Purgatory: The Devil's Game

by M. A. Carlson

  “Well, that could have gone better,” Asher said.

  I nodded, still trying to get my breathing under control. I felt like I was soaked in sweat from head to toe.

  “So, ready for the next group,” Asher asked.

  I slowly shook my head, gasping out between breaths, “I don’t . . . think . . . I’m . . . ready . . . for this . . . yet.”

  Asher quirked a fiery eyebrow. “Oh, are you sure?”

  I nodded.

  “Don’t even want to check your loot?” Asher asked.

  I groaned tiredly. I kept my eyes on the ground, looking for the few crystals that I probably gained. Fifty-seven. I gained, fifty-seven crystals. More interesting were the two large teeth that I’d never seen before. It was the largest payout to date.

  Asher smirked, “And that is why this is worth it. This area is obviously more difficult. More demons mean more of a challenge. More of a challenge means better rewards. Better rewards mean you get stronger faster. That said, I do not believe you are ready to move past this first group. Not without spending your unused points, which would reduce your rewards.”

  “But we could . . . spend points, that is,” I said, looking hopefully at the floating fireball.

  Asher bobbed, “Indeed, but we’re not going to do that yet, are we?”

  I sighed, knowing what he wanted to hear. Tiredly, I answered, “No, we’re not.”

  Asher was extremely particular about my growth. I could handle much tougher opponents if he would let me spend the unused points I had accumulated. We could move through Purgatory much faster if that was the case. And yet, he insisted we take our time. He wanted slow careful development. Honestly, it was starting to drive me insane.

  Asher smiled, “No, we’re not. But worry no more, after today, you will have your ten unused points in Body. Then I’ll feel more comfortable with you getting your third body proficiency. Let’s just hope it won’t require you spending any of those accumulated points.”

  That did make me smile.

  “But only if you can clear up to this point twice more today,” Asher said. “I suggest you hurry.”

  Once again, I really wished I could punt the little fireball. He was very much a ‘carrot and the stick’ kind of guide, and sometimes that really grated on me.

  A few hours later, I let out a cheerful, “Huzzah!”

  “Huzzah?” Asher questioned. “I’m positively ancient and even I don’t use words like that.”

  I glared a little at the fireball. “I’ll use the word if I want to.”

  “Whatever, let’s go,” Asher said, starting to float away from me and toward the exit.

  I dragged myself after him, eager to get something to eat and maybe drink.

  Back in my room, I pulled out my scroll and spread it out for Asher to review and for me to allocate points.

  Name: Victor Goodspeed

  Highest Floor Cleared: 0

  Experience Earned: 6,777

  I whistled appreciatively. I had earned a lot more experience than I thought I would. That large group of demons in the first part of the library must have been worth a lot more than I thought. It was a lot more than I needed to gain my next unused point in Body.

  Body

  Experience to Next Point: 3,442

  Unused Points: 9

  “Only spend enough points to bring your Body up to the next unused point,” Asher instructed, getting an odd look from me.

  “Are we doing something different?” I asked, feeling excited that we might finally be doing something new.

  Asher rolled his eyes and me and said, “Obviously.”

  I so wanted to punt him.

  Asher either didn’t notice my irritation, or more likely, didn’t care. He continued, “It is time we start putting experience into your soul. Another soul proficiency would do you well. That is our short-term goal. Once you get your second soul proficiency, we will look to spend your accumulated points.” He looked a bit like he was sucking on a sour lemon when he said that last part, before continuing. “At that point, hopefully, you’ll be able to clear out that library.”

  Another bit of good news, it meant that before too much longer, I would be getting stronger. Rather than let him change his mind, I spent the experience. And boom, just like that, I had ten unused points in Soul.

  Soul

  Experience to Next Point: 921

  Unused Points: 10

  Ten more points and I would be able to add another proficiency. I may have let myself imagine the kind of power my Soul might be able to wield before realizing I had no idea what to expect.

  “What are soul proficiencies like? I chose you as my guide for my initial soul proficiency, but . . . what are my other options?” I asked, once again looking to Asher for, well, his guidance.

  “Anything you can imagine and more,” Asher answered. “Though, with your weak soul . . . maybe some kind of self-heal or a buff. Even if you spent twenty points, I doubt that would be enough for you to learn a soul attack. We’ll just need to look around at the options and choose what we feel is best.”

  I hated vague answers like that. Still, a buff or a self-heal didn’t sound too bad to me. I rolled up the scroll and shoved it back into my inventory.

  With my stuff secured, I headed toward the door when Asher stopped me yet again. “I think it might be time to replace that weapon of yours.”

  That stopped me in my tracks. I furrowed my brow as I pulled my mace from inventory. It was a simple mace, metal ball head with a wooden shaft. It was dented and scratched but didn’t seem to be any worse for the ware. I asked, “Really?”

  “Have you looked at the durability on it? I’m surprised we made it as long as we did,” Asher replied.

  I quirked an eyebrow at the fireball in surprise, “Durability?”

  Asher gave me a deadpan stare. “Are you saying you’ve never even inspected your weapon?”

  I shook my head. “I didn’t even know I could.”

  Asher eyes closed and I heard him mumbling something under his breath but couldn’t quite make it out. When Asher spoke again, his voice was strained as if he was trying not to yell at me. “Please, inspect your weapon now.”

  I looked at my weapon. I tried thinking ‘inspect’ but nothing happened. I tried a few other possible mental triggers but still nothing. “Uh, how do I inspect it?”

  Still straining, Asher replied, “You look at it and think ‘inspect’.”

  “But I did that and . . . nothing,” I replied.

  If looks could kill, Asher would have melted me. “Are you saying, you are unable to inspect anything?”

  I nodded.

  Asher groaned. “They must have made it a proficiency. I should have known when I didn’t see it listed on your scroll of body and soul.”

  “Oh,” I replied lamely, getting a glare from Asher in return.

  Eventually, Asher sighed. He said, “You are . . . unbelievably lucky to have me. The ability to inspect is part of my base proficiencies.”

  And that was more new information. It made me curious. I didn’t know anything about my guide. What exactly was he capable of? “What are your base proficiencies?”

  I was surprised when Asher didn’t give me any gruff for asking. “I carry the base proficiencies inspect, cartography, demon lore, purgatory lore, divine lore, and strategist.”

  “What’s cartography for? And for that matter, what are those lore proficiencies about?” I asked.

  This time Asher did complain. “You really don’t know what cartography is? And lore should be fairly self-explanatory.”

  “Humor me,” I requested. I knew what the words meant. I was looking for some context.

  “Cartography is about maps, so that if you end up in some kind of maze, I can help you not get lost or trapped,” Asher explained, treating me like I was an idiot. “Demon lore means that when you see the big bad demons, I can tell you what they are and what their weaknesses are. Purgatory lore means I know all about purgator
y and Sinner’s city. That way, I can explain things to your little brain so you can understand them. And divine lore means I know about the divine, that’s things like your Scroll of Body and Soul.”

  Asher really couldn’t seem to stop himself from being high and mighty. It made me wonder if he wasn’t made my guide, because those on-high, thought he needed to be humbled. Maybe they thought a trip through Purgatory might do it, which made me wonder just how well they thought they knew Asher. Given the fireball’s massive ego, I’m not sure even a trip through Purgatory could humble him.

  “Got it. Now, about my mace, what is the durability?” I asked.

  “Current durability is two out of twenty-five,” Asher answered. “You’ve been losing one durability every few days.”

  I nodded. It was good to know things broke down slowly. “Can I repair it?”

  Asher bobbed. “You can, but it’s not worth the expense or the overall loss of total durability. It’s cheaper to just replace it with the same mace. However, you’ve been saving, so it would behoove you to upgrade a little.”

  “What do you mean overall loss of durability?” I asked.

  Asher sighed. “When you repair something, it is not usually as strong as it originally was. Thus, the overall durability, in say, your mace, is likely to drop from a maximum of twenty-five down to twenty . . . or fifteen . . . or even less. It just depends on the quality of the maker and how much you are willing to spend.”

  At least the explanation was thorough. Moving on, I had other questions now that I knew Asher could inspect things for me. I asked, “What kind of damage does this mace do?”

  “Blunt, 3-5 damage per hit,” Asher answered.

  That was less damage than my skill dealt.

  Blunt Weapon: Mace - Beginner

  Level: 8

  Experience to Next Level: 302

  Damage: 8-16 Blunt

  Accuracy: +0.80%

  Proficiency to use a mace in combat.

  A lot less.

  “Is there anything else you can tell me about my mace? Or my shield for that matter?” I asked.

  Asher answered again without much fuss, “Not much else to tell you about your mace. As for your shield, it absorbs 2-4 damage and is at eight out of twenty-five durability. Not quite needing to be replaced yet but it won’t be long.”

  I nodded. “Okay, then let’s go replace my mace and maybe my shield.”

  Chapter 12 – Let’s Make a Deal

  I’d been in Sinner City’s for a few weeks and in that time, I’d done my best to stay focused. I followed Asher’s guidance to buy food, the occasional drink, and save the rest for training. Part of that meant ignoring the barkers selling all kinds of pretty, pretty upgrades. It probably helped that I didn’t have the ability to identify anything, and therefore, I had no idea of what I was missing out on. But now . . . now I could spend some of my hard-earned crystals.

  “Don’t blow all your money,” Asher warned yet again.

  “But it glows,” I said, holding up the mace I found to him.

  Asher didn’t seem amused. “Oh, why didn’t you say so before? If it glows, it must be extremely powerful.”

  I knew he was being . . . well, Asher. Still, I couldn’t help but ask, “Really?”

  “No, not really,” Asher snapped. “Now, put it back. It’s too expensive and that glow you like so much will let every demon in Purgatory see you coming.”

  I grunted and put the mace back on the vendor’s table. The rotund Cherub just gave me a sad look, but it was gone quickly as he moved on to the next customer.

  That was the tenth stall we visited and the first mace we’d found. I needed to ask, “Then what are we looking for?”

  Asher growled. “An upgrade. More specifically, a flanged iron mace. Preferably one without an expensive and mostly useless blessing like that one had on it.”

  “What did the blessing on that do?” I asked.

  Asher answered, though didn’t look happy about it. “It was a blessing of light. Any demon within a few feet would be weakened by the light it emits.”

  “That sounds amazing. Why wouldn’t we want that?” I asked.

  “Because the base damage of that weapon was only 4-6 points. That is hardly an upgrade from what you’ve got already. At a minimum, I want 4-8 blunt damage. Preferably, we’ll find a 5-10 blunt damage mace,” Asher answered. “Now, stop asking questions. Stop picking up everything that catches your eye and focus on the task at hand.”

  I frowned and my shoulders slumped a little in disappointment. Was it really so bad that I wanted to at least look at all the possibilities?

  A few stalls later, I entered one that had a shabby table covered in simple looking weapons, all bladed. I was about to move on when the Cherub behind the counter spoke up. “Looking for something specific?”

  “A mace,” I answered.

  The Cherub boy’s surprise was written all over his face as he asked, “Mace? I didn’t know anyone even bothered with those anymore.”

  “It sure does seem that way,” I replied with a sigh. “I don’t suppose you can point me in the right direction for finding one?”

  The boy nodded. “I sure can,” he said, then pointed to himself. “Me. I put the stuff on the table that sells. It doesn’t mean this is my only inventory. So, you’re looking for a mace. Anything specific?”

  I blinked in surprise. It took me a second before I realized the boy was waiting for an answer. “Oh, right, uh, flanged iron mace, preferably something in the 5-10 blunt damage range.”

  The boy nodded appreciatively. “I think I might like you.”

  “Why is that?” I asked.

  “Most of the convicts-” I winced at the term. I’d heard it said a few times when referring to people like me. “-want the shiny expensive stuff with all manner of flashy blessings. Beautiful weapons, completely wasted on those who are unable to bring out the full potential of the weapon. The smart ones, they improve their weapons incrementally or else they risk stunting their growth,” the boy answered.

  “What do you mean by ‘stunting their growth’?” I asked.

  The boy laughed lightly then answered, “You notice how you get less experience and crystals when you get stronger? Same thing happens when your weapons and armor get stronger. Purgatory knows what you’re bringing to the table. If you’re suddenly able to kill a demon in one hit that once took five hits, Purgatory knows something changed and rewards you, or rather doesn’t reward you, accordingly.”

  “Are you telling me, that even upgrading my weapon will reduce how much I earn inside?” I asked.

  The boy nodded. “That is exactly what I’m telling you.”

  I looked to Asher and asked, “Did you know about this?”

  “Of course, I knew about this. Why do you think I was being so careful with any upgrades, be it to your body, soul, or your equipment?” Asher asked. “Believe it or not, I know what I’m doing.”

  I knew he knew what he was doing. “Would it really kill you to explain these things to me?”

  “It might,” Asher deadpanned.

  The Cherub laughed. “Your guide is interesting.”

  “I’m so glad you approve,” I replied, trying to convey as much sarcasm as I could pack into those few words.

  The boy waved away my comment without a concern. “Anyway, let me get that mace you wanted,” he said, before hopping down from his stool and disappearing below the table. A moment later the black iron mace dropped onto the table with a thud. It was different from my simple ball mace. This mace head was still spherical but now had indents spaced equally around it, creating six blunt . . . flanges. The other difference was the shaft. Where the mace I started with had a wooden shaft, this one appeared to have been made of the same iron. “One flanged iron mace, 5-10 blunt damage.”

  “How much?” I asked. Based on the little bit I had seen in other stalls, equipment was expensive. That last mace I looked at was two-thousand tiny crystals. I dread to think how much i
t would cost me to get a mace that did so much more damage.

  “Five hundred tiny crystals,” the boy answered immediately. “The blessings are what drive the prices up.”

  Before I could pay the asked price, Asher interceded. “Five hundred, for that? I don’t think so. Two hundred.”

  The boy laughed. “Like I said, your guide is interesting. For that, I’ll give it to you for four-fifty.”

  “Two-fifty,” Asher countered.

  The boy seemed to finally be taking Asher seriously. “Four-twenty-five.”

  “Three hundred,” Asher countered.

  “We could be at this all day, let’s call it three-seventy-five and be done with it,” the boy offered. I could see he wasn’t going to go any lower and apparently so could Asher.

  “Deal,” the ball of flame said. “Victor, pay the Cherub.”

  I paid. I took the mace in hand and swung it experimentally. “It’s heavier.”

  “To be expected,” Asher replied. “Now, let’s see if we can find you a special attack.”

  “Back to the blunt weapon school?” I asked. I assumed that a ‘special attack’ as Asher put it was related specifically to my weapon of choice.

  “No,” Asher started with a sigh. “No, for this we need to go to a Proficiency dealer.”

  I looked around in confusion. In all the stalls I had visited, not one of them had any proficiencies for sale. It was all weapons, food, and demon parts. “Where do we go for that?”

  Asher sighed again, “Follow me.”

  Once more, I was pulled into the maze of the city. I was surprised once again when Asher started explaining. “There are a few proficiencies like your ‘Call Divine Guide’ that can only be purchased in a few shops. Anything that is considered a base proficiency like weapons and your shield can be purchased from a school. However, most proficiencies are purchased through a dealer or broker who sells them on behalf of those like you con- . . . erm, those who are challenging Purgatory.”