When it was a pet bond, Char had always known where Lulu was in relation to herself, the way you know where your hand is, even if you can’t see it. Now, she knew her location and more: she could feel Lulu’s emotions and… Lulu sent her an image of her food bowl. The image came with a feeling of starvation and pleading. Char couldn’t suppress her grin. Lulu begging for food inside her head was going to get old fast, but at that moment, she didn’t mind at all.
She pulled Lulu’s bowls from her inventory and set them next to the yawning, stretching dog… hellhound… no, she was a… Char wasn’t sure. She didn’t want to call Lulu a hellhound, but ‘dog’ wasn’t a big enough word for what she was, now. “Don’t get used to this. I’m not feeding you every time you beg.” She popped open a can and dumped it into the bowl. Lulu rolled to her feet. She bumped against Char’s hip as she went to the bowl, and Char felt a rush of gratitude and love. The bump almost knocked Char off her feet. “Easy, girl. I think you’re stronger than you were.”
Lulu inhaled the food, and Char could still feel her hunger through the link, so she opened two more cans of food for the hound. Her own stomach rumbled, and she wasn’t sure if she was hungry or if it was spillover from Lulu. She’d been so knotted up with worry over Lulu that she hadn’t had an appetite before, but now it came roaring back.
While Lulu ate, she pulled out the last of her bread and made a sandwich. She watched Lulu while they both ate, but, aside from the orange glow and the occasional licks of flame, Lulu seemed like the same sweet girl she’d always been.
Lulu finished first. She came and sat next to Char, her eyes on the sandwich. Char could feel that the begging was half in jest, though. It was Lulu’s way of reassuring her that nothing had changed between them. But things had changed, though. Char was certain that Lulu was smarter now.
Though their relationship had changed, Char could only be glad for it. She’d had to save Lulu so many times, and she’d started to despair that the dog wouldn’t be able to keep up with her, that she’d have to be left behind to keep her safe. Now, Lulu was stronger and smarter, and there was no telling what other powers her transformation had given her. Char found herself looking forward to their next fight so she could find out.
She reached out to scritch Lulu’s ears, and Lulu leaned into the touch. She was hot, but not painful to touch. Her coat was still soft, and she still grinned that same dopey pit-bull grin.
A yawn fought its way up Char’s throat, surprising her. She cracked her jaw wide, letting it out. Without the weight of worry for Lulu bearing her down, she felt like she might actually get some sleep, and the day was finally catching up with her.
She woke Declan, who grinned to see Lulu up and about. He gave her some pets before taking a seat by the window to keep watch. Char got comfortable on the unburnt half of the larger mattress and let sleep claim her.
The next morning, she was pleasantly surprised to wake to the smell of coffee. She opened her eyes to find Declan crouching over an odd contraption. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, trying to make sense of what she saw. He was cooking, and it looked like he’d found a large wok somewhere that he was using as a makeshift fire pit. It was sitting on top of a foot-tall stone gargoyle statue, the wings and head of the statue acting like a tripod support. The makeshift grill made him look more like he was a sorcerer making offerings over a brazier than a camper grilling breakfast.
She started laughing at the sight.
“Hey, don’t laugh. It works.” Under the mock outrage, there was amusement in his voice. “Get used to it. This works too well to leave behind. Besides, this statue is awesome. Here, coffee. Three minutes, and we’ll have scrambled eggs with… I’m not sure, is this boar meat? You left it all out last night, so I hope you don’t mind that I’m using it. I tried to go easy on the powdered eggs.”
“No, that’s fine. I didn’t mean to leave it out. Better to eat it before it goes bad.” She sat up and stretched, “I’ll have to find another boar. I gave most of that one to Anais.” She tilted her chin at the makeshift grill. “Where’d you find it?”
“Across the hall. I thought it would be a good idea to watch out of more than one window. It used to hold up a houseplant.” He tapped the edge of the wok with his spatula, “I hate to ruin a good wok, but it was the best option I had.”
“It’s smart. I was thinking that we should find a camp stove or something, before…” She nodded to Lulu, who was sitting near the window, watching Declan cook.
“Yeah,” he said, scrambling the eggs, “So, what’s the plan for today?”
“I thought we’d follow that blood trail and see what we find.”
He glanced at her, then started scooping the food onto plates. After a moment, he said, “Pretty obvious it wasn’t monsters, I guess.”
Char shrugged, “Looks that way. We’ll see. For all we know, it was goblins.” They ate in silence, both of them slipping tidbits to Lulu when they thought the other wasn’t watching. Char knew, though. She could feel the little spike of excitement from Lulu every time Declan dropped a piece of meat for her. She had to fight to keep the amused grin off her face. She didn’t want to spoil their game.
After breakfast, Char finished the task she’d started the night before and divided up the food and gear with Declan, making sure they each had what they’d need to survive if they got separated. Char did a quick pass through each of the apartments looking for a better weapon for Declan, but even the kitchen knives had been taken. She hoped it was because the inhabitants had armed themselves, but she had a sinking feeling they would be facing something smarter than the average monster.
Outside the back door, Char pointed out the blood smear to Lulu, “I know you aren’t a bloodhound, but do you think you can follow that?”
At first, she got feelings of confusion from Lulu, then understanding and determination. Lulu sniffed back and forth in the sand for a bit, then chuffed. She set off at a lope, and Char and Declan followed. She was heading straight for the building that Char had noted the night before.
“Dec, keep an eye on the sky. Those scorpion-buzzards might come back.” She glanced at the sky and wished for a shield. It was clear for now, but they had about a mile of open desert to cross.
As they got closer, Char could see why the building they were headed for had seemed odd to her. It was elevated above the ground on poles, the floor suspended about six feet or so above a patch of red-brown soil that didn’t match the desert. The walls were a mish-mash of plywood sheets, driftwood, and bamboo, and the roof was thatched with palm fronds. There were several doors and windows on the side facing them that opened onto a sheltered porch that ran the length of the structure. Colorful cloth hung in several of the windows, and a clothesline flapped with garments hung to dry at one end of the porch.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Looks like something from Indonesia, maybe?” Declan said. “Or Southeast Asia. It’s so weird seeing stuff scattered around like this. It feels like our whole world was nothing but a Lego toy, and some toddler just decided to break it up and scatter it across the floor. How do you even start to get that powerful?”
“The same way you eat an elephant, I suppose,” Char mused, looking at the misplaced building that should have been surrounded by jungle greenery.
“Huh? Ok, I’ll bite. How do you eat an elephant?”
“With ketchup,” Char smirked as Declan groaned.
“You aren’t allowed to make dad jokes. That’s just wrong. Also, that makes no sense, unless the aliens are allergic to tomatoes or something.” Declan scanned the sky as he spoke.
“Sorry, but seriously, the answer is: one bite at a time. We just keep moving forward. We either get there, or die knowing we didn’t give up.” Char shrugged.
Declan looked at her sideways, “Simple as that, huh?”
“Simple’s not the same as easy, but yeah, simple as that.” Char held up a hand to forestall his response, “Head’s up, Lulu’s got something.” She’d felt the shock of alarm from Lulu before her body language changed. The dog was growling and stiff, her attention on the ground, as it had been with the Burrowjaw back in the woods. “From below,” Char warned.
“Oh, God, not sandworms… please don’t let it be sandworms,” Declan muttered as he watched the ground around them, crowbar clutched in a two-handed grip.
Lulu stepped back, her gaze following something she could hear under the surface. Char began forming an Arc spell in her left hand, her sword already out in her right. Whatever the threat was, its path was bringing it right toward her. The earth below her bulged upward, and she leapt backward, losing the readied spell as she tucked into a roll to make quick distance.
The creature that erupted from the ground was covered in black chitinous plates. It snapped at Char with razor-sharp mandibles, and its multiple orange legs flailed with tips as sharp as knife-blades. As fast as she had become, it was all Char could do to stay ahead of the massive centipede as it lunged for her again.
“SHIT!” Declan yelled, nearly falling as he backed away, “I take it back. I’d rather have the sandworms.” When he realized that the monster was focused on Char, he dashed in and slammed his crowbar down on one of its hindmost segments, but the crowbar only bounced off the armor-like chitin.
Lulu rushed in, but instead of going for one of the legs as Char expected, she stopped just shy of the beast and exhaled a stream of fire that raked down its side before darting away again. The beast reared up, screaming. It lifted over half of its twenty-foot length into the air and twisted. At first, Char thought it was writhing in pain from the flames, but it had abruptly changed direction, bringing its head stabbing down towards Lulu.
The respite from being pursued gave Char a chance to form another Arc spell. She cast it into the side of the creature, making it scream and twitch, and ruining its strike at Lulu. Its head slammed into the ground feet away from where it had been aiming as the electrical jolt made it spasm.
Declan darted in again, this time smashing his crowbar against one of the centipede’s many legs. The thinner leg cracked under the blow. Declan danced back as the other legs on that side lashed out at him, one of them catching him in the arm with a spray of red. He cried out, and the centipede reoriented on him.
Char Assessed it as she rushed in.
Voracious Myriapod
Level 25
This carnivorous centipede has
evolved to feed on mana as well as meat.
It is drawn to strong mana signatures
in its territory, but it isn’t picky about its prey.
She stabbed her blade into its side, angling it between two of the chitin segments. The blade sank in, leaving an oozing wound in the Myriapod’s side. Lightning fast, the Myriapod changed direction again, mandibles snapping. Char rolled away, but one of its legs caught her hip, digging a furrow through her flesh.
Then, Lulu was there, breathing fire into its face, crisping away one of its antennae. Char kept rolling until she was sure she was clear. Declan ran in again, taking out another leg with a one-handed swing of the crowbar. He was hugging his left arm tight to his body, and blood ran down his shirt. He dropped and rolled as soon as his swing was done, avoiding another slice from the legs.
The Myriapod was looking ragged. Two of its legs were broken, and the chitin was crisped and smoldering all down its right side. Its face was blackened and charred, and one antenna was gone, but it still came on. It powered toward Char, wicked, dripping mandibles aiming to skewer her.
Lulu leapt for the creature’s back, igniting into flame as she landed. She dug in her claws and tried to bite into the giant centipede’s neck. Her saliva glowed like dripping magma, and her teeth looked like unquenched blades fresh from the forge. Her teeth sank into the thick armor like it was made of butter.
Lulu’s attack didn’t stop the Myriapod, but it did knock it just off course enough for Char to avoid its mandibles. She stabbed upward as it passed over her, pouring raw Lightning mana into her sword in desperation. The blade slid in where the head segment joined the body. The Lightning mana jumped and sparked along the metal and into the beast. It spasmed and jerked, smoke curling from the wound.
Lulu breathed fire again, without releasing her grip on the creature. The fire poured in through the bite, cooking the vulnerable flesh beneath. The Myriapod reared back again, slipping off Char’s blade and throwing Lulu clear with its bucking movement. This time it did writhe in agony, its thrashing movements wild and unpredictable.
Lulu landed hard, but rolled back to her feet, willing to rush in again, but Char sent her a blast of emotions and images that she hoped Lulu would understand meant to hold back. She and Declan backed away as well. Char formed and threw one last Arc spell, nearly bottoming out her mana, but it was enough. The Myriapod crashed back to the sand and continued to twitch, but it was only electricity and nerves that didn’t know they were dead, yet. The notification icon on Char’s HUD let her know it was over. She pulled it up to be sure. There were two notifications there.
New Skill Learned
Imbue Weapon
Beginner
(prerequisite met: Mana Manipulation)
You have learned to push raw mana through a weapon,
Allowing your weapon to become a conduit for your Will.
Not all mana types may be used in this way.
——————————————————————-
You have killed
Voracious Myriapod — Level 25
Experience Gained
Char let her legs fold and dropped to the ground, her hip burning where the monster’s leg had sliced into her. She watched as the corpse continued to twitch for another whole minute before going still.
“Woot! Level 15, baby!” Came Declan’s victorious cry as he rounded the twitching corpse to join Char and Lulu. “Fighting these higher-level monsters is good for my XP gains, at least.”
“Yeah, but we need to find you a better weapon. And some armor.” Char checked his arm as he approached. Seeing her gaze, he held it out so she could see that it wasn’t as deep as it had looked and was already starting to heal.
“No argument there.” He plopped to the ground next to her. Lulu sat a few feet away, seemingly aware that she was still too hot to approach her more flammable companions. “Lulu, you were awesome. The epitome of a hot dog.”
Lulu chuffed at him, and Char felt pride radiate from her. She’d understood the praise, if not the joke, confirming to Char that she was getting smarter. They sat for several minutes, letting their wounds scab over and the adrenaline crash pass.
Eventually, Char got to her feet. The wound in her hip still ached, but her pain resistance was enough to let her walk without limping. “We need to get moving before this thing draws those scorpion-buzzards. We can take a break in there.” She nodded to the longhouse on stilts. Tapping the corpse, she looted it:
You have received:
[Earth Affinity Stone]
[Manavore Dagger]
117 silver credits
She tucked the Affinity Stone into the pocket of her pack with the others and examined the dagger:
[Manavore Dagger]
With each wound, this dagger
will drain a small portion of
its target’s mana, feeding it to
the wielder.
“Nice!” she exclaimed, turning it over in her hands. It looked like it had been made from one of the legs of the Myriapod mounted to a handle inscribed with swirling runes. She pulled the [Dread Fang Dagger] from her Quick Access slot. “This new one steals mana, and you don’t have any spells yet. This dagger,” she handed the [Dread Fang Dagger] to Declan, “has a chance to apply a confusion debuff. I haven’t used it, so I don’t know how often the debuff will pop, but you’ll at least have a decent backup weapon.”
“Awesome! Thanks, Char.” He hefted the dagger, getting a feel for its balance and nodding before storing it in his own Quick Access.
“Come on, let’s get out of the open.” She set off toward the building, watching the sky as she went.
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