entryway. The group couldn’t help but smile as the monsters spoke in their strange language appearing to curse each other as they tripped up each other’s movement, animals.
Seraph knew that they would make short work of the Kobolds. It was never a question to him. Though the Kobolds were monsters, they were weak, unarmed, and unarmored. The only real danger they posed were their numbers and their tails they could swing to try to knock a person off balance. None of which mattered as they funneled together, unable to use the very things that had made them dangerous. The idea to seek refuge in the bathroom had paid off after all.
The first Kobold tried to bridge the gap by forcing its way through the bulwark, its jaws salivating in hunger as it’s clawed hand reached over the overturned lockers trying to pull itself over to get to the other side, Paul thrust his knife forward and upwards with deadly purpose as the knife cut through flesh and lodged into the creatures eye killing it instantly, but got lodged in the monsters thick skull, as the body fell, the knife fell with it.
Alexander worked to cover to the gap as Paul struggled to dislodge his knife. Unlike Paul, Alexander wasn’t looking for kills as he thrust his spear out again and again, looking to stab and injure the mass of Kobolds in front of him. His were not measured hits, but desperate attacks. As he could Alexander used his strength to lift and throw some of the monsters back for Jack and Seraph to kill.
Paul realized he had over committed in his own attack, as he watched Alexander struggle but somehow single handily keep the pressing monsters at bay. Paul vowed to not over commit again as the knife finally came free, giving a discreet nod of thanks to Alexander for keeping the rat faced monsters off of him. Alexander shot him a thumbs up, the movement enough to distract both of them as one of the Kobolds was able to push their defenses slashing with its claws Paul’s face, its fangs aimed for the neck, only to be met by its premature end as Seraph’s mace crashed down on its skull, caving in a side of its face. It fell lifelessly to the ground with an almost shocked look on its face.
A metallic clang hit the ground where the Kobold had fallen, Seraph saw a bronze token, much like what could be found in an arcade had fallen to the ground. He noted it but couldn’t safely collect it yet.
Both men turned to look at Seraph, surprised that he had been able to intervene like that. Seraph yelled at the two. “Pull yourself out of it, there's still a bunch of these things we’ve got to kill. Just try to police up the tokens as you can, that's going to be our ticket out of here.”
The three worked in symmetry as the other two members of their party largely remained uninvolved, Jack occasionally last hitting the Kobolds he was able to get free hits on, and Erin had at least quit sobbing.
They continued their grim work until all the Kobolds were dead their bodies scattered around the floor slick with blood, their own bodies covered in filth and sweat, a deep fatigue setting into their bones, and of the Gigas, not a word or sound as Seraph peaked out and saw it was still right at the doorway leading out of the Gymnasium up into the rest of the school.
As the last Kobold died a series of prompts flashed before each of them, awarding individual experience for their participation and prompting level ups and quest updates. Seraph ignored the level up prompts; he would have to allot his points later when he had a free moment to better map out a build path.
Notification: The Event has successfully concluded. All party members may now freely leave the gymnasium to explore the rest of the school.
Party Member - JACK - Has earned the conditional award of +1 to all stats.
They all looked at him, angry wondering how he managed to cheat his way to the reward when he had just sat back and let the rest of them do the work. He smiled back, knowing the reason behind their anger. "Sorry, sorry guys. It's just I wanted to make sure those monsters were died I went around when you were all busy and made sure that they wouldn't be getting out. Basically, double tap, right? Just doing my job, I’m sorry it worked out like this."
They were all angry with him and Alexander stepped towards him grabbing his shirt and pulling him towards him, yelling. "You didn't deserve to win that; you didn't do anything. You cheated."
With his newly changed strength Jack easily removed Alexander's hands, his smile replaced by a look of cruel disregard. "Oh, I did plenty. I used the resources I had, and already I’m the strongest person here. But I feel bad for this I really do; I am sorry for what it’s worth."
"You don’t seem sorry." Accused Paul. "Otherwise you wouldn't be gloating about how you cheated me or Alexander out of that reward."
"Oh, you’re right." Responded Jack. "I'm not sorry about that. I'm sorry about this." He said as he held up a handful of tokens, and as quick as Seraph was able to realize there were 10 tokens in his hands, he was gone.
Notification: With the loss of a party member, you currently have 3 tokens. You require 37 more tokens for the entire party to advance.
Chapter 9: Discovery
* * *
Seraph felt a blind fury he hadn't felt in an age and from the looks of anger on the faces of the rest of the group, he knew he wasn't alone. It was one thing to be a freeloader and get carried by the group, a freeloader at least wants to grow stronger. It was another entirely to steal the drops.
If there was anything Seraph hated more than the weak, it was a thief and a thief had stolen something precious to him, a ticket out of the second phase of the tutorial. Seraph gripped his hand into a fist, imagining tearing the man's soul from his body, malleable like crimson clay in his hands, destroying piece by piece his immortal being as consequence for the theft. Seraph made a solemn promise to himself and to the dungeon that Jack would be a victim of his wraith.
Notification: An ability of the Black Seraph has been unsealed. Condition met - Make a binding oath while influenced by an emotional impulse.
Notification: Passive Unlocked - The Dark Heart - Aspect of Wrath - When enacting vengeance or retribution, the user’s strength and agility are doubled.
Dark magic began to flow through his veins, showing through his skin like black spiderwebs, and an ominous tense aura began to pulse out from his core in waves. While the others might not have known what was happening to him, they all knew that something had changed, and that Jack’s betrayal was the likely catalyst.
A hand clapped down on his shoulder, calming him, and having calmed down, his new passive buff deactivated and with it the forbidding aura that had been circulating around him dissipated.
"Alright, so that sucked, like that was completely terrible." Lamented Paul trying to salvage the mood as he saw the dark expressions of anger on the faces on their faces. "But I think we've all learned a valuable lesson here about leaving our valuables out." He was trying to make a joke to lighten the mood, but it wasn't well received as neither Alexander nor Seraph smiled at it. He still counted it as a win because the dark tense air around them suddenly dispersed and Erin gave him a small smile from beneath her hiding place.
At least
he had their attention as a leader and as a father it fell on him to try to keep the group morale up and even if they were obviously unhappy, so long as he had their attention, he could work on that. "See you guys, I actually learned a very valuable lesson. Did you know you heal after a battle? I was pretty sure I had at least one stab wound and a few pretty big cuts, scrapes, and bruises, and it's only been a few minutes since the fighting stopped, but it's all gone. That's pretty amazing. Which is a good thing too since that big thing over looks like he’s going to be a handful." Paul explained.
"I'll have to take your word on it, I wouldn't know." Responded Alexander slyly perking up and joining the conversation. "But you know Paul, unlike you with your stab stab action with that oversized knife, the whole point of a spear is to keep a little distance so as to not have to worry about having something you need to recover from after."
It was a good point though Seraph and some good-natured ribbing did help people to bond and in the dungeon having those kinds of bonds with others could be the difference between life and death.
Even he had in his other life counted on those bonds, counted on his comrades. He dismissed the thoughts from his head, he didn't need to indulge in memories of friends from his other life. The present was what mattered, and if he did things right, he would see them again. At least it was good that the others were seeing the miraculous healing of the dungeon themselves. Some things are just easier when seen rather than explained.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." They all turned and looked at the woman who had formerly been sobbing underneath the sink. "I just don't know what came over me, it's like I lost my mind for a minute I just couldn't control myself." Explained Erin as she tried to smooth out lines of bleeding mascara on her face as Paul and Alexander looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
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