Chapter 22
(you gotta ___ to make an omelet)
The Kenthrophallate's lower half began to lose its balance a few seconds after its top half hit the floor. Jarow felt herself tipping backward due to the added weight of her tail, which unbalanced the vertical shaft which she lay across the top of, it being the remnants of the bisected boss monster’s body.
Acting swiftly in an attempt to ride the monster down, Jarow wrapped her tail around the monstrous body. She had all but forgotten about the spikes which covered its surface, so as she brought her tail to coil around the remaining section of the shaft, she was accosted by the sharp spikes surrounding the body. Her scales were well-armored against the pricks, but unfortunately, they had a keen way of finding just where to dig in, exploiting the chinks in her scaled body.
In this agonizing and precarious position, Jarow gritted her teeth and maintained her grip as the lower half of the Kenthrophallate slowly sagged to the side. Its peculiar eggplant-purple blood had pumped out from below where she had been lying, coating her from the top of her head to the tip of her tail. The thick, slippery fluid also cascaded down the rest of the body, spurting from the severed arteries where Jarow had cut through and removed the upper half.
With a final, gut-wrenching backward falling movement, the creature's legs buckled, and the entire form crashed onto the honeycomb-patterned floor with a sickening squelch. Seconds before hitting the ground, Jarow flung herself from the body in an attempt to avoid being crushed by its weight. The momentum of her push carried her to the ground but didn’t stop her forward motion. Drenched in the creature's purple blood, she slid comically over the now fluid-covered floor, resembling a snake being flung across a sheet of ice.
Unknown to her until now, the bottom half of the Kenthrplallate had been gushing out an unknown neon-green fluid from its lower orifice where its long pole-like appendage was normally sheathed. The thin green fluid had created quite a sizable puddle on the floor in the short time since the creature had perished, so when Jarow had attempted to land on solid ground, she found herself instead sliding uncontrollably through the slippery green goo.
Jarow’s slip and slide brought her to the edge of the ever-expanding pond of the monster’s bodily fluids, where she finally managed to stabilize herself and straighten her torso. She observed the swirling colors, the purple of the blood and the green of the other fluid, streaking over each other's surface.
Like oil and water, the fluids resisted mixing; the purple blood floated atop the green thinner fluid. The pond of the non-mixing fluids rapidly expanded until meeting at where Jarow now sat. The dark purple blood slid across the top of the bright green goo melodramatically, the colors seeming to vie for dominance as they continued to spread across the honeycombed floor.
However, the pond's existence was short-lived. As Jarow touched the tip of Xinpo to the floor, then the entire pool began to churn and flow like a swift running river; into the silvery blade. The absorption skill working to clean the area at an alarming speed.
Within moments, the area, as well as Jarow herself, was free from all of the monster’s bodily fluids, and the body of the Kenthrophallate lay empty, a husk of what it once was. A long brown log, split in half. Its features and distinguishing colors now gone from being sucked clean by Xinpo’s powerful ability.
Despite this, Jarow still didn’t feel clean.
Meanwhile, deeper within the room, Jarow caught additional movements from the corner of her eye.
The red-striped Thu'kri had frozen during the battle, their original role limited to caring for the chattel and their eggs; defense of the area would only be required if the boss fell. Now, as they realized the Kenthrophallate had indeed been defeated, they understood their new role was to defend the area.
The Caretakers began running swiftly towards where Jarow held Xinpo touching the floor. She quickly noticed their lack of leg strength compared to their more warrior-like brethren and doubted their ability to execute the springing spear-like attack she had become accustomed to defending against in the dungeon battles thus far.
Drawing from her recent experience, rather than employing her usual strategy of casting Zombie Hands, she opted for Oil Slick. Placing the circular spell target in front of herself, she forced the incoming Thu’kri to cross it in order to reach her.
The spell worked just as she had hoped. The Thu’kri charged in, running hard and showing no intention of avoiding the obstacle. Upon hitting the slippery black pool of oil, they began to tumble and fall. Most slid horizontally towards her, unable to regain their footing before reaching the end of the Oil Slick.
Jarow dispatched these quickly with a downward slice of one or both of her swords. A couple of the caretakers managed to regain their balance momentarily and once again ran towards Jarow, but their futile attempts to defeat her ended quickly.
The Caretaker Thu’kri weren’t built for combat, and Jarow easily cut them down without sustaining a scratch. That left only the Chattel to deal with.
Jarow observed that they were incapable of movement beyond rolling around and sitting up, so she took her time, allowing Xinpo to absorb the remaining blood and guts in the room before approaching the yellow blobs. They whined and pooped out two more eggs before Jarow had even gotten close to them.
Jarow took a quick glance at Xinpo’s character sheet and saw that his absorption number was far beyond the necessary amount for him to level up. In fact, he should gain almost three levels from the total amount he’d absorbed from the boss and his minions.
She didn’t have the luxury of knowing her own leveling requirements but felt that, considering the number of enemies she had fought today, she should have leveled up at least once herself.
“Xinpo, why haven’t you leveled already?” she asked before continuing.
“I am unsure, Suzerain. I believe it may have something to do with us being in a dungeon,” he replied.
Jarow couldn’t think of any better excuse, so she went with it. If that were true, then once they exited, they would likely both be in for a big upgrade, but it would also mean that Xinpo would be gone for a long while, and she would be completely alone.
This time, Noruff wouldn’t be there with her. The prospect was more than a little frightening to her, and she began dreading exiting this dungeon now.
“So, if you level up once we exit, I will be alone for a while,” there was a small catch in her mental voice as she spoke, but she continued, hoping Xinpo wouldn’t catch her trepidation. “Any suggestions on how I should spend my points or what abilities I should consider while you're away?”
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Xinpo easily picked up on Jarow’s distress but was unsure what he could do or say that might help her deal with the upcoming abandonment.
“I believe you are on a good path, Suzerain. Trust your judgment; it has been correct thus far. I will also attempt to choose wisely and make my time away as short as possible.”
Jarow sent a mental thanks to her companion. She could feel he was telling the truth, but she also knew he didn’t really have much control over such things. Even if he hurried, he might still be gone for a long time.
The conversation lasted just long enough for her to cover the distance to the Chattel and take in their sad state of being. She approached and looked down at the jiggly sack of yellow fat and translucent skin that were these disgusting creatures.
Her heart somewhat went out to these beings. They had no choice or power in their lives; they were merely breeding stock. They would never know anything but repeated pain, both from being impregnated and from ejecting their offspring. It was indeed a miserable existence.
Still, fear lurked within the gelatinous orbs these creatures had for eyes, barely whiter than the yellow of their bodies. A dark pupil was the only noticeable feature of their faces.
“Your life sssucksss,” she hissed. “In your next life, I wisssh you power and freedom.” With those words, she stabbed down between the dilated pupils into what she hoped was its small brain, a pea-sized ball she could barely discern, deep inside the creature's head.
Xinpo cleaved through the flesh without resistance, and within seconds, there was nothing left but a transparent sack of skin lying on the ground.
The remaining slug chattel began to squeal, their noises resonating with fear. As Jarow moved on, she thought she detected a hint of desire in their wails as well. In their eyes, she could be seen as both a savior and a destroyer. Knowing that if she were in their position, she would welcome the release.
“I believe your sentiment is correct, Suzerain. These beings are the true victims of this place. Their death is a mercy,” Xinpo solemnly spoke to Jarow's mind.
Jarow nodded and moved to the next. She repeated the process five more times; the last yellow blob jiggled more than the others and screamed as it released its final egg. Jarow waited until it was finished, then stabbed down.
“Do you want these eggsss too?” Jarow asked Xinpo aloud.
“If you wouldn’t mind, suzerain. I do believe they will also be filled with material I can absorb,” Xinpo replied.
Jarow had no problem with it. She wanted Xinpo to be as powerful as possible. She removed the sword from the skin bag left by the chattel and touched the egg. The tip was all that needed to enter, and the absorption process began.
It took even less time for the egg to deflate. Similar to but smaller than the chattel, a translucent piece of flesh fell to the floor. It had taken less than a second. She repeated the process twice more with the other eggs still on the floor in the area.
“I guess we should go over to the pile too, right?” Jarow asked, slithering towards the pile of glued-together eggs. She wondered both how long it had taken to create a pile this large and also where all the rest of the eggs were.
“If this dungeon and these creatures have been around since the destruction of the town above, then shouldn’t there be millions of these Thu’kri running around by now?” Jarow pondered to herself.
From what she could tell from the crumbling structures, the overgrowth, and the room full of bleached bones she’d found here in this dungeon, the Quigza city above must have been destroyed hundreds of years ago.
She didn't have the answer; the numbers didn’t add up. Then she remembered where she was and what she was doing. She couldn’t really expect things to follow a natural progression where magic and dungeons were involved. In this game-like world or universe, or wherever she was, things didn’t have to add up neatly. The cosmos was just too large and crazy for her to understand.
She moved towards the pile of eggs, which towered over her at more than twice her height. Jarow, being in the tallest body she had occupied, estimated the pile to be at least twenty feet high. She gauged her own height at full erectness to be ten feet, and the towering pile dwarfed her by comparison.
The stench became increasingly noticeable as she moved closer. While the rest of the room had a peculiar odor, amidst the chaos of battle she hadn’t paid much attention to it. Now, however, she pinpointed its source. The pungent aroma intensified with each slither, making her reluctant to even taste the air with her tongue for fear of retching.
It was a strange mixture of sulfur, reminiscent of rotten eggs, a sickly sweetness, and a hint of something herbaceous. Her mind conjured images of a huge pile of rotting fruit and eggs surrounded by large, aromatic plants, perhaps in an attempt to mask the stench of fermentation.
She covered her mouth as best she could as she approached. Once within striking distance, she extended her arm holding Xinpo forward towards the closest egg. The tip of the sword touched the first egg and encountered slight resistance. Jarow understood that it was the glue-like substance holding all the eggs together. She pushed a little harder, and a light cracking sound could be heard as the glue broke open, allowing Xinpo’s tip to enter the egg.
“Just be glad you don’t have a sense of smell,” Jarow mentally told Xinpo as his absorption began.
To Jarow's amazement, a quick spark of electricity emitted from Xinpo’s tip. It tingled in her fingers, and the startling effect almost caused her to drop the weapon. What was even more astonishing was that the same spark of electricity was transmitted into the large pile of eggs, causing them to react.
The spark shot into the large pile, arcing from one egg to another in rapid succession, never stopping or even slowing down. It traveled from the tip of her sword through to the very last egg in the pile. Then, before Jarow could even contemplate what the spark had been, the eggs began deflating, a huge whirlpool forming in front of Xinpo's tip.
Within seconds, the entire arrangement of eggs was absorbed. All that remained was a frosty crystalline framework of the glue that had held them all together. The ground below was covered with the translucent skins of the eggs, while some remained caught on the spiky network of glue, unable to fall completely to the floor.
Then, with a light tinkling sound, the whitish outline of the gelled structure cracked and crumbled to the ground. Fragments, like slivers of glass, shattered as they hit the floor, shooting outward in all directions and leaving the area littered with whitish fragments of the organic glue.
“Whoa!” Jarow exclaimed, her mouth still open and her eyes wide.
“Slicing into each egg would have been difficult and time-consuming, suzerain. Since you had complained about the smell, I decided to take things into my own hands, so to speak,” Xinpo explained.
“I simply added the Damage Amplification skill to your initial strike and sent out the damage to the rest of the eggs. It worked more efficiently than I had predicted. The rest was my enhanced Absorption.”
Jarow felt relieved to see that the spark eliminated the need to stab each egg. She had resigned herself to the task, secretly dreading it. But now, thanks to the spark, she didn't have to. Jarow had actually all but forgotten that one of Xinpo’s skills was damage amplification, and she was happy to see it put to such good use.
“Have you been using that skill the whole time?” she asked.
“Indeed, Suzerain. I also amplify your spells. I just assumed you knew I was doing so,” Xinpo replied.
She hadn’t known, but was grateful Xinpo was alert enough to do so without having to be asked. “Uh… Thanks.”
With the last entities in the dungeon destroyed, an outline of a door appeared against the far wall.
“Is that for us?” Jarow asked.
“I believe so, suzerain,” Xinpo answered.
She carefully slithered closer, trying to avoid getting slivers of egg glue in her scales. Upon arriving, she inspected the glowing rectangle. At its center floated a small circle of light and a similarly drawn rectangle attached to the circle directly underneath.
“Is that what I think it is?” Jarow asked.
“It resembles a keyhole, suzerain. I believe you are to place my key form into the light.” As he spoke, Xinpo began transforming into his key form.
“Are we sure this is what’s supposed to happen? Do we trust the random light door and this keyhole?” Jarow asked, somewhat stalling for time. She was still afraid of what lay ahead, unsure of where she would go or how she would cope with being alone again.
She had to face her fears though, there was no getting around it, and she certainly didn’t want to spend her days in this dungeon. With no better idea of what to do now, she didn’t want to get lost within a circle of 'what ifs' and self-doubt. So, Jarow shrugged her shoulders, inhaled deeply, and placed the tip of Xinpo’s key form to the circle of light.
The key sank in as though there was a true keyhole, the shaft disappearing into the circle of light without protruding from the rear.
“See you on the other side,” Jarow mentally whispered to Xinpo, though the thought was also directed towards herself.
Xinpo mentally nodded.
A warm sensation filled Jarow’s body. Xinpo hadn’t said anything, but Jarow could feel his love for her, this warmth he shared, like a mental hug.
Jarow smiled. She decided she would face this next chapter with grace and aplomb. She twisted the key, and a small click echoed through the room.
Similar to the portal Xinpo had created when they exited the Liminal Divide, the rectangular outline of light began to fill with color. Blues, reds, and greens swirled like a whirlpool of brightly colored paint, tinged with a light mist overtop. As the lighted doorway filled in and now swirled with color, the wall behind could no longer be seen.
A small tug came from Xinpo’s handle, which Jarow still grasped tightly. The shaft was halfway through the portal, the keyhole now disappeared within the swirling colors. There was a tug coming from the front half of the key, the remaining part in Jarow’s hand wanting to follow its first half. Jarow decided she had trusted her companion and his portals thus far, so she bravely followed the key’s prompting and stepped into the glowing doorway.