by Ryan Rimmel
I didn’t even have a moment to think about what I had spotted on the ceiling before falling. It was too late, anyway. The deadfall dropped, landing on my legs.
Chapter 10: Scratching in the Distance
Pain was a very real thing in this world. Even with my Pain Mitigation talent, Iron Will, I could still feel it. I could feel it, despite being unconscious. In the past, I had always known when I was about to run out of hit points. Even knocked out, I could sense them. I wasn’t there yet, but I could feel my HP draining slowly.
“Shart,” I called out, blearily regaining consciousness. No response. He had been outside and, I thought, fairly close for our bond to still work. I had been able to summon him through thought before. While I didn’t fully understand him or how he moved, he at least needed some physical way to reach me. I tried to search for him in menu time but still got no response. My head pounded as blood oozed from my various wounds. A sharp cough brought up bile, and I dropped out of menu time. I couldn’t focus enough to make the connection between my familiar and me.
My eyes flared open, trying to make sense of my surroundings. It didn’t matter. It was pitch dark and deathly quiet in the room I was now pinned in. Reaching out with my hands, I found the giant rock that was crushing the life out of me. I pushed with all my remaining strength, but it didn’t budge at all.
“SueLeeta,” I screamed. “SueLeeta! Help! Shart!”
The reverberations came from all around me and sent what felt like a hammer driven spike of pain straight through my skull.
“Help me!” I tried again. I screamed and shouted until I felt another wave of bile approach, this time accompanied by bits of breakfast. This led to an unfortunate coughing fit that had me tasting blood.
My hit points were diminishing due to the ‘crushed’ status. I desperately pawed for my pouch. It was partially wedged underneath me. Closing my eyes, I counted to three and, with all my might, shimmied my ass and yanked. The pouch came loose and was now by my side.
Pain lurched through my head again, worse than any migraine I had ever known. I gave myself a moment for the pounding to recede slightly, then, began fumbling for the pouch’s clasp. Even that simple action was difficult; my fingers shook, and I could feel wetness on them. It had to be blood. After what seemed like an eternity, I had the heal root in my hand. I frantically started chewing. I felt a brief moment of relief when I noticed that the root was healing me a bit faster than I was taking damage. Unfortunately, it wasn’t healing me by much more, and I only had 3 of the things left now.
That’s when I noticed the scratching.
I squinted my eyes and tried to make out anything. My eyes had, by now, adjusted to the darkness and I searched fiercely. I just needed to make out a bit of light, something I could use as leverage, or anything. Anything that wasn’t complete blackness. There was nothing, and I briefly questioned whether my eyes were even open or not. Were they? What if they were stuck closed? My breathing accelerated as I began to panic. How much oxygen is in here?
I told myself that I was on the verge of a full on panic attack, but that knowledge didn’t make me panic less. Reminding myself that now was the exact opposite time to panic also did me no favors. Finally, I reached up and ascertained that my eyes were open. Fine, that meant the all-consuming darkness was real. That knowledge did me little good, though. What if I was blind now? What spot on a head did you have to hit for it to interfere with eyesight? How hard of a hit did you have to sustain to lose your sight?
On Earth, going blind had been a very real possibility, due to my awful degenerative eyesight. It had been one of my worst fears but, had worse come to worst, it would have been okay. My wife knew how afraid I was, and she always made me feel better. She had nursed me through a lot, and I had no doubt that she would stay with me even if I did go blind. She would help me and make my life as fulfilling as it ever was. She always smiled that sweet smile of hers and told me she would be glad to be my lifelong chauffeur.
My breathing calmed a bit as I remembered her face. I loved the freckles across her nose and cheeks that always got darker in the summer months. I loved the way she could flare her nostrils, making me laugh whenever she wanted. I loved the way her eyebrows would crinkle when she knew I was doing something stupid.
I was wheezing now, but I was no longer close to hyperventilating. I reevaluated my current situation. Both my legs were pinned. My dagger was sheathed to my chest and my shortsword was pinned under my leg. I couldn’t tell if I was just laying on it or if it had pierced me. I was in too much pain to comprehend the cause of every single ache. I again tried to press the boulder away, but it didn’t budge. I briefly considered cutting off one of my legs with my dagger, but I was pinned up to the thigh. I didn’t think I’d survive all the sawing and cutting that would be required to remove the appendage.
Unsheathing my dagger, I struck at the boulder. Doing so caused several shards of stone to break free. A few small bits of rock and dust landed on my face. The rest clattered to the floor around me. I chewed another heal root and brought up my menus. I enabled Durability of Mundane Objects and any small hope I might have felt was dashed. The boulder was listed as 587/700 Durability. My dagger had caused one point of that and had taken one point in return. It had a current durability of 33. I had several daggers with me, but it wasn’t close to equaling out.
The weird scratching got closer. What is that? It could be SueLeeta or Shart, attempting to dig me out. It could also be any manner of danger. I wasn’t feeling particularly lucky, at the moment.
My breathing became harsher, again. What if I get my legs out but can’t move them? What If I’m paralyzed?
I struck at the boulder. It wasn’t doing much good, but I couldn’t think of an alternative action. One hit turned into two. Two became three, until I was stabbing at it in a frenzy. I stabbed and stabbed, dust, debris and thick wet blood raining down on me. Punching the large rock with my left as I stabbed with my right, more pain surged through me. A notification of a broken knuckle popped into my vision. I initially ignored it, but finally stopped upon discovering that punching the boulder was doing no durability damage.
As I again stopped to reassess, I realized that one of my legs felt different. It was like it was slightly less flattened or trapped. I took a deep, hopeful breath and attempted to wiggle my foot. Pain shot up through my leg, straight into my thigh. My foot was moving, though. Pain was good, because pain was a feeling. A feeling meant the leg wasn’t paralyzed! Using both my arms, I twisted and jerked and pried. With one final mighty push, my leg came free. The boulder, however, rocked slightly and settled harder on my trapped leg. I started taking more damage.
The scratching was almost on top of me.
Chewing another heal root, I tried to reach out magically. I didn’t even have a specific target in mind. I was flailing for something. Anything. I would have taken a magical connection with Shart, the boulder, SueLeeta, or anything. Absolutely anything. I tried to will some sort of spell into existence.
I was sweating. How had I not realized the heat? I knew some of the wet on my face was blood, but I was also sure some of it was sweat. I was sure, because I felt hot. My head had reached new levels of pain and I briefly saw what I thought to be color flash in my eyes. Was I being rescued? I was momentarily ecstatic, until I realized it was simply a phosphene, giving me false hope, as I frantically did everything I could. Still, the boulder wouldn’t move. Finally, I collapsed, the futility overwhelming me. I was a wheezing, bleeding, broken mess.
The scratching stopped.
“My, my! What do we have here?” came a voice. A voice that sounded, in this pitch black arena, even more terrifying than Shart’s. I looked around and saw a pair of glowing, golden eyes.
Suddenly, I didn’t want to see anything but the darkness again.
“Stay away from me,” I called out.
“Oh, no, no, no,” stated the voice. “I have need of someone with your abilities.”
I couldn't see the creature beyond the eyes. I certainly couldn’t see it well enough to activate the Lore skill. The voice was all I had to go on. Judging not only by the voice’s pitch, but also the fact that it sounded low to the ground, I was assuming the creature was on the small side. Well, maybe. In the dark, with my senses rapidly failing, it was hard to tell.
‘What abilities? I don’t have any abilities you want. Just go away.”
“You are dying. I can save you, if you help me,” it replied. Suddenly, the eyes were on top of the boulder, looking down on me. I heard the scratching again, and bits of stone started falling around him. Not enough, though.
“What kind of help?” I slurred. Pain flared up and down my back, and I started chewing my last heal root. Pain in my back was probably another good sign, but I was quickly growing too weak to care that I was, most likely, not paralyzed.
“I thought you’d see it my way,” replied the voice. “I need a Woodsman. I have a quest. When you accept it, I’ll release you.”
“What kind of quest?” I croaked. My mouth had become excessively dry, and my tongue was sticking to the roof of my mouth.
“My kind of quest,” he replied, claws tapping on the boulder.
“If I refuse?” I replied, already knowing the answer. God, I’m thirsty.
“You’ll die. I wouldn’t much care for that outcome, because I would need to find another such as you. If it helps, the quest is somewhere in the valley. No harm will come to your townsfolk.”
“Why me?”
“Because,” replied the creature, walking down the boulder toward me. His claws somehow gave him purchase against the mostly spherical rock, “You are a Woodsman who hasn’t selected a specialization yet. Those are quite rare.”
“What?” I replied.
“I need a Beast Master. Those are rare enough, but I don’t want someone who’s already selected a companion. I’d feel right put out if I had to separate a companion from their Woodsman.”
“I have a companion,” I informed the creature.
He considered me a moment. “No. No, you have a familiar. They are different. You are currently companionless.
I swear his eyes got red.
“Then what?”
“We go on my quest, or you die. To accept, all you have to do is select “Beast Master” and make me your companion.”
I was trapped. No one was going to be able to save me in the few minutes I still had to live. I didn’t know what would happen if I died here on Ordinal, but I didn’t want to find out. The creature wasn’t giving me much of a guarantee, but it was something.
Quest: Help Badgelor kill Charles. Badgelor needs your aid in killing Charles. Charles is a traitor and deserves it. Will you accept? (Yes/No)
I accepted the quest. Then, I opened my menus and went to Woodsman. I was almost up to level 6 there. I sighed and selected Beast Master.
Specialization selected, Beast Master
You gain one rank in Endurance and Strength.
Your Hit Point total is increased by 10. Your Stamina is increased by 20.
You gain the Talent, Beast Bond
Your skill in: Spear and Bow increased to Initiate
Your skill in: First Aid increases to Novice and improves to Medic. You gain the sub skill animal doctor
Tracking is replaced with Improved Tracking
Jim
HP 12/230
Stamina 62/275
Mana 40/40
You may choose an animal companion. As a one time boost, your first animal companion will level up to your current level.
Unable to see the creature to select it, I weakly called out, “Come here. I can’t see you to select you.”
The gleaming eyes got closer, until I felt the heat of his breath on my hand. Pressing my palm into him, I received a prompt:
Will you select Badgelor as your companion? (Yes/No)
I seethed internally. Even from this short distance, I couldn’t see it. Because of that, I still couldn’t use Lore. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but, as I felt a wave of vomit threaten to overcome me, I supposed it didn’t matter. The creature didn’t feel that large, though it was very furry. What was a Badgelor? My Lore skill didn’t mention any creatures by that name. With my health depleting and my everything hurting, I selected “Yes.”
You have gained the Companion, Badgelor.
Companion type: War Badger
Hit points 22/22
Stamina 20/20
Badgers do not have a Mana stat
Ability, Badger Rage: Can reduce piercing and slashing damage, reduced Stamina cost for the duration
Ability, Lord of the Badgers: Gains an extra 2 Hit Points per level.
I had selected a fucking badger. I had a general idea of how small they were. Cat was bigger than it was. This creature would be the size of a small dog. I didn’t care about being tricked as much as the fact that I was going to die. This little bastard had lied to me. There was no way a tiny badger was going to save me, even if it was a lord of something.
Then, the rock got heavier.
Leveling up your companion
Hit points: 102/102
Stamina: 70/70
Your companion has gained a Beast Talent
Your first companion has gained a bonus Beast Talent
Your companion has 2 Beast Talents to spend.
Your companion has chosen War Form. He can enlarge up to 500%, +40 Hit Points, +40 Stamina, bonus to all damage types, bonus to all defense types.
Your companion has chosen Burrowing and can tunnel through earth and rock
The eyes got farther apart and much larger. The boulder was bone crushingly heavy before; now, it was threatening to pulverize my entire leg. For the briefest moment, I felt myself begin to black out. This was it. The heat, and nausea, and dizziness, and the terrible, terrible pain were all going to end. Once I lost consciousness, I knew I would not reawaken. There was a terrible carving sound that I felt certain was my head physically splitting open in pain. Then, sizable rocks started raining down.
Within seconds, the boulder split in half. The remains of both sides fell away from my leg, landing on the ground with echoing thuds. The Crushing Damage stopped immediately, but a large portion of the leg pain remained. I could move it, but just barely. I was sure the leg was broken.
Now, however, I had the Medic skill and access to the equipment I had on me. Fumbling around in the dark, I managed to find two pieces of wood. Ripping my undershirt into strips, I was able to fashion a passable splint. That changed the injury type from untreated, which never recovered, to treated. My leg would only be broken for a few days, thanks to my accelerated Demon Healing. In the meantime, I had a host of penalties associated with the broken leg.
You have a broken leg, treated. You suffer from a 50% Lifting penalty. You cannot move past your walking speed, which is also reduced by 50%.
“Any chance you know where a lamp is?” I croaked.
Badgelor sniffed several times before walking a few paces away. He returned with something metal in his jaws that he set next to my hand, “This is a lamp. It’s old and slightly rusty from disuse. Use your dagger to light it.”
Realizing there was a piece of flint and a wick, I spent a few moments shakily striking them. Finally, the lamp came aflame. The light was blinding, initially, and I swear I could feel my head physically vibrate with pain. Squeezing my eyes shut, I opened them slowly. I had no idea how long I had been in total darkness, but it took my eyes several minutes to adjust. The light itself was actually pretty dim, once I got used to it. If I held it aloft, it only put out a very low light for about 10 feet around me.
Finally, I laid eyes on my new companion for the first time. Badgelor looked like a honey badger, except for how huge he was. No longer what I assumed to be small pet sized, he was now the size of Kappa. What was even more off putting was the intelligence in his eyes.
Kappa was smart, and not just for a dog. The Warg possessed almost
human-like intelligence.
Badgelor, on the other hand, looked just as smart. His was a more feral intelligence; he was smart and cunning for a badger. I wagered he was probably the smartest badger I had ever met. I was also most likely delusion by now.
“So, you are Badgelor?” I asked. The War Badger bowed deeply to me.
“And your name is Jim,” Badgelor smirked. “That’s just perfect.”
I didn’t like how he said that. Not one bit.
“How are we getting out of here?” I asked, wheezing as another puff of dust filled my pained lungs.
“I’m thinking about digging my way out,” Badgelor replied. “I can bring you, if you want.”
“I don’t see myself having much of a choice,” I replied. Badgelor grinned wickedly. “But, before we go, you need to tell me something. When do we need to go on this quest?”
Badgelor turned away for a moment, looking at one of the walls. “I will have to find Charles, first. I know he is somewhere close. I can sense him. When I find him, I am going to eat him.”
Oh, he’s homicidal. That’s great.
Chapter 11: Badgelor
If you ever thought to yourself ‘I want to see what it's like to have a war badger dig through solid rock, while pulling me behind him like a rag doll,’ I’d advise against it. By the time we got to the surface, I was somehow even more of a gasping, wheezy mess. I was absolutely covered in rock, sand, and finally, mud. The dizziness and nausea had returned full force, too.
