Spectres & Skin: Exodus

by RJ Creed

  Speech (Level 1 — 0%)

  Stealth (Level 1 — 25%)

  Deception (Level 1 — 15%)

  Improvised Combat (Level 0 — 65%)

  First Aid (Level 0 — 0%)

  Bartering (Level 0 — 95%)

  Dodge (Level 0 — 70%)

  Abilities:

  Draw Strike (Level 1)

  As the others got up and began to walk, eyeing up my wolf with bitterness as they passed my bed, I sat up and inspected the thing, and it turned back towards me with its big eyes.

  ??

  Level 4 Spectral Wolf

  Spectre of Votorius-Khan

  Soulbound

  Spells:

  None

  I didn’t know what much of this was referring to. She could do spells? Could all spectres do spells? I had no idea what the Votorius thing was, and ‘Soulbound’ didn’t give me much information into the way she actually felt about me. I guess in a way it meant that it didn’t matter. She was a part of me.

  “How do I name you?” I asked her, pulling my dirty socks back on. She just stared at me, still lying curled up at the foot of my bed. She hadn’t been affected at all by the shifting of the bed or my accidental kick when I’d swung my legs off. She was definitely a ghost. I thought about a name for a while.

  “Let’s go for Moro. What do you think?”

  She tilted her head, which I took as a win, because it was the most I’d seen from her since she’d manifested. “Great. OK. Now, uh, how do I teach you spells?” She just stared. “Fair enough. Let’s get downstairs.”

  I got halfway across the room before a figure slid from the corner and blocked my path. The non-player kid who had rammed into me smirked, blocking the doorway and folding his arms.

  “Hey, Ryken,” I said, flicking my eyes up to the ceiling with annoyance. “Can I just get downstairs, please?”

  “How’d you do it?” he urged, something flashing behind his eyes. “Tell me the secret. I want one too.”

  I glanced at the ghostly white wolf who was sitting patiently by my feet, and then back up at the kid. “Man, I don’t know,” I said. I was grumpy. Even though I’d slept like a log, I still felt like I could do with eight more hours. “Move.”

  “Don’t fucking think you can tell me what to do!” he suddenly roared, every muscle in his short body suddenly tensing and spit appearing on his lower lip. “It’s not fair! It’s not fair! I did everything; I tried everything. It should be me.” He was pacing now. “From the beginning, I just knew it. It was supposed to be me. You stole it. You stole my spectre!”

  “Jesus.” I raised my hands and my eyebrows. “You are in serious need of a prescription of chill pills, kid. What is up with you? It’s just a … a thing. I don’t even know what it does, or what it’s for. And I definitely don’t know how I got one.”

  Unless it was the secret answer Carl had given me, in which case … it wasn’t fair at all that I had one, and Ryken was right. But I wasn’t about to tell him that one of the designers of his world had given me a leg-up just for fun.

  “You are a fucking weirdo. I thought you were off from the start. I don’t know what you did but you stole that spectre from me. She is mine.” He took a step forward and his hand went to his hip. Instinctively I stepped back, brow furrowing, and then an idea came to mind. He was only two levels above me.

  “You have got to calm down,” I told him. “You just can’t keep having tantrums like this if you don’t get your way; you’re a baby, dude. It’s pathetic. Grow up.”

  “Fuck you, you don’t know me!” he screamed, spit flying. I shook my head.

  “Duel me,” I said. “Fight me. If you win we’ll figure out how to transfer a spectre over to someone else. I don’t give a shit, I’m only here for a little while and I wasn’t planning on being any kind of chosen one. I just want to find my friend and do some exploring. Maybe climb a mountain, and see some tits. You know?”

  Ryken clenched and unclenched his fists and his chest was rising and falling with what looked like murderous intent. He had eyes that were green like venom, and the scruffy black hair of a street urchin. I wondered what his past was. “And if you win?” he growled.

  “Then you back off and stop squaring up to me like we’re a match,” I said, and folded my arms across my chest. “You treat me with respect. That’s it.” He was five or six inches shorter than me, and had half the muscle, but his face was still pink with fury.

  Your duel challenge has been accepted!

  Your levels will be averaged for the duration, and the duel will end when one of you yields or is one hit away from death.

  I concentrated hard as the kid yanked a stiletto hard from its sheath and sliced the air with it threateningly. I took the stance I had been taught, and concentrated hard on the blade in his hand. My hand hovered, and then whipped, and in a blur of motion my thick dagger had connected with his thin one and knocked it clean out of his hand. It clattered across the floor.

  Congratulations! Snickersnee has reached Level 3!

  Honestly ... I was seriously considering buying a new weapon purely so I could stop looking at that stupid word all the time.

  I tried to blur the dagger fast over to his throat, but it moved in normal time — clearly Draw Strike really did only work when unsheathing a blade. Ryken was up against the door with a grimace on his face and his eyes flashing with unbridled rage.

  “You can just concede now, or—” I began with a slight air of smugness, but in a super fast combination of moves, fuelled by testosterone and anger, Ryken stamped hard on my instep, almost breaking my ankle and snipping off 5% of my health. While I was crying out through gritted teeth he used his forearm to slam my dagger away from his neck, and he twisted on his feet, grabbed my wrist, and twisted until the pain forced me to my knees.

  He brought up his knee and slammed it into my nose. Another 5% of health. He was going to beat me until I yielded at this rate. I coughed and spat blood on the floor, and desperately tried to think of something … anything. He twisted my arm further and harder until holding onto my dagger became torturous to my muscles and it fell to the ground.

  With a scream of anger he slammed the heel of his hand into the side of my head and I saw stars. I had 80% of my health left and he was just getting started.

  As he squatted to go for own dagger to finish me off as quickly as possible, I used the split second to slam my foot, and as much weight as I could, into his abdomen and he slammed back against the door. With a roar he threw himself at me like a cat and scratched my face hard. “What the fuck?” I demanded, and threw all of my weight into a punch that connected right with his nose. He was momentarily stunned.

  You have discovered a hidden skill!

  Hand-to-hand: Decided against complicated, scary weapons? Probably for the best. Just swing your arms around like a windmill until something happens.

  Related Attribute: STR

  Had I seriously not tried to punch anyone until just now?

  I ducked quick as he aimed a counter punch, the stun wearing off. Blood dripped down his lip to mirror my own face.

  Congratulations! Dodge has reached Level 1!

  I tried to be all cool and karate, and sweep his legs now that I was down low, but I mostly just threw myself off balance as I kicked his shin. He threw himself next to me to scramble for my dagger, as his was a few feet further away, but I managed to catch his chin with an upwards swing and he bit his own tongue and screamed. I grabbed my dagger and jammed it hard in its sheath before he could try to grapple with me for it. In its sheath it was slightly more use to me anyway, since that was the only ability I knew.

  He threw himself at me, shoving me onto the floor so that my head ricocheted off of the hard ground and I saw stars. My health was at 65% and I dared a peek at the other corner of my eyeline to see his was maybe a 3% sliver higher than mine.

  I struggled to get him off me, jabbing weakly and thrashing, my muscles aching and my head thumping. With a hungry glint
in his eye, his hand mimicked mine and he grabbed at my dagger and it blurred its way to my throat.

  “What the hell?” I choked. Did he also know the only ability I knew?

  “Surrender!” he screamed. I swallowed, my Adam’s apple bobbing and almost touching cold steel. It occurred to me that the duel hadn’t ended, which meant I wasn’t one hit away from death. I took a deep breath and reached out with my arm. The hilt of his stiletto brushed my fingertips.

  “You can’t do it?” I taunted, hoping to elongate the fight by just a few more seconds. I had absolutely no intention of spending the little time I had in this game trying to figure out how to transfer a ghost to a shitty teenager. It was a stupid wager. I had to win. I discreetly pulled the second dagger closer and grasped the hilt.

  “Fuck you,” he screamed in my face. “Fuck everything about you! Who the fuck are you? Why do you deserve this?”

  I squirmed, but he had me pinned firmly to the ground.

  “Why are you so angry?” I yelled right back. “Calm down!” I nearly added ‘it’s just a game,’ but managed to stop myself. Instead, I positioned the stiletto at his side and pulled my arm back.

  “What are you—” He turned just in time to see my hand slamming towards his flesh, stiletto point ready to gut him, but just as I had suspected, my hand fell away instead and the dagger fell free. It was as if a protective barrier had sprung up just before I could land what would have been a killing blow.

  You have won a duel.

  You have gained 246 gold.

  You have gained a level in Speech.

  You have gained a level in Bartering.

  When I had lost a duel, I had lost half my gold and two random skill progressions, so I was pleased to see that the effect was reversed: I’d gained half of his gold, and levelled up two skills at random. I wish they had been better ones, but that was mostly because my skills were all lame. Also wished I could have gained some experience, but oh well.

  I got up and blew out a breath, pressing my fingers to my temple to try to dull the throb. I offered Ryken my hand, but he ignored it and got to his feet in his own time, and wiped blood from his nose and mouth onto the back of his hand.

  My hand stayed out, and I glared at the kid. “Shake my hand,” I snapped. You lost the duel, you have to show me respect. Shake my fucking hand.” He shook it but made no eye contact. “Thank you. Get downstairs.”

  I was shaking but I felt completely empowered in that moment. My first one-on-one win. If I got more confident in hand-to-hand that would be an enormous boon in future duels and future deadly combat, too. All in all, a great success. Except for all the blood, and pain. Maybe it would have been a good idea for me to learn some First Aid.

  We entered the Hall of Silence looking shifty, our faces smeared in blood and our expressions set and angry. The other Initiates looked on and I heard Atraea gasp and another few begin to laugh. I shot them all a big, bloody smile and took my place beside them in front of the Father’s chair.

  “Nice of you to join us,” he said, but he didn’t dwell on any detail any longer, which I was grateful for. Nickel shook his head almost imperceptibly at me, and I looked away to see the familiar face of Dareth. As the Father began to talk about newfound honour and responsibility, Dareth looked around quickly and then mouthed ‘Did you win?’

  I couldn’t hide my smile, and gave one tiny nod in response before turning away again.

  “Now, all of you have a job to do. You there.” He pointed at some unknowns and then at Caspian, who nodded. “You will be cleaners for the Collective. An honourable role indeed; we could not function without you.”

  “But…” one of them stammered. “I’m real good at—”

  “If you take issue with your Father’s decisions,” the Father interrupted, his voice icy, “then we will have a discussion.” At that, Rae got to her lion feet and reared her eagle head back to give an ear-piercing shriek, her wings spread wide. At my side, Moro shivered and looked up at me balefully with amber eyes. “And I promise you, you won’t win such a … discussion.”

  That was so not even a veiled threat; it was just a threat. I decided that if I was given a cleaning job I was going to escape and forget about waiting for Luke under the spire. Screw that, I wanted to go explore.

  “You … your names?”

  It took Samson and Atraea a really long time to realise that the faceless man was talking to them. “I’m … I’m Samson,” he said, pointing to himself. “This is Atraea, Matthew, Ryken, Gellert…” He trailed off, not knowing any more names.

  “Matthew,” the Father repeated, and the way he said my real name chilled me. I should have picked Vlad the Destroyer after all; I knew it. “You will lead a group of Initiates on a journey of much importance.”

  Lead? Journey? Important? Ugh. I was exhausted and in pain. I nodded anyway.

  “Dawnspire takes care of its surrounding farmlands. There are reports that a group of witches are stealing crops and killing livestock. They could be attempting to spread the Blight to us through their evil magic. We’ve tracked them to a cave. You will ensure they are no longer a threat to the wellbeing of Dawnspire and her people. Nickel has the details. Dismissed.” He waved a hand and then went for his cane so he could hobble away. The cleaning Initiates followed Caspian, looking pretty distraught, probably wishing they could have come on a witch hunt.

  New Quest!

  Something Wicked...

  You have been selected to run your first errand for the Collective. Since you have been chosen by the goddess Titania as having special potential, you will be leading an expedition to eradicate a band of dark magic users who have been stealing crops and ritualistically killing livestock throughout the Dawnspire farmlands.

  Reward: Unknown Item(s)

  Reputation Boost: Dawnspire Collective

  100 EXP

  Accept/Deny

  I accepted without second thought. “Who’s coming with me?” I asked, rubbing my head and looking at the group of people. Samson, Atraea, Gellert and Ryken. I was going to have a hell of a time leading that lot anywhere, let alone get them to get anything done as a group. I blew out air and shook my head. “We have to apply First Aid before we leave,” I told them, and gestured for Ryken to come with me to the storeroom.

  “I don’t need to heal,” he said with a sneer of barely concealed hate.

  “You do or you’re not coming,” I said. “You can join the cleaning crew for all I care.”

  I had no authority to do any of that, I just had a spectre because I had lightly cheated. But Ryken’s eyes flew open wider anyway at the thought, and he stomped after me to grab supplies.

  Luckily I remembered where the storeroom was and there was no lock on the door, so once we were inside, I tried to recall what kinds of things I had seen on the shelves. Bandages were a given. To my surprise he went for a sack of rocks and I had to ask him what they were for.

  “Are you stupid? It’s sling ammo.”

  “I’m not stupid in the real world,” I mumbled. He gave me a look of pure hatred.

  “What’s that even mean? You are stupid.”

  I gave up and shrugged. “You promised to be respectful. Does that mean nothing to you?” He pinched his lips tight together and went silent, which was probably the only way he knew how to not piss people off.

  “Listen, you, uh … know anything about locks?” I asked casually, unpeeling some bandages and tying them tight around my bruised ankle. It was hideous and it was tied so badly that it was uncomfortable, but I felt the pain fading almost immediately.

  Congratulations! First Aid has reached Level 1!

  Surely if I gained more levels I would be able to do more to heal myself and others; maybe not depend on bandages too much. I really wished I could have had access to some forums or walkthroughs, though. To see if there was any use in putting skill points in something over another.

  That was a point. Did I have any skill points right now? A quick check confirmed I
still had an AP and SP. I decided I’d save them for a little later when I discovered the things I’d be using more often. At level 3 in … I wasn’t going to say that dumb word … I was feeling almost confident with my trusty blade in my hands, so maybe it’d be a good idea to wait and get some other things up to a similar level instead of pouring it all into that.

  Ryken was crouching in front of one of the two grand old chests that I had nodded towards when I’d asked him that question. He had a deep frown on his face and his eyes were darting all over it.

  “No traps,” he said finally. His voice was still gruff and uninterested, but at least he wasn’t screaming insults in my face. “I can try.”

  I swallowed. This was probably a really stupid idea, actually. I should have asked someone I trusted, like Samson. Even the strange Atraea would have been a better partner in crime. “Uh, if you do, what then?” I asked, trying to glean whether the kid would try to turn me in to the murderous cult for stealing from them.

  He turned and looked me up and down sourly. “Then I’ll have opened the fucking chest. What do you want from me?”

  I let out a single low note of laughter. “We split whatever is inside?” I pressed. “Then we promise not to tell on each other?”

  “‘Tell on each other’, you sound like a toddler,” he muttered, turning back to the chest and eyeing it up further. “I know the lock, I can open it. I won’t ‘tell on you’, you baby. But why should I give you anything from inside?”

  “Because I defeated you in a duel,” I reminded him, “and aside from the fact that you promised to treat me with respect, there’s also the implication that I could do it again.”

  “Dumb luck,” he growled. “I should have stabbed you straight in the face. I’m opening it, back up your sackcloth ass and give me some space.”

  “You’re wearing the exact same outfit,” I said under my breath, and stepped back only a little. I wanted to watch how he picked a lock, to see if I could later copy him, but his head snapped around and his nostrils flared.