ALEXiThymiA: Chapter 39: What Are The Odds, Truly

<<<<AUTHOR'S NOTE CORRECTION: Thanks to feedback. I have decided to push back the end of Book 1 for two more chapters. With that, by this time tomorrow I hope to have the final Dragon Battle complete.

This still puts me on pace to try to restart my other projects on Wednesday.
>>>>

Chapter 39

What Are The Odds, Truly

In the end Alexa had chickened out. She had the perfect chance to show her friends her true self. The augmentation crystalline dependent junkie that she was. She had the moment, then she chose to wait. She wanted them both to be rested, she knew that people generally reacted poorly to news, when they were tired or exhausted and Gina was both.

Alexa could also tell that Julie was nearing her ends as well. No, if she wanted a statistically higher chance of success, she needed them both to be well rested, and with a clear mind.

In a way, this was the most vulnerable she had ever felt. What if they saw her, the real her and were frightened? Or worse, what if they noticed her dependency and wanted her to stop? She couldn’t stop, not for friends, not for anyone.

That was why she asked them to stay, while she gained more crystals. As she entered the next red dungeon the same wall of text appeared before her eyes. A all of text that seemed to change…

Everything was the same, the fact that this dungeon could now summon monsters. The fact that she could issue the command to Stay, then there was a change to the Warning.

WARNING: There is a 1 in 1,000,000 chance of summoning a dungeon with a dragon as the sole boss.

As Alexa watched the warning, she saw the zeros slowly dissolve away. Until finally she was left with the following.

WARNING: There is a 1 in 1 chance of summoning a dungeon with a dragon as the sole boss.

One of one, those were her odds. Either Alexa had annoyed enough divinely powerful beings. Or maybe it was just her odd luck playing with her. But she found herself inside a long tunnel that led out to a giant opening with a magical beast so large that Alexa initially confused the creature with being part of the new dungeon she now found herself in. The fact that she was in a new dungeon was not lost on her. As the dungeon itself was made up of mana that was simultaneously larger, but less densely packed than her Bottomless Gorge. Then there was the fact that this energy was off. It seemed to match the densely packed hill, that wasn’t a hill at all.

No just one look at the hill of densely packed mana told Alexa all she needed to know.

You have identified: Level 1 Spirit Dragon.

Then almost to add insult to injury, the last and final message came.

Note: At any time, you feel you cannot compete against the monsters summoned to fill the trap dungeon, you can exit at any time. Be advised that exiting in such a way will prevent you from being able to return to this same Tier II dungeon for a month.

The exit was right there, looking at the door she realized that most people would have likely taken the smart route, of leaving right then and there.

Instead Alexa paused, she forced herself to sit down and assess the situation. Right now, she had the advantage. The dragon was asleep, at least it appeared to be breathing in a slow rhythmic cadence that could depict sleeping.

Seeing the dragon in this state, Alexa paused. Then decided to let her emotional brain have a chance to weigh in on this.

Sitting down, she heard the all too familiar sound of her crystals clinking against one another.

Well first thing was first, she needed to be silent if she was going to have any chance of success. So, she opened her backpack and pulled out her first +2 crystal.

Munch.

The new crystals were like drinking cool water on a hot summer day. They were the perfect snack, not being too salty or too sweet, but just right. They were the thing she had been looking for all this time, when she never knew she needed anything. To put it simply, they were divine.

She ended up spending the first few of her crystals just enjoying the moments that popped up within her mind.

Alexa reflected on how far she had come with her friends. How much they meant to her. Then with a thought, she called out to the numerous entities that were all here. All seeming to be clustered together at this entry way. It seemed that there were multiple tethers to different dungeons, at least that is what Alexa gathered from looking at all the different portals.

The exit, the connection that was the largest, that was clearly the tether to Bottomless Gorge.

Then she remembered the message that came. She would be banned from reentering Bottomless Gorge for 30 days. She had just been given this one reprieve, a faint taste of joy, and now this stupid dragon was going to take it away from her.

Looking at the sleeping dragon, Alexa’s emotional mind spoke up with rage at the beast.

That was it, the final nail in the coffin. In a way Alexa knew how stupid such an event was. She would be fighting a dragon that was the size of a large office building. She would fight it and was somehow expected to win? But that didn’t matter, to Alexa it was a sign of her dependency. Of her need to feel.

These +2 crystals were amazing. Better still, they helped her push her mental attributes over the unknown threshold.

You have gained +2 Willpower.

Title expanded. Title: Attribute Increases (4) has now become Attribute Increases (5).

Then like that, Alexa figured it had to be destiny. This was the universe telling her it was her chance. Of course, had she been in her normal frame of mind, she would have chalked this moment up to mere coincidence. But the fact that her emotional mind and rational mind both agreed on the same subject, even if their views for getting to the same conclusion were off, meant Alexa needed to make plans.

The first thing she did was, she went to the exit portal that would allow her to exit the same dungeon that she had entered.

“Bottomless,” Alexa spoke to the exit. She felt flustered for a moment, but then stopped herself. She wanted this to come from her, from the real her. So she continued while her mind was able to freely process everything that was going on.

“Can you tell my friends that I am about to do something stupid. Something that they should never do when given the chance.” Alexa said, before turning around. She took one step, then another. By the time she turned around tears were forming in her eyes. “Also, if you can. Let them know I love them.”

Then with that, she turned around to face the dragon. She decided for this, she would leave her bookbag here. Instead, she just drank a bit of extra water and ate some food. Before crossing the threshold to begin her battle with the Level 1 Spirit Dragon.

The moment she crossed the barrier. An invisible surge of energy went off, alerting the slumbering giant that a guest had arrived.

“ROOOAAARRR!”

The mighty beast roared as it came to life.

This was it, no chance to second guess herself. No time to try to escape. Alexa took off like a rocket and began running towards the dragon.

***

In a cleared dungeon floor, two girls lay down. They had a long day but were finally given the chance to relax. Despite not wanting to be a burden on Alexa, it was clear that they had both been draining on her. At least that is what Julie and Gina both thought to themselves. Why else would Alexa want to go adventuring by herself. Clearly, they were nothing but a burden to her.

“ROOOOAAARRR!”

The deafening roar of a monster from the TV in the other room came to life and frightened Gina and Julie up into a sitting position.

“The heck?” Gina said, as she felt for her heart.

The room was dark, which was why the pulsing video of the TV could be seen even from the bedroom.

“Did you leave the TV on?” Julie asked.

“No, why would I. I almost expected it to be a mimic.” Gina said, only half joking, maybe less than half.

“Come on, let’s go turn it off.” Julie said.

“Do we both need to do it?” Gina asked.

“I don’t want to go around this creepy house without someone with me.” Julie said.

At that, Gina finally relented, as she got up and started following Julie out into the living room.

There on the screen was what looked to be an old monster movie.

“ROOARR!”

The beast let out a massive roar, as it seemed to square off against the one lone warrior. Gina could not guess this movie. She thought her dad might know, as he always loved these b-rate movies. Though to be honest the special effects were top notch. The dragon looked so realistic; every detail seemed to be done in exacting details.

Magic Breath Attack.

The dragon let out a massive wave of purple flames. Again, the CGI was phenomenal on this movie, as Gina could swear that the attack looked almost real.

Julie was near the TV, looking for an off switch, when they both heard a cry of pain that sent chills down their spines.

“Ahh!”

The cry was so real, and full of emotion that the actress in question must have gotten hurt in real life. It was one of those bone aching cries of pain that one cannot help but feel connected to.

Then realization hit Gina first. She had heard that cry before. At least, she had heard the voice that had produced that cry.

“Wait.” Gina cried out.

Julie who had been searching the TV for an off switch, just stared at Gina. But Gina only had her eyes glued to the screen.

“Wait, that’s…” Gina trailed off, not wanting her words to be true. But she found herself instinctively going to sit on the soft leather couch that faced the TV. As she sat down, Gina felt her hand going over her rapidly beating heart. Once again, she found herself wishing she had her pills with her. Pills that would help her calm down, to stop her rapidly beading heart.

“What?” Julie asked, but then she took as step back and looked at the TV. There in the picture she saw Alexa. At that Julie backed up, until she found herself stumbling into a coffee table.

“You should sit down.” Gina said.

Julie looked like she wanted to say something, but then apparently thought better of it as she nodded. Then proceeded to sit next to Gina on the couch.

Silence.

Only the cries of the two combatants could be heard over the deafeningly quiet dungeon room. If someone had told Gina that she would spend her weekend on a couch in a cleared dungeon room. While watching the equivalent of a monster movie where a giant monster tried to rip her best friend apart, she would have laughed. Had she been told that this was what her weekend would have come to, she would have rejected outright. There was no way she wanted to see or even think about something so terrible happening to Alexa. But now that she was here, in the moment, she could not look away.

Then there seemed to be a moment where Alexa’s glowing face was captured on the screen. She had a devilish smile that made it seem like she was enjoying this somehow.

“Do you think she is possessed?” Gina asked, her fingers growing cold as fear caused her body to cut off blood flow to her extremities.

Julie just shook her head. “No, that is her. That is the same look she had when…”

“When what?”

“When we fought. At the time, I thought it was just a fluke. But looking back on it, who would willingly jump headfirst into battle with a fully changed werewolf. Even if you had an ace up your sleeve.” Julie said.

With that, Gina looked at Alexa in a whole new way. “You mean she likes this?”

Julie just shook her head. “I don’t think she likes this, if I am not mistaking, I think this is one of the few times she can feel true emotions.”

Julie strained to feel through her pack bond but couldn’t. Instead, all she could do was base her opinion on what she was seeing before her.

“Do you think she will win?” Gina asked.

Julie just nodded.

Then with that, the two watched as the battle continued.