Chapter 5 – Mess

The stairwell opened into a void below. Darkness, thick like smoke, pooled a few steps below creating a blanket impossible to see through. Jake’s flesh prickled, like something was watching him from underneath it. Above was a large stair-well going straight up. The walls, which were previously a worn beige plain concrete wall, were now a beige-brick. Moss grew from the cracks.

“We need to go up,” he said as it was the first thing on his mind.

“Jake,” Arthur butted in. “Leave it to the expert.” He turned to Edwin, nervously shifting his vision over the pitch blackness below.

“I’m with the lad. It’s better to deal with the devil you know than the one you don’t.”

Arthur nodded, taking up the front just like they’d gone over. “Then let’s go.”

The stair-well was a lot wider than previously, and the distance between the safe-floor and the next, had also shifted considerably. A small green exit glowed high above, marking the entrance to the next floor. It would take at least five minutes to reach.

But there was something on Jake’s mind; something that he didn’t want to let go.

“What are everyone’s powers?” he spoke up, keeping his full attention above and below. Everyone looked at him. “No one likes letting their secrets out. So I’ll start. The better we know about our abilities, the better we can fight as a team. I can heal.”

He could tell everyone was afraid and on edge. They needed something to make fighting a little less daunting. Having the knowledge he could heal their wounds if they got injured should do the trick.

“Heal?” Chloe looked surprised

“Minor wounds. Cuts and scrapes, that sort of thing.”

“That will be useful,” said Edwin. “Then if that’s the case, I have Marksmanship. Makes me a better shot.”

“Fire manipulation,” Lyle shared without hesitation.

Jake’s brows raised in surprise.

Holy shit. Magic? Actual magic?

Lyle shook his free hand. “I don’t know how to use it yet, though. I mean I’ve tried, but I don’t quite understand it.”

“Why don’t you just listen to the static?” Jake asked.

“The what?”

“The mana,” he explained in a way that he could understand. “Energy to fuel your Fire Manipulation. It’s everywhere in the air, all around us, even now. You have to figure out how to control it.”

Though he himself was still working on that.

“I’ll try that later,” Lyle said. “I also do more damage with an axe and do well against fire. The Traits and Skills must have something to do with our professions.”

Or experiences. There’s a difference.

Jonathan nervously croaked out that he had Bowmanship, which Jake guessed was a lesser form of Edwin’s Marksmanship considering it was more limited. Or maybe not? Maybe because it was more limited that it was stronger?

That was something he’d watch out for.

Sloane was hesitant at first, but she eventually surrendered under everyone’s gaze and shared that she had Wind Manipulation. That was her skill, but she didn’t feel like sharing what her trait did. Smart. Unlike Lyle. Don’t be like Lyle.

Oh, and unlike Lyle, Sloane had actually learned how to use it. Barely. She could send out a fart of wind with her palm. It literally just flapped her jacket.

Susan wasn’t in the mind to explain her powers. She just ignored them. Though Jake would love to see Edwin or especially Arthur, try to make her.

Chloe was the last to share. She had Psychokinesis, which Jake and Jonathan were the only ones to really know exactly what it did—in theory. Controlling things with her mind, manipulating them.

Damn, she got lucky with that one.

But again, she didn’t know how to use it. Jake couldn’t help but sigh at their collective uselessness. They had spent so much precious time talking and planning and worrying about things outside of their control that they didn’t even do the bare minimum for their own strength; their own survival.

It was one of two reasons he wanted to face the monsters. One was food and water, and the other was power. Levels. Those who took the risk and fought with their life on the line would grow stronger while the others hid behind their walls while everyone else took the initiative to protect their own lives.

In the end, to Jake’s annoyance, knowing what everyone did didn’t have much effect considering no one really knew how to use their abilities. However, Edwin made sure Jake was more protected, having Arthur—as much as he didn’t like it for some reason—closer to him.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Yeah, I like it as much as you do, Arthur

They stopped at the door to the next floor. Arthur nodded to everyone, then opened it up. Water gushed out. He quickly stepped through the threshold of the door and onto the other side, planting his shield in front of him. Everyone else quickly filtered in, regaining their formation.

It was a total disaster zone. A main utility line had ruptured near the ceiling, raining a steady, freezing drizzle onto the linoleum below. The water was already ankle-deep, completely waterlogging the carpet runners and turning the floor into a grease-slick mirror.

Upturned couches, shattered drywall, and scattered suitcases from panicked residents choked the narrow space, creating a maze of jagged choke points. The air smelled heavy of rust, wet mold, and ozone.

At the far end of the cluttered hall, three shadow quadrupeds were tearing into a discarded mattress. They were sleek, hairless, and oily, their bodies absorbing the dim light bleeding through a cracked window. They looked like trash goblins, just using four limbs instead of two.

“What the hell are those?!” Jonathan screamed out.

“Stay composed!” Edwin barked, reminding everyone of their duty.

Jake shifted his grip on his longbow, his boots completely soaked through to the socks. The cold water was an annoying sensory distraction, but his newly acquired Concentration kept the irritation locked behind a mental wall.

Edwin took a tight breath, raising his weapon. “Arthur, dead center. Brace the shield. Ranged line, step up.”

They quickly did as they were told.

Jonathan’s hand trembled as the three monsters rushed at them, snarling. One of them leaped up and over an upturned fridge and jumped down without losing any speed.