Zack sat with his back against the cold, damp stone, his heart still hammering from the near-death experience. The 10-minute break had just started. Ben was checking the edge of his shield for dents, while Maya and Emily were quietly sorting the Kobold claws and teeth into canvas bags. The only sound was the drip, drip, drip of water from stalactites high above.
"You really did good, kid," Ben said, his deep voice echoing slightly. He wasn't looking at Zack, but at his shield. "You didn't scream. You just... fell. A lot of new Hunters freeze up or scream. Freezing gets you killed. Screaming just draws more of 'em. You did good."
"Thanks, Ben," Zack mumbled, his eyes on the floor. He felt a flush of pride, quickly followed by a cold wave of guilt. He hadn't "gotten out of the way." He had used his 42.7 Agility to perform a life-saving, backward stumble that only looked like an accident.
He needed to get stronger. This was too close.
While the others were busy, Zack kept his head down and his eyes half-closed, as if he were resting. But inside, he was wide awake.
'System,' he thought, 'open my storage.'
A small, mental window opened in his mind. There it was: one Blue Cube (Agility) (1.0). It was the cube from the monster he'd stomped, the first real-world kill he'd ever made.
'Absorb it.'
He didn't need to touch it. The cube in his storage simply vanished. A moment later, a quiet, gentle warmth spread through his legs and spine. It was a familiar, comforting feeling. His sore, exhausted muscles felt a little lighter, a little more responsive.
His Agility was now 43.7.
The feeling of new power gave him a small boost of confidence. He then checked his other new system function.
'System, open the Shop.'
A new window appeared, much larger than his storage. It was a simple, text-based store.
[Welcome to the System Shop!]
[Current Shop Points: 60]
[SHOP - POTIONS (CONSUMABLES)]
Low-Grade Healing Potion (Heals 20% of stamina/health) - 5 Points
Mid-Grade Healing Potion (Heals 50% of stamina/health) - 10 Points
High-Grade Healing Potion (Heals 100% of stamina/health) - 15 Points
[SHOP - STATS (PERMANENT)]
Random Stat Cube (Blue) (1.0) - 10,000 Points
[SHOP - SKILLS (CLASS-SPECIFIC)]
[Skill Book: God-Eater's Cloak (LV.1)] - 50,000 Points
[SHOP - WEAPONS / ARMOR]
...[Locked. Host rank too low]...
Zack's eyes nearly bugged out. Sixty points? He quickly realized that the "Shared Party EXP" from all the monsters Emily and Maya had killed was being converted for him. He hadn't just gotten one kill's worth—he'd gotten a share of everything.
He looked at the prices. Ten thousand points for a single cube?
Fifty thousand for a skill? His 60 points were nothing.
Except for the potions.
They were cheap. The system wanted him to buy them.
This was perfect. He was a Healer. The one thing he was supposed to have was healing potions. His [Minor Soothe] was strong, but it was a skill that glowed green. He couldn't use it on a major wound without everyone seeing how powerful it was. He needed a cover.
'Buy four Mid-Grade Healing Potions,' he commanded.
4x Mid-Grade Healing Potion purchased. 40 Shop Points spent.
Items have been sent to Dimensional Storage.
[Remaining Shop Points: 20]
Zack let out a slow, shaky breath. He now had four "get out of jail free" cards. If Ben or Maya got truly hurt, he could "use" one of these potions (by taking it out of his bag), but secretly use his own powerful [Minor Soothe] skill. The potion would be the perfect cover for his magic.
"Break's over," Emily announced, zipping up a bag of loot. "Drink up. This next part is a long, steady slope down. It's where the tunnels get narrower. Maya, take point. I'll be right behind you. Ben, you and Zack take the rear. Watch our backs."
The formation changed. Now, Maya was in the front, her daggers drawn, moving in a silent crouch. Emily was behind her, her hands ungloved and ready to cast. Ben and Zack walked ten paces behind, with Ben's shield protecting them both.
This was, Zack realized, even more terrifying. He could no longer see what was ahead. He could only hear.
The drip... drip... drip... of the cave was constant. But now, there were new sounds. The skittering of small, unseen creatures. The hiss of steam from glowing green cracks in the rock. The smell of sulfur and damp earth was so thick he could taste it.
They walked for another hour, moving deeper. The narrow tunnels were a blessing and a curse. Only one or two Kobolds could attack at a time, but it also meant the team was forced into a single-file line.
"Contact," Maya's voice hissed from the front.
The team stopped.
Ben moved up, pushing past Zack, to stand right behind Emily. "What is it?"
"Slingers," Maya whispered. "On a ledge. High up. Can't reach 'em."
They rounded a corner into a new cavern, this one much taller than the others. It was a wide, circular room, at least a hundred feet high. A narrow ledge ringed the entire room, about sixty feet up.
And on that ledge, at least a dozen Kobold Slingers (D-Rank Intermediate) were waiting. They were skinny, smaller than the Miners, and were whipping rocks the size of a fist at incredible speeds.
THWACK-THWACK-THWACK!
A hail of sharp stones hammered Ben's shield as soon as he entered the room.
"Wall!" he bellowed, planting his feet. The force of the hits was staggering, much stronger than the pickaxes.
"Em, can you hit them?" Ben grunted, his shield rattling.
"Too high!" Emily yelled back, ducking behind him. "My [Firestorm] is a cone! It can't reach that angle!"
"Floaters coming from the tunnel!" Maya shouted.
As the Slingers rained hell from above, a new wave of ten Kobold Miners charged from a tunnel on the far side of the room.
"I got the floaters!" Maya said, and vanished into the shadows to intercept them.
"Ben, I'll help!" Emily said, and she ran to support Maya, leaving Zack and Ben alone under the hail of rocks.
THWACK! THWACK!
"Agh! These things hit hard!" Ben grunted. His shield was holding, but he couldn't move. He was a sitting duck.
"Kid, stay right behind me. Don't move a muscle!"
THWACK!
One of the stones was aimed perfectly. It skipped off the top of Ben's shield and ricocheted through the air.
WHIZ!
It flew past Zack's head, missing him by inches, and shattered against the cave wall behind him.
Zack flinched hard, his "fear" all too real.
"This is bad," Ben said, his voice tight. "Em and Maya are pinned down by the ground crew. We're pinned down by the snipers. We can't advance, and they can't help us!"
Zack looked up at the ledge. The Slingers were laughing, their yip-yip-yip echoing. They were safe. They knew it.
He saw Emily blast two Kobolds and Maya stab another, but they were too busy to look up.
Zack knew he had to do something.
His 43.7 Agility was burning under his skin. He was faster than any of them.
No... I can't reveal that.
But... what if I use my head?
He had an idea. It was crazy. It was stupid.
And it was perfect for a "scared E-Rank Healer."
"Ben!" Zack yelled over the noise.
"What, kid!?"
"I... I can try to distract them!"
"What?! No! Stay back, that's an order!"
"Just... just in case!" Zack said. He unzipped his useless med-kit backpack and pulled out a roll of white bandages.
"Kid, what are you...?"
"They're monsters, right? They like soft targets!"
Before Ben could stop him, Zack did the stupidest thing he could.
He ran.
He ran out from behind the safety of Ben's shield into the middle of the open cavern.
"ZACK! YOU IDIOT! GET BACK HERE!" Ben's roar of pure panic was deafening.
The Slingers on the ledge all stopped. They had been pelting the giant shield. Now, a tiny, unarmored human was standing in the open.
Their yipping turned into sounds of excitement. They all turned their aim.
"Whoa! Whoa! Okay!" Zack yelled, waving his arms and the roll of bandages. He was acting like he had made a terrible mistake.
A hail of stones shot toward him.
Now, his real power kicked in.
To Ben, it looked like Zack was slipping and tripping on the rocky floor, falling over himself in a blind panic.
"No! No! Ahh!" Zack screamed.
A rock flew at his head. He "tripped" and fell backward, and the rock whistled past his face.
Another rock flew at his chest. He "stumbled" to the side, and it shot past his shoulder.
His 43.7 Agility let him perform a perfect, life-saving dance of clumsiness. He was dodging D-Rank projectiles while looking like a total fool.
He was now in the middle of the room. He had their full attention.
"NOW, EMILY!" he screamed.
But Emily was still busy. She couldn't help.
It's up to me.
"Okay, you ugly mutts!" Zack yelled. He stopped "panicking" and stood still.
He held up his left hand, his Healer hand.
"You want a soft target?! Here I am!"
The Slingers, confused by his sudden bravery, all stopped to see what he was doing.
Zack poured all his 39.0 Spirit into his skill.
He didn't aim at the monsters. He aimed at the rock ceiling, right in front of the ledge they were standing on.
"[MINOR SOOTHE]!"
It wasn't a heal. It was a flashbang.
An enormous, blinding, emerald-green bomb of light exploded in the air, right in the Slingers' faces.
"SCREEEEE!"
The sound of a dozen Kobolds shrieking in agony and blindness echoed through the cavern. They dropped their stones, clawing at their eyes.
"NOW, EM!" Zack screamed again.
This time, Emily had seen it. Her fight was over. She looked up, her eyes wide with shock at what Zack had done.
"Good idea, Zack!"
She didn't use [Firestorm]. She pulled her hands back, and a single, baseball-sized sphere of white-hot fire appeared between her palms.
"[Fire*ball*]!"
She hurled it. It flew in a high arc, a perfect throw.
The Slingers were still blind. They couldn't see it coming.
The fireball slammed into the middle of the ledge.
BOOM!
The explosion was massive. It blew rock, fire, and Kobolds everywhere. Three of the Slingers were instantly vaporized. The others were blown off the ledge, their bodies raining down onto the cavern floor.
They landed, broken and stunned.
Before they could even move, Maya was on them, her daggers a silver blur, ending their lives.
One monster, which had been at the center of the blast, was dead before it even hit the ground.
You have killed a D-Rank (Intermediate) Kobold Slinger.
Dungeon-Loot Protocol: Blue Cube (Defense) x1 has been sent to Dimensional Storage.
The cavern fell silent.
Zack stood there, breathing heavily, his entire body shaking with adrenaline.
Ben slowly lowered his shield, his mouth open. He stared at Zack.
Emily and Maya walked over, their faces pale.
Emily was the first to speak. She looked furious. "Zackary Cole! That was the single most idiotic, reckless, and stupid thing I have ever seen a Hunter do! You could have been killed! You are an E-RANK HEALER!"
"But I'm not," Zack panted, giving her his best, shaky smile. "I... I tripped. Then I... I just thought... the light... it worked, didn't it?"
Ben put a heavy hand on Zack's shoulder. "Kid... she's right. That was stupid." He paused, and then a huge grin split his face. "It was also brilliant. A flashbang. You used a Healer spell as a flashbang. I've never seen that."
Maya just nodded, a look of new respect in her eyes. "Smart, Healer. And you can move. For a klutz."
Zack just shrugged. "I... I get clumsy when I'm scared."
"Well, don't do it again," Emily snapped, though her anger was fading, replaced by relief. She pulled him into a quick, rough hug. "Don't ever do that again."
"Alright," Ben said, "that's enough excitement. This looks like the halfway point to the next landing. We've officially cleared 2/6th of this mine. Let's rest here. For real this time."
Zack sat down, his legs feeling like jelly. He had survived.
And he'd just earned another cube.
Reader's Note: Zack's Stats
Rank: E (Advanced) / (System Rank: E (Advanced))
Class: Healer / God-Eater (Mythical)
Strength: 41.2
Agility: 43.7(+1.0 from Chapter 13 cube)
Stamina: 40.7
Spirit: 39.0
Defense: 39.1
(Storage: 1x Blue Cube (Defense) (1.0). 4x Mid-Grade Healing Potions. 20 Shop Points.)