Chapter 85: 77. Team Noir: Monster Lair

“No comms means no communication with your bosses,” Kleo said neutrally, slowing down for Malcolm’s sake. “So, nobody can listen in or watch us.”

Malcolm may have the lesser Systemless Intellect, but he’d been around the block. His emotional-g revealed more fear and nervousness than Jay had seen in the man.

Jay clamped down on Malcolm’s forearm.

“Relax, old man, we’re not turning on you,” Jay said. “Just confirming, okay?”

Jay didn’t need to say any attempt to lie or trick the best scouting Champions was a bad idea. Each crawler here could sniff out a lie, which could get literal, ghoulish, or maddening.

“All right. I am at your mercy. What does it mean for comms to shut off?” Malcolm asked carefully, sounding both worried and strained from the constant movement through drainage.

Jay helped by kicking aside debris that would’ve slowed the old man down.

“We can be a little looser with what we say,” Jay answered.

“All we ask is that you keep some of it to yourself, please,” Emily added. “We’re wary of the World Knife having assassins hidden all over. And they’ll want nothing more than to map out all of our abilities before striking us where it hurts.”

“Yup,” Tim added.

“I’m supposed to report all of my findings,” Malcolm said seriously.

The Champions paused for a beat. Jay nodded slowly. “We won’t stop you. And we won’t let you die just to keep our secrets. This is just a request from us.”

“Understood,” Malcolm said.

“Let’s kick it,” Tim said. “Before we hit the monsters.”

The first order of business Team Noir tackled was the factors behind a monster lair’s existence. Despite wanting to hold back information until YoAnna arrived to clear the air, Jay didn’t have a choice but to speak on the subject. Kleo played it by ear, filling in with her own input when necessary.

“YoAnna pulled you into a domain to challenge you alone,” Emily summed up, her emotional-g flaring with indignation, jealousy, and sadness. “That explains why you’re ahead of us.”

“Yeah,” Jay said, doing all he could to stay vague about the results and about the mark. “The lair feels like a domain, but monsterized.”

“It’s both better and worse than YoAnna’s,” Kleo said, ignoring Emily’s struggle not to defend her Queen. “It’s more solid, but its not completely stable. It’s shifty. And changing. And it’s merging the monsters’ magic with our home world, like a bad mixture of two opposing foods. See.”

They entered a crooked tunnel where the water gradually lowered. The solid walls of a storm drain broke apart. Gross, fleshy vines hung through the gaps where putrid muck fell and made small piles on the floors. A little further beyond that, the drain suddenly changed into a dusty wooden space that reminded Jay of a hollowed wall. Wooden slats covered the walls with stinky muck and fleshy vines seeping through the cracks. It was a tight space and came with a grisly decoration–the skins of eaten people hanging above.

“I don't know if defeating the boss will undo all of this,” Kleo said. “It might stop it from spreading out further. Or the lair might eat up more of our reality, get bigger, and produce more monsters.”

“Why didn’t they wait for their damn lair to keep spreading and take Junkside unaware?” Malcolm asked shakily.

The man’s emotional-g was on the brink of breaking. He'd seen many things in his career but lacked the [Omen Bearer of the Apocalypse] Title. And he hadn’t seen anything like this before.

To Jay, Tim, and Emily, it was just a Friday. A horrible, dirty, and murderous one, but still a Friday for the Champions.

Kleo took a while to answer. “Two reasons I can think of. Consumption of prey furthers their domination. Improves their hold as a threat in the narrative. Adds plot weight, and that increases their likelihood to outlive nearby enemies. That’s reason one. Reason two is simpler and probably the better reason. Why not eat some tasty humans as your presence grows?”

“You’re telling me it’s not even instinct,” Malcolm said. “It’s because they enjoy it.”

“Yup. That’s what makes most monsters be monsters except for a few outliers. The bad monsters love hurting the weak! It’s fun.” Kleo turned around as she floated into another section of the lair. She flashed a toothy smile at Malcolm to emphasize her point. “I was a monster. I had the same feelings, too. But I chose to like humans instead of hurting them. Still doesn’t mean I don’t get those feelings again once in a while.”

A stony, uneven tunnel filled with cracks and crags surrounded them. The water dropped to ankle level. But everyone except Jay and Kleo had to stoop a little to keep from hitting their heads on the pieces of rock jutting down from the ceiling. The muck and fleshy vines were still present, but not as much here. No human skins, thankfully.

“Fight through monsters. Find the child. Defeat the boss,” Tim listed.

“That clears up our objectives for sure,” Emily said. “Should we do a System Check while we’re at it?”

“And a little extra,” Jay added, looking at Kleo. “Is it okay if we Spellcraft on the move?”

“It’s up in the air if we’ll make it to the child in time,” Kleo admitted. “But I’m willing to weave on the move. It will take me longer, though.”

Jay felt through his meta-g that they could prep up before the next encounter. It was a tight window. But Frank had harped yesterday night that the Champions should recheck their Systems together, reexamine for anything new, and ensure everything was running as it should repeatedly. It was in case they might have missed something.

It shouldn’t be possible due to [Precursor of the System] helping with System stuff. But Jay wanted to take Frank’s advice more seriously since acting lazily with the System could be dangerous.

“Kleo, use [Mana Weaver] on Emily first,” Jay ordered. “Tim, start us off with a System Check. Emily goes second. I’ll follow as third.”

Tim’s System Check–Level 10

[1] Attributes: 23 Resilience, 13 Poise, 21 Strength, 31 Agility, 51 Perception, 10 Intellect, 15 Conviction, 15 Discovery.

[2] Skills: [Swift and Slick], [Conjure Arrows], [Highlight Survey], [Renewed Breath].

[3] Special Stuff: [Dog Boon] (Talent), Basic Elven Trainee Recurve Bow (Item), 3 Basic Health Crystals (Item), 3 Basic Stamina Crystals (Item), 3 Basic Mana Crystals (Item), Gloves of Last Breath (Item), Leap of Faith (Incantation).

Oh, wow. Jay hadn’t known Tim learned an Incantation. This must’ve happened after the Wednesday power meeting. Tim probably got help from Brit to nab one for himself now that everyone knew incantations and spellcraft were usable by all Classes.

Unfortunately, Leap of Faith wouldn’t help much in these tight confines. And it was a scary proposition that Tim was in a Rank 2 crawl with his low Health Attributes. Jay could only hope the Chance x6/x3 Tim was rocking would provide really good Chance Modifications for his Plot Armor.

Emily’s System Check–Level 12

[1] Attributes: 20 Resilience, 25 Poise, 12 Strength, 15 Agility, 30 Perception, 26 Intellect, 68 Conviction, 17 Discovery.

[2] Skills: [Spooky Friends], [Echo of Karma], [Grave Eye], [Handy Scary Skeletons], [Mist of Death]

[3] Special Stuff: [Bat Boon] (Talent), [Seeker of Dead Secrets] (Title), Basic Dwarven Hand Blaster (Item), 15 Basic Heavy Ball Shots (Item), 1 Basic Health Crystal (Item), 2 Basic Stamina Crystals (Item), 1 Basic Mana Crystals (Item), Feast of Flowing Life (Incantation), Phantom Snare (Incantation), Corpse Kiddie Parade (Incantation), Grand Scythe of Reaping (Incantation), Great Necrosis Bolt (Spellcraft).

You are reading story The Gravity Freak of Dungeons and Monsters: System Portal Fantasy at novel35.com

Emily would be the most important person on this crawl if this were a simple tabletop game. Jay had more power and wider abilities, but the [Freak] couldn’t heal. Emily provided healing and mana regeneration and game-changing support. The crystals in their bags were limited in comparison. And she could do useful stuff with her multiple servant Skills.

Her Attributes were solid, too. And besides her badass Skills and Incantations, she had a single powerful ritual spell she’d learned from Hailey. Getting a down and gritty System Check from her bolstered their confidence, too. They might have to lean on her more and push her outside of her normal supportive role.

Jay’s System Check–Level 21

[1] Attributes: 26 Resilience, 30 Poise, 22 Strength, 44 Agility, 85 Perception, 33 Intellect, 50 Conviction, 54 Discovery

[2] Skills: [Moonwalker], [Dance Floor Relativity], [Grav Kick], [One Heavy Step], [Horizondancer], [Sling Assist], [Cloak of Freakish Relativity], [Weighted Touch], [Orbital Mastery], [Gravity Grasp], [Graviton Wall], [Judging Finger That Cuts Divinity], [Faerie’s Voice], [Manasinger], [Gravity Mastery]

[3] Special Stuff: [Teeny Faerie] (Kleo!), [Monkey Boon] (Talent), [Faerie Master] (Talent), [Eye of Venerated Madness] (Talent), [Status Channels] (Talent), [Mana Weaver] (Talent), [Appetite for Divinity] (Talent), [Mana Power Cycle] (Talent), [Challenger of the Divine] (Title), [Slayer of Assassins] (Title), [Slayer of Tyranny] (Title), [Successor of the Dungeon] (Title), [Punisher of the Divine] (Title), Basic Morgoda Guard Trainee Sword (Item), 2 Basic Health Crystals (Item), 2 Basic Stamina Crystals (Item), Call of the Freak (Incantation), Triple Bolting-g (Spellcraft).

A long silence filled the tunnel after Jay listed out his [1] Attributes, [2] Skills, and [3] Special Stuff. They had gone over a lot back on Wednesday, but when Jay laid his System out verbally like this, even he was stunned by the enormity of his advantages and abilities.

If you considered Kleo as an extension of him, then he was one monstrous crawler.

He was a little nervous because both Tim's and Emily’s emotional-gs weren’t flaring heavily. They were in deep contemplation over everything their System Checks had reiterated, reminded, and cleared up.

Malcolm was completely lost after all three flung-out abilities they hadn’t revealed to the CWG. The worst part for Jay was the Titles that spoke of divinity. He didn’t know what those meant exactly, and he was afraid it would paint a dark picture.

“Everything but the kitchen sink,” Tim said, glancing sadly at his Gloves of the Last Breath.

Emily patted him on the shoulder. “I know how it feels. I tried to challenge Jay through spirit alone and lost. Badly.”

Tim returned an understanding pat on Emily’s back. The two commiserated while Jay felt a tad lonely. Kleo gave him a reassuring hug through [Faerie Master].

She had finished Emily’s ritual for Great Necrosis Bolt, binding shadowy circles and runes around the pale skin of her left hand. Kleo was now weaving the ritual to Triple Bolting-g around Jay’s left forearm. 

Despite Kleo sharing the same Affinity for gravity as her master, she could still craft spells for other Affinities and types. As long as it was for someone else and not Jay, everything had to be gravity-related for the [Freak].

“Ah, they’ve revealed themselves at last,” Emily said, snapping everyone to attention.

They’ve been moving through the craggy, stony tunnel for a while now. It felt like this place was way bigger than it should be, but that might be due to Malcolm slowing them and the Rank 2 nature of the lair. Every rank-up meant greater dangers, greater dimensions, and greater everything when fighting monsters and their habitats across the Multiverse.

“The ghosts of taken Junkers are trapped here,” Emily said hauntingly, “unable to escape because of the horrible nature of this place. My [Spooky Friends] were scouting ahead and speaking to victims–”

Emily’s head tilted to the side suddenly.

“We have fifty seconds and counting before contact,” she said. “Ahead of us.”

Jay looked at Kleo as she worked on his ritual. She was still engraving the last runic circle needed to make Bolting-g into Triple Bolting-g, what Hailey had described as the difference between a Good-Quality Ritual and a Great-Quality Ritual. More circles for more runes and whatnot.

Spellcraft would have to be a study Jay got into later. He needed to know if they should abort or stay the course.

“I’ll finish in twenty more seconds,” Kleo said.

“Forty seconds now,” Emily said. “They aren’t rushing. But they’re gathering a large force of grunts.”

Jay wanted to check ahead, but he trusted Tim and Emily for that. His job was to check the flanks and behind them, spreading his spatial-g two hundred feet in those directions. If the grunts moved stealthily outside of that, he might miss them.

Immediately, he found multiple no-gravity dead spots drawing closer under his observation.

“Six rising from below,” Jay counted. “Ten to the left. Eight to the right. And we have sixteen coming from the back. Twenty-five seconds until they hit our backs followed by everything else.”

“Ten more seconds till ritual completion,” Kleo informed, her hands moving with a surgical position to engrave runic magic around his arm.

It didn’t need to touch him. But it had to be close and done perfectly. Spellcraft didn’t leave room for mistakes. Or they wouldn’t bind correctly and could explode an arm, such as Jay’s

“Thirty seconds… and should I take the front?” Emily asked.

“I’ll take the back,” Jay said. “Tim, go wherever. Malcolm, sit down. We’re about to do some magical kung-fu shit all over the place.”

The tunnel had widened just enough for everyone to stand at their full height and move a few feet left or right with arms out. Just enough wriggle room to move, strike, and dance.

But the floor was still slick. Various formations of rock and muck and flesh vines provided cover or obstacles depending on how the crawlers or monsters took advantage of the environment. Jay figured monsters in their lair had the home-turf advantage.

Malcolm took a seat in the middle of their formation, leaning back on his gear. He didn’t even bother putting his hands on his rifle. The man was pretty much the Systemless definition of ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel.’

You couldn’t switch out the bearded savior for YoAnna on this occasion. She was a deity that would gleefully let you drive a burning car off the cliff. And then celebrate your survival.

Jay burst into sudden laughter, finding hilarity with the idea of YoAnna’s scarred and grinning face highlighted by a car crash fire. His eyes pulsated with the silver-gold light of responsibility and the purple light of insanity.

Malcolm’s emotional-g flared with great fear.

Tim and Emily shared a look and shrugged.

Jay imagined they thought his echoing and howling laughter was just another Champion personality quirk. They had a lot of those among their Pantheon. 

Jay might have the quirkiest personality, though.

“Done, Master,” Kleo announced. “I took a few seconds longer to review it. Just in case.”

The ritual covered his bare forearm with purple runic symbols that glowed like a neon tribal tattoo. It wasn’t touching his skin, and he could’ve left his hoodie’s sleeve down and got the same result.

But binding it on his dark skin looked way cooler. Especially when he raised his arm like a loaded cannon. That pushed Jay to give the warning, “Cover your ears.”