The crimson vapors stung my eyes, my skin. Inside the putrid, opaque cloud, I could no longer tell where we were going.
"Hold your breath!" I screamed to Saber. The vapors entered my lungs, choking me with their acidic pungency. My chest seized up. It felt like I was drowning under hot oil.
Our only escape was to press on ahead.
I ran, stumbling, clutching tight on to Saber. Several steps later, I felt the cool air at the edge of the vapors. Only to hear another squeak at my feet, and a pop as another mouse blew itself up right next to us. The scalding chemicals sprayed out, dissolving my skin. And it wasn't alone. As I struggled forward, blind and melting away, the mice swarmed at us. And they burst apart into clouds of vapor, one after another, engulfing us in new plumes sooner than we could escape previous ones.
I checked my HP.
[HP: 190/1040]
My adrenaline barely kept the pain below a maddening level, but it couldn't block out the fear.
Perhaps this was it for us. Pitiful, meaningless deaths. Our remains to litter the streets and then rot away.
A storm rose around us. Peals of thunder rumbled next to my ears. After a moment, the air cleared. I forced my eyes open against the sting and the gale. A cyclone, filled with light and lightning, swirled around us. Around Saber. It covered a considerable zone, stretching from one side of the street to the opposite. Mice approached us, but the wind buffeted them to an unsteady crawl, and the bolts of lightning burst them open while they were far away.
This was Saber's third ability, Hero of the Storms. It provided constant area-of-effect damage. At this time, I couldn't have asked for a better lifesaver. I wanted to thank her, but the vapors had scathed my throat and I couldn't seem to talk.
Even as the mice blew up away from us, their vapor mixed in with the wind. We had to keep moving. I dragged Saber along. Her protective shroud of wind wouldn't last forever, and we had to find shelter soon.
We could try breaking into a random house. I still remembered what James told us, while we were still journeying with him. Here in Gold, there were three kinds of houses. First, ones with an owner. Those had supplies inside, to keep the owner alive. Then, there were houses that didn't have an owner. They were completely empty. But the third type were houses with a "negative number" of owners. Like the first kind, they'd have supplies inside. But if you walk into one of them, you would disappear – ceasing to exist, or worse.
I activated my metal scanner. All the houses around us had something inside them. Which meant none were guaranteed to be safe. The small glint of hope before us was flickering out.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
It'd take a minute before I could scan again. I trudged on with Saber, buying time until I could fire off the next scan. The mice still came at us, but Saber's storm fended them off. She had enough mana left to keep it active for barely over a minute more.
Before time ran out, I managed to scan the surroundings again.
Within 50 meters, there was still no empty house.
My stomach churned. Our choice was either to stay outside and get melted by rats, or risk a fate worse than death.
Wait.
To our right, and slightly behind us, was a house with two people inside. At least, I thought there were people. I sensed them as suits of armor on the ground, and weapons within their grasps. I saw, as a faint outline, a crossbow bolt sticking out the wall. I could tell the front door, wrought from metal, was slightly ajar. And inside the garage rested a great bundle of metallic objects, far more abundant than inside any other house. Was this a player's supply stash, and the site of a raid?
The evidence lined up well enough. I took a sharp turn towards the house, sprinting fast as I could to shake off the mice. I tugged on Saber, guiding her along.
We soon arrived, right as Saber's mana ran out and her stormy shroud extinguished. Through the ajar front door, I saw two decomposing corpses inside. Morbid relief washed over me, knowing that those who died inside had left corpses. This house wasn't of the third type, where people who entered simply disappeared. I quickly slid in with Saber. Checking behind us, I found no mice in the vicinity. Then I shut the door.
The lock had been smashed. But there was a cabinet by the door. I leaned my body against it to shove it against the door, to serve as a barricade. It ought to keep the mice out for now. But any human would easily barge through.
A closer glance at the two corpses confirmed that they had fallen to each other in battle. One had a crossbow and a severed leg. The other, an axeman, had a bolt in his skull. Their blood had dried on the rustic wood flooring, but there seemed to be no sign of decay yet.
I checked my HP.
[HP: 180/1040]
And Saber's…
[HP: 270/1250]
If any bounty hunter came through that door, we'd be done for. I could only hope that the mice weren't smart enough to be used for scouting. And that no one on our heels had a Seekflower with them.
I eased Saber on to the living room couch. We had to collect supplies here, rest back up, and set off as soon as we could. I'd need to write a message to Jack through our team notebook, to check on him, and let him know we were still alive here.
"Are we safe?" Saber asked me.
"Ye–" I tried to whisper, but an aching cough interrupted me. I covered it with a sleeve, only to spatter it with my own blood.
My throat and lung still burned. I must've at least taken in a couple gasps of the caustic vapors, and my insides were damaged and bleeding. I checked my HP once more.
[HP: 170/1040]
Damage over time. I wondered how long it would continue for. I wondered if I'd even survive.
"...Sophia?" Saber asked, in a small, afraid voice. "Is everything alright?"
I eased myself down to sit on the ground. I leaned my back against the couch, right next to where she sat. The exposed parts of her skin had turned red and tender. Perhaps blisters would form later.
"Yeah," I said, with what remained of my voice. "Just need some rest."