ALL NOVEL Chapter 10. Tommyknocker
Chapter 10.Tommyknocker
Before Arthur could press the red elevator button, the elevator shaft began to rumble and shake. Metal scratched on metal, loud enough to make me cover my ears. The elevator was coming up. The four of us looked at eachother.
“You didn’t hit the button, right?” Christian asked Arthur.
He shook his head.
We all took two steps back and prepared for the worst. Ten seconds, twenty, thirty. How deep was this mine shaft? The elevator had no door, so as it reached the top the first thing I saw was a nameplate.
He opened the metal gate with a clang and stepped off the elevator. “Excuse me,” he said.
We parted. The boy had short brown hair in an awkward bowl cut and piercing blue eyes that seemed to take us all in in an instant. He wore a long-sleeve white shirt and brown pants. His eyes locked on mine for a brief moment, his head tilted to the side. He carried a thick book under his arm, the title of which was large enough to read, but I didn’t understand the language.
“Thanks,” he said, and he walked between us and down the hallway without a word.
“Wait,” Arthur called after him. “Did you kill the Spirit?”
The boy turned around. “Nope,” he said, still walking backwards. “I didn’t go down that far. I just needed a quest item.” He turned and disappeared into the mine.
What a strange sight to see a boy casually exiting a mine. And without any visible weapons and armor. He must have found a way to avoid all of the danger. I felt relieved that he hadn’t slain the elemental, if doing so was even possible. I didn’t know yet what I was going to do about the Earth Spirit and Arthur, but I wanted to keep my options open.
We took the elevator down to the bottom level, passing two exit levels as we descended. The further we went into the ground, the more nervous glances were exchanged. We lurched to a halt and pulled the gate open. The way stood before us, damper and colder than the shaft above with a deep musty smell. I felt like I was breathing dirt. Fluorescent vines and flowers lit our way, their snaking patterns a welcome sight.
Two animals turned to us from ahead in the hallway and began shuffling our way.
Giant Spirit Rat
Level 5
HP 17/17
Stamina 100/100
Thomas stepped forward without a pause, lowered his shield and pulled back a sword. One of the rats charged him and got smashed by his shield, tumbling backwards. Christian fired an arrow into the stunned mob, missed a second and a third, but landed a fourth before the animal regained its feet. It disappeared, leaving a glowing pile of loot.
Arthur charged forward with his sword, slicing downward. He swung two more times and the second rat fell.
“Great work there, Warren,” Janica said. “You really made a difference.”
I ignored her, mouth agape. Not one of them had taken any damage.
You defeated Giant Spirit Rat x 2.
You earned 0 experience points.
I looked at Janica, confused.
“If you’re wondering why you didn’t get experience, it’s because you didn’t contribute. You never got into combat. The Gods only reward experience points for real learning. Next time do something useful.”
To Janica, the game prompts were messages from her Gods. And while I knew that I was in a game, she did not. None of the NPCs did. Yet, did it matter? Janica had mentioned previous life experiences. She had a past as well as a present, which meant that to her, this game was an actual life. And I was getting the feeling like the NPCs were some of the most advanced AI that I had encountered. They called us Visitors. Maybe they weren’t far off.
The mineshaft descended slightly. Moments later, three Giant Spirit Rats came into view and hurried toward us. As before, my group got into position. I stepped up next to Christian as he knocked an arrow. I held my staff in front of me like a spear. There would be no swinging in this tight hallway.
Thomas bashed one rat, then a second.
Arthur charged forward and attacked one of the rats that had been knocked back by Thomas’s shield. The third rat got past Thomas, and darted at Christian’s ankles. Christian squealed and jumped back, but tripped as the rat bit his foot.
“Christian’s health is down to 87%,” Janica said.
I lunged forward at the vermin and connected with my staff right in the center of its body, pressing it into the wall. It hissed, its head turning toward me and snarling.
“You hit the rat for 3 damage. Its health is down to 14.”
I continued to hold it against the wall, scared that if I let it out, I’d get attacked. “Christian, shoot it. Somebody help.”
It squirmed and thrashed trying to break free. An arrow lodged into the rat’s head, and a mace descended onto its body. The Spirit Rat died, leaving a sparking pile behind.
You defeated Giant Spirit Rat x3
You have been awarded 23 experience points.
I moved to collect the loot, but Arthur stepped in front of me. “Guild loot,” he said, bent down and grabbed the sparkly bundle.
“Damn, that hurts,” Christian said, holding his ankle. “You get any healing spells yet, Warren?” he asked. “Now would be a great time to fix me up.”
“Sorry, no.” I said.
“Thanks for pinning that rat. You did okay.”
I shrugged.
“Christian’s health will regenerate, but very slowly.” Arthur looked at me. “That’s why an actual healing spell would be so powerful. If we get too low before we get to the boss, we’ll have to turn back and try to finish this quest later.” He turned to Thomas. “That was your fault for letting that rat get by you. Christian should never get attacked in the back row.”
“I couldn’t block all three rats,” Thomas shot back. “We need a strategy when there are more than two.”
Arthur nodded. “You’re right. Next time we get charged, I’ll offtank the third mob. And if there are four, we move backwards while Christian fires arrows trying to slow one of them down.”
For all of the arrogance, Arthur was able to listen and adjust. After blaming somebody else, anyway.
We fought four more sets of rats before we reached an opening that led to a larger room: two more groups of three, and then two groups of four rats. We handled each as planned, Christian taking zero damage through the four battles, but Thomas was down to 71% health and Arthur was down to 84% health. I got bit once, taking me down to 80% health.
I examined my combat log before we entered the room.
You defeated Giant Spirit Rat x 14.
You earned 105 Experience points.
Congratulations, you earned a level as a Mystic.
Stat upgrades: 1 Constitution, 1 Dexterity, 2 Intelligence, 3 Wisdom, 2 Perception
A golden light flashed from my being. I felt warm and euphoric, a smell of cinnamon surrounding me. I had never done drugs like the rockstars of the twentieth century, but I imagined that it felt like this. Like everything made sense, and I could do anything. When the feeling left, seconds later, I felt a little different. Sharper somehow, or more self-aware.
The group congratulated me with a series of “grats.”
“Can you cast a healing spell now?” Arthur asked. His health remained at 84%.
I shook my head. “Mana regeneration is still busted. I’d have to get a spell that doesn’t use mana.”
“What about your guide?” Arthur asked. “Has he given you any clues as to where to find a healing spell you can use?”
That comment surprised me. It was easy to forget that I wasn’t the only one with a guide. Also, for no good reason at all I had imagined all fairies as female. I was embarrassed by the thought and didn’t mention it to Janica.
“No,” I said. “Not yet.”
A large oval-shaped room stood before us with four pillars in a kite-like pattern. An enormous mass of floating rock debris hovered at the far end of the room; it looked exactly like spirit from the upper level of the mine but much larger. Hundreds of small, medium, and large rocks oscillated in orbit around an invisible axis.
I followed my three companions into the room, stepping to the side and staying behind them. The boss came into view.
Earth Spirit
Level 10, Elite
HP 82/82
Stamina 150/150
A door fell from the ceiling behind us, slamming shut and trapping us inside. I felt the ground shudder at its closing, but the boss didn’t aggro.
“Shit, Arthur. Level 10 Elite,” Thomas said.
“There has to be a mechanic to help us beat him,” Arthur replied. “The mobs in the tunnel were only level 5. We can cheese this if we figure out the trick. Look around, but don’t get any closer to the boss. We don’t want to accidentally start the encounter.”
“What are you gonna do?” Janica asked.
I don’t know yet, I typed back. If I side with the Earth Spirit right away, they’ll kill me quick. I have to wait for the last moment.
“Or do something without them knowing,” she replied.
That would be ideal. That way they won’t know I betrayed them and send their whole guild after me, I typed. How do I switch sides?
If I switched sides. I mean, follow Janica’s advice and piss off a guild an entire town or gain valuable allies but help release some great evil into the world? I wasn’t even six hours into the game and already dealing with a decision that would have huge consequences. What to do?
“Use your Talk to Spirits skill.”
“Wait, how was I able to talk to it before without using that skill?”
“That device you used earlier was an interface that allows certain Jobs to communicate with nearby spirits without using any skills.”
“There, on the far pillar facing the center of the room,” Christian said.
“I don’t see anything,” Arthur said.
“That’s because you didn’t take an Attribute that improved your eyesight and Perception. Thomas, do you see it?”
Thomas shook his head.
“I do,” I said. “There’s a button that looks almost perfectly blended into the rock.”
They all turned to stare at me like they had forgotten I was there.
I shrugged, then pointed at the other pillar that was farthest away from us. “There’s one on that pillar as well.”
They all turned to look.
“Why are you helping them?” Janica whispered, anger in her voice. “Are you going to side with them and kill the elemental?”
I looked at her, but didn’t respond. She had manipulated me, and I didn’t trust her. She didn’t deserve my reassurance, but I typed an explanation anyway: I’m gaining their trust.
“And then we swoop in at the last second and kill them all!” Janica said, thrusting and swinging her mace in an impressive display.
“I see it,” Christian said.
“I bet there are two other buttons on the other two pillars,” Arthur said. “Okay, here’s the plan. We’re not going to last a moment against this thing by fighting it straight. We need to avoid as much damage as possible. We also need to figure out how those pillars work. Christian, you’re our main damage because you’re ranged. Keep firing arrows to chip its health down. Thomas, you’re going to taunt the boss every time it starts to focus on Christian, but, otherwise, try to line-of-sight any spells and don’t let it hit you if you can help it. Kite it around the pillars. I’m going to try to figure out the mechanic with the buttons. If we can get the thing down to 20%, I’ll use the explosive that I picked up and we’ll all hide behind pillars. We might have to find a way to stun it in place.”
“What about me?” I asked.
Arthur looked at me like I was crazy for asking. “Use that Perception of yours. Keep your eyes open for anything that might help us, but stay out of the way.” He turned to face the spirit. “Let’s go,” he said.
Thomas stepped into the center of the room.
The boulders that made up the earth spirit spun like a centrifuge and then formed a body with red eyes, a much larger facsimile of the one I had communicated with in the tunnel above. The elemental made a deep growling sound and the wall to the side of him opened. The sound of rocks breaking and moving echoed through the circular chamber. I put my hands over my ears.
A human exited the doorway, his form partly translucent. He held a mining pick and wore a helmet with a light on the front. His skin was white and haggard, like a human that had been buried for some time. The smell of decaying flesh filled the room, and I plugged my nose.
Tommyknocker
Level 6 Elite
HP 62/62
Stamina 100/100
The ghost’s eyes lit up, the same shade of red as the elemental. He approached us, limping, his mining pick dragging along the ground. “You shouldn’t be here,” he warned. “I protect this tunnel that now barely separates the world above from the world below.” It was the elemental, speaking through the ghost of a dead miner. “Go back to your village and tell your leaders to close this mine and never return.”
A prompt appeared before me.
Would you like to abandon your quest and aid the spirit in protecting this mine from future excavation? Yes/No
Time had run out. I had to make a choice.