Fall of the Black Seraph: The Complete Genesis Game Collection, page 59
Yet, for all the evidence of a lively social gathering, Luca was only met with silence. Every person in the room had stopped doing what they were doing. Whatever partying, camaraderie, and revelry had been going on instantly stopped, replaced by openly hostile looks directed his way as the entire room filled with guild members from each of the guilds edged their hands towards weapons, ready to attack him at a moment's notice. Luca’s blackened wings stirred all of them into action before being waved off by the guild leaders.
"As you can see," commented Dominic dryly as he passed through the doorway onto the guild floor, "Our guilds take security and the presence of strangers seriously."
Luca tried to pass through the same doorway but found his wings didn’t quite fit, eventually having to duck under the doorway to keep up with the group. Awkwardly trying to maneuver his wings, that even when folded up against his back had proved to be somewhat of a problem. His struggle elicited a round of ill-meaning laughs from everyone. His embarrassment broke the tension aimed at him, even as undercurrents of hostility could be felt, and suspicion of him clearly remained.
"Easy there, Luca," said Dominic with a laugh as he turned to help Luca get through the doorway before looking towards the joint membership of the guilds with the look of authority, signaling the lot of them to quiet down. "Everyone, this here is Luca. He’s going to be joining our little family. If you get the chance to make sure to go ahead and introduce yourselves sooner rather than later. We want him to feel at home in our guild family. He's a prospect, and we are very interested in him."
Towards the back of the room by the stairs leading up to the guild offices, a big man with a bushy trimmed beard wearing riot gear sat his beer down and shouted through his hands. "Hey, newbie. Chaos blows. Go big with Legends. I’ll take you out and power level you to ten if you join us in Legends. You can even be in my squad. I’m John the Younger."
A series of "Ooooohs" and "Boos" were shouted across the room. Dominic and the other guild heads rolled their eyes as all manner of formality broke down. To Luca, the whole affair seemed surreal but had normalcy to it that he craved. They’ve already convinced me, admitted Luca to himself. I want this.
A thin-looking woman in a plain-looking black jumpsuit that was tight on her body, hiding her features beneath protective armor, raised her head up from the table and spoke. "If you think you can keep up with Chaos, you can join my team. I'll do more than power level you to ten; I'll teach you how to use weapons, not just one of them, but most of them."
With a big grin on his face, John challenged the offer. "That's not a bad deal, kid, but I'll sweeten the deal if you join my team. I don't care about which guild you belong to. I'll teach you a class. I'll teach you all the ways I know to be a tank and how to keep your teammates alive. Usually, I charge big money for that. It’s how I pay my drinking tab, and I’m offering it to you for free."
As Luca considered the choices, Dominic held up his hands to silence the group. "He'll have plenty of time to make up his mind. But for now, our leaders need to have a private chat with him, so make sure you brush up on your pitches in the meantime. I'm 100% positive. He's gonna be one of our heavy hitters. We’ve landed a Marlin."
I think I already know what my answer is going to be team-wise, thought Luca. "Can either of you teach me how to use a spear to fight?" asked Luca as he humored a fantasy of himself in dragon armor, the long spear in hand facing off against a horde of monsters, preparing to split the very earth in combat. Luca looked at each of the two team leaders longingly. The entire room erupted in laughter.
"Typical rookie power fantasy. We're Americans, well most of us, and none of us know how to use a spear. This ain’t a video game, kid. Besides, all those types died in the first wave," laughed John in good humor.
"Are you done?" interrupted the Gemini twins in unison as they walked through the room, pushing past Dominic and Luca. Both of them headed towards the stairway in the back that led up to the guild officers quarters. The room quieted before them as guild members whispered amongst themselves; something seemed off.
Shaking his head, Dominic replied, "Yeah. We’re done. Let's go." As he grabbed on to Luca’s hand and dragged him along up the stairs before disappearing behind the door as Kevin followed behind. In their wake, the members of the two guilds who had seen the abrupt change began to theorize and gossip about the newest prospect.
Chapter 12: Officers Lounge
The five of them went up the stairs into the sequestered Officer’s Quarters, leaving behind the chaotic comradery that the members of both guilds seemed to share in. As he went up the stairs, Luca felt a sensation of dread, a sixth sense of danger approaching. Stay alert. Stay alive. Listen to your gut. Right, that’s something Dad would say, Luca thought to himself, knowing that some part of him was noticing something, some detail that he wasn’t consciously aware of.
Luca was on guard as he stepped through the door into the Officer’s Quarters, unwilling to dismiss the feeling of unease that had crept upon him. The first thing Luca noticed about the room was that it was sparingly furnished and reminded him a lot of the apartment he and his dad had after his mom had passed away.
Handmade posters were hung on almost every wall, filled with necessary observations about the World Dungeon and how to survive within it. Luca didn’t take much time to look. The information seemed to be mostly conjecture, though it was good to learn that most people gained two stat points per level and started out with 1 stat point in each category. If true, he was already many times more powerful than most people.
The rest of the room was somewhat plain. The room had a long table made of warped plywood that sat off to the right side of the room, bordering a small kitchenette that Luca guessed comprised the guild officer’s breakroom or common area. In the middle of the room was a round table filled up with maps, drawings, site sketches, reports, and notes scattered across it. One thing stood out to him about it. I’m guessing most of these maps are for this place, but it looks like they have got a few current maps of the surface, Luca thought to himself.
"Are those maps from home?" Luca asked, pointing towards a map with familiar roads and city names with long red lines drawn all over entire regions, while larger sections of the map were etched in black.
Keira responded, walking over to the map to make sure she was referencing the correct one. "Yeah, this one’s from home. It’s localized, heading from Perimeter down into Newnan. You see these red lines? That’s as far as we’ve been able to scout when we’ve sent teams back to the surface. Honestly, it's rougher up there than down here. At least the first floor seems to be leveled. Upon the surface, we’ve heard rumors of monsters everywhere, monsters entirely beyond what we're currently capable of handling."
"Word on the street is Atlanta is completely overrun with the undead while the National Guard and the Army hold strong down towards Columbus. We’d like to help more, even help to evacuate and relocate people here, but so far, every time we’ve offered to help, the offer has been shot down. They don’t want to believe there’s an entire inner world on the other side of the gate. It’s just too much for them to believe," explained Layla, shaking her head at the thought.
"You can’t fault them for thinking that," interjected Dominic, his voice tired. Luca surmised this was a conversation the four of them frequently had. "The gateway continually spews out the very monsters that are ravaging the world above and like it or not, admit it or not. The four of us know what’s going on. It's like the Dungeon is trying to herd all of humanity into it by making the rest of the Earth uninhabitable. It’s hell up there."
They all turned to look at Kevin, expecting him to chime in with his opinion, but he shook it off, looking directly at Luca and shrugged. Ah, he wants to be a dick because he thought I blew him off. Whatever, thought Luca, irritated, before looking back at everyone else.
But nobody else spoke up. In the awkward absence of anyone saying anything, Luca distracted himself by reading some of the poster infographics he had seen. Starting with the one regarding personal stats and their effect.
The first poster explained that each stat point was a multiple of their own individual base and that every 10 points represented a 100% increase in that base stat. Notable was the importance of physique as it directly boosted physical stats. If Luca understood the relationship between stats and physique correctly, it meant he was 300% stronger than he had been before the accident. As for luck stat, it was circled, bolded to call attention to it, explaining that luck affected two things, drop rates, and a base modifier on ability price found in the shop but didn't give additional details.
The second poster he looked at was entirely filled with scribbles of rambling thoughts about ability shops. Judging by the ugly scrawl, Luca guessed the handwriting belonged to Kevin. It was still useful information to know though. Apparently, these Ability Shops were found near the entrance of any dungeon floor. Abilities were purchased with Sol, a sort of currency applied directly to a person when they completed quests or killed monsters. Abilities started out rather cheap to buy, but every time somebody purchased an ability, the price of that specific ability would double. A crossed-out note at the bottom hinted at how abilities could be passed between people, but the body of the text was too damaged by black markings for Luca to decipher the details.
"Are you done?" asked Layla impatiently. "It's not often people think they can just zone out and ignore any of us." I’m guessing I won’t be reading the rest of the posters right now, Luca told himself, noticing a sharp change in the body language and demeanor of the Gemini twins and their dwarven cousin. Before he could read some of the other posters, the air shifted in the room, heavy with an element of danger. The two elves looked toward the door, and Kevin walked toward it, blocking the exit as Dominic looked on with concern that things were about to escalate.
The three of them adopted aggressive postures as if preparing for a fight and seeing it excited Luca rather than intimidating him. Dominic seemed to notice that the thought of a fight was energizing Luca, and all he could do was shake his head. "This is completely unacceptable."
Kevin quickly shut the door leading out of the Officer’s Quarters, and with a loud clicking noise, he turned the deadbolt, locking the door so they would not be disturbed by anyone. Luca was unsure of the reason for the sudden change, but his heart fluttered nervously with the unfamiliar excitement at the prospect of violence.
"Alright, kid, we need to have a chat," said Keira, her voice gruff and blunt, dropping any pretense of subtlety. "You’re strong, too strong for just a beginner, and before today I’ve never heard of much less seen you. How did you get the wings? Who did you kill? Which one of my friends have you killed? I've been here for a long time, then you show up out of the blue, and I'm supposed to believe you’re new? No, I call bullshit. Who the fuck are you."
Luca was reminded of Garen's warning and silently thanked the elf in his mind before replying. "I was wearing the wings as part of a costume before entering the World Dungeon; I thought they looked cool. I didn’t expect it to be permanent."
"Heh." Dominic fake laughed, trying to manipulate the mood in the room, even as the twins bristled in anger. The dwarf Kevin shifted anxiously, uncomfortable with the whole thing. "He's not wrong. I would have picked those if they had been a choice instead of my horns."
The twins glared at him, shutting the man up as he retreated away from the group in embarrassment at their behavior and sat down on the couch, watching them. "Don't hurt him," Dominic cautioned. "He should be one of us."
Ignoring what Dominic said, Layla turned to Luca. "So, tell me, kid, did you pick up the costume in the tutorial?" Her tone was leading, though more positive and engaging than that of her sister offering a way out for Luca.
Faintly, Luca could sense a trap and knew there was a wrong answer here but couldn't figure out what else to say besides to go along with it. "Yeah, during the tutorial." While his intelligence was boosted by the World Dungeon, Luca was still naïve and lacking in experience.
Layla's fake smile dropped. "That's impossible, kid. The tutorial was completely abandoned, its powers discarded and given back to the Dungeon, and, kid, I don't remember you from the tutorial. This is the first lie I’ve caught you in, and you know what they say about liars."
Luca panicked, no longer quite enjoying this. Panic flushed his face red. It was true that he had lied, but he protested, "No, I didn't lie to you. I just misunderstood your question."
Keira flicked her hand, and a glowing green circle appeared under Luca, causing thick tree roots to spring up from the floor and bind themselves in spirals holding his legs and body in place. While with her other hand she motioned for Kevin to step forward, saying only, "I don't believe you."
Understanding what was expected of him and obviously not the first time this had been done, Kevin left his position next to the door and walked over to Luca. Kevin looked Luca in the eye, a look of shame and embarrassment on his face. "Sorry, man, it's just business. Nothing personal. Our personal business, you and I will settle another time."
Without warning, Kevin slammed a metal dwarven fist into Luca's stomach. Luca doubled over in pain as he struggled to suck in air, not quite stunned by the blow but still suffering. Though Luca refused to fall down and refused to pass out. Even when Luca had to spit up bile that was pocked with freckles of red blood, he refused to show a sign of weakness. He would not be weak.
Notification: Resisted Ability "Stagger"
Details: The on-hit effect of "Stagger" did not apply due to the player known as "Luca" possessing a higher endurance stat than the strength stat of the player known as "Kevin."
"Hmm? Barely moved and still conscious?" mused Layla, curious, , as if her suspicions had suddenly been proven correct. "That was a straight endurance check. What's your strength at, Kevin?"
Kevin looked at Luca in grudging respect. "My strength is at 18, that should have knocked him off his feet into the wall, rooted or not. So, his endurance is at least 19. That's crazy. There is literally no way he’s new."
"Hmm… that is odd," said Dominic standing up as he tried to carefully appraise Luca before using a scan ability on him.
Notification: Resisted Ability "Advance Scan"
Details: The ability "Advance Scan" has been resisted. The player known as "Luca" possesses a higher perception than the intelligence stat of the player known as "Dominic."
"That certainly is something," admitted Dominic, joining the rest of them in looking at Luca with suspicion. "He has at least two stats that are on our level. That’s impossible for a new player, and it's impossible for most who have been here for a while."
Keira snarled. "See? I told you he wasn't normal. We all started with our stats at 1, and he's already been boosted that far. You don't see the problem here? It's not possible without being a player killer. He's probably been picking people off either here in the Dungeon or on the surface. We need to get rid of him now before he gets away and kills more of our people."
Pulling out a knife, Keira stepped forward menacingly, her desire to kill him broadcasted.
"You don't need to do this, I haven't killed anyone, I just got here today," Luca yelled as he struggled against magical restraints, steadily feeling the tension ease, but knowing it was insufficient, the spell wouldn't break anytime soon. Luca looked around at the other three. "Please, help me. I'm not a killer." But it didn't seem like any of them would help him. Fine, so be it. I'll save myself, Luca thought, he was not ready to die. Luca grasped at the only tools he had available, the memory of the ability he had subconsciously cast in the street of the unfinished summoning of a nightmare and the wings on his back.
Chapter 13: A House Divided
Darkness began to permeate through the very air around Luca as he grasped at the innate power that resided in him, coaxing it to bloom just as his dark wings had done. Luca was hoping for a miracle so he could survive. At the edge of his senses, he felt at the nightmare he sought to summon, but before he could finish, Keira was abruptly stopped.
Dominic had decided to interfere, and with his interference, the spell that Luca was trying to cast, the summoning of the monster failed. I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth, but he really could have stepped up a lot sooner, thought Luca as he dropped to the ground, suffering from painful spell feedback.
