I awake to the vague sense that I haven’t been out for very long. Not keen to repeat my previous mistake, I check my surroundings first, and only after I’ve confirmed that there are no lizards, snails, or any other oversized underground creatures waiting to eat me do I blearily rub my eyes behind my glasses.
How many times am I going to have to go through this? Is the occasional spike of unbearable pain just a price that I have to pay to receive the blessings of this mysterious [World Engine]?
I stand up to stretch, only to bonk my head on the low ceiling.
“Ow!” I cry, clutching the top of my head.
Okay, well that one was on me, I just forgot how little space I have here.
I don’t feel any different. Maybe a little better than before I passed out. I’m still sore all over the place from various cuts and bruises—especially my leg. My healing is definitely faster than normal, but even with the stab wound mostly closed, all this walking around isn’t doing it any favors.
But aside from that, I’m not feeling any stiffness from my collapse, except maybe a minor crick in the neck. Since I can’t feel anything different, I check to see how my painful evolution is reflected on my status.
[Violet: Tier 1 Human]
[Class Slot 1: Tier 1 [Unified Wanderers]** - Level 0/10
[Class Slot 2: Tier 0 [Survivalist]* - Level 8/10
[Attributes]
Power: 2
Resilience: 12
Awareness: 10
Ego: 12
Will: 2
[Skills]
Parallel Wills (2)
The Beaten Path (Retraced Steps)
Foraging
I blink. I’m not sure why exactly it comes as a surprise that I’m Violet right now. Switching is always a little jarring, but switching while unconscious can be particularly confusing.
I shake it off and focus on the stats. Three attributes above ten while I’m in front, now. I’m starting to come around to Allison’s way of thinking about the attributes. The three that we’ve advanced have all been invaluable for keeping us alive.
Without Resilience, we’d have long since succumbed to injury, infection, or starvation. Even with the magic candles providing their minimal warmth, we may well have also frozen to death. My feet are still freezing without any shoes or socks, and the makeshift footwraps aren’t really helping much. It’s hard to tell, but I think it’s probably colder in these caves than we realize.
Awareness literally saved us from falling into a seemingly bottomless pit, and it’s the only reason I have enough confidence to explore these tunnels at all, knowing how hard it is to spot the laser geckos with only our meager candlelight.
Ego is a little harder to place. Its impact is more subtle, but I think it matters. Allison isn’t built for this sort of thing, but she was still able to focus enough to treat our leg wound when it mattered, and even keep her cool when dealing with the laser gecko that snuck up on us. I think that’s Ego at work, but maybe she’s just stronger than I’m giving her credit for. Maybe both.
It’s not hard to imagine how Power and Will could help. We’re going to need to start hunting for our food more proactively, and Power is probably the attribute that translates most directly into physical strength. That would help us climb, giving us access to other parts of the cave that we haven’t explored yet, and obviously it would help us fight.
Finally, Will. It’s...probably the one attribute I most regret neglecting. I underestimated how mentally taxing trying to survive in these caves is. From choking down bits of food that were already disgusting before they started to go off, to compromising on things we want to do in favor of things more likely to keep us alive, to facing our fear of heights in search of a way out...it’s a lot. I can feel myself fraying at the edges, and I’m sure that it’s even worse for Allison.
It’s enough that I’m starting to reconsider picking [Defender]. Stacking Resilience will help keep us alive and healthy, but I’m not sure how much that will matter if we lose our minds from stress.
Something to consider later, I suppose. I still have a couple levels to go on [Survivalist]. The new skill from [Unified Wanderers] also opens up some intriguing possibilities that I’ll have to discuss with Allie.
Speaking of which—I wonder if the upgrade to [Parallel Wills] did anything.
“Allison, are you there?” I ask the air, but there’s no response.
She must still be asleep. If we do have another headmate, she’s probably out too. Or maybe she’ll only appear under certain circumstances? I think I probably woke up because Allison was in immediate danger. I feel confident that I existed before then, but as always my memory from before Allison woke up in the labyrinth is full of holes.
Either way, we’ll find out eventually.
In the meantime, I sit back against the uncomfortably curved wall of the Worm Tunnel and consider my next move. Pushing Allison’s class up to ten is only part of the reason I was so eager to explore. The other is the fact that we have no idea where to even start when it comes to finding food.
The few creatures we’ve encountered so far have been by chance, and given how long we’ve been down here with only a few lucky sightings...I’m worried that there’s not a whole lot of life to even find.
Our best bet is the Underground Stream—we know that the rock snails go there since that’s how we found it in the first place, and we’ve encountered at least one gecko there as well. The problem is how cold it is there. We nearly froze to death when we were trapped there by the gecko, and trying to wait there for something to hunt might just kill us before we even get the chance.
I get to my feet—watching my head this time—and start heading in that direction anyway. If nothing else, we could use some more water.
I hesitate as I approach the chasm, taking a deep breath to steady my increasing heartbeat.
“I can do this,” I tell myself. “Allison did it, and I told her to pay closer attention. It would be hypocritical of me to stop now.”
I edge my way out onto the ledge, but with one glance over the edge I immediately retreat back into the tunnel. It was easy to put on a brave face when I wasn’t in front, but now that I have to actually do it myself, my hands are shaking.
This would be a great time for another thoughtform that isn’t afraid of heights to take over and handle things...
...
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No such luck. I gently slap my cheeks and shake my head. We already crossed the ledge! I know it’s safe. I’ll be fine.
“Okay Vi, stop.” Allison’s voice startles me out of my attempt to psych myself up. “I’ll cross the ledge for us.”
I hate the huge sigh of relief that gives me.
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “I’ll do it.”
“You’re obviously even more afraid of heights than I am,” she says matter-of-factly. “I don’t think you can do this.”
“I’ll be fine,” I insist. “I just...need a moment.”
“Violet, I can feel our heart pounding and our hands shaking. It feels like your legs are going to give out if you try to go up on that ledge.”
I huff. “I don’t even know why I’m so scared! It shouldn’t be this hard.”
“It’s okay. Just focus on the here and now. How long was I out? What’s our next move?”
I lean against the wall of the tunnel and hold my arms tightly against myself, focusing on my breathing as I answer Allie’s questions.
“Not long. I only woke up a few minutes ago.”
“Okay,” she says, her voice soft and soothing. I can’t help but envision her wrapping her arms around my shoulders and hugging me from behind. “Where are we going?”
“Water,” I answer tersely. “We need water, and it’s the best place to hunt for food. Too cold, though.”
“What do you mean by that?” she inquires.
“We don’t have traps or tools, except our knife,” I explain. “Our only option is ambush. We need to track down or wait for something edible and hit it fast. It’s freezing by the stream, and even if we can survive waiting there for possibly days on end, we won’t have the strength to fight.”
“That’s definitely not great,” Allison says with a small frown. “Maybe we can figure out an answer? I’ve got an open class slot while you finish mastering [Survivalist].”
“Maybe,” Violet hedges. “What are your options?”
I glance through my list of available tier 0 classes.
[Student]
[Candle Enthusiast]
[Social Butterfly]
[Thrower]
[Medic]
[Defender]
[Butcher]
[Scavenger]
[Cleaner]
[Cartographer]
[Hiker]
[Orator]
Oooh! A few new ones! Nothing magic related, but I’ve already gotten over that disappointment. I rattle the list off for Violet, and smile as she launches into theorycrafting mode, her earlier panic forgotten.
“We can discard the carcass cleaning ones right away,” she says. “You don’t have the stomach for it, and they won’t do us any good if we can’t find a carcass in the first place. Although...” she hesitates a moment. “You won’t like it, but we should at least look at [Scavenger] if nothing else looks good.”
I already don’t like the sound of that, but if she says so then I’m willing to entertain it.
“Okay,” I agree. “I think we can safely drop [Social Butterfly] and [Candle Enthusiast] too. They’re completely worthless.”
Why the heck is that candle one even a thing, anyway? It’s like the mechanism is making fun of me.
“We should reconsider [Student] and [Thrower],” Vi suggests. “They cover our weaknesses in Will and Power, and I think you’re right about balancing our attributes.”
“And [Cartographer] is probably too similar to our new tier 1 class for now,” I conclude.
“Where does that leave us?”
[Student]
[Thrower]
[Medic]
[Defender]
[Scavenger]
[Hiker]
[Orator]
Violet hums thoughtfully while she goes over the options.
“I’m probably still going to take [Defender] after I finish mastering my current class,” she says. “And [Medic] still has the problem of being a literal pain to level. Let’s take a look at [Hiker].”
I focus on the new class, pulling up its details in my mind.
[Tier 0 Hiker]*
One whose feet carry them across great distances and all manner of rough terrain. No matter the hardships they face, they carry on placing one foot in front of the other.
Skill - Sure Feet: Increased Resilience and Awareness when traveling on foot.
Attribute Bonus: Resilience.
Advancement: Walk long distances.
“Oh my gosh, I want it so bad,” I groan. “Less sore feet and stubbed toes, yes please!”
“A third class focused on [Resilience] is probably not what we want right now,” Violet says. “The benefit is...admittedly tempting. But maybe let’s reconsider it for when our food is a little more secure.”
“I know,” I sigh. “But a girl can dream, right? I would do terrible things for a pair of shoes right now.”
“I don’t think we’ll take it, but let’s look at the newest class, I’m curious about [Orator].”
Me too, actually. That wasn’t there last time I checked the list.
[Tier 0 Orator]*
A voice of encouragement, soothing comfort, or impassioned speeches, they have a gift for influencing people with their words.
Skill - Voice of Reason: Increased Ego when trying to influence another’s mood.
Attribute Bonus: Ego.
Advancement: Let them hear your voice.
“I’m sorry,” Violet says, confused. “Not that it doesn’t suit you, but when did you get the chance to gain a class like that? I’m the only other person for you to talk to.”
“Probably when I talked you through your panic attack and then crossed the ledge while you were too distracted talking shop to notice,” I answer smugly.
“Wait, what?”
While we were talking, I shimmied my way back across the narrow ledge and we are now comfortably back in the Gecko Corridor next to my ominous sign warning of the gaping abyssal maw behind us.
“Did you even notice that I was in front?” I ask. “Or were you just totally blinded by number crunching?”
“Allison!” she scolds. “What if something snuck up on us?”
“I was keeping an eye out,” I assure her. “Besides, talking to you about new classes also helped distract me from the certain death of the fall less than a foot in front of me.”
“Okay,” she huffs. “Well as much as I appreciate your support, I don’t think this class is going to help us either. You’re, um, comforting enough without it.”
“Aww, thanks!” I say, blushing a bit under Vi’s praise.
“Moving on,” she declares. “[Student] and [Thrower] are easy to level up and provide useful attributes, but their skills don’t help us much. [Scavenger] is another Awareness class but...well, take a look at it yourself.”
With trepidation, I do just that.
[Tier 0 Scavenger]*
An opportunistic hunter, scrounging for anything and everything they can find to survive.
Skill - Carrion Eater: Dramatically increased Resilience when consuming rotten or tainted food.
Attribute Bonus: Awareness.
Advancement: Consume the scraps left behind by other hunters.
“No,” I say firmly.
“It would give us a lot more options—”
“I’m not eating dirty rotten half-eaten snail corpses!”
Violet pauses for a long time before speaking again.
“There’s a good chance we’re going to have to end up doing that anyway,” she says solemnly. “The food we’ve got is only going to last so long, and there’s no guarantee we’ll manage to hunt anything before it starts going bad.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh.
“Can we just...leave the garbage eating aside for plan B?” I ask. “Or like...plan Q?”
“Okay,” Vi relents. “I just thought you should consider it. If worst comes to worst...”
“Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that, okay? I don’t want to think about it.”
I sigh as I ponder the remaining options. It’s pretty much just [Student], [Thrower], or [Hiker] and none of them are especially appealing. The first two I’d only be taking for the attributes, and the third for my poor aching feet.
If only there was something other than these gosh darn candles to help keep us warm.
...
Wait a minute.
“Violet, I just had a crazy idea,” I say. “Hear me out.”
“Okay?”
“Our only source of light and warmth are these magic candles all over the Labyrinth, right?”
“Yes...”
“In fact, they’ve been so crucial, that it’s probably safe to say that we’d be dead if not for them.”
“That’s...not wrong, I guess,” she agrees hesitantly.
“I’ve been complaining about them since day one, but I don’t think that’s fair. I’ve been taking the candles for granted, when I should be appreciating them.”
“Oh, Allie, no,” she groans. “Please don’t tell me—”
“I think I might even be willing to call myself a [Candle Enthusiast]!”