When the driver noticed Blake’s clothing, he did a double take. However, once he recovered from his surprise, he returned to his professional demeanor.
“You Jeffrey?” the man asked.
“That’s me,” Blake lied and opened up the back door.
He threw his bag of food and supplies onto the floorboard and crawled into the small backseat with his sword sheath at an uncomfortable angle. He wore a round buckler across his back, and the enhanced wood dug uncomfortably into him as he leaned against the seat. When he was situated, the taxi said, “I’m Dave. You’re headed to Whiteriver, right?”
Blake nodded.
The first fifteen minutes of their trip was in silence. During that time, the twenty-something year old driver occasionally glanced in the rearview mirror to observe him. Finally, he could not contain his curiosity.
“So, are you going to a renaissance fair or something?” Dave asked.
Blake smiled and gave him the line he prepared. “Actually, my friends and I are really into LARPing.”
Dave frowned. “What’s that?”
“Live Action Role Playing,” he explained enthusiastically. “We get to dress up like warriors, mages, and clerics and fight monsters!”
“Sounds… fun,” the driver said, his voice filled with doubt.
“It sure is!” Blake lied.
After that short conversation, the rest of the drive was filled with uncomfortable silence, exactly what he wanted. He had never LARPed, and had no desire to go further into his lie.
“Is this the place?” Dave asked as he slowed the car to a stop.
“Yep.”
“Good luck with the LARPing.”
Blake grabbed his pack full of food, opened the door, and slid out of the car. He slowly walked down the gravel road toward the portal until the driver completely pulled away. Once there were no witnesses, he sprinted at full speed up the canyon.
The wind whipped by his ears as he traveled at what he guessed was over thirty miles per hour. He continued to run until he reached his destination, a narrow side canyon to the north. The depression had twenty foot rock walls on each side with an overhang. The outcropping was not deep enough to be considered a cave, but would keep you dry during a rainstorm.
He navigated the rocky floor of the canyon until he found a particularly pronounced depression that he remembered. There, he dropped his pack, took a deep breath, and then entered the portal.
The spatial distortion enveloped him and he entered the void. As usual, time seemed to stand still while he was within. Since this was the first time he had attempted this particular combat scenario, the Collective did not offer a higher difficulty. He would run the scenario at level zero.
When he was spat out of the void and landed on the hard floor, the first thing he noticed was the oppressive heat. The tunnel he found himself in was wide, at least thirty feet, but he would remain in the center. The closer he got to the glowing rock walls on either side, the more extreme the temperature. The Manders loved the heat and would soak it up as they lazed the day away.
Damn, I hate this place.
He absently wiped the sweat already forming on his brow and retrieved his sword as he searched for any threats. Blake had left his spear behind at the fire tower. It would not be necessary against these smaller creatures, and would only restrict his movement in some of the narrower passages.
This portal landed him in a cul-de-sac, which left him only a single direction to travel. After he confirmed the dead-end was clear, he retrieved his shield and navigated along the path in the dim light with a watchful eye. The level zero Manders would not be much of a threat to him. However, even he could die if he ignored an ambush.
The passage turned to his right, and when he rounded the corner, he saw his first victims. Three Manders nestled up against the glowing wall and absorbed the intense heat it exuded. They immediately became aware of his presence and hissed in alarm.
Manders looked like a cross between an earthworm and an alligator. At four feet long, on average, they would only be a minor threat to a prepared, unenhanced human. However, their hide was extremely dense and they always traveled in small groups. They had no appendages and slithered along the ground like a snake, but their wide mouths were full of sharp fangs.
Those teeth were the only thing that could harm him at level zero. They did not yet have access to mana, and would not produce the numerous heat-based attacks they would be known for.
Here we go.
The three creatures coiled, and then agilely sprang from the wall. He raised his shield and bashed the first creature, while he thrust his longsword deep into the next monster’s mouth. With his blade now sheathed within a corpse, and his shield arm staggered backward from impact, Blake only had a single defense against the third Mander. He kicked forward, and his boot slammed into its snout.
The last creature screeched and fell to the ground by his feet. He slammed his shield down into the dazed creature and ensured it was stunned before he extracted his sword and executed it.
Blake whirled around to face the last of the three, but saw that it too was already dead. His shield met the creature’s face with so much force that its entire skull was crushed.
That was even easier than I expected.
The Manders were swift, but were no match for his own speed. This scenario would be a nice break from the drawn out life or death struggles of his previous scenarios. He retrieved a bottle of water from his spatial storage, and once it was reassembled, gulped down the cool liquid.
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It’s so hot.
Once his thirst was quenched, he checked his progress. The interface informed him that he had exterminated nineteen percent of the Manders.
So, probably four more groups.
He nodded to himself and then continued down the corridor, eager to finish the scenario.
----------------------------------------
The Mander launched itself through the air, its jaws open wide. The extended fangs dripped with saliva, eager to feast on his face. Blake denied the creature its meal, and slashed with his sword. The last monster was decapitated, and the system congratulated him.
You have successfully completed the Combat Scenario. Would you like to choose your reward now?
Yes.
Four items appeared before him. They were all inferior to the gear he already wore, which was to be expected at the scenario level. He immediately chose the smallest item for the sake of time. The ring granted a single point of Magic Power, but would only take a few minutes to assemble.
This was so much faster.
Without Metal to scout, the Ursa scenarios took hours to complete. Meanwhile, he had found and eliminated all sixteen Manders in around ninety minutes. It had taken so little time, that he was only barely hungry.
He still planned to eat another meal when he returned to his bag, but he was satisfied with his speed of completion. Unfortunately, the next scenario would take longer. Not because the cave complex would be more expansive, but because he would have to be more careful against the level one Manders.
How much did I get?
He checked his status and saw that he held just over ten million nano. If he were to rapidly complete level zero Mander scenarios in mass, he would have to finish eighty of them before he could purchase his combat classification. At around six level zero scenarios completed per day, it would take two weeks before he was done with his insatiable hunger.
Too slow.
Blake snorted.
His party mates would have been incredulous if they witnessed his speed of progression. Even after they grew as a team and began to take on scenarios a level above them, each of them still only received around ten to fifteen million nano per day. And, that was if they completed two scenarios per day, something that was considered reckless.
Blake had received a hundred million each day fighting the Ursa, and if he pushed himself, could increase that against the Manders. Everything depended on how well his Magic and Physical Resistance worked against them. Even at level one, the Manders were nowhere near as physically dangerous as the Ursa. It was their fire attacks he was wary of.
After the jewelry was constructed, he slipped it into his pocket and hiked back to the portal. It only took ten minutes to reach the entrance and travel back to Earth, where the cold air chilled his sweat.
Blake rifled through his pack and drank two entire bottles of water before he replaced the two empties in his spatial storage. The scenario was uncomfortably hot, and he needed to drink far more than he expected, but the heat-resistant ring was a God-send.
Should I bring more water?
Blake decided to snag a few more bottles before he left. He could always leave them by the portal. That way, if the scenario took longer than expected, he would have backup. If, however, they went unused, he could always bring them back to Earth.
After he finished his cold meal, he packed his trash, and entered the portal. This time, when the Collective asked if he wanted to increase the difficulty, he answered yes.
Like before, he was spat out into a dimly lit cave that was hot enough to cook someone alive. Only his high Physical Resistance and his ring kept him healthy, if uncomfortable.
Blake scanned his surroundings for Manders and was relieved when he found none. The entrance to a scenario was almost always safe. Almost, however, was the key word.
He remembered the first time his group was deposited directly into a fight. If it were not for the fact that the goblins were equally surprised, they would have lost more than just their mana user. After that horrific event, word was spread across the faction, and every combat group entered a scenario prepared for a fight.
The caves looked much the same as the last scenario. Matter of fact, if he did not know better, he would assume he was in the same location. However, that was not the way the Architect did things.
The Artificial Intelligence did not ‘spawn’ creatures into a ‘dungeon’ as so many people believed in the beginning. Instead, it dumped people into a new area of the remote planet, which was already populated. Arguments had raged over whether the groupings occurred naturally, or if the Architect ‘helped’ them along.
None had found a definitive answer.
“Okay, let’s get this show on the road,” Blake mumbled.
He dropped his spare bottles of water to the ground as planned and equipped his armaments. With sword and shield at the ready, he proceeded cautiously down the corridor.
His pace was much slower than before, yet it was only ten minutes before he ran into his first group of enemies. Unlike the last scenario, these did not launch themselves directly toward him. Instead, their long tongues began to gyrate in a strange dance as they stood frozen along the wall.
Blake did not give them time to finish their spell forms. He charged their position and skewered the closest Mander with his sword. His shield barreled into the next creature with enough force to slam it against the glowing wall.
A column of flames burst forth from the mouth of another. He reflexively closed his eyes and raised his shield. The flames licked his skin as they washed over him.
To his surprise, instead of the burning agony of a melted face, his cheeks felt like he had a bad sunburn. Regardless, he kept his round buckler between him and the Mander until the spell completed.
Blake recognized the attack as Firebreath. It was a deadly spell that lasted for five full seconds. However, it consumed a large amount of mana and could not be cast again for over a minute.
When the flames died, he dropped the super-heated shield and rushed the now weakened mana user. Without its spell, it could only rely on its speed and fangs to defend itself, something he easily overcame.
Out of the corner of his eye, Blake saw the last Mander had also finished its spell. It sprang toward him while protected by a glowing shield of flickering flames.
Blake thrust his sword into the maw of the last living Mander, but was forced to release his hold on the blade before his hand burned. Flame Shield did not burn nearly as hot as the Column of Fire spell, nor reach as far. However, it lasted longer.
Luckily, he was highly resistant to heat and was able to ignore the spell long enough to deal with the creature. Once it died, the flames surrounding it sputtered out, and he was able to retrieve his sword and shield.
After the battle was over, he quickly distanced himself from the hot wall to the cooler area near the center of the corridor. His entire body was drenched in sweat, and his face felt like he was out too long in the sun.
That’s strange.
When he ran his fingers along his face to discover any damage, he discovered that his eyebrows and lashes were unburned. Only his skin was sensitive to touch.
“Hell yeah!” he whooped with raised hands.
Just as he surmised, his resistances were high enough to protect him from their attacks. While prolonged exposure to the heat would damage him, he would be unlikely to die instantly from any ambushes or mistakes. Blake retrieved a bottle of water and checked his status.
Twenty-two percent complete. Nice.
He only had three or four more groups to defeat. With any luck, he would be done in under two hours.