Chapter 19
(They aren’t praying, are they?)
Jarow brought his Extra Perception ability to the forefront as he walked toward the mossy area near the fountain. Along the way, he noticed that the ancient stones, which made up the dilapidated square, still glowed slightly despite being broken and overgrown. As he moved, he watched for any changes to the aura or the surrounding area, remaining wary even though he had seen nothing for hours that indicated anything larger than an insect lived within the vicinity of the fountain.
Jarow wasn’t attempting to be particularly stealthy, but the grasses growing around the stones silenced each footfall. The silent movement reminded Jarow of the elven body he had once loved. In that body; even without trying, he moved silently, the elven trait granting him an added bonus to stealth.
With some anxiety, Jarow walked across the square. This was the most open area of the entire abandoned city, and the lack of cover left him feeling completely exposed, with no places to hide or anything to duck behind. He would be an easy target for anything lying in wait for him hiding somewhere within the surrounding ruins.
Nonetheless, he closely watched where he placed his feet, stepping carefully on what seemed to be the least damaged areas of the paver stones covering the ground. He risked speed for silence at his pace, and made sure every step was secure and solid. He preferred to remain steady, not knowing how this body fared on uneven ground. His center of gravity was low, but there was a lot of bulk which could hit hard if he twisted an ankle and fell.
Moving at such a measured pace, it took him several minutes to traverse the distance of the open square, his nerves and sense of paranoia intensifying with each step forward. Finally, he approached the fountain to check the moss-covered area where it drained. Fortunately, nothing had happened during his walk, but Jarow still felt uneasy. He slowly focused his attention on the mossy patch before him, bringing his senses to more acutely take in his surroundings.
Nothing stirred where he was, not even the breeze seemed to move the grass. The stillness of the place began to send small currents of electricity up his spine. The atmosphere was eerily calm.
“I know I said that I want to go on adventures and fight bad guys and stuff, but I didn’t realize how stressful and nerve-wracking this could be,” he confided in Xinpo as he finally arrived at the fountain.
His nerves were frazzled as he began checking the moss growing on the soggy ground. His imagination was running wild with visions of thorny vines reaching up from the ground to ensnare him or the entire town square sinking into the maw of some great beast rising from somewhere deep below. Even thoughts of being ambushed by a tribe of wild Quigza from behind the ruins crossed Jarow’s imaginary fears. None of that occurred, but his anxiety was still at an all-time high.
Crouching near the small waterfall created by the draining fountain, Jarow used the tip of his sword to gently lift the moss from the ground. It looked to him like the moss had clumped together, forming a type of organic cover. As he raised it a few inches off the ground, a darkened hole underneath became visible.
Congratulations! You have found your first dungeon!
The larger-than-normal text showed up in a more opaque window than typical. The window brokered no room to see around it, and refused to move. The appearance of the message was accompanied by a frenetic digital accomplishment sound, the rapid string of notes escalating before culminating in a happy sharp chord. The sound startled Jarow so much that he fell backward, landing hard on his backside. Xinpo went careening from his hand.
“What the actual fuck!” he yelled to the cosmos. Obviously, he didn’t receive a response, but more information printed across the achievement screen.
Dungeons are unique, conquerable areas containing magical creatures. By defeating the minions and ultimately the Dungeon Boss, thus concluding the dungeon scenario, you will receive loot and experience. Dungeons can range from 'easy' to 'extremely difficult.' There are multiple rating systems. Do you wish to hear more about the rating system?
The text paused, and Jarow mentally tried to push the window out of the way so that he could see, but the window didn’t move. In order to get the window to disappear, Jarow told the UI ‘no’ to answer its question. Once he did, the text continued to scroll before his eyes.
There are multiple types of Dungeons, varying in form. Some examples include natural, elemental, mutated, spatial, aberrant, etc. Do you wish to learn more about different types of Dungeons?
Once again the text paused, and once more Jarow was more concerned about moving the window obscuring his view than what information it was attempting to deliver, so answered in the negative. The text scrolled on after doing so.
Loot is distributed depending on the type and difficulty of the Dungeon.
If you are in a party while conquering a dungeon, loot is distributed based on the amount of contribution. Do you wish to learn more about loot and contribution statistics?
Once again, Jarow mentally chose 'no,' and the screen obscuring his view finally became more translucent. Jarow immediately moved the window to the side, out of his view.
With his vision clear and able to focus once more on his surroundings, Jarow realized just how much his head hurt. It wasn't only because it bounced off the ground after he landed on his ass, but also due to the overwhelming amount of information presenting itself while he was in this precarious position.
He did want to learn more about what he had discovered, understanding the need to read through the available information about dungeons or at least skim through it before moving on. However, he knew he needed to get upright and be alert before allowing his UI to obscure his vision like that again.
His first goal, though, was to retrieve Xinpo. If this was indeed a dungeon entrance, he thought there was a good chance that monsters might be coming out soon. It also began to explain why there were no signs of life here. Apparently thirst wasn’t a strong enough factor in this place for creatures to risk facing dungeon monsters.
His bruised brain chimed in with a strange response. “Monsters will only come out if the dungeon isn’t a separate instance.”
Jarow blinked in confusion. He had absolutely no clue what that meant or where that information had come from, but at the moment, he was more concerned about crawling over to recover his sword than pondering the meaning of the words which popped into his brain. He would much rather be prepared for the worst before worrying about the way his brain threw out random thoughts, things which he sometimes believed were based on his lost memories.
Before he could reach his sword, a furry hand grabbed the multi-hued handle of Jaroow’s sword. Actually, it was less of a hand and more of a paw. The little finger pads were spaced and angled differently than a regular dog’s would have been, allowing the hand-paw to be able to pick things up. There was even an extra toe acting as a sort of thumb, but all in all, it was definitely more paw than hand.
Noruff couldn’t completely pick up Xinpo, as he was sized to be a sword rather than a dagger, but dragged the weapon over to Jarow in an attempt to help his friend. His entire body still shook with fear and anxiety, but Jarow was proud of his little friend for being so brave.
“Thanks, Noruff. Are you okay being out here? I can see you’re still shaking, but I think it’s good you are trying to overcome that,” Jarow asked the Quigza, concerned for his friend’s well-being.
A shivering voice replied, “I saw you fall, I had to help.”
“I’m glad you did,” Jarow thanked his friend.
Jarow picked himself up and took the large sword from Noruff’s paw before placing his hand on the small furry shoulder. “Do you think you can stay here and keep an eye out for me? I need to read about what we just found.”
Noruff nodded overly quick and moved his head around, taking in the area. Jarow assumed Noruff would ask questions about the strange request and what he would be reading, but Noruff apparently trusted him enough not to wonder.
In the same way, Jarow trusted his friend to give him a warning if something happened. The small man may not be much good in a fight right now due to his newfound anxiety, but that actually only seemed to heighten his paranoia, which in this instance was a good thing.
With his trusty guard in place, Jarow refocused on the dungeon description again, bringing the now normal opacity window to the forefront once more. “Let’s learn about the ratings, shall we?” he mentally said to Xinpo before skipping back to the first question asked in the series, and then changing his answer to ‘yes’.
Dungeon Rating System:
[10] Deific
[9] Ludicrous
[8] Quick Death
[7] Slow Death
[6] Are You Crazy?
[5] Doubtful
[4] Maybe
[3] Good Chance
[2] You Can Do It!
[1] Walk in the Park
(Note: Names may vary between different systems)
Do you wish to keep this rating system?
Jarow couldn’t help but roll his eyes and smirk at the ridiculous names. He was expecting something more like F, E, D, C, B, A, S, then SS or something, although he wasn’t quite sure why he thought those letters would be used in that order or what they stood for.
Although he did wonder how a person would know what rating a dungeon was without asking someone who already knew. Then he thought about the ability he had passed on, named; Identify.
“Do you know how to tell what rating a dungeon is? Would it be that Identify ability?” he asked Xinpo, hoping he knew a little more on the subject.
“I do not know, but that ability could very well be the key, suzerain.”
Jarow thought again about his friend's voice. It had definitely become more succinct. It also seemed like Xinpo didn’t talk as much either. He worried his weapon would quickly become smarter than he was. Then, he wondered if it already had.
Jarow didn’t see much point in learning about the types of dungeons since he couldn’t do anything to change how he would fight different types right now anyway, so he skipped on to the Loot description.
Loot: During the battles you or your team fight through the dungeon, the dungeon’s core will analyze and attempt to predict what type of loot will be of most benefit to the individual(s) and arrange for something unique to be generated upon completion.
Just kidding! That would be neat though, right? Actually, the loot dropped at the end of a dungeon is completely random and based on your Luck score. I can only tell you that because you can actually see your Luck score. Not something a lot of people can do; if you hadn’t gotten that boost from the Oonja giving Xinpo the Ponna, I would have to make something even more stupid up to tell you.
Jarow looked at the text. He had to re-read it three times. “This is getting ridiculous,” he thought to himself. It was as if the system was now an actual person trying to directly communicate with him; a person with a hit or miss sense of humor, but apparently watched his every move.
Up until now, he’d been able to laugh off the strange text, but this directly referenced his interaction with Orro. He didn’t think this was right.
“Uhhh… Xinpo. You see this message, right?” Jarow asked his companion.
“Yes, suzerain.”
“Does this description sound super creepy to you?”
“What do you mean, suzerain?” Xinpo questioned.
Jarow wasn’t sure if maybe he was missing something now. “I mean the text. It referenced the Ponna you absorbed. Whoever is writing the dialogue for these descriptions is watching us.”
There was a silence from the blade, accompanied by an all-too-familiar itch at the back of Jarow’s neck where his head attached to his spine.
A new window and text appeared in front of the one he had just read.
Loot: Loot is randomly generated throughout the dungeon as drops by monsters. Upon successfully defeating the Boss of a dungeon, a Loot box will appear, containing items tailor-generated to fit the needs of the party members.
“I am afraid I do not know of what you speak, suzerain. I see no mention of the Ponna or our interaction with the Oonja.”
Jarow stared at the new text. “You just copied and pasted that, right? From what you see about the description of loot?” he asked.
“Yes, suzerain. I felt it was the easiest way of displaying my inability to understand.”
Jarow dismissed the text window Xinpo had created and went to copy and paste the text from his own description window. He actually hadn’t even known that was possible. He looked at the window and thought ‘COPY.’ He was about to send the copied text to Xinpo when he re-looked at the text in his window again.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
It had changed. Now, it said the exact same thing as what Xinpo had shown him.
“What? It didn’t say that before!” Jarow mentally yelled.
“What is the problem, suzerain?”
“The text I just read about the loot a few seconds ago was completely different from what you sent, but now it says the same thing as yours. I swear it was different,” Jarow explained.
“That is puzzling, suzerain. I suggest next time you receive such a personal message you immediately copy the text.”
“Yeah, I’ll do that,” Jarow half-heartedly answered. His attention was still glued to the screen before him. The text had changed completely, the entire exchange was gone, left only in his memory. His memory; which was shoddy at best.
Now, Jarow began to wonder how often this had actually happened. Was it just his UI feeling like it needed to add some personalization? Or did he have some personal connection to whomever or whatever generated the text?
He knew there was going to be no answer forthcoming, so with a deep breath and a shake of the head, Jarow moved on, trying to place the defeated feeling in the back of his mind where he wouldn’t obsess over it, and began to look over the different types of dungeons again.
He hoped he’d get another personalized message soon, but the text he read now about the different types of dungeons and their attributes seemed generic and to the point.
His attention was so divided that he couldn’t keep his focus on it well enough to learn anything useful.
After several more minutes of trying to read through the boring text, a tap on his shoulder brought Jarow back to attention.
“Jarow, I think I saw the moss move.” Noruff’s quavering voice easily distracting Jarow from the information he was trying, and failing to digest.
Jarow quickly minimized the window in his UI, snapping his gaze back to the area they were in. He turned his head to stare at the moss-covered entrance to the dungeon. He watched in anticipation, wanting to see what his friend had seen. It took only moments before the moss flap rose up.
It only moved about an inch, but two strange things emerged from under the moss. They moved back and forth, then quickly withdrew.
“Xinpo, did you see those?” Jarow asked nervously.
“Yes, suzerain. I believe they were antennae.”
“Antennae, as in the feeler thingys on top of a bug’s head?”
“Generally speaking, yes, suzerain. Although antennae can be associated with any number of creatures and body parts.” Xinpo explained.
An image of a millipede attached to the antennae he had just seen came to him. Obviously, if that's what the antennae was attached to, it wasn’t nearly as large as the one from earlier, but if the boss of the dungeon was anything close to the size of the one who had transported them here, he wouldn’t stand a chance of defeating it.
Jarow audibly gulped, then explained the opening and the dungeon underneath to Noruff.
“I want to explore it, see if it’s one that we can beat.” Jarow finished his explanation.
He purposefully used the term “we” because he didn’t want to face it alone, and to plant the idea of going in there in Noruff’s mind. He also explained about the Loot hoping that would help influence his small friend’s desire to go with him.
It didn’t. They were both wearing a ton of jewelry already, and Jarow held even more treausure in his inventory. While the Quigza had shown some greediness while still in the Fading Divide, it seemed the newfound anxiety of being in the real world suppressed that desire.
“I don’t want to go in there, Jarow. Please don’t make me.” Noruff’s fear-laced voice whimpered. The sound was pathetic and broke Jarow’s heart.
Faced with a decision, Jarow pondered his options. He could enter the dungeon alone, hoping to defeat it by himself. Alternatively, he could drag his poor, scared friend in with him, risking both their lives. The third option was to abandon the idea of entering the dungeon altogether and getting Noruff somewhere safe.
Uncertain of the correct choice, he decided to take a moment to figure out his next move.
“Let’s move back to our hiding spot, ok?” Jarow told the Quigza, and together they moved back to where they had been sitting and watching the area before.
“What should we do, Xinpo? This is the first thing on this world, other than the Oonja, which holds anything of interest or interaction. The first thing we have found that might provide some information about where we are and what we should be doing. I doubt we would just find this dungeon randomly, and I also don’t want to abandon the first dungeon I ever find. But Noruff is nowhere close to being up for a challenge like this. Neither can I just abandon him here,” Jarow spoke with Xinpo as he walked back to the ruined building they had designated as their hiding spot.
The all-too-familiar itching manifested again as Xinpo thought about the situation.
“There is something off about Noruff. While I couldn't directly communicate with him before, he did not exhibit this level of insecurity while in the Fading Divide. In fact, it was he who killed Jif while you were incapacitated. However, I doubt his fear and anxiety will subside on their own. Forcing him to enter the dungeon would likely harm not only his psyche but also strain your relationship,” Xinpo explained.
“While I, too, wish to explore this place, I believe our only choice is to move on. Perhaps if we can find a safe haven where Noruff can wait for us, we can attempt to return and then conquer this dungeon on our own; or possibly with other adventurers.”
Jarow nodded as Xinpo came to the same conclusion he had. He could empathize with his friend but couldn’t fully grasp the depth of what he was facing. He wondered why he was so eager now. He thought he should be confronting his fears alongside Noruff. However, similar to when he first awoke in the Fading Divide, a compulsion, this time to adventure rather than just search, seemed to be pushing him forward.
If he could, Jarow would find Noruff a home and provide him with a comfortable life. With all the treasure they had brought from the Fading Divide, that outcome shouldn’t be far-fetched. Or so he thought.
The sad truth was that they were out in the middle of nowhere and didn’t have the first clue as to where to go or what to do. This dungeon gave Jarow some inspiration, something to conquer and look forward to, and maybe even some answers.
To Noruff, it was most likely just another frightening obstacle. His previous life was gone now, and he wasn’t dealing with his new existence very well at all. The last thing he would want to do is run into more life-threatening situations.
“Xinpo, I think it’s time to test out Passe-partout again. I want to explore, but that is the opposite of what Noruff needs. Can your ability get us to a city?”
“Yes, suzerain, but I can’t ensure our return here. The ability has some unusual rules and quirks. Would you like me to elaborate?”
“Yeah, let’s hear about what you know now…” Jarow’s began to say, but was interrupted as the ground beneath them began to shake.
Noruff let out a high-pitched yelp as if he’d been injured. Jarow reached out to grab onto Noruff, but before he could reach over to clasp onto his friend, a squelching sound came from behind them.
Jarow could sense what was happening through the ground underneath his feet. He felt the mossy dungeon cover exploding upward, and a monster flying out from the hole below it.
Jarow hadn’t yet seen the monster emerging, but knew it wasn’t a millipede like he’d feared previously.
Instead, the creature that leapt out of the hole resembled a nightmarish mantis-like monster. With a quick backward glance before sprinting away, Jarow saw the grotesque entity emerging from the dungeon. Its green carapace-covered body soared into the air, upheld by darker green wings jutting out from its lower abdomen. It looked to be bipedal but that is where the similarity stopped, it boasted four arms sprouting from its thorax, two ending in scythe-like blades, and the lower two ending in three-pronged pincers.
The monster's head was, in Jarow’s opinion, the most frightening part. Smooth and elongated, devoid of traditional sensory organs, it sported numerous large, dark, bulbous eyes; each radiating malevolence. Every eye seemed fixated on Jarow as the creature slowly ascended from the dungeon. Its mouth split open in a grotesque display of glee as it rose. Vicious yellow teeth protruded from the lipless mouth, sharp and menacing. From alongside the face, two insect-like pincers extended, spreading open then clicking together in a disturbing rhythm of excitement.
Two antennae sprouted from the top of the monster’s head—features Jarow had glimpsed earlier, confirming its identity. As it landed lightly in front of the hole, its three-toed feet barely sinking into the mud, another creature leapt out and hovered on its own dark wings, hovering behind.
“Oh, fuck,” Jarow said in an anxious tone. It seemed as though they were going to be fighting whether they wanted to or not. Jarow inwardly felt a sense of excitement building, even though he had just decided to leave. Now though he would be able to, at the very least, face the denizens of this dungeon and see for himself how difficult it would be to defeat.
“Xinpo, you know these spells better than I do. What should I use?” Jarow asked, pushing Noruff away from danger.
“Go hide, Noruff! I’ll handle these guys,” he said, pointing with his free hand to their hiding spot, still more than a dozen feet away.
“Begin with the Weapon Whirlpool, then use the Acidic Regurgitation and Spontaneous Combustion when they get closer,” Xinpo spoke with authority.
Jarow had the knowledge of how to cast his spells as well as what they did, but he had never used any, especially not in combat, therefore he was thankful for Xinpo’s calm head. He started by casting Weapon Whirlpool, and a prompt opened up before him.
Please choose from the following options:
[Blades]
[Blunt]
[Combination]
Note: Weapon Whirlpool does not distinguish between ally and foe.
“Great, just what I need when starting combat; a multiple selection prompt,” Jarow thought to himself. Without really reading through the options, he chose [Combination]. The last part of the message didn’t register until it was too late.
A gray semi-solid sword manifested in the air to Jarow’s side. A similar amorphous mace-like weapon appeared on Jarow’s other side. The two weapons extended outward, spinning and swinging in what looked like random patterns, and began circling around him.
Noruff luckily remained ducking low and running ahead. If Jarow didn’t want the Quigza to be targeted by his conjured weapons, he was going to have to keep him away.
“Noruff, don’t worry about me, just get to the hiding spot,” he loudly whispered to his friend.
Jarow’s mind went over which style and weapon would be the best to use in this situation. Each had bonuses and limitations to fighting creatures like this. Blade to blade was always a good way to defend, but the scythe arms of these creatures would have greater reach than he did in this compact Dwarven body.
The quarterstaff would give Jarow better defense and reach, but he would lose a great number of possible attacks since these creatures were at least partially airborne.
The first monster advanced quickly, and Jarow had to choose. Since he already held his blade in hand, he decided to stick to it. Reflexively, he took one of the stances he’d learned from Orro: the Bighorn Sentinel stance. He held his blade in one hand, pointing forward like the horn of a ram, while the other hand held open and ready in a similar position behind his head.
The first creature leapt directly for Jarow. Its body pointed forward, and the two scythe arms extended. It used its small wings to provide just enough lift to transform itself into what amounted to a large, two-pointed spear-like projectile.
This was not something covered by either of the combat systems he had learned. An actual spear? Yes, he could most likely deal with that. But a sentient spear larger than himself with two bladed arms? That was not something he nor the Oonja had ever encountered in training, so nothing in his learned combat system was going to directly apply to the situation.
His momentary thought cost him the time to react, and he threw himself to the right, landing hard on his shoulder. The creature sped past him, flying in Noruff’s direction. The Quigza’s reaction came just in time, but barely, and he went flying to the ground and tumbling.
The spear-like creature had narrowly missed being struck by the gray mace hovering around Jarow due to the Weapon Whirlpool spell, and the spinning sword had struck out as well but missed by a foot.
Jarow was the only one who had been struck. As he had predicted, the creature had extended its blade to the side as it passed by him and sliced deeply into Jarow’s left arm.
Jarow knew there wasn’t time to dally on the ground, so he quickly rolled and brought himself upright. He cast Spontaneous Combustion on the bug that had sliced his arm, which had come to a stop several yards away before turning to attack again.
The creature immediately exploded in a bout of orange and yellow flames, or at least that’s what Jarow saw. He wasn’t sure what the spell truly did, but he hoped the flames kept the attacker occupied, at least for a few moments.
Turning to meet the second attacker while the first one was burning, Jarow watched as it deployed the same flying spear technique as the first had, aiming directly at him.
This time Jarow fell backward and held his sword up as the monster flew over him. Both of its blades clanged against Xinpo, but left him unscathed.
Jarow once again rolled to the side and brought himself upright to face the now-landed creature. It had landed and turned to stare daggers at Jarow, a wicked smile splitting its face.
“Behind you!” Xinpo mentally screamed.
The warning caught Jarow’s attention just in time to see the first attacker, the one that had exploded in a bout of flames moments before. It was now swinging one of its blade arms towards his neck.
“What the?” Jarow thought as he raised his arm holding Xinpo to block the charred but very much alive first attacker. He was able to deflect the blade enough to survive, but it cut deeply into his bald head. Rivulets of blood began flowing down his bald pate down his face into his beard.
His floating weapons finally decided to join in the fray again. While the attack on Jarow was successful, both the mace and sword began pummeling the charred insectoid.
With little more than a thought, Jarow mentally spoke a powerful word, one that he knew triggered the Spontaneous Combustion spell, and the creature once again burst into flames. This time, he was going to make sure it was dead before turning away.
“Duck!” Xinpo screamed in Jarow’s mind.
He ducked, just in time. A blade arm swished through the air just above his head. He rolled to the side on the ground, but another bladed arm of the second monster sliced down, catching him in the side.
Pain burst into Jarow's gut as the blade ripped through his skin and muscle. Up until this wound, his adrenaline had kept the pain from the minor wounds he’d sustained at bay, but this attack had caught something more vital, and the infusion of fire he felt caused him to pause.
Without thinking, he cast Minor Heal and laid his open hand on his side. The aggressor didn’t give him time to lay there and heal, though; it advanced, dodging under the floating gray weapons still somewhat focused on the other monster, and stabbed down again.
Jarow rolled to the side once more, only to see another blade arm coming down. He rolled again, then again. With each roll, the monster advanced and pushed him into moving further away to stay out of reach. He was being relentlessly chased by this monster and would eventually run out of room to roll away.
Roll after roll, he barely escaped being impaled repeatedly. Finally, he hit a large stone and couldn't roll anymore. He watched the blade arm coming down and pulled Xinpo in front of him in a desperate attempt to block.
He was too late; the scythe slid along his blade and directly into his stomach. In a last-ditch attempt, Jarow moved his sword up under the arm pressing down into him, sliding the blade into the creature's abdomen.
Not losing momentum, the monster continued to move forward, impaling itself on the blade, but also inserting its other blade into Jarow's leg. Bright neon green blood sprayed from the wound Jarow had created, and the weight of the monster’s body only worked to press the sword deeper inside.
Jarow was not sure whether he had hit something vital or whether these things simply died from the loss of blood, but the creature’s eyes almost instantly lost their focus as it died and wedged its now lifeless body atop Jarow.
The pain was beyond intense, and Jarow saw the now familiar and somewhat comforting ring of darkness closing in around him.
“No! I can’t die now! They’ll kill Noruff! I have to protect him!” he mentally shouted. The act of defiance somehow triggered his Berserk ability. Renewing strength and vigor began to surge through his dying body.
A small form came running up from the side, a gleaming sword held in his furry hands. It was Noruff, and he once more held Shiarra. The blade struck true, and the insectoid’s head fell from its body, landing on Jarow’s prone form and bouncing off harmlessly.
Jarow’s face smiled widely at his friend’s defiance and courage. While Jarow knew the large insect was already dead, the fact remained that Noruff had built up the courage to fight. Jarow hoped this act would help his friend overcome his anxiety and enable him to carry on more functionally now.
Looking up, he saw Noruff wearing a weak smile as he gazed down at him. Noruff's eyes still expressed the fear he was dealing with, but they also conveyed to Jarow that he was overcoming the fear he was battling.
Then, without warning, Jarow witnessed a thin, scythe-like blade, blackened from char, moving across Noruff’s neck, slicing through from one side to the other. The dark figure to which the blade belonged seemed to grow and materialize behind the Quigza, rising as though it emerged from Noruff’s own shadow. The wicked yellow teeth gleamed through the black and burnt carapace, which made up its face.
A look of incomprehension formed in Noruff’s eyes as his small head fell, as if in slow motion, to land upon Jarow’s chest. A faint smile still graced his thin, dark lips before the light that once gleamed behind his eyes faded away.
Jarow watched in disbelief, unable to move or do anything other than bear witness to the death of his friend. The entire scenario played out, feeling both like hours and seemingly as short as milliseconds. One moment, Noruff was there, regaining some of the composure he had once possessed, smiling down at Jarow, happy that he had summoned the courage to help.
In the next moment, he was dead, his head now resting on Jarow’s chest. The look of confusion quickly turned to comprehension before the spark of intelligence and consciousness was extinguished completely.
Time once again seemed to resume as Jarow recognized that blood was spraying from the arteries that had once supplied the Quigza’s brain. The thick crimson liquid shot upward for several long moments, resembling a morbid fountain. Then the rest of Noruff’s body slumped forward and fell upon Jarow, knocking the head from where it had come to rest on Jarow’s chest. The sticky, hot viscous liquid now covered him and was spreading out like magma released from a volcano.
Jarow’s brain froze. He had already dealt with this monster in three different ways. The other bug-like creature had almost instantly perished when Jarow had pierced its gut, yet this one refused to die! Now, due to its resilience and Jarow’s inability to kill it, his friend was dead; killed by its hand.
Jarow’s Berserk skill was still active, causing Jarow’s mind to seemingly detach from his body, as it had before. The ability took over, causing his muscles to move on their own.
Vaguely, watching through blood-filled red eyes, Jarow leapt up. The blades that were still digging into his flesh didn’t release, but Jarow didn’t care. His muscles flared as he dragged the corpse of the other creature along with him.
With a speed and strength previously unattainable by this body, he lunged forward, pulling Xinpo from the body of the deceased creature into an arc that led the blade directly through the yellow smile of the burnt creature and through the entire elongated insectoid skull of the monster that stood there, taunting him.
The creature’s body still stood, its comprehension of what just happened not yet reaching its brain. Nor would it ever reach its brain now, since what remained of the top of its head, the part containing the brain, was flying through the air.
The deed finished, Jarow fell once again to the ground and watched as the charred monster died. A small thump was heard as the top of its head hit the ground several yards away.
Jarow could still feel everything, all the damage he had taken and was still taking. Pain wracked his body, yet Jarow knew the time he had to endure the pain would be brief, and the thought comforted and focused him.
The debuff of the ability was particularly sinister in that way. His Berserker rage had ended quickly, having destroyed the enemy so swiftly, leaving him paralyzed and prone.
He felt the heat within his veins, associated with the ability, recede, and the debuff timer formed in his vision underneath the icon of his body, which flashed crimson with damage from almost every part.
He had one more minute to live, then his wounds would allow him to die. He couldn’t move now, but his mind cleared somewhat. Although he could barely think, the image of Noruff’s body falling onto him and the hot blood blanketing him loomed within the eye of his mind.
“Absorb while you can. I’m not gonna be here long,” Jarow told Xinpo before death could totally claim him.
“I am sorry, suzerain. I know there is much more to say, but I have not the emotional presence to speak yet,” Xinpo replied. It was evident that he felt the loss of their companion as well.
The pain from the blade arms of the creature that still stuck out from his stomach and leg helped clear Jarow’s mind as the timer continued to click down the seconds.
“I don’t know if or where I’ll return since we aren’t in the hallway any longer. Do you think this might be the end for me as well?” Jarow asked his companion. He knew he should be scared, but in this instance he was relieved more than worried.
“No, suzerain, I do not. I am uncertain of what will happen next, but I feel our journey is not yet finished. I will see you again. I will also miss Noruff greatly.”
“Me too,” Jarow squeaked, his mental voice breaking just like his actual voice would have. The pain and emotion still affecting his thought process. Tears streamed down Jarow’s face, washing away the blood clinging to his cheeks. “Me too.”
The timer reached zero, and Jarow’s world went black and the pain disappeared; at least the physical pain, but mental trauma takes longer to heal.