We cautiously crept to the broken crates to find a boy who was all white due to crashing into the powder, he was coughing and patting himself down, then jumped out of the crate clumsily.
Discerning features started to make themselves apparent, he had black hair, dark eyes, two beauty spots beside his left eye and a shit eating gin engraved on his face. It was Jon, but was this a hallucinatory one or the real one?
When his eyes met ours, he tilted his head like a dog, wondering why we all had our weapons turned on him.
"So are we throwing a party or..." he questioned nonchalantly.
That remark only made some of us tighten our grips and suspicions.
"Everyone keep it cool, how about we just question this Jon to see if he's real?" Aideen asked.
"Huh? What are you talking about? I swear if this is like one of those scenes from those books where there's like a clone of the friend but one's evil and the people are trying to figure out how-"
I cut Jon off, his rambling seems the same.
"How long have we known you?"
"About four years or so ago, we met after that accident in the chemistry lab, remember, almost killed all of us?" He chuckled to himself.
"What is your favorite hobby?"
"Oh, I have hundreds, like; cooking, telling elaborate stories that may or may not be lies, reading, talking about myself or gambling, . Remember that time I got us all hundreds with that bet! I swear I'm too lucky" He answered excitedly while doing the thing where he closes his eyes like he has a certain picture in his head.
"Yup, that's our good ol' idiot Jon" I now help dust him off to find the singe mark from when he tried starting that fire. If that's not definite proof than I don't know what is.
Our guards were let down for a moment, the banging down the hallway got even louder. As much as I would like to question how he got here, now was not the time.
"Sounds like fun over there, what are y'all dealing with?" he joked.
"They are fast flying bugs that most definitely want to chat and have a tea party, you should greet them" I recalled sarcastically.
I heard a loud sigh and the voice of Peter chime in.
"More specifically, the information I am reading states they are 'Hominoid Gynnidomorpha alisman' or Moth humanoids of unknown origin. Researchers of this planet have found that they possess a brain very similar to humans and have the intelligence prowess to wield objects as weapons. They are extremely aggressive to humans and drag their victims away. Not much is known after that"
Peter gave a more logical response as he was reading from Alec's interface to find any information or weaknesses. Though he could have left out that last bit.
Jon stood there, seemingly to space out to think, this wasn't a good time for that.
It took some time but he returned from space and wore his usual toothy grin, he started looking in more of the crates and eventually found a couple more urns, he smelled inside of them, seeming satisfied with its contents. Jon grabbed similar urns and brought them to the hallway towards the large door.
He began the process of pouring the liquid from the urns, it was thick and almost clear.
"Are you planning on making them slip or what?" I inquired, not expecting a real answer.
"Not quite, if you don't realize what I'm doing, then I'm going to keep it a surprise"
[A Patron of the culinary arts respects Character ?Jon? for his knowledge of ingredient reactions]
I heard a small gasp from behind me, learning it was Peter who made it. He now grabbed his head in disbelief, probably thinking 'Why didn't I think of this sooner?" or 'How did that idiot come up with that before me?'
He set forth to help gather other urns as well, Bridgette shrugged to us and helped her boyfriend. Jon gave his urn to Scott and ordered everyone else to tear and fling the remaining bags of flour in the hallway and the entrance.
Me and Kaleb were sent to spread them along the walls of the door room, I tried to joke by spraying him with some of the substance but he was not amused as per any joke. I then took a small peak at the ever so weakening door and saw large holes with those things almost in, it was a mess of sounds and eyes I couldn't make out anything else.
We hurried back to Jon imploring me to get to the very back of the room, still not knowing what the plan was, I was going to ask Peter, but he was helping set up this weird gizmo using ropes and one of his skills' [Gadget Savant] to hang one bag of flour on the roof.
He got back where we took cover, but I noticed Jon was in the center of the room, he made a pillar of crates to hid behind and with his foot on a pedal to activate the mechanism. His hand was near his belt area, as if he was holstering a gun like a cowboy.
[Readers are starting to bet: 71% of viewers are split for your group to lose and 29% wager for you to win]
What is with these guys betting all the time? Most always bet against our odds and demoralize us, well, the only people that can see these messages. I know I was supposed to report these messages but probably not this one-
*CRASH*
The sound of the door finally caved in, and the roaring engine of a monster truck was heading right for us.
That was the que, there was no turning back now, whatever happened next had to work or else we were screwed. Only the shadows of the creatures dashing their way through the hall could be seen until the image of thousands of clumped together critters came like a tidal wave of moving arms, legs, and hungry mouths, but even with the scary scene, that idiot stood there with a wide grin forming that could be seen on the side of his face, he was waiting for something…
Right when they got to the entryway of the room, he pushed the pedal and the sack now ripped open, spreading the powder everywhere.
[[ERROR] skill activated: Firearm Summon: Lvl. ?? - due to ???, the affinity of the weapon has changed to 'fire' momentarily]
All in one motion, He raised his arm and a rusty looking revolver materialized in his hand mid swing. With only one pull, he fired this orange looking bullet and it missed the creatures entirely, instead it hit the falling powder and this massive explosion seemed to rock the entire place.
We ducked down but the only sounds that echoed were the dying shrieks of the creatures squirming on the ground as they were set ablaze, six more gunshots were heard and even more sounds of dying shrieks.
*Tch* *Tch* *Tch*
A clicking sound was perceived, we turned our heads to see Jon just repeatedly clicking his trigger, with nothing coming out. He looked frantically at his hand and back at a few surviving creatures coming for him.
That wasn't going to happen to begin with, Bridge and Scott got there first due to their higher speed stats, He kicked one in the abdomen, and she finished it off with a wrench to the face.
Bridgette went on her own, using an assortment of different tools on her belt as weapons, while being supported by Peter.
Aideen was by himself for a short time until Marcus got there, he swung his heavy fists, aiming to hit them, but the three in front of them regained posture and dodged out of the way, making it hard for both of them to land a solid hit.
However, without realizing it, they both did something pretty cool.
[Private skill activated: Guiding Flash: Lvl. 1]
Scott's constantly moving legs picked up the pace and when he started hopping in place, small electric currents would stutter under his feet. When he unleashed his flurry of kicks, I only saw a flash of movements that hit the three targets.
The red bars above the enemies reduced slightly, proving to be tankier than expected, but there was also a small target under the bars, almost like a type of debuff from a video game.
[Private skill activated: Guided Strike: Lvl. 1]
Marcus then came in to strike, for a small moment, his fists produced the same sparks, and a streak of electricity went forward to connect with each the creatures. Like a lightning bolt, the electricity escorted his punch, landing solid hits and sending them all a couple feet back in the wall. After every punch, the faint sound of thunder could be heard.
[Characters Aideen and Marcus's Patron are glad to see their candidates representing them]
I snapped back from the spectacle to see Peter and Clay hanging in the back with their ranged attacks, but the most I was worried for was Kaleb, he was already cornered by one of these bugs and he was frantically moving his sword from side to side.
I ran from behind while switching on my baton. These guys have been showing off too much, I think it's my turn. I told myself and activated that skill.
[Private Skill activated: Predicting Measures: Lvl. 1]
[Warning - Your Archetype cannot uphold this ability. Skill shut off immanent]
Time slowed again and I saw the after images of both Kaleb and this thing, I studied the projections of the creature to see it was going to move to the right. I readied my trajectory and the skill shut off.
Time renewed again and I was instantly hit with a major migraine, my swing was only half as strong.
Instead of landing, the creature grabbed onto the handle of my baton, its weird claw-like hands dug deep into my hand. I wanted to let go but it practically stapled my palm to my baton, I knew it was a long shot, so I tried to punch it with my other hand, it caught it as well.
A searing pain shot through my hands to my whole body, my brain told me to get away but I couldn't. Every nudge would just increase the pain.
Trying to not lose focus from the stinging pain, I looked at its face.
It had the eyes of a moth, but its mouth was this retractable needle like thing, then it made this shriek of pain and let go of my hands, there was now a short sword sticking through its abdomen. Kaleb had finally mustered some courage and struck it, however, he let go of the sword and it was now moving in a frenzy.
Before I could attempt anything, a loud bang was heard and its face exploded into chunks.
I looked behind me to see Jon pointing his gun our direction in amazement, it looks like he figured out how to use that skill again. Kaleb got his sword back and just looked at me with questioning stares.
"What's with the glowing eyes?" he addressed.
"Not even a thank you, can't you see I could lose my hands here?
"Your right eye, it glowed yellow for a moment, when you used your private skill"
That was weird, but it did spark the question to the weird effects when people use sponsor given skills.
He patted my back and ordered Clay to aid me, he came to my side and quickly healed up my hands. Maybe it was adrenaline but they didn't hurt as bad as they looked for some strange reason.
The gigantic indentions in them were quickly mended and the pain went away in an instant, not long after that the fighting came to a halt.
[A dozen Readers are upset at losing a bet!]
[One broke Reader thanks you for winning]
[Three Readers enjoy a good underdog story]
There was nothing left, no moving targets and no other sounds besides the annoying Viewers. The anxieties of more enemies coming worried me, but another question felt right to ask.
"How did you even get here? You left without a trace without confronting us" I scolded Jon as I walked up to him studying a corpse.
"I thought I told Marcus to tell you guys I was going to explore the tunnel"
I affirmed that he did, and explained the whole fiasco with the hallucinations. He jokingly apologized and continued when everyone gathered around.
"So I got curious and found this huge place, I may or may not have gotten lost and have been wandering since. Then I found a secret room with a chest, that's where I got that awesome gun skill you just saw me use, but it was trapped, and I fell down the hole above y'all"
"What about the monsters? How did they not find you?"
"I never saw any, there were two large commotions I heard not too long ago but I didn't give it to much thought"
I'm pretty sure our fight in the colosseum was one of the commotions he heard; I wonder what the other one was. I shrugged him off and pondered on something he mentioned, how did he find a chest with a skill? Is this like a dungeon for an RPG with traps and rewards? I shook my head as everyone had started moving again.
The walk down the corridor was revolting, we saw there were still hints of embers and flames as the smell of crisped meat littered the path, we passed the broken door and went down the massive corridor we were travelling before back to the atrium.
While we passed the hallway of archways that lead into rooms, some of us started to peer into them, finding remnants of the things that once lived here. One of the rooms was an old armory or maybe a blacksmith, the walls were covered with armor racks and a few elegant spears, though they were all rusted or unusable from time of sitting there.
Another room had mannequins that were the same size as us, they were adorned in fancy robes made of now rotting colored silks and had very childish designs. It was later revealed, after forcing Jon to wear one, to be a kid store and I revelled in the fact I called it that these people were giants.
We eventually stopped our encased minds and wandered back into the atrium, going the right way this time, passing the hundreds of open cocoons. All of us checked every corner but there was no sign of a living thing anywhere, that being good or bad we took the opportunity.
A couple of minutes passed, and we finally made it to the end, it was a large arch which led outside to a platform that once resembled a loading bay of sorts, it had contraptions of old that looked like pulley systems.
But I'm sure all of us were amazed at the beautiful sight beyond the platform, the darkened sky started turning a lighter color from the break of dawn on the horizon, you could well see for miles out, all the mountain ranges with snowy tops, a lake with shimmering waters, and great plains with forests that littered the soil. It was majestic, nothing to compare to back in the City.
A feeling of hope began to rise, this feeling of wanting to wander and explore began beating in my heart, but I cut those feeling short, that's not what I want. I need to cut that crap out.
On the edge of the platform was a well secured cage attached by a pulley. An elevator to be sure, all though I don't trust-
"AAHH, HELP!"
That was Jon's voice, what did that idiot do now?
We all searched for him, but none of us could locate his screaming.
"He's there!" Peter assured while pointing up.
We now saw that Jon was wrapped around these large vines with small points in them, hoisting him up about fifteen feet in the air.
[Gaming Hud has recognized a hidden enemy]
[The Boss of this dungeon has revealed himself!]
"You filthy Kith, believing you have the right to step onto this Sacred landmark" a masculine voice screeched out in a harsh tone.
Right under Jon, a figure began to walk out of the exit we came from, they stood a measly eleven or twelve feet holding this wooden staff with a pale flower on it. Their body had an accumulation of nature and animal like parts.
On their feathery torso was a strange combination of wood that twisted itself onto the skin, as if it grew on them to make a natural armor. They had furry legs of a goat that stood upright. Its face looked like a human, but it had greenish brown skin and fang like teeth that proved otherwise. Whatever this is, I hope we can reason with it.
"I am the Praetor of Flora and Fauna. You come into my given domain of protection, kill all my children, and destroy my entire army that took a hundred years to create!" they raised their voice even higher "I am beyond enraged, first it was that idiotic knight who ravaged against most of my army and now you killed the remaining"
His hoof stomped on the ground in frustration.
"Where is he? If you give me the Knight now, I will make your deaths quick and painless"
Dumbly enough, I was to fed up with this guy's crap and spoke first, probably out of anger.
"First off, we didn't know this was some sacred land, we just needed a place to stay for the night. Second, your children tried to kill us! Third we don't even know this knight guy but clearly, he doesn't like you for obvious reasons!"
The thing I hate the most are people blaming me for problems I didn't do, that didn't seem to help our case though, as the face of the 'Praetor' turned to one of disgust.
"I have lived for thousands of years so I know when I am being lied to; I was there when the magic was first created. Seeing that you do not care for your own life, I will give you a taste of-"
"Why do you types always feel like you have to monologue" I cut him off "Jon! hurry up and do what you were planning on doing"
We all looked up to Jon who was falsely captivated in the enemies speech, as his body language said otherwise.
"I actually wanted to hear his backstory though..." Jon mumbled with a sad voice
He had already freed one of his arms and fired from his summoned revolver. The bullet soared through their space in but a second and he hit the guy in his face.
It loudly wailed in pain while clenching his bleeding wound. Marcus and Aideen took the advantage and began to just pummel this guy to the ground, he was never given a chance to recover as they had support from the others as well.
This gut feeling hit me though, he mentioned that he was there for when the magic was first made, does he mean the skills? If this guy means what he says, then he is a greater threat than we put on him.
As I said that, a health bar came over its head, it was much larger than the enemies we faced. It also had a title over the bar.
[The Praetor of Lost Renown]
"ENOUGH!" he yelled a ferocious roar and we all backed away.
[Dungeon Boss has gone under legendary action 'Evolve'. An Enemy has gained a significant increase to all stats and skill levels]
"I will show you the powers from my prime!"
His body grew in size to eighteen feet and his head expanded from his body like a snake. Of course things aren't ever easy, as I readied my baton for a fight, a hidden vine quickly wrapped around my foot and raised me into the air. The others were also caught.
As the vine went up, it fully enveloped my whole body and just like that, all of us were now suspended in the air.
"I was just going to make you into more of my children, but now I'm going to make you suffer"
[Primordial Skill activated: Curse of Misery: Lvl. 10]
The vines that wrapped around us grew sharp thorns and jabbed into our skin, releasing a substance. My head began pounding and my limbs grew numb.
[Warning! your Physique determines the time until imminent death]
[Warning! Mental Prowess contributes to how slowly it limits your motor functions]
[Your time is 15 hours until imminent death]
[Your time is 14 hours until complete paralyses]
Awesome, just as we were going to leave this place, SOMETHING just had to show up. Now we are all dead, were going to die and I never got to achieve-
I cut that type of thinking short, now is no time to act like a child, there has to be something we can do here, a loophole? or maybe a patron can help, no, they cannot interfere with us, maybe a tarot card! It helped before, but that was only with illusions. Think THINK THINK, that's all this useless brain does so do it!
This feeling of frustration overwhelmed my entire being, I hate being like this, I hate how we were placed here for amusement, I hate it all...
■While His mind had already given up. There was one mistake he never thought of■
"Ahaha! Finally, let's go!"
Jon rejoiced with giddiness and had managed to free his arms, raising them above his head, even though he was upside down. Now is not the time for games idiot, but maybe he can buy us some time to act.
"What are you on about Kin?" The Boss extended his neck and reached eye level with Jon, having his weapon nearby.
"Well, if you must know, I filed a complaint with the administrators a while back about my information being blocked, the results just came back!!" He cried out with sparkles in his eyes.
The Praetor looked more perplexed than anything else, so he asked, while pointing his sharpened staff. "What exactly does that mean?"
Jon now had this somewhat serious face and said with a toothy grin,
"It means-"
He spread his arms as if he was presenting himself, a wild aura of gold and black protruded from his body while a playing card that was face down appeared out of thin air, hovering slightly behind him.
It then flipped over to reveal an idiotic person walking over a ledge while still looking up. A golden light leaped over the horizon and below the ledge was a deep, dark abyss. However, the idiotic person wore a smile of ignorance as if he knew he would be fine.
■For he was the Fool of the Story■
[Character ?Jon? has awoken his Tarot Card 'The Fool' and uses its ability 'New Beginnings']
[The Fool has chosen you as a candidate for 'New Beginnings' because it wants to find who you really are]
[Your Journey has begun as you feel the dark emotions of your heart heating up inside you...]
Everyone began to emit strong, colored auras suited to their personality, mine was a steaming gray color.
[Your Tarot card has awoken!]
"-we are going to beat, your, ass" Jon finished with his signature laugh.
[Your Tarot card is 'Temperance', for you long to be reforged]