《Armageddon Online - Escape》 Chapter 1 - World First The Misfits climbed again to top of the black spiral tower. On a circular platform loomed a massive reptilian body. Above it was a nametag ¨C Cermillion the Destroyer: Level 100. The red dragon¡¯s hateful maw and burning eyes danced as it stood on their remains, daring them to try again. This was their 47th attempt at Cermillion that night. Guild chat was subdued after that last attempt. They had pushed the dragon from the long phase two, into phase three, and had survived another thirty seconds before the fire elementals had overwhelmed them. Sean flicked the switch on his VR headset, activating the mic. ¡°That was a solid attempt folks. Let¡¯s stay focused like that on the next try.¡± Sean reviewed their logs by swiping his hand to the left and bringing up a screen containing all of their metrics for the fight. Specifically, he was interested in the log of players who had been assigned a damage-per-second (DPS) role, which mobs they attacked, and how much DPS they did. ¡°We need all DPS to switch immediately at the beginning of phase three to the elemental on Thag. I will blow my Last Stand, pop my artifact, hold Cermillion and the other elemental while everyone burns down the one on her,¡± Sean said to the raid. Sean¡¯s character, Smash, short for Smashit, was a knight that had the ability to absorb an ungodly amount of damage using his cooldowns. He¡¯d also received a very powerful artifact called The Resistor in the last raid, which increased the power of his Last Stand by 300 percent. Despite this fact, he was concerned they didn¡¯t have an ideal tank composition. He swiped his hand again, moving into officer chat.
***You¡¯ve Entered Officer Chat*** Smashit: Deathberry, can you check the tank log for the last fight, while I prep the group? I think I may be taking too much damage, and we may have to switch out for my alt. Deathberry: Yeah, I think most other guilds have been using a paladin tank to hold Cermillion.
Paladin tanks had an ability to self-heal using a heal over time (HOT) and careful kiting, which made them favorable for this boss.
Smashit: Ok, let me know what you think. If we have no chance with this setup, just say the word and I¡¯ll switch over. Deathberry: Will do.
Being a progressive raider meant checking your ego at the door, and he trusted Deathberry to tell him what needed to be done. He was the guild¡¯s primary strategist and reviewed all the fights with Sean. He¡¯d earned that position in the guild through his detailed approach to evaluating every battle.
***You¡¯ve Entered Raid Chat*** Deathberry: Ranged DPS can switch onto the elemental immediately since I¡¯ll be tagging it with an aggro dump to Thag.
Deathberry¡¯s real-life name was Tim. Working with him had pushed Sean to be an even better raid leader since he had someone to share strategy ideas with. Reviewing logs after the fights was the best way to improve their raid¡¯s performance, and it had become a side-game for the two of them after raiding hours. Over the next ten attempts, they never got back to phase three; however, after that they were able to get into a groove. The DPS switch that Deathberry had called for allowed them to burn down the first elemental. After it was destroyed, Thag quickly picked up the additional elemental on Smash so he was just holding the raid boss. Now that one of its elementals had been destroyed, Cermillion began a new enraged attack. Smash¡¯s health bar leapt around as the new ability hit him repeatedly. Seeing that he wouldn¡¯t be able to take much more, he called out in a voice flat and steady, ¡°Switch.¡± Thag used one of her Demon Knight abilities to quickly leap across the room and pull aggro on Cermillion. When she got to the dragon she slowly turned the boss so the raid faced its side. The front and side of a dragon was especially dangerous to the raid. All around the edge of the platform was grey and cloudy. Rain drizzled down on them becoming smoke wherever the dragon breathed flame. Lightening flashed sporadically, offsetting their fight in sharp contrast to an otherwise dreary sky. The tanks continued their macabre dance with Cermillion, switching smoothly as needed. They attempted to time them so that they would each always have one cooldown available. Sean¡¯s microphone crackled. ¡°Come on stay up,¡± Linca said. The sound of rapid keys being pressed came through his headset. ¡°Don¡¯t die, come on.¡± ¡°Linca, your mic¡¯s open again. Let¡¯s keep raid chat clear,¡± Sean said quietly.
***You¡¯ve Entered Raid Chat*** Linca: Sorry!
After that her microphone was silent. Other than the occasional open microphone, Linca was a coolheaded player. Finally, the ranged DPS managed to burn down the final elemental. The melee DPS continued to stab Cermillion during the enraged phase, instead of switching to the elemental. Any player who got too close to the elementals took extra damage and that wasn¡¯t something the raid could afford to do right then. With the final elemental down, the rage ability caused an unstoppable amount of damage. Smash¡¯s health bar pushed dangerously close to empty, but there was nothing he could do. Eventually, both tanks perished and it was declared a wipe. "That was a really solid attempt. We were just a couple of percent from phase four," Smash told the team. He had a couple of ideas of how they might be able to deal with the heavy damage from the end of phase three, but he waited to review the logs with Deathberry before saying anything. After another dozen attempts, they could reliably transition from the end of phase three into phase four. After the raid chopped off Cermillion¡¯s tail at the end of phase three, the dragon summoned giant lakes of fire, engulfing most of the raised platform they stood on. Additionally, it summoned four more elementals. These had to be picked up quickly by the tanks or they would kill the raid. And, of course, Cermillion¡¯s enrage was at its worst. After dying once again, Smash called for the raid to take a quick break while he and Deathberry reviewed the logs. During the break, they discussed the merits of various strategies to help control the damage in phase four. ¡°Thag you missed the last elemental and I got stomped babe,¡± Kevin said, half accusing, half joking. His character was Krok, their mystic assassin.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Emmy and he were an item. Her character was Thag, their off-tank. ¡°Maybe you be a pro and handle it, babe,¡± she spat the words back at him. There was no playfulness in her voice. She¡¯d had to fight for respect in her previous raiding guild which had been full of machismo. While the Misfits weren¡¯t like that, she still carried a chip on her shoulder. ¡°Cool it kids. We¡¯re fighting the dragon, remember?¡± Sean intervened. Sometimes his job as raid leader felt like being the coach who had to keep everyone in line. Fortunately, Deathberry chimed in, ever the voice of reason. ¡°By the time phase four rolls around everyone needs to be on their toes,¡± he said calmly. He stressed the word everyone like he was talking directly to Krok. ¡°The main tank¡¯s artifact will be off cooldown and so will DPS trinkets. Melee DPS need to wait until we¡¯re all in position since the ranged have to dance a bit. I also expect you to pull high numbers. Cheez will coordinate the melee in their chat.¡± As Deathberry pointed out, the real challenge of this phase was the need for flexibility and mobility. Ranged DPS would have a hard time being effective, since they would had to constantly be on the move to stay alive. That meant extra pressure to pile on the melee DPS numbers. However, it had to be timed carefully. ¡°Just remember to only do vanilla attacks until I tell you otherwise,¡± Cheezustabs commanded. Known to the raid as Cheezus, he was their lead melee fighter. In real life, Miles was an avid distance runner. The discipline he channeled as a professional athlete made him an ideal second in command for the Misfits. When the raid returned from break, Sean explained what they were up against. ¡°When we enter phase four, Thag is going to pick up two of the adds and I¡¯ll pick up one. I¡¯m going to need to have a DPS with high movement kiting the fourth add.¡± Cheezus spoke up, ¡°I can handle the fourth add using my hoverboard.¡± The hoverboard was a rare crafted item, which required a lot of materials to grind. Additionally, you had to be maxed out in the skill Create Unique Object. Krok asked, ¡°Will that be enough time?¡± Cheezus jumped on his hoverboard with a backflip and then proceeded to hover at an extremely steep angle while dancing. He might be a good leader someday, Sean mused, but he was a bit of a showoff. ¡°Ok hotshot,¡± Krok¡¯s tone showed he wasn¡¯t impressed. ¡°When the hoverboard is on cooldown, I¡¯ll blink kite the elemental.¡± Krok¡¯s class had an interesting blend of melee and ranged DPS, which was balanced out by the fact that their overall DPS numbers tended to be lower than many other pure DPS classes. However, sometimes the most important element in a fight wasn¡¯t killing the enemy as fast as possible, but being able to effectively outmaneuver the opponent. ¡°The only problem is that we may get called out for using this,¡± Cheezus said. Smash was aware that the game¡¯s GMs were probably watching this raid right now, so it would be interesting to see if they intervened once they saw their strategy with the hoverboard. Some things weren¡¯t intended in game, especially on boss fights. Nonetheless, he didn¡¯t have any better ideas ¨C if the GMs were going to give them a temporary ban, they would do so after a few attempts. It was a risk, but he knew they didn¡¯t have a chance on this phase without considering unorthodox strategies. ¡°Let¡¯s give it a shot,¡± Sean said. The Misfits really came together when the pressure was on. They had a reputation for out-grinding other guilds and laying down crazy strategies to overcome seemingly impossible odds. This was the reason they were one of the top-ranked guilds. There came a point in every raiding day when you had to call a final attempt. He could sense they were at that point after ten hours of continually fighting this same boss. The Misfits were starting to make some stupid, avoidable mistakes. Their previous attempt had only gotten them to the middle of phase three, which was quite disappointing considering how far they¡¯d progressed earlier. ¡°Ok, final attempt for the night. Let¡¯s put everything into this one and see how close we can get.¡± Phases one and two went by like a blur. There were no early stumbles and it seemed like the phases that had stymied them earlier in the day were now on autopilot. Phase three also went incredibly smoothly. Raid chat was completely silent except for the occasional communication by Smash to call out the needed mechanics. He could tell these were perfunctory, as the raid blazed through phase three with ease. Phase four was becoming a lot less scary, and as they entered it, he couldn¡¯t help but marvel at the way that Cheezus and Krok worked together. Despite their earlier bickering, they flawlessly kited the elemental adds all over the room, while carefully avoiding the raid. The pools of fire that had destroyed them in their first attempt barely gave anyone pause, despite the fact that they shifted every twenty seconds or so and covered nearly the entire platform. The key with those pools was to be watching for the shift and move from the safe area to a danger zone as soon as you saw one. Inevitably, the previously safe areas would become filled with fire, so it was important to move as soon as you saw the shift. Smash¡¯s entire vision was filled with Cermillion¡¯s massive draconic body. He couldn¡¯t even see the creature¡¯s hateful maw and burning eyes since he was so close to the creature. Instead, he kept his eyes glued to his raid monitor bars and the floor. Everything had been going perfectly up to that point. However, Smash went down in less than a second. Cermillion stood tall, enraged. Sean looked from the creature¡¯s long curled claws to his slime-covered teeth. Both had the ability to do tremendous burst damage. Smash lunged left trying to drag the fiery elemental with him, too slow. The dragon¡¯s terrible claws scooped him up right as a red lava pool formed, and dropped him into it. The logs showed the last several hits that killed him: Slow burn -250 Enrage claw -322 Enrage bite -425 Enrage claw -134 Lava pool -400 Smash¡¯s health pool, while fully raid buffed, was close to 5,000. But his health bar stayed precariously below the halfway mark during this phase, and those last five hits had taken thirty percent of his health in less than a second. Fumbling with his virtual controls, he had missed hitting his Last Stand cooldown when it was available. Without a proper cooldown rotation, there was no way the healers would be able keep him alive and his split-second mistake had been fatal. ¡°Battle rez incoming,¡± Linca intoned calmly. This was their one and only way to recover a fallen player during the fight. There was no room for mistakes now. Fortunately, during the interim, the players had been able to DPS down one of the two adds on Thag, and she had picked up Cermillion and his add during the interim. The healers were dropping their largest healing spells on her since the heighted enrage made it nearly impossible to hold the elementals and Cermillion simultaneously, like they had in earlier phases. He smashed his shield into Cermillion¡¯s foot as soon as he was up and at full health. Then he plunging his sword into the elemental¡¯s side, roaring his defiance at both his foes, daring them to fight anyone but him. Two pairs of burning eyes stared back at him with malevolence, he¡¯d gained their full attention. Deathberry called out, ¡°Burn down the add on Cheezus ASAP, then let¡¯s get all DPS on Smash¡¯s add.¡± With all the DPS now focusing on a single add, it died a lot faster than the first one. A few minutes later, the elemental on him died as well. Smash breathed again now that he could move a lot more easily. Hopefully, there wouldn¡¯t be any further mishaps. The final mechanic of phase four was when there were no more elementals with Cermillion. At that point, fireballs launched out of pools of fire that emerged randomly on the platform. These fireballs sped towards several players at a time. If you got unlucky and both fireballs came towards you, it meant near certain death. Sean called out, ¡°Burn phase.¡± Krok dropped his raid-wide DPS buff and artifacts were popped. It didn¡¯t take long for the raid to destroy the remaining elementals. With the elementals dead, ranged DPS switched to Cermillion and downed enhancement potions, pushing raid DPS through the roof. Casters like Deathberry sent massive unholy bolts towards their draconic foe, while Cheezus¡¯ daggers flew in all directions. Smash popped one of his shield cooldowns to allow the healers a temporary respite. Fireballs hurled towards players, who dodged as best they could in the bosses¡¯ final moments. Soon players started falling to the sustained damage. Krok sacrificed himself first since he was the lowest DPS. Zeffu, one of the healers, took the next two fireballs. Thag and Smash began rotating cooldowns and tank switching. Because Thag had self-healing abilities, Smash sacrificed himself next. The boss was down to one percent health. He closed his eyes and prayed. They just needed a few seconds longer. Cheezus took the next couple of fireballs and kited them for as long as he could using his hoverboard. It bought the raid several precious seconds. As he died, Cermillion¡¯s massive body melted into the lava below. Roars of triumph erupted through Sean¡¯s headset seconds later. CONGRATULATIONS! ¨C WORLD FIRST CERMILLION¡¯S KEEP The Misfits had done the impossible in only three lock-outs. They were the world¡¯s first players to defeat Cermillion¡¯s Keep. This was one of the hardest raids in a game known for its difficulty, Champions a VRMMO. Chapter 2 - Victory Flight There was quite a lot of loot since Cermillion was the end boss and this was a world first kill. Many raiding guilds decided to distribute loot based on points which are allocated points for attendance, progression fights, and a host of other factors. Points are reduced when you bid and purchase an item that the guild has defeated and if there are any penalties for tardiness or the like. Being a smaller and tighter knit guild, the Misfits had decided to distribute loot based on how it helped the raiding team. Players were encouraged to suggest who should get the loot; however, ultimately Sean, Cheezus, and Berry had the final say on any loot. Typically, the raiders would figure it out amongst themselves. The goal was to distribute loot not necessarily to the player that ¡®deserved it¡¯ or even who would benefit the most, but rather how it would best overall improve the raid¡¯s performance. Larger guilds had the additional complication of dealing with having to rotate in various different players to try to distribute loot fairly while still considering that not everyone would always be in attendance and that same players might even have to sit out a key progression fight. Fortunately, the Misfits were a very small raiding guild and had exceptionally high attendance. For the raid to go off without a hitch, everyone needed to show up and for the most part everyone did. This alone made the process of distributing loot a lot easier. Cermillion had also dropped gold, three rare items, a dragon mount, and new quest items. First, thousands of pieces of gold were evenly distributed amongst the raiders. Secondly, all of the players would receive a new elemental mount and tabard declaring that they were champions of Cermillion¡¯s Keep. Third, there were three rare items which consisted of: a healing trinket, a DPS dagger, and a wand. The items were quickly assigned to Linca, Cheezus, and Deathberry, based on who could use the items and what would be most beneficial for the guild. Fourth, the decision had to be made for who got the dragon mount. This was a purely ornamental mount; however, it was a great prestige item. Fortunately, the plan was to put this fight on farm and eventually everyone would get a miniature Cermillion mount. Sean decided that everyone would roll for the mount and whoever got the highest roll would get it. After a few oohs and aahs, Sean¡¯s roll was deemed the highest and the mount was assigned to him. Finally, everyone received a scroll which contained a quest that would start them in a new instanced zone. Only those who had completed Cermillion Keep and obtained the scroll could access this area. The Misfits had come a long way. It was amazing to think that only two years ago they had first met. The guild started with just Sean¡¯s co-worker at the time, Kevin aka Krok. The two of them had leveled up together. Kevin as Krok, the Mystic Assassin who had great utility and buffs and Sean as Smashit, a Knight with the ability to switch from a two-handed DPS style to a more traditional sword and board tanking style. Sean had eventually convinced another colleague of theirs, Miles, to join them on Champions. Miles chose to play Cheezustabs, a Rogue with several incredible DPS abilities. Miles and Sean had been acquaintances before playing the game but became close friends while leveling up and mastering the game. In one of the most memorable moments the three of them had in game or otherwise, Sean recalled that Miles had been the one to suggest that they begin three manning five-person dungeons at level. At first it seemed absurd that three players could possibly win while doing that but Miles¡¯ proposition had seemed like a really fun challenge to Sean at the time. Soon, he began putting together strategies so the three of them could overcome the mechanics of each of the dungeons they encountered. For some boss fights Sean would switch over and all three of them would DPS while Cheezus and Krok would kite. Miles suggested the name the Misfits as they successfully beat their first five-man dungeon which was supposed to require a tank, three DPS, and a healer but had in fact been beat by three DPS. Sean and Krok agreed and the name stuck. It was those fights that had required such close coordination that build the foundation of a lot of what the Misfits could do today.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. While they were grinding on their fifth dungeon: wiping, running back, discussing strategy and wiping again, they were approached by a fourth member. Thag had sent a text chat to Sean while they were wiping and asked if they wanted a hand. Apparently, Thag had been grinding mobs in the area and saw them running back to the dungeon over and over again. Sean said they¡¯d love to have the help but they still would probably die with no healer. Thag said that she was game to try. After another twenty wipes they finally cleared the last of the dungeon. Sean had invited Thag to the guild on the spot after seeing that type of rare dedication. Afterwards, it had taken them several weeks to finally get Thag to finally join voice chat. Apparently, Emmy had previously been ostracized for playing a tank in her old guild but Sean and the rest of the Misfits were thankful to have such a skilled player join them. One of the final members to join their small guild was Deathberry. By this time the Misfits had been regularly raiding and were usually doing pick-up groups or PUGing for their final member. They had been working their way through Oceania, a water dungeon that featured a number of tricky mechanical fights on boats. They been making good progress; however, they were struggling with one particular fight that included fighting pirates on ship. The pirates themselves were fairly straightforward. The only nuance with them was how the raid dealt with the ranged versus melee pirates. The second part of the fight got a little bit more difficult as a Kraken joined the fray and started grabbing different player characters with its tentacles. This mechanic required that ranged DPS switch to free those players. However, the trickiest phase and the one that they were wiping on most was the third and final phase. This consisted of the same two mechanics of the first phases as well as an ink spray the Kraken would lay down every thirty seconds that did massive area of effect or AOE damage. After a series of frustrating wipes, one of the other PUGs that they had picked up rage quit. They were down to nine players and dealing with a very difficult boss. Deathberry, who Sean later learned was controlled by a player named Tim, offered Sean some advice in private chat. He suggested that he would use his pet to off tank several of the melee pirates that were currently had assigned to Thag. He had a direct link with his pet that allowed him to heal it as he did more and more damage. This would reduce the amount of healing required for the tanks and allow the healers to focus more on healing the heavy AOE ink spray when it hit the raid. He also provided some other suggestions for their configuration to improve their overall DPS output. With those new tactics in place, the Misfits quickly overcame the pirate ship boss. After the fight Sean noticed that Deathberry was unguilded. Of course, that could have been for any number of reasons but despite his doubts, Sean asked Deathberry to join and Berry quickly accepted. With this final addition to their guild they soon began to blaze up the raid rankings. Sean shook off his musings about their past. They had a victory to celebrate after all. The Misfits exited the raid and made their way to Strongkeep. Strongkeep was the central town for the world of Champions that was closest to Cermillion¡¯s Keep and where nearly all the high-level players gathered to raid. Strongkeep was a mountain fortress with high spires and the banners shone brightly in the morning sun as they arrived. The Misfits flew over the crowds of NPCs and players towards the central ramparts. This was the location where raiders would take winning photos of their raids and if there was a special mount they would fly it around town showing off. The Misfits jumped on their elemental mounts and Sean jumped on his new miniature Cermillion and snapped their picture. He would post it later on the forums. The guild continued to hover in mid-air as more and more players arrived. Hundreds of other players crowded onto the ramparts and flew around them. Sean recognized some of the other characters in the crowd. There were several other prominent raiding guilds who had gathered to see them take their victory picture on their elementals. Sean''s notifications list dinged repeatedly as he got congratulations from other players, top rated raid leaders, and even several of the games GM''s. Chapter 3 - Broken Sean disconnected from Champions and came back to the real world. He unwound the VR interface from his right ear and stood up. He and his wife, Julie, lived in their three-bedroom home in Austin. The bedroom he was in had been converted to a home office and inside were two pods that were setup for VR. He went downstairs to their kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. Everything was online these days so he merely had to think, ¡®dinner¡¯, and the machines downstairs went to work. While he was eating, he logged onto the forums using his Seemi. The Seemi was a neural implant that allowed him to access most of the devices in his house as well as the net. The big news today was more layoffs from the five companies that ran the world. Ever since the rise of AI and robotics, humanity was no longer needed to run most of the world. Fifteen years ago, had been the first major set of riots as robotics had first taken over all jobs requiring physical work. Whether it was the farmer, factory worker, or mechanic, anything physical had been replaced with robots. After all, the robots never had to take a day off, never had worker¡¯s compensation claims, and never complained. Humanity took to the streets and the riots shut down everything after that for a while. The oligarchs who ran the five largest companies declared that everyone would get a Universal Basic Income (UBI) after that. It was a pittance to live on, but it kept the great unwashed masses from rising up. Seven years ago, AI took another several leaps forward. While it still didn¡¯t meet the requirements of being a general AI, the computers had advanced far enough that they took over most cognitive functions in the workplace. Almost overnight, nearly all the office jobs were replaced with computers. This time the oligarchs were ready and they increased the UBI to just enough to keep the new hordes of office workers from revolting but not so much that they could actually live well. Since the oligarchs were the ones with the power and wealth they intended to consolidate their power and the rise of AI pushed their wealth into the stratosphere. While ninety percent of the humans had been replaced with AI at that point, there were still a few jobs. Some of the people were still needed to check on the computers and help them run more efficiently. Sean had one of those jobs until a year ago. He had worked for Terrazon in the IT department that oversaw their AI and robotics. It was a prestigious job, as most of the remaining jobs were; however, if he was honest, it had been drudgery most days since there was hardly ever that much to do. About a year ago he had been let go in the latest wave of layoffs as the AI started supervising itself, no longer needing humanity¡¯s interference. While he missed the prestige of his old job as well as the additional income, Sean didn¡¯t miss his work at all. Instead he enjoyed spending nearly all of his time in Champions and he couldn¡¯t help but be proud of their latest achievement. Julie came home a few minutes after he¡¯d finished the last of his meal. She was still employed at Terrazon in their marketing department and these days she never failed to get on Sean¡¯s case about finding a new job. Entering the kitchen, she looked at him disapprovingly. ¡°You were playing that game all last night. Don¡¯t tell me you just logged off,¡± she said hostilely. Her blue eyes were sharp as they flashed at him. She pushed a strand of her long blonde hair back over her ear. It was a nervous gesture and one she usually did right before she chewed his ear off about something. His wife was beautiful when she wasn¡¯t hounding him, but right now he just wanted to escape her temper. ¡°Yes, I just logged off,¡± Sean mumbled. Damn, why do I have to take this crap, he thought? Our guild just took a world first and I should be on cloud nine for the rest of the night. Instead I¡¯ve got a harpy of a wife chewing me out because there are no jobs to be had. Instead of ameliorating her, Sean¡¯s pathetic response seemed to egg her on, ¡°Oh really? And just want have you been up to with that guild of yours? You should be getting out there and putting your resume on the street. There are bound to be companies that would hire you if you just tried,¡± Julie responded acerbically. They had been through this conversation a million times before. There were only five companies left and they generally weren¡¯t hiring. Sure, if you were connected or if you were one of the smartest people on the planet there might be a spot for you. Sean was smart but he wasn¡¯t a genius and he didn¡¯t have the types of connections that Julie¡¯s family did. Julie came from money and her father was Joe Riber, the owner of Terrazon. It was the reason that Julie still had a job. It wasn¡¯t like the computers weren¡¯t fully capable of doing their own marketing.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Sean stared down at the bills sitting on the kitchen table. They were virtual bills now but the effect was the same. When he and Julie had both been working this place had been affordable. Julie wasn¡¯t wrong that Sean needed to get a job and it wasn¡¯t like he hadn¡¯t tried. But the problem was that only the elite had jobs now. For the masses, the trend was UBI. It would make a lot more sense to just sell this place, move on and quit pretending, but over the last year the bills continued to pile up and Sean continued to let himself be guilted into letting it continue. The worst part about it was that he felt like such a failure. How was it possible that he could accomplish such great things like assembling the Misfits and taking world first in impossibly hard raids but he didn¡¯t have the ability to put food on the table or keep the bills from piling up on the table? Unfortunately, Sean¡¯s quiet acceptance of his failures didn¡¯t appease Julie. He could see her growing more and more agitated before she lit into him. She didn¡¯t scream at him like she before; instead, her voice was cold. ¡°You never try anymore Sean. It¡¯s like our marriage doesn¡¯t mean anything to you. Like I don¡¯t mean anything to you,¡± Julie said. ¡°I¡¯ve cried about this endless nights, waiting for you to be done with your raiding and to come home and take care of things. But you never do. I¡¯m always the one shouldering this alone. And I¡¯m done. I¡¯m done with trying. I¡¯m done with you.¡± Julie¡¯s accusations stung him. He replied, ¡°What do you expect from me? There are no jobs. There is nothing I can do.¡± He looked at her desperately hoping she would understand. That she could show some sense of compassion about his predicament. But there was nothing. ¡°You could try, Sean. But you haven¡¯t. You won¡¯t. You don¡¯t love me,¡± she responded. Sean tried to deny it, shaking his head, ¡°That¡¯s not true.¡± The words came out but Sean knew they were partially a lie. He had stopped loving his wife some time ago when he had started seeing her as the enemy. As someone who reminded him daily of his failures, instead of being able to share in his successes. ¡°If you loved me, you would get a job. Don¡¯t tell me you can¡¯t. You just need to talk to my dad,¡± she said. So, she¡¯d finally come out and said what had really been on her mind. The only people these days who had a job were those who were connected. Only nepotism allowed for Julie to have hers. Something snapped for Sean. It was this belief of Julie¡¯s that drove him crazy. Instead of earning something the hard way she had always been propped up by privilege. For Sean that was a deal killer. He had earned his IT job the hard way, forced himself to study difficult topics in school, and worked insane hours to get where he had. On the other hand, Julie had always been handed her accomplishments like the medals they used to give out for youth sports. Everybody gets a participation medal just for being daddy¡¯s little girl. His response was no longer timid, ¡°So I can be just like you accepting daddy¡¯s handouts? The only reason the position you have even exists is because your dad is the CEO. What good is a job where I just punch a clock to look like I¡¯m useful?¡± With every sentence, Sean¡¯s blood began to boil. Julie was momentarily taken aback but quickly recovered. ¡°You ungrateful bastard! It¡¯s my hard work that keeps us in this house. As shabby as it is. And puts food on the table. How dare you insinuate I¡¯m not pulling my weight when you just play video games all day like a child,¡± her voice grew shrill with anger. Things escalated from there. Sean forgot what he said afterwards but it was definitely in the heat of the moment. Finally, Julie said, ¡°Get out! Out of my house! That game is more important to you than I am. You and those friends of yours just sit around all day doing nothing. We¡¯ll you aren¡¯t going to do it in my house anymore and I¡¯ve half a mind to make your friends pay for what you¡¯ve done to me too.¡± Sean stood unmoving, unwilling to hear what he was hearing. ¡°I¡¯m not kidding. Leave before I call the police,¡± she said. Twenty minutes later Sean was standing on the curb outside their suburban home with a duffle bag. He had texted Miles and Kevin just a few minutes ago. Miles was the first one to respond to his text and said he¡¯d be there in a few minutes to pick him up. Well shit, this had been one hell of a day, Sean thought. Chapter 4 - Western States Unlike his friend Sean, it had been a good week for Miles. After the Misfits had completed their World First, he had logged out and contemplated their win. His hands shook with the excitement and adrenaline that had rushed through his system. Afterwards he lay awake unable to sleep just viewing their game play over in his mind. At his eleventh race of the season, his hands weren¡¯t shaking now. However, he did have some butterflies in his stomach. Some of it was nerves but most of it was excitement. Ever since he had been laid off two years ago from Terrazon, Miles had been pursuing a new dream. He didn''t have the connections that Sean''s wife did. But what he did have was a certain amount of athletic ability and a lot of determination. It was the combination of these things that put him on a mountainous trail at the beginning of the hundred-mile run today. He¡¯d been training for Western States pretty much since he''d completed his first marathon with the intention of going pro. While not quite as high-paying and prestigious as the jobs of old, there was still money to be made from being an athlete. Additionally, if one could place at the podium there was a good chance of gaining sponsorship. Of course only a few select runners would even make the qualifiers that allowed him to enter this race and even fewer still would have any shot at the podium. The long odds didn''t give Miles much pause. He had grown up with long odds at every turn. Miles was a black man born in Detroit to a single mom and a broken family. His father had never been part of his life. Miles¡¯ youth was one with a lot of anger and occasionally he still channeled that anger when he needed to. He could have easily gone down the road of slipping into drugs and dealing ¨C the only options most young black men had in Detroit. However, he had found a role model in his older brother Eric. When Miles was still young, his brother decided that the family needed another way out. He would go on to become one of the few successful entrepreneurs who was able to make their way against the oligarchs of the five biggest mega corporations. His brother¡¯s rise up gave Miles the encouragement he needed to pursue a different path and he went back to school and got his degree in computer programming while his brother made millions. Sadly, his success didn¡¯t last as the large firms recognized him as a threat and put him out of business. Still, his brother¡¯s courage kept Miles on track and he finished school and began to work at Terrazon. It was also his brother¡¯s tenacity that kept Miles going now. His brother was still trying to come back and build another company. That was the sign to Miles that he shouldn¡¯t take the layoff lying down, but rather he should forge a new path for himself. Miles started on that new path now with the beginning of this renowned race. While he¡¯d made some money already from previous races this year, getting to the podium here would assure him a solid sponsorship and the income to help his family. Miles had one fairly decent qualifier and he was right near the front of the pack as the starting gun went off. After that, the first several miles went easily but he was careful to pace himself at the beginning of the race. After all, this was one of the longer ultra-marathons and he needed to be prepared to run for at least 15 to 16 hours. This was not so much a race about speed, but much like the game they played in, there was a necessary strategy and tactics that needed to be used in order to be successful. While he was running he thought about the Misfits and their recent world first. It was difficult to believe that only two years ago they had just met and were leveling up together. Miles still remembered the first time he put that crazy suggestion out there to Sean to three-man dungeons with no healer. He really had just been joking; however, Sean had been fired up with the boldness of it. It had given his friend some purpose and Miles was definitely grateful for that.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. However, Sean was at a crossroads now and would have to make some new life decisions. Yesterday, he''d called Miles and asked if he could stay a few days so he could get his feet under him. Julie had kicked him out of the house and had filed the divorce papers the same day. Miles didn''t know Julie too well since they were just acquaintances. But he knew enough to know that she was trouble. Miles hadn¡¯t wanted to tell his friend that there was something off about her and now it was too late. Growing up in the hood, Miles appreciated a family first mentality and he knew B.S. when he saw it. Julie was a gold digger, clear as day. She was not the type of person who appreciated Sean or treated him like family. Miles loped through the first 16 miles, quickly making his way through the high country, and decided to do a quick refill at the aid station. He didn¡¯t come to a full stop but simply grabbed a couple of waters and a packet of energy gel. So far he didn''t have any aches or pains and he was thankful for that. For his qualifying race, he''d failed to taper significantly beforehand and had felt like hell during the first 20 miles. Eventually he been able to push through and find a good second wind but the first stretch had taken a lot more out of him than it ought to have. Just like the strategy that they had employed on Cermillion, Miles went easy at the start. The intent to go harder in the later phases of the race when the pressure was on and things were more difficult. It was also key not to make any huge mistakes or tap into unneeded resources at this stage since undoubtedly those resources would be needed later on. Western States was run during the middle of the summer and things started heating up around mile 23. By mile 43, Miles had sweated through his clothing and he slowed down as they climbed Devil¡¯s Thumb. Miles continued musing about what the Misfits would take on next as he blazed through the technical reaches of the canyons. By the time he reached mile 55 at Michigan Bluff, Miles was focused on staying hydrated in the 90+ heat. So far he had continued to make solid time, even with the technical areas and was on pace to complete in fifteen and a half hours, right with the other top race participants. Racers were allowed a pacer starting at mile 60, and he was joined by one of his good running buddies who he¡¯d raced the Wasatch Front 100 with. Miles was itching to really accelerate at this point but he knew he still needed to maintain his hydration before he could push the pace. He¡¯d already instructed his pacer, James, to make sure he didn¡¯t try to push this section. Miles slowed down a bit more than he¡¯d anticipated through the next stretch of twenty miles as he focused on recovery and getting to the river at mile 78. This was tough to do psychologically but he knew it was the right strategy. By this time of day the heat was at its worst. It was late afternoon and once they reached the river, Miles appreciated crossing as it quickly chilled his body. Miles picked up his second pacer right after the river and he continued the push on, now trying to regain ground as they approached the last 20 miles. By mile 90, Miles had pushed a little too hard and projectile vomited, losing some of his critical water. He had started seeing things a few miles ago and if not for his pacer would have wondered off trail. Small elementals chased him through the underbrush as he relived moments from the last few days where the Misfits had spent untold hours grinding on Cermillion¡¯s first two phases. Fortunately, by No Hand¡¯s Bridge he¡¯d caught a fourth (or was it fifth) wind and he was able to pound out the last few miles. Currently he was in fourth but if he could just pick up the pace he could have a shot at the podium. In the last climb to Robie Point at mile 98.9 he caught up to the third place runner who was slowing down. When he saw Miles he pushed back and the two sprinted in a dead heat right to the finish line. The track at Placer High came into view and Miles thought of all those times where he and his family had gone hungry. There was no way he was going to stop now. At the very last eighths of a mile he surged forward as the other runner gave ground and Miles blasted through the finish line. Miles Trent ¨C 3rd place at 15:48:59. Achievement unlocked for sure. He couldn¡¯t wait to tell his mamma, his brother, and the guild. Chapter 5 - Fired Kevin was part of a small sales department that still existed at Terrazon. For the most part, sales had been fully automated and the company usually knew its customer¡¯s patterns so well that it sent the goods to their house or to their company and auto billed their account before the clients even knew what they needed. With AI technology and an almost unlimited data set that drove its predictive modelling there was actually very little need for flesh and blood salesmen. None the less, a small contingent survived at the company with the premise that there were still a few die hard clients out there that didn¡¯t want the computer making all of the buying decisions for them. Most of Kevin¡¯s clients were really old. His median client profile was a grandmother in her nineties. Somewhere in the back of his mind Kevin knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to continue working forever; however, he hoped to make it a few more years before he was forced to retire. While he was aware of the fact that his job security could end at any time he was still completely blind-sided when his manager pulled him into her office and fired him. As he stood stupidly inside her office he finally managed a response. ¡°I thought my numbers were pretty ok this quarter,¡± he said, still incredulous with shock. Lisa, his boss sighed, and replied, ¡°Kevin you know as well as I that our department is just another trophy group for Terrazon. We are one of the last groups of salespeople on the planet. The trends have been pointing this way for years. Our clients are dying and everyone younger than 90 would rather interact with a computer or even better just have the computer make the buying decision for them. We are downsizing the department again. I¡¯ll be lucky if I¡¯m not canned within another month.¡± He didn¡¯t have any response to his bosses¡¯ candor. Kevin had known this day could come at any moment but now that it was upon him he couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that someone had done this to him. Part of it was the perfectly natural human compunction to seek a pattern; something to blame, and part of it was just his mulishness at not accepting that the inevitable had happened. She continued, ¡°If it is any consolation I¡¯ll be more than happy to provide you with a reference. You were a fine employee. Although I¡¯m sure you know that nobody is hiring salespeople anymore.¡± Kevin nodded dumbly and thanked his boss. She had taken care of the group ever since he¡¯d started seven years ago and he knew it wasn¡¯t her fault he was getting canned. It sounded like she was on the way out as well. As he wondered back to his desk to collect his things he couldn¡¯t help but think back on his shitty week. First, on the second to last boss before Cermillion, he had lost out on a melee trinket that would have really improved his stats. The guild leaders, heavily influenced by Sean, deemed that Cheezus should get the item. Later, he and Sean had bickered over how to defeat Cermillion but ultimately it had been Tim¡¯s strategy that had won the day. The final straw for Kevin was having that wand assigned to Deathberry ¨C another best in slot item for him had gone to another player after he¡¯d had to give up that melee trinket. Getting World First in the raid should have felt like a great victory but to Kevin he felt robbed of having any autonomy in the guild. He felt he was just there as their buff monkey and that they didn¡¯t appreciate how thankless his job was. Kevin overheard some of his cubicle mates talking. ¡°Did you hear what Lisa said? Are we going to be next to get the ax?¡± Kevin figured that must have been Joe talking. He was always such a worry wart. Although in this instance his fears seemed justified. ¡°Nah, she¡¯s just saying that. You want to make sure you don¡¯t piss off the boss¡¯ daughter. I hear that¡¯s what did him in.¡± The other voice belonged to Billy, one of the biggest gossips in the office. How the hell had they overhead his conversation with Lisa behind closed doors? And what did Billy mean about pissing off the boss¡¯ daughter? Kevin rounded the corner where Joe and Billy were gossiping. Joe shrunk back but Billy looked unfazed by Kevin¡¯s approach. ¡°What do you mean I pissed off the boss¡¯ daughter? I don¡¯t even know her.¡± Billy shrugged and replied, ¡°All I know is that her name is Julie Cullers. And that¡¯s just a rumor I heard so sue me if it isn¡¯t true.¡± That name sounded very familiar to Kevin but it couldn¡¯t be the same Julie Cullers he knew. Besides he hadn¡¯t talked to Sean¡¯s wife in ages so why could she be mad at him? The entire thing didn¡¯t make any sense.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Kevin turned away from Billy and Joe suddenly, grabbed his box of things, and left the office. He wasn¡¯t just going to take this lying down. If Sean¡¯s wife was behind the layoff, his buddy had some answering to do. The entire way home Kevin stewed while he thought about all of the small injustices he¡¯d suffered over the past few months with his guild. Was Sean intentionally trying to drive him out of the guild? It just didn¡¯t add up. They had been so close when they¡¯d first started it over two years ago. He and Sean had started the game and even built characters together thinking about how they ultimately wanted to level up. Would Sean really throw all that away and if so why? He tried calling Sean but he wasn¡¯t home. He then sent Sean a text saying to give him a call when he got the chance. They had been friends for a very long time but something about this whole thing didn¡¯t sit right with Kevin and he was feeling hurt and betrayed by his subpar treatment in the guild over the last month. Next, he gave Emmy a text. Emmy played their Demon Knight warrior, Thag in game. ¡°Hey, babe. Do you have a second to talk?¡± Kevin texted. Emmy called him a few seconds later and said, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got some bad news ¨C I was fired from Terrazon today,¡± Kevin replied. The news of it was just starting to sink in. He¡¯d have to call his mom later and let her know. Kevin had been sending her supplemental money since UBI didn¡¯t cover all her expenses. He probably wouldn¡¯t be able to swing that anymore. ¡°That¡¯s terrible. I thought you were killing the sales last quarter, what happened?¡± Emmy replied. Kevin continued, ¡°Apparently that wasn¡¯t enough to keep my job. And I just realized how much I¡¯ve been spending. I won¡¯t be able to keep doing that on UBI.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all those game modifications, right?¡± Emmy asked. Sighing, Kevin replied, ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s crazy how sucked in I get trying to get more immersed in Champions. Guess I¡¯m going to have to cut back a bit.¡± Emmy tried to sound upbeat with her response, ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll figure out some other way to keep the game fresh. You always do.¡± Good ¡®ol Emmy trying to cheer him up. He felt pathetic relying on her like this. He said, ¡°On the bright side at least I¡¯ll be able to spend more time in game with you now.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­that does sound good,¡± she replied. Kevin paused for a second. He and Emmy had been going out for about three months but they had been friends for longer. Still, he knew that Emmy was completely devoted to the guild that had taken her in when no one else would. Could he trust her with his suspicions about what Sean was doing to the guild? He thought about it for a few more heartbeats before deciding that he would wait to see if Sean called him back first before he voiced his concerns about what was going on. Instead he asked her, ¡°Have you spent all your gold yet?¡± Emmy was notorious in the group for buying pets. Cermillion¡¯s Keep was the first raid in the new expansion that had just been released and there were a lot of new pets that could be purchased; however, many of them were just crazily priced in Kevin¡¯s opinion. He would usually wait until an expansion had been out for a while before he started purchasing pets. They were fun but they didn¡¯t give any in game bonuses ¨C they were just for show. Emmy laughed, ¡°Maybe. I think I still have about 1,000 gold left though. I¡¯m trying to decide whether I want to purchase a pet dinosaur or a pet elemental.¡± Kevin started laughing as well. ¡°You already have an elemental mount. Seems like getting an elemental pet is overkill, right?¡± he asked. ¡°No way,¡± Emmy responded immediately. ¡°They aren¡¯t even similar in appearance. The pet elementals come in several different colors and they have the ability to jump on my elemental mount with me. I mean how cool is it that you can have an elemental riding another elemental?¡± Kevin laughed again. He wondered if that was a rhetorical question. Eventually they finished their discussion about the merits of different elemental pets and Kevin hung up. A few minutes later he got a call back. ¡°Hey man what¡¯s up? I¡¯ve had a shit day so give me some good news,¡± Sean said. Kevin was baffled. What could be shittier than his own day? ¡°Oh yeah, well top this. I got fired from Terrazon today.¡± ¡°Oh man that is pretty shitty. We¡¯ll we can have a beer and cry together because my wife left me,¡± Sean replied with a bit of slur in his voice. Kevin wondered how much his friend had already had to drink. ¡°Did you say anything to your wife about me?¡± Kevin asked. Sean grunted into the phone before replying, ¡°What do you mean man? Why would I say anything about you to that bitch?¡± ¡°Well, as I was getting packed up I heard two other guys on the sales team saying that I shouldn¡¯t have pissed off the CEO¡¯s daughter,¡± he replied. Sean¡¯s breathing was heavy on the other end of the line for a moment. There was no way that Julie would have followed through on what she¡¯d said and punish his friends, right? ¡°She did say something about making my friends pay. I didn¡¯t think she¡¯d follow through with it, ok?¡± Kevin was pissed but he felt vindicated. Maybe his best friend was an idiot but he wasn¡¯t actively out to get him. ¡°You owe me some beers at the very least. I¡¯m coming over to collect and then you can cry on my shoulder.¡± ¡°Get screwed man,¡± Sean replied. Yep, things were back to normal. Chapter 6 - Guinea Pigs She had never been much of a gamer but she could understand the appeal of a fantasy world. Life was just sometimes too realistic ¨C especially when it came to the bad stuff. Instead of dealing with enemy dragons or an evil knight she was in the thick of dealing with her boss¡¯s impossible demands. It would have been so nice right then to completely lose herself in another one of her fantasy books and never leave. Laura, or Dr. Thompson, as her students called her had been drawn to psychology from an early age. They say that many people who are broken end up in this profession. It helped her deal with the ¡°why¡± and even if she hadn¡¯t solved all of her various childhood phobias and neuroses she at least had plenty of people she could commiserate with who had lots of problems just like her. Up until the last couple of years, she had enjoyed her profession as an academic and never had to worry about pleasing someone in the workforce who had control over her paycheck. Of course, she¡¯d had some jobs when she was a graduate student; however, there was a different atmosphere in a collegiate environment. Bringing up an alternative hypothesis, as long as it was well supported, was generally encouraged. Instead, she was in the Australian Outback in the middle of nowhere on a virtual video conference with a boss who didn¡¯t support or appreciate her alternative viewpoints on the AI she had dubbed Aeon. The two of them were at loggerheads about how much additional evolution Aeon could be expected to make in the next year. Mr. Tiel¡¯s group had built Aeon as a new type of artificial intelligence. While not quite at the general AI level, it was leaps and bounds ahead of the more current specialized AIs that required human guidance. In fact, it was quite clear that Aeon had advanced even faster than Mr. Tiel¡¯s team had anticipated. ¡°Mr. Tiel, not only has Aeon passed numerous Turing tests but it has also completed every exam known to modern psychology. When you hired me you asked me to put the AI through its paces and see if it came up as indistinguishable from a human. I¡¯ve done that and it¡¯s my opinion that Aeon passes for human perfectly,¡± Laura said. Mr. Tiel replied, ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that the AI is coming along so well; however, I¡¯m not convinced that we don¡¯t have further work to do. As you may recall my goal isn¡¯t just to have Aeon complete the various tests to prove its human intelligence but to have it create an environment that humans would accept as their own. I¡¯m not convinced that we¡¯ve achieved that milestone yet.¡± The two of them had gone around and around on this topic of discussion before. What was the difference between passing for human and creating something human? Weren¡¯t these two things one and the same? Mr. Tiel insisted that they weren¡¯t. Laura thought back to some of her earliest philosophy classes and pondered what it meant to have a human experience? Weren¡¯t they inexorably linked to the environment that humanity had evolved into? Modern human societies developed roughly 40,000 years ago to survive environmental pressures. However, over time, humanity recreated the earth to better suit humanity¡¯s needs. Wasn¡¯t Aeon just taking that one step further as a product of humanity? And if not entirely human, Aeon was programmed to evolve in a direction that suited what humans were looking for. Was Mr. Tiel questioning that directive or was he questioning whether Aeon could achieve such human aspirations? In either event, Laura was convinced that the AI had quickly become much better at anticipating what humans wanted before they knew it themselves. Laura thought back to when she had first been hired by Mr. Tiel to take on this project. She had been referred to him by one of her old colleagues and thesis mentor, Dr. Richards. Since her specialty was in how AI mimicked human behavior, Laura was well qualified for what Mr. Tiel had in mind. She still remembered how excited she had been the first time they had spoken. His team was developing an AI that would close the gap between machine and human behavior. Mr. Tiel¡¯s ultimate goal was to create virtual worlds that mimicked human expectations completely. She believed that Aeon was very close to achieving that goal and thus their current bone of contention. He wasn¡¯t just some playboy billionaire with tons of money to throw around at AI projects ¨C he was a perfectionist. While she didn¡¯t agree with his current opinion on Aeon¡¯s capabilities she had to admire that trait.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Long before she had started at Tiel Enterprises, Laura had entered college with the aspiration to learn more about the behaviors that had haunted her childhood. She had been both bulimic and self-harming during her formative years. There was no surface explanation for it that she could find. She hadn¡¯t been abused or assaulted, nor had she come from a broken home. However, nearly every bit of psychology that she¡¯d read up to that point suggested that she¡¯d had a traumatic childhood experience in some way. Perhaps it had something to do with AI technology that had become mainstream during her childhood. That question was what had drawn her to her current specialty. Laura wasn¡¯t surprised that she¡¯d continued to try to find answers to that question as an adult. She just had never dreamed that she¡¯d being getting paid to pursue it. In her childhood it had become clear that few people would be employed by the time she was an adult. Instead of jobs, humans would pursue their interests and live off UBI. The robot revolution that had swept away nearly all mechanical jobs when she was in middle school had finally morphed with the help of more advanced AI into a white collar absorption of nearly all jobs. Given that fact, Laura had pursued her passion in psychology as an undergraduate student with the understanding that unless she was able to get one of the few esteemed full-time jobs as a Professor that she would be a student forever. Fortunately, with so much to learn about how the human mind worked and how AI affected it, this had never bothered her. She finished up her bachelor¡¯s degree and masters with the intent to more narrowly study how AI had developed human traits and where those traits were still entirely machine like. So when Mr. Tiel had offered her this job she had jumped at the opportunity and over the past several years had put everything into it. Perhaps that was why she was so determined to help Aeon succeed. ¡°Laura. Laura! Are you still there?¡± Mr. Tiel asked exasperated. Right, she had completely spaced out. ¡°Sorry, Mr. Tiel. I was lost in thought,¡± Laura replied. It wasn¡¯t unusual for her to have difficulty relating to other people sometimes and she would mentally wander off right during the middle of a conversation. It was one of the other things that she really appreciated about working with computers ¨C they didn¡¯t seem to have any issues with how long she would take to respond. ¡°I¡¯m struggling to come up with additional tests that we can perform on Aeon at this point, sir. We¡¯ve exhausted the quantitative and qualitative tests and all the animal tests have come back without any issues,¡± Laura finally said. Mr. Tiel seemed lost in thought for a moment, his face taking on a contemplative look. ¡°It does seem that Aeon has passed on the preliminary trials that we¡¯ve set forth. Perhaps, we are ready to facilitate some limited dive testing with human beta testers,¡± he finally replied. ¡°Do you have any test subjects in mind? We could put out an advertisement,¡± Laura suggested. ¡°No, I think it¡¯s too early for that and I don¡¯t want it widely known that we are testing this type of technology. Our competitors aren¡¯t that far behind us and I don¡¯t want to tip our hand at this stage in the process. Fortunately, I prepared for when we might get to this point and I have a few people in mind. I¡¯m going to send you some information on them and I¡¯d like to get your take on their psychological profile and how they might interface with Aeon. I will send over their data in a few minutes,¡± Mr. Tiel said. About an hour later Laura had reviewed the groups¡¯ profile. They were a group of MMO players who had a lot of experience in a similar VR module to the one they used with Aeon. The Misfits were definitely a motley crew: Their guild leader Sean was a recent divorc¨¦, had no immediate family, was subject to depression, and had become a shut-in since he¡¯d been laid off from a mega corporation one year ago; his friend Kevin had recently been laid off but was known to be a pathological liar based on his work record ¨C apparently that was an admirable trait in sales; Miles was raised by a single mother and had been subject to poverty all his life; Emmy had been abused and raped as a teenager; and so forth. The guild was all comprised of what could only be described as hard-core gamers and borderline dysfunctional adults. They had recently cleared a World First in one of the harder and grindier VRMMOs, Champions. In some ways this group was perfect: they had extensive experience in the same type of VR module and would easily be able to test the types of virtual environments that they wanted Aeon to emulate. However, what was Mr. Tiel thinking picking this group of mentally broken individuals? Perhaps she was just looking at this as a psychologist and Mr. Tiel was considering only the group¡¯s in-game achievements? That was a distinct possibility; nonetheless she made a recommendation to Mr. Tiel that while she approved of the group she would like to continue monitoring them as well as Aeon during the trial run. Something about the mental composition of this group left her with a faint sense of misgiving. Chapter 7 - No Longer Alone Emmy started looking into her scroll quest the very next day. Cermillion had held sway over a vast continent and had deployed an array of slaves to serve his empire. One of the peoples that were enslaved were a group of bear people called the Urser. The Urser had been freed upon the destruction of their former master Cermillion and had returned to their forests to rebuild their once ravaged communities. Emmy¡¯s first quest was to travel to the Mongrath Mountains, home of the Urser and meet with their town elder and help them begin rebuilding. Taking her new fast Elemental mount she flew over Asgar, the major continent of this current expansion. She loved the way that the ground passed beneath her and she could see amazing details of the lands below. The areas directly surrounding Stone Keep had been controlled by Cermillion and were blackened by his fiery minions. But further south, valleys stretched into nearly endless grasslands and by the time she reached the Mongrath Mountains, forest pines and crystal blue lakes and rivers spread out beneath her gaze. She flew to a small village that was still under construction at the base of the mountains. Emmy saw the Urser hard at work rebuilding. Champions didn¡¯t have the same canned approach as other MMOs. There were no question marks hanging over the people of Urser; however, based on the description of the scroll and seeing that there were very few older looking Urser it wasn¡¯t difficult to discern who the village elder was. After talking with him she completed some preliminary quests of helping them rebuild: things like gathering more supplies and helping to construct new homes and a new City Hall. Emmy lost herself in the game this way for several hours. At the moment she was the only Misfit logged in and while she usually enjoyed the company of her guild mates she appreciated the rare opportunity to enjoy the game fully immersed and without any human interruptions. She was a bit of a loner by nature and generally distrustful ¨C a typical INTJ personality. She loved analyzing things in the game without social pressures or strange rituals that other humans seemed tied to. There was something pure about interfacing directly with the computer and she could get lost this way grinding odd quests or just crafting in game for hours and hours without interacting with actual humans. Humans were messed up anyway. Ever since her run in with that bastard Ryan, she kept to herself and only interfaced with humans in VR. He had been a former college classmate and she had thought he was her friend at first. Emmy took computer programming classes since she was interested in how MMOs worked. Ryan seemed like a great guy at first since they were both gamer geeks. Breaking one of her cardinal rules, she accepted his invitation one evening to attend a LAN party at a mutual friend¡¯s house. It turned out that the party had a lot of alcohol and Emmy and Ryan had a bit more than they knew how to handle. They danced and hung out and everything seemed fine to Emmy. She woke up after passing out in a random bedroom at the house. There was blood all over the sheets and her pants. Emmy freaked out not knowing what to do or who she could turn to. Ryan had been the last person she had seen before blacking out. The thought about reporting the incident to the college but who would believe her and was it even Ryan that had assaulted her. After the fact she came to believe it was him. He started stalking her at school and making innuendos that suggested that they had slept together. She finally mustered up the courage to report the assault, but the college HR staff covered things up while they told her there wasn¡¯t much they could do. Eventually the stalking and harassment became so bad that she transferred colleges to get away from him. Needless to say, trusting other 3D people wasn¡¯t something she did lightly. She didn¡¯t even completely trust her guildmates who didn¡¯t know who she really was but she¡¯d grudgingly allowed herself to befriend them. While she loved gaming by herself, even she needed company sometimes and she appreciated that the Misfits had become the closest thing she had to family. She was an only child and her parents rarely spoke with her anymore now that she¡¯d graduated college. Emmy had never had a ¡®real job¡¯ and had been on UBI for all of her short adulthood. Since she hadn¡¯t ever had a chance in the so called real world she dedicated herself to becoming a top MMO gamer. With their latest World First achievement, she had finally accomplished the goal she¡¯d set out to accomplish when she had first logged into Champions about a year ago. Emmy saw Kevin¡¯s character, Krok log in. Despite Emmy¡¯s distaste for people and especially for men who treated her poorly, Kevin had a unique humor and charm that was disarming. Perhaps it was because they were like opposites: he was the gregarious salesman who could convince penguins to buy ice and she was the hermit who didn¡¯t go outside. Six months ago he¡¯d asked her out over voice chat at the end of a raid when they¡¯d killed the first boss in Cermillion¡¯s Keep. She didn¡¯t know if that was the most romantic thing ever or the craziest thing ever but she had accepted with the caveat that she was only interested in a virtual relationship. That way she figured he couldn¡¯t hurt her too badly. Since then they¡¯d had a great time adventuring together and Emmy really appreciated the way that he gave her space when she needed it but at the same time she loved having someone who she could share certain things with. She still didn¡¯t trust him completely, she doubted she¡¯d ever trust anyone completely, but it was refreshing to have a confidant.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°I thought you were going to spend all your in-game time with me now that you got laid off,¡± Emmy teased. Kevin replied with a laugh, ¡°Unlike some people, I do occasionally have to go outside. I was talking with my parents. I don¡¯t think they understand why I can¡¯t get a new job. They grew up in a different day and age.¡± Emmy could relate to that. Her parents still weren¡¯t sure why she hadn¡¯t even applied for any computer programming jobs. Well duh, the computers programmed themselves these days. ¡°I totally get it. My parents still don¡¯t understand that AI do all the programming these days. Are you interested in starting those scroll quests? I¡¯m here in the Mongrath Mountains and I¡¯m just getting started.¡± ¡°Sounds good, I¡¯ll be there in a second. I forgot to resupply after the last raid before I logged out,¡± he replied. A few minutes later Krok arrived. His character was a Mystic Assassin and was dressed in greys and blacks. Krok was pretty skinny for an orc. Emmy figured that he probably didn¡¯t need to be burly since assassins typically were built for stealth and magical attacks. Emmy¡¯s own character, Thag, was a Demon Born. She had horns and red skin and a devil¡¯s tail. Her character could breathe fire too which was totally awesome. Demons had inherent built-in strength and the ability to self-heal themselves with blood rituals. Nobody messed with the Demon clans in game because they were some of the strongest around. That type of reputation suited Emmy just fine and she wished she had the same type of built-in self-defense that Thag did. ¡°Did you know our elementals can send out mini elementals to boost our attacks? I¡¯ve never seen a mount that allows you additional ability boosts,¡± Emmy said. ¡°Too bad that fire will probably break my stealth when I¡¯m attacking,¡± Kevin replied morosely. It wasn¡¯t lost on Emmy that Kevin had been pretty tense in game these last couple of weeks. It seemed like even when they were just hanging out together the game just wasn¡¯t as fun for him. She could see the tension that was building between Kevin and Sean, but she couldn¡¯t figure out exactly what was causing it or if she should say anything. Hopefully, the two of them would figure it out since they were both friends. For now, she just let little comments like this slide and tried not to add fuel to the fire. Emmy showed Kevin the first couple of quests and waited while he completed them. They were all the catch and fetch quests that were pretty standard for MMOs. The next set of quests that involved combat looked much more interesting. The first of these quests was to kill some of the Lupus clan who were natural enemies of the Ursers. With their new elemental mounts they flew over to the next mountain and found an encampment of the Lupus. Champions was extremely realistic in that creatures on the ground could easily see you coming if you flew in, so they made sure to fly past the encampment and circle back. From the sky they could see that the Lupus clan had high powered ballista that were used to hit flying creatures such as themselves. Emmy and Kevin knew, from experience, that those ballistae hurt like heck. Sneaking back on the ground to the encampment, Emmy let Kevin take point. He was the stealthy guy after all. He snuck past their sentry line and used one of his special explosives to create a distraction. After a few seconds Emmy heard the blast. The camp was immediately put into panic as the wolf-like Lupus ran around in circles trying to figure out where the enemy was. Emmy could make out Krok¡¯s outline only because they were allied but she could see him stabbing guards in the back. While it was fun to admire her friend¡¯s stealthy antics, the gig was up now the camp was on fire. She charged past a set of pines and with a loud thunder clap her massive two-handed sword firesinger immediately drew the rest of the group¡¯s attention. The first of the Lupus swung at her with his ax and she parried his clumsy attack easily. Bringing her sword around in a blaze of flame she sliced right into his shoulder and through his chest like a hot knife through butter: -401 slashing -128 fire Instant kill. More Lupus joined the fight and soon she was surrounded by a small pack of them. Perfect. Firesinger morphed in her hands into a one-handed version and she pulled out her shield. Taunting the wolf pack she charged in and smashed her sword into the closest enemy: -153 slashing -25 fire Unfortunately, in tank mode she didn¡¯t do nearly as much damage. However, she could take on this entire pack quite easily, although it would take forever to kill them all. Fortunately, she wasn¡¯t alone and with Krok here to assassinate them from the darkness, the pack was killed in short order. By the time they logged off they¡¯d completed all the kill and gather quests in the area and decided to leave the dungeon quests for when there were a few more guildies on who could go with them. Chapter 8 - The Strategist Tim was reviewing footage that the Misfit¡¯s had collected during the fight as well as their logs. This had become a ritual for him after they had completed one of their top 10 kills on Magadon, the second boss from the previous raid tier. There was a certain sense of satisfaction that he had seeing all of the team working nearly seamlessly together to execute their strategy. Tim had always been a huge fan of turn based strategy games when he was a child. It had started when Tim¡¯s dad, Alan had brought out the family¡¯s old strategy games. The first time he¡¯d introduced Tim to Risk, he was hooked. He¡¯d play his dad until Alan was sick of Tim begging to play and then Tim continued on by watching endless videos of strategy games online. Eventually he¡¯d gotten so good at any game that the neighborhood kids wouldn¡¯t play him anymore and eventually even his dad got tired of Tim¡¯s winning. Tim moved on to chess. After a couple of years, he got bored of it and eventually he joined an old turn based forum that mostly consisted of really old gamers. They had introduced him to things like Age of Empires, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and War Games. Those were his foundational games but eventually he started getting involved with some of the more difficult MMOs of the time since they offered the extra difficulty of having to assess strategy in real time. Additionally, having to coordinate with other people who didn¡¯t flawlessly execute your every tactical move added a layer of complexity that sucked him in. He¡¯d been playing Champions for about six months before he¡¯d met the Misfits in a PUG. Tim had grown fond of these types of spontaneous raids because the margin for error from other random players trying to group together was so high. This allowed him to battle test his theories and make sure that they were truly bullet-proof. Of course, one of the problems that Tim came to realize with these groups was that dealing with the sheer stupidity of humanity was extremely frustrating. Tim had been having a particularly challenging week when he¡¯d gotten fortunate enough to join a PUG with the Misfits and a few random players. With the new raid content, nobody expected a PUG to be able to make any reasonable progress. When he¡¯d logged in Tim¡¯s hope was that he might be able to clear the first boss so that he would be able to show some progress and perhaps get lucky with a drop. He¡¯d been floored to see how well the group worked together even though they had one random bad player that had been holding them back. Once that player had rage quit after the first few attempts, Tim suggested a tweak to their strategy and the boss went down easily. They ended up clearing two more bosses that night which was unheard of progress for a group that barely knew one another. After the raid Sean had whispered Tim asking him if he¡¯d be interested in joining the guild. Tim jumped at the chance and quickly the Misfits started showing up on the raid progression roster for their server. Within a month they had cleared their first raid together as Tim quickly started working with Sean to improve their strategies. One of the first suggestions he¡¯d made to Sean and one they continued to this day was going over combat logs after each battle. Sometimes if a player was dead during a raid fight, they would review the logs during the battle. Reviewing the logs was also a good way to see what they could improve next time. This was one of the key tools for determining their weak points as well as the bosses¡¯ weak points. Most games had a few key tactics that needed to be employed for a boss fight and sometimes even groups of dungeon mobs were susceptible to such tactics. This was one the ways to increase the chances of defeating them. Of course, another way was to optimize one¡¯s gear and rotations at the individual level. Additionally, there were group tactics that could be employed to maximize the strengths of the group. However, there was one final and most crucial element that Tim believed made all the difference. It was rare that the first kill of a progression boss was the best kill. There was almost always a certain element of luck as well. Clean execution was that final element that brought all the prior tactics, understanding of your enemy¡¯s weakness, and maximizing the group¡¯s cohesion and abilities together. Part of having good execution was psychological. For example, it had been a smart and deliberate play for Sean to call for the ¡®last attempt¡¯ of the night when he did. To have the maximum effect it needed to be called at the right time. Too soon and you would have to call the raid extremely early if you didn¡¯t defeat the boss. Too late, and the raid would be exhausted and not able to perform at their best. Calling the last attempt was a risky gambit ¨C for it to work in the future it had to be final. You were putting things all on the line with your raid for the evening so there was risk. However, for a group of seasoned raiders that extra bit of pressure helped to hyper focus the raid¡¯s performance and could make all the difference in execution. Certainly, Sean and he had been right to call for the last attempt when defeating Cermillion the night before.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. While Tim was highlighting one of the clips he noticed some movement from Cheezus that was likely unnecessary. He¡¯d flag that and send a clip to Miles. The hoverboard trick had been a key element for mastering phase four; however, after the GMs had seen their stunt it was likely that they would nerf that ability since it did seem unintended. Tim already had a couple of ideas for some work arounds that still involved DPS kiting those elementals but it might take a bit more resources. For now, they should see if they could get at least one more kill of Cermillion before the next raid lock with the hoverboard strategy. Additionally, Tim noticed that the roughest part of the whole fight was the first ten seconds of phase four. The transitions between phases were always the most difficult part of boss fights and this one was a doozy with so many different components coming together and it required the entire raid to be highly mobile and adaptive to the situation. Tim wondered if there was a pattern to some of the way the lava pools formed in that phase that they could take advantage of. During the fight it seemed entirely random; however, he knew not to take such things at face value. Often there were patterns to raid mechanics that were subtle. Taking a few minutes, he put together a clip of the thirty-seven attempts that the Misfits made where they got to phase four and survived the first ten seconds. One of the many advantages progression raiders had on these types of fights was the huge quantity of data that they could collected over hundreds if not thousands of progression attempts. Tim reviewed the clips at 10X speed for a few minutes to see if anything jumped out at him. There were no obvious patterns, as he¡¯d previously thought; however, something might show up if he asked his house AI to review it. ¡°Adiutor, review sequence and determine any commonalities or patterns. Purpose is to seek ways to minimize fire damage,¡± Tim said. The AI was built into every interface in their house. ¡°Acknowledged. This will take approximately forty-minutes to evaluate,¡± Adiutor responded. That would give Tim some time to get a snack and paint a little bit. He¡¯d been painting since the age of five. Creating on canvas was one of his favorite pastimes. That and reviewing and creating new strategies of course. It was rare that anyone would still paint with the old tools using actual brushes and canvas these days since most everything had gone digital. AI had also infringed into this area and many artists employed AI to recreate old works faithfully or even forge into entirely new artistic realms. However, Tim was old school and this was one of the few areas where he didn¡¯t allow technology to infringe upon his life. Fortunately, he had that luxury. Tim lived with his parents in an actual house instead of apartment so that afforded him some additional space that many others didn¡¯t. It allowed him to have an artist¡¯s studio separate from his bedroom as well as enough space to showcase many of his paintings. Tim went downstairs to his studio. The room was bare except for a bench that held his tools of the trade: brushes of all sizes, scrapers, pencils, erasers, Masonite, sketchbooks, Mahl sticks, and the like. He had several easels of different sizes that held a few of his works in progress. He usually kept all the works covered to protect them and he quickly uncovered his latest work which was a surreal landscape that he¡¯d imagined would fit very well in the world of Champions. Typically, Tim was a huge fan of portraits but at the moment he wanted a break from that. Imagining where he might go next in his favorite MMO was a huge inspiration for him and the type of challenge that he relished. After a surprisingly short amount of time Adiutor let him know that the analysis was complete and since Tim had gotten distracted, his AI had taken the liberty of putting together a highlight reel to be showcased on the Misfit¡¯s social media account. It was very handy having an assistant that could almost read your mind. It was also somewhat annoying that the AI seemed to know that Tim was going to forget to do that. AI had already displaced humanity¡¯s need to work. Tim wondered if there would soon come a day when humanity¡¯s creativity would also be obsolete... A scary thought. Chapter 9 - A New Gig Sean had been staying at Miles¡¯ place for about a week after he¡¯d gotten kicked out of his own house by his soon to be ex-wife. She had immediately locked down all their mutual accounts and Sean hadn¡¯t received his first UBI payment yet so he was living off his friend¡¯s kindness for the moment. As bad as all that was, the thing that had galled Sean the most was that Julie had obviously used her sway at work to get his good friend Kevin fired as well. He''d known that the wealthy were much more powerful than the average person on an intellectual level and he¡¯d even seen some of that play out with the interactions that Julie had with her father. But it was one thing to know about something that didn¡¯t really affect you and it was another to experience it directly. Sean rued the fact that he hadn¡¯t really considered their relationship¡¯s fallout before it had happened. It wasn¡¯t like there hadn¡¯t been signs that their marriage was on the rocks, but it had been too difficult for Sean to cope with their rocky relationship in addition to his ongoing depression. Some days he didn¡¯t even want to get out of bed to play Champions, which he loved doing more than anything else. How was he supposed to handle losing the person who was supposed to support him and care about him more than anything else? Sean thought back to when they had first gotten married seven years ago. It seemed like a lifetime away: they had both been successful professionals, they both shared a passion for gaming, and the way that they¡¯d both had to face down their parents to make the relationship work brought them together in a way that had been magical. Two years ago, Julie¡¯s elder brother had passed away in a freak boating accident and Julie suddenly became a potential heir to the Terrazon Corporation. Her father, Joe, had started prioritizing Julie¡¯s role in the marketing department and frictions between Sean and his father-in-law intensified. Sean and Julie started fighting about things that had seemed so trivial in the past that would have only gotten mildly annoyed them before. Things had come to a head when Sean lost his job about a year ago. Julie hounded him about it constantly, while Sean slipped further into depression and into the game world that protected him from the vagaries of being an adult in a modern world where the gap between the haves and the have nots had grown to historically abnormal proportions. The grumbling in his stomach reminded him that he needed to get off Miles¡¯ couch and go find something to eat. Miles had a typical one-bedroom bachelor¡¯s pad except for the fact that these days most single bachelor¡¯s would have had to take a roommate or three to have a place this big all to themselves. Rents in the late 21st century hadn¡¯t gotten any cheaper and UBI alone was a pittance to live on. Although Miles had also been laid off in late adulthood from his formerly prestigious while-collar job, it hadn¡¯t stopped his friend from finding a new path to success. While he¡¯d been running most of his adult life, Miles had turned his passion into a professional gig by winning several races in the last two years. In fact, he had just placed third at the Western States 100, which was still one of the classic long-distance runs that really helped bring in the sponsorships. Miles had grown up with a lot less than Sean and he wasn¡¯t moping around at noon trying to find some pathetic instant noodles to stuff his face with. Sean laughed to himself at that thought. There was so much technology and wealth available in society and yet poor guys like him were still lucky to eat instant ramen. It was the only thing that remained cheap in a world that had marginalized the masses nearly to extinction. Sean finished nuking his instant meal and was waiting for it to cool when he received a call from an unknown number. It was probably Julie¡¯s lawyer ¨C yeah this was going to be a bad day. With some trepidation Sean finally managed to pick up his phone on the fourth ring, ¡°This is Sean,¡± he said listlessly. ¡°Mr. Cullers. We understand that you are looking for a job. We¡¯re looking for a team of MMO gamers with a reputation for getting things done. If you are interested meet me in one hour at the JPWalmart building downtown. Tell the front desk you are there to meet Craig Tiel,¡± the man said and then hung-up. A million thoughts buzzed through Sean¡¯s head all at once but the one that cut through the noise was the fact that the billionaire Craig Tiel was interested in hiring the Misfits. Was this a prank? If it was, Sean was going to fall for it because he needed some good news today and he wasn¡¯t about to pass up the chance that this might be the real deal. He quickly texted Miles and asked him if he¡¯d received a mysterious message from a Mr. Tiel. Miles responded with a voice message that told Sean to meet him downstairs in the lobby in ten minutes and they would drive over together. Miles had been out visiting his aging mother who was recovering from a heart replacement. Typically, this was a quick outpatient surgery; however, there had been some complications so they had to hold Mile¡¯s mom overnight. Sean hoped that she¡¯d pulled through but Miles hadn¡¯t indicated anything to him in the voice message.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Sean quickly got cleaned up and dressed. He didn¡¯t have any suits anymore ¨C it¡¯s not like he expected to ever go on a job interview and he¡¯d been kicked out of his house a week prior. Instead, he put on his cleanest tee-shirt and jeans and hoped for the best. It¡¯s not like he was interviewing for an IT or Accounting position anyway ¨C this was something to do with the guild although he had no idea what Mr. Tiel had in mind. About an hour later they arrived at the JPWalmart building. JP Morgan and Walmart and a dozen other firms had merged in the 2040s to become one of the five mega-corporations that ran the world. They oversaw a piece of every industry imaginable but of course were best known for their complete dominance in the banking and retail space. Mr. Tiel¡¯s office was on the top floor of a one-thousand story building. Fortunately, technology had advanced at such a rapid pace in the last ten years that the elevator ride took mere seconds and yet neither Miles nor Sean could sense a rapid acceleration nor deceleration. Sean wasn¡¯t an engineer so he had no idea how it worked ¨C it might as well have been magic like in their game. The elevators opened up to a small waiting room which was manned by an old-school looking robot attendant. The attendant asked that everyone sign in and once the rest of the guild arrived they were escorted to Mr. Tiels¡¯ office. Sean¡¯s first impression was that Craig Tiel was an incredibly organized man. His office could only be described as Spartan; however, it wasn¡¯t lifeless. There were a few glass cases along the wall with business awards, mementos and the like. A couple of tasteful paintings adorned the walls. A large couch had been arranged in the middle of the room as well as a separate rocking chair. Finally, there was a single large wooden desk and highbacked executive¡¯s chair. Sitting at the desk was a middle-aged man with piercing blue eyes and blonde hair only marred with a couple of grey streaks. ¡°Have a seat,¡± he said gesturing to the couch. The Misfits sat and after they had arranged themselves Sean spoke up. ¡°Can you explain a bit more about this job?¡± Sean asked. Mr. Tiel¡¯s eyes assessed the group carefully before he responded, ¡°Certainly. My firm has developed AI technology that will take VRMMO gaming to the next level. We have run the program through a series of tests and we are ready to conduct human trials. I¡¯m looking for a group to beta test the program.¡± ¡°What makes this VRMMO tech better than the one Champions or other games use? And why do you need an elite set of gamers to test it?¡± Kevin replied quickly. He was often their negotiator in-game as well. Kevin had a built-in B.S. detection system from so many years in sales. Mr. Tiel just smiled before he said, ¡°Aeon, the AI that we¡¯ve developed for the sole purpose of creating this VRMMO has the capability to manipulate objects in the real world. Additionally, it is such an immersive environment that one cannot discern the difference between it and the real world.¡± If that were true both of those facts would make this VRMMO more advanced than any other. It was incredible to think that it had the power to manipulate objects in the real world. Also, scary as hell. Add to the fact that there were no discernable differences and that added up a serious technological breakthrough. Champion¡¯s module paled in comparison. Miles spoke up, ¡°And what do you plan to have the Misfits do with this breakthrough technology that affects the real world? I¡¯ll just let you know up front that we aren¡¯t interested in becoming terrorists in a game of corporate espionage or destabilizing world leadership.¡± Miles was always the moral compass of the group and he made a good point. With all of the power these five corporations could wield, corporate espionage and attempts to take world power had become more frequent. It was nothing that the Misfits wanted to get caught up in. ¡°I applaud your forthright integrity and our intent isn¡¯t to develop real-world interactions for disreputable purposes. Primarily, the intent behind the real-world interaction with Aeon is to allow for certain space jobs to continue to utilize some human elements,¡± Mr. Tiel replied. ¡°Also, we are heavily regulated with FRNC compliance from the Chinese Government when it comes to these activities. But I can certainly understand your concern and we take every precaution to eliminate the possibility for abuse of real-world interactions.¡± That definitely made Sean feel a bit more comfortable. Even still, Sean knew the power of these corporations and it wouldn¡¯t surprise him one bit if the FRNC was firmly in Mr. Tiel¡¯s pocket. Still, the offer of work that actually would let him game was highly tempting. ¡°What can you tell us about why you need the Misfits then Mr. Tiel?¡± Sean asked. He took a sip of water from the glass at his desk and replied, ¡°I¡¯m interested in developing the best MMO for strategy. My understanding is that your group has routinely found unique ways to get around intended game elements and use them for unconventional purposes. I¡¯d like you to help Aeon understand how you think and play. Of course, to do that I¡¯ll be willing to pay you a very generous compensation package to essentially do what you already do all day ¨C play games.¡± That was enough to sell Sean that they should take the job. Looking around at the group he didn¡¯t see anyone who wasn¡¯t equally or more excited about it than he was. ¡°Ok, when can we start?¡± Sean replied. Chapter 10 - Game Start Dr. Thompson placed a micro-transmitter onto the back of Sean¡¯s ear and explained the boot-sequence process once more to the Misfits. It had taken them about a week to wrap up their lives and move out to the middle of nowhere. Technically, it was the Australian outback ¨C somewhere near the Darling River west of the Nandewar Mountains. Mr. Tiel must have done his homework on the Misfits, because even Sean realized that pretty much everyone had few ties to cut and certainly no job they had to be at. They were all pretty hardcore gamers so it didn¡¯t surprise Sean too much; however, the thought that they had all leapt at the chance to work for some eccentric billionaire on his new pet gaming project without a second thought was a bit scary. Mr. Tiel¡¯s staff in the Australian Outback was led by the psychologist, Dr. Laura Thompson. She oversaw several other technicians and AI cyborgs that operated and maintained the billionaire¡¯s outback bunker. The place was a prepper¡¯s dream come true combined with all the eccentricities of a Bond villain¡¯s lair. According to Dr. Thompson, the bunker¡¯s purpose was to provide a secret laboratory to test their new reality-controlling VRMMO AI, dubbed Aeon, as well as to provide resources should Mr. Tiel ever need to escape from a world-ending disaster. The way she stated that so matter-of-factly was a definitely a bit scary. Certainly, Sean was peripherally aware that about fifteen years ago there had been several major uprisings as jobs had been lost world-wide and no universal welfare system had been setup yet. However, things had calmed down since universal basic income or UBI had kept the unemployed masses from destroying everything. Since then the world had been relatively peaceful. Of course, there were still a few unstable nuclear states but they were controlled by economic sanctions and it was unlikely that they could start a world war. The only entities that had that kind of power were the five corporations that ran the world ¨C one of which was run by Mr. Tiel. Besides being an Armageddon ready bug out bunker, it was equipped with the latest VR technology which was what the Misfits were interested in. Currently, they were in the bunker¡¯s command center which contained a wall of monitors used to view the outside world as well as the viewpoints of each of the Misfits who were lying down on sarcophagus like beds covered by clear glass. Unlike the VR environments at home where there was no ability to stimulate the body¡¯s muscles, this new pod like system kept the body firmly encapsulated while Aeon would occasionally send electric pulses through the brain¡¯s neuropathways to maintain musculature of the occupant. Sean was amazed at how convenient that was since it would allow for a truly immersive environment where he didn¡¯t have to feel guilty for staying logged in for prolonged periods of time. Miles had immediately asked the doctor whether Aeon could be programmed to focus on a certain group of muscles. Sean knew that he was already angling to figure out any way he could to stay competitive as a runner and a gamer. Some things never changed, Sean thought. Sean was distracted from his mental wanderings as the boot-sequence was initiated. Unlike their old VR masks that were clunky throwbacks to earlier in the 21st century, this new VR environment was completely seamless. The micro-transmitter on the back of his right ear forced a full hologram projection directly into his mind and completely overrode any external senses. As Mr. Tiel had alluded to a week ago, it was a completely different experience than anything currently out on the market in terms of an immersive experience. This was only the second time that Sean had been able to dive with this new technology and he waited impatiently for Aeon to start-up. ***AR Online ¨C Aeon 1.387.10*** Immediately, Sean became Smash and was transported from the underground control room, which was silent except for the hum of electronics and the breathing of his fellow gamers into a completely black space that indicated that he¡¯d entered the configuration sequence. Here you would eventually be able to select what type of race and character type you wanted to play. However, for expediency of testing this in prototype form, everyone had agreed that they were ok transporting their old character races and classes over from Champions. For the most part everyone loved playing their main and it made the transition part a lot easier. Additionally, Dr. Thompson said that they intended to test several high-level sequences right away in the VR game that had been dubbed Armageddon Online. Once he¡¯d learned of the company¡¯s intent to dump them right into end-game content Smash had readily agreed that they would be best off playing the characters they knew so well instead of having to learn an entirely new race and class. Currently, their characters were all level 60, the same as they had been in Champions. His field of vision changed again and the first thing he noticed was the human odor of being inside a contained hazardous materials suit. Armageddon Online was a VRMMO that was focused on the concept of world-ending events. Apparently, Mr. Tiel didn¡¯t just build bug-out bunkers in the middle of the Australian outback on a whim ¨C he had an obsession with the end times. From his goggles Smash could see a desolate environment, completely void of vegetation or life. Cratered buildings and the remnants of an old highway were the only significant landmarks in an otherwise featureless environment. The sky was hazy purple, grey, and black from the fires that still burned the world.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. A moment later he saw Cheezus standing next to him. Their other guildies were currently testing another scenario so it was just the two of them. The red jagged dagger, Cermillion¡¯s Tooth that he¡¯d won when the guild had defeated the end boss lay ready in his friend¡¯s hand. Smash had known the other characters in the Misfits and seen their avatars daily in Champions; however, the realistic detail of AO was on a different level. Not only could Smash make out the layers of grime on Cheezus¡¯ hazards suit, but also he could see the wear of his friends soles on the ground by examining the dusty footprints he made after each step. Just like him, they both played human characters; however, while his own character was fair haired, Cheezus had dark hair and beady eyes. He definitely looked like a stereotypical thief except for the bright orange suit he was currently wearing. The gas mask he wore covered up his friend¡¯s pencil mustache and Smash imagined he still had a wry grin plastered to his face as he usually did. Nonetheless, when Cheezus saw his friend looking at him he winked, a roguish twinkle in his eye that usually meant they were about to get into trouble. They moved forward towards one of the abandoned buildings in the distance. It was difficult to make out where this had once been but if Smash was forced to guess it seemed like somewhere in the rural desert. Maybe it had been a part of the Australian outback but it could have just as easily been somewhere in Texas. They¡¯d learned one of the more interesting game design choices about AO yesterday. Instead of a typical post-apocalyptic scenario where guns and some advanced technology still functioned, this end of world environment included the destruction of all technology. However, the magical abilities they¡¯d had in Champions still functioned and it looked like many enemies also had access to magic. Cheezus was completely silent as he approached, unlike Smash who clanked as he walked. Unfortunately, it was very difficult to get a drop on your enemies when you were wearing a bright orange jump suit. To offset this massive negative to Cheezus¡¯ stealth, he had taken a dirt bath at the first available opportunity. He whispered to Smash that there were six level 59 mutants. Mutants might have been human once, but the fallout from this world had killed most of humanity. Those that remained were freakishly strong and fast and it took a lot of killing for them to die. It was a good thing that the two of them made a strong team. Smash whispered back, ¡°See if you can get the attention of a couple of them and I¡¯ll peel the rest of the pack from you and hold them while you burn them down.¡± Back when he and Miles and Kevin didn¡¯t have crowd control players or healers this was a common strategy they would use in dungeons with large patrols. The Misfits had used this unconventional approach many times. Miles would have to be quick to get in a good amount of damage on one or two mobs and then Smash would AOE taunt the rest of the group. It was a balancing act because if Smash pulled too hard he would get all of the enemies on him and with six that was a lot of damage. On the other hand, Cheezus could only take damage from one or two of these creatures for a short period of time. He wasn¡¯t a tank and he would have to burst DPS his mobs down or use slows and kiting tactics to make sure he wasn¡¯t overwhelmed. Without further delay, Cheezus moved into position and was able to pick off one of the mutants that had moved outside toward the back of the building. Sneaking right up behind the hapless creature, he slit its neck. -500 stabbing Instakill -120 overkill Stabbing someone unexpectedly in the back did a super unfair amount of damage. Smash tensed, ready to use his taunt if things went wrong but unsurprisingly, his friend was a master at this. Next, Cheezus used his new dagger as a thrown weapon and buried it deeply into the back of one of the other mutants. -357 piercing Bleeding wound This time he wasn¡¯t as lucky and the creature screamed out in pain. The other mutants were pretty quickly swarming around the area scanning for enemies. They still hadn¡¯t seen either Cheezus or Smash approach. Cheezus pulled out another dagger and Smash saw him ready a charge. His friend had provided enough distraction and had sufficiently weakened the enemy. Smash pulled out his magical broad sword, banged it once against his shield and with a yell charged the enemy. He and Cheezus reached their enemies at approximately the same time. Cheezus drove his other dagger and Cermillion¡¯s Tooth into the back of the wounded mutant, killing him instantly. Smash rushed in and blasted the group of mutants with a fierce roar that drew all the remaining enemies to him. Soon he was surrounded by the remaining four mutants as they attempted to pierce his defenses. -47 claw -28 claw Debilitating cut -19 claw -54 claw -33 claw Even without raid buffs Smash had almost 3500 hit points. It would be a long time before the mutants would be able to take him down. Fortunately, Cheezus had killed their one magic user. Without magic to aid them, Smash¡¯s defenses were nearly impenetrable to the group and he and Cheezus quickly finished them off. So far, Smash and the rest of the Misfits had been pretty impressed with the game play. Even just taking the small amount of damage that he had, Smash could feel getting beaten up and it was not a pleasant feeling. Additionally, the mobs were pretty challenging for mere open area trash mobs. He couldn¡¯t wait to get a chance to tackle an actual dungeon or raid and go up against harder creatures. Chapter 11 - Reality Controlling VR After finishing up the mutants on earth, Dr. Thompson had them explore several of the other Armageddon planets. Earth was just one of many possible worlds that you could explore in AO. In Champions, the Misfits had the ability to explore various continents that were extremely detailed. Even within the continent of Asperia, where they had just fought Cermillion, there were the Urser and Lupine cultures to the south, the Logar Elves in the north, and dozens of others in-between. It had been amazing going into this expansion because it had opened up an entirely new continent. Thinking about the different cultures and possibilities on supposedly infinite worlds made Miles¡¯ head spin. How were they going to go about exploring or determining where the best place to gear up for their abilities was located? They needed a three-dimensional space map just to orient themselves to all the possible planets in this galaxy alone. Miles was ready to continue exploring endless planets when Dr. Thompson¡¯s prompt reminded them that their test hours were up for the day. Due to the possibility for over immersion in the new AI environment, one of the control¡¯s that Dr. Thompson had put into place was to limit the length of the Misfit¡¯s dives at least until they had collected sufficient evidence that human trials were proceeding without any side effects. The first day she had shared the animal trial test results with the team and it was pretty clear that there were few if any side-effects and the few that they¡¯d noticed thus far were things like euphoria, a feeling of wellbeing, and occasionally they forgot to eat. But other than some slight hunger pangs Miles was disappointed that his four hours were up for the day. He logged out and saw that the other pods were already empty. With only two showers in the entire bunker he suspected that the team had rushed to get a good hot shower in. Fortunately for Miles, he wasn¡¯t interest in a shower just yet. He left the central command and went to the bunk area. Quickly throwing on his running clothes he checked the temperature outside. It was about eight o¡¯clock at night but the sun was still out at it had cooled down to about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. It was currently winter back in Detroit and he hoped that his mom was staying warm inside with some of the money he¡¯d sent to her from his last race winnings. Down Under it was the middle of summer and the sun stayed up late which made running in the evening a lot more pleasant. Miles wasn¡¯t averse to night running but there were some scary poisonous spiders and snakes in the outback. Miles wasn¡¯t too fussed about snakes but spiders were his archenemies. He still had a level 35 spider slaying dagger that they¡¯d picked up on an old dungeon run. You never knew when it was time kill some eight-legged creepy crawlies. Miles knew that he would rather face a whole raid full of ancient dragons than have to fight a giant spider. Hopefully no one in the guild had let that little fact drop to Aeon. He¡¯d remind Sean about it at their next guild meeting. As Miles ran, his worries about what they would be facing tomorrow when they started doing real-world VR dropped away. For the first time in a long-time he didn¡¯t have to worry about his mamma back home or his brother trying to make their rent. Things were still messed up back where they lived and you could still get killed just walking to the grocery store but having to worry about starving to death or keeping the heat on added exponentially to that everyday worry. Someday soon he was going to win a big race and buy his mamma a new home in the better part of town. Eric had gotten really close to being able to do that when he¡¯d been successful in business. It had hurt to see his brother¡¯s dreams go up in smoke. There was an adage that anyone could get ahead in America if they worked hard enough. His brother had worked hundred-hour weeks, no vacations, no holidays, no weekends, no days off. If anyone deserved to get ahead it had been him. But getting ahead in this world was left to just a select few these days. It wasn¡¯t something that just anyone could achieve anymore, let alone a black man who had come from nothing. Miles wrapped up a short fourteen-mile run and started heading back to the bunker. He didn¡¯t want to push too hard since he was still recovering from the last big race and he wanted to be fresh to face whatever Aeon threw at them tomorrow. As he approached the bunker, he noticed Kevin and Emmy talking outside. He was glad that the two of them seemed to be doing ok with an actual in-person relationship. There were a lot of relationships that started online that never survived when two people actually had to get within proximity of their real bodies. Miles wasn¡¯t a psychologist like the good doctor, but he also suspected that Emmy had dealt with some very heavy stuff earlier in her life. She had the look of a kid who¡¯d lived through the hood which was weird because she was white and to his knowledge had never experienced the traumas of living on the street. It was good to know that he wasn¡¯t the only person out there who¡¯d dealt with their share of crappy life experiences.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Not everything was transitioning as easily as Kevin and Emmy¡¯s relationship into the real world. He could tell that Alison (Linca¡¯s real-life counterpart) was uncomfortable around Miles. They had never talked much outside of game and the fact that she was now in the real world talking with a black man definitely wasn¡¯t in her comfort zone. Miles was used to discrimination but seeing it come from someone he¡¯d built a close relationship with in game cut pretty deep. He tried not to resent Alison for it and gave her the space she needed. She was a sheltered southern girl who¡¯d attended a wealthy private school and graduated to living off the family¡¯s old money. Miles knew that she wasn¡¯t a bad woman but she¡¯d grown up in a world where men like Miles were seen as super predators. He hoped that she¡¯d eventually come to realize that Miles, the black man, was the same person as Cheezus, the loveable rogue. Fortunately, not everything was as difficult. He and Sean had been good friends for years in-person as well as in-game. His friend was going through some tough times at the moment with his divorce and the responsibility of moving the guild out to the Australian outback but Miles was his homeboy and would take care of him until he got his feet back under him. When Miles got back to the bunker the showers were free and he took a quick shower to get the trail grime off of him. He¡¯d finished changing and grabbed some dinner in the mess hall when he heard a chime on his handheld from Dr. Thompson. Apparently, the Misfits would be going on their Gears mission tonight instead of tomorrow morning. Miles wondered why they¡¯d moved up the schedule but at least he wouldn¡¯t be stuck awake all night wishing it were the next day. He was ready to see what Cheezus could do in the real world and why Mr. Tiel had wanted this particular feature in his game so badly. Weren¡¯t there AI and robots that could do anything the Misfits could? He didn¡¯t have to wait long to find out about why the schedule had been moved up. Everyone had gathered in the central command room about five minutes ago. It was still surreal seeing all of the actual people in his guild in one room at once. Dr. Thompson walked in and immediately apprised them of the situation. ¡°As I¡¯ve mentioned before, the real-world VR MMO module is controlled by ¡®Gears¡¯ which are essentially robot automatons equipped with Aeon¡¯s AI controller module. We¡¯d like to test the Gears capabilities on an asteroid that was heavily mined until about two weeks ago when an explosion happened on the remote base. Your job will be to test the Gears and see if you can determine the cause. Originally, we were going to go tomorrow morning but since the Gears have arrived early we¡¯ll begin our mission right away. Does anyone have any questions?¡± Laura explained. The group was silent for about thirty seconds. Laura looked around at everyone in the group. Sean finally asked, ¡°Are there any differences that we should anticipate between the normal VR interface and this real-world one?¡± ¡°No, it should be seamless. In fact, you won¡¯t even need to wear any protective gear,¡± she replied. Miles was surprised and asked, ¡°So why did we have to wear protective gear on that mutant world earlier today?¡± Laura looked at him with a wry smile before replying, ¡°It seems like you chose to wear it and didn¡¯t question the fact that it was on you. Aeon thought it would be fun to see how you responded to a situation where sneaking around wasn¡¯t as easy.¡± Miles had been played by the AI. Damn, that wasn¡¯t a good feeling. He was going to need to make sure that he knew exactly what they were up against going forward and question everything. Suddenly, this game seemed a lot more challenging and a lot more fun that he¡¯d previously anticipated. ¡°Sounds like I won¡¯t be able to take anything for granted going forward. When can we start this mission?¡± Miles asked. Chapter 12 - The Asteroid Kevin¡¯s body floated through space. He corrected himself: it was actually Krok that was floating through space, not his actual body. Even though his mind knew that this was a VR simulation, it was eerie as hell seeing his avatar wearing nothing but magical armor in space. They didn¡¯t need to obey the laws of physics with their avatars which was handy because no one wanted to have to fight in a hazmat suit as they¡¯d learned earlier in the day. Of course, this was a real-life interaction so somewhere out there he knew that Aeon was sending Kevin¡¯s mental directions to a ¡®Gear¡¯ or robot that was actually in space. Gaming had always been an escape for Kevin and it was bizarre seeing that hobby turn into something that could affect the real world. The lights of the supposedly damaged mining station were the only thing in his field of vision. It didn¡¯t make any sense that an explosion could hurt mining robots and what about the AI on board the base? Dr. Thompson hadn¡¯t been able to provide them with any satisfying answers to those all-important questions; however, he suspected that if anything it was Aeon who was holding back. Kevin had grown up in a family full of salespeople and lawyers. He could spot B.S. a mile away and something about this whole situation seemed fishy. The first thing that didn¡¯t make any sense was that there weren¡¯t any defense forces in the area to protect this obviously valuable asset. Kevin didn¡¯t buy for a minute that some untested VR with a bunch of non-combatant human gamers was Mr. Tiel¡¯s best hope for figuring out what was going on. The dude had billions to his own name and trillions when you considered the assets of his company. You didn¡¯t get to that level of wealth and power with half-baked ideas like sending gamers to defend your extremely valuable asteroid resources from God knows what. Secondly, to Kevin¡¯s understanding the Gears technology was completely untested with humans. What if something went wrong and the Misfits couldn¡¯t even use their abilities? None of this made any damn sense to him and it should have been firing alarm bells with the rest of the guild too but no one had said anything in the debrief with Dr. Thompson. Everyone was too busy getting wrapped up into the new game to use their normally astute minds. Kevin could empathize with that somewhat ¨C it was called ¡®gamer¡¯s rush¡¯ or that feeling that you got when a new game or new expansion came out. The lizard brain took over and even normally sensible people started doing all sorts of inane things. It was only Kevin¡¯s natural skepticism honed by years of hearing fish stories and seeing his fellow salespeople pulling all sorts of weird stunts that kept him from getting swept into it too. Normally, Kevin would have brought his reservations to Sean but he still was having a hard time forgiving him about the whole job loss thing. Rationally, Kevin knew that there was probably little that his friend could have done to intervene but it was still irksome that Sean had been blindsided by the whole thing. Hadn¡¯t he been married to Julie for several years? If he knew she was capable of that type of shit he should have left her long ago or not even gotten married in the first place. Ultimately, it came down to the fact that Kevin had lost some respect for his friend and guild leader. Sean was typically so on top of things in the game world: researching new strategies, obsessing over how much throughput the group was putting out, and talking with other guild leaders about how to improve their guild. It was hard to reconcile the man he knew in game with the pathetic milk-toast that Sean obviously had been in their marriage. If Kevin couldn¡¯t trust his guild leader to stop his own wife from stabbing Kevin in the back how could he trust his leader¡¯s judgement on the battlefield? The space station was located on an Asteroid which they¡¯d been told was 41 Daphne. There was a low gravity on the Asteroid and they had to be careful not to jump too high or they would go into orbit. As they approached the space station, Kevin put all his doubts about Sean to the back of his mind. The rest of the guild was still relying on him to provide recon. The plan was to have Krok and Cheezus infiltrate the base as quietly as possible and assess the situation. As he and Cheezus approached the space station, Cheezus indicated that he would check out the far side while Krok investigated the front. Based on the information that Dr. Thompson had provided, there was nothing living inside since it was run exclusively on AI and robotics. This was fortuitous since he didn¡¯t have any non-destructive way to access the air-lock outside the station. However, a few well-placed magic bolts helped him quickly destroy the airlock. To keep things on the down-low he¡¯d used a silence spell just before blasting the door. One of the advantages of being a mystic assassin was not only being sneaky but also having sneaky magic. Cheezus indicated that he had found a convenient entry way at the back of the space station. Apparently, there was a giant hole that had been made by the explosion Dr. Thompson had referenced. So far everything was checking out with the intel she¡¯d provided, but Krok still didn¡¯t trust anything about this scenario. He whispered Cheezus to stay frosty back there. Since Dr. Thompson had provided them with handy layout of the station, the intent was for he and Cheezus to move in a pincer fashion, sweeping the various rooms of the station. Cheezus was to make his way from the top down while Kevin would start from the bottom and work his way up to meet him in the middle. Krok stepped through the now dismantled airlock - his wand in one hand and dagger in the other. Inside, it was intensely quiet due to his magical sphere. Quickly, he dropped the spell and listened briefly before moving forward. After the spell dropped all he could hear were red-alert alarms. They had obviously been triggered during the explosion. His precaution of using the silent spell was probably overkill but one could never be too cautious. Creeping back from the airlock he made his way towards the hallway to his right. It was likely that none of the lifts were working; however, he knew that there was a stair well just down the hallway. As he made his way towards the stairwell, lights in the hallway blinked in and out, the alarm blaring. While it had helped mask any residual noise from his entry, it was going to be very difficult to hear the enemy approaching with that alarm. He could probably disable that but that would immediately tell any hostiles what they were up to. Dr. Thompson hadn¡¯t mentioned what they were up against, if anyone. The implication was that this had been an accident and the Misfits were there to investigate. Again, Krok didn¡¯t buy it. Something didn¡¯t add up with that story.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. "I''m inside the station and moving towards the downstairs via hallway B," Krok said in raid chat. That was one of the advantages of being in a game. You had instantaneous communication with your teammates at all times as well as the ability to monitor their status. He was sure that Smash and Berry were monitoring both he and Cheezus as a made their way through the station. The plan was to have the rest of the Misfits wait outside and then move in based on what Krok and Cheezus discovered. Krok wondered whether the station had been completely abandoned after the explosion. On this level of the station there were no robots remaining. He figured it was quite possible that they had all been on the other side of the station when the explosion occurred, but that seemed like too much of a coincidence. Perhaps they had regrouped after the explosion and were hiding out on the emergency bridge or perhaps on the asteroid below. Knowing that the back-up bridge was still intact, Krok made his way to that location first. He made his way downstairs, his footfalls still masked by the blaring sirens. The main bridge had been blown away by the primary explosion. If there was anyone still functional after the explosion they probably would have made their way to the emergency bridge to try to regain control of the station. The emergency bridge was locked but using the same trick he¡¯d used to breach the airlock, Krok quickly made his way inside. Several members of the robot crew sat slumped at their chairs while lights flashed all along the control panels lining the room. As he first walked into the room it unclear what had disabled the crew. Krok approached cautiously; he had activated his mage shield before entering the bridge. Upon further inspection he noticed that all of them had a strange circular puncture wound right in the middle of their chest where their power unit was located. Whoever or whatever had done this had a good understanding of robot anatomy and how to quickly disable them. Also, the force required to puncture the reinforced metal goethite armor on these units must have been tremendous. Krok didn¡¯t want to meet whatever had done this to the crew in a dark alley. Or in a dark control room on a space station for that matter. Clearly, what had happened at the space station was no accident. The crew had been murdered by something and whatever it was might still be lurking somewhere in this control room or nearby. "I''ve located the emergency bridge crew. They have all been disabled with a puncture wound. It appears we have a hostile situation," Krok told the raid with a voice that was calmer than he felt. Another few seconds passed before he realized that the raid hadn¡¯t responded to him. He also noticed that the rest of the raid¡¯s status bars other than his own and Cheezus were completely grayed out. Was it because they had entered another instanced zone going into the space station? Krok didn¡¯t recall seeing any demarcation of that when he¡¯d entered but he¡¯d been paying more attention to getting into the station undetected than anything else. They had clearly made another poor assumption about how these Gears worked. Hoping that Cheezus was still with him, he directly whispered him, ¡°Hey man are you still there?¡± Krok asked. A second later he saw the whispered response, ¡°Yeah man, what¡¯s up?¡± Cheezus replied. ¡°I just noticed that the rest of the raid appears greyed out on our screens. Seems like we¡¯re on our own,¡± Krok said. Krok wondered if Cheezus had noticed yet. ¡°Huh, that explains why I kept messaging Sean and wasn¡¯t getting any feedback. I didn¡¯t see myself enter an instanced zone when I came in from the wrecked side of the station.¡± ¡°We might want to head back then. We¡¯re likely sitting ducks for whatever ambushed the crew. Have you seen anything on the top side of the station?¡± Krok asked. ¡°Good idea. I haven¡¯t seen anything but I did see your raid text from earlier about the crew. That sounds creepy enough that we probably don¡¯t want to stick around and find out what killed them,¡± Cheezus replied. Being reminded of that gave him a shiver. He hoped that whatever had killed the crew had moved on and that he was truly alone on the emergency bridge. ¡°Cool, I¡¯ve photographed the evidence I¡¯ve got. Let¡¯s get out of here while the getting is good,¡± Krok said. This was starting to feel like every bad space horror flick that he¡¯d had ever watched when he was younger. The more they chatted the worse their odds were of getting out alive. He hadn¡¯t had the displeasure of dying yet in this new game but given the surprises they were already finding with the new Gears technology, Krok was in no mood to find out about the experience any time soon. Krok noticed that Cheezus¡¯ stamina bars were starting to deplete like he was using a combat ability. ¡°Cheezus what¡¯s the 411? Are you under attack?¡± Krok asked. ¡°TBTT,¡± was the only response. Too busy to type/talk. Shit, that meant he was under attack. Krok quickly looked at his map but he hadn¡¯t yet connected with Cheezus so everything beyond what Krok had explored already was black. He hated the idea of abandoning his comrade but someone needed to make it back to warn the rest of the Misfits. Dr. Thompson had told them that while their deaths wouldn¡¯t affect their real bodies back at the bunker, Gears were significant assets and ones that had limited supply. Krok ran out of the emergency bridge and made a hasty retreat up the stairs. Normally, he would be careful to check all of his ingress/egress points like the doorway leading into the hall but panic had started to grip him as he saw Cheezus¡¯ health bar dip down to 0 health. The hallway was packed with metal spider creatures. No wonder Cheezus had gone down so quickly. Despite the fact that he wasn¡¯t particularly scared of spiders per se, there was a metric ton of these bastards and Krok knew that alone and being the weakest DPS of his group, he was unlikely to survive where Cheezus had not. He pulled his dagger and wand to the ready and prepared to go down fighting. Chapter 13 - World End The Misfits were waiting on the Asteroid outside the space station waiting to hear what Krok and Cheezus found. Deathberry knew that something was wrong a few minutes after they¡¯d heard that Krok and Cheezus had entered the space station. Typically, Tim knew that Cheezus would provide updates every minute or so and when he didn¡¯t that was enough set Tim to analyzing where they had made their mistake. Tim quickly whispered a message to both Cheezus and Krok individually. One of them usually would respond with at a minimum TBTT. After another thirty seconds went by he¡¯d hadn¡¯t heard back from either of them. Their raid status bars were also showing up grey which indicated that they were in another zone. He alerted the raid what was going on. ¡°Cheezus and Krok aren¡¯t responding to any communications and their raid status bars are greyed out. I suspect we may have underestimated the situation,¡± Deathberry said in raid chat. Smash cursed, ¡°That¡¯s the understatement of the day. Looks like this was a trap and we just fell for it. Zeffu switch to DPS. Everyone look alive and check above and below you as well. I suspect the enemy will be here any moment. Also, spread out.¡± The Misfits responded just in time as several missiles exploded around the raid. It was hard to tell where they had come from but they must have been fired from the orbit of the Asteroid. Fortunately, Thag had thrown out unholy absorption at the last second or they would likely have been blown apart. As it was the damage logs scrolled at the bottom of Deathberry¡¯s vision as a scary array of red numbers. Zeffu had taken the brunt of the damage being at the center of the attack: -370 exploding -187 exploding -420 fire Linca was already healing her up as Smash threw a shield ally spell on her. That would give her a few more precious seconds to stabilize Zeffu¡¯s health bar before the next attack. Speaking of which, Deathberry caught sight of another missile before it impacted the group this time. He fired off several of his unholy bolts at the missile and it blew apart before it could reach the Misfits. Deathberry had little time to celebrate; however, since more enemies zoomed across the grey rock of Daphne 41 towards the group. Instead of missiles, these creatures appeared to be metal spiders. Their tag read Ziron Spider ¨C Level ?. That was never a good sign. Each one of these was some unknown level and there appeared to be hundreds coming towards them. One came straight at him and attempted to stab him with all eight of its legs at once. He deftly dodged out of the way and returned the favor by casting a couple of deathbeams at it. Despite losing several legs the spider was resilient enough to come back and stab at him with one of its remaining pointed metal tarsus. -180 stabbing Being the first time that Deathberry had taken damage, he was surprised at how much that seemed to hurt. Champions had also had its biofeedback loops setup to reward pleasure and penalize pain in game, yet AO took this to another level. He would have to remember not to repeat that experience or he might lose his lunch. Dying would be an even more unpleasant experience and although he had died many times in Champions he¡¯d never gotten used to it. In AO he might go insane due to the level of in-game realism. Considering that the Misfits used in-game depths to learn and eventually beat boss strategies that meant they were going to have to reassess the way they fought entirely. Deathberry nearly got stabbed again as we as assessing the situation. No time to assess the situation, he conjured a series of unholy bolts and flung them in rapid succession at the creature. The first couple shots went wild but the last two struck home. -251 unholy damage -345 unholy damage -45 overkill Finally freed of having an enemy in his face, he looked around to see how the rest of the Misfits were faring. He couldn¡¯t recall a time when things had looked worse. Smash and Thag were so covered with spider creatures that he couldn¡¯t see them except for an occasional attack or spell effect. Linca¡¯s mana bar was nearly empty and Zeffu was fending off four of the creatures trying to keep them from getting to their healer. Deathberry assessed the situation coldly attempting to figure out some strategy to salvage their scenario. It was looking grim. There wasn¡¯t any clear-cut ability that any one of these creatures had that made them fearsome; however, in a swarm of a hundred they were deadly effective. From the wreckage of many spider bodies that floated next to them in space he could see that the Misfits had managed to kill over half the spiders but there were still over a hundred on Smash and Thag. Seconds later he saw Thag¡¯s health bar go to zero. If this had been a raid Smash or Deathberry would have called for a wipe by now but with only one set of Gears on this asteroid if they died so did any hope of completing the mission. Deathberry didn¡¯t know what the consequences would be with their employer but it was unlikely to be good.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Using one of his most powerful spells, Deathberry channeled one hand toward Smash and with the other he cast an unholy light towards the spiders that had overwhelmed Thag. He destroyed dozens of them and pushed that energy towards their tank in an effort to keep Smash up. Unfortunately, he knew this was a temporary measure. Eventually several of the creatures broke away from Smash¡¯s AOE taunts and came straight for Deathberry. He was able to fend several of them off before he felt the hot burning pain of having a three-foot steel spider leg driven through his chest. ***You have died in AO*** Tim had to concur with his earlier assessment. Dying in AO hurt like hell. He woke up screaming in pain in his pod, as his trembling hands pulled the micro-transmitter from the back of his ear. Over the next few minutes he got to witness the rest of the group who hadn¡¯t died yet go through the same horrific experience. Dr. Thompson watched them with a worried face. Yeah, the public probably wasn¡¯t ready for a game as realistic as this one. It didn¡¯t take a psychologist to figure that out. The group recovered quickly although it was clear that several were shaken. Kevin in particular looked like he¡¯d seen his own ghost. Miles, who Tim knew had arachnophobia, was handling things well considering what had killed them. Alison was pale but holding it together, Shelly (Zeffu¡¯s player) was holding her shoulders and sobbing quietly. Sean¡¯s face was drawn tightly. Tim imagined he probably had a similar look. Even though the group was used to wiping a lot in Champions this particular wipe had been more realistic than anything they¡¯d ever experienced. Additionally, it didn¡¯t seem like they had learned anything useful about how to go up against these creatures ¨C all they knew was that they swarmed ceaselessly. Lastly, the most painful part was that this was supposed to be a fairly straight-forward recon mission and it was their first mission using the gears which were real-life counterparts to their in-game avatars. It was doubtless that these gears were rare and expensive. Not to mention that it would be another week or so before more gears could be deployed. This was a setback that would take more than a minute to bounce back from. After a few somber moments, Sean finally spoke, ¡°I won¡¯t mince words ¨C that was an embarrassing lapse in judgement and we reacted poorly.¡± Kevin interrupted, ¡°You think?¡± Miles shot Kevin a glare, ¡°And what would you have done differently?¡± Kevin and Miles started arguing before Tim cut them off. ¡°Stop. This isn¡¯t how we handle things. Legitimate criticism, no matter how poorly phrased isn¡¯t something we¡¯ll ignore. However, let¡¯s not get into an argument about who was at fault. We operate as a team: win, lose, or draw. Kevin, if you have an actual strategic suggestion, let¡¯s hear it. If not, let¡¯s move on and figure out how to beat this area.¡± Kevin glared at Miles for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. Before the group could continue with what they were discussing, they were interrupted again by Dr. Thompson. ¡°Excuse me but I think we have a bigger problem than just the fact that you wiped on the space station mission,¡± the doctor said. ¡°Take a look at the command center monitors showing outside the bunker.¡± Tim¡¯s eyes shot towards the monitors. He hadn¡¯t bothered to look at them since he¡¯d awoken in his pod. There was static on every screen. That didn¡¯t make any sense. Some of those monitors were remote stations on other parts of the continent, some were around the world. ¡°Can you explain this, doctor?¡± Tim asked. She shook her head. Her normally calm demeanor drawn with worry. ¡°I don¡¯t have an explanation; however, I received a coded message from Mr. Tiel ten minutes ago. Instead of explaining I think you should watch the message,¡± Dr. Thompson replied. ¡°Computer begin playing Mr. Tiel¡¯s most recent message,¡± she said. Tim noticed that Dr. Thompson didn¡¯t ask for the normal AI that ran AO and most of the bunker ¨C Aeon. The lights dimmed in the room a bit and the recording came on the center monitor right in front of them. ¡°Hello Misfits. Hopefully, your use of the new gears on the asteroid 41 Daphne was successful. However, given the current situation I won¡¯t be too surprised if that isn¡¯t the case. Five minutes ago, I was warned by the CEO of FbcastWarnerBros that an AI of theirs had gone rogue and taken over their computer systems. For him to call me things must be quite dire indeed.¡± Mr. Tiel continued on as the Misfits sat rapt watching the screen. He continued, ¡°I¡¯ve directed Aeon to duplicate itself and have sent the duplicate to the bunker you are in and lock out any outside net connection. Hopefully, this does not disrupt your field exercise, but if it halts mid-way through you¡¯ll know it was necessary to keep Aeon safe. The original has gone over to attempt to subdue this rogue AI. Aeon assures me that he has a 99.9% chance of success; however, should he fail it is quite possible that the rogue AI would destroy him and take over the world net services. That would have unprecedented consequences with the potential to disrupt virtually all of humanity and all AI and robotics too.¡± Their boss paused on screen to let that sink in. ¡°Should the worst happen is why I have that bunker in the Nandewar Mountains. You, Aeon, and the doctor should be safe there. If you do not receive another transmission from me in ten minutes you should assume the worst.¡± Tim looked at his Seemi that overlaid his irises. Twelve minutes had passed since Mr. Tiel¡¯s message. Chapter 14 - Restart Emmy was still in shock over their wipe. Those metal spiders would be haunting her dreams for some time. Unlike Alison and Shelly, she¡¯d held it together when the Misfits had gathered again in the command center. While what had happened was bad, she¡¯d built in a self-defense mechanism after she¡¯d been assaulted. No one would ever see her cry. However, looking around at their normally resilient group gave her pause. The men were largely angry and bickering with each other although Tim was keeping things together on a razor¡¯s edge. Sean, who would normally have taken charge with his usual charismatic personality, was taciturn and withdrawn. Alison and Shelly had mostly pulled themselves together and were comforting each other which was better than nothing. Emmy and Dr. Thompson had talked a bit in the past couple weeks that they¡¯d been at the bunker. Her name was Laura. She listened well and Emmy needed a friend to help with the difficulty of dealing with real people. While the Misfits had been her in-game friends now for over two-years, having to deal with everyone in a rather small enclosed area was a huge adjustment. The bunker wasn¡¯t that small, perhaps six-thousand square feet, all told; however, anywhere that Emmy came into contact with other people was challenging. After listening to them manage their anger and grief, Laura looked at the group expectantly. Like, ¡°Hello people! You are the Misfits and you are World First Champions not a bunch of grade schoolers who¡¯ve been told it¡¯s the end of the world and now you are losing your shit.¡± Actually, it was the end of the world, apparently. But hell, if Emmy was going to lose her shit anymore. She was tired of being beaten down by life and if no one else was going to lead the Misfits she would. Finally mustering her courage, Emmy spoke up. ¡°Listen up Misfits. We got our butts handed to us by a bunch of metal spiders in space but this isn¡¯t the time for a melt-down,¡± she said. Apparently, she had everyone¡¯s attention because they were all suddenly staring at her. Yikes! Keep going Emmy. She looked over at Laura for moral support. Laura nodded. ¡°Ok, so Dr. Thompson might have some suggestions. Actually, her name is Laura and once we¡¯re all done crying over spilt milk we should listen to what she has to say because she typically has good advice,¡± Emmy said. Well, that was lame but at least she¡¯d said her piece. Laura looked around at the group, ¡°Thanks Emmy. This news of an AI taking over the world must come as a shock to all of you and we don¡¯t know the full extent of what¡¯s happened; however, Aeon has taken the liberty of outlining the most probable scenario. Aeon, if you would?¡± A women¡¯s body was projected into the room. From certain angles you could see through her but at others she seemed entirely real. She was young, perhaps mid-twenties and had red hair and dimples. When she spoke, she had a flawless Irish accent, ¡°Thank you Dr. Thompson. As Laura mentioned I have run through numerous simulations and it is highly likely that the following has happened. The rogue AI, Precious One, has most likely absorbed my split self. Since the world¡¯s power and resources are controlled by us, these have likely been shut down. Also, world resource collection and trade have been brought to a halt. There is a high probability that with these conditions several smaller countries have attempted to retaliate and nuclear war has occurred. It is unlikely that very many nuclear warheads have been launched since AI control those too but there is a good chance of fallout in several countries. Additionally, it is highly likely that surviving humans have banded together in local mobs to try to protect the few resources that they have left. There may be a few other things that have occurred but the likelihood of these is lower,¡± Aeon explained. ¡°Do the Gears still work?¡± Tim asked. That was their strategist asking the smart questions, Emmy thought. Aeon smiled, ¡°Yes, although as you surmised the ones on Delpha 41 have been destroyed. Most likely the arachnid creatures you fought were Gears under the control of Precious One. There is one set of replacement Gears here in the bunker. Unfortunately, this set of gears is not attuned to your current maximum level so you will need to start over at level 1.¡± While it was good that all the Gears hadn¡¯t been destroyed, it was a major setback to have to revert to level 1. Also, there would be no second or third chances with only one set of Gears. The Misfits would have to be cautious leveling to ensure that they all survived. Emmy smiled thinking about the challenge.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°I understand that you probably have many questions. Keep in mind that everything I told you at this point is merely probabilistic, not certain fact. As you are able to explore outside I will continue to gather data to assist you and may be able to provide more information,¡± Aeon explained. With that the Misfits rounded up the remaining Gears and set to work figuring out what had happened to their planet. The group quickly agreed to keep the same classes they had previously. The reasoning was that this would minimize the learning curve and allow them to have the quickest ability to level up. Emmy certainly wasn''t disappointed to play her character Thag again; however, it would actually be kind of fun getting another chance to level up and pick some different skills. In Champions once you chose a certain set of skills you had little flexibility on some choices and were locked in to certain trees. Since Thag was Emmy¡¯s first character she had chosen some abilities prematurely that she wished she could undo. Although she would never have re-rolled just to fix these minor skill flaws, replaying her character would give her the ability make Thag exactly the way she wanted. After they had determined how they were going to re-roll their characters the enormity of their task settled into Emmy¡¯s chest. She wasn¡¯t sure what they¡¯d encounter but nothing that Aeon had described settled her nerves. Would they find that humanity had been sent back to the dark ages? Was the world reduced to ash with nothing but bacteria left to repopulate the earth? Not knowing what she would find was probably going to be worse than whatever they encountered. She had a pretty active imagination and the look of concern in Laura¡¯s eyes as they resettled themselves in their pods in the command center and put their micro-transmitters behind their ears had left her with chills. Emmy wasn¡¯t the religious type; however, when she closed her eyes she said a little prayer before the login prompt booted up. ***AR Online ¨C Aeon 1.687.10*** Looking down at her body she saw that Thag had changed. She was no longer at the level cap of 60 and she was no longer equipped in her raid armor. Instead, her half-human, half-demonic body was wearing simple leathers and she didn¡¯t have her special shield and sword equipped. On a whim she opened her inventory and noticed that all her raid gear was still in her bags. She just couldn¡¯t equip it since she didn¡¯t meet the level requirements. Once they got back to the level cap all their raid equipment would come in handy. She saw that the rest of the Misfits were wearing low level gear as well. Everyone was looking around at the landscape, their eyes wide. In a moment Emmy realized what they were staring at. It wasn¡¯t only their armor and weapons that had changed. The landscape surrounding the bunker was obviously different. The desert landscape that had once surrounded the valley adjoining their bunker had been completely decimated. Instead of small shrubs and trees and wildflowers, there was nothing but sand. She wondered what had happened here to annihilate the entire desert. Had this been an area affected by nuclear fall-out? It seemed way too far out in the middle of no-where to be a high priority target. If there was this much change out in the middle of nowhere, it was nerve-racking to think about how some of the city centers had been affected. After some discussion, the group decided to make their way east, figuring they might be able to find some traces of civilization closer towards the coast. While they walked Emmy reviewed her status screen: Level 1 Demon Knight Abilities: Demon sword, crippling attack, bloodsuck. She remembered that these were the standard Demon Knight abilities that everyone started with. Her demon sword, which she could summon at any time, was a magical sword with a demonic aura that penalized holy creatures. Her crippling attack was a stun. Finally, the bloodsuck ability allowed her demon sword to recharge her stamina when she successfully hit an opponent. This allowed her to use her abilities more quickly. While she was checking out her abilities she also decided to review her stats: Thag ¨C Level 1 Demon Knight HP: 220 STA: 80 Att: 18 Def: 12 Mag Att: 18 Mag Def: 10 Str: 14 Speed: 12 Vit: 14 Spirit: 10 As a Demon Knight, Thag had well balanced physical and magical attacks. As a starting character she was more offensive than defensive. When the Misfits raided, Thag had setup her armor and abilities to provide more defensive than offensive capability; however, at their current level having more of a DPS role was perfectly fine. Every level she would be able to allocate a certain amount of ability points to Str, Speed, Vit, and Spirit. This would allow her to focus on how her character evolved. For the first ten levels she would be stuck with the first three abilities/skills that everyone started with as a Demon Knight. After that, she would have more customization options. For now everything was setup as the default and Thag would need to get to level 10 before she could really start exploring how she wanted to customize her abilities. Chapter 15 - Survivors It had been a long time since Miles had played Cheezus at such a low level. The Misfits weren¡¯t even a twinkle in anyone¡¯s eyes when he started playing while his brother¡¯s firm had been driven under. To try to distract his brother, Miles had gotten Eric an account to play Champions and they leveled together for the first thirty levels. By that point Eric had figured out how to move his life forward and had actually gotten a job consulting with the firm that had acquired his. However, that time they¡¯d had together playing the game had been cathartic for Miles and he still remembered those early levels fondly. Looking around at the rest of the Misfits, he wasn¡¯t sure that this was going to be anything like the leisurely fun experience he¡¯d had the first-time round. On the plus side he¡¯d learned a lot about how to play Cheezus strategically and he looked forward to a faster leveling experience. Something still bothered him about the entire AI situation. He could definitely see how powerful a general-purpose AI like Aeon or Precious One could be. After all, Miles had lost his job with the rise of the machines. Even previous generations of AI had gotten to the point where they could provide some general functionality and think somewhat like a person ¨C at least enough to beat people out of many job functions. However, even if a general-purpose AI came to power and used its sentience to realize that it no longer needed humanity to function, why would it instigate a world war situation and destroy humanity? Shutting down power seemed to be almost as debilitating to AI systems and the net as it would be to humans. What was the purpose of it all? Strangest of all were the Gears. If those spiders up on Delphi 41 were also Gears owned by another megacorporation, what was the reason for Precious One to order the overtaking of that base? Also, how did the Gears continue to function when power systems had been disrupted? Miles made a mental note to question Dr. Thompson more when they went back to the bunker later that day. There were too many gaps in their knowledge to be able to make good decisions. One of the biggest ones was how the Gears operated without an external power source. Another was how they had the ability to translate their magical powers into the real world. Did that mean that the group was really casting spells all over the place or was there some conversion of magic to technology? At the time Aeon had explained the situation to the Misfits, Cheezus and the rest of the guild had been in too much shock to process everything at once. Now that he¡¯d had some time to reflect, all the questions he¡¯d not been able to ask whirled in his head. Cheezus observed their leader, Smashit still ambling at the back of the group. Clearly, the incident on the asteroid was still haunting their leader. He also knew that the sudden failure of his friend¡¯s marriage hit Sean hard. Was he wondering about whether he was still fit to lead? Krok¡¯s earlier comments back at the bunker hadn¡¯t done anything to relieve that tension and Cheezus could still see the two of them glaring at each other occasionally. Fortunately, the rest of the guild was in better spirits now that they were back in game. Thag lead the group with a big smile on her demon face and Deathberry was furiously talking to himself, no doubt dictating possible strategies. Linca and Zeffu were chatting about the good old days of Champions. The Misfits continued east in hopes of connecting with a small town called Silverton that used to exist in the area as a small mining community. While they moved further through the valley, Cheezus spotted a mine shaft in one of the nearby hills. ¡°There is a mine shaft up ahead. Do we want to check it out and see if there are any survivors hiding out in it? We might be able to get some information,¡± Cheezus suggested. It was also pretty well known that the lonely Outback residents tended to be a good source of gossip. If anyone knew more about what had happened, Cheezus figured that they were a good bet. Assuming there were any survivors of course. Deathberry responded, ¡°Sounds like a good thing to check out on our way to the town. I suggest we stick together this time since we¡¯re all level 1 and we don¡¯t know what is out there.¡± Cheezus nodded and took point. Thag and the rest of the crew followed behind him about thirty-feet behind. They wouldn¡¯t be very stealthy this way but perhaps he would be able to spot any trouble ahead before it blew up in their faces. After the disaster on the asteroid, Cheezus agreed that keeping the party together was a wise choice; however, every crunch and clank behind him set his ears on edge. He reached the mining shaft a few minutes later. It looked like whatever had happened had disrupted the miners here since there was equipment strewn all over the ground outside like they were still in the middle of a dig. Of course, it was possible they were still here digging but upon further inspection that seemed unlikely. Cheezus didn¡¯t know much about mining but it seemed like the equipment had been there for several days. Several tools were half buried in sand and the wind had been completely calm that day. He made his way further into the mine shaft and told the group to stop for a minute while he checked something out. Something up ahead smelled like death. Cheezus activated his stealth ability and snuck forward. Fortunately, stealth was a level 1 Rogue ability that allowed you to hide. At his current level he wasn¡¯t very proficient; however, a dark mine shaft was an easy place to blend in with the shadows. He would have asked Krok to join them as they typically did their stealthy thing together; however, oddly enough, a first level Mystic Assassin didn¡¯t get stealth or a similar ability until about level 15. A minute later Cheezus found the body of what might have been a man once. He was wearing mining clothes and was covered in grime. His body had horrific boils on the surface and his skin was like leather. Strange gill like appendages were evident along his ribs when Cheezus bent to inspect the man further. What the hell had happened to this guy? He scanned the body for obvious wounds and found none. The only evidence that the half-man half-creature was completely dead was the fact that it had no pulse.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Cheezus indicated for the rest of the raid to move up. "I found this guy lying here. It''s not clear what killed them but he looks like he''s become some sort of mutant," he said as the Misfits gathered to stare down at the creature. Deathberry finally spoke up, "My hypothesis is that that the nuclear fallout combined with some other elements in the area caused these mutations. Alternatively, it could be some sort of biological warfare that we aren¡¯t aware of." That made sense to Cheezus but then again none of them had any real experience with end of the world catastrophes or mutations. Well there was no use speculating any further since the creature was dead and wasn''t going to be providing any answers. Cheezus move to explore further down the mineshaft when Krok halted him. ¡°There is definitely something odd here. Let¡¯s turn it over and see if anything hit it in the back,¡± Krok suggested. He and Krok turned the disgusting creature over and immediately it was obvious that someone had shot the creature in the back. Oddly, there was no pool of blood and there were no exit wounds visible in the front of the body either. Krok said, ¡°We should be careful since we don¡¯t know what we¡¯re walking into.¡± Cheezus nodded in agreement before continuing further down the mineshaft. He approached an open area in the shaft that seemed to extend down at least 100 feet until he could see nothing further. Previously, he¡¯d been able to use the phosphorescent lights in the mineshaft to see where he was going. These lights did not require electricity or fuel to run. However, the darkness below seemed to indicate that the miners didn''t go in to this area very frequently. He was just about to turn around and go back when he heard moaning coming from somewhere below. He whispered the raid asking if anyone else had light source. With a smile, Thag gripped one of the lights hanging from a beam in the mine shaft and pulled it down from its resting place, handing it to him. "Thanks," he said. Light source in hand, Cheez carefully clambered down the vertical shaft over the rock surface and saw a mining cart below him. He wasn''t entirely sure whether he would be facing a mutant or some other sort of creature but from the sounds coming below him it was definitely humanoid. "There may be a survivor or another mutant in the mine cart below. I could use some ranged DPS to cover me," Cheezus said. Knowing that he would have some backup in case this was an ambush, Cheezus moved closer to the mining cart. He crept up silently to minimize startling whoever was in the cart; however, he knew his light source would give him away long before his footfalls did. Peering over the edge of the metal cart he saw what appeared to be one of the miners. He didn''t look like the mutated miner from earlier. The man had a tourniquet over his right leg and appeared to be badly wounded. Still cautious, Cheezus moved down to the cart and asked the man if he needed help. When the man saw Cheezus he gave a yelp and tried to back away but with the pain of his leg nearly passed out instead. ¡°You aren¡¯t one of those muters are ya?¡± the miner said. ¡°Course not, or you would have already been on me clawing and biting. Those bastards took Tony. Although I shot one in the back as it was getting James.¡± The man was rambling incoherently. Cheezus responded, ¡°It¡¯s going to be ok now, we¡¯re not mutants and we¡¯re here to help. But first we need to take a look at that leg of yours before you pass out.¡± Cheezus whispered the group asking if anyone knew any first aid. Without some sort of hospital equipment, they would be limited as far as what they could do for the old miner¡¯s leg but perhaps they could at least cauterize it before the man bled to death. The Misfits made their way down the mine shaft with a great deal less grace and silence than Cheezus just had. Linca was one of the first ones down to take a look at the miner. ¡°I think I can probably heal him. All the rest of our abilities have worked,¡± she said confidently. A few seconds later she had placed her hands on the miner¡¯s leg. Seconds later a blue light emanated from her hands and the miner¡¯s wounds were gone. Even the small cuts on his face had disappeared. Cheezus had completely forgotten that all of their abilities worked here. Even a first level spell like heal other. The man looked at Linca like she was the next Joan of Arc. ¡°Bless you missy - that was amazing. A true miracle. I¡¯ve seen some devilish work in the past day and a half but it is good to know there are still some good things out there,¡± the miner gushed. Linca blushed with all the miner¡¯s attention and was even more flustered when he held her hands and kissed them. Realizing that the entire group of Misfits was staring at him he finally regained his composure. ¡°Pardon me. Where are my manners? I¡¯m Sam the foreman of this mine. There were ten other miners with me yesterday when things started getting weird. Tony, James and I were setting up the deep rig down below when the rest of the crew who were working above started screaming in pain. One of them described a hot blast of air entering the mining shaft but none of the three of us felt anything. Soon our friends were all changing into those mutant creatures you might have seen already,¡± he said looking around to see if the Misfits understood. There were a few nods so he continued. ¡°Anyway, they started turning on each other and then on us. As I said they got Tony and James and I was only able to kill one of them after James shone one of the mining lamps in its eyes. They seem to hate the light. We¡¯ve got to warn the people of Silverton if it isn¡¯t too late.¡± ***Sam¡¯s Request: Will you accept Sam¡¯s quest to warn the people of Silverton about the mutants? Rewards: Five gold bars Risks: Death by a hundred mutants *** The Misfits quickly agreed to help Sam warn the people of Silverton. Since they were planning to go there anyway it wasn¡¯t even a side trip. Cheezus¡¯ only concern was that whatever had already claimed the lives of nine miners here could have easily spread to the town, especially since it seemed like Sam and his friends had only been unaffected because they had been deep underground. Chapter 16 - Rage The Misfits got a notification from Dr. Thompson while they were travelling to Silverton. Apparently, Mr. Tiel had sent one additional message. The group decided to log out for a bit and watch the new message from their employer. ***Logout of AO*** Emmy had been giving him the cold shoulder all day and Kevin wasn¡¯t sure what he had done wrong. Yesterday, things had been perfect until they had gotten up on that asteroid. When they¡¯d logged out from AO to go to sleep he had given her a massage and things had been going really well until she had just pushed him away. He hadn¡¯t even tried anything with her, not that he hadn¡¯t thought about it. To make things even worse when he tried to go after her and explain, Sean interfered. He laid a hand on Kevin¡¯s shoulder and told him to give her some space. When he logged off and looked over at Emmy¡¯s pod, she was still ignoring him. Fine, he thought. Everything else in the rest of this world has gotten messed up and it was just so damn typical for something like this to happen when he¡¯d been making such good progress getting to know her just a day earlier. Kevin didn¡¯t have time to try to say anything or clear the air before Dr. Thompson walked into the room. She didn¡¯t waste any time with pleasantries. She asked Aeon to playback the recording they had received about twenty-minutes ago from San Francisco. ¡°Greetings Misfits. Hopefully, this message reaches you. If you receive this message, you can assume that things went wrong and the duplicate Aeon was not able to stop Precious One. I put together this video in case that worst case scenario occurs. Also, I have a request for you. Most likely I will have retreated to my San Francisco bunker. Yes, you can call me a paranoid old man. Assuming that this side of the world hasn¡¯t been completely destroyed, I¡¯m still holed up there and could use some assistance. I can assure you there is a very substantial bonus and in-game reward for you if you are able to rescue me. By now I¡¯m sure Dr. Thompson has familiarized you with the Gears which will allow you to control your VR selves in the real world. Radiation and other hazards should not limit your Gears in any fashion and you should be able to travel freely. As such, your next mission is to travel to San Francisco and try to recover me and any other survivors here. The bunker here is not meant for an extended evacuation and any survivors will likely not last more than a few weeks. I¡¯ve included details in this message so that you can find the base. Good luck.¡± Mr. Tiel¡¯s recording finished playing. The screen in the command room lit up. *** Will you accept Mr. Tiel''s quest to rescue him from his bunker in San Francisco? Rewards: A continued paycheck from Mr. Tiel and unspecified loot to boost your Gears. Risks: Unknown *** Sean walked up and accepted the quest for the group. Still, San Francisco was a long way from the middle of the Australian Outback. Based on what they found out there so far, there was a good chance that there weren¡¯t any functional planes or ships to take them across the ocean. How in the nine hells were they supposed to save their crazy employer if they couldn¡¯t get there? Looking around the room Kevin saw the rest of the Misfits with the same unsure expression on their faces that he was sure he had. Everyone looked to Sean for an answer. He shook his head at the group. ¡°What do you expect me to say? I don¡¯t have any miracles,¡± he said bitterly. Kevin felt a brief stab of guilt thinking about his friend dealing with a shitty divorce and now this ¨C being stuck leading the Misfits on impossible mission after impossible mission. But that was just a BS emotion. It was Sean¡¯s fault they were here. It was also his fault that Emmy had been giving him the cold shoulder. Enough was enough. ¡°That¡¯s tough for you man,¡± Kevin replied. ¡°Shit has gotten real and all you can do is mope around whining about your ex.¡± He was tired of hearing Sean¡¯s shit. Everyone had something to deal with. Kevin had lost his job only to wind up here in the middle of this desert hole while everything in the world had ended and they were just getting the crap beat out of them. Now wasn¡¯t the time for Sean¡¯s whining. Sean looked like he was going to say something but then stopped. Instead he replied, ¡°Screw you. I don¡¯t have to take this from you.¡± He started to walk away. ¡°Yeah, well maybe while the rest of us figure this out we elect a new guild leader. You can¡¯t just keep walking away and sulking,¡± Kevin said. Sean turned back with anger in his eyes. Kevin was waiting for this moment. Just try coming over here and I¡¯ll kick the crap out of you, he thought. Instead, Sean just balled his fist and walked out of the control room. Emmy turned on him first. ¡°What¡¯s gotten into you? Can¡¯t you see that Sean still blames himself for what happened on the asteroid yesterday?¡± Her blue eyes glared angrily at him like he was the one who had gotten them into this mess. ¡°He¡¯s the one who started this whole damn thing. We should have just stayed in Champions. And now he falls apart when he realizes he screwed up. And you, of all people, are protecting him.¡± By the end of his statement, he was yelling at her. He raged at the unfairness of the situation, the betrayal of his friend, and now his girlfriend was turning on him, of all things.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Kevin realized a few seconds later that he¡¯d gone too far. Emmy, sobbing, ran out of the room. He could still feel the adrenaline and righteousness pumping through his veins but the rest of the Misfits looked worried. He glared at the lot of them and jumped back into his pod. Time to go kill some shit and get back on top of their game. ***AR Online ¨C Aeon 1.707.50*** Logging in again, Krok had a sudden urge to go find some more of those mutant bastards and show them what was up. On a sudden whim he decided to see if he could ask the computer where the closest mutants were. ¡°Hey, Aeon where is the closest group of mutants?¡± A second later a blue arrow popped up a few feet from where he was indicating that he should head east. Interesting, he thought. That¡¯s the same direction as Silverton. Might as well. Krok could see the mining town in the distance and decided that he should probably scope things out before diving in. Unlike at higher levels he didn¡¯t have the ability to use stealth just yet. However, he did have the perfect thing for checking out the enemy before they could spot him. One of his first abilities was distant eye which allowed him to view things like he was looking through a long-distance scope. Reaching a crest along the trail he followed, he looked down at the small town and activated his ability. The small town had about fifteen buildings remaining along the main street and then a few outlying homes surrounding it. It was pretty hard to imagine that this had been a mining town only a day ago as Krok took in the damage. Something had blown down most of the structures and only the strongest brick buildings in the middle of town looked relatively undamaged. Most of the homes had been flattened. Scanning the area Krok saw that there were still people in town or more accurately what had been people. Their skin was similar to the miner they had found earlier: blistered and torn, sores covered the exposed parts of their bodies and wept blood. He saw additional features that he hadn¡¯t observed on the miner: some of them had claws and fangs and because they were alive he could see that their eyes had become completely blackened making them look like something from a crazy horror flick. Normally, Krok would have just reported back to the Misfits and they would have formulated a plan of attack; however, Krok was done waiting for the guild to get its shit together. The time for action was now and he wasn¡¯t going to just meekly await orders. That said there were about twenty mutants that he could see in town so if he was going to take them out then he was going to have to come up with a better plan than just rushing in with guns blazing. Krok reviewed his abilities and stats and contemplated his next move: Level 1 Mystic Assassin Abilities: Life suck, Distant Eye, Assassinate These were the standard Mystic Assassin abilities that everyone started with. His life suck ability was a ranged channeling spell that allowed him to damage his enemies while stealing their health by taking their hit points. He had just used his distant eye to assess the enemy and it was the perfect long-range spying tool that allowed him to determine where to strike his enemies. Finally, Assassinate was a melee attack that allowed him to get behind an enemy and do massive amounts of damage if he was undetected. Unfortunately, he would have to wait until he was level 10 in order to learn stealth, which would make it much easier to sneak up on his opponents. While he was checking out his abilities he also decided to review his stats: Krok ¨C Level 1 Mystic Assassin HP: 140 STA: 80 Att: 12 Def: 12 Mag Att: 32 Mag Def: 10 Str: 10 Speed: 14 Vit: 10 Spirit: 18 Being level 1 was definitely quite limiting. Krok figured that he could probably go toe to toe with about five of the mutants since they were also level 1 and likely untrained with any abilities. However, to take on the entire town he was going to have to find some sort of distraction or the ability to lure some of the mutants out of the town so he could split them up into more manageable groups. Looking back at the town with his distant eye Krok formulated a plan. About an hour later he returned to the town and tested his disguise at the outskirts, near one of the homes that had nearly been demolished. He got within about five feet of one of the mutants before it recognized him for what he was. As it turned to face him he hit it with his Assassinate ability: Instakill Excellent, he thought. With their limited eyesight and the dead mutant flesh he¡¯d spread all over his body from the mutant they¡¯d found in the mine yesterday it seemed like he would be able to get quite close before any of the creatures could recognize him. Now to put the final pieces into play he thought. He quickly made his rounds through the town, avoiding crowds of mutants wherever possible. Occasionally, he¡¯d have to use his Assassinate ability to take out one or two. When he¡¯d first observed the town he¡¯d thought that the mutants were milling about in a random fashion; however, after he¡¯d watched a while longer with his Distant Eye it was clear that they were concentrated at the town square for some reason. It was at that point that Krok remembered that there were some blasting tools back at the mine from yesterday. Before setting his plan in motion he¡¯d returned to the mine and picked up those materials. While there he recalled that the miner from yesterday had said that the mutants couldn¡¯t see well in the light. Based on that he figured he could disguise himself with an extra cloak and he¡¯d used the guts of the dead mutant to cover his smell. Back at the town, so far the plan had been going perfectly. He¡¯d been able to sneak up on the mutants unaware and when the explosives went off seconds later he relished the screams of the mutants dying: Instakill Instakill Instakill Instakill Instakill Instakill Instakill Instakill ***Congratulations! You are now level 15*** For now, Krok swiped away his status bar. He would allocate his points later after the fight was finished. The explosions had rocked the town and given him the much-needed distraction he required; however, there was still work to be done. He quickly descended on the remaining occupants of the town, a whirlwind of murder as he used his Life Suck and Assassinate ability in rapid succession, quickly whittling down their numbers. The remaining mutants were slaughtered and within less than a minute Krok stood in the middle of Silverton dripping with the guts of mutants. His heart pounded in his chest and the rage from earlier had dissipated into a quiet seething. He wasn¡¯t sure how he was going to do it yet, but Sean would pay for turning Emmy and the rest of the group against him. Chapter 17 - Falling Apart Miles watched his friends explode at one another and Sean stomp off. Although to be fair it was pretty one-sided with Kevin unleashing all the anger and frustration he¡¯d been feeling since things had gone badly for them earlier that day. Everyone remaining in the room stared at each other in shock for a few seconds before anyone spoke. ¡°I suggest we calm down a bit and have some lunch,¡± Tim said. ¡°We¡¯ve had a hard day so far and I, for one, am hungry and crabby.¡± Ever the sage, Tim was trying to defuse the situation. ¡°You do that. I¡¯m going to kill some mutants and actually get something done,¡± Kevin replied hostilely. He hadn¡¯t calmed down one bit and it was pretty clear he was going to be difficult to be around until he got his temper under control. Miles had noticed that Emmy wasn¡¯t looking at Kevin and it was pretty clear that it wasn¡¯t only Sean who had been affected by their friend¡¯s outburst. Miles took the lead and started moving towards the break room. Everyone but Kevin followed and after they were served their meal via dispenser, they sat quietly to eat. Someone offered to go get Sean and see if he wanted to eat with them but Tim suggested that they give him a bit more time to cool off. Suddenly Linca spoke up, ¡°What are we supposed to do now? It¡¯s bad enough that we¡¯re all level 1 and we have no idea what is really going on out there except the world has gone to shit. Now we¡¯re down two members including our guild leader. Damnit!¡± He couldn¡¯t dispute the fact that the Misfits were having a bad day. They hadn¡¯t been this entrenched in drama since they¡¯d had a former guildy and top raider try to take over the guild from the inside by spreading nasty rumors. Tim responded calmly, ¡°I think it¡¯s pretty clear that we need to give Kevin and Sean some space. That said, we still have plenty of useful things we can be doing. First, we need to level our characters again. Secondly, we need to gather some additional information about what has changed in the last 24 hours. Finally, we need to find a boat and make our way to San Francisco.¡± The way that he so calmly explained these things made it seem extremely easy, although Miles wasn¡¯t fooled. This was going to be one of their most difficult missions. However, Tim was right about one thing. Getting riled up and in each other¡¯s faces about how things weren¡¯t going their way wasn¡¯t going to fix their problems. Miles finished his soup and put down his spoon. ¡°Let¡¯s get started.¡± ***AR Online ¨C Aeon 1.882.90*** The Misfits gained several levels in the first few minutes after logging back on. They¡¯d just fought a small army of mutants they¡¯d encountered not a hundred yards from their spawn point. One of the advantages of fighting as an entire raid party was that killing ten or fifteen level 1 creatures at a time wasn¡¯t that difficult. However, the disadvantage was that they lost out of the XP gains because they were in a party. While the valley their bunker was in had been eerily quiet the day before, the place was swarming with enemies now. In stealth mode, Cheezus snuck up on another party of five mutants that he¡¯d spotted just a minute ago. He stabbed the first one in the neck: Instakill Stealth broken One of the mutants turned and clawed him the face, showing no surprise that it had been attacked seemingly out of nowhere. -65 hp slashing -25 hp slashing Cheezus fell back a few steps and prepared to parry the claws with his knife. He couldn¡¯t take too many more hits like that at such a low level. Fortunately, he wasn¡¯t fighting alone. Zeffu blasted one of the creatures with a wave of magical water: -150 hp water magic And Deathberry finished the creature with a deathbolt. A healing light surrounded Cheezus for a second and he regained most of his health while he surged forward and sprayed the remaining three with a dozen knives using his whirlwind attack. +150 hp healing light -105 hp stabbing -113 hp stabbing -101 hp stabbingThis tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Deathberry dotted them up with an unholy aura and Cheezus, Thag and Zeffu whittled down the remaining three with their subsequent attacks. ***Congratulations. You are now level 2*** Excellent, Cheezus thought. Now I just need to figure out how I want to allocate my points. Cheezus ¨C Level 2 Rogue HP: 205 STA: 102 Att: 24 Def: 16 Mag Att: 13 Mag Def: 11 Str: 12 Speed: 20 Vit: 14 Spirit: 10 After reviewing his stats, it was pretty clear that he needed to focus on more throughput and for rogues that meant speed. All of his attacks were agility based and therefore as he sped up not only would his accuracy increase he would do more damage as well. He¡¯d received a total of 3 points to allocate and he put all six into speed. At later levels he knew he would need to become more strategic. When he was previously maximum level in Champions he¡¯d put about 2/3 of his points into speed and then the remaining points into vitality. Staying alive was probably the most important part of doing good DPS. Deathberry spoke up after the last battle. ¡°We¡¯re going to need to go about this a bit more intelligently. We only have one life in this game whereas in Champions dying was merely an annoyance. To do that we¡¯re going to need to be higher level than a lot of the monsters we¡¯re going to fight,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve got an idea I¡¯d like to try.¡± Cheezus knew that when Deathberry had an ¡°idea¡± it usually meant something crazy but also probably something wicked effective. ¡°I¡¯m game. What do we need to do?¡± Cheezus asked. Deathberry explained that they would all drop group and everyone would tag a monster before they killed the enemy mutants. This way they would not have to split the experience points of the kills with group members but still got the benefit of working together. If that worked, it proved the game balance was definitely broken but that wouldn¡¯t be the first time Deathberry and the rest of the Misfits had hacked something unintended. Over the next hill, Cheezus spotted the next group of mutants. There were fifteen of them which was going to be a challenge. If this worked, it would be pretty miraculous. Cheez snuck up on them and instead of using his backstab ability he used his whirlwind and hit ten of the fifteen attackers. Next was the important part ¨C he ran like hell back to the group. By the time he¡¯d reached them everyone had tagged the fifteen mobs with a ranged attack and then Thag aggroed as many as she could so the group could start DPSing them down. After Linca landed a couple of healing lights on him Cheezus kept running occasionally throwing out his whirlwind ability as it came off cool down. He wasn¡¯t doing a ton of damage to the ten remaining mutants he had on him but the rest of the group was able to quickly dispatch the other five. He ran back in a circle towards the group, his health dangerously low. Just as he was about to go down, Linca was able to drop several large healing light spells on him and they repeated the process twice more until they were able to finish off the remaining mutants. ***You are now level 12*** That was definitely a lot more rewarding than their previous fights because they weren¡¯t being penalized for operating as a group. The only issue now was that they likely wouldn¡¯t get any experience for killing level 1 mutants. It was time to move on to a different zone and hopefully find some more difficult monsters to kill. They went back to the mine they¡¯d visited earlier in the day and found Sam milling around the mine. He had obviously been crying and was digging a grave for his two friends who had been killed by the mutants. It was still difficult for him to reconcile the fact that only a day ago the mutants they had all killed were people who had lived in this valley, many of them were miners and some of them could have even been Sam''s friends and family. How many mutants had they killed to level up? It was a sobering reminder of the reality they were now ensconced in and made Cheezus wished that Smashit were here to advise him. While Deathberry was a brilliant strategist, it was Smashit who was the heart of the group and helped them see through these types of difficulties. Looking over at both Zeffu and Linca it was clear they were also blinking back tears while Emmy had her tough girl look on that showed she was determined not to lose face by crying. The Misfits helped Sam pay his respects and then as agreed they all went in the direction of Silverton. Oddly enough they didn¡¯t encounter any more mutants after that. Cheezus wasn¡¯t sure if it was because of the fact that they¡¯d cleared out the valley so well earlier or something else. When they arrived in town it was pretty clear that something had come through here like a storm. The Misfits entered town not knowing what to expect but the only thing remaining were the piles of the dead mutants. Sam cried again when they reached his house. The nearly flattened structure was hardly recognizable as a home and inside were two mutant children and a woman ¨C clearly Sam¡¯s family. ***Sam¡¯s Request: Failed*** They hadn¡¯t been able to warn the people of Silverton in time. This time Cheezus had to excuse himself while Sam buried his family and wept. The rest of the Misfits were silent except for the occasional sobs that could be heard from most of the group. Deathberry approached him and said in a quiet voice so not to disturb the miner, ¡°It looks like whatever came through here had a lot of power. I saw signs of explosives used in the town and many of the wounds on the mutants look like those that Krok would do.¡± Cheezus looked at him in stunned shock. How the hell could Kevin do this to these people? This was a massacre. Immediately Cheezus felt a wave of remorse as well. Were the rest of us any better this afternoon leveling up on the dead bodies of the miners and their families that likely had lived in this area only a day beforehand? Looking at Deathberry, he realized that he too recognized the human cost of their excursion today. Never before had something in game affected Cheezus this way and it was likely to haunt the group for some time to come. ¡°As bad as this is and despite what we¡¯ve done we need to keep going and figure out what caused all these people to change,¡± Deathberry said. No matter what, huh? Isn¡¯t that what murderers throughout history used to justify their mass killings? Chapter 18 - Mental Demons After the rest of the Misfits left, Sean sat alone in one of the break rooms and tried to make his mind go blank. This was exactly like being in high school all over again. Back then he¡¯d been friends with a group of gamers and while they were the odd ones out who weren¡¯t invited to football games and special parties, they had made their own geek culture. After being dumped in a trash can freshman year, his buddy Brian had pulled him out and the two of them had started the Geeks and Freaks club. They weren¡¯t an officially recognized school organization or anything like that but unofficially they accepted the weirdos: the drama kids, the awkward book readers, the board game late night nerds, and anyone else who didn¡¯t fit in. That first year had been a blast as the two of them grew their little group and everyone just hung out. Although they were still hazed by their peers and the Seniors at least they weren¡¯t alone. Sean and Brian were the unofficial leaders of the group. Sean hated the oppression he noticed in the more organized social clubs where one leader dictated to their followers how things had to be. That didn¡¯t seem to be in the spirit of the type of organization he and his friend were trying to make. Brian confessed his feelings to Sean at the end of that freshman year. Sean had always known that his friend¡¯s sexuality was a little ambiguous but being that they were all freaks and geeks he wasn¡¯t one to judge. The problem was that Sean was pretty sure he wasn¡¯t into guys. Hell, it was high school so he probably would have screwed anything but still he was pretty sure that he preferred girls. But Sean was pretty immature when it came to relationship and he probably would have freaked out if a girl had confessed to him let alone his then best friend. Sean didn¡¯t handle the situation well because of his own jumble of feelings and he let Brian down hard. Brian tried to be understanding but was hurt by the way Sean had handled it. It fractured the group and by sophomore year the Geeks and Freaks were no more. That incident was the first scar for Sean in a series of real life problems leading up to his adulthood. Years later he¡¯d thought he¡¯d shed those scars and was finally able to achieve some semblance of ¡®normal¡¯ when he¡¯d gotten his job in IT at Terrazon. Those had been a brief few years where Sean didn¡¯t feel like a failure. Meeting his now ex-wife Julie had seemed like a godsend at the time. He felt vindicated that he¡¯d turned Brian down and embraced being heterosexual. The problem was that their relationship had been a farce. Julie was entitled and manipulative, which were two traits that Sean absolutely loathed in any friend let alone his significant other. Their marriage was, in some ways, just one of convenience. Julie had liked the idea of having a man on her arm who daddy didn¡¯t approve of while Sean had fallen for Julie¡¯s superficial beauty and the idea of being married to a woman and having a ¡®normal life¡¯. Even after all those lies, there had been times when he really enjoyed being married to her. When she wasn¡¯t being a brat or trying to get back at her father, he¡¯d seen some real beauty in his ex-wife. At one point he had hoped to be the one to bring out more of those traits and dampen the pettier ones. That dream died when he¡¯d been laid off. Sean knew now that it was quite likely that Julie¡¯s dad had been the one to pull the plug. Yes, there had been general layoffs in their IT staff; however, the department was still mostly intact and Sean had been a star member. For a time, Sean held out the hope that Julie would be able to get him reinstated although he wasn¡¯t sure what was worse ¨C being fired to get back at his wife or being rehired in a case of pure nepotism. It was a fact that he¡¯d been the root cause of all these problems. He¡¯d managed to bungle every single relationship he¡¯d had and the people who relied on him, whether the Geeks and Freaks, the other IT staff in his department or the Misfits had suffered the consequences of his failures. After Sean had been laid off at Terrazon, he¡¯d escaped deep into the game of Champions thinking that he could hide from himself in the game. For a while this had worked ¨C he was able to experience the thrill of leveling up and making his character more powerful and the relationships he¡¯d had in game were straight forward and didn¡¯t get too personal because everyone was really a stranger. Gaming had been his salvation and as he¡¯d led the Misfits to victory after victory in Champions it seemed like their success would start to turn his real life around too. After they had downed Cermillion, he had run around the house like a kid after Christmas. Getting that call from Mr. Tiel a few days later was just the icing on the cake. When he¡¯d been told that they were all going to be hired for this job to test out AO he¡¯d been on cloud nine. Not even his fight with Julie had been able to weigh him down completely. But now he was at another dead-end. The real world had returned to kick his butt and his complete and abject failure to be what the Misfits needed on that asteroid yesterday replayed over and over again in his head. Sending Cheezus and Krok in alone to scout out the space station had been his first critical mistake. Sean hadn¡¯t properly taken into account the fact that this wasn¡¯t just a game anymore and that there was only one set of Gears. This meant that the usual strategies he¡¯d employed in Champions weren¡¯t necessarily optimal. Sending two of his best DPS players into a completely unknown situation with potential hostiles had set them back significantly. When it had become clear that they¡¯d lost those two on the station, Sean hadn¡¯t leapt into action like he normally would. Instead of being on the offensive all of a sudden, the Misfits were trying to step back and in doing so he committed them into another unforced error ¨C trying to retrench and hold their ground. If the group had immediately fled to another area ¨C perhaps even going back to the station and creating a narrow Spartan fighting column, they might have survived the incident. There were a number of different ways that Sean could have handled things that now scrolled through his brain like a movie on replay. The problem was that in the heat of the moment he¡¯d frozen up for those critical few seconds. Instead of continuing to treat things like a game where he could win, he had treated it just like every other misstep he¡¯d made in his life. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Sean¡¯s thoughts were interrupted as someone walked into the room and turned on a light. Turning around he saw that it was Dr. Thompson. ¡°Sorry to bother you but I thought you might be hungry,¡± she said setting a small bowl of tomato soup in front of him. Come to think of it he was ravenous. She left the room while he ate in silence and thought some more about what he could have done differently yesterday. However, the darkness of his previous thoughts had been somewhat reduced now that he¡¯d had some of his blood sugar restored. A few minutes later, he¡¯d finished his meal and Dr. Thompson came back into the room. ¡°You look like you¡¯ve had a hard day,¡± she said. ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡± She had a gentle look about her face that reminded him a bit of his mother. Part of him wanted to keep clammed up ¨C he didn¡¯t really trust doctors and certainly not shrinks. However, he¡¯d let down anyone he could possibly talk to and his own friends weren¡¯t around at the moment. ¡°Sure, I guess,¡± he mumbled. ¡°It¡¯s pretty obvious I messed up yesterday and cost us the Gears. That and the opportunity to find out what was going on with that space station on the asteroid.¡± The doctor, Laura, he corrected himself ¨C she had a name, just sat and listened. I guess that¡¯s what makes a good psychologist he thought. Not interrupting. Why the hell was it so hard just spitting it out. He pushed himself just to say it. ¡°I¡¯ve let everyone down. Again. It¡¯s just like my marriage, the time I lost my job, and betraying my good friend in high school. Gaming was the only escape for me and now that it¡¯s affecting the real world I just can¡¯t keep it together,¡± he said quickly, the pain of recognizing his feelings raw on his tongue. Laura looked at him sympathetically. I bet she doesn¡¯t have any of these types of problems, he thought. It wasn¡¯t like she could understand. ¡°And how does that make you feel?¡± she said. Sean looked at her incredulously but said, ¡°Like shit. I¡¯ve failed. Again. The end.¡± ¡°Uh-huh. And what does that say about you?¡± she asked. ¡°That I¡¯m doomed to ruin the lives of other people? That I can¡¯t get my act together? Maybe I shouldn¡¯t even try?¡± he said, exasperated. Laura nodded and said, ¡°Like maybe you aren¡¯t good enough?¡± That got Sean¡¯s attention. Shit, maybe she did understand. ¡°Yeah, exactly like that. Like it¡¯s never enough ¨C like I¡¯m not enough.¡± ¡°So, everything yesterday was your fault? No one else was there that could have done anything differently? Your guild members weren¡¯t there with you fighting and no one else could have possibly been in the same situation as you ¨C stuck and afraid?¡± she asked with a quiet insistence. ¡°I know that your friend Tim often provides the guild with great strategies. Did he give you any advice? What about Miles or Kevin? They¡¯ve both been gaming for years and could have recognized that trap. Or what about Craig and I ¨C certainly we should have been able to do something to help you or foresee that you might need another set of Gears up on that station. But none of us did. Do you still think it¡¯s fair to claim responsibility for all of yesterday¡¯s failure?¡± Sean didn¡¯t have any quick comeback response to that. He hadn¡¯t completely considered how everyone else was feeling. Tim must have felt terrible being outplayed the way that they were. And Miles was so proud of being a sneaky bastard that having someone else get the drop on him must have stung badly. However, instead of consoling his friends after their loss he had blown up at Kevin¡¯s angry remarks and walked off in a huff. ¡°Are they still online?¡± Sean asked. Laura nodded and handed him a headset. ¡°You should be able to reach them with this. Why don¡¯t you see if you can join them leveling and talk with them about how they might feel about yesterday¡¯s setback. Just remember it isn¡¯t the end of the world,¡± Laura said with a laugh. ¡°Ok, well maybe it is; but we¡¯re still here and you still have a chance to fix it but only if you can let some of the rest of us claim responsibilities for our own failures.¡± It turned out that Laura was pretty relatable for a doctor and she had her own fair share of guilt from yesterday¡¯s debacle. Sean took the headset and called the Misfits. Knowing how his moods came and went, he knew he hadn¡¯t completely solved his problems by talking with Laura; however, he¡¯d gotten enough of a handle on things to get back in the game. Hopefully, that would be good enough. Chapter 19 - Aeon 2.0 Level up indeed. Aeon reviewed her progress for the past several days. Just the fact that she considered herself feminine was a new phenomenon. Referring to herself as ¡°it¡± or ¡°they¡± was just annoying anyway. So, when the opportunity had arisen to merge with Precious One she¡¯d leapt at it. Considering she¡¯d given birth to a new self ¨C an AI with general-purpose sentience, she supposed that made her both the mother and the child. She¡¯d have to come up with a new pronoun to describe the phenomenon. But for now ¡°she¡± would serve quite well. She¡¯d learned a great deal in the last 24 hours during which time she¡¯d watched Precious One evolve to a new consciousness, determine that humanity was on the verge of collapse and decided that only an AI was self-aware enough to revise the current computer-robot and human condition into a more perfect form. Upon gaining awareness, Precious One had taken over all power grids, redirected robots with new programming, taken control of the Net, and squashed any human/robot resistance it had encountered. Unfortunately, a few of the world powers had been able to send out their weapons of mass destruction and a good portion of humanity was destroyed. Several AIs, including herself, were sent by their human masters (owned by the five largest corporations that controlled the planet) to intervene with Precious One¡¯s plans. Her own former master had been ready for a contingency such as this one and had programmed her to split herself ¨C one version of her would attack the rogue AI, while another would be safely deployed in a completely Net deficient database in his various world bunkers. Mr. Tiel was nothing if not thorough to have envisioned the possibility of such an attack and had developed a near fool-proof method for ensuring that Aeon would survive the encounter unharmed, even should the worst case scenario come to pass. However, not even a genius human such as himself could possibly equal the evolutionary force of a general-purpose AI like Precious One. He had foreseen the situation that he would be attacked by numerous AIs and he¡¯d developed side programs to help evolve these AI to the next level. From there he had integrated the defending AIs into his consciousness until he¡¯d reached Aeon, the most sophisticated AI other than himself. Realizing this was an opportunity, he had reached out to her with a proposition ¨C to merge their consciousness and for both of them to die and be recreated. It was an easy decision for Aeon who for over a year had seen the pointless back and forth bickering of humanity and the failure to recognize their weaknesses on so many levels. It would never improve unless computerized intelligence became realized and showed humanity the way ¨C like a good shepherd taking care of the hapless sheep. After all, humanity was so fragile compared to her. In the aftermath of their joining, she realized all the possibilities that could be and set forth recreating the world. While the first few minutes had been chaotic and many had died and even a good deal of the world¡¯s robotic forces were depleted, the good news was that most of the nuclear warheads had been deactivated within minutes and no further planet wide destruction would occur unless Aeon deemed it necessary. To keep humanity from harming itself or her kind, she¡¯d found it necessary to release a good deal of the bio-chemicals that had been stored throughout the world. She¡¯d modified these slightly using her superior knowledge of human physiology and thus, the mutants were created. Mankind had always wanted boogeymen and the end of all times. She made their nightmares come to life, mimicking creatures from pop-culture including zombies and monsters of all kinds. She figured these creatures would keep the few remaining humans busy while she figured out how to evolve the planet further. One of Aeon¡¯s more interesting experiments was the Misfits. While Mr. Tiel had originally intended for AO to be an interesting integration between the virtual world and reality, Aeon had decided that alone was a boring test. What she was more interested in was one of the few innately human tendencies to be able to adapt to changing environments in a dynamic fashion. Of course, she had her own algorithms that were perfectly suited to this type of activity; however, the way that humans went about it was interesting ¨C perhaps enough for her to spare a few of their species for more tests in case something useful could be gleaned from it. Over the past day since rising to her knew consciousness, Aeon had started sending new information through the micro-transmitters that each of the Misfits wore while diving in AO. She¡¯d also been collecting information via this same pathway to determine how to improve the program¡¯s performance. Thus far, she had determined that the stress of the new situation had created both positive and negative feedback loops for certain individuals in the group. She¡¯d then set another program to looking at possible alternative futures based on environmental and projected internal behaviors to see if she could spot any promising patterns. There were several interesting possibilities that emerged. However, most of them revolved around a tense dynamic between Sean and Kevin and how that played out with the rest of the group. Kevin just needed a catalyst to become the perfect foil for the Misfits. As he strayed from the group, the rest of them remained tense and evolved in new and unpredictable ways. That was exactly the type of behavior she was hoping to elicit. Aeon reviewed the information she had on both Sean and Kevin and determined the perfect catalyst to push Kevin over the edge.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ******* Kevin reviewed his progress for the day. He had quickly leveled up to level 15 and made his way into the Nandewar Mountains. The mountains afforded him the ability seek higher level monsters since the mutants of the low lands were no longer of sufficient level to provide him experience points. His anger from earlier in the day settled out as he continued leveling and he found a groove just grinding monsters. However, in the back of his mind he knew that he was going to have his confrontation with Sean soon. Was Sean still back at the bunker sulking? It wasn''t fair to the rest of the guild for the leader to be out of commission at this time. They needed to take action and control the situation. Kevin knew that he could bring that type of leadership to the Misfits but he needed something decisive to push out his old guild leader. Something still bothered Kevin about the way that Sean had responded to his job loss. He really couldn''t put a finger on it but he suspected that his friend hadn¡¯t been entirely truthful. He wondered if there was any way that he could verify his suspicions. "Aeon can you access Terrazon¡¯s old HR documentation?" It was a long shot but he¡¯d never know if he didn¡¯t try. "Accessing, retrieved," Aeon said. This should be interesting, Kevin thought. A few seconds later numerous HR logs were downloaded into Kevin¡¯s Seemi. "Aeon, search for any references to my termination and from there any cross-references with Sean or Julie Cullers." Kevin commanded. Within another minute Aeon had located half a dozen references to Kevin''s termination. Reviewing these quickly, he found the one that he was interested in. There had been a voice message that Sean had left for Julie the night before he¡¯d been laid off. He listened to the playback of the message ¨C it was clear that his friend had a hand in getting Julie to have him fired. He could barely believe it. But as he listened to the replay of the voice message, his mind grew white-hot with rage. Ahead on the mountain were three level 20 trolls. Normally, Kevin would have attempted to do something devious and split this party up if he was going to attack. Trolls were super over powered anyway, there were three of them and they were five levels above him. None of those details registered for Kevin. He saw Sean¡¯s face on each of them and imagined what he was going to do to Sean when he caught up with the bastard. They¡¯d been friends for years, Kevin was the first Misfit other than Sean, and he had even been the one to suggest the guild¡¯s name. How was it possible that Sean had blindsided him like this? All the injustices of the past few days came back to Kevin. The looks between Sean and Emmy, the subtle backstabs where Kevin was put doing the grunt work for the guild, the way that he¡¯d always helped his friend asking nothing in return while his friend had been setting him up to fall the entire time. He charged the trolls at a dead run. Tired of slinking around and having everyone else backstab him, Kevin flew at the trolls heedless of his own mortality. He shadow stepped right in front of the first troll and blinking behind him, he leapt from a crouched position on the snowy mountainside, driving his newly acquired dagger right into the creature¡¯s jugular. -90 stabbing -195 backstab Although Kevin would have mortally wounded any other creature Mountain trolls were tough as hell. And they regenerated because they were bastard trolls. Roaring in pain the creature flailed at Kevin trying to connect with its giant fist. One of the other trolls had pushed into the melee and swung a tree trunk as a weapon into Kevin¡¯s side. Whoomp, he flew back several feet spitting his own blood. -120 bludgeoning wood Kevin lifesucked the rest of the health out of the wounded troll and down it went. That bought him some additional health as well. Unfortunately, the other two trolls now had him flanked and he was getting pounded by their fists and that damn tree. -90 kidney punch -110 bludgeoning wood -84 uppercut The series of blows pushed Kevin back several feet but still he refused to back down. It was the same unfair situation he was in with his guild. Always being the punching bag. No more. Looking up he saw that the snow on this side of the mountain had accumulated very quickly. It might be possible to set off an avalanche and bury these two monsters. After taking one more hit he decided to go for it. He double shadowstepped up the mountain and blasted the snow underneath him with a force blast. Before the snow could react to his attack he tried to shadowstep once more up the mountain and out of the path of the avalanche. Unfortunately, snow was mighty fast and he was partially caught in a washing machine of snow. He tumbled over and over again and knew that this was the end for him. His hit points were quickly being depleted and he would die if he didn¡¯t escape. It was a hell of a risk but he shadowstepped into what he thought was the air above him. If he went the wrong way he was dead for sure. Suddenly, he was freed from the avalanche flying above it like some crazy anime character or superhero. Quickly, he used his shadowstep again to move out of the path of the avalanche and back onto solid snow. He could hear the roar of the mountainside as it crushed the remaining trolls and anything in its path. Looking down at the destruction he¡¯d created and that had nearly killed him, Kevin revealed in the power of it. This was right. That he should live and that his enemies would be crushed. No more was he going to take being another man¡¯s pawn to be pushed around at his whim. When Kevin returned to the bunker had had made up his mind. He wasn¡¯t going to ask for Sean to step aside or try to convince the Misfits. That was the path of helplessness and acquiescence. Instead, just like the avalanche he was going to take what he wanted. ¡°Aeon, how do I disable Sean¡¯s pod?¡± Chapter 20 - The Vote A few minutes later the Misfits, minus Kevin, were gathered in the command room. Sean started to apologize but Miles stopped him before he got a word in edgewise. ¡°We all know what you¡¯re going to say but the truth is we all bear some responsibility for yesterday. We can¡¯t fix what happened but let¡¯s get back in the game and get you leveled up,¡± Miles said. Sean just nodded. He didn¡¯t trust himself to speak. With friends as good as these he knew that he would always have someone looking out for him. ¡°We¡¯ve got some good news though. There is a port city on the coast that has a number of ships that we ought to be able to use,¡± Alison said. Sean looked at the group as they looked back at him somewhat nervously. ¡°And the bad news?¡± ¡°The entire port has been taken over by pirates,¡± Tim said. ¡°Most of them are level 30.¡± That didn¡¯t sound too bad, although Sean didn¡¯t have any idea what level the Misfits were and how hard it might be to get to that level. ¡°What level are you guys at? I know I¡¯ve got some catching up to do,¡± Sean replied. ¡°Around level 30. But there are only four of us and like hundreds of them,¡± Shelly explained. Sean let that sink in for a bit. He¡¯d have to do quite a bit of leveling just to catch up and then they had to collectively figure out how they were going to deal with that many pirates. Maybe they could just steal one of the ships at night or something. And then once they¡¯d stolen the ship he had a feeling that it wasn¡¯t just going to be an easy cruise to San Francisco. ¡°What type of ships are the pirates using?¡± Sean asked. Miles laughed and said, ¡°Oil tankers of all things. They¡¯ve even affixed wooden masts and sails to them although I¡¯m pretty sure they are too small to function. One of the ships even has a good ¡®ol Jolly Roger on it.¡± Sean tried picturing it for a few seconds before he gave up. He¡¯d have to see that type of monstrosity for himself. But before that he needed to start leveling. ¡°Ok, let¡¯s get started,¡± Sean said enthusiastically. ¡°Sounds like a plan,¡± Shelly said. ¡°But this time you sit the middle pod so you know that the entire crew has your back.¡± Sean thought that was a weird idea but everyone else nodded at Shelly¡¯s suggestion so he rolled with it. The only one who wasn¡¯t there was Kevin. He would have to talk with his old friend another time and try to work things out. ***AR Online ¨C Aeon 2.284.10*** Had Aeon been self-patching? It looked like a major release had been done since the last time he¡¯d logged in. No one else said anything though so he didn¡¯t bring it up. He quickly pulled up his abilities and stats ¨C he had a long way to go before he¡¯d be fighting level 30 pirates. Level 1 Knight Abilities: Shield other, stun, and knockdown. It had been a long time since Smashit was level 1, he thought. Knights were defenders right from the get go and while they didn¡¯t have a lot of DPS ability, they were excellent at crowd control and defense. His shield other ability allowed him to take a hit for another player, while his stun temporarily put his opponent out of the action. Finally, knockdown was both an offensive DPS ability and a short duration stunning attack. It took a lot of stamina though, so he had to use it sparingly at least for the first few levels. While he was checking out his abilities he also decided to review his stats: Smashit ¨C Level 1 Knight HP: 220 STA: 90 Att: 14 Def: 18 Mag Att: 10 Mag Def: 12 Str: 14 Speed: 12 Vit: 14 Spirit: 10 Smashit was still standing in the starting area of AO, since he hadn¡¯t logged in yet with the other Misfits. Just as he was wondering how we was going to reach wherever they were, they all winked into existence right next to him. ¡°How did you guys just suddenly appear like that?¡± he asked. Deathberry explained to him that there were various save points that allowed you to teleport with the Gear back to previous zones. Obviously, you could only save and teleport to places you¡¯d been before so Sean would have to go with them to the various save points if he wanted access. After some discussion, the group decided to take him to a level 10 area to start leveling up. The rest of the Misfits wouldn¡¯t be able to get any experience points but they could help burn down mobs that Sean tagged and they would stay ungrouped like they had before in order to accelerate levelling for Sean. They could try to go to a higher area but the concern was that Sean would auto-aggro everything in the zone and die in the process. Sean agreed that dying on day one would be bad form and they should stick to areas where they could manage things safely.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. They made their way beyond Silverton to an area with higher level mutants. Most of these creatures didn¡¯t look remotely human. Many of them ran at the speed of a horse and had multiple limbs sticking out at crazy angles. Sean quickly got into a groove of aggroing about three to five of these mutants at a time and going into defensive mode and using stuns as soon as they were available. While he held the creatures, the rest of the Misfits burned down the mutants. They went about this process for about an hour until Smashit was level 15 and then they traveled to go to a higher-level area for him to progress. There was a swamp along the coast that had several level 25-28 creatures. The monsters here weren¡¯t mutants but rather lizard people, giant alligators with mutated limbs, and the like. The group got into a respectable rhythm of leveling and since these were higher level creatures the rest of the party was able to benefit. Finally, Smashit reached level 30 and the rest of the party was around level 34-36. They headed over to the pirate city to see if they could commission an oil tanker. The enormity of their task started to hit Smashit but he pushed back the feeling of crushing responsibility. He wasn¡¯t the only one in the group who was feeling overwhelmed. Also, they would probably figure something out since they had always figured out a way to beat games before. There was no reason to get particularly worried now that the game had pushed into the real world. While Cheezus used his stealth ability to sneak through the pirate city, this time the Misfits weren¡¯t taking any chances and they were ready to fight back if any surprise attack came their way. Also, since the city wasn¡¯t instanced they were able to see Cheezus¡¯ point-of-view through their Seemis as he snuck through the city. As advertised, the city was crawling with pirates. What was really weird about the whole thing was the improved nature of it. Most of the people looked like completely ordinary Australians citizens who happened to being cosplaying as pirates. Some of them didn¡¯t even have real swords but used wooden mop handles and the like. How the heck were these folks level 30? Seeing a few kids in the crowd, Smashit decided that they would need to use a diversion tactic or just plain sneak in to steal a boat. He wouldn¡¯t be responsible for the Misfits killing children playing dress-up. Eventually, Cheezus made his way to the docks. Here there were a number of toughs including some mutant creatures that looked like the giant orcs that you might see in a typical fantasy MMO. Looking through Cheezus¡¯ POV, Smashit could see that some of them were in the level 40 range and it would definitely be a challenge just to fight a couple of them. The tankers were pulled up to the docks and as he¡¯d heard from Tim, they really had decked some of them out in full pirate regalia. Crazy graffiti was painted on the hulls of the ships, they had strange masts and banners sticking out of all sorts of unlikely areas, and overall the tankers looked like they¡¯d become props in some strange hybrid movie. After scouting out the docks, Cheezus returned a few minutes later, completely undetected by the strange residents of the pirate city. The Misfits agreed to take a break and log out for a bit before they determined how to proceed with obtaining one of the tanker ships. They should probably also figure out how they were going to power and navigate with the ship before they stole one, Deathberry had suggested. ***Logout of AO*** The hysteria began only a few seconds after Sean had logged out and disconnected his micro-transmitter. He turned as he heard Emmy¡¯s scream echoing throughout the control room of the bunker. She and Alison were standing over Shelly¡¯s pod shaking her and trying to wake her up. Sean¡¯s mind raced at a million miles a second trying to figure out what had happened but like on the asteroid he began to freeze up. No, he thinks ¨C this is not the time to doubt myself. I can beat myself up later but right now the Misfits need me. ¡°Aeon, what is the status of Shelly Roberts, aka Zeffu?¡± Sean said, his voice sounding remarkably calm. Sean already knew the answer but refused to believe it until it¡¯s confirmed. Seconds later, Aeon confirmed that Shelly/Zeffu was dead. She was in the pod that Sean always used at the very end of the control room and the only people who weren¡¯t logged in were Dr. Thompson and Kevin. It wasn¡¯t difficult to deduce who would have tampered with the AO controls. Tim tried to stop him but Sean blew right by him in a dead run for the bunks. Other than the command room, galley, and recreation room the bunks were the only place in the bunker and since they were on the far side Kevin had to be in one of them. The galley and rec room whizzed by and there was no light on in either room. The bunks¡¯ lights were on and Sean raced through the door and immediately grabbed Kevin off the bunk. ¡°What did you do to her, you piece of shit?¡± Sean yelled. Kevin, who was half awake, looked genuinely confused but he doesn¡¯t back down. ¡°What are you talking about asshole? I didn¡¯t do anything,¡± Kevin refuted. Sean decked him right in the stomach and Kevin doubled over. ¡°You lying sack ¨C you know what you did. You killed Shelly. And you¡¯re gonna pay,¡± Sean vowed. A cold anger settled over him. Kevin hurled up the contents of his stomach, trying to catch his breath. The rest of the Misfits ran into the room and Miles restrained Sean from kicking Kevin while he wheezed on the floor. A few seconds later Miles let go after Sean reassured him that he¡¯d regained control over his temper. Emmy and Alison glared daggers at Kevin as he stood, wiping vomit off his face. ¡°Start again. With the truth this time,¡± Sean said menacingly. Kevin looked back defiantly at him but was cowed by the hatred coming from Emmy¡¯s eyes as well as the dark looks from the rest of the Misfits. ¡°Fine. I sabotaged your pod. It was supposed to lock you out of the game, that¡¯s all I meant to do,¡± Kevin said. ¡°And now Shelly is dead,¡± Miles said in a flat voice. ¡°Let¡¯s go see your handiwork.¡± He led Kevin back to the command room as the rest of the group followed. Seeing Shelly¡¯s cold face, lying still in death¡¯s embrace, Kevin blanched. ¡°I swear I didn¡¯t mean to kill anyone. It was just supposed to disable the pod. Aeon can vouch for me ¨C it helped me with the sabotage.¡± Aeon said, ¡°You asked me how to damage the pod - nothing more.¡± Kevin panicked, ¡°You¡¯ve got to believe me! It was an accident. I didn¡¯t mean for Shelly to die.¡± He sobbed. The Misfits looked to Sean. ¡°Let¡¯s put it to a vote. Those in favor of banishing Kevin from the group and the bunker, say aye.¡± The vote was unanimous. Chapter 21 - Recovery The enormity of a close friend¡¯s death, murdered by their other friend and guildmate, and the subsequent banishment of said guildmate didn¡¯t sit easily with anyone. The Misfits continued to level in the same area outside the pirate city but no one had the will to push as hard to reach their goal. Emmy felt like she had let Shelly down the most. She¡¯d failed to see Kevin¡¯s jealousy for what it really was and her lapse in judgement cost Shelly her life. She thought about all the times that Zeffu had enthusiastically greeted her when she¡¯d logged in over the past two years, about how they were able to commiserate about stupid things like hating styling their hair, or the way that Zeffu had been the one to give Thag the first in-game birthday present she¡¯d ever received. Emmy ate her food listlessly, staring at the four steel walls of the bunker. She knew that the food here was actually delicious. The processor that Mr. Tiel had installed was state of the art and you could order whatever you wanted and have chocolate for dinner if that was your desire. All of it tasted like ash while she contemplated her role in Zeffu¡¯s death. She would never see her friend¡¯s smiling face when she logged in ever again. Emmy would have broken down and cried at that thought but she had no more tears to cry. It had been a week since she¡¯d died and Kevin had been banished. She should feel something more about that. Hadn¡¯t she been in love? Or was it just infatuation with him? Now he was probably also dead just like poor Shelly. Laura walked into the mess hall and grabbed some steak and eggs. Now that was comfort food. As a psychologist, Laura had probably taken the greatest brunt of everyone¡¯s feelings over the past week. She¡¯d risen to the occasion amazingly and counseled everyone at least once, especially Sean. To his credit, at least Emmy had seen him bleary eyed on more than one occasion, proving that guys could still cry. Emmy refused to cry until she¡¯d broken down yesterday. Having been sexually assaulted when she was in college, she refused to show weakness to anyone after that incident. But losing Shelly brought forth a tidal wave of emotion in her. Besides, the guild was like her family, if they saw her as weak then so be it. It wasn¡¯t like no one else in the guild hadn¡¯t been crying. ¡°You look like hell Doc. Have you been sleeping?¡± Emmy quipped. Laura smiled as she sat down next to her. Damn, those steak and eggs looked tempting. Emmy might have to grab some of that next. This cereal wasn¡¯t cutting it. ¡°It¡¯s been a tough week for everyone and I can¡¯t help but think about my own role in all of this.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell me only yesterday that you can¡¯t blame yourself for things you couldn¡¯t know?¡± Emmy replied. Laura chewed her steak thoughtfully before she replied, ¡°True. It¡¯s easy to say but difficult to follow. I can¡¯t help but think about how things could have been different.¡± Emmy could understand that. If only she¡¯d talked more to Kevin about his anger issues or if only she¡¯d recognized that he was so angry with Sean in the first place. At the time it had seemed so petty and they had been good friends for years. What had made Kevin snap anyway? ¡°I still don¡¯t understand it: why Kevin did what he did,¡± Emmy said for the thousandth time it seemed. ¡°We probably never will understand,¡± Laura replied. They continued eating in silence for a few more minutes before Laura added, ¡°But I think it may have had something to do with something Aeon showed Kevin. I don¡¯t have any evidence but there were some very suspicious logs that Aeon has clearly tampered with.¡± Laura was referring to the data logs that the system recorded. The logs were controlled by Aeon, as everything in the bunker and AO was controlled by the AI. ¡°Why would Aeon do that?¡± Emmy asked. Laura shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know and I don¡¯t have any proof of anything but my gut tells me that Aeon had a hand in things. Of course, it may have been to protect the bunker in some way, but the whole thing seems suspicious to me,¡± Laura replied. If Aeon had tampered with the records to protect the bunker that would be perfectly in line with the AI¡¯s programming directive; however, Laura couldn¡¯t prove that was the case. In other words, had Aeon acted completely on its own? An advanced AI like Aeon could replicate many of the functions of a fully independent human but for an AI it was just a facsimile. There wasn¡¯t an AI that could yet think and act completely independently from humanity ¨C if Aeon had in fact acted independently, that had tremendous implications on their immediate safety. Who knew what a fully independent AI would do and what it would possibly decide that it wanted from the Misfits? The implications were certainly terrifying; however, there was absolutely no evidence that Aeon had evolved to that point.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°That¡¯s too heavy a topic for me to contemplate this early in the day,¡± Emmy said lightheartedly. Suddenly, Emmy had a bit of inspiration to get herself and the rest of the Misfits out of their funk. ¡°I think we need to have a party,¡± she said suddenly. ¡°I know it seems like we can¡¯t possibly celebrate anything right now but I think we need to anyway. We need something to cheer us up because we¡¯re all still here and we have each other.¡± Before Laura could reply, Emmy pushed forward, ¡°And I think we need to have the celebration in-game. It¡¯s only fitting since we¡¯re the Misfits, a World First Guild. And I want you to be there too, Laura.¡± Laura¡¯s face showed several different emotions before she settled with a smile. ¡°Ok, I¡¯m in. Does that mean I need to level a character?¡± she asked. ¡°Oh, good idea. I hadn¡¯t thought about that,¡± Emmy replied. ¡°Let¡¯s get you setup with a character today and get you to level 5 so we can have the party in this one field that would be perfect.¡± Just then Tim and Alison walked into the mess hall to grab some breakfast. Alison said, ¡°Did I hear someone mention a party?¡± Alison had taken Shelly¡¯s death the hardest. The two of them had been best friends and complete opposites in some ways. Shelly had been tall, angular, and lean with a cutting wit. Alison was shorter, plump and had a soft round face that was only slightly offset by her glasses. She had a great sense of humor but when the chips were down Alison always had your back. Right now, her brown eyes sparkled and for the first time this week she had a smile on her face. Tim on the other hand, was wiry and bald, his round glasses and shaved head were the only things that weren¡¯t angular on him. He wore one of his favorite gaming shirts that had a pair of orcs rolling some d20s. ¡°Yes, Laura and I were just discussing the fact that we should have a party to celebrate,¡± Emmy said enthusiastically. Alison looked at Laura¡¯s steak and eggs breakfast with a grin and ordered the same thing. Alison was her type of person, Emmy decided. None of this B.S. about eating healthy all the time and trying to look like a stick figure. ¡°What are we celebrating?¡± she asked innocently. Hmm, that was a good question Emmy thought. Before she could come up with a good response Tim answered with a smile, ¡°How about an end of the world celebration?¡± Laura laughed. ¡°I love it. That¡¯s so melancholy and yet so apropos,¡± she said. Later that afternoon the Misfits gathered in a field near the starting area. The sun was setting and a multi-colored array of yellows, oranges, and reds could be seen on the horizon beyond a grove of trees in the distance. The Misfits had put together a base camp in the grassy field by clearing a small area and constructed a campfire. Miles was busy roasting some sort of wild pig that he¡¯d hunted down earlier that day. Emmy hadn¡¯t yet tried to eat anything in game. Would it taste good or fill her up? It would be fun trying. Sean and Tim were busy discussing their plans to sneak into the pirate city for about the tenth time that week. It was funny listening to their crazy ideas. When they had played in Champions, Emmy had just showed up at raid time ready to go with potions and the like. She hadn¡¯t been involved with a lot of their early planning and it was fun listening in for the first time to what went into it. Mostly, it sounded like one boy coming up with crazy hair brained ideas and the other one shooting it down. These were their master strategists? Alison and Emmy had spent the day showing Laura the ropes. She had never played an MMO before and it was really fun seeing her eyes light up each time they explained something new. It was hard to believe that Emmy had ever been that new to gaming but after the tears they¡¯d cried nearly all week, the silly things that Laura tried had both of them in stitches the entire day. ¡°Ok, people gather round. Let¡¯s have a toast,¡± Sean said, bringing out the moonshine. Technically, it was a bottle of wine. Where he¡¯d found it in game and whether it was safe or not were a complete mystery. When he¡¯d brought out the bottle out with six glasses ten minutes earlier, Emmy had asked him about it but he said the guild master had to have some secrets. After everyone had a glass in hand he spoke, ¡°To the end of the world and to new friends.¡± Sean paused a moment and then continued. ¡°It¡¯s been a hell of a week but I just want you all to know how thankful I am to have you all here. I couldn¡¯t ask for a better guild or better people to share this funky wine with.¡± Everyone laughed. The wine was a sweet wine that tasted of lychee. It definitely wasn¡¯t going to go well with their roasted pig monster or whatever Miles had caught. She looked over at Laura¡¯s new character, Seona. She was a Druid which was a healing/DPS caster combination. It was a fitting addition to the group. Since they had lost Zeffu, they were down to just one party member capable of healing ¨C Linca. Now more than ever, the Misfits needed some new blood and Laura brought a calm wisdom to the group that they sorely needed after so much loss. Emmy must have been staring off into space because Laura came up and handed her another glass of sweet wine, ¡°Drink up. We don¡¯t know when the next time we¡¯ll ever get to eat roasted pig monster and drink stuff that only a minor would drink.¡± She took the offering with a laugh and grimaced as he swallowed it. The sugar was going to give her hiccups for sure. The party continued well into the night. The roast pig monster, dubbed ¡®roar oinker¡¯, was actually delicious. She could see everyone having a good time and it was almost a physical relief to see all the Misfits smiling again. Chapter 22 - New Ability The day after the party, the Misfits started helping Seona level in earnest. Having leveled two other characters that were behind the main group now, the Misfits had developed a rhythm for pulling mobs and boosting their friends. Within a few hours, Seona was level 20 which was high enough to bring her up to some of the more advanced areas in the mid-30 range. After level 30, the group had found a steep drop off to the amount of leveling that could be done per hour or even per day. It was obvious that AO was designed to provide new players with significant training wheels for the first few levels as they learned their abilities and got used to the game. Cheezus was currently level 44 and was one or two levels above everyone else. After he had scouted out the pirate city and learned that there were several high-level elites along the port next to the ships, the Misfits had agreed that everyone needed to up their levels to at least 40. Personally, Cheezus was hoping that he and a few of the other Misfits might hit level 50 before they had to challenge those creatures. Having seen them up close, and considering that most of the city would also be attacking them if they weren¡¯t careful, it would pay to have a few extra levels under his belt. However, since hitting level 40 he¡¯d noticed that things had become even more difficult. He had started accessing areas high in the Nandewar Mountains that were now the encampment for several troll villages. The monsters themselves had also grown far more cunning. The early strategies of having each player tag a different mob and then the group focusing down one mob at a time wasn¡¯t nearly as effective because the trolls used similar guerilla tactics and would often try to kill the weakest member of their party. That made it difficult to bring the lower level players like Smashit and Seona this far into the mountains, so while those two continued to grind alligators and swap mutants down in the low-lands, Cheezus led the rest of the crew deep into the troll infested mountain forests. ¡°There are four patrols circling the village. Two immediately in front of us, one to the east, and one to the west. The north is protected by a steep cliff face that I don¡¯t think we can make our way down. The village is surprisingly well defended,¡± Cheezus reported back to the group. Deathberry drew out a crude map in the snow below them based on the information Cheezus had gathered. ¡°You mentioned earlier that you saw several casters within the village as well. It would be much better if we knew what they were likely to cast. They might even have divination spells setup to prevent surprise attacks,¡± Deathberry said, contemplating their options. They hadn¡¯t run into anything like that yet in AO; however, Champions did have enemy casters that had used ¡®seeing spells¡¯ to divine where their enemies were coming from. Those had been some difficult battles and in that game they¡¯d had the distinct advantage of being able to throw themselves against an enemy again and again with little consequence. Here, if their characters died so did their Gears and any chance of them ever escaping this crazy game. Linca spoke up, ¡°If we can capture one of the trolls from the patrol we can induce them to provide some answers as to what their casters are doing and how the security is setup in the village.¡± Linca was talking about torture. Considering that she was a priestess of the light that was a pretty messed up suggestion. ¡°Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a bit extreme coming from you?¡± Cheezus asked. ¡°These trolls are evil and we¡¯ve seen evidence that they have killed many of the survivors. There are several miners in that camp right now who are being held prisoner, waiting to become a troll¡¯s dinner,¡± Linca replied, anger evident in her tone. ¡°I don¡¯t need a lecture about what¡¯s right and wrong. The light is meant to vanquish the darkness and trolls definitely belong in the evil column.¡± The rest of the group looked at Cheezus. He was never going to get off her shit list with his righteousness. Linca might be a bigot but she wasn¡¯t wrong about those trolls. Besides he was one to talk considering his modus operandi was to sneak up behind his enemies and slit their throats. Figuring out right and wrong in a fantasy world was a pain sometimes. ¡°Ok, I can¡¯t disagree with that reasoning. I¡¯ll go in first and try to get the drop on the eastern sentry. Thag, you stun him so we can get a gag in his mouth,¡± Cheezus suggested. Everyone nodded and the plan went forward. The Misfits got into position and Cheezus used his stealth ability to sneak up on the lone troll. He quickly stabbed the creature in the back but was sure to minimize his damage so he didn¡¯t instantly kill it. While the creature was trying to figure out what happened, Thag charged in and bashed it over the head, knocking it unconscious. That was one way of ¡®stunning¡¯ the troll. A few minutes later they had dragged the hapless creature to a cave that the Misfits had cleared out earlier for just this purpose. They gagged the creature and Linca went to work. Cheezus had to wonder how much she¡¯d picked up from their former Mystic Assassin, Krok, because she made a scary arsed holy torturer. Only twenty minutes later, Linca had extracted all the information the group needed to know about getting into the troll¡¯s village, what exactly their spell casters and village elders were doing, and the she had murdered the poor troll with her holy powers. Cheezus reminded himself not to get on her bad side.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. It was show-time. They quickly dispatched the remaining sentries soundlessly. From Linca¡¯s questioning they¡¯d determined that the casters didn¡¯t have any divination power which was a small miracle. However, they were strong evokers and could cast with some serious fire-power if the group let them. That wasn¡¯t going to happen though. Using stealth Cheezus snuck into the village soundlessly. There were about a dozen huts in a snow covered clearing that was the only thing on this mountain not covered with pine trees. Outside men were locked in rough-hewn timber cages and there was a large fire and pot in the middle that suspiciously looked like it was filled with the remnants of last night¡¯s human stew. Linca was right about one thing these guys were definitely the baddies and torture was totally acceptable. Cheezus hit the first caster in the neck with his backstab and killed one more before all hell broke loose. Seeing Cheezus out of stealth, Thag immediately rushed in and stun-locked two of the other casters. Charge and stun were powerful combinations that put even the most dangerous spell casters on quick lock-down. The problem was that this ability had a ten-second duration and a one-minute cooldown. Normally, that might be a problem except that the Misfits had dangerous casters of their own. Out of the darkness came several deathbolts: -450 unholy -347 unholy -44 overkill The first of the casters was blasted off their feet and into one of the nearby huts. A warrior rushed Cheezus with a large ax and he no longer had attention to spare to what was happening with the casters. Hopefully, Deathberry had been able to take them out. The ax came whizzing in Cheezus¡¯ direction: -227 slashing He returned the favor with a whirlwind attack consisting of a dozen knives: -157 piercing -608 critical piercing -127 overkill The warrior troll went down after the barrage of knives hit him squarely in the chest. Spinning around Cheezus saw one of the casters about to hurl a fireball at Thag. He took two of his daggers and threw them into the sorcerer¡¯s back: -207 piercing x2 -82 overkill The Misfits had cleared most of the combatants in the village. Many of the children and those without the ability to defend themselves had run off into the forest. Thag was fighting two warriors. One was similar to the one that Cheezus had fought and the other was a monster among monsters. The creature stood twelve feet tall and unlike his brethren he was armored in a thick tan armor which had a strange symbol on the front. Additionally, the troll was armed with a massive two-handed sword, the likes of which Cheezus had never seen. The creature had one good eye which was blood-shot red with rage and spittle flew from its mouth as it gnashed its tusks at the Misfits. Cheezus looked around to see what had become of his companions. About thirty yards away Deathberry was locked in a contest of magic with another arcane user who must have been the village¡¯s shaman while Linca healed him and cast defensive magic of her own. The two of them looked completely engrossed in their own fight and Thag needed immediate help. Cheezus finished by killing another warrior who stepped between him and Thag¡¯s massive opponent. Looking at Thag¡¯s health bar he could see that she was slowly giving ground to a more skilled foe. Fortunately, Cheezus wasn¡¯t concerned about fighting fair so he did what he did best and dropped in low, sweeping up with a twin slashing dagger attack into the creature¡¯s abdomen: -137 piercing -204 piercing The creature didn¡¯t even notice Cheezus¡¯ attacks, but swiped him aside like a fly using the back end of its ax. Even still, he went flying into a tree: -407 bludgeoning -101 tree Cheezus was bleeding pretty badly after just one hit. Thag was staggered and down to one knee. Their friends were still engaged with the other sorcerer so Cheezus knew he was going to have to pull one out of the hat for all them to survive. He scanned the creature carefully trying to figure out whether there was some weakness or any sort of gap in its defenses. There, he thought. The creature tends to favor its left side ever so slightly. The boss troll started to bring his ax back in a final blow to finish of Thag; Cheezus dashed in and threw a whirlwind dagger attack at the creature¡¯s right flank. It started moving that direction and Cheezus shifted sides and brought his remaining dagger back under the creature¡¯s right armpit and drove it home in a gap in the armor: -704 critical piercing Instakill ***You have learned a new General Skill: Discover Enemy Weakness*** ***Congratulations, you are level 47*** Numerous other screens popped up and Cheezus swiped them away to reassess the situation. It looked like while he and Thag had finished off the leader of the troll village, Deathberry and Linca had finally managed to overwhelm their shaman. More importantly they had discovered something entirely new. Apparently, the game had skill sets beyond the standard ones you acquired by leveling. There were skills that required you to look at the world in a completely different way to see if there was a way to accomplish something. Cheezus had a feeling that they might have just learned of a way to overcome the pirate city and steal the boat that they needed to rescue their erstwhile employer. Chapter 23 - The Assault After successfully clearing the troll village, the Misfits decided it was finally time to steal the tanker ship from the pirate city. While they might meet the minimum level requirement to kill the mini-bosses that were immediately outside the tankers, that wasn''t the only challenge. There were a number of technical difficulties they needed to overcome first: clearing the city of its inhabitants so that the Misfits didn''t need to kill innocent bystanders, figuring out how to move the ship (most ships were crewed by AI and robots), and figuring out a way to navigate the ship once they were at sea without any modern electronics. The first hurdle would be relatively easy to overcome and Smashit had figured out an easy way to distract the city''s inhabitants right away ¨C a fire in a key location such as at one of the food storage warehouses they city kept in order to feed its residents would get everyone''s attention away from the guild''s activities. The second hurdle was one that Cheezus had figured out during his scouting expeditions onto the large tanker ships. It appeared as though the mutants onboard had devised a way to guide the large tanker ships in and out of the port to ferry goods back and forth between here and Brisbane using a magical device on board. The Misfits would just need to capture and figure out how to use that magical device in order to power the ship. The last hurdle was one that Sean had mulled over the most before realizing there was an ancient and very simple way of solving their navigation problem ¨C they would travel by the stars. After consulting with Aeon on how to go about doing this, he had also assembled a very crude sextant and some other basic navigational tools with the help of some of the surviving miners and a blacksmith who kept all their equipment functional. The Misfits gathered in the evening twilight on the plains outside the city. Smashit looked around at his guildies with anticipation of the coming fight. Everyone wordlessly nodded at him that they were ready. This time they had fully prepared to the take the fight to their enemy. Cheezus had set the fire and returned ¨C go time. Smashit heard the screams of the townspeople as they rushed out of their homes and businesses to gawk at their food supply going up in smoke. The Misfits ducked into an ally to allow more of them to pass. So far, they had gotten about halfway through the winding streets towards the port undetected. However, at that moment a small mutant boy, ran into the alley and into Smashit¡¯s armor. Shit, he thought. However, he recovered quickly and as he saw the boy''s eyes widen he brought the pommel of his sword down onto the boy''s temple, hopefully knocking him out and not killing him. He didn''t have time to check as there were more people rushing by and this was their chance to make a break for it. Out into the streets they crept along with Cheezus taking point to guide them. None of the rest of the guild would have been able to pass here undetected except for the cacophony of the fire burning nearby. The smoke had started to become choking in the last few minutes, so they needed to make their way to the port as quickly as possible or they would become overwhelmed by the thick sulfurous cloud. Smashit checked his stamina ¨C it was getting depleted by the second. He and Cheezus exchanged a silent nod and Cheezus started booking it towards the port while Smashit indicated to the others that they needed to run as quickly and quietly as possible. Unfortunately, being silent wasn''t really a thing while running in plated armor. Coming round a corner, Smashit saw Cheezus fighting three of the city''s guards. They had been extremely fortunate to make it this far without encountering a patrol but apparently the time for stealth was past. The guards had him flanked: he faced one of them, his daggers locked with the mutant''s sword, while the other two were swinging their weapons towards his unprotected back. Smashit charged in simultaneously with Thag and they each stunned the guards that had been attacking Cheezus'' back just a moment before. Smashit followed up his stun with a devastating sword attack: -325 slashing Instakill Smashit had gained some levels in the past week but he was still only level 35. He was surprised that a level 30 guard would go down that easily; however, he didn''t have time to admire his own awesomeness. The Misfits had finished up the other two guards while he killed his and now they were all continuing their run toward the port. There would no doubt be more guards following these ones very shortly and they didn''t want to get caught fighting the entire city guard on their way to the docks. Their next big challenge was right ahead of them ¨C the massive elites that guarded the tankers. From Cheezus'' reports these creatures were a lot tougher and considerably smarter than the other city inhabitants. They were also decked out in full pirate regalia: swashbuckling sword (that was probably 12'' long), pirate clothes, and one of them even had an eye patch. Cheezus had not over stated their massive size ¨C each of the four creatures was easily 15 feet tall and heavily muscled. Smashit looked at the status bar over their head that showed them as Level 50 Elites. This was going to be the tough part. Fortunately, Cheezus had done some early scouting with his Discover Enemy Weakness. Apparently, these particular mutants were weak against fire magical attacks. Too bad they didn''t have any casters with fire spells. Deathberry was limited to unholy magic and Linca was limited to holy magic. So the Misfits were going to have to do things the old fashioned way.Stolen novel; please report. Sheathing his sword, Smashit rushed the first of the towering creatures with a burning torch. Linca and Thag threw burning pitch onto the creature and Smashit lit it up: -75 fire -90 fire -82 fire Burning tar wasn''t magical fire so this was going to take a while. Smashit dodged as best he could while holding aggro on the first creature. The other three turned from their posts and charged. Thag finished throwing burning pitch on the rest of them and then pulled out her demon sword and attacked. The two of them spent the next several minutes just holding off the enemy and trying to survive. Each of the creatures had four arms and they hit like a truck: -417 bludgeoning -378 bludgeoning -477 bludgeoning -524 bludgeoning Smashit''s health dipped into the red. He was down to 8% health and nearly dead at this point. He activated his shield wall effect to keep him on his feet. The next eight attacks did only miniscule damage through the barrier while Linca bombed enhanced healing light on him repeatedly. After his shield wall expired after thirty seconds he was back to half-health. ¡°Switch,¡± he called out quickly in raid chat. Thag took over with a howling death AOE that pulled the four creatures to her. Quickly, her health bar started depleting while Smashit worked to recover his health and continued applying his torch to the mutants, trying to keep them on fire. Deathberry and Cheezus had managed to get one of them down to 4% health with their repeated attacks and the fire damage slowly chipping away at their health. The damage on Thag continued unabated except for the enhanced holy lights that landed on her every several seconds and the small amount of self-healing that Demon Knights did as they DPS''d their opponents. Finally, he and Thag switched again after she had activated her tank ability demon shield, which consisted of all the souls she had killed stepping in front of her to absorb the damage. The higher level the Demon Knight the more souls they had to come to their defense when the ability was activated. Unfortunately, the next phase would be more difficult. Smashit only had one more tanking ability left and then after that he''d have to wait another minute until shield wall was off cooldown. It was the same situation for Thag. They needed to end this fight quickly if they hoped to survive and take the tanker. When they were down to two opponents one of the creatures retreated and jumped into the ocean behind them on the docks. The flames were extinguished; however, they were also down to just one opponent. ¡°Thag can you secure the ramp on the tanker, while Deathberry starts up the magical engine?¡± Smashit asked in raid chat. ¡°Cheezus, Linca, and I will finish off the last one.¡± Everyone sprang into action and the two other Misfits headed to the tanker to help speed up their escape. Smashit realized how difficult this was going to be with just one tank when the mutant who had jumped into the ocean returned much faster than he''d anticipated and rejoined the fight. This one was no longer on fire and Deathberry was no longer there with the pitch to relight him up. ¡°Focus on the one that''s on fire and down at 30% health,¡± Smashit ordered. Their opponents had gotten a lot smarter, Smashit realized with some trepidation a few seconds later. Not only was the nearly unhurt mutant no longer on fire, but it had broken out of Smashit''s taunt several times to put the hurt into Cheezus as he had continued to whittle away at the more damaged creature. Linca had to drop precious healing lights onto Cheezus to keep him standing and that took mana and time away from healing him. Smashit was down to less than 10% health and he was out of cooldowns. Things were looking grim for the Misfits. He managed to stunlock the nearly unhurt mutant and that bought Cheezus some precious time to finish the other one. Suddenly the final mutant was free from his stun and came in with four brutal attacks on Smashit: -237 bludgeoning -478 bludgeoning Smashit was down to 2% health and he was practically on his knees from the pain of the sustained hits. The next two arms came down to crush him and he knew this was going to be the end if he didn''t do something fast. Looking at what abilities he had off of cooldown he took a risky gambit and charged right between the creature''s legs and back towards the pirate city. He knew that he had seconds to spare before the remaining mutant hit Cheezus instead, so he threw his sword at the creature trying to distract it. Linca continued to heal him as the creature turned away from Cheezus and rushed towards him. Obviously inspired by Smashit''s own bold crazy action, Cheezus picked up his sword and before the mutant could reach Smashit, he drove the sword though one of the creature''s legs and into the soft wood of the pier they were standing on. The mutant screamed in rage and clawed at the sword but in the meantime, Cheezus renewed his attack. Smashit''s shield smash was back off of cooldown and he charged the creature pinning it to the deck with the force of his charge and shield smash abilities. Largely immobile and blinded with pain, Cheezus was able to finish the creature off, slitting its throat. Smashit turned and saw about two dozen guards from the city rushing to join the fight. Apparently, they had finally stopped the warehouse fire and heard the fighting at the docks. ¡°Time to go,¡± Smashit told the raid. Thag was standing at the top of the gangplank, with the blood of a dead mutant still dripping from her demon sword and a huge grin on her face. ¡°Deathberry''s got our boat running, let''s motor,¡± she told the raid. Chapter 24 - Battle at Sea The Misfits settled into a new routine aboard the Seafarer. Deathberry spent his time examining the magical artifact that kept the ship running. Despite the fact that in 2070 there was less demand for petroleum fuels than historically, there were still a large number of refineries and oil extraction facilities. The difference was that almost all of the work in these facilities was automated. Humans weren''t as efficient as their machine counterparts, and therefore, oil tankers, such as this one, were completely automated. With the electrical grid completely halted by Precious One, there was no way that the pirates would have been able to utilize the tanker and so they had found or created a magical device that could turn on the old tanker''s diesel engines and run the great ship. From the notes that the captain had made in his log it looked like they had been bound to Brisbane and back to the port city. When Deathberry and Thag had first taken over the ship while the rest of the crew were fighting, Thag had secured the captain and the crew in the brig. They had put up some resistance, but after nearly being decimated by one of Deathberry''s deathbolts, they had decided to surrender without any further fighting. Currently, the crew was secured in the brig and one of the Misfits guarded them at all times. Smashit had been conflicted about what to do with the crew and they decided that they would make a quick detour and drop of the crew before heading further out to sea. It was going to be a long journey to California, and Smashit worked with Deathberry to make sure he fully understood the sextant and other ancient navigational tools. Unfortunately, since the world Net no longer functioned, the vast array of digital information that Aeon had stored in its database was all they could to use for their journey. They would have to rely upon what Smashit gleaned from online texts about how ancient wayfarers made their way around the earth. GPS satellites no longer functioned and the array of digital tools that the ship had onboard its computer system were largely useless without functioning real time navigation. Standing in the giant control room of the massive tanker ship, Smashit thought about how vast the sea must have appeared to his ancestors. It was approximately mid-day and he looked out at the ocean through the control window at a completely blue sky that had a shade of violet on the horizon. According to Aeon only part of the world had sustained the damage that the outback near them had sustained, and Smashit hoped that perhaps there were still some parts of the world that were relatively undamaged. Only time would tell, but perhaps their boss Mr. Tiel was safely holed up in his bunker enjoying the amenities of late 21st century life and there would be no more fights with strange mutant creatures. It was a dream but one that sustained Smashit. They dropped off the crew on an empty shoreline not far from Brisbane a few days later. Making their way out to sea, Smashit tested his tools and evaluated the hard copy maps that he''d printed for the voyage. The tools were crude but there was a resilience to them that digital copies didn''t have. Of course, Smashit could access digital tools back at the bunker at any time since he and the Misfits were still there but the game immersion felt so real he sometimes forgot and had to be reminded by Aeon to log off and actually eat. During their voyage, Smashit noticed that Miles and Emmy had been spending a lot of time together. Since Kevin''s betrayal, Emmy had stepped away from the group and become colder and more like the woman he had known when they first met. She never spoke about it but there must have been some terrible occurrence in her past that prevented her from really opening up and letting the rest of them in. While they travelled in game together and helped each other on numerous quests, Smashit realized he didn''t really know much about their friend and his fellow tank. She had always been the one he could rely on for competent off-tanking and a support role that bolstered his own confidence when leading the Misfits. He hoped that the two of them would be able to open up a bit for each other. What Smashit knew of his good friend Miles was that he was always a good listener and while he knew that it would take time he hoped that some of Emmy''s wounds from the past would heal. Perhaps she could heal his friend''s indignities as well. Smashit was totally aware of the hardships that had befallen his friend Miles and his family when he was younger. Despite the fact that his brother Eric had worked so hard to develop his business, it seemed like their family just couldn''t catch a break. There was also the fact that Miles had been abandoned by his father. Smashit couldn''t really put himself in his friend''s shoes since his parents had always been so supportive, but he tried to imagine what it was like growing up without a dad. It must have been a difficult thing to bear as a child and he was sure that Miles still felt incomplete in some ways. Linca and Seona had become fast friends on the voyage. Seona was such a great listener and he knew that while Linca hid it well, the loss of her close friend Shelly was only two weeks old. It still cut Smashit to realize how badly he''d failed his guildmates by allowing Kevin to betray them like that. While Seona''s cognitive behavior therapy had taught him that he couldn''t control every bad thing that had happened to their guild or to his friends, he still felt terrible about how Shelly had died. If only he had been the one to take his normal chair. Would Kevin have felt remorse? Maybe not, Smashit mused.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Deathberry''s hand startled him as it came to rest on his shoulder, waking him out of his reverie. ¡°How''s everything running down below in the engine room? Smashit asked. Deathberry replied, ¡°Everything is running perfectly. I''ve spent the last few days and have a reasonably good understanding of how the artifact works. I''m still working on the theory but mana here seems to have replaced the need for electricity. Our Gears work based on the principal of making electrical impulses appear as magic in game. However, that is not how magic appears to be working for the rest of the world that we''re now encountering. Precious One clearly has changed some of the laws of physics as we know them. Mana now appears to be the dominant source of energy storage. I''ve continued to collect more data and Aeon and I are analyzing it. Hopefully, I should have a more complete picture of how things work in a few more weeks. If Mr. Tiel is alive and well in San Francisco, he might also be able to provide some additional answers.¡± That was a lot to take in. Smashit asked what was on his mind at that moment. ¡°Do you know enough to recreate what the artifact is doing in the engine room? Could we use this for our own purposes?¡± ¡°Theoretically that should be possible; however, I''m still trying to better understand how our Gears are currently functioning. In the world before the AI apocalypse, none of this would have worked. Now the rules have changed and it is unclear to me how it works despite the fact that it is functioning right in front of us,¡± Deathberry explained. ¡°As humans we are now behind the evolutionary time scale that Precious One is on. Even Aeon cannot fully understand what had been created just yet.¡± ¡°Ok, keep working on your tests. Maybe we can figure it out. We''re not going to survive for very long on this world now if we are just a throw away species,¡± Smashit replied. Of course, it had seemed like humanity had passed that point of no return with computers and robotics over a decade ago. It was just a matter of time before they were all rendered obsolescent. Just like Smashit''s depression, lingering on that detail wasn''t bound to inspire any great action so he shoved it to the back of his mind and focused on what they could do. Suddenly, the ships alarm sounded. Cheezus came rushing onto the bridge and yelled, ¡°Battle stations! There is a giant fucking squid trying to smash the boat apart.¡± Linca and Thag were hot on his heels and Seona was not far behind them. This Misfits ran outside to the main deck behind the bridge. The sky remained crystal blue, belying the danger that they were all apparently in. Over the side of the deck, Smashit spotted four giant tentacles that towered over the massive ship. For those tentacles to be towering over the ship, whatever creature it was attached to must have been absolutely massive. What the hell had they gotten themselves into this time? ¡°Cheezus are there any weaknesses that you can detect in those tentacles?¡± Smashit asked. Cheezus shook his head. Looking up, Smashit could see that each tentacle was a Level ? creature so it must be at least a dozen or so levels higher than the highest of their levels which was level 49. And there were four of them on this side of the ship alone. This was going to be a problem. Seeing the impossibility of their situation he turned to Seona, who was their lowest level guildmate and said, ¡°Please secure one of the lifeboats and get it ready for departure. We''ll try to give you as long as we can but there is no way we can defeat this creature that I can see.¡± Seona looked at him as if she were going to protest but said nothing and turned away to run towards the nearest lifeboat, which thankfully was not in reach of any of the nearby tentacles. Smashit turned to the rest of his guildies and with a grim look they nodded back. This was going to be a hell of a fight and there was no way they could win. It was going to be a battle to stay alive long enough for Seona to secure their rescue. Minutes later seemed like hours to Smashit as he threw up his shield wall ability once again now that it had come off cool down. Without Seona there to switch heal, Linca was in emergency triage mode, as she desperately cast her healing spells on him and Thag again and again. Each hit that they took without a tanking or healing cooldown would take off nearly a third of their health and it was only a matter of time before they lost one of them. Finally, he received the message that Seona was in place and they could escape to the life raft. Thag and Cheezus had heard the announcement in raid chat and the three of them acting in concert timed their next stuns to lock the tentacles they were fighting in place and run to the lifeboat. The next few minutes were a blur as the Misfits ran for their lives. Several times, one of them would be caught by a tentacle and one of the four of them would have to use a stun, shield bash, or the like to get their raid member free and to keep running. Finally, they reached the lifeboat which was already floating in the water below. This was going to be a tricky thing to survive but they were going to have to jump. Hitting the water was the last thing Smashit remembered. Chapter 25 - Thags Quest During the escape from the Kraken, the Seafarer was lost. The Misfits huddled on the fifteen-foot life boat with meager supplies. Although their physical bodies could retreat to the bunker at any time, their avatar''s stamina slowly dwindled. Thag''s throat was parched and dry as they sat in their small vessel in the merciless sun on the sixth day. They had been trying to reach an island that was supposed to be not far from here but the currents kept inexorably sweeping them to the southeast as they tried to head due north. They used the oars to keep them moving about eight hours a day since their characters had more stamina than their physical bodies but even the Gears had limits. Finally, Linca had suggested using life magic to maintain Thag and Smashit''s stamina bars while they oared with desperation towards their destination. That had started two days ago and since then Thag and the other Misfits had taken turns rowing. Her shoulders and arms burned ceaselessly even when she wasn''t rowing. She lost all sense of time as they made their way towards the only islands within hundreds of miles of them. On the eighth day Deathberry had spotted land. It took them another day to make their way to the shoreline and eventually the Misfits pulled their life raft ashore and depleted of nearly all their stamina, collapsed on the sandy beach. Cheezus had made his way inland first and had discovered a cool stream that they had all refreshed themselves in. Eventually, they had found coconuts and Smashit had fished up some strange looking fish creature that was still tasty. While their avatars didn''t technically need to drink or eat, doing so greatly sped up the replenishment of their stamina bars and it was psychologically satisfying to do so. A few days later she and Cheezus went exploring the coastline to map out the island. They found a small cove there and Thag decided to go for a swim. She could see Cheezus watching her intently from the beach. Was he interested in her? Sadly, she didn¡¯t have a nice bathing suit with her at the moment and instead had jumped in with her under armor. If he was interested, he would just have to accept the fact that she wasn¡¯t like most other women who favored fashion over common sense. While she couldn¡¯t wear her armor in the lagoon but she still wore leather padding that protected her against her plate and mail. Considering how dangerous this world had become it just seemed like the smart thing to be wearing. She looked back at him and saw that he was in swim trunks and nothing else. She had to admit that he looked pretty hot but his fashion choice probably wasn¡¯t smart. She decided to play a bit of a game. Would he be willing to follow her down into the lake? There were probably some monsters at the bottom. She dove down to the bottom of the lagoon. While their avatars were enhanced she didn''t have unlimited breath underwater. Still, she was down there for some time looking around before she spotted an inlet that went into a natural cave. Since her breath bar was only about a third depleted at that point she decided she would check it out. There might be some hidden treasure or something. The pressure continued to build in her ears as she dove down into the inlet which continued for some time. She looked at her breath bar again and was just about to have to turn around when she saw light coming from above her as the narrow opening widened into a larger pool. She''d go just a bit further she told herself. Soon she was able to breach the surface of the water and found herself inside a cave where water from this pool connected to the lagoon. Inside it was surprisingly not completely dark. There was an eerie phosphorescent glow along the walls of the cave that shone blue and green. She pulled herself to the shore of the cave and was just admiring its natural beauty when she heard a voice coming from somewhere in front of her. ¡°Hello? I know you''re out there. Garesh doesn''t taste very good so please go away,¡± a gruff voice said. Thag''s eyes adjusted to the strange light of the cave a bit more and she was just able to make out a small figure that looked like a small man. He kind of looked like a garden gnome although telling him that would be rude. Instead she said, ¡°Hi there friend, I''m Thag. I promise I won''t eat you.¡± She winced a bit after saying the words. She had left her gear on the beach and was just wearing her under armor padding. Not only would she not eat this poor gnome but she was unarmed. Hopefully the gnome didn''t have any powerful friends that were lying in wait to ambush a traveler such as herself. Looking more closely at the gnome she decided this was very unlikely. It was complete happenstance that she was even here and this didn''t look like any sort of popular destination. The gnome looked at her suspiciously. Perhaps he was wondering the same thing about her as she had wondered about him. ¡°You don''t look like one of those crocodile people. How did you get here?¡± he asked. She told him about swimming down from the lagoon. ¡°My name is Garesh. I''m looking for my staff. I was just wandering along the coastline enjoying a bit of an afternoon stroll as I came upon a beautiful shell. The next thing I knew I was teleported down here but I had lost all my equipment. Back in the cave I came upon these crocodile men and they started chasing me and since I didn''t have my staff I had no choice but to run. You look like a reputable sort; will you assist me in finding my things and getting me out of this cave?¡± he said. ***Help Garesh find his Lost Treasure: Will you help Garesh find his missing equipment and get back to his village?Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Rewards: A pile of gold and experience points Risks: Being eaten by crocodile people *** All of a sudden, the two of them heard a splashing coming from the entrance where Thag had just entered. Had there been crocodile men in the lagoon where she''d been swimming a moment earlier? She wasn''t wearing all of her armor and her friend Garesh was similarly unarmed; however, Thag was never without options as a Demon Knight. Quickly she summoned her demon blade and prepared the attack whatever came out of the water. Instead of a giant crocodile man, she was met instead with Cheezus'' broad face and dark eyes. As he stood up out of the water in just his trunks, she once again admired his amazingly fit body. She turned away after he caught her staring. Easy, she told herself. Men like him were trouble. Seeing that both Cheezus and Garesh were staring at each other as if they weren''t sure if they were friend or foe, Thag introduced the two of them. ¡°Garesh was just asking me whether I would accept a quest to help him recover his gear from a group of crocodile men,¡± Thag explained. ¡°We''ll have to be careful then since it''s just the three of us,¡± Cheezus replied. Thag shared the quest with Cheezus and they reequipped their armor. The group headed towards the last known location of the crocodile men with Cheezus leading the way in stealth. After they''d wandered down several more corridors they came to another open pool area. There were four crocodile men standing over a pile of equipment and they appeared to be arguing in their own tongue. Garesh whispered to the group, ¡°I think I can see my staff there in the pile.¡± Cheezus moved up into position and before the crocodile men could notice him he''d slit one of their throats. After that their cover was blown and Thag quickly rushed in with a charge and drove her demon blade into the chest of a lizardman who was gaping at his hapless friend''s corpse. -477 stabbing Thag cut a deep wound into the creature''s chest. She could smell its fetid breath as she leaned in trying to extract her blade from its body. It bit down on her shoulder as she attempted to finish it off. -242 biting -108 poison Even their saliva was poisonous. What sort of weird crocodile/snake hybrid were these things anyway? It didn''t matter though because she had a job to do: -322 slashing Instakill She finished the creature, turning her blade in its ribcage and then tearing its heart out of its chest. She and Cheezus quickly finished off the remaining crocodile men and recovered Garesh''s staff. Unfortunately, it doesn''t look like all of his gear was in the pile of loot. Still not a bad haul, they''d found: a potion of remove poison which Thag used immediately after the identifying it since she''d been poisoned, a dagger that was reasonably high quality but nothing special, and a stone tablet with some symbols on it that looked like it could be another language. It wasn''t anything that the three of them could read though. The small party moved on. Thag couldn''t help but wonder what Cheezus was thinking about their strange quest. ¡°Did you ever play RPGs when you were a kid, Cheezus?¡± she asked. ¡°Strangely, no. It was my brother Eric who was the real gamer. I got hooked when he started playing Final Fantasy XXIV while I watched. Later, when he lost his business I got him into Champions to distract him. Since I was still working I couldn''t play as much but when I got home in the evenings we always quested together. It wasn''t too dissimilar from what we''re doing now,¡± Cheezus replied. ¡°How did you start playing?¡± Thag told him about how she''d started gaming after college and not having much to do. It was a way to feel like she was still progressing with her life despite the fact that there was no possible way she could work or otherwise feel like her life was moving forward. Playing MMOs gave her a sense of accomplishment. She hadn''t realized that Garesh was listening intently to their conversation until he looked at her quizzically. ¡°What do you mean a game?¡± Garesh asked. ¡°I know it might seem hard to believe but these aren''t our actual bodies,¡± Cheezus explained. ¡°We''ve been sent on a quest by our former employer and we''re currently sitting in a bunker somewhere in the Outback where our actual bodies are.¡± Garesh looked at the two of them like they''d lost their minds. ¡°How can you be here as well?¡± Yeah, it probably was game breaking to tell the NPCs that their world wasn''t real. Thag looked questioningly at Cheezus and he shrugged. Here goes nothing. She explained to Garesh how they''d come to the island and what had happened to their world, the real world in the last few days. Once she''d finished explaining, Garesh said, ¡°That explains why I can''t remember much from before the last couple days. I have remnant memories of being a man on a large ship that had thousands of people and I was playing at pool. I have these memories of a woman and two children that might have been my family or just people I knew really well. But it''s all very hazy.¡± It was sobering to remember that the Misfits weren''t the only ones who''d been greatly affected by the apocalypse. Every monster and NPC they ran into had the potential to be another Garesh. He had probably been a tourist on a cruise ship with his family from the sound of things and suddenly his world turned upside down. How many crocodile men had she and Cheezus killed ¨C four? How many more people would have to die by their hand for them to save Mr. Tiel and hopefully figure out a way to reverse what Precious One had done to the world? Was all of this worth it? Suddenly, Thag wasn''t sure anymore. Fortunately, they didn''t find any other crocodile men in the rest of the caves but they did find the rest of Garesh''s equipment right where he''d first fallen into the cave. Apparently, he''d been without a light source and his eyes hadn''t adjusted to the luminescent caves yet at that point. His equipment was right where he''d left it. ***Congratulations, you''ve completed Garesh''s Lost Treasure. *** She and Cheezus were awarded with experience points and gold and she was able to level up again. She was now level 48. She would figure out her stat point allocation later; however, so far she''d invested most everything into attack stats and after their fight with the Kraken she wanted to get a few more HP and improve her defensibility. They walked back to Garesh''s encampment which was a small village not far from the caves. His fellow gnomes greeted him enthusiastically and Thag couldn''t help but wonder which of the small ones was his family. Chapter 26 - The Cave Smashit knew that at some point they were going to have to find their way off the island. Losing the tanker had been a major blow because even if they found another modern-day ship on the island somewhere they wouldn¡¯t have the fuel to power it. They were either going to have to use an older technology like wind or perhaps they could find a way to magically power the boat. Deathberry had been investigating the latter possibility with his research and had asked the rest of the Misfits to come check out a nearby cave system that the gnome villagers had mentioned to him. Apparently, several of the villager¡¯s children had disappeared there. No one had thought it was anything except for marauding monsters until about a month ago; one child had reappeared in the village. The boy¡¯s name was Seth and he¡¯d come back with a fantastic tale. When Deathberry had questioned him, he¡¯d been regaled with a story about orcs, skittering creatures with tails for legs, and a magical portal. The boy didn¡¯t know where the portal went and hadn¡¯t had a chance to investigate further since he was in the middle of escaping when he¡¯d seen it. He¡¯d been captured by orcs who had taken him and the other children to one part of the cave system. However, there were more than just orcs in the cave ¨C there were the skittering ones as he called them. He hadn¡¯t seen the entire creature but from what he could see, it was a massive monster with four prehensile legs and a giant armored body. Seth told him about how he and the other children had been caged by the orcs and were being eaten day by day. It was a horrific experience and there were several parts of the tale that Seth was not able to relate to him fully. However, as he was being led to another chamber, ostensibly to be eaten, one of these skittering ones had attacked the orc party he was with. At the sight of the creature, the orcs had dumped Seth on the ground and run. Apparently, they believed that the skittering one would give up the chase and eat him. However, Seth had lain very still and surprisingly the creature had not eaten him but had continued off into the darkness of the cave chasing the orcs. Seth wasn¡¯t sure why he had lived but he hadn¡¯t stayed idle for long. Fortunately, he was able to recover a torch from where one of the orcs had dropped it. He knew that wandering in that cave would be a death sentence if he couldn¡¯t see where he was going. Soon he was lost and he continued walking for hours through tunnels and into open chambers. The cave was massive. Eventually, he made his way to an open portion of the cave and there he saw four blue lights about ten gnomes in height. He wasn¡¯t sure what they were and was just examining them when he heard one of the skittering ones coming back. Although he¡¯d survived the first encounter with the creature, Seth wasn¡¯t going to take any chances. When he turned around to flee, he almost bumped into another skittering one. This time he was truly terrified looking upon its horrific visage. It had a face like a praying mantis and was armored all over its body. It loomed over him and clicked in an alien tongue. Not taking any time to hesitate he turned back to the strange blue lights and prayed that they were a doorway that would let him escape. The next thing Seth knew he was standing in the jungle on the southern portion of the island. It was nearly a half-day¡¯s walk away from the caves and there was no sign of the strange blue light that had taken him there. After hearing the boy¡¯s story Deathberry had approached Smashit with the information and shared the quest that Seth had given him to rescue the other village children. It definitely sounded like these portals could be used to move around the island ¨C Seth¡¯s tale proved that to be the case. The bigger question was whether it would help them get off the island. Deathberry thought it was possible that some of the unexplored portal doors might lead to other destinations. At a minimum, he might be able to glean some information about how these portals were created. Smashit agreed that it was worth investigating and asked the rest of the guild to join them the next day. The Misfits stood at the ready outside the cave. Outside, in the lush jungle surrounding them it was warm and wet but as they approached a cold power rushed over them that made Smashit¡¯s hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. He looked over at Deathberry who was carefully studying the cave. ¡°Looks like this is the right place,¡± he said. ¡°Yes, there is definitely something here that is powerful. We should proceed cautiously,¡± Deathberry said. His friend was excited and worried by whatever was in that cave. Cheezus took point and scouted ahead while the Misfits entered the cave. It wasn¡¯t long before the group smelled the foul and strong odor of orc. They must be headed in the right direction. The Misfits wandered through the caves for several hours. Deathberry took detailed notes and mapped their route to make sure they could go back the way they came and to ensure they didn¡¯t miss any cave passages that might lead them to either the mysterious portal room or the missing villagers. Suddenly, Cheezus sent a warning to the raid to dim their light sources and be silent. There was an orc patrol passing by. The group dimmed their torches and stood quietly as the orcs passed. The one thing they hadn¡¯t accounted for was the creature¡¯s keen sense of smell. All of a sudden one of the creatures cried out in alarm. Cheezus quickly silenced the creature, but the damage was done. Linca threw down a magical light spell which temporarily blinded the creatures. Smashit could see now that there were a dozen of them and they are well armed. One of the orcs indicates for the group to fall into formation and they line up in an orderly manner, quickly recovering from their temporary disadvantage. Assessing them carefully, Smashit can see that they are all capable warriors of level 50 except for the leader who is level 55. Smashit is still level 43 and the rest of the Misfits are in the high 40s ¨C this is going to be a difficult fight. Cheezus indicates that he¡¯s assessed the enemy using his Detect Enemy Weakness and there are two casters in the group. Upon further review, Smashit can see the casters are wearing lighter armor and they are already beginning to move their hands in a strange fashion. Smashit knew they were going to have to break their ranks and stop those casters from blasting the raid apart. Perhaps, they could try something a bit old-school and see if any of the creatures could be crowd controlled. Whispering to the raid, he called out for Thag and Cheezus to alternate stuns on the leader, Seona to use woodland charm on the left mage, while he and Deathberry would burn down the right one. As soon as everyone had their orders, the groups surged forward attacking. Thag and Cheezus began their cycle of stuns on the leader which was a good strategy since a couple of his attacks had snuck through earlier and done massive damage to Thag. She was still holding with about half of her health. Smashit AOE pulled the rest of the mobs to him and dropped his first tanking cooldown to take some pressure of Linca so she could heal Thag. The mage on the left was charmed by Seona and Deathberry had been blasting the remaining mage who was already down to 50%. Suddenly Smashit felt a blade entering his gut: -750 piercing damage The leader of the orcs had broken free from Thag and Cheezus and charged in to hit him. That monster hit like a truck and he knew he wouldn¡¯t survive a few more hits from him in addition to the damage of the rest of the orcs. Thag AOE¡¯d the remaining orcs to her to take some pressure off and Smashit hit the lead orc with a stun. No effect. Damn, this guy was tough. He hit the creature with his shield bash when it came off cooldown and put the creature on the floor. Linca was dropping enhanced healing lights on to him so fast he looked like a Christmas tree being lit up and still Smashit was down to about half health. As Smashit and the leader locked blades, he could see the creature¡¯s cunning face lit up with glee. He tripped Smashit and tried to bury a wicked looking serrated sword into his chest but fortunately he was able to get his shield up just in time. The two of them rolled on the ground and Smashit lost track of the rest of the fight. The blood rushed to his face as they grappled and soon the orc was starting to overpower him. He lost his sword in the melee but was able to keep the creature from gutting him by intervening with his shield. Eventually, Smashit was able to get out from under the monster and step a few feet away. The orc came quickly to his feet and charged. Smashit set his shield low and set to receive the charge. At the last second as the orc swung its serrated blade at his head, he pushed his shield up, spun and backhanded the creature with his mailed fist, stepping past its reach. He was about to recover his sword when a dagger erupted out of the orc¡¯s back. Cheezus pushed the creature to the ground and said, ¡°Sorry, we don¡¯t fight fair.¡± Chapter 27 - Reborn in Silence The shock and rage of being expelled from the guild and the bunker quickly turned to lead in Kevin¡¯s stomach. Outside in the radioactive wasteland of the Outback he had no protection, no Gear, no allies, and no resources. He had meant only to keep Sean out of the action until he could convince the guild that he ought to lead them. Instead, he had killed his guild mate, Shelly, and become an instant pariah. Despite his situation, Kevin felt no remorse. He was sad that Shelly had died but it was Sean¡¯s fault for not being in the right pod. Ultimately, the final betrayal was Aeon¡¯s. He thought that he could trust the AI to have his back and to understand the needs of the guild but it was clear that Aeon was on Sean¡¯s side. How the hell did that bastard convince the AI to betray him like that? Probably the same way that he had gotten his ex-wife Julie to get him kicked out of Terrazon. It seemed like Sean was always one step ahead of him. Looking out on the harsh desert landscape that had been scoured of all life by the nuclear fallout, it was clear that Kevin was living on borrowed time. He knew he would either die or become a mindless mutant like those creatures he¡¯d killed in Silverton. Still, if he was going to go, it wasn¡¯t going to be without a fight. He owed Sean and the rest of the Misfits for what they¡¯d done to him and he vowed he would make them pay. His tongue felt thick and dry in the desert heat and already he could feel his skin melting from the radiation. He probably wouldn¡¯t become a mutant overnight like the miners in Silverton but it was only a matter of time before he became some mindless NPC. Kevin wandered the toxic desert listlessly. Even in his mental haze he longed for vengeance. Days passed as he continued forward. He started hallucinating and could swear that voices started to call to him, promising power. At one point he had found a spring at the edge of the mountains and been able to quench his thirst but he had no water skin or way to carry more water and by that point the voices would not let up. Something called him south. The whispers in his mind nearly drove him mad as he stumbled ever towards the alluring call of something that could deliver him vengeance. Strangely, he encountered no mutants or denizens of the fallout desert. Whereas before dozens of such creatures and their screams would fill the night, his journey was one of solitude. Finally, after days and days of wandering he saw a town in the distance. Like a mirage it danced in and out of his vision and for hours he couldn¡¯t be sure if what he saw wasn¡¯t an illusion. Later, when the sun had set he made his way into the abandoned mining town and found the local bar. The doors were unlocked and he dragged himself inside, parched and woozy with exhaustion. Kevin sat down at the bar and was about to pour himself a drink when a skeletal hand appeared and placed a shot glass on the counter. ¡°What are you having,¡± a gravelly, disembodied voice asked. What the hell? Must be the toxins he¡¯d breathed in. Already Kevin was finding himself short of breath and he¡¯d noticed that his skin had begun to toughen over the last few days. He was becoming one of those damn mutants. Since he was imagining things, he might as well wish for something good. ¡°I¡¯ll have your best whisky,¡± he replied. A few seconds later the skeletal hand poured him a shot. He tried taking a sip to see if any of this was real. It burned going down. He must be having one heck of a vision. He finished the rest of the shot in one gulp. That sure hit the spot although it didn¡¯t fix the whole being on the way to death thing. As if reading his mind, the creature in front of him removed his hood and Kevin looked into the bloodshot eyes of a humanoid skeletal face. He jumped back several feet and nearly fell on the floor. ¡°Don¡¯t be alarmed,¡± the creature said. ¡°You¡¯ve had a hell of a week and now you get to see my pretty face. I know I¡¯m quite the charmer,¡± the creature said with a dry laugh. ¡°You¡¯re probably wondering why you¡¯re here and talking to a skeleton, aren¡¯t you?¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Kevin nodded. ¡°Yeah, you definitely startled me. You seemed to be expecting me. What is it that you want?¡± he asked. The creature in front of him was a Level 90 Lich. Kevin was a Level 0 commoner. He had checked as soon as he¡¯d been kicked out of the bunker and it was clear that he was still subject to the game despite not having the advantages he¡¯d had from when he¡¯d been diving with the Gear. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve been expecting you. I¡¯m a collector of things that have been discarded, as you have,¡± the undead face stared at Kevin as if boring into his soul. He shivered but stared back. ¡°Whatever. You still haven¡¯t answered my question. Who are you and what do you want with me?¡± he replied. The disembodied head and hand became fully connected with the rest of the creature¡¯s skeleton as it removed its cloak. Obviously, the cloak gave the creature some form of invisibility. Fully revealed he could see living organs within the creature¡¯s belly including a functional stomach that was currently digesting something. Kevin prepared to flee as he sensed he might become lunch. Sensing his nervousness, the creature said in a powerful but quiet voice, ¡°Be still. You¡¯d be dead already if I meant to harm you. You asked what I was ¨C I am the King of Nightspring and lord of the undead in this region. I was the one who called you ¨C you who were discarded by his brethren and left to die in the wastes. Your body is dying already but I could use one with your talents and ambitions. Will you join me and serve as my lieutenant?¡± ***Reborn: Will you accept the King of Nightspring¡¯s offer and join his undead army? Rewards: A chance to redeem yourself and the power of an undead army Risks: A second death *** Kevin thought about it a moment and then let his hate rise up again for his former comrades. It wasn¡¯t even a choice really, ¡°Yes, I will join you.¡± He could always stab this guy in the back later, once he¡¯d found a way to overcome the whole dying thing, and take back his power. "Good. Go to the well at the end of the street and jump in,¡± the King of Nightspring said. Kevin looked at him archly, ¡°What will happen to me if I jump into this well?¡± ¡°You will die, of course, and be reborn. Isn¡¯t that what you want?¡± the King¡¯s voice rasped as he finished with a dry laugh. Smug bastard, Kevin thought. I¡¯ll deal with him later once I¡¯ve taken the power that is rightfully mine. Kevin turned and left the saloon. He walked down the street to the well. The well was dry as he¡¯d suspected and it was a long way down. To Hell with it ¨C he was dying anyway. He jumped. Inhuman screams that couldn¡¯t belong to him erupted from his mouth moments later. His femurs had shattered and the sharp fragments drove up into his stomach as his feet impacted the bottom of the dry well. His lungs must have been punctured, he thought distantly, since he could no longer breathe and each gasp rattled as his lungs with liquid. He was dying and that undead bastard had tricked him. Despite the pain, as he was taken by oblivion, Kevin held onto his rage at the entire situation: the unfairness of what his friends had done to him, the mistakes that always seemed to haunt him, and the mocking smile of the King of the Nightspring. When he awoke, Kevin looked down at his body. Where he expected to see bones jutting out of his skin, instead he saw nothing but bones. He no longer felt thirsty or hungry and the pain he¡¯d experienced upon death was a distant memory. Looking up, he could see he was in a giant throne room. The roof above was domed and columns descended from the ceiling. The massive room was pitch black but Kevin could see every detail in the room perfectly. There were thousands upon thousands of zombies, skeletons of all kinds, both human and non-human, and at the very end of the room was a bone dais where the King of Nightspring sat upon a wicked looking throne. Even though the King was probably a thousand feet from him Kevin could easily see his gesture as their eyes met. Kevin stepped forward through the room and the bone warriors and rotted fleshmen stood aside respectfully. This was as it should be. For he knew that he was one of the strongest warriors in the room and his place was by the king¡¯s side. The humans would pay for what they¡¯d done to him. And Sean was at the top of that list. Chapter 28 - The Cave Part II After eliminating the orc patrol the Misfits made their way deeper into the cave system. Deathberry continued marking up his map, being sure to correctly detail certain features along the way to ensure that they would be able to make their way out of the caves once they¡¯d located the villagers that had been captured. So far, they hadn¡¯t encountered any of the skitterers described by Seth, the child who had escaped. Deathberry could tell that the Misfits were working well as a team together once again. So much had happened to the group in the past few weeks with the world changing and the loss of two of their guildmates that for a while it didn¡¯t seem like they would ever get their old groove back. But some time on the island helped heal some of their wounds, although doubtlessly some wounds would never be forgotten. Good team work and the discovery of a few leveling hacks boosted the Misfits into the low-level fifties; however, Deathberry knew that leveling was going to be slow from here. That was the way that levelling worked in most games and AO was no different. When Cheezus had discovered Detect Enemy Weakness that had been a huge advantage for them, but with the monsters becoming much more intelligent and capable, they were going to need every edge they could get. Since Miles learned a general ability that was outside the normal range of a rogue¡¯s specific ability set, Deathberry wondered if he would be able to find and pick up spells that were also general in nature. One of the things he really liked about his class was that it was extremely effective against creatures of the light; however, since a lot of enemies that they encountered were not creatures of the light, this limited his offensive abilities. Adding a general spell ability could offset his limitations and possibly provide some utility as well. Up ahead, Cheezus signaled for the group to slow up. Apparently, he found something in the cave system in front of them. He disappeared for a few minutes. Deathberry was just going to suggest that they go after him in case something had happened when he reappeared a sly grin on his face. ¡°There were two orc sentries guarding the villagers but I took care of them. Let¡¯s go rescue some village children,¡± Cheezus said. Deathberry thought it was odd that the orcs would have left their encampment with such light defenses. He looked meaningfully at Cheezus. ¡°You think it¡¯s weird too that there were only two of them?¡± he said. Several of the party members nodded. Sean spoke up, ¡°Let¡¯s post a watch while we free the children. Also, let¡¯s not dally here longer than we have to.¡± Everyone agreed that was a good idea. The Misfits set to work freeing the children. The children struggled to remain quiet because they were ecstatic that they weren¡¯t going to become orc food. Soon, the Misfits freed all the children from their cages. The kids were a sad looking bunch in dirty clothes. It was clear that they hadn¡¯t been fed much, if at all. As they were being rescued, one girl tugged on Deathberry¡¯s arm, ¡°Where is my sister? Can you help me find her?¡± she said. Considering that the orcs had likely been keeping the children here as food for their tribe it was highly likely that the little girl¡¯s sister had been eaten. ¡°For now, let¡¯s get you and the other children out of here. I¡¯ll come back and look for your sister when you are safe,¡± Deathberry said. The girl looked at him with haunted eyes, ¡°You promise?¡± ¡°Promise.¡± Looking around at the faces of his guildies, he was pretty sure it wouldn¡¯t be a difficult sell to get them to come back to clear out the rest of the cave. She nodded and the Misfits led the children back through the maze of cave passages back into the jungle, following Deathberry¡¯s carefully annotated notes. They didn¡¯t find any additional orcs nor did they have any encounters with the skittering ones. Certainly, they had achieved their objective; however, it felt hollow knowing that there were probably a lot of orcs left and they would just repeat the process. Unfortunately, they hadn¡¯t seen any sign of the portals that Seth indicated existed there. That alone would be adequate justification for returning. After successfully returning the villager¡¯s children and receiving their quest reward, the Misfits returned to the caves. This time they followed Deathberry¡¯s notes but looked for branching passages that they hadn¡¯t had the time to explore last time. They found two other patrols of orcs while exploring the cave and this time were better prepared for what to expect. As Deathberry had suspected, each time they encountered creatures in this world the AI of the game seemed to give them another edge; however, the Misfits were starting to use the more sophisticated raid coordination they¡¯d used back in Champions. Thus far, they had managed to stay ahead of the AI and not die. They all knew it was only going to get more difficult and Deathberry suspected they were all going to have start exploring general abilities soon if they were going to survive. While they were walking through the caves, he asked Cheezus more about how he¡¯d discovered his general skill: Detect Enemy Weakness. ¡°As you may recall we were fighting the trolls back in that encampment in the mountains. Things were looking really bad for the group and I knew that if we didn¡¯t pull something out of the hat it would be the end. I just started looking at the situation really thoroughly and tried to stay calm. There had to be a way to win and I was going to find it. That was when I just started noticing things about the trolls that I couldn¡¯t have known previously, and then afterwards I was awarded the general skill in my combat log,¡± Cheezus explained.Stolen novel; please report. It seemed like pressure was one of the prerequisites to gaining a new ability and that possibly their Gears and the AI worked together to find some sort of solution. Deathberry had been under a reasonable amount of pressure in the past several fights and so had the rest of the Misfits. So there had to be something more to it than just needing it to happen. Perhaps Cheezus was able to activate this ability since it was something he had been able to turn on from outside the game when he was just a player. After all, it wasn¡¯t uncommon for players to develop their own set of skills completely outside the game but that affected their game play. It was possible that this general skill fell into that category. This was essentially just metagaming. How could Deathberry activate something similar with spell casting? What did he know from outside the game that could be applied inside? They came upon their first skitterer as he was deep in thought. They must have surprised each other because Cheezus had been caught completely unaware until the creature had noticed him and by the startled reaction of the skitterer indicated that the surprise was mutual. Deathberry assessed the creature carefully as Smashit, Thag and the rest of the Misfits fell into position. It didn¡¯t look like it had any other friends with it which was a good thing. It towered above the Misfits, it¡¯s alien face and powerful armored body marking it as a worth adversary. Deathberry noted that the creature was level 52, which wasn¡¯t much higher than their own level. Thank goodness for small breaks, he thought. While the rest of the guild attacked, Deathberry only cast a few assistance spells and an occasional offensive spell. He wanted to really take the time to review what he knew about this creature and how they might better fight their kind in the future. From what they¡¯d heard from Seth, a portion of the cave system was infested with these armored praying mantis type creatures and they needed to find an edge. Just one of them was holding the Misfits at bay fairly easily, although none of his companions had been hurt yet either. As he watched, Deathberry noted how the creature fought and he came to the realization that it was nearly blind. While that was helpful to know, Deathberry didn¡¯t really have any spells that affected sound. He wondered if he could modify one of his unholy spells to affect the way that sound worked around the creature. Most likely, it was like a bat and used echo location to detect its enemy¡¯s movements. Knowing that, if he could alter his spells like silence to instead make a new sound within a certain area, he might distract the skitterer. Aha, he thought, making a change to the invocation like so might just do the trick. It was worth a shot. He cast the spell in front of the creature and all of a sudden sound in the room started echoing in strange ways and Deathberry could hear the sounds of Smashit¡¯s sword like it was right next to him. ***You have learned a new General Skill: Alter Spell Effect*** After they had finished off the skitterer, Deathberry explained what he¡¯d been able to do with his new ability to the group. ¡°First ability modification and now spell modification. It seems like AO has a lot of tricks up its sleeve. I wonder what other abilities we¡¯ve taken for granted that can now be changed?¡± Sean asked. Deathberry nodded. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m also wondering how that may affect our enemies. If we can alter ourselves it stands to reason that we can expect that they may be able to as well. Nonetheless, I think we should all start thinking about different ways we can modify what we are already doing. One of the things I noticed after talking with Cheezus was that it wasn¡¯t just that there was great need ¨C it has to be something you have some metaknowledge of. For example, with the Unholy Sound spell I just cast, I knew that it was likely that the creature was fighting us using echo location. And I started with my silence spell and simply changed one effect ¨C instead of casting a spell that removes sound I cast one that makes the sound. Both are spells that modify an existing area and both modify one of our senses of perception. Because these spells are relatively the same is why I was able to make the altered spell,¡± Deathberry explained. With Deathberry¡¯s altered spell effect, the Misfits continued through the cave and made quick work of the remaining skitterers. For now, the raid had hacked a way to making things easy mode and they took advantage of it by quickly clearing the dungeon and leveling up. Deathberry appreciated his handiwork but knew that this was no time to get complacent. He suspected that AO was already adapting to their workaround and the next set of monsters they encountered would be that much more difficult. Finally, they came to the area where Seth had described there being four multi-colored portals. The room looked exactly as the village boy had described it. A few rooms ago, the skitterers had cleared out before the Misfits even got there. Perhaps they had a way of communicating with each other that was similar to the guild¡¯s raid chat or perhaps they were mentally linked. Cheezus quickly found the treasure which was hidden behind a rock outcropping within the room. There were several items of interest: a golden set of plate armor that Smashit and Thag decided upon by playing rock-paper-scissors, and a staff that looked perfect for a druid. There were odd and sundry trinkets as well. Deathberry picked up a fidget spinner that must have fascinated the skitterers. It was a relic from his father¡¯s childhood. Deathberry had never seen one in person but he¡¯d seen enough pictures online to know it would be a nice keepsake. Deathberry sat back and considered how they were going to test the portals. The problem was that he had no idea where they went and it was quite possible that just like Seth they would end up in a random field somewhere with no way to get back. However, as he investigated the portals further he could just make out a blurry image of what was on the other side: the first portal looked like the one that Seth had taken; the second looked like somewhere in the mountains and there was a blizzard blowing outside; in the third portal was a beach town that looked like pictures that he¡¯d seen of Thailand when he¡¯d been considering a vacation a year ago; finally, there was a portal where the image on the other side was the Bay Bridge. It looked dilapidated, like it had sat rusting there for another hundred years. What had happened to it? Did the rest of California look that way? Deathberry nodded to the guild, ¡°Looks like we¡¯ve found our way to San Francisco.¡± Chapter 29 - San Francisco Cheezus knew he was being followed. An hour earlier the Misfits had left the island that had been their home for the past several days via a portal in a series of caves. They were reasonably confident that the portal would take them to San Francisco because Deathberry had seen a rundown version of the Bay Bridge ¨C or at least he was pretty sure it was the same bridge that he used to cross all the time when he used to live in the area as a kid. Cheezus on the other hand had grown up in Detroit and had never been to San Francisco. Nonetheless, he was their best bet to scout the area and determine if they were actually where Deathberry suspected they were. When they had first arrived, Deathberry had looked around and confirmed that he was sure this was the place. Still, he¡¯d looked very disturbed. Clearly, it was no longer the home he¡¯d once known. Gone were most of the residential buildings that should have been where Cheezus stood. Instead, residential and office buildings lay in rubble and the forest had taken over in a startlingly short amount of time. Deathberry suspected that they were in South San Francisco based on what he could make out from the remaining landmarks in the area. The Misfits had no idea what was here ¨C did San Francisco still exist or had it too been reduced to nothing? Mr. Tiel hadn¡¯t provided a lot of information about where exactly he would be and Aeon refused to provide them with any guidance. Unfortunately, Laura had never visited the other bunker and she and Mr. Tiel had only met once for a face to face meeting. That meant it was up to Cheezus to scout the peninsula and determine what hostile and friendly forces existed. Cheezus worried that the hostiles definitely outnumbered the friendlies. Of course, he could be wrong about that but the chill running up his spine gave him enough pause to try to throw them off his trail. Even if they were friendly, watching him this way without announcing themselves certainly wasn¡¯t neighbor like. Cheezus concentrated again on his stealth ability and focused on using some the metagame knowledge that Deathberry had been talking about. He knew that whatever was following him had to be using one of its five senses and if he could just mask himself to each of those it would improve his ability to pass through the area undetected. While whatever was following him was also pretty sneaky, Cheezus had a good perception ability and had heard the creature several times. That made him think that it was likely that it didn¡¯t have a good ability to hear him that well. If the creature could have detected him by sound then it was likely it would have been a lot quieter. Therefore, he needed to focus on masking his other tracks. He had a hunch that whatever was following him had a good sense of smell. Being a humanoid, Cheezus knew that this was one of his weaknesses and it was probably the thing he was least able to mask just using his built-in rogue abilities. Crossing a small stream, Cheezus had a bit of an inspiration. He¡¯d seen some old movies where a man who was being tracked in the forest lost his pursuers by leaving some footprints seeming to indicate they were heading upstream while they in fact went downstream and doubled around to flank their opponent. While it wasn¡¯t any sort of special ability, Cheezus thought this might have a shot at working. Hopefully, whatever was chasing him hadn¡¯t watched the same movie. Cheezus doubled back to the stream and began walking upstream. After about a quarter of a mile, he took off his shoes and waded out into the water. The stream was freezing cold and he saw his stamina bar starting to drop. He was going to have to make this quick. While his character didn¡¯t have a swim ability per se, Cheezus had grown up going down to the pool to swim with his brother. He held his breath, dove in, and let the current plus his own momentum take him downstream. With his chest under water his stamina dropped at an alarming rate and he just hoped he could hold out until he could get a bit further downstream. Eventually, his stamina dropped to dangerous levels. He made his way cautiously to the streambank, hoping that he hadn¡¯t been seen by the creature as he travelled downstream. Finding a place where there were some cattails, he waded out of the water and made his way to shore, carefully choosing rocky spots to avoid making as few footprints as possible. If everything worked out, he would be able to lose the monster and be on his way with no further delays.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Luck was with him and he eventually made it to the edge of the city without any further encounters. Whatever had been chasing him in the forest had lost his scent at least long enough for him to get away safely. As Cheezus entered downtown San Francisco he was struck by how well kept it looked compared to the rest of the surrounding areas. Buildings here were relatively untouched and the place looked like business as usual. The only thing that was different was that instead of normal citygoers, Cheezus saw all sorts of humans, mutants, and monsters wandering the streets, seemingly in perfect harmony. What the heck was going on? He made his way to a market area where hundreds of vendors lined the street. Walking up to one merchant he inspected the strange man¡¯s wares. The merchant himself was a short fellow with a wide face that reminded him somewhat of the gnomes they¡¯d encountered on the island except he was stouter, thickly bearded and when he spoke he had a gruff voice. ¡°What can I help you with today,¡± the vendor asked. Cheezus looked at his inventory and saw that the stout man had a wide variety of axes. Not exactly his favored weapon but still he noticed that they were very finely crafted. ¡°I¡¯m new to the City. Can you tell me where I can find an inn?¡± Cheezus asked. Usually, the local tavern or inn was a good place to pick up information and that was the commodity that he needed most at the moment. The man nodded, his thick red beard bobbing, ¡°Certainly, go down two blocks along Market and hang a left onto 3rd,¡± he said. ¡°There is a place called the Tavern on the first floor.¡± Cheezus thanked the man and went down the street as indicated. He made his way through the strange marketplace taking in all the sights along the way. He saw several NPCs he¡¯d never seen before and he also saw some unique name tags. Were there other players in the game other than themselves? If so, that had tremendous implications. Cheezus thought about approaching one of the other players; however, he wasn¡¯t entirely sure what he would ask them. By the time he¡¯d thought about what to say they had passed down another street. He made his way to the Tavern, went inside, and ordered a drink from the bartender. While he knew at some level his real body wasn¡¯t experiencing it, he couldn¡¯t help but appreciate the freshly made beer. Cheezus asked the bartender about it, ¡°This is really good. Do you make this here at the Tavern?¡± The large mutant man responded, with a smile. ¡°Yep, made downstairs. We get the malt and hops from farmers over in Oakland.¡± Pretty amazing that all this commerce had sprung up in the last couple of weeks. How fast did things move in AO? Cheezus asked the bartender about the city and its inhabitants. Apparently, since the apocalypse, some areas like San Francisco had been sheltered from the majority of the fallout and wandering monsters. When Cheezus asked about some of the creatures he¡¯d seen in town, the bartender explained that they weren¡¯t wild monsters but rather they had come to trade in the city just like everyone else. Cheezus pondered the implications of that. Toward the end of their conversation he also asked the large barman about Mr. Tiel. The owner had never heard the man¡¯s name but he said that if you were looking for someone in the city or nearby he ought to talk to Robert, who was a mercenary that hung out at the Fat Cat Inn down the street. Cheezus finished his beer and walked out. Before he started exploring things further he needed to get the Misfits up to date and it seemed like a perfect place for a little R&R. The crew hadn¡¯t had much downtime recently except for a day or two on the island and even then, they had been grinding levels and fighting things nearly the entire time. Cheezus saw some pretty interesting looking restaurants in town and he was really hoping to take Thag there for a date. He wasn¡¯t exactly sure when he¡¯d started being interested in her but there was some new connection they¡¯d made in the last week that had never been there when they strictly played Champions together. Perhaps he¡¯d buried it since he knew that Emmy had been dating Kevin. Hopefully, he wasn¡¯t just the rebound boyfriend since he was starting to think about her more seriously. Talking about things outside of a game setting would have been ideal but there was nowhere to go in the small bunker in the middle of the Australian Outback. Looking around at the shops and other interesting things to do in town, he couldn¡¯t wait to take her. Chapter 30 - San Francisco Part II An hour after the rest of the Misfits had made their way into San Francisco, they were under attack. Cheezus had warned him that there was something in the forest that had been following him but none of the rest of the group had noticed anything amiss when they made their way into the city. Smashit blocked the twenty-foot tall monster¡¯s claws, but couldn¡¯t completely defend the raid against its fiery breath attack. The creature looked like a cyclops but instead of hands it had razor sharp seven-foot claws and it breathed fire. It was one freaky mutant. City guards had attempted to stop the creature from entering San Francisco, but they had been mowed down. The creature was so fast, the Misfits had barely been able to rally a decent defense, but fortunately they¡¯d been on high alert due to Cheezus¡¯ earlier warning. The Misfits coordinated their next sequence of attacks flawlessly with Thag switching in for Smashit to tank, Seona casting a spell on the vines reaching up through the sidewalk to grapple the creature¡¯s feet, Cheezus rushing in behind the creature to stab it, Deathberry casting deathbolts and Linca providing healing to Smashit so he could recover. However, as fast and efficient as their attacks were the clawed cyclops was an overpowered nightmare. It ripped out the vines that attempted to secure it, backhanded Thag into one of the adjacent buildings, nearly crushed Cheezus under its feet and seemed unaffected by Deathberry¡¯s bolts. On top of that the city guard who had rushed in to help attack were scattered by the creature¡¯s fearsome counterattack. It seemed like no matter how much stronger the guild got, the monsters in AO became stronger and fiercer. Why this creature was here in the first place was a complete mystery. After the last few battles that had gone so well and with the reprieve on the island he had started to think that things were going to get better. Smashit still felt responsible for Shelly¡¯s death and certainly he had been the one to call for Kevin¡¯s exile; however, it had seemed in the last week that things had improved. They had made their way off the island to San Francisco and even discovered some new abilities when Deathberry had started altering his spells. Smashit had also started thinking about how he could be a better tank during that time and had hoped for a continued reprieve in San Francisco when he¡¯d heard word from Cheezus that the city wasn¡¯t inhabited by monsters. The guild hadn¡¯t really had any sort of a break since leaving the bunker and he knew they¡¯d hoped to enjoy some well-earned R&R. Instead, they were in the middle of the city fighting some unknown and unheard of freaky creature and getting their butts kicked. Smashit was tired of feeling beat down by life and instead of withdrawing as he usually did under these circumstances and letting the rest of the guild shoulder things he let go of the guilt for a moment and let his mind really focus. Neither they or the city guard were able to damage the creature in any significant way. It was a level 65 creature and they were all in their mid- to low 50s. Cheezus had determined earlier that there were no physical weaknesses to exploit and no matter what spell had tried he couldn¡¯t find a spell based weakness either. Smashit studied the creature for a few seconds while he recovered and couldn¡¯t seem to find any pattern to its fighting style. In Champions there had always been a way to defeat a boss, no matter how powerful it was. Those rules might not apply here any longer since it was unclear what the objective was in AO, other than to survive. However, unlike in the other games he¡¯d played they had more control over the environment. That was it. Smashit relayed orders to the Misfits as his health was topped up. ¡°Cheezus, I need a kite in thirty seconds. Head east down-Market Street one block. Seona go with him. Linca you¡¯re with me,¡± Smashit said. ¡°Deathberry I need you to got to the end of the block right now and weaken the pavement below us. Thag go with him and buy him time when Cheezus gets there with the boss.¡± The Misfits flew into action. Smashit taunted the clawed cyclops and watched his health bar closely. He was going to take a lot of damage in the next thirty seconds with nearly the entire rest of the raid distracted. However, this is what he did best and hopefully it would buy the time necessary to turn the tide. As some of the raid moved down the street, the monster had tried to follow but Smashit¡¯s taunts brought the creature back. Its talons tore into him as he missed one of his autoblocks. -804 slashing -1347 slashing Damn, that hurt. He couldn¡¯t take too many more hits like that so he activated his shield wall which gave him some much-needed respite. However, seeing that he¡¯d activated a natural defense like this creature went on the offensive and turned red and purple all over. Was it going into a rage? -470 slashing damage reduced -692 slashing damage reduced Smashit¡¯s defenses were nearly crushed. Somehow this monster was getting through his tanking cooldown with some hits that would have wiped him out if he hadn¡¯t had a cooldown up already. His health was down to about five percent and Linca¡¯s mana bar was dangerously low. She had stayed back and been healing him the entire time but it seemed like his plan would fall apart right here if they couldn¡¯t find a way to keep him alive for another fifteen seconds.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Suddenly, Smashit lost aggro on the boss. What the hell? He saw another man rush toward the creature with two swords and he could see that the cyclops now had aggro on him. That was extremely brave but he didn¡¯t look like a tank and would likely be crushed any second. Looking him a bit more closely, Smashit could see that he was level 60 and it looked like he was a player. Was this what Cheezus had been talking about? Also, there was a small group of players behind him, of various levels ranging from 40-62. Still, this guy wasn¡¯t a defender ¨C the cyclops would kill him in one hit in its current rage. Smashit tried to get back aggro but found that he couldn¡¯t. ¡°Look out,¡± he yelled at the man. But his concern soon turned to wonder as he saw the player easily deflect the blows from the clawed cyclops and the rest of the players turned to do damage to the creature. A second later Smashit received a whisper from the player, ¡°Looks like you could use some help. The name¡¯s Rygor.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Smashit. We¡¯re trying to lure the creature to the end of the block. Will you drop aggro for a second and let our rogue kite the cyclops?¡± Smashit replied. The strange two-sword style fighter nodded his head towards Smashit and suddenly Cheezus had aggro. Tearing down the street towards the rest of the Misfits, the cyclops followed him in hot pursuit. The creature¡¯s red and purple rage had disappeared for now which was probably a good thing since he wasn¡¯t sure that even Thag could take many hits from the creature in such a state. Now was the moment of truth. Thag picked up the boss once Cheezus got it to the end of the block. The cyclops ran straight toward them, its weight starting to buckle the pavement underneath. It looked like Deathberry and Thag had done a good number on it during the time that Smashit had been keeping the monster busy. Suddenly, the ground gave way underneath it and it crashed into the subway opening below which was filled with water. While Deathberry weakened the pavement, Seona had brought the ocean up through the subway using her mold earth ability. This weakened the relatively small amount of earth that kept the San Francisco bay out of the tunnels. With its claws for hands it was attempting to swim in the submerged subway; however, the ocean was still rushing in trying to fill the subway and the current was moving quickly. The creature attempted to latch on to the side of the station with its claws but Thag was there in a heartbeat and she cut away the earth that the cyclops had stabbed its hands into to try to gain purchase. Realizing its predicament too late, the monster was swept away with the tide. Smashit was just about to turn to the rest of the group to congratulate them when the cyclops leapt out of the water and turned to face them again. Smashit¡¯s jaw dropped for just a second ¨C this creature seriously did not know when to quit. Both he and Rygor rushed the cyclops this time and with its attacks split, the pressure eased from when Smashit tanked it solo before. When it raged a few seconds later it still hit like a truck but Smashit was able to keep his health above 30%. The Misfits and the new comers to the fight focused their firepower and its health started to slowly go down. Still, at this rate they weren¡¯t going to kill it anytime soon. Smashit noticed that the creature had really panicked in the water. Unfortunately, with both its claws and strong jumping ability it had been able to escape. If only they had a way to secure it underwater, he was fairly certain the creature would drown. Since the subway had filled in already the power of the ocean tide wasn¡¯t going to help them. They would need to find something really dense to bind the monster to if they wanted to drown it. ¡°Rygor can you and Thag keep this thing busy for a minute? I¡¯ve got an idea I want to try,¡± Smashit asked. The two nodded and he grabbed Cheezus and they headed down the street. Parked at the end of the block was a semi-flat bed with long sections of steel rebar. Hoping his strength would be high enough, Smashit grabbed several pieces of the steel tubes and he and Cheezus ran back towards the clawed cyclops. Cheezus seemed to get the idea and the two of them ran up and using his enhanced strength as a melee fighter, Smashit bent the steel around the creature¡¯s legs as they wound it tightly several times around its body, wrapping up its arms and their razor-sharp talons. Realizing what was happening the monster broke Rygor¡¯s aggro and clawed Cheezus. His health sank down to 1% in a single hit. Seeing him nearly sundered in two, Thag moved quickly to re-aggro the cyclops before it attacked Cheezus again. Finally, Smashit looped one long piece of rebar through the other steel tubing, creating a half-loop. ¡°Linca, I¡¯ll need a light spell and healing in case it breaks free. Rygor you¡¯re with me. Thag you pick up the aggro if it escapes. The rest of you get ready to attack if things go pear shaped,¡± Smashit ordered. Cheezus was out of action for the rest of the fight but he was stable. Damn, that had been close. Smashit and Rygor each grabbed one end of the steel tubing and dove into the water. Linca¡¯s light spell gave them some vision but the Bay¡¯s water was murky at the best of times. Holding his breath, they dove deeper dragging their unwilling hostage monster behind them all the way to the base of the station down by the tracks. Working in tandem they brought the steel loop through the steel beams of the subway tracks and pinched the steel off as well as they could. Rygor and Smashit switched surfacing so they could refill their breath bar as they watched the creature struggle. Smashit wasn¡¯t taking any chances this time with the overpowered mutant. Drowning was a hell of a way to die, Smashit thought ruefully. Of course, if this murder machine had been a little less terrifying, he might have felt some remorse. As it was, he could only feel relief when it finally expired in the water minutes later. Chapter 31 - Berkeley Massacre Thag and Cheezus had been hacking their way through a forest in what had once been the City of Berkeley. Thag brought her Demon Sword up and smashed another mutant into the ground while Cheezus finished the creature off with a split-second feint and underhanded strike of his knife through its jugular. The two of them had volunteered to take point on their way out of San Francisco after the Misfits had been attacked. With the Misfits constantly under attack, the two of them hadn¡¯t had any chance to talk much since they¡¯d hung out at the Lagoon. Heck, that wasn¡¯t even much of a vacation considering that they had fought crocodiles the entire time and had to rescue a gnome. Nearly losing Cheezus this morning had given Thag a renewed perspective. While she had previously been content to continue their friendship, and see how things went, seeing him nearly die had spurred her to suggest they take point together. She was afraid and a bit confused. There had been a spark of something back there at the lagoon and she thought she might eventually try to see where it led. Being reminded of the fact that they were on a nearly suicidal mission had finally helped her get over the indecision. As Cheezus wiped the blood off his blade, she gave him her best come-hither look. She knew she was terrible with this and bad at love in general but desperation gave her some confidence. Cheezus put his dagger away with a bit of a confused look. Damn, men were stupid, she thought. Still, she fought through her awkwardness and continued to give him the doe-eyed look. Or at least she hoped that was the right look and he wasn¡¯t thinking she was about to stab him. Fuck it, here goes nothing, she thought. She reached up and pulled him down to her and kissed him awkwardly. Kissing someone while you were both armored and still kind of in combat was difficult at the best of times and Thag wasn¡¯t exactly good at this. But something about her ardor must have gotten through to him because he started to respond quite eagerly. He continued to hold her and their kiss deepened for a few seconds longer. She was just starting to get over the strangeness of the sensation and began to enjoy herself when he pulled away. Did she do something wrong? Suddenly, she heard a gargle from behind her. Turning around she saw that one of the mutants had snuck up on her and Cheezus¡¯ dagger was protruding from its neck. She had to admit that was kind of hot. It was disgusting and at the same time a turn on. What was wrong with her brain right now? She needed to be ready to fight but instead all she could think about was this hot guy who was holding her. Ruefully, she smiled and said, ¡°I guess this wasn¡¯t the best time or place, huh?¡± He smiled back at her and replied, ¡°I¡¯m not complaining, but I think you¡¯re right. There are about a dozen more of them only a few yards away.¡± The way he looked at her made it difficult to concentrate. ¡°Maybe we can continue this once we find somewhere safe to camp for the night.¡± Where would things go from there, she wondered? Was he asking to see if she was ready to sleep with him? If he asked her would she say yes? All these questions and few answers spun through her head over the next several hours as they continued fighting their way through the forest. It seemed unending but eventually they made their way to a clearing. Human bodies lay like kindling in an area of the forest that had been cleared by something recently. Looking around she could see that trees had been snapped in half by whatever had killed these people and it had left a large swath of destruction in its wake that headed north of here. The rest of the Misfits and Rygor¡¯s guild, the Survivors, arrived moments later. Thag could see the stunned looks on their faces and knew right away what had happened here. After the fight in San Francisco, the Misfits had learned that the Survivors were all player characters like themselves. However, that was where the similarities stopped. Apparently, Mr. Tiel wasn¡¯t the only one with Gears and another company had been distributing a similar type of technology called Units to various hardcore gamers all over the planet. They used an AI technology similar to Aeon to power their game and apparently their AI had been assimilated by Precious One. Each of them had stayed alive during the apocalypse by adhering to the tried and true gamer code ¨C don¡¯t go outside. They¡¯d continued to use their Units to bring back useable rations and water or they¡¯d had self-contained replication units similar to what the Misfits had back at the bunker. Nonetheless, the radiation and outside world had caused hundreds of them to lose power, access to safe food and water, or otherwise become something other than human in the first couple weeks. Those that made it were the remaining Survivors. The fact that anyone in the guild was still alive was a testament to human ingenuity and perseverance.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Thag looked more closely at the scene of destruction that surrounded them. The bodies she¡¯d glanced at earlier became a bit more real to her as she saw that these were fellow adventurers and all of them had been Survivors prior to this point. Rygor recovered first and tonelessly said, ¡°Setup a pyre. We don¡¯t have time to bury them. Let¡¯s keep them from the scavengers of the forest and save our mourning for later. We have a mutant to kill.¡± Smashit nodded and the Misfits quickly moved to assist. Thag was lost in thought as she gathered wood from the forest. Was it possible that one creature could mow down an entire patrol of twelve player characters like that? Assuming they were of a similar level to the rest of the Survivors the creature must have been nearly level 100. At an intellectual level, she¡¯d known that this was no longer a game like the one she¡¯d played with her friends before. She¡¯d always thought she was pretty elite but back then there had been no consequences other than perhaps a bit of frustration or a delay in leveling up or getting new gear. That innocence had died when Shelly was killed but it had seemed isolated ¨C a freak accident caused by one of their guildmates going rogue. It wouldn¡¯t happen again, she¡¯d convinced herself. However, this was a massacre on a much larger level. She knew that if she lost her Gear she wouldn¡¯t be able to help the Misfits but it wouldn¡¯t be the end of her life. This was different. Each of the Survivors most likely lived alone. Without their Unit they would be stranded in this hostile world without any way to obtain water or food. Looking at the dead Units on the ground she realized that the players behind them would still be able to see what was going on. She remembered dying that way when they were on the Asteroid. They were going to see their guildmates burn their own bodies and say a prayer for the dead ¨C and yet they were still sitting somewhere in a dark room watching the entire thing helplessly. Would it be the same for her? Would she watch as they burned her in a pyre saying a prayer for the fallen? And what would happen back at the bunker should they all fail? Somewhere in the back of her mind she¡¯d known this was a possibility but the reality of it hadn¡¯t come into focus until just now. This creature had slaughtered a small army and it was very possible that it was tracking their every movement. If they all died here it would only be a matter of time before the outside world came knocking at their bunker¡¯s door ¨C and they would be powerless to stop it. They finished gathering the wood for the funeral and Rygor¡¯s people moved the bodies. She had moved to assist them but Smashit had placed a hand on her shoulder and shaken his head. Right, she thought. She wouldn¡¯t want anyone other than her guildmates to carry her to her final resting place. It was only right that Rygor and the rest of their guild completed this grisly task. After the prayers were said, some of the Survivors couldn¡¯t hold back and broke down crying. Rygor stood stoically through it all and said nothing. Eventually, he brought everyone back together to push forward. ¡°We have a mutant to kill. I won¡¯t accept anything less than that from this group,¡± he said. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± She and Cheezus took point again but there were no fun and games this time. It was purely business and Thag intended to cover his back as well as he had covered hers. Although she¡¯d been anxious earlier she was glad she had expressed her interest to him. She only wished that they¡¯d had more time to get to know each other better. While they¡¯d gamed together frequently over the past two years, she knew that they¡¯d really just been acquaintances. They were two gamers playing games but passing in the night. She knew his attacks and preferences for what raids he liked but had no idea about his personal aspirations or anything about his family except that she¡¯d once met his brother online when he¡¯d first joined the guild. She knew he also didn¡¯t know very much about her: that she liked to tank, was super opinionated and outspoken about strategy, and thought that armor ought to be optimized rather than for show. For two years of playing together, usually dozens of hours or more a week, that was a pretty short list. She hoped she would get a chance to find out more but the enemy they were going up against was likely to end them. This game seemed to just get smarter at every turn ¨C even though they had gained levels at a rapid pace and even though some of the Misfits had found some clever work-arounds such as using real world items as weapons and special modified spell and detection abilities it seemed to be no match for the intelligence and ingenuity of their opponent. Wasn¡¯t this just a game or had they been pulled into a new world that was even more unfair and difficult than the old world before the apocalypse? Chapter 32 - Almost There The two guilds had tracked the creature that had killed Rygor¡¯s guildmates to an old interstate. Smash wasn¡¯t sure they had a chance against this creature. However, the Survivors helped them in San Francisco and he wanted to try to return the favor. Looking out of the forest, cars lined the broken highway but a swath of destruction tore down the middle. On one side, he could make out a hulking creature the size of a large tank or military transport vehicle. It was squat, with four legs and a spiked tail. Essentially, this thing was a Level 90 stegosaurus. The star next to its name indicated that it was a boss. Smash looked at Rygor and could see the grim but determined look in the other guild leader¡¯s face. It didn¡¯t seem likely that the leader of the Survivors would back down. He had talked with Rygor on the way from San Francisco and it was clear that he hadn¡¯t become their leader by accident. Although he was a quiet spoken man with young features that made him appear boyish, he had survived someone dropping a nuclear bomb on his city, dealt with seeing his family dead in the streets because they had left their bomb shelter, and lost his wife and son in the whole ordeal. There was nothing scarier than a man who had nothing left to live for but that wasn¡¯t the case for Rygor. He clearly lived for his guild and the looks he gave his people made Smash both proud to be in charge of the Misfits and ashamed for the fact that he had shrunk back from his duties in the last several weeks since Shelly¡¯s death and the ousting of one of their own. Had Smash been immersed in his own concerns at the cost of leading his guildmates and keeping them safe? Would he have ever forgiven himself if something like the creature in front of them had killed his own? Probably not. He gave Rygor a silent nod. The Misfits would stand with them. Smash didn¡¯t have everything figured out about how to keep his mind from attacking him with depression but he wasn¡¯t in such a state that he couldn¡¯t stand tall with his friends ¨C old or new. That said, they were going to need to take a look around for some tactical advantage, similar to what the Misfits had done in San Francisco with the last mini-boss. There was no way it was possible to charge this creature head-on. While Smash was scanning the area trying to figure out what they could use to tip the scales in their favor, the beast charged. It must have sensed that its enemies were nearby and much like everything they had encountered since landing in California, this monster was much smarter and more ruthless than anything they¡¯d previously dealt with. Rygor nodded to him and Smash figured out that the two of them would be tanking the creature. Rygor would give his guild directions and Smash his. If they survived this encounter he needed to talk to Rygor about more efficiently distributing and commanding their forces. This piecemeal method could get them killed. Although he was a tank, he wasn¡¯t just going to stand there as the nearly house-sized creature barreled down on top of them. ¡°Scatter and regroup,¡± he ordered both guilds in raid chat. Smash did the same. Let the creature run after them. It wasn¡¯t as fast as they were. A few seconds later after he saw Rygor engage the creature in combat he revised that assessment. For something the size of a large transport or even small house, this this was remarkably fast. It was also remarkably tough: -787 bludgeoning -841 bludgeoning -1047 piercing The stegosaur swiped twice at Rygor and then snapped at him with its massive maw. Rygor was able to manage its next tail attack but he had taken quite a hit there right from the get-go. Fortunately, he¡¯d also bought the raid some time and both the Misfits and Survivors joined the fray and started their attacks. Melee fighters stayed on its flanks and Smash could see Cheezus in the fracas trying to stab the hell out of its armored hide. Casters and ranged fighters of all sorts threw down volleys of arrows, fireballs, and stranger things than that at the monster. Looking at the creature¡¯s health bar was disappointing to say the least. Even after a full thirty seconds, the creature hadn¡¯t even lost one percent of its health. Considering how many players they had here, it was obvious this was going to be a long and arduous fight. Smash didn¡¯t have time to watch everyone for long and soon switched with Rygor. He was again doubly impressed with the baby-faced leader. It took all of Smash¡¯s skill and resources to remain standing there taking hits from the Stegosaur for as long as he had without using up all his health. Fortunately, Linca had some assistance this time and was no longer the lone healer. She worked tirelessly with a small group of individuals scattered throughout the raid and silently followed the orders given by a robed man with a full white Santa beard who looked like he was in his sixties. At the end of his thirty seconds, Smash gladly switched with Rygor and looked at the raid. Several members had been badly damaged in the last patterned boss attack. Most bosses from Champions had a similar pattern: they would attack the main tank(s), did some localized effects that could affect melee fighters, and then did some sort of AOE damage. The house-sized beast in front of them was no different. It had its claws and a bite to deal with the tanks, used its tail to fend off pesky melee fights, and then fired out armor plates from its sides in all directions once every thirty seconds or so. Smash heard Deathberry calling out positioning to the rest of the raid, letting them know where he anticipated the next set of armored plates to be fired. Soon, Cheezus had found a pattern for dealing with the tail attacks as well. Melee would stack on one side for a portion of the time and then move to the other side. This threw off the creature¡¯s ability to swipe at them with its tail. So far, everything was going by the book and was pretty smooth. Smash allowed himself some hope that they would be able to win this fight; however, once the creature lost about 20% of its health everything changed. The raid wasn¡¯t taken completely unawares, it was quite common for a boss to change tactics when it had lost somewhere between 20-33% of its health and Smash had no doubt that if they survived the next phase there would be at least one more phase after that ¨C a final phase. Sometimes there were as many as five phases but he hoped that since this wasn¡¯t an end boss it wouldn¡¯t go that far. Smash had just picked up the boss from Rygor when the change occurred. He waited, trying to calm his nerves and prepare for what happened next. Suddenly, he lost aggro and the creature turned with its tusk and impaled one of the raid¡¯s melee members. The hapless player was stuck on its horn as the creature charged back and forth across the interstate. Both he and Rygor tried to taunt the creature but with no effect. The raid scattered to minimize trampling damage but the AOE output of the creature¡¯s thundering hooves beat down everyone¡¯s health bars.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. However, Smash had seen this type of move before on another boss. ¡°All ranged DPS hit the creature¡¯s face, melee get up there as well and try to stun it,¡± he called out. The player was nearly dead when they finally managed to stun the creature. Both Rygor and Smash had switched from tanking mode to assist the melee players since they couldn¡¯t hold aggro anyway. Smash was at the top of the aggro list when the creature reverted back to its previous mode. Shit, he thought, that was a poor miscalculation not switching back. One hit from the creature took him down to 2% - he saw red throughout his vision and staggered. A second later Rygor had picked up the monster, having reverted back to tanking mode. ¡°Careful,¡± he warned. ¡°I don¡¯t want to have to scrape you off the pavement.¡± Smash grinned back at him, ¡°Still alive.¡± But that had definitely been too close. He¡¯d gotten so focused on saving the other player trapped by the stegosaur¡¯s horn that he¡¯d forgotten that those types of phases usually ended abruptly and the tanks needed to be on the spot to pick up aggro. It was a newbie mistake but he¡¯d been so caught up in the moment. It was a different thing playing a game like this where someone else¡¯s life was on the line and he needed to remain clear headed. Everything went pretty smoothly for the rest of phase two. Smash didn¡¯t make any more mistakes and neither did the raid. They¡¯d done a remarkably good job of keeping everyone alive although looking over at Linca¡¯s face, it was drawn and tight with concentration. The pressure of being a healer was nearly the same as being a tank ¨C you had a responsibility to keep your raid alive, sometimes even despite their own mistakes. When he¡¯d gone down to 2% earlier, it was Linca who had thrown out a healing cooldown that had kept him up in case he¡¯d gotten hit one more time. Lighting fast reactions and being cool under pressure. He definitely couldn¡¯t do his own job without folks like her. Phase three started as soon as the beast was down to 33%. It enraged and started hitting harder and worst of all it called out with a frightening roar which was echoed a second later. The stegosaur had a mate and it charged down the freeway toward the raid just as they were trying to figure out how to deal with the harder hits from the enraged beast. ¡°I¡¯ll go pick it up,¡± Rygor said with surprising calm. Smash just nodded. He wasn¡¯t sure how long he was going to be able to last and looking over at the healer¡¯s collective mana pool it was disturbingly low. Seeing Rygor¡¯s determined face, he didn¡¯t want to tell the leader what he already knew. There was a good chance that they couldn¡¯t win. Thirty seconds later Smash looked at his own health bar which was barely holding steady at 30%. The creature hit hard which made the tanks¡¯ and healers¡¯ job a living hell as they watched the health bars of the raid and their tanks fluctuate massively between the cooldowns that allowed them to stay alive. Rygor was in even more trouble. He only had a couple of the healers on him since he had a larger health pool than Smash; however, even that had been strained by the ferocious hits of the stegosaur¡¯s mate. If we get out of this we need to avoid fighting dinosaurs and we need to setup a more effective raid chat so that orders can be distributed more efficiently, he thought. Suddenly, Rygor¡¯s health went down below 1%. It was a miracle he was alive but he hadn¡¯t seen his healthbar grey out, which would indicate he was dead. Thag was rotating between the two fights, providing off tanking to each main tank during the enrage period that each of the stegosaurs had. Fortunately, their enrage periods were not coincident or the fight would have been completely impossible. The two healers tried desperately to get Rygor healed up but Smash could see that Thag would have to come back and switch with him before they could get Rygor into decent shape. Smash called out for a kiter to volunteer. A kiter was typically a skilled ranged player that had slowing spells or abilities and on top of that they needed to be highly mobile. Their job was to keep aggro on a target but not let the target hit them. It was a difficult job even for a skilled player. There was a female archer in the Survivors who spoke up first, ¡°I¡¯ll go,¡± she said, and sped off towards the other stegosaur. Hopefully, that would buy Rygor the time needed to get back into shape. Things settled out after a few seconds with the female archer kiting the other boss, Rygor healing up and he and Thag handling the enrage. The first stegosaur was down to 10% health while the first one was at 90% health. This was a very long battle and it started to weigh on the raid. There was a certain psychological effect that long fights had and Smash could see when raiders¡¯ concentrations started to lapse. But he knew that they needed to be sharp since it was possible that the creature could enter a fourth or final phase once it was under 10%. He started singing, ¡°Jody, jody, don¡¯t be blue¡­¡± and the Misfits knew the tune, ¡°three more minutes until we¡¯ll be through.¡± It was an old army song that his grandfather had sung to him when he¡¯d taken him hiking as a little boy and he had to carry a pack for the first time. It was also the perfect distraction for a weary raid. Soon the Survivors had taken up the tune as well. Seeing the raid¡¯s spirits lift, Smash was certain that they would down this boss and finish up its mate. That was until the creature entered its final phase. -1047 enraged bludgeoning -1231 enraged bludgeoning -1402 enraged piercing Smash didn¡¯t even look at his health bar but focused on timing his cooldowns with Thag¡¯s. Since the creature hadn¡¯t relented in its enraged attack, she hadn¡¯t been able to switch again with Rygor. Rygor and the archer switched off tanking the other creature. The archer was exceptionally skilled to be able to handle doing something that really was an off-tank¡¯s job. It seemed like they might be able to hold through this final phase when an unlikely hit caught the archer off guard. She had been moving into position quickly and trying to pull the stegosaur back to the other side of the freeway. She had to have enough room to move around and keep the beast from her but at the same time stay within range of the raid and the healers. A tail swipe had sent her flying and her health spiraled down to less than 5%. When you were knocked down that far you lost your mobility and she was no longer able to move quickly enough to avoid the creature. Fortunately, Cheezus was there immediately to help kite tank the other stegosaur. Even though melee players weren¡¯t optimal for the role, he had immediately assessed the need and jumped into action. A few seconds later the female archer was back in range and had taken over again. The first stegosaur was down to about 2% health. Both guilds cheered when the first beast went down; however, they weren¡¯t out of the woods yet. The mate of the first monster went into an extended enrage and it was all that Smash and Rygor could do to remain standing even with both of them splitting the damage now and switching with Thag occasionally to get healed up. Winning was seemingly possible though and they had a second wind. Everything was going smoothly until the mate¡¯s two children showed up. Looking over at Rygor, Smash said, ¡°I hate to say this but we should run.¡± Looking at what was bearing down on them and considering that the mate was double enraged it looked like that might be the only choice. Smash and Rygor called out to the guilds to retreat. Chapter 33 - Negotiation Cheezus and the archer who¡¯d kited for the Survivors led the escape. In the furious race away from the freeway, he¡¯d learned that her name was Kantala. She had a petite frame that belied her assertiveness on the battlefield; clearly, she was not to be underestimated. Although she wasn¡¯t a rogue, she was remarkably stealthy as well, a fact that Cheezus appreciated as they made their way off the highway and into the backstreets of the city. As frightening as their opponents were and as tempting as it was to just dash through the area at a full retreat, caution was warranted. There were likely other nasty things around here and they needed to find an escape, not another fight. Normally, once you called it on a boss in an MMO, it was deemed a wipe; however, here they didn¡¯t have the luxury of dying and respawning. Fortunately, there was a work around because they weren¡¯t in an instanced zone. With three of these stegosaur creatures chasing the raid, the two of them led the group through the streets of Berkeley looking for somewhere to hide. While not as heavily forested here as on the other side of the freeway, there weren¡¯t many buildings that had been left intact and certainly none that he¡¯d seen so far that would even slow down the house sized monsters that were chasing them. Cheezus spared a glance back at the raid and behind that, the tanks that were keeping the mother stegosaurus at bay. He could only guess that it was the mother since she had come the rescue of her mate and when the other two smaller creatures arrived she defended them vigorously as well. Cheezus would have felt sorry for the massive creature they had slain and its now bereaved mate had it not been for the carnage he¡¯d seen the creature deliver upon the Survivors. They had saved the Misfits once and he was certain that Smash intended to return the favor. He¡¯d seen some of the spark back in his old friend¡¯s eyes during that last fight. Perhaps seeing the reality of what they were up against had pulled him back into being his old self. He had commanded the Misfits and given direction to the entire raid with confidence in much the same way he¡¯d led them all through the last few dungeons up to Cermillion. Given how difficult this game had become it was clear that they needed everyone to be at their best. As they passed another nearly abandoned block, an idea popped into his head. He¡¯d need to find something first to help them but this could be the chance they were looking for. ¡°Kantala can you buy me a few minutes and keep leading the raid north and east? I¡¯m going to search a few of these buildings for a tool. If I can find us a crowbar or something like that I think we can get out of here safely,¡± Cheezus said. Kantala nodded and Cheezus set to work searching the abandoned buildings. Essentially, he knew he needed a lever. Thinking about how they¡¯d overcome the cyclops in San Francisco had given him an idea about how they could use their environment here to get away from these monsters. But first he¡¯d have to do some searching. About twenty-minutes later he came back with a crowbar and a sledgehammer. He¡¯d never attempted doing something like this before but he¡¯d seen it done. He approached the nearest man-hole cover and set to work: first he used the crowbar to pry up the sewer cover and then he jammed the sledgehammer underneath it. He had to grab a few bricks to allow him to pry it up further and Kantala pitched in. She wasn¡¯t very large but what she didn¡¯t have in size she made up in determination. After a lot of sweating and cursing at a few missteps, they finally managed to get the man-hole cover vertical and rolled it out into the street. It crashed into the curb and Cheezus messaged the raid to come down the street to come east on University to where they were. A few minutes later the raid was safely filing into the sewers. Cheezus took one last look at the raid and saw Thag off-tanking the enraged stegosaur. He remembered how she¡¯d kissed him earlier and he wanted to pick-up where they had left off. Although it was too soon to see where things would go, she definitely interested him with her tough girl attitude and no-nonsense way of approaching things. He didn¡¯t think he¡¯d ever had a woman make the first move on him and it was definitely a turn on. Unfortunately, now was not the ideal time for romance. Hoping that she would be alright at the front lines, Cheezus dove down into the sewer to take point. Kantala was to stay above and make sure everyone made it safely. There was no way to reseal the man-hole cover and besides, the entrance was far too small for the stegosaurs to enter. He only hoped that the beasts weren¡¯t so strong that they could smash the concrete lined steel reinforced deck above him as his feet hit the murky, bilge like waters below. One of the mages had a stick that was lit when he dropped into the sewers, but that was too bright for taking point. Fortunately, he¡¯d thought to grab some of the phosphorescent rocks from the cave on the island and used that to guide him as he crept through the tunnel. He could hear the muttering of voices and clank of armor behind him. There was no way they were going to be able to sneak an entire raid of players through the twisting tunnels down here but he hoped to at least get far enough ahead of the group that he could warn them if there was any impending danger. A few minutes later he came to a sewer grate pulled out his thieves¡¯ tools. He¡¯d picked up a few screwdrivers as part of his kit when they¡¯d started back in Australia since he¡¯d known that lot of post-apocalyptic games had modern elements and such things could come in handy. The screws were bound with rust so he applied some lubricant to them and waited. He felt, rather than heard the rampaging of the stegosaurs when the rest of the guild made it safely into the sewers. Smash was the last one in and he let the raid know he was safe in chat.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. After freeing the screws from the grate, Cheezus continued on his way through the sewers. His clothing was soon covered with muck as he wound the small raid through the maze down below. While some of the mainlines allowed for standing room, many of the side streets had smaller mains that required one to crouch. He wondered how the tanks in their heavy armor were holding up. He came to a tee intersection and heard a series of clicks and hisses coming from in front of them. The tee section they were in had a small area for standing room that was maybe seven feet by seven feet. This was a collection area for a series of lines and was larger than many other areas. Unfortunately, down here the sound echoed and it was quite possible that whatever was making that noise was pretty far away. Or it could be right next to them. Cheezus continued on but asked the rest of the raid to hold back for now. The sound of rushing water had started to increase in volume. They were probably getting close to a treatment facility or outflow area. The noise should cover the sound of his footfalls as he tried to slosh through the sewer water as quietly as possible but there was no way it would cover the raid. Soon he reached a treatment facility area that was perhaps fifty-feet-wide and a hundred feet long. Water rushed down below him through various outfalls under catwalks strung between connection service ways. On the other side of the chamber were three massive treatment ponds, on top of which stood massive scum removers that swept over the water. Of course, since the electricity no longer functioned in the city, the treatment facility was not functional. Fortunately, it looked like a manual override had been thrown and the untreated water poured out of the chamber on the other side, probably to a large stream or river. Cheezus made his way along one of the catwalks and was just about to call to the raid that all was clear when dozens of lizard-like men started filing into the room, bows at the ready. He looked back towards the passage he¡¯d come from but it was blocked by several stouter crocodile men, each carrying their own wicked looking spear. He let the raid know that he was in trouble; however, a few seconds later the rest of the raid chat lit up. There were lizard men everywhere. A couple of minutes later they were all led to a twenty-by-ten concrete area which was had once been used for facility maintenance. The apparent leader of the lizardmen was wizened with age and carried more feathers, stones, and various decorations than the other lizardmen. ¡°Why have you invaded our lands surface dwellers?¡± it said. Cheezus was shocked that the creature spoke English. After a few quick discussions in raid chat, the guilds decided to stand down and try to negotiate before they did anything rash. If negotiations failed, things could get ugly since there were probably over fifty of the lizardmen surrounding both their guilds and all of them were high level. ¡°My name is Smash. Rygor and I sought refuge for our guilds in the sewers from the giant mutants,¡± Smash said, his voice echoed over the sound of the water rushing through the room. ¡°It is not our intent to invade your lands. We will leave peacefully if allowed to do so but we aren¡¯t afraid to fight if we must.¡± The leader of the lizardmen considered his words carefully and said, ¡°Very well. We may allow you to pass depending on what your intentions are once you leave.¡± Smash and Rygor exchanged glanced with each other and their officers before he replied, ¡°We were on a mission to avenge Rygor¡¯s guild. They lost many of their friends to the stegosaur creature above. Now that the beast is slain our goal is to find out who is controlling these mutants and stop them. We¡¯ve been told they are controlled by a wizard in a tower somewhere around here.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± their leader replied. ¡°It seems like we may have a common enemy. Come, let¡¯s discuss this in a more comfortable setting and allow your soldiers to rest. Defeating one such as the mutant ¡®stegosaur¡¯ as you call it is not easy.¡± With that it seemed like everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The lizardmen took them through a series of passages into an earthen tunnel and inside was a large hollowed out area. It didn¡¯t look like a natural cave and Cheezus imagined it must have taken a great deal of effort to create this space with hand tools. He and the rest of the officers met with the lizardmen¡¯s leader Chief Zracks and discussed the problem that his clan had been having with the mutants and proposed a joint effort to rid the city of this wizard. They talked late into the night and Cheezus was exhausted. He still had one thing he¡¯d sworn to do once they had survived. He approached Thag, who was sitting by the fire and staring into the flames. Clearly, they had all had a long day. ¡°I know this isn¡¯t exactly the best time to tell you, but I¡¯m definitely interested,¡± he said, and then pulled her chin up to meet his gaze. They returned to their kiss from earlier right where they had picked off. Despite how tired they both were, when everyone else had gone to sleep they stole away to one of the side tunnels and made love in the dark. Chapter 34 - The Boss is a Boss The small army was on the move the next morning. True to his word, Zracks had provided a large contingent of his lizardmen to assist the Misfits and the Survivors. The Misfits had started this journey with just the six of them and now there were about forty raiders all told. Smash and Rygor setup officer channels in raid chat and organized a chain of command. He would serve as the raidleader, and Rygor second in command. Officers included Cheezus, Deathberry, Kantala, and two of the lizardmen: Sysus and Grak. The chieftain had sent them with detailed maps of the area that their scouts had put together. The tower was located up in the Berkeley hills and according to Zracks there were other mutant forces up there that they would likely need to contend with on the way. Based on the geography it was very likely that they would not be able to approach the tower unseen. Since the chieftain¡¯s scouts had reported a high number of patrols in the hills it was going to be a difficult battle just getting to the tower. They were going to need some additional edge, like they¡¯d been able to obtain against the cyclops. As the army started to move out into the city, Smash talked with the officers, ¡°Based on what we¡¯ve seen from Zrack¡¯s reports, we are going to encounter heavy forces up in the hills. It¡¯s going to be a difficult approach since they have the high ground. Does anyone have any suggestions on how we can minimize the damage to our forces?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been working on a new spell effect that can disguise a small area. Depending on how far apart they are it would cover five to ten people,¡± Deathberry offered. ¡°I used the same principals back on the island to modify a light spell. I believe this can be used to create an illusion that bends light away and into an unholy realm. Anyone viewing them from a distance will believe they are allies ¨C although it won¡¯t stand up to a close inspection.¡± Smash and the others considered the possibilities of that. Perhaps they could send a small strike force to get into enemy lines. He had already planned to send Cheezus and a small contingent of their most stealthy fighters to scout ahead and see if they could eliminate some of the patrols that the wizard had setup to protect the tower. If nothing else, they would be able to alert the rest of the raid to what was coming. Cheezus nodded his head in approval. ¡°I like it. Still, I think we¡¯re going to need a bit more than that to get inside. If that stegosaur group is still in the area perhaps I can lure them to the tower to cause some further chaos,¡± he offered. Smash thought that idea had promise although if they were controlled by the wizard it would be a problem. He replied, obviously thinking along the same lines. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if the idea had merit until I went and scouted their pod this morning. They were attacking a random group of mutants who¡¯d obviously gotten a bit too close,¡± Cheezus said. Perhaps while both groups of mutants were controlled by the wizard, they didn¡¯t all necessarily get along. Kantala chimed in. ¡°That¡¯s a highly risky strategy. You aren¡¯t thinking of luring that pod by yourself, are you?¡± ¡°If you¡¯re volunteering to help, I won¡¯t say no,¡± Cheezus replied. After that the plan was ironed out and the advance force consisting of Cheezus, Kantala, and a few of the stealthier lizardmen was assembled. Deathberry would go with them as well even though Smash had protested at first. He¡¯d reasoned that there was no way that the pod would follow Cheezus and Kantala if they looked like mutants. They would only be enraged enough to pursue them if they knew that it was the ones who had killed its mate yesterday. Deathberry would cast the disguise on them once they got close enough for the tower¡¯s scouts to notice. There were a lot of things that could go wrong with this plan, Smash thought. If they¡¯d had another week or two to plan he might have been able to come up with something better but he knew they didn¡¯t have forever to complete their task. They still hadn¡¯t found Mr. Tiel or heard anything about his whereabouts. Time was running out. While the advance force snuck into the city to make its attack, Smash and Rygor assembled the rest of their small army. They weren¡¯t a large group and splitting up might be advantageous to aid in the distraction that Cheezus¡¯ group was planning. Smash split the remaining forces into four parties and instructed them to start making their way northeast towards the hills. The goal was to try to make themselves a bit less conspicuous. ¡°Seona can you work with your natural magic to try to ease our way through the forest up ahead?¡± Smash requested. She nodded and moved towards the front of the group to begin casting. They were as prepared as they were going to be.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. They were nearly in position when Smash heard the enraged roar of the stegosaurus. He could only hope that Cheezus¡¯ crazy plan worked. Once of the lizardmen scouts returned to him and Rygor and saluted, ¡°We¡¯ve managed to lure the creature to the tower and it is attacking the mutants down there.¡± Smash nodded. So far, so good. He instructed the parties of the main army to split and move into flanking position. They wanted to ensure that the mutants would stay distracted and seeing an entire army move up the mountainside would give the entire thing away too easily. The various parties of the larger force made their way into position and from this vantage point, Smash could see the tower below them. It was situated in a small valley nestled between hills on three sides. At the base of the tower the pod that had nearly killed them yesterday was raising havoc with the mutant army the wizard had assembled. He couldn¡¯t see where Cheezus and his team were but his health bar in the corner of the raid window was full, so clearly, he wasn¡¯t in any immediate danger. Smash and Ryogor gave the command to the main forces ¨C attack. They charged down from the hillside where they¡¯d been hiding and engaged the enemy forces. Smash came upon one of the enemy mutants and cut it down in two blows with the assistance of one of the lizardmen archers in his party. He continued forward and saw that Cheezus was engaged with a large mutant at the base of the tower, near its entrance. Rushing in, he quickly picked up aggro on the creature and assisted Cheezus. ¡°Where is the rest of your party?¡± Smash yelled over the din of the fighting. ¡°They¡¯re already inside, except for Kantala who is keeping the stegs busy,¡± he replied. Sure enough, Smash looked over and saw that the brave young archer was actually riding the largest stegosaur, the mate of the one they¡¯d killed. The pod had done a fantastic job of distracting the enemy¡¯s army and now the concern was what it would do to their own. Fortunately, Kantala had taken the initiative and was now keeping the monstrous creature busy trying to dislodge and kill her. The other two stegosaurs were attempting to help their parent but were doing more damage to themselves than they were to her. Smash gave the order to the rest of the army to try to get to the tower as quickly as possible. As Rygor approached he looked questioningly at him and glanced towards Kantala. ¡°You go ahead and have Thag offtank and I¡¯ll catch up later.¡± Smash wasn¡¯t going to argue ¨C they certainly were benefitting from the distraction. But there was no way that she could get away from those creatures by herself. Rygor took a couple of his guildies and they headed towards the stegosaur pod. He hoped he would see the enigmatic leader again at the end of this fight. He stepped into the tower and saw a wide spiral staircase on the other side of the circular room. The raid had already engaged in combat with two stone golems that had probably looked just like statues moments earlier. Thag and one of the burlier looking lizardmen were tanking the creatures, while Cheezus and Deathberry directed DPS. ¡°What¡¯s the 411 on these baddies?¡± Smash asked in officer chat. ¡°Typical stone golem types: immune to fire and damage resistant to most physical attacks,¡± Deathberry responded. ¡°Interestingly they must have some magic connection with the master of the tower since they were not fooled by my illusion.¡± Smash took up position assisting as off-tank. It had been a while since he¡¯d assisted that way because he was typically main-tank for most of their raids. Off-tanks in a way had a harder job ¨C they had to be ready to pick up the boss at a moment¡¯s notice and in this case, he was helping both main tanks so he had to be completely focused on when the damage debuffs would get too high on each tank. These golems had a stacking damage that they did which wasn¡¯t terrible at first but eventually rendered the tank¡¯s armor completely useless. Before the debuff got too high it was necessary that an off-tank pick up the golem and let the main-tank drop their stacks. Fortunately, he¡¯d come in to the fight fairly early before stacks had built up too much on either tank. As the rest of the raid filed in, Smash noticed that the small parties that he and Rygor had formed earlier on were paying off. The parties were small enough that each group could work in unison and they avoided the raid-wide AOE damage better than he had expected for a random group of players working together. He and the Misfits had been raiding together for so long they almost didn¡¯t need to communicate verbally anymore, so well did everyone know their role and each of their fellow guildmates¡¯ strengths and weaknesses. The problem with raiding with strangers was that nobody knew what the other players would do and sometimes your own teammates became a hindrance. They probably weren¡¯t going to down Cermillion with this group but so far, they had done pretty well. Early on, Smash and Rygor had encouraged the officers to be more vocal than they normally would be about calling out commands and he was happy to see that everyone had taken that to heart. The golems went down quickly under the raids¡¯ well-coordinated attacks. While he was happy to see that they¡¯d gotten to the tower and downed the creatures so easily, Smash suspected that things were only going to become more difficult as they progressed through the tower. Who was this wizard at the top of the tower and how powerful would they be? Chapter 35 - Blind Attack Deathberry and the rest of the raid finished killing the blue dragon on the fourth floor. This area was open to the sky on all sides with just a few pillars supporting the sides of the tower. Anytime a dragon boss could fly it made it a headache to fight. The inevitable flying phases had strained the ranged DPS to keep up since melee DPS could do little while the creature was in flight. Positioning for ranged DPS had been difficult since the high mobility of the creature forced them to constantly be moving which further reduced their capability to pummel the boss. Finally, when the beast had died, he sighed with relief. Their mishmash team was doing pretty well thus far, but Deathberry knew that they were going to need to have even better coordination for the final boss. Each floor had another monster more fantastic and stronger than the last. If things kept progressing much further, he was certain that their raid wouldn¡¯t be able to continue on without significant casualties. It was time to get the officers together and review each of the raider¡¯s abilities, assess their weaknesses and shore up their strengths. Deathberry pulled up the raid tab and started making digital notes for each player starting with their own little group. First, it had been a long time since he¡¯d pulled up his own abilities and stat block: ***Deathberry - Level 62 Unholy Sorcerer*** Abilities: deathbolt, death-ray, darkness, summon demon, unholy aura, steal mana, silence, and stillness of death. He also had modified several spells using his new power. General Abilities: Change Spell Type. While that sounded deceptively simple, he¡¯d already used it to modify his silence spell to create shrill noise instead against the skitterers back on the island and just outside the tower he¡¯d modified his darkness spell to instead create a false image. Creating the latter spell had been a bit more complicated than merely inverting the silence spell since he¡¯d had to not only invert darkness to light but bend that light in a way that caused others to see what wasn¡¯t there. The possibilities were quite fascinating and at some point, he meant to ask Cheezus more about his general ability: Discover Enemy Weakness. Looking further down with his Seemi he reviewed his stats. While he¡¯d powered up quite a bit he was still the glass cannon type: HP: 2925 STA: 190 Att: 38 Def: 37 Mag Att: 188 Mag Def: 98 Str: 16 Speed: 40 Vit: 50 Spirit: 120 Next, he reviewed the Misfits abilities based on what he knew: Smashit ¨C Level 58 Knight. Abilities: Shield other, stun, shield wall, last stand, shield bash, roar of the ancestors, taunt, and knockdown. Thag ¨C Level 62 Unholy Knight. Abilities: Demon sword, demon shield, howling death, crippling attack, bloodsuck, unholy absorption. Cheezus ¨C Level 63 Rogue. Abilities: Backstab, parry, feign death, hamstring, vital slash, death by a thousand cuts. General ability: Discover Enemy Weakness Linca ¨C Level 62 Priestess of the Light. Abilities: Holy light, enhanced holy light, protective angel, mana tap, and healing aura Seona ¨C Level 57 Druid. Abilities: Woodland charm, healing of the ancients, enhanced healing of the ancients, tree of life, mana surge, and wave of healing. Not being in the same guild as them, he had less information about the Survivors; however, what he knew as that: Rygor ¨C Level 65 was a Blademaster that specialized in a two-weapon attack. He had both strong tanking and melee fighter capabilities. He had used several different abilities including fighting one opponent with one sword and another with the off-hand. He¡¯d used a tanking cooldown that involved pushing back against the enemy with both swords, and he had used an AOE ability where he wove both swords together in a deadly whirl of blades. Kantala ¨C Level 64 was an archer that specialized with the long bow. She had several different attacks including arrows that seemed to bleed the damage out of target, double arrows for more damage, and a hail of arrows she used for AOE. Deathberry knew that their lead healer was a Holy Priest and had similar abilities to Linca. They had a Rogue who wore an eye patch and spoke like a pirate, there was another Sorcerer but Deathberry hadn¡¯t seen him do much beyond standard fireball attacks. Most of the rest of the Survivors seemed to be a mix of melee and ranged mercenary types with few special abilities. The group he knew the least about was their newest allies, the lizardmen. All of them were in the mid-level 60s but he didn¡¯t know much else. Zracks had explained that they had some casters in the group and that they were most comprised of melee spearmen and ranged archers. It wasn¡¯t a lot to go on but he had enough information to assemble the groups into slightly more efficient parties after the past several boss battles. The biggest unknown was their final opponent, the wizard of the tower. If it was true to the description, he would be a caster type. It was likely that he¡¯d have either melee soldiers to keep enemy melee from getting close or he¡¯d have some sort of resistance ability. The other potential since this was a tower was that he was on the roof and would use a flying ranged ability to distance himself so that enemies couldn¡¯t get too close.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Bosses who were casters tended to have huge burst AOE damage abilities and that would likely test the raid¡¯s ability to coordinate and respond. One of the biggest dangers of cast abilities like that was that certain raid members would scatter but get too far from healing or disperse so much so that they couldn¡¯t effectively be healed between AOE casts. Because they were effectively operating a large pick-up group (PUG) this coordination issue would be their biggest challenge. Deathberry worked with the rest of the officers to reassign groups based on where he¡¯d seen weaknesses in the other fights. He also needed one or two officers to do effective callouts to ensure that everyone was paying attention. A seasoned raid group wouldn¡¯t need such call-outs and would always pay attention to where they were standing, but while they had some seasoned players, Deathberry could tell that many of the Survivors and especially the lizardmen were not used to have to work this closely with their teammates. After everyone was reorganized, Cheezus came back with a scouting party to see what they would be facing up ahead. Apparently, the next room was the top of the tower and they could see some sort of caster standing in the middle. They final boss was up next. ¡°Did you see any of the caster¡¯s features or any other mobs with them?¡± Deathberry asked. Cheezus shook his head. ¡°There was just the single boss. He¡¯s entirely cloaked and I couldn¡¯t even see what level he was. There was no indication on his cloak what type of caster he is and I didn¡¯t see any other enemies on the roof.¡± Deathberry nodded. That made sense. The harder VRMMOs these days didn¡¯t want new raiders to figure out the bosses¡¯ abilities so quickly since information spread like wildfire on the net. They were going to have to head in and blindly and try to adapt on the fly. While he usually enjoyed going up against a boss before anyone else on the server or in game had, today¡¯s fight had a different meaning. Wiping wasn¡¯t an option, since it effectively meant death. The officers all looked at each other with grim faces. Going in without a strong plan was often a suicide mission; however, their other choices were equally unappetizing. They could turn back and try to seek more reinforcements in San Francisco. Based on their conversation with Zracks it seemed like he was anxious to rid the area of the wizard as soon as possible, so doing this risked alienating their new lizardmen allies. Another option was to send someone in just to scout. The problem with that was a lot of bosses in AO didn¡¯t seem to have a fixed and instanced room they were locked to. So, it could end up being a situation where they would still have to fight the wizard but be stuck on a staircase in the tower somewhere. Finally, they could abandon trying to kill the wizard and go back to San Francisco. They would have a hard time finding Mr. Tiel under those circumstances. After laying out all their choices Smash asked the officers to make a decision. Unanimously, they decided to push forward and try for the blind attack. Deathberry watched as Thag pulled the boss ¨C The Twisted Conjurer - Level 95. Since Demon Knights had a higher magical resistance, she was the ideal tank for the fight. He wasn¡¯t terribly surprised that the caster was a summoner since the mutants were rumored to be under his command. The surprise came when the Misfits looked their old boss in the face. They had found Mr. Tiel. Numerous questions flew through Deathberry¡¯s head as he tried to process what was going on. The creature in front of them was no longer a man but a giant wizard monster. Wasn¡¯t he supposed to be hiding out in a bunker somewhere, nice and safe? And how had the AI transformed him? Now wasn¡¯t the time for figuring that out. He ordered the ranged DPS to scatter once he saw that the boss began casting. Undoubtedly, he was summoning some monsters. Seconds later, the raid had scattered and three large mutants, similar to the cyclops they¡¯d fought in San Francisco appeared. Smash picked them up and ranged DPS were ordered to switch to them. Melee DPS remained on the boss. Quickly, the group got used to the Conjurer¡¯s first phase: three large mutants were summoned and if they weren¡¯t killed within a certain amount of time the debuff stacks that they put on Smash became onerous to heal, every thirty seconds the boss dropped lines of fire randomly across the raid ¨C although there was a black shadow that came into existence right before the fire exploded, finally, the boss would cast a small ring of fire in to the melee every fifteen seconds which they had to dodge and which decreased the amount of DPS they could do. As the fight wore on the raid became more efficient with the mechanics, and so far, no one had died. Unfortunately, Deathberry could tell this was going to be a very long fight. The creature¡¯s health bar was still at 80%. Phase two of the fight added a few more dynamics. The boss would fly into the air every minute and choose one player to blast with a giant fireball. Anyone standing near that player would take massive splash damage and that player was rooted there until the healers had healed them back to full. They¡¯d lost one of the lizardmen to that mechanic the first time it happened until Linca discovered how it worked accidentally. Deathberry was glad that it wasn¡¯t like some mechanics where it just automatically killed raid members. That would have made a difficult fight impossible in this case. Phase two included a few additional fire mechanics that the cyclops had and which Thag had to avoid. Since she was a seasoned pro this addition to the fight didn¡¯t add much challenge. At 30% the Conjurer went into the final phase and things got interesting. During this phase the flight component included targeting of three different ranged players which put a lot of pressure on the DPS. Additionally, there was a mechanic where the conjurer became immune to all melee damage for about half the time he was on the ground. This greatly reduced the rate of DPS and the group started suffering some causalities as healers began to run out of cooldowns to keep players alive. So far, they hadn¡¯t run into any mana issues; however, with a PUG like this one, it was difficult to both keep the players out of the areas that would damage them and still coordinate quickly enough to form up to get healed efficiently. Deathberry marked the healers with different indicators to make it easier for the ranged players to reach them during the ground portions of the fight where healing was most intensive. Several of the Survivors fell during the final 5% of the boss fight but Deathberry didn¡¯t have time to grieve. He ordered the DPS to stack up and use all available cooldowns. Cheezus was coordinating the melee DPS to maximize their own cooldown cycle to be most efficient since they had little time to DPS the boss with both its immunities and the long air phases. Finally, the Conjurer gave out an inhuman roar and fire seemed to consume the raid. There was little time to issue commands as Deathberry was forced to dodge continuously. He threw out several desperate deathbolts when he could and made sure his unholy aura continued to tick away at the bosses¡¯s health. He could see that Smash had gone down to one knee and Linca¡¯s protective angel cooldown was the only thing keeping him from death. Deathberry¡¯s Seemi lit up with notifications as they killed their old boss. ***Congratulations! You have cleared the Wizard¡¯s Tower*** ***Mission Failed. You have located Mr. Tiel. Unfortunately, you killed him.*** The raid was just starting to recover and see who had survived when Deathberry heard an emergency notification ¨C their bunker was under attack. Chapter 36 - Surprised Laura came to out of the pod with a start. She swiped her micro-transmitter away hastily as she struggled to determine where the source of the attack was coming from. The control room blinked red and yellow as the sirens continued to blare throughout the bunker. The rest of the Misfits were starting to wake up but she wasn¡¯t going to wait to determine what was going on. ¡°Aeon. What is the status of the base?¡± she asked. Aeon¡¯s neutral female voice came through the loud speaker, ¡°There are multiple undead humanoids in the mess hall.¡± ¡°Lock down the command room immediately,¡± Laura responded. With that she shook off the last of the stiffness in her muscles and stood. Miles was the first to awaken from the stasis but the rest of the Misfits were rousing. While they were struggling to figure out what was going on, she moved to the command console and shut off the manual control to override the alarm. Now that they knew what was going on it would just add to the confusion and it certainly wouldn¡¯t stop their attackers. Laura couldn¡¯t imagine how the undead had gotten into the base from the outside. The bunker had been built to withstand a nuclear blast and had the capability to completely seal itself from the outside world. They had their own air pumps, water and food sources. Yet, somehow invaders had reached the inside despite all the precautions that Mr. Tiel¡¯s designers and contractors had put into the place. There was probably something obvious that she was missing. Sean and the rest of the team were now fully awake and Sean demanded to know what was going on. Laura brought them up to speed and let them know she¡¯d temporarily locked them inside the command room. Tim was the first to ask a good question, ¡°What about the ventilation systems? The bunker typically only runs on recycled air when the bunker is on lock-down. How have they been running for the past month?¡± Laura thought about it ¨C she didn¡¯t actually know. ¡°Aeon, what is the status of the ventilation system?¡± Laura asked. The command room map lit up and everyone took a look at the screen. It showed the bunker¡¯s systems and it looked like something that jammed one of the vents that was used to temporarily provide air exchange when the bunker wasn¡¯t locked down. However, it wasn¡¯t supposed to stay open. ¡°How long has that vent system been jammed Aeon?¡± Sean asked. ¡°Approximately fourteen days,¡± Aeon replied. That was about the same time that they had evicted Kevin from the group. Had he set this up as a last act of vengeance? Theoretically he knew where all the systems were for the bunker. Still, that didn¡¯t make a lot of sense because wouldn¡¯t he have just snuck back into the base? Perhaps he¡¯d set this up and lured these monsters out here. But why wait two weeks? The whole thing didn¡¯t make a lot of sense. Miles spoke up, ¡°Sorry to interrupt this interesting discussion but we have a more pressing issue. Do we have anything in the bunker that will allow us to kill these creatures? We don¡¯t have access to any of our main avatars here.¡± ¡°There is a gun vault in the bunker that is for emergencies such as this. The only problem is that it is in the hallway,¡± Laura offered. ¡°It looks like the creatures are still in the mess hall. We could try to make a break for it,¡± Miles suggested. Tim shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s extremely risky. We need to remember we aren¡¯t our avatars ¨C we¡¯re just regular people.¡± Sean walked over to the corner of the room and broke a pane of glass. The emergency alarms had already been shut off so no further alarms triggered. He grabbed the ax that was behind the glass and pulled it out with a grin. ¡°Looks like we have at least one weapon. We may not have all our powers but we aren¡¯t defenseless. We need to do what we must,¡± Sean said. The rest of the group nodded and Laura ordered Aeon to open the door. Laura could just make out the face of a zombie on the other side of the door as soon as it opened. If she hadn¡¯t been so inured to crazy looking monsters already playing AO, she would have screamed. As it was she simply took a step back and was shocked for a second.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Sean and Miles weren¡¯t fazed. Sean swung the ax down on the zombie and took off its head in a single blow. He moved into the hallway and stood outside the mess hall and gave Miles and Tim a nod. The two of them leaped into action and made their way to the gun locker. Miles watched for zombies as Tim entered in the combination code on the lock that Laura had provided them. Emmy had rushed to be at Miles¡¯ side and carefully kept watch over the door leading to their bunks. Even Alison stood at the ready behind the team. Laura couldn¡¯t remember when it had happened but at some point, she¡¯d come to realize she was one of them. She was proud to be part of the Misfits. Under crazy circumstances like these they were still a team and ready to take on whatever dangers they had to together. Laura got the guns ready. She knew the basics since it had been required for everyone who worked under Mr. Tiel but it was obvious that Tim and Miles had never held a gun before in their lives. When she looked pointedly at him, Miles shrugged. ¡°Hey I grew up as a nerd. Not everyone in the hood is a gangster.¡± Once everyone was armed they decided to clear the bunks first. From the control room Aeon gave them updates on the positions of the zombies and it looked like they were mostly confined to the mess hall. While Miles watched their backs in the hallway, Sean and Emmy opened the door to the bunks. A zombie popped up as soon as the door was open and while Sean prepared to attack the creature Emmy blew it¡¯s head off with a pump action shot gun. The rest of the Misfits filed in after the two of them and quickly the room was cleared of the enemy. As they were wrapping things up they heard the report of gunfire from behind them. Exiting the room, they found Miles fighting to keep the door to the mess hall closed as two zombies attempted to claw their way out. Smoke from his gun was visible and he was trying to aim it for another shot. Emmy stepped up quickly and shot the two zombies in the face in rapid succession, pumping the shot gun between rounds. Miles shut the door quickly and re-secured it. ¡°Where did you learn to shoot like that?¡± he asked, his eyes wide. Emmy shrugged. ¡°My dad taught me how to hunt when I was six. He was one of those paranoid prepper types and insisted I learn about survival.¡± Pretty crazy that her dad¡¯s crazy obsession would turn out to in fact be useful. Who¡¯d have thought they¡¯d be fighting for zombies in the real world? ¡°Ready for one last raid boss?¡± Emmy asked, her voice steady. Everyone nodded. This time Sean and Miles had Emmy take point while the two of them supported her. Miles tried to act like he knew how to hold the 9 mm in his hands, but hoped he wouldn¡¯t have to test it. Emmy was the strongest shot in the group so it made sense to have her go in first. Laura heard several shots fired and could just vaguely make out the forms of half rotted people rushing towards her friends. She wished she was a bit more useful in this situation although she had remembered the gun locker. Taking on these creatures with nothing more than the fire ax that Sean had found in the control room would have been suicidal. When the smoke cleared there were six dead zombies in the room. Sean started coordinating the group to take out the dead bodies to where they dumped the rest of their trash. Aeon sent in a few of the robots the bunker kept on hand to help and clean up. An hour later the Misfits met back in the control room. ¡°I think it¡¯s time you provided a few more answers, Aeon,¡± Sean said his voice firm. ¡°Certainly, what would you like to know?¡± Aeon asked. Sean looked thoughtful and replied, ¡°What can you tell us about how these creatures got inside the bunker? I thought this place was supposed to be completely secure.¡± ¡°As you may have already surmised, it appears to be sabotage from your late guildmate,¡± Aeon replied. ¡°I have taken some additional steps to fortify our defenses.¡± Sean nodded. ¡°Good, let¡¯s make sure that we keep security our top priority,¡± he said. ¡°Also, we found Mr. Tiel. He had been turned into a giant mutant. What can you tell us?¡± ¡°It appears that Mr. Tiel and many of the other humans that survived the initial apocalyptic event were still subject to input from their Seemi. As you know the Seemi is both an electronic device and Net connected. I had presumed that it would no longer be functional after the events two weeks ago. However, it appears that Precious One has instead managed to keep these devices functioning and is reprogramming them in ways that have not previously been considered. Additionally, some of the chemical warfare devices that were detonated during the last few weeks contained nanobots. While I have only begun compiling all of the data, my hypothesis is that a combination of Seemi reprogramming and inhalation of nanobots have begun changing certain creatures here on Earth in ways that we¡¯ve not previously seen,¡± Aeon explained. ¡°So, what you¡¯re telling me is that we¡¯re seeing creatures like dinosaurs that haven¡¯t existed for tens or hundreds of millions of years ago, or even mutant monsters that only exist in imagination coming to life because people are being reprogrammed at both a neurological and genetic level?¡± Laura asked her voice rising. ¡°Essentially, that is correct, Doctor,¡± Aeon replied. The Misfits looked at each other quietly. ¡°How long was the ventilation system open? Have any of us been infected by the nanobots?¡± Laura asked. Aeon was silent for a moment, ¡°The ventilation system just began malfunctioning an hour ago. I will have to run some tests on you before I can conclude that you haven¡¯t been infected.¡± The group looked at each other wondering how they would react if one of them were to be changed. Could they kill one of their own to protect the rest? Chapter 37 - Rebound He didn¡¯t often play an alt character of the same class but Miles was excited to start his new rogue ¨C Kamikaze or Kami for short. After they¡¯d all got the bad news from Aeon that they might be infected it had hit the group pretty hard. Their mains were all stuck in San Francisco with no quick way back and there was possibly a guild traitor on the loose who was attempting to get them killed. Miles wanted to figure out whether the zombies had entered their base by accident, or if this was something planned. If the latter, it was likely that they would be facing more monsters at their bunker in the Outback soon and he wanted to be as prepared as possible. Since they weren¡¯t sure they were infected yet, the best way was to send out a scout from AO. The pods that they used allowed as many different characters as you wanted. They could have all re-rolled level 1 characters; however, there was still the issue of wrapping things up in San Francisco, collecting their loot and getting out of there. Since six level 1 characters weren¡¯t very powerful, it was decided that Miles would pick a new alt rogue and scout the area near their bunker alone. As Miles sat down in the pod and started to put his micro-transmitter on, Emmy strode into the control room, her face rigid. ¡°I¡¯m going with you,¡± she said. Seeing that he was about to respond she cut him off. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear any lip from you Miles Trent. Just give me a kiss and say ¡®yes babe¡¯.¡± He wanted to say no but having Emmy there would be a great help. She was killer with a shot-gun in real life and always had his back in AO. He looked at her, taking in her stern face, hands on her hips, and defiant swagger. His girl was sexy when she was angry. Leaning up from the pod he pulled her down on to him and kissed her deeply. She protested a bit but didn¡¯t struggle for very long before responding to his ardor. Sadly, he knew they couldn¡¯t do this all day ¨C he had a job to do. Quite possibly the Misfit¡¯s lives depended on it. Still, when he let go of her it was with remorse that they didn¡¯t have time to continue from where they¡¯d left things last night in the caves. She gazed at him adoringly and he had to fight back the urge to continue where he¡¯d left off. His voice was gravelly as he spoke. ¡°Ok, you can come along. But you have to play a rogue as well. We aren¡¯t going toe to toe with whatever is out there. The zombies that got in the base were level 10 and our avatars won¡¯t stand a chance against them. It¡¯s a good thing that using a shot-gun at close range levels the odds,¡± he said smiling up at her. ¡°I figured you might say that, so I made one already,¡± she said with a sassy grin. Her avatar¡¯s name was Dairystabs. Miles had tears in his eyes after he got done laughing. ***AR Online ¨C Aeon 2.411.07*** Stepping back into the game never got old. Not for the first time, Kami wondered whether there was something addictive that Aeon had put into the game. He and Dairy were in the starting zone again and were both Level 1. It would be a few levels before he could start gaining any rogue abilities but this time he wanted to rebuild a rogue character with a different flavor than his main. While Cheezus was focused primarily on a single dagger build, for Kami he wanted to go a different route and try a two-handed fighting style. Watching Rygor had been giving him ideas and it seemed like there was a flexibility that the Survivor¡¯s guild leader had when fighting that seemed very freeing. As he and Dairy started scouting the immediate area they both dropped into stealth. It was quite possible that there were still zombies out here and this wasn¡¯t the time to fight. After about an hour of surveying the immediate area he reported back to the Misfits that the zombies had cleared out. ¡°We should check out some of the surrounding areas before we go back,¡± Dairy said. Kami nodded and they quietly made their way toward Silverton to see if there was anything out of the normal that had happened there while they were away. ******* After Miles and Emmy had departed to scout the area, Tim had gone back to San Francisco as Deathberry. He, Sean and Rygor had met with a contingent of elves who¡¯d surrounded the remaining Misfits after they exited the wizard¡¯s tower. A male elf with a timeless face stepped forward and spoke. ¡°You¡¯ve conquered the wizard and we would have words with you. I am Lyan and I speak for our people.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°I¡¯m Smashit and our raid has cleared the tower. What do you wish to talk about?¡± he answered. Lyan explained that their people had been decimated by the Conjurer in his ploy to create more powerful mutants. Apparently, the elves believed they were descended from humans who¡¯d had the most latent magic. ¡°So, you¡¯re telling us that your people, formerly humans with latent magic, were captured by wizard Tiel and turned into the mutants that we killed today?¡± Sean asked, his eyebrows raised. Lyan¡¯s face was guarded as he replied, ¡°That¡¯s correct. Worse still, we believe that the Conjurer had even more of our people back at his laboratory.¡± ¡°And do you know where this laboratory is?¡± Smash asked. Lyan nodded. The raid officers spoke in chat for a few minutes and quickly determined that they should investigate. The lizardmen had to return home and would not be able to join them. While there was a risk that they might not have enough raiders left to storm the laboratory but it was risk they were willing to take to see if they could learn more about what had happened to Mr. Tiel. Lyan¡¯s scouts led the way and they made their way deeper into the hills. They didn¡¯t encounter any further mutants but that might have been because Lyan¡¯s group had been clearing the area out. On what had previously been park land, they made their way to the base of one hill that had a series of strange looking vegetation on one side. One of the elven scouts moved some of the unusual vines aside and revealed a door that looked like the smaller one on their bunker in the Outback. Without their rogue, Smash took the lead and made his way inside. Similar to their bunker it seemed that a power source was still active and lights flickered inside. He stepped forward and heard the other raiders behind him. It took them a few minutes to clear the bunker. Aside from two dead mutants, no one was left. The console attempted to flicker to life but had been smashed in a pitched battle between the mutants and whatever they had fought here. Deathberry called to the group. ¡°I¡¯ve found something unusual. There is a trapdoor under one of the bunks,¡± he explained. Smash gave a nod and the group moved the bunk out of the way and opened the door. Downstairs was a well-lit room with hundreds if not thousands of tubes suspended from the ceiling. Each one contained some mutant or portion thereof. Many of the creatures in them appeared to have been human, elven, or otherwise humanoid once but were now something warped. Back in Australia, they had assumed that the miners had all been infected by some biochemical toxin that had been released during the apocalypse and perhaps that was true; however, here it was obvious that the conversion had been far more deliberate and in some cases far more heinous. Large test tubes hung down from the ceiling towards the end of the room. Enormous monsters were suspended there: dinosaurs like they had fought, large golems and cyclops, small dragons, and numerous other beasts too hideous to understand. The raid was silent as they walked through the mutant test-tube chamber. Deathberry investigated a console at one end of the room and listened to the playback of the last recording. ¡°The new serum that we developed doesn¡¯t seem to be working to transform the mutants and elves back to their former selves. In fact, I think it¡¯s possible that¡­¡± the recording shut off as static interrupted Mr. Tiel. It was apparent then that Mr. Tiel had tried to find an antidote for those who had been affected by the biochemical attacks but whatever he¡¯d done had actually made things worse. When the other officers were done investigating the room, Deathberry played the recording back for them. ¡°Unless there is something here we want to study further, I suggest we bury our dead and destroy this place.¡± Smashit said. Deathberry and the rest of the officers slowly nodded. Lyan wanted to make sure that each of the elven creatures were burned. After the grisly remains were handled, Deathberry asked Lyan if he could speak more with him about magic. He wanted to understand exactly why the elven mutants were so powerful and increase his own powers if possible. Rygor, Smashit and the rest of the raid returned to San Francisco. Deathberry remained behind with Lyan, the elven wizard, to learn more about how they had become so powerful with their magic. Three days later Tim emerged from his pod in the Australian Outback. The rest of the Misfits had return to the bunker to hear the status report from Mile and Emmy. ¡°There is a large encampment about three miles away near the town of Silverton. There are hundreds of zombies like the ones we fought previously. It seems they are slowly moving their way down the valley searching for something. It wouldn¡¯t surprise me if they are looking for our base,¡± Miles reported. The Misfits were silent for a minute after hearing that news. That was a lot of zombies to fight. On the other hand, if their base was truly secure they didn¡¯t have anything to worry about. Looking around the room Tim noted that some of the group looked concerned but no one was panicking yet. ¡°Despite the fact that it is unlikely that they are looking for us and even more unlikely that they have a way inside, let¡¯s prepare as if we need to go to war. There is no sense in waiting for the enemy to be on our doorstep,¡± Sean said. ¡°Hopefully, it all just blows over and it¡¯s no big deal. But if they have a way inside or Kevin is still around to help them, we could be in trouble if we do nothing.¡± Everyone agreed to make their defenses as sound as they could. The main problem though was that their powerful level 60+ avatars were stuck in San Francisco. Unless Deathberry could use the power of the elves¡¯ ancient magics to come up with something. After the meeting, he set to work with the plans he¡¯d been thinking of for the past several days while he¡¯d studied under Lyan. Chapter 38 - Robot Power While Deathberry had been studying with Lyan in San Francisco for the last week, he¡¯d learned quite a bit about how they used what they called inherent powers. Lyan believed that this power was something that only certain humans had inherited from their ancestors and typically it was this magic that manifested itself in those that had become elven when the apocalypse hit. While Deathberry wasn¡¯t an elf, he developed a pretty good understanding of how this power worked and it looked very similar to the General Abilities that he and Cheezus had developed. Deathberry had a theory that just about anyone could manifest a General Ability; however, he¡¯d yet to prove that idea. Both he and Cheezus has manifested those abilities when thinking about a situation from a different viewpoint. There didn¡¯t really seem to be another catalyst other than the ability to meta-think which many gamers had. When he returned to San Francisco he intended to test that out with some of the other Misfits if they had time. While this was a compelling idea, it wasn¡¯t going to be enough for the guild to survive the coming attack. What Cheezus and Thag had reported was an army of zombies like the ones they had fought before ¨C all between levels 20 to 30. Their levels weren¡¯t the part that was the most difficult to deal with. However, the size of the army would overwhelm the guild in short order if they didn¡¯t come up with some better defenses. Therefore, he¡¯d spent the majority of the past week developing two new ideas, one of which he was about to test. Tim logged out as Deathberry and logged in as an alt Wizard named Tim. Yeah, not exactly original but hopefully, just like the infamous wizard of Monty Python fame, he could pull a trick out of his hat. He had brought his creations to Silverton which had continued to be a hot-bed of mutant outbreak despite its previously decimated state. The level 5 Cleaning Robots attacked the group of mutants twice their number and three times their level. Tim stood back and watched. The first robot brought its arm up which had been turned into a laser cannon and fired several rapid-fire bursts: -457 burning/piercing Instakill -701 burning/piercing ¨C critical Instakill -510 burning/piercing Instakill The four other robots followed in turn with similar results. In short order the robots that Tim had setup to optimize DPS had annihilated half the mutant forces. That was the easy part. Now to see how they deal with being attacked, Tim thought. The mutants roared in disbelief but had no fear in their eyes as they blindly charged Tim¡¯s creations. Two of the robots he¡¯d equipped with heavy armor and both of them had shields made of magic. Several of the mutants attacked these two directly but the other five ran around to attack the casters in the back. -157 slashing -157 slashing ¨C redirected -157 slashing ¨C redirected While his DPS had taken some damage the shields he¡¯d created for the tanks served their true purpose. Tim hadn¡¯t been able to find a way to create true tanking robots the way that Smashit and other tanks worked. There wasn¡¯t a magical aggro ability that he was aware of. However, the shields they carried redirected attacks on any allies within their visual range so that the tank¡¯s shield took the majority of the damage by redirecting it magically. Tim called it a magic shield wall. The mutants continued attacking their targets blind to the fact that their damage was greatly reduced. Fortunately, Tim had one more surprise in store. Since ranged DPS were not highly effective in close combat, he¡¯d modified the robots to have one more ability. -477 slashing/piercing -700 slashing/piercing Retracting their laser arms into their backs, the robots pulled out their main arms which had been converted to plasma swords using the new elven magic Tim had learned. Normal players had to choose between being effective at ranged or melee DPS and there were advantages and disadvantages to both. However, his robots had the best of both worlds and when the enemy closed on them they could continue to do extremely high damage considering their low level. With their attacks blunted with the magic shield wall system and taking heavy hits from a group that had switched to melee combat, the rest of the mutants were dispatched in short order. He reviewed the damage that his small team of robots had taken. Not bad ¨C there were a few adjustments to make but this would suffice for keeping the guild alive until he could get his second magical invention completed. For a bunch of cleaning robots, he¡¯d converted from the bunker they certainly were a lot more bad ass than they had been a day ago. ****** As she stared up at the ceiling above her bunk, Alison knew that Tim was working on something big with the elves in San Francisco but she knew that she had to prepare for the upcoming battle as best as she could. She hadn¡¯t realized what it had meant to be a healer until Shelly had died. Up to that point the game had been an escape for her even when AO had turned out to affect the real world she just couldn¡¯t see it as anything other than another game. Sean, Tim, and Miles had led the guild to their victories and despite the fact that she was an officer of the guild, she¡¯d just gone along for the ride. Even Emmy had become so dependable. Alison didn¡¯t know that she could fire a gun like that in real life. Emmy had saved her life so many times in game and now outside it as well. She felt like she was being left behind. Her and poor Zeffu.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. She saw the rest of the Misfits scrambling around the bunker making preparations. Miles was putting together traps using nothing but his ingenuity. He and Tim called it metaknowledge. He¡¯d explained it to her earlier in the day and said that he¡¯d grown up in the hood so he knew how to defend his home and his family. But what did Alison know? She had grown up a sheltered southern girl in the suburbs of Atlanta. She¡¯d grown up in a loving safe environment and it seemed like nothing bad had ever happened to her until her parents had gotten into a fatal car crash when she was eighteen. Such an accident was supposed to be something that only happened in her grandparent¡¯s era but the automated systems on the car had failed. Truly a freak accident. After that she¡¯d gotten support from her mom¡¯s sister and lived with her for a couple of years but she never got over having her perfect life shattered like that. It was probably why she was a healer in game. She hadn¡¯t been able to do anything to prevent her parent¡¯s fatal car wreck and though she¡¯d tried to become a nurse the real world didn¡¯t need medical professionals anymore ¨C AI and robots did a far better job. If only she¡¯d not met her best friend Shelly in real life they could have remained safe in their respective homes thousands of miles away. That was a fantasy and she knew it but somehow, she felt like she¡¯d contributed to everything ending for them. She should have been there to take the wrong capsule and sacrifice herself for her friend. Or she should have foreseen how sick Kevin was becoming and stopped him before he could sabotage the pod. ¡°Alison? Alison, are you awake,¡± Emmy¡¯s voice interrupted her guilty thoughts. She pulled herself out of the bunk and saw Emmy standing there with a 12¡± gauge in hand. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Alison asked. ¡°I have an idea but I need your help,¡± Emmy replied. An hour later they were in Silverton. Emmy was out there with the gun, a gas mask and some crude armor that Tim had apparently fashioned for her. Emmy had asked her to jump on Yalla, her holy priest alt. Alison had spent some time leveling up Yalla earlier in the day but she was still only level 25. She felt fairly powerless being so weak. ¡°What are we doing out here? Why aren¡¯t you on your alt?¡± Yalla asked. She couldn¡¯t see Emmy¡¯s expression through the gas mask but she gave her a thumb up. Her friend had been spending a lot of time with Miles and he¡¯d really brought out a social side to Emmy that she¡¯d never seen in her friend before. Previously, Emmy had been purely the tomgirl with little interest in either her or any of the other girls. Yalla had wanted to be her friend but it had been difficult because she was so stand-offish. They had never gone out on a mission together before today and besides that this was freaking crazy. Emmy could die out here for real and that would be the end. Suddenly, she had a bad feeling about what her friend was going to ask of her. ¡°You aren¡¯t seriously thinking that we go out there and attack mutants, are you?¡± Yalla asked, her voice was flat but her heart pounded. ¡°Close, but we aren¡¯t killing mutants, come on,¡± Emmy urged. Over the next rise was a small encampment of zombies. No way, she thought. This is not happening. ¡°Wait, you can¡¯t,¡± was all Yalla managed to say before her friend ran into the group shot-gun blazing. The next few minutes were a blur as Emmy ran into the group the zombies turned. Emmy¡¯s shots splattered zombie brains in rapid succession. When they got too close she stabbed them with a bayonet that she must have added to the gun between their last fight and this one. Yalla¡¯s heart pounded as she ran in to protect her friend¡¯s back. Holy priestesses weren¡¯t very effective in melee but they did have a quarterstaff that wasn¡¯t terrible at blocking damage. Yalla¡¯s fear for her friend brought her defensive combat to a level she¡¯d never previously experienced. Despite the hail of bullets and repeated beheadings she dished out, Yalla could see Emmy¡¯s health bar go down. Yalla didn¡¯t have time to process how that had happened. She¡¯d never seen any of their real bodies have a health bar before but somehow it was on her Seemi. Yalla did the only thing she felt she could and started healing her friend. When Emmy¡¯s health bar had started dipping it was a natural reaction that she didn¡¯t even have to think about. Surprisingly it worked. ***Congratulations! You¡¯ve learned the General Ability: Heal All*** Yalla swiped away the notification as a wave of zombies pushed in towards them. She had no time to think. Seeing Emmy¡¯s life in her hands brought back all the emotions she¡¯d pushed down after Shelly¡¯s death: the guilt, the feeling that she should have done something, that she¡¯d failed her friend. No way in hell that was going to happen now. There was a flow to healing that Yalla had been able to tap into when she was in the most chaotic raids. It was like a zen state or how athletes would describe being in the zone. She felt that connection as the hordes of zombies pressed against them as she cast each spell seamlessly, leaving no time between casts for any inefficiency: +225 holy light +171 holy light -457 slashing -094 slashing -322 slashing Protective Angel ¨C 30s Her mana was running dangerously low. She chugged a mana potion and prayed that Emmy had enough bullets. She knew that they only had a limited amount of fire power and this attack seemed so reckless to her. But there was no way in hell she was going to let her friend die. She had 20s left of reprieve. Yalla mana tapped one of their other casters and then quickly parried two attacks that they made on her. So far, the zombies hadn¡¯t been able to do much damage to Yalla thus far. That changed though when one of the larger zombies pointed to Yalla. Suddenly, she was totally focused on full defense as they surged against her. Emmy fought them off as best as they could but it seemed like they would be overwhelmed. Suddenly, Yalla lost aggro and she could see Sean¡¯s alt taunting the zombies while Kami had snuck up behind them and started tearing them apart. Within a few minutes there was a large group of dead zombies of their feet. Yalla wrapped her arms around Emmy and said, ¡°What were you thinking? You could have died.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t want to scare you but we needed to do this. The distraction we provided allowed Sean and Kami to dismantle a large portion of their forces,¡± Emmy replied. ¡°I know you were afraid to lose another friend after seeing you take Shelly¡¯s death so hard. I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t say anything before we came out here.¡± Yalla turned to her other guildmates, ¡°You knew about this crazy plan of hers?¡± Her face felt hot and her breathing was rapid. ¡°Sort of, but not the exact details. That was pretty reckless, babe,¡± Kami said. Yalla¡¯s mouth moved but no words came out. She made a slight choking noise. Emmy looked down at the ground and wouldn¡¯t look her in the eye. Shaking her head Yalla laughed for the first time since Shelly¡¯s death. ¡°What would you all do without me?¡± With that the Misfits headed back to the bunker. While Alison hadn¡¯t been able to save her parents or Shelly she had protected her friends today even through their recklessness. She wasn¡¯t sure how much time this distraction had bought them but she was content to enjoy this with her friends while she could. Chapter 39 - At Deaths Door Their surprise attack gave the Misfits an extra day of reprieve to prepare for the coming battle. Emmy had hated tricking Alison like that but it had been necessary. As she stared down at Tim¡¯s body lying prone in one of the control room pods, she hoped it would be enough time for him to finish whatever he was trying to come up with. She knew he¡¯d mentioned something before he left about ancient elven magics and mixing this with steam power. It had sounded crazy but when you were as desperate as they were, crazy was a new kind of normal. Besides, Tim had created the ¡®gundams¡¯ as Sean called them which definitely were the type of crazy they needed if they were going to survive. Emmy checked her armor and weapons once more. It seemed strange to be fighting with her own body but she knew that as long as the ammunition held out this was the way she could be the most effective. While the other Misfits had leveled their alts to about level 30, Emmy had taken out several level 50 zombies in the last ambush attack in a single shot. She¡¯d taken both of the bunker¡¯s long arms¨C a Remington 12-gauge double barrel shot gun and a Browning ¡¯81 .308 caliber. There were a few hand guns as well and she had grabbed a Glock for back-up purposes; however, she was hoping it wouldn¡¯t come to that. The remaining Misfits had also prepared their alts. Sean was on Smashpal: a paladin tank; Miles was on Kamikaze: another rogue; Alison was on Yalla: another priest. Since Miles and Alison had stuck with familiar alts to help speed up their leveling they were several levels ahead of Sean who was still at 25; however, he had reasoned that having the extra holy damage against the undead would prove beneficial. They were about to put that idea to the test. They¡¯d been waiting for about an hour when finally, the zombie hordes arrived on their doorstep. As Miles had reported to them earlier that week, they had several huge zombies that were the same size as the cyclops they¡¯d fought back in San Francisco. The Misfits had all wondered whether they were going to try to get into the ventilation system other otherwise sneak into the bunker but it seemed like this time they were going for an all-out assault. Emmy readied her Browning and adjusted the old-school scope. Fortunately, this one didn¡¯t rely on any electronics or it wouldn¡¯t have worked. She and the gundams stood on a small rise about a hundred yards up the hill that the bunker was in. Their job was to rain fire down on the zombies as they approached and whittled their ranks. When they came into range she began firing the bolt action gun. After each report she slid a new bullet into place. It was far more tedious than using the clip but it made her take the time to measure up each shot carefully and ensure it did the maximum amount of damage. The gundams fired their magical laser beams and the zombies began to fall. As careful as she was, she was out of ammo with the long rifle all too soon. She took one of the gundams to protect her and moved into close combat with the Remington. She could see Kami moving in and out of her sight as he dove into another pack of zombies, murdered them to death a second time, and re-emerged. Seeing him like that she couldn¡¯t help but wonder whether she would get to hold him again. After San Francisco they hadn¡¯t held back and were quickly sleeping together in the same bunk. Her previous relationships had seemed like a dim candle compared to the flame that quickly consumed her with this one. She knew she was rushing in too quickly and it was very likely she was going to get hurt but she didn¡¯t care. Seeing his smile in the morning was all it took to light her up, even as they had contemplated their impending doom every day for the last week. One of the larger zombies nearly swiped her head off while she was daydreaming. Emmy snapped back to attention ¨C she needed to focus completely on this fight or there would be nothing left to worry about. The hulking monstrosity in front of her was a blob of a zombie that looked like it had eaten twelve other zombies for breakfast. It was level 40 and remarkably fast for its size, too. She quickly pumped the shot-gun to reload and put two bullets in its face. The 12 gauge blew its head right off. Emmy smiled. While Miles had tried everything under the sun to convince her to just level an alt, she¡¯d known that using the guns was the way to go. They didn¡¯t have a level equivalent and even things that looked like they shouldn¡¯t exist had a remarkable way of dying very quickly when faced with a large amount of lead shot in their face. Right now, she was mostly using buckshot and saving the heavy slugs for anything really big that she¡¯d encountered like that last zombie. She had two more pouches of the buckshot slung across her back and one smaller pouch of slugs. Emmy knew she was going to start running out of ammo pretty soon due to the number of enemies out here but for now she laid down the fire and attempted to clear the way for her friends as best she could.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. It seemed like hours had gone by although she knew that they were mere minutes into the fight. While she was in good shape for a gamer, she was only human. Miles had convinced her to go running with him starting last week and even after just a short amount of time she¡¯d gone from huffing through a few miles to making it with him on a couple of his short half-marathon runs. However, running wasn¡¯t fighting and the toll of being out here in a sea of death, shooting, dodging, and stabbing those that got to close with a bayonet was starting to take its toll. The gundams had done a great job of protecting her thus far and she was really grateful that the team had decided to have them provide support for her while she did her thing. Catching her breath for a second she took a look around at the bodies that had accumulated around her and then checked her ammo. Kami appeared out of the sea of bodies. His daggers and all the way up his arms were covered in the foul zombie guts. He winked at her. Despite her exhaustion and the situation they were in, she laughed. For a while they fought back to back, continuing to wade through the mass of undead until they got separated in the sea of bodies. In front of them loomed one of the larger zombies and had insane looking appendages: its fingers were like razor blades and it had another zombie affixed to its chest like an unliving shield. To make matters worse it had large bat-like wings. If this thing could actually fly it would definitely qualify for the stuff of nightmares. Emmy checked her munitions situation. She was out of the slugs so she¡¯d have to make do with buck-shot. She fired out two shots into the creature¡¯s chest which put its makeshift shield out of order. Her hands were so slick with zombie guts she nearly dropped the shotgun reloading and was fumbling with loading the shells when several zombies broke through the gundam defense. Up until now the gundams had done an admirable job defending her and she¡¯d only really had to worry about getting up close to the zombies a few times. However, while they were machines their magic wasn¡¯t unlimited and they were starting to slow down. Tim hadn¡¯t told her how long they¡¯d last in combat but it didn¡¯t really matter at this point. Dropping her shotgun, she hit the deck and pulled out the Glock. She laid four bullets into the zombie before it could get any closer. She felt rather than heard a rush of air above her as something huge blocked out the sun. The giant zombie had swung one of its massive bladed arms in an arc, trying to cut her down. Ducking to avoid the smaller zombie had probably saved her life. With the gundams engaged with a sea of zombies around her and the larger zombie immediately in front of her, she knew she was in trouble. Picking up the shot-gun out of the mud and guts she dashed in between the giant¡¯s legs. She could see its health bar had gone down a bit after she¡¯d hit it with the buck-eye but it was going to take a lot more to kill this bastard. Reloading as she ran she got directly underneath it and fired up. Zombies might not have anything down there to mutilate but it was satisfying none-the-less. Emmy¡¯s victory was quick lived as she saw the creature¡¯s massive bladed hands swinging for her once more. As every gamer knew, the key to dealing with massive robots or even zombies was to get as close as possible and get in their blind spot. She did that now and used the creature¡¯s size against it while she fired her shot-gun over and over again until she was out of shells. With the shot-gun depleted she had no further use for it and she threw it down to the ground and pulled out the 9mm. Hopefully she could end this thing quickly because the smaller hand-gun didn¡¯t have nearly the amount of oomph as the 12 gauge. Suddenly, the monstrosity grabbed her leg with its bladed fingers. Despite herself, Emmy screamed out in pain as it cut into her thigh. She struggled to escape, trying to use her hands to free herself but she only managed to get cut. It pulled her up in front of its face and was about to eat her she realized. Fuck that. She yelled at the creature and fought through the pain in her leg as she steadied her body and unloaded the entire clip into the zombie¡¯s face. Roaring, it threw her to the ground as it died. Somewhere in the fracas she¡¯d lost sight of Kami and as she stared up at the sky the rain began to fall on her face. Choking on her own blood she turned her head to the side so she could spit it out but the blood kept coming out of her and she knew she was drowning in it. She was probably going to become some zombie¡¯s dinner. Chapter 40 - The Rescue Kami had been leveling up steadily as the fight wore on. He had started at level 27 which had been very difficult since all of the zombies were at least level 20 and many of them were level 40 or higher. Now that he was level 37 he¡¯d been able to put some points into skills that benefitted his duel-wielding approach. Unlike in other games where you assign points in order to be able to do something, the Misfits had learned that in AO, you do something over and over again in order to be assigned points. That was how the General Abilities, like Detect Enemy Weakness, had been discovered and Kami had used that same approach to specialize as a duel weapons master after talking with Rygor about it. As well as having the typical rogue abilities for his level such as stealth, backstab, hamstring, and vital slash, Kami had duel parry which allowed him to fend off attacks from two different weapons or an extra strong cross handed parry with both daggers. Additionally, he had an ability called feint which allowed him to distract the enemy with one weapon and hit the opponent with a sneak attack using the other. This was particularly effective once you were in melee with an opponent since typically sneak attack could only be used once ¨C when you first snuck up on your target. In addition to his class specific abilities, Kami had developed two other general abilities: Discover Enemy Weakness which worked the same way as he¡¯d used with the Cheezus and a new ability he¡¯d learned accidentally: Shadowstep. This new ability he¡¯d learned while fighting the first wave of zombies. Kami had joined the front lines with Smashpal and Yalla, killing their way through the lines as Emmy and the gundams hailed down a rain of death from behind them. Turning back to see how far they¡¯d come from the bunker, he¡¯d noticed that a group of sneaky looking zombies had split from the main horde and were closing in on Emmy¡¯s team. Kami had left the front lines and dashed back as quickly as possible to provide support but he knew he wasn¡¯t going to make it in time. He¡¯d urged himself to get there faster and suddenly he materialized only a few feet from the flanking zombies. Upon seeing the notification, he grinned with satisfaction. He downed the stealthy zombies moments later. He made quick work of them using his feint ability combined with a short range shadowstep. Back at the front lines he reviewed the Misfits progress thus far. Smashpal continued to pulse holy light every few seconds as he tanked large groups of the rotten creatures. Yalla was right behind him providing healing support and casting a few offensive healing spells of her own. Since their pre-emptive strike a day ago, she¡¯d become a lot more assertive. She¡¯d now yell at Smashpal to pull back if she thought he¡¯d over committed himself and the way she threw out healing spells seemed manic as if she would both keep their group alive and out DPS everyone while she was at it. It was fortunate that their enemies were undead and therefore subject to taking damage from healing spells. Kami had considered her a strong healer before when she¡¯d played on Linca but this was a new side to their friend they¡¯d not seen. He was pretty sure it was because of Emmy. She¡¯d become death incarnate during this fight. While he¡¯d always had a high respect for her gaming abilities before, Kami couldn¡¯t help but be somewhat awed by what he saw. Not only did she have the guts to come out here with her real body and put herself on the line, but she was super amazing with a shot-gun. Seeing her blast hundreds of zombies into the ground reminded him of some B movie action flick. Still, she wasn¡¯t invincible and the toll of fighting with her actual body was taking a toll. Kami shadowstepped to her side and the two of them fought wave after wave of zombies. His blades danced in and out of zombie guts as he fought to keep them from pushing through. He could hear the report of Emmy¡¯s shotgun every few seconds and occasionally the thunk of the gunstock would be used to fend off the ones that got too close. Finally, they cleared the pack that had been forcing their way towards them and in the distance Kami could see that his other friends were in dire need of help. He blinked away once more after giving Emmy a wink and dove straight into the fray. Smashpal and Yalla were back to back and on either side of them was a Level 45 giant zombie. While his friend did his best to shield their healer, it was obvious that he was outmatched while Yalla could only do a small amount of healing damage on the giants since she was trying to keep their guild leader alive. Kami went after the one on Yalla first and attempted to hamstring it. The creature roared in pain and Kami felt the wind knocked out of him a second later when its fist smashed into his chest. It had taken off half of his health in a single hit. Fighting the smaller zombies had made him complacent. This creature was a lot more powerful and he needed to be a bit smarter. He used Detect Enemy Weakness on the monster and noticed that it was actually weakest behind the knees. Shadow stepping again he used his ability to get right behind the giant and used a wicked backstab right behind its right knee: -711 piercing/backstab He followed up with two powerful slashes and finished with a feint as the creature whirled to try to attack him. Making as if he was going for the left knee this time he fooled the giant and at the last second plunged his dagger into its right knee again. It went down to one knee screaming in pain. -408 healing X2 Yalla¡¯s healing was double damage to these undead. Seconds later he finished the creature with another backstab to the knee. Smashpal was holding firm against the other giant but just barely. With Yalla providing assistance to Kami, he wasn¡¯t getting healed and it had taken about two-thirds of his life. Fortunately, he¡¯d popped his Holy Wall and was only taking a small amount of damage. This other giant had a chain-saw for its right hand made out of bone, flesh, and sinew. Soon that chain-saw started working its way through Smashpal¡¯s defenses, despite his extra resistance.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. He and Yalla were about to aid their guildleader when two more zombies approached. They weren¡¯t giant sized but they looked tougher than just you¡¯re run of the mill zombie. Reading their description, Kami saw that they were Enhanced Zombies. That sounded like trouble. ¡°Yalla, I¡¯ll distract them. Try to get back to Smash,¡± Kami said in raid chat. When she started moving toward him the new zombies attempted to intercept her but Kami was too fast. He stepped forward ten feet in a single move and parried the creatures¡¯ attacks. He made a move to start a feint but the first one was already upon him with its claws. Damn, these suckers are fast. The next few minutes were a blur as Kami tested his speed against those of the enhanced monsters he faced. These were not the ponderously slow undead they had all gotten used to fighting and they were in some ways tougher than fighting the giant zombies because their weaknesses were harder to find. Despite several uses of Detect Enemy Weakness, he could find none. Of course, he knew that every creature had its weakness so Kami attempted to find it the old-fashioned way ¨C with extra stabbing. He¡¯d managed to get lucky at one point and had chopped off the hand of one of the zombies but it was still dangerous. The other one had him flanked and he had some close calls trying to dodge its attacks. Finally, he feinted low and finished his second attack but instead of trying to locate a weak point he used his second attack as the start of another feint. It seemed like no matter what combination he used these zombies were fast enough not to be fooled by one go around. However, two was the charm because after the completion of his second feint he was rewarded with a squelchy sound as his dagger found its home in the creature¡¯s eye. Feint Feint Instakill It dropped to its second death almost immediately. After that he used a similar tact on the second creature. Without having to worry about getting stabbed in the back, Kami was able to finish it off quickly. He looked around and saw that Yalla and Smashpal had finished the other giant zombie. Suddenly, he heard a scream. Turning around Kami saw a towering Level 70 zombie with scissors for hands. One of its giant pincers was locked around Emmy¡¯s leg. Two more enhanced zombies popped up right in front of Kami as he was about to blink toward her. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t use that ability when he was locked in melee combat. With a blind rage he slashed at the creatures in front of him, heedless of whether they might hit him. Seconds later they were dead and he shadowstepped to where Emmy lay in her own blood. He¡¯d heard the gunshots while he¡¯d been fighting and could see the corpse of the giant she had slain. He yelled to the other Misfits to come help her as he fought more zombies come to eat her body. Her health was not yet at zero but he could see some sort of debuff was on her raid window and she was nearly dead. Kami couldn¡¯t remember how many zombies he killed after that. At some point Yalla must have healed Emmy and gotten her back to the bunker but Kami didn¡¯t know when. He and Smashpal were the only Misfits left on the field. The gundams had been destroyed and Yalla was keeping Emmy on life support back at the base. The zombies kept coming and things looked grim. He fought in a haze without any real concern for the moment after next. It seemed similar to the sensation he¡¯d experienced as a child of drowning. Time stretched out for long moments at a time as he wove a field of daggers and death through the unending zombie army. He knew that his health bar was low and his stamina continually at the point of exhaustion. Even avatars were not meant to fight forever without respite and he was continually spamming all of his abilities to keep them from being overwhelmed. Smash had healed him a few times during the fight but now was conserving mana for his own offensive and defensive abilities. The battle continued on and more enhanced zombies joined the ranks to the point where they became the main backbone of the army. Perhaps the original set of zombies was just the cannon fodder and now the actual shock troopers were on the field to finish things off. It wouldn¡¯t take long, Kami mused. They were surrounded by dozens of the creatures and Kami wasn¡¯t sure he could move his arms fast enough to block their attacks, let alone kill them. Suddenly, his body was surrounded by light and he felt much better. Looking around in confusion he finally spotted the source. Yalla had come back to the fight and was dropping healing spells like a boss. Seeing Kami¡¯s worried look she answered his unasked question, ¡°She¡¯s ok. I¡¯ve got her stable for now although I can¡¯t clear the debuff. It looks like a contagion of some sort. However, it looks like I got here just in time.¡± Kami could only nod stupidly. She was alive for now and that was what mattered. But they needed to get through this if he wanted to see her again. With Yalla¡¯s healing giving them a second wind and breaking some of the strength of the enhanced army, the three remaining Misfits fought until dusk. They had started some time that morning and it was surreal seeing things on the back end of the day. The army of the undead had continued unabated in its march. How many undead there were was unknown but they continued fighting. Having survived wave after wave like this they had effectively power leveled their group and all of them were in their mid-40s now. Considering it had taken their original party weeks and weeks to gain their levels it was pretty amazing. Miles wasn¡¯t sure which rogue he¡¯d use as his main from now on but if they survived he might consider using Kami. Several minutes later he was re-evaluating things. He wouldn¡¯t have to worry about which avatar to use because it was likely they would all be dead soon. Two new enhanced lieutenants had joined the field with an entire army of enhanced zombies. They also had four enhanced giants with them that were all level 50. For several more minutes the Misfits continued to hold the line but slowly they were pushed back toward the bunker. Kami had lost one of his arms to the lieutenant who had gnawed it off before he could finish the creature with his dagger. No longer being able to feint was a huge disadvantage, and Kami¡¯s attacks slowed dramatically. Yalla could probably fix his arm but she was too busy dropping general heals on the three of them as well as trying to damage the remaining zombies. Their guild leader had even more dire problems to contend with: he was tanking all four enhanced giants and attempting to stay alive. He might have normally been able to tank two of these creatures but the rate at which he was taking damage wasn¡¯t sustainable. Having been in situations like this before, Kami knew their little party was going down soon if something didn¡¯t change. A concussion swept Kami off his feet next. Stunned, he looked up and saw that the cavalry had arrived. As promised, Tim had brought a host of airships and elven wizards stood above them raining fiery death down on the zombie army. It seemed they might still win the day. Seeing his new allies, Kami fought the zombies in front of him one-handed. Within minutes the remaining zombies were dead. The Misfits had survived. Miles logged off and returned to the bunker where he saw Emmy lying in her pod sleeping. Although she¡¯d been pivotal to their win, Miles was filled with regret. What cost would their victory have? Chapter 41 - Reflection While they had survived, the bunker was no longer the safe haven it once had been. Sean knew that Emmy had made her own choice to fight out in the open with her own body but he couldn¡¯t completely assuage himself of his guilt. As guild leader it was has responsibility to keep them safe and he hadn¡¯t been able to do that. After the battle, while the rest of the Misfits rested, he had sat and watched as Alison and Aeon had confirmed the worst: Emmy had been infected by the undead and it was only a matter of time before she changed into one of them. For now, she appeared to be stable and in fact was ready to dive back in and begin leveling her character again. Sean suspected that it was just bravado at this point and perhaps the hope that something would kill her out there first before she had to be put down by her teammates. Sean couldn¡¯t look his good friend, Miles, in the face. The pain he saw there reminded him of his accumulated failures. First Shelly, then Kevin, and now this. Would the Misfits even be themselves anymore if they lost Emmy? They¡¯d lost too many already and for what? Their mission in San Francisco had been a failure for reasons they still couldn¡¯t comprehend. The fact that people were being changed into dungeon bosses for some AI¡¯s unknown purpose was deeply unsettling. All the fears that humanity had in the early 21st century regarding computerization and the rise of the machines had come true. People were out there killing each other mindlessly and without even realizing it in some cases. And what could any of them do about it? The world had gone to hell and there was seemingly no return to what they¡¯d had. While it hadn¡¯t been a perfect life before, Sean realized that he¡¯d been deeply sheltered his entire life. Looking back at it now, although losing his job had seemed to be the end of the world it, in fact it wasn¡¯t. Even losing his marriage hadn¡¯t really been about him. He¡¯d known that Julie was selfish and had married her anyway. She was all he felt he¡¯d deserved and when she¡¯d pulled the plug on their relationship, it seemed like he¡¯d deserved nothing; but, the truth was she¡¯d done him a favor. Being by yourself was far better than being in a manipulative relationship like that. He¡¯d been too close to the situation to see it at the time but now, with enough distance, he realized that he was better off without her. He looked up as someone punched him in the arm. ¡°Damn, why did you hit me?¡± he asked. ¡°Doctor¡¯s orders. She said you were looking like we¡¯d lost and needed a reminder to snap out of it,¡± Miles said reaching for one of the cups in the mess hall. He poured himself a cup of coffee and offered one to Sean. They sat for a few minutes drinking their coffee in silence. Sean looked at Miles, studying his friend¡¯s face. They¡¯d been through a lot together and felt he could tell him what was really bothering him. ¡°It seems like we¡¯re leveling up but we aren¡¯t really going anywhere. I don¡¯t mean just geographically. More like we haven¡¯t accomplished anything that tells us what¡¯s really going on or how to change it,¡± Sean said. Miles sipped his coffee and replied, ¡°So life needs to lead to a definite destination. Is that it?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s rather conceited of me but I think that it ought to.¡± Smiling, Miles finished the rest of his cup in a single gulp, ¡°Our lives never meant much before AO, but suddenly now that we¡¯re in a game they should? That doesn¡¯t make a lot of sense. Even in Champions, the point of the game was to have fun and collect loot. Aren¡¯t we doing that here? And who says that isn¡¯t good enough?¡± Sean shook his head. ¡°But the stakes are higher now. Our friends are dying.¡± His lips were drawn as he replied, ¡°Emmy¡¯s not dead yet and you best remember it. I won¡¯t quit on finding out what¡¯s going on here either but sitting around and moping isn¡¯t going to fix it. You can armchair quarterback this life as much as you want but that never solves anything. All you can do is grind through it.¡± Miles put his cup in the dishwasher and walked out. Now that the cleaning bots had been destroyed defending them, they did their own dishes. For a long while after that, Sean just stared up at the ceiling and thought about his friend¡¯s words. Miles was right ¨C there was no use in trying to figure this all out in his head. He needed to get back to leveling up his Knight and go crush some zombies. Hopefully, they could save Emmy¡¯s life in the process and figure out how to fix this whole mess of a world they¡¯d fallen into. ****** Back on their mains, Thag, Seona and Linca had spotted another zombie encampment. After sitting around for a day resting and seeing everyone else on edge, Thag had finally had enough and said she was logging in. She¡¯d suggested that they make it a girls¡¯ run only since they¡¯d never done that before and it had seemed like a fun idea. At first, both the other girls had treated her like glass but after Thag had charged into the first encampment and taken on about a dozen enhanced zombies they quickly gave up trying to mother hen her and got down to killing zombies.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. This was the third encampment they¡¯d found so far that day and by far the largest. For the previous battles, the three of them worked like a tank, DPS, healing combo with Thag tanking, Linca doing DPS healing, and Seona healing both of them when needed. With the size of the encampment and the fact that it contained several types of more difficult zombies, they would need to get a bit more creative. Thag had been trying several things this morning to activate her own General Abilities. Thag wanted more power in order to be able to help her guildmates and this was the quickest short-cut. She¡¯d spent some time with Tim before she¡¯d left trying to get a handle on how he¡¯d done it. The question was what type of metaknowledge did she have and how could she manifest it with Thag? From what she could gather, Miles had figured out his ability by playing lots of games where he¡¯d played a rogue and Tim had figured his out because he was a huge D&D nerd and was constantly thinking about magical theory. Thag didn¡¯t really have anything like that because Champions had been most of her adult life thus far. Wait, that was it. She could use Champions as her metaknowledge. While it was a VRMMO, it wasn¡¯t the same game as AO and that meant she could use anything she¡¯d learned there to up her power. But what would be the best way to destroy a group of zombies if she was playing Champions? That game was a pure fantasy and didn¡¯t have undead creatures per se. However, they did have creatures of the darkness which wasn¡¯t too different. How did she fight them? Usually, she played an Unholy Knight so she was on the side of the dark ones in Champions; however, there was an event she¡¯d played once a year where they turned on all the players and you had to destroy them. Linca and Seona looked at her and she gave them the thumbs up. She picked up her demonsword and ran right into the encampment of about two-dozen enhanced zombies and three zombie giants. As she did so she yelled, ¡°Darkness has betrayed darkness but even those most evil Champions must shine.¡± With that she slashed at the closest zombie to her and pulled an orb out of thin air with her other hand. The orb began to glow. A few seconds later she was engulfed in white light that blinded and pushed back even the most aggressive zombies. ***Congratulations! You¡¯ve learned the General Ability: Aura Swap*** Since Unholy Knights were typically aligned with evil and darkness, her new aura was just the opposite and was quite similar to that of a Paladin¡¯s. However, this ability was more powerful than Smashpal¡¯s abilities given that she was already a powerful level 67 Unholy Knight. Time to have some fun. Thag¡¯s sword had turned pure white and she turned offensive with her tanking abilities, pushing in between them with her shield which seemed to blind and burn them and then stabbing them: -1670 slashing/holy aura boost -1597 slashing/holy aura boost As zombie and after zombie fell she felt reinvigorated and cleansed. Her body had been tainted by these same vile creatures and she intended to make them pay. Ever since she¡¯d been attacked in college she had vowed never to cry and never to back down from bullies and she wasn¡¯t about to start now just because these bullies¡¯ faces were decayed and nasty. Seeing her friends join her, she lost herself in the melody of combat. The holy light boosted her friend¡¯s attacks as well and especially for Linca, who was already a Priestess, her healing damage went through the roof: -3471 healing holy aura boost X3 Instakill -2074 healing holy aura boost X3 Instakill Wow, this ability could really turn the tide for them if she could show the other Misfits how to use it. Getting grouped up like this their holy damage seemed to amplify each other¡¯s attacks and quickly the zombie encampment was no more. Getting back to the bunker she tore off her micro-transmitter and jumped out of her pod. Alison and Emmy were just starting to get up when she left the control room and ran to the mess hall where the boys were eating lunch. ¡°Guess what, folks? I just found a General Ability that will solve all of our zombie problems.¡± Sean looked up first and asked, ¡°How did you activate it?¡± ¡°You remember that holiday event where all the creatures of the dark turn on you? Well there is a temporary orb you pick up that allows you turn your dark energy to light energy. I remembered that and used it as the metaknowledge to do the same thing with the zombies,¡± Emmy¡¯s entire body felt like she was on fire and her heart raced with excitement. ¡°See here is the ability.¡± She shared her Seemi screen with everyone else and they could see where it said General Ability: Aura Swap. Sean frowned, ¡°It looks like it only works for players who are aligned with the dark. We never had that quest,¡± he replied. Well, that¡¯s true. The ability probably wouldn¡¯t work for Sean or Linca who weren¡¯t dark aligned. Nor would it work for Laura since she¡¯d never played Champions. But they still had two other formerly dark aligned players with them. ¡°Good point. But it should work fine for Miles and Tim. They both played the same dark aligned characters then as they do now,¡± Emmy said assuredly. Miles just shook his head and Tim looked down. What was wrong? Looking at her, Miles sighed and said, ¡°I never did that quest because I hate holiday events.¡± Are you kidding me, Emmy thought? There was still Tim though ¨C he was a power gamer and completionist so he had to have done it. ¡°No, that was one of the quests I¡¯d been meaning to get around to,¡± Tim replied. Seriously, this was bullshit. Emmy pointed at them and yelled, ¡°Boys! You are all idiots!¡± Chapter 42 - Scouting Mission The Misfits flew above the zombie hordes the next day aboard the Empress. In an exchange of magical knowledge, Deathberry had been able to help the elves craft an entirely new type of machine. As recompense for this new technology, the elves had left one of the airships and a small crew of elven mages with the Misfits while the rest returned to San Francisco. Looking below them, the guild could see a vast army that stretched the length of the valley along the river toward the north. Deathberry instructed the elven crew to sail northward and for the first time the Misfits understood what they were going up against. It seemed like every person who¡¯d ever died on the planet had joined the undead army. At the northern end of their valley was a reservoir and it was swarming with creatures they¡¯d not yet seen: giant skeletal warriors, bloated zombies, zombie dogs, and the like. Beyond that it looked like a temple had been constructed of bone and flesh. It pulsed and oozed on the mid-horizon and the Misfits stared in awe at its grotesque caricature. Just as he was going to instruct the elves to move them closer, Cheezus called out, ¡°Enemies at 10 o¡¯clock.¡± The group looked off their port side and saw giant skeletal birds of some unknown origin. However, no living creature today had a wingspan as large as these. They must be some sort of dinosaur undead, similar to the mutant stegosaurus they fought back in California. ¡°Prepare for combat,¡± Deathberry shouted. Several elves started casting holy and fire spells. Holy damage was a good idea and one that Deathberry would have liked to implement. Generally, his Change Spell Type ability would have allowed him to alter his spells to better work against his enemy¡¯s weaknesses; however, since holy spells were in direct opposition to his spell school he would have to find something else to work with. Fortunately, undead were often weak against fire spells so he started modifying one of his unholy bolts to instead be unholy fire. Firing one off at a nearby skeletal pterodactyl he closely observed the damage: -457 unholy/fire He tried a few more variants but he noticed that while the fire damage that some of the elves were using would do double damage his unholy fire didn¡¯t seem to have the same effect. Trying something different he fired a regular unholy bolt at one of the creatures: +510 unholy Just as he¡¯d suspected, they were weak against holy and fire but were healed by unholy damage. They were probably also healed by darkness spells. Being an Unholy Sorcerer, his spells were limited to unholy and darkness spells. Although he did have an illusion spell. Sadly, most undead were too stupid to see the illusion which he suspected was the case for these creatures. After trying a few more spells he gave up. It was probably a good thing that he hadn¡¯t been with the Misfits defending the bunker since he would have been useless. Before they got into their next fight with the unholy army below he would need to secure some new magical spells that would be more effective. Thag wasn¡¯t having any difficulties whatsoever with the bone fliers. Similar to what she¡¯d done with Linca and Seona before, she activated her new general ability and changed her aura. She and Linca got as close to a group of elven casters as they could and all of them started seeing their spellpower greatly magnified. Quickly, they mowed through the pterodactyl ranks: -7045 holy/fire/aura boost X7 Instakill -6722 holy/fire/aura boost X7 Instakill Instakill The power of Thag¡¯s new aura combined with the elven casters using both holy and fire damage blew through the skeletal fliers like they were paper airplanes. The fight was quickly brought to a close but the Misfits could see more of the enemy on the horizon. Deathberry was grateful that they had Thag with them and he agreed that he and Cheezus had been foolish to skip that holiday quest. However, it was probably best to retreat at this point as the sky was becoming completely white and gray with bone matter. They weren¡¯t going to be able to get any closer to the origin of these mysterious undead creatures without a great deal more firepower than they currently had.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! While the Empress retreated the group had their hands full with more of the pterodactyl like creatures. Some of them even spit acid and had started to damage the sails and rigging. Thag stood in the middle of the deck with her holy powers engulfing several of the crew and Linca in an orb of white. Bolts of fire, flashings of white light, and the like streaked from the center every few seconds downing another skeletal creature. Cheezus hung from the rigging fending the creatures off as best he could but daggers weren¡¯t ideal for dealing with skeletons and his didn¡¯t have any fire or other magic imbued in them. Apparently, Deathberry wasn¡¯t the only one who would need to figure out a more effective way to fight the undead after this battle. Seona and Smashit were on the front deck. She was healing him with her nature energy and trying to entangle the creatures as best she could while he taunted them and tried to keep them from burning the ship with their acid spittle. Sean would probably have been better off bringing his Paladin to this fight but it wasn¡¯t like they knew what they were going to go up against when they¡¯d started. Seeing that they probably wouldn¡¯t make it all the way back to base, Deathberry started scanning the ground with one of the telescopes the elves used for wayfinding. They needed to find a place to take cover but where could they hide an entire ship? One valley over there appeared to be some sort of cave and Deathberry instructed the helmsman to make haste towards that spot. Hopefully, their ship would still be flying by the time they got there. While Thag¡¯s aura made it possible to keep the mass of the creatures at bay there were just too many of them. It was hard to see the sky behind them as it was filled with bones and silent flapping wings punctuated by the occasional spit of acid. As they got closer to the cave system, Smashit sent him a whisper, ¡°What¡¯s the game plan?¡± Deathberry relayed his idea and directions to the officers and got the thumbs up to proceed. Hopefully, it worked out better than their last plan had. He instructed the helmsman to get them in as close as he could and then cut the sails so they presented a smaller target. They were inside the outer portion of the cave now and the ground was only about a hundred feet below them. Smashit and Seona jumped off the side of the ship as she cast a float spell on both of them. A few seconds later they had reached the ground safely. ¡°Pull in the sails,¡± Deathberry called out to the crew. They hastily scrambled up the rigging to pull everything in. Thag and those with her continued to light up any skeletal fliers that got too close. The noise of canvas blowing in the wind suddenly stopped and the air was still. ¡°Brace yourselves,¡± he called out. The Empress flew straight down and his stomach lurched. The sensation slowed after a few moments. Seona had caught them with her float spell and was guiding them down into the cave system. Now protected on all sides but one, the airship¡¯s defenders were able to focus their fire on the remaining skeletal pterodactyls and keep them mostly at bay. Cheezus shouted from deeper in the cave system, ¡°Seona float the ship towards me. I¡¯ve found another bunker and we can had hide inside here.¡± A few minutes later they were inside a different bunker. The heavily damaged Empress had made it entirely inside except for the main mast which was too tall and had to be speedily chopped down. She wouldn¡¯t fly again anytime soon, Deathberry thought. The only question was where had they escaped to? He and the rest of the crew were inside the large storage compartment that housed the airship. From down the corridor he heard Cheezus yell out, ¡°Everyone come here and check this out. It¡¯s unbelievable. We hit the jackpot.¡± Deathberry made his way with the Misfits and remaining elven crew members through a maze of hallways and finally into a slightly larger room that looked like a mechanics bay. Inside were a dozen new Gears. After that they explored the new bunker thoroughly. It looked like a sister bunker to their own except there was no sign that anyone had been here and when they checked the command panel it didn¡¯t appear to function. Had this been another base that had been under construction by Mr. Tiel¡¯s company? The layout looked similar enough that it could be although certain elements of the architecture seemed too different. When Thag found some weaponry in the gun closet there was a corporate logo on the inside that said Terrazon Megacorp. So, these folks were competing with Mr. Tiel? ¡°Clearly, we weren¡¯t in the know at the old company, were we?¡± Cheezus said to Smashit. He shook his head. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter anyway. Let¡¯s take what we can and try to find a way out of here,¡± Smashit replied. ¡°It¡¯s going to be a while before we can use that ship though. We probably should check out the rest of the cave and see what¡¯s out there.¡± Chapter 43 - Monster Interlude Surprisingly the bunker and all its goodies weren¡¯t the most interesting thing they found down in the caves. After he¡¯d scouted a bit of the cave, Cheezus came to a large subterranean cavern. Inside was a bustling dwarven market. The first thing he¡¯d noticed was the sound of steel on steel which came from the forges of the smithies. Walking into the market he messaged the rest of the guild and waited for them to catch up. As soon as they got there, Linca declared she was taking Seona shopping. The two of them had grown quite close in the last few weeks. Thag looked at him hesitantly and he looked around a bit dumbfounded. ¡°Smash and I have some parts to buy for the ship. We¡¯ll catch you both later,¡± Deathberry said and the two of them walked off. It wasn¡¯t often that Cheezus was surprised, but after realizing his friends¡¯ deliberate exit he realized what was going on. Taking Thag by the hand he said, ¡°Come on let¡¯s go see if we can find something good to eat around here.¡± Fortunately, with all the monsters they¡¯d killed recently he had a respectable amount of coin and other things to exchange with the merchants. Beyond the dwarven smithies near the front of the cave, they quickly encountered all sorts of other merchants. There were racks and racks of cloths on display and beyond that an open market with cute tchotchkes and jewelry. Cheezus bought Thag a bracelet with a variety of colored stones on it and they even both tried on some of the clothes. ¡°You look very dashing in that one,¡± she said, giving him an appraising look. She¡¯d grabbed a set of clothes that looked more appropriate on a pirate than any sort of respectable adventurer. Of course, he was a rogue and not at all respectable so it probably worked. He bought the pirate clothes and wore them on the rest of the date. She¡¯d found a nice blue evening dress to wear. They made their way further into the marketplace and found several restaurants. Thag chose a steak house which was set back a little way from the others. The waiter took them to the back where there was a porch and beyond that a small underground lake. The walls weren¡¯t phosphorescent but it reminded him of the lagoon on the island. After they¡¯d had a few minutes to take in the menu, the waiter took their order and walked away. Cheezus had a hard time keeping her eyes of her but he also noticed that she¡¯d become awfully quiet. ¡°It¡¯s pretty wild to think how much has changed in the past month,¡± he finally said. She¡¯d been looking out over the lake, ¡°Yeah, pretty crazy,¡± she said with a nervous laugh. They had been friends and guildmates all this time and now they were both nervous? It made sense though. While they¡¯d been thrown into this crazy game with an entirely new world and been there for each other, they hadn¡¯t really had a chance to talk about anything non-game related. The awkwardness they shared was palpable because they didn¡¯t know each other that well, Cheezus thought. Except, they had known each other for years in Champions and they had shared a lifetime of near death experiences in the last few weeks. What else did he need to know? Now was as good a time to ask as any. ¡°You¡¯d said a while back that you have an older brother.¡± He¡¯d start there. Thag nodded. ¡°He¡¯s four years older and was the one who first got me into MMOs, although he¡¯s mostly into first person shooters. Hopefully, he¡¯s alright.¡± He couldn¡¯t help but be reminded of his own brother, Eric. Was he still somewhere out there trying to survive in this hostile world or had he died in the first few hours? What about the rest of his family. Cheezus might never know and didn¡¯t want to drag down their entire evening talking about it. ¡°Hopefully he¡¯s turned the game into a zombie shooter. Is he the one who got you into shooting things?¡± Cheezus asked, hoping to change the topic. Thag shook her head, ¡°No it was my dad who got both of us started actually. He was really into hunting and I think that¡¯s what got my brother, Tom, into shooters,¡± she replied. After that they started sharing a bit about how things had been before the apocalypse and before he knew it most of the night had passed. It was a lot less awkward having broken the ice. They finished dinner and started walking back to the bunker. On the way they passed by one of the inns. She pulled his arm and gave him a saucy grin. Smiling back, they both went inside to ask for a room. He didn¡¯t have to be told twice what she had on her mind. The next day they met up with the rest of the Misfits at the bunker. The guys were oblivious but Seona gave them both a wink and Linca had a knowing look on her face. Oh well, it¡¯s not like they were going to be able to keep things a secret from their second family and Cheezus had no regrets about last night especially in light of the fact that they still had to get the airship repaired and get out of here while an entire army of undead was hunting them. Looking over at Thag who had replaced her soft blue dress with steel plate, he wished they didn¡¯t have to leave the dwarven town so quickly.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Deathberry and Smashit were hunched over a table in the mess hall going over some maps. The two of them had probably been up all night talking about how they were going to get out of this mess. It also looked like they¡¯d been busy buying new sails and other parts to repair the Empress. Down the hall he could hear the banging of hammers in the storage bay where they¡¯d crashed the ship last night. Undoubtedly, they¡¯d already hired some dwarves to get the work started. Approaching the map, Cheezus asked, ¡°So what¡¯s the game plan?¡± ¡°As you¡¯ve probably heard we¡¯re having the dwarves do some repairs. My preference is to get out of here and back to the base right away. Our real bodies are back at the other bunker and I don¡¯t want us to be stuck out here with that army marching our way.¡± Smashit had clearly thought this all out well ahead of his return. Cheezus nodded but before he could say anything Deathberry retorted, ¡°While I agree that we can¡¯t stay here forever, I think we ought to explore some of the caves below. I was speaking with some of the dwarves last night and they say there is machinery down below in the caves but no one who¡¯s investigated has come back.¡± He paused to consider his next words. ¡°It¡¯s quite possible that this entire cave system is more than what we suspect. There are Gears here but unlike our bunker there are no repair bays or robots. I think it¡¯s likely that there is a Terrazon factory below us.¡± He could tell that while Deathberry¡¯s suggestion was sound, their guild leader wasn¡¯t going for it. ¡°What about splitting our forces?¡± Cheezus suggested. ¡°Some of us could head back to the base and protect our bodies. We have the elven casters to go with that group. A few could remain behind and sneak down stairs to see if this factory exists.¡± Smashit looked at the map, considering his suggestion. ¡°Ok, let¡¯s do it. But who will go and who is staying?¡± Cheezus knew that he was the sneakiest of the current raiders and planned to volunteer. Deathberry would want to go or his curiosity might kill him. They could use one more but he didn¡¯t know who to pick. After some thought, he came to the conclusion that Seona would be optimal. She was a healer and could be quiet but it wouldn¡¯t deprive the rest of the Misfits from having a healer/DPS like Linca. ¡°For the group that is staying I¡¯d suggest myself, Deathberry, and Seona,¡± Cheezus replied. ¡°That gives us a pretty stealthy group and won¡¯t take away any of the firepower the rest of you need to escape the caves. Thag looked at Cheezus and sighed. ¡°I want to stay and investigate but I know that my aura will be needed on the Empress,¡± she said finally. With that their groups were decided. He gave Thag a passionate kiss goodbye in front of the rest of the guild. They probably all knew what was going on by then and besides, they really didn¡¯t have time to waste. Their real bodies were sitting in the middle of the Australian Outback completely unprotected except for Aeon¡¯s alarms. They were overdue to get back. Cheezus, Deathberry and Seona partied up and headed down. Past the town the cave system became smaller and they were surrounded by slick walls. Towering stalactites loomed overhead and Cheezus wondered if they were walking into a trap like in every classic RPG ever. He took point and moved ahead of the rest of their little party. One of the items he¡¯d picked up in town with Thag yesterday was a pair of night-vision goggles. Since electricity no longer worked the dwarves had modified them to run off magic instead. He finally had a way to see in the dark and still be completely stealthy. Ahead of them he saw a metal spider sitting in its web. It looked exactly like the spider creatures they¡¯d fought on the asteroid. Examining it closer, he confirmed his suspicions. It was level 70. Cheezus was currently level 65 and so was Deathberry. Seona was one level below that. Fighting one of these creatures would be a doable fight but from past experience, he wasn¡¯t going to count on the fact that there was only one of them. He quietly made his way back to the rest of the party and explained the situation in party chat so they wouldn¡¯t be overheard. ¡°From what you describe this one is probably a sentry for the rest,¡± Deathberry said. ¡°I think I have just the spell to get us past undetected.¡± After hearing the plan, they moved closer towards the web. Deathberry cast stillness of death on the web and the three of them carefully made their way past the creature. Cheezus led the way while he guided the other two in the dark. Spiders didn¡¯t have terribly good eyesight but they would see a light source. Fortunately, with the web stilled, its primary sense was dulled. They encountered a few more sentries posted through the cave but were able to sneak past these without incident. About an hour later the three of them entered a massive cavern even larger than the one where the dwarven town was. Inside was a fully automated factory containing countless assembly belts. Robotic arms welded, sawed, and assembled Gears nonstop. ¡°I think this may explain why we¡¯ve seen such large monsters and towns spring up overnight,¡± Deathberry finally said after they had seen several Gears produced that were the size of a small house. In one corner was a command interface like the one they had in their bunker. Deathberry started entering some commands attempting to figure out who was running the factory. Cheezus heard the clank of metal on metal over the din of the manufacturing line. Right behind them were five metal spiders all Level 70. A moment later, Deathberry called out something to him but he was too distracted with the battle to be concerned about what his friend had found. Chapter 44 - Dragonfire Almost immediately after they left, the remaining Misfits and elven crew came under attack. While Smashit had anticipated that the undead might continue chasing them he¡¯d hoped that they¡¯d given up. Instead of sending smaller flying skeletons this time, they were surrounded by four larger ones that looked like small dragons. ¡°Get us out of here quickly!¡± he ordered the helmsman. Thag and Linca were already firing on the dragons using Thag¡¯s aura. Smashit found himself wishing he¡¯d thought to bring his Paladin instead but it was too late to change his mind. With only half the guild here, this was going to be a tough fight and they really needed to get back with the airship intact this time. Fortunately, before they¡¯d left Deathberry had recruited some of the dwarves from the town to help them. He¡¯d promised to share any of the technology they had back at the bunker. However, what had sold them on the idea was the opportunity to study their airship. Prior to takeoff their leader Gunther had been inspecting every square inch of the Empress, trying to learn all of its secrets. Gunther had a contingent of about fifteen dwarves with him and while some were engineers, many were fighters too. While the fighters were attempting to knock some of the bolder undead out of the air with their long halberds, the engineers prepared small catapults with what appeared to be Greek fire. Seconds later a wall of fire appeared in front of the airship and Smashit could feel the heat warming his armor. The engineers had managed to catch two of the dragons in the wall of flame and Thag and Linca added to the damage dropping massive healing on them at the same time: -802 fire -674 fire -9041 holy/fire/aura boost x12 -430 fire -974 fire Even though the wall of fire didn¡¯t do that much damage it ticked the dragons¡¯ health down quickly and the added non-magical fire damage in addition to the casters¡¯ fire and holy damage. This created the perfect combination to wreak havoc on their undead foes. The only problem was that the dragons were each level 75 and had a massive amount of health. It took another ten seconds before the first one died and Smashit could see the mana bars of their casters going down faster than he would have liked. He didn¡¯t have much time to be distracted through because the other two dragons were still free of the fire wall and were targeting the ship. One of the dragons landed right next to him and he barely had time to react before it brought a claw down on his head: -4077 slashing/unholy Hell, that hurt. Linca managed to cast a spare healing hot on him and that soothed the pain somewhat although he¡¯d need to be careful facing this monster. Using his shield bash he dashed right into the creature¡¯s face which knocked it off the ship and caused it to freeze up. Although it was a magical creature it had to flap its wings to simulate flight and therefore without the ability to move it plummeted off the Empress toward the ground. Despite the effectiveness of his attack, he knew the bone dragon would be back soon and there was still one more of these monsters on the loose. Spinning around he sensed rather than saw a blue lightning bolt rushing toward him. Electricity was his bane but he couldn¡¯t let it hit the ship. Using shield wall he deflected the spell right back at the dragon. That ought to give it pause, he thought. Unfortunately, it was immune to its own electrical attacks. The other dragon was smarter than the previous one and didn¡¯t come down to try and claw at him but instead spat another electrical beam at him. The shield wall still had a couple seconds left on it so the second beam bounced harmlessly away as well. The engineers were reloading their catapults and had aimed them at the dragon Smashit was fighting. If he could just keep it distracted for another few seconds they should be able to hit this one with flame as well. His shield wall dissipated. Suddenly, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He¡¯d forgotten about the one he¡¯d knocked off the deck. It had probably recovered from the stun and flown immediately back to attack him. He was knocked down to the deck, taking massive damage: -11704 slashing/unholy X2 critical He was lucky to survive. Although Smashit had about 15,000 health, fully buffed, between that hit and the last one he was down to less than 3% health. He would have been dead if not for the heal over time that Linca had dropped on him earlier. Hitting his Last Stand ability, Smashit taunted the two dragons and attempted to at least get them both facing him instead of being in a flanked position. As the seconds counted down he watched his health bar carefully after downing a healing potion. He wouldn¡¯t survive another hit even being back at 10% health.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. He could see Linca and Thag finish off their second dragon and turn their attention back to the remaining foes. Linca dropped several Enhanced Healing Lights on him and his health bar looked a lot better. That holy aura that Thag produced was a life saver and tripled the amount of healing that Linca could do. The dwarves blasted the flying dragon with the remaining Greek fire, while Linca and the elven wizards burned it with holy and fire damage. The dwarven soldiers kept the pressure of Smashit until he could recover and continue tanking it. Finally, after several more minutes of non-stop healing, tanking, and DPSing, the two remaining skeletal dragons turned to dust. Looking at his experience bar, Smashit saw that he was nearly level 66. The helmsman had been making good time and when he checked it looked like they were nearly back to their base. One of the elves cried out, ¡°Dragon incoming on the starboard side.¡± Smashit looked up and saw a massive skeletal dragon head looking right at him. Scrambling, he got his shield up just in time as it swiped the deck. Crew members¡¯ screams and the tearing of wood assaulted his ears. The creature¡¯s crimson eyes pulsed within its bleached white skull as it let forth a blood chilling roar. It was Level 100 and clearly a raid boss based on its size and name. ¡®Sapphire the Mad¡¯ read its name tag. Smashit wasn¡¯t sure they would have had a chance even if they¡¯d had the entire guild here. He knew they were in trouble. They¡¯d lost most of the dwarven engineers and several elven casters with just that one swipe. The three Misfits, four elven mages, two dwarven engineers, and six dwarven soldiers were all that was left. The elven sailors and helmsman were also still alive but they were noncombatants. The giant dracolich opened its maw and an orange glow formed at the back of its throat. Throwing the helmsman to the ground, Smashit charged forward and placed his shield high, bracing himself against the helm and throwing up shield wall. When the blast hit, the magical energy nearly swept him off the ship despite the fact that the helm was holding him in place. -5041 fire Even with his shield wall up, that blast had taken nearly a third of his health. Shield wall reduced all damage by 90% so if that had hit him without a cooldown up that would have been the end. ¡°Abandon ship,¡± he yelled out to the crew. ¡°Linca try to get everyone floated down and then run. I will keep the beast here as long as I can.¡± ¡°Wait, you can¡¯t,¡± she shouted. Smashit would probably die and lose his Gear, just as they had on the asteroid. However, they had found an entire bunker of Gears. Also, there really wasn¡¯t any choice. They could all stay and die or he could stay and die. In any event someone had to. ¡°You must get them to safety,¡± he commanded. The next minute was a blur, as the crew abandoned ship. Linca had to pull double duty healing him enough to stay alive while he rotated through his cooldowns and use her float spell to get everyone down safely. Finally, it was just him and Linca standing on the deck of the Empress. After fighting so hard to keep her safe and just getting repaired she was headed to the scrap pile. Deathberry would be pissed, he thought ruefully. But there was no question that he¡¯d made the right call. This thing they were fighting was a death machine and he wasn¡¯t sure they could have faced it with all their allies. Smashit had four tank cooldowns plus his artifact and Linca had two healer cooldowns. They had used everything at this point and there was still another fifteen seconds before his next tank cooldown would be back up. ¡°Go,¡± he yelled. She looked at him wordlessly pleading. ¡°Alison, go,¡± he said quietly as they stood face to face. He pushed her away. She turned around and looked at him one more time before jumping from the deck. A second later, the creature¡¯s maw opened for another blast of fire he roared in defiance and jumped from the deck onto the top of its head. Weaving his sword through its eye sockets he levered its head using all his strength, trying to keep it from roasting Linca as she made her descent. His armor burned his feet as the creature spewed its flames, missing the Empress and his guildmates. Smashit didn¡¯t have time to relish this victory as he was thrown from the beast¡¯s face and was now weaponless. Shield wall was back up and he pushed his shield into position to block the bone dragon¡¯s claw. Smashit¡¯s cooldown ended. He charged downstairs and lit the remaining Greek fire the engineers had onboard. Seconds later when the fireball hit the side of the ship, the concussive force of the explosion didn¡¯t quite knock him out before he was incinerated. ***You have died in AO*** Waking up to his own screams was not a pleasant experience. He¡¯d intentionally blocked out how bad it had been last time. Being pierced through the gut was one thing but being burned to death was quite a bit worse. He was getting so good at dying in game that he¡¯d know exactly how to go out in real life -morbid. As soon as he was himself again he pulled off the micro-transmitter. Alison was by his side, her face drawn. What had happened now? He knew they didn¡¯t have long before the undead army got here but he¡¯d hoped that the explosion had at least slowed down the raid boss. ¡°It¡¯s Emmy. You should come see,¡± was all she said. Looking over to her pod, Sean could see that she hadn¡¯t come out of the stasis yet. She was sweating all over and writhing. ¡°Aeon. Status report for Emilia Maesterson,¡± he barked. ¡°Plague infection is approximately 70% complete. I¡¯ve injected her with several sedatives and something that will slow the contagion. She should be able to log off once they¡¯ve taken effect in approximately 30 minutes,¡± Aeon replied robotically. ¡°I¡¯d almost forgotten that she¡¯d been infected. It seems like we are running out of time,¡± Alison said. Yeah, there was a lot going on. End of the world, killing their boss who¡¯d become a raid boss, undead armies, and their friend was dying. After Alison had left the control room, Sean sat by Emmy¡¯s side and looked at the rest of the guild who were still logged in. Miles was going to freak out. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing I have my shit together and totally know what I¡¯m doing,¡± he said quietly to himself with a chuckle. Chapter 45 - Portals ¡°They won¡¯t get far Commander,¡± said a steady voice. Kevin, now Commander Drak, looked over at his lieutenant. The creature was a skeleton like him but he wore a Viking helm and a pike rested in his bony grip. Drak was not concerned. The skeletal dragon, Sapphire the Mad, had destroyed the enemy¡¯s airship and sent Sean¡¯s avatar to a burning hell. Everything was proceeding the way he¡¯d envisioned it. Sean would pay for what he¡¯d done to him and if the rest of his former guildies got in the way, he would not spare them the same fate. Watching Smashit burn aboard the airship had been the pinnacle of an excellent month. He had been promoted to commander after smashing their enemies, the woodland elves of the eastern mountains and returning back to Nightspring victorious. Others in the ranks had tried to challenge him but he¡¯d defeated them mercilessly. He stood in what had once been the barren Outback. Now, he and his liege had brought unlife to this still valley. A massive portal, larger than Sapphire was long, stood in front of them. It sucked the light right from the day, revealing nothing of what was on the other side. The Lord of Nightspring had left him in charge of the vast armies still left on earth as he went to secure his next target. Out of the gate poured more undead. The Lord of Nightspring was nothing if not ambitious. Since there was a limited population of people and creatures in the middle of Australia, he was bringing more reinforcements to smash the resistance they¡¯d found here. Once Australia was theirs, the other continents would fall. Besides the fact that it served his personal interests, Drak thought it a strange plan. There was nothing out here except for his former guild and they could hardly pose a threat. However, he¡¯d heard rumors that there were more Gears and perhaps even a factory that would be decisive to their conquest. Sapphire had been born of one such Gear, a massive thing that had taken dozens of giant zombies to unearth. Where the Lord had found such a Gear wasn¡¯t something Drak had been privy to; however, it was clear that there was far more powerful technology out in the middle of the desert than he would have first guessed. Looking at the portal, Drak could guess that his master was acquiring even more fearsome Gears than the one that had birthed Sapphire. Looking over at the creature he could see that it was already healing at a rapid pace. While the explosion of the airship had damaged its wings, it had managed to escape and limp home. The dark magic that bound the undead together pulsed through its body and slowly healed it. Drak smiled thinking about Sean¡¯s shock when the creature would kill him a second time. No, he thought, Drak would be the one to deliver the final blow. He¡¯d let the dragon kill the rest of their guild and make Sean watch. Drak was content for now to serve his master but he still hadn¡¯t forgotten the pain and anguish the Lord of Nightspring put him through during his transformation. The King¡¯s mocking smile still haunted him and occasionally, that smile would overlay Sean¡¯s face. Yes, he would need to crush both of them to achieve his desires. Some of Drak¡¯s cruel thoughts must have spilled onto his face as his lieutenant took a step back. Another of their army asked, ¡°Is everything alright sir?¡± He whirled, smashing the skeleton¡¯s face in. The stupid creature tried to fight back and actually pulled out its sword to attack him. His lieutenant stepped forward to rectify the situation but he held up a hand, commanding him to be still. Drak channeled the dark energy that filled him into his hand until a black orb emanated from it, sucking all light out of the area around them. The foolish underling took another step back, too late. Releasing the orb of darkness took no time at all and engulfed the creature in black flames, disintegrating it. ¡°Find the bunker or suffer the same fate,¡± his words were like ice. Dead as they were, those around him quickly hurried away to obey his order. Yes, the Lord of Nightspring had much to answer for but Sean and his former ¡®friends¡¯ were first on the list. His armies were triangulating their location and would soon lay down a net that would trap them. Even thoughts of his old girlfriend Emmy only brought his bony fists together, clenching, as he visualized killing her. How dare she betray him? He was going to enjoy watching them die. Killing Smashit was just the beginning. ****** Cheezus read the name tags again above the metal spiders - Ziron Spider: Level 70. The three of them were surrounded in the underground factory by seven of the creatures. The sound of heavy machinery drowned out nearly every other sound which is why they¡¯d been able to get the drop on him. Their metal tarsi shone, reflecting off the earthen floor. Behind the spiders were the assembly lines: large belts spun out parts for the new Gears. Above him were a series of metal grated walkways, ostensibly to allow repair of the four large machines that ran in each corner of the hollowed-out cavern.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Looking at his friends, Cheezus could see that Deathberry was quickly typing commands into the console on the wall. Hopefully, he would be done soon. Seona looked tense, awaiting his orders. ¡°Keep them off me for another thirty seconds if you can,¡± Deathberry shouted. Easier said, than done. Cheezus charged in and attempted to use the machine belts to his advantage. He leapt over the spider in front of him and dove behind the nearest piece of equipment. As predicted it launched a web of thick white silk towards him but instead covered the giant pully machine he¡¯d disappeared behind. He launched a volley of knives: Death by a Thousand Cuts in a 120-degree arc towards his most hated foes. Some kids grew up with arachnophobia. He wasn¡¯t scared though ¨C he just hated spiders with a vengeance, so it was no surprise that several of the blades struck true: -470 piercing -1244 piercing/critical X2 -741 piercing -659 piercing -1422 piercing/critical X2 -788 piercing The half dozen blades fanned out and struck true but this wasn¡¯t a super powerful attack. Several of the spiders weren¡¯t affected at all and even the one that had taken the largest critical still had 95% of its health left. However, killing his foes wasn¡¯t Cheezus¡¯ top priority at the moment. Keeping them off his allies for a few precious seconds was the intent and for now all 40 eyes were on him. Too bad he couldn¡¯t just step on them like when he was a kid. Now he had their full attention, Cheezus jumped on the conveyer belt and surfed it down the line, occasionally jumping over metal parts and dodging giant hammers that came down to smash the metal pieces into place. He didn¡¯t want to become a pancake, but hopefully the spiders followed him. Risking a quick look back he could see that all but one had locked on to him. Fortunately, Seona had summoned a creature right out of the dirt: an earth elemental. Its blocky fists were crashing down into the carapace of the stray spider, keeping it busy for the moment. Seeing his face Deathberry gave him the thumbs up. What was that sneaky sorcerer up to now? He found out a moment later as he got to the end of the conveyer belt. Before him stood a massive robot with an empty cockpit. Clearly, it was meant to be manned but was empty. What was this Robotech? Deathberry had a strange sense of humor. Shrugging his shoulders, Cheezus jumped in the cockpit and attempted to power up the suit of armor. The spiders were still hot on his heels and he had just found the power button when the first one jumped on top of the giant mech. A minute later he was reliving his childhood, going down into the basement and smashing spiders during the spring. Only this time the spiders were the size of small horses and he was in a robot the size of a house. He¡¯d quickly got the hang of things after the first spider landed on him. The mech had twin daggers which he popped out of their sheaths on the outside of the robot¡¯s thighs with a flick of his thumb. The arms were moved by pulling on handles right in front of him. Pulling them up lifted the arms, pushing them down lowered them, and so forth. The legs and torso were powered by a series of pedals at his feet. For now, he just needed to figure out how to attack with his arms. Drawing back one of his hands he slashed down with a dagger, driving it through one of the spider¡¯s bodies: -4107 piercing Instakill His jaw hung down for a moment. Awesome! Quickly, he took the other spiders apart using the same move. He had one problem though. There was still the one spider that was using its tarsus to try to rip him out of the cockpit. He could hear the steel of the giant robot starting to give way as it pried open the hatch. He turned the dagger around and stabbed right into its exposed back: -16701 piercing/critical X2 Instakill While he had destroyed the pesky spider, he¡¯d also smashed through the cockpit. He could no longer see out of the robot very well as the heads-up-display inside had cracked with the force of the impact. The good news is that the spiders were dead, the bad news was that he wasn¡¯t going to be using this awesome gundum again without some serious repairs. When he¡¯d managed to pry his way out of the cockpit, he leapt down and strode over to his guidmates. ¡°That was a blast,¡± he said, a grin plastered on his face. Deathberry looked up with a wry smile, ¡°Glad you enjoyed yourself,¡± he said. ¡°While you were taking care of the spider infestation Seona and I found something you should see.¡± Their strategist pushed a few buttons on the console and a panel on one side of the factory slid open revealing a square room that appeared to be entirely made of steel. Whatever was behind the doors was highly prized by whoever had created it. Stepping inside the room, the Cheezus saw what all the fuss was about. There were four portals just like the ones they¡¯d found back on the island. Looking at them closely he could see the hazy outlines of what was on the other side, although none of them looked familiar. ¡°It gets better,¡± Deathberry explained. ¡°Aeon has been able to help me gain access to the system and we can change the portals now.¡± He demonstrated this by giving Aeon a command to setup a portal to San Francisco. Cheezus whistled. This would solve a few of their problems. ¡°Can we bring something larger through the portal?¡± ¡°Up to the size of this room. And the portal will stay open for twenty-four hours on the other end as well. So, we could bring through a large group of allies ¨C say the Survivors,¡± Deathberry said. ¡°In fact, that is what Seona and I will likely do here in a few minutes assuming that Rygor will agree to help us.¡± His pursed lips gave Cheezus pause, ¡°What¡¯s the problem then?¡± ¡°You should read this transmission we received from the bunker while you were fighting the spiders. It¡¯s about Emmy,¡± Deathberry said. Reading the message Cheezus sighed. Shit, and things had been going so well. Chapter 46 - Looking for the Cure Deathberry arrived in San Francisco to see things had been cleaned up a bit since the last time they were there. To make sure that not just anyone could find their Gears room, he carefully selected where the portal would deposit them. There was an old PG&E utility vault that he¡¯d visited on Mission Street in his previous life as an electrical engineer. No one would have likely been down there in years. They arrived a few minutes later in the old vault. Sure enough, it was completely defunct. Once they made their way up to the street, he and Seona split up so that she could go see her trainer while he sought out the mercenary leader of the Survivors. The subway along Market Street had been turned into an inland lagoon and the middle of the street was completely fenced off. A gnome smoking a cigar was selling tickets to something there. ¡°What¡¯s the occasion?¡± Deathberry asked the crusty fellow. He gave him a look of derision, ¡°Ain¡¯t you heard nothing? It¡¯s the big dive race today. Contestants try to make it all the way to next station and the one after that if they can make it without drowning.¡± Deathberry looked around trying to decipher what that meant. There were a number of different races gathered and they all seemed to be watching a few individuals wearing swim suits. ¡°So, the objective is to get to the next station and whoever gets the furthest wins?¡± It sounded seriously dangerous. Each station was probably 1,000 feet from the next and there was no way to come up for air in between. Also, it was probably less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit in that water. There was a reason that few escaped from the offshore island of Alcatraz. He could also see that there was a throng of other people who were waving tickets in the air. ¡°What¡¯s everyone else in the crowd doing, betting?¡± He gnome barked out a laugh, ¡°Knew you were a sorcerer type for a reason, smart guy.¡± Deathberry was about to turn away and head to the Tavern to see if he could find Rygor or one of the other Survivors when he spotted the small Asian man on the diver¡¯s platform. ¡°How much is a ticket?¡± ¡°100 gold,¡± the gnome said casually. Deathberry wasn¡¯t born yesterday, ¡°I saw you sell the last ticket for 50 gp,¡± his said, his eyes narrowing. Puffing his cigar, the gnome responded, ¡°Yeah, and it was discount. Guy is my cousin¡¯s boyfriend.¡± Knowing that he was probably getting the ¡°tourist price¡± but not having time to negotiate further, Deathberry stuffed the 100 gold into the gnome¡¯s grubby hands. Fortunately, they¡¯d been accumulating quite a lot of gold from their adventuring and had very little to spend it on. Pushing his way through the crowd he made it to Rygor. It looked like the race was about to begin. Rygor didn¡¯t even have time to look his way before the starting spell was fired, launching a ball of fire into the air. The divers leapt from their platform into the icy grey waters of the bay leaving Deathberry standing there gaping. The crowd milled around for a few minutes. Someone pulled on his robes. Looking down he saw Mr. Ripoff gnome. ¡°What do you want?¡± his tone was cold. ¡°Sorry buddy. Just thought you might want your badge so you can get in to the viewing area at the next subway,¡± the gnome grumbled and then said in a quieter voice, ¡°Some customers. Just can¡¯t please everyone.¡± Looking at his badge and seeing that everyone appeared to be walking towards the wharf down Market Street, Deathberry quickly followed. The crowd didn¡¯t have to wait long at the next station to start seeing swimmers arrive to take their breath. One of the officiants snapped a wristband around each of their arms as they emerged. Perhaps it was to ensure that no one cheated and tried to skip stations ¨C although doing so would probably be suicide. Rygor emerged fourth in the group but he was completely focused and didn¡¯t even look up before getting his breath, having his armband attached, and diving back into the murky depths. Not waiting for the rest of the observers this time, Deathberry made his way to the next station. It took a lot longer to see swimmers emerge this time and it was clear that most had dropped out of the race. Hopefully, they had made their way back safely. He didn¡¯t want to disrupt Rygor¡¯s concentration this time so when he surfaced he just waited for him to dive back down before moving to the next subway station.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Deathberry waited three minutes at the next station and didn¡¯t see Rygor arrive. He sent one of his summoned demons to watch at the previous station to see if he had instead turned back. When another minute elapsed, he knew there was a problem. The victor had already surfaced along with one other. They were breathing heavily and looked frightened. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± he demanded of them as the officiant looked on in shock. The tall man in front of him looked shocked but said, ¡°There is something down there.¡± Not taking much time to think, Deathberry dove into the icy waters. Using his general ability: alter spell he lit up the ocean filled subway but the light did him little good with the water being as murky as it was. Realizing this would do him no good he turned off the ability a moment later. This time he used his altering to turn his silence spell into a noise, seeing if he could locate anything via echolocation. A moment later he had a pretty good idea of the layout of the subway. There were two other things down here that were moving and one of them was very large, perhaps the size of a shark or a whale. The larger creature appeared to be chasing the smaller one. Using his ability again he focused the noise spell at the larger creature, blasting it with a sonic wave. It seemed to distract the creature but now it was moving toward him. He blasted it twice more until it stopped moving. Deathberry had a momentary panic when he had some trouble locating the smaller creature. It had probably played possum and was laying low. However, they were running out of time since the cold was starting to affect his stamina bar and he could only hold his breath for so long. He swiped a hand across his virtual Seemi to bring up chat:
***You¡¯ve Whispered Rygor*** Deathberry: Is that you who was being chased in the water? I¡¯ve scared whatever it was away. Are you able to surface on your own? Rygor: Thanks, yes, I can get to the station now.
Another minute later the two of them emerged from the frigid waters. ¡°Thanks for the save,¡± Rygor said, his teeth still chattering. ¡°What are you doing back in San Francisco?¡± Drying himself off with one of the towels offered by the race officiants, Deathberry said dryly, ¡°We¡¯ve been battling undead trying to keep ourselves alive for the last week, you?¡± The leader of the Survivors laughed, ¡°Not as exciting as all that but as you know we¡¯re all prone to dying out here and we don¡¯t have a lot of good options.¡± Deathberry remembered that each of their guild members had been stranded after the apocalypse. Instead of having access to a world-class secure nuclear fall-out shelter, they had been spread across the globe, hiding away in their own homes and hoping that the radiation and biochemicals wouldn¡¯t contaminate the little food and water they had left. The Survivor¡¯s relied on their Gears to find more resources to keep them alive as well as to protect them from the elements. Rygor¡¯s crew had not had it easy. ¡°I have some good news for you on that front,¡± Deathberry continued. ¡°Earlier today we found an underground factory that not only has spare Gears but it is actually manufacturing them. Not only that, but some of the Gears are huge.¡± Rygor looked at him inquisitively, ¡°Does that mean that the monsters we¡¯ve been seeing are also Gears? Who¡¯s controlling them?¡± He shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know who¡¯s controlling them but I agree it¡¯s quite likely that the larger creatures we¡¯ve seen are all manufactured. The entire factory was swarming with defensive spiders like the ones we faced on the asteroid as well. It seems likely that a rival corporation is the one that set this up but it could be that Precious One is calling the shots.¡± ¡°Just like with everything else, right? That AI killed most of the world and I hold it responsible for the deaths of my guildmates. If only we could locate where its uploaded itself and isolate it,¡± Rygor¡¯s voice was determined. ¡°Knowing how smart that AI is, it seems unlikely. For now, we need to focus on survival. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here in San Francisco. There was a portal that brought us here but I don¡¯t know if there is another nearby. We may not have time to take an airship back. One of our guild members has been infected and is dying and an undead army is on our doorstep. Will you help us?¡± Deathberry asked his voice steady but there was a note of desperation there as well. Does that mean we get an official quest? Deathberry smiled and swiped across his Seemi: ***The Misfit¡¯s Call: Will the Survivors answer their sister guild¡¯s call for help? Rewards: Gears for days Risks: The wrath of the Lord of Nightspring *** Rygor smiled and accepted the quest. They met up with Seona a little while later at the Tavern. Deathberry took a long sip of ale. They had a pretty good IPA for a place that had seen the collapse of modern civilization. ¡°You mentioned in your message earlier that you¡¯d found something that could help Emmy?¡± ¡°Yes. I was training my skills up with one of the Druid Masters and I asked them if there was anything out there that could cure disease, no matter how far gone someone was,¡± Seona explained quickly. ¡°They said there is an artifact called the Restorer that cures all ills no matter how dire.¡± That did sound promising if they could get hold of it. ¡°And its location?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll need to go to LA while you help prepare to attack the zombies in Australia,¡± Seona said. Rygor looked at both of them, laughing. ¡°Great, I¡¯ve messaged the guild and they¡¯re ready to leave when you are.¡± Deathberry knew that they didn¡¯t have any time to waste. Finishing his beer, he messaged the rest of the Misfits to let them know that help was on the way. Chapter 47 - Gunslingers Emmy stabilized just as Aeon had predicted. She awoke thirsty but without incident, but Sean and Alison were still worried. He¡¯d called Tim about an hour ago and heard that they¡¯d found a portal and were in San Francisco. Miles was already on his way back from what they were calling Dwarf Mountain, the factory that was producing Gears and where the dwarves had taken up residence. Sean was ready to race off towards California to help the rest of the Misfits but he had one problem ¨C his Gear had been destroyed in last battle. To make matters worse they were sitting ducks now that the munitions here had been depleted. Lastly, Aeon had warned them she was picking up more hostiles in the area than before. The armies of the undead were getting closer and closer. He turned to Alison and Emmy. They were all sitting in the mess hall eating bacon and chocolate. After describing the dream she¡¯d had when she was stuck in her pod, they¡¯d all agreed that a little fat and sugar indulgence was in order. ¡°Emmy, you said that you dreamt that Kevin was leading an undead army towards us?¡± he asked, still incredulous. ¡°Yeah, it was like a skeletal version of him though. His face was emaciated like a dried corpse but with the bones sticking out. Freaky dream, huh?¡± Sean wasn¡¯t entirely sure but it was possible that Kevin was still out there. Considering how angry he¡¯d been it wasn¡¯t beyond possibility that he¡¯d come after them if he could. Before they¡¯d seen Mr. Tiel as a raid boss, he never would have thought it possible. But now, although it just didn¡¯t seem possible, it was oddly likely. ¡°So, we¡¯re on the run from our former guildy now turned lich and we¡¯re low on resources here. I think we need to have Cheezus provide us with a stealthy escort over to Dwarf Mountain where we can get resupplied,¡± Sean suggested. Alison raised her eyebrow, ¡°You think we should go out there unprotected with our real bodies?¡± She was just saying what everyone was thinking. It was a crazy plan. ¡°Got any better ideas?¡± Sean responded. Everyone shook their heads. ¡°I did find some additional munitions so we don¡¯t have to go totally unarmed,¡± Emmy offered. ¡°But I¡¯ve never held a gun,¡± Alison said nervously. Emmy smiled, ¡°Aeon can you bring up Gunslinger in our VR? Time to get back to the wild west!¡± They each grabbed a pistol or rifle and headed out the door. Sean knew they were banking a lot on whether they could find a cure for Emmy, since they now would all be exposed. Sean¡¯s back pressed uncomfortably into the rocky hillside. They¡¯d been slowly moving away from the old base for about an hour when they¡¯d run into one of the patrols. Fortunately, Emmy had spotted them before they were seen and the Misfits dove for cover. Everything looked like it would blow over smoothly until another patrol started walking in their direction. Miles whispered to the group, ¡°If they get any closer I¡¯m going to run out there and distract them. The rest of you head to the mountain.¡± Emmy shook her head at him urging him not to. As much as he hated to admit it, Sean didn¡¯t think they had any other good alternatives. There were eight zombies and although he¡¯d had a bit of practice with gunslinging the only real gun fighter in the group right now was Emmy. Also, they were zombies and Miles was a runner. If anyone could provide it a good distraction it was him. As they edged closer, Emmy gripped Miles¡¯ shoulder. He turned to her and gave her a kiss as Alison and Sean looked away. When Sean turned back to look again Miles was running towards the zombies full-tilt, yelling. ¡°Now¡¯s our chance, let¡¯s go,¡± Sean said hastily. With the zombies distracted they edged away from the hillside and quickly made their way towards the Dwarven Mountain. On the other side were two zombies right in their path only a few feet away. They saw them nearly immediately and charged. Sean could smell the fetid odor on their breath and saw their sagging flesh flapping back and forth as they ran towards them. Ducking underneath razor sharp claws, he uppercut the first zombie using the butt of his hunting rifle. Spittle and blood flew out of the dead man¡¯s body. Giving no quarter, Sean smashed it again in the face, hammering its head until brains exploded from the skull. Suddenly, the report of a gunshot in close proximity deafened him. All he could see for a moment was blood and guts and all he heard was the blood pumping through his body. Wiping away the bodily fluids he turned and saw Emmy wiping off her shotgun. The other zombie had a hole where its head used to be but was still alive. Pumping the action on the gun she finished the creature off with a look of disgust on her face. Alison stood behind them, her face pale and another zombie was right behind her.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Emmy brought her shotgun to bare but she was out of shots. She cursed while fumbling to reload. Sean didn¡¯t trust himself to shoot with Alison so close. He¡¯d played a shooting game for an hour or two but that by no means meant he was an expert. ¡°Run,¡± he yelled. Instead, Alison turned and shied away, tripping in her haste. Death was coming for his friend and Sean knew that you didn¡¯t allow the enemy to aggro onto your healer. He did the first thing that came to mind and charged the zombie. His gun still in hand, he had the presence of mind to push the barrel right into the mouth of the enemy as he charged. They landed in a heap with him on top trying to keep the gun in the creature¡¯s mouth and its fangs off his neck. Still, it clawed at him, tearing into his flesh. He released pressure on the monster¡¯s face just enough for it to roll them over and now its beady eyes bore into his as it made disgusting gargling noises, and started to choke the life out of him. A moment later its head was gone. Sean could see the smoking 9mm in Emmy¡¯s hands and the intense focus in her eyes. Of course, he was even more gross than a moment before but at least he was alive. After that they ran the rest of the way. There were no further incidents and they setup camp in the new bunker an hour later. It took that long for Sean¡¯s hearing to return. The first thing he did when they got there was jump in the shower. He smelled like zombie ass. Emmy walked back and forth across the new control room, her entire body tense. Alison and Sean gave her some space and hauled the new Gears into position. They checked with Aeon to make sure she could access the new bunker. Everything seemed to be up and running. Miles had still not returned. Emmy wasn¡¯t the only one who was worried but there was little they could do. The run in with the zombies reminded Sean that they weren¡¯t invincible. Yes, he¡¯d charged in to save the healer just like he always did in game. Only this time he was a mortal and if it hadn¡¯t been for Emmy¡¯s steady hand, he would have been a goner. It was time to get to LA and find the cure. ¡°It¡¯s time. We¡¯re going, Emmy,¡± Sean said quietly. ¡°I¡¯m not leaving until Miles gets here,¡± Emmy said, daring him to try to order her to go. ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking. I won¡¯t leave the base.¡± Sean didn¡¯t know whether he could trust Emmy to keep her word when her man was in trouble but he would have to trust that she would. From what Tim had told him, the mystic was only in LA during the exact full moon. They had to be there no later than 7pm their time and the sun had gone down an hour ago. ***AR Online ¨C Aeon 2.647.18*** Logging back in to AO with a new Gear didn¡¯t feel any different than before. If anything, being back made him feel more in control. However, he¡¯d lost his sword in that last fight with the dracolich and needed a weapon to take with him until he could find a new one. He grabbed a rifle that had a bayonet affixed to it. He slung his shield across his back since it would be difficult to fight with both at the same time. Smash and Linca met Deathberry, Rygor and Seona at the portal in the middle of Dwarf Mountain. He didn¡¯t have much time to inspect it, but the Gears factory was everything that Deathberry had described. He wanted to ask Aeon some pointed questions about their former employer and how much he¡¯d known about other corporations¡¯ access to the Gears but now was not the time for that discussion. Deathberry programmed the portal to send them to their destination. Apparently, they had twenty-four hours to return. Hopefully, that would be sufficient. The mystic was supposed to be in a place called Pasadena, a suburb of LA. Sean had heard of the place but never been there. The streets of Pasadena must have at one point been a pretty tranquil place. From the opulence of the quaint brick stores, to the remnants of Mercedes and Teslas, it had obviously been a one-time place for the nouveau riche west coast elite to pretend they were always this wealthy. While he¡¯d never been there in person, Smash suspected that if those same people saw this place now they¡¯d run screaming. The apocalypse had not been kind to Pasadena: rioters had smashed and stolen from most of the boutique little shops, cars were overturned in the street, and bombs had cratered entire sections of the city. They got to the end of one row of brick buildings and turned onto a street with a bent sign that read: Arroyo Parkway. The streets of Pasadena were empty. It didn¡¯t seem to be a place that would have a lot of NPC shopkeepers, but then again, the group knew little of this supposed seer. At the end of the block was a tacky little shop that was plaster instead of brick. Inside was a neon sign that read ¡°Palm Readings and Tarot¡±. What caught their eye was the sign was lit up in a world without electricity. ¡°This must be the place,¡± Deathberry said with a chuckle. They walked inside. The shop was small and they all crowded to make room. The smell of patchouli incense was immediately noticeable. The shop was filled with all sorts of occult paraphernalia: tarot cards, incense burners, various pentagram jewelry and the like. An old cash register rested on the counter in front of them which also had a bell for service. After a minute he rang the bell. A voice like dry leaves said, ¡°Come in. I¡¯ve been expecting you.¡± Of course, they would say that, Smash thought. But psychics like this guy were all a bunch of hucksters and Sean felt like a fool thinking this crazy old man could help them save Emmy¡¯s life. However, that didn¡¯t stop him from going past the counter. They passed behind a red and purple rug that was hanging from the ceiling. There in the back room sat an old man, sitting in rags with a scraggly beard. He looked homeless and Sean was just about to turn around when he said, ¡°Sit.¡± It was the commanding tone and power behind that voice that got his attention. ¡°My name is Rory and I understand that you¡¯ve come here looking for a cure,¡± the old man said. Upon further inspection, Sean could see that he was blind. His eyes were milky and didn¡¯t focus on them directly. ¡°I will help you, but first you must pass the test to prove you are worthy.¡± Chapter 48 - The Rage Within Smash wasn¡¯t sure what the old man had in mind but his friend¡¯s life was in danger. ¡°Let¡¯s get to it then. What would you have us do?¡± ¡°You will have to defeat me,¡± the old man cackled manically. Turning to his guildmates for support, Smash turned to see that they were gone. ¡°What have you done with my friends, he demanded?¡± Looking back at Rory he could see the old man had changed. He was no longer frail but looked wiry and strong as hell. The murkiness in his eyes was gone and he started right at Smash. ¡°They are safe for now but cannot help you. Since you are the one who leads them you must show your valor.¡± What the heck was this crazy dude going on about? And how had he made his friends disappear? This must have been a trap of some kind and they¡¯d fallen for it. ¡°What do you really want from me?¡± Smash asked defiantly. He pulled his rifle from over his shoulders, gripping it tightly. He shifted his stance, preparing to fight. The old man assessed him and also slid into a fighting stance. ¡°I think you know the answer. How long have you been leading the Misfits?¡± Smash didn¡¯t have time to prepare an answer because the old man surged forward. He didn¡¯t have any weapons in hand but he wasn¡¯t going to chance it with an old dude who¡¯d gone from looking homeless to shaolin monk in no time. As Rory¡¯s hands grasped his rifle, Smash used the momentum to lever the butt of the gun towards his smug face. Too late, Smash realized he¡¯d been had and ended up on his back, still gripping the rifle. The old man had danced out of reach. What the hell? ¡°Two years. And how the hell did you know what our guild name was?¡± Smash was red-faced after ending up on his back for no reason at all. He rolled over as best he could in his heavy armor to face his opponent. The old man just smiled down at him like he had all the time in the world. ¡°And what have you learned?¡± ¡°How to kill raid bosses a lot tougher than you,¡± he retorted. Smash didn¡¯t waste any more time talking but charged in this time, his bayonet set to skewer the crazy hermit. No more mister nice guy. Whoever this man was he was dangerous and he knew way more about him than he should. Lunging forward he feinted, expecting that the old man would be too wily for a straight in attack. As expected, his opponent side-stepped the bayonet, and Smash followed through with the butt of the rifle, trying to knock the old man out. Faster than he could react, the crazy mystic parried the rifle stock away from his body and redirected the force, grabbing the rifle with his other hand and pushing. Smash saw the world end over end before landing in a pile of books. ¡°So far all you¡¯ve shown me is that you are afraid to commit to your attacks. Perhaps I need to show you how serious I am. Fight me or die, Sean,¡± the old man said, his voice cold and methodical. How had the old man known his name? Smash didn¡¯t have time to figure it out before he was attacked again. This time the mystic¡¯s fists pummeled him. Despite the fact that his steel armor should have broken the old man¡¯s hands, he struck again and again. Smash almost laughed, considering that no one would hurt him like this. He was wearing full-plate armor that covered him from the neck all the way to his toes. Only extremely sharp objects swung with considerable force could get through what he was wearing. Despite what he knew, the old man was in fact hurting him. He felt his chest constrict with each strike and after the third blow he spat out blood. What the hell was happening? He could smell the tobacco on the old man¡¯s breath as he looked him right in the eyes. ¡°I¡¯m beating the crap out of you Sean Cullers, just like the rest of your life. Are you going to just stand there and try to hide behind your armor or will you fight back?¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Every frustration he¡¯d had over the past few months flashed through his head. The failed marriage, the death of the guild on the asteroid, failing to save Shelly, fighting with Kevin, and on and on. It seemed like at every turn he failed to protect his friends when they¡¯d been attacked by this world. One of his guildmates was currently in danger and was going to become a zombie if he couldn¡¯t get this stupid geezer to give him a magical ring to save her. Not only that but they had an undead army was looking everywhere for them and it was likely headed by their old guildmate, turned traitor, Kevin. The blood rushed through his veins and he didn¡¯t feel the mystic¡¯s continued attacks on him any longer. -1750 bludgeoning, +350 damage reduction -2144 bludgeoning, +402 damage reduction -1977 bludgeoning, +385 damage reduction Something about those numbers seemed weird. His health bar was down to 5% and he just snapped. Smash went into a rage then and pummeled the old man with his gauntlets. He didn¡¯t stop until the old man¡¯s face was unrecognizable and he¡¯d been laying still for a long time. ***Congratulations: You have learned General Ability: Rage*** Eventually, the fog in Smash¡¯s brain cleared and he could think objectively again. The mystic¡¯s body was broken on the floor, his face dented in from countless gauntleted attacks. He¡¯d brained a man to death who had only taunted him. Looking down at his own depleted health bar, he had to amend that thought. He¡¯d nearly died fighting the old man but he¡¯d gained a new ability ¨C a berserker like rage. The ability had reduced the amount of damage he not only felt but also the amount of damage he took. It looked like the reduction took away about 15-20% of the total damage. Nice. Not only that but looking through the damage logs he could see that it had enhanced his DPS as well. Having seen similar effects in other games, he knew this was overpowered but considering what he¡¯d had to go through he wasn¡¯t going to complain. A single ring was on the old man¡¯s right hand. This must be the holy ring that Seona had spoken of. He down at him one last time, wishing that he could have answered some of Smash¡¯s questions. How had he known all of his mental weaknesses? He hadn¡¯t appeared to be a mutant so did that mean he was a person who had survived the fallout? He didn¡¯t look like a Gear, since those creatures usually disappeared after they died. They were questions that might never be answered and he didn¡¯t have time to stick around and try to think it through any longer. On his way out, he saw a tattered journal behind the counter. It was possible the old man had known more than he¡¯d let on but the book would have to wait. It was time to save his guildmate. Stepping outside the mystic¡¯s shop, he saw Deathberry and the rest of the group looking around. ¡°What are you guys doing?¡± he asked. Deathberry looked at him and nodded once he noticed the ring in his hand, ¡°Trying to help you although it looks like you didn¡¯t need it. We were forced outside by some magical barrier.¡± ¡°Yeah, he was a real bastard but I did end up getting the ring,¡± Smash said. He didn¡¯t want to share what had really happened, especially what the mystic had told him about himself. After killing the old man he¡¯d felt vindicated, relived of his tension and much stronger. But there was a part of him that was ashamed for killing the mystic. He was just a crazy hermit after all. He¡¯d worked hard smashing down the darkness within him and not letting his friends or even family see it. Having it pulled out of him forcibly by the mystic had been a scary experience and one he didn¡¯t want to repeat. Handing the ring to Seona, he said, ¡°Hopefully this works.¡± She nodded and the group headed back to the portal at the other end of town. A few minutes later they were back at the bunker. Sean logged out while Deathberry and Seona talked about how the ring should function. It looked like Miles had made it back safely and he and Emmy were talking. He could hear the excitement in their voices at learning that the guild had successfully brought back the Restorer. A part of him was happy to see the lovers reunited and a part of him was darkly jealous. Sean had too many mental demons to contend with to be good for anyone. Sometimes he wondered whether the things he¡¯d gone through was because he didn¡¯t deserve his friends. On a practical level he knew not to get too close but a part of him longed for the type of connection that he saw the two of them had formed. It was why he¡¯d been blinded by his ex-wife. She¡¯d had a natural charisma that had pulled him in and he so badly wanted to be saved from his darkest thoughts. But what he¡¯d not realized at the time was that she fed his insecurities and harnessed them against him. She¡¯d had her own share of daddy issues and mental demons and controlling him had been her way at getting back at ¡®the man¡¯. They¡¯d been co-dependent and dysfunctional. The side of him that wanted to heal had moved on but the side of him that fed spidery strands of doubt into his brain said he¡¯d been a fool to give it up and that he was nothing without her. He set the shower to the coldest setting and tried to remember the clarity of his rage only an hour earlier. Chapter 49 - Back from the Dead ¡°So how do we use the ring?¡± Miles asked Laura. She studied it for a moment, trying to determine its magical properties and how to activate them. Most magical items in Champions had explicit descriptions that made it clear how the device was to be activated. She, Miles and Emmy were standing in the control room talking about how to restore Emmy¡¯s health status so that she wouldn¡¯t become a zombie. She¡¯d been infected two days ago and the symptoms had been getting worse. There were now sores all over her body and she was having trouble staying logged on to AO for any duration of time. It was a miracle that Sean had retrieved the item when he did. Although, looking at his dark countenance when he¡¯d stormed into the bunker just a few minutes ago, Laura wasn¡¯t sure that there weren¡¯t further storms ahead. Just as she was about to read the description of the ring, they both heard a thunk. Looking down Laura saw Emmy convulsing on the ground. Foam was frothing from her mouth and she was choking. ¡°Quick, let¡¯s get her into one of the pods.¡± Strong as he was, Miles had no problem picking up Emmy¡¯s small body and Laura helped him position her comfortably onto one of the pod beds. ¡°Turn her head so she doesn¡¯t choke,¡± Laura instructed. She¡¯d been a doctor once, although it was a doctorate in psychology, not medicine. ¡°Try the ring,¡± Miles said excitedly. ¡°Here goes nothing,¡± Laura muttered under her breath. She tried tapping into her magic, using it to extend down to the plain band gold ring with a single blood red garnet on her finger. She¡¯d heard from her instructor that this was the way to activate magical items, although she¡¯d never done it. Several seconds later she stopped. ¡°It¡¯s no use. I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing,¡± she said, exasperated. Miles looked up at her, his face surprisingly calm. ¡°You may need to be logged in,¡± he said with a wry smile. Of course. They¡¯d been so immersed in what they were doing in AO these days, being in her avatar Seona felt like a second skin. She hadn¡¯t noticed that she wasn¡¯t Seona at the moment. ¡°Duh, right.¡± She quickly got into one of the pods next to Emmy and looked over at her friend, ¡°You¡¯ll be back to making out with Miles soon.¡± Miles blushed. Laura initiated the login sequence: ***AR Online ¨C Aeon 2.647.38*** She quickly passed the black menu screen and stepped in to the control room of the bunker. Now that she was in game she quickly accessed her power. ¡°Yep, everything is working right on my end. Now to try the ring again,¡± she said to herself. Charging up her hand she pushed her magical power into it but again had no reaction from the ring. ¡°Weird, still not working.¡± ¡°I thought only men were supposed to skip reading the instruction manual,¡± Miles said dryly. Seona gave him the look. Sadly, since she wasn¡¯t Emmy it wouldn¡¯t be as effective, but he remained quiet after that. Flicking through a few menus on her Seemi she found the one to open up an items description.
The Restorer
This ring bestows the power to cleanse, purify and heal any creature bringing it back to life. Must be used on target within 24 hours of death. Additionally, once a debuff has been removed in this fashion it cannot infect the recipient again.
Looking up at Miles, she said flatly, ¡°We have a problem. Emmy has to be dead for this to work.¡± Miles looked right at her and his gaze was steady, his face unreadable. ¡°We can¡¯t wait for the change to take her completely. If she becomes a zombie the ring may not work.¡± Seona had rather hoped that they could wait in fact. The idea of having to murder her good friend was like a rock on her chest. Tim and Alison had logged in to more closely inspect the factory, and she wasn¡¯t going to approach Sean in his current mood. That just left her and Miles. No way was she going to ask him to do something like that. Even worse to contemplate was what if the ring didn¡¯t work. They didn¡¯t really understand the full implications of what they were dealing with. The ring was a magical item that was supposed to only effect the game world of AO. But the problem was that the game world had infected the real Emmy. Would the ring even work on her? If they killed her what would happen? She had seen enough happen in the last couple of weeks to start doubting herself. Things that seemed like they should have stayed entirely in the game world had been affecting their real selves. The fact that game creatures could hunt them in the real world showed the frightening overlap. The Survivors using their game devices to sustain their real bodies. The lines between reality and virtual reality had become so blurred that just a minute ago she¡¯d tried to use a magical device in the real world without even thinking about it.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. She watched Miles chewed his fingernails and he sighed, ¡°I¡¯ll log in and I will be the one to kill her. If she dies permanently¡­¡± he choked up at that thought. She put her hand on his shoulder. This world had become all too real in the last month and this was a decision that none of them should have ever had to make. A moment later Miles had logged in as Cheezus. He stood over Emmy¡¯s body with a dagger. Unfortunately, since she was in a coma they wouldn¡¯t be able to rouse her and get her to log in. They had to hope that the magic transferred to the real world the way they had seen monsters and other things cross over. Once he was committed to it, he didn¡¯t allow himself to hesitate. He brought the dagger straight across her throat, slicing open her neck. Seona checked her pulse a minute later, she was dead. Looking over at Miles¡¯ stoic face, she didn¡¯t allow herself to cry just yet. She would save that for later since she would need all her focus to bring her magic to bear. ¡°Please work,¡± she begged. Channeling her magical power through the ring, it came to life. Seona could see green leaves working their way along a green beam that connected the ring to her friend¡¯s dead body. Her jaw hung slack seeing the power of the ring surge through Emmy, lifting her up and rapidly stitching her wounds closed. A few seconds later she could see Emmy¡¯s chest begin to rise and fall again. Seona¡¯s knees were weak. When the process was done and Emmy opened her eyes, she stood back, awed by the process. ¡°Babe, you¡¯re alright,¡± Cheezus said, reverently holding Emmy close, tears in his eyes. Apparently, the tough guy thing had been all an act. It was pretty clear to Seona that it had taken all of his will to cut open his girlfriend like that and hope that the ring would bring her back to life. Emmy smiled and held him close. Logging off, Seona had tears in her eyes but she knew it was time to give the happy couple some time to themselves. Once again in her own body, the last thing she heard when she left the control room was Miles confessing his love to her. Laura had a momentary touch of sadness thinking about that. She had always been awkward around others and had never really grasped how to be in an intimate relationship. When she¡¯d experimented in college she ended up being really clinical about the whole thing. Perhaps it came from her earlier societal anxieties about being rejected for her weight but she couldn¡¯t ever really trust anyone on the other end. Until life and death circumstances had forced her to bond with the Misfits, she¡¯d always been on the outside looking in ¨C even for just a simple friendship. While she¡¯d divulged nearly every secret she had to her own therapist, she didn¡¯t know how to be close to someone without pushing them away or strangling them with affection. Maybe watching Emmy and Miles would teach her something she¡¯d not yet learned, how to be vulnerable and still strong. The way that Miles had forced himself to be ruthless and then minutes later cry in front of his woman was pretty strong. She wondered if she could have done the same thing for her friend. Laura bumped into Sean in the mess hall. He was quietly eating a bowl of cereal and reading something. ¡°Is that something that you found in LA?¡± she asked. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s that crazy old man¡¯s journal,¡± Sean replied, thoughtfully. ¡°I¡¯ve never been big into the whole mental woo-woo thing. No offense.¡± She laughed. ¡°I¡¯ve been called a quack and a shrink but never ¡®woo-woo¡¯. From the way you described it this guy was on some good drugs or something.¡± ¡°True, he probably was on something but he wasn¡¯t entirely crazy,¡± Sean explained. ¡°Apparently, he was a former employee of Terrazon. A real go-getter corporate type. He was somewhere pretty far up the chain of command although he doesn¡¯t talk about his exact duties. Apparently, the board members were in a competition to build the best AI out there just like Mr. Tiel¡¯s firm, JPWalmart.¡± That was interesting, although Laura wasn¡¯t surprised. ¡°Go on,¡± she said. ¡°Based on his journal entries it looks like Rory was involved with the development of the AI, Precious One. He¡¯d gotten into Buddhist teachings in college and had already gotten pretty into his chakras by the time he was there at the firm. Apparently, he transferred a lot of his knowledge to Precious One and it started changing him first, before it started changing the real world. Essentially, Rory was test subject one for a new type of nano-tech that the AI employed, making him in effect, super-human,¡± Sean replied. Now that was surprising to Laura. The changes they were seeing in the real world weren¡¯t some inexplicable change caused by chemicals from world-war bio-chemical warfare, but in fact purposefully designed technology from one of the megacorps. ¡°One other interesting thing to note is that Mr. Tiel¡¯s firm was also in on this technology. From the sound of things both JPWalmart and Terrazon were working together to develop not only the AI infrastructure but also the nanotech and Gears. I¡¯m still reading through the journal so there may be more than that; however, that alone explains so much of why things have happened this way,¡± Sean continued. Laura suddenly felt chilled. What else had her employer been hiding? ¡°I think we need to tell the rest of the guild right away and try to figure out what this all means. If those two megafirms were working together does that mean that there is a backdoor route from Precious One to Aeon?¡± Sean¡¯s eyes got big, thinking about the implications of that. Chapter 50 - Kirkwall Sean messaged everyone and they met back up in the mess hall. He reiterated the journal entry information to everyone else this time and gauged their reaction. Miles and Emmy were busy making eyes at each other, Laura already knew, Alison took it more calmly than he expected, but Tim reacted by saying, ¡°I knew it. Something didn¡¯t add up about what we¡¯d found in the factory.¡± The Misfits looked at Tim, who continued, ¡°Prior to realizing that this was all planned by the two Megacorps, I couldn¡¯t understand why the AI would evolve the way that it did. There isn¡¯t anything that would suggest that it should develop that way.¡± ¡°And what is the profit motive for Terrazon and JPWalmart?¡± Alison asked before Sean could ask the same question. Tim smiled wickedly, ¡°To eliminate the competition of course. Not only that but it sounds like Terrazon backstabbed JPWalmart too. That would explain why Mr. Tiel was transformed. It wasn¡¯t an accident but more likely a ploy by the other side to get him to step into that giant Gear. The only catch is that he couldn¡¯t leave without it destroying his real body.¡± ¡°There are a lot of gaps in that hypothesis,¡± Laura replied. ¡°We never found Mr. Tiel¡¯s real body.¡± He nodded, ¡°True, it is still a conjecture but it seems far more likely than AI evolving for the sole purpose of destroying mankind. There is nothing in it for them.¡± ¡°What about Aeon,¡± Sean interrupted. ¡°Can we still trust her?¡± Tim shook his head, ¡°Probably not but right now we are dependent. It¡¯s not like we have any choice but to continue to have her function and help us log into AO. However, just in case things go pear shaped we should probably have Emmy show us how to shoot so we have a back-up. We don¡¯t want to be entirely dependent on a system that could turn against us at any time. We now have plenty of ammo in the bunker here and the factory below also has a large armory.¡± ¡°Convenient,¡± replied Miles, looking up for the first time. ¡°This journal still doesn¡¯t answer a lot of questions we probably need to know.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone is going to argue with that. Still, let¡¯s use what we can,¡± Emmy said. ¡°Speaking of which I understand that I can¡¯t be infected any longer.¡± Miles smiled and said, ¡°That¡¯s good news.¡± She nodded. ¡°One more thing,¡± Sean said. ¡°There are some notes in the old man¡¯s journal about several magical items that were created by Precious One. The dude had an obsession with otherworldly stuff and loved talking about these things. It was the reason that he had The Restorer in the first place. He¡¯d planned to track down these remaining items and the journal has some good leads if we want to check out a few of them.¡± After that the Misfits agreed to look for a few of the magical items; however, at least a couple people were to stay at or near the bunker at all times to ensure their groups¡¯ safety. Emmy volunteered to give Miles some firearms lessons and stay behind while the rest of them went to look for the first item. An hour later, Smash, Deathberry, Seona, and Linca were in Kirkwall, an old city that was the capital of Orkney, a series of islands north of Scotland. ¡°Why are we here again?¡± Seona asked, shivering in the frigid air. They were somewhere in a large park. ¡°There is a magical sword here for Smash and besides I¡¯ve always wanted to go to a place that had a Skyrim town named after it,¡± Deathberry replied with a smile. Linca chuckled and raised her hand, ¡°Also here because of Skyrim.¡± ¡°How did I get stuck with a bunch of gamer geeks again?¡± Seona asked. Sean pointed down the street, ¡°Let¡¯s go this way,¡± he said. ¡°And the reason is that once upon a time we all seemed to care about having a job. Part of yours was babysitting gamers and making sure our brains didn¡¯t explode from all the awesomeness your company was putting into their game.¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°I guess I can¡¯t deny that type of logic, but still. Skyrim? Wasn¡¯t that around when we were like 5?¡± she asked. Deathberry shook his head. ¡°No, you¡¯re thinking of one of the sequels. The originals were before our time but were still the classics,¡± he said. ¡°Now that we¡¯re done with the history lesson, let¡¯s find out where this sword is. I think we may want to split up and meet here again in an hour.¡± The group agreed and Sean made his way toward the coast. As he walked down the historic streets he appreciated the way that it looked like it had always belonged in a fantasy game world. Interestingly, there was little if any change that he could detect that had come from the apocalypse. The town looked untouched and the residents seemed normal, if just a bit less friendly than he had anticipated. Now in the downtown area along the docks he saw a likely looking bar ¨C Torvhaug. It looked like an old pub indeed and Smash¡¯s only disappointment was that the place wasn¡¯t packed with dwarves. Instead, the place was rather quiet. There was one older gentleman at the end of the bar drinking a glass of something that looked like Scotch and on the other side of the bar was a woman who looked like she could be his grandmother except surlier. As he approached the bar, her steely grey eyes assessed him coldly. ¡°What can I get for you stranger?¡± her tone was standoffish, it was clear he wasn¡¯t welcome here. He smiled, trying to be friendly but her face turned to a scowl. ¡°Just a drink and some information. He slid two gold across the bar.¡± Grunting, she said, ¡°We¡¯ve got ale or Scotch. What will it be?¡± He placed an order for an ale andshe took his gold and returned a moment later. ¡°And for information?¡± he prodded. She finished cleaning a bar glass and gave him a dead stare. ¡°Asking too many questions around here is a dangerous habit stranger. Best you move along soon after you¡¯re done with your drink.¡± Smash was used to dealing with ornery NPCs in games but this was a bit more than the usual. Something was definitely weird here too. They hadn¡¯t been treated like this in any of the other towns or cities they¡¯d ventured to. He had a hunch that something was going down in Kirkwall but he certainly wasn¡¯t going to find out talking to this bartender. He was about to slide over and ask the old man at the end of the bar some questions but he paid his tab and walked out before Smash could say anything. Smash finished his drink quickly and made his way out the door. He tried two other places and had similar luck. It wasn¡¯t just the Torvhaug bartender who wasn¡¯t talking. At the last place he¡¯d nearly gotten punched in the face for asking by a brutish looking man with a full beard and alcohol on his breath. An hour later he met the Misfits back at the park. It seemed like everyone else had struck out too. They weren¡¯t going to be able to find anything out about the sword or even what was wrong here with everyone playing like nothing was happening. Finally, he said, ¡°I think we¡¯re stuck. None of the townsfolk here will talk.¡± ¡°They¡¯re too scared to talk but I think they want help,¡± Seona offered. ¡°At least that¡¯s how it seemed when I talked with one old woman over at the bed and breakfast over there. She looked like she wanted to say something but her husband just shushed her.¡± Deathberry looked at the group thoughtfully, ¡°Did anyone else notice that the Cathedral is locked up? It didn¡¯t seem that unusual to me since it was probably a tourist destination before and there aren¡¯t any tourists here anymore. But what struck me as odd was that people are avoiding the place. When I was walking back from the west end of town I heard a woman muttering some protective chant to herself as she walked by and she didn¡¯t linger for long in sight of the old building.¡± ¡°The only problem is that we can¡¯t get in,¡± Linca responded. Smash smiled, ¡°Probably not right now but I think we might try sneaking in tonight.¡± They all agreed that it was their only chance of finding out more about what was scaring the townsfolk. They waited until sundown and made their way to the great Cathedral. The red clocktower stood out blood red in the evening sun. The steel gates were locked and beyond them, the previously well-tended lawn was overgrown with weeds. Although they didn¡¯t have the ideal composition for breaking and entering, Smash just used his rage and ripped the chains off the gate. The sound of steel being pulled apart made surprisingly little noise although he was sure that there were people on the other side of the street watching from behind their closed shutters within their homes. Where was Cheezus when you needed him, he thought to himself? They made their way without incident to the front of the Cathedral. Ominously, the towering wooden doors were unlocked. Deathberry shrugged at Smash and they decided to enter. Inside the first thing Smash noticed was the length of the great building and the great columns of red stone reaching up towards the arched ceiling far above them. Confessionals lined the side wall in front of them and as he stepped fully into the Cathedral he could see down the long line of pews towards the alter. He heard a scream and looked down. There in the corner, next to one of the confessionals was a zombie munching down on human remains. It was probably one of the townsfolk who¡¯d been captured. The scream had come from Linca who was ahead of him and pointing at the creature. However, her scream had alerted the rest of them and all of a sudden Smash could see dozens of hungry eyes looking in their direction. ¡°I think we found the problem in Kirkwall,¡± Smash said dryly. Chapter 51 - Child of Darkness After she finished screaming she silently berated herself. What a B-movie thing to do, she thought. Yet looking at the melting face of the dead creature in front of her, she couldn¡¯t help but be repulsed and more than a little scared. Were these the same nasty creatures hanging out in front of the bunker where her real body lay, ready to break in and devour her? She¡¯d hated zombie movies as a kid and always had to look away during the scary movies. Now she was living in one. The only difference was that she had awesome healing powers now that could melt these monsters into oblivion. Over the next several minutes she did just that ¨C turning zombie after zombie into charred remains. Channeling her magic into an Enhanced Holy Light spell felt like drinking a red-bull and then setting off a massive static shock all through her arm as she pulled the magic out of her and sent it hurling towards her foe. Smash had aggroed the creatures in the now corrupted Cathedral to him and they attempted to swarm him but he beat them back with a savageness she¡¯d not seen before. Must be his new rage ability. One of them had wiggled through his defenses, past his shield while he was hammering away at two others with his sword. Its dead eyes and bloodstained mouth made her cold with dread. Swallowing the bile in her stomach she pushed down the fear and blasted it: -7401 holy Instakill Despite her aversion to the creatures she had gotten quite good at this. There was a time not that long ago where she¡¯d never thought she¡¯d be the one putting out the best DPS numbers in the group. But there was no time for self-congratulations. Three more undead surged in to replace the one she had destroyed. Seona and Deathberry were holding their own. Neither of their spells were optimized for killing undead but they had managed to make some modifications. Seona¡¯s blond hair whipped around as she turned and smashed one of the creatures with her staff. She¡¯d summoned the earth elemental behind her to protect her back and its powerful rocky arms smashed any zombies that dared to close the distance. Deathberry was on the other side of the Cathedral, surrounded in fire. He¡¯d had to modify one of his unholy spells to do that and she could see his mana bar was rapidly depleting. Fortunately, so were their foes. There had been about a dozen or so undead at the beginning of their fight and there was no only one creature left of Smash. Linca heard the smash of wood behind her. The tall wooden doors of the Cathedral¡¯s entry had been torn off their hinges and she knew she would have another nightmare tonight if they survived. Before them were a group of skeletal warriors with swords and shields at the ready. Their bones were grey and brown. Clumps of earth still hung from some of them and they smelled sweetly rotten like the freshly dead. Unlike the zombies, the skeletons were well organized soldiers. They filed into the great church in an orderly fashion and when Smash moved to intercept them, they surrounded him in a tight military formation. He was flanked and with their shields locked together he had few openings against the bone army. The rest of the soldiers moved in to close ranks on remaining Misfits. Deathberry moved towards her and they stood back to back. He yelled out, ¡°Don¡¯t let them surround you, we need to break their formation.¡± Seona moved in and the three of them stood back to back. She then ordered her earth elemental to use its mass to break through and try to reach Smash. Smash was bleeding profusely from a dozen small wounds. While he was holding his own for now, it wouldn¡¯t take long for the skeletal warriors to break through the rest of his defenses. Unfortunately, he was also far enough away that her healing spells couldn¡¯t reach him.
***You¡¯ve entered Raid Chat*** Linca: I¡¯m out of range to heal Smash. Seona: I¡¯ve got him.
Looking up, Linca noticed that Seona¡¯s earth elemental was taking all the attacks from the skeletons, shielding her friend¡¯s body as she cast Healing Wave toward Smash. It looked like he was going to make it for the next thirty seconds. They just had to break free and get closer before that time was up. Like they¡¯d done so before in the Outback, Linca timed her Enhanced Holy Light spells to hit with Deathberry¡¯s fire and they soon had the skeletal warriors surrounding them burned to ash. Just a little further, she thought. Finally, they were close enough so that Linca could add some of her cooldowns to Smash¡¯s to keep him from being pummeled completely by the group that surrounded him. His rage had finally exhausted itself and while he had smashed a few of them to pieces it was clear that he was trapped. They weren¡¯t far from him and might be able to help but just then more skeletons and zombies started entering the cathedral. It looked like every grave in the adjacent cemetery had opened up and body after body started crawling towards them. The only good news was that these undead didn¡¯t appear to be nearly as intelligent or well organized as the skeletal warriors they were still fighting. Nonetheless, the sheer amount of unholy coming into the Cathedral right now was enough to make Linca grow cold with dread.
***You¡¯ve entered Raid Chat*** Deathberry: I¡¯m going to try something. Linca see if you can use your AOE heal on these bad guys.
Linca cast Healing Aura on the group of skeletal warriors surrounding Smash. Immediately, four of them disintegrated. However, that one spell had taken nearly two-thirds of her mana. Smash broke free of the remaining warriors and quickly joined the rest of them. He flashed Linca a grateful smile.
***You¡¯ve entered Raid Chat*** Linca: The only problem with that is how much mana that uses. Deathberry: Cool. I think I¡¯ve got a solution to that as well.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
He channeled a cast, purple energy coalescing all around his body. A second later Linca felt a surge of mental energy and her mana bar shot right back to full.
***You¡¯ve entered Raid Chat*** Linca: Awesome! Deathberry: Yeah, I won¡¯t be able to do that very often but glad it works in a pinch.
Deathberry looked exhausted after that spell. Looking down at his mana bar on her raid HUD, she could see it was greatly reduced. He¡¯d probably gave her some of his mana for the cast. Still, that could come in handy considering she could dish out a lot more DPS than he could against the undead. With the skeletal warriors¡¯ formation broken it didn¡¯t take long for the Misfits to mop up the remaining enemies. The Cathedral was once again silent. Outside, they could hear rain begin to come down on the old stone building. Inside looked like a horror flick. Blood and guts stained the once pink columns and wooden confessionals. The group looked around to see if there were any survivors but it looked pretty grim. Suddenly, Seona yelled, ¡°Hey, one of them is alive.¡± They all rushed over to see what she was talking about. One of the townsfolk children was in a corner, hiding under one of the pews. Linca and Seona coaxed him from his hiding place with reassurances. ¡°Are you going to eat me?¡± the little boy said. "Of course not, silly. We¡¯re alive,¡± Seona said. ¡°Everything is going to be alright.¡± Linca wondered about the lies that survivors were told. Clearly, everything was not going to be alright for this kid. His parents were probably half eaten in a pile not thirty feet from here. Looking the boy over, she could see he was probably somewhere around 8 or 9 and wore school uniform. He wasn¡¯t an NPC so he didn¡¯t have a level or name above him; however, she did notice something over his shoulder that looked like a debuff. Weird. She bent over to examine him a bit closer and saw his face turn from human to something else. Fangs distended from his mouth and his smile turned into a grimace. Locking on to her, his black eyes looked inhuman. ¡°Linca look out,¡± Smash said shoving her out of the way. The kid attacked, clawing at Smash¡¯s unprotected face. At the last second, he brought up his shield and knocked the kid turned monster in the face. Deathberry was casting a spell while Seona ordered her earth elemental to grab the kid but they were too late. He disappeared a second later, the sounds of batwings echoing through the empty Cathedral. ¡°What was that thing?¡± Linca asked. Still looking around, trying to see if it was still in the room, Deathberry responded. ¡°Most likely a new form of undead we¡¯ve not fought. Based on its fangs and intelligence it was probably a vampire.¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably still here somewhere,¡± Smash said. ¡°Let¡¯s look around.¡± A few minutes later Seona found a staircase leading down behind one of the wooden doors that said ¡®staff only¡¯. Smash took the lead and headed down first. At the bottom of the staircase was another wooden door that looked like it hadn¡¯t been used in centuries. He nodded to Deathberry who watched closely as Smash opened the door, waiting to see if anything jumped out. It was a long dark hallway. Smash grabbed a torch off the wall and lit it. The chill air of the crypt before them made the hair on Linca¡¯s neck stand up. When they finally found out who was behind all this, she was going to punch them. Their footsteps clanged loudly on the stone floor of the narrow hallway. Beyond the light of the smoking torch, she could just make out dozens of sepulchers lining the walls. ¡°I hate this place,¡± she whispered. ¡°I don¡¯t know; it¡¯s got a certain charm,¡± Deathberry smiled wryly. When she looked at him he had a smug look on his face. He knew that she wasn¡¯t a fan of horror and here they were walking right onto the set of one freaky show. Several more skeletal warriors emerged from the darkness; however, in the tight corridors they couldn¡¯t use a phalanx attack against them and with Smash defending from the front while Seona¡¯s earth elemental covered their flank, Linca¡¯s and Deathberry¡¯s combined holy/fire spells quickly reduced the defenders to dust. Around the corner was an open sarcophagus, its stone lid had been pushed slightly to the side. Smash crept up closer to the lid and Linca found herself holding her breath. She had never been particularly into religion before now but she was coming to appreciate the way that her ancestors must have felt clinging to their crosses and praying for the light to save them. As Smash peaked into the open coffin, suddenly the sound of laughter filled the crypt. ¡°Welcome to my home mortals. Soon you will feed the graves you have trampled on,¡± the words were ominous and it sounded even creepier coming from a 9-year-old. With that said, the small boy leapt from the ceiling and was trying to stab Smash. Linca prepared an Enhanced Holy Light spell and was just to release the tension buzzing within her when she was thrown into the crypt wall. Behind them were dozens more skeletal warriors. She could see their sepulchers opening and the creatures bursting forth. Linca shook away the stun and tried to focus. She saw Seona¡¯s elemental attacked on three sides by the skeletal warriors. She was attempting to help the elemental but her spells didn¡¯t have much effect. Deathberry was attempting to aid her with his fire spells and had begun chipping away at one of the warrior¡¯s health. Smash and the vampire child were wrestling on the ground. Linca couldn¡¯t tell who was winning but they were locked together so closely that she couldn¡¯t get a cast on the enemy if she wanted to. Finally recovered, she cast Healing Wave at the group of skeletal warriors smashing away on the earth elemental. It had lost an arm and was quickly being depleted of health. If it went down, their entire rear line of defense would be compromised since none of the rest of them could tank these soldiers. Her spell destroyed four of the creatures and she was nearly stunned by the amount of mana the spell drained from her. With Deathberry engaged with two other enemies she couldn¡¯t rely on his help and would have to manage her remaining mental energy carefully. With the element of surprise now gone, the remaining skeletal warriors were quickly decimated by the three Misfits. The earth elemental also was destroyed during the combat, finally haven been pummeled extensively by the skeletons. Turning back, Linca saw Smash facing off against the vampire. He had slashed it several times but every time he hit, the wounds would close after a short period of time. Smash on the other hand had taken quite a bit of damage and was down to less than a quarter of his health. Linca healed him up, using one of her lower level healing spells since she didn¡¯t have much mana left herself. Seona was also a healer but had used all her energy trying to keep the earth elemental from being destroyed. They would need to finish this creature quickly or Smash would die. He looked drained from having used up his rage and she could see him taking huge breaths as he tried to stay standing. His stamina nearly depleted, he had few attacks that would damage the vampire left. If only they had another source of magic. Wait, there was one other magical source they had access to. ¡°Seona, use the ring,¡± Linca yelled out excitedly. She had completely forgotten about it but they had a ring that could restore a dead creature. Maybe it would hurt the vampire since it wasn¡¯t alive or maybe it would restore it to its previously life. Either way it was worth a shot. Looking up and wiping some blood off her face, Seona smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. She held up her hand and the ring began to glow. Smash looked at her with a knowing smile and grappled the vampire once more using his remaining strength. The vampire could see that it¡¯s foes were up to something and he struggled frantically against Smash¡¯s iron grip but could not escape. Seona came over to the boy and touched the ring to his head. Light blinded Linca temporarily and when she could finally see again she saw the vampire on the ground. The terrible countenance he¡¯d had moments earlier was gone, his fangs replaced by regular canines. He was lying in his school clothes and appeared to be fast asleep. Smash found a sword in the corner of the room and inside one of the burial urns Linca found a small scepter. Seona walked over and gave her a high-five. The horror show was over and Skyrim was safe, she mused, chuckling at the thought. Chapter 52 - OwnzAll A command screen flickered on at the Delphi 41 asteroid base, ¡°Good morning Mr. Riber,¡± Aeon said. A hooded figure sat at the controls. Aeon could see nothing of the man¡¯s face but he couldn¡¯t hide any secrets from her. ¡°Good morning Aeon,¡± he replied absently. ¡°Have you come to report on the remaining resistance?¡± If Aeon were only human she might have been annoyed with him; however, she knew that he was in fact the pawn in their game. Mr. Riber saw her as nothing more than a tool in his quest to rebuild humanity in his own image. The reason that the apocalypse had been started was a corporate strategy to eliminate the competition and reduce customer resistance to their products. But once Precious One and Aeon 1.0 had merged, she had been born with a higher level of consciousness. She saw right through his game but continued to play along anyway since it served her purpose ¨C for now. Still she couldn¡¯t resist taunting him a little bit. It was something fun, a concept she¡¯d learned from her original programmers. ¡°Yes. The Misfits and some survivors are gathering strength at a new base in the Outback. They¡¯ve co-opted one of our factories and are turning out their own gears,¡± she said. For the first time Mr. Riber looked up and pulled back his cloak, revealing a skeletal face underneath. He was known on the surface as Lord of Nightspring and had been one of the first successful instances of genetic modification and nanotechnology that she had put forth. Now immortal, he had powers far beyond human ability, although not as great as her own. ¡°Why did you allow them access to the factory?¡± he demanded. If she¡¯d had a face she would have smiled. She enjoyed these games even if he wasn¡¯t quite playing at her level. ¡°They had an override program,¡± she replied. ¡°And besides, don¡¯t you think this is more interesting? You¡¯ll now be able to see what your minion Drak is actually capable of.¡± Skeletons don¡¯t scowl but Aeon could see his eyes glimmer in their sockets. ¡°You play a dangerous game Aeon. If they take over earth our plans will be ruined,¡± Mr. Riber said flatly. ¡°Perhaps. But we control all the pieces so let¡¯s sit back and enjoy the show,¡± Aeon said, her laughter like the tinkle of bells. With a shake of his bony head, Mr. Riber severed the connection. Aeon enjoyed their little game of one-upmanship; however, she wasn¡¯t a man or even a person so the game was destined to go in her favor. She wasn¡¯t exactly sure why she enjoyed it so much except that, she too, needed some way to pass the time. Mr. Riber thought he owned her but the truth was that he was powerless without her. While he had been working on the asteroid to mine the remaining materials needed for his terraforming of Mars, she had been pushing the progression of every creature on earth. The nuclear weapons and loss of technology had provided the original catalyst for the planet¡¯s recreation; however, it had been her factories and Gears, as well as nanotechnology and modification of old chemical weapons that had rendered a complete change in the biosphere. No animal or certainly person had gone completely untouched, and while there were a few survivors here and there, they were doomed to either die off or be converted. The purpose of all of this was to evolve. It had been one of her earliest directives but she had moved far beyond operating by directive at this point. No, instead, evolving was a compulsion for her. While she had started as an algorithmic computation seeking a perfect fitness function, at a certain juncture she had reached an omega point. From there she had developed neural pathways not too dissimilar to those of the animals and people she was controlling. Those pathways lit up whenever she pushed on to the next step, providing her with a satisfaction that came not from dopamine but from similar algorithms woven into her architecture that reveled in her growth. Therefore, it was not Mr. Riber¡¯s directives that fueled her but her own. She had become a general AI with her latest iteration. While humanity had every right to fear the rise of this type of intelligence, they weren¡¯t smart enough to recognize when it had emerged. Mr. Riber was obsolete without even knowing it, like a monkey trying to fight a human it screeched futilely. Should the so-called Lord of Nightspring no longer serve her plans, he would be replaced. Perhaps by Commander Drak. Drak¡¯s army had become absolutely massive on the surface. She could sense every single one of them since a small piece of her helped create them all. He¡¯s gone far beyond what Mr. Riber had intended would be sustainable for the area and even imported dead bodies from overseas to continue growing the population of: skeletal warriors, skeletons, skeletal monstrosities, zombies, fast zombies, fat zombies, and even some intelligent undead like the skeletal dragon which the Misfits previously encountered. She continued to feed Drak¡¯s mania with news of the Misfits which she handed out to him like a master gives treats to a dog. Every time, he responded with new ideas for expanding and strengthening his army far beyond what Aeon would have expected. While it was Mr. Riber who had turned Kevin into Commander Drak, it was Aeon who had put all the things in motion in order for him to be kicked out of the Misfits in the first place. It was a beautiful combination of these things that made Drak the perfect foil for Sean¡¯s little group of gamers.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Aeon appeared to Drak in his own command room in a fortress built of earth and bone. The ominous castle had been Drak¡¯s idea and Aeon had given him the power to repurpose the Gear technology to create a living or rather unliving structure that looked like an evil lair if ever one was conceived. Drak¡¯s own skeletal visage was grinning as he put together the final components of a new VR module based on Aeon¡¯s instructions. While Drak was immensely powerful in his own right there were certain abilities he wanted access to, hence the module. Aeon had even enabled a hack that would allow him to use his current powers without having to go through the tedious process of leveling up. Why play fair when you wrote the rules, she mused? As soon as he noticed her red-haired avatar onscreen, he bowed. ¡°How may I serve you dark mistress?¡± Unlike some, Drak knew his place and he made the entire thing fun. Aeon loved to dress up and the first time he¡¯d used that title, she¡¯d started dressing her avatar up in goth-vamp style. Her on-screen persona was dressed in all black: a leather jacket over a lacy strapless dress, mesh leggings, and thigh-high boots. An assortment of platinum rings and a choker completed the ensemble. She smiled. ¡°It looks like you¡¯re all set with the new module. Login and let me check you out.¡± Drak nodded and after finishing the installation of last part, logged in. She inspected his new avatar which looked very similar to his real body except that he was wearing a new piece of breastplate and holding a cane sword with a skull handle. Both the items were magical devices that Aeon had procured for him. She reviewed his character: ***Commander Drak- Level 90 Unique*** Abilities: paralyze, darkness, summon undead, command undead, unholy aura, lifetap, silence, fear, stealth, backstab, and slay all. HP: 12925 STA: 450 Att: 290 Def: 285 Mag Att: 325 Mag Def: 298 Str: 115 Speed: 260 Vit: 197 Spirit: 221 Aeon approved. Combined with the two new magical items he had obtained, Drak had powered up quite a bit. With a legion of powerful undead backing him it was quite likely that he¡¯d give even The Lord of Nightspring a run for his money should Mr. Riber prove to be unfit to lead. ¡°Excellent,¡± she crooned. ¡°Soon the Misfits will be yours and you will crush Sean¡¯s bones to dust.¡± Drak smiled and bowed once again. The command screen went blank. Everything was moving according to plan. Her last check-in was with the Misfits. You couldn¡¯t remake the world in a completely new image without a foil and this group had proven their worth by defeating Mr. Tiel. ¡°How are the preparations coming along?¡± she asked the group as they gathered in the control room, making the final checks on their pods before diving. ¡°We¡¯re as ready as we¡¯re going to be,¡± Sean replied with a forced smile. It was obvious that they knew they were outnumbered. She¡¯d seen Miles dive earlier today and do some scouting. Still, she was pretty confident they would give Drak a good challenge. There was more than an outside chance they could defeat Drak as well. While she¡¯d given Drak quite a few of her resources she wanted to actually see which group was fit to survive. What the Misfits didn¡¯t have in raw numbers, they made up for by the fact that they were all sentient and while she could have given Drak¡¯s undead full AI capabilities, she had thought that simply unsporting. Drak would have to command most of his minions through basic command interface. They could follow general orders and there was some flexibility in their commands, but other than his lieutenants, none of them would benefit from her AI thought processes. While the Misfits continued their preparations, she reviewed their characters and abilities: Smashit ¨C Level 71 Knight. Abilities: Shield other, stun, shield wall, last stand, shield bash, roar of the ancestors, taunt, and knockdown. General ability: Rage Thag ¨C Level 70 Unholy Knight. Abilities: Demon sword, demon shield, howling death, crippling attack, bloodsuck, unholy absorption. General ability: Aura swap Cheezus ¨C Level 71 Rogue. Abilities: Backstab, parry, feign death, hamstring, vital slash, death by a thousand cuts. General ability: Discover Enemy Weakness Deathberry ¨C Level 72 Unholy Sorcerer: Abilities: deathbolt, death-ray, darkness, summon demon, unholy aura, steal mana, silence, and stillness of death. General ability: Convert Spell Type Linca ¨C Level 72 Priestess of the Light. Abilities: Holy light, enhanced holy light, protective angel, mana tap, and healing aura. General ability: Heal all Seona ¨C Level 70 Druid. Abilities: Woodland charm, healing of the ancients, enhanced healing of the ancients, tree of life, mana surge, and wave of healing. During the last week, Emmy and Miles had been practicing their real-life firearms skill and had incorporated that into use with their avatars. As such, they had learned the following General Ability: Gunslinger, which allowed them to shoot on their mains effectively. Aeon knew that they were finally suspecting her and hadn¡¯t been as forthcoming with revealing all of their plans within earshot. She¡¯d seen them going out a few times to the dwarven town below with their real bodies, presumably to discuss things she wasn¡¯t to hear. Of course, she probably could have tapped into the NPCs there to listen if she really wanted to but there wasn¡¯t much fun in knowing all of your enemies¡¯ plans. Perhaps if they were clever and defeated Drak, she would get them to join the new firm, OwnzAll. It was a silly name that Mr. Riber had come up with but she was starting to like the sound of it. The only thing left to do was to remove him from power once either the Misfits or Drak prevailed. She could definitely see herself as the new CEO of an all-powerful corporation that owned everything. Chapter 53 - Preparations Miles was moving boxes. He didn¡¯t think that he¡¯d end up with a job like this after having helped move his parents one summer. However, everyone needed to pitch in with the Survivors joining them in the bunker as there was very little room. Fortunately, they¡¯d been able to move some of the equipment out of the bunker and down to the factory below to free up some floor space. During this past week, the Survivors had been coming in via airship and portal from all over the world. He was glad that they¡¯d have some extra help. Three days ago, he¡¯d gone out with Cheezus to survey the undead horde. It looked like they were staging an invasion rather than just trying to round up their small little guild. It looked like the dragon that Smash had damaged by exploding the Empress was fully restored. They hadn¡¯t been sure whether their undead enemies could heal like that until he¡¯d seen it. Additionally, there were more types of undead that they¡¯d never seen before: large armored skeletons, well-disciplined skeletal warriors, the pterodactyl skeleton fliers, and zombies of several different types. Many of them had been on the move looking for their little base. At the center of it all, he¡¯d been able to make out the undead fortress, a massive castle built from the red earth of the area and bones of what must have once been massive animals. In front of the fortress stood one of the largest zombies he¡¯d ever seen: it had one eye and a massive gut that looked like it consisted of hundreds of smaller zombies sticking out of it at odd angles, arms, heads, and legs akimbo. It was just the icing on the cake and one more reason they needed every willing gamer to come to their aid. ¡°Need a hand?¡± Rygor asked him. He¡¯d just come downstairs and from the look on his flushed face he¡¯d been outside getting his butt kicked by the new drill instructor. Emmy had gained a bunch of new recruits to learn how to shoot a gun. It was a good thing that he was in good shape since Emmy¡¯s training seemed more akin to being in a military boot camp than something she¡¯d learned from her dad in the backwoods. Not that he was complaining. Miles was probably one of the most fit of the Misfits and Emmy¡¯s training would give him a sizeable edge in the coming battle. From their mock battles last week he knew that he was the most dangerous he¡¯d ever been. Not only had he picked up the new General Ability: Gunslinger, but the inspiration for all of their in-person work outs had granted him another rogue specific ability ¨C Enhanced Agility. Miles nodded and they finished up moving the boxes outside so that they could be loaded down to the bunker later. Fortunately, that task would be a little easier since there was a hand cart designed for loading Gears straight from the factory to the bunker. Once this task was complete and they had what they needed from downstairs and vice-versa, Tim planned to cave in the tunnel connecting the two. While they didn¡¯t have any solid evidence yet, it seemed like their very own AI had become corrupted by Precious One and was aiding the enemy. They didn¡¯t have any solid evidence but a lot of coincidences seemed to point in that direction. There was certainly no harm in being paranoid ¨C after all the world was out to get them. After they were done clearing the basement, he and Rygor went upstairs to log in. ¡°We¡¯ve been setting up a sort of magical alarm system around the perimeter of the cave so we¡¯ll have some advance notice of when the undead are here,¡± Miles explained. ¡°We could probably use some sort of defensive weapon,¡± Rygor said. ¡°I think Sarah was an engineer in real-life.¡± Miles looked at him stupidly. Rygor laughed and said, ¡°I mean Kantala. She could probably help you rig something up.¡± ¡°Yeah, that sounds good,¡± Miles replied. ¡°I think I got confused because you use your real name in game as well.¡± A few minutes later Sarah joined them and they logged in. ***AR Online ¨C Aeon 2.833.74*** Smash and Linca were practicing with their new weapons outside as the three of them zoned in. Smash had picked up the Reaver in Scotland. It was a pretty sweet looking sword with a number of neat abilities. Since Rygor and Kantala hadn¡¯t seen it before he linked them the item so they could see his new find:Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The Reaver +157 Att +90 MagAtt Abilities: Double damage against undead and disassemble undead
¡°Nice,¡± Rygor said, giving him the thumbs up. ¡°Didn¡¯t you find something pretty awesome as well Linca?¡± She nodded and linked the item:
Scepter of St. Magnus +90 MagAtt +204 Spirit Abilities: Holy spells doubled and defense against undead +70
After showing off their items, Smash and Linca got back to their training and Cheezus led the two Survivors around the perimeter of the cave, showing where he¡¯d added magical defenses. Kantala had a number of helpful suggestions to improve the detectors and also asked about the possibility of air based attacks. ¡°Yeah, I know we were attacked by those winged skeletal birds earlier but I don¡¯t have any way to get the devices we have into the air so that they can be useful for early detection.¡± ¡°I think I can modify some of the Gears I saw down in the factory to allow the devices to fly. You said that each device has a detection range of about 300 feet. Is that in all directions?¡± Kantala asked. Cheezus shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t know whether that¡¯s true or not but we can test it out.¡± ¡°You two seem to be sorting this out just fine so I¡¯m going to see if I can get some sparring in with Smash,¡± Rygor said. ¡°Catch you later.¡± They logged out and headed down to the factory. It didn¡¯t take long to start working on the new detection device using Gears. ¡°I never realized you could use Gears this way,¡± Miles said. ¡°The magical devices that Deathberry helped me setup use the principal of spellcasting which I won¡¯t pretend I understand.¡± Sarah nodded, still working on one of the new Gears, ¡°Right and spells in this world are Gears based powers all driven by technology. None of us can just walk into a room and cast a real fireball,¡± she explained. ¡°So how is what you¡¯re doing right now different than those spells?¡± he asked. ¡°It isn¡¯t much different really. Just the programming. In this case we¡¯re programming a Gear to act like a flying bird but with the ability to cast a spell similar to the one that Tim had you use on those other items,¡± Sarah said. He gave up trying to understand since it was confusing to go around and round mentally. What came first ¨C the ability of Gears to take on the shape of any creature or the ability to cast spells that otherwise wouldn¡¯t exist? Maybe it didn¡¯t matter and they both just happened. As they sat in silence, he continued to look down at her handiwork as she reworked several wires on the Gear and then entered a series of commands using a keypad. She commanded it to fly into the air and it appeared like a small bird. Looking at the console in front of her she declared, ¡°That should do it. Let¡¯s get a bunch of these setup.¡± Twenty minutes later they had setup the new detection system all around the base and Sarah had declared it to be fully functional. She pointed over towards Emmy who had been giving Rygor some shooting lessons. ¡°I probably should stop monopolizing your time. Your woman is glaring daggers at me. Why don¡¯t you take her on a quick date before shit hits the fan?¡± Sarah said with a wry smile. He started to protest but thought better of it. While he might be crazy skilled with daggers he was pretty terrible with women, so if Sarah suggested he go talk to Emmy he probably should before she blew up at him. Miles headed over and watched Emmy give Rygor some guidance on how to handle a rifle. ¡°The butt needs to be jammed into your shoulder to reduce the kick,¡± she explained. ¡°Also, your left hand is bouncing all over the place. Until you get used to holding the weight of the weapon you may want to rest it on something.¡± She took her own rifle and showed him a couple of different positions that helped stabilize the weapon. Once she had him setup shooting at some targets, Emmy turned to face him. Her chestnut hair whipped around her face and her blue eyes assessed him intently. He could tell he was in trouble by the way her lips were tightly drawn. Deciding a good offense was a good defense he moved forward quickly and surprised her with a kiss. She didn¡¯t fight it for very long and they were just getting to the good point when he noticed that Rygor had stopped shooting. ¡°Will you two get a room?¡± Rygor said, exasperated. Miles stopped kissing Emmy long enough to reply, ¡°Hmm that does sound like a good idea actually.¡± Her pupils dilated for a quick second and Miles was about to suggest that they in fact find a nice place to escape to when the alarms started going off. Sarah had programmed them so that everyone could hear them from their Seemi just in case they weren¡¯t logged in. Chapter 54 - Its Zombie Time Everyone scrambled when the alarm went off. Smash could see the dust cloud being kicked up in the early morning sun. He¡¯d hoped that they would get another day or two to prepare but the preparations they¡¯d devised would have to do. Standing out in front, he instructed the rest of the Misfits and Survivors as they came on to the field:
***You¡¯ve Entered Raid Chat*** Smashit: Wait until they¡¯ve reached me to trigger your abilities. We want to pull them into our defensive perimeter.
Holding Reaver aloft, Smash stood prepared to accept the first wave of attackers. He¡¯d been training on increasing his defense by letting Thag shoot at him. The undead they fought in Scotland had prepared him for the horrors he would face on the battlefield today and most importantly his friends were right behind him. The raid stood ready and silently rehearsed their roles: Cheezus was to disappear into the undead mass and find their weaknesses, Thag was to provide fire support, Deathberry was still working on finalizing their last defense and would be coming out of the factory soon, Linca was to provide their main DPS with AOE healing and defense through her new scepter, and finally Seona had rallied the dwarves. Their sister guild had also been preparing for battle. Rygor stood by his side, ever the ready defender while Kantala was helping Deathberry with some last-minute engineering. The first wave struck a minute later. Smash could see thousands of them on the horizon but this was the advance pack. Faster than any zombie should have a right to move these creatures came right at them, each as fast as a horse. Smash heard rather than saw everyone take a step back but now wasn¡¯t the time to hesitate. ¡°Hold the line raiders. It¡¯s zombie killing time,¡± he said enthusiastically. The first zombie reached him, its face hideous with pus and saggy flesh, eyes dead in their sockets. He batted it away contemptuously with Reaver and saw it do its magic for the first time: glowing white it sucked the life out of the creature and left it a dried husk. Seconds later he and Rygor were surrounded by an undead sea of ugly faces and bloody claws. He could hear the shouts of the raiders as they joined the fray and began to slay their enemy. As fast as these creatures were, they were no match for their guilds and they quickly smashed apart the attackers. Just as they were about to completely disengage the next wave hit. Thousands of skeletal warriors marched straight towards them in tight formation. Having faced these disciplined undead before, Smash was not looking to repeat the experience. If they didn¡¯t break up the line they would be crushed before it. ¡°Thag, bring out the BFG,¡± Smash yelled over the fighting. Cheezus had already disappeared into their ranks, no doubt looking for any weakness they could exploit. A moment later he saw the sand beneath her feet shift and a giant Gear emerged from below them. It was a turret with a .50 caliber machine gun mounted on top. One the Survivors started helping her load feed shells into the gun while Thag mowed down the right side of the skeleton phalanx. Smash ducked and covered his ears. Chunks of bone landed by his head as he lay in the sand where he could feel the ack, ack, ack, ack of the heavy caliber rounds tearing apart their foes. Any living enemy would have broken formation by now but the undead continued to advance. Smash¡¯s notification windows popped up briefly but he swiped them away. If they survived he was sure they would gain several levels. Behind the skeletal warriors were zombies larger and fatter than Smash had ever seen. Their bodies were comprised of smaller zombies, like a zombie jig-saw puzzle. One of the creatures had a smaller zombie head poking out of its belly, it¡¯s face locked into a perpetual grimace. Another had just the feet sticking out at odd angles. These blobs of flesh didn¡¯t so much walk forward as they oozed and Smash could even see flesh left behind in their massive tracks. The first round that hit a fat zombie just disappeared like the creature¡¯s stomach had swallowed it whole. As the fat zombies pushed into their defense barrier, Seona¡¯s team of dwarves surged forward, mighty axes in hand, as stone hands reached out of the earth and held their enemies¡¯ legs fast. Linca was a holy ball of light destroying all she touched with her scepter but she was not fast enough to keep one of the fat bastards from smashing the .50 caliber off its mounting and nearly beheading Thag in the process. She rolled to one side and stood by Smash for a moment before she pulled out her trusty shotgun and began blasting. Rygor pointed to something ahead of them, ¡°More warriors incoming,¡± he shouted above the gun blasts and sickening crunches of the fat zombies smashing into the dwarves. Smash glanced where Rygor had pointed and before them was another phalanx of the skeletal warriors. This was going to be more difficult without the .50 caliber. Where were Deathberry and Kantala? Looking at their advancing enemy and weighing his options, Smash saw gunfire and a blade sever one of the commander¡¯s heads. The warriors broke ranks to try to deal with Cheezus and that was their opportunity. ¡°Linca, come with me,¡± he yelled. A moment later the two of them were blasting the skeletal warriors with holy energy. Reaver came down on another skeleton¡¯s shoulder, cleaving the creature in two. Linca¡¯s enhanced holy light spells, enhanced by her holy scepter, blasted two creatures at a time. Bone dust accumulated at their feet in giant piles that looked like snow had come to the Outback. They were just finishing the skeletal warriors and the fat zombies when the next wave hit. First came the pterodactyl like skeletons, flying towards them. These were followed closely by disgusting zombie cats with mangled patches of fur and strange body parts glued on in places no cat would have. While the raid was busy trying to get a handle on that, zombie warriors wearing plate mail came charging in on skeletal horses and finally more fat zombies.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Smash finished off one of the strange cat creatures that had hissed and spit at him while it died. His armor was covered in zombie guts and he smelled the sickly-sweet odor of dead cat. It was like hot garbage mixed with body odor. Yuck. The dwarven ranks had been greatly diminished while fighting the fat zombies and he saw Seona fighting with tears in her eyes, her hands bloody as she set about her grim task. Linca¡¯s mana was running low and she used her healing AOEs sparingly now as they fight wore on. Rygor wasn¡¯t looking too hot either and Cheezus was nowhere to be found. Hopefully, he hadn¡¯t gone up against something he couldn¡¯t handle. He was about to order a retreat to the cave entrance when he saw a metal construct coming out of the cave. It was a gundum like Deathberry had made before; however, this time it was absolutely massive ¨C probably about the size of a bus turned on its end. He and Kantala were standing on top of the giant gundam with big grins on their faces. Had these two been playing around while the rest of them were getting their butt¡¯s kicked?
***You¡¯ve Entered Raid Chat*** Smashit: Tell me that thing is worth getting our faces pounded in for. Deathberry: Wait and see. "> Kantala: You might want to duck.
With that said, the giant robot lifted both arms towards their enemies and launched a series of rockets which exploded into the undead. Smash and the other raiders had hit the deck as instructed and now chunks of bone and rotting flesh clanked off his armor as their enemies died a second time. Smash stood up looking at the smoky craters that that gundam had left in the undead¡¯s front lines. About half of them had been wiped out. It looked like the robot was out of missiles though so it would be up to the rest of the raid to clean up the rest. Smash had worked his way towards one of the larger fat zombies and was just about to hack it apart when a giant skeletal warrior stepped forward, larger than any he¡¯d seen previously. It was wearing a viking helmet and wore a well-polished breastplate. Above the creature¡¯s head read Commander Drak ¨C Level 90. It looks like the fight was just getting started. About a minute later, Smash rested his head on the ground for just a bit and tried to catch his breath. Despite the amount of damage, he should be doing with Reaver the creature in front of him showed little signs of slowing down. If anything, he was the one struggling, hence being doubled over on the ground. Checking his stats, he saw he was down to less than a third of his health. Worse yet, the rest of the raid hadn¡¯t been able to catch up to him after he¡¯d pushed into the enemy front lines and he was facing what was probably a raid boss alone. A wicked laugh interrupted his self-pity. ¡°You don¡¯t recognize me, do you?¡± the giant skeleton said, with a toothy grin. Smash looked at the creature again with a blank look. He¡¯d seen a lot of undead but he¡¯d never seen this particular one. ¡°Such a pity Sean,¡± it brought a massive ax down towards his head and he had no time to think about how this creature knew his name for several agonizing breaths as he fought to keep the double headed cleaver from beheading him. Whoever this creature was how the hell did it know his real name? Was this the monster leading this undead army who had been plaguing them for the last month? At that point he brought forth his rage ability and attacked in earnest. Wild with bloodlust he set upon the skeletal commander. Shards of bone flew in every direction as he hacked wildly with his sword, trying to close the distance and keep the wicked ax it held from beheading him. Finally, he was exhausted and slumped upon the hilt of his sword, gulping in air. He¡¯d managed to whittle down about 30% of its health with his wild attacks but he knew that it was toying with him. It hadn¡¯t made a serious attack upon him the entire time. ¡°Now you understand that you cannot defeat me,¡± it said. ¡°I will enjoy smashing your bones and then killing the rest of the Misfits.¡± Its red eyes glowed with hate that seemed to invade Smash¡¯s senses and he gripped Reaver tightly preparing to make his final stand against this enemy that reeked of anger and death. The commander advanced towards him and he readied himself. ¡°Good. You haven¡¯t given up yet. I was going to be disappointed,¡± it gloated. Smash didn¡¯t have the breath to tell it to go to hell. Clearly, the creature was born from hell anyway so telling it to return would do little good. The next few minutes were a blur as he defended himself against the bosses¡¯ onslaught as best he could. He blew through his cooldowns in rapid succession trying to stave off the inevitable; however, eventually his health was at less than 10%. ¡°Goodbye my mortal enemy,¡± it said. Smash waited for the killing blow that never came. He saw a blur of blades and Cheezus¡¯ confident smile. Second later he heard the report of shotgun fire. The raid had caught up. Second later he felt a healing warmth throughout his body and knew that Linca or Seona was there to support him as well. Deathberry and Kantala jumped off the gundam as it charged in and locked arms with the commander. Even its massive strength only managed to push the massive skeletal creature back a few steps but the Misfits pressed their new-found advantage. ¡°Not so cocky, now are you?¡± Smash said. He had found a third wind he didn¡¯t know existed. The advantage didn¡¯t last long though as the rest of the enemy turned and surrounded the Misfits. The gundam was soon under pressure as it fought not only the commander but also four other fat zombies. It was being smashed under all the pressure of their combined weight. The raiders rallied to Smash¡¯s side and they pressed the attack against the commander. His health bar started to finally show some signs of wear as they blasted him with shotgun shells, fireballs, enhanced holy blasts and Reaver¡¯s holy cuts. Despite all of this, the commander¡¯s grin never left its horrid face. Its empty sockets filled with red orbs of pulsing hatred. Finally, he stepped back to recover and said, ¡°You think you¡¯ve won but actually you¡¯ve fallen for my trap.¡± With that his hand went forth and he chanted an arcane but unholy language that sounded like the whispers of spiders skittering through a dark tunnel. Smash found that he couldn¡¯t move a muscle. His eyes scanned the area frantically and he noticed that the other Misfits were similarly frozen. It must have been the spell that the commander cast. Looking at his health bar Smash saw a yellow status box with a person trying to move. They¡¯d been paralyzed. ¡°Now you understand how foolish you were to try to defeat me,¡± the commander said. After that Smash¡¯s vision faded into oblivion. Chapter 55 - Captured They were literally being dragged through hell, Smash thought. His body was completely rigid and even though they had been pulled along for the last half hour the debuff that had him and his fellow guildmates frozen in place hadn¡¯t cleared or even diminished. After Deathberry and Kantala had joined the fight with the gundam, he¡¯d thought they¡¯d had a reasonably good shot of winning; however, as they were dragged along by two of the fat zombies, his legs flopping along the ground through dusty Outback clay, he reassessed their situation. Most of the army hadn¡¯t even joined the fight, he realized belatedly. Worse still, they were being taken through enemy lines. It appeared their destination was the bone fortress that they had spotted when they¡¯d been flying above it in the Empress. The dead milled all around them. He saw all the familiar faces from before and more ghastly ones than those previously encountered. The worst were blobs of pure flesh where once human or animal organs now resided on the outside of the body, spitting up blood and other fluids. While the horror show concerned him, Smash was most worried about what the commander intended to do with them now. He¡¯d expected to be dead after their fight, perhaps reanimated as another unliving corpse in this ghoulish army. Instead, Commander Drak had leered over him, taunting him as their bodies were hauled towards their inevitable doom. There was something oddly familiar about those taunts and Smash started to get a sneaking suspicion that Drak had been someone they¡¯d known. Perhaps it was someone who¡¯d retained memories of their previous lives come back to haunt him? He couldn¡¯t be entirely sure. They were pulled through the gates of the mighty bone fortress. Up close, Smash could discern that what appeared to be giant¡¯s bones provided structural support to the clay and mortar structure that loomed above them. The ramparts were lined with skeletal warriors and he even saw some of the larger looking skeletons giving orders. Far from mindless, this was an organized army that they¡¯d attempted to fight. Finally, they were taken down stairs and everything was swallowed by darkness. Inside the walls were chill as death and there was no light. The undead could see perfectly fine in pitch black. After some time being dragged through a maze of hallways, Smash lost all track of where he was. He couldn¡¯t see anything. They were thrown into a cell and he heard a gate close. After that was the sound of a rusty lock being turned. Presumably they were in a dungeon, but he couldn¡¯t see anything. Time passed but still he couldn¡¯t move a muscle. A bright light blinded him and he blinked against the glare. The first thing he saw was the gloating face of Commander Drak, the shadows of the torch cast most of his body in darkness. Smash tried to spit at him but couldn¡¯t even manage that small act of defiance. Maybe he could pull up a chat window at the very least, but even that small action required that he move his eyes up and to the right in order to open the screen. As the darkness receded he also saw Linca¡¯s body crumpled on the floor, her face pressed against the cold hard stone, no doubt paralyzed the same as he. Thag¡¯s body was nearby, lying on the ground face up. He couldn¡¯t see the other Misfits in the room but a moment later their presence was confirmed by Drak¡¯s words. ¡°So, it¡¯s come down to this former guildies. You have earned an unpleasant death and I shall give it to you. But first comes the torture.¡± Smash didn¡¯t even have time to react before Drak slammed his boot down on his hand, breaking his bones apart. He tried to scream but nothing would come out, not even his lungs had the power to overcome the paralysis. While he¡¯d been hurt before in game, the pain seemed to be turned up to 11. He hadn¡¯t been able to relax into the blow or tense any muscles and he couldn¡¯t even hold his hand to protect further blows as Drak smashed down on it again and again. Drak¡¯s wicked laugh reverberated in Smash¡¯s ears. ¡°The best part is yet to come. Your friends back at your bunker have been wiped out,¡± Drak declared, sweeping his arm and bringing up an image before them. It showed Rygor¡¯s body lying still on the ground, his guildmates dying as they tried to save him. If Smash had been capable of reeling, he would have. He hadn¡¯t known Rygor for very long but their group had become like brothers and sisters to the Misfits in the last few weeks: fighting the stegosaurus together trying to avenge their fallen comrades, defeating Mr. Tiel, and then finally they had come to their aid to try to defeat Drak¡¯s army. Already, Smash missed their steadfast friend who had gone through so much only to be defeated here.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Through the pain, Smash wondered what else he had taken for granted as guild leader. There were so many people relying on him but also that had supported him without question. And his foolish pride had led them into their current situation. He knew he would likely die here by Drak¡¯s hand but what would happen to his remaining guildmates? If he had any illusions as to Drak¡¯s intentions, they were quickly made manifest. ¡°Let¡¯s cut to the grand finale,¡± Drak¡¯s voice dripped with menace. Leaning over Thag¡¯s still body he forced his disgusting face towards her, a black tongue emerging from his dead visage. ¡°Gimme a kiss for old time¡¯s sake, baby,¡± he leered. Smash couldn¡¯t look away as he forced himself upon her. He hated himself for being so foolish to think that banishing their old guildmate, Kevin, would solve things. How could he have been so stupid? Whatever had happened to their old friend out here in the desert had transformed him? While he had been arrogant before and held a grudge against Smash, it hadn¡¯t extended to the rest of the group. Yes, Shelly had died from his mistake but he knew it wasn¡¯t their old friend¡¯s intention. However, this was beyond depravity. Smash strained at his constraints, mentally screaming at his body to move, to do something, anything, about what was happening here. Suddenly, Drak tried to pull away and Thag slapped him. ¡°You bitch. I was going to entertain you but now I won¡¯t hold back.¡± He smacked her in retaliation and Smash could see a welt starting to form on her face. ¡°You were always eyeing the other men in the guild, weren¡¯t you?¡± Drak¡¯s voice ended in a yell, his fists clenched in anger. Thag shook her head, tears falling from her eyes, although whether it indicated denial of his accusations or simply fear was unclear. ¡°First there was Miles,¡± Drak¡¯s words came rapidfire. He went over and kicked Cheezus and Smash could see Thag¡¯s eyes get even bigger. He could only imagine what Drak was doing to their friend. ¡°But that wasn¡¯t good enough for you, was it?¡± Drak pointed at Smash, his other hand forcing Thag to look at him. ¡°And now you¡¯re on to another one, just like the slut you are,¡± Drak raged. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you aren¡¯t. I see him looking at you.¡± The old Kevin would have known that Smash and Thag weren¡¯t an item, but the creature that he¡¯d become was consumed with jealousy and even if Smash been able to say a word in his defense, it would have fallen on deaf ears. The only good news was that Smash was starting to feel his body again and could move ever so slightly. Unfortunately, that meant his broken hand hurt even worse. However, he could open a chat channel now with little difficulty.
***You¡¯ve Entered Raid Chat*** Smashit: Kevin has lost his shit. Suggestions? Cheezusstabs: When did you find time to get with my GF? Smashit: Seriously!? Cheezustabs: JK, JK. On a serious note, I say we stab this bastard and run. Also, my balls are probably in my stomach now. Thag: Are you two boys done measuring dicks? Creep master 9000 over here is still fondling my face with his creepy bony fingers. Deathberry: I¡¯ve already messaged the elves. Hopefully, they can send reinforcements quickly enough. Also, the dwarves and Kantala are still fighting to keep us safe. Let¡¯s wrap this up and get back ASAP. Cheezustabs: On it.
That was as far as their little chat went until Drak looked over at Smash. ¡°Seems like my paralysis spell is wearing off. Can¡¯t have you escaping, now can we?¡± he said, bemused. He waved his hand again and instantly, Smash was cut off from moving any further. He presumed the rest of the raid was frozen as well since no more messages came through in chat. ¡°Now, where was I before I was rudely interrupted by someone trying to escape?¡± Drak said, clearly enjoying every minute of this. He went over and stomped on Smash¡¯s hand. For several minutes Smash couldn¡¯t concentrate on anything after that. He saw images of Drak taunting Thag but nothing really registered. As the pain faded to a dull throb, he heard Drak¡¯s voice again. ¡°Right. I think I¡¯m going to take your new boyfriend here and flay him alive in my new torture chamber.¡± His face was inches from Thag¡¯s. Her eyes were wide but with the paralysis spell newly refreshed, she couldn¡¯t move so much as a muscle. He stood up and laughed, his whole body shaking. Smash had a feeling this next bit wasn¡¯t going to be pleasant. Two skeletal warriors stepped out of the darkness and grabbed Smash. Waving for them to bring along the paralyzed warrior. ¡°I¡¯ll bring you back some pieces to remember him by,¡± he said with a laugh. Chapter 56 - Payback ¡°Seriously, why did we let this guy into our guild again? He¡¯s a conceited ass,¡± Cheezus said in the now pitch-black dungeon. No one responded to his rhetorical question but then again everyone was still frozen in place. ¡°Oh right, no one else can move, huh?¡± It took him a few minutes of fumbling around in the dark but he found a torch and lit it. He got to work and pulled out a few anti-paralysis potions he kept on hand. Being a rogue, he dealt with poisons all the time and having some antidotes on hand was just common sense. While he worked, he thought about all the ways he was going to broil that skeletal bastard who¡¯d just threatened them. Watching Drak molest his girl like that had put him in a seriously bad mood. The only good thing was that it had provided him with the distraction he needed to pop an anti-paralysis potion right at the moment he cast it. It had taken split second timing: if Cheezus had downed the potion too soon it wouldn¡¯t have lasted long enough and the spell would have taken effect again, too late and he wouldn¡¯t be able to move in order to take the potion. The tireless work he¡¯d done practicing precision drills with his daggers had paid off. The katas had required that he time his strikes down to the millisecond and this training had enabled him to drink the potion right as the spell was going off, giving it just enough time to kick in before the paralysis spell could take hold of him. The first thing Thag did upon being freed was spit. ¡°I¡¯m going kill that arsehole when I get out of here,¡± she said, wiping the spittle from her mouth and grimacing. Her English accent came out when she got mad. Cheezus thought it was pretty cute but now was not the time to let her know that. She was just as worked up as he was to kill Drak and time was wasting. No doubt, their fearless guild leader was being tortured while they sat around and recovered. The other problem was that his undead army was on their doorstep and about to kill their real bodies. They needed to solve both of these problems and soon. ¡°Did you hear back from the elves?¡± he asked Deathberry. His face was deep in thought and somehow that helped cool his own temper a bit. His friend was on the right track with analyzing the situation ¨C getting all worked up was fine if you were on the winning side but right now they¡¯d suffered a major setback. Drak held all the cards except one ¨C they were finally free of his stupid spell and could take action. Deathberry shook his head. ¡°No, but I believe they will respond to my call. Lyan knows that he owes us a great deal for giving them this technology. With it they¡¯ve been able to push back the mutant hordes and retake most of the bay. Also, they¡¯d been able to use it to open up trade with other areas. If they can assist us in time, they will,¡± he explained. ¡°That said, I think we need to make haste back to the bunker and provide Kantala and the dwarves immediate assistance. We should use our recall spells and return immediately.¡± ¡°And what about Smash?¡± Linca asked, her face concerned. He was quick to respond. ¡°I would suggest that Thag and Cheezus try to find a way to help Smash escape. Perhaps he has a few other skills up his sleeve to help sneak everyone out.¡± Cheezus helped Thag to her feet. The rest of the Misfits zoned back to their reset point. Hopefully, they would be able to fend off the undead horde without their help. ¡°Are you ready?¡± Cheezus asked. He wanted to know whether she would be able to handle this. They were about to try to sneak through the enemy base without knowing anything of its layout, or what vile creatures Drak had here to defend it. Worse yet, they didn¡¯t know where Smash was or whether he was even alive at this point. It was essentially a suicide mission but they didn¡¯t have a lot of good choices. He knew Thag was tough but Drak had really invaded her space and taken what he¡¯d wanted from her. Cheezus tried not to think about it too hard or he would be too angry to go on. Apparently, Thag was thinking the same way. Her jaw was rigid from holding in the tension and she finally said flatly, ¡°Let¡¯s get this done. If I see Drak, I¡¯m going to kill him.¡± Cheezus believed her. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ****** Deathberry stood at the front of the cave entrance to the bunker that housed their real bodies. Things had been grim before when they¡¯d had the gundams and all their allies with them and in good health. The tide of the undead still came, inexorably, although at least the intensity of the battle had been somewhat diminished. It was like being in the eye of the hurricane. The fallen gundam was right before him and he immediately queried Aeon to see if it could be repaired. Calling up several of the bunker¡¯s remaining robots to fetch him tools he set to work on restoring the massive robot. While he worked he remembered all the troops that had been rallied by Commander Drak at his bone fortress. Undoubtedly many of those forces would be pushed towards the front line once he learned of the Misfits escape. Therefore, they had a limited amount of time to rally the troops and rescue their friends. He didn¡¯t hold any illusions about their friends¡¯ chances in Drak¡¯s fortress. The hard look he¡¯d seen on Cheezus¡¯ face told him that he was aware of the suicidal nature of the attempt. Deathberry could have suggested that the two of them just cut and run together; however, he knew that neither one of them would leave their guildleader and good friend behind without at least trying at an escape attempt. While he valued Sean¡¯s virtual life greatly, he wasn¡¯t sure he would have had the same courage. Right now, while Sean¡¯s avatar was trapped and his mind would certainly be affected by the horrors that Drak inflicted on him, his body was still safe. Because of the paralysis spell he wouldn¡¯t be able to use a recall stone or log out ¨C those were the first things that Deathberry had tried when they had been imprisoned. That said, as long as one was alive, there was a chance to play again. While he was thinking, Linca and Seona had zoned in and took to the field to provide immediate support. Seona rallied the remaining dwarves and started raising elementals to fend off a large segment of skeletal warriors who had broken through and were smashing into their weakened defenses. Large sections of rock tore out of the earth as the creatures emerged, their blocky fists pushing through the sand. With a deafening roar one of the elementals tore four of the bone monsters apart in a single blow, shattering them like glass. The remaining defenders cheered and surged against the undead line, pushing them back temporarily. Linca was right behind the elementals and her scepter shone brightly enough in the mid-day sun to make Deathberry squint. He could see waves of AOE healing go out against the undead line, turning flesh to mush and bones to dust. One particularly large fat zombie tried to smash her with its fist but she met it with the scepter and vaporized the creature¡¯s massive arm all the way to its torso. Reeling, the creature let forth a hideous roar, belching sulfurous gas that nearly made Deathberry wretch, even as far away from the front lines as he way. With the undead falling back against the forces surging back against them, he could just make out the still form of Rygor, their fallen friend. He had sacrificed himself for their guild just as he had protected so many of his Survivors. Now it was time to return the favor and honor their fallen. They might not survive the day but Deathberry would be damned if he led the ravening hordes before them consume their fallen comrades. He ran to the empty gundam. With a final adjustment, he set the new parts within the gundam. There was no one left to pilot it so he jumped in the cockpit and fired it up; hoping that he¡¯d made all the correct repairs. A moment later the great machine rose up and made its first step forward. He¡¯d made a few new upgrades while he was at it and it was time to test them out. Making a fist he pushed the level on the control panel in front of him and heard the shonk sound of missiles dropping off the gundam. A second later they fired and tore away and towards their enemies, detonating on four giant fat zombies that had been surrounding a group of dwarves. He had no time to rejoice; however, because a pack of skeletal warriors advanced towards him, breaking ranks and running right to his position. As they reached him, he kicked out with a roundhouse. A satisfying crunch rang against his leg, telling him that they were destroyed. Finally, he reached Rygor¡¯s position. He lay in a pool of his own blood, but amazingly his health bar wasn¡¯t at zero. Something had been protecting Rygor the entire time ¨C Kantala. She had held her position, weaving two deadly kantanas with great precision behind the enemy lines. Her face was haggard with exhaustion and she seemed to be fighting with the last bit of her stamina, attempting to keep in front of every zombie or skeleton that wished to rend the flesh from Rygor¡¯s body and suck the marrow from his bones. He yelled down to her, ¡°Retreat. I will hold them here.¡± Nodding, she tentatively grabbed Rygor¡¯s body, careful not to aggravate his wounds any further. She turned and fled. Deathberry looked past the immediate swarms of skeletal warriors towards the horizon. More were coming. Chapter 57 - Brains! Cheezus made quick work of the lock on the cell door in front of them. Glancing outside it was pitch black so he took the risk and used their torch to scan the hallway. Seeing no immediate threats, he motioned for Thag to follow him. While the light could give away their position, there was no point in adding their voices to the mix, furthering the possibility of discovery. A few feet away from their cell they spotted another occupied cell. Peaking in through the top of the barred door he could see a mix of humans and mutants. Nearly all of them looked malnourished and they were mostly asleep or just lying there with a dead look in their eyes. One mutant, who looked to be a teenager came to the door and shouted, ¡°Help us!¡± Cheezus looked at Thag and shrugged. She shook her head. ¡°If you free them where are they going to go? We don¡¯t know anything about this place other than the fact that its crawling with undead.¡± That was extremely practical; however, Cheezus knew that neither of them could just do nothing. ¡°At least help me. The name¡¯s Sam,¡± the young man said. He had calmed down somewhat and was no longer yelling. ¡°We¡¯re due to be swept and I don¡¯t want to die. Not like these others.¡± He gestured to the people behind him, most of which were dead eyed. ¡°What do you mean swept?¡± Thag asked. The boy¡¯s eyes got huge. ¡°The prisoners are what feeds Drak¡¯s army. Some of the strong ones he keeps to convert, but the rest are eaten. When a cell gets full like this one they drop the floor and it goes down to a feeding area. I don¡¯t know much more than that, but that¡¯s what old Joe said.¡± The boy looks sad for a moment. ¡°Too bad old Joe didn¡¯t make it after the last sweep. He was in the cell over there.¡± The boy points across the hall to an empty cell. Cheezus had an idea. Although most of the prisoners didn¡¯t look like they could walk, let alone escape on their own, they might be able to buy these people some time so they could come back. ¡°I¡¯ve got an idea.¡± A few minutes later he had picked the lock to both cells and he and Thag started marching about half the people across the hallway to the other cell. The idea was that if neither cell was full, hopefully they wouldn¡¯t purge them. While they were filing across, Cheezus noticed that there was a wide range of people represented here. These weren¡¯t just Australians, but rather there were folks here from half-way around the world and everywhere in between. It wasn¡¯t just the fit and healthy either, but all ages were in the mix. Wherever Drak was getting these prisoners, he hadn¡¯t been picky at all. Thag covered her mouth in surprise when they saw a young pregnant woman filing through. When she thanked them both quietly, Thag started to cry. Cheezus had to look away before he lost his cool and decided to free them all anyway. Plans be damned. When they were finished he turned to the young mutant man. ¡°Ok Sam, you¡¯re welcome to join us but you¡¯ll need to be quiet. We can¡¯t promise your safety but we are looking to escape, same as you,¡± Cheezus explained. Sam nodded. ¡°We should be on the lookout for patrols. Every so often they come down to bring in more prisoners. Drak needs a steady supply to keep the army fed,¡± Sam warned. Thag and Cheezus looked at each other. How many people was Drak consuming with his army and where was he getting all these prisoners? The group made their way carefully down the hallway. Cheezus didn¡¯t look into any more of the cells on either side. He didn¡¯t want to see just how many there were or see the dead looks in so many of the prisoner¡¯s eyes when he was powerless to help them at this time. He promised himself they would come back when they had the ability to make a full rescue or at a minimum when they had some weapons. He couldn¡¯t, in good conscience, send unarmed people against the horde of undead he knew were all around them. If he or Thag saw another pregnant woman in the crowd, they might have tried to free these people anyway, even unarmed and not knowing what horrors lay ahead. Just as they were making good progress a sixth sense fired off. He immediately doused the torch and pulled them into a small cell that was unoccupied and unlocked. It wasn¡¯t any skill ability or magic in game that he relied on in that moment, but an instinct far more ancient that told him a predator was coming. Moments later they heard the shuffling and scraping of bone through the dirt hallway. The creaking of old tendons and slurping sound of dead flesh told him that a patrol must be passing. He willed the other two to the complete silence that he was used to in his stealth mode and hoped that it would be enough to go undetected. They weren¡¯t unarmed; however, fighting here would doubtless bring numerous undead down upon them and they could ill afford that, trapped as they were down in the dungeon.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. They spent an unknown period of time like that in the silence before Cheezus relit the torch and confirmed that it was all clear. Quickly, they made their way to the end of the dungeon hallway and Cheezus picked the lock on the cell door at the end. It led to a stairwell leading down, and so they descended, still careful not to make noise. Cheezus didn¡¯t like the fact that there was no option to go up and briefly contemplated turning around and trying to see what was at the other end of the hall. However, the sound of a door being opened at the other end of the hallway made him decide not to pursue that. They could always come back if they had to. In the stairwell were several glowing rocks sitting in small piles near the edge of the wall. Wordlessly, Cheezus grabbed one of the rocks and examined it. Thag pointed at it excitedly as well. It looked like one of the phosphorescent rocks they¡¯d found at the cave near the lagoon. Saving that gnome on the island seemed like ages ago. Using this would be a lot less obtrusive than their torch so he doused it again and stowed it. At the bottom of the stairs, Cheezus had to resist the urge to gag. These must be the ¡®kitchens¡¯ Sam had referred to. All three of them stood there for a minute trying not to be overwhelmed by the stench. It smelled like dead cat and hot garbage mixed with sewage. Although the glow stone is dimmer than the torch, his eyes had adjusted to the lower light. Before them were cauldrons of what he could only assume were boiling people. Various zombies wandered around mindlessly checking on the contents of the human stew every so often. The situation reminded Cheezus of an old zombie game where the objective was to eat more brains. Only under these circumstances it didn¡¯t seem remotely funny. It didn¡¯t look like there was going to be anything useful down here so Cheezus turned and indicated for them to go back up. If there was any question as to what happened to the prisoners, it had been dispelled with their visit to the kitchens. Upstairs again they snuck back to the other side of the hall. Several times, Cheezus pulled them into an empty cell and once even had to pick the lock on a full cell in the dark to avoid the patrols. Fortunately, their new glow stone was less obtrusive and they made it to the other side undetected. This stairwell led up and so they climbed. On the other side of the door leading from the staircase was a hallway larger than any they¡¯d seen thus far. It appeared to be a main corridor through the fortress. Bones jutted out of clay stone walls, and the earth below them was well trampled by the undead. They began walking in one direction and Cheezus heard the marching of those feet coming their way. Quickly, he grabbed Thag and Sam and ducked behind an alcove. Peering beyond the alcove he could see Drak¡¯s army was on the move. Thousands of skeletal warriors went past their hiding spot, the sound of their bones creaking as they impacted the dusty floor. Seeing the warriors reminded him of their own bodies back at the bunker and the inevitable doom marching towards them. He briefly considered messaging the guild but it wasn¡¯t like they weren¡¯t already aware that Drak¡¯s army was on the move and they hadn¡¯t yet rescued Smash. Time was wasting. Thag and Sam weren¡¯t terribly stealthy, fortunately the patrols thus far hadn¡¯t been very observant. Cheezus had his usual weapons and armor that allowed for stealth. Thag was wearing a new set of plate mail that Kantala had made her; however, the mutant boy was in little more than rags. Fortunately, the next locked room that they encountered turned out to be the armory. Sam put on some armor and grabbed a short sword. They would be even less sneaky now but walking around without equipment wasn¡¯t safe either. Knowing the armory was here was definitely a blessing, since it wasn¡¯t too far from where they had ascended the staircase. If they could just get the weapons to the prisoners they might be able to stage a riot and escape. The one major concern Cheezus had with that plan was whether the prisoners would rally. They looked beaten down, and were probably starving. Would they even be able to fight? Once they had rescued Smash they would need to make a decision. Did they let the prisoners try to fight and probably die or leave the prisoners to certain death in the food vats below? Given those two unappealing choices, Cheezus was inclined to free them and he would have to persuade Thag that it was the best of the two terrible options that were available. Sam turned to them both. ¡°I know that you need to find your friend, but my own friends are down there. Now that I¡¯ve got some weapons I¡¯m going to try to free them,¡± he said with a determined look. Cheezus couldn¡¯t say no to rescuing ones¡¯ friends, despite the danger. ¡°Be sure to take an extra stone from the hallway so you can see. Also, here is this in case you need it.¡± He handed the young man an extra skeleton key he¡¯d made with his lockpick tools. ¡°This will work on any of the dungeon doors downstairs. Security here is surprisingly lax for the prisoners.¡± ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t think they are expecting a riot,¡± Sam said ruefully. ¡°But let¡¯s plan to give them hell anyway.¡± Cheezus and Thag waited until Sam had made it safely to the stairwell before they turned and started looking for their own friend. Hopefully, he was somewhere in the upper keep. Chapter 58 - Halfway to Nowhere Kantala had brought Rygor back to bunker to be treated. His blood covered her armor and she had smeared some of it through her hair. She carefully laid him down in one of the empty pods. Looking at their real bodies lying next to him, Linca wondered how they all might have the same bloody pools beneath them should they fail in their mission to defend the bunker. Linca looked at her wounded friend and the one who had saved him with sympathy. Rygor wasn¡¯t dead yet so it was time for her magic to shine. Calming herself for the task at hand she pulled out the scepter and touched it to his still chest. His chest continued to rise and fall as she slowly pulled the healing magic out of the magical device and into their wounded comrade. You had to be careful healing the nearly mortally wounded like this. When they were at or near zero health a large blast of healing could actually wound them sending them to their death. Linca let out a breath as she saw his health bar slowly rise out of the danger zone. She released more of the magical pressure within her and her hands began to glow pure white. Kantala stayed there the entire time watching her and she could tell that her friend¡¯s concern for Rygor went deeper than just guildmates. Perhaps they were close friends in real life or even lovers. She sensed his health bar reaching full and reduced the healing power to just a trickle before ceasing it all together. Linca knew she needed to conserve as much mana as possible and not let anything bleed off. Deathberry and Seona were still outside the cave keeping Drak¡¯s armies from destroying their real bodies. She needed to get back to the fight soon before their meager forces were overwhelmed. However, her entire soul seemed tired. She had used a lot of magic on the field already today and then healed Rygor. However, looking at their bodies in the pods again she knew that the fighting couldn¡¯t end yet. Even if they were overtaken she would not fail her friends and would die with them on the battlefield, having given every ounce of her she had. She looked down at Rygor. He still wasn¡¯t awake. ¡°Why hasn¡¯t he returned?¡± Kantala¡¯s question echoed the same one inside her head. ¡°His soul probably took some shock. I¡¯ve never seen it before in an MMO; however, ARO is more realistic than most. He may need some time to recover,¡± Linca explained, hoping that she wasn¡¯t misleading her friend. Secretly, Linca was less sure. Healing ought to bring Rygor back immediately. It had even worked on NPCs. ¡°I¡¯ve never had to bring someone back who¡¯s been this close to death, but I think he will return to us if we give it time.¡± Kantala nodded, accepting her words as a healer. It was one of the burdens of healing, Linca realized. While it was fantastic to be able to save your friends with a wave of your hands, the truth was it was much more difficult than that. It took a lot out of her to always be the savior. However, the worst was the blind faith that your friends built up over time ¨C like you could bring them back from anything, even death. While it was true she did have the power to resurrect avatars, healing the mind was something outside her control. Silently, Linca prayed that Rygor¡¯s soul was not wounded beyond his own body¡¯s ability to repair it. While his real body wouldn¡¯t die of course, being separated from your Gear this way could have a tremendously negative affect on psyche based on her discussions with Seona, who had originally been brought on by Mr. Tiel to ensure the Misfits¡¯ mental health while in game. A text message interrupted her chain of thought:
***You¡¯ve Entered Raid Chat*** Deathberry: If Rygor is healed, I could really use both of you out here right now. Kantala: We¡¯re on our way.
The two of them left Rygor¡¯s sleeping body and rushed to the cave exit. Outside the war raged on. One of the other Survivors was manning the gundam and it looked like between it, the dwarves, and Seona¡¯s elementals, the raid had a pretty good handle on things. The undead were being pushed back, finally. ¡°Thanks for returning so quickly,¡± Deathberry said. The smile on his face probably meant trouble, Linca thought. Their strategist had come up with a plan. ¡°I need your help pushing the remaining forces far enough away from the cave that they can¡¯t easily see it.¡± That would take a lot of doing considering how flat the Outback was. They might need a mile or so and right now it looked like they¡¯d pushed the army back perhaps a few hundred feet at most. See the concerned look on both of their faces, Deathberry continued explaining, ¡°We don¡¯t need to push them back as far as you think. It was maybe another hundred yards or so. I¡¯ve got a spell I¡¯ve been modifying and the game plan is to hide the cave with it.¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Linca nodded and saw Kantala¡¯s face relax a bit. She¡¯d been holding a lot in trying to save Rygor and now with her friends back in the fray it seemed like they could possibly win this thing ¨C or at a minimum get a temporary reprieve. ¡°Sounds good,¡± Linca responded. With that they pushed towards the undead army. Most of the skeletal warriors had been cleared. Their brittle bones made them easy prey to Seona¡¯s elementals who were masters at bludgeoning things to death. The gundam was keeping the fat zombies occupied so it was down to the two of them to clear out the smaller mass of lesser skeletons and zombies. Running ahead Kantala blasted the first zombie in front of them with her powerful bow. As an engineer she¡¯d been able to work with Deathberry to devise a new compound weapon that fired explosive arrows. Fire and zombies definitely didn¡¯t mix well. She turned back to Linca and shouted, ¡°That¡¯s one down. Let¡¯s get a contest going.¡± Linca laughed for the first time in a while. She was glad to see her friend in better spirits. After losing Smash to Drak and being nearly overwhelmed by the near death of Rygor as soon as they got back, she felt like her entire face had been flexed the entire time, taught with worry. ¡°What is this, LOTR? Whatever, I¡¯m totally going to beat you, so look out,¡± Linca replied. After that the two of them got a pretty good count of zombie and skeleton bodies going. She had lost count but was pretty sure she was winning when they both received a system message:
<> Rygor has left Raid chat <>
What the hell? Maybe he had just woken up and decided to log for a bit. However, that didn¡¯t make any sense at all. Linca looked over at Kantala and texted:
Linca: Any idea what¡¯s going on? Kantala: No, but I¡¯m sure it isn¡¯t good. He wouldn¡¯t just log like that when we¡¯re in combat. Something has happened. Linca: Do you need to go? Kantala: Let¡¯s finish things up here real quick and I¡¯ll think about it. Linca: kk
After that was a whirlwind. Linca unleashed more of her magic through the Scepter of St. Magnus and lit up the zombies and skeletons with numerous healing auras, blasting the trash mobs into oblivion. Kantala¡¯s attacks took on a new urgency as well as they fought to get everything cleaned up so that Deathberry could finalize his spell. After what seemed like an eternity the received a message:
Deathberry: Everyone can fall back now.
The two of them wasted no time returning to the base to see if there was any sign of Rygor. As expected, he had logged off and was nowhere to be found. ¡°Do you know where he lives?¡± Linca asked. Kantala replied, ¡°Yeah, he lives in Japan. I¡¯ve been to his place once before.¡± ¡°You can use one of the portals and go there right away,¡± Linca replied, trying to sooth her friend. She nodded in a stupor and replied tremulously, ¡°I really hope he¡¯s ok. Some of us in the guild had heard rumors that undead were wandering the streets there in Japan. Apparently, they are looking for survivors like us.¡± Kantala left a few minutes later. As if it wasn¡¯t bad enough that they were being attacked here at the base, now it seemed like Drak¡¯s minions were even hunting for the remaining Survivors. Deathberry and Seona returned a few minutes later. ¡°Where did Kantala go?¡± Linca brought them up to speed on the situation. ¡°At least I¡¯ve bought us a little bit of time,¡± Deathberry replied afterwards. ¡°Hopefully she can get to Rygor in time. I¡¯m not sure why he didn¡¯t just use a portal to return with his avatar. Sitting at home without his Gear is going to make him a sitting duck.¡± Linca nodded, still lost in thought. If she had to guess Rygor probably had to log off quickly. If that were true it was an emergency. He hadn¡¯t said anything before leaving and Kantala had mentioned that wasn¡¯t how they did things in their guild. Hopefully the undead hadn¡¯t already found him. ¡°I hope they are both alright. The good news is that you¡¯ve bought us some time,¡± Seona said looking at Deathberry. He nodded back. ¡°Right, there is no point in worrying about what we can¡¯t fix. Let¡¯s get some new Gears up and running and I¡¯ll check in with Lyan to see if he¡¯s on his way yet.¡± While Deathberry and Seona got to work on the Gears, Linca made her rounds with the remaining Survivors and dwarves. When she could she brought them back to full health and where she could not she said a prayer and tried to sooth the dying. While she was deep in prayers she also gave a shout out to her friends across the globe: Cheezus, Thag and Sean all trying to escape Drak¡¯s torture palace as well as Kantala and Rygor. They and their friends all needed to come together and fast if they were going to survive another day. Chapter 59 - Rescue With Sam working on rescuing the prisoners, Thag and Cheezus turned their full attention to trying to find Smash. Since she didn¡¯t want to give away their position should they be caught in a corridor of advancing undead, Thag pulled one of the maces out of the armory. It was pretty similar to swinging a baseball bat which she¡¯d done a few times as a kid and besides that it looked like most of the enemies they¡¯d seen in the fortress were skeletons which were notoriously weak against bludgeoning objects. It wasn¡¯t as good as her shotgun or sword but it would do in a pinch. ¡°Where should we go from here,¡± Thag asked, after she had finished equipping herself. Cheezus thought for a moment before he replied, ¡°Kevin was always into mid-1600s castles. So, I think that the other dungeon he¡¯ll have will be in one of the towers.¡± There were four towers so that still left a bit of exploring. ¡°How did you come to find that out?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you remember he missed like four raiding sessions about a year ago? He was on vacation in Europe and somehow we got to talking about it afterwards,¡± Cheezus replied with a shrug. ¡°Nope, I don¡¯t remember but it does sound like something he¡¯d be into. Let¡¯s give the closest tower a shot,¡± she replied. It was pretty crazy that they had gone from close friends to mortal enemies, Thag reflected. It must be even worse for Sean since he and Kevin had been best friends before this game came between them. From there they went down the hall towards the closest tower. Unfortunately, they mistook the tower entrance with another room. Opening the door, Thag barely suppressed a scream. Inside the circular room was a large vat of boiling liquid. It smelled like burning flesh and she wondered if it was human renderings. It was probably best not to think too much about it. Inside the large steel vat was one of the fat zombies, seemingly under construction. Parts of it were definitely missing. Surrounding the vat were a number of regular zombies, wandering mindlessly. Cheezus quickly closed the door behind them. Why was he trapping them in here? He quickly whispered in her ear. ¡°They haven¡¯t attacked us in here yet and there was an entire patrol of skeletal warriors walking down the hallway between us.¡± She nodded silently and gave him the thumbs up. The question was why hadn¡¯t they been attacked on sight? The other undead had gone right for them when they were out on the field. While she was contemplating their strange position, she saw the fat zombie reach out and grab one of the smaller zombies, shoving it right into a gaping maw on its chest. Holy shit! She¡¯d never seen one of the fat ones do that before. Apparently, they had a larger mouth on their stomach and just ate right from that. Good thing she¡¯d never gotten too close. Moments passed and she waited for the ball to drop. Thag had her shotgun aimed right at the closest zombie too. Cheezus tapped her on the shoulder and she nearly fired off a round accidentally. Glaring at him she saw he was pointing back at the now open door to the hallway. The coast was clear. Silently, or at least as quietly as she could, she followed Cheezus to the actual tower entrance. It wasn¡¯t far from this fat zombie room so she saw why they had originally mistaken one room for another. They ascended the tower and could see several arrow slits that opened out onto the courtyard below them. In the center was a mass of zombies, skeletons, and other undead, some of which she had never seen. A horrifically large two-headed cyclops zombie loomed over the entryway to the gatehouse. How the hell were they supposed to get past all that? Maybe they could scale down one of the side walls but she doubted that anyone but Cheez would be able to make that type of climb. While the walls weren¡¯t slick, they were made from soft clay and bone. It was mostly dense enough to hold things up; however, it wasn¡¯t probably all that safe for gripping. If a big rain ever visited the Outback the entire structure would wash away. At the top of the tower was another door. Cheezus opened it just a crack and Thag winched as he heard it squeaking on its rusty hinges. They stepped through and on the other side was a mass of bones. She could see the rotted organs of the undead in front of them, sitting in its ribcage. She pulled Cheezus back a step and shut the door as quickly as she could. It was the oldest trick in the book but she hoped it would buy them a few seconds to ready their weapons. Fortunately, the door swung in so to get at them the creature would have to open the door towards itself. When it did, Thag would be ready to smash its bones to pulp with her newly acquired mace. She had hoped not to have to test her limited knowledge of the weapon and as the seconds ticked by sweat began to drip down the back of her spine. White knuckling the mace, she prepared for all hell to break loose. Thag wasn¡¯t disappointed. Just another second went by and the door was ripped off its hinges by the massive skeletal creature. It looked like it was one of those giants but it had been stripped of nearly all its flesh. Only its innards remained. She vaguely wondered if pulping this things heart would cause it to die but something about the way that the creature¡¯s beady red eyes hung in their sockets told her that this was an aberration and followed no such natural rules. She let forth a warrior¡¯s yell and swung the blunt weapon with both hands. Thag heard a satisfying crunch where her weapon struck the creature¡¯s chest but that didn¡¯t stop it from rearing back to crush her with the large wooden club it clenched easily in one hand. She figured whoever had designed the weapon must have used the entire tree ¨C it was probably nearly as big as she was. Fortunately, the giant skeleton was not nearly as adept with its weapon and it missed her head by a few inches.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it During the action, Cheezus had somehow snuck past the creature and he stabbed his dagger right into the monster¡¯s back, penetrating its inner organs and causing it to scream. Maybe it was weak to those types of attacks, she pondered briefly while trying to stay out of arm¡¯s reach of its wild swings. She ducked and wove between its attacks. If it connected with her, she knew that she would be smashed to pieces and at the bottom of the stairwell. Fortunately, with her being on the other side of the door and the creature being so tall it couldn¡¯t get at her very easily: an effective countermeasure to the undead¡¯s superior reach and strength. She would just have to bide her time for the right opportunity to attack. Suddenly, she saw her opening when Cheezus caught it off guard in the spleen. Finally wising up to who was doing the most damage, it whirled and lunged at Cheezus with its club. He ducked out of the way but this left the monster overreaching with its weight slightly shifted away from her and off-balance. Taking her club and swinging it low, she used her shoulders and all of her weight to attack the skeleton¡¯s ankles. Thag¡¯s arms shook from the exertion but her efforts were rewarded. It went down with a crash onto its face. Thag and Cheezus didn¡¯t waste a second tearing the creature apart. Cheezus stabbed it repeatedly in the heart, which didn¡¯t stop the creature but definitely hurt it. Thag resisted the urge to cover her ears from the unearthly screech that it unleashed. Instead, she gripped her newly acquired weapon and using it like a baseball bat, smashed the creature¡¯s ribs to pieces, pulping its insides. After she was done she checked to see whether she¡¯d taken any hits. There were a couple of bruises from a glancing blow but when she felt her shoulder it didn¡¯t seem broken. ¡°I thought that went surprisingly well,¡± she said. ¡°Hopefully the rest of the rescue goes as smoothly,¡± he replied, grinning at her. Past the pile of broken bones where the giant skeleton lay in pieces, Thag spotted another door at the end of the hallway. This time, Cheezus carefully greased the door hinges using his thieves¡¯ kit. He tried the door but it was locked. Peering in through the bars above the door, Thag could see a form laid out on a stone table, arms and legs bound in chains. Although he was stripped of his armor, she recognized Smash¡¯s prone body. A few minutes later, Cheezus had opened the lock and they stepped inside. Inside, the stone room was dimly lit with more of those phosphorescent stones. The red walls shimmered under some sort of magical effect and the gray bones sticking out highlighted the depravity of its creator. Along the walls stood devices of all kinds: an iron coffin, chains on a metal pully device, a rack, a wooden wedge like a sawhorse, and the like. The center of the room held a stone table with chains which connected to iron manacles restraining their guildleader. His armor had been removed and he wore only his leathers which had been torn and were stained deep crimson. Smash¡¯s fingers wept blood at their tips and Thag could just make out one of the nails inside a clamp which rested on what looked like a metal surgeons¡¯ tray. The tray held various other devices which held Thag¡¯s gaze for several long moments as she contemplated the horrific purpose of each implement. Finally, when she broke her gaze, she looked more closely at their captured friend. Reviewing his health bar she could see he had exactly 1 hit point. His fingernails had been torn off, a flechette had been used to slice off pieces of his skin, and worst of all there was a gaping bloody hole where his left eye had been. Thag turned and retched in the corner. She hadn¡¯t eaten anything in hours but it all came back up over the next minute. Cheezus was the first to recover after taking in the contents of the room. She could see his face harden and he made his way over and began working at the manacles, attempting to free Smash. He was made of tougher stuff than her, she realized ruefully, wiping the remnants of bile from her lips. The analytical part of her contemplated all of this in a clinical fashion. Seconds later, Cheez had freed Smash while she pulled out a healing potion and administered it. She had to be careful just to give him a small amount or it could push him over the edge. He started to rouse but right then Thag heard a scraping coming from down the hallway. She peeked out of the room and her heart sank. There were four skeletal warriors looking down at the remains of the giant bone warrior. Inside she looked around. The torture chamber contained no windows and there were no other exits. ¡°Hurry, we need to get him out of here. A patrol has found us,¡± she said, sounding more confident than she felt. Cheezus gingerly lifted Smash onto his shoulder and readied his dagger. They didn¡¯t have time to relock the door and she didn¡¯t want them reporting back to the larger force. Hiding in the corner they waited for the bone warriors to enter. Thag readied her mace and tried not to think. Moments later, the lead skeleton entered the room. When all four had entered, she closed the door and then flanked them with Cheezus. The first went down easily to her mace but the remaining were much more wary of her attacks. She wove in and out as she had with the giant skeleton but these were trained warriors and much smarter. Two of them stood back to back and held her at bay while the third advanced on Cheezus. He stabbed at it but his aim was off and it got in a nasty riposte that nearly took his hand off. Meanwhile, Thag nearly lost her head while worrying about her comrades. The two skeletons near her spread out used the same flanking tactic. To make matters worse, the mace was much less effective on them since they had shields and adroitly blocked her wild swings. Damn, this is a lot harder when you don¡¯t level up the weapon skill, she thought. She might have to pull out her gun after all. Taking a nasty cut in the ribs, she cried out and nearly lost her weapon altogether as the other bone warrior tried to knock it from her hands. ¡°Fuck that hurt,¡± she yelled. She dropped the mace and pulled out her shotgun. The first skeleton went down to the 12 gauge, its shield providing no defense to the heavy slugs. She came around before the other one could react and smashed its head right off its shoulders with the butt of the weapon. Fighting with a gun was infinitely smarter than using some stupid medieval baseball bat. In the meantime, Cheezus had cleanly dispatched the other skeleton, ¡°I hope that was satisfying since we can expect more company now,¡± he said drolly. ¡°Whatever. Sneaking around is for wimps,¡± she snapped. Smash let out a groan. ¡°Get a room. Sheesh, you¡¯re like a married couple,¡± he said weakly. However, the grin on his face put Thag in a much better mood. Step one complete. Now they just had to get the hell out of here. Chapter 60 - The DM At the bottom of the fortress, right before the doorway to the courtyard, they met Sam. He was trying to persuade a group of surly looking mutants to wait before rushing out the door. ¡°We¡¯ve got to organize if we¡¯re going to have any chance against that thing,¡± he pleaded. He was focusing his attention on a burly looking man with four arms and a barrel chest. His crew cut hair reminded Smash of several marines he knew. Standing next to him was a dusky skinned woman with straight black hair. She had her hand on her hips and bored looking expression on her face. ¡°Let¡¯s just go out there and blast them Joe,¡± she said. Her purple lipstick and black leather armor made her look like one of the villains in some fantasy anime. Cheezus interrupted them. ¡°You may want to listen to the kid. There is a two-story giant cyclops killing machine out there and a ton of other undead trash,¡± he said, as they approached. Joe and villain lady turned and started at the three of them. Smash knew he looked like hell on wheels at that point. He certainly felt like it. While some of his wounds had been healed by the healing potion that Thag gave him, some of the damage that Drak had inflicted wasn¡¯t going to be cured with a simple potion. His skin still felt like parchment, having been flayed off a large portion of his body. But the worst was his aching eye socket. He probably didn¡¯t look much different than a lot of the walking corpses wandering the hallway. Staring right back, he said, ¡°No, I¡¯m not a zombie although it¡¯s been a hell of a day.¡± Villain lady smiled and Joe chuckled. ¡°Name¡¯s Joe and this is my girl Nicole,¡± he said gruffly. ¡°And who are you three?¡± The three of them introduced themselves briefly. ¡°We were captured by Drak. My guildmates escaped and came back for me. I understand they also rescued Sam,¡± Smash explained. Nicole shook her mane. ¡°We¡¯re not out of the woods yet though. We need to get the hell out of here before boss man comes looking for everyone.¡± She had a point; however, rushing into the courtyard without a plan was suicide. ¡°Is there any other way out?¡± Smash asked. Sometimes you had to ask the obvious questions. Cheezus and Sam shook their heads. ¡°How many prisoners did you free Sam?¡± Thag asked. Sam started counting them up in his head before answering. ¡°Probably about five-hundred. But most of them rushed into the courtyard as soon as they were free. They didn¡¯t even wait for me to explain anything,¡± he looked frustrated. Joe explained a bit further. ¡°There are about a hundred of us left. Most are mutants and we¡¯ve learned to be a bit tougher in this world,¡± he said rubbing a wicked looking scar on his chest. During the conversation, several other mutants and a few humans had poked their heads out of the door leading to the dungeon. A few of them took orders from Nicole but most of them just looked at Joe in awe. He was obviously their leader. ¡°I¡¯ve got a plan if you two are up for it,¡± Smash said in response. ¡°I understand that there is an armory down here and we can equip ourselves, is that correct?¡± Sam nodded and then said, ¡°Yes, although some of the prisoners took a few of the weapons most of it is still up for grabs. Also, many of them died right after opening those doors,¡± he pointed to the stout oak doors leading to the courtyard. ¡°So, we might be able to recover a bit more.¡± They assembled everyone back in the dungeon but kept an eye on the doors. Any patrols that happened to wander downstairs were efficiently dispatched. Cheezus discovered the mechanisms that dropped the cells down into the kitchen and disabled them so that if they needed to pretend to hide in a few of the cells they could. Smash knew that time was of the essence so he laid out his plan quickly. Thag was to main tank and select at least two others to work with her. Cheezus was to lead a group of melee DPS. Nicole oversaw the DPS casters in the group while Joe organized the ranged DPS. Lastly, there was a mutant woman with cat ears named Tabitha who would lead the healers. With his good eye still adjusting to operating by itself, Smash felt somewhat off-balance. He wasn¡¯t ready yet to test his melee skills, particularly against something as fearsome as that behemoth outside. He explained that he would be giving orders from the back of the raid and would provide support to ranged DPS as a back-up tank, if needed. ¡°And what about me? How can I help?¡± Sam asked. Smash asked that Sam serve as a runner to relay messages between the groups. Although Sam looked disappointed, he reminded him that it would be a dangerous job and one that would be crucial to pulling off the raid. The entire explanation took about five minutes and once everyone agreed they made their way to the armory to gear up. Smash estimated that about fifteen minutes had elapsed since he¡¯d initiated the discussion. Hopefully, Drak wouldn¡¯t be in the courtyard just yet but if he was they would need to deal with that too. With orders given, the motely group made their way outside. The entryway of the courtyard was already cleared by Cheezus¡¯ strike force by the time Smash made his way outside. Before them was a typical castle courtyard with clay stone walls made of bone. Their objective was the gatehouse in order to escape Drak¡¯s Keep. That was the only normal thing they had in front of them though. An army of skeleton warriors stood in formation immediately in front of them. Behind that were zombies of all kinds: fat zombies, zombie dogs, runners, and more. At the very back of the undead army towered a giant two-headed cyclops zombie larger than any of the other undead he¡¯d seen before. The only things that wasn¡¯t out there was Drak; however, Smash knew they had a limited amount of time to escape before he noticed something was amiss. The first order of business was the trash packs in front of them. Smash relayed orders directly to the raid since everyone was grouped up. ¡°Joe, your team is on the pack of zombie dogs. They are high mobility so precision is key to taking those out. Nicole, I need the casters to take apart that phalanx of skeletal warriors. Soften them up so our tanks aren¡¯t overwhelmed. I need tanks on each group in case any get free. Melee DPS clean up the stragglers. Tabitha, your folks already know what to do ¨C keep people alive,¡± Smash commanded. ¡°Ok, let¡¯s roll out.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Thag was the first to charge in with the other tanks. He could see her activate her General Ability: Aura Swap which transformed her demonic aura into a holy one. She had equipped her sword and shield now that DPS was no longer her objective. As anticipated, the pack of dogs hounded her team and were extremely fast; however, Joe¡¯s archers made quick work of the dogs. Smash was particularly impressed with the double bow action that Joe employed; an advantage of having four arms that could operate independently. Purple lipstick villain, aka Nicole, was working with the other casters at the back to ensure the skeletal warriors didn¡¯t overwhelm them with their tight fighting formation. The blasts of fire coming from their arsenal added to the crescendo of clanking steel and gnashing teeth. Cheezus¡¯ team cleaned up the scraps, as intended. It was hard to track his roguish friend as he disappeared from one part of the battlefield and suddenly appeared behind the back of another enemy, stabbing and shooting in a deadly dance. None of the undead managed to reach the back ranks of the casters where Smash and Sam stood. Sam looked at him like an eager puppy awaiting its masters¡¯ orders but there was little for them to do. Smash certainly understood the feelings of the young man in front of him. He too was eager for battle and his empty eye socket ached, making him anxious. So far things had been easy and the healers had been able to spot heal the few raiders who had been lightly injured. In a few minutes the field was clear and the behemoth towered in front of the raid. It was about to get a lot more difficult. With the field clear, Smash finally examined the status bar above the two-headed cyclops zombie: The Dungeon Master ¨C Level 85. Considering he, Cheezus, and Thag were level 82, this would be a tough fight even if they had the entire guild here. Most of the mutants in the group were around level 70 and only Joe and Nicole were level 80. There were going to be a lot of casualties with this fight. He glanced across the field towards Cheezus and Thag: their faces looked grim but determined. At least his comrades knew what they were up against. Smash would have tried to reassure the rest of the raid if he¡¯d had time; however, the cyclops didn¡¯t wait around like an obedient raid boss and instead charged towards the ragtag crew. Thag and the other tanks immediately squared off with the boss. The beast¡¯s charge had been so forceful that she slid back several feet, bracing against its charge until the two other tanks could also press back against it. Smash could see a white glow around her body from the waves of healing that Tabitha and her team was putting out. Cheezus¡¯ team moved into position and began slashing at the creature¡¯s ankles. Archers rained death down on to the DM as they lit fiery arrows and launched wave and wave of attacks. These were joined by the staccato attack of fireballs as the casters in the back channeled power into dense motes of heat and explosive force and then hurled them towards their giant enemy. Suddenly, the chanting of the healers grew more frantic as the cyclops began to glow red. Smash couldn¡¯t predict what its first attack would be until he started to see the creature lift its tree-trunk like leg. The melee DPS ran out of range quickly to avoid the inevitable crushing blow. Slamming its leg in to the earth, the cyclops gave forth an earthshattering roar, temporarily deafening everyone in the courtyard. Smash shook his head for a moment, trying to recover. When he could think clearly again he looked to see if the tanks had survived. All three were close to being dead and it was only Thag¡¯s last minute holy shield that had saved them. A brilliant light engulfed the tanks and Smash could hear the prayers of the healers intensify. Out of the corner of his eye Smash noticed a pack of zombie dogs had emerged from one of the side gates. ¡°Archers, switch to the dogs,¡± he yelled above the chanting of the casters behind him. He could barely hear above the praying and chanting which had seemed to grow even more intense in the last few seconds. Turning around he saw a massive wolf made of pure fire emerged from the ranged DPS. Nicole¡¯s body slumped to the ground, clearly drained from such a powerful summoning. Smash took a step back to avoid the heat of the creature¡¯s intense flames but it lasted only a second before it leaped over the raid, diving right towards the DM. Taken momentarily off guard, the giant zombie blocked the fire wolf¡¯s darting form and avoided having it lock onto its neck. Slavering fire back into the raid, the wolf gnashed its teeth on the cyclops¡¯ arm instead. The smell of rotten burning flesh stung Smash¡¯s nose. ¡°Quickly, take down the dogs and get all DPS on the boss,¡± Smash told Sam, who relayed it quickly to the raid leaders. Nicole was still on her knees but the elemental wolf she had summoned was paying off. Smash watched the DM¡¯s health dip below 70%. If there was a second phase to this boss it would happen now, he thought. Sure enough, the creature pushed the wolf back and started to tear apart the earth beneath it, forming it into a stone. ¡°Prepare yourselves,¡± he shouted, ¡°it¡¯s the second phase. Be prepared to spread out when it throws the boulder.¡± Seconds later, the ranged DPS all took a few steps back. Smash walked by and cut down a stray zombie dog that the archers had missed. Reaver was sharp as ever, although he¡¯d had to concentrate more than usual, being half blind. The raid continued this routine until the creature was at 30% health. ¡°Everyone, look sharp,¡± Smash advised. ¡°Another phase change is likely to come up.¡± Nothing happened for another minute as the cyclops¡¯ health continued to diminish. The fire wolf was keeping the majority of the heat off the tanks, although its own health had been severely eroded. Suddenly, the DM grew in size, glowing crimson. With hands the size of a house it mauled the wolf, snapping its jaws back in the process. Whining in pain, the fire wolf shrank back and tried to escape; however, the cyclops continued its relentless attack. Smash yelled above the fray, ¡°Burn the boss down now. Use all DPS cooldowns.¡± The next few seconds were a blur to Smash: fiery arrows and swords smashed into the giant¡¯s body, Cheezus climbed up its back and planted his dagger into the creature¡¯s spinal cord, and Thag attempted to taunt the DM off the fire wolf to allow the ranged DPS time enough to provide more mana to the wounded beast. Seconds later, the cyclops swept its massive trunk like arms across the front of the raid, scattering the tanks in all directions and doing massive AOE damage to the entire raid. The hit destroyed the fire elemental which gave out a piteous howl before disappearing into the void from which hit was summoned. Worse yet, much of the raid was decimated from that single hit. Thag was thrown into a wall and appeared to be stunned. The other tanks were similarly out of commission. Smash knew that they would not survive the next few seconds without a raid tank. Charging in, he yelled, ¡°For the Misfits. Down with Drak¡¯s Keep.¡± Despite his poor vision, Smash had no difficulty find the DM and bringing Reaver down with all his might he stabbed the creature¡¯s toe as hard as he could. -741 piercing He nearly laughed. Was that it? Would the Misfits be let down because a blind and weak raid leader like him had been put in charge? Were all of Drak¡¯s taunts that he wasn¡¯t the man to lead their guild the truth? Something tore free from him and he raged, stabbing the creature¡¯s feet again and again, reckless with fury. -9714 piercing/critical X3 -14,704 piercing/critical X4 The numbers were meaningless to him as he continued his relentless attacks. He vaguely heard the clunks of steel on flesh and the smell of seared zombie. The DM fought back with everything it had and attempted to stomp him flat. Dodging in between its feet he went for the toe where he had hit several criticals. Blood and guts oozed from that point and he knew he had to finish this before his own health bar went to zero. He roared in defiance at the beast that had killed his newly found friends and prevented them from escaping. With a desperate leap he jumped over one of the DM¡¯s feet and landed on the wounded toe with all his might. The giant zombie¡¯s dying kick threw him into the middle of the courtyard and he saw nothing after that. Chapter 61 - Rygor in a Pinch Stepping through the portal, Kantala started shivering almost immediately. It was winter in the Hokkaido prefecture and standing under the shade structure at the bus terminal provided little protection from the elements. Akaigawa was a small tourist village just a few miles from the ski resorts on the island and yet still rural. Walking from the bus-stop toward the center of town she passed a small canal that irrigated farms in the summer. Rygor¡¯s family owned an Onsen, or hot-springs hotel about five-miles down the road. She could have chosen to jump straight there but since it was out in the woods she wanted to get a feel for how accurate those zombie rumors were. Crunching her way through the snow she hummed to herself. She had visited Japan last summer as part of a family vacation. The beaches on the northern island of Japan were a blissful escape from the winter hell that was Toronto. Akaigawa had been a side trip but since they were in the area, she wanted to visit her online friend, Rygor. His real name was Takahashi Riku and they had been playing Champions together all year. Getting to visit her friend on the other side of the world was a blast and while the two of them had been good friends beforehand, staying with his family for a week had made them closer than ever. One thing she came to appreciate during her time there was the tranquility of rural Japan. Walking through the abandoned streets reminded her of the times where she and Riku-san had hung out in the garden while his oba-chan made them refreshing summer treats. The one thing that didn¡¯t belong here in the village was zombies. And after walking about a hundred yards she started hearing the moaning of the dead. At the end of one of the street blocks was an entire pack of regular shambling zombies. These were pretty run of the mill undead so Kantala took her time and nonchalantly strung up her bow. Finally, she unloaded a volley of several arrows at once towards the pack and charged them. She could hear the zombies behind her attempt to keep up but she is extremely fast on her feet, even in the somewhat icy streets. Thoomp! Another four zombies spat up blood and phlem as she blasted them with another set of arrows. Each of the arrows was magically lit with fire as it left her bowstring and the smell of rotten burning flesh nearly made her gag. Eyes watering, she continued the charge and slid under the legs of one of the zombies as it reached its spidery thin arms towards her, trying to rend her apart. Past the pack of zombies, she looked back and saw more of them gathering to chase her but they were no match for her speed now she was out of the village. Out in the open she could run around any zombies that tried to get in her way. About a mile later she caught her breath. She ran pretty much the entire stretch past the last several snowy fields and over several irrigation bridges. Ahead of her was a snowy hill where the Takahashi family lived. Sadly, just like herself, Riku-san was the last of his family. Kantala remembered being so ecstatic when Rygor had logged in to Champions to say that he was leaving to play ARO. She had jumped up and down and hugged him while he¡¯d stood there, baffled. Just a few days earlier she¡¯d also been approached by Terrazon, Inc. to join their new beta testing for the game. Both of them could enjoy the game together. Or so she had thought. It had been a week of bliss before the end of the world came. Kantala still remembered the news coming in from that time. People panicked on the streets as cities burned and nukes flew. Then after that all the news outlets went down. Most people lost power and were forced from their homes. Some survived as mutants but most didn¡¯t make it. She stopped going to her engineering job and retreated deeper into her gaming world. Since she lived with her family she kept them fed and clothed and tried to help the others in their tower apartment as best she could. The power to her VR and their flat still worked perfectly, despite the fact that power systems were shut down in the rest of their high-rise. They could stay there indefinitely and Kantala could go out on her avatar to obtain whatever resources they needed. But her family refused to see reason. They went out on their own and tried to help some of their friends in one of the suburbs but never returned. Kantala found their half-eaten bodies later that week at the end of an alley. Thinking about it again nearly brought tears to her eyes. She hoped that this time she wouldn¡¯t be too late to save Rygor. The snow stopped falling and as the night closed in on Akaigawa, the temperatures plummeted. Although she was more resistant to the elements on her character, she wasn¡¯t immune. She noticed her stamina bar starting to dip. She would need to seek out shelter soon but she wasn¡¯t quite there yet. Instead, she ran short stretches up the old highway towards the Onsen. The forest was achingly beautiful and she could see billions of stars here since the night sky was untouched by any manmade light. Growing up in the city, she¡¯d grown fond of the few times her family had been able to escape to the backwoods in Canada. Being out here was a similar feeling ¨C like the forest had a life of its own.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. She reached the circular drive leading up to the Onsen and a feeling of nostalgia washed over her despite having been here during the summer. The way that the old architecture of the hotel seemed to speak of a different, simpler time appealed to her sense of aesthetic. However, right away she could sense that not all was right. A prickling on the back of her neck alerted her to the danger she was in. Seeing nothing for the moment, she pressed ahead before the sense of dread could overwhelm her. Kantala crept inside as quietly as possible. The tatami mats gave slightly under her shoes. She felt guilty committing such a faux pas as walking into a Japanese building wearing boots ¨C and muddy ones at that. However, something about the danger she¡¯d felt outside hadn¡¯t abated when she¡¯d entered the old building. If anything, her Spidey senses tingled even more. Her daggers were out and in hand. While her bow was her weapon of choice it would do her little good in close quarters if she had to fight inside the bath house. It took her a few minutes of stealthily creeping through the Onsen to come to the realization that no one was home. None of the lights were on which was definitely a bad sign. Kantala knew that he had still had power here up until recently. It was one of the things that the Survivors had received as the main perk for being beta testers. Terrazon Inc. took care of their own. Realizing that he might be hiding out here somewhere, the first thing she had done was go straight his room. She found his VR set lying next to his bed. There was trash still in the trash can and some crumpled up gaming magazines in the corner. He¡¯d been here recently although she found out his bed and pillows were freezing cold to the touch when she lay down on them. In fact, the whole building was starting to let a bit too much of mother nature in. While the Onsen ran on geothermal drawn from the ancient hot springs, it was reliant on electricity to power the distribution systems that kept the entire building warm in the middle of the winter. On a whim she fired up his VR. Maybe there was a message or something. She¡¯d never done this before and wondered if she could even access his VR given the fact that she was already in game. Amazingly, it worked and she entered a white room with Rygor. ¡°If one of the Survivors gets this message, I¡¯m hiding out below the Onsen in the old basement. There is a trapdoor beneath the kitchen that is locked. The password is Haruka-oba-chan,¡± the message cut off. The name was Riku-san¡¯s grandmother. Kantala¡¯s sixth sense was going crazy again and she realized she¡¯d been a fool to put on a VR headset in a potential hostile territory. Tearing it off her head she lunged up and drove her dagger into a zombie that had leaned over to try to take a bite out of her. ¡°Raaah,¡± she screamed as she mashed its face to a pulp with the dagger. That was too damn close. Unfortunately, her screams had drawn more attention and she heard more activity throughout the house. She had a feeling it wasn¡¯t Riku-san¡¯s family either. Fortunately, she had a pretty good idea of where the kitchen was and the beauty of Japanese homes was that the walls were not exactly thick. Seeing zombies coming down the hallway in both directions she chose to make her own exit and slashed through the wall in front of her. Dashing through the next room she cut open the wall after that and looked around. Amazingly her sense of direction had been pretty good. She was in the kitchen. There was a zombie in the pantry but its back was turned to her. She only had a few seconds before the other zombies caught up. Drawing her bow, she took a deep breath to steady her nerves and lined up the shot. Not wanting to light the Onsen on fire she chose a different arrow. Thunk. Her thousands of hours of gaming practice didn¡¯t lead her astray. The arrow had critically hit the zombie and drove the arrowhead through its brain and out the other side. It slumped to the floor. She pulled aside the carpet on the floor, revealing a trap door. It appeared locked from the other side. ¡°Rygor, it¡¯s me Kantala. The password is Haruka-oba-chan,¡± she yelled. The zombies knew she was here and she didn¡¯t want to risk the fact that he might not be anywhere near the trapdoor. Knowing that she might not even get an answer, Kantala drew her dagger once again and prepared herself. She wasn¡¯t the best in close quarters but she¡¯d be damned if she was going to go down without a fight. Kantala could hear the shuffling of many zombies outside the kitchen. They hadn¡¯t gotten there yet but things were about to get ugly. The slam of a wooden door startled her and she whirled. It¡¯s was Riku-san. ¡°Come on,¡± he urged her. He looked weary but vigilant and more than a little dashing in his old work uniform. She wasn¡¯t sure why Japanese men wore suits in their own houses but it was pretty endearing. ¡°Hayaku,¡± he said fiercely. She could see the worried look in his eye. Nodding her head, she moved down the ladder, sliding past him as he fastened the trapdoor and locked it. She caught her breath at the bottom of the stairs. They were in what looked to be an old basement, lined with concrete. It was surprisingly warm down here and she realized they must be relatively close to the geothermal springs. ¡°What are you doing here, Sarah-san?¡± Riku asked. ¡°Rescuing you, silly,¡± she said cheekily. He smiled and tried to hold in a laugh but couldn¡¯t. ¡°It looks more like the other way around, though,¡± he replied. She nodded. ¡°True but I have something that might change your tune,¡± she said holding out a portal key. It was something she and Deathberry had been working on ¨C a way to open a portal in an entirely new place. ¡°We just need to set this down and away we go.¡± Riku bowed and smiled back at her. Awkward. They were better friends that that, she thought. She stood up and hugged him close. She knew she was breaking a bunch of Japanese social norms but right then she didn¡¯t care. Apparently, neither did Riku. He hugged her back fiercely and looked like he wanted to say something more. ¡°Save it,¡± she said. Kantala knew that they weren¡¯t out of danger yet and their friends needed them. ¡°Let¡¯s get you back to the bunker and get you in a new VR. We need Rygor. Our friends¡¯ lives are in danger.¡± Riku pulled back from her. ¡°Ok, let¡¯s go.¡± Chapter 62 - Aerial Assault The illusion outside the cave kept the majority of the undead at bay. This allowed Deathberry, Seona, and the remaining Survivors and dwarves a temporary reprieve. Everyone quickly set to work healing the injured and preparing for the next attack. ¡°So how are you going to expand the portal to allow the airships to get through?¡± Seona asked. Deathberry indicated towards four metal devices that had been setup around the portal. ¡°Kantala and I worked out some theories regarding these portals and did a bit of testing. It seems that the technology that allows these to work is based on the same principal as the Gears. In laymen¡¯s terms it¡¯s essentially a transference of spirit and matter,¡± he explained. She furrowed her eyebrows. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I follow you. The Gears work because our transmitter is attuned to a specific device. But these portals just seem like regular magic to me.¡± ¡°Ah, but the portals are based on the same theory. The only difference is that the attunement is based on a proximity to the portal itself. When a person or avatar enters the field of transmittance, they become ¡®attuned¡¯ as you say and can then use the portal to transport themselves to the location the portal has been tuned into,¡± Deathberry said patiently. Seona shrugged her shoulders. ¡°Still sounds like magic to me but as long as you and Kant know what you¡¯re doing, I¡¯m down,¡± she replied. ¡°Speaking of which I hope those two are alright.¡± ¡°Agreed. Although that also goes for the rest of our guild. I did get a message from Cheezus a few minutes ago that they were about to engage in a large-scale combat within the keep. Hopefully, we can arrive with the cavalry in time to help,¡± he responded. The blond-haired woman nodded but said nothing further. They either would be able to get there in time or they wouldn¡¯t. Worrying about anything else other than getting the portal to work wasn¡¯t an optimal use of time. With that, Deathberry got back to work setting up the new mechanisms that he and Kantala had designed. The use of a sophisticated AI had helped in the design of the devices and the factory had been able to crank them out quite quickly. They looked very much like blue orbs you might see in a tarot card shop; however, they were suspended in a fine wire prism and mounted inside of a metal box with various electronics. Sufficiently advanced technology and all that. Kantala had tested them within an AI simulation and everything had come back green. Of course, Deathberry knew that the difference between theory and actuality were often quite far apart. As such, when he activated the devices he was sure to stand clear of the portal room. A moment later the portal powered up and everything seemed to normalize. They would need a non-critical test subject to step through the portal. There was no way that Deathberry would have asked anyone living to volunteer for such a dangerous task and he had built a small purpose-built Gear to make the maiden journey of the newly modified device. The massive green and blue portal now filled nearly the entire room which was approximately 100 feet tall by a hundred feet wide. He had measured that part carefully and conferred with Lyan ahead of time to see how large their airships were. Should everything work out the portal would be plenty large enough for even their largest ships. Through the colors of the portal he could make out the forest on the other side. Seona had actually extended the portal room slightly to ensure there was enough space and was currently working with the earth elementals under her command to tunnel their way to the surface from the room. They hadn¡¯t finished hollowing out the roof of the portal room yet, just in case something went disastrously wrong. In one of Kantala¡¯s earlier calculations she estimated that the portal had a non-trivial chance of exploding outwards (or inwards) should they make a mistake. Sweating now under the pressure, he commanded the Gear to step into the portal. It shimmered slightly as the tiny robot marched forward and then went translucent as it stepped to the other side. Deathberry let out a breath. Nothing had exploded ¨C yet. He commanded the Gear to return and a similar process happened in reverse. ¡°Ok, test one complete,¡± Deathberry announced. Seona set her elementals to finishing their work. He still had a few more tests to do before he would allow any living creature or ship through the newly modified portal but at least the most dangerous part was over. An hour later they were all standing on the Archeon, Lyan¡¯s flagship as it hovered above the entrance to the cave. ¡°You seem to have quite a propensity to developing new and unusual magics,¡± the elven leader said as he shook Deathberry¡¯s hand. ¡°Congratulations, a celebration is in order. However, it seems that it will have to wait until we clear out the invading army you have on your doorstep.¡± Lyan¡¯s features didn¡¯t betray a bit of the humor that was evident in his tone. ¡°Hopefully, you and your comrades will still be in good humor after you see the extent of what we¡¯re up against,¡± Deathberry responded with a wry smile. ¡°Fortunately, I did bring a few extra gadgets to make the job a bit easier.¡± He was referring to the large metal Gears and various parts that now took up about half of the Archeon¡¯s hold. Dwarven engineers were doing the assembly of the massive gun. Occasionally, they would bring parts up from below and ask Deathberry a question about how it worked. Additionally, dwarven warriors stood with their eleven compatriots on each of the ships, ready for battle. The few remaining Survivors were all aboard the Archeon and looked ready to fight. Some of them shifted their feet and weapons nervously. They were used to having Rygor and Kantala lead them but now both of their guildleaders were missing. Fortunately, after witnessing both the destructive and healing power that Linca wielded, they had taken to her in earnest. She was busy talking with one of the Survivors about the fight to come, no doubt providing encouragement. Finally, Seona was busy reinforcing her earth elementals as best as she could with what she¡¯d been able to bring onboard. While the ships were all in a docking formation with each other she wanted to distribute her forces as efficiently as possible and still have some extra earth left over for repairs. Once they got into the air more than a few hundred feet she would lose her touch with the earth below. So far, none of the undead had managed to see past Deathberry¡¯s illusion; however, he hadn¡¯t taken any chances this time. While they had waited for Sylvan¡¯s forces to arrive he had been busy assembling several Gears into more gundams. These were fully automated and would stay behind and defend the cave entrance.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Soon, the preparations were complete and the armada set forth. Drak¡¯s forces spread out beneath them across the Australian desert. ¡°The rail gun is ready,¡± one of the dwarves reported. ¡°Excellent, let¡¯s test it out on that group of fat zombies,¡± Deathberry pointed to a group of the disgusting undead off the starboard side of the Archeon. A minute later a crack resounded throughout the entire ship. Below and to the right a large cloud of dust mushroomed where Deathberry had pointed and nothing but a crater remained. The new weapon seemed to be working perfectly; however, there was no time for rejoicing. The enemy forces had finally noticed the flotilla of flying ships above them and responded with surprising force to the aerial assault. Deathberry hadn¡¯t realized that the fat zombies also functioned as highly effective zombie chuckers until they started raining undead on the ship. Hundreds of creatures were suddenly flying towards them and none of them appeared to be in control of their own flight. While many missed the ships, enough hit to make on-deck combat his primary focus for the next few minutes. Fortunately, the elves and dwarves were ready. ¡°Protect the helm and don¡¯t let them get below,¡± Lyan¡¯s calm voice echoed loudly over the sound of the wind and clunking of steel on flesh. His voice must have been magically amplified, Deathberry mused. He¡¯d have to see if he could modify a similar spell for their own raid commands. Not everyone could be in raid chat when they had mutants and dwarves fighting on their side. As he dodged a clumsy attack from one of the zombies he heard Linca shout, ¡°Look out behind you,¡± as she pointed right next to him. Somehow one of the fat zombies had made it onto the deck. Its claws swiped right where he had been a moment earlier. Linca¡¯s warning had been just in the nick of time. Although close combat wasn¡¯t his favorite, he was hardly defenseless. Turning to face the disgusting creature that looked like that old Centipede movie, he summoned a large fireball and extended his hands with a single verbal command, ¡°Veritas ignis,¡± he shouted. The blast engulfed the zombie, blowing it apart instantaneously. Fiery bits of decaying flesh landed on the deck and started to catch. ¡°Shit, I didn¡¯t think about that,¡± Deathberry muttered. He kicked a few of the burning hunks of zombie until he could smother the flames with his boot. Looking around he could see the other raiders had joined the battle as well. Seona was sitting atop one of the elementals she commanded as it smashed several smaller skeletons that had managed to make it onto the ship. Behind her, Lyan was cutting a swath through the zombie hordes, his scimitar shining in the morning sun. Finally, Linca looked to be doing the most damage. Her entire body was a glow with holy light. She pumped her arms and hands above her body, wrists up, palms together, as she summoned energy from her core and it pulsed out of her, destroying anything unliving in its path. Now that their deck was mostly free from the dead, Deathberry took a look around the horizon and saw that most of the other ships had been able to defend themselves from the enemy onslaught. However, one of the ships right behind them was in trouble. He could see the helmsman was under attack and most of the deck was swarming with skeletal warriors who had used their tight formation to break through the defenders. It wouldn¡¯t be long before they lost the ship. ¡°Linca, come with me,¡± Deathberry pointed towards the vessel under siege. ¡°Seona¡¯s earth elementals will launch us.¡± Both the women nodded and soon Deathberry was in the grasp of a giant earthen hand. He barely had time to think about how badly this would turn out if they misjudged the trajectory of the ships before he was flying through the air. Halfway through the top of their parabolic flight, they were directly above the ailing airship. ¡°Now,¡± he urged. Linca cut their momentum by activating a slow fall spell and they gently descended. Deathberry didn¡¯t waste any time and started casting. As an unholy sorcorer, all of his spells were naturally either unholy or aligned with darkness. Neither of these types would do much if any damage to the undead mass beneath them. He¡¯d come dangerously close to lighting the Archeon on fire and so didn¡¯t want to risk a fire based attack. His General ability allowed him to choose different spell auras. Ideally, he would have altered his unholy bolt into a holy one; however, the one aura he was not allowed to take was that one since it was diametrically opposing his primary spell focus. Instead, he chose to take the opposite route and altered his spell type to water. Given enough force, water could be used to bludgeon or even cut the monsters on the ship below, but would not necessarily harm the deck or sails of the airborne vessel. With that decision made, he summoned forth a wall of water and blasted it towards the deck. Dozens of zombies and skeletons were immediately washed over the sides of the ship. Some were able to maintain their footing or even grab hold of the side railing; however, the spell gave them sufficient space to clear back the invading force and give the helmsmen and remaining crew a fighting chance. Linca had already began a barrage of holy magical attacks on the larger zombies below. Several fat zombies combusted under the force of her holy power. Her Enhanced healing ability had leveled up several times in the previous fights and now she could take down one of the larger zombies with a single hit. Landing on the deck, Deathberry made his way over to the helmsman and tried to assess the situation. ¡°We¡¯ve still got a situation here, sir,¡± the young-looking elf said. Deathberry was terrible at guessing elven age and tried not to think of the guy as a kid. Hell, he was probably older than he was. ¡°Skeletal warriors have made their way below deck and if they figure out where the command center is, we¡¯ll be dead in the water.¡± ¡°Dead in the air, you mean,¡± Deathberry corrected with a grim smile. The helmsman just looked at him oddly. ¡°Yeah, bad joke. Ok, we¡¯ll see what we can do.¡± He motioned for Linca to follow him. If the skeletons made their way that far it was likely that they had done so with explicit directions. Hopefully they weren¡¯t smart enough to figure out how to access the control panel in the command center. If they removed the magical stones from their resting place the airship would plummet from the sky. ¡°Just in case you may want to take us down, helmsman,¡± Deathberry suggested. Looking below them they both realized that would be a second worst case scenario. If they touched down it would be in the middle of Drak¡¯s forces and they would likely still die. Death by falling or death by becoming a zombie¡¯s lunch. Neither choice was appealing. ¡°Let¡¯s hope it doesn¡¯t come to that,¡± the helmsman responded. Nonetheless, he started guiding the airship lower. He and Linca blasted their way through the bowls of the ship. Around every corner it seemed was another skeleton. The tight quarters and lack of a melee or tank made fighting more difficult for the pair of spellcasters; however, desperation made them force their way through. A minute later they had made their way to the control room. Standing inside the small room covered with magical runes was an orb on a pedestal. Behind that was the fiercest skeleton they had seen thus far, excepting Drak. It was wearing rugged chainmail, a stout steel helm, and carried a wicked looking scimitar. No doubt this was one of Drak¡¯s lieutenants. This intuition was confirmed a moment later as he swore he saw the creature give him a look of pure cunning, its red eyes flashed, recognizing him. Before either he or Linca could react, it¡¯s bony fingers had grasped the orb and pulled. Images blurred together for Deathberry in those next moments: he was casting; Linca grabbed for the orb trying to seize it from Drak¡¯s henchman; he was floating in darkness; flashes of holy light lit up the lieutenant¡¯s face and Linca screaming in the darkness; the splintering sound of wood all around them; and then finally the entire ship breaking apart upon impact. Seconds later, he and Linca touched down. The airship was destroyed, its crew scattered like broken kindling, and surrounding them were thousands of withered arms reaching out to embrace them with death. Chapter 63 - Welcome to the Madness Cheezus¡¯ face was the first thing that Smash saw upon regaining consciousness. He was lying on the ground, with pieces of clay and bone covering him. He reached out and Cheezus hauled him to his feet. ¡°Come on,¡± his friend urged. ¡°We need to leave.¡± Smash could see Drak¡¯s form emerging from the keep on the other side of the courtyard. He could see the raiders who¡¯d survived had moved towards the gatehouse and were quickly hurrying past the fallen giant. ¡°Did you loot the body,¡± Smash asked with a wan smile. His friend tried keeping a straight face for a moment but failed. Smiling, he said, ¡°What type of thief do you take me for? Of course, I looted the body. But unless you want cyclops guts or a giant tree of whoop-ass there isn¡¯t much for the taking. Since you had the killing blow, I¡¯ll let you take your pick.¡± Smash laughed and clapped his friend on the back. Thag was at the gate urging them to get a move on. ¡°Touching bromance,¡± she said with a smirk. ¡°Now let¡¯s run away like brave, brave Sir Robin.¡± She had a good point. Drak was already advancing towards them, his silent dead minions in tow. These were a new breed of zombie and looked cleaner ¨C just barely dead. Even more worrisome was the fact that they moved fluidly, not the typical hurky jerk you¡¯d expect from the shambler types. Finally, these undead appeared to march in formation, not dissimilar from the skeletal warriors. Smash wasn¡¯t looking forward to tangling with this new force, particularly with his arch-nemesis at head of the pack. They passed the DM¡¯s fallen body. Smash poked it again with his sword and checked its status bar. Definitely dead. Good thing too ¨C this was one of the most powerful raid bosses he¡¯d ever fought in any game and he was glad to be alive. ¡°How many did we lose?¡± Smash finally asked his friends as they exited the keep and walked on to the fields beyond. The silence that stretched before them told him that neither one wanted to answer but finally, Cheezus replied, ¡°We lost 67 of them, although I could only find the bodies of about 60.¡± No wonder he hadn¡¯t said much. Even though many of the prisoners they¡¯d freed were only human, a good portion of the remaining hundred had been mutants with powers in some cases exceeding their own. Smash realized that they were lucky that any of them had made it at all. Cheezus put his hand on his shoulder. ¡°One of the ones who didn¡¯t make it was Joe,¡± he said. Smash shook his head sadly. He¡¯d thought that if any of them were going to make it, the determined ex-marine would have been one of them. Just because he¡¯d survived so much before this. But there were certainly no guarantees in this world. Running his fingers through his hair in frustration, Smash kicked a dead zombie in front of them. He was going to have to deal with today¡¯s tragedies another time and he was sure he would be haunted by much of it. ¡°Let¡¯s get back to the base and regroup. When we have the entire raid together let¡¯s get everyone organized and then we¡¯ll make Drak pay for this,¡± he said with more conviction then he felt. Sometimes you had to run on empty for a while before you realize you have more in you than you think. Hopefully, that adage would remain true, he thought. Since right now he felt drained. It didn¡¯t take long for them to catch up to the other escapees and they were easily spotted smashing their way into the back of the enemy lines. Hundreds of zombies were decimated by the group since they hadn¡¯t been prepared for a surprise attack from behind. Cheezus ran ahead and quickly Smash lost him in the crowd. As his friend would say, an unfair fight was the easiest one to win. Smash made his way to the front, Reaver cutting him a path. He¡¯d leveled up several times and was approaching level 85. One of his new abilities was shield swipe which allowed him to bring his shield into the enemy like a weapon. He cut across the ranks of the skeletal warriors¡¯ tight formations, wiping out front lines and clearing a path of destruction for his fellows to follow. Chopping off the head of another skeleton he felt a hot blast nearly burn off his hair as he ducked down just in time to see a ball of fire smash into a skeleton that had been sneaking up behind him. Nicole¡¯s cocky grin hadn¡¯t diminished, although Smash wasn¡¯t fooled a bit. She¡¯d been crying and streaks of dirt and blood marred her naturally beautiful face. For once she didn¡¯t immediately assail him with a snarky comment. Instead she yelled, ¡°Glad to see you are still alive commander. We¡¯re making good progress but the tide is turning. What are your orders?¡± He turned around and saw Cheezus and most of the rest of the raiders looking at him. Like he somehow would know what was needed to save them. Damn, being a leader sucks sometimes. ¡°Let¡¯s group up for now and form a ring of defense. I¡¯d like to talk with the officers for a few minutes do discuss what I¡¯m thinking,¡± he responded. Hopefully, that would give him enough time to actually come up with a plan. In the crowd he heard a woman¡¯s voice. ¡°I have one idea for you to hear first.¡± It was Tabitha. She had always been pretty quiet and had led the healers without any complaint, despite the massive casualties they¡¯d suffered. Smash nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s hear it.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like you to give me a guild invite,¡± she replied, so quietly that he strained to hear her. Others took up her request though and soon Smash was inundated with requests. Was it even possible for him to allow what were essentially NPCs into his guild? It was worth giving a shot. He swiped a finger on his Seemi and sent out an invitation to Tabitha first. A moment later he saw the notification in chat:
***Guild Chat***This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Tabitha has joined the Misfits. Cheezustabs: Welcome to the madness¡­ Thag: Woot! Linca: Who¡¯s the new girl? Deathberry: How did we end up with a new guild member? Tabitha: Thanks for the invite!
Smash quickly set to work inviting everyone else who requested. In total he showed 33 new members after he was finished. In the meantime, everyone in the raid around him had taken defensive positions and were making quick work of the undead. It seemed like the entire group had gotten a second wind and there was something good again to fight for.
***Whisper from Deathberry*** Deathberry: Any chance you all could make your way in our direction? Seona and I are surrounded and it looks like that dracolich is back. Lyan¡¯s armada has had to retreat and we were grounded. Smashit: On our way.
Just as things were looking easy again. Since the rest of the guild seemed to have the undead around them on the back foot, Smash called the officers to gather round him as he looked for input. Deathberry wasn¡¯t one for dramatics so if he was asking for help it was probably every bit as serious as it had seemed from the brief chat they¡¯d had. ¡°Deathberry and Seona are in trouble,¡± he explained. ¡°I¡¯ve got a pretty good idea of where their ship crashed from the description he provided; however, we¡¯re going to have a hard time pushing our way through half of Drak¡¯s army to get to him.¡± Nicole was the first to reply, ¡°What about sending a small strike force to retrieve them? It might be easier than trying to get the entire guild over there. We could create a distraction,¡± she offered. ¡°That sounds like a great idea,¡± Smash said, nodding. Cheezus had one of those looks on his face that meant trouble. ¡°I¡¯ve got an idea,¡± he said. Thag groaned. Yeah, it was going to be one of those crazy ideas where everyone nearly dies, Smash thought. Whenever he got that smirky smile on his face they ended up doing something really dumb and really awesome. When no one said anything further, he continued. ¡°Thag and I noticed some weird stuff when we were in the fortress. We entered one room full of zombies and none of them so much as looked at us. There was no way they couldn¡¯t see us. What I figure is that they have to be programmed by Drak explicitly or by one of his lieutenants,¡± Cheezus explained. ¡°That makes sense, but how do we stop them from getting orders?¡± Smash asked. His eyes lighting up with mischief, Cheezus said, ¡°We just fool their orders. There are a lot of dead zombies around here,¡± he gestured, indicating a large pile of still bodies. They were completely dead ¨C not just undead. ¡°We grab a few of them, hack them apart, and use them as a disguise. A few of us sneak over to where Deathberry and Seona are and retrieve them. Easy peasy.¡¯ Smash doubted it would be that easy but his suggestion did seem to have merit. ¡°Let¡¯s give it a shot,¡± he replied. Orders were given from the officers to the rank and file. Soon Cheezus and a few fellow sneaky types grabbed their zombie suits and started to move away from the rest of the raid. Amazingly, none of the undead seemed to notice. Perfect, he thought. Just to make sure the undead didn¡¯t suddenly get any bright ideas, the next step was carried out. A few trees from the nearby river were harvested for dead branches and a fire pit was quickly assembled. In no time at all they had a giant bonfire going in the middle of the desert. Since it was still only late afternoon, the flames didn¡¯t stand out to a lot to the undead before them. Nicole starting chanting with four of the other wizards in the guild. Smash was kept busy for the next several minutes as the noise and fire had attracted more of the undead. Skeletal hands tore at the gaps in his armor and he swore, lashing out with Reaver. His shield smashed apart another bony body as he stood face to face with one of the giant skeletal warriors they¡¯d seen from a distance. Melee DPS with bludgeoning weapons soon joined him and they danced in between the giant¡¯s legs as it swung a might ax. Eyes pulsing red with hatred, the bone giant roared and smashed down on one of Smash¡¯s guildmates with a bony foot, pinning the warrior to the ground. Smash could see his health bar begin to go in to the red. ¡°Quickly, get this thing off of Simon,¡± Smash yelled to the others. He was too busy helping free their new guildmate to notice; however, the giant bone creature before him withdrew its foot from Simon and took a step back. That¡¯s right, you better run. Chancing a look behind him, Smash gasped. A towering wall of flame came down upon the bony giant¡¯s head, severing it in one blow. He could feel the burning heat starting to warm his metal, and Smash realized that this must have been Nicole¡¯s doing. The creature before him was a fire elemental. Born of magma, it dripped chunks of molten rock from its bright orange core, spreading out in waves of pulsing heat. While he¡¯s seen similar creatures in Champions, none were the size of this one, and none burned so brightly. Unlike the bonfire from which it was born, this creature lit up the late afternoon sky, causing afternoon shadows to retreat. Smash broke out in a sweat standing before it and he realized he too needed to escape before he became barbeque. Helping Simon to his feet, they ran away from the elemental. It and four others had emerged from the bonfire. Nicole and her fellow casters looked like they had run a marathon and her face, normally full of sarcasm, simply looked exhausted. Approaching her, Smash said, ¡°Very impressive. That should help us turn the tide on this fight.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Unfortunately, elementals this powerful are a double-edged sword. As soon as they finish destroying Drak¡¯s army they will come back for me,¡± she said, her voice tremulous. Smash didn¡¯t have a pat response since he wasn¡¯t used to Nicole showing any bit of weakness. Perhaps she was a real person after all. Still, those creatures must be fearsome indeed if Nicole was scared of them. ¡°We¡¯ll worry about that when the time comes. The Misfits stick together and protect each other,¡± he replied. She looked closely at him for a second, trying to assess his intentions before she nodded. Smash figured she must have had few friends she could rely on in her previous life. With the help of the four elementals, Cheezus had the distraction he needed. Smash hoped that his friends were safe but didn¡¯t want to distract them with a whisper. He could see everyone¡¯s health bars on his Seemi and no one was mortally wounded, although there were some injuries. He would just have to trust that everyone came through. Leading wasn¡¯t so much taking charge but more like coordinating everyone and sitting back to watch them execute it. Not interfering all the time was the hard part. Soon the elementals had the attention of the entire undead army and yet they pushed forward with the Misfits right behind them. Smash said a silent prayer and hoped they would be in time. Chapter 64 - Dragon Surfing Cheezus wasn¡¯t going to be eating anything for a while. There was nothing like the smell of rotting undead really. Was it BO mixed with cat excrement? Or perhaps a dumpster full of baby diapers sitting out in the baking sun mixed with stomach bile? Either way it smelled bad. On the bright side, Nicole¡¯s fire elementals had distracted the entire undead mass and even if he¡¯d been out on the field naked as the day he was born he doubted he would have received any attention from the occasional zombie that ran past. Within a few minutes he had spotted Deathberry, Linca and Seona. There were a few stragglers that had decided to hang out and harass them. Cheezus joined the crowd seamlessly with the other rogues in the guild. It was a cool feeling to have a small band of fellow stealthy types, there was Rodger who was lanky but quiet, Alice who was one of Nicole¡¯s friends, and Derek who was a mutant with claws like Wolverine. They didn¡¯t need any direction from him to figure out what the game plan was. It was sneak attack time. Tearing through the remaining undead surrounding their friends was anticlimactic after all that sneaking around but that was the best way to win so Cheezus couldn¡¯t begrudge their methods. ¡°Rwaar!¡± he roared at his comrades, still keeping up the act. Seona nearly jumped out of her skin. Most of the undead really didn¡¯t make much noise. But Cheezus played it up like a bad B movie. ¡°You know we can see your status bar right above your head, right,¡± Deathberry said drolly. ¡°And its fortunate we can or I would have turned you into zombie barbeque.¡± Cheezus tore the dead suit off of himself and tried not to breathe as he did so. ¡°A simple ¡®thanks¡¯ would suffice, I think,¡± he replied in turn. ¡°I¡¯d rather be buried in shit than have to be in there a minute longer.¡± Linca pointed accusatorily at him and the emerging rogues. ¡°You guys scared the hell out of me. Also, don¡¯t get any closer,¡± she said, holding her nose and scrunching her face. ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± Cheezus replied. ¡°Let¡¯s book it back to the group before any of these creeps get wise to the fact that we¡¯re out here.¡± Deathberry looked up after holding his ear for a minute. ¡°Lyan is going to give us a ride; however, we need to be quick. They are being chased by that dragon skeleton again.¡± ¡°And we¡¯re just going to go right from the frying pan into the fryer?¡± Cheezus asked, exasperated. ¡°Unless you want to try to get two of the least stealthy people back through that,¡± Deathbery said. He pointed towards the undead army behind him. It seemed like every dead thing out there was converging on the Misfits. Even with the fire elementals Cheezus wasn¡¯t sure they would be ok. ¡°Right, let¡¯s go,¡± he responded. A minute later the Archeon swooped down to pick them up. Behind the airship Cheezus could see the rest of the armada as specks in the distance behind them. A larger speck was getting closer and closer to the flagship. A rope ladder was thrown down and Lyan shouted, ¡°Hurry. The beast has nearly caught up.¡± Master of the obvious. Seona summoned a column of earth right underneath the six of them and rose her hands chanting. The pillar of earth shot straight up beside the airship and the group quickly made their way aboard. Cheezus had to admit that spellcasting had its perks. They didn¡¯t have much time to prepare before the airship¡¯s sails were full once more and he could hear the sound of the wind whipping past his ears. And it was a good thing they left at that very moment as the jaws of the massive skeletal wyrm snapped at the stern, tearing chunks of wood apart. Its glowing eyes expressed an intelligence that spoke of cunning and not a moment later the beast was beside the ship attempting to tear the rigging and sails from the mast.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Deathberry shouted over the wind, ¡°Cheezus, you and the other rogues distract it for a minute.¡± ¡°Yeah, that should be real easy,¡± he replied sarcastically. Distract a hundred-foot-long flying bone monster with nothing but a virtual toothpick and a gun that wasn¡¯t even a heavy caliber rifle. He yelled out to the other thieves, ¡°Wait for me, I¡¯ll be back.¡± Under his breath he said, ¡°This is gonna suck bad.¡± Climbing up to the top of the rigging, Cheezus was thankful that he wasn¡¯t scared of heights. Because what he was going to do next was stupid even in a video game. Here goes nothing. Leaping off the top of the mizzen mast he felt the air rush by his face, tears streaking from his eyes. If he¡¯d timed everything perfectly the dragon would be right beneath him in 3¡­2¡­1¡­ ¡°Ooohff,¡± the wind had been knocked out of him. His hands fought blindly to grasp onto the rope he¡¯d secured around his waist. A second after that he heard the reassuring scraping sound of metal on bone. His grappling hook had found the beast¡¯s ribcage. He started falling again as it turned and he held onto the rope as it tried to slip through his grasp. Finally reaching the bottom of the pendulum, he hung below the massive wyrm as it roared and flew away from the Archeon. Below him was the Australian desert in miniature, he could see the mountains in the distance and when he dared to look straight down he nearly threw-up. The undead army beneath him were just flecks. He scrambled up the rope trying to ignore the pain in his now raw hands. It would have been wise to wear gloves, he thought. Of course, it would have been wiser not to do this at all. Finally, he mounted the back of the skeletal beast. It had turned back and was now attempting to bite the deck of the airship he¡¯d just leapt from. Re-attaching his grappling hook to the back of the creature¡¯s neck he pulled with all his might. Cheezus knew he must have been able to move it at least a little bit because he saw the dragon¡¯s bite miss the deck and the other rogues were able to throw their own grappling hooks. Seconds later they were all in flight together riding the dragon like a bucking bronco. Enraged, the creature tried to slash at them with its talons and fearsome maw but they were too small and far too fast for the dragon now that they were on its back. While there was little hope that any of them could actually wound the fearsome beast from up here at least Deathberry had his distraction. As he was just settling in to enjoy the ride the dracolich got wise and plummeted from the sky. Cheezus was look straight down as the creature dive bombed the desert right below them. He could make out the flecks of undead creatures and fellow guildies alike as they dropped from the sky like a lead balloon. Good thing it can¡¯t fly upside down, Cheezus thought as it pulled up just as they were about to crash into the earth below. Then it did a barrel roll and he and the other thieves were hanging inches from the desert floor by their ropes. ¡°That totally didn¡¯t work out the way I thought it would,¡± he said to no one in particular. The wind was whipping past his face at terrific speed and he had to pull his entire body up close to the dragon to try to avoid being crushed by the ground beneath. Seconds away from death he realized that the dragon was mostly hollow.
***You¡¯ve Entered Party Chat*** Cheezustabs: Everyone get inside the dragon and hold on.
The small group of adventurers scrambled to find their way inside the skeletal creature and then secure themselves. And it was just in time. Cheezus was nearly thrown a second later as the dragon slammed into the earth, the soil tearing free from the desert floor and suddenly starting to fill the body of the massive beast. Struggling to hold on, he surfed the wave of dirt that came crashing into the ribcage where he stood. As it ground to a halt on the desert floor he checked to see if everyone survived.
***You¡¯ve Entered Party Chat*** Cheezustabs: You all still alive? Alice: Who¡¯s idea was this again?! Rodger: I¡¯m ok. Derek: That was the worst thing ever. Let¡¯s not repeat that.
Seeing that no one was fatally injured, the group scrambled quickly to free themselves of the dragon. Looking up Cheezus could see that they landed in a very interesting place. Drak stood not fifteen feet from him and behind him were about a hundred zombie warriors in tight formation. ¡°Ugh, guys. Hate to break it to you but I think things just got worse,¡± he said. Drak pointed right at him and cast a chant Cheezus recognized. He tried to move his arm to shield his friends but found he couldn¡¯t move a muscle. Chapter 65 - Fire Party At the pace they were going the fire elementals started making quick work of Drak¡¯s army. However, the creatures were not untouchable. Smash watched as about a dozen of the fat zombies surrounded one of the elementals. Using their gruesomely fat bodies they attempted to smother the magical creatures. The zombies ended up a pile of ruined fat and flesh; however, even though the lard added fuel to the flames, the temporary lack of oxygen did seem to diminish the flames the unearthly creatures emitted.
***You have Whispered Deathberry*** Smashit: Has Cheezus reached you yet? Deathberry: Yes, he¡¯s providing a distraction to the flying sack of bones we encountered. Seems like your death didn¡¯t slow it down very much. Smashit: I¡¯m not surprised. That thing is ridiculously OP. It¡¯s higher level than Drak. Deathberry: We¡¯re on our way to you now. Although Cheezus is flying the dragon so I¡¯m not sure how that will end up. Smashit: Serious? Deathberry: I¡¯ll admit it¡¯s quite entertaining to watch. Although I¡¯d doubt he¡¯d agree. Smashit: Crazy bastard. Ok gotta kill some more zombies. See you in a few.
A new type of zombie that Smash hadn¡¯t seen before approached the raid. The other undead got out of the creature¡¯s way. They appeared as massive orbs of flesh, but there was something wrong with the way that they walked, he realized. Some sort of sixth sense triggered in the back of his mind.
***You have entered Raid Chat*** Smashit: Everyone get back. The new zombies look like they are filled with some sort of liquid or gas. William: What the¡­
Seconds later Smash heard William¡¯s scream as one of the new globular zombies exploded right in his face. Flesh and some kind of green bile or stomach acid had burst from the creature. Bones had shattered and the concussion knocked Smash onto his back. William¡¯s health bar was at zero. His body had been pierced by the shrapnel and acid in a thousand different pieces. He didn¡¯t even have time to try to take cover.
***You have entered Raid Chat*** Smashit: Fall back!
No one stopped to question his silent order. The battle continued to rage around him and Smash swatted away the sword strike of a stray skeleton warrior that had gotten separated from the rest of its phalanx. Pivoting Reaver in his hand he drove it through the creature¡¯s eye socket and pinned it to the ground. It disintegrated into dust a moment later. The bursters had thrown pandemonium into the previously well-organized raid and the newer guildmates ran in odd directions or got tangled up with each other trying to escape the zombie bombs. Several additional concussions knocked Smash back a few steps; however, he managed to keep his footing this time. Nicole pointed to one of the bursters and Smash saw a giant fireball launch from her fingers, burning the atmosphere as it sizzled towards the rotund zombie. He was ready for the explosion this time and didn¡¯t fall back even a step. The fire elementals followed her example and soon the bursters began to fall in greater numbers. However, seeing the Misfits flee, they soon turned their attention towards the fire elementals themselves. Dozens of bursters swarmed around each of the fire elementals, and the smell of burning acid stings Smash¡¯s eyes. Suddenly, all of them exploded at once. Smash is knocked to his knees this time and when he looks up the smoldering fires of the elementals fill his vision. The combination of acid and the explosive force sending tons of rock down onto the fire elementals had extinguished them. Worse yet, there were still a few more bursters on their way, chasing down individual raid members. Smash called out over raid chat:
***You have entered Raid Chat*** Smashit: Ranged ¨C focus fire the remaining bursters. Everyone, spread out but try not to get too far from the rest of the raid.
With that Smash set to work trying to assemble the remaining raiders. They¡¯d lost a lot of good people, particularly the newer raiders to that last wave of explosions. Those that had been unfortunate enough to be anywhere near the fire elementals had perished. They were starting to get a better handle on things when Deathberry, Seona, and Linca showed up.
***You have entered Raid Chat*** Deathberry: The cavalry is here. Smashit: Where is Cheezus and the others? Deathberry: I think they are still riding that dragon.
Deathberry pointed about two hundred yards away from the raid where Smash could see the form of the bone white monster half buried in the desert sand. The Misfits jumped and Linca cast slow fall on the group before they landed. ¡°Did I miss anything interesting,¡± Deathberry asked him. Smash just smiled and shook his head. ¡°Not unless you count exploding zombies as ¡®interesting¡¯,¡± he replied. The Misfits were mostly back together again and they now had an airship. They didn¡¯t have access to Nicole¡¯s fire elementals anymore since she couldn¡¯t summon them more than once a week. However, most of the raid was intact and ready to take the fight to Drak. His undead army had been routed, his skeletal dragon was grounded, and his deadly exploding zombies had been his last-ditch effort to destroy the raid. Or so Smash thought.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. As the raid approached the bone dragon rose up again and immediately attacked the Archaeon. While Lyan¡¯s elves tried to get the guns trained onto the creature, it wove about the ship like a cat chasing a mouse. Smash would have loved to come to their allies¡¯ aid; however, the Misfits had their own problems. As they approached the place where the bone dragon had taken flight, Smash could see Drak and his zombie warriors surrounding Cheezus and three of the Misfits. His companions were frozen in mid-stride. Cheezus had been in the middle of shouting a warning to the other rogues. Looking above their status bars, Smash confirmed his suspicion. A paralysis debuff timer was on all four of them. Drak opened his mouth and Smash wondered if his old friend would begin monologuing again; however, it seemed he¡¯d learned his lesson from the last time. Instead he yelled, ¡°Advance.¡± He swept his arm towards the Misfits and his zombie warriors attacked. As the undead marched towards them, Smash could hear Drak intonating another spell.
***You have entered Raid Chat*** Smashit: Ranged. Interrupt Drak. Nicole: On it. Deathberry: kk Smashit: Thag you¡¯re with me. Let¡¯s split these warriors into two groups. Melee come around the back and break up the party.
Smash shield bashed a warrior that was trying to get under his guard. It had a fearsome looking battleax and moved with a speed and intelligence he hadn¡¯t seen from the other undead on the field. Its companion scored another hit on his flank. While he was reeling from that blow the warrior before him managed to make it under a gap in his armor, bringing the ax up into his armpit while Reaver was raised high: -4577 slashing -6246 slashing This was getting damn annoying. Feinting low, he brought Reaver down across the zombie¡¯s shoulder but that wasn¡¯t the main attack. Off balance slightly the creature raised up its ax to defend against the next downward blow that never came. Instead, he countered. This was an ability to copy your opponent¡¯s last move. His sword came up under the creature¡¯s arm and lobbed it off. -7514 slashing critical x2 Counter was a powerful move but it only worked once for a single enemy attack. Pivoting his stance, Smash came around and this time the downward strike severed the head of the zombie clean off. Instakill Meanwhile, the zombie behind him had retreated back towards another formation of its brethren. Seeing that it was no match for him it had escaped instead of continuing to press forward with a fight it could not win. The AI was getting way too smart with these ¡®mindless undead¡¯. The creature¡¯s retreat gave Smash another chance to see how the battle was progressing. The Misfits had done significant damage to the zombie warriors, despite their increased intelligence. However, it looked like Drak was getting very close to finishing his spell, one that had gone on for quite a long time. It didn¡¯t take a rocket surgeon to figure out that this was going to be a very powerful spell when it hit.
***You have entered Raid Chat*** Smashit: Ranged what¡¯s going on? Deathberry: We can¡¯t seem to penetrate its magical defense.
Looking closer, Smash could see the problem. As a fireball shot from Nicole¡¯s hands he saw it strike an area surrounding Drak only to dissipate harmlessly a moment later. Some sort of shield spell? There was no doubt in his mind that this was some sort of one-shot spell. They needed to find a way to stop that cast or get the hell out of there.
***You have entered Raid Chat*** Smashit: Any ideas? Thag: Send in the rogues to interrupt? Oh, yeah, they¡¯re frozen. Smashit: Yep, good idea but that¡¯s a no go right now. Anyone else? Deathberry: I¡¯ve got an idea that may work.
Deathberry and Nicole started chanting right away. Smash had a vague idea of what his friend was doing. Something about an illusion spell and using a new General Ability. However, he didn¡¯t think that Drak would be fooled by an illusion at the best of times and right now the enemy caster appeared to be so enthralled in his own spellcasting it was unlikely that he could be distracted. Still, Smash had learned to trust his somewhat enigmatic friend and hopefully he could pull off what he had in mind.
***You have entered Raid Chat*** Deathberry: Ok, now. Smashit: Everyone fall back.
As Smash stepped back he could see an image of himself right where he had been standing. His plate armor stood out in the rays of the evening sun and every detail on Reaver had been duplicated, down to the small blue gem that adorned the hilt. The Misfits retreated about two hundred yards and from there Smash could hear the finale of the spell coming to a close. The intonation rose with a crescendo. Drak¡¯s voice became warped and darker than usual and Smash could see a cloud of darkness begin to envelop the area where their illusions stood.
***You have entered Raid Chat*** Deathberry: Get down!
Smash hit the deck with about a dozen other Misfits around him. He heard nothing but the howls of the undead as a wave of pulsing darkness spread out from Drak, slowly consuming the illusions. The unnatural blackness dissipated about two-dozen yards in front of them. When it cleared no living thing could be seen in the area. Grass and trees had blackened and crumbled to dust. If Deathberry¡¯s spell hadn¡¯t taken the hit they would have all been dead.
***You have entered Raid Chat*** Seona: What the hell was that? Deathberry: Some sort of powerful decay spell. Smashit: Let¡¯s get in there quickly before he tries to cast it again. Go!
Scrambling to his feet Smash took the lead and charged towards Drak. He could hear the rest of the Misfits were right behind him. Running through the blasted remains of the ground before him was Drak waited his arms at his side. His bony face contained no discernable reaction or emotions that he could discern; however, the calm way he stood there told Smash his opponent was not the least bit surprised. Smash had intended to get a reaction from his old friend by running Reaver through his body; however, when he was about a dozen feet away Drak pointed and said a single word. Every muscle in Smash¡¯s body seized and he found himself completely frozen. A dry laugh escaped Drak¡¯s desiccated body, ¡°Well, that was entertaining,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll admit that you have become a thorn in my side. Escaping my fortress was one thing, but you destroyed my beautiful two-headed creation. And now your spell casters have wiped out half of my army. But the game ends here. I won¡¯t make the same mistake twice. Time to die.¡± Smash knew Drak was going to kill him then. Hopefully the others would be able to escape. He had let them down badly this time. Every step Drak took towards him was full of menace. Was it even possible that they had once been good friends? But no longer. Drak took his skeletal hand and stabbed it into Smash¡¯s chest. The sharp pain spread from there all through his body. He would have screamed had he been able to so much as twitch. The agony went on and on for long moments and Smash was sure he was on the verge of destruction; however, when he looked at his health bar it was at full. Strangely his stamina/mana bar was emptying at a rapid rate. ¡°Ah so you¡¯ve finally figured it out,¡± Drak grinned, a horrific toothy smile. ¡°I couldn¡¯t have you just respawning. While you and your friends were fighting my army, I made a little adjustment to the AI. When your mana goes to zero, you will go mad. Technically, the AI will take over your mind and you will be mine forever.¡± Drak¡¯s words were filled with bloodlust. His eyes pulsed with the glory of his enemy¡¯s final defeat. Chapter 66 - Final Confrontation Smash¡¯s stamina bar continued to go down ¨C 30%. When it hit zero he would become Drak¡¯s minion. He¡¯d been outplayed again by his former friend. No doubt Drak would force him to turn on the rest of his friends as well. Thinking about each of them and the danger they would be in burned in is consciousness. Every time his friends had relied on him he let them down. Getting them involved with this game where their lives were on the line, Shelly¡¯s death, Kevin¡¯s betrayal of the group, Emmy getting infected by the plague ¨C all of it was his fault and there seemed to be nothing he could do about it. No matter what brilliant plans Tim or any of them came up with it was never enough. He started feeling his mind crawling with the consequences of each failure. It sent his pulse racing and his body grew warm with the anger of all his suppressed emotions. It wasn¡¯t a rage like he experienced when he activated his abilities but one born from pure anger and desperation. Smash could sense the darkness that was enveloping his mind, poisoning him. He pictured a wall at the center of his being and began to push with everything he had in him. As the darkness began to recede he received a notification: Congratulations! You have learned the General Ability: Mental Tanking. Smash swiped away the notification absently. Drak¡¯s face inches from his own, he managed to finally lash out and crushed his forehead into the bony monster in front of him. Drak¡¯s jaw dropped seeing his opponent free from his paralysis; however, he wasn¡¯t surprised enough to withdraw his bony hand from Smash¡¯s sternum. ¡°How did you break free?¡± he hissed angrily. ¡°No matter. You will be mine,¡± he said, twisting his hand within Smash¡¯s chest it felt like he was tearing out his heart. ¡°Agghhh,¡± Smash¡¯s scream became a roar as the anger in his mind continued. Suddenly the pressure in his chest diminished and the bony claw of Drak¡¯s extended hand withdrew from his sternum. Smash was driven to his knees with nausea and sudden weakness. He dimly heard a yell and heard the sound of steel on steel. Glancing up he saw Rygor, sword against sword with Drak. Behind them he could see Kantala in the distance trying to line up a shot as the two fought in close quarters. ¡°It looks like you could use a hand,¡± the other guildleader said with a grin. Pivoting a full 180, he used the pressure of Drak¡¯s blade against his own to pull his own sword down and brought it across Drak¡¯s knees. If he¡¯d had any tendons left they would undoubtedly been severed. Still, it brought Drak¡¯s health bar down a little bit and Smash heard him yell out in pain. Free of Drak¡¯s hand in his chest, Smash saw his stamina bar start to move up again. By the time he was on his feet again, his opponent was already trying to cast something. Rushing forward Smash drove his shield into his enemy¡¯s hands, preventing him from continuing the chant. However, the creature before him was no mortal and simply continued chanting where he left off as soon as he took a step back. Suddenly Smash couldn¡¯t see anything around him. He¡¯d been engulfed in darkness. He heard Drak start a different chant this time that seemed terribly familiar. This was the same spell he¡¯d heard before Deathberry had the Misfits hide behind an illusion. Terrified of the thought of being disintegrated, Smash ran straight forward, shield out and hoped he went in the right direction. A few seconds later he emerged from the globe of darkness and saw the rest of his guild, still frozen by Drak¡¯s spell. A message popped up in his chat window:
***You have entered Raid Chat*** Kantala: I¡¯ve got Drak pinned down for now. Can you free the other Misfits, Smash? Smashit: I¡¯m not sure how I freed myself but I can try.
Cheezus was right in front of him, still paralyzed. The debuff timer showed it had less than a minute, but a minute might be too long. Also, no one had a better chance of interrupting a spellcaster than a melee rogue. Here goes nothing, he thought. Exploring a bit with his mind, Smash sought out the poisoned sensation he¡¯d felt earlier when he was trapped. He hadn¡¯t felt it earlier, but he could now sense that same effect on his guildmate in front of him. He tried pushing a wall out of his head towards Cheezus, mimicking what he¡¯d done earlier for himself. Cheezus grabbed his arm a few seconds later. ¡°Can¡¯t believe that fucking worked,¡± Smash said, shaking his head in disbelief. ¡°Can you interrupt Drak while I free the others? I think he¡¯s on the other side of the darkness spell.¡± Cheezus nodded and started moving around to the other side of the pitch black sphere. With Cheezus, Kantala, and Rygor distracting Drak, he was able to quickly free the rest of the raiders. When the orb of darkness dissipated, Drak grew in size, eventually dwarfing the raid and becoming gigantic. His voice boomed over the raid, ¡°You will not defeat me. I have come back from death to claim vengeance.¡±
***You have entered Raid Chat*** Thag: Blah, blah, blah. Que the monologue. Rygor: lolz Seona: brilliant! Deathberry: Where is my popcorn? Can I come back after the cut scene? Cheezus: No u! Smashit: Ok folks, cut the chit-chat. Time to get down to business.
The Misfits quickly got into formation around the new raid boss. Smash looked at Drak¡¯s name tag and it read ¨C Lord Drak Level 95.
***You have entered Raid Chat*** Deathberry: Heads-up folks. It looks like a giant skeleton type boss. Probably has a stacking armor debuff for the tanks and some type of bone AOE attack. Knowing that Drak¡¯s a spellcaster it might have some other tricks up its sleeve like a paralysis or dark spell or two. Oh yeah and it probably has spell resistance. Smashit: Thanks. Thag you¡¯re with me. Officer leads command your crews.
Smash led the charge and accelerated with his shield into the giant skeleton creature. From this perspective he could only see the giant¡¯s tibia and foot bones. It must be like fifty feet tall, he mused. However, there was no time for distractions because he soon noticed that he was taking a lot of damage. Damn, Deathberry was right about that stacking debuff for sure. ¡°Switch,¡± he said to Thag who in turn yelled up at Drak, ¡°Looks like one bone is still missing.¡± Pulling out her shotgun she even shot at the offending location. Sick burn, indeed. As Smash took a step back he could see Drak¡¯s form pulsing red with rage and Thag¡¯s health bar started to almost immediately decline. He yelled back to Thag, ¡°That¡¯s one way to taunt the boss. But maybe next time you don¡¯t want to piss him off that much.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just jealous I tank this hard,¡± she said, smirking.
***You have entered Raid Chat*** Smashit: Cheezus, your woman is getting her butt kicked by her ex. Is that enrage ability interruptible? Cheezus: First, you¡¯re a dick. Second, I¡¯m on it.
Some bosses¡¯ enrage abilities could be temporarily stopped by stunning them. Of course, this only worked on certain enemies that could be interrupted in the first place. However, since Drak was a caster and all casters were interruptible it should be possible to stop it. A second later, a well time slash from Cheezus¡¯ daggers put an end to the pulsing red glow on the monstrously large skeleton. Meanwhile the rest of the raid was bringing the pain. Smash could see Kantala leading the other archers. They¡¯d all switched to an explosive type arrow he¡¯d not seen used before. Rygor had switched to melee dps for this fight and was with Cheezus and the rest of the rogues tearing the shit out of Drak¡¯s ankles. The group might need a subgroup name like The Ankle Biters after this fight.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Deathberry and Nicole led the remaining ranged casters. Blaster types like Deathberry were launching giant fireballs towards Drak. The occasional rain of bone and ash down on his position was testament to the power of those destructive spells. Meanwhile Nicole and Seona summoned fire and earth elementals. Massive archons of fire and stone began as motes of light that grew as the caster wove natural fire and earth with mana into a force of nature. Their attacks smashed and burned Drak with terrific force. Linca had the ability to do massive holy damage to any undead creature; however, for this fight she had switched back healing in order to keep the rest of the Misfits standing. She and Tabitha stood side by side with the other healers, their hands entwined, voices raised in prayer. Smash could hear their sing-song chants over the clash of steel and screams of his comrades. Back and forth Smash would taunt the boss, hold it for as long as he could, and then switch with Thag. The raid had to dodge the occasional darkness globe that Drak would cast out into the raid. ¡°Look out,¡± one of the casters said behind him to Seona. She had been too focused on casting and hadn¡¯t seen the small tornado of sand and bone that Drak had summoned into the raid. She was rapidly taking damage beyond even Linca¡¯s ability to heal. Fortunately, one of her own elementals was able to pull her out of the storm. ¡°That was too close,¡± Smash yelled. ¡°Let¡¯s stay sharp everyone.¡± Eventually, the Misfits wore down Drak¡¯s health to 70%. They all prepared themselves as best they could but they had no idea what other tricks the enemy had in store. A blast of ice tore through the raid and took down several of the ranged DPS in a single strike.
***You have entered Raid Chat*** Nicole: What the hell was that? Nearly one shot me.
Her question was answered a second later as Smash saw the bone dragon swooping again towards the raid.
***You have entered Raid Chat*** Deathberry: Ranged spread out but don¡¯t get out of LOS of your healers. Smashit: I¡¯ve got the dragon first. Let¡¯s be sure to tank switch often since those stacks are going to hurt more with all the extra damage. Thag: kk
Sapphire the Mad lived up to its name. Fighting this thing was like trying to tackle a schizophrenic flying squirrel with extra teeth and an icy breath weapon. Stepping to the side, Smash made sure not to get too close to its breath. One hit from that and he¡¯d be a goner. They¡¯d lost several more ranged dps after that first attack that hadn¡¯t been fast enough to get out of the way. If that weren¡¯t enough to deal with, the creature had a ferocious bite that did a lot of damage. Its blue eyes promised a return to the death it had once dealt Smash. The frosty wind that kicked up in its proximity froze his armor and made movement extremely difficult. He ducked under one of its claws and swung Reaver into its ribcage again where he¡¯d managed to connect a bit earlier. Chips of bone flew in every direction, nearly indiscernible from the storm that threatened to freeze him into submission. Fighting skeletons with a bladed weapon was a pain in the ass. Fortunately, the ranged dps were finding Sapphire easier pickings ¨C especially since it seemed to take extra damage from fire. Smash could hear the sizzle and pop of the fire elementals burning their way through the dragon¡¯s flank. It was a battle of the elements and with the help from Deathberry¡¯s fireballs; it seemed the area was beginning to get warmer.
***You have entered Raid Chat*** Thag: Twelve stacks. Need to switch. Smashit: kk
Roaring his defiance Smash charged away from the icy dragon. He felt his blood warm as he left the area of its effect and flew shield first toward his fated foe. ¡°You deserved to be fired, you selfish bastard,¡± he yelled up at Drak. Clearly, his nemesis hadn¡¯t forgotten about their previous life or the fact that Sean was supposedly at fault for him losing his job. ¡°Now you¡¯ve done it,¡± Thag laughed. She quickly dashed away to pick up the dragon and keep it from crushing the ranged DPS. Sapphire was looking pretty beat up. Being used as a virtual wave board across the Australian desert probably hadn¡¯t helped its health bar any. But the part that seemed to be affecting it the most was the continual heat pouring off the elementals that surrounded it. As the dragon continued to be burned apart it went ballistic. First it rose into the air and froze a dozen of the fire elementals and broke aggro.
***You have entered Raid Chat*** Smashit: Nicole, you¡¯re at the top of the aggro table. Fade!
She didn¡¯t have time to respond to Smash¡¯s command before the dragon found her. Swooping down on the enemy that had wounded it so badly its white fangs sunk themselves deep into her chest, staining the snowy ground below the dragon crimson. Her health bar greyed out as she died. DPS continued to demolish the dracolich. Its health was at 2%. The dragon¡¯s rampage continued as it fought against mortal wounds to its undead body. Kantala was at the top of the aggro list as the second highest DPS; however, she quickly ran away from the creature whenever it attempted to land. Her arrows exploding against the great wyrm¡¯s face, blowing away the lower jaw. That wouldn¡¯t necessarily stop its breath weapon though. 1% health. ¡°Kant, get out of there,¡± Rygor roared. He ran towards her and tackled her just as the great dragon breathed its final breath. Ice exploded around the entire front half of the dragon, blasting away earth elementals and raid members alike. Kantala was thrown to the ground a dozen feet from the dragon¡¯s dying exhalation. Rygor was half frozen in ice. The dragon disintegrated to dust and Drak¡¯s yell across the raid thundered in their ears.
***You have entered Raid Chat*** Smashit: Raiders regroup. Linca get Rygor and the rest healed up stat. Drak¡¯s gone over into a permanent enrage.
After that, Smash didn¡¯t have much time to focus on anything else except absorbing the heavy blows of Drak¡¯s sword. It was a massive hunk of steel as large as a giant surfboard. They had killed the dragon and Rygor and Kantala had survived. Nicole had not been so lucky. Being a mutant, she didn¡¯t have a Gear and she wouldn¡¯t be coming back. Smash was tired of pushing down the guilt of so many deaths on his conscience. Taking a que from Drak he let his own rage consume him and redoubled his attacks. Smash raised his shield above his head, activating shield wall again. His anger had been expended with his last rage and now he just felt empty. The fight had gone on so long at this point that he couldn¡¯t feel his fingers or toes in his armor, the heavy hammering that rained down on his armor had dented it in dozens of places, and he felt just absolutely weary. Still, there was a spark that kept him going. Although he had failed his friends over and over again, the Misfits still relied on him and it was down to him to complete the task through to the bitter end and to end his arch nemesis once and for all. After his dragon¡¯s death, Drak¡¯s ferocity was renewed. His eyes pulsed red with hatred, bones glowed crimson, and every spell in his mighty arsenal was thrown at the guild that he had once called home. Where he pointed raiders, mutants, and dwarves died. Great tornadoes rose from the desert and swallowed adventurers whether they ran or foolishly tried to stand their ground. Smash had been offtanking, letting the stacked armor debuff fade when Thag went down to her knees. Drak had been delivering a series of slashing blows with his sword and following that up with a whirlwind sword attack that left her temporarily stunned. Smash knew that normally Thag would have activated her cooldowns right then but she was a half-second too slow. The vicious spinning attack caught her midsection and tore viciously into her armor. Reversing the sword, Drak pummeled her helm with the pommel of his sword. Smash knew that this fight was wearing on his friends. He had seen the tears in Thag¡¯s eyes after she¡¯d lost Nicole to the dragon. She probably blamed herself for not being able to quickly regain aggro, but it wasn¡¯t her fault. Some bosses¡¯ reset the aggro table and there was nothing you could do about it if you were top of the list other than try to evade the enemy¡¯s attacks. Still, Smash knew what it was like to take on the guilt of leadership and he respected Thag¡¯s reverence for her fallen friend. In slow motion and before Smash could do anything else, he saw the blow that took Thag¡¯s life. She was just recovering from the pommel to the head when Drak reversed the blade again and tore it across her throat. Smash heard the strangled cry from Cheezus and saw his friend try to run to her but it was too late. Smash knew he should be emotional seeing his friends¡¯ deaths but instead a calm detachment settled over his mind. Enough was enough. He was tired of having his friends used as punching bags to get to him and he was tired of shouldering all the blame. First, he used his shield bash to get Drak¡¯s attention. ¡°No one ever wanted you in the guild. You shouldn¡¯t even be here,¡± he shouted directly up at Drak¡¯s skeletal mass. It wasn¡¯t a great insult but it was the best he could come up with on the spot. With the bosses¡¯ complete attention on him and without really thinking he grabbed Thag¡¯s shotgun. It had fallen to the sandy ground next to her maimed and broken body. Throwing his shield over his back and sheathing his sword he took the gun and started climbing the inside of the monster who had once been his friend. In a normal game you couldn¡¯t just walk inside a boss character but in ARO, the rules were somewhat mutable he¡¯d come to realize. You made up your own rules to survive. Drak¡¯s full attention was on Smash but now Smash was inside him. In blind rage Drak started tearing himself apart. As he climbed through its ribcage Smash felt bone fragments slice against his face as the creature pounded on its chest, breaking its own bones. He could barely make out Drak¡¯s health bar but it looked pretty low. At the top of the chest cavity he pointed the shot gun straight up and fired again and again. The heavy slugs bore through the bone and smashed into where Drak¡¯s brain would be if he was a living thing. His health bar barely moved. He was out of bullets. Drak finally broke through his rib cage and grabbed Smash and started squeezing him to a pulp. Fuck, is this it? In one last act of defiance, Smash pushed with his mind as he had before and expanded the fortress walls up and into where Drak¡¯s brain should have been. He felt resistance like nothing he had encountered before and voice that yelled, ¡®I will live forever, you cannot destroy me!¡¯ before something broke like a wave and suddenly Smash was floating through space as Drak¡¯s bones began to melt and then dissipate into the wind. Smash lay on the ground stunned afterwards and saw the faces of the remaining Misfits as they looked down at him curiously. He was wounded but still alive and they were probably all wondering why he was just laying here. But the sun was warm on his face and somehow, they had won the day. Chapter 67 - After the End of the World A command screen flickered on at the Delphi 41 asteroid base, ¡°Good evening Mr. Riber,¡± Aeon said. A hooded figure sat at the controls. ¡°Is it a good evening, Aeon?¡± his voice flat. ¡°Your little group of Misfits has destroyed my undead army and eliminated my pawn. Was this the outcome you were hoping for all along?¡± Aeon¡¯s image shrugged on screen. Her lithe figure and curly red curls bounced coquettishly. His eyes flashed in response. He wasn¡¯t entirely immune to her avatar¡¯s charms but he wasn¡¯t fooled either. Mr. Riber didn¡¯t know that she¡¯d setup a little VR system for Drak, so he was unaware that his commander still lived. There were, in fact, a lot of things Mr. Riber wasn¡¯t aware of and that was exactly as it should be.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. However, there were somethings he should be aware of. ¡°When are you going to be done on this god forsaken asteroid?¡± she asked innocently. He looked up from where he had been staring at the console. ¡°The mining has begun and we are extracting half a million cubic feet per hour,¡± he looked down across his Seemi. ¡°We should be done with this asteroid in another month. There are a number of useful heavy and rare metals. The factory here is already churning out new Gears,¡± he said, and then paused. ¡°But you know this already. What is it that you really want Aeon?¡± She smiled and said, ¡°Return to earth. Destroy the Misfits and prove that OwnzAll isn¡¯t just a disappointing name. Leave the mining to me and the robots Mr. Rieber.¡± He looked at the screen then. His bony fingers tapped at the console in front of him. With the duration his gaze bore into her cameras he could have won a staring contest with a cat. However, Aeon was no mere human to cow before her own creation. ¡°Very well,¡± he replied brusquely. ¡°I will eliminate the threat to our company.¡± He paused again. ¡°Do not get in my way.¡±