Jade woke to an intense pounding coming from the back of her head. It pulsed like the beat of a drum, incessant and inescapable. She tried to massage the injury but found she couldn't. Something rough and coarse held her hands in place above her, binding them together. Her mind felt strange and heavy, like she was pushing her thoughts through honey. Jade blinked several times, squinting against a bright light, the image of her surroundings slowly coming into focus as she regained conciousness.
A disorganized camp sprawled out around her, filled with a mixture of tents and ramshackle lean-tos built out of salvaged metal from the junkyard. More than a dozen goblins lounged about variously socializing, eating, and arguing amongst themselves. The camp was situated in an open space created by a large intersection between four aisles of the junkyard and looked like it could house up to a hundred or so, although there weren't that many people present at the moment. No one was paying any attention to Jade, so she turned her focus to her own situation.
She was bound to a metal pole set in a corner of the encampment. She was standing, her wrists tied to the pole over her head, her ankles bound to it at the sandy ground. There was no shade, and the hot sun bore down on her unprotected skin. Shifting, Jade tested their strength and found them quite secure. She wondered how the short goblins had even tied her hands above her. She didn't see a ladder anywhere, and they definitely couldn't reach that high. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and immediately regretted doing so as the motion caused her headache to flare.
Lesson learned. She thought. Charming one person doesn't make their friends like you.
"Hey, amiga." A low voice called out. "You awake…?"
Jade turned her head to the source of the sound. To her left there was a small metal cage sitting in the shadow of one of the larger tents. Two humans knelt inside, a Hispanic looking man and an Asian woman. The man was large and well built, with tan skin and short black hair. The woman was small and petite, with straight dark hair that almost reached her shoulders. She was pale, with a skinny frame. They looked to be roughly around Jade's own age, and they were both staring at her from within crudely shaped bars.
"Hello." Jade groaned. "…You the people I came here to rescue…?"
"I sure hope so." The man said. "I also hope you have friends, 'cause you aren't doing great so far."
"Yeah, well, I was hoping for a better start myself."
The pain was slowly starting to fade. Or maybe Jade was just starting to get used to it. She was accustomed to injury, having taken some bad falls in the gym on more than one occasion. Still, one of those health potions would be really nice right now.
Speaking of health…
Jade pulled up her interface and checked her status page. The 'health' section was a diagram of her body, not a simple health bar like one found in most video games. Most of the diagram was green, but the head was colored a dark orange. At the bottom of the display read '60%'. She watched for a few moments, but the number didn't change. Hopefully that meant her brain wasn't bleeding, or anything like that. Jade was pretty sure that being knocked out, unlike what Hollywood had to say on the matter, was really bad for you.
"You have a name?" The man asked. He was wearing street clothes, a t-shirt and some sort of heavy duty outdoor pants that looked like they'd seen their share of use. The woman was simply dressed in a blouse and tight pants. Both of their garments bore scuffs and tears in them, but neither looked like they'd suffered a real injury.
"Jade." She grunted testing her bonds again. "You?"
"Luis." He replied, then lay a hand on the girls shoulder. "This is Naomi."
"Hi…" The young woman said hesitantly. She shifted forward to get a better look at Jade, peering at her through loose strands of her black hair.
"So…" Luis said, eyeing Jade. "Don't mean to be rude amiga. But what's with the wings? And the tail? Are you from Earth?"
Naomi shook her head, like she couldn't believe that was a question that actually had to be asked.
"Hey." Luis protested. "Just asking. All of this crazy shit is happening, we can't assume anything!"
"Keep it down!" Jade hissed, surreptitiously glancing at the nearest group of goblins. They hadn't noticed the conversation, fortunately. "Yes. I am from Earth. I picked a new race when I chose my class."
"Damn, really?" Luis said, this time in a quieter voice. "I mean, I thought about it, but that seemed like a big deal. Even with everything else happening."
"What did you pick?" Naomi asked, stepping up to the bars of their cage and looking Jade over. "Can you help us get out of here?"
"…Succubus…" Jade said. She wasn't thrilled about revealing her nature but, given that her quite distinctive true form was already on full display, she didn't see a realistic alternative.
Naomi blinked in surprise. She exchanged a look with Luis, who shrugged.
"Like… a demon?" She asked, taking a step back and giving Jade a wary look. Jade wondered if she should've been more circumspect about her nature, but it was hard to think straight with the pounding pain behind her eye.
"Yes." She said. "Long story. But I think some of the powers I get from it could help us get out of here."
"What's happening to us, anyway? This weird lady in the Sanctuary was talking about Labyrinths, monsters, quests… I still don't know how I got here." Luis asked, apparently unfazed by her strange nature.
"Let's focus on one thing at a time." Jade grunted, trying once more to twist her wrists free of the ropes that bound them. "If I can get us out, will you two be ready to fight?"
"Fight…?" Naomi asked, sounding frightened.
"Well, I don't think they're going to just let us walk out of here." Jade replied, looking back over the goblin camp. Most of the creatures carried clubs or small knives, and she knew from painful experience that they could use them. The back of her head throbbed again, and she had to shut her eyes for a moment to recover.
"You ok?" Luis asked. "You don't look so good."
"I think I need one of those healing potions that came with my class gear… Do you know where our stuff is?"
"They put your stuff in that tent, with ours." Naomi said, pointing to the large tent that sat adjacent to their makeshift cage.
"Ok… Do you have weapons?"
"I have a sword." Luis answered. "It's almost as tall as I am. Once I get my hands on it, I think I can keep these little guys away from us."
"I have a guitar." Naomi said, looking sheepish.
Jade blinked, staring at her.
"A what?"
"Never mind…" She looked away, embarassed.
"Look, just give me a moment to think." Jade said. She blinked, looking through her interface. There were a handful of system messages queued for her to read. She pulled up the first one.
* Hidden Quest Complete!
* For every 3 hidden quests you complete, your wayfarer quest counter will increase by 1.
* Hidden Quest: Push the Limit
* Cast a spell or activate a talent that you have boosted to one rank higher than its base rank. Hey, are you trying to skip ahead? We have an order to things here.
* Reward: Very low experience gain.
* Hidden Quest Conversion Progress: 1 of 3.
Hidden quests? Great, this just kept getting more complicated. Jade dismissed the message and inspected the next.
* New Quest: Prison Break
* You have been captured by a tribe of goblins that live in the Labyrinth! Wow, that didn't take long. Great going.
* Objective: Escape the goblin camp
* Bonus objective: Escape with the other two prisoners.
* Reward: Low experience gain.
* Reward: You won't be a prisoner anymore.
* Accept: Yes/No?
Jade accepted the quest with a scowl. She could do without the messages making fun of her. She looked back through her character sheet, seeing a new active effect listed at the bottom of it: Bondage Queen. She opened the description, refreshing her memory of the new power. The system said it would boost the power of any talent or spell she used while restrained, with the boost proportional to how tightly she was bound. There was no indication of what the current bonus to spell power was, but Jade had an intuitive sense of the magical power flowing through her. It was slightly riled up, energized, raring to go.
She closed her eyes and concentrated. First she focused on her 'Clinging Darkness' spell, a 'D' rank spell. Jade felt that if she were to cast it, the current bonus to her power would be just enough to push it over the threshold to 'C' rank if she wanted it to. She also had a vague notion of what changes that would cause the spell to undergo, but the system didn't offer up specific details. On the other hand, her 'Allure' spell was already boosted to 'C' rank from her demon form. The additional bonus from 'Bondage Queen' did not feel like it would push the spell to the next threshold if she cast it now, though it seemed close to that border.
Does that mean boosting from rank C to B takes more energy, or magic, than boosting from rank D to C?
That was interesting to consider. Maybe it also meant that the higher ranking effects were disproportionately more powerful than the ones that came below. Jade quickly discovered that the pattern held true for all of her talents and spells. All of her 'D' rank spells and talents felt as though she could boost them to 'C' rank if used right now. However, none of her 'C' rank effects felt quite powered up enough to reach the next level. The only difference now was that if she were to use them, it felt as though it would cost less of her magic to do so. And maybe that the effects would be harder to resist? That part she wasn't so sure about. The levels were distinct plateaus in her minds eye, crackling borders of power that could more be felt than described. It was a strange feeling, but she was glad her new abilities were intuitive.
In any case, boosting 'Allure' to rank 'B' seemed like her best bet. The difference between 'D' rank and 'C' rank had been pronounced. If her hunch was right and the increases in spell effects were larger with each increase in rank, it could mean the difference between getting out of here alive, or failing to escape.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"Ok." Jade grunted, dismissing her system windows and looking back at Luis and Naomi. "I think I have a plan."
"What is it?" Naomi asked, a mixture of nervousness and relief in her voice.
"…It's going to sound pretty stupid." Jade sighed.
----------------------------------------
Jade took a few minutes to ask about the abilities the others had, then quietly explain her plan to them. Following that, she spent a few more answering their incredulous questions about it.
"This is crazy." Naomi whispered, holding her face in her hands. "There has to be a safer way to get out of here…"
"I like it!" Luis said with a grin. He'd warmed up to the idea quickly. "They'll never see it coming."
"Keep it down." Jade hissed at Luis, who seemed utterly incapable of subtlety. "Don't give it away."
"You said we had to draw them over here." He pointed out.
"Yeah, but-"
Jade was interrupted by a gruff voice.
"Well, look who's awake…"
A pair of goblins had noticed their conversation and were making their way towards the trio of prisoners. Jade recognized one of them as Rek, the large goblin that had knocked her out. The other one was a smaller and darker skinned sporting a long, chipped pair of fangs.
"What's a succubus doin' lurkin' around our camp, eh?" Rek said. "Didn't think any demons were in these parts."
"Yeah, well, you don't look like the kind of guy who thinks much at all." Jade said, feeling braver than she probably should given her situation. But the goblin was clearly a bully, and she had never been able to stand those. In the moment, she was more angry than scared. Besides, riling them up was the point. She looked up and down the goblin's large frame. "It's clear where all the brainpower wen-."
Rek punched her in the gut, cutting Jade off with a groaning gasp. The blow was more surprising than painful, and Jade managed to shake it off without too much difficulty. Glaring at them, she tugged hard against her bindings, nearly succeeding in slipping one of her wrists free before the other goblin scrabbled its way up the pole and yanked hard on the ropes, cinching them tighter again.
"You ain't goin' nowhere missy." She said, leering down at her, uncomfortably close. "We've got a tricksy one here, Rek. Let's make sure she stays put."
Jade leaned away from the goblin's foul breath, grimacing, and continued to struggle. She made a show of twisting and pulling on the bindings, making sure to show just how much she could still move despite them. The female goblin grunted in annoyance, drawing out another length of rope and used it to bind her tighter to the pole. The rough cord dug deep into her skin as she was roughly secured to the pole, stuck in an uncomfortable position with her arms stretched above her. By the time they were done Jade could hardly move anymore, bound to the pole by her wrists, elbows, knees, and ankles. The pair had even tied her wings together behind her, which turned out to be decidedly uncomfortable. Finally finished, the goblins stepped back to leer at her.
"Still feelin' mouthy, demon?" The female goblin sneered at Jade. "Bet you're regretting talkin' back to us. You'd best learn your place fast."
"Oh, I think I already have." Jade said, finally recovering her breath. She grinned at them. Combined with her curling horns and dark wings the effect was downright sinister, even considering her current state. Rek sneered at her, but his companion's confidence paled before the succubus's visage. She took an involuntary step away from her, the goblin suddenly filled with unease. Jade's body buzzed with power as she shifted in her bindings. She had felt the moment her charm spell, already boosted to 'C' rank by her demon form, had passed the threshold to 'B' as she had been further restrained. The magic burned in mind, a wellspring of concentrated potential greater than anything she'd felt previously. It pulsed with her heartbeat, yearning to be unleashed. She released it, layering her next words with an entrancing appeal that captivated the two creatures before her.
"You will do what I say." Jade said, the words coming out smooth and domineering. Even Naomi and Luis were captivated by her, unable to take their eyes off the scene unfolding before them.
* Allure
* Rating: B level spell
* Cost: Medium mana
* Cooldown: 5 minutes
* Effect: Attempt to charm one or more nearby creatures that can see and hear you and are all within 10 feet of each other. If you are successful, the creatures will be predisposed to obey your commands for the next (intelligence score) minutes, times five. Charmed creatures will not obey commands that cause direct harm to themselves. Commands that go against their core nature, such as to harm their allies, have a moderate chance of breaking the effect early. If you cast this spell again all previous charm effects from other uses of 'Allure' are broken. Having multiple targets charmed simultaneously dilutes the strength of the charm, making it easier for creatures to resist your will. This spell is more likely to succeed if the target finds you attractive.
Jade's headache suddenly intensified as magic left her in a rush, like floodgates in her mind had opened. Her mana bar plummeted, more than half of it falling away in an instant as her bolstered spell sapped her mental reserves. The pathways in her mind prickled uncomfortably, strained from the sheer volume of power that had suddenly been pushed through them. So far, every iteration of the 'Allure' spell had a 'Medium' mana cost, the 'B' rank version cost a great deal more than it had at 'C' rank. She blinked, momentarily stunned, and refocused on the goblins as the spell took hold on each of them. She'd been hoping the 'B' rank version of the spell would allow her to charm groups of creatures at a time, and her instincts had been right. As long as her targets were all next to each other, the spell could do what she'd wanted.
The duration is a lot longer. She noted. That could come in handy.
With Jade's magic boosted two full ranks, the weak minded goblins stood no chance of resisting her compulsion. They both nodded in unison as the magic ensnared their minds.
"O-of course."
"What da ya want us to do?"
The pair of goblins were staring at Jade with glazed eyes, enraptured. Luis and Naomi looked at Jade, then them, then back to Jade.
"Damn amiga, nice work." Luis said, giving an appreciative whistle. "How long can you keep that up for?"
"Long enough." Jade murmured back, checking to make sure no other goblins were watching. Fortunately, none were nearby. "It doesn't feel like they'll break free, but it's hard to tell for sure. I'm pretty new at this."
"Could've fooled me." Luis said. "You're a natural."
"That was amazing." Naomi agreed, gripping the bars of the cage with both hands. "You're kind of scary Jade. But, like, in a good way." Seeing how effective Jade's magic had been on the goblins had boosted the woman's confidence, and she looked ready to go.
"I'll take your word on that…"
"Can you get us out?" Luis asked.
"Let's find out." Jade turned to look at her newly charmed companions. "Rek, right? Go open that cage. You." She turned to the female goblin. "Untie me from this pole. But make sure no one sees."
"As ya say."
"Right away."
Rek retrieved the key to the cage from the tent it was next to, then used it to open the door. Meanwhile, the other goblin began cutting away at the thick ropes securing Jade to the pole. She kept a wary eye on the rest of the camp while she was freed, anxious about being discovered. About a dozen goblins were visible from the corner of the camp they kept prisoners in. Most of them were currently lazing around in the shade of pitched awnings to escape the heat of the oppressive sun. None of them were paying any attention to them at the moment, and Jade prayed that would continue for a few more minutes.
Though the cage was now unlocked, Luis and Naomi kept the door shut and stayed inside to maintain the illusion that they were still trapped inside. They waited for Jade to be cut free, which turned out to be a more time intensive process than any of them had hoped.
"What's taking so long?" Jade hissed to the goblin behind her.
"These ropes are thick." The goblin said, still sawing away at them. "And this knife is dull as Gurp."
This Gurp guy isn't very popular. Jade thought, gritting her teeth as she waited.
"Uh oh." Naomi whispered. "I think a few of them are coming over here! Hurry!"
Following her gaze, Jade saw a trio of goblins trotting over to their corner of the camp.
"Rek, go over there and distract them!" She whispered urgently. The goblin looked at her blankly.
"How?"
"Uhh… Tell them one of those robot, automaton things is coming to attack the camp!"
"But there aren't any attacking… right?" Rek said, looking confused.
"I don't care." Jade hissed, frustrated at how slow these goblins were. Were all of them idiots, or was her charm spell messing with their heads? "Go tell them anyway!"
Rek ran off, intercepting the approaching goblins. They were close enough that Jade could hear snippets of their conversation.
"How the hell would you know that? You've been back here, idiot." The middle goblin demanded of Rek, who was mumbling something about marauding constructs and mass destruction. From the sound of it, he was taking quite a few liberties with Jade's instructions.
"I just knows it!" Rek said indignantly, pointing back at Jade. "The succubus told me!"
Uh oh…
All of the goblins turned to look at Jade. In the same moment, her helper finally finished cutting away the rope from around her wrists. The bindings fell loose, falling to the sandy ground around her feet.
"Rek, fight them!" Jade commanded. Turning to the other goblin behind her, she added. "And you, help him!"
"Escape! The prison-!!!" One of the goblins began shouting, then cut off as Rek clubbed him overtop the head. The others snarled, drawing their own clubs and swinging at Rek, smashing him into the sandy ground. Then the other charmed goblin joined the fray, and the entire group devolved into a melee of biting, smashing, scratching, and flailing limbs.
"Time to go." Luis said, slipping out of the cage. He grabbed Jade by the shoulder, wrenching her free from the last few ropes holding her to the pole. "Let's grab our gear and get out of here!"
Naomi and Jade didn't have to be told twice. The three of them ducked into the tent, which was too low for any of them to stand upright in, and quickly found their pile of belongings. Jade swung her backpack over her shoulder and grabbed one of the three healing potions, popping the cork and downing it in a gulp. The red liquid was sweet and soothing, her aching head and other pains easing the instant she swallowed. A window popped up in front of her.
* You have consumed 'Healing Potion'
* Your health will restore over time for the next 10 seconds.
* You cannot gain the benefits of another potion for a short period.
Sure enough, over the next several moments the improvements continued. Various scrapes and bruises faded, her headache continuing to diminish. It would have fascinated Jade if it weren't for their dire situation. Doing her best to ignore the miraculous healing effects of the potion, she drew a dagger in one hand and a wand in the other. Next to her, Luis had grabbed an enormous two handed sword. Naomi, on the other hand, had just slung an electric guitar over her shoulder. The instrument was colored a vivid blue and was decorated with drawings of roses, for some reason. Jade just stared at her, nonplussed.
"What?!" She demanded, seeing Jade stare at her. "It came with my class…"
There was no time for questions. The sounds of fighting outside the tent were intensifying, and pounding footfalls heralded the arrival of more goblins to the scene.
"Out the back!" Jade hissed, and the three of them slipped out the back of the large tent back out into the camp. On the far side of it, they could hear a full on melee as goblins piled atop each other, others joining the fight without knowing or caring who had started it, or even what the sides were. The camp was quickly devolving into a state of chaos. It reminded Jade of the Lord of the Rings movies, how the orcs would fight one another for no better reason than that there was already someone fighting. For the moment, hidden behind the tent, they remained unnoticed, but Jade doubted that would last long.
She pulled up her interface, checking the 'map' tab again. They weren't that far from where she'd entered the junkyard, which meant the sanctuary she'd met Damos in was relatively nearby as well. Based on what he'd told her earlier, they'd be safe from harm inside.
"I know a safe place, come on." Jade whispered, leading the group away from the fighting. The camp was a disorganized mess of tents and shanties built out of material scrounged from the scrapyard. The layout was haphazard, with the buildings built practically on top of each other apart from a few main thoroughfares that divided the settlement. Because of this, there were many small alleys they could use to sneak away from the fighting. Using the map to guide them, Jade took them directly away from the conflict. The three of them moved as quietly as they could, including Luis. The large man was quite nimble, despite his bulky frame. For the first time since Jade had met him, the man looked serious. His hands gripped the hilt of his sword tightly as he surveyed their surroundings, keeping a wary eye out for signs of danger. He cut a strange sight, the large man bearing an even larger sword while dressed like he'd just stepped out of a construction site.
"We'll be ok." Naomi whispered, bringing up the rear of the group. She was still carrying the ridiculous looking guitar slung across her shoulders. "We'll be ok. We're almost out."
"Quiet." Jade hissed at her. The smaller woman nodded and swallowed, looking about fearfully. Luis patted her gently on the shoulder, giving her another squeeze, not taking his eyes off their surroundings.
A sudden scrabbling noise caught their attention, approaching from one of the other alleys. Jade had just begun looking around for a hiding place when a group of four goblins came around the corner on all fours. They skidded to a stop in front of the escaped prisoners, startled surprise registering on their monstrous faces.
Jade knew they couldn't let these creatures call for help, or alert the other goblins about their escape. She didn't know for sure what these people would have done to her and her new companions, but she'd seen enough to know that it wasn't anything good. Her fight or flight reflex kicked in, screaming at her to run, to escape these vicious monsters with their teeth and claws and clubs. But her mind said otherwise. They couldn't outrun them all, not if they started in the middle of their camp. It was fight, or be beaten back into those cages. Jade was not about to let that happen. Steeling herself, she drew her dagger and charged.