Ruins of Majesta: Vol. 2.1 Creatures and Cupcakes

by Taj McCoy El

  Time to get moving.

  He opened the door and slowly took the first step out. I want this to look like a normal-speed step. He feigned a second step and slid a 180 to the left winding up behind the knocker, his right arm brushing the extending foot as he moved. surprising his attacker from behind, he shoved them forward into the room using their own momentum. He moved further down the hallway to his left. After ten quick steps he heard the person scramble back out of the room and out into the hallway. Mo listened intently but the individual only took a few steps and stood there without giving chase.

  Mo kept walking down the hallway and disengaged speed to regen stamina as Speed ate stamina like cookies. He crept lightly on his feet until he heard a floorboard creak about two feet in front of him. He turned the Speed back on and agilely moved his head to the left and received a glancing blow to his ear.

  You have been attacked

  ???

  Level ???

  -5HP Glancing Punch

  237/242HP

  You have received a Debuff

  Ooooh that stings -3% Endurance

  Timer 1:00 Minutes

  Without stopping, he unleashed six quick punches where he thought this person’s head was. He whiffed two of them and connected on the last four. Using a C-step, he stepped behind the assailant’s leg and pushed his shoulder through. The body fell to the floor, and he rushed past the downed attacker and ran directly into a wall losing 10HP.

  through the confusion of the stars in his darkened vision he heard the body stand up but it didn’t give chase. He let the speed drop again, and rubbed his sore nose checking tenderly for splinters and scrapes. With his back to the wall he felt along to the left and right and was met only with corners and more walls.

  Gnarlz!!! I went the wrong flarfing way.

  He paused for a few minutes letting his stamina recharge to full and his health come up 30HP, and then slowly edged toward the knocker he had knocked down. He heard the floorboard creak and engaged his speed. He leaned back and raised his foot quickly lashing out with a stomp kick pushing his attacker back down the hallway. Mo ran forward and planted a double foot kick to his chest and knocked him over again. He rushed further down the hallway, his burst of speed turning off again. His head swiveled left and right, listening for any sound. The only thing he heard was the last guy picking himself up again and a few incoherent mutters. He knew he was close to the door to his room again, but he had lost count of his steps. He moved over to the wall, left hand stretched out in front of him and feeling along the wall while listening for any movement.

  As soon as his fingertips touched the door frame, rough hands grabbed him, slamming him against the wall. He bounced away from the wall slightly dazed. A kick crushed into his shoulder and flipped him through the air. He crashed painfully through the closed door. Thankfully, neither his head nor the door shattered, but he skidded to a stop on his chest like an ungainly penguin and heard the door slam closed. He coughed to restart his lungs and read his damage notifications

  You have been attacked

  ???

  Level ???

  -29HP Battering Charge

  183/245HP

  You have been attacked

  ???

  Level ???

  -43HP Sparta Kick

  140/245HP

  “SHAZ!!!” he yelled into the darkness. He crawled up and found a wall to lean against. Resting there, he regained some stamina and HP, happy for his speedster’s regen bonus. He had a thought and smiled.

  This reminds me of dad’s old kung-fu movies …Especially…the eighteen bronzemen. This was an old Shaw brothers’ kung-fu flick where shaolin monks had to battle past bronzen kung-fu fighters. Some had acupressure points you had to hit to stop completely, some just battled until incapacitated.

  Mo smiled as he realized this was an old school gang initiation. A blind gauntlet. He sat there and closed his eyes to rest, regen, and plan.

  Ten minutes later he was ready to try again and found the latch. He opened the door and listened. His hearing strained. He stood there, ears reaching out into the hallway. A tiny creak of leather let him know where his first opponent was.

  Now to dodge the Sparta kick and go left.

  He took the first tentative step out nothing happened.

  “So, whoever you are,” he said into the darkness, “you ready for this?”

  There was no answer.

  Mo engaged his speed and did a standing front flip to the left. The sparta kick caught him in one foot and only his agility and Acrobat Skill let him land in a roll. He came up in a fighting stance facing Mr. Sparta kick.

  You have been attacked

  ???

  Level ???

  -7HP Sparta Kick

  238/245HP

  There was no sound or movement, so he deactivated Speed. His ears strained to hear any noise in the silence. He’d lost his sense of distance with that roll and had no idea how close the next attacker was. He made himself small by crouching, his eyes closed, his head bowed, and he slowly rotated his head back and forth to catch any noise. He slid his foot forward one slow step at a time trying not to leave any openings in his stance.

  He felt a whoosh of air push towards his face and tried to dodge to the side but felt the pain explode in his face as he lifted from his feet by the force of the blow. His back crashed into the ground, and he laid there in the darkness staring up at the stars confused.

  You have been attacked

  ???

  Level ???

  -97HP Swinging Log (Critical Hit)

  141/245HP

  You have received a Debuff

  Stunned

  Timer 3:00 Minutes

  Rough hands grabbed Mo by the feet and dragged him down the hallway. Splinters and loose nails scratched at his back drop his HP by tiny bits. He felt the dragging change direction and knew he was being pulled back into the room. He struggled weakly to grab at the doorframe and received a blow across the arms that tore his grip loose.

  You have been attacked

  ???

  Level ???

  -15HP Soccer Kick

  107/245HP

  His legs were dropped and someone stepped over him the door slamming in their wake. Mo laid there breathing for a bit, his mind slowly coming into focus as the pain receded. His first thoughts were the realization that breakfast was probably gonna be cold.

  Stupid Mayah. She had to get stuck in this meat grinder of a game. Gnarlz…

  ✽✽✽

  Two and a half hours later, Mo had made it down the hallway and the flight of stairs that followed, past seven more goons and three more traps to make it there. He had succeeded at traversing the next hallway and making it to the top of the next flight of stairs before being stunned and dragged back to his room. The steps had banged the back of his head up pretty good. Whenever he struggled on the return trip his opponents would attack him as he slid past. It had earned him two abilities. One was called Punching Bag, it had level up to 4 already. It gave him a bonus of +1 to constitution for every level. That he sorely needed and appreciated. Every time it leveled, it filled his HP bar half of the way to full.

  The second was rolling hit. At level 3 it added +9% to constitution. It also allowed him to shave that same percentage off of attack damage if he rolled with the blow, but only if performed correctly. He had gained 58HP leaving him at 303HP total and his regen sat 13.21HP per minute. That’s an almost 4HP boost per minute!

  It may not seem like a lot but I’m starting to realize how squishy I am.

  He lay on the floor feeling his injuries slowly fade detesting his slow progression except for the sarcastic ability messages with each level up

  Mo thought with profuse venom, Oh…now, you can MAYBE…dodge a wrench…maybe.

  He tried to figure out a way he could battle through this gauntlet and finally complete the task. He had memorized which attack came from which attacker and had learned from his previous mistakes. So, did they. If they
were downed or pushed too far from their spot they would stop attacking until he tried to backtrack. With a loud sigh he rolled over to attempt it once again. He really didn’t want to be here getting his butt whooped all day. He was determined to make this his last run. He lay there quietly until his HP was full and quietly made his way to the door.

  When he located the latch, he stopped and took three deep breaths to calm himself, and then threw the door open. He activated speed and placed his right foot halfway up the door frame and used it to jump on the first attacker crashing him into the wall, and then the floor. He rolled to the left to get out of his area of attack and slid a foot forward to find the trip wire ducking the log that threatened to ring his bell. His new detect trap skill was now at level 3.

  Moving forward he dodged the punches aimed at his midsection with rolling hit and brought his knee up into his attacker’s stomach. This pushed the attacker out of position and Mo moved forward. He heard the whistling of the rod that moved towards him and ducked. He sent out a low kick around knee height and heard the attacker fall to the floor. He scrambled to get past them as quick as he could. At the top of the stairs He slowly lowered himself down onto the first step then the second. He prepared himself to step over the third step because that one was loose and would cause you to stumble all the way down the stairs. The fourth stair was in the attack range of attacker number four. He leapt over the third stair and slammed two feet into number four’s body. Mo landed on his side on the steps, ribs spasming in pain but heard number four crashing down onto the landing below.

  He rose holding his side and walked down towards the angrily muttering attacker and stepped over him.

  “You better not come back this way.” He heard hisspered through the darkness.

  I guess that’s extra motivation? Mo gulped in fear before continuing.

  From experience he knew five and six were blocking the hallway side by side. One would kick the other would punch. The problem was they would switch places Mo couldn’t tell which side each type of blow would come from.

  He took his time and let his health regen for a few moments as he listened to the darkness. When he was ready, he activated Speed and got a running start, and then threw himself at where his two attacker’s legs should be. He succeeded in bowling them over and getting a nasty kick in the shoulder as he did so.

  He kept rolling over top of the two attackers using his speed and momentum carry him past their attack zone. Number seven could be anywhere between five and six’s spot and the top of the next staircase. Then there was the trap at the top of the stairs.

  Mo inched forward all his senses on high alert. In the darkness, there was a lot you could hide in twenty feet of hallway. Almost to the steps he heard a creak above him and attempted to dodge but two feet slammed into his chest. Mo stumbled back and rolled sloppily. He stood up instantly not wanting to get dragged back past the guy he drop kicked on the stairs. He found out he was within range of five and six. He could tell because a kick to his back pushed him forward to number seven. He activated Speed and rushed forward only to trip over an outstretched leg and tumbled forward mercilessly. He righted himself and spun to number seven, but his momentum sent his back-foot sliding over the lip of the staircase. His foot came to rest on the top step. Mo lost his balance but dropped to a knee, the falling log passed harmlessly over his head, and he knelt there to breathe for a moment. He listened for number seven and hearing no movement he turned to make his way down the steps.

  This is all new territory

  The step suddenly dropped out beneath him. His back slammed into the now inclined plane where he slid down the stairs that had turned into a slide. As he shot out of the bottom of the staircase he slammed into a wall and was kicked mercilessly. He feigned being stunned and when rough hands grabbed his foot he kicked as hard as he could where his attackers head should be. He connected, hearing the crack and feeling the hand slip. He did a kip-up and spun charging past number eight, the one he had kicked in the face and directly into the arms of a second attacker who growled at being rushed. Mr. Nine wrapped him in a bearhug under his arms and picked his feet off the floor. He activated god arms and pummeled the man’s hairy face then pulled on his smelly beard. Nine dropped him to the floor where Mo dragged him around by his facial scruff. Spinning him into a wall. He hurried past and slowed.

  I need some regen.

  With his hit points at 56, he slowly inched forward into the unknown with speed off for the regen bonus. Inches passed as his stamina and HP rose slowly. Right in front of his face, he held his forearms at 90 degrees from the floor bracing for any impacts. He was crouched low keeping everything in tight. In his mental landscape he felt the shadows on his left move. Out of reflex he moved his guard down and to the right. The kick landed across his forearm and bicep pushing him to the left, doing 13DP. He turned to where he supposed his attacker was and suddenly saw the shadows move behind him. He rolled forward feeling another kick glance across his back.

  Mo came up and was about to step forward and felt there was something directly in front of him and put out a hand to block it. It came to rest on the wall. A shadow pulse behind him forced him back into action. He dove to the side trying to get past this attackers zone. He grunted landing a few feet away on all fours like a frog, and then activated Speed scrambling a few feet down the hallway.

  He stood with his back to the wall and his guard back up. His ears registered nothing past his ragged breathing. Beneath his closed eyelids the shadows seemed to swirl as if only a mist and not true darkness. From his right he felt the shadows move toward his head. He tried to duck and cover up which resulted in a stinging blow to the temple. Rolling Hit kicked in, and he was only hit with 11DP.

  He felt another wave roll across the shadows towards his abdomen. He rushed forward dropping his guard and catching the leg and lifting. He put on a burst of speed and slammed the attacker into the opposite wall and heard him let out a deep gasp. Mo let go with his right hand and triggered God Arms and with his speed active rapidly struck four times in the no-no zone.

  “Nnnnnnnngghhh….” The barely audible whine escaped the attacker like a balloon squeak. A hand reached out grasping his shoulder. It had no strength, it was merely an attempt at staying upright. At this point Mo realized he was the only thing holding this person aloft and stepped back letting them crumple to the floor. It left Mo feeling satisfied and also a bit guilty.

  I hope I never find out how that feels.

  He began inching forward again the only sound was his breathing and the quiet sobs from number nine. He reached the end of the corridor and found a closed door. He felt the wall to his left looking for another staircase and found another door. He went to the right finding another door.

  Looks like I gotta choose.

  He chose the center door and slowly opened it and felt himself instantly pelted with what felt and sounded like bean bags. They only did 3DP but he was almost down to his last sliver. He reached in and rapidly closed the door. Falling back to the floor he rested and let his regen take over.

  Ten minutes later and with a half of an HP bar, Mo kept an ear out for number nine and crept to his feet.

  Which door should I go through this time? Right or left

  He used the eeny-meeny-miney method and went left. As the door slowly opened, he heard a low rumbling growl made by something big.

  Nope, nope nope…going the other way.

  Mo stepped over to the last door and slowly opened it. He hadn’t realized he had opened his eyes and was met with bright morning light streaming in from the outside. He raised a hand to shield his eyes and blinked rapidly. As he left the basement, he was flooded with dings.

  Ding!!!

  New Ability and Title unlocked

  Dirty Fighter Level 1

  You like to win a fight any way you can. Bottles, bricks, rocks, or strikes to the no-nos, you refuse to let anyone get the better of you.

  +1 to attack damage when you use a sneaky, u
nderhanded, or low blows.

  Ding!!!

  New Passive Ability

  Omen Shadow Level 1

  In total darkness, your shadow surrounds you like an early warning system. Any motion around you for a space of 3 inches will be seen with your minds eye.

  +1 Perception

  He had come out of a doorway beside the steps to the knocker’s hideout. He hadn’t noticed it before. Up and to his left were the steps up to the front door.

  Treegan was leaning over the railing and smiling at him excitedly. He then rushed to the door and in his slow rumbly voice said, “He finally made it out.” He gave Mo one last goofy look and went through the front door.

  Mo’s stomach growled as the smell of breakfast washed over him from the door. He climbed the steps as fast as his tired body would let him. Now that he truly had an appetite, he was in a rush to get some food. As he passed through the door, he saw Mephi leaning back in his chair, his belly strained out of proportion, empty plates strewn across the table in front of him. Ziggs floated next to Mephi and rotated towards Mo when he entered the room.