The Monster Spawn

by Deck Davis

  “Kneel,” said Errelile.

  Nathan was beyond questioning things. His energy bar had fallen to just 10 now. His legs felt heavy. Slowly, he got down to his knees in front of the Ancient.

  With that, Errelile hopped down off his platform so that he stood next to Nathan. For a few seconds, he didn’t move. An awkward silence filled the room. When nothing happened, Nathan got to his feet.

  “Why did I need to kneel?”

  “Thou did not needeth to. I just wanted to see if you would,” said the Ancient.

  Nathan shook his head. He was so tired that he just wanted to get out of here.

  “What now?” he said.

  “Close your eyes,” said Errelile.

  “No way. Enough with the jokes.”

  “I’m serious this time, mortal. Close them. Please.”

  Sighing, Nathan closed his eyes. He heard Errelile move. Then, he felt the Ancient’s front paws on his shoulders. Was he trying to hug him? He almost opened his eyes, when he felt something warm spread over his shoulders. It wasn’t a painful kind of warmth like he’d felt when he tried to leave the mountain. This was a pleasant feeling, as though energy was circulating through him. It spread down his arms, heating up his skin, and then it concentrated in his claws.

  He heard a whooshing sound. He felt the heat shoot out from his claws. He couldn’t help opening his eyes. When he did, he saw that the room was filled with white light. Like daylight, but with a magical aura to it.

  He lifted his hands, and he finally saw them in all their glory. They were bigger than a man’s hands. His skin was rough, almost like leather. Six claws extended from his hands. They looked to be made of something like ivory, and seemed sharp enough to chop through steel.

  Power #1 Gained – Soul Claw

  This is a base attack, allowing you to slash and stab enemies.

  A slash is quicker and takes less energy, but deals less damage.

  A stab will hurt your foes more, but will drain you quicker.

  With enough orbs, you can upgrade your claws.

  This was great. He didn’t know what he’d expected when he came into this room, but he knew it had been worth it. He was still no closer to finding a way to exit the mountain, but at least now he could defend himself.

  He brought up his menu and looked at his character sheet. Some of it had altered now. He studied the changes.

  Att: 34

  Power #1 – Soul Claw

  Skill: Mining

  Getting his claws had increased his attack power, which made sense. The number 34 didn’t mean much to him yet, and it wouldn’t until he actually used the claws and saw what damage they did. Curiously, he seemed to have gained a skill as well as a power. Maybe the ‘mining’ skill had something to do with the orbs.

  “What are orbs?” he said, looking at Errelile. “Apparently I need to use them to upgrade my claws.”

  “The orbs are within the mountain,” said the Ancient. He turned his back on Nathan and began to walk away from him.

  “Wait. I have questions.”

  The Ancient walked to the room with the rat nest and stopped in the doorway.

  “I commend your choice, Nathan,” said Errelile. “You passed my test nobly. But there is a further lesson you must learn. Tuphos is a monster class, and to get the most from it, you must embrace it. Be at one with your nature.”

  The Ancient walked into the rat room. He leapt up and struck the boulder with his paws, loosening the chip that held it in place. The stone crashed down onto the sleeping rats, killing them instantly. Nathan grimaced at the squelching sound their bodies made.

  “What hell?” he said. “What was the point in giving me a choice if you were just going to kill them anyway?”

  “There is a lesson here. You must understand your nature.”

  Whatever the lesson was, Nathan didn’t have time to think about it. He realized that the door to the Ancient room was open now. From outside it, somewhere along the mountain passageways, he heard something.

  Voices. There were people in the mountain.

  He turned and walked toward the archway.

  Chapter Six

  He went into the passageway outside the Ancient doors and stopped. He listened. At first, he couldn’t hear anything except Sherlock’s plodding footsteps. When the goblin joined him at his side, he listened carefully.

  There were definitely voices. Human. More than two of them. Where were they coming from? He brought up his map screen. Although a large part of the mountain was greyed out because he hadn’t travelled there yet, he saw some icons on the map. There were four different colored ‘P’s, and they were moving slowly through the tunnels.

  Finally, someone was here who might be able to tell him what was going on. Maybe they’d be able to help him escape. He knew his energy was low, but rest was just going to have to wait. Janess was out there, and with it was a warm bed, cooked food and some human company.

  The ‘P’ icons seemed to be moving away from him. They were in a greyed-out area of the map, so Nathan couldn’t see the exact way to get to them. He guessed that he would have to go all the way out of the passage and back to his main chamber. From there he would have to take the other, unexplored, passageway.

  The problem was, that would take up more energy that he wanted. He didn’t know what would happen when his energy bar hit zero. In some games, it just meant that your actions slowed down. You couldn’t run, and your attacks moved at half speed. In other, harsher, games, an empty energy bar meant you lost HP. Right now, he had 140, but he still didn’t know how to heal. It wouldn’t be wise to risk losing more until he was surer of how things worked.

  There had to be a way to get to the players. Looking at the map, his attention was drawn to the light-colored sections of the walls. He’d tried to break one down earlier but he wasn’t able to. Now, with his Soul Claw power, he should be able to bust through. Time to get moving.

  When he got to the first weak part of the wall he stopped. He savored the moment. This would be the first time he was finally able to use an attack. It was a pity he couldn’t use it on an enemy for his debut strike, but oh well.

  He raised his claws. Focusing his energy, he struck the wall. While Sherlock’s had taken a dozen strikes to break through, Nathan’s claws took just 1 to reduce the wall to rubble.

  “I could get used to this,” he said, then stood back triumphantly.

  He looked at his claws. These things were powerful, that was for sure. He thought briefly about the orbs. Of how to get them, and then what upgrades he could buy. He had the sense that the Tuphos monster class had amazing potential.

  That would have to wait for now. The voices were a little louder, but still faint. He brought up his map. Breaking through the wall had expanded his explored section a little. He saw that there were several tunnels and passageways ahead. In some spots, there were lighter areas. He guessed that if he spent the time, he’d be about to create numerous shortcuts through the labyrinth.

  He followed the tunnels, every so often checking his map to see where the other players were. They seemed to be making slow progress. He guessed that meant they were as unfamiliar with the mountain as he was.

  After smashing through several shortcuts and following the tunnels, he heard the players. One of them was whistling a song. Two others talked. The fourth was silent. They were ahead of him.

  The prospect of finally seeing other players made his heart thump. He liked Sherlock, but the goblin didn’t offer much in the way of conversation. He’d talked to the Ancient a little, but the lion-man spoke in riddles. It would be good to chat to some grounded, real people.

  He walked down the tunnel and turned the corner, and saw them up ahead.

  As his map had suggested, there were 4 of them. One had a bald head, and wore a long white robe that went down to his boots. There was the faint outline of a red cross on the front, but he’d painted a smiley face on it. In his hand, he held a short-handled mallet with an oversized
head on it. There was something calm about this man, as though he gave off an air of tranquility. Added to this, there was a shimmering light around him. Faint, but enough to cast a glow in the darkness.

  Although he couldn’t tell what class this man was, the others were easy. Two warriors and a rogue. The warriors had long hair and carried swords. They could only be differentiated by their hair color – blonde and black – and different sets of armor.

  The rogue walked slightly ahead of them all, indicating that he was in charge. He wore clothes so dark that when he went near a wall, it was as if he blended into it. His trousers and armored tunic were skin tight, presumably to help his movement. He held daggers in both hands, but that wasn’t what made him look fearsome. When the rogue stepped into the glow of the bald man, Nathan saw him clearly.

  He wore a white mask over his face. The expression on the mask had a sneering, almost evil look to it. It was a face of cruelty. The kind of guy who, if he’d been in the Ancient’s test, would have crushed the rat family with glee.

  It was seeing this that made Nathan hang back a little. He decided to listen to what they had to say before making himself known to them.

  “All I’m saying is we better be careful,” said the warrior. “I only brought a couple of poison antidotes. If there are any spidercocks here, we’re screwed.”

  “Spidercucks. Not cocks. And you should have stocked up better,” said the rogue.

  “I didn’t get the chance! The quest only opened yesterday, for Christ's sake. We’re probably the first people here.”

  “We’d be idiots to pass it up,” said Warrior #2.

  The rogue nodded. “You might have a point, for once, but stop bawling and plum up. We need to be strong, not scared. If we do this right, we’ll have enough gold for a castle each.”

  The bald man turned to the rogue. “We’ll have to share it with the guild, Gevil,” he said.

  “Bugger the guild,” said the rogue. “And if you say anything, I’ll cut your shiny head off.”

  Bald head held firm. “No, you won’t. Think about it. We made a promise. Loyalty above all.”

  What quest were they talking about? Nathan had a quest button his main menu, but it was greyed out, as was the chat option. He was going to have to talk to these guys. If they were in a guild, that at least meant they weren’t raiders or player killers. Maybe they could help him.

  He stepped out of the shadows and started walking toward them. One of the warriors turned at the sound of his footsteps.

  “Oh shit, it’s him!” he shouted.

  “Hey,” said Nathan. “Do you guys-”

  No sooner had Nathan opened his mouth, then the two warriors rushed at him, swords drawn. He was still new to Adonis, but he guessed this wasn’t some sort of local greeting. They meant to kill him.

  Behind him, Sherlock drew his dagger. Nathan felt a momentary flicker of fear, but not for himself. Goblins were low-level creatures, everyone knew that. Two warriors could easily kill his friend.

  Sherlock didn’t share the same fear. He grunted and was about to leap forward when Nathan spread out his arms to block him.

  “Stay there,” he said.

  The warriors were just feet away now. Behind them, the rogue raised his daggers. While the warriors had rushed into attack mode, the rogue was taking a more measured approach. Nathan knew that his careful manner made him the most dangerous of all of them. Behind the rogue, the bald man hung back. He must have been a support class of some kind. A healer, or something like that.

  That meant three attack-minded players and one support, versus him and Sherlock. Not great odds, but Nathan had seen worse. Besides, he wasn’t defenseless anymore. The warriors might have had steel blades, but Nathan had giant monster claws. He held them out.

  “Fine, if you don’t want to talk. We’ll settle this another way.”

  The first warrior saw Nathan’s claws and then hesitated. It was just for a split second, but enough time for Nathan to strike the first blow. Unfortunately, as he aimed for the warrior’s chest – always go for the larger target – he realized that he hadn’t had a chance to practice with Soul Claw. His movements were slow, and the warrior managed to pivot away, deflecting most of the damage onto his arm.

  Warrior #2 moved to the side of Nathan now and closed in on him. The last thing he needed was to be caught in a pincer movement. He stepped back, narrowly avoiding the swing of a sword.

  By now the rogue was charging forward. Rather than run at Nathan head on, he stuck to the sidelines, hugging the wall so that he was partly covered by shadow. It was a good tactic.

  Sherlock moved forward, dagger out. Nathan didn’t want the goblin to get hurt, but he knew he couldn’t take on the warriors alone. And even if he did, that left the rogue. Added to that, if the bald-headed support started healing his friends, he and Sherlock had no chance.

  “Stay out of range,” he told Sherlock. “Don’t get hit.”

  While he moved out of the way of the warrior to his side, the one in front caught him off guard, slicing his blade across Nathan’s chest. The tip of the sword scratched him, and he felt his HP drain. It stung like hell, but he pushed the pain away.

  He backed off. He still wasn’t used to the weight of his claws or his attack speed, so he needed to time his moves carefully. The warrior to the side of him held his sword in a parry position, as if expecting Nathan to attack.

  He needed to wait for an opening. To let the warrior attack, get out of the way, and then swipe him.

  The warrior moved closer.

  Wait for it, he told himself. Just be patient.

  “What are you guys doing? Smash him,” shouted the rogue.

  The warrior moved his sword. Just an inch, but enough for Nathan to notice that he was about to attack. Nathan stepped out of the way and prepared to strike, when the other warrior stabbed his blade forward, jabbing Nathan in the leg.

  More HP gone. This wasn’t going to work. One on one, he felt he could take them, but there were too many dance partners waiting for a spin with him.

  He turned around. “Come on,” he told Sherlock.

  Then he sprinted down the tunnels.

  “It’s running away,” shouted the rogue.

  He was wrong. Nathan wasn’t running – this was a tactical retreat. There was nothing stupider than walking into an impossible fight. Nathan had to even the odds, but he needed breathing space to make a plan.

  He ran down the twists and turns of the tunnels. He knew that just ahead of him, there was a lighter part of the wall. Reaching it, he struck out with his claws. The wall crumbled and rubble lined the floor.

  “Wipe your feet before you come in,” he called out behind him.

  He heard footsteps behind him, but he didn’t turn to look. He knew they were giving chase, but he just couldn’t work out how many of them there were.

  Better lose them, he thought. He needed an advantage, and this was it. He still wasn’t completely familiar with the mountain passageways, but he’d at least spent more time here than the warriors.

  He ran and ran until his energy ebbed away. Soon, he had just 2 points left. But that didn’t matter, because he knew where he was now. Ahead of him, was the main chamber.

  He and Sherlock reached the football-shaped room. Nathan stood in the centre and watched the tunnels to see if they had managed to follow him. For a few seconds, he heard nothing. He breathed out, glad to have a chance to rest. He could smell the odour of the rot room behind him, and he knew he was going to have to go in there. He was certain now that the rot room was the only place he could restore his energy. After all, a room that smelled of death was a fitting bedchamber for a monster.

  “Looks like we lost them,” he said.

  But Sherlock didn’t relax. Instead, he stared at the tunnel as if he expected the party of players to run down it.

  Sure enough, Nathan began to hear footsteps.

  Damn it. He needed to be ready. He barely had any energy points left, an
d the warrior’s sword had knocked his HP down to 101. He just hoped he had the stamina for one last fight. It was now or never, he realized. His last stand. Even if he ran, his energy wouldn’t take him far.

  As he listened, he realized that he didn’t hear four sets of feet. Instead, there was just one. Running through the tunnels must have confused the party. Maybe they’d split up or had gotten separated from each other. Whatever had happened, it had played into Nathan’s favor.

  “Come on,” he said.

  He turned and walked toward the rot room. If he stayed out of view, he’d have the element of surprise. As he crossed the chamber, the aroma of death grew stronger. It was pungent, sour…and yet, the more he breathed it, the less it disgusted him. In fact, as he reached the rot room and stepped into it, he found that he didn’t mind the smell.