Chapter 59: A Fitting Humiliation (Patreon)

Killing Ostorox had allowed me to jump five levels and gain a powerful new ability called Heart of Darkness that would let me control and create shadows. The description claimed that it would cost blood and vitality to use. So naturally, the first thing I did was go into my stats to see how many points I’d gained and put some of them into vitality.

My stats page told me that I’d gained 210 points from defeating the void spawn. I decided that putting points into constitution for toughness was no longer a priority and downgraded the importance of the stat in my mind to focus on vitality instead. 50 points went into vitality, another 60 into perceptions, and 100 into dexterity.

Stats

Name: Lucas Hudson

Race: Human (Class F)

Class: Blood Reaver Level 19

Currency: 309 coins

Strength: 125

Vitality: 100 > 150 (+50)

Intelligence: 20

Constitution: 110

Dexterity: 233 > 333 (+100)

Perception: 100 > 160 (+60)

Willpower: 17

Free points remaining: 0

I felt a warm rush as I clicked accept and allocated the points. I felt myself become more as my senses improved and my speed increased. Upping vitality made me feel more whole. Like I was more solid somehow. The improvements felt amazing and only stoked my hunger for more, but other matters required my attention.

My injuries from the fight weren’t insubstantial and so I dug my hands into the dead void spawn’s wounds until I found its blood. Healing began instantly as the wounds on my legs closed up. Once fully restored, I went to go check on Elise. She held up her hand for me to wait before pulling a vial of liquid out of her inventory to drink. She finished it and then put the empty vial away.

“Ah, that’s better. Now I can actually hear you,” she said.

“That was quick thinking, using Earnest’s gun like that.”

She shrugged. “Didn’t have much of a choice. That Loud Light spell requires casting two powerful spells at once. I didn’t have enough magic left for a third. Besides, I only distracted it long enough for you to finish it off.”

Elise then knelt down by the body of one of our deceased party members and touched it so that the body would disappear into her inventory. That surprised me. I knew she liked to collect everything she could think of into her inventory. Back on the floor 96 mountaintop, I’d seen her even try to loot snow to no success. But this just seemed excessive.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“It feels wrong to leave the bodies here. I want to find somewhere better for them to rest.”

I told her that I understood and went to retrieve my fallen sword while she collected the bodies. I frowned as I picked it up. A second notch had appeared on the blade. It must have gotten caught on one of Ostorox’s spikes. I pulled out my enchanted whetstone and sharpened the sword before checking its condition.

*Item Identified!* [Standard Katana (common: F-Grade)] – (Current state: Average).

So even with the magical whetstone, it would never return to perfect quality in its current state. Curious, I lifted up an Ostorox tentacle and struck it with my sword. The blade cut halfway through it before getting stuck, which was about as good as it was before. I nodded to myself and put it away. The sword was still sharp and would have to serve until I found a worthy replacement.

I’d thought Elise would be finished with the bodies once I’d returned, but she had stopped beside the last body. As I got closer, I saw that it was Earnest’s. She whispered something to him and then tapped his body to make it vanish.

She gave me a hopeful look. “It’s given me Earnest’s card to the residential floor. Should I keep it?”

I nodded. “I think he’d want you to have it.”

The System had likely made residential status into an item precisely to encourage others to claim it too, but it wasn’t fair to compare her to people like Martin. Throwing the card away would have also been a waste. Elise had stood by me and fought the void spawn when no other would. As far as I was concerned, she’d more than earned it.

A moment later, Earnest’s revolver, belt, and holster appeared in her hand. “It doesn’t fit with my magic class and I’ll probably never be even half the shot Earnest was, but it feels too useful to throw away,” she explained as she buckled it onto her hip.

Behind us, another set of torches lit up to illuminate the next set of stairs leading down. I couldn’t believe it. We’d been so close to it the whole time and never knew until now.

“We should get the others and continue down,” I said before typing a message in party chat to give Hugo and Hemi the all clear.

Elise looked uncertain. “I don’t know. We barely survived here. Who knows how hard floor 95 will be? What if we’re not strong enough?”

I was about to retort when a black, feathery creature shot like a bullet towards Ostorox’s dead body.

“Mine! Mine! Mine!” Hugo said excitedly. He landed on the body and proclaimed, “arise!”

Hemi jogged down the stairs a few seconds later, looking apologetic. “He flew out of my hand the second you said that it was safe.”

“Your concern for our wellbeing is touching,” I dryly told Hugo.

Truthfully, I supported his decision. Adding Ostorox to his ghost army would be a great asset and I couldn’t think of a more fitting humiliation for the creature. I wasn’t sure if the bird heard me though as he was squinting and concentrating with everything he had to raise the spirit of the void spawn. Hugo pushed and pushed, willing the creature’s spirit to surrender control to him. The rest of us didn’t make a sound. We all watched while silently hoping that he could pull it off. Finally, a ghostly version of Ostorox peeled itself off of its physical body and floated in the air beside Hugo before disappearing into the crow’s spirit box.

“I thought Roan didn’t want you interfering?” I asked him, concerned about my friend facing the god’s retribution.

“Sure, while he was still alive,” said Hugo. “He doesn’t care what happens to the remains. In fact, I got the impression that I was encouraged to try and raise him.”

“It’s very impressive,” said Elise.

“I know,” Hugo beamed. “Aren’t I the best?”

“We could do a lot of damage on floor 98 with him by our side,” I said.

Hugo brushed the back of his head with his wing, feeling awkward. “There is a catch to using it. Ostorox can only be summoned in dark places. Bringing his main body out in broad daylight would bring the spirit summons health to zero almost right away. Even brightly lit rooms might be out of the question. Only his tentacles can withstand the light.”

“It is still a formidable ally,” said Hemi.

Hugo brightened up. “Right? I was thinking of naming him Adkins.”

Elise scrunched her face up. “That’s a terrible name. It sounds like Atkins, which reminds me of the diet.”

“Plus, he’s already got a name,” I pointed out.

Hugo was about to argue back when he swayed, feeling dizzy. In a blink, I was there to catch him. It had taken a lot out of him to claim the spirit of the void spawn, though I could tell it frustrated him to just get his power and vitality back, only to lose it again a minute later.

“This sucks,” Hugo whined. “Why am I always the one who has to sit stuff out?”

“Because you are mighty, which means you need rest to recover your strength,” said Hemi.

I groaned. “Don’t encourage him. Otherwise his head will never fit through the door.”

“Heh. Mighty,” Hugo mumbled as he dozed off.

Hemi fidgeted with his fingers. I know what he wanted to ask, even though there was no easy way to say it. There was no easy way for me to answer either, but I had little patience for such niceties.

“Rebecca, Sebastian, and Elijah are still alive,” I told him.

Hemi swallowed the lump in his throat and looked relieved.

“There’s more though,” I warned him. “The three of them fled and abandoned us when the fighting took a turn. The five of us temporarily retreated to floor 96 to discuss a plan. Elise and I chose to go back and fight this thing. We were worried that if we left, then you guys might get into trouble. The other three didn’t share our concerns, and they went deeper into floor 96 to search for an elevator.”

Hemi pursed his lips and then sighed. “So they left me?”

I tried and failed to soften the blow. “It was a fearsome creature that killed a lot of the group. I think that once Sebastian lost his nerve, the other two fell in behind him. Not everyone’s cut out for this.”

Hemi ignored what I’d said and asked, “so are we following in their footsteps onto floor 96?”

“That’s just what we were discussing,” said Elise. “Lucas wants to take the stairs to floor 95 and skip 96 altogether.”

Hemi’s eyebrows rose. “That seems… drastic. Given how hard you fought just to get to 96, should we really press our luck?”

I could tell that both of them wanted to go onto 96, thinking it was the safer option. That couldn’t happen. I knew things about the Staircase that they didn’t and so I told them the truth.

“I’m not suggesting we push all our chips in and go double or nothing. The truth is twofold. First, we’ll need to keep using the stairs anyway unless the elevator schedule changes. Secondly, the Stairwell never stays empty for long. It will add a new creature here with a similar level of power. Do you either of you really want to fight a second Ostorox tomorrow?”

Elise and Hemi nervously glanced at each other and then both agreed that descending to floor 95 would be best.