Warsinger by James Baldwin (most important books of all time txt) 📕

brassy metal. An artifact. The machine was patiently rolling a massed ball of dirt and feces into position at the end of the tunnel, manipulating it with its back feet, its head facing toward us. It had a pair of fierce-looking mandibles, but other than clacking them at us, it showed no sign of aggression.

I scratched my chin. “Huh. Maybe it got out of the university? It looks like someone's science project. Not exactly what I was expecting, but I guess it could explain why we're all clogged up.”

“There’s no way one little beetle could do all this, right?” Karalti turned, casting light on the other doors.

“If it was working non-stop for a month, then maybe?” I angled the Spear into the hole, lined myself up, then thrust it forward.

The blade plunged in between the plates that acted as the beetle's shell, scattering blue-white sparks everywhere. It made a shrill whirring sound and collapsed - but before it expired, it emitted an ear-splitting ultrasonic pulse that made my eardrums throb.

[You killed Tomb Worker Drone! You gain-]

I felt the earth tremble before I heard it, and Shadow Danced along the curve of the wall on pure instinct as a colossal fist smashed into the floor where I had been standing.

Chapter 25

Karalti let out a shriek of warning, fleeing in the other direction as the heap in the middle of the floor reared up into a vaguely humanoid shape: big chest, narrow waist, like a giant's torso crudely modeled out of couple tons of congealed shit, dirt, and algae. And then I remembered something - Phantasmal Rounds didn't affect Constructs.

“Oh you motherfucking-” I Jumped out of the way as it swung around, twisting at the waist like a giant boxer, and swung a haymaker that barely cleared the edge of the chamber. “Karalti! Get out of here!”

“I'm trying!”she yelped, ducking under a follow-up punch that smashed into the wall over her head. It blew chips of stone out like shrapnel. I was now pretty sure what had caused the blood splatter on the floor.

The Spear burst into flames that turned black as I focused, then leaped into the air with a shout. The energy gathered along the shaft, surging as it split into no fewer than ten lances of boiling black mana. They rained down like homing missiles, slamming unerringly into the stinking soggy mass and rebounding back toward me. As the construct swung up, trying to bat me from the air, I boosted up and hit the second attack in the chain, Rain of Glass. The energy splintered into a devastating hail of blazing shards that spun at the huge creature and punched into its mass.

[You used Master of Blades! You deal 0 Damage!]

[You used Rain of Glass! You deal 0 Damage!

[HP: 25,000/25,000]

“DUDE! WHAT THE ACTUAL KENTUCKY FRIED FUCK!?” As I fell, I had to twist desperately in the air to avoid the Poop Golem's next strike. My toes had barely touched the ground when I remembered it had two arms. The second massive club rushed toward me, and I had just enough time to brace before it smacked into me and sent me flying across the room and into the wall. I hit it hard and bounced; the blow drove the air from my lungs and caused every one of my organs to wobble like jello.

[You take 278 crushing damage!]

Head pounding, I scrambled to my knees and Shadow Danced underneath the movement I sensed over my head. I barely made it, scooting out from under the hammer fist that would have crushed me like a bug against the floor.

What the hell? It didn't have a skull icon of any color beside its HP ring, still a smug shade of bright emerald green. It was within my level range, but my most powerful attack combo had done nothing to it. Nada. Zilch.

“Karaltiiii! Bioscan this thing!” I ran circles around it, keeping one eye on my diminishing stamina.

“On it!” I felt the air in the room rush and turn chilly, and caught a glimpse of Karalti as she concentrated from the doorway.

Tomb Guardian

Stranged Construct

HP: 25,000/25,000

MP: 230/230

A Greater Artifact immune to slashing, piercing, impact, and magical damage. It seems to have extreme damage reduction.

So the answer was that it was immune to everything. Awesome. Thanks, game. What the fuck was I supposed to do?

I rolled under another haymaker, sprung up, and darted forward. Once I was in range, I slammed the head of the Spear down. Thorny tendrils of black energy exploded out from the ground, wrapping the Tomb Guardian's arm up to its shoulder. Frost crackled through its soggy mass, freezing the limb in place for a scant moment - a couple of seconds, long enough that it had to flex against the Freezing debuff. As it moved its shoulder, a foot-thick chunk of frozen sewer clay broke away and tumbled to the ground. There was a flash of bright golden metal from underneath, and then the stench of the sewers faded, cleared out of the room by an unpleasant bitter smell, like almonds and burned engine oil.

[Warning: Mana concentrations are reaching dangerous levels! You are at risk of Mana poisoning.]

[Umbra Burst does 0 damage!]

“Fuck!” The Guardian's club fist swung at me again. I Danced to the side, only to reappear right underneath the other limb. Karalti cried out as it mashed me down. The armor took most of the hit, but I felt a dull wet snap inside my chest. Thin, frothy blood rushed up the back of my throat and into my mouth.

[You take 349 impact damage!]

[Your ribs are broken! -20 Stamina!]

[You have a punctured lung! -10 Dexterity!]

[You have internal bleeding!]

This thing was owning me. I stumbled under another swing and spat the blood, chest aching on every inhalation. My attacks weren’t hurting it. What the fuck was I supposed to do?

The golem slammed a fist into the floor, and another chunk of congealed stone and refuse went flying, dislodged by the force of the blow. And then, from