Ignoring the others, Sadie first looked at Paul and said with a tone of pure ice, all traces of her previous upbeat characterization gone. "Be thankful this man saved your fool life. It doesn't matter who you are or what you think you’re owed, if you ever think of putting your filthy human hands on me again, I’ll cut you down like the animal you are."
Sadie then turned to respond to the man who had asked the question and as she spoke turned to look at Seraph "It's bad enough how many allowances have been made for a cripple; he needs to prove himself. If he can't manage with what he has at this point, what’s the use of pandering to the weakest among you? Right Seraph, the weak should be culled if they can’t rise above it?"
Dismissively and without waiting for a response, she turned around and opened the door behind her, stepping through it without a second look. Shouting as she went in her cheerful and mocking voice, “Good luck pretenders.” The door she had summoned slammed as she walked through it, closing behind her. As it closed the door began to disappear until nothing remained of it, leaving five new adventurers alone in what appeared to be a high school gymnasium.
Seraph realized as his eyesight finally returned, the light that had blinded him wasn’t even the sun. He would need to be careful, and as soon as he could find some protection.
"Wow." Said the elvish man who had stepped between Paul and the Elf. "That was just a bit terrifying. I don't know what you did to make her so mad, but she without a doubt hates you and everything about you. I'd watch your back around her, if you ever see her again. That said, I'm Jack" The man held his hand out to shake with a good natured smile. "And though we haven't been introduced yet, this is Erin and that’s Alexander." Pointing to a woman dressed in a gray smock who smiled and gave a small wave at Paul and Seraph, and a man with a crew cut wearing olive jumpsuit.
"I'm not really sure what her deal is either." Replied Seraph. "But this is my father Paul, and I’m Luca. If you followed any of that exchange, I’ll admit it right now, up until today I was in a wheelchair and now, I’m not, if that seems odd to anyone, let’s work out the details now.”
“A wheel chair? And now you can walk? That’s pretty amazing, but I'm more concerned that you decided to dress up as every emo kid I ever knew growing up whose parents didn’t love them enough.” Commented Erin with a laugh, eliciting a smile from Jack and Alexander. Seraph noticed Paul tried to hide a ghost of a smile on his.
“You think it’s like that for everyone who comes in here, do they get fixed like you did?” Asked Alexander “Like do people get magically cured by just being here?”
Seraph shrugged. He wasn’t really sure. In the other timeline those who had lost the use of arms and legs regained them in the dungeon. Those who lost arms and legs regrew them, but those who had lost an eye didn’t. Unless it was both eyes in which case the last lost eye would regrow. “It probably depends on what it takes to get somebody into fighting shape, I think that’s what this place is all about, fighting and growing.” Seraph responded.
"Alright that’s enough guys, let’s all circle up for a second and compare notes while we’ve got a minute." Interrupted Jack. "Alexander, you've been here the longest right? Who brought you here?"
Alexander thought for a second. "I think I’ve been here now for longer than a few hours, if I was to try to pin it down, I’d say I’ve been here in this gym for 5 maybe 6 hours, and it’s been almost a full day since I entered the dungeon. That same crazy broad that just left is the same one that dropped me off here. I’ve seen her bring and drop off the rest of you guys, just like she dropped me off here.
"That's impossible though." Said Paul, "I only just got here a few minutes before my son did, maybe 10-15 minutes max overlap, and I’ve been in the dungeon now for only a few hours.
"I can see how you would think that dad." Said Seraph. "But it’s been less than an hour for me since I even entered the dungeon, and I’m guessing if we let the other two talk, there’s going to be some time irregularities."
“I can confirm some of that” Said Jack “The same elf brought me here, and I saw the same elf bring both Erin and then Paul here and then Paul’s kid.”
Jack and Erin both nodded their heads.
"Alright, let’s review.” Said Jack “So the time is all sorts of crazy here, and the same person brought all of us here, but our individual perception of time isn't the same. So, I’m guessing each of us were kind of kept in some kind of pocket dimension in like a form of stasis until all of us were ready to begin this stage. Likely Paul and the kid have been in stasis the longest, and Alexander might not have been in stasis at all. At least that’s my theory, it’s only a theory, don’t hate me for it, I'm not married to it. Additionally, even though the same Elf appeared to take us all, I think we need to be open to the possibility of doppelgängers or even a splitting ability. That might not matter now, but it could later so keep it in mind"
Paul shrugged. "I mean I don't have any better ideas to contradict what you’ve summed up. It’s already been a day full of impossible for me, it would be dumb of me to just discount anything at this point as being unrealistic. I'll just have to toss this one into the magic bucket and let it go, I’d rather not try to get too deep into these things right now and figure out where I draw the believability line.”
Seraph couldn’t fault that thinking. Many in the other timeline had lost their minds. Their sanity broken by the trauma of the impossible existence that was the dungeon.
"Alright guys, so if this is supposed to be a tutorial dungeon, we should learn a little more about what each of us brings to the table, I’ll start. Said Jack. "I’ll go first, my ability is Chained Necrotic Pet. Basically, if I understand it correctly, I can reanimate a corpse that will follow me around and any damage I might take, the corpse takes instead. Little creepy I know, I’m sorry, I didn’t pick it."
Everyone except Seraph took a subtle step away from Jack after that reveal as Seraph held his position. Seraph was familiar with aspects of the ability; it was extremely useful. Odd though that Seraph had no memory of Jack from the other timeline.
“Real quick” Interjected Alexander “I know it didn’t come up yet, but I’ve had plenty of time to actually look around in here to see if there was anything to see, basically we’re all stuck, I’ve checked all the doors and each is locked, but it’s like no lock I’ve ever seen, it's more like a wall that’s pretending to be a door than anything.”
That sounded accurate to Seraph, but he chose not to say anything.
“Alright, thanks” Said Jack dismissively ignoring the implications that they were effectively trapped until the dungeon decided.
“Fool” Thought Seraph in judgement, knowledge is power and dismissing what others know also dismissing revelations on what they are capable of.
"Alight Erin, we already know Paul's ability and that the kid doesn’t have one. So, what’s yours? Asked Jack.
"Um ok, well my ability is called Starcall and the prompt said that I can choose a spot and it will light up like a star for a few seconds leaving all who look at it blinded." Erin explained as she bit on her fingernails in passive anxiety.
"That’s a very useful ability, though it's being wasted on someone without any innate talent in combat” Thought Seraph as he examined the woman and found no evidence of strength.
Thought he knew plenty about this ability, he refused to add to the conversation with his own insight of the ability. He didn’t want to let on that he knew more than he should. That sort of attention would be detrimental to him and could be a hazard. If he couldn’t figure out a way to steal or harness that ability discreetly, he would need to find ways to help her grow and use it, but if he could steal or harness it, he had no intention of helping her increase her strength with it.
"Alright Alexander, that leaves just you what’s your ability?" Asked Jack, all eyes turning towards Alexander.
Alexander looked at him ignoring the question. "My ability doesn’t matter. It’s not your busines
s, it’s mine. If I need to use it, I’ll use it, and if I need to use it to help you guys, I’ll use it, otherwise, it’s not your concern and it’s not open to discussion."
Jack looked at him pleading. " Come on man don't be like that we are all in this together if we work together, we have the best chance of getting through this and that's going to require a little trust from you."
Alexander replied "Yeah that's not going to happen, I'm not sure if you noticed, but we started with 8 and now we're down to 5. Little-by-little our group is being whittled down. Does that mean anything I don't know. But what I do know is I have an ability that I want to keep to myself and my ability is my trump card if I ever need one, and I’m pretty sure I will need one. Besides, aren’t you the one who just mentioned that people here might not be who they seem to be with that talk of splicing, clones, and doppelgängers?"
"Fair enough." Said Jack not wanting to push the issue. "I’m not sure what our next step is going to be, but I think we need to choose a leader of our merry band then find a way out of here. And as for leaders, I vote for anyone but me. Rejection stings a bit and I’m getting a sense that I won’t be getting many votes."
Seraph impulsively went to raise his hand. Who but him was better suited to lead? After all, he had the most experience in the dungeon and with working with dungeon teams? While that may be true, it was not experience he could pull from to gather support to himself just yet, not until he was certain enough of a gap existed that others wouldn’t pose a danger to him. He quickly banished the thought chastising himself and lowered his hand as quick as he had raised it.
Paul raised his hand. "It might not be what you guys are looking for, but I did a little time in the service. 6 years active and another 2 years on drilling status. If anyone objects it doesn't hurt my feelings to pass it up." Paul said looking at Alexander.
"Man, don't give me that look." Alexander said. "I just don’t know you guys. I'm tired, I’m annoyed, and I’m irritated, and I just don’t think it's ok to be prying at each other's secrets right now. I’m not out to be a dick or anything, it just is what it is, if you want to be in charge, that’s fine by me, you’ve got my vote? Happy?
“Also, just in case anyone needed it, the bathrooms are there and there” Alexander pointed to the furthest corners of the gymnasium, the right side and then the left. "Your welcome guys. Boys room on the right, girls on the left.
"Um guys, if you’ve got to go, go now." Erin said pointing upwards. The pregame clock had turned on. The timer set to 10 minutes.
"Alright guys, you heard her. We’re not taking any risks here though. Battle buddy teams. Sorry but if you’ve got to go take a friend. Erin if you have to go take Luca." Paul said. "Here’s the chain of command, if anything happens to me, Jack takes over, and if anything happens to him Alexander takes over, then Erin, and after that Luca just try to make it out of here. Alright everyone, go, you’ve got 5 minutes and then back here weapons out."
"And break" Interjected Jack but nobody seemed amused.
Event Notice: When the timer stops, you must successfully defend yourself from a horde of monsters.
Reward: Access to the rest of the school.
Conditional Reward: +1 to all stats for the person who kills the most monsters.
“Stop!” Yelled Paul, “Everyone back here. Something is happening.”
Just as quickly as everyone was prepared to run away for a quick break, they stopped and retreated back towards one another, circling up, as the lights went completely dark and a projector screen came down from the rafters, a colored video flashing across the room onto the screen. A cartoonish bard looking man walked across the screen and looked down at the group from on the screen, the same cartoon figure they had seen before from the orientation.
"Great. This is perfect, you are all still here at least, those of you who made it this far. Phase II is going to start very, very soon. Now, when that timer hits 0, the doors to this gym are going to unlock, and let me warn you right now there is some pretty scary and serious things on the other side of that door. But to move on and away from here means finding tokens that have been hidden throughout the area on the other side of that door. Be careful though because the rest of the school is full of monsters, except for the office, that’s the designated safe zone if you need to rest. Remember now, you need 10 tokens to leave the area and proceed to Phase III. Good luck to you all and do try to stay alive.”
The projection ended and the screen rolled back up as the lights turned on.
Quest Granted: Collect 10 tokens to advance to the final phase.
Reward: Transition into the Third Phase. 30 Experience, 10 Sol.
"Alright. Looks like we’ve got no time to work out any sort of better strategy.” Said Paul a hint of concern on his face as the gym door started to bulge forward as if pushed by a giant mass on the other side.
Seraph knew a bit more about survival in the dungeon, he knew standing out in the open like this was a poor idea. He didn’t want to die either and poor preparation was an easy way to meet a messy end. "We should retreat to the bathroom, it should be a smaller space, so we can defend easier and not get swarmed by any monsters that show up and it’ll let us set up a kill point that everyone can go back and forth from to even out experience gain.”
Paul nodded, examining Seraph feeling that there was something more to the answers and his son's sudden insights, but couldn’t quite put it into words. He hesitated “Ok, hold what you got, everybody run to the men’s bathroom, let’s go get in front of this thing."
Chapter 8: Betrayal
* * *
The five of them ran straight into the men's bathroom. The sound of their shoes squeaking as they ran across the court, a sound mixed with the constant pounding echoes coming from the entryway. Alexander struggled to keep up the pace that the others set and lagged behind them. The clock shone brightly in red as the numbers ticked down, getting ever closer to zero.
As they all ran, their focus was forward on their goal of running away from the pending danger. Afraid to see, what they would find if they looked, afraid to see what they were running from. Except for Seraph and Seraph saw that he was the only one who wasn’t afraid, noticing that with each booming blow against the door, the plaster surrounding the metal door frame fell off in pieces. The closer to zero the clock got, the bigger the pieces that fell.
As they all passed through the swinging doorway into the bathroom, Seraph instantly regretted the decision to direct the group to seek shelter inside it when he realized how small the area was, things would be cramped, and he was not the only one to come to that conclusion. He noticed the turned heads and glares coming his way from Alexander and Jack, while Erin was unwilling to look at him and his father had other concerns on his mind. It was clear to him that the group regretted their decision to listen to his advice.
“So, what's the plan here champ?” Questioned Jack, an obvious edge to his voice.
Seraph wasn’t sure what the plan would be. This was a bathroom connected to a basketball court in a gymnasium, he had assumed the bathroom would either be bigger, or connect to an adjacent locker room. Instead, he was looking at the same thing everyone else was. Two porcelain sinks and a cracked mirror between them, a duel urinal against the wall, lone bathroom stall, and a locker full of sports equipment with a padlock on it.
“I don’t know.” Seraph admitted returning the glares with a glare of his own. “I thought there was a locker room back here, and we would be able to build up some quick defenses and work on kitting whatever is coming our way. I thought we could use the environment to our advantage, but I don’t see how we can do that now.”
Paul caught the frustration in his son’s voice. Paul had no intention of letting anyone in the group die, and on some level, Seraph knew that. The danger was not unbeatable, Seraph was angry with himself for making a decision that ended up being wrong. Though he knew that a tutorial wasn’t a place for a party wipe, it didn’t change the fact that th
e group was about to have a very difficult time in the name of growth.
“That’s why there's a chain of command kiddo.” Said Paul. “Let this be a good learning experience. You under cut my authority after the group agreed to let me lead them to safety and made the decision that led us here. It’s not on you though, this is on me, I let it happen and as group leader that falls on me.”
"Don't worry everyone, I’ve got a plan to get us all out of here. Promise." Paul said as he addressed the group. He didn't have a plan yet but as the leader it fell on him to make sure morale didn't completely fail.
But before he could say anything else or give any kind of pep talk to up morale and get people ready to fight, a loud crash could be heard from the gymnasium.
They had run out of time.
Switching gears and switching roles Paul turned and yelled at the group. “Weapons out" he ordered as he pulled his own long knife from a sheath on his leg and overturned the sports locker on its side to provide some cover.
Seraph matched the action by pulling his mace from his belt loop. Seraph had to admit, his father cut quite the intimidating figure. Something about the way he carried himself and the aura he cast let others know this man had been a killer, something Seraph recognized and respected.
Alexander was the next to willingly come forward bearing his weapon, surprising Paul and Seraph when he pulled a short metal rod from his pocket and pressed a switch that caused the rod to extend, ending on a point. "Pocket spear" He explained sheepishly shrugging. "I don't really know how to use it, but I figure I can just jab a lot, better than sitting around crying hoping that somebody is going to save me."
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