Backwoods Dungeon

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Holy War

Rio

Todd could barely lift the demon’s sword, let alone attempt to swing it. I didn't even try. The thing was heavier than a dresser, and I was more amazed that the demon’s belt had managed to hold it than that the demon could.

The staff, however, was much more interesting. Its magical properties were unknown, but it glowed orange. That alone made it the most valuable thing we possessed as none of us could see in the dark.

Oak Staff

Set

Two-Handed

Enchantments Unknown

A Strength of at least 12 is recommended to use this item.

A Wisdom of at least 17 is recommended to use this item.

Those characteristics that I could read from the item were all well and good but the glowing was the most useful thing about it. Todd found it heavy but bearable, as long as he just held it up as a light source.

I couldn’t have used it even if I’d put all my attribute points into Strength.

Name: Rio Tande

Class: Rogue

Strength: 4

Dexterity: 8

Constitution: 4

Wisdom: 11

Intelligence: 12

Charisma: 14

Okay… so I was smart, weak, fast, and pretty. Fucking system.

I had eight points to distribute, and I decided on a mix of Intelligence due to Todd’s suggestion, and Constitution, because I was pretty sure that meant how much damage I could take. I was going to be pissed if I suddenly looked like a bodybuilder after this.

I really didn’t like it. It felt strange to be quantified like this. My entire life boiled down to a set of six numbers and a name. Shouldn’t… shouldn’t there be more? I supposed the system only really cared about how well I could fight demons and imps, and it was geared entirely towards that, but shouldn’t my just shy of a Master’s degree count for something more? Did all of my years of study only amount to a few points in the intelligence category?

I didn’t have time for existential questions like that. It had been almost half an hour since we’d killed the demon, and we were almost ready to go.

We’d rejected the idea of sitting in the cell and killing whatever demons decided to come. We couldn’t know if there were even stronger ones, after all, and no one seemed keen on staying here.

Fortunately, my trap batteries seemed to recharge at a decent rate. I… just couldn’t make myself think of it as actual mana and magic. It was easier for me to think of it as a skill that required an electricity cost, and my mana was just a battery that could be recharged by… ugh. Gold.

There was no way to keep that from sounding ridiculous.

After I put four points in Intelligence, the sense of being drained lowered considerably. With the addition of Greed’s reward, the second I picked up a few gold coins, I felt completely refreshed. Annoyingly, the gold disappeared, which seemed like a real cheat to me. It didn’t disappear when anyone else touched it though, making me pretty sure that my new ability actually ate gold.

Weird.

With my proverbial batteries charged, we decided it was time to brave the halls of the demon jail. All eleven of us only managed to come up with one idea that we all agreed on though.

“Okay. I’m going to throw two of them out there. If nothing happens, we head out. We’re going down the left hallway because, as best we can tell, the demons always dragged their victims to the right after leaving. Any objections?” I asked.

Carla, the woman who’d been crying, said something in rapid-fire Spanish that sounded like a prayer before nodding at me. She seemed to have found her spine after watching the demon die in front of her.

“Sure, let’s follow the witch to hell,” Jody muttered under his breath, loudly enough for everyone to hear.

I glared but I was happy to see that a few of the others were glaring along with me.

“I’m not a witch. Kill one of them yourself. You’ll see,” I said before turning back to the door.

I heard the man scoff behind me but I paid him no more mind as I grasped the ancient handle and tugged the door slightly ajar. I threw out the mental bear traps and was still shocked that they actually appeared in my hand.

Both of the traps lit up with their dim blue lights but neither of them did anything. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. We were in the clear for the moment.

I fully opened the door and ushered four of us out into the hallway, before going myself. I would be in the middle, ready to lay traps in any direction an enemy might come from. Todd went right behind me, providing light to all of us with the glowing staff.

Emily stuck next to me as well, holding the spare gold we’d had left after my batteries felt full. Whenever I started to feel low, she could hand me coins so I could make more traps if necessary.

Cole, the man who’d been in the cage closest to the front door, hadn’t lied. There appeared to be a long hallway stretching to the left and the right, while another hall went forward from the door. The red glow came from that hallway, and none of us dared go there.

The walls were ancient stone, reminding me of old castles like the ones in Ireland. The stone was chipped in places and piles of rubble littered the uneven floor. Words were written on the walls to the sides of our cell in some ancient language I couldn’t read.

“This thing is great, but I’d kill for a flashlight,” Todd said softly.

“You might have to,” I replied. “Keep your eyes peeled. We’re going that way.”

The group began to slowly meander down the left hallway. They spread out a bit. No one wanted to be too far from the light, but it would be even worse if I couldn’t see an incoming enemy because someone was standing in the way. Fortunately, the hall was wide enough for ten people to walk side by side if they wanted to.

Crumbling pictures decorated the walls as we walked, but the hallway seemed endless. Fortunately, we didn’t encounter anything for almost ten minutes.

“What is this place…? Anyone have any ideas?” Cole asked. He was at the back of our group and had practically been walking backward to make sure nothing crept up behind us.

“No idea. I think I see something up ahead though. Stay quiet,” I commanded.

I heard Jody sneer. He’d walked to the front of the group, and as far as I was concerned, the ill-tempered old man was welcome to the spot. I was more focused on the small red light ahead of us. As we got closer, I realized that it was a sconce. Like, one of those old burning torches that you only really saw in movies. Beside it, to the left, was a door that looked very similar to our cell, while to the right was a hallway that glowed the same ominous red.

“Are… did we go in a circle?” I asked, though I immediately realized we hadn’t. There was different writing on the walls, and I heard small sounds coming from the door. Whimpers, and hushed whispering.

“Oh god…” I thought horrified. “We… we weren’t the only ones. Did… anyone keep that key?”

“I did,” said a brown-haired girl in her twenties. She was the one who’d unlocked all of the cages.

I was about to instruct her to open the lock when I heard a sudden noise from behind us.

“Buurrr…”

Todd heard the noise too, and immediately held the staff back down the hall. Cole yelped and dashed towards us, turning to face whatever had followed us in the dark. I didn’t hesitate either, throwing out a single trap.

I didn’t want to waste them if we were just hearing bugs or mice or something but whatever that was didn’t sound human.

Jody, surprisingly, darted toward the sound, slinking over to the darkness by the wall. He was nimble for an old man. I lost view of him almost immediately as he crouched down and made for the sound. What the fuck was he doing?

“Burrr… Makto–Crrrkk!”

We heard a sharp crack before a sudden thump echoed down the hallway.

Jody walked calmly back onto the light, dragging one of the little imps by the neck with his left hand. In his right, he held a confiscated dagger.

“Well, I’ll be damned. Maybe you ain’t a witch after all,” he said with a grin.

“How… how the fuck did you do that?” I asked.

“Ex-Marine,” he replied as if that explained everything. “You don’t have to worry. There was only one. It looks like I have a class selection screen, too.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh thank god. It’s reassuring to know I’m not crazy.”

“So… Todd, was it? What do you suggest?” the man asked.

“I… I don’t know. You chose Rogue immediately, right?” the kid said, turning toward me. “What other options did you say you had again?”

“Heh. Nevermind. Already picked. I think I can just…” the man trailed off before dropping the imp’s body to the ground. He waved his hand and the imp twitched.

To my horror, the imp’s skin split open and its small skeleton ripped itself out of its own body with a sickening squelch. Blue blood dripped off the specter and Carla screamed as the skeleton stood to face us with empty eye sockets in its misshapen skull. I thought I screamed too.

“Y-You chose… Necromancer, I guess?” Todd asked weakly.

“This… this is great,” Jody said in reverence. “God has given us weapons. This isn’t witchcraft. It’s a holy war…!”

I gulped, suddenly very glad he was on our side.