by Konrad Ryan
*Health: 20/20*
Tad’s jaw dropped. One point of constitution increased his health by ten! He doubled his health with one point. He could raise his max health to 160 if he wanted to! Tad increased his constitution further. Relief flooded his body with each point, pushing his health further. He should have done this from the beginning. This whole dungeon would’ve been infinitely safer this way, although it might’ve taken more time. Well, except for the ambush. Tad barely had enough mana to get through that fight. Maybe he’d made the right decision.
A pinching sensation across his waistband pulled at his attention as his constitution reached ten. A melodic chime rang throughout Tad’s head.
*You unlocked the passive skill ‘Health Bars!’*
Tad hardly read the message as he looked down at his body in shock. He was fat! He was fifty pounds heavier than when he’d woken that morning. Had increasing his constitution done this? Tad blinked incredulously. He couldn’t believe it. He’d never been fat in his entire life! He’d barely been a hundred pounds this morning, but his body filled out. And not in a good way! His chest sagged, his arms looked thick and beefy, but without accompanying muscles to make it look good, as it did on Gruff. He just looked like a skinny fat kid. A wave of embarrassment washed across Tad’s face. He was suddenly glad his own shirt was destroyed earlier in the dungeon. Gruff’s overly enormous shirt hid most of Tad’s changes.
Increasing constitution made you fat. That was the stupidest thing ever! Tad put nine points into constitution but how could he explain gaining fifty pounds to his party members! How could he fix this? Strength would probably add muscles beneath the fat, but what would dexterity do? Increasing his magic stat hadn’t caused physical changes. Why couldn’t all stats be like that?
Tad wasn’t the only one to notice his body’s changes.
“Woah, Kid. Are you okay? Your entire body is swollen like crazy! Was the green slime poisonous?” Gruff’s face held an incredulous look, almost as if he was wondering if poison could even make someone swell that much. A red bar of health floated above his head. It made it hard to pay attention to the man.
Gruff’s eyebrows furrowed to a more quizzical look. “When was your rebirth ceremony again?”
“Uhh… The night before last…” Tad’s voice sounded foreign, thicker to his ears. He didn’t like it.
“Well, that could explain it… sometimes it takes a week or more to bring your body up to speed.” Gruff grinned. “Don’t worry, Kid, fat guys make the best healers and tanks both. You might be useful after all.”
Gruff said it like a compliment, but it stung. Hadn’t he been useful already? Scar laughed outright at Gruff’s words, but Gruff looked at him puzzled, unaware that his words contained anything more than praise.
Tad had six stat points left. So far in the dungeon, his two biggest concerns were met. Being able to dish out damage and being able to take it. But a third loomed, even larger than the second. Everything was too fast for him. Without Gruff pulling him out of harm’s way and throwing him into danger, Tad was practically useless. Speed and reflexes sounded like dexterity, but it was hard to know unless he tested it out.
With one point Tad didn’t feel different. The next either. But by the third point of dexterity Tad could feel his body slim and tighten in strange ways. His muscles didn’t grow bigger, but they felt more stable. The slimy ground underfoot felt more solid. With his fifth point into dexterity, Tad’s balance heightened. The slippery ground now felt like concrete beneath his feet. His body no longer felt heavy, but light on his feet even. His girth shrunk somewhat, but the body under his shirt looked even stranger than before. Could you look both fat and skinny at the same time? Because he did.
Tad gave a little hop on his feet. He felt light. Light and fast. He wanted to run, run and see just how fast he’d become. He gave a relieved laugh. As long as he kept leveling up Tad had full control over how his body looked. He wasn’t stuck being a fat kid forever.
With his last point, Tad placed it into constitution. Dexterity was nice, but health was his literal life pool. Who knew when one more health point could save your life? Tad brought up his stats page, inspecting his handiwork with pride.
*Tad Harrington
Rank: Civilian
Level: 5
Health: 110/110
Mana: 12/12
Str: 1
Dex: 6
Con: 11
Mag: 6
Cou: 5
Cha: -9*
Tad was making progress. It wasn’t his ideal stat distribution, but it was better than nothing. He wanted more strength, and he wanted to make his charisma positive, but neither seemed important stuck in a slime dungeon, where the monsters were immune to both physical attacks and charm.
Gruff stood. Rest time was up. “Same plan as usual. We support Bunta as he destroys the boss. Distract it as much as possible without drawing aggro. If it’s a slime, all bets are off, protect the kid and hope for a long protracted battle. Our chances are slim, but we’ve been through worse.” Gruff seemed like he was trying to convince himself as much as everyone else. “Kid, stay next to me, I’ll keep you up as long as I can. Terrance, you got the bosses flank, Becca, use your bow, rotate away from the boss. Once again, do not draw aggro. Bunta, well, you do you.”
Bunta? Tad had heard that name a few times now, but still had no idea who it was. Looking from person to person he found Gruff, Scar, Blondegirl and… Tad’s eyes opened wide. Standing directly next to Gruff was a blip, a blur. Its form seemed to shift and shimmer to avoid notice. Even though Tad found the figure, he couldn’t even see any clear features on its face. It was a spectre, a shadow.
“What is that!” Tad blurted the words before he could stop himself.
Gruff let out a slight laugh.
“That’s Bunta. He’s our ace-in-the-hole. Our only warrior rank slayer. Although he should be more of an assassin if they had one of those. I’m surprised you could see him at all. Most civilians can walk right into him without noticing.”
“I thought warriors couldn’t enter soldier dungeons.” Tad said.
“You’re right. Most of the time it’s impossible for a warrior to enter a soldier dungeon. Bunta here is an exception. He has a pendant, a necklace, that allows him to enter soldier dungeons. That’s why we pay him so much. He keeps us alive. Practically solos the boss.”
Tad couldn’t fathom there was a person there. Even at six dexterity, Tad could barely see the man. Just how high of a dexterity stat did this Bunta have?
Occasionally, Tad could see through the shadows, the mirage covering the man’s form. His eyes pierced the shadows, just for a moment. What he saw surprised him. A pleasant-looking rotund Asian man was smiling at him. Tad had envisioned some monster in the shifting shadow, not some chubby-looking businessman. Bunta’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, as Tad’s eyes found his. Just as quickly as Tad had found the man, he disappeared.
“Give it your all and we might just get out of here alive.”
Tad was the last to place his hand upon the ornate door, the bottom left handprint. The golden metal was cool to the touch. As the five hands pressed into their respective slots, the mysterious text on the door grew white hot. The words shifted and changed before they disappeared. The door vanished along with it.
Darkness filled the interior of the boss room. The natural illumination of the glowing slime trails didn’t extend within. Black mist pooled before the door where it halted, as if an invisible barrier held it at bay. Blondegirl ruffled through her bag for a second before she pulled out two small bronze-looking spheres etched with strange symbols. She gave the rest of the party a knowing look. Apparently, this was still within the realm of expectation.
Gruff walked through the mist without hesitation. The party followed. The fear of the unknown drew the five of them together like an invisible magnet. A deep grinding sound erupted from behind them. The ground underfoot vibrated violently until it abruptly stopped. Without
looking, Tad knew the entrance to the boss room had shut. There was no escape.
“Illuminate! Illuminate!” Blondegirl’s voice rang out from the darkness as two spheres of white light exploded to banish the darkness. The mist evaporated in the presence of the two orbs. The glowing spheres were so bright they hurt to look at as they floated twenty feet in the air, on opposite sides of the gigantic boss room. Tad felt sick at what he saw.
“Raekast’s balls! Look at that, there are three of them!” Scar’s words mirrored all of their thoughts.
Directly in front of them sat a massive red slime at least twenty feet tall and just as wide. It was at least three times larger than the one that had awaited them in the tunnel. Had that been their only enemy, they might’ve been able to handle it. Diagonally behind the party, two massive blue and green slimes sat as motionless as the red, and just as big. They were surrounded.
“Balls? Wasn’t Raekast a girl?” Bunta paused, his voice pleasant and melodic. “The slimes aren’t the boss. Something else… is coming from there.” The enigmatic form of the man pointed toward the red slime. No. He wasn’t pointing at the slime, but through it.
Through the translucent red slime, an entrance to a second cavern loomed. Dread gripped Tad’s stomach harder as a dull buzzing noise grew until its high-pitched vibration shook the entire boss cavern. The boss arena differed from the slimy, almost gelatinous tunnels of the dungeon. The dirt floor beneath vibrated as tiny stones and dirt clumps bounced. Something fell from the walls and ceiling, dislodged by the vibrations. Bugs. Bugs covered every inch of the arena’s walls and ceiling. Just what was this place!
“On your toes, be ready.”
The red slime stretched and deformed inward, as if being pulled into the cavern behind it. Without warning, it launched toward the party. The gelatinous lava flew to consume him. It was too big, too fast. It would engulf him in an instant. Incinerated down to the bone, digested just moments later.
A muscular hand gripped the back of Tad’s shirt, his collar choked him as he was tossed out of the path of the slime. The force of the throw was immense. How could a human be that strong? Tad bounced like a spineless fish. His momentum finally stopped as he smashed into one of the bug-covered cavern walls. Tiny bugs swarmed up his pant-legs, biting wherever they found purchase. He slapped most of the bugs off with his enhanced speed. Still in the air, Gruff helicoptered through the air toward Tad, Gruff’s face was full of fury, his teeth clenched in pain as red slime dripped from both of his legs.
Tad’s stomach sank at the sight. It was his fault. Even with his improved dexterity, he’d been helpless to dodge the slime on his own. Gruff had taken the time to throw Tad to safety, he had taken the hit for him, Gruff’s health bar was below sixty percent and dropping fast as the heat of the red slime continued to boil his legs. A wave of heat followed behind the massive blob as it flew past them. The heat was incredible! It had to have been many times hotter than the slime that had landed on Tad. Sweat, whether from heat or the memory, formed across his brow.
“Heal Other!”
Tad concentrated and cast the spell he’d learned with his offensive spells. To his surprise, he could continuously cast the spell. It fired several times a second. For each of Tad’s health the spell consumed, a green ‘+4’ appeared above Gruff’s head. Tad’s muscles spasmed as the spell continued. His breath grew labored. Pain wracked his head with a newly formed headache that pounded mercilessly with each beat of his heart. His health bar drained as Gruff’s filled. He could feel his life physically drain as he cast ‘heal other.’ Panic grew the longer the spell went on. Tad choked and gasped as the spell continued. He was trading his life away. Gruff grunted in thanks as the blistered flesh fell away to reveal new skin, but the large man glued his eyes at the monstrosity which emerged from the now revealed passageway.
A black streak moved impossibly fast. Faster than the red slime that had flown at them. Only to pause directly in the center of the cavern, thirty feet up. In a fiery script, above the creature’s head and health bar were words meant for only Tad’s eyes.
*Meztlegoph the Mosquito Conqueror*
Tad whipped his head toward the massive creature, but even his dexterity-enhanced eyes struggled to keep up with its incredible speed. It was faster than anything Tad had seen before, faster than should’ve been possible. Gooseflesh crawled up his arms, or maybe it was just more bugs. Was his team strong enough to fight this monster?
A giant needle-nosed insect head stared back at him. It clenched its musclebound arms, hands balled in fists. Its arms fused to the body of the insect. It looked like an enormous mosquito with powerful gorilla arms. Its cold, soulless bug-eyes penetrated deep into Tad’s heart as waves of power poured from the creature. Tad found himself on his knees, unable to move. Unable to breathe. The oppressive strength of the being before him pinned him to the ground. Tad couldn’t hear the words Gruff shouted. There was nothing but fear. They would die. They would all die.
“Coat of courage!” Gruff’s voice pierced through Tad’s terror.
*+25 Courage for 200 seconds*
The green words floated before Tad’s eyes as he fell completely to the ground and gulped down huge breaths of air. He had never felt such terror in his life. He couldn’t think. Freed from the oppressive pressure of the giant creature, Tad leapt to his feet.
“Stats!”
*Tad Harrington
Rank: Civilian
Level: 5
Health: 82/110
Mana: 12/12
Str: 1
Dex: 6
Con: 11
Mag: 6
Cou: 30
Cha: -9
Buffs: Coat of Courage*
Gruff had buffed Tad’s courage stat to 30! Without courage, this fight would’ve been impossible. Had Gruff not known that spell, Tad would’ve spent the entire boss fight motionless on the floor. Paralyzed. Utterly helpless before such a monstrosity, he would surely die. Unable to protect himself. Vulnerable once again to a creature stronger than himself.
Anger swelled in Tad’s chest. He’d vowed to get stronger. Made a promise to himself that he would earn strength enough to protect himself, yet he found himself prostrate before the first boss he came across. Even more helpless than when he’d been unconscious, completely at the mercy of his party members. What if Gruff had decided it was more important to charge the boss in that moment than help Tad? He would’ve died, slowly suffocating on the floor, or being eaten alive by the miniscule bugs that covered the walls. And the worst part was Gruff making the other choice might have even been the correct one for his survival, the party’s survival. Tad wasn’t strong enough. Level five wasn’t enough, not even close.
Fury in his heart, Tad took in the boss’s entirety once more. A steel-like jagged needle-nose jutted from the head of the giant creature. The sharp needle-nose looked more like some medieval torture tool, jagged and dripping with green fluid. Attached to its thorax was a giant pair of transparent wings, like a dragonfly. It’s middle and hind legs flowed effortlessly behind the creature as it flew. Where its forelegs should have been, were hairy, thickly roped muscular gorilla arms, covered in leftover goo from the red slime it had thrown earlier. The fusion of insect and beast was something that should have visited Tad in his nightmares, not something he should ever have had to face in reality. It looked like a mosquito from hell.
“Don’t move, Kid, this one is bad.” Gruff’s voice was barely a whisper as thick beads of sweat dripped from his brow. The mosquito boss flew above them. Three giant slimes had them surrounded. The situation looked grim. “But it’s not a slime. Don’t worry, Kid, Bunta’s got this. Keep your eyes open, you’ve seen nothing like him. Be ready, we’re about to bust Titan’s gates wide open.”
Tad resisted taking a step closer to Gruff, who had his shield preemptively raised in front of him. An impossibly fast blur shot through the air and past the giant mosquito. Insects exploded from the ceiling of the cavern where Bunta land
ed, only to push off once again. A giant gash opened on the side of its abdomen. Purple ichor burst from the thorax, accompanied by a supersonic scream of pain. Tad’s eyes were glued to the health bar of the boss, but the blows didn’t even remove a sliver of health. This was Bunta’s attack? Their secret weapon? Tad involuntarily gulped.
Several more gashes opened across the giant mosquito’s body. This time Tad couldn’t even see a blur. New wounds appeared on opposite sides of the boss simultaneously, insects exploded from three or four walls in rapid succession. Tad could see from the explosions where Bunta rebounded, but couldn’t even catch a hint of the shrouded man with his eyes. Bunta moved so fast he was invisible, and not only to Tad. The mosquito conqueror frantically clapped its giant gorilla hands, trying to squash his supersonic assailant like a human trying to squash a bug. The irony was not lost on Tad. Shockwaves exploded from the thunderous claps, but even more wounds opened across its body. The boss seemed as helpless as Tad to find the source of the furious barrage of attacks known as Bunta. The boss’s health bar was now under ninety-five percent as it continuously dropped in a smooth motion under the fury of the invisible attacks.
This was it. The realization hit him like one of the mosquito’s shock waves. This was the strength Tad sought. Not the strength to go toe to toe with a formidable boss, like a knight versus a dragon. That didn’t interest him. No, Tad wanted strength like Bunta. To be so strong that he could do this himself, perform a one-sided wholesale slaughter on a creature, even one that held unimaginable power.
The boss didn’t stand a chance.
“Now!” Gruff shouted.
As if on cue, the three slimes broke into life. The green slime shot enormous balls of acidic slime high into the air, each the size of Tad’s entire body. A direct hit would be lethal. The blue slime shotgunned fist sized hailstones across the boss arena. The red slime shot a jet of continuous fire the size of Gruff’s torso, sweeping the room back and forth, switching targets periodically. But Tad could see them. He could see them! See their attacks! He wasn’t the same as when he’d entered the dungeon. He could do this!
