Equalize

by Ryan DeBruyn

  Current Rank Weak-Sneak Level 1

  Sneak

  Sneak will help you gain knowledge of the techniques of muting the sound you make when moving and hiding. Each level of Sneak will passively decrease the noise you make by 1%.

  Luckily, the notification pop-ups were set to only take up a small corner of his interface now. After a quick glance, Rocky raised a trembling hand and dismissed the prompt. He looked back to the massive head poking out of the trees. In his current state, he needed the physical act to help his mental command.

  Rocky clenched both of his hands into fists to forcefully calm their anxious quivering.

  This horrific scene had distracted Rocky from the eyes of the creature which shone like a sliver of hell from within. He could feel his heart begin to beat even faster, and upon seeing a child-sized arm, he was forced to fight harder against his own caged-inner demon which compelled him to rush the creature to attain revenge.

  For a moment that stretched for a figurative eternity, they both held their ground—neither moving, neither breathing.

  Come on, Tina! Go get some damn ham!

  Rocky was forced to relax his hands again, as the pain of clenching them began to cut into his palms and forearms. His brain was fuming, and he couldn’t think clearly; it was like the smoke was roiling off a fire, and his mind was awash in it. He desperately held onto the plan he had formulated, clinging to it like a glass of water in an arid desert.

  The beast finally moved forward into the clearing, and Rocky shivered when he realized that it was much larger than he had originally thought. Based off of the size of its head, he would have guessed it was maybe two to three times the size of a grizzly bear. However, following the grotesque, bouncing limbs in its mouth came twenty feet of long-limbed, werewolf-like body.

  The Demon Bear was holding itself very close to the ground with its front and back legs tense and ready to spring off in any direction if startled. It crawled sinuously towards the massive pile of meat sniffing and snuffing its way closer. Suddenly, it sprang on to its two hind legs with a massive push of its forelegs.

  That moment of contrary emotions was overpowered instantly when every muscle in Rocky’s body clenched. Before his fear could re-emerge, he ran on unsteady feet towards the creature. Somehow, the run and sound he made went unnoticed, and he thought he might actually make it.

  The bear, however, forced him to adapt on the run. With about ten feet separating the two, the bear startled and turned his massive maw towards Rocky. However, he was already over-committed to his run, so he jumped, gaining lift from the ground in a way he had never experienced before.

  I could have posterized everyone with these stats.

  Turning in the air so his feet led the charge, he executed a dropkick which hit the beast in its chest nearly fifteen feet off the ground.

  Bananaskin! This is going to hurt.

  Gravity reasserted itself with that thought, and Rocky fell to the ground, fifteen feet below, with a boom that vibrated through his body. The impact knocked all the air out of his lungs, and a moment after, he heard a squishy, wet sound.

  The entire forest went absolutely silent, and even the wind seemed to have stopped.

  A deafening roar tore through the circle of trees, shaking leaves from the branches. The bass of it could be felt through the ground and air. Rocky’s ears were ringing as he struggled to his feet and glanced at the fallen beast.

  Damnit, luck, why did you fail me now!?

  While the creature had fallen on a great many barbs, some even piercing it through, it didn’t appear to have hit any vital areas. Most of the barbs had pierced limbs, shoulders, and joints, leaving it injured and severely pissed off but not mortally wounded. Rocky felt his blood freeze, and his heart stuttered. He used Analyze on the creature and was rewarded with a notification box.

  Onikuma – Boss

  Apprentice-Demon

  Level 24

  Well, the good news was it wasn’t a named spawn. Those seemed to be insanely strong if Skandranon and Steel were any indications. The bad news was it was still far stronger than Rocky. Rocky drew his sword and charged the creature, attempting to take advantage of its prone state before it got up and began fighting in earnest.

  As Rocky charged in at full speed, a shadow swept across his vision simultaneously. Just as his sword slashed down, cutting deeply into the thigh of the creature, something struck him hard from above. His hand was luckily able to maintain a grip on the sword as his body careened away, bouncing over the dirt.

  A new de-buff appeared in the upper corner counting down, but Rocky had no time to check it. It was an image of a man with stars floating around his head. As Rocky stood and nearly collapsed again, he got the meaning quickly, though. He was dazed.

  Somebody should get the license plate of that bus. What in the hell hit me?

  The demon was attempting to stand. Luckily, the plethora of quills was making that difficult. The fight would have been over otherwise, with Rocky just a new protruding limb from the bear’s mouth.

  Since he had a moment, he checked his health bar and saw more than half of it was gone.

  Trying to do more damage without getting closer, Rocky pulled out the throwing axe from his belt. He then wound up just like he usually did in axe throwing, with two hands above his head and released. Rocky immediately knew it was going to strike the beast, but from the small snort of laughter that came from behind him, he also knew that he hadn’t looked very cool.

  Thanks, Sela.

  The laughter at least calmed his racing mind, allowing him to cast Blood Mend. Rocky regained his sword and began planning his next move as the axe flipped end over end towards its target. The axe clumped harmlessly into the kneecap of the beast before the unexpected occurred.

  The plans changed again as Azoth entered the fight with a piteous attempt at a challenging cry which came out much closer to a house cat’s meow then that of a roar. Undaunted by this failure to intimidate, Azoth charged towards the creature, wings dragging in the dirt behind him.

  Everything froze as Rocky watched. Thinking back, he could only assume that the Onikuma’s bellow was an immediate call to any nearby territorial monsters, which would explain Azoth’s reaction.

  With a grimace followed by a bellowing war cry, he was forced to charge also. His desperate charge, however, was in an attempt to distract the enormous demon from the much smaller Chimera.

  It worked in getting the creature's attention, but now that he had it, Rocky wasn’t sure what to do with it.

  Breakdance fight?

  A shadow again crossed over his vision, and Rocky threw himself into a roll, just in time. The creature came to its feet in one motion, ignoring the new quills that sunk into its already pincushioned body. Suddenly, a massive shadow arm attempted to erase Rocky from existence but only succeeded in carving out the earth in a shallow trench where he had been. The first shadow strike was followed up by the bear’s real paw a moment after, and Rocky felt the wind pass by as the second limb careened inches from him.

  Azoth was stinging the creature in the heels with its stinger and biting at its swinging tail. The beast didn’t even seem to notice the small attacks of the baby Chimera as it focused on ridding itself of Rocky.

  It was everything Rocky could do to avoid the blows, and luckily, it seemed that the shadow strike had some sort of cooldown.

  As he came to his feet after another roll, he yelled at Sela, “Get Azoth out of here!”

  Sela responded trying her very best to get the runt to follow her but was having no luck. Instead, Sela helped by trying to distract the creature. She flew desperate circles around its nose and eyes, giving Rocky a reprieve between the creature’s strikes.

  This allowed Rocky to get a few slashes in. However, his attacks did next to nothing, and he felt the terrifying weight of inevitability collapse on to his shoulders.

  Just as the creature readied another shadow arm attack which would undoubtedly turn the fight i
n the beast’s favor, the Onikuma staggered as if drunk. It began careening away from Rocky, Sela, and Azoth, which gave Rocky the opportunity to use Analyze again.

  Onikuma – Boss

  Apprentice-Demon Level 24

  Affliction:

  Chimera Poison

  Well shit! I will be avoiding Azoth’s tail from now on, that’s for sure!

  The little guy was actually the reason that the bear was dying right in front of Rocky’s eyes. As Rocky and Sela watched, the Onikuma fell to the ground with labored breath.

  A few moments later, it was dead. “Well, Azoth,“ Rocky gasped out between breaths, his eyes wide and his limbs trembling from post-battle adrenaline. The pint-sized form of Azoth didn’t seem afflicted by any of that as he came over and curled up in front of his master, purring with delight.

  Rocky pet him with a shaky hand a few times, but limited the pets to three, in case the cat in Azoth was dominant. “Aren’t you a scary little man! Yes you are. Your momma would be so proud of you!”

  Sela was extremely distracted and staring intently at blank space in front of her, so Rocky went over and looted the Onikuma corpse.

  You have collected 1 Crystalized Ether.

  You have collected Hunters Crossbow (Broken String).

  You have collected Hunting Rations x 15.

  You have collected Composite Crossbow Bolts x15.

  Sela still stared with a look of utter disbelief plastered onto her white face, her hand scrolling down an invisible window he couldn’t see. Instead of bothering her, he decided to see if he gained any levels.

  Congratulations! You have learned a new skill, Swordsmanship!

  Current Rank Weak-Swordsman Level 1

  Swordsman

  Swordsman skill will help you better wield any weapon classified as a sword. For each level of the skill, you will gain some small tidbit of knowledge about wielding your blade. In addition, each level reduces the chance of you being disarmed by 0.5%.

  Congratulations! You have reached level 11! You have been awarded 1 stat point and 1 skill point.

  For killing Onikuma: You and your group have earned 39,541 Etherience.

  Your Etherience gain amounts to 13,180 Etherience.

  Having a sneaking suspicion what had Sela so shocked, he walked over to her and said, “So what level are you at now?”

  Sela jumped then smiled and pointed at her screen, looking very excited. “I am level four, but I have enough Etherience to be at level ten if I assign my skill points. I am not supposed to be able to gain levels. At least, I have never heard of a guide gaining levels before.” She trailed off while looking off into the distance.

  Rocky was forced to lean in to hear her better because she had spoken in a near whisper.

  “Rocky, why didn’t you choose Totem?”

  Her question forced a grimace on to his face; that decision had really hurt her. “I picked Strategist because I really need to be able to make others stronger. No, not just any random person I meet but my family. If they are still alive, they will need any help I can offer.” Rocky took a deep breath, not sure how to explain the next bit. “The rest is harder to explain. Sure, there is a bit of the fact that I won’t be comfortable as a leader, but there was something wrong to me about every other choice. There was a feeling that I can’t put into words. A feeling of wrongness for taking Totem, like it was meant for someone else.”

  Sela, who was listening quietly throughout the exchange, nodded along with Rocky as he came to a stuttering finish.

  Immediately after Rocky finished, she smiled and a screen popped up in front of him.

  Selaphelia Ardensai has requested to be Co-Leader of your Territory. Do you accept Selaphelia Ardensair as Co-Leader?

  Yes

  No

  Later

  Chapter Eight

  After a brief argument with Sela, Rocky had chosen to make her a co-leader. His only real objection had been that he wanted to save it for a family member. Sela had continually pointed out that he had to make it to his family first, and he had to think about holding his Territory right now.

  The fact that he had even been offered a co-leader was rare and entirely depended on the size and Ether density of the Territory. Rocky’s scrunched eyes and forehead forced Sela to show him a notification which she had pulled up from the Territory menu of his interface.

  Congratulations! For fending off the first assault on your Territory, you have unlocked the position of Co-Leader. Your Territory will continue to grow as you reach new milestones.

  Skill points for territories are awarded upon Leadership Class levels earned; stats will continue to be awarded per personal Class level gain.

  Current rank Level 1 Valley. To increase to Level 2 Stone Age Settlement, occupants must build a place of residence. Minimum residents count of Territory for Level 2 = 10 Occupants.

  The second was a notification Sela had opened when he mouthed the word milestone a few times. Where the Territory tab was located? Rocky had no clue.

  Sela had also dropped a massive bombshell with a single sentence, “Yes, I see why you want to keep the position for a family member, but having me stronger will help us avoid that forty-two percent death rate that humanity has already succumbed to.”

  Rocky’s pupils had dilated, and he had felt his head begin shaking back and forth of its own accord. Sela had seen this and explained this information was something she had limited access to. As Sela gained levels, she theorized she would be able to interact with the Atlantian EtherNet to a higher degree.

  Rocky hadn’t been shaking his head due to not understanding that she had gotten the statistic from a reliable source. He had been shaking his head because the number was unheard of. According to that statistic, four of ten people he had known were already dead.

  As Rocky stood there speechless, Sela had continued explaining that the city of Atlantis, where this information network was stored, was the only neutral ground during the time Sela was alive and that Atlantis was a city of amazing innovations and technology where races, ideas, technology, and culture blended uniquely, creating the largest and most beautiful town on Gaia.

  According to Sela, interactions with Ether weren’t always this easy and straightforward. According to stories from before her time, Ether used to be much harder to use. Most people would train for the majority of their life to be able to cast spells or infuse the Ether into specific stats and become stronger.

  Eventually, Sela had clued into his continued silence and asked him what was wrong. When Rocky had told her about the sheer scope of that statistic, Sela dimmed. After regaining her voice, she had tried to console him a few times, but he had asked to be left alone to work. She mumbled about going to gather the survivors and attempting to stop them from running so far as to exit the other side of the Territory.

  Before Sela left, she said, “When I get back, we should discuss what leadership class and individual class I should pick. I am hoping to get something that will be complimentary, but my individual class options are minimal.”

  Rocky nodded and forced himself to get to work to take his mind off the death rate. Trying to distract himself, he removed and buried all of the remaining human limbs from the beast’s jaw. After that grisly task, he removed the quills and placed them back in storage before beginning skinning the Onikuma. The Chimera poison made him reconsider butchering it because he was worried that it may have tainted the meat.

  Rocky was forced to physically move Azoth on a few occasions during the skinning operation. The silly cat was either starving, wanting to eat more of the Onikuma, or playing a weird game. Regardless, Rocky chuckled a few times when the butthead interposed himself between Rocky and the bear.

  When Rocky was finished and had placed the skin into the inventory, he realized that Azoth had grown to the size of a small jungle cat. He was now in the range of a lynx, and he was no longer dragging his wings in the dirt. The muscles on his back seemed strong enough now to at least carry the win
gs above his pitch-black shoulders.

  Thinking that perhaps the pet wanted to play, Rocky attempted to teach Azoth to fetch with pieces of meat from the beast. Rocky soon discovered the furball had no liking for the game because whenever Rocky threw a chunk of flesh, Azoth would just stare at him and tilt his head.

  When Rocky tilted his head and tried the customary, “Go get it, boy.” Azoth literally just went and took a bite out of the corpse sitting a few feet away.

  My first pet, and I think he’s broken!

  When Sela flew hastily into the clearing, Rocky had jumped up from his seated position on the ground petting Azoth. She immediately made a gesture of holding up two hands either apologizing for startling him or telling him it was not an emergency.

  Sela had only wanted to inform him that only three members of the survivors had returned and that she had pointed the other twelve in the direction of Rocky’s previous campsite.

  Rocky could feel his eyelids attempting to close unbidden, but he was startled fully awake a moment later by a shouted, half growled question, “Did you kill the creature?”

  The question had been asked by a distraught, muscular man with red around his eyes and tear trails down the dust on his cheeks. The man was looking between Rocky and the skinned corpse which Azoth was currently batting at like it was a ball of yarn. His fists kept clenching and unclenching as his biceps and legs shook from the strain and his level of emotions. It was quite possibly the angriest man Rocky had ever seen.

  The man growled again, “That thing ate my baby girl!” He began kicking at the skinned-corpse, clearly venting a torrent of emotions on to the unmoving mass. Rocky felt his heart catch, and he stared at the man and the flying mist of blood for a long moment.

  It’s probably a good thing I buried all the human limbs before he arrived. That child’s arm…