I glance around the corner to my right beyond our frozen corridor and see that there’s only a short hall before it turns left and right again. Along the walls are stereotypical torches every couple of meters that provide enough light, especially with my enhanced Perception and the PowerSuit’s assistance. From here, I can see right through to the corridor extending to the right and there’s nothing I can spot. I cycle through ammunition to shock grenades on my left arm, but keep the beam weapon and plasma blade active on my right. Using my new Strength and Agility multiplied by the PowerSuit, I dart forward to the corner before the corridor turns right while covering the blind spots on either side. I can already feel how much of a difference the extra physical Attributes make to the speed and explosiveness I have. Brad and the others follow behind with less intensity than I have, but they’re professionals and cover their trailing positions with absolute precision.
There’s no doubt we’ve lost the advantage of surprise when deep, echoing bellows start to emerge and reverberate from inside the maze. Wild, angry snorts and the sound of distant hooves striking stone hit me like a wave.
“Let’s move to a longer corridor,” suggests Bobby. I nod in agreement and, trusting my PowerSuit, dart forward and then twist and turn around corners and down short hallways. Poison arrows shoot from holes in the walls and bounce off my armor without effect, and twice I’m bathed in flames from triggered spells. Each time I look back expecting to be isolated but my Party is right there, combat armor shields handling the lower Ranked Dungeon without any trouble. We double back on ourselves several times and I keep the pace up, pivoting at high speed around the maze in a way no normal human could, until eventually I turn left into a long corridor. Based on the map my PowerSuit has been generating in the corner of my HUD, I estimate we’re against the outside edge of the maze and we’ve completed the first quadrant of a square.
I move into the corridor enough to give the others space behind me and wait. It’s obvious from the sounds that something is closing in on us. Only a few seconds later a scar-covered brutish Minotaur carrying a two-handed greataxe slams into the wall as it enters the corridor and bellows right at us, flexing its massive, corded muscles. A criss-crossing harness across its chest gives the telltale shimmer of a personal force field as a visible wave of sound hits us; I hear Kate grunt behind me to my left. My PowerSuit’s dampeners kick in as I brace myself and open fire.
Minotaur Berserker (Level 122)
Damage Reduction Index: 5
Mana: 890/1230
Conditions: Strength of the Herd, Unbridled Rage, Accelerated Regeneration
The Minotaur shrugs off explosions from my shock grenades blow chunks out of the floor and walls so I quickly cycle to armor piercing rounds as my beam weapon splashes against its portable shield. It bellows again without the effect this time and charges us. I fire my beam at its head to try to blind it as I shift the aim of the projectiles from the left arm of my suit to its legs to try to stop its momentum. The shield flickers and fails from the hail of rounds and its leg takes half a dozen hits that sink deep before it’s on me, slashing the glinting, heavy blade of its axe down diagonally. I duck to the side into the slash, boosted speed from the PowerSuit giving me the chance to dodge, and unload point blank up under its armpit into its ribcage and slash with my plasma blade across the front of its knees. My bullets chew up the Minotaur’s back as it continues to spin and level the axe in a low, wicked arc at my waist height. I leap back toward my Party, just barely avoiding the blow, and right myself while cycling to special rounds and continuing to fire at the Minotaur’s head and neck with the last of my plasma beam charge.
I try to assess the Minotaur’s condition and see its wounds already healing, but it’s a mistake; this combat is so much faster than I’m used to and the Minotaur has a chance to Charge me using some kind of Skill or Power. I’m knocked flying and I ricochet off the wall, back and head cracking into the stone, before I can control myself. The enhancements in the Suit help me stabilize and land on my feet, where I see Brad beside me ready to lend a hand. I shrug him off and burst forward as fast as I can with my own charge at the staggered Minotaur, covered in blood. I thrust both arms forward up into its chest, plasma blades leading. My left one penetrates deep, but the right one glances off its ribs and slices a hole up under its arm, sizzling and cauterizing the flesh.
Berserk, the Minotaur ignores my attack and collapses down on top of me. My left arm is shoved back violently, fast enough my plasma blade can’t cut fast enough and I withdraw it before my arm is yanked out of its socket. My right arm is still extended and I can’t pull it back enough to defend the vicious cross-check that the Minotaur smashes against my lower back. My PowerSuit whines in protest and I can feel the impact even through its shield and structural integrity. I grit my teeth and fire the flight thrusters, counting on my companions’ high Rank defenses to be sufficient, and surge forward at high speed to smash the Minotaur into the wall, crushing its thighs. The Minotaur bellows again and I push off with my arms from the wall and come upright, then dart in and slam both plasma blades into its thick neck and rip them out. The Minotaur flails, trying to get to me, but I know it’s too late when Soul Sparks collect and I reclaim them. Notifications flash by and I’m tempted to open them, but danger is all around and I’m concerned I might have damaged the PowerSuit in the altercation.
With a thought from me, diagnostics flash up on the HUD and I can see damage has been done to the lower back, but it’s within the tolerance for the self-healing and repair functions of the suit. I confirm the repair initiation and a countdown appears in the corner of my eye for three minutes until full integrity is regained. Bobby and the others come to the end of the corridor where I am and he checks the back of the Suit briefly, then shrugs.
“Good reactions and positioning. Creative use of the PowerSuit’s capabilities, although they’re higher Rank than these beasts. Minus ten points for trying to barbeque us, though. You shouldn’t have hesitated and kept the aggression up; in a C or B ranked fight, a second of inaction matters.” Brad delivers his verdict impassionately and I grimace.
“Bobby would have done better with the Suit, but not that much better,” assesses Kate. “Your instincts and training are evident.”
“I can understand why you wouldn’t fully leverage the PowerSuit’s advantages here. It’s unlikely you’ve fought anything this Rank, or with equipment like this,” says Bobby.
“Not outside a simulation,” I agree.
“My suggestion? Go full out,” says Bobby. “It’s only going to get harder from here.”
“Got it,” I say, ears straining past what they’re saying to assess whether the other noises in the maze are close, or coming closer. No indication of anything imminent so I decide to open my notifications.
Soul Sparks Reclaimed: 21
Soul Spark reservoir: 21
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Would you like to allocate your Soul Sparks?
(Y/N)
This might be my only chance to kill C Ranked Monsters, or be around them being killed, for a long time; I revel in the opportunity and thrill of this kind of combat. It shows me where I need to strive to be as soon as possible, and then fight my way even further. Since I killed the berserk Minotaur, I think it’s safe to allocate the Soul Sparks without generating suspicion from the others. I sure could use some increased physical Attributes to better hold my own in these fights. I eye up Constitution and Mana because in the long term I know I’ll need them, but they aren’t what I need right now to make it through this Dungeon.
Soul Sparks Allocated!
Strength +6 (27)
Agility +6 (27)
Perception +6 (27)
Aura +3 (30)
Mana Regeneration +3 /min (30)
Stamina +6 /min (160)
Soul Spark Reclamation range +3 (32)
It’s not a big enough increase to give me another Level, but I must be close. My Strength and Agility are significantly higher than only a few days ago and to say I feel powerful under this armor would be an understatement.
“You waiting for an invitation?” Brad asks. There are a couple more notifications but I draw my attention away from them. He hasn’t even pulled out a weapon yet and it’s clear I’ve been standing here focused inward for too long.
“Auto repair timer on the PowerSuit has a few minutes left,” I say.
“Don’t worry about that, let’s keep going,” says Bobby. I nod and eye the depleted ammo reserves and beam weapon charges, both almost 30% down. I decide not to be conservative; I’ve got backup and it’s better to kill and stay out of trouble than cut it close to save some for later.
We turn left and then left again down the longer corridors, according to my map crossing into what must be the second quadrant of the maze. As I turn the first short corner to my right, I see a slight shimmer and movement near the base of the wall I wouldn’t have normally spotted. I follow through with not being conservative even if it makes me look dumb and fire a burst of armor piercing rounds followed by a quick burst of instant cement rounds that explode on contact. A flash of movement that avoids my first burst is all I see before the extended mouth and fangs of a dark, stone colored snake leaps out of the darkness.
I step back and twist to the side to push it to my left with my forearms and it shoots past me then stops more suddenly than should be possible and curls around to clamp down on my side. Its needle sharp teeth penetrate my shield and screech against the PowerSuit metal. I twist and grab its thick body with both my hands, unable to reach its head, and activate my plasma blades as I’m yanked off my feet and spun rapidly, arms now bound beside me as its coils wrap me up. Ignoring the disorienting motion, I focus on slicing both my blades through the body. There’s tremendous resistance, but I strain with my increased Strength, augmented significantly by the PowerSuit, and my blades surge in both directions as they penetrate the hide and bisect the snake’s body. The jaws spasm and then release, venom spewing from its teeth and coating me, but it slides off my shield and sizzles on the ground.
The Monster’s Soul Sparks surface and I pull them into me, warmth suffusing me for a second, but it’s not a calming warmth. I’m still amped up. With a grunt I pop to my feet and see the reason the snake turned so quickly to bite me - my instant cement rounds have pinned part of its body to the wall near a round opening. It looks like the snake has slithered into the corridor; the remainder of its body disappears through the hole.
“Did your Strength increase or did you overclock the PowerSuit? Or… were you holding back before?” Bobby asks. Shit. It’s clear I’m going to need to be careful, this isn’t the way normal Powers work.
“Holding back, a bit,” I say and retract the facemask so he can see my grin.
“Thought you were a normie?” he asks.
“I am, but I’ve had the best training money can buy since I was a kid,” I admit.
“We’re not going to pry into Corvin business, are we Bobby?” asks Kate with a bit of firmness. The fact he towers over her doesn’t stop what she’s saying from registering with him and he lets it drop right away.
“Nah. It’s cool. Calrik, lead on. We’ve still got your back and you’re doing better than we expected. A lot better.”
I open up the notifications I didn’t get to last time and the one from killing the snake.
Congratulations! You have reclaimed and assigned 100 Soul Sparks.
Power type display unlocked: Reclaimer
Would you like to display a Power?
(Y/N)
I close the armor faceplate in case my expression gives anything away and make a show of cycling my weapons so I can think for a second, but I can’t think of any way to use this for a benefit right now, so I close the notification and open up the other one.
Soul Sparks Reclaimed: 3
Soul Spark reservoir: 3
Would you like to allocate your Soul Sparks?
(Y/N)
Only three Soul Sparks from the snake; it must have been lower Level with a weaker Power. I close it for now; it’s already been too long since we got going again and they’re waiting.
We double back around a corner and I watch for traps and holes in dark areas that more snakes might come from with my weapons cycled onto grenades. I fire up a bright beam of light from each shoulder of my armor and to my surprise the walls pull the light away and absorb it, leaving only the torchlight except for a short distance in front of me which only blinds me to what’s beyond. I shut off the light after a few steps.
“Clever fuckery,” comments Brad from behind me on my right.
The sound of walls grinding and sliding hits us as the end of the corridor we’re walking in cuts off and a new passage opens up to our left when the wall slides back and across seamlessly. I glance around the corner into the new passage and it looks just the same as all the others. The other three have seen it all happen and join me, although they simply stand in the entrance to the new corridor. I slip past them and take a few steps forward.
“Looks like someone’s got a plan for you, Calrik,” says Bobby.
“And you.” I add. Bobby shrugs and follows behind me.
It’s only a few steps before the floor collapses under me, but I’ve been waiting for this trap for ages and I fire the flight thrusters immediately and hover over the spiked pit, then fly the rest of the way across and land softly.
“You sure you’ve never used a PowerSuit before?” asks Brad.
“I’m sure,” I say. Having my Strength, Agility, and Perception all boosted to over 30% above human maximums is definitely helping.
A red light flashes on my HUD indicating some kind of poison or paralytic gas, but it has no effect on us while we’re encased in our armor. Maybe it wouldn’t harm the other three anyway. I take a few more steps and a hidden vent unleashes a rolling wave of flames that lights up the entire corridor to a superheated state. The temperature warning in my HUD flashes yellow for a moment before Kate drains all the thermal energy from the air and the flames dissipate in a swirl. I glance back and nod. I wouldn't mind having her on any team I’m in permanently, although I realize she’s the only one of the three who’s actually used their Power so far.
“This is going to get annoying,” grumbles Brad.
“I think he agrees with you,” says Bobby from behind me, but I’ve already seen it. At the end of the corridor we’re in it opens up into some sort of a bigger space and standing there in full view is a heavily armored Minotaur with a tower shield planted on the ground in front of him and a massive, heavy warhammer hanging from its hugely muscled right hand. I call up its status right away.
Minotaur Labyrinth Warden (Level 152)
Damage Reduction Index: 12
Mana: 1450/1690
Conditions: Strength of the Herd, Bulwark, Unyielding Pillar, Bloody Resolve, Endure All
Fuck me.
“Now we’re talking!” exclaims Brad.
