Handler. That's what the orc we defeated prior appeared as on my Identify, and I'm pretty sure that means she had intelligence as her highest stat, what with her impeccable control over her metal shards, and the speed at which she healed. I already confirmed prior that Intelligence works far better for precision work like healing.

I spent an inordinate amount of time, talking about it with Flaze, my words written in blood. It'd be funny once someone comes back to this floor and see the large writings of red everywhere, the liquid then dried, but still clearly of the fluid that drives life.

She corroborated my accounts, explaining how both her normal form and her knight form were designated as Tank. Her squire form came out as Hybrid, because its stats were equalized.

Rouge for agility, Warrior for strength, Mage for magic. Everything else is well accounted for except for handler. By process of elimination, it's easy to determine what it's supposed to stand for.

So, I dedicated my latest stat points to intelligence, giving me a better sense for magic and seemingly calming the world, if only for a little bit.

We walked around the room for a little bit more, looking out the large wall-spanning windows. The world had indeed gone to shit. Like ruins, tall sky rises falling apart, vegetation running across some, others burned and scorched, covered in sticky goo.

I'm pretty sure the building across from us didn't have the massive gaping hole before.

I saw someone within, humanoid, looking out into the world from the hole in the wall, just like I was.

I watched with elation when they jumped, thinking they had some sort of flight Skill. I waited for them to suddenly float, but the moment never came, and they only became a bloody splatter on the road.

Right. I didn't get the best look, really. I'm just gonna tell myself that it was a humanoid type monster.

Flaze was currently checking drawers, looking for anything interesting. She had a new backpack for her normal form, the transformation or lack thereof serving as our impromptu storage. My phone was with her now as well.

She seems busy. What I just saw surely won't interest her.

I walked away from the window, and then I saw from the corner of my eye, movement within the ceiling.

There was a man-sized bat right above us, camouflaged. I only noticed its presence right before it dropped down, the skin of its back hairless, amphibian in texture, with the ability to change colors.

I immediately formed a fireball, noting that Flaze and her clone were both in knight form.

I pushed the ball of fire up, aware that it's not as strong as it could be. I saw its sharp serrated teeth, a feeling of death emanating from those jaws. I hopped away from its path, just as the creature was set ablaze, its flesh I saw to be a dark shade of purple.

Flaze immediately got on top of the creature, but I noticed again from the corner of my eyes another threat, hovering just outside the window.

It was a cat with wings instead of arms, fluffy orange fur covering its body, its wings a colorful mix of bright hues.

It looked very nice to cuddle.

It sent a wide beam of ice right after, the glass windows standing in its way shattered.

Cats.

I jumped away from the blast, still keeping a good portion of my focus on Flaze's battle with the bat. It was on its last ropes, about to die, so I shot it with a quick fireball to end the process.

Flaze was just about to behead the creature, and she looked a bit peeved about my interruption. I tilted my head at the remaining enemy and she muttered, "Fine."

[Mage - Lvl 36]

The cat hovered just outside, beyond our reach, a bombardment of ice and water from afar. The ground had become covered in frost, difficult to navigate. But I pressed through, dodging the attacks with the real Flaze on my back while I retaliated with my own projectiles of flame, but the monster too was able to evade. That's our thing! Stop copying us!

Flaze suggested just retreating, but the cat looked smug, one of those breeds with a permanent scowl. We weren't really in any actual danger.

So, no. I neighed, rearing up. We fight!

It was a slugfest from a distance. Flaze tried using taunt, but the animal only concentrated its attacks on her, having no problems dodging the projectiles coming its way.

She abandoned her knight form then, sending her existing clone to a suicide attack against the cat. The copy jumped off the building and threw her weapons against the creature, the sword missing, but the shield nicked it ever so slightly, disorienting the monster.

And then there were two squires. Her shockwaves and my fireballs, we overwhelmed the whimpering animal with our spells, some hitting home until the wings were taken out.

The monster fell, and I walked through the icy floor to peer down and see what had happened to it. The winged cat had plummeted into concrete, splattered, its blood red.

Deja vu. This feels really familiar. Like I just saw it happen earlier...

"Wow," Flaze commented, "I knew you're not much of a pet person, but not not to this extent."

I'm literally a horse. I neighed, walking forward. Horses hate cats. I think.

Stolen story; please report.

~~~

We were at the eighth floor, just a single stair away from the ninth, our goal so close. The sun had long gone down however, so we were thinking this'd be where we called it a day.

Flaze Clone opened the door to another apartment, the last one before we had this floor cleared.

The sight that greeted us, made us blink.

What?

White sticky fabric everywhere... Webs.

I heard skittering from within. The clamor of the living.

I grinned. A ball of hellfire willed itself into existence above my head

[Hellish---!

"Wait! Wait! WAIT! Fucking wait, Jackal!" Flaze began shouting, stepping in front of me. Her hands waved around rapidly.

I looked at her. My fireball grew just a little bit smaller. My horse head tilted, I gave her an incredulous stare.

What? I neighed.

"Fire!" She stated the obvious, "You'd set the entire room on fire."

I know. I nodded, with satisfaction. That's the point.

"It'd spread! To the rest of the building!

Ah.

I pointed up, with my snout. To the sprinklers on the ceiling.

She rubbed her brows, and the bridge of her nose.

"You think... that sprinklers are enough to cancel such a big fire?"

Maybe? I neighed, unsure.

"No! No it's not enough! I don't even know if it still works! Argh! Idiot! There are people downstairs!" She pointed down and stomped her foot to accentuate her point.

Flaze throwing a tantrum...

I started laughing. I fell to the floor and clutched my stomach as I could not stop myself from vomiting out my howling giggles.

"I'm being... serious... PFFT!" Flaze tried to protest at first, but then she also broke into laughter, unable to hold it in.

I laughed even harder at that, which caused her to laugh even harder, until we were both crying, repeatedly slamming our hooves into the ground for some reason.

We spent a few minutes like that, finding humor in the end of the world. Everyone fucking dying or turning to monsters is indeed an inherently comedic concept.

Eventually we stopped, the both of us wheezing.

"Seriously though," Flaze suppressed her giggles for but a second. "Don't fucking... don't fucking do it. Set those webs on fire."

Set those webs on fire? I tilted my head innocently, summoning a new fireball as the last one had fallen apart with my lacking focus.

"Don't."

Yeah, yeah. I know. I neighed, and then saw something peek out from with the den of spider creatures.

I squinted my eyes, trying to figure out what it was. And then my pupils widened when I saw a thick white string of web shoot out. It sailed towards Flaze I reacted before I could even think. I ran towards Flaze, and knocked her aside. She rolled on the ground, before looking up and seeing myself bound.

I tried to smile, seem reassuring. But I'm sure if I could see my own expression, it'd be that of fear and unease.

All that emotion painted over the face of a horse.

Hilarious.

I did manage to smile in the end.

The world shifted, my vision churned. The messy hallways of a former condominium turned into an endless cocoon of white, the red of my fire gone, dissipated into the wind.

I was in the lair of these spider-like creatures now, webs sticking out of every orifice I could think of. Incredibly gross.

I tried to break free, my first instinct to struggle, but that only wrapped me up tighter, tied up in an even worse position.

Bad time for a BDSM joke, but it still crossed my mind.

I did not quite calm down, but I managed to keep myself still. I looked at what exactly I was up against, and then I caught sight, of what exactly were my foes.

They were indeed some manner of spider, but they were long. Man-sized bodies colored white, like their webs, but with streaks and veins of black. I was too awed to count, but I'm certain their legs numbered more than eight.

[Rogue - Lvl 37]

"Jackal!" I heard Flaze call to me, the webbing shook as I heard the dull clang of metal. She was banging into it, but her weapons only get tangled up, the webs far too springy, and sticky.

"Jackal! Answer me! I know you're in there! I'm getting you out!" Her voice cracked, I could tell she was about to cry.

Fuck. Am I gonna die here? Without ever accomplishing a single of my aspirations, truly nothing but a dream.

Would I now have to go and tell Flaze the exact same thing she told me, something I vehemently rejected?

To abandon me, so that she may live.

"Jackal! Are you still there! Please answer me! I know you're still alive! Tell me you're still alive!"

I do have to tell her.

It's okay flaze. Just go. Leave me! I'll be fine! I neighed and neighed and neighed.

"Alright! Don't worry! I'm coming!" She grunted, misunderstanding my many neighs, before I heard a crash, followed by a constant struggling. She'd gone and gotten herself stuck, just like I had. Fuck!

I heard Flaze click her tongue, and then another clang of metal. I breathed a sigh of relief, when I realized that it was only her clone that had come here, I caught a glimpse of her ethereal body. But at this rate she might also get stuck in the webs, and then we'd both die for certain.

Even in this situation, as tears streamed from eyes upon the realization that I'm going to die, I still managed a slight grin, one laced with evil and hope.

Sorry, Flaze. But I guess I'll just have to reject your advice in the end.

Let's hope the building's sprinklers fucking work.

[HELLISH FIREBALL]!

~~~

I did wonder to what extent I was protected against my own hellfire. When I blew up that truck, I sure as all hell was not immune to its explosion, nor the heat that followed.

Today I found out the answer to my question, a strange sensation.

At first, I was perfectly fine. The flames set alight the webs that bound me, and I only found it warm.

And then it spread, towards the rest of the webs and creatures, engulfing them within its cruel jaws.

I watched as the blood red fire turned more and more orange, a brightness that seared into my eyes. I noted for a brief moment that it got uncomfortable, just before I burned.

"AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!" I screamed in a neigh. The webs were gone, but I was completely dazed, confused, scared. I did not know what the fuck I was doing, nor where I was going. I merely ran around blindly, spamming heals unto myself for single moments of relief. And even that would not last long, a few seconds more at best, my mana already running dangerously low.

A sudden grip made me yelp, the following voice mildly reassuring.

"Jackal! Come! Follow me!" It was Flaze and she had jumped into the flames. I quickly allowed her to lead me as my vision finally cleared. A hallway painted in red, I soon realized it to be the lighting. The sprinklers came to life as smoke trailed all around, and the both of us were coughing.

I looked at Flaze, meaning to thank her, only to find the woman still completely focused and looking around. The sappy shit, can be saved for later, the fires are fucking spreading!

The sprinklers are doing fuck all to solve the problem, and at this rate the entire building will be burning. Along with everything within, the pictures Flaze meant to retrieve.

I neighed, loudly, a shout that got her attention. I pointed to the stairs, and she sputtered.

"We need to go down. Escape!"

I neighed again! This time louder!

She scrunched her brows, a brief look of confusion. And then she understood, what I truly meant.

"...What? No! That's not important! There are people there... And well, they could use a warning. We did cause the fire..."

I gave a long whinny, pointing at myself and then the flames. They'll know what's going on.

"No... We have to... And it's too dangerous anyway!" Flaze looked down, I couldn't see her face beneath the helmet, but I knew the expression was sad. "I don't know why I even dragged you along for something so dangerous, yet so pointless..."

I bit her arm and pulled on her. I motioned to my back, for her to get on.

"But..."

I neighed.

It's not pointless! It's not unimportant. It's clearly important to you!

Her eyes widened, tears wet her face. She took a deep breath, and finally nodded, mounting my back.

"Okay."

We went off. To do something really, really stupid. As if we hadn't already done enough damage.

Not my fault?