A Dungeon’s Survival

Stein

“Throw!” I bellowed, and the Trentis I'd been tasked to lead released their stones.

Out of the volley of projectiles aimed toward the large rock we were using as a target, only two of them hit their mark. Their accuracy was bad, but that was okay. It was an acceptable starting point.

Before I could forget to, I raised up a sheet of paper attached to a piece of bark and pulled out my quill. Hastily, I scratched a line under the words, “throws.” Then, I froze. Hadn't we just started? Why were dozens of marks there already?

No, I thought to myself, realizing we must've been at this for a while now.

Seeing as that was the case, I began counting the marks in the way the mistress had taught me to. Five, ten, fifteen, twenty, the tallies quickly began adding up until, with the addition of the mark I'd just made, they totaled fifty. Her instructions, clear as day, came to mind.

“I need you to train the Trenti's Throwing and Stealth skills,” she had told me, “Make sure to give them frequent breaks, though, and feed them three times a day. Loot will come by to let you know when it's meal time, so when that happens, stop training and cook up some Plated Gator meat for them. While you're doing that, send them to the garden to pick up some vegetables from Rose. Your training should take place between the first and last meals of the day, and I'll be rotating the Trentis you're working with out at meal times.”

During that moment of lucidity, I'd also decided on a few things myself. The amount of throwing repetitions between breaks was one of those things, and since I hadn't used Record Memory to amend that number since, I could only assume it'd been working out up until now. Fifty marks on my paper meant it was time for a break.

“Done,” I scrawled on a piece of paper before turning to the Trentis and giving them an order, “Rest. We will pick back up soon.”

The mistress had been clear. I wasn't to go needlessly scaring them with my copied intimidation skill, but I was also to be firm and act with authority.

[You have gained a level in Instructing!]

[You have gained a level in Group Organization!]

I activated Record Memory on the spot and reaffirmed the lesson I'd learned that had been responsible for the System rewarding me before I could forget it.

“Be firm and act with authority,” I muttered to myself, “but do not needlessly strike fear into the hearts of those you are training.”

The notifications that were still in my line of sight cemented those words' importance to me. Doubtlessly, I would reference back to this moment whenever its lessons were applicable, but for now, I needed to make the most of the minute of clarity I had. Permanent memories were too valuable to waste.

“Rest,” I ordered the Trentis around me to their seeming confusion, “We will pick back up soon.”

I was unsure of how far into their training we were at the moment, but there was something I needed to do while I could remember my actions. It was unfortunate I needed to cut their round of Throwing training short–or was it Stealth I'd been training them in? Either way, it didn't matter. I could figure it out once I finished with what I needed to get done.

Crouching down to pick up a rock, I turned to face the much larger stone in the center of the room that the mistress had provided us with for target practice. Under normal circumstances, I would've first mimicked the Throwing skill of whichever Trenti had managed to get theirs up the highest, assuming any had surpassed my own, but the mistress's order to retain my stolen level eighty-two Intimidation skill remained in effect. Because of that, I relied on it instead to guide my motions.

My eyes narrowed. It wasn't because it helped with my accuracy but because I was glaring at my target as though I held a personal vendetta against it. My fingers wrapped themselves around the rock I was holding as though I was trying to strangle the life from it. I puffed my chest out to take up as much space as I physically could, and I shifted my limbs in ways that tested the very limits of my flexibility. None of it was technique. It was all posturing.

The mistress never rescinded her order to train with and record memories of myself drawing on the knowledge Intimidation granted me while I still had it mimicked. While my current priority was to improve my Throwing skill so that I could better teach the troops she had left in my care, there was nothing stopping me from learning from Intimidation at the same time. On the contrary, whether what I could learn from putting on a show with it here was practical or not, it allowed me to put my own spin on the skill. From there, I could see what worked and what didn't. I could then use that knowledge to improve and build off of.

“Graah!” I roared out a guttural shriek as I widened my eyes and allowed my jaw to dislocate in order to enhance the sense of unnaturalness my undead physiology invoked.

As spittle flew freely from my mouth, I made a show of winding up my throw in an exaggerated way. I took a step forward, aligning my opposite arm toward my target in order to better my aim while also making it appear as though I was about to lunge forward, using my bent fingertips and nails as claws.

[You have learned the skill Misdirection!]

The notification appeared in my line of sight as my other arm flew forward, releasing the rock I'd been clutching. I paid its trajectory no mind once it left my grasp, however. Instead, I allowed the momentum of my throw to carry me into a dive. As I hit the ground, I snatched up another rock and spun into another exaggerated throw. As that rock, too, left my hand, the first hit its mark, my level four in Throwing being enough to offset whatever mistakes my Intimidation skill led me to make.

My second rock missed its mark, but in the moments that followed, I'd already scooped up and lobbed two more at my target. Like that, I allowed myself to leap and lunge across the room, shifting my body in terrifying ways as I made my way from one piece of scattered ammunition to the next. Not all of my attacks landed, but with each that did, I felt Intimidation drawing on my experience, adapting the fundamentals of my Throwing skill to appear more fearsome. In turn, using the skill in different ways allowed me to expand on it.

Adjust my aim to offset the quicker release, I noted as I flung a stone in the same motion as I'd picked it up.

Release sooner to keep the angle right. That way, I can also claw at the air.

I threw a rock while swinging my arm in more of a downward direction than I'd previously tried. It missed, but the motion made me seem wilder and less predictable.

Take a step forward to reposition myself.

I lobbed a rock in a more vertical arc from one hand before immediately following up with one from my other.

Increase the force so that they impact closer together.

I loosed my second rock with as much force as I could manage. My intent was to have both of projectiles hit their target in rapid succession to make it seem like like I was throwing them more rapidly than I really was, but in my haste to do so, I ended up sacrificing accuracy. The first rock hit its mark, but the second fell short, impacting the ground in front of where I was aiming. Then, it bounced.

[You have gained a level in Throwing!]

I stared wide-eyed for a moment, surprised that I'd inadvertently landed my shot and more surprised at being rewarded for it. The implications were already running through my mind. I could bounce my rocks to get different angles. That would make me less predictable while also opening up more options to me. How hadn't I thought of it before?

I didn't remain in that state of shock for long, though. Every instant that I did, I could feel my copied Intimidation skill yelling at me to do something, anything as to not allow myself to appear weak, so having already gotten the skill level I was after and no longer needing to continue, I shifted my body jerkily, leaned back so that my face was directed toward the ceiling, and shrieked out a victory cry. That, too, seemed to reward me for some reason.

[You have learned the skill Performing!]

It was another new skill, and the notification for this one was followed by cheering. That was strange. Unsure of why a notification only I could see would cause such a sound, I jerked my head in the direction that it was coming from. There, I found the Trentis enthusiastically making noise. They'd been watching, and now, they were clapping, or at least, they had been until I turned my gaze onto them. After that, they shrank down into themselves and averted the eyes.

Be firm and act with authority, I reminded myself, but do not needlessly strike fear into the hearts of those you are training.

I had done what I'd only just resolved not to less than a minute prior. I needed to fix this. Knowing that, I analyzed their strange reaction that preceded my scaring them.

They were cheering. Were they impressed? I considered, And, if so, could I use that to motivate them?

Pulling on that thread of thought, I rose back to my full height and spoke with firm authority, “By the time I am done with you, all of you will be able to that and more!”

My words were met with silence for a moment. Then, more cheers erupted from the group. I could work with this. That was my last thought as I felt Record Memory's duration expire.

Immediately, regret gripped me. I hadn't read up on my new skills yet, and without Record Memory to assure I'd retain the knowledge, there was no longer any point in checking them out for the time being. I would just forget what they did again anyway. No, I needed to wait until it was off cooldown.

With that realization, I understood it was time to return to the task I'd been working on before this latest distraction. There was a problem with that, however. I didn't remember what it was.

Immediately, I began patting myself down, looking for my paper and quill. I didn't have them on me, so with no other starting point, I looked toward where I last remembered seeing them. I knew I'd had them at the start of my previous recorded memory, but I'd dropped them as I made my way to begin my Throwing training. Fortunately, as I cast my gaze to where I'd done so, I found they were still there.

That was recent, I noted as made my way to them.

Swiftly, I bent down and examined my lost records. “Done,” was scrawled out in my messy handwriting below the word, “throws,” and numerous tally marks. It looked as though I'd just finished the Trentis first round of training for the day. They looked excited, though.

Use their being impressed to motivate them, I remembered, so I made the decision to resume training early.

Was it early? How long had their break been? I didn't know, but it didn't matter. I shook that thought away.

I was going to capitalize on their excitement, so I wrote out, “second exercise,” and commanded, “We're starting up Throwing training again! Everyone, go collect rocks to prepare.”

The group jumped to follow my order, and as they did, a thought struck me. I hadn't checked out my new skills yet. With that being the case, I tried to use Record Memory, but it was still on cooldown. I was going to have to wait a bit longer before seeing my new rewards, but that was okay. I still had things to do.

I looked at the paper in my hand. It read, “second exercise,” but didn't have any tallies. It looked as though we were on the second round of throwing training for the day, and from the excited Trentis gathering up rocks around me, I could infer that we were about to begin. Before we did, though, a thought struck me. I hadn't checked out my new skills yet, so I called on Record Memory only to find it unavailable. Then, I checked the paper in my hand.