The Witch Tamer, Book 1

by Naosu N R

  I think we can hide to a certain extent if we stay inside buildings. But its also possible something like a darkling can search for 'meat' also.

  And if I'd been from any other clan except a demon lord clan I'd have run out of mana on it.

  Its still scary surviving because that was only a half hour, and we have to have enough stamina and mana for 23.5 other hours, plus get more mana points up regenerated.

  Strangely there was a money and an item drop from the darkling, which is unlike the zombie drops.

  "How could that be unless someone is running the dungeon and its monsters?" Sadie asked.

  "You think so?" I asked.

  "Possibly."

  "Weird."

  "I think so too. But I like dungeon cash," Josh said.

  I feel sore after that big fight. I need to rest, but its hard to let my guard down.

  But later I realized, even if a dungeon could be ran and managed by someone, its gargantuan floor sizes made any such management harder to do, which gives us an opening and way to survive also.

  ...

  After a brief rest, we had to ditch that apartment and go to the roof.

  But the problem is that 'the system' is telling us that there's a health regen penalty and mana regeneration penalty of 25% by sleeping on the roof, due to exposure to the elements.

  And if we lose this spot we're trapped for good.

  Mandy and I curled up together to stay warm.

  Wow, she feels good. She insists its also part of our cover for her to snuggle up to me.

  Weird...

  I guess I can fight that.

  By then the darklings are gone at sun up, which is around 5:52 AM.

  We slept in a bit further.

  By now also the team has learned that infighting kills and brought his mess upon us. Now we have to figure out how to rescue ourselves out of this building, plus pick up our new reinforcements coming.

  ...

  I woke up at 7:03 AM to find Mandy cooking breakfast over an open fire.

  How did they do that?

  I found out both Josh and Mandy have pocket inventory magic slots. Nice.

  I need to get some of that actually.

  By 7:37 AM we left the area after cleaning our site.

  7:38 AM to 8:04 AM we engaged and peeled off several zombies on the top floor.

  I get a status screen mage message while we're on the fourth floor, telling us to meet them (Melanie and Simone) at 11 AM near the entrance.

  (I hope this will be OK. Both of them aren't strong yet. But if I don't bring them here, others could try to steal my women from me. Plus, there's the fact that if I can pull this off it would make Melanie and Simone's lives better by bringing up their stats, which would equate to a better life.)

  By then also we had to reassure the other team members that we won't ditch them.

  It takes us until 9 AM to get the fourth floor of this building cleaned out.

  But now my mana bar is severely depleted.

  We found enough food for 2 days, which is good. But with low mana, how do we finish?

  (I glanced at the clock as we worked. And less than 2 hours left to manage getting to the meeting spot. Time is ticking!)

  We also have found more of that strange alternate dimension money that looks sort of like US dollars but different. We collected about 342 dungeon dollars. (If that's what they are called.) But I also found out that some of the money came from the first poison using darkling we'd fought, but Josh hadn't been open about that until the others asked about it (not happy about that, trust issues?). The text on the money is a weird writing system I've never seen before.

  Also, we found 'strange leather(?)' x 4. Also, found...

  4 sets of car keys

  Baby stroller (bloodstained)

  Canvas duffel bag (fairly clean, will be good for gear storage)

  Boots (wrong size)

  Construction hammer

  Box of nails

  Knives (several, of all kinds)

  Shit...shit, shit...

  I can't let Madeline and Simone get eaten!

  I have to find a way to get to them.

  8:57 AM

  Fight with special zombie.

  I lost a lot of mana. It was a hard fight.

  But then when we kill it, there's a drop.

  "What's this?" Sadie asked finding it first, with 2 cans of food.

  She picks it up.

  "Weird. A shield? I didn't know monsters could drop equipment," Miguel said.

  "They usually don't unless they are special, have evolved status, or sub-bosses," Mandy told them.

  "This one did have special stats it seems," Josh took the item from Sadie to examine it. It was caked with mud and dirt, so we had to help clear it off.

  "No way! This is..." Josh got excited.

  Then we see its a quality item.

  9:03 AM

  We find a shield that a knight can use. In this case, its got pretty good stats. Josh takes it. But we got lucky in that he gave his older, well worn shield to Mandy.

  Josh receives Medium Shield +2.

  Mandy receives Buckler +1.

  Miguel already has his own buckler.

  (Unfortunately we have to share the equipment drops. Dungeon teams are very adamant about equipment loot that is usable by a party being given to them. And without such a rule, there would be no point to dungeon adventuring.)

  ...

  9:32 AM

  We found the post office building located on a certain floor here of the neighboring building. The back parking garage behind it is full of post office vehicles.

  9:37 AM

  Huh? What's this an alchemy recipe?

  Another darkling battle at 9:51 AM.

  We also found the darklings are weak to sunlight if you find their dens during the day, in which the status screens say they get a -30% to stats!

  After killing this one, it drops an unusual loot.

  [Special Loot notification; Enchanter's alchemy book.]

  The others wanted to sell it, but because they'd already taken loots for their class they have to let me have it.

  "Can you even use that?" Miguel scowled.

  "It says I can," I said after confirming it in my status screen.

  And not only that, this isn't the main alchemy but a sort of sub-alchemy only for enchanters! Only I can use this out of probably millions of people!

  When I used the book through my status screen, it gives me the skill instantly. It also raised my max mana by +2. But it seems that I have to find recipes in order to use it; having the skill didn't give me the recipes.

  Wait, that other thing we found was a partial recipe I think. I set my status screen to analyze the recipe. But it will take some time.

  "What kind of recipe would be found in a dungeon?" Mandy whispered to me in secret.

  She's distrustful.

  At first, I almost became annoyed. But then I realized she's right.

  If it was found in a dungeon, is it then a 'dark alchemy' recipe?

  Dark Alchemy does exist also, I'd heard dad talk about it a few times in the past. But I never thought I'd be the one to possibly end up getting close to it.

  We continued exploring while trying to avoid bites.

  "Man this is hard," Miguel said, wiping sweat from his forehead after another minor skirmish of two zombies, at around 10:01 AM.

  10:03 AM

  We find a rope.

  "Yes! This is perfect! This will save us!" Mandy told me.

  "Why is that so good?" I asked.

  "Yeah, why is that?" Sadie asked.

  "We can rig this up to go all the way to the bottom ground level on the street! That will bypass the next 3 floors. We just have to be careful about securing it right! With this we can hook it up over a drainage pipe and go all the way down but still make it to pick up the other two!" Mandy explained.

  "But more to the point, we won't be trapped in that building!" Josh said excitedly.

  "I
like it. My forage skill works better outside. And free movement helps me get success with it," Sadie said.

  "So you say...but someone has to guard the people climbing down the rope. That means one guy will be the last to leave and could be potentially unguarded," Miguel frowned.

  The others are now giving us blank stares.

  Although we'd figured out how to accomplish the mission, nobody wants to be the last guy to leave the room and be separated from the others! I can also see the potential conflict and worry on their faces as they look at each other with distrust!

  "So we have to work out a fair way to decide who will be the last one out," Josh frowned.

  "But won't it be harder first to decide which room to rig the rope from?" I asked.

  "That part's easy. We pick a bathroom that can be locked and bust open the window," Miguel said.

  Then he realized what he'd said.

  To bust open the window, we'd have to make noise, which would draw the zombies to that room. But I think Josh and Sadie had already realized that part from the beginning, and why they are all giving each other distrustful looks.

  Chapter 26

  Finally it had come to the big moment. We had to go now after we rested a bit.

  Its time. This is the only (and possibly desperate) chance to go pick up my 2 followers, Melanie and Simone.

  I'm sweating like crazy. Mandy is worried too, I can see.

  Technically the car should make this all possible. After all, a car on a dungeon map is a huge advantage.

  But there was last minute chat on this with the make shift team, Josh and his people.

  And also, I'm pretty sure my mind control skills only work on someone of the opposite sex, so I have to proceed carefully. Besides, if I tried to use them on someone, the others would react. So I couldn't use it on Josh's team even if I wanted to, which I don't. That would be hard to explain also.

  Plus, I really only want to be using it in ways that are good.

  "Are we really going to do this now?" Sadie whined with a stand off pose.

  "Yes. We are. Its our only chance to escape this floor also," Josh said.

  "Just don't abandon us," Miguel said insistently with a wary expression on Mandy and I.

  "We won't," I said. "And after that we can work out where you guys want to go."

  "Why would you think that? That's not the plan. We'll use this to get to our car and meet the other group," Mandy said for me.

  "Right. Like that," I said.

  "I just want to make sure you understand me. We're worried about it," Miguel said.

  "We won't betray you. But I have no idea of your end of the stick," I told them plainly.

  "Right. Let's go. We're wasting time," Josh kind of whined actually, like a little bitch.

  "I ain't no damn backstabber," Miguel said to us roughly.

  "Good," Mandy said right after.

  We began buckling on our gear again to get ready to march forth. Despite telling them to be quiet, I can still hear their gear clanking around as they march with us.

  So noisy...

  ...

  But after that I was surprised when Mandy pulled me aside.

  "Just a minute. We need some couples time alone in the bathroom," she said.

  I looked at her questioningly.

  "Just hurry," Josh gave us an impatient like while Sadie rolled her eyes.

  "Just come with me a second," Mandy told me half dragging me.

  The others didn't object, as Mandy is dragging me with her to the bathroom. When we got there, she closed the door and locked it with me inside with her.

  "Wh-what are you doing?" I asked.

  "Sh! Quiet. Just play along," she said.

  I was surprised when she pulled off her shirt, with no bra beneath and then placed my hands on her wonderful breasts. She then started to kiss me.

  Wha...what's this? I thought she had business.

  "Look. I have to make it look real. The ranger is listening to us," she whispered in my ear. "Just play along."

  "Un...OK," I said.

  It began to heat up while playing with Mandy's breasts and hot body while we're making out. But then she escalated it a bit with unzipping her pants and pushing me against the counter and wrapping her legs around me.

  Wow...

  I trembled.

  Mandy has always been a thin athletic girl and nice looking. I often didn't know where to put my eyes around her. But now she's openly making out with me.

  But I can see her eyes signaling to me that its a ruse for the others.

  "I needed to drag you here because there's a chance Miguel and Josh may betray us and try to kill us for the car, once we get there. I needed to warn you. If they don't its fine. But its a possibility you have to be ready for," she said while moaning a bit loudly.

  !

  Will they really do that?

  "What would be the best thing to do then if that happens?" I whispered so softly nobody could hear with my lips by her ears.

  Oh dear...Mandy is getting horny. She's escalating this a bit more than I intended.

  "Wait, don't do that," I said when she's unzipping my pants and underwear.

  "We won't go all the way. But they are listening in. We have to make it look good," she said.

  Our passion was heating up. It was hard to ignore her tight fit body. She's pressing herself hard against me. Only a few bits of cloth from my boxers separate us from full penetration.

  "I'll give you a signal if they plan to kill us. You can also signal me if that's the case. But it can't be a code word that will be accidentally said and something we'd both remember," she moaned.

  "Like what?"

  "You can ask me if I've ever had Turkish cuisine. I'll do the same. There's no way that would come up otherwise. If that happens we just focus on separating from them and escaping," she said.

  Its a good thing our make out session ended. It didn't quite get to the point of open sex. But it was very close. And I'm not sure Mandy wanted it to stop.

  Still she was disciplined.

  After that we went back to the others, who were waiting patiently. We did notice that Sadie and Miguel had smirks on their faces; which did confirm they were spying on us, but had gotten the wrong idea like Mandy intended.

  ...

  Then our escape attempt began.

  Just like that, we had no choice but to break the bathroom window and get all the glass out. Everyone was going to have to leave through this window and then lower ourselves one by one to the ground floor because any other method would have endless battles.

  Plus, we'd almost gotten trapped in this building it had so many undead.

  And unfortunately breaking a window makes noise.

  This bathroom had the sturdiest door on this floor...of the rooms and apartments we can access. But can we climb down in time, I wonder?

  Below us are several floors; the second floor, the first floor, and a sub basement sticking out of this part of the building because of the elevation being sloped.

  "Fuck. I can hear the zombies coming," Miguel said while the others are getting ready to climb.

  "I locked the front door. But I doubt it will hold," Sadie confirmed.

  Sadie made a move to go first but Mandy stopped her, which made Miguel and Josh angry.

  "Why'd you do that?" Josh said.

  "Josh needs to go first. We need a tank on the ground. The people on the ground need cover while we lower the others down. Sadie going first would be suicide. Josh first, then Jay. Then Sadie," Mandy said.

  "Fuck. I don't want to go last!" Miguel is emotionally very agitated.

  "I would have you go second except you are out of ammo. And that's not my fault," Mandy said. "And I'll go last to cover you. But we have to go fast and you guys are wasting time." Her tone of voice hinted at urgency.