《Assimilation》 Chapter 1: The Start Another day down, he thought to himself as he trotted down the sidewalk leading home. It was about 7:30pm on a spring day. The sun was just beginning to sink below the horizon. Another day I missed class too, shit¡­, the worry began to stir through his head. Lately he had begun taking whatever shifts he could at work, hours were cut again. How the hell am I even gonna make rent!, it was nearing the end of the month, they¡¯d come knocking before too long, and he still was short 100 dollars. Missing classes hurt his grades but definitely helped his wallet. He really wished he could afford to just quit going to school, but that would mean this same thing for the rest of his life. He was banking hard on a Computer Science degree easing entry into the modern day job force. I can¡¯t even afford a damn bike!, he sighed as he peered to the sky, his hand running through his long dark hair, it was rapidly becoming dark. Hmm, pretty dark out tonight, he thought to himself. The moon was small in the sky, and existed only in a small sliver. Funny, how something so massive, so overwhelmingly unassailable, could look so small to an ant on a rock, he thought to himself. Just as the thought passed the sky began to light up with streaks of silver. Wow! A meteor shower!? What the hell is even going on? I feel like I should¡¯ve heard this mentioned somewhere, the light show left him dumbfounded and open mouthed. The silver, white streaks in the sky continued to build and multiply, arcing everywhere. *BOOM* The first hit sounded from behind him, the earth was rocking shakily beneath his feet. Spinning around briskly he was confronted with a massive smoke cloud hanging in the air, approximately near the area where his university was located in town. Holy shit¡­ What the hell is going on!, quickly he turned around and began to run home, his instincts drove him to the only place he considered relatively safe.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. *BOOOM* Another impact sounded, much farther away this time, to his right. Looking shakily through the trees he saw another massive cloud in the distance, streaks of some sort of blue coloring swirling around through it. Panic pressed heavily on his mind threatening to snap it. Suddenly the ground was coming at him quickly, he had tripped. He couldn¡¯t even feel himself hit the ground, briskly he crawled a few feet before launching back to his feet. Cars were zooming frantically around on the roads nearby, screams were clear and loud. Luckily he was already a way into his walk home, only about half a mile left to go. He lived in a small older house a ways away from the rest of town, in the middle of a grass lot with a few roommates. He hoped that they were okay. The thuds of impacts sounded but the shaking of the ground was much less significant at this point. Finally he arrived in front of his home, and began rushing across the lot toward the building in its center. When he arrived at the door he found it already wide open. Good hopefully they¡¯re in here, he thought as he rushed through the doorway. He rushed through the house in a whirlwind, finding no one. The air was thick and dusty, the impacts were turning up so much smoke and dust. The cellar!, he realized suddenly. A small cellar existed beneath the three bedroom home, a relic of the past that now had an actual use. Rushing back out and around the home he found the two doors leading beneath the house, the padlock keeping it shut already unlocked and thrown roughly to the side. Opening one of the doors and rushing in, he was immediately assaulted with a cool musty smell and a dim lighting. ¡°HEY! Who¡¯s that!¡±, a rough voice he recognized as Danny, one of his roommates and best friends. ¡°Danny? It¡¯s me Jim I¡¯m so damn glad you¡¯re alive man!¡±, he called back as he finished making his way down the stairs and deeper into the cellar. He found Danny there, he was a tall six foot, had short cut black hair, and wore a black dusty shirt and blue jeans. ¡°Jim! Jim my god man what the hell is going on out there? Have you seen Ash?¡±, the words poured out of Danny¡¯s mouth. ¡°No, no, I didn¡¯t see her anywhere, I took a shift at work today and-¡±, he was cut off. *DING*
Congratulations! You''ve been assimilated into the Interface You''ll soon be able to gain access to your statistics and skills by uttering "Status" Look forward to growing stronger and expanding your influence!
Chapter 2: Little Blue Windows "What. What the fuck! Jim man somethings wrong I''m seeing shi-", the words were pouring from Danny''s mouth in a panic before Jim cut him off. "No Dan I-I see it too.", Jim muttered in disbelief. "What in the hell is going on... Are we dead? Are we dead and in another world?!", the disbelief was overwhelming. "I have no idea man. My phone hasn''t worked since this shit started. I can''t get reception and our Wifi is down...", Danny said loudly in response. *Boom* Another blast sounded from a ways away. The impacts had definetly slowed down, only occuring once every 5 or 10 minutes. The two sat in disbelief for about a minute and a half before the window slowly faded from view by itself. "Soooo... I guess we better try to figure out what''s happening. Mmm, maybe we should use the Status thing or-, what the...", Danny''s voice came to a halt, his face falling slack. "Are you okay man?", Jim said quietly. "Bro, I just did something, I think saying ''Status'' does it, like the window or whatever said. It''s got like stats, and level, like a video game. Hey what the hell why is my Intelligence only 8!", Danny''s voice came out in a rush, getting faster as he went. "What? Hold on. Status!", Jim said confidently.
Jim Reznik Level: 1 Life Points: 0 Level Up: 10 Life Points
Class: N/A Perks Skills
Stats: (0) Point to allocate
Strength: 8 Intelligence: 10
Dexterity: 10 Wisdom: 11
Vitality: 11 Perception: 9
Attributes: Health: 55 Stamina: 27.5 Mana: 27.5
"Hyeh I''ve got 10 Intelligence. What''s that even supposed to mean anyways?", Jim muttered, "Like is 10 average, am I average?" "And what I''m below average? The hell dude?", Danny scoffed in response. "I mean you said it man not me. Anyways what the hell are Life Points? Like Yu-Gi-Oh, I''m confused, shouldn''t it be like, experience or some crap like that?", Jim questioned. "I mean honestly what is even going on, hey try turning on the radio.", he finished motioning to a small radio that looked a century old, with two small antennae sticking out from its top. With a click Danny switched on the radio, and began tuning it through the static. After a bit of turning he skipped over a station that had just the briefest flash of words, and had to tune back to it. "There we go!", he said with a fist pump. "ATTENTION! THIS IS NOT A TEST! THIS IS A GOVERNMENT SPONSORED MESSAGE FROM YOUR PRESIDENT!", the radio droned in a robotic, manly voice. "Mhmhmmm.", the sound of someone clearing their throat could be heard. "Hello fellow Americans, this is your president. As may of you may have noticed, there is a widescale catastrophe currently occuring. First and foremost for those of you on the coast, immediately seek a way inland, the strikes in the oceans are already causing widescale tsunamis. Besides that try to stay indoors, and better yet, below ground. It seems as though the blasts are widespread, and focused especially on urban areas- CSHHHKSHCHHHHHH", the sound cut into static, and was followed by a distant boom, and then the sound cut back in, "China, Europe, and-, CHHHSKKKCC, -others are also thought to be affected", the sound cut out once again, and this time did not return.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. "Holy shit man. It''s the whole world. Everywhere. What are we supposed to do. I mean what can we do? And where the hell is Ash man! That girl drives me nuts!", Danny said, his hands gripping the sides of his head. "For now. I say we wait. Hopefully soon the strikes will stop. After that we can try to head out, see what we can find, hopefully Ash for one, maybe some kind of explanation too.", Jim said, as he headed over to a rundown couch. The cellar was mostly for storage, as no one really every used it otherwise. There was a flip top freezer with some meat and liquor in it, as well as the couch, some boxes of the 3 roomates random junk, and a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling illuminating the space in a sick yellow. Danny paced back and forth for a few seconds before nodding. "Right.", he went and sat next to Jim with a strained look on his face. Danny was always the type to spring into action, and it was very hard for him to contain himself. Well, at the very least I can mess with this Status screen, Jim thought. "Status", he muttered quietly, to which Danny looked over at him quickly, followed by a look of understanding crossing his face. "Status.", Danny followed suit.
Jim Reznik Level: 1 Life Points: 0 Level Up: 10 Life Points
Class: N/A Perks Skills
Stats: (0) Point to allocate
Strength: 8 Intelligence: 10
Dexterity: 10 Wisdom: 11
Vitality: 11 Perception: 9
Attributes: Health: 55 Stamina: 27.5 Mana: 27.5
The blue window appeared in front of Jim''s face, and he slowly waved his head back in forth, the window followed his vision.So it tracks my vision then,he considered.He then focused on the word Perks.
Currently you have no perks unlocked, and have access to 3 potential perks. (1st opening tip: Perk potentials are unlocked through various actions and are usually bought using Life Points)
Okay so doing stuff gives me access to more of these "Perks", which ones do I already have access to then. Potential Perks, he focused again hoping to view another new window.
Potential Perks (1st opening tip: The first 3 Perks available are free, but you can only choose one. Costs of perks will be displayed leading the perk in question. Caution: These perks are very important, and can completly sway the course of your Build. Note: Due to viscinity to multiple Spark strikes you have been granted access to more advanced versions of the starter perks. Good Luck!):
(0) Touched with Quickness: +2 Dexterity and Perception per Level Up
(0) Touched with Fortitude: +2 Vitality and Strength per Level Up
(0) Touched with Mentality: +2 Intelligence and Wisdom per Level Up
Huh guess I should really think about this. Could completely change where I end up I guess, Jim thought. Just about that time, a heavy scratching came from the door. It was an eery scratching. Long, and heavy. Like a dog at the door, wanting to come in from the cold. Chapter 3: A Suns Setting "Dan do you hear that?", Jim whispered, the scratching continuing, quiet and slow. Suddenly it seemed as though Danny was shocked out of a stupor, his head quickly swivelling to look toward Jim. "Bro I picked one of these Perk things, and it gave me skill. I got to pick even, and...", his head slowly turned toward the door, finally catching the scratching. "What''s that noise man?" "Jesus Dan, I''ve been trying to tell you, and skill? What skill? Like a video game, some kind of spell or something?!", Jim whispered in a rushed tone. "No man not a spell. I picked the Fortitude path, got this skill called ''Hardened'', says it hardens my skin or something, and-", Danny was cut off by the scratching at the door turning to a dull thudding, it appeared whatever was on the other side had picked up on their conversation. "Jim that''s really not sounding good man you should probably pick something before the shit hits the fan." "Uh. Uhhh. Well christ man I have no idea what to pick, that skill sounds cool, maybe I''ll just pick Fortitude too or something?", Jim said in a flustered tone, the rush was too sudden. The day had already been incredibly long and both men were thoroughly worn out. "C''mon Jim I thought you had more Intelligence than me man, everyone knows you shouldn''t stack the same class, RPGs are all about having a rounded out party. Haven''t you ever played WoW man?", Danny muttered as he stood and walked toward the boxes in one of the corners of the room. "I''m gonna try to find a weapon, figure your stuff out man, and do it as quick as you can." "Right okay. I got this.", Jim nodded, a little shaken. Perks, he willed.
Potential Perks:
(0) Touched with Quickness: +2 Dexterity and Perception per Level Up
(0) Touched with Fortitude: +2 Vitality and Strength per Level Up
(0) Touched with Mentality: +2 Intelligence and Wisdom per Level Up
So do I go Rogue/Fighter or Magic. I always loved Magic in books, and it would meld well with Danny''s start. Screw it.
Perk ''Touched with Mentality'' Aquired
Congratulations on the first choice on the road to fate. Do to being an advanced Perk you are being given an oppurtunity to choose 1 of 3 skills related to the Perk chosen!
(0) Arcane Missile
(0) Power Word: Pain
(0) Flash
So what to pick now... Doesn''t seem like I get to know what they do beforehand in this case. Well Arcane Missile is pretty typical, I bet it shoots some kinda magic bolt or something. Power Word: Pain could be anything, most likely some sorta attack or curse though. Hm, and Flash is probably Illusion magic, or a speed enhancement of some kind. Right!, Jim had made up his mind. He willed it, Power Word: Pain!
Skill Power Word: Pain Aquired
A dull thudding slammed into Jim''s head, his hands shooting up to grip it tightly. "Picked something huh? Mine made my whole damn body tingle and itch, still hasn''t quite gone away to be honest.", Danny mentioned. He was now holding what looked to be a small metal T-ball bat, and was poised and staring at the cellar doors. The thudding at them had now developed into full blown pounding.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Power Word: Pain (First skill of type bonus tip: Power Word skills are a rare type of high mana cost, high reward skills, use them wisely and they can turn the battle of a skirmish; use them poorly, and they can cost you your life. They have a higher mana cost than most skills as a trade off of only needing to speak a single word to activate them, as well as only needing a target to be within the casters senses, and be able to hear the caster.)
Power Word: Pain causes an enemy to be wracked with overwhelming pain, to the point of causing bodily harm. Power Word: Pain is a skill that acts based on a contest of the caster''s Intelligence, and the targets wisdom.
"Alright Dan, I think I''m ready.", Jim said through gritted teeth, the aching in his head still rebounding through his mind. He stood up from the couch and positioned behind Danny. "Let''s see what the hell is going on out there." Danny just peered back and nodded, and walked to the shuddering door. Taking a rooted stance on the steps in front of the doors, Danny sucked in a breath and started a countdown. "3. 2.... 1!", Danny threw open the bolt lock on the inside of the doors, and heaved his leg up and slammed it into them. The doors flew open with a puff of dust, and a dim blue light in the skys outside the cellar filtered down into it. There crouching in the doorway to the outside were two, mangy looking people, a man and a woman. Both Jim and Danny stood still, staring at the two individuals with feral looks in their eyes. One of the two had a massive gash acrossed his chest Information suddenly blasted into Jims mind. Just-turned Zombie Lvl: 1 HP:45/52 Just-turned Zombie Lvl: 2 HP: 24/60 Immediately Jim''s eyes locked on to the lower health enemy, the man, quite a large burly guy at that. Right about that time the smaller, blonde haired woman lunged at Danny with an inhuman gurgling. "DIE DIE DIE! DIE AND FEED ME!", she screeched as she wrapped around Danny, apus-like liquid foaming from her mouth. Danny held her her gnashing face inches from his own with one of his hand around her neck. His other hand was wrapped around his bat, as he beat her frail looking body mercilessly, his fear clearly glinting in his eyes. Small red -1''s and -2''s floated away from the small woman''s body, nearly peaceful in the night''s blue light. The male zombie began to stand and claw its way into the tight walkway down into the cellar, inching toward Danny. "Holy shit! Uhhhh.", Jim stuttered. "PAIN!", he screamed his focus still on the brute. Mana: 12.5/27.5, flashed in Jim''s vision. "GREEEEEEEAIIKKKKK", what started as a deep groaning quickly escalated into an unearthly screech, easily surpassing that of the first smaller zombie. The giant man turned zombie began shaking violently, thick viscous blood poured from its wound on its chest as it collapsed to its knees, a large -30 floated from its body, and it slumped to the side, dead. Good one down, Jim thought as he looked toward Danny and his predicament. Just-turned Zombie Lvl: 1 HP:20/52 Danny had done quite a lot of damage rapidly hitting at his zombie with the short bat. He now had her pinned against the wall of the hall leading into the cellar. The zombie''s claws were scraping thin red lines across Danny''s arms and shoulders. "Danny aim for her head they''re zombies man!", Jim called, desperate because he couldn''t help more. Danny''s bat arm came back, high above his head, and he swung it down violently, sinking the bat into her head with a wet *schlunk*. Danny released his grip on the bat first, and it slowly slipped out of its spot nestled into the now dead zombie''s head. He then released his grip on her neck, and she collaped to the stairs he was standing on with a heavy *thump*. Just after Danny fell back to the other side of the narrow hall, shoving himself as far away from the zombie as he possibly could. Congratulations on your victory! +25 Life Points "Shit shit shit shit! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK MAN! Meteors or asteroids or whatever the hell they were, a video game takes us over, and now we''re being attack by zombies! Man I think these people were some of our neighbors man! What the actual fuck...", Danny''s last few words came out as a defeated whisper. "I don''t know either man, either way we need to figure something out. If there are gonna be zombies running around sitting in the cellar waiting to be overun isn''t a good idea.", Jim muttered staring at the two dead people resting before him on the staircase. I hope their souls rest easy now, the thought flittered through Jim''s mind. Chapter 4: A Never-Ending Dream It was about 9:30pm by the time Jim and Danny managed to collect themselves enough to consider what they were going to do. The two were on the porch of their shared home, looking out at the still partially blue illuminated sky. It appeared that whatever the impacts were caused by were still causing some kind of glow, and were lighting up the sky a bit from where they had landed. The two had counted four spots in total that they could see from their house. "It''s dark already Dan, do you really think it''s a good idea to try to venture out there into that? I mean I know you''re worried about Ash and everything, but we really gotta think about what we''re gonna do here. I just don''t think we have enough of an idea to be wandering around in the dark... Literally.", Jim said quickly. Dan just answered with a gruff puff and shake of his head, sitting down, his hands on his knees. The argument had been going on for about 5 or 10 minutes. After the two had come together and dragged the zombies'' bodies out of the cellar entrance and around to the back of the house, Dan had immediately wanted to go out into the night to find Ash. Jim had always expected that Dan had feelings for her, and Ash didn''t help the situation by leading poor Dan on like she always did. Long nights watching movies together on the couch in the living room together eating popcorn and drinking more than just soda, it was bad for him. Dan wasn''t much of a rational guy to begin with, let alone with Ash on the line. "Look man. Wherever she is I don''t think her situation is gonna change anytime soon. I mean it''s been a almost three hours since this shit show started. She''s probably settled down somewhere to wait it out, same of us, or...", Jim trailed off. "Or she''s dead. Yeah Jim I know. You know what man, fuck you. I just. I just want... I don''t know man. I never even really told her how I feel and... Who knows, she might not even be out there anymore. Or maybe we''re not even here anymore, and this is just the first ring of hell. Shit...", Danny started blubbering and wiping at his eyes. "Look. Dan. Danny. Go inside the house man. Go get some rest, hell lay in your own bed. This could be the last time you ever get to do it. We''ll go on shifts, four hours each, and I''ll take the first.", Jim waved his hand toward the door to the house, "We''ll get some rest. And as soon as we can tomorrow morning we''ll head out, and see what we can find out. Alright man?", Jim quietly finished. Danny finally consented with a solemn nod of his head, stood, and began walking toward the door. "Oh and maybe look into your status, we got those Life Points or whatever from the fight, and...", Jim continued, but Dan just sped up his walking and slammed the screen door into the small house behind him. Looks like he doesn''t really wanna think about it right now... Jim thought to himself. Well may aswell head inside and grab a chair... And maybe grab some food from the fridge, probably gonna rot soon with no power anyways. Jim opened the fridge with some gusto, just to realize the light inside it wasn''t going to be coming on. Looking around for a moment for a solution he realized he still had his phone in his pocket. Taking it out he activated the flash light on it and used it to peer into the fridge. Hmmm, there''s some milk, eggs, and a bit of old pizza. I think the pizza was Ash''s actually, I don''t think she''ll mind it. He took the two pieces of pizza out on the plate it rested on, and placed one in his mouth as he closed the fridge door. He grabbed one of the chairs from the dining room and walked back out onto the porch. Probably time I look into my status too I guess,he thought to himself as he plopped into his seat and dug into his the Combination slices on his plate. "Mmmf-Status", he said over his mouthful of dough and vegis.
Jim Reznik Level: 1 Life Points: 25 Level Up: 10 Life Points
Class: N/A Perks Skills
Stats: (0) Point to allocate
Strength: 8 Intelligence: 10
Dexterity: 10 Wisdom: 11
Vitality: 11 Perception: 9
Attributes: Health: 55 Stamina: 27.5 Mana:27.5
Hm. Got enough for a level up. May as well check out perks and skills anyways. Perks.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Perks Attained:
Touched by Mentality
Perks Available:
(50) Power Word Skill Tree: Opens the Power Word skill tree for purchase.
(20) The First Word: Doubles the effect of the first Power Word used in combat.
(10) Enemy of the Undead: Increases damage against undead creatures marginally.
Hm. Skills.
Skills:
Power Word: Pain
Wow. Very informative Skills panel there. So I guess the real question is whether I should level up or take this perk ''The First Word''. I feel like a Level Up would be better for drawn out battles, but the perk is probably great for single opponents. Wow... Look at me thinking in terms of combat. I should probably just take the Level Up, see what it does anyways. Decided, Jim set the now empty plate onto the ground and muttered into the status screen for a level up.
Level Up! Congratulations! (First Time Tip: Level Ups are the most obvious and direct way to increase your strength. With each level up you''ll gain 2 health, 1 stamina, and 1 mana base. You''ll also gain 5 distributable points for your stats, as well as all other level up bonuses you''ve gained thus far.)
Guess I gotta distribute them now. Status.
Jim Reznik Level: 2 Life Points: 15 Level Up: 30 Life Points
Class: N/A Perks Skills
Stats: (5) Point to allocate
Strength: 8 Intelligence: 12
Dexterity: 10 Wisdom: 13
Vitality: 11 Perception: 9
Attributes: Health: 57 Stamina: 21.5 Mana:34.5
After distributing his points his status was looking a little bit better. Jim felt ready incase of another fight.
Jim Reznik Level: 2 Life Points: 15 Level Up: 30 Life Points
Class: N/A Perks Skills
Stats: (0) Point to allocate
Strength: 8 Intelligence: 14
Dexterity: 10 Wisdom: 14
Vitality: 13 Perception: 9
Attributes: Health: 67 Stamina:33.5 Mana:37
The points in Vitality should help me sustain in fights a bit longer.Maybe tomorrow we can find some other people. I haven''t seen anyone for the last 2 hours out here. Hopefully someones coming to help us, but I guess everyone on Earth is probably thinking that too, judging from the radio announcement. I guess I better get ready for us to be on our own. Jim waited out the rest of his "shift" without any issues, only a couple of birds chirping or bugs making noise to interrupt the quiet. At about 1 in the morning Danny came out of the house onto the porch. "Sorry about all that earlier man... I wasn''t myself. I''ve got it under control now though, we''re gonna take it one step at a time like you said. We''ll be okay, and I think, no, I know Ash is okay too.", Danny said as he took the seat Jim had been in. "Look man. It''s understandable, I''m honestly just so calm because of shock. I have no idea what the hell is going on, with me it just comes out as sinking into myself and thinking it through. You''re the kind of guy who wants to go out and fight the weird and ugly. It''s admirable really, but I think we need each other.", Jim said. With all the quiet he had thought about it a lot. "Anyways. Thanks for letting me get some rest man. I feel really strange, like I''m not even tired.", he finished as he gripped the screen door. "Man I felt exactly the same. I don''t even think I slept. Just sat there and thought with my eyes closed. Oh and I took care of my Status or whatever like you mentioned. Got a perk called ''Relentless Assault''. Anyways have a good rest man. I''ll get you if anything happens.", Danny said as he motioned to the door. Chapter 5: The Sun Also Rises At around 5:49am the sun began rising over the horizon, light pouring slowly in through Jim''s window. Not a wink of sleep...Guess it wasn''t meant to be,he thought as he stood up from his bed. He had put a lot of thought into what to do going foward, and figured he and Danny would have to just take it as it came and try to venture out to figure out what was going on. He changed his clothes into something comfortable, a gray t-shirt and some basketball shorts, it was likely to be a warm day. Right as he approached the front door to go meet up with Danny a notification appeared. *Bing*
Congratulations Survivers! This is the first greeting from your parent Society ''The Vokrin'' You''ve made it through the first night after the Sparks, below we will list your world''s top 5 countries by most survivors. 1. China: 456,483,291 Survivors. 2. India: 371,516,102 Survivors. 3. United States: 239,456,210 Survivors. 4. Brazil: 120,416,910 Survivors. 5. Russia: 102,404,574 Survivors. Total Survivors: 2,477,912,111 We will be sending a representive to each subdivision we''ve created, your representative will beOberon Zer. Expect a message from your representative in the coming hours, you''ll be expected to attend a meeting as an introduction to the Interface. As a reward for surviving we are giving each individual 100 Life Points. We recommend attending the meeting before spending them, however; if the situation necessitates it, remember to spend them wisely.
Jim lost his footing a bit in shock and stumbled throught the front screen door, the actual door had remained open throught the night. Jim slumped to his knees, his hands sliding to his sides.Barely even two and a half billion remaining. There were supposed to be some 7 billion people on Earth before this. There''s no way that many people died right... Right? What about Mom, Dad, and Chris... Jim had been intentionally avoiding thinking about his family up until now. They lived six states over. He in California, them in Florida. He wanted so badly to come to California to go to school, in hindsight it had been a terrible idea, one that now seperated him from his family. I can''t let myself dwell in this, this is a time to be strong.Jim''s face focused back from a slack jawed defeat. "Danny.", Jim said quietly looking up at the man sitting limply in chair beside him, his hands draped over the arms, his face toward the ceiling.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. A long silent moment passed. "Danny! C''mon man talk to me.", Jim said briskly. "Almost 5 billion people man. Gone. What the hell... What. What are we even supposed to do with that. Why the hell would they tell us that. Who even are these Vokrin fucks anyways man. Fuck this, fuck them... What about Ash? There''s no way she''s still alive right? No fucking way.", he muttered his face puckering into a tight lipped expression, Jim could see it, the pain and sorrow welling up inside his friend. "No man. No. We don''t know that. Calm down and we''ll take this one step at a time. We gotta live through this one way or another regardless. We gotta keep going for the rest who can''t.", Jim voice carried a somber tone. "No. I don''t want to... I think I''m done. If this is what we have to look foward to, killing and being killed. Fuck it. I''m done.", Danny muttered quietly, coldly. "What? What the fuck are you even talking about man. You''re just done? What are you gonna do kill yourself? What am I going to tell Ash when I find her? ''Sorry there''s no romantic reuniting, but he said he was done.''?", Jim huffed in a gruff voice, "Fuck that. Stand up.", he said as he stood up. Danny didn''t move. His shoulders just shook slowly. "I saidcalm down, and standup.", Jim repeated. Slowly Danny''s face came down, his eyes meeting Jim''s. He nodded slightly and slowly stood up. "Thanks. I really didn''t wanna have to explain you being gone to her man. Now let''s get going we''ve got a long day ahead of us. I figured we could hit up the X-Mart down the road. I think people will probably be grouping there looking to scavenge stuff, worst case no ones there and we can scavenge stuff.", Jim explained. Danny nodded along and they both turned and walked down the steps, heading North, to X-Mart.
"So... What''d you end up deciding on for power-ups?", Danny asked quietly as they walked. Throughout their walk they had seen several dead zombies, and several large blood stains trailed by drag marks. It seemed they weren''t the only ones attacked by zombies the day before. "Huh? Oh. Well I picked the Mentality perk and got a spell. It''s called Power Word: Pain.", Jim responded back quietly. They had been walking for almost an hour and hadn''t said a word to each other the entire time. Both knew where X-Mart was and neither had much to say in light of all the bloodshed and violence around them. Jim was baffled that they had yet to see another living human. The house they lived in was located on the very far out fringes of town, so it was understandable that not many people were around there after the weird meteor shower, or ''Sparks'', or whatever the system had called them. Now that they had journeyed pretty deep into the city proper it didn''t make much sense anymore. "Hm. After that fight yesterday I was able to unlock another perk called ''Defense Skill Tree''. It gave me access to a bunch of defense related skills for really low LP costs.", Danny said quickly with a bit of excitement. "LP costs? What? And c''mon man you really wanna talk about this right now?", Jim responded quietly, trying to observe the mood of their predicament. "LP. Life Points man. We''re gonna be talking about this stuff a lot and I don''t wanna say it every time. And yes. Yes I wanna talk about this stuff right now, because it''s better than the alternative of talking about all these dead bodies, and well, absence of live ones, oh and not to mention where the fuck is Ash...", he said a bit exasperated, "We gotta figure it out anyways man, it''s our new reality. One way or another.", he finished, just sounding tired. "Look. I guess you''re right. This is what our reality is now, but we can''t let it consume us that''s all I mean. Anyways man we''re almost to X-mart, let''s try climbing up the fire escape of this building to take a look around and see what we can see. How''s that sound partner?", Jim said motioning to a squat apartment building just off the road they were walking down. Danny simply nodded in response and jogged over to the ladder. Being the taller one of the two he jumped and grabbed ahold of the fire escape ladder to get it to slide down for use. Danny climbed up first and Jim quietly looked around a bit before following up. Jim was about three quarters of the way up when he heard a sharp *Clink clank clink* from the roof. "Danny? Danny! You okay man?", Jim shouted as he finished climbing the rest of the way up to see Danny with his back turned to him, facing the direction of X-mart in the distance. "Yeah man. I uh, dropped my bat. I found all the zombies man. It''s bad. It''s really bad.", Danny muttered. Jim walked up to Danny''s side to see the X-Mart far in the distance. "What do you mean I don''t-", he started, then stopped when he noticed it. All around the department store was a writhing mass of zombies, he had mistaken it for nothing because of the sheer volume of individuals in the crowd and the sun rising just above the building. There had to be hundreds, possibly thousands, of zombies slamming themselves against the exterior of the building. "Fuck.", was all Jim could manage to say. Chapter 6: Life or LP? "Jesus christ this nightmare just won''t end...", Danny said, defeat evident in his voice. "Danny. We can figure this out. There''s gotta be something we can do right? There''s gotta be.", Jim whispered, scared he might alert the horde nearly a mile away. "You work there man. You should know. Is there like another way in or something? Like tunnels or something?", Danny asked. "I mean this isn''t a movie man, there''s no convenient entrance in. As far as I know the store is connected to the sewer yeah, but by pipes filled with water and, well, shit.", Jim replied, "Honestly, we''ll have to go through not around the horde if we want to get in." "Through... Through that... Well I guess we''ll have to call off operation X-Mart then.", Danny replied with a sad shrug. "Think about it though man. Why are there so many damn zombies around it? It''s gotta be full of people. We can''t just leave them to die can we?", Jim questioned himself as much as Danny. "We''re not super heroes Jim. It''s not as simple as just gallantly smashing through them. The system has given us some boosts, but we''re no different than before really. We''d need a pretty big power up to even stand a bit of a chance against that many enemies.", Danny said while waving his arms frantically at the horde in the distance. "We just got a lot of LP through that announcement earlier though. 100 was it? How about we try to spend that and see where we''re at. Worst case we judge it to not be enough and we turn around and find another place to start.", Jim said hopefully. "The announcement said we shouldn''t spend it though man. Whoever it is was gonna show us how to use it properly.", Danny muttered. "I feel like the situation calls for it. C''mon man. Ash may be in there...", Jim said quietly. "Fuck you man. You keep using her to push this. It''s a dick move! But fuck it, you know what she may be in there, so let''s do this.", Danny said, obviously angry about the situation. "Sorry man. But I can''t just walk away, but I can''t do it alone either...", Jim replied grimly as he opened his status window.
Jim Reznik Level: 2 Life Points: 115 Level Up: 30 Life Points
Class: N/A Perks Skills
Stats: (0) Point to allocate
Strength: 8 Intelligence: 14
Dexterity: 10 Wisdom: 14
Vitality: 13 Perception: 9
Attributes: Health: 67 Stamina: 33.5 Mana:37
115 points. Hopefully that''s enough. I don''t feel like levels will be enough. It''ll have to be perks, Jim thought to himself.
Perks Attained:
Touched by Mentality
Perks Available:
(50) Power Word Skill Tree: Opens the Power Word skill tree for purchase.
(20) The First Word: Doubles the effect of the first Power Word used in combat.
(10) Enemy of the Undead: Increases damage against undead creatures marginally.
I''ll try opening the skill tree. Hopefully there''s something good available..., Jim hoped.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
Perk: Power Word Skill Tree Aquired
*Ding*
First Time Tip: Skill tree perks open up low cost perks related to the original tree for purchase. Although a high investment they usually pay off with interest in the long run.
Perks Attained:
Touched by Mentality Power Word Skill Tree
Perks Available:
(70) Prepared Speech: Can store Power Word uses ahead of time at 1.5 cost, to be used later at no cost. 3 slots available on taking perk. More available at Perk level 2.
(30) Discordant Echo: Double the cost of a Power Word usage, allowing it to echo to enemies within 5 meters of the enemy hit, can chain. Can only inflict each enemy once. Power effectiveness decreases by 5% for each chain.
(25) Add Spell ''Power Word'': A perk that can be taken repeatedly, allowing the choice between 3 random spells of the subtype.
(20) The First Word: Doubles the effect of the first Power Word used in combat.
(10) Enemy of the Undead: Increases damage against undead creatures marginally.
65 points left. Prepared Speech is immediatly out. Discordant Echo is essentially a must for the situation. A new word would be helpful but the fact that it''s out of a random pull makes it unreliable for now. That leaves me to take The First Word, and Enemy of the Undead.
Perks ''The First Word'', ''Enemy of the Undead'', and ''Discordant Echo'' Aquired
Perks Attained:
Touched by Mentality Power Word Skill Tree Enemy of the Undead Discordant Echo The First Word
Perks Available:
(70) Prepared Speech: Can store Power Word uses ahead of time at 1.5 cost, to be used later at no cost. 3 slots available on taking perk. More available at Perk level 2.
(25) Add Spell ''Power Word'': A perk that can be taken repeatedly, allowing the choice between 3 random spells of the subtype.
This will have to do for now. Jim looked up to see Danny sitting, staring out at the swarm of zombies, a small smile on his face. "You good man?", Jim asked quietly. "Yeah. It''s just funny is all. Yesterday all I was thinking about around this time is what I would have for dinner. Now I''m about to take on a mass of zombies. Speaking of I assigned my perks. I had 20 LP left from the last round, so I levelled up, put all the points in Dexterity and Vitality. Then I took a perk called ''Strike and Be Struck'' for 70 LP, it increases my Strength by 1% every time I strike, and my ''Defense'' by 1% everytime I hit, apparently that''s a ''Hidden Stat'', whatever that means. Anyways lastly I took a perk called ''With Death, Fury'' for 30 LP, every time I kill something in combat my attacks get a tiny bit faster. They both reset when combat is over, but it seemed to mesh well with my ''Relentless Assault'' I got earlier, that makes it so as long as I''ve participated in a kill in the last 15 seconds I can''t run out of stamina.", Danny explained slowly his face a bit brighter than it had been before assigning his LP. He''s gonna get addicted to this. Hell... I might get addicted to this. This is a scary new world with a very slippery slope into going full murderhobo, Jim concluded internally. Jim explained his own new gains and the two came up with a plan together. They were gonna try to kill the whole lot of all of them.