《Chaos World》 Prologue The television in my living room was playing a looping stream of the breaking news that was covered on every channel. One of the apps on my phone had alerted me to the information, so I turned the TV on so I could have a constant update. Having the news alerts on my phone was one of my dad¡¯s better ideas, even though his reasoning for it was different from my own. I watched in fascination as the looping video showed at least a dozen superhero¡¯s flying through the air toward the same destination. My dad wanted me to have the news alerts because he was an apocalypse prepper and a self-proclaimed ¡°survivalist¡±. I, on the other hand, was just obsessed with superheroes and their exploits, both of which were covered constantly by the media. The particular news alert I was watching had woken me up hours earlier than I was planning, but I didn¡¯t mind since it was about one of my favorite subjects; it was right up there with movies, pop culture and memes. Since it was still hours before sunrise, my face was awash in the multi-colored glow of the television. The reports were that the supervillain, Chaos Stream had been reported to be attempting some nefarious scheme on an island somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and that was where all the superheroes were heading. Chaos Stream was a relatively new villain, so there wasn¡¯t a lot of information about him, but it was known that he was in the [Mad Scientist] classification and that he was known to employ other supervillains in his plans. The light in the hallway turned on and the shadow of my father entered. ¡°What the hell are you doing up?¡± He asked. ¡°Watching the news,¡± I replied. This was probably about the only thing I could say that would not make him go off in a rage. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°Superheroes are going off to fight the villain Chaos Stream. Apparently, he was spotted somewhere in the Pacific. There isn¡¯t any information as to what he is doing there though.¡± ¡°God damned villains and heroes. This is the shit I¡¯m always talking about, there wouldn¡¯t be one without the other, they¡¯re both menaces if you ask me!¡± I didn¡¯t, but he loved telling me. ¡°If they just quit all that costumed bull crap, the world would be a better place. They need to be showing more programs about the people with powers who don¡¯t run around with costumes trying to punch each other in the face.¡± And with that, he started up his favorite argument. One he also defaulted to because of his substandard superpower ¨C [Body Language]. His power worked great for his profession as a lawyer, he could really hold the attention of a courtroom since he always knew when they were bored and he could always tell when someone on the stand was lying. But against guys who could destroy a building with their eyes, or cause earthquakes with a punch, his power was weak. He continued to rant and rave and cuss about not hiding his powers or his identity, and that he doesn¡¯t run around in tight-fitting clothes being righteous. I¡¯ve heard it all before and now that the news wasn¡¯t giving out any new information, I decided it was time to go back to bed before his rant went where it usually did. I stood up, but it was too late.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°One day, one of those villains is going to succeed too. That¡¯s why we need to be prepared. Go get changed and get your Go-bag.¡± ¡°Come on dad! I had a lot of schoolwork this week. I wanted to take it easy.¡± I hated when he got like this. He was already overbearing during the week, all my high school classes were AP (I wasn¡¯t allowed to take regular classes, or get anything other than A¡¯s), So I constantly had homework and I wanted to study for my driving permit test that was coming up, not to mention just relaxing with my friends. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare talk back to me!¡± He yelled. "Go get your shit and hurry up.¡± I tried to stand up to him a few months ago, but it failed. Eventually, I¡¯ll show him that he can¡¯t treat me like that. It was something he never would have done when mom was alive, but now it was a common occurrence and I didn¡¯t have the power to stop him. So, I just slumped my shoulders and went to go change. About a half-hour later, we were on our way to a fun-filled weekend of survival training. ## The sky ripped open with the sound of a chainsaw cutting steel. It slowly opened like flesh being torn with a sharp knife. It appeared over the snowcapped mountains to the East and I could see it reflected in the picturesque lake at the campground. A shockwave of sound drove me to one knee and I instinctively covered my ears. As scary as the sight of space and time being ripped asunder was, I could not look away. There was nothing but darkness behind the huge crevice splitting open the heavens and a wispy cloud of the same darkness seeped forth. The cloud quickly grew and spread, getting darker in color and larger in mass. Like a storm blotting out the sun, shadows lengthened and the world slowly turned grey. In the corner of my vision, I saw my father¡¯s body fall to the sandy ground, but the opening of the sky drowned out the sound. The pressure of the soundwave continued to beat down on me, but fearing for my father, I made a monumental attempt to stand against the onslaught. I yelled in pain and frustration at the invisible force pushed against me. My muscles bulged as I bellowed in frustrated rage against an overwhelming force, I took a step towards my father. I collapsed from the soundwave as my foot reconnected with the ground. With my center of balance changed, I was unable to stand any longer and my body struck hard on the sand and pebble-strewn ground. As I lay there with the soundwave bombarding my body, I could see my dad lying on the ground covered in sand and blood. Darkness began to creep around my vision and I started to hope that this was all a dream. I hadn¡¯t woken up in my bed. I hadn¡¯t left with my dad to go camping. I wasn¡¯t in the middle of a forest. The sky hadn¡¯t just ripped open. The pressure stopped and an eerie silence fell upon the world. I opened my eyes, I hadn¡¯t even been aware that I closed them. Missing was the tear in the sky and the dark growing cloud. Instead, my vision was filled with a series of screens with words on them: Welcome to th-zzzz-error. Gathering information-zzzz -Unknown realm Checking Universal info¡ªzzzzz-Error Combining¡­.Please Wait¡­. Merge complete¡­ Welcome to the Game! Who or what will you become? Then, I passed out. Chapter 1: Sand Murks Sand Murks I woke up to a loud chittering noise that drove straight into my brain. On the surface, it sounded like loud, annoying crickets, but in my head, the chittering merged into insidious whispers. You¡¯re weak¡­ You¡¯re stupid¡­ Might as well die¡­ The whispers started to get louder in my head and they were in my own voice. I didn¡¯t really think that about myself, did I? I countered the intrusive thoughts for the moment, but they were beginning to whisper again. What the hell is that? I looked around to find the source of the chittering but I saw nothing. Then, out of the dense forest a few hundred yards away I could see a small creature step out from behind a tree. At first, I thought it was a large rat since it had thick grey fur and a long tail, but its face didn¡¯t look anything like a rat. It had an enormous pockmarked nose that was bigger than its head and had a shape similar to a human. What the heck is that? I thought to myself and just as I did a translucent block, like a computer¡¯s message screen popped into my vision.
Sand Murk: Level 1
I was startled at its appearance and swiped my hand through the message as a reflex. My arm went through nothing but air, but as it did, the screen flew away. To my chagrin, another screen popped up in the same place.
Congratulations, new skill learned ¨C Analyze: Level 1
What the hell is this? My temper flared at the intrusion of this vision. I swiped the screen away again. Another screen popped into place.
Skill: Analyze Level: 1 Description: Grants the user with the ability to identify their surroundings. The higher the level, the more can be analyzed.
I don¡¯t care. Go away! I was about to swipe the message away again, but it disappeared before I could complete the action. My focus changed back to the Sand Murk that had previously shown itself from the trees. My heart pounded in my chest as above the creature, a little box hovered showing its name and level, but that wasn¡¯t what caused my spike in blood pressure. Although I couldn¡¯t see within the knee-high grass and shrubbery surrounding the trees, five more names and level indicators hovered in close proximity to the first one. What the hell are Sand Murks? A screen popped into my vision.
Name: Sand Murk Type: Mammal Subtype: Rodent Feeding behavior; Carnivorous, Scavenger Description: An insidious pack animal. Its chittering noise slowly seeps into the mind of its prey, causing it to slowly go insane. While its prey suffers from noise-induced madness, it is overwhelmed by the pack. Strength: Analyze Level 5+ required Weakness: Analyze Level 5+ requiredIf you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
When I got to the final sentence of the message, I was left with a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach. Go away. As I thought the command, the screen blinked out of existence. As I looked at the location of the Sand Murks, there were more screens indicating names and levels, and there were more than I could easily count. The chittering quickly grew louder as and the insidious whisper quickly returned. Give up¡­no use in continuing¡­The whispers clawed at my thoughts. I noticed that while I was reading the screens that popped up in my vision, the insidious thoughts of the Sand Murks could not reach me. Unfortunately, I dismissed all the screens that popped up in my vision. I shut my eyes trying to fight against the onslaught of voices inside my brain. I had to think of what to do. Running away was the best idea I scraped up as the voices grew stronger and my willpower weakened. I opened my eyes to turn and run away, but I nearly gave up on the spot. A veritable sea of Sand Murks chittered in front of me. I don¡¯t know how, but they seemed to sense my plan and as I took a step backward, they swarmed toward me. The front of the mass of creatures was still a good two hundred meters away from me, with the back closer to five hundred, their numbers thinning where the tree line started. Their speed was incredible and I quickly realized that there was no way to outrun them. Luckily, as they began to run toward me, the pressure in my brain lessened. I realized they must not be able to affect me while they are in motion. I didn¡¯t have much time to decide on a different action than running away due to the closing gap of distance. My only other option would be to try to fight them somehow. I quickly ran to where I sat my pack down, leaning against it was my H&K AR15 attached to the bag was my machete in its sheath. I would take out as many as I could with the rifle, then I would have no choice but to try and hold them off with the machete and my survival knife that was attached to my belt. I pulled the charging handle of my rifle back, chambering a round. Most of our other ammunition was at the bottom of our bags, so I wouldn¡¯t be able to get off that many shots, but thanks to my dad being prior military, at least I had a thirty-round magazine instead of a store-bought fifteen rounder. Additionally, I had two more magazines clipped to my belt in a small pouch. I flipped the safety off as I brought the rifle around and started to fire at the Sand Murks. The good thing was that there were so many of them every single bullet struck a target, some bullets even passed right through one creature, striking two. The bad news was that there were so many of them that my bullets didn¡¯t even make a dent. I quickly ran out of bullets from my first magazine and reloaded. As my gun barked loudly and spewed death from the barrel, the noise and screeching of wounded and dying Sand Murks caused the swarm to pause in trepidation. They may have paused, confused from my attack, but I sure as hell didn¡¯t. I could feel the pressure returning from the effects of their chittering, but my continuous stream of fire let me ignore it. Once again, I ran out of ammo and I reloaded my last magazine. As I continued to kill the diminutive creatures, I noticed a blinking exclamation icon at the top right of my vision. I felt relief that the message screens didn¡¯t pop up while I was fighting. Remembering how the sinister voices barely affected me while I was reading them, an idea popped into my head. As soon as I was done, I would get my machete and combat knife out and to keep the voices out of my head, I would open a screen. While the screen was open, I would start to massacre them. I didn¡¯t think that the Sand Murks were that tough or used to fighting their prey. At first, I thought it was the sound of the rifle that made them stop running but based on how easily they fell to my bullets, I was beginning to think that they generally just surrounded their prey and waited for them to give up to the onslaught of their chittering. My last bullet left the chamber. I didn¡¯t bother to drop my rifle gently, something I knew my father would yell at me about, I just let it fall from my grasp and I pulled out my K-Bar combat knife from its sheath on the back of my belt and the machete from the sheath on my bag. Weak¡­ The voices quickly wormed their way into my brain. I mentally pulled up the text screen for the flashing exclamation mark and the voices lessened in intensity. I didn¡¯t really give the screen a lot of attention, but I could tell at a glance that it was informing me of the first Sand Murk kill and the experiences and bonuses that were associated with it. I carefully jogged to the edge of the Sand Murks and they scooted back in fear, but those at the edge had nowhere to go. They clearly had never encountered a creature that would willingly come so close to them. As I swung the machete down in a diagonal arc in an attempt to hit as many as I could, my plan went to shit. As my machete came in contact with the first creature, the screen promptly disappeared. My blade sunk into the Sand Murk¡¯s neck lobbing it off and struck the second in the torso. I continued to follow through with the swing like Babe Ruth hitting a home run. The second monster struck a third and the two flew away from my position and a fourth suffered a deep gash. Useless¡­ The voices began again. My plan to use the screen failed, but I was happy with the amount of damage I did with my swing. It definitely wasn¡¯t useless, and with that thought, I had another idea. ¡°NOT USELESS!¡± I yelled and swung the machete with all my strength into the mass of Sand Murks. I continued to bellow and swing, cutting a large swath through the mass. The yelling helped to occupy my brain so the voices didn¡¯t creep into my head too deeply. As long as the Sand Murks didn¡¯t attack, I would be okay. Unfortunately, a major flaw in my plan soon showed its ugly head. Chapter 2 The Sand Murks attacked. Being the height of a duck when they stood on their hind legs, each swing killed at least one and injured at least two others. After about three swings, they seemed to all decide that just waiting there was not a good idea. As if they were a hive mind, all their large pointy ears flattened backward, then the ones who were standing dropped to the ground. I felt a shiver of fear as they all hissed loudly at the same time. Were they a hive mind? I didn¡¯t have time to contemplate the question as the first one rushed toward me. I swung at its head and connected, leaving a large wedge of flesh missing from its face. Two more rushed at me and I dispatched them with a single swing of my machete. A sharp pain stabbed into the back of my leg. I looked back and a Sand Murk was viciously clawing my leg. Blood was already beginning to soak into my jeans, but I was still able to stand. I stabbed it with my combat knife and it let out a squeal as it thrashed in pain. From the corner of my eye, I could see two more rushing in from the right and I slashed my machete at them, striking the one on the left, but the one on the right stopped before it was inside the path of my swing. I stood back up as I brought the machete around, then I brought it back down on the head of the second creature. My arms were on fire already and I had barely started fighting. I still hadn¡¯t even made a dent in the massive swarm of creatures, but I was already tired and injured. I didn¡¯t have much of a choice though, so I just kept swinging and the Sand Murks just kept rushing in two or three at a time. I was lucky they didn¡¯t decide to rush me all at once, but I knew that it could happen at any time. In my daze of swinging, I also noticed that I was completely surrounded. If these monsters had decided to attack me all at once, I would have been quickly overwhelmed, so I needed to find somewhere that I could hold them off. I quickly noticed the shoreline of the lake and how the Sand Murks were not going into the water. If I could make my way over to the water, I would only have to deal with the monsters from a single angle and if I was overwhelmed, I could flee into the lake. They could probably swim but being taller than the Sand Murks meant that I could continue to attack while they were forced to swim. I began to hack my way toward the water. I was continually screaming to keep the voices out of my head and every swing of the machete was powerful and tiring. I quickly began to close the distance to the shoreline of the lake. I took a powerful swing behind me and spun to make sure there were no more Sand Murks to attack after my swing, but I didn¡¯t stop moving toward the lake. Off in the distance, leaving the tree line, I saw what could only be described as a giant Sand Murk slowly walking into view. I tried to focus on the creature, and as I did I could make out its name ¨C
Sand Murk Queen, Level 5
It stood up on its hind legs, just like the smaller ones did, but even though it was much further away, I could tell that it was much larger. I quickly and silently hoped that this alpha creature would stay behind the pack and not attack me. Even if I made it to the water and was able to defend from one direction, I couldn¡¯t rely on being the tallest creature and using the water line to my advantage. As I looked at the Queen, I could tell that it was looking at me. I knew then that this queen was much more intelligent than the regular Sand Murks and it didn¡¯t seem to be happy with me killing so many of them. I slashed and killed a few more Sand Murks that leaped at me and then took another step backward. My foot came into contact with something large and as my other foot tried to compensate by shooting back to stop my fall, it too came in contact with the same obstruction. I tumbled backward and gritted my teeth hoping that whatever I fell on wouldn¡¯t be sharp. My butt impacted the obstruction earlier than I was expecting and as it did so, I immediately realized what it was. The obstruction was hard but covered in a soft cushiony material and all of that was covered in a thin layer of cloth. I tripped and fell on the dead body of my father. I couldn¡¯t give it too much thought though since I was in a lot of danger. I looked forward to ensure that the Sand Murks didn¡¯t capitalize on my stumble. I quickly rolled backward off the carcass of my dad and sprang to a fighting position. The Sand Murks parted before me like the Red Sea did for Moses, but instead of a path to salvation, oblivion was rushing toward me.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I continued to walk backward, my boots slowing and sinking into the water and mud of the lake. Going into the water further wouldn¡¯t help me any longer; I would need to be mobile for the coming challenge. I had an unhindered view as the Sand Murks had not only made a clear path directly toward me but were also lying flat on the ground in apparent supplication. With teeth bared and saliva dripping from her maw, the Queen of the Sand Murks was quickly running towards me. I grit my teeth, grasped the handles of my two weapons tighter and desperately tried to think of what to do. My injured leg stung in the murky water but it was a secondary thought. It donned on me at that moment, that I was able to consider my injured leg because a pervasive silence hung over the area, much different than the area before. The Sand Murks no longer chittered as they flattened their bodies in supplication to the queen. With no chittering in the area, my mind was also free from the voices that bombarded my thoughts. I focused on the enemy rushing toward me. It was about the size of a large dog, but other than that distinctive feature it was no different from its minions. As it splashed in the water, not slowing in its assault, I brought my machete down in an overhand swing. I was trying to end the fight quickly by cleaving its skull in two. But, just as my strike came down, the large beast stopped and tried to twist out of the way. This creature was leagues smarter than the small regular Sand Murks. Luckily, with its speed and size, it was unable to get fully out of the way of my strike. A large gash opened up on its shoulder, blood spilling into the water and it screeched in agony. Its acknowledgment of pain did not last long. It dropped to all four of its legs and hissed like a cornered rat, even though I was the one cornered. Reminding me of a crowd doing the wave at a sports game, the sea of Sand Murks rose to their hind legs and started chittering once more. I was unprepared for the force of pressure that attacked my head. I physically staggered back as my eyes blurred and a headache blossomed in my forehead. The queen pounced, leaping through the air and landing on my chest. Her claws dug into my shoulders as I fell backward from the force of the leap and weight of the monster. The queen attempted to bite my neck, but I managed to get my machete up in time. My weapon, the sharp side digging into the fold, lodged into the queen¡¯s mouth. Somehow, I managed to hold my breath as I fell underwater. While I was not that far into the lake, my backwards fall was enough to cover my head under the waterline. I managed to hold my breath, but I was still beginning to panic. The Sand Murk Queen was too heavy for me to lift and it was thrashing wildly slashing my shoulders trying to get to my neck. With what little strength I had remaining, I applied pressure to the machete, giving myself enough space to use my smaller knife. I plunged it into the side of the queen as hard as I could. The monster thrashed even more wildly from the pain and my knife was ripped from my grasp. The queen didn¡¯t move from on top of me and I began to panic in earnest. I could no longer hold my breath and I didn¡¯t know what else to do. Just as I was about to take a breath and fill my lungs with muddy water, I felt a huge disturbance of water right next to my head and the pressure of the Sand Murk Queen lifted off my chest. I quickly sat up and gulped in air. There was a huge splash a few meters away from me as the queen slammed into the shallower section of the lake. It quickly scrambled to its feet and hissed at its new attacker. In response to the hiss, a low guttural clicking came from the massive creature that was right next to me. I would have pissed my pants if fear hadn¡¯t closed everything up for me. However, the fear kept me still, frozen where I sat in the water, and that alone probably saved my life. Only inches from my head was the rough, green skin of a giant reptilian monster. At first, I thought it was a crocodile, or maybe an alligator, I didn¡¯t know the difference, but whatever it was, I knew it was the steroid infused great-granddaddy of all of them. As I focused on it, the information label informed me that I was both wrong and right.
Crocolator ¨C Level 12
Chapter 3 The Sand Murk Queen hissed once more and all the Sand Murks started chittering. I didn¡¯t know when they had stopped, but as they started, I could feel the pressure on my head increase. Although, it wasn¡¯t as strong as before and I wondered if it was because of the fear from the Crocolator, or if the Sand Murks could direct their attack. It could have been both because the croc dipped its head and took a step back as if in pain. As it took a step back, I realized what a dangerous position I was in and probably how close I had been to getting my head crushed when it was underwater. The queen attacked the croc and I used the distraction to get out of the way as fast as I could. I half scrambled and half swam to the side so I wasn¡¯t inadvertently struck by the croc. I quickly realized I didn¡¯t get far enough away though. The queen landed a couple good scratches and bites to the croc, but the croc just spun around and flung the queen away, towards the shore and the other Sand Murks. I had to drop flat, submerging myself underwater as it spun and the croc¡¯s tale came at me like a flying tree trunk. With frightening speed, the Crocolator leaped forward at the queen while she was scrambling to right herself. At the last moment, the queen dodged underneath the croc¡¯s closing jaws. She darted forward, slashing at one of the croc¡¯s exposed legs and not even waiting to see if she did any damage, she did a jumping pivot up to the croc¡¯s head and neck. The queen was perched on the Crocolator perpendicular and she started to frantically bite and scratch. The croc made another clicking growl while trying to shake the queen loose, but the queen¡¯s claws dug in deeper while the croc thrashed. Suddenly, the swarm of Sand Murks rushed to the water. This didn¡¯t go unnoticed by the croc and he simultaneously threw his head back and flung his body up in an imitation of standing. The croc¡¯s first action flung the queen off his head, sending her sailing into the air. His second action forced the Sand Murks deeper into the water and into range as its massive body came crashing back down. Since all this transpired in just a few seconds, I had barely picked myself up from my tail dodge and I was watching in stunned silence. In another series of events, just as the Crocolator came crashing down with the force of a house killing a witch, the Sand Murk Queen crashed down next to me. The force of the croc landing in the muddy lake floor and shallow water caused the ground to vibrate enough that I had trouble standing, and a small wave of muddy water and Sand Murks hit me in the chest. The combination of these two actions caused me to lose my footing and I was forced to take a knee. There must have been enough water to break the fall of the queen, because she immediately jumped up, first on all fours, then to just her hind legs. I could tell she was hurt and stunned though, her left arm hung limp and she didn¡¯t seem to notice anything as her head was down and she stood there swaying. I knew and opening when I saw one though and I moved forward to attack. I used all my strength in a massive swing with the intention of cutting the queen¡¯s head from her shoulders. After seeing her fight the croc, there was no way I could handle her, especially not with an army of Sand Murks on her side. So, while the croc handled her minions - he was currently swiping at them with his massive tail - I was swiping at the queen with my machete. My movement and attack must have alerted her to the danger and she was slightly able to shake off her stun. My attack was full of power and purpose but was lacking in precision and coupled with the queen¡¯s attempt to dodge, I was unable to cleave her head off her body. I did however, cut her arm off. She squealed like a pig as her arm fell to the water and blood poured from the wound. Now, it would only be a matter of time before she was dead, but apparently, she was going to take that time to try to kill me. She raked the claws of her good hand toward my face. Normally, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to dodge it, the speed she possessed was from her wiry muscles and honed from being an untamed beast was too great. But, as she lifted her head with killing intent in her eyes and her body shifted to attack, a loud [Ding] sounded in my head and I suddenly knew that she was going to attack, and where. I dodged my head to the left and brought up my machete to counter the blow. Her severed hand fell on my shoulder and more blood poured onto me. Missing an arm and a hand, the queen had nothing to catch her fall as she splashed down in the water. I raised my machete and stabbed down into the monster. I felt the machete pierce its hide and stop at the bone, but I leaned into it, forced it to slide deeper into the creature, eventually impaling it. After a moment, it stopped trying to move and I knew it was dead.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Power burst from my chest and I almost thought I was having a heart attack. Warmth flowed through my body and I felt like I just downed twenty Pixie-stix¡¯ and needed to run in circles to burn off excess energy. I looked up at the fight still raging around me. It was still a bloody and fierce battle, but it was clear something had changed. With the numbers of Sand Murks still in the area and their coordinated attack, I didn¡¯t think that even the Crocolator was strong enough to prevail, and even though it still appeared to be a losing battle, the demeanor of the Sand Murks changed. Many of the creatures that had been on the edge of the battlespace seemed to be drifting away, then coming back, confused on what to do. I even saw many of them actually running back toward the forest. This must have been from me defeating the Sand Murk Queen. Since the queen controlled them, they were now without purpose other than survival, although many were still fighting for that survival. Based off their current numbers, which was still too many to count, I felt they still had a good chance of that. The croc was still fighting them with all its energy, but it was clearly slower, and its numerous wounds from the horde were visible all over its body. As I watched the giant croc fight the swarm of Sand Murks, suddenly the croc¡¯s movements became clear to me and I could tell what it was going to do, just like with the queen. I took a deep breath and made up my mind. This is really going to suck ass. I rushed to the scene of the battle, which in reality was only about twenty meters away, and that was the epicenter. I encountered the edge of the Sand Murk swarm much sooner than that. The creatures were still thick in number and the Crocolator was constantly throwing them off as it spun and rolled around on the ground. It also flung a large number of them with its powerful jaws, and most of the Sand Murks came out of that experience a mangled mass of flesh and bones. Note to self ¨C Don¡¯t get bit. The outer Sand Murks didn¡¯t even notice me as I started to cut a swath of death through them. This was because of the giant reptilian beast they were fighting, but also because I was mostly attacking them from behind. These bastards deserved it too; they did it to me. I don¡¯t know how many I killed as I hacked through them like an adventurer in a jungle, but they did start to notice I was there. I made it a good ten meters into the swarm and I was surprisingly unfatigued from the constant swinging. Wading into the mass of Sand Murks was more work than fighting them earlier had been, but I had much more energy. Whatever happened to me after I killed the Sand Murk Queen really helped and I was guessing that it was some type of level up. I had been worried about getting involved in the fight, but once the Sand Murks noticed my presence and started to attack, I found that I could easily read their movements and instinctively knew where they were going to attack. In addition, I could still read the Crocolator¡¯s movements and I knew where it was going to attack. All this information made my task seem almost easy. Still though, I was taking some damage, there were just so many damn Sand Murks, there was no way not to. I would probably have an easier time just killing the croc by itself than trying to take on the Sand Murks alone. But, for the time being, I decided to work with the croc and kill as many Sand Murks as possible, then finish off the croc when it was at its weakest. Now that I had a plan, I had to find out when and how it would fail. The lake looked like cherry cola as gallons of blood mixed with the muddy water. As the bloody water continued to slosh around from all the movement, bubbles formed and washed onshore. I noticed this second handedly as I became a reaper of Sand Murk souls. The more I fought; dodging, blocking and attacking, the more their movements became clear to me. I was getting scratched and bit less with each passing kill. My strikes and movements became cleaner and I used less energy as I learned the best methods for countering their attack. Just as I was getting tired and fatigue started to slow me down, I felt another surge of warmth and energy. I continued my massacre, but the numbers were dwindling, and my movements and the Crocolator¡¯s were slowly bringing us to a confrontation. I decided to strike first and try to maim it as I did the queen so it would die quicker. After a minute, I noticed my moment to strike. There was a clear path to the Crocolator and it was turned away from me trying to dislodge a handful of Sand Murks lodged onto its head and viciously attacking its face. I struck down vertically as the Sand Murk I was facing leaped at me. My machete cleaved its skull in two and it crashed into the shallow water. Without pause, I turned and ran to the croc as it was still turned away from me, then a thought struck me and I smiled, unable to resist. ¡°Secret Ninja Technique,¡± I yelled. ¡°Thousand years of pain!¡± Chapter 4 Yelling probably wasn¡¯t the best idea. The Crocolator spun and with a combination of throw and spit, sent a mouthful of mangled Sand Murk corpses at me. I didn¡¯t have enough experience tangling with the croc to foresee this move and the projectiles pelted me all over. I tried to defend myself, but my rush forward left me unprotected and something struck my head. I fell to the ground, my head half-sinking into the water. My ears were ringing and my head throbbing, but luckily, I managed not to drop my weapons and the croc wasn¡¯t coming toward me. As I cleared the ringing, I noticed the croc was busy again with a group of Sand Murks. A lone Sand Murk hissed at me and attacked, lunging with bared teeth and grasping claws. I saw it in my peripheral, and I brought my machete up to block its attack and plunged my knife into its side. I threw it to the side and off my blade, and slowly started to circle around to a blind side of the croc. I saw my opening, but just before I was about to rush in once again, the air rushed in around the croc as it was covered in a faint glow and the water rippled away from it. It began fighting again with renewed vigor and quickly dispatched the Sand Murks in its vicinity with a sweep of its tail as it spun its body in a complete circle. I focused on its name again and noticed a significant difference.
Crocolator: Level 13
I cursed inwardly. If I was right about my own level increase, then this thing is full of energy and ready to kill since it just went up a level. I looked around and it seemed like I was the only thing left for it to kill in the area. So, there was no more sneaking up on it, it was no longer tired and it was now stronger than before. Why do I even bother making plans? It looked at me as it did another one of those clicking growls. It was a lot scarier hearing it directed at me instead of another creature. Currently, it wasn¡¯t making any move to attack me, it adopted a wide stance and I felt that it was waiting for me to attack. Clever Girl. While I had no idea if the Crocolator was a boy or girl, I felt the comment was fitting since I felt like I was about to face off against a dinosaur, which I kind of was. I wasn¡¯t stupid enough to attack though, whatever skill I had where I could read my opponent¡¯s movements didn¡¯t give me any information while they were motionless. Without a whole lot of options, I decided to see if I could get away. This creature was strong and I didn¡¯t really want to tangle with it. I took a step back and then another. After my second step, the croc seemed to realize what I was trying to do; it took a quick step forward then lunged at me. I could tell it was going to lunge right after it took its first step, so when it shot forward, I was already running to the side. It opened its mouth to try to catch me, but I saw that and moved out of the way. I took a page from the Sand Murk Queen and slashed its leg with my machete. It looked like I did more damage than the queen did, but it still wasn¡¯t enough to faze the croc. Unlike the queen, I wasn¡¯t able to make a twisting leap onto the croc¡¯s back, so after my first slash of its leg, I was forced to jump flat on the bed of the lake as its tail came slinging around to intercept me. As I jumped back to my feet, I was face to snout with the croc and I slammed my machete into its nose. I know my attack hurt it, but it still didn¡¯t slow it down as it rushed forward ramming into me. I was lifted off the ground and then flung into the air as the croc used its massive neck strength to fling me away. I landed in knee-deep water, so it broke my fall a little, enough to keep me alive and conscious. My ribs felt like they were on fire and I was having trouble breathing. I think all the damage I was experiencing was from it ramming me with its head, not from my fall, so I didn¡¯t think I could take any more of those hits. I had to end the fight quickly and I only had one crazy idea to complete it. I struggled to move close to shore while the croc was closing the distance. I needed more maneuverability to ensure success, but the croc was smart and it didn¡¯t want to let me get away. I was in about ankle-deep water when I turned to face the croc; my skill let me know that it was foolish to keep running. It wasn¡¯t clairvoyance, I just knew based off the speed, direction and a couple dozen slight body movements that it was going to attack a certain way if I kept running, and I knew I wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge or counter. The depth of water didn¡¯t matter though; it was more of the density of the ground underneath. I turned around and sheathed my smaller knife once the ground got hard under my feet and prepared for my attack. The last time the croc rushed me, I ran to the side. I still felt that this action had been the best one, but when I did run in that direction, I had a small inkling of sensations that told me there were other actions I could do. Additionally, when the croc opened its mouth, I definitely had the same feeling. So this time, I ran straight at the monster as fast as I could. Just as the last time, the croc opened its maw to try to bite me. I waited for my skill to tell me the best time to attack and once it did, I jumped right toward its mouth, tucking myself into as tight of a ball as I could manage so I didn¡¯t get nicked by any of its teeth. The aim of my leap was true and I landed deep in the croc¡¯s mouth. With all the strength my legs and arms could muster, I thrust up with my machete and pressed down with my legs. My machete quickly met resistance with bone at the top of the croc¡¯s mouth, but I screamed and pressed through it as the bone crunched and gave way. My machete drove up into the Crocolator¡¯s mouth and directly into its brain cavity. Blood cascaded down the wound and I received a warm shower in the thick metallic tasting liquid. The croc shuddered and twitched and I could feel it tipping over onto its side. As it began to fall, I let go of the machete and launched myself out of its still open mouth. Just as my feet passed the threshold of its teeth, it hit the ground and its mouth slapped closed. I hit the shallow water and small stones of the shore hard, skidding a few feet before coming to a stop. I laid there for a minute as my everything hurt and the croc continued to slowly twitch a few feet away from me. After a moment, I wondered if it was dead and decided to get up and make sure I finished the job. I also wanted to see if I could get my machete back. Walking over to the croc, I noted that it was a good thing I leaped out of its mouth; I might have had a difficult time trying to get out. The croc twitched one more time, causing me to jump back in alarm, but just as it did, a warm glow washed over me.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. As the glow surrounded me and I was infused with energy, I looked around for something to expend the energy on. I noticed that even though the Crocolator killed a lot of them and the queen was dead, there was a large number of Sand Murks still in the area. I pulled my K-Bar from its sheath and ran to the closest one. It noticed me coming and I could hear the chittering noise that caused the auditory hallucinations, but with only one, it didn¡¯t faze me in the slightest. It dropped down into a fighting stance as I got closer, realizing that its main weapon was useless. The small monster jumped at me, but with my skill, I could easily dodge it. I pivoted to the right and as it sailed in the air, I struck down hard with my knife. I followed through with the strike as the creature fell to the ground, dead and impaled. That wasn¡¯t enough. I went to the next Sand Murk and the next one after that. I didn¡¯t stop until every single one of them in the clearing was dead. The sun was high overhead by the time I was done. The Sand Murks themselves were easy to kill, what took me the longest was moving between them. After the last one was killed, I looked over the devastation I caused. There must have been a couple hundred Sand Murks spread around the open area, all dead by my hand. It was still a paltry number compared to how many the Crocolator had killed. I wiped my blade on the carcass of a dead Sand Murk to get all the blood off, then walked back to my camp and the place where I had awoken. As I walked back, I took a moment to look around at other things than the clearing and it stopped me in my tracks. I hadn¡¯t noticed it before because I was too focused on survival, but everything looked different from how it was before the sky tore open. The mountain in the distance looked twice the size as before and it had some extra mountains on either side of it. I looked down toward the lake and it too was different. It was wider and it looked like it extended around a small peninsula. Am I somewhere else? I looked toward the woods and the path that my father and I had taken from our car to this lake. Are the trees bigger? As I looked to the path, I could clearly see that it still existed, so I couldn¡¯t be in a different place unless there was a path in the same exact area. I walked over to the path to inspect it. It was covered in the tracks of Sand Murks, but as I looked at the dirt closely, I could see the traces of boot tracks that matched mine. This looks like it¡¯s the same place, but what is going on? I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. I couldn¡¯t put it off any longer. I turned around and walked back to my campsite. It was in shambles from the horde of monsters that trampled over everything. It was covered in blood from the violence that had occurred, but I ignored that as I walked over to the prone body of my father. He was lying on his stomach with his head turned to the side. His eyes were open and lifeless. His face covered in so much bloody sand that I could hardly make out its pale color. My skin was a few shades darker than his; a mixture of genes from him and my mom. That was the best thing about him, he treated everyone the same. Damn it, why am I thinking about this now? I dropped to my knees next to him and just stared for a while. My mind was numb and thoughts blank as I wiped the sand off his face. ¡°It¡¯s not fair,¡± I said. I didn¡¯t get to show him he couldn¡¯t treat me badly. I punched him in the face. ¡°You asshole! How dare you treat me like that for all those years and then die without letting my get back at you! How could you leave me out here?¡± I hammer punched his back. It felt horrible, so I did it a few more times. ¡°I bet you¡¯re sitting all relaxed and smug now that you were right about the apocalypse and the superheroes. But you just left me here alone, out in the middle of nowhere. Asshole!¡± I stood and kicked him once for good measure, but my heart wasn¡¯t really into it. He was a jerk the past few years, but he was my dad, I didn¡¯t want him to die, I just wanted to beat him up and make him respect me. Now that was taken from me. I looked around at our small campsite and the surrounding area. I couldn¡¯t stay there, with all the blood and dead bodies, it would only be a matter of time before some other animal came and I had no idea what kind of creature that would be. Plus, the bodies would start to rot and disease would spread. I need to get to the car and my phone. I looked at my shadow to gauge the time and judged it to be about two in the afternoon. If I gathered up all the materials I could, as quickly as I could, I should be able to get a good distance away before I had to make camp for the night, then I could finish my hike to the car the next day. I looked down at my blood-caked hands and first decided that I needed to clean off some of this blood and grime off my clothes and body. I rummaged through my pack and got a change of clothes and the rest of my ammunition. I then reloaded my rifle and went to look for a clean area of the lake to quickly wash off before any more monsters came. Once I found a clean area, it didn¡¯t take me long to wash away all the blood and viscera that still clung to me. I didn¡¯t want another Crocolator, or something even worse to show up, Then I would have to fight it butt naked like Beowulf. Once I got back to camp, I gathered up and consolidated all the important gear and headed out. Interlude On a small volcanic island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, which was devoid of life but brimming with possibility, a great battle took place. The battle had not been secluded to one area but had raged across the entire landmass. The bodies of superheroes, villains and monsters of various shapes and sizes were strewn all around in lifeless poses. A strange green smoke seeped from the ground like a snake and drifted away in a light breeze. Toward the inner portion of the island, the last vestiges of the battle played out. Five superheroes surrounded a man who was sitting with his back against a boulder, beaten and bloodied. He was grabbing his ribs and breathing laboriously with his eyes closed. ¡°You¡¯re defeated Chaos¡­¡± said one of the heroes who surrounded him. Chaos Stream barked out a bitter laugh, ¡°Defeated? I¡¯ve already won.¡± He opened his eyes at that and looked around at each of the superheroes in turn. ¡°You didn¡¯t notice while you were beating me senseless?¡± But the superheroes did notice and they all looked at each other nervously. Even if they didn¡¯t notice the sky splitting open and the intense pressure it produced, there was no way to miss the screens that popped up in their vision. The man who was initially talking began again. He was a tall, muscular man, dressed in Camouflage armor. As he spoke, a spike of blue energy formed around his fist, extending almost a meter out, and its tip sizzled the ground. Major Strike, leader of the Justice Coalition said, ¡°Tell us what it is you did and how to reverse it, or you¡¯ll pay.¡± ¡°I sowed chaos and now we just need to see what grows,¡± Chaos Stream declared and more than barked laughter. This time his laugh was long and maniacal. Tears streamed down his face and the laughter became higher pitched and tinged with insanity. ¡°What¡¯s done is done and can¡¯t be undone.¡± ¡°What did you do?¡± Major Strike yelled. ¡°Idiots! Fools! As if your feeble minds could understand.¡± Chaos laughed again for a moment, then continued. ¡°I merged¡­everything! Everything that ever was, is or will be. Desires and thoughts, Shakespeare¡¯s monkeys, and the dreams in dreams.¡± ¡°What is he saying? Has he gone mad?¡± Asked another superhero aloud. This man was dressed in a long blue robe and held a staff of blue ice. ¡°I told you that you wouldn¡¯t understand. You lose and I win. The world has changed and your power is now meaningless.¡± ¡°We need to bring him in to answer for his crimes, whatever they may be,¡± said a third hero, Beastkin. His skin was a dark cordovan and he wore baggy clothes that would fit in different ways when his body changed shape to various creatures, which were an amalgamation of human and beast. ¡°I¡¯ll get ahold of The Council and tell them the situation.¡± ¡°Yes, by all means, please do. I dearly want to see what the world is like now,¡± Chaos Stream said, then began to get off the ground. ¡°Stay down psycho¡± Major strike said, but Chaos Stream continued to slowly rise, using the rock for support. ¡°Major, I can¡¯t get ahold of anyone. All our communication and electronic equipment seem to be dead,¡± Beastkin said after a moment of fiddling with a small black box in his hands. ¡°Ooh, imagine all the people that died in planes since technology broke. Such a tragedy, but you can¡¯t make an omelet without killing some people.¡± Chaos Stream smiled maniacally at Major Strike; he loved pushing people¡¯s buttons and getting them to act against their nature. His words certainly struck a chord with the Major, but he had more discipline than that, so while he wanted to pound Chaos Stream for his flippant attitude about killing, he waited until he could gather more information. ¡°All my systems are working,¡± said Techno Knight. ¡°But I can¡¯t get ahold of anyone either, it seems that orbital communication satellites are dead. That is the only explanation for me not being able to send a message.¡± ¡°How about you Rime Time?¡± Major Strike asked the man with the ice staff. ¡°Can you use your magic to check it out?¡± ¡°Rime Time?¡± Chaos Stream scoffed. ¡°What kind of a name is that?¡± ¡°I thought you were some type of genius? Don¡¯t you know that rime is another word for ice?¡± Rime Time asked haughtily. ¡°Oh, you mean like a coating of ice? Yes, I knew that, but it seems you didn¡¯t. Where did you get that word from, the thesaurus of a word document?¡± Rime Time¡¯s face flushed red with embarrassment. ¡°You did? LAME!¡± Chaos Stream laughed loudly. ¡°How is anyone supposed to know that¡¯s what you meant when your name literally rhymes? I thought you were some type of magical rapper. You should have used Blizzard Wizard that would have been cooler. Ha, cooler¡­.¡± Rime Time¡¯s staff started to glow as he prepared a spell to shut Chaos Stream up.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Rime,¡± Major Strike said. ¡°Just ignore him. We have to find out what he did.¡± Rime Time¡¯s staff continued to glow as he glared a Chaos Stream. Chaos Stream met his gaze with a knowing grin. Rime turned his head and spun his arm in a circle creating a disc of ice that floated in the air. He struck his staff on the ground and started to chant in a harmonious, druidic tongue. ¡°That¡¯s very soothing,¡± Chaos Stream said. ¡°But I think you need a big chunk of wood to smack yourself over the head with every couple seconds.¡± Chaos Stream looked around at the blank stares of superheroes. ¡°What? No one gets the reference?¡± Techno Knight coughed and it sounded eerily similar to ¡°Monty Python.¡± ¡°I like this guy,¡± Chaos Stream said pointing at Techno Knight. ¡°Maybe I won¡¯t kill you after this.¡± Techno Knight powered up his arm cannon and took a step toward Chaos Stream. ¡°Aww, did I hurt your widdle feewings?¡± The chanting stopped and Rime Time yelled, ¡°Could you please shut him up? I need to concentrate for this spell.¡± Major Strike walked up to Chaos Stream purposefully, the superhero wanted him to know the gravity of the situation and that he was serious as he asked, ¡°Are you going to be quiet, or do I have to shut you up?¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to have to shut-¡± A loud clack sounded as chaos Stream¡¯s teeth were forced together from the strength of Major Strike¡¯s blow to his jaw. Chaos Stream was lifted into the air and his back slammed against the rock he had used to pick himself off the ground. He slid back to the ground but he wasn¡¯t unconscious. He dropped to his knees and steadied himself on the ground with his right arm extended. ¡°-me up,¡± Chaos stream finished his sentence and spat blood. ¡°They should call you Sissy Slap with hits like that, or Aggravated Assault. Oh, I know, Domestic Abuse.¡± Major Strike¡¯s eyes widened as Chaos Stream smiled with a malicious gleam in his eye. ¡°Yeah, I know-¡± Chaos Stream¡¯s sentence was once again cut off by a hit from Major Strike. He fell to the ground, but Major Strike didn¡¯t take any chances and struck him again and then one more time to be sure. ¡°Do your spell,¡± Major Strike ordered. ¡°What¡¯s the status?¡± He asked immediately afterward, not letting anyone get a word out. At least three of the other heroes made a mental note to look into the words uttered by Chaos Stream once they got back home. Unfortunately, that mental note was wholly forgotten as Rime Time relayed the results of his spell. He was confused at first with what he was seeing. So confused that he started to talk, only to stop and then start again, and this process repeated a few times before Major Strike yelled at him to, ¡°Get yourself together,¡± and ¡°Spit it out.¡± ¡°I see scenes of destruction and lots of death when I look closely. Er, at street level. Whatever he did¡­there¡¯s bodies everywhere. But worse than that, I see people fighting and killing, but it¡¯s on a different scale than before and it doesn¡¯t seem to be a panicked killing, more of a controlled violence. There¡¯s also people banding together and fighting alongside each other, but they¡¯re fighting all types of different creatures. It¡¯s sort of overwhelming, all the different things I see. What¡¯s most disturbing though, is when I try to look at a large portion of the globe at once. It¡¯s as if it¡¯s changed. ¡°What do you mean changed?¡± Major Strike asked. ¡°It¡¯s hard to explain,¡± Rime Time didn¡¯t take his eyes off his disc as he continued to speak. ¡°Take North America for example, I can see its shape, but it¡¯s not right. I would have to compare it to a map, but it looks like it isn¡¯t shaped the same. Florida is cut off and it even looks like Alaska is a little smaller. The mountain ranges look like they are in different places and the colors are wrong, it¡¯s like the deserts and forests are in different places than they were.¡± ¡°What about the cities?¡± Beastkin asked. ¡°San Francisco looks to be in ruins like it was struck by a giant earthquake,¡± Rime Time stated dreamily, overwhelmed by what he was seeing and in a state of shock. ¡°What about New York?¡± Major Strike asked. ¡°It¡¯s-¡± Rime Time Paused for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s gone,¡± he said finally. ¡°Destroyed?¡± ¡°No, there are trees and forests and hills there. It¡¯s just gone.¡± ¡°The fuck,¡± Major Strike muttered and went over to the unconscious form of Chaos Stream. He grabbed him by the front of his black button-down shirt, lifted him off the ground, and started shaking him violently. ¡°Wake up you son of a bitch! You have some explaining to do. Wake up! Where are they? What did you do with them?¡± He didn¡¯t get a response since Chaos Stream was still clearly unconscious with his arms hanging limply to the ground. ¡°Wake up!¡± He yelled one more time and threw Chaos Stream to the ground so hard that he bounced slightly. An awkward silence fell upon the area for a moment as the other superheroes not only stared at the shaking form of Major Strike but were also lost in their own muddled thoughts. Major Strike took a moment to calm his rage and try to get ahold of himself, but too many thoughts flew through his mind that made him feel as if he was trying to watch a movie by staring at a reel of film as it was being unwound. ¡°What else is there?¡± He asked Rime Time in an attempt to give him something else to think about. ¡°Well-¡± Rime Time began but he was interrupted. ¡°Uhhnnn,¡± moaned Chaos Stream as he regained consciousness. Major Strike went back to him, picked him up by his shirt and dangled him at arm¡¯s length. ¡°Where is it you monster?¡± Major Strike yelled in Chaos Stream¡¯s face. He was quickly losing his cool at the state of the world and the fate of the people in New York City. New York was his usual base of operations and that was where his wife, well, ex-wife and his young son lived. He was the only one who could protect them and if it was gone, he failed. If he failed, then to him, there was no more point in anything. Chaos Stream lifted his head up and looked over to the only superhero that had yet to speak. ¡°You¡¯re awfully quiet over there,¡± he slurred from the beating and lisped from newly broken teeth and swollen lips. ¡°What do you think of all this?¡± ¡°His voice is his weapon, he won¡¯t answer you,¡± Major Strike said not thinking about either the ridiculousness of the question nor his normal response. Oh,¡± Chaos stream said and then lifted his arm up and flipped the silent superhero off. With that simple action, Major Strike lost all composure and patience. He activated his power, the Strike Blade lighting up and extending from his fist. It crackled like lightning but its power moved like lava. Major Strike reared back and then plunged the blade into the chest of Chaos Stream. Blood poured from his back as the life drained from his eyes, but he had a smile on his face while the heroes wore masks of shock. Chapter 6 I walked and walked and then walked some more. The trail my father and I had come in on had fundamentally changed, and whenever I thought I went off the trail and got lost, I saw another sign that I was on the same trail that I remembered. So I kept trudging along, not singing a song, not in a winter wonderland. The sun was halfway past the mountain range, causing the shadows to lengthen and the local colors to darken with gloomy peril. I didn¡¯t see any other signs of monsters, or other creatures that might pose a threat, but I didn¡¯t drop my guard or lower my awareness. A loud snap of breaking wood sounded off the trail and into the distance. I paused and then huddled close to a tree for some type of cover and concealment. The sound of crunching leaves and twigs reverberated in the distance as if a large creature was walking toward me. Then I saw what it was and I was even more stunned. At first, I thought it was a bear. It was as tall as one and covered in dark brown fur. It looked almost exactly like a bear, except for its head. Where a snout should be was a beak-like that of a duck. Where there should have been a flap of skin that bears have in place of a tail (survival training in a forested mountain range gave me this information) was a small tail of a beaver, which looked very out of place for the size of the bear.
Platypus Bear Level: 15
The screen popped into my vision just as I was wondering what the creature was. I knew this creature though, I had seen it before, or at least the concept of it. If this is what I think it is, then that means¡­ I stepped out from behind the tree and adopted a fighting stance. I simultaneously struck out with my arm and stomped my foot on the ground, just as it was done on the cartoon where I had seen a Platypus Bear. No rocks came up. Damn, I guess I¡¯ll try fire. I had to move quickly because my actions alerted the bear to my presence. The show was one of my favorites when I was younger, so I had spent a fair amount of time practicing all the moves. I was experienced in Judo and I knew some basics of other martial arts. I also knew that the bending styles were based on martial arts. I attempted a few fire punches toward the bear, but unfortunately, nothing happened. The Platypus Bear roared at me in warning and stood on its hind legs. It towered over me even from the distance between us. I tried a couple wind kicks and still nothing happened. I should have done this behind cover. I need some water. I took my backpack off and grabbed my canteen. It was on top of all my other equipment since I had been using it to drink from during my hike. Too bad, it was too late. The Platypus Bear rushed toward me with incredible speed. My ability kicked in as I watched it and I gathered a little information on its intent. As it reached me, it stood up and took a huge swipe at me. As a wild animal, the attack was telegraphed, so I knew where the attack was coming from, but it was so quick, I wasn¡¯t able to read it swiftly enough. Its massive paw slammed into my arm and I went flying away. I thought that I would be dead, but I found myself quite lucid as I sailed through the air, then I hit a tree. I blanked out for a moment, but it must have only been for a fraction of a second. As I came to, I was lying on the ground in a short ditch created from my body impacting the soft forest soil and the tree I struck was falling and crumbling. There was a splintery hole in the middle of the trunk where I struck it, and with that hole, the rest of the wood couldn¡¯t support the tree. I scrambled to my feet and ran to get out of the way, so I wasn¡¯t crushed by the tree as it fell. I didn¡¯t even think about how I could get up after being struck by an eight or nine-foot-tall bear and then flying through a tree and sliding across the ground. I should have a broken arm from the bear or a broken back from the tree. Hell, I should be pulp from hitting that tree. As I ran from the falling tree, the Platypus Bear confronted me once again. As soon as it saw me, it stood up on its haunches and took another swipe at me. Either it was slower this time, or my power had learned a little bit, but I read its movement quicker and I was able to duck and roll out of the way. Sure, I didn¡¯t die from the first hit, or from flying through a tree, but I was going to feel this a little later and I didn¡¯t want to make it worse.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. As I sprang up from my roll, I was right next to the towering bear. I roundhouse kicked it behind the leg and it began to topple backward. The bear flailed its arm out as it fell and I grabbed onto its arm and pivoted to use its mass and already growing momentum to hurl it over my shoulder. The Platypus Bear flew and spun in the air, twisting uncontrollably as it struck the branches of a nearby tree. The tree didn¡¯t stand a chance as it turned everything it touched into pulp. It fell slowly through the branches and as it landed on earth, the ground rumbled from its weight. I could see a small branch had pierced its hide, but the bear didn¡¯t seem to care, it just looked at me as it stood, then roared even louder than before. Honestly, I was more stunned that I flipped the giant bear creature over my shoulder and into the branches of one of the trees than I was at it standing up. The normal laws of physics and what I would usually consider normal were long gone. It didn¡¯t surprise me that the Platypus Bear stood up because I had just been hit so hard I flew through a tree. I looked around quickly for my pack so I could get my machete out, but I couldn¡¯t see it and with the now enraged bear looming over me, I didn¡¯t want to take too long looking for it. I pulled my knife off my belt and flipped it around to hold it in a reverse grip. I moved forward to press the attack; I didn¡¯t want to give it the chance to rest. As I was in range, it reared back to swipe at me with its paw. As it swiped down, I dove forward and rolled between it legs. During the dive, I swiped at its femoral artery and hoped that I struck deep enough to sever the flow of blood. I pivoted around, preparing to jump on the bear and plunge my knife into the back of its neck. Just as I completed my turn, the back of its massive, furry paw slammed into my head. I had an interesting sensation of confusedly cartwheeling through the air. Then I hit a rock. This is getting redundant. I slammed into the rock on my side. My arm had been flailing so it was up when I struck and it absorbed the impact between my head and the rock. I was certain that I would have died if it wasn¡¯t there because I felt a sickening crunch inside my shoulder as I slammed into the rock. I probably would have heard it too, but my ears were already ringing from the bear¡¯s strike to my head. I slid down the rock and landed in a painful heap on the ground before it. There was too much crap in this forest for a fight, I was already missing the time when I would fall into some nice soft water after flying through the air. I wiggled my toes, which let me know that my legs weren¡¯t broken, and then I used my good arm to lift myself off the ground. As I stood, my vision swirled like tie-dyed paint in a bucket and I had to kneel back down. I placed my hand on the firm ground to help steady my equilibrium and gave silent thanks that the bear didn¡¯t finish me off. Why didn¡¯t it finish me off? As I opened my eyes, I received the answer to my question. My slice to the bear¡¯s artery did more damage than I expected. It appeared that the bear was unable to use that leg and as the last light of the sun dipped below the mountain range, I could see a glint off the large amount of blood in its wake. The Platypus Bear was slowly hobbling and crawling toward me, but even though it was injured, it still had murder in its eyes. I looked around for my knife, so I could have a weapon to kill it with before it got to me, but I couldn¡¯t see it anywhere. After my flying cartwheel adventure, there was no telling where it could be. On top of that, my pack wasn¡¯t near me either so I would have to kill this beast with my bare hands. Ha¡­bear hands. Luckily, my arm was already starting to feel better. I made a mental note to really check out those screens that kept popping up in my vision as soon as I could. I would be mad at myself if there were information in them that could have helped me end this fight quicker. Although I really wanted to get to the car quickly to get my phone and be able to drive to civilization. But all that went through my mind swiftly and I focused on the problem in front of me. How am I going to kill this bear? I quickly thought about choking it out like the Dread Pirate Roberts did the giant Fezzik, but then I remembered the bears claws that could easily rend flesh. I thought about staying away from it until it bled out, but seeing as how my shoulder was already starting to feel better, I didn¡¯t want to take the risk of the bear getting better too. Thinking of my arm, it¡¯s pretty useless and I couldn¡¯t do the first idea or really anything else with it. Guess I¡¯ll have to kick it to death. I grit my teeth to control the pain in my arm and I rushed to the bear that was slowly making its way to me. It saw me coming and growled. Balancing on its good leg and opposite arm, it took a swing at me. However, with the combination of my ability telling me what it was going to do, its injured body that limited its attacks, and the fact that I was going to its other side, the swing wasn¡¯t even close. I went to the arm it used to prop itself off the ground and struck out with a straight kick to its elbow. Its elbow was crushed in one blow. It came crashing down hard to the ground. I was already running around its back so it couldn¡¯t see me as it tried to rise. By the time it was precariously balanced on its one remaining arm and leg, I kicked and shattered its other arm. As soon as its head struck the ground, I started stomping on the Platypus Bear¡¯s bill and head. I started with one foot to make sure it didn¡¯t try to bite me, but I was soon standing atop its colossal head jumping up and down with wild abandon like a rabid monkey. I didn¡¯t stop until I was infused with the warm glow that indicated I killed the bear and I leveled up from the process. It was a good thing I leveled from killing the Platypus Bear because I don¡¯t know how long I would have kept going if I didn¡¯t; I was in the zone. The warm glow of powering up filled my body and even made my arm feel better. I checked the damage and found that while it was still mangled and broken, I could move my fingers a little. I decided to get my pack before I looked for my knife since I had a flashlight and I needed a drink of water, and just as I got to my pack and was about to put it on, a screech from the sky pierced the silent forest. Chapter 7 I looked around quickly to find the source of the screech. I heard it again, but I couldn¡¯t find where it was coming from, so I continued what I was doing. After securing my pack, I went back to the forest to try to find my knife. It was easy to find where I was initially struck by the Platypus Bear; I just went to its corpse and followed the trail of blood back. Once I got back to the spot, I didn¡¯t even need my flashlight because I found my knife lying on the ground. I must have dropped it right when I got hit. The snap of a small branch sounded a short distance into the woods. I took off at a run, unwilling in my current state to find out what it was. Just as I made it to the small pathway I had previously been walking on, I was struck hard on my side. Whatever hit me was massive, and I hit the packed dirt and slid a good ten yards off the path and into the pine needle covered ground. My face burned from sliding across the ground, and I received a mouthful of dirt and pine. Before I could even recover from the tackle- I was still lying face down in ground- a deep, gravelly howl bellowed out from behind me. This has to be the worst day ever! I didn¡¯t even want to get up and see what it was because, as I quickly thought about it, there were only two option; Bad and worse, wolf or werewolf. I wasn¡¯t feeling too lucky either, so I just prepared for the worst and thanks to that, I wasn¡¯t disappointed. I rolled to the side so I could see without getting up, and low and behold, a goddamn werewolf. As I laid on the ground, it towered over me. Its head and foreface were pointed to the sky as it howled into the night. It was a scene straight out of a horror movie. A dark grey fur covered its body, from the wolf-like feet to the top of its pointy ears. The werewolf¡¯s arms were half raised at its side displaying long, pointed black claws that put the Platypus Bear¡¯s to shame. The only part of the monster that wasn¡¯t covered in fur ¨C at least as far as I could tell ¨C was the parts covered in torn and dirty jeans. How the hell did a werewolf get out of here anyway? Forget it. Analyze.
Werewolf ¨C J. Black Level: ??
What do question marks mean? Nothing popped up to answer my question, which was unfortunate. I was hoping that whatever happened and whatever these screens were could give me some type of inside information once I got around to looking at it. Although, the way this day was going, it seemed like I would never get to do that. I moved my hand to get up and the werewolf¡¯s head swung to me with a snarl. I didn¡¯t bother to get up any further; I just reached behind me and whipped my machete out. I swung at its legs and it jumped back to avoid getting hit. I used that moment to get all the way off the ground while still keeping the pointy edge of my weapon at the mythological creature. I heard a screech behind me and the werewolf lunged forward. I jumped to the side as it moved. A crash of two bodies met only inches from where I had been. I hit the ground and immediately spun around and into a fighting stance. Fighting and rolling around on the ground in a miasma of limbs and blood was the werewolf and a large grey creature with two sets of leathery wings protruding from its back. I focused on it and analyzed.
Nosferatu ¨C Prince of Darkness Level: ??
You have got to be shitting me. I didn¡¯t know what to do, so I just stood there as the werewolf and the vampire fought. Neither seemed to be gaining any advantage in the fight; Nosferatu was smaller, quicker and surprisingly a little bit stronger than the werewolf, but the werewolf just kept healing from any damage it sustained. The two monsters continued to fight, it began to take them away from my position, and I lost sight of them for a minute in the darkness and dense trees. I sheathed my machete and started to run in the opposite direction. I wasn¡¯t going to take a chance with either of these two creatures as I did with the Platypus Bear. I would also rather take my chances in the wild or at least the wild during the day. Based on the danger I had already experienced after the sun went down, I decided to try to find some shelter. I only had to change my running trajectory a little to start heading up into the mountains. I was looking for any type of cave that I could stay in for the night. I lost track of time as I continued to run and search. The sky grew increasingly dark, the canopy of trees grew thicker and the ground steeper. Finally, I turned around a sharp angle of a ledge and found a cave that seemed deep enough to stay in. I didn¡¯t take any chances though and immediately grabbed my flashlight and machete. I walked into the cave to make sure it was clear of any other creatures. The cave went about fifteen meters back, large enough for another animal to live there, but it didn¡¯t have any side tunnels and there were no signs of other animals.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I walked back to the front and became confused as it seemed I was at the end of the cave again. I turned around and walked to what I thought was the back and the cave went deep into the mountain with no end in sight. Then, I was confronted with a screen that popped up in my face.
You entered the Hadaji dungeon. Begin Quest: Clear the dungeon, defeat the boss, and collect the rewards. Good luck! - Warning- Exiting the dungeon is not allowed until quest completion -
¡°DAMNIT!¡± I yelled and stomped my foot on the ground. ¡°Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.¡± Yelling didn¡¯t help my situation, but it sure made me feel better. My voice echoed off the rock walls and continued to reverberate into the darkness. I didn¡¯t wait for it to stop, I quickly went back to the entrance and felt around to see if there was any chance of escape. I wasn¡¯t going to trust whatever the hell was happening to the world. Unfortunately, it was no use and I couldn¡¯t find anything. It was as if there hadn¡¯t even been an entrance there. I turned off my flashlight and let the darkness creep around me. I was exhausted and I could feel it. I sat down on the ground and leaned my back against the rocky wall, wiggling it around until I found and semi-comfortable spot. Everything I had seen so far reminded me of a mix between a fantasy novel and a video game, and if I tucked that knowledge away inside a box in my head, I could deal with it. I had read novels where the protagonist was transported to another world, but it didn¡¯t seem like that had happened. There were some familiar elements of the previous world mixed in, such as the landscape or even my footprints in the dirt. What was up with the monsters? Some of them were straight out of earth legends and even television shows. It was like realities merged, but that would just be ridiculous. It was pointless thinking about how this happened; I would just have to make it through this dungeon and then get back to the car and my phone. I decided to look through these screens while I had a moment to myself. Hopefully, this dungeon would be a little like the video games I¡¯ve played and I should be generally safe right by the entrance. I swear this world has it out for me because just as I opened the screen up, I could hear the sound of something slithering across the dirt floor. It didn¡¯t really matter anyway because I couldn¡¯t see my screen. Apparently, there needed to be some semblance of light to see, and I was sitting in a dark cave without access to any. This fact made me seriously consider what type of creature was currently slithering toward me. I flipped on my flashlight and immediately wished I hadn¡¯t. What came toward me was a nightmare fueled Nope Rope of the highest magnitude. It was pale white from living without sun, but neon orange pinstripes were running down the length of its body. It had a black, forked tongue that was abnormally large and constantly flicking around to scan the area. Where its eyes should have been were two squiggly antennae, which constantly moved like its black tongue. Unlike a normal snake that slithered with its muscles, this abomination was covered is a viscous sheen and left a slimy trail were it went. I shuddered with revulsion as it slowly moved toward me, unperturbed by the light. I didn¡¯t really want to know, but I analyzed it to find out what I was dealing with and how strong it was.
Baby Cave Wyrm Level 3
I could deal with that. I didn¡¯t know what level I was because this creature showed up right when I was checking, but based on my energy spikes, I should be at least this level. I was glad to finally have a monster that was comparable to my level, although the baby part was worrisome. I dismissed the screen and grabbed my machete. Just as I reached my pack and prepared to unsheathe it, I could see more shapes moving at the edges of the light. They slithered out of dark holes and into the light. Some dropped from the ceiling and others protruded from the sidewalls like gooey anemones that wriggled around aimlessly. After flapping momentarily, they flopped out of the wall and plopped to the ground with a wet squelch, then moved toward me. I quickly lobbed off the head of the first wyrm I saw. The front half of its body had been sticking up as it scanned the air with its tongue and eyeball antennas. I killed two more in a similar fashion and then as I spun to strike one that was grotesquely wriggling out of a hole, I slipped on the thick slime they all left behind. Even with the rough souls of my combat boots that were made for traversing difficult terrain, my feet flew out from under me and my head struck the ground hard. A wyrm plopped on the ground right next to my head. It sensed my presence, turned to me and opened its mouth wide. I could see dozens of sharp teeth lining its mouth and dripping with a clear fluid. It lunged and I sat up just in time. Its mouth dug into the ground where my head had been. I swung my machete back and killed it instantly. My light shined on another wyrm in front of me and it leaped directly at my face. I could read its movements and new it was going to attack there, but I only had time to drop my machete and grab it. My hands clasped the wyrm just behind its head, but the slime coating its body caused it to slide through my grasp. I dug my nails into it and it was only centimeters from my face before it stopped. The smell of rancid meat assaulted my nostrils as it snapped its mouth open and closed in a vain attempt to bite me. I dropped my flashlight to grasp it better, then crushed it under my boot. I almost slipped again as I stood, so I carefully grabbed my machete and flashlight before surveying the area. There were still more coming out of the walls and they made the area slippery, but they were weak and didn¡¯t seem to know where I was unless I was close. Chapter 8 I held my machete out in front of me and slowly moved forward. I made sure to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground so I didn¡¯t inadvertently slip. I moved slowly toward the nearest wyrm and as soon as it registered my presence, I killed it with a simple swipe that chopped it in two. I moved back to my starting position and repeated the process on the next closest wyrm, and then I did it a third time. I wanted to make sure I knew the safe distance to stay from these creatures even without the help of my power. Once I was sure of the distance, I set about slaughtering every single one of those foul Nope Ropes. As I kept slowly and methodically killing them, the wyrms kept spewing from the walls. I expected to get tired from the ordeal, similar to when I killed the Sand Murks, but it seemed like the more wyrms I slew, the more energetic I felt. It could have been that I was taking my time, so I wasn¡¯t using up as much energy in the slaughter, but I felt that there was a different reason. However, I wouldn¡¯t be able to get the answer until I was in a safe place where I could look through the infamous screens in my vision. With no light but that of my moving flashlight, I had no idea how much time had passed. The ground was covered in slick wyrm mucous, blood and severed bodies. Then, as I chopped another wyrm in half and moved to the next, I noticed that there were no more. Yet I stayed in fighting position, breathing calmly and listening for any other sounds. When no other sounds or threats emerged, I decided that I killed them all and moved to grab my backpack. Once I had all my gear, I slowly shuffled through the viscous mess of multiple fluids until I passed it and I could walk normally. I stopped and shone my light down the long tunnel to see how far it went, but the light ended before the cavern did. I hoped that I could find a spot to rest and sleep because once I passed the wyrms, my adrenaline dropped and I was exhausted. After a few minutes of slowly walking and constantly scanning the area, the path started slowly bending to the right. I continued walking along in the nearly complete darkness. The shadows on the wall in constant flux from my passing. Eventually, my legs grew weary and my feet began to shuffle and scrap on the ground. Luckily, I didn¡¯t encounter any creatures for a while and I was able to take a moment to grab some food from my pack to eat as I walked. I gutted as many MRE¡¯s as I could when I left my campsite, just to be safe, but I hadn¡¯t expected to not make it to the car. I eventually started to notice a faint glow that my eyes quickly started adjusting to, and it seemed to be peaking around the corner of the sharp turn in the narrow cavern. I quickly peaked around the corner to make sure it was safe and it was, so I stepped around the corner. I found myself in a literal crossroads. The path before me split into three directions - a path right in front of me, and one to each side. The side paths both angled off in what appeared to be perfect ninety-degree angles and they even appeared to be abnormally straight, which made me think they were manmade. In addition, I was able to see all this because of the glow, which I had seen coming down the hall. The glow came from a large crystal that was hanging in the center of the crossroad. The crystal glowed a bright green, but the light it gave off was much more subdued. The crossroads and my body were awash in the pleasing light and I actually felt calm underneath it. As I looked down each of the hallways in turn, I could only see darkness since the soft green glow didn¡¯t pierce the darkness too far. I closed my eyes to see if I could use any of my other senses for an indication of the best way to go, but there was nothing. No breeze or flowing air. No distant sounds. No random smells. I would just have to choose the path randomly. Even though I knew this whole dungeon was dangerous, I felt like I could relax a little while in the light. I took my pack off and set it down then I unclipped my rifle, dropped the magazine and the chambered round. I sat down and leaned on my bag as I inspected my rifle the best I could in the low light. When I was hit by the werewolf, my rifle tumbled with me and I was worried about its functionality. There was a small chip on the upper handguard, but other than that, it looked fine. I did a full functions check, reloaded my dropped round in the magazine, then inserted the magazine and chambered a round. I was red hot.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. I adjusted my sling to be able to wear my rifle at the ready from now on. I put it on even though I was still sitting down, just to be ready. I decided to take the time to look through the infamous screens that kept popping up. I leaned into my pack a little more and I could feel one of the magazines digging in my back, but it wasn¡¯t too bad. My breathing eased a little bit and just as I was about to pull up the screen, my eyes closed. I was exhausted and I had no idea how long it was since I slept. I just stayed like that for a moment to let the exhaustion seep out of my eyes. I jerked awake. The hairs on the back of my neck tingled and I had goosebumps all over my arms. Had I been asleep? Whether I had been asleep or not, adrenaline coursed through my veins. I stood quickly and scanned the area with my rifle. None of my senses observed danger, but for some reason, I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling. I silently scanned the area for a long moment before the feeling went away and I started to feel calm again. I sat back down and leaned against my bag. While I was no longer on edge, the desire to sleep had left me. I opened my screen to look through all the notifications and to gather more information, but then the light in the ceiling went out, along with my feeling of calm. I jumped up quickly, scanning the area and ready for attack. As soon as I moved the crystal at the top of the cave lit back up and I was awash in the soft green glow that made me feel calm. The light was making me feel calm. I looked at it a little closer and then it once again went out. There was a sound like an emptying drain where the crystal had been, but I couldn¡¯t see anything since the area was plunged into darkness. I instinctively raised my rifle and began to fire in the direction of the crystal. I silently hoped that this wasn¡¯t a bad idea since I was in such an enclosed space. I didn¡¯t want to be struck by a ricochet. In the light of the flashing muzzle, I could tell that the crystal was no longer present. There was just a deep black hole with moist walls that glinted in the orange light. I ran out of ammo and dropped the magazine. I reached back to grab another, but I paused as some type of danger sense flared up. Perhaps a residual ability had manifested from the other power I¡¯d been using to read enemy movements. The ability that was like my dad¡¯s, which I thought was useless. There was an attack coming and I raised my rifle in an attempt to block whatever was coming. My rifle was hit hard and I was forced to my knees from the pressure. Whatever hit me clamped down on my rifle and pulled me up. I had my sling up and was jerked upward toward where I knew there was now a hole. I only went up a foot or two before the pull stopped and I found myself dangling in the air. Then whatever was attacking me started to shake and jerk me up and down, along with my rifle. When I reached the top of the pull, my head slammed into whatever monster was holding my rifle. Its head was rock hard and slick with either water or slime. Whatever the substance was, it smelled of mildew and rotten almonds. When I fell from the monster attempting to jerk its prize up again, I was caught in my sling and it dug into my back and armpits. Then I went up again and slammed into the creature. ¡°Gah!¡± Was all I could say as it happened repeatedly. I inwardly lamented the superior craftsmanship of my sling as I was flung up and down. Luckily, after a while, I was able to slightly mitigate the strain on my body by predicting the ebb and flow of the jerking. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t do anything about my head continuously slamming into the creature that was flinging me up and down like a puppet on a string. Then I heard the clink of metal breaking and I fell to the ground hard. My head stung from slamming into the rock. My danger sense flared and I tried to raise my arms to protect myself. The most intense bout of pins and needles struck my arms and I was unable to move them. My rifle slammed into my face then and I was unable to tell which sensation was worse. My danger sense told me to roll to the side and thankfully, I was able to accomplish that. The stone cracked and the ground rumbled as the unknown monster slammed into the space I had just been. I fumbled for my knife on my belt and with numb fingers, I was able to get it out. I struck out in the direction on the monster and my blade sunk in. I was still on my back when I stabbed the monster, having just rolled around to stab it. I had used both hands to stab and after my blade sunk in, I found myself being jerked up once more, but this time it was because the monster was in pain. My knife was dislodged from the creature, but I didn¡¯t drop it, and I fell about a foot to the ground. I had no idea how high I had been though, so it was a slightly terrifying experience. I once again felt the need to dodge, but I didn¡¯t even have time to move and I was swallowed whole. Chapter 9 I could feel wet, slimy muscles push me down into what I could only assume was the gullet of the creature. My arms were pinned to my side and I was covered in sticky mucus. I still had my knife in my hand and I struck out as much as I could. My knife found purchase, but the muscles continued to bulge and push me down. After a few more waves of muscle, the swath of damage my knife produced must have been noticed because it abruptly stopped. Suddenly, the muscles started to ripple quickly, and then a large wave of the muscles pushed me in the opposite direction. The process happened again and I had to tighten my grip to keep the knife from being dislodged. I felt the ripple of the muscles a third time, but there was no large wave to push me back. The creature was probably trying to throw me back up, but my knife was hurting it either way. I wasn¡¯t going to wait for it to decide what to do with me, so I dug my life in a little further. The esophagus or intestines - or wherever I was - trembled. I was able to keep digging my knife deeper and I made a little bit of space and leverage for me to spin toward the opening. I dragged the knife up slowly, turning the previous laceration I made into a larger gash. Once my arm was bent at a ninety-degree angle and I was able to push my knife deeper, I did so. The muscles shivered and rippled, gaining intensity until a large muscly wave, swiftly followed by gushing bodily fluids pushed me in the direction I entered. I was spit from the creature and struck with terrifying vertigo, as it seemed like I was suspended in the air. In that split second, I feared that I was going to fall to my doom. The fear left as I felt something press against my back and I realized that I was sliding. My slide slowed as my trajectory leveled out. I felt around the area I was in and only touched smooth, slimy rock that curved around into a tunnel that was about four feet in diameter. I sat up slowly, careful not to hit my head on the low hanging ceiling. As I was spinning around to try and gain some purchase and decide which way to go, I was struck hard in my side. I folded around the source of the impact, which I assumed was the same creature that swallowed me. I could feel myself being pushed along the tunnel by the creatures head and I knew this because I could feel its mouth. I twisted my body to face the creature as it continued to push me along the tunnel. I struck out with my knife, which I thankfully didn¡¯t drop. The creature filled up a large portion of the tunnel, so I didn¡¯t have a lot of space to attack it. Still, I stabbed at it repeatedly, with the first couple attempts glancing off harmlessly from it hardened hide. As I continued trying, because there wasn¡¯t much else I could do, I noticed that there were softer portions of its skin where my blade sunk in deeper. I didn¡¯t think about it while it was happening, I kept expecting to fall out of the hole back into the area I was swallowed from, but we just kept sliding along the tunnel. Eventually, the creature started to slow, but I didn¡¯t stop stabbing it. Eventually it stopped, yet still, I didn¡¯t stop stabbing it. I couldn¡¯t see the glow, but I could feel the warmth and some of the energy returning to me, indicating that the creature was dead, so I stabbed it some more. Eventually, I stopped stabbing¡­eventually. After I stopped, I sheathed my knife, which took me a minute due to the confined space and the fact that I was covered in gods knows what. My body was so inundated and covered in different types of mold, slime, and other body fluids that my nose stopped working, and I was thankful for the reprieve. After a quick rest to catch my breath and gather my strength, I started to crawl in the direction I believed was where I had come. The crawl was slow and monotonous. The small tunnel was surprisingly uniform, at least to the touch. It was smooth and covered in a mixture of some kind of slime or moss, it was hard to tell in the dark, but it made getting any type of traction problematic. My arms and legs kept slipping out from under me on level surfaces and occasionally there were slight rises and falls in the slope. Going down wasn¡¯t too hard, I just slid, but I was always worried about striking something or falling while I did it. Going up was the real challenge, and I had to claw my way up and sometimes use my knife for a better purchase. Regardless of how steep, I always had to take a rest at the top of a slope. After a particularly difficult slope, I crawled onward a few feet to make sure the ground leveled out and as I reached forward, I couldn¡¯t feel anything underneath my hand. I almost fell forward, but I still had three other points of contact that stopped me. After catching my breath, I slowly felt around the area. It seemed the tunnel made a sharp turn downward and at a steep angle. I continued to search around the area and I even tried to reach down the hole to see how far it went, hoping to find an edge that would indicate it was where I was swallowed. I checked around with my feet to see if there was another side of the hole, but I couldn¡¯t feel anything. Only one way to go. I attempted to lower myself slowly, but as soon as I tried to grab the opposite side of the wall to slowly lower myself down, my hands and feet slid easily down the sides. I only slid for a second before my feet, which had been braced uselessly on either side of the shaft were no longer touching the wall. Then my hands followed suit. I grit my teeth in fear while I prepared to buckle my legs and roll as soon as I felt anything solid, but almost as soon as my hands stopped touching the wall, my legs struck the ground. It was hard ground that didn¡¯t slip out from under me.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I checked my surroundings searching the ground first for my equipment that I dropped. I checked in concentric circles, getting wider each time I went around. I eventually encountered the wall and still didn¡¯t find my gear. After checking the perimeter of the area, I came to a worrying conclusion. I was in a different place than I had been. Unlike the previous area that had four paths, including the one I entered from, this area only had three. I was in a dungeon with no light, no food, only my knife for a weapon, and I had no idea where I was. Shit! ## I took a nap before I did anything else. At that point, I didn¡¯t really care if anything came upon me and ate me when I was asleep. After waking to a continued lack of any light, I checked to see if I could gain any type of idea of where to go. There were no indications that any path was better than another. With my hand running along the wall, I slowly moved forward. I walked in a dreamscape of internal nightmares. One where I tried to run through a lake of peanut butter while my target moved back like a teleporting ghost. It could have been for years, months, or days that I walked through the dream world, but in moments of lucidity, I knew it couldn¡¯t have been that long since I was still alive. My water source was with my pack and I knew that I would die of dehydration after a few days. I continued to live, but my throat was the surface of Mars. My stomach was the space between stars. My mind floated from the bowels of hell to the edge of time where heaven begins. What the hell am I talking about? I was pulled from my ceaseless trudge when I could suddenly see the outline of my hand along the rock wall. I looked around and sure enough, I could see outlines of rocks that were protruding from the cave walls. Although I could begin to see outlines, I couldn¡¯t discover the source of the light, but I knew that it could only be further forward. I readied my knife, just in case, and then continued down the path. Slowly everything became more visible. Then, after a few more minutes of walking, I could discern a glow coming from around a bend in the cave. It wasn¡¯t the glow of sunlight or even electric light, but the constant shifting and flickering of firelight. I quietly moved forward and hugged the wall. Before I came to the bend, I paused and peeked around. The small pathway I had been walking abruptly stopped just after the corner and opened up to a huge cavern. There was a lot I couldn¡¯t see, but I was looking at a city, a city filled with small, green and pointy-eared creatures. The city seemed to be carved out of the rock and resembled some of the Native American cities that had similar dwellings in the past. Each side of the cavern had three to four levels, depending on what was carved or built before. Each of the levels seemed to be a mixture of adobe, primitive construction material and carved out of the rock. There were many doors and what I assumed were windows all over the place, and almost every door had a small torch burning outside. It was a bustling little village with many of the small creatures walking around and moving between buildings. However, most of the movement was on the ground floor, which seemed like it might have been where all the craftsman might have been because sometimes a creature would go in a room empty-handed and come out with something, but it was more because of the number of creatures on the bottom. I analyzed the closest one.
Goblin ¨CLaborer Level 3
They were clearly a sentient species, but I didn¡¯t know how friendly they were. Therefore, I stayed in the shadows as I continued to observe them. After a couple of minutes, I noticed a closer area that I could get to and still be hidden by the shadows. Most of the goblins in the area were low-level workers, but I occasionally saw a goblin with a spear. When I saw the first one and analyzed it, I found that it was a level five soldier. The level wasn¡¯t an issue, but they probably had a lot more somewhere. I needed to figure out how to make it out of this place and I wanted to do it quickly and quietly. I also needed to find a secure place to look over my status screen. I wanted to do it right then and I could have, but I didn¡¯t want to risk not being aware of my surroundings in such a dangerous area. I moved quickly to the other area that was covered in shadows. I was close to a small protruding adobe hut that had been built on the ground floor. Once I was nestled in the shadows, I was happy to discover that there was a small gap between the hut and the cavern wall. It was a tight fit, but I squeezed my way through it so I could get to the other side and find a way to go from there. I was about halfway through the gap when I heard, ¡°Gubba Gubba Patubba,¡± or some shit like that coming from behind me. I turned and two goblin soldiers were standing at the gap¡¯s entrance. The first goblin had his spear pointed at me and sticking about a foot into the gap. The second just stood behind him glaring. ¡°Gubba,¡± the second goblin said. I heard movement from the direction I had been going and before I could react, I felt something pinch my neck. I tried to turn my head, but the pinch became a sharp stab. I reached up and pulled a small metal dart with a feathery red end out of my neck. Once it was dislodged, I was able to turn and I saw a third goblin, which was blocking my path and holding a blow dart gun to his face. My eyes unfocused and I felt nauseous for a moment as my head felt like it became too heavy for my neck. I tried to fight the feeling and I pressed my head to the cool rock wall that I was pushed up against. I was so tired and the cool rock felt good against my skin. I decided to just wait there for a minute, enjoy the feeling and maybe take a nap. Chapter 10 My mattress felt extremely hard and my pillow must have shifted in the night because it wasn¡¯t under my head. I felt around for it but couldn¡¯t find where it was. Why the hell is my mattress so hard? It felt like stone as I searched around for my pillow. My stationary arm was numb from laying on it, so I rolled onto my back. The mattress was still hard and something dug into my back. Is that flickering candlelight? With that thought, it all came rushing back and even with my eyes closed, I knew it wasn¡¯t candlelight, but a torch. I let out a deep breath and kept my eyes closed. I was hoping that I could just go back to sleep, but it remained elusive. I slowly opened my eyes to take in my surroundings. All I saw was roughly cut grey stone and fluctuating shadows. I would have to sit up to get a better view, but then my captors would know I was awake if they didn¡¯t already. I sat up to more roughly cut grey stone and fluctuating shadows. This was because I was facing the back of whatever space the goblins were holding me. I spun around to the opposite direction and to the light. My view was mostly more stone, but at least I had a few other things to look at. The space I was in was basically the end of a tunnel. Stripped branches of wood in a crisscross pattern and tied with some type of twine blocked any chance I had of leaving. On the right side was a small door that looked like it worked by lifting it up. Past the barrier and hanging on either side of the wall were two torches that were responsible for the limited light that I had. Most troubling though, right below both torches were Goblin Guards and they were glaring at me and I could tell by their postures that they were on edge and ready to move at a moments notice. Each guard held a long spear and I glanced at the space I had in my small prison. If I were pressed all the way back to the wall, they might not be able to reach me, but I didn¡¯t want to take that chance. I felt fine for the moment and decided to take the time to look through my menu screen, but just as I had the thought, a third goblin strode out of the darkness. My two guards instantly stood straighter and gripped their spears tighter. ¡°Gubba, Gubba Gubba,¡± the new goblin said. I wondered if it was my lack of language skills that made all their words sound the same, or if they did all sound the same and they just used inflection. The two guards responded similarly and then the new one turned to me. Most of the goblin workers I saw wore a dirty brown loincloth. The guards were comparable, the other differences were the spears or occasionally a sash or ripped shirt. This goblin wore a thick hooded robe that was a dark grey. ¡°I¡¯ll only ask this once, who are you, what are you doing here and are there any others with you?¡± It asked in surprisingly good English. His voice was squeaky from the tiny vocal cords most of his people must have. ¡°You know English?¡± I asked, stunned from his use of my language. ¡°I don¡¯t know what English is, but I speak the common tongue, which is fortunate for you, else you might be dead. Now answer my question.¡± As I sat there thinking about what to say, I took in my surroundings. I could probably break through those week wood bars that these goblins set up. At least if my fight with the Platypus Bear is concerned. I got stabbed in the shoulder. ¡°Oh, Fuck?¡± I looked at my shoulder and one of the guard¡¯s wooden spears was still sticking in there. I should have been freaked out, but the fact was; it didn¡¯t hurt that bad. I grabbed the spear and pulled in from the goblin¡¯s grasp and into the cell with me. I ripped it from my shoulder and spun it around, then quickly struck out at the two guards. I aimed at the guard that still had his own spear and then plunged my stolen one into his eye socket. The force of my attack broke through the backside of his head and the fountain of blood that erupted from his pierced skull extinguished the torch on the wall behind him. I stuck the other one in the neck, but he managed to lean back so the tip of the spear didn¡¯t break through to the other side. He still fell to the ground dead quicker than a punctured submarine. I started kicking through the wooden cage as the well-dressed Goblin turned to flee. At least I thought he was turning to flee. I did run back a few feet, but then he turned back at the edge of the shadows and I could see his arms moving around in an intricate pattern. I could also hear a low guttural chanting coming from his direction.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. I broke the last bar in my cell and rushed into the room with the goblin just as his hands lit up with fire and he hurled it right at my head. I read his movements prior to the throw and I dodged out of the way. It was a powerful attack though and I could feel the heat as it passed near my head. I dodged with a spin like a professional running back at sprinted in his direction. He was only able to squeak in fear at my speed. I didn¡¯t kill him though, I needed information, so I clutched him around the neck and lifted him off the ground. Analyze
Goblin Shaman Level 10
¡°Now, I¡¯ll only ask this once. How in the fuck do I get out of here?¡± ¡°Gack,¡± the Goblin Shaman said and I realized I was holding his neck too tightly, so I eased up a little. ¡°You shall never make it out of here you filthy creature! If you kill me, Rah¡¯men leader of the goblin clan, my subjects shall hunt you to the end of your days.¡± ¡°Your name is Rah¡¯men?¡± ¡°Yes! And if you don¡¯t release me-¡± ¡°So you¡¯re Goblin Shaman Rah¡¯men?¡± I asked, interrupting another rant and chuckling to myself a little. Goblin Shaman Rah¡¯men¡¯s eyes grew wide. ¡°You mock me? I will feed you to my God and he will rend your flesh for all eternity!¡± His hands lit up with fire and I crushed his neck to stop the attack. Damn, what do I do now? The melee was loud and I could already hear a commotion in the darkness of the cavern. I needed to get out of here. I flung the body of Goblin Shaman Rah¡¯men away like soggy noodles, grabbed the other guards spear and ran into the darkness since it was the only way to go. Hopefully, I could find another passageway so I wouldn¡¯t have to deal with any more goblins. I quickly came up to another torch hanging on the side of the hallway and standing in the center of the orange-red light was a group of about ten goblin soldiers. They were lined up across the small cavern path with their primitive wooden spears pointed in my direction. Standing behind the first line of goblin spear users was another goblin that seemed to be directing their actions and at the end of its spear was my knife. I was going to see if there was a way to get around this threat, but I wanted my knife. I rolled my shoulder to check the pain level from being stabbed and found that it was painless and when I looked down, it had even healed already. Sweet! I was about to run into the fight, but I hesitated and then decided to give them one more chance. I slowly stepped forward from the darkness and entered the sphere of light like an impregnating sperm. ¡°That¡¯s my knife,¡± I said, pointing toward the weapon in question. ¡°I want it back.¡± I stared at the goblin that held the spear it was attached to. He had an extra sash of cloth draped across his chest. I guess this made him more important than the others so I hoped that he could understand me. ¡°Gubba patubba,¡± he said and the goblin guard second to the left slowly moved forward. I guess he didn¡¯t understand. I waited for the goblin guard to move a little closer. Only sending one guard forward was a severe tactical mistake. I would allow me to strike without worrying about the others and it opened a hole in their line. I was glad that I didn¡¯t just run in there attacking, this was going to make getting past them that much easier. I stayed still as the goblin moved forward. When he was about half the distance from where he had been to me, I rushed in to attack. My movement was swift and I only needed to take a single step forward to plunge the spear deep into the head of the goblin. With my speed and momentum, the spear pierced through its brain and protruded from the other side. I lifted the back end of the spear and dug the tip into the ground. With my momentum and the springy wood of the spear, I vaulted over the goblin corpse and into the open space it left behind. I slid along the stone for a couple feet like Jet Li did once upon a time in China. Once I stopped, I twirled and struck with the other spear I was holding. I aimed at the line of goblin spearmen who had barely even reacted. My aim was true and my spear shish-ka-bobbed three of the goblins right through the cranium. Whether there wasn¡¯t enough force or the spear wasn¡¯t long enough, it didn¡¯t protrude from the third goblin¡¯s head. Fortunately, the third goblin¡¯s head did knock into the fourth one and all the goblins except the one on my other side and the one with my knife fell in a heap. I grabbed the one that was on the opposite side of the heap ¨C the one on the other side of me when I landed ¨C and I twirled him around by his pointy ears and launched him at the one with my knife at the end of his spear. I picked up the spear he dropped as I grabbed him by the ears and stabbed them all until I was sure they were dead. I looked down at the creatures laying in holey pile over an expanding pool of blood. The Goblins were sapient creatures and I just slaughter some of them without blinking. That was easier then I was led to believe. If the experience left any permanent psychological damage, I decided to deal with it later. I grabbed the spear with my knife and decided to leave it attached for now since it was secured firmly on the stick. I then grabbed one the torches off the wall so I wouldn¡¯t be running around the dark anymore. It¡¯s time to see where this rabbit hole leads. Chapter 11 Where does the rabbit hole lead? Right back to a whole village of goblins. I may have been okay with killing those warriors, but slaughtering a goblin village was completely different. It wasn¡¯t long until I reached the first such village. I actually had a strong suspicion that it was the same village I had tried to sneak past originally, but it could have just been me imagining things since everything seemed similar. I decided to do the opposite this time of what I attempted last time. Instead of trying to sneak through, I decided that I would stroll confidently through the center. It actually worked. I think they were all just too stunned and scared to do anything. As soon as I stepped into the light and I was seen, everything just stopped. It was more like a wave of people stopping what they were doing than an instantaneous stop, but it was quick and I felt impressive, but highly embarrassed at the same time, like I was about to give a speech. Don¡¯t chicken out now. I stood as straight and tall as I could and started to walk right down the center of the village. They all parted for me as I walked. I tried to exude an air of confidence, but I made sure to constantly check my surroundings for danger. I noticed a few guards that weren¡¯t as stunned with my passing as the others and they were surreptitiously whispering to other guards while eyeballing be. I could take these two guards, but I had no idea how many might come to their aid, and since I was surrounded by other types of goblins, I didn¡¯t want to be mobbed. It was while observing one of these moments that I noticed another cave passageway at the side of the goblin town. I didn¡¯t think that the guards would let me walk all the way through this large cavern dwelling so I decided to go to the nearest exit that I could. From the edge of my vision, I saw them waving to some other guards down the length of the city and was doubly glad I decided to turn. As soon as I did turn, the guards I had been watching moved into action at my unexpected turn. As soon as they reacted, so did I. I rushed toward the town¡¯s exit and into the small passageway. The passageway was small for me, but it would be large for the diminutive goblins. Then again, I could still use it like a funnel and kill any that come after me. First though, I needed to know where it led as having them surround me would not be good. The heat of the torch licked my face as I trotted down the twisting hallways. Unfortunately, when I say down, I meant it because it was consistently on a slight downslope. After a few minutes of travel, I came to a set of rough-hewn stairs that led even further down into the gloom. I pondered it for a moment while the only sound came from the burning of the torch. I didn¡¯t know how long the torch would last, nor where this tunnel led. If I stayed here though, it would just be more goblins. However, if I didn¡¯t ¡°clear¡± the dungeon, I would be stuck in it forever. Unfortunately, I had no idea what the message prompt meant by ¡°clear¡±. I still hadn¡¯t even checked my status yet. I almost forgot about it. The light of an advancing torch started to creep around the corner of the cavern¡¯s passage. I was out of time, I could kill these goblins now, or go down the stairs and either kill them at the bottom or continue to flee. I decided to see what was at the bottom of the stairs first. If there are too many and they push me back, I will be forced to fight them on the stairs. Then, they will have the high ground and I know what happens when you don¡¯t have the high ground. I like my arms and legs, thank you very much. With that, I headed deeper into the dungeon and the unknown depths. After only a few paces, the steps became much rougher and it caused my progress to slow. It seemed that the small stair passageway was becoming more minuscule and I was forced to hunch over as I walked. It also started to become steeper. Another good intentioned, bad decision. Damn!This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I was holding the torch in front of me so I could see where I was going to step next, but I didn¡¯t see anywhere to go. My only choice was to go back and face the goblins, but I would be at a disadvantage. I would have to hack my way through who knows how many in an enclosed uphill fight. As I turned, I could see a small goblin blocking my path. He had a bandana around his head and his fists and wrists were wrapped in cloth. The goblin stood in a fighting stance with his hands clenched tight. ¡°Looks like you brought fists to a spear fight,¡± I said and prepared to strike. The goblin lifted his leg and slammed his foot onto the ground. A cracking sound echoed through the enclosed space and my left leg fell away as the ground underneath it did the same. A moment later, my right leg followed suit and I dropped the torch to reach out and grab the nearest ledge I could. The goblin slammed his foot down again and the small ledge I was holding crumbled away. As I fell down into the darkness, following the small pin of light caused by my torch, I was only capable of thinking one thing. Did that goblin just earth bend on me? Whether it did or not, didn¡¯t really matter as I fell into the darkness. Once more, I felt that this was the end of my life, but after just a moment of falling in the pitch-black cave, I was surrounded by a luminous blue glow. I continued to fall and the blue glow quickly shifted positions. The light sped past my vision and I could suddenly see a vast underground ecosystem spread out before my eyes with what looked like a glowing forest. Of course there could be place like this. Well, Jules Verne, eat your heart out. While I didn¡¯t have much control over my body while it was in freefall, I was able to slightly twist and I could see the source of the light came from the top of the massive cavern I was falling through. The top of the cavern was covered in blue crystals that blazed with light. The cavern I was falling through was huge in its expanse, but the ceiling itself wasn¡¯t that high. Still, as I looked down to the rushing ground beneath me, I was glad to see that I was falling into a massive lake. Then I remembered that a fall into water from a great height is just as deadly as the ground. Then I saw a pirate ship¡­and an octopus? Then I slammed into the water. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t hurt as bad as I thought, which made sense. I could be stabbed or thrown through a tree and still be okay, so I had to be extremely tough. Also, I didn¡¯t drop my spear as I fell or slammed into the water. The water was bitterly cold and it surrounded me in its suffocating chill. As soon as the cold hit me, I immediately started to swim upward toward the light and surface. I broke the surface with a huge breath. I hadn¡¯t been holding my breath for that long, but my chest was so tight from the icy water that it was a relief to get some air and expand my chest. I quickly looked around to gain my bearing. I could already feel my extremities losing feeling. I didn¡¯t want to take too long to get my blood flowing, so I decided to move to the nearest object I could find, which was the pirate ship. I started to paddle to the area, but trying to swim while holding on to a spear is difficult. Luckily, my boots were buoyant but it was still a challenge. I had to quickly move to a side paddling position but that didn¡¯t work well either. It didn¡¯t generate much warmth, so I flipped onto my back and then I started to move quicker. I focused on the ceiling as I kicked my legs for propulsion and warmth. Crystals of many different sizes and shapes completely covered every square inch. Not only did they produce a cool blue light, but they also sparked in some spots, flickering between a darker blue and almost white. I looked back to see how much more distance I had to cover. I was generating some heat, but it wasn¡¯t enough to ward off the cold. My fingers were going numb and it was a struggle to continue to hold onto my spear. At least I got a bath. And I¡¯m not being attacked. I continued to kick and thought about my fall. It was crazy that there is a forest down there, and I wondered how a pirate ship got down there, but I hoped that it meant there was a way out. As I thought about an exit, a dark shadow lifted from the water to my right like a pillar. It was then that I remembered the octopus I had seen while falling. I kicked a little harder but it didn¡¯t mean much as the tentacle wrapped around my body and crushed me in its grip. The air was squeezed from my lungs as I was lifted higher in the air. I was spun more as the tentacle continued to wrap around me. Soon I was facing down and I got a clear look at the creature whose grasp I was in. Chapter 12 The octopus that I had previously seen while falling into the cavern had me in its clutches and I now had a much more intimate look at it. I couldn¡¯t see it entirely but it was obvious that the creature was enormous, ginormous even. The tentacle was as thick as my body and it crushed me as I was wrapped up in it. Its tentacle suction cups were ranged in size from my fist to my head; one was actually stuck to the side of my head, which is unfortunately how I knew the dimensions. It smelled like rotten fish and left a viscous slime at the edges. Its skin was a mottled green and purple and the green parts had a slight sparkle at certain angles. I could only see a portion of the creature¡¯s massive head and body since most of it was still underneath the dark water. The creature''s face was scarred with one of its eyes a milky white indicating blindness, but the other was focused on me. The tentacle slowly moved me toward its eyes and the point where I assumed its beak was just under the water. I imagined the octopus¡¯s beak snapping open and closed loudly and its tongue prodding the ridge in anticipation of its meal. Unfortunately, for this creature, it didn¡¯t know this meal bites back. I still had the spear in my grip and even though one of the tentacle rolls I was in kept me from moving my arm. I hoped that the octopus couldn¡¯t eat me while I was wrapped up. Once I was positioned above its head, it slowly started to unravel my body from its crushing grip. I spun as I was unwrapped and when my arm was freed from the vice-like grip, I was looking at the glowing blue crystals of the ceiling. I prepared my spear to stab or throw. When I was turned to face it I would strike out at its good eye and repeat the attack until it let me go. Then I would be able to escape since it wouldn¡¯t be able to see me. I make the best plans! Just as I was on the cusp of being able to strike, my body started to slide from the grasp of the octopus. I twisted frantically trying to get into a position where I could get in any type of attack before I fell into its beak and was crushed. The tentacle wrapped tightly around my ankle stopping my fall. It seemed that the octopus let me slip through on purpose so its tentacle was out of the way as it devoured me. Apparently, it wasn¡¯t intelligent enough to know of the danger it was in as I could now strike it with my spear. Also apparently, I wasn¡¯t intelligent enough to know octopus physiology. They hadn¡¯t covered that in school and I was working off my knowledge of old cartoons. I was unable to stab it in the eye since the octopus¡¯s mouth and beak was not located under its eyes. While I was being spun into position, the octopus was moving itself into position. I dangled a meter above the water, centered between its writhing tentacles and what would be a normal creature¡¯s underbelly. The octopus¡¯s beak snapped a foot or two from my head and I reeled back as a reflex. I adjusted my grip on the spear as best I could and began stabbing the octopus in the beak. My knife just glanced off the hard beak, the octopus not even registering my attack. Well, shit. I tried again, determined to hurt the monster. My spear struck the beak again and slid off, stabbing the soft tissue around it. That seemed to anger it because it lifted me up, swung me around and slammed me into the water. There was a loud slap as I struck the surface of the water with my face. My stomach lurched as I was swung around and slammed to the water again. I was slowly raised again to dangle over the beak of the giant octopus. I was dazed from the attack and being swung around by my leg, but I still had my spear. The octopus slowly lowered me to its beak, eagerly anticipating ripping me apart. Its beak was snapping open and closed as I dropped down. Come on Nat 20! Right after its beak snapped closed and it started to open, I chucked my spear right down its throat. The entire spear disappeared as it went into the octopus. I was afraid that it somehow didn¡¯t do anything to the massive creature. I was still being lowered for a moment before it suddenly stopped. The beak opened and I could hear a sound like a cat hacking up a hairball. If this thing just hocks my spear up, I am so screwed. How strong is this thing anyway? I should analyze- I was suddenly spun around and my stomach fell out from under me as I was violently flung through the air. I hit the water and bounced like a stone, once, twice, three times before skidding across the surface of the water. I continued to slide until my head and back struck the wooden ship. I splintered some of the wood with my impact, but the ship was an immovable object and I slid into the water for a moment. I swam back up and broke the surface. The octopus was thrashing wildly in the water and wasn¡¯t pursuing me, so I looked for a way to get up the pirate ship. There was an old rope and wood ladder that was hanging over the side so I quickly clambered up onto the deck. I learned something interesting right then, octopi can roar. Well, I don¡¯t know about all of them, but this one could.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. As soon as I was on the deck, I turned to watch the octopus hopefully die as it choked on my spear, but I was horrified to see that same spear fly from its mouth. The octopus roared, but perhaps it was more of a screech, then it turned to me and quickly closed the distance. The octopus moved through the water with stunning speed, propelled by all eight tentacles. I didn¡¯t know what it could do once it got to the ship but I prepared for anything, not that I could do much to the house-sized sea monster without a weapon. Before it reached the ship it suddenly dipped below the surface of the water leaving only the shimmering remnants of flowing water. I crept slowly to the edge of the ship to peer over the side for a trace or hint of where the creature was or what it was going to do. Before I could get to there, it shot out of the air like a bullet. The octopus¡¯s leap from the water was majestic. The blue light from the crystals glistened off its multicolored body as it seemed to hover like a hot-air balloon. Millions of water droplets cascaded off it in a shower of diamond glints. At the apex of its leap, the octopus splayed its tentacles out in every direction and then it began to wildly spin. Black ink shot out of the twirling creature. Unlike the glistening shower of water that previously fell from it, the ink squirted in rivulets. It fell in powerful streams that struck with enough force that it broke the wooden rail of the ship''s deck and completely shattered old barrels that had been strewn around. Miraculously, I wasn¡¯t hit directly by the ink, but it landed with such force that even the splattered droplets that hit me and made me wince in pain. Nearly every inch of the deck was covered in ink, and the octopus was quickly descending with its body still spinning and its tentacles still extended. It tried to turn and run but slipped in the thick layer of ink covering everything. One of the tentacles slammed down next to me severing the deck in two. A moment later a wave of water washed over the area from the octopus¡¯s impact. Unable to grab onto anything I was swept into the bowels of the ship that had opened. I landed awkwardly on my neck and tumbled down what felt like a mountain steel. The huge amount of water that washed me into the ships hold quickly drained from the large crack created by the octopus. The tentacle attack didn¡¯t pierce any further than the lower deck I was in, so the ships integrity was still secure. As the water drained out and I was able to look around and catch my breath, I almost stopped breathing again as I looked upon a veritable mountain of treasure. I had landed on and tumbled down a large pile of gold coins but that wasn¡¯t the only piece of treasure. There were other piles of coins of varying sizes but no pile was the size of the first. Interspersed between the piles were literal treasure chests. Some were closed, concealing their contents, but some were open showing a myriad of contents within. Gold and silver could be seen but also a plethora of jewels that glittered from the blue hue washing over everything. From ship¡¯s gaping wound another tentacle crashed into the hold. It slammed into the pile of gold creating a spray of coins. As soon as I noticed the tentacle, I jumped to the side. The golden coins pelted me as they flew but my leap mitigated some of the damage. The tentacle flopped around the area, blindly searching for any sign of me. It flailed toward me swiftly and I leaped over it. I narrowly avoided it but landed poorly. I slammed hard into the wood and coins that covered the floor. The tentacle started slamming up and down causing ship and everything in it to rattle with every impact. It moved back toward me while continuing the slamming motion. Still lying on the ground, I rolled out of the way after one of the strikes. The octopus continued to pound its tentacle as it worked its way back up the large pile of gold. As the appendage slammed down close the peak, the octopus suddenly shrieked from outside the ship. The tentacle lifted off the pile, followed by an open faucet of blood. It slithered quickly out of the ships hold, violently thrashing as it did. I looked to pile of gold and I could see the pointy edge of metal protruding from it. I moved to the pile to dig out the object that wounded the sea monster. I shoveled away large swaths of the coins. The eye of the octopus peaked through the broken crevice. I scooped more coins away but inadvertently caused an avalanche that covered my goal. Another tentacle loomed in the opening and this time the octopus could see me. The tentacle dropped quickly and I used gravity to fall back and out of the way while shielding myself from the pelting of coins. I landed hard on the ground as the appendage landed hard on the coins. The pile collapsed and the octopus dragged its arm back dispersing the pile even more. I scanned quickly for any signs of whatever pierced the octopus. The arm reared back and shot forward to my chest like a spear. I dodged like Mr. Miyagi taught his pupil with a den-den daiko then jumped back. The arm swung toward me and I dropped and rolled to dodge it. As I dropped to the ground I could see the still bloody tip of a long sword which looked like it should have been in a fantasy novel. As I jumped up, it was between me and the octopus appendage. I grabbed a handful of coins and chucked them at the octopus¡¯s giant eyeball, which was still staring at me through the gap in the ship¡¯s side. It reeled back from the attack and struck toward my position with its tentacle but I was no longer there. I leaped forward and rolled to get out of the way. As I sprang up, I was right next to the weapon. I picked it up and a screen popped into my vision
Congratulations! You have uncovered the legendary weapon Kuran, created to defeat the great dragon Ramdedon.
Chapter 13 I dismissed the message quickly and just in time to dodge another attack from the octopus. I raised my new weapon and struck down at the tentacle. My strike sliced cleanly into the appendage and severed it from the rest of the monster. Holy shit. The sword I held in my hands was amazing. It cut through the tentacle like ¨C please excuse the clich¨¦ but it is a perfect one ¨C a hot knife through butter. Holy shit! This second exclamation arrived after the octopus¡¯s severed arm started to spray copious amounts of blood. At the same time, the tentacle pulled out of the hull where it had been attempting to catch me. I rushed to the gaping crevice with the weapon in hand and ready to slice up the sea monster. As soon as my profile entered the opening, the giant eye of the octopus swiveled to me. Even though it was an animal, I could feel the intense hate roll-off. The eye itself was the diameter of half my body. It was entirely white except the large, dark pupil in the center. It lacked a cornea and with my close proximity, it looked like I was staring into a black hole at the center of a bright galaxy. The octopus rotated its head until I was looking into both its good and bad eyes. Two of its tentacles slammed down onto the boat behind me. It lifted itself out of the water and I backed up as the giant cephalopod¡¯s bulk rose. Its black chitinous beak was covered in the shadow its body created, but I knew it was close and eager to rend my flesh. I moved back, scanning the area for a place to go so I would be clear of its dropping bulk. Two of its appendages shot out underneath it. One missed, but I was unable to completely dodge the other. With eight arms and most of its body hidden from me, I was unable to use my power and get a grasp of what it would do. I was struck in the shoulder and sent flying like a pirouetting ballerina. I slammed into the wall and fell to my hands and knees but recovered quickly. I sliced upwards to sever the tentacle, but only struck the air. I attempted the same with the other appendage, but it too had retracted from the hull. The arms flew at me again and I dodged then chopped the sword down. I sliced off the tip of the extremity as the octopus pulled it back quickly. Blood sprayed from the wound and splashed into my face with enough force to knock me back. The octopus tried a different tactic as well and sprayed ink from its other tentacle. As I stumbled back from the blood and instinctively turned, I was hosed with a stream of ink to my face. Blind from blood and ink, not knowing whether the next attack would come from the back, front or above, I took matters into my own hands. I ran forward to where the arm was before it sprayed me with ink. I held my hand before me and as soon as I made contact with the rubbery octopus skin, I leaped onto it. As if I was climbing a palm tree, my legs and one arm were wrapped around the appendage, my sword stabbed into the other side and with its cutting ability, it slid deeply into the flesh and wasn¡¯t awkward to hold. The octopus started to flail its tentacle around in a mixture of pain and in an attempt to dislodge me. I managed to interlock my ankles and I gripped the sword handle tighter but my other arm had nothing to grasp and became loose. My arm was thrown behind me as it came loose as the appendage I was riding like a bull as octopus tried to buck me off. I attempted to open my eyes and was rewarded with a burning pain worse than a direct shampoo injection. Fortunately, I was able to get a quick glimpse of my surroundings. We were on top of what was left of the ship¡¯s deck. The body of the octopus loomed large over me. Two of its tentacles were perched above it mimicking some type of dual tailed scorpion. I assumed its eyes would have been focused on me but I was wrong. Then I heard it. Boom boom, boom boom, boom boom. Shortly after, I felt it. It was a deep reverberating and it was intensifying as it came closer. The eyes of the octopus were looking off the boat toward the underground forest of the cavern. I peeled my eyes open once more to get a view of whatever was coming. What the hell is that?
Ramdedon ¨C The Red DragonThis book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Level ¨C ???
Lumbering through the expansive cavern was a huge red dragon. I thought the octopus was big but the size of the dragon made it look puny. Slight bouts of flames sputtered from its mouth and around its teeth as it exhaled. A pair of ash-grey horns protruded from its skull growing backward in a wave. Its eyes were black with yellow corneas. It loped furiously toward the octopus and me and the trees crumpled were its feel landed. The cavern shook as it ran and I wondered how the glowing crystals or the entire cave hadn¡¯t fallen down yet. The octopus started to turn heedless of the fact that I was still attached to it. Apparently, I was a secondary concern compared to the threat of Ramdedon. Before the octopus could turn all the way around, Ramdedon leaped into the air and extended its wings. Its wings were clearly too small to support its massive body, yet the dragon still flew upward and its body appeared to expand in size as it rose. Nearing the cavern¡¯s ceiling it belched flames from its mouth in a torrent as is quickly started to descend in a trajectory that would take it to where the octopus and I were. The dragon was falling quickly but it wasn¡¯t quick enough to stop the octopus. If the octopus made it into the water it would be safe from the dragon and if I was still attached I would be too. Unfortunately, if it made it into the water, I would be at a disadvantage against the octopus. If I fleed from the octopus I might be attacked by the dragon. I pulled my sword from the octopus and severed the appendage. The octopus ignored the attack completely, choosing to leave me to the mercy of the dragon in favor of escape. It was hanging over the edge of the ship as I ran forward and leaped onto its head and drove the sword deep inside. All its legs stiffened and it fell over the side. We plummeted together toward the frigid water below and I was infused with the warm glow of a level up. I idly wondered what level I was on, but since I was in the middle of an action, my screen didn¡¯t pop up. The icy water quickly erased the warmth I felt from the level-up. I ripped the sword out of the octopus and tried to push away but the remaining tentacles wrapped around me and the massive boneless body turned into jelly in the water. I tried to slash through everything but the friction from the water didn¡¯t allow me to cut through the body like I could in the air. The deadweight was pushing me down and I was entangled. The body and arms of the octopus crushed together around me and instead of sinking, I found myself being lifted up. Water fled from the enclosed space I was in and air rushed in to replace it. I hadn¡¯t realized how much I yearned for oxygen until I inhaled deeply. I scrambled around trying to find a way out of the fleshy maze of the dead octopus; I used my sword to stab and pull myself were I could. Suddenly, gravity pulled me down and I started to slip easily through the slimy carcass. I stabbed my sword forward and managed to find purchase just as I found a hole opening below me. One of my arms and legs dangled out of the hole as I looked down at the moving ground below. We were moving swiftly through the cavern and it appeared we were close to the height of the ceiling. At the edge of the hole I was peeking through, I could see the end of a large red talon piercing the soft flesh of the octopus. I was in a bad spot and I knew it. I could only hope that the dragon didn¡¯t know I was in its grasp along with the octopus. The sound of flame crackled above and we began to drop swiftly to the cave floor. I peeked forward to our destination and was stunned at the sight. I could see a pile of treasure that far surpassed the measly ship I had just been at. It was more of a hill or small mountain than a pile. Our descent slowed as the dragon seemed to hover over its horde, but then my stomach dropped from quickly plummeting as the dragon dropped the octopus and me. We hit the ground hard and I found myself flying away from the main body of the dead octopus. I slammed into the treasure without the time to worry if the dragon would see me and then my position was covered as a loose tentacle slammed into me right after. I was happy to have the concealment, but it hurt like hell. I was pushed down a little as the tentacle came to rest on top of me. With various pieces of metallic disks pressed against one cheek and a cold octopus tentacle on the other, I could see out of the thin crack to the giant dragon that was tearing into the rest of the cephalopod with gusto. I stared at the dragon while it ate. It was devouring the octopus quickly and it would probably still be hungry when it was done. A rust-red, so dark it was almost brown, painted the ground and seeped between the treasure. I wasn¡¯t sure what I should do and my body ached as the constant rush of adrenaline left me. All I could see were different parts of the treasure, so I had no idea where I would be able to escape. I was struggling with the octopus and the dragon was incredibly stronger but I didn¡¯t know by how much. I analyzed it again then tried to get more info in an attempt to see.
Name: Ramdedon Type: Dragon Subtype: Red Feeding behavior: Carnivorous Description: The Great Red Dragon Ramdedon. Boss of the Hadaji cave and mother to all the lesser cave wyrms. Only the greatest warrior would dare to confront her and only if wielding the fabled sword Kuran. If neither are within your grasp, then retreat is your only option. Strength: Analyze Level 50+ required Weakness: Analyze Level 50+ required
My analyze has to be level 50!? Okay, so I need to run. How am I going to make it away from here? Without any other ideas and time quickly running out, I knew that I needed something drastic, but I was safe for a few more minutes. I decided to check out my status screen for anything that might help me.