Makiel glared at me with eyes sharp as knives. “Why would you eat my iguana steak, Steven? A woman can’t sleep off some poison without someone stealing her delicious meal, is that it?”
Sweat rolled off my forehead, giving the impression of nervousness.
In reality, Makiel’s iguana steak was piping hot and it was giving me the meat sweats, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. Besides, she seemed to be enjoying the idea that I was nervous because of her. It made her feel more like a friend, rather than the two-day acquaintance that she was. To be honest, these two days felt like an eternity, and these two people really were starting to grow on me.
“Why are you assuming it was just me? What about Lia? I mean, she’s still eating the half I gave her. Can’t you shoot some cutting looks her way?”
The baby was completely lost in her food, grabbing a tiny handful of cooled off, mushed up chunks of meat and mushrooms from her cleaned off rock plate.
“She’s a baby, Steven. She doesn’t count. The fact you would use a child as a conversational shield is a little pathetic, but all can be forgiven. All you have to do is get me some water, so I can at least have a drink before I make another steak.”
My eyes squinted as realization hit me. Makiel’s sharp angry look was giving way to a smile, as her plan was unfolding before me. You sly, giant lady, I thought to myself.
One of the most annoying things we had to do to survive out here was gather the tiny droplets of water that dripped from the cave ceiling. This wouldn’t be too hard if we had a bowl to catch it in or a way to purify the water on the ground, but we didn’t. What we did have were several rags that we used to soak up water and squeeze it out to get a few mouthfuls.
The process was tedious and took at least ten minutes to get the amount needed to stave off the ‘Thirsty’ debuff. Not to mention, we had left the cave because of the Mushy Men and set up camp a few yards to the north of the entrance–at least I think it was north, the stars aren’t exactly in the places I remember them being when I was in the boy scouts.
I sighed, wanting to argue, but doing so would make it more difficult to ask if she and Lia would come with me to look for my brothers. I’d tried to ask about that when she woke up from her poison nap, but she just cut me off and changed the subject. Something was going on there, but if she didn’t want to talk about it yet, then I'd wait till she did.
“Fine, give me the rags. I still don’t understand how you don’t have some magical way to get supplies from your MAS unit. Don’t you have access to the military general store or something?”
She jovially grabbed the set of three rags and handed them to me. “Thank you! And yeah, I wish I did too. But Atom says my special MAS units can’t access the military’s supply bastion. From the details I could get out of him, it seems my unit is like a jailbroken iPhone, so connecting to the military’s servers to request supplies would be like turning myself into the police. Besides, we aren’t even sure their servers are running. Better to adapt to our surroundings than to wait for military help and die.”
I nodded, taking the rags from her. She was right, we really knew nothing of what was going on out there.
I mentally accessed the social tab on my practice unit, and an error popped up. “Unable to connect to the Galactic Web.” Figures, I thought to myself, closing out the tab and wondering how the rest of mankind was faring. Hopefully better than us, but I doubted it.
As much as our situation sucked, it may be one of the better results of this messed up war. The neighborhood Kyle and I explored when this all started was a prime example of that. The place was devoid of human life, and although possible they had been evacuated, it wasn’t likely. Most of those people were probably eaten by Mangle, or worse.
I shook my head, putting those thoughts into the same box in the back of mind as everything else too depressing to think about.
Makiel was looking at me a little worried, probably having some idea of what I was thinking. I could tell she wanted to say something about it, but I wasn’t in the mood to discuss, so I offered a smile, stood up and made my way to the cave.
Even though it was the dead of night, the sounds of the jungle were still as loud as ever. The flapping of mosquito wings, the occasional roar of the lizards, and this odd, clicking noise permeated the surrounding area like a choir. I much preferred the quiet of the cave. If we were going to be staying here for a long time, I would have suggested clearing it out and making it a proper home. But I had places to go and brothers to catch up to.
When I entered, the noise from the outside suddenly stopped, like someone turned off the music at a party. It was different from the slow quiet that came when I’d walked in on previous occasions.
The unanticipated change was so jarring that I whistled and snapped my fingers a few times to make sure my hearing was working. As I did so, I noticed that not only were my snaps and whistles audible, but they were echoing more so than they had been before, as if the cave itself had become larger in the few hours we’d been gone. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but, other than the noise, nothing else seemed to be different, so I made my way to the dripping roof to collect some rag water.
Just as I approached the water source, my practice unit started to freak out, showing me several tabs that read, “Warning, practice MAS users are advised to avoid dungeons,” and “Report to the nearest captain for debriefing on dangers of dungeons.” When I closed all the tabs, I saw, at the top of my HUD: ‘Cave of Mushy Wonders (Lvl 1).’
I remembered learning a little about dungeons in school, but only the basics, like how they appear when official system combat is declared, and how they disappear when conquered. For some reason, the World Government never released in-depth information on dungeons and system combat, so most people had as little understanding of it as I did. They were planning on briefing the whole world about it when everyone had a chance to understand and use the practice units, but this attack by the Mangle threw that idea into the toilet.
I looked again at the top of my HUD. This must be system combat–why else would it be titled so game-like? Heck, why would it be titled at all? As I pondered those questions, another entered my mind: If it is system combat, why start now? We’ve been in the cave for a bit, and nothing like this had popped up before. It's moments like this where I wish I had Kyle around, or at least someone who knew what the hell was going on.
I took a deep breath and realized that figuring out this dungeon issue was probably more important than getting water. I put the rags in the pocket of my ragged jeans and made my way out of the cave.
When I reached the entrance, I was met with bright white lights that surrounded the area, illuminating the dense jungle like noon day.
I looked over to where Makiel and Lia were and saw that they were backing up against the rockface we had built our camp next to. Turning my head, I understood why. They were being approached by four imposing figures. Upon closer inspection of the creatures, I noticed the tell-tale black bands around their necks. Probably Formed Mangle. I glanced up to where the lights were coming from and saw a black triangle ship, the size of a motorcycle, dripping goo and hovering a few inches above the trees.
I dropped to my stomach and did my best to stay hidden. Without a plan, I was only going to make things more difficult. I racked my brain, trying to figure out what to do. As I did, I caught some of what the Mangle were saying.
“Look at this, we've come upon some rare appetizers. The scanners say they both have legendary passives. One of them even has a legendary artifact passive. A great feast indeed. And to think we stumbled upon this place outa sheer, dumb luck.”
The Mangles that were approaching my companions were a mixture of different beasts. The one who appeared to be in charge was a cross between a human and a scorpion, with a stinger protruding out of his rear and his face housing several sets of small black eyes. The two on the wings of the leader were both half-person and half-wolf, with fur almost covering the black band on their necks. The last one, who stood cautiously away from the group, was a giant, bipedal lizard, similar to the iguanas in the jungle, with a black and red coloration.
“Hurry up, Rubar! Kill them so we can get out of here. I hate night times in system combat–the AI always goes with a horror aesthetic, and it gives me the shivers,” the lizard hissed to the scorpion.
“You’re no fun, Ver. Scaring the piss out of low-level nobodies is the best feeling. Even if they have legendary passives, that doesn’t mean a level three is going to do anything but die against us, so relax.” The scorpion man let out an odd clicking chuckle.
From my vantage point, I noticed Makiel silently summoning Atom with one hand, while holding Lia in another. I knew I had to make a move soon, to give Makiel the best start to the fight as possible, so I continued to scan my surroundings. Something in the trees caught my eye and I started to army crawl towards it.
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Every few inches I would stop and look back at the camp, to make sure the Mangle were still talking to each other. The scorpion in charge seemed to be the only one in their group not wanting to attack right away, instead arguing with his underlings that savoring a meal is more important than simply having one. The others fought back, and the situation among them got heated, with the lizard even going chest-to-chest with the scorpion.
"You know what, Rubar, I don't have to listen to you. We are both the same rank. I'll kill who I please, as quickly as I please," the lizard retorted, finally done talking. He walked towards Lia and Makiel, pushing aside the scorpion and the two wolves.
Behind Makiel was Atom, freshly summoned and ready to strike. At this point, I had made it to the trees and started to climb, getting within grabbing-distance of my goal.
The lizard, who stood as tall as Makiel, attacked with his long claws, aiming to slash them both in half.
Like lightning, Atom flew in from behind, knocking him back.
At the same time, Makiel and I met each other's eyes and she yelled, “Now!” I wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but, with Atom around, she had an understanding of the future I couldn’t really argue with. I took her word as confirmation that my plan was going to work.
I grabbed what I had seen from the entrance of the cave: an alien coconut. I threw it with all my strength at the scorpion. The impact was like a gunshot, and I saw the number ‘10’ float up over his head, with the ‘Stunned’ debuff appearing above as well. That extra two strength was doing work for me, I could never throw that hard before.
Unlike other monsters I had faced up to this point, I wasn’t able to access any information on these Formed Ones. My HUD was giving me the same lame excuse of being a practice unit, along with several warnings about ‘PVP’. I needed an actual MAS, or a way to get to my Firmament, as soon as possible.
I reached over to grab another coconut when I heard Makiel scream again. “Not the coconut, you rock head! The ship!”
My eyes went from the coconut I was reaching for to the ship that was hovering just inches above my head. I’ve said this before, but I just want to touch on it again–I’m not the sharpest knife in the kitchen. I facepalmed at the obvious lapse in judgment and grabbed the sticky, gooey wing.
“He’s stealing our Urlong!” one of the wolves yelled, grabbing the other and running in my direction.
Their speed made me doubt my chances of stealing the thing before they could get to me. But, just as they reached the tree, I was able to slide my way into the cockpit. The black slime that coated the ship was way more sticky than slippery, which made access to the craft easy. The only downside was that my clothes I had previously wanted to throw out, were now things I needed to burn.
My joy at beating the wolves to the driver's seat was quickly washed away as I looked down at the alien controls. There were buttons, levers, and flashing lights I couldn’t even begin to translate.
A thud shook me out of my mental stupor. I looked over at the left wing and saw one of the wolves walking towards me.
Screw it, I thought to myself as I smashed down on every button and lever I could get my fingers on.
The ship began twisting and turning in mid air, flinging the wolfman off the wing and into the jungle. The cockpit of the ship had a sort of gravity spell that kept me from falling out amidst all the movement. This was great, because I couldn’t stop the aircraft from spinning, and if I wasn’t being held down by the spell, I’d likely be shot off to God-knows-where, just like the wolf.
I managed six more spins before I hit the right button to stop it. It took a second for the dizziness to wear off, but when it did, I made sure to memorize the buttons that twisted the ship and the one that stopped the twisting.
Another thud vibrated the vessel as the second wolfman plopped onto the wing. My hand instinctively reached for the button that spun the ship, hoping to send him into the stratosphere, but before I could, he got down on all fours and used his claws to dig into and anchor himself to the aircraft. I winced, thinking about how sharp they had to be in order to do that so easily. I was dead if he got to me.
Sweat rolled down my face as the figure of the Ash Collector entered my mind. This situation wasn’t nearly as hopeless, but the feeling was similar, like if I made one wrong move, everything would be over. The weight of the moment held me, as if I was in the Collectors grasp once again, preventing me from doing anything.
At the height of that stress, I heard a loud cry from Lia that ripped me away from my sulking. I looked over. They were being cornered by the lizard and scorpion. They would be dead if I couldn’t manage something with this flying glop.
A strong feeling rose up from my gut, causing my mind to clear and my body to move. I didn’t know what that feeling was, but it demanded more from me, more than what I was right now, more than what I had been in the past. It demanded that I change.
But who do I change into? I knew my brothers’ weaknesses too well to rely on a visage of them as my goal, and there was no one I knew beyond them worth mimicking. I wanted to be brave and bigger than life, but there was no one that fit that profile.
Then, I remembered the stories Ma’he would tell me about his adopted mom. Sarah died before I was born, so I didn’t get the chance to know her. But if I can emulate just a small part of her legend, that would be enough.
I looked at the wolfman who was slowly crawling his way over, and realized I had no time to waste. With new strength pushing my anxious body, I started frantically smashing buttons, forcing the craft to go up and down, back and forth until I had an idea of which buttons did what.
While this was happening, the wolf held tight and eventually reached me. I felt his hot breath wafting over my body.
“You stupid human!” the wolf yelled, raising his claws to strike.
I quickly pushed and pulled the right sequence of buttons and levers to turn the ship towards the lizard attacking Makiel and Lia, causing the wolf to just barely miss. Wind rushed past my head, and a bit of my hair was cut off as the claws flew across.
Before another strike came, I pressed the button that propelled the ship forward, and used it like a battering ram against the lizard.
A giant ‘70’ floated above its head as it was thrown away from my companions, smashing against the rock face it used to corner them.
At the same time, Makiel sent Atom, who hammered into the wolf, forcing it off the plane.
“Get on!” I called, holding my hand out.
Without hesitation, Makiel grabbed it, and I pulled her and Lia onto the ship.
There was a moment of calm that felt otherworldly, like everything went perfectly according to plan. I knew that a part of that feeling was coming from the change I experienced, but there was more.
I looked at Atom, who floated behind Makiel, and wondered how much of this moment it saw. To know the future was an odd power and made my mind race, thinking of its possibilities. Did Atom know I would gather strength from an unknown feeling? Did it know I would throw a coconut before getting on the ship? Did it know the Mangle were coming?
Before I could really think deeply about the totem, my eyes caught a faint flash of brown that left a small cut on Lia’s hand. I could hear the clicking laugh of the scorpion as I slammed the button that shot us upward, away from the enemies.
When we reached high enough, I turned from the controls to my friends. I watched as Makiel held Lia close.
“She's been hit, Steven.”
I examined the little girl.
Lia Hawk
Race: Human Age: 2 Level: 1 Exp: 0/50
Active Effects
Death Mark: You are marked for death and will take 1 damage every second till cured. (Effect was garnered from PVP combat. List of cures is unavailable until out of combat for 1 hour.)
HP: 80 / 80
DNA Combination: Zati (+15 Dexterity, +5 Potential)
MP: Undefined
Totem Name: Melina Hawk
Intelligence - 3 Potential - Undefined Strength - 0 Dexterity - 19
Skills
Osin Imole
Inventory
N/A
I witnessed her health slowly deteriorate from 80 to 75 to 70.
I placed my hand on the little kid's head and wished we had saved some mushrooms instead of eating them. I doubted it would cure this debuff, but it would have been better to try than to stand here, helpless.
I sat down on the weirdly comfy seats of the spaceship, put my hands over my eyes, and let out a small sigh.
I was about to say something when, Boom! A great sound shook the craft and reverberated across the jungle landscape.
I looked up and the night sky was ablaze with shooting stars. There were thousands darting along an imaginary stream, like a rushing river of silver. Every so often, a beam would shoot down one of the stars, disrupting the flow, but in general, more continued on to their destinations than had been destroyed.
I was so mesmerized with the sight, I failed to realize that right next to us, hovering silently, was a ship. I stood up from my seat in surprise when I noticed it.
A familiar insignia was plastered on its sides: a silhouette of a wolf sleeping on the top of a giant oak tree.