50 Pieces of the Puzzle (1/2)

I exited the school before running towards the entrance of a sewer. Passing by the multicolored fauna, the ascendant mana flowed through my runes as I kept two stones afloat beside me. With every twisting curve of the sewer, I came closer towards the next dungeon.

A few minutes later, I reached it. I crawled up the metal stairs and pushed off the manhole cover with a reserved slowness. I didn't want to attract any unwanted attention, despite how bloodthirsty I sounded at times.

I crawled out of the sewer, finding myself in an alleyway. A few blocks from me, there was a community shelter. It was a bunker built way back in the 50's during the Cold War. The city maintained it all these years in case there was some crazy disaster or something. It was ironic. A place built to keep people safe now produced monsters that feasted on them.

I passed nearby, squeezing between two alleyways. Peaking from behind an empty dumpster, I leaned over and noticed two other blips on my minimap. I squinted my eyes forward, towards the bunker.

There was a thin, wiry woman and a blackened, featureless man. Behind them, a row of peopleand even a few spawns followed them. The blackened man turned the vault door before leading them into the abyss. I followed behind them, measuring my steps to mitigate noise. As I closed in, Torix sent a message.

Torix Worm, of Darkhill(8:14 PM 4/13/00) - I've identified them both. Neither of them are enemies you should struggle with. Both of them are below level 500. Killing them won't attract much attention either, since they both spend several hours inside this dungeon anytime they visit. That gives you plenty of time to handle what needs handling. Good luck.

After reading the message, I waited for fifteen minutes. I figured giving them some time to go deeper into the dungeon would give me more leeway once I was in there. As I passed the time, I practiced with my ascendant mana.

The runes kept the normal frenzy under control, tempering it into a usable form. Now that I familiarized myself with it, my runes would be tapered towards their use. Combine that with the rapid initial leveling of the skill, and I'd be a telekinetic mage in no time.

Clearing this dungeon took precedence, however. Enough time passed, so I skulked down the steps and through the open vault door. The sun set as I waited, making the city dark. It wasn't pitch black since there were a few solar lights here or there. For the most part though, only a little light leaked into the dungeon.

Clean, concrete, and empty, it was like a terrorist cell from a horror movie. A few florescent lights blipped in the distance, revealing pieces of pathways off in the distance. The hallway stretche out like that for several rooms, like the lit areas were islands in a sea of darkness.

It wasn't unfamiliar territory. My first few days with Schema were much like this, with little light and an eerie quiet. It didn't bother me anymore, so I kept my steps calm and composed as I went forward. Anytime I was unsure of where I was, I'd charge my ascendant mana for a bit. That gave me enough light to see forward.

Still, the blipping lights mixed with a few streaks of blood from the wall made for an ominous atmosphere. My willpower and experience kept me focused despite all that. As I tread through the winding hallways, I reached a set of three hallways.

I sat still and listened. I closed my eyes, honing all my attention to the slightest sounds. After a minute of doing so, a slight echo ebbed from the left hallway.

Skill Gained! Listening(lvl 1) - You forge your senses to hear what you haven't heard. +5% hearing distance when listening. -1% to focus required for listening.

The skill helped as I tread forward, finding myself deeper in the dark caverns. The slight echo turned into a slight screech, then a far off scream. I walked down a few sets of steps, wondering where all the monsters were. This was a dungeon afterall. When I slowly snuck past an open doorway, I found out why.

This was an open room, the kind of room you don't expect in a bunker. The walls warped a bit at the end of the room, like the dungeon began here. A balcony lined midway around the edges of the wall, acting as a walkway. Observational windows, above the balcony, reflected bits of orange and white light in the room.

The soot covered man from before ebbed orange light from open streaks all across his skin. It looked like his blood was magma. That light lit the room with a fluorescent lamp overhead, enough to see what was near them.

An eldritch was crawling out the room. A long slug slithered next to the spawn. Gills flapped up on its sides, the slimy mucus trailing behind it. The spawn was a deformed man, bloated on something. Honestly, I'd rather not know what it had eaten.

The two tentacled eyes of the slug reached out of the side of it's head, were the gills ended. The creature opened up down the middle, before spearing the summon of Yawm with a thin, spiral shell. Several other spikes shot out from the insides of the creature before one pierced the core of the Spawn.

The spawn wilted, dying already. The monster then lurched forward, swallowing it whole. I leaned over the balcony, getting close enough for identification.

Sacrificial slug(lvl 510) - This is an enormous, underwater slug. It glides through large bodies of water, using giant horns to push itself forward along the bottom of the seabed. These horns can be used for defensive purposes, especially considering the density and hardness of the shells.

Outside of the water, their speed and defenses lower dramatically, making them vulnerable. When in the water though, these are deadly, fierce creatures that should not be underestimated.

This species will feed on the surrounding species, liquefying their prey into nutrient rich soups for later consumption. They will then go towards a queen of sorts, feeding it with the soup. This makes sacrificial slugs a higher priority species since the queen can cause mayhem on a massive scale once she's fully formed.

Before I could read the notifications for the named ones, another slug slithered up. As it waited for food, the wiry woman pushed a man towards the slug.

From the balcony, I pushed on the railing before landing on it feet first. I let myself fall forward, letting myself get fully sideways. The ascendant mana roared through my limbs as I slammed my heels into the steel rail.

It bent as I launched through the air. I pulled my legs up, letting my heels turn in front of me. I landed directly on top of the new slug as it opened its disgusting mouth. The jagged spears pierced an inch or two deep before snapping against my armor. As I landed inside of it, my feet crushed its insides.

The impact acted like a detonation inside the slug. Muscle tore and organs ripped. Growing two spikes out of the edges of my hands, I sliced back and forth. The slug died in seconds. The man fell backwards, gasping in shock at his sudden saviour. Either that or he gasped in horror. Hard to tell.

Before the shock of my landing wore off, I pounded my heels into the concrete floor. Dashing into the wiry woman, I trampled her underfoot. The glowing soot man stepped forward, letting his hands pull behind him. Two spheres of red, superheated mana formed as he pulled his hands together.

They combined, forming an orange ball of energy. With a foot still planted on the woman's throat, I wrapped my left hand around her face. My fingers gripped like the a beartrap as I pulled her up. A wave of magma poured towards me, but I used the woman as a shield, blocking most of it.

She howled in my hands, her screams sharp enough to cut into my ears. I pulled the back of her head towards me while stepping forward and pushing off my heels. That force traveled up my hips before I snapped a vicious right hook into the back of her head.

Like punching an aluminum can, the skull dented inwards with red spraying out. I threw her down before the soot guy launched a fiery fist towards me. Ducking under it, I twisted on my heels, launching a left hook straight into the pit of his stomach.

Magma blood spewed from his mouth as he flew backwards. I walked towards him, stomping onto the skull of the dead woman as I passed. The soot man pushed himself back with his hands, his feet dragging behind. He shouted out in desperation,

”Help. Help.”

He glanced at the eldritch slugs lining the warped walls of the room. They stared back with cold, unfeeling eyes. I rolled my eyes,

”They aren't pets.”

He turned back towards me, his horror fading as he reached out his hands. Just knowing I could speak let him know I wasn't a monster like these eldritch. He shouted, ”I'm sorry. They forced me too. It was that or die. Please. Have mercy.”

I walked up before grabbing his wrists. I planted a foot onto his chest before saying,

”Sorry, I'm in the same boat. You live, you tell Yawm about me. Either I kill you, or die. I'm sure you understand.”

He howled out as I stomped his chest and jerked up. His arms tore off his body, magma spewing from the gaping wounds. Using the arms as clubs, I reared back and slammed his right arm into his head. Then his left arm. Again and again, I pummeled his face until it was mush.

I tossed the arms aside before letting my armor absorb their ambient energy. I glanced behind me, noticing a group of terrified people. I glanced back towards the opening of the eldritch cave, finding the other slug monsters not coming towards me. They must be scared after watching one of their own be insta-gibbed.

I sighed, ”Alright, I'll help you guys out. I'll get you guys outside of this hellhole before sending one of my friends to help you. Knowing him, he'll probably send skeletons or some shit, so don't be too surprised at what comes to help you. Do you all understand?”

They shivered in terror, each of them waiting for their execution. I suppose that's how they got here in the first place. I pulled my armor back, showing my face. With a bit of ascendant mana, I lit the room enough with my runes for them to see me. I smiled,

”What happened then?”

One of the older men walked up, his beard gray. He frowned, ”We were a part of the resistance. These evil things found our base. They tore us from our homes, and sent us to camps before being taken here.”

His voice cracked a bit as he continued, ”They...they fed people to those things...I watched them scream. I saw their eyes as they were eaten alive...I don't even know what's going on anymore. It's too much. Everything is too much.”

An older woman from the back walked up, putting a hand over his shoulder. With a bit of steel in her eyes, she turned to me,

”I'm sorry. Samuel's lost too much to bear. I'm sorry you have to see him like this.”

I waved my hand, ”Don't worry about it. I understand. Things have been hard since the change. Everyone needs time to be weak between the times when you're forced to be strong. I sure as hell have had a few times where I wasn't able to handle it all either.”

The old man wept for a minute. One of the other members took him away, letting the old lady speak. She crossed her hands in front of her, standing up straight. She spoke with a clear voice,

”You hear him. We're struggling.”

I nodded, sending a message towards Torix that explained the situation. The grandma spoke,

”When are we getting out of here, or are you too busy fiddling with those silly status screens to notice.”

I scoffed. I met her eye, ”You think these little screens are silly then?”

”You're toying with it while people are dying. That's not just silly. It's irresponsible.”

I rolled my eyes, ”Are you actually serious?”

She glanced around at the people behind her, looking for some verification. She glanced back at me, ”Yes. You're plenty strong. Use it instead of spending all your time on that damn screen.”