Chapter 101

Author's Note: I received the Audible link to book 1's audio book just a little late, so I'm giving Royal Road and Scribblehub an extra chapter to announce it. Since they're getting an extra chapter, so are you!

The Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta - 2:35 PM

The Longcomb Sawfish was, despite its shark-like body, from the ray family. Living up to its name, the animal had a large protrusion that looked very similar to a saw coming out of its face. While it was a critically endangered species, the Georgia Aquarium had one such creature in their Ocean Voyager tank.

This was not a Longcomb Sawfish, but a bastardization of it.

The Chainsawfish was over 35 feet from dorsal fin to rostrum, and was a dangerous aquatic monster. The chainsaw jutting out of its face was no joke, and could easily cut through a limb if those fighting it weren’t careful. A few people had gone into the building in order to see what was going on, but no one had returned. The aquarium had a reputation for being a death trap after that.

I grunted again as the rope started pulling me back, and I managed to get the Vague Stick back into the roof before I could lose much ground. Even with Drop working to keep the weapon held fast and Pull working in tandem with my newly enhanced Strength stat, it was tough. The Chainsawfish swam as hard as it could, and I did my best to hold firm.

The line went slack again, and I started to pull the Vague Stick from the roof when the boss suddenly pulled again. I had thought it was going to come up, and found myself complacent. Grabbing the stick, I Dropped it back into the roof but not before I was pulled towards the hole, arms outstretched as I refused to let go of my weapon.

Yelling from the effort, I started pulling my arms together so I wasn’t being stretched out. My muscles, already burning, protested at this ungodly new workout. I hooked my foot around the Vague Stick when the line went slack again. If it weren’t for the fact that my goal was to essentially wrap myself around the weapon, I would have stumbled and lost my balance.

Which, as the sounds of a revving chainsaw approaching made clear, would have been very deadly. The boss pierced through the roof with long, sweeping slices, causing large swathes to fall into the murky water below. Every so often the chainsaw would slide into my metal rope, causing sparks to fly everywhere, and it was starting to fray.

If the line snapped, then the preparations would have been for nothing. I released more rope as I mentally commanded it to snake around the Chainsawfish’s body. It had hooked quite nicely before, but this way gave me extra grip and hid the frayed rope where the chainsaw couldn’t reach. It did give me the problem of running out of material, but I looked back to see that I was nearing the end of the building. One more push and everything would be okay.

The Chainsawfish dove under the water again, though I knew for sure that this time it wasn’t going to start pulling again. The boss was angry and in pain, and it knew I was the cause of it. I began reeling in the line and wheeled down the sloped roof as it broke through close to me. Water threatened to knock me off balance, but I used the Vague Stick to steady myself.

I headed further south as the roof began collapsing. The chainsaw followed me after it broke through and surfaced, finding my location before diving again. Between my Strength and the boss’, we had no problem breaking through the roof with the rope so that there was a clear line between us once more. I gave myself some more slack, pushing out the maximum the Vambrace of Wires allowed, and dove off of the southeastern side of the building.

Immediately, I began reeling it in again as the Chainsawfish pierced through the wall. Water began gushing out like someone had just hit a fire hydrant, and I landed on the side with my feet planted firmly on the building. The boss retracted, and I began pulling, wrapping my arm around the rope as I used Drop on both my Parachute Pants of Agility and my Ringmaster’s Hoodie. My Heelies of Hermes slipped on the side of the building, and I knew I was going to need to get a better grip.

I pierced through the side of the building with the Vague Stick and wrapped my legs around it, holding on for dear life. With a new position I knew I had to switch tactics, and I changed my Drop targets to the rope itself and the Glove of the Warmongering Mystic on my right hand as I reeled it in.

It wasn’t easy. The process was painstakingly slow as I used every tool at my disposal to get this oversized fish to cut through the wall. My muscles felt sore, and I could feel the Vague Stick ready to break the moment I stopped focusing on it. If it were only an issue for my body then I wouldn’t have had so much trouble, but it was just as much a mental problem as it was a physical one.

While I was pulling with all my might, my mind was racing in five different directions. My focus was split on two separate Drops, I was willing the Vague Stick to keep its shape instead of letting it snap like a toothpick, and I was still mentally commanding the Vambrace of Wires to keep reeling in the Chainsawfish. On top of that, there was still my next move. This fight didn’t end with the fish.

With one last grunt of exertion, it finally happened. The roaring chainsaw started slicing through the building, coming down next to where the rope was stretched tightly over the edge of the roof. I pulled the Air Crystal, which was still clenched between my lips, into my mouth with my tongue and chew it before sticking it to the side of my cheek. My mouth filled with air

Water started streaming out of the Chainsawfish’s dungeon. The roaring natural weapon started to shake as the boss attempted to free itself, but it was too late. A steady stream became a deluge as more started coming through the gouge, and I kept pulling even as gallons upon gallons of water began falling on me.

You know, I thought, perhaps this wasn’t nearly as safe as the alternative.

As the boss struggled, more and more of the wall came down until it didn’t matter where the Chainsawfish was. A dark shape slid past me; it was time. I cut off the Cable Conglomerate and let my mind rest from Dropping my own items.

Grabbing onto the boss’ caudal fin as it was forced out of the aquarium by the rushing water, I pulled the Vague Stick out of the wall just as it started collapsing and hitched a ride.

Everything was disorienting as I stayed underwater. Unlike the boss who was simply riding out this wave, I had things to do. Using the Vague Stick, I started piercing through the Chainsawfish’s thick, leathery hide. Not to attack, though it would certainly die eventually, but because I needed to be on top of it and didn’t have a lot of time to get there.

We crested the water, and by the time I could get my bearings we were submerged again. Sticking my hand into the hole I had created in the Chainsawfish, I pulled myself forward and stabbed again. The dorsal fin was almost in front of me, but I was running out of time. I pulled the Vague Stick out of the boss and activated Crash Test.

One of the stipulations of the skill was that I had to move in a way that was adjacent to the ground, but it never said I had to be on my feet. I flew forwards, tearing through the boss’ dorsal fin with my arm. As I moved, I willed the Vague stick into the shape of a harpoon, finishing it just as I stopped over its head.

With a triumphant yell, I raised the Vague Stick into the air and slammed it down just over the monster’s eye. It pierced through just as we crested the water again.

The building I was heading towards was right in front of us, and I jumped off of the Chainsawfish as best I could. The Air Steps that followed were initially very clumsy as I didn’t have my footing before the leap. Regardless, that just meant I burnt through five feathers instead of two. I landed on the roof of the World of Coca-Cola Museum.

Underneath me, the building was already starting to buckle and break under the flood that sprang out of nowhere. I started running, leaving my Vague Stick behind as I booked it towards the other side of the museum. It was filled with all sorts of Coca-Cola memorabilia and exhibits, and was a huge tourist destination. As far as downtown landmarks went, it was very popular.

Regardless of its status, I had no second thoughts on destroying it. It was full of slimes, after all.

[[Victory!]]

You have defeated the Dungeon Boss [Chainsawfish]; +300 points.

You have defeated x7 Soda Slimes; + 70 points.

You have defeated x12 Diet Soda Slimes; +60 points.

You have defeated the Dungeon Boss [Soda Slime Zero]; +250 points.

It had been uncertain whether or not I would get the points for the slimes since I caused the flood that diluted them, but I was glad the system acknowledged all of my hard work. I raised my fist in victory as I switched from running to my Heelies. Underneath me the waters roared, slicing through the museum and causing the entire building to buckle. The roof quaked and splintered in front of me, and I jumped.

The speed Divine Messenger afforded me let me clear the rest of the building without issue. I sailed past the edge and landed with a roll onto the remarkably dry streets. Looking back, I saw the water start to disappear. Not out of thin air, but it was instead being funneled unnaturally into the sewers. That didn’t stop the building from lurching in my direction, but that was easy enough to zoom away from.

I waited and watched the water continued to disappear. The destruction I had caused was extreme, but I couldn’t help but look upon it with pride. A whole section of the Georgia Aquarium’s wall had been torn down by the rushing water, and its debris littered the block. Anything not bolted down in the World of Coca-Cola had been almost completely dismantled by the flood, and several pieces of the exhibits were now pressed up against the Children’s Museum across the street.

Walking towards the Coca-Cola museum, I jumped back onto the roof with a few more Air Steps while I waited for the water to slow down. I wouldn’t be able to grab the Chainsawfish’s loot until after things settled, but that wasn’t the case for the Soda Slime Zero.

While a Dungeon Boss would normally only drop its loot in the boss room, there were cases when that room was no longer accessible. Sometimes they would drop the building down on top of them, like Pustibule had done, or other times something would happen that caused the room to become uninhabitable. It had been my hope that this was the case here.

As my gaze panned over the World of Coca-Cola’s roof, I frowned. It might have been because I had caused it, but the system was not so gracious today that I would get a free pass with loot deposited in an easy to reach place. I walked to the center of the building, which was a large circular area, and pulled out Vernon’s Smash Stick.

I had used up all of the Air Steps, otherwise I would have went through the huge glass windows on the side of the building that had been broken by the floodwater. Instead, I simply smashed my way through the ceiling. It wasn’t a complex task, but it was time consuming, and by the time I could see the floor below the deluge had slowed down by a wide margin.

Jumping down, I dove into nearly five feet of water and hit the floor underneath with a superhero landing. The current threatened to take me off my feet, but I used Drop on my shoes individually until I found my footing and started heading towards the end of the Vault of the Secret Formula exhibit.

“Come on, rare drop,” I muttered to myself. “Give me the good stuff.”

I walked through the silver doors labeled exit only and found myself in a round room featuring pictures of soda bottles with keyholes in the center. The saltwater here was a murky brown, and I shuddered inwardly at the thought of how sticky my pants and shoes were going to be for the first match of the Chaos Cup. Still, I had to move on. Immediately turning right, I found myself face to face with an open safe, and I threw a fist into the air.

“Rare drop! Fuck yeah!” I exclaimed. I reached into the safe and pulled out the only item it held: a soda bottle containing a swirling blue and green potion.

[[Item]]

Double-Up Potion

When you imbibe this potion, the next effect you are targeted with that has a numerical value is doubled.

The Double-Up Potion was an incredibly rare item. I knew that the Soda Slime Zero boss had a possibility of dropping it on death, but the odds were so stacked against it that I rarely came here anymore. If it weren’t for the Vambrace of Wires and the opportunity it presented in the aquarium, I would have left it for the people of Atlanta to deal with. I couldn’t even be mad that there wasn’t a skill book waiting for me.

I set it into my inventory, all smiling, as I started leaving. Taking the boss loot was fine, but everything else here would benefit the people nearby. Once they were no longer scared to come here, at least. The aquarium collapsing would be a good deterrent long enough for me to grab the loot and make it back to Merder Stadium.

The Chainsawfish wasn’t far from the vault. I found it halfway through the entrance that faced the Georgia Aquarium, my Vague Stick still sticking out of its head like an antennae. Grabbing it, I shifted the weapon into a sword and easily removed it. Eying the rostrum that was also its chainsaw, I raised the sword above my head and started hacking away at its face.

Viscera and gore started to flow with the water, and with my Strength it was short work. There was no biological or mechanical switch that turned on the chainsaw, nor was there some magic word to get it to activate. In its base form, it was useless to me. As luck would have it, I knew someone who could craft things out of monster parts.

Throwing both the Vague Stick and the Chainsawfish’s namesake into my inventory, I started pushing against the flow towards the aquarium. My Heelies wouldn’t work in these conditions, but it didn’t seem like it would be a problem for much longer. Less and less water was flowing from the building, which was how it was supposed to go.

Traditionally, after going mono a mono with the Chainsawfish in its natural habitat, the water would begin draining on its own. It was a process that took a very long time, but the current circumstances did wonders to expedite it.

Checking my shoes, I saw that I had three feathers back and I used them to Air Step my way up to the bottom of the fissure our fight had caused. The inside of the building reeked of saltwater and still had a huge amount of water inside. I pulled out a second Air Crystal and popped it into my mouth before diving in and heading north.

The Ocean Voyager tank accounted for more than half the water the Georgia Aquarium would have in it pre-system. It was a huge, impressive feat of engineering that housed several types of sea creatures that lived in the ocean. Now, however, it was almost completely broken. This was where the original Longcomb Sawfish had lived, and where the Chainsawfish spawned.

Swimming towards it, I passed over the sharp edges of the tank and headed straight for the middle. There, waiting patiently for me at the center, was my loot: a blue skill book with a fish on it and a bracelet made of interwoven fishing line with three teeth from a Longcomb Sawtooth dangling from it. I picked up the bracelet and put it on my left wrist.

[[Equipped]]

Bracelet of Extrication

(+4 Dexterity, Unfettered passive acquired)

[[Passive]]

Unfettered

When targeted with an ability, skill, spell, or passive that opposes your Dexterity stat, treat your Dexterity as 20% higher for the purposes of resisting any harmful effects.

I nodded to myself as I snapped away the Equipped screen. Unfettered worked for so much that it was honestly an amazing acquisition. This passive plus Anchored meant that I would resist a lot of what Tito and other crowd controllers could throw at me. Not everything, mind, but a good portion of it.

Picking up the skill book, I opened it up and immediately accepted the passive inside.

[[Passive]]

Deep Sea Swimmer

Increase your swimming speed by 25%. You can hold your breath for 50% longer.

Deep Sea Swimmer was a good, if circumstantial, passive. Not nearly as relevant as the Parkour Expert, but well worth coming in here for after I found a few more Synthesis Pages.

Blowing out some air from my mouth, I started swimming towards the giant hole in the wall to make my exit. I had spent a lot of time fishing and gathering loot, and I needed to get back to my manager in time to have a briefing about the first round of the Chaos Cup.