Chương 22: Cloudstep

Ch. 22: Cloudstep I knew that motherfucker was out to get me. The snake monster looked up at me, its body coiled, ready to strike. I crossed my arms and turned around, watching Franz with his shit-eating little grin get smaller and smaller as I fell. His face disappeared as he went back to the firefight. I supposed I should thank him. I was trying to ditch Kayla and he gave me a great out. I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about why he'd want me dead, though.

Figured it might be because he had a sneaking suspicion about Spiros.

Maybe I was a loose thread. I turned around, staring into the eyes of the snake as it prepared to strike. Either way, I'd been itching to try out my new ability." Cloudstep." Cloud trailed from my foot like a jet exhaust. The core sprung toward me. I pushed against the cloud I'd formed and it was as if bouncing against a wall. The snake's jaws snapped shut, narrowly avoiding me. It twisted its head to face me.

I pushed against the right foot and landed on its back where I slid down the scaled neck like it was a kid's slide. Blood?

"Sorry, buddy. We can't kill this thing yet. I have a bone to pick with a dog." As I slid to the base of its body it began coiling itself tighter, creating a whirlpool effect and dragging me into the middle. I used Cloudstep again and ran up the air to avoid being constricted. When I looked up I saw that beyond the giant angry snake head was what looked to be a slight depression in the walls. There was a slight bevel that implied somewhere to stand on. I'll need blood soon.

"Uh, fine. We can give it a little stabby stab. Get you fed." As it struck at me again, dodged and stabbed my knife into its neck. The blade bounced off, a small buzzer sound going off when I did.

"Whoops," I said, "Looks like the scales make this monster invulnerable to piercing. Sorry, buddy. We'll get you some blood soon." I finished running up and grabbed at the ledge, just as the snake struck again. I pulled myself up and rolled onto the flat ground just as its teeth struck the pit's walls. I picked myself up. There wasn't much room. Outside of this area to stand on, there was a heavy door and a lever next to it. I grabbed the lever and jostled it. I could hear the creaking of chains.

I let go of the lever. That's not for the door. That must be to lift the snake up to the top of the platform. I walked up to the door.

"Okay, Bloodsucker. I could find a way to defeat the core. But that would send everything back. Although that creature would definitely have all the blood you could want. But… There's also Anubis. Which… we're here to get to a higher level. And what could possibly get us to a higher level than that?" Do what you must. But I grow famished.

"System!" I said, "System, how much to kill the core?" Gigantic Desert Snake: 1000 exp, hun"And how much to kill Anubis?" That's a tough one! For that, I'll give you 5000 exp and an evolve point.

"What's an evolve point?" Can't Give Away All My Secrets, Can I?;)"I want that so bad. Are you kidding me? Sorry Bloodsucker. We're just going to have to hold on a little. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Drake!" For the second time in my life, I heard Kayla's voice call from the heavens. As much as I would have loved to tell her that Franz pushed me, I think it would be better if she thought I was dead for the next few hours. I tried to open the door only to discover it was barricaded from the other side. That was okay. I pulled back and kicked. The door broke open. I walked down the tunnel until there was a ladder that headed upward. I placed my foot on the ladder and leapt upward until I grabbed the top rung.

When I exited, I noticed my mana bar. Still 60% left. Huh. Cloudstep really paid off. That escape probably would have burned everything up. I punched the manhole above me and crawled out. I was just outside the north door, I could peer into the big room and see the monsters fighting my teammates, and the one traitor that I'd rather not mention because fuck him. Anyway, I had to make moves toward the top of the tower. I walked for a while down some tunnels until some stairway pointed upward.

I walked up the steps and as I did, I felt a tug. I looked down. My foot had caught a trip wire. Damn. A big scythe slid down from the wall and attacked me. I had no space to move, instead I closed my eyes and clapped my hands. When I opened my eyes, I saw that I had caught the scythe between my hands. I let go of the scythe and worked my way up the stairs. The door was already open, and when I went exploring, it seemed the place was mostly empty.

I walked for a while trying to locate the stairs, or even some enemies. I am famished.

"Blood right? That was it? I almost forgot. You almost went another hour without bringing it up. I would have forgotten instantly. We're working on the blood part, man. Just sit tight." I am not a man. I am a knife. I walked for a while longer and yet there was nothing. Seemed that the firefight had drawn most of the sapients. I looked out the windows I'd peered into with my binoculars. There was nothing but desert but you could see the faint blue grid of the level's edge. I walked a bit before seeing more stairs.

I was on the second floor. Which, counting the first time I looked up, meant there were about two more floors before the balcony. I walked into the room. My feet instantly stepped in sand. I looked around and the room I was in was terraformed to look like the outside desert. With boulders and cacti.

"Who dares enter my domain?" It registered as clicking, but I could hear the message clearly. The voice echoed all around me before I realized: If its voice is all around me, it must be directly above me. I jumped backward. A spear entered the floor. I rolled on my back and looked up at the beast. He was a skeleton from the waist up, with a long spear and shield. His body was a giant scorpion, as big as a mid-sized sedan.

"Hi there. Got a riddle for me, maybe?" I asked. The bones shook their head and then attacked.

"Okay, that's what I thought." Tell me there's blood.

"Let's go find out!" I sprung into action. The scorpion struck at me. I jumped and cloudstepped forward. The claws of the scorpion body reached out and clipped at me as I dodged and stabbed the skeleton in the eyes socket. The knife entered the bone but no blood came out. The monster's sting struck at me and I twisted my body so that the point missed me, but the bludgeon of the stinger still hurtled me until I collapsed against the wall. Wow! Billy wasn't kidding!

This thing would be a core on its own in an Alpha pit. Damn, I was right to come here. It rotated its body and slammed me again with its tail. It slammed me against the wall of the temple again. Then came the claws again. I dropped just before they snipped me but they took a chunk of my curly hair off. I rolled under it and stabbed it under its body. My knife pierced it over and over again.

"Let's finish this guy!" It attempted to sit and drop its large body on me, but I jumped out of the way. I lifted my leg and used cloudstep, jumping off and flipping so I was on top of the scorpion. I dropped before its claws could get me and drove the blade into the scorpion's back. While my strength had penetrated its chitinous armor, my blade was not long enough. I lifted my blade again and drove it further in. attacking its spinal column and killing it.

The claws stopped snipping, the skeleton body stopped attacking with its spear. It to the ground, its legs curling as it died.

"There, that should give you some blood." I pulled the knife out, but instead of blood only sand escaped the scorpion's body.

"What!? Sorry, Bloodsucker. I was sure there'd be blood." I am at my wit's end, Drake.

"I understand, but we're going to get you some demon blood. I promise you. Just hold off a little longer. No, Drake. I am done waiting.

"What does that mean? Like… you're finally going to stop bitching? Because, I didn't want to say it but you've kind of been getting on my nerves. I'm pretty good at- Ahh!" And suddenly, I fell to the floor. I gripped my head, and screamed in anguish as I felt like a blade had entered my head from the front and exited through the back. I haven't even begun to get on your nerves. A stat I'd never seen before showing exactly what effect the blade just had on me. Sanity: 95% Bring me blood.