Chapter 53: Chapter 53

Jinny

Level 5 Magus

And that was where everything went off the rails. 

There was so much wrong with her sheet, I could barely mentally catalog it all. Her stats were absurd. Intelligence and Will were in the mid-twenties, everything besides companionship in the tens. 

She had more than double the number of skills I did, almost all of them spells that looked anything but beginner material. <Divine Tempest,> <Soften Greater Target,> <Mass Slow,> just to name a few. Her feat list was just as long. When Nick was discussing general marching order, he’d asked Jinny to just reign down hell. I could see why he hadn’t needed to be more specific. 

I went through her feats one by one, searching for something, anything to explain how the hell she’d gotten so powerful at such an early stage. They were all good picks, but there was no bullshit asking-the-genie-for-more-wishes selection that would have made sense of it. All her feats were magic focused or class-specific, save one. 

<Inscrutable: Insulation from both Monsters and Users alike with enhanced Perception abilities.>

It was the sort of feat you’d take if you had something to hide. Something I was all too familiar with, and an explanation for how <Cruel Lens> had missed this.

She’s still watching me. Waiting to see if I’ll say something regardless.

Her title, surprisingly, wasn’t redacted: 

<Twice Bright>

Unless I was misremembering, the title was a reference to an old taoist aphorism. 

I frowned and took a moment to consider. Jinny specifically mentioned that they hadn’t bothered to look at each other’s sheets in a while. If they had, it was likely early on, before whatever was happening with Jinny’s was apparent. It would be one thing if I thought she was a possible danger to Nick. If that were the case, I wouldn’t give a damn what she wanted. 

But this wasn’t that. 

Considering how stacked her stats were, it was clear her presence was hugely beneficial to the party. And I suspected from the nature of the quote that whatever secret she was hiding was a personal one. Therefore, none of my business. 

I looked up to where she still watched in the rearview. “Quick question. Have you tried using any fire spells while Sae’s <Beguiling Gloom> is active?” 

Jinny sagged in visible relief. “No. We usually use that for positioning, and start attacking once it wears off.” 

“What are you thinking?” Nick asked. 

“Depends on how Gloom works. We’ve established the fact that the system doesn’t give us all the information. If it’s demoralizing because they can’t see, it probably doesn’t matter. If it’s demoralizing because it’s gaseous and that’s an effect of breathing it in, small chance it might be combustible.” I shrugged. 

“I like it,” Nick grinned. 

“So much for subtlety” Sae commented.

There was a lurch as the tiny Prius pulled up under an overpass, and the smooth road was replaced with rocks. 

“We’re here,” Jinny said. 

I was curious. Especially if it turned out to be something I could copy somehow. But it was better to wait. The average person is terrible at keeping their own secrets, and this had been weighing on her for a while. Jinny was the one who sent it after all, and while there was social pressure to do so, I’d put money on the fact that she was tired of keeping it to herself. But it hadn’t blown up the way she probably secretly hoped for, and it would be in her head now. What was the cost of me keeping her secret, would I—at any given point in time—send Nick a message on the side asking about it, why I kept it in the first place. 

Yeah. Jinny would initiate the conversation. It was just a question of when. 

/////

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the others were leading me into a trap. It wasn’t as if we’d suddenly gone off script or anyone was acting suspicions—save the many glances that Jinny was sending my way. It was more how abandoned and eerily quiet the path was. 

Our route took us first through the Dallas Pedestrian Network, a mostly abandoned series of tunnels connecting various Skyscrapers and business centers downtown. It was a well-lit series of white floored tunnels broken up by stone pillars, relatively well-maintained before the meteor, and while there were signs of vagrancy and fresh graffiti, it was still relatively clean and tidy. 

And empty. 

“You guys sure we’re going the right way?” I asked, finding the silence broken only by footsteps more than a little unnerving. 

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“Pretty sure,” Nick replied from up front. “It looks expansive, but most of the side passages are closed down and don’t really lead anywhere. 

“This isn’t even the spooky part. Wait until we get into the Santa Fe tunnels proper,” Sae said grimly. “It’s some real found footage shit.” 

“Fantastic.” I muttered, fighting the urge to switch into my armor. Maybe it was just <Jaded Eye> working in overdrive, but I really didn’t like being underground, with our only potential exit miles away. 

The only real upside was how difficult it was to be stealthy here. I’d tested it, briefly, before we set out in earnest. Even with my <Stealth I> feat, my footsteps still echoed, albeit much more quietly than the others. Perhaps if you had the advanced version of the perk, or a magic item that specifically softened your footsteps. 

Otherwise, we’d hear them coming far before we saw them. “Randall dipped out before you all found the trial, right?” 

Nick walked backwards as he spoke to me. “Yep. And we were basically done with the tunnels before his little freakout.” 

“No one wanted to go back,” Jinny said. “It’s honestly a little unnerving, being down there. Especially when we both woke up there, with no light and no idea how to get out.” She shuddered. 

I considered that. Would I have made it, even with a stronger starting class, in a situation like Nick and Jinny’s? Or Brett’s for that matter? It was hard to say. And would likely depend on what title the system started me with. <Jaded Eye> could easily get me killed in that sort of situation. It almost had, initially. It took a certain kind of person to survive in that situation. 

Nick diverted, drifting over to the side of the hallway towards what looked like a storage closet. “And here we are. I think.” 

“This is it,” Sae confirmed. 

Below the door was a small accumulation of dirt and grime. Not much, but enough to assume it had been used recently. 

“These bastards all look the same.” Nick groused. He slid the door open and revealed exactly what you’d expect to be in a supply closet. Brooms, mops, and an astronomical amount of dirt. I entered last, taking a small dust rag from my pocket and sweeping the dirt on the exterior inward before I shut the door behind us. The supply closet was lit by a single transparent bulb hanging by a cord. 

“If I were to make a joke about Narnia…” I started. 

There was a groan around the group. 

“Played out. Noted.” 

“We’ve already beaten the “wrong side of the tracks,” bit to death too, though Nick will never admit it.” Jinny shook her head. 

“Tracks?” I asked. 

As if answering my question, Nick moved a stack of pallets aside easily, as if he were shifting around books on a shelf. “Open sesame!” 

“Also played out,” Sae murmured.

“Alright. Everyone suit up.” Nick stared at the hole grimly. He was all business now, and equipped with hardy looking metallic armor, a silver sword with an emerald at the pommel that was at least half as tall as me, and a shield roughly the size of a car door. 

He looked heavy, and more importantly, like he would make a lot of noise. 

Beyond the pallets was a gaping hole, showing nothing but black. Jinny pulled a brown satchel out of her inventory and handed out four flashlights, giving me an encouraging smile when she handed me mine. “Make sure you stay close.” 

“Last-minute check,” Nick said, not turning from the hole in the wall. “Everyone good on health potions?” 

It was important that we all had our own individual supply, in case anyone got separated. The bare minimum was five. I had eight, but I hadn’t advertised the excess. My excuse for the armor was already thin; no need to make myself look more suspicious. Once everyone confirmed, Nick turned and dropped down the waist-high ledge, then stepped into the dark. His flashlight reflected off a long rail, bisected by rotten wooden planks.

 Wrong side of the tracks.

I went back and listened at the door, making sure there were no approaching footsteps. 

“New guy.” Sae was staring at me over the drop-off. “Hurry up.” 

Still, I kept my ear to the door. There was nothing. Not even the slightest echo. Satisfied for the moment, I flicked my flashlight on, and followed the others into the dark. 

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