Rexus ~ Chapter 19!

“Before we go in, we should really go over a few things.” Jaxon let go of Jess’s hand and sat down. “Should I be concerned about those people? Are they going to come back? How can we work best as a team?”

“They got what they wanted, and their cruelty is only matched by their laziness.” Jess spat to the side, disgusted with them and the fact that she had been trying so hard to join them. “They won’t be back. As for how I can help in there, unless I get some kind of dagger, I am only going to be useful for tactics and spotting enemies. I think that is your weakness, so at least I can make up for that.”

“I see. Yes, that would be nice. I will be able to help by beating our opponents to death.” Jaxon smiled brightly as he spoke. “To me, not having a hand-covering weapon means that I will need to paint the enemies in my blood as I fight. Perhaps I can make a rudimentary hand wrap with the scraps I was using to bind my open wounds a little while ago.”

“You are so strange, Jaxon.” Jess shook her head in frustration. “I have no idea where you get this attitude. It’s really out of place.”

“Jess, I wasn’t joking a while back. I’m in my nineties in real life. I spent my entire life attempting to master and perfect my chiropractic abilities and built an empire devoted to health and healing. I… I may have been too focused in the past because it was over five years before I found out that I had been voted out of my own company by the board of directors. I was given a pension and a cold ‘thank you for your time’. Then I had no family, friends, or coworkers. I became even more obsessed with perfecting my craft.”

“If you are so down about that, why are you still trying to work as a chiropractor here?” Jess candidly questioned him.

“What are you talking about?” Jaxon cocked his head to the side like a dog hearing the word ‘treat’.

“Well, you still seem obsessed with your work. If it brought you so much heartache, why not find something else to do?” Jess trailed off as she saw him shaking his head.

“You misunderstand.” Jaxon threw his arms to the side and stare at the sky in wonder. “Thanks to this game, someday I can objectively and empirically claim that I have learned everything there is to know! I have the body of my youth back and have strength and a range of movement I never expected! Everything else is secondary to becoming the ninth-level Sage of Chiropractic Care! I’m not sad about my past. Everything has led me to the here and now!”

Still staring up with his arms splayed and chest heaving with excitement, Jaxon had never looked more insane to Jess. She coughed, and he seemed to realize that something was amiss. “Eherm. Tell me… um. Tell me about you?”

She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Not that you care about anything but work, obviously, but I’m thirty, unemployed, and getting deeper in debt so that I can try and make money in this game. I’m in a pod, like any serious player, but the upkeep is ruining me. I used to play games super seriously when I was younger, and I’ve always been really good at setting up raids and player vs player stuff. I’m a strategist and tactician before anything else.”

Jaxon pondered her words for a few moments. “Are you opposed to being a party planner? An agent of sorts, someone who plans that stuff out for groups?”

“If it pays better than what I’ve been trying to do, I’d go for it.” Jess eyed Jaxon, a spark of hope lighting her gaze up. “Please tell me there is an offer or something at the end of this questioning.”

“Sort of.” Jaxon nodded and stood up. “My party is the squad called in by the guild when standard tactics won’t work out, and we are pretty good at being reactionary. We don’t really have any direction, though, and only reacting isn’t enough. If you wanted, I’m pretty sure I could get you a position as our Operations Expert. Set up things for us to do, manage our schedules, tell us what we will need to get through an already explored area, and other stuff like that.”

“What does it pay? Don’t get me wrong, I’m interested, but I have debts,” Jess hedged.

“I’m sure we can work something out.” Jaxon offered her a hand up. She took it and stood with him while the temple door opened once more. “Now, this will likely be harder, especially since you are weaponless, but let’s get in there and win amazing rewards!”

They stepped into the temple together, and the floor fell out from under them. Jess screamed in surprise, but Jaxon simply laughed and enjoyed the ride. It didn’t occur to him till they landed and slid across the floor that she had been able to walk into the place normally before. Maybe he was the reason the floor kept dropping out? Jaxon shot to his feet and looked around excitedly, hoping that there would be a swarm of skeletons he could play with again. Once again, he saw a flaming eyeball appear right before a screen covered his vision.

Welcome Challengers! You have entered the Temple of Tempering! By reaching this location, you have passed the first test. From this point forward, the longer you survive, the greater your rewards will be. When you both die, you will be placed in front of the temple and barred from reentering the duo halls. If one of you manages to survive after the other falls, you will be returned to the room with your maximum health halved if the area is completed. Do your best, for you will not have another chance. The countdown to your death begins… now!

No skeletons were rushing him, no humanoid enemies were around at all. There were ferns filling the room, but otherwise, there was nothing standing between them and the exit. Jess piped up, “Do you think there are monsters hiding in the shrubs?”

“We’ll find out, I guess.” Jaxon strode toward the door, parting the bushes with his confident walk. Jess followed close behind, but they reached the door without incident. “Just… leave, I guess? At least we should get the pacifist award.”

“The what?”

Jaxon opened the door without answering, instantly confused at the message that popped up.

Congratulations, Challenger! Rarity of final reward increased by 1% for completing the first duo survival room without a record.

“Why didn’t we get an award for not taking or giving any hits?” Jaxon muttered aloud while pulling open his combat log.

Awakened Shrub attacks with special ability ‘Terrain Damage’. Hp -0.

…

Awakened Shrub attacks with special ability ‘Terrain Damage’. Hp -0.

Jaxon looked over the list containing hundreds of attacks against them and looked back at the room in a new light. The shrubs hadn’t damaged them, but what were those things going to grow into? He took a step back and reached for one of the plants, only stopping himself from harvesting it at the last second. That… that would be an attempt at using a Herbalism skill, wouldn’t it? That could mess with his potential rewards… 

“What are you doing, Jaxon?” Jess impatiently was trying to peer into the next room, but there was a thin layer of darkness that clung to the opening and didn’t allow for planning.

“Nothing… I suppose.” He returned to her, and they stepped through to the next room together.

Caw! Caw! Caw!

A murder of crows was flying around this room and began dive-bombing the duo as they walked into the room. The first one swiped at Jaxon, getting a fist to the chest for its trouble. It exploded in a spray of blood, notably not even leaving feathers behind. Jaxon had a bad feeling, and tried to tell Jess to stay back. “Stand behind me, small and frail person!”

Whoops, that came out weird. Jaxon decided it was close enough to what he wanted to say, so he began punching the crows as they came near.

Status change: Toxic Blood. Your blood is rotting in your body. -2% maximum health per ten seconds. If you die while under this ailment, your body will be used to generate Blood Borne Crows. Time remaining: 12:00… 11:59…

Thank goodness! At first, he had thought he had a twelve-hour ailment. The crows were swooping at Jess, obviously trying to either infect her with an attack or get her to touch them. Either of these would get them the results they were hoping for. Jaxon charged over and took a beak that would have speared her from behind, eliminating the crow by grabbing it and crushing it against the wall. A puddle of blood formed on the wall and dripped down, but Jaxon had already turned his attention to the others. They were incredibly fragile, but he found that their infection stacked.

Status change: Toxic Blood. Your blood is rotting in your body. -6% maximum health per ten seconds. If you die while under this ailment, your body will be used to generate Blood Borne Crows. Time remaining: 12:00… 11:59…

Drat, it also reset the timer. He was going to die from this for sure. He needed to clean up the remainder before he went down, or Jess would die as well. As the birds swooped down, he recklessly took every hit and doled out a single fist to each of them. The final one exploded into a bloody mist, and Jaxon looked at the counter. 28% health per second. “Good-bye, Jess. See you in a moment.”

Exp: 68 (4 * Blood Borne Crow x17).

Congratulations, Challenger! You have set the record for highest amount of status-impairing effects in room number two! Rarity of final reward increased by 5% for completing the second duo survival room with a record.

You have leveled up! You have reached character level 12! You currently have three free Characteristic points to spend and twelve skill points!

Jaxon was lifted off the floor, and a blast of golden light washed out from him, cleaning the area and removing his illness. He settled back down on the floor and sat down. “Way… too… close…”

Not wanting to wait, he opened up his status screen and added in the characteristic points he had just gained. All three went to Constitution, since he had been taking far too many hits recently. Also, he had been noticing that his intense movements had been causing him pain as his body hit its limit. His hope was that balancing his Con would help fix that issue.

Name: Jaxon ‘Legend’ Class: Monk

Profession: Chiropractor

Level: 12 Exp: 78,001 Exp to next level: 12,999

Hit Points: 430/430 (50+(380)) (Base 50 plus 10 points for each point in Constitution, once it has increased above 10.)

Mana: Locked

Mana regen: Locked

Stamina: 555/555 (50+(315)+(190)) (Base 50 plus 5 points for each point in strength and constitution, once each of the stats has increased above 10.)

Characteristic: Raw score (Modifier)

Strength: 73 (2.21)

Dexterity: 100 (3.0)

Constitution: 48 (1.48)

Intelligence: 26 (1.26)

Wisdom: 35 (1.35)

Charisma: 5 (0.05)

Perception: 21 (1.21)

Luck: 44 (1.44)

Karmic Luck: 0

Exhausted and near death, Jaxon laid on the floor and chatted with Jess for a bit as they waited for his health to refill. Since he didn’t have any wounds, Jaxon’s health returned to its maximum. He stood, nodded, and they stepped into the third room.