Shade's First Rule

by A F Kay

  This didn’t look good, and he didn’t know if he was going to survive. Should he yell for Sift? Even if the young man heard him, Ruwen doubted he would make it in time to matter. His quick move to the wall had bought him a little time. In fact, even though the room still crawled with monsters, only one Tube Spider stood between him and the door. If he could kill it quickly and then run, he might make it out.

  He dashed forward and swung the staff as hard as he could. A loud snap echoed in the room as his Staff of Chimes shattered the Tube Spider’s body. The top part fell to the ground, and as the Tube Spider moved, it dragged the finger-leg head around, and the teeth made a terrible gnashing sound. Clicks filled the room as the other Tube Spiders responded to the sight of their crippled brother.

  Ruwen slammed the staff into the head being dragged on the floor, turned, and pulverized the head that was still walking. In seconds, the area around him was covered in black blood. He stared at the dead Tube Spider, amazed that he’d killed it. Ruwen faced the door now that the way was clear. He tensed to run, but something struck him hard in the back before he could move.

  At the top of his vision, a small cloak flashed next to his Campfire buff and then disappeared. He stumbled forward and fell to his knees, the staff flying out of his grasp. Another blow struck him in the back, and he fell forward. His fire was a few feet in front of him, and he crawled toward it. One of the Tube Spiders on his back started digging. He could feel its weight and the pressure of the eight-pronged feet but felt no pain, so he pushed himself up and backward. The Tube Spiders struck the pews with a crash, but he didn’t turn around to look. Instead, he lurched forward, grabbed his staff, and then placed his back against the wall.

  The warmth from the fire felt unpleasant on his sweaty skin, but it had caused the remaining five Tube Spiders to pause. Two still hung from the ceiling across from him, their bodies bent up at an angle, their tube-teeth extended toward him. The other three moved to the right, between him and the door. While he was outnumbered, the staff worked well, and the Tube Spiders were easy to hit because of their length. He swung the staff in front of him and took a small step forward to intimidate them.

  One of the Tube Spiders hanging from the ceiling made a clicking noise, and Ruwen looked at it. A wad of webbing struck his face, covering his eyes and nose. He dropped the staff and pulled at the sticky strands. He gasped air through his mouth, his heart beating frantically, and tried to get the mass off his nose and eyes.

  The room filled with clicking as the Tube Spiders moved in to finish him off. His efforts to remove the webbing only smeared it further around his face, and his hands were in danger of being stuck. He had dropped his staff and couldn’t see to pick it up. The dagger had proved effective against the Tube Spiders, but he didn’t want them that close. If all five attacked at once, he would never kill them all before they killed him. That left the Baton of a Thousand Uses.

  Twisting the baton off the belt on his left hip, he quickly unfolded the first knob he found. He had no idea what it was, but it extended his reach further than the dagger. Fear flooded his body, and he swung the baton with all his strength.

  Immediately he struck a Tube Spider and heard the satisfying sound of its body snapping. Without hesitating, he swung upward and connected with another Tube Spider. Maybe he could do this. Swinging to his left, he didn’t hit anything, and the momentum turned his body, making him stumble. A moment later, a Tube Spider struck his right side and threw him to the ground. His Health still hovered at fifty, and the blow brought it down to forty-five.

  Unfortunately, he landed face-first in his fire. His Health instantly dropped another ten as he screamed and rolled to the side. A horrible smell, like milk left in the sun, filled his nostrils. His nose was clear! Using his arm, he scraped it down his face, hoping to remove whatever webbing hadn’t been burned. His Health dropped another three, and he screamed in pain. His face felt raw, and he worried for a moment about how badly he’d burned himself. Carefully he reached up with his free hand and pulled at the mass over his eyes. The singed webbing dropped away, and he could see again.

  The Tube Spider that had attacked him lay in the fire, thrashing and clicking its teeth. It shot a wad of webbing at him, but it struck his shoulder. He pushed himself up and then immediately brought his baton down on the Tube Spider’s head. The tool he’d unfolded from his baton while blinded turned out to be a shovel, and he smashed it against the Tube Spider until it stopped moving. Black smoke filled the air, and Ruwen pulled his Scar of Freshness over his mouth and nose, worried that the Tube Spiders’ airborne remains might harm him.

  His Health had dropped all the way to thirty-two, 66% of his total gone in a matter of moments, and he still wasn’t finished. The two Tube Spiders he’d hit while blind were still alive and dragging themselves toward him. He stepped forward and swung his shovel down, hitting them over and over until they stopped moving.

  Gasping, he stepped back, putting the fire between himself and the remaining two Tube Spiders. They were both on the ground with their fingers spread and their tube-tongues extended. Remembering what had happened last time, Ruwen dodged as both Tube Spiders unleashed more webbing. A wad of webbing grazed his head but didn’t do any damage. His staff lay about ten feet away. One of the Tube Spiders was only a few feet from it.

  His face throbbed in pain and Tube Spiders had ravaged both sides of his body. The longer he waited, the weaker he’d become. He needed to end this right now. Screaming, he jumped forward, swinging his shovel wildly. Both Tube Spiders backed up, and he recovered his staff. He clipped the baton back to his waist but didn’t fold the shovel away. He’d dropped his weapons an embarrassing number of times during this fight, and he wanted the shovel ready to go if he did it again.

  For the first time, he actually formulated a plan. He’d spin his staff until the distraction effect triggered and froze one of the Tube Spiders. Then he’d hit it as hard as he could. This wouldn’t have worked with six of them, but with only two, he should be able to keep them both in sight.

  Ruwen’s arms trembled as he swung the staff at nothing, waiting for the chimes to trigger. The Tube Spider in front of him stopped weaving its head, and Ruwen immediately leaped forward, putting all his strength into his attack. This time the Tube Spider’s body snapped and then sheared in two, the pieces twitching.

  He turned in time to see the last Tube Spider already airborne as it dived at him. With all his fear, disgust, and pain, Ruwen swung his staff. The Tube Spider’s head vaporized in a black cloud of blood. Without hesitating, he smashed the other head. He struck it over and over until his strength failed him. Falling to his knees, he dropped his staff and pulled the scarf off his face.

  His whole body trembled from exhaustion and pain. Closing his eyes, he tried to control his breathing and slow his heart. Physical fighting had never been an interest for him, so he was entirely unprepared for his body’s reaction. He felt like puking, and his hands still trembled. The future would be full of fights like this, however, and the sooner he learned to deal with it, the better. His chest tightened when he thought about how close he’d come to dying. He could almost hear Hamma’s voice scolding him, and, despite his pain and exhaustion, the thought made him happy.

  The clatter of coins striking the ground made his breath catch. He looked around for the source. Had he missed one of the Tube Spiders? It had been dumb to not ensure the room was safe before resting. Just another mistake he was thankful hadn’t killed him.

  But when he looked around, he didn’t see any more Tube Spiders. In fact, the ones he’d killed seemed to have disappeared. Using the staff, he pushed himself to his feet. Other than his multiple injuries and the black blood covering his body, there was nothing in the room testifying to his near-death experience.

  He reached down and folded the shovel back into the Baton. Both the Baton and the shovel were clean in spite of being used to bludgeon the Tube Spiders. Ruwen on the other hand looked like he’d rolled arou
nd in Tube Spider guts. Which actually wasn’t far from the truth.

  A bag had appeared on top of the altar. It hadn’t been there before. What in Uru’s name was going on here? He approached the altar carefully and used his staff to push on the bag. The brown container looked like leather and was the size of his head. This could be some sort of trap, and his cloak only gave him a 10% chance of detecting them, which was effectively useless.

  “Impressive,” Sift said.

  Ruwen screamed and dropped his staff. His heart felt like it might explode. Turning around, he watched Sift pick up his weapon.

  “It’s dangerous to leave things lying around. She’ll take them,” Sift said, holding out the staff.

  “Don’t do that!” Ruwen said and jerked the staff out of Sift’s hand.

  “What?”

  “Sneak up on me.”

  “Oh, I wasn’t sneaking.”

  “Well, whistle or cough or drag your feet or something. Uru help me, I think you took ten years off my life.”

  “Sorry. And I can’t whistle.” Sift stuck two fingers in his mouth and blew. Air and spit came out in equal portions.

  Ruwen took a step backward. “That wasn’t really my point.”

  Sift tried to whistle again, and even more spit came out. Ruwen held up a hand to stop Sift.

  “What is impressive? And who is going to take my stuff?” Ruwen asked.

  Sift wiped his hand on his shirt. “Blapy.”

  “The Black Pyramid? You mentioned that before. But it’s just a dungeon.”

  Sift’s eyes got big, and he looked around. He laughed weakly and then whispered. “Just a dungeon? Are you stupid? Blapy is a Tier One dungeon. Probably more powerful than that but the scale doesn’t go any higher. Nobody even knows how deep she goes. You better show some respect, or you’ll never leave here alive.”

  Ruwen’s eyes grew large. “We’re in a Tier One dungeon?”

  “Didn’t I say that already?”

  There was only one dungeon near Deepwell, a weak Tier Forty, which was good and bad. It meant those that wanted adventure and leveling couldn’t use it and had to leave, but it also meant Deepwell didn’t have all the problems that accompanied highly trained and deadly people continually passing through.

  Ruwen had never even been close to one. When they were young, Ruwen’s parents had done some leveling in the mountain dungeon two day’s ride from Deepwell, but it didn’t challenge them for long. He loved those stories and had planned to go there himself once he’d made it through Mage School.

  But now, his first day as a Worker, he was standing in a Tier One dungeon. That meant Blapy could handle parties higher than level one hundred. He thought he might puke.

  “I’m sorry, Blapy. I didn’t know,” Ruwen croaked.

  A thought struck him. “Why can’t I see any details about the monsters? I didn’t know anything was dangerous in here until it attacked me. Then I couldn’t tell how much Health they had left.”

  “Your Perception is too low. Eventually, you’ll be able to see things like that. But these creatures have abilities and skills too. So even when your Perception improves, you still might get limited information. Or they might display false attributes to force a mistake from you.” Sift said.

  “This place is dangerous.”

  Sift nodded. “Well, let’s see what you got. I’m shocked she gave you something for killing such low-level monsters. You must have really impressed her.”

  Ruwen doubted that. It probably had more to do with the fact that he was so underprepared and untrained that these basic monsters had nearly killed him. It embarrassed him a little actually. For someone like Sift, this room probably took a few seconds to clear. It had required every ounce of Ruwen’s strength, plus some luck, to survive.

  He placed his staff in the harness on his back, undid the knot on the top of the bag, and dumped it out. A square stack of what looked like the webbing the Tube Spiders had shot at him fell out. Each side of the square was about the length of his hand. He breathed in deeply through his nose at the memory of it covering his face, and then picked it up.

  Tring!

  The Black Pyramid has rewarded you…

  Name: Rod Spider Webbing

  Quantity: 10

  Quality: Uncommon

  Durability: 1 of 1

  Weight: 0.10 lbs.

  Effect: Nullify all bleed effects when placed on wound.

  Effect: +5 Health per second for 30 seconds.

  Description: Will adhere to skin. Use alcohol, not fire, to remove.

  Was the description making fun of him falling into the fire?

  “That looks like the stuff Bendies shoot out their butt,” Sift said.

  “Bendies?”

  “The long spider things that bend in the middle.”

  Ruwen held up the bandages. “They’re called Rod Spiders.”

  “Oh, I guess that’s a good name, too.”

  “Wait, how do you not know that?”

  Sift shrugged. “My interface is the standard one, remember. I don’t get the details you do. Plus, I never take anything, so I don’t get the descriptions. I’ve just made up my own names for everything.”

  “You never take any loot? Ever?”

  Sift shook his head. “Things are a weight on the soul. I try and travel light.”

  “Wow, I don’t know if that’s profound or just really dumb.”

  “It’s a game with her now. Blapy keeps offering me more and more valuable things. She thinks she can beat me.”

  “Okay, I’ve decided dumb. Also, did you say butt?”

  “Yeah, that stuff is disgusting. It shoots right out their butt like some sort of spider diarrhea.”

  For the first time, he truly understood the possible value of the spell Scrub. He wanted to rub his face, but it still throbbed from the burns. Instead, he picked up the item that had been hidden under the webbing, a glass vial the size of his index finger.

  Tring!

  The Black Pyramid has rewarded you…

  Name: Purified Rod Spider Blood

  Quantity: 10 doses

  Quality: Uncommon

  Durability: 1 of 1

  Weight: 0.05 lbs.

  Description: Ingredient in various potions. An excellent hair gel.

  Ruwen ran his free hand through his hair or tried to. His hair had hardened into a tangled mass.

  “Blapy is totally poking fun of me in these descriptions,” Ruwen said.

  “That doesn’t surprise me. She loves playing games.”

  Ruwen opened his Void Band and placed the items away.

  “What’s that?” Sift asked.

  “It’s like a Traveler’s Bag that I can’t lose.”

  “That would be useful.” Sift tapped the Traveler’s Belt around his waist. “I lose mine a lot.”

  Ruwen turned back to the altar. The bag had disappeared.

  “That’s hard to get used to,” Ruwen said.

  “Wait till she materializes a Grabber right behind you. Anyway, you don’t look so great. Let’s get some rest and then finish up here in the morning.”

  Ruwen sighed, relieved that he’d get a break. He wanted to clean the spider poop and blood off himself, go through his notifications, and then read some of the books Tremine had given him. Sleep didn’t sound so bad either.

  “That’s the best idea I’ve heard today,” Ruwen said.

  Chapter 18

  Ruwen expected Sift’s room to be the size of a closet. Instead, it turned out to be larger than the main floor of Ruwen’s house back in Deepwell. Most of it was empty, and Sift explained he practiced his Steps in here, and the extra room made that easier. Their beds were on either side of the door. Sift had a bookshelf that was full of adventure and travel memoirs. He even had one detailing the mountain range next to Deepwell.

  Sift sat cross-legged on his bed, Io on his lap, and the two talked softly, although Ruwen could hear only Sift’s side of the conversation. Whatever story Io was telling,
it made the young man laugh a lot.

  The bathroom next to Sift’s room had a shower, and Ruwen had spent almost thirty minutes under the water trying to get the blood out of his hair. In the end, he had used his Fastidious Dagger to cut most of the blood out. He had never let his hair get too long, but now it stood up straight on his head. Sift approved and said it would make training easier.

  Ruwen placed his dirty clothes in a box outside their door. Sift said they would be clean by the time they woke up. The Black Pyramid certainly had some perks. He leaned back and rested against the stone wall. He opened his log and skimmed until he found where the two Rod Spiders had attacked him at the altar.

  .

  .

  .

  You have been struck by a Rod Spider (Level 1)

  You have taken 10 damage

  You have taken 5 damage (Bleed)

  You have been struck by a Rod Spider (Level 1)

  You have taken 10 damage

  You have taken 5 damage (Bleed)

  You have taken 5 damage (Bleed)

  Your Fastidious Dagger has done 4 damage

  Your Fastidious Dagger has done 11 damage (+4 vibration)

  Your Fastidious Dagger has done 13 damage (+7 vibration)

  Your Fastidious Dagger has done 17 damage (+9 vibration)

  You have killed a Rod Spider (Level 1)!

  You have gained 55 experience!

  You have been bitten by a Rod Spider (Level 1)

  You have taken 15 damage

  .

  .

  .

  The log confirmed what he’d thought. The Fastidious Dagger wanted to remain clean. The longer it stayed dirty, the more violent the vibrations became. He remembered dropping the dagger when it had become too hard to hold. There was one other thing he wanted to check, and he skimmed ahead.