Tutorial 2.7 was authored by Faria Lyton as a part of Co-Op Mode. This chapter is reposted as part of A Bug in the Game with permission.

Tutorial 2.7

Skipping down the streets doesn't really match my mental picture of Taylor from the last year or so, but I guess she's excited about skill books. I've only been to Book Brothers a few times, but Taylor seems sure it's our best bet for finding a useful book or two for cheap.

"Don't get too excited," I have to warn her. "I've only got about ten bucks in spare change. I doubt we can get more than two or three books for that."

"I've got twenty dollars for emergencies. And this is a book shopping emergency!"

Well, that's my kind of a shopping emergency. Glad she's not the kind to have blown it on a new purse or shoes. "So, what are we looking for?"

We discuss options for a better ranged attack than [Knife Throwing], but can't think of anything we're happy with. Guns, crossbows, and bows are all a bit too lethal. Not to mention how expensive guns and crossbows can get. I could probably carve a shitty bow (hey, maybe I'd get a [Crafting] skill), but it'd be too unwieldy to run around the city with. We consider lassos, bolos, and boomerangs, but neither of us wants to be known for something that gimmicky. Maybe after we've established ourselves with the image we want.

When Taylor asks about martial arts, I fib a little about researching last night. It only took half an hour or so to make sure I was remembering things correctly. And that Cyberpunk 2020 and a few online conversations weren't completely BS. If this is like one of those 'pick one style' games, I want something well rounded, like Jeet Kune Do or Choy Li Fut (if I don't want to be cliche). I'm glad Taylor is accepts my comments on the unsuitability of Judo. Sports have no place in a real fight. I steer her towards Aikido when it occurs to me that a bokken and a bat are close enough to let her keep using her favorite weapon.

Seriously, she's become really attached to that thing in the last twenty-four hours. When I stashed her gear in my inventory I had to convince her to let me store it before we get to the bookstore. I think if I hadn't reminded her that I shouldn't be using my inventory in public and that most stores wouldn't let her in with it she'd still be carrying it.

Book Brothers smells like paper, ink, and mildew. I think I've found a new favorite store. If it weren't for Taylor leading the way, I could spend hours exploring the place. As it is, I'm throwing out [Observes] like it's a mantra. I even earn two more skill levels out of it. I can tell the moment we enter the room she was aiming for. Something like one in three books is described as a skill book. Most are almost useless, though. I can't think of any time I'll need a [Tiddlywinks] skill. "They're everywhere in here. Elsewhere not so much, but I'd say about a third of these are… useful." A grungy old dude who reeks of tobacco smoke is poking at a shelf of [Photography] and [Collage] books. "For a given value of 'useful.' Take this one for example, "If you wanted to learn how to [Pilot, Small Aircraft], this would do it. I don't think it is what we're really looking for, do you?"

Taylor shook her head, but still held out a hand, "Mind if I take a look at it?"

"Sure." There's no reason why not. I start throwing out an [Observe] or two to figure out where the Martial Arts books are while she's looking over the airplane book.

She puts the book aside with a mutter of "No, not exactly what I'm looking for." I find what I'm looking for as she wanders over towards the cook books.

[You've obtained the skill book [Jeet Kune Do]]
[A hybrid martial art with a focus on real-world combat and interrupting the opponent's attacks.]
[Minimum STR: 10]
[Minimum AGI: 20]
[Minimum VIT: 15]
[Minimum WIS: 10]
[Minimum INT: 25]
[Due to your previous knowledge you will gain [Jeet Kune Do] at an increased level.]
[Passively increases speed and damage of unarmed attacks by 20%]
[Passively grants a 2% chance to disrupt the opponent's next attack within a second on a successful hit.]
[Warning! This skill replaces [Brawling, lvl 4]]
[Warning! The practice of [Jeet Kune Do] requires the ability to maintain a relaxed and analytical state of mind even under stress. Skill level in [Jeet Kune] may not exceed character's [WIS] or half the character's [INT]]
[Would you like to learn [Jeet Kune Do, lvl 2]]
[Yes] [No]

I'm short on AGI, but I'd rather spend a few stat points and start using this gloriously bullshit skill now. I'm not even sure how I could grind AGI anyway. Hopscotch? Cat's Cradle?

It only takes a moment to check the alphabetized shelves for a book on Aikido. Well, two moments. I look for "Beginner's Aikido" or something similar in the 'B's before shifting to the 'A's.

"Didn't find anything that I want to buy yet, but I learned something. Did you find your book?" Gah! Ninja-girl! When'd she get over here?

I hold up the book with a grin. "Yeah. It was really popular for a few years, so it's not too surprising to find a copy. It's got some awesome bonuses!" Out comes the Aikido volume. "I also got lucky and found you this," And now I'm probably being pushy. It is her money afterall. "If you want it."

Taylor's eyes flick back and forth as she reviews the skill. "This looks pretty damn good to me. What's a jo and a tanto?"

Jo… that's sounds familiar… oh, right. "A jo is a bo - a quarterstaff, and a tanto is the knife version of a katana."

"Then yes, I'll be ta-" Oh crap. The book breaks into glowing fragments and fades away. Taylor slumps and I grab her elbow just in case. It looks like she's a little overwhelmed. ...it's a little awkward just standing here holding a girl's arm. The smokey old man glances our way, but I guess he didn't quite catch what happened as he goes about his business almost immediately.

As Taylor recovered she reclaimed her arm before things got too awkward, I checked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She doesn't look like there's any ill effects. "I'm even better than fine. I feel good. What a rush." She shifts, almost like she's about to stretch. "That one was just a bit… more than the programming one, you know."

"Not really, but I think I get the gist." I'm not sure since we were sitting last time, but it sounds like it had a bit more oomph to it than the other skills. "[Chinese] was a bit more than what I was expecting." Tobacco man is still within sight. I nod towards him, "He peered over this way, but went back to minding his own business."

Taylor nods back. "Thanks for catching me. Not that I'm complaining, but why did your power have me learn the book?"

"Well, I wasn't going to just watch you tip over." Oh, wait, that wasn't the question. Hmmm. Probably the voice command. Taylor has been using the buttons most of the time so far. "I guess you had the window open and said 'yes'?"

"Right. Lesson learned." And it's her turn to nod again. Lot of that going around. "Watch what we say when windows are open."

Good point. My nodding turn. Come to think of it, learning a martial art this way sounds like kinda I imagined it would feel from watching The Matrix. I'll have to upload it as soon as we pay. On the subject of paying... "So, what are we going to do about the book?" Even as an accident, stealing isn't very heroic. But we can't exactly pay for it and tell them 'my power ate the book'. "You want to leave a five on the shelf or something?"

And there's the Look. What'd I do this time? "What's wrong with that statement?"

What? We leave the money and the workers find the money… after… close. Ah. "Whoever finds it will most likely just pocket it."

"Yup. Book Brothers buys back books-" Yay alliteration! I mean… "for store credit. I'll return some books for store credit later this week and never use five dollars of it. That way I repay them for the book, even if they never know."

"That works." I give Taylor a shrewd look. Huh. She looks a little taller. Ah, the slouch is gone. "I think you're standing differently. So was aikido worth it?"

"Oh hell yeah. It was definitely worth it." There's a bit of barely restrained glee in her tone. "You should get that Jeet Kune Do book."

Well, I really want to. I glance at the price tag. "I'm going to. It's eight bucks." Which is almost all I've got, but it's so worth it.

"You should get it. We're pooling our cash." Well, that's nice. I'm not exactly comfortable with it though. "I already got an aikido book. It's fine. You did buy me lunch, and it wasn't a date. So I'm just paying you back." ...I'll keep it reasonable.

"Right, so... First aid?" It doesn't matter which of us learns that first, we'll both benefit. Unless my [Gamer's Body] makes normal medical techniques useless on me, that is. Can't exactly bandage cuts that vanish immediately or replace missing HP from a bottle.

..ooOoo..

There aren't any useable First Aid books at Book Brothers. There are some full-on medical texts that require 75 INT or more, some alternative medicine books that offer mild buffs only, and a copy of Gray's Anatomy that didn't seem immediately worth the eight dollar price tag. But we'll have to come back for that. Even if I never need it, that kind of raw knowledge intrigues me. We'll have to hit one of those military surplus/Endbringer prepper stores some other day. They usually have First Aid manuals.

We check out a lot of ideas, but most of them are full-on useless, or way too situational to spend our limited funds on. Taylor suggests we see if any of the new-agey, neo-Pagan type books would work for me. It's a bit much like the Acolytes (crazy villains who claim their powers are magic) for me, but I do have MP. As is, there are a few knowledge skills like [Occult Knowledge], and the only real skill book, [Hypnosis], is useless for combat and requires 40 WIS. Taylor isn't interested enough to get it either, especially with the negative connotations these days. Fucking Canary.

After over an hour's browsing, I settle on Jeet Kune Do, Hoyle's Book of Games for [Gambling] and a boost to LUK, and The Art of Blacksmithing, which promises to give me my first level in [Crafting] and a load of blueprints. I don't think I'll ever need to make horseshoes or nails, but it's nice to have the option. And until more blueprints drop from killing zombies, I'll happily settle for some self-made platemail.

Taylor gets the game book, a book for acrobatics, and The Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders. Not sure I get the last one. She seems to know almost everything about each bug she controls. But if she thinks it could be useful...

Our total is almost $30, so Taylor's twenty isn't enough, which means spending the random change I dumped in my inventory this morning. I hate spending loose coins. And I really should have just put it in my pockets. "Taylor, keep an eye out. I need to get my money out of my [Inventory]." There's no pile of change in my inventory. There's no neat stacks of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Instead, there's a little label reading $12.89 at the bottom of the screen. If this is anything like an action RPG, I just need to poke here and-

[Withdraw how much?]
[$ 00 . 00]
[Accept] [Cancel]

It's simple enough to poke the up arrow in the tens column and the accept button. I quickly cup my hands to catch the coins. And a single bill drops into my hands. I tap Taylor's shoulder. "Um… my power just gave me a ten for my change."

..ooOoo..

I love early spring. Not too hot, not too cold, and there's usually just enough clouds to keep my poor troglodytic eyes safe. I could do without the insects, but that's just something I'll have to get over with Taylor around. As she starts skipping down the road (she must be just as excited about the books as I am), I discreetly slide the books into my inventory. A giggle draws my attention.

"I can't believe it! I got a point of AGI for skipping."

Oh, that's just bullshit. And conveniently timed. "Really?"

"Yup. Come to think about it. Why are we just walking? We could jog and work our VIT."

And the sooner we get back the sooner we can learn those books. But it isn't VIT I need right now. "You can jog if you want." I take off at a skip.

"James what are you doing?"

Something about skipping makes it hard to not grin. "I'm skipping. Duh." The incredulous look on Taylor's face makes me laugh a little. "Seriously, I need agility much more than I need vitality. I'm below the minimum I need to learn [Jeet Kune Do]."

She shrugs, "Right." and joins right in.

I hope she's not doing this because she's trying to make me stand out less. I mean, I don't care much if I stick out. "Really, you don't have to skip. If you'd rather jog, then jog."

"No, it's okay," she's getting the skipping grin, too. "I haven't done this in years."

More people should skip. It's the most fun form of ambulatory transit I know.

Taylor's grin turns mischievous. "So, did I tell you I picked up a [Singing] skill?"

We spend the rest of the trip singing Skip to My Lou, which netted me the [Singing] skill and [+2 AGI]. Well, every point counts.

The moment we reached our spot, Taylor slid to the ground and spread into a basic stretch. Oh, hello, happy strip of skin. I'm really not trying to perv, but when a girl's shirt rides up just a touch like that… Eyes just don't want to cooperate. "Hey James. Let's stop and stretch out." Yes, stretching. Good idea. Also pulling her jeans snug. Do go on. "We need to talk." ...ah crap. Eyes front and hope she didn't notice.

"S-stretch?" Okay, act cool. I circle to a less creeper angle and join her on the deck. "Yeah, I guess we really should." I copy her side-toe-touch thing. I really don't know what these are called.

She nods at me as she switches to her right leg. I follow along. Safe! ...I hope. "Well, first thing is this right here. This stretching." Focus on my toes. Reach for the toes. "Ever since I read the aikido book, I've felt like it was something I needed to do. And now that I'm doing them. my body feels wrong. Too stiff. I feel like I should be far more flexible than I am."

Nothing wrong with that. "I guess that really isn't that surprising. Most martial artist are very limber. You have to be to do the moves they do." Limber, that's a good ide… my god, what is with me today? She's stretching center now.

"You're missing the point. I didn't just get the skill. Apparently I picked up some compulsions." The emphasis brings me back to focus. "They're not overpowering, I suppose I could fight them, but I don't want to. Not stretching and being stiff instead of limber is a bad thing. Looking back, I'm amazed I didn't hurt myself when I threw myself into jogging every day without stretching." Oh, she's been jogging? That explains how much higher her VIT is than mine. And how nice her- sonuvabitch! Focus, James! "I have a desire to be limber, but I didn't before I learned [Aikido]. I didn't just learn skills. It changed the way I think."

Let's think. "Hmm." I wonder if [Computer Programming] affected her the same way. "I see. Do you feel the need to drink a case of Mountain Dew and stay up all night coding?" Okay, a little stereotypical, but Pa's told me a few stories about how things get in IT.

"What? No." Taylor looks more offended than that warrants. "I told you that the [Computer Programming] felt more compartmentalized. Like it has its own allocated section of memory. [Aikido] installed itself into my BIOS." We both freeze mid-stretch. "Oh my God, did I just say that?"

"Yeah, you did. I think you just convinced me." This could be bad. "Fuck." But I can't just not use skill books. It's one of the best parts of my power. "I'm still going to learn the [Jeet Kune Do] book after we stretch." Rationalization mode. Buy time. "You found some drawbacks," No kidding. Draw things out, think out loud, "but honestly if you'd learned aikido the normal way, through years of effort, don't you think you would have acquired the same desire for flexibility?" Huh, I have a point there. It's like a few years' jumpstart. "Actually, it might just be that mainlining all that knowledge is a little like spending a few weeks," Too short, "Or months focusing on the one thing. I can't say for sure, but I'd guess things will," Might, "Normalize in a few days as things sink in." And maybe things could get balanced out. "Or when more skills get added."

She takes a deep breath, drawing my eyes down and highlighting how much of a sweat she'd worked up skipping across town. Huh, I'm not sweaty. At all. Score another one for [Gamer's Body]. "Okay, I see where you're going." She resumes stretching. Back to copying her." So, by that logic if I'd spent the time to learn [Computer Programming] to the level the book gave me, then naturally the vocabulary would creep into my language. So, there are changes, but they're due to learning the skills quickly?"

Well, that's what I hope. "Right. At least I think that's right." And that reminds me. "Anyway, [Gamer's Mind] is already changing the way I think. Plus, when I swapped out the [Apprentice Undead Hunter] title, I could almost feel a hatred for the undead draining away. Maybe we just need to watch each other. Like spotting in lifting weights. We keep each other honest. Make sure we don't get overwhelmed, keep an eye out to see if the side-effects wear off in time or not."

"Good thing we're partners then," she says, relieved.

I toss in a few extra dips at the end of the stretching, just barely eking out one last point of AGI. I've never spent points before, so it's a bit of a wrench, but [Jeet Kune Do, Level 2] is completely worth it. And I do have 33 points left if I need them later. Maybe it's the formless nature of the Art, maybe it's the rather large increase in my agility, but I don't feel all that different. [Gambling] has even less of an effect, but [Crafting] is a bit of a surprise. All the techniques, precise cuts and measured hammer blows and finally knowing the lock-stitch; the blueprints, greaves and sabatons and vambraces… I itch to try it all out. It kinda reminds me of the feeling when I figure out what costume I want to make next.

Taylor's doing a neat little front flip. The landing was a little rough, but still. Impressive. I guess she uploaded [Acrobatics], [Entomology], and [Gambling]. We should play a round of poker or backgammon sometime to test that one out.

We take a moment to discuss our new skills before giving them the test in an Illusion Barrier. Well, we take a moment to change back into heroic guise, of course.

Lady Bug doesn't even ask for her bat, she just wades right in, flinging zombies around by turning every sloppy attack against the corpses. Her nets keep us from facing too many foes at a time, and she's throwing the undead into each other like some absurd (yet totally functional) form of humanoid bowling.

I'm having a little harder time of it than her. [Jeet Kune Do] isn't really giving me a lot of options for turning my enemies' attacks against them. Or even for avoiding them. I mean, occasionally I get a flash of insight as I'm throwing a punch that let's me know I've ruined the super-telegraphed strike coming from the zombie I've just pummeled. The real benefits come from needing nearly no space to wind up a punch and the sudden grasp of brutally effective low kicks. I've got twice as many limbs to strike with and if/when a zombie gets right up in my face, I've got plenty of room to get a good hit in.

Zombie fighting is great training. [Jeet Kune Do] is up to 5, [Physical Resistance] made it to 5, [Power Strike] is level 10 now (and works beautifully with unarmed attacks), [Light Armor Mastery] grew to level 3, [Sense Danger] is now at a still useless level 4, and [Dodge] is also level 4. Not only that, but [ID Create] and [ID Escape] finally leveled. Along with two more levels, [+2 STR], [+1 AGI], and [+1 VIT], I'm feeling badass. Taylor tells me she earned three levels of [Aikido]; two of [Combat Mapping], [Dodge], [Entangle], and [Light Armor]; and one each of [STR], [AGI], [VIT], and level.

"I also leveled my [Cryptography] to 6 during the fighting and I'm a good chunk of the way to 7," Taylor brags mildly as I set up our supper.

In combat? "How the hell did you manage to level [Cryptography] while we were fighting?"

Her proud smile looks a little tired. Can't blame her, it's been a long day. "Oh, I had some of my bugs encoding random words into a pig-pen cypher while we fought."

There's only one proper response to that. I stick out my tongue. "You know, you're a cheating cheater who cheats."

Even sandwiches can get old, so I brought a tray of veggies for supper. I think they're leftovers from a party at Mom's work, but the platter is still sealed with both hummus and ranch dip. Never tried hummus before. I quickly discover that it isn't my thing. Taylor doesn't seem to mind it.

"Yeah, but what's to stop you from working [Observe] while you fight? Or maybe I should learn [Chinese] and we could level that just by talking."

"You know, learning Chinese so we can practice together is a pretty good idea, but [Observe] isn't a skill I can grind in combat. I don't need the pop-ups blocking my view." Although, maybe if my [Sense Danger] ever becomes useful. Or maybe I can learn a [Blindfighting] skill… Something to think about later.

The rest of the meal was spent discussing where to get money to buy more skill books and ways to abuse Taylor's [Multitask] skill. Way too many ways to take advantage of that. I get a great idea to try and make an Area of Effect Damage Over Time skill using her bugs so we can do some serious farming for zombie parts. There's only two problems - Taylor's not really excited about probably leveling up again and she usually doesn't have enough bugs in the barrier to pull of my idea.

Which leads to a new idea. I can't store live bugs in my inventory, but any sitting on us when we transition come along. Arm already raised for opening the barrier, I patiently wait as Lady Bug layers both of us with as many insects as she can gather. We're more ambulatory balls of bugs than human by the time she runs out. I think the trickle of crabs joining at the end is just her needling me for demanding as many 'critters' as possible. "[ID Create]"

It works. As silence falls, millions of insects exploded off of us to attack half a dozen zombies in sight and doubtlessly dozens of undead in the distance. Lady Bug's skirt-nets trip and ensnare corpses as we clear out the nearest enemies. Her bat is back in use, [Rising Strikes] throw a few zombies into the air and I give them each an unarmed [Grounding Strike], usually with an elbow. It's fun, but [Power Strike] is easier and does more damage. And tripped zombies barely last a moment before getting a bat-delivered [Finishing Blow].

"Immediate area clear. I've got three on hold with [Entangle] on the ship and bugs on forty-two others throughout the zone," she reports as the last of the initial swarm fades. "My bugs are chewing as best they can, but is it doing anything?"

I can already see their health bars slowly shrinking, but more information is always welcome. There's a few cocooned zombies nearby. "[Observe]."

[Zombie Lvl 6]
[HP: 494/600 MP: 37/37]
[A walking corpse. No matter how it died, it hates the living, attacking and eating their flesh. Although it's slow, its strength is twice as much as when it was living.]
[Current Effects: Swarmed DoT]

"Yeah, it's working. It's showing up as a DoT effect and its hit points are slowly going down. Does that mean you got the skill?"

We both clear a few pop-up during the lull. "Oh yeah. I got!" Perfect. "I even get to name it."

I'm a little jealous. With her powers she can invent new maneuvers like this and make up amusing skill names for them. I doubt 'hit them in the face twice then the chest' will ever count as a nameable skill. "So what did you name it?"

"Swarm of Doom!" Wow does she sound pleased! "Does pretty much what you'd predicted, AoE and DoT… speaking of the DoT, how fast are the zombies going down?" Lady Bug pauses to scoop up a few [Soul Shards].

A quick ten-second count off my watch and a few [Observes] to get exact numbers. The math is simple enough, but I double check that it's consistent between targets. And how long that would take to kill them. "Looks like 2 to 3 HP per second, maybe five or six minutes and you'll take down every zombie in the zone."

"Okay, that's cool," her voice sounds pleasantly surprised. "So… smash a few while we wait?"

"You bet." I wasn't exactly planning on just standing around waiting. And this [Jeet Kune Do] stuff is fun. The nearest netted zombie will do. "That one."

As their health was whittled away, each zombie took fewer hits to down. Shortly, even a weak punch is one-shotting them. "They're going now," Lady Bug announces. "There goes three, seven, fifteen, half gone now, but starting to get some fresh spawns." Infinite zombies would suck in the real world, but here in my Illusion Barrier, it just mean that the party don't stop. "Three originals left. Two. One. Gone."

With no threats in range, we both get some delayed alerts. I only got another level in [Jeet Kune Do] and [Power Strike], but it looks like Taylor's got a decent number of pop-ups. I'm guessing [Swarm of Doom] just got several levels.

"Shit. We didn't think this through."

"What do you mean?" Zombies die. We loot. Woot. What more is there to do?

"I killed forty-two zombies across the zone. We've got 23 piles of loot scattered all over the place, and one of them is a blueprint. Are we just going to write that loot off?"

"Oh," Fuck. And there's the downside to ranged attacks, especially AoEs. We can't just hole up in our nice safe bottleneck if we want our loot.

"Yeah, oh."

"I hate to leave the loot. Especially a blueprint." I don't even have to know what it's for. I'd take a blueprint for [Undead Flipflops] if it dropped. And we've been handling them easily now that we've leveled our combat skills. "We've gotten a lot better at killing them, and with your [Combat Mapping] they can't really sneak up on us."

"True." The crown nods. "We'll go get them and use my new [Swarm of Doom] to soften them up."

"Cool. Yeah, we should be good," if not great. We've got this. "Let's kill some zombies."

..ooOoo..

This may not have been my best idea. The zombies haven't had time for [Swarm of Doom] to chew down their health much and I'm pretty sure they're spawning faster now. Three or four zombies at a time is more than I can take without them getting in a few hits. And I'm burning through MP too fast to keep using [Power Strike] to finish them quickly. Thank God Taylor's holding back the horde some with [Entangle].

The falling darkness is just making things harder. Not only are the zombies spawning at level 8 now, if it weren't for Lady Bug's white and gold outfit reflecting the fading light, I might have hit her a few times on accident. I'm just about to switch to the [Firefly Augment] when she pops two glowsticks and has some flying insects float them over my head. Huh. I've got Ioun Stones. She's also marking some of the undead with fireflies. I try to avoid crushing her likely limited supply as I pummel the zombies, but I end up with glowing fists regardless. ...I bet this looks badass…

We're almost back to the tugboat we started on when Lady Bug suddenly stiffens. "James, something is happening…" There's a certain wary tone to her voice. "More and more zombies are spawning, a bunch more, and they're all converging on a single point, and it isn't us." She points off in the distance. Thankfully, the point she's indicating isn't that close to us. "They're… merging." I can see it a little now, dark shapes climbing on top of each other and melting into a huge form. It kinda looks like a giant zombie. "What is that thing?"

My question exactly. "[Observe]."

[Legion Zombie, Level 34]
[HP: 15192/15200 MP: 1200/1200]
[Assembly of zombies full of resentment. When a large amount of zombies feel threatened due to mass hunting, they merge into a Legion Zombie. It has no magical abilities, but has immense strength and stamina. It is, however, very slow.]
[Current Effects: Swarm of Doom]

[Danger!]

"Oh SHIT!" Fuck! "It's a boss! Legion Zombie." Okay, the name isn't really useful. "Level 34!"

That explains it well enough. She grabs my hand. "James get us out of here! Now."

While some testing earlier showed that while loot left in a Illusion Barrier was lost forever and that bugs left behind would pop out in a few minutes, there's no I'd leave her alone with that thing for a second. My other hand snaps up and I bellow, "[ID Escape!]"

[You cannot escape from this area.]

My heart drops so far it almost nuts me. We're trapped. "Fuck! We're locked in until we kill it!

"Or maybe you're too low level with that skill," she almost begs. Fat chance of that working. Most games don't allow escape from boss fights. "Keep trying! I'll stall it." The heroic form of Lady Bug faces the putrid colossus. Countless dark specks gather around the massive form as she directs every insect she has towards it. It took over five minutes for her bugs to take down a [Zombie, Level 8]. I'm sure the increased surface area means more room for the insects to damage it, but still. It has a lot of health.

"[ID Escape!]" I try to force more… energy into the skill.

[You cannot escape from this area.]

No dice. And the monster is almost to us. If we don't get somewhere safe we'll be a smear on this things feet in less than a minute. "It's not working and we can't stay here. Come on! Let's get to the ship!"

"No, the ship's a deathtrap," Taylor immediately corrects. "That thing's too big, and the water's not that deep. He could wade in after us and we'd have nowhere to run. We need to circle around and give my bugs time to wear it down." She starts pulling me away from the Legion Zombie.

Running in circles isn't sustainable. The land forms an irregular semicircle and neither of us can exactly run on water or jump from ship to ship. We're able to run a hair faster than the beast's lumbering stride, but lose a little time scrambling over or zipping around smaller ships. Thankfully it can't just climb over the biggest ships.

"James? How fast is it going down?"

What does she expect? It's hasn't been that long. "Slowly." There's a bit more fear and bite in the word than I meant to share.

"How slowly?" Taylor guides us through a close turn.

"Too slowly. Taylor, it has over 15,000 HP. Your bugs are hurting it a little, but it will take hours at this rate." My first estimate was an optimistic forty-some minutes, but the enormous creature is slowly regenerating health. We could be here all night. It seems that [Gamer's Body] might let me do that, but Taylor wouldn't be able to. Maybe if I carried her? Would that let me grind STR and VIT? That may not be a bad idea… Nah. At least, not now. And maybe with weights instead.

"James I have a plan," Taylor offers in an uncertain tone. "It's risky, but it just might get us out of here alive. If you have any bright ideas to bring to the table, speak up now."

"I've got nothing but hit it 'til it stops moving, try to not die." It's better than waiting, but only barely. "You really have a plan to kill that thing?" I hope it's good.

"Your power thinks so. It gave me a [Tactics] skill for thinking of it." Her plan is simple but should work great. "I think it could work. We might actually live through this."

I've already decided to do it, but that wording sounds familiar. Really familiar. Ah. I got it! "I love your plan! I'm excited to be a part of it! Let's Do It!" I start laughing, but Taylor doesn't get it, so I reign it in quickly. "Seriously, it's a pretty good plan." But there is room for improvement. "I do have one suggestion to improve on it though."

"Spill it. I'm open to anything at this point."

If she ever meets my family, I'll have to warn her about saying things like that. "Before we do anything else I think we should switch back to [Apprentice Undead Hunter] and spend all our unsaved points on our stats." 30% boost to attack and defense could be just the thing to tip the scales in our favor. "Saved points won't do us any good if we're dead," Well, I think they won't, and I'm not willing to test it, "and the points I dropped on AGI earlier made a lot of difference."

"Hell yeah, we should do that!" It's odd hearing so much emotion from behind her faintly smiling white mask.

We don't really have time to stop and spend points carefully, but I know what I need. [+5 WIS] to start. Really should have done that earlier. 28 left. If that thing hits me I'm dead, even if I dump all my points into VIT. So putting any there now would be a waste. I guess 'fast' and 'hard' are what I need now. [+13 STR] and [+15 AGI]. My points, I'll miss you!

Taylor is already done spending her points. She leads the way as we keep running, but at least this time we have a goal. The bugs that couldn't even find room on the Legion Zombie start forming rough imitations of a human form to try and draw it off. I'm not sure if the monster can sense something off as it gets nearer them or what, but they never hold it's attention for long. Totally worth it, though. Every second counts while she frantically ties her skirt- and cloak-nets into one long rope.

A long straightaway hedged in by junk piles gives us our ambush point. "Right, James. This is where we split up. Follow the bugs to your hiding spot."

I want to say something about never splitting the party, but it's the best plan we've got. "Good luck, Taylor."

"Good luck, James. [Stealth]" she turns and sneaks away.

Voice commands are weird. Especially for that. "[Stealth]" But if it works… I find a slightly elevated hiding place by following the firefly trail. It might not be the most concealed spot, but it's a good angle for the ambush. Holding perfectly still as the Legion Zombie thuds on by highlights just how much [Gamer's Mind] is affecting me. The only time I've ever been more scared was at Fugly Bob's, only two days ago. And yet, no shaking. I'm ready and in control.

A much louder impact shakes the ground as Taylor's plan moves to the next stage. Springing from cover, I see the colossus brought low, a silken rope binding its ankles. I wonder if this counts as [Entangle] or if Taylor's getting a pop-up for [Giga-Entangle] right now.

"[Finishing Blow!]" Taylor screams as she smashes its right knee with her bat. And that's the focus of the plan. No other skill we have can deal out that level of raw damage. Sure, it's a little absurd to use more than one 'finishing' attack in the same battle, but it's not against the rules.

Punching where she's hitting with her bat would probably just get me clonked, so I focus on the left knee. Going unarmed lets me fire of more attacks per second, but calling out a [Finishing Blow] for every hit makes more use my new agility than I'd considered. Still, the beast's HP is falling at a respectable rate.

It doesn't last. The Legion Zombie doesn't even try to rise, it just snatches at Taylor.

"Retreat!" she screams, barely dodging. Or is that [Dodging]? Either way, she takes off, chased by the creature. It's amazing how fast it can pull itself along without rising. Scrambling away as fast as she can, Taylor's running out of space.

Dodging is one thing. Running away is another. And it's after her, not me. Hammering away at its legs isn't doing enough to draw aggro. The Legion Zombie reaches out, hand grasping around Taylor's form.

[Jeet Kune Do] draws my attention to a point on the monstrosity's ribs. "[Finishing Blow!]" Its hand twitches shut just short of my panicked friend. And it turns.

Goodie. I've got it's attention. Why did I want it again? Run away!

Taylor takes advantage of the opening to attack it from the rear. And that's the turning point. A little trial and error gives us a good rhythm, holding the enormous zombie's attention and running in turns. It still takes a good quarter of an hour to bring it down to a mere sliver of health.

A thought strikes me during my turn running. …you know, boss monsters usually drop awesome loot… and luck can give us a little extra edge on that… "[Inventory]. [Golden Scarab Augment]." The second command is superfluous, but just feels right. The weight from my helmet lessens and shifts as the [Hunter Beetle Augment] switches away. I try to ignore the fact that I'm suddenly the shiniest combatant present.

Call it a impulse brought on by the wardrobe change, but I turn early and charge the Legion Zombie, catching it by surprise. Both fists take it in the eye together as I trigger the last two [Finishing Blows] I can afford. It's not enough. I barely backpedal fast enough to avoid flashing teeth. A bite. It tried to bite me!

As I freeze from sheer audacity of it, the humongous monster finally shudders and dies. I'm still staring at the dissolving body when I register a strong impact to my chest. Before I can panic, I feel Taylor's arms wrap around me and it finally sinks in.

We won.