by Konrad Ryan
But he wanted this too. He could want both… right?
Tad accepted Gruff’s offer with a nod. Gruff let out a cheer. His fist shot into the air in celebration. The quick motion turned into a yelp of pain as burnt flesh tore, blood pooled around the wounds on his side.
Tad went to tend to Gruff’s wound, but Gruff put up a hand.
“I’m going to my healers in a minute, don’t waste your strength.”
“I meant to ask about that. How do you heal? Do slayers not have natural regeneration?”
Gruff shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way. Some extreme tanks have self regeneration abilities, but most have to get healed from healers.” Gruff pulled his phone out, showed Tad an app called Healer’s Circle. “Some people don’t enjoy dungeons, but there are plenty of healers willing to heal you once you come out, for a fee.”
The chirping insects gradually took over their conversation as their weariness emerged. Gruff and Bunta each gave Tad their phone numbers before they parted ways. Gruff promised to contact him when he found their next dungeon. He’d wire Tad his portion of the proceeds for completing the dungeon the next day once he made it to the essence exchange.
Tad stayed long after Bunta and Gruff left. He laid down in the dungeon’s crater watching the titanspawn far above in the sky swallow star after star. He relived each moment inside the dungeon. Learning to cast his spells. Almost dying to the red slime that dropped on top of him. The chaotic slime battle, followed by the deadly boss battle. Bunta’s rescue. Their rushed escape. It had been the longest, most eventful day of his life.
Being so close to death made him feel alive. Nothing he’d ever done had been so exciting. So thrilling. So dangerous. Tad knew one thing for sure, he would never forget this day no matter how long he lived.
Chapter 10
By the time Tad made it home, it was well past midnight. His mom was still out on the job she’d taken, and Liam was fast asleep on the couch. Had he been waiting for Tad? The television was still on, bags of chips and other snacks strewn across the room. A plate of untouched food sat on the dinner table, where Tad usually sat. Had Liam made it for him? That seemed strange. Liam rarely interacted much with Tad. Tad tiptoed past his brother, grabbed the plate of food, and climbed the stairs to his room. Waking Liam would invite questions that Tad didn’t want to answer. Plus, Liam was like the other kids, normal. Tad never knew how to act around him. It was better to sneak past and save the questions for later.
Tad stopped in front of the mirror hanging in his room. For a second, he didn’t recognize the person staring back at him. His usually long unkempt black hair was gone, melted from acid, burnt from fire. Only patches of hair next to smooth scalp remained. Soot blackened his face. Tad removed Gruff’s overlarge shirt and looked at his foreign body. His arms were thick, his torso chubby. He’d never been fat in his life, but there he was. His additional constitution had increased his maximum life as drastically as it had his waistband. It was only the third day since his rebirth, but he really felt like a different person. A new person.
He’d left his home the previous morning, still level one. A nobody. But now, he’d climbed to level eight. In the chaos since the boss fight, he hadn’t had time to look at the changes to his stats. With a word, Tad brought the information to his eyes.
*Tad Harrington
Rank: Civilian
Level: 8 (Max Level! Rank-up Trial Available!)
Health: 110/110
Mana: 39/42
Str: 1
Dex: 6
Con: 11
Mag: 21
Cou: 5
Cha: -9
1 Unread Notification!*
Tad blinked as his eyes read one line over and over. ‘Max level with a rank up trial available.’ Whatever the trial was, it would be dangerous. He’d had to earn everything so far, besides the level-up program which itself had been free. No… that wasn’t true.
He paid in pain.
*What would you give for power?*
The words echoed in his mind, like a whisper from a ghost. Tad doubted the level-up program was free either. He just didn’t know the cost yet. If he died in a dungeon, the cost would be his life.
A grim thought.
Tad ignored the rank up trial and pressed the unread notification at the bottom first. It had appeared when he floated in the mist, but he hadn’t had the time to open it.
*Congratulations on completing your first quest! Please select your reward:
Sienth’s Gleaming Longsword
Raekast’s Fang
Marywell’s Titanium Crook
Vander’s Maple Wand
Tidwell’s Ruby Shield
Titan’s Embrace*
Were these items? Not all of them seemed to be. Tad tried to press on each to see additional stats, but a confirmation window appeared to meet him.
*Do you accept ‘Sienth’s Gleaming Longsword’ as your quest reward?*
No! Tad slammed the no button with a relieved sigh as he read the items from the list again and again. Four items seemed self-explanatory, but the names attached to them gave Tad pause. Sienth, Marywell, Vander and Tidwell! These were all famous creator rank slayers, members of Charles Tidwell’s original party that tried to close Titan. All of them were dead now. If these items really belonged to their namesakes, then the items were rare and most likely powerful.
But what were the other two? Titan’s Embrace and Raekast’s Fang? One was a dungeon, and the second was the world renowned monster who almost destroyed the planet. Why were they on the list? And what were their items, or were they even items? Titan’s Embrace sounded more like a permanent buff, or a spell, than an item.
At seeing the list, he had more questions than answers. Despite wanting to accept his reward and receive a potentially tremendous power increase, he didn’t want to choose the wrong item. With a sigh, he closed the rewards window. He needed some time to think. As the window closed an electronic jingle played in his mind with more text appearing in front of him.
*New quest available!*
Tad opened the quest.
*Clear a dungeon as the sole survivor!*
Tad paused, almost overwhelmed by the implication of the quest. His breath caught. He could only think of one acceptable way to clear this quest. To enter a dungeon by himself and beat it without help. But to do that, he’d have to be strong. Much stronger than he was now. The alternatives were too grim to consider. To let everyone die or kill them himself. A chill went up his spine at the thought. Was his leveling program trying to get him to kill people? If a morally bankrupt person were to have the same set of instructions, they may just kill everyone after the boss fight. Just what in Titan’s bunghole was this leveling program? And why had it chosen him? Tad’s skin crawled. He could feel himself being watched. A thousand pinpricks weighed on his back, but nothing was there when he turned to meet their gaze.
He wouldn’t kill anybody. Not for a quest reward. In a last resort, as self-defense. But not to complete something as stupid as a quest that he could complete by himself if he were stronger. Tad closed the quest window and looked at the line in his stats that worried him the most.
*Level: 8 (Max Level! Rank-up Trial Available!)*
He’d already reached his max level. The max level for civilians. Unless Tad ranked up, he couldn’t progress. Unable to gain stat points and become stronger. What if this quest was as impossible as the solo survivor quest? Surely there wasn’t a dungeon out there he could clear solo. Not at this level. He never thought he would come across something like a rank up trial this soon.
Tad’s stomach churned as he brought his finger to the quest.
*Congratulations on reaching level 8, the maximum level for civilian rank! Would you like to start the rank up trial?*
To get stronger, Tad needed to complete the rank up trial. He glanced at his health and mana. Despite being almost full, he was weary. Tired. His body was heavy and his brain slow. Excitement over his level-up progr
am kept him awake the night before, and this had been the longest day of his life. Despite being at full life, weariness would wear on him. It might be better to do this after a good night’s rest. When he could think.
Tad undressed the rest of the way and got in bed, but his thoughts were restless. His stomach queasy. The slime dungeon had been the single most terrifying experience of his life. He’d had many terror-inducing experiences - bullies, getting chased and beaten up, being humiliated in public, the fear and reality of his very public rebirth. None of these held a candle to the sheer intensity of what went on in that dungeon. He almost died, and not just once. He almost accidentally killed his friends, even. He almost lost everything.
Why should he go on? He could stay civilian rank and be comfortable. He could cast magic! And the ‘identify’ spell. He could probably get an enjoyable job in a luxurious industry identifying loot slayers brought from dungeons. He would be successful. Sure, he was a little chubby now, and his charisma was still negative, but he had useful skills. Skills that people like Gruff and Bunta valued.
But the skills they valued were most useful inside a dungeon. Bunta and Gruff were counting on him for the next dungeon. If he ranked up, he could be even stronger than he was now. He would be the same rank as Gruff, Becca, and Scar. He could quickly eclipse them and then increase his strength even further.
Tad sat up in bed as adrenaline surged at that last thought. He was reborn a zero, a voidboy, a nothing. And now he could become a soldier.
Fear still gripped his gut, ice still froze his heart. But he decided. He would rank up and enter those terrifying dungeons once again. He would be there to get stronger. He would rise through the ranks, soldier, warrior, and champion reaching the utmost peak of warlord. Only to climb further and become a creator if possible. At the peak, no one could touch him. No one could hurt him. Tad would risk it all on the most dangerous profession known to man. And he would become the best. The best dungeon slayer ever born. Greater than Tidwell. Greater than Brad. He would be the one to close Titan.
Calmness settled over Tad for the first time since he entered the dungeon earlier today. First thing in the morning, Tad would undertake his rank up challenge, whatever it may be.
Tad wriggled farther into bed. This time, his mind was still. Before he knew it, he drifted to sleep. His thoughts of glory continued even to his dreams.
* * *
Sirens blared through the night as Tad sleepily tried to turn off his alarm clock. What time was it? And when did his alarm clock change sounds? His eyes snapped open.
*Thirty-seven… thirty-six… thirty-five.*
A dialogue window floated in front of his face. The numbers on the countdown steadily marched toward zero.
What was it counting down to? Tad blinked until clear eyes focused on a small paragraph of words directly above the timer.
*Start your rank-up quest before the timer runs out. If the quest has not been started before the timer runs out, you will forever remain civilian rank.*
Numbers audible only to Tad’s ears continued their countdown as his thoughts moved like molasses. Forever a civilian! Tad navigated to his quest list in a flash. His stomach tightened as he read the words once more.
*Congratulations on reaching level 8, the maximum level for civilian rank! Would you like to start the rank up trial?*
*Five… Four…*
Tad shook his head in disbelief. Tad had planned on purchasing gear, armor, weapons and maybe even a shield but because of this stupid timer he would enter unprepared. Just as if he hadn’t learned his lesson from the first dungeon! With enhanced speed Tad threw on his wardrobe from the day before, Gruff’s overlarge shirt and his ratty sweatpants. Both of which looked like they were on their last leg.
*Three…. Two… One…*
Tad slammed his finger onto the yes button as he finished putting on Gruff’s shirt.
*Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero.*
What! No, no, no, no, no! Tad had been quick enough! He’d beaten the countdown! He couldn’t be stuck as a civilian forever!
The dialogue window disappeared from before his eyes. The health bar that had floated in view in the bottom right corner of his vision disappeared. The entire level-up program gone before Tad’s eyes in a flash.
Chapter 11
“Stats!”
Tad’s breath hung in the air. The stat window didn’t appear.
“Stats!”
Nothing. Tad sat on the edge of his bed. Stunned. It was over. He had waited too long to respond, and now he would be a civilian forever. So much for getting stronger and catching up with the rest of his group. Gone were his plans, hopes, and dreams…
But… at least he wouldn’t have to go back into those terrifying dungeon doors ever again.
A wash of guilt filled Tad’s chest at the thought, ashamed at his cowardice. During his rebirth, he wanted to be a soldier. Anything but a civilian. Dungeon slaying was something he thought he could be good at. And to be fair, he’d been good at it. He’d kept a cool head. Helped Gruff deflect the acid balls and covered his back. He’d even been a crucial part of saving Bunta. Tad had been a part of something special.
But his level-up program was gone. It seemed insane to enter a dungeon again. Was this really how most slayers entered dungeons? Despite their limitations, they entered the deadly depths anyway? The thought was terrifying. Tad hadn’t been afraid inside the dungeon, but his hands trembled the second he’d left on his mom’s bike. And they still trembled now.
Somewhere deep inside himself, however, he found gratitude. He was grateful the choice was now out of his hands. Yes, he was scared, but Tad couldn’t see fear keeping him away from the dungeons. From his eventual demise. If he could level up, grow stronger, and progress like so many video games he’d played, he was more certain than ever he wouldn’t be able to stay away. No matter the stakes.
A series of musical achievements chimed suddenly.
*Congratulations! Your software has been upgraded! Soldier rank features are locked until after you complete your soldier trial.*
Goosebumps rippled up and down Tad’s arms as his entire body shook. This was all too much. Losing his powers, only to have them return. Where relief had been, tension solidified.
The level-up program had thrust the choice back into his hands.
A feminine robotic voice read aloud instructions.
*Transportation to the soldier trial will commence, in three… two… one…*
So much for having the choice.
* * *
Tad blinked, and he missed it. One second he was standing in his room, the next he was in a small circular stone room. It was bare except for a large wrought-iron double door embedded into the wall.
*Welcome to the basement of the class tower! You have five consecutive battles ahead of you! You will receive additional rewards for each victory! Potential rewards are:
Rank up to soldier.
???
???
???
Skip soldier rank. Rank up to warrior rank!*
*The battles will get progressively more difficult. You will not receive any experience or essence for defeating monsters in these trials. If you decline at any step, further rewards will be forfeit and your upgrade trial will then end. Rewards will be dispensed.
Recommended level: 7.
Do you wish to continue to the first fight?*
Two buttons appeared before Tad’s eyes. A giant green ‘Yes,’ and a giant red ‘No.’ All he had to do was to win the first fight and he would become a soldier rank slayer. If he did that he could enter the next dungeon and continue to become stronger. The recommended level was only seven. He should at least be able to clear this quest with relative ease.
The fifth reward, to skip straight to warrior rank was tempting, but if this trial was any sign for the future, even if he didn’t reach that mark, he could take another rank up quest. Now that he knew skipping whole ranks was a potential reward, he could prepare better f
or the next one. The knowledge was valuable, even if he wasn’t able to skip ranks this time, maybe he could during the next trial.
Five fights. Consecutive fights. Tad doubted there would be time to wait around for his mana or health to recover. And with no experience from defeating monsters, he couldn’t heal from leveling up. Maybe he should accept his quest reward. He needed a weapon. He hesitated. What if he chose the wrong thing? With enemies getting stronger the longer he fought, it would get more and more deadly. This was a battle of attrition. The more battles he took, the more health and mana he would lose. Tad’s stomach fluttered in anticipation. Or maybe fear. Wasn’t anticipation just fear mixed with excitement?
Tad pressed the giant ‘Yes.’ Immediately the wrought-iron door burst open and golden-orange sunlight poured through the entrance. He shielded his eyes as he approached the door. The view of the landscape took his breath away. The setting sun bathed the land in orange light, small hills rolled as far as he could see. Grass greener than any he’d seen waved in a gentle breeze, not a tree in sight in any direction. The air smelled of freshly cut grass and moisture, it was the cleanest air Tad ever tasted. It was as if mankind had never touched this land. Nothing burned, nothing polluted. Not a titanspawn in the sky. The whole sight was stunning, like it was handcrafted just for him.
Off in the distance, a small cave disappeared beneath the earth. Signs from his level-up program floated in his vision with red arrows that pointed toward the cave. Tad was grateful the arrows were in his program and didn’t mar the landscape. Just where was this place? Where had his program taken him? Tad looked to the sky for something familiar, anything. But there was nothing but blue sky. Nothing at all. Not even the creeping oil-like titanspawn he’d become so accustomed to seeing.
