Too Stubborn to Die

Back-and-forth chatter began as the group of rankers gathered around. The big man, Joseph, hadn’t had much of a leading role, but as he glanced over at Elmira’s group, who seemed to be abnormally orderly, he cleared his throat and spoke up.

“So obviously, we need Aaron on tank. But what about the rest of us? Who are we putting forth?”

Several seemed a little surprised by his sudden assertiveness, but none complained. After all, they did need to make a decision.

“I know one thing for sure, I’m in!” Raksha hissed. “I’m the highest ranker here, and I’m taking one of those spots. I’m also the best suited to be the captain,” she glanced across at Aaron as she spoke.

“I know what’s at stake. And I’m not just a punching bag.”

“Me agrees with tentacles,” Erdek said. “We’s ain’t letting the humies get all tha spots! Me take one too,” she added, thumbing her chest.

Raksha simply nodded in agreement.

“Fine by me. Erdek packs a mean punch with her spells,” Ernest said. “And Raksha’s poisons are deadly and capable of targeting many enemies at once. And she’s not wrong about being the highest ranker. I vouch for the both of them.”

Ernest’s response sounded too thought-out and diplomatic. It was like he wanted something. Aaron remembered Darius. It was clear that was the biggest thing on Ernest’s mind, and if he had to guess, the gunslinger was trying to butter the goblin and thal’kesh rankers up.

“Bro, aren’t we supposed to be talking about this? Why are we letting the broads just declare themselves a part of the team?” Terry said. “We need muscle!”

“Because they’re right, Terry,” Ernest said coldly. “We can’t expect the thal’kesh and goblins to work with us if they don’t get a seat at the table. Besides, they’re the two highest rankers in their species, and they both have skillsets valuable to completing the dungeon. Unless you have an argument that doesn’t involve what’s between their legs, then they’re in.”

“I, ahh,” Terry gritted his teeth, looking a little embarrassed. But even Terry wasn’t thick-headed enough to argue against all the top rankers of his world. “Fine. I guess you got a point.”

“Okay, well, that makes three,” Talia said. “We’ve still got two more spots in the main party, not to mention a couple of subs. Who else are we taking?”

“That one,” Erdek said, pointing her crooked finger at Emmy.

“The little girlie? I thought you wanted strong? Hahah!” Terry laughed. “You gotta be fucking with me, right? C’mon, Ernie, brother. We’re not letting this fly, are we?”

Ernest raised a brow at the goblin. Emmy was useful, but it was certainly an odd pick for the main team when they had multiple strong fighters to choose from.

“She is the only one of us who specializes in support spells,” added Raksha. “If this is a team battle, she would make a useful addition.”

Aaron had a feeling he knew what was going on. This wasn’t just about picking a party. Even with the threat of losing to another world, there was unspoken politics going on.

If he had to guess, Erdek was just trying to pick a human she wasn’t threatened by, and Raksha was piggybacking on that. Although it was curious, as there were a couple of goblins she could have picked. Then again, they weren’t top rankers, nor group leaders. Just goblins of little repute that were working as party support members. And there was no way anybody was wasting party spots on people like that.

On the other hand, while Emmy mightn’t have been ranked in the top ten or a serious threat to somebody like Erdek, she was a strong enough ranker to be taken seriously.

“Or squidy!” Erdek continued.

As the goblin’s beady eyes swept across the group, she pointed out Ikran Teshk Ungari. Once the highest-ranking thal’kesh, Ikran had fallen behind a little, at least in the rankings. But he was still more than powerful enough to be taken seriously.

“I want in, too,” said Talia.

“No way I’m missing out,” declared Terry. “And I’m clearly the best candidate.”

“Maybe if the challenge is to piss the enemies off,” said Talia.

Before Terry could respond, another of the Thal’kesh spoke up, announcing his intent to participate, and the conversation soon got out of hand. A back and forth followed, as counterarguments were traded, and a few more rankers declared their intent to participate. Talia and Terry specifically got into a heated argument about which of the two would make the best addition. But Aaron’s gaze shifted over to Soohyun, who looked somewhat distracted at the edge of the group. She appeared to be typing and drawing on some invisible screen, obviously System related.

What is she up to?

Soohyun looked up and caught Aaron’s gaze. She seemed to get startled, and it looked like she closed whatever System interface she had been interacting with.

“What about the challenge rooms?” Soohyun said suddenly as she waved her hand, repeating herself several times before she got the group’s attention.

“What are you talking about, skinny?” Terry said.

“Skinny?” Soohyun narrowed into a glare, but decided to move on. “The dungeon announcement. New rooms. I want to challenge for a spot in the group.”

“We haven’t even got done deciding!” Terry barked. “This is why you keep the women in the kitchen.”

“Hey!” Aaron said. “Look, I’m all for diplomacy, but we want the strongest group, don’t we, Raksha?”

Raksha studied Aaron, looking for signs of deception, but then nodded.

“Then she should be allowed to challenge for a spot.”

“Hmmm. What spot?”

Aaron hadn’t necessarily wanted to get too involved in the party choices. He was just here to fight. But he couldn’t help himself. Soohyun was part of their party and had become a friend. If she wanted to challenge for a spot, he was going to defend her right.

“She’s a heavy hitter, right?” Aaron shrugged. “She should challenge the heavy hitter in our party. Erdek. If you want to be queen of the goblins, a duel shouldn’t be too hard.”

“What you talk about, humy!” Erdek hissed.

“He’s right,” Raksha said. “We should take the strongest.”

To their side, Ernest sighed. It was clear that he was trying to avoid friction and considered the alliance against Darius more important than whatever prizes were to be won here.

“Fine! I crush the humy. Nothing changes!”

“Okay, shall we move on?” Ernest said.

“Yeah, brother! Let’s go, team Terry! I take the next spot! No one can keep up with me. You all saw it against that boss. I’m the fastest one here. No doubt about it!”

“Hmmm, speed is important,” Raksha said. “We’ve got power, durability, and control. Speed makes sense.”

Aaron narrowed his eyes again. He was pretty sure that her instantaneous agreement with the proposal was more politics. Terry was strong, sure, but he was also abrasive, and clearly not-well-liked by many of the other humans. His success wouldn’t necessarily be a victory for humanity as much as someone like, say, Ernest or Talia, who were more involved in diplomacy.

“If humy can challenge, so should squidy!” Erdek said.

This book’s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Agreed,” Ikran Teshk Ungari stepped forward. “I wish to challenge the human.”

Ikran Teshk Ungari had remained mostly quiet and to the side. But he had fought well against the boss on the previous floor, despite having fallen quite a number of ranks.

“Him? Is he even fast?” Terry said, eyeing the squid.

In an instant, Ikran’s ink spread out across the ground, and the next moment he was flashing around the group, anywhere the ink was, as if teleporting.

“Fast enough for you?”

Aaron shrugged. He couldn’t exactly refuse the thal’kesh after supporting Soohyun’s bid to fight for a spot on the team.

“Looks like you got a challenger, Terry,” Ernest said.

“Seriously? You’re on their side now, brother?”

“No. But he’s proven his speed. It’s only fair you accept his challenge.”

“Oh my greatness! Whatevs, can you people like hurry this up or something?” Emmy groaned. “I’m taking a seat. Just lemme know when you’re done picking.”

“One spot left,” Raksha said. “You take it, Ernest.”

“Me?”

Huh, maybe it’s not politics, thought Aaron, confused at why she was supporting both Terry and Ernest. Or maybe it still is. Hell, what do I know? I’m just here to fight.

A short debate followed. Terry and Erdek weren’t overly happy about having their spots challenged, while Ernest got to waltz right into one. But his Skills were unique, and he did hold one of the highest ranks. No one else could contest him in ranged, single-target power, so his spot was considered too important to switch out.

“Okay, that’s that,” Aaron said. “Once duels get done, our party’s main line-up is complete. But what about substitutes?”

“What about Talia?” Ernest said. “She’s strong. One of the top rankers of our world, and her shadows could be helpful.”

“Another humy? Nah, no way! Too much pink skin!” Erdek snorted.

“Wait,” Raksha said, thinking carefully. “Ernest is right. Having useful Skills with our substitutes is a good idea. We don’t know what we’re going to come up against. We should have some unconventional supports. The dungeon isn’t all about raw power. And even then, from what I’ve seen, Talia is an all-rounder. She will be able to fit into any team composition.”

Yeah, nah, maybe I shouldn’t theorize about political motivations anymore, thought Aaron.

Erdek continued to complain, arguing that she shouldn’t have to fight Soohyun, but found no support.

“Argh! Fine. But we take that one too, then!” Erdek huffed, pointing at Emmy, who was sitting back in a booth with her legs up on the table, blowing bubbles.

It seemed the so-called goblin queen really didn’t take Emmy as a serious threat.

“She is unconventional,” Raksha agreed. “If she’s a substitute, we won’t necessarily need to use her, and as I mentioned, she’s our only support mage. She could come in useful.”

“Seriously? Those little girls get a free pass for the team, and I gotta fight for it?” Terry shook his head. “Unfucking believable!”

“Skill issue,” said Talia smugly, taking great pleasure in how angry that statement made Terry.

“So that’s it then? That’s the team?” Aaron said, sharing a glance with Talia.

“Yes. This works,” Raksha said.

“If you’re all in agreement, so am I,” Ernest said.

“Too many humies. Make me sick,” Erdek said.

“If you hate us so much, why do you surround yourself with humans?” Aaron asked.

“Don’t compare yourself to me, boys!” Erdek huffed and stormed off toward the dueling chambers, her gimps following only a step behind. “I’m stressed now! Work the back!”

The moment the goblin queen snapped her fingers, her followers began massaging as she walked.

“Oookay.”

“Try not to make her too mad,” Ernest said. “We might need her.”

“This is bullshit,” Terry added, followed by his Desert Pythons as he marched over to the dueling chambers.

As the rest of the crowd dispersed, Aaron walked over to Soohyun, Talia at his side.

“How are you feeling?”

In truth, he wanted to ask about whatever she had been typing. But given her surprised expression, he didn’t want to ask directly. Figuring he’d likely have more luck getting details from her if he managed to fish them out.

“Good. I think I can take her.”

“It’d be good to have all three of us move on,” Talia said. “But don’t worry too much. We’re all getting auction points regardless.”

Their conversation was distracted as Terry was barking some complaints over by the dueling chambers, and the other rankers and supports began to gather around.

“They’re going to fight already?” Aaron said.

“Looks like it,” Talia said. “Shall we?”

“Hell yes!” Soohyun said, an eager gleam in her eyes as she walked over.

Huh. I didn’t take Soohyun for an eager duelist.

As they walked over, Aaron looked back at Elmira’s group. Elmira caught his gaze and winked at him, and he was just happy Terry didn’t catch it.

Elmira’s group was all settled already, having seemingly made their selection without any argument. And he had to admit, there were obvious benefits from working for Pentival. The guy sure knew how to keep his followers in line.

“Come to watch a squid get crushed by des and troy?” Terry grinned as they joined the group, making his biceps dance.

“Yeah, something like that,” Aaron said, and noticed Soohyun taking more notes.

“Come on, let’s cook this calamari!”

Raksha had taken control of the console for the dueling chambers, and she fiddled around with it for a moment, and the doors opened. Two paths led in, one toward the arena and the other to the seating.

All of Superearth’s dungeon participants found a seat, but Raksha had made sure to dial the settings so that nobody else could join and take notes.

Still, there was an obvious disadvantage to fighting in front of all the top rankers. Then again, Aaron couldn’t really judge them. He’d done the same back in the trials.

“I’m gonna enjoy this, little bro!” Terry shouted as he walked into the arena, taking a place opposite the thal’kesh.

“When you’re ready,” Ikran replied.

Erdek was already cheering for the thal’kesh, although interestingly, Raksha didn’t seem to care who won. Or at least, she wasn’t making it obvious.

A dong sounded, and a light flashed, signalling the start of the duel. Terry didn’t waste a second, his engines roaring as exhaust fumes poured out of him, and he shot forward. But not directly, he took a dizzying, zigzagging approach, making hitting near impossible at the tremendous speed that he moved.

But that seemed to work straight into Ikran’s hand, and a couple of seconds were all he needed for his ink to start spreading throughout the arena.

When Terry finally made his first attack, Ikran flashed out of the way, appearing where his ink was splattered on the ground.

“Stay still, squid boy!”

Throwing caution to the wind, Terry shot straight for the thal’kesh, but every time he did, Ikran blinked it away. And worst of all, his ink was spreading further and further, coating all of the arena not long after the fight started.

As Terry shot back and forth, bashing against the walls and whipping up a storm, his speed was on full display. But even so, he was a step behind the thal’kesh, who could be anywhere they wanted within an instant.

Terry’s incredible speed and power ripped up the ground, but as they continued to chase the squid around the arena, ink was slowly dripping on him, and as it did, he started to slow a little.

“This doesn’t look good for Terry,” Aaron said, catching every detail of the fight, thanks to his precision overlay.

“Really? It looks like he’s destroying the entire arena,” Talia said. “I think I can handle him in my shadow without too much issue. Wouldn’t want to get caught outside of them, though.”

Aaron could see it, though. His System overlay calculated Terry’s speed and percentage of body covered by ink, and while it was slow and gradual, there was no doubt he was slowing and he was getting covered with more ink.

If he doesn’t do something soon, it’s all over.

Unfortunately, Terry’s tactics were, well… barely tactics. He mostly just seemed to rely on his extraordinary speed and slamming into things with his hardy body.

It took a couple of minutes for the rest of the crowd to realize just how much he was slowing down thanks to the ink. Which itself was a testament to Terry’s speed and resilience. But nonetheless, the outcome seemed etched in stone unless something changed.

The truth was, Terry was not prepared for this fight. And although he had overtaken Ikran in the planetary rankings, it was beyond obvious that rankings weren’t everything.

Ultimately, rankings were a combination of levels, achievements, Titles, and loot. One could quickly drop rank if they started to fall behind in one or multiple of these groups. But that didn’t necessarily mean that they weren’t progressing and getting stronger in their own way.

And the more Terry sped around Ikran’s ink, the slower he got. And it seemed that the patient thal’kesh was more than happy to kite him around until he was drained.

Once he finally got slow enough that Ikran could keep up with his speed without teleporting, the thal’kesh appeared behind the big man, his hand covered in viscous ink.

It all happened so fast. One moment he was on the other side of the arena, the next he was behind Terry, stabbing into his back with his hand.

But that wasn’t all. The ink on Ikran’s hand was imbued with a condition, one that it shared with the ink on Terry’s. When the two ink-covered surfaces hit, it was like Ikran’s hand sliced straight through Terry, ignoring all of his defenses.

A fountain of blood poured out, and Terry fell to his knees and toppled over. A moment later, he appeared at the side of the arena, on his knees.

“Fuck, bro. That sucked just as much as dying in the trials did!”

“Well, it looks like Ikran is on the team.”

Ikran waved to the crowd, and a thin smile creased the quiet thal’kesh’s lips.

“BAHAHA! Got ‘em!” Erdek roared, smacking her gimps as she rocked back and forth. “Humy got got! Time to get the next one!”

Aaron turned to Soohyun, but she didn’t look worried in the slightest, getting up from her chair and making her way down to the arena.