Sanctum

by Matthew Powell

  “Well, now that everyone’s taken the quests, I’m sure some of you have some worries about the recommendations. The first level alone recommends ten Tier 3 players, and we only have three here with us, but not to worry! Me and some others have already checked, and it allows groups of any size to enter. We can just overpower the dungeon with sheer numbers!”

  His words did little to assuage the fears of the raid group. All of them had made at least one foray into the irradiated wastes and seen the Tier 3 monsters, and most of them had fought them as well, but a dungeon was a different story. The monsters inside would be in large groups, higher leveled, and in new variations. More players in the group would also mean that the EXP for each kill would be split among more people, giving less to any one player. That last part was what annoyed Joshua, but the quest rewards were too enticing.

  “Oh, any players that die on the way will be kicked from the group. We don’t need any dead weight slowing us down once we get in the dungeon.” Khymer said that with a cruel smile on his face.

  Any sympathy he might have had for the Khymer died in that instant. While a group this large wouldn’t normally wait for dead players to respawn, it was common courtesy to at least give them a chance to make it back. Joshua was going to laugh as he sold that assault rifle to Alaran.

  Chapter 17

  Every god has a phrase that belongs to them, their very own words of power. These are what heralds their coming, what announces their presence on worlds that they visit. These phrases are never more than two or three words, often obscure or esoteric. Hearing them, even without the context for their meaning, makes a person feel as if the words hold power. A god will only speak this phrase once for each planet they visit, at the moment of their arrival. When that happens, the entire world will know. – on Gods, from the Chronicles of The Founder

  ◆◆◆

  The journey towards the tower proved much more dangerous than Joshua remembered. Nearly 40 players in total had joined the raid group, and Macrocosm was spawning more monsters to compensate. Despite the increased danger, the raid group proceeded towards the dungeon at a rapid pace.

  Joshua checked the group menu to see if any players were close to dying along the way. When the raid group had been formed, every player’s status screen had been updated with a group option that listed players HP and respective energy levels. Ostensibly this was to let the group know which player’s needed help, but in a haphazard group like this, it was more of a tool to let greedy player’s spot their next source of loot. Joshua was no different, which meant the lack of dying allies was unfortunate.

  While the lack of free loot was unlucky, the new screen did provide a wealth of information. Firstly, that almost everyone in the raid used radiation as their energy source. The screen showed numbers for HP, but percentages for energy, so while the players in the raid group were able to tell that he used Pestilence, none of them were able to glean actual numbers from it.

  Second, the screen confirmed that most of the players in the area were still only Tier 2, but they were rapidly climbing. Even if the dungeon EXP was lackluster, there would be dozens of Tier 3 players walking away. Rather than worry about losing his lead, Joshua was excited by the prospect. Knowing there were people higher level than him on the leaderboards was good motivation, but seeing potential challengers surrounding him would only push him higher.

  Third, those challengers surrounding him were just as greedy as he was. The moment any players took so much as a scratch of damage, tens of heads would turn to find the injured. No one was willing to cross the line and start player-killing, but in this environment, everyone was just waiting for the opportunity. With Joshua’s low HP and high-quality gear, even if it was Soul-Bound, one mistake would lead to half the group turning on him.

  Fourth and finally, the group screen showed him that the only other player with a regeneration ability was Mane. Every other player’s HP was dropping steadily as they walked. The relatively low drain meant that it would be over an hour before anyone even needed to use a potion, but it was useful to keep in mind.

  Along the way, Joshua reaped the bounty of the group's work. The number of enemies encountered was only a few dozen, but no one else used Pestilence as an energy source, meaning that every enemy the raid killed gave him Pestilence for almost no effort. It was a bonus to the raid group that he hadn’t considered, but it raised the potential rewards of the raid exponentially. By the time that they reached the base of the tower, Joshua’s maximum Pestilence had already risen to 1500. At this rate, his Pestilence cap would be several thousand before the dungeon was over.

  The EXP proved meager in comparison. Joshua’s share of the EXP didn’t even get him halfway to level 7. Hopefully, the inside of the dungeon would prove more satisfying. As the group approached the dungeon’s entrance, they saw the remains of the group that Joshua had spotted when he first wandered in this area. Several suits of low-quality armor and poor weapons were scattered across the ground, a testament to the group’s failure. They hadn’t even beaten the dungeon’s guardians.

  The dungeon itself didn’t look very special, just as the supermarket hadn’t at first glance. It was a tall concrete skyscraper, easily 30-stories tall. It looked like the kind of building that could be found in any major metropolitan area. Even in the 23rd century, concrete proved a reliable building material when more advanced substances were too expensive. The only thing special about it was the guards.

  38 tier 3 zombies surrounded the dungeon’s entrance, one for each of the raid members. All the monsters he had encountered in the trenches, plus a few new ones, were scattered among them. In a normal situation, designated players would draw the enemy’s attention while others provided damage and support. Given the uncoordinated state of the raid, Joshua wasn’t at all surprised when almost a dozen players blindly rushed towards the monsters without checking to see if everyone was ready.

  Despite the randomness of their actions, the attacking group faired surprisingly well at first. All of them were tier 2, but they were holding their own against the tier 3 zombies. Before Joshua was able to get close enough to help, the first one died. It was as if the first domino in a long chain had fallen. It only took a few seconds for the rest of the group to catch up, but four players were dead and two more were downing what few health potions they could afford.

  Mane was the first to arrive, and he tore through the zombies like a whirlwind. Quite literally, as he was using a skill called Whirlwind, classic to almost any berserker or barbarian-type class. His Buster-Sword tore through the enemies, but none of them died despite the massive damage. Joshua quickly noticed why.

  Ravenous Freak

  Tier: 3

  Level: 18

  HP: 1100/2800

  Mane’s skill had hit the monsters hard, but they were all much higher level the zombies that roamed the wasteland. Worse, his reckless charge to save the raid members had placed the berserker in the middle of the enemy pack. The surrounding monsters tore into Mane, even as the raid members cut through them to save him in turn.

  Joshua added his own damage to the bunch. While these monsters were higher level, none of them had the HP necessary to survive the Endemic Magnum. A happy side-effect of Mane’s charge was that all the zombies had grouped together to kill him. A loud bang resonated through the combat. One of the zombies exploded, sending gore everywhere. The zombie directly behind it fell to the ground with a massive hole in its chest. A third collapsed, though it quickly stood back up, now missing an arm.

  The raid members close enough to see what happened stared at the damage Joshua had caused with a single shot. Sure, they were all using high-damage abilities, and killing zombies with a single skill was fairly common amongst the group, but three in a single gunshot? Not even an ability, just a regular shot? If the raid didn’t know his gun was Soul-Bound, Joshua would have just signaled his own death.

  Another shot rang out, and another. Of the 38 zombies, Joshua managed to kill five before st
opping. There was no telling what was behind the dungeon’s doors, and the three shots would already take nearly two minutes to regenerate. Joshua couldn’t help but laugh a little when he realized what he was thinking. Firing a 100-Pestilence shot now took less time than healing a single point of HP had when he started, and he still found himself complaining that it took too long.

  The fighting was beginning to die down as the other raid members cut through the horde. Only one other person matched Joshua’s kill count, with Mane claiming five of the zombies himself. Khymer had taken down four through copious amounts of ammunition, unloading his assault rifle of every enemy he saw. The rest of the group had no trouble at all dealing with these zombies, and some were even too slow to make it before the fighting ended.

  “Alright everyone, that was just the doormen. Don’t go getting overconfident just yet.” Khymer seemed a little shaken by the fight. Sure, he had gotten a few kills, but losing four people so quickly was making him rethink whether the raid had been a good idea.

  Joshua was completely unaware of Khymer’s misgivings as he took stock of the fight’s rewards. He had gotten just enough EXP to reach level 7, though it had been close. Just one or two fewer enemies would have kept him from reaching it. Much more exciting than a single level, however, was the Pestilence.

  Absorbing the Pestilence from the doormen had been a massive growth spike. The guards were all much higher level than normal and gave more Pestilence as a result. Joshua didn’t just break the 2000 mark for the next blessing, his total rose all the way to 2500.

  Total Pestilence has crossed the fourth threshold!

  For reaching 200 total Pestilence, Filth has granted you a lesser blessing of your choice. You may choose one permanent bonus, only changeable by dropping your maximum Pestilence back below the threshold and re-earning it.

  -Efficiency: Requires less Pestilence for all abilities, makes controlling minions easier.

  -Power: Increases the effectiveness of all combat-related abilities, generates an intimidating aura based on the user’s energy.

  -Growth: Increases the amount of Pestilence absorbed from slain enemies, increases the learning rate of all Pestilence skills, increases EXP gained. Stacks with previous bonus.

  -Custom: Lesser blessings may be customized, though the results must be approved of by the respective god.

  Custom blessings were a surprise, though it made sense. It gave players a greater sense of choice in how to grow stronger without being pushed into a single path. Unfortunately, Joshua had rejected Filth’s special class choices, and the god probably wouldn’t approve of any truly special blessings. Joshua considered himself lucky enough that he wouldn’t need to stack three more minor blessings but could instead skip straight to the lesser ones from now on.

  It was a surprisingly difficult choice. While Growth had proven its usefulness multiple times over, the lesser blessings had special effects that the minor ones didn’t have. Efficiency would mean he could create and control more flying eyes, which sounded useful for any area that didn’t constantly damage the inhabitants like the irradiated zone. Power sounded less useful; the only reason Joshua had been able to enter town was because no one knew what he was and having an aura that screamed ‘zombie’ didn’t sound like a good way to maintain that.

  After a moment’s thought, Joshua selected Growth again. Sure, more minions would be useful, but that was also a skill that could be trained. Growth would make that training easier, while also providing significantly more EXP and Pestilence.

  Lesser Blessing of Growth received!

  Next Blessing: 10,000 Maximum Pestilence

  If this blessing worked the same as the previous one, then he should have a triple EXP and Pestilence multiplier now. If this had been in any other game, Joshua would have immediately sold his account and made a fortune. Any character with that kind of boost, this soon after the launch of a game, would be worth over 100,000 credits easily. Of course, Macrocosm was no ordinary game. That much money was tempting, but the potential for so much more was there.

  Joshua snapped out of his happiness just in time to see the raid leaving him behind as they entered the dungeon. He rushed to catch up, joining at the back of the group as they entered. As he entered, a notification appeared.

  Dungeon: Irradiated Tower

  Difficulty Level: Tier 3

  Recommended group size: 5+

  The first floor of the dungeon was simply a large lobby. There were ruined and torn couches, a desecrated buffet area, a receptionist’s desk, and a pair of broken elevators. Zombies filled the entire area, already fighting the first players to enter. All the enemies were tier 3, but most of them were weaker than the doormen. The players at the front cut them down, stepping over the corpses to clear out more.

  Joshua shoved his way to the front of the combat while firing off the Endemic Magnum. Each shot tore through multiple zombies, but the numbers never seemed to dwindle. The fighting continued this way for several minutes before people started to realize something was wrong. Several members of the raid were badly injured, and the bodies were starting to pile up, but the numbers didn’t seem to dwindle. Most suspicious of all was the lack of EXP notifications.

  Joshua attempted to drain the Pestilence from one of the corpses and was shocked to see that he received a measly two points. Something was very wrong here, and Khymer seemed to notice it too.

  “Don’t worry guys, it’s probably just a horde-mode thing. Just keep cutting them down and we should get a reward when it’s all over.”

  Khymer’s words did have a calming effect on the raid members, many of whom were preparing to flee from the dungeon. Despite his words, Joshua wasn’t so sure about Khymer’s conclusion. If there was a horde-mode event, there would probably have been a notification telling them that. And the zombies, now that he was paying attention, were simply too weak. Each swing of his sword tore through them with almost no effort, and each shot of the magnum shredded five or more.

  Something hidden was spawning the monsters, and Joshua was determined to figure out what. He couldn’t just charge away from the raid group to go hunting without a plan, and the members were quickly draining their energy and stamina, so he needed to make it quick.

  Joshua formed a flying eye, attempting to create a variant that would survive the radiation damage. There were two options: either create an eye capable of regeneration or create one with a large amount of HP. Creating one with HP seemed easier, so he chose that route. The eye formed, hovering above the palm of Joshua’s hand. It wasn’t any larger than normal, but it was significantly denser. By the time the eye was finished, he had pumped nearly 200 Pestilence into it.

  Plague Eye Variant Skill Unlocked!

  Resilient Eye learned!

  A Plague Eye that has been made from extremely dense Pestilence. The Resilient Eye is capable of surviving light damage and possesses approximately 1HP per 20P used.

  The result wasn’t ideal, but it was good enough for the situation. Joshua created three Resilient Eyes and scattered them throughout the lobby, trying to find the zombie horde’s source. The eyes had just enough HP to last four minutes in the radiation before they died, and that was more than enough to explore the entire first floor. Joshua managed to pinpoint the horde’s source as a janitor’s closet in a hallway behind the receptionist’s desk. Zombies poured out of the closet, keeping the horde outside populated even as the bodies piled up. The eyes were swatted out of the air before they were able to get inside, but they had given Joshua a target.

  Ten Endemic Magnum shots rang out, fueled by Joshua’s new Pestilence cap. The shots visibly cut a path through the zombies, shredding them and giving Joshua the opportunity he needed to dash towards the receptionist’s desk. His longsword lashed out, cutting cleanly through any zombies that tried to block the path forward. A few of the other raid members saw what he was doing and tried to cover him, but they couldn’t help much, or they risk being swarmed by the horde.

  Joshua d
ived over the desk and fired more shots off behind him, taking care not to aim in the direction of the raid group. His bullets were tearing through more than ten zombies at a time now, and a bad shot could accidentally cut through them and injure a party member. The problem quickly changed from the zombies behind him to the zombies in front of him. Joshua was now standing in front of the door to the hallway that the zombies were coming from, meaning that the only way forward was through the endlessly spawning monsters.

  The Obsidian Longsword eviscerated the zombies blocking the door, but they were quickly replaced. Zombies were leaving the janitor’s closet almost every second, and they all headed straight for Joshua at the hallway entrance. Holding the line wasn’t hard since only one or two zombies could come through the door at a time, but he couldn’t push forward any farther.

  As the fighting continued, the zombies began to grow weaker. Whatever was spawning them must have been running out of energy, as most of the zombies heading towards Joshua now were barely tier 3, and even had some tier 2 among them. Behind him, the raid group was cleaning out the last of the horde in the main lobby. Once Joshua cut off their reinforcements, the remaining monsters proved no match for the combined power of the raid group.

  By the time that the horde of tier 3 enemies was completely cleared out, Joshua had begun pushing into the hallway to the janitor’s closet. By this point, only tier 2 zombies were still making their way out of the closet, and at a much slower pace than before. Joshua found it almost comforting to see the Spitters and Defaced once again, and to see them die in a single casual swipe of his longsword.