Sound slowly returned to him as his ears healed.

The cries of the injured and the dying filled the air, and the Climbers who hadn’t followed the fleeing cannibals now roamed the massive room, putting an end to any cannibal that still drew breath.

Nar watched them with a weariness that threatened to bring him under.

His arms had long ago gone numb, and despite still having stamina, he found that he couldn’t move, not even to better adjust Viy on his arms. At the very least, he would make sure her head stayed off the inch thick layer of filth that covered the floor.

Quest, The Defense of B0271-10456673, has been completed!

Well done, you have saved the cubeplant and all those who live within.

Rewards:

1. You have been granted a 12-hour rest period within the cubeplant. You are allowed access to the facilities, but not the dispensers.

Warning: If you remain in the cubeplant after this time period you will be punished.

Warning: The cubeplant is a no-combat zone. Any combat will be punished.

Warning: Any ill intent towards the workers will be punished.

2. Gains are being calculated. They will be awarded during the rest period.

3. The path of the Climb will be revealed again.

4. Minor Bead of Hunger.

Nar read that last line twice.

A minor what?

A whispering sounded around him.

Nar searched for its source and his eyes widened as the blood around him started to bubble and foam. The whispering grew to a rushing, and streams of blood, dark and dirty, pooled together.

What in the…

He yelped in surprise. A sphere of bubbling blood formed at his eye level.

It was supported by a spiraling pedestal of blood, and continued to coalesce before his stunned face.

Two spheres were being shaped. Any debris or gunk melted away with angry hisses, the heat of the spheres warming up his face.

The pedestal itself grew thinner and thinner, until a few seconds later, it was gone. Behind, it left two smooth looking spheres.

Nar was startled again when they dropped atop Viy’s stomach.

What in the pile is this, now?

Slightly unsure, Nar reached a hand towards one of them, and flicked it with a fingernail.

The little ball moved up Viy’s belly, then settled back down with a dull clink against the other one.

Frowning, he picked one of them up, and lifted it to his face.

The sphere was roughly the size of an eyeball. It was smooth, and as he felt it with his fingers, its colors shifted in different metallic, dark iridescent hues. Red, blue, green, gray. The predominant color, however, was a vibrant, deep assortment of various purples.

You have gained a Minor Bead of Hunger.

Congratulations!

You have encountered your first Armament Upgrade Component (AUC).

As the name implies, you can use this AUC to increase the stats of your weapons.

Upgrading your weapons allows them to evolve and grow, just like you do. It is a great way to compliment your path.

To use it, simply touch the AUC to the weapon you wish to upgrade.

Warning: AUCs are single use only, and using one will consume it. Should you wish to change weapons later, you will not be able to retrieve and re-use this AUC.

Warning: This AUC is not bound. Anyone can use it on any weapon.

Warning: You cannot store this AUC in your inventory.

The words shifted in and out of focus, as he struggled to force his brain to read through the window.

For some reason, his eyes kept returning to the second warning in the list.

He didn’t know why, but there was something about it that nagged at him. He had the vague impression of having felt something similar earlier in the day, but he couldn’t recall it through the haze that dominated his mind.

Well, whatever. I’ll just hold on to them. Kur will figure it out.

He didn’t have enough will to give it any harder or deeper thinking. All he knew was that one of them belonged to him, and the other to Viy. And for now, he didn’t really care about it.

He looked down at the floor, and the darkness soaking his pants.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

His face twisted in disgust.

It was either sitting on the red floor, or on top of a pile of dead cannibals. He didn’t have the energy in him to drag Viy back to the Doors, and he couldn’t care less about a bunch of dead cannibals…

Still, he had never thought the day would come, where he would find himself scanning through different piles of corpses, in search for the least disgusting one to sit on.

However, his arms were tired. He was tired. And the blood was starting to seep through his pants. He didn’t want to sit in it anymore.

That one. It looks alright, he decided at last.

Groaning, he stood up, and walked towards his chosen pile.

Not too bad… This will do.

He lowered Viy gently onto the bodies.

There. At least your out of that shit, he thought grimly.

He looked around him, fighting a wave of diziness.

It wasn’t hard to spot the abomination, and his sword, which was still lodged through the thing’s jaw.

His feet splotched as he approached it, and he tried not to think about the state of his clothes. After all, he had been sitting on that stuff for a good, solid few minutes while he pieced together his sense of self.

His fingers closed around the slippery hilt of the sword, and he pulled it free.

“Ugh…” he said, twisting his face at the feeling of the grip and the bits that came with the sword.

Without hesitation, he stored the blade away. Maybe it would come back out clean and spotless. Somehow, he doubted it, but it was a problem for another day.

He groaned and dropped onto the bodies next to Viy.

Macabre, it made him question his sanity, but it was dry.

His legs were still shaky, and he didn’t want to sit in that disgusting layer of sentient bits and juices while he waited for the others. The bodies… Were just fine.

Memories flashed through his mind. Of cuts and slashes. Of spraying blood and broken bones. Of snarling and slurping.

A swirling madness of thoughts, memories and impressions spun unceasing, to the rhythm of his pounding head. He was powerless to stop it.

How many did I kill? More than twenty. Thirty? No… More. It has to be more. A lot more…

He lowered his head to his hands, and allowed the memories to ravage through him.

A while later, he heard voices approaching and lifted his head.

Climbers were starting to filter back to the Doors.

Carried and injured. Hale and carrying. Or just alone, they passed him by.

They stared at him on his pile of bodies and looked away with horrified expressions.

Nar didn’t mind them. He was too tired to give a shit. Let any of them do what he had just done. He doubted any of them could.

However, some of them took in his exhausted state, and Viy sleeping at his side, and their eyes lingered instead on the two AUCs gleaming atop her stomach. Those Climbers he did mind.

After another group of passing Climbers went by, slowing down to look at him and their quest rewards, Nar hid the AUCs under his shirt.

It had taken his battered mind a while to understand what had bothered him about that second warning, but now, he had remembered.

Earlier on, when they had met that party heading in the wrong direction, their party leader’s words had bothered him. No, it had been the undertone of them. The promise of violence that they carried.

They wouldn’t take them from me, though, would they? I mean, we’re all Climbers here…

Yes. Climbers.

Desperate and willing to face anything to reach the surface and a new life.

What made him think they wouldn’t steal from him, if it meant increasing their odds of survival? What made him think they wouldn’t hurt them, or worse, if it meant they got to live?

Nar felt a shiver run down his spine. Another group of Climbers were staring at him, walking slowly in a hushed conversation.

Nar’s heartbeat sped. Had they noticed him hiding the AUCs?

“Nar!”

Relief flooded him, and he turned back, gathering enough energy to wave at Gad and the others.

“Here!” he said, loudly.

The group of Climbers glared at him, and reluctantly, they moved on.

Nar dropped his shoulders.

That was not nice.

Was he going to have to be wary of Climbers as well from now on? Were guardians and cannibals not enough?

It was also their first time encountering any other Climbers, and they had just fought against thousands of cannibals together! How could they even consider hurting their own people?

And so soon, he thought, considering the corpses around him. Did it not bother them?

Nar stared across the massive battlefield. There had to be thousands and thousands of dead people in there.

He frowned. Does it not bother me?

He was sitting on a pile of dead people after all.

He heard the heavy breathing that announced the party’s arrival, and two seconds later they were around him, doubled over to regain their breath.

“You guys okay?” Gad asked in between gasps.

“Why are you sitting on a…”

Tuk turned his back to them and got down on his knees. He retched loudly and added his own personal touch to the aggregation of fluids and people bits. Maybe sitting on the bodies had been a tad too much after all.

Surprising himself, Nar chuckled once, without a shred of humor.

“First time?” he asked the pale trugger.

“What?” Gad asked.

Nar looked away, cursing his battered mind.

“Nothing.”

He felt her stare on him.

“Can you walk?” Mul asked.

Nar looked at the lengos, but before he could answer, he noticed a very obvious bulge under his shirt.

“Things have gone nasty,” he said, noticing Nar’s stare. “Some people figured the AUCs were up for grabs.”

“It’s disgusting,” Gad said. “We were all fighting for our lives just minutes ago! Together!”

Mul shrugged. “Eh… That’s people for you. They always find ways to disappoint you.”

Nar couldn’t agree more. However, he had already let loose something he regretted. He didn’t want Gad to get suspicious about him.

That was stupid… But then again, I think I've earned a pass for that one.

His eyelids were starting to feel heavy, and his head lolled forward.

“Hey! Woah, stay awake!” Mul shouted.

“We should go,” Tuk said, in a feeble voice.

He stood up, wiping his mouth and looked around them. He gagged again.

“We’re waiting for you!” Mul said. “Keep it together, man!”

“Come on, I’ll take her,” Gad said.

She put away her weapons and lifted the spearwoman.

“Give me your AUCs. I’ll carry them,” Mul said, stretching a hand towards Nar.

Nar happily handed them over, and Mul quickly pushed them under his clothes, staring around them through semi-closed eyes.

“Can you stand?” he asked Nar, still scanning their surroundings.

“I think so.”

“How much stamina do you have left?”

“17.”

“Crystal…” Tuk whispered. “Come on, I’ll help you.”

Tuk approached him and Nar gratefully reached out to him, and allowed himself to be lifted. To his credit, this time the trugger managed to lift Nar without so much as a groan. Maybe Tuk had made some [Strength] gains at some point.

“All good?” Gad asked.

“Yeah. Let’s get out of here,” Tuk muttered.

They made slow progress towards the Doors, their feet squelching with every step.

The air was warm and it stank. Poor Tuk kept gagging every few steps, though he managed to keep it in.

Nar noticed that some people were walking in the opposite direction. He frowned and followed them with his eyes. Here and there, people were lifting up the dead and carrying them back to the Doors.

Realization hit him.

“This was a blessing in disguise for them,” Mul said. “From starving to stuffing themselves.”

“They’ll need it,” Gad said. “They’ve lost people and they will need to work extra hard to meet the quota when the Doors close. The extra food will help.”

Tuk covered his mouth and swallowed hard.

“They wouldn’t open again, right?” he asked, looking up at the massive slabs of metal. “I mean, they were already punished for it.”

Mul grumbled something under his breath, and none of the others answered Tuk’s questions. Nar had a feeling that the trugger regretted even asking it.

Nar watched the workers carry their gruesome loads back into the plant. He wondered idly if the recyclers would accept the bodies of the cannibals, being as they didn’t belong to the cubeplant. But then again, bodies were bodies. How would the recyclers tell between them. They would probably just think they were deceased workers and offer their usual bereavement offerings…

At least, I hope they do… Nar thought. There had been enough suffering already. Let at least something good come out of that mess.

“Over here!” Kur shouted.

They plodded towards Kur. Jul stood next to him and waved at Nar, while Cen hid behind Kur’s legs.

“Thank the Crystal you’re all safe!” Kur breathed. “How is she?”

“Out of stamina,” Gad said.

“We found them sitting on a pile of bodies,” Mul said, grinning at Nar. “He probably killed them all.”

“I… Oof!”

Kur hugged him. Hard.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “For protecting her!”

Nar nodded against his shoulder and slapped his back awkwardly.

“It’s… Fine. Don’t worry about it.”

Gad squeezed his shoulder and smiled at him.

“That was crazy,” Tuk muttered, looking queasy. “When you went in like that… I thought, well…”

Nar nodded.

He himself could scarcely believe that he was still alive after all that. It had been suicide to follow Viy into that mass of cannibals, and yet, somehow, here he was. Safe and somewhat sound.

Might even get some good gains out of that, he thought, numb to the bleakness of such a thought.

Kur let go, leaving his ribs sore. “Thank you! Thank you! I know what I asked you to do… I… Really, thank you...”

Nar nodded again. He didn’t really know what to say.

“We should go in,” Tuk said, eyeing the large numbers of Climbers still making their way back.

Kur followed his gaze and his expression hardened. “I knew it was going to be a problem. As soon as I read that damned warning, I knew this was going to happen. I just didn’t expect it to be this bad.”

“Oh, it was bad,” Gad said, her tone flat. “You should’ve seen it. We were in a smaller corridor, and a bunch of them started swinging right away. We had to make a run for it.”

“I can’t believe them,” Tuk said, his expression twisted in disgust. “These are people we’re talking about.”

A party of Climbers walked past them, then. They had their weapons drawn and they eyed everyone warily. There were fresh patches of wetness on some of their weapons and gray tutorial gear.

“This is not how I expected our first meeting with other Climbers to go like,” Kur said, following them with his eyes. “Come on, we’ll be safe inside... And I’m tired of all this shit.”