Chapter 32 – Enemy Mine II (Patreon)

“We make a good team,” Glenn told Luke as another one of the blighted creatures fell to Luke’s onslaught.

He was breathing harder than Glenn was. Both of them reeked, and the fighting was never ending. But together, they were able to make steady progress.

The creatures that tossed the bowls of burning liquid were a priority that Glenn took out with extreme prejudice. Meanwhile, Luke took out the high level ghouls, barbarians, and brutes that leapt, fell, or climbed onto the bridge.

Unlike Glenn, Luke could see what the platforms were anchored to. He wished he could only see darkness instead of what was below.

A quagmire of filth and death teeming with unnatural creatures in the swampy mud below promised a swift death if they managed to survive the fall.

The flames burned the bridge behind them. Without extra fuel in the form of those burning pots, the rickety scaffolding merely swayed nauseatingly instead of collapsing to the horrors below.

They fell into a rhythm. Glenn—who had been more than a little reserved about trading names—kept close enough to take out the snipers, but far enough that Luke had room to maneuver around the blighted monsters.

Even though the monsters were all above level 25, Luke found that without the pressures of the ranged attackers, he could take one or two out before reinforcements arrived.

They kept up their sedate forward pace, racking up kills, levels, and LP.

The back of Luke’s mind itched like mad. He nervously glanced at the countdown for selecting his new skills. It was down to an hour and fifteen minutes now, but there was no way he could take a long enough break in the action to mull over his choices.

Glenn, likewise, had an even bigger choice ahead of him. He had hit level 10 Archer and could evolve the class. He didn’t want to wait. Without the Archer keeping the ranged attackers at bay, who continuously crawled out of dank sewer tubes to replenish the dead, Luke couldn’t kill the blighted monsters.

It was a precarious balance with both of their lives on the line.

If Glenn didn’t keep their unwelcome guests at bay, Luke would eventually fall to one of their arrows. If their burning pots of oil didn’t burn the bridge down around them first.

Glenn had seen firsthand what one of those burning pots could do if they hit the wrong area. He didn’t like the way Luke went quiet when he asked what was below them.

Without Luke, Glenn wasn’t going to get out of there alive. He clearly despised the forced partnership, but he was at least smart enough to understand the necessity.

Luke had to admit, having a ranged backup was useful, even if he was several levels below him.

Luke had learned that he could still gain the benefits of his [Soloer, Second-Class] title so long as Glenn didn’t attack the same target.

As soon as he did, Luke felt slower and weaker, as if somebody had just drugged him. It had been nearly disastrous until Luke explained.

Glenn still looked at him as if he was hogging all the experience for himself, but on the other hand the Archer had the never-ending supply of ranged attackers to deal with. The monsters were above level 10, providing a steady stream of experience and LP for the young Archer, but they were nothing compared to the creatures Luke slaughtered.

The tenuous truce kept up until they managed to break through to the other side, into a wide tunnel that branched into multiple other tunnels. Each one as dark and noisome as the next.

Luke immediately sensed the sluice gate above their heads on the exterior of the tunnel. A rusted winch with slimy spokes lowered the heavy stone sluice gate, cutting off their retreat and blocking the monsters from crossing the bridge.

Luke poked around for any additional monsters. Finding none, he knelt inside the dark gloom in front of the three branching tunnels.

His timer was down to a few scant minutes, but Luke had to be sure. He looked at Glenn. “Listen, I am not going to attack you unless you give me a reason to, okay? I told you what happened. It’s up to you to believe it or not. But I’m not the bad guy here.”

Luke realized how ridiculous it sounded, but he needed to say it.

Glenn, for his part, looked like somebody had run him over with a dump truck, then backed up and unloaded the trash on him.

“I know what you told me,” Glenn said warily. He glanced back at the sluice gate that would ensure nothing would be coming after them from that way.

Luke hoped the creatures from the swamp of horrors below would find climbing the wall of stone and the sluice gate more difficult to traverse than the rickety scaffolding.

“But do we have a truce?” Luke asked again, keeping an eye on the timer.

Glenn nodded tersely, found an opposite corner to Luke to sit in, and fell into a meditative pose.

After a moment or two, Luke did the same.

He skimmed through the death notifications.

Luke was hardly able to loot a tenth of the monsters he killed. There was always another monster.

Sparing even a few seconds of concentration, to say nothing of the mana required to use his shadows to perform the deed, would have spelled their doom.

The few he did manage to loot gave a strange purple moss that he pocketed, and he gained two odd medallions that looked as if they had been buried at the bottom of a cesspit (which they probably were).

Since all the blighted creatures were above level 25, Luke was now getting a ridiculous 64 LP per kill. He had more LP than when the Company Shop had opened, though he wasn’t about to tell Glenn that.

What drew his attention first and foremost were the new skills available for selection. These were the first Thief skills he would be able to pick. And just like every other time, he still had all the old skills he hadn’t picked yet.

Skimming over the old skills to save time, Luke looked for the new ones to see if anything was worth picking over those from Rogue that he had left behind. Like the damaging skill [Puncture].

[Puncture (Common)]

(Rogue Class Skill)

Though fast and nimble, Rogues lack the requisite power to punch through armor and defensive hides. Instead, they rely on skill and accuracy to find weaknesses in their opponent’s armor. But what if there are no weaknesses? Puncture combines your accuracy, power, and speed into one devastating armor-piercing attack. Adds a small bonus to the influence of Dexterity, Strength, and Perception when using this skill.

Once again, Luke was sorely tempted. It was the number one contender in Luke’s eyes. Not quite as good as [Barrage], but where [Barrage] would fail, such as on an enemy with high defense or good armor, [Puncture] would shine.

That skill would also be a bit more effective with his ratking weapon. If he combined [Puncture] with his ratking dagger, the poison effect could be more likely to trigger, since it might punch through to a susceptible spot.

[Feint (Uncommon)]

(Thief Class Skill)

Masters of deceit and misdirection, a Thief is most dangerous when their opponent’s attention is diverted elsewhere. A true Thief doesn’t just prey on opportune moments, they create them. Summon a phantom image of yourself to distract an opponent in the moment. The closer you are to your opponent the more realistic your feint will appear. Adds a minor bonus to the influence of Dexterity, Willpower, and Perception when using this skill.

Luke stared in surprise at the offered Thief class skill. It was astonishingly good, and a high rarity too. Were all his new skills going to be uncommon-rarity from now on?

I could get used to that.

His Fate was definitely working in his favor, giving him new skills that not only blended well with his fighting style but were higher rarity than he would have expected.

Now that’s more like it, Luke thought.

Feint seemed like a great skill on its own and misdirection, coupled with his ability to mold shadows, would go very well together.

The description didn’t seem to mention anything about his bloodline. He could only guess that the System didn’t include it as part of his overall skill set or it was somehow incompatible with what his class offered him.

[High Larceny (Uncommon)]

(Thief Class Skill)

Taking that which belongs to another is the core of what a Thief is. Take it to the next level by not only relieving your enemy of their valuables, but also their valuable enhancements and magical effects. High Larceny allows you to steal a single magical effect from an opponent, dispelling the effect on them and then applying it to yourself at the same potency. Adds a minor bonus to the influence of Dexterity, Willpower, and Arcane when using this skill.

Oh, Luke thought, so it’s going to be like that? Just giving me skills that would go absolutely great with anything I could do while limiting me to a single choice?

Frustrated, he suppressed a sigh. If it was possible, [High Larceny] seemed even better than [Feint]. If only because stealing somebody’s magical enhancement seemed like an excellent way to turn the tables on any number of powerful adversaries.

So far, he hadn’t come across anything that warranted it. Even the level 25 monsters didn’t seem to have anything that suggested they were buffing themselves with magic.

When monsters used abilities, they glowed various colors. Luke was beginning to understand that red was for attack and green was for a buff of some sort. He had seen yellow as well, but he wasn’t sure what kind that represented yet. Still, none of them seemed to gain anything that he could steal.

Not yet, at least.

If the System was giving him something like [High Larceny], it was likely that he would be faced with something that would. Wouldn’t he want to be ready for it?

Luke shivered as a cold draft from one of the tunnels whistled through the room. He drew his cloak closer to his hunched knees and resisted the urge to rest his chin on them. He hardly noticed the smell anymore, but he didn’t want any more of it on his face than he could help.

[Uncanny Footing (Unusual)]

(Thief Class Skill)

Nimble and light-footed, a Thief never stays in the same place for long. Their excellent survivability is owed more to their evasiveness than their hardiness. After all, the best way to limit damage is to not get hit in the first place. Increases reaction times and reflexes when an opponent that you can see attacks you. Adds a minor bonus to the influence of Dexterity, and Perception when using this skill.

So that made three skills that were, in a manner of speaking, defensive. Something he presently lacked. He had been relying on his shadow bloodline to cover that weakness, but it wasn’t perfect.

[Fleet of Foot] made him faster. However, its power wasn’t exclusively suited for a defensive purpose.

[Feint] gave him the ability to create openings for attacks. [High Larceny] let him strip an opponent’s buff and apply it to himself. It seemed excellent on paper, but he wasn’t sure how it’d work in practice.

[Uncanny Footing] allowed him to be even more evasive than he already was. His reaction time and reflexes were off the charts before he factored in his bloodline and the boost he got to each even outside of shadows.

While there was nothing so far that made him want to pick [High Larceny] aside from the fact that it seemed incredibly useful, it felt like a future-proofing pick.

He would absolutely kick himself if he didn’t pick it up and ended up needing it. However, it was something that might be more useful later.

Luke could easily see the potential for higher level opponents to possess a repertoire of buffs that would need to be dealt with. For now, that wasn’t the case.

Meanwhile, both [Feint] and [Uncanny Footing] were immediately usable and meshed well with his fighting style. The problem was, he had less than 2 minutes to decide which one to take and they were both incredibly useful.

[Feint] could double as an offensive skill, but not getting hit was becoming an increasingly important trait. Despite being sheltered by the ranged attackers courtesy of Glenn killing them, he had quite a few close calls with the blighted creatures.

Luke leaned back and rested his head against the cool and slightly damp stone. It was a relief after the oppressive heat of the fire and the damp living warmth from the fetid swamp far below.

[Feint] or [Uncanny Footing], that was the question.

Luke narrowed down his focus. Everything he picked had to have immediate utility.

If he stopped gaining LP and experience, he died.

Either because another person like Glenn was going to come after him, a group of interns wanted his LP, or there was some ultra-horrible monster that wanted to eat him. He needed to be able to handle any threats he might face.

Whatever the case, Luke had little time left to make his selection.