“So you’re saying that someone left clues for us? Or someone else?” Mia asked.
“Well it does seem to be the only reason to mark buildings that could be used for longer stays in this city. It also takes water into account so we can assume they were left after the city was destroyed or abandoned” Diana explained.
“And what are we going to do about it?” Frank asked.
The three of them were sitting in the hideout planning their next moves. Hector was practicing and told them he would be fine with anything they decided. Mia thought he got really obsessed with his training but he did seem to be getting better.
“Nothing” Diana said which brough Mia’s attention right back to the conversation.
“What do you mean?” Mia asked.
“I mean that there is literally nothing we can do about it. We examined the ones we found and they are all exactly the same. Until we find more we’re stuck” Diana responded.
“So what are we going to do next? Try to clear one of the nests? We can't exactly sit on our asses forever” Frank said.
“I don’t think we're strong enough, me and Hector would slow you down.” Mia shuddered thinking about going back to that place.
“Nothing has changed” Diana interjected “We still need to check the pyramid and to do that we need to kill a nest. And to do that we need Hector and Mia up to our pace. So I have a proposal.”
“Drop the mysteriousness, it's probably going to be exactly what we're going to do anyway” Frank said, rolling his eyes a bit.
“We can split into twos; I’ll go with Hector and you will go with Mia, Frank” A small smile played on Diana’s lips. “We will let them kill as much as possible only intervening if they are in actual danger. Both of them should be strong enough to handle single Abominations, even as they are now.”
“Yeah I think I could take one or even a couple if I got the drop on them.” Mia said ”I also finished the leather armor for me and Frank, Hector still has his old chitin set, I've replaced the fastenings with leather so it's much more durable.” Mia felt proud of the improvements to their armor and she was ready to test her bow against a real enemy. She was eager to make up for her past mistakes. She was resolved to be a team player now and bring as much to the table as she could.
“You sure about splitting it that way?” Frank looked dubious.
“Don’t wanna go out with me?” Mia said, fluttering her eyelashes at Frank.
“Yeah, my heart has always belonged to Hector and you know that so don’t try to use those feminine wiles on me now” They both laughed. The banter made Mia feel hopeful, it was like the old times before they got into this nightmare. It was as if all the bad stuff hadn’t happened, or that some parts of them stayed the same as they always were.
“If we split that way we have one melee and one ranged fighter in each team so were not swapping that, just try to stay inside, Duskshriekers can be a real pain” Diana brought the conversation back on track.
Mia stood up and gathered her bow and arrows.
“I made a second quiver, if I were supposed to be hunting, I would need all the arrows i can get, can you carry it for me Frank?” She said as she thought through what she was going to need.
“Anything for such a fair lady,” Frank said with a bow. Mia had to stifle a laugh, in her current state she was anything but a lady. The rags they all had on were mostly decent and that was the best thing that could be said about them. She thought about her scraped knees and elbows and the skin of her hands cracking after working with the leather. Not to mention her auburn hair that after a couple of weeks of rinsing was getting tangled beyond repair and was starting to itch. Yeah definitely not a lady.
What stopped her train of thought was Diana casting a nasty glance her way as she walked to Hector. What was that about? Oooooh it was the fair lady comment from Frank. Diana was jealous of Frank? She stifled another laugh, love blossoms in the unlikeliest of places, she supposed.
Mia and Frank walked out of the hideout together.
“So how do you want to do it?” Mia checked the draw on her bow.
“Why don’t you use Tracking to find them as soon as possible and shoot them from the shadows. If they get close enough to you I will deal with them.” Frank said with a nasty smile on his face.
Mia nodded and activated her ability and ventured out into the silent, dark corridors. It was a bit frightening to Mia. She has gotten used to the safety of their hideout and the warmth of the campfire there. Now it was back to the empty corridors full of weird noises and monsters hiding in the dark corners.
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, then exhaled slowly to calm herself. It would not be like last time. She had Frank at her back and her bow in her hand and she could deal with anything the city threw at her.
As they stalked the shadows, they spotted a small group of centipedes at the end of the corridor. The bugs haven’t noticed Mia or Frank yet. She nocked an arrow, her muscles tense as she drew back the bowstring, and activated True Shot. She held her position for a moment, completely unmoving, then she felt the moment was right and released.
Her arrow flew silently through the air, finding its mark without error. The centipede Mia targeted turned its head as soon as it heard the twang of the bowstring. The shot pierced its skull right between the eyes, killing it instantly. The other two Abominations rushed towards Mia as one. The disgusting way they moved their legs made Mia gulp but didn't slow her down when she pulled another arrow and shot again. This time she used her Double shot ability. Her arrow blurred in flight and duplicated itself, one of the arrows hitting between the plates of the armor and burying itself deep, while the other slid off the hard shell. The centipede visibly slowed down and Mia had time for just one more arrow and used her True shot again on the bug in front.
She had to hold her pose a bit longer, again she didn’t release the arrow right away. However when she did it flew right into the monster's maw and pierced deep inside the centipede. Mia started to draw again put saw a flicker of steel in the air and the next thing she knew was that the last Abomination was sliding along the floor, dead, with Frank’s dual daggers sticking out of its neck.
Frank nodded with approval. “ You almost got all three of them, good job, this will be easier than i thought” He pulled the daggers from the dead monster. “One thing I don't get is how did you know where the bug's head was going to be when it turned?”
“I didn’t. True Shot gives me perfect timing so I guess it's the effect of that?” Mia said. “It just feels right to let the arrow fly at a specific moment when i use the ability”
“That's why you froze when the other two rushed you?” Frank nodded in understanding.
“Yeah it's a bit of a disadvantage but better than wasting a shot, i think. The Double Shot I used seems more powerful on paper but it only hurt that one” She pointed to the centipede Frank killed. “What was that by the way? Do you have a knife throwing skill now?”
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“Nah It's just the Sleight of Hand passive, they don’t have any special abilities, they are mostly just flying pieces of metal.” Mia noticed Frank got uncomfortable.
“Hmm what do you mean mostly?”
“Did I say that? Nevermind, it's really not important” Frank said, visibly squirming.
“Come on, man. After an intro like that you know you have to tell me, so spill.” Mia put her hands on her hips, waiting.
Frank slumped and sighed “Well, some weird stuff happened recently…” He started and fumbled for words.
“Yeah, I saw some of it.” She shuddered “The way you fought when I was hurt? It was scary.”
“I don’t remember any of it,” Frank admitted quietly, shuffling on his feet.
“Really? Why didn’t you ask me about it?” Mia asked dumbfounded.
“Why do you think? I obviously wanted it to be a part of my mysterious charm.” Frank said with a flash of irritation. “Ech… sorry. The truth is I was afraid. I blacked out and woke up covered in blood and surrounded by bodies. I could add two to two but didn’t really like the result.”
“I get that.” Mia said with a nod. “Do you want to know what happened?”
“We have gotten so far, might as well go all the way” Frank said, sounding defeated. He sat down and leaned against the wall.
Mia sat next to him. “One of the bugs hurt you and you laughed it off. You changed at that moment, the way you moved was different. “ She shuddered at the memory.” You kept laughing like a madman and slaughtered any bug that came close to you. You even toyed with some of them, dodging just close enough for the claws to tear your clothes but not hurt you. And when they managed to hit you, you just ignored it. ” She finished quietly.
Frank winced a couple of times as she was speaking and looked both ashamed and afraid. Right he was having trouble expressing himself. “Yeah that’s pretty much what i suspected” He rubbed his forehead and the horizontal scar that he got in that fight.
“Frank, what's up with that? You were scary to watch.” Mia asked with concern.
Frank exhaled and quietly said “I’m scared too Mia.” He was silent for a moment then gathered himself. “It's that I got this thing after that fight. It's called an Aspect of Cackling Madness. It feels like when I'm excited or hurt it comes to the surface. I’m scared shitless. I… When it happens, I feel like i'm losing control over myself”
“Oh my god Frank why didn’t you tell anyone sooner?” Mia said, really concerned with her friend's wellbeing. “What can I do to help?”
“You’re already helping, thanks for listening to me. But that's not all of it. It’s not the only time it happened. Me and Diana got into a big fight with the bugs and I really enjoyed it, " he said with disgust. “I was having fun slaughtering them, and the more hurt I got and the longer the fight was, the more I laughed. After that things get kind of blurry, next thing i remember was Diana holding me, healing me and crying”
“Diana was crying?” Mia didn’t remember the last time she even heard of the other woman crying. “Something serious must have happened to make her cry, did you talk to her about it? Maybe she could tell you what happened since you blacked out”
Frank just looked up at her and shook his head sadly. “I was too afraid to.”
Mia hugged Frank again, this time for longer. “Don’t worry we’ll figure this out. If we all work on it we have to find a solution. We won’t let that happen again. I won’t let you push yourself so hard.” Mia said with conviction.
Some of the tension seemed to leave Frank’s body. “Thanks Mia, you're a true friend, i should have told you about this earlier” He said as he straightened up again.
“Yeah you should” Mia punched his arm and smiled. “But you said something about your daggers being mostly flying pieces of metal? What can you do? Can you control them mid-flight with your mind?” She said, trying to lighten the mood.
“Heh, that would be cool, but no. Actually they either set the centipedes on fire, or ice started growing on the bug. Some looked like they got slowed, like they were weakened or poisoned.” He said, watching his dagger closely. Something about that look made Mia think he wasn’t telling her everything about the Aspect but she didn’t want to push right now.
“What does your character sheet say about that?” She asked instead.
“Well… to be honest I haven't opened it since that fight.” He said as he looked away.
“Stop being a dumbass then and open it now” She was trying to get him to be more open, it might be a little forceful but they didn’t really have time for drama. She needed to help him fast and to do that she needed to know what was going on.
Frank nodded, and raised his fist. He dismissed all the notifications right away and looked directly at his sheet.
FRANK THORNE
CLASS: ROGUE
LVL. 5
STR: 12
DEX: 20
INT: 6
WIL: 6
HP: 120/120
MP: 60/60
SKILLS:
- SHADOW DANCE LVL. 7: MOVE SILENTLY THROUGH SHADOWS, BECOMING NEARLY INVISIBLE.
- PRECISE STRIKES LVL. 9: EXECUTE QUICK AND ACCURATE ATTACKS ON ENEMY WEAK POINTS. REQUIRES PIERCING MELEE WEAPONS.
- BACKSTAB LVL.6: MULTIPLY DAMAGE BY 2 IF YOU MANAGE TO STRIKE YOUR ENEMY FROM BEHIND WHILE THEY'RE UNAWARE OF YOU.
PASSIVES:
- ACROBATICS LVL. 9: THE ART OF PERFORMING FEATS OF BALANCE, AGILITY, AND COORDINATION, OFTEN INVOLVING JUMP, FLIPS, AND TRICKS.
- DODGING LVL. 6: DODGE ENEMY ATTACKS WITH INCREASED AGILITY.
- SLEIGHT OF HAND LVL. 7: YOU'RE GOOD WITH YOUR HANDS. PERFORM SIMPLE TRICKS OR HELP PEOPLE EMPTY THEIR POCKETS.
- BUTCHERY LVL.5: THE ABILITY TO CUT ANIMAL CARCASSES INTO MORE EDIBLE PARTS.
- POISON DAGGERS LVL. 1: ANY DAGGER YOU USE INFLICTS POISONED STATUS TO ENEMIES, THE AMOUNT OF DAMAGE IS SCALED WITH THE QUALITY OF YOUR WEAPON. USES YOUR MANA WITH EACH STRIKE.
ASPECTS:
* CACKLING MADNESS 16/100
* CHAOS LVL. 3: WITH EACH ATTACK YOU’RE MAKING WHILE LAUGHING IT ADDS A RANDOM EFFECT FROM THE FOLLOWING LIST: FIRE, ICE, WEAKEN, BLEED
“Guess that explains what you saw” Mia said and when Frank didn’t respond she looked at him.
Frank was mortified, his face lost all color and his lip was trembling.
“Frank? What is it?” She asked her concern skyrocketing again.
“Last time I checked before that fight the Aspect was at one. I have gained fifteen in a single fight.” His voice was shaking.
Mia hugged him for the third time. “Look i'll take care of you, we take it easy and bring me up to speed and then you will be able to depend on us more in the fights and you won't have to use that Chaos skill” She tried to reassure him.
Frank was taking deep breaths trying to control himself. “Okay, okay… I think I can handle it.”
He didn’t release the hug for a long moment though.
If hugging helped him, she was happy to provide, but she had a feeling it would take much more than that. In the end they hugged for a couple of minutes and then Frank stood up and said
“Thanks, I really needed to share that.” He said in a shy tone that Mia thought really didn’t fit him.
“It's fine, it's what friends are for, right?” Mia said, trying to put as much optimism as she could into the words.
The conversation over, they resumed their hunt.