by Deck Davis
Bingo. If he crafted a few runes, he could place them at strategic parts of the mountain tunnels. That way, there was no chance of anyone sneaking up on him. The runes would tell him exactly where the intruders were, and it would allow him to plan on how to tackle them.
He spent 6 orbs, and then heard a ringing noise. A text message informed him that 3 pressure runes had been added to his inventory. He closed his menu overlay, and then looked around the main chamber.
“Sherlock?” he said. “Where are you, dude?”
As his words echoed back to him, he watched the goblin emerge from the rot room. He stretched his arms above his head, yawned, and then rubbed his eyes. He smiled at Nathan.
“Were you having a nap?” asked Nathan.
Sherlock nodded.
Nathan held the pressure runes up. “I need you to go and set these,” he said. “Come here, and I’ll show you where.”
He opened his map up in front of him, and the transparent image filled his vision. He started to point to places on it, but Sherlock looked around the room, confused. It seemed that the goblin couldn’t see his map. For the next few minutes, Nathan explained as best he could where he needed the runes to be set. He decided that he’d place them at strategic points near the mountain entrance. No matter which route invaders took, he’d know where they were.
Sherlock gave an enthusiastic grunt. He took the runes, and then left the main chamber through the first passageway.
That left 4 orbs to spend. He knew he needed to start saving for the diamond armor and enchantment table, but there was a problem. His energy and insanity bars meant that mining on his own would be a waste of time. It’d take him weeks to get even close to the number of orbs he needed. His insanity bar would fill well before he got to that point.
He brought up the crafting menu, and then clicked the ‘Minion Upgrade’ tab. There were just two options here. One was to upgrade an existing minion, and it listed perks he could give to Sherlock. The other option was more interesting.
Create a goblin minion
Cost: 2 orbs [Limit: 1 minion per player level].
Nathan was level 2, so that meant that he could spawn 1 more minion. Right now, he could only create goblins. He wondered if, further down the line, he’d be able to create stronger ones. An extra goblin wasn’t much, but it was a start. He pressed the ‘create’ button and then dismissed a message that told him he’d spent 2 orbs.
Light began to form in front of him. A pale light, barely enough to disturb the darkness of the chamber. It began to grow, before taking on a shape. As the light spread out, he saw a goblin forming in front of him.
Then it stopped. It didn’t take a full shape but instead stayed as an outline of light. If he squinted, he could make out the vague body of a goblin, but it wasn’t fully-formed. It reminded Nathan of his own reflection when he’d looked in the mirror – he saw the trace of a body, but there was no flesh and blood.
Minion created!
You have created your first minion, but orbs are not the only cost.
A minion can only take its true form when combined with the blood of a hero.
Nothing was ever simple around here. Using 2 orbs was bad enough, but now he had to give it blood? Luckily for Nathan, the corpse of the warrior wasn’t far away.
He walked over to it. The warrior’s eyes were open, and his mouth was agape. He’d died screaming and with a look of terror on his face. Nathan grimaced, and for a second, he felt bad. He shook the thought away. There was no time to dwell on what he’d done.
He grabbed the warrior’s arm. With one claw, he cut a line in his skin. The blood didn’t run from the cut freely, but instead a little of it seeped to the surface. It was thick and gloopy, and it had a nasty smell. If he’d left it any longer, the blood would have been too thick and clotted for him to use. The thought occurred to him that if he ever wanted to create more minions, he’d need more hero blood. He’d need to kill again.
He put his palm on the wound and rubbed it, covering himself with the hero’s blood. Then, he walked back to the centre of the chamber and stood in front of the minion’s faint figure. He reached forward and touched it, trying to smear blood onto the light.
The glow gradually disappeared. In its place, was a minion. Fully formed. It looked like Sherlock, except it had a pointier nose. Its body was wiry, its arms and legs well-toned.
Insanity bar increased to 45%
So, creating a minion had added to his insanity meter. Or maybe that wasn’t quite right. He sensed that it wasn’t spending his orbs that had done it, but instead it was the mutilation of the warrior’s corpse. After all, cutting open a dead body was quite a monstrous thing to do.
The new goblin blinked as if it was realizing where it was. When it saw Nathan, it got down on one knee, just as Sherlock had done the day before.
“No need for that,” said Nathan.
The goblin squeaked. It was waiting for an order. As Nathan thought about what to do, he heard footsteps. Sherlock had returned.
When Sherlock noticed the new goblin, a smile beamed across his face. He ran up to it. The two goblins stared at each other. Suddenly, Sherlock moved his head forward and headbutted the goblin.
Were they going to fight? If having two goblins together made them hostile, Nathan was going to have to rethink his plans.
Then, the other goblin gave a joyful squeak, and it headbutted Sherlock in return.
“You’re just playing, aren’t you?” said Nathan.
Satisfied that they weren’t going to kill each other, he thought about what he could order them to do. It would be handy to station them both in the tunnels as guards, but that meant he’d have to stay here and mine orbs on his own. With the pressure runes in place, he’d know if there were any intruders. His minions’ time was best used on something else.
“I need you guys to start mining,” he said. “Get me as many orbs as you can.”
Both goblins got to work, walking over to a stone wall and chipping away at it. With the runes placed and a new minion created, that left Nathan with 2 more orbs to spend. But what should he spend them on?
Well, he was going to have to fight sooner or later. The heroes would come back, and when his warning runes went off, he’d need to be ready. His claws were good, but they could be better.
He opened the crafting menu again, and this time selected the ‘Power Upgrade’ tab.
This screen was simple. It listed 3 powers, though powers 2 and 3 were blank. Soul Claw was at the top of the screen.
Soul Claw Level 1
Orbs to next upgrade: 3
Spend orb? Y/N
He decided that he’d put 2 orbs toward his next claw upgrade. He knew he should save some, but he just couldn’t wait to see what effects he could add to his claws. Besides, he had 2 minions busy mining more orbs. He’d be okay. He clicked the button and spent his last 2 orbs on his claws, leaving just 1 orb needed until he could improve them.
With that done, he felt tired. He’d only been awake for a few hours now, but man, what a few hours it had been. He eyed the rot room, and felt he wanted to lie down. No way could he do that, though. From now on, he’d have to be very careful about raising his insanity meter.
As he wondered what he should do next, a message flashed on his screen.
Trouble.
Warning – Pressure rune 3 activated. Intruder alert!
Chapter Eight
He brought up his map. The mountain overlay showed the already explored tunnels. There were icons from where Sherlock had placed the pressure runes.
The warning told him that pressure rune #3 had activated, but this was strange. Pressure rune #1 had been placed at the mountain opening. If #3 had gone off, it meant that somehow the intruder had bypassed #1. Was there another way into, or out of, the mountain that Nathan hadn’t discovered yet?
He’d better see who this intruder was. As he looked at the map, he realized that not only did the pressure runes inform him when they wer
e stepped on, but they also listed icons on the map that showed where the intruder was going. Right now, only one player icon was listed. Whoever this intruder was, he was alone.
He exited the main chamber by the left passageway. The tunnels were becoming familiar to him now, and he found he could navigate them without his map. He still brought it up every minute or two so that he could get a fix on the ‘P’ icon that was walking slowly through the mountain.
It didn’t take long for him to get close. When he did, he went slower. He made every effort to be quiet so that he didn’t give himself away. One intruder would be no trouble to him, he knew. If he snuck up on them, one or two preemptive claw strikes were all it’d take. Still, he needed to be careful.
He crept down the tunnel. There was a turning at the end, and he knew that the intruder was just around the corner.
He went forward. Water dripped from the roof above him, but that was the only sound. The closer he got, the more he heard the intruder’s footsteps. They were heavy. Clumsy, almost. He reached the end of the tunnel and peeked around the corner to look at the intruder.
The intruder was just ten feet in front of him now. When Nathan saw him, he couldn’t believe it. He recognized him. It was the bald-headed man he’d encountered the day before.
He quickly brought up his menu. He checked and re-checked it, looking for the ‘P’ icons of the other players, but they weren’t there. The man was alone. Where were his friends?
He must have been crazy to come back on his own. Especially since he was a support class. Nathan didn’t know exactly what class this man was, but he was confident that his offensive abilities were minimal. So why had he returned to the mountain without back-up?
Then it dawned on him. The man hadn’t come back alone; he had never left. What’s more, it looked like he was injured. His steps were slow and slightly off balance, as though he were dazed.
This would be an easy kill. He didn’t relish having to do it, but he couldn’t allow an intruder to wander through the warrens of his base. Keeping his claws ready, he slowly crept forward.
At first, he worried that the man would hear him. He needn’t have been concerned. The man seemed so dazed that even when Nathan was just three feet away, he didn’t turn around.
Nathan got ready to strike. This was it. Time for kill number 2. Just as he was ready to leap forward, the man started to talk.
Nathan stopped. He listened.
He realized that the man wasn’t talking, but was singing under his breath.
All alone and I don’t know,
Which way I need to go.
Need a light, need some help,
Need something to save me from myself.
The words sent a shard of ice through him. He recognized the song! He couldn’t believe it. It was by a band called The Strange Men. They were a rock band. Nathan wasn’t into them, but he remembered all too well someone who had loved them.
The Strange Men were Dec’s favorite band. His little brother, who used to take refuge in music when he felt down or upset. His brother, who would sit with Nathan in the bedroom of their foster house and play him songs on his guitar.
He felt out of sorts. Suddenly, he realized that he couldn’t kill this man. It was only a small thing, but the song reminded him of Dec. There was no way Nathan could attack him.
Nathan backed away. He needed to think about what to do. As he moved, he stumbled over a rock.
The man turned around. His reactions were slow, but he raised his hammer, ready to fight. Nathan saw that the man had a red gash on his head, as if someone had hurt him. In the battle the day before, Nathan hadn’t gotten close to him. Neither had Sherlock. So, who had hurt him?
The bald man stared at him. He seemed to be wondering whether to attack, or whether to run.
Nathan couldn’t kill him. It was stupid, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to tear this man apart. It was a mixture of things that added to the feeling. The song he’d sung, and the knowledge that if he murdered him, his insanity bar would increase.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said.
His words sounded strange when they broke the silence. The man didn’t seem to believe him, and he took a step back. They eyed each other, neither of them wanting to make the first move.
“Come on,” said Nathan. “I’ll lead you out of here.”
The bald man nodded. “Thank you,” he said.
Nathan was struck once again with how tranquil this man seemed. Even here, in a situation that would provoke fear in most people, there was an aura of peace about him. Sure, he was wary of Nathan, but it seemed like a calming light glowed from him.
The bald man walked toward him. There were bloodstains on the shoulders of his white robe. He took a few steps toward Nathan.
Without warning, he swung with his hammer. Nathan had just a split second to jump back from the blow. He felt a rush of air as the hammer missed his face by a centimeter.
Anger boiled in him. He felt blood rush to his face, and up his arms to his claws. He felt a yearning to use them. A desire to tear this man apart.
He leapt forward, claws outstretched. The tip of the claws on his right hand stabbed into the man’s shoulder, knocking him off balance. Without giving him a chance to react, Nathan pushed him to the floor. He leapt on him, pinning him to the ground. The man struggled, but Nathan was too strong.
Nathan raised his claws for the killing blow. He gritted his teeth. His shoulders felt tense. He felt the throb of anger within him. Just as he was about to kill the man, he stopped himself.
He couldn’t do it. He’d murdered one man out of self-defense, and his insanity bar had increased. He couldn’t afford for it to rise even more. His monster instincts bubbled within him, but he fought them. He struggled against his inner nature, before lowering his claws. He stood up and moved away from the man.
The bald man tried to get to his feet. When he put his hands down and tried to push himself up, he winced. Blood formed at the edges of the wounds on his shoulder.
Nathan took a deep breath. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said.
The man blinked. He seemed to gather himself. In the real world, a shoulder wound like that would incapacitate someone. Here is Adonis, although you could feel pain, the sensation passed much quicker.
“Could have fooled me,” said the man, touching his wound.
“What the hell are you doing here?” asked Nathan.
The bald man struggled up to his feet. He threw his hammer on the ground. “Just kill me and get it over with,” he said.
“I’m not going to kill you. Trust me.”
“Trust you? Have you seen yourself lately? I mean, there’s not much of you to see, just an outline. But your claws are a giveaway that I can’t take your word.”
“Who are you?” asked Nathan.
“Look, can we just get this over with? Either kill me or let me go.”
“Not until you answer my questions.”
The bald man stared at him. “You’re going to keep me as a prisoner?”
“If that’s what it takes. I just need answers. What class are you?”
The man leant against the wall. “I’m a cleric,” he answered.
That explained the aura of tranquility that came from him, Nathan decided. If the man was a cleric, that meant that he had to keep his character on the ‘good’ side of the good/evil scale.
“And the other guys?” he asked.
The cleric spat on the floor. “Don’t ask me about them.”
“Who are they?”
“The Seekers guild. My guild. Or they were, at least. Until they hit me over the head and left me here to die.”
“Where are they now?”
“Gone. When we heard Telrick screaming, Gevil said we had to leave. But then he said one of us should stay and draw you away from the exit and give the others chance to flee. When nobody volunteered, Gevil hit me over the head with the hilt of his dagger, and then they left me.”
&
nbsp; “With friends like those…” said Nathan.
“…who needs enemies? Yeah,” answered the cleric
Killing him would have been the easy option. At least it would have been over and done with. This was much worse because it left him with a difficult decision. The fact was, he felt bad for the cleric. In combat situations, you needed to have complete trust in those around you. For Nathan, it was unthinkable to let someone else die just to save your own skin.
