Chapter 45: Light in the Darkness
Chastity’s gloved hands glowed a faint blue. Leaving the torch leaning against the cave wall, she dual-wielded javelins and watched as the blue light infused them as well. She was unsure if her javelin proficiency still applied when using them as melee instead of ranged weapons, but for this fight she would be using them as short spears (Skeletons, it turns out, are hard to skewer).
Speaking of which, one crooked leg of the bone crawler cleared the lip of the pit, then another. The skeletal monster pulled itself out. The remaining jaw of the double-skulled creature hung open in a silent scream, then the crawler scuttled straight at Chastity, nimbly dodging the excavated pitfalls with its elongated limbs.
It didn’t seem fair that two Level 2 enemies could combine into a larger, faster, Level 3 enemy. But nobody said life in another world was fair.
“Restless spirits, if that is what you are, you had your time in this world,” Chastity called out, readying her attack. “I do not pass judgment on you, but there is One who does. Now depart once and for all!”
As the creature swept its reconstituted forelimbs like bony scythes, Chastity lept with all her strength. Fighting gravity and the weight of her chainmail, she vaulted onto the creature’s double-ribbed back. The hurdling girls from her former track team would be proud. The twin skulls swung on their crooked vertebrae neck, trying to knock its passenger off.
“YA!” Chastity yelled, slamming the glowing javelin tips into the skulls repeatedly. Bone fragments flung in every direction as the creature writhed, vainly attempting to claw at the Paladin atop it.
These hits felt different. The holy power flowing through her released a sort of particulate vapor from the creature with each flashing strike. She sundered the spinal column and soon the mass of bones collapsed beneath her, scattering across the cave floor.
Notifications flashed in her vision.
Chastity waited until she was sure the bones would not stir again, but she was pretty confident this time that they would not. Stowing the javelins, she caught her breath and watched the holy glow fade from her hands. The temporary effect had worn off, although she still had about three fourths of a jar full of the pickles.
In other good news, Chastity remembered that leveling up automatically brought her Life Points and Focus Points back to full. She felt renewed strength.
Chastity thought, allowing herself a moment of self-congratulations.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Defeating an evil undead skeleton hybrid was one thing. Being trapped underground was another. As her first torch started to fade, Chastity used it to light her backup. She would continue searching for a way out, but first she opened her Ability Tree.
Chastity noticed–a seventh ability.
She examined the new option.
Chastity thought.
That left Detect Evil II or Sense Evil (the ability split), Aura of Bravery, or Radiant Light to unlock with her precious ability point.
Recalling a book (by German Catholic philosopher Josef Pieper) and a related lecture series on the Four Cardinal Virtues, Chastity remembered that the virtue of Prudence could be defined (at least in secular terms) as ‘making the decision that reality demands.’ Maybe the actual quote was ‘
Watching her last makeshift torch flicker in the stale cave air, the Paladin knew there was really only one choice to make.
Chastity was thankful for the level-up Focus Point recharge. Otherwise, she would only be able to generate four minutes of light after her torch ran out. True, she could recharge Focus Points through prayer, meditation, etc., but could she recharge fast enough to get ahead of a one point per minute ability cost?
And would it really count as prayer if her motivation was so self-serving and materialistic, praying merely to recharge a reserve of system energy? To paraphrase from Chapter 4 of the with the wrong point of focus, some people’s prayers seemed to reach no higher than the bedroom ceiling (or cave ceiling, in this case).
But no, Chastity was much practiced in authentic prayer. Prayer that went beyond vain repetition, human imagination, and ‘sending positive vibes into the universe.’ If she were to pray with at least the partial goal of replenishing her pool of Focus Points, she could rest in the knowledge that she ultimately did so for a righteous cause–to fulfill her noble mission.
She crossed the pockmarked chamber and continued through another steep passage. This one stretched on and on, sometimes curving this way or that, with many intact stalactites. The signs of mining diminished the further she went. Perhaps the goblin crew had not stripmined the entire cave system after all.
She entered a smaller, round chamber with a low ceiling. A shaft plunged near vertically into the pitch dark at the other end.
Chastity thought.
But something caught her eye, glinting off the torchlight. There, crumpled on the floor near one of the walls was the shape of a lone body. It appeared mostly skeletal beneath ragged garments. Chastity tensed.
“Identify,” she whispered, seeing no movement.
