Sally stood atop a small rock and crossed her arms, a wide grin on her face. “Well, that was easy. Next trial?”
The large throng of zombies surrounded her, milling around in a slow circle, eager for her next command.
“That wasn’t the trial.” Life stood amongst the zombies, although they kept a respectable distance away from him. “I was more interested to see if you could. Control and mastery of the rising dead is rather… interesting.”
“Where’d you even get all of these? It’s a lot of undead to just be hanging around a hill ominously.”
The elf smiled and tilted his head. “I guess Life finds a way.”
“How do you even know that reference?” She narrowed her eyes.
“What reference? The true trial is a little way off. We should get moving, since your new companions are rather slow.”
“Tell me about it.” Sally hopped down from the rock and made her way through the small forest of zombies. “Back home, I had all sorts of boosts, so mine were quicker. Even had a skill that made them able to sprint.”
“A horrifying concept.”
“Right?” She looked around. “I suppose that is me in a nutshell.”
There weren’t really any dungeons close by, nor any sign that the zombies had been created or lived their System-created undead lives in this particular area. Other than the churned earth at the bottom of the valley where they had been hiding, it looked as though they had just appeared here. Curious, but she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Following the aspect of Life around was one thing, but she wasn’t entirely convinced he had been honest with her about what was going on.
Still, with the world apparently ending - she’d take a small army of fresh pals over having to walk around punching things herself. Losing her Sanctuary abilities was a chore, and this System was really stingy about giving out new ones that weren’t dull.
“I hope the trial isn’t a puzzle,” she eventually said, stopping so the zombies could organize themselves behind her.
“Isn’t all life some manner of puzzle?” the elf replied.
In some ways, maybe. She certainly approached them the same way - with a sharp knife and a hungry stomach. “But why the secrecy? Is there a reason you don’t want me to know what the task is?”
“Yes.” He smiled warmly.
“That’s… not fair. No doubt you’re making us enact some end-times on the world to force the issue and speed up the weakening of the System so that we can save it quicker.”
“Have you ever been told you’re very astute?”
Sally rolled her eyes.
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Humphrey scratched at the side of his metal helmet. “How are things looking?”
“It’s hard to say.” Dent looked up from the monitor at the Death Knight. “We hadn’t expected a System could be weakened to be absorbed easier, so we’re dealing with some new parameters. That said, it is potentially bringing forward the transfer date… by a lot.”
“Ah. That explains why Chuck looks so stressed then.”
The pair of them turned their heads to observe the Architect, face almost buried amongst glowing monitors, his brow furrowed.
“Eh.” The swordsman shrugged. “That’s pretty much his default state lately. He was hoping to work more on a revised System, but now he’s scrambling to ensure he can actually bring both the world and Players over… and not make a mess of things. You heard about Theo?”
Humphrey shook his head. “No? His transfer was complete, I thought?”
“Yeah, it went by fine.” Dent pulled a face. “World came over fine, the Player on his world arrived fine. Theo… went missing for a short period of time.”
“Missing?”
“Turned up delayed, which is concerning. Edward said he was ranting about… going back in time.”
The Death Knight shook his head and sighed. “When he is in a manic state, his word cannot be trusted.”
“Normally, I’d agree. But the time and place of his apparent detour makes it… well, it gives the notion some credibility. We don’t know whether it’s due to his other bugged rebirths, or this is just some bullshit that can happen if we aren’t careful. At least it was a closed loop.”
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Humphrey stood up straight and rolled out his shoulders, his empty eye sockets looking idly around the room. “Hmm. I understand now. He had told us that Lana’s blood gave him the ability to clone himself, but her cloning power was due to the errors in the underground tunnels - not a part of her Class.”
“So he went back to the cathedral and got corrupted so that the past him could kill him off - his death triggering the normal resurrection thing we have now, so he respawned in the present once more.”
“Convoluted, but tidy enough, I suppose. I can only imagine if it was Sally or someone with less foresight.”
Chuck roused from his concentration. “Oh, don’t. I’m currently worried about sending close to thirty Players scattered through time - or worse. If I don’t acclimatize them to our System then they won’t respawn here if they do go who knows where and die.”
Dent sat back and smiled. “At least if that happens, then it’s already happened, and everything must have worked out fine, right?”
The glare that the Architect shot him was probably answer enough.
“I’m happy to report at least that the new starter zone is almost complete.” Humphrey crossed his arms. “The wonders you can do with god-like powers and a handful of almost-competent people. Any news about the rat situation?”
The swordsman shook his head. “The signal is traveling too far for us to pinpoint any useful data. From our basic binary ping, we estimate the recipient of the beacon is… six months' travel away.”
“That seems rather far in the scheme of things.”
“System sea is large. Very large.” Chuck turned back to them, his tired eyes focusing on the pair. “I don’t know enough to say that it is infinitely expanding, but there’s the possibility that new System worlds are continuously being simulated. There’s only one thing that has me waver on that assumption.”
“Population?” the Death Knight asked.
“Yeah. Even with six worlds of however many billion people on each, it seems… I don’t know. The numbers are there, but the circumstances don’t add up. Whether beams or portals or other ways Players get to the STAR System, it seems like it would go very wrong in the long term.”
Humphrey nodded and looked up to the ceiling, as if the rounded blue room held any answers for the three of them. “I suppose, being a product of the System I do not have the same pairing to these other places.”
Chuck nodded. “Doesn’t matter. We save who we can. Uniques and Players. When the alien invasion arrives, they’ll be in for a big surprise.”
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“And then she’ll say ‘pancakes’,” Theo explained.
The end of his story was met with blank stares from the rest of the Party. With a shrug, he threw the injured monster to the floor, allowing Cross to eat its brains. “Perhaps you had to be there.”
[Poppy: Maybe she just tells it differently~]
[Poppy: Comedy is all in the timing!]
“That’s the thing. I’m not sure it’s even meant to be funny.” The vampire tilted his head in thought.
“Well,” Claude sighed, “it certainly succeeded in that respect. Should we continue to clear this Dungeon?”
Theo shrugged and looked at Bernice.
“We’ll finish this one as you seem to have no issue punching above your Level. After here, we’ll need to head toward the trial.”
“Hear that?” He gave the goblin a pat on the head. “You’ll soon have your brains back and can chastise us for being condescending and treating you like a child. Isn’t that right, little one?”
“Puh, pumpa-ha.”
“Sure thing, buddy.”
[Poppy: You do seem good with kids!! >>]
[Poppy: I’m surprised you don’t have any of your own >>;;]
“Eh.” The vampire lifted up his warhammer and gestured for them to head down to the next chamber. “On my original world, I had a couple of cousins I was close to. Babysat a lot. In some ways, it’s a shame there are few children in our worlds, but I also wouldn’t want to bring new life to places so dangerous and unstable.”
“Rather level headed,” the healer murmured. “I can barely stand it myself.”
“Hard to imagine a life where I’d settle down and be at peace. Always some problem going on in the System. That’s why both of us are doing this - we have the compulsion to be in the thick of things.”
The manticore yawned and stretched out as she ducked below into the cave system. “Yet how interesting that you also differ so wildly.”
“You think so?”
“Of course. You are a destroyer. Someone who takes calculated risks and puts in an unnatural amount of patience to gain whatever strength you are able to grasp. You seek to be uncontested and above all others. Safety through power.”
Theo grinned, exposing his fangs. “But Sally is strength through willpower. Her safety is from her ambition drawing people together. She cultivates those who follow to be something greater, and part of a whole.”
Bernice returned the smile. “What a joy that you are so self-aware. It will make the coming trials easier. For one of us.”
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Sally spun to the side, pulling her dagger from the neck of the beast, right before her tide of corpses washed past her to drag the next three to the ground.
“How does it feel to be in control of such a force?”
She turned and pulled a face at the elf. “It’s fine. Don’t get me wrong - I appreciate the help, but this isn’t close to my biggest army.”
“Oh?” Bernard actually looked somewhat surprised as he stood amongst the roving undead. “Perhaps I have underestimated you, Mrs Danger. You must have been truly powerful on your other world.”
With a twirl of her blade, she walked over to him through the horde - the zombies surging around her just as they avoided the elf. “I’ve had over a hundred of the goobers at a couple of points.”
“And they follow your every command?”
“Sure, they’re designed to. My commands are usually ‘eat something’ or ‘wait a sec before you eat something’, but I’ve had a sway over them since my bugged existence started, really.”
He nodded slowly. “There’s no limit?”
“None that I’ve come across - although I suppose there would be. Don’t tell me you want me to eat up this world and turn everything into zombies?”
“Oh, no. Nothing like that.” He smiled and clasped his hands behind his back as they walked. “Just for someone to have such control over things the System creates, it is interesting. Although, maybe not as interesting as…”
The pair stepped past the zombies and around the edge of the Dungeon to see a wide open plain of short grass. In the middle of the area was a tall building - not too dissimilar to the cathedral back home, but made from a brilliant white marble.
“Neat.” She looked up at the tall spires and winced from how bright the building was.
Bernard stopped, and his smile widened.
“There we are then, Mrs Danger. You just have to go in and defeat my champions, and then you’ll have one of the two keystones to kick-start the end of the world.”