Chapter 11 [Damage | Leah]

“Don’t your feet hurt?” Leah sat at the base of the hill, looking up at the two small… Slimes… that were creeping down toward them. She’d gone through several emotions in a short time when they’d gotten close enough for her to see the first. What little denial she’d been feeling vanished, only to be replaced by fear that there were actually monsters out there.

Acceptance came next, followed by humor—the things were kind of cute. Then, she was reminded of the pain her husband went through because of them, and anger washed away all of her other feelings. Before she could rush up the hill to take her frustration out on the little bastards, Kyle had pulled her back, then forced her to sit down and rest. She’d turned on him, scolding him for leaving on his own. After arguing about what she and the kids would have done had something happened to him—had something worse happened to him—Leah finally calmed down and did as he'd asked.

“I told ya. That’s what ya get fer wearin’ shoes all the time.” He gestured to their daughter. “Look at Maeve, she’s doin’ just fine.”

Maeve, for her part, nodded sagely.

Leah sighed and continued to rub her heels. “Walking on gravel barefoot is not as effortless as you make it out to be, Kyle. Enough about my feet. You really expect me to just walk up there and attack those things?”

“I do,” he said. “That reddish one there on the lef’s a Heat Slime. With a good smack, ya can prolly kill it in one, two at the most. That other’n there’s called a Mire Slime. It might take ya three hits, at the least. Just pretend yer playin’ a game o’ whack a mole.”

“That’s not what I…” Leah sighed. “How do you know what they are, anyway? They’re farther than six yards from us.”

“Hmm?” Kyle glanced away from his Grimoire. “Oh, I reckon I’m a bit of an expert now. Somethin’ of a Slime connoisseur, if ya will.”

“You’re fucking insane.” Leah giggled and stood. She picked up her club and held it awkwardly. “Right. I can do this. I’m just… gonna kill a Slime.”

Her legs were shaking, and she’d barely taken a step when Kyle called out, “Honey, hold up!”

“Yes?” Leah turned to find her husband grinning—she knew what was coming, but he spat it out before she could scold him.

“Why don’cha go kill them Slimes over there?”

“Oh, fuck off, Kyle!” she chided him as he and Maeve laughed. As if by magic, her nerves were gone, and Leah couldn’t help but smile, too. You always know how to make things better. Fucking goofball.

She adjusted her grip on the weapon—holding it more like a golf club than a bat since the creatures were so small—then proceeded to walk up the hill with more confidence than she’d had before.

His notes said the Heat variety didn’t really attack, just that their ooze does more damage than the others. I’ll take it out first, then get the other one. I wish he’d tell me how much Health they have, at least. But nooo, “Yer gonna hafta get used to it ‘til yer Appraisal gets better. I ain’t always gonna be next to ya, an’ I don’t reckon there’ll be anyplace better’n this to get some practice in. ‘Sides, other folks prolly gon’ be the biggest trouble, an’ I can’t see nuttin’ ‘bout them.”

As much as she hated it, he was right—as always, though she’d never admit it. So here she was, walking up to two actual monsters armed with nothing but a stick and their names. Leah took a deep breath, then approached the rusty red Slime from the far side, making sure to stay as far from the brown one as possible. Kyle may have said they couldn’t see very far, but she didn’t want to risk it.

When she got close, she didn’t wait for it to notice her. She took two big steps, swung the short weapon underhanded as hard as she could… and completely missed. Before she could recover, the little Slime jiggled and started moving toward her. Leah did what she thought was best in that situation. Switching her grip, she brought the weapon down like a flyswatter and struck the beast’s head.

The club sank in deep, and goo splattered everywhere, but she didn’t let up. She struck the Slime again, then barely registered it deflating before she ran at the brown one. Her heart was thumping fast, and she could hear the roar of the ocean in her ears. Leah brandished her weapon in the same, half-baked fashion as before, but she couldn’t bring herself to care about her skills in stick fighting. In three hits, the Slime sagged onto the ground, defeated, and left a pile of foul-smelling crud behind.

“Yes!” Leah grinned… then choked when she tasted a bit of the vile substance that had splashed onto her lips. Not only was it absolutely disgusting… it burned. As the adrenaline wore off, she could feel the results of her poor execution. Her chest, her thighs… Anywhere that sludge had landed felt like she’d been splattered with hot grease.

She gasped and hurriedly wiped away the few clumps that were still sticking to her. What the actualfuck? No hotter than a warm bath, my ass. This shit hurts!

“Good job.”

She heard Kyle’s voice from right behind her and turned to see him digging through the remains of the red Slime. Why is he… Oh, right. The Cores. He’s insane… didn’t he say he had over a hundred of those things?

“Ah, there she is.” He smiled and held up a tiny glass marble. “Want me to hold on to it? Or are ya gonna crush it fer the xp?”

“Umm…” Leah glanced at her Grimoire.

[Leah | Stage 1]

[Exp | 32/100 | 3/cycle]

[Health | 129/135 | 6/cycle]

[Energy | 151/155 | 6/cycle]

[Mana | 100/150 | 5/cycle]

“No. It’s not like it’ll let me level yet,” she replied, then bent down to pick up the Core dropped by the brown one. Kyle whistled, and she smiled and rolled her eyes. “Just keep them, you said they work like money, right?”

“Look fer yerself,” he said. “I’m wonderin’ if yer Appraisal will even tell ya that. If not, we’re sittin’ on a gold mine here ‘til other folks find out what they are.”

[Name | Essence Core]

“Looks like you’re right. Mine only says that it’s an Essence Core, nothing else.” She handed him the tiny brown marble.

“Right. I’ll keep track o’ watcha give me in my notes here,” he said. “I don’t know what we can get with ‘em yet, but hopefully ya can buy yerself a pair o’ boots or somethin’. Iroh ain’t been able to tell me much, jus’ that there’s some type o’ shops in the Domain o’er yonder.”

“Daddy! I want to buy something!”

Leah glanced behind Kyle to see Maeve making her way up the hill, and then tried to hide her laugh when Kyle ran his hand over his face. He wagged his finger at the little girl, making the scene more comical.

“I thought I told ya to sit with yer brother,” he admonished. “What if one o’ these Slimes went o’er there an’ gobbled ‘em up?”

“But Daddy—” Maeve tried to complain, but Kyle held up a hand.

“Look, Maeve. I know they don’t look it, but these lil’ things could really hurt ya.” Kyle said, then scooped up a small bit of the rusty red sludge on his finger. “Take it. Go on, an’ tell me if ya think Rowan would be okay without ya.”

Maeve hesitated… then, slowly, she reached out and grabbed the bit of Slime. She jerked her hand away and started waving it around. “Ow, that hurts!”

“That’s right,” Kyle said, then wiped off his hand and patted Maeve on the head. “An’ it’s a lot worse when they ain’t dead. Yer s’posed to be keepin’ an eye out, an’ hollerin’ at me’r yer momma if’n one o’ em gets close to you’r yer brother. That’s a big job, Maeve. Ya think ya can handle it?”

Her eyes widened, and she nodded vigorously. Leah looked away so that neither of them could see her laughing.

“That’s good,” Kyle praised her. “Ya show that yer able to do that, an’ we’ll make sure ya get one o’ these books. Once ya do, maybe you can help beat up some o’ these Slimes, too.”

“Really?” Maeve asked.

“Really.” Kyle chuckled. “Now, let’s get yer brother an’ get o’er this here hill ‘fore somebody wakes up an’ sees us. I wanna be in that there cave ‘fore anyone comes a snoopin’.

Leah watched in amusement as Maeve grabbed onto one of Kyle’s oversized fingers and they walked back down the hill. It warmed her heart to see how attached Maeve was to her daddy—something that she’d never experienced as a child. She sighed and turned toward the top of the hill. It wouldn’t do her any good to have those kinds of thoughts, so she decided to see what all the fuss was about.

It took less than half a minute to kill those two. Why’s he keep talking like we might not make it to the cave before the others start… waking… up… Leah’s thoughts became sluggish once she reached the top of the hill and looked down into the small valley beyond. There’s no way…

Nestled in the foot of the furthest hill from her, she could see the cave entrance that Kyle had mentioned. It was impossible not to. It was just a gaping hole—maybe ten to twelve feet high and at least eight wide—surrounded on all sides by those massive boulders you’d see in the mountains, or that some rich people used to decorate their ponds or driveways. There wasn’t any attempt to hide the thing aside from the glaring twenty to thirty foot hills surrounding it.

Still, that wasn’t what had frozen her thoughts. No. What had her jaw hanging open were the thousands of Slimes squirming around between her and that entrance. The space between the hills was at least the length of a football field, and possibly two wide, and it was filled with the disgusting creatures. They were spread far, coveringthe hill with the cave’s entrance, and there were tons on the other two hills.

The only hill that looked mostly free of the monsters was the one on which she stood, which only had a dozen or so just starting to climb the foot, and one about halfway up. All over the hill, she could see traces of blood and bits of leftover sludge from what had to be multiple dozens of Slimes. She glanced back at Kyle—who was halfway up the hill’s gentle with Rowan in one arm and Maeve holding his hand—and she shuddered.

The burned and blood-stained grass told a story. A dark one. There was no way that Kyle had an easy time of hunting these things, just like there was no way that he wasn’t hurting. She clenched her fist around the wooden stick she was holding and scarcely held back a torrent of wild laughter. This… this was more than insane.

Just look at all of them. So many have crossed over the tops of those other hills just since I’ve been standing here. If he hadn’t been here keeping them from spreading… Leah turned and traced the brown streak of dead grass that led back to where they’d been sleeping. If it weren’t for him… how many of these things would be overwhelming the neighborhood by now?

Her family finally reached her, and Maeve gasped when she saw the horde of monsters on the other side. The little girl put her hand on her mother’s thigh, where she would normally have grabbed onto the hem of her shirt. Leah moved her weapon to her right hand so that she could hold her daughter’s.

She looked over at Kyle, who was staring down into the valley with a deep frown. His brow was furrowed, and she could see the worry there in his eyes.

“Kyle… what’s wrong?” she asked.

“Hmm?” As if she’d imagined it, the man’s expression snapped back to one of carefree giddiness. He glanced pointedly at Maeve—who was now looking at her father with apprehension—and then smiled at Leah. “Oh, nuttin’s wrong, darlin’. There’s just a lot more o’ these lil’ guys here now than when I left. I reckon somethin’ in that there cave is makin’ more of ‘em pop up. Best to get as many o’ the buggers cleared out now fer’ they get to eatin’ each other again.”

“What?” Maeve looked appalled. “Aren’t they brothers and sisters?”

“Ha! That’s what’s gotcha vexed?” he asked, then let go of her hand and tousled her hair. “You don’t go worryin’ ‘bout all that lil’ missy. They ain’t like me an’ you. They ain’t even smart as animals. All they know is they gotta eat, an’ they’ll try an’ get the closest thing to ‘em. Me an’ yer momma here’ll clear out the lot o’ ‘em, then we’ll see can’t we do somethin’ ‘bout whatever’s makin’ more.”

“Okay…”

“Now, I’m gonna set Rowan down right o’er here, an’ I need ya to stay with ‘em, alright?” he asked, and Maeve nodded. “Good. I need ya to holler if any o’ the Slimes get by us an’ we don’t see ‘em. An’ I got one other job fer ya. Now, this here’s real important. Ya need to crawl to the top every now an’ then an’ look to see if any folks’re comin’ this way, alright? Think ya can manage all that?”

“Yes, sir!” Maeve shouted. “I can do it!”

“I don’t know…” Kyle teased. “Whatcha thinkin’, Leah? Ya think little Maeve here can handle such a bigjob?”

Leah giggled, then smiled at her daughter. “I think you’re a good big sister, and that you’ll do a fantasticjob!”

“I will!” Maeve nodded seriously.

Leah watched as Kyle carefully walked down the hill—it was a bit steeper on this side, but not overly so. He kept looking back, and she realized that he was making sure they couldn’t be seen if anyone were to look toward them from the other side. She followed his lead, and tugged Maeve gently along beside her.

After only a few yards, he stopped and laid Rowan gently on the grass, with his head higher than the rest of him. He patted the ground beside him and gestured for Maeve to sit.

“Alright, Littles. Remember to crawl when ya poke yer head o’er the top up there, ya hear? Don’t want no one to be spottin’ ya.” Kyle stood and stretched. “An’ Rowan ought to wake up any time now. If’n he does, ya need to tell ‘em to stay here an’ yell fer us, okay?”

“Why’s he still sleeping?” Maeve asked.

“‘Cause he needs his rest. I told ya somethin’ happened, ‘member?” Kyle looked down and waited for her to respond. Leah, for her part, made a face. She hadn’t liked what Kyle or her book had to say.

“We’re different,” the little girl answered him decisively. “You said the magic books made us better.”

“That’s right. An’ Rowan’s still sleepin’ cause his body’s getting’ used to it. Iroh said ya only woke up early ‘cause yer body got used to it faster’n his.”

Kyle glanced at Rowan, and Leah didn’t miss the flicker of emotion, and she was glad Maeve was also looking at her brother. That was only part of what his Grimoire had told him. He’d made sure to let her read it while their daughter was inspecting one of her sleeping friends they’d passed on the way.

The truth was… Rowan should have woken up before Maeve. According to the book—Iroh, she chided herself for not using his name—children, as was their nature, adapted faster than others. Based on what information it—he—had given them, if they’d waited around, they would have seen all of the children wake up, then the few teens, then the younger parents, and eventually the elderly. Though, Iroh had said that Maeve was up way earlier than she should have been, so all they could do at this point was play the waiting game.

“Alright, Littles. Be good, follow the rules, an’ have fun watchin’ me an’ mommy kick some Slime ass,” Kyle broke the awkward silence and started giving instructions. “I see a big’un o’er there callin’ my name. Leah, I want ya to take care o’ the lil’ ones at the bottom o’ the hill here. Don’t go after none o’ the bigger’uns ‘til ya reach a higher Stage. I got ‘em. If ya reach half Health or lower, git yer ass up here an’ sit with Maeve. I told ya what happens when ya hit Stage Two, so when the voice yells at ya, make sure ya come up here fer that as well. I know yer stubborn as an ass, but ya gotta do it’r ya might get hurt. Won’t take ya long, just twenty’r so o’ the critters. After that ya can kill all ya want.”

“I am not thatstubborn.” Leah rolled her eyes and started walking down the hill before her husband could start talking again. If she let him, they’d be standing still all day talking about what-ifs. He said it’d be safer in the cave than out of it, so that’s where they needed to be, and they only had five or six hours before it started getting dark.

“Maeve, be a good girl,” she called over her shoulder.

“I will, Mommy!”

Leah smiled, then focused. She switched her weapon back to her dominant left hand and practiced her golf club swing a few times. If I can hit the little bastards like this, the mess should mostly splash away from me. I lost five Health just from the splatter. And this recovery… I’ll never get anywhere if I have to wait a whole day to make up for one little fight. Should I build for recovery instead? No… but maybe as a secondary or tertiary? Kyle’s right, we don’t know enough.

She looked up from her book and examined the field of mobs below her. If she had to hit anything more than two or three times, there was no way she could avoid getting some of their acid on her. What she needed was to kill them fast. She recalled that time in the alley—how she was too weak to do anything. How Kyle had torn into both of their assailants.

Offense was the best defense.

Damage. What I need is more damage.