The Foray left the inn and marched through the city. The descension chamber was in the middle of Portcullis, near the inn where the group stayed.
“How does this work?” Boyd asked.
Fleon spoke, “We insert our Mana Array into the descension chamber. Descension is really a nebulous term here as we will not necessarily move downwards, and in fact, we may actually move up. It only means we will move on to more difficult Levels. It will allow us to “descend” one floor per five Mana we give it. We will receive five Mana in return and all of us will descend to the 10th floor. At that point, our maximum capacity for our Mana array will be raised to 500 and we will have 5 Mana Nodes remaining. Each Mana Node we tap will still be worth a single point, but after the 5th floor, there are commonly Nodes grouped together. The 10th floor is a dramatic step up in difficulty. Not only will there be significantly more monsters, but they will be much higher level. Because Gmol is with us, you will still only receive a single experience point, which will suppress your level compared to the surrounding environment. More simply put, Level 1 was of no threat to any of us. Level 2 would be much the same. At Level 10, you stand a real chance of dying.”
"That sucks. And if I Exit?”
“Your life is your own. You may use a piece of the Mana to Exit. The Filary have no use for outsiders though. I have requested they give you safe passage, but to where would be up to you. As you are aware, we cannot return you to Earth.”
The choice hadn’t changed. Boyd was increasingly worried that Jellybean wasn’t going to hold up his end of the bargain, but the only people he still knew in the Universe were in front of him. Also, The Maze had pretty awesome whorehouses which had shaken his worldview but also liberated him in more ways than one. Fleon was extremely uptight about anything fun, so Boyd figured staying with the Filary was never a real option anyway, and he couldn’t very well go live with the hummingbirds or the wolves, so he had to stay. For now.
“Off we go then.”
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The descension chamber was a short walk away in the middle of town. Boyd was made to understand this would not normally be the case, but descension from the first floor was expected, and thus little fanfare would be required. Fleon explained there likely would’ve been a Boss-type monster here for the first group, but that creature would’ve been killed days ago. Instead, it was now an open path to the Reliquary that would allow them to descend.
"So what’s the Boss monster that’s usually here called?”
“Hateforge the Disemboweler,” Salia said.
“Sounds ominous.”
"He is forged from hatred and likes to disembowel things. It sounds exactly like what it is,” Salia said.
“Yea, I guess so.” Boyd said.
Salia scowled at him and the group continued down the long corridor to the Reliquary of Descension. They passed the large body of a creature covered in pustules and boils. Next to it, lay a tool that looked prime for disemboweling. Boyd made the connection quickly and decided it was for the best this thing was dead.
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The tunnel had opened up into a large cavern lined in a mixture of metal bits and pieces and glowing wires. Boyd awed at the construction. It was a seamless connection between rock and metal. Between wire and stone. He stared all over his surroundings, until what appeared to be a large weasel skittered at the side of his vision.
“Hey what are these weasel things?”
“What are you speaking of Sir Boyd?” Fleon asked.
“I don’t know. Those things over there. The little weasel-y fuckers. I mean, can’t you see these things? There’s like five of these fucking weasel guys that started following us. They’re kinda cute. Big eyes. Furry paws. They carry their spears in their mouths and scamper around. They’re brown and black. About two or three feet long. Hey ya’ll got pets here? We should adopt these little dudes. I’ll use ‘em like Beastmster. Hey Kodo and Podo, come meet your new Beastmaster!” Boyd waved at the weasels.
"You speak of Spookrats. They are not pets. They are foul little rodents who serve no purpose. There are none in this area. I would smell them,” Jellybean Jenkins said.
“I’m literally looking at like five of them.” Boyd held his hand around three feet off the ground, “They’re like this tall, brown fur, they got spears, they got little black hands. Them right there. Dude that’s definitely a pet. I can train that for sure. It’s adorable. I’m gonna go try to pet one. Wait, now they’re running towards us from behind. Wait a minute. Oh shit. Oh shit. Gmol I think that one is gonna stab you.”
Boyd hefted his swords above his head and swung it as hard as he could. The Spookrat was lightly armored, but the weight of Souldrinker was too much. It crashed into the side of the small creature and opened a ferocious wound. Blood soaked into the sword directly from the wound and the Spookrat crumbled to the ground. Boyd lifted Souldrinker and stabbed downwards into the Spookrat’s face several times. Souldrinker continued to glow. When Boyd raised the blade out of her it automatically Harvested and Reaped her soul.
You have gained 1 experience.
SYSTEM: Achievement Unlocked: Surprise Motherfucker! You killed a Spookrat before it Spooked everyone. You have gained 20 bonus experience.
SYSTEM: Achievement Unlocked: Combatant Killer! You killed a fellow combatant. You realize this isn’t a joke right? That thing had a family. You can’t make excuses on this one. They were here to support their clan and help their people. Just so you know, Spookrats depend on this whole deal too. There are billions of them and they need this shit to survive. You probably just effectively killewd like a billion Spookrats. It’s one thing to knock off a few Gorplings, but damn dude. Why? Spookrats never did shit to you! All the same, you have gained 250 bonus experience. Murder is fun.
SYSTEM: Achievement Unlocked: Regicide (Princess). Wow. Just wow. Chase cars full of the Royal Dynasty much? A Princess? That’s fucked up. When is the last time you remember hearing someone say, “Princess Such and Such is so awful and she has to die.” Doesn’t happen. She was a beacon to her people. And you killed her. You have gained 100 bonus experience. I hope that was worth it.
SYSTEM: Achievement Unlocked: Reputation Reviled (Spookrats). You are now reviled by all (Spookrats) in the Universe. There are (36.4) (b)illion of them and all of them hate you and that will never change. They don’t even know about the brothel either. You have gained 10 bonus experience.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
SYSTEM: You are now Rank 8, Swordsoul.
You have gained 2 attribute points.
You have gained 5 skill points in Greatsword. You are now a Journeyman Greatsword user.
Boyd was increasingly excited whenever he Ranked up, but there were more pressing matters at hand. “See right there! I just chopped that little motherfucker.”
Fleon looked at Boyd, “Goddess, save me. He’s still high as a kite. Gmol, can you please remove the effects of the Lichenweed from him. The poor thing is hallucinating.”
The rune in Gmol’s stomach flashed through a number of symbols.
“Well look again then, he’s clearly under the effects of something. Cleanse the poor boy’s mind, use a more powerful version if you have to do so, we’ll recoup all our spells when we descend.”
Boyd was already off though. The Spookrats were fast. The nearest one was glowing purple in between Salia, Fleon, and Jellybean Jenkins. Boyd narrowly missed it with his sword before the spell finished. Salia, Fleon and Jellybean Jenkins ran in terror. As soon as they did, Boyd could tell what he was dealing with.
SYSTEM: Snarl, King of the Spookrats, Rank 82, COMBATANT
Glower, Prince of the Spookrats, Rank 67, COMBATANT
Captain Scowl, Spookrat Captain, Rank 92, COMBATANT
Lord Grimace, Spookrat Duke, Rank 51, COMBATANT
Laying on the ground behind him was:
SYSTEM: Princess Pout, Spookrat Princess, Rank 88, COMBATANT, DECEASED
Boyd looked around expecting his team to quickly annihilate the entirety of the Spookrat Clan, but this was not the case. In fact, Fleon, Jellybean Jenkins and Salia in her VMR were all running around in a panic with their hands in the air. At the same time, multiple Spookrats were stabbing Gmol who was having extreme trouble dodging their blows and was trying to heal himself through their attacks. For the first time, Boyd realized he could see his fellow Combatant’s life pools. Gmol’s life would plummet and then immediately rise quickly back to the top after every stab.
One of the Spookrats let out a loud squeak and then all four of them suddenly turned into mirrored copies such that four Spookrats became twenty Spookrats. All of them were now furiously stabbing Gmol who was alternately healing himself and trying to blast them away.
Gmol’s runes flashes but Boyd couldn’t read them. Instead, he just charged the nearest patch of Spookrats and swung Souldrinker as mightily as he could. It passed directly through the mirrored images and did nothing. Boyd fell down from the weight of his swing. He was blown backwards from the force of an explosion centered around Gmol, who had projected the runes in his stomach towards the sky.
“Wake up Jellybean Jenkins! You can’t do shit to these things and I can’t either. We aren’t fast enough to hit them! They’ll dodge everything you try.”
“How?” Boyd screamed.
“He’s Surprised. You’ll have to do deal damage to him to roust him or he’ll just run around with his hands in the air until it fades,” Gmol’s runes flashes in the sky.
The four Spookrats again descended on Gmol with stabbing and slashing. Jellybean Jenkins was halfway down the chamber at this point and running further. Boyd wasn’t sure why this was the case, but he trusted Gmol’s instinct if nothing else. The Slime was being rapidly stabbed, and even with the level disparity, wouldn’t be able to hold out forever.
Boyd dashed down the hallway after Jellybean Jenkins. His eyes were glazed over white and he moved erratically. Not knowing what else to do, Boyd turned his sword to the flat of the blade and slapped Jellybean Jenkins across the back of the head with it with all his might. His health meter dipped a tiny bit.
Jellybean Jenkins immediately turned around. His face, currently a mix of wolf and man, started to convort and twist. His lower jaw extended. His eyes widened and turned black as pitch. Boyd cowered as he raised his claw. “Good dog! Good Boy Jellybean! Hey, look over there Buddy! Those bad guys are hurting Gmol! Can you get the bad guys Handsome Boy?”
Jellybean Jenkins slammed his claw into the ground and howled with fury. A small red moon dripping with blood magically appeared in the air above him. The blood fell on his body and colored his fur. His eyes glowed red and his body expanded to almost double in size, mats of fur and blood and flesh falling off of him as he grew.
Boyd wasn’t sure if Dogs and Spookrats were natural enemies or not, but he was very sure that the Spookrats were even more scared of Jellybean Jenkins than he was. As soon as he howled they run in all four directions simultaneously, all of them heading for shadows. Jellybean Jenkins pounced from afar and caught the first of the bunch in his mouth. He crunched the base of the creature’s neck and left it for dead. Two quick bounds and a leap and he slashed with both of his axes at the hamstring of the second Spookrat. It fell to the ground and began limping towards the shadows. Jellybean Jenkins roared at Boyd and motioned towards the Spookrat. Boyd sauntered over towards where it lay and kicked its spear away and then delivered a single overhead chop to end its life.
One of the Spookrats had disappeared, but the other one was currently in Jellybean Jenkins’ paws. He was pulling at its head and tail as it screamed. Boyd heard the sickening pop of the creature’s neck as its vertebrate detached from one another. Jellybean Jenkins threw the corpse at the last fleeing member of the Spookrat tribe.
“Do not let it get away!” Jellybean Jenkins screamed.
“I don’t know how to do that” Boyd screamed back.
Several explosions were heard at the other end of the chamber and Salia Slitt emerged with the charred corpse of a Spookrat in the VMR’s hands. “Got it,” she said.
You have gained 4 experience.
SYSTEM: You have eliminated a Combatant Group – Snarl’s Spookrats. You gain 4 experience. You have gained 50 bonus experience. 97 Forays remain.
Jellybean Jenkins bayed at the top of his lungs and Boyd’s blood curdled. “You, Human, how did you know the Spookrats were there?”
“I saw them. With my eyes. I pointed them out multiple times. I literally asked you guys over and over what the weasel things were and Fleon said I was on crankweed or something. Which, just for the record, I would gladly try if you happen to have some.”
Jellybean Jenkins scowled, “This doesn’t make sense. How did you detect that which I could not smell?”
“Oh yea, I think I can do that. I mean, I know I can now.”
Salia had made the trip back down the hallway and stood next to the group. She threw the Spookrat corpse at the ground in front of them. “I checked him already. Look.” She flipped a shiny purple ring in the air and caught in her hand.
SYSTEM: Spooky Ring - You and your kin are able to Surprise other creatures as if you are Rank 5,000 no matter your current Rank. Only useable by Spookrats – Property of Snarl, King of the Spookrats.
Jellybean Jenkins snatched the ring from her fingers and looked at it through a single wolfen eye. “This trinket bested the nose of aWolf-Lord of the Plains but not this pathetic Human. You, robot-bird-woman, explain this to me.”
Boyd said, “I think I know. See when I was laying with Lara, she’s my Rock Golem friend over at the Palace, well when I was done laying with her I got one of those things we aren’t supposed to talk about, you know the ones.” Boyd winked awkwardly at the group. “Anyway, it said on account of the fact I was open to new experiences, you know, like fucking around with a giant Rock lady, I couldn’t be surprised no more. Which, honestly, was probably true. Lara is a gentle and beautiful soul. I didn’t expect that, but I felt very close to her at the end of things. Also she was only 9 gold coins which was all I had left at the time.”
The other combatants again looked around. “Human, explain to your superiors how many Inherent Abilities you have at this point.”
“I got five now I think,” Boyd said.
“Name these Abilities!” Jellybean Jenkins hissed.
Boyd explained the three new Inherent Abilities he had received from his er… friends at the Palace. Fleon was offended at all of them, but agreed with the group. “Sir Boyd, your Corruption grows. I find you and your depravity repulsive. I will yet purge you of your curse. However, your power also grows, almost exponentially. I have never heard of anything being given this many Inherent Abilities, nor have I heard of anything gaining new ones during the course of a Foray. While I still cannot explain your unique condition, you likely saved at least one of our lives today. That family of Royal Spookrats was very clever. I am guessing we would not have been the first of their victims if not for your ability to avoid being Surprised. Ioer be praised. Her Word be true.”
“This one has not saved me from anything. No number of Spookrats could pierce my hide. As soon as the first one touched me I would’ve ripped the lot of them to shreds. This one has only saved himself.”
Gmol flashed a series of runes.
“Speak for yourself Slime creature. Your weakness is not my own.” Jellybean Jenkins began walking back down the corridor towards the descension chamber and the rest followed.
Rockrot hits you for 5 damage. Rockrot cannot be cured without Essence of Earth.
Boyd paused the group with a raised hand, “Hey, before we descend, does anyone have 9 gold coins I can borrow?”