As they headed into the dark the flashlights mounted to their chests shone beams of light through the dusty air, and illuminated a massive nest. The goblins here were dull-eyed and drugged, their mouths exhaling green fog. “Heads up! We've got a Dealer!”

  Dexter swept the room once and fired his Mana-Shot as he found the mob’s boss – the beam of light was blinding in the darkness. It pierced directly through the Goblin Dealer’s chest, killing the poison alchemist before it could spread its toxins and debuffs. Vials strapped to its chest burst open and noxious green fumes spilled into the air.

  With that, the goblins finally awoke from their daze. Their heads twisted about towards the trio and their eyes reflected the flashlight beams, lighting up with an eerie red. There was a scream of rage as the nearest Butcher flung itself forward, snatching a rusty cleaver off the ground and hurling it into a blazing-fast arc of rusty metal twirling through the air.

  The blade thudded into Cameron’s shield and quivered.

  “Battle positions!” Dexter shouted. Cyrus just kept quiet, not volunteering the danger he’d already seen. Never interrupt your enemy when they're making a mistake. He thought.

  “But... that cyst!” Cameron was trying to protest. Dexter was high and chasing the gambler’s thrill of one more round, but Cameron was dead sober. He had seen the size of that Cyst and he knew there was every chance an orc came out of it.

  “Oh, deal with it!” There was no sympathy coming from Dexter as the goblins rushed towards them.

  Cyrus personally made sure to do his level worst at defending the others. Although he swept away the trash assailing him personally, he did nothing to help Cameron. The shield-bearer’s number one weakness was becoming deadly apparent.

  The force field his shield projected only went one way and locked him into position when he activated it, amplifying a shield's natural weakness to being surrounded. As Cyrus purposefully left an opening, a Goblin Butcher swung a spun chain ending in a spiked ball overhead and smashed it into Cameron’s calf. He screamed and plummeted onto his knee – a club smashed him across the side of the head, cutting his cry of pain short.

  In the next moment a blazing Mana-Shot had annihilated the Butcher and two more goblins standing behind it. “Get in there!” The gun swiveled, taking aim at Cyrus. This time, I think he means it…

  “Don’t think that I don't see what you're trying!’ Dexter screamed.

  Gritting his teeth, Cyrus lunged in to save Cameron from being swarmed, charging forward with a quick volley of spear thrusts that skewered one – two – three – four goblins! In the darkness of the cave his volcanic spear shone like a lance of pure fire as he charged past Cameron and converted the momentum into a sweep, swinging his spear out in a wide arc to force the swarm of goblins back.

  But in that moment he had purposely committed a prime mistake. He had approached the mutagenic cocoon beyond the invisible boundary line, and activated it. Something bulged against the surface of the oblong and translucent green pod. Massive fingers scraped against the side of the wall, pushing at the jelly-like substance.

  Oh. Oh – fuck me – oh shit! That's…

  Cameron had seen it too. “Ogre!” It was too late. Even the goblins were screaming and running. A second hand emerged and both grasped at the same point, ripping the pod open with a spray of greenish bile. As the murky fluid inside poured away, the massive head of an ogre with a single cyclopean eye and a single black horn pushed through.

  Holy shit… I've never even seen a cyclops… For a moment, his hand went slack around the spear’s grip. No. No, fear is just an emotion that gets you killed. And I'm not dying today!

  Dexter fired his Mana-Shot. The blue-white lance blasted into the ogre’s chest, making it stumble, but its back foot skidded across the ground and brought it to a halt. The beam had barely scorched its chest. The ogre's mouth opened. Jagged yellow teeth flashed and stalactites of drool shook in its mouth as the giant monster roared, beating its chest like a primate, still wet with the afterbirth. Cameron screamed. He knew exactly what his fate was… with his leg already wounded, he would be left to die so the others could escape.

  But Cyrus wasn't going to be happy leaving only one of his two persecutors dead in this grave. As he retreated towards the door, Cyrus ducked down, swept his hand along the ground and grabbed a chain ending in a spiked ball. Dexter turned and looked back just in time to see the chain winding up momentum, swinging faster and faster overhead. The panicked math ran over his face, visibly calculating what was about to happen.

  In that moment of panic Dexter tried to do something very stupid. He tried to blast out another Mana-Shot instead of just firing a regular bullet. Cyrus saw the energy fizzle out and burn off at the point of his gun.

  The chain swung twice over his head before Cyrus sent it flying forward, spinning through the air and snagging Dexter's feet out from under him. As the lancer toppled and fell to the ground the gun spun out of his grip. Cyrus was already there – his spear flashed twice and Dexter's legs were gone, incinerated at the kneecaps. Leaving Dexter to wail out a blood-curdling scream Cyrus vaulted over him. He was heading for the gun - heading for the exit - heading for safety!

  But at that moment a desperate hand shot out to grab his boot. He stumbled and caught himself, his head snapping around to see Dexter clinging to his leg. Already he was reversing the grip of the spear to stab down into Dexter’s face and have this done with. Better you than me!

  “You’re nothing! And you’ll die here with nothing to show for it, you cocky prick!” Dexter screamed, ripping a hidden dagger from his sleeve. The blade plunged into Cyrus’s kneecap. He hadn’t anticipated a hidden weapon: it was totally forbidden to have even a small unauthorized blade. Even before the shock of pain erupted through his numb system, Cyrus felt the horror of a plan going awry.

  He fell to the ground as his leg collapsed, ruined at the joint. Behind him the ogre was advancing. Three men, none of whom could walk, fought their way for the exit as the knuckle-walking predator advanced after them. It was huge. A titan of sagging gut and muscular arms, built like an ape with stumpy bowed-out legs and huge forearms that dragged their fists along the ground. As they did, the horns of black bone on each knuckle scraped ominous sparks against the stone.

  “Fees high... youse dumb. Something something, ho hum… grind your bones.. make you dead.” Muttering idiotically to itself the cyclops reached down with a single meaty hand. Cameron screamed and threw himself into a final flop forward. It did him no good. That hand closed around his good leg and yanked him backwards as his hands clutched and clawed at the stone.

  “Go die…” Moving faster than something so big should ever have been able to, the ogre swung Cameron up into the air by his leg – and smashed him back down against the ground, snapping him apart. The sound was a gory, watermelon crunch.

  Cyrus had managed to kick free of Dexter by now, and hobble three steps towards the exit before collapsing back down. “You traitorous shit! You deserve this, not me! Why me?!” Dexter howled from behind him. Despite everything, in that moment Cyrus just respected how tough he was. With both his legs cut off and cauterized to ash at the knees, the lancer was still dragging himself for the exit.

  Skill-Grinding… it makes you tough or it makes you dead. Cyrus grabbed the gun off the ground ahead, rolled onto his back, and aimed the barrel down between his boots. Before he pulled the trigger, something dark and angry made him say... “Sorry Dexter. Just your bad luck.” He spat out as he pulled the trigger. In the background, as the sound of the gunshot faded it was replaced by the gory crunching of the ogre devouring its kill. Cameron’s upper body was held in its drool-streaked jaws, his legs still clutched in its right hand. Without much effort it simply pulled him into red strings of meat and started chewing.

  Listening to the slurps and smacks behind him, Cyrus pushed his way up from the ground and used the blunt end of his spear as a crutch to hobble forward. Fuck it buddy, we’re in this together. Spear don't fail me now. I've had you for…. for… for a long time okay? Even his thoughts were starting to dull under the waves of pain from his knee. We've been good to each other. Hell, you’re my only coworker I like!

  “Huh?”

  Behind him, the ogre looked up and grunted. The sound filled Cyrus’ heart with instant ice. It was the sound of an immensely slow and dull brain finally registering that its prey was about to escape. “Heh heh…” It chuckled, bits of Cameron spraying from its jaw. “You no get away…”

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  Acting on pure instinct Cyrus flung himself towards the ground - too late! Cameron's severed legs and hips slammed into his back and sent him sprawling, blood spraying across the ground. The spear fell from his grip as his knee contacted the ground, driving the dagger deeper into it. Cyrus let out a scream of pain as the spear rolled from his grip, teetering on the edge of the pit.

  “Stay right there… meat can’t run, can’t get away…” Happily singing to itself, the ogre reached out for Dexter’s corpse and dragged it back.

  In the backgrounds the alarm klaxons wailed.

  “Realm-Shift in three, two, one…” The tinned speaker-boxes shouted.

  A subrift erupted into being between Cyrus and the ogre. It was like a miniature black hole, an abyssal pearl that bent the light into a swirling disk and swallowed it down, distorting the air around it. As the ogre picked Dexter apart, the body began to drag slightly towards the subrift’s internal gravity.

  “Oh. You want sum, momma?” Casually ripping off a limb, the ogre flicked it towards the subrift. The appendage stretched and distorted into spaghetti as it flew towards the event horizon and went spiraling down with a horrid slrr-lluurup!

  At that moment…

  Cyrus’ spear had stopped rolling for the edge. Pulled by the faint edges of the gravity field, it reversed just as it should have toppled into the pit, and began to slide back towards his reaching fingers.

  Hope blossomed through his chest as, like a miracle, his trusty weapon arrived in his waiting hand.

  I knew I liked you! Grasping hold, he pushed himself up on one arm and turned, fighting to get up on his one good knee and lift the spear up overhead.

  One shot…

  One last shot!

  “Realm-Shift ending in five…”

  The subrift was becoming more and more unstable, sending out translucent gravity ripples and quakes as it began to collapse towards its ultimate result. Maybe a Node. Maybe a Cyst. One way or another, what mattered to Cyrus was this –

  He could never have made the shot normally. He could never have taken down the beast with a single spear throw. But with the rift’s help there was a sliver of a chance.

  It’s a hard maybe, and that’s all I’ve got!

  “Realm-Shift ending in three…”

  In what he knew could be his final moments, Cyrus calculated his angle, numbered his prayers, and shouted –“Hey, bozo! Eyes over here!”

  “Two…

  Without even thinking the cyclops’ head jerked up, its one enormous eye narrowing. “Uh, I’ve only got one…” It began to say, spraying red spittle.

  “One!” The speakers echoed.

  “Then don’t blink!” Cyrus flung with all his might. The spear flew forward, not just thrown by the lever of his arm but drawn forward, accelerating through the air with every heartbeat it spent in flight – being pulled in by the subrift’s gravity field!

  The spear was dropping fast as it flew, and Cyrus had angled the throw high to accommodate for that. As it bent towards the subrift the spearpoint was aimed dead level for the cyclops’ single eye! But even so, even as the spear shot past the rift’s edge with more strength than Cyrus could ever have mustered alone…

  It would have all been for nothing.

  The same gravity field feeding the throw force and speed would have reversed as the spear crossed the threshold, sending the spearpoint into a tumble and wasting all momentum.

  Except –

  “Zero!”

  In that moment, the subrift collapsed – exploding outwards into a wave of mana that broke the gravity field apart, reversing its direction. The expanding wave slammed into the spear’s trajectory and reinforced it. From a mere doubled force, the spear’s flight doubled again, and it was flung forward like a bullet from a railgun – becoming a blazing streak of light rather than a solid weapon!

  As Cyrus watched the dazzling lightshow of the collapsing subrift fade…

  As the mana-flames cleared away, and their lingering light showed him what had happened…

  The ogre stood swaying with his spear pierced directly through its single eye, the point bursting out from the back of its skull. Once, twice, three times it swayed left, then right…

  Before collapsing to the ground with an almighty and earthshaking thud.

  – Ogre Cyclops (Mid-Silver) Killed x1 –

  – Skill Upgrade Progress at 100! –

  – Skill Upgrade (4) Earned –

  – All Boons gain 0.4 Genesis Luck –

  – Skill Boon Progress at 100! –

  – Skill Upgrade (5) Earned –

  – All Boons gain 0.5 Genesis Luck –

  – Skill Boon Progress at 100! –

  – Skill Upgrade (6) Earned –

  – All Boons gain 0.6 Genesis Luck –

  – Skill Boon Progress at 100! –

  – Skill Upgrade (7) Earned –

  – All Boons gain 0.7 Genesis Luck –

  – Skill Boon Progress at 87% –

  Cyrus let out a slow, groaning laugh of relief…

  He really… truly… couldn’t believe his luck. No, his skill. That shot had been all but impossible, but he had done the impossible. He had brought down an ogre with a single spear-throw.

  But as he laughed, and laughed, and laughed, the smallest sound brought him short. It was the sound of a goblin’s mean-spirited snicker, and the padding of greenskin feet.

  Now that the ogre was dead, the goblins were coming back.

  “No…” His laughter turning to horror, Cyrus fumbled with the gun. As the first Butcher rushed him, he blasted its skull apart. As the second one flung its cleaver into his shoulder, he shifted the revolver to his other hand, blood dripping through his fingers…

  Another shot and the second one was dead.

  But there was a third, a fourth, a fifth coming… and Cyrus was out of bullets.

  They were closing in, red eyes glinting on all sides, and Cyrus made a final choice. Far below him in the bottom of the pit, the main rift had yawned open to let out a swarm of lesser monsters. Trash mobs for trash humans to grind. Fodder for the mill that had consumed his life.

  They won’t get… whatever’s growing in my heart. They won’t profit even one more time off me.

  With his last effort, Cyrus rolled himself off the edge and embraced free-fall.

  For a moment, as the wind rushed past him, he thought of his little sister. The money she needed to get through her sickness and go to school and stay alive. The look on her face as they told her the news. He already knew his mother wouldn’t blink. Ever since his brother had died, killed doing the same awful job…

  His mother’s pale, dead eyes had looked at him, and he’d seen himself reflected as a walking corpse.

  Never had a chance. He thought, as he hit the rift.

  He expected to be crushed like a bug by the vice-grip of gravity, squeezed into a cosmic noodle of spaghetti and slurped out of existence…

  But as the void overtook him he heard the System’s clear, emotionless voice.

  – Skill Crystallization Initiated –

  – Initial Value: Silver –

  – 00:00:000 remaining –

  – Skill Upgrade (1) Unlocked! Middle Luck! –

  [ Darkness-Infusion ]

  – Skill Upgrade (2) Unlocked! Meagre Luck! –

  [ +1 Initial Level ]

  – Skill Upgrade (3) Unlocked! Meagre Luck! –

  [ +0.1 Resilience ]

  – Skill Upgrade (4) Unlocked! Great Luck! –

  [ Space-Infusion ]

  – Skill Upgrade (5) Unlocked! Meagre Luck! –

  [ +0.1 Strength ]

  – Skill Upgrade (6) Unlocked! Great Luck! –

  [ Skill Upgraded to Gold ]

  – Skill Upgrade (7) Unlocked! Middle Luck! –

  [ Mixed-Bag Modifier Added ]

  And then, resonating through the darkness all around him…

  A voice Cyrus had never heard before shook the world.

  – A Blessing is Granted –

  – Skill Boon (∞) Unlocked! World-Shaking Luck! –

  [ Skill Upgraded to Abyssal ]