Zombie alpaca spit burned hot on Matt’s hand in the morning sun. He struggled not to drop his sword. Blue sparks wove intricate patterns across his skin, battling back the acid.

Matt Blood Slashed. The afterimage showed his weakness, one line straight the other wobbly, pale red in the brightness of day. He held twin swords aloft, slick with blood.

There were eight of the rotting animals—too many.

Matt wasn’t sure if it was the return of their rest XP or their good fortune of getting a quest from Alex, right near the one from Hazel, but they’d become overconfident. They’d engaged five zombie alpacas, and then one had screamed. It was a high-pitched screech that sounded electronic. The zombies had freaking called in reinforcements.

Matt renewed his heal and backed around the skeleton of a bush. The dead grass crunched with each step. Gravemist flowed green around his ankles.

An alpaca with eyeballs dangling out of their sockets followed him, neck bobbing forward with each step. The bloody golf balls rolled along the sides of its face, twisting on their tether.

Matt needed time for his health to catch up. He stepped back slowly. Crunch. Crunch. Eight versus four was too many.

Val screamed.

It was too late to change course. The eyeball alpaca was between him and the group. Matt Blood Slashed a red X and sliced off half the pursuer’s sombrero-brim. The enemy lurched forward, long neck reaching with razor-sharp teeth.

Matt turned to block with the trashcan lid on his chest—too slow. Porcelain knives bit into his side. Then the alpaca snapped upright shedding droplets of blood.

“Agh,” Matt groaned.

His side pinched and then burned—agony.

Holy crap in a handbag, Matt thought. Heal fucking faster.

Matt drew in a ragged breath. His heads-up display showed his health was at half. But so was the enemy’s. They were evenly matched.

Matt stepped back, renewed Rapid Regeneration, and then Blood Slashed. The undead beast kicked Matt’s shins and squealed. He stepped back again. It spit. Blood Slash.

Then finally Shadow Flurry was done its cooldown. Matt activated it and a whorl of black shards gathered around him.

“I dare you!” Matt yelled and the beast lurched forward, bloody eyeballs bouncing.

Magic blades sheered through the zombie’s sloughing fur. Tufted chunks of flesh slid to rest at Matt’s feet. He Blood Slashed, a final swing, and the creature joined its rotting meat on the ground.

Matt puffed his cheeks and blew out. Holy shit.

His wounds knit slowly, as blue crawled across his skin. Matt forced his legs to move to his party. They couldn’t afford to die. They had to keep their Well Rested buff.

His friends were doing well. As he approached, he could see that they’d taken down four alpacas to his one. Fallyn and Kurtis held two with crystal spikes. The third remaining beast, missing a front leg, was imprisoned by a ghostly purple bear trap.

Val? Matt wondered.

“It’s going to break!” She warned.

Arcane Bolts and Shadow Strike arrows shifted to focus on the enemy in the trap. Matt dashed to it to help. Then the tripod alpaca was free. It charged hat-first towards Valkyrie.

Matt pivoted, following as it rushed by. He raised the butt of his right sword and used Conk to ‘hit ‘em real hard on the head.’ The enemy stalled.

That worked!

He’d just picked up the skill at Level 9 and had yet to use it. He didn’t think the three seconds were much use—but here they were clutch!

A barrage of purple light hit the creature. The flesh had rotted off its remaining front leg showing bone. Matt Blood Slashed. It died.

Then he turned to finish off the remaining two enemies.

“Left first!” Fallyn called.

Matt’s Blood Slash hit them both searing lines against the purple blaze, an overexposed light show in the sun. The left zombie slumped and then they finished off the right. ‘16,000 XP’ floated to the sky.

“Why couldn’t they be more of the cute ones?” Val muttered.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Come on,” Matt said with a side-nod. “It’s almost time.”

The group put some distance between themselves and the rancid bacon smoke and then found a safe spot to stop. No animals in sight, they huddled at one side of the mountain pass, land slanting steeply behind. Trees dotted the slope, dead or maybe hibernating. It reminded Matt of winter at home—but warmer and with gravemist blanketing the ground instead of snow.

“This should be fine,” Fallyn advised, green diadem glinting brightly.

“You guys good with me opening it?” Kurtis asked.

“You’re the one with the list,” Matt said with a shrug.

The party patiently waited while Kurtis asked the Chatbot questions about numbers, equations, and interface configurations, based on what he’d seen in video games. Matt’s eyes glazed over listening. Spreadsheets of numbers were his old life. Accountant-Matt was dead. He checked his map. He guessed they were about half an hour from retrieving Alex’s mysterious belongings and Hazel’s apples.

“Now, I know how this feels.” Matt sat on the ground beside Val, arms encircling his knees.

“Yeah. You were pretty out of it when you did that.”

“Okay!” Kurtis wheeled on the group. “I’ve got some neat interface stuff to show you later. It couldn’t tell me about this though.” He motioned up and down his orange body.

“Sorry, man.” Matt pressed his lips into a sad smile.

Kurtis spread his arms and shrugged.

“How many questions are left?” asked Fallyn.

Kurtis’ eyes glazed over, then darted left-right. “Eight.”

“Could it tell us how to not get killed by more jerks?” Val asked. “Or, maybe, how to make the zombies smell better?” She wrinkled her nose.

“I was thinking we should ask it about specialization.” Fallyn tucked her wavy brown hair behind an ear.

“Yes!” Matt agreed. “We need a plan.”

“Why don’t we each take two questions,” Fallyn suggested. “We should be able to open our dialogs.”

That made sense.

“Just tell the group,” she said, “if you’re going to ask something generic—before you ask it—to avoid duplication.”

Good idea.

“Kurtis,” Fallyn added, “you and I should coordinate.”

While Fallyn and Kurtis conversed in hushed tones a few feet away—Kurtis swishing his tail gesturing—Matt arranged a Rubik’s Cube in his head. He had two questions. He needed to make them count. He tried to anticipate what the Chatbot would say. The Operator had said that specialization was at Levels 10, 30, and 50. She’d said something about it changing his class and giving him new skills.

Did she say ‘change’ or just ‘specialize’? Matt struggled to remember. They had been talking and then the kappa, its jaws on his neck…

Matt shook out his shoulders and stretched his eyes wide. Think, Matt.

He opened his Aspects Menu. The Operator had talked about that. He had mostly ignored this window since the white room. The left-hand column of circular cavities was filled with faintly glowing gems: school bus yellow, deep red, and navy blue. It looked like they had leveled. It said ‘Earth 2,’ ‘Blood 7,’ and ‘Protection 7’ beside them. The right-hand three slots were dark and empty.

Close Menu.

“Open Chatbot,” Matt said. The small black window appeared. His history from the previous week had been cleared.

“Chatbot,” Matt began slowly, “give me detailed information about the results of choosing each Aspect that I will be offered at Level 10.”

‘CB: ABOUT WARRIOR SPEC 1. Level 10 selection of one additional Blood or Protection Aspect. Any Aspect type may only be slotted a maximum of two times. Blood and Protection Aspects will not be offered for selection at any later specializations. Blood Aspect will result in Berserker Class. Protection Aspect will result in Knight Class. Must make selection to progress beyond Level 11.’

Matt read and re-read the response.

So, I get the same ones again?

“Chatbot,” Matt carefully phrased his second question. “Tell me the skills that Berserker Class and Knight Class get.”

‘CB: BERSERKER SKILLS. Devastating Chop. Rend. Demoralize. Blood Frenzy. Zone of Control.’

‘CB: KNIGHT SKILLS. Shield Slam. Deflect. Basic Heal. Defensive Posture. Basic Taunt.’

Well, shit.

Matt didn’t know whether to be satisfied or disappointed. He’d gotten a two-for-one out of that question, but the response only listed the name of each skill. Matt sighed and started walking.

Half an hour farther down the mountain pass, they came across their first apple tree. It was mostly dead—like everything else—and neon green mist swirled at its base. A single rotting fruit hung from the leafbare branches. Matt skeptically reached up to pick the apple.

She doesn’t want rotting fruit, does she?

Matt thought about looting. Then the apple zoomed down and right, shrinking and disappearing into Matt’s inventory. Sure enough, ‘Gather apple: 1/100,’ confirmed that this was what the apprentice was looking for.

“Got it!” Val said.

“Nice.” Matt smiled. He’d been hoping it wasn’t a hundred each.

The next stunted skeleton of a tree was about ten feet ahead. Striding towards it, Matt pressed, “So, you’re really not going to tell us?”

Val shook her head, tiara catching the sun.

Matt had shared his class options and read out the skills while they’d walked. Kurtis had said that knight was a tank because of the taunt. That helped a little, but Matt still wished he knew more.

Kurtis and Fallyn had the same two options, wizard and cleric. Rather than asking about skills, Kurtis had asked about ‘the nature of spells’—whatever that meant—and Fallyn had requested a compare and contrast. They had reached a consensus that cleric was a healer and wizard focused on damage. They’d agreed to make different class choices but hadn’t decided who’d choose which one.

Val was being secretive, but whatever had been revealed, Matt guessed it was good. Miss Pink Princess Pilot had had a grin plastered on her face since speaking with the Chatbot.

Kurtis beat Matt to the next apple, so Matt continued to a new tree. A few steps away, it had two brown leaves left at its top. They lifted and lowered, ever so slightly, as if the mountain pass was breathing. The movement was so subtle that Matt started questioning it. He didn’t feel any wind.

Matt plucked the apple from the bony branch. His fingers sunk into the rotting flesh.

“Gross!” He tried to flick the goo away, then tried to scrape it on the tree.

Dead things were supposed to be dry, not gooey and slimy. This place was redefining what it meant to be dead every day.

“Guys,” Kurtis said. “Weapons.” He pointed to three zombie alpacas.

Matt readied his swords and exchanged a glance with Fallyn. The creatures paced towards them, sombreros bobbing. Fallyn nodded, tactical genie, staff appearing in her hand.

‘ANNOUNCEMENT.’ The yellow text began to scroll. ‘FRC is proud to announce The Megabowl! In 38 standard days, travelers will make their way across the Megabridge to the Megacastle where they will compete for the highest score. Travelers must be Level 17-20 to enter. Winning party will be admitted to The Continuance. Prosperity and profits for all.’

The zombie alpacas screeched.