Duke's gaze slowly landed on Dominique, who was observing the creatures from behind a pillar. "Motherfucker, you brought me to hell?"
Dominique shot him a warning glance. "Shh! Are you trying to get us killed before we even make the first move?" he hissed, his eyes darting around the chamber as if anticipating an attack.
Duke's expression turned angry. "You're the one trying to get me killed by not informing me thoroughly about what we're up against," he whispered back. "I had no idea we'd be facing creatures like this! Or any creatures for that matter."
"Make any false move now, and you're dead." Dominique hissed. "The same cannot be said for me because I can easily teleport myself back before they attack me."
Duke's mouth opened, ready to unleash a torrent of foul words at Dominique, but he stopped himself just in time. He took a deep breath, his anger simmering just below the surface.
Dominique had a point, Duke mused. He was here already so he might as well get things done and over with. If he decided to act without reasoning, he might just end up dead. He was at a disadvantage.
"So what's your plan?" Duke decided to ask instead. Dominique's hard expression settled into a neutral mode.
"The deal is to lure that big guy up there - it's called a Skarv, by the way - into that burrow." Dominique gestured to the precise location with his hand and continued, "But first, we have to get past these sets, and trust me, they're just as dangerous. I've tried and failed to do that for months, especially with those other creatures littering everywhere. And you can't just call the big guy and nicely ask him to get to this cave. Think you can give it a shot?"
Duke raised an eyebrow, skeptical. "How did they even get here in the first place? I thought the alien attack had been handled."
Dominique hesitated before answering, "Well, now you know. Think you can give it a shot?" He asked again, his tone urgent.
"I can try, but first, we need to make a deal."
Dominique rolled his eyes. "Don't you think now is a bad time -"
A creature roared in the distance, cutting Dominique off. He lowered his tone, darting his eyes around nervously. "To do that?"
Duke whispered back, "No. We make a deal now, or no deal."
Dominique's expression turned cold. "You know I can just leave you here, right?"
Duke's gaze didn't waver. "Do you want to hear the deal or not?"
Dominique exhaled, his shoulders sagging slightly. "I'm listening."
Duke continued. "If I help you do this, you'll let me go free -"
Dominique opened his mouth to argue, but Duke cut him off.
"You'll let me go free, and you'll stay away from Nadia and the kid. In return, you can contact me with an actual phone - rather than kidnapping me and asking me to help you out. Now that's a fair trade. Do we have a deal?"
Dominique looked at Duke for a moment startled. Even though Nadia had left him in his hands, he was still determined to protect them. Or maybe he doesn't believe she could betray him. Not wanting to be the bearer of bad news, he said "Deal. Now, how do you plan to manage the situation?"
Duke thought for a moment, his eyes fixed on the Skarv, flying mid-air as though in search of something. It was a massive, towering creature with razor-sharp claws and teeth. He couldn't just walk up to it and ask it to move into the burrow. He needed a plan.
"How about we use bait?" Duke suggested. "Something to lure it into the burrow without the other creatures noticing?"
"Already tried that on my second trial. Epic failure." Dominique said, dismissing the idea.
"Alright, no bait," Duke agreed. "We need something more… unconventional."
Just then, Duke received a notification from his system. It wasn't a special Order, but he was intrigued to see that it was an update on his stats. His MP, which had been stuck at zero points since he started taking orders and doing tasks for the system, was now showing a surprising 20/20.
'Does this mean I have powers now?' He wondered. He never really understood what the points were for, but it felt it had to do with whenever he did an impressive thing and that it enhanced his strengths. More or less.
But so far, Duke knew he couldn't wield magic. So what was the Magical points for?
So far he knew Health points meant his ability to recuperate fast.
"Any moment now," Dominique whispered impatiently.
"A minute," Duke simply responded. He tapped into the system's mart, hoping to find something that could take down the creatures more effectively than the double-barreled guns. He browsed through the items, still expensive, but he had enough coins to make a purchase. He noticed that each item had a coin price and a magic point requirement.
Duke looked for items on the Mart that could aid him in taking down the creatures stealthily.
And his top choices from the Systems Mart were:
- Silent Blast (3000 coins, 2 MP): Unleashes a powerful blast of magic that deals damage without making a sound.
- Creature Camouflage (3000 coins, 3 MP): One can disguise himself as one of the creatures, allowing him to get close without being detected.
- Magic Trap (2000 coins, 4 MP): Sets a trap that deals magic damage to creatures that trigger it, without making a noise.
- Camouflage ( 5000 coins, 5 MP): Grants One temporary invisibility, making it easier to sneak past or attack creatures undetected.
"Duke," Dominique called in alarm.
"Just a second-"
"Duke!" He shouted in alarm. Duke turned to him and noticed Dominique eyes wasn't on him. They were fixed on something behind him. As he noticed Dominique's eyes dilated, instead of checking what it was, he ducked out of the way, narrowly avoiding a sharp tail that had managed to slice through the air, cutting between the pillars Duke had previously rested on.
As Duke turned to stare at the creature, his eyes widened in shock.
He knew he needed an option 6 or even more if he was going to make it out of there alive.