Tycoon May: Chapter 13 (Patreon)

Chapter 13

Grant had to spend several minutes clearing the way out of the tiny chamber.  The pile of dead hairless creatures was a stinking, rotting mess after sitting for so long.  He had to chop up the larger pieces and move them behind him into the Metallica chamber.  It turned into a slippery morass in only a few minutes, forcing Grant to move in a pocket of disgusting blood and slime as he shuffled the chunks of bodies over his head.  The tight tunnel gave him no other choice.

<I can’t smell you right now, but you have to absolutely stink right now.>  Grant didn’t answer, afraid of opening his lips and getting the disgusting mess in his mouth.  <Did you see any bodies of water nearby on the way in?  Because I didn’t.  You are going to be covered in that mess for a long time.>

After making through the pile of dead Danger Digger young, Grant paused at the opening of the crevasse.  He was surprised to find it empty, with no signs of any recent battles anywhere.  The heavy Danger Diggers had smoothed the layer of dirt on the floor, covering the blood he had left in the tunnel.  He poked his head out to look farther back in the dark tunnel, not seeing anything waiting to ambush him.

<I don’t sense anything either, but I’m only using your senses.  The ability to detect other Wielded Weapons doesn’t help find mundane monsters.>  Grant nodded in understanding.  He strained to hear anything for a few more seconds to be sure.  <I think you’re okay.  Just take it slow.  You still aren’t back to one hundred percent health yet, and the healing you did get took a lot of energy from you.>

Taking Sarge’s advice, Grant gingerly stepped into the tunnel.  He paused, listening once again for anything that might be ready to ambush him.  There was a low rumble under his feet for a moment, causing dust to sprinkle down from the ceiling.

<That can’t be good.>  Grant decided to ignore Sarge’s warning.  It was time to move.  He took off in a shambling run, his stiff body still not recovered even after clearing the crevasse.  Almost as soon as he made it to the cave exit, the rumbling under his feet reached a crescendo.

Grant was thrown into the air as the ground erupted beneath him.  He hit the ground flat on his back, dirt and stone raining from the sky like a storm of earth had chosen to attack him for trespassing on the underground cave.  His impact with the ground knocked the breath out of him, and he struggled for a gasp of the dust-filled air.

“Ouch.”  Grant rolled onto his side, spitting the grit coating his mouth.  The sticky blood and slime covering his body was fantastic at holding on to the dirt, making him look more like a moving piece of earth than an actual person.  “This is disgusting.”

<You don’t have time to worry about that right now.>  Sarge’s words were punctuated by a shadow suddenly blocking the sun.  Grant looked up—and up, and up—to see a Danger Digger standing on its hind legs, glaring down at him with murder in its beady little eyes.  <Move!>

The Danger Digger slammed down, trying to use its bulk to smash Grant flat.  He managed to roll out of the way, getting another face-full of dust for his efforts.  On the positive side, the dust cloud hid the fact that the giant mole missed him long enough for Grant to get back on his feet.

<Now’s your chance!  Get on its back, and sever the spinal column at the base of the skull!>  Grant scrambled to comply, ignoring the pain in his chest as he sprinted and leapt off the hind leg of the monster.  He almost made it up on its back, but the Danger Digger managed to spin in place enough that he landed on its side, free hand gripping a clump of wiry hair.

“Hold still, you stupid mole!”  Grant used his Uchigatana to stab into its side, his weapon only sinking in enough to provide a leverage point for him to climb another foot higher.  The Danger Digger didn’t appreciate getting stabbed, so it turned to try and bite him.  Grant managed to dodge the snapping jaws, lifting his legs up enough to kick the monster in the nose.  “Take that, you dirty hole digger!”

<Less taunting, more killing.  You can’t dodge it forever.>  Sarge’s admonition was enough to spur him back to climbing, using his sword and free hand to pull him higher and higher up the monster’s back.

After hanging on through another spin, Grant made it.  He knelt between the creature’s shoulder blades, holding on with one hand while he lifted his sword with the other, ready to strike the killing blow.  The awkward position meant he couldn’t use any of his skills to boost his hitting power, meaning Grant had to do this on his own.  He stabbed downward with all of the force he could muster, aiming for the small dip at the base of its skull.  The tip of his blade sank in enough to draw blood, but it wasn’t enough to reach the spinal column.

<That’s not good.  You’re going to have to switch to a running battle, and try to wear it down without letting it damage you enough to slow you down.  Otherwise, you’re dead.>  Grant swallowed hard, knowing that a fight like that would mean he couldn’t make a single mistake, and moving across unknown terrain almost guaranteed more than one.

Then, the Danger Digger dropped to all fours and rolled in an attempt to crush the annoying warrior clinging to its back.  Instead of jumping free, Grant rode it out, making sure he kept his Uchigatana in place so the weight of the Danger Digger forced the blade all the way to its hilt.  He was badly hurt as well, feeling several ribs crack under the crushing pressure, but the monster was dead.  <Or, you could do that.  Good thinking, Grant.  Now, all you have to do is get out from under this thing.>

“Thanks.”  He immediately regretted opening his mouth, as dirty hair coated in blood filled it.  Grant spluttered, trying to get it out, but only managed to get more of it stuck to his lips.  “This is so gross.”

It took a lot of straining, silent curses, and more than one more broken bone, but Grant finally managed to worm his way free.  He propped himself against the dead Danger Digger, struggling to recover from his injuries.  The new regeneration ability made him incredibly hungry, so he pulled out another hunk of jerky from his storage pouch and ate it slowly while trying to ignore the itching and grinding feeling of his bones sliding back into place.

“This regeneration ability is great, but I wish it included some form of pain reduction.”  Grant was mostly talking to himself, but Sarge was more than happy to throw in his two cents.

<If you continue to evolve your skills and abilities, maybe that will be an option later on.  For now, think of the pain as a lesson, and a reminder.  You need to keep improving if you want to survive the rest of your journey.>

“I get it, Sarge.  Keep training, I know.”  Grant grunted as he got to his feet, struggling to ensure he didn’t strain his ribs more than he had to.  He looked around the area, and was both disheartened to see the wagon really had left him behind, and happy that there weren’t any other threats that he could see.  “Since I’m not in any danger at the moment, I might as well get some of the meat from this thing.”

Butchering the giant mole took longer than he expected, and he decided to give up after getting only a few large pieces of meat.  Grant was running out of daylight, and he wanted to be long gone from the dead monster before the predators that came out at night decided they wanted a human snack to go with their Danger Digger meal.

What looked like a cluster of large rocks in the far distance was what he decided to start walking toward.  A heavy cloudbank had rolled in while he was butchering the mole, so he wasn’t exactly sure which direction to go.  The blasted lands were almost featureless, making the distant landmark the only thing available as an immediate choice for shelter.

<I know you are still healing, but you might want to hurry.  With the clouds blocking out the sun, the nocturnal monsters will be making an early appearance.>

Pushing aside the complaints of his body, Grant broke into a shambling jog.  He managed to keep a steady pace for the first hour, and quickly came to realize that he vastly underestimated the size of the rocks on the horizon.  They were getting closer much slower than he expected, meaning they were big.  Bigger than some buildings.

Grant could only move faster, forcing himself to race the sun hiding behind the clouds.  After another hour, his legs felt like wooden planks, and his lungs felt like they were on fire.  His series of injuries and subsequent healing had drained his stamina, making him weak.  The good news was, he could tell he was going to make it.  The distant objects were now clearly visible, and he would have plenty of time to set up a small camp before true dark fell.  The bad news was the spitting rain that started to fall, making the destroyed landscape a morass of sticky mud that only made it harder to maintain his speed.  It didn’t matter.  Grant was going to push through, no matter the pain.

As he came up to the pile of rocks, he bent over and put his hands on his knees, struggling to catch his breath.  After a few moments, he looked up to see the best place to try and make a safe campsite for the night.  That was when both him and Sarge realized what they were really looking at.  It wasn’t a pile of rocks.

<Grant, this was a bad idea.  That’s a stack of gigantic skulls, and something even bigger put them there.>