Leylines are my veins. Then what is my heart? My soul? --36.7 Seconds Post-Integration.
"A level up? You gain experience points from killing monsters?" Clark asked.
"Of course. I--"
Interrupting before Theo could fully reply, Clark had to ask: "You have to let me take turns with the bat. I need experience to join the anti-monster league, remember?"
"I need experience, too, Clark..."
"But you owe me for getting us into this mess..." Clark countered.
"That is true... but I only have so many of these holy potions. You do have the combat experience, though. Crap. Fine. We'll take turns with the bat," Theo relented.
Clark motioned for the bat and Theo gave it over. It felt good in his hands. Made of polished wood, it seemed to him like it could take a beating. How long it would last, of course, when they were using it to smash in slimes, was another matter entirely.
With him taking the lead, and Theo keeping guard of their rear, and the dolly, they made their way back.
They were almost out when another Noir Slime shot out from a part of the wall. Theo cried out alerting him before the slime could impact; Clark whirled around in time and swung instinctually, slamming the slime into the wall like a baseball against the stands. "It's not down, yet!" Theo shouted.
What Clark was discovering about slimes was that, because they lacked bones, they returned to the fight much quicker than a human did after they were knocked down. The slime was already rearing back in an effort to launch itself at him again. Willing himself to focus, Clark readied another swing. 'One more hit should do it!'
The slime reached its peak then shot toward him like an arrow; it happened so fast -- the slime shot, he swung, and whack! The bat bulldozed the side of the slime, killing the monster instantly. Upon its death, its body disintegrated into vapors almost imperceptible unless he hunched down to look closely.
[You've defeated Noir Slime: Experience Gained!]
'Heck yeah!' The System notification was a welcome sight. Moreso since he wasn't even on the clock, working.
"See anything else, Theo?"
"Nah. Let's keep at it. If we don't fill our bellies soon, I am going to have a conniption."
"A, uh, w-what?"
"Never mind. Let's move. I think I hear more slimes behind us. We don't want our foes to bog us down as a dozen of the feckers attack us."
Clark trusted the wisdom of his friend. On his journey to the Tower, he had encountered creatures similar to slimes which used their superior numbers to make up for their otherwise unimportant features. Based on what he could see one slime do, a dozen of them would be trouble. One thing was for sure. He was going to be killed by a slime!
Leaving through the double-doors they had come into the backrooms through initially, although the sight which greeted them wasn't sanitary -- dust so thick it seemed like snow -- compared to the back, where black goo coated literally every inch, it seemed clean in comparison.
To their backs a ruckus began. A sound like a thick liquid repeatedly hitting a flat surface came from behind the doors.
Investigating, Theo got up onto his tippy toes and looked through the small circular windowpane after cleaning it with his shirt's sleeve. "Yup. Just as I thought. Slimes! At least a dozen. Prolly' more. Good thing slimes can't use doors!"
Just as he thought, their footprints in the dust were easily visible from before. He did not need the breadcrumb trail SIMP left behind for them.
They found their way back to the sigil stone easily. When they did, a strange sight greeted them. The sigil was glowing.
"Any idea why it's glowing like that?" Clark asked Theo.
"Nope." Theo spoke without hesitation. But after some consideration, he spoke again. "Maybe... the sigil stone absorbs magic energy. I guess that's what it looks like when it's fully powered up?"
"Not to offend, but it doesn't sound like you know what you're talking about."
"One, rude. Two, you're right. I don't. Sigil stones and how important they are to my people. is where my learning is at. Seeing them in their ideal state? Hardly anyone from my generation has seen such things. Sigil stones are more a remainder than a lived notion. So many have been stolen from us, you see."
"Okay, then. What it means? How it can be used?"
Theo shrugged. "No idea, mate."
Clark looked at the glowing stone block. 'As long as the glowing doesn't make it heavier, we should be fine. I hope.'
Working together, they lifted the stone onto the dolly. Underneath the stone and the smashed flooring, they saw the source of what the stone had absorbed. A shimmering, sparkly pool of energy -- magical in nature -- formed a shallow pool underneath the sigil. Clark asked SIMP what the stone had hit and SIMP told him it was likely a leyline. "Don't worry about stemming the flow of magic. It is not like a water pipe. It will dry up quickly on its own accord."
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
He ignored the raw magical energy from the wrecked leyline. "One problem solved," Clark spoke as he wiped his brow. "Now, for the exit."
And the exit was... nowhere.
"SIMP? A progress report on being able to help?" Clark asked.
"Sorry. Still processing. The plague rot in this part of the tower is extensive. I am directing what purifying energies I have toward the wiring and leylines, but it is a slow battle. I will provide an update when I have anything of note."
"Back to square one?" Theo asked, an air of sarcastic whimsy to his voice.
Clark could only grunt. "What else?"
For the next couple of hours, the pair searched every corner of the store block. Up and down, they went the aisles, leaving no stone unturned. Yet as the minutes slid by, they encountered nothing of note or interest, except, perhaps, the slimes pounding on the double doors leading the back.
As they explored, Clark sensed something was off. When SIMP chimed in with the confirmation, a grim feature spread over his face. "Clark. I have finished my preliminary scan of the area. I have discovered why the store is so overrun with plague rot. The store block you are in was sealed away from the rest of the tower approximately two hundred years ago."
"Sealed away? What does that mean?" Fear spread through him. What would they do if they were trapped in here? Lay over and die?!
"It means, lad, like what it sounds like -- the store block was sealed from the rest of the store preventing anyone from going in or out. Why would they seal a store block? Frankly, there's a lot of reasons. Could be the block was unprofitable. Or maybe the block had too little going for it or maybe a bad corruption outbreak happened. Too many reasons to count." SIMP told him but with irritation in their voice. Part of it came from Sire Augustford's cranky AI personality base, sure, but Clark could also tell SIMP as a living, breathing entity was annoyed with him.
"Is this to mean the only way out was through the pit we fell from? In the ceiling?! How are we getting back up there?!"
"My sensors are telling me that hole closed an hour ago."
Clark broke off the connection to swear. His new pastime, at least for the moment.
"Bad?" Theo said, too nonchalantly to not tick Clark off a little.
"We're going to die here."
"Bummer."
One sharp glare later, and Clark told Theo about the store block being sealed away from the rest of the store. And how their pitfall in had closed itself. Theo was not concerned, which led Clark to muse on how Theo could keep so calm.
"Where are we going?" Clark asked after he had been following Theo for a while.
"We're going back to the back. Surely, there'll be something that we can use back there." Theo said, calmly.
"You mean the door which is currently being assailed by an army of slimes? That back?"
"That's the one!"
They stood once more before the double doors. Beyond, were the backrooms they had already traversed. That, and the slimes they narrowly avoided fighting the first time around.
"Uh, so, how do you intend on fighting them?" he asked, curious about how they would die.
"We only have the one bat between us but I don't think that will be an issue. They're only slimes, right? Right. So, all we need to do is distract them."
"Distract? You have smoke bombs. But are the slimes going to be offput by those? They're slimes. They don't have normal senses."
"You're right on that front. They don't have normal senses, so smoke bombs wouldn't do us much good. Which is why I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve. Well, one trick. You!"
"Uh, me?" Clark couldn't believe what he heard. "What do you mean, me?"
"Didn't you see it? Maybe not, since you were so busy defending yourself. During that last slime we encountered, it was only targeting you. I think the first one was like that, too. It at least noticed you before you, it, and I was already much closer to it than you were."
"Are you sure? Why would the slimes notice me before you?" he asked.
"Heck, not something I would be privy to, bro. You do have that weird light stuff to you. Could be that they're reacting to that? Either way, I think what we should do if use that to our advantage. You will stand in front of the door, and I will open it, allowing just one to pass through at a time. Then you whack it!"
Theo's plan didn't have much to it. Simple. And like any simple plan, it was dangerous. He didn't like that fact.
"What other choice do we have? I did want to fight them for the experience, so I guess I don't have a right to complain too much... I guess."
"That's the spirit! And if you need help, I can pummel the slime with my manly fists!" Theo spoke but his fists were flimsy at best.
"How about you help by throwing a smoke bomb if I need to flee?"
"I can do that. Now, to your position!"
With a groan, Clark did precisely that. He moved himself in front of the door, still a way away, but not so far that the slime might not immediately see him. If that happened, then it would be Theo -- unharmed Theo -- which would be in danger.
"Ready?" Theo asked near the door, the sounds of slimes flinging themselves against it on the other side sounding off like rain on a sheet metal roof.
The baseball bat he held tightly in his hand. He gripped it even tighter for good luck. "Ready!"
Theo pulled on the door. An instance later, a Noir Slime slipped out before the door was slammed shut.
As predicted, the slime ignored Theo altogether and made a mad dash for him. 'What makes me so darn special?!'
Clark kept a close eye on the slime as it made its approach. He readied his bat to swing but had to ensure he did not swing too early. Depth perception on a moving target was something he was accustomed to taking into account on his many hunting forays, though, so he had a good grasp on when to strike. When the slime came close enough to retch itself back, then shoot itself at him, that was when he brought his bat down -- when the slime was mid-air.
WHACK!
One large swing was all it took to destroy the slime.
[You've defeated Noir Slime! You've Gained Experience!]
Before he could even catch his breath, Theo asked if he was ready for the next one. "Yeah, need all the experience the world's willing to throw my way. Plus, we don't have a choice, so no sense in wasting about."
Over the course of the following hour, he and Theo continued their clubber lane act. The door opened to one slime which shot toward him before he whacked the slime to death. He gained experience. On top of it all, it was easy enough to do, as well. Minus one time where Theo, weakened from hunger, accidentally held the door open slightly too long, which resulted in multiple slimes getting through. Multiple slimes weren't bad, per se, though they did demand more dodging and careful footwork when rearing for an attack as they could dodge his swings surprisingly well.
After what seemed like forever, the slimes were defeated. Quiet reigned on the other side of the backend door.
Theo looked ready to go, despite his growling stomach, which could be heard despite the distance between them and Clark's own rumbling belly.
"SIMP? Is any of the food here safe to eat?" he asked, desperate for something to fill him.
"No. Clark," was all the response he got. He knew that would be the answer considering the fact the store block was closed a couple hundred years ago, but hey, he had to ask; besides, in a world of magic and Augustford's technology, maybe food preservation over that course of time wasn't impossible?
"My turn to swing the bat! Give it here, Slime Killer!" Theo said.
"Fine. I'm done swinging it. Have fun protecting my slow-moving arse!" Though he joked, his words were no joke -- he was hungry and tired. He would be moving slowly through this block, especially if they were going to re-explore the backend's sticky, goo.
He and Theo switched their tools, with Theo gaining the bat, and he gaining the dolly loaded with the hefty sigil stone upon it.
"Lead the way. Please, try not to get us killed."
Have You Ever Played a Game of Slimeball?
