Chapter 3: Smogvale

When Miriam finally woke up, the first thing she noticed was a headache that wasn’t so much splitting as nuclearly devastating. She groaned as she remembered nights spent wildly partying as a young woman and subsequent mornings spent projectile-vomiting into the toilet. She rubbed her forehead and waited for the agony to pass. After around ten minutes of waiting for her stomach to settle and her vision to clear, she sat up and checked her Hp as sunlight poured around her from the holes in the ceiling.

[Hp: 41/41 Mp: 5/5 Stamina: 7/7]

Yes! My health points are back to maximum! She patted her forehead and leg, and found no injuries at all, save for a patch of dried roach blood on the bottom of her foot. So injuries are tied to Hp. Figures; if your Hp is restored by sleeping, its physical manifestations are restored as well. Unfortunately, her stomach was screaming with starvation and her lips felt dry and cracked. God, this hurts. I need to find something to eat and drink so I don’t die. It’s been at least a day since I’ve eaten or drunk; I probably have about a day left before dehydration overtakes me.

She stood up and looked around the room, still fatigued from the previous day’s events. To her surprise, there were stone rungs carved into the far wall - a ladder, perhaps? It certainly seemed to be one. She hadn’t noticed it in her first hasty survey of the room, so she ambled over and began to climb.

She quickly reached the second story, bounding upwards with ease thanks to her high Vitality and Endurance. Although some of the wooden floor had rotted away, most of them appeared safe to walk on. She tested it with her foot and it seemed solid enough, so she stepped out onto the wood planks.

In the center of the room was a knee-high pile of refuse - broken planks, bones, and scraps of God knew what. This was probably the roaches’ bed or something. Still, there could be something useful in there, so Miriam carefully padded over to the heap and began to sift.

She immediately found what looked to be a piece of leather. She quickly scraped the surrounding trash away and pulled it out - it appeared to be a small bundle wrapped in black leather. Quickly unwrapping the bundle, she was overcome with joy as she beheld its contents.

In the center of the bundle were two things - a leather waterskin (helpfully labeled [Full Waterskin] by the voice) that sloshed with fullness, and a red-covered book. A familiar book… Temporarily ignoring it, she quickly unscrewed the cap and downed the water. It tasted bitter and putrid, but she gulped it down anway and immediately felt refreshed. Putting her waterskin to the side, she turned her attention to the book. She picked it up and opened it, inhaling with anticipation.

The exact same pentagram from the mysterious book in her library stared up at her. This is the exact same book! What’s it doing here? The voice spoke once more, identifying the book as [Book of Demons].

Book of Demons? What a creepy title. But it’ll probably be of use. It’ll be good for kindling if nothing else. She chuckled to herself. But it’s so hot out here that there’s no good reason to start a fire. She picked up the empty waterskin and the book.

“I should get going!” she exclaimed, reveling in her refreshment. “If there was a full waterskin here, then there must be more people nearby.” She debated for a few moments as to how she would carry the book and waterskin.

[All liftable items can be added to Inventory. Inventory can be accessed via Attribute Sheet.]

“What?” Miriam asked. The voice repeated itself, stoic and uncaring as always. “Okay then,” she said as she once again opened her Attribute Sheet. C’mon, think… Inventory, Inventory, Inventory. The wall of text in front of her disappeared, and a new text appeared in front of her. It read, [Inventory]. Currently, there was no text after it. Miriam suddenly had an idea. She willed the waterskin to disappear into her inventory. It vanished from existence, and a new line of text after [Inventory] appeared in her vision. It read, Empty Waterskin x1. She tried willing it back to her hand, and it appeared there like she had always been holding it.

That’s wonderful! I can carry lots of things this way! She willed the waterskin back into her inventory, and did the same with the Book of Demons. She then began sifting through the trash heap, causing the hunks of detritus to vanish as she scooped them up. After a minute of dirty work, the entire pile was gone. Miriam checked her inventory, and saw that nine pieces of detritus and thirteen teeth had turned from physical items into text.

She immediately felt disgusted at the fact that she currently possessed what seemed to be disembodied teeth on her person. “Eugh!” she exclaimed, willing the teeth back into existence. Thirteen normal-looking human teeth appeared in her hand, molars, incisors and canines alike. Oh god, that’s disguisting! How did these wind up in the trash heap? I hope that the teeth didn’t originate in the pile… She put them back in her inventory and shook her hand. I guess I’ll just keep them around in case I need them.

After making sure that there was nothing more of interest on the second floor, Miriam descended the ladder to the ground floor. She quickly glanced around the room, and saw that the corpses of the six cockroaches she had killed the day - or night? - before still laid where they had met their ends. The blood and entrails that pooled around them had congealed while she had slept. Ignoring the gore, Miriam walked over to the nearest carcass and picked it up.

It disappeared into her inventory, so she walked around the room and picked up the other corpses. Nice! So it seems like I can put anything I can pick up into my inventory, and there don’t seem to be any limitations as to how many items I can carry. She summoned a corpse from her inventory into her hand, then quickly put it back. Nice, it still works that way. She considered tearing apart the entire house brick by brick and stuffing the whole thing into her inventory, but quickly decided that the process would both take far too long and be far too strenuous to be useful.

Having decided that there was nothing more of use in the building, Miriam stepped through the gaping doorway and out into the hazy red light that suffused the ashen wasteland. The road stretched off into the distance both ways, its cracked cobblestones breaking the monotony of the low grey hills that covered the ground as far as she could see.

“All right, then,” she said to herself as she turned to her left. That was the direction she had walked in order to get to the abandoned building in the first place, so it seemed only right to continue in that direction. Heedless of the cobblestones’ heat, she began to walk down the endless stretch of road.

The hours passed by as Miriam slowly put one foot in front of the other. The blissfully cool water from her skin had been completely used up, and she felt dry and parched again. Her stomach grumbled ever louder, and fatigue wholly unrelated to her tiredness began to set in.

After hours of walking - Six? Seven? God, I’m barely standing - she noticed several small forms in the distance. Her eyes opened wide, and hope began to trickle through her. Are those people?

Indeed, as Miriam drew closer, she could see that they were in fact people. Two figures wearing long grey robes and face-obscuring hoods stood atop a wide, flat hill, using long sticks to direct a large group of what seemed to be sheep or goats or some similar grazing animal. One of them turned towards Miriam, and said something indistinct to their companion.

“Hey!” Miriam exclaimed. “Hello?” Damn it! They probably don’t speak English, and they might be hostile to boot!

This got the duo’s attention. They turned towards Miriam and began walking towards her, guiding their flock along with them. As the animals got closer, she realized with revulsion that they seemed to be goat-sized spiders. The voice identified each one as an [Ash Spider: Lv. 1]. God, spiders creep me out. Nonetheless, she jumped up and down, signaling to the figures.

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“I come in peace!” Miriam cried. “I’m unarmed and mean no hostilities!”

“Who goes there?” one of the duo exclaimed in a masculine drawl that seemed to be halfway between a Texan and New York accent. He was speaking in perfect English, which surprised Miriam. We speak the same language? It’s highly improbable that the same language develops two distinct times; it’s never happened before in Earth history. But this isn’t Earth.

“My name’s Miriam!” Miriam exclaimed. “Miriam Ward! I mean no harm to you! Can you assist me?”

The duo finally reached Miriam and lifted their hoods. They were two men who seemed to be in their thirties. One was white with an unkempt mane of chestnut hair that cascaded down his back and the other was Asian and had three long maroon braids hanging down his shoulder. Both had long beards and impressive mustaches. Their skin was tanned with long hours spent in the elements, and Miriam could see that each wore sturdy brown boots beneath their robes.

“Which is it?” the white guy asked. The voice identified him as [Dane: Wretch Lv. 3]. He was the one who had spoken before.

“Excuse me?” Miriam asked, confused. “Which what?”

“Your name,” the Asian guy said, who seemed to be named [Robin: Wretch Lv. 4]. “Is it Miriam or Ward?”

“They’re both my name,” Miriam said. These people must not have family names.

“Ain’t never heard o’ someone with two names,” Robin said. He was definitely the more talkative of the two. “Like I said, which is it?”

“Miriam, I suppose,” she sighed. “I need food and water. I’ve been stranded out here for several days.”

“Well, you’re in luck, ma’am,” Dane said. “We was just about to wrap up our herdin’ for the day and drive these ol’ spiders back to Smogvale. You can follow us back if you like.”

“Smogvale?” Miriam asked. “Is that your home?”

“Yes it is, ma’am,” Robin answered. “We’ve been livin’ there our whole lives, we have. Only town for a hundred miles or so.”

Miriam exhaled. There’s a town! I’m saved! From there I can get directions to wherever I need to go!

“Say,” she said, “have you ever heard of a town by the name of Lonwick, Massachusetts? It’s where I’m from and I need to find my way back there.”

“Lonwick, Mascha… Massa… whatever?” Robin asked. “Doesn’t ring a bell. Never heard o’ a town having two names, nor got any travelers from there. Must be really far away.”

“Have you ever heard of the United States?” Miriam asked. “Or America? Or Earth?”

“Can’t say I have, ma’am,” Dane replied. “Those are some right odd town names.”

“They aren’t…” Miriam started. She sighed. Well, this definitely isn’t Earth. “Anyway, can you take me to Smogvale?”

“Right we can, ma’am,” Robin said. “Just follow us. There’s an inn on Main Street. Run by my brother Timothy. Tell him that Robin sent you and he’ll take a few teeth off the price of room an’ board.”

“Teeth?” Miriam asked. “What do you mean?”

Robin looked at her like she was a two-year-old child. “Teeth,” he said slowly. “Teeth. Money? You’ve heard of money, haven’t you?”

“Teeth are money?” Miriam asked. That makes sense, no wonder I found some in the refuse pile.

Robin just stared at her in utter exasperation. “Of course they are. Man, you really ain’t from around here, aren’t you? What kind o’ money do they have in Earth or Lonwhatever or wherever it was you said you’re from?”

“Dollars,” Miriam said. “We have dollars in the United States. They’re pieces of paper with writing and pictures of presidents on them and all that.”

Robin stared at her blankly. “Dollars,” he mused. “Huh. What a funny word. Hey Dane, can you imagine goin’ into a tavern and saying, ‘hey bartender, here’s fifty dollars, gimme a beer!’ Heh!”

Dane, who was guiding the flock of spiders, didn’t respond. Robin looked down in embarrassment. “Righto,” he said. “Let’s get movin’.” He walked to Dane and began to prod at the spiders with his stick, driving them forward. Miriam followed behind as the shepherds - spiderherds? - efficiently poked the spiders towards their goal.

As they crested a tall ridge, Miriam got her first glimpse of Smogvale. Her first impression was one of disappointment. A town? Seriously? The “town” consisted of a single road passing through a tall ravine with tall peaks of red rock rising up on either side. Small buildings crowded around either side of the road, and what looked like many small doorways were carved into the rock. She could see the tiny shapes of people moving around, framed by the setting sun.

“Home sweet home,” Robin sighed, resting on his stick. “Say, Dane, whaddaya say we hit the tavern after penning the spiders?”

“Can’t,” Dane said gruffly.

“Why?” Robin asked.

“You know,” Dane replied. “My Orderdamn drinking problem.” Robin stuttered, then stopped speaking.

“Say,” Miriam asked, breaking the silence. “What do your spiders eat?”

“Ash,” Robin replied nonchalantly. “They eat the ash, we eat the spiders. Saves us a fortune on feed or whatever other animals eat.”

“Interesting,” Miriam mused. “Back on Earth, most farm animals ate grass.”

“Grass?” Robin asked in confusion. “What’s that?”

“Never mind,” Miriam answered. “Probably would be too hard to explain.”

“All right,” grunted Robin, lifting his stick. “Let’s go. Dane?” Dane didn’t appear to notice his companion’s query. He was squinting at the sky, a look of consternation marring his face.

“Fuck,” he muttered after another moment. He started screaming a split second later. “Fuck, fuck, fuck! Demons! Run!”

“Oh shit!” Robin shouted. Visible panic sprouted from his eyes. “Run!” He took off at a full sprint towards the village, Dane on his tail.

Miriam looked wildly around in confusion. “Demons? What?” Then, she saw what had caused the commotion. Three shadowy forms were rapidly dropping out of the sky, heading directly for the flock of spiders.

[Combat initiated versus Entities: Imp Lv. 26 x3]

Instincts took over and Miriam bolted down the hill towards Robin and Dane. Her heart pounded in her chest as a second wind rose around her, enhancing her speed. Fuck! Those things are level 26! I can’t fight them!

The imps dropped out of the sky, giving her a glimpse of their features. They were bipedal with two arms, two legs and a head, but that was where the similarities to humans ended. They had scaly skin in alternating shades of maroon and crimson, and their fingers and toes were tipped with barbed, wicked-looking claws. Their heads looked like those of a komodo dragon’s, with glistening rubies instead of eyes and sharp serrated teeth. Bat-like wings jutted from their short, slender frames, and forked tongues probed the air around them.

The first two imps landed among the spiders and began to rip and claw at them. The third, however, landed closer to Miriam. It saw her running and gave chase.

“No no no no no!” Miriam exclaimed in sheer terror. “Get back get back get back get back!” She began hyperventilating as she ran, which probably wasn’t helpful in the long term.

In her blind panic, she tripped in a small divot in the ashy hill and fell on her front. As she desperately tried to stand up, the imp reached her and slashed her back to ribbons with one powerful strike.

[Hp: 3/41. You have permanently contracted Debuff: Bleeding Out due to taking more than ⅞ of your maximum Hp worth of damage in a single strike. Death in 3m 59s.]

Agony unlike anything Miriam had ever experienced blossomed in her abdomen, spreading around her body like a wildfire. She bellowed in agony, a primal expression laced with fear and panic that she had never uttered before. She twitched wildly as she desperately tried to get out from under the monster, but it stood on top of her.

In that moment, she realized that she was truly going to die. There were no stat points to spend, no Vitality to raise, no way to fight back. Some part of her made peace with that reality, causing her mind to begin losing consciousness. Oh, Tom, my students… I’m sorry. I’m sorry, everyone. I was just another failure in the end.

A dull thunk sound pierced through the air, followed shortly after by a shrill screech. The weight was lifted off her back, and she could hear people indistincly talking as she tried to extricate her face from the dirty ground.

“...Imps are gone…”

“...Made off with five of…”

“Sweet Order, can’t you see she’s…”

“There’s no… have to use…”

Miriam felt a cool liquid trickling down her back. Almost immediately, the pain became duller, but she kept losing consciousness. I guess this is the end, she thought as she passed out completely.