13.1 Nightmares of Doom.

In the nothing, in the pre-blackness before sight, in the only world afforded to those without eyes, ears, and touch, Mayah floated. She wasn’t aware of this nothing, and that was as it should be.

The nothing shifted and a piece of itself broke loose with the sound of a pin dropping on crystal one-hundred miles away. The sound rippled outward practically unheard. There behind the nothing was a spot of brilliant blue. The blue of the bluest eye. The eye that wanted to consume Mayah.

Another piece fell from the firmament of the blackness freeing the blue from its confines. And like an egg cracking the shell around Mayah broke and with the sound of millions of pins striking crystal she emerged into a world of blue.

The sound rippled across the void as the blackness collapsed. Her center bobbed on the peaks and troughs of the sound as they wavered past. The movement tickled through her where her mind met the pieces of her consciousness.

Her Intuition aroused consciousness, and curiosity followed to see what was happening. Curiosity nudged consciousness into awareness with a start and caution made its appearance.

Blue, there’s so much of that blue.

Caution grabbed fear by the collar and dragged it into consciousness. And the world became liquid Mayah struggled to breathe but the blue wouldn’t allow it. She swam in the blue, arms reaching for purchase, trying to find the surface she needed to breathe. But instead, she started to drop like an anchor, in a world with no up or down. Deeper into the blue she fell.

She struggled, kicking against the pull. The blue, it sat on her face pushing her deeper and she clawed at the insubstantiality of it. Her fingers scratching at her face. As the need for oxygen became the only thought.

She kicked and struggled. The blue became pixels. It distorted her hands and made her senses glitch going from positive to negative. The blue became red and glitched back and forth. Each color shift pressing her deeper and deeper into the depths. The pixels tingled against her skin like cold metal until they turned red then they burned like the heat of a playground slide in a heatwave.

Back and forth they tore at her. Pieces of her arms and hands pixelating off into nothingness like sand off the tops of dunes in the wind. Redoubling her efforts with her last bit of frantic strength she finally managed to break through. She took a deep, sweet inhale with a gasp. Her eyes opened and she pushed the furriness off of her face.

There was a scrambling and squeaking as her eyes rolled around and the panic of blue in her mind faded to reveal the embers of a campfire and an angry rötten picking itself up next to her in the grass.

“uunnngh….” She floomphed back down and heard a startled mrowl. She turned her head in the darkness and got a nose full of soft black fur. She reached up and scritched the shadowy mass.

“Hey, girl. Sorry,” she whispered.

Vergie Chuffed and made no further noises. Riker however climbed into her lap and chittered angrily.

“Well, who told you to sleep on my face?” she hisspered to the angry rötten. "you gave me a nightmare.”

She placed a hand on his scruff, stared at the low embers, and pet him until they both calmed down. She noticed Margaret sleeping and decided not to wake her. Finally, she finally decided to look at her clock.

4:17 a.m. ugh…

Below that she saw her notifications blinking.

Time to find out what type of shaz has fallen into my cereal bowl this morning. She scrolled up through her notifications to right after they defeated Shelly Bob.

You have received a Debuff

Unconsciousness – Due to the Shock debuff, the pain and damage to your leg has successfully overwhelmed your regeneration capacities and caused your body to shut down. Unconsciousness is a forced rest state. Rest may or may not help with your regen. Your body will still be vulnerable to attack and you defense rating will be lowered to your armor’s class only. You will become conscious again only when your regen overcomes the HP and stamina deficit or you will remain unconscious until death through attack starvation or dehydration.

You have received a Debuff

Shock - Stamina regeneration reduced to 25% until medical treatment is given. Maximum Stamina drain is doubled. Intelligence and focus reduced to 25% until medical treatment is given. Intelligence and focus checks will be performed against pain and damage. An unsuccessful check will result in unconsciousness.

She looked at her health bar it was two thirds full and read the next notification.

Ongoing Status Ailment

Crushed tibia and fibula

Left Leg -35% mobility

HP and Stamina regeneration -50%

HP locked at 65% of normal until healed.

Until healed This injury can be worsened by trying to use affected body part.

Timer: 4:37 remaining.

1205/1855HP

She pulled the blankets off of her leg and noticed that her leg had been splinted by an amateur. But it was helping so she wasn’t going to complain. She pulled out the buff tea and poured herself a drink.

So, what can I do in the meantime?

She went over the notifications from the end of the Battle with Shelly Bob and saw that the rötten had jumped a ton of levels from participating in the boss battle.

Power leveling my floofs!

She pulled up the companion upgrade tab and got to work. Over the course of the Lürkinmürk they had picked up 3 levels, but the boss gave them four whole levels. Riker had 70 points to distribute and Deanna had 71

Companion tab

Companion 1 Name: Riker

Species:

Venom Rötten - Male

Level:

13

HP:

80/80

Disposition:

Trusted

Abilities:

Poison Bite, Poison Claw. Teeth and Claws have been magically infused with Venom. This gives this subspecies of rötten a higher attack rating. +1 to Base for Attack and Affinity

Upgrades available - Riker

Defense

3

increase defense

4 points

Attack*

5

Increase attack

4 points

Strength

4

Increase Strength

5 point

Stamina

3

Increase stamina

4 points

Agility

4

Increase agility

5 points

Affinity*

5

Increase affinity

4 points

Rapport

3

Increase Rapport

4 points

You have: 70 points

Maybe if I upgrade affinity to 10 it’ll give him another boost to his attack. Let’s see affinity is 4 points to get it to 6. So, 4+5+6+7+8= 30 points. Is it worth it just to get the attack bonus of 1 point? I have to balance that against all of the other stats. Let’s come up with a plan for the other 40 points and see if it’s feasible

Upgrade defense by 2 for 9 points. Same for stamina, bringing those both to five. use 11 points to raise agility to 6. Which gives me 11 points left over. Add 1 to strength giving me 7 points as leftovers we’ll up rapport by 1 leaving me with 3 points.

This could work. Let’s find out, shall we?

She put the 30 points into affinity brought it up to 10 and accepted the changes. Riker yawned and his Chelicera extended and became more hooked and the needle points sharpened. He shook himself and laid his head down as his fur took on a glossy almost wet sheen.

Ding!!!

Your companion has evolved.

Companion 1 Name: Riker

Has gained the ability Poison Bristles

Abilities:

Bristles have been magically infused with Venom. Creating needle-like hairs that contain venom.

Add +1 to Base Attack and Defense

Mayah watched Riker and stroked his fur. There were now small hard bristle-like hairs spread throughout his glossy coat. But what did they do?

“Hey bud, Mayah picked Riker up and pulled his face to hers. You got some more abilities wanna show me what they are?”

Riker glared daggers at her, obviously because this was the second time she had woken him up.

Mayah glared back and thought, I’m gonna need to up his rapport, when she had an idea.

“For snacks?” she asked the tired rötten.

Rikers eyes opened wide and his hackles stood up. Just like Deanna, the bristley hairs pricked into her hand.

“Aaaah-chhaaa..” she struggled to put him down without throwing him.

“You could have waited till I put you down.” She sucked on her fingers to alleviate the pain.

You have taken damage

Venom Rötten poison

-150HP (5DP per sec for 30 seconds)

envenomed -5% Agility -5% stamina

This debuff is stackable

1055/1855HP

Her finger went numb and then shortly after her tongue started going numb.

Great! Just what I need. Like getting a shot of novocaine. She moved her tongue around trying to get the feeling back into it. it looks like bumping the affinity is actually worthwhile. Okay, let’s add the rest of these points.

Companion tab

Companion 1 Name: Riker

Species:

Venom Rötten - Male

Level:

13

HP:

140/140

Disposition:

Trusted

Abilities:

Poison Bite, Poison Claw, poison Bristles. Teeth, Claws and Bristles have been magically infused with Venom. This gives this subspecies of rötten a higher attack rating. +1 to Base for Defense and Affinity and +2 to Base for Attack

Upgrades available - Riker

Defense*

6

increase defense

5 points

Attack*

6

Increase attack

4 points

Strength

5

Increase Strength

6 point

Stamina

5

Increase stamina

6 points

Agility

6

Increase agility

7 points

Affinity*

10

Increase affinity

9 points

Rapport

4

Increase Rapport

5 points

You have: 3 points

She watched as he became a bit thicker going from a weasel to a badger-like body build. A small, skinny badger but eh, he’s poisonous so it balances out.

Riker nudged her hand.

“Oh right, treats.” She pulled out a piece of apple pie for her venomous companion and scratched his head and felt a prick.

You have taken damage

Venom Rötten poison

-150HP (5DP per sec for 30 seconds)

envenomed -5% Agility -5% stamina

This debuff is stackable

948/1855HP

“Shaz!!!”

Mayah looked at her untouchable venom floof feeling her finger growing numb by the second and weighed the pros and cons of not petting him again. The cons weighed very heavily but could never outweigh the pros of floof against fingers.

“It’s so worth it,” she whispered and reached for Riker again. She paused before she touched him and pulled her hand back. “better wait till I get more HP.”

Then she reached out and scratched him anyway.

You have taken damage

Venom Rötten poison

-150HP (5DP per sec for 30 seconds)

envenomed -5% Agility -5% stamina

This debuff is stackable

798/1855HP

You have taken damage

Venom Rötten poison

-150HP (5DP per sec for 30 seconds)

envenomed -5% Agility -5% stamina

This debuff is stackable

648/1855HP

Okay, I’m done poisoning myself for a while. Ooh, look my hand is all floppy and useless now. It feels like a dead piece of wood at the end of my wrist. Then she turned her attention to Deanna’s chart.

Companion tab

Companion 2 Name: Deanna

Species:

Iron Rötten - Female

Level:

12

HP:

130/130

Disposition:

Trusted

Abilities:

Bite and Claw. Bones, hair and teeth have been magically infused with iron. This gives this subspecies of rötten a higher attack and defense rating. +2 to Base for Attack, Defense and +1 to Affinity

Upgrades available - Deanna

Defense*

6

increase defense

4 points

Attack*

6

Increase attack

4 points

Strength

4

Increase Strength

4 points

Stamina

4

Increase stamina

4 points

Agility

3

Increase agility

3 points

Affinity*

5

Increase affinity

4 points

Rapport

4

Increase Rapport

4 points

You have: 71 points

So, 30 points to reach 10 in affinity leaves me with 41 points. That might also get me a new evolution. She really wants more agility and I don’t think she needs more defense at the moment. So 18 points into agility bringing it up to match Riker’s. She should be happy with that. Now, what happens if we get attack up to 10. If the affinity raises the attack and defense I’ll only have to raise the attack by three instead of four. Let’s make sure that’s the case before we continue.

She added the points and looked around for Deanna. Not finding her she pressed the button.

Your companion has evolved.

Companion 2 Name: Deanna

Has gained the Ability Sharpen

Abilities:

Bones, hair and teeth now have the ability to become sharper at will.

Add +1 to Base for Attack and Defense

“Okay, so 41 points left. Get Attack up to 10 for 15 points, 12 to Agilty bringing it up to 6. And bump stamina up 2 for 9 points, leaving me with 5 points which I’ll use to up strength leaving me 1 point as a leftover.”

Companion tab

Companion 2 Name: Deanna

Species:

Iron Rötten - Female

Level:

12

HP:

160/160

Disposition:

Trusted

Abilities:

Bite and Claw. Bones, hair and teeth have been magically infused with iron. This gives this subspecies of rötten a higher attack and defense rating. +3 to Base for Attack, Defense and +1 to Affinity

Upgrades available - Deanna

Defense*

7

increase defense

4 points

Attack*

10

Increase attack

7 points

Strength

5

Increase Strength

5 points

Stamina

6

Increase stamina

6 points

Agility

6

Increase agility

6 points

Affinity*

10

Increase affinity

9 points

Rapport

4

Increase Rapport

4 points

You have: 1 points

Companion 2 Name: Deanna

Has learned the Attack

Slashing Charge Level 1

Abilities:

Companion will charge an opponent with hair fully extended and sharpened doing slashing and stabbing damage.

“Oh, yeah!” Mayah blurted out and then covered her mouth and made sure she didn’t wake Margaret up. “So, attack at level 10. Riker’s next. He just needs two more levels.”

“Now that I have a loose understanding about companion leveling, I should get some more sleep. See if I can regenerate a shattered leg before we go into the dungeon. She reached out to scritch her venomous friend one last time with her good hand.

You have taken damage

Venom Rötten poison

-150HP (5DP per sec for 30 seconds)

envenomed -5% Agility -5% stamina

This debuff is stackable

673/1855HP

Ding!!!

New Passive Ability

Poison Resistance Level: 1

You have willingly subjected yourself to a poison five times. You have gained some resistance to poisons and poisonous toxins. Poisons that are ingested, inhaled, injected, or absorbed will do 5% less damage.

5% resistance to poisons and toxins

“Whoa ho!!! What is this now?” Mayah whispered to herself. She reached over and gave Riker a bunch of scritches incurring three more poisoning notifications.

“I’m gonna feed you all of the poisons and venoms I can find, little guy. And when I tell people not to pet you, they better listen.” She chuckled and then pulled her makeshift blankets up over herself before her hands went numb, closed her eyes and leaned into Vergie’s warm fur.

She was basking in the elation about her upgradeable pets and wondered what their second elements should be as she listened to Vergie’s breathing and chuckled to herself. That extended train of thought rocked her into drowsiness during her thoughtful journey and delivered her to sleepy station a few minutes later.

…..

Mo was sitting on the edge of his bed in the dark when Bonkers tried to sneak in on him.

“Good morning, Bonkers. What are we getting into today?”

“Well, first Oi’m going to disappoint the boys by telling them you won’t be getting tossed out of bed again.” A few murmurs of disappointment came from the hallway. “Then oi get to inform youse of the harrowing foighting schedule we have planned for ya down in the knocker dome.”

Mo stood up. “I’m right behind you. Lead the way if you would.”

“You know how to take the fun out of a man’s loife, don’t you?” Bonkers grumbled.

“Fun for you. Not for me by a longshot.” Mo grumbled

“But the sight of you spinning through the air as we flipped you out of bed was better than coffee in the mornin’s. Now we just get to see your ugly mug waiting for us with a smarmy smile.”

They walked through the common room and out the backdoor and down into the Knocker dome.

“So what’s the lesson today?” Mo asked, half excited, half terrified.

“Same as always just with weapons.” Bonkers informed him.

Bonkers tossed him a package wrapped in fabric.

“You’ll be using these for practice until you up your abilities. If youse were ta use your real weapons, one woild swing without any restraint and we’d be putting arms and fingers back on’ta someone.”

“Okay, so who’s going to be training me.”

From the top of the stairs, a loud voice called, “I will.”

Mo turned to find Grimsaw standing there dressed in a gambeson under a leather cuirass with matching Vambraces, gauntlets, and greaves.

Well this doesn’t look good.

“So what’s your plan for today?” Mo called out to Grimsaw. Grimsaw made his way down the steps as if deep in thought.

He walked directly over to Mo, got extremely close staring into Mo’s eyes, and said, “My plan, Booms, is to beat you over and over again until you can defend yourself.”

“Shouldn’t I have armor as well?”

“You think I’m wearing this for protection?” Grimsaw and Bonkers laughed. “This is ta’slow me down a bit. Maybe give you a fighting chance.”

Mo’s warning bells were beginning to ring as Grimsaw approached. He flashed forward faster than Mo could track hooking a leg behind Mo’s as he shoved Mo’s chest. Mo fell backward and landed on his side.

“Ya ready to start?” Grimsaw asked.

“Aren’t you supposed to ask that before you attack?”

“Peepers and plates, Booms. Peepers and plates,” Bonkers reminded Mo with a chuckle.

“Most of the fights that folk get into they don’t see coming,” Grimsaw explained while he offered Mo a hand. Mo took it and Grimsaw pulled and then let go when Mo was halfway up. He slammed back to the floor and stared up at the two knockers.

“So that’s how we’re doing this?” Mo asked.

“That’s how it’s always been done, lad.” Grimsaw chuckled.

Mo stood under his own power and gave Grimsaw a look of respect, activated speed and stabbed for the larger man’s belly with his wooden kukri. Grimsaw pulled a Jutte out of nowhere hooked the blade and pulled Mo forward while stepping out of the way. Mo tried to attack with his other kukri and felt a kick to his gut and saw Grimsaw pull his leg back.

Mo crumpled to his knees, arms across his belly. Grimsaw squatted down and looked him in the eyes. When Grimsaw saw the anger in Mo’s eyes he smiled.

“Good there’s some hope for you yet. Now, are you gonna sit there and let me hit you again or are you gonna pretend you know what you’re doing some more?”

Mo spit and forced himself to stand. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. Don’t rush, just protect yourself.

Mo blinked and Grimsaw moved the twenty feet between them with no discernible movements.

“Thinking about something?” Grimsaw asked right before Mo felt a punch to his gut that staggered him back. “You’re supposed to be fighting and there you go standing still and thinking about what to do next. That’s what I’m here to teach you.

Mo closed his eyes and cast about him with his senses.

“That’s not gonna win you a fight if you can’t use it for anything other than defense.” Mo felt a presence by his shoulder and swung at it hitting something hard that fell to the ground with a clatter.

“I’m still over here, lad. Your senses are easily tricked.”

Mo opened his eyes to look at Grimsaw and caught a clothesline which slammed him into the floor.

Mo gasped for breath and struggled to stand up.

“If’n you close your eyes I’ll just retreat and as soon as you open them I’ll add to your pain. So, what strategy can you come up with fer this?”

Mo coughed. “I’ll guess we’ll just need to find out. Won’t we?”

“That’s the spirit, but spirit won’t win ya a trophy, boy. Neither will just standing there.”

Mo growled and charged at his tutor and when he got close, he closed his eyes and activated speed all at the same time. His head snapped back as his face felt smashed flat. His feet flew out from under him and he fell to the ground on his back.

He let out a reeeeeeee of pain as he gnashed his teeth and looked to see what hit him. Grimsaw stood there with his foot extended not even moving.

“Don’t take it personal that I’m a better fighter than you. It’s just a truth you need to accept before you can get better.”

Grimsaw tossed him a healing potion. “Drink a sip of that and get back up. Can’t have you laying around all day.”

Mo let out a yell of frustration and got up to face his personal demon.

This method of training went on for three hours before Bonkers came to get him. He had gained 3 levels in Punching Bag getting another three points to his constitution and rolling hit had risen just one level because Grimsaw hit so hard and fast that he couldn’t roll with the punches.

All in all, he had gained 49HP and upped his HP regen.

I’m still squishy just not as squishy.

“Alroighty there booms, are you ready for your meeting with the science assemblage?”

“I think so. I need to wash my face before we go, though.”

“Won’t help,” Grimsaw said with a chuckle. “The dirt might wash off, but you’ll still be ugly.”

Bonkers chuckled along with him. “Oi assume you two had a good toime?”

“It was so much fun. I mean why wouldn’t I come back tomorrow and do it again?”

Bonkers just chuckled again. “Ya frustrated?”

“Very!”

That’s a good thing didn’t ya know? If ya got the chops to hang in there with your teacher, they can’t be teaching you very much. A teacher who bludgeons you halfway to death’ll either teach youse somethin’ amazing or kill you by accident, loike.”

“And which is Grimsaw going to do?”

“Well since you’re a paladin it really doesn’t much matter does it?”

“It matters to me,” Mo complained.

“Oh... come along now. You’ve got an appointment to keep. And you’ve got the whole day to figure out how tomorrow’s gonna be better.”

“Or how I’m gonna die.”

“True.” Bonkers nodded. “But death comes for us all at some point or another. Speaking of, oi’m sending the boys to look for Nessler again today. After your meeting, we could use your help.”

“Anything you need, Bonkers.”

Bonkers clapped a hand on Mo’s still bruised back and smiled. “That’s what oi’d thought you’d say.”

Mo finally managed to crack a smile as they walked into the common room. Mephi was talking to Ziggs, Chonchaise, Riller, and Davemarth.

“Hey guys, you ready to do this?” Mo asked his teammates.

“We were waiting for you, remember?” Ziggs griped.

“Hush it trashbot,” Mephi said. “Yes, we are ready and waiting. Chonchaise was telling us not to sign anything about the organization until we talk to them. If necessary we can schedule another appointment and bring him along to negotiate if we need too.

“Thanks for the advice Chonchaise. We’ll definitely keep that in mind. You coming with, Davemarth?”

Davemarth growled and then said, “Nope. Treegan, Gummish and a few others are waiting for you outside.”

“Thanks. Riller, how’s the piecework market looking?”

“Going to square everything away today—at the square that is.” Everyone groaned. Riller ignored their protests and continued. “We should be able to start everything tomorrow.”

“Awesome! Well, we’ll see you later then,” Mo said with a smile. Davemarth just growled again. And with that Mo turned to leave the knockers’ house.

“Good morning gents.” Mo greeted Gummish, and the other knockers.

“Morning Booms.” Treegan said slowly as a smiled crossed his face.

“Morning, morning. Let’sh get a move on. We still gotta find Nesshler,” Gummish whistled hurriedly.

“Right you are. Let’s move out.”

They traveled through the streets their eyes peeled for any sign of Nessler. The three paladins barely knew where to look or what to look for, but they tried anyway. Finally, they made it to Assemblage square and the Assemblage Hall loomed in the distance.

“You three can make it from here?” Gummish asked.

“If not, we’ve got bigger problems,” Mo told the architect.

“Like being able to breathe and walk at the same time,” Ziggs added

“Cmon trashbot.” Mephi steered the box away from the knockers.

“Thanks, Gummish.” He shook the elder knockers hand. “We’ll give you a call when we’re finished.”

“Just be shafe,” he said intently.

“That we will sir.”

Gummish and Treegan nodded as Mo strode off. He caught up with his team in no time and they made their way up to the correct door for the assemblage Hall. There, wrapped around the building was a line that defied logic. It went from the door to the corner and doubled back on itself four times. At the front of the line was a small kiosk with three clerks sitting at it having what looked to be a wonderful conversation.

They walked up and the people stopped talking.

“Hello, we have an appointment. How do we get in?”

“Looks like this one’s never seen a queue before.” One clerk said to the other two.

“I’m sorry if we offended you but we’ve never been here before and were told to show up here at 7:45, for an appointment.”

“Well you see the queue, don’t you?” Clerk 2 motioned towards the line.

“Yes sir, I see it. Is that where we wait for our appointment?” Mo asked trying to get the information straight.

“Looks like he’s finally figured it out boys.” Clerk 1 exclaimed snidely.

“I’m sorry but just to clarify. That line is for everyone who wants to get into the building for appointments?”

“Look here, I don’t know if your stupid or pulling my leg. Either way, you’re making me angry.” Clerk 1 raised an eyebrow and gave Mo a stern look.

“Again, I apologize sir. I am a paladin and I have only been in Majesta for a few days and do not understand all of the customs. I worked very hard to make this appointment and would hate to miss it. Perhaps we can start all over and you can guide me to where I need to be.” Mo was trying hard just to get a straight answer.

“Okay, that’s enough, you lot.” Clerk three finally leaned forward in his chair and addressed the other two. “This bloke is obviously lost—and claiming ta be a paladin on top of that.” He turned to Mo. “So you say you have an Appointment? Let me see your appointment slip, if you even have one.”

Mo pulled out his slip and handed it over to the leader of the trio. The attendant turned to his friends and began a conversation that they didn’t even try to hide from Mo.

“Doom?” Clerk 2 said as he glanced at his compatriots

“Can’t be. No one is Doomed?” Clerk 3 sighed into his hand.

“But the slip is official. Tarbeck’s seal is on it.” Clerk 1 reminded them.

“It’s been three years since someone new made it to doom.” Clerk 3 had a far off gaze in his eyes.

“Is there a problem?” Mo asked the clerks.

Clerk 1 turned back to him. “No sir. No Problem. Just this appointment is a bit of a strange one.”

“How so?”

“Well you’re headed to the department of organizational ordinances and ministries, correct?” Clerk 1 confirmed.

“Yes,” Mo answered, a frown growing on his face.

“Well the reason they told you to get here at 7:45 is because you have to find the office.” Clerk 1 said meekly.

“Find the office? What does that mean?”

“Well, the department moves around a lot,” Clerk 2 interjected. “The whole office. It gets transported to different places in the hall throughout the day and is terribly hard to find.”

“What?”

“The office moves around. Well not the whole office. More like the door to the office.” Clerk 3 said from his chair.

“Getting in there will take a miracle on top of a blessing on top of fifteen strokes of luck,” Clerk 2 added.

“So where do I start?”

“Right through the doors.” Clerk 1 pointed to the halls doors.

“Hey Meph, Ziggs we got a mystery on our hands,” Mo called out to his friends

Mo’s team sidled up and Mephi asked, “What’s going on?”

“Well it seems like we have a room of requirements situation, instead of the room becoming what you need the door moves all around and we need to locate it.”

“Really?” Ziggs asked. “That is a major pain.”

“And not to add to your troubles,” clerk 3 said. “But after the appointment time your card becomes invalid and you’ll have to leave the building. And since there’s only one appointment card you’ll have to stay together.”

Mephi’s irritation caused one of the attendants to gag a little.

“And now we have to warn you to keep your scents to yourself as well,” Clerk 3 gagged. “The ventilation isn’t the greatest inside.” all three attendants were covering their nose.

“C’mon boys. Times a wastin.” Ziggs hummed towards the doors a rainbow of colors rolling over gunny-num-nums.

“Thank you for the information,” Mo said to the attendants as he hustled to follow Ziggs with Mephi right behind him.

They skidded through the large foyer and up the three steps into the larger main lobby beyond. It housed a multistory gallery and a grand bifurcated staircase that connected to the three levels of the gallery. Light globes at the top of the structure cast nearly perfect imitation of sunlight causing the space to seem airy as it fell on the yellowish-beige tile in the center of the room. Around the walls, the tile was deeply marbled black with a border of golden tiles separating the black from the lighter tiles. There were columns that went from floor to ceiling creating the arcade and galleries.

The trio couldn’t help but stop to take in the view for a moment.

“Wow.” Was all that Ziggs could say as she spun in place updating their maps.

“Still feels bureaucratic, though.”

“I can imagine lawmakers walking through here trying to avoid the populace at large.”

Snapping out of it, Mo asked Ziggs, “Anything that looks like an information desk?”

“I don’t even sense any people.”

“Let’s look for a directory on this floor before we proceed on a wild goose chase,” Mephi growled.

“Good plan, Meph. Ziggs keep scanning.”

“You got it, oh great armless one.”

Mo facepalmed and a notification dinged.

“ooh! Daily dungeon update”

……

Specter’s Keep Daily Update

3,562 teams entered the dungeon 5 days ago. Only 105 remain.

Congratulations on making it through your fifth night.

Thank you, for playing Majesta.

Mayah awoke to the sound of trumpets and grumbled wiping the notification away after reading it. She was attempting to go back to sleep when a haggard Margaret made her presence known by feeling Mayah’s forehead with the back of her hand.

Mayah opened her eyes and asked, “Did I have a fever?”

“Thank god you’re awake, dear.”

Vergie rolled away from Mayah and stretched leaving Mayah 100% less comfortable than before.

With a growl she said, “And since Vergie is moving I guess I’m getting up too.” She gave Margaret a look letting her know it was all her fault for waking the vergax.

Margaret smiled back at her. “Sorry about that, but if you’re feeling up to accusing me of things then I think you’re feeling much better.” She fluffed up some fabric and made a better pillow for Mayah.

“Thanks, Mags.” Mayah accepted the help and smiled a bit.

“Think nothing of it, dear.”

“Where’s Grax?”

“Something about needing to eat and use the bathroom,” Margaret chuckled.

“Always off gallivanting while the ladies do the hard work.”

They both laughed at that.

“So, how’s the leg doing? You went into shock and passed out last night.”

“Yeah figured that out when I woke up at four a.m.”

Margaret gave her a disapproving scowl. “Why didn’t you say anything? I was worried sick.”

“Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you. No need being debuffed because you didn’t get enough sleep. There’s’ enough danger here already.”

“I guess you’re right. Now, about your leg.”

Mayah pulled up the status ailment notification.

Ongoing Status Ailment

Crushed tibia and fibula

Left Leg -7% mobility

HP and Stamina regeneration -50%

HP locked at 93% of normal until healed.

Until healed This injury can be worsened by trying to use affected body part.

Timer: 53 minutes remaining.

1725/1855HP

“I’m mostly good. I have 53 minutes left on my broken leg but I’m only down 7% mobility. I’m just gonna rest until its full up.”

“Good idea. Any other news to share?”

“Be careful petting the rötten,” Mayah informed her. “Riker upgraded and now he’s poisonous to even me. and Deanna is—actually I haven’t seen Deanna.” Mayah turned her head like an owl looking for her companion.

“She came back with us last night. I’m sure of it.”

Mayah checked her map for Deanna and found her on the other side of Vergie.

No wonder I couldn’t see her.

“Deanna!” Mayah hollered. The dot didn’t move so she hollered again. This time the dot wiggled around and Mayah heard shuffling in the tall grass. She followed the dot as it made its way around Vergie’s tail end. When Deanna walked into view Mayah’s eyes widened.

The hairs that had clumped together looked like more like her stilettos than hair now. Imagine if a pangolin had longer, pointier scales, that looked like knives, and they bristled out from their body like a porcupine. She looked dangerous. As she walked the hairs clicked softly against each other.

“Good morning sleepy head. Make sure you are as soft as you can be and come on over here.” Deanna yawned and ambled over to Mayah and climbed up into her lap. She promptly curled up and went limp. Mayah examined her knives and found that only the outer edge of the knives were solidified. Underneath there was fur that seemed to become matted as it extended. Mayah reached through the knives and found her soft hairs and gave her scritches which Deanna leaned into.

“What happened to her?” Margaret asked.

“She evolved. They got a ton of levels for helping with the Lürkinmürk and shelly bob. I pushed her affinity up to ten and this is what happened. Not only this though.”

She held Deanna up and placed her on the ground to which Deanna gave her a scornful look.

“Hey, I just wanna see your new abilities. If you do, then I have treats.”

At the mention of the word treats Vergie scrambled up so fast that she kicked Mayah in the head. She spun around, crouched down like she was about to pounce, and looked expectantly at Mayah. Mayah didn’t noticed because she was holding the side of her head in pain.

When she looked up and saw Vergie looking at her she said, “Maybe no treats for you because you just kicked me and didn’t apologize.”

Vergie mrowled softly and rolled over her back and used the only weapon known to man that could have changed her mind—cuteness.

Vergie’s paws were flipped under and held close to her chest. One reached out to Mayah and fell by her ear, her piddly-bean toe pads exposed. The beg eyes blossomed and Mayah’s heart was pierced by their sheer power.

The magnificence… the sheer beauty… the power of the allure…. Can’t. resist. The. Fluffiness. She’s pulling me in!!!

“Fine then since you’re sorry I’ll get you some snacks. But you gotta be careful in the future.”

Vergie mrowled again and rolled back onto her stomach and nodded in the affirmative. Mayah gave her some scritches.

“Now, back to Deanna. You wanna show me your new evolution for snacks?”

Deanna stood up and shook out her hair/scales/knives and then in an instant they stood straight out like a porcupine and Mayah could swear she saw a glint as the edges seemed to be more finished than a second ago.

“Let me touch, please?” Mayah

Deanna walked closer and Mayah checked the point of one of the hair knives and they were definitely sharper than before and even pricked her finger. She got a damage notification. She checked the edge on the scales and they sharp as any chef’s knife.

“You feeling pretty awesome girl?” Mayah asked Deanna.

Deanna nodded.

“Okay one last thing then snacks. Can I see your new attack?”

Deanna looked around for something and then looked back at Mayah.

“What, you need a target?”

Deanna nodded again.

“Hey Mags, you wanna be a guinea pig?”

“No, but we both know you’re gonna find some string of argument where I wind up doing it anyway.”

“Mags, I wouldn’t do that.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t. that’s why I decline.”

“But Mags, I can’t get the attack damage I need if she attacks me. You just need to leave the party for one second and take one attack. Then I’ll invite you back into the party.”

“Like I said, some string of argument where I wind up doing it anyway.” Mayah looked a bit embarrassed as Margaret continued, “I was planning on saying yes from the outset until I heard that blind spot lie.”

“Blind spot lie?” Mayah furrowed her eyebrows as she asked.

“It’s a term I made up to describe a lie that you tell yourself and others because it’s in your blind spot. You don’t even know you do it. So, it’s not truly a real lie. More like a lie you think is a truth. I may not be as smart as you, but I have more experience with people.”

“So, you let me convince you just to show me my blind spot?”

“Well, I hope you see it. That’s the thing, it’s so much harder to see what’s inside of ourselves than what’s around us.”

“And that’s why we keep you around mags. Just go with that and you’ll be fine.” Mayah patted her teammate on the thigh.

Margaret chuckled.

“So, you ready?”

“Ugh! I guess so,” Margaret sighed playfully as she got up and brushed herself off.

Mayah followed suit with Margaret helping her up because the splint was tied above her knee and kept her leg from bending.

“You okay?” Margaret asked.

“There’s no pain if that’s what you mean. It’s a little tender but I don’t plan on dancing with this leg.” She looked for Deanna and called her over. “C’mere, Deanna.”

Deanna sidled over and looked up at her.

“You want to show me your new moves, you dangerously, cute rötten you?”

Deanna squeaked and chittered a bit and looked around for a target.

“You’re gonna attack her, okay?” Mayah picked her up and limped about thirty feet from Margaret. “Mags, drop out of the group.”

Margaret pushed some invisible buttons and Mayah got the notification.

“Now we figure out your range. Can you use your attack from here?”

Deanna squeaked and shook her head no.

“Just squeak when we’re close enough.”

She walked towards Margaret and about seven feet away Deanna squeaked and Mayah put her down.

“Mags you ready?” Margaret nodded and scrunched up her face waiting for the pain. “Show mama what you can do.”

Deanna kicked her back legs like a cat getting ready to pounce and set her feet like a runner in blocks. Then she in a flash of silver she zoomed across the ground and flashed between Margaret’s legs.

Margaret screamed and fell over holding her ankles and lower legs. Mayah hobbled over to her as fast as possible.

“Mags you okay?”

“I will be. That hurt!” she growled in pain. “Surprised me too. I didn’t expect her to move so fast.”

“Any debuffs?” Mayah asked pulling out bandages.

“Oh, Just seven bleeding debuffs.”

“Seven?” Mayah asked incredulously.

“Hey don’t freeze up give me those bandages so I can stop the bleeding.”

“Right!” she handed the bandages to Margaret and worked on the opposite leg placing bandages on the glowing red lines that appeared on her moccasins. Once they were all covered Margaret relaxed.

“Bleeding stopped.”

“So what was the damage?”

“245HP plus the bleeds.”

“So, you had seven cuts… that -35HP per slash. I can work with that.”

“Glad you think so. I don’t want to do that anymore.”

“That is totally understandable. And I won’t ask you to.”

Mayah sat down and stared at Margaret.

Margaret noticed her looking at her “You have another test for the guinea pig, don’t you?”

Mayah smiled hopefully.

“Fine… let’s get it over with.”

“So now, let me show you Riker.” She called the rötten over, picked him up, and turned to mags. “How long will it take you to regen another 700HP?”

“Well that’s an interesting question.”

“You are the guinea pig.”

Margaret look at her screens. “about seventy minutes, 93 in total.”

“That’ll do fine. I want you to pet Riker a few times until you get five notifications. No more, no less. And hopefully something interesting will happen.”

Margaret reached out, paused and then asked, “Does it hurt?”

“More like a numbing sensation.”

“Oh that’s fine then.”

Mayah proceeded to pet the rötten and stopped after about thirty seconds.

Margaret flexed her fingers “Whoa, that is totally numb. And an agility and Stamina debuff too?”

Yep. Did you get any other notifications?”

No.”

“lick your finger.”

Margaret struggled with her limp-noodle hand and sucked on a finger.

“Ooooh… Poidon redistance… myah… My mowf id numb.”

“It’ll pass. I think you have to do that for the skill to trigger. Here let me pour us some tea. It’ll help with the stamina debuff.”

Deanna you may want to lick him too. Or else you won’t be able to touch him. Same for you Vergie.” Mayah facepalmed. “I almost forgot. Treats.”

She reached into her bag and pulled out some rations and they slipped from her numb fingers.

Thank god I’ve still got one good hand.” And then her face started to go numb in the shape of her hand.

“Shaz!”

Mayah stood up trying to shake the feeling into her face. All that happened was her lips went numb.

“So, I’m starting prep for Clacker’s alley. We need trees and lots of them. I have a plan.”

“Do tell.” Margaret livened up a bit.”

“What happens when you turn a tree into a grenade?”

“I’m listening.”

…..

“8:29!!!”

“I know Ziggs!!!” Mo and his teammates sped down a hall looking for the door that could be anywhere.

“And 8:30. That’s it guys,” Mephi swore. “Game over!!!”

“Well we did our best. We’re going to have to try this again and again until we get it right.” Mo turned his back to a wall and looked at his disheartened friends.

Mephi and Ziggs looked past him and Mo saw an outline of his shadow as he saw a bright flash of light reflected on the wall in front of him. He turned and a door was on the wall where there wasn’t one before. It had three doorknobs at varying heights. The glass on the door read Department Of Ordinances and Ministries. The text was aligned to the left so Mo finally understood the acronym.

Oh… DOOM….

The door opened rather suddenly and a tiny woman about three and a half feet tall Poked her head out. She glared at them and then turned to look about the otherwise empty hallway

Mojo Boomstar and party I assume?”

“Yes, ma’am. That wou—”

“Follow me please.” She interjected before Mo could say anymore and hustled off.

Mo entered the door and was stunned to see the bare cinderblock walled hallway with lights every twenty feet or so creating a ton of shadows. It was a drastic contrast to the hallways they had been running through for the past forty minutes. He stood there until Ziggs nudged him to follow.

The woman said over her shoulder, “Make sure the door is latched properly or else it can’t move.”

Mephi being the last one in double checked the door and then hustled to catch up with them.

They followed the short woman down the creepy hallway until she turned a corner and entered a room filled with people at desks slaving away at documents. They were folding, sorting, stapling, and writing with reckless abandon. None of them even looked up to see who was walking past. As the short woman turned another corner Mo looked back the way they had come, and the hallway was gone. There was no sense of it ever being there. just a solid cinderblock wall.

Onward they followed for five minutes in and out of different rooms. One was filled with clerks hustling around either pulling or placing files into or out of file cabinets. The next was a giant mail sorting facility. There was even a doubly large printing room with presses firing off hundreds of sheets a minute.

Finally, she reached a door and opened it without hesitation. And ushered them into a waiting room. She motioned for them to have a seat and disappeared through another door more appropriate for someone of her stature.

“So, what’s up with the whole basement of demoralized til death theme they got going on in here?” Ziggs finally asked breaking the silence.

“Beats me.” Mo shrugged.

“It feels like a labyrinth,” Mephi said introspectively.

“A labyrinth?” Mo asked.

“Yeah either that or a prison.”

“Do you think they’re gonna kill us?” Ziggs wondered fearfully.

Mo and Mephi stared at the robot box.

“I mean it is a video game,” Ziggs said, as light flashed from her box.

In the distance, they heard a loud bellow that shook the room and made small particles of dust fall from the ceiling. Afterwards Mo and his team froze motionless. Mo had to unwrap his fingers from the arms of the chair after that and looked at his friends.

“So, is anyone else ready to go?” Mo asked.

Mephi nodded yes when the short woman came back through the door looking disheveled and covered with dust. They all slowly settled back into their chairs.

“He’ll be with you in a moment.” Then she walked behind a desk, appeared to climb some steps, and hopped into a chair and began to deal with her paperwork.

The trio sat there frozen and looked at each other. Mephi motioned with his head towards the door and Mo just gave a shrug that said, how? Ziggs just sat still and flashed a strange orange through her circuitry.

There was a buzz on the woman’s desk intercom and she reached to press the button and came up short. She stood on her chair and leaned over the desk and pressed the button and said, “Yes?”

A deep voice that made Treegan sound high pitched rumbled through the intercom and the walls. “Send them in.”

“Yes, sir. Right away,” the receptionist replied.

She looked at the trio and motioned to the teeny entryway. “Through that door. You can’t miss him.” Then she turned back to her work completely ignoring them.

“Thank you, miss,” Mo said as he approached the door. She ignored him and Mo turned the knob and basically crawled through the door. All he could see was the half of the room they were in. The front of a desk extended form the shadows and a large hand reached out and grabbed some papers and shuffled them as if looking for something on them.

“Hello there, we have an appointment,” Mo called into the darkness.

“Yes I’m well aware,” the voice boomed. “What I’m not aware of is what you actually want.”

“Ahem,” Mo cleared his throat. “we are paladins and—”

“I am aware of that as well. Can we get to the part where you tell me what information you need so I can get you out of my lair—I mean hair. Please be concise. I have so very much work to do.” The large hands shuffled papers and signed some of them.

“We would like to find out what kinds of businesses we could open in Drahtspule.” Mo said as politely as possible.

“Do you mean to tell me you made an appointment with the D.O.O.M. to find out information? I hope the rest of you paladins aren’t this stupid.”

Mephi took offense. Mo knew because he could smell it. He placed a hand on Mephi’s arm and held him back.

“I’m sorry sir this is a new world for us and—”

“inconsequential!” the voice boomed. “this is a waste of time for all parties involved. I’m going to need you state your purpose or leave.”

“We tried that, and it didn’t work did it!” Mephi let loose. “You cut us off and called us stupid and then called us inconsequential. How is that supposed to help anything?”

“While I admire your spirit, I wonder if you’ve heard the saying, ‘stupid is as stupid does.’ This would be a clear case of someone expecting me to do work which is for lack of a better term beneath me.

“I will give you one more chance to state your case before I kick you out and ban you from my offices, squashing any hopes you may have of opening anything larger than your mouths, business or otherwise, for a long time.” Two large hands came into the light and cracked their knuckles so loudly it sounded like gunshots.

Mephi was about to speak again when Ziggs bumped him fairly hard.

“Since everyone has had a chance to ask a question, I’ll ask one. Why are we stupid for coming here?”

The hands fell to rest on the desk for a moment. Then they reached for a box and opened it pulling out a cigar about the size of Mo’s forearm. The cigar disappeared into the shadow and then with a spitting sound a tiny nub rolled out into the light. The hands struck a match and rose to a height that seemed out of human proportions. As the match light illuminated the face they all saw the bovine features and the horns on top of the head. The eyes were glaring at them as the minotaur puffed on his cigar to get it lit. the cloud of smoke grew to surround his face and he snorted out twin streams of smoke from his nose. And shook the match out.

“That is a good place to start. I am a minotaur who oversees the creation of most of the legal ventures in this city. I can tell someone that there will be no business of the same kind within the boundaries of the city if I see fit, granting that person great economic rewards. I can also destroy thousands of business with the stroke of a pen. And you come in here asking me what types of businesses you can open?

“For you not to know and be standing in front of me is a waste of my valuable time and your not so valuable time. And we are all operating at a loss. I hate losing. Whether it’s time, money or influence. So, we get to the real reason this meeting is stupid. And to make sure it gets hammered in I’m going to ask you some questions.

The minotaur leaned forward so his head was in the light. Even sitting down and leaning forward his head was at least 6 feet above Mo’s. His glare studied them intensely making them squirm where they stood.

“The first question is," and here the minotaur paused for dramatic effect. "if you are in need of information where should be the first places you should go?”

The trio stood silently. The minotaur tapped its finger waiting.

“DON’T WASTE MY TIME!!!” he suddenly bellowed. “Give me an answer or by the eight, I will make your lives miserable.”

Their brains were finally jogged back into cognition.

“The information stand.”

“Someone in the same business we want to open.”

“The library.”

The minotaur relaxed a bit. “See you’re not completely stupid.”

“So now we know where you should start your journey. Maybe you should all get there before you all disappear into my labyrinth of paperwork.” The hands began shuffling paperwork again.

“Yes, sir!” Mephi said and made for the door followed by a shaking box of circuits. But before they could make it there, Mo paused and stroked his chin.

“You said you hate losing.”

The papers froze. “Yes, I did say that.”

“Well, I believe that I can help with making it up to you.”

A chuckle escaped from the minotaur’s throat. “I’m listening.”

“I have a feeling that you don’t get out of your office much. And a man who likes the finer things in life, such as yourself, can’t have much time to get those things. How about I run errands for you for a day or two and you point us in the right direction. Worst case scenario you get some errands done and we pay you back for the time we wasted.”

The minotaur sat forward again studying Mo to make sure he wasn’t joking. He looked him up and down and began to laugh. It rose in volume and timbre until Mo had to cover his ears. When he finally settled down, he looked directly at Mo.

“Interesting.” He puffed on his cigar and then closed his eyes deep in thought.

“I believe I have a few personal matters that need to be attended to that you might help me with. Show up at 7 p.m. tonight. It will give me a chance to do a little digging and I’ll give you all of the details then.”

“Sounds fair. But how will I find you again?”

The minotaur flipped him a blue crystal the size of his fist. “Just carry this and I’ll send the door for you.”

“One last thing.” Mo said causing the minotaur furrow his brow and grow annoyed. “What should I call you?”

The minotaur paused and then just started laughing loudly. When he finally calmed down he wiped a tear from his eye and looked Mo in the face.

“You can call me Taur”

“Tower?” Ziggs asked

“No. Ta as in ‘ta ta’ and ur as in ‘urrr… you’re still here?’ GET OUT OF MY OFFICE,” Taur bellowed.

The trio ducked out of the tiny door as fast as they could.

After they shut the door Taur pressed the button on his intercom. “Come in here.”

“Right away sir.” The voice on the other end said. Not a minute later the tiny woman walked through the door.

“Baef, I want you to get Zhi'Zhu on the horn. Tell her that I have some subjects that might be perfect for her new endeavor. I’ll send them over around eight. Ask her where she wants them delivered.”

“As you wish, sir,” the diminutive receptionist bowed to Taur.