《World Update: The Era of Monsters》 Chapter 1: (This is with tables, hopefully) *This is not a new chapter however I can''t figure out how to edit my first chapter. Once I figure out how to use this I will add tables. I tried to paste them in and it didn''t work. I have read lots of books on royal road; however, I just set up my account and am still getting used to it. Chapter 1: Will was driving home from work when it happened suddenly his blue 2015 Chevy Spark stalled in the middle of the freeway. Panicking he turned the key trying to restart it. Nothing happened and when he looks around him every single other car was also dead. Suddenly a blue screen appeared in front of him and wouldn¡¯t go away from the front of his vision no matter where he looked. He started reading the blue screen. Your World has come to an end Prepare for a new era to come. Humanity will face its greatest change ever. No longer will you rule the world, prepare to fight for every inch. Animals are now able to evolve and monsters will start appearing. All wild animals evolve into monsters now after gaining enough power. It is humanities challenge to survive in this new world. Prepare to die because only through accepting the likelihood of death will you find the courage to survive, to fight back to the top of the food chain. As soon as I finished reading this screen it disappeared leaving me sitting there in disbelief. However after less than a minute 2 new screens appeared. In the new world all money is converted into copper, silver, and gold: 1 gold is 10 silvers and 1 silver is 100 coppers 1 copper is $1 of US currency 1 silver is $100 US currency 1 gold is $1,000 dollars US currency Your money will be linked to your status screen and it will all be in your virtual wallet. Banks do not exist from this day forth. You currently have 1 gold, 6 silvers, and 59 coppers You currently own a 2015 Chevy Spark. In the new world cars are not allowed. You will be compensated for your vehicle. The price of it new ¨C 5% for every year old it is Your car was worth 10 gold to begin with ¨C 10% because it is 2 years old Your car is worth 9 gold You know have 10 gold, 6 silver, and 59 coppers Since your land transportation has been taken you may now look at the various mounts available and get first evolution land mounts. In the future you will need to visit a world shop terminal to access the store. Every house now has a basic one and stores have more specialized and advanced ones. Mount Categories: ¡¤ Land: available animals and first evolution monsters ¡¤ Water: available animals ¡¤ Flying: available animals I decided to look through the various land mounts available. I was very ticked off about losing my car though. It was the first car I had ever owned and even though it was cheap it was fairly new. I was still sitting in my car though so I guess it will still exist till I choose a new mount. I reached out and pressed the land mounts tab on the screen in front of me. Land Mount Main Purpose ¡¤ Riding ¡¤ Draft ¡¤ Dual Purpose I chose riding because I didn¡¯t want to have to deal with a wagon or carriage and that would just make things probably even more expensive if I had to buy something to pull a carriage and a carriage. Riding Mounts ¡¤ Horse ¡¤ Pony ¡¤ Cattle ¡¤ Llama ¡¤ Camel ¡¤ Pig ¡¤ Reindeer ¡¤ Yak ¡¤ Ostrich ¡¤ Elephant ¡¤ Zebra If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.¡¤ Giraffe ¡¤ Tortoise ¡¤ Snake ¡¤ Lizard I was amazed by the selections; however, I had no idea what I could really afford with my current budget. I decided to look at horses, pigs, ostrich, elephants, and lizards. In front of me was a window showing all of the animal and first evolution stages of horses, pigs, ostriches, and elephants. I definitely wasn¡¯t buying an elephant, the cheapest elephant was called a lesser pygmy elephant and described as the smallest and weakest elephant standing at 6ft and weighing 2 tons. However a cheap elephant is anything but cheap with the lesser pygmy costing 10 gold, or 10,000 dollars. Evolutions of elephants are in the 50 plus gold or 50,000 plus dollar range. While riding an elephant would be cool I still don¡¯t want to spend all my money on one and the purchase price doesn¡¯t include what it costs to feed one. When I was looking at the elephants I noticed each animal had a list of plants it would eat and I could buy regular plants or evolved plants. It seems that now people can feed mana, their magical energy, into plants to make them grow and produce more fruit. Evolved plants are either slightly sentient plants or plants with an affinity like water or fire. I was trying to decide between a pig or horse mount. Ostriches could be bought for as little as a single gold if you got a poor quality animal, but though it would be cool to own an ostrich I couldn¡¯t really imagine myself using one as a mount. They just seemed too awkward to ride. I was leaning toward getting a pig mount. A crappy old horse, known as a poor quality horse cost 3 silvers; an okay horse was 5 silvers, good horse 1 gold, and a superior steed cost 2 gold. Evolved horses based on okay quality were war horse 2 gold, a race horse was 2 gold 5 silver, a night steed which had a small dark affinity was 3 gold, a wind rider horse which has a minor wind affinity was 3 gold, a lesser water horse which has minor water affinity was 3 gold, a flaming steed with a minor fire affinity was 3 gold. Good quality evolved horses were 1 gold more than okay quality horses. While superior quality was 2 and a half gold than okay quality evolved stages. I liked the wind, darkness, and fire affinity horses but after some thought I decided to get an evolved pig mount. While horses were only good for riding, a pig could be used to help in battle goring enemies with its tusks and barreling them down with its massive size once it evolves enough. A poor quality pig cost 2 silvers, an okay quality cost 3 and a half silver, a good quality cost 6 silver, and a superior quality pig cost 1 gold. This meant they were quite a bit cheaper than horses and starting at the first evolution their tusks grew in. There were only 3 evolved pigs though the feral hog at 8 silvers, racing pig at 1 gold 2 silvers, and war hog at 1 gold 5 silvers. Good quality evolutions were 6 silver more than okay quality and superior quality animals were 1 gold 3 silvers more than okay quality animals. The prices of pigs and horses were probably lower than the ostriches and elephants due to the fact that pigs and horses are both relatively common animals in nature and around the world. Pigs were cheaper because there is less demand for them, the laws of supply and demand simple economics really. I decided to go all out and bought a superior quality male war hog known as a superior war boar. The war boar was 750 lbs., had foot long tusks, long coarse hair and was a pitch black color. For 2 silver I bought a good quality leather pig saddle and bridle for my war boar. The saddle was basically the same as one for a horse only modified to fit a pig and I got a sort of bridle used to control my mount. After confirming my purchase I was asked if I wanted to buy food for my mount now. I looked at the food recommendations and decided to buy feeds I and the pig could eat. First off I removed all of the regular crops and foods I couldn¡¯t eat. I was left with corn, potatoes, along with various fruits and vegetables. I decided to read more about how foods really affect animals and humans. It turns out that in the new world evolved plants can help a monster evolve if they consume enough of them. For example if a regular animal eats a plant with a fire affinity for between a week and a month depending on their quality straight and then they will probably be able to evolve into a monster with a fire affinity at their first evolution after fighting a little. Monsters that have already evolved once need to eat more of the fire plant but after they have eaten enough and been involved in enough fights they will gain fire affinity at their next evolution if they have less than 2 affinities and no opposing affinity like water to counteract the fire affinity. People don¡¯t really evolve however eating plants with certain affinities can raise our affinities in them and up our resistance to them. For example a fire mage might eat a fire plant to get more powerful fire magic and gain more fire resistance. They even have the possibility to help you meet the criteria for becoming a stronger race. I decided to buy first evolution, because that is all I have access to, fire corn, flaming sweet potatoes, fire rice, burning mushrooms, and red hot pumpkin plants. I got 5 corn plants, 4 sweet potatoes, 4 rice, 3 mushrooms, and 3 pumpkin plants. As I was going to press buy though I stopped and decided to look into what sentient plants were more. It turns out plants gain true sentience after their second or third evolution. Unlike animals who gain some intelligence after their first evolution even if they focus on something else like strength or building an affinity. Plants must choose to gain a small amount of sentience incomparable to animals at the first evolution or gain a type of affinity or other protective trait like poison. However, their second or third evolution if they can reach it offers plants that choose the sentient route to evolve into nature sprites and further into fairies or the second route becoming treants and then man eating trees. Fairy and man eating trees are the two main paths for sentient plants to take. It is a lot more limited than the choices offered to non-sentient plants; however, there are still hundreds of different variations of treants and sprites not to mention the diversity of further evolutions. With the idea and hope of meeting a nature fairy and the wonder of turning a plant into a person I caved and decided to buy a sentient plant. I decided to look at some of the cheapest sentient plants and found one I was interested in called perceptive maple. It was described as being aware of its surroundings. It could change its shape to adapt to its surroundings, grow bigger or smaller leaves, and could gain experience and progress toward evolution by absorbing mana. The last point was one of the key reasons why I wanted this plant well and the fact that if my plan doesn¡¯t work out I can always have maple syrup. With my choices confirmed I pressed the buy button. A screen came up telling me that the qualities would be randomly determined based on the ratio of 25% good, 50% okay, and 25% poor quality and for every 10 plants I purchased one of my good quality plants would become supreme. I ended up paying 1 gold, 2 silver, and 35 copper for everything. The perceptive maple cost 50 copper, each of the fire corns was 50 coppers, the flaming sweet potatoes were 55 coppers each, the fire rice was 85 coppers each, the red hot pumpkin plants were 65 copper each, and the burnt mushrooms were 60 coppers each. My perceptive maple was one of the cheapest because it doesn¡¯t really have any true sentience; it is from a very common tree maple and has no special affinity. Corn is the same price because even though it has fire affinity it is from one of if not the most common food plants. Rice is the exception to the rule of pricing equals rareness of traits and rareness of plant because while it is a very common food plant it must have a stronger fire affinity to survive because it lives its whole life in water. This causes it to develop a resistance to water and greater fire affinity increasing its price. As I was about to hit the pay I noticed another screen flashing in the corner of my vision. I reached out to bring it closer and enlarge it. Because we decided to be nice to humanity we are allowing a person to teleport with all of their possessions to their place of residence. Please note that while no monsters will spawn in your house this does not stop them from breaking in and killing you. You must fight and become something greater than human if you wish to survive in this new world. Suddenly, the world blurred around me and I found myself in the living room of my apartment. Since I still had the purchase screen in front of me I hit buy. A new screen appeared in front of me and my plant sprouts, pig saddle, and bridle appeared around me. 2 gold 8 silvers has been charged to your account for the purchase of a superior war boar 2 silver has been charged to your account for a bridle and saddle 1 gold 2 silver 35 copper has been charged to your account for a perceptive maple plant and various fire affinity plants You now have 6 gold 4 silver 24 copper *** Because of your space constraints your mount has been granted the ability minimize allowing it to shrink to 1/100 of its real size when you want it to As your mount is 750 lbs. it can shrink to 7.5 lbs. Well the part about my mount being able to shrink was a relief. In my desire to get a unique mount I hadn¡¯t really considered were I would put it. Suddenly a little black pig appeared in front of me looking at me reproachfully I guess he didn¡¯t really appreciate being shrunk. Now that I was back in my apartment I finally allowed myself to breakdown. The world was no longer a safe haven. Magic and monsters were taking over this very instant. My life was turning into one of those games I played as a kid and this time it wasn¡¯t a game I only had 1 life. Death was a mystery, the dark abyss nothing had changed about that only the dangers we faced had magnified a hundred fold. I focused on the plants in front of me and concentrated on moving energy into them. My hands started to show a white glow and the plant a fire corn shot up in front of me growing to maturity in a minute. I felt a little tired after doing this but nothing too bad. The fire corn was yellowish orange corn plant with three ears of bright red corn. I focused on rowing the other corn plants up and they all grew too maturity they had between two and four ears of corn each. After growing the five corn plants I was starting to feel pretty tired and it was getting late. I decided to grow one of the pumpkins and the perceptive maple, eat a pumpkin, feed the pig and then go to bed. The pumpkin turned out just like a regular pumpkin except it had a glowing red eyes and mouth like a jack o lantern only the it was all on the outside and not a carving. The plant was more compact and yielded three small pumpkins. I started eating one of the pumpkins; yes you can eat them raw, and focused on growing my perceptive maple. The pumpkin had a distinctive spicy almost smoky taste. It was like you were eating a pumpkin while at the same time had a fire in your mouth that left a smoky aftertaste. Not bad but certainly like nothing I had ever had before. The perceptive maple grew about three feet tall, had large red leaves, but other than that looked like any old tree. Oh, well I can deal with everything tomorrow. My apartment should be able to hold off the monsters till morning I thought and with that I picked five ears of corn and 2 pumpkins then laid them in front of the pig so he could eat them. Chapter 2: Chapter 2 I woke up got out of bed and thought what a strange dream I had last night. When I heard grunting coming from the living room and a small black pig came walking in and seeing that I was up seemed to say finally grunted at me and left the room. So the world really has gone to hell I thought it wasn¡¯t a dream. I walked in to the kitchen planning to fry some bacon and eggs then took a second glance at the pig and decided to make pancakes. Even if it was a little pig now, I didn¡¯t want a 750 lb. pig mad at me when it got bigger cause I ate one of its relatives. After finishing making a heaping stack of pancakes I took 3 and set the rest down for the pig on the ground. After doing this I got a bottle of maple syrup out of my cupboards and started putting syrup on my pancakes when I heard an expectant grunt. Don¡¯t tell me the pig wants maple syrup too. The little pig was looking back and forth between the syrup and his heaping stack of pancakes, oh well I guess it is worth a try. I came over and poured a generous amount of syrup on the pancakes and then went back to the table to eat my pancakes. Meanwhile the pig was gorging itself on the pancakes and rooting the plate around. This was going to be an interesting day I just knew it, bossy pigs, magical plants, monsters, and a completely changed world. First off I decided to take stock of how much food I had. I had enough pancake mix to last me for a week if I ate it for breakfast every day, I had a dozen of eggs, 2 brownie mixes, 3 packages of bacon, a 24 pack of ramen noodles, a 24 pack of water, and a 12 pack of pepsi. Not much for a survival kit the water would be the first thing to run out if the tap is shut off but with the magical plants being able to produce food every day in exchange for mana I should be okay for a month or two if I don¡¯t run out of water. Speaking of the plants I should go check on them. I wonder who I tell what quality they are. Going off of a hunch I looked at a plant and said ¡°analyze¡± a blue screen popped up in front of me about the plants. Plants: 2 Supreme, 3 Good, 10 Okay, 5 Poor Fire Corn- Quality: 1 good, 3 okay, 1 poor Fire Corn is a corn plant that evolves after living in an intense heat environment or after surviving a fire. The plant is a yellowish orange color with bright red ears of corn. It has a minor fire affinity and tastes like slightly burnt popcorn. By absorbing mana it can produce ears of corn every day. Poor quality produces 2 ears a day Okay quality produces 3 ears a day Good quality produces 4 ears a day Flaming Sweet Potato: 1 good, 2 okay, 1 poor Flaming Sweet Potato is a sweet potato that evolves after the top is burnt away and the roots are surrounded by coals. The potato is infused with the power of the fire and evolves. It is a red sweet potato plant that produces sweet potato tubers that all have a glowing red coal inside of them. To eat them you take out the coal and boil or bake like a regular sweet potato. They taste the same as a normal sweet potato they just have a minor fire affinity. By absorbing mana it can produce sweet potatoes every day. Poor quality produces 2 sweet potatoes a day Okay quality produces 3 sweet potatoes a day Good quality produces 4 sweet potatoes a day Fire Rice: 1 supreme, 1 good, 1 okay, 1 poor This is a rice plant completely infused with fire. It has resistance to water and a slightly greater fire affinity than other first evolution crops. It is a red looking plant with seeds that glow blue from the heat they produce. Cooking the seeds will take away the intense heat they produce but leaves behind a very spicy flavor. It has slight water resistance and a minor fire affinity. It can produce rice every day if given mana. Poor quality produces ? lb. a day, approx. 0.61 cups Okay quality produces 3/8 lb. a day, approx. 0.92 cups Good quality produces ? lb. a day, approx. 1.23 cups Supreme quality produces ? lb. a day, approx. 1.84 cups Red Hot Pumpkin: 2 okay, 1 poor This is a pumpkin plant that evolves from exposure to fire. It evolves in the presence of fire or after being burned and surviving. It looks like a regular pumpkin plant only the pumpkins have glowing red eyes and a mouth like a jack o lantern. They contain a minor fire affinity and tasted like spicy pumpkin with a smoky undertone to it. It can produce pumpkins every day if given mana. Poor quality plants yield 2 small pumpkins a day Okay quality plants yield 3 small pumpkins Burnt Mushroom: 2 okay, 1 poor A fungus that evolved after consuming fire mana or the bodies of fire affinity plants or animals. It gains immunity to fire and turns black with red gills. It tastes just like a cooked mushroom and can be eaten raw. Since it has fire immunity cooking does not affect it. Has fire immunity. It can produce new mushrooms every day if given mana. Poor quality yields 3 small mushrooms Okay quality yields 5 small mushrooms Perceptive Maple: Supreme A sugar maple plant that has evolved to gain a small measure of intelligence. It can manipulate the shape and size of its leaves and branches to get the most sunlight and energy. As a supreme quality semi-sentient plant it has gained a blessing. Fairies Blessing: This plant was blessed by a fairy allowing it to become a nature sprite, the second evolution in the fairy path, in half the time of a usual Supreme. After meeting a fairy this plant will not evolve into a treant but only along the fairy path first as a nature sprite and then onto a fairy. This only affects time until 2nd Evolution and not subsequent evolutions. The plant gains a permanent boost of 5 nature affinity. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Poor Quality time to 2nd Evolution: 1 year Okay Quality time to 2nd Evolution: 6 months Good Quality time to 2nd Evolution: 3 months Supreme Quality time to 2nd Evolution: 1 month Supreme Quality with Dryads Blessing time till 2nd Evolution: 15 days So I had 20 plants 2 of which were supreme quality, 3 good qualities, 10 okay qualities, and 5 poor qualities just like what I was supposed to get. I am really glad that the perceptive maple is one of the supremes. Quality affects how fast something evolves and with plants it has the extra ability of affecting how much fruits, flowers, and other things they produce. However, this does not mean a supreme quality monster is better than a poor quality monster. If two monsters of the same level and species fight they will be equal regardless of quality. Quality affects how fast something gains experience and levels not how strong it is. Plants have the extra feature that higher qualities are able to more efficiently convert sunlight and mana into fruits and other things. So quality is basically how good a something is at learning new things and bettering what they currently have. Humans are unique in that we don¡¯t have a specific quality. We all level at the same rate. We can all become something more; however there is no real guideline for when like there is with animals and plants. By growing an affinity, like monsters we may have two different affinities, leveling up and getting stronger we can transcend our humanity and become giants, dryads, fire elementals, elves, and beastmen. These Ancestries can be purchased from the store. Status Name: Will Race: Human Level: 1 Mana : 50 Strength: 10 Agility: 10 Dexterity: 10 Intelligence: 10 Vitality: 10 Affinity: ¡¤ None Skills ¡¤ Analyze: Novice level 1 ¡¤ Gardening: Novice level 1 ¡¤ Cooking: Novice level 1 Skill: Analyze Novice level 1 You are able to see the race and level of monsters. Items, animals, and monsters you own are not affected by analyze level. You will always see the full description of items you own. Analyze can be leveled up by using it on different monsters. Skill: Gardening Novice level 1 You know the very basics of how to take care of a plant. Higher levels of this skill can increase plant yields and decrease plant evolution times. You¡¯re a novice though level this up if you want benefits. Gardening can be increased by taking care of lots of plants, taking care of rare plants, and evolving your plants. Skill: Cooking Novice level 1 You can cook one of the simplest things there is pancakes. Embark on a journey to become a master chef if you can figure out how to make anything else. Raise this skill by cooking lots of dishes, cooking exotic dishes, and cooking complex dishes. Every level a person gets 5 skill points. They can distribute the attribute points into whatever stat they want. Strength raises your physical prowess and gives you bigger muscles. Agility influences how fast you can move and your reaction times; people with high agility tend to have long lean muscle, they are slim runners. Dexterity affects how good you are at crafting and your accuracy with ranged weapons. Intelligence affects how fast you can learn new things and how good you are at leading others. Vitality is how much your body can withstand. It affects how fast your wounds heal, how good you are at warding off illness, and how many hits you can take in a battle. He learned all of this after reading the first blue screen it was like all of this was becoming normal, the new world¡¯s laws were instinctively known. It has been less than 24 hours since this all started and everything has completely changed. Enough time had been used just learning sitting around and learning about the changes in the world it was time to go out and experience them for himself. Chapter 3: (Part 1) *I decided to split this chapter up into two parts the second should be out tonight. * Chapter 3: Part 1 I was heading towards Food 4 Less the local grocery store about 2 blocks away. I had decided not to take the pig until I had a better understanding of my surroundings. I didn¡¯t want to be attacked by everything the minute they saw a giant pig. I grabbed a shovel I had in my closet which I used to clear snow in the winter and headed toward the door. ¡°Wait I¡¯m forgetting something¡± I said and sat down in front of my computer. I logged in and noticed a new icon on the center of my home screen. I clicked on it and it brought me to the New World Shopping Center. It seemed I could by more plants, pets, mounts, gear, and other stuff hear; however, I ignored all of that and focused on one category Ancestries. They are kind of like choosing a new race, but not as drastic. Each one gives one extra stat point per level at the first level, 2 stat points per level at the second stage, and 3 stat points per level and a racial ability at the final stage. I focused on ones that gave a boost to vitality. Being stronger, smarter, and faster was good and all, but I wanted to live and the more hits I can take the better my chances of surviving are. The two bloodlines I was trying to decide between where trolls and giants. I ended up choosing giants because at second stage and beyond troll ancestry limits intelligence growth in exchange for natural armor. I could always buy armor and I didn¡¯t want to end up as some dumb ass. After paying 5 silver for my new ancestry called giants blood. I felt a tearing sensation in my back and I felt myself shoot up 2 inches. I looked at myself in a mirror and saw I had gone from 6 ft. to 6 ft. 2 in., my hair was still a dark brown, and that I had gained maybe ten pounds of muscle mass. Now I was officially ready to head out. I grabbed the shovel I had laid down by the front door and walked into the hallway locking my apartment behind me. I cautiously walked down the staircase to the second floor looked around, and seeing it clear continued on down to the first floor. There I met a shock my landladies ugly ass pug had turned into some pony sized demon monster. It was covered in coarse black hair and had two red horns growing out of its skull. It turned towards me and I saw it had burning red eyes. As soon as it saw me it charged lowering its head like a bull, intent on running me through. I retreated back up the staircase and it crashed into the doorway getting one of its horns stuck in the wall. Hurriedly trying to get close to it before it got free I swung the shovel like a sword trying to cut the monsters face. I was met with mixed success while its skin wasn¡¯t cut my shovel raked across its right eye blinding it on that side. Roaring, it ripped itself free of the wall with a crack. Leaving giant cracks in the wall and ? of its left horn. Pissed off after being blinded in one eye and losing most of its horn. It charged at the door way again but this time it stopped just short of crashing into it and sent a paw crashing into me. I felt it hit me in the chest and send me crashing into the stairwell wall. I pulled myself off the ground groaning luckily I didn¡¯t appear to have any broken bones but I felt like shit. This monster of a dog was way to strong considering it was a normal pug less than 2 days ago. This was my only way out of the building though so I had to kill this beast or I will never get out of here and get stronger being overrun by monsters when the pug demon dies or slowly starve to death as I run out of food. Now that I had gotten my will to fight back and determination to defeat this monster in my heart I dashed over to where my shovel had fallen when I was hit. I rushed down to the bottom of the stairs and taunted the beast. ¡°Here little doggy, doggy you¡¯re not scared of a little human are you.¡± Enraged the beast started charging at me. I put the end of the shovel against the bottom stair and the bladed end pointing toward the dog. Just like those boar hunters from the stories if you discount the fact that I have a pretty dull shovel compared to a sharp spear. The beast crashed into the shovel and the handle snapped; however, the new end was pushed backward as the dog was falling forward after hitting the shovel and braced up against the staircase. With the weight of the beast falling on me the shovel finally pierced it going through a lung. The beast collapsed on top of me crushing me into the ground. Finally the dog gave one last wet heave, coughed up some blood and died. It turned into a flash of light and rushed into my chest. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.Level 5 Demonic Dog (pug variant) defeated You have gained 50 exp You have leveled up You have gained one demonic dog horn, a demonic dog hide, and a demonic dog skull. They are all put into your inventory which can hold up to 100 items I decided to put 2 points into strength, 2 into agility, and 1 into vitality. Status Name: Will Race: Human Ancestry: Giant¡¯s blood Level: 2 Mana : 50 Strength: 12 Agility: 12 Dexterity: 10 Intelligence: 10 Vitality: 12 Affinity: ¡¤ None Skills ¡¤ Analyze: Novice level 1 ¡¤ Gardening: Novice level 1 ¡¤ Cooking: Novice level 1 ¡¤ Shovel Mastery: Novice level 2 After using my points I could noticeably tell there was a difference. I felt healthier; the shovel felt lighter in my hands, and even my walking pace was faster. I couldn¡¯t imagine how strong a person would be at level 20 let alone 50, or 100. If someone can bend metal at 20 what can they do beyond that will everyone that survives in this world be like superman. I¡¯m assuming with a high enough wind affinity someone can even fly. Chapter 3: (Part 2) *Here is the 2nd part of the 3rd chapter. I will probably not get chapter 4 out till Thursday or Friday at the earliest.* Chapter 3: Part 2 After looking around the rest of the bottom floor and finding nothing of real value lying around, though some rooms where locked so until he had a better way than beating them down with his shovel or shoulder he left them he was able to find a roll of duct tape to repair his shovel handle. With shovel in hand and duct tape in his inventory he headed out. Looking around he didn¡¯t see any monsters right off but neither where there any people walking around, since they can no longer drive around. Looking up he checked the sky cause how many times does someone get attacked from where they least expect it. He saw what appeared to be dozens of giant mutated pigeon in the sky. They were about the size of a housecat. They were a greyish blue color with large talons on their scaly pink feet. While he felt comfortable about being able to take one or two down pretty easily on his own they traveled in flocks of six to eight. He decided to try and use his analyze skill on them, during his fight with the demonic pug he was fighting for his life and there hadn¡¯t been much time to think about skills, though he had gained shovel mastery from the fight. ¡°Analyze¡± He said. 24 Jumbo Pigeons level 1 4 Jumbo Pigeons level 2 There were four groups of pigeons and each had a level 2 pigeon leading them. The level 2 pigeons were slightly bigger and had green feet and longer talons. I decided to stick close to the buildings hugging the sides to try and avoiding being spotted by the pigeons. It took me a little over an hour of sneaking around buildings and under cover to get to Food 4 Less but I eventually got there. I headed toward the beverage area to get some water and drinks since that is what I had the least of. After getting there I got 20 cases of bottled water, 2 twenty four packs of pepsi, and a water purification system. After taking care of my water program I went to grab some food to eat that I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about spoiling. Touring through the store I grabbed some kraft macaroni noodles, more ramen noodles, a case of canned chili and another of pork and beans, some salami, a couple cans of spam, a bottle of honey, and a box of apples. My inventory was about a third of the way full so I decided to call this good and start looking for things I could use as weapons and stuff to use when the poor quits like a generator, blankets, and candles. Next door was a Sportsman¡¯s Warehouse so I headed over there to see they had anything I could use. As I walked up to the store I noticed that the door was slightly open. I slowly walked into the store checking my surroundings for anything moving. I decided to head to the weapons section collect a few things and get out of here. It felt like something else was here with me, I noticed the floor was slightly wet and some things were knocked down. I started trying to move as quietly as I can towards the weapons area. On the way I grabbed a small solar panel and generator kit, two insulated sleeping bags, and a small tent in case of emergencies. As I was walking towards the guns section I heard a giggling noise. I stopped to listen and see if I could hear anything more. ¡°You just want to grab the biggest stick don¡¯t you? All you care about is size, it doesn¡¯t matter what they do or look like. You¡¯re just a slutty girl looking for the biggest tool aren¡¯t you¡± a girlish voice said before breaking off into the laughter and giggling I heard from before. Deciding to continue this girls joke I walk into the weapons aisle saying ¡°Well you¡¯re in luck I¡¯m part giant and it comes with a number of advantages if you know what I mean. I¡¯m a real giant after all.¡± If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. In the area in front of where the gun rack would have normally been where two girls. One was shorter about 5¡¯ 6¡± with silvery hair and an ample chest who was currently bent over laughing. The other was in front of the gun rack only there weren¡¯t any guns but instead a bunch of wooden and metal sticks which must have been what the shorter one was talking about. She was taller about 5¡¯ 8¡± had black hair, was slimmer, had a slight bluish tint to her skin and was currently like the shorter girl said holding a large twisted wooden staff and blushing profusely. I walked up to the two of them and said ¡°Hi, my name is Will.¡± Turning towards the taller girl I said ¡°Sorry about what I said I just couldn¡¯t resist when I heard what your friend was saying. Of course all I said about me being part giant is true though. Do you know where all the guns went?¡± She just started blushing even more when I mentioned what I said earlier. Her friend though the shorter girl finally pulled herself together and said ¡°My name is Katelyn, but everyone calls me Kate. I chose the sylph ancestry and my friend here is Bailey, who has undine ancestry hence the bluish skin. As to why there are no guns here it seems that similarly to cars guns don¡¯t exist anymore; these staffs are apparently mage staffs which enhance someone¡¯s magical ability.¡± ¡°Okay that kind of makes sense no more killing machine technology we now have to use staffs like wizards to become magical powerhouses. This also explains why your friend seems so obsessed about choosing the right staff though I still have to say mine is probably the best and most magical.¡± Blushing the taller girl Bailey said ¡°I¡¯m fine with this one here and I don¡¯t think I have any need for your ¡®staff¡¯. I am quite happy at the moment being single.¡± ¡°So where are you guys staying. I live in an apartment about 3 blocks from here, I had to clear out a mutated pug demon but other than that it is clear of monsters.¡± Kate told me ¡°we were staying at the dorms on campus about a block away but it¡¯s currently over run by a nest of mutated squirrel beasts. We came in here to pick up a bunch of supplies before we went looking for a place to stay.¡± ¡°Have you guys grabbed any food or seen any other monsters besides the squirrels and pigeons¡± I asked. Kate said ¡°Walking here we got some food and noticed a pet store with some bird type monsters in it but other than that no. However, when we walked by the pet store a message popped up saying that there where potential soul beasts in there. Apparently we can bond with an egg or infant monster and form a soul contract. They can be absorbed into our body at times and as long as we or our soul beast are alive the other will not be able to die, they will come back to life after losing a quarter of our levels. The only catch is we are limited to three soul beasts.¡± This information about soul beasts was something that could literally save our lives. I immediately decided that we needed to get to this pet store and get as many eggs as we could. While we probably wouldn¡¯t bond with more than one or two if we found other people they would be helpful in allowing all of us to survive and for use as bargaining chips. ¡°How about we all go to this pet store after getting some weapons and get us all soul beasts. With weapons and the three of us we should be able to handle a few birds and the longer we wait the stronger and more of them they¡¯ll be. After that if you guys want you can come with me to stay in my apartment or one of the other apartments in my building since its monster free.¡± After looking at Bailey and seeing her nod she said ¡°Okay, we don¡¯t really have a better plan so we¡¯ll go with you to get soul beasts and your apartment complex since you said it¡¯s safe. Don¡¯t expect us to stay in the same apartment as you though. We don¡¯t just sleep with anyone you know.¡± Looking around we all picked up some weapons. I grabbed two new shovels and a crossbow and two quivers of arrows and through my old broken shovel onto the ground. I saw Kate grab two crossbows, a bow, a short wood staff, and five quivers of arrows. While Bailey only grabbed two staffs: a short black wood one and a long slender metal one that looked more suited to hitting than using for magic. ¡°Let¡¯s go¡± I said. *I will be posting a poll for you guys to vote on what the soul beasts for the girls should be. I have already decide on Wills.* Soul Beasts *This post is for you guys to pick what you want Kate and Bailey''s soul beasts to be.* Chapter 4: Part 1 * This is a very short part, but I have been busy with finals in college and still am. The poll isn''t used in this part but it will be stormbringer eagle and shadow condor. I will try to finish the other parts of the chapter soon but they might not come out till Friday or Saturday. If you guys want something to read you can check out my other fiction. It has been part of the reason for my slowness on this. A Warlords Origin Chapter 4: Part 1 We headed out of Sportsman¡¯s Warehouse weapons in hand looking around for any monsters nearby. One of the pigeon flocks had landed outside and was nosing around on the ground looking for food and pecking at store windows. I looked back at the others and signaled that we would attack them. I got my shovel in hand and when I saw the others were ready I charged the pigeons. I swung my shovel at the closest one with all my might causing a snapping sound to emanate from the bird and it to go flying into the side of a nearby shop before disappearing in a flash of light, it was only the size of a house cat after all. I heard a twang and saw one of Kate¡¯s arrows hit another pigeon, causing it to vanish like mine. Bailey was holding off two while of the remaining three one headed for Kate and the leader and a level 1 charged me, flying at me with talons outstretched. I ducked and rolled barely hanging on to my shovel. The birds flew by me and I rolled to my feet swinging my shovel at the slower one. The bird was knocked out of the air but got up with only a broken wing. Guess I got lucky that first time and they are a lot more agile in the air. The leader had already swerved around and was making a pass at me. With my shovel extended and not enough time to dodge I jumped at the bird tackling it. We rolled on the ground it was faster in the air but on the ground I was bigger and stronger. I grabbed its wings trying to hold on while it scratched and clawed me with its talons. Getting a good grip I tried to ignore the pain and twisted its wings in opposite directions there was a sickening crunch and then they went limp. The bird however was going crazy clawing and pecking me even more. Taking one hand off its wings I grabbed its neck and started squeezing. The bird was now frantic doing everything to get out of my grip. Biting my teeth to ignore the pain I put both hands on its neck and squeezed tuning out everything else. Finally the bird went limp and vanished in a flash of light. Getting up off the ground and dusting myself off, I looked around and saw the girls had finished off the rest of the birds. I saw that the girls both looked okay except for a six inch gash on her arm. All of us were panting from the fight, the adrenaline rush, and our brush with death. A screen popped up in front of all of us. 6 level 1 Jumbo Pigeons defeated 1 level 2 Jumbo Pigeon leader defeated Will: 17 exp earned, 5 pigeon feathers, 1 green talon ¡¤ 1 level 1 pigeon killed: 5 exp ¡¤ 1 level 1 pigeon injured: 2 exp ¡¤ 1 level 2 pigeon leader killed: 10 exp Kate: 16 exp earned, 6 pigeon feathers ¡¤ 2 pigeons killed: 10 exp ¡¤ 2 injured pigeons killed: 6 exp Bailey: 7 exp, 3 pigeon feathers The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.¡¤ 1 level 1 pigeon killed: 5 exp ¡¤ 1 level 1 pigeon injured: 2 exp Checking my inventory I saw it was a little over half full now and that the pigeon feathers and talon from the leader were all in my inventory. After dismissing the battle summary I saw a new notice. Skill upgraded: Analyze Novice level 2 You are able to instinctively know the level of monsters your level or below. Analyze if used as an active skill will tell you the level and race of something. Items will tell the name and quality if you don¡¯t own them. Items you own are not affected by analyze. Skill upgraded: Shovel Mastery Novice level 3 Shovels are a weapon in your hands. You know the basics of using one. ¡¤ 3% damage increase using a shovel Attack Skill learned: Shovel Bash Increases strength by 25% to allow a massive strike, only works when using a shovel ¡¤ Costs 35 mana So I had upgraded some of my skills and learned an attack skill. It seemed attack skills couldn¡¯t be upgraded and used mana. I wanted to look into this more but we had to focus. ¡°Okay, guys I think if we stay out of the open we should be able to sneak past the rest of the pigeons. Let¡¯s try not to get in another fight till we are sure we can win and we know what the pet store looks like. The pigeons were weak individually but if we ended up fighting multiple groups we would be in trouble and I don¡¯t want us all tired before we get to the pet store.¡± ¡°Yah, that was pretty hectic. Especially when I missed my shot that one time I thought that bird was going to eat me there for a moment.¡± Kate said nodding her head. ¡°Okay, whatever you guys think.¡± Bailey said. It didn¡¯t look like she was used to making decisions or being seriously considered before. ¡°So let¡¯s try to get to their without anything noticing. Kate you lead the way with your crossbow. It gives you the most reaching attack and I don¡¯t know the way to the pet store.¡± Kate loaded her crossbow and took the lead sticking to shadows and the sides of bridges. We all made sure to keep a watch on the sky.