AN: I think I did good with this chapter, specifically with the ending interactions. Very funny.
I'll say more about the writing in the closing Author's Note.
My Craft's birthday is coming up. 7 years old. Also, I might get this posted by Wednesday - a nostalgic return to the days where I updated every Wednesday.
Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft. If I did, I'd add Stigmata. Also fix the Illusioner.
Chapter 213
The Strength to Protect
[Noman]
Considering the suddenness of the Stigmata's appearance and subsequent stampede towards us, I wasn't ashamed to admit I froze. The Paragons had been sure to drill us on how dangerous they could be when enraged, classifying them as a natural disaster - something that couldn't be fought, but ridden out. So in that instant, with an unkillable army of glass-helmeted Zombie Pigmen clambering over each other to flood the streets, all I could do was watch in shock.
Carys' hand smashed against my face, the blow eliciting a response as I staggered and blood starting pumping through my legs. I remembered I could run.
"Higher ground! NOW!" Carys ordered, slamming shut the front door of the house while Stayer blockaded that and the human-sized hole in the wall with spare blocks. Cat-Face trotted out of the bedroom, oblivious to the encroaching peril, and began to lazily lick itself before Floyd scooped it up. The seven of us climbed up the cramped stairwell and found Spaatz on the second floor still trying to pry Anibal from the ceiling. Carys wasn't satisfied with that, however, and climbed the work desk before swinging a pickaxe to bust a hole in the ceiling. Behind us, Stayer and Albert blocked the stairwell.
I didn't understand why until I heard (and felt) the Stigmata swarm sweep past the house and further down the street. There were so many incensed squeals and oinks - high-pitched and ear screeching. Each voice clamored over the others, harmonizing into the clarion call of some eldritch horror. The noise was on all sides, making me feel boxed-in in a way I never felt before. And, from below, I heard noises scraping and trampling from inside the house.
"They're... they're in!?" I cried. How? We sealed all the entrances!
"You underestimate how quickly these things multiply." Reuben remarked, showing a calm Floyd and I didn't share. All too soon, the Stigmata could be heard at the barricaded stairwell. "Squeeze enough Mobs into an enclosed room and eventually some will clip through solid blocks. Like a glass jar full of ever-expanding gas, something has to break."
"What's that sound...?" Anibal stirred, her upper half still sticking down into the floor (or ceiling). We could only see her legs, which stilled and then started flailing to what she awoke to. "PULL ME UP PULL ME UP PULL ME UP!"
Spaatz and Reuben each seized a leg and pulled to no avail. Then Kalmarin strode forward, smoke gushing from his eyes and swirling around one arm. He reached down and yanked the dark-skinned thief out like a carrot. There was a brief glimpse of a living room filled with Zombie Pigmen before Reuben quickly plugged up the hole.
"We're running out of space here." Stayer reported with a hint of fear creeping in. He and Albert backed up and plugged up a section of the hallway just as the Zombie Pigmen clipped through the stairwell blockade. They were already scraping against the new barrier. I took out my shield.
"Roof's open, move people!" Carys called down before leaping off the work desk and through the hole she dug.
Reuben threw down a Splash Potion of Leaping on the group to assist us. Anibal and Spaatz leapt up, then Reuben and Floyd and Cat-Face.
"You next." I told Stayer while helping Kalmarin and Albert up. He shook his head.
"Go ahead. I gotta stay and break the desk. Buy you guys more time."
"What!? Don't be stupid!" I argued. It was just Stayer and me left on the floor.
"Just go!" Stayer urged. "I'm about to break it whether you go or not. If I don't, the Stigmata will swarm the roof! One life or all of them!"
"I don't trade lives." I swore firmly, breaking the work desk myself with my iron pickaxe. Stayer's mouth widened in protest but my words cut him off. "All life is precious."
I swept him behind me as the first Stigma clipped through the barricade. The next second, it multiplied into twenty-five, then six-hundred-and-twenty-five. It happened so fast that I barely had time to raise my shield before the swarm of Stigmata were beating their golden swords and rotting hooves against it. The durability screeched as the tide of bodies swept us back, the shield acting as the only barrier between us and an unspeakable death.
"Ggggggghhhhhhhhh!" I screamed through my teeth as I bore the onslaught, pushed further and further back by the multiplying Stigmata until getting forced out a glass window.
Stayer and I fell as if in slow motion, the Stigmata tide pouring after us. Below, the streets were full of pink flesh rotted with green and exposed bones of white, glass domes, and golden swords. It was a sea of Zombie Pigmen with the houses and buildings like islands. We plummeted down to the surface while someone - Floyd or Albert - screamed something from the roof.
The stream of Stigmata emptying the second floor cascaded into the sea to be swallowed up and exponentially multiplied.
Our feet stood on air blocks a good three meters above it thanks to the Bottes Zephyr. Stayer was grabbing onto me and I him as we stared down at the angry Zombie Pigmen that continued to multiply.
"Oh... Oh, lord..." Stayer wiped a hand over his sweat-covered forehead. His other hand was pressed to his chest, eyes wide and glued to the thrashing surface of the Stigmata tide. "Oh God..."
Wanting to put some distance between us and the surface of Stigmata, I stepped higher, summoning air blocks beneath my feet as I rose to eye level with the roof. Floyd, Albert, and Anibal were grinning in relief.
"It's not over yet." Carys warned, her eyes scanning the landscape.
Galitsino was a mining village shaped like a depressed bowl. It was a depression in the obsidian Lacquerlands dug out by hard-working miners. The bowl was now filling up with Stigmata because someone didn't keep a proper lookout for the disaster class species. Higher ground - the rim of the bowl - was our best bet at safety.
The original Stigma - the one with the number, the source that spawned all the others - was somewhere in this mess. Sending it to the Nether would make the multiplying clones vanish. Either that or clearing every Crafter from its range to get it to settle down. The Nether was also the only way to strip it of its invulnerability to damage. Even the ones that fell from the house's second floor didn't sustain any fall damage. The Stigmata were unkillable and couldn't be fought.
Already on other rooftops, I could see nerdpoling Crafters silhouetted by the setting sun. The thin lines climbed to the sky as homes were inundated by Stigmata. This wasn't the first time the Crafters faced such a threat, though this time had caught them unaware. Even now, the red Creeper-faced fireworks were a little late of a warning as they were hurriedly set off.
"The guards were supposed to send those up at the first sign of these things outside the village limits. What gives?" Anibal complained.
"They must not take their jobs seriously." Reuben dismissed.
"Not safe to talk. Not yet." Carys started placing blocks below her and jumping, the act allowing her to nerdpole like all the other inhabitants of Galitsino. Her Paragons followed suit as angry squeals and scrabbling could be heard below.
"I-I don't have any blocks. I don't have any blocks, I don't have any blocks!" Floyd frantically dug in his backpack while Paragons took out miscellaneous blocks and began to nerdpole to higher ground. Cat-Face yawned in his grip.
"Here! Trade you." I tossed him my stack of cobblestone and flexed my hands before Floyd tossed me the cat. The Bottes Zephyr were made for this. I'd be fine, and now Floyd could nerdpole and worry about himself.
Our collective group was maybe five blocks off the ground before the first Stigma clipped through the roof and multiplied to blanket everything. The house was completely covered. No standing surface was left and still more would spill over into the flooded streets. Nerdpoles were the only way to keep safe. There was no surface to clip onto; just a straight pole.
Despite the precarious foothold they made for themselves, Floyd and the Paragons visibly calmed down when they were twenty meters above the Stigma covered village. It was all just a thickening layer of glass domed Zombie Pigmen that kept jam packing the streets. It was pointless to search for survivors; every building was already covered in Mobs. If they didn't nerdpole, they were most likely ripped apart.
Or underground.
"SOUL!" Floyd and I shouted at the exact same moment. He was still with Dyson investigating the North Slope mining tunnel. They were out there in this. A quick look at my map, however, verified that Soul, at least, was still alive.
"Dyson..." Kalmarin grimaced from his pole, a hand brought up to shield his eyes from the setting sun and search north. The whole village was filled, its bowl geography working to the people's benefit and detriment. Good for keeping the Stigmata penned in, but bad for making it harder to escape.
Dyson was part of Team Alpha. It made sense that Kalmarin would fear for his well-being during this disaster. Anibal already lost two of her team to Gunnah. Kalmarin didn't want to go through that.
My worries extended to the sisters still out there. Alexandra. Pheodora. And even the unconscious married couple they took with them - the ones we 'borrowed' a house from. Were they faring any better than us?
"It's times like these I wish I got those Wonder Wings..." Carys mumbled conspiratorially to herself. "Listen up! Everyone pool your blocks together." She commanded, one finger raised to point at the rim of Galitsino's bowl. "We're aiming for that. If anyone has a lava and water bucket, we can cobblestone generator this shit. Noman." I bolted from my position still in the air. "For fuck's sake - Drop the damn cat and go find Dyson and Soul! The meatheads map is still active. Means he's alive, but that can change if they don't get airborne soon!"
I understood what she was saying. I was the only one with the freedom to move around in the air. I wasn't about to drop Cat-Face, but we both knew I was the one most suited to find and rescue them if necessary.
"If you're going, I'm going." Floyd raised a hand. "Let's go rescue Soul together."
"And Dyson." Kalmarin emphasized. "And I'm coming too. That's my team member out there."
"Risking two Hackers?" Carys twisted her face. "Render assistance if needed, but if it looks like you can't save them, leave them. Losing two is better than losing five. Better to cut losses."
"That's disgusting." I denounced. "They're people, not assets; I'd never leave someone behind."
"You don't like that? Then quit flapping your lips and find them! The North Slope Mine isn't too far from here. Get a move on!"
"One problem." I held out a hand. "I can only carry one person with me while using the Bottes Zephyr. I can't carry Kalmarin."
"You won't have to." Dark smoke gushed from Kalmarin's eyes, dying his sclerae black. "You also won't like my idea."
He was right. I didn't like it.
Kalmarin's idea was to lend him the Bottes Zephyr while he used his Strength Hack to carry us... and Cat-Face. His Strength let him carry more than his fair share of people with just one arm, and we couldn't leave Cat-Face in the negligent hands of Carys and her cronies. This was no mission for a cat, but Soul would be furious to survive the Stigmata only to be down a feline buddy.
Handing over the Bottes Zephyr was much less appealing, especially to one of Carys' underlings. After learning what lengths they would go to keep Pheodora in the village, I didn't trust Carys and I didn't trust them. If it were up to me, I would have left the rescue to Floyd and me, but Kalmarin's Strength Hack was the only thing capable of carrying multiple people at once. He claimed he could lift ten Crafters at once with his power. We had to bring him along and lend him the boots. Not to mention he had an obligation to save Dyson. So it was down to the three of us to find them.
"I have to ask," I began, linking my arms together around Kalmarin's and letting him carry me like a purse. "If it looks too risky - like we might die trying to save them - will you do as Carys ordered and 'cut your losses'?"
"If you have time to ask stupid questions you have time to focus on searching." Kalmarin pointedly ignored the question before hitching Floyd up higher. "I won't agree to any suicidal plan, however. I'll be level-headed. Assess things. Figure a safe way to get them out, if at all." My doubts must've shown because he made sure to add, "Dyson's my teammate. Of course I'll take his safety seriously."
That had to be enough of an assurance because we were already at the North Slope Mine - or what I assumed to be the mine given it was Soul's blip's current location. It was strange, however. The mine wasn't too far from where we had been hiding out, so I expected it to be swarmed by Stigmata. That wasn't the case. The North Slope Mine was a handful of quarries and uneven, excavated rock surrounding a trio of wooden buildings. The quarries acted as a moat of sorts, separating the Stigmata from the trio of buildings. Adding to that was the raised foundation of the buildings - they were built on a slope, further separating them from the Stigmata and helping to stem the tide of Zombie Pigmen. It was like an island in the ocean of Mobs.
"Those quarries are open pit mines." Kalmarin explained. "Miners would perform shallow excavations there."
"Where's the main mine?" Floyd asked.
"It's accessible through those buildings." Kalmarin pointed. "There's a mineshaft in one of them that leads straight down. We're in luck. Looks like the Stigmata can't get up the slope. And look!" There, at the entrance to the trio of buildings, the doors had been crudely blocked off with miscellaneous materials. "Someone's hiding out in there. Might be our boys."
"Then let's get down there." I said firmly. Kalmarin then began to backflip to descend. Teaching him the importance of that had been hard.
We landed roughly, our knees skidding along the ground making up the foundations of the mining buildings. Kalmarin returned the Bottes Zephyr to me and wasted no time using his Strength Hack to bust a hole through the entrance. We hurried inside while Floyd sealed the way behind us in case the Stigmata spilled over onto the foundations.
"This building is the headframe." Kalmarin explained. "The mineshaft should be in here. This is where the miners would go before climbing down a ladder into the mine itself."
"You sure know a lot about mines." I noted.
"...Adina." He said after some consideration, tipping his hat. "She was a miner."
"Oh."
The moment passed when we found the shaft entrance. It really was a long ladder leading down into a torchlit pit. Miners had to go up and down such a thing regularly? My arms were getting tired just looking at such a thing.
"There's a shortcut." Kalmarin assured, pointing to a narrow chute spanning the length of the shaft. "This should lead to a pool of water at the very bottom."
"SOUL!" Floyd's sudden shout had my ears ringing as it bounced off the shaft walls leading down. After a moment, I thought I heard Soul's voice shouting something back. It was too unintelligible to make out, but it was definitely him. "He's down there all right."
"Okay, let's be quick about this. Those Stigmata could overflow those pit mines any minute now." Kalmarin advised before guiding us to the quick access chutes.
"You're sure this will land us in a pool of water?" Floyd asked.
"Unless it's been bucketed up recently."
"Not instilling a ton of faith..."
"I'll go first." I volunteered before jumping down with the Severe Shield on for protection. It had a high Resistance and Feather Falling enchantment, making it resilient to fall damage. However, I may have miscalculated how far the shaft spanned. I blew past wooden rafters and offshoots of tunnels as I plummeted into the earth. Even with the Severe Shield I wasn't sure I'd survive. Fortunately I didn't have to worry as I landed with a Splash at the bottom of the chute.
Bedrock level.
I spluttered as I climbed out of the puddle used to cushion my fall. Three-by-three meter tunnels extended in four different directions. Although the bedrock level was lit by torches, the lighting was hazy. Some kind of sediment or dust was rising from the jagged bedrock floor and casting a film before my vision. It was hot and the air was stale.
The floor of the tunnels wasn't smooth. Everything else had been excavated except for the bedrock, which rose in uneven, gnarled chunks that screamed 'trip on me.' There were also pits in the bedrock where someone's foot could sink. The whole floor was a hazard to navigate.
Taking a look around, my eyes zeroed in on Soul and Dyson... and Alexandra? And Pheodora! The unconscious couple were there too, though they were now very much conscious and cowering between chunks of gnarled bedrock.
"Noman?" Alexandra inquired, turning away from Dyson and Soul to address me. Pheodora was cowering behind her, though she perked up slightly when she saw me.
"Thank Notch you found me." Soul breathed a sigh of relief. "See Dyson? I told you the cavalry was coming."
"Is Carys with you?" Dyson asked.
"No. What's going on here?" I asked. "You guys know the Stigmata are above is, right?"
"Please help us!" The cowering husband begged. "We don't know how we got here! We don't want any trouble with a Hacker! Just let us live!"
"Did he just say the Stigmata!?" The wife screamed in alarm. "They can't be attacking! They just can't!"
"Please calme down." Alexandra tried to comfort them before two more splashes sounded behind me. Floyd and Kalmarin had landed.
"Kal!" Dyson cheered.
"Dyson?" Kalmarin looked on with relief, though his eyes stuck of Pheodora and Alexandra. "Ladies. Seems you both have mean right hooks, hm?"
"What's he talking about?" Soul asked.
"Alexandra and Pheodora smacked Carys, Anibal, and Kalmarin around and escaped." Floyd replied.
"They left us no choice." Alexandra countered while Pheodora shrunk behind her. "Carys admitted to tipping off the guards."
"A-Ah." Kalmarin glanced aside. "I didn't think you heard that."
"And now you came after us. To hunt us down." Alexandra went on.
"No." I denied. "We came here for Soul and Dyson."
"Raaawk! Fuck you!"
"...and Christopher."
"Raaawk! Thank you!"
"...Kitty." Pheodora gave a small smile after Cat-Face jumped out of Floyd's arms, padded towards her, and rubbed its face against her leg.
"You brought my cat!?"
"Who would you rather have watch her, us or Carys?"
"That's a good point."
"HELLO!" The husband shouted in equal parts fear and exhaustion. "Can someone please explain if there are Stigmata attacking our village or not!?"
"They're attacking all right." Alexandra spoke grimly. "Pheo and I barely slipped inside this place. We found these two and the parrot coming back this way. Is the door above still sealed?"
"It won't matter if those Stigmata clip through." Kalmarin advised, eyeing the eight Crafters, one cat, and one parrot before him. "Gather round everyone. We're evaccing into the sky immediately. Noman, the boots-"
"And if we say no?" Alexandra asked back, one hand on her hip.
"Look, this isn't the time or place to argue-"
"We know all about what you and Carys tried to do, Kalmarin. Trying to make Pheo into one of you. Tipping off XoX to delay us. So you'll forgive us when we say - and Noman forgive this too - there is no way in hell we're going with you!"
Dyson moved to Kalmarin's side. "You'd rather take your chances with the Stigmata?"
"At least with the Stigmata you know what monsters you're getting. We came down here to do what you ruined - escape Galitsino."
"Why were we brought here?" The terrified wife asked.
"Pheo didn't feel right leaving you behind. Your house was basically stolen. We were going to drop you off with the guards, but then we saw the alarms..."
"Listen to me." Kalmarin willed his Hacker smoke to the fore, the sight of which terrified the husband and wife even further. They weren't expecting two Hackers. If Floyd showed his stuff, they were likely to faint. "Those Stigmata clear the pit mines and we're all fucked. You think you can outrun them in these tunnels? Now be sensible and let me carry you out of here. I promise to deposit us somewhere we can discuss-"
"Kal!?" Dyson turned on him. "Why bother negotiating this? We're their only chance to survive. Either they join us willingly or we let the Stigmata get them."
"Spoken like a true bad guy." Alexandra shook her head while Pheodora cowered further. "And you wonder why we're not in a cooperative mood. We can find our own way out."
"We need to reach an accord." I stressed before looking imploringly at the sisters. "Alexandra. Pheodora. I swear on my honor - on Aikido - that I will not leave you in Carys' clutches. I'll make sure you leave all of us rotten people behind-"
"Hey! I resent that! I didn't do nothing!" Soul shouted.
"-but Kalmarin is the only one that can get us airborne and away from the Stigmata. I saw it! The whole village is blanketed by a sea of these things! I don't trust him or Carys, but you'll never survive on your own. I won't leave you to that. I won't! I'll die first!"
"You really think you can keep Carys from them?" Dyson asked. "That's like trying to hold back the Stigmata. Eventually something will slip through the cracks. Carys doesn't quit."
"Dyson-!"
*Reeeeeeee!*
The chilling squeal that echoed from above had us all looking up. From out of the dim mineshaft, thousands of Zombie Pigmen plummeted towards us. Time had ran out up there; the Stigmata had filled the pits and spilled over into the buildings and the mineshaft within.
"MOVE!" Floyd shouted.
Everyone leapt in different directions at once - none of them unanimous. Alexandra and Pheodora, already tied at the hip, went down one tunnel with Cat-Face. Kalmarin and I went the same way.
Everyone else was closer to the opposite tunnel. Dyson, Soul, Floyd, the married couple, and Christopher Squawken.
By the time either side realized the discrepancy, it was too late. Turning back would waste precious seconds that would otherwise be needed to navigate the bedrock's uneven terrain and flee the descending waves of Stigmata. The vicious squeals echoed off the walls and prompted me to don my Severe Shield on instinct.
I'd need it.
[Floyd]
"Raaawk! Run for your lives!"
The parrot was right. With how fast the Stigmata filled the village, our dinky little tunnel would be swamped in a matter of moments. We had to put as much distance as we could between us and them, but even then I knew it wouldn't be enough. Not even with the Stigmata being split chasing us and Noman's group - there was no splitting up these things when they could multiply! Their speed surpassed ours. They'd run us down!
Dyson seemed to come to the same conclusion as he laid down blocks on the uneven bedrock behind him. He made a short wall and Soul and I chipped in with cobwebs. The tunnel was only three meters wide and tall, so it was easy to plug up with all of us working together. The married couple outstripped us all, fleeing without a care for our wellbeing. Why would they when they didn't know us?
I had hoped they would have realized that they were just as doomed if they didn't help us, but it looks like that was being too hopeful.
Just before we sealed things off with a three meter thick wall of cobwebs and blocks, I caught the first Stigma touch the ground. It didn't die on impact from the fall, reinforcing that these things were invulnerable to damage. It multiplied before I sealed the tunnel with a chunk of cobblestone.
"There. That should buy us some time, right?" Soul panted.
Angry pounding and enraged squeals came from the other side. They were already pressed against it.
"More." Dyson commanded, his arms moving to place three more walls.
Soul had more blocks than me. He piled cobblestone after cobblestone to plug up the tunnel, but it was a bandaid at best. It took us four seconds to erect a wall. By then, each Stigma - and every Stigma they spawned - would've multiplied by five eight times. It wasn't five times eight, but five to the eighth power.
In four seconds, our one block thick wall was expected to hold back a tide of three-hundred-and-ninety-thousand six-hundred-and-twenty-five. Holy shit.
"How many blocks do you have?" Dyson barked, a cold sweat dripping off his face.
"They're gonna kill us..." I realized.
"Raaawk! We're boned!"
"Shut up and keep building! Whoa!" Dyson leapt back as an arm clipped through the wall and almost struck him. The Stigma almost phased through completely before Soul finished the latest wall and bought more time. Seconds at best.
"Just run, Floyd. Take Chris and speed out of here."
"Raaawk! Take Chris and speed out of here!"
"You think I'd do that!?" I shouted back, piling every cobblestone Noman gave me. I was out and Dyson seemed to be running low on blocks too. We had already exhausted all our cobwebs. "After Silent!? You think I'd be happy running off knowing I left you behind again!?"
"...It's okay." Soul tried. "I won't blame-"
"I don't want to hear it. We're Beginners."
Soul let out a laugh mixed with a sob. "Right." He faced the screaming wall with a courageous grin. "Ride or die, we protect each other."
Protect...
Protect...
The word dislodged a memory from earlier - a memory I disregarded.
'...the Strength to Protect.'
'A m-mind to serve for the peace of all human beings in the world is needed in Aikido, and not the mind of one who w-wishes to be st-strong or who p-practices only to f-fell an opponent. Th-that's what I think Strength ought to be. The Strength to Protect.'
Right. Pheodora had said that's what she called real strength. The Strength to Protect. That was the clear image she had. The image she called upon whenever the need arose.
"They're breaking through!"
Only one way out of this. I tuned out the rest of the world as I closed my eyes and focused.
"Hacks are commanded through Willpower." I spoke calmly.
I found that black flame inside me and commanded it to grow. I fanned the flames higher and higher, feeling a warmth suffuse my being.
"Floyd! Don't just stand there!"
The dark vapor seeped out of my eyes, turned my sclerae black, and swirled to envelop my body.
"Hacks are strengthened like a Muscle."
Just like with how I channeled MultiAura, I felt the smoke gather around my arms. Righteous anger was the emotion tied to that power, and I let it go in favor of another strong emotion. Before it had been leadership, endurance, independence, offense, but that wasn't what I went for this time.
"And Hacks are evolved," I breathed out, mentally envisioning what I wanted to become, "through thoughts and Emotion."
I thought of Noman standing up to Carys for Pheo's sake. How he was always against violence and killing, yet he never hesitated to put himself between danger and someone who needed him. Wielding that shield like a wall, he always stood in the path of peril when another life was at stake. He protected people. Like Pheo said, he had the strength to bear the shield. The Strength to Protect.
I thought of the feelings of responsibility. Protectiveness. Chivalry. Comfort. Persistence. Maturity. Cobb made me leader of the guys because he trusted me.
Pheodora. I had disregarded her before, but she wielded Strength her way, and it wasn't at all like how Kal taught me.
If she could do it, maybe I could too.
Please. I pleaded with my inner flame. I want to protect my friends. I need the Strength to get them out of here. Work with me, here. Not the Strength to Attack but the Strength to Protect!
I felt something shift within me. It was slight - almost miniscule - and yet I felt that something had loosened with it. Like a clogged pipe, something had shifted enough so that it wasn't blocked anymore. My power could flow freely. And what a power it was! Invigoration flooded my body and dispelled the desperate hopelessness that moments prior chilled me to the bone. I felt good. Better than I usually felt. If I was normally feeling 100%, I now felt 500%. It was euphoric - I felt like I could carry the world!
I had done it. I got it to manifest. This was what Strength felt like. I was now a Level 3 Hacker.
"Floyd?" Soul asked, his eyes straying to my arms. The smoke swirled around them, vapor turning solid and bulging like a set of muscles. The inky darkness covered my sleeves, dying them black. I regarded them with mild interest, the strength still flooding my brain with pleasant feelings.
"This is it." I smiled back. It was a smile that let him and Dyson know everything was gonna be okay.
The Stigmata squealed angrily at our barrier. I didn't have a moment to waste.
I seized Soul and Dyson's clothes with one arm and dragged them near - they felt so light! Just like Kalmarin, Strength made me stronger and more able to lift heavier burdens. Soul secured Christopher in his grip while I channeled my Speed Hack into my legs at the same time my Strength Hack was going. The two proved compatible and I felt unstoppable.
When the Stigmata finally burst through, I was running. Running at my top speed despite towing a pair of Crafters and a parrot behind me. Their bodies and limbs flailed behind them from the acceleration as I outstripped the Zombie Pigmen and their enhanced speed. They may have been faster than a Crafter, but they were no match for my speed.
I let out an uncharacteristic laugh of delight - I still had no idea as to Noman and Kalmarin's fate, but I just felt so proud and accomplished! This was what I had been working towards for so long, and now I could do it. Now I could protect my friends. Nobody would ever paralyze me again!
"Gooooo, Floooooyd, goooooooo!" Soul cheered as his body fluttered like a flag in the wind.
My feet sped across the bedrock tunnel - picking through uneven terrain and gaps as I left the Stigmata in the dust. And, as I sped along, I ran into the married couple still fleeing.
"Floyd's here to help!" I promised happily - too happily. I felt so heroic as I freed my other arm and grabbed them by their collars. The additional weight of two Crafters didn't slow me down in the slightest.
The couple screamed in confusion but could only go limp as the acceleration had them fluttering in the breeze beside Soul and Dyson.
Soon, the tunnel sloped upward towards the surface and the uneven bedrock turned into a smooth tunnel. An easy path to follow with no Stigmata in sight.
When the tunnel opened up into an obsidian wasteland, and the cool night air pleasantly kissed my face, I knew it was done. We were outside Galitsino.
Not a moment too soon as my Speed wore off and my top half overtook my lower half, tumbling head over heels and faceplanting into hard obsidian. The ones I was carrying did much of the same - rolling to a stop with only the parrot fluttering to a gentle landing on Soul's prone back.
My Speed left me, then, shortly after, my Strength left too. I went boneless. That euphoric feeling bled off as the smoke faded and my eyes went back to normal. My grin morphed into a grimace and I felt mortified over how goofy I had acted while under the influence of my newest Hack.
Soul coughed into the obsidian before he started to chuckle in disbelief. He glanced back at the opening of the tunnel as his chuckles evolved into relieved laughter. Maybe my euphoria was contagious - the couple joined in with a hint of hysteria coloring their laughs. They didn't know what to think of getting rescued by a third Hacker they had yet to know about. Dyson remained stoic as he breathed out a sigh of relief before planting his face into the obsidian ground and flashing a thumbs up.
"Raaawk, what about Noman?"
[Noman]
"Waaaaaaah!"
Alexandra screamed with Cat-Face looking bored bundled in her arms. She, Pheodora, Kalmarin, and I clambered over the uneven bedrock as we fled the tide of Stigmata. Having given all my cobblestone to Floyd, I didn't have the blocks to even attempt to seal the tunnel. That was left to Kalmarin alone, and it was a losing battle.
I had my Severe Shield already on, but I didn't dare test its capabilities against the Stigmata. For one, they were immune to all damage types, including my chestplate's deadly Thorns. Secondly, they would multiply and swarm me a thousand times over. My Severe Shield only limited damage, maximized my Health, and greatly damaged whatever attacked it. Though that was considered invincible by many Crafters - and worked on many Crafters - these Stigmata were exceptions to the rule. It was just a safety net to prolong my life like it had against Gunnah's exploding fireworks.
I couldn't think about Floyd or Soul at the moment. They had gone the other way and were likely just as pursued, but my focus was on survival. Flecks of moisture pelted my face coming off of Pheodora running before me. She was sobbing and likely terrified out of her mind.
"I'm s-sorry, Allie!" She bawled. "I'm sorry, Noman! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
"Be strong!" Kalmarin shouted over her, his blocks dwindling and angry scraping already at his blockades. "Damnit! We gotta hold them back!
"I-I don't want to die!" Pheodora sobbed. It was a miracle she was still in her body and not fleeing with Freecam. It was likely because of the fear of death. She knew she wouldn't have a body to come back to once those Pigmen had their way. "Help! Someone help!"
"Nobody can hear us! We need to help ourselves!" Kalmarin called back, trying to bolster her. "Pheo, look at me. You have the power. I've seen it! But you need to be strong. Strong for Alexandra. She's your big sister, right? You want to protect her!?"
"Y-Yesh!" She sniffled.
"Then stay strong. You gotta - oh, shit!" Kalmarin brought out a shield from his backpack just as a Stigma clipped through. It exploded into over a hundred bodies and Kalmarin gave a guttural cry as smoke gushed out his eyes and covered his body. He put his arms up and braced his shield before the tide of bodies slammed into it.
At first, Kalmarin gave ground. His feet skidded back against bedrock without any kind of purchase. But then the swirling smoke intensified and he buckled down with Strength, slowing to a stop even as his shield screeched from the plummeting durability. Swords and hooves raked across the wood and metal surface, but Kalmarin kept it up as one final wall between the Stigmata and him.
The tunnel wasn't narrow enough to block them all, which is why I stepped up beside him with my own Beginner shield raised. The tide of bodies hit like a train, but I was able to block my share of them with Kalmarin blocking the brunt of it. Together we formed a wall against the rapidly multiplying Zombie Pigmen. We weren't getting damaged, but our shields were getting their durability shredded. Mine was already on its way out.
"Don't fuck with me!" Kalmarin screamed, his body shrouded in smoke and his long brown coat flapping behind him as his Strength bore the weight of the attacks. I didn't bother chastising him for his language when my arms were already starting to go limp.
"I can't... my shield's about to go..." I warned, my head hanging from exertion.
A small body settled beside mine, another person joining the shield wall with a shield of her own and an inky vapor that matched Kalmarin's. I looked up and to my right and was met by Pheodora's orange eyes and a face screwed up in concentration.
"I will... protect Allie!" She swore as she pushed Strength to her arms and braced against her shield. With two Hackers holding them back with Strength, the Stigmata had no crack to slip through. The horrible screeching of wood and metal told me, however, that the shields would go long before the Stigmata tired.
My Beginner shield already crumbled in my hands, Pheodora shifting to take my position as I fell back. Alexandra stooped to check me but I warned her - albeit curtly - not to touch me. She didn't know what the Severe Shield could do.
"Make... more shields!" Kalmarin commanded over the squeals of Zombie Pigmen.
"I don't have any wood!" Alexandra screamed helplessly. "Oh, God, this can't be how it ends!"
"D-Don't worry!" Pheodora tried to comfort her. "I'll p-protect you, big sis! I'll save you... like you saved me!"
Tears welled up in Alexandra's eyes and she hugged an indifferent Cat-Face closer to her chest. "Pheo..."
I didn't have any shield-making materials either. No blocks. Just some potion ingredients and ender pearls. The latter would be more useful if we weren't in a mine.
It was insane thinking that those two were holding back what must have been over a million Mobs, and each passing second only multiplied them further. Only the ones at the front were wearing down their shields, but the screeching and crumbling wood told me we didn't have long.
What do I do? What can I do? The Severe Shield won't work! The only other artifact I've got is...
My eyes lit up as I remembered something. Something that Herobrine had written about the Bottes Zephyr. Something from last night at the school, when I had inadvertently dropped Captain XoX into the basement... by replacing the floor with air blocks and letting them vanish.
I put on the boots and dropped to my hands and rear as I stretched my legs out and ran my feet against the jagged bedrock. At once, they vanished to be replaced by invisible air blocks, and then, after moving on, even those air blocks vanished as the Bottes Zephyr was made to do.
The Bottes Zephyr spawned invisible air blocks below to wearer to allow them to walk on air, but the air blocks never stuck around. They always faded once the wearer moved on. As Herobrine wrote, these could be useful in making a quick escape and not getting trapped.
I didn't realize it could remove the bedrock layer of Minecraftia.
"Yes. YES!" I cheered as I ran my feet along more of the jagged bedrock. There was at least three layers of it, but after that third layer, the earth opened up to an unfathomable darkness that I recalled from my earliest memories.
The Void.
"What the...?" Alexandra backed away from the gradually opening hole in the bedrock floor. I kicked my legs as far as they could reach, shimmying to the edge on hands and rear just to make the hole into the Void big enough. It was three blocks wide - the width of the tunnel - and seven blocks long.
"What's going on back there!?" Kalmarin shouted from his side of the hole - the side of the Stigmata. Pheodora whined through her teeth as she strained to keep up her shield.
"You got a bow?" I asked Alexandra who nodded wordlessly. "Good. Shoot Kalmarin when I say so." I didn't wait on her perplexed expression before crossing the gap with my Bottes Zephyr.
"Kalmarin!" I called to him. "Activate EnderPort."
"What? Why!"
I looked at the unfathomable darkness beneath the bedrock that Kalmarin was unknowingly a few inches from falling into.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"But-"
"Just do it! The shields won't hold out much longer!"
"Haaaaaa, fine!" His dark smoke shifted slightly, even as he continued to hold back the Stigmata. "Okay, it's on! Whatever you're planning, do it fast!"
"O-Ooh! I get it!" Alexandra realized, having seen Kalmarin demonstrate EnderPort before. She put down Cat-Face and took out her bow, aiming it at the Hacker's back.
Meanwhile, I settled behind Pheodora and grabbed her waist. She let out a little yelp, but didn't drop her shield as she turned her head. "N-Noman!"
"Let go of the shields on three!" I ordered. "Alexandra, you take your shot on three as well! Ready? One..."
The bowstring went taut.
"Two..."
Cat-Face meowed placidly.
"THREE!"
The arrow fired, and the shields were let go just before they disintegrated into nothing. The Zombie Pigmen lunged forward with swords and hooves poised to rend flesh. They brought their arms down on Kalmarin only for him to vanish in a puff of smoke and appear behind Alexandra with an arrow in his back. The Stigmata reached for Pheodora's flinching face but only grabbed air as I pushed back and air walked over the gap I had made.
The Stigmata poured into the hole, straight into the Void.
My back slammed into bedrock on the other side of the gap. I tore off the Severe Shield and looked up to see the Stigmata continue to stream and fall into the Void, plummeting out of sight. I didn't know if they could survive that, but they'd no longer be a problem. They could multiply down there all they wanted. The angry squeals continued to echo from the Void as the Mobs rushed to the front of the pack to attack us to no avail. Millions of them. Billions. All consigned to the Void - they'd despawn on their own without a Crafter present.
I breathed out a sigh of relief when the stream of Stigmata remained unable to bridge the gap. "Looks like we're good-"
It was a good thing I tore off the Severe Shield, because Pheodora hugged me with all her Hacker enhanced Strength, her face squashed against my suit and growing damp from her tears. I felt the impact knock the wind out of me and my ribs creak under her pressure.
"Thank you..." Pheodora sobbed into my suit. "Thank you, thank you... you saved our lives, Noman... thank you."
"E-Eh, no prob - erk!" She squeezed tighter and I winced as I awkwardly patted her on the back to try and get her to let go. I couldn't breathe.
"Oh my gosh." Alexandra's hands went to her face and she beamed. "She's hugging him. She never hugs anyone new."
"Pheodora... please..." I patted her back comfortingly while at the same time begging her to ease up. "Turn off your Strength. The danger's over."
Realizing her mistake, she hastily shut off her Hack before burying her face deeper into my suit. Alexandra walked up and hugged her from behind, the action making Pheodora spin around and include her big sister into the embrace. Kalmarin watched from a distance, his expression as unfathomable as the Void we were casting those Stigmata into.
"We should move..." He spoke hollowly.
The trek out of the tunnels was pleasantly uneventful. True, the Stigmata kept spawning behind us, but there was no way to cross the gap I had made. They all fell into the Void. Once I learned that Floyd and Soul were alive by their map blips, the rest of my worries melted away.
All save for one - the precious cargo I was embarrassingly piggybacking.
The experience had been so tense that Pheodora - or Pheo as she and Alexandra allowed me to call her - couldn't stand on her own two legs. I thought Alexandra would carry her, but the big sister insisted it do it. I referenced her shyness around others, but Alexandra - Allie - assured me it'd be fine.
But a piggyback? It was a little embarrassing. Couldn't I just princess carry her? Piggybacking her made her look like a child and me her father, but apparently no one had a problem with it but me.
Pheo remained conscious most of the time, though she used Freecam on occasion not to escape but to scout ahead through the tunnel walls. There were still Stigmata on the surface, and we needed to know if it was safe wherever our tunnel led out. Pheo would clad herself in smoke when she was using it and return back when she was done to tell us which way to go. The tunnels branched a bit, so this was a big help. We also chatted a bit.
"So you can never harm anyone with Aikido?" Pheo asked over my shoulder.
"Not never." I told her. "Sometimes, when you're incapacitating someone, hurting them is an inevitability. If it can be avoided, yes, inflicting pain should be a last resort, but killing is completely out of the question." I gave her a tiny smile. "What you did to Carys and Anibal and the others with your Strength - I'm proud to say that you followed Aikido to the letter. No one died. You have exceptional self-control with that power of yours."
She blushed. "Th-Thanks..."
Kalmarin didn't seem to mind that I was encouraging Aikido in Pheo. As a matter of fact, Kalmarin didn't say a word. He just kept walking forward acting the third wheel to our discussions. I wondered if he was still thinking of recruiting Pheo for the Paragons. He had to realize that bridge was already burnt, even if Carys wasn't so willing to give up.
I was actually dreading returning to Carys and not just because I knew she'd be grilling me about Pheo. Every day I was stuck on her side was another instance of Aikido being tarnished. She was its antithesis. I didn't have the freedom to pursue non-violent solutions to altercations like with Cobb - Carys basically stuck a fist into her problems. When I figured out she tipped off the guards, I almost wanted to pack up and leave the group. Go off on my own somewhere and do things peacefully. It was just wishful thinking, though. I could never leave Floyd and Soul behind, or leave while this alliance with the Paragons was still in effect. I helped convince Cobb to go through with this, so I had to stick it out, however things went. But the tests were getting harder and harder. I didn't want to make a habit of calling Carys a C-word. Soul might, but not me.
The tunnel began sloping up, making it gradually more difficult to carry Pheo. I didn't complain, though. I soldiered on like my chivalrous self and carried the girl all the way to the surface. A chilling breeze blew in our face. Stone turned to obsidian and opened up into the Laqcuerlands as an aboveground cave. It was dark outside - the sun having long since set - but the fresh air was a relief after breathing in the stale mustiness at bedrock level.
"Fresh air!" Allie spread her arms out in delight, dropping Cat-Face as she did it. She spun around giggling while I set Pheo down and stared into the distance behind the cave.
There was a pit that was Galitsino Village. It looked to be several miles away, assuring us that we wouldn't be beset by Stigmata. They were all back there, multiplying and filling the bowl while Crafters were nearby.
I felt a hand grip my shoulder and turned back to see a beaming Allie. "Well, you fulfilled your end of the bargain, Noman. Got us out safe and sound - and away from that absolute B-word if you know what I mean."
"I do."
"Y-Yes, Noman." Pheo bowed timidly, though she no longer hid herself behind Allie like in our past interactions. She was fully comfortable with me - enough to get a free piggyback out of it. "Thank you so much. I'm happy that there are good people like you left in the world."
I almost got teary-eyed as I smiled warmly at the pair. "Pheodora_Prizrak, Alexandra_Artyom. Thank you."
"F-For what?"
"Yeah, we're the ones doing the thanking."
"But I am thankful. Whenever I help someone, I feel a swell of validation. Like I'm doing things right. I don't always know what to do. I hear people call me indecisive and invalid."
"You're n-not!"
"Don't listen to that B-word. She's never gonna get laid."
"Allie!"
"What? It's true."
I chuckled, touched by their words of comfort. "Aikido has its flaws I'll grant - it's not perfect by any means - but if it can help two people find peace, then I feel like I've done good by it and it's done good by me. That's enough to get me through Carys' abuse. So thank you. Really. All I can hope for is that you two live happily ever after."
"Well we can do that!" Allie assured. "Our first order of business is getting out of this kingdom of selfish whackjobs"
"Where will w-we go, though? I-I don't have any friends to stay with."
"We'll think of something. Maybe we can go north to Lazuli. Settle in some quaint, far-flung village." The honey-blonde rested her hands on the back of her head. "Get away from it all."
I thought about suggesting some places I felt were safe. Creation's_Spark's in Ringwood. Old Man Bailey's farm in Akasha. I ruled them out only because it would be impossible to describe where to find Spark's secluded home in the mountains, and Akasha was too close to - and too recently destroyed by - the Hack Clan. Better to let them decide where they wanted to go.
"I guess we'll be leaving, then." Allie said, her eyes sliding to Kalmarin and narrowing suspiciously. "Unless someone wants to get in our way."
Kalmarin's sea green eyes regarded the sisters without heat. Without energy. He looked downcast for someone who just survived a deadly unnatural disaster. Maybe he spent it all holding those Pigmen back, or maybe there was a note of shame to his face as his eyes took in one of the Hackers he abandoned without any kind of guidance.
Pheo would never have wanted to join the Hack Clan - and was probably glad Kalmarin abandoned his post - but at the same time, she couldn't disregard all the confusion and loneliness that came with being a Hacker without a clan. An outcast without a home. That was a scar that no amount of training could fix. She would never trust him, nor the Paragons. Recruiting her for the Paragons would be impossible.
Kalmarin must've figured as much, for he turned his back on the sisters and threw out a hand. "Go. You two aren't Paragon material."
Allie and Pheo gave a little start, not expecting to be allowed to leave just like that.
"Well? Get going!" He prompted. "Or do you want to wait for Carys to find you and hear what she thinks?"
That snapped them out of it. They looked one final time at me for assurance before I waved them to go, then they ran off, hand in hand, into the obsidian wasteland. Pheo gave a light wave as a parting farewell before the two sisters disappeared into the darkness, hopefully towards a happily ever after.
Alone with Kalmarin, I made sure his good gesture didn't go unrecognized.
"Thank you." I nodded. "For letting them go."
"Wasn't hard. I did it the first time, right?" Kalmarin replied with self-criticism.
"You regret it, though."
"I wasn't ready to take care of a bunch of wet-behind-the-ears Hackers." He blurted out. "I just lost Adina and I just wanted out. I wanted to cut all ties to her killers. It was what she wished for me too. To be free, and to truly feel the weight of the people I had hurt. She was my light." He tipped his hat over his eyes. "She would've wanted me to be other Hackers' light. I could've changed how they were perceived."
"You already have." I told him, making him go still. "Everyone's convinced that Hackers are all evil - all destined to gather to that Obelisk, but it's because of you that some haven't. Just the fact that you gave them the chance to choose who they wanted to be has allowed Hackers to come into their own. Look at Floyd. Look at Pheo. Their paths opened up because you allowed them to live free of the Hack Clan. How many other Hackers got to live a normal life instead of being brainwashed into thinking they were gods? You did that, Kal."
He chuckled. "Funny. Floyd told me the same thing."
"Because it's the truth."
He looked away, into the distance to the west. Towards Exter's capital city. "This deal Sdrawkcab's made. It's effed up."
We didn't say anything more before deciding to walk back to the group. They were already moving towards us and getting closer, using our linked maps to track us. Floyd and Soul had already reunited with Carys, and I was anxious to see if everyone was alright. I feared for my Beta-bros Reuben and Albert, and maybe Anibal to some degree. Cat-Face padded behind us along the obsidian terrain. It was a small miracle Soul's favorite cat had survived the ordeal that so many villagers perished from. Whatever population Galitsino had was gone. Any surviving villagers would have to relocate until the Stigmata clones despawned and the original numbered one moved on.
A few Mobs crossed our path - not Zombie Pigmen, thankfully - and we dispatched them easily. I needed a new shield since mine with the Beginner symbol had been shredded. I was also starving and without food save for my last enchanted golden apple. I wasn't about to waste that on an empty stomach.
*growl*
But I was getting close.
Before long, we met with Carys' group.
"You're alive!"
The exclamation overflowing with affection was bizarre coming from Soul, but it was that voice which greeted us as the axe-wielder broke away from Carys' group to run to me. I was touched by such concern. I never thought Soul could show such emotion.
"I thought I lost you forever - get the fuck outta my way bitch - but you're okay!" Soul shoved me unceremoniously aside and fell to his knees to embrace a bored-looking Cat-Face. "My adorable little ball of fluff. Don't you ever scare me like that again!"
I raised both arms up, thoroughly unamused.
"Oh, and you too, I guess." Soul added as an afterthought before rubbing his face against Cat-Face.
"Raaawk, Soul loves pus-"
"ALRIGHT!" I shouted over the parrot mimicking Anibal's words and voice. The dark-skinned thief clicked her tongue over the missed opportunity while Carys steamrolled through everyone looking furious. Her crimson eyes scanned us and I found it hard to meet her glare.
"Where are the girls?" She seethed, her attention focused on me.
"..."
"Dyson reported those two were in the mines with you when the Stigmata poured in." She took an imposing step forward as she went on. "You split up, but the two of you were with them when it went down. You don't look distraught, so I can only assume they didn't die. Where'd they go? What happened?" Her eyes seemed to glow red in the darkness. "I swear, if you let them escape - KAL!" She suddenly redirected her attention. "Report. What happened?"
"The girls got away from us." Kalmarin answered, his face betraying nothing. "Last we saw of them, they were running through the tunnels."
I hid my astonishment by looking to the ground. Kalmarin was lying to Carys for me. For Allie and Pheo too.
"And you didn't think to chase after them?" Carys inquired angrily.
"It was all we could do to block the Stigmata." Kal answered back. His face was unreadable. "I held them back with a shield and the girls used the chance to escape. My shield was just about to run out of durability when Noman here," he gave me a clap on the back, "used the boots to open a hole in the bedrock for those Pigmen to fall through. Saved my life."
Seeing that Carys still looked sour, Kal added, "You could have lost three Hackers, but only lost one. Considering where we were, you should count yourself lucky."
"Lucky? Lucky? I should consider myself lucky? If only you knew..." She paced back and forth, her scythe swinging and chipping obsidian. "I got no confirmation on XoX, no Pheo, our horses have been reduced to Pigmen slop, and to top it all off I just received a report that Kenji and Chinami lost the King's Trials, and that fossil Mann used some sleight of hand crap to put Wynn_Whispers on the throne. I don't feel like these are strokes of luck, Kal."
"Wynn won it...?" Floyd sounded impressed. "Does Cobb know?"
"Of course he knows. The message was relayed to everyone in our circle via Jillian. He's been annoyingly quiet about it too." Carys chewed her thumbnail. "Smug bastard's probably plotting the best way to throw this in my face. My own hand-picked Paragons losing. He must love staying silent and letting me stew like this. He's just building up the suspense before delivering his ultimate insult, I know it!"
I later found out Cobb was asleep when the news broke. He wasn't sitting on anything but a bed at the moment.
"He's biding his time. Waiting."
He really wasn't.
"Today blows. We get it." Anibal complained loudly.
"Maybe it blows for you guys, but our day wasn't a bust." Soul bragged, despite Floyd trying to get him to shut up. It was an exercise in futility. "My boy Floyd here leveled up. He's a Level 3 now!"
"He's what?" Carys spoke sharply.
"...He did it?" Kalmarin asked tentatively.
Floyd sighed. Seems he wanted to keep it a secret from the Paragons, but this was great news! His abilities were evolving.
"Yeah. I got my Strength Hack." He admitted freely.
"I guess it's not a total loss then." Carys decided. "Even with Pheodora gone, we still gained a Hacker with Strength."
Then, as if he had to put a damper on things, Floyd added, "It's a bit different, though. I got the idea from Pheodora. It's not an offensive Strength, but a defensive Strength. It only comes out when I'm using it to protect someone. That's the trigger."
"Defensive." Carys looked so done with the world. She rubbed the bridge of her nose and grimaced. "Defensive... defensive... why are the super-powerful ones always defensive?"
"Well then, congratulations are in order." Kal praised genuinely. He was happy for his pupil no matter how short the time they spent training was. "Guess you resonated more with her style than mine. Now, if you can get a handle on Speed together with Strength, you can be immune to paralysis. That'll come in handy."
"It already has. It saved our asses." Dyson said.
"Language."
"We were screwed until he carried us out of there. Even carried the married couple."
"Those two are still around? What did Alexandra and Pheodora want with them?"
"They're not around anymore. Those two took off the first chance they got." Dyson revealed. "Alexandra and Pheodora only took them because they thought we were going to kill them or something."
"As long as they don't know anything." Spaatz mumbled. "They won't have a home, but neither will a lot of Galitsino's villagers. It could take weeks before it's safe to return."
"Not our problem." Carys dismissed. "What is a problem is going on foot to Exter."
"Aww. Afraid your sensitive feet will get a widdle boo-boo on this hard obsidian crust?" Soul mocked.
"Maybe I should slap on a saddle and ride you." Carys threatened.
"I thought we weren't doing the sex slave cover."
"Raaawk. Slap on a saddle and ride you!"
"You're doing God's work, Chris. Keep it up."
"Of all the things to die, how come the damn parrot survived?"
There was a smattering of discussion as Carys spoke with Anibal, Kalmarin, and Albert on what our travel plans would be. The lack of horses would slow us down, but we were only a few days away from Exter. Getting there would be no problem.
Soul, Floyd, and I formed our own tight-knit group away from Carys'. Floyd handed me some food after hearing my empty stomach. I tore ravenously into the steak, pausing only to offer my congratulations to Floyd.
"I'm glad you finally manifested your Strength Hack." I knew it was a big deal for him as it was all he'd been training lately.
"Well, you're a good role model." He replied. The comment confused me, but he didn't elaborate further. "I'm amazed you thought to open a hole in bedrock. That's some smart outside the box thinking." Floyd complimented back. If he had any suspicions about what truly happened to Allie and Pheo, he didn't say otherwise. Likely because Carys was nearby.
"So that timid little girl really whooped Carys." Soul tsked with Cat-Face and Chris on hand. "Did I miss anything else while I was with Dyson?"
"Oh. You missed Noman call Carys a cunt."
"NO WAY! Are you serious!?" Soul howled. Seriously, why was that everyone's highlight? We just survived a Stigmata disaster! Couldn't we focus more on that than my lapse in control? "I miss everything, that sounds like all my Christmases at once! You gotta say it one more time, Noman. For me! Also so Chris can have it on loop."
"No way. It was heat of the moment."
"Well make it the heat of this moment. Come on! I missed your first curse and now this? Why can't you ever curse when I'm around?"
The three of us bickered and joked throughout the night, each of us thoroughly pleased we could joke having survived the terrible ordeal. Even if things didn't go Carys' way, today was a victory we were all thankful for.
Inventory (Cobb): 1 Carved Pumpkin, 1 Leather Tunic [Dyed Green], 1 Diamond Leggings [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Diamond Boots [Protection IV, Feather Falling IV, Depth Strider III], 1 Fishing Rod {Backlash} [Knockback II, Luck of the Sea III, Unbreaking III] {Weak}, 1 Diamond Sword [Sweeping Edge III], 12 Cobblestone, 2 Glass, 16 Ender Pearls, 9 Ender Pearls, 56 Glass Bottles, 1 Stone Pickaxe, 1 Furnace, 17 Flint, 1 Flint and Steel, 17 Oak Wood Planks, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Clock, 1 Water Bucket, 1 Lava Bucket, 1 Milk Bucket, 10 Coal, 64 Snowballs, 11 Snowballs, 4 Ender Chests, 29 Obsidian, 40 Steak, 2 End Crystals, 9 Rotten Flesh, 1 Book {How to Kill Stuff for Numb Nuts}, 1 Book {Advanced Mob-Slaying}, 1 Book {Mobs of the Nether}, 1 Book {Mobs of the Bounty Days}, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}, 1 Green Shulker Box {Pocket Box}
Green Shulker Box {Pocket Box}: 64 Eyes of Ender, 64 Chorus Fruit, 1 Potion of Strength II {1:30}, 1 Potion of Regeneration II {0:22}, 4 Nautilus Shells
[EXP: 38]
Inventory (Lenz): 1 Chainmail Helmet, 1 Dragon Head, 1 Chainmail Chestplate, 1 Chainmail Leggings, 1 Chainmail Boots, 32 Pumpkin Seeds, 1 Iron Dagger, 14 Ender Pearls, 13 Cobblestone, 1 Compass, 25 Gunpowder, 1 Bow, 1 Bow [Infinity], 1 Crossbow, 42 Arrows, 1 Crafting Table, 14 Steak, 1 Stick, 63 Chorus Fruit, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Notebook}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Daymonte Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Akasha Entry Pass}, 1 Red Shulker Box {Pocket Box}, 1 Gray Shulker Box {Pocket Box}
Red Shulker Box {Pocket Box}: 1 Shears, 1 Lever, 9 Redstone Torches, 8 Redstone Repeaters, 3 Redstone Comparators, 18 Blocks of Redstone, 2 Hoppers, 3 Pistons, 2 Sticky Pistons, 1 Book {Airship Piloting 101}
Gray Shulker Box {Pocket Box}: 1 Crossbow, 1 Crossbow, 1 Crossbow, 1 Crossbow, 1 Crossbow, 1 Crossbow, 1 Crossbow, 1 Crossbow, 1 Crossbow, 1 Crossbow, 1 Crossbow, 63 Arrows of Poison {0:11}, 64 Arrows of Harming II, 64 Arrows of Harming II, 63 Arrows of Weakness {0:30}, 60 Arrows of Slowness {0:30}, 64 Arrows of Fire Resistance {1:00}, 64 Arrows of Healing II, 64 Arrows of Invisibility {1:00}, 64 Arrows of Leaping {1:00}, 64 Arrows of Slow Falling {0:30}, 64 Arrows of Night Vision {1:00}, 64 Arrows of Strength II {0:12}, 64 Arrows of Swiftness {1:00}, 63 Arrows of Swiftness II {0:11}, 64 Arrows of Water Breathing {1:00}
[EXP: 21]
Inventory (Baltic): 1 Iron Helmet [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Chestplate [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Leggings [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Boots [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Sword [Sharpness II, Unbreaking III], 1 Shield, 1 Bow, 1 Diamond Pickaxe [Silk Touch I, Mending I, Unbreaking II], 10 Arrows, 3 Brewing Stands, 1 Water Bucket, 28 Bones, 1 Ender Chest, 1 Map {Paragon Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Gold Citizenship Pass}, 26 Emeralds, 1 Lingering Potion of Slowness {1:00}, 1 Lingering Potion of Slowness {1:00}, 1 Lingering Potion of Healing II {0:05}, 1 Lingering Potion of Harming II {0:05}, 1 Lingering Potion of Harming II {0:05}, 1 Lingering Potion of Harming II {0:05}, 1 Splash Potion of Swiftness II {1:30}, 1 Splash Potion of Swiftness II {1:30}, 1 Blue Shulker Box {Pocket Box}
Blue Shulker Box {Pocket Box}: 64 Glass Bottles, 64 Dragon's Breath, 64 Dragon's Breath, 45 Blaze Powder, 42 Nether Warts, 30 Soul Sand, 63 Phantom Membranes, 64 Blaze Rods, 20 Fermented Spider Eyes, 51 Carrots, 51 Melon Slices, 55 Rabbit's Feet, 50 Golden Ingots, 1 Golden Nugget, 55 Gunpowder, 54 Redstone Dust, 55 Glowstone Dust
[EXP: 30]
Inventory (Z7): 1 Diamond Helmet [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Chestplate [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Leggings [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Boots [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Pickaxe, 32 Cobblestone, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Furnace, 21 Charcoal, 14 Torches, 9 Oak Wood Planks, 1 Cake, 1 Cake, 1 Cake, 3 Pumpkin Pies, 22 Baked Potatoes, 1 Bucket, 1 Potion of Swiftness II {1:30}, 1 Potion of Slow Falling {4:00}, 1 Map {Paragon Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Gold Citizenship Pass}, 1 Purple Shulker Box {Pocket Box}
[EXP: 42]
Inventory (Floyd): 1 Mob Head {Creeper}, 1 Iron Sword, 1 Diamond Helmet [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Diamond Chestplate [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Diamond Leggings [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Iron Pickaxe, 1 Shears, 2 Iron Ingots, 32 Steak, 2 Sticks, 29 Coal, 20 Torches, 1 Fishing Rod, 1 Furnace, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Minecart, 1 Bed, 1 Boat, 1 Diamond Boots [Projectile Protection IV], 16 Gunpowder, 16 Ender Pearls, 2 Ender Pearls, 1 Splash Potion of Invisibility {8:00}, 1 Bucket, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}
[EXP: 44]
Inventory (Soul): 1 Diamond Axe [Sharpness V], 1 Iron Pickaxe, 62 Iron Ingots, 20 Flint, 12 Gold Ingots, 1 Shears, 1 Milk Bucket, 1 Diamond Helmet [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Chestplate, 1 Diamond Leggings [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Boots [Protection IV, Feather Falling IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Crafting Table, 1 Jukebox, 1 Music Disc {chirp}, 1 Bed, 1 Furnace, 24 Torches, 34 White Wool, 3 Pumpkin Seeds, 61 Cobblestone, 32 Jungle Wood Planks, 1 Armor Stand, 13 Steak, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Exter Entry Pass}
[EXP: 41]
Cat-Face the Cat
Christopher Squawken the Parrot
Inventory (Noman): 1 Diamond Sword [Sharpness I], 1 Diamond Chestplate {Severe Shield}, 1 Leather Boots {Bottes Zephyr} [Dyed White], 1 Iron Helmet, 1 Diamond Chestplate, 1 Iron Leggings, 1 Iron Boots, 1 Iron Chestplate, 1 Iron Pickaxe, 60 Nether Warts, 20 Soul Sand, 30 Steak, 1 Flint and Steel, 1 Shears, 10 Cobwebs, 1 Milk Bucket, 1 Water Bucket, 5 Buckets, 1 Bed, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Brewing Stand, 33 Glass Bottles, 4 Packed Ice, 1 Ender Chest, 16 Ender Pearls, 4 Ender Pearls, 3 Phantom Membranes, 61 Glowstone Dust, 29 Gunpowder, 18 Redstone Dust, 61 Blaze Powder, 62 Golden Nuggets, 61 Brown Mushrooms, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Exter Entry Pass}, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {The Art of Peace}, 1 Enchanted Golden Apple
[EXP: 35]
Inventory (Kalmarin): 1 Diamond Helmet [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Chestplate [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Leggings [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Boots [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Mob Head {Skeleton}, 1 Diamond Sword [Sharpness III, Unbreaking I], 1 Map {Paragon Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Gold Citizenship Pass}, 35 Cooked Chicken, 40 Apples, 1 Bow [Power I], 36 Arrows, 12 Ender Pearls, 1 Bed, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Furnace, 40 Torches, 31 Sand, 12 Cobblestone, 21 Oak Wood Planks, 1 Water Bucket, 1 Lava Bucket, 1 Milk Bucket, 43 Coal, 1 Clock, 1 Compass, 1 Iron Pickaxe [Unbreaking I], 1 Wooden Pickaxe {Old Reliable} [Unbreaking III, Efficiency V], 1 Book {Meetup}
[EXP: 37]
AN: Everyone is alive (except the poor horses, but they're always the first to go in video games). Alexandra and Pheodora escape. And Floyd becomes a Level 3. Strength Hack get. Sadly, it's nerfed. Defensive in nature.
I debated about the title. Was gonna title it '3' because it's the third Stigma spawning all the rest and Floyd becomes a Level 3. Strength to Protect is probably better. helps keep track of when Floyd unlocks his Strength Hack.
When writing the scene in the mines, I debated having the nine of them together (Floyd, Soul, Noman, Dyson, Kal, the married couple, the parrot, and the cat. It would culminate in three Hackers forming a shield wall, each one using Strength to stem the tide of Mobs while Noman used the Bottes Zephyr to make a pit in the bedrock. However, I ultimately decided to split them up so Kal could get some redemption by letting Pheo go free and lying to Carys. He knows Carys would just hold them against their will and decides to just let them go. He doesn't get to hold onto them after abandoning Pheo the first time.
The '3' Stigma is still alive. The clones dissipate if no Crafters are in their vicinity or if the original dies, so it's still alive. However, the duplicates will go away on their own and the Stigma will meander off into the obsidian wasteland. If it wasn't already clear, the guards on lookout duty were recalled by XoX to look for Pheo. However, those two would have been out of the village before all this if Carys hadn't tipped off the guards. She doesn't know this and likely never will - same with the Beginners and Paragons.
As for shields and damage reduction, I don't know if anyone ever used a shield in Minecraft, but if you keep it braced against Mobs, you can actually block all damage. The only issue is that your shield's durability gets shredded.
Also, adding Kalmarin to the Inventory List. More to keep track of, but there's a significance to the times I add new people.
This wraps up Carys' half of the Stigmata Arc, but we're not done. Now we get five Chapters of everyone's favorite main character: Cobb.
Carys: The fuck-!?
FAV. FOLLOW. REVIEW. PM. FORUM. DISCORD. CAP'N CRUNCH FRIED CHICKEN.