Mortal Combat!

Chris sat there for quite a while, almost too long, as his booty was starting to hurt from the stool.

He was thinking through some personal issues when Sarah called him over to talk about his "path" or whatever it is.

"Alright, I am coming." Said Chris as he wandered over with Jell-O legs, each step was filled with pins-and-needles that were common, he was thinking, [Damn…sat so long I have some paresthesia goin' on down there…]

After his walk through the needle pit, he reached them. They were smiling and giggling like schoolgirls.

Sarah spoke, "We have your build ready, are you ready to go hunt?" to which Chris nodded his head fervently.

The pair waved at the smiling gnome that was writing stuff down in her book. Then she shooed them away before the space started to expand and collapse, leaving Chris about to throw up.

"Okay, its official, FUCK that door, all my homies HATE that door, Jesus…" Chris took a knee because of the sudden shift, it was way more intense than going in. He looked over to see Sarah with a large frown and her hand on the wall.

"Yeah…it can get pretty bad when you stay in for too long." Said Sarah as she shook her head and walked through the lobby door that lead outside.

The sky was becoming dusky and gray, but there would be no difference in the sewers. She was willing to teach him about combat and the Godly System anywhere, but that would work as well.

Chris took a moment to catchup with her and he noticed that she seemed to have a spring in her step.

[She must be really happy about this? Kinda' weird…but she is a crazy lady. I have to get limber if I am going to dodge the Slimes.]

Chris was walking behind but he was doing strange movements that he "thinks" a professional boxer might do to get limber…while moving.

They found themselves walking between downtrodden buildings and dilapidated houses. There were strange smells, that of shit to be sure, but also fresh smoked meat that was ready for the dinner crowd.

Chris hadn't noticed major smells since coming to the city, but maybe the nobles did not want "their" district to stink? It is hard to know why people do the things the way they do, but he knew that people try to "make do" with whatever they had.

After walking for around 15-minutes, Chris saw a large stone structure that was NOT as large as he thought it would be…but the dwarf size helped a lot.

The stone structure was only a base-level building, meaning it had no upper floors, but the pipes could be scene and the gurgle of "unknown substances" could be heard from the other side of the street.

"Ya' know, if I was a betting man, I would say that the sewer is located where NOBODY is around." Said Chris as he chuckled at the sheer remoteness of the location. It was like being the only person in the subway at 4am, it is unheard of, but creepy as hell when it DOES happen.

Sarah raised her eyebrow at his statement, [Do people enjoy living near the sewer in his world?] and then walked into the open compound.

There were "pipes" of stone and rudimentary metal left about the place. Chris noticed that the large "Main Pipe" was still only as large as the others, he was worried that Sarah would have to duck down so her hair doesn't get all…poopy.

Sarah was covering her mouth and nose already and Chris was wondering why? He knew it would smell but it hadn't yet. A low suction could be felt as air was pulled in, the air was streaming past them, it honestly felt pretty nice.

Chris held his arms out and let the air flow. It was reminding him of the beginning of a storm, then the flow stopped.

Chris was disappointed but Sarah was getting ready for it.

A large rush of wind came from out of the tunnel, carrying the entire city's stench and blasting Chris in his open nose.

The eye watering effect was instantaneous, followed by the gagging and retching.

The pressure within the sewer was equalized. Sarah knelt down to Chris and said, "Why didn't you cover your nose? Have you ever been taught? Good Gods above, this child needs guidance…"

She was left shaking her head as she had sewage on her pants, but Chris needed someone to hold him for a second.

"I WASN'T READY! WHY IS IT SO…BAAAADDDDDD?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" Chris was wanting to check his status to see if he took damage from that, Jesus Christ!

Sarah spoke up, "Why didn't you place your hand on your nose? Don't you know how to follow a tutor?"

Chris was still trying to work his way through the tragedy that just occurred in his sinus cavity.

"I didn't think it would be bad…the air was sucking in like normal…then.." Chris was cut off by the shiver running down his spine.

He shook his head, "What the hell is wrong with your sewer network? That is the better question!"

She stared at him and just shook her head, she thought, [It might be better to start from the basic of the basics…]

They stood up; Sarah was a little mad about her pants, but she was used to having strange "unknown" fluids on her clothes that would probably leave a stain. It was just another part of motherhood.

She turned Chris to her and said, "Okay. You do what I do. Do not ask questions, unless it is in response. Do what I say, or you may die. Do you understand?"

Chris was unsettled by the sudden intensity that she was emitting.

"Yes, Sir?" Muttered Chris as another confused look reached Sarah's face.

She just shook her head and kept going inside.

The walls of the sewer tunnel were covered in green moss and you might bust your ass if you are not careful.

[SHIT, I was not thinking about dodging on moss! And how the hell am I going to beat a Slime without a weapon?] Chris was panicking slightly; this was shaping up differently than he had imagined.

The stench was getting worse as they continued, and the running of water could be heard.

Sarah spoke up, "Okay, kid. This sewer is a little bit older, but it should be fully functional. You will see that the sewer was designed in a way to prevent the Slimes from leaving. This means that people don't HAVE to come clear them out, but it is always good to keep them at a controllable level. Just make sure not to kill them all, the Guild has allowed for 50-Slimes to be killed. That is actually a lot, I guess people really aren't coming down here very much…"

Sarah was pondering when they saw the opening.

Large sigils covered the walls, they were glowing as the light pulsated through them. The stone looked brand-new, but the sewer had to be old.

[Maybe they have preservative Runes? I am definitely going to become a Runesmith, or whatever they call it.]

Chris was applying this logic to firearms; they might be insanely strong, but it wasn't the time for that as Sarah kept walking and stood next to a wooden ladder. She placed it down and secured the feet from the top before putting her weight on it. After climbing down, she noticed that there were some Slimes a little bit away. Chris would practice on these first.

Chris nearly slipped down the ladder, resulting in a headshake from Sarah.

She pointed into the darkness and they walked until he heard a strange squishing sound.

Chris looked forward; he could barely make out the figure in the darkness because of the lack of light. Sarah pulled out a small stone to make up for the lack of pulsing Runes.

There it was…

A small baseball sized slime. There were chunks of what looked to be sewage within it. The mass was completely still, relying on some form of perception to find the biological waste.

Sarah handed her sword to Chris and said, "Okay, the Slime has a detection radius where it will be able to "sense" you. It just thinks you are a large piece of food…"

Chris was confused at her sudden speech next to an enemy, but he guessed it didn't have ears.

He looked at it and inched forward, not receiving even the slightest reaction.

The Slime was only a few meters away, he was sure the little bugger could see him and was waiting to punk him.

But it never came.

The Slime was just sitting there and processing the material when it felt a large amount of food enter its zone. The biological machinery kicked into gear as the hibernation ended and the Slime began to…roll at him furiously?

Chris was waiting for it to spring up or shoot out acid at him, but the little guy just rolled like a ball towards him.

"Huh…gonna' be honest, was NOT expecting that."

He went to stab the Slime with his sword and the point just rolled off of the bouncy surface.

Sarah watched as he failed, "Kid…you have to drive the point." She was thinking that maybe this was too soon, [He can't even get past the Vitality of a Slime…]

Then Chris tried to use a fencing pose that he had seen in a YouTube video and trust the tip THROUGH the Slime while keeping the force aligned.

The Slime was rolling when its outer-layer of protection was pierced, the Slime had to shift to a more aggressive tactic as this was the first predator it had encountered.

It shifted its weight to be flatter and used its "powerful" gelatinous muscle to propel itself into the air.

The Slime was flying at Chris, but he was not fast enough as the Slime landed on his shirt.

The outer-layer of the Slime immediately became porous and allowed the Slime to attach to the shirt that Chris was wearing by leaking a sticky fluid.

He was freaking out and trying to stab the Slime with the point of the saber by reversing his grip and stabbing at his chest, where the Slime was bonded to his shirt.

"HELP! SARAH! HELP!" Chris said as the point was bouncing off and the burning sensation was beginning.

"IT IS EATING ME!!! SARAH!" Chris kept yelling before he got a good stab in and the Slime went limp…

It was still stuck to his shirt as he was trying to get it off, but it was incredibly inconvenient.

Sarah was standing to the side…watching whatever THIS was…

[That has to be the WORST attempt I have ever seen.] Sarah was analyzing the "fight" and was trying to fix his major errors when she heard him scream.

"SARAH! IT HAS BONES? WHAT THE HELL?" Chris had dropped his shirt in the sewage and backed up against the wall. The Slime was not a homogenous ball of goo' like in the fantasy games. This was a scavenging monster that used the waste of living beings to regain usable energy and Mana.

[WHAT THE HELL, THIS IS SOME HALF-LIFE BULLSHIT! WHY DOES IT HAVE A SPIKE? AM I SPIKED?] Thought Chris as he frantically felt his chest and he could feel small "needle" like barbs that caused his skin to be numb. [THIS IS THE CAUSE OF THE BURNING, BUT WHY WAS IT MAKING IT NUMB WHAT THE HELL???] Chris realized that this was a living being. It had probably evolved to adapt to this environment. This was like a plant that used injected toxin to provide safety, or a thorn bush for short.

This was a being. It was using its tools to survive. It isn't a "mindless" monster for adventurers' fun.

Chris was thinking about that sharp barb, was it going to shove it into his heart? That is when Chris had another chill run down his spine.

Sarah watched as Chris metabolized the reality of his new world.

[He is handling it very well-] She placed her dagger into the center of the Slime and finished it off before it tried to escape. [-but he has a lot to learn.]

Sarah pulled the small stone out of the monster and placed it in her pouch. They were going to have a talk about the fight.

(Author's Note: I am really close to getting to how the system is supposed to work. Here the Slime was in its "death saving-throws" if you have played D&D. But it isn't RNG or anything. The system is an extension of life and if you had your head cut off by an attack, but it only did 200 damage, you would instantly die. The VITAL points still matter a lot, but the vitality also acts as "defense" or the resistance of harm (as well as strength but that is with physical force). I know you were wanting to get into the system and Sarah's stats, but I might need a minute. Healing is going to play a different role than in normal RPG's. Restoring the HP is resetting the Vitality, meaning that the person takes less damage from subsequent attacks. HP restoration is, if you didn't notice, not exactly PERFECT as the band on Chris' arm became a blister instead of instantly fixing the issue. Hopefully this helps if you were a little curious as to the nature of the system. I am plan to expand and go into the physics of it...if y'all want that. As always, thank you for reading! <3)