“That Ooze thing. We should be okay, right?”
The Ooze had been on a completely different side of the dungeon. With a day’s distance between us, we should be okay.
We walked a bit farther. A few small shafts of light went up to the surface, but the openings were nothing that my poor skills could scale. These entrances were similar to the one I had fallen down. TinkerHell had told me her map went straight to an easy-to-traverse pathway out.
“Come on.” I tried to hustle. We had made it pretty far with just TinkerHell and Edward. This was doable. The exit was within range.
Except it wasn’t. More of those annoying ugly block-headed [Gobbler]s were in the way. I checked the map. We were close enough to the end that there were a few bottlenecks. They happened to be poking around in one of them.
I stared at the lot of them from down the hallway. Getting in range of one would simply alert the others. Dividing them up might be possible. Or maybe this was just two smaller groups that somehow patrolled through each other’s path.
Dusk and I waited. The small [Messenger’s Pet] seemed to have no interest in fighting the actual monsters himself. He did tear into limbs that fell apart on the ground. It was more cute than helpful. I had managed to survive so far due to careful planning and a focus on moving forward.
Minutes ticked by wasting part of my remaining night vision. The pack of six [Gobbler]s chose not to move at all. My leeway on completion of this quest was rapidly dwindling.
How did that mantra go? WWCD? What would Carver do? What…
I could try to weave through them. That might work. They weren’t as scary after killing so many with Elane and TinkerHell. Even knowing that Edward had been prancing about was reassuring. On my own, I had still managed to eliminate a few.
“Hang on, Dusk,” I said. “We’re going to do this.”
WWCD? Dive in. Swing at a few on the way. This was doable. This was just a game. Elane wasn’t really dead.
Dancing here was just like performing for a fake audience in my dance program. There should be nothing but the movements. One motion would flow into the next. Each motion had a purpose and set up for the next phase. Most of it was getting the hips aligned correctly.
I didn’t do a full run. It was a brisk tempo that ballet dancers called allegro. Ballet was a deep school of movement that I could never dare in real life. Here in the digital landscape, I was like a pudgy prince of the prance. My footwork should be enough to get around the [Gobbler]s and their clunky movements though.
The light thud of my steps passed their invisible aggression range. The group turned almost as one. Dull clay imitations of human heads were facing my direction. I tried to picture them as a formation dance. Soon they would swarm and my skills as a lead dancer would kick in.
Before anything fully registered, I was holding one of the [Gobbler]s like a dance partner, my frame lined against it. Then we spun away and one crashed into the other. A distant thought crossed my mind—that had been no judo throw, but it was effective enough.
Another one approached, and I sloppily performed back leading. In a real social dance, that would be completely rude, but here it was effective. Weight transferred from one foot to another. My eyes only vaguely locked on whatever partner—[Gobbler]—was in front of me.
In some of the dance programs I dared to do, there were entire series of movements where people danced around each other. Four, five, sometimes twenty people all in predesignated spots and acting. Those were the hardest ones to learn.
This, dancing past slowly moving monsters, was slightly less difficult. Two crashed into each other reaching for me. One hit my shoulder.
Successfully walked into an attack
Total health loss: 20%
Either way, I moved past them and felt flushed as I faced away. In my dance program, this would be where we bowed or the stage disassembled for the next dance. There was no time for either. That whole situation had been weird but survivable.
I ran my jiggling midsection down the hallway. Dusk seemed confused as to what had just happened. His claws dug into my shoulder and one wing was up in alarm.
I was trying not to laugh. It would be tacky. I’d managed to successfully do a vague ballroom tango past those creatures. My virtual instructor in the dance program would be absolutely horrified at my execution.
“Hehe.” Okay, it was funny enough for a small chuckle.
Dusk lifted his head and glared at me from his shoulder perch. That sent my small laugh into outright full, gasp-inducing chuckles. The monsters behind us had faded away past a turn or two.
“Okay, I think we can make it.” There was a minute left on the timer for my night vision spell. The exit was only a few more twists away.
Or not.
There was a green film on the far end of the room I’d just entered. I stared at it. It was vaguely see-through and seemed to occupy the entire exit. Dread sank my stomach. My feet took a few steps back while my hands went up.
“Oh, no,” I said.
Of course that thing would be here. The Voices were probably watching and laughing themselves silly. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe this was just a fancy shield. I squinted and activated [Identification].
Skill Used: [Identification]
Results: [The Ooze]
Status: ???
Details: The Ooze is a creature native to [Grand World Crossroads [(Lerter Region)]. It devours organic matter found all over the dungeon and is attracted to heat. No noticeable impact has been found upon inorganic matter aside from awkward slime trails.
Warning! Total Travelers Killed: 5,387
Warning! Death by this creature will leave a lingering disease that persists even upon resurrection.
“Oh, no. No, no, no.” My eyes got as far as the creature’s name and kill total. If other Travelers had failed to survive, my chances were nonexistent.
There was a pop on its surface. Then another, and another. It seemed to ripple before it slid across the floor in my direction. I tried to see if there was room to dodge by it. The thing was massive and filled up the hallway.
Notice!
Information Update is available for [The Ooze]. Status is now marked as “Not Dead.”
“Seriously?” I turned and ran. [Morrigu’s Gift] might be strong for my Rank, but this creature was beyond me.
There had to be some way past it or everything I’d done during these last few days in-game had been pointless. There was no rope in my bag.
The system status said it didn’t eat non-organics. Throwing [Gobbler]s in its path might slow down [The Ooze]. Yeah. I would try. TinkerHell had said it earlier—this was all or nothing.
I ran back to the room where six of the clay golem creatures still milled about. They turned as one toward me.
“Hey!” I had no idea if they understood me. “Ugly!” My brain was terrible at insults, especially in a panic.
They stumbled toward me. I pulled back and found [The Ooze] just a twist away. Its bright green surface was still bubbling as if hungry. One pop sent liquid my way.
“Ouch. Ow.”
Acid is not makeup
Total health loss: 25%
Another few pops splashed off. The system was kind enough to inform me that acid was also not lotion or body wash. How the machine knew of these concepts was beyond me. I flicked them away and helped one of the [Gobbler] monsters into [The Ooze] with a spin.
The [Gobbler] sank into the green film. Slowly [The Ooze] crawled across its surface before completely encasing the monster with a pop of noise.
The other five didn’t waste time with their companion and came after me. One pummeled me from behind with a giant block fist. Another caught me from the other side. I fell, rolled, and tried to recover amid a small wall of system messages. [Morrigu’s Gift] flashed into its two-handed sword form just in time to block another attack.
Dusk had lost his footing on my shoulder and was rolling around somewhere nearby. His squawks of outrage stood out more
than the slow grunts of a [Gobbler].
“Run, Dusk! I’ll catch up!”
Two [Gobbler]s were pounding on the sword from above. My fingers were caught by the edge of a fist. Luckily they were dumb and seemed to go for my [Barricade] instead of actually attacking my legs or some other obvious weak spot. That, or my constant squirming was keeping them from doing too much damage.
Meanwhile, [The Ooze] crept ever closer. One of the [Gobbler]s that fell behind was sucked into the slime creature with another pop of noise.
Then everything darkened.
“Shit!” I didn’t curse normally. This situation warranted any clever phrasing that could come to mind, but I was panicking too much.
A small ball of fire blasted by. My cheek felt warm, and a smell of burnt hair wafted in the air.
[Gobbler] bodies provided illumination with their strange glowing cores. [The Ooze] behind us lit up from the two golem creatures floating inside. Dusk, with his fire breath, was an additional source of inconsistent light. The strobe effects were not helping.
“Run!”
This was very bad. My mind couldn’t formulate a way past all these creatures without proper vision. I tried to sidestep and use footwork. It failed as another attack collided with my face.
New blocking technique attempted
Total health loss: 50%
I swung [Morrigu’s Gift] and managed to carve a chunk out of one of the monsters. A leg separated from the body as the [Gobbler] fell down. Three were out of the picture. Two remained, plus one giant unkillable monster. My bigger problem was my seriously screwed up eyesight. The leftover impact from my [Ghost Mushroom] poisoning was much more obvious now that there was less to compete with.
Okay. I had to get distance first. Near darkness meant my skills at fumbling around were at an all-time high. I shoved off of one of the clay beings and managed to get around a corner.
Small shafts of light littered the room. I had enough room to try to lure both the [Gobbler]s and [The Ooze]. Hopefully.
Both came around the corner. Orange glowing clay monsters were followed by a giant wall of icky green. I stood on the far end of the room and watched as both approached. Soon there would be an end to [The Ooze] and I could try to run by. My [Light Body] was high enough, and my [Reaction] stats had improved.
Only the green mucus wall showed no signs of ending. It flowed out and slowly took up the entire room with its bubbling surface. The two [Gobbler]s still floated in the slime’s innards.
“Dusk.”
The small [Messenger’s Pet] was down by my side, spitting fire at the approaching [Gobbler]s. His attacks did minimal damage and only seemed to make [The Ooze] bubble even more.
“Dusk.” I tried again. “Dusk, you have to run.”
He looked up at me, then back at the monsters.
“It’s okay. I’m a Traveler, I’ll come back, but I don’t know what happens to you. You have to run.”
The [Gobbler]s were getting close now. The small air holes that lead up to the surface were quickly being swallowed by [The Ooze] and its absurd mass.
I took out the coin from Ray, Voice of Gambling, and held it up. “Heads, you go up and escape. Tails, we go back into the tunnels.” Let chance have this decision. “You agree?” I asked the little guy.
He shot off another small ball of fire. Sweat was actually dripping down the side of his face. The thought bubble above Dusk seemed to indicate confusion even though his head was nodding.
I took that as a yes. The [Gobbler]s were almost halfway across the room when I flipped the coin. Heads. Thank goodness the Voices, or chance, was with me on this one.
“Coin’s heads.” I held it in front of the [Messenger’s Pet]. He sniffed it and looked up at me. “Go!”
Dusk looked at my hand again. The coin shimmered and flashed. An intense brightness filled the room to near-blinding levels. It quickly faded, and something else was in my hand. I looked at the monsters across the room. All of them seemed stunned. There wasn’t enough room to run around [The Ooze] and save this quest.
Fine. Screw it. This timed mission was stupid anyway.
Event!
Ray’s Coin Convinces
Three times you’ve made a gamble using your coin from Ray. Three times the result was heads. You’ve stuck by your prior bets, and Ray believes you’ll follow through once more. For risking it all and honoring a deal, you get:
A hat
+4 [Divine Attention]
What? I panicked and elbowed the message out of the way. Those [Gobbler]s remained stunned, but it couldn’t last much longer. In my hand, where the coin had been, was indeed a hat. This looked to be the same style that Ray had had on during the room of trials. It was worn, frayed a bit at the edges, and almost as black as [Morrigu’s Gift]. My next message to the Voices above would be a question of style. Black seemed to be so overdone.
It might be the lighting down here. I slammed the duster on my head and tried not to laugh. At least Continue Online was rewarding the gamble. That was neat.
“You saw the coin. Go, Dusk.” I lifted the blade and readied myself. This was going to hurt. It was just a game, it wasn’t real. Not for me. For Dusk though, it was very real. That’s what James had said. “Go!”
I charged with the giant two-handed blade and tried to distract all the monsters from the last air hole. Dusk flew up and latched onto the ceiling with his little claws to look down at me. I tried to wave him off. The distraction cost me.
One of the [Gobbler]s had broken out of [The Ooze]. It hung across the gap between the slime and me and latched onto my thigh. Giant stone fingers curled into my skin, making me twist in pain. I cried out and fell.
Dusk chirped in alarm from up above. I tried to claw at the ground with one free hand and pull away. Something slimy crawled over my foot. [The Ooze] had caught me, and it refused to let go.
“Go, Dusk! Go! I’ll come back!”
The burning sensation crawled up my leg, toward my knee, and reached my pelvis. I worked to pull myself forward. My hand slipped as I tried to save the small [Messenger’s Pet], who was throwing more fireballs into [The Ooze] creature. None of them were effective.
[The Ooze] crawled across my skin one inch at a time. Each portion of flesh the monster touched sizzled with pain. I cried out at the two [Gobbler]s intent upon staring at me. [Morrigu’s Gift] reached ahead of me to try to find purchase. My other free hand held onto the hat.
Dusk snarled with clear anger and dove into the light. He was safe. Hopefully.
I risked looking behind me only to see that both legs were gone and my hips were rapidly following. Inside [The Ooze], another [Gobbler] floated. It too seemed intent upon my demise.
That was it. There was no way out. Still, I tried. I struggled, and in the end, I failed.
You have died.
The message hung in the air amid a landscape of darkness.
Warning!
Due to digestion, there is no body for any Spiritualist Path to resurrect.
Death had rendered me mute within the confines of Continue Online’s world. There I sat, looking at the black screen with my heart full of dread. Any sensation from the passing was gone. My arms and legs felt unresponsive. The dreamlike absence of body parts was only mildly disconcerting.
Eight hours in the real world needed to pass before I could pursue any answers. My Voice wouldn’t even issue forth to lament about the loss. Minutes passed while my consciousness hovered in a detached state. Slowly I focused on the log-out button.
Warning!
Logging out is not allowed during combat. Traveler Essence is being transported elsewhere!
What? I couldn’t actually speak, but the thought was there.
Death’s darkness existed, but in the distance, a light slammed on. At the heart of the illuminated area were the pillar and book. This was the same room that James had said I was done with. There should have been no way to get back to it without starting over completely and deleting this ch
aracter. How had I returned here? Was this entire thing some sort of joke by the Voices? Had James been messing with me?
Slowly the normal sensations of having a body returned. Toes wiggled. Fingers waved. Eyelids blinked.
“Ah, my dear Hermes. I was beginning to wonder if you would ever show up.” A Voice faded into view.
My skin crawled immediately. My legs tried to turn and run for the door that should be behind me somewhere. A quick escape would find me back in the Atrium and safe.
My legs didn’t move.
“Oh, no need to worry. Death and I are friends. It’s done me a favor, you see, to make sure it’s just you and me for some quality time.” The Jester stared at me with eyes that couldn’t blink.
I looked off to one side, then the other, and finally dared to settle back on the Jester. The last time I looked away for too long, it had appeared right behind me with those cold fingers.
“Was death traumatic? I wonder. I’ve never died, myself.” Its head shook back and forth. So far the Voice had not chosen to move from its position roughly twenty feet away.
I said nothing and held very still. This must be what rabbits felt like for the first few moments upon seeing a predator. Shivering, not entirely sure what was happening, but aware that something was amiss.
“I have your questions here, my dear Hermes,” it clacked. Papers waved in its hands. Not once did that grin fade or shift away from its frozen expression. “Do you still want them answered?” The Jester stared at me.
I got a sense it was pondering, waiting for my response. So far I had managed to keep myself pretty well under control.
“Now, now,” it started, “if you don’t talk, then I may just have to pry open your fragile little mind and poke inside for the answers I seek.”
My knees threatened to buckle. The contents of my stomach wanted to crawl up and come out of my mouth. This was overwhelming, disturbing even. How could he isolate me like this away from the other Voices?
I wanted to scream for James to help me, but part of me knew that he wasn’t that sort of person. He wasn’t a caretaker, a guardian, or a protector. James was an observer and someone to talk to.
This, this… thing in front of me was something else entirely. The Jester’s head tilted to one side, and the smile seemed to slide just slightly toward a frown. Then he took a step forward.
Continue Online The Complete Series Page 52
