Duke held his other notifications back as he flashed to the newest tool in his toolbox, the Contest Timer. It looked like a simple digital clock counting down and it currently read 1:22:31:18 until the final phase. Just under two days until whatever the final phase means. Good thing I have achieved the objective my sponsor set out for me. But is that enough? No, not really. Not at all. Shoot for the top and see where you land and all that.
Duke pulled up the notification he had been holding back and read it.
*** You have slain six Contestants of Tiers 7 and 8. You gain 719,437 (791,381) experience. You are now level 90 and have 252 Characteristic Points to spend. You have had some minor gains in your Abilities, the most notable being that Dungeon Engineering has increased to Master 7. ***
Duke accepted his gains and contemplated his next move as he headed through the dungeon to retrieve Bloodstorm. He considered the dungeon design as he passed through and wondered if it was allowed to grow naturally from a Core or was the dungeon specifically grown. As far as he knew, only he and the Overmind had the capability to grow a dungeon specifically, but it was a wide cosmos with all sorts of possibilities out there.
As he mounted Bloodstorm, his DUNGEON SENSE alerted him to a party entering the dungeon. He was not far from the entrance and set off to intercept them. Another set of easy targets. This is great!
The party consisted of what appeared to be elves made of stone to Duke. They moved with the speed and grace he expected from elves but gave off a sense of durability from their stone skin. He studied them with his CLAIRVOYANCE before moving into the cavern where they were apparently arguing.
“I’m not going to delve this Tier 10 dungeon for that asshole. I don’t care what tortures he can plant in my brain. It’s not worth dying for him.”
“What choice do we have? He owns us, or do you have some way to get these damned bands off our skulls or resist the compulsions they project into our minds? Because I sure as hell don’t!”
“We never should have agreed to come to this damned Contest and its world of death.”
“But we did, and now we’re stuck doing what Arenstol tells us to do.”
“We could kill him. That would break us free.”
“Go ahead. Do it. You know the band won’t let you even let you try.”
Duke felt his PURPOSE stir as he realized that the party just around the corner from him was enslaved. He wanted to come in screaming and kill them all for more points but his PURPOSE was pulsing with greater intensity and he knew he could not ignore it. Dammit! This Contest is horrible enough. I can’t kill slaves or let someone enslave others for that matter.
Sighing inwardly, Duke stepped Bloodstorm around the corner and into sight of the party. Their reaction was fast and expected. They burst into defensive positions, weapons ready but they did not attack.
“Well, that was a good reaction. Care to point me in the direction of Arenstol so I can kill him and set you all free?”
“What kind of trick is that?”
“No trick. I can’t stand slavers and kill them whenever I come upon them. I overheard your argument a few minutes ago. You know, you really should keep your arguments down in a dungeon. A lot of dungeon monsters have good hearing. Anyway, where is the asshole?”
“He’s outside the dungeon but he’ll capture you just like he did us. Don’t go out there.”
“Are you going to bring him in here?”
“He won’t come into the dungeon.”
“Then I’m going out there to kill him. Kindly stand aside.” Duke strode forward, not waiting for them to move. They parted before him, and he walked through the portal to the outside.
Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!
Leaning against the side of the dungeon entryway was a short creature, less than a meter tall with bright pink skin and an oversized head. It was completely naked but thankfully, Duke couldn’t see any evidence of genitals. Its distended belly nearly matched its oversize head in size and its limbs were so thin they looked more like flesh-covered sticks than anything else. It addressed Duke with a smirk.
“So, another one for my stable. And with a mech no less. Lovely.” It locked eyes with Duke through Bloodstorm and followed up with a single word, “Obey!” The word was a command that tore through the space between them, lancing into Duke’s mind with the force of an avalanche.
Duke staggered before his Psyche rejected the command with an absolute flare of his PURPOSE. He shook his head and responded, snapping forward and grabbing the creature by the head with Bloodstorm’s left hand.
“No, I don’t think I will,” Duke responded with as much iciness as he could put into his voice.
“That’s impossible. No one can resist my will!” Its voice got louder, and Duke could feel the increase in power in its Ability when it spoke again, “You will obey me!”
Duke felt his grip slip for a moment before his PURPOSE slammed down on the compulsion. He reflexively squeezed his grip tighter. The creature’s head exploded like a melon.
“Oh, shit. Oops. Well, not really that big a mistake. I was going to see how long his head would stay attached when I swung his body around while holding it, but I guess this works as well. Now where is that notification?”
As if by he prompting, he received a notification.
*** Congratulations, you have slain Arenstol, a Contestant. As this death is not permanent for him, you do not receive any Contest Points for his death. You have achieved two things, however. You have freed all 216 of his current slaves within the Contest and have removed him from the Contest for 48 hours. As this places his return outside the window of the commencing of the Final Phase, he will not be allowed to return to the Contest. His earned points are now fixed, and he may be surpassed by anyone who gains a higher Point total.
Additionally, for freeing 216 slaves, you receive 216,000 bonus Contest Points. This moves you into the 58th Ranking. As a final reward, none of the freed slaves may attack you for the next 12 hours. Do note that if you attack any of them, this immunity will be revoked. ***
Duke activated CLEANSE and hopped out of Bloodstorm to loot the body. I can’t believe that I forgot to loot the centaurs when I killed them. They had to have some good gear. It will still be there when I go back into the dungeon as long as it doesn’t reset in the meantime. Like by everyone exiting it.
As the thought crossed his mind, the formerly enslaved party came through the Dungeon Portal and appeared near Duke. They all looked briefly unsteady on their feet before returning to their senses. They all had a new green glow to them that Duke had not seen before. He wondered if it was the system letting him know that they could not be attacked and could not attack him. Regardless, they spotted Duke and immediately moved in his direction. He waved to them.
“You…you’re Duke, aren’t you?”
“In the flesh.”
“You killed Arenstol and freed us from his slaver Ability.”
“I’m sure we all have system notifications making that clear. What can I do for you?”
The apparent leader of the group stepped forward, brushing strands of stone hair out of her face. Duke was amazed at how her hair acted so flexibly while still apparently having the rest of the properties of stone. She addressed him with an air of formality that made him dread her words – he did not want anyone else to be worried about in this Contest.
“You saved us from slavery, providing us with a renewed chance at life both in this Contest and beyond it. For this, you have our gratitude and our loyalty. To die in the Contest is an expected and honorable end for us, but to wind up enslaved is the greatest offense to our people. You have delivered us from such a torment upon our souls. We will serve as your guardians for the remainder of our time in the Contest.”
Duke felt earnestness in her words as his XENOGLOSSIA asserted itself. His response, however, set them all aback, “Look, I know you have some sort of sense of honor that makes you want to pay me back for setting you free, but I cannot accept your service. I didn’t free you all just to put you into another form of servitude. That goes against who I am. It also goes against what this whole Contest seems to be about. I’m happy that I was able to set you free, but I don’t have time to stick around and deal with you. Nothing personal but I am in striking range of the top 50 and I’m not going to pause.”
“We could help you.”
“You should help yourselves. I’m sure he was stealing your Points, and you have a lot of ground to make up. As a team, I’m sure you’ll do fine. But I am here to run solo and that is what I am going to do. Good luck to you all.”
Duke didn’t wait for any further response. He TELEPORTED back into Bloodstorm after placing the body of the latest dead alien into his INVENTORY. In seconds, the mech was flying away from the dungeon and Duke was looking for his next target or even an area that had a more unique challenge. He had no idea how many Points different challenges would garner him but he was willing to find out.