16. Dungeon Crawling (II)

So he was right. Dungeons modified what was already there. In this case, you could still see some of the paint on the steel—what looked like the word "warning" was wrapped around its chest in block letters.

Thanks. I'll keep it in mind.

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕤:

𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝕋𝕣𝕖𝕞𝕠𝕣 (𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖) [ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟]

𝕊𝕝𝕒𝕞𝕤 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕, 𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕦𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒 𝕝𝕠𝕔𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕫𝕖𝕕 𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕙𝕢𝕦𝕒𝕜𝕖. 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕚𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕒 𝕕𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕥 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕤𝕠 𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕝𝕪.

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕣 ℂ𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕕𝕖 (𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝕌𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟]

𝔻𝕖𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕤 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕣 𝕓𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕙𝕦𝕣𝕝𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕡𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕟-𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕔𝕖 𝕥𝕠𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕖𝕤.

He looked for its weakness, and thought for a moment it had none. Then he squinted and saw it—those slits with the boxes connected the joints where crate met pipe lit up red. It made sense. Punching it seemed like a very stupid idea. He might have seven Levels on the thing, but he was still pretty sure his hand wasn't harder than steel.

Dismantling it, though? Very doable.

It rushed him. It wasn't well-oiled; every joint of it creaked, squealed as it barreled past. He skated easily out of the way. Its enormous arms struck a tree, swiped clean through it, and it practically leapt off its stump. It crash-landed into another tree and snapped it in half too. Branches rained.

Yeah, I'm not getting close to that thing. So he drew out his chains and waited for it to circle back around, huffing and creaking.

When it came at him again, he ducked out and wrapped its near arm in a chain, sliding it right around the elbow, and yanked, jerking it close. Then he took the chance to wrap the other around the shoulder joint.

Promethean noose!

The chains flared white, and there was a shrill hissing. The golem tried wrenching out its arm, but once Zane had a bite, you'd have an easier time knocking him out than making him let go. He had that in deep, and he held.

Streams of melted steel dripped out. The arm began to sag. The golem let out another shriek, ripped hard—and ended up stumbling away, crashing to the ground.

Its arm flapped free the other way, still smoking. The joints glowed white-hot.

As the thing came up to a knee, it found a chain looping around its neck. It tried grabbing for it, but another caught it around the wrist, yanking it back. It went for another tumble. It wouldn't get back up.

Laws of Ignition danced down the chains' black length. He felt them bite into the thick steel of the neck, felt the hardness give way, felt his chains crunch in, squeezing out the slack. Steel pulled out in a steaming puddle. The golem jerked one last time and was still.

It was kind of like taking apart a very big Lego, Zane thought. Poor thing hadn't even gotten to fire off a skill.

One of these were no trouble… but a horde of them rushing him at once? Interesting… sounded like good fun.

The forest started clearing quick as he made his way deeper in. His mini map showed a clearing in the shape of a rectangle. And at its center…

Zane whistled. "Fuck. It's really still here."

This was where his warehouse used to be. It had been a plain metal box, aggressively nondescript. It was what he imagined purgatory must look like.

The monstrosity before him looked similar—he could see how it got from there to here. But if his old warehouse was purgatory, this must be a circle of hell.

It was less warehouse and more fortress. Towering walls of corrugated metal streaked with rust and tar loomed against a bleak gray sky. It had two floors, the first a sprawling expanse of weathered steel and concrete, its flat windowless walls broken up only by a black maw of an entrance run over with barbed wire. Above, the second floor overhanging slightly, making it seem a watchful brooding presence. Tesla coils lining the roof buzzed slightly, giving the whole thing a flickering electric-blue halo.

He heard a constant rhythmic pounding, like hundreds of blacksmiths working at once, alongside the clanking of steel on steel. It was enough to give you a migraine.

After he got past the shock of it, Zane started to wonder. Were all the buildings still there, just changed somehow? Was his apartment some kind of death trap now, and what about the Seattle Needle, the Golden Gate Bridge, were they still there, just… different?

He blinked—a sound jerked him back to the present. Was that screaming? He looked up at his mini map.

New clusters showed up. White dots spread on the other side of the clearing. He frowned, staring across. There were corrugated steel plates thrown up on the other side of the clearing, right about where the dots were. Those were people. They'd barricaded themselves in.

Around them was a mass of X's.

There must have been the people trapped at the warehouse when integration came, the day shift people clocking in. This all used to be a parking lot…

More red dots were ambling out of the fortress maw. More box golems. A cluster made for the people; out came a flurry of essence—red and blue and white—mages? Bolts of pure essence split the air. That had to be from a bow, surely. The golems stumbled back, groaning. He heard shouts. There must have been dozens of them—

"Are you crazy?!"

He blinked, turned, just as something grabbed him by the arm and yanked him behind the tree. He came face to face with an angry looking lady. She was sweating pretty hard. "Do you have a death wish?!" She hissed.

"Uh—"

"What's your name?"

She was in her early 20s, with sharp eyes and her hair pulled back in a ponytail. Her face was dirt-streaked but still distractingly beautiful. She looked familiar. She wore a tattered brown jacket, and a pin there marked her out as a manager. In her hands was a long white staff, crowned with a glowing fist-sized blue gem.

"I'm Zane," he said.

"Get back to camp, now! The eastern front's going down, we need more bodies!"

He identified her.

ℝ𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕒 𝕋𝕠𝕣𝕣𝕖𝕤 (ℂ𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖)

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟟

ℂ𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕤: 𝔸𝕖𝕘𝕚𝕤 ℂ𝕝𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕔

That was a lot stronger than he was expecting. A full ten levels over anyone he'd seen—except himself. She must've really gone after it.

She was still ranting. "You should know better than to wander out alone! You—"

She stopped to look at him—really look at him. Then her demeanor totally changed. Her stern look froze, then melted. Her eyes went wide. She must've identified him too. "Uh," she said. She let him go. She went kind of limp.

"Yeah," he said. "I'm not from here."

A pause. "Who are you?"

"Zane Walker. I told you."

"No, I mean—did the feds send you? Are you here to help us?"

"I'm here on my own. As for helping…" he was here to fight the bosses. But it did have the neat and pretty accidental benefit of helping these folks out, he supposed. He shrugged. "Sure. Why not? Who are you?"

"I'm Reina. I lead the survivors back there." She jerked her head at the barricades.

"I need you to do something for me," he said.

She nodded quickly.

"You've been here a while, yes?" He gestured to the fortress. "What's going on in there?"

She started telling him. She was stuttering a little, and he could tell this wasn't the sort of person used to stuttering.

He remembered where he'd seen her before. In the few times he'd visited the warehouse during the day, he'd seen this woman prowling the warehouse floor, stern-faced, snapping orders. No doubt that kind of attitude got her her role now. But speaking to him she was almost timid. Unlike those Snaring Thickets people, at least she could firmly meet his eyes.

Ever since integration—maybe ever since he started Leveling—he seemed to have gotten this strange aura, the stranger effect. Everyone seemed constantly nervous around him. Part of it was the look. He was a lot bigger; he'd filled out a lot more; he dwarfed pretty much everyone he spoke to now. But it was more than that. Something about the power difference seemed to get to people.

She told him there were two floors, each with one boss, each with its own region. The first-floor boss was a steel brute of a thing, like those golems it spawned, only more so. It was Level 41, and surrounded by minions. The second-floor boss they'd only gotten a brief glimpse at. Level 48, and it wielded lightning—that was all they knew. They had their hands full trying to fend off the first one.

48… That was a pretty big jump.

"Did you find any treasure areas?" he asked.

She stared blankly at him. "You mean resource zones?"

"The yellow dots, whatever."

Reina looked a little guilty. "We took them all. We had to. There's that Cavern of Insight, but that's it—it's all outside. The insides are just boss lairs stacked on each other."

He mulled all this over in silence. "I can help you," Reina said suddenly. "Let me tag along."

He thought about it. It wasn't so much that he didn't trust her, more that he didn't her to not get in his way. "Appreciate the offer," he said. "But there's no need."

"Why not?" She looked wounded.

To be polite, he said, "I do better on my own."

"I—my subclass, Aegis Cleric, all it does is buff and protect!" she said. She seemed frustrated. "I chose it for them. I wanted to help."

She jerked her head back at the survivors. "But it's… it's not enough. Buff a Level 12, they still can't take out a Level 25 Golem. I'm trying so goddamned hard…but I just, I can't… with you it'll be different. Let me help you end this. I swear you won't regret it!"

He considered her for a long moment.

"You're strong, but you're still fighting up a level gap," she said. "Especially against the second-floor boss. I can heal, make shields, cast buffs—I'll help bridge that."

Valid points.

"You'll have to fend for yourself. If they come for you, that's on you. I fight solo. I won't be able to protect you," he said at last.

"I don't want you to protect me," she said. There was steel in her eyes; it reassured him. She seemed for real. "I want you to end this."

"…" He shrugged. "Alright."

***

"Ready?" said Reina.

He nodded, and she let out a breath, and her staff began to glow.

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕒𝕗𝕗𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪: 𝔹𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕊𝕦𝕟 𝕀

ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕖𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕔𝕥: 𝕊𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕙 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟙𝟘%!

ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕖𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕔𝕥: ℝ𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟙𝟘%!

ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕖𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕔𝕥!:𝕍𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟙𝟘%

Together, they marched for the first lair.

He heard shouts from the other side of the clearing—the others must have seen him and Reina walking out. Seeing them striding up to the mouth of the first boss lair. They were greeted at the entrance by two box golems. One Level 24, one Level 25.

It was a simple game of keep away with these ones. Slip between them, away from them, keep the body out of reach—then when the time was right, sling a noose around their necks, and clamp it tight. He burned through one, then the other with ease. Reina had barely gotten halfway through her spell. When he turned, he saw her staring at him. She shook herself out of it.

He heard the other survivors' shouts grow louder too. The maw of an entrance gaped at them. They strolled on through.

The moment they did—

𝕃𝕒𝕚𝕣 𝕃𝕠𝕔𝕜!

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕊𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕝 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕝𝕠𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕣.

A blue wall sealed the door behind them. He heard Reina's breath start to quicken, but when he took a sidelong glance at her he found her jaw set as strong as always—though her fingers were white-knuckled on the staff.

"I'm good," she gritted at him. "Let's do this."

The lair was run over with fat steel pipes, twisting up and down the walls, snaking over the floors. Gears and pistons whirred in a jarring symphony. Steam hissed from unseen vents, and the air was thick with the smell of oil and rusted steel. Steel racks stood here and there, seemingly at random. At the center of this mechanical mess stood the boss.

𝕄𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕊𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕝 (𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣)

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟙

It was like four or five Box Golems strapped together; even sitting it towered twenty-odd feet. Its joints were strapped in by what looked like conveyer belt cables. In the middle of its torso lay its heart—this dim yellow core which flared to life as it stood.

It loomed over them, gears whirring, eyes shining a bright red light.

Zane licked his lips. Okay. Let's dance.