Chapter Twelve - Fighting in the Dark

I paced before the space the portal had opened in last time, waiting. I had set my Save to when I entered the building, but didn't dare set it any later than that. If I couldn't do it, then I didn't want traces of me even trying.

I might have to change the spot where I used my Save later, but for now, safe came before sorry.

Eventually I felt the same sensation, the portal opening, magic suffusing the air. That's when it hit me... the magic I'd absorbed last time hadn't come back with me at all.

Damn.

Not unexpected. Nothing physical came with me, unless the neurons in my brain were physical as well... whatever. Point was, nothing physical came with. Magic wasn't physical, only it sort of was, maybe. It had tangible, physical effects.

I couldn't cheat and stand in a portal for a hundred loops, then return to the start with overwhelming magical might.

It wasn't surprising, but it kind of sucked. I'd live with it, though.

The portal snapped open, and I waited for a minute as it settled and as my nerves calmed down. This was it.

No point in hesitating. If I was lucky and good, I'd be in and out within an hour, two at most, and and gone before the team arrived. I was on a deadline.

So I screwed up my courage, not wanting to regret it if I just stood there, and leapt through.

I landed awkwardly on the other side, foot catching on some loose stones underfoot and I almost went spiralling.

The first thing that struck me was the smell. The laundromat had stank of soaps and bleach. This place smelled musty, natural, like wet stones. Or something like that. I was a city girl through and through, so the scent wasn't entirely familiar to me.

I blinked, then squinted as I tried to take in the space I was in. It was dark. Not cave dark, exactly, but not well-lit. A few glowing pieces of lichen stuck to the walls in some spaces, and light poured out of the portal, but that was it for illumination.

"Shit," I muttered. I couldn't see anything in here. D-rankers were supposed to have phenomenal night vision, but I supposed that I wasn't there yet.

A shuffle behind me had me turning, then I felt my blood run cold.

There was a monster in the corner. I saw a flash of claws, and a toothy jaw as well as some fur, then it ran to the side, padding across the rocky ground to disappear behind... a stalagmite? Stalactite? I never learned to tell the difference.

I fumbled my knife out of its sheath, happy that I'd practiced the motion at home.

This was it. My first fight to the death since coming back.

There had been lots of those before, during the breach. A few before that too, with escaped monsters, but that had been small fry, and I'd tackled them with a team of moderately-well-equipped E-rankers.

I didn't feel nearly as confident now.

"Come on out, little guy," I said before I started to circle around.

The room was about twice the size of the main space of the laundromat, which wasn't to say it was huge, but it was large enough.

I kept an eye on the pillar, waiting for the creature to come out.

Which is why I didn't see the second one until it was almost on me. All that saved me was a flash of teeth in the dark.

I gasped, turned, and stabbed forwards, but the motion was quick and abortive and from a poor angle.

The monster crashed into me jaw-first, teeth clamping down on that oversized coat that Jane had given me. I felt its mouth squeeze. It couldn't bite through, but that didn't matter when it could crush all the same.

I screamed, then started stabbing.

I was punching into something. Fur? Blood flew, none of it my own. Then the monster shook its head like a dog shaking a toy, and I found myself fighting to keep on my feet.

Then the other monster was coming.

I grit my teeth, shifted my arm up and around so that the head was pointing upwards, then jammed my knife into the monster's neck. It gurgled, mouth going slack as blood poured from below.

It was just in time to be able to swipe at the nose of the second monster, but it too, crashed into me. I'd tried to spin out of the way, putting some vague judo practice into use, but I ended up on the ground anyway.

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So I spun, and started stabbing. A few strikes missed outright, hitting dirt, but some stabbed into flesh.

The thing rolled, teeth gnashing, clawed paws swiping at the air. One of those hit me in the face, ripping my mask halfway off and cutting into my cheek.

It died, though. A few more stabs and it went silent.

I was left panting, feeling as though I'd just run a marathon. My left arm felt impossibly sore, and my hands were shaking. Some rocks had dug into my side uncomfortably as I rolled, which was a stupid detail to focus on while bleeding from the face.

"Crap," I said as I turned over and stood onto shaky legs. I looked around, seeing if there was more, but the coast seemed clear. It had seemed clear earlier too.

What was I fighting?

I looked down, then gingerly grabbed one monster by the ankle and pulled it back, closer to the portal.

A kobold?

Not the draconic kind. This one was all fur, with a face like a hideous dog's. Smart eyes, glassy now, and a thin strap of leather that ran from one shoulder down to its hip as a sash filled with long fangs poking through it.

"Damn," I muttered.

This was one of the 'easier' monsters to face. Not much stronger than a dog. Actually, a little weaker than some dogs. This one was emaciated and thin. It probably only weighed half as much as I did. Standing up, it came to my collar, which probably made it shorter than some of the bigger dog breeds on Earth if they were 'standing up'

Standard operating procedure for these was... what was it? I'd just read it. I think flashbangs disabled them almost completely. The noise deafened them, turning their delicate hearing into a weakness. Strong scents, and things like pepper spray, were semi-useful as a distraction.

And shooting worked too. They were E-rank threats. A 9mm round to the face would do them in as well as any normal human.

I checked my coat, wincing at the ugly bite marks on the arm. That wasn't great.

Functionally, I knew that my plan to get in here and walk out unscathed would mean several repetitions where that wasn't the case, but it still sucked to be in one of the 'bad' loops.

I wasn't as prepared as I needed to be, however. I needed light. Lights, even. Standard Luna Corp kit came with pretty strong glow sticks and a pair of flashlights, and I could see why. The lichen in here was decent at providing just enough light to turn every shadow into a monster.

Cursing myself, I brushed off my injuries, then looked the kobolds over. E-ranked, so no cores. At least I wouldn't have to fish around in their corpses, that was nice. Some places harvested everything from a portal, including corpses, but I didn't feel like it was worth it in this case.

No, better to keep moving.

But first, scouting. That was the goal of this one.

I walked along the room, making a spiral of sorts, documenting in my mind the position of the pillars and the looser stones on the ground.

There were two exits to the room. One I decided to call 'north' the other 'east.' East was narrow and tight, half-hidden behind a pillar. North was wider, straighter, and seemed to eventually lead upwards and into what looked like it might have been another room.

"In for a penny," I muttered.

I'd never liked that line. Pennies had been out of circulation since before I was even born.

I went down the tighter 'east' corridor... for about a dozen paces before turning around. I heard something in there, and there was no light.

I might've been too cowardly for this job.

So, I went 'north' instead, taking the upwards slope nice and slowly. There was a room above, large, mostly cleared of pillars and such. There was a pond to one side where a pair of kobolds were lapping at water, and to the other side another entranceway. A few rocks were stacked up into the semblance of a small hut, though one with a roof made of sticks and leaves. I could see another kobold sitting there, knapping at a stone to make a knife.

I took a deep breath, then moved in.

***