Outrun – Cyberpunk LitRPG

Chapter 210

Getting down to the cavern was much, much easier than last time. Back then, I didn’t know where I was going or the routes to get there. Mira and I even entered through the Jade Fangs’ entrance, which was really far away from our destination.

Now though? Now getting down was easy. There were several entrances if you knew just where to look. This time, we got down through an ancient pump facility next to the tower. It was mostly abandoned, though at one point pumped up water from the aquifer below to water nearby farms.

Considering it was in the middle of the city now and the closest bit of farmland was hundreds of miles away? Like I said, ancient. At least several decades. Maybe even longer.

Getting into the pumping station was the trickiest part. Instead of tearing it down way back when, they just built over it and concreted a new foundation, raising the entire street level a few blocks. The treatment plant and dozens of other buildings lay just beneath the surface, hidden unless one knew where to look.

And I knew where to look. We got access to the building above without any issues thanks to our Blue Crusade identities and then worked our way down. The water pump station didn’t even have electricity, let alone security. It was easy to get to our entrance. I set up the repel line, and then we descended into the depths. 

We exited out into an old library of some kind, the books and shelves long rotten into mush. What wasn’t rotten was impossible to read thanks to the thousands of small bite marks. Rats like paper, I guess. 

“Zuku? You- uh- you here? Got a light? I didn’t bring one with me.” Inquisitor Varus called out to me as I took my first step into the room, completely overlooking the fact that this place was pitch dark. 

My dark vision was to the point I could see flawlessly, another improvement from Panther’s Sight if I had to guess. Just a couple of days ago, my vision would blur far away from me, but now I could see as if the place was perfectly lit up. Wasn't sold on it yet, but it was a nice boost.

I rifled through my bag for a flashlight. It was something I hadn’t needed in a long, long time. I clicked it on, shining it at the Inquisitor. “You can’t see?”

”No chrome.” He chuckled slightly and stared right at me, the mask seemingly preventing him from getting blinded. He shifted from foot to foot, seemingly lost in thought, before grabbing a shark-tooth amulet. “Just a moment. Let me summon a sprite.”

I turned on Aetherial Perception. A few seconds later, the Aether shifted as though something swam through it. Out popped a small shark, drifting through space as it swam around mid-air like it was still in the water. Adult sharks were a bit terrifying, but a small one? It was, quite frankly, adorable with its little fins and curious eyes.

I wasn’t well-versed in marine zoology, so I couldn’t say anything other than it was a shark. Could’ve been a hammerhead or a great white, for all I knew. They didn’t exactly focus on marine animals in the holo-zoos I’d been to when I was younger. Maybe I should go back to them now? For research purposes, of course.

The small shark eyed me for a moment before turning back to its summoner and swimming right up to him. The Inquisitor reached out and petted the small shark for a moment before talking quietly to it.

The shark shifted, swimming around in a full loop as some kind of magic went off. A moment later, an ethereal glow came from under the Inquisitor’s mask. “All good, you can shut the light off now.”

“Sure?” I flicked it off before hearing a reply. The light made me a little... antsy? Down here, it was basically broadcasting our location. I threw on my poncho and checked the rest of my gear. Ready and set to go. I pulled the hood over my head, hiding my face in the shadows.

”I use this spell all the time in the depths. I can see as good as day.” The Inquisitor shrugged and nudged the shark sprite with his shoulder. I pretended I didn’t see it and turned to check our surroundings once more.

The library looked inhabited. There were recent enough prints and marks around that my guard instantly raised. I raised my rifle slightly, motioning to the Inquisitor. I checked for tracks, feeling my eye shift as it focused. A faint… emanation came into focus as I looked around, almost as if I was looking at a shadow creature. It took me by surprise, causing my eye to lose focus as I flinched back and lost the shadowy shape.

Once I realized nothing was actually there, I looked closer once more. The shadow shape wasn’t clear enough to tell what it would’ve been, but it seemed as though I was looking at the creature? It matched up with a few other trails, though it seemed faint as if it hadn’t been around in a couple days.

What was this? It was easy to point toward Panther’s Sight as the cause, but what exactly was I seeing?

I moved around, tracking the creature as I got more and more used to this- this shadow-tracking feature. It was like I was seeing the creature’s shadowy imprint of the Aether, assisting in tracking it down even in spots where there weren’t any physical signs of its passing. It was a little difficult to fully see it though, as if it was something barely in my peripherals that disappeared when I looked too hard.  

Before I could get too deep into experimenting, the Inquisitor called out to me. “What is it? Anything?”

 My attention snapped back to him. ”Um- No. It's gone for now.“

"Good, good. Then we should get a move on, yes? Where is it we're headed anyway?" He asked.

I dropped my rifle slightly, slipping into a more comfortable stance even as my eyes carefully darted around. “Have you heard of the mass human sacrifices down at Lang Tower?”

He tilted his head for a moment before slowly nodding. “Not too sure, but something about ritual magic? Nasty stuff, that.”

“You know about it?” 

The Inquisitor laughed as he played with the sprite. “Just enough to stay away. The Eidolons--Shark in particular--don’t like ritual magic. Most of the time, it's built on blood sacrifices and the like.”

”A CI hinted there might be something under Talus Tower too.” I started to move for the exit. This library was definitely the nest of some large critter, but it wasn’t home at the moment. Hadn’t been for a few days from what it looked like. Good chance it was already dead considering the dangers of the Underground.

”Ah, wait for me!” The Inquisitor jogged after, jovially laughing as the shark sprite cutely backpedaled around me in a slow circle. 

Gah, sprites were just the best! Maybe it's because of their boosted intelligence? They really knew how to act cute around me. Corvin was the only one I’d seen so far that hadn’t been cute. The rest though?

We traveled in near silence for a couple of minutes before the Inquisitor started talking about the ocean. I mostly tuned it out, focused on reaching our destination. The guy seemed a little… lonely? Must be quite something being out to sea all the time. He was too happy to talk about this and that, though thankfully kept his voice down.

We were closing on the subway platform leading into the cavern when I heard a noise up ahead. I motioned swiftly to Inquisitor Varus. He’d already gone quiet. Seemed the shark sprite noticed even before I did.

He motioned at me, waving his hands in a series of movements I couldn't make sense of. Seeing my confusion, he finally whispered, “Want to go up and take a look?”

I nodded, taking a step back for him to lead. Inquisitors weren’t as combat-focused as Knights, acting as detectives more than anything. Still, there was no doubt in my mind he was probably a better fighter than me. 

As we approached the source of the noise, I realized it was voices.

— — — 

Trip had been having a rough day. It all started when he took a job from Sprawl Trap, a well-known merc dive. The group he was with? A ragtag group made up of four other mercs. Two of them were chromed to hell and back, one of them was a Netrunner, and the last a Fox Magus.

The Fox Magus and Netrunner were his typical group, though the two chrome domes were added last minute to fill the numbers as muscle. Five was the typical group size for gigs from a merc dive.

The job? A ‘simple’ run down to the Underground and back. Except, they got lost on the way back. His connections with the Jade Fangs had commented the tunnels were tricky to navigate, but he’d overestimated the group's capabilities.

They successfully picked up the package—a large treasure chest-like box that took one of the chromed guys both arms to lift—and then things had gone wrong.

With their directions screwed up, the group went down a different path than they came from. A Pervider attacked- one of the nasty creatures that fed and bred using human corpses. Fighting it off wasn’t bad- at least until thirty more of the starving beasts popped out of a cave.

Several tactical retreats later, they barely managed to kill all of them and get to a safe place. Unfortunately, in the process, several of them had gotten ahold of Jet, their Netrunner. 

She was already weak down here, away from all of the tech. And combat really wasn’t her specialty. At least, combat against non-mechanical stuff. The bites were inevitable. The venom of the Pervider though? They weren’t ready for that. They should've brought anti-venom.

Jet was in a catatonic state, the venom putting her in a form of stasis as she lay on the floor close to their final battleground—an abandoned sewer control room. With her down, the two chromed ones were rearing at the bit to leave her here, both refusing to help carry her out.

Trip wasn’t just about to leave her though, especially considering how long they’d worked together. And finding a half-decent Netrunner was nearly impossible since most were employed in private security. Hence the argument that ensued.

”Look, my hands are full—I ain’t carrying her.” The guy holding the chest muttered. Trip couldn’t help his aggravation spiking as he stared at the guy. He could easily drape her over the chest or over his shoulder. His chrome was good- the kind that could easily support hundreds of pounds without an issue.

”And I’m telling you- I need both arms free. What if we’re attacked again?” The other asked rhetorically. “I killed thirteen of the Pervider; I’m the main attack force here.”

Trip barely held in his curses. The guy had last hit thirteen of the Perviders, not killed. Clyne, the Fox Magus, had done most of the work with his magic. And they were the thirteen weakest, youngest ones of the bunch.

At a glance, the response was obvious. Trip or Clyne should carry the catatonic Netrunner. But that wasn’t taking into account their situation. Clyne was too weak to carry her all the way. That, and though the small man hid it well, Trip had been 'round long enough to see his strength was flagging. The last fight had almost entirely drained him.

Trip being bogged down wouldn’t be good either. There were a host of reasons, but it boiled down to this: carrying her would temporarily incapacitate one of the two at least. It would give the two chromed guys an opportunity for betrayal--an ever-present issue in the world of mercenaries. And he’d caught their sly eyes earlier. Betrayal was a likely possibility if they were given the chance.

Of course, it wasn't smart to say such a thing aloud even if Trip and Clyne were thinking it. It was currently a stalemate, both sides hesitant after watching each other in battle. And although she looked catatonic, Jet was still a Netrunner. “Clyne, can you get a sprite to help out?”

”Not one big enough.” The short Clyne shook his head helplessly. Although he said that, Trip knew it wasn't so simple. More accurately, Clyne probably couldn't offer enough incentive to have a Sprite answer his summons with how drained he was. Although they were in a stalemate, it was only since the two incorrectly assumed Clyne had more juice in the tank.

Trip roughly rubbed his rifle with his hands in aggravation. There wasn’t a good solution- at least not one that’d leave everyone alive and well. They couldn’t just keep waiting around either. Every moment they did was another moment something might come to investigate the scene of battle. 

“Look, we can just-“

Rubble shifted just outside of the control room, causing an eerie silence as everyone stopped talking. High-strung as they were, they entered a tacit agreement to put the dispute aside for the moment. Funny how survival instincts could force working together.

Trip turned on the flashlight of his rifle and took the lead, slowly edging towards the door to investigate.