13 – Playing in the Dark

Bella had to help Bree walk as they made their way up the tunnel, returning to the large, dome-shaped room with the stairwell. Jace had been just about to go after them; apparently, he and Lucy had heard the harpies’ screeches and had had quite a spirited debate about going to investigate. The two of them were both, surprisingly, more suspicious of Bree than Bella had been, but Andy figured it was because they hadn’t seen her hanging, near-lifeless, from the harpy’s talons.

They decided to take her back up to the settlement before continuing their exploration, but as the group started up toward the ladder, Andy said, “I’ll wait here. I want to make sure nothing moves down the tunnel we just cleared.” The truth was, he also wanted to have another look at his skills because, after the level he’d just gained, he was now sitting on eight Improvement Points, and he had an idea of how he wanted to spend some of them.

“I’ll stay, too, then,” Lucy said as Bella helped Bree, limping badly, past her.

“Okay.” Andy sat down, watching as Lucy carried one of the lanterns over to the stairwell and set it on the edge, so its light illuminated the entire space.

She looked over at him, her bow held loosely in her hand. “What are you doing?”

“Gonna improve a couple of spells. Just a minute.” Andy had gotten the idea on the way back, thinking about how he’d use his new spell to scout further ahead. The idea had one snag—his Unseen Stalker spell ate twenty mana per minute, and his latest spell, Smoke Sight, added five to that. He wasn’t exactly sure how much mana he could regain in a minute, but he didn’t think it was twenty-five. He hoped that if he put more points into the spells, their costs would go down.

Nodding to himself, as if to confirm his logic, he put a point into Unseen Stalker, then read the description:

Unseen Stalker – bound: With the essences of smoke, air, and shadow, you blur your outline and soften your presence. Light bends slightly, and sound dulls around you, making it harder for others to notice you. While active, you can move and stalk prey more easily without drawing attention, though sudden movements, sounds, or direct contact may still reveal you. As you master the spell, your hidden nature persists even through casual scrutiny. Mana Cost: 20 per minute.

Looking over the wording carefully, Andy was sure the last line was new; apparently, he’d made the spell better, but not cheaper. With a shrug, he tried again, adding another point to it. This time, when he read the description, he clenched a fist and hissed, “Yes!” None of the wording had changed, but the cost had gone down to fifteen per minute.

“Something worked?”

Andy nodded to Lucy. “Reduced the cost of my, um, stealth spell.” As he spoke, Andy focused on his new sight spell and cast it, figuring he ought to see how it worked before he tried to improve it. To his surprise, even with the butane camp lantern sitting there pouring out bright white-yellow light, his vision rapidly darkened to shades of gray.

The world became less distinct, as details in the stone faded away, and he saw more of an outline of the walls and floor than the actual stone. Stranger still, the lines

of the walls and floor weren’t steady—they drifted slightly, almost like his new vision was affected by the subtle currents of air in the room.

He looked at Lucy and saw her as a gray figure that glowed with an inner amber-tinted light. Even though he could see her bow and the strands of her hair, he couldn’t see the details—it was as if objects in his vision lacked color or depth. When he looked toward the lamp, he saw it as a ball of white light that hung in a single spot, not illuminating anything.

“Your eyes just turned black,” Lucy said, stepping closer. “No, not black… Weird…”

“What?” Andy looked into her face, watching as she leaned closer. Her eyes shone a little brighter than the rest of her in his strange smoke vision.

“It’s like there are dark clouds roiling around in them.”

“The spell is called Smoke Sight.” Andy focused on his status sheet and applied an Improvement Point to the spell. As he did so, his vision instantly returned to normal, and he saw Lucy’s eyes widen in surprise as she straightened up. “They look normal again?”

She nodded, and Andy pulled up the spell description to see if anything had changed:

Smoke Sight – bound: By drawing on the essences of smoke and shadow, you veil your ordinary sight and replace it with one attuned to subtle traces of heat and motion. In darkness, outlines and shapes become visible as drifting wisps, and living or warm objects glow warmly, while cooler objects radiate in darker shades. While active, you can navigate and identify creatures and hazards even without conventional light. Mana Cost: 5 per minute.

“Huh,” he said, not finding anything different about the description. With a moment of concentration, he cast the spell again, and, as his vision darkened, he looked around, trying to see if anything had changed. He wasn’t certain, but it seemed like the outline of the room, while still very faintly shifting, was steadier. He held up his hand, looking at the strange gray outline illuminated by an inner glow. He waved it left and right, watching as the structure of his fingers came apart slightly, trailing a wispy glow that rapidly caught up to the movement. It reminded him of a game with motion blur effects.

“Something wrong? You look upset.”

“Nah, not wrong—confusing. I should have tried this movement test before I put a point into the spell.” With a shrug, Andy put yet another point into the spell. As before, his vision returned to normal, and when he looked at the spell description again, nothing had changed. This time when he cast the spell, though, he noticed a marked improvement in the blurring effect. The walls were steadier, and when he moved his hand around, the colors hardly strayed from the outline of his fingers.

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“Something worked,” Lucy guessed, giggling as Andy looked at her.

“Trying to figure out my facial expressions?” When she nodded, he smiled. “I didn’t make my Smoke Sight any cheaper, but it definitely works better now.” He stood, stooping to pick up his spear, then checked his mana: 181/215

. He was missing thirty, thanks to his Smoke Lance spell, but he’d already gained ground on Smoke Sight’s five-mana-per-minute cost.

“So you can see in the dark again?”

Andy nodded. “Yeah. It works fine, but it’s definitely not as overpowered as my Reaper’s Senses. I’m gonna miss that spell. Hopefully, I can keep gaining other spells to improve my senses, though.”

She nodded. “I’ve improved my Hunter’s Instinct ability.” She pointed to the stairwell. “I have an uneasy feeling about those stairs. At first, I thought it was just, you know, a natural fear of steps leading into the dark unknown, but I think it might be my ability.”

“Hmm.” Andy stepped closer to the lantern—just a bright spot in his vision that he could easily see around. “I wonder if I can see anything down there now.”

As he approached the first step, Lucy asked, “Did you spend all your Improvement Points?”

“Nah. Still have four. Hoping I’ll get some quick levels, and I want to save a few in case I get something good.”

“Probably wise…” Her voice fell to a whisper as she followed him close to the circular stairwell.

Andy peered into the open darkness beside the stone steps, and his Smoke Sight mapped out the contours of the steps for a tremendous distance—fifty or a hundred feet, maybe—and he saw the outlines of not one but three landings before things got too distant for him to discern. More importantly, on the second landing, about thirty feet down, he saw an amber-tinted, glowing humanoid shape. He couldn’t make out the details, but it seemed as if it was looking upward.

He stepped back from the stairs, grabbing Lucy’s wrist and tugging her along with him. “I saw something,” he hissed.

She reached into her quiver, drawing an arrow. “What?”

“Um, a person or a monster shaped like a person.” He shrugged. “I can’t see details far away, just the glow of their shape. It’s like infrared vision, kind of.”

He leveled his spear, watching the stairs, then glanced over his shoulder toward the tunnel leading up to the settlement. “They should be back by now, right?”

Lucy nodded. “Any minute, I’m sure.”

Andy really wanted to cast his Unseen Stalker spell and go down the steps, but he knew it wouldn’t be smart. At the very least, he knew it would irritate the others. Even so, he paced impatiently, moving close enough to the stairs to see down past the first winding of the steps, ensuring nothing would sneak up on them. “There’s still that other tunnel,” he whispered, pointing toward the opening in the wall.

“Should we explore that before going down?”

“When the others get here—”

“Yo!” Jace called, walking into the lantern light.

Lucy spun to face him, holding a finger to her lips. “Shh!”

“What is it?” he whispered.

Andy whispered, “I’ll watch the steps; you go explain it.”

“Right.” Lucy jogged over to Jace and Bea and Bella, who’d just arrived.

Meanwhile, Andy tried to think of the most reasonable plan. Someone had to check out that tunnel, but he’d just confirmed that something was further down below. Should that take priority? He didn’t have to wait long to hear an opinion. The others approached, and Bea whispered, “We can watch these stairs, Andy. You use that little trick of yours and check out the other tunnel. Lucy says you can see in the dark now.”

Andy looked at her, relief washing over him—he wouldn’t have to argue. “You’re sure?” He addressed the question to everyone.

Jace shrugged. “If you see something, just come back for us.”

Andy nodded. “Okay, be right back. Just make a lot of noise if something bad comes up those steps.” As the three of them spread out, facing the steps, Andy cast Unseen Stalker, wrapping his body in wisps of magical smoke, and then he padded silently into the last tunnel—north if he weren’t mistaken. Like the tunnel leading to the waterfall, it had a downward slope, but it was straight and appeared to widen as he progressed.

Before long, his strange Smoke Sight revealed an opening ahead, and when he reached the threshold, he looked into a cavernous space—easily bigger than his old high school gym—with high, vaulted ceilings. The floor was level and smooth, clearly put there by the System—not some natural cavern—and, to his relief, Andy didn’t see any tunnels leading away. Impulsively, he called out, “Hello?”

As his voice echoed in the vast space, Andy turned and jogged back toward the others. The way up proved that the slope was steeper than he’d first realized, and he was a bit short of breath when he arrived back in the room with the stairs. When nobody greeted him or asked any questions about what he’d seen, he realized he’d left his Invisible Stalker spell active and canceled it, checking his mana reserves as he did so: 167/215. He’d gained a couple of mana, despite the drain of the two spells, meaning he ought to be able to sneak around in the dark indefinitely.

“Andy!” Lucy hissed, hastily lowering her bow.

“Yo, dude!” Jace laughed. “You are sneaky.”

“Hush!” Bea admonished, poking at him with her walking stick.

Andy moved close, gesturing to the tunnel as he whispered. “A huge room down that way, but no other tunnels. I think we should be good to go down.”

“How we gonna do this?” Jace asked, keeping his voice low. “You want to sneak ahead?”

“Yeah, I think I should. I saw three landings, but the stairs kept going after that. The thing—person, maybe—I spotted was on the second landing.” He stepped closer to the stairs, then paused and added. “Just follow me after a few seconds. Stop at the first landing until I check in with you.”

When Jace nodded, Andy cast Unseen Stalker again and started down the steps. He could clearly see where to place his feet, and he wanted to get ahead of the others, so he moved quickly, though he always kept his gaze ahead, using the open shaft to peer down and across toward the other side, where the stairs continued to wind into the depths.

He’d keenly felt the loss of his Reaper’s Senses, but he couldn’t deny the power of his current class. Technically, he was only level two, and yet he could sneak around in the dark like a ghost, and though it almost nullified his mana regen, the spells were easy to maintain. Overall, he was hopeful about what the class might offer. One thought tickled the back of his mind, however, and that was the idea that most of his Brimstone Stalker spells were bound, which meant that if he lost the class or had to change out of it, all that new utility would be gone.

The thought made him realize he’d taken to heart the idea that the class was “limited”—something he hadn’t really spent any time contemplating. Did “limited” mean only one? He shook his head—that would be “unique.” Even so—

Something made a high-pitched animal sound, and Andy froze, his attention snapping back to his present circumstances. It was the kind of sound that immediately brought to mind rodents, but it seemed too loud. He realized the first landing was just ahead, and he could see a tunnel leading into the sandstone beyond it. More than that, he saw, in his gray-scale vision, several large creatures, glowing with soft amber tones, moving in the darkness.

They were animals, maybe about the size of large dogs, and they were practically on top of each other. Some were lying still, while others moved over and under them, like a big knot of bodies about ten feet away from the landing, filling the bottom of the tunnel. Straining his eyes, Andy studied the shapes of their long, warm bodies. He thought he saw snakes mixed in with them, but then it dawned on him that he was looking at a thick tail. Another chittering noise came to his ears. “Oh, shit,” he breathed. “Rats.”