System Fall

The Safe Zone, which had provided us with shelter and rest for the night, was now filled with the dull groans of my groggy companions.

I’d taken the last watch and set out to wake them up.

"Rise and shine," I called out, shaking each of my companions awake. Alvin groaned and pulled his jacket over his head, while May blinked up at me, her hand instinctively reaching for her knife. Willow, surprisingly, was already awake, her wide eyes scanning the room.

"Penny for your thoughts," Willow asked as she saw me looking.

"I actually charge a dollar," I replied, surprising even myself. I hadn't intended to become friendly with this group.

Willow laughed and considered the situation, then said, "I'm willing to pay up if dollars still mean anything anymore." She hugged her knees and tilted her head as she looked at me.

Nothing more was said. I finished waking the others.

As they stretched and yawned, trying to shake off the vestiges of sleep, I rummaged through the back of the lounge. Among the dust-covered debris, I found a stash of old coffee cans and a few bottles of water, a forgotten stash of the former employees.

"Jackpot," I muttered, pouring the coffee into a pot and setting it over the stove I had previously used. The aroma was stale and earthy, and it was evident that the coffee was past its prime. Nevertheless, I boiled it with some water I found and poured it out into some old mugs.

The coffee, predictably, was terrible. Aged, diluted, and bitter. But as we passed the mugs around, each of us making faces at the taste, the hot beverage did its job of waking us up and pushing the sleepiness aside.

"God, this tastes like dirt," May grimaced, pushing her mug away after a few sips. But her eyes were alert, and her grip on her knife was steady.

"I've had worse," Alvin shrugged, forcing himself to drink more.

Willow simply smiled, offering no comment as she sipped on the hot beverage.

A smile spread across my face and broadened, "Wait till you see the main course." Their curious gazes followed my gesture towards a plate piled high with slices of meat, none other than Rail Roach meat that I had prepared while they were sleeping. The combined reactions of horror, disgust, and curious reluctance, I admit, were highly entertaining.

"But it's not all gourmet roach," I assured, pulling out a box of dry crackers, several cans of pork and beans, and a jar of spiced peaches, miraculously still sealed and unspoiled. The jar gave a satisfying 'pop' when I opened it, releasing the sweet, tangy scent of preserved fruit.

“Breakfast of champions.” The bitter coffee, the oddly tangy Rail Roach meat, the overly sweet peaches, it was a strange combination, but in the washed-up industrial lighting of the safe zone, it did the trick.

Hunger flavored everything. Despite the strange circumstances, we found ourselves gathered around our makeshift dining area, attacking our strange breakfast with a fierceness that made the food taste almost good. Even the roasted Rail Roach had an odd kind of charm to it – or perhaps it was simply the fact that we were too hungry to be picky.

"Just remember," I said, seeing their initial grimaces turn into contemplative nods as they chewed. "Even a Rail Roach can serve a purpose, if you know how to make use of it. Just imagine its lobster and it’ll go down easier."

Just as we were wrapping up, Alvin broke the comfortable silence. "Hey, about these Azure Gleam Knives... They're imbued with mana, right? Can you explain how mana works? I mean, I thought it was just something magicians used in fairy tales and my Necromancer during raids."

I looked at each of them, their expressions reflecting varying degrees of curiosity. I took a deep breath, knowing that we were about to delve into one of the more complex aspects of our current reality.

I paused, the remnants of my bitter coffee offering a momentary distraction. In truth, I had a rough understanding of mana, but putting it into words wasn't easy.

"Mana is a form of energy," I started, trying to put it in the simplest terms. "And like any form of energy, it can be manipulated and utilized for various purposes. In this case, it can be used to enhance our weapons, among other things. But understanding it fully is... complicated. It's not just a fairy tale concept or a videogame thing, it's reality."

"It’s hard to explain," I confessed. "But it's not something that increases like Strength or Dexterity. It's more complex, more elusive."

May interjected, her hand unconsciously moving to the hilt of her own Azure Gleam Knife, "Strength and Dexterity are physical, but maybe Mana is something else... Perhaps it's tied to our mental state or something that isn’t as easy to put into numbers."

Willow, leaning against her spear, nodded. "That makes sense. The System provided me with a spear, but I still had to learn how to use it. It was like an instinct that needed honing."

Alvin glanced at his sword, thoughtfully. "So, it's not about instant knowledge, but learning to utilize what we've been given effectively?"

"We can go with that," I replied, a grin tugging at the corner of my mouth. I had reservations about the group, but they weren’t so bad after all. Mana wasn't a simple concept to grasp. It was a form of energy, something raw and profound, but not restricted to life alone. It existed in the air, in the stones, even in the water.

But explaining that in a way that they could understand? Much harder to do.

I pondered for a moment, then said, "Imagine mana as a sense, not unlike sight or hearing, but not as straightforward. It's an instinct, a feeling deep within. It's as if... it's a raw power pulsating through your veins. The more you expose yourself to this environment, the more attuned you become to it. Like riding a bike or driving a car."

I picked up one of the Azure Gleam Knives, its steel surface reflecting the faint light in the room. My fingers closed around the hilt, and I began to channel mana, pushing the trickle of my mana into the blade.

Gradually, the azure pattern on the knife began to shimmer. As if responding to my will, it pulsed, then brightened to a steady blue glow. The faint light in the room growing brighter with the radiance of the mana-infused blade. The blue light flickered on our faces, casting strange shadows on the walls.

"Holy shit," Alvin muttered, his eyes wide as he stared at the glowing blade. "That's...wow." The rest of the group fell silent, a mix of awe and surprise etched on their faces.

Without breaking my concentration, I reached for a discarded piece of rebar that was lying nearby. In one swift, effortless movement, I drew the knife across the rough metal. The Azure Gleam Knife cut through the rebar as easily as a pair of scissors cuts through paper, leaving a clean, smooth incision in its wake.

I looked at my teammates, their eyes wide with awe, and nodded. "That's the potential of mana."

“Are you going to let us know now how exactly you knew to do that?” May asked looking as the glow of the knife faded as I released my mana.

"Nope, not on your life," I responded, meeting May's questioning gaze with a playful smile. Her eyes sparkled with a hint of annoyance but also a begrudging acceptance. After all, we each had our secrets in this unfamiliar world.

After my demonstration, we wrapped up our meal, cleaning the area and repacking our gear. We freshened up in the small employee bathroom, taking turns at the sink. The water was cold and not particularly clean, but it was water nonetheless. I was all too aware that running water was a luxury compared to the dangers lurking outside the safe zone.

Having refreshed ourselves, we began preparing for the day ahead. The gear was checked, weapons were readied, and we were ready to head out.

"Alright guys, it's time to get going. We've rested long enough," I announced, breaking the silence. A series of nods came in response. As one, we stepped away from the Safe Zone of the employee lounge and ventured once more into the tunnels of the underground train station that was the Hidden Dungeon.

Alvin held the door open and the rest of us ventured out back into the Hidden Dungeon.

We walked, and the surroundings took on an even more archaic look, looking more 18th century than 18th with iron-wrought benches and old gas lamps in brass and copper that dully reflected light in the stone tunnel.

We weren’t alone, it didn’t take long for the webs to grow thick again.  Station Spiders lurked in the shadows, their glistening Sapphire Tears the only giveaway in the darkness the cast. We set upon them with renewed vigor, our upgraded weapons slicing through them easily.

"Remember, aim for the abdomen!" I reminded my team as we engaged with the creatures. The spiders fell one after another, leaving behind precious Sapphire Tears.

"Got another one!" Willow announced excitedly, the tip of her spear gleaming blue as she held up a Sapphire Tear.

"Good job, keep it up," I encouraged, scanning the area for more threats.

The four of us navigated through the web-infested tunnels. The echoes of our steps melded with the distant echoes of the deep subway system. After some time, a thin layer of fog clung low to the ground, making it a little harder to see the gas lamp lanterns started to become rarer and farther apart.

The Station Spiders swarmed us as we trudged onward, as the light grew dimmer, their size grew larger and they lurked amidst the thick webs that crisscrossed the ceiling and walls. We fought back, our Azure Gleam weapons cleaving through armored bodies of the Station Spiders with an ease that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. The blue glow of the weapons mixed with the green of the spiders' blood, and almost served as a replacement for the faltering light of the gas lamps.

Eventually, we reached a sprawling room, its layout vaguely familiar to an old subway ticket booth. Rows of wooden counters were covered in ancient dust, the paint peeling off in flakes. The rusted hulk of an old ticket machine stood in the corner, its display long since dead and a panel had come loose revealing cogs, gears, and springs instead.

Figures dressed in old train employee uniforms stood behind the counters. From a distance, they seemed almost human, trapped in time. As we approached, a feeling of unease started up and grew stronger. I wasn’t sure if they held the role of Merchant or if they were part of some other trap of System Fall.

Suddenly, Alvin of all people paused, his hand halting us in our tracks. His eyes were focused on the figures, a sharp intake of breath his only sound.

"Wait...they're not human," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the movement of spiders in the distance. The sound carried, causing the figures to stir, their bodies turning towards us with a horrific, mechanical slowness.

The scene unfolded in slow motion, our senses stretched taut by the adrenaline pumping through our veins. A deafening screech filled the cavernous space as the queen spider descended from above, its massive form dwarfing its kin. Its spindly legs stretched out like skeletal fingers, each tip ending in a sharp, gleaming point.

The world seemed to slow around us, our senses heightening under the adrenalin. A loud screech filled the air coming from above us. I looked up and saw pure white canopy of spider webs and from within it, a Spider Queen descended. Its spindly legs stretched out like skeletal fingers, each tip ending in a sharp point that supported a massive body.

Then I noticed something more. The figures dressed in train uniforms, held aloft in grotesque imitation of life, swayed under the monstrous spider's pull. They were kept upright with strands of Spider Queen Silk. Their bodies were grotesquely bloated, unnaturally distended. Almost like they were grim marionettes on strands that connected them to the Spider Queen. These bodies however were not puppets. They were incubators. Bloated with spiders’ eggs.

In the dim light, we could see the silk threads pulsating with a sickening life of their own, connecting the queen to the undead hosts. Her many eyes glowed with a malevolent light as she noticed us, her mandibles clicking in anticipation and saliva dripped to the ground. The room filled with screeching and the gruesome scratching of the spider's movements.

 

[System Fall Notification]

 

Title: Boss Encounter

 

Arachnid Matron - Lament

 

The brooding mistress of the third-floor depths, Arachnid Matron - Lament, has made her presence known. This daunting foe reigns supreme in the cobweb-laden shadows of the forsaken Train Station, guiding her myriad offspring with an iron will. She wields their many lives as both her shield and her blade. Fear not her venom, but rather the sheer force of her unyielding resolve and the overwhelming numbers at her command.

 

She guards the age-old vault of this twisted subway, where humanity's memory has been lost to time, Lament thrives in the darkness. She exists solely for System Fall and as a challenge for the worthy. own.

 

[Additional Information]

 

Approach Lament with the utmost caution. Even the walls have eyes, and every shadow might conceal a threat. Her strength lies not in venom but in numbers and sheer physical prowess.

 

The paralyzing horror etched on the faces of Alvin, Willow, and May was stark in the half-light of the dungeon. Their breath hitched, and their movements slowed.

[System Fall Notification]

 

Title: Passive Ability Applied

 

Status Update: Fear Resisted

 

Your ability "Indomitable Will" has successfully negated the 'Fear' status effect inflicted by the entity "Arachnid Matron – Lament". This ability fortifies your mental resolve, guarding you against emotional manipulation.

 

[Reminder]

You are a Lone Survivor. Your mental resilience surpasses the ordinary, allowing you to travel paths that no one else can.

 

As soon Indomitable Will kicked in, it was like a protective barrier shielding my mind from the fear that had completely engulfed the others. It was like an icy chill washing over me, rendering me numb to the situation that should have been clawing at the edges of my sanity. My hands were steady, my heartbeat calm. My mind was clear and focused as I squared off against the monstrous queen.