《The Incursion - Rise of a Magus》 Prologue There were a number of world afflicted with the low end probability called life. Distance on a universal scale meant civilizations are almost always able to live, grow and die remembered only by the observations of the few beings powerful enough to do so. Beings powerful enough to be called Gods, by any measure, though most would find the definition limiting. They tended to be unconcerned with the lives of the short-lived civilizations, most of which seem determined only to wipe themselves from their pain filled mortal coils. Still, if preservation of mortals lives was low on the to-do list, then protecting the Universe could be called their 9-5 daily grind. Any number of other universes may enter ours by a variety of means. Also, more than a few advanced civilizations have lived long enough to develop ways of traveling to other planes of existences from this one. So long has no threat was perceived, nothing was the usual course of action. However, occasionally, entire worlds or Galaxies needed to be sealed or destroyed to prevent the spread of harmful beings or energies from outside the universe. ------ Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The bell rang signaling the end of 5th period and the 4 minute warning to get to the last class of the day. For Leon, it meant 5 minutes to get out of the school before the halls cleared enough for him to be noticeable. Teachers had the strange habit of wondering why you are not in class whenever you are not in class. A mystery that. Outside the school, Leon Glances left towards what could, under the right circumstances, be called home. Years of practice keeps his face neutral as he head to the right and to his part time job. A general laborer for a man too cheap to hire real help, Leon was paid under the table to keep cost low and profits high. It was way better than minimum wage though. As for missing his last class, Calculus, it couldn''t be helped. He would fail it of course, but he would also be able to test out at the end of the year. The school was generous when it came to trying to raise its number of graduates. He was 2 blocks and 1 alley from work when the world changed. Out of nowhere a small blue box appeared. In the distance Leon could hear the sudden swell of car horns and what sounded like multiple crashes. And why not? If you''re driving and a part of your vision is suddenly blocked bad things are bound to happen. Leon read the box in front of him.
Attention [Sentient Beings] This world has been sealed while [extra-universal energies] are incorporated into the existing structure. Additional but non-essential information can be obtained from [Celestials]. Good luck
Day one Leon I reverse my path after the message appears. ''Not enough information to panic just yet.'' I think, ''But enough to sit down and think about possible next moves.'' On the way home, I think I see strange looking rats in the gutters and under the garbage, but have no time or desire to investigate. Nothing is different about the side streets, but the main roads are a mess. The very air seems filled with confusion and anger. The number of people and cars camped on the side of the road is disconcerting. Once home I run up to my room and locked the door. My foster guardian Mr. ''You don''t need to know my first name, just call me ''Sir'', Smith'', didn''t even look up from the TV when I burst through the door. No surprise there, he was passed out drunk before 3 in the afternoon. He took in as many foster kids as the government allowed for the checks. Not that I minded really, he kept his hands to himself and fed the kids under his care. That was more than most did in my experience. Once in my room, a short session with the clock radio lets me know that blue box message had indeed been sent to everyone in the world, apparently. I had assumed so already, having no reason to doubt my sanity. The arguments over whether or not it was a hoax, have already begun. Hoax, Aliens, Government experiment gone wrong, Lizard people and cell phone radiation are the leading contenders for the message. Online, I learned that along with the numerous people killed when the message appeared, there were already videos of strange animals and... things. People in their infinite wisdom had already been killed poking some of them with sticks, both figuratively and literally. Balls of ooze that melted the flesh right off were the worst to see. The highest kill count, however, went to the cute rabbit looking hairballs with a single horn and no feet . The things had appeared EVERYWHERE and promptly attacked everything else they saw. Bouncing, furry, little balls of death. They were apparently weak, but because they looked so cute... well people are nothing if not predictable. Note to self, ''Cute is the new deadly.'' My personality doesn''t allow me to assume this is a hoax or game first. If I''m wrong then fine, but I always start with the assumption that things are as they appearfirst. With a sinking feeling, I take stock of my possessions in case of a worse case scenario. Bed, blankets, sheets, pillows and case, clothing, shoes, socks, school supplies, desktop computer, chair, dresser, case of water, bag of chips and a box of granola bars. I empty my school bag and put socks, underwear, and extra shirts into it, along with the food, just in case I have to leave in a hurry. Not that I plan on it, outside seems like it''s getting more dangerous by the minute. I don''t eat much, but the food I have just wont last long. All the food in the house won''t last everyone here more than 4 days or so. assuming everyone makes it home safe. The various schools could decide to lock down rather than send everyone home. Not really my problem though, I don''t really get along with anyone else here. There are four other boys that live here and we all have chips on our shoulders from growing up in the system. The problem is, theirs, as far as I can tell, comes coupled with a generous dose of stupidity. The one thing I can''t stand. I sigh, if I plan to hold up here at home until the world knows where it stands, I''m going to need more food, period. Before I can think about it too much, I head downstairs and take Mr. Smith car keys from the kitchen counter. I can''t drive really well, but I do know how at least. He''s still out, good for me. I doubt he was awake when the message hit, and like most people, I don''t think he would take it seriously if he had been. The roads are a mess, with a ridiculous number of people standing besides their cars exchanging insurance information. Are they serious? Are they hiding from the strange message in routines they know? Doesn''t matter. I head to the supermarket, which is more crowded than expected, but nowhere near as crowded as it should be. Not if everyone was taking this day as seriously as I think they should. The air of the store has fear in it, you can tell the people are afraid, but most don''t know of what. I''m afraid of running into one of those strange rabbit killers or ooze monsters or any of the other numerous things out there now. Still, given this city''s crime rate, the chances of death aren''t significantly higher than this morning. Not yet, at least.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. I sweep through the store grabbing a variety of canned goods, more bottled water, rice, and pastas, plus whatever limited medical supplies I can find. I fill the cart to the brim, things are tense and checkout takes a while, but nothing happens. It''s only been a few hours but the more cautious inhabitants of this planet are probably quietly doing the same asI am, just in case. But I imagine most people are just sitting at home hoping this all blows over while they laugh at the people running around in a near panic. I hope they get the last laugh, but somehow I don''t think the dice are gonna roll that way. I was about to head home, but stop at a sporting goods store, to grab two baseball bats. I think about getting a gun, but there is no way in hell the store is gonna let a 16-year-old buy a firearm. Oh well, I probably really am just overreacting anyway. I hope so at least. I get a better look at the rats I thought I saw earlier on the drive home. They are HUGE, the smallest the size of smalldogs, and at first I think they are black, but they''re purple, a deep dark purple. Extra long hairy tails and a hairless body is enough to convince me something about them ain''t right. I don''t consider myself to be all that stubborn so I''m extra convinced. Most the people that were on the streets earlier are gone, and those that remain are locked in their cars. Everyone I can see is on their cell, overloading the networks. I don''t know if I''m happy or sad I have no one to call. The lumps on and off the road swarmedby the rats, are what I assume happened to those who didn''t make it to the shelter of their cars. I run over quite a few of the little monsters on the way home, at least 20 of the things, but who''s counting. Are they attacking the car because it''s moving, maybe? I''m thankful the automatic garage means I don''t have to step out of the car to park, but I don''t even pauseto check when I park. I''m afraid if I check under the car one will jump out at my face like a bad horror plot. "Boy! What the fucking hell!? you stole my car!? You know I''m on the phone with the police, right now? I''m a call your caseworker next and have you thrown out of my house! What the fuck is wrong with you? You ain''t never been no trouble, but now this!?" Mr. Smith is awake and furious when I get back. "Sorry sir," I say, "it seemed like a good idea at the time, since I don''t know how long the stores willbe open." "What the hell are you talking about?" He yells, getting right up in my face. I think about punching him in the throat. I''m stronger than I look, but probably not strong enough to drop him with one shot. He''s fat, but it''s the kind that hides muscle. Plus I''m not really a violent person unless it''s a practical solution to a problem. I just hate having to speak so much and I can tell this may be a long conversation if I don''t handle it right. Plus, y''know, personal space. "Did you see the message earlier, the one that popped up in the air in front of everyone?" I ask. "What message!?" He demanded, while managing to get further into my personal space. Now I''m wondering if I should give him a kiss, just to be random. "It''s probably still on the news, you should probably try to see if any new information came up. Basically a blue message jump out the air at everyone, there''s been a bunch of wild animals coming out of nowhere and people are getting killed left and right!" I''m purposely less than exact so his mind can fill in the blanks. I want him curious enough to go watch the news which I''m sure is speculating the shit out of the situation. "What!? some kinda terrorist attack!?" He yells, looking around the kitchen like he expects Johnny Jihad to jump out of the oven. "Something like that." I say, "That''s why I took the car to get food, now, while the stores are still open." I reach into my pocket and hand him a ten dollar bill, "This is for the gas." Mr. Smith looks at me for a moment then snatches the money out of my hand and goes into the living room. In moments, I hear a news station talking about pretty much the same thing I saw online earlier. I keep an ear open, but, they don''t seem to be saying anything I didn''t already know, or expect. Well, on to more immeadiate matters. So long as we don''t burn the place down, everyone usually just handles their own food situation. The very fact that no one cares what I do, makes me want to be a little more responsible than most kids I guess, since I normally try to eat a more or less balanced diet. I want to cook as much food as possible and store it away, but I can''t hog the kitchen all evening. So I make dinner for everyone, and keep cooking while they eat. Three of the four other boys in the house come down at some point and I give them a better dinner than they usually make for themselves. The fourth boy, Adam, I''m told is missing and hasn''t come home yet. Almost 18 and scarcely seen, I have no way of knowing where he would be, if he''s alright or what I could do if he wasn''t. All things involving ''outside'' being fairly low on my list of things to tackle at the moment. After a few hours of the news, it''s 9 PM, the fridge is full and the cabinets have enough can goods to last a while. Mr. Smith decided it''s imperative to make a supply run of his own, to the liquor store, of course. It''s the last time we see him. ------ At first other than the message, nothing much seemed to change. But change did come. While television and the internet lasted, the world was beset with reports of strange aggressive animals and life forms appearing out of nowhere. As the days went on the strange animals got bigger and more dangerous, but it wasn''t until handguns stopped working on day 3 that everything went to hell. Long guns stopped functioning on day four, explosives on day 5. On days 6 and 7 electricity and machinery in general just started dying. flights were grounded, trains stopped running, and the roads became automotive grave yards. Dying sensation Leon News channels are one of the last things I thought I would ever have an interest in, but the boys and I stay glued to the boob tube all night. At some point the schools are cancelled getting a frown from me and a brief cheer from everyone else, even Chris. The boy is the same age as me and really should know better. The talking heads are adamant that people stay inside for their own safety. The city is calling in everyone from exterminators to retired firemen. The Governor of the state is quicker than most to realize the potential severity of the situation. The national guard were notified and everyone with a passing acquaintance with the government is told to be on stand by. Hospitals are flooded with the injured and by midnight, despite the danger of being outside, the looting naturally starts. Well, humans are nothing, if not predictable. The few news crews willing to brave both mini-monsters and looters, show people stealing everything from TV''s to colouring books. The entire country is going mad, it seems. Mike and Danny, 12 and 13 respectively, are as worried as I am. They arepure troublemakers and have a bad habit of running small packages for the West Avenue boys. Chris was just an idiot in my opinion, not the lovable oaf version either. He was a stereotypical bully and I honestly had no idea what he did with himself outside the house. When reports of the looting starts he wants to go join in, I have to remind him of the killer fuzz balls outside the door. Mr. Smith still hasn''t return, and even I was somewhat worried about him. In the back of my mind I am pretty sure he is dead though. Who risks their life for beer in an emergency? In the morning the internet has bad cell phone footage of little green men. Not the ''Take me to your leader'' kind. Everyone agrees they have to be Goblins. The news isn''t far behind, even though they took an hour insisting the videos had to be fake. Come 9 AM the White house is insisting the president is safe and will issue a statement shortly. By 10:30 the statement is postponed while he was moved to a secure location and the nation mourns for the vice-president. The VP''s security detail is credited by the press with being the first to kill an Angel, but given the dirty bodies, the claws and talons, the internet decides to call them Harpies. Every religion seems to agree it is the end of the world, so you should quickly send more money to reserve your room in heaven. And an awful lot of folks seem to be impatient for Cherub room service because suicide rates are through the roof. Of course, North Korea, some terrorist and the more militant right wing nut-jobs agree it was all an obvious plot by the Great Western Satan libtard Guberment. Not to be out done, more than a few hippy communes try to reason with the more humanoid monsters. Explaining that we can get along and there was enough love for everyone. They will be missed. Their drug addled minds, not so much. I start to print out everything I think might be useful depending on how things go. A mix and match batch of information from wilderness survival to possible bomb shelters in the city. And so the first days go. More and more bizarre monsters appear. More people and places are going dark, and more half eaten bodies line the streets. At the end of day 4 there are rumours of dragons in Europe, but no video. China is locked down, but still active according to satellites. On day 5, France set off a nuke in Paris and no one seemed to know why. Everything else I can handle, but that one makes me go to my room to shed silent tears. Whatever hope I have that everything can somehow work itself out is blown away with Paris.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. On day 6, the lights went out, but by then I was honestly surprised they had lasted so long. I always thought if one country ever used nukes, the rest of the world would follow and only ask what happened well after the fact. My believe in humanity was never strong. Mr. Smith has a small generator out back, but I don''t think it wise to draw unnecessary attention to the house. Outside by now is teeming with small dangerous beast of all sorts. I have not heard any gunshots in days but occasionally there were screams. Chris and I keep our Bats close at hand. We have long since barricaded all the doors, taped cardboard to the windows and set a watch for the night. Everyone keep falling asleep during the watch but at least we are trying. Rattling door and windows sometimes happen during the day. I have a feeling we were going to have to bail long before we run out of food, so I make sure everything was cooked and we eat like kings. Mr smith has a treadmill I''m surprised he ever took out of the box. We use it a bit to relieve boredom, but also because sitting around inactive can not be a good look in this new world. So we eat, exercise, keep an eye out and listen to the news, right up until the lights go out. At the end of day seven everything has pretty much stopped working. We have enough food for at least another week, I figure. Both bathtubs are filled with water. Pouring some into the tank keeps the toilets working. Adam has nothing useful in his room, except some pills I doubt are of medicinal value. Mr. Smith''s room has another baseball bat though. I let the three others carry the bats, while I have the larger kitchen knives strapped to myself with newspaper sheaths. At least while we are inside. If we have to leave though, Mike is giving his bat up. Problems start two days later. Everyone is already going stir crazy from being trapped in the house. Whispered arguments are happening more and more. I am speaking less and less, which is my thing when I''m upset. Finally Chris says he is leaving for his girlfriend''s house. Didn''t know he had one. He wants to make sure she is OK, and I don''t see any reason to stop him. We are all going to have to leave eventually, best to do it on our own terms. The dumb ass tries to walk out the door with just the bat in his hand. I literally face-palm. We help him pack his school bag with a change of clothes food and water, we check outside for monsters. Not as many as the early days, but purple rats and goblins are out there. Chris is confident he can make it if he is careful though, and I agree. He goes out the back door, and I wished him luck as I lock it behind him. Not even an hour passes before Mike and Danny come to me with their bags pack saying they are heading to the West Avenue Boys club house. I just sigh and try to talk them out of it. I don''t like them much, but I feel obligated as the oldest to point out they could literally die out there. They are too young to know they are mortal though. Not like I can keep them here against their will. Too much noise could have monster bursting through the door at any moment, if I try to physically keep them here. Three days later and almost two weeks since the message first appeared, things got interesting. I am in bed reading when another blue box pops up.
Attention Sentient Beings Incorporation of [extra-universal energies] into [Native Inhabitants] has been deemed necessary for the survival of [Native Inhabitants]. Additional but non-essential information can be obtained from [Celestials]. Please note, you may feel a slight dying sensation
"Is that a joke?" I ask no one out loud. A few seconds later, I can tell it was not. Luckily the pain is so intenseit stops me from screaming long enough to pass out. Ch 4 - Character Creation Sigma-48 A new being appears, though in many respects it would be more accurate to say ''I appear to a new being''. Human, male, alive, aware. hmm, more than most anyway. ''Hello.'' I say, tone neutral in all respects. I have not been self-aware long enough to decide on a personality just yet. I''m leaning towards Jovial, male, type-b. The being, a boy really, looks around us, then at me. There isn''t much to see, this space is made by his mind, but so far, there is only white as far as his eyes can see. Most humans subconsciously fill this space with their fears and hopes, dreams and monsters. Curious. As for myself, I am just a vague humanoid outline, no need for more than that. plus I have not yet decided on my features. Instead of Jovial, perhaps I should go with ''indecisive''. "Hello, I''m Leon, what is going on?" The boy finally replies. Not ''who are you?'' or ''where am I?'' like most. Interesting. The ''I''m Leon'' inclines me to also introduce myself, as well. Clever. I decide to use the new ability we are incorporating into the world. ''Inspect'' I think at the boy.
Status
Name Leon Level 1
Health 110
Mana 160
Stamina 120
Nothing too special just yet. But his intelligence must be higher than average for the 60 point boost in mana at level one. "What do you think is going on?" I find him interesting enough to ask. The child looks around, taking his time, then answers my question. "Well, either I''m dead or I''m not. Either you''re an Angel or not and either this is heaven or not. But I''m leaning towards you being a Celestial. it''s 50/50 on the being dead though." Smart, perceptive, but a dislike for definitive answers. "You are not dead by human standards. I am indeed a Celestial. I am currently being Sigma-48. This is your character creation, where you shall choose the path you will use to survive the change that has occurred to this world." I pause since this is usually where a flurry of questions are thrown my way, but he just looks at me with a purposely blank expression. "Would you like me to continue or would you prefer to ask any questions?" "Please." he gestures palm up for me to keep going. "Very well. Beings from another universe have for all intents and purposes invade Earth. In time you might have been able to defend yourself. However, your most common weapon, the gun, has been neutralized, with sympathetic magic. The being that resides in this part of the universe can either destroy your world, which would mean rearranging this entire part of the galaxy to avoid damage to nearby systems or help you survive. It chose the latter." "2400 celestial were created to help the beings of this world contain the incursion into our reality. We are a part of each other and a part of the being that created us, but that should change with time.I am currently being Sigma-48, tasked with preparing humans, in this part of the world, for their chance at survival." "The method we think best to achieve that goal is to allow humanity the ability to use the energies now permeating the world. You may now think of these energies as magic. The method of access should be familiar to you. You may now think RPG. If you are willing then you shall have a chance to rebuild your world with sword and sorcery." As I speak the space around us fills with images of many of the monsters that have appeared on Earth. Random images of knights, castles, games, and people also come and go. Though his face has not changed, he is obviously thinking about quite a bit. "The being that resides in this part of the universe. Are you talking about God?" The boy squints at me. "One of Many, but from your point of view, mostly yes." Do you have any suggestions on how humanity should go about retaking our world?" he sighed. He thought my answer vague, most likely. However, the very concepts necessary to explain my creator and its place in the universe, are only in their infancy on this world. "Just live, survive, rebuild. Eventually, a new equilibrium will be achieved. Despite all of this, not much as actually changed. You can access a new source of power but ultimately what you do with it, and your life is still up to you." "Oh," he said laughing. "Same old game with brand new tools then?" "Yes, " I reply. "But you will be starting from scratch. Your current technology has been effectively neutralized, everything you build from now on will be with the aid of these ''brand new tools''. He sits for a moment thinking about everything I have said. Then looks up at me with determination in his eyes. "OK, show me what I need to know." ------ Leon I tell the celestial to show me what I need to know and suddenly the space around us is filled with all manner of weapons, tools and glowing things.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "The first thing you need to know is your relative place in the world," it begins. "You can do so by asking yourself. Do so now." Then it just waits as if expecting me to know what the hell it''s talking about. Fine, I''ll think it through. ''Think RPG'' the Celestial said earlier. As in a game? did they implement some sort of ''view the world as a game'' system? makes sense from everything it said so far. ''It'' is rude, I''ll think of it as a male for now. Unless it indicates otherwise. ''My place in the world'' I think to myself, and the third blue box of doom I''ve seen appears.
Status
Name Leon Level 1
Health 110
Mana 160
Stamina 120
Strength 11 Intelligence 16
Dexterity 8 Agility 12
N/A 0 N/A 0
N/A 0 N/A 0
Like any game, the status screen is fairly straightforward. Health, mana, stamina I understand are the culmination of the base stats Intelligence, Strength, Agility and Dexterity. I briefly wonder about the calculations. while interesting though, it''s less than important. Basically big number good, bigger number gooder. Though it obviously depends on the build one is striving for. A front line Knight of the Camelot persuasion might want to center their stats around strength and stamina. A wannabe Ninja would spec around Agility, maybe with some Int thrown in for some Ninpo tricks. But the speculation isn''t really necessary. From the moment I understand what the new paradigm is going to be, my choice was made for me. No way in hell I''m going to swing a sword when motherfucking magic was just introduced to the world. Win, lose or draw, I''m about to seriously sling some sorcery. I touch the word health in the status box, and a new window pops up with additional but not really necessary info.
Health Your physical condition. Should your [HP] reach a value of Zero, you will die. HP regen 1.1/m
Interesting. Mana and stamina yield similar information with my [MP] regen at 1.6 and my [STA] regen at 1.2 per minute.
Mana Your magic power. [MP] is used for all spells and much more. MP regen 1.6/m
"Four of the attributes say not available, what''s with that?" I ask while continuing to poke about the status box. Sigma is quick to answer. "Everyone starts with the same four attributes, the other four are for you to choose from the many available. Some you can choose now when you pick a class and some will become available as you live your life. You should choose carefully. While they aren''t impossible to change, impossible is still a relative term." "Additionally, none of these attributes determine who you are, only what additional energy is being applied to your Aura. You see the Intelligence attribute as little to do with how smart you are and everything to do with how much mana you will be able to safely handle. Agility changes the way your aura takes in information allowing you to move in ways you wouldn''t think to before. And so on and so forth. The attribute affects you less and the energy surrounding you more. Understand?" "That explanation was a bit unwieldy, but I get it," I say. "So what about classes?" "That took some time to work out, but we decided to go with the same strategy as with attributes. If you were to choose the [Swordsman] class, you would deal additional damage when using a sword, however, there is nothing to stop you from picking up a bow or tossing fireballs. You simply wouldn''t get the bonuses that an [Archer] or [Mage] would get. Though there are basic bonuses you would earn by becoming proficient with the use of a new tool or weapon." It was all sounding pretty straightforward to me. obviously, there was a lot of background information worth discovering, but there always is. plus I was becoming pretty impatient to pick my class. "OK Sigma, I''ve got the basics, show me the classes," I say confidently. The humanoid outline tilts its head, the first movement it''s...he''s made yet. "I am currently being Sigma-48," he says. "One of one hundred within the Sigma series of Celestials. I can assure you, you would not live through the experience of getting the attention from all 100 of me." So in other words, use his full name, got it. "No problem Bob, now about those classes?" What can I say, prima donnas annoy me. Sigma-48 decides to ignore me though and continue with the lesson. "Look around, all the objects here are icons representing a class, you may choose one now and should you reach level 100 with it, you will gain a secondary class that gives your aura the full bonuses of another class. Most classes come with a recommended attribute that will fill up one of your 8 slots, but you don''t have to take it. That, however, would be a less than wise decision." "Cool," I say. "Can you filter out primarily non-magic classes, please?" The various swords, maces, spears, coins, hammers, and bows all disappear leaving behind images of glowing orbs, wands, symbols and demons. There is a glowing paper icon that turns out to be for the enchanter class. That intrigues me for a moment. I ask Bob to filter out the non-combat classes and it disappears along with a few other icons. The Summoner looks like fun but I have no interest in the type of attention a personal army would bring. I filter out the healers since other people aren''t high on my list of preferences. With that in mind, I remove the buffer classes as well. No bards or dancer for me, thank you. In the end, I''m left with 3 choices. The [Mage] which starts with basic spells of all four elements and the [Wisdom] attribute. The [Sorcerer] which seems like some sort of half elemental being and comes with the [Willpower] attribute. and the [Wizard] who seems like the magical jack of all trades between the [Illusionist] [Arcanist] and [Artificer]. It comes with the [Luck] attribute. In the end, I find myself choosing... Ch 5 - The Tutorial In the end, I choose the [Mage] class, it has an addition 5% to magic attacks and a 10% boost to magic defense. Won''t be much help at first maybe, but I plan to stay either far away or on the good side of people with pointy metal objects. Plus the addition of the [Wisdom] stats boosts mana regen nicely since it starts at 5 rather than 1 or 0 like I feared. I reach out and touch the glowing staff representing mages. To my surprise, my fingers wrapped around it. next thing I know I''m holding a piece of wood that looks like it fell off of a tree. A suicidal tree that cuts itself, when no one is looking. It''s an ugly piece of lumber, but I have a sneaking suspicion I know where this is headed. I look closely at the staff and think ''inspect''. Sure enough...
Balsa Staff
Type Magic Staff Durability 15/15
Attack 1-3 +3 INT
Weak magic conduit
Yup, novice equipment. Well, every great magi have to start somewhere I suppose. I''m about to ask Sigma-Bob how to get better gear when
New abilityIdentify
Nice. I wave the window away and the skills tab come up with a thought. I''m liking the intuitive nature of the Celestials system. We may all still die, but at least it won''t be because the system wasn''t idiot proof.
Skills and Abilities
Name Level Experience
Inspect 1 2.25%
Fire shot 1 0%
Stone skin 1 0%
Haste 1 0%
Splash 1 0%
Meditate 1 0%
Fairly straight forward except for splash.
Splash
Type Magic Attack Damage n/a KnockBack
Please vacate my personal space
Heh. "Bob! I didn''t know you had a sense of humour, ''personal space'', ha!" "I''m sure I will develop one should I choose to, however, the skill notes are not a Sigma construct. " He says stiffly. For a guy who''s still developing a personality, he sure has a stick up his butt. Anyway, that''s a bit of interesting news. If the Sigma Celestials are different from other Celestials... "Ahh, I get it." I look a little closer at Bob-48 to see if I get a reaction. "2400 Celestials, 100 Sigmas. So 24 sets of you guys. The Greek Alphabet!?" "Yes, but it is not a secret. I am a guide, Most of the skills, spells, and abilities were made by the Pi''s and Omicron''s. The Omicrons are specially developed from prolonged exposure to the reference material used to build that part of the system." "Reference material?" I ask. "All the myth, legends, lore, stories, religions and games of this world." Huh, I was thinking I might want to meet one of those guys, but no one raised on pure Earth fiction could possibly be right in the head. On second thought, might be best to stay away from the Pi''s and Omicrons for future references. But before I forget, I better get some additional info before making my way in the world. Speaking of stray thoughts, ''Inventory'' I think to myself. Good, it opens up readily enough but I see only four square spots. Poking around a bit reveals it can be upgraded with both coin and materials.
Inventory
Upgrade cost *5 Mana Shard *1 Spacial Gem * 10 Cloth Pouches
No idea what those are just yet, but I''m guessing loot drops. We''ll see. I spend some time testing out my spells but they really are pretty straight forward. Shoot a small fireball, skin gets tougher, feet move faster, ring of water explodes outward pushing everything away and Sitting quietly activates a faster [MP], [HP] and [STA] regen. "Hey Bobs-your-uncle, I saw a lot of noncombat classes earlier. Is the only way to get new gear to buy it or something?" Sigma-48 looks at me for a bit then answers anyway, determined to be the bigger man perhaps, heh. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "Not the only way, just the safest. You can earn money by killing certain... mobs, for sure, but some will also drop items like you are used to in your games. You will, I''m sure, notice that certain mobs will drop certain loot, and so will you if you die." Well damn it, I was afraid to ask, but now that it''s come up I might as well bite the bullet. "Hey Sigma-48," See I can be polite when I have to. " Huh, about that whole dying thing..." "Re-spawns," He interrupts me, "Aren''t Impossible. There are more than a few methods to do so, finding one is up to you. On that note, I should also tell you to be careful with your soul. When this world was sealed, the usual avenue of escape after death was also sealed. Normally a soul is drained of its memories and experiences after death then set to be reborn somewhere new but random in the universe. Now the process will take years after death, and there is no guarantee you won''t be reborn before your aura can be drained. That is something you do NOT want to happen. A baby with years worth of memories will grow insane with time. Also while dead the memories and experiences of your soul''s aura can be used as a power source for magic. But only by force and it is one of the few ways to actually cause damage to a soul.Not to say, you are completely vulnerable after death, just for a short time until a Theta claims your soul for safe keeping." So if anyone but a god or Celestial handles my soul after death, it''s bad news. Got it. Note to self, find a way to rez asap. "Ok Sigma-48, I appreciate the time and effort you''re putting in to keep me alive. Is there anything else I should know?" The severity of the warning makes me want to be polite to the guy. It''s sobering to know there ARE worse things than death. "You are welcome although no time as actually passed. But Yes, there is one last thing." Sigma-48 says. Right before the pain hits. Son-of-a My sight goes blank and the next second I''m sitting up in bed, covered in sweat and wondering where the pain went. Nothing hurts though, in fact, I feel pretty good. I''m about to start wondering if that was some kind of stress dream when I notice my staff at the foot of the bed. Huh, ok then. ''Inventory'' I think. It opens up and I start to test it out. Seems I can put any one thing into each slot and similar items will stack. The kitchen knives stack despite the different sizes so there is some leeway there. My go-bag takes up only one slot despite having many things in it, but that''s less of a benefit than one would think. Well, no, not as long as I don''t put anything I might need in a hurry in it. When I close the inventory screen another pops up. Heh, so that''s what Sigma-Bob meant...
Quest
Hope is the Dream
Sigma-48 would like help building its personality. It is leaning towards Optimistic. Surviving until level 20 will show there is reason still for Hope in this world.
Rewards 4 Gold Coins, 5 mana Crystals, 1 Spatial Gem, 10 leather Pouches, Sub-Class
Accept Decline
Well Bobby, what can I say. Who am I to let hope die. Besides It''s not as though surviving goes against any future plans I might make. I touch Accept. I put my go-bag in my inventory, same with the knives and the baseball bat the boys didn''t take. I eat some of the nicer canned goods and fill the last inventory slot with another bag full of food. I also use [Identify] on everything I can. Safety might be relative, but relatively speaking, this may be my last safe night for a while. I have no reason to stay until the food runs out. Not if everyone is going to be out and about getting stronger now. I''d rather leave on my own terms and besides, eventually, I''m going to have to deal with other people, no way I want to be in a position of weakness when that happens. In the morning I eat another big breakfast, the food tasting better than it really should, but I guess that''s a given when you may die soon. I use the facilities, hide the toilet paper and take one last look around the house. Despite everything, we''ve kept it clean and now I''m kind of hoping Mr. Smith will get to see it, even though I already know... Well, I''m just stalling now, so I walk briskly to the door andbarelyhesitate before moving the barricades. There is something different about viewing the world through the window as it goes to hell and actually being a part of it. The neighborhood looks worse than a bad storm on garbage day, but fuck it, let''s do this. I step out into the new world...Incursion[/url][url=http://picosong.com/R7jC/]
Status
Name Leon Level 1
Health 114
Mana 195
Stamina 114
Strength 11 Intelligence 19(16)
Dexterity 8 Agility 12
Wisdom 5 N/A 0
N/A 0 N/A 0
Ch 6-Random encounter Leon I walk west with the sun heating my backpack. Well, Adams backpack. He had a bunch in his closet and I didn''t care enough to ask why. The situation outside isn''t quite what I was expecting. Instead of full-blown Apocalypse, it''s more third world chic. Only a few bodies lie in the street, far less than I thought would be the case. The debris, however, lives up to my expectations. I saw other people occasionally scavenging, or hunting maybe, like myself. I had nothing to say to others just yet though, so I avoid them. I was sure we all had the same information at this point. And besides I was also sure I was worth EXP too, I didn''t want to get close enough to find out. As I walk, I shoot the purple rats that try to attackwith [Fire shot].
Fire shot
10 MP Magic Attack Damage 5-12 Ignite
Kill it with Fire
My MP regen as shot up from 1.6 to 9.5/m. Hmm, I could probably work out the math if I had time, but with the addition of 3 INT points and 5 wisdom, I feel confident in handling these small fries for a while. The goblins, on the other hand, I avoid like the plague, I just don''t know enough about the situation to risk my life like that. They cluster in some of the houses and you can tell which ones. They aren''t the hiding type. Still, aside from brandishing their spears, they don''t really seem inclined to attack like mindless beasts. That could be a problem later. But for now, I just cross the street when I see them.
Rodentia
Level Type Health Mana
1 Vermin 11 10
Identifying everything in the house brought that skill up to level 2, otherwise, I bet I wouldn''t get its HP and MP stats. These little shits are pretty brazen, they charge right up and try to bite. I don''t know what they use mana for but I don''t give them a chance to demonstrate as I don''t intend to find out. About 1 in 4 of the things dropped a [copper coin]. Ahh, now that''s interesting a [sharp tooth]. They go in the bag and the coins go in the [Inventory]. Thankfully they don''t take up any slots. The reason I''m heading west is to get away from the population center. This area is poor residential, and east leads to the city center, right through affluent hood. Since there doesn''t seem to be anything stopping monsters from kicking in your door, I have no reason to head that way. Instead, I plan to head past the warehouse district area and out into the country. All law and order and government as been destroyed or forced to play dead. Things might have been bad when everything was going to hell, but I guarantee it''ll be worse when people start to rebuild. Every TomDick and Harry is going to want to be King shit and won''t likely take it well when everyone else doesn''t want to play peasant. I walk all morning 2-shotting rodents and making sure my MP doesn''t run too low. I level up 2 times and find out the experience needed until the next level only pops up briefly when you think about it. Maybe the Celestials felt it was a distraction. I could see that. Life wasn''t a game even if the rules had changed drastically. Each level earns 5 stat points to distribute and raises the original four stats by 1 each. doesn''t seem like a lot but as long as everyone is playing by the same rules, it doesn''t matter too much. I''m going to throw all the bonus stat points into [Wisdom] but I''m doing fine for now, so I hold off. A pleasant surprise occurs when I stop for lunch, I could eat and walk, but I''m not exactly in a hurry to get nowhere. Plus the [STA] drain is noticeable while I walk, slightly above the regen rate.
New Stat Endurance Accept Decline
Hmm, Walking all morning earned a new stat, eh? Well, now the question is should I take it? I hit [Decline] I wasn''t willing to throw any points into it just yet and I didn''t know how to change out stats just yet either. I probably didn''t need 3 empty stat slots for a ''just in case'' scenario but I''m the cautious type. I wanted to save those until I earn some magic based stats. Besides now I know how to earn [Endurance] again if I need to. I keep walking after a long lunch. Long because I had to keep shooting rats as I ate so I couldn''t really enjoy my food. But hey, at least eating fully restored my STA and fairly quickly. The coins and [sharp tooth] didn''t really make up for it though.
Item Sharp Tooth Crafting Reagent
A short distance later my Firebolt is level 2 and it takes one shot to kill the rats, one less MP to use as well. Not bad, but the EXP is lacking now that I''m triple these guys level. I should really think about at least scouting the [Goblins], but the truth of the matter is I''m afraid. Coming out of your house, going to school and work, just living your life is a risk. But going after a goblin is actively courting death. I could die. Literally, die. Today! But even worse, maybe, is the fact that the Goblins are obvious humanoids and not brainless animals. I''m not one of those people who sought out gore shit online. blood and guts don''t appeal to any part of me. No fascination, no curiosity, no desire to see my enemies bleed at my feet. I''m not sure I could... You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ... I start keeping an eye out for the next goblin hold out. I need to get stronger, ''this is our world, not theirs''. I tell myself whatever I have to in order to psych myself up. Fact of the matter is there is no moving forward except through those guys. I knew that when I choose a combat class. It was obvious there were other ways to get stronger. The Celestials have [House Keeper] as a class for crying out loud! I chose this, now I''ve got to live with it. I''m walking along, the pep talk going well, on the look out for my next [Fire Shot] recipient, hopefully of the Greened skin variety. Then all that get''s put on the back burner. The cause would be the foolish female perched in the tree. The reason for her chosen seating arrangement would be the dozen or so [Rodentia] at the base. They are trying to climb up, she is knocking them down. But it isn''t a stalemate, she is obviously on the losing side of the battle of attrition. They are still at least a block away, I was just too lost in thought not to hear her yelling earlier. It isn''t constant, might be only when she gets bitten. I really shouldn''t loose my situational awareness like that, might cost me my life one day. I start to jog closer, no point in running flat out and getting swarmed by those things. Can''t believe I was taking these rats lightly just a few minutes ago. They could literally be about to kill someone, two someones if I''m not careful! Note to self, underestimate nothing, ever! I get within 30 yards and can see how this played out. She''s using a knife and a bow to knock the rats off the tree, but her arrows are on the ground scattered at the base of the tree. Hmm, ok so she got swarmed before she lost her ammo, lost it climbing the tree and then... But it doesn''t matter, There was no real choice about helping. I''m glad to say I barely even hesitated before making that decision. I swear to God if this turns out to be some sort of hero complex, I''ll bathe in herbs and spices before finding the nearest monster nest. I can shoot 21 [Fire Shots] at my current mana, plus one or two more depending on my regen and the rats reactions. There''s a little over a dozen it looks like. Deep breath, aim.. and fire... aim... and fire... ok then, their reaction time is quicker than I had hoped. I feel the swell of panic but fight it down, panic is death plain and simple. I aim and fire and back step, rinse and repeat. ok, not bad, 6 down. ok, too close, turn and run. ok, I''m a fucking idiots idiot! I''ve been so repetitive all morning I literally forgot I have 3 other spells at my disposal. Right well, mana is down by 54 points. Stone skin cost 50 MP, then 10 more shots to deal with about 10 more rats AND all the while they will be biting me, and I don''t know how much damage they do per attack. How much damage could ten rats do per second... SHIT! I could actually die here! fuck! fuck fuck fuck!! Instead of [Stone Skin] I use [Haste], run across the street and back the way we came. Making a wide circle around the rodents.
Haste
30 MP, 1MP/s Magic Assist 10% Spd --
He who fights and runs away...
I''m leading the rat race right back to the tree the girl was trapped in. Was, because she''s picking up arrows and doesn''t see the party heading her way. Seriously? I''m starting to see how she got stuck in a tree in the first place. Choice one, take her former perch and let her deal with this shit. Choice two, run past and divide the vermin between us. Or the choice I already know I''m going to make because she''s already injured and I don''t know how much HP she has left. Sigh. I veer away from the girl, realizing I wasted 30 MP because now I have to use stone skin anyway. I''m strangely calm now. I''m really about to die. Oh well. I stop and turn into the swarm, then start shooting after using stone skin. 1 down... next shot, 2 down... next shot...3 down. They''re on me now, 6, 7, 8? hard to count. I calmly shoot as soon as I feel the next fire shot is available, my HP steady in decline as per the very fucking helpful red bar that appears in the corner of my vision. Then more good news
Minor Bleed Losing 2 HP/s for 5s
Whelp, just found out what these little bastards use MP for! Then I''m hit with [Bleed] Three. more. fucking. times. I''m not even mad, I''m impressed. But then for some reason, the rats stop attacking. Great, now I get to bleed to death in peace. Chu, like that''s gonna happen. I sit down and start to meditate. I also throw 2 points into Strength which boost HP by 20. I really am A dumb-ass, I should have done that BEFORE the fight! I watch my HP sink lower and lower and realize I might possibly have made it without [Meditate] by 5 or 10 HP or so. Not that I would really want to test it. Anyway, I don''t bother to open my eyes, because this is that position of weakness I was worried about earlier. No way I''m even looking at that girl, not when a stiff wind could hold me over a barrel and tell me I''ve got a pretty mouth.
Meditate
Sit Aura Assist 10% Regen While Sitting
If it''s too hard, just sit quietly and think about nothing
My current HP regen would take half an hour to refill my health, I don''t want to sit in the road with my eyes closed for that long, but I''ll be damned if I don''t take a few minutes to distress from the fact that I almost got myself killed. Ahh, this is interesting, my body is shaking and ... ''Blergh!!" I throw up in the street, luckily missing myself and.. why the hell is this chick so close to me? And why the fuck is she holding an Arrow aimed at me? Are you fucking kidding me right now?
Status
Name Leon Level 3
Health 150
Mana 195
Stamina 140
Strength 15 Intelligence 21 (18)
Dexterity 10 Agility 14
Wisdom 5 N/A 0
N/A 0 N/A 0
Ch. 7 - Looking for Group (18+) Jenny Roman Yo, The last few weeks have been hell. I already knew you can''t trust men, see. That''s why I''m not given this guy a chance to catch me off guard. Not like those assholes at the plant. Yeah, it was stupid to let our guard down, I won''t be letting that happen again. That first day my sister and me, we only had an hour left at work. Then that box pop up in my face. Yo, I Thought I was going crazy. But then, everybody said they seen it too. My boss and his boss, they shut down the place and call a meeting. Only thing happen is everybody say they seen the box too. Waste a time, but it takes two hours just to do that. Yo, It''s alright though, overtime, hehe. We got a lounge room though, So we end up watching the news to see what''s up. Some people from the afternoon shift already show up to work. Everybody watching and getting worried, then some people try to leave, but it''s too late. For some reason all them ittybitty monsters outside. They just rumour right now on the news, but they real outside our door. Must be because we package food here. We was trapped! The Boss man try leaving anyway. Saw him get killed at his car door. He thought they small and he big, so ''no problem''. But they was a problem. Anyway, everybody who wasn''t filming him get killed, was calling the police. Had to keep calling, the line was busy-busy. When somebody finally get through, they say stay inside. Gee, thanks, yo. So now we stuck in the lounge, waiting for help, but I was thinking we might have a problem. A lot of young girls work here, the work easy and not a lot of lifting over 30 pounds. My sister Julia and me supposed to be the youngest with me being 18 and she at 19. But I know Emmy, Sophia and Claire really 17. No worries, It''s an open secret here. Not a lot of heavy lifting but there is some, and the guys here usually take care of that. They aint young like most of the girls though. I think the youngest one is, like 30, maybe. But they all grabby. Yo, even the boss man never wanted to keep his hands to himself. I aint nearly as sad about him dying as I should be. All of them been reported to HR at some point. But nothing ever seems to happen. Maybe because HR run by a man that''s even worse about where he put his hands. Everybody needs this job though, so we put up with it. Emmy, Sophia and Claire needed it worse than most, maybe, ''cause they got most of the attention from the guys and complained less than most of girls about it. It was bad, and I thought we might have to put up with some pushy, horny assholes until help came, but it was worse than that. Everything went to hell on the news. rioting and looting broke out the first night. Some of the guys think that mean permission to do whatever they want. Two of them dragged one of the girls, Silvia, away for a little ''chat''. When they get caught in the act by a third man, instead of helping her or getting help, he went next. When we found out the next morning, Maria, the oldest women tried confront the guys about it. Yo! Everything went to shit pretty quick after that. The men denied it at first, but every night after that, more and more girls were dragged away. The few guys who might have said something were outnumbered and intimidated. Then when Maria really got mad and slapped one of them, it gets even worse. The next morning, nobody know where she is. It wasn''t until we find the roof access that we found her body thrown over the side of the building. They say she jumped, might even be true, but after that the men didn''t even wait until night before having their fun. Even the few guys who had held out until then saw no reason to after that. Hahaha, Not even a whole fucking week, yo. My sister tried to protect me right up until that asshole Steve dragged her up to the roof. After that she just told me to close my eyes, when they come. And come they did, Steve and his friends made Julia watch while they take turns. They go real slow and my body betrays me, I get wet, I orgasms, they think they the world greatest lovers. It don''t happen again though, next time they rush and rough. I''m glad for the pain, not fair to the other girls if I don''t hurt too, I think. Emmy, Sophia and Claire though, They got it worse than the rest, but never complained, like it wasn''t even new to them. Sophia even had a line up sometimes. Seems she suffers from involuntary orgasms. These jerks pretend to think it means she wants them. Poor things, I''m going to kill these assholes one day. Every. Single. One. ----------- Leon This girl looking at me like I''m dirt beneath her shoe. Her left hand tightens up, her right pulls back even further on the string... This bitch is going to shoot me! After I saved her. "You''re welcome!" I spit out at her. She''s startled and jumps a little, then she blinks rapidly and her face becomes the epitome of guilt. Good! I have no idea who she was seeing, but she needs to see the guy who just saved her life. She lowers the bow and has the good graces to blush. It''s hard to see, her skin is dark, probably mixed. Her eyes Brown, shoulder length hair is black. She has an athletic build with what I assume are B sized tits on her chest. Tight but dirty jeans and a small black t-shirt with some band I''ve never heard of are her only clothing. That and her white sneakers. No Jacket? If this was 2 weeks ago, I might be tempted to ask for her phone number. She really is super cute, but right now all I see is someone who just held an arrow on me. I look around me and see that 4 of the [Rodentia] have arrows in them. Oh, that explains why I''m not dead. I look up at the girl, who doesn''t seem to know what to do with herself. "I was going to ask if that''s how you thank someone for saving your life, but I guess I should be thanking you instead, My healthwas pretty low. I might not have made it without you so, thank you." "Nah," she replies. "I''m the one who was gonna die without help, thank you. I''m sorry about, huh, that. I haven''t had a good experience with men the last couple of weeks" ''Would you like to?'' I almost say. But that''s just my usual smart mouth when dealing with other people. I can guess what type of week she''s had if her automatic response is to kill me for having a penis. Too bad, I think it''s a rather nice penis. Anyway. "Sorry to hear that, I can only imagine, given the state of the world, what you''ve been through. Anyway you should be more careful, someone wont always be there to save you." I was going to walk away at that point, but I''m bone tired and another round of shaking hits me. Seriously trying not to freak out at the fact that I almost died. I''ve got bites everywhere and that bleed status has made everything from my mid thighs down into a blot test of blood. That much of my insides being on the outside would normally bother me, but I can see my HP rising so it''s a distant seven on my list of worries right now. I do drag myself over to the tree the girl was in, though. I sit and start to meditate, determined to recover as much as possible before moving on. This girl hasn''t said anything and hasn''t moved on, but I''m actively trying to forget about her. "Yo, do you know where I can find the police?" She interrupts my recovery to ask that? what planet as she been living on. I open one eye to look at her, raise the brow and reply. "I imagine that all front line first respondents are dead. Most of them anyway." She thinks for a moment then opens her mouth, but I cut her off. "Whatever problem you have, whatever sob story you escaped from, whatever you need help with, solve it yourself. You have a weapon, 2 in fact, and that is the only solution your gonna find today. Either realize that or you wont make it a week in this new world." It''s harsh but it''s my way of helping. It would be such a shame if someone as pretty as this chick were to go die looking for help that doesn''t exist. This chick this, this chick that. I really need to get my head in the game. I look at her and think ''Identify''. Human If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. NameJenny RevengeLevel2 Health110 Mana110 Stamina185 Ok, couple of things, why does she have a last name and I don''t. Maybe because I don''t have a real last name to claim? But no, Revenge isn''t a real name, that''s definitely a system mechanic. I''ll have to look into that later. I was hoping to find out her class, but [Identify] isn''t high enough for that yet. Second, her stats seem low to me, but I quickly realize she probably has some in [Dexterity], that wouldn''t reflect in the status bars. Dexterity is a jack of all trades stat. Boosting melee weapon damage and crafting chances. It works behind the scene in little ways. Must work for an Archer too I guess. I wonder if... "Can you help me then?"Jenny interrupts my thinking. Before I respond, I think at the system to ''Hide all my information.'' I don''t know if it''ll work, but I''m trusting to its intuitive nature. Then I answer her stupid question. "Hell to the fuck, no!" Then I precede to tell her why, "Listen sweetheart, you obviously want somebody dead, that means you need to kill them. I don''t know this person and don''t want to kill anyone. That right there is problem one. Don''t get me wrong, They probably deserve to die, but that makes them no different than most people in my book. I''m not strong enough to challenge anyone and I don''t even know if I can kill someone anyway." Plus there was the slim chance that this girl was in the wrong, I doubted it, but it was a possibility. No, this was a problem I didn''t need, doesn''t she realize how close we came to dying today? Now she want to keep testing her luck? Bitches be cray. She looks like she''s getting ready to argue, but just takes a deep breath and turns around. "Fine," she throws over her shoulder, "I''ll do it myself." "Ok, but how?" I throw back at her. "What?" She stops. So I speak slowly, "How are you going to kill this person, without getting killed in turn? Keep in mind you are a level 2. This person is probably also getting stronger. So how are you going to do what you have to without dying. You''re pretty enough, I''m sure someone will miss you if you die, you know. " It may seem like flirting, but the fact that she has annoyed me to no end makes it easy to say whatever I want to her. Put me in front of someone I actually like, and I''m a tongue tied fool that forgets how to people. "I DON''T KNOW!!" she yells. "They have my sister! I have to get her back!" Then she''s a ball of cry and I''m holding a stranger telling her it''ll be alright. Great move Romeo. Anyway, she cries and I think about copping a feel but teenage hormones aren''t quite enough to turn me into a douche bag so instead I make a suggestion. "Listen, if you want to help your sister then you need to be stronger. If you want to kill these people who have her, then you need to be stronger. And if you want to make sure something like this doesn''t happen again, then.." I look at her and wait. Eventually. "... I need to be stronger" she finishes. Good. I might be wrong, but I can''t think of any reason getting stronger would be a bad thing. I have nowhere to be but I feel like I''m wasting time here. I disengage from Jenny and get ready to continue heading out to the country. I''ll let my regen work as I walk, but as I take my first steps. "Where are you going?" Well, my plans are no secret. "Away from people. You''ve seen what kind of monsters people become. Just wait until it actually goes to their heads. That''s an entire city behind youwaiting to explode. They''ll be killing each other by tomorrow, I guarantee it." "Yo, If you stay on this road, you''ll have to walk past my workplace and the guys that have my sister and the rest of the girls." huh, rest of... Some idiot trying to start some sort of forced slave brothel harem? I can go around but I wont. It''s one thing to not go looking for a fight, but I wont run from one either. Sigh. New plan then, I''ll hunt around here until I''m confident I can make it past those guys in case they want to give me trouble. Everyone should be a pretty low level right now. If I really grind, I can get a few level, enough to be more trouble than they''ll want. I start back tracking looking for Goblin hold out spots and more rats to burns. Jenny probably thinks I''m just too scared to keep going that direction, but unlike whiskers on kittens, other peoples opinions aren''t high on my list of favorite things. I pick up the coins and [Sharp Tooth] from the earlier fight, then I''m walking back the way I came. Jenny catches up with me . "Yo, Aren''t you even gonna introduce yourself?" She asks. Are we Bff''s now? "Jenny, if you want to know who I am, just ask." "Ok, who are you? Wait, how you know my..." She stops abruptly and her eyes start scanning the air in front of her. Guess she didn''t think to use [Identify] on people. Wonder how much info on me she''s getting. "Leon? huh, how come you don''t pick a last name yet?" She looks at me as she keeps pace. Umm, where does she think she''s going? Wait, what''s that now? Picka last name. Makes sense, I already thought her last name Revenge must have been a system thing. I shrug. "Haven''t gotten around to it yet." I say. Well technically that''s the truth. "What are you doing now?" She asks. "I''m going to hunt rats and goblins until I''m strong enough to make it to the country with no trouble from the guys you''re afraid of." "Can you help me get my sister out after you get stronger?" I stop and turn to her. "I don''t see why I would. What''s in it for me?" I was going to blatantly look her up and down as a suggestion of what she could offer, but I have a rough idea of what she''s been through, so that would just be a dick move. But I''m serious about not developing some weird hero complex. She wants help? fine, be willing to pay. This is the world now. "I took a lot of food before I left the plant, I can pay you with that." She''s not carrying any bags so I assume it''s in her inventory. "I don''t need food, I have enough for now, and by the time I run out, I expect to learn what roasted Rodentia taste like." "Eww yo, you would eat those things?" she looks shocked. Pssh. "In a heartbeat. I don''t play in this new world, girl. Live or die." I start walking again. She quietly trails behind for a few minutes. Then "You mind if I train with you?" I do mind actually. On one hand we can level up faster together. On the other hand, if we do that, we become closer, become friends maybe. Then how will I let her just go get killed rescuing her sister? Maybe she isn''t thinking like that, but I sure am. "You can train with me if you want, but I''m still not helping you get your sister after." "I wasn''t asking you to!" she storms out in front of me, but doesn''t go too far. After a while I get an idea. I look at her back... Ok, her very nice ass and think for a second. She stops suddenly then pokes the air in front of her.
Jenny Revengehas accepted your party invite
ch.8 - Dungeon Crawl Leon I learned a few things on the walk back the way I came this morning. I thought I was doing well to be level three after traveling all morning up until now. I may have been over estimating my prowess. My own desire to solo this new world might have clouded my judgement, just a bit. Why the change of heart? Well... Not an hour passes after we group up before Jenny hit''s level three as well. This is on top of the fact that she has only been outside after escaping for a few hours. I''m rapidly gaining experience as well, though the actual amount is even smaller now that it''s split between two people. I blame the fact that by myself I had to balance how much MP I had at any given time. Jenny on the other hand has 36 arrows she can blow through before making more from just about every twig she finds. Adding [Sharp Tooth] to her arrows apparently adds more damage, and most of her arrows are recoverable for repeated use. The arrows she makes are short range and inferior to the ones she got initially so she uses those first. But needless to say, her hunting speed is just plain faster and more consistent than mine. I finally ask how she manage to get stuck in a tree if she''s so good at killing these rats. Apparently, she wanted to test a skill that needed more than one enemy. Despite her level, her agility was high enough to easily dodge multiple [Rodentia] so she ran around letting a few gather around her, then ran a short distance away and unleashed her skill, [Scatter Shot]. The skill hits one enemy then fragments of the arrow exploded stunning and damaging enemies around the target, [Rodentia] are so weak she thought the fragments would kill instead of stun the adds. It didn''t. the exploding arrow drew out more rats, and before she knew it, she was fighting a swarm of the vermin. Her class is [Woodsman] with passives on Arrow and short blade damage. She as an active [Camouflage] ability in wooded areas and the ability to skin things. But what may prove to be most useful is her [Tame Animal] ability. She''s been trying to use that on every rat we encounter but no success as of yet. Given that the system focuses on bonuses to classes rather than limitations, I assumed I would be, not only fine, but better off on my own. That may still be true at higher levels, but right now, I am still a glass cannon. Jenny on the other hand is a soldier. We hunt for the rest of the day making our way back to the last Goblin encampment I came across. Our pace is... phenomenal. I''m going to have to revise my plans a bit. It''s obvious people working together are going to help more than hinder each other, though it still depends on the people, of course. Finally, at a house turned pawn shop on the street we travel, we come across one of the more isolated Goblin outpost. The guard on duty looks less alert than the ones I saw this morning. maybe time for a shift change? The day of hunting as left us both at level four. I now have 13 points to distribute, and level three [Fire Shot] is 10-19 damage for 9 MP. Throwing 3 points into strength gives me 200HP the rest is split evenly between INT and WIS, getting me 255 MP and a ridiculous regen of 108 a minute. Without the wisdom stat I would only be looking at 12 regen a minute, though my mana pool would be larger. I want to get my MP regen high enough to leave [Haste] and [Stone skin] continuously running.
Stonskin
50 MP, 3mp/s Magic Defense 10% Armour --
Turtle Turtle!
It''s at Jenny''s insistence that we are here. I left the house this morning thinking I''m surely pragmatic enough to do whatever I need to in this new world, But I''m really having trouble at the thought of killing these humanoid creatures. On my own I think it''s likely I would have kept coming up with reasons to avoid them. Oh well, time to put up or shut up. The plan is simple. Since Jenny takes less damage than me for some reason and I can cast [Haste] on her, but not [Stone Skin]. She''ll stagger by the lone guard, acting injured, then act surprised when she see''s him and hobble away in fear. Hopefully he follows and when far enough away from the house, we double team him. Definitely a few areas where this can go to shit, but running away, as a backup plan, got unanimous approval. Surprisingly it works even better than expected. The guard comes on alert when he see''s Jenny but when he see''s that she''s ''hurt'', he DROPS HIS SPEAR!? Are you kidding me? The little green monster takes after Jenny with no regard for anything else. Jenny hobbles past my hiding bush, a few moments later, the little green bastard runs by with a disturbing tent in the loincloth.
Green Goblin
Level Type Health Mana
6 Humanoid 75 30
I waste no time and place a fire shot into its back. It screeches and turns around only to get another in the face. as it claws at its eyes, 2 arrows sprout from the back of the creature. It dies quickly but I''m worried about that screech. I focus on the house, no need though, none of its buddies seems to have noticed they''re one manling short. An awful lot of noise surrounds every Goblin house I''ve come across though. That might explain it. "Did anything drop?" I ask when Jenny comes near. "Some coppers and this," she hand me something to identify.
Cloth Pouch Upgrade Material, Small Item Storage
OK, so I guess there really is no avoiding these things, I need these pouches to upgrade my inventory. Jenny has almost the exact same quest, but hers is from Sigma-33. She wont tell me the exact quest text though. A little testing shows this pouch is basically an inventory slot, but it really can only hold small items. Backpack no, but [Sharp Tooth] yes. We put the teeth we have collected so far, not a small amount, into the pouch and strap it to Jenny''s thigh. Still no response from the house, so we wait another half an hour. When the Sun is starting to hit the horizon, we briefly argue about setting the house on fire. She''s for it. I''m also for it. We are arguing about how safe it isn''t. We sneak up to the side of the house anyway and I start to cast Fire shots at it, but it just won''t light up. Damn. I don''t have anything flammable to help out and it''s getting too dark to go running about the street. We sneak around to the front of the house. Still no new guard. Inside sounds like the kitchen cookware came alive and are having the world''s loudest gang bang. We grab the discarded spear then confer. This girl is brave, suicidal or just plain reckless, maybe all three. She wants to sneak in, I want to go find a place to crash and come back in the morning. She rightly points out it may be just as unsafe to run around in the dark as attacking the house. I''m not sure that''s accurate but... She decides to sneak toward the front door, assuming I''ll follow. Sigh. We get to the entrance and, yup, should have expected this...
Dungeon
Small Green Goblin Abode
A Base settled by a small Goblin band
Difficulty Levels 5-10
Type New Dungeon
Inside there is a long hallway leading to the back of the house, with former living room, dining room,and what looks like a kitchen leading off at the back. The house is deafening. Screeching, banging pots and pans and a general ruckus of epic proportions is taking place. These guys are having a party of some sort. The first room is off to the left just a few feet in. I poke my head around the bottom corner from the hall to have a look. The windows are crowded with obsolete merchandise and so are the walls. What really catches my attention though are the two goblins passing an old timey wine skin back and forth, having a loud conversation with much laughter, in what I''m going to assume is their native language. They''re on the other side of the room, but their spears are against the wall next to my head. I turn back to Jenny. "Simple plan, you take the one on the right, I''ll take the left. There''s only 2." She only nods. We round the corner and immediately start shooting. Their reactions are slow and their screeching come close to the existing noise level of the rest of the house. Still, they go down fast enough. One burned in the head and chest the other feathered with 3 arrows. Jenny''s target was level seven. Unlike the outside sentry, which I avoided taking a close look at, I can''t help but see the damage we do here. The light has gone out of their eyes. I know I''ve killed someone, not just something now. I want to take time to wallow in my own guilt and misery over this, but there is no time for that. Only one dropped a pouch, but they drop 7 copper coins between them. The next room is more difficult, but even I feel confident, with three kills under our belt. I see four goblins inside. Two are passed out though and the other two look like they would like to join them, but only after they finish whatever they''re drinking. We take out the ones awake in much the same manner as the first two, then switch to the ones struggling for consciousness. It''s not as quiet as I would have liked. My nerves are fracked. I keep a look out while Jenny collects the loot. One more pouch and a few more coppers are ours. Finally though it seems, someone might have noticed something was wrong. A lone Goblin is coming down the hall towards us. We hide beside the entryway, not knowing what to do. The goblin gets closer and closer, it looks like he is going to walk right past this room. Thank you ''Being that resides in this part of the Universe''. But the silence , most likely, makes him glance into the room. Before his dead friends can register and before I can think of the best course of action, Jenny Runs at him and slams her knife into his chest. I forgot she had that thing. I can''t fire a shot, she''s too close, I run out into the hall too. The Goblin isn''t dead though. He''s on the ground wheezing, blood trickling from the mouth. I help drag him into the room we were just in. He''s in a pretty pitiful state. Clawing weakly at the knife. A stand up fight is one thing, but I don''t think I can just finish him off like that. Jenny seems to feel the same way. I sigh quietly, Jenny was quicker on her feet than I was and likely kept this one from raising the alarm. It''s my turn to at least pretend to be a bad-ass. I look down at the green dude, I know we can''t leave him at our backs, that would just be stupid. Fuck it. Before I can think too much about it, I yank out Jenny''s knife and slam it into his throat. I avoid looking at the goblin until I''m sure it''s dead. I don''t need those kind of thoughts right now. There are two more rooms on this floor plus the kitchen. We can either wait here and pick them off as they pass by, hopefully one by one, or continue on and hope for the best. In either case we risk being overwhelmed. There are stairs at the entrance we could use, but I didn''t want to end up trapped on the second floor with no escape but a window. Of course if we continue on, A goblin could come down the stairs and trap us between enemies. Sigh, I hate this. One choice isn''t really much better than the others, leaving me indecisive. I don''t mind hard choices, so long as one is better than another, but this situation... It''s Jenny who come up with a decent plan. We go back and up the stairs. There are two rooms to the left and three to the right, one of which is a bathroom. only one door, to the immediate right, is open so we have to check that one out first. We get into the room and freeze. I tell Jenny in a low voice our best course of action is to stick to the plan. It''s a struggle, but we manage to quietly drag everything that isn''t tied down, even the single beds, to the top of the stairs. We stand the beds up on their headboards and lean them against the railing. The dresser is next, easy enough, with the drawers out. It''s stood directly in front of the stairs. Our own retreat is somewhat blocked, but if it''s right now, we can still be down the stairs and out of the house fairly quickly. The second room on the right, has a surprise in it, 3 goblins, only one of which looks up when we enter. We could hear them though, so we are prepared. I jump forward with [Stone Skin] and use [Splash] in the middle of them. The hardest part was gathering my courage and not being a pussy in front of Jenny. The three are thrown in different directions. As per the plan, we both take the one closest to the door. It dies, and the time for ranged combat is over. Like the ones down stairs, their spears are against the door frame, so the remaining two are unarmed. Jenny closes the door and pulls her knife just in time to meet the charge of one goblin. I pull my bat out of inventory. Good thing since I only get off one [Fire Shot] before it''s too dangerous and close for magic. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. My opponent is wary of the bat and I''m wondering about it''s claws and teeth. Whelp, screw it. I rush forward with a right to left downward swing. The little bastard dives to the left and tries to get at me before I can recover, but I''m in a good position to deliver a kick, so I do. He''s small and gets knocked back into a dresser. Jenny gives a muffled yell from behind me, but I can''t really take my eyes off the prize at the moment. A downward swing from me misses a green head, but catches a shin. I feel the bone snap all the way through the bat. There is a shriek of pain but I no longer have any hesitation. Not after what we found in the other room. My Bat come down hard on the Goblin''s head. I turn around to see Jenny struggling to put her knife into her goblins throat, But desperation is making him strong enough to resist her. She''ll win in time, but we don''t have time. I run over and swing my bat close to the floor, it''s a weak hit, but enough to dazed the little shit. Jenny finishes him quickly. We nod at each other but follow the plan. I run to the window and open it, Jenny goes to the door and peeks her head out. We both wait, frozen, listening and sweating. Finally she signals me that it all clear. Phew, I really don''t want to have to jump out of a second story window. Loot is collected and we resume moving furniture to the top of the stairs. Jenny as a shallow bite on her right arm. We both leveled after that fight, so points are distributed and, nice. New skills and abilities! These will come in handy in a moment. Next is the Bathroom, with another, more pleasant surprise. A little Girl is Gagged and tied up in the bathtub. She looks like she fell off of a 1950''s movie poster, with a ridiculous level of Curly Blond hair and Blued eyed cuteness. She''s somewhere between 5 and 9, hell if I know. She''s dirty but not starved, so far at least. she''s still clothed and seemingly unharmed. That''s good enough for me, I go to close the door, but Jenny rushes in and starts to remove her gag. I hiss at her to stop, but she doesn''t listen. I have to physically drag her away and she punches me. I don''t know what to do, so I lock my arms around her and hold her as best I can until she stops struggling. Thankfully we are both smart enough to make little noise during the fight. "If she makes any noise after you remove that gag, all three of us are going to die." I whisper to Jenny. She''s finally calm enough to realize what I was worried about. The little girl meanwhile is crying and struggling and moaning louder than I would prefer. "See what I mean?" "We can''t leave her here like that!" jenny fiercely whispers back. Sigh, seriously. "I never said anything about leaving her here." I was thinking it, but just in case we don''t make it, it would suck for this girl to suffer after being so close to rescue. "Help me move her to the window. she comes with us, if we have to bail." The little girl is still trying to make noise, so Jenny has to agree I might have a point. I go talk to her while jenny keep a look out. I lean down into the tub and whisper at the girl. "Be quiet. how are we supposed to escape if you keep making noise!?" She goes still as the key words ''escapes'' and ''quiet'' do their magic. I continue, "We can''t remove your gag because, now I can''t trust you to keep quiet when it counts. We are going to move you next to the window, in case we have to leave in a hurry, so keep quiet, you understand?" After a vigorous head nod, Jenny and I do just that. I think for a second then send the girl a party invite, telling her to accept.
Zoe has accepted your party invite
There is nothing in the bathroom worth moving to the stairs except the toilet tank cover. Two rooms left and both sound like they have occupants. The Rooms are next to each other so noise is a problem. Both sound like they have at least three Goblins in them. Either we charge into one room, and probably alert the other occupants or charge into both and face 6 Goblins at once. We agree we don''t want to face armed Goblins so we are going to open both doors and take the spears, that are likely against the wall. First I give jenny all my Kitchen knives for her new skill [Knife Throw], the she uses [Mana Trap] at the floor of the left door. We take a deep breath and go about our tasks. I open my door she opens hers. I take up 3 spears from the wall and put them in my inventory, I assume Jenny is doing the same. I cast my new spell
Quicksand
50 MP, 2mp/s Magic Assist Damage n/a Movement debuff
Not so fast!
I drop a large circle of influence centered on my position, it should help Jenny too if any of her opponent come too close. I start with [Fire Shot] but there are three of them. I only manage to drop one before they reach me, but another new spell make them both reel back, I follow closely though. The [Quicksand] circle moves with me. They can''t retreat fast enough, but they do separate, forcing me to concentrate on only one of them.
Flamethrower
60 Mana 5/s Magic Attack Damage 10-25 Ignite
Needs more fire!
At 10-25 damage per second, it didn''t start off much better than a level three [Fire Shot], but it did hit every second, finally letting me see the secondary effect of fire spells. The target goblin started to burn on his own. My MP dropped from 265 at the beginning of this fight to less than 70. I was tempted to use one other new spell to finish the last Goblin, but that might be stupid, so I pulled the bat instead. He was still burned and wary, but alert. Quicksand kept him from dodging too well though, so It only took a few more seconds to use the bats longer reach to finish him. I deactivated Quicksand and went looking for Jenny. She hadn''t even needed her trap, with my Quicksand active , she just burst in and threw every knife until two were dead, then finished off the last one with her arrows while backpedaling down the hall. These guy had been a bit stronger level seven''s and Eight''s. Strong enough to live long enough to make too much noise. The clamor down stairs has stopped. Then a lone Goblin voice calls out. Jenny and I stay absolutely still, just staring at each other in dread. We expected this, this was part of he plan. Didn''t help knowing we were going to die though. We decide to move at the same time, Jenny pulls her bow and gets ready to hold off who and whatever comes, I start to move some of the lighter furniture out of the last two rooms. More voices are calling from down stairs, we naturally don''t answer. I move a few night stands and start to drag out another single mattress, when Jenny lets off a shot. There''s a shriek down stairs and we are definitely out of time. The mattresses are toss unto the stairs to fuck with the footing. A few moments later there are about 20-30 or so very angry Goblins at the foot of the stairs. Jenny is using her three combat skills, two of which are new. [Stun Arrow] disables a single target, and whoever is in front trying to climb up the stairs gets that one. [Quick Shot] Fires 2 arrows so rapidly it looks like one draw on the string. Her [Scatter shot] Also stuns targets with minor damage giving her time to do more damage. I start to toss every thing over the railing and unto the mass of green bodies. Clothing, empty drawers, the night stands, then when they get too close, the heavier dressers, and even a fairly large mirror. Then the beds. I quickly run into the last two rooms and toss the drawers as well, the dressers are too heavy to move by myself. After a few minutes, my Mp is recovered and there are only a few goblins left. The stairs are impassable and they are pissed. But jenny is out of arrows too, so they are getting ready for another push. Jenny goes to collect the kitchen knives from the earlier battle while I get ready to meet the leftovers. I haven''t used any magic yet, so they won''t know what to expect now that they are no longer in danger from arrows. They probably think i''m a short range fighter. We let them scramble their way to the top of the stairs, glaring at us the whole time. I think about jeering at them but I don''t have the nerve or inclination. When they are near the top, too close to turn back, Jenny starts throwing knives. I reactivate [Quicksand] and pepper them with fire shot. They force their way through, only losing 2 more. There are 3 left and one is in Armour and has an Axe. Jenny and I retreat towards Zoe, she has run out of knives again. I keep shooting, wishing I had given her the bat. The last three are close enough to lounge at me, and I use [Flamethrower] when they do. The Armored one survives and is the only one left. Rather than back into the room with Zoe and Jenny I back into the first room on the right. Firing the whole time but doing little damage. I take a good look at this guy.
Green Goblin Leader
Level Type Health Mana
10 Elite Humanoid 138/200 24/80
Oh. Great. I''m almost out of MP so I deactivate [Quicksand] and pull the bat out of inventory. I only thought I was afraid before, but this time I really am going to die. "Jenny! Run!" No point in both of us dying, the stairs are a mess but I might be able to hold this goblin until they get outside. but then what? This room as fairly large windows and I can see outside has only a few minutes of sunlight left. After that surely it wont be safe out there for anyone. Sigh, I don''t have much confidence in taking this guy and after killing his troop, I doubt he''ll let me negotiate a surrender. Assuming he speaks English. Finally he gets tired of waiting for me to make a move and lounges at me. I jump away avoiding the Axe. Despite everything that''s happened today, this is the most surreal moment for me. An Axe for God''s sake. I fire off a lone [Fire Shot] , my recharging MP dropping by 9. The damage is negligible. I figure about 15 more of those and I might just win, it would only cost my about 90 more MP than I have. Not to mention he would basically need to stand still. But that''s not on the agenda. He come in with a nice full horizontal swing, and I''m forced to jump back again. I hit the wall. Crap. Another swing but I drop completely to the floor. I start rolling and crawling along the wall to the corner. Worst place I can be, nowhere to dodge. I turn and face my executioner, but this time rather than waiting to die, I take a wild swing in the general vicinity of his face, which is only chest high to me, but he easily blocks it. That''s OK, I was expecting that, I take another swing straight down for his head, but I''m not expecting to hit anything, I''m waiting for... NOW! I dive out of the way of the straight jab by the head of the Axe. I end up in front of the window, but at least I''m out of the corner. I toss another fire shot to celebrate being alive for another few seconds. The Goblin takes a step towards me, when an arrow magically appears in his arm. He''s more shocked than I am, so I take advantage. Another wild swing from me sends the Axe flying out of his weakened grip, but now he''s clearly enraged. He turns and charges at me, so quickly it must be a skill. I take a small shoulder to the chest and am surprised by how strong this guy is. The pain is less surprising, but still unwelcomed. The other surprising thing is the sound of broken glass and the wind at my back. I''ve grabbed unto the goblins armour so we are both about to become lawn ornaments. As if. I use my second to last new skill and almost all my regenerated MP
Slowfall
Type Magic Assist Damage n/a ---
I can see my house from here!
The Goblin Leader is rip out of my grip as our velocities suddenly differ from each other. He hit''s the concrete driveway with a heavy thud while I float gently down, landing not far, a few moments later. Well, that was way too close! My MP as bottomed out, I don''t know where the bat is, and the sun is just about to go night-night. For a brief moment I''m about to throw up again, but I manage to man the fuck up. This is life now. Well, at least he was worth another level up. I search around the green goblin leader and find a silver coin as well as a few coppers and, Oh? A book? I smile, that could only be a good thing. there is also a ring and a jewel. I strip the chest armour off and make it inside just as the sun is setting. ''Being that resides in this part of the universe'', what a day!
Status
Name Leon Level 6
Health 270
Mana 275
Stamina 170
Strength 27 Intelligence 29(26)
Dexterity 13 Agility 17
Wisdom 15 N/A 0
N/A 0 N/A 0
Status
Name Jenny Revenge Level 6
Health 250
Mana 140
Stamina 270
Strength 25 Intelligence 14
Dexterity 20 (19) Agility 28 (26)
N/A 0 N/A 0
N/A 0 N/A 0
Ch 9 - Roll for Initiative Zoe She could have helped! Zoe waits for the mean boy and the pretty girl to come back and untie her. She hopes they are OK even though she''s not happy about still being tied up. She''s happy about joining the party, though. The Angel last night taught her a lot of things, so she knows this is a good way to get stronger. She want''s to get stronger. If she''s the strongest then no more monsters will ever... She can hear them fighting the monsters. This is her brothers room, but almost everything has been moved out of it. she wonders where everything went. Tied up for days, it''s only since the dream last night, that she''s really tried to escape. Before the Angel, she didn''t think she could do anything, but now she wanted to get at the monsters herself. She could hear fighting in the house. First a little, then a lot. The pretty girl ran into the room, she looks scared. She starts to untie Zoe. Good! Zoe knows how to help! "Jenny run!" That must be the mean boy, he sounds scared. ''Good'', Zoe''s not happy about still being tied up. She could have helped! The pretty girl, Jenny, pats her head, "Wait here, sweetheart." Then she runs out of the room, ''dang it''. There''s more noise, more yelling, and then the sound of glass breaking. It''s coming from the room next door, the twin''s room, where bad stuff happens. After a while the Jenny girl comes to get her. "Are you ok, sweetheart?" Jenny asks, as she removes the gag from Zoe''s mouth. Zoe glares at her until the gag is off, and the ropes are untied. She stands up, never taking her eyes off the pretty girl. Then she stomps her right foot, little fist balled at her side, "I could have helped!" ------------------------------------ Leon I walk back into the house at level six on the verge of level seven, with a nice bit of loot and our first piece of armour. I should schedule time for a panic attack but right now, I''m just happy to be alive. Jenny and Zoe clamber down the obstacle course that were once a stair case. Jenny looks relieved but Zoe seems upset for some reason. I raise a single brow at her, "Problem?" I ask. "I could have helped!" She replies. Jenny just smiles. It''s almost pitch black out and no better inside. I don''t even think about it when I cast a [Fire Shot] and simply keep it in my hand. Huh, that''s interesting. Definitely gonna explore that more later. There''s still a lot to do though and I want to get it done. We secure the front door with some of the former furniture on the stairs. Zoe helps. Then we check and secure the rest of the ground floor. The kitchen is a mess of food and cookware. We don''t find any more goblins in the house. We find and collect the loot from the goblins, then move their bodies into the living room. I see Zoe collecting all the spears and storing them in her inventory. I want to ask about that, but I''m nervous about all the noise we''ve generated in the last few hours. We retreat upstairs and move the goblin bodies down stairs. By which I mean we throw them over the railing. Zoe surprises us by walking into that first room on the right, the one with the broken window and... No screaming, no sobbing. She comes out with tears on her face though. I really have no idea what to say, Jenny and I just look at her. She close the door, then looks at us, "I was Just saying good bye." I can''t think of anything to say, so I just nod at her. Jenny runs over and gives her a hug. I walk over to pat her head, a bit awkwardly. The last room on the left belonged to her parent''s, it''s one of the cleanest so we set up shop there. While we ate and recuperated, Zoe filled us in on her experiences so far. Zoe''s story is pretty much what I expected for the apocalypse. Her parents decided to hold up at home until it was too late, then when they ran out of food they went scavenging and looking for help. A little after heading out, they burst back through the door, but didn''t manage to get it closed before they had short, green and horrible company. Her father was killed defending his family. Zoe and her mother, held up in her twin sister''s room, they and her older brother being away at college. Eventually, the green bastards got in, and raped her mother. When they made a move for Zoe, her mom went berserk, and killed one with her teeth. They killed her for it, but they didn''t touch Zoe for some reason after that. She was tied up and fed scraps the last few days. She says her class is [Hammer Girl], which I don''t understand, until she pulls a comically huge wooden hammer from her inventory. It''s as big as she is. "Why did you pick that?" I ask her. "I want to help protect people from monsters." she says with pure determination in her voice. I was really hoping she had a healing class. Ah well, there should be plenty of people who chose a healing class, we''ll find them eventually. Now is as good a time as any to check over everything, especially the messages that popped up mid-combat.
New StatLeadership
Accept Decline
New StatLuck
Accept Decline
I''m not the least bit interest in the leadership stat, so I hit decline right away. When I do, I find that the [Endurance] stat hasn''t disappeared, it''s just not active. I guess that means I don''t have to earn it twice, that''s good. I decline the luck stat as well, now that I know I can accept it later, if I change my mind. I see Jenny going through her own interface. She fought hard, no doubt she''s earn a thing or two. As for the loot, we''ve got ourselves 13 [Cloth Pouches], a [Spatial gem[Good]] from the Goblin Leader as well as a simple shiny stone ring and over a hundred copper coins in total.
Stone Ring
Type Accessory +4 STR
Small Strength Increase
By equipping my staff off and on, I learned the amount of MP it gave was half what a real attribute point gave. So the four to strength would only grant 20HP to whoever used this ring. Jenny wasn''t really interested, so we gave it to Zoe. Her eyes lit up, making me smile. The armour went to Zoe as well. Jenny wanted it, since she gets an extra defense boost from leather armour, but I convince her that Zoe needs the most protection right now.
Goblin Leather Breastplate
Type Armour Durability 21/25
Req: 15 STR +5 STR +4 END
Weak Torso Defense
"Good", I say, "That should help keep out newest, youngest and cutest member alive". Zoe turned red for a bit, but puts on the armour right away. There was no doubt in my mind about keeping her with us. As far as I was concerned my plans to solo this world were completely out the window. In fact, we needed to find more people. Still I wasn''t so far gone as to just take anyone. I was still worried about tomorrow. Sure working together made sense, but there are still plenty of people who are going to want to be in charge. I had a feeling tomorrow was going to bring them out in force. The last item to distribute was the book the Goblin Leader dropped. I had a feeling about it... yup it was a skill book, but not what I was hoping for.
Skill Book
Name Subterranean Attack Quality Rare
Req: 30 INTThe narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. +100 MP
Send Skills through the ground to attack from below
I was a little reluctant, after not giving anything to Jenny, but this one was obviously best suited for me. Still it would have to wait until I leveled up, since my INT was at 29 right now, 26 without my staff. Jenny agreed without a problem though, her skills took very little MP, and and her INT was only at 14. We talked quietly for a bit, introducing and getting comfortable with each other. The plans for the next day come up. It was Zoe who suggested hunting more goblins. Jenny wanted to find people to help rescue her sister. I was too embarrassed to tell her I would help her now, after fighting together for a day. "We can do both," I suggest. "We can keep an eye out for other people, while we look for more Goblins." "Cool yo, any idea where more of these green guys are?" "I don''t want to backtrack too far, but they really shouldn''t be too hard to find. I passed several houses that looked like they had goblins in ''em." Oh, before I forget. "Jenny, you have a last name on your status." It''s half a question, but she fills us in. "Yeah, the see through dude from the dream, says when you pick a last name it''ll influence the way the world interacts with you. Not a lot of info if you ask me, I couldn''t really get him to say much more than that. But basically MY last name give me 10% additional damage to people who fuu.. huh, screwed me over." She finishes with a glance at Zoe curled up, but attentive, in her lap. Hmm, that sounds appealing, after some fooling around with the interface, I get the option to come up. I''m going to hold off on choosing right now, since that''s an extra path I may not be able to reverse later. Zoe on the other hand chooses now and settles on ''Shield'' for a last name. It gives 10% added defense to her and her group. I''m fine with it, since she''s determined to stand between other people and monsters it seems. Zoe also figures out how to hide the last names. Good girl, no need to stand out just yet. There are probably many people who don''t know about last names yet.
Status
Name Zoe Shield Level 3
Health 295
Mana 140
Stamina 270
Strength 34(25) Intelligence 14
Dexterity 11 Agility 12
Intimidate 7 Endurance 4
N/A 0 N/A 0
That seemed to satisfy the girls, so we settled down to sleep. I stayed awake for a time, just to make sure nothing was trying to sneak into the house after we went to bed. But after about an hour, I too fell asleep. In the morning, we set out early. I ended up very annoyed before we even set off since I couldn''t find my bat. It came out the window with me, but was now nowhere to be found. Sigh. The girls strapped a [cloth Pouch] to each thigh, I had six around my waist. The others were put in storage. Jenny had her back up kitchen knives and I had one of Zoe''s spears, just in case. I had to clear out a slot for it, so I transfer one of my two food slots to Zoe. With the skill book taking up a slot, I''m out of inventory. So is Jenny, with knives, extra arrows and two slots of food from her work. Zoe is the only one with an open inventory space, but she still has the Goblin Spears, the food I gave her, and a bag full of clothes.
Goblin Spear
Type Staff Durability 5/8
Req: 10 DEX -1 AGI
Rusty IronSpear
The morning actually went much better than expected. Zoe was disturbingly enthusiastic about smashing rats. She had earned two level last night, and right now was out of the group so she could gain full EXP for the rat smashing. A little eight year heartbreaker in a fluffy bottomed pink dress, maliciously smashing monsters. Made me smile. Jenny was less pleased, but so far hadn''t really said anything, just the occasional frown. The dress was what she chose to leave her house in, I didn''t see any reason to object. As it happened there were plenty of people out today hunting [Rodentia]. Most seemed to be keeping away from each other, so we got plenty of looks traveling together. Finally we were approached by a sketchy looking white man I would of called a drug addict before all this. Now everyone was sort of dirty and paranoid looking so... He keeps eyeing Jenny and Zoe in a way I don''t like as he walks up to us. "Yo boss, whatchu got there?" he calls out loudly, despite the fact that he''s not that far away. I raise a single brow, "Excuse me?" "C''mon bro don''t be like that, I just see you traveling wit two nice girls here and I think to myself, I think ''Daryl, it just wouldn''t be right if you let these nice people walk around without offering some protection'', you know?" I''m not sure how to respond, to this guy, but Jenny makes the point mute. An arrow flashes by Daryl''s ear, taking a few strands of greasy brown hair with it. "Thanks, " She says, "but we can take care of ourselves, yo." Huh, remind me to stay on her good side. Daryl holds up both hands and backs away slowly. He looks like he wants to say somethings, but thinks better of it. I give him an apologetic shrug as we walk on. Zoe only glances at him, before resuming her hunt. I invite Zoe back into the group, in case we need her extra defense. The confrontation made me a bit nervous, but it was nothing you wouldn''t have to deal with on a regular day before the apocalypse. I''ve just about forgotten the encounter when there''s a strange noise behind us, like a huge balloon popped. I turn just in time to see Daryl go flying backwards. He lands awkwardly, but manages roll to his feet before he''s finished sliding backwards. He doesn''t look nearly as twitchy as he did before. He points a finger at me, "You too greedy man, you got to learn to share." Then he disappears. Not runs away, but fades from visibility. "He''s a Rogue type." Jenny informs us, Zoe having run over to us already. "What''s that." I ask. "I was looking into classes with invisibility and stealth to escape those assholes at work, That''s their major skill." "Ok, how do we pull him out of it." I''ve already cast [Quicksand] but, though it might slow him down, it won''t hurt him and I''m guessing that might be the only way to see the guy. "You gotta attack him, or get hit by him, to break it." Jenny confirms. Zoe looks up at us, "I can help!" She declares and runs out to where Daryl was. "Zoe, No!" Jenny is not happy, and takes after her. I go to grab Jenny but miss. Great now we''re all separated. Zoe Abruptly stops, she''s violently turned around and Daryl fades into view with a nasty grin on his face. Jenny pulls up an arrow aim at his head. "I would think twice about that, girly." Daryl taunts. He has a knife at Zoe''s throat, but I''m more interested in the fact that Zoe seems fine. She has her hands on Daryl wrists in a vain attempt to keep the knife from her skin, but she has a grin on her face, not much different than Daryls. "It''s ok Jenny, you can shoot now." Zoe grins wider. "Huh" Both Daryls and Jenny reply at the same time. "He''s not going anywhere now." Zoe''s grin grows wider. Daryl''s face is red with rage, "You little brat, let me show you..." He cuts off abruptly as we all can see him straining to move his knife hand, but getting nowhere. I finally think to inspect him
Status
Name Daryl Level 1
Health 90
Mana 120
Stamina 185
Ridiculously high stamina for a level one, but that health meant a low starting strength attribute. Compared to Zoe''s, this was like a grown man trying to arm wrestle an eight year old. Poor Daryl just didn''t know which role he was playing in that scenario. "Jenny, shoot him, he''s not going anywhere." I would have done it myself, but my [Fire Shot] is a lot less precise than her arrows. Jenny waste no time and an arrow sprouts from Daryls cheek. Ew, that must be painful. He''s knocked away from Zoe even with her holding him. Then Jenny and I proceed with what needs to be done. When we finish, a burnt mess with Several arrows lies on the ground, unrecognizable as once being human. I want to freak out, everything I was afraid of doing is culminated in this moment. But I don''t have that luxury. First Jenny and I fuss over Zoe, making sure she was OK, then we try to get as far away from Daryl''s remains as possible. To completely keep from thinking about what just happened, I ask Jenny about that first attack. "It was my trap skill." she explains. "I was just about to stop setting them when that last one went off. Didn''t like the slimy feel of that jerk, yo." "How long do they last?" "I can set ''em for up to 5 minutes, right now, before they fade." We walk in silence for a bit, before Zoe goes back to smashing rats. Jenny frowns harder than before, then goes and has a chat with her. Girl stuff I figure. I hadn''t noticed but Daryl was worth just enough EXP to set Jenny and I over the edge of level 7. Ch 10. - Patch 1.01 A hop, skip and a jump away from our brief acquaintance with Daryl, we were approaching the first of the Goblin nest on this street. Surprisingly there were other people scouting the place out from across the road. I''d learn yesterday, the goblin sentries outside didn''t seem interested in chasing me down, so long as I stayed far enough away to not be a threat. The people outside were a mixed bunch of adults, but one of them looked vaguely familiar. The big black guy in the back looked like a slab of muscle imitating a human being, but if I was right, he was one of the few people in this world I might actually call the cops for if I saw him being robbed. The white woman beside him had straight red hair and a pale or I guess, by definition fair complexion, the last guy guy was short round and for some reason seemed quite happy. Jeans, t-shirt and light spring jackets were worn like a uniform, further convincing me that I might know one of them. They were eyeing the goblin house and seemed to be in deep discussion. If they were thinking of clearing it, then this might be a good opportunity to scout some potential new allies. I was just about to call out to them when...
Attention Sentient Beings Incorporation of [extra-universal energies] into [Native Inhabitants] has been deemed successful. However, to improve the [survive-ability] of [Native Inhabitants] Several adjustments have been deems necessary. Additional but non-essential information can be obtained from [Celestials]. Please note, update will take place in 1h59m53s
Two hours, uh, OK then, plenty of time to clear the goblins out and secure shelter, I think. "Jenny, Zoe stay close, we need more people to safely clear that place in time, I don''t know how long the update will take, but I''m thinking we won''t be safe while it does." "Why you think that." Jenny asks me. We continue to walk over to the other group in plain sight. Don''t want someone thinking we are trying to sneak up on them. "We wouldn''t need the timer warning if we were going to be safe during the update." We''re close enough to the other group now that I''m sure I know the Big man in back. "Yo, Mr. G, long time no see!" The other group is startled despite the fact that they must have seen us approach, I frown, but whatever. Mr. G looks our group over, then scrutinizes me, "I know you, son?" Heh, not surprising, I really hadn''t seen him for about half my life, but he was somewhat memorable in being a nice guy by my standards. Instead of answering right away I look over his companions. The woman has on some sort of glowing gloves and the short fat man suddenly has a sword and round wooden shield in his hands. Jenny and I have our weapons in hand since we have no extra inventory slots, but Zoe likes to pull hers out as needed. She jumps in front of us and her Hammer appears in her hands. It''s still such a funny sight to see that little girl with such a huge hammer, I have to struggle to not laugh. The round man doesn''t even try and lets out a loud laugh for a few seconds. He lets his weapons fade back into his inventory as he laughs. The woman looks confused for a moment but then her gloves too disappear. She, was standing behind the round man with a hand on his shoulder as her battle stance. Weird. I look over and answer Mr. G "Probably not, I was only at the Sanctuary a short time and that was a long time ago. I was Leon Johnson back then." Well, technically still am, but I never considered that to be my real last name. It was chosen at random to fill a state requirement, I always planned to pick a new one when I turned 18. Mr. G looked at me, trying to remember, but I''d be surprised and impressed if he did. A lot of kids passed through the Sanctuary Group home. He shrugs his shoulders a bit, "Can''t say I remember you, boy, but glad to see more of you kids survived." We introduced our parties to each other had a short catch up on what we''ve all been through the last few days. Apparently the Group home was straight up over run that first day, but only a few staff members had been there, all the kids having been at school. These three were safe at home and went back to the Group home to check on the kids that might be there. The man was Rick and the woman Debrah, I found out Mr G''s real name was Gavin Gardener. Despite looking like an Irish steryotype, Debrah spoke with a casual Caribbean accent. They made a fuss over Zoe of course, but she didn''t want to be cuddled much. Mr. G had chosen the [Cleric] class as one of the best available healing classes. Not surprising given his personality, but to look at him, you would think all he was missing was a heavy suit of armour. He was level three already. Rick was [Warrior] which gave a bonus to all weapon types and to light armour. A jack of all trades melee fighter then. Debrah was an Enchanter, with short term battle buff or permanent one if she got the right crafting materials materials. Both her and Rick were level two. A short test between Mr G and Zoe, revealed that although Mr G started with a higher bonus to strength, Zoe''s stat points made her slightly stronger than him now. Not to say he was a pushover, he was still naturally strong and who knows what the update might do. Mr. G''s group had been working together but hadn''t known about the party function. They in turn gave us [Message Paper]. Some sort of tree monster took over the Group home, they killed a few to get in and see if any kids were there. The [Message Paper] was a drop from them that let you send a note to someone so long as you knew their name and had met some time after the apocalypse. All of this took half an hour, then we decided to group up and assault the Goblins. Everyone was shocked when I suggested Zoe and rick as the front line. They all wanted to protect her. The girls were especially angry with me. "Are you out of your mind!" Jenny yelled into my face. "Yeah, boy, that''s pretty low, putting a little girl in front of you to fight..." even Mr G thought I was just some sort of coward. I let them yell at me for a bit, with Zoe interjecting that she "Wants to help, too." Finally I got sick of it. "So let me get this straight!" I ask them loudly, "You want to protect Zoe do you?" "Well of course we do, she just a little girl." Rick says while he tries to put an arm around her shoulder, but Zoe move away with an angry huff. Everyone else agrees with him though. "And your plan to do that is to make sure she has as little experience protecting herself as possible? This makes sense to you, does it? What''s going to happen one day when she''s by herself and because you decided to coddle her all that time, she gets killed? hmm? In case you haven''t notice, Zoe is level three, she''s quite strong and I''m pretty sure if you tried to leave her outside she would just ignore you!" Zoe just grinned at that last remark. I had a feeling about that after watching her jump at Daryl earlier. We hadn''t told them about that encounter, but maybe we should have. We could have avoided the ''let''s protect the weak little girl'' argument altogether, but I don''t want them looking at us as murderers just yet. After that mess, the actual attack on the Goblins was somewhat anti-climatic. Jenny and I took out the sentry from long range. We all marched right up to the front of the house. There was a large open entryway past the front door, so the first plan of using the hallway to constrict enemy movement to our benefit was out the window. Instead we set up just outside the front door. Zoe and Rick in front, then Jenny and myself, then our Healer and Enchanter. In order to use her, battle enchants Debrah had to touch us, so she would lay a hand on a shoulder during the fight as well as keep an eye out for extra company. Her Battle enchants only lasted 10 minutes right now, but that should be enough time. Once set up, Jenny laid a trap just inside the door, then we yelled and made enough noise to attract the attention of the green bastards. They were making enough noise inside to cover our set up. After that it was a slaughter. They came, Zoe and ricks skills put them down quickly, while Jenny used her [Scatter Shot], traps and [Stun Arrow] to keep them honest. I wasn''t sure I would be able to use anything other than [Quicksand], but with the use of the skill book we earned at the last Goblin dungeon, I was able to send my skills [Splash], [Fire Shot] and [Flame Thrower] past Zoe and Rick to keep the goblins off balance. I kept expecting them to come from the side of the house, but they never did. Mr. G kept Rick, Zoe and occasionally Jenny, when she set another trap, bathed in healing light. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Suddenly a purple flash knocked Zoe back hard. She flew back and clipped Jenny, causing a stray arrow to hit Rick through the shoulder. Mr G, was on it fast and another ray of light bathed rick from head to toe. The Arrow was pushed out as his shoulder healed but he couldn''t use his shield while it was happening. Zoe and Jenny were picking themselves up, Rick was taking cuts from spears as he tried to defend with one hand, and Mr G was trying to keep up with the damage he was taking. In the back of the current group of Goblins were two with robes and wands. Mage of some sort. I stepped forward with a short burst from [Flame Thrower]. When the goblins in front reeled back I sent a barrage of [Fire Shot] at the Goblin spell casters, but they seem to just shrug them off. Then they sent some purple magic shots at me. I flinched badly with my hands in front of my face expected to be knocked back like Zoe, but instead it only did minimal damage, while [Stone Skin] kept me on my feet. For a moment they were as surprised as I was, then we sent more magic at each other, but little damage was being done. Rick finally healed properly, and Zoe was up as well. We were just inside the front doorway now, so they were working overtime to keep the spears away from me. I couldn''t figure out what to do about the mages though. They were too far away for either Zoe or Rick to reach and there were too many goblins to give Jenny a clear shot at them. My MP was draining fast, I wouldn''t last long with this battle mage imitation. One last try then I need to fall back fast. I took a long look at the Goblins as they got ready to cast another spell, then sent my last new ability from the level five upgrade through the ground with [Subterranean Attack]
Ice Blade
30 MP 1MP/s Elemental Creation Damage 10-19 ---
Cold, sharp, and deadly. Meet thewife
I didn''t expect it to work, since [Ice Blade] was definitely a melee attack skill, but a spike of ice shot up out of the ground and into the stomach of the rightmost Goblin. All three of us were somewhat surprised, but, I quickly used my remaining MP to spam the skill into them both. They were pinned into the air by several spikes each when a roar came from the back of the house. I retreated drained. I took a spear in the ass on my way out the door. Wow, that hurt, I cried out, but the pain disappeared quickly, thanks to Mr. G. Man, how were Zoe and Rick standing it, getting healed is one thing but getting stabbed still hurt. I was regretting sending Zoe to the front lines, even if that''s where she wanted to be... Another roar came from the back of the horde. I didn''t bother to turn around. With no MP, there was nothing more I could do, and I was already in the way of Jenny''s arrows. I ducked back to my position crawling over several dead goblins. I''d be lying if I said I wasn''t feeling pretty good though, those two casters almost ruined our whole game plan, and we didn''t really have a back up. Then I remember something, the last Goblin Leader hadn''t roared though, it screeched... I got back to my position and preceded to [Meditate], I briefly felt a hand on my shoulder and suddenly I lost the extra magic damage enchant on my staff, instead my Regen shot way up as it acquired a wisdom enchant. Thank you Debrah! She went back to Mr G''s side while I recovered my MP. We had a problem though. My [Quicksand] and the narrow doorway were they only things keeping us from being overwhelmed earlier. Now I had to turn it off while I recovered and the area in front of the door just inside the house was cleared while I fought the spell casters. Zoe and Rick were trying to keep the area secured while I got enough MP to use [Quicksand] again, but it would take a minute. "I''m almost out of mana!" Mr G yells from the back line. Excellent, for a second there I was worried this was going to be easy. "We got a Problem!" Rick yells out suddenly. Then he and Zoe stagger back hard and out of the house steps the Last Goblin. Except it''s not just a Goblin.
Green HobGoblin Champion
Level
Type
Health
Mana
10
Elite Humanoid
288/300
50/50
"Well, yeah, no, that makes sense." I sigh. No matter though, at this point my regen was actually higher than my Mana Pool, I needed to a lot of short rest breaks when I went over board. "Everyone, get away from dat ting!" Debrah yells out. "Don''t gotta tell me twice!" Rick runs by with Zoe in one hand. I and everyone else back up. We''re all out on the front lawn now, and somehow, we''ve managed to pull a crowd. Not many people were out, but I guess the battle noise called to some of the bravest. There are at least 20 people on the other side of the street. Some run away with the appearance of the Hobgoblin, but the rest slowly, then loudly cheer us on. I don''t know why but it makes me smile. The Hobgoblin roars again, but outside the confines of the house it sounds more screech-like than before. "I got no Mana!" Mr G reminds everyone. Zoe runs over to him, "Here!" She hand him an axe? Where did she..? Is that the Goblin Leaders axe? I completely forgot about that thing! That little kleptomaniac and I are going to have to have a talk later. We circle around the Hobgoblin. It''s armed with a club and shield, leather pants and no shirt. Taller than it''s brethren, it''s at least 5 feet and mad. It''s keep roaring at us, until Jenny puts an arrow in it. It roars again and turns to Jenny so I put a few [Fire Shots] in it''s back until it faces me. Zoes hammer comes out of nowhere to bean it upside the head. It''s a skill that returns her weapon to her as long as she hits her target. The hobgoblin is mad now, Jenny''s next arrows catch nothing but shield. "Melee on three!" Rick yells out, then counts to three. He, Mr G, and Zoe rush the Hobgoblin from three sides. It deflect the axe and ignores the hammer, while forcing rick to defend a wide swing from the club. There are a flurry of blows traded before all three retreat. Light bathe Rick as Mr G heals him, he got the worst of it. The Hobgoblin is mostly fine as it only had to tank Zoe''s hammer. This is where a level difference shows, because even though Zoe earned two levels during the fight, she''s still five behind the Hobgoblin. Everyone is two levels up, except Jenny and I. we only gained one. Still, that means it''s up to us to do most of the damage. With [Quicksand] I slow it down andJenny precede to empty both her quiver and her storage. I send [Flamethrower] through the ground and fire shot through the air. Everyone else tanks it when it looks to rush either Jenny or myself. It has some sort of stone skin ability and a shield charge like Rick. Zoe''s ground slam cause a localized tremor to put the hobgoblin off balance then the three wail on it, while I recover mana and Jenny refills her quiver. Debrah, circle us all, boosting Health or Mana regen as needed, or amplifying damage and armour. After a while we have a pattern going and soon enough The Hobgoblin lets out a loud screech and dies. Zoe runs up and grabs its club, but then throws it aside with a disappointed look on her face. Weird girl. The crowd that gathered cheers for us and starts to move closer. I see Jenny twitch but she doesn''t shoot anyone. before they get too close I tell Rick to take Debrah and gather everything. They loot the Hobgoblin and move inside to gather everything from the small fry. Zoe gather all the spears she can. She must have at least 60 of those by now. By the time the crowds are patting us on the back asking pointless questions and generally being a bother, we are all reminded of a certain deadline.
Attention Sentient Beings Incorporation of [extra-universal energies] into [Native Inhabitants] has been deemed successful. However, to improve the [survive-ability] of [Native Inhabitants] Several adjustments have been deems necessary. Additional but non-essential information can be obtained from [Celestials]. Please note, update will take place in 0h18m24s
My God, oh did so much time pass!? I look at my status and see my stamina has less than a third left in it. Geez, time flies when you''re having fun. No time to chit chat, the crowds go silent when the window pops up. I gather my group and we start to loot and move the goblins outside the house from the front doorway. Some people from the crowds start to help, but I make sure no one takes our hard earned coppers and pouches. when we finish, the ones that help ask to stay in the house until the update is finished. I guess they think the same as me. We could be knocked out for the update, defenseless. Everyone who wants to is allowed in, we secure the doors and windows, then wait. there are only a few minutes left. Debrah securedus a room upstairs. It''s crowded with 6 people, but the rest of the house seems worse with all the strangers. We lock the door and wait... Glossary of sorts (Possible spoilers) Uncommon terms Intimidate - Heavy weapon Specialist Starting Attribute - Lowers enemy regen and INT Blood lust - Slows enemy, Increase speed, lower defense Twister - 2hand weapon spin - no dizziness, increase AOE with level Faith - Increased Regen - Increased Magic Defense - Increased Light damage Holy Book - Starting Cleric weapon - Does not need to be replaced - Grows with Reagents Repent - Return Damage People Leon - (16)Our MC, moody, secretive, Doesn''t trust easily. Wants to go it alone but reluctantly dependent on others...for now Jenny Revenge - (18)Bow user with a tough attitude. Wants to rescue her sister, might have a crush on MC Zoe Shield - (8) Easy going child Amazon. Determined to strong enough to protect those she cares about after losing her parents to goblins Gavin Gardener - (29)(Nicknames: Mr G, Teddy)Big soft spoken muscle-man. The healer in all ways, (gay?). Former staff worker in MC''s group home long ago. As such suspicious of MC. Ricky - (23) Coworker of Mr G and Debrah. Jolly fat warrior (Mercenary). Currently leading village sorties to rescue women from goblins Debrah - (25) Former Coworker to Ricky and Mr G. Village Elder of Sanctuary Village. Combat Enchantress. Caribbean Daryl - (?) Dead. Former junkie who made the mistake of taken Zoe hostage. Dennis -(?)Former biker leader. Lost most of his men were lost as they and their families tried to leave the city area. Wants to lead the Sanctuary village by any means necessary. Current Warrior trainer of the village. Mike Michael- (?) (Nickname: Mikes)Thief member of Blue Apple road. Sword user. Steven - (?) (Nickname: Stubbs) Thief member of Blue Apple road. Crossbow user. Mr. Smith - (49) Former foster parent of MC. Not the worst one ever. (presumed dead) Sister Mary - (22)(Nun) Magic trainer at the Sanctuary Village. Strong faith in her religion. Mike - Danny - Chris - Adam - Places Sanctuary Group home Sanctuary Village Blue Apple Road Bright Willow Park Name of city?-- Small Green Goblin Abode Monsters Rodentia Greater Arborbeast Green Goblins Green Goblin Spellcaster Green Goblin Leader Green Hobgoblin Champion Lesser Asterionae Horned Leporid Skill Books and Scrolls Echoportation Flameportation Light pulse Embodiment [Earth] Dragon Soul Elemental Construct [Ice Wing] Resistance [Disarm] [Elemental Manipulation [Earth Tunnel]] Town Portal Group Portal Slow Target
Status
NameZoeLevel11
Health790
Mana350
Stamina230
Strength(88) 66Intelligence23
Dexterity 20Agility 21
Intimidate5Endurance10(14)
Wisdom4N/A0
[tr] [tr] [tr] [tr] [tr] [tr] [tr] [tr] [tr] [tr] [tr] [tr]
Skills and AbilitiesNameLevel Experience Inspect342.65%Charge29.5%Ground Tremor21.2%Weapon Throw187.35%Twister10%Heavy Weapon Mastery396.97%Leap??%Taunt??%Bloodlust??%Throw??%Embodiment [Earth]??%
[tr] [tr] [tr]
HP Regen135.52/minMP Regen10.12/minSTA Regen2.31/min
[tr] [tr] [tr] [tr] [tr] [tr] [tr]
BonusesCold Brass axe9 STREmbodiment Earth100 MPMoonVine Necklace4 WISStone Ring4 STRStone Ring4 STRArmour5 STR, 4 END
[tr] Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Status
NameJennyLevel14
Health384
Mana374
Stamina749
Strength 33 (38) Intelligence23
Dexterity 25(32)Agility 70(74)
Endurance4N/A 0
Constitution4N/A0
[tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr] [tr]
Skills and AbilitiesNameLevel Experience Inspect356.27%Tame Animal187.51%Skining10.0%Fletching487.35%Scatter Shot256.32%Camouflage264.12%Knife Throw285.24%Set Trap279.46%Quick Shot396.98%Stun Arrow392.82%Thrown Weapon Mastery136.63%Bow Weapon Mastery45.27%STA to MP Conversion491.65%
[tr] [tr] [tr]
HP Regen18.48/minMP Regen3.22/minSTA Regen39.2/min
[tr] [tr] [tr] [tr] [tr] [tr] [tr]
BonusesBow3 INTLight Pulse100 MPSunVine Necklace4 CONStone Ring4 DEXStone Ring2 DEX, 2 AGIArmour5 STR, 4 END
[tr]
Status
NameLeonLevel18
Health312/447
Mana158/1336
Stamina214/336
Strength39(43)Intelligence89(113)
Dexterity 26Agility 30(32)
Wisdom20(34)N/A0
N/A0N/A0
[tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr] [tr] [tr] [tr][tr] [tr] [tr] [tr]
Skills and AbilitiesNameLevel Experience Inspect5?%Fire shot5?%Stone Skin4?%Splash3?%Haste4?%Flame Thrower3?%Quicksand3?%Ice Blade3?%Slow Fall1?%Magic Staff Mastery5?%Subterranean Attack3?%Meditate3?%Mage Sight1?%Golem2?%Mana Shield1?%Chain Lightning1?%Ice Wing1?%
[tr] [tr] [tr]
HP Regen.645/minMP Regen57.63/minSTA Regen.48/min
[tr][tr][tr] [tr] [tr] [tr] [tr] [tr] [tr] [tr]
BonusesTsuga Staff9 INTSub T Attack100 MPMoonVine Necklace4 WISStone Ring4 INTStone Ring4 INTStone Ring4 STRBoots2 AGILight Robes2 INT, 11 HPIce Wing100 MP, 10 WIS
Ch. 11 - Escort Mission Thankfully the update only took an hour because while it was active, we had no access to our skills, magic or inventory. We took the time to get to know each other a little better, though I didn''t really speak much. It Just wasn''t my thing, words are words and actions speak louder and all that. Rick, Debrah and Mr. G talked about their lives and work some. It was enlightening to Jenny and Zoe but it was just life to me. I had to pointedly ignore their looks of pity, no one said being a ward of the state was fun and games. Jenny talked about her sister and her plans to rescue her. She didn''t ask the others for help, but I think she was just exercising patience. We had just fought together and lived, that creates a bond even I couldn''t pretend to ignore. Zoe was a little chatter box when it was her turn, but it was what one would expect from an Eight year old. She missed her friends from school, her toys and her parents. The last was said with tears from everyone and hugs for the little Xena in our midst. There is a commotion downstairs about half an hour in. Apparently some of our guest thought to check the basement we missed on our quick sweep of the house. There were women down there, only two, but alive. I am starting to get an idea into the nature of these goblins. For one we have yet to find any green-skinned females. That is screaming volumes to me in light of the women they keep collecting. Although this was speculation since they killed Zoe''s mom, of course. I''m thinking a few more raids on Goblin abodes might be in order. Rick keeps questioning Zoe about her class, saying there was something off about it. As the only other close combatant he should know. I agree but I didn''t check every class available and none that were non-magical, but they all seemed somewhat gender neutral or male oriented in the naming scheme to me. There was no deep mystery though, it seemed Zoe was just smart enough to question her Celestial more than I had. Her class was actually [Heavy Weapon Specialist] with [Hammer Specialist] being one of the available sub-classes when she hits level 20. Damn it! I can''t believe I hadn''t thought to ask more about my class. I just thought Sigma-Bob wouldn''t answer for some reason. A part of me was fine with finding out things on my own, but if it got me killed... Ah well, nothing to do or say about it now. Maybe if we find another celestial I can pump it for information. Finally another window opens up. It''s decidedly low on information, but I held no expectations to begin with.
Attention Sentient Beings Incorporation of [extra-universal energies] into [Native Inhabitants] has also sped the incorporation of [Ancient Beings of Power] That otherwise would have taken [Much Longer]. To compensate, expect greater understanding and survivability at the cost of [Greater Discomfort] Addition but non-essential information can be obtain from [Celestials]
What''s this then? If I had to guess, stronger monsters came through and everyone gets to grow faster so we don''t die. Seems about right to me and after a discussion our group basically comes to agree that''s the likely meaning. A check of our character screens reveals no change in our attributes, but our HP, MP and Stamina have increased a moderate amount. Regen is also higher. Debrah as a look of surprise after checking her systems, but doesn''t choose to share, and I''m not one to pry. With that out of the way, we look towards the loot collected from the goblins of this house. 18 more [cloth pouches] bringing our grand total to 31. Debrah informs us she can make these if she had the right materials. Not the pouches themselves, that requires a tailor, but she can enchant it with a permanent enchant to become the needed material to upgrade our inventories. We also acquired three Mana shards from the goblin spell casters.
Item
Mana Shard Crafting Reagent Combine 10to create a Mana Crystal
Consume to restore 100 MP
Ahh, nice. We also got our hands on quite a bit of useful loot. I was hoping Rick didn''t miss any of it. It might seem as though I''m quick to trust Mr. G and the others, but the truth is I''m quite OK with allowing them the opportunity to betray us. So long as it doesn''t cost me my life, I''m more than willing to hand out rope. No one really has to earn my trust, they can only lose it. The first bit of gear to distribute are the wands wielded by the Goblin casters.
Arcane Arrow Wand
Type MagicTool Quality Rare
Req: 20 INT Arcane Arrow 20MP/cast
Cast Arcane Arrow at greatly reduced cost
One was Rare the other Good, Those went to Mr. G and Debrah since they are the only ones with a hand free to use them. Debrah wanted to break down the wands but we decide to wait until we had a safe place for her to set up shop. Two stone rings of +4 DEX and +2 DEX /AGI went to Jenny for now, though Debrah can also make use of them. A copper belt of the Rabbit went to Rick. It increases dodge rate and Movement speed in combat. The big guy already moved with surprising agility so it fit well with his sword and shield style. The hobgoblins Leather pants went to Jenny as well, seeing as she would get the most use out of them. They granted only armour, but even that was boosted by her class bonus. The shield went to Rick as a backup, since his own was much weaker and would likely break soon. The Hobgoblins club, was never seen. I narrowed my eyes at Zoe for a bit, but decided against making a scene. None of us could use it properly anyway except for her and maybe Mr, G. The last item was another Skill book, but the Requirements were strange.
Skill BookUnauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
Name Light Pulse Quality Poor
Req: 10% Air Affinity +50 STA
Send A Pulse of Light to Distract Enemies or Attract Attention.
I didn''t even try to learn it. I felt with enough control over [Fire Shot] I could probably replicate that skill. Mr G thought the same thing since his heals produce quite a bit of light already. Zoe and Debrah couldn''t use it, but Jenny could. Interesting. Rick declined to even try, but I think he was holding out for a better drop. Good choice in my opinion. After distributing the loot and Zoes stash of food that she suddenly had no room for... we went down stairs to see what was what. The minor changes updated earlier was the main topic of discussion. Our fight with the goblins a close second. Two Black women thanked the girls profusely when our party was pointed out to them. Seems these were the women from the basement. Jenny spoke with them for a time. I made my way outside, not really having much to say to strangers. After a while my group met up on the front lawn. We talked about what we wanted to do next. I was for more hunting of green rapist. Jenny and Mr G agreed with me. Zoe didn''t care much. I should probably be worried about her, she just killed a bunch of people and didn''t seem the least bit bothered by it. Granted they were green people of the kind that killed her parents, but her resilience was a bit strange. Debrah change our plans, however, when she pulled out an Item none of us had seen before. She explained that it appeared in her inventory during the update.
Item
CampFire Kit Level 1 sanctuary field Combine 10 to create Village Fire Pit Last 48 hours
Sleep safe within the sanctuary provided by Fire
We agreed this was a god send, maybe literally, to have. It looked like a small rock with a large branch attached at an angle when it came out of her inventory. Debrah spoke to the other people inside the house and it turned out all of the non combat classes have been gifted with this kit. It is literally the most valuable thing in the world right now. I could see this providing a safe place to rest like a city in a video game. No monsters bursting in your door at night. The first real safety since the world ended. It''s value could not be over exaggerated. It didn''t take much to convince the others to combine the [Campfire Kit], but no one could decide where to set it up. Mr G pointed out it may not be movable once set up. There followed a long discussion about where to move to and set up a base. Eventually we settled on the park not too far away. If cars still operated it would have been a 10 minute drive. Without them though, we had to travel at the speed of the slowest. I didn''t mind though, I was starting to look at these people as resources. They needed to be kept alive long enough to be useful. There were already a number of people with a gleam in their eye. I think they figured out what I was already afraid of. If we were going to build a village it would need leaders. By any other name a leader is just another politician when it comes to us human beings. I could already see some of the problems bound to rear up in the horizon, but the safety in numbers today far outweighs the possible politics of tomorrow. Eventually we start the long march to Bright Willow Park. This is a long term investment, once we set up, we''ll have to build, Farm and protect ourselves from both monsters and men who will want whatever we manage to scrounge together. On the way we get to know our fellow travelers. There are a variety of classes with as many backgrounds with us. Already there are those trying to exert authority, telling other to keep up, keep sharp or keep an eye out. I ignore anyone stupid enough to try and tell me what to do. We pick up a number of people on the way, so our group grows in size. Zoe and Mr G. practice the new skills and spellsthey received for reaching level five. The tank of this group is clearly Zoe, she even has a [Taunt] now. I really should feel bad about a little girl on the front lines, but she won''t be little for long. She''s the youngest of the 30 people marching for the park. Children are a rare sight these days. Many of the people here say they know where many are hold up at, including some of their own. They want to make sure the park really is safe before they get them. As we approach the park, the [Rodentia] become scarce but are replaced with higher level monsters. The legless killer rabbits from the news.
Horned Leporid
Level
Type
Health
Mana
4
Animal
80
20
They are dangerous, but we handle them even with the many low levels among us. Mr G is no longer the only healer, though he is the strongest and the only [Cleric]. his magic keeps everyone safe while everyone else deals with the suicidal attacks of the rabbits. We learn the highest number a party can contain is six, lucky us. My group being the highest levels at the moment split up and lead 6 parties for protection. There is low key grumbling about who should be leading the parties, especially when it comes to Zoe''s group. Lovely, we already have politicians in the making. I''m not worried about them just yet, power is all that really matters right now. We all gain a little EXP for the long walk as well as the [Endurance] attribute option. Everyone with Endurance has a vastly increased HP regen rate. I really am giving that one second thoughts, but it can wait for now. The healers are kept pretty busy and gain EXP for healing everyone at a faster rate than we combat classes gain EXP for killing rabbits. I begin to suspect some are allowing unnecessary injuries for the EXP. I didn''t quite know what to say about that. I had no interest in leading this bunch, I would just keep an eye out for people I could depend on. Our Group finally made it to the park. It was a fairly large affair outside the city center and actually not a bad spot to start a new life. Farming was possibly, and might be more than necessary in a few years, though for now, there was still plenty to loot in the city and getting to it would be worthwhile for those of us with a combat orientation. I had nothing to do once we arrived. A nice spot was chosen, largely by Debrah, I think. There was a bright flash when the Campfire kits were combined then she was left with what looked like a large rock with many large branches angled up to form a tent like configuration. Once it was formed, it turned out it really couldn''t be moved. Also the range of it''s protection seemed to be at about a 70 yard radius from it. The horn rabbits that had plagued us stayed further away than that and would chase anyone only up to that point. I had the sudden image of ''The Beginner village'' flash through my mind. It made me smile. Ch 12 - Noob Village I knew this was the start. Assuming we survived, humanity I mean, then this would be the start of a capital city in a nation of humans against monsters. I could see it. And I wanted nothing to do with it. The rules might have changed, but left to our own devices, humanity would build itself right back up into an undeserving bunch of assholes. There may be nothing I can do about it, but without the power to decide what I wanted to do for myself, I would be sucked along, just like every other peasant in human history. The [Village Bonfire] refused to light until I threw a [Fire Shot] at it. Magic then was the key for these things, gonna have to keep that in mind. When it lit up, the protected radius seem to grow to a little over 100yards or so. Eventually we were going to need a wall, no matter how you look at it.
Village Fire Pit
Sanctuary Field Level 2
Mana Increases Protection Range and Duration 4D 23H 54M
Survive within the Sanctuary of the Fire
Weak Willed Enemies of the Fire Keeper shall find it difficult to approach
Ownership of the fire was another problem. Anyone could claim ownership of it. When they did a timer counted down from 2 hours. But there was nothing to stop someone else from claiming ownership and restarting the timer for themselves. What''s more the full effect of the fire diminished while everyone bickered over ownership. I had no interest in being tied down to this place, so I didn''t even try to claim the fire. None of my group really seemed to want it either. Some of those with combat classes thought they should be in charge. That way lies dictatorship, but with weapons in hand, many of the crafters looked like they may back down. This was when I finally decided to step up, there were just some problems best nipped in the bud. I sent a long powerful stream of [Flame Thrower] up through the ground near myself and my group, who had sensed there might be a problem starting. When I had everyone''s attention I stated simply, "I think those who provided the Campfire kits, should decide among themselves who should take ownership of the fire." And by extension, the village. "What the hell do you know kid, let the grown ups talk and mind your business!" That from one of the few stragglers we picked up on the long walk over to the park. I wasn''t really in the mood for this nonsense though. "Well, the way I see it, I don''t think anyone who chose a fighting class should be in charge. That''s how dictatorships and bad dystopian novels start." Some people seem to agree with me or at least see my point, but as expected, the average human IQ was working against me. "No one cares what you think kid," Someone shouted out, then pushed their way to the front of the group. He was a big guy, lot of fat and muscle, tattoos, and a bushy black beard. He and the three guys who made their way to stand behind him gave off the motorcycle gang impression, especially with the leather jackets. I didn''t want a confrontation, I wasn''t interested in fighting other people and all the paths that leads to. But backing down wasn''t an option either, we are about to start something here, and the tone will be set at its founding. Petty dictatorship wasn''t the social setting I planned on living with.
Status
Name Dennis Level 7
Health 336
Mana 206
Stamina 301
Dennis is the strongest at level seven, the others are level five with one at four. The problem is the three strongest each has health well over 300, while my group really doesn''t. Zoe has the highest HP among us at 374, Jenny and I are around 300ish and the rest well below. Lives could be lost if this comes to a fight. "Raise your hand if you want to be some petty dictators little bitch." I shout at the crowd. We started with 30 people at the goblin dungeon and have picked up at least 15 more on the way here. No one raises their hand, but some timid lady speaks up. "Maybe it''s not a bad idea having the strongest be in charge." She says. And on the surface it''s not a bad idea, but I''m not in the mood for a repeat of human history idiocy. "This country was the strongest in the world. It wasn''t run by the military, the strongest military in the world, if you remember! The strongest served! Civilians lead! If you want to go be run by some would be king then go somewhere else. I''m not going to live with someone holding a sword on me if I don''t do what they like!" I have obviously made enemies of Dennis and his boys. They pull out their weapons, dagger, dual daggers, mace and shield, and two handed sword. I''m not planning to fight though. I''ve said what I felt needed saying. I fold my arms and turn my back on them, looking for a place to sit and trusting my group to provide ample warning if they try something. It also has the effect of making them seem as less than a threat to me, lowering their standing in the minds of the people gathered. This is going to take a while. The rest of the day is wasted in fact, but I don''t mind too much. This is too important to half ass. It''s getting dark by the time anything is settled. The support classes eventually stand up for themselves with the backing of those of us who weren''t on a power trip. Then the 10 who actually had the original [Campfire Kits] were told to choose among themselves. Debrah eventually managed to get herself elected by that group by dint of her association with us, the strongest group. Most of these people gathered to watch us fight that hobgoblin champion after all.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. She took ownership of the fire, but Dennis and his boys as well as three others who joined him took ownership right back. None of them were from the original 30 who set out from the Goblin dungeon house. Mr, G decides to resolve the situation. He stands in front of them and addresses their leader. "Son, you can try to be a badass here, but try to remember we all have to live together. Unless you want to be watching your back the entire time, try to remember you are very much outnumbered." While Mr. G tried the reasonable approach, Jenny, Zoe and I put our weapons in plain sight. My staff is hardly that intimidating so I keep a [Fire Shot] rotating in my hand. Some of the braver people in the crowd pull their weapons as well. Dennis and his group eventually backed down, but I know they are going to be trouble for a long time to come unless something is done about, or to, them. I wonder if I have it in me to strike first... but I don''t think I do. I''m not the type to start a fight, but I need to start thinking of ways to end them. Debrah says ownership grants her a lot of options most of which she can''t yet use. To unlock afew we are going to need a name for our Village of nothing at the moment. But it''s late and that''s a discussion for the next morning. Night falls and everyone is forced to take care of their own needs. The legless Rabbits are plentiful and edible so food is less of a problem than I feared. They are skinned and the fur is good crafting material for some leather working types. A little while later there are clumps of sleeping people around the [Village Bonfire]. My group is sleeping together slightly away from the rest. I have first watch, less against monsters and more against the monsters in our midst. "I need to go get my sister." Jenny sits besides me, her gaze sweeping across our new friends and neighbors. "We''ll spend tomorrow grinding against as many goblins as we can find. Then go rescue her and the others the day after." She doesn''t bring up my former reluctance to become involved with her problems. Fighting together as already made us as close as we''ve both ever been with someone. I''ve caught her given me appraising looks from time to time over the last two days. But I don''t think too much of it, I''ve read about how close a battle can bring people to each other. She''s exceptionally cute, but a relationship just feels like more responsibility than we both need right now. After a while she stand up and walks back to our friends. A while later when I''m about to nod off on watch duty I''m finally replace by Rick and his ever permanent smile. He too sits down beside me, "You''re doing a good job kid." he says, as though continuing a conversation from an earlier time. "Am I now? At what exactly?" But he doesn''t answer, just snorts a bit as he laughs at me. Is there a joke I''m not in on? But it''s late and it has been an exceptionally long day. I bid him good night only to receive another smile and laugh. I can''t help but smile back, that guy really is a mood lifter. We''re low on outdoor supplies, but our group has sheets from Zoe''s house and plenty of body heat to go around. Zoe and Debrah are attached to Mr G''s sides, happily unconscious within the muscularmedic''s heat output. Jenny is spooning Zoe, keeping out youngest monster smasher safe and sound. I curl up back to back to her, abandoning my usual reluctance of sharing my personal space. At some point during the night, I open my eyes to see her face peaceful and asleep in the flickering light of the Village fire. Her watch as come and gone, I''m now back to back with Zoe. I smile a little and go back to sleep. The morning comes with the sun and Mr G shaking us awake. Last night, we decided we might as well get that early start. The first order of business is called by Debrah after she gathers her fellow campfire kit holders. A name is needed for our fledgling village, but they decide it''s important enough to include everyone of us. 45 people trying to decide on a name for a place is a hell of a sight. Fights almost broke out, which I suppose is indicative of everyone''s stress levels. The final contenders are Bright Willow after the park, Noob Village for those who understand the game like elements we now live with, and Sanctuary. Sanctuary wins easily, and it''s time to start the rest of the day. Our group has a quick meeting about what we want to do today. Jenny and I tell the others our plan. Zoe and Mr G decide to come with us, while Rick as decided to take a group out to safely level up on the legless rabbits and whatever else needs killing. Debrah says she has a lot of responsibilities now that she''s the village elder. Apparently that''s what the Village fire refers to her as. She tells us not to leave just yet, then runs off. After seeing the makeup of Rick''s group I idle wonder how much the pretty healer in it as anything to do with his chosen task for the day. Debrah come back with seven more mana shards and suddenly we have 10. She explain that she broke down her [Arcane Arrow Wand] in order to get them. We have enough now to upgrade one of our inventories and I suggest we simply roll for it. The other tell me I obviously have to be the one to upgrade first. When I ask why, they just look at me funny and Rick laughs. I shrug, but do it, I figure we''ll all upgrade soon enough if we help each other. I empty my inventory and put the [Mana Shards], [Spatial Gem] and [Cloth Pouches] in it. When nothing happens, Debrah winks and tells me I need to be near the Village fire, something she hasn''t told anyone else yet. When I get close to the flames the option finally pops up.
Inventory
Upgrade cost *5 Mana Shard *1 Spatial Gem * 10 Cloth Pouches
Accept Decline
I accept of course. When I open my inventory again I''m a little shocked but happy. My old 2x2 has grown to a 4x4, giving me 16 total slots, a lot more than I was expecting! I hide my excitement and inform the rest of my group, while admonishing them to keep it quiet. after a bit of celebration, it''s time to split up and get our tasks started. "Oh before me forget," Debrah interrupts our departure, "Bring back any extra mana shards to feed de fire, also lumber, stone or just about anyt''ing you think will be good for building. We can feed it to de fire and help build houses and t''ing. We can build dem the regular way too of course, but the magic option is always nice. I''d really appreciate it." She finishes with a smile. We nod and agree, but just as we are about to leave again...
Quest
Build us a Home
Debrah, the Village Elder, would like your help Improving the village. Building supplies, Food and Weapons will help secure the long term survival of Sanctuary Village.
Rewards Increased reputation with Sanctuary Village
Accept Decline
Quest
Feeding the Fire
Debrah, the Village Elder, would like your help Improving the strength of the village fire. Mana Shards, Mana Crystals and Mana Gems will help secure the long term survival of Sanctuary Village
Rewards Increased reputation with Sanctuary Village
Accept Decline
Huh, now that was unexpected. Ch. 13 - Hotfix The ability to issue quests seems limited to Debrah and only in her capacity as the leader of the village. So far the only reward she''s able to give is reputation, but it''s better than nothing. We accept her quests and begin our day. More than a few people greet us on our way out, some avert their gaze and a few like Dennis and his crew are openly... not quite hostile. No matter, we''ll deal with them later if we have to, assuming they don''t deal with us first. As we walk Zoe skips ahead fighting [Horned Leporids] while the rest of us discuss our battle strategy now that we are short two people. The plans don''t really change much, except for the part where we retreat sooner rather than later if anything goes wrong. Jenny drops the occasional trap behind us just in case Dennis or someone worse wants to find out how much EXP we are worth. She only set them to last about a minute so there are no worries about hurting some innocent lost soul. We check the smaller corner stores and plaza''s in our search for more goblins, looting what we think might be useful. The larger places we stay away from, they''re either monster infested or show signs of having two legged occupants, which may be worse. The world went to shit so fast there is actually quite a bit for the taking. There are a few people out and about this morning. It''s safer to approach someone who can see you coming, so we have no problem directing them to our new home. Other than that we talk as we please and enjoy the relative peace of the morning, practicing our spells and skills as we can. Once an ability as reached level four, it seems reluctant to grow without a target though. The lumps of flesh from monster and man alike, are less shocking and it''s a little sad to realize just how hardened we''ve had to become. Finally we find out first target, a goblin abode not far from the park, right on the edge of a large subdivision. We waste little time, having more or less perfected our plan of attack. After Jenny and I snipe the guard, we check the sides of the house unlike last time, just to be sure we don''t have to worry about an attack in our flank mid battle. It''s a good thing we do, since she finds one using the side of the house for a bathroom. He never got the chance to wipe. The plan is basically the same as last time, except this place has a longer entry way than the last house so we can start the fight inside and retreat as needed. The house is pack with the little bastards, but most were still sleeping, given how early it was. Feeling a bit bold and reckless, we start with attacks on the ones we find downstairs. Judicious use of wide-area attacks spread confusion as they wake up, letting us take out a few more before we set up our formation in the entryway. Zoe is first with her hammer and whatever buffs Mr G can giver her. His [Prayer] raises our HP and Health regen by 10% at level two, which is something I sorely need. My HP is only 306 with a 23hp per minute regen. 337HP might not seem like a big boost, but I''ll take it thank you very much. My MP is 521 and my MP regen 468, which sounds nice and plentiful, but there is that small problem of being a [Mage]. The cost is 50mp for [Quicksand], 30 for [Haste] times four people and another 50 for [Stone Skin], plus ANOTHER 60 every time I use [Flamethrower] and one last 30 for each [Ice Blade], plus [Subterranean Attack] is another 3mp per yard per attack. Plus all of those spells have a cost of 1 to 5 MP per second to maintain. My regen eats the upkeep rather nicely, thank the being that resides in this part of the universe, but all of this means my available MP is hovering around 25. That''s right, less than 5% of my total mana is left in reserve. This is a dangerous way for me to fight. I''m going to need a larger mana pool. As the goblins get their shit together, they start to attack in greater numbers. Zoe is on it though, her [Taunt] doing wonders keeping them off of the rest of us. Her favorite combination seems to be [Ground Slam] which knocks them off balance, [Charge] + [Throw] in which she shoulder charges the lead goblin, then throws him into his friends when he double over in agony. That little girl in her pink dress is dangerous, glad she''s on our side. I''m forced to use my spells sparingly, [Quicksand] slows them down and the occasional [Flame Thrower] + [Subterranean Attack] through the floor keeps them honest, but I''m worried about setting the house on fire. The [Ice Blade] + [ Subterranean Attack ] combo is good for decimating their front line while forming a weak barricade. Jenny is a nonstop arrow delivery machine. Three of her four inventory slots are now extra arrows and she isn''t shy about sharing them pointy end first. My barricade with a gap lets her shoot a [Light Pulse] arrow into the faces of the goblins, blinding them for a moment. A moment is all we need to really mess them up, even if we have to retreat immediately to not be over-run from the other rooms and upstairs. A few spell casters show up, more than the last house, but now that I know how to deal with them, they aren''t as scary as last time. After what I''m sure is forever, but probably no more than 10 minutes, we hear a loud screech from somewhere in the house. Finally the boss shows up, It''s another Goblin leader, but this time he shows up before we finish with the small fry. We have to take the fight out onto the lawn again. but with Zoe''s taunt, Jenny and I are able to pick the little ones off while she and Mr G, keep the Leader occupied. I don''t want that Leader''s Axe anywhere near Zoe so I have her run in Large circles away from him. After a while she stops and goes toe to toe with him though, damn near giving me a heart attack. My G is on it though, I don''t know how she''s standing the pain of his attack though, I clearly see her take a glancing blow to the face, but it doesn''t stop her from knocking him back with a shoulder [Charge]. Finally Jenny and I are finished with the mobs and able to concentrate on the Leader. He goes down quickly enough when all four of us surround him and give no mercy. I''m using the last of my MP by the end with pot shots of [Fire Shot] aimed at his head. We''ve gained levels and loot, but really this is a piss poor way to fight a war. I can think of a million different ways in which we''ve been lucky. Death is always one missed step away. Being a little removed from the thickest part of the battle lets me see we really need a better way of doing things. We rest and collect the loot from the goblins. Lots of arcane wands for Debrah to break down, no [Spatial Gem] though, Damn. Jenny finally gets her own [Goblin Leather Breastplate] and couldn''t be happier about it. The Leader has no rings but does have a [SunVine Necklace]. For now that goes to Jenny as well due to her STA to MP conversion skill. The spell casters had necklaces of their own that Mr G and I can use, though for now Zoe also wears one. There is also a [Skill Scroll] that looks like it''s a one time use spell [Sonorportation].
SunVine NecklaceThe author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Type Accessory +4 Con Small STA Regen
MoonVine Necklace Type Accessory +4 WIS Small MP Regen
We each gain a level from the fight, but just as we go to step inside A new window appears.
Attention Sentient Beings [Ancient Beings of Power] have successfully incorporated [converted extra-universal energies] To compensate expect greater understanding and survivability at the cost of [Greater Discomfort] No additional information is available.
No additional... That sounds incredibly suspicious. The last update said the cost was greater discomfort as well, but we couldn''t figure out what that actually meant. This time, however, we figure it out right away. A full ten minutes of cursing follows, mostly from me. If I had to guess what happened, I''d say whatever these Ancient being of power were, they managed to hijack the new magic the Celestials made for us. I don''t know how this solution affected them but I know EXACTLY how it affect us! All of our regeneration have been cut by at least 90%. I''ve dropped from 468 to 47MP per minute. my HP regen was 3! I curse and laugh at the enormity of this change. After a time though, the fact that there is nothing we can do about it forces us to move on. A search of the house Reveals what I''m beginning to suspect might be normal for Goblins. A group of women the youngest not much older than Zoe, locked upstairs. There are six in total and I have Zoe and Jenny take care of freeing them. Given their state of undress as well as their general fear, it didn''t seem like a good idea for Mr G or myself to do it. We take a few minutes catch the women up on what''s going on outside. All but one of them, the youngest, have classes. That''s another mystery for later. We simply don''t have the time to escort them to the park, but it''s not far and they should get used to the reality of this world. The others don''t fully agree, I can tell, but after giving the women directions, I start to walk the other way. The others catch up soon enough. Sigh. I huff and puff a bit still upset over the massive nerf, but Jenny walks beside me anyway. She looks at me with concern, so I force a smile. Ah well, still a long day ahead of us... Damn it, damn it, damnit. We find a lone level 26 Minotaur wondering the streets less than half an hour later. He''s chewing on what has to be someone''s arm. My anger must have made me stupid because I attack it with little thought for tactics. My [Fire Shot] barely fazed it. It turns slowly to meet my next one in the face. A frightening bellow comes out of it''s mouth, so I toss another fire ball down it''s throat. That did damage, and now it''s really pissed.
Lesser Asterionae
Level
Type
Health
Mana
26
Monster/Humanoid
1124/1400
210/310
I have to jump out of the way of it''s charge. That thing is massive, but slow. No weapon, so maybe we can take it. or maybe we should just run, this isn''t a game, and forgetting that will get us killed. Jenny is already aiming for it''s eyes though and Zoe has switch her hammer for an axe I knew she had and a shield I didn''t know about. Heh, my cute little klepto. Mr G, Drops a [Holy Ground] spell for extra heals and attack, so it''s time to fight. This beast may be weaponless, but those hoofs look sharp, not to mention the horns. Jenny''s crafted arrows just aren''t cutting it, forcing her to switch to her original load-out. She''s only got 30 of those left and I know she won''t be happy about the number that are salvageable after this. Assuming we survive. Her arrows break the skin now, but they aren''t getting past the muscles on this guy. She aims for its face instead, but that''s a harder target. My [Ice Blade] + [Subterranean Attack] is doing less than nothing. My [Fire Shot] isn''t significantly better either. [Flame Thrower] sets it on fire though, making me smile. Easier than I thought it would be. I turn to make sure everyone else is alright, only to hear a terrified scream from Jenny, "Leon!" I don''t even have to think, [Stone Skin] and [Haste], but it''s too late. I''m hit by what I can only assume is the last working train in the world. I''m airborne long enough to think about [Slow Fall], but not long enough to use it. Hello Asphalt, long time no see... When I come to, Zoe is the only thing standing between me and a messy death via Hoof to face syndrome. If she''s using [Taunt] then either it ain''t working or this guy is really pissed at me. Most of it''s fur has been burnt off, but all the damage looks to be superficial. I''m bathed in light as Mr G hit''s me with what has to be one of many healing or regeneration spells. OK, it''s way past time to go. I don''t know how much damage I took, but I''m betting I almost died. "Time to go!" I yell at everyone, "Zoe run!" "Has Rick would say, ''Don''t gotta tell me twice''!" She turns to do just that, and time slows, because I can tell this is about to go from bad to worse. Zoe tries to go right, but does so just as the Minotaur reaches both massive hands for her. I don''t think she gonna make it and no way I can live with myself if I get our resident weapon thief killed. My lounge knocksZoe out of the way, but now I find myself trapped in the hands of this beast-man. Hands pinned to my sides it lifts me up and Bellows loud and long in my face. Blood and spittle hitting my face are the least of my worries when I see the size of those flat teeth. It opens its mouth again, but with no yell this time, because the sonofabitch is going to eat me! I''m so scared I do the only thing I can think of, I take a breath and try to blow his approaching mouth away. It doesn''t work of course, but that doesn''t stop me from trying over and over, like a hyperventilating human snack-pack. The teeth get closer and I have time for one last try, I take a deep breath, and blow with all my might, putting everything I have into it. [Flame Thrower] activates and I''m sending a stream of Fire down the Bull-mans throat. It drops me and tries to scream, but I''m fairly sure that''s next level difficult to do when your lungs are barbecue. While it¡¯s preoccupied with learning new breathing methods, my group pours everything we have on to it. Ittakes some time but eventually the Minotaur dies, we all gain another level and I''m swearing to the being that reside in this part of the universe to never to do that again! Ch. 14 - Level Grind The sky was pretty and clear, I don''t think rain will be in the forecast anytime soon. By contrast the streets werelittered with, well, litter. Given the residential nature of this neighborhood, most cars were neatly parked in driveways rather than haphazardly strewn about the street. You could walk for blocks and think everything is normal, albeit dirty. Then you would come upon a string of houses gutted by fire, or with the windows and doors broken in or busted out. The numerous remains ofman and monster, sometimes hard to tell apart, also didn''t help. Many people were hiding or hunting, a surprising number in fact. Food or monsters or other people though, it was hard to tell what they were hunting or hiding from. There were a lot of stray dogs out and about as well as at the park. Some people have made their pets a priority even at the end of the world. Jenny still hasn''t managed to use her [Tame Animal] skill on them though. The only beings that seemed really unaffected by all this change, had to be the birds in the trees. They sang loud and proud as their ground bound neighbors struggled to survive in this new world. They also provided a nice distraction while Jenny continued to yell at me for nearly getting us all killed, especially Zoe. I stopped listening and apologizing ten minutes ago, having a dislike for repeating myself. I am sorry about the unnecessary danger I put us in, but she doesn''t seemed to have fully accept what I, and I think Zoe, have. We are all likely to die sooner rather than later. Skill and power will help, but a ridiculous amount of luck is going to have to fall our way in order to live to the ripe old age of ''a year from now''. Our village will help, but I can''t help but wonder how many people in the world used the [Camp fire Kits] instead of combining them? Given humanities track record for long term thinking, I''m betting not many. Not to mention, while we''ve encounter a few assholes, we have yet to be assaulted by a force meaning to kill, capture or enslave us. Also given humanities track record of behavior without authority, I know that''s just a matter of time as well. I''m beginning to wonder if anyone else realizes that... "Enough!" I interrupt her latest repetition. "I get it, I''m sorry, we need to move, or is your sister no longer a priority?" Rather than giving her a chance to answer, I start to walk in search of our next target. Zoe in her pink Sunday dress catches up quickly and take her favorite position at point. Mr G hasn''t said much the last few minutes, other than asking me if I lost my mind attacking that Minotaur, but he at least seem to understand I really was sorry for my idiotic actions. I''m not used to being wrong, or apologizing, but he can tell I mean it, thankfully. That last battle pushed Jenny and I right into 10 and on the verge of level 11. Mr G was now over halfway to eight and Zoe crosses over into level eight as we walk, confirming that we do in fact receive EXP for everything we do. I''m guessing we just get a bigger boost for class related activities. I''m also betting killing monsters with magic will give me much more EXP than if I were to manage to stab one to death. My stats are raising nicely, but I doubt we are so special that other''s haven''t been doing their utmost to become stronger too. Right now my my main concern is my health. At max it is 328, but it won''t raise above 295 right now, and moving too fast is painful. I think it might be a cracked rib, but Mr G, isn''t a doctor so he doesn''t know. His [Recovery] can''t fix it without a reagent he says. Congratulations, aside from [Bleed], this is my first real status ailment. Sigh. There were no new spells for reaching level 10, so that was rather disappointing, but I''m having an idea about that anyway. Given my control of [Fire Shot] I''m wondering exactly how much control I can exert over my magic... Despite all this, the rest of the day actually goes pretty well. We attack goblins, rescue women, and gather a sizable crowd. We direct everyone towards the park, but many people choose to stick with us until the end of the day when we return. many others choose to go their own way and to be honest they have my respect. We gather a bit of food and a few tools throughout the day, but our main goal is to level so we can rescue Jenny''s sister. The others at the village will have to prioritize gathering supplies. With the help of the people we meet, we don''t have to scout out the goblins ourselves. Everyone seems to know where some are held up, so we quickly move from from one location to another. At The end of the day, everything but the weapons we''ve collected are for the crowd to carry for us. In return, we add them two at a time to our group and level them with the attacks on the goblins. At the end of the day, we return to the village with a lot more mouths to feed but also with quite a bit of supplies. We have a lot of camping equipment as I made that a priority. Jenny and I are level 14, Zoe''s at 11 and Mr G is at 12, having gained extra exp with all the healing needed for our new friends and neighbors. We''ve gathered a boat load of [Cloth Pouch], [Sharp Tooth], and [Goblin Spear]. Shields, clubs, axes, swords and various bits of armour should make Debrah happy as well. Their magic casters only seem to use one spell [Arcane Arrow], but the wands they use vary greatly in quality. We gather a number of scrolls, [Mimicry [Slime]], [Precognition [Intuitive]], [Slow Target] and [Mimicry [Hand]] as well as two skill books. The scrolls we hang on to for now, thinking maybe there might be a way to make copies of them. The skill books go to Mr G and Zoe. [Holy Voice] drops the MP cost of all healing and light spells and [Embodiment [Earth]] turns you into and elemental being. That''s a lot of defense and it''s best for our little tank. I would be lying if I said I didn''t want both of those, but I couldn''t even use the [Holy Voice] and I lost the rock-paper-scissors to Zoe, us two being the only ones who could use the other. If that''s the only skill she uses then she has about 50 seconds of use from it, but 50 seconds can be a long time in battle.
Skill Book
Name
Embodiment Earth
Quality
Superior
Req: 80% Earth Affinity
+100 MP, +4% P def
Physical Manifestation and limited control of Earth Element.
What''s interesting is that [Holy Voice] only required a 20% Light affinity but only Mr G could use it. I decided not to think too deeply on that. All in all not a bad haul for the day, especially with the various rings and accessories we gathered. Fun fact wearing two necklaces at ones cancels the effects of both. Same for rings and belts, but each ring after the third drops dexterity by one, then four, then 10, then 20. That was as high as we could go before the eighth ring stopped them all from working. Jenny has the highest DEX at 25 so the eighth ring must require a higher value than that. We ended up with a fair number of [Sun Vine Necklace] and [Moon Vine Necklace] as well as a few rings to bring back to the village. Still aside from the skill books the best thing for Zoe and I were the new weapons.
Tsuga Staff
Type Magic Staff Quality Rare
Req: Lvl10, 60INT +9 INT
Magic conduit with a chance to [Poison] equal to [Earth] affinity
Interesting because for a level 10 to have 60 INT, they would have had to put all but five points into INT, which is 40 out of 45, and that assumes they started with a base of 10, which I believe to be the average at level one. So far I''ve only put 20 into INT at level 14 and I started with a base of 16. I still have 20 points to distribute and I''m thinking I may need to stop spreading my pointsso thin in the future. The other staff [Chestnut Staff] we found is a level 9 weapon that required 45 INT and was only of good quality. We also found two weapons for Zoe to choose from
Stone Hammer
2hand, melee Quality
Good
+6 STRIf you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Cold Brass Axe
Type 2hand, melee Quality Rare
Req: Lvl10, 60STR +9 STR
Heavy Metal Battle-Axe with a chance to [Slow] equal to [Water] affinity
She has no problems using the axe having put most of her points into strength and starting at base 15, but she hangs on to the hammer as well. The look on her face dares us to try and take it. No thanks, I''ve already promised to choose my battles. There were a number of questions generated during the day, but the one that kept coming up was the elemental affinity. None of us has any idea on how to find out what that is much less how much of it we have. Ah well, that''s a mystery for tomorrow, today we worry about food and shelter. At least that''s my worry as we head back to the park. We raid the smaller unprotected stores on the way back, now that we have more people to carry everything. The places with people we leave alone. There are more than a few large stores that have strong monster in the parking lots or judging by the carnage, inside as well. We arrived at the park with a few hours of light left. The village has gone through a drastic change during our absence. It looks like a refugee camp plain and simple. The place is overflowing with people, pets, children, magical summons, and a few monsters I have to assume have been tamed. The place is a mad house. We are not the only group to head out during the day, and many people have heard about our temporary shelter. We started with 45 people but at the end of one day there must be at least 400 people now. We find Debrah near the Village fire, looking haggard, greeting newcomers and giving out quests. HerCaribbean accent is stronger than normal and she seems ridiculously grateful to see us. She quickly dismiss the crowd. "OK, everyone, one las¡¯ time. If you have a crafting class, please go wit Tom to my right, he will assist you furda from here. Magical fighta dem gwan wit Sista Mary. Physical warrior, Dennis tek care a you. I have business to attend to." With that she heads our way. I look over to be sure, but the Dennis she was referring to is in fact the asshole from yesterday. I frown when I see him and he looks no more pleased to see my group. "So, how was your day?" She nearly barks in inpecableenglish when she gets close enough. The accent struggles to break free but I''m not sure the tight control bodes well for me. "Umm, better than yours?" I''m not sure what I''ve done. "Something, wrong?" "No," She says, then takes a deep breath, "I should be grateful, just a lot more work than I was expecting, I could have used the support today." "What happened?" Mr G asks. If I''m right he should have been one of her supervisors at the Sanctuary Group Home, before all this anyway. "After you left, Dennis and his crew were insistent that I consider passing ownership of the fire to them. They also felt the need to clean their knives while they were asking. I only had Rick to back me up." The rest of us immediately start to bristle at her story, I look around for Dennis, I knew that asshole was going to be trouble. "Don''t bother," Debrah waves off our concern, "Our original people might have let him get away with it last night, but food and a good night''s sleep make them not so quick to choose slavery this time. Him group back down quick enough when out numbered. But we did find out somethings today. After that incident, I thought it might be best for Rick to hang on to ownership of the fire, but it can''t be transferred for two years." Good to know. "Why is he helping you out now if he was such a problem this morning?" I ask. "Because we''ve got bigger problems. Have you seen anybody strange walking around since you got back?" I think about it, but come on, there is a guy with a demon on his shoulder talking to a girl with a tail not 20 feet away. My definition of strange is fairly broad at the moment. I just raise an eyebrow at her. "Ok fair enough, but if you see anybody walking around with a face mask, be careful, they''re trying to start new religion. I want to say they''re not getting anywhere but that ain''t the case." "Oh? that Sister Mary have anything to do with that?" "No, if anything she and some like her, have stronger faith since the Celestials come. They just ignore the part implying their God might not be the only one, nothing new there. The new guys though, they all about being mad at the old god, and trying to appease the new one." "What new and old gods?" "Basically their leader is the pray until everything is better type, but he''s on the verge of starting a cult. They think everything has gone to hell because a new god is in charge. I''m worried they try something new when they figure praying not going to work." She had a point. A lot of the shelters and group homes I grew up in were a big fan of religion. I personally believed in the old God about as much as I believed in the Santa Clause. And I never believed in Santa Claus. Considering the amount of damage the old religions did, I can''t imagine what someone trying to start a new one could get away with, especially with the breakdown of society and, y''know, actual magic! "What does this have to do with Dennis?" I ask. "He''s feeling outnumbered and suggested ''the enemy of my enemy'' when these guys showed up. I tell him to fuck off at first, but 30 of these people show up this morning, now, there be at least a hundreda dem." I sighed, just another problem to the list, and it''s not like Dennis isn''t going to still be a problem to be dealt with eventually. Thankfully, it''s too soon to tell if these new religion people will even be a problem. I should be wondering why she''s bringing this problem to me, but I''ve figured out by now my group looks to me as the leader for some reason. Even Debrah despite the fact that she''s pretty much running this village now. None of us are chatter boxes except Rick and Zoe, but he''s jolly and she''s eight. I''m actually quieter than the rest, but I do as I want and the others seem fine with following for now. We talk about this new angle for a bit, but the fact is there is nothing we can do until someone does something worthy of our attention. We unload the supplies we''ve gathered into the piles around the fire. There is food, clothes and a shit load of miscellaneous equipment. The weapons, scrolls and building supplies Debrah feeds to the fire. At first I think she''s destroying them, but she explains there is a small resource storage in the fire somehow. It''s almost full though, and she surprises us by using one of the tricks of village elder. "Watch dis." is the only warning we get before a rumble can be heard on the edge of the protection zone. "I was waiting for you to get back before I do dis." Is her only explanation. She leads us in a walk to the disturbance. The ground is shaking at a certain spot, the soil and loose rocks working there way up out of the ground. Debrah stops and nods approvingly at the mound that grows from the dirt. "So far this is the only thing we can make, but that''s because the fire can''t store enough resources it''s own. With this we can move on to bigger and better things. " Suddenly a wooden stake pops out of the ground, then it grows, wider and higher, after a few minutes I can see it''s not a stake but a pointing pinnacle of a roof. "This is our first storage depot ." Debrah says loudly. There is applause and a loud cheer, I turn to see a crowed as gather to watch this new addition to the village be born. You gotta admit, this is pretty cool. I finally see some of our new residence Debrah was talking about. The ones I can see have a white cloth covering their face, and I get the impression they are trying to imitate the Celestials dream appearance. Yeah, these people are going to be interesting at the very least. The building grows slowly, Debrah informs us, it is going to take all night, so we attend to other matters. First is healing my ribs. [Blood Leaf] is an chemical reagent growing along the banks of the river not far from our Village fire. It''s a small thing that runs through the park, no more than 300 feet at it''s widest. The plant are a deep red and lily pad looking. We have to trade, a few of the things we held back from Debrah, but we get a few healing potions thrown in as well. Mr G uses the [Mending Concoction] made from the blood leaf to fully fix my ribs and the 10% missing from my health starts to regenerate. A few miles upstream is apparently the home of a large group of [River Slime]. An Ooze type monster. They showed no interest in making their way down stream but Debrah had a watch on them anyway. They were large, dog sized, and clear and had already killed one of our villagers. He found out the hard way physical attacks were a bad idea. We had enough magic users to wipe them out despite their higher average level compared to ours, but the alchemist warned that they were the only thing keeping the water clean enough to drink. Living filters apparently. After washing up while there was daylight left, I was forced to visit the privy trench. Outhouses were vetoed by Debrah in a bid to use everything available to us. The [Farmers] agreed waste could be treated to make decent fertilizer, but wasn''t necessary. Our Elder disagreed saying the modern fertilizers wouldn''t last forever, so we should use them sparingly. All I know is I hope to get outhouses built soon. Many people seem to be trying to start miniature gardens, next to tents and flimsy looking lean to''s. There were teachers teaching and more than a few people cooking. Stranglers to our village appeared every now and then. Cloth and leather armour was being traded and sold. Weapons were being repaired. All in all not bad for just a few days work. We were a long way from safe or beyond the need for scavenging, but we should be OK if we just got a little time. Yeah Right. Ch. 15 - The Tall Grass Gavin Gardener It''s been an interesting couple of weeks. I''ve been luckier than most. In wanting to keep certain parts of my life private, I''ve spent more time single than not. My family lives on the other side of the country and we don''t talk. The kids and my job have been the most important part of my life for years now. When everything all went to hell, I went looking for them, not because I''m brave, despite the big, black build some people cross the street to avoid, but because I had nowhere else to be. The group home was overrun by the time I managed to make it there on foot. Rick and Debrah showed up as I was trying to escape the tree monsters living there now. My holy magic killed them easy, but there were a lot of them. Rick say he dropped by one of the kids high school, but couldn''t get in, apparently it was a closed dungeon, whatever that means. He could see kids through the windows, but the grounds were covered in high level monsters. After we met up with Leon''s group trying to decide what to do, I figured we might as well follow someone who seemed to know what they are doing, even if he was just a kid. The funny thing is I do remember him a little bit, despite all the kids to come and go from the group home. He was way smarter than most, too smart for his own good really. It took him a long time to learn most people didn''t like to proven wrong. He also had a bigger chip on his shoulder than most. The type of kid to hold everything in and then explode periodically. The type of kid to heal the world... or burn it to ash. He seems calmer now, but I get the feeling he''s still only looking out for himself, maybe just using everyone around him. Or maybe I''ve picked up a bit of cynicism myself over the years. Either way, I get that this is the world now, might be worth it to stay close until I find my place in it. I still have the [Minotaur Blood] has well as a few [Goblin Blood] and [Hobgoblin Blood] I''ve picked up along the way, thanks to these kids and it''s time to use them. Leon may be a loner, but I take the time to get to know the other healers I find in the park. Never hurts to have friends. There''s a cute [Shaman] I want to get to know better, he''s bit of a hippy, but beggars and choosers right? I find a scribe and priest to help upgrade my [Holy Book] so now it operates at level ten and will automatically upgrade at 26 as well, but that''s a lot of levels in between. I''ll need more blood from something level appropriate soon. The magic users and the Sword types have also somewhat banded together. The new religious people have members of all kinds right now. Leon doesn''t know but he''s actually quite popular. Given the core of the village is here because of our group, plus the number of people we rescued so far... If he wasn''t brooding so much of the time, he would notice the looks he gets from some of the women around here. A few men too. Poor Jenny, she''s got her work cut out for her, hehe. --------------------------------------------------- Leon "Good Morning." I open my eyes to see Jenny lying next to me. Despite my blunder yesterday, we''ve grown closer through the fighting. "Morning." I try to say it with a bit of enthusiasm, but I''m the poster boy for people who hate mornings. She just smiles anyway. "So, when do you want to leave?" She asks. Technically, we can leave anytime. Mr G volunteered to come and I appreciate the help. I didn''t bother to ask Zoe, she''s pretty predictable at this point. Typical stubborn eight year old. Mr G and I got ourselves a pair of [Light Cloth Robes] with a bit of barter yesterday. Two INT with +11 HP, good for magic protection, but we''ll be wanting to avoid the pointy end of metal things. Most importantly though is the upgrade to our Inventory. We are each rocking 16 slots at the moment and two scrolls [Sonorportation] and [Slow Target]. Completing Debrahs quests got us a level each and a level 15 [Black Cottonwood Bow], for Jenny with a new quiver. I''m not sure how Debrah got her hands on that, but the way she glanced in Dennis''s direction, I''m thinking bribe or payment for his bit of authority within the village.
Black Cottonwood Bow
Type Short Bow Quality Epic
Req: Lvl 15, 65 AGI, 35 DEX +13 AGI,+8 DEX
Flexible bow with [Dark Element] resistance
Dark Hide Quiver
Ammo Clip Quality Crude
Req: Lvl5 54 Arrows
Light Quiver with minor chance to add [Blind]
"Might as well have breakfast first, then see if Debrah needs anything while we''re out." I get up and look around. Things are pretty peaceful here with the sunrise. But off in the distance the glow of fire can still be seen coming from the heart of the city. It''s worse than yesterday. How long before we have to deal with the people causing that? We find Debrah assigning people to rotation shifts as [Storage Attendant]. The storage is small so we only need one right now, but the way it works is a lot like our inventories. One can try to search manually, but an attendant can call and store village property with a lot less effort, though it does drain energy, in the form of protection time, from the village fire. It''s growing slowly, but we haven''t managed to upgrade it since we need the [Mana Shards] to upgrade people inventories. "Morning children." She greets us with a smile. Ugh, she must be one of those people that actually like mornings. The energy and smile takes years off her paleskin. It''s the smile of someone who either doesn''t know it''s the end of the world or thinks we might make it through this. Either seems a bit naive to me. "Yo," Jenny returns her smile,"Just seeing if you need anything done while we out." "As a matter of fact, yes. We had a few people trickle in late last night, and they brought disturbing news with them. The plant your sister is being held at might be more difficult to get back to than we thought. The road between here and there got itself some highway robbers. They say they was held up more than once traveling on it." "Well it was just a matter of time." I offer. "We need to get there today though, so we can try to break through the roads, bring more people, or go around." If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Debrah shakes her head. "I need every able body today, there''s just too much to be done. We got a lot of goblin houses to break into today too. Rick''s leading a group to the farthest Goblin groups we know of, otherwise... " We have enough people of high enough levels to run the goblin dungeons if they use superior numbers wisely. Then there are the resources like wood and stone that need to be gathered. The abandoned houses near the park also have a lot of usable things too, and soon we might have to break them apart for the building materials. All in all, she is right, we are short staffed, even with the nonstop influx. "We''ll go around then, no point in needless risks when the woods on the other side of the river come close to the plant, right Jenny?" "Yeah." Jenny confirms. "Well dats de thing," Debrah interrupts. "We need to know who dees people are and where dey are and how many dey be. I don''t have people to spare finding out and you''re already heading dat way, so..." I bark a short laugh. She''s really taken to this village elder thing, huh. Not that I mind, I have no interest in that type of being in charge. Not to mention these thieves set up way too close for us to be safe.
Quest
Safe Travel Guide
Debrah, the Village Elder, would like you to gather information regarding the robberies on Blue Apple road
Increased reputation with Sanctuary Village
Decline
Hmph. OK then time to get this show on the road. "Jenny, take Zoe and Mr G, through the woods, I''ll meet you at the plant after scouting the road between here and there. we''ll take some [message paper] to make meeting up easier when we get there." "Wait, what? Why we splitting up at all?" She ask incredulously. Zoe looks mad that I would abandon her and Mr G looks at me like I''ve hit my head hard at some point. "If anything," Jenny continues, "My class be the one with tracking and scouting abilities for hitting level 15, why you the one looking for thieves?" "Simple, If the 4 of us travel that road, we''ll definitely be a target, if only one poor looking Mage walks a road, then he''s not worth the trouble. I can''t travel the woods and expect to be able to fight properly if there''s trouble, not with my best combat spells being fire. This way we reach our destination with minimum hassle and complete all our goals for today." Mr G seemed less than convinced, even after a few more minutes of arguing, but in the end, I''d earned enough trust to get my way on this. We ate breakfast, said our goodbye''s to Rick, waved to Debrah and were off on our separate path to the same place. Jenny was dressed for the woods, jeans and a tough jacket with a pair of boots made by a [Leather Worker] aiming for the [Cordwainer] subclass, whatever that was. They gave us each 2 AGI which was better than nothing. Most old world Goods have no additional stats, but they could be broken down and remade by the crafters. Mister G, was dressed much the same but with a large sweater hiding much of his muscle mass. It would be a nasty surprise for anyone who thought the healer was an easy target. Zoe''s bright pink Sunday dress was clean and very noticeable, but even traveling through the woods, they weren''t really opting for camouflage so she should be OK. And talk about nasty surprises for anyone thinking ''easy target''. I went for a bit class, I had the same boots as everyone else, but opted to have them dyed black. A black vest and a bright teal dress shirt, let me feel almost human again. No tie, but I wasn''t exactly going for a job interview. The light robes I had altered to resemble a light trench coat, also dyed black. I actually wasn''t that fond of dark colors, but needs must. Cost might have been a factor, but for some reason, the [Clothier] seemed to think she owed me, or maybe my group. I left her a few coppers anyway, even though she was insistent the EXP was payment enough. I would have preferred dress pants, but a pair of black jeans from home completed the look. The look was important, since while I hadn''t lied to Jenny about the four of us being a target, I never said I intended I avoid looking like one myself. Tired dirty and travel worn would not get me what I was after. Since this morning, I''ve kept two of my new level 15 spells going, only turning them off long enough to regenerate MP.
Mage Sight
50 Mana 5/s MagicAssist 5% MP regen
Pay no attention to the magic behind the curtain
Golem
100 Mana 5/s Magic Creation Damage Varies Additional Varies
He doesn''t say much
Both spells drained my MP in under four minutes, but it only took two and a half to recharge so I wasn''t worried about being caught flat footed. I had yet to understand the [Golem] spell. Activating it drained my Mp but didn''t actually do anything as far as I could tell. I wasn''t willing to operate on the assumption that the system was broken, so I had to be doing something wrong. [Mage Sight] on the other hand was an interesting development. Since yesterday, I''ve watched the play of magic during others active spells and I swear I think I may be able to learn a manual way to do them all. Gonna need time to study all that though. In the meantime the world as taken on a hue of colors I have yet to figure out. Some are obvious like the elements, my mind filling in colour to match my understanding. Red, blue, green and yellow filled in nicely for the elements I could use. I assumed the off-white and grayish hues to be light and dark magic, which I couldn''t touch. But what were the purple, gold and clear elements supposed to be? I couldn''t touch them really, though they did seem to respond in someway to everyone''s magic... Anyway, the roads were pretty much the same mess as yesterday, if not worse. There were occasional people who avoided getting too close and I had no real interest in talking to strangers just yet. I reach Blue Apple road without incident and start to walk it. It curves a bit but will eventually bring me to Center street which leads out of town and close to Jenny''s plant. I''m starting to decide about how to make contact with these thieves when the decision is made for me. Two men step out from either side of the road, sword and small crossbow drawn. "Lookie what we got here, Stubbs, you thinking what I''m thinking?" Sword says. "Oh, I think I''m thinking what you''re thinking, Mikes." Crossbow replies. Are these guys for real? is this a comedy show? I take a closer look at these clown and have to keep from laughing.
Mike
Class
Thief
Level
5
Health
365
Mana
145
Stamina
165
Steven
Class
Home Breaker
Level
4
Health
321
Mana
119
Stamina
189
Thanks to a stronger [Identify], I can now see classes. Judging by theirs, they''ve chosen classes that give bonus EXP for less than morally upstanding acts. What kind of thought process does a decision like that even take. I wonder how muc--- "Hey! You listening boy!? Your money or your life fool!" Guess I zoned out a bit, the one with the sword, Mike, seems a bit annoyed with me. Wait, money? Don''t they mean coin? No one could possibly be after the old money, right? "Gentlemen," I show teeth in what could be considered a smile. "I''ve been looking for you all morning." Ch 16. - Third person Zoe Zoe didn''t mind the woods much, even with her big puffy dress on. She has always been a bit of a tomboy, something her mother tried to force out of her with pageants and modeling. Still though, even with her older siblings away at school, she could still find time to be herself. She was sad about losing her parents, and didn''t know how she was going to find herbrother or sisters yet, but for now she was content to wear the dress her mother liked most on her and help big sister Jenny rescue her other sister. She might not have minded the woods much, but that didn''t mean she felt totally safe. Zoe couldn''t name any of these trees to save her life, but she felt somewhat certain none of them should be dark purple, kind of like that one over there. Head tilted to the side Zoe took one step too many towards the funny looking tree. "-AHHHHHHHHHH-" The ear shattering scream of an eight year old can travel quite the distance. Throughout the forest, ears perked and legs ran. The vine wrapped around Zoe''s leg lifted her up into the air, the bark of the purple tree splitting in a jagged horizontal manner before opening with a roar that would have done any parent proud. Assuming the parents are carnivorous evergreens.
Greater Arborbeast
Level 18 Type Elite Plant [Armoured]
Health 1204
Mana 242
Stamina 232
"Ah shit!" Gavin yelled. This monster wasn''t new to him. The last time he saw them however they were much weaker than level 18. It takes 3 [Holy Strike] until one hits the vine bringing a struggling Zoe closer to that mouth in the bark. The monster screams and drops Zoe, meanwhile Jenny fires arrow after arrow into its tough bark armour. "Aim for the mouth, Jenny!" "Got it, yo!" Her next shot explodes before hitting the tree, fragments making their way inside to do some damage. She looks around for their smallest group member. "Zoe, you OK!?" "I''m Fine." Zoe yells while using her axe to sever the end of another vine snaking its way across the ground towards her. She backs up slowly as more vines creep towards her, some from the mouth of the tree-beast. "Listen up, I need to get closer, Jenny keep the vines off me!" Gavin yells has as he runs past Zoe. The vines that traget him are pinned to the ground with arrows or find themselves forced to target Zoe because of [Taunt]. When Gavin gets less than 10 feet from the tree, he drops his [Holy Ground] to increase the damage of his spells. Then he walks backwards like Zoe did earlier. This time the monster targets him exclusively as the [Holy Strike], [Regen], and [Heal] do massive damage even through its armour. [Repent] returns damage to any vine that makes it through Jenny''s arrows or Zoe''s axe. Zoe is having a field day cutting the vines up when they ignore her [Taunt]. Any pause in the groups attack though and the tree regained health quickly. Rocks and dirt start to fly into the mouth of the beast when Zoe uses her [Embodiment [Earth]]. The tree pause in it''s attack to clear the debris from its maw, but that just frees Gavin and Jenny to redouble their attack. With the tree unable to attack while clearing it''s mouth, it try''s to uproot itself, whether to attack or run is immaterial since it dies before it can finish freeing itself. "Phew," Gavin falls to the ground. " I hate those things." "I hear you, yo. Arrows weren''t the best weapon against a tree." "Umm, then you might want to try something else." Zoe says laughing. Jenny turns towards her, only to notice where she is looking. Coming closer is another Arborbeast, a little smaller than the last. The snap of a twig makes her look behind them, another is sneaking up on their back, this one a little bigger than the first. "Timber!!" Zoe yells as she jumps at the smaller monster with a swing of her axe. "Oh yeah, I forgot these things like to travel in packs." Gavin sighs, as he stands up. "I hope Leon is doing a better job making friends than we are." -------------------------------------- Leon "Achoo!" Leon wiped the last of the goblin blood off his hands and checked to make sure none got on his clothes. The four foot tall [Earth Golem] by his side was so heavily damaged and wasn''t worth repairing. Disrupting the mana in it caused it to collapse into a pile of rock and dirt. He was grateful one of the bandits knew a thing or two aboutconstructs. Since he left their camp, he has more or lessgot the hang of [Golem] within his four elements. That understanding opened the possibility of a permanent [Golem] with no upkeep. The problem was the massive expense of mana. It cost a whopping 2000 MP to make a permanent Golem. Leon has 1103 mp at peak. Combining 5 [Mana Shard] into a [Mana Crystal] and draining his own reserves solved that problem. The trick was to eat the Mana crystal right before he bottomed out while creating a Permanent Golem . But unlike the lower cost [Golem] this one could only be repaired by feeding it additional mana sources.
Item
Mana Crystal Crafting Reagent 1/10 of a Mana Gem
Consume to restore 1000MP
All in all it was a pain in the ass, but well worth it depending on thesituation. In this case Leon attack several Goblin dungeon to replace the mana shards lost in learning to create his Golems. The [Golem] made an excellent tank since it may have been slow but it was also tough. It was a better choice than the additional attack power of [Fire Golem] or the Debuff''s from Air. The [Water Golem] would be useful later though, it healed periodically but took forever to recharge it''s mana. The only reason he was able to run so many dungeons was because their exact locations have been mapped by the thieves. They had a lot of information regarding everything in this area. They also had a few men in the same wooded area his group was traveling through. He hoped they manage to avoid each other, since it could ruin his plans. Though the monsters in the woods might be a bigger problem. The Goblins of this last house only manage to get their little green hands on one woman but she seemed somewhattraumatized. Leon was at a loss as to what to do about her. The women from the other houses were already directed towards the park. After collecting the loot from this house he simply left. He figured his group could pick her up on the way back. She hadn''t spoken a word when he found her, and he was reluctant to touch her considering...Leon sighed and used on of the precious [message paper] to let Debrah know to send someone to pick the woman up. He was running fairly behind schedule by the time he made it close to Jenny''s plant, but the two levels picked up after his dealings with the thieves and the goblins were well worth it. He settled down to study the many [Spell Book] picked up along the way. [Elemental Construct [Ice Wing]], [Resistance [Disarm]],[Elemental Manipulation [Earth Tunnel]] and [Flameportation]
Skill Book
Name Elemental Contruct [Ice Wing] Quality Rare
Req: 70% Water Affinity +100 MP, +10 WIS
Form wings made of Ice
Skill Book
Name Resistance [Disarm] Quality Crude
Req: 30 DEX +50 STA
Chances of being disarmed in combat decrease
Skill Book
Name Elemental Manipulation [Earth Tunnel] Quality Good
Req: 60% Earth Affinity, 75 INT +100 MP
Limited control of Earth while tunneling
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Skill Book
Name Flameportation Quality Epic
Req: 80% Fire Affinity +300 MP, +100 STA
Teleport to a know source of fire from a source of fire
Except for the disarm resistance, pure greed made Leon want to keep all of these books for himself. The quality of these skill books was random but he knew the chance of getting this lucky again had to be rare. He was a little amused to have recieved one of each quality First he placed his hand on [Flameportation] but to his dismay he simply received a window saying his affinity was inadequate. That was a mighty blow, he could think of a number of ways a teleport spell could be useful. The ice wing skill had it''s own warning, saying the Wisdom attribute would become permanent if the book was used. Since Leon already had [Wisdom] it wasn''t a problem. The book disintegrated after he accepted the learning prompt. The [Earth Tunnel] was tempting but for now, he held on to it. He did make sure he could actually use it, confirming he had at least 60% earth affinity, for future reference.
Soul Gem
Name Dragon Soul Quality Legendary
Req: 150 any Attribute (+400 MP, HP or STA) or (40 random Attribute points)
Acquire strength and weakness of a [Dragon] and partial transformation ability
Then the best for last [Dragon soul]. Despite the 150 attribute requirement, Leon places his hand on the cover only to be greeted by several windows. ''Oh well, it was worth a try'', he thinks. The first window is a simple requirements not met, and the Second is a notice that full and real transformation is only available by acquiring Embodiment [Dragon] or Race change. The third is a warning that he will not be able to later change from the Dragon soul to another. Good to know, but why would anyone want to change from a dragon, he wonders. Well, a Phoenix is supposed to be as strong, he remembers, and of course if Deity souls are available... Titans, Sea monsters, Heroes. Come to think of it, there are lots of being theoretically as strong if not stronger than Dragons... Still though, what are the chances of getting his hands on another soul as strong as this? The last window makes Leon curse out loud. It has nothing to do with the Dragon Soul, it''s a notice from the the admin, or the ''Being that resides in this part of the universe''.
Attention Sentient Beings To combat [Ancient Beings of Power] successful spread of [corrupted converted extra-universal energies] expect [small gift package] at the cost of [Greater Discomfort] No additional information is available.
"Damn it." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Jenny Jenny had just returned from scouting their forward path when the window notice appeared. "Yo, you seeing this?" "Yeah," Gavin replies, "Can''t be anything good I''m betting." They proceed to check over their status and inventory. It seems that the regeneration rates have once again been cut severely. But there is also a package in their inventories. once opened it reveals a slew of potions. The usual health, mana and stamina potions are present, but it also contains poison, burn, disease and slow cures. Only time would tell if the trade was equivalent. Gavin shakes his head and get''s back to the business at hand. "Any news?" He asks Jenny. "There''s a pack in our way, I think they cornered something, but we can take ''em" This isn''t the groups first run in with the dog-like monsters of the forest. After the battle with the Arborbeasts, they had to contend with the attacks of several packs of [Woodland Wild-paws]. They weren''t as tough as the tree monsters but obviously much quicker and numerous. The monsters were shades of green but hairless, given them a trulyfrighteningappearance. After the group sneaks close enough, Jenny laid several traps to protect Gavin, while Zoe prepared to assault the pack. Jenny then used her [Climb] ability to set up in a nearby tree with a good line of sight on her targets. She wasn''t as silent as she would like, [Camouflage] prevented her from being easily spotted, however. Once in position, she got the party started with a barrage of arrows into the midst of the pack. With loud desperate yelps, the monster canines turned with teeth barred, searching for their attacker. They didn''t find Jenny, but they did find Zoe. Not hard to do when the little warrior was running at them yelling "Here puppies!"
Woodland Wild-paw
Level 14 Type Animal [Agile]
Health 374
Mana 274
Stamina 724
The pack charged the lone little girl in anticipation of an easy kill, the massive axe in her hands proving to be of little deterant. That is until she swung it, long before she even reached them. A wave of energy flew off the weapon and into the lead Wild-paw. The wave split to the sides and into the dog monsters on both side, but not before causes a massive cut on the leader chest that dropped the beast. The pack members to both sides received less damage, but not by much. Zoe''s new level 15 skill [Weapon Wave [2H]] gave her a reach that made her even more dangerous than ever. One of Gavin''s new spells put the outside members of the pack to sleep and Jenny''s arrow never stopped coming. The fight wasn''t particularly hard, but it was long. The Wild-paws had good agility and manage to be where Zoe''s axe wasn''t much of the time. Zoe''s own armour, defenses and skills didn''t keep them off of her either, causing Jenny''s heart to leap to her throat more times than she could count. Gavin''s heals were more than enough to keep her safe though and soon, the pack was decimated. The few left alive running off with their tails between their legs. Gavin went to check on Zoe and collect the loot, but Jenny Stepped up to the tree the Wild-paws were so focused on. There was something up there. She couldn''t see it, but she just knew there was something up there, she could feel it. Her [Climb] got her up there in record time where she found a next of sorts. It looked mostly abandoned but for the tiny cat-like monster left behind, it must have been the runt of the litter.
Silver Leptail
Level 1 Type Animal/Demon [Acrobat]
Health 79
Mana 1
Stamina 97
It had a longer snout that any cat had a right to and tiny bright white bat-like wings. It''s fur was a bright silver and when it opened it''s eyes to investigate who was intruding on it''s lonely death, they are two shades of green andinquisitive. Its tiny teeth look sharp as It opened its mouth and "mew?" Jenny was forever lost.
Tame wassuccessful, do you accept?
Accept Decline
Ch. 17 - Over the river Gavin Despite his build, there were many times in the last few days Gavin thought himself to be the softest one of the group. It was how he sees himself in comparison to the little Amazon and the self reliant hunter, not to mention the moody mage. However, that was before the winged ball of fur managed to reduce the two female warriors back into children. "Can I pet him?" Once again, Zoe was showing her age, it is the only sentence she has said in the last hour. Jenny has long given up trying to keep her new pet to herself. She only lowered her cupped hands so Zoe could pet the small creature as they walked. "Jewel...? Iris...? Bast...? Shamrock...? Luna..." Pause. "No yo, most of those are girls name. Sea Foam...? Silver...? Bright eyes...? Tigger, Jasper, Leo, Charlie...?" And so on. And so on. Jenny has been reciting names for the last hour of the walk, trying to come up with something fitting for the little flying feline. Gavin admits the beast was cute, but he has never been a pet person himself. Maybe fish, but that wasn''t important. "Hun, you''re going to need to put that thing away soon, we''re almost there ok?" Jenny looks up from her own little world. "Huh? Put him away where ,yo?" "Can''t you put it in your inventory?" "No, that thing won''t hold living things" "Really? I''ve seen other people pull there pets in and out of their inventories, I think." Even though rather than think, he is sure that he has. "Naw man, those were summoned pets. Demons and Elementals and things like that yo. A hunter''s pet is a real living companion, we take care of each other, always. Aint no easy way of leaving each others side. But the bright side is our pets get to be stronger, most of the time, than the other kinds. And I don''t think there is a limit on real pets, not like demons and things." Good to know, but it doesn''t solve the current problem of where to keep it as they head into battle. That''s going another problem itself. Gavin hasn''t really had to defend himself against another person since the world ended. At least not to the death. If these guys are doing what Jenny says they''re doing, then there is not going to be an easy way to peacefully end this. Finally though, they approach the end of the woods closest to Jenny''s plant. There is a field that needs crossing and then a road. A fence is the final obstacle with, unfortunately, barbed wire at the top. From here though, it shouldn''t take more than ten minutes to reach the main building. Gavin pulls out one of the [Message Paper] and sends a quick note to Leon. It''s time to get his party started. He just hopes the boy has a plan, maybe one that doesn''t end in bloodshed. -------------------------------------------------------- Leon All of Leons plans so far ended in bloodshed. He simply couldn''t think of a way to capture the men inside that building without undue danger to either himself or his party. Not to mention the women inside the place. Even if he somehow managed to pull it off, then what? What police were they to be turned over to? What judge to sentence them? What prison to serve their time? This was why the number of people at the village that even knew about this situation had been kept to a minimum at Leon''s insistence. There were already too many people, mostly men who wanted to live by the laws of the jungle. The last thing he needed was for the viable possibility of that lifestyle to leak. Not that he minded that mindset really, but a candidate for long term survival and safety it was not. Even from a purely selfish point of view, he needed the village to be a focus of safety and happiness just so he didn''t have to watch is back everyday in pursuit of his own goals. In short, it would make a secure jump off point when he felt ready to travel on his own. Good will and supplies were a few of the many things he was going to need in order to do that. That was one of the main reasons he was even here today. Despite Jenny being a friend, he was more than willing to abandon her sister and the women inside if the possible gains didn''t outweigh the danger. But having taken up this mission, he was determined to do his best at it. That meant real effort to rescue the women alive. Before the level 15 spells, his only option was a frontal assault on what he hoped would be lower leveled rapist. The exit strategy consisted of not being overwhelmed. Not exactly grade a material as far as battle plans go. A [Message Paper] dropped from the sky and floated in front of his hiding spot. He reached out and took it. It was from Mr G, they weren''t far and he wanted to know the plan. Great. Thinking quickly Leon determines his priorities, then sketches out a plan with those in mind. It aint pretty, but at least the holes it''s full of don''t take up more space than the plan itself. Letting the message paper go sends it on its way back to Mr G. Well no time like the present.
Ice Wing
25MP, 5mp/s Magic Construct/Assist Defense +3% Knock Back
All the otherPenguinswill be sooo jealous
A little over 4 minutes of flight time and something he was definitely going to have to have more fun with one day. The wings were large and looked like an ice sculpture of bird wings, mostly clear, but fragile looking, he doubts they will stop any real attacks. Maybe a fireball, but that''s it. Flight time to the roof is a few seconds and not that hard, the wings felt like having another set of arms he already just knows how to use. There are subtle ways of moving them that give interesting results. [Mage Sight] shows them covered in the expected blue and yellow of water and air mana, but also the purple and clear mana he has yet to figure out. Later for that. Leon drops to the roof and dismisses the wings. He finds and waits under the cover of the shadow of some sort of vent. Briefly, he wonders if it''s possibly to sneak in, like a bad spy movie, through them, but reject that plan as having too many unknowns. there are no look outs on the roof and no one has come up yet. These guys might not want anyone or anything knowing this place is occupied. "Leon..." A voice call out softly, not 15 minutes later. "Over here." He leave cover to wave Jenny over to his hiding spot. There may be no one else on the roof but someone could come out onto it at any time. As they wait for Mr G and Zoe to get the party started on the ground floor, he notes with a bit of jealousy that Jenny is now level 18, an entire level higher than himself. Then he realizes that the journey through the woods must have been a whole lot more dangerous than he thought it would be. The entire reason for having them take that path was to minimize the danger. Another miscalculation for later review. Jenny pulls a kitten out of her jacket, from where exactly is a bit of a mystery. What''s she doing with a... then he sees that it is in fact a monster, but just a baby. the way she''s fussing over it... "So you finally manage to get a pet?" "Yeah, something like that, we rescued him on the way here. I haven''t got a name for him yet though. what do you think?" Leon studies the long snout feline as Jenny holds it out to him. The bright silver fur, the bright white wings. Hmm... "Silver?" Jenny laughs, "I already thought of that, but there''s too much white to just be calling my little guy Silver." She rubs he face against the little monster and it actually purrs. Leon thinks for moment, "Argent, then." "Jenny looks up from her new pet, "Hmm? what''s that?" "It''s the silver you see on a coat of arms, a lot of the time it can look white if I remember right. If we live long enough, this thing is going to represent you in a lot of ways. Seems fitting. He''ll be your living coat of arms." Jenny just looks at him for a while, then down at the fur ball in her hands. Then she smiles. "Argent, uh? I like it. What about you, uh? do you like your new name?" She nuzzles the winged kitten and drops into a bit of baby talk. After a while a [Message paper] drops down to Jenny. She grabs it and looks at it briefly. Then looks at Leon with a serious expression. "They''re ready, 30 seconds." Leon nods and moves towards the door he spotted earlier leading to the interior of the building. Jenny follows close behind and Argent follows close behind her. Inside the door, a short flight of steps leads to the second and topmost floor of the building. One corner and they would be in a long hallway holding offices, lunchrooms, meeting spaces and a lounge. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Hey Bobby! You need to come see this!" Someone yells from downstairs. "What is it!? Come see what?" Someone else , presumable Bobby, yells back from somewhere else on the second floor. "There''s a little girl outside! A cute one too. looks hurt, what you wanna do?" The first voice responds. This was the plan so far. Zoe was bait and Gavin was switch. When they engaged the men outside, Jenny and Leon were to find the girls and get them outside via the roof and Leon''s [Slow Fall]. The sound of several pairs of feet leaving the second floor can be heard. A quick peak around the corner reveal welcome information.
Carl Strongman
Class
Mercenary
Level:
9
Health
694
Mana
157
Stamina
146
Level nine wont be impossible to handle if that''s the average level of these guys. It''s a little disappointing that they were smart enough to leave this place in order to hunt monsters, but Leon is confident they can still handle the situation. "Jenny, if these guys left to go hunting where would they go?" Whispered to Jenny "I don''t know, the monsters in the woods are too tough yo, they would have to walk a long way to get back to regular houses to fight some Goblins. That''s the south side from here, opposite side of the building. There were rats and things around here though." "Yeah but they would have had to hunt rats non-stop to reach level nine. I think they killed something worth much more expe...." ''Oh shit'' Leon thinks, then leave the hiding spot and goes around the corner. Jenny follows but doesn''t ask about the worried look on his face, she has her bow knocked and ready. The first room is an empty office, but this close to the stairs, that might be a precaution on the part of these assholes. The next room is also an office but not empty. There are two people inside both sleeping on a pile of clothes, card board and plastic wrap. Leon sneak in and over to the first sleeper. Joseph level 11 Shaman, mid 20''s, white but tanned, he''s been outside hunting then. Good, Leon was worried these guys had killed the women for EXP. That would have been short sighted, but he wouldn''t put it past the average human anyway. He knelt beside the man and placed his left hand over his mouth. Joseph''s eyes flew open to see some boy with his right hand to his lips in a shushing manner. Leon held that hand in front of Joseph so he could clearly see that [Ice Blade] appear. He then held that blade to Josephs throat. "Here''s the deal Joseph, You answer my question and I don''t kill you. Simple, right? You don''t have any reason to believe me, and that''s your prerogative. So, If you don''t believe me, go ahead and lie to me, and I guess we''ll find out if I''m telling the truth or not." The terrified man started to nod his head, but thought better of it, considering the blade at his neck. Jenny in the mean time was having a whispered conversation with the woman who woke up at Leon''s whispered threats. Argent hopped onto the office chair in the corner and curled into a furry ball. The little guy has had a long day. "So, Joey, my buddy, my pal, how many people in this place and where can I find the rest of the women?" "Listen man, I don''t know..." Leon draws the blade across his throat lightly. After a moment, the pain hits but it''s just a shallow cut. The ice blade is weak but sharp. Joey hisses, but is smart enough not to yell. "Want to try again?" Leon asks. "Ok, ok, listen there''s like 20 girls in the cage on the work floor, and like 30 guys doing whatever, man. There''s some out killing monsters, man, that''s all I know." Leon looks up at Jenny, she nods, "That sounds about right. The repackaging center on the floor is called the cage, it''s not a jail yo, but it can hold the girls has long as somebody is keeping an eye on them. But yo! There was only 12 girls here when I left." "Is that so? care to explain Joey?" The cold ice presses a little harder. "Listen, man, Steve, he goes out, and he like rescues people, see? Him and his boys bring back people all the time, we helping people, man, we rescuing them and shit." "OK Joey, that''s fair. Just one question though?" Leon leans closer to Joseph ear. "Rescue any men lately?" Joseph opens his mouth to answer, but nothing comes out, after a while he gives up. Then a loud noise comes from downstairs. There is a flurry of yelling and running feet. Seems Zoe and Mr G are really let these guys have it. "Jenny we need to go, is that woman going to be any help?" Jenny shoots Leon a dirty look, but answers the question, "She''s a level two Summoner and her name is Silvia!" "So, that''s a no then." Leon looks at Claire for a moment. "Get to the roof Silvia, we''ll rescue the others and send them up there. Jenny we need to go, these guys have the numbers to hurt Zoe and Mr G." Jenny gets up and gathers Argent into her arms, the woman, Silvia averts her eyes from both Leon and Joseph as she starts to walk to the office door. "Wait Silvia." She turns back to Leon. He holds her gaze for a moment. "What do you want to do with him?" There is blood pooling under Josephs neck, but not that much, he wont even need stitches. The noise of the fight downstairs rages on as Silvia takes her time answering. Leon is about to ask her again when "Kill him..." Barely a whisper, but in the quiet of the room, the hatred can be heard clearly. "Sorry, Joey, you heard the lady, and besides, you did lie to me at first. If a guy doesn''t keep his word what good is he, heh?" Just as Leon tightens his grip on the cold blade, something hits him square in the face and off of Joseph. Jenny draws and fires arrows at Joseph, but as soon as they hit they reappear in the four foot wooden pillar that knock Leon of on the first place. The pillar floats in front of Joseph who as regained his feet.
Blood Totem
Type
Summon/Construct [Defense]
Level:
5
Health
500
"Thanks for giving me time to cast that ass-wipe, you''re a dead man. HELP!! HELP! INTRUDERS HERE!!" Silvia runs out of the room, hopefully to the roof. "Jenny make sure no no one else show up, I got this." "You got this little boy!?" Joey yells as he pulls a knife and some sort of feathered wand from his inventory. "Then come get it!" "If it makes you feel any better, I was going to have to kill you anyway." Leon pulls out is staff for the INT bonus. Joseph point the feathered wand at Leon and starts to shoot small glowing green balls at him. Leon wants to use [Mana Shield] from his level 15 skill set, but instead a spike of ice burst from under Joseph. a loud crack comes from the pillar as a piece of it was blown off. So, any damage Joey took was eaten by the totem then. Fine. The green balls hitting Leon drops his HP between five and 12 with each hit, but unlike Joseph he wasn''t standing still to be an easy target. A few more hit as he runs to crouch behind the desk. "Screw it." He says as the next spell to come from under Joseph is a sustained gout of [Flame Thrower]. Joseph laughs as he continues to launch his attack at the desk, but the flames don''t stop and ten seconds later the totem begins to smoke, then burst into flames. Soon it flickers and disappears, then Josephs begins to scream when nothing is left to intercept the pain and damage of Leon''s attack. When his screams end, his smoking corpse is surrounded by whatever items he''s managed to acquire thus far, but that''s for later. That little fight was sure to draw attention. Leon runs into the hall and leaves behind the sickly sweet scent and death and burnt flesh. He finds Jenny pulling several of her knives out of another man in front of the lunch room. She glances at him, as he tries in vain not to notice how much blood the human body is actually capable of holding. Only an iron will and the need to not embarrass himself in front of Jenny keeps his stomach under control. Jenny on the other hand is more focused than he''s ever seen her. Argent is nowhere to be seen. "We need to hurry, you got a ''plan B''? Jenny asks. "Yeah, it''s the one I use to solve all my personal problems, " Leon replies smiling as he walks towards the stairs, " more explosives." Ch. 18 - Close Combat "Yo, do you actually have explosives?" Jenny whispers as I peek around the corner of the flight of stairs leading to the ground floor. "No, although I do have an idea about that I need to explore later. What I meant was I don''t think this plan is going to work, and this IS ''plan B''. What we need to do is up our DPS on these guys so they run rather than fight. 30 guys is a lot for us, we might have the levels but they have the numbers." I shake my head sadly as we make the halfway point on the stairs. The other half is a 180 degree turn to the ground floor. I hastily push Jenny back the way we came. The ground floor is swarming with guys trying to get out the main entrance. The entry way is largely glass. Zoe is just outside the door giving these guys a hard time, though I can''t see her from my vantage point. I whisper to Jenny, "Honestly our biggest hope was that these guys were still low level noobs, but they aren''t low enough to just roll over and die. We''re going to have to go for ''shock an awe'' if we want to get out of here with your sister and the girls alive." Jenny nods, "I got it yo, you wanna blitz these bitches, that might work." "It''ll have to, there''s like 10 guys down there, if it doesn''t we won''t live long enough to regret it. Give me a second then we go." I was a Mage damn it and it was time I started acting like it. I didn''t need to outfight these guys or run them into the ground. I had one job, overwhelm them with magic and let the chips fall where they may. I might not be able to call a meteor down from the sky just yet, but it''s time to really start using all of the tools I have.
Mana Shield
80MP Magic Shield ]Equal to 20% of MP 1H Cooldown
Look but don''t touch
My new trump card, no upkeep to maintain and a life saver in the right circumstance, like now for instance. I also raise a [Golem]. It defaults to an Earth type unless I use an elemental spell on it while it''s forming. [Quick Sand], [Stone Skin] and [Haste] make me as ready as I''m going to be. I was down 291 MP and losing 11 more every second, but what could I do? "Lets go!" I run down the remaining stairs with Jenny close behind. On the ground floor the men facing the entrance have yet to turn around. Some of them might have seen us but must have assumed we were one of them, having only seen us out of the corner their eyes. Before one of them can realize their mistake I let loose with my last level 15 upgrade.
Chain Lightning
20MP Magic Attack Stun +2 Targets
What was that about twice in one place?
It''s not a great spell for actual damage, it is in fact pretty weak, but I didn''t use it thinking it would kill anyone. That''s what [Ice Blade] was for. [Chain Lightning] isn''t quiet, but it isn''t thunderstorm loud either. It''s just a loud buzzing like a million angry bees having an argument with the static on their televisions. It peaks and fades instantly, which is how long it takes to hit the first guy in the back, then a barely perceptible pause as it wraps around him jumps to the next man. Before the second man is hit, The first has my [Ice Blade] point first through the back of his neck. I pull the blade out along with a spurt of blood and take a wild swing at the second man. Despite the stun effect of [Chain Lightning] he manages to lift a forearm. [Ice Blade] is easily stopped by the bone, hardly a flesh wound. Something slams into my [Mana Shield] and I stagger backwards, someone has a quick reaction time. A dagger and two crossbow bolts slam into my shield before the [Golem] finally arrives and dives into the mob. Arrow after arrow follows it as Jenny does her part. Despite our onslaught none of themen are down yet, and what feels like forever as only been a few seconds so far. The man who got my [Ice Blade] through his neck is bleeding copiously through the fingers pressed to the wound, but the rest are mostly fine, if angry. The fight gets intense after that. [Fire Shot] is level five and standard ammunition at this point, I alternate between that and [Chain Lightning] while the golem distracts and Jenny does the real work from the stairs. My shield is long shattered and I''ve had to use [Splash] a few times as well. I''m running low on Mana and about to put everything left into [Flame Thrower] when a large part ofthe front entry shatters. Three men are lying on the floor, three are finishing the golem and the rest clamber out of the now much larger entrance way. I''m waving my [Ice Blade] rather wildly in the face of some John with two daggers when Jenny puts an arrow through is neck. I cast a [Chain Lightning] at the men assaulting my Golem but I''m too late to save it. The men seize up even has the golem crumbles into dust. There''s a pause as we size each other up, I keep a [Fire Shot] rotating above my palm. One of those guys is dual wielding wands. The other two have Thor looking hammers, which must be why they manage to take down the Golem so fast. I''m under 100 Mp and forced to drop [Quick Sand], [Haste] and [Stone Skin]. Right now I''m all bluff. There''s a yell from outside from one of the men that ran through the entrance. "You didn''t forget about your boys, did you? If you think you''re in trouble now, wait till the rest of our people get here." I grin as wickedly as I could, trying to project the air of someone who has already won. The looks of uncertainty they give each other turn into worry as another scream rings from outside. A few seconds later the man with the wands, wavers and falls down, then starts to snore loudly. Even I''m confused at that, until Mr G waves for my attention behind the men. "You should leave now, ladies, this fight is done." "Like we gonna run from a punk kid and some runaway cunt!" The one on the right says venomously. I see Jenny stiffen slightly, but she doesn''t have a great shot at him, or I''m sure she would have taken it and damn the consequences. "Fuck you Danny, I''m happy to run from some punk kid thank you very much." The other one interjects. He looks down at their sleeping friend and open his mouth to ask the obvious. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "Leave him." I say, before he can get a word in. I call another [Fire Shot] and have both above my palms, "You two can leave or all three of you can stay, it''s that simple." The one on the left puts his hammer away in his inventory and pulls the other away through the broken entrance. Mr G gives them a wide berth. I''m tempted to make them leave their weapons, but I don''t think it''s worth the risk. Once the men are out of sight Zoe comes out of nowhere and Jenny makes a fuss over her. As the tension disappears, I collapse. The only thing keeping me up after the short fight was Adrenalin, not to mention masking the injuries on my right side, which are many. I really shouldn''t have been lifting that arm, I''m fairly sure there is a cross bow bolt stuck in it. Mr G does his thing and the healing light fixes our mostly minor wounds, Zoe and myself at any rate. Jenny was largely unhurt despite the long range attempts on her position during our fight. I''m about to examine the sleeping man when Mr G come up beside me. "Don''t," he says, "A stiff breeze breaks that sleeping spell." "It''s fine, we have to make our way through the rest of the warehouse, and a hostage might be useful." He gives me a funny look at that, but I don''t back down. If it''s them or us, I choose us and there is no point pretending to be polite about it. Still I back off and wait for now. My max HP currently is 436, but after this battle I was at 294. I was fine right up until I ran those numbers through my head, then my legs gave out again for the second time. Damn it, I can''t keep doing this hero shit. I lost over 400 HP in that fight. If it wasn''t for [Mana Shield], I could be dead right now. If Mr G wasn''t here to heal us, I would have to wait four hour just to regain full health or use my limited supply of potions. This new world was really getting more complicated than I was hoping it would. My MP, at least, was in much better shape thanks to a higher regen, but it was going to take over 10 minutes with [Meditate] and [Prayer] to fully replenish. We might be able to afford to wait, but at least half the men in this place had to be on the work floor, somewhere between us and the women held here. So long as they didn''t decide to attack us first we should be fine. I sit down next to Jenny who is petting a winged kitten I thought was on the roof with that Silvia girl. "Where he come from?" I asked getting comfortable and activating [Meditate]. "The roof. I sent him there with Silvia, but I guess he doesn''t wanna go far from me, yo." She and Zoe shower the little guy with affection while Mr G keeps watch. The main entrance will be a problem if any of the ones who ran off decide to attack from our backs, but nothing we can really do about it except split our already small force. Divide and conquer was the best way in the building but now we needed to stick together as we make our way across the work floor to the women. The emergency exits had been blocked even before Jenny escaped so, one way in, one way out and one way onto and off the floor. This should be doable. -------------------------------------------------------------- Zoe I really like petting Argent. I''m glad Jenny finally choose a name. She could have chosen Silver, since she says Argent means silver, but he''s not my pet so I don''t get to choose. Leon looks tired when he sits next to us, but he looks tired a lot. Lots of the magic people at camp get like that too. The mean men here mostly had swords and stuff like me. They weren''t tired at all. I should feel bad for them, I know I killed them, even though Mr Gavin tried to tell me they were just asleep. They were just like the Goblins though, and I wont feel bad for monsters. I have to wipe my eyes some, but I make sure nobody sees, I don''t want anybody treating me like a baby. I know I can help. ------------------------------------------------------ Gavin This is madness. These men are animals. Zoe was too young to know what they they offering when she was pretending to be bait, but these men are truly animals. I know Leon was very uneasy about killing humans still, hell, I thought I was too, but I don''t think I''m going to have nearly as much trouble with it as I first thought. I look over at Zoe petting Jenny''s kitty and trying to sneakily dry her eyes. I get why Leon keeps putting her in harms way, but I''m not sure any of them understand the danger that little girl was just in. I look over at Leon, wondering if he was still having problems taking human life. I wonder if I might as well, but then I remember the genuine effort these guys put into trying to take Zoe''s life. No, I don''t think I''m going to have a problem at all. --------------------------------------------------------- Jenny It''s been a few days, but I''m here now, it only seems like forever. I know what these evil son of bitches have been doing while I was gone, though. For my sister and all the girls left here, it must have seem like forever and a half. I''ve gotten strong since I left though and I have strong people with me too. It''s all I can do not to just run on to the work floor and find Julia, but I trust Leon. By now I know he always has a plan. The best way to get my sister out safely is to just wait and do what he says. Hang on Julia, I''m coming sis. --------------------------------------------------------- Leon I had nothing as far has plans go, but really we weren''t doing too badly. There were between 10 and 20 guys left in the building and they had to know we were coming. The fact that they weren''t all at the entrance when Zoe sprung her trap, meant some were either cowards or smarter than the average bear. hmm... "Jenny, when we get in, keep your eyes on the sky, if they have any long range attackers, they''ll be in the storage racks, I think, assuming they have any brains. You said the isles are small right?" Jenny nods at me with some sort of knowing smile. Don''t know what that''s about but whatever. "Ok, we''ll stay close together, walk from here to the west wall, then to the north corner. If they try to ambush us on the way back, we''ll take the North then east wall back to this corner." Sticking to the edge of the building was a necessity, there were no lights in the building except what was provided by a few very thick glass windows near the roof. They were more like clear bricks rather than windows. We could open the bay shipping doors, but anything any anyone could come in then. This was going to be dark and dirty, but we should be fine, we''ll use the shipping doors to exit if nothing else goes right. "Ok, lets go." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ch 19 - The Gauntlet Leon The work floor was almost as dark as I thought it would be. The first casualty of this phase of the assault was the door leading there. As soon as it opened, an arrow pierced the head of my shadows silhouette. I just sighed, nothings ever easy. Footsteps ran away in the dark even as the arrow ''thrum '', vibrated in the door. "Tsk, Jenny this is your role, I think. Use those skills to find their positions if you can." "You''re thinking mini-map yo, tracking don''t work like that. I can follow prey, but that don''t stop ''em from circling me with an ambush. Don''t sweat it though." She step out and fades from view, not completely but she''s harder to see. "Good," She says, "I was worried Camouflage wouldn''t work here, it''s a little weak though. Try to keep up." I can hear the smile in her voice. This close to her sister must be putting her in a good mood. I go to step out after her, but Zoe bumps me aside. "Ladies first!" she smiles mischievously and she skips through the door. I follow and Mr G brings up the rear with our hostage and if need be, human shield Andrew Ambidextrous. I guessing that chosen last name is what let him dual wield those wands. A warlock of level 11, he was happy to fill us in on what has happened here since Jenny left. Seems their mostly leader Steve, has been out and about more than most of them, recruiting women and even a few men while hunting monsters. The women were basically sex slaves while the men were like minded individuals that happen to have met their kindred spirits with these human monsters. The ease in which so many men of such rare disposition were able to meet, had me worried about how many people in our village would have fallen to this type of anarchy if not for the village itself. Even with the limited safety it provided, that was still an unresolved issue. We had yet to have to deal with a theft, assault or murder, but it was only a matter of time. Just one of the many reasons you couldn''t pay me to be in charge. This part of the building was stuffed with foodstuff. If we could safely transport it back to the village, we would be well fed for some time to come. The trek here took me four hours at speed, it would be an all day expedition for our people, but well worth it I think. Most of the loading doors were block off with pallets of food, but a few were left unblocked, probably for emergency egress. As I was observing that, Several arrows, cross bow bolts and bits of magic erupted around us. Ambush! "Hide!" Mr G yelled out. Weighing the pros and cons I found it to be good advice and did just that. It was a miracle none of use had been hit, but they were shooting from quite a distance. The closest storage racks, from which the attack originated, had to be 50 to 60 feet away. It was dark over there, no way we were going to be able to fight back from this distance, while the limited light from the loading doors makes us easier targets. "Can anyone see them!?" I called out. Everyone responds in the negative. Damn. Jenny fires a few arrows for effect, but I don''t believe they do any good. I would join her but I don''t think fire would be a good choice given all the wood and cardboard here. Then it hits me. [Mage sight] wont let me see where the arrows and bolts are coming from but the magic is another story. It looks like large christmas lights being fired at us from the tops of some of the racks. Some of the men are surrounded by their magic as they fire. Ok then, time to get creative. A [Golem] begins to form and as it does I hit it with [Haste]. The yellow mana of Air and the Gold mana I have yet to identify flow into the golem. I thought this form was mostly useless before, but I see now it has its uses. Silently directing the [Air Golem], it flies to the top of the racks closest to us and begins to ram the men stationed there. It''s a weak form, but in thee dark and not expecting a close range attack, the [Golem] manages to push two of the magic users I can see to a rather messy and loud fall. I''m sure one is dead, the other is loudly conscious screaming for help. The attack pauses, as the men try to figure out where they are being attacked from. "Zoe, shield me! get us close!" I call softly to our young amazon. "No problem." Zoe pulls out her shield and club then leads me in a light jog towards the men. Arrows start again, but it''s too late, these are metal racks after all. "Chain Lightning!" If our lives weren''t in danger I would be beyond embarrassed about calling out my skill name. But I''ll be damn if it didn''t do something. I can''t be sure but it feels stronger to me. Of course it could just be stress. My [Mage Sight] shows me a channel of air-type mana form between my outstretched hand and the metal storage rack I''m aim for. Then another mana, still yellow to me, but different, uses that channel to reach the racks. To my [Mage Sight] the entire thing lights up like an oddly shaped Christmas tree. The two magic users I can detect up there seize up, one''s spell seems to explode in his face. An arrow come close from the racks to my left. Another [Chain Lightning] lights that one up as well. I alternate between the two, Zoe staying close, though she can''t be seeing much, other than my own lightning spells. "Jenny, Light!" I yell behind us. A hand taps my shoulder, nearly causing me to jump out of my skin. "No need to yell." Jenny says calmly. She and Mr G followed us into the isle. She is still running her [Camouflage] and hard to see but... "Where''s the Warlock?" I ask them. Mr G is close enough to see the uncomfortable look on his face. "He didn''t have my [Divine protection] on him, he was hit in the first volley of arrows. " That didn''t answer whether or not he lived through it, or whether or not he was still alive, but that didn''t make my top ten list of priorities at the moment. Jenny draws back an arrow and lets fly almost straight up. [Light pulse] blinds the men up top, while we know better than to look directly at it. "Run, move, move!" I urge. We head down the isle, away from the loading doors and away from the light that made us such easy targets. The racks are station in such a way that the isles run the width of the building but are bisected by two tunnel isles that let the men above us move at will. They can follow us nearly anywhere and precede to do just that. We travel as best we can, running walking and pressed against the racks as we make our way to the opposite corner of the building, dodging arrows, quarrels, and magic of all sorts along the way. Jenny''s [Light Pulse] and my [Chain Lightning] keep the men wary, while we get off with only light grazes and wounds thanks to Mr G''s [Divine Protection] and the occasional heal. Finally we make it to the area called the cage, where the women are being held. The area has two men on the ground as guards. It''s set a good distance away from the storage racks. This area has light from the same thick brick-like windows near the top of the building. The cage is a partitioned off section with fencing going about 20 feet up, One apparent entrance and exit, I can only assume against the fire code. I want to take time to think about the situation but it seems pretty clear cut. "Rush ''em." I say. And we do just that, though to be fair, I''m fairly certain Jenny started before I said anything. Arrows, lightning, holy magic, and a weapon''s wave of force strike the men at the same time. Zoe throws her club and drops her shield, drawing her axe instead. The club strikes one of he men in the head, dazing him, the axe buried moments later in his chest by a little girl would be humiliating if he wasn''t already dying. The other man may have tried to surrender, or he may have been casting a spell for all I know. My [Ice Blade] in his throat makes it hard for him to explain. The arrow in the other side of his neck might have made my attack redundant, but if so he''ll have to let me know in another life. We don''t waste time with these men, ducking around the corner of the fencing put us out of sight of the men in the racks. It''s covered in some sort of mesh. It won''t stop an attack but it breaks their line of sight. "Julia? Julia!?" Jenny calls out for her sister while I keep watch to see if those guys plan to rush us. A quick glance behind shows a slew of women, some terrified, some confused. I leave the talking to Jenny and to Zoe who as turned into super cute mode at the flip of a switch. Smart girl. Mr G and I stay a ways back from the women for obvious reasons. While waiting for her to explain the situation I feel the [Golem] drain on my mana cease. It''s air form really is weak, I''m surprised it lasted so long. My MP is in better condition than I thought it would be, but the day is young. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. 10 minute later Jenny bring over her sister Julia. Tall, pretty and clearly Hispanic. All this time I assumed Jenny just had a tan. I smile at her after the introductions. She she''s like she''s in a better state of mind than most of these women. "Hey, I know you''ve been through hell and all, so let me show you how a real man is supposed to treat a woman one day, assuming we get out of here alive." She tilts her head at me but doesn''t blow up like I was expecting. Jenny on the other hand is giving me a death stare. "I don''t think I''ll be letting no man touch me again for a long time." her sister replies. "Ew, what? No, I was talking about building you a cabin with my bare hands while I train grizzly bears to entertain you, daily." I give her a goofy grin to show my harmlessness. She laughs at my poor joke, but that''s good too. Jenny''s a tough useful girl, seems her sister''s the same. There are 16 women here with various classes, but all are between one and three in levels. Seems that their captors didn''t want them doing anything that would make them stronger. The only exception is a young girl Sophia A level 6 [Chronicler]. That''s not the least interesting thing about her though. She''s quiet but not shy and despite what she must have been through, she doesn''t hesitate to shake my and Mr G''s hand in gratitude. Most of the women though, aren''t as tough. Two clearly aren''t even all here at the moment. Mr G''s heals takes care of the external stuff, but what''s broken doesn''t have a hope of being fixed until we get back to the village. I test the women with my crude jokes but mostly just upset everyone except Julia and the three I want to call sisters despite the fact they look nothing alike. Sophia has white skin and straight red hair you only see in a movie poster, it''s too dark to see, but I bet she has green eyes as well. Emmy has ''sporty brunette'' written all over her with her short brown hair and protective attitude. I think her [Hunter] class is much like Jenny''s [Woodsman]. Claire is black with a stylish pulled back Afro and a direct gaze, well, out of one eye anyway. The other is swollen shut and leaking a bit of blood. She has a cloth wrap around it patch style, but that doesn''t detract from the beauty. Seems she was a lot for these guys to handle, always putting up a fight, until they threatened her with the roof. Staring one of the men right in his eyes as he raped her earned her that swollen peeper and she seemed oddly proud of it. "You''re my hero." I told her after hearing that story from Julia. The tough girl blushed even through her dark skin. She had yet to say anything really, she was even quieter than Sophia. While I may have been joking with Julia, these girls really do have my interest. After the meet and greet we need a plan. The more catatonic women will be moved by the rest when we move. Rather than trying to make it to the opposite corner of the building, we will exit via the closest loading dock, but for that to work, we needed a distraction. Preparations were made then our plan finalized. An hour has past but, once we were ready to move out, I called out to the men who had to be close and waiting. "Hey boys! Are you ready to surrender yet!?" "Who the hell is that!? You and yours best leave here now! maybe if you do, we let you leave alive, hear?" One of them yelled back. "Fuck that," Another chimed in, "They done killed Charles, man. We gonna have to kill em all." "Shut up Eric! You lot, just leave now, and we can all just call this a bad day for everyone. You can walk out free and clear right now if you just go." The first voice responded "Alright," I yell back. "We''ll take that last offer." ... "For real?" "Of course! But we''ll be taking some of these women with us as payment for the headache you caused us." "Caused you! You piece of shit, I''ma wring ya neck and shit in your face." one of the more belligerent men yelled back. "Shut it! That''s fine! Just take one and go!" The first negotiator yelled. "One! You must be joking, right!?" "Argh! Fine, how many you want!?" "I was thinking all of them." ... ... "OK boys, don''t say we didn''t give you a chance." I taunt. Not like it''s going to makes much of a difference. After that I send my new [Golem] out to harass the men and cause a distraction. Then followed it myself with a very dangerous move I wouldn''t touch if this wasn''t life or death. [Ice Wing] got me to the top of one of the racks while my [Golem] assaulted another by hugging it. I throw [Chain Lightning] and [Fire Shot] wildly without much aim, since I was supposed to be drawing attention. The top of these racks having been cleared, let me not worry about setting anything on fire. Arrows bolts and magic once again came my way, but I wasn''t sitting still to just take it. I ran along the storage rack I was on, making sure my path was clear with a healthy does of [Flame Thrower], this wasn''t the time to be conservative with my magic. The men on the racks to my right were immobilized thanks to the [Golem] holding on to it. As well they should be since it was a lightning golem. I kept the Ice wings wide as I ran, and by the time I made it half way to the other side of the work floor, they had been shattered beyond use. Letting that spell go I jump off the top rack, feeling more exhilaration than I should, I think. "Slow Fall!" I called out half way to the ground. I come to a smooth stop inches above the ground. Once there I extinguished the [Fire shot] I was using as a torch and quietly listen with my back pressed against a pallet of foodstuff. I could hear the men moving about up top, but that wasn''t what I was listening for. I felt My [Golem] once again be killed, but the mana drain wasn''t needed any longer. Finally a deep rumble echoed throughout the building. It was easy to hear as I and my pursuers were trying to keep our positions hidden. That sound was one of the loading doors opening up. With it the light levels in this place go up as well, though not by much. Now it''s my turn to make my way to the exit, which surprisingly goes without a hitch. Running though the isles keeps me out of sight long enough to catch nothing more than a few arrows my way. There is a five foot drop out side the loading door, so I cheat and use [Slow Fall] for an impressive long jump effort. It notice how stupid that was when I''m expose to more attacks as I run for the closest corner of the building. Once there I wait. Soon someone poke their five o''clock shadow out of the door and I barely miss with a [Fire Shot]. The next ten minutes or so go by slowly as i try to keep these guys interested but occupied. The other shattered exit is at the far end of the building on the same side, if they use it I can''t reach them, but I''ll be able to see them easily. Every few minutes I send a barrage of [Fire Shots] to keep ''em honest, then one last barrage before I [Ice wing] it to the roof. "Hey lady, you here?" I call out for the woman we rescued earlier. "I''m here. And it''s Silvia, not lady" She pops up from under the same vent I hide near earlier. "Time to go." I reach out for her, but she instinctively pulls back. I don''t blame her, after what she''s been through but we don''t have time for this. "Lady, we need to go, NOW. You coming or staying?" "Where Jenny?" "Hopefully About ten minute away, we need to catch up. So you coming or you going to stay and be the only toy left in the box for these assholes?" "The others are.." "YES woman! talk time is over. you coming or stayin!" I''m increasingly nervous about being on my own here with no back up. I don''t think this is the time to be wasting time on pointless talk. "I was just asking, of course I''m coming, how are we getting down from here?" I spread my [Ice wing] and use a thumb to point them out. "These aren''t just for show, lets go." I pick her up in in a princess carry, she seems embarrassed, but I don''t have time to mind that. She''s taller and heavier than me, but I know better than to mention that to a woman. I''m not even sure if I should normally be able to carry her, but I have 38 total points in STR and I''m about to work them for all they are worth. Just as I get ready to lift off, the roof door burst open and two men rush at us. Something or several somethings deplete the last of my [Mana Shield] and we are flying low towards the river and woods and hope fully the rest of my group. Ch 20 - Special move - Heartbreaker One would think I would have more important matters on my mind. I mean given what my group just went through, right? Not to mention the horribleness these women have been through for the last few weeks. Truthfully, however, carrying a woman so closely in my arms 50 feet in the air proved to be more distracting than I thought it would be. I may have refrained from smelling Silvia''s hair like some creep in a low budget porno, but there was no denying that she was all woman, while I was all teenager. That''s why it was almost a relief when I noticed we were about to die. A rough calculation on my part, even before jumping off the roof, said two and a half minutes of flight time. I can only assume the extra weight of an additional person was the reason I was almost empty of MP after only a minute. Well, maybe another 30 seconds, if we were lucky. "[Slow Fall]." I say quietly. "huh, you say something?" Silvia asks me. "Just testing something, This is less U.S. Air and more falling with style, at the moment." The panic on Silvia''s face would have been comical if I wasn''t genuinely worried about putting us down safely. But it did work, I could feel the energy needed to keep us in the air ease and the MP drain followed. I spread the [Ice Wings] wide and let us glide past the fence, over the road and into the grassy field before we land more or less intact. It could have been smoother, but the flying had me posed more like superman and less like a Super Saiyan. That made it awkward to try and carry someone, much-less try to land with someone. Next time, I''ll have to try to flare the wings before landing. Catch a back-draft or something and try to get my feet under myself properly. Silvia slips from my arms as we come to a rest but no harm done. I apologize as I lose the wings and check my status.
Status
Name Leon Level 18
Health 312/447
Mana 158/1311
Stamina 214/336
Strength 39(43) Intelligence 89(113)
Dexterity 26 Agility 30(32)
Wisdom 20(34) N/A -
N/A - N/A -
158 MP left, honestly not great, but could be worse. Despite the low number there, it would only take 20 minutes or so to recharge fully while walking. My HP on the other hand would take somewhere around three and a half hours. My STA four hours or much more actually while walking. Not that I could complain, I had a general idea of what a mage class would mean, even if it was all assumptions at the time. I make sure Silvia is alright to walk, then check myself. The agreed upon route back to the village from here is to follow the river through fields and through a few warehouse back properties. We avoid the major and minor roads as well as just about any concentrations of people. Given the number of low level women with us, we would be a target otherwise. By monsters of all kinds. It would also separate us from the monsters of the woods the rest of my group had to battle to get here. After Silvia dust herself off, we start a fast walk to catch up with the others. She seems a little wary at first, but I suppose my first impression wasn''t the best one. Then again I did help rescue her so I''m not sure how annoyed should I feel. She''s white, mousy brown haired and brown eyes lighter than Emmy''s. Where Emmy, Sophia and Claire are clearly girls though, Silvia is all woman. A young woman, but woman nonetheless. I place her age at maybe early 20''s. I''m not stupid enough to try and flirt with her, but I occasionally fall back to enjoy my preferred view. Fit but not as much as Jenny. "Where are we going anyway?" She asks me after a few minutes. "We have a safe place set up where monsters can''t attack. We''re building a home there and rescuing who we can while we''re at it." "What about the government? and my family?" I fill her in on the state of the world as we know it, while we walk. There isn''t nearly as much to say as one would think. No, we don''t know how much government is left. No, we don''t know how many people are alive. No I don''t know where you''re family is. No, I don''t think the city is safe. Honestly it was a bit disappointing to realize just how much we didn''t know. I may not have cared about most of it personally, but it was information, and having a lot of that was key to my survival strategy. The walk is a little depressing after that. Silvia practices what little magic she has, which seems to consist of summoning some sort of man-tiger with a sword and shield. It''s only two feet high and she can only hold it for a few minutes, but at level two, it aint bad. Low level [Rodentia] and slightly higher level [Storm Carp] crawling from the river keeps her on her toes. I won''t gain much EXP from them so I leave it to her. We eventually see my group and the girls not too far ahead of us. Neither they nor us have manage to travel as quickly as I would have liked, but given the terrain while travelling the banks of the river... Still it''s safer than the roads, which are filled with people and monsters it would be impossible to get through safely. Still, it took about four hours to journey to the plant, but should only take three or so to get back this way. Jenny spots us first and waves. Something falls from the sky and lands on her head. I see that it''s Argent when we get closer. He''s asleep on top of her head and even I can tell very tired. Zoe is looking with big eyes from Jenny to the cat and back, while Jenny pretends not to see. Mr G is smiling slightly but mostly watching our surroundings. Julia walks with my group, just seeming happy to be outside. "What''s wrong with him?" I ask her. "He''s been scouting for us. There''s more than just these low level mobs out here. Nothing me and you can''t handle but an ambush could hurt some of the girls." "Scouting huh? you got a new ability?" "I didn''t," she smiled, "Argent did. I can see what he see''s when he wants me to." I raise a brow at that but it''s whatever. I have no expectations in this new world so if she was expecting to surprise me, good luck. "Before I forget, though..." Jenny says as she takes Argent from her head. She hands him to her sister and despite what I was just thinking, surprises me when she jumps at me and wraps her arms around me then plants a kiss on my lips. I feel tongue briefly before she pulls back and looks me in the eye. "Thank you." "Your welcome." I respond automatically. My skin is too tanned to show a blush easily, plus I''m not easily embarrassed but, yeah, I admit, I didn''t see any of that coming. "Where''s my thank you kiss?" Mr G asks laughing as Jenny lets me go. She looks at him quizzically, "Did you want one?" "Not my type," He winks at her, "I''ll trade mine for a heartfelt hug though." Meanwhile, I was trying to figure out how I was going to deal with this new development. I wasn''t nearly as clueless as everyone seemed to think I was. I''ve been well aware that Jenny was starting to develop feelings for me. That only seemed natural given my movie star good looks, fancy cars and mansion on the hill. Or since we''ve been killing things and avoiding death together. I''ve grown very fond of my group, which is why I really wanted to get away from them. Which was why I really needed to stick with them. Heh, you don''t grow up without real friends and family and expect to be alright with type of thing. Still this was a problem for later. I moved myself to the outskirts of the group, ostensibly to keep an eye out for approaching monsters. Really though I needed to think about my magic. I was having decent success with learning more about it, but something was off. I held a [Fire Shot] up in front of my face. This was what I meant, I could fire it or I could hold it, but I couldn''t have it float around me or return to my hand or anything else. The problem was it should be quite possible, it should in fact be pretty easy given the lack of effort involved in using skills and magic in this new world. [Mage Sight] showed the obvious red mana of fire with the clear mana I couldn''t identify surrounding it. Keeping it intact and in shape, hmmm. Firing it involved a flash of purple mana in the direction I pointed it. I''m thinking the purple is some sort of energy mana, maybe. My [Mana Shield] is largely clear and purple mana too, with millions of dots of other colors. What are they? Wait! What are they!? I am such an idiot, I have a skill for that. I just didn''t think to use it in conjunction with [Mage Sight]. ''Identify'' I think at the clear mana holding my [Fire Shot] together.
Raw Mana
Magic in its purest form, use to handle, power and shape the other elemental representations
Affinity n/a
Excellent! And something so drastic I couldn''t help but notice. My experience went up by a chunk. At least 5% at level 18. Just how important was it for a mage to know and understand Mana then? I could only think ''very''. We have been walking long enough now to reactivate my [Mana Shield]. It''s the best way to see the purple mana, the ones in the air are too far to focus on.
Mana[Force]
Magic representation of [force]
Affinity79%
I get really excited now and turn my sight back to the red mana in [Fire Shot].
Mana[Fire]
Magic representation of [fire]
Affinity18%
Interesting, 18% affinity for fire, huh. Guess the path of a Pyromancer will be difficult unless I find a way to raise my affinity. I go ahead and identify the rest of the mana that I can. I finally learn my affinities when I do. Earth - 81% Fire - 18% Water - 93% Air - 6% Light - 11% Dark - 79% I''m not sure what affinity really does, I can take an educated guess, but the low percentages on Air, Fire and Light hurt a little. A little experimenting shows me one more interesting bit of information.
Mana[Lightning]
Magic representation of [Lightning], of the [Air] Element family
Affinity 6%
So then, my affinity for sub-elements equals that of the main one too. Looking at my [Ice Wing] for a second confirms that my ice and water affinity are the same. After all this I''ve gain a nice chunk of EXP and I guess for a mage, Knowledge really is power. There''s one more thing I haven''t had time to try, but now that I have a better understanding of the material I''m working with... I form a [Fire Shot] in my hand. I study it closely. repeatedly I watch it form and let it dissipate. It is very fast and I struggle to slow down the process. combining that with [Haste] and [Mage Sight] lets me understand what is happening. The raw mana forms first into a sphere then sucks in the fire mana from the air. Then more or less ''poof'' a [Fire Shot] is formed. I must look very silly for the next half an hour. From the point of view of every one else I''m using [Splash] and shooting it with a [Fire Shot]. But from my point of view I''m using one of my slowest forming spells to draw water mana to myself, then trying to get the [raw mana] sphere to pull it in, instead of the [fire mana]. Getting the timing right is hard, getting both spells to go slow enough to meeting at the sweet spot is harder. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. But eventually...
SkillAcquired
Mana Manipulation
Nice! I almost can''t believe that...
SpellAcquired
Water Shot
I suppress a smile as I walk back to my group. I haven''t told them about my mage sight because I thought it was fairly useless. But I also wouldn''t have said anything anyway regardless, I both trust them and don''t trust anyone. It may be a strange dichotomy, but that''s me in a nutshell. "Sorry, if I embarrassed you." Jenny apologizes to me as I approach. She seems a little upset. Was she thinking I went away because of that? "It was a little embarrassing, but don''t worry about it." I reassure her. "There are worse things in the world than getting a kiss from a pretty girl, I think." Even with her complexion, the blush is apparent. "You think I''m pretty?" She asks me, with what can only be described as text book girl flirt. I don''t need or want this right now, I''m already tied too tightly to this group as is. Too many poor decisions are made when when people care more about each other than results. But I also know my cynical self is not the best when it comes to other people. "Are you not?'' I ask her dispassionately. "Your features are symmetrical and attractive, you''re fit, strong and dependable. What''s not appealing about that?" I look at her quizzically, as though I don''t quite understand what she was asking. I have to work hard to ignore the disapproving glances from both her sister and Mr G. Her sister doesn''t know me well enough to know if I''m really that stupid, but I think Mr G knows what I''m doing, and doesn''t like it. He hasn''t trust me fully from day one. Not that I can blame him. I really don''t trust myself either. Jenny seems a little puzzled, should she be irritated or pleased at the compliment. Most people don''t really know how to react to a compliment delivered in an uninterested tone. I use her pause to increase our distance a bit and get back to experimenting. "Hold up, yo!" Jenny grabs my arm from behind. Huh, well this isn''t going as planned. "If you think I''m attractive, then why you ignoring me!" "I don''t know what your talking about, how have I been ignoring you. Last I checked, I just finished helping you rescue a bunch of people I didn''t know." I thought that line might stump her for a bit, but nope, it seems she''s way more willing to confront things head on than I gave her credit for. To be fair, I usually have a more time to get to know people before I attempt to mess with their heads. "You know what I mean, I been giving you hints I like you forever." She''s a lot less flirty and much more angry than a second ago. I''m beginning to remember she held an arrow on me when we first met. Best not to forget something like that. "I don''t respond well to hints. Besides, the last thing I need or want is a girlfriend during the apocalypse. Even if it''s you." I''m not so heartless that I don''t feel like shit giving her mixed messages, but nothing I''ve said so far is a lie. "Even if it''s me? So you do like me then." Jenny says grabbing my arm and hugging it to her, all her anger seemingly forgotten. "I never said I didn''t, but what does that have to do with anything?" I respond to her, firmly removing my arm from her embrace. That one had her puzzled for a moment, but to be fair, even I didn''t fully know what I was saying at this point. "So... you like me, but you don''t want me for a girlfriend?" "I like tough, capable, pretty women and I don''t want any of you for a girlfriend." "Any of who? How many women like that you know?" "Admittedly just you, but my point still stands." "And may I ask why?" She asks with a tone that tells me I am thoroughly camped on her last nerve. It''s funny but since rescuing her sister, she speaks a lot less street than before. It''s too bad I wont hear her voice anymore after she kills me. "How many times have we almost died?" I ask her. "How many more times are we almost going to die before our luck runs out?" Without looking, I point towards the far off city center, where smoke still rises from old and new sources. "The short version is this. I don''t want to have to worry about a girlfriend, I have enough worries already and so do you. We keep doing these dangerous missions and make no mistake, one day we all aren''t going to come back. I''m not sure if you really understand that. I''m not sure if any of you really understand that." She''s quiet for a moment, and I think... but nope. "So you think cutting yourself off from other people is going to keep you from getting hurt. Just because you might lose them?" I refrain from rolling my eyes. I do like her, but I''m just not used to having to explain myself to people. "First, yes. I do think cutting other people off emotionally prevents pain. The real question is whether or not that is a lifestyle worth living. I don''t think it is, so lucky for me, that''s not what I''m doing. I have you, Mr G, and the rug rat, not to mention Debrah and Ricky. You can''t fight life or death battles with someone and not care for them." I''m not sure if I''m making sense to her, I''m not even sure I''m making sense to me. But right or wrong this is how I feel. "Don''t think too much about it." I tell her. "I''m actually a lot more emotionally invested in people now than I was a few weeks ago. I just don''t want to be overwhelmed with responsibilities of a romantic relationship yet." Not when I have an apocalypse to survive. "Yet." Jenny says. I turn to her and raise a brow. "You said yet." she smiles. shit. ... An hour later I''m back to learning more about my magic andthoroughlyignoring Jenny and everyone else for that matter. Their stupid smiles have found my last nerve, appraised the property value and built a condo on it. The irritation makes it difficult but I slowly get back into my work. Here is something interesting.
Water Shot
10 Mana Magic Attack 2-5dmg Soaked
Moist
While essentially the same as [Fire Shot], [Water Shot] does pitiful damage, but I already know what I will use the addition soak attribute it has for. Not only that but with [Mana Manipulation] I can see an easier route to building new spells now. It''s too bad my first attempt damn near loses me my arm.
Frostbite
-57HP, Limb agility -30%, Limb Dexterity -50%
I totally deserved that. I repress a grimace as I go ask Mr G for his [Recovery] and [Heal]. "Backlash." I tell him when he asks how I manage to give myself frostbite. He smiles in a way that makes me think he''s wondering backlash against what. But I go back to ignoring them all. I see what I did wrong. Used [Mana Manipulation] to try and handle some [Ice Mana] directly. I''m lucky to still have my fingers. This time I mentally will the raw mana into an empty sphere, just like [Fire Shot], but instead of sucking in fire mana, I draw Ice mana instead. This time it doesn''t take half an hour before I gain a new spell. A minor application of [Force Mana] causes the spell to fire and then...
SpellAcquired
Ice Shot
Ice Shot
10 Mana Magic Attack 4-10dmg Chill
This snowball stands a chance
I am elated. With this simple technique more or less mastered I run all the elements I am able through the raw mana sphere and force fire the spell. I am not disappointed.
Wind Shot
10 Mana Magic Attack 1-2dmg Knock Back
When I grow up, I wanna be a Tornado
RockShot
10 Mana Magic Attack 7-16dmg Fracture
Where''s a Glass house when you need one.
Spark Shot
10 Mana Magic Attack 3-8dmg Stun
Keep out of water
There may not be much difference between these elemental shot spells, but they provide versatility. I can appreciate having the correct tool for the job. Putting [Force Mana] into the sphere does nothing or if it supposed to, I''m not yet sure what. The golden mana I''ve finally identified as [Time Mana]. Harder to handle but worth the effort. Dark mana also proves useful. I was hoping for a healing spell with Light mana, but I wasn''t too disappointed.
Slow Target
40MP Magic Assist 10% slow 5 seconds
Slow and steady
Blind Target
30 MP Magic Assist --- 3 seconds
Now you see me...
Mark Target
30 MP Magic Assist --- 10 minutes
Nowhere to Hide
I was beyond excited. There were still the sub-elements to try as well, not to mention all the sub-elements I haven''t discovered yet. I know this [Shot] spell was weak in many ways, but it was easy to master and it was giving me all sorts of ideas about what to try next. Plus discovering all these spells was worth a nice chunk of EXP to my class. All in all I would say a good day just got better. That was my first clue something was going to give. The second was Jenny yelling we had company coming. The third was argent''s yowl a moment later as he dove out of the sky towards Jenny, some sort of small monster on his tail. Jenny had her bow out with an Arrow aimed, but couldn''t fire for fear of hitting her pet. The monster was a little bigger than Argent, some sort of bird/ lizard mix with with four legs, claws and attitude. Jenny finally lets loose the arrow. It pulses with energy when it gets close to Argent and the monster, knocking them both out of the sky. Stun Arrow? Didn''t know she could do that without a direct hit. Zoe''s [Leap] saves argent before he hits the ground, while the monster manages to right itself and fly off before anyone thinks to shoot it down. I think the trouble is over, but Jenny calls us together to explain. Seems that wasn''t a monster, according to her and Argent''s [Shared Sight], it was someone''s pet. And they were heading right for us. Oh, and they weren''t alone.