Chapter 90

“Can you see any details of its powers?” Daniel asked Tamara.

“Maybe if it lets me.”

The club hesitated, but Priscilla flooded their link with emotions around how great Tamara was and a reminder that she had let Blood Drinker have her blood, because she was that exceptional.

Everything is not about food, he thought back to the mouse.

You’re just unsophisticated.

What? When did you learn that word?

Agreement shouted across the link from the club, but he got the impression that it was partially a ploy to offset the budding argument it could sense between Daniel and the mouse. Priscilla withdrew, conveying smug superiority. Internally, he rolled his eyes.

“It will let you.”

“May I?” she asked, holding out her hands, so he passed the club over once more. It felt weird letting someone else touch it. The very act felt like an invasion of privacy. It was his and belonged in his fists or, at worst, tucked under an arm.

In Tamara’s hand, the white glow encompassed Blood Drinker once more. Tamara’s eyes squinted in concentration. “The details are available now,” she confirmed. “It really is sapient. The level zero ability is called Reconfiguration. It grants the weapon the capacity to shape itself into the form it needs. For the next level, there are two, not one skill. The first is Melee Strategists and focuses on knowing the enemy and weaknesses that can be targeted. The second is Vampiric Absorption and allows it to consume blood, cores, and body parts to strengthen itself.” Daniel nodded. Her words just confirmed what he already suspected. “The latest upgrades are the most interesting.” She hesitated. “Level two seems to be a big jump. It has added Consolidation, an ability that triples everything from the previous level. Directed Growth that allows absorbed knowledge or power to be directed to abilities the club wants to acquire. Poisoned Points, a high-level poison ability, Magical Control, influence and control magic that it comes in contact with.” She looked at him. “Is that what you expected?”

“Pretty much. I supply the lightning and it uses it.” Her eyes went unfocused at Daniel’s words, a frown creasing her face. “What?”

“The weapon is more powerful than I expected, and Vampiric Absorption combined with Directed Growth synergize together something shocking. Every time it kills, every core you give it, it can use to improve what it wants.”

“That’s great.”

“Very, but I would keep it a secret.”

“Why?”

“You don’t want people attributing your power to the weapon, as it might embolden them.”

“There are monsters out there, and we are worrying about humans. It is ridiculous.”

“Yes, it is,” Tamara agreed. “You got rid of Beau. He was a prick, but he won’t be the only one.”

“True.”

“Now, I need to use the ladies.”

“Wait.”

“Really?” She arched an eyebrow.

“That Magic Control.”

“Yes.”

“Does it just extend to magic I gift it or any magic?”

“It didn’t say.” Tamara’s hands were suddenly filled with fire. He could tell from the intensity of the flames that she had not put a lot of power into it. “Hold it up.”

Daniel lifted the club, and she tossed the flames at it. The crackling energy landed on the wood, filling the valleys between pointed teeth. Then it stayed there, burning but not hurting the club.

Daniel swished Blood Drinker around, and the flames clung to the weapon like with his electricity. Then he frowned, wondering how to get rid of them.

“Will this set things on fire?”

“No. You can just throw it into the wall,” Tamara suggested. “The fireball is not strong enough to damage the paint.”

He swung the club towards where she pointed, imagining as he did so the fireball shooting off. There was a crackle of energy that exploded as fast as when he had seen the mages throwing spells. It slammed into the wall with a boom and more concussive force than heat. The plaster cracked, and the paint blackened.

Tamara frowned.

“That is remarkable. I can steal other people’s spells.”

“That fireball was too powerful.” She shuffled from foot to foot. “We need to talk more . . . but I really need to—”

Daniel nodded to a door across from him. “That one is empty.”

Looking slightly embarrassed, she hurried towards the bathroom he had indicated.

Alone and with his mana fully recovered, Daniel unleashed a full version of his Animal Sense.

The details on all the surrounding floors were made available. The termite floor was cleared, except for the bloody weasels, which, while terrifying to Priscilla, were not a threat to humans. The important bit was there was nothing that could kill a human, not even a single mind worm. Apart from the one in the archer’s head. That errant thought caused him to frown.

Excitement came from the club as it imagined eating another mind worm core.

“Shut up,” Daniel snapped at it. He would take care of it. It would haunt him just like Beau and Mike. He would do it, but he did not have to be reminded constantly about it.

“Sorry,” he apologised immediately after just a moment. The club mentally was a child. We don’t celebrate murdering people, he thought to it. I overreacted and I know you did not mean it that way, but the prospect of killing a human upsets me.

Understanding and apology came from the weapon.

Then an inquisitive feeling and the club played back his thoughts from Mike. The ones where he just kept reminding himself that Mike was already dead. Isn’t the archer in the same boat?

It was hard to argue the logic, but it was not about logic. It was human emotion and only a cowardly boss gave these tasks away to others. If he wasn’t the group’s leader. He was just a farmer. Why was he in charge again? Then he internally rolled his eyes at himself. He was responsible because everyone else would stuff up.

Daniel looked around and confirmed no one was near him. Wasted effort, as Animal Sense had already proved that.

“It’s complicated,” he told the club, sighing. He tried to work out how to express the sadness he felt and that the archer was different. He had spoken to him. “He was just alive.”

Like the zombies? Like Mike? the club responded instantly. They too were alive recently.

“It is because I knew the archer.”

Confusion.

“Just trust me, it is not the same. I spoke to the man. People I fight with were friends with him. They will be sad when we have to kill him.” He checked his surrounding once more. It was still safe for him to talk. Those sorts of words were a sure way to blow apart their close-knit community if anyone heard. “Others may insist on trying to save him even if there is no hope.”

Confusion still came out from the club, and he did not know how to explain it better. It was also clear that the clarity that it had briefly achieved to communicate was exhausting its energy and now it needed to rest. “We can discuss this later,” Daniel said out loud, not caring too much if others heard him. “We have plenty of time.”

“Talking to your club again,” Tamara called out, having returned from going to the toilet.

“Umm.”

“A man needs to treat his club right.” Daniel looked at her suspiciously, but she just smiled brightly at him. “Are we going to keep going, or do you two need more time alone?”

“Hilarious.”

“Yeah, I thought so.”

“You’re right, it is time for the next fight. One thing, though. Did Blood Drinker really enhance your fireball?”

Without hesitation, flames gathered in her hand, and she tossed it at a similar wall to the one he had struck. There was the slightest of explosion as it hit. They examined the results. No smouldering, no structural damage. When Daniel touched the spot, it was warm, but not much else.

They both looked back to where Blood Drinker’s fireball had hit. “Same amount of mana?”

“Yep,” she confirmed.

“So Magical Control allows me to block and absorb other people’s spells and then Blood Drinker can boost them further.”

“Looks that way.” Tamara shook her head in wonder. “I really need my magic staff.”

“Working on it,” he told her happily. “See if you can collect magic zombie cores.”

Together they walked towards the internal stairwell, by mutual consent dropping the conversation as more people were around. Given the risk of idiots like Beau, it was best to keep the extent of his capabilities secret. There was something about the determined way they moved that got a response. Everyone who saw them dropped their conversations and followed.

Over half the fighting team was with him. “We fight the next floor in two minutes,” he called out.

After a couple of minutes, almost everyone was gathered. Carly’s dad was missing one archer but not the infected one. He would not wait.

“Seven more floors,” Daniel told them. “The next two should be easy, but beyond that . . .” He shook his head to express his worry.

“What?” Ivey asked.

“Something killed everything.”

“The monster,” Ivey said flatly.

There were worried murmurs at that.

“We don’t know if it is that dangerous,” Tamara said. “We know that a group of five is struggling to fight back against it . . . but—”

They were more than five. The implications were obvious.

“Daniel said it killed everything over at least two floors,” Ivey said. “We have firsthand experience on how hard that is.” There were nods of agreement. If something was strong enough to clear a floor by itself, then it was definitely a threat.

“Once I find it,” Daniel called out loudly over the two of them, “we will get more information. For now, let’s just focus on what we need to achieve. No point worrying about things two issues away before the current is finished. There are eleven humans still alive on the next two floors, which is low. There are major threats in both corridors and minor ones constrained to the rooms. We clear the hallways and then save the humans before tidying up the minor threats. This next floor is going to be extraordinarily difficult.” He paused momentarily to allow that to sink in. “There is a gang of fourteen elite ferals in the corridors.” Ivey audibly gasped in surprise. “And they are set up near the stairwell.”

They had clearly heard the commotion below and had gathered close to the noise and had been in the same spot for some time. Daniel had not checked, but he suspected they had not moved since the termite ambush, which made sense, as there had been lots of screaming.

“Why didn’t they break down the door?”

Daniel shrugged. “I have reinforced it, but I suspect the answer is more basic. From what I have observed, about one in ten ferals are smart, and none of these are. Anyway, we can’t fight them up there. So we need to fight them down here.” He pointed to the far corner. “We set up there and trap the ground between us and there. Janice baits them.” The brave girl nodded. “Dave.” The mutated human looked at him. “I need you waiting downstairs with Carly.”

“Raraf.” Dave looked at him in appreciation. Getting him away from the fight and near a healer would ensure that if a zombie got Janice, she would be teleported to safety as opposed to being moved into the centre of a battle.

“Let’s prepare,” he ordered.

They had enough traps. It was just a matter of placing them. This time, Daniel introduced a trick that he had been playing with. Janice needed a path to run, but he did not want the zombies following her, so he created traps that would slide into position once he passed. He or Priscilla would need to trigger them, of course, but that was good enough.

Twenty minutes later, they were ready.

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