Threadbare - Complete Trilogy, page 32
More stalagmite benches surrounded the edges of the cavern, with chicken wire between the cheering raccants occupying them and the pit below. The pit Threadbare was now lying in. He stood up, brushing himself up, and looking around. The slide behind him quickly sealed as soon as he looked at it, a stone door slamming shut as its counterweight tripped. He walked over and poked it desperately, fearing for Pulsivar.
Your Adorable skill is now level 16!
Your Work it Baby skill is now level 4!
Then a ratcheting metal noise came from behind, and Threadbare turned, slowly. The scent of Sandalwood filled his nose, and for a minute his heart leaped…
…until he saw what was emerging from the darkness under the rising portcullis.
Four times his size, with fur of pitch black, and bright-red button eyes, the plush toy was a walking behemoth. It bore a full-sized lumberjack’s axe in both paws, and the weight of it strained the teddy bear’s seams, revealing wisps of stuffing spilling out from stretched thread.
And worst of all, he recognized it.
“Fiyt! Fiyt! Fiyt!” Chanted the Raccants above, and the giant-sized Missus Fluffbear roared, headbutted the wall next to her three or four times, sending up red ‘20s’, and turned to glare at him.
And all Threadbare could do was stare, aghast. “Oh no. What did they do to you!”
Name: Threadbare Age: 5
Jobs: Greater Toy Golem Level 10 Bear Level 9 Ruler Level 4 Scout Level 4 Tailor Level 8 Model Level 3 Necromancer Level 1 Duelist Level 1 Animator Level 3 Enchanter Level 1 Golemist Level 1 Smith Level 1
Attributes: Strength: 86 Constitution: 90 Hit Points: 234(284) Armor: 37(41) Intelligence: 69 Wisdom: 100 Sanity: 169(199) Mental Fortitude: 27 Dexterity: 54 Agility: 64(69) Stamina: 124(158) Endurance: 47 Charisma: 63(68) Willpower: 55 Moxie: 118(153) Cool: 20 Perception: 65 Luck: 57 Fortune: 122(152) Fate: 10
Generic Skills Brawling - Level 22 (+2) Climb - Level 12 Clubs and Maces - Level 9 Dagger - Level 9 Dodge - Level 5 Fishing - Level 1 Ride - Level 7 Stealth - Level 5 Swim - Level 2
Greater Toy Golem Skills Adorable - Level 16 Bodyguard - Level 5 Gift of Sapience - Level NA Golem Body - Level 20 Innocent Embrace - Level 9 Magic Resistance -Level 4
Bear Skills Animalistic Interface - NA Claw Swipes - 18 Forage - 8 Growl - 1 Hibernate - 37 Scents and Sensibility - 15 Stubborn - 7 Toughness - 14
Ruler Skills Emboldening Speech - Level 1 Identify Subject - Level 1 Noblesse Oblige - Level 1 Royal Request - Level 1 Simple Decree - Level 1
Scout Skills Camouflage - Level 1 Firestarter - Level 4 Keen Eye - Level 1 Sturdy Back - Level 5 Wind’s Whisper - Level 1
Tailor Skills Talioring - Level 37(41) Clean and Press - Level 4 Adjust Outfit - Level 2
Model Skills Dietary Restriction - Level 15 (+30 to all pools) Fascination - Level 2 Flex - Level 10 Self-Esteem - Level 10 Work it Baby - Level 4
Necromancer Skills Assess Corpse - Level 1 Command the Dead - Level 1 Soulstone - Level 1 Speak With Dead -Level 2 Zombies - Level 3
Duelist Skills Challenge - Level 1 Dazzling Entrance - Level 1 Fancy Flourish - Level 1 Guard Stance - Level 1 Weapon Specialist - Level 5 (Brawling +2)
Animator Skills Animus - Level 10 Command Animus - Level 1 Creator’s Guardians - Level 6 Eye for Detail - Level 1 Mend - Level 11
Enchanter Skills Appraise - Level 1 Glowgleam - Level 1 Harden - Level 1 Soften - Level 1 Spellstore - Level 1
Golemist Skills Command Golem - Level 1 Golem Animus - Level 1 Invite Golem - Level 1 Toy Golem Construction - Level 1
Smith Skills Refine Ore - Level 1
Equipment
Apprentice Tailor’s Apron (+4 armor, +4 tailoring) Poor Quality Bling Baggy Pants of Hammerspace (+5 AGL, +5 CHA, Allows hammerspace for one blunt weapon)
Quests
Save Celia
Unlocked Jobs Cook, Tamer, Wizard
Getting Your Bearings 3
In a deep stone pit, ten times his size, with chicken wire lining the top and a cheering raccant audience calling for blood, a little teddy bear looked upon the twisted form of the one he’d come to save, and despaired.
For about a second. There was murder in his enraged comrade’s button eyes, and he needed to do something about that. “Command Golem! Stop and stand down.”
It was the first time he’d ever used that skill, but he was pretty sure the words that followed made no sense at all.
Invalid target!
What? Why?
Then she was charging, and her axe caught him in a sideswing, knocking him off the rounded side of the pit, to tumble several yards away in the arena. He shook his head as a red ‘21’ rolled up from his wound. Suddenly all that time leveling flex seemed time well spent.
“Command Golem! Missus Fluffbear stop!”
Invalid target!
Okay, no, something was going on here. But the enraged black teddy bear was charging for him again. Threadbare dove to the side…. But got clipped anyway, as she kicked him this time with claws roughly about four times the size of his own.
12 hit points later, Threadbare stood back up again. He needed time to think this over and she wasn’t going to give it to him. But fortunately he was much, much stronger for his size, and much, much more nimble than he had any right to be. Not gymnast class, not anywhere near that yet, but far more than most. He ran and jumped, catching the bottom of the chicken wire lining and boosted himself up, out of her reach.
Your Climb skill is now level 13!
Instantly the crowd started booing him, and throwing nuts, bits of moldy bread, and the other snacks they’d been eating. Threadbare ignored them and looked down at the growling, murder creature swiping the air underneath him with heavy, sweeping strokes. She didn’t look like she was in a mood to talk, so that was out. Was there another way to sort this out?
He had a lot of stuff to apply, here, but did he have anything useful?
“Status.”
Why yes, yes he did. At the very least, it couldn’t hurt anything.
“Eye for Detail.”
Your Eye for Detail skill is now level 2!
And as her status opened up, he twitched in surprise.
He hadn’t been able to check her, not while they spent all that time in that darkened basement, but he was pretty sure that what he was seeing didn’t match what she should have. According to this, her name was “The Bearserker,” her race was Construct, and her job was Optional Midboss. She was a fifth level midboss. No toy golem or bear jobs to be seen, and that just wasn’t right.
Aside from that, her stats were surprisingly anemic. Everything was in strength and hit points. She hit hard, for her level, and had an okay Axes and Choppas skill, but her defenses were shabby. Not much sanity. Not much moxie or fortune. Decent endurance and about four hundred hit points, but this didn’t line up with what he knew of her at all.
Fuzzy hands poked at his paws, and he turned to see the nearest group of raccants pushing at him through the chicken wire, trying to shove him back into the pit. They wanted to see stuffing, dammit!
Threadbare tried to climb away from him, but there were a lot of onlookers, and one of his paws was forced free. Only a matter of time for the other, he knew.
But that was fine. A great weight had been lifted from him. This wasn’t Missus Fluffbear, couldn’t be her. It just looked like her, somehow. He didn’t know what was going on here, but he did know this;
He was free to beat the stuffing out of this misshapen mockery of his friend with impunity.
And he had a hitherto unused toolset to use to do so that was just ducky for the occasion.
“Guard Stance! Challenge Bearserker!”
Your Guard Stance Skill is now level 2!
Your Challenge Skill is now level 2!
Instantly the strength drained from his limbs and his paws felt clumsy-
-but that was fine, because he felt… faster, for a lack of a better word.
The raccants easily pushed him free from his last pawhold, and he twisted in midair, dodged the oncoming swipe, and landed on the handle of the axe, arms up in a boxing stance.
AGL +1
Well, why not try everything he could? “Fancy Flourish!” The little bear’s arms darted out in a spray of quick jabs, as the bear huffed and puffed, shifting his legs back and forth on the axe handle like a little boxer.
Your Adorable Skill is now level 17!
Your Work it Baby skill is now level 5!
The Bearserker has resisted your Fancy Flourish!
She twisted the axe in her hands, and he dropped down, managing to roll and just barely dodge it as she struck down at him.
Your Dodge skill is now level 6!
Then it was up again, dancing toward her legs, paws up, jabbing at her with claw swipes as she turned, trying to cleave him. He was only doing about ten damage a hit, but she was having a lot of trouble connecting. The few hits he took did about double his, but he was wearing her down. And as he fought, he threw in Fancy Flourishes, managing to land a couple through her willpower, despite his inexperience with the skill.
Your Fancy Flourish skill is now level 2!
A green ‘6’ drifted up from her head. Moxie damage.
Your Fancy Flourish skill is now level 3!
Another green ‘6’
But he dropped it once he started feeling tired. He was still using claw swipes after all, and that was more important in the long haul. He didn’t have a chance of zeroing out her moxie, and he wasn’t sure what that would do anyway. So instead he settled for trying to pound the stuffing out of her.
Your Brawling skill is now level 23!
Critical Hit!
LUCK +1
Your Claw Swipes skill is now level 19!
DEX +1
Critical Hit!
LUCK +1
Your Claw Swipes skill is now level 20!
AGI +1
Critical Hit!
LUCK +1
Your Brawling skill is now level 24!
But as time went on, he noticed something. She was getting torn up, yes…
…but her strikes were hitting harder.
Your Toughness skill is now level 15!
+2 Max HP
When they connected, they tore him up something fierce. He watched a red ‘40’ roll by with alarm. He was down maybe half, he didn’t have time to stop and check. All it would take was one lucky crit on her part, and bad things would surely happen.
Come to think of it, she’d had a skill called “Power from Pain,” hadn’t she? If this was it, it was troublesome. She couldn’t have much left, hit-point wise, but…
He ran, getting some distance, and the crowd booed again. Was there a way to turn off guard stance? He concentrated, still running with a bear behind, and felt it click off. Instantly he slowed a bit, and the axe almost swept through his head.
Your Dodge skill is now level 7!
But before she could try a backswing, he leaped, and caught the chicken wire again. Instantly the raccants surged toward him, but that was fine. He had what he needed; a breather.
“Mend! Mend! Mend! Mend! Mend!” He shouted, over and over again as they pushed and shoved at him. He maxed the skill when it hit 15 and kept going. After about the ninth casting they managed to knock him loose, and the Bearserker’s axe narrowly missed him with an upswing. Without time to think, without time to re-establish guard stance he hit the ground, grabbed her leg, and tore great swipes of it free.
And this time, without guard stance gimping his damage, he managed to tear right through her plush paw. She crumpled, falling to one knee, and he grabbed her shoulder, hauled himself up, and tore through her plush head. Red stuffing spilled out, and the overmuscled Bearserker fell. The crowd went wild, and Threadbare clambered down, shaking. He was tired, so tired, but there was no way that hadn’t-
You are now a level 2 Duelist!
+3 AGL
+3 DEX
+3 STR
Ah, there it was. His pools refilled.
Then a hissing noise filled his ears, just audible under the roaring crowd. He looked down to see yellow dust pouring out of the Bearserker’s skull. He’d seen that dust before, long ago… it was the same dust that his creator had almost turned him into, when he was first awakened.
His creator had taken great care to bottle it. Threadbare didn’t have bottles, but he had apron pockets. He started scooping it up and pouring it into his pockets… but found that after he’d gotten about half of it in a pocket, the other half wouldn’t fit. Curiously, he experimented, and found he could put the remaining dust in another pocket. He just couldn’t mix the two of them. There was a point where they wouldn’t fill up beyond.
Threadbare looked up, only to watch the Bearserker’s corpse disappear in front of his eyes. Gone, just like that. What the heck?
A creak interrupted his reverie, and he looked up to see the portcullis shuddering downward as it started to close. No other way out of this pit! He ran for it, managed to just get under it before it shut.
The corridor beyond was dark, with lighted doorways off to the side, each blocked off by a portcullis, and a chest at the end of a stone door. And there, fading into view not ten feet from him, wisping into existence from nothingness, was another Bearserker.
Thoroughly freaked out and not wanting to fight a murderous midboss in the tight confines of a tunnel, he ran past her. The stone door opened as he approached, but he slowed, tempted by the treasure chest.
Then the Bearserker roared, and Threadbare saw a green ‘12’ lift out and float up above him. Yeah, no, the treasure chest wasn’t worth it. He darted through the stone door and it ground shut behind him, cutting off the sound of the Bearserker’s lumbering approach.
Whew! Threadbare looked around him, at the tunnels lit by an obscene amount of stolen lanterns. Back to the old familiar corridors, it looked like.
The little teddy bear Flexed, and Self-esteemed himself again, watching those buffs skill up, and refocused his mind on the task ahead. He’d been separated from Pulsivar back there. He had no doubt the big cat could take care of himself, and a quick check of the party screen showed him still there, still in relatively good health.
Then the cat’s HP went up as he watched, and Threadbare chuckled, the tiny sound breaking the silence of the cave. Pulsivar was grooming himself, had to be. “Good kitty,” Threadbare whispered, and toddled off to find him. He activated Scents and Sensibility along the way, hoping to catch the big cat’s scent, and make his task easier.
He did find Pulsivar’s scent… at about the same time the first Trash Mob found him.
One minute later, the trash mob was in ruins, Threadbare was a few coins richer, and down a few hit points. He mended himself, resumed the hunt, following the scent trail-
-and got jumped by another Trash Mob.
Midway through, he got smart. What exactly was animated trash?
“Eye for Detail.”
Your Eye for Detail skill is now level 3!
Yep, they were animi. Also a slime, which was weird, but whatever. He was new to this whole animator thing, that was his excuse.
Well, he’d wanted to come in here with minions, hadn’t he?
Five Trash Mob encounters and five skill ups to Command Animus and Creator’s Guardians later, Threadbare was feeling a bit lightheaded but he had a full party. True, they were literally garbage, but they were his garbage, and they could take hits like no one’s business. Well, not compared to him, but they were good for their level, anyway.
Having a bunch of Trash Mobs in his thrall let Threadbare pick up speed. He got jumped a few times more, but his garbage goons swiftly made junk of the offending Trash Mobs. And it turned out, that grinding through trash mobs using animi was enough for another animator level.
You are now a level 4 Animator!
+3 DEX
+3 INT
+3 WILL
That was a welcome refresh. Binding all those trash mobs had cost him a bit over a quarter of his sanity, mending had taken more, and the fights had drained stamina a bit. All back in a heartbeat, thanks to a timely level.
And after a time, the mounting weight of the coins salvaged from dead Trash Mobs stretched his apron tight around him, and started working on another skill as well.
Your Sturdy Back skill is now level 6!
Threadbare followed the scent deeper into the tunnels. He knew he was close behind, when he found shredded remnants of other trash mobs along the way. “Party Screen,” he said with relief…
…and gasped when he saw that Pulsivar was down to half of his hit points. “No!” He ran forward, following the trail as fast as he could, trying to move at top speed without losing it. But it was hard, and to his horror, Pulsivar’s hit points kept dropping, five or six at a time…
…until they stabilized at about thirty. Threadbare didn’t let up, until he came to a red lacquered door, standing slightly ajar. Gold-painted letters on it announced to the world;
TRASH PANDA
Threadbare burst through the door, trash mobs following, clanking and tumbling…
…to find a room filled with paper screens, currently shredded. The floor was full of torn up mats, and odd looking weapons made from junk hung on the walls. Pulsivar was nowhere in sight, but lying against one wall, gutted with stuffing bursting out of her shredded hide, was Missus Fluffbear.
Wait.
No, this wasn’t her. This version of her had white fur mingled in with her regular black color. Also she was two feet tall, nowhere near the six inches she started with. About half the size of the Bearserker.
Just to be safe, though….
“Eye for Detail”
Your Eye for Detail skill is now level 4!
No, this one was something called a “Trash Panda.” Another midboss, by the looks of it. Another construct. Huh, wait, she had the Fancy Flourish skill as well…
That’s about the point that an ungodly racket sprang up behind him, and Threadbare whirled to find a big black bobcat ripping one of his bound Trash Mobs to bits.
“Wait! No!” He ran and hugged Pulsivar, and the cat startled, surprised. Golden light flared.
You have healed Pulsivar 90 points!
