《Rewritten ascendancy》 Chapter 1 Chapter 1 We hardly notice the ever present background noise of the city. Voices, cars, the thudding of a train speeding by. We filter it all out unconsciously. So when it suddenly stops the change is jarring. Or, it would have been if anyone had been conscious to notice. Bodies lay strewn out where they fell. Most in the safety of their own beds. Others were not so lucky. Hundreds of car crashes happened all over the city as nobody was controlling their vehicles any longer. Bones were broken as people limply fell down the stairs they were climbing. This would have been enough to make this day go down in history as probably the strangest event that has befallen mankind. This however was merely a prelude to things to come. As all over the globe mankind slept strange lights started to play in the sky. All the colours of the rainbow, and some that could not fit in such a narrow definition, moved in strange patterns as a fog descended. Appearing out of the swirling lights it covered the city, like all others. Finding its way into every buildings and tunnels. Spreading out until it no nook or cranny remained untouched. Whenever it found a human it would start a transformational process as the microscopic robots that made up the fog entered into the unconscious people. Setting to work as they fulfilled their purpose. First repairing damage, be it from accidents, violence or merely genetics. Mankind was being remade into healthier more efficient beings. This was merely the first step though as the changes moved away from what was human. Setting up pathways throughout the body. Preparing it for future changes and designs. Other nanites went after what on earth passed for technology. Taking over or tweaking electronic devices for their own purposes. Soon the interconnected network of information was gone. Replaced by something else. Yet more machines went to work converting materials all over the globe into constructs. Some esoteric and indecipherable. While others purposes were all too clear. As the cloud finished up its work humanity woke up to a world changed. A world no longer indisputably their own. For a blissful moment upon waking Jacob didn''t know anything had changed. Thinking this was a day like any other he stretched lazily. Not yet ready to get out of bed and face the new day he turned over. His relaxed state was soon shattered however as a blaring sound pierced his foggy mind. Jolting fully awake he looked around for the source of the sound. Finding it to be his television he reached for the remote to turn it off, before noticing exactly what was on the TV. His mind raced to catch up as he saw himself depicted standing naked. Blond hair unkempt and blue eyes staring intensely. The Jacob in the TV made eye-contact and spoke with his own voice.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°This is most likely a disorienting experience for you. However the world has changed and you need to be informed of the nature of this change.¡± Pausing slightly to make sure the freshly awoken Jacob was paying attention. ¡°This planet is now under the management of the Gibborim, who in their infinite wisdom and compassion have decided to uplift mankind. They will free you from weakness, mortality and the restrictions placed upon the mighty. No longer shall you be prevented from reaching your full potential.¡± The Jacob on the screen spread his arms and his flesh undulated. Growing larger, more muscular and in every way more... perfect. After seconds of this transformation he started glowing and radiant wings of light burst out behind him. ¡°This is but one of the many paths you might take Jacob. As long as you embrace destiny and fulfill the will of the Gibborim there are no limits upon what you might achieve or become.¡± Slowly returning back to a man of moderate build of someone not spending too much effort on it. The image again addressed the stunned human. ¡°Now lift your left arm in front of you, bend your elbow and look at your forearm.¡± Not quite comprehending what was going on Jacob decided this was a dream. That was until pain lanced through his left arm and an irresistible urge to move it into position manifested. ¡°Son of a-!¡± Jacob erupted as his arm jerked into position. ¡°What the fuck?¡± Instead of gazing upon his forearm a floating square blocked his view. Displaying the same image as the television the forearm Jacob spoke. ¡°This is your interface, its purpose is to serve as a way to impart information to your primitive mind in an understandable manner.¡± As the image gestured to its side numbers and text appeared. A ''100'' at the top and then beneath it two squares that said ''modification'' and ''possessions''. ¡°The number at the top is your points. You can use them for various purposes. However, the end-goal is for them to aid you in ascending. Spend them wisely, for the only ways to get them is through missions, exceptional deeds and the slaying of others who walk the path of ascendancy.¡± The text faded away and was replaced by the image of a floating glowing pylon. ¡°These are the the markers of your boundary. It is highly advised that you do not go past them if you value your life. If they appear that is a sign for you to turn around. In their infinite wisdom the Gibborim have decided that it''s best for you to remain in Stockholm. With this your introduction is completed. There will be a period before anything dangerous starts to appear and your first mission is given. You are highly advised to prepare yourself and improve in whatever way is possible. Good luck in ascending Jacob Dahl.¡± For several moments after the miniature Jacob disappeared he just sat there. Eventually he let out a profound. ¡°The fuck.¡±. However hard he kept trying to wrap his head around what had just happened he kept coming up with ''it was all a dream''. Shortly followed by him looking down at his left wrist and seeing the screen appear again and again. Taking himself out of his stupor he went and grabbed his phone. Unlocking it and opening upp a newsapp to see if anything was mentioned. Upon opening the app the only thing there was a message stating ''Restricted access for ascender Jacob Dahl''. Closing the app down he tried opening up the web-browser only to see the same message. No matter which app he tried. If it used the internet it displayed the same message. Next up trying to call his mother only returned the same message. It would seem the world just became a whole lot less connected. Wandering over to his window Jacob pulled the blinds up and looked out. All around were confused people looking at their wrists and shouting at eachother. Objects were strewn about in disarray as they had been dropped. Jacob even saw a car crashed into a stoplight which had bent dangerously. ¡°Well fuck me. It seems this is really happening. Gibborim huh...¡± Trying to decide what to do he finally decided that it would be easier to plan out his course of action after eating breakfast. Luckily the refrigerator and various kitchen appliances seemed to still function. Taking milk from the fridge and cereal from cupboard he began the complex task pouring them into a bowl. Sitting by the kitchen table with his breakfast in front of him he pondered the future. What would become of them? What were the Gibborim? And what was he supposed to do. Chapter 2 After a lot of consideration and idle eating Jacob came up with a course of action. First of he''d probably not go to work today. As bigger things were going on and it would be very hard to do his job of coordinating transport of goods from outside the city with the situation as it was now. Secondly he''d explore the weird screen he now had over his left forearm. Thirdly he''d go and check in on his neighbors. To see how they were and try to find out more about what was going on. Looking bringing his arm up in front of his face the screen once again appeared. Displaying the same number and buttons as before. Hesitating a bit before moving his hand he clicked the ''modification'' button. Since that one was the one that had caught his attention the most. In front of him the screen changed to bring up a list of options with costs associated with them. At the top of the list it said ''unlocked modifications''. And to the side there was a tab labeled ''acquired modifications''. Curious, Jacob pressed that tab and the list was replaced by a new one with two entries. ''Basic optimization'' and ''Nanite framework''. With another naked Jacob slowly rotating to the left of the text. With a ¡°Huh.¡± Jacob pressed the first entry, causing a new smaller screen to appear over the first one. ''Basic optimization: Using nano-machines your cells have undergone repairs and certain deficiencies have been rectified. Preventing several debilitating health conditions and making you a more streamlined, efficient you.'' Blinking at the text Jacob let out a very intelligent ¡°uh...¡± followed by ¡°Wait. Optimized? Like I''m some kind of machine? Or code?¡± The ramifications of his new overlords view of humans did not leave Jacob too thrilled about their stewardship. Shooing away the new screen it went away and as he moved his finger to the second option a new one appeared. ''Nanite Framework: Your body now contains pathways and reservoirs for nanites. This is to allow further modifications and diagnostics. In case patching will be required please remain calm.''. ¡°Well fuck. I''m just like a robot to them aren''t I? Or a toy.¡± Jacob pushed his chair back and rose. ¡°I''m way too sober for this shit¡± Walking over to a cupboard Jacob opened it and retrieved a half-full bottle of Captain Morgans rum. Considering finding a glass he instead decided to just take a swig right from the bottle. Downing a large gulp he slammed the bottle down. Letting out a refreshed noise his actions were interrupted by what sounded like a beep from his wrist. Looking down at it he noticed a message having appeared in the air ''Weak toxin discovered. Within purgeable parameters. Poisoning prevented''. ¡°You... You''re taking DRINKING from me?!? What kind of sadistic assholes are you really? Is there nothing that is sacred? Walking away from the bottle in disgust Jacob started pacing back and forth. ¡°Okay. Okay.¡± Taking a deep calming breath he tried to let the frustration flow from him. This isn''t productive he thought. Plan. I had a plan didn''t I? Right, step 2.5 have my last faith in goodness be dashed at the hand of a bottle of rum. So now, step 3. Talking to the neighbours. No wait. Completing step 2! Actually take a look at the available things in this menu. Quickly opening up the modifications option Jacob actually took time to read the various modifications available to him. There were six alternatives under the ''unlocked'' part. ''Basic fibrous enhancement 75pt'' ''Basic warriors implants 100pt (locks other implants)'' ''Basic Novice implants 100pt (locks other implants)'' ''Basic savage uninhibitor 50pt'' ''Basic self-repair function 75pt'' ''Basic logistics implants 75pt (locks other implants)'' There was no description of what the different modifications actually did. The second-to-last one seemed kind of self-explanatory. Some kind of healing if Jacob would guess. The savage one was the cheapest one, but it also sounded quite distasteful. Like something mindless and reckless. The other ones he had theories about. But nothing concrete yet.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Deciding to move on to the other category available to him he opened up ¡¯possessions¡¯ A long list of available items appeared. Everything from food for 1 point to an inferior las-rifle for 100 points. With things like vehicles and guard-dogs. Most of the things he recognized. But some were unfamiliar to him. Like a stationary basic trans-reciever for 100 points. Nothing instantly stood out to him as a must have. A lot of things were interesting and tempting. Though since he didn''t know what he was up for the best plan seemed to be to hold off on spending his limited points until he knew more. Thinking that there was no point wasting time Jacob brushed his teeth, and then got dressed in a t-shirt and some jeans. Heading out the door of his medium sized apartment, he went to the door across the hall and rang the doorbell. After a moment his neighbor and friend Lisa opened the door. Like Jacob she was in her mid-twenties. Her hair was short and black and she was wearing sweatpants and a baggy hoodie. ¡°Jacob. Please tell me you know what the hell is going on!? One moment I was watching netflix on my ipad before bed. The next thing I know it''s morning and I''m watching myself talk about some kind of alien takeover of earth?¡± Lisa spoke rapidly, hardly pausing to breathe as she grabbed Jacobs arm. ¡°I don''t think I know any more than you do. The same happened to me. Only it was nudist Jacob speaking from my TV instead.¡± ¡°Fuck. So this is really happening is it?¡± ¡°Yeah, seems so... Oh, and brace yourself for some more bad news.¡± Lisa gave him a look filled with trepidation as Jacob took a long pause before continuing. ¡°It seems... Like we can no longer get drunk..¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Yeah. Alcohol gets filtered right out¡± Lisa punched his arm, which hurt surprisingly much for someone with her lithe build. ¡°You ass! I thought you were talking about something serious! Something dangerous!¡± ¡°Ow, ow, stop! It is serious! Like, no effect whatsoever from drinking! How is that not horrible?¡± Lisa just gave him a glare that spoke volumes of her thoughts on his priorities right now. Lowering her fist she sighed then waved him in. Closing the door behind him Jacob entered the apartment while rubbing his aching shoulder. Walking into a tidy living room Lisa threw herself onto the couch while he took a seat on the opposite end of it. Putting her feet on his lap she let out another sigh. ¡°Well, this is all kinds of crazy isn''t it Jacob? Aliens, nanites and I don''t even need my glasses anymore.¡± Jacob hadn''t noticed the absence of the thick prescription glasses that always seemed to take up half of Lisas face. ¡°Huh.¡± ¡°Yeah. Everything was blurry with them on. Then the ipad told me to take them off and everything was crystal clear.¡± ¡°Well that''s neat. I guess the Gibborim really didn''t want defective goods.¡± ¡°Yeah, so that''s the positive of being a slave to extraterrestrial conquerors.¡± They both fell quiet a moment before Lisa burst out in frustration. ¡°Aaargh. And internet doesn''t seem to work! I can''t find out anything about what''s going on and I''m getting stressed the fuck out.¡± Nudging him with her foot she just told him ¡°Rub.¡± Used to her behavior he put a hand on her foot and started massaging it as they were thinking. ¡°So Lisa. Have you taken a look at the menus?¡± ¡°Yeah. Seems like something out of a roleplaying game. Maybe DnD. Or more like GURPS.¡± ¡°That is... A good comparison probably. Point-buy system for improvements. That seems to basically be what this menu is. Can I take a look at yours to see if ours are the same?¡± ¡°Yeah sure.¡± Lisa sat up, extracting her feet from Jacobs lap and scooched closer. Holding up her left arm in front of them. Jacob looked at it and saw her forearm. ¡°Okay, could you turn it on now?¡± ¡°Huh? What do you mean? It''s on. See?¡± She poked the air in front of her wrist. ¡°The only thing I see is you your finger pushing the air in front of your arm. Here, try to see mine.¡± Presenting his own arm it turned out she couldn''t see his screen either. Frustrated they decided to put on some tea and to do it the old fashioned way. Going through the lists verbally as the other one wrote it down on paper. Half an hour later they had compared their modifications and some randomly chosen items from the possessions tab. It seemed that their options were the same asides from Jacob having the Logistics implants available, while Lisa had the Ranger implants available instead. They chalked this up to Jacobs job in transportation management and Lisas habit of spending a lot of time in the wilderness. It seemed her work as a senior sales associate did not unlock anything for her. Jacob put down his cup of tea and scratched his chin. ¡°So. What do you reckon you''re going to spend you hundred points on?¡± ¡°I don''t know. Though Ranger implants sounds kind of cool and unique. And there are a lot of items too that would be pretty great to have.¡± ¡°Yeah. Though the Logistics implants seem to be special somehow they just don''t appeal to me right now you know? Since we don''t know what will happen and if they''ll be helpful. And the fact that they seem to exclude me being able to take the other implants, which could be more useful, just adds on to that.¡± They both were silent for a bit before Lisa got up to make some more tea. As she returned the TV suddenly turned on. Displayed on the screen was a large castle. Loud fanfares boomed as the view zoomed in on a balcony overlooking the courtyard. On it slithered forwards what seemed to be a large serpent with arms. Dressed in a puffy red and gold shirt, complete with a cape and a bowl-like hat. Opening its mouth, Jacob expected a hissing voice, but was surprised when a melodious clear baritone spoke instead ¡°Dear subjects. New ascenders! I hope you''ve come to accept your place in this world and the new bright future in ahead of you all. I''m your new Gibborim overlord, Loki. As you''ve probably all noticed changes have been made. A border has been erected to mark your allowed area and you''ve all got some fun modifications that many of you have already selected! Those of you that have not. Well, I recommend that you do so soon. Because in just four hours begins the first exciting event! Which I have named ''Operation Don''t Die. Unless Nuanced and Comically for Lokis Entertainment.'' For those that choose to participate there is Glory, opportunity and points aplenty! For those that don''t... Well. I hope you''ve got food enough stored not to need points for it.¡± ¡°Soon ships will begin landing in areas near you. These will take you to the mission once the countdown ends. ¡° Gesturing to his forearm the Gibborim continued. ¡°Your interface will show you the path to the closest transport. The mission, O.D.D U.N.C.L.E. Is an introductory one and therefore will have relatively little danger. Don''t mistake that for being safe. Some of you may die.¡± Loki moved his hand sorrowfully to his chest. ¡°But it''s a sacrifice I''m willing to make.¡± Gesturing grandly his voice boomed out. ¡°Let the ascendancy begin!¡± As the television screen once again turned dark Lisa and Jacob looked at each other slack-jawed. Several seconds passed like this before Lisa stammered. ¡°Did. Did that snake just meme about our impending deaths?¡± Chapter 3 Jacob and Lisa spent some time discussing what they thought would happen and what to do. When their conversation was disrupted by loud bangs outside. Five loud booms rang out before Jacob ran over to the window. Looking down he saw a woman with a futuristic looking gun aim at a man running away and then fire. A loud crack was heard and the mans chest erupted in a shower of blood and bones. He fell down with fist-sized hole clear through his body. Joining two other corpses on the ground. The red-haired woman hurried over to the closest corpse and grabbed onto its left arm. A glow started flowing up the dead mans arm and into the womans hand, then further up. Dispersingt through her body. She seemed to display an enraptured face, almost orgasmic. Before heading over to the other people she''d brutally murdered and repeating the scene with them. Looking around she then hurried away out of sight. Jacob was shaken, hearing more muted sounds of violence in the distance. He was snapped out of it by a hand on his shoulder and a gasped ¡°My god.¡± from Lisa. ¡°Why would someone just murder like that?¡± The disbelieving words came from Lisa as she squeezed his shoulder tight. ¡°I don''t-¡± Something clicked in Jacobs mind as he thought he figured it out. ¡°She took some glow from their left arms. Didn''t our copies say something about getting points for slaying other ascenders? or something like that.¡± ¡°Wait, you''re saying she murdered them to get their points?¡± ¡°I-I think so? That would explain it. And the shooting we''re hearing in the distance.¡± They took a few minutes to gather themselves before Lisa spoke. ¡°I don''t think we can hold off on spending our points. If we don''t then that might easily happen to us.¡± ¡°I think you''re right. Fuck. What to spend it on though?¡± ¡°I''m thinking of getting the Ranger implants. That would leave me 25 points for weapons. And it would let us find out what exactly the implants do.¡± ¡°You sure? Okay. If you do that then we can see the effects and then decide if I should get something similar. Or whether I should spend it all on guns.¡± ¡°Okay. Lets do this.¡± Lisa started fiddling with her interface before her eyebrows wrinkled up in a frown. ¡°It''s asking me if I would like like to be unconscious for the modifications. It highly recommends it unless I want to experience excruciating agony...¡± ¡°Uuhm.. Yeah. I think that might be a good idea. I''ll watch over you while you''re out.¡± ¡°Okay. Well. See you soon I hope.¡± With that Lisa went over to the couch, laid down and with a sigh initiated the modification. Instantly her eyes closed and she went completely limp. Worried Jacob went over and checked on her breathing. Finding it deep and even he relaxed a bit. Hearing another shot somewhat close outside he hurried to the kitchen and found a frying pan. Hefting his improvised weapon he stood guard. After what felt like hours but more realistically was maybe twenty minutes, Lisa suddenly jerked upright. Looking around wide-eyed she let out a ¡°Wow¡±. ¡°Are you okay Lisa?¡±¡± ¡°More than okay! I feel amazing. By the way, did you have cereal today?¡± ¡°Uh yeah. How did you know?¡± ¡°You''ve got a small flake stuck to your sock. It just got highlighted along with a lot of other things in my vision. And there is this feeling of them being... Added to a database? It''s weird. Almost tastes like yellow.¡± ¡°Tastes like yellow? Wait, not the important part. You''ve got stuff highlighted?¡± ¡°Yeah. And holy shit! I can focus on them to get some basic information about them!¡± ¡°Wow Lisa. That''s... Pretty fucking awesome actually. Anything else?¡± ¡°Uhm, yeah. Sure. Let me check my interface.¡± With an excited grin she brought her arm up and started pressing things. Going through her lists she told him that the old options she couldn''t afford were now grayed out. And the other implants were gone alltogether. ¡°Though. There are new options available. They''re blacked out, but they''re clearly there in the list. It says I''ll be able to see and select them once I''ve reached the point requirement.¡± ¡°Okay, so then we know the ones we started with aren''t the only things there are. That''s good information to have¡± ¡°Oh hey! I seems to have unlocked a ''Ranger'' tab in the possessions menu. At a glance it seems to be various silent weapons. Like bows and suppressed guns. And look at this! PETS!¡± She let out a thrilled squal. ¡°Oh my god there are so many pets available here. Though they all have ''assimilated in their names.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Cool.¡± Jacob couldn''t help but to smile at his friends cheer. Something that was refreshing to see with everything that had happened. ¡°My god. This sounds so adorable! A lesser fluffmord.¡± ¡°That does sound adorable Lisa. But maybe we should go on and see if there is a description for your impants?¡± ¡°Ah. Right. Okay, lets see. The image of me has some highlighted parts now. Lets see what happens if I press my leg?¡± Pushing in the air with her finger she focused as if listening to something. After a long moment she turned to Jacob. ¡°Right. So I pressed my leg and my copy started talking to me. Telling me how the through the benevolence of the Gibborim I have been improved. That my legs and feet now have shock-absorbers in them. Letting me fall from higher heights without ill effect. And how my footsteps will be softened, reducing the sound. It then demonstrated by showing itself jumping down a house then sprinting off. Changing its speed to display the sounds of the footfall.¡± ¡°That''s interesting. I guess they don''t want us to completely be in the dark about our changes, flailing about blindly.¡± ¡°So it would seem. Let me check these other highlighted areas.¡± Going through the implants she began with her eyes. Which had a tiny computer added to the optic nerves. Its job was sorting through the sights and highlighting details and storing/providing information about them as needed. The brain had a processor added on to it which helped sort through all sensory inputs and aid in distinguishing and making them out. Letting her more easily isolate all sensations, most usefully sounds and scents. There was another transmitter/reciever in her skull. Which turned out to be for commanding assimilated animals. Which she either bought. Or found a wild one and used a purchased assimilator on it. She currently had a capacity to command one assimilated creature. Lastly were her lungs which had improved oxygen intake and storage. As well as a weak filter for airborne hazards. Clicking the basic Rangers implants in the acquired list gave a summary of the implants. As well as an option to upgrade the package in several directions. Though that apparently was at the steep price of a thousand points. For the first two. And a whole three thousand points for the last one. As with the blacked out modifications these were also not readable until the point recquirement was met. ¡°Holy shit Lisa. That''s one hell of an increase in pointcost.¡± ¡°I know. I can only imagine what they''ll give me!¡± ¡°For sure¡±. ¡°Hey, how about I take these implants for a spin. Running around a bit and such so we can hear the changes.¡± ¡°That''s probably smart, yeah.¡± Clapping her hands Lisa started by running across the room and then back. Followed by an as fast sprint around the apartment as the furniture would allow. Several minutes of running and jumping later she wasn''t the least bit winded. With a huge smile on her face she stopped in front of Jacob. ¡°Duuuuude. Yesterday I''d be atleast sweating and breathing loudly. Today? I feel like I could run a damn marathon man!¡± ¡°Wow. And I could hardly hear those footsteps! They were still there when jumping or running. But at least half the sound was just gone. That''s awesome. Stealth build my friend.¡± They kept excitedly discussing when they were interrupted by a bright flash through the window. Followed by the sound of thunder and the lamps flickering. Shouting could be heard from outside. Walking over to the windows they peeked out. The first thing Jacob noticed was that the corpses from before were gone. The second thing was the fat guy with an unkempt beard. Dressed in black robes and and waving a gnarled wooden staff. Arcs of electricity jumped between his hands. Seemingly ignoring the staff he was holding. The figure cackled maniacally before the lightning building up between his hands discharged into a nearby streetlight. Causing the lamp to explode in a shower of protective plastic. Jacob let out a confused.¡°Is that David?¡± ¡°Fucking dragons lair gaming shop David? The one that keeps dressing up for roleplaying and cardgames? Fucking ''take a damn shower'' David?¡± ¡°Come on, he''s not that bad. And he''s wrecking the neighbourhood... With lightning.. From his hands.¡± ¡°Fuck this, he might make my electronics fry!¡± Opening up the window she stuck out her head and shouted down at the man. ¡°David, what the fuck are you doing man?!¡± The man looked up and with a beaming face he spread his arms and shouted back. ¡°Lisa, is that you? I''m a wizard baby! Isn''t it awesome?¡± Lisa felt the familiar annoyance with David bubble up. ¡°It''s wrecking my god damn neighborhood is what it is! What are you even doing outside? People are fucking murdering eachother! and you take this as an opportunity to dress up and LARP?¡± Crestfallen he looked down. ¡°I''m sorry.. I just got excited you know. I didn''t mean to do anything¡± ¡°Well get the hell home before someone shoots you! And how the hell did you even do that lightning thing?¡± With a pout he looked back up at Lisa. ¡°Okay, I guess. And Novice implants. Lets you do all kinds of shit.¡± ¡°Now scram!¡± Pulling back her head inside she closed the window and turned to Jacob. ¡°Fucking David am I right...¡± ¡°Yeah. But hey. At least now we know what that implant does.¡± ¡°True. And it did seem pretty awesome.¡± Jacob thought a bit before smiling at her. ¡°You know what they say. Always take the mage build¡± ¡°You''re gonna use your points on the novice implants?¡± ¡°Hell yeah! I might not be quite as... Uuuhm... David... As David is. But who the hell wouldn''t want to use damn magic?¡± With a sigh Lisa just gave him a soft push and went past him. Throwing herself on the sofa. Looking at her interface she informed Jacob that they had less than three hours now until the ODD UNCLE would be here. Feeling the time running low he went over to the sofa, pushed Lisas feet aside and laid down. Opening up the interface he selected ''Basic Novice implants'' for a hundred points. A new message appeared with the following text. ''Would you like to add a focus to your Novice implants? Available focuses: Generalist: Doesn''t add a focus. No bonuses or penalties to anything. Thermal: Bonuses to thermal manipulation and creation. Penalties to everything else. Electromagnetic: Bonuses to projecting and manipulating the electromagnetic spectrum. Penalties to everything else. Kinetic: Bonuses to projecting and manipulating kinetic force. Penalties to everything else. Optical: Bonuses to the creation and manipulation of light. Penalties to everything else. Cohesion: Bonuses to the manipulation of cohesion. Penalties to everything else. Two Focuses: Bonuses to the two chosen focuses but removes usage of all other categories. One of the options stood out to him. It was only a hunch but if it worked like he suspected, it might be fun indeed. Making his selection he clicked accept and yes to being unconscious before indecision could overtake him. As soon as his finger touched the screen, his consciousness went out. Chapter 4 Awareness returned to Jacob all at once. Like someone had flipped a switch in his head. He felt strange. Kind of like he had to pee, but the opposite. Opening his eyes and looking around he spotted Lisa sitting on the ground. Eating a sandwich while putting spoons into what looked like a plastic thermos. ¡°Am I interrupting something here?¡± Lisa nonchalantly fed another spoon into the thermos before replying. ¡°Feeding my quiver, what does it look like?¡± ¡°Ah. Yes. Feeding your quiver, obviously.¡± Jacob deadpanned back. ¡°While you were blacked out I looked through my available items and ended up buying this this Fabricator-quiver. Along with this beauty.¡± lifting up a bulky crossbow with a green plastic sheen to it. About as long as his forearm and with what seemed like buttons on the side. Lisa smiled smugly as she showed her purchase off. Only fifteen points for the crossbow and ten for the quiver.¡± ¡°What the hell? A crossbow? Guns are cheaper than that!¡± Lisa looked almost hurt for a moment before visibly shaking it off. ¡°Oh ye of little faith. This beautiful thing is no mere crossbow. What do you take me for? Some kind of plebian? No, only finest auto-loading, ammo-cycling, stealthy killing machine for me!¡± ¡°Still. A crossbow? Why not a gun?¡± ¡°Well, it worked for Daryl in the walking dead. Plus, crossbows are awesome.¡± ¡°If we run into shambling zombies, well. Good on you I guess.¡± ¡°Not like you''re the one to talk anyway. Mister ''ooh, I want to use all my points for questionable powers to fart lightning'' ¡± ¡°.... Point conceded.¡± ¡°Also, what''s up with the tats?¡± ¡°Tats? What ta- Woah.¡± Lifting his arms in front of him he could see a silvery spiderweb pattern cover his hands, moving up his arms. It covered both sides and when he touched them it moved with his skin, without any awkwardness or resistance. It moved just like the skin did, feeling no different to his touch. ¡°God. My mom would lose her shit if she thought I had tattoos.¡± ¡°They look kind of cool though. Simplistic, yet stylish ya know?¡± ¡°..Thanks?¡± ¡°You''re welcome, you tattooed bad-boy you.¡± Jacob let out a forced laugh at the poor joke. Then opened up his interface. ¡°Lets see what changes have actually been made.¡± Going to his acquired tab he selected the new addition and a window with text appeared. ''Basic Novice implants (locks other implants) (Kinetic and Cohesion dual focus) Implants: Transdimensional matrix in brain to help instinctively comprehend the strange forces that you can now manipulate. Emitters in hands and arms to help create and shape the energies. Converter in the ribs that uses the body''s stored energy to draw power from ascendant dimensions.'' Looking at the mini-Jacob at the side of the screen the same implants were indicated there. Clicking his highlighted implants, he saw the replica of him walk to a lake. Putting his hand into the water and grip the liquid, lifting up a solid sphere of water. Jacob felt a strangely familiar sensation, reminiscent of flexing a muscle he never knew he had, only not. Feeling another mental muscle tense up the sphere lifted up from his hand. Floating in the air, it started moving around in circles. Moving faster and faster. Feeling the first mental muscle join the second one the sphere flattened out and started spinning. Now the water looked like a vortex or maybe a frisbee as it hung in the air. Feeling a mental push, he saw the disc shoot off and impact a crash-test-dummy, knocking it down and a meter backwards. The image panned back to nudist Jacob who met his eyes. ¡°This has been a basic demonstration of you new Novice implants. The sensations you were feeling were your cohesion and kinetic nodes respectively activating. The Gibborim have graciously imprinted new instincts into your primitive mind. Hopefully this make your flailing, as you try to master forces beyond your comprehension, less pathetic. Try to learn and survive, long enough to achieve something impressive with it.¡± Jacob didn''t know exactly what to think, as more instinctive knowledge unfolded in his mind. Like learning how to walk, in minutes, while being a fish. It was an overwhelming sensation and when he tried to consciously analyze what it was he just got confused.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Ending endless thoughts of how. He instead focused on what. With a mental exertion he shaped his will. Feeling the forces fall into place he closed his left hand. Feeling it grip something hard and smooth. Looking at his hand he could see nothing in it. It was a disorienting experience to clearly be able to feel something being there but otherwise being unable to register its prescence. Putting more pressure on the object it resisted, until finally a sound, akin to shattering glass was heard and his hand closed around what felt like jagged shards. Digging into his hand, leaving small but bloody cuts behind. Letting out a grunt of pain and surprise he ceased the flow of energy. Soon after the shards digging into his flesh disappeared. ¡°What the fuck was that? Are you bleeding? What happened?¡± A surprised and worried Lisa shouted out in rapid succession. ¡°It''s fine. Nothing to worry about. I was just being stupid trying out the implants¡± Taking calming breaths Lisa lowered her voice. ¡°You jerk. You almost gave me a heart-attack.¡± ¡°Sorry, but could you maybe get me some bandaids or something?¡± ¡°Oh shit, right. Stay right there.¡± Darting off she soon came back with a towel which she threw at him. ¡°Keep pressure on the wound okay, I''m sure I''ve got a first aid kit here somewhere. Let me just dig it out.¡± Obeying her order, Jacob just sat there, clutching a towel while going over in his head what he''d just done. He''d clearly created something. Or maybe rather, solidified something. And the object could take some force before breaking. He wondered exactly how hard he could make it and what more he could do. Lisa returned into the room with a red bag, breaking him out of his thoughts. ¡°Okay, you''re lucky I had this at home. Now remove that towel and let me see what we''re working with here.¡± Wincing with pain he removed the towel to reveal his bloody hand. His stomach lurched at the sight and he had to force himself to hold it out steadily. Lisa eyed the hand critically, before pulling out some cotton pads and disinfectant. ¡°Okay, it doesn''t seem that bad. Pretty shallow cuts from what I can tell. Lets get this cleaned up and wrapped in some bandage.¡± She applied the disinfectant to the cotton pad and started cleaning the cuts. It stung as she touched and Jacob jerked his hand away. ¡°Oh suck it up you baby. This is your own fault, so deal with it.¡± Grabbing his wrist she resumed her task and then finished up by gently wrapping it in bandage. ¡°There we go. Does the big boy want a lolipop?¡± ¡°Oh shut it you. How long was I out? When I was modified I mean.¡± ¡°Maybe a bit over half an hour. Leaving us a bit over two hours until that stupidly named mission begins.¡± ¡°Do you think we should go on it?¡± ¡°I don''t know. It could be dangerous. Though from what we''ve seen, not going on it isn''t quite safe either..¡± Lisa had a sad look in her eyes as she said so. ¡°You''re right. But that snake did say that it would be a relatively safe introductory mission. We might not get such a chance again. We could use those points to improve our odds of surviving. Or just for supplies.¡± Scratching his chin he continued. ¡°I suspect that the local supermarket won''t be stocking its shelves much longer¡± Lisa hesitated before nodding. ¡°Plus, we find out more about what the hell is going on and what to expect from now on. It might be dangerous but.. I think I''m going to do it at least. You?¡± ¡°Yeah. Together?¡± ¡°Together.¡± What followed was almost two hours of practicing and experimentation. They found out that the quiver turned whatever matter was put into it into bolts for the crossbow. Everything solid they tried seemed to work. At a bolt every two minutes, Lisa''s and then Jacob''s kitchen-drawers were rapidly emptied. Along with a statuette they broke apart. A few teacups netted them two porcelain bolts of dubious usefulness. For practice they hung up a piece of paper on the toilet door with circles drawn on it as a target. They soon however changed to shooting stacks of books, when the first bolt punched straight through the door and embedded itself into the bathroom wall. Jacobs training was a little different. As his first attempt to demonstrate it to Lisa was solidifying air into a ball and then throwing it at her. If it reached her however she never felt it. It after all still only had the mass of air no matter how solid it was. Swapping to other material such as water was more effective. With twenty minutes left until the obviously backronymed ''O.D.D U.N.C.L.E.'' began they heard beeps from their wrists. Their arms snapped up in front of them unconsciously and the interface opened up. Showing a cute cartoon snake holding a basked of cookie,s that they somehow could sense smelled delicious. ¡°Hello ascenders of Stockholm! It is your favorite Gibborim Loki. With great sadness I can confirm that there are fewer of you now than when I last addressed you. Some of you have been busy busy indeed, working on their path to ascendancy!¡± The snake winked and with an unnaturally large smile, continued. ¡°While many of you and even other Gibborim, would frown upon such behavior. Would encourage you to cooperate, to increase your chances and have a more stable enviroment to live in. I say Pffffffft¡± Chibi-Loki blew raspberries before cheerfully continuing. ¡°I however am of the opinion, that these are entrepreneurs with a real go-getter attitude! Who figured out that lesser beings are walking pointbags! All their unspent points, plus a fraction of their spent ones, just up for grabs for those willing to take them. And that''s not even counting their possessions.¡± Chuckling to itself the snake continued like it''d just heard a great joke. ¡°And oh man, you''ve given me plenty of entertainment already! Elvira, baby. I''m your greatest fan. Dropping that anvil on the guy? Man. That earned you like ten Loki-favor!¡± Spending a long moment just writhing around in laughter, the snake wiped a tear away with his tail. ¡°Ooooh boy. I''m getting sidetracked here, your first mission is about to begin! I''m hoping for a great turnout here. I''m really looking forwards to showing off to that stuck up Ullr that my playthi- I mean subjects are much cooler than his. The shuttles are on their way now and should land shortly. You can find them either by following the indicator on your interface. Or by just heading to the giant pillars of light stabbing into the sky. Your choice really. Well. This has been fun. But I''ve got popcorn to make and you''ve got entertaining to do. So toodles! And if you liked this broadcast then remember to Like and Subscribe! You know what, I''ll just do it for you.¡± With that the Gibborim slithered off the screen, dragging two buttons in behind him by a rope. Against their will Jacob and Lisa''s hands moved, to first click the left one that said ''Like'' and then the second one which was ''Subscribe'' With a slack-jawed expression they both started to associate with Loki, they looked at each other. ¡°We''re all going to die, aren''t we?¡± ¡°Yeah....¡± ¡°Fuck.¡± ¡°Well we sh-¡± Jacobs words were drowned out by a roar as through the window they saw a large craft slam down onto the street, just outside the building. As the roar of the engines died down it was replaced with another sound. The sound of a too cheerful voice to a electronic beat. ¡°Is that Caramelldansen?¡± chapter 5 The third-story window was about level with the top of the ship. It was a metallic purple and had several protrusions on it. Going closer to the window, they could see that the ship stretched on for maybe thirty meters and left about a meters margin between its sides and the buildings. From the ship a bright beam of light shone into the sky. And in the beam, clearly visible. Was a cartoon snake, moving its midsection from side to side while flapping its hands above its head. ¡°The apocalypse is so much worse than I ever imagined...¡± With heavy hearts they set to their last minute preparations. Getting things in order. Ten minutes later they walked out of the building. Dressed in several layers of clothing and bicycle helmets. It wasn''t the most ferocious of appearances. But every last bit of protection counted when they didn''t know what they were up against. Other than that Lisa had her quiver strapped to her hip while holding the crossbow. Jacob on the other hand just had a wooden baseball bat and a shoulder-bag. Following the arrows on their interfaces, they hurried to the back of the vessel where a ramp had been lowered, leading to an opening into the ship. Bumping into one another, they came to a halt, as they saw two hulking figures at the top of the ramp. Easily over three meters tall and solidly built. In their blue full-covering armor they could almost be mistaken for over-sized humans, if it weren''t for the fact that they sprouted four thick arms each. Turning its head towards them, Jacob could feel them being inspected through a glowing visor. Pointing a massive gun the size of Lisa at them it spoke with a mechanic voice. ¡°Earthlings, move along. Get inside for the mission or get the pit away from here.¡± It would probably have sounded more intimidating, if it didn''t sound like Stephen Hawkins text-to-speech device. As it was though they more than made up for it in the intimidation factor, just by their sheer massive presence. ¡°Are you deaf? I said move it!¡± ¡°Calm down Deva. They are clearly overwhelmed and confused¡± The other giant told the first one. In return, a non-synthesized deep huff was heard. ¡°My partner here is right though, if you just stay there, you won''t be under our protection until you board the ship.¡± Sweeping one of its free arms arms to indicate the opening it added as an afterthought. ¡°Oh right. And no violence allowed on-board.¡± Pausing for a moment it added. ¡°Understood?¡± Nodding profusely while stammering their agreements they scrambled onboard. Entering into a large space that seemed to take up the majority of the ship interior they could see several of the large beings. Spread out among them though, in small groups were nine humans. Some dressed casually while others were in different armors of varying degrees of effectiveness. From someone with a medieval cuirass to people in more modern-looking gear. While one person had black full-covering armor that would fit perfectly as an enforcer in a dystopian sci-fi movie. Pulling on Jacobs arm, Lisa started making her way further in towards one of the groups. Making sure to give the giants as wide a berth as she could. Maneuvering between the power-armored aliens they reached a human group of two men and a woman in matching armor. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. They gave the approaching pair a wary look before one of the men gave them a greeting nod. A moment of awkward silence passed before introductions were exchanged. The three people were named Ben,Oscar and Sofia. They''d been having a netflix marathon down the street, when they''d all blacked out last night. They had then come to the same conclusion as Jacob and Lisa about the potential risks of missing out on the mission. The conversation had just started when a loud mechanical voice could be heard. ¡°Listen up humans! I''m captain Trak of the Purple petal.¡± One of the aliens, this one in purple armor stepped into the room from further into the ship. ¡°I''ve been hired to make sure you newbies get to and from our destination in one piece. No more, no less.¡± Turning his helmeted head from one human to the next he continued. ¡°You''ve all had the misfortune of coming under the jurisdiction of the Gibborim Loki. For this you have my sympathy. Now, you all probably have questions for me. So I''m going to get this over with quickly so that we can get on our way. Yes, the tasks are likely to be deadly. No, the Gibborim are not all assholes like the high and mighty Loki. My crew and I are Kref, our world have been in the ascendancy for generations. And lastly, if you damage my ship in any way I''ll throw you out in two separate garbage bags. Now, I hope that I''m understood and that you''re all ready.¡± Turning to walk back through the door he came from he hesitated before addressing the humans again. ¡°One piece of advice for you all. It might seem a tempting way to earn points. But trust me, backstabbing your teammates never pays off in the long run.¡± With that he disappeared, soon followed by the ramp closing and the Purple petal talking off with a jolt. Almost losing his footing, Jacob saw that while the other humans didn''t fare any better, the kref didn''t seem to have noticed at all. Just standing along the walls, alone or in pairs. Resuming the conversation, they found out what the Fibrous enhancement modification was. Oscar, who had selected it, told them that it caused nano-fibres to be woven through his body. Reinforcing his muscles, making them stronger and more durable. Most of his remaining points had been spent on armor. While he''d grabbed a crowbar from home. The two other had both taken what they considered a more sensible approach. The same armor as Oscar, which looked a lot like the gear someone playing american football would wear. As well as ''Standard Slug-throwers''. Which looked a lot like common assault rifles Jacob had seen in movies. They seemed surprised at Jacobs decision to take the Novice modification, not leaving any points for gear. And all things said, Jacob was starting to feel a bit foolish, as he looked around at everyone, with their deadly-looking equipment. While he looked swollen from layers of clothing and merely carrying a baseball bat. He tried to cheer himself up with an internal mantra of ''I''m a fucking bad-ass wizard, I don''t need to be envious''. The mantra did little to cheer him up. Though he did feel like he''d hopefully be able to hold his own against whatever they''d encounter. After all. It was supposed to be a relatively easy mission wasn''t it? While talking with their new acquaintances he tensed and relaxed his legs and then arms. He had been feeling more and more exhausted after the practicing he''d done before they left. It had drained him to use his new implants, though he was feeling fairly recovered now. Reaching down into his bag he pulled up a sandwich. Unwrapping the cling-foil he took a bite before offering a second one to Lisa who declined. Shrugging he put it back and continued eating. The conversation continued without him, until just before he finished the sandwich. A blare sounded through the hold, followed by a thud and Jacob falling on his ass when the floor jumped. The last piece of his sandwich making its daring escape somewhere he couldn''t spot it. ¡°We have now arrived at our target destination. You are to disembark and complete your mission. We''ll be here for extraction.¡± a kref robotic voice said. ¡°Beware that typically if you extract before completion you won''t receive full rewards, or even any. Sometimes there will even be a penalty. That said. Good hunting small ones.¡± With that the ramp lowered and with trepidation they made their way out of the ship. The person with the full-covering black armor was the first to exit. Looking around cautiously, sweeping with what Jacob thought he recognized as an earth-made weapon. The AK-4. It made him suspect that the armored figure had been in the military. As that was the standard rifle of the Swedish armed forces Exiting the vehicle, Jacob could see they were in a glade surrounded by trees. Typical Swedish forest with thick pine-trees. Breathing in the fresh air he sighed. Looking around, instead of finding a threat he heard a beep. Bringing up his left arm the interface displayed new text. Along with the image of a cartoon snake. ''New objective: 1. Survive until nightfall. +50 points. Bonus objectives: 1.Entertain me. +variable. 2.Kill the unique specimen. +50points! 3. Have only five of you complete the mission. 100Points! You know you want them. -Loki With a sinking feeling in his stomach upon reading the last line Jacob looked up at the others. Meeting their gazes he saw expressions ranging from horror to greed.. Chapter6 The first one to speak out, was a young man, in a black coat and with an over-sized rifle. ¡°Yeah, fuck this. I''m out. You guys have fun killing each-other for those extra points¡± Turning around he marched right up the the ramp while waving backwards. Leaving only ten humans standing in the clearing. One of the remaining females spoke out. ¡°Look, I don''t intend to do anything to hurt any of you. And I hope the same goes for all of you. Lets just get through this and then head back. Infighting will just reduce all of our chances of surviving.¡± Murmurs of agreement came from the gathered people. Although the tension was still high, it didn''t seem like anything would go down at the moment. Spreading out a bit into groups. Jacob stood with Lisa and was going to bring up what their plan should be, when he heard a cheery. ¡°Hey look, a squirrel. It''s looking so friendly, walking towards me. Who''s a cute litt-OH GOD GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF ME!¡± Head snapping in the direction of the screaming, Jacob could see one of the women grabbing a squirrel who was frantically clawing and biting at her face. Throwing it to the ground, she swiftly stomped on the ravenous rodent. Ending its life with a squelching sound. She brought her hand up to her bloody face and looking as her fingers came away red. ¡°Shit. Are you okay?¡± ¡°What the hell was that?¡± ¡°Was that squirrel rabid?¡± People spoke over eachother as whatever they''d expected was not a murder-squirrel attacking them. They were buzzing about as Lisa spoke. ¡°Uhm... Guys. I think we''ve got company.¡± Pointing towards the trees. Jacob followed her finger with his eyes and went very still as he saw dozens of squirrels in the trees close to them. And more and more creeping along the forest floor every moment. First almost inaudible and then with increasing intensity, a chittering started. As dozens upon dozens of enraged rodents stared them down. Jacob stood frozen, whispering a low ¡°Fuck¡±. As he saw his death looming from a thousand tiny bites. When he was snapped out of it by an eruption of wooden splinters and mangled squirrel. Someone had opened fire into the horde of tiny killers and was quickly followed by the rest who had guns. A deafening roar of gunfire echoed through the clearing as the squirrels started moving. Sprinting towards the gathered humans, the bullets proved ineffectual against such small and mobile targets. Soon the gunfire died down as magazines ran dry and the swarm was upon them. Jacob no longer had the attention to spare for the rest of them, as several squirrels dashed towards him. Leaping impossibly far one of them fell down stunned, as it smashed headfirst into a pane of solidified air. Taking a step forwards Jacob crushed the offending assailant, as with the air-shield tethered to his arm, he prepared to use his baseball-bat. Swinging his weapon he let his instincts take over, as he felt kinetic energy being channeled through the bat and erupting at the point of contact. Sending a squirrel far into the trees with a low boom. As he did this however, another squirrel had managed to latch on to his leg and was currently trying to futilely gnaw through his multiple layers of pants. Moving his shielded hand down towards it, he exerted a mental effort and his attacker was enveloped in solidified air. Another direction of will and kinetic energy rushed down to propel it away at a high velocity. Smashing into another squirrel, leaving them both broken and still. Sure, it wasn''t the squirrel he''d aimed at, but he''d take every small victory at the moment. Not currently being beset by any of the maddened beasts, he had a moment to look around and see how the rest were doing. The first thing he noticed, was how the person in the black armor had bloodsplatters all over it. Why became clear, as the person simply threw themselves onto a group of rodents and then quickly rolling to the side and getting up again. Leaving crushed bodies in the wake. The second thing he noticed, was the smoldering squirrels in a semi-circle around a man with what looked like a mix between a leaf-blower and a stripped down toaster in his hands.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. It soon became clear what the purpose of the object was, as the man swept the it from side to side, as he walked forwards, causing grass to combust and rodents to quickly find themselves charred in the super-heated air the weapon spewed out. Soon, the only thing that could be heard was the panting from the gathered people. About half of them sported scratches to one degree or another. And the man with the super-heated air weapon, looked like he had a bad sunburn on what skin was exposed on his hands and face.. Jacob turned to Lisa and asked her. ¡°Are you okay?¡± She seemed unhurt. Most likely due to the fact that she had been standing in the rear. Giving a small smile she replied. ¡°Yeah. Though, could you take out the first aid kit? I''m sure everyone here would appreciate some tending to.¡± ¡°Ah, yeah.¡± Opening up his bag again, he brought out Lisa''s first-aid kit. With a little shout at everyone, asking if they needed some disinfectants or bandaids, he handed the kit over to Lisa, who actually knew what to do with it. Tension was high as people scanned the area, looking for more crazed critters. Keeping up a perimeter as Lisa patched them up one by one. The situation was only broken up once as Ben opened up fire into the woods. Only stopping as his magazine ran dry. Earning him a slap at the back of his helmet from Sofia, who scolded him for wasting ammo. Leading to people checking various pockets and bags, seeing how much ammunition they had remaining. Asides from those without guns, as well as the man with the heat-based weapon. Who during the wait, had told the curious group that it was called a steamer. Prompting some giggles and some much needed lifting of tension. After half an hour at high attention, people were growing weary when nothing happened. Letting down their guards and starting to chat. Jacob had wandered a bit with Lisa. Towards the ship sitting in the middle of the clearing. ¡°So, do you think we''ll be fine?¡± ¡°Well, if all we encounter is rabid squirrels? Probably?¡± ¡°And the bonus objective? You think anyone will try to thin our numbers?¡± ¡°Before today? I''d say no. But after what we saw down on the street? I don''t know...¡± Glancing at the gathered people with concern, she continued. ¡°They don''t seem like bad people really. But I''m concerned about the one in the black armor. Have you noticed how they never speak? Hell, I don''t even know what gender they are, much less their name. For all we know it''s not even a human.¡± Jacob was about to say that was ridiculous. Then he considered everything that had happened today. ¡°I guess you''re right. I''ll try to keep an eye on them.¡± An additional half-hour passed without much happening. This was apprently deemed insufficent, as Loki appeared in the air above them. ¡°Booooo~. Boring. You''re all just standing there. Not even doing anything entertaining, at least that other group got stung by aphrodisiacal bees and got busy, You wouldn''t believe the amount of blood there is when a fox bites off a ball-sack.¡± With a wheeze the snake doubled over from laughing. Slapping his tail as it went on for several long moments. ¡°Hoooh boy. Anyways. Unless you all plan on getting naked, I''m going to drop a little beacon here if you sit around. Then it''ll get real fun when we see what comes knocking.¡± The serpent gave a huge inhuman grin. ¡°You all better decide. Tic-toc. Tic-t-.¡± The Gibborims teasing was interrupted by the roar of automated firing. Bullets flying at the floating snake-man, tearing through him and making green blood fountain out. Body falling down and impacting the ground with a thud. Tearing his eyes away from the grisly sight, Jacob saw one of the men hold his rifle with a shocked expression. ¡°I- I did it? I did it! I got the fucker!¡± Jacob was stunned. That actually worked? They could really kill those alien bastards? Soon, however, something seemed very wrong with the situation, as the rifle started undulating in the mans hands. His cheering stopped, as vertically-slitted eyes appeared on the barrel. Followed by the gun stretching out, reaching up and then wrapping itself around the mans neck. Wrapping tighter and tighter as the man struggled to pry his weapon away. Gasping, his eyes bulged when the muzzle contorted into a smile. Suddenly snapping straight, the gun landed on a headless corpse as they fell to the ground. Giving off a hiss, it quickly slithered off into the woods. ¡°Only four more for the grand bonus!¡± His eyes tearing away from the bloody spectacle, Jacob saw the Gibborim back in the air where it had been before. ¡°Now, if in ten minutes, more than three of you are within fifty meters of each other, for more than a minute, the beacon will go off. Have fun!¡± With that the snake disappeared in a cloud of glitter and confetti. A retching sound was heard, as one of the women emptied her stomach on the ground. Jacobs face instinctively wrinkled in disgust. The vomiting seemed to have underscored the events that had just transpired and everyone shifted uneasily. The first one to move was Sofia. ¡°Fuck this. I''m not going to just stand around here, waiting to get swarmed by who knows what. I''m going to go look for that unique specimen. Ben, Oscar?¡± With that she started walking into the woods, quickly followed by her two friends. Without a word, Black-armor started walking too, waving backwards as they walked along the trees. Before heading in at a different angle from the trio. ¡°We should probably get moving too.¡± Jacob said to Lisa, grabbing her wrist and tugging to get her moving. With frayed nerves they moved into the woods. Chapter 7 The only sound was Jacobs footfall, as they walked among the trees, the occasional twig breaking under his feet. It could have been a peaceful nature hike if not for the weaponry and grim atmosphere. Eyes darting between ground and treetops, he couldn''t get the thought of various woodland critters sneaking up on them out of his head. Forcing himself to stay calm and focused on where they were going, he mentally went over what to do in different situations. Most of them consisted of trying to get a barrier of air up in time. To buy them moments in which to respond to whatever the threat was. After a few hundred meters Lisa held up her hand and stopped. ¡°My implants have highlighted some tracks. Something big.¡± ¡°Shit, something dangerous?¡± She just gave him a ''are you stupid?'' look. ¡°If friggin squirrels almost overran us, what do you think something larger would do?¡± ¡°... Good point. Still though. Could you find it? I much prefer us getting the drop on it than the other way around.¡± Turning back to the tracks she pointed to their right. ¡°I don''t know exactly what species it is. If it even is an earth-animal. But I can tell it has hooves.¡± ¡°Well, good to know it''s not a bear at least.¡± Lisa seemed to have no trouble following the tracks as they slowly walked forwards, trying not to alert anything to their whereabouts. Trying to keep both an eye on their surroundings, while also avoiding stepping on something, Jacob crept forwards, following Lisa. They''d been proceeding forwards for quite some time when Lisa once again held up her hand. Stopping, Jacob tried to spot whatever had made her halt. Noticing this she tapped her ear, making him focus on what he was hearing instead. Barely audible he thought he could hear something. Something almost like static. Raising a quizzical eyebrow at Lisa, she softly whispered back. ¡°Flowing water.¡± Slowly they continued on. Stealthily making their way forwards, until they could spot a small stream. The clear water making its way to some unknown destination. Rocky ground on either side of it as there was a break in the trees. Whatever sight they expected the tracks to lead them to, it was not what they encountered. Which was a cow with it''s muzzle buried deep in the carcass of a deer. Happily chewing away at its innards. They crouched behind trees, as they watched the bovine predator lift its head and with a vacant look in its eyes, chew with blood running down its its neck, staining its brown hide. It was telling of what they''d gone through, that the fact that a cow was in the woods, was more surprising to Jacob than the fact that it was munching on an unfortunate animal. Careful not to make any noise, lest he find himself its next meal, he mimed lifting and firing a weapon. Lisa slowly nodded and raised her crossbow. Taking her time to aim and letting out her breath, she squeezed the trigger. The limbs of the crossbow snapped forwards, propelling the metal bolt forwards. Smashing into the flank of the creature, it penetrated a handswidth into the flesh, sending ripples through its side. The cows mouth opened in a shocked moo, as its brain tried to process what had just happened. When a second bolt hit the base of its neck, it seemed to get what was going on. Jumping over the stream in a shockingly graceful leap, it sped up in their direction. Headed straight for the place Lisa was crouched, it rapidly closed the distance. Desperately firing another bolt, which narrowly missed their foe, She stared at her approaching demise. Crossbow string automatically being pulled back, it was doubtful if the weapon would be ready to fire before the cow was upon her.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Self-preservation instincts kicking in, she scrambled backwards. With a bloodcurling moo the cow leapt, sailing through the air, straight at the defenseless woman. Its murderous pounce though did not go as planned. As Jacob impacted it shoulder first. Forcing all the kinetic energy he could muster into the cow, it got deflected sideways, crashing headfirst into the tree Lisa had hid behind. The tree shook as with a loud thud the animal got spun sideways, skidding along the forest floor, forcing the bolts in further as its massive weight came to bear upon them. Stunned, the creature laid there as Jacob leaped up on his feet. ¡°Shoot it damn it!¡± Mustering his strength he rushed forwards, putting his momentum and powers into a swing, reinforcing the cohesion of the bat and adding kinetic force. The bat struck the knee of the downed cow with a crunching sound. Bending it at an unnatural angle. System flooded with adrenaline, he brought down his bat again and again on the prone creature. One of its good legs lashed out towards him at an angle he thought impossible. It would have hit his groin and dashed any hopes for future children, if he hadn''t been able to get a barrier up in time. Instead he felt the force of the kick disperse over him, as the barrier slammed into him before shattering, throwing him backwards and down on the ground. ¡°Jacob!¡± ¡°I''m okay.¡± Struggling to get his breath back he answered Lisa. Unsteadily getting back on his feet he could see the cow attempt the same thing. Pushing itself up against the tree and getting its legs under it. Another bolt suddenly sprouted from its jaw, shattering the jawbone, causing it to hang open grotesquely as the bolt went straight through it. The pained cow managed to get up, and started making its way unsteadily towards Lisa who was waiting for a new bolt to reload. As soon as it did she fired, hitting the creature straight between its eyes. Contrary to what you''d expect from such a bulls-eye hit though the cow didn''t stop. Instead it continued its menacing approach towards the one who''d hurt it so. The string pulled back and she pulled the trigger. Though the string snapped forwards, no projectile was launched. Pulling the trigger several more times did nothing, as no new bolt was loaded from its internal storage. With blood streaming from the mangled remains of its mouth and with a mad look in its eyes, it prepared to pounce once again. Bending its good legs it was prepared to take out its hated enemy. When Jacob appeared, throwing one arm around its neck, while the other one grabbed the bolt stuck in its forehead. With a great scream and straining muscles, he focused his new mysterious powers. With a wet crunching sound the bolt slid further into the cow. Aided by adrenaline-fueled strength and so much ascendant energy that he felt like he''d burst, the bolt pierced the bovine brain, making the pounce turn into a limp fall. Getting pulled along in the fall, Jacob ended up exhausted and panting, on top of the bloody remains of what used to be a living, breathing animal. Entire body aching and sore he remained on top of the carcass, a throbbing headache growing with every heartbeat. He felt someone grip his shoulder and winced. Not having the energy to struggle he was turned over. Looking up he saw the worried face of his friend. ¡°Hey...¡± ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°That was one hell of a fight, wasn''t it.¡± ¡°Yeah, I''m udderly spent. I don''t think I can moo-ve at all.¡± ¡°... Are you. I don''t.. I can''t even right now.¡± Jacob let out a low chuckle at his friends exasperation, feeling some of the tension of the fight leave him. The laughing turned into a groan, as a lance of pain from his headache shot through him. Eyes squeezed tight shut he bore the pain. Not paying attention to anything else for what felt like an eternity. Eventually his eyes opened as the pain gradually lessened. Still laying on the cooling cow he propped himself up on his elbows, taking in his environment. It felt like a miracle that nothing had attacked him while he was incapacitated, then he saw Lisa and understood why it was. Leaning against a tree, she looked like a mess. Crossbow clutched in her hands and baseball-bat next to her, her face was covered in blood as she had a long gash across her forehead. Her pants were torn, some place only a few layers, while in other spots blood had soaked through the pants, as whatever had caused the damages had reached through her protective layers and into her flesh. He discovered what must have been responsible for the injuries as he noticed several hares with antlers and fangs lay scattered around them. Two with bolts sticking out of them, while three other were crushed and battered. Noticing his movements, a pained smile formed on her face. And she spoke with a strained voice. ¡°So sleeping beauty decides to join me again, you missed out on half the fun.¡± ¡°Shit, what happened?¡± ¡°God-damned jackalopes is what happened.¡± ¡°I thought they were a myth?¡± ¡°Well, they hurt a fucking lot for being a myth.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°It''s fine. Though you did pick the worst time for a nap.¡± ¡°I''ll try not to do it again. Thanks for keeping me safe.¡± ¡°It''s nothing, without you I''d have been cow-food after all. Jacob grunted in response ¡°Come on now. Help me retrieve these bolts and then get going, The sun is about to set. Struggling back on his feet he began the bloody task as Lisa stood guard. Having something to focus on other than the pain helped, as his headache gradually receded. Retrieving the bolts from the jackalopes and the one that they had killed the mad cow, he handed them to her. Putting them into her Fabricator-quiver for reprocessing she stepped away from the tree awkwardly, putting her weight on one leg. They gave up on the bolts in the cows side. As they were currently under it and neither of them had the strength or motivation to turn the heavy carcass over. Going over to help support his friend they made their slow,limping way back towards the ship.