CHAPTER TWO
A FAMILIAR PROBLEM
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Rio
Dexterity, as it turned out, was incredibly helpful with running speed. I could run to the fallen bridge with little difficulty. It might wreck my suit, which was a slightly bigger problem but not as much as it once might’ve been.
We’d earned a lot of money from the dungeon.
After the crisis had passed, it was deemed that all currency created by the demons would be treated as real. There was some speculation that it might’ve hurt the economy, but overall, it had only been a drop in the bucket. Theo and I had been somewhat unique. Most people who descended hadn’t picked up boatloads of gold like we’d had.
Much to our surprise, we weren’t the highest-level classers out there. A homeless Wizard from Florida named Malcom stumbled out of the Dungeon in 2028 as a multimillionaire. He’d been lost down there for three and a half years, eating the inner flesh of rock worms to survive.
I winced in disgust at the thought. I’d killed one of those things, and I could hardly imagine eating one.
The imps had mostly been killed shortly after Cimigda’s defeat. Too stupid to go into hiding and too bloodthirsty to want to, they tended to attack humans that they thought were poorly defended, only to get killed rather quickly, while rarely even injuring anyone.
Either that or they killed themselves following Cimigda’s last order to collect guns. There was more footage of imps killing themselves via accidental suicide than anyone could ever watch. Those still brave enough to venture into the depths had produced even more videos of the aftermath of rampant violence below. The imps were spiteful, vindictive, and perfectly happy to kill their own kind, which made me wonder how these creatures had ever been a threat to the likes of the Valam.
That did still leave the other creatures from below, though. We’d only encountered a few. The gorilla dogs, the skeletons, the demonic jailers, spiders, rockworms, and… I thought that was it. Theo swore he’d seen zombies, but I never had.
I drummed my fingers on the wheel, wishing like hell that I could just abandon the vehicle and dash my way down to the bridge. As Paula had told me hundreds of times, the platform I ran on to get elected was dead and gone. Being a classer in politics was novel, unusual, and kinda cool four years ago. People had been interested, and intrigued by the idea of a mayor with powers.
That was before that fucking asshat Druid in Tulsa made a tornado that took out a building and killed fifteen people. Never in all my life was I more happy that Theo hadn’t been stupid enough to pick that ability.
I rolled along the shoulder, a cop car in front of me escorting me to the site. Traffic was already lined up, but it looked like drivers were figuring out that they wouldn’t be able to get through any time soon. Many of them were in the process of making u-turns and heading back the way they’d come.
Where there wasn’t a shoulder, we rolled through the grass. Boyerton was small and many of the roads were only as big as they needed to be. I was lucky to be able to afford to not care too much. I could easily remember a time when every bump in the road would make me wince for fear of needing to replace something vital underneath.
We pulled up to the bridge about a half hour after I’d ditched my council, and I got out of the car to survey the damage.
This bridge wasn’t familiar to me up on the north end of town. It wouldn’t impede my commute, but I could see a couple of people on the other side of the collapsed road, staring forlornly down into the small gully. Morbid fascination or genuine worry? Not being able to get to work could end the livelihoods of some of the people around here. I had to get this damn thing back up as fast as I could.
“Ma’am,” the officer said as I got out of the car. Vasquez, I thought his name was, and a quick glance at his chest confirmed it. Fortunately, I remembered his first name a moment later. I’d always had a talent for names.
“Officer Dariel. Thanks for the guide,” I said as I shook his hand.
He brightened a little. “Pleasure Ma’am. Doubly so if you can get this bridge fixed. I live down that way.”
I grimaced. “I’ll do what I can. For what it’s worth, stay on your guard. I don’t think this bridge collapse was natural.”
He nodded, looking determined in a way I hadn’t seen in a while. I was surrounded by people who were certain that I was being paranoid, but I knew what the Valam Luca had told me.
We’d failed. We’d failed and Cimigda had destroyed the seal. Worse still, I wasn’t even sure we’d managed to kill him.
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The demons would come back. It wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ it was when. All the politicians I was constantly surrounded with had grown used to my paranoia, but this officer still took the word of a classer seriously. It was a breath of fresh air.
A few people spotted me and pointed as I wandered off to the edge of the small bridge. There was a tiny creek that ran beneath it that spent a good half of the year completely dry. Walking across it would’ve been trivial, though the bank down to it was a bit steep.
A solution immediately presented itself to me. Gravel. Enough of it could be laid to the right side of the bridge to make a temporary crossing. It might flood, and I’d have to consult an engineer to make sure walling off that creek wouldn’t cause massive problems somewhere down the line while the bridge was being repaired, but I thought it could work at first glance.
The bridge itself was well and truly collapsed, though the creek wasn’t deep enough that the three segments of road the bridge had crumbled into could fall free of the road proper. Instead, they hung there, crumbling ramps angling straight down into the creek bed. If left untouched, I could see kids bringing skateboards here to try their luck at getting themselves killed for a chance to show off to their friends.
“Well let’s see what we’ve got,” I said as I began to descend.
“Mrs. Tande, the ground isn’t stable. If either side collapsed, it could…!”
His warning was cut off when I flicked my Phase ability on momentarily. I knew how I looked. I’d practiced it with Paula specifically for this sort of public interaction. A few gasps echoed out, though not as many as there once might’ve been.
“I need to see what’s down there, Officer Vasquez. I want to find out what could’ve caused this while I still can, and I’m in the unique position to be able to do so safely while preventing someone else from needless risk.”
What I didn’t say was that I was looking for entrances. New breaches. This place wasn’t very close to either of the known Breaches in Boyerton, the first being my own woods, and the second beneath a concrete bridge over in the residential district. Taking the opportunity to create a little more goodwill toward classers was always a bonus.
Making a mental note to check the other bridge after I finished here, I met Dariel’s eyes until he nodded again. When he was assured of my safety, I let Phase flicker back off before I turned to slide further down the embankment. It wouldn’t do to waste mana.
God, I missed Greed’s Reward. The skill had been vital during my time in the dungeon, but it had felt like a complete waste ever since. Restoring mana every time I picked up gold was only useful when the floor was littered with it, and getting one over on a political rival, sadly, provided no glittery currency.
I made it to the bottom quickly and peeked at the precarious bridge. Confident that I could activate Phase before the bridge collapsed and killed me, I decided to venture under one of the sides to see if I could find anything.
I was only a few steps in when I heard it.
“Burrr…”
I stiffened, immediately on edge. There was… an opening. Beneath the townside of the bridge there was a small hollow that didn’t belong. It had been years since I’d heard that sound, but there was no mistaking it.
An imp.
A small part of me was almost relieved. I didn’t think I’d be able to get reelected again in Boyerton, let alone move up to a higher position with the way attitudes towards classers had been shifting.
I hadn’t been wrong, though. This was an attack. It was happening.
I could only hope my warnings hadn’t fallen on deaf ears. At least here, they hadn’t.
I activated Phase immediately, but rather than confronting the demon, I flung a trap into the small entrance.
“Burr ark mak tooh!” came a sudden scream as the imp charged out of the cave, small dagger at the ready, just as I remembered.
It didn’t make it two steps before an ice bolt from my trap smashed into it. It was like a deadly snowball that crusted the imp's body with a layer of ice. The bolt sent it tumbling to the ground while the second flash froze it, killing the little bastard.
A gong sounded, and I blinked. A level up? All this time, I’d been only one imp away from a level!?
That was irritating.
Unwilling to lose my advantage, I waited with bated breath for any more enemies to come charging out of the newest breach. Thankfully, there was only one imp, but the implications of the other bridge collapses had me on edge.
Over forty collapses…
I didn’t think all of those collapses would be lucky enough to have an experienced classer on hand. I had to warn them.
But first… Trina.
I dialed Theo. He picked up on the third ring.
“Honey! What’s going on? Did you hear about the brid–!”
“Code Black,” I said, interrupting.
He cut off with a silence that echoed down beneath the bridge.
It was stupid, and we both knew it was. A silly code phrase we’d made for a worst-case scenario. We’d both joked about it, privately wishing it would never happen and secretly terrified it would.
Now it had, and Theo gave it all the gravity it deserved.
“I’m on my way home. I’ll make sure Trina’s safe. Taemi is armed, right?” he asked.
“Always,” I said. “You need to call her and let her know she knows she might have to use it, though. The Mins, too. I’ll be too busy.”
“Gotcha. Love you,” he said. “Be safe.”
“Love you, too,” I whispered before hanging up. Then I turned to the grisly task of dragging the dead imp out from under the bridge.
The demons had returned, and they’d learned some new tricks. We had to be ready.
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