《Return of the Wind Mage. { Stubbing December 20th}》
Ch. 1 The Present Future
1.
A flash of golden light illuminated the world far below them. Santi¡¯s eyes stung as he activated Slipstream and started to dive down the eye of the tornado. He had built a career and reputation around his speed and he utilized every dreg of it now. He flew head down staying inside of the iron black walls of the tornado. The spinning winds contained jagged bolts of golden lighting, giving the faintest of light for Santi to take in the chaos of the attack on the cultist base.
Even Gus, the Champion storm mage who had made the tornado, lagged behind as Santi dove. Santi rode Air Capsule in complete silence, his skill forming an isolating bubble of air that was propelled through Slipstream. It was good for speed, though it was near impossible to make quick changes in any direction.
A second bolt of gold flashed across the world and struck a dome of muddy brown mana that rose up and over the deserted town. As Santi got closer to the ground, the world came into focus and he took in the desolate little town the cultists had taken over. It was Nowherevillle, USA.
Dilapidated buildings, crumbling under the weight of history and neglect, littered the perimeter of the shield. The golden bolt hit the shield mana with the force of a bomb, air displaced in a crack as the ground was torn asunder, and a concussive blast spread out, flattening what little vegetation had survived years of the system.
Kelly Tran¡¯s skills no doubt. The archer Champion was famous for her mercurial temper and hitting like a heavyweight boxer. The shield flickered, fading out for a moment before snapping back in place. Just in time to catch the tip of the descending tornado. Thin as a needle, it pierced the shield as if it wasn¡¯t there. More and more of the funnel slid into the shield, the generated winds stirring the stable earth mana of the shield. In only a moment, the shield ripped apart as the wind magic dispersed it and then they were falling toward the center of the town.
Santi was still far above the ground, racing down the relatively calm center of the tornado as the crumbling buildings were tossed around like toys. Black blurs rose up, fighting their way through the wall of the twister to rise up to meet them. Santi had prepared for this, as the bloodsworn cultists wouldn¡¯t go without a fight. The rest of the squad couldn¡¯t keep up with his dive speed. He would get to draw first blood in the final battle, the thought made him smile as vengeance presented itself. He ran Analyze and was instantly rewarded.
Demonic Chimera Lv. 21
It was a twisted mockery of life, animal parts welded to each other with little rhyme or reason. Tentacles lashed out at the air as its human sized dragonfly wings forced it higher. These were the rejects of experiments, often used as a first line of defense or attack. Santi measured and took aim in the space between heartbeats and unleashed a Razor Wind blade ahead of him. The invisible blade of air entered the creature and bisected it in a shower of gore that was whisked away by the twister. Three more blades followed that one as Santi created a hole in their formation, the body parts of the unholy experiments being flung away. The monsters were barely inside of the Acolyte tier and not a challenge at all.
He passed close enough to them that they could have reached out and touched him. The jetwash of his passage tossed some aside, disrupting them even further as the rest of the squad fell on them like a hammer. Above him, Gus was controlling the twister¡¯s path as a trio of heavyweights guarded him from the chimeras.
The ground was racing up towards Santi, he only had moments before he¡¯d faceplant going over a hundred miles per hour. Above him, Gus dispelled the twister outwards, the once constrained winds detonating in a blast that leveled the town. The imprisoned lightning was released, exploding outward and targeting the chimeras. Hundreds died, falling like flies as the lightning incinerated them.
Santi canceled Slipstream and used the skill Float to stop himself from turning into paste. He bobbed a foot off of the ground, saber held loosely in his hand as he looked around. He stood in the epicenter of the explosion, the only building left standing several hundred yards away. Santi cocked his head, that building shouldn¡¯t be standing, he thought to himself.
Floating alone through the destroyed downtown of the city, he kept his eyes peeled for more of the chimeras. While not a true threat individually, their strength as a pack could be a real menace. Hundreds of fighters were pouring into what remained of the town, beginning to search for the cultists. They had to be here, their diviners and seers had worked hard to pierce the veils to find this spot. The strength of the protections had been impressive, requiring two Champions to shatter the shield. That type of investment wasn¡¯t given to any random base.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Santi was hundreds of yards ahead of everyone else as he floated to the roof of the rundown warehouse. The rusted steel hulk was listening to one side, but had somehow survived the tornado''s destruction. Santi prepared himself for a fight, there was no way that some of the Apostates weren¡¯t ensconced inside. Ignoring the rooftop door, he floated up and entered through a broken window.
And nearly died.
A black claw materialized from the shadows and slashed the air with violet threads of mana trailing behind. Santi swung his sword up and blocked the blow, his arm going numb as he was thrown toward the ground. He hit a catwalk and busted straight through, the rusted metal failing to cut his reinforced skin before he crashed into hard concrete. The breath whooshed out of him, but hard won instincts kept him alive, his body instinctively rolling away even as his brain fought to catch up.
Onyx claws tore through concrete like it was paper, the floating claw chasing after him. Santi threw a Razor Wind at it and watched with a grim smile as the construct broke apart in a black miasma. He spun and looked around to see what he had walked into. The rest of the attack force was coming, he only had to survive for a few seconds before help came.
The warehouse was dim, lit by hundreds of small black candles. Shadows crept and danced out of tune of their flames, things inside of them. Cultists filled the warehouse, hundreds of them, seated and chanting around the candles, oblivious to his entrance. They were all motionless, seated carefully among the lines of black salt that snaked through the warehouse. Santi took one glance at it to recognize a spellform, the cultists sitting so that they didn¡¯t break the spell''s containment.
Santi only had a moment to look at the spell. Ritual magic wasn¡¯t his expertise but the sheer power of the large circle gave him pause. Black salt formed a large circle that all of the mortal cultists sat inside of. The candles formed rivers of flame as they followed along the crisscrossing lanes of salt as it formed patterns on the inside of the spell form. Cultists were packed so tightly together that Santi couldn¡¯t see past the middle layer, activating Float and drifting up to see the center of the warehouse.
Six hooded and masked figures stood in the center, inside of a final circle, holding hands and swaying slowly. There was a gap for one more, the seventh. Santi felt a bolt of horror roll through him as his mind connected a thousand disparate thoughts.
These were The Seven, the Apostates. Some of them had been reported killed, others had been missing for years. Only three were thought to be currently alive and active. Their identities were unknown, at least to him. Myths and legends who had killed hundreds, but where was the seventh? Santi felt a ripple of air, causing him to twist and dodge on instinct. A crushing blow hit him in the side and threw him into the heart of the warehouse. Into the circle.
Entering the circle was hell. Rampant magic flowed through it, burning and freezing, wild and full of the vile taste of the cultists¡¯ patron. Rancid meat and spoiled milk combined with gasoline. Even as he flew, he was casting his skills, Capsule of Air and Float. He froze, twisting in the air as he straightened himself to meet the shocked gray eyes of his attacker.
Looking down at the ground several inches from his feet, Santi looked around him and had to suppress a groan of exasperation. He was hit right into the center of the ritual, in the only empty space. He looked down as black salt lines turned white, then silver, and finally the red-gold of the dawn. A scream ripped its way free of his throat as Santi was dragged down through solid concrete.
He floated for a moment, the other six figures staring at him with their faces bared. Well, everything was bare and Santi was trying not to think of that. He stared at them, imprinting their faces on his memory as they glared at him with murder in their eyes. His heart shuddered as he met the eyes of one of them, a woman with thick brown hair and soft brown eyes. A button nose and a scar that left her mouth permanently quirked upward. Lips that he was intimately familiar with. A scream started to bubble up. They disappeared. Flashed away with a pop.
¡°Good luck, young man.¡± The voice was more presence than words, stroking at the back of his mind as the world twisted. Santi was just holding onto the thought that one of The Seven, the enemies to humanity, was someone he knew and loved. He had watched her die, and now she stood with the foe.
The world inverted and then Santi was flying. In a numb despair he looked around at the surroundings as he flew and he felt it. The Patron. There was nothing else it could be. It was. Well, it just was. And it was looking at him. Santi snarled, hate broiling his blood as he stared at the foe. Years of fighting, of heartache and despair came boiling out in a stream.
¡°You won¡¯t win. I¡¯ll stop you!¡± Each syllable was filled with venom, the hate burning his heart.
¡°GO FOR IT,¡± the voice reverberated through Santi¡¯s body and he couldn¡¯t help but notice that the voice seemed apathetic.
Ch. 2 Back To College
2.
The blare of his alarm clock startled Santi out of the vivid dreams he had been enduring. His hand automatically rose to paw at the insufferable alarm and its piercing cry. Santi groaned as the alarm turned off, rubbing at his eyes as he debated just staying in his warm bed. His foggy brain was slowly growing clear as he took in where he was.
Plain white walls with shitty posters. A second bed across from him that looked undisturbed. The faintest smell of mildew and unwashed socks.His college dorm room, which hadn¡¯t existed for over seven years.
Santiago bolted straight up and out of the bed, the blankets falling in a tangle to the ground. Wild-eyed, he whirled around taking in the small room and his eternally missing roommate Paulie. Except, Paulie was dead and had been dead for years. This whole dorm burned down in the opening days of the System¡¯s arrival.
¡°What the fuck is going on?¡± Santiago whispered to himself as he slowly sat back down on his bed. The last thing he remembered was the fight, being propelled into the ritual circle. Then¡ no, better not think about That. Santiago forced his mind off of the Patron and forced himself to be rational. He thought about it, thought some more, and then came to his conclusion.
¡°I¡¯m the fucking Terminator,¡± Santiago groaned as he fell back in his bed. He shook his head staring up at the ceiling. It made sense. The Fallen were losing, why not throw a Hail Mary. Gather up all your supporters, use your patron¡¯s power, and go back in time. Go back before the war started, while your enemies were unaware they were the enemy. Win the war before it even began.
¡°They¡¯re going to kill all the Champions before they become Champions. Ughh, I hate time travel. Stupid fucking paradoxes. This is going to be so full of plot holes, I swear,¡± Santiago grumbled as he stood up and grabbed his phone. Checking the date, April 13th, he had two days before the System arrived. The System¡¯s arrival was going to be a disaster, millions would die. Including his younger sister and parents. His older sister, Bianca, would survive the initial wave, but fall in one of the early battles with the Fallen.
¡°Not letting that shit happen again, obviously,¡± Santi said to the empty room as he grabbed a pad of paper and pencil. It had always helped him figure things out if he could actually see them. In big letters, on the very top of the page, he wrote ¡®Save my Family¡¯. Then started to list what he would need.
If he only had two days, he would have to move fast. He debated for a moment leaving the area and racing to his family, to try to save them. If he left, he would lose all of his advantages though. He had stayed for six months in this area, just fighting to survive. Bianca had come to find him, traveling the distance with a convoy headed toward the pillar.
¡°Shit, the pillar,¡± Santi moaned in horror. Old memories were beginning to surface, memories he would prefer to stay buried. He started jotting down what he needed, ignoring the urge to find his family and hold them forever. Six of the Seven had made it back and they would be going all out from the get go. He needed to focus if he wanted to win.
He paused, pencil frozen over the paper. Santi had done alright in the initial burst of the System¡¯s arrival. He had managed to become a Disciple after all. His potential had run out though, he had hit the wall late, but still hit it. That didn¡¯t need to be the case this time. He leaned back for a moment and started to imagine what it would be like if he accrued the power needed. The college was rich with opportunity and danger and many had risen up, taking it. Eventually. Could Santi grab it all, or most of it anyway?
The thought danced around his mind. There were titles he never had the chance to earn. Titles he knew he could earn this time. Treasures and limited dungeons that had been taken by others who had died later, failing to use them to their potential. Six months, for six months he had stayed on campus and knew every inch of it during the systems coming. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Sanit started to write faster. A list of not what he needed, but opportunities that could be his for the taking. Dungeons, titles, natural treasures, and more. He could gather the momentum needed to hit Champion tier faster than anyone else had. The Apostates would be doing it too, obviously they would have planned this out before the ritual. They had plans, and plans in case those plans didn¡¯t work.
Santi knew only one of them, and she knew him. She was on the other side of the country currently and he didn¡¯t need to worry about her yet. One of the others could be close by though. That led him down to write another list, this a group of names and where they were when the system hit. The Champions and heroes of humanity. The ones the Apostates would definitely be looking to kill.
A stroke of genius hit him as he finished what he thought was the list of what he remembered. He started to write a second list of the dead Champions. The early ones who had died in the war and during the challenges and incursions. His head hurt. There was so much to do. He looked at his phone, perched on the edge of his bed.
The system''s arrival would kill most technology. Guns, cars, electricity, and cell-phones. Even batteries would struggle before finally falling to the wayside. These things he needed to take into account. But, what if he got ahold of some of them now? The miracle that was social media. He would seem like a mad man, sending messages to people to be ready for the apocalypse and beware of strangers. He still had to do it.
It took him hours to find most of them. An eccentric mix that tended to trend young. He sent them a fairly bland message that he hoped they would be a little receptive of. Then he scrolled for a bit, enjoying the creature comforts of a civilized age. There was something inherently pleasing about just being able to scroll mindlessly.
¡°Fuck, this is why I¡¯m failing my classes,¡± Santi muttered as he stood up and looked at his five page list.The loss of his stats was beginning to sink in. He had become so accustomed to his increased intelligence and willpower, that his sudden desire to just lay down and procrastinate was disturbing. He checked his phone again and looked at his bank account and the money sitting in it. Student housing, a grant, and some money from working through the summer. Less than ten grand to save the world. Or, at least, this corner of it.
Santi scrolled through his contact list before he found Tank¡¯s name. The other boy lived across the hall. A large, strong, walking wall of muscle. He died holding back the monsters as they ran down the hall slaughtering half asleep students. He died a hero''s death. Santi was determined to see the big guy make it out, he deserved a chance at life. He had given Santi the chance after all. Tank answered on the second ring.
¡°Sup, Santi,¡± Tank¡¯s voice was a deep and calm baritone.
¡°Hey, listen, can I borrow your truck?¡± Santi was going to buy a lot of shit. The extra space would be mission critical.
¡°Yeah man. You have to fill her up though.¡± Santi smiled at Tank¡¯s words. Always willing to help out, to lend a hand. He might grumble about it later, but he would do it.
¡°Of course, I¡¯m not a dick,¡± Santi said with a laugh. Tears were starting to trickle down his face as the moment hit him. He could save his friends and family. It could be stopped. He wouldn¡¯t have to be alone again.
¡°You good, Santi, I just tell everyone. I think people like the truck more than me, always asking to borrow it,¡± Tank laughed, deep booming chuckles.
¡°Nah, man, they love you too. I¡¯ll swing by in like, I don¡¯t know, an hour?¡± Santi was struggling to fight the sobs welling up. The emotional weight was settling in, hearing Tank¡¯s voice the catalyst.
¡°You good, man? Sounds like you¡¯re crying?¡± Tank sounded concerned, his voice softened instantly. Santi felt the urge to tell him, to spill all of the secrets the future held. The weight was suddenly unbearable. He needed to get off the phone, needed to sit down and just stare at a wall and not think for a few minutes.
¡°Stubbed my toe, shit hurts. See ya in a few.¡± Santi hung up on Tank and sank into his bed. It had been so long since he had been safe, even with the apocalypse coming in a few days. Right now, he was safe. He started to cry as nearly a decade of stress and fear caught up to him.
Ch. 3 Water Run
-
Sweet grease exploded into Santi¡¯s mouth as he bit down; the savory sausage and egg, bathed in butter, filled his mouth in an intoxicating mixture of bliss. He had to stop himself from moaning out loud. He had missed fast food. Eight years of lean eating, he had taken Tank¡¯s truck through the first drive-thru he had seen. Grabbing the ice cold soda, he sucked down the drink in a few furious gulps. The cloyingly sweet syrupy water clung to his throat and he had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.
The truck¡¯s A/C was blowing on the coldest level, bathing him in its perfection. Creature comforts, soda, fast food, and air conditioning. Things he had thought were lost forever when the system came. Now he got to enjoy them for a few days before the system came again. The thought lingered in the back of his mind as he drove through the edges of the sleepy college town. Saturday mornings were quiet, most of the students sleeping in and most of the year round residents off to work. He enjoyed it, looking over the clean streets, the morning joggers, and the occasional car passing by.
He could feel tears edging into his eyes again, and he promised himself that his willpower would be the first thing he increased. While nice to not have the iron control of his emotions that he once had, it was growing frustrating quickly. A tremor was rocking his hand, his heart beating with a furious beat, all the while his stomach twisted up in knots at the thought of what was coming. He was no longer a Disciple, with the powers of a demigod. He was just simple old Santiago, with his soft belly and blatant lack of magic. There was a reason he chose to become a mage, and one that relied on speed on top of that.
The grocery store parking lot was fairly empty, just a handful of early morning shoppers and the workers'' cars scattered across the lot. Santi parked in the closest spot and hopped out, feeling the warmth of the sun and the promise of a warm spring day. He grabbed a cart, then on second though, a second one. Water was heavy after all. The bright lights, shining floor, and bland music was a welcome balm of normality that called to him. While the memories of his life were slowly fading into a feverish nightmare, the plainness of the store was soothing. Santi had spent the full thirty minutes before getting the truck writing down everything he remembered while the memories were fresh.
When he had realized the memories were fading, sliding away to the dark recesses of his mind, he had panicked. His hand had been cramping from how fast he scribbled everything down. The battered college-ruled notebook might be the most valuable object on the planet right now, just nobody knew it. He had left it closed on his bed, trusting that Paulie wouldn¡¯t look at it, even if he did come home. Santi¡¯s rough plan for riding out the apocalypse¡¯s early stages involved a series of old memories of the early days of the apocalypse. Memories formed before he had increased his intelligence and willpower. Memories that were hazy. He just had to hope they would be enough.
The workers gave him some strange looks, their faces lined with confusion as he started to fill the carts with case after case of water. It didn¡¯t take long to fill the cart and he struggled to pull both of them to the register. It wasn¡¯t only his lacking mental stats he was missing at the moment. Even with a low strength, in comparison to his rank, he had been stronger than any regular person could have been. Now, well, now he was just average at best.
The cashier, an older lady in her fifties with graying blonde hair and an amused smile, asked him if he found everything. The embarrassment of asking for help was still there, even after a decade of brutal fighting.
¡°Yeah, not really. I need a lot more water. Like I need to fill up my truck? Is there any way I could get some help with that?¡± Santi asked, half fearing a negative reaction. While his memories had transferred over, they were faded remnants that were rapidly dissolving. The majority of him was still stuck as a nineteen year old college student, including his social anxiety. He reminded himself to jot down some more notes before those memories completely disappeared. He had the faint hope that once he increased his level a few times that the memories of his old life would come in clearer.
¡°Sure, let me call up some of the boys in the back. We can get you settled. Do you have a rewards card with us?¡± The cashier led him through the process of setting up a card, knowing that he would never have a chance to use the rewards he was getting. Santi grabbed a few candy bars and threw them in too, even though his stomach was already trying to rebel from his rich breakfast.
The guys came out and within ten minutes the truck was filled with water, nearly fifty cases of it. The truck was noticeably lower to the ground as the heavy water made it sag. Santi thanked the two men, both in their late twenties, and quickly took off toward the future base of operations. The dorm would be ideal, but a rift would spawn right next to it, making it near impossible to fortify.
In the second week after the system¡¯s arrival, the survivors had found an old abandoned building tucked away on campus. All brick with an eight foot wall that ran around the perimeter. When they had originally busted in they had been fearful that there would be a monster''s nest or something equally vile. Instead, it had just been dilapidated, filled with outdated office equipment. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
It took Santi ten minutes of winding through the narrow streets, hand dancing in the air current as he let his arm dangle out of the window. The peace of the day, the warm sleepy heat, it was relaxing. His heart had slowed down its frantic pace, his stomach unclenched, and he was just enjoying the day. Santi sang along with the radio, not bothering to connect his phone, and just took a moment to enjoy life.
The building was exactly how he remembered it. A long brick wall, discolored from spray paint, dirt, and life in general, with a strong gate. A thick, rusted padlock held the gates shut, but Santi knew a way around. Part of the wall in the corner of the building, away from the street, had fallen down. He pulled the truck around the corner, and away from prying eyes, backed the truck up onto the lawn and to the broken wall.
It took him almost an hour of carefully sliding through the broken wall with two packs of water straining his biceps as he did so. There was a little shed, behind the main building. Santi didn¡¯t want to break into the main part of the building yet, so he kept his vandalism to the minimum. The lock on the aluminum shed was stronger than the door, a door which had yielded with a few well placed kicks. He had worried initially about people coming to see what the commotion was about, but it was an isolated corner of campus. Nobody came, no nosy neighbors looked around, and he filled the shed with packages of water.
He could remember clearly drinking tainted water, filled with all sorts of foul things. People wouldn¡¯t unlock the Purify skill for a while. It was an Acolyte skill, which could take months for people to reach. In the meantime, Santi planned on stocking the shed with clean water, purifying tablets, and a myriad assortment of other critical supplies.
He hit different stores, not wanting to make it too weird as he filled the back of the truck over and over again with cases of water. He had plans for food, but wanted to secure water first before calories and weapons. Water, shelter, food, weapons. That was his order of priorities. He had shelter, he was securing water, food and weapons could all come from the local super center the next town over. Santi knew you couldn¡¯t just go to some mall and find a good sword. You could go and find a solid ax at a hardware store though. They weren¡¯t designed to kill things, but were made of solid steel and had a good handle. The early waves didn¡¯t really need premium weapons. Those could be acquired in dungeons and from crafters later on.
The sun was sitting high up, baking the land when his phone started to ring. Santi was driving back while sipping a liberated bottle of water, having worked up quite a sweat with all of these trips. He fumbled with his phone, the old habits coming back so fast as he took a glance at the screen. His previously relaxed mood dissolved as he saw the name of the caller. His mom was calling. A mom he hadn¡¯t spoken to in eight years when she was killed in the opening days of the system. Those pesky tears started coming back as he answered the phone.
¡°Hey, Mom,¡± Santi fought to keep his voice from warbling. Emotions warred inside of him, fighting for control. It had been most of a decade since he heard his mother¡¯s voice, and he hadn¡¯t stopped missing her.
¡°What the hell is going on with your card!? I have the bank calling me about suspicious charges, Santiago.¡± Santi smiled in the car as his mom¡¯s shriek rang his ears. He moved the phone away from his head and pulled Tank¡¯s truck off to the side of the road. He had a feeling this call would be emotional. He had been putting it off all morning in fact, since he knew he would have to deal with years of trauma. Part of him insisted he had talked to mom last week. Another part, fading away but still prominent, said it had been years.
¡°It¡¯s me. I volunteered to buy stuff for this get together for my major. I¡¯m being reimbursed, it might just take a day or two,¡± Santi lied. It wasn¡¯t even a bad lie considering he had thought of it on the spot. Lying to his mom hadn¡¯t made it into his master planning strategy. It should have, though, the way this conversation was going.
¡°Damn right you¡¯re going to be paid back. Why are you volunteering to spend your money, Santiago?¡± Mom always called him Santiago when he was in trouble. Her moods were easy to detect based on how long his name went. Right now, he was idling in warning territory. If any of his other names were brought in, well then, he was in for it.
¡°It¡¯s to make connections. You know how it is. Not what you know, but, who you know,¡± Santi said as he savored hearing his mom¡¯s voice.
¡°Don¡¯t spend all your money. Listen, are you going to be coming back for the summer?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± the lie was so easy. He would never go back to his hometown. At least the version of it he would recognize. The system''s arrival heralded the apocalypse. The collapse of humanity. The changing of Earth. He couldn¡¯t bear stepping a foot back into his hometown and seeing it changed.
¡°Ok,¡± in the background Santi could hear something crash and swearing in Spanish. His dad¡¯s deep voice was so recognizable, his chest tightened and something ugly was forming in his throat and in his sinuses. He wasn¡¯t going to be able to make it.
¡°Your father just broke something. I¡¯ll talk to you later, love you.¡± Mom hung up and Santi released the sob he had been holding in.
Ch. 4 Murder Kits
-
Santi calmed down after an hour or so. His gasping sobs stilled and he sat in the truck, limp with exhaustion. He felt better. Clean. A cathartic sobbing in the middle of the day on the side of a road was sometimes needed. Santi found some napkins in the center console and blew his nose and rested for a few minutes.
¡°You ok, dude?¡± a girl was standing a few feet away from him, standing on the edge of the sidewalk and peering at him with a concerned look. Santi just nodded and she walked away. He marveled at that. In eight years there would be little time for tears or sympathy, the pain of the world dying crushing everyone down. The war with the cultists, the betrayal of the Apostates, all of it. It left one just numb to the daily suffering. Also, the higher willpower stat made it easier to repress your emotions. Santi was missing that stat at the moment.
He drove to a hardware store and started his next round of shopping. In the first burst of the system''s arrival, when guns failed, people would look for weapons. Anything that could be used to prolong their lives just a bit longer. Santi didn¡¯t want to deal with that crowd, so he was shopping now.
Three axes, a handful of hammers, boxes of nails, long wooden poles, some saws, and a variety of tapes filled his cart. He also managed to find some wonderful plastic tubing and clean plastic buckets. Some shovels, trowels, two pitchforks, really anything that could be used to stab, jab, or crush. As he took it up to the register, he had to deal with another wave of suspicious looks from customers as well as employees.
His cashier was around his age, the biological one and not whatever age the memories suggested. Thick white makeup, violet eyeshadow, thick black lashes, black lipstick, and her black hair had streaks of venom green dyed into it. Santi thought about proposing. The world was ending after all. That stopped him. She was his age biologically, roughly anyway, but his memories? Did the memories make him older? Was he being a creep on a teenager? He shelved all the moral problems associated with time travel and living in a younger version of yourself.
¡°Fucking hate time travel. Stupid trope,¡± Santi muttered under his breath as he helped the cashier find everything to ring up. The number on the register was flying upwards at an astounding rate. Wood was expensive? He¡¯d never had to buy it before, but those long poles were pricey.
¡°So, is this like a murder kit or something?¡± the goth girl asked, long fingers dancing around the hammers and axes.
¡°That¡¯s exactly what this is actually,¡± Santi laughed. Monster murder was close enough for his definition.
She laughed, a full belly chuckle that suited her. Santi looked at her name tag, Chloe, and met her dark eyes. Oh, what the hell, the end of the world is coming.
¡°You go to school here? The university?¡± Sanit asked.
¡°Yeah, first year.¡±
¡°You live in the dorms?¡±
¡°Wexler Tower East.¡± Santi smiled at her answer for it was apparent the gods were smiling on the small goth girl.
¡°I¡¯m in Wexler West. I¡¯m having something going on the day after tomorrow night. Friends and whatnot in the common rooms. You should come by,¡± Santi invited her. One more person he could probably save. Maybe.
¡°Your R.A is cool with a party in the common room?¡±
¡°He¡¯s chill, as long as we don¡¯t go overboard he won¡¯t say anything.¡± Santi was certain that Kyle Vanderbill was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and a stick up his ass. He would not be cool with any type of party in the common room.
¡°Give me your number, and if I¡¯m interested I¡¯ll text you,¡± her white teeth flashing as she smiled behind her black painted lips. Santi gave her his number and a fast smile as he paid and walked out. It felt good to quasi-flirt. The sticky ethical and moral problems of age were forgotten as he felt the warm spring sun on his face. His mom¡¯s call reminded him he needed to call Cameron and get him to save his family. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Cam was his neighbor and they had grown up together playing every sport their parents could find. While Santi had gone to college, Cam had stayed at home to help his dad¡¯s small business. The larger boy had waved off every concern about his future while standing shoulder to shoulder with his dad. Cameron was his best friend, thicker than thieves. Cam would die in a few weeks on the road with Bianca.
The phone only rang twice before Cameron picked up. Sounding sleepy even though it was close to the middle of the afternoon.
¡°What?¡±
¡°Morning, gorgeous,¡± Santi teased as a groan of annoyance echoed over the line. He found himself falling into the same patterns that had defined him for so many years. The gentle teasing, the filial son, even the awkward serial killer flirting.
¡°What do you want? You never call,¡± Cameron said through a yawn.
¡°Your dad¡¯s out of town right?¡± Santi knew Mr. Murtaugh was out of town. He was up in the mountains and out of cell-phone range. In a few months he would come down out of the mountains a changed man.
¡°Yeah, some retreat or something with the guys from work. I think it¡¯s just an excuse to go up into the mountains to fish and drink all week.¡± Cameron had been sold on that theory since they were kids.
¡°That sounds like Mr. Murtaugh. Hey, think you could do me a favor? I¡¯m needing my bat. I¡¯m going to swing by the day after tomorrow, think you can find it?¡±
¡°Why the hell would I have your bat?¡±
¡°You borrowed it. Last summer. Remember?¡± Santi waited as the silence deepened.
¡°I¡¯ll go and dig it out of the shed. I think that¡¯s where I threw all my gear. Tomorrow you said?¡±
¡°Day after tomorrow.¡±
¡°Ok, I can do that. How¡¯s school? Find any mamacitas?¡±
¡°Please don¡¯t say that. Your pronunciation of my mother tongue makes me violently ill.¡± Santi laughed as he mock scolded his oldest friend.
¡°Yeah yeah, just practicing so I can woo your mom.¡±
¡°Who the fuck says woo?¡±
¡°I do. It makes me classy.¡±
¡°No it doesn¡¯t.¡±
¡°Always a hater, Santi. But for real, any luck in love?¡±
¡°You could ask me about my grades, or if I¡¯ve made any friends, or founded a cult, or anything other than romance.¡±
¡°I could.¡± Cam let the silence deepen as Santi waited in vain for other questions.
¡°I just talked to this girl at the hardware store. Gave her my number,¡± Santi conceded.
¡°My boy, that¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about!¡± Cameron hollered on the other side, forcing Santi to pull the phone away from his ear while he rolled his eyes.
¡°How bout you, anything with anyone? That¡¯s not my mom,¡± Santi cut him off before Cameron could go to that tired old joke.
¡°Actually yeah! Great girl, smart, funny, and has an amazing smile. Just makes me float every time she looks at me,¡± Cameron said, his voice softening.
¡°Who is it? Do I know her?¡±
¡°Yeah, you know her.¡±
¡°Went to school with her?¡± Santi pulled out of the parking lot and started heading back toward the abandoned brick building. He would need to stash all the tools and improvised weapons before heading to the supercenter to grab the last of the basic supplies.
¡°Yeah, a grade below us actually.¡±
¡°She¡¯s still in high school? Bro,¡± Santi let his disappointment seep through his voice. They were close to the same age, but still, high school girls while they were adults?
¡°Yeah, yeah I know. I¡¯ve known her forever though.¡±
¡°It¡¯s my sister isn¡¯t it?¡± Santi said with a sigh as Cameron started to howl on the other side of the phone. A smile was tickling the corner of his mouth as Cameron was lost to the joy of his rather dumb joke. If it was anyone other than Cameron, who was a frequent guest in their house since the age of six, he would have been angry. Cameron just had a middle school sense of humor.
¡°Got ''em,¡± Cameron choked out on the phone between gales of laughter. Santi shook his head and hung up on his best friend, tossing the phone on the bench seat of the truck. The chucklefuck was irritating, but also reliable. He would call him on the night the system came active and have him check on his family. The monsters in the first wave were weak, Santi¡¯s old bat would be more than enough to deal with them. If Cameron went and dug it out of their shed.
Santi pulled up to the old building, back by the crumbled corner of the brick wall, and started to unload. He¡¯d come and get the weapons the night of the system''s arrival. Santi was feeling good about his plan, now he just needed to gather the rest of the most basic supplies and wait.
Ch. 5 Contingencies
-
The common room was filling up with people for the movie night that Santi had sprung on his friends and dorm mates. He had to make promises and deals with devils to get most of them here. Nearly thirty students, with more arriving as the seconds ticked on. People were hooting and hollering at the screen, laughing and talking through the old movie as they ate the snacks Santi had bought. No alcohol, Santi had made sure of that.
Tank was lounging on one of the small sofas, his white teeth flashing as he smiled and laughed with a cluster of other students. Paulie, his always absent roomate, had been found. The short boy was talking to a pair of girls, both of them bobbing their heads to whatever he was saying. Chloe had shown up ten minutes ago with three friends, her roommate and the other dorm room that probably shared a bathroom with her. She had been shooting him looks, but otherwise was engaged in a heated debate with several other people.
Santi checked his phone and sighed. The anxiety of what was about to happen was ramping up. Fourteen minutes to go. Part of him was doubting that the memories were real. That they were just the most vivid dream he had ever had. He prayed it was true. Santi left the common room quietly and went up to his dorm room, scrolling through his contact list till he found his sister''s name. She would be up, he had texted her that he was going to call.
The phone rang twice before Yessenia picked up the phone. This was where his plan could have been foiled. If Yessenia hadn¡¯t picked up the phone, it would have screwed up everything.
¡°Santi?¡±
¡°Hey, uhhh, this is weird, but hear me out. I had a bad dream last night. Like real bad. It was a nightmare. About the house and you guys. Could you check the locks please, for me?¡± Santi had worked hard on the excuse he needed for Yessi to get out of bed and go check the locks at eleven-thirty at night. She believed in the power of dreams, crystals, zodiacs, all of that. He had always rolled his eyes at his sister''s superstitions, but it was insanely helpful tonight.
¡°Santi, what happened in the dream?¡± Yesi asked in a whisper. He could hear her moving though, the creak of stairs as she treaded her ways downstairs. Santi checked the time, twelve minutes to go. He was entering his dorm room right on time. He texted Cameron, putting Yessi on speakerphone.
¡°You up?¡±
¡°This a booty call?¡± The response was instant. Good. Santi let his friend sit for a minute as he focused his attention back on his sister.
¡°It was bad, Yesi. Just check the locks please. All of them, even the garage door,¡± Santi ordered his younger sister. He went into the small closet and started pulling out bags. Two heavy black duffle bags, stuffed with improvised weapons, and a backpack that he strapped on.
¡°Huh, that¡¯s weird. The garage was unlocked,¡± Yessenia¡¯s voice held hints of horror. She was a nervous girl, always watching true crime and the thought of having an unlocked door, even into the garage, was startling. Santi didn¡¯t know how the monsters got into the house, just that they had. Bianca had escaped through a window and ran to Cam¡¯s house where he fought them off, but not without injuries.
¡°Check the rest, please.¡± Santi was checking his supplies he had bought from his hideout. Axes, bats, and a few improvised spears. There were a few cheap machetes and hammers he had tossed in. He didn¡¯t think much of them, they were pulled from the big shopping center and had been less than fifteen dollars. He had sharpened the blades, but they were hideously made. Built for cheap landscape work, not killing monsters. Better than nothing though.
¡°Shit, the front door was unlocked too! My Dad must have forgotten when he got home,¡± Yessenia complained as Santi heard the locks click into place. Ten minutes to go. He grabbed a cheap shopping bag full of glow sticks and walked out of the dorm. He had already discretely emptied it of his clothing and possessions yesterday.
¡°In ten minutes, shit¡¯s going to go nuts. Get that bat you pulled out of the shed and save my family.¡± Santi sent the text to Cam, while walking down the stairs back to the common room.
¡°What the fuck do you mean?! I¡¯m calling you,¡± Cam answered instantly. The boy lived on his phone. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
¡°Can¡¯t answer. Talking to Yesi right now.¡± Santi texted back as he sent Cam straight to voicemail.
¡°Yesi, are all the doors locked?¡±
¡°Yeah, everything is locked. Santi, you¡¯re scaring me. What was your dream?¡±
¡°Grab a pen and paper,¡± Santi said as he waited in the stairwell right before the common room. Everyone was still there, talking and laughing loudly. The R.A, Kyle, was locked in a conversation with a pretty brunette and not paying attention to doing his job. Santi gave a silent prayer of thanks as he waited for Yessenia. He sent two more calls from Cam straight to voicemail.
¡°Got it!¡± Yesi exclaimed.
¡°Write this down. Take the county roads to the college in five days. Avoid the bar on road 96. Burn it down actually, don¡¯t go inside.¡± The bar was where Cam would die. Killed in a monster den, Bianca would lose her left hand fighting to escape it.
¡°Santi, what the fuck?¡±
¡°Just write it down. At the corner of Elm and Myer, there¡¯s an old brick building. That¡¯s where I¡¯ll be. Bring anyone who survives. Rifts will let you all enter them but they¡¯re more dangerous. Dungeons are limited in number, but are measured. Kill as many monsters as possible, take risks and gain levels. Be here in a week,¡± Santi ordered. Seven minutes.
¡°Santi¡¡± Santi hung up on his sister and turned his phone to airplane mode. He had to be careful now and a ringing phone could ruin everything. He had set everything up to the best of his ability for his family and best friend to survive. It broke his heart abandoning them, but the presence of the Apostates weighed on his mind. They would be aggressive, earning every reward they could. He had to do the same thing.
Six minutes.
He walked into the common room and stuck close to the back wall. A few people noticed him, but they quickly turned back as Santi walked to the doors of the dorm. He deposited the heavy duffel bags on the ground and went to get the people he had the most trust in.
Tank, Paulie, and the last roomate of the two rooms, Daniel. Daniel was half Korean- half English. Thin with black hair and dark eyes, he wasn¡¯t anyone¡¯s first choice for picking something to do something physical. Like slaying monsters. Santi believed he would hear him out before freaking out though.
Four minutes.
Santi dragged them all over to the entrance of the door and they huddled around him. They were drawing glances from people, but most everyone was focused on socializing.
¡°What¡¯s up, Santi? You don¡¯t look good,¡± Tank asked. The mountain of a man was six and half feet tall, but his deep voice was gentle as he looked down at Santi. How Santi had ever taken him for granted, he didn¡¯t know. Tank was a good man.
¡°Is Tank your actual name, or a nickname?¡± Santi blurted out. He was nervous now, trying to delay the inevitable. Three minutes.
¡°It¡¯s actually Dexter, but the minute I started to grow they called me Tank,¡± Tank explained.
¡°Good to know, thanks for sharing. In approximately two and half minutes the world is going to end.¡±
All three of the boys stared at him with blank faces. Santi swallowed hard and looked down at his phone and the time. Two minutes and fifteen seconds actually. It got down to two minutes before anyone said anything.
¡°Santi, are you ok? I know midterms are coming up, but like, damn.¡± Paulie was brusque as always. His thick eyebrows were hidden in his hair at the shock that Santi had just given them. Or, well, that they thought he was insane.
¡°In two minutes, if I¡¯m wrong, take me to a hospital, the one with grippy socks. Eight years in the future, the world has basically completely collapsed due to a series of unfortunate events. Events that start in a minute and forty five seconds. I survived and was a scout. I got sucked into a ritual and the memories of those years were shot back in time.¡±
¡°Ok, it¡¯s time to call someone,¡± Daniel groused in a faded English accent. Tank¡¯s face was confused and hurt, while Paulie was looking morbidly curious.
¡°One minute. Hold tight. When it comes, we won¡¯t have much time. There¡¯s weapons in the bags, take them and hand them out. Stay in the building till sunrise. There¡¯s this entrance and the back entrance. Barricade the back entrance with furniture. In the plastic bag there are glow sticks. Oh, yeah, the power will go out and guns won¡¯t work.¡±
¡°Yeah, let¡¯s call someone. You said there¡¯s weapons in the bags?¡± Tank was talking softly, large hands extended outward as if Santi was a dangerous animal.
¡°Improvised mostly. Hand them out to those you think won¡¯t freak the fuck out. Don¡¯t let anyone leave the building till sunrise.¡±
TIme
The lights flashed out and the world went dark.
Ch. 6 Into the Rift
-
There were a few aborted screams as people were startled, but Santi was moving. He cracked some glow sticks and started tossing them around the front lobby. The pale green light offered eerie illumination as everyone slowly settled down. They had only moments before the system announced itself.
Santi bent down and reached into the larger duffel bag, pulling out a splitting maul. It was designed to split logs, but he could use it on the weaker monsters that would be spilling out soon. The three guys looked shocked, their eyes wide open and mouths agape as Santi¡¯s words started to seem real.
¡°Tank, if I don¡¯t come back, in my room there¡¯s a notepad. Take it. It has all my notes and thoughts on how to survive. I trust you.¡± Santi said and started to head toward the glass door. Behind him people were murmuring as they relaxed, not knowing what was exactly happening.
A hand gripped his elbow, and in his heightened state, Santi nearly lashed out with the ax. Chloe was looking at him with suspicious eyes.
¡°You knew what was going to happen?¡± Half question, half accusation. Santi didn¡¯t have time for this.
¡°Yes, just stay here and you¡¯ll be safe.¡±
¡°Yeah, fuck that. Give me one,¡± She pointed with her chin toward the ax cradled in his hands.
SYSTEM INITIALIZING
STAND BY
HOSTILE RIFTS DETECTED
CLASS SYSTEM ACTIVATING
Everyone paused as the words floated in front of them and Santi used that second to break free of Chloe¡¯s grip. He needed to be outside where the rift was going to open. Rifts were dangerous, they were portals to small sub dimensions that could lead to nearly anywhere. There could be one enemy or ten thousand. Piles of loot, or none at all. They had the highest risk to reward ratio of everything that was coming. Luckily, Santi knew what this rift would hold.
He pushed open the doors and ran into the warm spring night. The air was muggy and clung to his skin. The lack of light made the world darker than most people had ever experienced, only the thin sliver of the moon offering its bounty. In the middle of the parking lot, a blast of red tinged sunlight had appeared.
It started as a pinprick and slowly started to spin, increasing in circumference till it was an eight foot tall silver arch. Figures were scampering out, short and fuzzy and filled with sharp teeth. Santi dodged to the side as they raced past him toward the buildings without thought. Santi hoped they were ready. Kobolds were weak, but their numbers could prove dangerous.
The first wave passed him by as he huddled to the side of a car, axe in hand. He was a mage without mana. Not the best place to be, but he had been here once before. He could do it again. But, better this time. Hopefully. Santi burst into a sprint heading straight for the opening of the rift. Behind him, he heard a terrible scream, and then sounds of fighting. Bones breaking, flesh splitting, metal cutting into bodies. The stink would be worse, but for now, the sounds haunted him. He was a mage for a reason. He stood far away and blasted at his enemies and didn¡¯t have to watch the light leave their eyes.
Santi sprinted for the arch, the heavy pack bouncing on his back as he dove through the portal. The world twisted and changed, vertigo inducing spinning and then Santi was on his knees vomiting. He had forgotten how rough it was to travel rifts without higher stats. He was staggering to his feet, axe held in front of him, ready to start cutting his way toward his objective in only a moment. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!
A single kobold stood staring at him with dull orange eyes. Santi looked at the monster for the first time, for the second time. It was a strong sense of deja vu, his faded memories whispering hints to him. At four feet tall, it was bipedal with a snout full of teeth and orange eyes that looked at everything as if it was food. They were dull, dumb, idiotic, and hungry. It came at him in a rush, a snarl rumbling in its throat.
Santi brought the ax up and over, a huge swing that landed perfectly. The heavy head of the maul cracked bone and the kobold went limp as its skull fractured. It sprawled in a boneless pile in front of him, but Santi was already moving. He didn¡¯t have any skill to use for looting right now. Hell, the class system wasn¡¯t even activated.
He was on a large flat plain, with an angry red star blazing across the salmon colored sky. It was hot, sweat already rolling down Santi¡¯s back, staining his clothes. It went from a warm night to the equivalent of a brutal summer day in only a few steps. In the center of the plains, the ruins of a large stone temple sprawled out. It was where the Rift Heart was located.
Rift Hearts were like dungeon cores, tightly condensed balls of mana that kept the small pocket realms stable as they connected to reality. Unlike dungeon cores, they didn¡¯t reset a rift once it was cleared. It just held the rift stable and created the portals. They would slowly drain the mana out of wherever they were connected, strengthening the heart and expanding the realm. This one was small, barely a tier one rift. Something a squad of Initiate''s could clear.
Santi wasn¡¯t an Initiate, not yet anyway, and he was by himself. He was risking everything for a title. The first person to clear a rift. It would be hefty, something to boost his potential and possibly even a stat boost. He jogged towards the center of the rift. There were kobolds moving around the long gray grass, but none bothered him. They were all heading toward the portal. It was their chance to hunt, to gather supplies. Rifts were a lot like ships out at sea, just looking for a port in the storm to anchor to.
Minutes trickled by, the heat sapping his strength. His body was in terrible shape. He had been active as a youth, but the last seven months of college had seen him grow accustomed to fatty foods and being slothful. He was cursing his past self for that now. Every breath was a chestful of daggers, his heart palpitating wildly as he felt like an elephant was sitting on his chest. Blood leaked from his nose as the strain of exercise and the dry heat did their work, staining his face and dripping to his shirt, but he had no time to plug the leak.
There was a minor time dilation to the rift, each one different. This one wasn¡¯t strong, every minute on the outside two inside. It would take him hours to clear it, which would be the majority of the night of his friends trying to survive without him. He hoped they would be ok. He just kept jogging.
Finally, the slate gray stone of the temple broke the horizon. Nearly an hour of jogging and Santi was ready to die. His body was in the midst of attempting a full body cramp and he was literally spitting blood. The blood was from his nose, having ran into his wide open and gasping mouth.
Forty feet high, it was squat for a temple. Covered in dust and worn down by time, scores of kobolds were jostling around the base of it. Santi pulled up and started to catch his breath. He broke open his backpack and pulled out several bottles of hydration mix. Filled with electrolytes, the mix was supposed to be better than water. At the moment, he couldn¡¯t care what it was. He just drank and drank. Part of him knew better to chug the water, but his willpower had always been weak. The hydration mix came back up a minute later and Santi was forced to use a third bottle of it that he sipped.
He waited impatiently as the horde of kobolds started to stream directly toward the arch. If they noticed him off to the side, they didn¡¯t care. Hundreds of the dog-faced monsters marched toward the arch and his friends. It would be a bloody night regardless of what happened. He just hoped that the guys could organize a defense. The other dorms were doomed.
As the last of them tramped away, leaving the temple mostly deserted, Santi started toward it. He walked, taking his time now that he was close. He remembered what guarded the temple and he couldn¡¯t enter it exhausted. The normal kobolds were terrified to enter for the creatures that guarded the Rift Heart. There would be a few elite versions of the kobold: warriors, shaman, and a chief. It was the rift guardian that would be the real challenge though. Especially without magic. He cursed not having magic again.
Maybe he should have ground out a few levels outside before leading a party in? The thought had been nagging at him since he had decided on this plan. Self-doubt had a way of corrupting everything, shadowing clear and concise thoughts. He had planned it out and this was the best he could think of. The Apostate¡¯s would be just as reckless as they grabbed every morsel of power they could and there were six of them and only one of him. He needed to take every risk, every opportunity if he was to succeed. So, he entered the temple alone and without a class.
Ch. 7 Shaman
7.
The temple was a cool sanctuary from the heat of the outside rift. Deep shadows pooled around the broken walls. Santi slid through them, keeping close to the walls as he pushed further inward. The first time he had been in here, he had been just a single fighter in an eight man team. One of the weaker ones too. Now, he was infinitely weaker than he had been then. And noticeably more alone. Santi tried to control his breathing, the day''s exertions and his fear making it difficult to keep from hyperventilating.
The stone passages were covered in a thick layer of dirt and dust, each step kicking up a puff of dirt around his shoes. Every step took him deeper into the ancient temple and the temperature continued to plunge. Santi was forced to take out a glowstick, cracking it and holding it ahead of him as he marched down the hallways.
The memories were thin, eight years had passed since he had explored the temple. The last time had involved fighting the horde of kobolds who had been camped out in the campus and then invading the rift. Other teams had killed the kobolds while his team had plunged into the rift. They had explored the large temple, taking their time to search every corner before realizing there was nothing here. Nothing aside from the two shamans, six warriors, and the chief. The guardian was elsewhere, buried in the bowels of the earth. The temple had been built over the rift guardians nest. He couldn¡¯t risk the kobold elites ambushing him while he fought the rift guardian though.
Santi prayed that his memory had held up as he followed the twist and turns of the temple to where the small balcony would be. When they had first stumbled onto the balcony it had been a surprise. The shaman had died in a flurry of skills and attacks, dead before it could react. Santi didn¡¯t have the advantage of a large group able to throw skills at a single target. He did have the element of surprise though.
Stepping carefully, working slowly not to make more noise than needed, Santi found the balcony. It was on the middle level of the pyramid-shaped temple. A small chamber, lit by the red sun, that led to the wide balcony that could oversee a wide courtyard. Santi gave yet another prayer that the shaman was there. If it wasn¡¯t, then it was likely most of the other kobold elites weren¡¯t where they had been found either. The team had postulated that most of the elites had been found in their own quarters, with only the warriors patrolling the lower corridors.
Santi shucked his pack off, leaving it against the wall with the now dying glowstick. He had plenty more of the glowsticks, having bought enough of the things to start several raves. Darkness was no joke, there was a reason humanity feared it. Without the electrical system, there would be no way to push back at night until people started to level.
Santi hefted the heavy ax, his palms sweaty as he stalked into the room. It was hardly eight feet across and only six feet tall. Moldering wooden furniture had been shoved into corners, half rotten as they slowly decomposed. Santi scanned the room carefully, looking for anything that stood out. He had a lot more experience with rifts now than he had all those years ago. Traps, hidden passages, buried treasure, anything could be in this room. If a shaman was using it as their living quarters, there should be something here.
After a half minute of careful observation, Santi finally noticed something. What looked to be a post, the same discolored wood as everything else. Except, there was no dust on it. After the fight, he¡¯d have to come and check it out. Seeing no traps, Santi edged his way into the ever present red light of the false star. The temperature rose with every step, the cool embrace of the shadows left behind.
Standing in the doorway, Santi peered around the balcony without stepping foot on it. The dark natural stone was covered in a layer of red dust, the delicate rails looking like they were more rust than metal. The shaman lay sprawled out on the far end of the balcony, basking in the warm sunlight. It was hard to tell its height while it was curled into a ball, but Santi thought it was similar in height to the rest of the kobolds. White fur was mixed into its black coat, its muzzle buried under a leg, its small scarred ears twitched around alert for any change. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
While weak, kobolds did have incredible senses for being a weaker monster. Santi didn¡¯t think he would be able to sneak up on it without alerting it. Without the room to contain the noise of his shoes crushing the soft dirt, the shaman would be up and ready to fight in moments. It would be a disaster that Santi didn¡¯t think he could survive. If sneaking was out, then he would have to rush it. Speed over stealth, something he had always been partial to.
He moved, his legs exploding with power as he lunged to the side, intent on closing the distance as fast as possible. His maul was already whirling as he covered the ten feet to get to the far side of the balcony. Three strides was all it took. Yellow eyes flew open, the kobold bolting upright, magic swirling around its hands. Too late. The maul chopped into the intersection between neck and shoulder. Blood flowed like a river as the maul cleaved the monster, biting deep into its torso. It howled, a whiny sound filled with agony as its magic fizzled away.
Santi grunted,twisting the maul as he tried to drag it out of the wound. The kobold collapsed, soaked in its own blood as Santi staggered away from its corpse. Surging adrenaline caused his hands to shake as he stared down at the small monster. He had been dreading this, fighting an elite without a class. It had ended so fast, he could scarcely believe it.
The small kobold only had a wrap around its waist, threadbare and lacking any sort of pockets to hold the ingredients it would need. When they had faced the kobold last time, it had been richly dressed with a powerful staff and several guardian spirits that had been difficult to dispel, even after killing the shaman. The shaman had benefited heavily from weeks of raiding parties bringing back supplies. This time, it was poor and underfed, lacking the strength to give him any type of fight. Santi could only hope that would continue to run true for the rest of the elites in the temple.
Retreating back into the small room, glad to be leaving the bright glare of the sun, he went to the clean post. It looked like it had once been a lantern holder or something similar. Thick wood that had been smoothed to the point it was like touching glass, it brushed against the top of the ceiling. Santi traced his fingers over it, looking for anything to give him a hint of what secrets it was holding. The shaman must have been using it fairly frequently if it was clean in a room that was open to the constant dust flying in through the open doorway.
Near the middle, there was a simple groove, one that he could barely wedge his fingernail into. He tugged, careful not to rip his own nail off. The wood parted, opening for him as a small section was pulled out. Santi looked at the plug he had managed to pry out, the wood was light tan and smooth to the touch. The work had been delicate, nearly imperceptible to his weak stats. He put it to the side as he rustled through the contents in the hollow section of the pole.
It took a fair bit of shaking, but finally bits and bobbles fell out. Santi looked at the loot and couldn¡¯t help but smile. Before he had been thrown back in time he would have said it was garbage. Low level ritual spell ingredients, a tightly bound scroll that was probably a stored spell, and a needle thin dagger that looked like it was sized for a child. Now though, as the first days of the apocalypse hit, it was a small treasure trove. He packed it all up, stuffing it into his pack. The dagger he threaded into his belt, on the small of his back. It was a poignard, meant to be worked through thin points in heavy armor and lacked any edge besides the thin point.
Shrugging the pack back on, he cracked open another of the glowsticks and started to head downward. This was the only elite to be found on the upper levels. Kobolds lived underground for the most part and wouldn¡¯t be comfortable higher up. When his team had investigated the upper levels they had found nothing but dirt. He didn¡¯t have time to do a more thorough exploration, he could feel the trickle of time against him. His friends would be fighting and dying back at the dorm, he needed to finish the rift as fast as possible and get back to them.
Pale green light breaching the blanket of darkness ahead of him, he continued down. The coppery stench of blood clinging to him and the ax were all that remained of the shaman. He had to hope that the rest of the elites would die as easily as the shaman. He doubted his luck would last long enough for that though.
Ch. 8 Low Tables are the Devil
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The temple was deeper than it appeared on the outside. From the outside, it looked like a wide squat building that was maybe four or five stories tall. Most of the temple was underground, suitable to the need of the warren dwelling monsters that had taken residence. Stalking forward with his glowstick outstretched, Santi paused frequently, listening hard for any sound of movement. The glowstick was a giveaway that he would have preferred not to rely on. The kobolds would see him before he could see them, he just had to hope his experience could overcome the patrols that worked their way through the lower levels.
There should be six warrior kobolds here, patrolling in pairs. He had yet to run into any of them and was getting close to where the last shaman had been found the first time. He wanted to eliminate any type of magic assistance he could before the fighting started. The last thing he wanted was having to fight warriors buffed by a shaman. If he could kill the shaman, he had a good chance of working through the warriors.
The final shaman had been found in the heart of the underground temple. An ossuary, the bones of hundreds of dead kobolds had been placed around the room. It had been a brutal fight as the shaman used every piece of its power to kill them. Fighting a shaman in a room filled with deceased ancestors wasn¡¯t the smartest choice, but Santi liked his odds better than running into enhanced warriors in the dark.
Feeling more like a thief than a mage, he continued downward. There was little to see, the weak light offered by the glowstick hardly penetrating the oppressive dark of the temple. He kept to a wall, his shoulder scant millimeters from brushing it, the light held off to the side near the center of the hall. If someone had a ranged weapon, he hoped they¡¯d fire toward the light. The hallway opened up into a four way intersection, the first he had seen so far. If he remembered correctly, he needed to take the left branch to find the ossuary.
Swallowing his nerves, Santi went down the left hall. This central corridor was patrolled frequently, he could see the scuff of footprints in the thick dust on the ground. If he was unlucky, he was about to run into a pair of kobold warriors in the dark. His luck had been fantastic so far and it continued to hold out. The doorway to the ossuary appeared, the wall ending suddenly in a doorway. Faint light spilled out, just enough for a single torch if it had been put in the far corner of the room.
Santi peeked around the corner, hoping to find the shaman asleep like the first one had been. He cursed mentally when he saw the shaman wide awake, working with his back to the door. The torch mounted in the corner was weak, the dancing flame more yellow than red and its offering was pale. The ossuary was more shadow than light, twisting in diabolical designs, filled with the bones of slain kobolds. Backing away as quietly as possible, Santi lowered his bag again. He was on the clock now. A patrol could pass by at any moment.
Creeping back up to the side of the doorframe, ax cradled in both hands, he looked around. The shaman remained in the middle of the room, in front of a low stone table. It held something in its paws, working with intense scrutiny. Speed once more was called for.
Santi rolled around the corner and burst into a sprint. He only had to cover a few feet and his axe was already winding up for a powerful chop. The shaman was fast, stopping instantly, it spun and threw what it had in its hands at Santi. Santi only had a split second to see carved bones flying at him, but he was already ducking. While he had been a mage, he had honed his battle instincts for years. The shaman was dangerous to him, but at the end of the day it was only a low level monster.
He aborted his downward chop, instead lashing out in a horizontal swing like a baseball bat. The tip of the axe head caught the dodging kobold in the knee, splitting skin and bone and causing the shaman to cry out in agony. Santi slammed into the shin high table the kobold had been working at, biting back a scream of pain at his now bruised legs. The kobold had no need to hold back its cries, barking and howling in equal amounts as it scurried backward and away from Santi. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
The ossuary wasn¡¯t a large room and there were few places to flee to. With the obvious pain it was in, it lacked the ability to conjure any magic to protect itself. Santi didn¡¯t let it linger in pain, hobbling forward and bringing down the splitting maul with finality. The shaman¡¯s cries ended, blood rushing out to mix with the dust to create a muddy slurry under the shaman.
The fight had taken less than fifteen seconds. Santi was left limping as he went out of the room to grab his pack and then hurried back into the ossuary. With a stronger glowstick, he was better able to take in the long rectangular room. The ceiling was only six feet high and was covered in bones. Santi vaguely remembered this in his nightmares. Bleached kobold bones were placed around every inch of the room. Skulls formed elaborate candle stands, ran over with melted wax, now long abandoned. Rib cages had been fused together to make shelving that held only dust and memories.
The room reeked of poverty, of famine, of irrelevance. When they had came here the first time, this room had been packed with things stolen and looted from the dead of earth. It helped soothe something in Santi¡¯s heart to see the desolation of the room, to know he had helped prevent part of the sack of earth with his action. He didn¡¯t have long to think on it though. The fight and howling had echoed down the long corridors and he didn¡¯t want to be caught flatfooted as the patrolling warriors found him.
He set his pack to the side and started to search through it. It was stuffed with all the things one would need to survive an ill-advised rift assault. Santi had thought long and hard about some of the things he had stuffed into the canvas sack. The water and electrolyte mix had only been the tip of the iceberg. A small box of nails came out of the bag along with some heavy duty fishing wire. He didn¡¯t have too much time, he could vaguely hear the sound of distant barks in the distance.
He went back to the door and dug out a pair of nails. He hammered one into each side of the crumbling stone doorway with the backside of the maul, the hard iron digging through the broken stone with ease. Once he had them secured, he wrapped the fishing wire around the heads of a nail a few times and then strung it back around the other nail. As far as tripwires went, it was shit. The best he could hope for was one of them to stumble as it came racing into the room. He had other tricks in his bag, but no time to use them.
Santi glared at the limp form of the fallen shaman. If only it hadn¡¯t been so noisy dying, then he wouldn¡¯t be in such a hurry. For the thousandth time Santi reminisced on the good days, when he was a mage and didn¡¯t have to dirty his hands. Soon, soon he would get his class and start working towards not having to work physically. Nothing wrong with standing off to the side and cutting monsters to pieces with a Razor Wind.
Throwing his fading glowstick back into his pack, he stood off to the side of the doorway. The minutes stretched on, inevitable death creeping by as the howls came closer. Santi could only hope it was a single pair and not all six. If all six came, well his story was going to end a lot faster this time than last time. He wondered briefly how his friends and family were doing. He didn¡¯t have a functioning watch, but it had to be close to an hour outside by now. How many people had died already? It was a sobering thought, threatening his threadbare sanity.
He had come back to his younger body, but the trauma of an apocalypse came with him. Now, he was waiting in the dark with an axe for some monster to come storming through the door to avenge its fellow slain monster. It pressed on him, standing in the dark all alone. He urged the kobolds to come closer before his spiraling thoughts led him deeper into despair. He was going to be adding points to Willpower immediately, if for no other reason than he had to keep functioning.
Finally, his salvation arrived as the scurrying feet of the kobold warriors announced their presence. They couldn¡¯t be more than a dozen paces down the hall. Their wet snuffling breaths rang loudly as he panted. Santi flexed his hands and prepared himself. He would have to be fast, the only edge a thin fishing wire wrapped around two badly driven nails. His pulse was racing, sweat sliding into his eyes, regardless of the cool temperature of the temple. One of the kobold warriors barreled through the doorway.
Ch. 9 MAcGyver that Shit
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The tripwire worked. The kobold sailed deeper into the room as the wire tangled its feet. It rolled through the dust and collided with the stone table with the wet smack of flesh meeting stone. The second one was right behind it, a small dagger outstretched as it entered the room unmolested as the string had pulled the nails out of the wall. The second kobold stared for a moment at its fallen brethren in confusion, and then the confusion was replaced by the heavy weight of Santi¡¯s splitting maul.
Santi grunted as he tugged the maul free of the kobold¡¯s head, eyes locked on the original kobold. He couldn¡¯t believe his luck that his impromptu tripwire had worked that well. He had killed the second warrior before it had even realized he was in the room with him. The first one was woozily getting to all fours, its head lolling as it struggled to get up. Santi could only wince in sympathy as his shins were still aching from hitting the edge of the table. He could only imagine hitting his head would be worse.
Santi didn¡¯t let the small monster suffer long. The maul split bone once more, forever giving the kobold pain relief. Santi went up to the doorway again, putting his sweat soaked back to cold stone. He listened as hard as he could, trying to hold his breath as he struggled to hear if more were coming. All this did was amplify his own heartbeat until it was a thudding bass in his ears. Minutes passed slowly, still there was no sign of further pursuit.
Three dead kobolds in the ossuary and the shaman on the balcony, only five of the original nine remained. The two most dangerous kobolds were off the board though, their magic not available to empower the warriors or chief. All for the price of a few year¡¯s worth of stress and some tender shins. Santi went to his pack and pulled out a few granola bars and another bottle of water. He only had three of those bottles left and had to be careful to conserve them.
He ate and drank in the dark, the torch having guttered out and the glowstick finally finished off. He sat there for a while, letting the effects of the adrenaline wear off, comforted by the dark where just minutes before it had been oppressive. The dark allowed him to pretend for a few minutes now that the shuffling feet of monsters had been replaced with the silence of a tomb.
He could pretend he was back, in his timeline. It was worse no doubt, but there he had power. They had won, he was sure of it. Peace had been so close, the dungeons secured, rifts closed, and peace treaties ratified. The cultists, the Apostates, were the only ones left who had been opposing global peace. He had been so close, so close to being able to finally rest. Tears were trickling down his cheeks again, leaving clean trails through the dirt on his face. He hated himself for being this weak, but the emotions would come so strong sometimes and there was little he could do but ride it out.
Santi wanted to hope. He really did. So he sat there in the dark, inside of a monster ossuary with three corpses and imagined the life he could make. A life where he absorbed the potential of the area instead of letting it slowly wither away. Where his friends weren¡¯t skeletons that would decorate a monster''s lair. Where his mom and dad and sisters lived. It hurt. This hope hurt just as bad as the pain of losing them all. How could he make them suffer through this life? This hell that had arrived on earth?
Santi knew he was selfish. Death would be a blessing that many would try to find. An escape from the horrors that were right this very moment being unleashed. His family and friends were fighting for their lives while he had a minor breakdown. He sniffled, fighting back the sobs that were clinging to his throat. Willpower, the minute he got a class he was dumping points into willpower. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
He cracked a new glowstick and began to harvest his grisly rewards. Both of the warriors had carried simple iron daggers. Rust spotted the blades, but they were still sharp. Lacking any sort of sheath and not wanting to contract tetanus, Santi tossed them into his bag. The pack was lightening as he left his used water bottles and glowsticks behind, even with the thin assortment of loot he was acquiring. Neither of the warriors had anything else on them. Their half emaciated frames spoke of the poverty of the rift.
When he had fought them originally, they had used steel short swords and had thick leather armor. They had been healthy and fast, their ferocity making up for their stature. While the loot was poor, he was glad of it. The shaman¡¯s table had a wealth of ingredients, mainly dried monster parts, that were shuffled into a series of resealable plastic bags he had bought just for this reason. He was looking forward to access to the store and purchasing a bag of holding as soon as possible. Maybe he¡¯d have enough to buy a spatial ring. That thought sent a delightful shiver through him. Santi had been a powerful mage, but not a wealthy one. Working primarily as a scout and messenger, he never had managed to acquire the type of wealth other more powerful fighters had.
Just one more thing he was hoping to change this time around. Low on his list of priority¡¯s for re-doing the apocalypse, but it was still there. There were many goodies that the merchants and the system-run store had that he would be more than happy to take advantage of this time around. And it all started with clearing this rift.
Santi finished his procrastinating and pulled his heavy pack back on. The wealth of ingredients and heavy iron daggers made up for the lost weight of empty water bottles and dead glowsticks. Good iron daggers were a staple item though, not one he could afford to leave so early. One could never have enough knives, or at least that¡¯s what the other more mundane scouts had said. Santi had much more preferred not to run into anything close enough to require a knife.
He retraced his steps back to the intersection. To the right was back on out. He had eliminated nearly half of the elites, he was sure he would get a better class now than he had originally. Probably a few levels too. He would welcome that alien star again, if only to have light and heat. He could rendezvous with his roommates, fight off the first kobold push and then lead a team back here. It would be easy enough, a few others and they could clear out the rift quickly. It would lessen his own rewards though. He needed to increase his potential as much as possible if he wanted to face the Apostates. Each of them had managed to climb to become a Champion in their first run, something Santi couldn¡¯t have dreamed of. This time he was sure they¡¯d shoot for Master or even higher.
Going straight he was likely to encounter the second patrol somewhere down there. The hallways became a series of degraded corridors filled with rotting storerooms and decayed living quarters. It would be a nightmare to find the second patrol and fight them there.
Going left would lead him deeper to the temple and to the chief and the final set of warriors. One pair was never far from the chief and the chief didn¡¯t stray far from the guardian¡¯s cave. Every rift he had ever entered, the highest ranked boss would perch themselves as close as possible to the rift heart without angering the guardian. Santi didn¡¯t think the fight against the chief would be as bad as he thought. These kobold¡¯s were in much worse shape than what he had remembered. The guardian wouldn¡¯t be, but that was a problem for later.
If he fought the chief, the chief would be able to call the two warriors on this level. If he wasn¡¯t fast enough, those two warriors and the two on the lower level would have time to gang up on him with the chief. That would spell his end just as quickly as anything would. The smart choice was hunting the pair in the warrens of the ruins straight ahead. In the dark, their keen sense of smell would give them an advantage, able to locate him much faster than he would see them.
Santi had a thought. He looked down at his bloodstained hands and ax, turned back and looked into the dark corridor he had just traversed. There were still three relatively fresh corpses in there. They would smell strongly of blood and viscera.
¡°I miss being a mage,¡± Santi moaned under his breath as he walked back to the ossuary to bait his next trap.
Ch. 10 Incidents in the Dark
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The gristly trap was set. Body parts were strewn about the intersection, blood leaking into the thirsty ground. Santi had left body parts down the hallway he knew led to the second pair of warriors. The heady scent of death filled the passageways, and Santi had no choice but to hope it would work. He was smeared in offal, his maul having made a mess as he hacked apart the three dead kobolds. He had made the smart decision to leave his pack in the hall, so at least that wasn¡¯t stained with blood.
Now, he sat here in the dark with the patience of a hunter. At least he was trying to emulate a hunter. His eyelids were drooping as he struggled to stay awake. He had been running on adrenaline, fear, and the emotional whiplash of coming back in time for three days and now, nestled in the dark, it was catching up to him. For almost two days straight he had shopped, built, and prepped for today, and now he had been in multiple fights. He was as close as possible to collapse without actually collapsing.
Santi pinched the inside of his arm as hard as he could, the pain bringing a moment of clarity to his clouded mind. He was going to need to sleep soon. Sleeping inside of a rift was inadvisable, so he was going to have to try to speedrun it if he wanted any sort of chance of finishing today. The possibility of retreating up to the upper levels and catching a nap was possible. With his luck though, the other pair of warriors would find him sleeping and disembowel him before he had an opportunity to fight back. Santi had felt like this might happen, so he had brought a few things that could keep him on his feet.
A small baggie of preworkout, the highest caffeine energy drink he could buy, and a little pharmaceutical help from another college student. He would start with the energy drink and work his way up. He wanted to avoid the pills, the last thing he needed was to be in an altered state of mind when trying to finish the rift. At least, more altered than it currently was, swimming in a sea of adrenaline. He shifted as silently as possible, his foot going numb as he crouched off to the side of the intersection. He had chosen to post up in the original hallway he had come down, just feet away from the intersection.
A road flare was next to his hand, ready to be used with a moment''s notice. The light would hurt him, but he knew it would be worse for the kobolds. If they came. His patience was wearing thin, the sticky nature of his current predicament wearing down on him. The minutes trickled by and he finally heard what he had been both dreading and pleading for. The wet snuffling sounds of a kobold sniffing the air. The scuff of feet through thick dirt, the quiet whimpers and growls as they communicated.
Santi gripped the flare, ready to light it as they got closer. He strained to hear as they got closer, and he cursed himself for not putting something in the intersection to alert him when the dog faced monsters entered. He just had to hope his battle hardened instincts were correct, even if his senses were muted compared to where he had once been. The shuffling was so close, Santi thought he could reach out and touch one.
The flare burned white for a moment, blazing to life in a pyrotechnic display. Santi tossed the flare into the center of the intersection, the cries of the kobolds filling the air as they tried to cover their eyes from the harsh light. Santi rose and attacked, his own eyes bleary as he hacked down at the two helpless monsters. They didn¡¯t last long, both of them dying without offering him a fight.
The flare continued to splutter as Santi quickly took an iron dagger from each of them and went to retrieve his bag. The daggers were tossed in while the warm energy drink was pulled out. Santi sipped on it, standing right outside of the circle of light cast by the flare. Tired eyes swept over the carnage he had created. It wasn¡¯t the worst thing he had ever done, or even the most gross, but not something he wanted to experience again.
¡°I really want a shower and a nap,¡± Santi said to himself. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¡°Look at me, I¡¯m a fucking mess. Now I¡¯m talking to myself. Again,¡± Santi huffed in exasperation and finished the can off, tossing it to the side of the tunnel before pulling his pack back on and starting down the intersection that would lead to the last of the elites. He left the hissing flare in the intersection and broke out a more gentle glowstick and started to head toward where he knew the chieftain was.
Boss monsters enjoyed the ambient increase in mana that a rift heart would generate. It¡¯s why they built their lairs around them, slowly strengthening as the rift grew stronger. Santi was hoping that the trend of half starved monsters continued. He wasn¡¯t in shape to fight a full strength chieftain right now. Hell, he barely had the strength to keep walking down the hall. The caffeine infusion was helping, but he didn¡¯t think it would last long enough.
Santi started to slowly jog down the hall, throwing caution to the wind. A desperate feeling was pressing on him. The need to finish this. To get out of the dark and feel the sun on his face again. He knew he was being dumb, the small voice or reason was screaming at him in the back of his mind. He was just too tired and frustrated to care. He was going to clear the rift and he was going to do it in an expedient manner.
¡°Come on, Santi, you¡¯ve got this. We¡¯ve done it once, we can do it again. I mean, you had friends and allies with you, but you did it. I can do this,¡± the murmured mantra was repeated with increasing frequency as he started to pick up speed. He followed the twists and turns of the tunnels, moving more by instinct than by memory.
Santi barreled around a corner and found himself crashing into a furry form. Santi bowled it over, landing with a grunt of pain as the squirming kobold underneath him cried out in pain. Santi was moving instantly, rolling away from the fangs and claws of the monster. Santi cursed viciously as he struggled out of the straps of his pack, the only light the glowstick that he had dropped.
The hallway he had turned into was narrow, one of the walls buckled in, and the two kobolds were staring at him in shock. The one he had knocked over was trying to get on its feet, but its leg was twisted in a way that didn¡¯t allow it to stand. The second one was holding its dagger in a paw, waving it about as it howled at him. Plucking up the heavy axe, Santi swung like it was a golf club. He simply swung, not bothering to turn the blade part around. The blunt heavy end caught the kobold under the chin. Teeth went flying as it stiffened for a moment, before sliding bonelessly to the ground.
Panting as yet another rush of adrenaline surged through him, Santi ended the injured one. The axe split its skull with a single blow. He tugged it free and repeated the process with the unconscious one. All of his fear and uncertainty about the patrolling warriors and it had ended like this. Simply running into them and ending the fight in a few blows.
¡°I fucking hate this shit,¡± Santi groaned as his hands shook. He let himself shake for a moment, feeling the weight of what he had just experienced. Controlling his breathing, he slowly reigned himself back under control.
¡°Willpower. Fucking willpower,¡± Santi promised himself as he looted the two warriors. More shitty iron daggers added to his pack. Now, it was only the chief and guardian left and then he could get out of here. He drank half of his bottle water and ate what was left of his granola bars. The chewy bars were sickly sweet, the highly processed sugar that suffused everything wasn¡¯t common anymore.
¡°God, I love food. Aside from maybe saving everyone, getting to eat this junk is worth it. Stress sucks though. Fucking love sugar though. That first fountain drink I had, oh god, that almost makes it worth it. Mom, hearing her again. That was definitely worth it. Hearing them all again, it¡¯ll make it worth it. You just have to finish this up, Santi. Clear the rift, get out. Save your friends, take a shower, and then you get to sleep. Come on, COME ON!¡± Santi screamed as he struggled to put the pack back on. He was fraying, holding onto his nerve with his last tendrils of will.
Axe in one hand, glowstick in the other, he pushed further into the temple. He didn¡¯t have to go much further. The chief would be only a little ways away, probably hearing Santi screaming at himself. Santi didn¡¯t care. He was going to carve the bastard into pieces and then do the same to the guardian. He would rip the rift heart out of its place and walk out of here. Let them try and stop him.
CH. 11 The Chiefs Hall
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Fury carried him to the Chief¡¯s hall. Santi threw the glowstick into the corner and then snapped open another road flare that he tossed into the opposite corner. The red light overpowered the darkness revealing a long rectangular hall, crumbling stone furniture pushed to the sides.
The Chief stood straight and met Santi¡¯s eyes as he entered the hall. The kobold chief was tall for its kind, slightly over five and a half feet. Its fur was matted and dirty, its jowls were flecked with dried blood. A half eaten limb lay close by, the remains of one of its kin. It carried a long bone that had been shaped and sharpened into a rough caricature of a spear. Its yellow eyes were glazed in a mix of hunger and rage, growling low in its throat as Santi marched toward it.
Santi was covered in the blood of the Chief¡¯s tribe and holding a heavy splitting maul that dripped blood on the ground with every step. If he had been in his right mind, Santi would have approached the fight slower, more methodically. Instead, he bull rushed in, a keening war cry ripping from his throat as he closed the distance between the two of them.
His overhead blow had all of his strength and hate imbued in it, whistling as it split the air in what would be a death blow if it landed. So far, Santi hadn¡¯t had too much resistance, even the warriors dying with little fight. They were three-quarters starved and weak monsters to begin with. A false sense of confidence had wormed its way into Santi¡¯s heart, a sense of superiority. The Chief corrected him.
It sidestepped, letting the axe split nothing but dirt. Santi sagged forward, the lack of resistance throwing him off balance. The Chief lunged, the needle point of the spear aiming for Santi¡¯s neck. Santi threw himself to the side, quickly realizing his heavy pack was still on as he crashed on the ground. He wormed his arms out of the strap and rolled across the dirt as the Chief stabbed down where his heart had just been.
Rolling away from the Chief, Santi popped back to his feet, now close back to the entrance of the hall. His axe had been left buried in the dirt, the spare daggers he had collected were in the bag. The only weapon he had left was the small dagger he had taken from the shaman. A poignard, it was a poorly made and constructed poignard. The thought flashed across Santi¡¯s mind as he crouched down low, the poignard held ready.
The Chief growled and shuffled forward, not rushing as it sent a few lazy blows at Santi. Swiping them away, the sound of metal on bone filling the room as the Chief began to close the distance. Its lazy lunges became sharper and faster, forcing Santi to retreat and dodge as well as block. If he had been fully healthy, he could have matched the chief blow for blow. Now, exhausted from his trials, he struggled to hold on to the poignard as he knocked another testing blow away.
Santi was in trouble, the spear gave the Chief too much reach. He needed to close the distance or get his axe back. The heavy axe would allow him to cut down the kobold fast enough. The Chief lunged again, this time closing the distance itself as it threw a flurry of blows at Santi. Once, then twice, the bone spear found flesh. A long scrape along his ribs underneath his heart. Then a close call as it tore a furrow along his right leg. That blow would have ended him if the Chief had properly connected.
¡°FUCK OFF!¡± Santi screamed, anger and pain merging together as he kicked the dirt in an arching spray. The kobold yowled as the thick particles got in its eyes. It swung the spear back and forth in a blind attempt to keep Santi from getting close to it. Santi wasn¡¯t closing the distance, he was running to his axe buried in the ground. The smooth polymer handle felt good in his hand as he yanked it from the dirt and spun to meet the kobolds charge.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Tears streamed from its now bloodshot eyes as it attacked in a half blind fury. The maul was a poor weapon to deflect the rapid thrusting of the spear, the head much too heavy to counter the quick movements. Santi danced backward, using his faster speed to keep the Chief chasing him. He ducked under a wild sweep and saw his chance. He surged forward and struck the kobold in its chest with his shoulder. It was a proper tackle, somewhere out there was a proud football coach.
Santi let the axe drop and wrapped both hands around the kobolds knees. With his shoulder in its sternum, he churned his legs and lifted. The Chief was lighter than he looked, but ferocious. It dropped the spear and raked Santi¡¯s shoulders with its claws. Hot pain radiated through Santi, a pained cry mingling with the kobolds growls. Santi lowered his head and dove to the ground, keeping the kobold tucked in close. It was a short fall, but with the power of his run, the kobold broke in several places.
Santi heard and felt the bones break as it screamed in agony. Its arms flopped limp to the ground as its head thrashed back and forth. Santi rolled off and looked down at the pitiful monster. It was half dead when he entered, starving and forced to cannibalism. Its spear was a bone that was yellow with age. Even with the Chief being in such bad shape, it had hurt him. There were gashes on his shoulders and he had two long cuts from the spear.
¡°You¡¯re a little shit, you know that,¡± Santi spoke down to the paralyzed Chief. It glared up at him, hissing and growling in equal measure. Santi¡¯s blood decorated its claws and Santi was glad it hadn¡¯t thought to bite him. It was such a stupid move, tackling a monster with natural teeth and fangs.
¡°You know, the first time we fought you, you were actually kind of impressive,¡± Santi told his captive audience as he went and retrieved his axe.
¡°Eight of us came and cleared the rift. We got the shamans before we got down here, but you had a couple of warriors with you,¡± Santi walked back and stood over the Chief. A hard look on his face as he stared down at his broken foe. His blood had darkened his clothes and the pain was making it hard to think.
¡°You were in here and had a proper spear. Armor too, this lacquered wood that was turning spells and skills. You killed a friend of mine. Speared him right through his eye. Fuck, you were fast. Got Harry before he even knew the fight started. We got you though. You died in the dirt, growling and hissing just like right now. I¡¯m glad Harry didn¡¯t come down here this time. He deserves a better death than this shithole.¡± Santi finished the Chief off with a pair of heavy blows.
Leaving the axe buried in the Chief, he went and got his pack. He had planned for emergencies and started shuffling through the pack for his medical supplies. Gauze, disinfectant, even some thread and a needle. He peeled his sticky shirt off, dropping the ruined garment on the ground. Using one of his precious water bottles, he cleaned the scratches as best he could, twisting his arms to reach. Santi counted his blessings; they were high on his shoulder rather than down by his shoulder blades.
The iodine caused a few tears as he poured it liberally over the long, ragged, wounds. He couldn¡¯t use the gauze, so settled for some large square band-aids that probably weren¡¯t worth the effort. His ribs were a little easier, more water followed by iodine. He was able to place a thick wad of gauze on the wound and tape it there. The gauze was darkening even as he moved to his worst wound, the long furrow along his quad.
¡°This isn¡¯t good,¡± Santi muttered to himself as he cleaned it. Without a healer he was fucked. There was no other way around it. These wounds won''t heal fast enough for him to take advantage of his innate knowledge. Clearing a rift didn¡¯t offer any physical rewards like a dungeon would.
¡°Hope someone has a healer class.¡± Santi dragged his pants back up after he wrapped his leg. He tugged a rolled up shirt out of his pack and delicately pulled it on over his bandages. The bottle of pain pills were all over the counter, but they were better than nothing. He used the rest of his water to wash down a handful of them, not bothering to count them out. Santi repacked his bag and left it there. He knew what was waiting for him in the guardian¡¯s chamber and all he needed was his axe and some courage. Rallying his courage, he limped through the Chief¡¯s hall, and into the heart of the rift.
Ch. 12 Rift Guardian pt. 1
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The guardian¡¯s chamber was hewed of rough stone. Stairs led him further down, through the floor of the temple and into a natural cave. Luminescent moss gave off a blue light, gentle in contrast to the harsh blaze of the road flare he had left at the top of the steps. This stairway had been burned in his memory. The quiet descent, the party still reeling from Harry¡¯s death as they walked down to face the rift guardian. Death was a constant, but when they had entered the rift they had been the eight strongest fighters on campus.
It hadn¡¯t been enough.
Santi hoped that the rift guardian would be weakened like all of the kobolds had. Who knew how long they had been drifting between worlds. The rift heart gradually degrades as the guardian weakens with it. When they had launched their attack, the rift had been feasting on earth¡¯s potential for months. It had been one of the reasons the campus had been such a deadzone. They hadn¡¯t known that then, simply content to stay away from it while they safely leveled.
The stairs grew damp, condensation dripping from the ceiling far above him and splattering on the stone. He stepped carefully, his leg weak. The heavy maul was a burden on him by now, the weight straining his arms. Some of the other rifts he had explored had been massive, with the guardians possibly days of travel away from the entrance. This one was weak, he would have been able to clear it in minutes if he had his power. Now, it was starting to look like it would be his crypt. He hoped Tank got to survive and find his notebook.
The bottom of the stairwell came abruptly, opening to a wide natural passage in the stone. Plodding toward his fate, Santi cracked his neck, feeling the bandages on his shoulders twisting. The moss clung to nearly every inch of space, the light hardly enough to see by. If he had brought his flare though, the moss would have retreated and he would have been reliant on just the flare during the fight. Which wasn¡¯t the greatest idea.
The guardian¡¯s cave was just as gorgeous as he remembered. A wide sphere of space, a single black tree growing in the center of it. The floors were covered in vivid red poppies, purple in the light of the moss. A pulsing mass of amber sat in the far back of the cavern, no larger than a softball. That was the core of the rift, the heart of it. That stone would absorb all the potential and mana of an area, growing larger and larger until it either evolved or shattered under its own weight. Or it was taken and used. A rift stone was a powerful alchemical ingredient. One that Santi was going to take or die trying.
He limped down into the glade of flowers, eyes fastened to the black tree in the center. Its branches were skeletal and thin, the trunk wizened. White sap trickled out of a series of deep gouges near the base. Santi looked at the wounds, wondering if perhaps some desperate kobolds had come and tested their luck against the guardian. They had obviously failed, their bodies used to fertilize the cavern and its denizen.
The whole reason he had brought the maul instead of a bat or something similar. Something lighter that wouldn¡¯t have caused his arms to burn as he lugged it for hours. Nothing was better for a tree than a good axe.The ent resting in the center of the cavern was the guardian. When they had come down here and used Analyze, it had called it a Rift-Born Ent. Santi didn¡¯t care what it was actually called. It was a tree with a bad attitude and horror inducing eating habits. He could play lumberjack today.
¡°All right, let¡¯s get this over with. I¡¯m going to chop you into kindling, take the rift core and there¡¯s not a damn thing you can do to stop me!¡± Santi hollered at the tree. For a moment the cavern was silent. The weight of the moment grew, the silence building as Santi waited. Finally, the cavern groaned as the tree began to move, its limbs swaying as it rose.
Roots broke the floor, dislodging the red flowers in a wave of dirt and bones. Thousands of bones shards, for that¡¯s what the cavern floor was made of. It¡¯s what the ent lived on and the flowers grew out of. The tree grew, eight feet, nine, ten, and then it finished standing at nearly eleven feet tall. The thin trunk groaned in protest of the weight, bark cracking as it moved forward. It was in terrible shape and Santi thanked every god he knew that it was. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
The middle of the tree broke open, revealing a crimson orb with a cat-like pupil in the center. The twisting branches made it look like it had six arms, three on each side, while the roots twisted together into five thick but squat legs. More white sap came pouring out as the trunk was put under stress, but the rift guardian started to lumber forward.
Each step shook the earth as the twisted parody of life closed the distance. It was surprisingly fast for how slow each step was. The long strides eating away the distance between the two of them. Hefting his splitting maul, Santi surged forward. Every step shifted bone beneath his feet, threatening to trip him. The ent stopped, twisting as three arms came at him. Santi poured on the speed, leaping and rolling on his shoulder. He could feel the bandages rip off, but couldn¡¯t bother to care as he scambled to his feet.
One of its five legs were solidly planted in front of him, a target he couldn¡¯t say no to. He hauled back and struck, twisting his hips to put as much power as he could into it. The maul split the wood like it was glass, shards of it flying around as the ent groaned and backpedaled. Santi didn¡¯t give it space, staying close to it and kept hacking at the long leg. The dozens of twisting roots wrapped up and formed the leg, meeting at the trunk in a twisted knob. Santi kept attacking the thick nodule where leg met the trunk. Each strike digging deeper and deeper as rotten wood peeled away.
Instinct warned him. He aborted his latest attack, falling to the ground and rolling as fast as he could. The passage of dozens of skeletal branches stirred his hair as the wide sweep of the ents arms missed him by bare inches. The cold steel of the axe pressed against his thin shirt as Santi tried to stop himself from rolling over the sharp edge.
He got to his feet, standing in the center of the cave now, having switched spots with the ent. It turned slowly and Santi didn¡¯t let the opportunity go. He couldn¡¯t afford to take even a single blow from the tall tree. Those long branches were sharp and would rip him to pieces with ease. He had to keep close to its legs and he found the one he had been working on. The dark wood was covered in sticky sap that bubbled from the wounds he had inflicted.
His next blow sent a splash of the sap out, a puddle of it having formed in the depression he had been cutting. He landed two more shallow blows, hacking away at the nodule where the roots connected. Santi leaped forward this time as the ent slashed the ground, spraying bone chips around as it tore gouges in the earth. It had learned its lesson about Santi rolling on the ground quickly.
This close to it, he could smell the tree. It was cloying, the scent of rot and mildew. The ent was sick, barely alive, and was on its last legs. The rift had fed it so it had been strong and powerful when he had first encountered it, but it had arrived so weak. Santi finished off the leg with two more blows. The limb of roots fell away and the ent staggered as its four other legs tried to keep up. Santi nearly died as one of the legs landed inches from him. The legs weren¡¯t tall enough to crush him like an ant, but it would shatter him if he got stepped on.
As the ent was staggering, he lashed out at the next leg in the line. Splinters flew as he began to chew his way through that knot of wood. A violent smile had emerged on Santi¡¯s dirty face. Hope was blossoming finally. The rift guardian was weak and he had a viable strategy to kill it. He just had to avoid the six arms and four remaining legs. The sticky sap that had sprayed all over him had numbed his skin wherever it landed and that was a concern seeing as his hands were drenched in the sap.
Santi cut through the next leg, once again staggering the ent as it fell back. Behind him, the rift heart pulsed slowly, flashes of amber light washing through the cave. Santi watched in horror as the ent started to shrink, limbs cracking and molding together as it condensed from eleven feet tall to seven. The sap stopped spilling out of its wounds. The roots of its legs split apart, unraveling like a million worms, only to combine together to make four thinner and more nimble legs. The six thick branch arms became four, while the lowest two branches were absorbed into the trunk, thickening it.
¡°What the fuck!?¡± Santi yelled in disbelief. The ent was still towering, but now it wasn¡¯t a lumbering monster that had little chance of hitting him. Santi looked back at the rift heart and was shocked to see it had shrunk, from a softball to a baseball in size. Its amber glow was nearly extinguished.
The ent started to lope toward him, its four legs moving it quickly. Santi brought his axe up in a guard position as his newly acquired hope fled. The ent had absorbed most of its mass to reinforce itself and speed itself up, fueled by the rift stone. His fight had degraded from hopeful to lethal.
Ch. 13 Rift Guardian pt. 2
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The ent was on him faster than Santi thought something that large could move. Its arms swinging down in a brutal chop meant to pulverize him. Santi dove forward, refusing to retreat against the monstrosity. His body was growing numb, limbs heavier by the moment. He didn¡¯t have the strength left to try to kite the monster. Instead he threw himself at it with a reckless fury.
The red eye was now in range and Santi was swinging for it. The tree twisted as it saw the wedge of sharpened steel aiming for its eye. Santi was moving too fast to redirect his aim to chase the eye, he had to settle for burying the axe head to the side of the eye. The trunk may have thickened, but it was still rotten. Bark exploded outward in a spray, pelting him with black bark and white ichor. Santi could taste the bitter sap in his mouth, causing his jaw and tongue to begin to numb.
The ent spun and Santi wasn¡¯t fast enough. One of its thick club-like arms caught him in the stomach, picking him up and tossing him through the air like he was leaf in the wind. As he flew weightless in the air, Santi had a brief moment of peace. Memories of floating on the air currents flashed behind his eyes. Then he was crashing and rolling, axe lost, until his momentum was dispersed. Something felt wrong, his left wrist was hanging awkwardly and his right leg wasn¡¯t working properly. He couldn¡¯t feel any of it though.
Sheer will drove him to his feet and started him limping toward his lost weapon. The ent was moving cautiously, sap weeping from the deep gash by its eye. Santi knew that he was hurt badly, but his thoughts had become as muddled as his body was numb. He knew that eye needed to come out. There was an axe at his feet. A goal he could accomplish. Worry, anxiety, pain, and everything else had vanished. He was just a man with a plan. Axe into eye. Santi could do that, he was sure of it.
He held the axe close to the head, his left wrist unable to hold any of the weight. He shambled forward, his right leg dragging behind him as he fearlessly attacked. He swayed and an arm missed him. He fell to a knee and rolled awkwardly and dodged a crashing limb. He was in amongst the roots, the legs stamping down slowly as the ent tried to crush him.
Santi lashed out over and over, using the axe more like a knife. Each cut severed roots from the legs, weakening them. He was covered in the ents ichor, head to toe, but he kept up his steady assault. It was like he was floating, an out of body experience, as he slowly cut his way up.
A leg folded, cut nearly in half, unable to bear the weight of the main trunk. The ent listed to the side and Santi slammed the axe into the base of the trunk and hauled himself up. The sharp metal dug deep into the ents bark, holding while Santi started to inch his way up. He kept his body wedged against the ents trunk, the ent unable to hit him with its long inflexible arms. A crack resounded as another wounded leg buckled and the ent toppled down to the ground.
The crash rattled Santi¡¯s hold, nearly throwing him off the trunk and in range of the lashing limbs. The ent was trying to get up, beneath Santi¡¯s feet, the root network was trying to recombine and make new legs. The ents arms swept the floor like a demented snow angel, sending bone chips and flowers flying through the air. He had a chance now and he was going to use it. He struggled to pull the axe out of the bark, but once it came clear he aimed at the foot long eye a few feet above him.
The eye was positioned right beneath the canopy and Santi was striking from near the base. He had to throw himself forward as he swung to get close enough. Time slowed for Santi. The moment stretched on as he hung above the rough bark of the ent. The maul had become white with flecks of black bark sticking to it. The red eye was wide with panic, the slit pupil no more than a hair wide. Its arms had gotten underneath it, ready to push up and regain its feet. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
Then the maul fell and time resumed. The soft eye squelched as Santi drove it down. The ent shook like it was having a seizure and Santi found himself once again being tossed through the air. His landing drove the air out of his lungs but he didn¡¯t really notice. He was staring up at the blue ceiling, his mind drifting away. Santi didn¡¯t know how long he lay there. It could have been minutes. Maybe hours or days. Eventually, the numbness started to fade and his brain started to work.
¡°Owwww,¡± Santi groaned out as he slowly rolled to his side to look at the ent. It was still, the yellow handle of the axe protruding from its trunk. A pool of white sap was slowly expanding out from its corpse. Its many branches were shattered, laying around it in heaps of twigs. The woven roots were now just knots without meaning, the weight of the ents intent having been lost. It looked like a weird tree that had been felled by a storm that someone had buried their axe into. Not a murderous carnivorous tree.
¡°Told you. Kindling,¡± Santi gasped as he worked his way to his feet. Everything ached, pulsing blasts of pain that radiated through him and threatened to steal his breath. Not in pain was his wrist. He looked at what should have been a broken wrist and was confused to see that it was perfectly fine. A hint of suspicion was all Santi needed to check his other wounds. His pants were little more than tatters of cloth, making it easy to pull the soiled gauze off. His deep cut was just a thin scar now.
¡°That¡¯s convenient.¡± Santi knew that some monsters had healing properties, a symbiotic relationship they¡¯d build with others. The ents sap could heal, in return the kobolds likely had brought it fresh meat. Times had been lean and the kobolds had been bringing others of their tribe down here for the sap though.
His knee had been dislocated and was now fine. The claw marks on his shoulder no longer hurt, nor what he was sure had been a series of broken ribs from that powerful strike the ent had landed. Pulled muscles, strains, cuts, scrapes, and everything in-between. All healed.
Santi stared at the natural healing elixir that was slowly draining away into the cracks of the cavern. He was starting to wish he had kept those empty water bottles now. By the time he went up and got them, the sap would be gone. The many flowers were growing in front of his eyes and there were so many small little crevices in the floor that it wouldn¡¯t work. There was something he could take though.
He went to the ents eye and retrieved his axe and began to get to work. Each blow took another chunk of the rotten outer wood. Minutes went by as Santi hacked away, splinters flying around him, until the axe rebounded. The center of an ent was its heartwood. A super dense knot of wood that was valuable for how sturdy and light it was. With the right crafters, it could become a near impervious shield. It took Santi the majority of an hour to cut around the heartwood, until he had the rough shape of it.
As the minutes marched on and Santi parsed more and more of the ent away, the faster the ent degraded. The bark and wood was melting around the heartwood and maybe ten minutes past the hour, only the heartwood remained. The remnants of the ent were nothing more than a black sludge that coated his shoes. The heartwood was a matte black, drinking in the light of the blue moss. About two feet long, a foot wide, and six inches thick. More like a stubby plank.
Santi had seen good crafters work with less before. He pulled his shirt off and bundled the heartwood in the shirt, which was torn to shreds and soaked in blood, ichor, and dirt. It could be used as a temporary bag until he got back to his abandoned pack. With that done, Santi moved toward the much smaller rift heart and cursed.
¡°Lot bigger last time. Can¡¯t believe you could empower the guardian like that, nearly got me killed,¡± Santi told the inanimate object. His embarrassment about talking to himself was long gone.
¡°Listen, I¡¯m going to pull you out of the wall now. Later, I¡¯ll use you in a powerful potion that will increase my potential. Just thought you should know. You tried to kill me, failed, and now I¡¯m going to eat you. Well, not eat, but¡you''re a stone. I¡¯m talking to a stone. I need to go to sleep,¡± Santi groused as he grabbed the amber stone and pulled it away from the wall it was nestled in.
It came freely and was added to the temporary bag and then Santi was headed back to the stairs. He had done it, cleared a rift without a class. A title was likely, maybe even a reward of potential. More advanced classes offered were nearly a certainty. All that remained was getting out of the rift, back to the dorm, and surviving the rest of the night.
Ch. 14 Reunited
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After retrieving his pack and stashing his spoils, Santi started to work his way out of the temple. He was out of water and was desperately thirsty. It was really the only thing he could think about as he left the cool confines of the underground temple and entered the brutal heat of the outside. After so long in the weak light of glowsticks or glowing moss, the bright red star burned. Santi was forced to wait several minutes by the temple as his eyes adjusted.
The wide plains of long gray grass were deserted. The hot wind that stirred the grass was his only companion as he started trudging toward the rifts entrance. His pack was lighter than it had been and all his wounds had been healed by the ents blood. Santi was exhausted though, more tired than he had been in years. The strain of slowly working his way through the dark, the explosion of adrenaline as he fought the kobold elites, the final grueling battle against the rift guardian. He was tuckered in and all that waited for him on the outside was a starving kobold host that was busy ravaging his friends.
They weren¡¯t even the only enemies out there. The four rifts that opened on campus were the biggest threats of course, but many animals had mutated. Angry spirits, before unable to interact with the real world, had been strengthened. Malignant energies that were suddenly vitalized would curse buildings. There were a whole host of problems other than a pack of five foot dog creatures. It was just that the kobolds were one of the biggest threats. The other rifts were filled with more powerful monsters, but less numerous and more cautious. They would have to be cleared, but in the early days it had been the kobold packs that had killed the most.
That and the fires. Fires had taken off and burnt down massive parts of the city. Losing power, many would die as they lost their medicine or medical equipment keeping them alive. The violence wouldn¡¯t just be monster vs. monster either. Humans would slaughter each other in a bid for safety, for resources needed to stay alive. Classes that people had no clue about and would harm each other. In the next few hours, thousands would die from things other than interdimensional monsters.
Santiago couldn¡¯t let that fact burden him. There was nothing he could do about it but build a safe zone for his people. If he had warned others before it had started, he would have ended up in a hospital with nice grippy socks. That was a fact. Nobody would have believed him, not until the evidence was right in their face. It was why his warnings had to come so late, his plans of nudging people to safety so obscure.
Even if he knew it factually, emotionally those who were currently dying felt heavy on his mind. He did know it was coming. He could have tried more. He could have been honest to everyone. What if someone had believed him, what if they had prepared? All those thoughts haunted him as he worked his way across the grassy plains.
The tears in the world were easy to see and he was glad there were no kobolds around. He didn¡¯t think he had the strength to fight any of them right now. He would have to fight after he left the rift, but he was hoping he had time to get his class and some attribute points. Enough to keep him on his feet for the night at least. He cleared the arch in a sprint, the sudden change from hot summer day to cold spring night shocking. The sweat soaking his bare torso chilled, the straps of his pack digging into his bare shoulders.
Santi looked back at the tall arch and couldn¡¯t contain the smile that bloomed on his face as the silver white arch began to twist. The outer edges warped, a corona of energy radiating around it. The glow faded, then surged, to slowly fade away to nothing more than a glimmer. The arch started to buckle, collapsing inward into a ball. It took no more than eight seconds before the arch was gone and the rift was destroyed. Without the rift stone to keep it stable, the entire world had just collapsed.
¡°Good riddance,¡± Santi growled as he cut across the parking lot and to the dorm rooms. Glass was scattered about, twinkling in the faint light of the moon. Silver beams that stretched from the heavens and illuminated a scene ripped straight from hell. Bodies were sprawled out everywhere, blood splattered about like a Jackson-Pollack painting, despair made manifest. Kobold corpses formed the vast majority of the dead, but scattered around the fight were human shapes. Shapes Santi made sure not to look at too closely. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
¡°Tank? You in there?¡± Santi cried out, not wanting to walk through the broken glass door and find his head being caved in.
¡°That you, Santi?¡± a muffled voice called back. Santi couldn¡¯t tell who it was, but it wasn¡¯t a kobolds howl and that was enough for him.
¡°Yeah, it¡¯s me. I¡¯m coming in. Please don¡¯t hit me,¡± Santi had to fight back a sob as he walked forward. Safety was so close, other humans to guard him while he relaxed. He had spent most of the last day in the rift by himself, prowling the dark to fight monsters. He really needed his friends to be here for him.
¡°Alright, come on in,¡± a deeper voice called out. Santi thought it was Tank and the hope his friend had survived caused him to jog into the dark dorm. The front doors were shattered, glass strewn about, and kobold corpses piled around the entrance. Piled up in a rampart to make it harder for people to rush into the building. Part of Santi¡¯s mind, the weary war veteran part, admired the gruesome determination and ingenuity. The other ninety percent of his brain, the traumatized teenager, simply shoved the sight into a growing chest of horrific images that he didn¡¯t think about.
¡°Relax, it¡¯s actually Santi,¡± Tank said as Santi took in the common room. All of the furniture had been flipped over, forming another barricade that the defenders had used. Chloe was there, her thin, pale face exhausted with deep black bags under her eyes. The rest of them were there, all of them looking scared and tired and haunted. It was a look that Santi knew well.
¡°Where the hell did you go?¡± Chloe demanded as Santi navigated around a couch and into the center of the room. Thirty plus pair of eyes were locked on him as he looked over everyone. He was so happy to see them all alive, the possibility of everyone surviving had been so remote he hadn¡¯t even risked the thin thread of hope to form.
¡°Had to close the rift. Without a way home or leadership, the rest of the kobolds will flee. If I hadn¡¯t closed it, they would have kept throwing themselves at us until we were all dead or we had fled. Then they would have made this place their den and it would become a massive pain in the ass to dig them out,¡± Santi explained as he dropped the heavy sack to the ground, pleased to be free of its weight.
¡°That doesn¡¯t explain how you knew this was happening,¡± Chloe seemed to have become a representative or something, since a wide swath of people were nodding along with her. Anger was mixed in with their exhaustion, fear the prevalent emotion, and fear could make people stupid. Santi became very aware that a large majority of the people in the room were holding sharp instruments and had spent hours killing things.
¡°Uhh, I¡¯m from the future?¡± Santi went with honesty, as unbelievable as it was.
¡°Explain slowly, Santi. Like we¡¯re all five.¡± Tank had set down his own axe and had crossed his massive arms across his chest. He had a deep look of concern on his face as everyone looked to him before nodding along like lemmings.
¡°Have you seen Terminator?¡± Santi offered.
¡°Five years old, Santi.¡±
¡°OK, well then. I, or at least my memories and psyche, are from eight or so years in the future. This has happened before. I lived through it. During the last battle, the final battle for the continent actually, I fell into a ritual,¡± Santi explained slowly as everyone listened intently.
¡°Ritual? Like magic?¡± Chloe interrupted.
¡°Let him finish, then we can ask questions,¡± Tank cut in before anyone else could stop Santi¡¯s explanation.
¡°Thanks, and yes. Like magic. The ritual was to send the seven most powerful of our enemies back in time. I accidently walked in on it and got transported instead of them,¡± Santi continued his story while taking everyone else in. They seemed at least quasi-acceptive of this. At least they hadn¡¯t started to hack him apart in a fear fueled fit of violence.
¡°And that¡¯s enough of that!¡± A voice boomed in his ear as everyone froze.
Ch. 15 Akthyr
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Santi spun around to look at the creature that had just yelled in his ear. His frayed nerves snapped, a scream of fright and rage boiling out of him, and he slashed at the figure. His axe chopped through the air, intent on killing whatever it was. Santi¡¯s eyes took in the figure just before his axe started to shear through skin. Or, at least it tried to. The axe stopped dead an inch from the creature¡¯s skin, frozen solid as everyone else in the room.
¡°Screaming isn¡¯t becoming a regressor. You should work on that,¡± the creature continued to boom. It was loud enough that Santi could swear he saw dust motes flying off the ground with every uttered syllable. Santi finally took a minute to take the creature in and had to swallow hard at what he was seeing.
Seven feet of beige, velvet, sweatsuit. Thick chains of heavy gold draped its long neck and wrists. Skin so pale it was translucent, blue veins pulsing with regularity along its neck. Black hair fell in a rough mullet to its shoulders, a pair of curling golden ram horns on the side of its head that shone with power. Its large pot-belly strained its suit, but it seemed not to have a care in the world as it drank from a pitcher of margaritas through a bendy straw.
¡°W¡what?¡± Santi stammered as he took it in.
¡°I¡¯m the administrator of this mud ball. You may call me Akthyr. And you are a headache.¡± Akthyr burped loudly, wide pink lips wobbling as spittle flew free.
¡°Third time I¡¯ve had to reset the world and initiation. This was supposed to be easy, you know. I come in, watch over as the system rebuilds your society. Someone claims the planet, I get my reward. Buuuuuttttttt noooooo. Have to keep resetting it. Fucking time magic,¡± Akthyr was wobbling on their feet, hardly bothering to look down at Santi as they staggered to a sofa to plop down on. The straw emerging from the pitcher of margaritas didn¡¯t stray any further than an inch from their lips.
¡°I¡¯m, uhh, a little confused?¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine. You¡¯re dumb. This is the fourth time your world has started and it''s the first time you¡¯ve been interesting.¡±
¡°Little rude,¡± Santi muttered as he walked closer, but kept a safe distance. He had never seen this species of alien before, but he had met plenty before. Akthyr radiated power, railing off of him in intoxicating waves. Whatever he was or position he held, he could be helpful for Santi. As long as Santi stayed on his good side and didn¡¯t get evaporated.
¡°I came here to tell you directly, just like I¡¯m telling the other eight shitheads.¡±
Eight?! The thought shot through Santi like a bolt of lightning. There had only been seven of them in the ritual, which meant there were potentially two other regressors out there.
¡°Are you listening to me? I swear, you humans are so inefficient. Only one train of thought, just terrible,¡± Akthyr moaned as Santi focused his attention on the administrator.
¡°Yes, I¡¯m listening.¡±
¡°Geas. I¡¯m putting a geas on all of you. No talking about regressing. No talking of the System to others. You can take advantage of it all you want, can¡¯t tell anyone until you¡¯re a Champion. By then, well it won¡¯t matter by then,¡± Akthyr trailed off, the faintest hints of a smile tracing across his lips.
¡°Excuse me? That was really creepy and I¡¯d like it if you explained it,¡± Santi was too tired to play these games with a drunk alien. All he wanted to do was go to his bedroom and lay down for a few hours. That and a shower to scrub off all the sap that was stuck to his body.
Akthyr giggled. A drunk seven foot alien was giggling as the apocalypse was going on around him after freezing an entire room full of people. Santi checked out. His common sense finished packing up and left, taking his filter and politeness with him. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡±
¡°You. All of this,¡± Akthyr let his head loll back and cackled, the sound similar to a mule¡¯s braying.
¡°You sound like a jackass right now.¡±
¡°Ohhh, don¡¯t get upset and try to play word games with me. I¡¯m conversing with all nine of you at the same time as I integrate this stupid planet for the fourth time. Even with the thinnest sliver of my conscious peering at you, I am so far beyond you, well, you may as well be an ant scuttling across the surface of the sun.¡±
¡°You done? Feel better now that you¡¯ve got that canned speech off your chest?¡±
¡°Yes, yes I do. I practiced it in the shower. Two of the others are shaking in fear right now and the rest are at least humble. What is your deal? You should be trembling before my might?¡± Akthyr didn¡¯t sound too upset, just curious as they sucked down more margarita.
¡°I¡¯m really tired, and I kinda want this to be over so I can get my class and take a nap.¡±
¡°Shock. That¡¯s what this is.¡± Akthyr¡¯s goat-like eyes narrowed as they peered harder at Santi.
¡°Severe dehydration, hunger, and your brain is a little toasty from all of those adrenaline dumps. Surprised you''re still on your feet. Humans are so fragile,¡± Akthyr waved his hand in a vague gesture of approval.
¡°Sure, let¡¯s say it¡¯s shock.¡±
¡°Anyway, for your shocking, hahaha, get it, shocking,¡± Akthyr dissolved into drunken giggles. Santi just stared down at him with mounting exasperation.
¡°Ohhh, okay, okaaayyyy. I¡¯ll let you know what¡¯s up since you have a spine. When you did the whole regressor thing it kinda fucks everything up. Drains huge amounts of energy and potential that the system sets aside for the integration. Which is my bonus by the way, so y¡¯all are wasting my bonus every time you reset this timeline.¡±
¡°What do you mean, by like, any of that,¡± Santi asked, his mind spinning as Akthyr just rambled through a half-ass explanation.
¡°Why are you so dumb. So, you have a planet, Earth. It is being integrated. When integrating the planet it is put in a bubble, isolated from everything. Potential and mana are set aside to power the integration. When you reset the planet through a massive use of time magic, like your regression, I have to restart it. Cull the entire planet, condense it down to nothing, and then restart you back to when the planet was isolated. Everytime I do that, it eats up a lot of the energy that the system sets aside to fuel this integration. Energy and potential that I would have received as a bonus for completing this integration. You keeping up?¡±
¡°Yeah. Planet in a bubble. Regression causes the planet to be reset, taking energy out of the bank. You get all of the leftover energy from the bank when the integration is done,¡± Santi rehashed Akthyr¡¯s winding explanation.
¡°Close enough. So, I¡¯m tired of resetting all of you shits, so I¡¯ve decided to invest instead of cutting costs. I¡¯m going to invest all of the remaining potential and energy into your planet. The potential and energy investment will boost your world to a D grade. This will cause the veil on your planet to degrade faster, which will bring more and more colonizers. You thought the war was bad last time when the dregs came. Now, sons and daughters of noble houses will flock here for the opportunity to harness the power of a freshly integrated world.¡±
¡°What do you get out of doing this?¡± Santi whispered, his heart sinking as flashbacks from the score of campaigns he had fought in passed through his mind. They had driven the invaders off world, but the cost had been tremendous. If that was the dregs, and now the real warriors were coming, then they were doomed.
¡°The planet will be sold to one of the Ascended. You know, the guy you spat at and promised to defy and resist.¡± Akthyr seemed to find this endlessly funny, braying on the couch as Santi slowly sank down next to them.
¡°What¡¯s an Ascended?¡±
¡°Call them a god if it makes you feel better. It¡¯s what happens when you reach the top. You ascend, leave this plane, go to the next. Still, they collect rent from us down here. Scout talent, harvest rare resources, stuff like that. Keep an eye on descendants, heaven forbid you kill an Ascended¡¯s descendant.¡±
¡°It doesn¡¯t make me feel better.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Calling them a god. It doesn¡¯t make me feel better.¡±
¡°Ohh, well, it sucks to be you. Anyway, I came to tell you the rules, I have told you the rules. No more regressions, no telling people about being a regressor. Planet¡¯s getting an upgrade, you have a year before the invasions start. Good luck, try to be more entertaining by the way. It¡¯s awfully boring being up there and staring down at you when you were hiding around and just speeding about. The system likes fighters, you know, people who aren¡¯t afraid of mixing it up.¡±
With that last bit of unasked for advice, Akthyr simply disappeared and sound returned to the common room. The utter silence had been unnerving, but to hear the breathing of thirty people resume was nearly deafening.
Class Selection Available
¡°Oh, finally.¡± Santi laid his head down against the arm of the sofa he was sitting on and fell asleep. He ignored the beeping of the system notifications that were thrumming as his rewards piled on. He would check it when he woke up.
Ch. 16 Unanswered Questions
-
Santi woke with a start, bolting upright, skin peeling away from the leather couch loudly. Light filtered through the broken glass doors, but the common room was still gloomy. People were lounging around, some collapsed and sleeping. Eyes turned to him as he bolted upright, eyes full of questions. Questions he didn¡¯t want to answer right now as his headache decided to announce itself with a blast of crushing pain. Dehydration and exhaustion made poor bedfellows.
¡°Morning sunshine,¡± Paulie drawled out, sitting the ground with his legs spread out, watching him with interest. Tank was off to the side talking to someone who Santi vaguely remembered, but seeing Santi awake, he detached himself from the conversation and headed over. Chloe and her three friends were clustered to the side, each of them gripping a weapon.
¡°How long was I out for?¡±
¡°Few hours. I think. Nobody remembers you walking through the doors. Or really anything. Memory just sorta, fades away right around the time you called us over,¡± Paulie was calm as he spoke, but there was a lingering anxiety in his words as he stared at Santi.
¡°Well, shit. Everyone already picked their class?¡±
¡°How do you know that? That we have classes?¡±
¡°I told you once, but none of you can remember.¡±
¡°Huh. Some secret government shit, like the Illuminati?¡±
¡°Paulie, the Illuminati aren''t real and those are monsters from mythology. I don¡¯t think the government has anything to do with it,¡± Tank rumbled up to them, concern etched across his face as he kneeled down next to Santi.
¡°That¡¯s what they want us to think. This could be an experiment gone wrong. A huge A.I and some genetic hybrid monsters that were being developed got loose,¡± Paulie said with such certainty that Santi had to take a second to remind himself that this definitely isn''t a government conspiracy.
¡°Paulie, you think you could go get a couple bottles of water for Santi, and his pack over there,¡± Tank asked politely, his dark eyes never leaving Santi¡¯s.
¡°Sure, sure. I¡¯ll go and grab Daniel, see if he wants in on this. He¡¯s European, he knows how sketchy the government is.¡± Paulie was already halfway gone even as he spoke.
¡°Someone looks like they just got done with a bukkake film,¡±Chloe chirped as she and her friends walked over. Santi wanted to just lay back and go to sleep again. His headache was worsening and the last thing he needed was for people to be poking fun at him.
¡°Thanks, Chloe. Really appreciate it.¡± Santi offered her a thumbs up as his head dipped down, eyes closed to try to minimize his headache.
¡°Leave him be, he¡¯s hurting right now.¡± Tank defended him, which only earned him a snort of anger from one of the girls.
¡°Like we all aren¡¯t hurting. They killed Adam, I saw them, just¡just rip him, oh god.¡± The pain in her voice was a brand on Santi¡¯s soul, dredging up old memories he had let fade to nothing more than haunted whispers. Everyone was red eyed, either from tears or sleep deprivation, but he could see the stress lines, the grief, and the anguish etched upon their souls.
¡°I know, Amanda. We will work through this together, but we can¡¯t do that by lashing out at others in our pain. Our anger and hurt has to be directed at those who did this, not those who are just as caught up as we are,¡± Tank calmed her down.
¡°Santi, I need you to tell us what¡¯s going on and where you went.¡±
¡°It¡¯s called a rift. It¡¯s where the kobolds came from. I went inside and closed it.¡± Santi took an offered bottle of water as Paulie arrived with Daniel in tow. They joined the gathering crowd around him as he drained half the bottle in one long swig. The relief on his parched throat was godsend and he groaned in relief. Slumping back into the couch, he looked over the group of people staring at him. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
Thirty or so college students, only a small portion of the dorms. More than what would have survived without him. Could he have saved more though? Shouldn¡¯t this room be filled with survivors? If he had just had the courage to speak out, to gather others and prepare them. Santi knew he was wrong, that the questions in his mind were not fair. He had known what would have happened if he had spoken the truth. He would have been locked up in a psychiatric hold.
¡°How do you know that though!?¡± Amanda nearly screamed, her fists balled up tightly as her red-rimmed green eyes blazed with anger and frustration.
¡°I told you all last night. You just can¡¯t remember it now. I can¡¯t tell you about it now, there are rules I have to follow, rules that can¡¯t be broken no matter how much I want to.¡±
¡°We don¡¯t understand Santi, and honestly, you¡¯re not making sense to any of us.¡± Tank placed a warm hand on his shoulder, a mix of comfort and gentle pressure. Santi had to take a deep breath and try to center himself as his own ire was increasing.
¡°This is an integration cycle. A system has arrived and we are now going to have to survive.¡±
¡°BUT HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS?¡± Amanda screamed, she was literally trembling with emotion, and while she got some side-eyes, nobody interceded.
¡°I told you once. It was erased from your memory, or likely blocked, and I¡¯m no longer allowed to tell you.¡±
Amanda seemed to deflate, shrinking in on herself as tears raced down her face as she began to sob. Chloe and the other two friends quickly surrounded her, holding her up as she broke down. Tank was looking apprehensive at the large group around us for a moment, then he stood up and started shooing people away.
Paulie, Daniel, Tank, and the girls stayed. The girls were clustered on one of the only sofas still remaining while the three boys spread out in front of Santi in an arc as they continued to try to pry out the secrets of Santi¡¯s knowledge. Everything he had told them was gone, or locked away. Everytime he tried to speak of being a regressor, his words stuck to his throat. It was an effort in futility that still went on for a few minutes before Tank took charge and redirected the conversation.
¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Shit¡¯s gone wild and we need to adapt if we want to survive. Shelter, water, food, in that order.¡± Santi sighed in relief as they stopped grilling him about his knowledge and started to be proactive.
¡°I have a place. It¡¯s safeish. I stockpiled water and food, but we will be needing more.¡±
¡°This, again, something you can¡¯t tell us about?¡± Daniel asked, his accent hardly noticeable.
¡°Yup. My suggestion is everyone gather up as much shit as they can. Water, dry goods, some changes of clothes. We can move out in a few hours, I¡¯ll lead us there and we can have somewhere safe to sleep tonight.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll let everyone know. Santi, I think it¡¯d be best if you just stayed off to the side until people started to grow more accustomed to what¡¯s going on. It¡¯s not your fault, but people are hurting real bad right now, and I¡¯m worried they might lash out,¡± Tank spoke softly, each word a hammerblow to Santi¡¯s conscience.
¡°I can take care of myself.¡±
¡°It¡¯s for their safety, Santi.¡±
¡°Oh. I¡I need to go clean up anyway.¡± Santi surged off of the couch and started up the stairs toward his room.
¡°Santi. Thank you. Without you, we wouldn¡¯t be here,¡± Tank called out loud enough the entire common room could hear him, his deep voice carrying easily. Hot tears slid down Santi¡¯s face as he simply nodded and moved upwards, climbing the stairs to his room as fast as possible.
His dorm room was fairly plain, neither he or Paulie having much in the way of decorations. Just a pair of beds and a few knick knacks and some clothes strewn about. Santi got on his hands and knees and pulled the case of water out from under his bed where he had stashed it yesterday. Just in case. He drank two bottles as he rummaged through what clothes he had left in the dorm room. Most of his belongings had been moved to the abandoned building over the last two days, as discreet as possible.
The bathroom they shared was dark, no windows letting any light in. Santi stole a few candles from Daniel¡¯s supply across the hall and soon was standing in the stall, pouring water over himself as he tried to scrub the sticky sap off. It was a labor intensive process, the washclothe he used was not up to the task. Half the bottles were empty before he was clean enough to dry off and tug fresh clothes on. His shoes were ruined, but he had a pair of workboots that he hadn¡¯t worn in almost a year that were comfortable enough.
Looking at himself in the mirror, Santi allowed himself to finally see himself. The years hadn¡¯t been kind, and seeing the passage of time having been erased was a struggle. His skin was dark from the sun in the rift, his still limp hair covered his ears and brushed his shoulders. Skin still smooth and not yet marred from fangs or blades or magic. He hesitantly touched his cheek and marveled at it for a moment. He had taken a splash of acid in year four, it had burned and shriveled his cheek, leaving it waxy and ruined.
¡°I¡¯m going to do it. I¡¯m going to get them out of this. I have to.¡± Santi promised himself in the flickering light of a pair of candles. Leaving the bathroom, he flopped on his dorm bed for the last time. Staring at the ceiling, he finally started accessing all the alerts the system had sent his way.
Ch. 17 Rewards
-
Santi watched as the slew of kill notifications scrolled by. The single kobold he had killed, the shamans, warriors, the chief, and finally the ent. Nothing exciting, nothing that he hadn¡¯t expected. It was the rest of the achievements and class selection he was hoping for. He had listened to others who had done great things in the early days of the system¡¯s coming, earning titles and rewards for their bravery. Most hadn¡¯t done anything with it after the initial burst, but all the Champions had. They had built their momentum as early as possible, needing all of it to get past the planet''s weak potential.
Achievement: Regressor (Greater)
Reward: Secondary Attribute Granted (Time: Lesser)
Achievement: First Five to Conquer a Rift
Reward: Loot Box (Minor)
Achievement: Survive an Ascendant¡¯s Ire
Reward: Title ( Cockroach)
Achievement: Slay a Rift Guardian (Second)
Reward: Loot Box (Minor)
Achievement: Irritate a Grandmaster and Survive
Reward: Potential (Common)
¡°Holy hell.¡± Santi had to look at the stream of rewards and the single title he had earned. The name was infuriating, but it was the first title he had ever earned. Title¡¯s were rare, most never having even sniffed the accolades needed to earn one. Loot boxes were fairly simple prizes awarded by the system for completing quests, but he had never heard of anyone earning one before without a system quest.
As soon as he closed the alerts there was a soft pair of pops as air was displaced and a pair of crystal chests were sitting on the floor next to his bed. Santi had earned minor loot chests before, and one common, but he was still excited to open them. That had to wait till after he read the title first, something that he was desperate to see.
Cockroach: Surviving in a world dominated by greater beings, the cockroach is a near unkillable pest. As are you. Congrats.
+10 to all stats. Upgradeable
Santi kept his eye on the word upgradeable. He had earned the reward for defying and surviving an Ascendant being, what would he need to do to upgrade the title? The train of thought left him feeling a little ill, but he was turning to the two chests, greed overcoming anxiety.
They were made of opaque crystal, three feet wide and three feet tall. There were no hinges, but at a simple touch, the top of the chest melted away and revealed its contents. Santi sucked in a breath, strangling the scream of delight he wanted to make. Nine potions lay in three neat rows. Three red health potions, three blue mana potions, and three amber stamina potions. Santi didn¡¯t have an analysis skill, but he figured they¡¯d be minor graded potions. At this stage though, they were more than enough for anyone. The health potion would be like a miracle, healing someone from the point of death instantly.
He carefully put them on the bed, the cool glass smooth beneath his fingers. Thick corks of some strange wood toppered the vials, each one three inches long. They were small potions and fairly sturdy vials, he wouldn¡¯t need to worry about them easily breaking. When he turned back, the empty chest had vanished, leaving only the last chest, which he hurriedly opened.
There was only a single item in the chest. A saber that stretched from corner to corner in a sheath of royal blue lacquered wood. With trembling hands Santi pulled it free and felt a burst of contentment. The hilt was smooth, wrapped in leather with a brass handguard.
He was a mage, someone who commanded the raw elements of reality to his whims, as long as those whims were wind based. On occasion though, naked steel was needed. He had used that heavy splitting maul because it was the best weapon for the job, not because he favored it. He was no hatchetman looking to run around the woods. A sword was an elegant weapon, and the saber was his preferred sword. Setting the sword aside, he finally took the plunge and looked at his class options.
Hatchetman (Basic) Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
Scout (Basic)
Mage (Basic)
Rift-Diver (Common)
Cockroach (Common)
Five class selections he could take. His first time he only had three selections he could take and all of them had been basic levels. He could immediately eliminate Hatchetman, there was no way in hell he would be wielding a brutish axe. Scout had some appeal, but Akthyr¡¯s words hung in his ear, the system wanted to see him fight, struggle, and overcome. Scouting was what he had done in his previous life, which wasn¡¯t a bad life, but it wasn¡¯t what he needed to be.
Rift-Diver was a trap. Any class that specifically mentioned a place would be strong. In said place. If he was on a stable world, he was sure the class would be valuable for a career in rift diving. He needed more versatility though, so he discarded it as a serious option.
Cockroach, well, that was a bit more of a struggle. The title was massive, likely doubling all of his stats. The class was even more intriguing to see if maybe it would play into the title and enhance him even further. It was still called cockroach though. If Santi was being honest with himself, then there had only ever been one option. He chose Mage.
Power ripped through him as the system started to do its work. The title came into effect, adding ten stat points to each of his attributes. It was like his bones had become molten pillars, his flesh an inferno, his mind screaming in agony, even as he detached himself from the pain of his awakening. Laying on his bed, body arching as if he was possessed, Santi endured. His first awakening hadn¡¯t been this extreme, but the added potential and stats were likely the culprits.
The agony faded after an indeterminate time, his rigid muscles finally growing lax and allowing him to sink into his bed. As the aftershocks of the pain fled, Santi felt good for the first time since he came back. His mind was clear, his emotions in check, strength surging through his veins. He brought up his status screen and had to restrain a whistle.
Santiago V. Silva
Mage lvl. 1
Strength: 10 (20)
Durability: 10 (20)
Stamina: 10 (20)
Dexterity: 10 (20)
Vitality: 10 (20)
Perception: 9 (19)
Intelligence: 10 (20)
Mana: 0 (10)
Willpower: 9 (19)
Potential: G (25%)
Free Points: 10
Primary Attribute: Air (Common)
Secondary Attribute: Time (Lesser)
It had been a long time since he had seen numbers that low, but seeing them was a welcome relief. The boost to his willpower alone was the biggest boon he could have asked for. His rampant emotions, swinging wildly about for the last three days, were finally under a semblance of control. His mind was crisp and sharp, thoughts and plans formulating nearly instantly.
He dumped all ten of his free points into mana, boosting it up to twenty. He was unlucky that the kills in the rift didn¡¯t count towards his class, having killed enough enemies to level several times. Can¡¯t earn experience in a class you didn¡¯t have though. The title more than made up for it as Santi scanned the Mage class synopsis.
Wielder of Magic; the Mage is a specialist class that focuses on a narrow branch of magic, often utilizing their primary attribute in their works.
+1 Mana
+1 Willpower
+1 Intelligence
+2 Free Stats
One Free Spell Available
Santi knew what he wanted for his one spell, but he still browsed the small list that was offered as a starter spell. There wasn¡¯t much choice, most magic classes were weak to start with, then scaled violently after they passed their watershed. By the time he hit Disciple, he would be able to match any physical classer, but till then he was going to need to be careful.
Air Current (Basic)
Gust (Basic)
Air Bubble (Basic)
Identify (Basic)
Air Manipulation (Common)
Winds of Time (Rare)
And those were not the beginning spells he had been expecting to see. Or, at least, Air Manipulation and Winds of Time definitely weren¡¯t. He couldn¡¯t take either of them, both spells much too powerful for his weak soul to handle right now. They would stay on his list of spells he could choose in the future though, and there was now a burning question in his mind as he looked at the information offered.
Winds of Time
The user rides the Winds of Time backward 30 seconds.
Usable once every 168 Hours.
The system, as always, kept the description short and sweet. Santi could feel the weight of that spell though. It would take up at least fifty slots though, the rare ranking making it nearly impossible for anyone short of a Champion to wield it though. A basic spell only held one slot, while common would hold three. Rare took up fifty slots, something only a Champion could afford to roster. You only earned a slot every five levels, with the Initiate level maxing out at five slots before one was forced to evolve if they wanted to keep progressing.
It was a skill far into the future, one he would be eagerly awaiting to take. In the meantime, even with his heart clouded by the greed of future power, he took Air Current. It was a basic skill that allowed one to feel the air currents around them. It was a low mana skill that his regeneration could keep active at all times, giving him an extra sense about six feet all around him or, if he focused in one direction, thirty feet. It was also fairly easily upgradeable, something that he had done, bringing it up to common before the last battle. It had saved his life many times, alerting him to enemies or projectiles that he normally would have never seen.
Santi got off the bed, a smile on his lips as he belted on his saber and gathered the vials and tossed them into his school backpack. He would need to salvage what was left of the pack he had taken down into the rift, he was sure that it was in terrible shape, but he was determined to get all of his loot out of it before they left for his hideout. Steeling himself, he headed downstairs to gather everyone and lead them to safety.
Ch. 18 Survivors
-
Most everyone was already gathered downstairs in the common room. The numbers had swelled to well over forty people, most of whom Santi couldn¡¯t recognize. He hadn¡¯t been the most social person, just really hanging out with his dormmates. They all looked at him as he came downstairs, eyes tracking him as he marched up to Tank.
The hours of sleep and shower had been a godsend, Santi finally feeling human again. The boost to his willpower was also nice, his rampant emotions finally tamped down to a manageable level. No more outbursts or falling into sobbing fits at the drop of a hat.
¡°Tank, you guys ready to go?¡± Santi asked.
¡°Yeah. Where¡¯d you get the sword from?¡±
¡°Loot box.¡±
¡°Please tell me this isn¡¯t going to be pay to win, cause I¡¯m broke.¡± Tank let a smile crack his face, the joke helping break some of the tension. Santi chuckled himself, glad to see someone trying to help him out and integrate with the others.
¡°It¡¯s for clearing the rift. I got some other things too, but we can talk about that later. Let¡¯s get out of here.¡±
¡°We should check the other buildings!¡± Chloe yelled from the corner of the room. After a second, a wave of heads nodded their agreement with her.
¡°Shit,¡± Santi muttered under his breath. He thought quickly and came up with an easy enough plan.
¡°Thirty minutes, pair up. Nobody, and I do mean nobody, goes alone. We will all meet in the parking lot and head out from there. I won¡¯t be waiting for people.¡± Santi warned them, but nobody was listening. Chloe and the girls shot out of the building with the weapons he had acquired for them, heading toward their own dorm building. Daniel and Paulie partnered up and followed them, while Tank stood right next to Santi. Santi had no plans on walking through those charnel houses.
¡°What class did you get?¡± Santi asked.
¡°Medic, and my first skill is called First-Aid. Says it helps stabilize people and aid in wound healing. So many people got hurt last night. Spent every spare moment I had bandaging people up. Shit was bad, Santi.¡±
¡°That¡¯s good, Tank. Healing is super important.¡±
¡°Yeah, I know. Played enough games to know the healer is the most important person on the team,¡± Tank said with the same faint smile. Santi smiled back as the two of them trudged outside. Santi grabbed his pack right before leaving, wincing as he felt the sticky residue of the sap that had soaked into the straps. There would be no way to clean it, likely would have to burn the damn thing.
Santi moved to the middle of the parking lot, ignoring the dead kobold bodies and blood smears. He really had to work to ignore the fact that a lot of the bodies he had seen last night were gone. The kobold weren¡¯t the only monsters out there after all.
He spilled the remnants of his pack out on a car trunk, the heavy daggers thumping loudly. A few others trickled over, those too smart, or scared, to go investigate the three other dorm towers.
¡°You get that all from the rift?¡±
¡°Yeah. Kobold¡¯s are pretty dumb, basically animals. Some of them are smarter though, and know how to use magic or weapons. Got this from them.¡± Santi waved down at the scattered remnants he had spread out. He tucked one of the daggers into his belt, careful to not cut himself. Tank took another and Santi put the remaining four off to the side for his friends.
The baggies of ritualist materials were stuffed into his own backpack without looking to see what they really were. A lot of ritual magic required gross components and he didn¡¯t want to freak anyone out right away. The rift stone was left wrapped up and he put it away without looking at it. His medical supplies were almost gone, aside from the bottle of pain pills. The glowstick supply was absolutely decimated and he only had a single road flare left. He hadn¡¯t realized how close he was cutting it. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
With his pack reorganized and his most important rewards stowed, they stood and waited in silence. It wasn¡¯t the comfortable silence between friends that had been lost with the secrets they knew he had, but rather an awkward silence. Santi felt it was like that time him and Cameron had gotten into a fight when they were younger. It had been about something trivial, but it kept spiraling until it had become a full blown screaming match. Their parents had made them apologize to each other, but the moment afterwards, when they stood there side by side trying to see if their friendship was still salvageable. That¡¯s what this silence felt like.
¡°How long has it been?¡± Tank muttered.
¡°Seventeen minutes.¡±
¡°Exactly?¡±
¡°Yup. Almost eighteen now.¡±
¡°Ok, Rainman.¡± Tank laughed, helping break another level of tension between them. Santi was busy trying to figure out how exactly he knew it had been eighteen minutes and four seconds since the groups had left to search the other dorm towers.
The time affinity. It popped into his head after only a moment of thought. It had to be that. With a thought he knew the time, ten twenty-three. A perfect sense of time.
¡°I think it¡¯s my secondary affinity. It¡¯s time.¡±
¡°Oh, I only got a single affinity. Flesh. Is it me, or is flesh a creepy affinity?¡±
¡°Naw. Great affinity for a healer.¡±
¡°I thought so too. It¡¯s one of the reasons I took it. My dad¡¯s a nurse you know. He always was helping us out at all our sporting events. When we were kids I mean. He had a big red bag full of tape and gauze, bandaids, ice packs, disinfectant, stuff like that.¡±
¡°That¡¯s why you took Medic? For your dad?¡±
¡°Hell naw. I took it because it¡¯s the most important role on the team,¡± Tank boomed out louder than he probably should have and Santi choked back a laugh. Even while talking and laughing with him, his eyes had been sweeping the empty parking lot.
The four towers of the dorms were on a semi isolated stretch of land, a large field and parking lot separating each of the towers. There were figures, lumps really, in the long grass of the field. The parked cars were a mess, broken glass and gouged metal everywhere he looked. The kobolds, and whatever else was roaming around, had ransacked the area.
A lot of the items would normally be taken back to the rift, to be used to try to enrich the tribes there. With the collapse of the rift, Santi had to wonder where all the stolen items and corpses were going. If there was another rift because of the planetary upgrade, one he didn¡¯t know the inner workings of, it could be a disaster. The other three rifts would already require an immense amount of manpower to close now that they had time to gather supplies.
It would mean better loot when they did raid it. The monsters having consumed fresh potential and loot, making items or possibly nurturing natural treasures inside of the rift. Not to mention the rift stone strengthening, but Santi was already planning on expunging the three remaining ones ASAP.
¡°We are going to have to focus on leveling, Tank. As many people as we can make, they need to go out and fight and kill monsters.¡±
¡°I figured as much.¡± The big man sighed, seeming to shrink down a bit as he thought of what their future held.
¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll listen to me, but, Tank, they respect you. They will listen to you.¡±
¡°You want me to be your voice, Santi? A puppet figure for you to lead around?¡± There was an edge to his voice as he looked out of the corner of his eye to look at Santi. He lounged against the car, head bowed, but Santi had a sudden feeling Tank was ready for action at a moment''s notice.
¡°No, I think you should just straight up be in charge of the group. If the other¡¯s agree.¡±
¡°You went to all of that trouble of setting up a camp, saving all of us, and then just hand it over to me?¡±
¡°I¡¯m going to need to be fighting. Like, and I mean this literally, all the fucking time. I don¡¯t have the time to run a camp, to budget out who gets food or water. Who runs patrols, who is in charge of cooking, or scavenger groups, or how to repair shit. I will be our heavy hitter. I¡¯ll point out what needs to be hit and how soon, how to navigate everything else, but I can¡¯t run a camp.¡±
¡°Fuck you, Santi. You¡¯re dumping all the bullshit on me.¡±
¡°Yeah. It¡¯s going to suck. Are you down to do it though?
¡°It needs to be done. So, yeah, I guess I will. If the others are agreeable. Hold a vote or something? Once we¡¯re all settled down I mean.¡±
¡°God no. Just tell people what to do, they¡¯re already listening to you. Clear and concise chain of command. You are in charge of the overall camp. I¡¯m in charge of clearing the rifts and keeping us safe from the big nasties. Pick a few other people we trust to run some other crews. Don¡¯t ask them to be in charge, just do it.¡±
¡°Little fascist there buddy.¡±
¡°It¡¯s the apocalypse. We need to survive right now. Once we survive, we can have the luxury of having political morals.¡±
¡°Looks like people are starting to trickle back in. Let¡¯s get everyone ready and moving to this camp you made and we will see about me becoming the dictator.¡±
¡°Not a dictator Tank. More like, an uhhmmm, warrior king.¡±
¡°I can see why you want me to be in charge. You¡¯re ass at this inspirational thing.¡±
¡°We¡¯re ending the pick on Santi time. Let¡¯s get everyone here and move out. It¡¯s going to be a long walk.¡±
Ch. 19 Road bumps
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Santi slashed down, the curved saber slicing skin as the goblin screamed as its flesh split. The saber was sharp, tearing through the paper thin skin like it was nothing. Black blood gushed out of the grievous chest wound, staining the ground as the goblin collapsed to the ground. A notification dinged letting Santi know it was dead.
All around him the convoy was fighting viciously. They had barely made it two blocks before these red skinned goblins had started attacking them. Coming from destroyed buildings, ransacked homes, and even once from a sewer grate. They were weak, but the horde was starting to wear everyone down.
Santi spun, his spell alerting him to displaced air behind him. The flat of his sword smacked the club away from him. Santi took a half step lunge, the curved blade sliding through the pointed chin and angling up into the goblins skull. It fell limp and died instantly, the small club clattering to the asphalt.
¡°Sant! How far are we to the safe zone?¡± Tank yelled from the center of the convoy. He was busy wrapping bandages around a long cut on someone¡¯s leg. The convoy had managed to nearly quadruple in size from its original thirty.
The first batch had been survivors of the other dorm towers. Those who had managed to barricade themselves into their rooms or fight off the kobolds. Then as they marched down the street, more and more survivors came out. Santi was beginning to worry that he hadn¡¯t secured nearly enough supplies, but he hadn¡¯t stopped anyone from joining.
¡°Four more blocks! We have to go deeper though. More residential!¡± Santi was forced to yell to be heard over the fighting that was happening up and down the long stretched out group.
Only a handful of people were refusing to fight, most had grabbed anything they could hold, including shovels, a snapped flagstaff, a gardening hoe, and a wild assortment of kitchen cutlery. Against most foes their weaponry would have been inadequate. These goblins were poor specimens, even for goblins.
Hardly four feet tall, with long droopy pointed ears, spindly noses and bulging eyes. Their red skin was the color of a Hawaiian tourist after they fell asleep by the resort pool. Weeping black sores afflicted all of them, their black eyes were cloudy, and they stumbled about uncoordinated in their attacks.
No one had died so far, which was an accomplishment. Several people had leveled up as well. Santi had even gotten a shock to see Chloe, the goth girl he had met at the hardware store, stand at the forefront with her axe. She was carving apart the goblins like a saw mill, the axe a blur as nothing could survive her wrath. Her three friends clustered to the side, keeping any sneaking goblins from getting behind her. Chloe was a huge reason they had managed to get through all the ambushes without deaths so far.
She had to be closing in on level three, Santi thought to himself. That or she had dumped every stat point into dexterity and strength. She was moving smoothly and powerfully, like a prime olympic athlete. Every now and then Santi saw a silver blur around the edge of the axe, some type of skill she was using to great effect. If someone was keeping track of goblin kills, she was easily in the lead.
¡°Alright! Chloe, get this show on the road. Everyone, get closer! Stop hunting them, cluster together. All wounded, come to the center for healing!¡± Tank had a loud voice naturally, and when he decided to project his voice it was as if Zeus had descended upon them.
Santi saw Daniel emerge from the shadows of a house, his body blurry even as he buried an iron knife into a goblins skull. Some type of scout class probably, Santi hadn¡¯t had time to see who had taken what skills or classes yet.
Paulie was fighting with a pipe he had found from somewhere. He dashed in and out, cracking bones with every blow. Unorthodox, but who was Santi to judge?
¡°Take a left at the intersection and go down two blocks!¡± Santi yelled to Chloe. The woman didn¡¯t acknowledge him, but just started to carve a path forward. The sickly goblins came in staggered streams that allowed her and her crew to dispatch them quickly and efficiently without bogging down.
Santi took up position near the rear of the group, letting the others pull ahead of him. Clubs and jagged flint knives were strewn about the pavement, the only weapons the small monsters carried. Some had grabbed the clubs, but they were poor weapons and the knives were too small to use.
As the group pulled away, Santi took a few moments to inspect the goblins. They were red skinned, a variety that he had seen frequently in more desert-like rifts. The sores they had though, he hadn¡¯t seen anything like that before. Quarter sized pustules that leaked a yellow pus. He made sure not to touch any of the sores, but a worry started to bubble away at him. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
The world had been upgraded, and he couldn¡¯t be sure of the changes. There could be all sorts of changes that could get him killed before he knew what was happening. Including any type of magical plagues.
Goblins were so weak that they were susceptible to nearly anything, but the sores worried him. If there was a monster or a caster nearby who was doing this, then they would become a priority to eliminate. Until they started gaining levels for their healers, a magic plague would rip them apart with ease.
Using the tip of his sword, he pushed the bodies around. Aside from their severe emaciation, there was little he could see about them. They carried primitive weapons, their clothing little more than badly cured furs. Little to no metallurgy, in fact, most of their myriad of piercings were bone or stone.
¡°Damnit. Maybe a nest?¡± Santi talked to himself as he started to catch up to the convoy.
His sense warned him again, saving his life.
He fell to the ground, a spear flying through where his chest had just been. Rolling away and behind a car, Santi got back to his feet. Looking around the top of the car he saw his new opponents and cursed.
A pair of staggering hobgoblins. Five and half feet tall, thin but strong. Dressed in bronze armor that fell to their knees, blood decorated them like paint. Some of it was their own black blood, most of it was red though. They both had pustules on their knobby faces, but not to the extent the other goblins did.
Hobgoblins were the next step in goblin evolution. Bigger, smarter, and meaner. A single hobgoblin squad could compare to a small horde of regular goblins. Metal armor with properly built weapons and the discipline to put it all into effect. Of all the weaker level monsters, hobgoblins normally caused the highest casualty rates. Santi couldn¡¯t let either of these get to the group.
One carried a spear, the white wood stained with blood and ash. The reddish metal of the spearhead still glinted in the bright late morning sunlight. Six feet long, it was a well made spear, a twin of the one that had just tried to impale him.
The second hob was pulling a long knife from its belt. A curved blade built for slashing, the hobgoblin spun it a few times in its hand as they slowly marched toward Santi. The convoy had turned the corner and were now almost out of sight, lost in the sprawl of suburbia.
Santi charged them, not letting them split further apart and flanking him. He angled his attack so the spear wielding hob couldn¡¯t attack without skewering his ally. Saber lashing out, Santi threw a series of slashing attacks at the hobgoblin without hesitation. The hobgoblin blocked once, its knife twisting in its hand to fall to the ground.
Santi¡¯s second slash ripped apart bronze armor, digging through flesh with ease. The hobgoblin was looking wide-eyed at him, shocked at the strength and speed of Santi¡¯s attack. Santi was busy thanking his Cockroach title that had given him such a boost in stats.
Before Santi could finish off the wounded hobgoblin, the spear wielder arrived. It jabbed at him, forcing Santi to dance backward with his saber lightly deflecting the spear tip away from himself. The spear hobgoblin forced him further down the road, actually getting closer to the convoy and his allies.
The wounded hobgoblin had stooped to pick up its knife, movements slow and timid. Santi had to bite back an oath as Daniel came out of the shadows of a car, his iron dagger slamming into the exposed base of the knife hobgoblins neck. It died instantly, never even aware Daniel had snuck up on it.
The spear wielder didn¡¯t realize it was now pincered. All Santi had to do was keep its attention as Daniel worked his way closer, sticking close to parked cars on the side of the road. Staying in the shadows of the cars his form blurred and grew indistinct, stepping into sunlight broke the skill.
Something gave away the game right as Daniel rushed the final feet, iron dagger ready to plunge into the back of the hobgoblins head. It spun on the ball of its foot, spear tucked to its waist and swinging around in a disemboweling strike.
Daniel managed to stop himself just in time, the red spearpoint passing inches from his soft stomach. His face blanched at the close call and he hesitated. It was the worst mistake, the hobgoblin smoothly pivoting from a spin into a lunge to impale him.
Santi wasted no time though, attacking the moment the hobgoblin began to spin. His boosted stats let him cut the ten feet distance between the two of them in one bound, his saber falling with the weight of a guillotine on the hobgoblin. It died, spear slipping out of nerveless fingers, mid attack.
¡°You good?¡± Santi asked Daniel as he stood over the dead hobgoblin. It had been a relatively easy fight for him, his years of experience standing in good stead. To Daniel though, it had been a rapid escalation of skill and risk, going from mindless kobolds and goblins to the hobgoblin.
¡°No. I think I¡¯m going to throw up,¡± Daniel said, his faded accent making him sound much too proper.
¡°There¡¯s some bushes over there. I¡¯ll wait for you,¡± Santi promised. He was tempted to loot them as Daniel rushed over to relieve himself of his anxiety and breakfast. Santi couldn¡¯t trust any of the weapons not to carry traces of the disease. Fighting them was bad enough, but to carry their bloodsoaked weapons back to the base was folly.
Looking around the corpse-filled street, he knew he was going to have to find this monster den and quickly if he didn¡¯t want this plague to spread.
Ch. 20 Rearguard
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¡°There¡¯s a tarp in the way!¡± Someone yelled as they got to the corner of the brick wall. It was the only way to enter the hideout, and Santi had tied a tarp around the crumbling corner to keep anything out. He wanted to roll his eyes, but was to busy avoiding a club that was headed towards his knee.
¡°CUT THE DAMN TARP!¡± Santi screamed, his throat ripping at the effort as his saber took a diseased goblins head from its shoulders.
Their convoy was bunched up, people milling around as they waited to get in. Chloe was fighting against the press of people trying to get back to the fighting. Tank was stuck somewhere in the middle with the wounded, and Daniel had snuck off as the latest wave of goblins descended on them.
With a bit of breathing room, Santi looked over the sea of red skinned goblins and felt his heart sink. Four hobgoblins were at the end of the street barking out orders as they directed the horde of lesser goblins. With the hobgoblins here, there wasn¡¯t much chance of making the goblins flee, not without slaughtering them.
Paulie was next to him, laying about with his lead pipe. He was moving smoothly, lashing one way then the next, the pipe an instrument of carnage. Santi thought it was a skill, likely a passive weapons skill. That or Paulie had a much more exciting night life than Santi had expected.
There were a handful of others, mostly fellow freshmen from the dorms, all engaged in bitter fighting. A nine iron was being put to good work, clubbing skulls and driving goblins back. The girl wielding it was one of Chloe¡¯s friends who¡¯s name Santi hadn¡¯t gotten yet.
The flashing silver of the club caused him to look at her, which is why he was staring when a dart of bone punched through her chest. Red blood misted about as the girl froze, golf club held over her head. She teetered for a moment, her white blouse stained by a blooming cloud of red, then fell back. The goblins she had been fighting pounced, leaping at her to finish her off.
Santi was moving instantly, his air sense giving him a split second warning. He twitched his head, another bone spike flashing by his cheek, as he lunged and stabbed the closest goblin. The curved blade slid under the goblins ribs and up, shearing apart internal organs. Black blood bubbled over its thin lips as it paused, perched with a flint dagger ready to finish the girl off, then collapsed as Santi withdrew the saber.
¡°MEDIC!¡± Santi¡¯s scream was hoarse, his throat nothing more than shredded vocal chords as he hacked back and forth wildly to keep the press of goblins back. His blade cut everything it touched, clubs, knives, and limbs, but the goblins kept pushing closer.
Another instance of warning, this time though he felt where it was coming from. He dropped to a crouch, the bone dart whistling over his head, and heard the crack of bone hitting pavement. Santi looked into the deep shadows of a house, one whose door and windows lay in shattered ruin.
¡°Daniel, in there!¡± Santi pointed his bloody sword at the door, but that was all the time he had as he was forced to slash wildly at a pair of courageous goblins. He split one¡¯s belly open; black organs sliding out as it screamed, and knocked the plank of wood out of the others hand in one fast movement.
He finished the second goblin off just as Chloe barreled into the goblin lines. The girl was on a warpath. Tears streamed down her face as she screamed a wordless cry of rage, her axe a blur of movement as she hacked apart the horde. Anything that got in her way died, bodies falling around her as she headed toward the hobgoblins.
¡°Follow!¡± Santi cried, leaping behind Chloe to protect her flanks. For a few minutes, the battle turned into a blur as the rearguard attacked. It was driven by fear and rage, the scared college students banding together to launch themselves at the weak monsters.
Black blood ran like a river as Chloe kept up her momentum. The silver sheen around the axe head was growing brighter, clearly visible even in the bright afternoon sun. Santi¡¯s magic senses were overwhelmed, there was simply too much movement for him to properly interpret. His blade never stopped moving, the myriad of notifications muted as they crashed into the four hobgoblins. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!
The two that Santi and Daniel had killed had been wounded already, their blood mixing with their victims. These four stood in gleaming armor, no sign of injury at all. They spread out a bit, allowing themselves room to maneuver, while still protecting each other.
Fifteen or so people had followed and Santi prayed that it was enough. Chloe was aiming for the middle two, her axe faster than it should be. Both hobgoblins attacked as one, but in an impressive display of flexibility, Chloe twisted and bent backwards, Both spears flashed through where she had been, her axe came up in an arcing blow, starting close to the ground and whipping around as Chloe snapped upright.
The hobs dodged the blow, but then Santi was engaging one on his own and he couldn¡¯t pay attention to her anymore. He didn¡¯t have any type of skill to help for melee combat, but he had nearly a decade of experience.
He feinted left, rolled right, and slashed at his opponent''s neck. The hob fell for the feint, but dodged backward, the sabers tip barely brushing its throat. Black blood still flowed over its brown scale armor, but it wasn¡¯t fatal. Or even debilitating.
Santi kept himself tucked in close to the hob, not letting it get distance to use its spear. His attack was swift and sudden, a barrage of blows that the hob couldn¡¯t escape. Its bronze armor was split as Santi finally landed a clean blow. Santi carved the hobgoblin nearly in half and turned to see who else needed help.
Chloe was bleeding and dragging her leg, but the remaining hob she fought was in worse shape. Its arm was missing and its chest was pulsing blood. Santi knew it was a fatal wound, but Chloe wasn¡¯t waiting for the inevitable. She chased and hacked it down, caring little for her own wounds.
With that, all four hobgoblins were dead. So were three of those who had followed Chloe¡¯s crazed charge. Santi didn¡¯t know their names, but he memorized their faces.
Paulie grabbed at his arm, snapping Santi out of his temporary stupor. He was tired, his body aching from the running fight. He had picked up scratches and cuts and, only as the fight ended, did he finally become aware of them.
¡°Come on man, it¡¯s over. Let¡¯s get you and her to Tank and the other healers.¡±
¡°We can¡¯t leave their bodies. We need to burn them. Sickness, plague, it can, it can spread.¡± Santi stumbled over the words as he swayed on his feet.
¡°Shit, man, you got stabbed!¡± Paulie grabbed at his side, and Santi became aware of a piece of flint wedged into his side right by his hip. Fire raced through him, the pain waking him up and forcing him to bite back a scream.
¡°Fuck, I got stabbed!¡±
¡°I just said that. Ok, let¡¯s get you to Tank. I¡¯ll grab some of the others, we will burn all of these little fucks. Throw em into a fat fire, some gas, and whoosh. Flambe monster.¡±
¡°I got stabbed.¡±
¡°Santi, I think you¡¯re in shock bud, you keep repeating the same damn thing,¡±: Paulie groused, but he was pulling Santi away from the scene of the fighting. Chloe was being helped by her two remaining friends, and some others were limping back with help.
Santi was in disbelief. He had been gouged, bitten, burned, slashed, broken, electrocuted, and once been drown. He had never been stabbed though. Eight years of fighting and surviving the apocalypse, and one of the weakest monsters possible had done what nothing else had.
They climbed over the crumbling wall, having to go one at a time, and Tank immediately grabbed Chloe. She was white as a sheet, a sheet of sweat on her face, eyes half closed as she collapsed into Tank¡¯s arms. They had set up an infirmary right there on the lawn, and Santi let himself be led a little ways away.
¡°Paulie?¡±
¡°If you tell me you got stabbed again, I¡¯m going to hit you.¡±
¡°You have a terrible bedside manner¡±
¡°Thank god I¡¯m not a doctor then. What?¡±
¡°My bag, the keys to all the locks in the building are in my bag. Back pocket.¡±
¡°You have the keys to the place? How¡¯d you do that?¡± Paulie asked as he searched the backpack and pulled out a ring of keys from Santi¡¯s bag.
¡°I wrapped chains around all the doors and locked them with the biggest padlocks I could find. Give the keys to Tank when he¡¯s done with Chloe. Food and water are inside. Listen, I¡¯m going to take a nap. Don¡¯t wake me up.¡± Santi used his pack as a pillow and let himself pass out, trusting Tank and the other¡¯s to care for his wounds.
Ch. 21 The Apostate
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Naomi Weaver spun into her attack, the longsword nothing more than a blur as it beheaded the lizardman. The kill notification dinged but she was more focused on the small pack racing toward her. They were five and half feet tall, though they ran hunched over. Yellow-gray pebbled skin, flickering tongues, and holding crudely made spears. They were a nuisance.
An arrow whistled past her, slamming into the chest of the lead lizard. It collapsed in a boneless heap and Naomi couldn¡¯t help but smile at her daughter¡¯s skill. The twins were both gifted archers, but they were coming into their own over the last day. Arrow after arrow had left the lizards nothing more than pincushions as they pushed out of the city limits.
Naomi stepped forward, taking up the space so the lizards couldn¡¯t roll around her to the more vulnerable members of her party. Toward her family. The family that she had buried so many years ago. The family she had been willing to burn the world down to get back.
A spear clanged against her steel breastplate, but she pushed through the bloom of pain from the hit. Her armor held, but the pressure drove the air out of her lungs. It did nothing to slow her riposte, which killed the weak monster. She stepped over the corpse and began to cleanse the area around her with a judicious application of sharpened steel.
¡°DAD!¡± Naomi spun at the cry, her heart filled with fear, the last of the little lizardmen dead at her feet.
Nia and Tia were both holding their bows fully drawn, trying to get a clean shot on the monster trying to eat her husband, Marcus. Naomi ran, her armor jostling loudly as she cut across the distance as fast as she could. She missed her increased stats, the speed and strength she had once wielded.
Marcus stood his ground against the smooth skinned quadruped. It was six feet long and five feet tall with a long tubular head that ended in a mouth full of triangular teeth. Claws dug into concrete, tearing it apart with ease, as it bounced from side to side, dodging her husband¡¯s thrusts. His short assegai had been excellent in the close quarters so far, but now its limited length was showing its disadvantages.
Naomi charged right by her husband, trusting in her skill and armor as she swung her sword with every ounce of strength she had. At the last moment she activated her skill, Cut, a sheen of energy appearing on the edge of her sword. The monster spun, cat quick, and instead of taking its head, her blade bit into its shoulder.
Rancid yellow blood flowed out as the beast screamed in rage, swatting at her with one of its dinner plate sized paws. Naomi danced back, the displaced air of its passage a cool breeze on her exposed face. She darted back in to slash again, without the skill this time.
Her sword peeled the skin apart, but didn¡¯t cut into the muscle. A long and painful flesh wound at best. If it was strong enough that only skills could hurt it, this could be an excellent leveling and potential boost for her family. The opportunity made her smile as she kept moving back and forth, twisting the long monster around.
The thrum of a pair of released bows were followed by the meaty impacts of arrows penetrating hide. The monster screamed again as its back leg buckled. Marcus slashed with his assegai, the entirety of his powerful frame behind the blow. The spear ripped through its other back leg, hamstringing it. The monster collapsed, hind legs no longer able to support its weight.
The fight dissolved into a simple slaughter. Her daughters filled it with arrows while Marcus continued to leave deep gashes in its side. This type of wanton slaughter irritated Naomi to a degree, they were ruining the beasts hide. There was no one to process it, but old habits die hard. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
¡°Let¡¯s take a break. Get out from under the sun,¡± Naomi ordered in a suggesting tone. It was good to see her kids back, fighting back the tears of joy every time she saw one of her girls smile or laugh. They weren¡¯t the only ones in their little party, but they were the most important ones.
The noncombatants were quickly shuffled into a blown out storefront while Marcus and Naomi stood guard. There were nearly a dozen people here, people who hadn¡¯t survived the first coming of the apocalypse. She had saved them, she had to keep reminding herself that as she looked around the ruins of her home.
¡°Who knew our little hobby would be so useful?¡± Marcus mused, cleaning the assegai with a scrap of cloth. Naomi smiled back at him, glad to finally have his presence back. He was unshakeable, as unmoving as a mountain. His death had destroyed her, but she had stopped it this time. There would be no finding his half eaten body in the ruins of their home.
¡°Re-enactors did,¡± Naomi teased. It wasn¡¯t the right time for teasing, but her battered psyche couldn¡¯t stop the elation every time he looked at her.
¡°We¡¯re almost out of the city. Where do we go from here?¡± Marcus asked as they both looked up and down the street. Naomi checked the time with her new affinity and breathed a silent sigh. They still had a bit of time before she needed to be at the intersection.
¡°Out and away from all this. Maybe the mountains?¡± Naomi said, already knowing she had gone up to the abandoned camp in the mountains. She had stashed enough water and dried food to last them weeks up there. Disposable income and a trailer having come in handy after she returned back to her body.
¡°What about that lake we took the girls to last year?¡± Marcus suggested. Naomi had to hide her smile. She didn¡¯t even have to set up the conversation to allow it to happen.
¡°That sounds like a good idea. We need to get moving though. We need to find somewhere safe before dark.¡±
¡°Alright. Hey, guys! Time to get moving, we¡¯re almost out of here.¡± Marcus started to gather everyone up and Naomi took the moment to look at her daughters and friends she had saved. Her and Marcus had both grown up as single children and their parents had passed many years ago. It was just the two of them and the girls.
It hadn¡¯t stopped them from making friends who were like family though. Aside from Rachel, Nia¡¯s girlfriend, they were all middle aged and skilled in basic survival traits. Or at least knowledgeable about them. Once they got the camp up and running, their worth would shine. In the meantime she would fight to the death to keep them safe. She just had one more group of people she had to bring into the fold.
They moved out, heading away from the dense buildings and more into the urban sprawl that infested the outskirts of the city. Monsters were frequent, but not at the intensity levels they had been at during their initial push out of town. Naomi led them, taking a detour that had Marcus shooting her a raised eyebrow at.
Burnt out buildings were everywhere, primarily homes, smoke and heat wafting off of them in waves. She was right on time. Naomi looked hard, peering into the smoke and shadows as the sun sank, desperate to find the creature that would start the downfall of the most powerful Wizard she had ever met. The minutes were trickling by, getting close to the date with destiny, when she saw it.
A thin lizardman, it carried an atlatl, and crouched down in the remnants of a two story house across the street. Only the flicker of it grabbing a dart had allowed her to see it. They didn¡¯t have much time if she was to avert disaster.
¡°Nia, second story, across the street. Left side, by the pillar.¡± Naomi gave directions to her closest daughter. Nia instantly nocked an arrow, and after just a second to aim, loosed the arrow. The arrow sped across the street and Naomi was rewarded to see the lizardman stagger out of the shadows to fall out of the second floor to splatter against the ground.
Right in front of Iseul Flores. The young woman looked around frantically, her large family spreading out around her and the other younger members. A variety of bats, crowbars, pipes, golf clubs, and even a bullwhip, were brandished. The massive Park-Flores clan rolling in a wave to protect their young and old.
Mrs. Park stood in the center of the formation, clutching at her granddaughter''s shoulder. The granddaughter who was destined to have died right in front of her if Naomi hadn¡¯t acted. Mrs. Park had been the most natural magic user that Naomi had ever encountered, held back only by the grief of watching her entire family succumb to the apocalypse. By the fifth year, when Naomi had initially met her, she had been a shell of herself.
¡°Hello!¡± Naomi called out, smiling widely as the scores of family members watched her walk over without a care in the world.
Ch. 22 New Challenge
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Santi awoke quietly, his eyes darted around the dark room. The only illumination was the faint flicker of candles in the corner of the room. Bodies were sprawled out everywhere, soft breathing filing the room. Santi groaned as he got up, his wounds causing pain as he got to his feet.
¡°You shouldn¡¯t be moving around. You got stabbed,¡± Tank drawled from the corner of the room. Santi hadn¡¯t noticed him, just another shape in the room to him.
¡°Paulie told you about that?¡±
¡°Oh yeah. Said you couldn¡¯t stop saying you got stabbed.¡±
¡°It was literally twice,¡± Santi said with a faint smile on his face. Tank couldn¡¯t see the smile in the dark, but it felt good to banter with his friends.
¡°Not the way he¡¯s telling it.¡±
¡°Well, Paulie can go fuck himself.¡±
Tank just laughed and surged to his feet in one smooth move. He walked over the Santi and grabbed his elbow gently. A pulse of warmth rolled through Santi as Tank used some type of skill to check him over.
¡°You get a new skill?¡± Santi asked. He hadn¡¯t bothered to check his notifications yet, but knew it was going to have to be soon. He was interested in seeing how everyone else was doing.
¡°Yeah. Hit level five and got a new one. Called Diagnose, it helps me figure out what¡¯s wrong and also lessens the strain on my other skills. Just need to get some other skills to help healing first.¡±
¡°That sounds useful.¡± Santi fell quiet for a minute. He didn¡¯t want to ask the next set of questions.
¡°How many did we lose?¡±
¡°Seven died. Chloe and her friend Rayleigh are pretty hurt. Everyone in this room is just banged up. Don¡¯t think Rayleigh will make it, and Chloe might not walk again.¡±
¡°My bag. There¡¯s some red vials. They¡¯re healing potions. Should get them back on their feet.¡±
Tank¡¯s hand tightened painfully on Santi¡¯s elbow, the big man¡¯s eyes narrowing as his face clouded with anger.
¡°Those would have been very helpful to have, say hours ago.¡±
¡°I¡¯m sorry Tank, I just forgot about them, and then I was hurt and just fell asleep. It wasn¡¯t on purpose.¡±
¡°Damnit Santi, if we had lost anyone because of this oversight, I¡I don¡¯t know man.¡± Tank let go of him and walked over to Santi¡¯s pack, which had been placed next to his sleeping pad. Tanks shuffled around it for a minute or so and then retrieved the vials. He walked out the room without another word, the aura of disappointment filling the space behind him.
¡°I fucked that up.¡± Santi promised to be better. He was so used to working by himself, that was the reason he had tried to unload leadership onto Tank. He wasn¡¯t suited to think of others, he had spent nearly a decade as a solitary scout fighter.
Santi decided to open up his notifications and see how he had progressed. The goblins were weak, but there had been enough of them that he knew he should have earned a few levels. If Tank was already level five, he should be getting close as well. Using your class helped you gain experience, and Tank¡¯s healing had undoubtedly boosted his levels more than the straight fighting would for Santi¡¯s.
Congratulations, you are now Mage lvl. 2
Congratulations, you are now Mage lvl. 3
Congratulations, you are now Mage lvl. 4
Three levels from a single running fight had Santi¡¯s eyebrows raising. The goblins had been weak and diseased, they shouldn¡¯t have been giving him enough experience to level this many times. He only had the one clean hobgoblin kill, the other two would be split with Daniel.
He ignored it and started to allocate his stats. He instinctively wanted to dump the six free points into mana, but realized that wasn¡¯t good short term planning. Right now he was a big deal because of the title, his stats were inflated which would allow him to punch above his weight. Until he leveled enough to gain some more offensive spells though, he was going to need to rely on his blade.
Santiago V. Silva The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Mage lvl. 4
Strength: 10 (20)
Durability: 10 (20)
Stamina: 12 (22)
Dexterity: 12 (22)
Vitality: 12 (22)
Perception: 10 (20)
Intelligence: 13 (23)
Mana: 13 (23)
Willpower: 13 (23)
Potential: G (29%)
Santi stared at his potential and started to piece it together. Monsters gave experience, the stronger they were the more experience they gave. They also gave potential. Potential was a weird stat, one that was more a measuring tool for the system than it was for the person. It was a measure of how much the system was willing to invest in you by helping you evolve. If you could acquire enough potential, mainly by robbing others of theirs, the system would help you evolve.
Potential was also real, rifts stole it as did some other monsters and items. They hoarded it, growing stronger and stronger in accordance with the potential they acquired. The younger you were, the easier it was to get potential. The more you were willing to risk, the more potential there was. It was confusing and took a while to get a feel for. Which is why Santi was staring at how his potential had only gone up four percent, even though he had leveled three times.
If the goblins had been sick, as he had suspected, their weakened nature would have reduced the experience. He hadn¡¯t killed enough of them to level three times, even if they were at full health. If they had been boosted though, then he would have. If they had taken some type of elixir or consumed a natural treasure to boost their stats, the experience for killing them would have skyrocketed. As evidenced by his levels.
If they were taking something, and Santi thought they were, then it would reduce their potential. Cause, whatever it was they were taking, was obviously killing them, trading the future for the present. If that was the case, then there was some type of boss monster around, or a full fledged Monster Den.
Santi moaned and rubbed his face. The first time through the apocalypse had been terrifying. Everyone focused on surviving the world ending. He had kept his head down for most of the first year, fighting only when he had to. He would have definitely remembered Monster Den¡¯s though.
The boost to the planet¡¯s mana and potential was rearing its ugly head again. He knew they¡¯d have to find and clear it out. Den¡¯s were nearly as bad as rift¡¯s, except they grew much faster. Normally built around a corrupted Natural Treasure, or ley line, or anything in that same vein. The monsters inside the den grew smarter and stronger the longer the den persisted.
Almost as if summoned by his line of reasoning, the system sent out a round of notifications. Santi scanned them quickly, his tiredness evaporating as he stared at the notifications in horror.
Congratulations Survivors. You¡¯ve made it 24 hours since integration. You should be proud!
A series of Monster Dens have developed around the world due to the increased mana flow.
New Challenge Issued.
Destroy Monster Dens over the next Ninety Days!
Rankings are Now Available.
Local
Regional
World
Rewards will vary based on performance.
Good Luck!
A worldwide bounty already?! It had only been a single day since integration! Santi kicked at a wall, swearing as he went to hunt Tank down. If there were enough of the dens that the system offered a quest, then they were going to be a serious problem.
¡°Tank, you see the notification?¡± Santi asked the bigger man when he found him in a little side room. Chloe and Rayleigh looked better already, color returning to their pale cheeks as their flesh knitted itself back together.
¡°Yeah. How serious is this?¡±
¡°Very. We need to get everyone together and organize. When I built this hideout, it was supposed to be a hideout. There¡¯s too many of us now. We need to make it a real base, a place where people can take refuge and we can work out of.¡±
¡°What do you suggest?¡± Tank asked. He might be nominally taking charge, but he still relied on Santi, trusting him even though Santi couldn¡¯t tell him why he knew things.
¡°Gather up everyone who is willing to fight. We need supplies, both food and water, but also building supplies. The wall outside won¡¯t last against a determined monster and frankly, there¡¯s way too many windows here.¡±
¡°Multiple raid teams then.¡±
¡°Yeah, need to find some leaders too.¡±
¡°You and me, Santi.¡±
¡°You¡¯re a healer Tank. You can¡¯t be risking yourself in supply runs,¡± Santi protested. Right now Tank¡¯s healing wasn¡¯t special, little more than a conventional nurse, but it would grow.
¡°Exactly. I¡¯m a healer. I need to be where people are getting hurt, not waiting for them to be dragged back to me.¡±
¡°You¡¯re one of what, like three?¡± Santi tried to argue with him.
¡°Yeah, there¡¯s three of us. Two will stay here and I¡¯ll lead a team to the safer destination. There¡¯s a hardware store only a few blocks away. I can take some of the others and go and steal everything that¡¯s not nailed down. The grocery stores are in the middle of town though. You¡¯re going to need everyone who¡¯s willing to fight with you.¡±
¡°I¡¯m going,¡± Chloe whispered as she slowly rose. Her shirt had been removed earlier, but she was covered from neck to waist in bandages like a mummy. Her pants were discarded to the side and someone had pulled a pair of shorts over her to preserve some of her modesty. Her one leg was also wrapped up in stained bandages. She gave no indication of her former wounds as she stood up, her eyes serious as she announced her willingness to fight.
¡°Yeah, I planned on that. You, Daniel, Paulie, your friend there, and maybe a few others. No more than twelve though. We can set out first thing in the morning. Everyone should rank up, use your stats and figure out your new skills.¡± Santi ran out of breath as the two of them looked at him.
¡°Good plan, Santi. I¡¯ll start asking around and getting people ready for it. I don¡¯t know how many are willing, but I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡± Tank left the room, leaving just Chloe and Santi there. Chloe raised an eyebrow at him as he stared at her.
¡°You going to stare at me while I change, or are you going to leave?¡± Chloe snarked at him.
¡°Ohhh. Ummm, just wanted to say, you were really good out there. Very fierce!¡± Santi gave her a thumbs up and slinked out of the room. He had a long night ahead of him preparing for the raid on the grocery stores.
Ch. 23 Venturing Out
-
It took several hours to organize and find volunteers. The shock of the world¡¯s ending hadn¡¯t worn off at all yet. The boost in stats had helped some though as they were able to boost their willpower and intelligence enough to function. Others were just desperate or mad, not needing the stats to be functional. Either way, Santi couldn¡¯t afford to care that much.
His plans had already been derailed, his original plan of building a small and elite group thrown out the window. Nearly two hundred survivors were clustered into the small building. It wouldn¡¯t take long for everyone to consume the supplies Santi had bought. These early day missions would be critical for the short term survival of the group.
Once levels started coming, especially the jump from Initiate to Acolyte, they would be able to worry about more long term threats than starvation and dehydration. In the meantime, Santi had scrounged together a team to lead into downtown and start raiding supplies. It was only the second full day since the system¡¯s arrival and the stores should be in decent condition. If anything, with the boost in the world¡¯s rating, there might be more supplies. The monsters unleashed on the world may have reaped more souls than the first time.
¡°Is everyone ready?¡± Santi asked his crew. Daniel and Paulie were the only two he really knew. Paulie had managed to earn a Brawler class with his only skill so far being a passive for blunt weapons. He was still carrying around the lead pipe he had found from somewhere, but he had also added a hammer to his belt.
Daniel was actually the highest rank, a level five Sneak. It was the early stages to a Scout class, one that was actually fairly solid. Daniel had taken Skulk as his first skill, the one that let him blend in with shadows. His second was a weak attack ability called Pierce which did as it suggested.
¡°We go and rob a bunch of grocery stores. Pretty simple plan, Santi.¡± Paulie was bouncing on the balls of his feet in anticipation. Santi thought it had to do with the upcoming larceny.
¡°Remember, stick together no matter what. Everyone has a buddy and we do not break line of sight with them.¡± Santi reminded everyone of his cardinal rule. He had stated it nearly a dozen times already, but he knew it would take blood for them to really understand.
¡°You¡¯re with me,¡± Chloe said as she wrapped a hand around Rayleigh¡¯s elbow. They were two of the only three girls on the team. More were on Tank¡¯s team, but for the most part not many of them had managed to get any fighting classes right away.
Chloe had managed to snag the Fighter class, which was the most advanced class Santi had ever heard an Initiate earn. Most people who had managed to make it through the night only earned the Survivor class. It was the class Santi had originally earned himself. It wasn¡¯t a handicap, but it definitely wasn¡¯t an advantage.
Rayleigh was a lvl 3 Brawler like Paulie, and she kept her golf club clutched to her side. She had been silent since coming out of the healing room, but Santi didn¡¯t know her at all. She could be severely traumatized, a likely outcome of being speared through the chest, or she could just be a naturally quiet woman.
The final girl was a Survivor who had taken the only skill the class was offered, 6th Sense. It was a fairly basic danger detection skill, but it was the only one they had at all. Hana had been partnered with Daniel as their scouts.
The rest of the team was filled out with some brawny guys who had helped hold the line. Trevor, a level three Brawler. Justin, a level 3 Scrapper who had wrapped like a boxer, and Beto, another level 3 Brawler. Santi had figured out that those who had used blunt, improvised weapons had managed to unlock the Brawler class and they all used a mixture of bats or hammers. It might have actually been the most common class among the survivors. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
That reminded Santi, they needed to do a census. Figure out everyone¡¯s classes and skills. It was the best way to work out teams. Most of the Brawlers were using their passive, but as more skills were added, there would be branching pathways. Pathways that he needed to know if he wanted to be effective.
Paulie and Beto were attached to Santi as a trio rather than a duo. He was planning on the three of them being in the thickest of whatever fighting there had to be. Paulie, well simply, he trusted him. Beto was a slightly older Hispanic man in his early 20¡¯s. He was all stringy muscle with watchful eyes, unlike Trevor and Justin who were walking walls of muscles.
¡°Ok, so we head for the closest store first. Keep an eye out for anyone who looks like they could be useful. We don¡¯t enter houses unless we have to.¡± Santi had horror stories of trying to clear dark houses filled with monsters and rotting corpses. Memories that he had no desire to add to. They would eventually have to start looting houses, but for now Santi wasn¡¯t going to be doing it.
¡°Let¡¯s get this show on the road,¡± Paulie said as he burst out of the dim building, throwing the door open to allow a stream of brilliant sunlight to penetrate the gloom. Santi had to blink away tears as he followed him out. The grounds were deserted, Tank having already left with his much larger raid team. Nearly thirty people had volunteered to go with him on the shorter run.
They left through the cracked wall, a half dozen people stationed outside of it, and started to head downtown. Santi had passed out after the last fight, but Tank had led people in burning the bodies of the goblins. Gas had been siphoned out of cars and bodies had been piled up into an intersection and set alight. Now it was just a smoking heap of half burnt bodies with thick black smoke wafting off of them.
¡°Damn, really thought those would burn better,¡± Paulie groused as they steered around it and headed away from the quiet side streets. Daniel and Hana were ahead of them, Hana walking cautiously with her head swinging around constantly while Daniel clung to the shadows of houses.
¡°Bodies are hard to burn,¡± Santi said. He wasn¡¯t as worried about an outbreak of disease now that he had thought of it. He was certain they were using some type of drug or potion to boost themselves at the expense of their potential.
¡°You say that like you have experience burning bodies,¡± Trevor muttered behind Santi. Santi decided to ignore him. Word of his unusual actions had traveled around the group, but nobody had decided to push him on it yet. Santi wished he could tell them but the geas was growing stronger by the hour.
It took them nearly an hour to reach the outer edge of the downtown region. It wasn¡¯t far, but several times they had hid off to the side. Once for a horde of goblins that had been running by. They were the same red skinned variant that they had seen earlier with the weeping sores. Their arms had been filled with loot taken from homes, everything from food to kitchen appliances.
The second time had been a large group of human survivors. They had been wild eyed and near manic, forty or so middle aged adults jogging with only a handful of weapons. Santi was tempted to step in, but stopped himself. The heartless part of him, the survivor of an apocalypse, knew they were all deadweight. They were running on panic and adrenaline, racing along streets and crying as they searched for safety. They hadn¡¯t realized there was no safety, that the world had devolved into something primitive.
Everyone had looked at each other with guilt in their eyes after they emerged from their hiding places after that group ran away. Fear was rife in his group too, but they were controlling it. Santi knew he had something to do with it, his presence and plans had given them a life ring they could cling to. They all knew that could be them, running and crying without a plan or hope.
¡°We¡¯re almost to the first store. Stay close,¡± Santi whispered to them as they started to bunch up. The idle streets full of homes had morphed over the last several minutes. Large apartment complexes and small strip malls and restaurants dotted the wide roads. It was eerie, seeing all the cars parked and the roads empty. On occasion they had seen survivors darting around, but most looked like they were clinging to their homes.
Corpses had grown more common as they got downtown. The myriad of bars and late night eateries would have been packed at nearly midnight. A massacre that Santi had no desire to wade into. They were still on the edges of the downtown region, the tall buildings rising a few blocks away. Their target though was a sprawling, squat building with an empty parking lot. They darted across the road, abandoning the cover of the deserted cars and homes for the wide open street.
¡°Hey! Don¡¯t go in there! It¡¯s haunted!¡± A voice yelled out as they started crossing the parking lot towards the door. Santi spun to see a handful of people crouched down behind the counter of a hair salon. They were peaking their heads out and waving for Santi and the rest of them to come to them and not closer to the store.
¡°Shit. Let¡¯s see what they want, then we hit the store,¡± Santi ordered.
Ch. 24 Curses
-
¡°The store, it¡¯s fucking haunted. Don¡¯t go in there,¡± the leader of the small band hissed as Santi and his team got closer. Broken glass crunched under their shoes as they entered the small salon. The chairs were slashed, bottles of shampoo and conditioner tossed to the ground, detritus littering everywhere. The small salon had been ransacked, but little of worth had been taken.
¡°What do you mean haunted?¡± Hana asked, her voice quivering as she asked. Santi wanted to know too, but he suspected it was much more likely it was cursed than haunted.
¡°I¡¯m Corona, we all worked at the store. It¡¯s stupid, we were having a big show-n-tell and management had us all there. We all came in at eleven with the management team to get the store ready.¡±
¡°Yeah, we don¡¯t need the whole story, just tell us what happened to make you think it¡¯s haunted?¡± Santi cut him off, not wanting to hear a long drawn out story.
¡°First off, fuck you, don¡¯t interupt me,¡± Corona snarled back. He was an older middle aged Hispanic man, bald with a dark goatee that had a thread of snow in it. Short and leanly muscled, his dark eyes sparked with anger as he stared down Santi. Santi swallowed his pride and backed down, he needed the intelligence from the former worker if they wanted to raid the store.
¡°As I was saying, we were all in there because management made us be there so we can show off for their bosses. Then, well, it happened.¡± The apocalypse had arrived a few minutes shy of midnight.
¡°Power went out and a few of us decided to walk out of there to see if there was power anywhere else,¡± Corona paused to point at the two other silent workers. Both of them were young, with pallid faces and deep bags under their eyes.
¡°Those little red fuckers came out of nowhere and started breaking and destroying everything. We ran back into the store, but something was off,¡±
¡°Yeah, it was like, way to cold in there. All the flowers were like, all wilted and shit,¡± one of the others cut it. Corona shot them a look, raising an eyebrow at being interrupted again. The younger man shut-up and sat back, letting Corona finish.
¡°We were going to the back, but we saw a customer come racing out. Full on sprinting to get away. We followed him, cause we¡¯re not stupid. You see someone running, you start running.¡±
¡°Smart.¡± Chloe chimed in behind Santi. Santi could feel his blood pressure rising. So far he hadn¡¯t heard any type of evidence that the store was haunted or cursed.
¡°So, you saw someone running and decided it was haunted?¡±
¡°No. And stop interrupting.¡± Corona shook his head before pausing and staring absently at the floor. After only a moment he started again, never looking away from the floor.
¡°We got to the entrance and I turned around to see, you know, if there was anything following us. It was the other¡¯s, they all had these green collars on them with these spectral chains leading deeper into the store. Like chained ghosts. Anyway, yeah, we got the fuck out of there.¡±
Santi leaned back and thought on that. Definitely sounded like a curse. Workers being chained up in their place of employment. If this place had been hated badly enough, resented enough, then it could have spawned a curse.
¡°We need the supplies in the store. We will just have to be careful and clear it. Where are you guys going?¡± Santi asked the three survivors. While Corona had a bit of an attitude, they weren¡¯t a panicking mess like the others they had seen had been.
¡°There¡¯s a few others around the plaza. We were hitting the smaller stores to see if we could get anything, then we¡¯re headed out of town.¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
¡°We have a small base. If you want, you can go there.¡± Santi gave them the address and got non-commital answers from the trio. They took off, heading toward another small store in the plaza, while Santi turned to the rest of his raid team.
¡°What do we think? We try it, or go to another store?¡± Santi was genuinely curious to hear what they said. He¡¯d abide if they weren¡¯t invested, there were plenty more stores they could pick clean around the area. This one was just the closest.
¡°If it is haunted, that means none of the monsters or other survivors have gotten in there yet. It¡¯s fully stocked,¡± Chloe said immediately. So far, she had been the one Santi was most impressed with. He had never seen her the first time, but someone this driven wasn¡¯t one who would have stayed anonymous. A victim to bad luck in the original timeline.
¡°Fuck ¡®em, let¡¯s empty it out.¡± Paulie added his two cents. The rest of the team just nodded along. Daniel and Hana went back out and started to peak around the busted automatic doors of the store, while everyone else rounded up shopping carts. They piled the carts up by the front entrances and waited for Santi to give them the order.
Santi had rarely led teams, always working solo as a scout. The weight of it, of the responsibility, was enormous. Eight other people were putting their lives in his hands. If he made the wrong call today, they wouldn¡¯t have a future. They¡¯d be nothing but another moldering corpse.
¡°Daniel and Hana first. Then me, Paulie, and Beto. Chloe and Rayleigh next, Trevor and Justin watch our backs. If they don¡¯t die, we run. If they do die, we kill everything in the store. Aisle by aisle. When it¡¯s clear, then we start loading stuff up, ok?¡±
¡°Let¡¯s get it.¡± Paulie was bouncing with excitement again, his pipe smacking into the meaty flesh of his palm over and over.
¡°Daniel, Hana, lead us in.¡±
Daniel and Hana slid through the broken doors, trying to avoid the worst of the broken glass. Santi followed right after, trusting the others to not abandon him. He gripped his sword pommel tight, eyes scanning around to take in the scene in front of him.
They had come in right next to the floral section of the store, and like the trio had said, they were all dead. The flowers were nothing more than wilted husks, drooping down to brush the floor. To the left was a line of empty cash registers, to the right the produce department.
¡°Through produce,¡± Santi whispered, his two scouts nodding as they moved through the department. It was a series of tables, all of the food that once decorated it rotting. Flies buzzed around in thick swarms, the pungent smell of rot filling the air. Light streamed in through the windows behind them, but with every step deeper into the store the light grew dimmer and dimmer.
Daniel was nearly invisible, the shadows pulling around him to keep him from prying eyes. Hana walked in a half crouch, a knife in her hand as she walked forward slowly as she took everything in. Santi was missing his old fellow scouts, one¡¯s with real abilities and nerves of steel. They would have cleared this place in moments, not been nearly frozen with fear as they inched along.
They crossed through the entire produce department, which ran from the front of the store to the back, and got to the meat department. If the stench of the rotting produce had been bad, the meat was vomit inducing. Refrigeration had been off for two days now, but this type of accelerated rot was something else.
¡°Definitely a curse,¡± Santi told himself as he pulled his sword free. This early on the curse wouldn¡¯t have time to sink into the actual building. It would be an anchor, something that had been a focal point for all of the pent up resentment that had been animated. Destroying an anchor would break the curse, leaving this building and all its contents to the normal ravages of time.
They crept along, the gloom this deep in the store nearly a pitch blackness. Following the back wall of the store, no one suggested entering the back. They cleared aisle after aisle, seeing nothing but perfectly stocked shelves. Unnaturally well stocked shelves. It was like out of an ad, without a single facing missing.
¡°You guys notice the shelves are all fully stocked?¡± Santi asked. There was a series of quick looks and some questions, but Santi ignored it. It was a clue and one he needed to point out. If things looked out of place, then they likely were.
¡°Where the fuck are these chained up people?¡± Trevor asked. He was sweating, blonde hair limp on his head as he looked around frantically. The longer they went on without seeing anyone, the worse the tension was growing. They reached the far side of the store, the bakery, and saw the first scenes of violence.
Shelves were overturned, rotting sludge strewn across the floor. Sticky black blood, thick with flies, decorated a wall. A half open door with an Emergency sticker above it gave hints to what had happened.
¡°All right, time to check the back,¡± Santi said. Daniel and Hana paused, looking at each other before Hana waved toward the back door next to the bakery with the Employees Only sign on it. Daniel shrugged, adjusted his dagger, and then went into the back.
Ch. 25 The Cursed Store
-
The back door swung on silent hinges, letting them enter the pitch black back room. Santi cursed as both Daniel and Hana grabbed and cracked glowsticks, giving an eerie green light to the surroundings. Pallets of dried goods were arrayed in neat lines, labeled with the aisles they belonged to. The concrete floor had splotches of dried blood on them, smears of it as if something was dragged.
The glowsticks destroyed their surprise, but none of them could see in the dark. Santi shoved his way in front of them, pulling his sword free and having it lead the way as he stalked down the long aisle. Large commercial grade coolers were on his right, while more supplies were on his left. The short walkway was only thirty or so feet, opening up to a large space.
¡°Fuck,¡± Santi said as they found everyone. A wall of emaciated figures, most clad in all black uniforms, stood in front of them. Sickly green collars dug into their necks, ghastly chains trailing away from them and into the heart of the huddled mass of flesh.
¡°Oh, shit.¡± Someone cursed behind him as all the enslaved looked up and met his eyes. They were soulless husks, their eyes dried out, flesh devoured. Skin and bones, their clothes hung off of them like tents, but they shambled forward instantly. A voice was murmuring behind them all, hidden from view.
¡°Back, BACK!¡± Santi hollered as he started to back up as the victims of the curse launched themselves forward. They couldn¡¯t move quickly, but their shuffle was eating the short distance quickly while Santi¡¯s group took a minute to re-organize and start sprinting back toward the door to the front of the store.
They weren¡¯t going to make it in time. Which led Santi to commence his second rearguard action in less than 24 hours. His blade blurred as he used his higher stats to push himself to his limits. The narrow walkway helped, though some of the chained husks climbed on top of the pallets and started jumping that way.
Every time he struck, it was like slicing through paper and then twigs. They were literally husks, drained of every ounce of vitality. There were a lot of them though and not all of them were quite so emaciated. Some were healthier people, recently caught, and even a handful of monsters. All of them attacked and so far Santi held them back.
¡°TURN!¡± Chloe yelled, only a few feet from him. Not taking his eyes off of the horde of silent husks, Santi spun towards the doors and accelerated. The husks couldn¡¯t keep up and he slammed the doors open and raced back into the gloomy bakery. Paulie, Trevor, Justin, Beto, Chloe, and Rayleigh were all standing in a curve around the door and Santi took his place in the middle of the arch of bodies. Wherever Daniel and Hana had got off to, he didn¡¯t have time to look for the two scouts.
The husks burst through the door like a horde of zombies, shambling and clawing forward with their chains trailing off into the distance. Santi was sure those chains were leaching them of their strength, feeding the anchor that the curse was attached to. He slashed down, shearing straight through the remnants of a once large man.
Glasses clattered to the ground as the husk fell apart, the chain retracting as the collar dissipated from his neck. Santi was already stabbing at the next husk, a kobold that looked like a skeleton, and couldn¡¯t care less about the damn things falling apart. His blade was chewing through them, everyone else was struggling a bit more.
When Chloe was using her skill, the silver light around the edge of her axe, they died easily. When she didn¡¯t, it was like she was trying to topple a small tree. Bits of flesh and bone would chip away, shattering bone and crippling limbs, but not killing them. The Brawlers were in an even worse position, their blows breaking bones, but not killing them.
¡°Back up!¡± Santi ordered, the pressure of the horde becoming too much. He skipped back a few steps, aiming to retreat down an aisle to keep the horde from encircling him. The group started to break away, none of them sticking with their designated partners except Chloe and Rayleigh. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
¡°BETO, PAULIE, GET YOUR ASSES OVER HERE!¡± Santi screamed at the top of his lungs as he ducked under swiping arms. He cut the husk in half at the waist and skipped back again. There were just too many of them, even if they died easily, he was at risk of being overwhelmed and brought down by sheer numbers.
Beto stopped his retreat and started to shove his way forward. He aimed crushing blows for heads, shoving away those that got too close. Long nails scraped at his arms, furrows digging through his flesh, but he broke free of the horde to take his place next to Santi.
Paulie just rushed through them, his pipe cracking kneecaps as he shoved and pushed his way free. Just as he got to Santi, they saw Justin go down. He swung around, crushing one of the husks into a shelf and sending boxed goods spilling everywhere. It left him off balance as two other husks tackled him, riding him to the ground. Trevor wasn¡¯t looking at his partner, too busy fighting a pair off of him.
Justin screamed for a moment and then went silent. The husks got off of him and Justin got back to his feet. He had a collar around his neck, a chain slowly materializing from the aether, leading off and through the walls of the meat department and toward the back room.
Chloe screamed, a mix of rage and pain and then she was pushing through the horde and heading toward Justin. Her silver blade was a storm as she got closer to him, Rayleigh right behind her, and they all watched as Justin snapped a punch out at Chloe. Chloe was stunned, not expecting Justin to attack her, and he managed to land a heavy blow. Bone crunched and Chloe staggered and fell on her rear, Rayleigh spun and used the momentum to drive her club into Justin¡¯s head.
Metal met bone and bone lost. Justin went slack, falling to the ground and his chains evaporated before they had fully formed. Rayleigh was pulling Chloe back to her feet, and then they were stumbling to meet up with Trevor who had managed to dispatch the two husks who had kept him occupied while Justin was overwhelmed.
¡°FRONT!¡± Santi yelled, hoping they understood what he meant. They had to spread out the relatively weak husks. While they were all bunched up, they were a threat, spread out they would be a much easier threat to deal with.
Santi followed his own order by backing down the aisle. Beto was to his right, Paulie to his left and slightly behind. The husks never hesitated, shambling after them with grasping dirty nails. The aisle was narrow, preventing all three of them from striking at once. Santi took the brunt of the attacks as his sword was well equipped to deal damage. For the thousandth time, he wished he had some other type of magic other than his air sense.
It allowed him to easily dodge all of the attacks. Having a sphere six feet around where he knew where everything happened was a broken ability at this rank. With his advanced stats from having his title, he was overpowered. Husk after husk raced at him and were left in pieces. By the time they made it to the end of the aisle, he had broken nearly a dozen of the creatures.
The light was brighter here, streaming through the widows giving them plenty of illumination. They spread out again, Chloe and the others emerging from their aisle and started to sprint across the store to regroup. The husks stopped their unthinking blitz, thinned greatly. Maybe only half of them remained.
The chain grew brighter, glowing with energy as they started to pulse white-green energy from the husk down the length of the chain and to whatever it was connected to. They slowly sank in on themselves, bodies collapsing under the weight of their own skeletons.
¡°This is creepy,¡± Paulie muttered. Santi had to agree with him, just nodding along silently as forty or so husks collapsed into nothing more than piles of clothes, bones, and loose skin. Chloe was busy trying to get her nose to stop bleeding, Rayleigh helping her, as they all waited. Santi was tempted to try to find Daniel and Hana, but he had an idea where he was.
The squeak of rubber on polished tile came to them as something started to come out of the darkness. The dim gloom of the back of the store made it nothing more than a wide shape, but with every step more and more of it was revealed. Santi gulped as the monstrosity got closer, the muttering words slowly becoming audible.
¡°Workforce reduction, labor hours reduced, production decreased,¡± the words were hardly more than whispers as it lurched toward them.
For a second Santi thought it was two people, but realization gave birth to disgust. It was two people wedged together, the ghastly green chains wound around their arms and ending in spikes. Blood flowed over the wounds, dripping down on the tiles as it lumbered forward on four legs.
Ch. 26 True Self
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The anchor for the curse was two men welded together in a fitful mockery of life. Four uneven legs had it tottering as it moved, four arms emerged from different parts of its torso, while the two heads looked about with wild eyes. The first head was where heads generally are, mounted on a fleshy neck above the shoulders. The second head was emerging from underneath the ribcage and facing backwards.
The first head was that of a rather florid white man, flabby cheeks drooping under the weight of its being. Thick golden hair hung in a loose disarray around his head. Its jaw hung open, viscous drool dripping as it muttered words as it staggered forth.
The second head, the one facing behind, was harder to see. As it lurched and stumbled on its uneven legs, Santi finally got a decent look. A Hispanic man, flesh pale underneath his normal tan. Thick black hair had turned into a helmet of a combover, dark eyes wide in horror as it spewed corporate rhetoric.
¡°I wanna go home now,¡± Trevor whined. The larger man was gripping a bat with white knuckles as the monstrosity edged closer to them.
¡°Spread out and encircle it when it gets out of the aisle,¡± Santi ordered, backing up to lure the anchor out of the narrow confines of the aisle. Everyone spread out, holding firm and not racing away. Santi hoped that Daniel and Hana hadn¡¯t fled, but he had faith they¡¯d arrive in time. It wasn¡¯t a scout¡¯s job to fight at the frontlines after all.
The melded creature put on a burst of speed and raced toward Trevor who was on the edge of the spread out arc of fighters. Santi cursed as he raced toward the creature¡¯s broad back. The clothes it wore were little more than scraps clinging to various limbs and offered it little protection as Santi slashed across the back where the spine should have been. The secondary head was screaming profanities at him, voice vicious and cruel as the abomination spun around to try to get its four arms on him.
The wound he had inflicted, with all of his strength behind the blow, had left little more than a cut. As it turned though, Trevor came forward and struck with a powerful blow to the shoulder. Bone crunched and one of its arms sagged for a moment. Santi backpedaled, cutting two fingers off of a grasping hand. The thick sausage fingers fell to the ground, black blood welling out of the wounds to dribble down its arm.
Then the wound stopped bleeding, flesh wiggled and then sprouted out and both of its fingers regrew. The broken shoulder popped and the flesh reformed, the arm regaining functionality.
¡°Fuck off,¡± Santi yelled. It was just his luck to get a creature with this type of vitality. They would die, but often needed overwhelming amounts of damage for them to go down.
¡°Keep attacking, we¡¯ll wear it down!¡± Santi ordered.
Chloe hacked at a leg, her skill active, and severed it right below the knee. The creature paused for only a second before a new leg burst forth. Rayleigh hammered a knee cap, breaking it with an audible crack. The girl dodged backward as it spun and lashed out with its flabby arms at her. Her trusty nine iron was bent now and her face was screwed up in a mix of anger and despair.
Paulie, Trevor, and Beto kept clubbing it, breaking bones and slowing it down as it spun around and around. Overall, it wasn¡¯t very strong or fast, but its vitality was allowing it to tank all of the hits like they were mosquito bites.
¡°The heads, let¡¯s try to kill the heads. Paulie, Beto, get the lower head. Chloe and me will take the upper head. Everyone else, attack on two, we attack on three.¡± Santi came up with his plan on the fly. He had no doubt if they stood in a circle and just kept beating the monster it would eventually run out of energy. It was very tiring though.
¡°One!¡± Everyone backed up, Rayleigh and Trevor gripping their weapons tight. They were on opposite sides of the creature and it was currently starting to march toward Chloe, leaving its ribs vulnerable to them. Stolen story; please report.
¡°Two!¡± Rayleigh swung with all her might like she was a softball batter. The heavy head of the nine iron cracked ribs, bowing the creature over as it screamed in agony. Trevor came a half second later, his bat breaking the same shoulder that he had hit every time so far. It was the same results of the arm falling limp as the shoulder was broken.
¡°Three!¡± Santi lunged forward, the curved saber angled to enter the upper head''s flabby neck. Chloe rose up to her tip-toes and brought the axe down like it was a hammer. Silver light covered the axe head and it split the crown of the creature¡¯s head like a watermelon. Santi¡¯s blade went up and through the neck, emerging out the back of its skull.
Paulie and Beto both hit the second head at the same time. The skull splintered, slimy gray matter and thick black blood boiling out of it like a popped abscess. The thing stood for a second, and then slowly collapsed down to its knees. Santi looked at his notifications, waiting for the kill notification.
It didn¡¯t come.
The heads slowly grew back together. Pieces of bone appearing as the skulls reformed, light coming back to dull eyes. The endless droning started up again as it leveraged its bulk back to its feet.
¡°Gross profit down yearly. Quarterly earnings not meeting corporate projections,¡± the heads spoke over each other, interlaying their voices into a weave of corporate bullshit.
¡°Move!¡± Daniel¡¯s voice carried over the monologuing anchor. Santi looked over to see Danile and Hana running full tilt, a shopping cart between them. Santi¡¯s eyes widened as he took in the fully loaded cart, bag after bag of dog food loaded into it. It had to weigh close to four hundred pounds and they were running at a full sprint with it.
¡°Back,¡± Santi slashed at the leading leg before scrambling backward. Everyone else listened, even if they couldn¡¯t see what was coming in their direction. The bulky anchor powered itself to its feet, just in time for the metal cart to impact it.
More bones broke, the creature toppling over and screaming shrilly as two of its legs were broken. The cart tipped over, spilling its load over the monster and pinning it down, if only for a moment.
¡°Finish it!¡± Santi screamed as he started to hack at every inch of available flesh around him. If the targeted strike hadn¡¯t been enough, then he was going to have to settle with overwhelming amounts of damage. Flesh was cut, bones shattered, limbs removed, and still it kept regenerating.
The minutes stretched on, all of the raid members growing weary as sweat slicked their bodies and every breath was nothing more than a desperate gasp. Slowly, but surely, the wounds stopped healing. The heads stopped spewing their nonsense and finally it grew still. The kill notification popped up and Santi sank back on his haunches, glad it was finally over.
Congratulations, you are now Mage lvl. 5
The notification was a welcome relief as it finally let him pick an offensive spell. He would have to do that in a minute cause he needed to get everyone set up and moving first. The anchor was dissolving rapidly, flesh flowing away into a black good. Within moments, the only thing left was a baseball sized emerald stone with swirls of black through it.
¡°Don¡¯t touch that fucking stone,¡± Santi said between gasps as he looked down at the physical manifestation of the curse.
¡°No shit.¡± Paulie said as he slumped to the ground, his shirt soaked through in sweat. Santi recovered first, slowly rising up as he stared down at the stone. A powerful alchemy tool without a doubt, but would he be able to contain it till someone got the alchemist class? The rift stone was one thing, but this was a small scale disaster waiting to happen. All it took was one person taking and absorbing it and the curse would be running again.
¡°All right, time to start emptying this place out. Beto, partner up with Trevor. You two will focus on water. Chloe and Rayleigh, grab any type of containers you can. We will need that later. Daniel, Hana, look for anything that can help fill out the base with cooking instruments. Paulie and I will grab canned goods and whatnot. Two carts each. Ummm, who has the pack with all the supplies?¡±
¡°I left it outside. I¡¯ll go and grab it now,¡± Chloe said, her and Rayleigh leaving to grab the pack. They had shoved a bunch of rope and some basic first aid stuff in the bags. Santi hoped that nobody had decided to clean them out while they were fighting the anchor.
¡°All right everyone, let¡¯s get to it. We¡¯re going to need to make a few of these runs, but this was a good start.¡± Santi tried to give everyone encouragement, but now that the fight was over, everyone was thinking about the one member who wouldn¡¯t be going back with them.
Ch. 27 Cursed Rewards
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The stone was wrapped up carefully in the shredded remnants of several shirts, then cocooned in a wad of tape. The moment the cursed stone was completely covered everyone received a notice from the system that was a welcome surprise.
Minor Achievement:Twice-Cursed Stone contained.
Curse of Gluttony (Lesser)
Curse of Greed (Lesser)
Reward: Potential (Minor)
¡°What the fuck is this reward?¡± Chloe spat as she stared up into empty space. Santi could empathize with her, potential wasn¡¯t something that anyone would know yet. How could they? He wasn¡¯t allowed to tell them how powerful it was, just how much potential they would need to grow further and faster than anyone else.
¡°It¡¯s better than a poke in the eye. Let¡¯s make sure it stays contained though,¡± Santi cut off any more complaining before it began. He needed to pick his level five skill as soon as possible and then he¡¯d check to see how much potential he had earned. They just needed to get somewhere safe first.
¡°Daniel, let¡¯s get out of here. You and Hana lead us out. Everyone else, let¡¯s drag these carts.¡± Santi did his best to be authoritative, but it didn¡¯t come naturally. Everyone grumbled about for a few moments before gathering their supplies and moving out.
Santi was ready for a nap and it had only been a few hours since he woke up. The tension of the walk over here followed by the fight had left him drained. With just a thought he was able to ascertain that it was exactly 2:17.
The trip back to their base wasn¡¯t as bad as getting to the store had been. Corona and the others hadn¡¯t been in the plaza when they came out. The streets were eerily still, with only a gentle spring breeze pushing around leaves to give any sign of life.
Santi chose speed over discretion, the heavily laden carts impossible to move without causing a ruckus. Santi never took his hand off of the pommel of his sword, his Air Current skill running at full power to give him any sort of warning.
They heard the camp before they saw it. The sounds of metal on metal and cries of hard work. For a split second Santi had thought it was the sounds of fighting, but his worry increased when he realized it wasn¡¯t. They turned the deserted corner and were met by a barricade of abandoned cars.
Stretched out across the entire street, from front yard to front yard was a line of cars. A four foot gap stood in the middle of the street allowing people to walk through, a pair of sentinels standing guard with homemade spears.
¡°What the actual fuck?¡± Santi asked himself as he watched dozens of people scurrying about. There were way more than the hundred and fifty people he had left behind. Closer to triple that number if he was forced to guess.
The carts of supplies they were lugging seemed small and pathetic in the face of the masses who had gathered around the hideout. Not a hideout now, but a central base to work out of. Santi wanted to scream in frustration. A vein ticked on his forehead as he realized they weren¡¯t going to be able to slowly build their strength. This was such a cluster of people, of experience and potential, that the local monster population wouldn¡¯t be able to leave them alone.
¡°Is it just me, or is there a lot more people now?¡± Trevor asked earnestly, as he looked at everything wide-eyed. Santididn¡¯t want to judge him, but he was judging him.
¡°Yes, Trevor. There are more people here. Tell me, when you learned numbers, did you stop in the third or the fourth grade?¡± Chloe asked so sweetly that Santi couldn¡¯t help but feel bad for Trevor. It wasn¡¯t like the boy was dumb. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
¡°I did struggle a lot with fractions. How can you only have part of a number? Like, I don¡¯t get it. I think that was fourth grade, maybe fifth.¡± Trevor blundered into it without blanching. Santi revised his previous opinion on Trevor¡¯s intelligence.
¡°What were you doing at school?¡± Daniel cut in, emerging from the shadows of a close house.
¡°Athletic scholarship! They were worried about my grades though, so I had to hire a tutor to get in.¡±
¡°Oh, well there¡¯s a lot to be said about taking the responsibility to hire a tutor to advance yourself,¡± Chloe gave in, face slick with sweat as she hauled her carts.
¡°Oh yeah, he was super expensive, but he did all my homework for me and got me to a C average, so like, worth it.¡±
¡°That¡¯s not a tutor,¡± Daniel started but trailed off as everyone looked at bland faced Trevor. He was built like an Olympian, muscles bulging as he hauled his carts without a concern.
¡°Good work Trevor,¡± Hana chimed in, a smile starting to spread across her face as they walked through the center of the line of cars, the two sentinels not even asking who they were. Santi could feel his blood pressure ratcheting up. If they were going to bring in this many people and have guards standing around, then they should be doing guard things. Like challenging people as they walked through defensive perimeters.
¡°It¡¯s only been a few days. Only a few days,¡± Santi muttered to himself as he looked over everything they were doing and wanted to point out where they were wrong. What was the point in having a line of cars on the ground when monsters could scale houses? If you have sentinels, why are they on the ground level? Where are the roaming patrols?
¡°Head straight for the base. We will store this and then find out what¡¯s going on.¡± Santi gave his orders and quickly dropped off the shopping carts to the base. They had managed to pry open the front gates, allowing everyone to simply walk straight in. People were flowing in and out and Santi felt a flicker of fear for his valuables.
The rift stone was too valuable to be left alone for some random person to walk off with it. Now with the cursed stone too. They¡¯d have to find a storeroom to place the valuables for guarding. Nobody should know the value of the rift stone or twice cursed stone, aside from his fellow regressors. If they were here, then Santi had a lot more problems than some missing spoils of war.
¡°Oh, you¡¯re Santi?¡± a woman asked. She was in her early twenties, dirt streaked across her face and her fine blonde hair was matted. She was wearing an oversized sweater and holding a clipboard as their group walked in.
¡°Yup. You are?¡±
¡°Brandy, like the drink. Dexter told me to stay here and log everything brought in or out. You know, an inventory.¡± She spoke slowly and carefully, each word precisely pronounced.
¡°Well then, Brandy, like the drink, this is what we brought back.¡± Santi waved at the line of carts they had painfully pushed for over a mile.
¡°Is that all you brought?¡± Brandy asked while her face fell looking at the carts loaded with supplies. Santi had to bite back from snapping at her as his frayed patience was held together by the finest of threads.
¡°There were a lot less people here when I left this morning.¡±
¡°Ohhh, yeah. That¡¯s Dexter. He had people go and knock on doors to tell people there was a safe place. Some people took him up on it, not everyone but a lot. I did!¡± Brandy seemed to be one of those perpetually perky people, never staying down for more than a moment.
¡°I see that. Do you know where Dexter is?¡±
¡°Yeah, he¡¯s working with the others out front. They¡¯re trying to build a wall. To keep all those monsters out.¡±
¡°I got that. Thanks for counting everything.¡± Santi spun on his heel and walked away before he exploded. The whiplash of emotions over the week was exhausting. First he had been weepy and sad, lost in the memories of things that he wouldn¡¯t allow to happen. Now, his anger was like a physical thing, brewing in his chest with the force of a storm.
Tank was easy to find, standing head and shoulders over everyone else. He was just a block over and to the side, helping shove cars together. Teams of men and women worked tirelessly, breaking windows and pushing cars to where a team of burly men in neon orange shirts directed them too. It was Tank taking orders that had Santi hesitate. He was doing what they asked him to, pushing and shoving with the strength of two men. He wasn¡¯t supposed to be taking orders, he was supposed to be giving them.
Santi didn¡¯t trust strangers to listen to him when he spoke. That was Tank¡¯s job. He would do all of the minutiae of running a camp, while Santi did the fighting. That had been the agreement. So why was he letting himself be bossed around by a bunch of random strangers?
Ch. 28 Coming Back Home
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¡°Lot of people here, Tank,¡± Santi immediately moved to settle his questions. The larger young man didn¡¯t even look up from his labor. They were working to stack a series of pallets to build a small station for people to look over the wall of cars. It was amateurish work at best, but Santi couldn¡¯t help but be surprised at everyone¡¯s industrial nature.
¡°Yeah. We started knocking on doors and pulling people out of their houses. It¡¯s bad out there Santi.¡± Tank interrupted himself by using a hammer for its actual purpose, nailing a long board into the pallets. Santi only needed a quick glance to see they were going to make rudimentary walls for the stands. He doubted it¡¯d offer protection later on, but for now it might suffice.
¡°I thought we weren¡¯t going to do that?¡± Santi tried to keep his temper in line. People were looking at him, people he didn¡¯t recognize. Older people. People who would have opinions and who he hadn¡¯t personally saved.
¡°You told me you didn¡¯t want to be in charge. This is me taking a leadership role.¡± Tank waved a thick corded arm around at the possibly hundred or so people working together. It wasn¡¯t a tranquil scene by any standard; the workers were dirty and smelled, fear rank in their every expression, but they were working.
¡°It¡¯s going to be hard to be in charge when you bring in this many people. They won¡¯t take us seriously,¡± Santi tried to explain his thoughts, but found himself falling silent. Tank waited patiently for him to elaborate and when he didn¡¯t, Tank started talking.
¡°They shouldn¡¯t. Shit, Santi. We¡¯re teenagers. We don¡¯t know shit. It¡¯s pretty simple man, we need to best use everyone here and work together. I thought about what you said, about me taking charge while you are off fighting and whatnot.¡± Tank paused as he hammered in a second post, shrugging when the two posts weren¡¯t identical.
¡°We need people. People with skills and thoughts and experience. I¡¯m not going to be some dictator, Santi. I know that¡¯s an easy route to go man, just standing there and telling people what to do because I¡¯m in charge of the food or healing. It¡¯s not right though. It goes against who I am. I wish to lead, not rule.¡±
Santi walked around the small stack of pallets and helped grab a piece of plywood with Tank without being asked. The two of them leveraged it up and Santi waited while Tank used a single hand to awkwardly hammer in a few nails to the post.
¡°This is going to get people killed, Tank. They¡¯re going to fight to be in charge, they won¡¯t agree with us when we need to make fast decisions. Supplying all of these people, I don¡¯t think we will be able to, Tank. There¡¯s just too many.¡±
¡°I never said it¡¯d be easy. I know there will be struggles, but we¡¯re going to have to work through them. We could easily build some small community where everyone does as we say. We level quick and are super strong, right?¡±
¡°I mean, yeah, that¡¯s kinda how I was thinking of doing it. A small elite group of people.¡±
¡°I can¡¯t imagine that, Santi. Imagine all of the dead people who would have been alive if we only had the courage.¡±
¡°Courage doesn¡¯t feed people, Tank.¡±
¡°You are of course correct. You feed people. Or, at least, you will be feeding people. Training people how to get food. The next few days I¡¯m going to be sending over some volunteers for you. People who want to do these grocery runs. Scavengers, raiders, whatever you want to call them. Our survival is going to come down to you and them.¡±
¡°There¡¯s not enough long lasting food to last us through a winter if we gather this many people.¡±
¡°I know that too. Some of these monsters will be edible, no?¡±
¡°Define edible?¡±
¡°I can eat it and not question if I¡¯m a cannibal. Or get a prion disease that causes me to go insane.¡±
¡°Tank, I don¡¯t know what a prion is.¡±
¡°Mad cow-disease Santi. That¡¯s a prion.¡±
¡°Oh, well, then I don¡¯t fucking know. Probably?¡±
¡°Then we train hunters as well as raiders and scavengers. We grow gardens, already started that, and do whatever else we need. If this dooms us, well then, that¡¯s on me. But I¡¯m not willing to not try and save people.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
¡°Fuck, that¡¯s a decent speech.¡±
¡°Thanks, I¡¯ve been practicing for a few hours. I had a feeling you wouldn¡¯t like this decision.¡±
¡°What are we going to do about running this joint? I have a feeling these old-heads aren¡¯t going to be super willing to listen to teenagers.¡±
¡°We will cross that bridge when we have to. In the meantime, I suggest being as useful as possible and nice as possible. Last thing we want is factions starting. Focus on building a singular community identity rather than a group¡¯s.¡±
¡°I think we¡¯re straying into idealism rather than reality,¡± Santi said, laughing a bit. They backed away from the small wall they had built on the equally small tower. It was crooked and sagging already.
¡°Fuck, I am terrible at this.¡± Tank laughed as he disparaged himself. Santi didn¡¯t want to say anything about the quality of the tower, but it did look terrible.
¡°It¡¯s a good thing I¡¯m a healer and not a builder. I got another two levels just from that walk. Lot of people hurt and needed healing. Also got to use my club on some of those red goblins.¡± Tank informed Santi as they walked away from the poorly constructed tower.
¡°Club?¡±
¡°Yeah, didn¡¯t want to run around unarmed. So, I made a club.¡± They got to where a pile of people¡¯s belongings had been set down, close to the base¡¯s sturdy brick walls. The club in question was just a pair of metal bats that were bound together by a metric shit ton of tape.
¡°I think that make¡¯s you the highest ranked person here,¡± Santi mused as he tried not to smile as Tank swished the club through the air.
¡°Oh, I am. Part of bringing in all these people was doing a census. Finding out who they are and what classes and levels they have. The next closest, aside from your team, is a guy named Dennis. Level six Survivor. Apparently he crossed half the town by himself and fought and killed some of those hobgoblins like you and Daniel did.¡±
Santi let out a low whistle at that. Hobgoblins were no joke at this low of a level. Santi had the advantages of nearly a decade of fighting and a title that boosted his stats. Dennis had none of that and had managed to level six times in two and half days. Impressive by any standard.
¡°Did he say where he saw those goblin¡¯s come from?¡± Santi asked. He was determined that the goblin monster nest would be the next thing on his staggeringly long to-do-list.
¡°No, but I can ask him. How big of a threat are they? Compared to everything else?¡± Tank was curious and they were walking by themselves back into the safer walls of the base.
¡°You got the quest just like I did. Rewards are always good. I don¡¯t like having any of them around me. Clear them out, get levels and rewards, rinse and repeat till the area is safe.¡±
¡°Simple enough. Need to get you a full sized raid team though. Some of the people we found had combat classes on them like Chloe and Paulie. See if they¡¯d be willing to join us on our foray.¡±
¡°Us? You planning on coming too?¡±
¡°I told you, Santi. Leadership. First word in it is lead. I¡¯ll be right there with you and all the other fighters.¡±
¡°Good healers are worth their weight in gold.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think you have enough gold to pay for my weight,¡± Tank was laughing as they entered the base and started moving through the dim halls. Santi was happy to see it wasn¡¯t overly crowded, with many of the doors still chained and locked.
¡°Gold isn¡¯t worth shit anymore anyways. Can¡¯t really buy anything,¡± Santi complained.
¡°Fair enough. Food and weapons are the gold of today. Which we have more than most, but nowhere near enough.¡±
¡°Never have too many knives,¡± Santi conceded. He still had the poignard and iron dagger from the kobold warriors.
¡°I guess. I¡¯ll stick with my club.¡±
¡°Barbarian,¡± Santi nudged his friend with an elbow as the two of them smiled together walking into the main room. All of the cases of water that Santi had bought were stacked along the walls. Food and other goods sprawled out as the now empty carts from their raid were pushed to the side.
¡°You didn¡¯t tell me how your raid went,¡± Tank noted quietly as they stood staring at the mountain of food and water.
¡°We lost Justin. There was some type of curse there. We killed the thing the curse was attached to, but Justin didn¡¯t make it out.¡±
¡°Fuck. Did you know him?¡±
¡°No, he was from one of the other dorm rooms. Didn¡¯t have any classes with him either.¡±
¡°Shit.¡±
¡°Yeah. Going to be a lot of these conversations, I fear.¡±
¡°Tomorrow. We start prepping more raids and finding more survivors. We can send out scouts and interrogate people we find about the goblins. Try to find the nest that way.¡±
¡°And for the rest of the day?¡± Santi asked.
¡°Take it to yourselves. Everyone from your team.¡±
¡°Thanks, Tank.¡±
¡°We¡¯re going to need you, Santi. Whatever weird fucking shit is going on that you know about, we need you. So get some sleep, we can tackle this tomorrow with some fresh eyes.¡±
Ch. 29 New Skill
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Santi didn¡¯t go to sleep, it was only the middle of the afternoon after all. He went and gave himself a wet wipe bath, trying to remove the worst of the offending odors and foreign fluids that had decorated him. He was going to burn through his clothes supply too quickly if he changed after every little scrap. The last few days of enjoying hot showers and being clean were seeming more like a distant memory with every passing minute.
Finally finding a minute to himself, he sat down in one of the dim rooms away from everyone and brought up his status sheet. Scrolling through the kill notifications of Cursed Subject lvl. 0. It was a good thing none of them had levels, the amount of extra vitality and strength the curse would have been able to drain from them would have made it that much more difficult.
Twice-Cursed Anchor lvl. 3 was a nice kill notification. The horrifying amalgam of human parts had been nightmarish. They also wouldn¡¯t have been able to host the stone without having a strong enough connection to the curses the stone had contained. Based on what Corona had told him, Santi was willing to bet they had been the former management team.
His level five level up brought with it the normal boosts to his stats, both of his spare points being put toward his mana stat. The minor reward to potential gave him another 10% to his potential, along with the kills in the store, so he was sitting at 43% of the potential needed to ascend to Acolyte. He was starting to lag behind on experience at this point, nearing halfway to the potential cap. It would be a waste to keep gathering potential without a way to store it as he gathered levels.
The red goblins could be a cure for that. Creatures that had forsaken their potential instead for temporary and immediate power boosts. If he managed to kill enough of them while clearing the nest, he could get himself closer to a balanced growth rate.
Now that his kill notifications were done, he went to his new skill he could select. Every five levels offered a new skill or spell option and he had a decent idea of what spell he wanted to take. There wasn¡¯t much in the way of powerful offensive spells as an Initiate, most of them minor things that could keep one alive for a little while longer. It wasn¡¯t until one made Disciple that the real powerful offensive spells opened up. That didn¡¯t make the spells available useless, he would just have to be a bit more creative in their uses.
Gust (Basic)
Identify (Basic)
Air Bubble (Basic)
Curse Detection (Common)
Air Manipulation (Common)
Winds of Time (Rare)
The only addition was the Curse Detection skill, which gave Santi pause. He had been a Survivor as an Initiate the first time he had to go through all this and hadn''t exactly presented a lot of choices on his skill trees. He had obviously talked to others about what they had done, but most had been quiet about the skills they took, especially the upper ranks.
That experience could change your class options and was fairly well known. It was one of the many reasons Santi had made sure his friends had been armed and ready to fight, rather than just fortifying the dorm rooms. Knowing his skill and spell selection was changed by what he experienced was a good thing to know. He had no desire to pick curse detection, not wanting to head into a powerful but niche role like Exorcist. He was a mage through and through afterall.
Air Bubble would offer him a weak skill, but it could be upgraded or merged later. He had done so with that very spell to make his Air Capsule spell. He had used the Common ranked spell to do that though, not the basic. No, his choice was easy and he picked Gust.
A flood of power rolled through him, for a moment elevating him beyond his normal and weak senses as the spell was burned into his body. It was stronger than when he took Air Current, but he couldn¡¯t complain as he suddenly just Knew how to use the spell. It was always like this, the spell just becoming part of him with ease. It was instinctive on how to use it in the most basic of manners. To truly make it his would take a lot more time and experimentation though. It helped that he had some of the previous knowledge of the weaker spell already, but he would need to test the limits on the weaker form. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Setting out immediately he was looking for a spot to practice the spell without getting in the way of anyone. The entirety of two whole square blocks were completely consumed by activity, hundreds of people working together to form some sort of crude barriers. Cars were being smashed together, boards and pallets and anything else on hand was used to fortify the walls.
The heat of the early spring sun was in full effect, sweat trickled down Santi¡¯s neck nearly immediately. He had to fight the urge to sneeze, pollen floating through the air thick as dust. Working his way off to the side of the building he found a small side street that was fairly deserted. There were a few people working on the street, but Santi didn¡¯t think they¡¯d mind him practicing as they were down the street from.
The street had been cleaned of any cars, leaving only some shattered glass on the ground. Standing in the center of the road, Santi let loose. He could feel the tug on his mana, a distinct pull in the pit of his stomach. Air Current was a continuously active spell that he only activated when he woke up. It just used up some of his rather weak mana regeneration rate to keep active.
Gust took a solid chunk on his mana pool, ripping free from his core. Air didn¡¯t have any flashy movements to visually signify what was happening, only the spinning pollen in the air gave him indication of what was happening. A burst of wind came howling from his hand, yellow pollen pushed down the street as the spell activated. It ended nearly as quickly, the street returning to silence.
Santi watched in silent apprehension as the sizable cloud of dust and pollen he had just shoved out of the air overwhelmed the workers down the street. The four men descended into a fit of coughing and sneezing violently. Santi slunk away while the workers were busy sneezing.
A bit of shame clung to him over his improvised bio warfare, but he let that disappear as he rounded the corner. Causing a coughing fit wasn¡¯t the worst thing he had ever done. It wasn¡¯t the best either as the sounds of their coughing followed him. Santi didn¡¯t even notice the mischievous grin he had on his face.
¡°What has you grinning like the cat that got the canary?¡± Chloe asked. She was sitting in the shade of the brick wall, her small clique of friends around her. Rayleigh was sitting off to the side, Amanda propped on her shoulder, with the last of the still unknown girls in the middle of them all.
¡°Oh, no reason at all. New skill.¡± Santi said, hedging his answer.
¡°I got one too. Talking with the girls about what to take,¡± Chloe answered, all the girls around her nodding along. Amanda still looked haunted, her eyes red-rimmed as she stared outward. Rayleigh looked more interested, likely because she was closing on her own rank 5 upgrade.
¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t know your name,¡± Santi said, leaning toward the last woman he didn¡¯t know.
¡°Violet,¡± the girl said, offering a slim hand that Santi shook. She was petite, her fingers completely swallowed by Santi¡¯s own hand.
¡°Pleasure to meet you,¡± Santi said.
¡°We¡¯ve met before.¡±
¡°I was kinda out of it that night, sorry.¡±
¡°No, we met at freshman orientation. We also had a class together.¡±
¡°Oh. Shit. My bad.¡±
The entire group fell silent as they stared at Santi. There were a few accusatory glares thrown at him as he was judged.
¡°I have a bad memory?¡± Santi offered.
¡°Poor excuse. I¡¯ll take it though, because of extenuating circumstances.¡±
¡°Thank you, I¡¯ll try to make it up to you.¡± Santi offered.
Violet smiled wryly and nodded. Santi turned from her and back to Chloe, eager to get away from his faux pas. He couldn¡¯t remember her, but his memory was foggy from eight years ago. To them it had been less than six months since their freshman orientation.
¡°What are you going to take?¡± Santi asked.
¡°That¡¯s what we were talking about. Defense or offense?¡±
¡°Are you going to keep raiding with us, or form your own team?¡± Santi sat down next to them.
¡°Can I form my own team?¡±
¡°Yeah, why wouldn¡¯t you be able to?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know. This shit is wild. There¡¯s no rule book or anything,¡± Chloe muttered. Her friends nodded while looking at him like he had a second head.
¡°If you want to keep working with the main team, then defense. If you want to have a second team, then also defense.¡±
¡°Why¡¯d you even ask me if I was staying with the team if your answer didn¡¯t change?¡±
¡°I was just curious about what you were going to do,¡± Santi said. He was looking up at the clear sky, free of any clouds and just basking in the sun.
¡°You¡¯re an ass,¡± Chloe said, with a hint of a smile in her voice.
¡°I¡¯ve been told that.¡±
Ch. 30 The Council
-
Santi eventually ended up taking that nap. As the lethargic afternoon wore on, his eyes grew heavy and he found a shadowy room to close his eyes for a few hours. When he woke up he felt refreshed though dealing with a cotton mouth and a slight headache. He alternated rubbing his temples while sipping on a bottle of water. The dark room was well insulated, the sounds of the late afternoon completely isolated from him.
His new attribute let him know it was exactly four fifty-three in the afternoon. For the first time in days he had a few moments to himself. There was no need to worry about leveling up, no spells to check, monsters to kill, or supplies to gather. For just a few minutes he let himself think about all that had happened that was straying away from what had happened last time.
The largest of these of course being that everyone was here and alive. That most of these people had died in the original timeline wasn¡¯t lost on Santi. He had changed the timeline massively by saving everyone. Akthyr had informed him of The Major Change. The world being upgraded. More resources invested by the System to propagate growth.
Santi had originally planned to do what he had done the last time, just better and save a few more of his friends. Becoming a Wind Mage was what had formed his personality and life originally. Everything he had done had been based around his class and position in the Guild. Now though, would that be enough.
Personal power was great. It allowed one to define oneself rather than have others do it for them. He would have been able to dictate what was happening and to whom. Now though, would it be enough?
That thought just kept rattling around in Santi¡¯s head as he sat there in the dark. He had absolved himself of the responsibility of rescuing his family. Told himself that he couldn''t leave this area because he would lose all of the advantages of having home field advantage.
He had lied to himself. Sitting there with the pulsing headache and his growling stomach, he let himself acknowledge what had driven that.
Greed.
Cowardice.
Fear.
He had wanted to grow personally powerful. To be a Champion, or even ascend higher to a Master. Knowing what was in the area and how he could best the challenges around him had kept him rooted here. Afterall, he had mourned his family years ago. The pain of hearing his family¡¯s voices had torn open those wounds, but in his heart he had buried them. His own greed, the greed of personal power, of becoming someone important had kept him here.
He had been a coward, for he feared seeing his family. Of seeing his sisters, mother, and father. To see their faces and know that he could lose them again. It was easier to stand here, by himself and isolate himself from that agony that had once consumed him. Santi felt tears sliding down his face as his shoulders shook. The thoughts kept coming, one after the other. The moment of self-realization crushing him.
Fear of the unknown. Of being unknown. If he had left the campus, he would have risked dying to something he couldn¡¯t plan for. He would have missed the chances that he knew would be available. Fear of seeing them dead. Of mourning not only his family again, but the friends who had never gotten to grow and live.
Santi let himself sink deeper into the realizations of the thoughts of inadequacy. For just a few minutes he allowed himself the luxury of reprimanding himself. Of self-loathing. Then, as his tears dried and the shuddering sobs stopped, he cleaned his face and worked on his breathing.
The stifling air of the room was warm and not soothing in any way, but it helped him bring his emotions back in line to where he was functional. He couldn¡¯t let all those people out there see him like this. They were terrified and looking for leadership. For someone to guide them. He had thrust that onto Tank rather than himself. Tank had decided leadership belonged to the group and Santi couldn¡¯t fault him for that. Afterall, he hadn¡¯t wanted to lead them either and he knew what was going on.
Santi couldn¡¯t tell anyone of what had happened, the geas assured that. People knew there was something off about him, but the magic of the spell kept them from pushing harder on it. He knew and the other regressors knew.
¡°Better, I can be better,¡¯ Santi pleaded to himself as he grabbed his saber and walked out of the room. Opening the door let in a rush of sounds, people bustling and talking and everything else that came with a bunch of people living in close proximity to each other.
Searching for Tank, Santi took the time to look around the base. The building wasn¡¯t large, just a long hall with a dozen or so classrooms attached to it. There were storage closets and other smaller rooms, but for the most part it was just the main hall with rooms glommed onto it. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
People were packed into every room. The only room that still had its lock on it had a trio of people watching it holding homemade spears. Likely the food or water room where they were keeping the majority of the supplies. Santi ignored it, his own small room had been a supply closet that he had thrown a pack of water into along with some bags of beef jerky and Pop-Tarts.
People looked tired and dirty. Only a few days in and Santi could see the effects of the apocalypse was taking on them. Sallow faces, hunger carved into expressions, grief haunting every look. Blood and dirt-stained clothes. Improvised weapons on every person''s belt. It had all of the makings of a war camp.
¡°I can do better,¡± Santi whispered to himself as he passed by a pair of children who clutched each other as if the world would fall apart if they let go. The dried blood on their faces and clothes told a story of monstrous origins. The fact they were ignored and left in the middle of the hallway as people were too lost in their own myriad of concerns was just another symptom of the effects of the monsters.
Santi found Tank in the entryway of the building. The doorway was barricaded, they had been using a side door afterall, with a handful of gas lanterns giving light as a group of people poured over local maps. Tank wasn¡¯t in the central position, but rather slightly off to the side. The main person was a middle-aged woman with gray streaking her dark hair. Santi didn¡¯t recognize her but as he got closer he heard the command in her voice as she spoke.
A few of the people looked him over in curiosity before ignoring him to focus back on the maps they were going over. Tank saw him and just tilted his chin in a brief nod before focusing back on what the woman was talking about.
¡°This warehouse here, it¡¯s a distribution center. If we can get in there we will have plenty of supplies for the future. The question is, do we relocate there?¡± She said, Santi just caught the end of the conversation.
There were six people in the huddle, including Tank and the speaker. Two others were younger women who looked like the central woman, with an older bald white man, and a racially ambiguous man who looked to be in his thirties. Santi looked down at the map and tried not to pale as he saw where she was pointing at.
The distribution center wasn¡¯t anywhere near downtown where Santi suspected most of the monsters would be. Instead it was near the edge of the city, but he knew that area. It was where another rift was located. Not exactly where the warehouse was, but very close. It would be a terrible idea to tackle the golem rift without having a full raid team closing in at the peak of Intiatie tier. They¡¯d be massacred without more powerful attacks that could hew through the golems'' tough defenses and survive the incredibly strong attacks.
¡°Bad idea. There¡¯s a rift nearby. We¡¯d be pulverized getting there,¡± Santi cut in before he could stop himself.
¡°And you are?¡± The woman looked at him from the papers letting Santi see the deep bags under her dark eyes.
¡°Santiago, I was the leader of the last supply run and this is my place that I set up.¡±
¡°How do you know there¡¯s a rift there?¡± One of the girls said.
¡°What do you mean it¡¯s your place?¡± The older man asked, face puzzled and suspicious.
¡°I physically can¡¯t tell you, and you just have to take my word for it. I¡¯m the one who fixed this place up and supplied it,¡± Santi answered both questions as succinctly as possible.
¡°He¡¯s telling the truth. It¡¯s weird. I feel like I should know, like a memory or something but I just can¡¯t remember what it was. None of us would be alive without him though and he cleared the rift that showed up by our dorms. Without him, I think we¡¯d all be dead,¡± Tank supported him, a large hand patting Santi on his shoulder.
¡°What¡¯s a rift?¡± The main woman said.
¡°It¡¯s like a portal to a sub-dimension that has a core in the center holding it all stable. It¡¯s protected by a bunch of more powerful monsters, but if you fight and kill them, you can take the core out and the rift will collapse.¡±
¡°And we can¡¯t do that at this one?¡±
¡°We could. If we were all higher leveled. The one I closed on campus was super weak, all of the monsters were dying of starvation.¡±
¡°Ok, so how do we get stronger then?¡± the second man asked, the first words he had said so far.
¡°Oh, you haven¡¯t leveled yet?¡± Santi asked, completely puzzled that the man didn¡¯t know.
¡°No, none of us have,¡± the man said, waving his hand at all the people in the room aside from Tank.
¡°It¡¯s simple. We kill monsters and don¡¯t die. Or we act in a way that works for our class. Tank is a healer, he gets levels for healing people. I¡¯m a mage, I¡¯ll get levels for learning and using magic.¡±
¡°We need food and water and more of everything. This warehouse is our best bet for riding this out. Especially if we keep finding more people.¡±
¡°Then we need to get stronger. The best way to do that is kill monsters. I humbly suggest we start with the red goblin monster nest that I know is somewhere around here,¡± Santi pushed his agenda, heart hardening as he decided his course.
He had made mistakes and he would likely make more. In the meantime, he couldn¡¯t shirk responsibility just so he could further his own goals. And he did have a responsibility to humanity. He knew what was coming and he would stand before the upcoming disasters and protect the people of his community as best he could.
Ch. 31 Unwanted Surprise
-
It took a lot longer to convince them to listen to him. Even with the strangeness of the world changing, the adults in the room were nervous to take any type of backseat to a teenager. Every moment spent arguing with them on why and how they needed to level further made Santi want to test the structural integrity of his skull with a brick wall.
Eventually though, he won. The pseudo council agreed to the allocation of resources needed for hunting down and clearing the red goblin¡¯s nest. Then came the hard part of finding where it was. It took most of the evening and well into the night for them to compile reports from people about where they had seen the monsters and what direction they had been heading.
The map they had been using was soon defiled by dozens of markers. Arrows pointing what direction they were moving along with the time next to it. Circles around buildings the goblins had been hanging around at. It was a giant mess, but they had managed to scope it out to their West. Most importantly, it was away from downtown.
Downtown had multiple rifts in it originally, along with dozens of other threats. Threats that made the twin-curse stone look like a child¡¯s play toy. Evolved animals, spirits, curses, and desperate people. Nothing he wanted to tackle without being close to the peak of this tier if not pushing into the Acolyte levels.
They had agreed that they would round up volunteers until they had a large raid team composed of those who were interested in leveling. Most people were, understandably, not interested in risking themselves at the moment. They were like survivors of a shipwreck, clinging to pieces of driftwood in turbulent seas. To keep the metaphor going, then Santi and the rest were those who had abandoned their driftwood to swim downward into hostile waters to look at the remains of a long lost sunken ship.
As night had settled, they had started asking around the camp about people who were interested in going on a raid. Santi had couched his pitch in terms of vengeance, of getting back their pound of flesh from the beasts who had hunted them. He had overheard Tank talking a few times about protecting the future. Santi couldn¡¯t help but smile as the big man talked, soothing aches and pain with his skill as he asked them to risk themselves for the hope of a better future.
They got roughly the same response, even if Santi thought Tank¡¯s message was better than his own. Santi knew what to look for after all. He looked for those who were angry. The beaten down and scared wouldn¡¯t rally fast enough, and those with civic pride and hopes for a future would respond to Tank. No, what Santi was looking for were those who wanted to take their pain out on the world.
By the end of the night they had twenty names. It would work or be close enough. The usual suspects had joined in, Chloe, Daniel, Rayleigh, Paulie, and now Hana. All of them were young and had been from the college and had formed the bonds working together. The biggest score, in Santi¡¯s opinion, was a pair of brothers. Chad and Tristan were both of average size with the perpetual tan of outdoorsmen. In their late thirties both had gray creeping into their brown hair.
It was their bows that excited Santi the most though. Both of the men were avid bow hunters and had used their bows to great success in the time between the monsters spawning and the systems granting classes. They had both unlocked the class Bowman, a common class. It had a lot of branches one could go down, but for right now they were the most competent distance fighters the survivors had.
The older white man, Eugene Brown, had also agreed on it and had brought his late twenty something son, Justin. While Eugene was aged and beginning to slide down the steep slopes of decay, his son Justin was in his prime. Broad shouldered and thick with muscle, he looked like he had been carved from marble. Santi had asked around and apparently Justin had fought with a three pound sledgehammer, crushing everything that had tried to invade their family home.
Marisol, the older woman who had been in charge of the meeting, and her two daughters, Veronica and Sonia, had declined to leave. They had taken over distribution of the supplies and Veronica was one of the other healers in the camp. The last man from the meeting was Abraham, who had declined to go on the raid, but was leading a team to hit the grocery store that Santi had cleared that morning. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The rest of the raid was filled with a mix of low level Brawlers and Survivors. In terms of a raid team, it was pathetic. Tank was the highest level at seven with the rest of them trickling in around level four. Chloe, Daniel, and Justin were the only ones to have passed level five. Daniel had taken his Pierce skill, while Chloe had taken Toughen, a passive skill that increased her durability. Justin hadn¡¯t bothered telling anyone what he had but based on what Santi had seen of him it was some form of attack skill that allowed him to amplify blunt damage. He wouldn¡¯t have been able to kill some of the monsters he had without it.
Tank and Santi then spent the rest of the night prepping stuff for the raid. First-aid gear, weapons, water, empty packs, maps, and a half hundred other things that were needed. It was in the deepest parts of the night, when the vast majority of the base was asleep, that the screaming started.
¡°AYYYIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE¡± the shrill cry pierced the night and Santi was moving instantly for the back of the building and the side door that would lead outside. They had boarded up every window and door aside from the single side door leading out into the small enclosed yard. Adrenaline surged through his veins as fear clutched at his heart. A horn blew in the distance, sounding distant through the brick walls. Goblin horns and warcries.
¡°WAKE! WAKE! WAR! TO WAR!¡± Santi gave the cry he had called hundreds of times over the last eight years. This wasn¡¯t the first time the base he had supposedly been safe at had been raided.
People were stirring and crying in alarm but Santi was racing past them without concern. Slamming open the side door he flew outside into the cold night air and the sounds of fighting and screaming grew louder. Men and women were crying and sobbing, begging for mercy, and screaming in pain. The red light of flames was licking up toward the distant sky and Santi forced himself to run toward it.
Leaping through the gap in the wall he landed crouched and drew his sword in one smooth motion. The night was gripping the world in its onyx grip, broken only by the dancing flames of burning wood. The improvised wall was on fire, corpses strewn about it in a variety of shapes. There were still a few human shapes though and they fought with the frenzy of cornered animals.
Santi was racing forward with his spell Air Current cast already cast and giving him near omniscience in a six foot sphere all around him. Santi let his rage and fear fuel him, the adrenaline making his arms tremble as he fell upon the unaware goblin closest to him.
The small creature was perched over a still corpse, its small knife sawing away at the dead man¡¯s leg. Santi decapitated it with a single swing, leveraging his height and overwhelming stats to full effect. Steel sliced through bone like a hot knife through butter and the kill notification dinged with an alert that he ignored.
He became a whirlwind of steel, dancing and spinning as his saber reaped the lives of any goblin who came close to him. Santi fell into the rhythms he had learned with blood and violence for the first time since he had arrived in this timeline. Air Current gave him a complete picture all around him and he fully utilized it.
Leaping over a pair of sprawled out corpses, he landed on one foot and brought his saber around in a falling arc that split a goblin¡¯s back open. Using the impetus of the swing, he pivoted on his planted foot to spin between a pathetic thrust of a spear and a lunging goblins skinny arms. He whipped around, taking the head of the spear user first, then spun past the lunging goblin and slashed its hamstrings.
The two collapsed to the ground, but Santi was already moving again. Half dancer, half drifting wind, he wove around the fight in a frenzy of death. The light of the fires cast him in a diabolical light and the goblins cried in horror as the wind of death wove its way across the battlefield. Another horn screamed against the night and Santi drew up short as the last goblin fell to his blade.
The other side of the compound came the sounds of heavy fighting. Metal on metal and barked commands in the guttural tones of hobgoblins. Santi raced away immediately, leaving the pile of corpses behind him.
Ch. 32 Blade in the Night
The twisting flames and weak starlight were the only light that Santi had to navigate by. The streets had been cleaned to a decent degree, but there was still detritus that he had to be careful to avoid. Warm blood was cooling on his hands, forming a sticky layer as he raced toward the heaviest of the fighting. The boiling rage fueled him and made him reckless.
The barricade was on fire giving a ghastly light in which dozens of figures danced around each other. The small humanoid goblins were dying by the score, but the goblins had the numbers to throw at them. In the distance another horn bellowed, a call to arms as more and more goblins swarmed over the burning barricade.
Closing the distance, Santi realized there were paths in the fire. The goblins had thrown something on the car and pallet formed walls that burned hot but constrained. Santi was going to change that.
Activating Gust as he ran, he aimed at the thickest part of the burning barricade and aimed toward the closest clear zone the goblins were running over. The flames twisted and washed over the pathway. Orange flames consumed red flesh, the scent of cooking meat filling the night air and the agonized screams of the goblins adding to the cacophony of the fight. The mana use was significant, but he had a few more uses before he depleted his core.
A great bellow of rage sounded behind him and Santi turned to look back just in time to see Tank barreling forward. His great club, taped together metal baseball bats, slammed into a goblin and drove it into the concrete. Santi felt a vicious smile stretch his lips as the huge man began to rage across the scattered monsters.
Focusing back on his own fight, he was forced to twist as a spinning dagger flashed before his face. He turned to look at the shadowy form of the goblin who had just nearly killed him. Gratifications surged through him to see the fear in the goblins eyes, the fire giving him enough light to see its terror. He lunged forward, crossing the distance as fast as he could.
Sweeping his blade parallel to the ground at neck height, he was rewarded with the second decapitation of the night. The goblins were too physically weak to stand against his boosted stats, even with whatever drug they were using. He was a fox loosed in a hen house, the goblins dying with every swing of his sword.
He¡¯d never had this level of disparity before and there was a sense of intoxication to it. He was a god of war as he wove among the fighters, every blow delivering death. Santi spun and dove to the ground, his skill giving him the barest hints of a warning. A bone white spear flashed where he was going to be, disappearing into the darkness. A brassy horn blew and the constant stream of goblins seemed to double with scores racing over the barricades.
More and more defenders were rushing to the wall, but the goblin tide seemed endless. Santi scrambled back to his feet and blocked a stabbing dagger, his riposte taking the goblins arm. It screamed as it fell backward but Santi couldn¡¯t finish it as more and more goblins pushed forward.
His saber became a wall of steel as he pushed himself to the fullest extent he could. For a moment it was enough, the bodies formed their own ramparts and blood flowed like a river around his feet. Then another bone white spear flashed at Santi and he was forced to retreat.
A squad of hobs came forward, hidden in the swarming horde of lesser goblins. Their bronze armor glowed red in the fading light of the fires. Each of them held a spear save one who wielded a bronze handaxe that he slashed with maniacal speed. The sores on these one¡¯s face were worse than the original hobs he had fought. Even in the poor lightning Santi could see their dilated pupils. Drugged up beyond any of the other monsters so far.
¡°Santi, keep backing up!¡± Tank called out behind him and Santi obeyed. Retreating backward while relying on Air Current to alert him of any tripping hazards, Santi trusted his friends. An arrow buzzed past his shoulder and slammed into one of the hob''s eyes. The hob died instantly, going boneless to collapse in a heap of rattling armor. Another arrow hissed by, this one skating around an armored breastplate as the hob twisted at the last moment. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Chloe appeared at his shoulder with her glowing axe and a fierce scowl. More and more people came to bolster their flagging defense. Santi traded three rapid fire blows with the lead hob. The hob staggered back with its chest ruined, Santi¡¯s saber cutting through the bronze armor as if it wasn¡¯t there. The hob had drew blood though, the wet trickle down Santi¡¯s thigh showing him mortal.
The crash of emotions hit hard. The high he had been riding for a few moments fading away as he realized what he had done. Santi wanted to scream at his past self, he wasn¡¯t a front line fighter! He was a mage, admittedly not one with a lot of good spells at the moment, but still!
He focused as the goblins began to push again. Hobs were hidden in the mass, crouched down and sliding through the lessers to jump and kill the unwary. Twice Santi saw people fall to sudden spear thrusts and the line was forced back and back again. Minutes stretched out and slowly the press began to lessen.
Santi took another Hob¡¯s head with a fast counter attack and realized there was nothing living in front of him. A carpet of dead stretched out in front of them, mainly composed of the red goblins, but there were still plenty of human corpses intermingling. Santi took a moment to look around, realizing he was gasping for air. Chloe and Tank were the closest to him, but he saw Paulie down the line. Nobody else that he recognized though.
¡°What the fuck was that?¡± Tank said next to him. His shirt had multiple tears in it and was sodden with blood.
¡°Raid,¡± Santi managed to squeeze out between gasps. His lungs were on fire and his limbs were trembling from overexertion. His mana core was in decent shape, having mainly not being used at all. Getting some type of attack spells were high on his list of things to do.
¡°That was a full blown¡¡± Tank trailed off as a horn sounded again. It was much closer this time, seeming to originate from the other side of the barricade. The heavy blast rattled the air and reverberated through their bodies and Santi felt his heart begin to sink. The increase in potential and mana was impacting the world harder than he thought if the monster nest was already developed enough to have sub-chiefs.
The den would have a chief, similar to a Rift, who would be the key protector of the nest. They would be the one who had taken the natural treasure or ley line or whatever it was that had allowed the nest to grow in strength. They wouldn¡¯t leave the nest, instead building more and more layers of defense around their power base.
A sub-chief would leave the nest though. They would also have the power to rival the nest protector. Not eclipse the guardian, but rival it. Santi had fought plenty of goblins before and their hobs and knew what was about to come up and over that barricade.
¡°EVERYONE! LEVEL RIGHT THE FUCK NOW!¡± Santi screamed as he accepted the level ups and quickly threw every spare point he had into stamina and strength. Power surged through him like an electric current as his fatigue faded away to something more distant.
A squad of hobs scurried over the top of the barricade and landed in formation, spears pointing outward to create a wall of steel. The burnt car they had crawled over tilted to the side. A tire blew out in a loud explosion of air and then Santi saw it in the pale light of the moon.
Only six feet tall it was nearly as wide. Stygian armor covered every inch of it, only its yellow eyes visible in the slits of its helmet. A large metal horn dangled off of its hip while on his other hip a long sword sat. There was an inherent sense of power that the boss radiated as its weight settled on the car. More tire popped and the top of the car buckled inward.
The boss didn¡¯t seem to care, moving forward and ripping its way through the metal of the car roof without slowing. Pallets crumbled under it as it continued to lumber forward.
¡°What is that?¡± Chloe whispered, her voice shaking from fear. Santi couldn¡¯t blame her. He had killed these before and in great numbers, but that was when he was much higher ranked and with squads of battle hardened warriors. Its ugly yellow gaze locked onto Chloe and it chuffed in delight as it began to walk toward the defensive line, hobs scrambling to keep in front of its shuffling steps.
¡°Fuck,¡± Santi whispered to himself as he got ready for what was likely an impossible task.
Ch. 33 Troll-kin
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The hobs raced in front of the War Chief with their spears leading the way, bloodlust filling their eyes. The War Chief kept coming forward with slow shuffling steps that shook the earth. The first of the hobs closed the distance spear bobbing in front of it.
Santi swatted the speartip with the flat of his saber, pushing the spear up and over his shoulder. A quick thrust finished off the hob, the point of his sword digging through its eye and into the brain. Twisting and pulling the sword free of the dead hob, Santi raced toward the slowly lumbering chief.
A half goblin-troll, the War Chief would have greater strength and powerful regenerative properties along with a higher intelligence of just a standard troll. In the early days of the system integration, these would likely be some of the highest leveled monsters around. At the moment Santi was glad that nobody would have Identify or adjacent level skill. The level disparity of the War Chief and everyone else would just sap morale.
Santi closed the distance, using Gust to blow a thick cloud of ash, dust, and dirt up around the monster''s face. The War Chief stopped as the cloud enveloped it. It took a few gasping breaths before sneezing violently, the cloud around it dispersed from the force.
Santi slipped to its flank, blade lashing out as it skated over the plate with a screech of metal on metal. He attacked three more times as fast as he could, his recently improved stats aiding him as he cut at the War Chief¡¯s hip. Each blow dented and gouged the thinner metal at the hip joint before finally yielding on the fourth blow.
Inky blood ran over the stygian armor in a wave as the War Chief howled in anger, spinning with sudden adroitness. Its long greatsword rasped out of the scabbard as the blade raced along at waist length. Santi fell to the ground and rolled away from stomping feet.
Hopping back to his feet, Santi led the monster away from the rest of the defenders as they fought the enraged hobs. From the quick glance he managed to sneak he could see that they were holding their own and slowly overwhelming the hobgoblins.
Santi danced to the sides, always attacking at the joints of the War Chief¡¯s armor. The thick plate rebuffed every blow but the monster was too slow to capitalize on its impenetrable defense. Its heavy blade swished through the air over and over again, never coming close to Santi as he kept leading it toward the barricade.
With the barricade showing up behind him through his Air Current, Santi stopped retreating and began to move sideways along the length of the wall as the War Chief continued its lumbering attack. Each breath it emitted was foul with the stench of rotting meat that filled the space around them.
Santi slipped around another slow strike and slashed again at the original hip he had attacked. The plate on the hip was a twisted ruin of metal and his System Forged sword cut deep again. More blood flowed out but even as he darted backward, he could see it slowing as the War Chief¡¯s natural regenerative abilities closed the wound. Santi had to keep the War Chief occupied until the hobs were finished.
The sun was beginning to rise, bloody red on the horizon as the dawn broke the horizon. Faint tendrils of light helped illuminate the scene of the scores of dead that littered the ground. Santi was light on his feet as he moved from body to body. The shifting corpses were poor footing and he had to be careful with his every step. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
The War Chief simply stepped on the bodies and his ironclad boots sank through the corpses.
¡°Santi! We¡¯re coming!¡± Tank called out behind him. Santi ducked low to avoid losing his head and backpedaled to give himself space as a bunch of people came rushing toward him.
¡°Stay to the sides! Surround it and keep it spinning. Piercing weapons only, blunt stays back. We need to get some type of fire!¡± Santi gave orders as the groups slowly surrounded the War Chief.
The wide figure was drenched in its own blood while its boots to ankles were gore spattered from having stepped through bodies. The long greatsword was gray and unstained, having never managed to once draw blood so far. Its yellow eyes were bloodshot and it panted in a mix of exertion of rage.
¡°Trey, Dillon, Martin, go and get the gas cans! Spears to the front!¡± Tank was barking orders as he worked behind everyone trying to organize the attackers.
Chloe raced behind the War Chief with her axe cocked back behind her shoulder. The silver edge on the blade was glowing brighter and thicker than Santi had seen so far. She chopped down at the War Chief¡¯s knee with a grunt of effort and Santi was glad to see the blade cut through the armor and deep into the knee.
Screaming in rage and pain, it spun around with a backhand that had Chloe dropping to the ground and rolling away, abandoning her axe in the monster''s knee. Two men surged forward with their spears, stabbing at its face as it screamed and slashed out with the greatsword. The improvised spears turned to splinters and the two men dissolved into crimson sprays.
The sudden deaths stopped everyone, fear filling their eyes. Santi could understand the fear, he had been kiting the monster easily enough and Chloe had landed a powerful blow with little effort. It was only his title and experience that had kept him ahead of the War Chief though and Chloe was likely the highest ranked person around and had looked to exert all of her power in the single blow.
More people surged forward at Tank¡¯s urging while Santi slinked behind the group of spear men. Jabbing at the monster they faded back as the greatsword swung though the space they had been occupying. Santi slashed again, targeting the same hip he had been wounding over and over again. The War Chief only had some of the regenerative abilities of a troll and eventually he could overcome it.
Tiredness was sneaking in, his limbs growing heavy as the fight kept going. The mental numbness he had been feeling slowly overwhelmed him. Long drawn out fights weren¡¯t his forte and now he was beginning to flag and no one else could safely keep kiting the War Chief.
Santi watched as another fighter was bisected cleanly at the waist as the War Chief roared in joy. The ring of people grew thinner as people¡¯s nerves broke, beginning to flee as the War Chief seemed to be unkillable.
¡°Douse that fucker!¡± Tank¡¯s voice boomed out behind Santi. On the opposite side of the ring from him Santi saw three people holding gas cans. They needed an opening to do their work and Santi was going to give it to them.
¡°HEY!¡± Santi screamed as he stabbed through the monster¡¯s kneecap. His saber got stuck as the War Chief screamed in agony. Santi abandoned the blade and leapt back and rolled over the top of dead goblins as the greatsword hit where he had just been standing.
Santi came to his feet, drenched in a mix of body fluids just to see the War Chief marching toward him with murder in his eyes. Santi was leading the chief out of the ring as it chased him while ignoring all those who tried to stop it. Fear spiked through Santi, breaking the haze he was in.
Paulie raced forward with his pipe gleaming in the dawn''s rays. A vicious smile stretched across his face as he brought the heavy lead pipe down with a resounding clang that covered the crunch of a kneecap breaking. Paulie disappeared.
Red Mist.
Santi screamed, his throat raw as he stared at the remnants of where his roommate had been. Tears burned his eyes as he watched the three blurry figures douse the kneeling War Chief. People scattered away, giving room as Tank came forward to stand next to Santi.
¡°Burn him, Santi.¡± Tank whispered, handing over the road flare while glaring at the kneeling troll-kin. The hiss of the flare igniting was as if he heard it from a long distance, muted and muffled. He walked toward the growling monster. It glared at Santi, its eyes the only organ visible underneath the armor and blood. The broken saber was still lodged in its knee, the hilt lying amongst the dead. Its bloody greatsword was wedged into the ground as the War Chief tried to get back to its feet.
Santi tossed the flare lazily and watched as the gas ignited in a blue-red rush. Activating Gust, Santi focused his will to force the spell to obey him. Instead of an overpowering rush of air he kept a gentle breeze that fed the inferno in front of him. The smell of cooking meat dominated the area as the War Chief screamed while Santi watched impassively.
Ch. 34 Blood Stained Gains
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Santi was staring at the charred metal and scorched flesh in front of him. A heap of armor that still radiated heat, it had been the most dangerous thing any of the survivors had fought. So far.
¡°Fuck,¡± Santi said shakily as he wiped at his face with a dirty hand. The strength of the sub-boss was worrying. If the nest was strong enough to support a monster of this power, he could only assume that the monster at the heart of the nest was at the very peak of Initiate. If his luck was truly terrible, then it might be even a weak Acolyte monster similar to the Demonic Chimeras he had killed right before being sent back.
Troll-Kin War Chief lvl. 21
The kill notification floated at the edge of his awareness. There was a sea of goblin and hobgoblin kills that mixed in with it along with his myriad of level ups. All to be looked at later. For now, just for a few minutes he wanted to stare at his immolated enemy.
¡°I¡¯m sorry Paul. You deserved better than that. I wasn¡¯t as strong as I should have been. I thought I could do it, you know? Save you. Save them. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Santi watched the thin wisps of smoke rising from the heap of metal for a minute more before starting to head back toward the base.
Corpses were strewn everywhere and shell-shocked survivors of the fight just wandered about. There was a blankness to their faces as they tugged at friends and family who had found their eternal rest. Santi knew those emotions well, had lived through them and had been worn down till death was a friend. A release from the horrors of the world.
Santi chastised himself as he walked into the base. It had been foolish to raise his hopes. To think he could lead his people safely. That the reaper wouldn¡¯t have his due. People stood around the crack in the wall but they all got out of the way as Santi marched past them and headed toward his room.
He stopped to wash his hands right outside the building, a pile of dirty wet wipes strewn around the door and the formerly white plastic container was stained red and black from dirt and blood. The cries of the wounded were a slap in the face as he walked into the base. Another testimony to his failures.
Santi watched Tank race from person to person using his skills to try to keep people alive. The other healers were there with him, all of them desperate in their attempts to save as many as possible. Regular medics were interspersed in the crowd and they did the best they could with the mundane tools they had at hand. It wouldn¡¯t be enough.
He walked past them and to his room without looking again. They would finish eventually, one way or another. The dark room was welcoming and Santi lay down to stare at the ceiling after he closed the door.
Minutes trickled by while his minor affinity made sure he knew of every single passing second. There was no getting lost in his own mind or thoughts while time just drifted by. His affinity kept him nailed down to the present. With nothing else to do, he started to go through his long list of notifications.
He ignored the long list of goblins he had killed, none of them above level five. With his own level equal to theirs or surpassing them he would net very little experience from the kills. The higher level hobgoblins gave him a big boost, with the average being about level eleven. Strong opponents for this early in the initiation, but rather weak overall. The troll-kin War Chief was an anomaly that he was still astounded about. The reward wasn¡¯t bad at all though.
Achievement: Slay a monster 10 levels above you
Reward: Loot Box (Lesser)
Achievement: Survive a monster 10 levels above you
Reward: Title Upgrade Accumulation (15%) Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
A wooden box flashed into existence after he opened the reward and Santi took a moment to stare at it before going back to his screens. He scrolled through all the level ups to get to the final one, the one he earned for burning the troll-kin alive.
Congratulations, you are now Mage lvl. 15
Fighting the goblins for hours had managed to raise him to level eight. Killing the War-Chief, or rather being the main contributor to its death, had netted him the other seven levels. He had invested three points into strength and stamina each before the final fight. He only had fourteen spare points to assign to his stats and he looked at it carefully before deciding.
Santi had been focused on building up his magic using stats as fast as possible while relying on the advanced stats from Cockroach and his experience to carry him in his personal fights. The lopsided build would bite him in the ass eventually as people started to level and leaning into their classes.
The War Chief was a good example of that. It had been a monster almost completely built around Strength and Vitality with Stamina a distant third. It had been too slow and dumb to fight back around a group dedicated to its destruction even though it greatly outleveled everyone.
Assigning his free points felt like a betrayal of his original ideas of how to build himself, but keeping himself locked into being a pure mage was going to get him killed. His challenges were different this time and he was still struggling to fully accept it. He was the spearpoint of humanity, meant to pierce and kill the threats to them.
Santi didn¡¯t think he could do that as a pure mage.
Santiago V. Silva
Mage lvl. 15
Strength: 14 (24)
Durability: 15 (25)
Stamina: 15 (25)
Dexterity: 15 (25)
Vitality: 15 (25)
Perception: 13 (23)
Intelligence: 23 (33)
Mana: 26 (36)
Willpower: 24 (34)
Potential: G (75%)
Stats that were much more balanced out now. Still leaning toward a Mage build, but able to fight when it came to it. His title gave him a free ninety stat points which was the rough equivalent of eighteen levels. Even with thirty of those points invested in non-physical stats, it gave him a massive edge.
He already knew which of the skills he was taking and didn¡¯t bother to read through the list available. The Identify skill had been easy to ignore so far but he hadn¡¯t bothered to take it simply because he knew who and what was around. Now that there was more and more things that hadn¡¯t happened first, the skill was needed.
Done with his screens, he opened up the wooden loot box. The least of all rewards given by the System, Santi wasn¡¯t surprised to see just coins inside. A pile of white wood coins that clacked when he ran his fingers through them. The lowest denomination of coin that the System rewarded. They weren¡¯t useful for a while, not until the Pillar of Civilization came anyway.
Each of the wooden coins were made of a white hardwood, so pale it looked like bleached bone.They were completely smooth to the touch and felt more like glass than wood. Nobody had ever found what tree the wood came from and even the info packets that could be bought had no idea where the wood came from. It was completely counterfeit proof and more than one person had learned that the hard way.
He emptied the case on the floor and watched as the small brown loot box dissolved into the aether. He counted out the coins, fifty of them, and poured them into his backpack in the corner. More and more of these would become available in the near future, but for now they were absolutely useless.
Not wanting to waste anymore time, Santi left his room to find a new weapon. Losing the System forged saber was a setback that he hadn¡¯t been prepared for. He had trained with a series of weapons over the years but the saber was the most comfortable weapon he had. Meant for slashing from a higher position it had been perfect when he was a flier. Now that he was ground bound he had to change some of his thoughts on that.
A spear would be good and the hobgoblins had all carried their bone white spears and he was going to take one before the others took them for themselves. He had his assortment of knives too, but the reach of a spear would be good. He was at best adequate with a spear but he could train more.
¡°SANTI!¡± Tank¡¯s voice boomed out across the room as Santi headed for the backdoor. Looking back at his friend, he watched as Tank winced at the volume of his call. Deep crescents of exhaustion hung under his bloodshot eyes. His hands were stained from blood nearly to his elbows and he was staggering as he walked toward Santi.
¡°We need to end them,¡± Tank hissed, rage suffusing his voice. Santi didn¡¯t need to know who he meant. They had managed to avoid the worst of the slaughter over the last days, but it seemed that Tank was finally beginning to understand what was happening. A true apocalypse. The End Times.
¡°We kill them all, Tank.¡±
Ch. 35 Planning
-
It was in the early afternoon that they began to organize the counter-attack. There had simply been too much death and chaos for anyone to begin planning any earlier. Santi had taken a quick nap and was perched on the edge of a bench as the small group from earlier, and a few others, gathered to figure out what they wanted to do.
Santi wanted to strike out now with the best fighters he could get his hands on. The victory they had won this morning had been bought with blood, but the losses the goblins had taken would have them reeling. It was much too early for a monster nest to support multiple high end monsters, even with the increase in mana. The death of the troll-kin and its warparty would leave the monster nest vulnerable. They just needed to have the courage to strike now.
The proto-raid team were scattered about the open courtyard, lounging as they waited for the orders to go out. Those who were still alive anyway. All of the college students had made it, aside from Paulie. Tristan was now lying in the medical hall covered in bandages. A large swath of the low level fighters were gone now having been the first to run into danger last night.
The survivors were much stronger now. It was a sick calculus that Santi did as he stared at those around him with his new Identify skill. Almost everyone was over level ten now, with several getting close to level fifteen. Tank was sitting at level sixteen and Chloe was level seventeen. Using their classes had let them advance further than Santi had. Using his original skill and Gust helped a little, but he wasn¡¯t really leaning into being a Mage.
It was one of the reasons the class struggled in the early days of the initiation. Spell slingers lacked the skill slots needed to become truly powerful and not using their classes slowed down their advancement. Warrior or Healer classes had some of the fastest growth in the early days. In a few months when people got to their second class evolution and could start taking crafting classes they¡¯d start seeing an explosion in growth.
Just had to stay alive till then.
¡°It¡¯s now obvious that we need to eliminate the monster nest,¡± Marisol spoke softly. Her eyes red and voice hoarse. She had stood and fought with the others and it was telling. Santi felt the beginning edges of respect for the older woman. Her and the older people still weren¡¯t listening as well as they should to him, but he couldn¡¯t blame them.
Afterall, with the geas he couldn¡¯t exactly tell them why he knew things. As if they¡¯d believe him anyways.
¡°We couldn¡¯t have known that an attack of this magnitude was coming. We had plans in place to deal with their nest,¡± Eugene said in an attempt to comfort her. The two stood side by side with their individual offspring forming a crescent behind them. The early beginnings of a political bloc. He would have to keep an eye on that to make sure they didn¡¯t grow to overshadow his own bloc made of college students.
While the meeting was filled with older people, the majority of the camp was youth. Rescued people from dorms or apartment buildings around the area. Almost all of them listened to Tank.
¡°We need to strike now, while they are weak,¡± Santi said, cutting into the conversation. He had talked to himself a half-dozen times about being more assertive, it was now time to start doing it.
¡°We are also weak right now. We lost so many,¡± Marisol whispered, her voice nearly gone. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
¡°We¡¯ve destroyed a powerful warparty. If not now, when? The longer we wait, the stronger they¡¯ll get. We know they¡¯re to the West and have a general idea of where the nest is. We take the raid party and anyone else who wants to go and we stomp it out,¡± Santi pushed back. He couldn¡¯t allow them to be timid.
¡°I agree.¡± Tank stated. With that, the argument ended. Then a new one started about who was leading the raid party and who was going. With the new threat now in their face, the older adults wanted a hand in the raid instead of leaving it to the young and hungry. Abraham said he¡¯d lead the raid, which caused Tank to shut him down.
¡°No, Abraham. I will be leading the raid with Santi as my second. While we are away I want everyone else to be scouring for survivors. We need to grow as fast as possible. There is safety in numbers,¡± Tank took control of the meeting and Santi had to fight to keep a smile off of his face as his friend was blossoming right in front of him.
Some buckled when the challenges came, others rose up. It was looking more and more like Tank was going to be someone who rose to shoulder the burden of the challenges facing all of them. Having someone of his caliber in this life made it all easier.
¡°I agree with, Tank. Teams of five go door to door and find anyone who¡¯s alive and bring them here. Start planning the raid on the distribution center. By the time we finish off the nest we should be strong enough to clear the area,¡± Santi gave his orders and stood up to leave. It was exhausting being a hand holder.
¡°Everyone who¡¯s part of the raid team, there are packs made in the building. Grab one, they all have water, food, and some basic medical supplies. Anyone who wants to join needs to be ready within the hour with their own pack. Talk to Marisol about supplies.¡± Tank was still issuing orders as Santi walked out of earshot.
Daniel, Hana, Chloe, and Rayleigh all followed after him along with the second Bowman, Chad. Two scouts, two front line fighters, and ranged damage. Santi didn¡¯t really have a place to put himself, yet. In the future he¡¯d be a ranged damage fighter, but for right now he was standing in the frontlines with his new spear.
Tank was leading a group of volunteer medics, who Santi hoped would be offered some type of healing class at their next class selection. Having only three healers was a serious roadblock. People didn¡¯t want to venture out without the safety of having a healer there to make sure they didn¡¯t die.
Over the next hour people slowly trickled out in front of their base. The road was covered in sticky blood while off to the side thick black clouds of smoke rose up. They were burning the bodies, heaping goblin corpses into shallow holes dug into yards and dousing them in gasoline and other flammable materials. Their own fallen were also burned, but away from the goblin corpses.
Santi made a note to himself to keep an eye on the burn pits. There were some nasty things that could come from mass graves. He¡¯d see if he could remember the ritual for a cleansing spell. He thought he had all of the necessary ingredients from when he killed the shamans. Last thing he wanted was some type of undead charnel monster emerging to eat them.
¡°You ready for this?¡± Chloe asked as she walked up to him. Rayleigh was stuck to her side, holding a long softball bat she had acquired from somewhere. Chloe had upgraded her axe to a double headed blade that looked positively cruel. The two of them were wearing dirty and stained clothes and there was an aura of exhaustion clinging to them. Still, even with all that, they looked powerful and healthy.
¡°We get it done and it should make this area safe enough for the time being. The nest should have eaten or driven away any nearby monsters. Give us the time we need to grow.¡±
¡°We¡¯re going to have to talk about how you know this shit,¡± Rayleigh piped in. She was watching him with curious eyes, the memories she had buried under the geas Akthyr had put on him. It was a minor miracle they were all taking him for his word, possibly their subconscious fighting back against the spell.
¡°The minute I can, I will.¡± Santi promised her.
¡°We¡¯ll hold you to that,¡± Rayleigh said. Her and Chloe walked off to greet a few other people they knew while Santi stood in a small isolated space from everyone else. The girls were closer to him than anyone else aside from Tank. He didn¡¯t know Daniel well and he was spending all of his spare time with Hana now. With Paulie¡¯s death, there was really no one he had a strong attachment to.
¡°I miss you, Cam.¡± Santi grabbed his pack and strapped it on and checked to make sure all of his knives were sheathed and secured. His new spear had been cleaned and the tip sharpened while he was waiting for everyone else. They started to move out, Daniel slipping into the shadows of the houses and disappearing as he scouted.
Ch. 36 New Status Quo
-
¡°What do you think caused that?¡± Daniel whispered as he and Santi stood staring at the hole in the side of the building. Scattered boards, pink insulation, shattered glass, and a host of broken belongings lay in an arc all around the side of the building. The hole occupied nearly the entire side of the house and there was little remaining of the original wall.
¡°Fuck if I know, but I don¡¯t want to find out. Let¡¯s keep an extra eye out just in case, all right?¡±
¡°No, shit,¡± Hana muttered behind the two and Santi glanced out of the corner of his eye at the girl. Her and Daniel had become inseparable and Santi was finding out more and more of her personality as the day stretched out.
¡°No problem, Santi. I¡¯ll actually keep both eyes on the lookout. Hana, can you tell the others, please?¡± Daniel asked. There were a handful of others who were working as scouts for the main party, but Daniel was the only one with a class that seemed actually suited for the job.
¡°Of course,¡± Hana said before walking away. Santi noticed how lightly she stepped, clinging to the sides of the buildings and close to cover as she moved away. She had good instincts at least.
¡°We¡¯re starting to see more signs of the goblins,¡±Daniel said. Neither of the men were looking away from the torn apart house.
¡°Such as?¡±
¡°Dead bodies. Goblins and humans. Some other monsters scattered about too. Found a pair of dead hobs in a backyard about a block up. At least I think they were hobs. They were just pieces that, if one had the time, could reasonably be assembled into the resemblance of a hob.¡±
¡°Something big and powerful walking around here then.¡±
¡°That was my thoughts on it as well. Maybe as strong as the troll thing?¡±
¡°That¡¯d be bad. It took all of us to kill that fucker.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll see if I can find any sign of it. Then steer us away from it.¡±
¡°Sounds good, be safe, Daniel.¡±
¡°Thanks, Santiago.¡± Then Daniel was walking away, seeming to fade into the long evening shadows. With his low perception it was a struggle to make him out, but he could just barely see Daniel as the other man headed further West.
All afternoon they had been moving in a large group. Nearly forty people walking down the streets, all heavily armed. They had scouts all around them, constantly looking for ambushes or signs of the nest. The further West they went, the more and more signs they found.
Dead goblins and humans being the primary ones. The ruins of the city was a living memory for Santi, one that tugged at his fragile emotional state. With every level and increase to his willpower he felt himself becoming sturdier, less inclined to the emotional breakdowns he had been having when he first regressed. It was still hard to walk through the slaughter and not feel the old agony rear its head as old wounds opened once more.
He trotted back to the main formation of the raid party, seeing Tank¡¯s head high above everyone else¡¯s. Chloe was in the vanguard, her axe hoisted on a shoulder as her gaze swiveled back and forth. Justin, Eugene Brown¡¯s son, was walking next to Tank, his sledgehammer on his shoulder too.
If there was anyone who should have risen to the ranks of the Champion¡¯s based on looks alone, then Justin would have been a frontrunner. He looked like an Olympian and he had a casual charisma that had the people around him smiling and laughing even as they walked through the ruins of their city. Santi knew it took more than looks and charisma to gather the strength needed to assault those bottlenecks between Disciple and Champion, but he had a feeling Justin might have that inner strength. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
If he was being honest with himself, of everyone here in the raid team it was likely Tank, Justin, and maybe Chloe who could do it. They had the inner fire and strength needed to persevere. Santi had his advanced knowledge and knowing that he had climbed to Disciple by himself once before gave him the certainty that he could become a Champion.
It wasn¡¯t like he had a choice in the matter either. If he wanted to prevent the same senseless violence that had ravaged the Americas the last time, he needed to be strong enough to stop the Apostates from restarting their cult. Or at least ensuring it didn¡¯t reach the size it had the first time around. There was a thread of worry there though, for while he knew one of their number, they all certainly knew who he was by now.
Those first few days of peace would have been enough for Bailey to have given them every scrap of information she had known about him. Which was everything. He had trusted her with his life and his past, she knew him the best of everyone in the last life. How she was alive at all, let alone an Apostate, boggled his mind. He tried not to think of it too much, but while just standing around waiting for the scouts to clear block by block, there wasn¡¯t much else for his mind to focus on.
He knew where historical events had taken place and roughly when, but with Akthyr having added the potential and mana to the world? He just couldn¡¯t be sure anymore. He had to focus on what was in front of him, otherwise the dart that had just been thrown at him from across the street was going to punch clean through his skull.
Santi fell to the ground, his eye having caught movement in a partially destroyed two story house. The bolt hissed through the air as goblins started to come screaming out of nearby homes. Most of the houses nearby were half ruined with ceilings or walls destroyed. The scouts hadn¡¯t gone inside the actual buildings, simply putting their heads inside and continuing on.
Santi lunged back to his feet and stabbed the closest goblin. He used Identify to scan it and got back Red Goblin lvl. 4. Vastly underleveled monsters they were quickly being slaughtered as the raid group had nearly the equivalent numbers and a massive level gap.
Santi killed two more of the weak goblins, his new spear feeling good in his hands as he spun about to dodge another bolt hurled from the second story. Santi looked up just in time to see Daniel materialize behind the atlatl user, his dagger sawing across a thin neck. Then it was over.
The ambush had taken no more than two minutes leaving nearly two score of the goblins dead across the street. Santi nodded to the others, eyes scanning for any injuries. They had been weak but no one was of the level to be able to shrug off any type of attacks yet. Even with his title, his durability wouldn¡¯t let him just ignore a knife wound.
Everyone seemed fine, Tank bandaging the few who had taken cuts. Within ten minutes they were moving out again, heading further West. Santi stuck closer to the main party and eavesdropped on the conversations. Fighting to keep a smile from his face as most of them talked about how easy the fight had been. Just last night they had fought these same monsters and nearly died. Today they slaughtered them with ease.
It was the miracle of the System. If you survived long enough and faced enough challenges and weren¡¯t stupid, you could rise and be stronger than one could have ever dreamed. Once everyone crossed out of the Initiate stage and into the Acolyte stage, they¡¯d start entering superhuman levels of strength and speed, even those whose classes weren¡¯t physically leaning.
¡°I¡¯m starting to get it, Santi,¡± Tank said as he came up from the center of the group to stand next to him. The two walked along, Santi deciding to stay quiet to let the other man voice his thoughts.
¡°I killed two of those goblins right now and it wasn¡¯t even a challenge. Getting the bandages to stick to Michelle¡¯s arm was tougher than killing them. Last night though, or when we left the dorms. They were a real threat, something that I had to focus all my attention on if I didn¡¯t want to die.¡±
¡°You¡¯re stronger now. One of the strongest people in the city most likely. Even if your class is focused on healing, there¡¯s not much that can stand in the way of overwhelming stats.¡±
Yet.
Santi kept that part to himself. The dance of skill vs. skill combat would come later when the monsters were subjugated and the invaders began to arrive. That was when they had all begun to realize that just focusing on growing stats and not gaining mastery over the nuances of their skills was a mistake. It took time and willpower to make a skill work in ways outside of the norms.
His Gust spell and Air Current hadn¡¯t been designed to be used like he was using them. It had taken him a long time and plenty of experimentation to make Air Current work like it did. Santi had to add skill exploration to his staggeringly long list of things to do and teach everyone. Well, most everyone. His friends and the other elites he valued.
He needed to save the continent if not the world. Making sure his friends and allies were stronger and more prepared than the others around them would help make sure that hope became a reality. They¡¯d figure out skill manipulation later. Maybe.
Ch. 37 Answers
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The cityscape slowly morphed away from the tight packed older homes and into more sprawling buildings. Strip malls, wide parking lots, and abandoned box office stores dotted the roadway as the raid group continued after the signs of the goblins. The stench of decaying bodies, smoke, and blood mingled in a cloying stench.
Members of the party were using bandanas, ripped up shirts, or masks to try to keep the smells at bay. Watering eyes and people emptying their stomachs along the way became a common theme as the destruction became worse and worse. Goblin corpses filled the area, their thin bodies already breaking down.
The sun was beginning to slide away behind the horizon and Tank had ordered the scouts to find a suitable spot to camp for the night. The difference in travel times was readily becoming apparent as what had once only taken a few minutes of travel took hours. If they could have just walked without worry then they would have covered a lot more ground. The frequent ambushes from goblins was causing them to be much more cautious, resulting in the long travel times.
Santi was sure they were close to the nest. The frequency of the goblins found was increasing. Their average level was increasing so that the majority of the goblins were now level five to seven rather than sub-five. Nobody was earning levels anytime soon from the slaughter, but it was a good indicator they were closing in on the nest.
Santi was beginning to wonder just how strong the nest was. Strong enough to support the war chief and the frankly outrageous number of goblins running around. Yet, aside from the War Chief, none of them had been strong enough to really constitute a threat. Either they were marshaling all of their strength around the nest and sending out the dregs, or the nest was built of weak monsters with a handful of strong ones.
Waves of weak enemies could leave them dead just as easy as strong one¡¯s could. With the numbers they had in the raid party, Santi wasn¡¯t worried about being overwhelmed by goblin numbers. As long as they didn¡¯t get caught in a bad position they¡¯d be fine.
Daniel came trotting down the middle of the road, Hana a few steps behind him. He still only used the iron dagger that he had been gifted. Santi made it a point to remember to find their lead scout a better weapon. A true steel knife should be easy to find. Armor would be a little more difficult. Until the crafters started being offered classes they¡¯d be stuck with whatever they could appropriate and adapt.
¡°There¡¯s a little building that we can camp in for the night. Empty of anything and easily defendable. Multiple ways in and out, just like you asked for, Santi,¡± Daniel gave his report quickly to Tank, his last remark aimed at Santi who stood a few feet away.
Having a building with only one entrance could be appealing, but having multiple ways out was even better. Especially with a bigger group like this. If Santi had been in charge of ambushing a party like this, he¡¯d wait for them to camp and then attack. If they were in a place with only one exit, he¡¯d just barricade the exit and burn the building down while killing those who tried to fight through the barricade. Brutal and effective.
¡°Let¡¯s get everyone in there then and start setting up guard rotations,¡± Tank ordered.
¡°I¡¯m going to take Daniel and scout further. Try to find the nest now so we can hit it first thing in the morning,¡± Santi whispered to Tank. He was tired of following the lumbering main body of the raid team. He wanted this done as quickly as possible and waiting around for everyone to come trundling up the road was grating on his nerves.
¡°Alright, be careful. Will you be back tonight?¡±
¡°No, we can find a spot tonight for ourselves and meet you first thing in the morning.¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
¡°Safe travels my friend,¡± Tank patted Santi on the shoulder and marched away towards the building that Daniel said was safe. Daniel was looking at Santi with an inquisitive look, waiting to be filled in on the whispered conversation.
¡°Come on, you¡¯re with me. We¡¯re finding that nest.¡±
¡°I¡¯m coming too!¡± Hana told the two boys. Santi shrugged not really minding that the young woman was coming with them. He didn¡¯t have any scouting abilities anymore and it would be very hypocritical to tell her she couldn¡¯t come. If they did find the nest then it would be a good qualifying achievement for her next class. Firmly move her into the scout options.
¡°Alright. I think we¡¯re close. I think a little further over is the hospital and stuff, right?¡± Santi asked the duo.
¡°I didn¡¯t go that far, yet. There¡¯s a bunch of roaming single goblins two blocks over. They don¡¯t leave that line, so I kept track of them. They¡¯re going building to building and pulling out anything of value,¡± Daniel reported.
It sounded like the general expansion that nests could do. Gathering any type of resource to feed its growth. The raiding parties they sent out would be to reduce strain on the nest itself and to bring in more rare resources.
¡°Alright then, Daniel, lead the way.¡± Santi followed behind as Daniel immediately turned and started moving down the street. As dusk fully settled on the world, Daniel¡¯s ability to slide into shadows was fully empowered. He was just a general shape that could only vaguely be made out, and that was when Santi was looking for him specifically.
It didn¡¯t take long without the slow moving party. They clung to the edges of the road and moved slowly and steadily from cover to cover. Daniel relied too heavily on his skill, powerful as it was. Hana actually had a solid grasp of the basics. Never darting, always checking for movement, sliding in smooth motions from one area to the next.
Santi had never had to do too much of this type of scouting. By the time he had found his niche, he had already learned to fly. His skills and spells had all been built around speed and long range sight. Like being a satellite.
The spear was hard to hide with it being white and several feet long, but he tried. Over the course of an hour they slipped by packs of the scavenging goblins and slid closer to the hospital. Santi hoped the nest wouldn¡¯t be in the hospital, that would be a bad time. The huge building would have been filled with people when the nest established itself. That much fodder would explain the nest¡¯s rapid but shallow growth.
¡°There¡¯s a house close by. It¡¯s empty. We camp there tonight.¡± Daniel whispered into Santi¡¯s ear and Santi had to fight from lashing out as he was startled. Swearing under his breath he followed the murky shape to the house.
It was a white two story home with its front door broken down. Santi ignored the streaks of dried blood on the front of the wall and around the door. The torn apart sofa and scattered and broken glass. The three of them climbed the stairs and stepped carefully over the fallen family pictures that had been knocked off the walls.
The doors on the second story had been busted down, dangling on torn hinges or reduced to kindling. Beds were stained red, sheets and blankets torn apart. Windows had been shattered and the faint night spring breeze blew the drapes about.
There was only a single room that looked at the hospital and they all crowded in. A sticker and glitter covered bookcase was carefully put in front of the door while the remnants of teddy bears were tossed to the side as the bed was flipped over so that the stains were on the ground. All three settled on the bed to look through the busted windows out toward the hospital.
A great boxy building with hundreds of windows, most of which had been reduced to silvery shards. The red cross attached to the side of the building was dark and foreboding. In the twilight there wasn¡¯t much any of them could see even if their sight had been improved by the System. Santi shrugged off of his pack and pulled out a few granola bars and passed them out. The three of them sat there on the mattress and watched the hospital.
Goblins came and went, but after a while Santi noticed that none actually entered the hospital. They were walking around the corners and dropping off their loot everywhere on the grounds, but none actually entered the doors. The doors they could see were surrounded by a knot of hobgoblin warriors in full armor and spears and Santi watched as they hissed and spat at any goblin coming too close to the doors.
¡°Something is wrong. If that was the nest, all of the goblins would be welcome,¡± Santi whispered to the others. Hana simply raised a single eyebrow while Daniel just nodded. Night deepened as the last traces of the sun faded. The moon came to hang heavy above the world, bathing the land in its icy white light. Movement stirred around the doors, the hobgoblins breaking apart to allow something to leave.
¡°Oh, well that answers a few questions,¡± Santi murmured as he saw them.
Ch. 38 Nest Plans
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They came out of the hospital in a clutch of huddled forms. Bloodstained clothes were stitched together in a gristly motley that covered their misshapen bodies. Long arms dragged across the ground, spindly fingers brushing the cement. They moved as one mass, going from pile to pile of stolen possessions.
When they moved their stitched together rags of the murdered revealed flabby and pale skin. Sheets of stringy black hair fell to their knees and when they twisted their heads their hair swung like a curtain behind them. Any goblin that strayed too close to them was quickly swatted by a lighting fast blow from one of their gangly arms.
¡°What hell did they crawl from?¡± Hana whispered next to Santi. He could do nothing but nod his head in agreement as he stared down at the monstrous creatures. Santi used his Identify ability to see what exact type of Hag they were.
Night Hag lvl. 16
¡°Night Hag. They¡¯re strong too. Stronger than most of the hobs we¡¯ve fought.¡±
¡°You have an identify skill?¡± Daniel asked as he stared down at the coven as they continued to sort through the possessions of the murdered.
¡°Yeah. Really helpful when you¡¯re a scout. I highly suggest you take it when you can.¡±
¡°Noted.¡±
They fell back into silence as the coven each took the items they wanted. From the distance Santi couldn¡¯t tell what exactly they were taking. He didn¡¯t really need to. There were all sorts of types of Hag¡¯s, but the commonality about them was that they were normally skilled potion makers or alchemists.
Some of them could be powerful physically, having imbibed their own concoctions. Most were physically weak but had taken on protectors. Like a numerous but weak goblin nest. They¡¯d have plenty of muscle with little real threat to themselves as they collected ingredients and brewed their own foul potions.
¡°Two nests, not one. Goblins are working with the hags. This is going to get rough,¡± Santi whispered to the other two. Hana looked nervous but Daniel simply nodded. Daniel hadn¡¯t seemed to find any threat or challenge over the top to the point he visibly fretted. Santi couldn¡¯t tell if it was a facade or if the man really had nerves of steel.
¡°Could we take it ourselves? Sneak in and kill them and get out again?¡± Hana asked.
¡°No. Not as we are right now anyway. Maybe with a few more levels we could do it. Those hags are all roughly our levels so they should be decent fights by themselves. We have no idea how many covens are in the building either. Could be just the one or it could be a dozen.¡±
¡°Santi¡¯s right, we can¡¯t risk it. We need to go back to Tank and the rest and plan this out. If there¡¯s two nests, would they come and help each other if we attack one?¡±
¡°If they¡¯re already supplying each other? Yeah, that could be something they do.¡± Santi was worrying about that before Daniel had even bothered to ask. If the two nests weren¡¯t fighting for resources but rather working together and sharing this was going to be a lot harder.
He had been fairly secure in their numbers before finding the hags. Their higher levels would level the field, but if they were supported? Attacking the hags would just lead to the goblins falling on their rear and trapping them.
¡°We leave at dawn. If the goblin nest isn¡¯t here, then it''s close by. We need to find it before anything else can be planned out.¡±
Santi was trying to remember what was around the hospital. The goblin nest had to be close by, but there was nothing off the top of his head that could be a realistic place for the goblin nest to be. They were getting close to the edge of town and there was just farmlands stretching out from here. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
¡°Hey, Santi?¡± Hana asked.
¡°Yeah?¡±
¡°Isn¡¯t there a slaughterhouse or something right outside of town?¡±
¡°Fuck. It¡¯s not a slaughterhouse but they take all the local sick animals there to be euthanized or live out the last years. It fucking stinks.¡±
¡°Sounds like a good place for a bunch of goblins to build a nest to me,¡± Daniel chimed in. Santi had to agree with him. It was an animal retirement place filled with lame and dying animals and had a bunch of barns and other buildings to support the large elderly animal population.
The type of energy that a nest would grow from and with plenty of meat for the goblins to consume in the opening days. The more Santi thought about it, the more it made sense.
The hags had taken the hospital, full of sick and dying people. They had a strong affinity to alchemy and potions. If they had a nest then it would make sense for it to be there. A sudden thought struck Santi as he looked around at the ransacked room.
Hag¡¯s liked to use fresh ingredients. They hadn¡¯t seen any human corpses nearby either.
¡°Do either of you remember seeing any bodies lately?¡± Santi asked, hoping it was his own failures.
¡°No, I haven¡¯t.¡± Daniel said, while Hana simply nodded in agreement.
¡°Well, I think we have to take the hags first then.¡±
¡°They have hostages, don¡¯t they?¡± Hana whispered as a look of fear and horror crossed her face.
¡°Oh, dear,¡± Daniel whispered. His eyes hardened in thought and he started to rise up.
¡°No!¡± Santi whispered forcefully, grabbing Daniel¡¯s arm and dragging him down.
¡°We don¡¯t have the numbers to free them. We need to go and find anybody we can and start doing it the moment the sun rises. You two will look for any enclaves like our own while I fill Tank in. We¡¯re going to need to make a big move and we need more people.¡±
Daniel glared down to wear Santi was gripping his wrist and didn¡¯t say a word till Santi released him.
¡°You think there¡¯d be survivors around here? With the two nests roving about?¡±
¡°There was nearly a quarter of a million people in the city. Even with all of the death and chaos going on, there will be plenty of people around. We just need to convince them to come out of the holes they¡¯re hiding in.¡±
¡°First thing in the morning then. Hana and I go and try to find people to help us. Santi, if we can¡¯t find people, I won¡¯t wait. We go and we rescue those people tomorrow no matter what.¡±
¡°Agreed.¡± Santi offered his hand and the scout waited a moment before shaking on it. Hana looked at them like they had both just started spouting off in foreign languages.
¡°You two are really having a dick measuring contest right now?¡±
The two boys looked at her then shrugged sheepishly. Now that the moment had passed and the tension had dissolved, it did look a bit silly.
¡°I¡¯ll take first watch. I¡¯ll wake you in four hours and you two watch till sunrise.¡± Santi said, needing some time to think in silence.
Both of them agreed and quickly laid down on the mattress, back to back, and fell asleep. The ability to sleep in any circumstance was a critical skill that one had to acquire. Lack of sleep could lead to bad decisions which would lead to an early grave. That the two of them were able to fall asleep quickly spoke to their exhaustion.
Santi sat to the side in the corner of the room and let his mind wander. Plans were formulated and discarded as he sat in the dark. He could lead an assault team formed of the most powerful they had. Chloes, Tank, Daniel, Justin, and a few others. Right down the middle while the rest of the raid team kept the hordes of goblins off of them.
It was direct and easy. There were just too many unknowns. How strong was the boss who sat in the heart of the nest. The leader of the hags would be a powerful peak Initiate likely, if not a low level Acolyte. Similar in power to the goblin leader. Could they tackle that level disparity with just a handful?
The battle with the troll-kin came to mind. That monster had left many dead and it had been a fairly simple opponent to fight. The nest leader wouldn¡¯t be like that. They would be smart and more balanced and wouldn¡¯t have the easy counters that Santi had used on the War Chief.
It was safer to gather a large number and launch an attack on the building and free the hostages. If they were still alive. Maybe a distraction? A feint at the goblin nest with just a handful while the true force attacked the hag nest? Monsters defended their nests to the last. They would spill seas of blood to protect the nest and any type of attack would have them huddling around their nest to protect it.
Settling on a rough plan, Santi waited for his own turn to sleep. The next day would be a trial. He was glad he had the rest of the potions he had been awarded for clearing the rift. Tomorrow, the goblin and hag nests would be cleared and they could have a sort of peace in this region of town.
Ch. 39 The Second Nest
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¡°Are you sure there¡¯s hostages?¡± Justin¡¯s deep voice cut across the sudden hubbub as Santi finished giving his report. They had left right as the sun began to rise, avoiding the clumsy goblin patrols to arrive back at the building the rest of the raid team had taken refuge in. Hana and Daniel had split off right as he got to the building, heading toward where a series of small apartment complexes were. Santi had been left alone to give his report on what they had found.
¡°Almost certainly. There¡¯s no bodies. And while there is plenty of blood and violence, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s enough for there to have been a full on massacre. I think they have the rest of the survivors in the hospital.¡±
¡°What do they need for prisoners?¡± A voice asked from the crowd.
¡°Food.¡± Another voice answered fairly quickly. After that, the room got quiet.
¡°We can¡¯t let this stand. We will have to free them as our new priority. How strong were they?¡± Tank took command of the meeting easily.
¡°Level sixteen. I only scanned the one.¡±
¡°Shit, that makes them a higher level than almost everyone here,¡± Justin complained.
¡°Our strongest fighters can take them. We just need to keep the goblins off our backs while we do it,¡± Santi began to lay out the bones of his plans.
¡°I doubt we have enough people to fight both nests. Which you know, so what is it that you are thinking?¡± Tank was quick to talk.
¡°Hana and Daniel are searching for other survivors. There should be plenty of small pockets scattered around here. We find them and integrate them. Use them as a buffer against the horde of the goblins. Our people will deal with the hobgoblins and any stray hags that come at us. I¡¯ll lead the strongest fighters against the nest while everyone else gives us a buffer.¡±
¡°And the goblin nest? They won¡¯t come running when their allies are attacked?¡± Justin remained skeptical.
¡°I want to send a feint at them. Ten or so people. We make molotov cocktails and other incendiary devices. That should scare them long enough for us to finish off the hags. We do the hags, rescue the hostages, then move and deal with goblins.¡±
¡°All in one day?¡± Even Tank sounded apprehensive.
¡°If possible. The faster the better. We don¡¯t want to give them time to recall all of their raiding parties to reinforce themselves.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t like the plan, I think it¡¯s really risky. But¡I don¡¯t see any other way to do this. Justin, would you be willing to lead the feint on the goblin nest?¡± Tank asked the large man.
¡°Sure, but do we know where it is?¡±
¡°I have a pretty good idea. We can go scout it now while we wait for Hana and Daniel. There¡¯s a farm for sick and retired animals right on the outskirts of town. It¡¯s only a mile or two from the hospital and fits the general area where all the raid parties have been coming from,¡± Santi informed everyone.
¡°Santi, you and two others go and scout it and see if the goblins are there. Justin, pick nine others to go with you aside from Chloe and Rayleigh. Start your preparations. Everyone else, rest, hydrate, and stay out of the sun. We have a long day ahead of us.¡± Tank gave his orders while Santi pulled two random scouts out of the lineup and started to lead them away and toward the animal farm.
The two, Beverly and Greg, were fairly quiet and decent enough. Hana was better than both of them, but they were competent. It was hard to see them as true scouts while they darted around from hiding spot to hiding spot. Before going back, the scouts he had worked with could turn invisible, leave no footprints, and mute their smell. Invisible ghosts who were seen only when they wanted to be seen. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
It didn¡¯t take them long as Santi was impatient. It wasn¡¯t even eight in the morning when they left the last of the housing and found themselves on a narrow country road. The change happened so fast that if you blinked you would have missed it. Green fields lay in early bloom with just the hints of weeds beginning to appear. A few hundred yards away a series of large wooden barns were arrayed in a line with wide paddocks and a lush meadow thick with grass.
There were no animals to be seen. None of the aged cows or horses or goats that had once walked about were there. Even the birds had fled, the trees lining the edge of the property swaying lifelessly in the spring breeze.
¡°This is a bit creepy,¡± Greg muttered as they crossed the road and started to cut across the field. They stayed low to the ground and moved quickly, opting for speed over stealth.
¡°If this was a horror movie, we definitely shouldn¡¯t be going to the creepy barns,¡± Beverly agreed with Greg. Santi rolled his eyes. This was a horror movie. But confronting evil was the only way to win in this movie. Hiding or fleeing was just met with stagnation and death.
¡°Quiet,¡± Santi hissed at them as they got within twenty yards of the closest barn. It was close enough that the stench of goblins wafted on the air in a miasma of death.
The once rust red barns were stained with black webbing that pulsed every seven seconds. With every pulse the webbing grew, inching its way over more and more of the building. Crimson vines snaked along the crushed gravel of the yard, slowly strangling all of the native life. Each of the trees along the edge of the property was wreathed in the crimson vines while the black webbing was rising from their roots to crawl up their trunks.
¡°Safe to say that this is where the nest is. Let¡¯s get the fuck out of here,¡± Santi ordered the two scouts. Neither of them objected to the order, both eager to leave as fast as possible. The nest was disturbing. Alien. It didn¡¯t belong.
¡°We¡¯re burning this bitch down, right?¡± Greg asked as they made it back to the road. The goblin patrols were growing thicker as they got closer and closer to where they had left Tank and the rest of the raid party.
¡°Every nest we find is burned out.¡± Santi frowned as he heard sounds of fighting coming from ahead. The three of them were jogging now, not caring if the goblins saw them at all. There were few in the area and the harsh sounds of combat were a beacon for them regardless.
As they ran out from between two houses over the destroyed fence, Santi got a look at what the raid party had faced. They were finishing off the last of a large pack of goblins. Most of the weak monsters were dead but a knot of the hobgoblins remained. For the first time Santi got to watch as Justin worked them over.
He was a bulldozer, swinging his wide sledgehammer as if it weighed nothing, to swat away the probing tips of the hobgoblin spears. He shoulder checked one, knocking it off its feet. He ducked as he spun, the hammer swinging wide for the broad head to crumple a bronze breastplate. Santi had to admire him for a moment as Justin killed the squad of hobs.
He was fast and strong with the endurance to match. Built up along a physical build that built upon what was already a very strong man. The hobs didn¡¯t last more than a few moments as Justin tore them apart. Each blow of the hammer shattering bone and crushing the hobs to paste.
¡°All over already. That guy¡¯s a beast. I saw you fight the troll thing and it was impressive, but that guy does work too,¡± Greg offered. Beverly just hummed her approval.
¡°Different builds. I¡¯m a mage who¡¯s stuck fighting with a sword. He¡¯s a physical classer. This is literally what he¡¯s supposed to be doing,¡± Santi muttered, trying to defend himself without sounding petulant.
¡°Haven¡¯t seen too much magic from you, yet. Aside from that breeze thing you did.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll get better skills and spells in time. Just need to earn them. More levels, more spells, yeah.¡± Santi ended the conversation, tired of it already. He missed Daniel and Hana¡¯s brevity.
¡°Have Hana and Daniel made it back yet?¡± Santi asked Tank as they walked across the street. Members of the raid party were already looting the goblins, stealing from them everything of value. Even the busted bronze armor on the hobs was taken. Santi heartily approved and even nodded to one of the looters.
¡°They¡¯ve found a half dozen groups, but only a couple are willing to fight. Found some firefighters in a local restauraunt, some track and field kids who were at a hotel with all their gear, and some others. About sixty or so people.¡±
¡°That was fast, didn¡¯t expect them to find so many, honestly.¡±
¡°Most of them were all a couple blocks from each other. Once they found the first group and started to lead them out, more and more started to come out of hiding. Those who don¡¯t want to fight will be staying here with the injured while we deal with the nests. If shit goes bad, this will be the fallback point before we head home.¡±
¡°Alright, let¡¯s get this show on the road.¡±
Ch. 40 Nest Assault
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The ever present sweat trickled down Santi¡¯s neck as he stared down at the hospital. He had taken up residence in the house again, using it as a base for the team who¡¯d infiltrate the hospital to use. In the light of day the horrific violence was all too apparent. Another ember that burned in his chest as he thought of the unfairness of the world and how it had robbed everyone.
He couldn¡¯t change the System arriving, but those frustrations and rage could be vented out on the nest in front of him. The hags would be using the survivors as living ingredients for their potions. Santi would scour them from the face of the planet for their crimes. The bubbling rage that had been simmering for so long was ready to come out. He had been scared, depressed, fatigued, and had hits of that anger leak through. Now, though, it was a pulsing wave of rage that made it hard for him to breathe.
¡°The first part should be starting soon,¡± Daniel said. He and Hana were in the corners of the room, each watching out the window without poking their heads out. Justin was leading his team toward the goblin nest and was supposed to be launching the attack at noon. Or their rough estimation of noon, when the sun was at its zenith. Finding some type of mechanical clock would be a priority once they found some time.
The farm was only a few miles away, the smoke from the fires would be visible. They weren¡¯t going to wait for the smoke, not wanting to give the guards around the outside of the hospital any type of warning. Santi had tried to get Tank to lead the attack against the guards, but the man had refused. The archer, Chad, was going to be in the nominal lead for eliminating the outer guards and protecting the entrance from any type of reinforcements.
Tank would be coming with them as their healer. Daniel and Hana were the vanguard, Chloe and Rayleigh the heavy muscle, while Santi rounded out the team as the all-rounder. Aside from Justin, these were the highest level people from the camp and even Justin was comparative. Fighting the higher ranked hags would give everyone here a boost in levels. The rich got richer. It was the way of the new world, those willing to take the risks would continue to see growth.
If they stayed alive.
The minutes trickled by and Santi was getting nervous, shifting his weight foot to foot. His internal clock was almost at noon when Chad turned the corner to look at the mass of goblins working around the hospital. They saw him as soon as he turned. The reaction was instant, dozens dropping what they had and racing toward the archer.
A single arrow flashed from his bow burning with a red aura around it. The arrow moved fast enough that if Santi had blinked he would have missed it. A goblin simply disintegrated as the arrow tore it apart. The goblin behind it had a dinner plate hole blown through its chest. The third goblin simply had to deal with a simple arrow punch through its neck. Killing three goblins with a single skill, Santi felt a smile touch the corner of his mouth.
¡°Time to go,¡± Santi said. He followed up his words as he bounded down the stairs as quickly as possible. The hobgoblins hadn¡¯t moved from their position as the rest of the horde began to chase after Chad. The rest of the party followed on his heels, each of them thundering down the steps. There was no time for any type of stealth as all of them focused on closing the distance.
Running out the back door Santi hardly paused as he leapt over the shattered glass backdoor and toward the back fence that was a mangled ruin. The hospital loomed in front of them, the tail ends of the goblins horde on the very edge of the hospital grounds. None of them turned to look behind as Santi ran toward the hobgoblins at full speed.
Fifteen hobgoblins in their bronze armor stood in a cluster around the entrance. They tightened their formation, becoming a wall of bronze with bristling speartips poking out. The discipline was closer to his own memories on how hobgoblins acted. The ones so far had been poor remnants of his past experiences. Santi poured on the speed, his legs churning as he crossed the distance, his own spear held out in front of him. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Each step sent a shock up his legs, every breath fire down his throat. With only feet before the sharp spear points threatened to impale him, Santi lowered the spear down to the ground and did his best impression of a pole vault. Activating Gust at the same time as his momentum changed, the powerful wind creating a wave of dust and dirt. The powerful wind lightened him, giving him more air as he sailed over the tops of the hobgoblins and more importantly their spears.
Time stretched out in slow motion as he felt weightless, sailing over the glistening spear tips, lit by the bright sun. Santi could see the hobs staring up at him, their faces shocked as he flew over the top of them. Time resumed its normal course and Santi landed lightly, stumbling only a moment behind the wall of hobgoblin warriors. Santi grabbed his iron knives and darted toward the backs of the hobgoblins.
If they turned to fight him, then they¡¯d leave their backs to the rest of the charging group. If they didn¡¯t turn around, then he was going to rip them apart. Two peeled away, stepping out of the formation to whirl on him, while the rest tried to compress before Chloe and Rayleigh closed the distance.
Santi crouched, letting his knees collapse and catching himself right before he hit the earth. The spear cut the air above him, but he was surging forward and up, dagger punching up through the hobs chin. Santi twisted the knife as he wedged himself tight to the hobgoblin, twisting the hob around to interpose its limp body toward the second hob. The second hob stabbed the limp body, its spear piercing the dead corpse. Santi twisted the dead goblin, rotating it away and dragging the spear lodged in it out of the second hobs hands.
Santi was moving faster than either of the two hobs, he was stronger than both, and they were like mannequins. Even with similar levels, there was so little they could do. Santi crossed the distance between him and the remaining hob and cut its throat as it stared at him with surprised wide eyes. There was little it could have done, simply outclassed as it died.
Santi turned to start cutting open the hobgoblin wall just in time to see Chloe hit the line like a tank. Her axe was glowing silver as she hewed through a pair of spears before splitting open a hobgoblin like it was an overripe cantaloupe. Santi stabbed the neck of the hobgoblin next to the one Chloe had killed.
The formation broke apart as Rayleigh and Tank hit them. Daniel was nowhere to be seen and Hana was coming around the corner from an obscure angle. Tank¡¯s bat came down like a meteor as the defensive position broke apart. Bones crunched and hobgoblin was driven down into the ground. Rayleigh shattered ribs with a single blow, the bronze armor failing to mitigate the power behind the blow.
In less than a minute it was over. The corpses piled up like logs as Santi took another spear from the ground. His own had split during his leap over the line and war spoils were frequent rewards. The new spear was a near carbon copy of his now broken one. Santi did a few practice swings and thrusts, growing accustomed to the minute differences.
¡°Is it me, or was that way too easy?¡± Chloe said as she stared down at the dead hobgoblins.
¡°Our levels are higher now. I think we could fight the troll-kin with reasonable ease. It was strong but in only a few areas, we are more well balanced. And we have skills,¡± Santi said as he stared at the glass doors that would lead into the hospital.
While the goblin nest was easy to see with its creeping red vines and black webbing that clung to buildings. The hag nest was different. There was little visible on the outside, the walls and concrete of the building stained only by the daily abuses of life.
The difference was more subtle, a chill in the air, a scent that clung to the building. Goosebumps rippled over Santi¡¯s arms as he started to walk toward the doors. The dim lobby was nothing more than dark shadows and obscured furniture. Rust red dried blood was smeared over the white tile floors and shattered glass littered the ground.
Daniel walked out of the entrance of the hospital and looked around at the dead hobgoblins. Neither he or Hana had participated in the fight, but then again it wasn¡¯t the type of fights they¡¯d normally take. They worked better striking from hiding.
¡°Ready to go in?¡± Daniel asked.
Ch. 41 Hag Brawl
-
The air of the hospital air was chilly, creating a sharp contrast from the warm air outside. Daniel slunk along the edges of the halls, his shape hardly noticeable. Hana trailed behind while Chloe and Rayleigh formed a wall in front of Santi and Tank. The hallways were full of discarded and stained gurneys, the cheap sheets and blankets, nothing more than puddles of clothing shoved into balls around the hallway. White tile was smeared with a mix of fluids and dirt.
¡°This isn¡¯t creepy at all,¡± Tank muttered as they all pushed deeper into the building. Santi couldn¡¯t help but agree, there was something intrinsically wrong with this place.
¡°Floor by floor, slow and careful. Nobody takes risks,¡± Santi warned as they started to walk down the hallway. The aura of the hospital was oppressive, weighing down on them as they marched deeper down the soiled halls. The soft sound of their footsteps echoing on tile the only sound in the hospital. The broken windows had been blown outwards, leaving little in the way of shattered glass on the ground.
Minutes trickled by with the weight of the atmosphere only increasing. Sweat was dripping down Santi¡¯s back from nerves despite the cool interior.
It was almost a relief when Daniel emerged from the shadows and quietly pointed around the corner. He flashed nine fingers and then slipped back into the shadows. Santi wanted to roll his eyes at the mans over reliance on his skill and the dramatic way he used it. The quiet man had a flair for the dramatic.
¡°Get ready, Chloe and Rayleigh, you need to hold the line. Tank, stay away from the fighting unless one slips by. Hana and Daienl, if you can hear me, try to get to the backlines or kill anything that tries to cast magic. I¡¯ll backup anyone who needs help.¡± Santi kept his voice to hardly above a whisper as he laid out a basic plan.
The tactics were fairly simple when it came to fighting in small raid teams but none of them had practiced. Santi hadn¡¯t ever fought in this position before either. Normally he would fight in the same role as Daniel as a mage killer. Striking from hiding with overwhelming force as fast as possible and retreating before retribution could find him.
Chloe and Rayleigh clutched their weapons tightly and they turned the corner without hesitation. Santi was right behind them, turning the blind corner into a wide lobby with banks of elevators sitting dormant. Paper scraps were strewn about, broken computers and furniture were piled into a corner haphazardly.
Nine hags stood in a clutch shoulder to shoulder as they stared with beady black eyes at the group. Their pale skin gave an eerie glow in the dim light, their flabby bodies covered in the stitched together remnants of murdered people¡¯s clothing.
Night Hag lvl. 14
Night Hag lvl. 15
Night Hag lvl. 14
Night Hag lvl. 16
Santi stopped using Identify as he got what he wanted. The level sixteen was the highest level and he was sure they could deal with it. They were slightly outnumbered but Santi knew they could handle the fight.
Chloe and Rayleigh jogged in lockstep without a word, both of the women gathering momentum as they closed the distance. Santi gave them distance to create a gap between the lines. Tank trailed even further behind and Santi couldn¡¯t see where Hana had drifted out of his peripheral vision.
Chloe¡¯s twin headed axe glowed silver and a faint blue aura emanated around Rayleigh as she activated a skill that Santi hadn¡¯t known about. The lead hag leapt forward, long arms outstretched as it swiped at the girls with dirty black talons. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
Chloe cut the hags arm and fingers clattered to the ground sounding more like metal falling than flesh and bone. The hag screeched in agony, its wide mouth open and revealing yellowed teeth. Rayleigh lowered her shoulder and the blue aura around her condensed suddenly around her. She slammed into the hag at its midsection, the blue aura exploding outward in a wash of light. The injured hag was thrown backward as if hit by a semi-truck.
Chloe hadn¡¯t slowed down at all and charged into the cluster of hags. Her blade was a blur, blood splashing on the floors. None of the hags died immediately unlike the hobgoblins they had fought just minutes earlier. Rayleigh¡¯s bat cracked bones but didn¡¯t have the power to kill any of them. For a moment the two women held the eight hags in place with sheer momentum.
Then they were being pushed back as the heavy swipes started coming in too fast. Chloe and Rayleigh worked to stay close enough to each other to protect one another while not impeding each other. Santi was impressed with their teamwork and as they retreated he felt his eyebrows rise.
The two of them slid backward with ease and opened a gap. A single hag was able to force the gap, threatening to split the women apart. It took blows from both of them, an axe cut that shredded an quadricep and a baseball bat blow that cracked the opposing forearm.
If the hag was able to stay there weathering the blows the two women were doomed. The wounds it had just taken in the split second it had pushed up left it vulnerable. Leg unable to support it, arm unable to defend itself. Santi took advantage.
His lunge was perfect, the spear punching through the hags sternum. The spear blew out the monsters back in a spray of gore and it stiffened instantly. Santi kicked the hag while twisting to pull the spear free. He wasn¡¯t strong enough to kick the hag free, but he was strong enough to free his spear nearly instantly.
The two girls stepped back and toward each other to reform their position without a word. The push-off from freeing his spear had pushed Santi back so he was still behind the girls as they continued to back up slowly. The original hag that Rayleigh had tossed around was back on its feet and rushing back to the fray.
The wide open lobby allowed them to start trying to encircle the group. Two hags on each side of the group while four stayed in the middle. Santi lashed out with the long reach of the spear at the flanking group on the right, slashing open a long cut above a hag¡¯s eye. Inky black blood ran like a river down the hags waxy face as it stumbled forward.
Daniel came out of the shadows, his two blades punching into the back of the second right flank hag¡¯s head. The hag went limp falling to the ground in a heap at the scout¡¯s feet. The wounded hag spun to try to avenge its fallen coven member and Santi finished it off with a single thrust up and under its ribs.
Tank stepped forward and his taped together club hammered the left flank leading hag in the head. Bones shattered and the hag staggered backward, wounded but not dead. Santi leapt across the gap to engage the second flanking hag. Santi dipped under a sharp claws and stabbed the hag through its flabby gut. The creature howled, thick spittle laced with black blood flying out to spatter on Santi¡¯s face.
Santi straightened up, his increased strength letting him lift the hag up into the air. It was bent in half as its claws scrabbled at the white wood of the spear. Hot blood flowed over Santi¡¯s hands as muscles in his shoulders and back screamed in pain.
Twisting his hips he threw the impaled hag at the four clustered together in the front. In the fifteen or so seconds Santi had taken his eyes off of them the two girls had inflicted more minor wounds while somehow not taking any type of injuries.
The hag hit the leftmost of the center group and they fell into a pile. Santi hadn¡¯t gotten the kill notification for the hag he had just thrown, but knew it was on its last legs. Daniel surged out again, daggers slashing at the rightmost hags hamstrings. The hag screamed as it collapsed to its knees. A dagger came flying through the air and slammed into the kneeling hags eye. Hana finally made her presence known.
With only two hags left against the girls, they didn¡¯t stand a chance. Chloe took the head of her hag in a flurry of blows, activating her skill on her final blow. Rayleigh simply broke her opponent, battering it to the ground in a series of crashing blows. Without the other targeting her, she had finally been able to use all of her strength and use it to devastating effect.
Tank was finishing off his own hag, lining up and swinging like he was a MLB slugger. It took him multiple blows but the hag finally died. Santi drew his dagger and rushed over to the two hags in a pile. He drew his blade across the impaled one''s throat while the second one thrashed underneath the weight of the first hag. Santi reached over the dead body and lined up his blow before ramming the dagger through its beady black eye. It stiffened for a second and then relaxed as it died.
Ch. 42 Dont Fight in Stairwells
-
¡°Anyone level?¡± Chloe asked as everyone took a breath. Their weapons were tidied, chunks of flesh and blood wiped off, a few water bottles broken out and passed around. The fight had been fast but any fight was draining with their relatively low stats.
¡°Naw.¡±
¡°Nope.¡±
¡°No.¡±
Tank, Rayleigh, Hana all gave negative answers while stoic Daniel just shook his head. They were all reaching the area where it¡¯d probably take several fights to gain levels unless they started to fight way above their level like they had with the troll-kin.
¡°Course not. Was that me or was that easier than I expected?¡± Chloe kept up after frowning at the rest of them when she got negative responses.
¡°How hard did you expect it to be?¡± Santi couldn¡¯t help himself. The comedown from the adrenaline surge was already hitting.
¡°Harder than that. How long did it last, a minute maybe?¡±
A minute and twenty-seven seconds exactly. The knowledge was instinctive for Santi, his minor affinity giving him the information.
¡°Yeah, something like that.¡±
¡°So, like, they were our level, they should have been tougher right?¡±
¡°We have skills, these ones didn¡¯t.¡± Santi supplied.
¡°Anyone hurt?¡± Tank asked as he walked around the rest of the ground.
Another round of negatives rang out. Somehow everyone had managed to get through the fight without injuries. The hags weren¡¯t the most capable CQB fighter in the world as they almost entirely relied on their potions and magics and worked with other monsters to protect themselves. Still, to fight a group of the equivalent level and come out with no injuries was impressive.
¡°Daniel, did you see anything else further?¡± Tank asked.
¡°Nope. There¡¯s nothing in this section of the hospital. We could keep clearing out the lower levels, but the air around the stairway is worse than here. Colder.¡±
¡°Santi, do you think it¡¯d be worth it to clear the rest of the level or just push up?¡±
¡°If we had time, I would say clear it out slow and steady. We¡¯re on the clock though. We need to clear the nest.¡±
¡°Alright, but speaking of clearing the nest, how do we do that?¡± Rayleigh asked as she leaned against a wall. She was covered in gore and seemed to be completely unfazed by it.
¡°In the rift there was a core and I took it and made the rift collapse when I left. Should be similar here,¡± the geas prevented him from telling them exactly how the nest needed to be cleared.
¡°So we just follow the chill in the air until we find a core that may or may not make the nest break apart?¡±
¡°Yeah.¡± Santi shrugged at them. They knew he knew more than he was telling them and it was only with Tank¡¯s support that it hadn¡¯t become more of an issue. That and his skill in killing monsters and keeping people safe.
¡°Alright then, Daniel, lead on,¡± Tank said as he waved a wide hand toward the staircase next to the elevator doors. The door to the stairway was open, claw marks having peeled the door open like an apple. Ribbons of metal lay in curled piles all around the bottom of the door. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Without the light from the broken windows the stairwell was dark and Tank ordered them to bust out their glowsticks. Santi had to admit that so far his looting of the glowsticks had been the best investment so far.
The faint green glow let them see well enough as they climbed the stairs. Santi stayed behind the girls while Tank was behind him. The twisting nature of the staircase had them spinning as they worked their way up higher and higher. The chill was increasing with every flight of stairs deepening until it was a bitter cold that leeched at them.
The hospital was only five stories but they had to move slowly and quietly. Following the chill they were hardly past the third floor landing. The stairwell was mostly bare of evidence of violence that most of the hospital had shown so far. The echoing bang of a door slamming open above them froze them all as everyone sucked in a breath and held it. Flesh on concrete sounded out as hurried footsteps echoed in the stairwell.
¡°SHIT!¡± Chloe yelled as the first of the hags came flying from above them, having leapt from the higher level and down at them. Her silver axe illuminated the space, the glow of it far more noticeable in the dark, and bisected the falling hag. It fell in two pieces at her feet, the momentum of the fall pushing the smaller woman back and down the stairs.
Santi had to quickly adjust the grip on his spear to keep from impaling her and reached out to grab her. Catching her with one hand he looked up to see Rayleigh already battering around the next hag which had decided stairs were a better way of travel than flying. While holding her ground at the moment, the press of more of the hags was already forcing her back.
Another door slammed open from underneath them and Santi could hear Hana cursing as more hags flooded up the stairs. They were trapped between the two groups, their desire for speed over caution already biting them in their ass.
¡°Rayleigh, hold the line! Chloe, go back and help Hana. Retreat to the third floor!¡± Santi took over as his years of experience caught up to him. Tank stayed in the center of the formation with little room to maneuver in the tight confines of the stairwell. Chloe squeezed past him and turned to go down another flight.
¡°Daniel! We need a distraction. Meet us on the third when you can!¡± Santi had to hope the lead scout was skilled enough to stay out of the scrum that was becoming.
¡°Tank, help Rayleigh. I¡¯m cutting our way down to the third!¡± Santi was grateful for his slighter build as he was able to push past the bigger man and look down the stairwell to where Chloe was holding off the press of attackers.
Holding the high ground she was swiping with her axe over and over again, relying on the skill to keep the huddle of hags at bay. Hana was leaning in the corner of the landing, clutching at a limp arm that was bathed in red blood. Santi threw his glowstick at the clutch of hags, the green light spinning end over end to smack one in the eye. Pure luck.
Chloe took one of their hands when they ventured too close and were too slow to retreat. Santi hopped on the railing, heart already beating a mile a minute as he threw himself off the rail and toward the heart of the cluster. For just a moment he felt like he was flying again, then his feet were crashing into a hag¡¯s face and driving her down to the ground.
Losing his balance immediately, he threw himself down the stairs, spear stretched out in front of him. A hag took the spear through the head, her ugly drooping features frozen in shock as the speartip went through her eye and out the back of her skull. The momentum tossed Santi down, riding the now dead hag as they fell in a cluster of slashing claws and flailing limbs.
Grabbing at the daggers on his belt, Santi lashed out at everything around him. Bitter liquid painted his face and wormed its way past his lips. He snarled as he focused on the pain of digging claws, slashing out wherever the pain had originated from. The cluster of bodies around him were disentangling, but he was like a wolverine. He clung to them, too close for them to properly fight him.
Behind him he could hear the sounds of fighting as the last hag or two he hadn¡¯t sent tumbling down the stairs were dispatched. Santi didn¡¯t have time to pay attention to that fight as his own cluster gained their feet and made room. Two of their number stayed still on the ground, their bodies lacerated from dozens of wounds.
Santi felt blood as it dripped down his face. His left arm had deep cuts from claws and his right ankle felt off. He pushed all of that pain aside, his willpower allowing him to power himself at the rest of the coven.
Three had died on his charge down, two were above him, and four were left still blocking the way to safety. The sounds of the hags above him dying were clear, but the rest of the team were still valuable seconds away from reaching him. He couldn¡¯t allow the hags time to regroup.
He threw his left dagger, his wounded arm already weakening. The blade flashed end over end once before sinking into the furthest on the right stomach. Santi was already leaping at them, his right arm swiping out to slash at the eyes of the closest hag.
The stench of old blood and unwashed bodies mingled in the tight confines as Santi lashed out around himself. He felt claws dig into his side and he screamed, but he kept attacking. He buried the knife in an eye and then was shoved backward just as another set of claws swiped at him. More blood blossomed on his shredded shirt and he cursed as he crashed back into the stairs.
Then Tank was over him, his heavy club smacking into the attacking hag. The taped bats struck hard enough the hunched over monster¡¯s knees folded and Tank rose up to his full height for the final blow. Chloe blew past him, sliding along the wall to interpose herself to the two severely wounded hags. She finished them off in a series of fast chops while Tank crushed the skull of the hag in front of them.
¡°Drink up,¡± Tank ordered, the cold glass of a healing potion forced between Santi¡¯s lips. He drank more on instinct than conscious thought as his body was growing numb. The taste of chocolate and honey flooded down his throat and he knew no more.
Ch. 43 Sleeping on the Job
-
¡°You alive?¡± A voice called out, slicing through the fog of Santi¡¯s mind. A warm heat suffused him, wrapping him up in comforting bands. The pains he had accumulated had disappeared and there was a sense of relaxation to his body he hadn¡¯t felt since the integration had started.
¡°I¡¯m still alive,¡± Santi rasped, his throat parched and his tongue feeling like lead. Each word was a struggle as his mouth refused to work properly. It was like coming out of anesthesia.
¡°Thank god. Can you fight?¡± Santi was fairly certain it was Hana who had asked. Sounds were still muffled but with every breath more and more of the pleasing numbness faded leaving him in a dreary and aching world. His vision sharpened and he made out the tiles above his head and the faint smell of antiseptic that still hung in the air still.
¡°Give me a second.¡±
¡°We don¡¯t have a second. Rayleigh is down, I can¡¯t fight, and Tank is out of healing power. Chloe and Daniel are all that¡¯s left.¡± A surge of adrenaline had Santi swinging his feet up and over the edge of the bed and standing. The world spun for a moment before he caught up with what was going on and looked around.
They were in a large hallway with dozens of rooms up and down the length of it. Most of the doors were open or broken, gurneys lined the walls and papers were strewn about. Multiple carts that once carried computers or other more expensive medical equipment were pushed over into a pile by the nurses station in the middle of the hall.
At the end of the hall, by the elevator bank, Chloe and Daniel were trying to keep a pileup of hags from bursting out of the landing and into the hall. Both were moving slower and Santi could see the blood stains on Chloe¡¯s clothes. Tank was behind them, kneeling and gasping loudly as he tried to recover his breath. Santi recognized the signs of mana exhaustion.
¡°Weapon?¡± Santi croaked. His spear and daggers had been left in the hag corpses in the stairwell. Hana was limp against the wall, her arm sheathed in blood while her face had paled. She nodded to the knife that lay in a pool of her blood. Santi picked up the sticky dagger and nodded his thanks as he staggered down the hall.
The hall twisted and turned as the after effects of the healing bothered him. His balance was screwed up and he struggled with walking but he powered on. The dagger clung to his hand, the blood tacky. Four of the hags still remained and they were all in poor condition. Missing fingers on all of them, one only had an arm, and the other three were all limping.
If Chloe had been in good shape she would have been able to tackle all four of them in their wretched condition. She hardly looked any better than them though. Her clothes were stained through with her blood and every blow of her axe seemed lethargic. Daniel was leaning against a wall behind her, dagger ready to slash out if an opportunity presented itself.
Every step helped him become more grounded, the world stopped spinning and soon Santi ran down the hallway to the fight. Closing the distance he readied his newly acquired knife. Chloe staggered back as a hag slashed at her. Her leg crumpled and she fell to the ground completely vulnerable.
The hag perched over her, claws over its head, ready to decapitate Chloe. Santi skipped once and threw the dagger. The sticky blood screwed up his throw, the blade slashing the hag¡¯s neck and not sinking into its chest. It staggered back and screeched in rage and pain. Daniel grabbed under Chloe¡¯s arms and dragged her back.
Santi passed them, snagging Chloe¡¯s axe with one hand. He fell to his knees and slid across the tile. The axe scythed out, taking the leg of the nearest and hag. Santi rose to his feet, his body responding eagerly as all the exhaustion had left him.
Santi slammed the axe into the closest one¡¯s chest and then triggered Gust, blowing back the encroaching two hags back a few feet. The spell wasn¡¯t enough to throw them off their feet but gave him the split second he needed to rip the axe free and take the dying hag¡¯s head. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
The hag he cut with his throwing knife swayed back and forth as the blood loss was overcoming its natural resilience. Santi lunged at it, intent on finishing it off while they were off balance.
He lopped off its hand at the wrist, ducked under an incoming blow from the remaining hag, spun around the hip of the dying hag and buried the axe into its shoulder blade. With Air Current running in its current manipulated form, the slow plodding wounded hags were no match for him.
Standing toe to toe with the last healthy-ish hag, it took only a moment for him to reduce it to three parts. Right arm on the ground, then the head. Santi stalked over to the one he had made an amputee and ended its misery.
Congratulations, you are now Mage lvl. 16
Santi dismissed the message as he looked over the team. They were all in bad shape. Daniel seemed to be in the best shape and even he was limping. Tank wasn¡¯t wounded but had deep rings under his bloodshot eyes as he struggled to get to his feet. Santi walked past them to his abandoned pack.
He pulled a blue mana potion out of the bag and shoved it toward Tank. They needed the man''s skills to stay alive for the next few minutes. Everyone was too hurt to survive their wounds with normal medicine. Without a surgery suite at least. Tank drank quickly, not questioning him.
Santi watched as the veins in the man''s face grew lax and his shoulders straightened.
¡°Mana potion, you should be good to go on healing everyone.¡± Santi didn¡¯t know what skills he had taken at level ten and fifteen, but he was hoping it was enough to keep everyone alive. Hana looked to be perched on death¡¯s door, face pale and body limp. Rayleigh was lying limp on the ground, face coated in blood and her chest rising slowly.
¡°What skills do you have now?¡± Santi asked as he tore through his own pack to try to find the basic first aid kit. He could at least slow down the bleeding and hopefully keep people from dying until Tank could get to them.
¡° First-Aid, Diagnose, Replenish Blood, Seal Wound. What happened to me a minute ago?¡±
¡°Skills require mana, you used all of yours.¡± It was nice that the geas didn¡¯t stop him from sharing that. It was some common sense that the mana stat would affect skills. He did feel it tighten on him when he went to explain how mana worked and how the regeneration worked. It took a lot of time and experimentation to find out how long it took to regenerate and how much each skill or spell took.
Tank went to each injured individual to touch them briefly using his Diagnose skill. He left Daniel almost immediately and Chloe took a second longer before leaving her too. While both of them were injured, neither were ready to cross over to the next life.
He spent longer with Hana, her bleeding slowing down and some color returning to her cheeks. As he perched over Rayleigh his face became concerned as a white glow came over his hands. Santi had never seen an aura develop over Tank yet and wasn¡¯t surprised. Tank was rapidly growing in strength and was using all of his skills to keep Rayleigh alive.
Santi went over to Chloe and bandaged the worst of her wounds. Thick white bandages were wrapped around her leg and arms. Her forearms were shredded from taking claws, the defensive wounds a terrible sight to behold. Her dark eyes were slightly glazed over and each breath came shallowly.
¡°How the hell aren¡¯t you screaming in pain? I¡¯d be crying for mercy by now,¡± Santi was trying his best to smile reassuringly at her. Seeing as he was drenched in a mix of monster blood and human blood, he doubted it was reassuring at all.
¡°Skill. Numb. It helps keep me going when I take pain. The more pain I take, the deeper the numb goes.¡± Her voice rasped, thin and reedy. Her skill was likely running out even if it was a low mana required passive.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, Tank will be by here in a bit. Just taking care of Rayleigh right now. She¡¯s a badass, you know. That charge skill she has it absolutely brutal. Can¡¯t wait to see what it will be like when she gets some more levels under her belt.¡±
¡°Are you trying to distract me?¡±
¡°Yeah. Is it working?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Well, I¡¯m not a doctor.¡±
¡°Fucking obviously.¡±
¡°I can go help Daniel, would that make you feel better?¡±
¡°Finish me up. Then go help him.¡±
¡°Sure. Let¡¯s make sure you don¡¯t bleed out first.¡±
Ch. 44 The Fifth Floor
-
¡°I don¡¯t think Rayleigh and Hana will be able to continue, and Chloe is beat to shit too. I might be able to get her on her feet and fighting, but she¡¯s not going to be one hundred percent,¡± Tank said, his expression dour.
They were clustered around the edge of the floor, watching the stairwell for anymore hags. Daniel was sitting against the wall, his eyes closed as he snored quietly. Mana exhaustion hit like a truck and everyone was napping. Tank was in rough condition but his own natural regeneration along with the mana potion had him moving and ready to fight.
¡°Trying to clear this place with just you and Daniel will be hard.¡±
¡°I can¡¯t leave my patients unguarded. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Tank¡¯s brow was furrowed and he was frowning as he stared at the three girls. They had taken the worst of the beating, having to hold the frontlines and backlines.
¡°Daniel, you going to be ready?¡± Santi asked.
Daniel snorted as he jerked awake. He looked around blearily for a moment before nodding. He struggled to his feet and rolled his shoulders.
¡°Want me to scout?¡±
¡°Yeah. It¡¯s just going to be me and you. We¡¯re moving up while everyone else rests here. You good with that?¡±
¡°Work needs to be done regardless of circumstances.¡±
¡°Alright. Tank, you¡¯re going to have to hold the doors by yourself. I¡¯m taking the other mana potions with me, but I¡¯ll leave you a stamina potion. It¡¯s like a full eight hours of rest. We¡¯ll be back,¡± Santi nodded to the door and Daniel walked to the stairwell door.
Santi hoisted up Rayleigh¡¯s bat and followed after the scout. He wasn¡¯t willing to wait and let the hags regroup after the fight. They had managed to kill three full covens of the monsters and Santi didn¡¯t think the nest was strong enough to support many more. If there was a coven on each floor, which seemed likely, there were only two more covens.
The coven on the second floor hadn¡¯t come up even with the sounds of fighting. If they hadn¡¯t come up to fight them with the third and fourth floor covens, he didn¡¯t think they would now. They¡¯d be dealt with eventually, but for now he was content to leave them cowering on their own floor.
¡°Up, Daniel. We need to clear the fifth floor. See if you can find any of the survivors.¡±
¡°Got it,¡± the voice whispered back and then he was gone.
Santi stepped over the piled up corpses of the hags and searched for his spear. The weapon had snapped, the spearpoint left embedded in the hags head. Shaking his head in disappointment he looked around for his knives and was able to retrieve both of them. While sticky with blood, the crude iron weapons were in decent shape.
Creeping up the blood spattered stairs, he couldn¡¯t help but shake his head at the carnage. Hag limbs had been removed with prejudice, while their black blood painted the walls and stairs. Chloe had been a vengeful demon amongst them, her axe hewing them apart like they were kindling.
Walking on the inside of the stairs with the bat in front of him, he crept past the fourth floor. The signage on the walls said it was the ICU and when he peeked his head past the door he saw nothing but the twisting shadows of carnage.
He continued up, his heart pounding as his nerves stretched out. Daniel hadn¡¯t made any comments yet, and Santi had to assume he was ahead somewhere. The sound of a door opening above him confirmed that a minute later. Santi hurried up the stairs, his shoes squeaking on the floor as he spun around and opened the fifth floor door.
The fifth floor was a long hallway with desks and the remnant of glass offices along it. It looked like the administrator''s office. Filing cabinets were broken open with papers floating in the mid afternoon breeze through the shattered windows. Desks were laying in broken pieces, thrown about with careless disregard. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
With careful steps he creeped through the hallways, ears straining to hear for movement. His heart pounded as sweat slicked the grips of the bat. Sunlight streamed through the windows along the perimeter of the building.
Sounds stirred deeper in the floor. Muted cries of pain, pleas to uncaring gods, prayers to die. All of it reached him, the sound carrying without problem. The thin walls of the cubicles had holes in them, the thin drywall having been broken up in dozens of places.
¡°Santi,¡± Daniel whispered as he lurched out from a side passage. His face was bloodless and there was a sheen of sweat on his face.
¡°Yeah?¡± Santi whispered back. Already he could tell he wasn¡¯t going to like what the other man was going to tell him.
¡°I found the survivors. Santi, they¡¯re in bad shape man. These¡these¡oh fuck man,¡± the normally composed Daniel staggered away and down the staircase. Santi could hear him vomiting quietly.
He waited as long as he could, eyes sweeping across the room to look for anything that was moving. Aside from the desperate pleas, there was nothing. If there were still hags on this floor, they were being quiet. It took Daniel only a minute or two before he was able to come back up, his face drawn with spittle decorating his lips.
¡°Santi, they¡¯re in bad shape. These monsters are taking them apart. Arms, legs, eyes, Santi¡it¡¯s bad. We have to kill all of them. This is evil.¡±
¡°No survivors, I promise you. But, did you see where the actual monsters are?¡±
¡°Back of the floor, they¡¯ve ripped open all these offices and have a cauldron. There¡¯s a blue fire under it and they¡¯re just standing around the cauldron.¡±
¡°Alright then, we go and fuck ¡®em up.¡±
¡°Santi, there¡¯s eighteen of them. Two full covens.¡±
Shit.
¡°We¡¯re going to need to split them up,¡± Santi said, already coming up with a plan.
¡°I¡¯m going to guess it¡¯s up to me to split them up?¡± Daniel said, a frown beginning to cross his face.
¡°Yeah. Kill one of them and run. The coven should follow you. Just lead them downstairs and get them lost on the fourth. When I finish off the coven, I¡¯ll come down and help you.¡±
¡°If I¡¯m alive.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t die.¡±
¡°Thanks. Really helpful.¡±
¡°I try. Just cat and mouse and I¡¯ll come down as soon as possible.¡±
¡°Faster would be better,¡± Daniel said. He slid into the shadows and disappeared down the hallway. Santi ghosted his way down the hall and found an empty office to duck into. The one he chose was halfway down the hall and still had blinds dangling in a twisted mess to block the view.
A desk had been thrown so it stood on its side standing up and Santi quickly stood next to it. If something popped their head into look, he would hopefully be covered. It wasn¡¯t the worst cover he ever had, but he wished he had a skill or something to prevent the stench of his body from wafting about.
It didn¡¯t take long before he heard the scream of rage echo through the building. Footsteps pounded on the floor and Santi risked peeking his head around the corner just in time to see a rush of rag-covered hags chasing after something. The metal door was closed with a clang and then thrown open with enough force that the hinges squealed and the sound of ripping screws was evident. Whatever Daniel had done, it had gotten their attention.
He waited for the sounds of their footsteps to recede before stepping out of his hiding spot and looking about. There was nothing in the halls and aside from the faint cries of the captured, nothing he could hear.
Slinking along the halls, he kept his head on a swivel. There were many corners or room the hags could be lurking in, ready to pounce. He saw none though, and as he got closer and closer to the end of the hall and past the broken offices he heard it.
They didn¡¯t speak a language he could recognize, but the rasping of their voices was audible. A fire¡¯s crackle was sounding and a putrid smell puckered his nose. They were definitely brewing something foul ahead. He hated dealing with alchemists or witches. The stronger they were the more different types of potions they could use. So far, these hags had shown nothing more than the strengthening potion that robbed monsters of their potential for current strength.
If they used that on themselves, the upcoming fight would be much harder. He wished he had his saber again, the cutting blade would be useful right now. The bat would work for now as his advanced stats gave him the power needed to bludgeon enemies to death. His lagging strength would make the weapon a lot harder to use in the future though.
The end of the hallway came and he peeked around it and saw what had made Daniel sick. The captured were tied together. Blood and flies and maggots covered them all. Despair clung to the atmosphere so thick that Santi worried a curse would form.
To the side, nine hags worked a thick black cauldron that rested above a cerulean blue flame. Noxious gray-green smoke flowed out as the hags rasped their words around it. One of them grabbed an ingredient and Santi gagged as he realized it was a severed human arm. It tossed the arm in and it disappeared into the pot without a sound.
The majority of their backs were turned to him, offering him an easy first strike. A dead hag was thrown in the corner, its throat wide open. Daniel¡¯s surprise attack had been lethal. Tightening his grip on the rubber handle of the aluminum bat, Santi crouched down and prepared himself to spring at them.
Ch. 45 The Cauldron
-
Santi burst into action. His legs uncoiled in explosive motion as the bat whooshed through the air. The hag he was aiming at heard and started to turn. The distance was too short and his motion too fast. The bat connected in the middle of its face with bone shattering force. Its head whipped back as blood, snot, and teeth went flying. It hung there for a moment, head and shoulders leaning back as its body couldn¡¯t decide if it was going to fall or come back up.
The kill notification dinged in his head, right as the body thudded into the ground. Santi was already attacking the next one, pushing the element of surprise to the maximum. He brought the bat down like he was splitting wood, the tip connecting to a bent knee and causing a shriek of pain as the hag folded over to fall to the ground.
Santi spun and began to dash away, using Gust to try to tip over their cauldron. Whatever potion they were cooking he wanted no part of it. The heavy cauldron tipped and the sound of liquid sloshing around was heard. It didn¡¯t fall and after a moment it sat normally.
Four hags began the chase immediately, leaving the injured one and three healthy ones to tend to the cauldron. It was good and bad news. Good that it meant he had better chances of surviving a fight against four hags instead of eight. Bad since it was likely they were almost done with their potion and whatever it was wasn¡¯t going to be a pleasant experience for him.
Santi poured on more speed, sliding around the corner and diving into a broken office. The more clumsy hags came flying by, failing to turn fast enough. Walls shattered as they ran through walls and fell to the ground and rose in a cloud of plaster. Santi gave them no time to react or recover. He fell on them in a blur of blows, the bat bouncing off of their thick hides even as their bones broke.
They powered to their feet, limping and with broken bones, but they rose above him. Stretching their hunched backs until they stood to their full height, the hags stood above him. Santi raced backward avoiding the swiping claws as the four hags tried to follow him. He ducked through a small hole in the wall and watched as the monsters just rammed through it.
While they weren¡¯t physical monsters, they were still monsters and stronger and more durable than most humans. They blew through the plaster like there was nothing to stop them and it became a race as Santi ran for all he was worth. He needed to split them up if he was going to be able to beat them with a bat.
He dodged through another office, out through a wall, over the nurses desk and ducked down to break line of sight. The hallways were a twisting labyrinth and he used every twist and turn to spread them out, working further and further from the cauldron.
Santi froze and leaned against a wall and strained his hearing. More walls were broken and shattered, the creatures hissing and snarling as they searched. He could hear the patter of their feet and smiled as the sounds of their feet spread out. Santi moved, sliding along the walls crouched down and looking back and forth as he heard the closest of the hags close by.
An ugly foot came down, long gnarled toes with thick yellow nails landed in front of his face. Santi rose, the bat coming up in a powerful swing as the hag''s face rounded the corner. The aluminum caught the hags chin and snapped its head back as it staggered and fell to the ground in a loud thud. Santi moved and stood over the stunned hag and began to wail away. Blood splattered across the walls as he caved the head in. The kill notification was the only thing that stopped him, his breaths coming in heaving pants as he looked around and listened to see if any of the other hags were coming.
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Santi moved away from the corpse, eyes sweeping back and forth as he moved down toward the next sound of footsteps. The bat was in bad condition, dented and smeared in blood. It wasn¡¯t going to finish the fight with how fast the damage was accumulating.
The wall next to him exploded outward and wide arms encircled him. Crushing pain as the hag screeched into his face and squeezed Santi into its body. Rough clothes contrasted with its soft body as it squeezed. Bones groaning in protest, Santi was forced to let the bat drop out of his fingers. It clanged on the tile floor as Santi twisted his hand to grab at one of the knives on his belt.
The hag looked at him from inches away, beady eyes filling his view as it snarled. Yellow teeth gnashed inches from his jugular as the hag gave a raspy laugh as it continued to squeeze. Without his reinforced stats, Santi would be nothing more than a puddle of liquid in a skin case.
He flexed his arms, muscles squeezing as he tried to open up any type of semblance of space. His fingers twisted over the handle of a knife and he managed to grab it out of its sheath. His arm strained as the blade twisted, but he felt the contact as the tip of the knife against the sternum of the hag. Santi locked eyes with it and smiled wide, pushing the blade through flesh and past bone.
Black blood welled out of its mouth and dripped down to cover Santi¡¯s chest. Its rapsing laugh turned to a warbling cry as its knees buckled. Santi¡¯s feet touched ground and with his feet firmly on the ground he leveraged himself against the weakening hold. The hag slid to the ground, arms going slack and falling limp to the ground. Santi stood above it and shrugged his shoulders as he tried to get blood flow back. The entire attack had taken less than thirty seconds.
The thundering sound of slapping feet came down the hall, the last two of the hags flying as they came toward the sounds of the fight. Santi scooped up his bat and took up a good batters stance, waiting for the hag to come around the bend. Both of them came from the same direction, swinging wide around as they reached down to use their long claws to help them redirect themselves.
The change in direction hardly slowed them and they raced forward with hatred on their face. Their coven members blood decorated his shirt and he had marched his way over the bodies of their nest mates. Santi smacked the first one with the full power of his body, the bat bending around the hag¡¯s head as it went limp and fell to the ground. He didn¡¯t get the kill notification, but he didn¡¯t think it was going to be getting up any time soon.
Santi ducked and rolled forward over the top of the hag¡¯s body. The second one slashed where he had been as it flew by him. It spun using its arm to pivot around while Santi drew his second knife. He charged and triggered Gust and aimed at its face. The powerful wind blew its greasy hair back and caused the black eyes to close. Santi closed the distance and stabbed the hag in the gut. The hag staggered back, failing to fall as Santi had hoped it would.
He ripped upward, dragging sharp iron up and through soft flesh to spill intestines out in a wave of viscera. The hag screamed in rage and pain as it slowly fell. Santi pulled the blade free of the dying hag and moments later the kill notification dinged. He turned back to the unconscious hag and slit its throat.
¡°Fucking finally.¡± Santi was feeling the exhaustion setting in. There were three more fully healthy hags and one cripple waiting for him to deal with. The bat was useless, a twisted ruin that he wasn¡¯t going to be able to do anything with. His knives were growing dull and needed a good sharpening.
The quiet was complete. The pleas of the survivors were no longer audible. That was enough to raise goosebumps on his arms. Santi started to head down the hallway, jogging lightly with soft footfalls. It took only moments to reach the end of the hall and to see the cauldron.
The prisoners were dead. Their bodies lay in heaps of limp flesh. Crimson blood stained the rim of the cauldron and dripped down the black iron sides. Three hags lay over the top of the cauldron with their heads in the cauldron. The fourth hag was nowhere to be seen.
The huge cauldron¡¯s flame sputtered out and the heavy bottom cauldron fell to the ground with a crashing boom. The dead hags slid off of the cauldron and landed on the ground. An ashy gray hand grabbed the top of the edge of the cauldron and a shape started to rise up.
Ch. 46 Acolyte
-
Wine colored liquid poured over the sides, sloshing to the ground in a wave. An acidic smell wafting over the small area. The ashen hand tightened on the black iron cauldron, thick tendons popping out. Panic welled through him as he stared at the rising hag. Its clothes sloughed off in a ruin of fabric as the hag rose to its full height. It was taller than the others had been, towering at over slightly seven feet.
The black hair was slick and wet, fuller than the stringy hair had been. The fat had dissolved, transforming into hard muscle. The wide black eyes stared out with a newfound vicious intelligence. It smiled, showing off its dagger-like teeth as a long leg came up and over the cauldron¡¯s lip.
Night Hag lvl. ?
¡°Oh, shit.¡±
The dagger left his hand immediately, flipping end over end to sink halfway into a muscled shoulder. The hag¡¯s smile just widened, but Santi wasn¡¯t paying attention to that. He was already running.
¡°Fucking ascended in the middle of a raid. Fucking bullshit,¡± Santi hissed as he darted through a hole in the wall. The jagged edges of a stud tore at his arm while white plaster dust coated his clothes. He pushed with all of his might, his legs churning as fast as possible as he raced toward the stairwell.
An Acolyte monster wasn¡¯t something he could deal with in his current state. Without some type of heavy weapons he wasn¡¯t going to be able to match the monster''s physicality or harm it in any significant way. The loss of his saber was really starting to weigh on him.
The stairwell loomed up and he raced straight for it, leaping down the stairwell to the lower landing. He teetered and overbalanced and slammed into the wall. A wave of heat rose over him, baking the air and drying his eyes as a ball of fire slammed into the wall above him. Santi rolled down the next flight of stairs as concrete turned liquid and dripped to the ground.
¡°Fuck, fuck, fuck,¡± Santi chanted as he raced down to where Daniel was fighting the remnants of the coven. He couldn¡¯t abandon the other man to face the Acolyte class monster.
¡°Daniel! GET YOUR ASS RUNNING!¡± Santi wove Air Current into a weak megaphone. It was a strain on his willpower to twist the spell into something it wasn¡¯t designed for but he was too busy running to contemplate the strain.
The wounded on the third floor wouldn¡¯t even be a speed bump for the newly ascended Night Hag. He leapt down and spun to the next landing and rushed into the third floor. He had only been gone for twenty minutes and the only change was that they were all clustered together at the end of the hallway.
¡°Run! RUN!¡± Santi screamed at them, all four of them looking at him confusedly. Santi had a chill run down his spine as instinct more than anything saved his life. He leapt forward while casting Gust behind him. A blast of heat and flames washed through the doorway as he triggered the skill, the concentrated air pushing the wall of flame backward and into the hallway.
The four of them were getting up as fast as possible, their wounds still lingering and slowing them. Chloe was trying to move forward, placing herself in front of the others with her axe. Rayleigh was being supported by Tank while Hana swayed as she stood, still weak from blood loss. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
They were in no condition to fight the creature or run. Santi made a snap decision, spinning on heel and racing back into the stairwell.
¡°HIDE!¡±
He looked up and watched as the Night Hag Acolyte walked down the stairs unhurriedly. Its every step was delicate, peering down its long nose with a sense of superiority. Santi tossed the other knife and was pleased to watch it sink into the Night Hag¡¯s quad. It paused for a moment to pluck the iron blade out before tossing it over its shoulder. A thin trickle of blood rolling down its thigh.
¡°Fuck,¡± Santi grunted again as the hag¡¯s smile just widened as it began to follow him. He was happy that the hag was following him and not going into the third floor to chase after the wounded members of his party. It didn¡¯t do anything to improve his odds of surviving the next few minutes.
For the next thirty seconds Santi had to dodge two more fireballs but escaped unscathed to the ground floor. The hag followed behind lazily, not seeming to care that his lead was increasing. A thought flashed through his mind, a memory of his own ascensions. How his body was uncomfortable, his strength and speed surprising him in moments. The hag wasn¡¯t being slow on purpose, it was likely uncoordinated and learning its own new physical capabilities.
He still didn¡¯t have any weapons that could harm it. So he just flew outside, his legs churning as he looked out at the assembled raid party. The bright light of the sun was blinding after the time in the hospital. Dozens of people were scattered about in lines looking bored. There were scores of dead low-level goblins laying about, killed over the last hour or so.
Justin looked over, his eyebrows raising in surprise as he saw Santi¡¯s disheveled state and panic. His eyes widened when he saw the hag lumbering out behind him. Santi spun around to watch as the hag walked into the light of the dawn. The bright sun caused the hag to lift an arm to protect its sensitive eyes. There was a reason that the monsters were called Night Hags. The bright midday sun would weaken it, but the disparity in levels and evolution was much too high for the small advantage to give them an edge in the fight. It just made it a bit more fair.
¡°Spread out! It has explosive magic!¡± Santi screamed while waving his hands trying to get the clusters of fighters to spread out. This was going to be a massacre far worse in scale than the troll-kin.
Justin stood tall with his hammer as he ran toward the hag, rearing back to swing with all his might. Crimson fire pooled into the hags outstretched hand and it flicked its wrist with contempt at the big man. Justin was quick, rolling underneath the burning flames and rising to his feet to deliver a heavy blow. The fireball exploded in a wave of flames that consumed a half dozen people, dying to fast to even scream.
Justin¡¯s sledgehammer hit the hag in its midriff, the sculpted muscles like titanium plating. There was hardly a ripple and the hag¡¯s smile widened to stretch ear for ear as Justin paled. The hag reached over and palmed the top of his head and twisted and pulled. Justin didn¡¯t have time to react as the hag ripped his head off his shoulder.
As the hag held Justin¡¯s head in one hand when an arrow hammered into its chest. It staggered back a single step, its smile fading. Fire burst into being around its fist cremating Justin¡¯s head. Chad fired another arrow and it planted itself right next to the first one. The arrow sank only a half inch or so, while blood flowed in a thin trickle down its chest.
Santi was looking for a weapon. Most of what everyone had was shoddy, taken and built from the miscellaneous supplies he had brought or people had scavenged. Nothing that would be able to do significant damage.
The hag stepped further from the hospital, leg muscles bunching up the only warning he had. Santi leapt to the side and rolled as fast as he could. The wind whipped as the hag flew past him, and Santi watched as it landed among a group of fighters. Blood painted the ground as the hag started to cut people apart with its razor sharp claws.
Chloe came limping out of the hospital like a godsend. She was in no shape to fight, but her heavy axe was made of good sharp steel. Santi opened his hands, wanting her to toss it to him. Chloe tossed it while collapsing to the ground, spent from the exertion of going down the stairs.
Santi used Air Current to let the handle settle into his hands. The girl''s resilience and drive was a force to be reckoned with, he couldn¡¯t help but admire her. Santi looked back at the hag and watched as it played with its food. Limbs were removed and blood caked the hags body as it bit and chewed through the flesh on them like the hungry predator it was.
¡°Ok, let¡¯s try this out.¡± Santi shifted the axe in his palms and started forward to the monster. It turned to look at him with a bloody smile. It tossed the gnawed on leg it had been working on to the ground and started forward.
Ch. 47 Tested in Fire
-
Santi ran forward, crossing the distance quickly as he prepared to swing the heavy axe. The sharp crescent blade scythed through the air and the hag jumped to the side. It was a powerful monster and its physicality was equal if not greater than Santi¡¯s own leveraged stats. Even with its primary skills and natural talents leaning toward magic.
Santi had to sway, bending at the waist to let the claws go high. He spun on one foot and lashed out with a single arm letting the blade¡¯s weight swing him about. The axe sliced open a cut on its thigh and Santi was forced to throw himself to the side to avoid a quick snap kick.
Gaining his feet, Sant was forced into a series of jukes and dodges as the hag refused to relent even for a moment. Every ounce of his attention was needed to keep ahead of the ebony claws. Another arrow smacked into the hag with the sound of metal on flesh. It was enough of a distraction to allow Santi to finally strike back, the axe parted flesh as he chopped right below the lowest rib and rotated.
It wasn¡¯t quite a disemboweling strike, but it was close as he was going to get in the circumstances. He was forced to leap back as the frustrated hag screamed and stomped on the ground where he had just been. Concrete shattered under the force of the strike. Santi swiped at the overextended leg, splitting the kneecap with a pure strike downward.
The hag screamed in pure agony as its leg buckled, allowing Santi to back up as more and more fighters started to close in. The Night Hag was primarily a magic user who was using their physical stats right now. They were going to be royally fucked if it got full control of its magical prowess.
¡°HIT IT!¡± a voice yelled.
Blows rained down on it, people darting in and out in a continuous press of blows. Hobgoblin spears and knives were the most effective, though some of the homemade weapons did take their pound of flesh. Painful wounds that had the hag screaming in rage but not debilitated.
Santi lurked behind the frontline waiting for his chance. It would have been better if Chloe was here with her more powerful direct combat skills. Or even Daniel with his Pierce. They could do it like this as long as they stayed too close for the hag to use its powerful magic. The death of a thousand cuts hadn¡¯t worked against the troll-kin because of its powerful regeneration. The hag didn¡¯t have that. Every wound bled and soon it was covered in its own black blood.
Desperation drove it, eyes wild in panic and pain it lashed out with its newfound strength. Orange-red flames bursting from its skin in a wave that enveloped the leading group, with little time for anyone to react. Santi triggered Gust trying to buy the people around him the time to survive.
His weak Initiate level spell couldn¡¯t hold it back, the wave of fire washing over the frontliners. The weakened spell just ensured they suffered longer as the flames didn¡¯t immediately incinerate them.
Santi was falling and rolling, trying to put out the flames as his shirt had caught on fire. Between the spell and the wall of humanity that had been in front of him, the wounds were mainly cosmetic and he managed to put the flame out. The people who had taken the flame blast stood and screamed, arms windmilling as they waited for death to come.
The hag was in bad shape, pale body covered in nasty burns, blisters already forming as it panted in exhaustion and pain. The handful of survivors were running, their nerve broken by the powerful burst of magics. It was understandable to flee after seeing the display of magical might, but it was a mistake. The monster had likely just drained its mana pool and was now also physically injured on top of it. Now was the time to finish it off.
Santi spared the still screaming people a glance, but he had seen and done worse. He ran around them with the borrowed axe ready to finish the fight. The hag met his eyes as he burst through the black smoke, its irritating smile finally gone.
¡°DIE!¡± Santi screamed as he put his all in on trying to turn his command into reality. The axe was a blur as he hemmed the hag in, each blow slicing through the burnt skin. It put the best resistance it could, warding the blows off by offering up its fried forearms. The bones were too hard to chop apart, each blocked blow simply taking another chunk of flesh. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
Santi lowered his shoulder and slammed into the wounded hag, legs churning as he drove forward. The hag tilted and fell, Santi riding it down to the ground. He had to be careful not to cut himself with the axe and when they crashed to the ground he rose above it and started his gristly work. Each blow was thunderous, packing every ounce of strength he had in it as he hacked and chopped away. The minutes ticked by as he continued to work relentlessly.
Night Hag lvl. 26
Such an innocuous kill alert for the first Acolyte monster slain. Santi couldn¡¯t believe it and was the one perched over its corpse after having hacking it apart like a tree. The screaming from the burning had stopped, their pain finally ending. Santi looked about, trying to take in the damage that had been done.
Nearly half their number lay dead.
Burnt.
Stabbed.
Clawed.
His stomach heaved and he had to fight the bile down. This was what he had been expecting when he realized he had come back. This and the War Chief. The carnage was beyond what anyone around could conceptualize. The strewn about body parts. Things that should be inside of a person that were no longer inside for them. The vacant glassy stare. The stench.
The alerts were ringing out in a constant barrage, but he ignored them. They needed Tank out here as soon as possible. There were just too many injured for them to continue. They had to finish off the hags in the hospital and dispel the nest. Maybe there¡¯d still be supplies that they could salvage and use to keep some of the wounded alive.
¡°Chloe! Where¡¯s Tank and the rest of the team?¡±
The goth girl was looking stunned as tears streamed silently down her face as she took in the destruction. She just managed to nod her head back toward the hospital and Santi was moving past her at his best speed. He didn¡¯t need to go far as Tank, Hana, and Rayleigh were already coming down. Supported between them on a cot was an unconscious Daniel.
His chest was rising and falling but was covered in bloody bandages. They had been too aggressive with their attack. This had been the highest level team they could field and only two of them were on their feet and ready to keep going. The regressor and healer. There was no way they could tackle the goblin nest.
¡°Tank, there¡¯s a lot more wounded out there. They need your help. But, first, is the nest cleared?¡±
¡°Yeah, I went with Hana and we helped Daniel as best we could. He had already killed five of them by himself.¡±
¡°Fucking warrior. Listen, we don¡¯t have the strength to tackle the goblin nest today. We need to fort up and I think this is the best spot for it.¡±
¡°Santi. I went and looked at the fifth floor. We can¡¯t have anyone up there. It¡¯s¡it¡¯s evil.¡±
¡°Agreed. We stay on the ground floor. I just have to go and dispel the nest and we¡¯ll be good.¡±
Santi left them and made his way laboriously up the flights of stairs. Monster nests could form for a lot of reasons, but they formed where mana grew dense. They hadn¡¯t figured out if the system spawned the monsters or if mana spawned them or what. They appeared where mana was thick and they were quick to infest any local node as fast as possible. The hospital¡¯s fifth floor had an overabundance of energy that the hag¡¯s had corrupted to build their nest.
Even with their death¡¯s the chill remained. In time the nest would repopulate. The corrupted nexus spawning more and more of the monsters until it reached its limit. At the moment it was exhausted and its guardians were dead. It had to be dispelled regardless of how badly those below needed help.
Walking the ruins of the fifth floor without the threat of immediate dissection was an experience he didn¡¯t want to relive. The stench was pungent and he had to keep himself from gagging. Waste, dirt, blood, rotting meat, and the alchemical scent that had infused every nook and cranny of the floor was repugnant.
He studiously avoided looking at the pile of humanity. There were no survivors. His Air Current told him that much. The thin spherical weave of air detected no changes in pressure from someone breathing at least.
The black cauldron sat on the cracked floor like a pustule. Waves of malevolence wafted off of it, threatening his sanity. This was the nexus point. Whether it had been something else and then changed when the hags took it, he didn¡¯t know. It could have been an instrument of healing or research and then was warped by the hags on magic when they were drawn here.
It didn¡¯t really matter. He had to destroy it,
Ch. 48 Nest Breaking
-
It wasn¡¯t hard to dispel a nest. It required a bit of knowledge and applied strength. Magical or physical strength. He had known some classes that had evolved that worked on breaking nests. They were powerful in their own right, able to break and shatter nests with minimal effort or even absorb the power inside of them. Outside of the nest they were weak though. Having one or two of them in a raid party was always a boon and he hoped that someone would be offered that class sooner rather than later.
Violet waters swirled inside of the cauldron, thin gray-white wisps of steam wafted off the top. The scent of fresh spilled blood clung to the area around the placid surface.
Santi worked his way through his pack pulling out the ingredients he needed. Most of what he needed had been acquired from the kobold shamans, powdered bones, a desiccated heart, a trio of amber stones that radiated the faintest hints of mana. The powdered bone was sprinkled in a circle around the cauldron. The amber stones were placed roughly equidistant from each other.
Santi pricked his thumb and let a drop of blood fall onto the bone dust, imbuing his mana into the single drop of blood. Yellow-white bone dust glowed red for a split second, the amber stones dissolving into the circle with a flare of power. Grabbing the heart, Santi smeared his blood over it and tossed it into the cauldron. With a muted plop the heart sank into the violet waters.
For a moment nothing happened. Then the bone dust began to glow, faintly at first but increasing in brightness. The violet waters began to churn and his mana began to drain away. If the hags had still been alive they would have been able to contest him while he did this. Their own mana fighting against him. Without them it was just a matter of time to break the bonds they had on the cauldron.
The emanated light was blinding, forcing Santi to raise his hand to block it out. The drain on his mana increased until he had a moment of fear that his mana pool wouldn¡¯t be enough to break the cauldron free. The light died and there was a crack that split the air like a rifle blast.
Lowering his hand, he saw the giant split down the center of the cauldron. The water had turned clear and was swirling gently in the center, slowly leaking out of the thin crack. He dipped his hand into the clear liquid and took a sip and felt strength surge through him.
Elixir of Strength
+5 to Strength
The alert ran across his mind and he could feel a smile threatening to cross his face. He had transmuted the liquid inside of it with the ritual while breaking its bond. The cauldron was useless now and the elixir would soon drain away.
Santi grabbed empty water bottles out of his bag, looking for anything that could hold water. Sealable baggies, a canteen, plastic bottles, mugs, and a few coffee cups he had quickly rinsed out, all of it found on the office floor. Most of the elixir was wasted, just flowing over his feet and staining the floor.
¡°Stupid, stupid, stupid!¡± Santi berated himself as he worked. Within ten minutes the cauldron was empty and he was left with a bunch of randomly assorted elixir carriers. The longer they sat around the worst the potency would be. He had already taken another long drink and hadn¡¯t gained more stats. A one time only deal.
Racing down to the first flow with his arms laden he quickly found Tank as he presided in the middle of the floor, directing the wounded and setting up their defenses. Everyone jumped when he gave his orders, listening with alacrity that was surprising.
¡°Tank, drink this right now,¡± Santi said, shoving a quarter full white ceramic mug with the phrase ¡°Do Not Talk Until Cup Is Empty¡±. Tank took the cup and tipped his head back taking the priceless elixir like a cheap shot of vodka. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
¡°Oh, what the fuck?¡± Tank whispered as he stared off into space. Santi was already past him though, handing drinks out to his team first. They had to shake Daniel awake and force the elixir down his throat as he looked around groggily. The girls took it without question.
After that he wasn¡¯t too careful who he gave the elixir. At this stage a boost of five stat points to strength would be a powerful boost for most of the people here. He made sure Chad, the archer, received one. After that he passed them out until they he ran out. Didn¡¯t take longer than five minutes.
¡°Want to tell me what that was?¡± Tank asked. He was the only one of the team who was in decent shape. He hadn¡¯t taken any major wounds and aside from his mana exhaustion he seemed to be healthy.
¡°The treasure that the nest was tied to was a cauldron. The hag¡¯s were using it to make their alchemical works, and when we raided here, they used it to advance one of them. I used a pretty basic ritual spell to break the connection the cauldron had to the nest, in the process the liquid they were using was transmuted to an elixir of strength.¡±
¡°Alright. So, I know that made sense to you, but I have no idea what you just said.¡±
¡°I broke the nest and this was the reward.¡±
¡°That makes sense. So, we¡¯re safe here?¡±
¡°Unless the goblins come here to get revenge. Goblins are cowards generally. They should be hunkering down and calling back their numbers to prepare for us.¡±
¡°We¡¯re not going to be able to attack their nest tomorrow. The injuries are too severe. Chloe and Rayleigh will need time to recover from their wounds and Daniel, Jesus, Daniel probably needs a month.¡±
¡°The rest of the nest will unravel in a few minutes and we should get a reward. Some healing potions and weapons and we¡¯ll be good to go again. I do agree, though¡± Santi said, raising a hand to try to buffer himself from the tirade Tank was about to launch.
¡°This raid was presumptive. Our team was too weak, let alone the rest of them.¡± Santi waved his hand at the mass of fighters laying sprawled out everywhere.
¡°Doesn¡¯t matter if it was presumptive, it needed to be done. We go and rotate fighters. There were still some good fighters we left behind. We re-arm and come and hit the goblin nest. They shouldn¡¯t have one of whatever that final hag was, right?¡±
¡°Yeah we should be fine on that count. That last hag was something else. If it had a few days to grow accustomed to its power, we¡¯d all be dead.¡±
¡°Alright then, we get our rewards, but we start marching back home in the morning.¡±
¡°Agreed.¡±
Santi left him and went and talked to the girls. Hana was curled up on the floor next to Daniel, snoring softly. The wounds and healing were exhausting and Sant was impressed that Chloe and Rayleigh were still on their feet. They both looked terrible, but gave him a wave as he settled down next to them. He planted his back to the wall and slid down, letting the events of the day drag him down finally.
¡°So, that sucked,¡± Rayleigh said. She copied him and sat down while Chloe sat to face them both.
¡°Oh, yeah, blows hairy sack. 10/10 don¡¯t do again.¡± Santi offered a small smile at the two of them as they nodded.
¡°We¡¯re all alive though,¡± Chloe offered.
¡°Don¡¯t jinx us, Chloe,¡± Rayleigh snapped, looking irritated with her friend. The smaller girl just rolled her eyes at the superstition.
¡°Lost a bunch of others. Justin will be missed. Fucker plucked his head off like it was nothing,¡± Santi whispered, half thinking aloud.
¡°He was alright. Got a weird vibe from him sometimes. Tank will tell his Dad?¡± Chloe said.
¡°I¡¯ll do it. Hard thing to tell a parent their child died. Tank¡¯s done enough and it was my actions that got Justin killed.¡±
¡°This is fucked,¡± Rayleigh whispered as her arms encircled her knees.
¡°This is life now, we either survive and get strong or we die,¡± Santi tried to not let the bitterness leak out. This was simply the tip of the iceberg, the horrors would only increase with time.
¡°We make it through Leigh, all of us,¡± Chloe offered Rayleigh her hand. The two held hands for a moment in solidarity.
¡°What are your levels now, if you don¡¯t mind me asking?¡± Santi wanted to break this up before it got too emotional. He couldn¡¯t afford to have another emotional breakdown, this time in front of people.
¡°Eighteen now,¡± Chloe said. There was a hint of pride in her words. The beginning of understanding on how the world would treat levels.
¡°Only fifteen,¡± Rayleigh muttered, eyes downcast. She didn¡¯t have the skills that allowed Chloe to chew through enemies. She was more of an endurance fighter, dragging people down as she wore them out.
¡°You?¡± Chloe asked, nodding her chin at him.
¡°Fuck, let me look through all these notifications,¡± Santi groaned as he started to scroll.
Ch. 49 Loot Boxes For Everyone
-
He had to scroll through all the kill notifications before he got to what he wanted to see. He had been credited for more kills than he had thought he deserved, either being in the general vicinity where the fight was or doing minimal damage to them. The experience was still good and he was sure there was going to be a level waiting for him at the end, if not two.
You¡¯ve Destroyed a Monster Nest (Minor)
Achievement: First 5 to Destroy a Nest
Reward: Loot Box (Minor)
Achievement:First to Kill an Evolved Monster
Reward: Loot Box (Greater)
Achievement: Slay a Monster 10 Levels Above You
Reward: Loot Box (Lesser)
Achievement:Survive an Acolyte Monster in Combat
Reward: Title Grade Accumulation: 45%
Achievement: First to use Ritual Magic
Reward: Loot Box (Common)
Congratulations, you are now Mage lvl. 19
¡°I¡¯m level nineteen, now. Also, you might want to look out, loot boxes incoming.¡± Santi gave his warning as the loot boxes materialized around them.
The minor loot box appeared, the wood the same as the last one he had earned. The girls, and some of the others, were looking at him with wide eyes as the boxes appeared. Most of them likely hadn¡¯t ever seen a loot box before, though his entire team had likely earned at least one box for their efforts in the nest. Everyone who had fought the Acolyte monster had earned one too.
¡°Go through your notifications. They appear after you open them,¡± Santi yelled, desperate to get the eyes off of him. The lesser loot box was the wooden one he had already earned, while the minor box was made of crystal.
The common loot box was a long rectangle of silver, about three feet high and two wide. Santi had never earned one of these, only having seen them appear before. The gold chest that materialized right next to it was even more rare. He had only heard of people earning the second highest achievement reward before. If it wasn¡¯t for the information packets the civilization pillars offered, no one would have known there was a reward higher than gold.
The lesser reward box was just more money, the same amount as the last loot box had given him. He dumped the fifty white-wood coins on the ground and watched as the loot box disappeared. Around the room, more and more of the lesser loot boxes were appearing as people claimed their rewards. Chad had managed to claim his own silver reward box, likely from the help with killing the Acolyte hag.
The minor reward box was a long clear crystal case. What little light came into the lobby was refracted off of it. Opening it up he saw a necklace sitting at the bottom of the chest, the links forged of the same crystal that the box was made of. It was heavier than it looked, weighing more than gold did and running Identify got him his answer.
Necklace of Resistance
All Magic Damage is Reduced by 10%
¡°Well, that would have been useful a few hours ago,¡± Santi muttered as he slipped it on. Not many monsters or people would be using magic now, but the resistance necklace would come in handy later.
With trembling fingers he opened the silver chest. The heavy lid rose on smooth joints without a sound to reveal its contents. A simple brown leather covered book. The moment he picked it up and opened it his eyes widened. The first few pages had basic ritual magic spells in it. Stuff even he knew, but that was completely foreign to everyone else right now. The rest of the pages had writing, but it was blurry. The longer he looked at it, the worst the scribbles became. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
Grimoire Of Ritual Magic (Common)
Santi hurriedly tucked that away as the silver chest dissolved away. The intent was clear, the higher he raised his skill levels and learned more of ritual magic, the more spells would be uncovered for him. He knew he was going to have to branch out from the basic mage work he had done and this was a great first step.
Greed and anxiety melted together in his gut as he stared at the golden chest. Money, protection, and a powerful grimoire. Now there was only the most powerful chest remaining. His hands trembled as he opened it.
A metallic blob.
Similar to a puddle of mercury. He was confused for a moment. Then he ran Identify and struggled to keep his mouth from dropping as all his prayers were answered.
Morph Weapon (Growth Item)
This was on the level of a Champion''s weapon. Relatively weak right now, but as he leveled and fed the weapon it would grow. The loss of his saber had been a sore point that he had been struggling with as none of the weapons he could find had matched its quality.
With a touch it was bound. Ice flowed through his veins from his arm to his heart. It was a struggle to breath as the puddle flowed up and over his forearm, wrapping itself around in a wire that sat loosely there. A connection formed as he felt the hunger in the blade, the desire for power and growth. Then the little leach started to suck away his mana and potential.
Nothing extreme. Just a few percentage points and his regeneration was enough to cover the mana. The potential on the other hand was a limited resource and could become a problem if it ate too much. It was likely that it would siphon off some of what he earned for itself so it could evolve in time. For now it needed his reserves.
The chest had not disappeared, sitting there stubbornly as Santi peaked over the edge and saw a little post-it note on the bottom.
¡°Dear Shit-Head
You¡¯ve attracted attention to yourself and everyone was tired of you using sticks. Don¡¯t break this one.
-A
Santi crumbled up the note and watched as the chest dissolved. It seemed Akthyr was right when he had said they would be attracting attention to themselves. If they had a hand in giving rewards for actions then it was easy to assume someone wanted Santi to succeed. He flashed back to the other presence he had felt on the day he had returned.
Santiago v. Silva
Mage lvl. 19
Strength: 19 (29)
Durability: 16 (26)
Stamina: 16 (26)
Dexterity: 16 (26)
Vitality: 16 (26)
Perception: 15 (25)
Intelligence: 27 (37)
Mana: 26 (36)
Willpower: 28 (38)
Potential: 95%
Title: Cockroach (60% to Upgrade)
He had a hard time staring at those stats. The rate of growth was absolutely ridiculous right now. It had taken him months last time to reach here. Looking around at the group he saw them as they pulled coins confusedly, or found weapons of higher quality. The money would come in handy soon and they¡¯d be thankful for having it.
His potential had likely hit one hundred percent and the leech on his arm was draining it to grow. He wasn¡¯t that worried about it and hoped that the experience from the goblin nest would be enough to push him to his evolution. He would just need a catalyst chamber to do it. Something like the cauldron the hags had used, except with less human remains and murder.
Chloe was holding up an axe of superb quality. A single head with a vicious spike out the back made of a stygian metal. Rayleigh had a spiked mace, bristly points emerging out of it of a red-bronze color. A lot better than the shitty bats she had been using. Santi would have to go and see what Tank had acquired later, right now all he wanted to do was take a nap and get ready for tomorrow.
¡°I need to get some sleep. Wake me up in a few hours please?¡± Santi asked, already laying down on his pack.
¡°No, are you going to explain the fucking loot boxes that just appeared out of nowhere?¡± Rayleigh sounded hurt. Santi hadn¡¯t told anyone aside from Tank about the boxes even though the geas didn¡¯t bind him on that.
¡°How bout this, when we get the goblin nest cleared up, I¡¯ll sit down with y¡¯all and we¡¯ll talk about everything that I can talk about?¡±
¡°This the best we¡¯re going to get?¡±
¡°Yeah. I¡¯m tired and hurting. I just want to sleep for a little bit.¡±
¡°Not before I check you over,¡± Tank interrupted them as he crossed the distance.
¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Santi started but Tank bowled right over him.
¡°I¡¯m your doctor and I say, no you¡¯re not.¡± His hand glowed as he ran multiple spells at the same time. His mana had to be scraping the bottom of the barrel by now, but he didn¡¯t hesitate.
¡°Strained muscles, cuts, low blood pressure, and a bunch of other shit. My spells can¡¯t cover all of this, but I¡¯ll give you the basics. You didn¡¯t get anymore healing potions in all those chests, did you?¡± The real reason for his visit reared its head.
¡°No, just weapons and knowledge,¡±
¡°Same thing there bud,¡± Chloe chirped as Tank ran a hand over her head and nodded. He checked Rayleigh and left, done with them for now.
¡°Again, wake me in a bit.¡± Santi didn¡¯t ask this time, and just rolled over and passed out.
Ch. 50 Weapons Testing
-
The goblins came in the dead of the night. It was predictable, unimaginative, and lacked creativity. There was no War Chief to lead them and even their hobgoblins were low-leveled. They came as a screaming swarm while they raced over the piles of junk around the hospital. Santi still had a smile on his lips as the morph weapons rolled down his arm and pooled into his hand.
He watched as the saber formed. The blade was razor thin and lacked the heft of his old blades. With a twitch of his wrist the blade severed the first goblin in half. Santi watched as the blade drank in the blood. The weight of the blade grew infinitesimally, barely enough for him to tell.
Three more died in the time it took him to blink, each movement of his wrist a deathblow. The rest of the fighters were killing the goblins at nearly the same speed, their skills allowing them to chop through the line of goblins like they chaff.
Santi flexed his willpower for a moment and the morph blade switched out. The silvery blade straightened and remained paper thin. The hand guard melted into the hilt and became a crossguard. He wasn¡¯t practiced with the long sword like he was the saber, but he still knew the basics.
His brain knew the movements but his muscles didn¡¯t have the memory. Even with the advances to his stats it was clumsy swings and parries. It didn¡¯t matter. The blade split skin with every touch, sliced bone as if it was cheese, and took life with every movement. A sense of power radiated through him as he wielded the morph blade.
The attack only lasted a few minutes, the horde destroyed with speed and power. Broken bodies were piled up all around the doorway to the lobby. The dead hobgoblins had been the most dangerous, but even they were too weak to stand up against the recent levels everyone had earned.
¡°Any injuries?¡± Santi asked around. Now that Justin was gone, Santi was taking up more and more of the little things like talking to the other fighters. It was his job to begin with but he hadn¡¯t done it.
It was a round of negatives as they had managed to fight off the horde without a single injury. It was a good morale boost for them and while none had managed to gain any levels from the low ranking goblins. For them to fight and win like that after taking the losses they had was a great way for their spirits to rebound.
It¡¯d be a long way before they were battle hardened veterans who¡¯d be able to fight their way through the integration and the invasions that would come. The kernel was there. It just needed to grow and be improved on.
Tank, Chloe and Rayleigh walked up to him while he walked the line of survivors. None of them had taken part in the fight, staying behind as a group ready to come forward to plug any breaches. Thankfully they hadn¡¯t been needed but it was good practice. Keep the heavy hitters in the backline ready to come and deal with any unexpected difficulties while the lower leveled fighters gained experience.
¡°No problems?¡± Tank asked.
¡°No, they were weak. I have a dumb idea,¡± Santi said as he looked over the corpses. The power of the morph weapon was whispering to him. It was a dumb idea, but so had been clearing out the kobold rift by himself.
¡°You want to tackle the goblin nest by yourself,¡± Chloe stated. There was no question in her statement. The other two just nodded along as they stared at him. Maybe they knew him a bit better than he thought they did.
¡°No one else is in good enough shape to help me. This is a sign of weakness,¡± Santi waved his hand over the ramparts of the dead.
¡°Explain like I¡¯m a toddler," Tank said as he crossed his broad arms and settled down with a patient look on his face.
¡°We, this camp, is a direct threat to the goblin nest. Whatever boss or monster is in command of that nest knows it. This is the best they could send against us to try to destroy us. They¡¯re weak. We¡¯ve destroyed their ability to get the elixir which was boosting their stats, we¡¯ve killed their War Chief, and have now destroyed two hordes. The nest has to be weak. I¡¯m the most powerful fighter we have, I have the knowledge to disband the nest, and I have the weapons now to do it.¡± Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
¡°There wasn¡¯t a monster in charge of this nest, why do you think there¡¯s a directing intelligence at the other one?¡± Chloe asked after Santi finished.
¡°Goblins and others like them are hierarchical. The base goblins obey the hobs, the hobs obeyed the troll-kin, and the troll-kin obeyed something.¡±
¡°That troll thing took the entire camp working together to kill it. Why do you think you could kill whatever it is that was in charge of it?¡± Rayleigh asked. All three of them were looking at him curiously. For the most part they accepted what he had to tell them without asking too many questions.
¡°I leveled a lot since then. I¡¯m vastly stronger since then and have a powerful weapon. The troll-kin was dumb and built around strength and vitality. While it was powerful against us, the appropriate skill set would make a beast like that fairly easy to kill. The leader of the nest probably has that skill set.¡±
¡°That skill set being?¡± Tank asked.
¡°High intelligence and magic. Probably has fire magic or maybe an enchanted weapon that it can use to scare the troll into obeying.¡±
¡°Lots of assumptions there, Santi. What happens if you¡¯re wrong?¡± Tank asked.
¡°I die.¡±
¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I thought you were going to say. We risk losing our best fighter and the most knowledgeable person about what¡¯s going on because we are impatient. We¡¯d be good in two or so days, probably, then hit the nest properly.¡±
¡°And in two days when the nest has managed to respawn scores of goblins and maybe replaced a few ranks of the hobgoblins?¡±
¡°Where are they getting the materials for themselves by the way? They¡¯re just appearing out of nowhere or?¡± Rayleigh trailed off.
¡°How many dead bodies have you seen? Or pets?¡±
¡°They¡¯re reconstituting flesh to make more of themselves?¡± Rayleigh sounded horrified. As she should be.
¡°Close enough. At least for as far as I understand. I mean, even on the fifth floor, there¡¯s not that many bodies up there. Compared to how many were taken. The initiation spawned monsters and the goblins found that farm and used the animals there to build up their number. Then they started on everyone else.¡±
¡°Alright, I¡¯m okay with you dealing with this,¡± Tank said suddenly. His face had somehow paled as Santi went on on the System¡¯s version of recycling.
¡°I want in,¡± Chloe said. Rayleigh nodded in agreement.
¡°You¡¯re both in shit shape, no offense,¡± Santi would have liked to have the whole team with him but the two girls would slow him down. He was going to go with a speed run and neither of them had the necessary stats to keep up with him.
¡°We will give you a distraction. We¡¯ll find a defensible spot and poke the nest. Try to pull them away from you while you go at it from another direction.¡± At least Chloe had a plan. Aside from the inner guard around the heart of the nest, there shouldn¡¯t be much the nest could throw at them that¡¯d be a threat. Even in their weakened state.
¡°Chad should go with you too. Give you some range and let him get some experience while he¡¯s at it. If you¡¯re involved with me clearing the nest in anyway it should give you an achievement or at least rope you into some of the experience I will earn.¡±
¡°Go and find more than just you three. I¡¯ll be leading everyone else home. There should be a few who are willing to keep fighting. Santi, don¡¯t fuck this up and die.¡± Tank was mad. If it was the state of the world, the current situation, or his friends on their way to throw themselves in harm''s way, Santi couldn¡¯t tell.
¡°We go at first light. The place is in the middle of a pasture and I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s a good spot for you to fort up or not. If there¡¯s not a good spot, I¡¯m going to say you kick the nest and run.¡±
¡°We¡¯ll play this safe. I¡¯m tired of seeing these little red bastards everywhere. They¡¯ve killed our friends. It¡¯s time they all die.¡± Venom dripped from every word Rayleigh said. Chloe nodded in agreement, wrapping her arm around her friends shoulder and the two moved out to try to find others who were willing to risk it all.
¡°Santi, don¡¯t die. We need you,¡± Tank whispered, just loud enough for him to hear it.
¡°I don¡¯t make promises. If I fall, just keep going. Level and gather more people to you.¡± Santi wanted to tell him more but the damned geas stopped him from giving more detailed plans.
¡°I¡¯ll see you off in the morning then,¡± Tank said, walking off to go find a soft place on the floor to sleep. Santi knew there was no sleep in his future, not until the nest was destroyed.
Ch. 51 Goblins Nest
-
¡°That¡¯s ominous as fuck,¡± Chloe hissed as she saw the goblin nest for the first time. Greg had died in the fighting with the Acolyte Night Hag, but Beverly had survived and volunteered to go with them. Chad was walking quietly with Rayleigh while the last two members of the team were a pair of the college track and field team members. Both of them were carrying javelins that they had somehow sharpened to killing points.
Adam and Luis were both tall with long arms and broad shoulders. The early morning chill had caused both of them to pull on their blue windbreakers and were wearing their track warmup pants. They hadn¡¯t said much before agreeing to go to the dismay of the rest of the track team. Santi knew how large track teams were, so seeing only a dozen or so of the athletes gathered together in a knot was sobering.
Each of the men had four of the javelins and had even earned a class related to throwing weapons. While javelins might not be the best weapon for dealing with horde monsters they were better than nothing. Both the men had stood on the front lines and had made a good showing for themselves.
Between those two and Chad they had plenty of ranged fighters and with Rayleigh, Chloe, and Beverly they could hold a decent line. Until the first round of class evolutions came there wouldn¡¯t be any truly specialized classers. The way Rayleigh fought he didn¡¯t doubt she¡¯d become a frontliner while Chloe would specialize into damage dealing. When that happened they¡¯d be better suited for doing missions like this.
¡°Give me five minutes for me to run around the side, then kick the nest.¡±
¡°How long do we need to hold out for?¡± Chad asked. The quiet hunter seemed to be more subdued without his brother. He was still deadly and brave, but there was something missing.
¡°A few minutes. The longer the better, but don¡¯t risk your lives. Run if it starts to be too much.¡±
¡°Got it. Piss ¡®em off but don¡¯t fight to the death.¡±
¡°Close enough. Five minutes.¡± Santi took off, running close to the ground as he flanked the nest. The rest of the team stayed close to the road and the easy route to retreat.
As he ran around the edge he saw burn marks on the barnes from when Justin had done his own feint yesterday. Forms moved around the edges of the nest. Scores of goblins were running around too far away for him to Identify. He couldn¡¯t tell if there were hobs in their number, but he knew there¡¯d likely be some at the least. A true honor guard of upper teen hobgoblins. Maybe even pushing low-twenties.
It took the majority of the five minutes he needed to sneak around to the far side of the barnes. There wasn¡¯t much of a difference between the front view vs. the back view. Trees, barnes, gravel, and empty pastures. Santi lay on the ground catching his breath.
The arrow came flying in thirty-seven seconds later, the strangled scream was loud and clear. The shifting forms all froze and then they were moving. The area around the barns came alive with dozens of goblins all running toward where the group were waiting for them. Santi gave it another second and then he was up and moving.
His newfound strength and dexterity gave him speed bordering on superhuman. He¡¯d have won gold at the olympics. And it wouldn¡¯t have been close.
Gravel crunched under his feet as he transitioned from the fields and onto the property. The effect of the nest was immediate. Humidity that pressed on him while the temperature increased with every step. It was an early spring day but felt like the heart of the summer in the Amazon. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
¡°I already miss the A/C,¡± Santi bitched as the morph weapon slithered into his hand.
Three large barnes formed a line, metal paddocks extending out the back into plain dirt. To the right was a large metal building covered in the black webbing with red vines creeping over the top of the slanted roof. A small prefabricated home sat in the middle of the lot. The rectangular home was covered in the vine and the two trees next to it were choked off as the vines tore through bark and into the heart of the trunk.
¡°Not being discreet at all,¡± Santi muttered as he stared at the metal building. Lots of monster nests relied on hiding to protect themselves. This one had tried rapid expansion to protect itself. Too bad it had lost most of its defenders. He was on a time crunch, not wanting to get caught by the goblins when they returned and the defenders.
The hag nest was recent in his mind. Being pinned between the two forces in the stairwell had almost gotten all of them killed. He was going to run this fast as possible but he was going to do it right. Clearing each of the three barnes, the prefab house, and then tackle the metal building.
The closest barn was open, the wide double doors broken open and covered in black webbing that pinned them to the walls. Santi entered as fast as he could, his morph turning into a razor whip that trailed behind him. Against a wall was a series of tack rooms that hung open. Livestock equipment were scattered about in the rooms and the leather harnesses and saddles were decaying and breaking apart.
Directly in front of him was a series of open stalls. Goblins clustered inside of the stalls, staring at him with wide frightful eyes. They were small and thin, bones showing in every movement. It took only a flick of his wrist and the whip sliced through them without slowing down. The wood stalls shattered as the whip raced right through them and continued to scythe apart the goblins.
Clearing the entire barn only took a few minutes. None of the goblins fought back or even could. It was a massacre that needed to be done. Regardless of how weak they were right now they¡¯d grow into full size goblins soon enough. Santi worked his way through the barn and saw nothing of value. The creeping black webbing had covered everything of value.
Santi kept the speed up as he entered the next barn. It was the same exact design but there were no lurking goblins sitting in the stalls. A deep growl emanated from the stalls. A second growl started up, then a third, fourth, and fifth.
¡°Oh, fuck me,¡± Santi groaned as he started to slink backward.
A beast came out of the stall directly in front of him. It resembled a hound. If a hound had been skinned. The beast¡¯s skin wept fluids giving it a slick appearance as it growled and stalked forward. Conical teeth jutted from its jaws while each of its paws were the size of a dinner plate and had daggers for claws.
Greater Goblin Hound lvl. 20
He hadn¡¯t seen many of the beasts before, having hidden from the monsters when he was close to this level. When he was stronger the hounds weren¡¯t a threat that he ever worried about. All five of the hounds were level and twenty and as they pushed their way free of the shadows of their stalls he began to rethink his thinking about soloing the nest. If these hounds had attacked him while fighting a horde of the weaker goblins and hobs, he¡¯d have been in trouble.
His whip cracked as it split the air and a wound opened up on the hounds shoulder. Blood rolled down its shoulder but all it did was deepen its growl as it lowered its haunches.
The whip stiffened as he created a eight foot boar spear. The shaft was thin but the spear head was broad and sharp while the crossguard was thick enough it couldn¡¯t force its way down the shaft to get to him.
He set his feet and prepared himself as the hound leapt. He imposed the spearpoint between himself and the hound and let the beast''s own momentum do the work. The hound¡¯s maw opened wide as blood came bubbling out as it whined in agony as the spear punched through vital organs.
Santi held it up above the ground for a second before letting the morph blade condense, flowing out of the hound and letting it drop heavily onto the ground. The other four hounds took it as a starting gun, bursting into action with slavering jaws.
Gust activated as the hound on the far left was in mid air, pushing it to the side and slamming it into a wall. The morph blade simultaneously changed into a whip that slashed across the muzzles of the three other charging mutts. They all whined and hesitated at the pain.
Santi charged the stunned hounds, knowing he needed to finish them off in the closer confines of the barn, morphing his blade into a long handled axe with a sharp spike emerging from the back. Santi didn¡¯t know why he was smiling as his heart pounded with excitement and fear.
Ch. 52 Hidden Treasures
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The three stunned hounds didn¡¯t have time to react as he charged them. The long handled axe was light enough he swung it with one hand, the paper thin blade splitting the closest hounds skull. The kill notification dinged, but Santi was throwing himself backwards to avoid snapping teeth. He brought his feet up and caught the hounds chest with the balls of his feet.
Santi exerted every ounce of his strength and he continued to roll backward while snapping his legs straight. The heavy weight of the hound disappeared as he used its momentum and his strength to lob it across the barn. He continued the roll and popped to his feet.
Only one of the hounds were left, growling and running at him. Santi spun and cut a vicious line across its side. Skin peeled and blood gushed as it crashed to the ground in a heap of limbs, baying in agony. Santi couldn¡¯t finish it off, as the hound he hit with Gust had rejoined the fight.
He skipped back to avoid snapping jaws. The hound dodged as Santi tried to spike it through the neck. The wounded hound was getting to its feet and the one he had thrown were getting close to the fight. Santi threw another Gust at the two hounds picking up dirt and pebbles in a storm, just trying to slow them down for a moment.
He needed further reach and the axe transformed into a long sword. It took only the blink of an eye and the hound couldn¡¯t backpedal fast enough as the tip of the sword cut deep into its shoulder and through the outer edge of its neck. Blood poured out as the hound jumped back, ripping the blade to deepen the wound.
Instincts warned him to spin and fall to his knee as the longsword transformed into the boar spear again. The last healthy hound was in midair and he couldn¡¯t interpose the blade in the way in time. He rolled to the side as he released the spear and started to roll as teeth began to gnash at him. The two wounded hounds were on his ass, biting and snapping, ripping the air inches from his flesh.
¡°Fuck, fuck, fuck,¡± Santi cursed as he managed to avoid their teeth and get on his feet. The morph weapon had melted the moment he released it, a thin tendril wrapped around his wrist. The moment he gave the thought the blade turned back into a gladius.
The hound he had slashed across the side took the point through the eye as it continued to chase after him. The short blade erupted out of the back of the hounds skull, killing it immediately. The other two hounds were on him and he let the gladius melt and form into a heavy bulbous club. Teeth went flying as the club cracked across the closest hound''s mouth, forcing the hound to the side as Santi spun and dodged the last hound.
The club became a long sword again as he faced the last unwounded hound. He jabbed the point at the hound pushing it back as the other hound lay in a bleeding pile of flesh. The pulsing blood was slowing to a trickle as it bled out. In another minute or so, there¡¯d only be one hound left. Santi pushed, jabbing over and over again to try to push the hound back.
Its hind legs brushed the far wall and it had nowhere else to go. Long sword became a hammer and the skull crunched with a single blow. He stalked back to the wounded hound and finished it off with a single blow.
¡°That was a workout,¡± Santi said, panting to himself. The heat was oppressive and the exertion of the fight had been intense. Flexing his willpower a bit he moved Air Current around faster, making the rough simulation of a fan. He¡¯d never done that before, but the loss of air conditioning had been hurting. It was already exciting to push his spells to new limits and make them work in new ways.
He gathered his breath and moved out and toward the third barn. It was just as dim, just as humid, and just as dirty as the last one. No hounds this time. The stench was much worse. Rotting meat and dung. Bones and skin decorated every inch, a charnel house of grotesque proportions. It was all that was left of the animals that had been here, the parts that hadn¡¯t been able to be used. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Santi was glad to leave the barn and head toward the prefabbed house sitting in the middle of the property. He glanced over to the where the group had stationed themselves and saw a horde of red skinned goblins swarming around them. He could see the colored flash of skills being used to keep the horde at bay. The quick glimpse was enough to make him hurry. They were holding, but for how much longer?
The blue front door broke open with a well placed kick, the pre-integration materials failing to slow him down. He formed a short sword as he ran in. There was nothing in the house. Cleared of everything. Just floors and walls and a pile of treasure.
Mana wafted off of them, a mix of small natural treasures and items that the goblins had been stealing from this part of town. Santi took a moment to look over the treasures and knew that he was going to be taking everything not nailed down. First he had to kill whatever was in the metal building and burn this place to the ground.
He searched under the sink and found a small box of garbage bags that hadn¡¯t been thrown out like everything else. It was the work of a few minutes to bag up everything, mentally reviewing what was what as it was dumped into bags and tied up and placed next to the door. It would be quick and easy to grab and run when he finished the other building.
Gravel crunched underfoot as he got closer to the metal building. There were no guards outside but the red vines and black webbing covered every inch of it. The humidity increased to the point Santi couldn¡¯t tell if he was sweating or not. An oppressive aura washed out of the building reeking of bloodlust and hunger. Whatever was inside of that building was not going to be fun to fight.
He had to jog around the perimeter of the building to find an entrance. The main doors were webbed shut and the second door had red vines wrapped around the door with vicious green thorns that dripped a clear liquid. He had no interest in seeing what those vines would do to him, so he kept searching.
There was a second door at the far side of the building that was propped open. Narrow and dim it vanished into the depths of the building. He was tired. The last few days had been impossible for him, a continuous push for survival. The death, destruction, cruelty, all of it was just so goddamn heavy. This wasn¡¯t the end of the line, but rather the end of the beginning. There¡¯d be relative peace and stability around the area if he succeeded.
The two monster nests had cleared out most of the enemies in the region. Eating and stripping the area of everything of worth. There¡¯d be time to grow and adjust. To save lives. But, fuck, he was tired.
He pictured a long handled hammer and entered the hallway. There was a press on him, the atmosphere pushing on him. It was a sense of not belonging, of being a trespasser, of being prey. He had felt worse presences but not with his stats being this low. It was hard to push forward as every instinct told him to run.
He had to reevaluate his opinion on the nest. He had thought it was a lesser nest, but it might be a minor. The same as the hag nest had been. Which meant there could be a monster that was pushing the limits of the Initiate tier and could be on the precipice of becoming an Acolyte.
Goblins were physical fighters, an Acolyte level goblin would be a nightmare to deal with. The hag had cleaned house while being a magic user who couldn¡¯t properly use its magic. He would die, there was little he could do against a monster that strong currently.
He just had to hope that the goblin hadn¡¯t evolved.
The concrete hall was strewn with moldering hay that softened his footsteps. The hall he was in had a line of metal lockers that had been busted open. Broken locks sitting on the ground as a tripping hazard. A faint red glow emanated deeper in the building, pushing against the humid darkness.
Leaving the hallway and into the main part of the building he finally got a look at the heart of the nest. A glowing crimson pod that pulsed every seven seconds. A eight goblin squad in full bronze armor stood around in a half circle around the pod. A hooded figure stood behind them all, a robe of stitched together skins covering it.
Red Hobgoblin lvl. 21
Red Hobgoblin lvl. 21
Red Hobgoblin lvl. 21
Red Hobgoblin lvl. 21
Red Hobgoblin lvl. 21
Red Hobgoblin lvl. 21
Red Hobgoblin lvl. 21
Red Hobgoblin Chief lvl. 23
High Goblin Sorcerer lvl. 25
Ch. 53 Sorcerous Games
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The Sorcerer was wearing a cloak of human skins stitched together with black thread. Its hobgoblin protectors were all armored head to foot in the burnished bronze armor with spears and short swords. Not a single thing moved as the two sides stared at each other.
That weight that had been pushing down on Santi dissipated in the face of his rage as he stared at that human cloak. The goblin sorcerer was a stand-in for everything wrong with the world. It stood there wearing the skins of his people, bathing in the power of his world.
Santi lunged, morph blade transforming into a ten foot long rigid thread. Metal pierced eye and the hob screamed, breaking the silence of the room as the rest of the guard charged him. The morph blade lacked the mass needed to transform itself into something wider at that distance Santi was using it currently. So he simply imagined the conical point flattening and twisted his wrist.
A kill notification dinged as the hob died as his head was cut in half. The closest hob had already halved the distance, sprinting at full speed to try to kill him as fast as possible. Santi recalled the morph, the thread condensing down quickly. One of the hobs was faster than the others, using its spear to knock the thin weapon and try to pin it to a wall.
He willed the weapon to loop around the haft of the spear and form an edge. The hob tried to lock it down, pulling with all its strength as Santi tugged with his own strength. The thick wood was sheared in half, the hob left holding a truncated spear. The thread melded into itself and raced toward his hand as Santi was forced to twist to avoid the leading hob''s thrust.
The narrow hallway prevented the hobs from overwhelming him while at the same time made it more difficult to dodge the spear thrusts as the elite guards pushed themselves to their absolute limits to try to land a blow.
The morph blade finished condensing, becoming a short sword. The hob thrust again, aiming at his face as Santi suddenly charged as he was armed again. Using the flat of the blade to push the spear tip away from his face, he had to marvel for a moment.
These were nearly peak Initiate level hobgoblins in full armor. And they were like children before him. They were slow and clumsy, each stab and thrust coming as if they were under water. The recent levels and gains just put him so much further ahead than them. They could likely nearly match him in some of his physical stats, but mentally, he was far beyond them.
His perception allowed him to see every miniscule shift of weight, the positioning of their hands, the dilation in their eyes. He could smell the fear on them as well as the blood and decay that dominated the space.
The higher intelligence allowed him to process it all. To understand all the information that was being absorbed every second. He knew how to move, how to take advantage of the slight off center thrust the hob had just done. How it was off balance and wouldn¡¯t recover in time.
That was the major advantage that sentients had over monsters in the lower levels. Most of them only had a handful of stats that they had when they were spawned. They could grow and evolve and become a true threat, but for now they were little more than sacks of experience for Santi to collect.
He closed the distance in an eyeblink and cut the goblin horizontally across its neck. The sharp morph blade relieved the hob of its head. Santi pressed the torso, wedging his free hand under the breastplate and keeping it from falling. A spear dug into the bronze and scraped to the side as Santi used the dead goblin as a shield.
He slashed through the helm of the next closest hobgoblin, kicking it still screaming into the pile behind it. Even through the breastplate Santi heard bones breaking as the hob was propelled into its fellows. It tangled two more and all three fell into a pile of limbs and spears.
Santi hurled the corpse behind the tangled pile and hit another hob and sent that one crashing to the ground. The last two hobs were to far away to do anything as the morph blade transformed into a spear and Santi ended the puddle of three hobgoblins. The one he had slashed across the face was already nearly dead and offered no resistance. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
The other two tried to fight, losing fingers and taking long defensive wounds on their arms as they tried to stop the inevitable death. The rage in him was swelling and he could taste blood in his mouth as he yearned to keep spilling blood. He wanted to see those that had killed his friends to die, to beg, to scream, to plead for mercy. The only mercy he would give them was the comfort of the grave.
The next hobgoblin had managed to crawl out from the headless corpse and stumble out of the hallway to meet with the last two survivors and form an arc of spear points. Santi didn¡¯t care. He flew at them as he used Gust to push the one on the left back a few steps.
The spell wasn¡¯t strong enough to throw people, at least not yet, but it could stagger the slight monster. It was all the gap that Santi needed. He duck and spun under the center hobgoblins spear and lashed out as his spear turned into a glaive. Rising up the glaive entered at the hobgoblins hip and sliced through bronze like butter and sent it spilling apart in two pieces.
A spike formed at the back of the glaive¡¯s shaft and Santi thrust, the thick spike punching through armor and killing the hob that had been pushed back by his Gust. The last hobgoblin didn¡¯t hesitate, throwing itself at Santi in a flurry of blows that exceeded everything else that Santi had faced so far.
It wasn¡¯t enough.
The last hob hit the ground without an arm and a weeping throat while Santi was locking eyes with the sorcerer and the glowing pod behind him. It had increased the speed of its pulses. They came every six seconds now.
Then five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
The pod was flashing so fast that it was almost a steady light. The black webbing that covered every inch of the building writhed as power surged around Santi. The dead hobs were covered, the sticky black webbing grabbing on and pulling all of the pieces away too fast for Santi to do anything. Even the blood was taken, leaving nothing of the brief battle behind but the scuffed dirt on the concrete.
The sorcerer moved forward, red vines snaking out of its cloak to fall in long tendrils around it as it marched forward with a wild smile. There was something off about the goblin, its crazed smile and the blood staining its teeth. A whisper brushed his mind, warning Santi that something was wrong. The rage and battlelust drowned it out.
Santi cut the distance immediately, sprinting with all of his strength at the sorcerer, ready to see its blood paint the ground. It never slowed as the two magic users got ready to crash into each other. Only at the last moment did Santi manage to prevent himself from running into the sorcerer, turning at the last second to swipe at the goblin with a dagger.
The cloak of skin parted again and yellow pus exploded out in a water wave and Santi spluttered as it spattered on him. Santi spluttered and repressed his gag instincts as he made distance from the sorcerer who was cackling as the red tendril snapped out and whipped across Santi¡¯s exposed forearm.
Pain blossomed and he could feel a momentary weakness as the muscle spasmed. His arm felt like he had just done a hard workout and had noodle arms as he left the gym. Logic was attempting to ram itself into his mind, screaming warnings while jumping up and down and using a bonfire. The pain and rage blinded him though.
The dagger switched into a long spear to give him range and Santi proceeded to jab repeatedly at the little goblin. It danced back, moving with speed it hadn¡¯t possessed moments earlier while Santi was still trying to recover from his own weakness.
¡°You stupid fuck, will you pay attention for once in your useless life!¡± Santi screamed out randomly. It was like taking a breath of fresh air after being underwater. The sorcerer paused and then shrugged and smiled, as if to say he had been caught.
¡°You tricky fuck,¡± Santi snarled as he backpedaled away from the sorcerer. This nest was built on sacrifice and taking power from others. His slaughter of the elite guards and their subsequent consumption by the nest had probably strengthened the sorcerer. Those tendrils were definitely some type of life drain or steal and Santi had wallowed right into it.
¡°Wish I had a bow right now. You wouldn¡¯t be smiling with a few arrows in your face, would you?¡± Santi asked, giving his own bloody grin at the goblin.
He glanced out of the corner of his eye and at the pulsing pod. There was something going on with that pod that he wasn¡¯t comfortable with. Where had the mass of the dead hobs gone? Of all the dead that had been taken for the last few days? Some surely had been repurposed, but that pod was giving him the same feeling that the cauldron had right before the Acolyte hag had stepped out.
¡°You¡¯re not the protector of this nest, whatever is in the pod is. You¡¯re just trying to stop me from reaching it. Okay, well that¡¯s good to know. Cut you up into little pieces and then burn this bitch down. Easy. Okay, let¡¯s get to it.¡±
Ch. 54 What Lies Beneath
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Santi knew he had to kill the sorcerer as fast as possible. A battle of attrition was what the goblin wanted as its life stealing tendrils would slowly tilt the battle in its favor. His weapon shaped into a long spear, trying to give himself the most distance possible while retaining some control of it.
Cutting the distance was hard though, the room was cavernous and the goblin worked its way to the sides, always moving in a way to prevent Santi from backing it into a corner. The tendrils lashed out again and again, each time threatening him to slow him down or retreat. He couldn¡¯t simply tank the blows, it¡¯d leave him too crippled to fight in short order.
¡°Stop running, you little shit,¡± Santi hissed as he tried to put a burst of speed on. The sorcerer snapped its wrists, sending one tendril high and the other low. Santi dropped to his haunches and used the morph blade to impede the low tendril. The tendril wrapped around the blade and brushed an ankle. It was very similar to what he had done against the hobgoblin and its spear.
Pain and weakness radiated through his right leg as he pushed on and through it. It was similar to having sat on his leg for hours. The best he could do was drag it behind himself as he threw a series of fast thrusts at the smaller sorcerer.
The goblin continued to back up and to the side, kiting him. Santi was gritting his teeth and hissing in a mix of pain and frustration. Every second that the little bastard stayed ahead of him was another second for whatever was growing in that pod to mature.
It was becoming opaque as the steady red light began to increase in intensity, bathing the room in a bloody glow. With the added light he could see the corners of the large room where the webbing was thick enough to look like pools of ink.
Bones and flesh churned in the webbing, silent in their horrors as the glowing pod illuminated the nightmare he was in. Santi fell to the ground just in time, his eyes having been occupied by the corner of the building so he hadn¡¯t seen the tendril snapping out for his neck. It was only his Air Current spell that kept him from being strangled.
Santi pictured those big throwers and the javelins they carried, the morph weapons obeying his thoughts instantly. Normally, one wouldn¡¯t throw their weapon away in a fight, but Santi was desperate.
He rolled and pushed up with his feet as the morph weapon transformed into a javelin, finally releasing the thin tendril that had looped around his wrist. The distance was less than fifteen feet and the sorcerer didn¡¯t have time to do anything as the silver javelin entered at its sternum and ripped out through its back.
The cloak of human skin gushed out a wave of yellow puss, but Santi was far enough back to avoid that fate again. Its long tendrils fell limp into coiled ropes around its feet as the sorcerer stared down at the javelin wedged in its chest. Its knees buckled and it collapsed to the ground.
Santi could still feel the morph weapon. Feel its hunger being tickled as it absorbed the life force and potential of the goblin. These types of weapons were dangerous. They could grow too fast and large and begin to consume their owner for want of better prey. Not an event Santi wanted to occur. As long as he kept killing strong opponents, the weapon would stay pleased.
His fingers brushed against the smooth surface and the weapon undulated against his fingers, like a pet happy for their owner''s touch. The metal liquefied and ran up his wrist and arm till it sat impersonating a heavy bracelet. There was a noticeable extra heft to it now that it had finished its killing of the hobs and sorcerer.
Santi still had more to feed it though. He approached the glowing pod with trepidation, not really wanting to see what was inside of it. As he got closer, he could discern what was growing in its depths.
Thick bones and flesh. The flat ugly face of a troll. One yellow eye that tracked him as he walked around the pod. It sat on the ground and stretched up ten feet tall and eight feet wide with nearly six feet in depth. It was massive and growing a true troll. Not the pale mimicry that had taken their entire camp to kill. The real deal. A born Acolyte class monster to protect the nest. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
It was only half developed, if that. Santi used the razor whip form and slashed down the center of the pod. The thin membrane split like a rotten apple, amniotic fluid rushing out in a wave as the half formed monster was sucked out and spilled across the floor.
There was no kill notification, but Santi watched as that feral yellow eye grew clouded. Santi kept an eye on it for a second as he walked around the room, looking for what the nest had built itself around. At first he had thought it was the pod, but with its destruction and the continuance of the black webbing, he wasn¡¯t sure.
He didn¡¯t have the gear needed to light the building on fire, but it wouldn¡¯t be hard to get it. Just a quick trip to the hospital and back. The aura of the nest urged him on, to ignore the thought out response of careful, methodical destruction. He could taste flames and blood, the thought of the building rising in a pillar of smoke a soothing respite to his turbulent mind.
There was something in the building that resonated well with his troubled heart and the rage inside of him. If this building had been used for slaughter it made sense, the goblins having quickly flavored the ambient energies with their own primal desires.
He carefully scanned the corners of the building, the bubbling webs that contained bones and flesh. Power swirled around the thick puddles of black silk, thousands of layers of gossamer silk laying over each other. The trickle of power was nowhere near as strong as the pod had been, but there was a hint about what was laying in here.
The repurposing of flesh and bone. The cycle of life and death and rebirth. All of it was flavored with the goblins'' rage and bloodthirst. Santi had to run possibilities about what could be going on. There had to be some type of natural treasure of convergence of mana here to support the nest, but he couldn¡¯t find it. At least not with the time he had left. The rest of the horde could come running back any moment.
¡°Fuck it. I¡¯ll just burn it down,¡± Santi said out loud. He held himself still as the building seemed to grow heavier. The aura of bloodlust deepened to the point he could taste it. There was insanity brimming here, threatening to push him over the edge. The boost in willpower coming in strong to keep him up and on his feet.
In the corners of the room, webs parted from a chitinous blade. Eight legs emerged, one by one as the round bottom of a spider slipped into existence. Santi had to repress the urge to shudder as the cursed monster showed itself. Shadow and rot bleeding together to form a sickly scent of decay that mingled with the bloodlust.
¡°Regressor, I can feel the tides of time on your spirit,¡± the torso melded to the spider''s body rasped. Horror flowed through Santi as he stared at the first intelligent monster seen so far in this integration.
¡°Yessss, tremble as you should, for you have disturbed my nest. The little one¡¯s watched well and brought me much sustenance.¡±
¡°What the fuck are you?¡± Santi asked, turning to face the creature. It had the eight chitinous legs that scratched the concrete with every scuttling step. A round, black spider body, with thick gray-white hairs. At the top of the spider, flesh melding into the body, was a red goblin.
Except, it was so much more. Not sickly and thin. Intelligent eyes that took in everything around it. Every muscle looked to have been carved from marble. It looked more like a spray painted body builder than a goblin.
¡°This place was good for the tribe. Meat and bone. Power. There was something else though, something beneath the stone. The sorcerer was too scared to venture beneath the building, but I feared nothing. For that, I was rewarded.¡± The goblin was very effusive, a smile on its face as it radiated joy at its discovery.
¡°Despair, oh how rich despair lingered here. Thick swathes of it beneath the earth. The suffering of the beasts, the tolling of the bells, ringing for their demise as the sick suffered here. It¡¯s not just you humans whose emotions can make curses. It blended well with the mana lines and the treasure. Now look at me! I have ascended! Cast away the shackles of mortality! I shall remake this world in my image and lead the tribes and shelter them under my webs!¡± The goblin was cackling while Santi had to resist the urge to roll his eyes.
Red Goblin Cursed Chimera lvl. ?
A second Acolyte monster in less than twenty-four hours. Santi had to start thinking he was cursed, because this was ridiculous. This time he had a real weapon and he had no plans of letting the gregarious monster escape.
¡°All right, so I normally don¡¯t like to banter, but I think I can tell you what I think,¡± Santi said as he started to ready his spells, his morph blade turning into a long spear. The rich energy that emanated off the Chimera had caught the weapons attention and it hungered for it.
¡°Is that so? And what is it that you think something as insignificant as you could do to me!?¡± It straightened up to over ten feet tall, the top of its bald head threatening to touch the top of the ceiling.
¡°I was debating going with a standard ass kicking threat, or a bug specific threat. Couldn¡¯t decide which one. See this is why I don¡¯t do banter, there¡¯s just to many options,¡± Santi said, while waving his arms around, the spear clutched lightly. The goblins two eyes tracked the tip of the spear as it traced lazy lines in the air.
Santi cast Gust and attacked.
Ch. 55 RUN
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Gust kicked up a large cloud of dust, blowing it into the chimera¡¯s face as it wheeled backward from the sudden onslaught. He cut the distance with a few bounding steps, stabbing at where the goblin was conjoined with the spider. The deadly point hit chiseled flesh and dug a thin furrow across its stomach.
Screaming in rage, the chimera scuttled away, long legs grabbing at the wall and letting it scuttle upward. The speed was beyond anything Santi could currently match, the monster''s physical stats were beyond his own.
¡°That¡¯s not creepy as fuck,¡± Santi said as he watched it climb without hesitation. Perched in the corner of the roof, blood leaking from the thin wound, the chimera hissed in agony.
¡°How dare you! You would desecrate my holy flesh?¡± It was shouting nonsense down at him as Santi tried to figure out how to kill it. He had to admit that this run of luck was truly terrible. The monster above him was truly beyond him as he was in a head to head fight. It was a physical classer that had grown accustomed to its own body, unlike the Night Hag he had killed earlier.
¡°Get bent!¡± Santi yelled back. So far his only edge was that the monster''s own inflated sense of self-importance was so bloated. It would rather yell insults than just kill him.
¡°Your bones will decorate my nest!¡± It yelled, leaping free of the corner. All eight bladed legs were aimed at him, ready to leave him looking like swiss cheese if he didn¡¯t move instantly. Santi threw another Gust at the heavy monster, the strong winds pushing the airborne monster slightly off target as he rolled the other way.
It landed with the impact of a meteor, the ground shattering into a spray of concrete. Bits of shrapnel cut him, drawing forth thin lines of blood that wept as Santi began to run. There was no way he could kill the monster in the confined space of its own lair, so he was booking it.
The narrow hallway was a welcome sight, the limited space preventing the spider beast to follow after him. He risked a glance backward and cursed as he started to run faster. It was right behind him, legs stretched out as it ripped apart the walls and forced itself after him into the hallway.
¡°Fuck, fuck, fuck,¡± Santi chanted, sprinting heedless of any dangers as he was focused on getting out of the building. His Air Current kept him from falling on his face as he deftly dodged around debris on the ground. He got a hint of warning as the air pressure changed.
He kissed the ground, throwing himself at it like it was a long lost lover. The passage of something large over his head and the subsequent crash as the outer was demolished was enough to convince him it had been a wise decision. Eye watering light spilled into the building as Santi lunged for freedom. He was only feet away from the new exit but could feel the weight of the chimera behind him.
The fresh air was a relief, the humidity of the area seeming to have begun to dissipate. Santi was running in the opposite direction of the rest of the team. He had to cross an empty field and then he could get into a housing development and hopefully have some better choices than he did right now.
The rest of the wall came down behind him as the goblin-spider burst out of the wall. Its eyes were wild with rage, little cuts and nicks letting blood dribble down its chest as it looked around wildly. Santi hit it with another Gust, this time throwing up a cloud of dirt and rocks to impede the monster.
¡°Fucker¡¯s fast.¡± Santi sprinted as hard as he could. There were spells that were soon available that would let him move at speeds that were near incomprehensible. Right now he was plodding with a giant spider monster ready to eat him following behind. Moving at full speed he was able to clear the nest in only moments, each step pushing indents into the hard packed earth. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Thick green growth whipped at his arms and legs as he crossed across the field. It was waist high and thick with sharp spikes and sappy limbs that stained and cut at him. The sound of the spider chimera behind him was spurring him to greater and greater speeds.
A eight foot stone wall separates the pasture grounds from the partially built housing development. He pushed himself further than he ever had, each breath a dagger to his lungs as his legs stretched and pulled, threatening to fail him as he pushed himself beyond his limitations.
He didn¡¯t slow as he came onto the wall, running at it and using a single step to throw himself at the top of the wall. He used his free hand to grab the edge of the wall and vaulted it, swinging his legs over and pushing to throw himself further away.
Santi took in the surroundings as he floated toward the ground. Dozens of skeletal houses, the frames only partially put up. Black unmarked rivers of concrete flowed around the development. Pieces of abandoned machinery sat around in mementos of ruin.
Then he landed hard, his ankle screaming in pain as he launched himself toward the heart of the construction project. The spider hit the wall like a wrecking ball, blowing it apart as it looked around in rage as Santi ran ahead of it.
Santi ran through a dirt lot that was going to become a lawn, leaping a wheelbarrow filled with dirt. A house lay open, the door propped wide open. There were walls on the house but the roof hadn¡¯t been finished. Sant leapt right through the door and started running up the staircase that was directly in front of the doorway.
Wood splintered behind him as the chimera chased after. Stairs crunched as sword legs cut the air behind him. Santi could feel the passage of air, inches separating his vulnerable flesh from sharp chitin.
The second floor landing lead into a long hallway with no doors. Santi ran straight down the hallway and into the bedroom at the end of the hallway. The window hadn¡¯t been installed and Santi jumped straight through without hesitation.
His already strained ankle buckled as he landed, sending him sprawling to the ground. The breath whooshed out of him as he hit hard. Behind him he could hear the spider ripping apart the house behind him. A leg punched through the roof, followed a heartbeat later by its other legs as it started to climb out of the rooftop.
As Santi watched as the spider struggled to get out of the wooden building his plan formed. It was simple and a classic, something he had already done. He got to his feet and started to look as fast as he could. The dead vehicles sat there just waiting for him to plunder them.
He limped towards a white truck covered in monster scratches and dirt. The metal along the side had deep furrows through the metal and it listed as the two tires on the drivers side had been slashed. As behind him he heard a house entering rapid deconstruction, he looked for a gas can. There had to be one or three laying around a jobsite somewhere.
The truck didn¡¯t have one, but the next one did. The bright red plastic can sat in the back of the truck with its neon yellow nozzle sticking up like it wanted to catch his attention. There was nothing in it as he grabbed it, but he was fine with that. A quick glance behind showed he still had a few minutes if he was fast.
The morph blade transformed into a simple lever, which he used to break open the gas cap and cover. It took only a moment for him to reconfigure Air Current on the fly, forming a tunnel from the gas tank to the empty gas can. Creating the negative pressure was hard, but the time crunch helped motivate him.
He imagined the small currents tightening and sucking backward, air being vented outside while the interior walls remained solid. That¡¯s not what happened, but it gave the magic the shape he wanted it to have. The goal he wanted it to do. It was enough.
Fuel started to flow slowly up and out of the truck, spilling into the gas can in a pleasant trickle of liquid hitting plastic. He kept his eyes locked on the house, the roof having been almost completely destroyed as the chimera forced itself out. The goblin¡¯s eyes were locked on him as its sword legs chopped itself free.
Santi whistled to himself. A peace in his heart as he stared down the second Acolyte monster of the last twenty-four hours. He knew he could do this. He would kill this creature and then burn down the rest of that goblin nest. Fear was still there and pain never left him, but he was sure in this moment and the next he¡¯d be victorious. He just had to burn another monster to death.
Ch. 56 Impromptu BBQ
-
As plans went, Santi had to admit it wasn¡¯t super inspiring. At the same time, if it¡¯s not broke, why fix it? Lure the chimera into a house and light said house on fire after it got stuck again. It was intelligent enough to talk but seemed to have the tactical intelligence of a caffeinated toddler. Use Gust to spread and contain the fire and just wait for the barbeque to end. Nice and simple.
He got most of the can full before the chimera managed to squeeze itself out of the roof of the house it had gotten stuck in. Took it three minutes and twenty eight seconds. That would have to be enough time. Santi broke into a trot after looting the back of the truck for its emergency supplies, including a road flare.
The things were just so useful, he couldn¡¯t help but love them. How many monsters had he already slain under their red light? Had to be scores by now, and they were everywhere. Almost every decently maintained vehicle had one somewhere. They were a great source of light and instant fire.
He only had seconds before the chimera would be on him and he needed to hurry. He punctured the gas can with the morph blade, slicing apart tough plastic with ease as he limped up the stairs trailing a line of fuel behind him. The flare was jammed into his pants pocket and he looked back to see the chimera charging like a freight train.
¡°Really are dumb,¡± Santi said as he walked right up the stairs in a repeat of exactly what he had done the last time. Gas splashed behind him, the pungent scent filled the air as he hobbled up the stairs and made towards the master bedroom. There was a blessing with all of these buildings being built identically. It made the housing developments look like soulless stains on humanity, but made it easy to navigate them.
The can ran empty right as he got to the master bedroom and the house shuddered as the chimera broke it. It was screaming in rage, no words, just raw emotion. Santi climbed out the window carefully, lowering himself down and falling as lightly as possible. His ankle screamed in pain and he got up and hopped to the front of house as he watched as the goblin-spider start to claw its way free again. It was moving faster than last time, having learned its lesson.
Roofing tiles were flying and broken pieces of framing came down in a rain as Santi snapped the flare to life and tossed it in the ruins of the foyer. It took a second and then with a whoosh flame exploded over dry lumber. Heat blasted out backward as the hungry flame followed the gas trail up the staircase and after the chimera. The chimera¡¯s wordless screams of rage changed to panicked pain filled howls as the fire licked at it hidden from sight.
Santi cast Gust, doing his best to control the airflow to not suffocate the nascent flame. It worked well enough, the air feeding the flame to greater and greater heights. The monster redoubled its efforts to dig out of the house. It was a monstrous cacophony of breaking wood and screams as the monster tried to drag itself out too soon and got stuck.
Santi watched with a sense of detachment as it started to burn. Just how many humans had this monster consumed. How many had its nest of goblins taken and fed to its webs. Had to be hundreds. The bloodstained bedroom came to his mind. The ruined stuffed toys and bookshelf. Children. They had been the biggest victims in all of this, too weak to defend themselves.
He cursed the Apostate¡¯s and their devotion to their patron. The patron who had seemed so disinterested when Santi had sworn to stand against him. Did their patron even care, if it was someone who had surpassed this realm and Ascended beyond, could they care? It would be like a human staring at a singular ant.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
They were next on his list, once everything in town got settled. The Civilization Pillar would be a good stopping point for him here. By then his family should have made it to town, he would have to send a team to try to lead them in. No, he would go himself. After this, after the goblins were exterminated. He would go and find his family.
He watched the cackling flames consume the chimera. It screamed a blood curdling shriek as the flames began to consume it. Its attempts to escape increased as panic forced it to try harder to get itself out of the tight confines. Wood creaked and cracked and it started to wiggle free.
¡°Knew that was going to be too easy,¡± Santi complained to himself as the chimera broke free of the roof and came tumbling down off the roof. It was half aflame, the hair on its spider body having caught fire and burning it as it fell toward the ground. The goblin half was seared medium well and blisters had started to form where its torso melded with the spiders.
¡°Looking crispy!¡± Santi shouted at it, as it fell to the ground. The crunching sound it made as it hit made him wince. That couldn¡¯t have been pleasant.
¡°EAT YOUUUUUU!!!!!!¡±
¡°You¡¯re the one who¡¯s looking cooked,¡± Santi said as it got its many legs underneath it. He had always been terrible at banter. If it wasn¡¯t so good at getting the chimera so enraged he wouldn¡¯t do it. It was already running at him full speed even as smoke still trailed off its body.
He backed up till he was closer to the dirt lot filled with trucks and construction equipment. As the chimera ran at him full speed he prepared himself. His weapons morphed into a long halberd and he settled himself with his wounded ankle gingerly touching the ground. The spear point of the halberd pointed at the charging spider, but it didn¡¯t slow at all.
Each of the crushing legs were thin, five and a half feet long, and ended with tapered points that dug into concrete. Any one of those legs had the ability to leave him in pieces as the spider scurried at him. None of his spells would work well on it right now, forcing him to rely on his martial ability. It seemed so long ago that he was cursing in a kobold rift about becoming a mage and not having to worry about these types of fights.
A bladed leg slashed at him, intent on splitting him in half. Santi dodged, rolling on a shoulder and popping back up to slash at a planted spider leg. Where before the blade had just left a thin furrow, this time it cut deep. Vicious green blood welled up and out of the partially severed leg as the goblin head started to scream again.
Santi was forced to roll as three legs began to cut all around him, each of them hitting with the force of a jackhammer. Dust and dirt flew through the air as Santi rolled under a truck and popped up. Legs sheared through the truck and ripped it apart in an explosion of tearing metals and fluids.
His halberd split the edge of the nearest leg like a bad toenail. It skittered back, two of its legs now injured while Santi tried to create space between them. He ran up and over the top of a heavy dozer, vaulting the cab with ease. Even as he hit the dirt on the other side, the giant piece of machinery rocked as the chimera hit it and bounced backward.
¡°You¡¯re really dumb, and ummm¡smell?¡± Santi realized he was losing the thread on the banter. The goblin-spider was beyond any logic. Its only communication was howls of rage.
Santi headed toward another house, thinking of trapping it again. If it was dumb enough to trap itself for a third time he could definitely get more gas and burn it again. He turned to look at the monster, to see if it was going to follow him again into a too small home.
Yellow steel. That¡¯s all he saw before he threw himself backward with every ounce of strength he had.
He blasted through plaster and studs, felt bones crack even as he sailed into the back of the house. A split second later a terrible crash announced the excavator hitting the front of the house. The front of the house collapsed inward, dust, plaster, and a myriad of other things became a cloud that obscured his vision as he ran out the front door.
¡°Not that dumb, noted.¡± Santi ran around the side of the house to see the very smug spider-goblin picking up half of a pickup with its legs. Their eyes met and the goblin smiled as it hoisted the half of the truck up and lobbed it with ease. Santi watched it arc up and over in a perfect throw to make the bed of the severed truck hit him.
Ch. 57 Sweep the Leg
-
Gust diverted the truck bed by inches as he threw himself away from the falling truck bed. It crashed on the bare ground in a spray of dirt and metal as it rolled over and over. Santi was getting tired of rolling around in the dirt.
He had to change his plan on how to deal with it, as standing back and luring it wasn¡¯t going to work. There were enough trucks, cars, and small pieces of construction equipment to level the entire housing development if the chimera wanted to. He wasn¡¯t going to be lucky enough to dodge all of them. Which meant doing the thing he hated the most. Standing and fighting face to face.
Santi charged, ducking and weaving each way to try to stay ahead of the random things the chimera got its legs on. Tires, hubcaps, rebar, lumber, a portapotty. The portapotty was a shitty move.
The chimera crawled on top of the yellow dozer, long legs reaching down to grab more things to throw. The area in its reach was growing devoid of easy to grab items, which was a welcome relief. Santi looked up at the monster and started to wonder how he was going to reach it. The spear in its longest form could reach it, but it was likely too thin to do serious harm.
Best he could do at the moment. The spear stretched out to become thin, with a scalpel point as he slashed out across a wounded leg. The thin edge entered the already open wound and sliced deeper. Sinews held the leg together as the chimera scampered backward crying in pain as its leg collapsed under its weight.
It slid off the side of the dozer leaving a smear of its blood across the yellow top. Santi ran around the side of the dozer limping, ready to finally finish the monster off. He got around to the side, the chimera keeping its near severed leg off of the ground and staring at him with hate.
Santi sprinted at full speed, ignoring the pain in his ankle, and attacked. The spear was a blur as he attacked over and over. The chimera jumped back, slapping at him with its legs. Each sword attack had to be dodged, Santi running around like a chicken with its head cut off. He needed to start whittling down the legs and he got his opportunity a moment later.
The near severed leg swayed, stretched out on tendons and entered his range. A quick switch to a halberd and the crescent blade hit the tendons and parted them with ease. The thick black chitin leg hit the ground with a dull thud as the now seven legged spider-goblin screamed.
Santi didn¡¯t hesitate, the halberd kept striking, attacking the next leg in the row. The chimera pulled back, but the morph blade took the tip of the leg off. He could feel the blade¡¯s hunger and burgeoning satisfaction as if feasted on the rich life blood of the Acolyte class monster.
¡°Damn you, human!¡± the goblin half said as more and more of its blood poured out of the wounded legs. Its blistered skin was beginning to slough off as the after effects of the fire were showing. It was slowing and growing weaker and weaker. The fight was winnable, as long as he didn¡¯t do anything stupid.
Santi moved slowly, a creeping inevitability as the chimera stood its ground. Even with the burns and amputation it was standing tall, unwilling to give an inch. Sani dodged a stamping attack and sliced across the offending leg leaving a long furrow. A second leg lashed out without hesitation.
Santi took the blow, just too slow to get out of the way. The sharp leg sliced along the outside of his wounded leg, peeling flesh and muscle. Santi gave as good as he got, his halberd cutting halfway through the offending leg.
He pushed forward, the monster''s three front legs all heavily wounded or missing. It couldn¡¯t react as he got underneath it. The halberd had a sharp spearpoint at the top of the shaft and he used it to great effect. Stabbing upwards and into the soft underbelly of the spider, piercing through the thin chitin. He twisted the halberd, dragging the point along and tearing open its belly. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
Chitin parted but the thick muscle under only partly parted. Blood poured over him in a waterfall of gore and the morph blade thrummed with joy in his hands. Santi pulled out and jabbed up again, piercing muscle and stabbing at the vulnerable organs.
The spider kicked its legs out, trying to fall and crush him. Santi jumped, his bad leg slowing him, and barely managed to get out of the way. The spider landed in a puddle of its own muddy gore, splashing it out in a wave. The goblin torso was finally in range of his weapon.
A longsword embedded itself in its muscular forearm. It had managed to get its arm up in time to prevent a decapitation. Its legs scrambled to find traction, trying to get its vulnerable head away from the reach of the morph blade. Having failed to end the fight, Santi transformed the blade into a heavy axe and cut at the next closest leg where it met the body.
The chitin was tough, the muscle like iron bands, but it all yielded to the morph blade and his overpowered physical stats. The leg fell off and the spider was down half of its legs. It couldn¡¯t get up and moving fast enough and Santi stuck to it like a tick. A frenzy of blows, each one precise and crippling.
A leg here, a slash along the rotund body there, an attempt at the goblins neck, all of it at speeds that the chimera could hardly match. Blood was flowing like a river as cuts and wounds appeared all over it. Energy was pouring through the morph blade and into him, the blade a glutton for the power that the chimera had. It wouldn¡¯t stop feasting even as it filled to bursting, shunting strength, mana, and potential to Santi.
¡°You are beneath me! You can¡¯t do this!¡± the spider screamed, its eyes rolling in pain and rage as a fifth leg was taken from it. It collapsed on its belly, its remaining legs trying to drag it away, but Santi refused to let it flee. The bloody morph blade transformed into a spear with an overly long blade and he plunged it into the spider''s body without hesitation.
The burns, blood loss, and myriad cuts made it all possible. The blade didn¡¯t hesitate as it cut through flesh and deep into the heart of the creature. The chimera froze, mouth agape as blood flowed without restraint out of it. Then it shuddered twice and died.
The kill notification was enough for Santi, seeming to cut away all the strength he had just been wielding. His legs buckled and he slammed into the spider¡¯s still warm and partially charred corpse and just sat there for a moment as he recovered.
Red Goblin Cursed Chimera lvl. 26
¡°Another just evolved monster. Did it by myself this time,¡± Santi said to no one. It felt good to have faced and killed the monster without help. There were less dead friends and allies this way.
It was worrying that there were two evolved monsters already. It had been less than a week since the integration had started. They could be seeing Disciple class monsters by the end of the year. That would be a nightmare of ungodly proportions. Even at the peak of his power he would have been nervous of fighting Disciple class monsters.
He was so much stronger this time around though. It was undeniable and after he burned down the now undefended nest, he would grow even stronger. He got to his feet and started looking around for another couple gas cans and road flares. If it wasn¡¯t broken, why fix it?
It took ten minutes for him to pack up everything he needed to burn down the nest and another three minutes to walk back to the nest. The chimera¡¯s path of destruction had made it easy. No wall to hop or vegetation to walk through, just a path of carnage.
The aura around the nest had weakened, the power drained away with the death of the chimera and the destruction of the pod. The pod was likely a corrupted natural treasure while the curse was something else that the goblin had discovered. Just bad luck that he had run into it. He could only have imagined the slaughter if they had attacked with full strength. No one else was fast enough to dodge the attacks the chimera had launched. No one would have been able to tank the blows. Dozens would have died.
He spilled the gas in the deepest of the now still webbing. The red vines lay limp and impotent, just traces of mana coming off of them. He grabbed the bags of low-grade treasures from the house and doused a bit of gas in there too. He ran out of gas before he got to the barns, but that was ok.
He walked through the field of dead goblins and toward the team still holding their ground as the flames grew behind him. Plumes of smoke rose to the heavens as he stalked fields of death.
Ch. 58 Acknowledgment
-
¡°You¡¯re all still alive.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t need to sound so shocked, Santi, they were weak,¡± Chloe said, waving an arm at the field of dead around her. She was right of course, but she was starting to sound a little cocky.
¡°I killed another Acolyte monster,¡± Santi stated.
¡°Like the hag?¡±
¡°Yeah, except it was a goblin that melded into a spider,¡± Santi supplied.
¡°Pass! I don¡¯t fuck with spiders,¡± Chad cut in. Everyone turned to look at the bowman who stared back at them without flinching.
¡°It¡¯s all them legs, they creep me out. Arachnaphobia is a perfectly understandable fear. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m scared of balloons or something.¡±
¡°Aside from Chad¡¯s fear of spiders, anything else I miss?¡±
¡°No, we lured out the goblins and killed them all. Light work,¡± Chloe had already bounced back from Santi¡¯s declaration of killing an evolved monster. He didn¡¯t know why he wanted to impress her or was it to maybe humble her? No, that was a lie. He knew why. He was just an idiot.
¡°Let¡¯s get back to the hospital. Don¡¯t want to leave Tank all alone for too long. Power might go to his head,¡± Santi joked. He got a few polite chuckles, but overall most of the squad just ignored his attempts at humor.
The walk back was quiet. Even though they hadn¡¯t lost anyone, everyone was exhausted. Santi¡¯s leg was still bleeding and he was limping from his hurt ankle. Rayleigh had a fairly long cut down her forearm and Chloe¡¯s shirt was bloodstained and ripped. The two track guys had lost all of their javelins over the course of the fight and had resorted to using taken hobgoblin spears. Beverly was in the best condition of all three even if her class and her skill set wasn¡¯t suited at all for fighting.
Chad and Beverly ranged ahead of the rest of them, as they were in the best condition. They had said they¡¯d go and get Tank or one of the other healers to get them patched up before the walk back to the base. Santi could only pray that the base hadn¡¯t yet collapsed into anarchy. The leadership back there had been spotty to say the least.
Halfway there he got the notification for destroying the nest. The fires must have finally burned away enough of the structure to collapse and break the remnant energies. The level up dings were nice, but the alert he got afterward brought a brief frown to his face.
Level Cap Reached
Please Evolve to Continue Leveling.
Any and all experience that he would have earned past that faded away. It probably wasn¡¯t enough to get him to twenty-seven, but it should have been a decent chunk of change. Enough to get him ready to start tackling the Acolyte levels anyways. A bunch of messages for achievements rattled through, but he didn¡¯t open them right away. He could wait a few hours till he was somewhere safer before he knew what was going on. The stat points were allocated though.
Santiago V. Silva
Mage lvl. 25
Strength: 20 (30)
Durability: 18 (28)
Stamina: 18 (28)
Dexterity: 18 (28)
Vitality: 18 (28)
Perception: 19 (29)
Intelligence: 33 (43)
Mana: 36 (46)
Willpower: 34 (44)
Potential: 100%
Title(s): Cockroach (100% to Upgrade)
Killing the chimera had been enough of an accomplishment to earn him another boost to the Cockroach title. All he needed to do was upgrade it, which was much easier than evolving oneself. His menu offered the option and he mentally clicked on it. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
He missed a step as his stats swelled and power surged through his veins.
Cockroach (Minor): You¡¯re still alive somehow. Congratulations.
+25 to All Stats. Upgradeable
The boost of 135 stat points in the space of a single step was unnerving. Santi had to stop and figure out how to breathe. The power in his every motion was exhilarating, for a moment he was as he had been. Before the regression. Then it began to fade. Water leaking out of a hole, the sense of connection and power slipped away leaving him standing there looking like a fool.
¡°You having a stroke?¡± Chloe blurted out.
¡°Naw, looks like he¡¯s constipated,¡± Chad chimed in. The rest of the team looked at least somewhat concerned for him.
¡°I¡¯m fine. Just stat rush. Upgraded my title,¡± Santi finally managed to spit out.
¡°Title?¡± a half dozen voices queried.
¡°Yeah. It¡¯s for doing impressive things. This one is a stat boost meant to keep me alive because I keep running into things stronger than me,¡± Santi explained.
¡°We¡¯ve all fought things stronger than us?¡± Rayleigh had the hints of a question in her voice. There was maybe a tad bit of yearning too.
¡°Higher evolution than me I mean. Not just higher level.¡±
¡°Like the hag and spider?¡± Chloe asked.
¡°Yeah.¡±
¡°You can have it then. Seems like a good way to get killed,¡± Chad said, turning around to keep walking toward the hospital. The rest of the squad just shrugged and followed along. Only Chloe lingered, watching with curiosity for a moment before turning. Santi finally understood.
He had been them.
Complacent. Happy to just be alive and gathering strength slowly. The drive to survive had suppressed his desire to thrive. To truly breach the limits of what humanity could accomplish.
Santi trudged behind them. He was tired but there was a burning fire in his belly now. It had ignited with the realization. All of the challenges he had faced had built the kindling and fuel for this fire. The desire to exceed and grow stronger than anything and everyone else.
He would face the Apostate¡¯s and match those fallen Champions blow for blow. He would gather the strength to protect his family and what was his. There was no turning back, the System itself was acknowledging his strength and achievements. Every challenge would be met head on and defeated, for that was the way of a Champion. The invisible wall he hadn¡¯t been able to surpass, he would go beyond it.
Achievement: Accepting your Potential
Reward: Nothing, you¡¯ve been a dumbass.
Akthyr definitely had some input on what the System notifications could say. He was a bit of a dick too. It did make him wonder just how much information the System had on them. Could it read his thoughts, or was accepting his potential so powerful that the System could register it?
¡°AKTHYR YOU¡¯RE A GIANT ASS CLOWN!¡± Santi thought as loud as he could. The next four steps were the most scared he¡¯d ever been, waiting for a bolt of lighting to come and smite him for his sacrilege. When nothing came, Santi guessed that the System was able to pick up his conviction and not his thoughts.
¡°Will you stop lagging,¡± Chloe barked as Santi had let the rest of the group get further away from him, just in case he was struck by a divine act.
¡°No.¡±
¡°You¡¯re such a brat,¡± Rayleigh said with a smile.
¡°Don¡¯t egg him on Ray, he does it on purpose,¡± Chloe said. The two girls started to whisper and nudge each other with random bouts of laughter thrown in. Santi decided he really didn¡¯t want to know what that was about and just focused on the hospital and the groups scattered around it.
¡°You all made it back!¡± Tank boomed, his voice carrying across the distance between them with ease. The large man looked tired but had a powerful energetic walk as he crossed over to them.
¡°Wasn¡¯t planning to die out there,¡± Santi said, swaggering a bit as everyone looked at him. It did stroke his ego a bit to see everyone staring and looking at him with reverence.
¡°Nobody plans on dying, brother.¡±
¡°The nest is gone. No more goblins.¡±
¡°What¡¯s in the bag?¡±
¡°Just some more treats. We need a more powerful Identification skill than I have to fully figure out what they are.¡±
¡°Are you admitting to not knowing something?¡± Chloe gasped, hand over her mouth as people around them laughed.
The release of tension was palpable. They had come here with goals and they were accomplished, but at such cost. So many who had marched out only days before weren¡¯t coming back home. They had found new people to join them at their base.
¡°Let¡¯s get the hell out of here, I wanna sleep in my own bed,¡± Santi grumbled, even while he smiled. The camaraderie was great, the feeling of belonging soothing something that had been hurt since his regression. His fellows might know that he had secrets, but they were okay with them. They accepted him.
It was more than he could have hoped for.
¡°You heard the man. We¡¯re going home.¡± Tank lazily waved his hand around, gathering up everyone to him. Plenty of walking wounded and haunted gazes. This hadn¡¯t been an easy campaign, but they had done it and could be proud of it. He was proud of them.
¡°Allright, let¡¯s go home.¡±
Ch. 59 Old Friends
-
Golden hour. The setting sun sank behind the mountains and cast golden light across the lake. Hundreds of people worked tirelessly, desperate to finish their work before darkness set. Timber walls formed a ten foot outer wall and four fifteen foot towers anchored the corners of the fort.
Naomi watched it all with a pleased expression, content for the moment with their labors. Having had the money necessary to prepare equipment for when the System arrived had been helpful. Express shipping was a miracle to rival all miracles. One of the many casualties of System¡¯s arrival.
She turned her gaze to what had been other casualties in the first go around. Her daughters and husband were drilling in the central yard. A half dozen other fighters were all practicing their craft. Marcus fought two others with a blunted assegai, moving smoothly between his two opponents. He was a master at his craft, the spear keeping his opponents at range until he slid past their defenses.
The twins were both superb archers, firing arrow after arrow downrange. They had managed to build a sort of moving course and the girls never missed a target. Having a skill or spell was useful, but having the underlying skills to fully utilize the System granted abilities was invaluable. Something she had worked to make sure others had figured out.
The damn geas were crippling. How could she lead her people to become successful and thriving if she couldn¡¯t talk to them about it? She was left with hints and innuendo, tactfully leading them on to the conclusions she needed. So far nothing had truly fallen to the wayside. There had been hiccups of course, but everyone was alive who should be alive.
A sense of pride at her accomplishments swelled through her like it did everytime she stared down at her domain. Blood, sweat, and tears had built this. Her maxed out class told its story, she had stood in the forefront of the fighting and was now standing on the precipice of evolution.
¡°Beware, sister. Pride comes before the fall,¡± Duncan whispered from the shadows. She had to refrain from spinning and cutting the shadows in two, the rogue likely not even inside of them. How he had slipped past her sentry¡¯s was obvious. There had been no guards who could keep the Rogue class Apostate out of their camps in their first life, there would be none now.
¡°Duncan, it¡¯s good to see you,¡± Naomi said, keeping her voice calm.
¡°You look happier this time around. There is less rage inside of you this time.¡±
¡°You can see why.¡±
¡°Yes, those of you who lost families were often the most driven. It softens you, but there is an edge I¡¯ve seen. A desperation to preserve.¡±
¡°Yes. Is there a reason why you¡¯re visiting?¡±
¡°I came to see how you were doing and then I¡¯ll be on my way to kill the interloper,¡± Duncan¡¯s voice continued to be pitched out of the shadows behind her. She was certain he was to her left though, in a patch of darkness that was just a bit too dark.
¡°Is that your priority right now? You have no one you wished to save? No base of power to build?¡±
¡°You know me better than that. I kill the little scout and we should be fine. I got two of the Champions on my way here. I couldn¡¯t get to the Blackheart.¡±
¡°It¡¯s already formed?¡±
¡°I think so. It was hard to tell, there was too much chaos to confirm before I had to start heading this way. Travel isn¡¯t as fast as it used to be after all.¡±
¡°A minor inconvenience that will fade with time.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
¡°Yes. I miss my old strength. I knew it would be hard coming back, but this is beyond what I thought it would be. To feel weak and vulnerable. Twice I had to flee to save my own life.¡±
¡°You are no battle maniac who would die gladly for the thrill of war. We already have one of those.¡±
¡°Of course, I have no desire to replace Annabelle.¡±
¡°Have you made contact with the others?¡±
¡°No, you are the first I¡¯ve spoken to since the Initialization.¡±
¡°What do you think of the other regressors?¡±
¡°Unimportant. If they had been strong enough to affect us, they would have done it in the last timeline.¡± Duncan stirred out of his cloak of shadows finally. Naomi offered the shy man a grateful smile. He knew how she loathed speaking to air.
¡°So, tell me sister, what¡¯s next?¡±
¡°This. Grow strong, evolve, continue to grow strong.¡±
¡°You will still serve?¡± Naomi tensed at the question. Duncan was fast and could deliver terrible damage quickly but he couldn¡¯t survive the counterattack. He was also a true believer, bordering on fanaticism. If he didn¡¯t believe her, he¡¯d attack without hesitation.
¡°Of course. Only with our Lord¡¯s might was I able to see my family again. He has my sword until my dying breath.¡±
Duncan watched her with narrow eyes. The silver handle of a dagger showed through his ragged cloak as he judged her words. After a moment, the dagger disappeared and she breathed a sigh of relief. She had no desire to fight her fellow Apostate.
While in the future she¡¯d be a good counter to him, right now they didn¡¯t have the stats to survive brutal hits. They were superhuman, but still human. By the time they evolved to Disciples they¡¯d be human in name only, able to survive gruesome injuries and deal mountain shaking blows.
¡°Good. I will be looking for others to convert. Without Seth, we are too few. A few more would ensure our Lord¡¯s will be done. Would your family swear allegiance?¡±
¡°They will in the future. Right now they still believe we can win. That we can overcome this. Desperation will make them look to other sources of inspiration and protection. Then, and only then, will I introduce our Lord to them.¡±
¡°You will have to lead them out of your oasis then.¡±
¡°I will. Soon. When the pillars arrive, I will compete for them.¡±
¡°Dangerous.¡±
¡°I will succeed.¡±
¡°I have no doubt.¡±
¡°Good luck on your hunt little brother. Felicia said he was a wily opponent. It took her weeks to crack him, and even then, he was still aware.¡±
¡°Strong Willpower to be able to resist her charms. Even we aren¡¯t invulnerable to them.¡±
¡°Casey has her skills. She was the one who found Blackheart for us.¡±
¡°Kelsey did her part, none can argue it. If she says he¡¯s tough, I will be careful. I¡¯m built to kill mages though, I have no fear of the boy.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t say to be scared of him. Just be careful. Look how I have changed. He could have experienced something similar.¡±
¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re our general and I am the blade.¡±
¡°Stop being pretentious for just a moment. I have no desire to bury you.¡±
¡°I promise, sister. He will die before he knows I am there.¡±
¡°Then I wish you well on your hunt. You will come back and I will introduce you to Marcus and the girls.¡±
A smile filled Duncan¡¯s face and he dipped his head in acknowledgment. He turned and walked away, slowly fading away as his raggedy cloak blended in around the edges until he disappeared from sight. Naomi let out a small sigh of relief. Duncan was a good man to have with you in a fight. He was a kind and gentle person once you got to know him.
He was also a merciless killer and a fanatic. Having someone that was willing to spill blood so close to her family sent chills down her spine. The thought of her girls or Marcus facing off against him was impossible. It was enough to think about, that she had seriously considered killing him, consequences be damned. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time an Apostate had killed a fellow believer.
She looked back down at her girls. They had stowed away their bows and were walking next to Marcus. He had just said something that made the girls groan and shake their heads while he laughed uproariously.
It had been worth it. Everything she had done. Everything she would do. Seeing them like this was enough. She wished that boy Duncan was hunting a swift death. It was kinder that way. They all needed to die so she could build a safe world for her girls.
She left the small platform she had been standing on and headed toward their home. It was her turn to cook dinner and it was looking like it was going to be just sandwiches, her talk with Duncan having taken too long. The slivers of normality is what made it all possible. Made the killing and fighting tolerable. She had lived one life without them, had survived from sheer stubbornness and the glimmer of hope.
Her hope had been rewarded by their Lord. He had whispered to them how to go back and fix everything. He had given her her family back. For that, she would burn worlds in his name.
Ch 2.01 Spoiled For Choices
1.
Santi had some choices to make. He stared at the list of spells available, having three free slots now. He¡¯d be able to slot in Air Manipulation, but in the meantime he¡¯d be going without the advantages three more spell forms would give him. With the morph blade he was kicking-ass, but he still needed to find materials for it to evolve with him. He could feel its hunger. Within a day of the goblin nest raid it had begun to grow anxious, and now a week later, it was ravenous.
It leeched his potential and mana. He had noticed it after the fighting had slowed down. It was such a minute amount it had taken him nearly three days to realize the drain. It wasn¡¯t a problem. Yet.
Which was why he was debating on the spell choices in front of him. After he had claimed his levels he had procrastinated opening his achievements and claiming the spells. There was no particular reason, but he already had too much stuff. His small cubby of a room was overflowing with a horde of resources and wealth. He really needed to find and secure a living situation that didn¡¯t involve him living out of a former sanitation closet.
He let the list fall away. He was already running late to the next meeting he was supposed to be leading. The rescue party that was going out towards where his family should be coming from. Other groups had gone out and come back with survivors, their camp growing quickly. Nearly a thousand people now squatted in the building and neighborhood around it. Walls of rusting cars, cement bricks, repurposed lumber, rebar, and anything else that was kinda sturdy had been erected.
Most of them without direction.
The entire region was a maze of impromptu walls, half demolished buildings, and vaguely organized patrols. The only constant was the building Santi had secured, Homebase. It was a dumb name, but it had stuck.
The brick wall around it had been fortified with more bricks and mortars. There was a blockade on every street corner and patrols who walked the streets. Otherwise it was kept clear. Homebase housed all of their healers, most of the highest leveled fighters, and every member of the Council. Another recent naming convention that had been met with rolled eyes and disgruntled acceptance.
Santi had been unanimously told he had to be on it. Tank was also sitting next to him, as a representative of all the healers. Marisol had taken a spot, as had Abraham. Eugene had taken the death of his son hard, exiling himself off to a house and doing the bare minimum required to stay alive.
The fifth and final member of the Council was a firefighter. Helena Carter was a solid five feet and eight inches of muscle. She had been one of the survivors Daniel and Hana had rounded up and had fought well and had the respect of her fellow professional survivors. Her inclusion to the Council had given them five people and they had decided it¡¯d be enough for now. Santi knew they¡¯d have to expand on it later when people started to evolve.
Right now he was in charge of the fighters and expanding the operational boundaries of the camp. Helena was in charge of the inside of the walls, wherever said walls seemed to spring up overnight. Marisol had taken over the duties of a quartermaster with the help of her daughters. Her sharp eyes kept track of all the goods that Abraham¡¯s scavenger teams brought in.
It had been decided that those who were willing to risk death for food vs. those who would risk death to see numbers go up, should be split up. Chloe had come with Santi, while Rayleigh had gone with Abraham. Santi had seen the split coming, but losing Rayleigh was rough. The beating she had taken in the hospital had shaken her just as much as the dart that had nearly killed her the first day of the integration.
Her job was still dangerous and she was on the precipice of maxing out the Initiate tier, but it was the safer of the two jobs. In most cases she led her teams into places that Santi had already checked out. While monsters or beasts might have come after he left, it wasn¡¯t common.
Chloe on the other hand had looked insulted when Santi had asked if she wanted to stay with her friend. She had taken to the fighting like a natural and she seemed to have the drive needed to strive far. She had maxed out her level and was waiting, trying to figure out how to evolve. Santi had told everyone that he had figured it out, but needed ingredients. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
The grimoire he had earned had several easy to follow evolution rituals that could help someone become an Acolyte. And he had no problem using those rituals on others. For himself and his closest friends though, he had other ideas.
Evolving was far more involved than leveling up. It was rebuilding oneself from the ground-up. How one evolved was important as were the ingredients one used to fuel the evolution. The goblin¡¯s had acquired plenty of low grade treasures that would let several people evolve, but Santi had ideas.
The rift heart would be a good central piece to one of the evolutions. A piece of pure mana and potential. There were several other components he had found that would be helpful, but he was missing the key ingredient. His affinity.
Right now his wind affinity was only Common grade. He wanted to upgrade it and the best time to do that was during an evolution. He needed a wind attuned treasure or something similar. The time affinity would become overpowered with enough time, but its weaker affinity would take him longer to grow and he didn¡¯t know of many natural time affinity treasures off the top of his head.
There were plenty of wind elementals that he could harvest. Elemental cores could be used in place of treasures if he continued to strike out on finding one. He had already found a flesh treasure for Tank, an anatomically correct crystalized heart that pulsed with vitality. Chloe¡¯s affinity was metal and only a lesser affinity at that. If she had the nerve for it, he knew how to upgrade and specialize her affinity. It would be painful and expensive, but would help her become a true monster.
All of those were plans for the future. Right now he had to go in and convince the rest of the council to approve of his newest long range scouting and rescue attempt. They didn¡¯t know he was planning on finding his family in the direction he was going. He couldn¡¯t tell them either, for how was he going to explain how he knew that his family would be coming down the road?
He felt good it would work. There was nothing nearby that was a significant threat and Abraham¡¯s scavenger teams and Helena¡¯s security teams were all approaching the top of the tier. Santi still stood at the pinnacle, but the mountain below him was growing crowded.
¡°Bout time you got here. This is your meeting and you''re late,¡± Tank said gruffly. They had found a few legitimate nurses and one doctor. While Tank had the most powerful and leveled skills, the others outclassed him in knowledge. He had been going through a grind of learning on top of his daily responsibilities. It would be good for him in the long run, but for the moment he was looking a little run down.
¡°Sorry, I got caught up in looking at my spell choices.¡±
¡°You still haven¡¯t chosen? It¡¯s been a week, man.¡±
¡°I know. It¡¯s just that there¡¯s a lot of good options for me.¡±
¡°Well, come on. Need to get one of them to agree to a long range scout team.¡±
¡°I think Abraham will agree with us.¡±
¡°Why would that prick agree with us?¡±
¡°He doesn¡¯t want me around.¡± Santi met Tank¡¯s eyes and raised his eyebrows. The other man rolled his eyes and gave a half shrug. Abraham¡¯s insecurity was a growing realization around the camp as everyone found out how the man was wildly insecure about being weaker than ¡®the children¡¯.
¡°Helena and Marisol like keeping you close. Also, have you seen the list of people you want to take?¡±
¡°Why, yes I have. I wrote that list.¡±
¡°You. Chloe. Daniel. Hana. Adam. Chad. Penelope.¡±
¡°Yeah. That sounds right. Why?¡±
¡°You and Chloe are the two best fighters. Daniel and Hana are the best scouts. Adam and Chad are the best ranged fighters we have and Penelope is the best healer we have.¡±
¡°Yeah, that''s why I wanted them to come with me.¡±
¡°It¡¯s also why Helena and Marisol don¡¯t want them going.¡±
¡°Helena and Rayleigh are just as skilled as Chloe and Chad¡¯s brother is staying.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t even know his name, do you?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll plead the fifth on that one.¡± It was the way the world worked. Chad¡¯s brother had gotten hurt and hadn¡¯t gone on the mission with them. Chad had gotten a ton of experience and levels which meant he kept getting picked to go on missions and kept leveling. Now that he was closing in on the cap, his brother might catch up. Until then Santi was planning on using Chad and not Tristan.
¡°Let¡¯s get this over with. I just hope that Abe¡¯s jealousy works for us for once.¡±
Ch. 2.02 Politics
2.
¡°This list is unbelievable. You would strip us of our greatest fighters while you go out on a lark!¡± Abraham¡¯s voice boomed in the small room, rebounding and assaulting them all as he continued on his tirade. Santi fought to keep from rolling his eyes at the man''s over-the-top theatrics. He wanted them gone, so why was he fighting so hard about it?
¡°It¡¯s not a lark. We don¡¯t know what is in our surroundings past a few blocks from our walls. We need to explore and see what the rest of the city looks like. We¡¯ve been through this,¡± Santi said, exasperated.
¡°Because you leave us vulnerable. The best of the best. Gone!¡± He flung his hands outward as if throwing seeds to the wind.
¡°You¡¯ll have plenty of strong defenders while I¡¯m gone. Rayleigh is near Chloe¡¯s equal and Tank is better than Penelope.¡±
¡°Two of seven.¡±
¡°Alright, I¡¯m tired of this dick waving contest. Let¡¯s get to a vote and try to be productive. Those who vote aye to Santi¡¯s expedition?¡± Helena cut them off at the knee just as they were starting to get into the meat of the fight. Santi was sure it was the fact that he had more personal power than Abraham. The man had an important job, but for the most part he got the leftovers that Santi left him.
¡°Aye,¡± Tank said immediately.
¡°Nay,¡± Marisol said.
¡°Nay,¡± Abraham growled, glaring at him with a smug look. The little shit knew that they were relying on his vote to approve the expedition.
¡°Aye,¡± Helena said after a moment of consideration. Abraham¡¯s smug look dissolved like sugar in hot water.
¡°Don¡¯t look so startled, we need to see what¡¯s around us. In fact, I wish to propose two other expeditionary missions. More limited in scope, obviously.¡±
¡°I think that¡¯s an excellent idea,¡± Tank said, moving to support the older woman without hesitation. Political back scratching at play. Santi rankled at it but knew what he needed to do.
¡°As do I. Do you know what expeditions will be sent out?¡± Santi asked. He was wondering where she wanted to send out exploratory teams.
¡°Downtown and to the area surrounding the distribution center. We need to see what the heart of the city looks like and to see the situation there. We¡¯re also getting dangerously low on supplies.¡±
There it was. Helena and Marisol had planned this. They had backed Santi and Tank into a corner with Helena¡¯s support, and now they had to support this. There was a rift for sure, either there or close by to the distribution center. Santi would have normally been against the plan, the rift too dangerous for them. Yet,they were all beginning to push against the tier border and when they finally tipped over they¡¯d be able to tackle the rift.
From there the meeting dissolved into a logistics meeting that had Santi¡¯s eyes glazing over in boredom. It was important work, but damn it was boring. Having everyone starve to death wasn¡¯t in the best interest of survival. Supplies were allocated toward Santi¡¯s expedition and he was left to go and get everyone he had named. They¡¯d all agreed on joining him already, but he had to alert them that they¡¯d actually be going and when.
Santi didn¡¯t want to spend time waiting on this. Tomorrow morning at first light they¡¯d set out to go and find his family. They didn¡¯t know that, but it was what was planned. Any type of monster nest, rift, or powerful beast would be killed. They were going to acquire the levels for the few who needed them and any and every treasure needed for powerful evolutions. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Chloe was with Rayleigh and the other girls from her dorm. They had taken over a house close to Homebase and were very particular about their visitors. There were a dozen former college girls living in the house in a replica of a sorority house. One that focused on killing monsters and harvesting parts. The girls who weren¡¯t fighters focused on working on other parts.
Harvesting beast meat, learning what monster parts could be useful to their survival. The beginning of a tannery had been started and a crude forge was being built in the house next door. It had all the trappings of the initial stages of a crafters market. With a bit of time and effort, Santi was sure they¡¯d be producing gear of decent enough quality. He was looking forward to some decent armor and the sooner the better. He was burning through clothes at a catastrophic rate.
Chloe was sprawled out over a couch, a pillow on her face. The house was too stuffy and hot for anyone to truly be comfortable to sleep easily. After their evolution the inconvenience of temperature would become something minor. Their durability and stamina so high that nothing short of mana infused storms would bother them.
¡°Hey, lazybones, we¡¯re on!¡± Santi yelled at her, not daring to enter their home beyond poking his head inside.
Chloe¡¯s arm rose lazily, wrist snapping straight and middle finger extending as she huffed underneath her pillow. She had volunteered for every mission that they had run, wearing herself down in her quest to level. Santi was quietly impressed with her fortitude. She had little to no training with the axe and yet threw herself at every problem as if the correct application of focused violence was the solution. She hadn¡¯t been wrong yet.
Santi left her alone and went and rounded up the others. Daniel and Hana were, as always, with each other. The two had shacked up together after coming back from the goblin nest. They were nestled together in a shared house with a mix of other college aged survivors. The house was fairly tidy and only had a few people lounging around in the living room.
Still, they didn¡¯t really acknowledge him. There had been a growing distrust for him over the last week. His knowledge base and the fact he couldn¡¯t tell anyone how he knew was driving a wedge between himself and the rank and file. Those who fought with him didn¡¯t particularly care, but the ones who didn¡¯t watched him with wary eyes. Especially the scavengers.
It was going to be unfortunate when Santi had to arrange an accident for Abraham. The man was a malevolent pest who wished to cling to whatever little iota of power he could grasp. If only his talent matched his ambition. Once they were more stable.
He paused right outside of their room and rapped on the doorframe. He heard rustling and cursing and then Hana poked her head out to give him a quizzical look. Her short hair was disheveled and she had a cat that ate the canary smile.
¡°We¡¯re on. Tomorrow, first thing.¡± He left them and the musky smell that had wafted out of the door when she opened it. Everyone was handling the initialization differently. Some threw themselves at every problem, some threw themselves at each other.
Chad and Adam were on guard duty. Perched on top of a house with their respective weapons, they watched the edge of their territory with an alertness that Santi approved of. Both of them were serious and dedicated men. It was a shame that Tristan had been injured and left behind in the leveling spree of the last week.
¡°We¡¯re on! Tomorrow before dawn!¡± Santi yelled up at them. Both men just gave him thumbs up and went back to scanning the streets around their corner. There were people perched on almost every roof in overwatch. The War Chief¡¯s raid had imprinted itself on them.
Penelope was the last member he had to find. The healer was actually in Homebase. A late twenty-something with dark brown hairs and caramel eyes, she still wore her nurse scrubs as she helped out in the infirmary. She clung to the mundane, the remnants of the old society and life she had once had. It gave her the strength and comfort to continue on.
Everyone had their own coping methods.
¡°Hey, we¡¯re approved to go. You¡¯re still good to go with us?¡± Santi asked. She was the weakest link of the group. She had only ran a few missions outside of the security of their compound, but aside from Tank she was the best healer they had.
¡°Yeah. I told you I would be good to go. In the morning?¡±
¡°Yup. I¡¯ll grab you and we can get going first thing in the morning.¡±
¡°Sounds good.¡± She went back to her patients while Santi slunk back to his room. He struggled somedays to cope. How could he throw himself over and over into dangerous situations, but the little politicking needed to run a community left him exhausted?
He laid down in his stuffy room and brought up the list of spells again. He had three open slots and couldn¡¯t leave power sitting on the table. While [Air Manipulation] would be useful, taking a few spells instead of it would provide better utility. Now he just needed to find out which ones to take.
Ch. 2.03 Leaving Town
3.
The predawn morning had the crispness of a late spring day. Hints of fog clung to the edges of the ground, already rapidly burning away as the sun began its ascent through the sky. The rest of the team was beginning to file in, their faces haggard and sleep deprived as they trickled to the meeting place. Santi couldn¡¯t help but look at his stat sheet and spells while he waited patiently.
Santiago V. Silva
Strength: 20 (45)
Durability: 18 (43)
Stamina: 18 (43)
Dexterity: 18 (43)
Vitality: 18 (43)
Perception: 19 (44)
Intelligence: 33 (58)
Mana: 36 (61)
Willpower: 34 (59)
Potential: 98%
Title(s): Cockroach (0%)
Spells: Air Current, Gust, Identify, Air Shield, Crosscurrent-Orb
Air Shield: Create a barrier of condensed winds in a small square.
Crosscurrent-Orb: A condensed whirlwind of air. Explosive when the outer shell is breached.
Both of the spells were Basic level spells. Spell levels increased with their versatility. It was why limited but powerful spells like the orb were basic while something like Air Manipulation was a common level spell.
It finally gave Santi some firepower and a defensive ability. He had never used the orb or shield before, having not followed this path at all. He had avoided most combat related skills until later on. He had upgraded and melded spell forms to create some of his most powerful spells that had become staples for him during the later years in the war.
¡°Good luck out there,¡± Tank said. For such a large man he was surprisingly quiet when he wanted to be. If it wasn¡¯t for Air Current Santi wouldn¡¯t have noticed him slipping behind him.
¡°I¡¯ll be back in a week or so. Can¡¯t leave here for too long yet.¡±
¡°You will be. Eventually.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°You¡¯ll be leaving us. I can see it in you sometimes. This wistful yearning when we start talking about supply levels or anything that¡¯s not related to fighting.¡±
¡°I am who I am. I can¡¯t stand it, being in those rooms and just reading off of lists and complaining about things that need to be done. I want to be out there doing what needs to be done.¡±
¡°I know. Administration and governance is needed in a group our size. Even a dictator would need assistants or lieutenants to do work for them.¡±
¡°Just think how much easier it would have been for us though. You¡¯d just tell them what to do and get things done. None of this backscratching or favors for favors.¡±
¡°Until we get shanked in our sleep.¡±
¡°Yeah, there¡¯s that.¡±
¡°Be safe. I¡¯ll try to keep everyone alive.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
¡°Everyone?¡±
¡°Most everyone,¡± Tank laughed, throwing his head back and filling the early morning with brays of delight. Both of them were thinking of Abraham and how pleasant life would be without him.
¡°You two done canoodling?¡±
¡°What the fuck is canoodling?¡± Santi spat at Chloe as she walked up to them, axe over her shoulder and a heavy pack on her back.
¡°It¡¯s like making out,¡± Tank supplied helpfully.
¡°He¡¯s too tall for me, I¡¯d never reach,¡± Santi retorted. He nudged Tank who was in the middle of another guffaw and walked out to his team. Chloe just rolled her eyes and followed after. Once they were all assembled, Santi brought out his secret that he had been working on for a few days.
Bicycles. With wagon attachments.
¡°We¡¯re riding bikes?¡± Chad asked as he stared at the seven lined bikes.
¡°Speed is the name of the game. I don¡¯t want to be stuck walking for fifty miles.¡±
With his advanced stats he could probably do fifty miles in a day. The others would die trying to keep up with him.
¡°How are we supposed to scout if we¡¯re on bikes? We¡¯ll be stuck on the road.¡± Daniel complained.
¡°Carefully. Once we get out of town and start out into the country, we¡¯ll send you two out ten minutes ahead of us. We¡¯ll have flares in case of emergency. They¡¯re all in each individual wagon.¡± Santi pointed out the equipment they would all be using and had to repress a smile as everyone nodded and told him it was decently thought out.
Heavy packs were loaded into the wagons and they set off. Santi rode easily, his legs churning as he rocketed down the streets that led out of town. The closer it had got to when they left he more anxious he had grown.
He was going to see them again. His family. He just had to find them.
It took only an hour and twelve minutes for them to work their way out toward the edge of town. Golden light streamed out through the trees and houses while faint chill faded away to the heat of spring. He had told Yesi to meet him here in a week. The time had come and gone and now he worried.
Akthyr¡¯s geas had placed so many needless complications in his path. Had Yesi¡¯s note been read. Would they know to go down Road 96. Would they avoid the barn? He had prayed they¡¯d arrive in the last few days, but it hadn¡¯t happened and he couldn¡¯t wait any longer.
Road 96 was only tangentially connected to the city, running perpendicular to another county road. The ignored fields were filled with weeds by now and the wheeling crows were fat and plump from their feast. Animals walked through the fields with little hesitation. Humanity had been pushed back so fast and hard that the natural wildlife was coming back.
They wouldn¡¯t last. Already there¡¯d be mana driven mutations.Beasts emerging from the initialization that would raze animal populations. When the invaders came it would only grow worse, until every strip of the planet was filled with foreign life. It was like a giant clock over his head, knowing what was coming and being powerless to stop it.
They kept riding, the miles melting away as the sun rose high above them. At midday they pulled off to the side of the road and took a lunch break. The group was quiet with Daniel and Hana sitting off to the side, shoulder to shoulder. Chloe lay sprawled in the dirt with her feet propped up on a wagon while Penelope engaged in polite conversation with Adam and Chad.
Santi watched.
The fields were empty. There were no signs of wildlife that had been so abundant. Even the crows had stopped circling. They were close to Road 96 but would take another hour to reach it. Road 96 would lead them closer to his home and hopefully upon his family. If they could survive whatever it was that had spooked all the local animals away.
¡°Nobody freak out or anything. Stay calm. But, there¡¯s something close by,¡± Santi spoke softly to the group, hoping not to startle them. Penelope immediately showed her lack of experience by whipping her head back and forth. Adam and Chad both shifted closer to their respective wagons and the weapons sitting in them.
Chloe pulled her feet off of the wagon and grabbed her axe which was right next to her. Daniel and Hana pulled apart and started to look around without moving their heads. Santi sighed to himself. He missed working with professionals.
¡°How do you know?¡± Penelope whispered. She was clutching a long repurposed butcher knife that sat inside a homemade sheathe on her waist. Her knuckles had turned a startling shade of white and fear filled every syllable when she spoke.
¡°There¡¯s no animals nearby. Nobody wander away from the group. Pack up and get ready to move. We¡¯re pushing the bikes. Weapons in hand.¡±
They got up and quickly packed up the non-vital supplies. Penelope was shuffled to the middle of the group while Santi sat in the rear. Daniel and Hana moved to the front to start pushing ahead. In the middle of the day, Daniel¡¯s class was at its weakest, but he was still the most experienced scout they had.
Chloe glued herself to Penelope¡¯s side, her wicked axe in hand. Chad had an arrow in one hand and bow in the other while Adam had grabbed a discus. The former collegiate thrower had loaded his wagon with all sort of throwing weapons, javelins, discus, shot put, and even two hammer throw things. His class allowed him to throw each of those improvised weapons with extreme accuracy and prejudice.
Santi let his morph blade slink into his palm. The liquid metal had taken to coating his arm in a sleeve of metal, ready to be deployed in a moment. At the moment he wanted it to stay hidden and as a surprise for whatever it was that was hiding out here in the farmlands.
Eight minutes passed before he felt the hairs on his neck stand up. There was a rustle in the tall crops on the right side of the field. Just a gentle sway as if the wind had stirred them. Except, there was no wind.
Ch. 2.04 Winds of Destruction
4.
Santi had the morph blade turn into its thin whip form, thin as a string and sharp as a razor. It pooled around his feet as it stretched out, its recent growth giving it the mass needed to reach over twelve feet long. He didn¡¯t hesitate, snapping his wrist around and sending the silvery death whip through the dry crops at waist height. From the time he had seen the wilted crops move to cutting everything around him in half was less than two seconds.
He still hadn¡¯t been fast enough.
A brown blur flashed by him, over the top of the whip and headed straight toward the center of the group. Santi had a glimpse of mandibles and chitin before Penelope screamed. Adam went under in a blur of slashing arms, yelling in pain and rage as blood flew.
Chloe spun, crossing the distance between them nearly instantly as her axe took on its pearlescent glow. Santi transformed his weapon to a long spear and stabbed at the mutated bug''s back. The morph blade tore through tough chitin like it was tissue paper, a shower of gore exploding outward as the spear punched out the other side. Chloe hit it a second later, her axe bisecting it as she split it in half horizontally.
Santi heard the rustle of the dead wheat. He spun and met the next charging bug. It blew through the brown crops and stood tall and proud for a second as it took in their group. It looked like a praying mantis had been hit with a growth potion. Six long skeletal legs and two raptorial legs that stuck out like arms. The hooks on the arm-like appendages were cruel looking and Santi had no desire to feel them.
His new found hammer crushed the five and half foot bug to a paste. His strength made up for the lack of weight as he made the ¡°hammer¡± as wide as possible. It was closer to a fly swatter, but the metal was unyielding and Santi¡¯s strength was undeniable. White gore spattered out as chitin broke and the mantis was pulped at his feet.
¡°Adam alive?¡± Santi called backwards, his eyes stuck on the suddenly very active field in front of him. The seven foot tall dried wheat were waving back and forth as if a storm ravaged it. There had to be dozens of the mutated bugs coming at them.
¡°I¡¯m good,¡± Adam yelled back. A moment later Santi heard a grunt followed by the passage of something large going by his head at inordinate speeds. As it flashed by him and into the thick wheat, he got a glimpse of one of the hammer throw implements flying surrounded by a gray aura.
Wheat dissolved as the heavy metal ball cut a furrow through the field. Santi could hear as bugs were crushed under its undeniable impetus. And it kept going. From what he could hear, he had to assume at least five of the bugs had fallen victim to the single skill. Not wanting to be outdone, Santi started to draw the mana needed for his newest ability.
Crosscurrent-Orb gave the promise of directed chaos. He was immensely excited to try the new spell out and the mantis-like beasts were perfect for it. Activating the spell was like reaching his hand into the wall of a tornado. The power of the summoned winds were contained in less than a second. A shell of compressed air formed around the whirling winds with a faint green glow around it.
Santi pictured the spell leaving his hand and flying into the heart of the field. He held that image and then Willed it into existence. The green orb rocketed free of his palm and followed the path that Adam¡¯s skill had created. It flew for a hundred yards in a second and then the shell popped like a bubble.
Arctic flurrys that howled over the tundra. Salt laden ocean gales. Scouring hot desert winds. All of those and more were contained in that simple, fragile orb. Santi could feel them, feel the eagerness to escape their containment and then their wrath.
A bomb¡¯s detonation would have been more gentle. A thirty yard circumference was flattened. A shockwave rolled over them all as a wall of dust came to wash over the small convoy. Choking coughs and spluttered curses were all Santi could hear for a moment, but the newfound grin on his face didn¡¯t leave. That had POWER.
Multiple kill notifications had dinged when he detonated the orb, the crushing power in the blast radius must have liquefied the mantis¡¯s insides. Not the prettiest kills, but enjoyable. The drifting dust made it hard to see and Santi had to use his Air Current to guide himself as he ran toward where the field had been. The mutated beasts were stunned and he wasn¡¯t going to give them time to recover. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
¡°Don¡¯t shoot!¡± Santi yelled over his shoulder right as he plunged into the destroyed field. Stalks of wheat cracked under his shoes as he searched with his spell. His blade snapped back and forth with deadly precision as he hunted. There had been nearly thirty of the beasts. Most had survived the orb but had been stunned to the point of being frozen. Santi reaped them without hesitation. It was over in minutes as Santi used all of his inflated stats to fly around without the others to see him.
For just a minute he could revel in the surge of strength and speed he had. How his arms didn¡¯t tire as he swung his weapon, how his hearing was keen enough to hear the shift of weight from the surviving mantis. He got to play at being a god for a minute as the weak beasts couldn¡¯t have fought against him even if they hadn¡¯t been stunned.
Mutated Mantis lvl. 21
They were strong beasts. If it had been any other group from the city they likely would have taken casualties. The lowest ranked people in their convoy was Adam and Hana though, and both of them were level twenty-two. It showed the rapid evolution of the world around the city, that the wild animals and corrupted creatures could be just as deadly as a monster nest or rift.
¡°Everyone ok?¡± Santi yelled as he trudged out of the field. His weapon had decided it didn¡¯t like the mantis blood and was vibrating the blood off of itself. Santi hadn¡¯t seen it do that before, but could feel the disappointment radiating off of it.
¡°Adam has several lacerations. I¡¯m working on it. No other injuries.¡± Penelope told him, still hidden in the slowly settling dust cloud. There was no hint of the fear and anxiety that had been there moments before. Just the cold, analytical, experienced voice of a trauma nurse.
¡°Alright. Let¡¯s push out of this dust cloud and then we¡¯ll let Adam get bandaged up and then we¡¯ll be on our way.¡±
¡°I need to go and get my hammer,¡± Adam protested. That was one of the major problems with classes that relied on physical implements. If they lost them, they¡¯d lose a significant chunk of their powerset. It was why magic was the best class.
At least Santi thought it was.
¡°Yeah, go and grab it then. Everyone hang tight and we¡¯ll be on our way.¡± Adam got finished being fixed by Penelope and then he was off and running into the field to find his hunk of steel on a string before trotting back to them. They were off and moving in less than five minutes, the entire encounter having lasted less than six minutes.
The speed and power they all had now dwarfed where they were a week ago. After their evolutions and becoming Acolyte¡¯s the easy levels would slow. Right now if they breathed hard on something they could gain potential or levels. Soon they¡¯d have to start pushing themselves and Santi was planning for it. Once his family was safe.
¡°How much further are we going today?¡± Chloe asked as they left behind the scene of insectoid murder.
¡°We need to find something defensible, so whenever that happens. I don¡¯t want to be out in the open after dark.¡± Santi thought about it for a moment and decided now was better than never.
¡°Daniel, come here for a moment!¡± Santi called to the front of the line where Daniel was calmly pedaling on. He motioned for the rest of them to keep riding on while he talked to the scout.
Daniel braked and just waited for everyone to pass him. Santi let the entire convoy go ahead as he and Daniel fell further and further behind until they could speak quietly with each other. Daniel was one of the two surviving people to have heard Santi tell them he was from the future and while his geas suppressed those memories, Daniel still trusted him.
¡°I need you to go up and ahead tonight. Down Road 96. You¡¯re going to be looking for people,¡± Santi explained.
¡°Who am I looking for?¡±
¡°My family. Do you think you can move through the dark?¡±
¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll be fine. Santi, how do you know your family is out there?¡± Daniel asked. He was a normally taciturn man, quiet and introspective, rarely voicing complaints or questions. British stoicism maybe. Him asking this was the equivalent of Tank getting violent.
¡°I told you on the night it all started. You, Tank, and Paulie.¡± The damned curse kept him from elaborating but Daniel nodded along, lost in his own thoughts.
¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll go tonight after we settle down. Just keep Hana safe while I¡¯m gone.¡±
¡°Like my own sister,¡± Santi promised.
Ch. 2.05 The Crossroads
5.
There was a small dilapidated bar on the side of the road that they decided to use. It was built right on the cross roads of Road 96 and the country road they had been traveling on. A single story with peeling paint and sun bleached letters on the front spelling out Red¡¯s. The name of the bar had been painted in a vivid red that had faded to a pale pink. A few cars had been abandoned in its cracked asphalt parking lot. A gravel side yard held a broken down RV that looked to be in worse shape than the bar.
¡°Alright, that place looks¡well, it has walls,¡± Santi couldn¡¯t force himself to say the leaning building looked secure. It was too far of a stretch.
¡°Santi, we¡¯re going to be murdered in that shithole,¡± Chloe said with a dark chuckle. The rest of the group nodded, even Chad and Adam looking nervous about it. Daniel was the only one not looking stressed out about it. Then again, he wasn¡¯t going to be staying the night there.
¡°It¡¯s this place or an empty field. With no walls. Do you remember the bugs?¡± Santi asked.
¡°We all remember the bugs, Santi. It¡¯s just that¡this place is going to give us tetanus. Or rabies. Or both,¡± Penelope spoke up looking concerned about the health implications.
¡°I¡¯m staying the night in the creepy abandoned bar at the crossroads. Shit, now that I say it outloud it does sound bad.¡±
¡°You¡¯re still going to stay in there though, aren¡¯t you?¡±
¡°You don¡¯t have to sound smug, Chloe.¡± Santi fired back at his tormentor. The rest of the crew were slowly separating from the two as they fired back and forth at each other.
¡°You¡¯re so fucking stubborn. Just admit that we¡¯re right. We¡¯ll go a little further and find an old meatpacking plant or abandoned farmhouse, or anything else that¡¯s not as creepy as that bar!¡± Chloe was getting heated, a red tinge creeping into her cheeks as she pointed at the bar.
¡°The bar is fine! We¡¯re not some dumb college kids out in some haunted ass place and ignoring the warning signs!¡±
¡°You¡¯re literally ignoring the warning signs right now!¡± Chloe shot back.
¡°I¡¯m staying in the bar! If you don¡¯t want to, go and find your own place to sleep alone then!¡±
¡°Fine! I don¡¯t want to sleep with you anyway!¡±
Both froze, red faced and screaming inches away from each other while the rest of the convoy looked at them with wide eyes. Santi could feel his cheeks heating to incandescent levels while Chloe had the decency to blush at her words.
¡°I know what you meant,¡± Santi offered.
¡°We¡¯ll stay in the creepy bar. But if we get murdered in the middle of the night, it¡¯s your fault.¡±
¡°Agreed.¡±
With that problem temporarily on hold, Santi set out to explore the bar while the rest of the party tried to hold back their guffaws. Santi shot them a dirty glare and blew through the dry rotted front door in a huff.
The bar was dark, hot, and smelled. With the light streaming through the broken windows and doors he got a good look at the dust covered tables and broken chairs. Blood stained the wood in the center of the floor, a wide circle where something had bled for a prolonged period of time. There were no corpses though. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
His morph blade transformed into a long knife while he stalked through the building without hesitation. The entire bar was one big room with the actual bar against the far wall. Broken shards of glass glittered around but other than that Santi didn¡¯t see anything that could look like a monster nest.
There was a charge in the atmosphere. Like when one perched on the edge of a cliff, the potential for something tragic. Was it unscrupulous that Santi had decided to check out the bar that Cameron had died in the first timeline in? He¡¯d say yes if there was an actual nest here. Instead there was just the history of a violent act and general decay and neglect.
Santi checked the bathrooms, neither of which seemed to have been cleaned in the last two decades. The store room was bare. Not even a single beer left. Someone had come and cleaned this place out, there was nothing of value in it to scavenge.
Santi tried to follow that feeling in the air, that charge of power that could be. It was faint, amorphous, the whisper of a possibility. There was the power here to form a nest, but it hadn¡¯t fully solidified yet.
¡°The place is clear. Dirty and stinks, but there¡¯s nothing in here to hurt us!¡± Santi yelled outside to the team, none of whom had ventured into the building. They walked into the bar with trepidation and wrinkled noses. They stacked their bikes in the back and uncoupled the wagons. Nobody wanted to be in the building and they all went and sat outside to enjoy the late afternoon sun.
Daniel had quietly pulled a small pack off to the side and was preparing to go off. Hana watched with concern but hadn¡¯t said a word as everyone ate. Most of their meals were canned or dried food. Santi got a can of tuna and some dried peaches that were washed down by a can of hot soda.
As he chewed he couldn¡¯t help but think of the two days of bliss he had. Two days of air conditioning and fresh food and cold soda. It had been heavenly.
¡°Daniel¡¯s going by himself?¡± Penelope spoke up suddenly. Santi thought it would have been Hana or Chloe, but the nurse seemed concerned.
¡°I¡¯ll be fine. My affinity works well in the dark. I¡¯ll go a few miles down the road and to the sides. See if there¡¯s anything out there that we need to be aware of,¡± Daniel spoke confidently in his faded English accent. Everyone nodded and that was the end of the questioning.
Santi found himself looking around the group slack jawed. He had gotten into a near screaming match about sleeping under a roof and Daniel just said ¡°trust me¡± and everyone was good with it? Maybe he needed to affect an accent?
Daniel went and caught a quick nap in the shade of the building, using Hana¡¯s lap as a pillow with an arm draped over his eyes. Adam and Chad sat shoulder to shoulder with Penelope, the three of them chatting about a TV show they had all been watching.
Chloe said something about checking out the RV and disappeared. Santi just sat back and thought of seeing his family. The years hadn¡¯t been kind to him. He knew that. Everyone who had survived had lost people, if not most of their people. The thought of getting them back, of seeing them and feeling them and their love was enough to choke him up when he thought about it.
Daniel could find them tonight and he could see them in the morning. Unless something had happened. Unless a monster got lucky. Unless they drank bad water. Unless. Unless. Unless.
Death was there, always watching, ever patient. If he didn¡¯t get them back, if his hopes had been raised just to be snatched away. Darkness lay down that path of thought. Santi needed to move, to get up and do something before his anxiety overwhelmed him.
Walking the perimeter of the bar didn¡¯t help. Aside from the parking lot and gravel lot the RV was parked on, there wasn¡¯t much around. Just more and more untended fields. These fields were bare, tilled into perfect rows just waiting for seeds to be planted. The earth had turned light brown and dry, the slight breeze picking up and carrying the topsoil away with every gust.
He didn¡¯t find the bodies of whomever had gotten killed in the bar. Santi couldn''t¡¯ tell if that was a good or bad thing. It would be nice to know what had died, but he didn¡¯t need the rest of the team freaking out if he found a bunch of human remains.
He walked back to the gravel lot and watched as Chloe drug a mattress across the ground. She had the strength to carry it over her head but lacked the height needed to keep it off the ground. She marched into the bar and threw the heavy mattress inside before declaring she was going to bed. The rest of the team took this as time for bed and trickled inside the bar, leaving Daniel and Hana outside as they waited for dark.
Santi couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that he was missing something. He knew this bar became a monster den. Something had died inside of it. There was power in the air and all around him. This was the right spot. He just couldn¡¯t seem to figure out what it was that was missing.
Santi stared at the crossroads and finally felt comprehension wash over him. Old folk tales of deals made at the crossroads flashed through his mind.
¡°Fuck¡¯s sake. I¡¯m not getting any sleep tonight,¡± Santi grumbled as he walked back into the bar. He couldn¡¯t let the rest of the team know there was something out there. He would never live it down.
Ch. 2.06 The Infernal
6.
Hana came back into the bar an hour after the sunset, quietly saying that Daniel had taken off to start his scouting. Everyone settled down, Hana, Chloe, and Penelope all flopped on the queen sized mattress while the boys grabbed floor around them. Santi just wandered off to stare out the broken windows of the bar and into the night.
A full moon was rising through the sky, illuminating the world in pale light. Santi couldn¡¯t take his eyes off the crossroads. A connection point between places under the light of a new moon. He hadn¡¯t been a ritualist or delved much into the deeper lore of magic. It just wasn¡¯t something that had interested him much. His class had reflected that.
He did know the basics. Intent, symbolism, and deep seated belief could affect how magic worked. Mythology could come to life. Something like the crossroads would be powerful. There were millions of crossroads of course but a few more qualifications amplified this bar.
There was obviously something that had happened here. The bloodstains and general neglect showed that. Negative emotions and actions could lead to curses and there was some type of negative energy here.
The power that Santi could sense but couldn¡¯t touch was another warning. Power was buried here, mana swirling just beyond reach. It was enough to form all of the things he had been worried about. A nexus point that could become a monster nest with just the smallest of pushes. One that would be coming with the rising new moon.
Santi could feel it at a guttural level. The nest that had gotten Cameron killed would be formed tonight. He was sure of it. He just had to wait.
Santi felt himself sink into a state of alert relaxation. His muscles were loose and mind alert. He could take action in less than a second if something happened. When something happened.
The minutes passed in comfortable silence as the moon continued to climb. More and more of the pale light filled the world until the crossroads were bathed in it. Santi felt his heart begin to beat faster. An extra few beats a minute, blood surging through his veins as a trickle of adrenaline leaked through his rigid control. It was coming. He could feel it.
A black splotch formed in the middle of the crossroads, staining the world as it spread out. Santi rose and walked out of the bar. Cold air brushed across his face as he stretched his legs to meet what was going to be emerging from that inky puddle. His morph weapon transformed into a long curved blade, heavier and thicker than his normal saber.
The puddle stopped expanding at six feet in circumference. It wasn¡¯t shadow or ink, but rather an absence of light. A vacuum. Santi stared down at it and felt a deep discomfort looking at it. It was unnatural and foreign.
Curved horns rose. Black tar dripped off them to fall like rain. Each drop hit the portal and made it ripple like water. The creature¡¯s skull was bone white and lacked any features. A smooth oval of bleached bone that the black tar couldn¡¯t hold to. Wide shoulder covered in a white suit open to its sternum. Violet fur, bordering on black, was visible from the gaps in the unstained clothes.
Long slender fingers were capped with polished black claws. Its feet were bare and cloven, shining with gloss as it stood perched on the portal like it was solid ground. Black flame started to burn at eye level, the white skull degrading away until eye sockets were formed. Cracking open a line emerged along where a mouth belonged and teeth formed in jagged triangles.
Infernal ???
Santi dismissed his weapon instantly. It wormed its way back up his arm, its thin thoughts reduced to an inarticulate scream of primordial fear. Santi could empathize with that fear. His lungs couldn¡¯t draw in air, his spine locked in ice, while his insides became a watery mess. He wouldn¡¯t have fought something like this even when he had been at the height of his power. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
¡°Hello,¡± the Infernal rasped. It was as if stone grated on glass. Santi had to control his reaction to prevent himself from flinching back. Something like this shouldn''t be on the planet yet, or ever.
¡°Greetings, elder,¡± Santi tipped his head in the most minute expression of bowing his head while not letting his eyes leave the creatures. He had only heard rumors of Infernal¡¯s before, but this thing frightened him at an intrinsic level. Basic courtesy wouldn¡¯t be amiss.
¡°Have you come to bargain?¡±
¡°No, I¡¯m simply passing through and felt your presence and wished to pay my respects.¡±
¡°You lie, but not insultingly. You should learn to control your pheromones, they give you away. An increase in cortisol levels is a strong indicator of lying.¡±
¡°Thank you for your advice. I will work to control my pheromones.¡±
¡°It would be crass to say I was summoned, so much as that I felt a need. A desire to make a trade. A bargain. If not you, then who?¡±
¡°I know not.¡±
¡°How unfortunate. No matter, there are other deals to be made in this world. Are you sure you don¡¯t wish to bargain? You should know what I can offer, regressor.¡±
That more than anything scared him. Akthyr had said the planet sat outside of time and space and that was how regression could be possible. If it knew he was a regressor it had peered through the isolation pocket. It was from outside of the initialization.
Santi stared down at the portal of otherness it stood on. That it hadn¡¯t tried to step away from. Synapses fired and he understood. Santi bowed to the Infernal and backed away. The creature¡¯s false mouth widened into a simulacrum of a smile.
¡°Ahhh, here it comes.¡±
Santi straightened and watched as something shuffled out of the darkness. Wide and slope shouldered it lumbered with stubby legs. Snuffling it swung its broad head back and forth as it grew closer. The light of the moon was not enough to show it in its entirety but he could discern pieces of it.
Black fur, long arms, and white teeth. Seven feet of ropy asymmetrical muscle that moved with a pace eating stride. Santi let his blade form again as it crossed the distance, knowing that this was the monster that would form the nest that had killed Cam in the past.
Primas Alpha lvl. ?
An Acolyte monster. He had killed several of them now but neither of them had this level of strength. He could feel some type of magic pushing against him, some type of earth magic.
¡°No violence in my presence,¡± the Infernal decreed and every plan went out of Santi¡¯s mind. It stated its decree like it was a universal law and Santi was forced to obey.
¡°Great lord,¡± the alpha rumbled. Its voice was deep and sonorous, rattling the bones in Santi¡¯s chest as it towered over him to look the infernal in the eye. The Infernal had stretched itself in the space between heartbeats so that the alpha couldn¡¯t look down on it.
¡°Beast. Have you come to bargain?¡±
¡°Yes, I seek safety for my people.¡±
¡°What do you have to offer?¡±
The beast lifted up a wide hand and opened its palm. Power radiated out from what it had clenched in its long fingers.
¡°Power taken from the heart of the world. Given freely,¡± the beast proclaimed. Santi felt greed swell through him, he wanted it. He wanted it more than anything he had ever felt so far in this life.
¡°A trinket. But I will take it. A bargain is struck.¡± Power swelled around the Infernal¡¯s feet. The portal shrank till only the Infernal¡¯s feet were covered in the void. The alpha stood erect and opened its wide mouth open in a scream of agony. The void spread out from under the alpha¡¯s feet and it sank through it to disappear.
¡°That is a gift from me to you. I would evolve as soon as possible if I were you. It will not wait for you to grow strong to challenge you. Only one alpha could stand supreme afterall.¡±
The Infernal sank through the void at its feet without another word. The light strengthened, Santi not noticing that the world had darkened with its presence. He breathed out a sigh of relief. In the original timeline when he and the others hadn¡¯t been here he had no doubt that the creature had made a similar bargain and rested inside of the bar. Only for Cameron and the others to run into it.
The alpha would have killed him and the others. There was no doubt about that. Its physical strength as a beast would have overcome him and the earth magic it had would have countered his wind magic.
He did owe the Infernal for transporting the alpha away. A debt that if he survived through the initialization he was sure that it would claim. Just one more thing to worry about.
Ch. 2.07 Family
-
¡°They¡¯re six miles down the road in an old farmhouse. Big group of them, about fifty or so. They¡¯ve taken over a couple of barns and have tents and camping gear everywhere. Lots of wounded,¡± Daniel gave his report in the early morning. The sun had barely crested the horizon when Daniel had trotted into camp.
Santi hadn¡¯t managed to sleep at all after his late night encounter and had perched in front of the bar waiting silently for the scout to come back. He had a lot to think about after all. The Infernal shook him. Something that powerful and intelligent here already, even if it was restrained, wasn¡¯t a good sign.
His plans to wait to do his evolution until he was perfectly ready and had practiced with others had gone right out the window. His own original evolutions had been performed by others who had done it many times by then. He needed to find a wind treasure or something similar before he let his advantages slip out of his grasp. He had left a list of things to look for with some of his scouts and could only hope they¡¯d found something worthwhile when they returned.
With his title providing him a huge boost in stats he could currently fight up a few levels, especially with his years of experience. The Primus Alpha hadn¡¯t given him low level Acolyte vibes. It was an experienced monster, either a rapidly evolved beast or a rift monster that had abandoned its rift. He would need the qualitative boost from the evolution to fight it.
First he had to bring his family home. To relative safety and his guidance. The thought of seeing them all again made him want to pace back and forth, to bounce around in utter joy, yet at the same time, sink to his knees in anxiety. How could he face them again after he had abandoned them?
Daniel¡¯s arrival had been timely, stopping his spiral and helping him balance himself. That they were less than an hour¡¯s ride away was amazing news. He just needed to be ready for the rest of the group¡¯s reaction. Daniel trusted him and Chloe knew something was different about him. The others though? Trickier situation.
¡°Take a break, get some water and food. I¡¯ll let the others know,¡± Santi told Daniel, patting the other man on his shoulder. Daniel nodded and walked off without another word to slump into some shade and pull a granola bar out of his pack.
The others were groggily waking up and gathering themselves. Bathrooms had been made quasi-usable. A sink had been repurposed for a bird bath set-up and they were trying to be as hygienic as possible. It wasn¡¯t very hygienic, but they were trying.
¡°Hey, Daniel found a group of people just a little ways down the road. We¡¯re moving in ten!¡± Santi shouted. He decided to punt the decision that it was his family for later in the morning once he confirmed they were there.
A chorus of grunts, growls, and curses were all he got. Santi ducked as something was thrown at him. Not morning people. Noted.
Santi retreated back outside and hung out with Daniel while everyone trudged outside with their bikes and wagons loaded up. Twenty minutes... after the ten minute deadline.
Santi had to consciously control himself from jumping from foot to foot in his anxiety. He wanted to snap at them, yell and scream and pour all of these emotions that were curled in his chest and gut out in a vitriolic stream. The boost to willpower kept that from happening, but he was tempted.
They got on the road, each pump of his legs getting him closer to his family. They were moving at speeds that would put professionals to shame, limited by the poor materials of the bikes. Santi had to restrain himself from pushing harder, a single hard push of his legs would twist the frame, shatter the pedals, break the chain. What he would do for a couple of System enhanced crafters. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
The miles flew by. The trip took forever. It ended instantly. All of those were true and false at the same time. Sweat beaded down his face and back, his palms slick with perspiration that had nothing to do from the light exercise he was doing.
In one moment, there was nothing. Just fields of browning, limp, vegetation that stretched out all around them. Then there was a large farmstead. White two story house, picket fence, three red barns in a line off to the side. Fine gravel road led off the paved county road and to the house. Santi saw the multiple tents scattered about. The people walking about.
His sister.
Yesi was sitting on the top of the roof with a crossbow in her arms. He saw her stand up and cover her eyes with her hand. The smile bloomed across her face as she yelled something to someone. His eyesight was good enough to see her reactions, but he couldn¡¯t hear her words.
Santi started to push harder. His legs churned as his strength began to exert itself without his conscious thought. Something snapped and his leg smacked the earth, digging a furrow in it. He didn¡¯t care, he was up and off, leaving his broken bike and the wagon he had been dragging for miles behind him.
There was something liberating about sprinting. About putting your all into just going as fast as possible. An exhilaration as you pushed past your limits, to straining your muscles and every breath was fire.
Yesi crawled down the top of the roof, shouting and crying as she did it. The doors to the house were thrown open and he saw Mom. Santi¡¯s vision disappeared in a watery diffraction. Dad was behind her, but he couldn¡¯t make him out through the tears.
He couldn¡¯t say anything, a lump in his throat as he ran. He couldn¡¯t say their names, he couldn¡¯t breathe. Santi felt arms wrap around him and his legs gave way. The familiar scent of home, of comfort and safety.
¡°Mi hijo¡± the words came like a rushing river as he felt more arms wrap around him. His mother¡¯s voice, his father¡¯s strength, the warmth of his sisters. It was everything he hadn¡¯t felt in years. He sobbed and said things that didn¡¯t make sense, words of incomprehensible grief, of agony, of a decade of loneliness.
Santi didn¡¯t hear the others pull up. There were words around him, but for a moment, just a moment, he was somewhere else. Somewhere not bloodstained. A place where kill or be killed wasn¡¯t the way of the world. A safe place. The arms loosened around him and with a few sniffling repressed sobs, Santi cleared his eyes and saw his family for the first time in eight years.
Mom looked at him with her emerald green eyes, her black hair streaked with iron gray, crows-eyes creasing the corner of eyes. There was a new scar, still violently angry, on her cheek that stretched down and to her neck. Still his mother.
Her eyes were red shot and tears streamed down her face as her smile stretched from ear to ear as she clung to his shoulders with strength that far surpassed what she should have. She was whispering words to herself, to faint for even him to hear.
Dad stood next to her. His small frame had thinned down over the last week. His potbelly dissolving in the stress and exertion of the apocalypse. His black hair was still thick and unblemished by age. His hazel eyes were warm and welcoming and he too had the largest smile that Santi had ever seen him wear.
Bianca was off to the side, hands over her mouth as she cried silently. She was their mother, but younger and with black eyes. Older than him by a few years, she had just graduated college and came back home while she started to look for a new job. It had been a blessing this time around, his entire family under one roof.
Yessenia was the baby, only seventeen, and was the most exuberant of them. She was hopping from foot to foot as tears poured down her face as she hugged herself. She was the shortest of the family, barely clearing five feet tall, and had broad, strong shoulders.
Santi couldn¡¯t speak. He tried but the words couldn¡¯t come out. A motion behind them turned his gaze to his best friend. Cameron was leaning against the doorframe with a faint grin. Santi couldn¡¯t have torn himself away from them if he tried, but he gave Cam a smile and a nod, before he was pulled into another family hug.
There would be for a few minutes of not having to worry about it all. That he could just stand here and feel the love of his family without worry. In a few minutes he¡¯d surface and continue on with his plans of bloodshed and death. Of growing beyond whatever limits there had been on him before. Of lifting the others with him as he did so.
But that could be for later.
Ch. 2.08 Table Talk
8.
Someone set a cup of hot tea in his hand. The camp was much better supplied than Santi had thought it would be. Someone had done serious planning when they had set out. Three single axle trailers had been repurposed to be pulled by people and were loaded down. Camping gears, long term food, water, sanitary supplies, and a dozen other things Santi hadn¡¯t thought about when he was getting his own base set up.
The tea was a nice touch, even if the leaves were stale. There was campfire coffee being cooked over an open flame and someone had ripped open imitation chocolate packets and stirred it into hot water. It was still early morning, three till ten, and people were eating breakfast.
Someone had managed to coral a bunch of chickens and there were fresh eggs being consumed. The smell of the cooking eggs made Santi¡¯s stomach growl, it had been over a week since he had eaten non-canned food. Everyone was settled down in the dining room around the table and were looking at him with a mix of shock and caution.
Chloe and Daniel had come in with him, while Penelope had gone out through the camp to help the wounded. The two ranged fighters had taken Yesi¡¯s place on the roof and Hana had drifted off to look around. Santi was certain that she didn¡¯t trust his family¡¯s group to have properly scouted.
¡°How did you find us?¡± Mom asked eagerly, leaning forward to touch his hands. She was ignoring her own plate of fried potatoes and eggs, green eyes locked on him. He had to tear his own gaze off of her to look around at the others. Chloe had a partially raised eyebrow as she was waiting to hear how they had found his family.
¡°Luck. Just dumb luck. Why are you out here?¡± Santi tried to get the attention off of him and towards his family. Chloe wouldn¡¯t let it go, but he needed her to chill until he had time to deal with her questions in private.
¡°Yesi, she really pushed us to get out of town. There were all these monsters and creatures. It was dangerous. We¡we made it out and that¡¯s all that matters,¡± Dad spoke suddenly. He had passed his own plate of food to Cameron who was wolfing it down with haste.
¡°Santi, are you going to introduce us to your friends?¡± Bianca asked.
¡°Oh¡um, yeah. Chloe is our frontline fighter. Daniel is our main scout. He¡¯s the one who found you. Penelope is the healer and the two guys up top are Chad and Adam. Hana is wandering around somewhere, she¡¯s our other scout. Umm¡ guy¡¯s this is my Mom and Dad, Gabriella and Vicente. My sisters are Bianca and Yessenia.¡±
Santi pointed out each and every person and everyone said a mix of hello¡¯s and good to meet you¡¯s. Bianca looked at Chloe and then back to Santi and arched a single eyebrow at him, turning her head so Chloe couldn¡¯t see her. Santi rolled his eyes at his older sister and focused on the last person at the table.
¡°And this is my best friend. Cam.¡±
¡°Last, but not least,¡± Cam said with half an egg hanging out of his mouth. Bianca slapped his arm and shook her head in disgust.
¡°Forgive him, he¡¯s a caveman,¡± Bianca told Daniel and Hana. She was used to Cam¡¯s actions, the younger man had been a semi-permanent addition to their kitchen table for most of her life after all.
¡°I am not. I am the Defender,¡± Cam shot back to a rousing groan from all of Santi¡¯s family as Cameron looked pleased with himself.
¡°That¡¯s your class?¡± Chloe asked, suddenly interested. It was one of the few non Survivor or Brawler classes that they had interacted with.
¡°It¡¯s my superhero name!¡±
¡°Cameron, use your inside voice,¡± Mom scolded him. Cam ducked his head and muttered an apology.
¡°Cam¡¯s a Defender, me and your father are both Survivors, Bianca got Fighter, and Yessenia is a Planner,¡± Mom said. That was enough to rattle through Santi¡¯s daze. Defender was a Common class, but Planner was a Rare grade class. Something that shouldn¡¯t have been possible till, at the bare minimum, the first evolution. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
¡°What are your guy¡¯s levels?¡± Santi asked, trying to buy himself time to think.
¡°Me and your Dad aren¡¯t very strong, just seven. Cam is much stronger, but I don¡¯t know what he¡¯s at. The girls are two of the strongest people in the camp!¡± Mom sounded weary when she said that. As if it had been a continual fight between them.
¡°I¡¯m level 19,¡± Cam said, flexing a bicep without looking up from his rapidly diminishing plate of food.
That was solid work for being so early in the initialization, especially if they were traveling. The core of fighters he had been assembling around himself were well beyond the bell-curve. Regardless, Cam was going to have to level and quickly. A Defender would round out the team well. Yesi¡¯s class had so much more potential though.
¡°You¡¯ve got some work to do if you want to keep up with us,¡± Chloe said from the other side of the table, her barb flying without hesitation. Cam looked puzzled for a second, looking back and forth between Chloe and Santi.
¡°I can get you being higher level and stronger than me,¡± Cam pointed at Chloe, then slowly turned to Santi.
¡°The munchkin though? I don¡¯t believe it,¡± there was a whisper of a smile there.Cam¡¯s sense of humor wasn¡¯t something most people enjoyed. Or called humor if they were older than twelve.
¡°Santi¡¯s the strongest person in our camp. He¡¯s the only reason we were able to get approval to leave town without a larger group,¡± Daniel cut in, perhaps worried about the teasing being done.
¡°Our Santi!?¡± Mom exclaimed, half rising from the chair to touch his shoulder.
¡°Yeah. He¡¯s already maxed out his class,¡± Daniel continued to spill secrets and Santi wanted to inch backwards as he watched the myriad of expressions that were flashing over his Mom¡¯s face. She wasn¡¯t happy. Leveling meant danger and her son shouldn¡¯t be putting himself in danger. Something she was not a fan of.
¡°He¡¯s the reason we¡¯re all alive. He was¡prepared to do what was needed,¡± Chloe said.
¡°So, Cam, what does your class do?¡± Santi asked, knowing damn well what the class did.
¡°Oh, you know. Stuff. Shields, Endurance, I¡¯m tough. Stuff like that,¡± Cam shrugged then smiled evilly.
¡°But, tell me what your class is and what you did?¡±
Santi glared at him, promising himself that Cameron would get his just deserts.
His Mom and Dad nodded looking concerned while his sisters looked interested. Santi took a deep breath and started to tell them what had happened and what he did.
He skipped over the fight with the ent in the rift, just saying there was a weakened guardian he had killed. No reason to tell them of the gruesome wounds he had taken.
He spoke quietly of the rest of it. Of the cursed store and the drained husks that had attacked him. Of the attack in the middle of the night. Paulie¡¯s death.
They knew who Paulie was, having met him and heard multiple stories about him, and the table grew quiet as everyone knew the pain of losing someone. Santi didn¡¯t ask questions about what happened back in their hometown or how Cameron was level nineteen. If they hadn¡¯t cleared out monster nests or rifts, it spoke of continuous low level fighting. Of creating mountains of corpses and wading through lakes of spilt blood.
He told them of the monster nests. Of the creature¡¯s he had fought and killed and how he had leveled himself. He told them everything he could about the system and leveling, restricted to just what knowledge had been discovered naturally so far.
They spent two hours sitting in the kitchen just talking. Learning from one another. It felt good to hear their voices and see them. Other¡¯s from their party trickled in till the kitchen had nearly twenty people in it. That¡¯s when Yessenia stood up and started to clear the table of the empty plates.
¡°Yessenia has been leveling like crazy by just plotting out stuff. Planning and logistics and shit. Kind of jealous actually,¡± Cam said as he moved his chair to sit next down next to Santi as all eyes turned to the teenager.
¡°We now know where we¡¯re going! There is a safe spot, or at least safer spot, and it¡¯s not far away!¡± Yessenia spoke up, her voice silencing everyone in the room as she took command. Santi couldn¡¯t tell if it was pure force of will or a skill she had, regardless it was impressive. His many meetings with the other councilors flashed into his mind. All the useless fights they¡¯d had, all the back door dealings. Yesi was going to be a breath of fresh air back home.
¡°Let¡¯s start planning on how to get home. Mr. Lawrence, how are supplies?¡± Yesi continued to plan and strategize out loud while Santi made his own plans. Now that his family was secure, it was time to start advancing again
Ch. 2.09 New House
9.
It took two full days to work their way back to Homebase. Santi was in no hurry, enjoying the time with his family in the relatively peaceful countryside. The mass of wounded slowed them, but Penelope helped them back to health with her skills over the days.
There were no monsters or beasts or curses. Just the wilting vegetation across the countryside, the smell of rot beginning to suffuse the area. There was a tranquility to it that soothed an ache in Santi¡¯s heart as he got to just enjoy his time with his family.
His family¡¯s reaction to Homebase was underwhelming, just a few nods and his Mom muttering something about it being untidy. There was a pall hanging over the camp, a nervous energy as everyone walked through the gates. It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out something bad had happened.
Santi didn¡¯t bother talking to any of the regular guards. He had no doubt that the remaining members of the council would be more than happy to tell him what they had done. Most of his family¡¯s camp were led away heading toward a series of houses while the wagons were trundled over to Homebase itself. Their supplies were desperately needed.
Daniel and Chloe kept next to his side as they walked through the warm halls of Homebase. His family trailed behind them with Penelope behind them all. Santi was going to pull strings to bring his family into better housing, closer to Homebase rather than on the outskirts of the camp.
¡°Somethings off,¡± Santi muttered out loud. The tension was thick enough he could cut it with a knife and it grated on his nerves.
¡°Why do you say that?¡± Bianca asked. He had to remember that nobody could come anywhere close to his stats, his perception alone was probably close to double everyone else''s. The minute differences in posture, the tenseness of their shoulders, their downcast eyes, all of it painted a picture of something wrong.
¡°Place is tense as hell,¡± Santi observed. He couldn¡¯t be bogged down in the explanation. The building was small enough that it didn¡¯t take him long to find Tank.
¡°Tank, what¡¯s up?¡± Santi called out from across the clinic filled with patients. There were a bunch of patients, way too many patients. The room was packed shoulder to shoulder with the injured people.
¡°Distribution team. Abraham¡¯s guys were ripped apart when they went in,¡± Tank barely looked up from kneeling next to a pile of bandages that had some remnant of humanity inside of them.
¡°Rayleigh?¡± Chloe blurted out instantly, coming alert with speed.
¡°She¡¯s fine. She went with the downtown team.¡±
¡°Abraham?¡± Santi asked, just slightly hopefully.
¡°He was downtown too. It was Trevor and Beto who went to the distribution center. Beto¡¯s dead. This is Trevor,¡± Tank waved a bloody hand at the figure on the cot. Penelope pulled away from the group and got to work on the patients immediately.
¡°War council?¡± Santi asked.
¡°Yeah, they¡¯re all down in the meeting hall. Things are almost stable here, I¡¯ll be there in a minute.¡±
¡°Alright.¡± Santi turned back to his family and offered apologies.
¡°You get to meet all the leaders at the camp, I guess. We don¡¯t like Abraham,¡± Santi informed them.
¡°Understood,¡± Bianca said with a nod while his parents looked confused but supportive.
The council chamber was a somber area. The quick walk had shown empty halls and people with little to no foot traffic. The doors were shut but Santi blew through them without waiting to enter with his family and team trailing in his wake.
¡°I can¡¯t leave you alone for more than five minutes, can I?¡± Santi said as he marched in.
¡°Not the time!¡± Marisol snapped, then looked at them shocked as more people trailed behind him. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!
¡°Who are these people?¡±
¡°My family. My Mom and Dad, Garbielle and Vicente. My sisters Bianca and Yessenia. You know Chloe and Daniel,¡± Santi introduced everyone.
¡°Are you ever not a smartass?¡± one of Marisol¡¯s daughters muttered. Santi couldn¡¯t remember what her name was. Veronica? Santi dismissed it.
¡°Want to tell me what happened?¡±
¡°There was a rift there. The team got too close,¡± Helena sounded exasperated.
¡°Ohhh, you know, I remember saying something like that.¡±
¡°Are you really being like this right now? People are dead,¡± Marisol hissed, her face distorted with rage.
¡°Yes, yes people are dead,¡± Santi whispered. It was so pointless, leading these fools around and not having them simply do what he said. If they just listened to him, they¡¯d have a better chance of survival. But no, they knew better than him. They knew what to do. All they had to do was to shut-up and obey.
¡°They¡¯re dead because you let it happen. Because you didn¡¯t listen to me. I want you to remember this. I told you not to go there. I! Fucking! Told! You!¡± Santi hissed in rage, his face contorted with anger.
Marisol recoiled and even Helena looked askance at him. The two daughters slunk away. Santi could feel his power rising, the mana in him stirring as he lost control of his temper.
¡°This is what we¡¯re going to do. I am now in charge of any expeditions. No one goes out without my approval. I will be taking my team and clearing the rift. Find a way to get Tank free of the infirmary. Also, I¡¯m taking one of the houses on this street for me and my family,¡± Santi told them. It felt so good to just finally just do something. No backroom politics or hoping someone would side with him. They were incompetent and he couldn¡¯t stand to see more corpses because of people¡¯s idiocy.
Santi left the room in a stormcloud, his mind clouded with the sheer mind numbing anger. He could tell people were behind him, he could feel their inquisitive eyes and concerned looks. He knew he was acting poorly. He just didn¡¯t care.
He went to his room and emptied it. Natural treasures that had been stuffed into garbage bags. Spare weapons piled into corners, a few half empty packs, a package of water, granola bars, and some blankets mounded up in the corner. All of it got grabbed up and shoved into willing hands and they went off and out.
There was a series of homes close to the base that had been cleaned out and left open for the council members. Nobody had really objected that much, even if the council lived inside of Homebase for the most part. The fact that Tank and Santi were two of the most respected and powerful people at the camp helped.
His family kept quiet until the door to the house was shut before he started getting questions. Daniel and Chloe had followed him but abandoned him the second his family started to tear into him.
Dad just stood and watched with a disapproving look while Mom tore him a new one. Bianca and Yessenia watched with a mix of consternation and support of their mother. Santi let it wash over him. What were harsh words in the face of having them back?
¡°I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s inexcusable to talk to them like that. I warned them though. I told them not to go there and, yet, they still did it. They got them killed.¡±
¡°A leader does not scream and berate others, mi hijo. If you wish to be a leader, you need to inspire. Nobody is inspired by someone screaming at others. They may fear them, but they will not respect them,¡± Mom said firmly. She spoke the truth, in all its unvarnished glory. Santi knew it too. He had known great leaders and fearsome commanders. Men and women who would both make others obey with a word, but only a few had those who would willingly fight and die for them.
Just another thing he had to do. Another way to grow and change.
¡°I¡¯ll be better. With you all here. I can be better.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know, it was kinda cool you just tearing into them,¡± Cam muttered as he walked around the kitchen.
¡°Cameron, not now,¡± Mom snapped. Cam ducked his head and nodded as he went around the corner to keep checking out the house.
¡°Cam! You, willing to go with me tomorrow to check out the rift?¡± Santi yelled at his retreating back. Cam just stuck up a thumbs up and Santi was back to trying to settle his family into the house.
¡°Of course! I want to see you in action!¡± Cam said as he started to trudge up the stairs to the second floor. Chloe and Daniel stood in the corner of the room with wide bugged eyes as they witnessed Santi getting absolutely shredded by his mother and sisters.
¡°Aside from the absolute ass kicking you took from your mother,¡± Cam said as he walked away. Santi rolled his eyes but the smirk his Dad had stung.
¡°You two. Grab the gang. We need a full raid team. Plus our regular team.¡±
¡°You got it, boss,¡± Chloe said. The sarcasm dripped from the word boss as Chloe smiled widely. Santi closed his eyes and leaned against a wall. Rescuing his family was without a thought the best thing he had done. Even if the teasing and harassing were going to be cruel and unusual
Ch. 2.10 Backyard Training
10.
Santi dodged under the swing, Bianca¡¯s homemade macahuitl screaming over his head. Bianca put too much effort into the swing, staggering by him as she failed to connect. Santi kicked her in the thigh, careful to restrain his strength. There was no point in shattering bone during a spar.
Santi transformed the morph blade into a flat, dull blade, and twitched his wrist to hit her across the shoulder. A golden pane of energy snapped into being, intercepting the blow. Cracks raced across the shield, but it held long enough for Bianca to stagger away from him.
Santi shot a look at Cameron who was straining from holding his skill together. Santi took delight in flexing his wrist and exerting a tad bit more power to shatter the shield with the tinkling of broken glass. The golden shards fell towards the ground, dissipating into motes of light.
Cameron came lumbering at him, intersecting Santi before he could chase Bianca down. A second golden shield spawned over Cameron¡¯s arm. He was using a hatchet and moved slowly and surely. Cameron was a natural athlete who carried himself with a cat-like grace. He was big and slow, but smooth and explosive when needed. It was a good combination for someone who was a Defender.
Bianca was fast naturally, always quick and explosive but now amplified by her stat selection. Almost all her points had been put into dexterity and strength. A glass cannon if he had ever seen one, but partnered with Cameron it was a good combination.
Cameron had put most of his points into durability and stamina, with just a few points into strength and dexterity. The two of them had been the primary fighters for their camp. Neither of them were putting enough points into their mental stats in Santi¡¯s opinion, but that would change when they evolved their classes and started generating more points with each level.
It took Santi three seconds to work around Cameron¡¯s defense without cheating. He was trying to keep himself close to the two of their stats, not just instantly overwhelming them with his overstuffed stats. That wouldn¡¯t help either of them in learning how to be better fighters. That was learned with bruises and effort. Of which he was more than happy to supply them with.
Cam grunted as Santi kneed him in the gut, bending the big man in half. Santi hip checked him out of the way to send him sprawling to the ground. Bianca was instantly there with a blow that would have disemboweled him if he wasn¡¯t so much faster than her.
Santi used his own shielding spell, freezing the wooden blade in place inches from his stomach. Santi reached over and flicked her between the eyes, using a touch of his speed. Bianca froze for a second, taking in the painful irritation before her eyes exploded in rage.
She dropped her macahuitl and reached over and grabbed his ear in slow motion. Santi yelped as her fingers pinched his ear and let himself be dragged closer to his older sister.
¡°Did you just flick me?¡±
¡°Ummm¡no?¡±
¡°You were dropped too often as a child. It¡¯s obviously given you brain damage,¡± Bianca hissed.
¡°You were the one who dropped me,¡± Santi complained, falling into the same family rhythms that had framed his life.
¡°Knock it off, we¡¯re practicing,¡± Cameron snapped. While most of the time he was relaxed, he did take training seriously. It was what had made him such a good athlete.
¡°Yeah, knock it off Bianca,¡± Santi sneered. She rolled her eyes and let go of his ear.
¡°Were you two always this bad?¡± Chloe asked from her chair. Her and Daniel were sitting in foldout chairs watching them. Before they could bring Cam and Bianca into the team, they had insisted on seeing their skillsets. The elitism was a new thing, the pride of being the pinnacle fighters in the community going to their head.
They were still all amateurs. Just the best amateurs around.
¡°Do you mean them arguing, or fighting?¡± Cameron asked as he finally regained his breath. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
¡°Arguing.¡±
¡°If you think these two are bad, wait till you see him and Yesi. Those two are worse than cats and dogs.¡±
¡°Where is she? Why isn¡¯t she fighting with them?¡±
¡°Yesi is a Planner. Her skillset doesn¡¯t really go with fighting. Self-defense will be learned though!¡± Santi yelled up at the second story where he saw Yesi peering through a window into the backyard.
¡°I think they¡¯ll hold up. Especially if they¡¯re fighting together,¡± Chloe threw her two cents in. Santi had to agree with her. Neither of them were particularly skilled, but together they were decent. A solid second team until he could get them trained and leveled up.
¡°Daniel, any word from your scouts?¡± Santi asked, walking off the wilted lawn and toward his two lieutenants.
¡°Got the reports a few minutes ago, right when you started sparring. The distribution center is full of metal monsters. Downtown doesn¡¯t have anything moving out of it, but plenty of activity around the buildings,¡± Daniel reported.
¡°And the other things I asked about?¡±
¡°Weird occurrences around town? Weird outside of the apocalypse and the monsters running around?¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± Santi asked. It seemed his family¡¯s smart-assery was spreading.
¡°Yeah. There¡¯s a tree that has a constant wind around it. A flower that emits light. An icicle that emits a freezing aura around it.¡±
¡°Where¡¯s that tree?¡±
¡°Park by an elementary school. Big tree in the middle of a field all by itself. Lots of birds and stuff flying around.¡±
¡°What kind of birds?¡±
¡°Birds. Red birds, black birds, blue birds. All the birds.¡±
¡°I think I liked you more when you didn¡¯t talk.¡±
¡°I get that a lot,¡± Daniel said. Santi didn¡¯t think he sounded apologetic about it at all.
¡°Ok, so first thing first. We can¡¯t go and do the distribution center until we evolve. I have a grimoire as a reward for clearing the hag nest. I only needed one more ingredient to make it work and it sounds like the tree might be it. After I go, you two and Tank are next.¡±
¡°So what are we going to be doing while we wait for you to get it done?¡± Chloe asked.
¡°Well, it seems my sister and best friend are underleveled. Daniel, find some appropriate fights. Grab Penelope and a few others who are close. We need to get everyone to and over the level twenty-five roadblock. Get a list of their affinities and classes too.¡±
¡°Ok, I can do that. Right now? Or tomorrow?¡±
¡°Tomorrow. I¡¯ll go and get the ingredients I need tomorrow while you guys go and level. See if Abraham needs guards for some of his supply runs. They¡¯re down fighters.¡±
¡°Done.¡± Daniel got up and left to start getting everything needed for tomorrow.
¡°I¡¯m going home. I¡¯ll pass the word around to anyone who¡¯s close to twenty-five. Try to pull together a team.¡±
¡°Perfect.¡± Santi turned away from them and walked back towards Cameron and Bianca, who had been sitting in the lawn sipping on water.
¡°Alright. Time to be honest. I need to know skills and how you use them. I have a pretty good idea, but I just want to clarify.¡±
¡°Well, you know about my Shield and Barrier. I also have an ability called Taunt that draws attention to me. My last one is my newest and is called Tough. Just increases my durability.¡±
A personal shield, a projected skill, a taunt ability, and an endurance ability. Not bad at all. Santi nodded to his sister to see what she had in the bank.
¡°Tough,Burst, Slash, Identify, and I got my newest skill the day before you found us Pierce.¡±
¡°Everything needed to keep killing and know what you¡¯re killing.¡±
¡°No, everything I need to keep our family safe,¡± Bianca corrected, looking upset at how he phrased it. Santi shrugged, not willing to apologize over trivialities.
¡°Your affinities?¡±
¡°Common Earth affinity,¡± Cam said.
¡°Common Fire,¡± Bianca said immediately after.
Both of those affinities were common enough that it shouldn¡¯t be hard to gather the treasures needed to boost their power. He had the flesh treasure for Tank, had a decent idea where he could get the metal affinity for Chloe, and a shadow affinity for Daniel wouldn¡¯t be hard at all.
All of the other base ingredients had already been collected and he had ordered several bathtubs taken from partially destroyed houses for their evolutions. The boosts in strength and stamina were a great boon for home renovation. It didn¡¯t take the crews he had asked long at all to rip the tubs free and transport them.
¡°Alright, we can work with that. Now, on your feet. We have more training to do!¡± Santi pictured the morph blade becoming a hand and waving up and down. It was the first time he had tried to do something like that and not just picture it as a solid weapon. He was pleasantly surprised when it turned into a miniature hand and waved the relaxing pair up to their feet.
¡°If you can actually hit me, I¡¯ll cook dinner tonight,¡± Santi offered.
¡°So if we win, you¡¯ll punish us?¡± Cam muttered, drawing a snort from Bianca. Santi rolled his shoulders and smiled. Bruises and effort was what it took to train, and he was more than happy to supply both.
Ch. 2.11 Treasure Hunt
11.
The park with the everpresent breeze wasn¡¯t far away. It took less than an hour of only semi-determined bike riding to get there. His original bike had been hauled back in a wagon and was trying to be repaired by someone who said they could do it. Santi had his doubts they could do it. He had seen the sheared metal where he had broken the metal from exerting too much force. He was much kinder to this bike than the last one.
Santi had seen the park once or twice before the integration and after the integration twice. The park was across the street from an abandoned elementary school, the squat building having had every window smashed out of it. Santi was glad that the integration had started when none of those kids had been in the building. They would have had their last moments with their families.
Santi turned away from the empty building and towards the park. As Daniel had said the park was rather lackluster, just an empty field with a single tall tree in the middle of it. Mounds of dirt were thrown up in piles of loose earth while birds wheeled around in the early morning sky. The birds were the size of a compact car, which was different but felt normal to Santi.
Mutated animals were going to become more and more of a problem as time went on. The birds flying above the tree were just the first signs, just like the bugs they had killed on the road. And whatever it was that was making those big ass holes in the middle of the field. Animals needed to eat after all and the birds were obviously eating something bigger than a traditional ground squirrel.
Santi shoved the bike off to the side, leaning it against a building. He looked over the field trying to see what was different about it. The mounds of earth were one of the many obvious signs, but not the only ones. The grass was full and lush where the earth was undisturbed and the tree was taller than anything in this area should have been, rivaling the height of sequoia redwood trees.
From across the street Santi could feel a breeze tugging on him. Fresh air smelling of spring whisked away the smells of rot and decay that permeated the air in a constant miasma that most had gotten used to. He could feel the power pressing against his skin. Based on his experience Santi figured it was a decently powerful treasure, at least this early in the integration. The longer a treasure sat, absorbing mana and potential and whatever else it was that formed them, the stronger they¡¯d be.
It was a fine line when it came to harvesting them. They provided slow growth potential if one stayed close to it, like the birds and whatever was in the holes were doing. A treasure could provide the necessary push one needed to push past a roadblock, help improve an affinity, become an ingredient in a powerful alchemical concoction, or used to fuel an evolution. The choices for use were speed and short term growth, or slow long term growth.
At this stage in the game everyone was much more interested in staying alive and the power needed to do it than sustainable long term growth. Santi was going to gobble up every treasure that fit his class and affinity. He couldn¡¯t afford to worry about the long term. He needed to survive and be strong enough to protect everyone else.
So he needed that tree.
Santi watched the birds spin and dance in the air for a minute before shrugging. He needed it done, he would get it done. The morph blade transformed into a long glaive and he walked across the street and stepped onto the field.
The effect was immediate. It was like stepping into a tornado, winds whipping around in a fury. It was hard to breathe with the wind pressing against his face. He managed to get a few more steps, the wind growing stronger and stronger until he couldn¡¯t push forward any more. Even with his enhanced stats the wind was impossible to walk against. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Santi leaned down and grabbed at the ground, digging his fingers into the thick grass. He still slid back, feet digging furrows in the ground as he tried to get traction. Santi began to understand why creatures lived underground. He eyed the closest hole and would have sighed if he could have taken a breath. He really didn¡¯t want to go underground again.
With a surge of strength he turned the morph blade into a hook, ramming it into the earth to drag himself forward. The closest pile of loose earth was only a few steps but it took nearly thirty seconds to get there. His fingers pulled through the loose soil without getting a hold of anything and he slid back feet as his lunge failed. Only the hook kept him from being thrown out of the park.
Cursing in his mind, he gathered himself to jump again. This time the lunge was better, he got further and his loose hand was able to grab the edge of the hole. The earth was more hard packed and he dragged himself into the hole. He fell headfirst and was able to take a deep breath for the first time in over a minute.
The fall hadn¡¯t been long, no more than five feet and the awkward fall wasn¡¯t so bad. He hit on his shoulder and rolled to his feet, morph blade switching into a long curved knife. The tunnel was tight, his shoulders almost brushing across the tunnel''s width. He had to duck his head and move forward in a crouch, the darkness hiding everything from sight.
He relied on his Air Current to tell him what was around himself. The spell had been a constant for him for years. His long time spent out by himself on his long range scouting missions had made him think outside of the box to better keep himself alive. The original spell form was often used as a fan by most mages he had met or to keep pungent smells away from them.
It had taken several years for Santi to slowly warp the spell into what it was to this day. A sphere of perfect omniscience. It was small right now, but with time and levels and an upgrade orb or two, he could have a powerful skill that would make him damn near unbeatable. As it was now, he could explore small tunnels blind with only a slight increase in worry.
Santi kept himself tucked down and moving quickly, blade extended in front of him. There was a particular musk in the tunnel that made him want to sneeze. Clumps of thick, coarse hair floated in the air. Santi kept moving towards where he felt the pressure of the natural treasure was growing stronger .
With every step the musk grew stronger and more and more hair floated in the air. Dung squished under his shoes the rank fecal smell overpowering. He strengthened the current around him, trying to whisk the smell away from him. It was pointless, it suffused every inch of the place.
The claustrophobic tunnels were a labyrinth and wound back and forth without seeming to care. It was almost a relief when he heard it. Claws scratching dirt. Wet snuffling. Something large hit his sphere and he reacted instantly. Air Shield snapped into being in front of him. Something slammed into it and froze for a second before the shield popped in a burst of violent air.
Santi cut the distance as the beast had been stalled out, its momentum spent. The long dagger slashed and cut, Santi stabbing out wildly with only the vague shape of the creature known. Hot blood washed over him and the creature¡¯s screams were loud and shrill, deafening in the tight confines. Santi kept cutting, never stopping, always flowing around the slashing and gnawing teeth and claws of whatever the hell it was.
The kill notification was barely audible, but the creature finally stopped screaming was a good sign. Santi untangled himself from it, the rough fur damp with its spilled blood. He took a moment to check himself, making sure that a claw hadn¡¯t somehow torn him open.
Mutated Ground Squirrel lvl. 19
It was a goddamn squirrel. Santi had to pause to catch his breath to take that in. A squirrel had almost ripped him apart in the dark. He really did miss those two days before the integration started.
Then he was stuck with another problem. The creature¡¯s corpse blocked the entire tunnel. From top to bottom, the furry, stinky, squirrel stopped his progress. It was too heavy to drag around and he wasn¡¯t going to drag it free even if he could. Santi cursed as he was forced to backtrack, running backward to find the last branch he went down. He had a feeling this was going to take awhile.
Ch 2.12 A Murder of Birds
12.
Santi crawled out of the tunnel, spitting mud and blood out of his mouth. The bright light of the sun caused tears to stream down his face. He couldn¡¯t tell if the blood he was spitting out was his own or one of the damned squirrels. The creatures had infested the tunnels, more and more of them appearing the closer he got to the treasure.
He had been forced to race up and down the tunnels dodging the squirrel¡¯s gnashing teeth and claws. At first he had killed the squirrels, but he had nothing to gain. They simply plugged the tunnels and what little experience he gained from them was wasted as he was level capped.
So he ran up and around them, simply using his superior stats to go by them when possible. When it wasn¡¯t, he led the dumb brutes into intersections and then around them. Until it got to the point he couldn¡¯t do that either.
Then he started cutting his way through them. Literally. Which was messy and inconvenient. Which had led him to being in the current state he was in. Covered in blood and viscera from head to toe. The loose soil clung to him and made him look like a mud monster as he finally got free.
The wind here was dull and muted more like a gentle spring breeze than the hurricane force winds he had been forced to walk through on the outer edge. It was calm and refreshing close to the trunk of the tree. Soothing.
Natural treasures always had an aura. Some were weak, some were strong, some were subtle, some blatant. This one was both strong and blatant. Santi looked over the tree, trying to find exactly what it was that was the treasure. If it was the entire tree the power would have leveled the city. It was likely a fruit or even a branch of the tree.
Standing to his full, if unimpressive height, Santi continued to observe the tree. The red brown bark, emerald boughs, and the thick scent of pine. It was like standing in a forest. The breeze here was gentle but by just looking a few feet he could see the flattened grass as the hurricane strength wind savaged the area.
He didn¡¯t think the treasure was in the grass around his feet. There was nothing that stood out anyways. The tree had dozens of branches and wide pine cones that hung like bowling balls from the thick branches.
The thing that stood out were dancing wood chimes. They fluttered like streamers, dancing in the wind. Each time they struck each other a musical note played out. It took a moment to listen to it, to truly understand that the music interwove itself with the sounds of the wind.
Each of the six chimes were a foot long and bent and twisted with every gust. They were beautiful, ethereal and alien and yet, at the same time, natural. Santi had to rip his eyes off of them or risk being lost in the music they played.
¡°It¡¯s a big ¡®un,¡± Santi muttered. While localized, its power was immense. It should be plenty strong enough to push his affinity higher. Now he just needed to go and get the damn thing.
The branch they dangled from was thin and rather high up. He had never been much of a climber, but he could do it when needed. The bark was soft and his fingers were able to get a strong grip and he scaled the tree quickly. There were scratches and marks where the squirrels had run up and down the trunk. The squirrels had been decent enough in that regard.
It took a minute and twelve seconds for him to climb nearly forty feet. He grabbed the branch and levered himself up and to his feet, walking crouched down with a hand running across the rough bark to keep himself steady. The chimes were near the end of the branch and Santi stopped right before walking over them. It took a single swipe of his blade, transformed into an axe, to send the branch crashing to the ground. The soft wood of the tree offered almost no resistance.
The breeze stopped.
Overhead the wheeling birds cried out in rage and began to sail downwards. Wings tucked tight they flew like missiles, streaks of feathers as they came for the wind chimes. Santi cursed as he leapt off the tree¡¯s severed branch. The morph blade spun into a razor tendril that he lashed the air with.
The long spool of razor wire snaked through the air and severed anything it touched. Wings, claws, beaks, nothing could slow the morph blade. In the half second it took him to hit the ground he had painted the sky crimson. Stolen novel; please report.
Blood and viscera and feathers fell like rain as Santi landed in a crouch. All the feathers were red now as they fluttered free. Santi used Gust to send the tendril whipping wildly overhead, severing body parts right and left.
It took less than a minute before the swarm of birds had been cleared front he sky. They were scattered about the park in broken heaps. The feathers would be nice if they were cleaned up a bit. Some feather mattresses or maybe even fletching for arrows. Fresh meat too. He should have brought a few more people with him.
The chimes were still attached to the tree, but he could already feel the power of them leaking away. Without the proper tools to harvest a natural treasure you lost some of its power. The longer he left it the more of the power would leak away. It was just leaking out much faster than he had expected.
The limb was heavy, but he carried it with ease. Running to the bike he hopped on and started to ride as fast as he could without breaking the bike. Even then the bike groaned under the strain.
The streets whizzed by, Santi¡¯s speed creating a breeze. The chimes started to sing again, the wind from his ride enough to stir them. Santi could feel the power loss slow as the chimes rang and wanted to roll his eyes. It was almost too predictable.
The ride didn¡¯t take long before he started having to weave around the myriad of poorly constructed defenses they had erected. Most guards knew who was and simply ignored him as he rode past them. The few who wanted to make an issue of his passage were ignored and he was moving too fast for them to do anything about it.
It really was like being a god amongst mortals. His stats were so inflated with his title that nobody could equal him right now. In time the physical classers would level and have stats that could match him physically. He planned on being the strongest Mage in the world. That meant nobody would be matching his mental stats if he could help it.
It was with those advanced mental stats that he started planning out everything he needed to do. The ritual to evolve to Acolyte was easy enough. Nothing compared to the behemoth ritual that had turned him into a regressor. It would take him an hour or so to complete in optimal circumstances. These weren¡¯t optimal circumstances though.
His new house reared in sight and Santi poured on the speed, not caring about warping the bike for the final push. The damn things were everywhere on the college campus and he could replace this one as easily as he had the last time.
Metal shrieked and his speeds reached that of a car as he fought the speed wobbles with only one hand. The other hand was gripping the end of the branch with white knuckled tension. He didn¡¯t think dropping the stick would harm the chimes any more than cutting it free of the tree had, but why take the risk?
He bounded off the bike, letting it go flying into the garage door with a thunderous crash as he bounded up and through the door. Again. Literally. Wooden shards showered the entryway and even as he got to his feet and started to move there was a scream of startlement and fear from somewhere in the house.
¡°IT''S JUST ME!¡± Santi screamed as he headed toward the backyard and the tubs that had been placed outside. While he hadn¡¯t expected to have to come running and start the ritual immediately, there were still plans to get it done quickly.
He leapt over a couch and through the fully loaded kitchen table and his friends and family were staring at him in amazement. Or fear. Maybe a bit of disgust. He was still coated in multiple layers of beast blood and mud. With some pieces of internal organs everywhere.
¡°TANK! I NEED YOU!¡± Santi yelled as he barreled outside and began to start stripping in the middle of the yard. Buckets of water were filled to the brim and he began to wash as fast as possible.
¡°SANTIAGO! Why are you naked?¡± Mom started at a scream and ended in a furious whisper. Santi had left nudity as a form of embarrassment a long time ago. Still, having his Mom glaring at him while he washed squirrel bits off of his¡bits, wasn¡¯t exactly normal.
¡°Mom, I need to be clean to do the ritual to advance. Can¡¯t be contaminating my spell with monster pieces in it. So, please, let me do this. Just you and the others can wait inside if it makes you uncomfortable.¡±
Tank and Cameron came out of the door behind his mom. Cameron whistled appreciatively while Tank just rolled his eyes.
¡°Can you help me out? I need to be Clean Clean before I hop into the tub,¡± Santi pleaded.
¡°I thought you¡¯d never ask,¡± Cam said with a wide smile. He reached down and into a bucket and pulled out a stiff, coarse, brush. The type one used to scrub thick built in grease and caked in dirt off of something.
¡°Tank?¡± Santi pleaded.
¡°You¡¯re a little ripe Santi. The brush won¡¯t hurt you. It¡¯ll just be¡uncomfortable.¡±
Ch. 2.13 Raw Chicken
13.
Over the next five minutes somehow the entire household appeared. Including Chloe and Rayleigh. Someone had thrown him a towel which was now wrapped around his waist, preserving some of his audience¡¯s innocence.
Cam¡¯s laughter had faded as they helped Santi scrape himself clean. The new scars from the initiation were angry red lines that covered his body. The healing potions did heal you, but they left scars. Everyone had gotten a bit quiet and morose as they saw the roadmap that Santi had built over the last several weeks.
Tank had been a lifesaver, keeping up a running commentary of what was going on while he scrubbed. He had been right, the brush was uncomfortable, but it was better than contaminating an evolution ritual. When a few bird feathers had appeared from somewhere that had gotten a few laughs. When a tooth that had been lodged in his forearm was taken out, the laughter died. Santi hadn¡¯t even noticed the bite.
¡°Yesi, do you want to learn magic?¡± Santi asked. The quiet was killing him. He had six people staring at him while two others helped him get a mix of blood and mud out of his matted hair. Then Daniel and Hana decided to walk out the backdoor and join the crowd. Eight people were staring at him now.
¡°Yeah, who wouldn¡¯t?¡±
Santi wanted to wince and defend his past self. He had been too worried about not dying to focus on the whole magic thing. By the time he got into being a real magic class user, he had decided on the mage route rather than Wizard or Ritualist. Both classes that focused more on the minutiae of magic rather than practical uses. Like staying alive.
¡°Third page is a ritual with how to do an Initiate to Acolyte evolution. Set it up, it¡¯ll be good practice for you,¡± Santi told her. Her current class was good, but it could be better. A Planner could easily slide into a ritualist class with a little help. Help he could provide. With a few skilled fighters around a skilled ritualist, they were damn near unstoppable.
¡°This looks too easy,¡± Yesi said after looking at it for a minute. The guys had grabbed a big bucket filled with clean water and were coming at him for a final rinse. Everyone spun around as Santi shed his towel to let the cleansing water rinse off the suds and last of the dirt.
¡°It¡¯s simple, but needs to be done precisely.¡±
¡°Mom, Bianca, Daniel, help me fill up that tub,¡± Yesi pointed at a tub off to the side. It was one of the many bathtubs he had procured over the last few days. The four of them started to dump buckets of water into the tub while the rest watched.
¡°Hana, my room is on the second story, first door on the right. There¡¯s a plastic bag, could you get it please?¡± Santi asked. A first step evolution like this was easy. There was also room for variation.
If they performed poorly and did the most rudimentary evolution ritual with little to no extras, it¡¯d net him a measly five attribute points per stat. If they did it the deluxe way, burning away natural treasures like monopoly money, then it could get interesting. He had found several low grade treasures that could be incorporated without slowing anyone else down.
It was a balancing act he was performing. If he took everything he wanted he would slow the others down. Make their own evolutions weaker or prevent them from evolving as fast as him. At the same time he needed to build the strongest base possible to try to overcome the barrier between Disciple and Champion.
He had pulled three treasures out of the goblin horde and rift that would boost him while not crippling the others'' own future. He just needed someone to go get them. Hana gave a thumbs up without looking at him and ran into the house. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
It didn¡¯t take long for the others to fill the tub with water. Large pots of water had been filled from the nearby pond last night and set to boil this morning while he was off playing with the squirrels. After his evolution the girls and Cameron would be off on their own merry way, hunting monsters for levels while Santi recovered.
He wasn¡¯t looking forward to the evolution. The power boost would be massive and the next round of spell selections huge. He wanted Air Manipulation but his one open slot wasn¡¯t enough. He¡¯d gain another slot on crossing into the Acolyte tier and then would only need five levels to get the spell. The distribution center would be more than enough for that.
Hana came racing down the stairs with the bag in her hand. She blushed as she saw Santi, but didn¡¯t say anything. She tossed the bag casually and Santi had to suppress a wince at the valuable resources being tossed around.
He snatched it out of the air and marched toward the now filled tub. His windchimes had been grabbed and placed nearby in easy reach. The constant draft they emitted was keeping the area cool and breezy. It wasn¡¯t heating up quite yet, but the day promised to be a scorcher.
He hopped in the tub, water sloshing over the sides and leaning back to relax. The water was still warm and he could feel some of the tension leaving his body as tense muscles loosened.
¡°Yesi, the bag has fuel. You see where in the ritual it goes? The windchimes are an affinity booster.¡±
¡°Yeah, yeah, I got it. Mom, grab the salt, please. Daniel, could you take out the items in the bag?¡± Yesi had her nose glued to the grimoires pages, barking orders like a seasoned general. Mom rolled her eyes, but still walked off to grab the big container of iodized salt. Daniel simply pulled free the ingredients and laid them out.
The first was the rift stone he had taken. It was shrunk down and had lost much of its potential, but was still a powerful source. A wilted flower was next, the green stem prickly and sticky with sap. It had the head of a sunflower, just blood red instead of golden-yellow. There was a faint sense of vitality to it, pulsing like the heart Santi had found for Tank.
The final item was a rock. A simple, plain, brown rock. If one didn¡¯t have a high enough perception they wouldn¡¯t have been able to tell it was a treasure at all. A faint sense of heaviness radiated from it. As if one would be unable to move if they picked it up.
The flower was linked to vitality, though it had been poorly harvested and had lost much of its potency. The rock had, somehow, gained something that resonated with durability. Two of his, and most magic users, weakest stats. He could boost his mage stats normally, but his physical stats would lag behind eventually. Once mage-killler classes started to emerge, he wanted to not die immediately in a fight.
Santi watched carefully as Yesi arranged the items. A simple triangle, each of the items roughly equidistant from each other. When Mom came with the container of salt, Yesi grabbed it and started to pour a circle. The others got closer to watch and Santi felt the need to tell them what was happening.
¡°The items will fuel the transformation and help me boost some critical stats. They¡¯re not precisely necessary, but they do help. The circle is like a container, locking in all the excess energy and focusing it here. When the ritual starts the salt will burn away slowly, once it''s all gone, the ritual will be over.¡±
¡°But, why?¡± Cam asked. He looked sincere and not being his normal smart-ass self.
¡°Magic is for all intents and purposes, from what I¡¯ve read in the grimoire at least, based on symbolism. You need power obviously, mana, willpower, and intelligence are prerequisite stats to be good at it. Understanding symbology and what they mean to you and your culture is critical. Not everyone is the same and what could work for one wouldn¡¯t work for the other. Sometimes.¡±
¡°You¡¯re a terrible teacher,¡± Tank drawled. The explanation hadn¡¯t been the best, but it wasn¡¯t that bad. He looked around and saw everyone nodding along with Tank¡¯s words. Except Yesi who was finishing up the salt circle.
¡°Ok, it¡¯s like this. I¡¯m a car right, perched on a ledge. Potential and everything is just teetering there. I need to go over the ledge. So I use the treasures to push me off the ledge.¡±
¡°Is it me, or are his explanations getting worse?¡± Hana muttered in the back of the group. Everyone nodded and Santi felt his blood pressure starting to rise.
¡°The water of the tub is symbolically transformative. Water of the womb, water changes shape, you get me? The salt is a boundary line. The treasures are energy. The potential I acquired burns up and I evolve.¡±
¡°Kinda makes more sense that time,¡± Cam said. He got a few shrug and disappointed head shakes.
¡°Santi is like raw chicken. The treasures are spices. The tub and water is the hot pan, the salt is the stove,¡± Yesi said.
¡°Ohhhhh,¡± everyone sounded like they had just received divine insights. Santi sunk into the tub, letting the water reach his neck. His explanations hadn¡¯t been that bad, had they?
Ch. 2.14 Conversation
14.
¡°You ready to do this?¡± Yesi asked, looking pointedly not at Santi. The ring of salt was laid out. The three chosen treasures formed a triangle within the circle, the tub in the center of the triangle. His windchimes had been handed to him by Cameron and the rest of the group stood outside the salt circle looking a mix of worried and curious.
Santi double checked his sister''s work and nodded to her. They were ready to go. He wasn¡¯t worried like the others were and his curiosity was only to the point of what the boost to his stats would be. His last evolution had been paid for after the Pillar had arrived and money was being bandied about. A curt man named Greg had done his ritual with little fanfare and nowhere near this level of wealth.
¡°Just channel a bit of mana into the circle and it¡¯ll start,¡± Santi said.
¡°Ok, yeah, but how?¡± Yesi asked. Santi wanted to smack his head against the tub.
¡°You have skills that use mana, right?¡±
¡°Yeah?¡±
¡°Do you, or don¡¯t you?¡±
¡°I think I do?¡±
Santi smacked his head against the back of the tub. The most basic of skills and nobody had it.
¡°Ok, so, when you like, use a skill. Does it feel like it''s being drawn out from your center, or like your limbs?¡±
¡°Uhhh¡center?¡±
¡°Yeah, so use that skill right now and focus on the feeling of power moving through you. Really, really, really, focus.¡±
Trying to help his sister get the qualifications to become a ritualist or a wizard was taxing. And setting him back. For every moment wasted, more and more of the windchimes strength leaked out.
A hologram spat into being in front of his sister. Scrolls of information sliding across the air. He caught a quick look at the words and realized they were supplies. The hologram disappeared instantly and then snapped back. Four more times Yesi used her skill until she nodded to herself.
¡°Ok, I feel it. Now what?¡±
¡°Think about how it moved and try to get it to move without you activating the skill. Touch the salt as you get it to flow,¡± Santi tried not to sound exasperated as he waited. The water had grown cold and even with the warmth of the early morning sun he was growing chilled. It took another five minutes of Yesi standing over the salt and nudging it about before it worked.
A golden glow snapped into being as the salt began to burn. Santi felt the flow of power instantly as the ritual began. The riftstone burnt away nearly instantly, flooding the circle with power. The other two treasures dissolved within a moment, swirling about in a streak of blood red and earth brown. The essences of the two treasures began to swirl about his head, caught in the constant breeze the chimes generated.
The edge of the windchimes began to break apart, the wood softening and falling apart in his hands. Emerald green magic leaked out mixing with the red and brown above his head. Santi took a deep breath and slid under the water. It wouldn¡¯t take long now.
Through the watery prism he watched as the power continued to grow above him. A tri-colored storm of power swirled above the tub clouding his sight. A tunnel formed, swirling about in a replica of a tornado. The leading edge touched the surface of the water and power spiked through him.
He was grounded, buried in earth. Immovable and implacable. The weight of the world upon his shoulders in a comforting blanket.
Hot blood pumped through his veins. More than there should be, more pressure in his chest. A bursting vitality that could not be contained. The energy of a god waiting to spring from its throne in a whirlwind of activity.
Air. Freedom and life. Touching the world but not being bound. Dancing across the plains and over the mountains and seas.
Santi¡¯s body became rigid as he couldn¡¯t move. This was a much more intense experience than the last time he had evolved. Closer in intensity to the time he had moved from Acolyte to Disciple. Pain encompassed him, drowning as his body began to dissolve in the waters as more and more of the whirlwind entered the tub. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
His mind frayed, breaking apart in pain. If he had lungs he would have screamed. Flesh peeled away from bone, bone dissolved in a slurry as the waters became clouded with his purging.
¡°Ohhh, I see you little one,¡± Akthyr murmured in his ear. His voice wasn¡¯t its previous drunken slur.
Santi couldn¡¯t look or change what he saw. He could feel the massive presence of the powerful Grandmaster. It made the process of his evolution ritual seem faint and trivial. It suppressed the world around him, making the pain bearable.
¡°Hello, Akthyr,¡± Santi thought.
¡°My favorite little pain in the ass. How do you like your toy?¡±
¡°The morph blade?¡±
¡°Ohhh, don¡¯t think of it as a blade. That limits its potential. And is frankly insulting with how much effort I put in to get it to you.¡±
¡°Why are you helping me?¡± Santi was thinking furiously why the administrator cared at all about him. Akthyr had told him that he didn¡¯t care for how much work the multiple regression cost him. How it stripped his future wealth from him. He had said nothing about helping him.
¡°Politics. Self-serving goals. The like. You¡¯re just one of the many pawns I¡¯m using. You¡¯re holding up remarkably well compared to some of the others.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°I keep forgetting that you¡¯re not the brightest.¡±
¡°No need for insults.¡±
¡°Not an insult. Just an observation. Have you observed anything strange about this round?¡±
¡°Lots of weird shit. Strong monsters, more monster dens, stuff like that?¡±
¡°Correct. Localized effects are harder to do than you¡¯d think. I¡¯m actually quite impressed with myself. Boosting mana levels and guiding rifts toward certain areas is tough, but I¡¯m brilliant.¡±
His words were echoes in his mind and had begun to grow faint. Santi¡¯s time as a disembodied consciousness was coming to an end.
¡°The Patron. The one the Apostates serve. Who is he? What does he want?¡±
¡°How would I know? He has ascended. I am to him what you are to me, a cockroach. The wills and desires of those so far above are vast and incomprehensible.¡±
¡°You truly have no idea what he wants?¡±
¡°None. Though I suspect I know what the Apostates want from him.¡±
That was a secret that many had died for. The traitors had betrayed humanity and earth, aligning themselves with their Patron. Power of course was an answer, but was it the only answer? Something that the Council of Champions had argued about frequently.
¡°And?¡±
¡°I think they didn¡¯t like what was being done to their world by your faction. I think they didn¡¯t like being without power. I think some of them just didn¡¯t like being told what to do.¡±
¡°So, what? We had a massive war because a handful of people didn¡¯t like what the Champions did?¡± Santi couldn¡¯t understand that. The Champions had been just that, champions. They had fought and protected humanity from the scourge of the invasions, monsters, beasts, cleared rifts and tamed dungeons. Without their strength all of North America would have fallen to chaos.
¡°Wars have been fought over less. I really wasn¡¯t paying too much attention to you guys. The stuff going on in Asia and the Mediterranean was much more entertaining.¡±
¡°More entertaining than an Ascended¡¯s plotting?¡±
¡°Frankly? Yes. He wasn¡¯t the only Ascended playing around on your planet last time. Or this time.¡±
¡°There¡¯s more than one?¡±
¡°Look at that? Time¡¯s up. Enjoy your new body!¡± Akthyr gave a fake jolly chuckle and his presence vanished.
Santi became aware of the pain just as it faded away. This full fledged reconstitution was much more intense than the simple purging he had experienced last time.
He surged up and out of the tub, gasping for air. It was sweeter than before, more nuanced. Even with the first breath he could tell it was different. Something that went beyond heightened perception.
He heard people groaning and gagging around him as he swiped at the layer of gunk that covered his eyes. He couldn¡¯t see, his eyes pasted close. Water washed over him in a wave and Santi nearly collapsed under the overstimulation. He washed his face as well as he could, as another bucket was dropped over his head.
¡°Santi, you stink dude,¡± Cam said from somewhere above him. Santi was trying his hardest not to think of the fact he did stink terribly. When his body had reconstituted it had left behind all of the imperfections of his past.
Oils, dirt, dead skin, plaque, excess fats, and anything else that had been deemed an impurity. He had been refined to a degree that he didn¡¯t think was possible. With a bit of time he could practice more, learn just how well his body worked. How well it could fully use the stats he had acquired.
Another wave of water washed over him and he finally cleared his eyes and looked at himself. He was coated in a black film from head to toe, a pungent odor wafting off of him. Everyone had backed off aside from Tank and Cam, both looking like they wanted to back away but still standing close.
¡°Bianca, we need another scrub brush,¡± Cam said. He didn¡¯t sound as enthused this time as he had last time. Santi spat out a curse as he huddled down to endure another scrubbing.
Ch. 2.15 Achievement Unlocked: Acolyte Evolution Complete
15.
Santi had to hold his breath as they finally managed to escape the mess he had made. The water in the tub had been transformed into a black goop that smelled of sulfur, rancid meat, and body odor. The film they had helped him scrub clean had the same malignant odor. Nobody had stayed as Cam and Tank showed they were the best friends in the world.
Santi couldn¡¯t blame his family and was actually glad they had left. He was beginning to grow a bit self-conscious of everyone staring at him. Some peace and quiet would be nice as he went through the laundry list of achievements and notifications he had just earned.
Achievement: Acolyte Evolution
Reward: Loot Box (Minor)
Achievement: First To Evolve
Reward: Potential (Common)
New Class Selection Available
Acolyte Evolution
+10 All Stats
+5 Durability
+5 Vitality
+10 Free Stats
Affinity Upgrade: Air ( Uncommon)
Santi had to raise his eyebrow at that. 110 Stat points on the first evolution was mind boggling. The affinity upgrade would help reduce the mana cost of all his air spells as well. Between his current title and this huge jump in pure stats he could punch way over his level class. Maybe even tangle with that Primus Alpha.
Air Mage (Uncommon)
Wind Blade (Rare)
Pyromancer (Common)
Kneebreaker (Uncommon)
Cockroach (Rare)
Santi stared at his options. The Air Mage class was the direct upgrade. It was the class he had been offered on his Disciple evolution. He hadn¡¯t taken it, but it had been offered. He had focused on the more limited role of his previous class rather than the broader and more versatile mage class.
[Wind Blade] was an obvious choice, as he had focused on fighting with the weapons rather than his pure magic skills. The morph weapon was useful and powerful, but it wasn¡¯t something he wanted to be. He was a mage, pure and simple. Becoming a mage blade would limit the amount of spells he was offered and give him an overlap of what both Bianca and Chloe could do. It would be a great pick in his last life where he spent most of his time alone, but as the leader of a community and team, it lacked the depth needed to fill out his role.
[Pyromancer] wasn¡¯t a surprise. Even lacking an affinity for fire he could see himself being a decent pyromancer. He had shown a flair for setting things, and monsters, on fire. He wasn¡¯t a fan of it though. Pyromancers were generally glass cannons who dealt massive amounts of burst damage. Aside from one or two movement skills, they generally lacked any type of mobility. The loss of synergy with his class and affinity would slow him down eventually, he wouldn¡¯t have the endurance he currently had.
[Kneebreaker] was a no go. He didn¡¯t want to be stuck fighting at close range any longer than he had to. [Cockroach] was still a no go. There was no way he was taking a class named after a bug. Even though [Air Mage] wasn¡¯t the highest rarity class, he was taking it. It was a confirmation of who he was and what he could do.
Air Mages, it''s a mage but with nearly exclusively air spells.
+3 Willpower
+3 Intelligence
+5 Mana
+3 Free Stats
One Spell slot opened (2 Available) This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
Santiago V. Silva
Air Mage lvl. 26
Strength: 30 (55)
Durability: 33 (58)
Stamina: 28 (53)
Dexterity: 28 (53)
Vitality: 33 (58)
Perception: 29 (54)
Intelligence: 46 (71)
Mana: 50 (75)
Willpower: 47 (72)
Potential: 25%
Free Points: 0
Primary Affinity: Air (Uncommon)
Secondary Affinity: Time (Lesser)
Titles: Cockroach (Minor)
The boost in skills was very nice. He was nowhere near as squishy as he had been in the last timeline. Any mage killer was going to be in for a shock as he refused to die. He didn¡¯t have the physical stats to be a frontliner like Chloe or Cameron would, but he didn¡¯t need to. Just having the extra boost in his physical abilities while being a powerful mage was more than enough.
¡°You all done checking yourself out?¡± Tank drawled.
¡°Nope. Still have a loot box to open. It¡¯s a small one though, probably just cash.¡±
¡°What are we going to do with the cash we¡¯ve earned? Nowhere is accepting wooden coins last I checked.¡±
¡°Wait, you guys are getting paid?¡± Cameron cut in, looking confused.
¡°Yeah, the smallest loot boxes from achievement give coins. Albino wood. At least, we think they¡¯re money,¡± Tank said. Santi gave silent thanks to Cameron for giving him a moment to think.
¡°If the system is giving us money for loot, it only makes sense it¡¯ll give us a place to spend it,¡± Santi said.
¡°That is some sound logic. Let¡¯s go back to the whole loot box thing though,¡± Cam said. Santi thought about it and realized that nobody had really clued them in on the achievements.
¡°Tank want to tell him? I want to go get dressed.¡±
¡°Yeah, yeah, I got it.¡± Tank waved him off as he started to inform Cameron what they had been doing and earning.
Santi retreated back to his room and flopped on his stolen bed. He had to take a few minutes and let the feelings run over him. The evolution didn¡¯t just give him the boost to stats, but made him better able to utilize said stats.
The System quantified so much of the world, but it didn¡¯t quantify everything. It had been a topic of discussion somewhat frequently around the campfires during campaigns. How two people with roughly similar stats could have a difference in abilities.
The dominant theory had to do with the quality of the evolution. Did one cheap out and have it done in the cheapest way possible? Then the resulting effect could be that the person who had finished the evolution couldn¡¯t fully utilize their abilities to the fullest. It was a lack of efficiency.
There had been no way to know in the last life. Now though, Santi was pretty sure this proved the old theory. His stats were high, yes, but the amount of information that he could compile from even a single breath was staggering.
Did the person wear deodorant? Did they have high cholesterol, or diabetes, or maybe what they had to eat last night? Did they brush their teeth after eating the night before? All of that information was pouring into his mind with every single inhalation.
Not only was that information coming in, but he could process it. Perception was his lowest stat and it was drawing forth so much that he struggled. He wanted to test his strength and dexterity. To see how fast he could move and hard he could hit.
Santi didn¡¯t want to see how hard he could get hit. He needed to know, but was going to avoid testing that stat as long as he could. Santi turned his attention to the silver wire wrapped around his arm.
Before the thin tendrils had wrapped around his forearm to nearly his elbow. There had been plenty of skin left showing before, but now it completely encompassed his arm from wrist to elbow.
The weak telepathic bond he had with it just projected the feeling of being tired. And hungry. He could feel the tug on his mana reserves already. Mana and potential draining slowly out of him and into the weapon.
¡°Hungry bastard,¡± Santi muttered at it. The morph weapon gave a contented growl toward him.
¡°Santi! Santi!¡± Yesi¡¯s voice pierced walls. It was a beckoning rather than a yell for help.
¡°Ten minutes. All I want is ten minutes of peace,¡± Santi growled as he pulled on some more comfortable clothes and trudged downstairs. While the morning had been busy, filled with pain and revelations, it was still barely two in the afternoon. He was done with the day though, ready to eat and nap. Then maybe eat and go to sleep after he woke up.
¡°What do you want!?¡± He yelled as he trudged downstairs.
¡°I got an achievement! A box! What do I do now?¡±
¡°Oh, shit. I forgot about my own box,¡± Santi told himself as he walked down to the kitchen table where the family was sitting.
¡°Like this, Yesi,¡± Santo said as he opened up his own achievement and summoned the loot box. The box popped into existence right on the kitchen table. Chairs screeched backward as everyone freaked out over the small box. Santi reached over and popped it open with a flick of his wrist.
More of the wooden currency coins sat in a pile waiting for him. He was beginning to grow a hoard at this rate. He had earned more loot boxes than anyone he had ever heard of. Then again, everyone was earning them at a decent rate. Maybe it was the extra mana that Akthyr was injecting into the planet. More potential to be gained, more rewards to be given out.
Yessenia figured it out fast enough. Her own small loot box showed up and she was getting a plastic bag to pour it into.
¡°What was the achievement for?¡±
¡°First person to perform an evolution ritual!¡±
¡°Damn, that should have been mine. Remember this later when you''re mad at me. I¡¯m the best brother around.¡±
¡°What did you do that¡¯s going to make me mad at you?¡±
¡°Nothing. Yet.¡±
¡°You¡¯re my favorite brother!¡± Yesi said, smiling fakely. There was a mutter of polite laughter and rolled eyes. Santi enjoyed the moment. Later they¡¯d be going out with Chloe to hunt and trying to push their levels to twenty-five.Tomorrow he¡¯d go out and check out the distribution center. For the moment he could relax.
Ch. 2.16 Scouting Run
16.
¡°Is that a robot?¡± Daniel whispered. Santi looked across the road at where Daniel was staring at. He could see where the other man got the impression. The rusting heap across from them was an amalgamation of parts. Cars, bicycles, copper wiring, and miscellaneous junk. All of it bound together in a creaking, lurching, mess.
Junkyard Golem lvl. 22
¡°It¡¯s a level 22 golem. Thank god it''s not a robot. You still don¡¯t have [Identify]?¡±
Santi asked, looking sideways at the scout.
¡°No. Haven¡¯t felt like using a slot for that when I have you,¡± Daniel said with a small smile.
¡°You need levels?¡± Santi asked. Daniel was the most private of the group, rarely if ever talking about his stats or levels.
¡°No. I¡¯m maxed out all the way across the board.¡±
¡°These little ones will be good for the others. My sisters and Cameron need the experience.¡±
¡°What about your folks?¡±
¡°They¡¯re not interested in leveling. After things settle down I¡¯ll work with them. Get them higher up.¡± There¡¯d be dungeons that could be mapped out, teams who could escort them and help them gain levels safely. If he could keep everyone alive.
¡°Can we get around them?¡± Santi asked after a minute.
¡°I can. Can you?¡±
¡°I can be sneaky,¡± Santi rebuked, putting his hand up to his chest, acting offended.
¡°Then follow along,¡± Daniel took a few steps and seemed to fade away. It wasn¡¯t an illusion as much as his affinity softening the edges. Santi could see that there were a few skills in play too, though he couldn¡¯t tell which ones.
Santi followed behind Daniel, his advanced perception stats allowing him to keep track of him. It was difficult though. Daniel had to be using at least three skills to be able to perform this level of stealth. It did make him a bit worried about Daniel¡¯s level of ability to actually kill things. His stats were likely to be distributed amongst his perception, willpower, mana, and dexterity.
They worked their way around the edges of the distribution center. Tall chain link fences had encircled the large industrial scale buildings. Most of the fence materials looked like they had been looted. He had a feeling some of those scrap golems had chain link fences in them.
The distribution center was near the edge of town in the industrial center. There were no houses and the roads were built wide for the eighteen wheelers. The massive scale of all the buildings had an intimidation element to them. Nearly three stories tall and each one dominating the length of a city block.
The building that Marisol wanted to raid was in the center of the industrial district. Which was a bit of a problem with all of the walking scrap heaps roaming around. Daniel could slink along invisible, but Santi had to be a bit more discreet. Moving from patch of shadow to patch of shadow, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a pang of jealousy at the ease in which Daniel was able to sneak.
Ducking past the few dangling links, they worked their way down an alleyway and kept moving. Santi counted the scrap heaps, the scores of them that lumbered around on their rusted metal legs that screeched with every step. A few cans of lubricant were needed. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Most of their levels were around the peak of Initiate. While they were strong opponents, none of them were strong enough to rip apart the scavenger teams. They were missing something.
It took an hour of slinking to make it two blocks. The sun was rising, breaking apart their cover. Santi army crawled underneath an abandoned trailer for an eighteen wheeler in the loading bay of the target building. Daniel had disappeared somewhere ahead of him, slinking into the building through an open door. Well, it was a hole where a door had been.
Santi rose to a crouch and looked up over his head to the rolling metal door that sealed off the loading bay. The metal door was all busted and dented up leaving a gap where the door met the floor. Santi jumped and grabbed the lip of the ledge with ease. It was trivial how easy it was to pull himself up and into the dark building.
Polished concrete was smooth under his hands as he rolled under the door and came up into a crouch. His morph weapon transformed into a saber as he took in the building. Pallets of packaged goods had been tipped over. Crushed boxes of chips, crackers, and others were shoved into corners. Broken pallet boards had been thrown around in a spray of detritus.
Metal Golem lvl. 27
That would wreck the scavenging crew for sure. The other six golems that were clustered around the area were a bit hair-raising. All of them were roughly the same level and Santi didn¡¯t want to get in a fight with all seven of them at the same time. None of them had moved since he had rolled into the warehouse. They simply sat in the dark like mountains of metal.
Santi looked them over and didn¡¯t feel overly threatened by them. They were a steep step up from the rusting heaps outside, but they weren¡¯t premier. Copper, bronze, and iron looked to be the primary metals in their construction.
It was hard to tell their height with them sitting hunched down like they were, but he had to guess they were close to nine feet tall. They had four arms, two on each side, with seven fingered hands with slender fingers. There was no apparent head, just a primary torso. It was propped up on four stubby legs and they all just sat there without moving.
The air was still and there was a thinness to the world around him. A distinct lack of potential. The rift was here in the actual warehouse. Santi backed out silently, rolling back under the door and falling to the loading ramp easily. Santi started to work his way back and out, trusting that Daneil would make his way back.
WIth his current skills, he couldn¡¯t get past the static sentinels without turning the entire area into a warzone. He didn¡¯t think he would have trouble fighting his way into the rift, but this was too good of an opportunity for everyone else.
Last night''s hunt hadn¡¯t netted much in the way of levels for the girls and Chloe needed a metal to advance her affinity. It was a gift wrapped opportunity for them. It took four hours for him to leave the area. The rising sun had rid the area of all the available cover and it made it slightly harder to work his way around the patrols.
The better light let him see the rusting heaps better. Each one looked like it had been built by a drunk mechanic that had taken a hard dislike for symmetry. Some rolled along on a single wheel, some scurried on spider legs, though most walked around on bipedal legs.
He counted nearly thirty of the golems on this side alone. They had been stripping the local area of every metal they could find. Santi could see that every building had holes in them, often golem shaped. He poked his head into a few of them and stared at the gutted remains.
Walls had been broken into and wiring ripped out. Sinks dismantled, refrigerators stolen, and not a single A/C unit to be found. The junk part of their name was very well earned it seemed.
Santi walked a block away, keeping alert for any changes around him. With the boost to his stats and his evolution his sphere of omniscience had increased to ten feet. It was a bit of a challenge to process all of the extra data. Its why he almost missed it.
A change in pressure in the building he was standing in. Santi spun and his weapon became a long spear that he stabbed at a plain wall. The spear pierced straight through the drywall and out the other side.
¡°Careful, you almost stabbed me,¡± Daniel deadpanned. The spear was an inch from his head. Santi forced his heart rate to calm down, as he stared at the rather calm man. His dark eyes didn¡¯t even hold a hint of concern.
¡°That was stupid. Don¡¯t sneak up on me.¡±
¡°That¡¯s my bad. I apologize.¡± Daniel bowed his head in apology. Santi let the weapon slither back up his arm as he backed away from the other man.
¡°What did you see?¡±
¡°Lots of those metal golems. A tear in the space time continuum in the middle of the building. Lots and lots of those golems.¡±
¡°How many is lots and lots?¡±
¡°Probably twenty or so.¡±
¡°That means we need you all to evolve. I can¡¯t fight them all. Well, maybe I could.¡±
¡°No need to brag, Santiago. I¡¯ll tell your Mom.¡±
¡°Ok, ground rules for exploring and doing stuff together. No matter what happens or what we do, we don¡¯t tell on me.¡±
Ch. 2.17 Food Line
17.
¡°Is it me, or is there a giant line in front of your house?¡± Daniel asked. He was standing with his hands on his hips as he stared at the line that stretched from the backyard gate to the sidewalk in the front of the house. Thin tendrils of pale gray smoke, nearly invisible in the afternoon sunlight, rose behind the house. Santi cocked his head and took a deep whiff, sucking in a thousand smells.
Beans, tortillas, eggs, rice, burning wood, and hot metal. Mom and Dad were cooking it seemed. Santi knew his Dad loved to cook, always relishing the looks on people¡¯s faces as they started to eat his food. Mom, well, she cooked because that¡¯s just what she did. Santi had never heard her profess a love of cooking or even an enjoyment. Rather it was a task she accomplished with great proficiency.
¡°I think my parents are cooking. At least nobody is in the house,¡± Santi said, walking by the line and through the front door. The smells from his parents cooking wafted in, sneaking through the backdoors. His stomach growled and he looked enviously at the line of people in the backyard.
His parents and a few others had emptied out the backyard of all the tubs that Santi had been planning on using for evolutions. Six fires were burning, massive pots sitting above open flame and several flat skillets were being used as tortillas were being cooked. Bianca stood in the corner of the kitchen looking at the backyard. Santi could hear her stomach growl, but she wasn¡¯t moving.
¡°Don¡¯t want to get enlisted?¡± Santi teased.
¡°I¡¯m so hungry, but if I go out there my Mom will make me cook. Santi, go and get a plate of food for me.¡±
¡°Where¡¯s Cam? Get him to do it for you.¡±
¡°Santiago, go and get me a plate of food,¡± Bianca ordered.
¡°Why did I rescue you?¡± Santi groused as he walked out the sliding back door and into the chaos of the backyard turned kitchen. Now that he was in the thick of it, he could see that everyone was dropping off odds and ends. Those who had earned coin from loot boxes dropped off a single coin in a collection bin. Others dropped off canned or dried food, bottled water, sanitary wipes, anything of value.
Santi¡¯s eyes bulged at the pile of wealth accumulating in front of his parents. A single one of those wooden coins had the value to pay for everything here. Basic non-mana infused foods were nearly worthless. They lacked the nutritional values needed to fuel higher evolved people. Santi could enjoy the food but it wouldn¡¯t do much for him in the long run.
Appropriately leveled beast meat or skill grown crops were the way to go. It had been a slowly growing concern for Santi as he began to realize that the faint hunger in his stomach wasn¡¯t being sated when he ate. Once a few more people were evolved they were going to have to try to find something to hunt to eat. He would settle for those mutated grasshoppers at this point.
¡°Santi, you need a plate?¡± His dad had a wide smile as he plated up a paper plate with beans, rice, eggs, fried potatoes, and scrambled eggs. Mom threw a pair of tortillas on the plate without looking, her eyes locked on the mass of masa in front of her and the tortilla press she was working.
Santi thanked his parents and ran away from the glaring eyes from all the people he had just cut in line. The plate was nearly bending with the weight of food on it and he quickly handed it off to a thankful Bianca who started wolfing it all down. Daniel was looking peckish and sauntered out of the house and grabbed a plate himself before coming back in.
¡°Santiago? Did you eat like this everyday?¡± Daniel asked. A hint of reverence in his voice as he made a taco out of the ingredients.
¡°Yes. Also, tear strips out of the tortilla and use it to scoop everything up. Little bit of everything in each strip.¡±
¡°Santi, this is the stuff of the gods.¡±
¡°My Dad and Mom cook really well. I took it for granted growing up. Always thought there¡¯d be another meal. Then one day there wasn¡¯t,¡± Santi finished in a whisper staring into the kitchen.
¡°Must be nice to have everyone back then,¡± Daniel said as he pulled a piece of tortilla free and mopped up the plate. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
¡°Yeah,¡± Santi wiped at his watery eyes and ignored the weird looks his sister and Daniel were giving him. He thought he had been beyond this, the increase in his willpower having been able to repress his rampant emotions.
They were back. He had his family again. His best friend again. So why the fuck was he crying.
¡°My Mom never really cooked and my Dad¡¯s idea of cuisine was opening a can of beans and a piece of toast,¡± Daniel supplied.
¡°That sounds absolutely horrific,¡± Bianca said around a mouthful of food.
The door banged open and Yesi came stomping in, her face a thundercloud. Bianca grabbed up her plate from the kitchen counter and scooted into a corner as Yesi stood there fuming. Santi decided with his new advanced stats and superhuman durability he could jump on this grenade.
¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±
¡°Mom! She made me move everything for the evolutions! All of it!¡± Yesi was yelling, tendons popping out of her neck.
¡°Where¡¯d you put all my stuff? The treasures?¡±
¡°Still in your room. I just moved the tubs and water buckets. We¡¯re closer to that gross pond. Less trips that way.¡±
¡°Have you gotten ready to do it for anyone else?¡±
¡°Chloe said you told her to wait?¡±
¡°Yeah. Won¡¯t be long. I think the distribution center will have what she needs to upgrade her affinity. Tank should be ready and I have a few treasures that will work well for him.¡±
¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go and find him. Do you have a list of all the treasures and shit you had?¡±
¡°No, I just threw them all in the bag.¡±
¡°Damnit Santi!¡± She snorted in anger and ground her heel on the floor.
¡°Why?¡±
¡°I think some stuff is missing. Can¡¯t be sure because someone doesn¡¯t keep records.¡±
¡°Sorry, was more worried about keeping everyone alive. You know, life and death battles. Next time I¡¯ll write it down,¡± Santi snarked back, even if on the inside he was kicking himself. If someone had stolen some of his treasures then he¡¯d have no way of knowing. He really needed a vault or something.
¡°No need to be a smart-ass. Tank, then who?¡±
¡°There¡¯s a few others. I¡¯ll spread word. I have a few special pieces set aside for people who are family.¡±
¡°You got some for me?¡± Daniel blurted. Finally his facade had cracked, naked avarice on his face. It was enough to make Santi want to smile. While not as loud and brash as Chloe, Daniel still had a burning desire to gain levels and strength.
¡°Yes. Just need one more piece, you¡¯ll probably have better luck finding it than me. I have what¡¯s needed for Hana. Cam and Bianca shouldn¡¯t be too hard to find.¡±
¡°Chad?¡±
¡°He gets the standard evolution unless something falls into our lap. This new rift in the distribution center should have plenty of strength. Probably could fuel multiple evolutions at the same time.¡±
¡°Is it really that big?¡± Yesi asked.
¡°The one I used didn¡¯t even have more than eight hours to absorb mana and potential. This one has been sitting for weeks. We have enough low level treasures to boost specific stats, that rift stone to fuel the rite, and then the affinities.¡±
¡°But, do Tank¡¯s today?¡±
¡°Yeah. There¡¯s a shoe box under my bed. Has his name on it. Should have the right ingredients for his evolution.¡±
¡°Sweet. The other¡¯s?¡±
¡°Aside from the family and Rayleigh, everyone gets the basics.¡±
¡°Got it.¡±
¡°Did you get levels? From my evolution?¡±
¡°No, but the loot box was enough.¡±
¡°Damn, I was hoping planning out and doing the ritual would be enough to satisfy your class requirements.¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m a Planner, not a wizard. I¡¯ve been looking at maps of all these walls and they¡¯re a mess. Tank said I should go and talk to Marisol, she¡¯s in charge of all of the supplies. That would be the best place for me to level when I¡¯m not doing evolutions.¡±
¡°That sounds like a good plan. Marisol is ok, bit stuck in the mud. She¡¯s a schemer though.¡±
¡°Tank will be with me. He said he¡¯d make introductions.¡±
¡°Sounds for the best.¡±
¡°He said you could do it, but you¡¯re socially stunted and lack the most basic of manners and social graces.¡±
Daniel snorted and started coughing as food went down the wrong pipe. Bianca simply smiled at it, Santi shot her a dirty look but couldn¡¯t refute the statement. He could be polite and socially acceptable when he wanted. It was just, most of the time he didn¡¯t want to.
¡°Start up on the evolutions. Tank, Chad, Adam, and Hana for sure. Bianca go and find Cameron and anyone else who¡¯s stuck in the twenties. We¡¯re clearing out the distribution center and getting your levels.¡±
Ch. 2.18 Outside Security
-
¡°Santi, are you sure about this?¡± Tank whispered as the gathered group of freshly minted Acolyte¡¯s watched on. Cameron, Bianca, Rayleigh, Tristan, and several other high ranking, but not maxed leveled, fighters were cautiously closing the distance with the scrap golems.
¡°I can get there fast enough in case anything goes wrong. They need to clear the way to the distribution center itself, then we take over and fight our way to the rift and close it.¡±
¡°You make that sound way too easy,¡± Hana said. She had been the last to do her evolution in the group. Daniel hadn¡¯t evolved yet, neither had Chloe. Right now it was just himself, Tank, Chad, Adam, and Hana who had managed the feat. It was a poorly constructed roster, but what could he do?
Hana had a true [Scout] class now at least and had taken a cloaking ability similar to Daniel¡¯s as her skill choice. With her other skills leftover from her last class she had a decent amount of survivability to what was normally a squishy class.
Chad had followed his evolutionary path with [Archer]. A direct upgrade that made him a true backline ranged fighter. Once Cameron and Chloe evolved to form their frontline, Chad¡¯s true value would start to show up. In the meantime Santi had to keep playing as a frontliner with his busted stats.
Adam had a rather unique class, [Heaver of Weapons], that was both a mouthful and oddly specific. Adam hadn¡¯t really told him much about the class or the rarity, but Santi could make an educated guess that it wasn¡¯t a Basic class. He carried a rack of javelins and had made a belt with pouches that drooped to his hips that were filled with discuses. A pair of shot-puts were in a heavy fabric bag that he kept by his feet. The rack had straps so that it could be used like a backpack.
Of everyone in the burnt out convenience store, it was Adam who looked the most like he was going off to war. Maybe a Bronze Age war, but still a war. The rest of the team was huddled around in ratty clothes with their pieced together equipment. Aside from his morph weapon and Chloe¡¯s axe, nobody really had a decent weapon. Everything was just too fragile for them now.
Chad¡¯s bow threatened to break whenever he drew it back. Hana¡¯s blades would bend or shatter under her strikes. Most of Adam¡¯s weapons weren¡¯t reusable, only the solid metal shot-puts had the resilience to be used repeatedly.
The Pillar of Civilization would change all of it. Opening up the markets to allow for trading and offer System standard gear was a huge bonus of controlling a pillar. Santi just needed to keep everyone alive until then.
¡°It¡¯s not going to be easy, but as long as they¡¯re smart and careful they should be fine.¡±
¡°Your sister just charged straight in,¡± Chad observed. Santi had to blink in shock as his older sister charged fearlessly straight at the golems. Her macuahuitl wasn¡¯t built to fight metal golems, so she had been gifted a sledgehammer.
Like the rest of the family she was vertically challenged and had never been one to lift weights or strength train. Closer to runners build than bodybuilders. The System didn¡¯t care at all about that. Bianca was able to swing the sledge around in a blur as if it was made of feathers.
The golem was a seven foot tall humanoid and composed primarily of bicycles, sink faucets, a fridge door, and the rims off of several cars. The sledge hit it in the middle of its torso and nearly bisected it. The sound of heavy steel crushing aluminum and denting chrome was deafening.
The unstable golem wobbled for a second, its two legs shaking as if ready to fall apart. It stabilized and its two arms rose slowly in the air, metal grating on metal as it towered above Bianca. Santi tensed, his legs coiled and ready to spring into action to save his older sister. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Cameron¡¯s golden shield materialized right above Bianca¡¯s head, just at the golem went to smash down with all of its might. The shield fractured, sounding like shattering glass, but didn¡¯t dissipate. Bianca hadn¡¯t even bothered to look up at her descending doom, trusting Cam completely. She reared back and let fly again, caving in the golem¡¯s tubular chest and sending it crashing to the ground.
Bianca hopped up on top of the golem and began to rain down blow after blow. It was an impressive rhythm, with Cam¡¯s shields appearing just in time to intercept every single stray blow. It was an effective and efficient dismantling of an equal leveled enemy.
From a team perspective it was fairly terrible. They hadn¡¯t worked to incorporate anyone else¡¯s skill sets in the fight. That limited the amount of experience and leveling possibilities for everyone. Made it dangerous too. Bad habits were formed in the daily routine. If they grew used to fighting like this, they wouldn''t be able to work as a team against a truly dangerous foe.
¡°They need to spend more time working as a team,¡± Tank said. Santi nodded, glad that he had seen the same issues.
The noise had attracted more of the golems who were coming in a lumbering trot towards them. Tristan fired off an glowing silver arrow, drilling a quarter sized hole through the closest one as it came down the street. The golem collapsed mid step in a crashing heap, body exploding into pieces of trash.
Three more kept charging forward, coming from the depths of the small district. Rayleigh stepped forward with her heavy maul and rolled her shoulders as she squared herself off. She said something to Bianca, who replied and then hung her head, before she moved behind her. Cameron walked to the front to stand next to Rayleigh while Tristan stayed in the back and the others spread out.
Better, but still not great. Small scale tactics really needed to be worked on. Santi added it to the list of things to do along with daily sparring. At times he really thought the to-do list was growing rather than shrinking.
They let the golems close the distance rather than moving to engage them. Whatever skill Tristan used was either on a cooldown or took too many resources to use repeatedly.
Cam set another golden shield in front of a charging golem. The metal monster couldn¡¯t stop in time, slamming into the shield and cracking it as it rebounded and fell to the ground in a heap.
Rayleigh stepped into the path of the next closest one, her maul screaming through the air as she swung a wide overhand strike. The golem lifted a tubular arm up in a weak mimicry of a shield. Rayleigh¡¯s blow completely demolished the arm, crushing it down and into its body and sending it staggering back. She was right on the cusp of maxing out and she outleveled the golem enough that she could manhandle it.
The final golem kept coming on and Cam stood resolute. His personal shield snapped into being on his arm and he used it to block the first strike. Santi winced as the blow landed and Cam staggered back a few steps. He had done enough of his job. The monster''s momentum stopped cold.
Bianca was there, her borrowed sledgehammer hitting a knee and crushing it like cheap aluminum. An arrow sprouted in the center of its chest and a pair of spear strikes from the others followed right after. Bianca finished it with a huge overhand swing that drove the head of the hammer through the center of the golem¡¯s chest.
Off to the side Rayleigh had driven her golem into the ground and was wailing on it like it was a stress ball while the first golem that Cam had knocked down staggered to its feet. It didn¡¯t last long as the team seemed to start finding its rhythm.
More and more of the weak golems came out of the road leading into the industrial district and they were all dismantled. Santi slowly relaxed, tense muscles unwinding as he watched them work together.
The secondary strikers weren¡¯t very good, but they weren¡¯t terrible. Not people he¡¯d want on a premium strike team but they¡¯d be a good second team in case of emergency. Cam was nearly brilliant with his ability to interpose himself wherever the fighting was thickest. His shields and movement kept the golems from every gaining traction in the fight, allowing the damage to keep dismantling them with ease.
Rayleigh was good. It was a shame she didn¡¯t have that inner fire in her to grow stronger. She would have stood shoulder to shoulder with everyone else with ease. Bianca was raw, but she had that fire. Santi could be objective when needed to be and his sister needed work. They all did, but she had no history of competing or playing sports. She didn¡¯t understand teamwork and didn¡¯t trust those around her to do their jobs, aside from Cam.
The morning slowly became afternoon as more and more of the golems were broken apart. The road became cluttered with sharp scraps of metal and the vague humanoid shapes of the golems. Santi¡¯s team sat around bored as the others lured out the outer ring of defense.
At one in the afternoon Santi head it. A heavy booming crash of metal on asphalt that rumbled through the earth. Then another. Another. ANOTHER. Each one grew progressively louder as the [Metal Golem] came charging down the street.
¡°Finally, it''s our turn.¡±
Ch. 2.19 Golem Smash
19.
The first [Metal Golem] crashed down the street in an avalanche of grinding metal. Santi raced toward it as his weapon morphed into a claymore. The extra reach of the oversized blade was going to be useful, he reasoned to himself. It had nothing to do with wanting to show off to Cameron and Bianca.
He flashed by the group of peak Initiate fighters in a blur, dancing on the corpses of their slain foes. The evolution jump was more than raw stats. It was the ability to use the stats to a higher potential. Dancing on uneven and broken lumps of metal seemed a breeze now, far easier than it should have been.
In the original timeline his evolution had been so poor that there had barely been a difference. At least in comparison to now. Santi just wanted to revel in the power of his new body, to just fly free and explore. There was just the problem of a large encampment of people who were on the brink of starving. He could push himself against the Acolyte level monsters at least.
Santi leapt into the air, sword raised up and behind his back, ready to cleave the slow moving golem in half. His heart pounded and adrenaline flooded his body as he hung there for a second. The golem twitched, its upper arms raising up and crossing themselves in a shield ready to take the blow.
Santi started to descend and couldn¡¯t help but smile as he brought the morph blade down in an executioner''s swing. The golem¡¯s top arms crossed into an X and Santi hit the center of it. The reverberations would have knocked the blade out of his hand if there wasn¡¯t a tendril wrapped around his wrist.
Metal sheared with a scream of protest as the two arms were deeply gouged. He hadn¡¯t managed to cut clean through, the blade was stuck halfway in severely damaging both of the arms, but not making them inoperable.
And now he was standing in striking distance of a physical monster. Santi willed his blade to liquid and recalled it while jumping back. A foot came crashing down right where he had been as the golem did a hop skip stomp. Asphalt exploded in a blast, pelting him as he continued to back up. He had gotten lost in wanting to show off and in the power boost from the evolution.
He was a mage, not a frontline fighter. There was a reason he hadn¡¯t taken [Wind Blade].
[Crosscurrent-Orb] was thrown near instantly, Santi aiming the spinning whirlwind of destruction toward the mangled arms with ease. The explosion of air ruffled his clothes and threw a wave of dirt and dust around. He stood firm in the aftermath as he got to see the golem¡¯s arms rip free under the windshear.
A gray javelin flew by his head, striking the golem in the chest and driving it backward. Its lower arms reached up and grabbed the javelin, pulling it free and showing the dinner plate sized hole in its chest.
Chad didn¡¯t give it time to recover. A golden arrow was already in flight and crossed the distance in a flash. Feet before it hit, it tripled. Two golden arrows sliding out of the original shaft in a mana copy of the physical arrow. All three tore fist sized holes into the tall metal body of the golem.
The smell of hot metal wafted from the teetering golem as Santi closed the distance again. His party members had pushed the monster to its limit and he wasn¡¯t going to let it recover.
The morph weapons lengthened and thinned into a needle and went through the hole that Adam had created. Santi jumped to the left and turned the end of the morph blade at a ninety degree angle. The morph weapon tugged the much heavier golem, but it didn¡¯t budge. Santi planted his feet, digging deep and pulling as hard as he could.
For a second the golem¡¯s strong body held firm. Then with a screech, the morph blade ripped free of its torso in a spray of separate metals that scattered across the street. The golem staggered drunkenly as half of its torso was ripped free.
Tank walked up to Santi, his cudgel like club over his shoulder as he stared at the still not dead golem. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
¡°Tough bastard,¡± Tank remarked.
¡°Doesn¡¯t die easy, that¡¯s for sure. You want to finish it off?¡±
¡°Will this even do anything to it?¡± Tank asked, showing his homemade club.
¡°Probably not. You don¡¯t have any skills with your new class?¡±
¡°I got one that could work.¡± Tank had been cagey about his evolution and class change. Just smiling and nodding when Santi had bothered to ask him. Before Santi could pester him with more questions, Tank started toward the reeling golem. It had mostly straightened itself out, but it was in poor shape.
Tank unlimbered his club and took a practice swing, using his hips like a baseball player did. Cracking his neck to the side, Tank bounced from foot to foot and then darted in with a burst of speed. The golem swung one of its remaining arms, but Tank slid under it, popping to his feet in a smooth motion. He landed in a batter''s stance, large club cocked over his shoulder, and swung for the fences.
Right as the taped together bats would have hit the metal golem, a ruddy-red sheen appeared over it. Tank hit it right where Santi had just finished ripping into its torso. The blow was catastrophic, the clarion ring of a trumpet sounded out as metal was crushed under the force of the titanic swing.
The entire golem caved in as the force of the blow drove it towards the ground. Tank was already backing up, his one offensive power spent as another golden arrow arced over their heads to land the final blow against it.
Metal Golem lvl. 28
The kill notification popped into being even as the golem collapsed in a pile of metal. They had man-handled the big golem as a group fairly easily, but Santi had to imagine fighting one by himself would have been a bit more difficult. He didn¡¯t have enough offensive spells yet to truly fight with magic alone. With time that would change.
¡°You finally going to tell me what your new class is?¡± Santi whined at Tank. He hated the mystery of it. It was still some type of medic, but what was the exact type?
¡°You can¡¯t stand not knowing, can you?¡±
¡°Nope.¡±
¡°I¡¯m a [Battle Medic]. I wanted to take something that would work out here in the field rather than specializing into a more stationary magic.¡±
¡°What was that skill you used?¡±
¡°[Defense of the Wounded]. It¡¯s the only attack skill I had offered to me. It wouldn¡¯t have worked if you weren¡¯t hurt.¡±
¡°What do you mean I¡¯m hurt? I¡¯m fine.¡±
¡°You have a scrap of asphalt stuck in your face.¡±
¡°Just hanging there?¡±
¡°Oh yeah. Big old piece of asphalt, right in your cheek.¡±
Santi felt around his face and touched the long hot sliver of asphalt. Santi plucked it free and stared at the single drop of blood on the end of it. He hadn¡¯t sensed it coming at all with his senses, another oversight with the influx of stimuli.
¡°Thanks. Couldn¡¯t have mentioned that earlier?¡±
¡°Needed you to be injured to use my skill.¡±
¡°I understand what you¡¯re saying. I just don¡¯t like it.¡±
¡°How many of those things did you notice when you went through the warehouse?¡±
¡°Seven at least.¡±
¡°So there¡¯s more coming?¡±
¡°Should be.¡±
¡°There is,¡± Hana said as her skill deactivated. Santi had felt her entering his sphere of awareness, but her skill had kept her partially cloaked from his sight. Tank jumped in fright though, so that sort of made up for letting Santi walk around with a piece of concrete in his face.
Her cloaking skill wasn¡¯t like Daniel¡¯s where he blended into the shadows. It was closer to light bending around her till she was little more than a heat mirage.
¡°They¡¯re coming down here?¡± Tank asked after he got his breath back. Adam and Chad came walking down the street while the other fighters cautiously walked closer to them.
¡°No, they¡¯re standing in a line around the warehouse.¡±
¡°Alright. Should we push on? Clear the warehouse or keep waiting for more people to rank up and evolve?¡± Tank asked. Chad and Adam shrugged while Hana looked torn. Santi shot her questioning look.
¡°I don¡¯t feel comfortable being the primary scout. Daniel has way more experience doing it.¡±
¡°What are your guy¡¯s levels?¡± Santi asked toward the line of fighters coming forward. They had cleared a bunch of the junk golems and had to be getting close to the levels needed.
¡°22,¡± Cam said instantly. The rest of them were around the same as Bianca had gotten up to 23.
¡°Y¡¯all go back home. We¡¯ll clear the guards outside of the warehouse but won¡¯t enter the rift,¡± Santi said.
Ch. 2.20 Walking the Warehouse
20.
[Air Shield] broke in a burst of wild wind as the golem¡¯s arm was stopped in its tracks. Santi ducked down and moved forward, his sword slicing the golem at waist height. A single blow was enough to cut nearly halfway through its thick body, but not enough to finish it.
[Air Current] gave him the warning of a pair of balled up fists coming down towards his head. Santi spun on the ball of his right foot, his momentum never slowed after slashing across the golems waist. He kept tight to its body and got behind it by staying tucked to its hip.
The golem smashed apart concrete like it was glass, the ground shuddering under his feet as Santi jumped away. Just in time as a discus came screaming, literally a woman¡¯s shriek, and cut off the golem¡¯s top left arm. A gold arrow hit a second later and exploded at contact, right where Santi had just cut it.
Metal shrieked as the golem folded in half. Its legs ripped free from its body, but the lower two arms caught the torso before it completely hit the ground. Lifting itself with the lower two arms functioning as its legs, it started towards Chad and Adam.
Hana materialized behind it, plunging her dagger into its torso. The old iron dagger split the copper base of the golem with ease. The golem spun about on its hands, its remaining upper arm swiping around.
Hana bent at the waist and let the attack flow over her. Santi raised an eyebrow at the show of flexibility. Little ostentatious, but effective. She scampered away just in time as a javelin came sailing down to explode thunderously as it crushed the golem into the ground.
Adam¡¯s weapons packed a punch. Santi couldn¡¯t help but admire the pure punching power the man had. It made him a fairly stationary target, similar to an artillery piece. A few more evolutions and they wouldn¡¯t have to worry about the mismatches in their party.
Smoke cleared away to show the ruins of the golem. Its lower arms were just stumps while its torso was full of jagged holes and molten metal dripped slowly to the ground. Still not dead.
Chad finished it off with a single arrow. That was the last of the guardians that had been forming a line around the warehouse. Everyone came together to stare at the now undefended building.
The area they were surrounding looked like the remnants of a warzone. The asphalt was cracked and had craters in it. Half melted metal was splashed around with haphazard abandon and the ruined remnants of golems were piled up in heaps sporadically across the block.
¡°I didn¡¯t get a single fucking level,¡± Chad bitched as he got closer. Santi had to hide his smile. The first tier was easy for levels. It just got harder and harder from there. Gaining levels as a Disciple bordered on insanity. It was a reason that Santi had been a valued member of their alliance even if he wasn¡¯t a straight fighter. Anyone who climbed that far, even while exhausting their potential, had drive and skill.
¡°Same,¡± Santi said to placate him. He couldn¡¯t be having them pissed off constantly from not getting levels every time they got in a fight. They were also splitting the experience and potential amongst their party, as everyone contributed to the fights. Before they all fought together, but aside from major enemies, they fought individuals alone. With a few more levels and skills they¡¯d be able to start doing that again reliably.
¡°I think we should check out the warehouse,¡± Tank said, staring at said warehouse. That got a lot of shocked looks as the normally most cautious person advised the riskiest plan.
¡°What? We¡¯re running low on food. We should go and see if we can grab anything before clearing the rift. We have a lot of people to feed,¡± Tank defended his position. Santi just shrugged and looked around at the others. Adam and Chad would be more limited in the tighter confines of the warehouse, but Hana would have more cover. Tank hadn¡¯t had to use any of his skills besides his attack earlier and was fresh. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
It would be on him to keep everyone safe. Santi felt the hunger from his morph blade. The golem¡¯s were powered by mana and the weapon had been siphoning some of it away with every strike. It still hungered though.
¡°Let¡¯s go. Slow and careful,¡± Santi said and started toward the open doors that Daniel had gone in through last time. While they could get in by going down the loading dock and climbing, why? They had killed all of the guardians that both Santi and Hana had seen. A quick recon, in and out, back before dinner.
The warehouse was dark and hot. Light streamed from the broken doors and the cracked open loading dark. It was hardly enough to see the hazy outlines of mountains of pallets. Boxes were strewn everywhere, crushed to dust food covering the entire floor in a crunchy mess.
Santi moved forward while Hana quickly scaled a ten foot pallet and began hopping from one to the next. That was one way to avoid the loud crunching of the floor. Chad came next, an arrow on bowstring while his eyes swept around in a careful search pattern. Adam held a shot-put against his neck and shoulder and looked nervous. Tank strolled in behind them all with his club looking unconcerned.
¡°Let¡¯s just see if there¡¯s anything we can take back,¡± Tank whispered to the two ranged fighters. Both of them nodded and tried to quietly start digging through the boxes. Santi ignored the food and the others as he worked deeper into the warehouse.
The building was cavernous and covered in goods. Past the loading area tall shelves stretched up towards the ceiling, all of them laden down with food. It was a veritable feast if they could harvest it all. Most of it was dried goods or canned food. The fresh section must not be near here or wasn¡¯t stored in this area at all.
¡°What are we looking at?¡± Santi called out to the others.
¡°Graham crackers. Cereal. Saltines. More crackers and stuff,¡± Adam said as he looked at some of the stuff laying around.
¡°Same,¡± Chad said.
¡°Canned goods over here,¡± Hana said as she climbed over some more pallets and whispered to them. Tank didn¡¯t bother going past the first pallet, just looking it over.
¡°Santi, could you hold this area? I can go and get the scavengers and their crews. Start emptying it out.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know. Hana you see anything further in?¡±
¡°No, but it feels weird the further inwards you go.¡±
The beginnings of a mana sense. She was likely feeling the draw of the rift that was further inside of the warehouse. Nice to see it developing without him having to work with her.
¡°Tank, you and Adam go and get everyone. Me, Chad, and Hana will watch the doors.¡±
Tank and Adam left without saying a word, breaking into a distance eating jog instantly while the rest waited. Chad scaled up the top of the shelving unit without hesitation, setting up a nest near the top. Hana shimmered and disappeared again, off to scout around. Santi grabbed a box of graham crackers and started to eat.
There was almost no nutritional value to be had, but it would calm the growling for a few minutes. It was also tasty. He ate the entire packet of crackers while standing near the doors, patiently waiting.
He wasn¡¯t the best at patience. By the time he dropped the empty packet he was ready to go and see the rift. The entire outline of golem guardians had been destroyed and none of them had been particularly dangerous. Strong and durable but lacking the speed necessary to be a true threat.
¡°Chad, I¡¯m going to go check out the center of the warehouse,¡± Santi called up to the archer. Chad just gave him a thumbs up as he munched on his own stolen snacks. Santi started to weave through the pallets, heading toward the heart of the warehouse where Hana had disappeared off to.
As he got deeper and deeper into the warehouse, the darkness deepened to the point where he could hardly see where he was going. The trapped heat in the building caused him to begin to sweat, even with his increased stats. The mana grew thinner and thinner till it felt like he couldn¡¯t breath. The suction of the rift on the world was beyond whatever the kobold rift had generated.
A tenseness formed between his shoulders as he looked around at the maze of shelves around him. The lack of light left everything just vague shapes that could hardly be discerned. Anything could be hiding in the mass of shelves and towers of pallets. His morph was a long curved knife, his head swiveling back and forth as he looked for the split in reality.
¡°Santi, it''s over here,¡± Hana whispered. Her voice was so low that he could barely hear her. He followed after, sliding between the organized rows and seeing the rift and everything around it.
Ch. 2.21 A Dwarf
21.
Santi worked his way up one of the tall shelves, moving from strut to strut with easy grace as he kept his eyes locked on the sight below him. The split in the world let out a fierce heat that made the already uncomfortable warehouse even worse. Flames flickered out from through the rifts gate, showing Santi and Hana what was waiting for them.
A trio of partially assembled golems lay in pieces around the rift while a young dwarf moved slowly as he assembled them. The dwarf was in rough condition. His skin was pallid and there were cuts and bruises evident when he moved. His dirty and stained clothes hung like drapes off his body. The worst sign was his beard. It was patchy and uneven, shorn in places to reveal discolored cheeks.
A collar of rough rope was looped around his neck and was pulled taut as the dwarf worked, stretching his hands out so his fingers could just barely brush over the metal of the golem. Everywhere he touched metal melded together into a seamless being. Santi had thought the golems were from the rift, but it was so much worse.
The captive dwarf¡¯s guards sat in a heap around a pile of bones and rags. The pair were dirty but looked healthy. A single baleful eye glared out at the world in suppressed rage. Wide crooked teeth worked bone as they cracked and sucked the marrow free of them. Cyclops.
Cyclops were a primitive and brutal race of monsters. Appalling appetites on legs they had some of the worst monster dens that Santi could remember seeing. They also had a trace level of intelligence that made them a little more difficult to deal with. As evidenced by them keeping a captive dwarf golem maker.
¡°Santi? Is that a dwarf?¡± Hana whispered in his ear. She spoke so softly that even from inches away he could barely hear her. He just nodded as he prepared himself. The information he could get from the dwarf was invaluable. That and stopping the creation of golems was critical.
Pulling [Air Current] tight to his body to prevent sound from traveling, Santi whispered out his plan to Hana. After a moment, she nodded and disappeared down the shelves. Santi counted slowly to twelve and then prepared to move.
It was nearly a twenty foot drop straight down, but he also needed to cross nearly thirty feet to reach the cyclops. As he hit the twelfth Mississippi, he jumped. The power in his legs let him cross the distance in a flash, his morph unspooling and turning into a lance as he fell like judgment on the two monsters.
The light from their own rift blinded them. It robbed them of their night vision and they didn¡¯t see Santi falling until it was too late. The morph weapon punched into the cyclops on the right chest with a crack of splitting bone and a spray of crimson blood. The creature opened its mouth wide and screamed in pain and shock, spewing blood and spittle over Santi¡¯s face.
Santi formed serrations on the lance¡¯s shaft and ripped it free, shredding the cyclops chest as he spun to face the second one that was scrambling to its feet. At seven feet tall it towered over Santi and its bloodshot red eye promised death as it lifted a ham sized fist up and over his head to bring down in a crushing blow.
The morph melted into a long sword and he cut it above its knees, splitting muscle from bone. Its legs folded and it screamed in pain as it slammed into the ground. Its heavy rectangular head made a sickening crunch as it impacted the concrete.
Santi spun back to the original cyclops he had injured and finished it with a swift stab through its bulging eye. It stiffened and then relaxed, going limp as it died. Santi looked back to the second cyclops which was still struggling to get to its knees. Santi repeated the movement, ending the creature and fight.
Both of the monsters were young and not full sized. If there was a full clan inside the rift, they had sent some of the smallest and weakest of their brethren out to watch the dwarf. Santi watched the rift for a moment, waiting to see if more of the cyclops would be coming out of the rift.
When none came, he turned and looked back at the others. Hana had taken advantage of the distraction to cut the tether that had kept the dwarf in place. She was already whisking away the confused dwarf as Santi stood staring down at the dead corpses and the half finished golems.
He backed away slowly, keeping his eyes on the rift and ready to fight if more of the monsters came out. The warehouse had gotten much more dangerous to be around than if it had just been the slow moving golems. Stolen novel; please report.
Juvenile Cyclops lvl. 24
Juvenile Cyclops lvl. 23
Achievement: The first to kill a Cyclops
Reward: Loot Box (Lesser)
The small wooden box appeared right as he got to the exit of the warehouse. He didn¡¯t hesitate as he ripped it open and grabbed what was on the bottom before leaving the warehouse before the box dissolved.
As he jogged away from the warehouse he looked down at the packet in his hands and restrained himself from rolling his eyes. It was ration packs. A bag filled with Acolytle grade nutrition bars. Akthyr was looking out for him, even if the bars tasted like sawdust.
Hana had led the dwarf to where Santi¡¯s strike team had waited while the lower ranks had cleared out the junk golems. It was just Hana and the dwarf there in the ruins of the convenience store. The rest of the teams had run off to go and gather the scavengers and people needed to clean out the warehouse.
Hana was staring at the dwarf with wide eyes as the dwarf just sat there on the ground with his eyes half closed. His chest rose and fell in fast and shallow breaths as he waited. Santi took a quick second to use [Identify].
Juvenile Dwarf lvl. 21
He was younger than Santi had thought. The effects of his captivity having aged him in the cruelest of ways. His cheekbones were sharp as a blade and his cheeks were sucked into his mouth. Hunger haunted him and Santi sighed as he broke apart a piece of one of the nutrition bars. Akthyr definitely had his finger on the scale.
He offered a piece to the dwarf, holding the grainy, crumbly, bar under its nose. The dwarf sniffed at it twice before his finger snatched the nutrition bar before stuffing it into his mouth. A groan of contentment was all Santi got out of the dwarf as the super nutritionally dense food started to work.
If it had been before the initialization the miraculous recovery would have been something out of fiction. It still wasn¡¯t as if the young dwarf had become a picture of health, but the improvements were noticeable. Color filled his cheeks and he seemed to relax in on himself as he finished the mouthful.
¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Santi asked.
¡°Grimvr Metal-Shaper,¡± the dwarf responded.
¡°How do we understand him?¡± Hana whispered. The dwarf definitely wasn¡¯t speaking English. His words were grumbling and deep, guttural sounding like a mix of German and a concrete mixer.
¡°System.¡± Santi couldn¡¯t explain how he knew, but it was a simple enough jump in logic that the geas didn¡¯t interfere.
¡°How many of the cyclops are in the rift? Are there any Acolyte¡¯s and if so, how many?¡±
¡°Santi, let the poor man relax. He looks like he¡¯s about to die,¡± Hana chided him from behind.
¡°We need to know how many there are, Hana. We need the food and need to clear the rift.¡±
¡°He¡¯s right. There are three score of the beasts, but only six are Acolytes. They hold seven more of my clan, those who are blessed by metal. They have us making their crude tools to harvest this world.¡± The dwarf was already fading away again, the boost from the food giving him just enough strength. Santi broke another small piece off and handed it to Grimvr. Too much of the higher evolution food could have negative side effects, but right now he needed more information.
He gave Grimvr a few moments to eat, keeping an eye out the window towards the warehouse. The streets were still empty, but there was no guarantee they¡¯d remain that way. When he finished off the last of the crumbs, Santi continued.
¡°Who¡¯s making the upper golems? How many of them are in the rift?¡±
¡°My Uncle, Torin. He is the only one who is an Acolyte. The mating pairs, they keep him close. They send out their spawn to bring them back their food and wealth from worlds.¡±
¡°And the rift guardian?¡±
¡°Defeated. The three mating pairs have taken their place. It is how they have evolved.¡±
¡°How many golems are inside?¡±
¡°Acolyte level? There was only twenty when we arrived. The junk ones? Hundred or more.¡±
¡°Shit,¡± Santi cursed. Those numbers were outrageous. A hundred plus peak Initiate tier monsters and another twenty Acolyte. It was too much for them, yet at the same time it needed to be done.
¡°Santi, what are we going to do?¡± Hana asked. She could do the math as well as he could and knew that they were in trouble.
Ch. 2.22 Speeches and Plans
22.
Santi slammed his head into the table and didn¡¯t think he was being dramatic at all. The conversation had dissolved as the other councilors, and whoever else had crammed their way into the room, decided to voice their opinions. The fact that they had come back from the warehouse without food and with a mythological creature hadn¡¯t been well received.
¡°We need to flee! If what the creature says is true, the creatures are too powerful!¡± Abraham was busy roaring from a pulpit, spreading his fear like a disease.
¡°Are you sure you can¡¯t kill him?¡± Cameron whispered into his ear from behind him. Tank snorted gently, overhearing the question. It was a testament to just how frustrating the man was that Tank hadn¡¯t reprimanded him for speaking of casually murdering someone. Even in jest.
Partial jest.
¡°Tank says no. Something about not being a dictator or something,¡± Santi whispered back. Cameron shrugged a shoulder and leaned back into his cheap plastic chair.
¡°The longer I have to listen to him, the more I think maybe you¡¯re right,¡± Tank said.
¡°It only takes dealing with a few fools to see the failures of listening to them in an emergency. And this entire world is an emergency,¡± Santi whispered. He remembered. He couldn¡¯t tell them, but he remembered. The failed states. Broken walls and fractured people.
¡°Now is not the time for hysterics. Stand firm!¡± Helena barked, her voice booming over the noise. For a moment there was silence as the former firefighter stood her ground and dominated the room. Dozens of people looked at her, waiting to hear what was to come.
Santi could feel their desperation, their need for an answer to the problem in front of them. Desperation and hope and terror all mingling together in an electric mix that heightened the world around them. Then the silence went for too long. Helena did not fill that dreadful silence and all their most terrible anxieties did the rest.
The room descended into bedlam as Santi watched. A hundred people, most of them high ranking Intitates, were screaming at each. Santi let it drag on, he needed them to truly feel the fear before they would listen to him.
¡°You going to say anything? I think our guest is forming a rather poor opinion of us,¡± Tank said. He looked over to where Grimvr sat munching on stale bread and a can of beans. The poor dwarf still looked like he was a step from death, but he had cleaned himself off and straightened out his beard at least.
¡°Let it build.¡±
¡°Alright. Cam, you haven¡¯t told me any fun stories about Santiago when he was a child. Would you be willing to share?¡± Tank turned with a mischievous smile to the always happy to embarrass Cameron.
¡°I have plenty. Did he ever tell you about his Junior prom proposal?¡±
¡°Alright, I think they¡¯ve stewed enough!¡± Santi hopped to his feet, and when that didn¡¯t attract anyone¡¯s attention, he got up on a chair. Manipulating [Air Current] to pitch his voice he yelled out to them.
¡°ENOUGH!¡±
Just like when Helena did, it stopped them for a moment. Unlike the firefighter he didn¡¯t let the silence stretch and build out.
¡°I have a plan. It will work. We will do it.¡±
His grand speech was met by blank and confused stares as the rest of the room waited for more. He didn¡¯t really have a detailed plan, but the beginnings of an idea.
¡°We can not afford to panic. This community looks towards us for leadership. For guidance and protection. We are failing them right now! So we will stop this bickering and cowardice! This is our home! We will not flee!¡± Santi was getting into his speech, feeling the adrenaline of public speaking coursing through his veins.
¡°Any and everyone who has reached the tier cap will evolve! Any and every weapon will be accounted for. Over the next few days you will get your assignments. You will do them! For this is our home and we will not run!¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Santi got off of his chair and marched out the room, Tank and Cameron following right behind him. The doors had just closed when the two started heckling him.
¡°WE WILL NOT RUN! You sounded so inspiring, Santi¡± Cameron joked, his voice high-pitched and mocking.
¡°He sounded very inspiring. Half-time coach level speech. Down ten and we need a score!¡± Tank chortled.
¡°Did it work?¡± Santi bit back, his own faint smile impossible to conceal. It felt good to hear this banter.
¡°Maybe. The dramatic walk out was inspired though,¡± Cam said.
¡°Is inspired your favorite word? Tank asked.
¡°Hey, don¡¯t pick on him. His vocabulary is limited.¡±
¡°Tank, what the fuck bro? We were ganging up on Santi and his over-the- top theatrics.¡±
¡°You right, you right. My bad. Santi you were cringe as Hell.¡±
¡°I agree,¡± Daniel said as he walked out of the shadows of the hallway. Santi was of the opinion that nobody was discussing how much Daniel seemed to enjoy being an edgy, brooding, prince of darkness. He had felt him the minute they walked in the hall, but seeing Cameron and Tank¡¯s nervous jumping was enjoyable.
¡°Did you find what you were looking for, Daniel?¡± Santi asked. Ever since Santi had done his evolution, Daniel had been ready to go. He just needed something to fuel his affinity in the ritual.
¡°It was an error on my part, I must admit. I¡¯ve been searching for a while, even before the ritual for a treasure like the ones Santiago has been collecting. My affinity is shadow, so I figured I¡¯d find it in the dark at night.¡±
¡°Industrious,¡± Cam said.
¡°Thank you, anyways. I made an error. There can¡¯t be shadows without light. My affinity isn¡¯t darkness after all. So I went out this morning at the crack of dawn when the shadows were thick and found it. Or rather a clump of them. Something had already grabbed some. Or something.¡±
¡°What did you find?¡± Santi was genuinely curious.
¡°I don¡¯t know. I can feel the power of them. It¡¯s a cluster of mushrooms. After I picked it, I put it in a bag away from direct light and watched the rest of them when the sun hit it. They faded away like a memory.¡±
¡°Does he alway talk like this?¡± Cam whispered to Tank.
¡°He normally doesn¡¯t talk.¡±
¡°I can see why.¡±
¡°Thank you for your input gentleman. It¡¯s greatly appreciated. I believe doing my evolution at dusk would be best.¡±
¡°I agree. Let¡¯s go and find Yesi and see if we can get you penciled in. I have plans for you and Hana.¡±
¡°This part of your strategy to clear the rift?¡± Daniel asked.
¡°Yup. We¡¯re going to go and get the rest of the Grimvr¡¯s clan. We steal their golem makers and the cyclops will come running right after us.¡±
¡°Into a trap, I¡¯m assuming?¡±
¡°Big ole¡¯ trap,¡± Santi confirmed.
¡°I¡¯m off to visit Hana and then I¡¯ll meet you all at the new place?¡±
¡°Sounds like a good plan,¡± Santi said. Daniel melted back into the shadows and Santi felt his presence disappear.
¡°He likes to jump in and out of conversations like that? Just appearing out of thin air?¡± Cam asked. He was still trying to figure out the group dynamics.
¡°He¡¯s always been the quiet type, but he¡¯s been scaling it up to eleven since the system initialization,¡± Tank said. They¡¯d been rooming together for all of the freshman year, Tank was likely the one who knew him the best.
¡°Where¡¯s that girl Chloe go off to?¡±
¡°She¡¯s hanging out with her friends. None of them aside from Rayleigh are fighters and since she¡¯s capped out she¡¯s just waiting for us to find a type of metal treasure to boost her affinity.¡±
¡°What about me and Bianca?¡±
¡°Earth and fire shouldn¡¯t be hard to find. We¡¯ll keep an eye out for them and we can use the new rift core to fuel your evolution.¡±
¡°You¡¯re not going to put us on the bench for this, are you?¡±
¡°No. We¡¯re going to do what we did earlier today. Just bigger. Me and the other Acolytes will be waiting in the wings for the fighting to start and then come in to clean it up when their heavy hitters show up. You and Bianca should get more than enough opportunities to level up to twenty-five.¡±
¡°Good. I don¡¯t like being weaker than you. It feels unnatural that someone of your size is stronger than me.¡±
¡°Get used to it,¡± Tank said laughing. The two giants towered over him and Santi looked at them and rolled his eyes.
¡°Yeah, get used to it. Next time we wrestle, it¡¯ll be you calling uncle,¡± Santi mocked.
¡°The only one who makes me tap out is your sister,¡± Cam retorted.
¡°Who¡¯s making you tap out, Cameron?¡± Bianca said as they turned a corner. Santi smiled widely as a blush spread across Cameron¡¯s face and he began to churn out bullshit to keep himself from a beating.
Ch. 2.23 Grimvr
23.
Santi sat with Tank as they watched Grimvr absolutely demolish the peak non-Acolyte team. Cameron, Chloe, Bianca, and Rayleigh were being tossed around by the dwarf like they were small children in an embarrassing show of utter ineffectiveness.
No one was using skills and everyone had crude armor that the dwarf had shaped for them to give them some protection. The four on one should have been an easy victory, but Grimvr¡¯s actual skill was showing itself.
In a battle of stats and System skills, the dwarf would have died under a blaze of attacks. The four fighters had enough combat skills to cover their lack of technical skill that Santi felt confident in them overcoming a single or even two similarly leveled opponents. Without them, it was an ass-whooping.
Grimvr sidestepped an oversize downward chop from Chloe, hitting her lightly on the knee with his recently made maul. Her knee crumpled and she bit back a cry of pain as he followed it up with an elbow to the neck as she fell.
Rayleigh came on fast, not letting her friend¡¯s fall slow the flurry of blows that caged Grimv in. The taller girl had reach and she used it to her full advantage. Grimvr charged in, taking a blow on his shield and speared her with the blunt top of his own maul.
Rayleigh bent in half and dry heaved, defenseless as Grimvr hooked her heel and tipped her to the ground. She landed in a clatter of training armor and sucking wind as she tried to regain her stolen breath.
Bianca and Cameron lasted a little longer. Without the System skills Cameron had built his fighting style around, he was crippled. Grimvr had made him a long rectangular shield to use, but he was horrible with it.
Santi winced as Cameron didn¡¯t properly brace or try to divert the force of the strike he just intercepted. The thin sheet metal bent and Cam was sent staggering back, leaving Bianca open.
His sister¡¯s reckless attack style worked when she had a dedicated [Defender] to protect her. Without Cam it was easy for Grimvr to simply dodge and close the distance, repeating the same move that had stopped Rayleigh.
The entire spar had taken less than two minutes and both Tank and Santi were wincing as their friends and family picked themselves off the ground and shook off the beating they¡¯d just taken.
¡°Think Daniel would have tipped it to them?¡± Tank asked, sipping a bottle of water while eyeing all four of them for injuries.
¡°No. Daniel would have been even worse. He lacks the technical fighting skills and relies completely on his System granted abilities. Grimvr would have wrecked him.¡±
¡°Dwarf can fight, that¡¯s for sure. Can you beat him?¡±
¡°Probably not. I can kill him, but I can¡¯t beat him. I¡¯m a mage, not a frontline fighter. I¡¯m good enough to defend myself, but I can¡¯t fight a dedicated trained fighter like him.¡±
¡°And there¡¯s more like him in the rift?¡± There was an edge of uncertainty and fear in Tank¡¯s voice. He had just watched one emaciated and exhausted dwarf batter four of their best fighters around. Santi could only imagine that he was thinking of a group of them could do.
¡°Just a handful and only one of them should be evolved. With skills I could handle the entire group. It is a concern though. Just means more training and practice.¡± Santi slapped Tank¡¯s arm and got up to walk over to the group laying about.
¡°So, are you going to listen to me now when I say you need to train more?¡± Santi said as he leaned over his sister. She couldn¡¯t formulate a response as she was still trying to suck in a breath. She flipped him off, which Santi took as a sign of affirmation.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
¡°Thank you Grimvr. I know how tired you are and weak. I needed them to see the difference in System skill and combat skills from someone of equal level.¡±
¡°I needed the exercise. It¡¯s good to get the blood flowing and your healer has helped me much. The food is delicious here too! Much better than what we had on the colony,¡± Grimvr said as he set down his training equipment and accepted a bottle of water from Tank.
¡°Colony? Would you be willing to tell us about that? Is that where the cyclops captured you?¡± Tank asked.
¡°It¡¯s a small moon we found. Decent deposits of ore and it was within our ability to live there. No crazy monsters or beasts and only a dungeon or two. The clan sent us out to blood us, give us experience living outside of the protection of the elders.¡± Grimvr took another swig of water and took a regular granola bar and a jar of peanut butter that was sitting nearby and started to slather the granola with peanut butter.
¡°We were only there for a few weeks when the rift showed up. Latched on just a few miles from us. We didn¡¯t even know they were there before we got raided. Took forty of us and retreated back to their rift and then shuffled off again.¡±
¡°Rifts can leave?¡± Tank asked. Santi had known it was a possibility, but had never heard of it actually happening. Every rift he had encountered has sat on their planet like a tick, growing so fat with blood until they popped or evolved.
¡°If there¡¯s a significantly powerful enough monster in it that has enough intelligence, then yes. Most are just dumb monsters, but these cyclops have something in the center by their rift heart. We think it was a spell something else designed and they just figured out how to activate it.¡±
¡°How long have you been their captive?¡± Cam asked from the ground. He was staring up at the sky with his fingers threaded behind his head. He seemed to care the least about the loss.
¡°Time is different in a rift. It moves strangely. Faster or slower. But, it¡¯s been years.¡±
¡°Fuck. That¡¯s rough.¡± Understatement of the year from Cameron.
¡°The wider universe is cruel. It is a shame that your planet is experiencing an integration.¡±
¡°What is the integration?¡± Chloe asked.
¡°The System is old. Lots of histories have been pieced together. Fallen worlds and societies have been found and their records all have mentions of the System. There are scholars who search for its origins, but for most, it¡¯s simply a part of our life.¡±
¡°Ok, but what does it do?¡±
¡°Expands. Brings more worlds and realms into its web. More people and creatures. It generates monsters, or at least facilitates their generation. The highest tiers of people can interact with it. Or at least that¡¯s the rumors, none of our clan know for sure.¡±
¡°Everyone just goes along with it? Not knowing what¡¯s driving and controlling the universe?¡± Bianca sounded affronted by the thought. Chloe and Rayleigh nodded in agreement while Cameron continued to stare at the sky.
¡°Most just live their lives. Find their profession and just live their life. After a time and enough generations those who were integrated are adapted.¡± Grimvr waggled his newly shaped beard in a way that Santi recognized as the dwarven equivalent of a shrug.
¡°SANTI!¡± Yesi yelled from the front of the house. It wasn¡¯t the cry of alarm or pain, but that of an irritating sibling.
¡°WHAT?!¡± He screamed back.
Yesi came marching out of the house with her arms filled with papers and pencils. Bags were forming under her eyes but she had a wide smile as she came up to them, spilling a pile of notebooks on Cam¡¯s prone form.
¡°Daniel¡¯s evolution went well last night, thanks for asking. Oh, and where have you been?!? I have Mom and Dad asking constantly and then there¡¯s all the other people, who I don¡¯t know who they are, all of them at the house asking to speak to you! You said you had a plan to deal with the rift, but you haven¡¯t done anything since then!¡± Yesi was upset, her words a veritable flood and Santi felt a brief pang of guilt.
There had been so many people coming to him and asking him how he was going to fix their problem he had decided to relocate to the girls house across the street. Getting Grimvr out of everyone¡¯s eyesight and towards a group of crafters had been quite handy.
The metal shaping dwarf had been buried under requests for armors, shields, and a half thousand other things. Grimvr had done it all without complaint, smiling and nodding and talking to everyone while he constantly snacked on any food put in front of him.
¡°I¡¯m assuming all of that paper is your drawn up plans I asked for last night?¡±
¡°Yes! Thanks for the help too.¡±
¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡±
¡°I was being sarcastic, you ass. Do you want to sit down and go over this or do you trust me?¡±
¡°I trust you, but we¡¯re still going over this.¡±
Ch. 2.24 Building the Barricades
24.
The metal frames of cars were stacked precariously into a wall. The doors, roofs, tires, and anything else of value having been stripped off of them. With everyone¡¯s increases in strength and durability the work of heavy construction equipment was manageable with a relative handful of people.
Santi had been quickly relegated away from the stacking portion of the wall building to the dragging car frames team. His higher strength couldn¡¯t make up for his rather diminutive reach.
Cam, Tank, and a few other of the taller members of the community worked to strap cars together. Ratchet straps, ropes, chains, and even in one case duct tape, bound the bare bodies of the cars together. Repurposed plywood was hammered into the car frames facing the distribution center. They weren¡¯t sturdy and wouldn¡¯t be able to take much abuse, but they were better than nothing.
Santi was in the middle of dragging an SUV across the pavement toward the lifting group. Yesi was standing on the roof of the convenience store, calling out orders to everyone like a general. It suited her, Santi thought.
¡°Santiago! I know you¡¯re moving slow. Put your back into it!¡± Yesi yelled down at him, a scowl on her face. Santi retracted every nice thing he thought of the little hag and hunched his shoulders as he drug the SUV slightly faster.
¡°Come here, Santi. I¡¯ll protect you from the mean little lady,¡± Cameron crooned. He was shirtless in the sun while a sheen of sweat coated him. He flexed a bicep and adopted an intimidating pose while scowling up at Yesi.
¡°CAMERON!¡± Yesi barked out at him and the boy deflated instantly and went back to work without hesitation.
¡°Your people are strange,¡± Grimvr commented off to the side. The dwarf was too weak to be helping with moving all the vehicles, but Santi didn¡¯t want him left alone. So he was sitting in a fold out chair with a wide brimmed floppy hat on his head while he munched on a jar of peanuts.
¡°We¡¯re family. This is just how we interact. You aren¡¯t like this with your family?¡± Cam asked. Santi had to refrain from chortling as he knew that answer to that.
¡°No. If an unwed dwarf male did that to a female dwarf, he¡¯d be taken out of the hall and have his beard shaved for the shame he committed.¡±
¡°And if he was married?¡±
¡°His wife would bury him in a latrine pit,¡± Grimvr said, very seriously. Dwarves were serious people. Excellent crafters, premier blacksmiths and engineers and ferocious fighters. Not the joking type.
Santi remembered the fighting over the Rocky Mountains.He could still taste the smell of wet earth mingling with sulfur as he visited a conquered dwarven hall. It had been one of the worst campaigns against the invaders they¡¯d had. Belligerent dwarven lords who refused to be peaceful neighbors. He could still feel the heat of a blast from one of their machines, lighting the sky on fire as they flew over the mountain range.
He pulled himself out of the memories and reminded himself it wasn¡¯t Grimvr who had done that. It wasn¡¯t his clans that had pacified the Rocky Mountain range.
¡°Well that¡¯s one way of dealing with wandering eyes,¡± Cam muttered as he and Tank bent down to grab the bottom of the SUV and start lifting it with two others. The four taller men struggled for a moment, then the truck was up and over their heads and being set down on top of a small sedan.
¡°Are you betrothed, Grimvr?¡± Santi asked, watching his friends work.
¡°No. I am Dothk,¡± the word didn¡¯t translate and all of the guys looked at Grimvr with bewildered expressions.
¡°Ahhh, ummmm, not-established. I have no family or dowry to pay. I am a worker with no master. The second lowest caste.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
¡°That blows,¡± Cam said. As always, diplomatic.
¡°Most of those who went to the moon colony were. We looked to improve our lives. If we could find a rich claim or gather the levels to evolve, we could offer a better life to a prospective bride.¡±
¡°Man, you kick-ass. Why are you so low leveled?¡± Cam seemed the most interested in the dwarf while the rest just rested and let him lead the conversation.
¡°It is hard to level. Integrated planets are different. It¡¯s why so many will come here. Mana and potential are thick as bread.¡±
¡°What you mean, will come here?¡± Tank asked.
¡°All integrations follow a script. The world is flooded with mana and potential as it''s connected to the wider universe. Rifts are able to connect to the planet, dungeons are formed, ley lines are invigorated. The sudden influx of energy will cause a burst of monsters to materialize and beasts to evolve.¡± Everyone nodded, having been living that life for most of the last month.
¡°After that, when the world begins to calm down and stabilize, then the pillars will come. When the pillars arrive, the ways will open and others can come. Limited in number at first, but as the planet is woven into the net of the universe, more and more will come for the opportunity to get rich and level.¡±
¡°And the natives?¡± One of the workers asked. Santi didn¡¯t know his name but recognized him as one of Abraham¡¯s guys.
¡°Most are integrated into an existing power structure. Others fight the inevitable. Some don¡¯t survive the first round of the integration.¡± Grimvr was very matter of fact as he talked about the possible extinction of the human race.
¡°How often do they not survive?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know. I am no scholar of integration worlds, but maybe one in four fail?¡± Grimvr popped some more honey roasted peanuts into his mouth and happily crushed them down while everyone grew very somber.
They had survived last time. The Apostates had tried to sell out their world, but they had done it. They had survived against the invaders and monsters and beasts and starvation and the wild weather. Santi would have to do it again with the difficulty scaled even harder this time. Santi looked at his sister on the roof, feeling comfortable in her own skin as she ordered everyone about.
His Mom and Dad were making food off to the side for everyone. Tacos and sandwiches being created at breakneck speeds. Bianca was off to the side, her borrowed sledgehammer over her shoulder as she talked to Chloe and Rayleigh.
He would have to do it for them. They still didn¡¯t understand what was coming. They might think they knew, but they didn¡¯t. They couldn¡¯t comprehend what a mana infused storm would do. What bandits and marauders could do. What the invaders would unleash.
It was an unbearable weight that pressed down on him, threatening to drive him through the road and into the depths of the earth. A loneliness unlike any other he had ever felt ate at him. How could they know? How could they understand him and his fears?
Santi marshaled his willpower and pushed it to the side and then buried the despair in the darkest pits of his psyche. For them he could bear any weight and take any responsibility.
¡°Yo, Santi, we need another car man,¡± Cam said, slapping him on the shoulder and forcing him out of his own thoughts.
¡°You guys are fine!¡± Yesi yelled. Her perception must be high to have heard them.
Santi walked towards the convenience store and scaled the front with a single standing jump, grabbing the lip of the building and throwing his legs up and over the ledge. He landed next to Yesi and looked down at the mass of cars they had built up.
The T-junction had been blocked off by a wall of cars, with the convenience store being at the head of the T and the distribution center at the bottom of the T. Fighters were gathered all around the blockades, armed with a mass assortment of blunt instruments. They had pulled nearly every eligible fighter out of the base for this. Two hundred plus, all of them in the upper teens to low twenties with combat skills to give them an edge in the fight.
Raised platforms were above the blockade and held every ranged fighter they had aside from Chad and Adam. The other Acolyte fighters would be posted on the convenience store roof with him. It wasn¡¯t a bad plan, funnel all of the golems and the cyclops into a kill zone and then kill them.
Santi just worried about if any of the mated pairs came out of the rift to chase after their escaped prisoners. Or Acolytle level golems. He could fight one by himself, but he worried about the others being able to kill them fast enough to prevent a slaughter.
¡°It looks good, Santi. We do this and we¡¯ll have food for weeks. It¡¯s a good plan,¡± Yesi said, patting him on his shoulder. She had always been able to read his moods a little too well.
¡°Well, time to go and free some prisoners. Daniel, get out of my shadow and go and get Hana. We¡¯ve got work to do.¡±
Ch. 2.25 Baiting the Trap
25.
Santi walked through the doors of the distribution center calmly. His morph blade was a pool of razor wire that dragged behind him and his eyes swept across the cavernous building in search of any new foes. There had been no golems replaced on the outside, and Grimvr said that the cyclops often spent up to four or five days outside the rift before coming back in. They had reduced him on the first day on the outside.
He was still cautious though. He could feel Daniel dart inside, even if he was invisible to the naked eye. The burst of power and efficiency he had gotten from his evolution had strengthened his skill to the point he melted into the shadows.
Hana didn¡¯t cloak herself, just stayed tucked into Santi¡¯s blindspot to keep an eye out for any potential ambushers. Her cloaking ability didn¡¯t go with her affinity and she couldn¡¯t hold the skill for as long as Daniel could. Once they entered the rift, she¡¯d have to hold the ability for as long as possible as they worked their way toward where Grimvr said the other dwarves were held.
It took only a few minutes to walk to the rift and feel the heat emanating from the rift. The two dead cyclops lay half rotted on the ground. Their skin was beginning to sag around their extremities but their bellies were bloated.
¡°Oh god, they reek,¡± Hana complained, grabbing at her nose as they walked past them and into the rift. Santi couldn¡¯t disagree with her.
From one step to the next, they left the dark warehouse and entered into a burning world. A yellow sun blazed above them, burning away the shadows that Daniel hid in. The other man became visible with a curse as they all looked around the giant metal foundry.
Santi¡¯s new affinity gave him an instant understanding of how time was flowing. It was like a piece of him had suddenly been pushed into a rapid current. Time in this rift was accelerated to nearly double. An hour inside was only twenty-five minutes outside in the real world.
They were standing in a baked earth lot, the ground having lost any signs of moisture decades ago. Towering in front of them was the metal walls of a refinery, rust caked it to the point that holes had formed revealing the insides of the building. Scrap metal was heaped around, piled high into hills.
¡°How tall are those walls you think?¡± Hana asked.
¡°Hundred, hundred twenty feet maybe. Doesn¡¯t matter, we need to get moving,¡± Santi said. He broke out into a jog, heading toward where Grimvr said a secondary entrance was located. The main front doors were watched and even some of the bigger holes in the wall had guardians. There was a service entrance that the dwarves had found but hadn¡¯t been able to use so far on the far wall.
Running around the side of the building itself was a chore. Jagged pieces of metal littered the ground. Sharp pieces that grabbed at their clothes and threatened to cut them if they stepped wrong. There was no subtlety to their run, no discreet game of moving from cover to cover. It was a fast jog where they all hoped nobody would look outside of the walls.
Grimvr had told them the monsters were lazy. They sat in the cool shade of the foundry and relied on the golems to bring them what they needed. It would just be his luck for one of the one eyed monsters to look and discover them in the only part of the rift without any cover.
Daniel was cursing a storm under his breath as sweat trickled down his face. Santi wasn¡¯t sure what the other man had invested his stats in, but it wasn¡¯t looking like it was durability. Hana was loping alongside them with ease. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
They turned the corner of the rectangular building and Santi saw what Grimvr was talking about. A four foot tall by two and half foot wide hole. Rust had done most of the damage, but something had smashed in, pieces of metal laying in the dirt an easy hint.
Santi waved Daniel forward and waited as the scout leapt into the hole and disappeared. He crouched down against the wall with Hana by him, slowly waiting for Daniel to give them the all clear signal. Adrenaline raced through his veins, his heart hammering in his chest as sweat slowly beaded his forehead. The wait was worse than the jog, it would have been easier to be fighting than waiting.
It was a drastic change to who he used to be. He would have done anything to avoid a fight in the early stages of the integration. It had taken him months before he could muster the courage to face even the lowliest of monsters in straight combat. His evolution and class selection had been a reflection of that.
Daniel popped his head out and nodded toward the hole, vanishing again a moment later. Santi and Hana locked eyes, and then Hana was following her partner. Santi gave them a moment, then made the plunge.
The loss of light blinded him for a moment. The ferocity of the sunlight outside was a powerful contrast to the dim glow of smoldering furnaces. Red glows that spread the shadows and darkness more than anything. The hulking shadows of machinery stretching up and towards the ceiling.
The forges floors were covered in an array of debris. Santi understood why the dwarves had been forced to make the scrap golems. There was so much here just laying around that it would be impossible not to use some of the metal. The cyclops weren¡¯t the smartest of monsters, but they weren¡¯t the dumbest. The mated pairs were likely as intelligent as a base human.
Santi stuck close to the wall and started to work his way further down. Daniel had vanished off into the ether and Hana was somewhere close by. Grimvr had given them a map with his best recollection of the foundry and where exactly everyone was being held. The majority of the dwarves were held together near the edge of the building.
Their guards were just a handful of the weaker golems and a half dozen cyclops. Enough to stop the weakened dwarves, but nothing that would even slow down Santi. Torin, the Acolytle level dwarf, would be held in the center of the foundry with the mated pairs. Grimvr had been certain about that.
The issue was the Acolytle level golems that were roaming around. Most of them were just barely over the threshold of Acolyte, but Santi still didn¡¯t want to run into them in enemy territory. Nothing like getting jumped by a squad of them in the dark to ruin his day.
He ducked behind a piece of defunct equipment. A river of chilled metal had hardened over the side of it. Santi ran his hand over the smooth metal, not recognizing it immediately. He hoped that Daniel would find what they were looking for.
After a moment of scanning the darkness, he pushed forward again. Staying low to the ground, he moved slowly. Each step was followed by a pause as he looked to see if anything reacted to him. When nothing came lunging out of the gloom, he moved again.
It was a slow and methodical movement. He had made a career out of it before his later evolutions had let him specialize. He had forgotten how nerve wracking it was though to be standing in the dark and waiting to see if something would come crawling out of the dark to eat him.
It took nearly a half hour to work his way over toward where the dwarves were supposed to be. Grimvr had been specific enough in his instructions that he was able to navigate through the dreary foundry by just sight of the slumbering equipment.
A pen was nestled in between two broken machines. Wooden planks and rope stretched across the gaps. It wasn¡¯t enough to stop the dwarves if they wanted to run away, but the two patrolling Acolyte golems were.
¡°Well fuck,¡± Santi cursed under his breath. He felt confident in fighting one of them head to head, but two? It was going to be tricky. Hana should be close by. The original plan had been for Santi to hang back while the two stealth specialists rescued the dwarves. If things went awry, Santi would step in while everyone escaped.
Now it was looking like he might have to step in just to give her an opening to begin the rescue. The golems moved slowly around the pen, circling like lazy sharks. Each step sent a shudder through the floor, rattling Santi¡¯s feet. Santi looked up and frowned as he figured out a plan. He would have really liked to have unlocked a skill or two towards flight before he started climbing buildings and ruined structures.
Ch. 2.26
26.
Whatever the piece of machinery had been before its untimely demise, it was large. And its death had been violent. Slagged metal poked out, making nice handholds for Santi to climb upwards. They were a bit sharp but the basic metal didn¡¯t have the required strength to pierce his skin.
Up and up he went, twisting around the cylindrical machine as he kept one eye on the patrolling golems below him. His other eye looked for the hazy blur that was Hana. She was supposed to be keeping close to him, but he couldn¡¯t see her. If she had been closer to him he would have been able to sense her with [Air Current].
When he was nearly forty feet up and he could stare down at the ramshackle pen, he finally got a look at the captive dwarves. Somehow Grimvr had been in better shape. His stomach twisted in disgust at their living conditions and a fury beat in his heart as he saw a fat cyclops watching them lazily as it munched on stolen food.
This was supposed to be a quiet in and out mission, but after looking around he couldn¡¯t really see a way of making it quiet. The patrolling golems were slow, but fast enough that he couldn¡¯t take advantage of their blind spot. The single cyclops was sitting with his back to a rough shack. It would be impossible to get to him without the cyclops seeing him and raising the alarm.
He needed Daniel to go and kill the damn monster, but Daniel was off, hopefully securing a metal based treasure for Chloe. Hana could get in, but she couldn¡¯t cross the open ground without being seen. Santi hung there, his feet wedged into a crevasse in the metal and started judging the distances.
He thought he could make it. It wasn¡¯t really that far. The angle looked good to him.
¡°Ohhhh, this is dumb,¡± Santi whispered as he rearranged himself on the machine. He found better footing and coiled downward. He took a breath and whispered a silent prayer to whatever it was that looked down upon him. Technically it was Akthyr, but he wasn¡¯t going to be receiving any prayers from Santi anytime soon.
He sprung. Legs uncoiled in a burst of energy that threw him across the distance in a blink. If anything, he had overshot his goal and was likely to fly right past the sitting cyclops and through the monster''s shack. He twisted in mid air and cast [Gust], bending his willpower to keep the spell attached to his hand. Even with him keeping the spell tethered to his hand, there wasn¡¯t much recoil. If he had been standing on the ground he would have hardly noticed.
He was currently weightless and the recoil was enough to send him careening downwards toward the still unaware cyclops. A long cleaver formed in his hand, looking like an anime sword as he hurtled at the monster. At the last moment it looked up, eye widening in shock as its large mouth gaped open.
Santi split the cyclops in half, landing in a superhero crouch, blade in front of him. It exploded in a wave of gore, pulverized as it burst apart like rotten fruit in two directions. Santi froze and looked around, waiting for the Acolytle level golems to come racing through the weak panel walls to investigate.
His racing heart didn¡¯t relent as the seconds dragged on. The thudding footsteps never slowed as the creations didn¡¯t notice the disturbance. The dwarves hardly noticed, only two of them bothering to look at him. The rest kept laying around in their disheveled and torn clothes, their willpower destroyed by their prolonged captivity.
Santi hushed one of them when he opened his mouth and the dwarf nodded slowly. His beard was a mangled mess of black hair and one of his eyes had been gouged out, leaving angry red tissue behind. The dwarf shook the others to alertness, hushing them as they slowly rose to their feet.
A burst of motion over the fence and Hana appeared. Her shimmer of light anyways. She moved quickly past the dwarves, them not noticing her at all until she let her skill drop and stood next to Santi. A sheen of sweat covered her forehead from holding the skill for so long but she was in good spirits as she looked at the soon to be freed dwarves. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
¡°Did you see Daniel?¡± Santi asked.
¡°No. But¡that¡¯s the point?¡±
Santi stared at her blankly and then shook his head as he pointed at the slowly organizing dwarves.
¡°You¡¯ll have to lead them while I fight off the golems. I was hoping to see Daniel before we started the fight. Run straight for the rift exit.¡±
¡°So, follow the plan?¡±
¡°Yeah, follow the plan.¡±
Hana went over to the dwarves and whispered to them. They nodded along as they gathered around her while Santi waited as patiently as possible. Torin would have to be left to his own devices as there was no way they could reach the powerful dwarf.
¡°Hey, Santi?¡±
¡°Yeah?¡±
¡°Weren¡¯t there supposed to be five or six cyclops here?¡± Hana whispered. A chill ran down Santi¡¯s back as he looked back at the shack¡¯s walls that would stop [Air Current] from seeing inside. A door banged open and a screaming cyclops came flying out and all their plans went down the toilet.
Santi killed the monster before it had managed to take two steps, its wide head rolling off of its shoulders to strike the ground with a loud thud. The next cyclops tripped over the dead one, sprawling to the ground and causing a pile up as the others tried to get out of the shack.
Santi didn¡¯t hesitate as he began to cut. Each of the tall monsters died with a single blow. The high level Initiate monsters couldn¡¯t keep up, dying before they could register what was happening.
He heard the sound of breaking wood as the golems began to break through the walls and head towards them. Santi spun and left the blood coated shack and raced out to see the metallic monsters running toward them. They were faster than they looked and the two were converging on the group of dwarves with startling speed.
[Crosscurrent-Orb] was thrown without hesitation towards the left most golem while he leapt to land in front of the right most. The spell hit the golem in an explosion of power, winds whipping around and tossing the golem off its feet and to the ground. The right most powered towards him, lifting all four of its arms up and over its head to smash down on him.
Santi turned the morph weapon into a long lance and stabbed the golem through the chest before it could reach him. It pushed down the lance, not caring at all as the lance ripped apart its internals. Santi cursed and skipped back, letting the weapon become semi-liquid and having it pool back around his arm.
The golem got close enough and brought its balled hands down. Santi danced around it, spinning on the balls of his feet as the metal hands cratered the earth where he had been standing. Santi took the golem¡¯s leg off with a single swipe. The golem teetered and then fell to the ground.
The dwarves were racing away, Hana visible as she led them through the broken pen and out towards the forge. The golem he had thrown to the ground had gotten back to its feet and was lumbering toward him.
Santi leapt onto the downed golem and pierced its chest again with a broadsword. The morph blade sank through its body like it was cheese and Santi drug the blade back and forth severing vital parts before it could rise.
A kill notification dinged and he was moving again, interposing himself once more between the surviving golem and the retreating dwarves. He slashed and cut, spun and dodged, his blade tearing and gashing open the golem. It was strong but so slow and he was able to run circles around it as he slowly whittled it down.
It kept its lower arms close to its body, sacrificing them to keep Santi away from the more vulnerable innards that would lead to its death. Over the course of twenty seconds, Santi layered forty blows on it. Each time pieces of metal fell away until the upper arms cracked and broke off from the main body.
More and more cries were coming, the sound of metal hitting metal and the bellowing boom of cyclops dominating the air. He had to finish the golem now, or he was going to be cut off.
Santi closed the distance, putting himself in range of the lower arms to score more effective hits. Santi trusted in his stats and let the golem land a blow, trading strike for strike as the morph blade entered at the golem¡¯s crotch and sheared upward.
Bones creaked and muscles were bruised as Santi was lifted up and into the air, tossed like a ragdoll. The golem snapped in half, the various stress inducing cuts finally causing failure as the attempted bisection was the feather on the camel¡¯s back.
For the second time in ten minutes he was falling toward the earth and a fight. Cyclops were running everywhere and the weaker junk golems had been mobilized to chase after the fleeing prisoners. Santi just hoped that Daniel had gotten his job done before they had kicked the hornet¡¯s nest.
Ch. 2.27 Man The Barricades
27.
¡°Keep running!¡± Santi yelled at the dwarves and Hana, spinning and ducking as a heap of rust came flying through the space his head had just occupied. He cut the junk golem in half and kicked the parts away. There were definitely more than a hundred of the things in the rift. Grimvr had been quite conservative with how many he thought were here. From the sounds of trampling feet there was probably double that, if not triple.
[Crosscurrent-Orb] blew apart a knot of them, the savage winds breaking the poorly held together constructs. Limbs and stray pieces of metal went flying in a storm of shrapnel and Santi was forced to summon an [Air Shield] to prevent some of the scraps from hitting the dwarves.
The hole leading out of the foundry was close and Santi knew they were going to make it. He just worried about Daniel. The elusive scout had disappeared and hadn¡¯t made contact with them. He didn¡¯t want to leave him here alone, but at this point he would be hard pressed to hold back the rusting tide of metal.
¡°Fuck it, he¡¯s a big boy,¡± Santi grumbled and jogged after the fleeing prisoners. They were darting as fast as they could, but their condition slowed them to a near crawl. Santi was forced to cast spell after spell, [Gust] and [Crosscurrent-Orb] ripping apart the weaker golems.
Moving between the machinery and through the swarms of weak golems, hulking masses of Acolyte grade golems weathered the spells with little difficulty. They continued to march forward without hesitation as all around them their lesser brethren were shredded away.
¡°Hana, move it!¡± Santi screamed, hoping his voice could be heard over the clatter of metal feet pounding on the floor. Setting himself behind the last dwarf he continued his fighting retreat and the kill notifications kept racking up. For the first time since his regression he could feel the strain of using the spells. Between his high mana and affinity, the cost of using air based spells were near non-existent. Spamming them constantly was starting to weigh on him.
The last dwarf went through the hole and Santi was right after him. He sent the morph blade whipping around to clear a bit of space and then raced behind them. The heat of the rift beat down on them, but the dwarves weren¡¯t slowing. They weren¡¯t speeding up either. For being on death¡¯s door they were moving at an admirable trot, shuffling feet hardly scraping over the ground as they followed after Hana.
Golem arms were ripping at the hole, tearing and enlarging it so they could follow behind. The plan had been to rile up the rift¡¯s inhabitants and that part had gone spectacularly. The getting out alive with the dwarves part was looking more and more shaky as the minutes trickled by.
With a crash, the horde spilled out of the broken wall, but the time it had taken the golems to break through had been enough to open up a wide lead. The tear in space and reality was ahead and the sight of it drove the dwarves as they picked up speed to a near sprint.
An echoing roar split the day and the front gates of the foundry toppled as a twelve foot tall cyclops came storming out. Black hair bound in bones fell past shoulders as broad as boulders. A simple stained tunic of stitched together skins stretched to mid thigh and she lugged a metal club behind her.
One of the mated pairs. Who was holding the massacred ruins of one of the smaller cyclops Santi had killed inside of the shack. A watery tear slid down her dirty face and she screamed again.
¡°FASTER!¡± Santi screamed at the dwarves as they tripped and stumbled through the rift and to the other side. Daniel was going to be on his own. Santi wasn¡¯t going to fight the twelve foot monster and the Acolyte golems on their home turf while being outnumbered. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
He dove through the rift and was greeted to the repellent stench of rotting cyclops bodies. Hana was already shepherding the dwarves toward the exit and Santi stepped over the dead bodies and turned to look back at the rift, weapon ready.
The lesser [Junkyard Golem]s came first, stumbling out just to be disassembled by Santi¡¯s precise bladework. He kept the morph weapon looking like a long sword and he tore through them as they came charging out. The tide felt endless, slowly forcing him back, deeper and deeper into the warehouse.
Losing his strategic position of being right in front of the rift, the golems began to work their way around him. He had to speed up his retreat to avoid the encirclement, dashing between the towering shelves as the golems crashed into them.
As he got to the exit of the warehouse, the roaring cry of the cyclops came heralding her entrance to the world. The building shuddered and the crash of heavy, food laden shelves hitting the ground made Santi wince. More desperately needed food ruined.
He darted outside and watched as the dwarves staggered toward Grimvr who stood waving them on at the convenience store. They had knocked out the back wall to let the dwarves leave while Santi and his team stood guard. The blockades were fully manned and bristled with weapons and people.
Finally done with the rearguard, Santi sprinted towards the store. He quickly passed the dwarves, leaving them as if they were standing still. He jumped and grabbed the lip of the building and flipped to the other side to land lightly. Hana was already on the roof, sipping on a bottle of water.
Adam and Chad were stationed at the ready. Adam had an assortment of weapons he had pillaged from a sporting goods store and looked like he was ready to really let loose. Chad kept eyeing the spot his brother Tristan was standing and seemed wary of not having him close by.
Chloe and Rayleigh each held their own section of the barricades. The two were the best non-Acolyte fighters they had. Grimvr would be busy helping his people settle in and Mom and Dad had generously offered their cooking skills while Penelope tended to their wounds.
Daniel still hadn¡¯t made his appearance and Santi felt another pang of worry. Daniel was skilled and good at ambushing people, but he didn¡¯t have the experience or levels to really make himself a match made in hell yet.
¡°Daniel will be fine. He¡¯s good,¡± Hana reassured him. Santi looked at her and raised his eyebrows silently. He was sure that it was his job to reassure her that her boyfriend would be fine.
¡°Keep your eyes on the prize. Here they come,¡± Hana said, nodding her head toward the line of golems streaming out of the distribution center.
It started as a trickle, the leading elements pushing ahead with whatever order had been programmed into their mind. Likely something like ¡°get the dwarves¡±. They would be relentless, never ceasing in their bid to fulfill their orders. Until the false life inside of their shells was extinguished.
Ranged weapons skills started to bring them down. Tristan fired a bolt of energy and killed one by himself. A few of Adam¡¯s friends on the track team threw their own weapons and more of the many limbed golems came to inglorious ends. The clatter of metal of asphalt became a tumultuous roar as more and more of the golems came streaking out.
¡°I think your sister is going to be busy the next few days,¡± Adam said as scores of the upper teen, low twenties golems were destroyed. Santi had to agree with that assessment. Levels would be coming quickly for those who had braved the danger to fight. It was still the easy part of the fight, the golems hadn¡¯t even reached the barricades and the melee fighters on them.
Time stretched as Santi had to force himself not to intervene. He couldn¡¯t save the world by himself. He needed people to be strong enough to stand on their own. To not look outward for salvation. It was hard to watch and not intervene.
As the golems pressed against the barricades, the lashed together cars and assorted junk swayed by the press. Someone fell, their balance lost and scraps of flesh and red blood painted the golems in the immediate vicinity.
One of the golems reached up and plucked a slow fighter off the barricade and her screams stretched out across the street as her limbs were plucked from her body. More people died as he watched, some he couldn¡¯t have saved if he had tried. Their positions just changing to fast to properly react.
Some he could have.
He had a job to do and that wasn¡¯t to be a savior to the handful of unfortunates. It was to protect them from the wave of gleaming Acolytle level golems who were marching down the street as an honor guard to the twelve foot cyclops.
¡°Take ¡®em out!¡± Santi barked at his two ranged fighters as the enemy got closer and closer. Both men drew their weapons and started to gather energy for their skills as the cyclops mother opened her wide mouth and screamed a challenge at them all.
Mature Cyclops lvl. 31
Ch. 2.28 Food Fight
28.
Chad¡¯s bow bent to a precarious angle and then an arrow was arcing across the sky. Golden power radiated off of it as it tripled, all three of the arrows slamming into the lead golem. The arrows created wide holes and the golem staggered back, but didn¡¯t fall. Adam¡¯s gray javelin finished it off, hitting with the power of a bomb.
Dust and smoke swirled around in the aftermath of the skill, obscuring the smaller golems while the head of the cyclops was still visible. Santi cast [Gust] and watched as the spell ravaged the Initiate level golems. The weaker creatures broke apart, the poorly joined limbs snapping under the strain. The dust was whisked away revealing the rest of the honor guard of golems.
Behind the stream of Acolyte level golems and the cyclops mother was a swarm of the lesser nine foot tall cyclops who had followed after. Santi bit back a curse as he saw they wore crude metal armor and carried a mix of clubs and hammers. He was going to be too busy fighting the Acolytle golems and cyclops to fight the lesser ones who were just as well armed as they were.
A [Crosscurrent-Orb] blew another of the golems off their feet while Chad and Adam killed a second with a different combo of skills. Both of them could pump out damage, but they lacked the stamina to keep the damage coming. It was mildly concerning but it could be rectified in time.
Part of him wanted to hop down and cut a swatch through the rust buckets and tackle the honor guard head on. It was tactically unsound and dumb as hell, but he couldn¡¯t deny that the desire was there. Tank patted his shoulder and Santi looked at him and Tank shook his head. Maybe he wasn¡¯t masking his intentions as well as he thought.
¡°Keep up the pressure,¡± Santi ordered as the two ranged fighters kept working together to kill the golems. In the time it took the golems to reach the intersection both men were down to their most basic skills of just empowering their strikes. Adam grabbed a shotput and tossed at the cyclops.
Time slowed down, stretching out as Santi watched the heavy metal ball with silver energy coating it fly toward the cyclops. The monster watched it with its one muddy brown eye. A wide smile of brown teeth flashed as it raised its wide hand and caught the shotput with a single hand, the meaty sound of metal on flesh echoing out.
¡°Oh fuck,¡± Santi whispered under his breath as the Cyclops reared back and threw the heavy hunk of metal right back at them. There were no skills to it, just a sixteen pound, dense, metal ball flying at speeds that made it hard to see even with his advanced stats. Santi grabbed Tank and threw himself to the ground, keeping his body between that hurtling ball and his more delicate friend.
Metal on flesh sounded again and something wet and warm splattered across his face. Santi looked up and saw the smear that had been Adam. The big thrower was simply gone, obliterated by his own weapon. Santi rolled off of Tank and met the monster''s solitary eye.
He threw himself off the building and toward the monster, morph blade transforming into a lance. The cyclops was tall enough that his leap hardly got him over the top of the creature¡¯s head and he fell like a meteor aiming at her eye. She swatted at him, her large hand filling his vision like a fleshy wall.
[Air Shield] broke instantly, hardly slowing the blow. It was enough, he bounced off the edge of her wrist instead of being swatted out of the air. Diverted, his lance scraped a gouge across the cyclops shoulder. Blood welled from the gouge and Santi bounced off her bony shoulder to fall towards the ground.
Metal was everywhere, smashing down all around him as he tried to rise, glancing blows that shook him as the golems tried to turn him to paste. His blade was a whirlwind, striking out everywhere he could as he cut down across the golems in a fury. Bits of metal, arms, and legs were chopped free as he made his way clear of the monsters. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Santi leapt, his foot hitting the chassis of one of the machine¡¯s and then he was propelling himself back at the cyclops. Her blood stained her, running in rivers down her chest as she lifted her metal club up and into the air to smash down on him. He spun in mid air, using [Gust] to spin and bounce over the club.
Santi grimaced and bit back a cry of pain as bones creaked. The glancing blow threw him into a cartwheel and his attack tore at the cyclops scalp instead of her eye. She screamed and swung her club wildly around, each blow would have destroyed the barricades and anyone who had been standing there. They all hit air, her blows too slow to hit as Santi bounced like a ping pong, going from golem to golem, always leaping back at the cyclops to keep her distracted.
He was faster than her, but not so fast that he could completely dodge her blows. At most he could get around them, his momentum diverted by the powerful strikes. All around him the fighting continued, the people manning the barricade killing the horde of junkers and juvenile cyclops while Chad continued to whittle down the Acolytes. Every time Santi landed on one of them, he slashed and tore, gouging more and more metal off of them.
The slow moving golems were a poor match both ways. He couldn¡¯t damage them fast enough, but they could barely react to him as his speed kept him away from their grasping arms. The cyclops was faster but still slow, letting him stay ahead of her, but not kill her. If he could face one or the other, he could probably have been successful, but against both her and the golems, he could do nothing but stay ahead of them.
The cyclops was a mass of blood, bone showing where the morph blade had cut deep. A shadow detached from the walls and Daniel stabbed his dagger into the cyclops heel. Santi smiled, finally the little shit had shown up.
Hana dropped her cloaking and stabbed a wounded golem, finishing it off. His two scouts had finally revealed themselves and the tide began to shift. Where before Santi had fought to hold an equilibrium, now they could start pushing. Santi landed and split a golem in half, dashing away and jumping off a barricade back into the air to avoid the cyclops club.
The club missed him and hit a section of the blockade. Cars crunched, becoming flattened as did the fighters who had been on that section. Santi cursed as he raced towards the cyclops, his blade cut a swatch of flesh along its thigh and it screamed in pain as Santi dodged the flying hand. He took the tips of two of its fingers in his counter attack and it swung its heavy club in reprisal.
Santi was breathing hard, sweat dripping down his face as he kept throwing attack after attack without hesitation. The battle was winding down, almost all of the junk golems were destroyed and now the squad of Acolytes were down to their last leg, Hana, Daniel, and Chad whittling them away. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tank hammer one of the wounded golems into the ground. Tank was keeping himself in the backlines, but wasn¡¯t shying away from the fight.
Santi had to finish off the blood drenched cyclops. She was staggering back and forth, swinging her club around lethargically as blood pooled around her feet. Santi landed on the edge of part of the barricade and sprung at her, finally succeeding in getting past her defenses.
His lance pierced its eye. She screamed as she was blinded and swung her head back and forth as he drove the lance deeper and deeper. The jelly-like structure of her eye popped and fluids gushed over him, but he lengthened the lance, making it thinner and finally felt it pierce bone through the back of the cyclops head.
The cyclops shuddered and stiffened, all movements stopping as she froze. She was perched for a moment before crashing back towards the ground with a thunderous crash. The world shook as she grew still and Santi stood perched over her for a moment before dismounting.
The cries of the wounded were loud and the sobs of the living deafening. The barricades were in ruins, dead laying spread out across the ground in pieces. The golems hadn¡¯t bled, but they had spilt plenty of blood. Santi looked around, desperate to see the faces of friends and family.
Chloe and Rayleigh were still standing, both of them panting and tired looking. Bianca and Cameron were shoulder to shoulder. His Dad was standing behind them. His Dad was standing behind them? He could have sworn Dad had stayed back at home.
Hana and Daniel were standing off by themselves, their shoulders touching as they watched everyone else. Chad was looking at the stain that had been Adam. Abraham¡¯s crew started to head toward the warehouse, not waiting a moment longer to get the desperately needed food.
Ch. 2.29 Survivors Guilt
29.
Abraham was barking orders as streams of the non-combatants raced into the warehouse. Santi forced his tired body to move, needing to clear the warehouse of any potentially lurking threats before the weaker members of the community got there. He cursed Abraham for being so short-sighted. They had just beaten the attacking force, but that didn¡¯t preclude that there could be more enemies hiding in the warehouse.
He shot by the leading edges of the scavengers with ease and entered the dark warehouse. The wave of golems and cyclops had been defeated, but their trek through the warehouse might have doomed all the survivors. Everywhere he looked there was smashed and inedible food. The giant racks had been tipped over and spilled, crushed under heavy plodding feet as the army had raced to recapture their prisoners.
He wasn¡¯t here for that. Forcing himself away from the ruined food, he ran through the warehouse pushing his senses to their absolute limit to ascertain if the building was empty. It took less than a minute and he settled in front of the rift to watch it as the scavengers started looting.
The cries of distress at finding the food destroyed were heartbreaking. Still, they carried on with their work as they pulled what could be salvaged free. It would take hours for them to go through the massive warehouse. Santi would stand guard for every minute of it.
As the minutes turned to hours, others came to join him. Chloe and Rayleigh first, then Tank, Cameron, and Bianca. Santi saw his Dad out of the corner of his eye as Vicente helped load up salvaged food. They were all quiet and stood vigil with him.
¡°The wounded?¡± Santi whispered to Tank. he had to remind himself that was part of his job now. He couldn¡¯t just run off and do whatever he felt like. He had a responsibility to the people here.
¡°Not many. If the golems got a hold of someone, there wasn¡¯t much left. The smaller cyclops were just as bad. Got a handful who were hurt, but the other healers can get them on their feet.¡±
¡°How many did we lose?¡±
¡°Won¡¯t know for a few more days. More than the goblin raid.¡±
Santi had to contain himself as the thought of the heavy losses threatened to buckle his knees. How could he stand this weight? He was stepping up, trying to command these people and lead them to a future where they¡¯d have a chance, but how could he withstand the deaths.
He had ordered this. He had approved the plans and led the battle. These people had trusted him and now the dead were being piled up and the food they had come for was nearly worthless. He kept it all bottled in, refusing to let it out. The recent boosts to his willpower kept him on his feet and moving, his emotions locked down so that he could process them later.
He needed a focus for his mind and started to look through his System notifications. There were plenty of kill alerts, with the most prominent being the level thirty-one cyclops. It had been too long since he had seen the most important notification.
Congratulations, you are now Air Mage lvl. 28
Santiago V. Silva
Air Mage lvl. 28
Strength: 32 (57)
Durability: 33 (58)
Stamina: 30 (55)
Dexterity: 30 (55)
Vitality: 33 (58)
Perception: 29 (54)
Intelligence: 52 (77)
Mana: 60 (85)
Willpower: 53 (78)
Potential: 32%
Santi had assigned his six free stat points to strength, stamina, and dexterity with each of them receiving two points. While the battle had been fierce, it hadn¡¯t been enough to net any type of achievement for himself. Maybe some of the others had earned it, but for him it was more an endurance trial than an epic battle. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
The lack of potential gained was concerning. If the golems were puppets, their potential was capped and limited. They couldn¡¯t grow so the System wasn¡¯t going to reward someone for destroying them with potential. The cyclops had been the only opponents that the system had rewarded potential with.
If he had bothered to ask anyone who had been fighting them or checking his own status screen more frequently he would have noticed sooner. Another oversight to add to the list of failures that had been on his head lately.
¡°You guys manage to get levels?¡± Santi asked. He desperately needed out of his own mind.
¡°Got one,¡± Tank said.
¡°Two for me,¡± Hana chimed in.
¡°Cam and I both hit the cap,¡± Bianca informed him. That was good, they could get their evolutions underway sooner rather than later. Just needed to find a few treasures to help boost their affinities.
¡°Daniel, did you find what I asked for?¡±
¡°Yes. There were a few guards I had to deal with. That''s why I was late.¡± Daniel disappeared into the shadows and returned two minutes and forty-three seconds later. He was holding a bulging bag and had a content smile on his face.
Santi grabbed the bag and started to ruffle through it. It was the entire cyclops treasury. All of their looted natural treasures or anything else they had created or scavenged over the years. The small black backpack was overflowing with a mix of different items.
¡°Found the earth affinity and fire affinity items for you two. Chloe, got something you can use too. Why don¡¯t you take this bag to Yesi and get started on the evolution. I can watch the rift. We¡¯re going to need you guys on the inside when we clear it.¡± He tossed the bag to his sister and the three of them took off, leaving just his small team with him.
¡°Did you see anything else when you were in there?¡± Santi asked Daniel. He hadn¡¯t cleared this particular rift in the last timeline and was wondering what exactly had been in there. There certainly hadn¡¯t been dwarves.
¡°Plenty of metal. Good stuff too. Silver, gold, and some other ones. I didn¡¯t recognize them, but they were placed in the center of their horde and had special golems guarding them.¡±
Likely mana infused metals. Or something in that same vein.
¡°The dwarf?¡±
¡°Kept separate and near all of the cyclops. Couldn¡¯t have gotten him free if I wanted to.¡±
¡°There¡¯s five more of them in there?¡±
¡°Five of them, four of those special golems and maybe another six to eight of the regular Acolytle class. Didn¡¯t bother counting the junkers.¡±
¡°Shit.¡± That made at least fifteen opponents who probably had more levels than his team with a supporting cast of junk golems and smaller cyclops. They had thinned the herd of the Initiate level golems and cyclops by a fair margin, but there''s still more on the inside.
¡°Yeah, it¡¯s going to be rough. They¡¯re probably pissed I stole all of those treasures.¡±
¡°Yeah.¡±
¡°Think they¡¯ll come back out?¡±
¡°No. Not after this. They lost a lot of bodies. If they come out again, it¡¯ll be all of them and then they¡¯d have to leave the rift heart vulnerable. They¡¯ll hunker down and try to build more golems. The odd mate might try to come out and get revenge, but I doubt it.¡±
¡°So, why are we watching the rift then?¡±
¡°To make sure they don¡¯t come out.¡± It also allowed him to brood and wallow in his own misery while looking like he was being productive.
¡°Santi!¡± Abraham barked as he came marching over. The man had seemed to have calmed down since his teams had disaster land on their head. He wasn¡¯t being polite, but he had kept his assholery to a minimum.
¡°Yeah?¡±
¡°We¡¯re almost done. A lot of it¡¯s trashed, but we got quite a bit out.¡± Abraham walked away. Santi had to think, but that was one of the best interactions he¡¯d ever had with the man.
¡°Was it just me, or was he polite?¡± Tank commented.
¡°I think that¡¯s as polite as he ever gets.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t like him,¡± Hana decided to throw in. Everyone nodded but watched as the scavengers finished their work As the last of them pulled out of the warehouse, Santi motioned for the others to follow him and they left the warehouse too.
¡°Get some of the other scouts and put a watch on the building, Daniel¡± Santi gave his scout leader the orders as they left. Daniel and Hana walked off to go and get who they needed as Tank walked with him alone.
¡°Could I have done something to prevent this?¡± Santi whispered, looking over at the broken barriers and blood drenched streets.
¡°Maybe. I don¡¯t know. We can¡¯t obsess over what could have been. We need to focus on being better. Not letting shit like this happen. Could you have done anything that would have had us be better prepared?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± the whisper tore at him. He had been so focused on trying to grow strong, leading the pack and ensuring everyone¡¯s survival, he had failed to think about how to grow the others stronger. He worked with them to get them the treasures they needed and rituals required, but he could do more. More sparring, more teaching, more being a mentor.
¡°Then we work on that. We collect the survivors. We get stronger and we keep staying alive.¡±
¡°Alright, I can do that.¡±
Ch. 2.30 Catharsis
30.
The house was dark and still. A heavy silence draped its weight over the whole home as Santi sat by himself in the kitchen. He sipped on a cup of tea while eating some of his ration bar. He¡¯d broken up his loot among the other Acolytle class fighters so they¡¯d have something to eat. It wouldn¡¯t last them long, but beasts should be hitting Acolyte levels soon and would have the nutrition they needed. Hunting them would be dangerous, but everything in this world was dangerous now.
Santi couldn¡¯t stop thinking of Adam and his death. An entire life reduced to a stain on a convenience store roof. There had been a palpable pall over the community. They¡¯d recovered the food, but one of their strongest protectors was gone now. So many were gone now. Santi couldn¡¯t stop thinking of that and the small funeral pyre they had lit.
Scattered limbs and bloodied clothes had been found and piled up to be burnt after they had finished stripping the warehouse of everything it held. It was enough to keep them going for a bit longer, but it wasn¡¯t the haul they needed. Marisol was already talking about sending out teams to the downtown region and to see if there was anything that could be found there.
Santi had a feeling the [Primus Alpha] was there. It made the most sense. The Infernal had told him that they were on a collision course with each other. That was the last part of the city that hadn¡¯t been tamed or scouted over. There was a series of small monster dens with weak Acolyte guardians that they would hit soon. Now that he would be able to field teams of Acolyte fighters, they would be able to wrap them up and begin securing the city quickly.
Downtown was the last problem area. Dense buildings with several small skyscrapers and underground parking garages, all of it was a recipe for disaster. They¡¯d crush the smaller monster dens over the next several days to gather levels and get people comfortable with their new bodies. Then it¡¯d be back into the rift and the foundry.
Yesi was still performing evolutions late into the night. Chloe and Rayleigh¡¯s had been successful if not a bit traumatizing for Chloe. Upgrading and specializing an affinity was excruciating and she didn¡¯t have Akthyr¡¯s presence to help alleviate that overwhelming pain.
They were quickly burning through the cyclops treasury, but the influx of Acolyte fighters was worth it. Santi kept sipping his tea and eating his ration bar. He could hear his Dad leave the second floor bedroom and start down the stairs. It had been a surprise to see his Dad out there in the fighting. Dad had said he didn¡¯t want to be out there fighting and leveling and Santi was strong enough to grant that to his parents. It had been a blessing not to worry about them out there where monster claws or teeth would tear into them.
¡°Still up?¡± Dad said as he walked nearly silently across the linoleum floors. The weak starlight was barely enough to break the pitch darkness and hint at the outlines of furniture. His Dad didn¡¯t seem to mind, finding a chair and pulling it out with ease.
¡°Can¡¯t sleep.¡±
¡°I saw you today. Really saw you. I¡¯ve been hearing about it, about how you were stronger and faster and everything else. But I saw it.¡±
¡°And?¡± Santi asked as anxiety and worry swirled inside of him. He craved his father¡¯s love and acceptance in a way he hadn¡¯t expected. Seeing him here, alive, had reawoken those feelings that he had thought buried so long ago.
¡°I was so scared. You were running on those creatures, hopping around like some demented fucking rabbit. And the entire time I saw that, my only thought was what if he slipped. What if I watched my boy fall into that mass of machines?¡±
¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to scare you.¡±
¡°I was also proud. You stood so tall and did what was needed. I can see how much it''s weighing on you. You lost your friend, Adam.¡± This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
¡°I only knew him for a little while. We weren¡¯t real friends. Not like me and Tank. He was closer to Chad and Penelope.¡±
¡°It¡¯s ok to be sad. You don¡¯t need to bury your feelings here. You need to feel these things.¡±
¡°I need to be strong. There¡¯s so much I need to do. So much, Dad. I can¡¯t spend time in mourning and grieving. I need to be productive.¡±
¡°You¡¯re making excuses. They¡¯re real reasons, but you¡¯re using them as a shield to protect yourself.¡±
¡°If I stop moving, I¡¯m scared I¡¯ll never be able to start again. There¡¯s so much I¡¯ve done. So much I¡¯ve seen. Dad, I don¡¯t think I¡¯m a good person,¡± Santi whispered as hot tears slid down his face. He couldn¡¯t take his eyes off his hands, refusing to meet his father¡¯s eyes as memories of the past filled his mind.
¡°I can tell. You¡¯re not the boy I watched leave our home last year. I don¡¯t know what you¡¯ve done, but in this case and in this world, I don¡¯t care. You are my son and you have kept your family safe. You have built a place for those you love to be safe and have a chance. That is all a man can be and I¡¯m proud of you and I love you.¡± Dad¡¯s hand on his shoulder was a furnace against his skin as he was pulled into him in a hug.
Santi let the sobs out, the awful wracking pain that he carried with him. He let himself fully remember. The campaigns and the dead. Burned out villages and destroyed cities. The battlefields left filled with corpses. His friends'' still bodies, faces slack in death.
It wasn¡¯t just the horror, but also the good times. The early mornings when the air held a chill and they stood around a fire and laughed and joked. Exploring a new world and testing themselves against the world. The small moments of happiness and the friends he¡¯d never see again.
He lost track of time as his father held him and all of that pain poured out of him. He left his Dad¡¯s shirt a mess of tears and snot, but Dad didn¡¯t say anything. He just rubbed his back and held him. It was years of pain that he let out, a different sort of emotional catharsis than what finding his family had been.
¡°You feeling better?¡± Dad whispered after an interminable amount of time.
¡°I feel like shit, but¡better.¡±
¡°Good. When you stand in front of everyone, and they all rely on you, you can¡¯t show this to them. But here, with your family, you can let it all out.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think your wardrobe can take me having a breakdown that often,¡± Santi joked weakly. His eyes were bloodshot and there was a headache building from his crying fit.
¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯ve been doing the laundry lately. Don¡¯t tell your Mom, but I enjoy doing it by hand. There¡¯s something soothing about it. It¡¯s probably all the extra points I have. I¡¯m strong and durable now.¡±
¡°I promise, I won¡¯t tell.¡±
¡°Good. Now on to some other things. You need to treat your sisters better. I¡¯ve seen the eyerolls and the disrespect. You know more than them and you¡¯re stronger than them. It doesn¡¯t give you an excuse to treat them poorly.¡±
¡°Have I been treating them badly?¡±
¡°Not badly, but I can see the signs. The rolling eyes, the dismissal. Yes, you¡¯re helping them, but you¡¯re not respecting them. And it¡¯s even worse for those outside of your friend group. You¡¯re looking down on them and that¡¯s not the son I raised. You can be strong and kind at the same time.¡±
¡°From what I¡¯ve seen, I don¡¯t think I can be kind Dad.¡±
¡°You¡¯re conflating kindness with weakness, the same as people mistaking politeness for niceness.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll be better.¡±
¡°That¡¯s all I ask. We all can¡¯t be perfect like your old man now, can we?¡±
¡°Mom told me stories about you guys when you were young.¡±
¡°Well¡growing up can take time. I grew up and I¡¯m still growing up. When you stop growing up, you die.¡±
¡°I think you stole, and butchered, that quote.¡±
¡°Ehhh, probably. Sounded good though, no?¡± Dad said with a wide smile and a quiet chuckle.
¡°Sounded great, Dad.¡±
¡°That¡¯s what I thought.¡± Dad got up from the chair and opened the pantry pulling out some crackers they had pulled out of the warehouse. He pulled a few of the crackers out of the package and handed them to Santi and sat back down, the two of them eating in silence.
Santi felt hollow in a good way. The weight he had been carrying for so long had finally been lowered, if even for a little while. He hadn¡¯t been this calm in a long time, even his reunification of his parents had been tumultuous. The soothing feeling of finding his family only a temporary relief against the constant pain of what he had done and experienced.
This one brief, but intense, talk with his father wasn¡¯t enough to erase a decade of trauma. It was enough to make it feel like he could function again. For now, that¡¯d have to be enough.
Ch. 2.31 Apostate 3
31.
Naomi watched the large [Rock Hound] as it crouched down, slate gray fur blood stained around its muzzle. Its wide ears were pinned back to its triangular skull as a rolling growl rattled the pebbles around her feet. Naomi breathed smooth and deeply, her sword pointed at the creature¡¯s chest.
She activated [Lunge] and [Pierce] as she crossed the distance and stabbed through the sturdy fur on the monster¡¯s chest. The hound howled in pain, blood coughing up as it staggered back, mortally wounded. Naomi disengaged, swinging her blade behind her while activating [Cut]. The second hound had thought to hamstring her while her back was turned, but her experience and instincts were in perfect sync. The red aura around the blade let the sword cut right through the second hound''s naturally strong coat.
The wide head of the hound rolled across the ground and Naomi watched as her team finished the fight. Her girls had sent seven of the hounds off in a hail of arrows and Marcus spun his assegai with skill as he fought the last standing monster. Two more had already been felled by him, the pack destroyed to the last.
Iseul Flores and several other members of the harvest team were already moving up to begin their gristly work. The meat from the creatures was inedible, but the coats would be good insulators once they figured out how to cure them. The damn geas kept her from telling them, but she was leading them easily enough to where she wanted.
Their teeth and claws would be useful later and she had gotten them to pickle the hearts and livers for now. It had taken some wrangling, getting them onboard keeping the precious organs, but her future alchemists would thank her. The roaming packs infested the entirety of the mountain range, a scourge of high Initiate level monsters that had slain dozens of people already.
There should be one up here who was standing unbent and unbroken. Alan Murtaugh should be in the area. It would take months for him to work his way out of the mountains by himself, growing lost in the wilderness and killing anything and everything that stood in front of him. He¡¯d be a monster when he emerged, half-savage and barbaric.
He¡¯d killed dozens of her people in the original timeline. He hadn¡¯t become a Champion, but he had almost done it before his death. She had been there for that, it had been like cornering an old grizzly bear. She was here to make sure that didn¡¯t happen again.
¡°Someone¡¯s out there!¡± Trina said, the scout perched on a tree limb. It was right on time. They¡¯d been patrolling and hunting the hounds for weeks, hoping to find the man. Nia and Tia were both on alert instantly, pulling back and drawing arrows to aim at the forest around them. Marcus finished the last of the hounds with a single thrust and interposed himself between the girls and the forest.
The harvest team paused their work, looked at the fighters and went back to work. They were well trained and trusted Naomi and the others to protect them while they worked. The delicate act of harvesting should be done as soon as possible to keep the harvested remnants as potent as possible.
Naomi shifted her weight and looked at the forest as the tall man walked out of the forest. He was rangy and tanned, his hair disheveled and had gray laced through the red. His arms were bloody up to the elbow and he had a haunted look to his eyes that masked the kernel of insanity that flickered there.
¡°Hello!¡± Naomi called out to him. Even with the full breadth of her knowledge and her family around her, she was nervous about this encounter. He was too dangerous to live and develop like he had in his last life, but he could be a potentially game altering player if she managed to sway him. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
¡°Hello,¡± he rasped. His voice was weak and thin as if he hadn¡¯t spoken in weeks. He stumbled free of the brush and she could see he was barefoot, his jeans shredded to the point they were hardly scraps. His shirt was in a similar state, more rust red than the original white it had been.
¡°Do you require assistance?¡± Marcus asked. He was still a bleeding heart. She had gotten them all out of the city before things gotten truly bad. If had experienced that, he wouldn¡¯t have any kindness left in him.
¡°Water? Food?¡± he asked, as if he himself didn¡¯t know what was needed.
¡°We have that. Are you hurt?¡±
¡°No. I don¡¯t think so. Not anymore.¡±
That was the problem with his entire class. No matter how much damage you put into the man, as long as he could touch you, he stayed alive. Grievous wounds would heal nearly instantly with a single punch.
¡°Why don¡¯t you sit down and we can get you some food and water. And some clothes.¡± Naomi waved at a space between them and the forest. Still away from her girls but not out in the woods alone again.
¡°Ok.¡± He let his legs collapse and he fell into a boneless pile as he waited, staring at them like they held all the answers in the world. It would have been easier if he had been on Duncan¡¯s list. Alan had been a local threat, not a continent threat, so his name had been left with Naomi to deal with as she saw fit.
As some of the harvesters brough the wild man food, water and a blanket, she let herself slowly relax. He hadn¡¯t flown into a murderous state and tried to kill all of them, so it was going better than last time already. She was still wary of him, keeping her sword at the ready incase it was just a ruse for them to lower their guard.
He ate like an animal, ripping apart the food with his fingers inches from his face, shoveling it in as fast as he could. He swilled water in great gulping pulls, spilling all along himself as he cared not for the attention paid to him.
¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Marcus asked after the man finished off his meal.
¡°Alan.¡±
¡°My name is Marcus. That¡¯s my wife, Naomi, and my daughters Nia and Tia.¡± Marcus pointed out each person in turn, all of them giving the wild man quick waves.
¡°I have a boy about their age. Had. I don¡¯t know now.¡± He was broken, the words hardly more than a whisper. Naomi knew that hurt at a level that nobody could experience unless they lost their own child. She had lost her girls before. She had felt that pain that left you a hollow thing.
She put her hand on his shoulder slowly. He tensed at first, his eyes bulging as he looked at her as if he was ready to fight. He slowly relaxed, the muscles in his back releasing as he leaned into her palm. Marcus mirrored her and three of them stood there for a moment as Adam cried silently.
¡°What is his name?¡± Nia asked. She had put her bow down and rehomed her arrow.
¡°Cameron. He was, is, a good boy. Bit bull headed and has a terrible sense of humor. But he was my boy.¡±
¡°If he¡¯s anything like you, I¡¯m sure he survived. Can you tell us what¡¯s around this area? Our group is quite far from here,¡± Naomi implored. She couldn¡¯t recall if his son had been around, but she didn¡¯t think he had been. An early fatality most likely.
¡°The damn dogs. Got a couple sasquatch looking things, but they¡¯re tough. I couldn¡¯t kill it, just had to run after the first few hits. Some walking rocks. No food. Not a lot of water.¡±
¡°Were there any other survivors?¡±
¡°Not after the third day. It was just me.¡±
¡°Ok, guys, let''s wrap this up and head home,¡± Naomi ordered, swinging her hand around in a circle to start getting all of the patrol ready to move. The harvesters finished their work, washing their hands and grabbing the newly acquired pelts and organs. The last members of her team trickled in, most of them support or scouts. None of them had truly impressed her, and as much as she loved them, her daughters and husband were competent but not exemplary.
Alan Murtaugh would be her first true elite she had recruited. As long as she had found him before his sanity truly snapped away. As the teams gathered up she thought of Duncan and his task to finish off the interloper. It was a pity, the boy hadn¡¯t really meant to be there and from all accounts he had stuck to his role and never played outside of the lines like so many others had.
Duncan would kill him quickly and painlessly as possible, if nothing more than to spare Cara the extra heartache. She wondered what her other compatriots were up too and if they were having as much success as she was.
Ch. 2.32 Rotting Corpses
32.
¡°Eeewwww, why¡¯s it so gross?¡± Santi heard Bianca mutter to Cameron as they stared down at the monster nest. He had to agree with her. He had never been a fan of zombie movies, finding the tales of stupidity in the face of devastation to be unrealistic. That and rotting, shambling, corpses were just gross.
The monster nest they were looking at was filled with zombies. Not all of them were human either. Goblins and some other monsters were standing around in a perpetual state of decay as well.
¡°What¡¯s that dog thing?¡± Cam asked, cocking his head to the side. Santi looked at what Cam was staring at. It wasn¡¯t a kobold like he first thought, its head was to wide and jaw too long.
¡°Gnoll. Nasty bastard. Their bite hurts. Even when they¡¯re not zombies,¡± Santi informed him.
¡°So, these things are zombies then?¡±
¡°Yeah, just use [Identify] on them.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t have it. Bianca, use [Identify] on them,¡± Cam said nodding at his partner.
¡°Cameron, they¡¯re zombies.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think you used your skill on them.¡±
¡°I agree with Cameron, otherwise you¡¯d know they¡¯re [Reanimated Corpses],¡± Santi threw out.
¡°Can you guys knock it off, for like five minutes! Please?!¡± Chloe begged to their side. She had been so happy to finally have evolved, nearly bouncing in her joy. Now she was looking downcast as the three of them were bantering at each other.
¡°You seemed to have alerted them to our presence,¡± Daniel informed them as they all turned as one to watch the shambling mass start moving out of the graveyard.
¡°Ok, time for business. Cam and Chloe front line. Chad, you and me are in the back with the firepower. Bianca is counterattacking, Daniel and Hana will target their back line.¡±
¡°Santi? What backline?¡± Daniel asked, picking at a nail with his dagger.
¡°That Acolyte level necromancer that¡¯s about to come out of the mausoleum.¡±
They all turned and watched as a hooded figure crept out of the marble mausoleum in the middle of the wilted cemetery. Everyone looked at Santi with a range of expressions, all the while the zombies got closer.
¡°It¡¯s just cinematic. You don¡¯t have a horde of zombies without a necromancer. What¡¯s the highest level of the zombie?¡±
¡°Twenty-five is the highest I¡¯ve seen. Peak Initiate,¡± Hana supplied.
¡°Which means that boss is likely an Acolyte. Simple deduction.¡±
¡°Alright, I don¡¯t like smug, Santi. I¡¯m going to go bash a zombie¡¯s head in.¡± Cameron got up and flexed his freshly made shield and started walking slowly toward the horde. The rest of the team got up and started to follow, Chad staying behind with Santi as the rest of them pushed forward.
¡°You don¡¯t ever worry about your sister?¡± Chad whispered as Bianca swung her macuahuitl in short circles.
¡°I¡¯m here. I¡¯d be more worried if I wasn¡¯t around. Here, where I can be near her. No.¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
¡°Braver than me.¡± Chad drew an arrow and loosed, the arrow springing up into the air only to multiply and take the golden glow as it arced down into the center of the zombie mob. Bodies burst like overripe melons, spraying a black ichor and partially dissolved organs around.
¡°Oh, that¡¯s foul. Glad I¡¯m back here,¡± Chad said. Santi just smiled at him as Cameron hit the first zombie, a gnoll, in the head with his shield. His shielding skill appeared right before impact and the zombified gnoll¡¯s head collapsed inward as Cam walked over it.
This nest was too weak to be a serious challenge for them. With only the single Acolyte monster here, it would have been better for a peak Initiate team to clear with the help of one or two Acolytes. Santi had scouted the entire thing earlier today, which was how he knew the necromancer was down there. He wanted their first mission to be a walk in the park.
So far it was looking like it was going to be a walk. Cam stayed in position in the front of the group drawing all of the attention. His skills and real shield kept them from overwhelming him and his axe strokes were always lethal. Bianca hid behind him, striking in the lulls as he repositioned the enemies into advantageous situations.
They really had that down. Moving together as one, their movements were in sync and they were rapidly cutting their way across the graveyard. Chloe was a few feet to their left and she had her own ideas of frontlining. If they were all dead, they couldn¡¯t hurt the backline, could they?
Her System granted axe was a blur of violence as she removed limbs and heads with each blow. Santi followed along, not bothering to cast any spells as Chad just fired an arrow every now and then at clumps of zombies, helping break them up and cause a continuous stream rather than a wave of them.
Santi kept his eye on the hooded necromancer now that he was sure his frontline wasn¡¯t incompetent. Having a few mage killers would be vital. Nobody wanted to be stuck in between a pair of mages blowing up the world around them, so everyone deployed mage killers. They didn¡¯t just kill mages but rather any distance fighter. Mage killer just sounded cooler, so everyone used colloquialism.
Shadow chains emerged from the shade of a dead elm tree, wrapping the cloaked figures'' limbs. They snapped taut and the necromancer couldn¡¯t move. Daniel stepped out behind it and rammed his knife into its ribs. Santi nodded along, it was a good plan. Well executed too.
The robes shifted revealing a skeletal face with burning blue eyes. Too bad Daniel didn¡¯t have [Identify] to realize that it wasn¡¯t a mortal creature and stabbing it through the ribs wouldn¡¯t do anything to it. Santi tensed, preparing to intervene. Daniel¡¯s girlfriend beat him to it.
Her cloak disappeared as she stepped forward to drive a long branch at the creature¡¯s head. It hit hard, the crack audible over the fighting, and the skull and the tree limb both blasted apart. A bright blue flame flickered between the cracks of the skull as bone fragments froze in midair. They started to come flying back, but Daniel was faster.
He reached in with his hand cloaked in shadows and ripped something free of the skull. The necromancer dropped limply to the ground and the horde it had been controlling simply fell apart. In some cases literally.
Santi thought it was a mixed bag. His frontliners had done a solid job, though they were fighting down a tier. Daniel had gotten arrogant and while his immobilization was solid, if he had been fighting anything else he would have been in trouble. It was alright, just things to be ironed out in practice.
¡°You guys did all the work. You get the rewards. Down in the mausoleum,¡± Santi waved at them and gave them a thumbs up. His three frontliners were a mess of rotting meat and clotting blood. They were glaring at him and Chad who had managed to escape unscathed from the carnage.
Santi had plumbed the mausoleum and it was truly a sight of horror. And stench. He had left the little treasures the necromancer had managed to secure so the team could get their own loot. That and he didn¡¯t want to dig them out of the corpses. Really, this entire nest was just a mess.
¡°Don¡¯t forget to burn it all down when you get in there!¡± Santi gave them all a thumbs up while staying far away from them. The venomous looks he was receiving told him they had noticed.
¡°You have a good relationship with them. Have you asked Chloe out?¡± Chad asked.
¡°Have you noticed we''re in the middle of the collapse of civilization right now?¡±
¡°Hasn¡¯t stopped your friends. Comfort can be found in the most trying of times. Life¡¯s short. Even shorter now. Don¡¯t let shit like that slip through your fingers.¡±
¡°Thanks for the advice, but I¡¯m going to focus on the whole, keeping us all alive for now.¡±
¡°Suit yourself.¡± Chad strutted off, heading toward the mausoleum and leaving Santi to stew outside. He was too busy for romance. It was that simple. World to save, family to keep alive.
The next nest they were going to do was going to be unfortunate for Chad. He was going to make sure of that. Santi was certain he had seen an ant hill or something they could all climb into.
Maybe a wasp nest Chad could go and clear by himself? A sewer to pacify? Santi kicked his feet and waited, watching the shifting shadows of the cemetery as smoke began to leak out of the mausoleum rights as the team came trudging out. Aside from their particular scent and decorations on them, they seemed to be in a good mood. Morale was high as they were riding the high of evolution and victory.
Santi had a list of monster nests to clear out around the area and they were going to hit all of them as fast as possible. He didn¡¯t think he could win the global contest, but he could definitely compete for the local.
Ch 2.33 Teaching Moments
-
¡°How many of these things are we running today?¡± Bianca panted as she leaned up against the dirt wall. They were on their third monster nest of the day and she was looking ragged. Santi, for once, wasn¡¯t smeared in offal. He had been letting his newly evolved teammates take the brunt of the fighting. Most of the monsters were below level twenty-five and those that weren¡¯t were quickly dispatched by the team.
They weren¡¯t gaining levels, but they were gaining cohesion and improving their teamwork with every passing fight. They were almost to the bare minimum standard he¡¯d accept. Almost.
¡°Scouts have this and one more found in the area. We finish this one and take a break, and then we hit the next one. Next one should be a bit tougher. Get levels for real.¡±
¡°Oh, thank god. I thought we weren¡¯t going to get anything after this run,¡± Cameron said with a tired sigh. He had been pushing himself as hard and fast as possible. His skills being used whenever he managed to regenerate his mana to use them.
That¡¯s why they were all posted on the side of an ant tunnel waiting for everyone to regenerate their mana. Santi¡¯s use of spells worked in his favor as they fit his affinity. They were superbly efficient and didn¡¯t burn through his mana pool like some of the other¡¯s did.
¡°Yeah, need to work on the teamwork. We¡¯re sloppy.¡±
¡°Getting better,¡± Cam refuted. He and Chloe were the cornerstone of their teamwork. Everything revolved around their frontliners. If they fell back, then everyone needed to fall back. If they pushed, everyone pushed. If one went forward and one went back, everyone died.
¡°Good gets people killed. Perfection keeps us alive.¡±
¡°Amen. Let¡¯s get moving then.¡± Cam rose up, rolling his shoulders to loosen up before heading down the tunnel. Chloe kept close to him and Bianca behind her. Daniel and Hana had disappeared ten minutes ago to scout further down. Chad just grumbled as the tight confines of the tunnel kept him from being able to exert his powers to their fullest.
It would be a good exercise for him to practice in non-ideal circumstances. The pony sized ants were a bad matchup for him. The small nest was nearly cleared, with only the queen''s chamber in the heart of the colony and the tunnels leading to it left. Santi hadn¡¯t been able to scout these tunnels as easily as he had the mausoleum, but he had a fair understanding of the nest.
This monster den was one that had been in the original timeline. It had been a bit smaller back then, but it was in the same spot. A few minutes longer and then they¡¯d be entering the final battle for the nest. The nest should be built around a large earth natural treasure that was in the queen''s room.
Cam stayed partially crouched as he worked his way down the tunnel, using the light from a few glowsticks to navigate the dark tunnels. With their newly advanced stats they didn¡¯t need as much light to see. Santi lagged behind them all, keeping his senses focused behind them to make sure they weren¡¯t ambushed.
A scuttling shape emerged from the dark, wide bulbous head swinging back and forth while pincers snapped close around a golden shield. The pincers couldn¡¯t pierce Cam¡¯s projection, and he twisted the creature¡¯s head to the side. Bianca slid between them and her macuahuitl sliced through its neck like butter.
Cam waited a moment as the pincers flexed in death spasms, then dropped his shielding spell and kicked the head out of the way. The rest of the body was pushed to the side and they had to turn sideways as they walked down the tunnel. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
The next ant came quickly, Chloe reacting first. Her axe splitting the beast¡¯s head before it could reach Cam. Chloe¡¯s belief that if everything was dead, they couldn¡¯t make it to the backline, continued to be a defining trait. If she wasn¡¯t so sturdy she would be in the same camp as Bianca as a damage dealer rather than a frontline fighter.
Seven minutes and two more ants later, none of the ants lasted long, they came to the entrance of the chamber. It was twice as wide and tall as the tunnels. The walls were smooth and hard covered in a type of secretions that hardened the walls. Santi was really beginning to think they were getting the cohesion down that would be required for tougher dens.
¡°Carefully now,¡± Santi cautioned as Cameron walked in. Cam kept his head on a swivel as he walked in, Chloe a half step behind him. Bianca followed them, then Santi and Chad last. Daniel and Hana still hadn¡¯t announced their presence but Santi knew they were there.
The queen was squatting over a sack of eggs, hive tenders all around her. The queen¡¯s purple chitin shone darkly in the green light while the hive tenders pale grub chitin seemed soft and pallid. Dozens of small tenders scattered toward the far reaches of the cavern as the queen rose to her full height.
The ground rumbled as she announced her displeasure. Spears of earth erupting out and flying toward them as the queen charged forward. Cam¡¯s shield caught two of the five spears and Chloe¡¯s axe chopped down two more in a stygian blur. Santi used [Gust] to sweep the last out of the way.
Cam ran forward, projecting his shield skill in front of the charging queen. She ran right through the golden barrier without slowing and Cam grunted as the skill broke prematurely. Chloe drifted left to pincer the beast and the ant swung her lead leg at her.
She chopped at it, shearing through chitin and leaving a foot long chunk of leg on the ground. A wedge of soft dirt erupted out of the earth and caught Chloe in the gut, throwing her backward across the cavern.
Santi threw a [Crosscurrent-Orb] at the creature¡¯s eye and watched with joy as it exploded into a pulpy mess. Chad¡¯s arrow hit the other eye and the creature stumbled back, vibrating in rage as it was blinded. Bianca followed behind Cam as he charged, pressing the attack and not letting the queen regroup.
His hatchet chopped into a leg and Bianca sliced the leg that Chloe had hurt, shaving another foot off of it. Blood was pouring out of the wound, spraying about as the queen waved the severed limb around. Santi threw up an [Air Shield] over his head and watched as blood hit it and was thrown to the side. On Chad.
The archer spluttered but fired his next arrow, creating a crater in the ant''s head. He shot Santi a venomous look as he pulled another arrow free of his quiver. Santi just smiled nicely at him, Chad¡¯s earlier prying into his personal life now avenged.
Chloe got back to her feet and charged, using the wedge of earth to vault into the air, axe above her head. She came down like the wrath of god, skills wreathing her axe as she cut deep into the ant queen''s head. The queen staggered as her legs became weak, slamming into the wall of the cavern as Chloe¡¯s skill took half of the queen¡¯s head.
Still wasn¡¯t dead yet. Her vitality was monstrous, relying on her earth treasure to pull forth the stability of the world. Cam kept moving forward, pushing the queen against the wall as Bianca began to carve it apart. Chloe hung back, her skills spent, ready to intervene if anything happened. Chad sent another arrow into the queen''s mangled head and the thing finally slumped to the ground.
Daniel and Hana were in the middle of looting everything that wasn¡¯t nailed down. They had killed the hive helpers with a brutality that could only be exerted by a superior leveled being on a weaker one. The two of them hadn¡¯t helped in killing the boss of the hive, but they had killed a number of the weaker drones. Santi could pick out the corpses where they had been slain leading into the cavern.
Ant Hive Queen lvl. 28
Not bad at all. Nobody had gained levels from working to kill it, but they were showing more and more cohesion. The next nest would be the real test. Santi thought that their teamwork was good enough to get it done. If not, he could always shore them up and clear the nest himself.
¡°Next nest is the last one?¡± Bianca asked as she walked away from the dead queen. Cam just sat down on the ground and uncorked his water bottle and waited. Chad wandered over to look at his ruined arrows, none of them recoverable. Santi hoped he would get a loot box weapon soon. When the Pillar of Civilization landed it would help shore up these problems.
¡°Yeah, we¡¯re almost done. Has anyone checked the ranking lately?¡± Santi asked. They hadn¡¯t cleared many nests after the original duo, but they had been doing well on the local list.
Cam¡¯s eyes unfocused as he looked off into space. A big grin split his face and he looked over to them.
¡°You¡¯re going to want to take a look at it.¡±
Ch 2.34 The Despair of Hope
34.
Local Leaders
¡°Shit, this guy Duncan must be a beast. Eight dens by himself,¡± Cameron said as he continued to peruse the list. Santi nodded in agreement, rapidly searching his memory for anyone named Duncan Glades. He couldn¡¯t remember anyone who would be a powerhouse strong enough to tackle eight dens by themselves. So much had changed, the ripples of his actions spreading and growing larger by the day.
¡°Chadwin?¡± Daniel said with a laugh. The scout must have been punished for his lack of help clearing the last few dens since he wasn¡¯t on the top five leaderboard. Santi skimmed down the list and saw him and Hana just a few down at six and seven respectively. Bianca and Cam were eight and nine.
Regional Leaders
¡
- Santiago Silva (5)
¡°Hey, Cam. Have you looked at the regional leaders?¡± Santi asked, whispering as they got confirmation about Cameron¡¯s father. The man was a true monster in the last timeline. More beast than man. Someone everyone feared. Santi stared at the list of destroyed nests and understood how Mr. Murtaugh came to be created in the mountains.
¡°No¡why?¡±
¡°Just look.¡±
Cam was silent for a second. His eyes glazed over and his shoulders slack as his mouth hung open. Bianca took one look at him and walked over, placing a tender hand on the big man¡¯s elbow. Santi ignored that and waited for his friend to shake himself out of his stupor.
¡°Santi. I thought he was dead. Santi! I thought he was dead!¡± Cam said, desperation and shame twisting his face as he grabbed Santi by the shoulders.
¡°I know, I know. We all did¡we all did, man.¡±
¡°I have to go and find him. Santi, we have to go and find him!¡±
¡°The minute this shit is settled, we go and find him together. The minute everyone here is safe.¡±
¡°No! I brought you your family! He¡¯s my only family. We need to go!¡±
¡°Cam! We can¡¯t. We¡¯re not strong enough. We¡¯d be dead before we were halfway there. He¡¯s hundreds of miles away in the mountains. It would take us weeks of traveling and fighting. We don¡¯t have food. We don¡¯t have the supplies. And we have responsibilities here!¡±
¡°He¡¯s my responsibility!¡±
¡°NO! Your Dad would never want you to risk yourself to find him. He¡¯d take my head if I let you go off half-cocked like this.¡±
¡°You¡¯re telling me you don¡¯t have the skills or power to get there?¡± Cam asked in a deadly whisper. The weight of a lifetime of friendship was balanced on the scales with his new responsibility to this community and the future of their world. Santi had the skills to sneak his way down the state and power to fight his way through if needed. He could live off the land and it wouldn¡¯t even be truly difficult.
¡°I do. And I can¡¯t leave these people. We can¡¯t leave these people.¡±
¡°It¡¯s bullshit!¡± Cam roared, his voice echoing in the chamber as he drew himself to his full height, face darkening with rage.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¡°It is bullshit. It¡¯s also the right call. If we leave to go find your Dad, we leave everyone here vulnerable. The rift in the warehouse. Whatever the fuck is downtown. We sacrifice it all.¡±
¡°FUCK THEM, SANTI! HE¡¯S MY DAD!¡± spittle sprayed out as Cameron screamed. Bianca backed away from them, hurt on her face while the others made themselves scarce.
¡°I love him too, Cam. He was a second father to me. And he would tell us to do our duty. He¡¯s strong Cam. He¡¯s standing at the top by himself. We have to trust him, like he would trust us!¡±
¡°Fuck!¡± this time it was a harsh whisper as Cam stalked out of the ant den. Bianca followed right behind while the rest of the team looked at him. Daniel and Hana had matching looks of respect and nodded to him. Chad was blank faced while Chloe wore her sympathy plainly for everyone to see.
¡°I won¡¯t abandon you,¡± Santi told them as he walked away, trailing after his sister and best friend. The walk through the tunnels was done in silence and when they came out of the tunnels only Bianca was standing there waiting for them.
¡°It was the right call. It¡¯s just not the call he wanted to hear. He¡¯s going to go see my Mom. I¡¯m going too.¡± Bianca left and Santi was left with the remnants of his crew. His plans for leveling them had just gone out the window and he felt a festering rage burning in his gut.
¡°The rest of you can go back. Get some sleep. We¡¯ll start planning on clearing the rift tomorrow.¡±
¡°Where are you going?¡± Chloe asked in a small voice.
¡°One more den to take care of. I¡¯ll see you all at dinner.¡± Santi didn¡¯t flee, but the pace he set was one the rest of them couldn¡¯t match. He knew he had made the right choice. Everything hinged on him building a base to oppose the Apostate¡¯s faster than last time. Stronger than the last time.
The hurt on Cameron¡¯s face tore at him. Another bit of acid that scoured his pitted soul. He flew across the ground, racing towards the last den they were supposed to clear as a team. A vacated animal pound.
The squat concrete building had devolved as something had entered it. The concrete drooped as if it was made of taffy and the roof had caved in. Glass lay in sparkling shards. Another step closer and the first of the creatures came out.
Cursed Amalgamation lvl. 26
It was¡it was. Parts of animals welded together, dripping black blood, a human head in the center, face locked in a silent scream. Fur shifted and fell limp, threatening to fall off as it came crawling out of the window. The smell of rancid meat overwhelmed the area and a wave of hopelessness crushed into him.
Santi wielded his willpower like a sword, slicing through the oppressive aura even as the morph weapon turned into a giant serrated sword. That caged rage spilled out in a primordial rush and Santi began to cut and slash.
Meat fell in splattering waves, oozing across the sidewalk as a half dozen dog heads began to howl in anguish. Santi kept going, the serrations slicing though the creature like butter. It died in moments and Santi was leaping over the corpse and through the busted windows like a hurricane.
[Gust] blew away the foul scent and battled for a second with the aura of despair that clung to the walls. Santi blitzed through the broken kennels as his silver blade became a wall of living steel. Creatures wailed and died, their attacks ignored as rivulets of his blood mingled with the cursed monsters.
A human creature came stumbling out of an office.A cat head emerged from its bare chest, screeching in pain. Rat noses twitched on the creature¡¯s face next to its own human one. A glowing purple-black stone emanated the feeling of hopelessness was located in the middle of its forehead.
Curse of Despair Anchor (Common)
Lvl. 31
¡°Come here!¡± Santi growled as he leapt at it. The cursed creature screeched, its human face elongating and dagger like teeth sprouting from its jaw. Santi sliced the entire lower jaw off, moving faster than the creature could react. Rancid black blood splattered the walls and the heavy jaw hit the ground with an audible thump.
Talons emerged from the monster''s hands and it was swiping at Santi with a crazed intensity. It wasn¡¯t fast enough. Santi hit it again and again. Parts fell just to regenerate as the creature''s mass was slowly whittled away. It was nothing more than a punching bag for him as he continued to work his frustrations out on it.
He sliced a blood X across its chest and leapt backward, casting [Crosscurrent-Orb] and aiming it at the gaping wound. The orb had the faintest tinge of green around the contained winds as it crossed the space in less time than it took to blink.
Santi held the link to the spell longer, guiding it into the cursed anchor¡¯s chest at the insertion point of the X before releasing it. [Air Shield] was cast in front of him as he watched the monster explode as wrathful winds were unleashed in a burst of power.
The gore hit the shield and slid to the ground, leaving Santi relatively unscathed as he stared at the ugly bruise colored orb. It reflected his mood rather nicely, but he resisted its siren call to fall into despair as he ripped part of his ruined shirt to wrap the fist sized orb up.
The den had been stronger than the others but still lacked the heft needed for him to really work his anger out. It had been decent for levels though.
Congratulations, you are now Air Mage lvl. 30
Ch. 2.35 Planning for the Future
35.
Santiago V Silva
Air Mage lvl. 30
Strength: 30 (55)
Durability: 34 (59)
Stamina: 30 (55)
Dexterity: 30 (55)
Vitality: 34 (59)
Perception: 30 (55)
Intelligence: 60 (85)
Mana: 70 (95)
Willpower: 60 (85)
Potential: 42%
Santi had allocated his one point into each of durability, vitality, and perception. Then rounded off willpower and intelligence so that the two stats would have nice even numbers. The effect of seeing his numbers go up again was only slightly soothing after the day he¡¯d been having.
He settled down on the hood of a car as he started to peruse the spells listed available to him. He was finally going to get [Air Manipulation] but he wanted to see if there was anything else worth saving up for.
Air Bubble (Basic)
Air Manipulation (Common)
Air Pressure (Common)
Air Wave (Common)
Winds of Time (Rare)
Santi looked at the two skills he most wanted to combine, [Air Bubble] and [Air Pressure]. The next big project to save up for. Six more slots and then a spell combination token from the Pillar of Civilization. Something for a later time. He¡¯d be at least level sixty before that was coming to a head and with the way his leveling was slowing it¡¯d take him some time.
Once the monster and beasts started to gain in strength and he had more opponents of the correct level to fight he¡¯d be fine. The lull was just because he¡¯d advanced too fast and was now waiting for his general opponents to reach his level. Rift guardians or Monster Nest protectors would be good fights for him. There was always the dark whisper of the Apostates too. They¡¯d give him good levels.
Later in the integration, when the colonizers came and the factions formed, earning levels from fellow sentients was often easier than getting them from monsters. It was one of the darker aspects of the later years when the monster populations had been culled and suppressed and the dungeons were under careful management. The easiest way to get levels and keep increasing in strength was by killing your fellow man.
Santi sighed as he looked at this list before picking [Air Manipulation]. With his oversized willpower and the general vagueness of the spell, he¡¯d be able to use it to amplify his other spells in addition to doing other things. It wouldn¡¯t work as well or as efficiently as a spell designed for something, but he could make it work.
He got off the car and started trudging back toward Homebase. The day had been going too well, it only made sense that it would spiral into dogshit. Cameron could be temperamental and if he ran off, Santi had a feeling Bianca would go with him. Neither of them had the skills needed for the long cross country trek to the mountains. Santi would be forced to either follow them and abandon the competition for the Pillar of Civilization. Or let them die.
And that wasn¡¯t going to happen. He had lived a life without his family and friends once and he wasn¡¯t going to do it again. He¡¯d just have to make sure Cam was calmer when he got back to the camp and ready to listen to reason. Maybe Mom would work with him and get him a bit more relaxed.
The trip didn¡¯t take long, Santi traveled at a fast jog. It was peak pre-integration Olympic sprinter speeds, but now it was a breeze to maintain. He took his time, viewing the ruins of the city with a critical eye. The homes were in ruins, falling down or burnt out. Holes in the walls and roofs were common and greenery was beginning to run rampant. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Asphalt streets were cracked and filled with potholes and the remnants of cars were broken down on flat tires with shattered windows and dented bodies. Blood stained the ground and homes everywhere he looked. The faint iron smell of it hung in the air as he passed by. The violence of the past was slowly being buried under the weight of time and nature.
People had stopped trickling in over the last few days to Homebase. The scouts had been moving around the outskirts of town, avoiding the downtown, and weren¡¯t finding anyone else anymore. There had to be several thousand people now clustered about Homebase, but compared to what the city had been before it was a pittance.
Santi pushed further on and Hombase¡¯s myriad of walls and barricades came to be. They were pushing further and further out. Guard towers being erected and patrols marching the streets. All on the lookout for monsters or beasts. He shot right past them with a wave, most of them barely reacting to his presence. He was becoming something of a myth to them. Even though his levels weren¡¯t that far ahead of everyone else''s, his fighting prowess was head and shoulders above them.
His feats were whispered about, people ogled him as he went by, and he caught more than one hatred fueled look directed his way. There were plenty of people who hadn¡¯t adapted to a world where a skinny nineteen year old had more power than them. That even though he had to physically look up to bigger and broader men, they were the ones who had to acquiesce to him. His age didn¡¯t help either, as the old heads hated taking orders from him.
Even with all of that, they called him to save them. They did listen and they did obey now. He had been right too many times and the other older and more traditional leaders had led them to death and suffering that he had warned them about. So while people like Abraham may curse his name in the dark, they would do as he said.
It was all contingent on Santi continuing to be the strongest. To have the support of the best of the fighters and healers. The masses would follow him as long as he could protect them and give them a chance at a future. In the future he would need them. When [Farmer], [Herbalist], [Tanner], [Blacksmith], [Alchemist], [Leather-Worker], and so many more classes became available. Classes and people doing jobs that he would need to survive and thrive and fight back against the Apostates and their agenda.
Santi had to ask himself how he could balance all of that, all of these people and their potential, vs. Cameron. It made it worse that he knew he¡¯d choose Cam. He would choose Cam over everyone aside from his family. Santi needed to make him see reason to stay in the camp until everything was secure and stable.
His house had just his own family in it for once. Everyone else had felt the need to find their own place to hangout. Mom and Dad had the backyard fence closed to show they weren¡¯t cooking for once. They were all waiting in the living room on their stolen overstuffed couches. Mom and Bianca were on either side of Cam who let them hold him. Dad and Yesi were off to the side with a tray of steaming tea as Santi opened the door.
All eyes turned to him. Bianca and Cam¡¯s were bloodshot from tears and Mom looked like she was tired. Yesi just appeared to be uncomfortable and Dad was projecting a calm and patient exterior. Santi walked to stand in front of Cam and looked at him. He looked like a wreck, his sadness a visible aura that drowned the room in despair.
¡°Hey.¡±
¡°Hey.¡±
¡°We cool?¡±
¡°Yeah. Mom talked to me. They got me to see reason. I¡fuck, Santi. I thought he was gone. Just seeing his name¡I just wanted to see him again.¡± Tears slid down the big man''s face as he trembled. Mom grabbed his shoulder and squeezed, her harsh appearance a striking contrast to the empathy she was showing.
¡°We will. I swear to you. We will go and find him. We just need to make sure everyone else is safe first.¡± Santi bent down so that they were at eye level and grabbed Cam¡¯s hand in a rough shake.
¡°I swear, Cameron. You brought me my family. I will deliver yours.¡±
¡°Thanks. I know you would.¡±
¡°So, what¡¯s next then?¡± Bianca asked. She didn¡¯t turn away from Cameron but asked the question to Santi.
¡°We finish off the rift in the warehouse and get what¡¯s left of the food out. We use the riftstone for Yesi to do a big evolution for a bunch of people. Use that nasty ass pond over there to do a mass ritual rather than the targeted ones. Just some basic stuff, nothing specialized like we¡¯ve been doing. Then we clear out downtown.¡±
By then the Pillar would be arriving and after Santi claimed it, he could leave with Cam and some of the others to go and find Mr. Murtaugh. Rayleigh and some of the others would stay here and keep the place going. Yesi and Mom and Dad would probably stay and continue to work on their own projects.
¡°Then, we three, Daniel, Chloe, Hana and Chad are off to find Mr. Murtaugh.¡±
¡°Alright, man. Let¡¯s get to it then,¡± Cam said, head coming up to meet Santi¡¯s eyes, a fierce look of determination on his face.
Ch. 2.36 Eve of Battle
36.
¡°How was your day?¡± Santi asked Yesi as he slumped into the couch. Cam and Bianca had taken a walk around the compound while Mom and Dad had retreated upstairs leaving the two siblings alone. It was one of the few times they¡¯d been alone since they had been picked up from the farm.
¡°Good. That Abraham guy is a dick. Got him and more of his people evolved and that basically finished off the supplies. Got a few more of the treasures you stole from the cyclops, but we¡¯re pretty much done.¡±
¡°Good ole¡¯ Abe. He¡¯s struggling to not be in charge. Insecure with the fact that the children are stronger than him,¡± Santi waved his hands as he said children in a mocking tone. The old heads of the council weren¡¯t coming around but rather being battered into obeisance.
¡°He¡¯s a dick. But, the guys who were with him seemed to be loyal. They did not like you, that¡¯s for sure.¡±
¡°Talking mad shit?¡±
¡°No. Anytime someone would bring you up they¡¯d all go quiet and start glaring. I think shit talk would have been better.¡±
¡°They hate us, cause they ain¡¯t us.¡±
¡°No, I think you¡¯re just a dick.¡±
¡°That could also be it,¡± Santi said, laughing quietly with Yesi. The two of them sat in companionable silence for a few minutes till the creaking of the stairs caused both of them to look over as Dad came down the steps. He lowered himself into his chair and looked at the two of them and sighed.
¡°Your Mom is asleep. Cam and Bianca go off?¡±
¡°Yeah. Wanted to walk around and blow off some steam,¡± Yesi supplied.
¡°They need to hurry up and just tell us they¡¯re dating,¡± Dad said as he pulled the lever back and leaned the recliner back. Santi looked over at Yesi and she looked sheepish. Santi had thought they were together, but how had Dad figured it out?
¡°I have eyes. I can see the two of you looking at each other. This old man is observant. It¡¯s not like they¡¯ve been discreet.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t know,¡± Santi muttered as Yesi looked off in the distance.
¡°Santiago, you can¡¯t see what¡¯s right in front of you sometimes,¡± Dad said with a chuckle.
¡°Thanks, Dad.¡±
¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡±
¡°Why were you at the fight, Dad? I thought you and Mom weren¡¯t interested in leveling?
¡°I¡¯m not. But, I can¡¯t let my children go out there while I sit at home, can I? Some things can¡¯t be done. A father¡¯s love can make him do things he¡¯d never expect. Like going and fighting giant metal machines.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t be going and getting sentimental on us old man. Had enough of that today.¡±
¡°Santi,¡± Yesi slapped at his arm and he rolled his eyes at his sister while his Dad just chuckled.
¡°So, did you get the leveling itch?¡± Santi pushed.
¡°Itch? Oh, a need to keep fighting and getting stronger? No. Fuck that. I¡¯d be happy just to cook and hangout at home with your Mom and you kids.¡±
¡°Ahhh, Dad,¡± Yesi sighed.
¡°I¡¯m old. This world will be for you kids. I¡¯m too old to understand it. I just want to see you all grow up. Want to hold a few grandbabies and bounce them on my knee. Maybe have a nice little restaurant. Watch people smile when they eat my food.¡± The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
¡°And Mom?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know anymore. She¡¯s gotten quiet. It was hard, Santi. Right after it all came down. I couldn¡¯t protect her. I couldn¡¯t protect any of them. It was Cam and Bianca who stepped up. Your Mom is a strong woman. My Garbiella is pure steel. But this shook her. She¡¯ll get back on her feet, she just needs time.¡±
¡°She talks when it''s just us, but not as much. Not the same way.¡± Yesi spoke quietly, shrinking in on herself.
¡°We¡¯re all alive. That¡¯s what matters. We can overcome the rest in time.¡± Santi said with conviction.
¡°We¡¯ll get there. Right now we need to be there for Cameron. He¡¯s hurting bad.¡± Dad had never looked away from the ceiling as he spoke, eyes distant as he talked.
¡°I know, but we can¡¯t abandon this place. We need a home where people like you and Mom can be safe.¡±
¡°I know that, Santi. So does Cameron. It doesn¡¯t make it not hurt.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll be leaving with him and Bianca and a few others the minute this place has calmed down. We can push out immediately and with the boost in the stats we¡¯ll get down there quick.¡±
¡°What about me?¡± Yesi asked.
¡°You need to finish leveling and evolve yourself. I¡¯ll leave you here with the grimoire. There¡¯s some things you could do to help defend our home while we¡¯re away.¡± There would be plenty for Yesi and the others to do to get the community going to long term sustainability. The moment the Pillar set down and he claimed it, they¡¯d be set. He could leave the others here to build up the community while he traveled and found people, treasures, and anything else of interest.
¡°Alright. I wasn¡¯t really excited about the prospect of trekking across the ruins of our state anyways.¡±
¡°Listen, I got to go and get ready for the raid tomorrow. I¡¯ll be back later.¡± Santi was up and off before they could protest. He needed to ensure his team was ready for what was going to be their toughest fight yet. Cam and Bianca were off doing their thing, but he needed Chloe, Tank, and Chad all ready. The secondary team with Rayleigh and few others were likely going to be involved as well.
Santi strode through Homebase and found Tank where he normally was, in the infirmary. The big man had plenty of patients, but in the new world if you survived the initial trauma, you¡¯d likely survive the aftermath as long as the healers had mana to power their spells and skills.
¡°Sup, man,¡± Tank whispered as he disentangled himself from someone who was laid out on a cot and headed toward him. Santi wanted to sigh and vent to him, someone who was a little distanced from the family. That would be rude and self centered, especially as Tank was in the middle of the equivalent of a hospital ward.
¡°Raid tomorrow. We¡¯re finishing off that damn rift. Need you there.¡±
¡°Then I¡¯ll be there. How¡¯d everyone do today?¡±
¡°We were coming together until the end. Cam found out his dad¡¯s still alive and he¡¯s having a tough time of it right now.¡±
¡°Bianca taking care of him?¡±
¡°Did everyone know they were together?¡±
¡°Oh yeah. You¡¯re just blind.¡±
¡°Fuck. But, yeah. They¡¯re walking around blowing off steam. We didn¡¯t get the levels I wanted for them, but they got used to their new power. I got my levels afterward. All the dens in the area are cleared out too.¡±
¡°The dens were going to be a problem, good work on clearing them out.¡±
¡°It was a good way to blow off some steam. That last one was gross and sad.¡±
¡°The pound?¡±
¡°Yeah. It reminded me of all of those sad ass tv ads with the dogs staring at the camera.¡±
¡°Oh those were the worst. Glad it''s cleared out. Did you see any people?¡±
¡°No. I don¡¯t know if there''s that many left. I think a bunch probably ran out of the city, headed for the smaller towns. Once we get this rift cleared and then whatever it is going on downtown taken care of, we¡¯ll start sending patrols out there.¡±
¡°There¡¯s a lot of us here, but not as many as there should be.¡± Tank had a hard look on his generally kind face. There was anger and sorrow mixed with determination.
¡°We¡¯ll find them. Bring them all in. But we have to deal with the food issues first. Has anyone started planting crops or anything like that?¡±
¡°Some of the people that your sister helped evolve have some weird classes. Couple had to do with food but I wasn¡¯t sure exactly what they were. Have to check with Marisol for that.¡±
¡°After the raid. Dealing with them gives me a headache.¡± Tank laughed and shook his head as he patted him on the shoulder before they talked about nothing for a few minutes. Santi reluctantly said goodbye and headed off towards the girl''s house. The dwarves had been housed next to them and a few guards were posted around the house to keep all of the lookie-loos from bothering them.
He poked his head in and told Chloe what was going on. Rayleigh promised to round up a secondary team for emergencies and then Santi had to hunt down the others. Daniel and Hana were in their room as always and Chad was sitting with his brother drinking a few warm beers. They all nodded when he told them they were going back tomorrow.
Santi was ready for this shit to be over. The rift had been a threat to them for too long and now all of the surprises had been pushed out of the way and dealt with.
Ch. 2.37 Cyclops Fight 2.0
37.
¡°Everyone ready?¡± Santi asked as they clustered around the entrance to the rift. His personal team were close to him with Rayleigh and her B team of Acolyte fighters ready to hold the entrance of the rift in case Santi and his team failed.
Santi kept an eye on Cam, who looked like he hadn¡¯t slept in a week. Bianca was close to his side and had a furrow in her forehead that could be mistaken for a canyon. Chad was off to the side, his bow held loosely in his hand. Daniel and Hana were both posted right next to the rift and seemed eager to leap into the rift. Tank looked relaxed and ready while Chloe was bouncing on her toes, ready to be off and fighting.
It wasn¡¯t an ideal set up, or even good. His primary frontliner looked ready to keel over and his other looked like she was ready to start a fight at the drop of a hat. His distance fighter had a poor weapon and the most reliable person was his medic. Neither of his scouts could pump out the damage that most scouts or rogues could. Santi would have to carry most of the fight while relying on his friends to just not die.
¡°Let¡¯s get this done,¡± Cam said, his voice flat and emotionless. The rest of the team just nodded along and Santi had to keep himself from sighing. He waved a hand at his scouts and the duo leapt through the rift without a word. The rest of them waited until Hana poked her head back in and announced that the way was clear.
Santi was the first through the rift, not trusting his frontliners to have a clear head. The wave of heat washed over him and tried to steal his breath as he looked about. The same menacing foundry loomed in front of him, but the gates leading into were wide open. Broken machinery lay tossed about, the remnants of dozens of junk golems.
It looked like someone had a bit of a temper tantrum when their mate had been killed. The thin layer of Initiate level warriors were gone and left the entrance to their lair wide open for his strike team. Santi felt a bit apprehensive about it, when something looked too easy it likely was. That was why he had scouts though. The others followed right behind him and there was a round of cursing as they faced the heat of the foundry.
¡°Wait for Daniel to report back,¡± Santi ordered as the team formed up. Cam and Chloe in the front with Bianca right behind them. Santi and Tank were in the middle while Chad watched the rear with an arrow already strung. Hana had already disappeared in a mirage, headed after her partner.
They spread out a bit, keeping their backs to the rift exit, and waited. The heat was uncomfortable to the extreme, but Santi used [Air Current] to give himself a slight breeze. The others got to marinate in their own sweat while they waited for Daniel to come back.
It took only a few minutes for Daniel to come jogging out of the place, his cloak of shadows useless out in the open and without cover. Sweat plastered his face in a shining sheen that made Santi pleased. It was always nice to see the normally unflappable man look uncomfortable.
¡°They¡¯ve destroyed damn near everything in there. It¡¯s a mess. All that¡¯s left is four golems, the big ones, and the five cyclops,¡± Daniel reported.
¡°Nine all together. We¡¯re going to have to lure them out somehow. Thin them down.¡± If what Daniel had reported originally was true then the four golems on the inside were going to be tough matchups. He had better fighters now than the last time, but he couldn¡¯t risk a full out brawl with them.
¡°Go to Hana and get ready to grab that dwarf and run. We¡¯re going to go to the front door and poke our nose in their business. When they react, that¡¯s your chance. Grab him and throw him out of the rift to the others and then get your asses back here and help us. Target the cyclops, slow them down, lure them away, I don¡¯t care. We focus the golems and get them put the fuck down, alright.¡±
He got a chorus of affirmatives and nods of agreement. Daniel jogged back the open gates and vanished from sight again. Santi gave them a slow ten count and then nodded at Cam to start moving forward. Their loose formation held relatively well as they crossed the distance to get in front of the broken gates and they stepped into the building''s slightly cooler embrace. Getting out of the brutal heat was a welcome relief, but the sights pulled him up short. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The foundry had been in poor shape when they had come in originally. Now it was completely destroyed. The rage of an Acolyte, or a group of them, monsters were apparent. The heavy machinery had been broken and thrown around like toys in a child''s tantrum. Mountains of steel rose, jagged and sharp, from the center of the building where the cyclops were nesting.
The four remaining golems were as Daniel had described. Smooth polished red-bronze metal that gleamed in an unearthly way even in the dim light of the warehouse. The five cyclops were in various states of exhaustion or sleep, laying sprawled across the floor.
¡°Y¡¯all ready?¡± Santi whispered. He got terse nods.
¡°HEY, YOU FAT, SMELLY, ONE-EYED, FREAKS!¡± [Air Current] made a tunnel to project his voice across the distance. Heads perked up as his words reached them, clumsy hands reached out to grab heavy clubs and the four golems whirred to life.
As they moved, Santi caught a glimpse of the dwarf they held in captivity. If anything this one looked worse than Grimvr had. He was sitting in the middle of the cluster of cyclops, far away from the metal that was his to command.
The golems led the way, their strides smooth and powerful without the awful grinding and crunching that the other Acolyte monsters had made. These projected a sense of skilled workmanship and lethal grace. Santi was very happy that they hadn¡¯t come out of the rift the last time.
¡°Back, back, back!!!¡± Santi barked as the team started to retreat back into the sunlight. With the foundry being ruined, there was no cover for them to take to help whittle the numbers. It was going to have to become a running fight rather than holding a chokepoint after killing a few.
¡°Running fight, never stop moving. Chad, make sure nothing flanks us!¡±
¡°Got it,¡± the bowman said as he drew back his arrow and fired with casual ease. The golden arrow arced across and slammed into the lead golem¡¯s chest. Santi bit back a curse as he watched it drill a small hole in its chest and nothing else happened. There was no stutter in its smooth gait, no gaping hole. It just tanked the blow and kept running towards them.
¡°Don¡¯t trade blows with the golems,¡± Santi said. He desperately used [Identify] on them.
Mana Purified Golem lvl. 33
¡°They¡¯re way higher level. Just keep fighting and backing up. Don¡¯t try to face them head on,¡± Santi kept backing up as the golems followed. Even with their smoother stride they were slightly slower than his group.
[Gust] reinforced by [Air Manipulation] created gale like winds that grabbed at the back two golems and slowed them down to a standstill. They were forced to duck down and use all four hands to dig into the earth to prevent themselves from sliding back. The front leaders kept their charge without fear even as Chad continued to put hole after hole in the lead golem.
Cam caused a shield to appear in front of the second golem and it slowed down for a second to break the energy shield, but the gap between it and the leader lengthened. They were not all spaced out at decent enough increments that Santi was willing to engage.
He cut both spells free and focused on the leading golem that was already showing signs that Chad¡¯s barrage had been effective. Eight fist sized holes were dug through its body and one of its lower arms was limp and dragging in the dirt as it got closer.
Cam stepped forward and met it, his energy shield overlaying his real shield. The golem lifted its upper arms and swung down. Cam moved so the blows were deflected rather than trying to stop them head on. Even then, the golden overlay shattered like glass the sound of crunching metal was loud. Bianca went right by him and slashed at an arm, digging her weapon along an upper arm and cutting halfway through it before jumping back.
Chloe¡¯s axe bit into its working lower arm where it connected to its body and the golems momentum stopped. An arrow went flying by, targeting the second fast approaching golem. Santi turned his morph blade into a lance and punched through the golem¡¯s arrow riddled chest. Spikes emerged from the morph weapon and he could feel it growl happily as it began to rip something from the golem.
Santi pulled the spiked lance free, hauling the machines internals out with it. The golem wasn¡¯t dead, but it teetered on its leg as the other three hammered it into the ground in a blur of blows until the kill notification dinged.
Santi looked up and wanted to groan. Only three more of the heavy golems and then the cyclops.
Ch. 2.38 Battle of the Rift
38.
The second cyclops died much as the first did, under a hail of arrows and then Santi coring it like an apple. Cameron¡¯s physical shield was a twisted ruin that he had tossed away and Chloe had barely managed to avoid a deadly backhand. Santi stared at the purified metals that made up the golems and knew they¡¯d be dragging the corpses out with them.
The third and fourth came in a stride eating gallop. Santi cast the same combo of spells on the rear golem while keeping an eye on the five cyclops that had exited out of the foundry and were working their way towards them.
¡°Keep backing up. Space the fuckers out.¡±
The team retreated, luring the golems closer. Chad was running low on arrows and mana, his face pale and strained as he sent another bolt through the golem¡¯s chest. Cam and Chloe stayed ready, crouched and eager to slow it down. As the fight progressed, Cam came more and more out of the funk he¡¯d been in.
¡°Chad, save some arrows and let your mana recharge to deal with the cyclops.¡±
¡°Got it.¡± Chad left the arrow he¡¯d already strung still on the bowstring, but released the tension. Tank hadn¡¯t been called to do anything yet, thankfully. Santi could only hope that Daniel and Hana had finished the extraction and would be hurrying back to reinforce them. A distant second option was calling for reinforcements via Rayleigh, but Santi was greedy. The remaining enemies were all higher level than them and offered a huge experience gain.
The third golem lumbered up and this time Chloe began the engagement as her skills wrapped around her axe. She struck hard and the golem lost half of a lower arm as it went to block. Chloe wasn¡¯t fast enough to dodge the incoming blow that swatted her like a bug and flung her away. Tank was off in an instant, chasing after her flying form.
Santi surged up and took her place to the left of Cam as Cam tried to hold the monster''s attention. His golden barrier shattered instantly and staggered back as Santi crossed the distance. Santi slashed down with a giant curved sword, shearing straight through the golem¡¯s upper arm and into its chest.
His new favorite tactic was employed and a hook emerged from the flat of the blade so that Santi drug the innards of the machine out as he pulled the blade free. The golem shuddered and staggered, but kept going. It spun to face Santi, its remaining arms pistons as it punched at him.
The morph weapons transformed into a kite shield and the gong of metal on metal rang out as Santi was lifted off his feet and tossed backward. He hit the ground in a roll and kept rolling before popping back to his feet. He was dusty and sore but unhurt from tanking the hit.
With the golem turned, Bianca took her chance and slashed down its back and side. Her skill empowered macauhitl shredded metal and the golem collapsed to its knees as it tried to spin. Cam deflected it counter attack but his shield broke in a spray of energy and the ugly crack of bone was audible.
Santi leapt, ground cratering under his feet as he shot towards the downed golem with his weapon turning into a monster pole-axe that he brought down like the wrath of god. With the distance the weapon gave him, the golem couldn¡¯t hit him and the axe cut through it like butter. The two halves fell apart in slow motion as Santi was forced to spin and engage the next golem by himself.
Cam was being dragged back from the fight by Bianca while Chad had an arrow pulled back ready to act if necessary. Tank was getting Chloe back to her feet, but it was slow going. Santi didn¡¯t wait for the golem as he attacked. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
Sprinting straight at the giant machine, he leapt to the side at the last moment and scored a solid hit along its side. The golem stopped its march toward the others and focused on Santi as he started to lead it off to the side. The cyclops were going to be on them soon and he desperately needed this golem out of the way before he started fighting the monsters.
With a flick of his wrist a razor whip wrapped around the upper right arm and he tightened and pulled.The golem reared back, trying to fight against Santi¡¯s strength, but his feet were planted and he had leverage as he pulled. The morph blade sawed though metal and with a grinding shriek the arm fell off. The golem staggered back a few steps as Santi attacked with a lance, poking four holes in its chest in the blink of an eye.
He dropped to the ground as an arm passed overhead and he used a wide headed hammer to cave in the more vulnerable knee in a spray of sparks. The golem used its lower arms to catch itself while Santi sprung straight up and over it. A broadhead spear punched into its chest and held it to the ground. With a thought, the shaft thinned and a half hundred tendrils spun out through the delicate inner machinery. Santi pictured the tendrils splitting like the roots of a tree and then spinning.
A headache burst behind his eyes but a terrible cacophony emerged from the golems chest and sparks and debris began to rain out of it as Santi broke the machine from the inside. He looked around and cursed as he watched a golden arrow get swatted out of the air as the cyclops got within range of the group.
Tank and Chloe were almost back and Cam was standing in the front with his one arm dangling, his remaining good arm holding his long hatchet. They were fucked if he didn¡¯t get back immediately. [Air Manipulation] reinforced [Gust] and caught the lead cyclops with one foot off the ground and managed to tip it over to come thundering to a crashing stop. The other four didn¡¯t slow, simply plowing forward with murder in their eye.
Santi twisted the spear and got the ding of a kill. Liquefying the morph weapon he started to sprint, putting his all into every step. The wind bit at his face as he crossed the distance, but the math wasn¡¯t lying. He wasn¡¯t going to make it to stop the lead cyclops from trucking into Cam and Bianca.
Chad fired and his arrow split into three. Two were caught by the cyclop¡¯s metal club, but one fell unexpectedly and pierced the lead knee in a spray of blood and bone. It staggered and skipped a step, gait broken from the sudden pain.
It was just a few slowed steps before it got to speed again, but it was enough. Santi dug deep and pulled forth a hidden reserve and he leapt at the lead cyclop¡¯s wounded knee. His morph spun into a maul and he cracked the bleeding knee as it flew past it.
The giant monster screamed in pain, spittle flying like rain as it collapsed to the ground. Santi rolled across the ground before hopping up and casting [Crosscurrent-Orb] at the second cyclops eye. The creature used its wide steel club as a shield and the violent winds whipped harmlessly around it.
Santi didn¡¯t care that the attack hadn¡¯t worked, more that the second monster had stopped and blinded itself by putting the club in front of its eye. A golden arrow sank into its gut, bending it in half.
Santi attacked his original opponent that was trying to get back to its feet with a busted knee. He stabbed the wide elbow that held the club with his spear and twisted as he ripped out, ruining the joint.
¡°Keep running!¡± Santi yelled at the others, sprinting away from the crippled cyclops. The two remaining healthy ones had passed by their two wounded brethren and the one he had tripped wasn¡¯t far behind. Tank had managed to make it back with Chloe and was working feverishly on Cam¡¯s arm.
They all started to run, angling themselves away from the rift into a long loop that would eventually take them back to the foundry. The brutal heat was wearing down on them and all of them were drenched in sweat as they jogged to keep ahead of the oversized monsters. They were bloodlusted, what little reasoning they had long gone as they followed like baying hounds.
Their two wounded were left behind, slowly dragging themselves forward in a futile exercise to catch up to Santi and the group. The one who Chad had managed to wound wasn¡¯t much slower, but the other with the busted knee was hardly moving. It limped along dragging its bad leg behind it with blood soaking the thirsty earth.
When Daniel and Hana emerged from its shadow and began to cut it, he had to smile. The two were vultures, but he did need the clean up crew. They just had to keep kiting them, leaving them wounded and defenseless for his two scouts. Not a fun or pleasant fight, but one he could pull off with his current team.
Ch. 2.39 Discontent
39.
The heavy metal club smashed into the ground in a plume of dust, sending out a wave of dirt at Santi as he leapt back. His morph extended from a spear into his favored tendril whip, snapping the whip at its eye. The cyclops closed its fleshy eyelid and blood welled from the cut and flowed down its face. It screamed a guttural warcry, mixed with pain and anger as it wiped at its eye.
Santi kept dancing backward as the team tried to hold a second cyclops from pincering him. The third was struggling to its feet, hamstrung by Daniel and Hana. The cyclops was lashing out, slamming its club around itself as it tried to crush the two scouts.
The fight had devolved into a slaughter. The cyclops were still alive and fighting back, but their lack of coordination and tactics had let them be brought down like an elk by a wolf pack. The final battle was anticlimactic. The threat posed by the rift was in brute strength and numbers and when matched the monsters had no answer to it.
Santi waited for the club to pass by, air stirring in its passage. He darted in in its aftermath, spearing it in the knee. The kneecap split like rotten fruit and the big monster crashed to the ground. Santi disengaged and leapt toward the others who were holding their own.
In the long term, they would have finished if off, but he could speed the process up. Their cyclops was covered in wounds, blood flowing like water down its legs. It still hadn¡¯t slowed down, its blows coming like thunderstrikes.
Cameron couldn¡¯t stop the blows, but he could force them off to the side. Chloe and Bianca were whirlwinds of violence while Tank hung back, waiting to intercede. Santi sped up, coming behind the monster.
The morph blade transformed into a long spear as he leapt into the air. He struck hard, the wide speartip cutting through its thick spinal cord. The creature stiffened for a moment before starting to fall forward. Santi rode it down, the monster not dead but paralyzed.
He glanced back to where Daniel and Hana were running around their monster and decided he¡¯d let the two vultures try to bring their own prey down. They were in a good spot and he didn¡¯t see any undue trouble coming unless they really fucked up.
His own target was trying to get back on its feet, with blood coming down its eye and its leg useless. Santi twisted his spear, bone cracking and splintering under his feet. The morph blade slithered back up his arm and he hopped off the cyclops. The others needed the clean experience points for killing it.
With it laying there unable to move the girls gave him a look of self awareness, before they did their duty. They slashed quickly along its throat on both sides and watched as it bled out into the dry dirt. They walked back to his original foe and the work took only a few minutes to finish it off.
They all stood and watched the scouts struggle to finish their opponent. They couldn¡¯t be hit, but they were giving the cyclops a death of a thousand cuts. It was inhumane, but there was certain inhumanity in fighting these creatures. A ruthless ferocity that was needed to survive. So, they watched.
And watched.
And watched.
Finally it died.
¡°Let¡¯s go to the foundry. We need to get the rift heart and this thing will collapse,¡± Santi told them as Hana and Daniel limped over to him. Both of them were drenched in sweat and cyclops blood, looking mightily disgruntled. Santi ignored them and started on towards the foundry. Daniel hung to his side and he asked the other man to make a quick run through the rift portal to have the salvage team come out. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Daniel disappeared again and the team kept moving to the foundry. Santi took a glimpse back to see the salvage team come through the rift. Rayleigh led Abraham¡¯s team as they started to drag out the mana purified golems. There was plenty of regular scrap inside of the foundry, but the mana purified metals were the most valuable.
Santi was happily imagining a set of weapons and armor for his team that wouldn¡¯t break under their full strength as they walked into the foundry. Hana and Daniel reconnected and slid off to the side, off to go and search for whatever it was they looked for. Treasure hunters more than fighters at times.
¡°So what are we looking for?¡± Cam asked. His voice was hoarse and he had a ring of dried sweat around his scalp.
¡°Glowing stone.¡±
¡°Ohhh. Ok.¡±
They all broke off heading around the cavernous facility in search of the rift stone. Santi figured it¡¯d be where all the mated pairs of cyclops had been gathered, but there could be plenty of things in the foundry to take for themselves. To the victor the spoils after all.
Most everywhere he looked was defunct machinery. What little that was intact was written in languages he couldn¡¯t parse or had controls he lacked the appendages to make work. Lots of slots for thin prehensile appendages.
Santi tried to ignore the bones on the ground and threaded through the machinery. If he squinted hard enough the femur bones looked like an animal¡¯s. It was part of what drew the savagery out of him. Walking these vile dens of voracious cruelty drew him back to the future. His early months he had been weak and slow. His friends and family had ended up as food on floors like these, their bones scattered and gnawed on.
His hands were shaking and he could feel hot rage boiling its way up, wanting to come out. He wanted the cyclops to be back so he could watch them bleed out at his feet again. Santi fought back against the rising tide, the battle was over and he was victorious. Part of his spirit hadn¡¯t been exorcized though.
A mean dribble of spirit that hadn¡¯t been pushed to its breaking point. The last monster dens hadn¡¯t taken everything he had to win. This one was just¡boring. A fight in which he hadn¡¯t truly been in danger. People had died all around him in the first battle, but he hadn¡¯t been in danger.
Not like when he killed the hag. Or the goblin. This just left him feeling unsatisfied. Part of him wanted the challenge. The challenge of something strong and intelligent, that would press him in the way he desired.
Downtown and the Primus. It was the whisper in the back of his mind. He knew it was there. The Infernal had practically guaranteed it. It was smart, powerful, and had some type of elemental mastery. That monster would be the challenge he needed to feel better after this lackluster disappointment.
The others were searching, climbing up and down equipment all the while Santi marched straight to where the Acolyte creatures had camped out. Their small section of the camp was nothing more than some twisted pieces of wood with badly cured animal hides stretched across them. The walls were twenty feet high though and Santi sliced a skin open and stepped through the ribs of the wall rather than look for the entrance.
The smell of rotting meat and unwashed bodies hit him like a wave, overpowering the ferrous smell that was the primary scent in the building. Trying to hold his breath he looked around for the riftheart in the piles of ¡°clothing¡± the cyclops had used. A small pen off to the side held more bones of animals, looked like sheep, and the wonderful scent of dung added itself to the menage.
He passed the pen and found a tent hoisted up in the center of the walled out section. Thick scaly brown hides hid it from prying eyes but Santi was quick to cut it open and walk inside.
The first rift heart had been a wonderful amber shade while this one was closer to a muddy brown. The glow reminded him of thick and rich fertile soil and Santi could feel the absence of mana around the sphere as a thinness to the world.
This one was the size of a small cantaloupe and when he grabbed it from the metal pillar it rested on, there was a resistance. Not physically, but mentally. A whisper to leave it be. Or better yet, sit here next to it. Touch the riftheart and be granted its strength as he drew on it.
Santi marshaled his willpower and broke through the suggestions with relative ease as he hoisted the heart up and off the pillar it sat on. The moment the heart came off the pillar, the mental suggestion faded away. The bloodlust that was sitting in his chest faded and the smells grew distant and not as overwhelming.
¡°What black magic fuckery was that?¡± Santi whispered as he looked down on the metal pillar.
Ch. 2.40 Memories Lost
40.
The pillar he had liberated the riftheart from a five foot tall orange shaft covered in dense runic script. He could barely understand a sliver of it, but from what little he understood it was very complex mana equations. It was beyond anything the cyclops could have made and stood out like a sore thumb from the other technologies that the foundry was based around.
He looked down at the pillar and how it was blasted through the concrete floors. Fractures ripped across the floor originating from where the pillar had been shoved through it. Santi traced his fingers over the metal, feeling the warmth of it, the inner heat threatening to scorch his fingers.
Runes faded away slowly as the loss of the riftheart¡¯s power caused them to go dormant. Santi watched as the dense script completely disappeared, just leaving the burnt orange pillar standing there alone. Lacking anything resembling the skill required to salvage it, he left the mystery alone.
Santi wandered out of the foundry as the rest of the scavengers started to enter. His team was cleaning out the rest of the area, searching for anything of value. Daniel and Hana had already scouted the area and Santi might doubt them on their ability to fight, but in cleaning an area out of its valuables, they were premier.
He stalked over to the entrance of the rift and sat down, churning [Air Current] around himself to keep cool. A steady stream of scavengers brought out metals and anything else of value. Most of it was trash, but the scavengers were still learning. In time they¡¯d grow an eye for finding the treasure in the scrap.
Most of this scrap could at least be repurposed by the dwarves. Santi had to hold back a smile as a memory of hauling out a shiny black rock he had found in a rift came back to him. The thing must have weighed several hundred pounds and he had been sure it had been special.
It had been special. To a random monster that had enjoyed the process of polishing rocks. He could remember when the crafters had just stared at him in amusement when they told him it was just a plain old rock.
He had plenty of memories like that. Happy ones interspersed with all the shit. Days and moments of happiness and laughter. Things that had made him smile and feel alive that he could never have told anyone. He had even found love with Marjorie, if even for a little while.
Carla?
No, it was Veronica.
Daniela?
Santi froze, his mind racing as he pushed against the memories. Every memory that had been there and thought of¡gray walls rose up, his mind growing cloudy. His thoughts twisted on themselves and he found himself staring at the rift.
What had he been thinking of?
Oh, that damn big rock he had hauled around. Stupid thing, he could have sworn he threw his back out carrying that. He felt a smile stretch across his face at the memory.
¡°You ok, bud?¡± Cam asked, having somehow sneaking up on Santi while he was staring into space.
¡°Yeah, I¡¯m solid. Why?¡±
¡°You look troubled. More so than normal.¡±
¡°Naw, I¡¯m solid bro. Just thinking of a good memory. Well, a funny memory at least.¡±
¡°Care to share?¡±
¡°No, I think I¡¯ll be keeping this one to myself.¡±
¡°Keep your secrets then.¡±
The two of them looked at each other and then burst into laughter. Cam slunk down to the ground and leaned back with his hands on the ground behind him. He closed his eyes and looked up at the sky, his face smoothing out as he took a deep shuddering breath and slowly let it out.
¡°When I saw my Dad¡¯s name, I freaked out. I¡¯m sorry.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
¡°Don¡¯t be sorry, I understand.¡±
¡°Still, I acted like a dick and you were nice to me about it. Bianca helped me work through it.¡±
¡°Speaking of that, when were you going to tell me about that?¡±
¡°Never?¡±
¡°Never isn¡¯t the right answer.¡±
¡°Yeahhhhh, it kinda just happened. Everything was dark and dreary and murdery. We were always together, we were the fighters and protectors for everyone. It was natural.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t need a play by play.¡±
¡°I could give you a play by play for real.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll bury you in this desert.¡±
¡°The amount of jokes I have. It¡¯s unfair how much stronger you are than I am right now.¡±
¡°Get used to it. You¡¯re not going to surpass me,¡± Santi said with a smile.
¡°So, why haven¡¯t we gotten levels yet?¡±
¡°We¡¯re in a rift. The System doesn¡¯t connect here. At least it didn¡¯t with me and the first rift I cleared.¡±
¡°Weird. But, the kills counted?¡±
¡°Yeah, they¡¯ll count. Just come out of here and the experience will land.¡±
¡°Thank, god.¡±
The two of them leaned back and just sat in silence together, the hot sun still annoying but bearable now that they weren¡¯t fighting. Over the next hour or so more and more of the team came and sat down around them. Daniel and Hana were the first to show up, both of them plopping down with tired sighs.
Them showing up just reinforced his opinion that they had already searched the foundry and were just letting everyone else spin their wheels. Bianca was the next, sitting next to Cam but not close enough to touch. Chloe, Chad, and Tank all came stomping over last with frustrated looks on their faces.
¡°Nothing but rusty metal. Not. A. Single. Thing,¡± Chloe complained bitterly. Rayleigh marched by with Abraham and a gaggle of his groupies. They were all Acolytes now and could drag half ton steel machinery scraps behind them as they walked in and out of the rift.
Chloe waved at Rayleigh and received a smile and rolled eyes as the other girl walked by. Santi felt a frown crease his face as he started to look at the men around Rayleigh. She was the youngest by far, most of Abraham¡¯s crew being several decades older than Santi and his crew.
He made a mental note to ask Yesi how many of Abraham¡¯s people had gotten to evolve before anyone else. Santi made yet another mental note on paying more attention to the minutiae of camp life. The ability to bottleneck people on evolutions would be a powerful motivator to keep people working and not coasting along.
¡°Think they¡¯ll be here much longer?¡± Cameron complained.
¡°Probably. There¡¯s lots of stuff to take. We need the metal.¡±
¡°We have metal at home,¡± Cameron said.
¡°Not the good stuff though,¡± Santi said with a smirk. There was plenty of good stuff in the foundry that was better than the stuff they had on the outside.
¡°Think Grimvr and the others will make us armor? I always wanted to be a knight,¡± Cam said with a goofy smile.
¡°And a cowboy, astronaut, train conductor, martial artist, football player, baseball player, musician, and plenty of other dumb shit,¡± Bianca said with a smile at him.
¡°I could have done all of that,¡± Cam defended himself.
¡°I¡¯ve heard you sing, you weren¡¯t becoming a musician.¡±
¡°I woulda played sax.¡±
Everyone stopped and looked over at Cameron with a few raised eyebrows and some rolled fingers to keep the information coming.
¡°Saxophone is the sexiest instrument. Everyone thinks it''s guitar, but it''s sax.¡±
¡°So, you wanted to play saxophone to get girls?¡± Bianca asked, a hint of a chill in her voice.
¡°Only one woman I needed to impress,¡± Cameron said with a sly smile on his face. Bianca rolled her eyes and looked over her shoulder to hide her smile.
¡°Someone¡¯s slick.¡± Chloe laughed loudly and Cameron had the decency to blush.
After that the talking faded away and they watched Abraham and his people strip the foundry down to its concrete floors. Santi never did see an orange pillar leave and he had to wonder about that a bit. Just who had installed that and what was the purpose of it?
Several hours later Abraham finished his work and he and his team shot a series of ugly looks toward Santi as they walked out of the rift. Santi rolled his eyes at the man¡¯s blatant insecurity and rose to his feet with the rest of his team. He waved his people through the rift and followed behind.
The warehouse was hot, but after the hellscape they¡¯d left it was pleasantly cool. All around them the former stuffed walls of the warehouse were in the process of being stripped clean. Hundreds of people were walking around and grabbing materials to take back to Homebase.
¡°You know, it¡¯s a lot nicer here than it was earlier,¡± Chloe remarked.
¡°It¡¯s still terrible, it¡¯s just we came out of hell,¡± Bianca said. Hana and Daniel didn¡¯t say a word, just fleeing as fast as possible as they headed toward the showers. They were rather disgusting.
Yesi was waiting on the other side of the rift, sitting down on a box with a bored look on her face. She perked up when she saw all of them come through. Her face scrunched up as she took in their smell and looks.
¡°Take a shower before you come into the house. Also, Santi, Tank, the Council decided to call a meeting. It¡¯s tonight.¡±
¡°What the hell are they calling a meeting for?¡± Tank said with a confused look. Santi felt a sinking feeling in his gut. There was only one reason to call a meeting like this when most of the council was out of the picture. He just hoped this coup would be bloodless.
Ch. 2.41 Fangless Coup
41.
¡°What do you mean a coup?¡± Yesi asked as they stood outside of Homebase. They had just enough time to change their clothes and try to scrape all the blood, dirt, and dried sweat off of themselves before they were heading toward the center of the community. Dozens of people were milling about looking a mix of excited, relaxed, and a few nervous, shifty faces. Santi paid attention to those shifty faces.
They were the older people, people who had careers and lives and established themselves. People who were once respected and had thought they had a handle on life. The ones who had lost the most professionally, who had been disconnected from their personal images of themselves.
Santi and the others had moved fast enough that there were plenty of families, people who hadn¡¯t lost everything. People who could hold onto this loss of prestige and let it fester until it became ugly. It was shortsighted and small and petty and so, so tiring.
¡°They¡¯re going to make a play. Something like since the emergency is over, that the Council will be taking the drivers wheel. Could be something as simple as codifying positions and the rules and responsibilities, making me irrelevant and Tank an afterthought. Expand how many members there are and bring some of their friends on board.¡±
¡°You really thought this through,¡± Yesi said with an approving smile.
¡°Yeah, really thought about it on the walk here,¡± Santi lied. It was much simpler as he had experienced it. Small communities and sometimes bigger settlements. All of them dissolving into infighting and bitter backstabbing until they were easy pickings for a range of monsters that sat outside their walls. And sometimes inside of them.
It was something that he wasn¡¯t going to allow. If he had to crack some skulls to make it happen, then so be it.
¡°Glad to see you¡¯re thinking things out finally. Where¡¯s Tank and your other friends?¡±
¡°They¡¯re already inside.¡±
¡°Ohhhh, going for a dramatic entrance?¡±
¡°Damn straight.¡±
The crowds moved into Homebase and its crowded and hot halls and Santi let the minutes pass. There were a few minutes to go before he had to go in. He tapped his foot impatient for the minutes to trickle by. Yesi was watching him out of the corner of her eye with the hint of a smile on her face.
¡°I¡¯m not the best at waiting.¡±
¡°I noticed.¡±
¡°Fuck it, let¡¯s go.¡± Santi pushed [Air Current] outward, a gentle breeze preceding him as he slammed into the door and pushed his way into Homebase. The crowds gave way to him as the fresh gust of air heralded his arrival. There was an edge of fear now as they looked at him, a sense of anxiety pervading the atmosphere.
He could already hear the raised voices from the room the council used. A dozen shouting and clamoring peoples, the sound of flesh smacking wood, a high pitched mocking laugh, all of it blending together to paint a dejecting picture.
Santi hit the doors like a steam train, amplifying the spell to send a powerful gust of air that sent papers and other odds and ends swirling away from him as he looked everyone over. Tank was sitting with Cameron and Bianca behind him while Daniel and Hana lurked in the background. Rayleigh had been kind enough to sit nearby, along with members of Adam¡¯s former track team. Chad and his brother were posted close by, both having left their bows at home. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Helena and Marisol were shoulder to shoulder with their own group of supporters crowding around them. None of them were fighters, but they were all vital. They were the people who cleaned the water, made sure everyone got food, got the latrines made and filled, saw to all the supplies. They were the infrastructure of the settlement.
Helena¡¯s people were too young and too old. Those whose fire had faded or yet to ignite. The interior defense group served a great purpose as they often patrolled the settlement at night as a fire watch. They broke up disagreements and helped by securing critical pieces of infrastructure. None of them were elites. They also outnumbered Santi and Abraham¡¯s combined crews three to one.
They were going to soon reach a tipping point where numbers would matter less. Where a person¡¯s talent and hardwork could elevate them above the squalor of mediocrity and showcase their dominance to the world. Helena and Marisol could feel it. As could all those others who weren¡¯t willing to risk their lives for strength. This was going to be their last chance to steer the proverbial ship before Santi and the others were too far above them.
¡°Sorry, you must have started early!¡± Santi said with a smile he didn¡¯t feel as he and Yesi worked their way over to his corner. He kept his gaze locked on the three councilors and decided they were going to go the expansion route. There wouldn¡¯t be any knives coming out to take him in the back from this group.
They were smart and cowardly, they wouldn¡¯t risk a bloodbath that would result from a failed assassination. They would go the political route. The route that humanity had been working on for centuries, the polite words that hid venomous intentions.
If it wasn¡¯t going to be such a headache, Santi would have felt bad for them. They still hadn¡¯t truly adapted. Politics would be what the strong dictated. There would come a time when the general strength of everyone would rise enough that they could threaten the pillars of System civilization, but that was a long way away.
¡°Good to see you, Santiago. We were just beginning. We wish to propose adding four new positions to this Council. In addition, we will be looking to codify that this Council¡¯s ruling be taken as law,¡± Helena spoke, her strong voice ringing out and silencing the talk around the table.
¡°That all?¡±
¡°No actually. We also will vote on elections. Every three months. General population, not by group.¡±
Santi raised an eyebrow at that. They were throwing the book at him. Diminishing his voting power and ensuring he wouldn¡¯t be able to win another position as his small faction was the smallest numerically.
¡°Anything else?¡± Santi asked, keeping his smile plastered on his face as he boiled with a mix of frustration and anger. He hadn¡¯t even been able to properly look at his gains from clearing the rift before this shit had started.
¡°That is all for now.¡±
¡°Excellent. Now, we¡¯re not doing any of that shit.¡± Santi¡¯s voice was sharp as ice cracking and the mood in the room plummeted as glares from the two sides promised real bloodshed.
Manipulating a simple spell like [Air Current] was normally easy, but the current casting had to be reinforced with [Air Manipulation]. Santi threaded tunnels of air out through windows and doors, his voice projecting not only to the room, but to the entirety of the settlement.
¡°This is the most selfish, cowardly, and manipulative thing I have ever witnessed.¡± His spell work did its job, his normal talking voice overpowering every single sound in the camp.
¡°You¡¯re disguising a power grab in the name of democracy and are trying to throw out those who have sacrificed and fought the hardest and longest for this settlement. It¡¯s blatant to anyone who looks, the people are smarter than this!¡± Santi never raised his voice, but let his own anger fill his words.
Others were trying to speak, but finding their words couldn¡¯t be heard more than a few inches from their mouths. Sweat was beading along Santi¡¯s head and he could feel his pulse behind his eyes as he struggled to hold the spell forms together. He was manually suppressing everyone¡¯s ability to speak while simultaneously keeping the microphone spell going.
¡°We haven¡¯t even had time to eat after saving the town we founded from that rift, when you come here with this bullshit? No, we don¡¯t recognize any authority of yours. You have cowered behind walls builts by others, guarded by others, eating food brought to you by others, all the while you do nothing. You disgrace us all. You disgrace those who serve you with noble intentions.¡± Santi let the spells fall away as he began to struggle to hold it all together. He couldn¡¯t let them see him fail to hold the two spells together, it would pierce his facade in a way that might be fatal at the moment.
It took a minute for people to realize they could speak, and at first they were hesitant. Their wide fear eyed gazes locked on Santi as they began to speak. Abraham sat there silently, tapping his lips with a long finger. He rose in one smooth athletic motion and raised a hand.
The room took a few moments to take in what he was doing, but eventually they settled down and looked at the older man. His animosity towards Santi and the others was well known and he would be the deciding factor of this in their minds.
Ch. 2.42 Words of Abraham
42.
¡°My¡reservations about Santiago and his compatriots is well known. He is young and inexperienced. And in my mind those are not the qualities we want to be leading us in our time of need. In a time of emergency. Santiago has proven his skill though, his passion, and his dedication. I too agree that this is a blatant power grab by those who huddle behind walls to chain our protectors to their desires. I detest this.¡± Abraham sat down, his quick but impassioned speech having caused dozens of heads to bob around and nod.
Santi looked him up and down and had to wonder what his angle was going to be. Abraham was too self-absorbed and self-conscious to really back him. He wouldn¡¯t take a back seat to Santi and the others even if his life depended on it. His ego wouldn¡¯t allow it.
So what exactly was he thinking? Planning?
With Abraham¡¯s endorsement the wind went out of Marisol¡¯s and Helena¡¯s sails. Their democratic coup had failed by a single unlikely ally and now they were all standing around looking awkward. Santi was tired of this. He was tired of what was to come too. He had wanted Tank to take the roll, but he realized that was wrong. It wasn¡¯t on his friend to take command and lead. It was his duty. His responsibility.
¡°Thank you for all coming here. Now that that is out of the way, we can move on to the next part of our agenda. As Abraham has stated, this is a state of emergency. We are beset on all sides by dangers. By monsters. We need a clear and simple line of command. It starts and ends with me. This council will remain as an advisory council,¡± Santi was cut off by the cries of outrage and Marisol and Helena leaping to their feet protesting.
¡°This is the true outrage. This violates the sanctity of our democracy!¡±
¡°Naked power grab! You bleeding hypocrite. You declare yourself king?¡±
¡°Madness!¡±
¡°Napoleon wannabe!¡±
¡°Fascist!¡±
All of it came like a stream of vitriol and none of it was wrong. The fascist was wrong, there were no rail lines to control after all.
Santi let it all roll over him like a wave as he stared down his opponents. Even Tank stirred uncomfortably behind him, but Cam and Bianca didn¡¯t even flinch as he basically said he was going to declare himself a quasi-dictator.
¡°Enough. We have tried this council working as a leadership group and it has been a failure. We¡¯ve lost lives, lives that did not need to be lost because of the failures of members of this council. Their failures to adapt to our new world is a major detriment to the security of our long term survival. I have succeeded at every step. We have only grown stronger. Our enemies are dead and we are safer. Now, with this new riftheart we¡¯ve acquired, we can fuel a massive evolution of our support personnel. The cooks, farmers, blacksmiths, tanners, and anyone else who isn¡¯t a frontline fighter.¡±
The crowd behind Helena and Marisol quieted down as Santi offered them the bribe. Evolutions weren¡¯t cheap and there were plenty of people waiting. [Survivor] was a great class for easy levels. You just had to stay alive and keep doing things that counted towards surviving.
They had seen the qualitative jump in their fellows and enough time had passed that everyone was looking forward to taking that second class. There was just a bottleneck currently with the amount of treasures available to be used for evolutions.
The heavy softball sized riftheart could produce a large-scale, low quality evolution that would be perfect for the non-combatants.
¡°We will expand this council and fill it with voices to be heard and listened to. Just no longer will they be allowed to throw away lives in vain.¡±
Santi watched the reactions carefully. The hardliners were pissed, but the fence riders, who they had brought in to fill out the room, were wavering. The blatant bribe was working in his favor and he didn¡¯t think it needed much more.
¡°In the future there will be challenges that a council will not be fast enough to react to. You will not be pushed to the back into the shadows or forgotten. You will not be repressed or subjugated. This is not permanent. Once we have secured a town, secured our food and water and are safe, we will revert back to a representative democracy. In the meantime, we will be moving forward with myself leading us. Your councilors will be your representatives, any complaints, suggestions, or observances should be forwarded through them. Thank you. You¡¯re all dismissed. Councilors, stay behind.¡±
The crowd stood there for a moment and Santi could feel the moment teetering on the precipice. If they went, it would break the weight of the coup attempt. If they stayed, it was worse than square one.
They trickled out and Santi had to fight not to let out a sigh of relief. He wasn¡¯t comfortable standing in front of crowds and telling them what was going to happen. It grated at him like a cheesegrater against his soul. A whisper in his mind said he should be off to the side, watching what was happening. Waiting for his orders. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Marisol, Helena, Abraham, and Tank stayed behind. Cameron patted his shoulder as he passed while his Dad offered a sympathetic smile. Mom kept a straight face but her eyes showed concern. Santi could read the microexpressions on everyone¡¯s faces who hadn¡¯t evolved. They lacked the body control to hide their inner thoughts from showing up on their faces.
The moment the door shut, the shouting began. Helena and Marisol were livid, their voices mingling as they began to shout at him and Abraham. As Santi pieced together exactly what the intent of the verbal assault was, it was mainly directed at Abraham. He was supposed to have sided with the two older women, instead they had been shoved to the side.
He was getting his own share of flack, but their anger was directed at Abraham. The man stayed quiet as he endured it. Santi watched him carefully, something was off about him. The normal fire he had, the rage that he kept stoked at at the forefront of his thoughts and personality were restrained.
When the two women finally ran out of steam, Santi started to pay attention. Behind the ire, the heat and rage, there was fear. In the way they stood, the creases around their eyes, the smell wafting from their pores. It was all too obvious to him. They were scared of him, of what he was and represented. And in all honesty, they were right.
A brute could have taken the lead. A person of violence and ruled by base pleasures. There¡¯d be plenty of them. They¡¯d fill the small towns and empty plains and run their own small fiefdoms. Santi would kill them where he found them. Their type had no place in this world and those who suffered under their rule would become strong supporters for him.
He knew that what he was doing was wrong. In the traditional sense of Western democracy, what he was doing was wrong. It was a betrayal. He was going to become a dictator in every sense but the title. And it was the only way he could think of to preserve his people¡¯s lives.
Over the years he had seen a thousand and one forms of government. If there was a time of peace, of stability without a fractured world filled with monsters and levels and people who could become demigods, then democracy and equality of man might work. This was the best he could do and he finally knew that he was going to have to step in. He couldn¡¯t just push it off any longer.
¡°I¡¯m not a dick. Most of the time. It¡¯s not going to be some shithole labor camp bullshit. There will be rules and I will enforce them. A bill of rights for our people that will be followed and respected. People will be paid for their labor. Truthfully, most people won¡¯t notice the difference.¡±
¡°Except they won¡¯t have real power. They won¡¯t have the ability to change how they are governed.¡±
¡°Sure. That¡¯s true.¡±
¡°And? You don¡¯t have anything to say about that?¡± Helena was incredulous.
¡°No. What you said was factual. I think you¡¯re an honest person. You want to be in charge of writing up our bill of rights? Rules that are to be respected above anything else?¡±
¡°You¡¯re just trying to use me to legitimize your power grab.¡± Helena¡¯s eyes were wide and there was a vein pulsing on the side of her head.
¡°Also correct. You both are well respected and have plenty of supporters. You don¡¯t have enough to throw me out. Not while I¡¯m the strongest person here. Not when I¡¯ve led us to so many victories.¡±
¡°So, since you¡¯re big and strong and can just kick all of our asses, you get to be in charge?¡± Marisol let the venom drip from her words.
¡°Yes. That is the world we live in now. The strong can decide the fates of everyone else. Would you rather have it be me, who you know. Or the next person who rolls in and just takes what they want? Which would only happen after they kill me and my friends.¡±
Silence filled the room as the two of them stared at him. Tank looked a mix of exasperated and concerned while Abraham looked unbothered by everything happening.
¡°Do we have a choice?¡± Helena asked quietly. Marisol let her head drop as the weight of what was about to happen overwhelmed her.
¡°No. But I¡¯d rather have you two with me than sidelined. You stood up when others stood to the side. I respect that more than you know. Standing with me will help our community more than opposing me.¡±
¡°Fine.¡± Helena had a bitter edge in her voice but Santi couldn¡¯t help with that. With time, with his effort, he could prove them wrong. That they could trust him.
¡°Excellent. First order of business will be defining roles. Yesi has a powerful class that will help us organize better. Tank, I want you to expand the hospital and medical settings. Start looking for others who are willing to do that type of work. Marisol, we need to start working on hunting parties for food. Acolyte¡¯s can¡¯t eat the same food as Initiates, it doesn¡¯t have the proper nutritional values. We¡¯re going to need some way of storing meat and getting some type of grower class for food.¡± Santi began to rattle off his commands.
Marisol was in charge of finding and securing them an upgraded food source. Helena would be organizing a better version of the patrols and internal security. Tank would work on expanding the medical care and trainees. Abraham would be in charge of far ranging expeditions to find more people outside of the town limits. More people would need to be found to fill council seats for food production, crafting, and town maintenance.
It was getting to be a headache that Santi was not eager to deal with. When Yesi upgraded her class she wouldn¡¯t be a [Planner] anymore and would need some type of new classer to step into that role. Hopefully it would be Marisol or one of her helpers.
¡°When are you planning the mass evolution?¡± Abraham asked, his eyebrows raised with a hint of curiosity.
¡°As soon as possible. Tomorrow would be preferable, but likely in two days. Need to find those most likely to get classes that work towards food production and help deal with water scarcity. Probably take a day or two to get a list of the most likely to get that evolution.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll have my people start looking for any more of those treasures. See if we can get more people in on it.¡±
¡°Thanks, Abe,¡± Santi offered the olive branch. Abe just nodded back and the meeting dwindled down to nothing as Santi ushered everyone out to start doing work. He finally had the settlement under his thumb fully. All he had left was dealing with the downtown area.
Ch. 2.43 Dealmaking
43.
Congratulations, you are an Air Mage lvl. 34
Santiago V. Silva
Strength: 35 (60)
Durability: 35 (60)
Stamina: 33 (58)
Dexterity: 32 (57)
Vitality: 35 (60)
Perception: 32 (57)
Intelligence: 72 (97)
Mana: 85 (110)
Willpower: 72 (97)
Potential:55%
Santi stared at his screen and had to fight the urge to smile. His stats were ridiculous, the boost from his evolution and his title were so much higher than he had been. With the title he was stronger and more durable than any physical fighter in his class level and his mage stats were simply incomparable. Stat supremacy was a thing. Skills and training could help normalize a fight, cut the gap, but at a certain point the stats were simply impossible to overcome.
Achievement: First to Conquer an Acolyte Rift (Common)
Reward: Loot Box (Common)
Santi opened the achievement and watched as the silver chest materialized in front of him on his bed. The heavy weight of the chest caused his bed to squeak and Santi hurriedly opened it. He immediately started searching through it, pulling free multiple bags and watched as the chest disappeared.
The first thing was a bag of Acolyte tier food. The nutritionally dense bars were needed, but they didn¡¯t set his heart on fire with greed. It was a disappointing start to what was one of the better boxes he had earned, but he had hope.
The next was a soft leather bag filled with the white wood coins. He counted it quickly and then opened the drawer next to his nightstand and threw it in with the rest of the money he had earned. The drawer was getting full, but it was nothing to the collection his parents had managed to collect from having the only restaurant in the settlement.
The final piece was a white silk shirt that felt like feathers under his fingers. Santi held it up in front of himself and had to admire the sheen of it in the flickering candlelight. He used [Identify] to see what he had just earned for himself.
Enchanted Silk Shirt of Repair
Santi felt that hidden smile burst across his face finally. He had been burning through clothes at an alarming rate. The amount of shirts he had destroyed was simply astounding. Having a self repairing shirt would be a godsend. Santi began to strip his own raggedy shirt off and caught a whiff of himself. He looked at the sparklingly clean shirt and his own grimy hands.
Even after the quick scrub he¡¯d had after the fight, it wasn¡¯t enough to truly be clean. There was dried blood in the corner of his nail beds, the creases in his hands still had dirt wedged in them. The light layer of dried sweat on his forehead and back needed to be properly scrubbed free.
Sighing he headed down the stairs in the dark and saw his family seated around the kitchen table. They were quietly eating from bowls, spooning a cold broth up to their lips while they talked amongst themselves. Dad was smiling as everyone complimented him on his broth while Mom looked at him lovingly. Bianca was curled into Cameron¡¯s side while the big man ate out of a mixing bowl. Yesi was sitting on the kitchen counter, legs weaving back and forth while she ate.
¡°Want some, Santi?¡± Dad asked, rising from his seat and heading toward the big pot on the counter. He didn¡¯t wait for Santi¡¯s answer before making him a big bowl. The food wouldn¡¯t give him anything in terms of nutrition, but he was always excited to eat his Dad¡¯s cooking.
¡°What were you up to Mr. President?¡± Cameron asked with a smile. Everyone turned to look at him with a mix of concern and pride.
¡°Got my loot box for that fight. Got a nice shirt, but I¡¯m dirty. Was going to go and scrub myself with steel wool.¡±
¡°You got a shirt for that fight? All I got was a macuahuitl.¡± Bianca complained. Everyone turned to look at her with exasperation.
¡°What? I want some better clothes. All mine look like I just got out of a horror movie.¡±
¡°I would kill for a good weapon. My hatchet broke again,¡± Cam complained.
¡°You got a big ass shield, babe,¡± Bianca reminded him.
¡°Yeah, but I want a weapon.¡±
¡°Shields can be a weapon,¡± Santi interjected.
¡°Yeah, just like bash them in the face,¡± Yesi chimed in.
¡°Not at the dinner table,¡± Mom cut in, a hint of heat in her words.
¡°Sorry, Mom,¡± everyone said.
¡°Santi, have you talked to the dwarves yet?¡± Yesi asked, shooting Mom a look to make sure that was allowed. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
¡°No. I can go now. Hit the baths after that. I want to set out early with Daniel and Hana, go scout downtown.¡±
¡°No rest for the wicked,¡± Cam said.
¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡± Dad handed him his bowl of soup and the two of them left the room and walked out the house. Santi sipped the thin broth, cool and satisfying on the warm summer night. They walked in companionable silence for all of five steps before Dad started talking.
¡°So, you want to talk about it?¡±
¡°Talk about what?¡±
¡°You declaring yourself a dictator.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not a dictator.¡±
¡°Santiago, don¡¯t lie to me and don¡¯t lie to yourself.¡±
¡°I declared myself dictator.¡±
¡°Yeah. You did.¡±
¡°It¡¯s what needs to be done. I know that its what needs to be done.¡±
¡°And?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve been fighting the urge to take charge since the beginning. It¡¯s not something that I wanted. It¡¯s not who I wanted to be. It¡¯s who I have to be.¡±
¡°Part of being a man. An adult really. Stepping up. Being the person who is needed is much harder than being the person you want to be. You think I wanted to spend my time pouring concrete?¡±
¡°What did you want to do? When you were my age?¡±
¡°Honestly?¡±
¡°Honestly.¡±
¡°Drink mostly. Party. Dance. Cook. Chase girls. Don¡¯t tell your Mom that part,¡± Dad said with a wide smile.
¡°Promise, just between us.¡± The streets were dark but the moonlight was enough to keep them walking toward the house they had put the dwarves.
¡°That¡¯s my boy. I met your Mom and we did that. Partied, danced, and drank our nights away. Then we had Bianca on the way and I had to step up. I had to provide. Being a father is hard mi hijo. I was so nervous. So fucking tired. Twelve hour days busting my ass and a crying baby at night. Your Mom had it worse. She wanted to be a lawyer. The pregnancy derailed everything. She stepped up big. She put aside everything she ever wanted to be and raised you all. Kept us all sane and fed.¡± Dad got silent as they got closer to the house.
¡°You should have seen her when she was younger. Full of fire and passion. It''s still there, but it''s just contained. I was always going to want to settle down and have kids, but I don¡¯t think she did. She wanted to be someone, to do something beyond the household.¡± Dad looked over the house, lost in his memories.
¡°I miss those days. Don¡¯t get me wrong. You kids were worth it. So, so, so worth it. Raising my children made me a better man. Taught me so much about myself. But I do miss those days.¡±
¡°The drinking and dancing and partying?¡±
¡°Not having responsibilities. Not having my knees and back hurt. Having all my hair,¡± Dad said with a smile, but there was a touch of sadness there.
¡°You can get your youth back with enough stats. Just have to level, old man.¡±
¡°Maybe, maybe. Let¡¯s go see these dwarves of yours.¡±
They walked up the steps of the front house and knocked on the door. Santi took another deep swill of the broth and waited as the door opened up for them. Grimvr looked up at them and smiled broadly.
¡°Santiago, my friend, please be welcome to our domicile,¡± he swept his hand back to showcase the house as he invited them in.
¡°I must apologize for the late hour Grimvr, but I will be gone all day tomorrow and want to talk to Thorin,¡± Santi explained as he stepped into the house.
¡°He is still awake. I must thank you for the gift of the food bars. He is much weakened from his captivity and without proper nutrition, I fear he would not be long for this world.¡± Grove led them through the house and Santi took in how the house had been arranged.
Gone were all the couches and furniture that had previously filled the rooms. The cushions had been stacked on the floor and dwarves sat around eating slowly. They watched him warily, caution and fear evident in the movements. Grimvr led him past them and up the stairs toward the bedrooms.
Any and all personal effects had been taken down, pictures, knicknacks, trophies. The walls were bare white with a thin layer of grime on them from the constant fires burning. Santi could smell the musty tang of the dwarves already filling the house, overwhelming the scent of burned wood and human body odor.
Thorin was in the master bedroom, propped up with a pile of pillows on a mattress that lay flat on the ground. He had cleaned himself up and was chewing a nutrition bar slowly, savoring every crumb. The black rings beneath his eyes and his motley beard were glaring testaments to his poor health.
¡°I¡¯m Santiago.¡±
¡°You have my thanks. I saw you fighting them. Your people freed me, led me to escape.¡±
¡°It was the right thing to do.¡±
¡°Regardless, thank you.¡±
¡°You¡¯re welcome. I know you are tired and ready to sleep, but I do have a few things I need to talk to you about.¡±
¡°I am ready.¡±
¡°I would like to enter a binding agreement with you and your clan to provide services to my settlement.¡±
¡°You know of this? How?¡±
¡°It matters not. Would you be interested in the details?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°You and your clan will provide basic martial training. You will train crafters in basic metal work and any other skills that you can reasonably teach revolving around crafting.¡±
¡°What do we get?¡±
¡°Food, housing, protection. Tax will only be ten percent on your goods.¡±
¡°So low?¡±
¡°You will have the best crafted goods on planet for a long time. You will be able to set your own price. I will make plenty of money off your goods.¡±
¡°Pragmatic. Will you aid in our evolutions?¡±
¡°No. You will be able to negotiate freely with those who provide the service.¡±
¡°How many years?¡±
¡°Indefinite.¡±
¡°Never. Fifty years.¡±
¡°A hundred and fifty years.¡±
¡°Seventy.¡±
¡°Ninety.¡±
¡°I can do ninety.¡±
Register 90 year agreement between Thorin Softsteel and Santiago Silva?
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Aye.¡± Both of their voices overlapped as the System dinged in acknowledgement of their deal.
¡°When you have recovered, I will begin to enforce our agreement.¡±
¡°I will send Grimvr to begin the martial training in two days time. Bring your warriors here.¡±
¡°Fair.¡± Santi offered his hand and Thorin shook it, his grip still strong even now.
He turned to leave, his Dad trailing after him like a silent specter. Grimvr was trying to hide his grin, but failing spectacularly. Grimvr let them out, the door shutting behind them and the burst of thick dwarven happened instantly.
¡°Where did you learn to do that?¡± Dad asked.
¡°It¡¯s just something that needed to be done.¡±
¡°You¡¯re lying to me.¡±
¡°Yup. Can¡¯t tell you though.¡±
¡°The world is strange. My son is lying to me and I¡¯m ok with it.¡±
¡°I think there¡¯s more strange things going on, Dad.¡±
¡°True. Cameron is dating Bianca. That is something I would never have expected.¡±
¡°Weird as hell,¡± Santi said with a laugh. The two of them walked home quietly, Santi enjoying his time with his Dad, brief as it was.
Ch. 2.44 A Fathers Love
44.
Vicente woke up instantly, the predawn light softening the darkness in their room. Gabriella was a soft, warm, presence against his chest, her hair bundled up under his nose with strands somehow stuck in his mouth.
She had never been one for cuddling at night before all of this. Said he was too hot, that she couldn¡¯t sleep like that. She had slept every night with his arms around her since that awful night when the System came. Vicente wasn¡¯t going to complain about his wife¡¯s desire to be closer to him.
Even if he woke up every morning with his arm asleep.
Vicente wiggled his arm out from under Gabriella, got up and started dressing. He heard the door open and close as Santiago left to go with his friends to scope out downtown. He stared down at the floor towards where the front door was and had to work to keep a smile off his face.
How could a father be so proud? Every time he saw his son standing there in front of the dangers of the world, he could feel his chest threatening to burst. Fear and joy and pride all mingling together as his little boy risked his life.
He dressed quickly and efficiently, the lack of light not hindering him in the least. He still marveled at it. How all his little aches and pains had disappeared. He felt like he was twenty again. Better than when he had been twenty. Strength and vitality that far surpassed what he had been like in his prime.
It didn¡¯t make up for the horrors of the world, but it was a nice spot of sunlight in an otherwise terrible storm. It was mind boggling for him to see his little girls strong enough to pick up a truck. He remembered them struggling to walk, pudgy legs trembling to hold up their weight like it was yesterday. Yesterday he had seen Bianca pick up a truck near the front by the engine block and curl it repeatedly as a bet.
He walked down the stairs of his new house. It wasn¡¯t a home yet, not like their old place. It was becoming a home though. Pieces of art were going up on the walls, Gabriella¡¯s paintings covering the walls of the front room. He was slowly pulling together a decent kitchen with the proper utensils. Bianca had shoes she had taken from abandoned houses scattered around. Yesi had diagrams and sketches of the area on the coffee table and kitchen table.
Santi was the one that worried him. He had nothing. Everything he had was kept in his small, spartan room. There was no sign of his personality, of his habits, or hobbies. A room full of stolen clothes and a nightstand filled to bursting with the strange wooden coins and relics.
Santi had tossed that riftheart to Yessenia last night like it was a trinket, not caring at all for its apparent value. Vicente had been noticing it more and more, the boy put no value on things anymore, but he clung to the people around him like they were a liferaft at sea. It was in the quiet moments when there was no fighting and he could just sit still. Vicente could see the yearning, buried so deep in his boy¡¯s eyes, the happiness in his smiles as his family talked around him. It was strange.
Similar to when someone found something they had thought lost forever.
Vicente shook the thoughts free of his head as he left the house. His boy had some secrets, but he would tell them when he could. In the meantime, Vicente had a breakfast to make for the people. They paid him for it, but if it wasn¡¯t for Gabriella¡¯s insistence he would have done it for free.
He walked to Hestor Norriega¡¯s house. It was Hestor who had brought out the chickens with them and kept them through it all. He had a small thriving business selling the eggs to those who wanted fresh food. Hestor was sitting in the open garage with a steaming cup of coffee in his hand as Vicente walked up. The other man called out to him in Spanish.
¡°Good morning, Vicente. How are you doing?¡±
¡°Good, Hestor, and you?¡±
¡°Old and fat, my friend.¡± Hestor had thinning iron gray hair and was lean as a rail with a glorious thick mustache that was still onyx.
¡°If you¡¯re fat, I fear what I am,¡± Vicente shot back with a laugh.
¡°You¡¯re normal order?¡±
¡°Yes. The hens are still laying?¡±
¡°Yes, more than they ever did before. I swear they¡¯re getting bigger too.¡±
¡°The hens or the eggs?¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
¡°Both!¡± Hestor said with a booming laugh as he got up and led Vicente around the back of the house. The yard was full of well constructed hen houses with chicken wire fences wrapped around them, isolating the houses from each other. Dozens of oversized hens pecking around at the dirt.
A big bucket of chicken feed sat on a table and Hestor grabbed a handful and tossed it around the pens. The hens hurried toward it, pecking at the ground for their food.
¡°They''re hungry all the time now and they start losing weight if I don¡¯t feed them constantly.¡±
¡°They¡¯re big.¡±
¡°Eggs are still good. Same price too.¡± Hestor reached over and pulled up a basket filled with eggs. Vicente pulled out a single wooden white coin and handed it to the man with a smile.
¡°Two hours or so and the food will be ready.¡±
¡°Thanks, Vicente. Gabriella¡¯s tortillas are just as delicious as my mother¡¯s were.¡±
¡°It¡¯s a pleasure, Hestor.¡± Vicente took the heavy pail and walked away from the heavy pail and walked away. It took a half hour to get the rest of the groceries. Potatoes, flour, dried beans, lard, and everything else needed to keep running a restaurant. He had to take a liberated shopping cart that by the time he finished his trip around the neighborhood was groaning under the weight.
All of the food was supposed to be under Marisol¡¯s control, but lots of people had taken to looting abandoned houses and trading what they didn¡¯t need or couldn¡¯t use. They filled the houses right behind the crafters, rows of homes filled with people hawking jars of peanut butter and found clothing.
The boys, Tristan and Chad, had taken to hunting some of the great wheeling birds that populated the edge of the town. They were easy to hunt and were heavier than any birds that flew that Vicente had seen. Closer to turkeys than chickens.
He traded away another of the wooden coins for a pair of the birds and a promise of a free meal. He didn¡¯t have the ingredients to feed Chad, but once he did, he owed the man about twelve plates of food. Tristan was a big fan of his food and came by twice a day.
Vicente was walking back to the house, his heavy cart easy to push even with its heavy load. Vicente really did enjoy how much stronger and sturdier he was than he had been. It wasn¡¯t like he had been a weak man, his job had ensured that, but this was different. It was so easy to be strong here, just a thought after a level and a direct increase to his strength and endurance.
Lot easier than spending hours in the gym everyday.
He saw Bianca, Cameron, and Gabriella walking around the squat building they called Homebase. They were talking to Santi¡¯s friend Dexter, laughing and smiling. It eased his heart to see his love smiling like that. He waved to them as he kept pushing the cart towards the house. Gabriella would be right behind him to help with the food prep.
As he stepped up onto the steps of the house he heard a crash and the shattering of glass. The sound of flesh striking flesh and a muffled cry of pain echoed out and Vicente felt his heart leapt into his throat as adrenaline surged through his veins. He abandoned his cart and raced up the steps, smashing the door apart in his hurry into the house.
He heard another cry from the kitchen and raced through the house, jumping over the coffee table and slid into the kitchen. Men stood around, dressed roughly and with their weapons sheathed.
Abraham stood in the center of the room, blood dripping off his knuckles as he looked down at a slumped figure on the floor. Blood was spreading out in a pool around Yessenia as she cried softly, tears mixing with blood as tried to squirm away from him. Abraham raised his leg up and the world slowed.
Vicente lunged forward, moving as if he was in molasses. His heart was in his throat and a scream of rage and pain was boiling out of him as he tried to get there. Part of his mind registered the blank looks of the men in the kitchen, the bored gazes as they stared at him like he was nothing more than an insect.
Abraham stomped down on Yesi¡¯s knee, bone snapping with a painful crunch as Yesi screamed in pain, tendons in her neck stretching out. Vicente¡¯s fist impacted Abraham¡¯s neck with the strength of a hammer. He felt his knuckles break, the pops thin and distant as he slammed into the man. It was like hitting a statue as he felt his bones shift as Abraham didn¡¯t twitch.
¡°Ohhh, Vicente. You should have stayed out of this,¡± Abraham said in a bored voice. Vicente never slowed, his small belt knife coming free and ramming into the Abraham¡¯s side, under his ribs. The blade dug a half inch then stopped and Abraham sighed as if he was annoyed.
There was a blur of movement and then overwhelming pain as he was thrown into a cabinet. Wood crunched under him, the cabinets splintering as he felt something wrong in his chest. He looked up, his sight wavering and blurry as something ran over his face. Blood, it was blood.
Abraham stood looking at him for a moment before turning to look at Yessenia again. His face tightened into a grimace of distaste before he leaned down over her.
¡°Where is the riftheart. I know Santiago gave it to you.¡±
¡°Fuck yourself,¡± Yesi cried, more in pain that defiance.
¡°Boss, we found it!¡± a voice called from upstairs. The crashing of furniture had been a distant sound to Vicente, but he understood. The bastards were stealing it for themselves.
¡°Santi will kill you for this,¡± Yesi spat out, rage burning in her eyes as cradled her shattered knee.
¡°I have plans for your upstart brother. Just like I do for you. Grab her, we¡¯ve got to go.¡± Abraham motioned at his men and a pair raced over, grabbing her under her armpits and dragging her up as she screamed in agony.
Vicente rose, a jagged splinter of wood in his hand as he roared in rage, the pain and anger mingling into a violent storm. He stabbed down, aiming for the soft eye of the man closest to him who was holding his little girl. The wood pierced the eye and the man screamed, shrill and painful.
Another overwhelming blow hit him to the side, throwing him away again. He blasted apart a wall and landed in a tangle of broken limbs. He couldn¡¯t breath, his chest not rising as he struggled to get back up. He had to save his girl. His arms weren¡¯t listening. They didn¡¯t move and the world was growing faint and pale.
¡°Daddy! Daddy! NOOOOOOO!!!!!!¡± A cry so faint that he could barely hear it. Vicente struggled and struggled, finally getting to his knees as the world swayed around him. His little girl needed him, he couldn''t stop until he got to her.
¡°The strength of a Father¡¯s love. It¡¯s admirable,¡± Abraham¡¯s voice came from somewhere above him as all the light in the world faded away and Yessenia¡¯s voice echoed in his ears.
Ch. 2.45 Loss
45.
Something was wrong. Santi could feel it in the air as they walked back towards Homebase. A tense feeling of electricity that filled the air, the way the gateguards looked away and refused to meet his eyes. There was a tenseness to them, a fear in their eyes and Santi could feel his heart beginning to beat faster as a tendril of anxiety festered in his chest. He picked up his pace, stretching his legs at that thin tendril bloomed into something horrific.
¡°Santi, slow down,¡± Hana muttered as she was forced into a jog to keep up with him. Santi didn¡¯t listen though, his heart telling him something was wrong. The air was whispered that something foul had come to his home. As he got to the last set of roadblocks leading to Homebase he saw fresh blood marking the ground and he broke into a sprint heading straight toward his home.
People were clustered around the front of the house and he could see the wide eyed looks of horror as Santi flew past them. The stench of blood was fresh in the air and he could hear the sobs of grief echoing out from the house. Santi cleared the doorframe and froze in horror.
That mass of blood and ruined flesh couldn¡¯t be his Dad. No, no, no, no. Something broke in him, a loud crack that reverberated through his chest as a strangled cry died in the back of his throat. Mom sat perched over his still corpse, a blank look on her face as she held a limp hand.
Bianca was sitting, rocking back and forth with her weapon in a white knuckled grip. Tears streamed down her face as her jaw clenched and bunched, muffled screams coming from deep in her chest. Cameron stood behind her, jaw slack as he cried silently.
Mom looked up as he staggered to a stop, knees folding to collapse over what had been his Dad. He¡he¡he couldn¡¯t see his Dad anymore. The life, the smiles, the warmth, it was all gone. Beneath the blood and bent limbs, the thing that had made him, him. It was gone. Just flesh, that¡¯s what was left. Flesh was all that remained.
¡°No¡no¡I saved him. I. Saved. Him.¡± Each word was a nail in the coffin of his dream.
¡°It was Abraham. He came and took the riftheart. And Yessenia,¡± Helena¡¯s voice came from some distance away. Santi could feel his world tilting, spinning away from him. He couldn¡¯t breath, his iron control slipping and the mana that he kept wrapped around him in his spell form slipping away to suffuse the air around him.
¡°Yesi?¡± Santi croaked, his voice sounding far away as he turned to look at Helena. She clung to the back wall, the whites of her eyes wide as she gently touched her throat. Santi¡¯s power continued to unravel, filling the space around him as a pulsing ache pounded behind his eyes.
¡°We have multiple reports that she was carried out with Abraham and his men.¡±
¡°And you didn¡¯t stop him?¡±
¡°I lost nine men trying to stop him. They cut them down like dogs in the street. There was nothing they could do,¡± Helena defended her people.
¡°How many were there?¡±
¡°Over a dozen,¡± Helena whispered.
Each pulse of his heart spread the rage that burned inside until he felt like he was on fire. His thoughts raged inside of his skull. These useless leeches! Living in the shadow of his deeds, feeding themselves off the scraps of his table. Yet, they held not an ounce of loyalty, of respect, of duty!
Helena grasped at her throat, her eyes bulging as she struggled to draw a breath. All around him he could hear people trying to breathe, their choking gasps filled the room as Santi trembled with rage. He couldn¡¯t control it, the way his mana and willpower seeped into reality and forced the air to a standstill.
He wept blood as delicate vessels broke under the strain of his power. He stalked out of the house, his roaring emotions impossible to contain. The minute his boots cleared the steps of the house the wind died. The air stilled as he trembled to contain the swirling emotions in him, the black pit that was breaking in his gut. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Birds fell from the sky as the updrafts froze, landing with thumps on the ground as gravity stole them from the heavens. People froze as they suddenly couldn¡¯t breathe as the air refused to budge. His screams resounded in his chest as he tried to contain it all. Santi grasped and pulled, drawing forth his power from the world, twisting it inside of himself as he bound his emotions tighter and tighter, deeper and deeper.
Eyes turned to look at him, pleading, desperate, afraid. He could feel their hatred as he made them small and weak, as he stripped them of the most basic necessity in the world. A lifetime passed in a slow moment and finally he reeled back his power and the air returned to normal.
The collective gasps and gulping breaths filled the street as people scurried away from him. He could feel the hot red tears sliding down his face. Bianca came up behind him, her arms threading around his shoulders and pulling him into her chest as he let out a godawful sob. Tears mingled with blood and created a bloody smear down his face as he cried.
¡°I have you, I have you,¡± Bianca whispered into his ear, squeezing hard enough he could feel his ribs creaking.
¡°Where? Where did he take her?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know. Helena and her people are tracking him, I think.¡±
¡°I need to go and get her. I need to make sure she¡¯s safe,¡± Santi said. The unspoken part was known. He would get his sister back and he would end Abraham and all his followers.
¡°Helena!¡± Santi cried out, not bothering to disentangle himself from his sister''s hug.
The older woman came out of the house cautiously and when he looked at her he saw her flinch. Something whispered that was wrong and that voice sounded just like his Dad¡¯s. But it couldn¡¯t be. His Dad was a broken pile of flesh in the living room.
¡°Where?¡±
¡°Headed straight toward downtown. He must have gone around you as you returned.¡±
¡°Get everyone together. Have the dwarves shape armor and weapons for those who need it. After you get it all, come and meet up with me downtown,¡± Santi gave his orders as he pulled himself free of his sister.
¡°What the hell, Santi? You¡¯re going to leave without me?¡± Bianca had a tremor in her voice as she struggled with the rampant thoughts and emotions.
¡°Yes. I¡¯m getting Yesi back and I¡¯m doing it now. You can¡¯t keep up with me. Follow after with the rest of the team.¡± Santi pulled away, too cowardly to face his Mother as he started to run.
He didn¡¯t hold back as he retraced his steps. Each step sent cracks through the soft asphalt as he pushed himself harder and harder. He blew past Hana and Daniel who were just trudging in through the gates. Their stupefied looks were just a flash as he sped by them.
[Air Manipulation] parted the air in front of him and each push off created a gust to propel him forward. He hadn¡¯t run like this in years, combining the versatile spells forms to reduce air friction and give himself a boost. He ran like he could outrun the truth.
Dad was gone.
He had tried. He had won. He had him back. And now he was gone again. Watery tears slid down his face as he screamed, not caring who or what saw him as he practically flew through their town. What was the point of it all? He had built this for them. For his family. For his future.
And it had been robbed. Taken from him. By one man¡¯s insecurity. By one pathetic bug¡¯s jealousy. He¡¯d kill him. Abraham had signed his death warrant the moment he laid a hand on Santi¡¯s family. Him and everyone of his followers. There¡¯d be no mercy. The thought was both balm and fuel, soothing his grief in the inferno of his hatred.
The world blurred around him as he continued to speed up. His body was screaming to stop, but there was no stopping. He wasn¡¯t going to stop until he took this pain and brought it to those who had given it to him.
He leapt thirty feet up onto an overpass, using a suburban as a launch pad. The truck exploded beneath him but he cleared the edge of the wide concrete river and landed in stride. The long overpass led directly to the heart of the downtown region.
A half dozen skyscrapers glittered ahead, the glass shining in the afternoon light. Santi leapt to the top of the divider and stared down at the downtown region. They hadn¡¯t come this way earlier today. They had gone around and taken a more subtle approach, heading towards an edge of the downtown to look at entrance vectors.
Standing here with the sun in his eyes, perched above it all was a direct challenge. He knew they were there, the Primus and his troop were in there somewhere. Abraham and the others were in that tangled mass of concrete and steel. Santi didn¡¯t know why Abraham had raced towards the heavily infested area. Didn¡¯t care either.
[Air Manipulation] and [Gust] sent a roaring wind down and off the overpass and into the downtown region. Dust and debris picked up and flew down the canyon streets in a howling gale. For a second, there was an emptiness in the world as all sound fled. Then they came. The hoots and howls as the Primus monsters began to appear.
Ch. 2.46 Blood Streets
46.
A wide hand grabbed at the edge of the railing, bare knuckles white with strain with wiry black hair covering the back of its hands and arms. Hateful brown eyes came next as the beast glared at Santi as it rose up and over the concrete barrier to land in a crouch. It was as big as the Alpha was, but it lacked an edge that the Alpha had. There was no aura of danger to the creature.
Primus lvl. 32
Santi punched it in the face. The morph weapons wrapping around his fist and spikes emerging from his knuckles as he crossed the distance in the space between heartbeats. Flesh tore away, blood splattering the concrete as the force of the blow picked up the animal and tossed it against the divider. Concrete cracked as it slammed into the barrier with the crunch of breaking bones.
Santi saw red as he got in a full mount on the bigger monster. His fists, both armored and unarmored, pistoned back and forth as the creature tried to get its arms between Santi and its face. Thick nails scraped across Santi¡¯s legs and sides, drawing bloody furrows as Santi continued to beat it to a pulp without a sound.
Its legs kicked back and forth and its arms fell limp as the kill notification rang through his mind. Santi froze, chest heaving as sweat slicked his brow as he stared at the broken monster on the ground.
It wasn¡¯t enough. It was just fuel to the fire inside of him. He needed more.
Santi looked up and over the ramparts and into downtown. To the swarming horde of ape monsters. Abraham and the traitors would be down there somewhere. The thought stirred him to action.
He hopped up and onto the edge of the barrier and leapt down. He broke his fall with [Air Shield] landing lightly on the street. A furry shape was hurtling at him, wielding a metal pole with chunks of concrete on it. Santi lunged, sliding across the ground without care for the damage the asphalt did to his clothes. The morph blade turned into a eight foot blade no more than an inch thick as he sliced across its waist.
The monster fell in two pieces as Santi didn¡¯t bother to slow down. Heading further and further inward, his pace picking up. Another of the monsters leapt out of a broken window and [Gust] slammed into it, driving it into the ground. Santi lanced it through the skull, killing it before it could recover.
He loped towards the skyscrapers, an instinct telling him that¡¯s where he would find Abraham. A sense of power stirred from there, mana and potential growing dense in the heart of the downtown region.
Two more of the ape monsters came leaping at him and he twisted and bent in half as he cut them both down with two strikes. All of them were in their low thirties, nothing that could even begin to slow him down. He was racing down the streets, blade a blur as more and more of the apes came at him.
Body parts fell like rain about him, the creature¡¯s screams loud as they failed to stop him. Deeper in the downtown, hoots and hollers and roars of challenge echoed out as Santi cleared the lightwork around him.
Every breath was a fire in his gut as his spells slashed out and about. [Air Shield] firing off nearly constantly as he caught thrown objects continuously. Chunks of broken concrete, rebar, wood, other things. Anything that they could get their hands on, they threw down at him.
Santi leapt straight up, [Gust] helping push himself up higher up toward a five story brickwork building. He grabbed the iron bars that covered a second story window and used them as leverage to throw himself higher up. His morph blade slashed the leering face of an ape on the third floor as his hand caught the broken windowsill of the fourth. He swung himself up and over, feet first toward the roof.
Santi twisted in mid air, landing lightly on his feet and killing two monsters as they spun to fight him. Both fell in pieces on the ground, his morph blade drinking deeply from their blood. He could feel the blade¡¯s hunger finally being sated, the battle against the golems having done little for it.
Santi spun about on the rooftop, looking up further to the buildings that dominated his own. More and more of the monsters were coming out of the ruins of the downtown, more like an ant swarm than a troop of ape monsters. Santi was breathing heavily, alerts pouring through his mind as he continued to cast spells.
[Crosscurrent-Orb] caught a group of leaping apes, flinging them through the air as they tried to jump from building to building. The fall wasn¡¯t enough to kill them, but it was enough to slow them down for a bit. A figure caught his gaze, bigger and more lopsided than the others.
Broad shoulders and long arms that scraped the ground as it leapt from rooftop to rooftop. The smaller monsters got out of its way, fleeing its scarred presence as it came leaping toward him. Santi could see the white scars tracing through its wiry black fur, one of its eyes pearly white. Yellow fangs jutted from its oval jaws as it smiled viciously at him. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Bull Primus lvl. 38
¡°Come on, you bastard. Give me a challenge,¡± Santi whispered to himself as the great beast landed with a heavy thump across the roof from him. It charged instantly and Santi could feel mana swirling around it, building into this unstoppable wave of momentum. Muddy yellow aura surrounded it as it closed the distance and Santi leapt out of the way.
It flashed by him and hit the far side of the wall with a boom. Brickwork disintegrated and it fell off the building and toward the ground like a meteor. Santi watched it for a moment, his mind tugging at him not to do it.
He jumped after it.
The wind whistled around him and he landed lightly, eyes locking with the bull¡¯s one good eye. The creature smiled widely as charged at him, lowering its shoulder as the momentum built up around it again. The morph blade slashed twice, both blows striking the aura around the monster, diminishing it but not breaking it.
Santi ducked and rolled, letting it fly by him and slam into a wall. Bricks broke away as the bull landed in a heap. With its aura diminished it didn¡¯t have the power to disintegrate the bricks like it had the first time. Santi followed in its wake as it pulled itself out of the ruins and hit it three times as fast as possible.
Each blade stroke bit deeply, blood flowing like water as the monster staggered back to its feet and looked at him. If anything, it looked ecstatic. The blows raining down on it nothing more than a nuisance and Santi couldn¡¯t help but agree. He had finally found something sturdy enough he could work some of this pit of black rage out on.
He sped up.
Eight blows in under a second with a barbed whip, digging and ripping flesh off the bone as the creature screamed in sudden pain. He grabbed a heavy piece of masonry and side armed it at him.
[Air Shield] held, causing the masonry to break apart into dust. The thousand compact twisting winds that formed the shield whisked the dust and the normally transparent shield became opaque. The bull leapt and punched, hitting the shield and unleashing the winds around them.
Santi ducked down and avoided a flying fist, slashing open the creature''s triceps with a flick of his wrist. The bull slammed into him, pitching him backward to hit the ground in a roll. He popped to his feet and was forced to cut a heavy steel pipe out of the air. The two pieces clattered to the ground, bouncing away with a ping.
¡°You¡¯re a tough bastard, give you that,¡± Santi spat as the blood drenched monster glared at him with its savage smile.
¡°You. Fast and sharp,¡± its voice a guttural growl.
¡°The other humans. Where are they?¡±
¡°Tower with Alpha. They bring tribute.¡±
¡°I¡¯m going to kill you now.¡±
The bull simply gave a coughing laugh as it lowered its wide head and started walking toward him. This wasn¡¯t the heavy handed rush as before, but rather an unstoppable march. Santi bit back a curse as he threw a dozen flickering blows at it before it could react. Each blow stopped before it hit skin, the aura growing smaller and smaller as it got closer to him.
Santi backed up further and further, keeping the blows landing on it. With every step its power grew back while Santi¡¯s assault pruned it. An effective stalemate.
There was nothing about what he was feeling that was ok with a stalemate. The maelstrom of emotions he couldn¡¯t contain demanded action and he gave in to it. He stopped retreating and attacked. The morph weapon turned into a sturdy warhammer which he swung with all his might.
The broad head of the hammer hit the bull in its shoulder, breaking the bone with a loud crack. It screamed but its unbroken arm snapped back in retaliation, hitting him square in the chest. The [Air Shield] he cast right before it hit prevented him from dying. The vicious winds burst apart as he was bent in half with a powerful exhalation.
[Gust] was cast, aiming straight up towards the sky. The monster grunted as its feet left the ground and its aura disappeared. It barely got a foot off the ground, its heavy body fighting to stay to the ground. Santi stabbed it with a lance, shattering through the creature¡¯s thick sternum and killing it with the well placed blow.
It hung there limp for a second and he let the body hit the ground with a thump. It had been a bit better than the other creatures. Not a true challenge, but something that had resisted him for even a little while helped.
There was a silence around him, nothing came at him. Eyes stared at him from elevated positions as the powerful monster lay dead at his feet. He started marching toward the center of the downtown district and the tower where he felt the thick waves of mana swirling.
He was hurt, his body bruised and bloody. He couldn¡¯t care. That numbness seeped through him, every step a reverberation through his soul. Abraham was going to die. That thought drove him forward when all he wanted to do was lay down and sob. The rage burying the sorrow and denial.
A tentative piece of plywood came spinning at him as one of the braver monsters threw it at him. Santi turned the morph weapon into a shield and let the piece of wood clatter to the ground harmlessly as he continued his march. A half dozen of the monsters hit the ground in front of him.
They beat at their chests, hooting and challenging him. Santi leaped, landing right in front of them and started to continue his bloody work. He slipped under swinging blows and slashed open bodies with a thought. A wordless battle cry was coming from him as he cut apart the monsters.
All six of them were in pieces. They were pieces of meat in moments and he was continuing on his way. There were no more thrown pieces of debris. The hateful monster eyes looked at him with fear now. He was drenched in blood, only some of it his own.
The tower took up his entire view. The bottom floor windows were broken out, the doors in shattered ruins. Corpses were staked out, impaled on rebar. Other monster varieties, goblins, kobolds, a troll-kin, a lizard creature, and more. Anything and everything that had tried to contest the [Primus Alpha].
Ch. 2.47 Tower Climb
47.
Santi stalked by the severed heads, ignoring the sloughing skin that drooped off their skulls. Ground glass, as fine as sand, crunched under his boots as he strode into the bottom floor of the tower. The ground floor was a mess of broken furniture and scattered personal belongings.
The smell of excrement filled the lobby causing Santi to scrunch his nose in distaste. He bent his spell around himself to keep the smells away. Nothing stirred inside of the lobby and Santi looked around casually as he marched toward the stairs.
The elevators were pried open and the gaping shaft was exposed as a cold current ran out of it and through the lobby. Santi took a quick peek and saw the crushed remnants of the elevator sitting below him. The shaft above had regular lights entering as elevator doors on different floors had been open. He toyed with the idea of climbing straight up, but quickly discarded it.
The door to the stairs was missing, the hinges ripped free of the doorframe. Santi walked quietly up the stairs. His eyes swept back and forth over the stairwell, looking for movement. The shadows were thick, forming a gloom that was nearly impenetrable. Things shifted and moved above him, but Santi couldn¡¯t care, they were just an obstacle in his way.
He jogged near silently up the stairs, morph blade extended in front of him in saber form. Something flitted at him and he slashed on instinct, blood splattering his face as the pieces of a monster splattered on the ground around him.
Mana Warped Bat lvl. 29
A warbling cry rippled through the air, it wasn¡¯t audible but rather the change in the air pressure in the stairwell. A swarm of bats screaming out as they fell like rain toward him. [Gust] howled up the narrow confines and bodies smacked hard against concrete. Their fragile bodies broke, wings shattering as they fell around him with wet splats.
The kill notifications were ringing through his head as more and more of the small mammals came flying toward him. [Crosscurrent-Orb] ripped apart a thick knot of them, vicious winds sending the lightweight animals flinging in every direction. [Air Manipulation] formed a light barrier around him as he continued to cast and climb.
The bats began to screech, the high pitch sonic assaults making him wince before he created an inch thick vacuum around his temporary barrier. His headache returned in force as he twisted his spells and strained to hold everything together.
The sonic burst stopped as he sent another [Gust] roaring through the stairwell. The bats were annoying but not a threat to him. Aside from the level discrepancy, a sonic attacker against an air mage of significant skill was a terrible match up. Santi had the skill necessary to negate the attacks.
Floor by floor he continued up, carefully checking each landing to avoid another ambush. There were signs of violence here and there. Bloodstains, partly decomposed bodies, broken handrails and gouged concrete walls. Santi kept climbing and with every step he fostered that killing rage that was growing to consume him as time passed.
Eventually the bats were done. Scores of them littering the stairs, their small furry bodies twisted and broken. The moment the last one died and their echoing shrieks faded, Santi dropped his temporary shield just in time to hear the heavy thump of doors slamming open.
A large shape leapt from a landing above him, a crude stone axe in its hand as it sailed down toward him. Santi leapt backward and placed an [Air Shield] in the way, slowing the momentum of the giant ape as it landed. Concrete cracked and the giant axe, it was closer to a maul Santi thought, hit the shield and burst it apart in a flurry of wind.
The primus was bulging with muscle, its large yellow canines jutted out of its mouth as it howled at Santi. Santi extended the morph blade into a long needle and pierced through its eye without resistance. The giant ape screamed, swinging its arm up and around in a circular motion to rip out the weapon. Santi let it go limp, the metal like a well cooked noodle.
It slapped on the ground as the ape hopped back, grabbing with one hand at its bloodied eye. Santi formed a razor edge on the morph and cracked his wrist, sending it slashing across the ape¡¯s ankles.
The ape¡¯s feet were left behind as the ape kept falling forward, screaming as it slashed at his head with the wide stone axe. A distant part of Santi was impressed with how tough the ape was. It didn¡¯t yield an inch even as he cut it to pieces, its single bloodshot eye still glaring at him with.
Santi stepped back and let the beast crash into the stairs in front of him. The stone axe chipping away at the concrete stairs inches from his feet. Santi formed the morph into a wide hammer and brought it down with finality, using an [Air Shield] to stop the splash of blood, bone, and brain matter. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
He leapt easily up the flight of stairs and over the mess that he had made of the ape. Above him he could hear the hooting of more of the bulkier apes as they started to flood the stairwell. Santi started to run, legs pumping mechanically as he raced upwards. His blade was a blur, slashing open limbs and cutting apart primitive weapons as the creatures kept coming at him.
Fur and blood coated him like a coat as he got closer and closer. The great beasts were no challenge, pure muscle and endurance. Santi could match them and had powerful magic. His spells threw them sideways, stole the air from their lungs, shoved them into walls, and stopped deadly blows from hitting him. All the while he could chop them apart with a blade that couldn¡¯t be parried.
A burst of flames filled the stairwell above him as the prey changed tactics. Santi cast [Gust] and caught the flames, redirecting them backwards. Surprised animalistic screams came back to him, but threaded amongst their pain was a human shout of surprise.
It seemed the bull had been right. Abraham¡¯s crew was here. And they had decided to throw in with the monsters. Santi slammed open the closest door and left the stairwell, not wanting to get pinned down with magic being flung at him.
The floor had been some type of open office plan. Lots of broken standing desks, popped exercise balls, and shitty office mantra posters. Santi looked it over carefully, searching for anything that might be residing in the ruins of the office space. After a moment, there was no movement and he let himself relax for a second.
He sat against a wall, letting his mana recover as he tried to catch his breath. It had been a bit of a strain there at the end. He quickly checked through the kill notifications and was shocked at the number of them in his feed. Between the bats and the apes he had earned levels and achievements. He didn¡¯t have time to check them though, the sound of pounding feet on stairs coming toward him.
He moved down the wall where the doorway was and waited. The door would make a good choke point that would let him thin down the numbers a bit. If the apes had magical backup, it was going to get difficult.
The wall next to him exploded in a spray of concrete and drywall and one of the monstrous apes came through the wall with a howl. Santi jerked back, barely dodging a balled up fist and did a backward somersault. Another ape leapt through the newly created hole, the two of them instantly tracking him as a human that Santi vaguely recognized followed through the doorway.
[Air Shield] stopped a decapitating strike and Santi was forced to dodge as a broken desk was flung at him. He fell to the ground as a lance of fire seared his hair and he bit back a curse as he rolled to avoid a heavy stomp. That festering pit of anger broke open and Santi rose to his feet and cast [Air Shield] behind the apes, cutting off the mage from supporting them.
He slashed and hacked, attacking the two larger monsters with the ferocity of a badger. They struck at him but he used [Air Manipulation] again to form a swirling barrier around him, only his sword arm exposed to their blows. He took the closest one¡¯s head with a heavy slashing hack, the morph blade a scimitar. He kicked the dead body, aiming at the mage who had just broken the shield.
He felt his knee pop as the torso of the ape rocketed backward. The mage cursed and rolled away as the corpse flew past him. Santi struck seven times in less than two seconds, leaving the remaining ape without its arms or heart. He turned and looked at the mage as the mage scrambled to his feet.
Santi stalked toward him, each step dreadful in its finality. The man was middle aged, his hair thin and gray with a thick mustache that was more gray than black. His soft brown eyes were wide with fear as he scrambled backward, tripping in his haste to slam back to the ground.
¡°Please, we didn¡¯t mean for him to get hurt. I¡I can show you where your sister is!¡±
¡°I¡¯ll find her myself.¡± Santi slashed once.
Fire Mage lvl. 27
The kill notification flashed through his mind and he stared at it for a second. Such a little notification for a human life¡¯s ending. Was that what Abraham had seen and felt when he had killed his father? Did Abraham feel nothing like he felt?
Santi searched the corpse quickly. He pulled a wallet out and flipped it open and browsed the contents. Creased and faded family photos were tossed to the side, scraps of paper with near illegible writing that Santi had to squint to read. Little notes from a child to their father.
Garbage.
His bloody pants didn¡¯t have anything else in them and his only weapon was a cheap belt knife that was chipped in multiple places. He tested the edge and rolled his eyes at finding the blade dull. A mediocre weapon for a mediocre man.
Santi headed back to the stairwell, careful to check upward and back down for any waiting attackers. The constant stream had stopped finally and he was free to keep going up.
His knee bothered him, causing him to limp as he kept moving upward. The morph blade was nearly purring in joy on his wrist from the feast it just had. There was a flicker of flame inside of it now as it digested a piece of the fire mage.
Helena had said there were over a dozen, but he couldn¡¯t be sure. He remembered Yesi¡¯s list and there had been around eighteen names on it that Santi had put in Abraham¡¯s camp. Rayleigh hadn¡¯t betrayed him, but the others were all possible candidates. Up to seventeen, sixteen now, Acolyte fighters ready to throw down to kill him. Plus the Primus Alpha.
It was a deathtrap up there. There was no denying it. He needed to save the world, prevent the Patron from taking their world. Stripping them of their choices and freedom. He just couldn¡¯t care.
He couldn¡¯t stop until he saw Abraham dead at his feet. No matter what they threw at him, he was going to kill them all. Every blink of his eyes brought back that memory of the blood smeared kitchen. The twisted wreckage of what had once been a man.
He couldn¡¯t stop it. Every time that brief darkness interrupted the world, he saw that scene. Every blink further drove home that terrible reality that he didn¡¯t want to accept.
His Dad was dead. He would never see his father again, hear his laugh or feel his warm hug. He had had it again, for the briefest of moments, he had felt that love again.
And Abraham had taken that from him. Santi kept his eyes on the top floor where he could feel potential swirling above him.
Ch. 2.48 Shadows of the Past
48.
A thin steel door was all that was between him and Abraham. Santi stared at it for a moment before opening the door and walking in. The room had been stripped down to the bare concrete floors. Floor to ceiling windows had been broken away and a wind ripped through the room in a constant howl. Abraham stood in the center of the room with his people spread out all around him, weapons pulled out.
Santi looked them over and let his grimace of disgust show. They outnumbered him nine to one and they were scared. He could see it in their eyes, their gaze¡¯s filled with anxiety. They shifted their weight back and forth and were sweating visibly. He wondered where the rest of the cowards were, but he really had come for Abraham. The others would come in time. He started to release his tightly contained mana into the atmosphere.
¡°Hello, Santiago. I¡¯m sorry about what happened to your father. It must have been hard to see him die again,¡± Abraham sneered.
¡°Again?¡± Santi felt the tug of curiosity rattling the black rage that consumed him.
Abraham pulled a battered and torn up journal from behind his back and tossed it at the floor. It landed with a sharp crack on the ground and Santi took a look at it briefly while staying alert for a surprise attack. It took only a moment for him to realize what it was.
The last time he had seen the journal it had been sitting inside of his college dorm room. Right after Akthyr had visited him and placed the geas on him. Santi had a sudden burst of understanding as the foggy memories became clear. The Grandmaster had blocked his memories of it, blurring it all away.
¡°How¡¯d you find that?¡±
¡°We¡¯re scavengers. Went through that dorm you had and my guys found some stuff with your name on it. The journal was a surprise. It made it all make sense to me,¡± Abraham said, his voice low and whispery as he began to scowl. His features furrowed, distorting his face as rage crept through him.
¡°You knew! You knew this was coming and you did NOTHING!¡± spittle sprayed out of his mouth as he screamed the last word. The others had anger begin to bleed through their fear.
¡°Yeah. I knew.¡± It felt good to say it outloud. To finally say it to someone who would remember, even if they weren¡¯t going to be alive for much longer.
¡°And you just let it all happen? All of this!¡±
¡°Couldn¡¯t stop it from coming. Just rode it out the best I could and planned for what I knew I could do. Is this why you killed my Dad? For some misplaced thought of revenge?¡±
¡°Vicente was an accident. I didn¡¯t realize he was so fragile, and my own strength took me by surprise.¡±
¡°Incompetence killed my father? Is that what you¡¯re going with?¡± Santi asked, his voice like ice.
¡°Your incompetence killed the world. If you had figured out how to stop this, nothing would have gone this way!¡±
¡°There was no stopping it. It''s beyond our control. All I could do was ride it out and save what I could. Which I did.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t believe you.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t really care.¡± Santi had been releasing his mana into the surrounding environment since the moment he had walked into the door. His power suffused the area, filling the area with his magic. It made it easier to seize the initiative when he cast {Air Manipulation] and ripped all the air out of the room. He created an airtight barrier around them all and watched with satisfaction as their judgemental eyes became panicked as all the air leaving created a brief whirlwind before there was silence.
All nine of them stood in an airless barrier, grasping and scratching at their throats as panic overrode basic thought. They weren¡¯t in immediate danger of asphyxiation, their evolution would stretch out what oxygen they had in their blood before they died. They weren¡¯t comfortable with their new bodies and were panicking, scrambling and grabbing at their throats as they fell to their knees, wasting precious time.
The barrier was thin and fragile. With the power he currently had, twisting a basic spell like this into something complex like the barrier would leave it weak. If they stopped gasping like fish on land and started working towards survival the fight would become closer to fair.
Santi watched them gasp and claw and die slowly. He stared at Abraham, never looking away from the man¡¯s bulging, fear filled eyes. Santi hadn¡¯t had enough time to really think of how he would feel about killing the man. He had been in a state of shock, letting his anger and pain lead him here.
Now he was staring down at his father¡¯s killer as he choked to death. And he felt nothing.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
¡°Maybe it¡¯ll come later. When the kill notification comes. What did you think when my Dad¡¯s kill notification pinged you. Did you feel shame, or hate, or did you just think it was your right? Because you were strong? That¡¯s what your whole problem with me was, wasn¡¯t it? I was stronger than you and you couldn¡¯t bully me into what you wanted,¡± Santi said as he waited for them to finally die. Aside from the thin bubble of air around him, the entire floor was in a vacuum. They couldn¡¯t hear him.
Santi felt a weight in the shadows behind, just outside of his barrier. He glanced backward looking at the empty doorway and the familiar presence. He really didn¡¯t want Daniel to see this, but maybe it was good for his shadow to see the depths of the world.
A blade flashed at Santi, shattering both his outer barrier and his own personal air pocket. He jerked to the side and a burning pain ripped through him as a long cut opened up on his left arm. Santi slashed out in return, his own blade slicing the air in front of the unfamiliar man.
A rush of air entered the vacuum in a burst of power, the flash of air throwing the man¡¯s hood backward. Santi¡¯s eyes widened in horror as he stared at one of the Apostates. The man was plain and of average height. Mousy brown hair and flat brown eyes with a medium build. It was a face he had seen before, in the ritual circle, younger and less lined and without scars.
Santi was forced back immediately as the assassin struck three more times before he could blink. His form shifted as he struck, blurring at the edges and then appearing at a different angle. [Gust] billowed across the small space between them and picked up the assassin and threw him back through the doorway. The killer disappeared as he went through the door, his body melting into the darkness.
A hammer whistled through the air and Santi spun and fell to his knees, sliding across the polished concrete. His morph blade took the woman¡¯s legs at the knee, her scream shrill and piercing as she fell in pieces to the floor. The other eight of Abraham¡¯s crew were coming fast at him but he couldn¡¯t worry about them. Another regressor was much more dangerous than the entire squad Abraham had.
He had to get out of the building and do it right now. [Gust] was cast in a full circle around him and Santi poured as much mana into as he could, his body straining under the pressure. The entire scavenger team was picked up and thrown like leaves in the wind and Santi was running toward the windows instantly.
One unlucky soul had been tossed free, sailing through the window with a truncated scream. Santi watched the man fall and leapt out the window, aiming for across the street. The skyscraper across from them was in worse shape, all of the windows broken and easy for him to clear the distance with a quick cast of [Gust] to help propel him a bit further.
He flew into the other skyscraper, landing hard and rolling fast to his feet, his heart pounding. The entire time he had come here to kill the bastards who had murdered his father, he hadn¡¯t felt an ounce of fear. That knife coming out of the dark had sparked an icy thrill that had his heart hammering away.
Santi took in the area he was in. Another ruined office space with lights hanging from their wires, scattered papers and broken furniture. A primus was looking at him confusedly for a second before Santi removed its head. He had to move and move quickly.
Fighting Abraham and his entire crew was already going to be difficult enough, but with the Apostate here he would need to run. There was no way he could fight a mage killer with the full support of a squad of Acolytes. Santi crossed the distance to the doors and shoved them open and looked down at the winding staircase.
It wasn¡¯t going to be fast enough. His eyes were drawn to the closed elevator doors and he acted. There was no time to think things through, he just had to move. Ripping the doors open was easy and he looked to see the elevator cables were still intact.
Santi turned the morph weapon into a hook and grabbed onto the cable. With a thought he closed the hook and jumped down. The morph was able to tighten with a thought, slowing him down as he dropped like a rock. He hit the elevator with a crash, his knees buckling and sending him sprawling. He used the morph to slice apart the top of the elevator in a second, sending a square of metal falling to the interior of the elevator.
Santi hopped in and gagged instantly. A pair of moldering corpses were strewn about, their flesh mostly decomposed but sealed by the doors. Holding his breath he sliced the bottom of the elevator away and fell again, repeating his trick from earlier. He had to guess where he was in the tower, but he thought he was close to the ground floor.
He forced himself to stop and looked for an elevator door. It took a few moments of blind searching before he was able to pry it open, using the morph weapons as a pry bar. The moment the door opened he could hear the hoot and scream of the heavy apes as they came flying toward him.
The alpha had to be close by. The fear Santi had sown in them was gone, overridden by their own anger. Santi booked it straight toward the doors, heart pounding as he screeched out of the door. A pair of apes leapt at him and he disemboweled both of them with a single strike.
He started sprinting, trying to head toward the outer edge of the downtown district. Santi caught a flash of light and dodged, [Air Shield] stopping a wash of flame from overwhelming him. The odds that Abraham¡¯s second rate crew had two pyromancers wasn¡¯t high, but apparently his luck was shit.
The man was posted up in the tower he had just left. A good tactical place to be standing to rain down pain on people on the street. There was little he could do except keep running and casting his shield between the two of them.
The shadows pulsed to his right and he brought his blade up, catching the knife striked headed toward his neck. Icy pain filled his side as a second blade from behind entered his side. Santi bit back a cry and pulsed [Gust] dispelling the shadow magic that had just stabbed him.
His morph blade lengthened and went whip like and he slashed away the shadows around him. A spike of earth came flying at Santi and he was forced to throw himself into the ground floor of another building. Smaller than the scrapers, it was a run down brick building with its windows having been boarded up. The door was solid wood and smashed under Santi¡¯s lowered shoulder as he rolled away from the burst of magic.
He grabbed at his bleeding side, his arms still weeping scarlet. There was no getting around it, he was in a bad spot.
Ch. 2.49 Bad Spot
49.
The dilapidated building was a clone of everything else he had seen so far. Strewn about with the debris of the old world. Here and there signs of habitation, the nesting habits of the mutated apes evident to see. Santi looked at the gnawed bones and some of the panic faded away to be replaced by grim determination.
He wasn¡¯t going to get out of here while the alpha was running about and the Apostate hid in the shadows. Abraham and his crew were the least dangerous thing to worry about right now.
Santi spun around to watch the door and reacted in time to two level 35 apes running in with crude spears in their hands. The morph blade sheared the twisted rebar with ease and he battered the two monsters into the ground.
An oily spear of earth came howling through the open doorway and Santi was forced to jump to the side as the primate screams increased in volume. Cursing he stood and raced to the back of the building and to the stairwell. He needed somewhere he could fend off the attacks without being flanked.
The doors were busted open and when he peered in he saw that the stairs leading up were bare and had a light sprinkling of dust on the railing from disuse. He spun and watched as two of Abraham¡¯s goons followed a wave of ape¡¯s who looked similar to the [Bull Primus] he had killed earlier. However Abraham had forged the unholy alliance with the monsters, it was to be discovered later.
[Gust] sent the two humans flying backward to hit the back wall painfully, but ultimately harmlessly. It did remove them and their skill and spells from helping the monsters as they rushed into the hallway. Santi started carving them up the moment the lumbering apes pushed through the door frame, tearing them apart in a series of lightning fast swings.
The morph blade sang in his mind its joy of feeding while a battle lust rose in his chest. He was pinned down and cornered, surrounded by dangerous enemies on all sides. All of the worries and stress of being in charge faded away until the only thing around him was the end of his sword and the foe who was dying on it.
One, two, then three of the [Bull Primus] were broken on the stairs as they pushed him upward. Santi danced and darted, leaping on the handrails or fighting on the stairs, using his superior reach and agility to kill the brutal beasts.
A bolt of energy sizzled past his head as he started to fight the fourth, and last, of the apes. The acidic green tinge to the energy bolt was alarming, but he only saw the two humans he had already thrown around. Santi lunged downward, slamming into the Primus¡¯s chest, stabbing through its sternum and out its back. His free hand wedged itself in the monster''s thick, coarse fur as he changed the blade into a half hundred filaments that wreaked havoc in the monster''s body.
The monster teetered on the edge of the stair and Santi pushed with a gentle use of [Air Manipulation] to send it crashing backward. The two humans who had raced up the stairs to get closer skidded to a halt as the massive body fell towards them. Santi pulled his blade free as the ape¡¯s body took the incoming skills meant for him.
Flesh sizzled and hair burnt, a terrible smell filling the small stairwell as the body crashed down with a meaty impact. Both of the fighters got out of the way, but Santi was already leaping at them, closing the distance faster than they could react. They stood side by side with shocked looks as Santi hit them.
The one on the right he hit with a metal enshrouded fist, the skull giving way with a crunch while he snapped a high kick that caught the one on the left under the chin. The one on the right wasn¡¯t dead yet, but blood ran out of his eyes and mouth as he sagged against the wall.
The other killer was slumped on the landing below them, his teeth scattered like lost pearls. Santi gave the cracked skull foe a mercy blow, taking his head off at the shoulder, before turning to loom above the other one. He needed some answers and he needed them now.
He grabbed the half conscious man and slung him over his shoulder before running up the stairs as fast as he could. Below him, he could hear the tentative steps of more of the apes and the barked orders of the other humans. The Apostate was nowhere to be seen or felt. [Air Current] was stretched to its farthest reaches as he tried to stay ahead of the assassin. It didn¡¯t give him as much of a sphere as he would have liked, but it was better than nothing.
He cataloged the assassin''s skills while he ran upwards. He had the blending ability, similar but more powerful than Daniel¡¯s. The shadow blade that had cut him was another one. Both of those skills could be Basic level and only require a single skill slot. The Apostate had a minimum of six.
Santi thought it over and decided that the Apostate was likely a higher level than him. His title was the most powerful title he had ever heard of and the killer had managed to stand toe to toe with him without a problem even after his ambush had failed.
Likely had seven if not eight skill slots. Which was going to make this difficult. Shadow based skill set and already had a hiding ability and a sneak attack. If he was a full assassin, which Santi had to assume he was, he likely had a tracking ability and a movement skill. The movement skill would probably be Common and need three slots, which would put the assassin with a minimum of two more skill slots and up to three. Two Basic skills or one more Common. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
This was the trouble when fighting other skilled sapients who had classes. It became a guessing game of what skills and powers they had based on observable data. If the Apostate was who he had been feeling in the shadows around Homebase who he had mistakenly thought was Daniel, then he already knew all of Santi¡¯s skills.
In the game of information Santi was so far behind he might as well slit his own throat. The true edge he had was with equipment. The morph blade was such a powerful weapon, he hadn¡¯t ran into anything that could stop it since his evolution. There¡¯d be magic and other enhanced weapons later that would likely be able to slow it down, but for now it was likely the best weapon on the planet.
He had left the amulet at home, too blinded by his anger and shock to think of grabbing it. His small collection of potions were all at home too. It was such a massive mistake, something he should never have allowed to happen. His team would be coming, but if they entered the quagmire he had ensnared himself in, they would get bogged down in it as bad as he was.
No, they would die. Santi had to acknowledge that. None of them had the experience and skill needed to fight their way into this deathtrap and out again. He would have to do this and get out on his own if he didn''t¡¯ want his friends and families deaths on his head.
He kicked open a door and scanned the room quickly before tossing the man off his shoulder and onto the dusty ground. He hit with an audible oomph and rolled on his side. The landing shouldn¡¯t have hurt him unless he was the most fragile Acolyte in the world. Santi shut the door and grabbed a desk, picking up the eight foot metal monstrosity and wedging it against the door. It could provide precious seconds when they finally did catch up to him.
He bent down and grabbed the man¡¯s chin, turning him to look him in the eyes. The man was slightly older, in his mid to late twenties with a prominent widows peak. He tried to struggle, shaking his head this way and that, but Santi¡¯s grip was iron and he didn¡¯t budge an inch.
¡°You know who I am?¡±
¡°Yeth,¡± the man lisped through broken teeth.
¡°What the fuck is going on in here?¡±
¡°Fuck off,¡± he sprayed out, blood and spittle landing all over Santi¡¯s shirt. Santi sighed, looked at the door and back to the man.
¡°You know what I am, yes? I come from the future, or at least my memories do. In those memories, well, I¡¯m not the greatest person. I was a scout, my job was information gathering. Sometimes that was from people. People who didn¡¯t want to tell me what I wanted to know. You have about three seconds to start talking before I start making new memories.¡±
The man stared at him, fear laced in his watery gaze as his nerve held by the barest thread. Santi bit back another sigh of exasperation before he stood up and broke the man¡¯s knee with a brutal stomp. The sound of shattering bone was loud in the enclosed space, but it was drowned out by the man¡¯s howls.
Santi grabbed his chin again and squeezed until he could feel bone shifting. The man stiffened and grew silent, looking at Santi with nothing but terror left in his eyes.
¡°What did Abraham do to make the apes fight for him?¡±
¡°The rift heart and your sister. The shadow man, he made deals with all of us. We get the rift heart and bring it and your sister to the apes. The apes give us the muscle.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°A ritual. I don¡¯t know anything else. Abraham was quiet about what happens next.¡±
¡°Where¡¯s my sister?¡±
¡°The old stadium. It¡¯s guarded by the rest of the crew and some of the smarter monkeys. They have her building a big ritual for them.¡±
¡°Who killed my father? Was it Abraham?¡±
¡°Yes¡but Derek hit him too.¡±
¡°Who¡¯s Derek?¡±
¡°Abraham¡¯s second in command. Your Dad took his eye out, he¡¯s walking around with an eyepatch. He¡¯s at the stadium.¡±
¡°Good enough.¡±
¡°You¡¯re going to let me go now?¡± he asked, his voice trembling. Santi looked at him incredulously.
¡°You killed my Dad and kidnapped my sister then tried to kill me. No, no you¡¯re not going free.¡± Santi picked him up by his chin and dragged him to the door. His keen hearing gave him a brief warning. With a quick fling of his wrist he sent the man sailing toward the door and cast [Air Shield] in front of him just as the entire wall exploded.
Concrete disintegrated into razor sharp pieces of shrapnel, the heavy desk flung away like it weighed nothing. His captive was turned to a bloody paste as he was defenseless to the explosion. The Alpha walked through the door, long arms dragging on the ground as four [Bull Primus]s stood behind him. Three more of the traitors hung around behind them, but no Abraham.
¡°Hello again,¡± Santi said as he kept [Air Shield] running in front of him. The big slump shouldered monster strutted through the ruins of the wall, eyes locked on Santi.
¡°Interloper. The Infernal was right, it told me you¡¯d never let me and my people rest in peace.¡±
¡°From what I''ve been seeing, your people eat my people on the regular. Not very neighborly.¡±
¡°The strong consume the weak.¡±
¡°What are you doing with the shadow assassin?¡±
¡°He had shown us his Patron and the real power of this world. A being far beyond the Infernal. The sliver of being greater than anything in this known world.¡±
¡°That sounds about right. He told you that he will enslave this world?¡±
¡°I haven¡¯t. Because that is not the Truth of our Patron.¡± The assassin walked out from behind the Alpha, his cloaking skill falling away.
Ch. 2.50 Battle Winds
50.
Santi watched the assassin carefully as the man weaved through his allies. They all bent away from him, nervous in his presence. A feverish light was lit in the man¡¯s eyes as he began to speak of his Patron.
¡°You know nothing of our Lord¡¯s power. It transcends the layers of the Universe to bathe us in his holy light. It is our honor and duty to bow before his will and receive his blessings. Your war against us was based on the false words of liars. Your leaders never listened to what our Lord offered and were greedy to hold onto their own power. They are the ones who prosecuted the war, the death, the suffering.¡±
¡°You can lie to them all they want, but I was there. I know what you and your people did. The massacres. The forced conversions. I was the first through the Adirondacks. I saw the camp your alchemist had made and the perversions she crafted.¡±
¡°Grace was mistaken in her understanding of our Lord¡¯s words. She was punished for her failures. We hold those who break our covenants to a high standard.¡±
¡°Did you tell them about those mistakes?¡± Santi asked, nodding his chin at the others behind the killer. The human members shifted nervously from foot to foot while the monsters didn¡¯t twitch.
¡°Mistakes were made in the future which won¡¯t be made in the present. There is no reason to fill their heads with false premonitions.¡±
¡°Convenient.¡± Santi was trying to buy time, looking around for a way out. He could always go out the windows behind him again, but he doubted he¡¯d have the same luck he did last time. They were ready for it this time and the building was likely surrounded.
¡°I wonder how you can stay out of our Lord¡¯s light after the horrors you saw. What you and your fellows did. The Blackheart. The Rockies. Mexico City. The Great Lakes.¡±
¡°The Blackheart was your doing. You destroyed a city of women and children. Killed tens of thousands.¡±
¡°Is that what they told you? That¡¯s what the Blackheart was?¡± He laughed, low and slow, his chest hardly moving.
¡°That¡¯s what it was.¡±
¡°Sure. Are you ready to finish this? Has your mana recovered enough?¡±
¡°Going to have to be I think,¡± Santi said through gritted teeth as he looked at traitors. They were the weak link, but he had to get past the Alpha and the Apostate to get to them. He shifted his feet and felt the floor shift under his weight.
¡°One last chance. Swear to our Lord and all will be forgiven. Stand in his Light and receive his blessings.¡±
¡°Yeah, not happening.¡± Santi lashed out with the morph blade in whip form, arcing it up and under the shield, slashing at the Apostate in an instant. The man twisted, hardly dodging the razor sharp tip from opening his neck. [Crosscurrent-Orb] was cast into the bulk of the bunched enemy while Santi stamped down as hard as he could on the weak floor.
His foot broke through the weakened floor, the entire floor bowing and giving out in an eight foot jagged circle as he cast [Gust] downwards. Santi landed in a rain of debris, his new [Air Shield] catching chunks of the floor and letting them slide to the side as he turned and ran towards the closed door.
A burning erupted across his right flank, the collapsing floor having hidden the Apostate as he leapt after Santi. [Gust] sent the still falling debris and the Apostate sailing across the floor as Santi limped towards the door and slammed through it and into the stairwell. Above him he could hear the roar and pounding of feet on the stairs but he didn¡¯t give them any thought, simply jumping over the rail and falling straight down.
[Air Shield] caught him and then disintegrated as his speed bled away in a heartbeat. He had to cast twice more before he landed on the ground floor and headed towards the lobby.
A single nervous looking human and a trio of apes stood loitering around and they died in lightning blitz of spear strikes, a cracking whip which turned into a razor rope, and finally a large mace that brained the last ape as it closed the distance to him. The entire fight took only a few seconds.
It was enough of a distraction to let the speed based assasin catch back up. Santi bent at the waist and spun on his good leg as he sent a disemboweling sword strike toward where he figured the Apostate was. His brief warning of mass entering his personal sphere barely enough to stop a knife driven through his spine.
His blade tore fabric and scratched skin. Santi could feel the sudden, ravenous, hunger of the morph blade. He could feel it screaming in his mind that it NEEDED the rest of the blood in their foe. It was enough of a sudden urging that Santi¡¯s drive to escape evaporated as he sent a flurry of strikes at the suddenly on the backfoot Apostate.
The man had a feral smile on his gritted teeth as he dodged everything Santi sent at him. A shadow rose to his side and lashed at Santi, stopped only by an [Air Shield] which caused the shadow attack to disintegrate in the tightly compact swirling winds.
Santi cursed as the Apostate¡¯s knife dug a furrow along his right forearm, but he struck back by finally landing a solid blow. He turned the morph into a polearm with a hook and managed to catch the assassin¡¯s cloak and threw him to the ground. The polearm morphed into a cruel pick that Santi wedged through the top of the man¡¯s shoulder and deep into bone. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
The Apostate screamed, a shrill sound of suppressed pain as he threw his dagger sidearm at Santi. Santi had to release his grip on the killer to dodge the blow and by the time he finished his spin the Apostate had fled back to his shadows. The entire fight had been a blur of movement, attack and counterattack happening nearly instantaneously at speeds nobody else in the city could match.
Santi¡¯s chest was heaving as he turned to look at the stairwell as the Alpha slammed through it and came charging at him. A shield of muddy brown energy coalesced around the great ape, similar to that of the Bull Primus, but more potent.
[Gust] hit and thinned the thick shield and then [Crosscurrent-Orb] detonated right under the ape. The powerful explosive blast of wind knocked the monster sideways and bought enough time for Santi to run out of the building and back into the street.
It wasn¡¯t empty, but filled with lesser monsters who looked shocked and scared to see him amongst them. They were slow to react, nervous as Santi dragged his blood drenched body through their masses, only striking when one threatened to slow him down. Most fled from him, too weak to obstruct him for more than a moment. Skills and spells splashed around him as the remaining humans and the few monsters that could use them threw everything they could at him.
[Air Shield] and [Air Manipulation] kept anything from hitting him while [Gust] cleared the way in front of him. Santi could feel the deathly cold ache in his chest as he began to run low on mana. He had never been pushed this far and hard before in this timeline, but he had been slinging spells like he had unlimited mana for almost an hour now.
He was looking around, desperate to find anything at all to save his ass and get him off the street if even only for a few minutes. His eyes landed on a manhole cover and he went instantly toward it. He directed [Gust] downward and sent up a cloud of dust, pollen, and debris into the air in a crude smokescreen as he turned the morph weapon into a crowbar and pried the manhole cover up.
The stench was near unbearable, but Santi was beginning to grow weak from blood loss and he didn¡¯t have any other options at the moment. It was to go down into the dark sewers or get hunted down in the streets by his ambushers. He tucked his elbows close to his body and jumped, sailing into the dark to land with a soft splash.
Santi stretched out [Air Current] to its maximum, holding back a sigh of relief as he was finally able to release his other spell forms as he started to run. He¡¯d hear anything coming down behind him aside from the Apostate and it¡¯d give him the time to cast his shielding spells.
He splashed along, the muddy liquid up past his ankles as he raced on. The skittering and chittering of rodents was obvious and he felt plenty of small presences all around him in his personal sphere as he kept moving forward. He hadn¡¯t heard anything behind him yet, but he knew they¡¯d follow. He just needed to find a spot to claim his rewards and levels for a quick boost and hope there was something decent in the achievements he had earned that would keep him going for a bit longer.
He racked his mind, trying to remember where the stadium was. The warren of tunnels underneath the city twisted this way and that, but he thought he was going in the right direction. If they failed to catch and kill him now, they¡¯d undoubtedly be waiting at the stadium for him.
The minute he caught his breath and managed to slow the bleeding a bit he was going and getting Yesi. There was no way he could leave her in their hands and he had to stop whatever ritual they were planning. His plans for revenge had to be put aside for now.
Santi found a small nook and desperately crawled inside of it and collapsed down. Every breath was fire in his chest and he was light headed from the exertion and his wounds. His limbs were growing cold and numb and he didn¡¯t have much time before he was going to fall unconscious if the blood loss continued. Blood loss that shouldn¡¯t be happening.
Santi refreshed his mind about what skills the Apostate had and came to the conclusion there was a bleeding skill he had or something similar. His wounds should have slowed already, his supernatural vitality and endurance slowing down the blood loss. Instead it was pouring out of him like the wound had just happened.
Santi pressed a hand along the long cut on his hip and pressed down, biting back a scream as pain flared up again. Whatever skill had made the shadow blade it had sliced through him like butter and bypassed his stats.
¡°Fucking mage killers,¡± Santi whispered as he leaned back against the damp walls, trying to catch his breath as he scrolled through the long list of kills he had made. None of them stood out as having been significant to warrant an achievement, but there it was.
Achievement: Not Dying
Reward: Loot Box (Minor)
Congratulations, you are an Air Mage lvl. 37
Santiago V. Silva
Air Mage lvl. 37
Strength: 35 (60)
Durability: 35 (60)
Stamina: 37 (62)
Dexterity: 32 (57)
Vitality: 40 (65)
Perception: 32 (57)
Intelligence: 81 (106)
Mana: 100 (125)
Willpower: 81 (106)
Potential: 72%
Achievement: First to 100
Reward: Title (Stat-Padder)
Stat-Padder: The first person to hit 100 points in a single category.
Plus 10 to all stats.
The rush of stat points hitting him made his body bow as he kept a scream of ecstasy bit back behind clenched teeth. The rush of stats was massive and he could feel his body changing beneath his skin. It didn¡¯t heal his wounds, but the mass increase in vitality was enough that he was closer to even with blood loss while the stamina helped him catch his breath.
He was still tired, bleeding, and exhausted, but he had a bit more in the tank now. It was like getting a cup of water in a marathon, refreshing and helped him extend himself, but not fixing the root problems.
The loot box that appeared between his legs was another matter. Blood slick fingers pried it open and he searched inside, a vial rolling over his fingertips and a scrap of paper. He grabbed both and pulled them free, the box¡¯s presence fading away. He couldn¡¯t see what the vial was, but he had to assume it was a healing potion. The scrap of paper was another note written in luminescent ink.
¡°Dear idiot, I¡¯m bending too many rules to keep you alive. Please be smarter in the future if you survive this. You¡¯re the most entertainment I currently have.¡±
-Akthyr
Ch 2.51 Plots
51.
The familiar taste of a healing potion washed down Santi¡¯s throat and he leaned back to rest for a moment as the potion took effect. It was weak, but enough to start having his wounds begin to knit back together and stop the bleeding. Between this and his now increased vitality, he could keep pushing a bit more.
The faint sound of splashing reached his ears after only a moment or two of rest and Santi got to his feet in a hurry. He couldn¡¯t let them catch back up with him if he wanted to recover. He got back in the sticky morass of sewer sludge and started trekking forward again.
Santi pulled a tendril of mana from his exhausted body and used it to wrap [Air Current] tight around him, muffling the sounds of his travel. He thought about the already disintegrated note from Akthyr a moment and knew he would have to think on it longer.
If the administrator of the integration was pulling strings to keep him alive the biggest question was why? Santi didn¡¯t believe for a moment it was because of entertainment reasons. Then after he figured out why, how could Santi take better advantage of it. Would Akthyr help him to the direct detriment of the Apostates?
The black passages of the sewers were impossible to navigate, the only sounds were his muffled breaths, resounding loudly in his own ears. The drawback to using his spell like this was it prevented sound from reaching him. He was truly walking blind and deaf down the passages.
With each step the potion worked more and more of its magic on him. His multitude of wounds closed, though his legs were still weak. He needed the sewers to break the constant press of the enemies who were wearing him down, but he needed to be out of the dark before the Apostate managed to find him. He was still trying to compartmentalize the fact that he had fought an Apostate on fairly equal footing.
Even with the assassin having the element of surprise and allies, Santi had managed to stay alive and ahead of the man¡¯s dagger. He hadn¡¯t won that fight, but he certainly hadn¡¯t lost it. For so long the Apostates had lived in his head, figures larger than life.
They had been the primary drivers of the war, their strength the pillars their cult had built their strength upon. To fight one, let alone six, had been something he had never really considered. His plan had been to build a base of power and then find the other Champions. He would become one himself, but in his heart he knew he couldn¡¯t confront them directly.
That duel had shaken those iron held beliefs. He had stood toe to toe with a magekiller and not died. Santi had to finally admit to himself that what he was doing was great, no, his own personal growth was exemplary. The once much stronger and powerful Apostates were closer to peers than superiors.
Santi kept moving in silence for twelve seconds, the time it took him to travel eight slow steps, before dropping his spell and holding perfectly still. The sound of splashing was further away than it had been. He cloaked himself again and started moving again, following the tunnel lines away from splashing.
He rinsed and repeated, again and again as he went down the tunnels, each time the sounds of pursuit got further away. Santi moved through the sewers for twenty minutes until at last the sound of the splashing was gone. Santi¡¯s wounds had dulled to a dull ache and his mana had recovered enough that he didn¡¯t feel like he was dying every time he drew on it.
It took only a few minutes to find a service ladder and ascend it, pushing the heavy manhole cover off with ease as he climbed free of the sewers. Santi took in his surroundings, having emerged next to an alleyway. Santi crawled free of the sewer, replacing the manhole cover as quietly as possible as he darted into the alley.
With his back to a wall, he finally looked about and took in the surroundings. He was away from the heart of downtown and the towering ruined skyscrapers. The historical district was still part of downtown but near the periphery. The buildings averaged three stories and were made of faded brown brick. The streets were narrow and tight with a large, ugly, concrete parking structure plopped down at the edge like an obtrusive toadstool.
Santi looked about, searching for hints of movement. If he recalled correctly, he was only a block or three away from the stadium that his sister was supposed to be being held in. Santi waited a moment more before slinking out of the alleyway, keeping low to the ground he headed towards the parking structure.
If he cut through the structure he could bypass half a block and have cover. There was always the danger of what could be lairing in the dark structure, but the Primus Alpha was a blessing in disguise. With the head of its opponents decorating his nest, it was apparent that the entire downtown had been pacified by the ape-like monsters.
Each step Santi took, he was bracing for an attack. Either from above by the apes, or from the shadows by the Apostate. It made more sense for them to have regrouped at the stadium, but he couldn¡¯t be sure of that. Some were obviously still hunting for him in the sewers and all it took for him to die was a moment of inattentionThe author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Two minutes and thirty-seven seconds later he jumped over a low concrete wall and into the cramped levels of the parking garage. The thick walls and low ceiling made the structure feel claustrophobic even if it was primarily deserted by cars. Santi sprinted, staying low to the ground, across the level. He could feel his skin prickling as if eyes were on him, but no attack came. Nothing entered his sphere of air and there was no outward threat. Still, it felt like he was being watched.
Santi had lived through too much to ignore the feeling, but at the same time he couldn¡¯t abandon his goal. Yessi needed him and whatever they planned on doing with the riftheart had to be stopped immediately.
He got to the edge of the garage and jumped straight up and over the ledge, ignoring the stairs, and rolled across the sidewalk. Nothing came. No attack or visible opponent. The feeling lingered. Santi cursed, mind strained from the events of the last few hours.
¡°Fuck this, let¡¯s just go get Yesi,¡¯ Santi whispered to himself to help reaffirm his decision. The back of the stadium was visible, the multitude of shops built around it all long abandoned and destroyed. Cars were burnt out wrecks in their parking spots and a trio of police cruisers had been tipped on their side in a makeshift barricade.
Santi jogged past all of it, hardly glancing at them as he started to climb the many gentle ramps that led upwards. He almost missed the first sentinel, sitting in the ruins of a sports apparel store. The man was short and had sat down on a foldout lawn chair while wearing the same clothes the mannequins were wearing. If he hadn¡¯t flinched as Santi came into eyesight, he would have been fine.
Santi spun toward him, closing the distance in one long lunge. The morph blade lengthened into a lance as Santi tried to silence the man before he could speak. A acidic green bubble popped into place around the sentinel as he surged to his feet, grabbing a trumpet that had been sitting next to him.
Santi¡¯s lance broke the shield with only a moment''s resistance before impaling the man. Santi¡¯s momentum carried him into the heart of the store, the dying man hoisted up on the lance before being pinned to the wall like an insect. The dying man gasped, blood leaking from his mouth as he gaped at Santi.
Santi looked at the man, but couldn¡¯t place him. His jersey of black and purple was stained dark red, and his face was wide with sagging jowls of a large man who¡¯d lost weight recently. The thinning hair was unkempt and his beard was thick and knotted, his appearance quite distinct.
¡°Who are you?¡± Santi asked. The man¡¯s only answer was the ding of a kill confirmation. Santi retracted his morph blade and looked around to see if there had been any alert raised by killing the sentinel. When he saw no one running toward him to confront him he took the moment to check the notification.
Horn-Blower lvl. 28
He had a class that was specifically for horn blowing? Santi frowned as he looked at the dirty brass trumpet discarded on the floor. It could be some type of sentinel class, or sound mage, or, well lots of things. The general vagueness of the System always left plenty to interpretation. The fact he had been sitting here by himself as a watcher likely indicated he was some type of guard.
The class was unique enough that Santi knew he would have remembered seeing the man around though. Not a lot of people really left practicing their band instruments. Santi bent down and checked his pockets quickly, his mind numb to the ghoulish behavior.
The man carried a thin wallet in the back pocket of his cargo shorts and Santi quickly opened it. There was no money in it, but rather cut up pictures of people¡¯s faces. Dozens of them, folded and faded already, but the likeness was distinct. His kids probably, the woman a wife, his parents, maybe a brother. Santi tossed it all to the floor as he pulled man¡¯s drivers license free and looked at his address.
It was from a town hours to the South. He could have been here for business or something and just got caught during the integration, but he wouldn¡¯t have hastily cut out pictures if that was the case. Those pictures looked like the type one would have framed up and around the house. If that was the case, then he had come from the South.
It wasn¡¯t just Abraham¡¯s men who had been recruited by the Apostate. Santi looked up at the stadium and understood in a whole new light. They needed his sister for a mass evolution of followers the Apostate had dragged with him. The riftheart could fuel dozens of basic evolutions. The Pillar of Civilization should be arriving soon and the Apostate was primed to be able to easily take over the community Santi had built.
Nobody knew of their evil. Of their corruption. If he was dead and his close friends and family gone with an apparent perpetrator having fled, the thousands of people would be without a protector. The Apostate wouldn¡¯t even have a fight on his hand as he came and converted everyone Santi had worked so hard protecting to his cause.
¡°Shit.¡± Santi left the dead man and peeked out towards the stadium. The entrance was elevated away from the street level, but there was a multitude of bars, shops, and maintenance corridors that wove under the steel and glass building. If he got to the correct service corridor, he could infiltrate that way rather than going through the backdoor. If they had one low level guard, they¡¯d have another waiting for him.
Slipping out of the store, Santi stuck low to the ground, using the multitude of planter boxes to weave his way back down the ramps and toward the passageways marked ¡°Maintenance Staff Only¡±. The door was still shut and locked. Santi threaded the morph blade into the crack and cut the locks, pulling the door open with ease and heading down the passageways to the bowels of the stadium.
Polished concrete was slick under his feet as he was once again plunged into darkness. At least this time it didn¡¯t stink
Ch. 2.52 Bar Fight
52.
The maintenance halls were just as much a labyrinth as the sewers. Santi quickly grew lost, threading his way from one hall to another. A half a dozen wrong turns finally got him moving in a more productive direction. The faint voices of people could be heard and Santi followed their whispers like a bloodhound.
The halls carried sound better than he thought, as the distance was greater than expected. It took nearly three minutes of moving at a quiet, slow, jog to finally find where the voices were coming from. It was an underground bar that was being lit with a dozen or so gas lamps. A half dozen men were laying about, drinking different types of alcohol as they talked to each other. A young woman was sprawled across the largest of them¡¯s laps.
Santi risked using [Identify], needing to know what he was about to get into. If any of their perception and mana stats were high enough they¡¯d be able to feel his prying. The second-to-last thing Santi wanted to do was alert them to his presence before he was ready to act. The last thing he wanted to do was to start a fight with a group of high level classers.
Brutal Brawler lvl. 29
Mage lvl. 28
Quick-Hands lvl. 26
Bloodhound lvl. 28
Guardian lvl. 27
Medic lvl. 30
War-Leader lvl. 32
The young woman sprawled out across the big man¡¯s lap was the [War-Leader]. The big man himself was the [Bloodhound]. The others were scattered about, all of them sipping their drinks, not a single one of them having noticed his prying. They were all adequately leveled, a match for his own team. Santi planned out how he would kill them all.
The [War-Leader] would have the most information, but if she was in a relationship with the [Bloodhound] she wouldn¡¯t talk after he died, at least not quickly. The same was true for the [Bloodhound], both of them were off his list of who to keep alive for information.
[Medic] had to die to end the fight quickly. [Brutal Brawler] was enough of a hint that Santi knew the man wouldn¡¯t be easy to deal with. You didn¡¯t get a class with the word brutal in it by being easy going.
[Quick-Hands] was an outlier, another of those strange classes that could be anything. Likely a rogue or assassin, someone speedy and fragile. The [Guardian] was the exact opposite. The other [Mage] could have a trick up their sleeve that Santi didn¡¯t want to deal with. He decided [Quick-Hands] was going to be his target. He mentally prepared his plan of attack, going over the angles and spells he wanted to use.
Santi sprinted at full speed, straight through the open doors of the bar and leapt off a steel table toward the couple. The moment he made his move they all reacted, but they were too slow. The [Guardian]¡¯s shield came up a second after a comically oversized sword split the [War-Leader] in half at the waist while disemboweling the [Bloodhound].
[Air Shield] stopped a thrown knife from entering the back of his head. Santi grabbed a loose chair and threw it at the [Quick-Hands] while bounding toward the [Medic], who was staring horrified at his two dying companions. A blue magic shield actually managed to impede his strike for a moment, allowing the [Medic] to scramble away even as the shield disintegrated.
[Gust] picked up and threw chairs and tables, slamming into the [Guardian] and [Mage] as the spellcaster tried to duck into the bigger man¡¯s shadow. Both of them staggered backwards and their distraction was enough for Santi to finish off the [Medic] with a single swordstroke. Santi spun on his heel just in time to see a chain wrapped fist come flying at him, wreathed in a transparent violet fire.
[Air Shield] broke instantly on contact, the released winds blowing detritus everywhere as Santi ducked, the fist sailing over his head. With his free hand Santi punched the [Brutal Brawler] in the gut. It was like hitting wood, his hand protested but the wood broke. The melee fight doubled over, a heavy breath whooshing out of him. The man was game though, throwing a knee instantly that connected to Santi¡¯s shoulder, numbing his sword arm.
Santi rolled with the momentum of the blow, rising to his feet and casting [Crosscurrent-Orb] at the assassin. A half dozen knives were sent spinning everywhere as the explosive winds destroyed their trajectory. The metal clattered around him as Santi rose to his feet to meet the fighter.
The man¡¯s strength was easily beyond his and his stamina and dexterity were high enough that Santi couldn¡¯t just rely on pure stats to beat him down physically. Santi used [Air Manipulation] and stole the very air out of the man¡¯s gaping mouth. It wasn¡¯t enough to kill him, but the violation shocked him enough that he wasn¡¯t ready to dodge the thrust of a sword through his gut. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Santi twisted and tore, the sword emerging from the man¡¯s shoulder as he fell in red ruin to the ground. A crackling bolt of lightning exploded next to him, Santi¡¯s hair rising as he felt the painful current roll over him. He gritted his teeth and leapt for the [Mage] only to meet another blue barrier in mid air.
Santi fell to the ground and rolled instantly, avoiding yet another knife and a thin bolt of lightning. The [Guardian] had positioned himself to be between the two distance fighters and Santi. It was good positioning but Santi could already see the strain on the man¡¯s face. Santi had already broken the man¡¯s skill multiple times, each one of them a painful backlash.
[Gust] amplified by [Air Manipulation] picked up the smaller [Quick-Hands] and [Mage] throwing them both against the far wall and the full floor to ceiling mirrors. The tinkling crash of shattering glass filled the air as Santi sprinted at full speed toward the [Guardian]. The man lifted a heavy sledgehammer and swung as Santi got in distance, but it was easy enough for Santi to shear the weapon in half, the heavy metal head spinning off behind him.
A final azure shield wrapped around the frontliner, covering him completely as he backpedaled. The shield shattered as Santi stabbed the man through the chest, puncturing his heart with a twist of his wrist. The [Guardian] stood straight, pain and fear in his eyes before life fled and he slumped to the ground.
Santi killed the [Mage] before the man was fully to his feet, beheading him in a single strike. A final desperate knife came screaming at him, the faint pink outline of a skill wreathing it. As he went to swat it out of the air, it disappeared. The real knife appeared a foot below the original one and Santi twisted violently to the side, but the blade still scratched his ribs as it passed by him.
¡°Enough,¡± Santi spat, closing the distance and grabbing [Quick-Hands] by the collar and pulling the taller man down.
¡°Fuck you!¡± the knife thrower cursed as he struggled to get free.
¡°Stop or die,¡± Santi decreed. For a moment he continued his pointless struggle, but the fight faded from him as the adrenaline was finally overcome by common sense. His team was dead, the room they had been relaxing in ruined. There were no sounds of reinforcements coming and he was standing by himself with Santi¡¯s blade only inches from his vulnerable flesh.
¡°A girl was brought here early this morning. Where is she?¡±
¡°Up top. Duncan and his lieutenants are up top. In the owner¡¯s booth with the girl and all the other important shit.¡±
¡°Duncan?¡±
¡°The Prophet! The messenger of our Lord. He saved us all from the monsters and beasts. He led us here and brokered the truce between us and the monkeys.¡±
So, that was the Apostate¡¯s name. He was the current leader on cleared monster den¡¯s in the area too. It would explain how he had enough levels to challenge Santi and be able to lift a bunch of people into the Acolyte level. Basic evolutions were simple enough to do that a man of his knowledge and skill could pull it off easily enough.
Then why would he need Yesi? If he was already managing the evolutions he could do it himself. Santi pushed all the stray thoughts away, he couldn¡¯t afford to lose focus no matter how much his curiosity was piqued.
¡°Abraham? Where is he?¡±
¡°That asshole? I don¡¯t know. He had a small crew of guys, but Duncan didn¡¯t keep them close.¡±
¡°How long has he been working with you?¡±
¡°Duncan?¡±
¡°No, Abraham. Actually, yes, how did you meet Duncan?¡±
¡°He saved us. He came from the South, following the highway. He just knew where we were, the survivors. Bands of us, teams, he gathered us all up. Taught us how to survive and organize and how to evolve. He told us of our Lord.¡±
¡°How long?¡±
¡°The others, his lieutenants, have been with him for a month. He found us two weeks ago.¡±
¡°And Abraham?¡±
¡°We made contact when we got here, ten days ago.¡±
¡°How many of you are here?¡±
¡°People, or with the apes? Cause I don¡¯t know how many of the monkeys there are,¡± the man was speaking quickly and with a visible sheen of sweat coating his face.
¡°People.¡±
¡°Ummm, there¡¯s like twenty or so here, plus Abraham¡¯s group.¡±
¡°Here? There¡¯s more of you?¡±
¡°Yeah, Duncan had us set up camps outside of the city, sent scouting teams to the local towns and stuff, try to find other survivors.¡±
¡°How. Many?¡±
¡°Two hundred or so, I think. It changes constantly. It¡¯s dangerous out there, people die all the time but we¡¯re gaining faster than we¡¯re losing.¡±
¡°Fuck. Are they all evolved like you?¡±
¡°No, only his group here has evolved. The others are out earning their levels with only a few of us rotating out to check on them.¡±
¡°His Lieutenants, how strong are they?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know man. It¡¯s rude to [Identify] and they can all feel when we do it. They¡¯re stronger than Sara, but it¡¯s close.¡±
¡°Sara was the [War Leader]?¡±
¡°Yeah. Fuck, man. They¡¯re all dead.¡± He looked around at the destroyed room and his dead teammates that Santi had scattered about in pieces. The fight hadn¡¯t taken long, two minutes and fifty-eight seconds, but the man¡¯s entire life had changed again. Santi killed the [Quick Hands] while the man was looking at his friends, the morph blade puncturing up and through his brain before he knew what hit him.
Santi double checked to make sure he got all the kill notifications from the dead fighters and began looting. None of them had anything really of note, most of them possessing nothing but basic weapons or familial tokens. There was a handful of the white wooden coins which he pocketed, but the rest he left with the dead.
The lounge had been in a state of decay when he entered it, but now it was completely destroyed. Broken stools, chairs, tables, mirrors, and smashed apart liquor bottles were everywhere.
Santi grabbed one of the lanterns that somehow hadn¡¯t been destroyed in the fight and headed out. Now able to see properly, he was able to piece together how to navigate the service tunnels. Everything was labeled and Santi was quickly ascending and entering the stadium at courtside.
The waxed hardwood was covered in intricate symbols. Candles were sitting spaced out, but not lit yet. Figures were walking amongst the seats, but none had given a shout of alarm as Santi started to slowly work his way up the stairs that ran down the center of the seats. If the [Quick Hands] had been right, there was a constant sea of changing faces walking in and out of the place and most shouldn¡¯t know what he looked like. As long as he walked like he belonged he might be able to get to his sister without setting off an alarm.
Ch. 2.53 The Duel
53.
Santi made it three steps before the alarm went off. A general hue and cry of shouts, horns blaring in the distance, as guards all turned and looked away from him. People began to clatter and run, racing toward the open entryway and leaving Santi practically alone courtside. He caught snippets of the conversations, but the primary driver of the new alarm was that invaders were entering the downtown area.
It could only be his team. Santi raced upward, not caring if what few guards remained were suspicious. Everyone else was running and he blended in well enough. He had to finish the fight off before his friends and family got hurt. If he could kill either the Apostate of the Alpha, he could break the stranglehold the groups had of the downtown region.
He cleared the stairs that were the lower atrium and skidded to a halt as a wide man with a white cowboy hat met his eyes. A machete hung on one hip and a whistle dangled on a string around his neck. The cowboy¡¯s eyes widened in alarm as he straightened in shock, his hand grabbing for his whistle.
Santi rocketed into him, stabbing three times even as their bodies collided. They hit the smooth concrete and slid, slamming into a wall as the kill notification dinged in his head. Looking around, he saw no one had noticed the brief altercation. He grabbed the man and flung him over his shoulder and started jogging down the wide concourse. An empty bathroom wasn¡¯t far away and he hurriedly dumped the dead man in it before he kept moving.
He had never been in the stadium before the integration, but had prowled its ruins once or twice. The VIP suites weren¡¯t at the top of the stadium, but rather near the halfcourt line on the middle concourse. He stepped up his pace as the morph blade transformed into his trustworthy saber.
Santi continued to round the oval concourse and saw the suites. There was a single guard standing bored outside of the doorway. He turned and saw Santi and grabbed for the whistle he had on his lanyard. The guard was too far away for him to reach him in time and Santi cursed not having a lethal long range spell.
In that brief moment of distraction as his attention was fixed on the guard, he almost didn¡¯t feel the hidden knife heading towards his kidney. He twisted and slashed outward, feeling the distinct clink of steel on otherworldly metal before steel lost. A dagger¡¯s blade went tumbling away as the Apostate was left holding just the hilt of his knife.
The shrill screech of the whistle blew behind him and Santi knew this was it. His sister was behind that door and the only way he was getting to her was cutting the Apostate down. There could be no retreat now.
Duncan pulled out another knife from beneath his cloak of shifting shadows and feinted at Santi¡¯s throat. Santi leaned back and slashed at him, extending the length of the saber at the last moment and slicing a thin cut along the Apostate¡¯s face. A trickle of blood flowed out a moment later, staining the man¡¯s face.
¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to be this good, you know. You were just a fly in the ointment, something to be crushed before I continued our plans. I can¡¯t fully explain my surprise when I found this place and saw you.¡±
Santi attacked, a blur of movement as he used [Air Shield] to prevent the assassin from dodging to the sides. The dual casting instantly caused a headache to sprout up, but he managed to slash a deep wound down the man¡¯s thigh as he was forced to scrabble backward.
Duncan pulled a potion out of his cloak and drank it in a single, smooth motion. The cut on his cheek healed and the blood that had just started pumping out of his thigh stopped. He continued talking as if nothing had happened.
¡°I followed you around for a long time. Saw what you were doing. Similar to what we¡¯re doing, less organized and with poorer leadership, but on the right track. That little spy you have, Daniel, he¡¯s solid. No, that¡¯s a lie, he¡¯s good. You got a couple there who have the potential to be greats. The drive, the inner fire, the ruthlessness. You¡¯ve helped them build good foundations too. Chloe will go far. As will Yessenia.¡±
Santi threw a half dozen cuts and jabs as fast as he could, but the Apostate managed to match him. Trying to outpace a speed build was foolhardy, but the moment his sister''s name came out of the killer¡¯s mouth, Santi¡¯s rage boiled over.
¡°Even you, who was apparently quite competent but nothing special, have managed to rise to a level I couldn¡¯t have expected. I should have killed you the moment I saw you, but I was intrigued. I thought maybe I could get you to side with us, bring your entire settlement over to our Lord.¡±
¡°Fucking die already!¡± Santi spat [Gust] caught the Apostate from behind and caused him to stagger toward Santi. He lengthened his saber into a true longsword and stabbed, angling upward to pierce the Apostate¡¯s heart.
The man twisted at previously impossible angles, the longsword scraping along his ribs instead of his bowels. Duncan grimaced and hissed in pain as he rolled away from Santi, who was following trying his best to finish the man while he was standing and fighting him square. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
A door slammed open and a hoot rang out, echoing across the arena as the [Primus Alpha] ran toward them. It loped with its knuckles on the ground, coming at him sideways like apes did. Santi bit back a curse as he hit it with a [Air Manipulation] reinforced [Gust]. The howl of the wind in the tight confines was deafening and the alpha slid to a halt, its momentum drained away in the burst of gale like winds.
Santi turned back to the Apostate and spat out a curse when the man had disappeared. Santi had the edge against him in a straight fight, but with him coming out of the shadows, he was in much more danger of being knifed in the back. The primus hooted and a sixth sense had Santi dodging, rolling across the ground just as a hot dog cart came flying at him.
The heavy cart crashed against the concrete wall and crumpled. The primus picked up speed again, rising to its full height while pounding on its chest with its oversized hands. Each blow sent a ripple through the ground, softening it until it was like taffy.
Santi struggled to move as the primus charged him. He turned the morph into a whip and lashed out for the upper deck railing above him. The silvery tendril wrapped around it and Santi imagined spikes emerging from the whip to hold it in place while it condensed, pulling him free of the soft concrete.
The primus skated over the soft concrete, fists slamming into the space Santi had just vacated in a blast. It screamed in rage, scooping its hand into the gooey substance and lobbing it at Santi as he hung in the air, dangling from the rail. The concrete lengthened and became spears as they split the air toward him. Santi released the rail and fell, [Air Shield] shattering one of the two spears into dust.
Santi landed lightly, his morph blade cutting another spear of concrete that the primus threw. The ape closed the distance, raising its heavy fists up again to smash Santi to paste. Santi slashed it across its broad chest, flaying muscle from bone as the primus brought its balled up hands down.
[Air Shield] slowed the descending hammerfist for a split second, allowing Santi to jump away. Santi immediately twisted at the waist as another dagger came screaming at him from behind. Santi slashed backward, forcing Duncan to fall to the ground or risk losing his head.
A hairy fist caught him in the ribs, bones cracked as Santi twisted and was thrown against the wall. Pressure and pain overwhelmed him, as he slid to the ground. His shoulder wasn¡¯t responding properly, something grating in it when he tried to lift his arm. Santi got to his feet and slashed out twice as Duncan closed the distance, forcing the assassin to stop his advance.
The ape didn¡¯t care at all, taking both of the blows without hesitation. Blood and fur coated the ground as the monster screamed in rage again, punching at Santi. Santi dodged as the monkey¡¯s fist slammed through the wall where his head had been. Dust and chunks of concrete rained down on him as Santi leapt away from the primus. [Gust] hit the creature and sent it staggering a few feet.
Energy swirled around the monkey¡¯s feet, firming the ground around it as it caught itself. The monster rose to its full height and started to charge back at him, but Santi was running. He leapt off the edge of the concourse, using the morph as a whip again and swinging himself up to the second level.
The primus proved itself just as agile, leaping and grabbing the edge of the second story, following him with a singular purpose. Santi raced upward, arms and legs pistoning through the pain as he flew up the stairs. The crashing followed behind him like a wake of destruction. Santi could feel the monster''s presence right behind him, feel the hot breath and drooling fangs.
[Air Shield] was cast behind him without looking and the shock of the [Primus Alpha] was evident as it screamed in rage, bouncing off of the shield even as it broke apart. The heavy thud of its body bouncing down the steep steps was loud enough that it brought a grim smile to Santi¡¯s face.
He reached the top of the stairs and raced straight up the wall, his morph blade becoming a hook that dug though the concrete like it was putty. He climbed straight up, angling for the rafters that ran across the open space above the court. He leapt, pushing hard enough to crack the wall and sailed toward the beams, grabbing on and hoisting himself up with one hand.
Up here he couldn¡¯t be surrounded by the assassin and the Primus, and the beast was isolated from its element. There were beams he could move between with ease and Santi had long taken advantage of his familiarity of heights. The primus was grabbing the steel-I beam with a wide hand, crushing the metal with its grip strength as it rose up.
Above him he felt a stir in the shadows as the Apostate got above him. Duncan would wait to ambush him when he was fully occupied by the primus. The small catwalk wasn¡¯t wide enough for the primus to walk easily. It had to move cautiously, each step careful as it got closer to him. Up here the monkey couldn¡¯t use its earth affinity for shit, its once sure steps now uncertain.
[Crosscurrent-Orb] detonated above him, the tearing winds throwing Duncan out of his hiding spot. The cat-quick rogue was fast though, spinning in mid air to land on his feet on a catwalk further away. Santi wasted no time as the assassin was out of the way, he simply started to cut the monkey to pieces. His long morph blade sliced strips away like it was nothing as he kept walking backward.
The [Primus Alpha] chased after him, but its footing was precarious. It made it three steps before its foot slipped. It caught itself with ease, but its momentum was halted long enough that Santi landed two more blows along its right arm. Santi continued to work that arm, slicing and ripping with a barbed whip until the right arm was nothing but shredded flesh.
The [Primus Alpha] was snarling, nostrils flared as its blood flowed to drench the I-beam. Santi was running out of space to retreat and he hadn¡¯t worn the beast down as well as he could have. He leapt over the next I-beam and when the primus jumped after him he cast a series of spells.
Ch. 2.54 To the Victor
-
[Gust] swept the primus down and towards Santi, causing the great ape to slam into the beam with its chest. The entire beam rocked from the weight, but as the primus¡¯s thick fingers scrambled to pull itself up, Santi attacked.
The morph lengthened into a long lance and he stabbed down, impaling the alpha through its thick trapezius as it jerked at the last minute to avoid the lethal head wound. Its right arm was a mangled mess and now Santi severed the muscles and bones that connected the arm to the rest of the body.
It grunted and a limber foot grabbed the beam and it hoisted itself up and forced Santi back as it donkey kicked at him. Santi slashed multi jointed toes free of the offending foot, but the beast managed to get back to its feet with a grunt.
The entirety of its right side was caked in blood, the fur pressed down and sodden. Its right arm hung loose and dangling uselessly while its left lifted up and in front of it in an ineffectual guard. A hint of panic was showing in its face, finally breaking though the rage and pain it had been operating in for the last few minutes.
Santi had managed to lure it up here and away from its help, from its affinity, to a place where Santi was more even footed with it. Now it was just coming down to the fact that Santi had better equipment than it. Nothing the beast could do could stop the morph weapon and its infinite possibilities. There was nowhere to dodge unless it wanted to fall to the court far below. It could normally survive, but in its mangled state, it would be painful.
Duncan was drifting around somewhere, waiting for another chance to attack him, but the Apostate¡¯s ally was running out of time. Santi had no doubt that the alpha was just another tool in the man¡¯s box, but it wasn¡¯t an easily replaceable one. He¡¯d come and attack to prevent the primus from dying.
¡°Leave and I won¡¯t hunt you,¡± the primus chuffed out.
¡°I will be leaving here, you won¡¯t,¡± Santi said, preparing himself for the final clash between them. [Air Current] whispered to him that Duncan was behind him, moving slowly and cautiously.
¡°I will protect my nest and my troop. That is all I want!¡± The primus stomped a foot on the beam, causing it to ripple under the impact. The move disguised Duncan¡¯s footfalls. Somehow they were communicating, working together to cover the backstab.
¡°I don¡¯t give a fuck what you want. You¡¯re both dying,¡± Santi spat, spinning on a heel as the morph became a long, razor sharp wire that he snapped around him like a halo. Duncan cursed and scrabbled backward as a piece of the man¡¯s nose was lopped free.
The primus wasn¡¯t as lucky. The razor wire sliced apart flesh and muscle with ease and the monkey¡¯s intestines bulged free of its gut. A scream of animalistic pain and rage battered Santi¡¯s ears, but he was already moving. [Gust] flung Duncan back and off the I-beam and toward the ground. The morph shortened and condensed to a long boar spear and Santi awkwardly grounded himself to take the alpha¡¯s charge. His broken arm was useless, but he did his best as the alpha threw itself at him.
It was moving too fast to avoid the eighteen inches of sharpened metal that punched through bone like butter. The force of its momentum caused Santi to stagger back,the spear twisting awkwardly in his grip even as the ape¡¯s swiping left hand grazed his chin.
It was like getting punched by a prizefighter. The world spun and he lost his balance, his foot missing its placement and the sudden downward feel made his stomach lurch as he began to fall.
¡°Shit!¡± Santi spat out, blood and a tooth coming free as he turned his tumble into a dive, pushing off with his one grounded foot toward the second deck. The morph turned into a grapple hook and line which caught the railing of the second level with only a bit of help from [Air Manipulation] and then he was swinging back down to the main concourse. Santi landed in a heap, his legs giving out as he fell to the ground, landing on his bad shoulder.
A terrible boom rattled the stadium as the primus fell to the basketball court. Santi lay there for a split second, breathing through the fiery pain that threatened to overwhelm him. He drug himself up, his massive willpower the only thing keeping him going. He stood there on shaky legs as he looked around the concourse.
There was no one around, the entire stadium having emptied out to go and fight the invaders. Maybe some of the lieutenants were left in the room with Yesi, but they weren¡¯t poking their heads out. No kill notifications had dinged for either the primus or the Apostate.
Santi took stock of his situation and decided he was going to finish off the big ape. He couldn¡¯t afford to let the big monster get back to its feet or healed, not after he had spent so much time whittling it down to size. Keeping close attention to his surroundings, Santi started to limp down toward the courtyard.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Minutes ago he had sprinted up them without thought, now every step sent a lance of pain through a twisted ankle and his broken arm and shoulder. Blood dribbled out of his mouth and his tongue ran itself over the spot his missing tooth was supposed to be.
The [Primus Alpha] was ruined. Bones jutted free of its body, spiky announcements to a great physical trauma. Blood spread out from it like a lake and its eyes were half lidded as it struggled to breath. How it was still alive was a testament to its massive durability and vitality. A pink bubble formed on its thick lips and then popped as it tried to speak as Santi reached it.
Its left hand trembled, trying to form a fist as its dark eyes raged impotently at him. Santi turned the morph into a wide and wicked axe as he stopped right outside of its range.
¡°Told ya, you¡¯re not leaving here.¡±
The primus could do nothing except gurgle and spit, its lungs not giving it the air needed to breath. The handle on the axe got longer until it was closer to a poleaxe. Santi took careful aim and finished the beast with a single blow, the axe cutting through its neck to embed itself into the splintered court.
A dagger entered Santi right above his hip. It had been moving so fast that in his battered state he couldn¡¯t have dodged in time. A shadow formed beneath him and a second blade entered him in a mirror of the first. Santi bit back a cry of pain as he lunged over the alpha¡¯s corpse, reaching and dragging the dagger out from his back.
¡°Aim was off,¡± Duncan said conversationally as he walked across the court. Santi peaked over the primus¡¯s body and saw the Apostate standing there, holding another dagger.
¡°You ruined my plans for this area. I hope you¡¯re happy with that. Without the alpha the rest of them will go wild. I would be willing to bet that even right now the rest of the troop has turned on my men. Not only that but that was a good kill, lots of potential and experience. I was hoping to finish it off before you got here, but that tumble took a bit out of me. Had to drink one of my healing potions.¡±
¡°Shut the fuck up already,¡± Santi said as he got to his feet. His entire left side wasn¡¯t working properly, his leg dragging as he got up. He kept the morph in its saber form and lifted it to peer down the blade at Duncan. The plain faced assassin simply shrugged and started walking closer.
The healing must still be working or the potion had been weak. There was still a slight limp when Duncan moved as he favored his right side. Santi couldn¡¯t move for shit, but he staggered away from the monster¡¯s corpse and stood near the halfcourt line right over the top of the basketball team''s logo and waited as Duncan got to him.
¡°I think I¡¯m going to enjoy killing you,¡± Duncan whispered.
¡°Get to it then,¡± Santi said, lashing out with a flick of his wrist. The blade lengthened at the last second, but Duncan dropped to his heels and then sprang directly at him. Time seemed to slow down for a moment as Santi saw what he needed to do and prepared himself.
[Air Shield] formed at Santi¡¯s sternum and was angled downward, preventing the assassin from hitting his heart or throat. [Air Manipulation] helped tug Duncan¡¯s arm down so the blade was aimed at Santi¡¯s side. Duncan snarled, his face twisting in fury as he felt his aim change. The man was simply too fast and slippery with how wounded Santi was right now. It had to be done like this if he hoped to win the fight.
The dagger hit him on his right side, beneath his ribs. Pain exploded through Santi as he reached down and grabbed the Apostate¡¯s bicep. The morph turned to liquid and flowed over the man¡¯s bicep like a snake. With a thought Santi severed the man¡¯s arm and hit him with [Gust]. The explosion of wind rocked Santi back even as it sent Duncan flailing across the court.
He left the knife in his guts as he started to limp toward the crumpled assassin. The man¡¯s stump was pulsing blood and as Santi limped closer Duncan managed to get to his feet, twice slipping in his own pool of blood. Panic and shock filled his face as he started to backpedal and run away, leaving behind a crimson trail as he staggered up the stairs to the concourse.
Santi lifted a blood hand and cast [Air Shield] in front of the fleeing man. Duncan smashed into the invisible barrier and bounced backward and started to tumble down the stairs toward Santi. Santi waited for him and Duncan finally arrested his fall only ten feet or so in front of Santi. He rose on shaky legs to look at Santi, his face pale and drawn as blood continued to pulse out of him.
¡°It¡¯s not supposed to end like this,¡± Duncan whispered.
¡°Is it ever?¡± Santi raised his arm, blade lengthening into a spear as the Apostate stood there waiting for his end.
A bolt of green sizzled by Santi¡¯s ear, searing his scalp and causing him to jerk back in pain. A cry of alarm rose and feet came trampling down the steps as Duncan¡¯s illusive lieutenants finally made their appearance. On instinct Santi tossed a [Crosscurrent-Orb] toward the group as he slid to the ground, careful to not land on the pommel of the dagger still wedged in him.
The concussive blast of wind covered up a few cries, but when Santi poked his head back up he saw them fleeing with the Apostate wedged between them. They didn¡¯t head toward the VIP box that they had been holding his sister, but rather toward the exit of the stadium.
¡°FUCK NO¡± Santi screamed as he got to his feet. Another blast of green light came at him but [Air Shield] dispersed the spell as his attacker stayed behind to slow him down. A short woman with frizzy black hair that shot up around her, her pale features were stern and unflinching as she marched toward him without a weapon.
Santi wove [Air Manipulation] around her head and strangled her. She missed her step and fell to the ground, fingers clawing at her throat as Santi limped up and over her and headed towards the concourse. Every step was sending bolts of agony through him as he looked at the empty area, the Apostate having escaped him.
Ch. 2.55 The Spoils
55.
The kill notification dinged in his head as the woman died. Santi kept limping toward the VIP box, blood trailing behind him. The arena was deserted but the sounds of fighting outside were drifting in towards him. The primate screams and shouts mingling with the chaos of skills and spells going off in thunderous detonations. Santi kept a hand clenched around the dagger in his gut, trying to staunch the flow of blood.
The pain was starting to creep up on him, a blanket of agony that pulsed with every shuddering step. Santi focused on keeping moving, not allowing the thought of stopping to enter his mind. If he stopped, there¡¯d be no way he could start moving again.
The doors to the VIP box were wide open and Santi staggered through them and into the room. The scent of blood was thick in the room, coating it like paint. Yesi lay in a curled up ball in the corner of the room, her sides hardly moving as Santi lurched toward her.
¡°Yesi, Yesi!¡± he forced himself to shout, praying his sister would stir. Something squeaked behind him and Santi reacted instantly. Spinning around even through the pain, Santi met eyes with Abraham as the man burst out of the shadows in the corner of the room. In his exhaustion Santi hadn¡¯t realized his near constant spell had dropped.
Rage invigorated him as Abraham¡¯s dark eyes met his own. The man lunged, extending a spear toward him in a blur of speed. Santi rolled his wrist in a quick circle, the morph blade cutting the head of the spear off. The now blunt end hit him in the chest near his hurt shoulder. He staggered backward, struggling to not fall down at the morph blade turned into a long needle.
He stabbed weakly at Abraham, the thin point piercing Abraham¡¯s chest. The other man froze and looked down at the thin needle that was buried in his chest, blood just beginning to trickle out of the wound. He looked back up and met Sati¡¯s eyes.
¡°Do it then.¡±
Santi had the morph splinter in a thousand hooks and ripped it free.
Another kill notification.
Santi stared at the man who had taken from him his hope of having another chance of a full family. There should have been more. More pain, more emotional catharsis, more everything.
Santi turned away from the corpse and went to Yessenia huddled up on herself in the corner. Her head turned and Santi could see the devastation inflicted on her for the first time. Her eyes were swollen and bruised, barely more than slits. Her lips smashed and blood dribbled from her mouth as she looked at him.
¡°Santi?¡± the whisper was half prayer and half question.
¡°I¡¯m here, Yesi. I got you.¡± Santi went to a knee in front of her and almost fell over as she surged into him, her head burying itself in his shoulder. She leaned back instantly and looked down at him, fully taking in his wounds.
¡°Oh, Santi. No,no,no.¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine. Tank will get me back on my feet. Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± Santi struggled up, not releasing his little sister as they stood upright. Yesi looked down at the body and spat on it as they trudged out of the room and toward the front. They were leaning on each other, half supporting each other as they both were too injured to walk without help.
[Air Current] was cast around them the moment they left the VIP box. In his addled state it took most of his concentration to keep the flow of information from overwhelming him. There was little he could do if there was a foe, his limbs were growing numb and chill was creeping into him. The world was hazy as he focused on step after step, getting away from the monster den.
The sunlight hit him, the warmth of the sun a distant thing that seemed far away as Yesi took on more of his weight as they exited the stadium. A shadow moved and Santi turned to look as Daniel emerged. A gash was on his face leaking blood but the horror in his eyes as he took them in was evident.
¡°Here,¡± Daniel said, shoving a glass vial up to Santi¡¯s lips. Santi swallowed automatically, the sweet relief of the healing potion trickling down his throat. A sharp pain burst through the fog in his mind and he looked down to see Daniel had removed the knife in his gut.
¡°Tank sent me ahead to try to find you. Shit¡¯s bad, but we¡¯re all still alive for the moment. The monkey¡¯s went crazy a few minutes ago, started fighting those guys and killing them. Here, Yesi, I have another one.¡±
Santi could feel his wounds healing, but it was so, so, slow. Yesi shuddered and gasped next to him as she finished drinking her own potion. Santi wondered where the scout, or more likely Tank, had gotten the potions. Could have held them for an emergency or traded someone for them. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
¡°Where¡¯s Hana?¡± Santi asked while Yessenia tried to recover. His own wounds were closing, the bones in his left arm grinding together. The tooth wasn¡¯t coming back in even if he could feel it pushing against his gums. There wasn¡¯t enough magic left in the potion to finish healing him all the way.
¡°She got hit in the head pretty bad by a [Bull Primus]. Tank has her and she¡¯ll be fine but she¡¯s a bit dazed.¡±
¡°Oh, that¡¯s weird.¡± Yesi was touching her face with a delicate finger, tracing her now healed lips and face.
¡°Everyone else is ok?¡±
¡°Yeah, we didn¡¯t get far into downtown before it started getting rough. We backed up and forted up. Brought everyone who¡¯s evolved and we¡¯re holding down a corner building. Had some injuries but nobody was too badly hurt.¡±
¡°Good. This is a monster¡¯s den. I didn¡¯t realize it at first, but it is one. I killed the den protector but it still needs to be broken up. I¡¯ll deal with that, take Yesi and loot this place down to the studs.¡±
¡°How¡¯d you not realize it was a den?¡±
¡°My mind was elsewhere. It¡¯s more subtle than the others too, it helped reinforce my desire to protect my family, to exert my dominance on those who challenged me, everything that I was planning on doing anyways.¡±
¡°Alright, you go deal with that and I¡¯ll show your sister around.¡± Yesi looked at Santi with a mix of fear and incredulous fury.
¡°Santiago, I don¡¯t want to be shoved off to one of your lackeys.¡± Daniel wisely decided to take his leave and not protest being called a lackey.
¡°Daniel will keep you safe and I know. I don¡¯t want you going anywhere without me either, but I have to break up this nest and it''s not going to be pleasant. The pressure of it will press on you in a way you can¡¯t imagine. Help Daniel and meet me back out here in thirty minutes.¡±
¡°Santi!¡±
¡°No. Just, please. For me. Just give me thirty minutes.¡±
¡°Daniel, come show me around,¡± Yesi said, flames of anger in her eyes as she walked away with the scout. Santi turned and walked back into the stadium. Now that he was in a bit better state of mind he could feel the pressure of the den on him more. A need to dominate, to protect, to control.
He was tired but still aware enough to work his way down toward the tunnels he had been in, following the faint feel of the den like a bloodhound. He passed by the bar he had killed the squad of out of towners. He walked in and grabbed another of the gas lamps and went deeper into the bowels of the facility.
Twisting and turning down the myriad of halls, he started to see signs of the ape¡¯s occupation. Shredded clothing and bedding forming small nests along the edge of the hall. Santi found the heart of the nest in an abandoned weight room. The mirrors that lined it weren¡¯t broken and reflected the light of Santi¡¯s gas lamp.
Inside the room the feeling of protectiveness was enough to make him rethink about what he was going to do. Small forms were nestled around in bedding, light reflecting off their eyes. This was what the alpha had been willing to die for. Santi did it quickly and humanely.
The den broke and he heard more announcements in his mind as he earned more achievements. He didn¡¯t bother looking at them, he couldn¡¯t be bogged down in the minutia of his very long list of kills, achievements and levels. When he was somewhere safe he could check it.
He searched quickly and thoroughly the ruins of the nesting area. There were a few small small earth treasures which he balled up in some scraps of clothing and tied up before leaving the room.
The walk back up was slow as Santi needed to try to figure out what he wanted to do. With the potion in his system he wasn¡¯t on death''s door anymore, but he wasn¡¯t far away either. Two potions in the same day, his body was worn out. His mind was frayed.
Abraham was dead. The [Primus Alpha] was dead. Yessenia was safe. Some parts of Santi wanted to go and keep hunting. Finish off the Apostate while he was injured. But, where did he go? His people had whisked him away and Santi didn¡¯t have any skills or spells to track him down. There were plenty of small towns and even a city not far away.
Mom and Bianca.
That was where he was needed. He needed to go home and confront that horrible reality. Santi leaned against a wall for a few minutes, waiting for the appointed time. Breaking the nest had taken less than eight minutes and he wanted a few minutes to gather himself before seeing Yessenia again.
The image of her battered and bloodied face would stay with him. He had failed to protect them. Had dismissed Abraham¡¯s incessant insubordination. Now he had to bury his father and look his family in the eye. Tears slid down his face as he cried quietly away from where the others could see him.
His hands trembled and shook as the adrenaline of the fight wore off. He allowed himself five minutes to experience it all. The pain, the hurt, the guilt, and then he boxed it all away. With every slow inhalation he packed it up and steadied himself. It took another three minutes before he was in control again.
He left the tunnels and waited up by the front doors, ignoring the corpses that decorated the area. Daniel and Yesi came around a few minutes later, both of them grim faced and silent even with Daniel having a heavy satchel of goods. Santi could feel the power wafting off of them even from where he stood.
¡°Did you find the riftheart?¡±
¡°No. Yesi said it was taken away while she was locked in here. They didn¡¯t trust the monkey¡¯s to not take it. They were going to bring it when the ritual was going to be completed.¡± Yesi just stared at him. She didn¡¯t say a word but there was hurt written all over her face.
¡°Let¡¯s go. Daniel, lead us out. We need to get back to Mom.¡± A tear trembled in Yesi¡¯s eye.
¡°Dad didn¡¯t make it, did he?¡±
¡°No.¡± Yesi straightened up standing to her full height as silent tears tracked down her face. Santi wrapped his sister up in his arms and she leaned into him as he led her out. She didn¡¯t make a sound but he could feel the hot tears on his shirt.
¡°It won¡¯t take us long. Seems most of everyone is running out of here.¡± Daniel said as he started leading them home.
Ch. 2.56 Reunions
56.
Downtown had turned into a burning warzone. Corpses lay strewn everywhere with thick knots of the ape¡¯s surrounding singular or some case knots of dead humans. While they had been taken by surprise, the Apostate¡¯s forces had held their own. Regardless, it had been a devastating day for them. With the destruction of the den what was left of the Primus troop would disperse. There was nothing left holding them together and Santi had finally finished clearing the city of the multitude of dens.
There were a few smaller rifts left, but he¡¯d leave them for those who needed levels and experience. Once this betrayal was fully realized and settled. Once funerals were conducted and the full scope of the damage was seen. Santi had been moving too fast to truly understand just how much Abraham had taken from them while he had been burning from what Abraham had taken from him.
The man¡¯s blood hadn¡¯t been enough. Yesi stood feet away, refusing to look at him as she held back her tears as they crept through the downtown toward where Tank and the others were. She was still seething with rage and it was mixing with grief. Santi just felt wrung out, exhausted of all his strength and desires. He just wanted to lay down and sleep.
That¡¯d be impossible, he needed to be strong enough that all could lean on him. That he would be the pillar of his community as they recovered. The loss of the powerful riftheart would set them back and only serve to enhance Duncan¡¯s plans. Santi needed those supplementary classes ASAP and without the riftheart they¡¯d be doing it the slow way.
Tank and the rest of the squad had fortified a corner store with bars over the shattered windows. Dead apes and people littered the ground outside of the store. Some of the bars were twisted and partially sagging as if they¡¯d been heated and left to droop.
The moment they turned the corner Bianca was sprinting out of the building like a human missile. She slammed into Yesi, wrapping up her baby sister in a fierce hug as she squeezed her tight. Santi watched for a moment then turned to watch as the rest of them came moving a bit slower than Bianca.
Cameron jogged to him, his clothes ruined and bloodstained, grief and exhaustion tattooed across his face. His long arms wrapped around Santi and Santi was forced to smell the stench of battle at close proximity as he was hugged. He reciprocated for a moment before patting his friend¡¯s back to let him up.
Tank was there the moment Santi came up for breath. A multitude of spells crashed over him as Tank worked without a word. He looked as stretched thin as Cameron but the relief on his face was overwhelming.
¡°Yesi first. I¡¯m fine.¡±
¡°No, you¡¯re not. You¡¯re a mess of half healed wounds, cracked bones, and torn ligaments. Did you already use a healing potion?¡±
¡°Two of them.¡±
¡°Damnit Santi, this is what you look like after two of them?¡±
¡°I¡¯m alive and most of them are dead. That¡¯s a win for me.¡±
¡°Yessenia, I¡¯ll be over there in a minute to start working on you, just let me get your brother to the point he can stay on his feet,¡± Tank spoke gently over towards Yessenia who still hadn¡¯t been released by Bianca.
There was no confirmation besides sobbing as the two sisters held each other. Cameron drifted over to put a hand on Bianca¡¯s shoulder and just stood close to offer his support.
Hana and Daniel had reunited and moved off to the side, sitting down with their shoulders firmly pressed together. Chloe was watching him with the eyes of a hawk, but the warryness of a street cat. Chad kept watch, arrow nocked and ready to be used at a moment''s notice. Santi was glad for all of them, to have come for him and his sister.
¡°What was camp like after I left?¡± Santi asked Tank.
¡°Shit was going wild, but Helena was locking it down quick. Rayleigh is staying with your mom right now. Safety for both of them. There¡¯s a lot of anger right now to the handful of people Abraham didn¡¯t take with him.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think Rayleigh had anything to do with this. Surprised he left her alive honestly.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think she¡¯s involved either, but people are scared and mad. We haven¡¯t had a human on human crime like this since the initialization. Fights and harsh words, but not this.¡±
¡°How was Mom?¡± Tank paused, his skills still working nonstop, as he thought of the right words.
¡°Quiet. She didn¡¯t leave your Dad. Didn¡¯t speak, didn¡¯t scream, just sat there quietly until Bianca and Cam left. Shock probably.¡±
¡°Go check on Yesi and let¡¯s go home.¡±
¡°Santi, you need to take this seriously. You are hurt. Badly. My skills are working but, you¡¯re a mess.¡±
¡°I know. We need to get home and try to straighten everything out. Without Abraham there food won¡¯t be coming in. I need to be there and getting things organized.¡± Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
¡°Marisol is smart and I bet she¡¯s already gotten things moving in the right direction.¡±
¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m worried about. If she decided to press the issue on leadership again, Tank, I won¡¯t tolerate it a second time.¡±
Tank grew quiet and his eyes darkened for a moment, his body tensing. For a moment Santi feared his friend would offer a rebuttal, that he wouldn¡¯t understand what needed to be done. Tank sighed, his shoulders slumping and Santi breathed a sigh of relief.
¡°Alright, let¡¯s get Yesi in shape and then get home then.¡± Tank walked off, breaking up the small cluster of people around Yesi while his skills worked overtime.
Chloe marched up to him and hugged him, putting her shoulder in his recently repaired sternum and squeezing hard enough that Santi struggled to breathe.
¡°Fuck you for running off and not taking us,¡± Chloe whispered harshly, not looking up to him.
¡°I wasn¡¯t really thinking.¡±
¡°We know. I¡¯m sorry about your Dad. He was a good man.¡±
¡°Thank you.¡±
She squeezed him again and backed up, using the back of her hand to wipe away an errant tear. She coughed once to clear her throat and turned to the side so she wouldn¡¯t meet his eyes.
¡°It¡¯s done then? Abraham is dead?¡±
¡°He¡¯s dead but it¡¯s not done. There was someone else here who Abraham was taking orders from. It was him that told Abraham to take the riftheart and Yesi.¡±
¡°Who was it?¡±
¡°Religious nut. Preaching about his lord this and that. He¡¯s good. Very, very, very good.¡±
¡°Better than you?¡±
¡°I¡¯m stronger right now, but his class is like Daniel just dialed to eleven. He¡¯s damn near invisible and sneaky with his attacks. If you run into him without me, stick close to Cameron and Tank.¡±
¡°You let him live?¡±
¡°No letting about it, I kicked his ass but they messed me up pretty bad. I couldn¡¯t finish him off and his people got him out.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve never seen you not finish a fight.¡±
¡°It¡¯s not the first time and it¡¯s not the last time. I¡¯m alive and that means I can keep trying again and again until I bury the bastard. Just have to keep practicing until I can handle him and his agents permanently.¡±
¡°Next time we¡¯ll be there with you. As a team.¡±
¡°As a team,¡± Santi agreed, the two of them meeting each other¡¯s eyes.
¡°Alright! We¡¯re good to travel. Let¡¯s go home!¡± Tank broke the growing tension between him and Chloe. The others pretended not to have noticed and then they were away again. They followed the streets out of downtown, avoiding the freeway that Santi had come from.
Bianca had dragged Yesi until the three of them were inches from each other, Yesi still huddled into her older sister. Cam walked behind them while the rest formed a ring as they walked in near silence. So much had happened in such a short time frame that Santi was having trouble processing it all.
Dad gone. Yessenia kidnapped. Abraham killed. An Apostate wounded but alive. The city clear of monster dens. All done in an afternoon.
It took an hour at their slow pace to make it back to Homebase. A distant train of thought took in the patrols that he saw out much further than normal. They were armed and armored in the first wave of dwarven gear.
The first patrol that had seen them had taken a trumpet and blasted out a few notes. Moments later the same notes rose again, then again, each growing more and more quiet as the patrols all around them called out. A decent early strategy for an early warning system. Duncan had clearly thought so as well.
The eight man team had offered them water and food and any assistance they could, but insisted they needed to finish their patrol. Santi and the team took them up on their water but left them with their food. After that encounter they ran into two more patrols before finally reaching the first barricade.
Everyone was tense, but the looks of pure relief when they saw Santi was enough to make him relax. There was no second attempt at unseating him. The soldiers were too happy seeing him coming back alive.
They finished their travel, with no one else bothering them until they stood in front of their home. His friends slowly broke away, Chad the first to leave and Chloe the last. She squeezed his wrist and then walked home without a word. Bianca was trembling as she stared at their house and Yessenia was clutching her hand with white knuckled intensity. Cam stood behind them all and just waited for the siblings to take those first steps.
The door opened first and Rayleigh stepped out. She walked swiftly down the steps and stood in front of them and spoke without pause.
¡°Your mother needs you all. You Dad was taken to the hospital. I cleaned up best I could with what I had. I¡¯m going home now.¡± She was looking distraught and nervous as she crossed the street towards her own shared house and Santi took note of the glares she received as she made it to the safety of her own house.
¡°Come on,¡± Santi muttered, walking up the few steps and into the house. The smells of violence were buried under the heady smells of lemon scented cleaning supplies. Everything had been cleaned up, plaster, wood splinters, smeared blood. There was still a hole in the wall where his father had been thrown through it.
Mom sat on the sofa with a blank stare at first. She wasn¡¯t looking at anything or anyone, just staring into space. As they all stepped into the room she looked up and life flickered in her eyes.
¡°Yesi?¡± Santi?¡± her voice was quavering, shaking as if she couldn¡¯t believe what she was seeing as she rose slowly. Her steps were short and quick, taking her to them in a blink and then they were both being wrapped into a crushing hug. Mom was gasping, choking on her words as she held them.
¡°Is he dead? The one who did that to Vicente?¡±
¡°He¡¯s dead. I killed him,¡± Santi answered her.
¡°Good. May he never rest.¡±
They stood there for a few minutes, just all holding each other until Gabriella finally released them. There were quiet tears and murmured words as they all held each other, not knowing what to say or how to act, just living in their shared pain.
Santi finally got them to sit down and went to the kitchen and started getting tea for them. Cam stood off to the side and helped quietly while the three women talked to each other. Santi prepped a few easy to make sandwiches and cups of cold tea before going and sitting with his family and they sat and drank and sipped their cold tea and ate their sandwiches in silence.
Ch. 2.57 Goodbye
57.
They buried Vicente the next day. Under a hot sun they laid him and the others killed in the rampage atop of pyres. Wood and other flammable items had been stacked up and now everyone was waiting. Santiago stood off to the side, shoulder to shoulder with his family as those who had lost someone walked up and spoke a few words.
Dale had been a funny guy. Quick to laugh and slow to anger and had liked nothing more than bouncing his grandkids on his knee. He had been killed trying to stop the murderers.
Maria had been walking with her girlfriend and they had startled Abraham¡¯s group who had cut her down before she could say a word. She had died and left a grieving partner and a shattered sister and mother.
Coy was coming back from looking for his missing daughter. He had grabbed at one of the attackers when the alarm sounded and had died for his efforts.
On and on it went, the people left broken by Abraham¡¯s betrayal speaking out of their missing family. Others had died before of course, but that had been for survival. Fighting against monsters, steel against fangs and claws and ravenous gullets.
Greed and envy had stolen these people¡¯s worlds and now they tried to pick up the broken pieces. Santi had seen and lived this before. How could one pick up the broken pieces and put them back when some of the pieces no longer existed? It left you different, missing and yearning for a time when you were whole.
Santiago witnessed it all. The tears, sorrow, anger, grief, disbelief, and thousand and one other feelings. [Air Current] stirred the hot air and brought whispers of conversations to his sensitive ears. Nothing alarming, few if any blamed him for Abraham¡¯s actions. In general they raged against the now dead man and his clique.
Santiago was going to have the others spread word quietly that there were others who worshiped a foreign entity who had tempted Abraham and had him betray his people. Even if he fell to Duncan in their next meeting, he couldn¡¯t allow the community to be swayed by the promises of easy power.
The morning shifted to afternoon and finally it was their turn. Bianca went first and she managed to say two words before she cracked like precious china. Her sobs swallowed her words as her grief swelled and broke free of the dams she had erected. They let her have a moment and when it was apparent she couldn¡¯t say anything Cameron went and wrapped his arms around her and herded her away and back to the family.
Yessenia strode forward next and stood with an iron back in front of the community and spoke in a trembling voice that wavered on the precipice of tears. The emotion was so thick that her voice was hardly more than a croak, but Santi used his spell to spread her words.
¡°My father was a good man, a kind man. He loved cooking and his kids and we could never tell which one came first.¡± There was a soft chuckle through the crowd at that, a breaking of the tension as others slowly relaxed.
¡°He was taken from us. It was too early and he should still be here. He tried to stop them from taking me. He tried so hard¡I¡¯m sorry, Dad. I¡¯m sorry I wasn¡¯t stronger,¡± her emotions overwhelmed her and she huddled in on herself as she walked over to them. Bianca surged out of Cameron¡¯s arms and wrapped her up in a hug so fierce that Santi feared Yessenia would break.
Mom strode forward with measured grace. Each step a finality, a stoppage as she strode closer and closer to the mass funeral pyre. She turned slow as a glacier and looked at them all, emotionless and blank. She blinked slowly and spoke softly, only Santi¡¯s spell letting her words travel further than a few feet.
¡°Vicente and I have been together since we were children. We raised children, we should have grown old together. Instead I have to watch him leave me. Leave us. He was a strong man, it takes a strong man to be kind. To care for others before themselves. It was weak men who killed him. May they burn for all eternity,¡± rage rasped in Mom¡¯s voice with her last sentence as she walked back to them. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
After the first few days since they reunited Mom had seemed to slink back into herself. She was awake and moving and spoke with the girls, but the energetic and strong willed woman she had been before the integration had disappeared. The scars on her face and the haunted look in her eyes had been clear signs of the trauma she had endured.
Mom stood with a straight back next to the family and both of the girls grasped her hands on either side of her and they stood there together as Santi walked up to his shroud wrapped father.
This hadn¡¯t been planned, him speaking last. It just was what had happened. Half the settlement had attended the funerals, filling the field they had cleared and made ready for the burning.
¡°I didn¡¯t know your friends or family who are up here with my Dad. I¡¯m sorry I don¡¯t know them, having heard your stories of them, I wish I had taken the time to get to know them. We have buried people before. Too many people. This new world we live in is brutal and unrelenting.¡± Santi took a minute and sniffed quickly as his own feeling rumbled through his chest.
¡°Dad was kind. He was funny. He was so much that I can¡¯t say it all. The world is darker without him, I know that. It¡¯s darker without all of these people up here. We are a community now, in a way that hasn¡¯t been seen since the medieval times. Our success is our survival, our numbers, our strength. I grieve for my Father and I grieve for those who died trying to stop his killers and save my sister. Let them always be remembered.¡± Santi trailed off as he realized he didn¡¯t want to keep talking. He had planned a speech, a way of hinting at the upcoming wars, of banding together, but he was tired.
Santi hurried to his Mom and she opened her arms and he folded himself into her loving embrace as the two of them held each other for a few moments. Each of his sisters in turn hugged him and he reveled in that for a moment. His father was gone, but they were here. His sisters and mom and friends who were family. They were still here and he couldn¡¯t collapse, not now, not ever again.
¡°Bianca, want to do it?¡± Santi asked, nodding at the pyre. Bianca froze and turned like a statue to look at the mass of dry wood and linen wrapped bodies. She nodded slowly and walked toward the pyre. She pulled out a little pocket knife and used a new skill she had acquired. A spark of flame leapt from the blade and landed on the wood and began to burrow. Flame ate away wood and then the wood burst into a conflagration, the oil they had poured in the heart of the flames licking upward.
Yesi shook as mana twisted around her. The little grimoire he had earned had given them another gift. A spell of remembrance. Yessenia had spent all night and some of this morning working it out, laying out the spell ingredients and arranging the pyre correctly.
As flames licked around the bodies, Santi watched as the bodies were absorbed by the flame. They didn¡¯t burn and turn to ash, but rather dissipated into the inferno as it roared. The raw emotion of the grieving, of the happy memories and righteous anger, of love and sadness, it all mingled together and was consumed by that purifying flame.
Wood cracked and broke to charcoal, sliding away into ashen heaps at a rate that was supernatural. The red-orange flames shifted, lightening, paling until they were near invisible as they burned. The heavy air lightened as the spell worked and Yesi swayed on her feet, face paling as she was slowly drained.
If a wizard had done this off the cuff it would have taken monstrous amounts of power to accomplish it. A peak Acolyte level wizard if not a low level Disciple. With the spell forms written out in materials, wood, salt, oil, and a few small treasures and fueled by the emotions of a grieving community, it was just at the edge of her ability to complete.
Santi felt a tingle of pride as his sister held firm and watched as the pyre burned down to nothing. Mounded ash sank into the earth and thick green grass sprang up, flowers flowing fast and heady and a sense of acceptance and love washed over the entire crowd.
The dead were gone, their spirits whisked off to wherever it was that spirits went. But the memories and the emotions from the living for the deceased were present. They formed the basis of this glade that was growing more and more lush with every passing second.
When the spell was finished settling, one could walk through here and feel the solemn grace of a graveyard while still seeing the joy of life lived. Santi had seen a few of them with different levels of success.
Some glades had grown so thick with remembrances that they had become almost physical. Memories forming as one walked, taking up powerful moments that the living had remembered while the spell was active.
Others had been twisted by hatred and rage. Their memories of life and love consumed by the rage that they had been taken, the sorrow of living while the others lay silent and cold. Nightmares that had broken strong minds, emotions overwhelming and causing curses to form in a constant cycle.
This one was good. The small talk of happy memories had lightened the mood enough that they shouldn¡¯t have to worry about curses forming. Likely the opposite. This could become a powerful ward for those who were cursed or fueled by curses.
¡°In a day or two the field will settle,¡± Santi whispered into Yessenia¡¯s ear. She nodded to him and he slid an arm around her shoulder and started to lead her and everyone else away. The entire procession broke down around him, everyone going home to take a day or two for themselves. Santi didn¡¯t have the luxury. He¡¯d get his family settled and then he had work to do.
Ch. 2.58 Next Steps
58.
Santi sat in his old room in Homebase. The small closet still had the stench of old sweat and cleaning chemicals. Santi sat with his back against the wall and tried to clear his mind before he went through the long list of System alerts that was waiting for him. He had gotten Bianca, Yessenia, and Mom home just fine and Cam had stayed with them while Santi said he had to do some stuff. This was just the first of the things he needed to do before he could rest.
Primus Alpha lvl. 47
Abraham Lee lvl. 28
Dulce Rodriguez lvl. 29
The last three kill notifications were the three he didn¡¯t want to look away from. Abraham was gone. In the short time that he had been in Santi¡¯s life he had been a minor headache who had rapidly disintegrated a cornerstone of the life Santi had wanted to build. There was no joy at seeing the floating words, no relief, nothing but an emptiness in his chest and heart.
Dulce Rodriguez had been the woman who had slowed him down when he went to finish off the Apostate. She hadn¡¯t been much of a challenge, but her sacrifice had made sure that he wasn¡¯t going to be able to ever relax until Duncan was dead and buried.
The Primus Alpha¡¯s death was the final straw of breaking the monster¡¯s grip on the city. There were still a few small rifts here and there and the possibility of a monster den forming was always possible, but for the most part, the city was clear. They could resettle the city, scavenge in relative safety. Rebuild their lives in semi-peace.
Once Duncan was dead.
Congratulations, you are an Air Mage lvl. 42
He had started that dreadful day at level 34. Eight levels in a single day was nearly unheard of. A great feat in most cases, Santi scoffed to himself. There had been great hunts and challenges in the future. Powerful monsters that had been slain that had netted people four or five levels after they brought them down. One Acolyte entering a fight to earn eight levels though was a grand thing.
He had cut a bloody swath through the downtown and left human and monster alike broken in his wake. There was something sinister about it, killing his fellow man bringing his level up higher and higher. When the pillar arrives it would become like that again, for with the pillar the others would come too.
Santiago V. Silva
Air Mage lvl. 42
Strength: 35 (70)
Durability: 38 (73)
Stamina: 40 (75)
Dexterity: 35 (70)
Vitality: 40 (75)
Perception: 35 (70)
Intelligence: 96 (131)
Mana: 125 (160)
Willpower: 96 (131)
Potential: 99%
That long and drawn out fight hadn¡¯t rattled him, but had reinforced the importance of having physical stats. Boosting his stamina, dexterity and durability made him feel a bit better about his odds. Perception because of the Apostate¡¯s ability to simply melt into his surroundings. With the titles and careful allotment he could keep up with physical classers for a bit longer.
Santi reviewed the fight in his mind and believed there was plenty of room for improvement with his current arsenal of spells. He could perform plenty with what he had right now. [Air Manipulation] could be used to mimic plenty of the spells that he would have access to even if they weren¡¯t as powerful or efficient if he had the actual spell. What he really needed was a movement ability, something to help him rapidly relocate when said assassin decided to appear behind him.
The available spell list was longer than it had been the last time he had looked and now that he had two spell slots open Santi was tempted to give up his plans with combining the spell forms he had seen earlier. It would still require seventeen more levels to have all the slots needed for two common rank spells.
Finishing things off quickly with his spell forms wasn¡¯t happening. His spells could kill, but overwhelming instant death wasn¡¯t something he could do well right now. With the morph blade he could finish something off quickly. Santi had to wonder if he had made a mistake by not taking [Wind Blade]. He had thought he was right to stay with his path, to continue on with being a pure mage, but in the quiet moments he had to wonder. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Achievement: Kill an Alpha Monster
Reward: Loot Box (Common)
Achievement: Kill 10 Sapients
Reward: Loot Box (Minor)
Achievement: Destroy a Greater Monster Den
Reward: Loot Box (Common)
Achievement: Revenge
Reward: Loot Box (Lesser)
Santi hadn¡¯t realized the den was a greater den. The Infernal¡¯s blessing was what had pushed it over the line probably. Greater den¡¯s could overrun settlements with ease if allowed to fester. The strength of the den increased the leveling speed of the monsters and their reproduction and growth. The hundreds of the monsters that had infested the downtown area made sense now.
Two silver chests materialized first, then the crystal chest, and finally the wooden chest. Revenge wasn¡¯t something too many spoke of in the first timeline, but when a loved one, a member of your bloodline, or even someone you had sworn to protect, died by a sapient being, then it opened up the possibility of receiving a reward. It had been the most reliable way to receive an achievement and many had seen them once the fighting had started to increase amongst each other and the invaders.
The wooden chest was filled with coins. Literal blood money that Santi had earned from killing his father¡¯s murderer. Santi let the pile of wooden coins spill out across the floor and just shoved them to the corner. There was an urge not to take them, but he couldn¡¯t afford that. For now he would just let them sit.
Smooth crystal was lifted up with ease and Santi peered down into his reward for killing human beings. He had known how many he had actually killed in his rampage, the kill notifications had made sure of that, but seeing his reward was different. A simple triangular dagger lay on the bottom of the chest.
It was sheathed in plain black leather with a belt wrapped up around it. There was a good heft to it and when Santi pulled the blade free he saw that the blade was stygian, the faint light spilling through the cracks in the door being absorbed by the metal blade.
Enchanted Dagger
When used to end a Sapient¡¯s life, the blade will transfer a temporary boost of 5% of the target¡¯s highest stat.
Another powerful weapon but not something that he could base his entire fighting style around like the morph weapon. His morph seemed to heat on his arm at the thought, a contented purring rumbling in his mind. Santi looked down at the curled up liquid metal and thought good thoughts about it. How sharp it was, how fast it could change, how powerful it was. The purring grew louder.
That was something he¡¯d have to ponder later.
Santi sheathed the dagger and placed it atop of the pile of wooden white coins. The silver chests were next and Santi didn¡¯t hesitate to pry open the first of them. He was sure that the chest was from killing the Alpha when he took in the reward.
Coat of Strength
Plus 15 to Strength when worn
Will Repair Damage with mana
The long coat was made of black fur so short it looked like velvet, eerily close to what the Alpha Primus¡¯s coat had looked like. Santi pulled it out and shook it, the plush feel of the black fur was like silk between his fingers, slippery and smooth. Santi slipped it on and felt the coat shrink and become form fitting. The stifling room seemed to become easier to breathe in, the heat of the day fading away.
There wasn''t a surge of strength but Santi could feel it in his muscles, like a brief pump during the gym. An extra bit of strength that he normally wouldn¡¯t have.
The final chest opened and Santi reached down and started pulling out small wooden racks of potions. Six pedestals of six potions each. Two healing, two stamina, and two mana. The glass tinkled as he moved it around the room. He¡¯d give one of the racks to Tank and he owed a few potions to Daniel. The other healing potions he¡¯d keep. The stamina could be handed out and around to his frontline fighters as could the mana potions.
Currently his team was very solid from a non-regressor standpoint. He couldn¡¯t imagine having had their strength originally. They were weeks ahead of where they should be. The issue was Duncan was likely training his people hard, those that had survived anyway.
The last of the chests dissolved into the aether and Santi scooped everything up. The coat had plenty of pockets and the coins quickly filled. The belt and dagger slipped on well and Santi made sure he could easily reach it with his left hand. The vials of potions were carefully picked up and stacked up and then he was out of the room and heading toward Tank.
The big man was walking around the medical station, talking to the others as they all worked around the handful of injured. Tank just raised an eyebrow at the six jingling racks of potions until Santi handed the first rack of potions to him.
¡°Reward for the fight?¡± Tank asked as he held the potions like they were the most precious thing in the world. To him they likely were, an elixir that could knit together the most grievous of wounds. They were a miracle in a bottle to a medical professional.
¡°Yeah. For clearing the monster den.¡±
¡°And the coat, knife, and the clacking of coins I hear in your pockets?¡±
¡°More rewards. Didn¡¯t seem right to open it all up before we said good-bye.¡±
¡°I can understand that. Listen, I¡¯ll finish up here and head over to your place tonight with the others?¡±
¡°That¡¯s fine. What for?¡±
¡°Uhmmmm, I don¡¯t know. The whole group of humans who were fighting with the monsters and Abraham¡¯s people?¡±
¡°Oh, yeah them. Yeah, that''s fine. Swing by.¡±
¡°Are you ok, Santi?¡±
Santiago stopped and looked his friend in the eyes for the first time. How could he be alright?
¡°No, but I¡¯ll get there. Come on over and I¡¯ll pass out some of those ration bars I got.¡±
¡°Alright man, see you then.¡±
Santi left Homebase and walked to the dwarves'' house. He rapped on the door twice and waited until Torin opened the door. The dwarf looked better than he had, but the effects of his time imprisoned were still imprinted on his haunted features.
¡°Aye?¡±
¡°Tomorrow. Send over Grimvr and one other. We begin martial training.¡±
¡°Aye. It shall be done. We have started to disassemble the golems and will shortly have weapons for your guard that aren¡¯t trash.¡±
¡°Thank you Torin. If there is anything you need, please let me know.¡±
¡°I shall. Good evening Santiago.¡± The dwarf bowed his head and closed the door softly. Santi was already walking, heading home. There was more to do, more organizing and restructuring. Training to complete and men and women to arm. Scouts to send out and hunt down those who had escaped him.
Tomorrow.
Ch. 2.59 Epilogue
59.
Naomi passed the straining plate over to Marcus, smiling graciously as her husband took it. Thick slabs of meat smothered in rich gravy, the heady aromas filled the small dining room as her family and closest confidantes ate dinner. Alan was there, presentable for once in clean clothes. He smiled and laughed as he chatted with both of her daughters at once, holding two separate conversations at the same time.
The man had been a revelation once he had acclimated to his surroundings. There was a festive air to him, a joy of life that pressed back on the hardships that surrounded them all. He spoke of his son with wonder and awe, always using the present tense as if there was no world in which Cameron could be dead.
Naomi wished that he would never have to face that harsh reality. So many were gone and the odds of his son living through the past months was just too extreme. She¡¯d be there to help him when the loss finally settled on him, steering him away from the madness of grief. And being prepared to do what was necessary if that madness overwhelmed him.
Already in a month he had surged to become the second strongest person in the mountain community. He led several small groups, alternating them through as they grew tired while his energy never wavered. A true leech. It wasn¡¯t an attractive class name, but it was powerful. Lots of skills that allowed him to absorb mana, strength, vitality. He could heal as fast as he took damage, every one of his punches growing in strength.
Marcus and the girls had been shocked when they watched him strip his shirt off for the first time and fight in just shorts. Every inch of his body was a weapon, sapping away with every strike. Alan never said what exactly his base build was, but Naomi had watched carefully. Dexterity, durability, and vitality were her educated guesses for his top three.
Speed to close the distance, the ability to take the damage he needed to begin his chain of attacks, and the vitality required to keep healing. Willpower was low, his sanity was frayed and trembling on its last legs. No matter how much he smiled and laughed, she couldn¡¯t stop remembering the beast he had been.
¡°Love, why so dour?¡± Marcus chided, nudging her and leaning in close. There was no true privacy in a room filled with Acolytes. They had finished their evolutions over the last few days, the cream of the crop and her closest allies the first to breach the bottleneck.
Key members of the community would go next. The farmers and crafters and some of the defense force who were required to protect the settlement when the fighters were gone. Slowly Naomi would work her way to the bottom levels of the settlement and all those who had yet to find their niche.
¡°Just thinking of what¡¯s going on outside of our walls,¡± she replied, offering Marcus a wan smile. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
¡°Nasty is what it is. I have nightmares of our trip up here.¡±
¡°We were lucky to find you all,¡± Mrs. Park said solemnly. A quiet descended over the table as palpable aura of remembrance and fear filled the room. Naomi felt for them, this was the scariest thing they had ever experience. Yet, part of her wanted to snap at them for being so weak.
She had lived through the true horror of watching her family die. There had been no safety for her, no community to welcome her with open arms and protect her and guide her. The memories were deep scars that brutalized her psyche and only the sight of her smiling, laughing, living children could soothe those aches.
¡°So, you all met as you left the city?¡± Alan asked, leaning back and placing his interlocked fingers over his flat belly.
¡°She saved my granddaughter from a lizard-thing.¡±
¡°Nia did the saving. It was a perfect shot,¡± Naomi said as her daughter ducked her head as a wave of adoration echoed around the table.
¡°That¡¯s good luck there. You¡¯ve been a guardian angel to so many people, Naomi.¡± Alan¡¯s content look flickered and a hint of suspicion and paranoia slithered across his face in an instant. If she hadn¡¯t been looking she wouldn¡¯t have noticed it.
¡°It is not luck that we save those who need it. All are welcome as long as they obey the rules of the settlement.¡± The entire table joined voices as the second half the sentence was still rolling off her tongue. She repeated the mantra every time a scouting party went off to prowl the mountain valleys and roads.
¡°All of you laugh, but it¡¯s a good sentiment,¡± Naomi defended herself with a quick smile and a swing of her empty fork at the group. The dinner dissolved into simple talk for a while and then naturally broke up. Cleanup was just dishes, all of the food had been consumed down to the last morsel as the new appetites of the Acolyte¡¯s was rearing its ravenous head.
Alan lagged behind, letting Mrs. Park and Iseul and the others leave in front of him. It was evident he wanted a word and the others were gracious enough to leave promptly. Naomi had a feeling she knew what this was going to be about.
¡°Naomi, I just want to thank you for taking me in. You probably saved my life out there and I don¡¯t have the words to express how deeply grateful I am to you for that.¡±
¡°But?¡±
¡°But¡I want to find my son,¡± Alan let the facade of happiness and joy fall away and she see the deep yearning in him. It was a wound that would not heal with him sitting her relatively safe and fed.
¡°Fine. I¡¯ll be joining you though.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t have to do that.¡±
¡°Yes. I do.¡±
¡°It¡¯s like that?¡±
¡°Alan, you¡¯re a dangerous man. When we found you, you were on the brink. I don¡¯t want to see you tip over that edge.¡±
¡°He¡¯s alive. I know he is.¡±
¡°I pray that he is. But I¡¯ll still be going with you.¡±
¡°Couple days enough time for you to get everything in order here?¡±
¡°Yes. Let¡¯s say day after tomorrow. You, me, and a few others.¡±
¡°Marcus and the kids?¡±
¡°No. They¡¯ll be staying here.¡±
Alan looked at her for a moment and that wellspring of anxiety and fear slowly closed and his normal cheerful expression showed back up.
¡°Alright. Day after tomorrow we can head up North.¡±
Ch. 3.01 Sparring
1.
Grimv attacked with the ferocity of a feral badger. His axe sang a harmony of death as the sharp steel split the air in a discordant howl. Santi didn¡¯t dance backwards for once, but met him on open ground. The morph blade twisted and struck, wily as a serpent, darting around the dwarf¡¯s guard and striking his thick breastplate with a loud gong sound.
The dwarf grunted and stopped, surprise crossing his face as he nodded his wide, sweaty head at Santi. It was a good point, their duel not putting the two combatants at even points. Grimvr had earlier managed to land a powerful blow with his axe in Santi¡¯s gut, only the heavy armor he wore prevented himself from being disemboweled.
The sparring armor was a heavy duty plate that stretched from crown to toes and could repulse nearly any causal blow. Torin had worked hard in weaving his magics in it to make it light and impregnable as long as one didn¡¯t use any type of skills or spells on it. A mundane weapon was for all intents and purposes useless against it.
¡°You¡¯re getting better,¡± the dwarf said, voice only partially muffled. The steel had been made transparent somehow and the two could look each other in the eyes as they fought. Torin¡¯s works now graced both Santi¡¯s own personal collection and Homebase¡¯s practice yards.
¡°I had to trick you.¡±
¡°Matters little to the tricked if their guts are on the ground. Honor and skill are only useful for the living after all,¡± the dwarf said with a wide grin.
¡°True enough. To three?¡±
¡°Of course, on my mark?¡±
¡°Say when.¡±
¡°WHEN!¡± Grimvr didn¡¯t give Santi time to prepare, lunging forward and sending a crippling blow for his right knee. Forced to twist away, his counter lacked the heft and speed needed to bring the smaller fighter down. Grimvr simply smacked the dull point of the morph blade away with a gauntlet.
The dwarf kept himself tight to Santi, his double headed axe a frenzy of slashing steel that took every ounce of Santi¡¯s ability to stay ahead of. He had the advanced stats needed to beat the dwarf easily, but ever since the dwarf¡¯s evolution a week ago, it seemed to matter little. In a contest of skill, where both parties tried to restrain themselves to a normal level, Santi was coming out on the losing end too often for his liking.
Santi blocked a swing, diverting the axe away from himself and lashing out with his armored foot toward Grimvr¡¯s side. Steel clanged on steel and Grimvr grunted, but didn¡¯t slow as he let go of the axe and tackled Santi around the waist, driving him into the dirt.
The dwarf was shorter than him, but heavier, and Santi struggled to get out from under him as metal plated fists rained down on his own armored forearms. The morph blade made it so that he was never unarmed and it changed from a sword to a dagger and Santi drove it at Grimvr.
Grimvr saw it coming and his thick hand caught Santi¡¯s wrist, holding his wrist still as the two of them strained. The heavy blows continued to come though, battering him around as Santi tried to finish him off.
¡°WHAT! ARE! YOU! DOING!¡± Torin¡¯s voice was a bellow across the field, freezing both of them in mid action. They turned and looked at the slightly older dwarf who stood there, face mottled red with fury.
¡°Sparring?¡± Grimvr responded, his deep voice suddenly unsure.
¡°Sparring requires weapons. Not beating my fucking armor like a pair of drunken pugilists!¡±
Grimvr scrambled to his feet and offered Santi a hand up, hoisting him with ease. They both pulled their clear helms off and Santi sighed with relief as the fresh air chilled the sweat on his face.
¡°Sorry Hall Master. I apologize for disrespecting your craft,¡± Grimvr bent his head in apology and Santi did too, recognizing a cultural lapse here. He had no idea why Grimvr was suddenly so sincere and apologetic and why the normally relaxed Torin looked ready to strangle the two of them at the same time.
Torin released a huff of air and turned back to the house that Santi and his family had taken up in. After¡after, they had moved. It had been a quick and simple decision and their limited amount of stuff had taken only an afternoon to move.
The new house was larger and slightly further away from Homebase which had slowly lost its central importance. Now it was almost exclusively a medical facility that Tank and a few doctors ran. They kept stores of System rewarded health potions there, bought at good price from Santi. A small garrison was stationed in the old house, a half dozen of the better fighters that remained with Helena.
Most of them had migrated to the new reformed scavengers under Rayleigh. They ranged further and further now, stretching far outside of the city limits and they were encountering more and more powerful beasts. Tristan and Chad had branched off as hunters, chasing game down and bringing back Acolyte level meat for the settlement with a few others.
The last six weeks had seen their small settlement undergo rapid change as the new order began to sink in. Marisol and Helena kept up their end of the bargain and a Bill of Rights had been drafted and posted along with a set of simple rules and the punishments for breaking said rules. Helena was left in charge of that. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Santi and what was left of his team focused on clearing dens, more troublesome and powerful monsters, and the occasional rift. Chad had left to become a hunter and Tank spent most of his time running his infirmary, but would tag along for the more dangerous runs. Bianca and Cameron hadn¡¯t flinched from the course and Chloe stayed as a central pillar.
Daniel and Hana had formed a ranger company of sorts, half scouts, half hunters, and completely nutty. When Santi put out the word for a hunt they showed up though, the two of them never going far from each other. Six weeks could change a lot of things, but it also made some things clear.
It was different. Quiet. Empty. There was a space in all of them now that couldn¡¯t be filled, only covered up. Mom was the worst. Her silence had been broken and her quiet tranquility replaced by a woman driven by raw madness. She trained constantly. With the dwarves, scouts, fighters, scavengers, anyone and everyone who would face her across the dueling ring.
Every day there were less who were willing to do so. Her skill with the spear Torin had made for her as a funeral gift, another cultural difference, was growing by leaps and bounds. It wasn¡¯t natural. There was nothing natural about twenty hour days of training.
She lived in the arena, and if it wasn¡¯t for the new requirements to venture out of the city limits, she would be out there. Anyone who wished to leave the city had to be Acolyte level or higher. Peak Initiates could leave the walls of the settlement, but even then they were given strict warnings. It was simply growing too dangerous for those who hadn¡¯t gotten strong enough to fight out there.
Torin had taken an interest in Mom¡¯s training and had decided he¡¯d craft her armor. Full plate, light as a feather and stronger than oak he had claimed. The translation had claimed it, but Santi figured it was close enough. Going with her shield and spear he had already made her, she¡¯d be the best equipped person in the entire settlement barring Santi¡¯s personal team.
Yessenia had went in the other direction. She didn¡¯t leave the laboratory she had made for herself underneath the house without family around her. A low level Acolyte golem stood guard outside her door, courtesy of Grimvr who had made it to her to pay for his evolution. Her own evolution had seen her class change from [Planner] to [Ritualist]. It was a powerful class and already multiple spells were placed around the house, just waiting for the right word or trigger to ignite their protections.
¡°Good fight. It would have been better if the Hall Master hadn¡¯t interrupted us, but I was sure of victory.¡±
¡°Your victory?¡±
¡°Oh of course, if it wasn¡¯t for the thick helm, I would have caved in your thick skull!¡±
¡°If it wasn¡¯t for that armored gauntlet, this thick skull would have broken your fingers!¡±
¡°Oh, lad. I don¡¯t think that had the sting you think it did.¡± Grimvr offered him a sly smile and the two walked to the water bucket they kept in the back under the shade. It wasn¡¯t for drinking, but rather for clearing the sweat, blood, and dirt off of themselves. A little plastic First-Aid kit hung on a hook. The only thing inside of it was a pair of healing potions that Santi had earned two weeks ago.
¡°I wanna go with you and your peoples the next time you go out. I need the levels,¡± Grimvr said.
¡°That didn¡¯t sound like much of a request. More of a demand,¡± Santi fired back.
¡°Damn translator is removing the nuance of my words, I can assure you, I was quite polite with my groveling,¡± Grimvr lied.
¡°Oh, might as well. It shouldn¡¯t be too much longer. Daniel said he had found some tracks to where he thinks the others might have fled too.¡±
¡°The rest of the traitors?¡±
¡°Yes. He¡¯s been searching for a while now. North and East, toward the mountains there. Plenty of small towns and cities they could be hidden in until they reach the mountain passes.¡±
¡°Did not Cameron say his father was in the mountains?¡±
¡°Much further South. Weeks of traveling from here.¡±
¡°He¡¯s getting anxious about it. He¡¯s talking to your sister when we all spar together.¡±
¡°It makes sense. The competition is almost over and then we can be on our way and start heading down there.¡±
¡°I think I want to go with you.¡±
¡°Leave your clan mates?¡±
¡°This is a new world and I wish to see it. They will understand.¡±
¡°I have no objection. I don¡¯t know who¡¯s going to be going yet, but it won¡¯t be much longer.¡±
¡°Good, now let¡¯s get dinner ready, shall we?¡±
¡°You¡¯re just freeloading. You saw that deer Tristan brought in and the potatoes that Hestor harvested,¡± Santi deduced, staring at the little glutton.
¡°Much better than the ration bars. And we are good friends, are we not?¡±
¡°Good enough friends that I¡¯m willing to trust you with an important task tonight.¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Have you ever peeled a potato?¡±
¡°Can¡¯t say that I have.¡±
¡°Come my friend and I will introduce you to peeling potatoes. It is a very important job.¡± Santi led him into the house and the kitchen that they were all using. Santi had salvaged what he could from their destroyed kitchen and the heavy cast iron pans were still being used.
Bianca and Cam were sitting around the table, sipping on tea, while they talked quietly. A pile of forearm length potatoes sat behind them in a red plastic bucket. Thick stalks of fresh asparagus were on the counter and the deer that Chad had brought down a day ago had been butchered and choice cuts brought over.
Cam and Bianca took one look at the duo, glanced back at the pile of vegetables, and fled without a word. Cam engulfed Bianca¡¯s free hand in a smooth motion as they raced away.
¡°They will not be partaking in the peeling of potatoes?¡± Grimvr asked.
¡°They are weak people, my friend. Not worthy of the task before you.¡±
¡°I am beginning to feel as if I have been tricked.¡±
¡°No, no, not at all. You¡¯re going to earn your food tonight though,¡± Santi let slip a now rare smile as he grabbed a knife and showed Grmivr the proper way to peel a potato.
Ch. 3.2 Family Dinner
2.
¡°Damn, this is good Santi!¡± Cameron stated between heaped forkfuls of mashed potatoes. His plate, once a platter, was nearly cleared as he attacked the meal with an energetic zeal. All around him, those who had been Acolytes for a while, were eating with an extra level of appreciation. It was one of their first meals made with appropriate food sources that weren¡¯t the ration bars they¡¯d been earning in award chests.
Daniel and Hana were, for once, not staring at each other as they both hovered inches from their plates. Bianca was only a bit more restrained while Yessenia sat quietly and ate slowly. Each bite chewed with a thoroughness that was almost mechanical, her eyes glazed over, lost in thought.
Chloe and Rayleigh were both to Santi¡¯s left, the two girls having rekindled their friendship over the last few weeks. With Abraham gone and Rayleigh now in charge the point of contention between them was gone and they wasted no time in reconnecting.
Grimvr was eating the potatoes like he was angry at them and after having spent an hour carefully peeling and cleaning them, Santi could understand that frustration. Tank sat next to Grimvr and the two spoke in quick sentences, chuckling often as they both seemed to enjoy the hearty meal.
Santi could begin to understand why Dad had liked cooking so much. The act itself was peaceful in a way, rewarding to see the dishes he ended up with from the raw ingredients they had started with. The real reward was seeing everyone¡¯s joy in eating his work. They enjoyed what he had spent time and labor doing, his hard work instantly rewarded not in levels and shed blood, but in smiles and laughter and the scrape of metal on porcelain.
¡°Enjoy it while you can. The first crop wasn¡¯t big enough and it¡¯ll be a while before the second crop. The meat is starting to get easier to source at least, more and more animals have survived the burst and managed to level. Tristan took some type of hunter class and has been showing people how to track them.¡±
¡°The meat is good, don¡¯t get me wrong. But, damn brother, these potatoes are heavenly.¡±
¡°Acolyte level food. New taste buds and higher perception to fully experience the meal. I did the bare minimum on them.¡±
¡°If this is the bare minimum, I don¡¯t think I could withstand a full gourmet course,¡± Chloe said. Her plate was cleared and she was leaning back in her chair with her fingers threaded over her stomach.
¡°Just wait till a [Cook] or [Chef] class appears. We¡¯ll be eating good,¡± Santi told them. He could remember the camp foods that their [Cooks] had made and heard rumors of the heavenly delights Disciple level [Chefs] could create. Far above his paygrade, it had been something the Council of Champions had been able to partake in or what the ultra wealthy had managed to buy.
¡°I think Dad would have liked being a [Cook],¡± Yessenia finally spoke up and the room fell into silence as everyone¡¯s eyes turned to her. She had been so quiet for so long that hearing her speak in a public setting was tantamount to watching lightning strike twice.
¡°I think he would have too,¡± Bianca said, breaking the silence and everyone turned their gaze away from Yesi. Santi felt the familiar rush of rage and sorrow he felt every time he was reminded of what happened to her. The helplessness of not being able to fix it.
¡°Found another den. Well Delilah and her scouts did. A day or so Northwest. Close to the coast. She said it was too dangerous for her or even my team to handle,¡± Daniel said as the table discussion changed from the joy of food back to work.
¡°Alright. Chloe, what¡¯s our schedule looking like?¡± Chloe had taken over the team¡¯s scheduling once she realized Santi was often double booking or even triple booking them to be at places. Santi was more than happy to have her deal with the executive functions while he worked on drills and teamwork.
¡°Free for two days. Got a rift that Rayleigh and her team said they can clear out, but wanted back up just in case,¡± Chloe said.
¡°Rayleigh, do you guys actually need the help?¡±
¡°Probably not. We¡¯re just thin on veteran people. Almost everyone is new and raw. Even in comparison to where we were. It¡¯s some type of spider monster and it¡¯s low Acolyte, maybe even peak Initiate rift.¡±
¡°Where¡¯s it at?¡±
¡°South East. Tiny little town of about four hundred or so people. Rift cleared the whole town we think. There¡¯s some spider webs and stuff everywhere, Daniel¡¯s people didn¡¯t think it was too dangerous.¡±
¡°Alright. Daniel, peel a trio of your people over to Rayleigh¡¯s clear team. We¡¯ll get Helena to put up two squads for backup but have it be Rayleigh¡¯s operation.¡±
A round of affirmatives rang out across the table. It was getting easier and easier for him to issue orders like this. Finding the right people to train and organize had been the key. Torin and Grimvr had been a massive help as they had started to provide training and materials that allowed the settlement to be successful. There were plenty of people in the settlement with the right mindset and skills to organize and Santi had been working on finding them and putting them in place to succeed. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
¡°Daniel, Hana, I want both of you with us when we do and meet up with Delilah. Tank, can you get free from the clinic?¡±
¡°It¡¯s been slow. Shouldn''t be a problem at all,¡± Tank rumbled from the end of the table.
¡°Grimvr, get Torin¡¯s permission and you can come with us.¡±
¡°Understood.¡±
¡°I want to come as well,¡± Mom¡¯s voice carried across the room as she and Torin walked in. She still wore her armor and her face was covered in a sheen of sweat. The heady mix of body odor and armor came with her as she grabbed a plate and began to fill it with the leftover in the middle of the table.
¡°Grimvr, we shall both go. I must see how my works perform,¡± the older dwarf slapped Grimvr on the shoulder as he walked past him and began to fill his own plate. Everyone shuffled down, creating spots for the two older people to squeeze into as chairs were grabbed for them.
¡°Are you ready for that, Mom?¡± Yesi asked, voice trembling.
¡°Torin has given me the best weapons aside from Santi¡¯s morph blade. I¡¯ve trained hard and have the skill, I just need the levels now.¡±
¡°You won¡¯t be able to fight effectively in the den at all, but we can search for opponents for you,¡± Santi said. If his Mom could get the levels necessary to evolve it¡¯d be a massive weight off his shoulders.
¡°That¡¯s all I need. Torin will stay with me.¡±
¡°I shall,¡± Torin promised as he poked with his fork at the mountain of mashed potatoes, looking at Grimvr with confusion written across his face.
¡°It¡¯s delicious, Hall Master. Try it with the brown sauce.¡±
¡°Yesi, you should come as well. Try out your power in the field,¡± Santi floated the suggestion to his sister. He cringed inwardly as Yesi seemed to fold under the weight of the possibility of leaving her sanctum.
¡°No¡maybe, ummm,...next time,¡± she stammered, face burning red with shame as she stood in a hurry, leaving her half eaten plate behind her as she fled out of the room.
The mood soured as everyone stared at her now deserted seat. Santi wished to have Abraham in front of him again, just to rip him in pieces for what he had done to Yessenia. Santi heard her crying at night, the strangled screams as nightmares tore at her, the haunted look in her eyes.
¡°Is there a therapist or someone who could work with her or something?¡± Rayleigh asked, concern on her face.
¡°Tank?¡± Santi asked. A psychiatrist would have been in his friend''s sphere of responsibility.
¡°Doc Evans has some training. She started that way and then decided to become a R.N,¡± Tanks said. Santi wanted to pound his head on the table. A partially trained therapist.
¡°See if she¡¯s open to talking to her,¡± Mom said. Tank glanced at Santi for confirmation, but was already nodding along.
¡°I¡¯ll ask her in the morning,¡± Tank confirmed.
¡°Thank you,¡± Mom said as she went back to eating.
¡°So tomorrow then?¡± Chloe asked. Santi nodded to her and the rest of the group got up and started to clean their dishes with a bucket of soapy water that Santi had pulled earlier. Germs weren¡¯t much of a threat to them now, but it was still gross to eat off dirty plates.
¡°Did Delilah say what type of den it was?¡± Santi asked, wanting to get away from the sudden social awkwardness and on to dealing with the threat of the den.
¡°Not really, she sent a messenger from one of our outposts to us to relay where it¡¯s at and threat level.¡±
¡°Has the messenger relay system been working well for you?¡± Santi asked. It had been his suggestion to do since no one had managed to take an effective long range communication skill.
They¡¯d place speed based builds in small, well hidden locations and they acted as small hubs for messages for the further ranging teams. It allowed for faster communication and kept the scouting teams in the field for longer. When Yessenia recovered a bit more and could be persuaded to go out in the field, Santi was going to get her to lay some basic protections around the hubs.
In the future, as they grew, he¡¯d need to establish forts and outposts further away from the settlement. There were just too many people to close by right now. They would begin to hunt the region into extinction and there wouldn¡¯t be enough experience or potential to continue leveling for the lower level people.
¡°It¡¯s working well. Need to improve the defensese around them though. Lost one of the hubs to the Northwest near the mountains two days ago.¡±
¡°All hands went down?¡±
¡°Yeah. I went up there with Hana and some of my higher level guys. There were four runners assigned to the spot and we found all four bodies and a bunch of some type of insect monster.¡±
¡°Ants?¡±
¡°Beetles, they were as big as a car though and tough. Stabbed a few and their carapace was thick and resistant to damage. We harvested what we could and I¡¯ve had a team looking for where the bugs could have come from,¡± Daniel reported in.
Santi sat back and thought on that. They hadn¡¯t found a hint of Duncan yet, but to the Northwest there were plenty of small towns and then eventually the mountains. Duncan was savvy enough he would cover up the elimination of an outpost and the loss of that outpost would severely limit their ability to report what was going on that way quickly.
¡°Find a new place to set up and we¡¯ll take Yesi there after we clear out this den. We¡¯ll reinforce the outpost and start searching that region. I don¡¯t like having a threat that can take out an outpost like that,¡± Sanit ordered.
¡°They were only Initiates, peak, but still? It shouldn¡¯t be a threat to us,¡± Daniel wasn¡¯t arguing, but he was searching for a reason for Santi¡¯s new apparent concern.
¡°Only if it really was bugs. We haven¡¯t seen hide or hair of any of the traitors or that band of humans they were partnered with. Wouldn¡¯t be hard to lead a group of low level Acolyte bugs to a base and just watch the fireworks. Send runners and put all your people on alert up there, double up the patrols and increase the frequency of check-ins.¡±
¡°You got it, boss,¡± Daniel said. Hana was already scribbling Santi¡¯s orders on a little pad of paper she carried around.
¡°Everyone get some sleep, tomorrow we¡¯re off to kill some monsters,¡± Santi broke up the family dinner and sat back in his chair while everyone slowly trickled out. He sat in the empty room for a long time.
Ch. 3.3 Raiders
3.
The early summer heat had parched the surrounding countryside, turning once lush fields into barren, sun baked earth. Santi and the rest of the war party moved at a fast clip, their breaths easy, even under the fast pace. Mom was the weakest of them and she managed to keep up with them, even if she was near the rear of the pack.
A single drop of sweat rolled down Santi¡¯s face as he kept pace, running behind Bianca and Chloe. Both of the girls were more heavily invested in physical stats than he was and without his titles he would have been left in the dust by them. As it was, it required a bit of effort to keep up with them.
¡°How often do patrols come through this area?¡± Santi asked Daniel, the taller scout gliding along next to him. Daniel and Hana¡¯s company of scouts and rangers, along with Chad and Tristan¡¯s hunters, were the only ones who made it out this far on the regular. Helena kept her people closer to home and Santi only led his party out for heavy fights.
¡°Not frequent. We mainly stick around towns or anything that we can get supplies from. These long country roads get people on occasion, but not often enough for them to be deemed safe to travel,¡± Daniel explained.
The last few weeks had seen a small trickle of people leaving the confines of Homebase and its immediate surroundings. None of them had left the relative safety of the city and the high ranking fighters living there, but it wouldn¡¯t be long. There had been a handful of people found to the South and East and directly West. Anything North and Northeast was barren of life though.
From what Daniel had reported people had survived. The amount of dead wasn¡¯t high enough and there were signs of class skills and spells used on the buildings or surroundings. Dead monsters and campfires, but everything had been pulled up and disappeared further toward the heart of the nation.
In time smaller communities would be absorbed. Small groups of survivors banding together to build rugged communities based around a dungeon or good hunting grounds. They would need the support of a larger community and Homebase would be the hub for this entire region. The wealth of Northern California could pool toward him, treasures, monster parts, crafters, and anything else would come to Homebase and the Pillar he would claim.
They needed safe roads for that to happen. Continuous patrols that would purge the nuisances and alert them when real dangers arrived. Daniel and Hana¡¯s small company would be the first step and with the growth in numbers the job would be placed on Helena¡¯s head. Part of internal security. A good place for young warriors to test themselves and grow accustomed to the dangers of the new world without quite leaving the safety of the nest.
¡°When we get back I need you and Helena to get together and start mapping out routes for patrols. She¡¯ll provide the manpower and you provide the intelligence.¡±
¡°You got it boss,¡± Daniel said while flipping a snarky salute. Some of the man¡¯s earlier attitude had begun to creep back into their interactions as time distanced themselves from the acts Santi had committed.
¡°There¡¯s something up ahead Santi,¡± Bianca said, her hand straying to her hip where her macuahuitl sat. Santi looked past his sister and towards the ground ahead of them and saw what she had seen. A quarter mile or so ahead was a pair of abandoned wagons. The full sized one¡¯s people used to carry around their kids'' crap during soccer games.
Goods were spilt across the ground, crushed food and water bottles that had rolled away in the gentle summer breeze. The wind shifted and Santi caught hints of blood on the air.
¡°Mom, get to the center of the formation, Torin you have her?¡±
¡°She¡¯ll be safe with me,¡± the Hall Master confirmed, pulling a heavy hammer that he used two hands to heft around from his belt.
¡°Grmivr, right behind the girls and Cam. You¡¯re relief. Everyone else, normal positions.¡±
Daniel and Hana both disappeared and split apart, heading in different directions. The shadows were thin, but Daniel had been working hard on his skill and managed. Hana simply bent light around her till she was nothing more than a heat mirage.
Tank stepped up and slightly behind Santi, unlimbering his new and improved mace that Grimvr had crafted him. The bulbous head of the mace was ridged and had a weight to it that would have caused a pre initialization human to struggle. Tank swung it about in lazy circles with ease as he scanned their surroundings.
Without Chad they were lacking a true distance fighter aside from Santi, and he was their most effective fighter overall. Currently his spell and skill set put him as a medium range fighter, but he could pinch hit wherever the team needed him.
Mom gripped her own spear tightly, but there was no trace of fear in her eyes as she looked around. There was a hunger there, a desire for action and blood. Torin was next to her and Santi had to focus on what was going to come next if he wanted to make sure they all stayed alive. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
The team slowed down, moving more cautiously as they crept closer to the signs of violence. Santi was able to fully view the wagons and abandoned supplies. Mainly dry food, crackers, dried fruit, nuts, granola, and bottled water. There were some scattered clothes, blouses and pants that blew in the wind.
¡°Oh fuck,¡± Bianca cursed, horror in her voice as they looked closer to the ditch that line the field. Santi peered down and quickly identified the scents of blood.
A pair of women lay slack and still in the bottom of the ditch, their clothes stained from battle. A broken kitchen knife was near one of them and the other had a claw hammer that was just outside of her reach. The violence inflicted upon them was monstrous and they all stared down at them in horror.
¡°What the fuck,¡± Bianca whispered while Cam leaned over and vomited.
¡°DANIEL, HANA, FIND ME TRACKS!¡± Santi barked. He knew the darker sides of man, the depths of villainy that waited. He would not allow it to fester.
¡°Let¡¯s bury them. Bianca, Chloe, do you think you can move them while we dig?¡± Santi asked them.
¡°No, I¡¯ll do this,¡± Mom spoke firmly even as a tear tracked down her face. The two younger women nodded and the team broke up quickly. The work to dig graves was quick and easy compared tidying the bodies and placing garments on them. The burial was quick and with few words and Santi prayed that the two women would find peace. In total it had taken less than thirty minutes from sighting the two destroyed wagons to burying the two victims.
Daniel and Hana had found the tracks and were waiting patiently until the final bits of earth filled the grave. The wagons were rooted through, but little of it held any value to them. They were beyond the food available in it and the weapons were basic tools that could have been found in any garage.
¡°They came from the North and are heading West. Directly toward where we¡¯re supposed to be going.¡±
¡°How many?¡±
¡°No idea, lots though. Footprints everywhere, the ground is too hard to leave easy to identify prints.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s go. Last thing we want is them finding Delilah and her team. Double time it,¡± Santi issued his orders and the rest of the group fell into line as they started to pick up speed. They raced across the hot blacktop, the asphalt emanating heat like a furnace. The shorter dwarves weren¡¯t holding them back, their legs pistoning as they ate up ground in a hurrying race against time.
¡°Daniel, you and Hana push ahead and try to warn Delilah and the others,¡± Santi said as they got closer to the small beach town that the monster den was supposed to be in. Both of the scouts pushed off as fast as possible, sprinting ahead as they disappeared from view.
The rest of the team continued their pace, eating into the timeline that Daniel had said it would take. The day of travel timeline completely obliterated as they pushed their Acolyte bodies as hard as they could. Mom was a ragged mess, sweating profusely as she gasped in breaths, but she continued on.
Torin had offered to carry her, but had been met with a stony eyed glare that had quieted the dwarf. She was on her last legs though and would be of little use in the upcoming fight. They had caught signs of the passage of the raiders. Discarded food packets, empty water bottles, a shoe, several signs of bowel relief. They were closing in on them, but Santi was worrying that they¡¯d be too late to find the small team of scouts
¡°When we meet them, Mom and Torin stay in the backline with Tank. Guys, this will be your first time truly fighting other people. The little skirmish downtown, well, you weren¡¯t prepared for that. This will be different. They will have skills and spells just like you. And they will scream and beg for mercy, plead to be arrested or to face a jury or anything to stop their immediate deaths. They all die. Every. Single. One. Am I clear?¡±
¡°Crystal,¡± Chloe growled. Her black hair was pasted to her forehead as she ran a thumb along the edge of her axe. They were approaching the edge of the town and Santi saw some of them.
Dirty and ragged they walked around the town without a care. They were thin, emaciated with stringy hair with hard looks to their faces as if they were carved from granite. He counted seven with a glance as they wandered around, poking their heads into abandoned buildings or just wandered the road.
The town wasn¡¯t even a town. It was just a single road with buildings on either side of it. A few gas stations, a diner, post office, firehouse, and then a trio of side roads that branched off with single family homes on either side. The sound of the ocean was close, the heady scents of the brine filling his nose with every breath.
The den was somewhere close by, Delilah and her team hidden from both the raiders and the den. Santi was scanning the area as fast as possible, looking for clues to where everyone was.
¡°Everyone, gear up. Helms, armor, weapons checks, all of it. Grab a couple drinks of water and catch your breath. We¡¯re going to be going in fast and ending them fast, understood?¡±
A round of nods and affirmatives came through as everyone took a knee and drank and checked their weapons and armor. Santi touched the metal breastplate that Torin had made for him. It was lightweight, an alloy of supernatural design that was a dark cobalt color. It left his arms free, but all of his vitals covered in hard steel, or at least the dwarven equivalent of steel.
At the far edge of town, movement broke out. A burst of energy, a flash of fire, and a man¡¯s shrill scream. The town erupted like a beehive, over a dozen dirty figures running out of the buildings in a rush, brandishing a variety of crude weapons as they raced toward where someone was burning brightly.
At the same time, closer to the sea, in sandy soil that had a thin covering of stringy grass, the earth erupted. Black proboscis, glittering eyes, eight legs on each side of a nine foot long body that wiggled as it raced toward the sounds of fighting. The sandy soil trailed off of it as its dagger-like claws tore into cement like it was dirt as it caught the first of the raiders with its long nose.
Ch. 3.04 Cursed
4.
The long trunk of the monster twisted and curled inward and the distant figure¡¯s screams were faint and hardly carried in the air. Blood dripped out of the monster¡¯s trunk, splashing on the ground as it continued on its way toward the heart of the small town. The rushing raiders stopped in fright, the fight they had been looking for larger and more dangerous than they were ready for.
Santi¡¯s team was running in tight formation, their practice over the last week¡¯s showing. Mom and Torin lagged behind while Grimv stuck to his place without need to be nudged in place. The dwarf was sturdy and ready for a fight with his axe in hand. Cameron, Bianca, and Chloe forming a wedge with Cameron in the center. Grmivr drifted behind them while Santi let them get a bit ahead of him. Tank, Torin, and Mom were the last of the group about ten feet behind him.
The raiders were running without looking, fleeing the monster as it ravaged a building and a slower moving man. The man was throwing around skills, blue blasts of ice exploding in bursts around the creature¡¯s chitinous shell. It had little effect on the monster, it simply lifted a long leg and stabbed down at the man. Concrete exploded as the street shattered like a bomb went off as the man rolled and got away from the stabbing appendage.
While those two were occupied in the center of town, the first trailing edge of the raiders finally turned to see Cameron and the two women flanking him. They were fully armored and armed with weapons built by Grimvr and Torin. Santi was ready to step in if they hesitated as the first of the dirty raiders charged at Cameron, screaming a wordless warcry.
The raider was hoisting a heavy sledgehammer over his head, pale face coated in dirt and dried blood as his black eyes were wild with rage and fear. Cam¡¯s golden shield was cast as the raider swung down, interposing itself between Cam¡¯s slightly less dense head and the heavy steel hammer. The steel hammer hit the gold shield with a burst of power and the sound of a crunching glass, but the shield didn¡¯t break.
The man stared at his weapon stupidly as Cam struck with a single minded purpose, his long hatchet slicing through the man¡¯s stomach with no resistance. Cam shouldered the man off his feet, tossing him like a child as he kept moving forward.
Bianca slashed as the man passed by her, her blade tearing away flesh and finishing the man before he could even hit the ground. The whole interaction had been done in two seconds, their training paying off. Santi had been pushing them hard, making sure they knew how to fight as a team.
Then the main part of the fleeing raiders were overrunning them. Cameron held his spot without fear or hesitation, his shield and hatchet moving in tandem. Golden shields appeared in quick succession as attacks slid off of his defensive skills. The raiders were peak Intitaties, their skills and spells not having the oomph needed to break apart the defensive skills that Cameron was activating.
Bianca and Chloe were doing their parts, their weapons blurs as they chopped and hacked their way through the drifters like they were nothing but driftwood. Neither woman showed any reluctance as they took lives for the first time, killing without hesitation as the weaker fighters couldn¡¯t hope to match them.
It took only a minute and the first batch of fleeing killers were laying on the ground in broken pieces alongside the road and they were pushing into the actual town. The ice mage was still dueling the monster, bursts of frozen power washing over the ground as the man hadn¡¯t stopped casting. He was throwing around enough power faster enough that Santi could make the guess that he was at least a mid thirties Acolyte.
¡°Mage and monster!¡± Santi barked, steering the team toward the main fight. Cam was chugging forward like an indomitable train, angling toward the monster. Santi risked taking his eyes off the fight for a moment to [Identify] both the monster and the man.
Mutated Mole Crab lvl. 46
Cursed Ice Mage lvl. 38
¡°Careful with the mage, he¡¯s cursed!¡± Santi told the team.
¡°Da fuck does that mean?¡± Cam asked without turning.
¡°There¡¯s more than one way of evolving. He¡¯s going to be like one of the cursed things we¡¯ve killed.¡±
¡°Oh, shit.¡± This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
[Air Manipulation] tugged the mage¡¯s foot to the side as the mole crab stabbed at him again. This time he couldn¡¯t move away fast enough and Santi almost ended the problem then and there. The ice mage made a wall of ice in front of him, water particles condensing into a misty wall before flash freezing. The crystal ice had threads of inky darkness in it, worms of corruption that wriggled inside the ice.
Ice exploded as the leg smashed it apart, spraying out the corrupted ice like shrapnel. Cameron cast a shield in front of Bianca and lifted his own personal shield up to cover his face as Chloe ducked behind the bigger man¡¯s back. Santi cast [Gust] and sent the ice away from the group.
A drop of blood splattered the ground as the monster¡¯s leg dripped blood, its tough chitinous shell finally broken. A trickle of darkness swirled around the ice mage, darkening the air around the man as the iron scent of blood consumed the area. The monster froze, leg frozen high in the air as the swirling chaos around the ice mage flowed around it, seeping into the wound.
The monster stopped, frozen for a long moment,and then it fled, retreating as fast as it had come. The mage turned around to face them, his face haggard as he lifted his hands up to them. Whatever curse he had, it was powerful enough that he had managed to corrupt a higher level monster than him with only one wound. Not something that Santi wanted to have around his people.
[Gust] picked up the thin mage and threw him like a baseball, flying through the air until he crashed into the building across the street. The wall didn¡¯t break, but the mage did. One of the problems with only putting stat points into one area. Bones were sticking out of the mage¡¯s body while limbs were twisted in the wrong way.
¡°Careful, no kill notification,¡± Santi warned as the team slowed down. Black and red energy spread around the downed mage¡¯s body. Bones snapped back into place, limbs twisted and ground as they fitted together properly.
¡°Shit, that¡¯s gross. Kill him, skills only!¡± Santi barked his last order and Bianca stepped forward. Of all of the rest of the team she had the closest to a long range attack. A skill she had picked up and been working hard on since Dad¡¯s funeral.
A simple spark ignited off the tip of her weapon, blue-white and burning with an intensity that Santi could feel from feet away. She flicked her wrist, the macuahuitl snapping like a baton to send the flickering ball of fire away.
It crossed the distance in a blink of an eye and ignited with a whoosh and burst of intense heat as the body was consumed in a heartbeat. The kill notification dinged a second later.
Cursed Ice Mage lvl 38
(Blood Thirst)
¡°Don¡¯t get close to any of the others who are marked as cursed. You don¡¯t want an infection like that,¡± Santi warned them.
¡°What was that?¡± Tank asked, having not been able to see what was going on.
¡°Its another way of evolving. It¡¯s not advised,¡± Grmivr said stone faced. Santi was sure there was a thread of humor in there.
¡°Stay focused, there¡¯s still plenty more of the raiders around here. And the monster,¡± Santi chided the team.
¡°Where¡¯s Daniel and Hana?¡± Chloe asked, looking around carefully. Bianca hadn¡¯t taken her eyes off the burning wreck she had created.
¡°Who knows, they¡¯ll show up soon enough. Shit, behind us!¡± Santi caught sight of a new wave of ragged raiders wielding a motley mix of weapons as they came screaming out of hiding now that the crab had been pushed back.
Mom spun, shield rising to cover her body as her spear rested right above the edge of the shield. Santi watched as time seemed to slow as she stepped forward and lunged, spear point glinting in the light as it passed in a blur toward the leading attacker.
The spear spun and turned, broad leaf point parting flesh with ease, shattering bone like dry wood, and ending the raider¡¯s life with ease. Mom twisted and pulled the spear free, using her shield to stop a stray blow while she stepped back to avoid a second attack.
Tank stepped forward, covering Mom¡¯s blindside as his maul proceeded to obliterate a human into just paste. Torin watched with his hammer, eyes alert and ready to step in if Mom floundered or hesitated.
She didn¡¯t.
She attacked with economical precision, no wasted movements as she butchered the enemy Initiates with ease. Their makeshift weapons hardly scratched her shield as with every strike she killed. Tank backed up as the pressure lessened and Chloe and Bianca stepped up to cover her sides while Cameron waited to slide in to replace her as she tired.
She didn¡¯t use any skills or spells, just her own endurance and strength with plenty of practice. The two girls didn¡¯t simply slaughter the enemy, but rather let Mom get the kills, harvesting potential and experience. Santi watched in awe and horror as his quiet, iron-willed, patient, and kind mother, killed and killed and killed.
The newest wave broke as fast as it had come, nine bodies laying on the ground felled by Mom¡¯s spear. It was like watching a machine complete a task, a testament to Torin¡¯s training.
¡°Mom, you ok?¡± Bianca asked as they stared down at the dead bodies.
¡°Yes. Why wouldn¡¯t I be?¡± Mom asked, her voice soft and clipped as she wiped the bloody spear clean on a dead man¡¯s shirt.
¡°No reason,¡± Bianca said, but she stayed close to Mom¡¯s side as everyone milled about in the center of the town, looking for Daniel and the other¡¯s. There was movement here and there, people moving about as they darted around the buildings, more of the weak raiders who hadn¡¯t died yet.
¡°There''s got to be a few more of the Acolyte level fighters around here somewhere. Stay on guard, but let¡¯s start moving to try to find Daniel and Hana.¡±
Ch. 3.5 Infection
5.
Fire licked at the homes as Bianca¡¯s cleansing flame grew to slowly encompass the house and then the others around it. Red and blue flames leapt from roof to roof, increasing in size and ferocity as the small pit stop of a town emptied itself out. There were more raiders than Santi would have thought possible. Over a score of them left alive, gathering around two men who were barking orders.
Black lines ran across their skin like sticky webs of corruption, pulsing with every word and gesture. The men around them listened and obeyed with speed, fear of their commanders greater than their fear of Santi¡¯s team. He would have to see about changing that.
¡°We crush them, I want one alive though. Not the cursed bastards, but one of the others.¡±
¡°Thought we said no survivors?¡± Cam asked.
¡°There won¡¯t be survivors after I¡¯m done talking to him,¡± Santi said. There was a momentary stillness, then everyone seemed to recall the two women on the roadside and all thoughts of mercy fled. The squad formed up into their normal formation and began to march with the cleansing flames behind them.
Santi watched the raiders with one eye, while with the other he kept a lookout for Daniel and Hana. The two had a bad habit of disappearing and a great habit of showing up unexpectedly. They wouldn¡¯t stay out of this fight for the entire time but would likely hop in when the fight got down to the nitty gritty and the raiders were too busy to pay attention.
The slapping of their feet on the pavement was loud in his ears, his breaths ragged as he let that wrath that he had been carrying around for months begin to billow inside of himself. Heat suffused his chest as he spun his mana through his body and into the atmosphere, drenching the area around them with his power.
The trick was something that was easy in theory but tough in practice. It was similar to what Yessenia had done to activate her rituals but scaled up. It would taint the area around him with his power, his flavor of magic. While it wouldn¡¯t stop enemy mana based attacks, it would help diffuse them, make them easier to block or parry and at the same time allow him to cast his own spells with less resistance.
[Crosscurrent-Orb] spun free of his hand, passed between Chloe and Cameron¡¯s head and crossed the distance between the two groups in a flash. The tightly packed raiders, who were trying to form some type of unarmored shield wall, were thrown apart like matchsticks in a hurricane. The two Acolytes in the center of the formation didn¡¯t budge, both of them weathering the storm with grimaces.
¡°Don¡¯t let those fuckers touch you!¡± Santi reminded them as Cameron closed the distance, raising his physical shield while using his skill to block a lobbed pearlescent attack that splashed harmlessly off the golden barrier.
Cam struck like lightning, moving with the dreadful efficiency that let him move faster than he should. The hatchet sheared apart meat and bone and a limp hand fell to the ground, its former owner screaming in pain as he clutched at the severed stump.
Bianca and Chloe were cutting and slashing, ripping apart men with no hesitation. The two enemy Acolytes were backing up, fear in their eyes as they began to break away from their dying followers.
The poor shield wall was destroyed and now the team¡¯s wedge formation was shedding attackers, sending wounded and dying men to land behind the front line trio so that they could be ripped apart with ease by the others. Mom¡¯s spear was moving with brutal power, killing with every blow. Torin and Grimvr were unphased as they butchered while Tank held a faint grimace as he brought his maul down to end suffering.
Santi let them work, none of them aside from Mom were earning anything of note from this. But not everything was about experience and potential gained. Something had to be done, some monsters had to be killed lest they grow and fester in the wounds of the worlds.
Santi kept a careful watch on the two cursed Acolytes and the madness in their eyes. The bloodlust was growing until there was another palpable aura around them, a blood red and foul black aura that sank into the few survivors around them. The newly infected smiled, baring their teeth as their necks stretched taunt. They howled a fierce cry that broke over the team as they charged with reckless abandon.
¡°Cut them down,¡± Santi yelled, but he could feel the aura of bloodlust infusing him even as he said it. Each of the infected was a carrier, growing the curse as they raced to die on Santi¡¯s team''s weapons. Gore flew in long strings and bone was cleaved and flesh split, but the berserk Initiate class fighters didn¡¯t care.
They howled and snapped their mouths, trying to bite even as they were trimmed of offensive limbs. Weapons were abandoned as they tried to use their fingers and nails like beasts. For a moment there was a shift in the balance of power as Cameron and the others were stymied, their superior stats not allowing for them to be overwhelmed, but lacking the experience to fight through the madness. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
Santi stepped around them.
The morph blade extended and struck like lightning, taking heads with each flick of his wrist. Bodies fell around him like leaves as Santi charged straight toward the two Acolyte¡¯s and the source of aura that was empowering the weaker fighters. Both men seemed to teeter on losing themselves to the curse¡¯s power, or breaking and running. Fear and death warred in their eyes as the aura around them strengthened to the point of becoming a miasma around them.
[Gust] staggered them and pushed back against the miasma while the morph blade lengthened to a lance and Santi lunged. The tip of the lance punched through a thigh, breaking bone and emerging out the other side with a wide spray of blood. It was enough to tip the two men over and into madness.
The impaled man ran up the lance. He drug his wounded thigh further down the lance so he could reach Santi with his own homemade spear. Santi ducked his head and retracted the lance, ripping free of the thigh in a burst of destroyed muscle. Any normal, sane, person would be down for the fight, Acolyte stats or not. The femur was destroyed.
The man didn¡¯t stop, he stepped on his broken and bleeding leg like it was completely fine as a bloody froth stained his teeth. His spear flashed out again and Santi removed the head of it with a simple block, his own weapon slicing apart the wood as if it was rotten.
A ball of flame lobbed past his head and struck the second cursed man. He went up like a torch, the flames burning away the miasma that clung to him breaking through the curse¡¯s seeming granted immunity from pain. His screams filled the air, pain and terror and something darker and more twisted underneath each howl.
Santi kept his attention on his own foe who had closed to grappling range, ignoring his wounds in his determination to grab Santi. The man didn¡¯t use any skills or spells, just enhanced stats as his clawed hands scratched at Santi¡¯s unarmored biceps. He extended a blade and circled it quickly, removing both of the offending appendages, but not before bloody furrows were staining his shirt.
Santi finished the Acolyte with a hammer blow to the skull, caving in the man¡¯s head with a finality that no driving bloodlust could cure. He turned back to look at the others and was happy to see they had managed to drag one of the raiders off to the side, pinning him to the ground with a spear through the knee.
With the two Acolyte¡¯s dead, the fight faded in the survivors as their wounds overrode what little remained of their killing frenzy. They didn¡¯t last long after that as blades fell like rain, cleaning away the filth of the world.
Santi walked past the dead and looked toward their captives as his heart continued to beat frenziedly in his chest. The morph blade extended into a full sized halberd with a keen headsman edge. An urge to continue on, to finish the miscreant whispered in his mind.
Infection of Bloodlust
(Lesser)
¡°Shit.¡± Santi retracted his blade and backed up quickly. He couldn¡¯t allow the curse to gain any traction. If he fell into its primal urges it would grow stronger. Curses fed on strong, normally negative, emotions. In a world consumed by the System, bloodlust would be one of the more treacherous curses.
¡°Santi, it¡¯s saying your infected?¡± Tank asked, his maul held out to the side.
¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s weak. Just makes me want to hack away a bit, see some blood flow, you know?¡±
¡°He¡¯s rhyming, something''s wrong,¡± Bianca said as she stood a few feet away.
¡°He¡¯s fine as long as he controls it. If he starts to feed the curse and it grows stronger, then he¡¯ll become a threat to everyone. For now just try to keep him away from the curse¡¯s stressors,¡± Torin supplied helpfully. It was nice to have someone who understood the System around to explain things he couldn¡¯t.
¡°So, he shouldn¡¯t be fighting in a monster den or hunting down criminals?¡± Cam asked.
¡°Absolutely not,¡± Thorin said. He wasn¡¯t as wary as the others who were looking at him like he was a rabid animal. There was still an edge of wariness though as he kept his weapon close.
¡°So, we¡¯ll have to tackle the den without him? That¡¯s not going to be easy,¡± Chloe groused.
¡°It¡¯ll be fine. We regroup with the others and leave Santiago here with his Mother and the scouts. I¡¯m strong enough to cover for most of his ability and leadership. We¡¯re a decently rounded team,¡± Torin supplied.
¡°Good idea. Torin will take command, heed his orders and trust him. He¡¯s the Hall Master for a reason. We need to break that den before that infected crab thing spreads it to the rest of the den. Don¡¯t need bloodlusted monsters running around,¡± Santi ordered the group. He was mad about losing out on the den and what would the harm be in going on one raid? His willpower was strong enough that he could resist the curse. Falling behind on the leaderboards could affect him negatively in the long run. Maybe he should go.
That train of thought stopped him in his tracks with his mouth open, ready to countermand the orders he had just given. Curses could be nefarious, wheedling their way into his every intention to lead him toward a solution that it craved.
¡°Oh fuck it all, go clear it up and hurry it up. I don¡¯t want to be here all day. Me and Mom will go find our errant spies and see what this one has to say,¡± Santi said, pointing at the quietly crying man.
¡°No need to yell, we¡¯re right here. Tank we¡¯re going to need some assistance. All three of them are hurt, nothing severe but we got caught up with one of the smaller bands of the raiders near the edge of town,¡± Hana said, jogging toward them as she dropped her light illusion.
Her and Daniel really did enjoy sneaking up on people and being dramatic with their entrances. It could be annoying. He should stop them from doing that, tell them they needed to be disciplined, and if they didn¡¯t, well he could always make them.
¡°Fuck, this curse is fucky. I don¡¯t think being around the rest of these guys is helping anything. Tank, go and heal them scouts, Hana and Daniel, go find the den and see what¡¯s going on. Reconvene with Torin and go scour the bastard. Bianca, cleanse the area please, it¡¯s giving me good ideas.¡±
Ch. 3.6 Answers
6.
The town burned behind them as Bianca¡¯s cleansing flames consumed it all. Mom had helped drag their prisoner away from the strip of town while Santi patrolled the edges. [Gust] would send the fire screaming back in on itself rather than letting it grow and spread. Delilah and the two other scouts had been treated and sat away from the prisoner, often shouting encouraging words as Santi ran around in circles on his firefighter duty.
Tank had rejoined the team and the rest of them had set off under Torin¡¯s leadership. Santi knew the older dwarf had the experience and skill to lead them, but he still worried. If that crab had spread the curse in its colony then they could be looking at a tough fight without him.
As he slowly suffocated the fire, he worked his way back toward where the prisoner was. The great thing about magical flame was how fast it faded away when mana no longer fed it. Normal flame was easy enough to smother with the proper application of [Air Manipulation]. He could have made a killing working in the hills and mountains in the north before the integration.
¡°You all done Mr. Firefighter?¡± Delilah drawled as she sat with a bandaged leg out in front of her. A bad gash had cut her down to the bone but a bit of time with Tank had made it a rather simple, but long, cut. The scout was small and compact like a gymnast with a pixie cut of black hair and freckles covering her face from hairline to chin.
¡°For now, keep an eye out in case it takes off again. Ignore the screaming.¡± Santi passed by them and he heard some chortling and suppressed giggles as the two other women laughed at Delilah. Santi didn¡¯t think they were laughing about him implying what he was going to do to their prisoner.
¡°Mom, he say anything?¡± Santi asked as he walked up to them. The man was still laying on the ground and looking pale from blood loss.
¡°Just begging.¡± Mom had a hard look on her face as she stared down in judgment at the raider.
¡°Alright. What¡¯s your name?¡± Santi stood a few feet away from the man and kept his voice calm. His instincts were betraying him, telling him to smash the man and listen to the harmony of agony in the summer air.
¡°It¡¯s in you. I can see it. Just like it got all of us.¡±
¡°The curse? It¡¯s trivial, I¡¯ll ride it out and destroy the cursebearer and I won¡¯t have to worry.¡± The prisoner chuckled, quick and sharp exhalation that expanded into a full blown belly laugh. He leaned back on the ground and just laughed.
¡°Tony. My name is Tony,¡± he finally managed to get out.
¡°Ok, Tony. We found those girls on the side of the road and what you did to them. You¡¯re not coming out of this. Your only choice is slow or fast, you understand?¡±
¡°I deserve it. We all do. It¡it gets into your dreams. You smell it, the blood, the pain, you start to crave it. You don¡¯t understand what it is and who she is.¡±
¡°She?¡±
¡°Mercy. She calls herself Mercy.¡±
¡°How dramatic. Where is she?¡± Santi had seen his fair share of over pompous people who had found their end eventually.
¡°Don¡¯t know. She found us at the border, in the mountains. We were doing ok, but she came from the North with a bunch of people. Fighting and killing anything that walked. Join or die. That was all she offered us. She burnt down our home and forced us to move.¡±
¡°How many?¡±
¡°Fuck man. Who knows. We¡¯re always gaining people, but we¡¯re also losing people constantly. Its a fucking bloodbath every day. Survival of the fittest. Mercy chooses who she raises up, is given her gift she calls it.¡±
¡°An infection?¡±
¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what the System calls it. It changes them. Those who survive it, they evolve, can start getting levels past twenty-five.¡±
¡°How many have received her gift?¡±
¡°100 or so. They fight and die all the time too though. You don¡¯t understand, when you¡¯re in that camp, it''s in the air, the ground, and water. You just need to cut and cut and hit and see the blood fall. I¡¯ve seen mothers kill their sons, husbands their wives, brothers murdering the brothers, it''s a nightmare, an unending beautiful nightmare,¡± his face cracked wide in a manic smile as blood dripped out of his nose and eyes.
¡°What were her plans?¡±
¡°Fight. Kill. Move. That¡¯s all she ever did.¡±
¡°And you don¡¯t know where she¡¯s moving too?¡±
¡°South and East, toward Nevada.¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
¡°Other than that you don¡¯t know her numbers, her intention, or her goals?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Mom. Can you do this? I shouldn¡¯t be doing anything that reeks of bloodshed for now.¡±
¡°Move.¡± Mom gently guided him away with a single hand while glaring down at the doomed prisoner. The man¡¯s smile continued on even as the broadhead of the spear passed through his chest.
¡°Leave the corpse. When Bianca comes back I¡¯ll have her burn it,¡± Santi said as they moved back towards Delilah and the others.
¡°How bad is it? This infection you have now?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s marked as lesser, so it shouldn¡¯t be a major concern as long as I don¡¯t feed it.¡±
¡°By fighting?¡±
¡°By giving into the thrill of the fight.¡±
¡°Your father was ok with you having your secrets. You know too much and you don¡¯t act like my little boy who went away just a few months ago. I still see him now and then, and I know my Santiago is still there. When you¡¯re ready, I¡¯m willing to listen,¡± Mom spoke quietly and without looking at him. It was the closest anyone had come to calling him out for a long time without explicitly knowing.
¡°If I had secrets, I wouldn¡¯t,¡± the geas tried to slow him down, but he managed to force the words out before it constricted tight around his throat like a garotte.
¡°Ok. I love you, regardless.¡±
¡°Love you too, Mom.¡± The blood was still dripping off of her spear from the execution blow.
¡°What infection?¡± Delilah asked, this time without the sly smile and flirty looks.
¡°Curses. When you clear them you have to be careful not to let them spread. It can infect you, bleeding into your personality and behavior. If you continue to let it fester it¡¯ll consume you until you become a curse anchor.¡±
¡°And what¡¯s what was in them is now in you?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think that sentence makes sense. But, yes I¡¯m infected by their bloodlust. I have a much higher willpower than they did. I¡¯ll control myself until we destroy the origin of the curse.¡±
¡°Big words,¡± one of the other girls said. Tammy? Denise? Kammie? What the hell was her name?
¡°I have my family and friends to keep me in line,¡± Santi said.
¡°Someone wants to keep you in line,¡± the third scout said, looking at Delilah with a sly smile. Delilah blushed but didn¡¯t look away from him.
¡°I don¡¯t think Chloe would approve of that,¡± Mom said with a straight face. All three of the other girls stilled and their smiles grew more wooden. Chloe had a reputation for bloodshed and violence that was becoming a bit worrying.
¡°Fuck it, shit or get off the pot,¡± Delilah said with a bit of her old swagger. Santi noticed she wasn¡¯t quite as boisterous as she had been minutes ago.
¡°Can you tell me how the new program is working with Daniel?¡± Santi asked, eager to change the subject.
¡°Trying to get us to spill on the boss?¡± The third girl asked. She had grown a bit more serious and there was a hesitancy in her words. Could be they had something to hide, or it could be nerves about talking bad about Hana and Daniel.
¡°No, I just want to see how everything is developing out here.¡±
¡°It¡¯s going good. Lots of little monsters that we kill, find survivors and send them towards Homebase. Find possible supplies that haven¡¯t been destroyed and mark them down for Rayleigh. Pretty easy stuff for the most part,¡± Delila said.
¡°Anything strange going on? Monsters acting weird or people wandering around being psychos?¡±
¡°Like these assholes were? No nothing like that. Got some people who are running around looking for fights. Lots of people not knowing how to get past the level cap too. They always ask when we show up and tell them we have people who are Acolytes.¡±
¡°Any of those crazies running around killing monsters seem willing to come and sign up with us?¡±
¡°Maybe if someone other than us was asking. You or Cam or even Chloe. Someone stronger than them. They don¡¯t respect us since we¡¯re capped and haven¡¯t gotten beyond the cap.¡±
¡°Remind me when we get back, I¡¯ll have Yessenia bump you three to the front of the line for meritorious service to the community.¡±
¡°We can wait our turn,¡± the second girl said. She had a bit of a scowl on her face.
¡°You¡¯ve done a great service to the community, you deserve the reward.¡±
¡°No. We can wait. It won¡¯t look good if only fighters get to go past the cap or skip the line. We don¡¯t need that type of negativity around us,¡± the girl explained.
¡°Is it that bad in the main part of the camp?¡± Santi asked, genuinely curious. The last few weeks he had been swamped with fights, training, and organizing the further development of the camp. He hadn¡¯t had time to walk around and listen to the common people.
¡°It¡¯s not quite there. But now that the camp¡¯s calm and all the monsters are gone from the region, they¡¯re starting to question why all our resources are going towards the fighters and not towards infrastructure. Only a few crafters or farmers have gotten the levels up and they¡¯re all close to you guys. Or were close with your Dad. People are starting to talk about it and I¡¯d rather we not be part of that conversation,¡± she said.
¡°Well, shit. I¡¯ll have to talk to Yessenia when we get back. Maybe a lottery system or something.¡±
¡°Or get a second person doing the rituals?¡± Delilah asked. There was a hint of an answer in her question. She had someone in mind and was hoping to see how receptive Santi was to the question before risking her reputation and relationship with him.
¡°Do you have someone in mind?¡±
¡°A friend. He¡¯s in one of the other scout groups,¡± Delilah said, eyes keen and interested in the conversation. The other two girls looked at her and comprehension bloomed bright across their faces and wild smiles appeared.
¡°Keegan?¡± the second girl whispered to Delilah loud enough that even Mom could hear her.
¡°Yeah, Keegan. He¡¯s one of the best we have. Can¡¯t sneak around to save his life, but he makes traps and lures and has more monster kills than anyone except Daniel and Hana. He¡¯s also level capped but he has some treasures that should improve his affinity and power it all, he just needs it to get done,¡± Delilah said in a rush.
¡°Alright, I¡¯ll ask Daniel and Hana about him when they come back. Do you know where he is currently?¡± All of the girls suddenly looked pale and drawn as their faces blanched.
¡°The North, he was headed further up the highway towards the mountains.¡±
¡°Shit. I think our plans are going to have to change a bit, Mom.¡± Santi looked over to Mom who simply shrugged. She couldn¡¯t care where they went right now, she just wanted to be out and doing something.
¡°Alright. When Tank gets back I¡¯ll have him bust out the healing potions and get you all on your feet and then we¡¯re heading to the North.¡±
Ch. 3.07 New World
7.
¡°To recap, there¡¯s a horde of cursed people who came from over the border, down the mountains and are now spreading like an infection. We have the remnants of the traitors and those who were helping them somewhere to our North East, and you want to go looking for a scout who might be able to get a class similar to Yessenia¡¯s to help alleviate the bottleneck of evolutions,¡± Tank was looking mildly concerned.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°And said scout just so happens to be somewhere North of us, where all the enemies are?¡±
¡°Pretty inconvenient, but yes. At least Daniel and Hana believe he¡¯s up there. They lost their group of runners so we¡¯ve lost contact with some of the scout teams.¡±
¡°You also have a curse of bloodlust. That makes you want to go and kill people, monsters, or anything that looks at you sideways?¡±
¡°Yes, but it¡¯s contained. My willpower is my second highest stat. I can keep it under control.¡±
¡°So, again, I¡¯m just reiterating what you said. After getting cursed, you decide the next best thing is to run to the North where all your enemies are and there¡¯s definitely going to be a bunch of fighting and killing?¡± Tank pursed his lips and cocked his head as everyone turned to look at Santi.
¡°I¡¯m in control. It¡¯s what needs to be done. We drop Torin and Mom off and head up with some of Rayleigh¡¯s heaviest hitters and anyone else we can scrounge up. Grab some of the golems and we crush them all.¡±
¡°See, that part is what¡¯s worrying me. The whole smashing and killing all your foes. It reeks of not being in control.¡±
¡°I agree with you, but it needs to be done. The longer I have the curse, the worse it will get. We have to destroy the anchor being and isolate the curse. Actually, we need Yessenia to come with us. We¡¯re going to need a powerful ritual to dispel the curse if it¡¯s as strong as I think it is.¡±
¡°Yesi isn¡¯t going to come out here with us,¡± Bianca said.
¡°She will if she feels safe. We¡¯ll bring her golem with us, and Mom and Torin can stick with her.¡±
¡°So, now Mom and Torin are coming?¡±
¡°Listen, I¡¯m trying to come up with this on the fly. We have enemies in the North. Two camps of them. Both are growing and both are existential threats to us. They need to be eliminated. Is this true?¡± Santi looked around to the faces all staring at him. Delilah and the other two girls were off to the side as far away from Chloe as they could get without making it too obvious.
¡°Yeah, that seems about right. If the information you tortured out of that guy is true,¡± Cam drawled.
¡°We didn¡¯t torture him. He spilled without us doing a thing. If anything it was a mercy killing on our part.¡±
¡°What we need to do is go home and regroup. Plan out a full sized expedition, have Daniel and Hana¡¯s people move North aggressively and find where the enemy is. We build up a strike force of the best people we can get. Armor them up, train in large scale movement and then we move. Also,we need to get food and supplies for a company of Acolyte fighters, which means more farmers and hunters, and all that other shit, need to be Acolytes.¡± Cam rattled everything off while everyone stared at him slack-jawed. He caught the looks and his cheeks flushed as he looked around.
¡°What? I like military history. Amateurs argue tactics, professionals talk logistics. Shit, I think that¡¯s the quote. Regardless, we need arms, armor, food, transportation, and then finally men. Otherwise we¡¯re going to get a day or two from Homebase and run out of food and that¡¯s going to be the end of all of us.¡±
¡°The tall one is right. We need to return to the forges and arm ourselves,¡± Torin said. Heads began to nod all around him and Santi could feel impatience surging through him. He wanted to act. To strike. He took calming breaths and focused on isolating that treacherous thought and slowly strangling it.
¡°You¡¯re right. We retreat back home and get armed. But in the meantime, I¡¯m going with Daniel and Hana and we¡¯re scouting it out. I need to see just how strong this horde is.¡±
¡°Can¡¯t, I need to get all my people ready. We¡¯re scattered to hell and gone doing recon. Need to gather everyone up and plan out a strategy and routes.¡± Daniel was firm, his accent thickening as he spoke. Part of Santi was proud of him for standing up and not backing down and being a leader.
The rest of him was irritated that he wasn¡¯t going along with his plan. Stolen novel; please report.
¡°I¡¯ll go. Me and Chloe and Santi. Fighter, mage, scout. We can move fast and quietly and have the firepower to knock anything out that runs into us and the speed to escape if it goes bad,¡± Hana spoke up suddenly.
¡°I¡¯m fine with that. Chloe?¡± Santi spoke quickly as the momentum for his plans swung back in his favor.
¡°I¡¯m good with that. I¡¯m just thinking you¡¯re a little too eager to go and potentially be fighting. Shouldn¡¯t you be organizing everything?¡±
¡°A good leader knows when to delegate. Cam and Bianca will be organizing the fighters. Torin and Grimvr will gather the arms and armor. Daniel will get our scouts in line and Mom can get Yessenia out of her cave. Tank, I¡¯ll leave logistics with you? Food, medicine, camping gear?¡±
¡°I can do that. We all can do that. But, Santi, you should be at home being the leader of this. You are the leader of the community.¡±
¡°100% honesty right now. I never wanted to lead the settlement. I took charge because that was the best way to do it. Dad died the next day. The world is changed and we can¡¯t be like old world leaders. Alexander ruled his Empire from the saddle. Caesar became Caesar at the head of his legions. It¡¯s going to be the same for us. Our leaders will be moving, fighting, working hard to get stronger and stronger. We can¡¯t be staying at home filling out paperwork because at the end of the day what happens when a horde of cursed warriors comes knocking?¡± Santi looked around at the group. Months of repressed thoughts finally having an outlet. Most of them knew what he was saying, they might not have internalized it, but they knew.
¡°That horde of warriors kills us and takes our shit if we¡¯re not strong enough. And as the leader of this settlement, I can¡¯t just be a figurehead for people to rally behind. I need to be at the forefront. Marisol and Helena and others will be ministers or chancellors or whatever the hell we¡¯ll eventually call them. They¡¯ll be our paperpusher and run the day to day. We will be on the frontlines, fighting and saving people,¡± Santi finished his impromptu speech and looked around at his friends and family.
¡°Santi, I don¡¯t know how people will feel about this. If we¡¯re always gone, why would they continue to support us? If we can¡¯t answer to them, be responsible leaders who are there to be held accountable, why would they continue working?¡± Tank asked.
¡°Simple. The world sucks and the area we are creating is safe. There are laws and order here. There are no monsters prowling their streets and eating them. We will continue to lean towards our democratic heritage, there will be elections inside of the city for, let¡¯s say Mayor, or Sheriff. Local leaders. But at the end of the day, once they start to understand what this new world is. They¡¯ll realize how good they have it. They can be safe and have families and be prosperous.¡±
¡°A benevolent dictator?¡± Tank¡¯s voice was filled with scorn.
¡°What would you have me do!?¡± Frustration welled through Santi. They didn¡¯t understand. It¡¯d been months since the Initialization and they still didn¡¯t understand!
¡°Set up elections and have the person with the most charm and charisma win. Have them capitulate the first time a threat arrives? What happens when a powerful monster comes roaming by and they decide it¡¯s better to sacrifice a few small towns to save the few? When they tell those with the strength not to act because they won¡¯t like the results? What happens if we¡¯re not here and the next strongest person decides they don¡¯t like taking orders?¡±¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know, man. I don¡¯t know. This just feels wrong to me.¡±
¡°It doesn¡¯t feel right to me either, Tank. Do you think I want to be a dictator? You think I wanna be hated and reviled? They¡¯ll eventually hate me when I ask for more than they¡¯re willing to offer. When the threat is so large and great that I might not be able to stand against it. They¡¯ll remember all those times I told them to do something that was for the good of the settlement and they will spit on me. It¡¯d be easy to let Marisol or Helena or someone else take over and run this place and just be the heavy for them. Until they decide to do something that¡¯s against my conscience. Then what? Do I uphold their word as law even if it''s wrong. Even if I know it will lead to destruction and death?¡± Santi looked around to his core group of followers. Friends and family, forged in blood and tears with bonds that were as thick as oak trees. They needed to understand.
¡°We¡¯ve grown up and lived in a time of systems. Government had rules in place, order was followed because that¡¯s what we always had. We can¡¯t comprehend the chaos that is happening now because we¡¯ve never experienced it before. Warlords and petty tyrants happened elsewhere, not here. Well, now it¡¯s here. There is no more systems of governance, the social contract is completely shattered and gone. The ideals we held dear are gone. We can do our best to remain good and just, but this is the end of our civilization. We may survive as a species, but our civilization is gone. The longer we hold on to what was, the longer it¡¯ll be before we can forge something new.¡±
There was a silence on the hillside they were on as everyone looked at him. There was understanding blooming in some eyes and resentment in others. He couldn¡¯t tell if the resentment was aimed at him or if it was because he¡¯d finally shown them the gravestone of their world.
¡°Now. Does anyone have any problems following my lead. Please, speak now and tell me. We can¡¯t have any type of resentment building between us. Aside from Yessenia, everyone I love is here right now. You are the people who will lead us to a new future, the forgemasters who create the next great world and safety for our species. We can not have infighting amongst ourselves. So, please, tell me right now.¡±
Cam was solid as always, simply nodding. Mom¡¯s face was a blank slate while Torin and Grimvr simply nodded as he spoke of what everyone who survived the Initialization knew. Daniel and Hana were holding each other¡¯s hands but were serene and simply nodded to him when he looked in their direction. Their three scouts had wide eyes as they had been looped into a conversation far above their heads, but when Santi met their eyes they all nodded along.
Santi met everyone¡¯s eyes until they agreed with him until Tank was the last. Santi hurt because the big man¡¯s acceptance was something that he wanted. The man¡¯s moral compass was absolute and he had never wavered from doing the right thing. If Tank rejected him, Santi didn¡¯t want to think about it.
¡°I don¡¯t like it. I hate it in fact. It goes against everything I believe. That man is equal to each other, that all of us matter. That no one should be above the other simply for being stronger or faster or anything. Everyone is equal.¡± Tank¡¯s face broke as his shoulders slumped.
¡°That world is gone though. I¡¯ll follow you Santi.¡±
Ch. 3.08 Different Conversations
8.
They passed by the end of the road and split apart. Santi, Chloe, and Hana broke off from the group and started to head North. The countryside was nothing more than wilted and dead vegetation with little to see besides barren fields. The interstate was nothing but abandoned cars and skeletons. They pushed up further and further away from Homebase and toward where Daniel¡¯s relay team had been wiped out.
The beatles could have killed them. That was always a concern when working far away from the succor of high ranking fighters. Or it could have been the Apostate covering it up. Santi liked to think it was most likely the Apostate. If it had been the new enemy, they wouldn¡¯t have tried to cover it up with the beatles. There would have been heads on pikes and fires and bloodshed up and down the interstate corridor.
That didn¡¯t preclude the warlord and her bloodlusted cursed warriors weren¡¯t in the region. They just hadn¡¯t found anything to kill and parade around,yet.
The first hour was spent in a leisurely jog as they headed closer and closer to the mountains that separated California from Nevada. The towns grew thin and scattered as they kept moving further up. At the second hour mark, Chloe finally broke the silence.
¡°Delilah seemed pretty interested in you,¡± her voice was neutral, no hint of her mood as they moved.
¡°Yeah.¡± Santi was treading dangerous water.
¡°She¡¯s pretty.¡±
¡°You think so?¡±
¡°I do. Don¡¯t you?¡±
¡°Was busy being cursed and whatnot. Didn¡¯t really look. You should ask her out if you think she¡¯s pretty,¡± Santi threw it back at her. Chloe looked at him with a shocked face.
¡°You¡¯d be ok with me asking someone out?¡±
¡°You¡¯re your own person.¡±
¡°Ok. Then I¡¯ll ask out the person I want to ask out.¡±
¡°Good.¡±
¡°It¡¯s you.¡±
¡°Even better,¡± Santi could feel a bit of a smile break on his face.
¡°That a yes?¡±
¡°Enthusiastic, yes.¡±
¡°What¡¯s our first date?¡± Chloe asked. They had never broken their stride but Hana had pulled ahead of them to give them a semblance of privacy.
¡°You asked me out. It¡¯s on you.¡± Santi was smiling widely now as Chloe was looking at him with a bit of mischief in her eyes. She was enjoying the back and forth.
¡°Well, I¡¯ll have to think about it then.¡±
¡°You ask me out and don¡¯t even know where you want to take me? I don¡¯t think you¡¯re taking this seriously.¡±
¡°Oh, I¡¯m quite serious about this. Not exactly like I can take you out for a Friday night dinner and movie combo.¡±
¡°I always thought that was a flawed date. It should be movie and then dinner,¡± Santi said, glad to have something to talk about while they moved.
¡°Why¡¯s that?¡±
¡°You have something to talk about during dinner. You can get to know a person by how they think about a movie.¡±
¡°Really?¡±
¡°Oh, yes. I took my movies very seriously.¡±
¡°I would have never thought you were a movie bro.¡± Chloe looked a mixed of perplexed and disturbed as if she didn¡¯t understand how she could have missed something like that.
¡°What about you? What did you like to do before, well, this?¡± Santi didn¡¯t know her well, didn¡¯t know any of them really. For the last months they had been living in a state of constant fighting and killing, living on the edge of survival.
¡°I like movies myself. Primarily horror and romcoms.¡±
¡°Really? That¡¯s a fun combo.¡±
¡°Not going to say anything about it?¡±
¡°What would I say about it?¡±
¡°That it¡¯s girly or cliched or something like that.¡±
¡°I love romcoms. They¡¯re hilarious and easy to watch. Makes me happy watching them.¡±
¡°Figured you¡¯d watch some deep, indie movies with hidden depths.¡±
¡°Oh,no. I¡¯m an idiot. Can¡¯t figure out the hidden depths of things if they¡¯re staring me right in the eye. I like action movies, comedies, and anything else that¡¯s entertaining.¡± This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
¡°If we had any type of electricity I¡¯d have to take you up on watching a romcom.¡±
¡°I would have loved to watch romcoms with you,¡± Santi smiled at her and felt for the first time in a long time, light and free. The heavy depths he had been swimming in seemed to, for a few moments at least, have lightened.
¡°Hey, I see something coming up? Smoke.¡± Hana spoke up and Santi turned to look toward the horizon. There was a thin tendril of smoke rising and Santi felt the depths pull him back down as his heartfelt smile slid away.
¡°Alright. Hana, can you go and take a peak without being seen?¡±
¡°I hope so, otherwise I¡¯m in the wrong line of work,¡± Hana said. Her camouflage wrapped around her and she disappeared from sight.
¡°Just me or does she seem more communicative without Daniel around?¡± Santi asked Chloe.
¡°I think she feels a bit disrespected by that question. You wouldn''t have asked Daniel that would you?¡±
¡°Probably not. I¡¯m used to him being a sneaky fuck though. She¡¯s just become a sneaky fuck though. Class wise anyway.¡±
¡°Trust her to do her job. Should we stay here, or keep moving up?¡±
¡°Let¡¯s push a bit further up. Stay on the interstate though.¡±
They moved slowly, giving Hana time to look without encroaching on her. The smoke was miles away, but with their ground eating stride it wouldn¡¯t take long to reach it. The two companions shared a silence, broken at times by discrete looks at each other as the new shared closeness seemed to alleviate a bit of the tension that had been there.
They went for another mile before stopping, the smoke clearly from a large fire with how thick it was. It was a multitude of plumes all intermingling together as they raced upward, forming one giant pillar.
Santi tried to rack his brain if they¡¯re had been a town or camping ground in that direction but he couldn¡¯t remember. If he was lucky it was the horde of cursed warriors. He could slip in amongst them, kill Mercy, and then be free of the curse in only a few hours. He had a feeling they were catching the tail end of something.
Hana came back two hours later. She was a bit wan, green around the gills as she walked up to them. Santi waited as she leaned back against the guardrail, hands on her knees as she looked up to them.
¡°There¡¯s nothing living up there,¡± she reported. Santi started toward the fires. Whatever had spooked Hana was something he needed to see. The last few miles flew by as he hit his full speed, having left the two women at the mile marker as Chloe had passed on seeing what it was that had Hana so shaken.
He came up to it and was taken aback. It had been a trailer home. Or at least it had started off that way. It had spilled out of its confines, fifth wheels, camping trailers, tents, and any other type of semi-movable housing deployed all around.
Gas stations and convenience stores were posted around the edge of the community. A few more permanent houses had been placed around with small fences marking out their territory.
Corpses littered the ground. Partial bodies, broken limbs, blood and gore painting every inch of the ground. The trailers burned, some already smoking ruins while others were still ablaze. The small house was nothing more than a charnel, the picket fence standing unstained in a mimicry of normal life.
Santi walked the edge of the perimeter of the slaughter. He tried to understand what he was seeing. This had obviously been an encampment of some size and likely some power. They had managed to stay safe against the animals and monsters out here. It hadn¡¯t been enough.
Santi could see the burnt remnants of where skills and spells had splashed against concrete or a building. The feel of spent mana was in the air, the hints of crazed pain and lust that called to his own curse. Mercy had come and paid a call. The prisoner had said she had done the same thing to his home. Join or die and then burn down the town.
Santi could see how she would roll through Homebase and its environs. There were a hundred or more Acolyte warriors in the warband, more than enough to slaughter what few fighters of strength Homebase had outside of Santi¡¯s team. He¡¯d have to thin the horde, trimming the fat from them like he had with cyclops rift.
His heart beat a flutter at that thought. Of the continuous skirmishes, fighting and killing in a contest of a few vs. him. He¡¯d revel in it, his speed and strength greater than theirs, his heart singing as he spilt the blood of his foes like water during the rain.
Santi stilled and focused on his will. The strength that had let him come back from the original timeline. To see the world whole again even when he knew it was ending. He purged himself of the desire to kill and fight. It took time but as the bloodlust wore off he could feel the effects of the curse more strongly.
It was an aura that drifted and rose with the smoke, that glittered in the coagulating blood, sitting on the corpses of the dead. No longer lost in its heady aroma, he could feel how it was different. It was no longer suffused but a separate entity that sat ugly and bloated.
Santi walked away, circling around the town as he searched for tracks. The ground was dry and hard, holding little in the way of footprints. The passage of so many was impossible to miss. He found where they had come from the Northwest and where they had left heading Northeast. Blood drops on the ground showed their path, heading toward the mountains.
Santi followed for a ways, traveling with ease as he searched for where they could have stopped or if there was any who had been left behind. He needed more accurate answers than what the single prisoner had given him.
For a mile he went further up, stopping in the shade of a copse of trees. He drank a bit of water, but other than that there was little for him to do. He¡¯d go back and get Hana and Chloe and chase after the group, trailing them as they went further towards the mountain.
¡°I see you¡¯ve managed to get yourself cursed,¡± Duncan¡¯s voice rang from his left. Santi whirled, blade extending to slice apart a thick tree. No blood flowed, though the tree slowly toppled over, crashing to the ground with a thunderous boom.
¡°While not polite, I do understand. Now that you¡¯re no longer enraged, may I come out? Or are you going to try to kill me?¡± the shadows reverberated and pulsed and even with [Air Current] Santi couldn¡¯t tell where he was. It wasn¡¯t like with Daniel who simply cloaked himself in the shadow. The Apostate was one with the shadows, a much higher affinity than whatever Daniel had.
¡°No promises. You did kidnap my sister.¡±
¡°You cut off my arm. I think that¡¯s fair enough.¡±
¡°And my father?¡±
¡°I had no part in that. Abraham committed that crime and he paid for it with his life.¡±
¡°Why are you talking to me and not trying to kill me?¡±
¡°I can ask you the same. You¡¯re reasonably intelligent and much more powerful than I gave you credit for. You can understand what a curse of this magnitude, spreading in the way it is, can be viewed as a greater threat than our little grudge?¡±
¡°I wouldn¡¯t call what we have little,¡± Santi said dryly, still searching for wherever it was that the assassin was hiding.
¡°It is compared to what a curse like the one spreading can do. It¡¯ll eat this area dry. Killing and growing like a plague. We need to break it and neither of us have the numbers to do it alone.¡±
¡°I¡¯d think I could do a decent job of it.¡±
¡°This is why I said you were reasonably intelligent.¡±
¡°The old enemy of my enemy is my friend gambit. Then we go back to killing each other when Mercy is killed?¡±
¡°Is that the leader¡¯s name? Mercy?¡± the shadows chortled, a dry sound of amusement. Santi could picture that laugh in a conference room talking about the sales figures for a quarter. Not the laugh of a man who had tried to sell the world out.
¡°I thought it was a bit apt too.¡± Santi allowed a smile to brush past his lips. He was cold inside, ready to move at a moment''s notice.
¡°There¡¯s a few killers left. I¡¯ll give them to you in exchange for helping me purge the curse. You¡¯re already planning on doing it, might as well coordinate so it¡¯s done right,¡± Duncan continued after his laughing fit passed.
¡°Alright. Come out, I promise not to kill you immediately.¡± The promise of the last of the traitors was too sweet to dismiss out of hand.
Ch. 3.09 Arrival
9.
Santi watched as Duncan materialized ten feet to his side. Not from the pool of shadows at Santi¡¯s feet, but rather a further away, slim sliver of shadow cast by a slight crest of the land. The plain faced man was dressed in a plain black sleeveless workout shirt that hugged his lithe frame. The ugly red wound that Santi had afflicted on him was apparent as Duncan stayed a few feet away from him.
¡°This is the worst wound I¡¯ve taken. I fought Champions and they couldn¡¯t do what you did. You should be proud,¡± Duncan¡¯s voice was flat and emotionless, his eyes blank pools.
¡°My father taught me to finish my work and do it right. Can¡¯t be proud of a half completed job now, can I?¡± Santi met his gaze and didn¡¯t flinch. He belonged here, standing equal to the former Champion.
¡°Big claims. Yet, we are not here to measure our mutual animosity, but rather to forge a brief alliance to deal with a greater threat.¡±
¡°The curse.¡±
¡°Yes. Did you ever see Toronto?¡±
¡°No, never made it there. Why?¡±
¡°A curse took root there. Powerful thing, gluttony. Ravenous hunger that consumed everyone it touched. It spread and spread and spread until the entire city was consumed. I wasn¡¯t in charge of the operation to break it, but I was there. Santiago. It was one of the worst things I¡¯ve ever seen in my life. I don¡¯t want to witness something akin to it again.¡± Duncan appeared to be truthful, but the master assassin would have no problems lying to him.
¡°Mercy is a bloodthirsty killer, but from what I heard, they are more than happy killing themselves to feed their curses. They could burn themselves out before they become a problem.¡±
¡°The chaff will be blown away, it won¡¯t die though. The strong will only grow stronger, spreading their rage and hatred as they do so. They won¡¯t destroy themselves, at least not without erasing large swathes of the region.¡±
¡°So, a truce of sorts. I can keep my desire to rip your heart out of your chest for a while longer. Can you keep it professional?¡± Santi asked as he waited, nerves stretched thin for the first hint of betrayal.
¡°I¡¯ve always been a consummate professional. None of this was ever personal. You are simply in the way of my Lord¡¯s will.¡±
¡°Do you know where they¡¯re going?¡±
¡°The horde is moving erratically, turning and switching direction on a dime. They¡¯ve backtracked before, swung wide of easy to conquer areas just to hit areas with strong guardians. They don¡¯t discriminate, they attack monsters, animals, or people. Nothing is beyond them.¡±
¡°So, no?¡±
¡°Currently I don¡¯t. I can keep an eye on them while you rally your people.¡±
¡°So you track them, I get my people, we find where they¡¯re at and then destroy them all in one big move?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°And the inevitable betrayal and backstabbing?¡±
¡°After we¡¯ve destroyed the curse¡¯s anchor.¡±
¡°Excellent.¡±
¡°I see why Marley loved you.¡± Duncan said it with such sincerity and deadpan tone that Santi didn¡¯t register it at first.
¡°Who the fuck is Marley?¡± Santi spat, but his mind was twisting. Her face changing in his mind, growing imperceptibly more full, lips plump, nose shrinking and becoming dainty as a blush and freckles appeared in his mind.
¡°Ahhh, I see. Makes sense. The ritual sent our memories back and without her class, oh well. You¡¯ll wake up in a second and won¡¯t remember a thing of this. Poor bastard, putting you out of your misery would be a kindness.¡±
¡°Marley and me were good for each other. I couldn¡¯t believe she was alive when I found her,¡± Santi said. Something was off, his sense of time was wrong. He was missing seconds. Twenty-six of them. Since coming back he was never missing time. He knew every moment of the day like he knew his own name. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
¡°Lots of names for that one. She played her parts well. I was honestly surprised when she was able to ascend to become a Champion. Didn¡¯t think she had it in her, but she was a welcome addition to our number.¡±
¡°Do you know where she is? I have some questions I would like to hear her answer.¡±
¡°Vaguely. She¡¯s like me, lots to do and so little time. She was deployed in the South though. Atlanta birthed so many Champions, couldn¡¯t let it go without a bit of a nudge.¡±
¡°Is that your goal? Change the futures of our Champions, pull them to your side before they realize what you are?¡±
¡°No. It¡¯s to change them so they don¡¯t become what they did. If they join the better, it is only right to bow to the power of our Lord. Yet, as long as they don¡¯t stray, they can continue to grow. Those we didn¡¯t think would change have already been pruned away. You were the last piece of business I had on the West Coast.¡±
¡°Glad I could ruin your plans then. So, want to tell me more of what you all are going to do? Monologue to me, your evil plot?¡±
¡°It¡¯s not evil. It¡¯s the same as you¡¯re doing. Grow strong and protect people. It¡¯s easy to hate someone when you don¡¯t know them. You should be more unbiased, it might open your eyes.¡±
¡°Please, you can save the propaganda for your recruits. I walked your camps, the detention centers, the rituals, and everything else. I know what you and your people are.¡±
¡°Pity. I had hoped to spare Claire some heartache from killing you. I¡¯ll keep tracking the horde and we¡¯ll meet in two days at the little outpost your scouts were killed in.¡±
¡°It was you.¡±
¡°No. But I watched.¡± Duncan slipped away without a word and part of Santi thought he had made a mistake. He should have struck while the assassin stood there unarmed and unprepared. Ended him before he could have a chance to betray him.
There were the missing seconds to think about. Duncan had said Marie¡¯s name and the world had fuzzed out again. He had felt it before, he searched and strained for a moment before those gray walls rose up. They were lesser this time and part of Santi screamed as he realized what was happening to him. The walls fuzzed out and grew thin and shapeless, becoming a fog that drowned him.
Santi blinked looking around the sunny hillside. He had to get back to Chloe and Hana. They had been waiting for a while and he didn¡¯t want the two of them to worry about him. Not after seeing what the horde had done to the trailer park.
It took only a few minutes to make it back to them now that he was no longer trying to track the passage of the horde. Both women stood around waiting for him, silent and alert as they took cover behind a few abandoned cars.
¡°And?¡± Chloe asked as he got down to them. Santi had to hold back a sigh as he began to tell them what had happened. They didn¡¯t know who Duncan really was, but the fact the leader of the group that he had fought had shown himself set them both on alert.
¡°He¡¯s a more powerful version of Daniel?¡± Hana asked incredulously.
¡°More ruthless and likely a stronger affinity to shadow. I couldn¡¯t sense him this time until he decided to reveal himself. He¡¯s a true threat. Keep a wary eye out for anything that seems suspicious. I don¡¯t trust them, but this cursed group is Wrong. We need the numbers to clear them out.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not disagreeing with you, it¡¯s just. Hard to believe you¡¯d be willing to side with him,¡± Chloe stated her opinion.
¡°I don¡¯t like it. It¡¯ll be easier to keep track of him when he¡¯s on our side rather than being an unknown running about.¡±
¡°You¡¯re going to double-cross him,¡± Chloe said, half-accusation, half-praise.
¡°If he doesn¡¯t do it first, you¡¯re damn right I am. The moment the curse holder is dead, Duncan dies.¡±
¡°Good. Thought you were getting a bit soft in the head for a moment.¡± Chloe¡¯s smile was kind enough that it removed any sting her words had. Before he could respond the sky rippled silver and a BOOM shook the world. Before the initial shock of the first explosion hit, another rolled over them, then another, blast after blast that shook the ground and rattled their teeth.
[Air Manipulation] spun up and around him and the women, blocking the rippling sonic booms. Each blast of sound tore at his spells and he was forced to cast over and over again trying to keep himself and the others from being overwhelmed.
For a few minutes they grabbed and held at each other as the world shook around them. It was as if they were experiencing a powerful earthquake while a squadron of fighter jets soared around them. Then it ended as suddenly as it began.
Congratulations, you are still alive!
The Initialization is well under way and many have shown their promise.
Now, to connect you to the wider world.
Pillars of Civilization have landed.
Claim them and grow stronger.
¡°What the hell was that?¡± Chloe shouted as she clutched at her ears. Hana was on her knees, clutching her head as she worked her jaw up and down to try to have her eardrums pop.
¡°Pillars of Civilization apparently.¡± Santi had to keep the excitement out of his voice. The day had been a rollercoaster and now that he was seeing the trails of white vapor rising up not far from him, he was happy to think about what was to come. The mountain of coins he had accumulated
Access to the markets would alone be worth it. Being the master of a pillar would allow him to know the strongest people in the area. He wouldn¡¯t know their exact location, but the general location of them was more than enough. If he could go and claim one fast enough, he could track both Mercy and Duncan.
¡°Let¡¯s go. I want to see what they are before anyone else.¡± Santi took off, not waiting for either of the women. Both of them followed a second later, their grumbling following behind him.
Ch. 3.10 Travelling to the Pillar
10.
Finding the Pillar wasn¡¯t difficult. The difficulty was in everything else was also trying to find it. Mutated animals, monsters, and humans were all crawling out the woodwork and whatever hidey holes they had sequestered themselves in. Santi was forced to cast spells at a blistering pace.
Mutated birds were wrenched out of the air and cast to the ground, frail bones shattering. Something big, ugly, and with wings shrieked at them before wheeling away when it watched a flight of birds crash to the ground. The girls were stuck with the things that came bolting out of the countryside and over the interstate they traveled.
Peak Initiate level goblins, a lost primus, and some lizard monsters that scuttled about in bronze armor. Chloe met them head on without hesitation, her axe a black blur as bodies were dismantled around her. Hana danced in the backlines, disappearing and then reappearing to ram her knife into something¡¯s vitals. She lacked the sheer brutality of Chloe or Santi¡¯s overwhelming power, but she could kill with a practical ruthlessness that was hard to match.
¡°Santi! What the fuck are those?¡± Chloe screamed as something trundled out onto the interstate from an abandoned rest station. They were bears. Kinda. Big, hairy, sloped shoulders and triangular heads with beady black eyes. Yellow canines jutted from their jaws as they sniffed with inquisitive, wet, black noses. They rose to their hind legs, towering above all as they looked around with beady eyes.
It was just the pair were the size of a house.
Mutated Short-Faced Bear lvl. 52
Mutated Short-Faced Bear lvl. 54
¡°We fighting them?¡± Hana whispered, eyes wide as she took in the North American monstrosities.
¡°Fuck yeah.¡± Santi hit a sprint, morph spreading and turning into a long boar spear as he closed in on the two monsters. The lone primus strayed too close, beating its chest and the bear reached out with casual authority and swatted the primus¡¯s head free of its shoulders.
His heart sang as the lower leveled one fell forward, landing with a crushing boom that shook the earth under Santi¡¯s feet. The ground rippled forth in a wave and Santi leapt with grace, taking flight briefly as he rose up and over the quadruped, sun shining behind him as he began to fall.
The spear stretched out and the magical blade sheared flesh, fat, muscle and bone, reaching for vital organs as the bear roared in agony.
It shrugged its great shoulders and Santi was flung like he had been slapped out of the air. The space around the bear simply rejected his presence, slamming him away from the monster.
Santi spun in mid air, landing light and easy on his feet as he took in the monster and reevaluated it. Not an earth affinity monster then. Something closer to space or mass. Annoying.
¡°Careful, don¡¯t get too close. It¡¯s in complete control of its immediate surroundings,¡± Santi called out, warning the two women before they could get too close. The monster was a hard counter to Hana if it could sense her getting close.
The second monster continued to shuffle away, ignoring its partner as it moved across the interstate and disappeared into the rampant dried brush. Santi watched it carefully with one eye while his other was on the second mountain of fur and fang in front of him.
The wounded bear was snuffling and licking at its wound, wine red blood staining its pale gray coat. The tongue was dark and purple and much too long.Santi cast [Crosscurrent-Orb] at the beast¡¯s face. The gale force winds ripped at its flesh, flattening its fur and caused its jowls to ripple. It ducked its head and sneezed violently, but otherwise seemed not bothered at all by his most violent attack.
¡°Really need a new spell form,¡± Santi murmured as he closed the distance carefully. He prodded at the bear with his morph stretched out to its current fullest extent. The wounds were middling, more irritant than deadly to the bear as it shuffled forward toward him, slowly gathering speed.
Space shrank as with each slow, lumbering step the bear traveled further than it should.
¡°NOW!¡± Santi yelled, hoping that while it controlled space to chase him, it couldn¡¯t stop either of the girls. He jumped at the bear, a manic smile unnoticed on his face, the long spear transforming into a cruel axe as he swiped down to split flesh from bone.
The bear¡¯s mighty paw rose and glinting black claws hit the axe and the axe blade slid off, redirected in an instant. Santi split the interstate in twain, the axe head burying itself deep as the bear smiled at him from only feet away. A bolt of fear rattled him, shaking the surging adrenaline and desire for bloodshed.
Santi cast three [Air Shield]s in a row and watched as all three were destroyed with a contemptuous swipe of a paw. It had bought him a moment and that¡¯s all he needed to jerk back and create a bit of space. The bear took a single step and crossed the distance, but spun and growled as Chloe slammed into it, her axe slicing its flank.
Hana appeared, spells falling away as she rammed home a long dagger into its turned neck, ripping and tearing as she ran away. [Air Shield] slowed the bear¡¯s sudden head turn from killing Hana as she darted away. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
As it turned back and forth to confront the three of them, Santi began to whittle it away. His more rational mind taking control of his bloodlust as they worked with mechanical precision. They had trained for something like this, for hunting more powerful monsters. Without Cameron and his shielding abilities it was up to Santi to play the role of frontliner while Chloe moved to damage while Hana looked for a weakness.
It wasn¡¯t pretty. A half hundred wounds turned the bear into a tapestry of red, its howls and roars ignored as its more powerful brethren never returned. Santi was panting, gasping and clutching at his willpower as the heady copper scent of blood filled the air. Santi feinted, stabbing at an eye and the bear raised its head, jaw snapping at the spear point. Hana darted in, sliding under and slashing again at where she had already cut it.
A geyser of red jetted out, blood staining the ground and Hana as she failed to get out of the way fast enough. Santi was forced to cast again to prevent a stomping foot while Chloe hit the beast with a shoulder charge before it could chase Hana. It staggered about, eyes glazed over in fury and blood loss as it failed to make a decision. The decision was taken from it as its tree trunk thick legs buckled and it collapsed to the ground.
The kill notification was appreciated but Santi was already urging them forward. He left the bear to molder, the weight of a thousands of pounds of meat sitting to rot in the hot sun. If he had a crew with him the harvest would have been plentiful, but he had to keep moving. The closest pillar was going to be a hotbed of activity and he was determined to see it belong to him.
Neither of the girls said anything to him even if they were coated head to toe in tacky blood. Santi recognized his own state as being slightly cleaner, his weapon allowing him the distance needed to avoid the sprays of blood. Part of him wished he was coated though. That the blood of his defeated floes dripped off of him, a testament to his skills and power.
¡°Hana, get up and ahead of us. The Pillar should be close by, it looks like it landed in the middle of that town up ahead,¡± Santi said, nodding at a sun faded green population sign. The smoke of the arrival of the pillar was rising high as a beacon, alerting all to what was coming.
Hana nodded, face tight with a mix of anger and displeasure, but she did as she was ordered. Her light bending wrapped her up and made her disappear and a moment later Santi felt her leave his sphere of omniscience.
¡°I don¡¯t think you have that curse under control like you were telling us,¡± Chloe said as they slowed down from their blistering pace into a steadier march. An overpass was coming up which would allow them a decent view of the small town and the two of them walked as they started up it.
¡°It¡¯s a bit more insidious than I thought it was. It got me there for a minute, but I got it back under control,¡± Santi said as they got to the top of the overpass and looked down. It was another one of the small towns that dotted the Sacramento valley, formerly a farming town that had slowly withered as the locals were bought out and driven off.
A fifty foot tall sliver of silver rose like a pin from the ground, dwarfing everything in height. It was buried through the heart of a brick store and steam and smoke wafted off of it. All around it battles raged. Humans were the dominant group, in ragged clothes and fighting with a mix of weapons, they killed and died in small clusters. Santi watched as one group turned and fought another, two men dying under a woman¡¯s blister red, skill wreathed fists.
¡° Something funky is going on down there. They¡¯re not unified, maybe competing factions?¡± Chloe hypothesized as she watched, slinging her axe over her shoulder. Santi nodded his agreement while he waited for Hana to get back.
¡°What¡¯s the plan chief? We go in there, crack some skulls, kill some monsters, and you take the Pillar?¡±
¡°That could be what we do. Need to see what Hana has to say. I don¡¯t think cutting a bloody swathe through that melee would be the best for me right now.¡±
¡°Oh, you think?¡± Chloe smiled as she needled him. She didn¡¯t flinch from the bloodshed, from the hard realities. There was a true core of steel in her that would carry her far if she could stay alive. If Santi didn¡¯t drag her down with his personal dilemmas.
¡°I was thinking about first date ideas.¡± Santi raised an eyebrow and turned to her.
¡°I think we should go on a picnic,¡± Chloe suggested eagerly.
¡°I think you¡¯re just trying to get me to cook for you again,¡± Santi smiled at her as he discerned her intentions.
¡°Ughhh, can you blame me? Been eating those nutrition sticks for weeks and finally get one real meal and now we have to go back to the sticks.¡±
¡°Better than being hungry.¡±
¡°Just because it could be worse, doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s not bad.¡±
¡°True that. But, yes, I accept your proposal of a picnic.¡±
¡°Excellent!¡± Chloe beamed at him with a wide smile and Santi felt himself responding back.
¡°You two done?¡± Hana asked as she stood right outside of his sphere.
¡°Now you know how all of us feel when you and Daniel do couple stuff in front of us,¡± Santi retorted. Chloe just shrugged, not caring at all.
¡°What¡¯s it looking like down there, besides the scrum.¡±
¡°Three factions of humans. They each have a small camp off to the side and are busy fighting each other. Playing keep away with your pillar. I don¡¯t know if any of them really want it, none are being aggressive about putting their reserves forward to claim it. Maybe sixty of them all together with another twenty or so in the actual fight. Monsters aren¡¯t organized at all aside from those lizards in armor. Just a few Acolyte monsters, all of them weak.¡±
¡°So far.¡±
¡°So far,¡± Hana agreed as she sipped on some water.
¡°March down there, crack skulls, kill monsters, and take what you want?¡± Chloe asked again.
¡°Let¡¯s see if we can avoid cracking skulls. Hana in your quick in and out, did you see any of them that looked like they¡¯d be willing to talk or at least not try to kill us immediately?¡±
¡°One of the groups has skulls, human mind you, hanging from chains. All men, no children with them, no women, no younger men either. Second group is a mix of middle aged people and they¡¯re the ones who are playing it the most defensively. They¡¯re also the smallest, but that woman down there with the red fists is with them. The last group is like us, younger and more flexible. They¡¯re mixing it up without a care in the world, but they¡¯re also killing the others whenever someone steps in front of them.¡±
¡°A group of killer assholes, careful middle aged fighters with a heavy weight, or a bunch of younger hot heads. Those are my options?¡±
¡°Yeah.¡±
¡°Chloe, I think we¡¯re going to get to crack some skulls.¡±
Ch. 3.11 Meeting the Neighbors
11.
Slipping off of the overpass and into the town was easy enough. Everyone was busy fighting, slashing, stabbing, burning, and killing in an orgy of destruction that called to Santi. He forced his will to crush down the urges, focusing on their objectives as Hana led them to the camp most likely to follow them.
The cautious middle aged group was deep in the center of the destroyed downtown. They had taken over a cored out building only a few blocks from where the Pillar of Civilization sat. The fighting around the pillar was a mess of a melee, with dozens fighting, ducking in and out of buildings, around burnt out cars, and piled up rubble. None could get to the pillar, dying as all the factions turned on any who closed in on it.
The woman with the burning fists was duking it out with some low grad Acolyte monster. She was holding her ground, but not being able to overwhelm it as they fought through the ruins of a fast food restaurant. Santi got one last look at her as she hit the heavily armored monster in a burst of power, staggering it but not sending it to the ground.
¡°She¡¯s solid. Would be a good addition to Rayleigh¡¯s crew,¡± Santi remarked to Chloe. Chloe just grunted, eyes sweeping all around her as she kept her axe ready to intercede with anything that came at them.
Hana kept moving at a brisk walk, her own knife clutched and at the ready. She didn¡¯t turn and listen to them, simply pausing at the edge of a building to peak around it. She darted around the corner and Santi followed after as they kept moving toward where the group was located. As Santi turned the corner, a shape leapt free of the second story window, landing between him and Hana. Santi lashed out without hesitation and cut the lizardman in half without pausing.
He stepped past the dead creature even as its body settled, head swiveling and alert. Hana glanced back, startled by the sudden violence. Santi just pointed towards his own eyes and then up. She nodded slowly and began to check the upper levels of things as she walked.
They moved slowly, never exceeding a slow walk as they moved around buildings and fights without interfering. Nothing here was strong enough to honestly challenge them, but getting dragged into the quagmire would only slow them down further. It was something that he had to remind himself frequently as he wanted to solve the quagmire mess by simply killing everything in the town. At least, a small part of him did.
An incessantly annoying growing small part of him. Santi was forced to push it down, the niggling thoughts that wormed its way through his mind.
¡°It¡¯s just up ahead. There¡¯s someone on the roof watching,¡± Hana said as she peeked around the corner at where the new group was located. Santi leaned over and saw where she was pointing at.
A single person sat by the ledge watching the streets and another lounged hidden across the street. Hana had missed the person, Santi only seeing them when he glimpsed them in the reflection of a window.
He crossed the street after [Identifying] the sentry and realizing she was just a peak Initiate. He gave her a little wave as he walked, even as she bolted upright and promptly disappeared. A hole or quick escape route on the roof that allowed her to quickly get to the others.
Santi wagged a finger at the second sentinel who was rising up and drawing an arrow back to fire in her bow. She froze, looking surprised as Santi walked straight through the kill zone and into the building. Chloe and Hana followed behind, both of them looking at who Santi had waved his fingers at.
¡°How¡¯d you know they were there?¡± Hana asked.
¡°Reflection in the glass over there,¡± Santi tipped his head subtlety towards where the glass was. He didn¡¯t want the archer to see what had given her away. Not till they were officially aligned with him.
¡°Smart,¡± Hana whispered. Chloe just shrugged a shoulder as they marched through the broken front wall of the store.
A pair of burly older men rose up to block their passage, their faces twisted in fear as they used a skill to identify them. Both backed up a few steps and Santi passed by them with just an easy nod.
The linoleum floors were dirty and scratched, light streaming though behind Santi as he looked at the group of people huddled around the main table. They all looked at the three of them and slowly straightened up. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!
¡°Can I help you?¡± a slightly older man asked. His shoulder length hair was iron gray and fine as silk. He wore a patched flannel shirt with rolled up sleeves exposing corded forearms covered in military tattoos. His dark eyes were unflinching iron pits of determination. Even with Santi¡¯s higher levels and power, he didn¡¯t seem phased.
Warrior lvl. 25
To get the class of a warrior right off the bat spoke much of his disposition and skill set. The tattoos, build, and the way he carried himself all but screamed that he was a former active military member. These types of men and women had often managed to have early success, plying their skills to great effect. It was later down the line when things veered away from the team work and early days of the integration that they struggled. The personal growth needed to pass the next level of cap points was something that you could not do without a significant amount of resources. It required a greed that many of them couldn¡¯t or wouldn¡¯t express.
¡°My name is Santiago Silva and I have come to claim that Pillar of Civilization.¡±
¡°Pleasure¡¯s yours I guess. I¡¯m Frank.¡±
¡°Pleasure is mine Frank, I would like to help out with your situation outside but I would like to know what¡¯s actually happening before I start cutting.¡±
¡°Town went to shit. Some fucking nutters decided this was the time to start a death cult since nothing matters. Extreme nihilism but they¡¯re incompetent for the most part. The real worry is the kids. They¡¯re drunk on power and don¡¯t want to hear anything about slowing down and taking it slow. Maya got into it with one or two of them and it¡¯s been bad blood since.¡±
¡°The kids, can they be reined in or is it to the death?¡± Santi asked.
¡°We want them back in the fold. They¡¯re good people, but, this power they have. It¡¯s made them hard headed. Constantly going on and on about grinding levels and finding treasures and powers. None of them have managed to get past twenty-five like you though.¡±
¡°Something I can help with if you¡¯re willing to sign up with my people.¡±
¡°You have people?¡± A woman asked suddenly, fear and hope intermingled in her voice.
¡°Yes. We have people. A full on town about fifty miles from here. Got a couple thousand people, farmers, armorers, clean water, the works.¡±
¡°Can we go there?¡±
¡°Yes. We are working on spreading out a bit, trying to establish smaller villages and towns to reduce the strain on our infrastructure. I just want you to know that before I bring you folks along.¡±
¡°We¡¯d have to settle a town. Again?¡± the same woman asked, eyes sinking downwards in defeat.
¡°Yes. But you¡¯d have support. I have teams of fighters who roam the area, scouts who hunt monsters, the whole kit and caboodle.¡±
¡°And all we need to do for that is help you with claiming the Pillar?¡± Frank cut in.
¡°No. You can get all that by just promising to follow our rules. And not getting in my way when I start working on claiming the Pillar.¡±
¡°Dillan, go and get your sister and everyone else. Pull back everyone from the pillar,¡± Frank ordered quickly, one of the large men who had confronted them when they walked in turned around and went out the hole.
¡°This should take a few minutes. You are sure you don¡¯t need any manpower from us in clearing the area?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll be fine. Just clear out the people you want to stay alive.¡±
¡°Santi, you¡¯re slipping,¡± Chloe leaned in and whispered in his ear urgently. The whispered words were hardly more than the sigh of exhalation but loud enough that they rang through his growing haze of bloodlust.
¡°I¡¯ll try to keep the kids alive and relatively unharmed,¡± Santi amended after a second. People relaxed subtly around him. They hadn¡¯t been about to stop him, but they weren¡¯t exactly thrilled with his earlier words.
¡°Shit, you¡¯re all kids yourself,¡± the woman from earlier said.
¡°Don¡¯t worry about us, we can handle ourselves. Just get ready to move once I claim the Pillar.¡±
The three of them separated from Frank and his people and walked out of the store. The negotiations had been short and sweet just like Santi liked them. It was easy when you came from a position of strength and offered the other party everything they wanted.
¡°Santi, are you sure this is how you want to play it? Your curse is affecting you,¡± Chloe leaned, the warmth of her body present against his back.
¡°It is. I can¡¯t deny it. We still need that pillar and everyone is in my way to getting it.¡±
¡°Let me and Hana deal with it then. We¡¯re strong enough to do it. We can¡¯t be losing you to some type of fucking madness right now.¡±
¡°I agree with whatever Chloe is whispering into your ear,¡± Hana said without turning to look at them.
¡°Alright, you two go and clear the way then. Give Dillan a minute to get his people out of the way and then you two can get to work. I won¡¯t step in unless you need help.¡±
¡°We won¡¯t,¡± Chloe said without hesitation.
Ch. 3.12 Delegating
12.
He really didn¡¯t need to help them. The women were like two goddesses of war out on the battlefield, the peak Initiate level monsters and fighters failing to slow them as they massacred their way across the field. Santi watched in rapt appreciation as Chloe split a lizardman in half then spun and bisected a second one, turning the two into four pieces all in one long smooth motion.
Hana was quieter, she didn¡¯t stand in the center of the field like Chloe did, calling all attention to herself. She wove a trail of death across the battle with barely a ripple of her presence. Santi caught glimpses of her as her cloaking ability fell right as she stabbed. She hadn¡¯t mastered holding the cloak while stabbing, but it was coming along better than it had. Santi thought she might do well with a distance weapon, a shortbow, crossbow, or even a javelin. Something to keep her at range and striking invisibly.
It had been awhile since he could just sit back and watch others. It was illuminating. Chloe shifted her weight too much when she struck, her center of balance changing in ways that would be easier to counter. Hana had a habit of only striking from the right back side. Never directly behind or to the left, obviously favoring her strong dominant hand.
Easy things to see with a birds eye view of a larger battlefield, but not quite as easy when one was in the thick of it. He wondered to himself what else he had been missing by being too deep in the middle of things. His musings were cut short by a group of people walking up to him, the fighters pulled back by Frank¡¯s orders.
The first was the fistfighter, Maya, and then behind her was her brother Dillan. The larger man was a walking mountain of muscle, but he trailed his younger looking sister like a hound dog. Now that he was closer he realized that Maya was probably closer in age to the young folks than she was Frank. Late twenties, maybe pushing thirty.
Pugilist lvl. 25
A boxer of some sort, she had the build for it. Long arms, powerful shoulders, a balanced walk with a spring in her step. Her brother was a poor imitation of the restrained violence that Maya projected so casually.
¡°You¡¯re not down there helping them? Can¡¯t handle the fight?¡± Maya asked, her voice edged with adrenaline, she was still floating high from her fight and was only now starting to come down. She was looking to push, to start something to keep herself up and going, keeping the engine revved so to speak. Santi took it all in and just leaned back and watched his two friends, or whatever Chloe was now to him, continue to fight for him.
¡°Naw, blood makes me squeamish and the girls wanted to blow off some steam. Said I¡¯d stay up here and watch out in case anything jumps them.¡±
¡°Smartass then. Makes sense your a mage. Wizard types are always snarky in books.¡±
¡°You can read?¡± Santi asked as innocently as he could.
¡°If it wasn¡¯t for that question mark next to your class I would box your ears,¡± Maya said with a vicious grin. There was no mistaking the pleasure in her eyes as the two settled down for a verbal spar. Both of them wanted to be out there fighting, but she was outclassed and he couldn¡¯t keep feeding his curse.
¡°You shouldn¡¯t pick on people smaller than you,¡± Santi said as he watched Chloe slice the monster Maya had been dueling in circles. The axewoman took two swipes to kill it, dispatching it as easily as she had the Initiate level monsters.
¡°Guess that means you can pick on anyone?¡±
¡°Yup, perks of being small. I¡¯m always the underdog,¡± Sants said while he watched as the other fighters marched down to the store that Frank was holed up in. Dillan looked at them and then shrugged before heading down himself.
¡°New world. Size don¡¯t mean shit. Look at my brother, looks like a hill that sprouted legs. Can¡¯t fight for a shit though. Not this new way. Just not fast enough on the uptake.¡±
¡°Tell him to put points into intelligence and not just strength and durability.¡±
¡°You can tell that from just glancing at him?¡±
¡°Close enough. I¡¯m observant. Just like you have a bunch of points into dex, perception, and strength. Good blend of striker and speed with the ability to find weaknesses and hit them. Lower end of the mana and willpower range, not a ton of vitality or durability either. Trust yourself to avoid being hit.¡±
¡°You are good. Dillan wanted to be the big guy around here. Help people out, keep them safe, so he needed to be big and tough. It worked for a bit, but he got too lopsided and then the level cap.¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
¡°We can help with that.¡±
¡°You can break us past the cap?¡±
¡°With a few ingredients. It¡¯s not always the most pleasant experience, just to warn ya,¡± Santi shuddered as he thought of his own evolutions.
¡°We all want it. More and more of those beasts coming over and their levels are getting close to the thirties. Me, Frank, Dillan, and a few others used to be able to work to get them down. Now, we just have to hide.¡±
¡°We can work on that. My sister normally does the evolutions, but she¡¯s a bit backlogged. We can always work out something here when I claim the pillar.¡±
¡°What¡¯s so important about it anyway?¡±
¡°Why are you asking me, you were the one actually down there fighting for it.¡±
¡°That was just to stop the skeleton fucks from having it. The kids hopped in and then all the monsters started coming down. Turned into a right clusterfuck,¡± she emphasized the point by spitting powerfully on the ground.
¡°The System sent it. That¡¯s all I need to know,¡± and could say, Santi thought bitterly. While Akthry was helping him, the geas was a damn migraine.
¡°Oh, that¡¯s a big one. Your girls can kill it?¡± Maya asked as a new monster announced itself by plowing though a small building, sending materials flying everywhere. Santi took a look at it and fought his instinctive urge to shudder, he didn''t like snakes. It was the way they wiggled about that had always made his skin crawl.
Serpentine Explorer lvl. 34
¡°They should be fine. It¡¯s right in their wheelhouse.¡± Both of the women were higher level than it, but not by much. The flashing fangs dripped poison, the ground smoking whenever a drop landed. Its gleaming skin was emerald with black markings in diamonds running its length. Its copper colored hood flared as it hissed, two weak talon tipped arms stretching out as Chloe threw herself at it.
Santi watched as she rippled, skin taking on a sheen as the snake spat venom at her. Instead of hitting vulnerable flesh, it splashed harmlessly off of metal, her newest armor skill working well with her affinity. She slashed and her axe split scales, blood rolling out in a wave of steaming crimson as the snake hissed and roared, rising up and wiggling backward.
Right into Hana. The small assassin appeared next to the coils, blade flashing as she rammed it into the side of its face. She twisted and tore, disappearing as the snake jerked to the side, spitting another well of venom at the where the small woman had been. Santi hoped she¡¯d gotten out of the way in time. He didn¡¯t want to tell Daniel his girlfriend had been killed by an overgrown snake while he sat on his haunches.
Maybe he should get up. Just in case.
The thoughts warred in his mind until he got them under control. He loosened his white knuckle grip on his weapon, taking a calming breath as he looked at Maya. She was watching him with an interested look, half torn between excitement and fear.
¡°You¡¯re strange. Just now, I could swear I was going to die,¡± she whispered the words but to Santi they were a screaming recrimination.
¡°Going through something right now. I¡¯ll get better.¡±
¡°Your friends just killed that snake.¡± Maya pointed and Santi looked to see that she was right. The snake had been split down the center while another two deep puncture wounds on its face showed Hana¡¯s work. They had eventually managed to hit something of value and the monster was dead.
The field of battle had emptied as all the monsters were slain. The girls hadn¡¯t interacted with either group right off the bat, instead focusing their work on the monsters and mutated animals, purging them from the region before they went back to the humans.
While they did that the surviving humans had shown remarkable critical thinking and had fled as fast as their legs could carry them. Santi would have to go and hunt down the death cult, but he could wait till after the bloodlust was banished. That or after he had gotten Frank¡¯s crew leveled. He had a feeling Maya and Frank wouldn¡¯t mind dealing with them.
¡°Wanna see the pillar?¡± Santi asked as he got up. Maya was another of those people. The fire burnt in her brightly. She had the drive and passion to push her boundaries far enough to glimpse true power. Maybe not a Champion, but a Disciple for sure.
¡°Damn straight. Spent hours running around fighting for it, want to see what all the fuss was about.¡±
Santi pushed his way downtown, mindful of keeping Maya close by and not simply sprinting to the pillar. He had never had one before, the power of the pillars kept in the hands of the strongest around. Most Champions had one if not a collection of them.
¡°Cleared all your lightwork for you, boss¡± Chloe called out sarcastically, axe slung over her shoulder as she walked over to them. He could feel Hana off to the side, working her way closer but not introducing herself right now. She really had been picking up habits from Daniel.
¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll be writing up a good performance review for your next evaluation,¡± Santi smiled at her, letting a peek of his true emotions through. Chloe¡¯s clouded face drained of negativity as she smiled widely back at him.
¡°Oh, that¡¯s gross,¡± Maya remarked snidely as she walked past them to look at the Pillar of Civilization.
¡°It is,¡± Hana declared as she materialized next to Maya, blocking her from touching the silvery metal of the pillar.
¡°Glass houses, Hana. Glass houses.¡± Chloe shot back, but the look of happiness on her face didn¡¯t diminish one iota.
¡°Alright, let¡¯s see what this baby holds for us,¡± Santi said, stepping around Maya as he reached up to connect to the Pillar.
Ch. 3.13 Diplomacy
13.
Santi¡¯s fingers brushed over the warm metal, heat emanating off the surface. A burst of pain and knowledge shot through his mind. A connectedness as his mind expanded, surpassing its limit as knowledge flowed through him like a rushing river.
Pillar Connected
Santiago Silva Air Mage lvl. 44
Confirm Claim?
With a single thought Santi confirmed his desire to claim the pillar. More power surged through him, an electricity that had his hair rising on his head and arms, taking his breath from him as he struggled to contain it all. He could now appreciate the strain people had talked about when claiming the pillars.
24 Hour Challenge Period Started
Survive against all Challengers
¡°What?¡± Santi whispered as he stared at the newest block of floating text. He couldn¡¯t remember this in the last timeline. How could he have not known of this, or was it something new?
¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Chloe asked.
¡°There¡¯s a wait period where people can challenge me.¡±
¡°Figures. Nothing is easy.¡± Chloe simply shrugged.
¡°This is an impediment to our plans. I won¡¯t be able to move this until it¡¯s claimed. I need to stay here and hold this until it¡¯s ours.¡±
¡°You can¡¯t forfeit it and get another one later?¡± Hana asked.
¡°I mean, I could. But, in the meantime others have this. People who may not be friends. We can¡¯t give up any advantage we can claim.¡±
¡°So, what? We just wait here?¡±
¡°Me and Chloe wait here. You¡¯re going to run back to Homebase and gather up everyone and send them here,¡± Santi told Hana.
¡°And what about Mercy? We¡¯re just going to let her keep running wild?¡± Chloe cut in.
¡°No. I have a feeling she¡¯s going to be coming down to us.¡±
¡°Why¡¯s that?¡±
In response to Chloe¡¯s questions a massive ding took everyone¡¯s attention. The system alert echoed out and every person stopped what they were doing to look at the words.
Local Challenger to Pillar of Civilization
Santiago Silva
24 Hour Window to Contest the Claim is Now Open
¡°Oh, shit. You think everyone in the state just saw that?¡±
¡°No. It said local. Probably just a couple hundred miles. Mercy saw it for sure.¡±
A beam of golden light shot free of the pillar, bright even in the sunlight, obvious from miles away no doubt. Every eye turned to look at it.
¡°Hana. I¡¯m going to need you to book it. Get there as soon as possible. How fast can you do it?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know. Never really gone all out for a long distance. I¡¯m going to have to cloak myself, there¡¯s things out there strong enough that I can¡¯t fight them. That¡¯ll slow me down. Maybe like an hour and a half, maybe two?¡±
¡°Alright get moving, don¡¯t get caught. Bring everyone here, the sooner the better. I have no doubt we¡¯ll be getting some feelers here shortly.¡±
¡°You and Chloe can hold the house down here?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry about me and Chloe. We can last long enough for you to get back.¡±
¡°What about us?¡± Maya cut in suddenly, the three friends turning to look at her. She had been standing quietly and observing them.
¡°What do you mean? I made a deal with y¡¯all, nothing has changed.¡±
¡°They can have whatever deal they want. I want past the cap, I¡¯ll stay here and help you out.¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
¡°Deal,¡± Santi stuck his hand out, shaking hers as she accepted extra responsibility.
¡°Hana, make sure that Yessenia is coming with you. Carry her if need be. Tell her to bring six standard sets of evolution guides. I¡¯m going to see if anyone else will stay here for the possibility of an evolution.¡±
¡°Done. I¡¯m good to go?¡±
¡°Yeah, bounce. Maya, this place is going to be a battlefield quite soon. We need to get your non-combatants out of here.¡± Maya nodded in acceptance and quickly jogged back to her people.
Hana turned and disappeared in a single step, rapidly leaving his sphere without looking back or showing a hint of her form. Santi took one last longing look at the pillar and had to sigh. He had really wanted to access the pillar and its functions. Having to survive twenty-four hours before accessing it was frustrating to say the least.
¡°Chloe, we need to establish contact with the kids and finish off those weirdo death cultists. I don¡¯t wanna get backstabbed by them at the last minute when we¡¯re facing bigger problems.¡±
¡°Need me to clear out the cultists?¡±
¡°If you would be so inclined,¡± Santi offered her a wan smile. He was asking her to go and kill a bunch of people. He wasn¡¯t going to order it so easily.
¡°Yeah. Yeah, I¡¯ll take Maya with me. Maybe Frank, really see what they¡¯re made of. You get to be the diplomat, I guess.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t ask this lightly. I want you to know that.¡±
¡°I know.¡±
¡°Thank you.¡± Chloe smiled sadly and two of them started off towards where Frank and the others were. The walk was short and the gathering crowd of people watched him with wary eyes. Maya and Frank had their heads close together, whispering to each other.
Frank looked up as they approached. His frown was fierce and the furrow between his eyes deep. Santi could read the questions on his face like it was a book. He had deeper concerns than Maya had, his concern for his people rand deep and wide.
¡°Maya updated me about what¡¯s going on. I don¡¯t like the idea of splitting up, especially if I leave the stronger fighters here to help you. There is no way the others can make it all the way to your place.¡±
¡°Agreed. When my people get here, I¡¯ll peel a squad of people off as a protection detail. It¡¯ll take a few hours for them to arrive, in the meantime I need to know where the kids are located. The fight just ended and they¡¯re hurting right now. If there¡¯s a time to bring them back into the fold, it¡¯s going to be now.¡±
¡°I know where they¡¯re staying at. It¡¯s not too far from here. I can take you there.¡±
¡°No need for that. I want you to take Maya and go with Chloe. Clear out the death worshippers.¡±
¡°Dillan can take you then. They¡¯re not far from here. Dillan! Take Santiago to where Zeke has everyone set up, will ya?¡±
The big man gave a quick nod and started moving, not giving Santi time to issue last minute instructions. Following Dillan he worked through the town. Most of it was in poor shape, destroyed and decaying with signs of battle everywhere.
¡°How long have you been fighting these guys?¡± Santi asked. The big man was fairly quiet, his voice a whisper as he spoke.
¡°Took about a week for the first group to lose their shit. Everyone¡¯s going to die, might as well be by our hand. Fucking idiots. It was originally just our two groups, but the younger folk didn¡¯t like how Frank was doing stuff. Too slow, too cautious. They split off and a couple weeks ago one of them mouthed off to Maya. That was that.¡±
¡°Who¡¯s Zeke?¡±
¡°Unofficial boss. He¡¯s who everyone looks too. He¡¯s not as strong as Maya or Frank, but he¡¯s curious. Looks for answers everywhere. Doesn¡¯t mind getting his hands dirty either, but they don¡¯t have a heavy like us. It¡¯s why we¡¯re still alive probably.¡±
¡°They outnumber you?¡±
¡°Close, but they¡¯re certainly more aggressive. Start fights pretty much everytime we meet up with them.¡±
¡°That¡¯s a joy.¡± Santi wondered how old they were. Frank had called them kids, and Santi had automatically slotted them into that bracket.
¡°Not far from here, just have to turn the corner. I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll be pleased to see me.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. You¡¯re with me, you¡¯re safe.¡± Santi clapped the big man¡¯s shoulder, startling him into walking around the corner and into the line of sight.
[Air Shield] stopped some form of magical attack, dissipating it in its chaotic environs with ease. Dillan had only begun to start grasping he was under attack as the energy was dispersed. Not a fighter then, despite his size and levels.
¡°Fuck, Dillan! You scared the shit out of me, man. I didn¡¯t mean for that,¡± a younger looking boy said. He couldn¡¯t have been older than fifteen, pimples still angry on his face. His blonde hair was slicked back and his face pale as he looked up to the huge man. Santi didn¡¯t think he had even been noticed behind Dillan¡¯s bulk.
¡°Where¡¯s Zeke?¡± Dillan didn¡¯t mention the fact his face had almost been melted off, just moving straight to business. That Santi could admire. Even if the goliath¡¯s reflexes were the same sharpness as a rock¡¯s.
¡°Inside. He¡¯s fucking pissed, dude. I wouldn¡¯t go and talk to him right now if I was you.¡±
¡°Not me wanting to talk to him. This is Santiago. He¡¯s the one who took over. He wants to talk to Zeke.¡±
¡°Oh, fuck. Uhmmm. Yeah.¡± Santi met the kids eyes and saw the mix of fear, anxiety and uncertainty.
¡°Just stay here you two,¡± Santi breezed past them, eyes on the building that they kids were holed up in. It had been some type of store before, old brick work was still there, but the everpresent cars had been used to form thick barriers around it, leaving little to the eye. They had no other guard than the stammering teenager and Santi felt his disappointment grow.
He barged through the door and not a single spell or skill tried to kill him. The arguing voices were louder in here, people fighting for what to do. Nearly thirty teens clustered around a small room, all of them shouting and screaming at each other.
Santi looked back at the door and wished he had given Chloe this job while he exterminated the skull guys. There was no whisper of the bloodlust in that thought, just an abject hatred of dealing with this age bracket.
[Air Manipulation] helped him as he shouted, a wordless roar that deafened the room, amplified and spread by the wind he summoned and controlled. Everyone stopped fighting and everyone turned to look at him.
¡°Which one of you is Zeke?¡±
Ch. 3.14 Negotiations
14.
¡°I¡¯m Zeke!¡± A voice boomed out from the crowd of shuffling around bodies and Santi watched as the crowd broke apart to let a slightly older boy walk out. He was younger than Santi¡¯s current body, but it wasn¡¯t by much. Tall and lean, borderline emaciated with sharp cheeks and a long nose. Black dreads fell past his shoulders, gold glittered in both of his ears, diamonds shining in the light.
He flashed a sparkling smile, his charisma undeniable. Santi stared at him, focusing on the edges of the young man and felt the illusion crack under his scrutiny. Zeke was still there, everything he had observed was the same, but the glamor of it fell away. Some type of leadership class. Frustrating.
¡°I¡¯m Santiago Silva. I¡¯m a leader from down the way. It was my friends that cleared out the battlefield earlier.¡±
¡°They¡¯re with you?¡± Some of the man¡¯s swagger slipped away. Santi could emphasize with that. The two of them had likely left a permanent impression on them. Something like their display earlier today would have left him shocked when he was a young Initiate.
¡°Yes, they¡¯re with me. As is Frank and Maya. I want to extend that offer to you too.¡±
¡°Maya? Yeah, we don¡¯t fuck with Maya. She fucked up some of our people and we can¡¯t just let that go.¡±
¡°Listen. I don¡¯t give a fuck. I¡¯m not saying you have to be friends with her. I can set you up with a small town or area far away from her and Frank and their group. Get you supplies and the knowledge to break through the level cap you¡¯re at. All I ask is to keep the violence relegated to monsters and in self-defense.¡±
¡°You¡¯d give us all that and just to stay out of the way? Get us out of this shithole and show us how to push past twenty-five?¡±
¡°Yeah. Pretty simple rules. We work with you if you follow the rules. And the rules are don¡¯t start shit and to contribute to the community. Well, there¡¯s actually more rules but that¡¯s what they boil down to.¡±
¡°What¡¯s the catch? I know there¡¯s a catch.¡± The crowd behind Zeke shifted and looked about, eyes watching Santi warily. There was the teenage distrust there, the hard eyed cynicism, the disbelief and natural arrogance of children becoming adults. It helped that Santi looked close enough to their own age.
¡°The catch is I¡¯m in charge. Period. We have rules, we follow the rules, we all benefit. But I¡¯m not putting up with bullshit. You want to dick around?You can find your own way.¡±
Everyone shifted around, glances shot at each other as they reacted to that. Most didn¡¯t like it, but they were waiting for Zeke to react. Santi could read the boy¡¯s face like a book, whatever background skill he was using was broken by his higher stats. There was exhaustion etched into the bags beneath his eyes. Anxiety and a grayness, a pallor that refused to leave even with his higher stats. Heavy was the crown indeed.
¡°What about the others? Faulkner and his fucking psychos? Are they welcome too?¡±
¡°No. They¡¯re not. Chloe, the axe girl, is going to take care of them with Frank and Maya right now.¡±
¡°And when you say take care of them?¡±
¡°Chloe is killing them.¡± Santi said without hesitation
¡°Just like that? No trial or process or anything?¡±
¡°They¡¯re walking around carrying human skulls and talking about how life is pointless and people should die. They¡¯re killers and we don¡¯t put up with shit like that.¡±
¡°They¡¯re strong. Is your girl enough?¡±
¡°Chloe is more than strong enough to deal with them.¡±
¡°We need to talk about this. But, if you can make sure we¡¯re away from Maya and Frank, I don¡¯t see why not.¡±
¡°Talk it over. Frank and the others were the ones who pushed me to reach out and be diplomatic, just to let you know. They want to have a relationship with you guys.¡±
¡°That can be for the future. Can you give us a few minutes?¡±
¡°Sure.¡± Santi walked away, giving them a bit of space but still close enough to hear them talking with his advanced senses.
Most of the talk was around how they were all exhausted. They were hungry and sleep deprived, the constant fighting had sapped them of their strength of will. They were continuing on with pure grit and stubbornness. They needed this, needed the relief and break from the ongoing initialization. Zeke came back a few moments later and nodded. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¡°What do we need to do?¡±
¡°Just travel to our town. It¡¯s about fifty miles from here. I have some of my people coming. When they get here I¡¯ll split off a squad to escort you and Frank¡¯s non-combatants out of here and to our town. You¡¯ll be processed at the central location, given a spot, food, responsibilities, and the rundown on the rules. When we finish with this Pillar, we¡¯ll work on getting you guys past your caps.¡±
¡°We have to travel with Frank and Maya?¡±
¡°No. Frank and Maya will be staying here with me. Along with some of their better fighters.¡±
¡°We¡¯ll do the same. Me and a few others will stay and show our worth!¡± Pride suffused his voice. There were some nods around from some of the rougher looking people in the group. The fighters in the group who had more pride than sense.
¡°That¡¯s fine. Gather up your belongings and move toward where Frank and his group is set up. That¡¯s going to be our staging area to move out. My people should be here in a few hours, but we might start getting visitors sooner than that.¡±
¡°Visitors?¡±
¡°Yeah. You didn¡¯t see the giant golden beam in the sky?¡±
¡°Oh, well fuck me. Look at that.¡±
¡°Bruh, it¡¯s hella bright? How¡¯d you miss it?¡± Santi asked the leader of the group. The teen simply shrugged.
¡°Was a little busy with the whole murder sisters. Weird shit happens around here all the time nowadays if you haven¡¯t noticed.¡±
¡°Alright. Anyways, everyone who wants a shot at the pillar will be coming to challenge me. Need to get your people out of here before it gets too busy.¡±
¡°We¡¯ll get moving. Just keep Maya away from us. I¡¯ll keep my people in line.¡±
¡°I can do that. See you in a bit.¡± Santi left them, gathering Dillan and moved back towards where Frank had set up his headquarters. They were still gone and Santi was forced to sit around with a bunch of nervous strangers staring at him. It took Chloe twenty minutes to come back.
The petite woman walked back with blood smeared across her face, partially wiped away but part of it missed. There was a hard look in her eyes, a fragility disguised as iron. Santi rose and went to her even as Frank and Maya walked by, both of them giving her respectable nods while neither of them had the same looks on their faces. Frank was a former soldier so he could understand that, but Maya was a hard woman if she had gone to a killing like what had likely just happened and came back as if nothing had occurred.
¡°Hey,¡± Santi said as he got close to her. Chloe looked at him with a vague blank stare for a second before life flared into her eyes. He wanted to reach out to her, touch her bloody hands and the white knuckle grip on the handle of her system generated axe.
¡°I¡¯m back.¡± Chloe bit each word sharply.
¡°Are you ok?¡±
¡°I¡¯m fine. No injuries. Mission accomplished.¡±
¡°Alright. Why don¡¯t we sit down and you can talk to me for a few minutes. We¡¯ve got some time before anything should pop up.¡± Santi guided her to the side of the building. He wove his [Air Current] around them to help prevent eavesdropping.
¡°What do you wanna ask?¡± Chloe said as they sat down. Her white knuckle grip hadn¡¯t relented.
¡°When me and Cameron were kids we used to play outside all the time. You know, kid stuff, just running around in the backyards with interesting sticks and pretending to be knights or soldiers.¡± Santi let his mind drift to those easy memories. They were distant things, buried under the weight of his life, but they still felt warm when he visited them.
¡°I always wanted to be a knight. It¡¯s just a kid thing I think. Saw Aragorn charge the Black Gates, you know. That was so cool.¡±
¡°Thought knights were supposed to be tall?¡± Chloe asked quietly, just a hint of warmth in her voice.
¡°Oh they are. It¡¯s an unfortunate reality. To be a knight you need to be tall. It¡¯s why I became a mage.¡±
¡°You became a mage because you¡¯re short?¡±
¡°Close enough.¡± The answer was similar. He had been scared. Scared of fighting close enough to smell sweat and blood and fear. He had wanted the distance that a mage had promised.
¡°Cam makes a good knight I think. Big and strong and noble. Even has a shield. Need to get him a horse and sword.¡±
¡°He¡¯s a good knight. I think you would have been a good knight too. Regardless of how vertically challenged you are.¡±
¡°Thank you, I appreciate it. But, what I wanted to say was when we were kids it was always the unending hordes. The bad guys, right. Goblins or orcs or whatever. The other thing. It wasn¡¯t people you normally see in the grocery store. Your neighbor. That¡¯s a lot harder to do.¡±
Chloe went quiet, her small smile leaving her face as her back stiffened. Santi couldn¡¯t tell if she was reacting to the subject or if it was her worrying about how he viewed her.
¡°The first time I killed someone I broke down. Cried and threw up. She haunted my dreams for a long time. How still she was, her face slack and pale. It wasn¡¯t like we played about in our backyards in the suburbs. There was no honor or glory or whatever it was that I thought there was in killing someone.¡±
¡°They weren¡¯t the first.¡±
¡°I know. They won¡¯t be the last either. Might not even be the last today. I just want you to know you¡¯re not alone. With whatever it is you¡¯re feeling, whatever you experienced. You¡¯re not alone.¡± Santi risked reaching out and placing his hand over hers. He could feel the tension in her knuckles, the tendons straining, all the while she didn¡¯t look at him.
¡°Thank you. I just need to work through this. It was bad over there. They¡ they might have been closer to your childhood enemies than whatever humanity they should have had.¡±
¡°Then it¡¯s good that they¡¯re gone. I¡¯m sorry it had to be you that experienced that, but I¡¯m glad they¡¯re gone.¡±
¡°It had to be done. Santiago, there were things in there that I just haven¡¯t seen others humans do. It was like a monster den.¡±
Santi let her vent, speaking quietly of what she had seen. There were no tears or frustrations, just a nauseating description of what the death worshippers had been doing in their portion of the town. Santi wasn¡¯t shocked, there were plenty of things he had seen that defied decency or humanity. Whatever Mercy was, she was the herald of worse things to come.
Monsters and mutated animals were the, in the end, weakest of threats. It was the sapients, the invaders and humans who had done the most damage after the initialization had stabilized.
Santi wedged himself closer to Chloe, offering her the warmth and solidarity of his shoulder. His hand didn¡¯t waver from her as she spoke. When she finally finished, some of the strain had disappeared from her as she finished
Santi heard the tromping footsteps of Zeke and his people. He read the strain of the older people as the kids came back home. In a moment he would have to come out of his little cocoon of magic and tackle the responsibilities of leadership. For this moment he could continue being a friend.
Ch. 315 GOAT Party
15.
Two hours of silence. Awkward silence. Tension so thick that Santi could not only cut it, he could proceed to dish it up on a plate after cutting it. Zeke was sitting with a knot of his fighters, all of them working hard on not making eye contact with Maya. Maya was crouched against a wall with a cat that ate the canary grin as she watched them. She was going to be a problem, there was too much instigator in her for being a stable presence in the community.
She didn¡¯t seem the type to stick around one spot for a long time. There was too much to explore and see. She would go far, gaining levels and power if she could keep herself from getting killed.
Zeke had the presence to be a good leader. Solid and reliable with plenty of patience. He wasn¡¯t bothered by Maya¡¯s staring or the creeping tension or the thought of a fight coming. He simply stood there like nothing was wrong, quietly talking to his people when needed.
¡°How long do you think before Hana gets back?¡± Chloe asked. Santi could tell it was more to break the silence that had been growing than an actual desire to know when Hana would be back.
¡°She should be getting back to Homebase soon enough. Couple hours to rally everyone then couple more to get back here. That¡¯s if nothing has gone to shit.¡±
¡°Somethings definitely gone to shit. It always does,¡± Chloe remarked dryly.
¡°It¡¯s the apocalypse. Something definitely went wrong,¡± Santi said, agreeing with her.
¡°Probably tomorrow then. At dawn to make it much more dramatic.¡± Chloe was smiling gently.
¡°Of course, right as we¡¯re about to be overrun,¡± Santi played along. Others were turning to look at them with some puzzled looks.
¡°Hey! We have movement!¡± a voice cried out, the watcher on the rooftop. Santi perked up, finally having some type of action.
¡°Where at?¡± Frank called out, taking control of the environment in an instant. Zeke might have a leadership class, but he didn¡¯t have the older man¡¯s experience. Zeke and his people rose up silently, gathering their weapons. They gripped them with white knuckle ferocity, nervous but determined. Maya simply had a feral smile on her face, vicious and predatory as she cracked her neck.
¡°Coming from the overpass. Single person, uhhh, thing?¡±
¡°You all stay here. I¡¯ll call you if we need help.¡± Santi waved at the two groups as Chloe followed behind him. The two sets of people looked at him with a mix of surprise and gratitude. Santi wanted to keep them in reserve in case anything happened, but they were likely going to be seriously outclassed.
Santi walked out of the torn up store and jogged up towards the overpass they had come down hours ago. He could feel his heart thundering in his chest as he worked his way up towards the overpass.
¡°Calm down, you¡¯re walking so fast,¡± Chloe complained as she had to do a little hop skip to catch up to him.
¡°I¡¯m bored. Want to get this shit kicked off as soon as possible.¡±
¡°You do, or the curse does?¡±
¡°Little of both?¡± Santi shrugged as he started walking up the slope of the overpass.
¡°Wonder what it is. Think it¡¯s Mercy and her people?¡±
¡°Maybe. Doubt it though. It¡¯s supposed to be a big group, they don¡¯t move as quickly as a small group can. Monsters will be faster. Some individuals or small groups might get here quicker.¡±
¡°Like that guy? The shadow assassin?¡±
¡°Yeah, he was close by too. He could get here quick.¡±
¡°Think he¡¯ll honor your temporary truce?¡±
¡°Fuck if I know. We stay on guard regardless of what happens, don¡¯t trust him at all no matter what happens.¡±
¡°You got it.¡± They crested the top of the overpass and Santi finally got a glimpse of what the watcher had seen. A bloody grin crossed his face, widening out as he stared at the monster who looked back at him with semi-intelligent eyes.
Satyr Scout lvl. 49
Bipedal with thick, muscular arms, white fur legs that were capped with goat hooves. A wide wooden club dangled from a four finger hand. Stubby horns poked out from curly white hair and wide dark eyes filled with malice. It grinned, wide teeth stained yellow showing as it started back up the overpass. Every step sent a clop as it moved up the slope of the overpass.
¡°Mine,¡± Santi whispered as heat began to suffuse his body. His heartbeat picked up, blood rushing through his veins as he flew toward the monster, morph blade turning into a long sword. Stolen story; please report.
The satyr moved in a blur of speed, asphalt cracking under its hooves as it exploded forward. Its club whished through the air, aiming for his head as Santi dodged, ducking his head and slashing at waist height.
The satyr spun gracefully, a few stray hairs coming free of its midriff as the morph blade narrowly missed a disemboweling strike. Santi sucked air through his teeth in annoyance as the fast moving monster dodge back again as Santi threw a flurry of short strikes meant to incapacitate. He targeted the monster''s legs, feinting for the goat man¡¯s throat before twisting trying to cut a knee.
It leapt back, avoiding the initial slash, but Santi lengthened and thinned the blade, forming an oversized rapier as the slash turned into a lunge. Bone split and blood flowed as the satyr bleated in pain. It never slowed though, a huge overhand blow coming even as its white furred leg buckled.
Santi twisted and the rough wood grazed his side, tearing at his cheek. He just smiled wider as excitement pulsed through him. A trickle of blood rolled down his scraped cheek, warm and wet as Santi pulled the rapier free and backed up. The satyr tried to follow, but its leg buckled. Panic had started to blossom in its wide dark eyes.
¡°SANTI!¡± Chloe yelled, breaking through the red haze that had surrounded him. He looked around, taking in his surroundings. Half a dozen satyrs were racing toward him, all of them bigger and more muscular than the one he was fighting.
¡°Fuck!¡± Santi spat. [Air Shield] was cast behind the satyr as it tried to retreat. [Air Manipulation] was used to hold the monster''s club down, while [Gust] was cast at the reinforcements running toward them. The gale force winds staggered the racing monsters as loose soil was scoured from the hard packed dirt.
Chloe¡¯s axe split the air with a scream as Santi held the satyr down. Black steel bit through flesh like butter and the creature¡¯s arm hit the ground. She reversed her momentum and took the satyr through the ribs and worked up, puncturing its heart. Body parts hit the ground loudly as the two of them began to back up.
Satyr Hunter lvl. 51
Satyr Hunter lvl. 52
Satyr Singer lvl. 56
The three strongest satyrs stayed in the back. The three leading satyrs were all in the upper forties, any one of them a challenge for Chloe likely. These monsters were built on speed and strength, lacking high vitality or durability. The ease in which they had killed the scout was telling, glass cannons instead of endurance fighters.
That singer could be dangerous, some type of shaman or mage class. Santi hadn¡¯t really seen these types of monsters in his first timeline, but he knew enough of the mythology. If it used magic it would be something nature or music based.
¡°Keep the heavies off of me while I kill the singer,¡± Santi barked at Chloe. She simply grunted in acknowledgment, gripping her axe tightly as she squared herself off. Santi let loose more spells, trying to prune away the leading edges of the charge. He needed them to be a bit staggered if they were going to get through it.
The singer lifted a lute to its full lips and discordant notes came screaming out. Mana tightened around them, thickening the air as Santi could feel the howl of an autumn wind, the decaying of the leaves under heavy rain and mud. The satyrs sped up, Santi¡¯s magic rolling by them like they oil on water.
¡°That¡¯s fucking annoying.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°Some type of buffing magic, it repels my spells. Going to have to do this the old fashion way.¡±
¡°Good to know,¡± Chloe said as the first of the satyrs got within range. Santi didn¡¯t give up on casting. He could overwhelm the singer¡¯s magics with pure brute force, but that would leave him vulnerable as the physical fighters closed the distance. [Air Current] and [Air Manipulation] instead poked and prodded at their defenses, twisting the air around them, trying hard to find a weak point even as he parried a glowing club.
Whatever power the singer was using was strong, even the morph weapon couldn¡¯t cut through cleanly. Instead it sank deep into the heart of the club and with a savage twist Santi ripped the club free of the satyr¡¯s hands. Santi kicked the goat man¡¯s knee, bone popping under his heel as the monster screamed in pain.
To his side Chloe was trading blows in a furious exchange.Skills were blurring together as she refused to give ground, trimming the club to kindling as she battered the monster into the cement.
Santi bit back a curse as a fist came in a wide loop as the satyr refused to die even as its innards fell from its stomach. The wide smile he had cut in the satyr¡¯s stomach had been done when he glanced at Chloe. The satyr had tried to take advantage of the distraction and had paid the price.
He let the blow land on his shoulder and grimaced instantly at the mistake. His counter strike took the monster¡¯s head, but that fist had hurt. He rolled his shoulder a few times and stepped over the dead body to interdict the second monster before it could reach Chloe. She was winning her fight fairly handedly, but he didn¡¯t trust her to win the two on one.
The three heavy fighters were in the back, the two hunters standing next to the singer as the singer continued to play its lute. Santi was getting close to working through the defenses, they were more of a blanket cast over the fighters rather than a true shield. Santi bent back at the waist allowing the club to sail by his face as he slashed the scout across the leg.
Flesh and bone parted as the goatman staggered back. Santi lunged as it backed up, stabbing it through the neck. With a twist he removed the blade and half the beast''s neck. Santi took another look at Chloe and nodded to himself as she stood her ground and had the higher level monster on its last legs.
¡°Follow behind!¡± Santi yelled as he rushed forward. Something was telling him it was the wrong move, that with the power the singer was using to protect the others was dangerous to him. He was a mage after all, not being able to cast spells on his enemies was a problem.
He couldn¡¯t be bothered to care. The hunt was in his mind, his blood humming with endorphins and darker energy. The thrill of the blood in the air had him attacking without hesitation, leaping and twisting like a top as a tendril of the morph blade wrapped itself around him.
The razor wire was stopped in its track, verdant green energy protecting the hunters hand held scythe. The hunter¡¯s smile blossomed into something feral as its arms blurred. Thicker green energy condensed around it as it attacked with ferocity. Santi met it blow for blow, his own crazed smile matching its smile.
¡°Left!¡± Chloe screamed, piercing the haze around him as he changed the morph blade. Clefts appeared in the blade, twisted metal catching the scythe and holding it still as Chloe descended like the grim reaper. Her axe was glowing as it came down like a meteor.
A second scythe appeared, catching the axe in an explosion of light as Chloe¡¯s skills tested the defenses of the singer''s magic. The magic won. Chloe rebounded backward as the second hunter crowded her. Chloe¡¯s body flashed to metal, but the scythe still peeled a strip of metal free in a shriek. Chloe bit back a scream as she kneed the goat in the stomach, the blow sounding like a hammer hitting flesh.
Santi finally felt his spell slide by the defense.
Ch. 3.16 And Plants!
16.
[Air Current] was his weakest, but most versatile skill. He finally wormed his way around the hunter¡¯s defenses, finding a pin gap where the thick magic lacked the strength to repel his power. Santi was forced to dodge the curved edge of a scythe as he focused his strength, pouring mana into his skill as he contested the higher ranking singer.
He won.
There was a sudden silence as the lute cracked audibly, the power Santi had funneled at the satyr¡¯s magic shattering the focal point of the casting. The singer bleated in surprise and pain, backing up quickly and beginning to hum loudly almost instantly. The magic had unraveled the moment silence had fallen and Santi hadn¡¯t waited a moment to start the end game of the fight.
[Gust] swept his own opponent back, throwing the heavy satyr off its hooves and toward the singer. The singer¡¯s tune was quickly broken as it leapt over its defender¡¯s body. Santi lunged toward Chloe¡¯s opponent, morph changing into a lance as he stabbed at the goats lower back. The satyr spun with a quickness that shocked him, the scythe knocking aside the lance¡¯s point.
Chloe¡¯s axe bit into where the shoulder meets the neck in a spray of blood. The satyr screamed in agony as she ripped and tore the wicked axe head out. Santi felt the warm blood spray across his face. He licked at his lips even as he finished the wounded creature, stabbing it through its chest.
The ding of the kill notification was a distant sound as he spun around to face the second hunter. It had gotten back to its feet in the second or so it had taken for Chloe and Santi to kill its companion. It¡¯s bestial features were controted with rage as the hand held scythe split the air all around him. Each of the blows rang out, his arm growing numb from the heavy blows.
Chloe came to the side, her axe aimed at a knee. Blood was running from her arm where the other hunter had stripped a piece of flesh free. The satyr spun, targeted leg straight out in a vicious kick that caught her in the stomach. Santi lengthened the blade and slid it along the monster¡¯s forearm, splitting flesh like paper. It screamed and caught its balance, blade arm going limp as Santi snapped his wrist upward. Blood geysered out as the satyr¡¯s head fell free from its body.
The singer was running, trying to escape with what little time its two protectors had given it. [Air Shield] cut off its retreat while Santi raced toward it. He wasn¡¯t going to let his prey escape, not now while it was on its last legs. The satyr bounced off the shield and spun, a long wooden dagger being produced from somewhere. Santi lifted the morph as it transformed into an executioner''s axe and reared back.
The singer stabbed itself in the throat. Santi froze, puzzlement and alarm breaking the hold the curse had on him. He watched as the monster''s blood flowed like a river down its throat, matting the beast''s hair as it plummeted toward the earth. Its black eyes met his own for a moment and triumph shone through them even as it slowly fell to the ground.
¡°Santi, what the fuck was that?¡± Chloe asked as she jogged over to him, both of them staring down at the dead satyr.
¡°No idea, but probably nothing good.¡± Santi cocked his head and then reached down to pry the wooden dagger free of the satyr¡¯s neck. The dark wood was drenched in blood but the moment he pulled it free the blood absorbed into the dagger like it had never been there.
Sacrificial Dagger
Used in magical rituals, the dagger can aid in the transition of life to magic
¡°Have I ever told you how much I detest these descriptions?¡± Santi asked Chloe.
¡°Nope. That description is only kinda useful. I guess it used itself to do some type of magic?¡±
¡°Sacrificed itself to do something.¡±
¡°But what?¡± Chloe pondered as she looted the two dead hunters. The scythe daggers they had been using were sturdy Acolyte grade weapons and those were rare enough nobody would be leaving them to waste.
¡°Nothing good. Satyr¡¯s magic is normally nature based or music magic. Who the fuck knows what¡¯s coming. Let¡¯s get back to the camp and try to get them ready.¡±
¡°If this is going to be the threat level for everything coming for us, they won¡¯t be helpful at all.¡±
¡°These were just the fastest who weren¡¯t in the immediate vicinity. This could be the peak of them.¡±
¡°Yeah. Not with our luck. Santi, I don¡¯t think I could have handled one of those hunters by myself. They were too fast and strong. I could take the hits, but I couldn¡¯t land any of my own without your help.¡±
¡°It¡¯s a good thing I¡¯m here then. We keep working together and we¡¯ll be fine. We just have to hold out till the rest of the team gets here and then we¡¯ll be good.¡±
¡°It is a good thing you¡¯re here. I still need to get stronger though. I can¡¯t be relying on you to carry me in these sorts of fights.¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
¡°More training with Grimvr then. And levels. That¡¯s all we can do. Put in the effort and reap the rewards.¡±
¡°Did you just use the word reap because they had scythes?¡±
¡°Yes?¡± Santi smiled at her, breaking the tension as she rolled her eyes. He still saw the tick at the corner of her mouth as she fought back her own smile. They broke away from the still bodies of the dead satyrs and headed up the overpass and back toward the town.
They got to the top and looked down upon chaos. The hundred, if not thousands, of small trees and plants had come alive. Chlorophyll green spirits slashed and attacked as the survivors tried to hold themselves up. Frank was barking orders as his sword, a strip mall looking katana, wreathed in orange flames cut a bush in half. The spirit surrounding the bush screamed into the air and evaporated leaving only the burning bush behind.
¡°That didn¡¯t take long. They look weak though.¡±
¡°They¡¯re small. Look for anything bigger, mature trees or those tall ass privacy shrubs.¡± Santi was scanning the small downtown region even for any threat as he looked down at the monsters.
Neophyte Dryad lvl. 17
(Enraged)
¡°Enraged? I haven¡¯t seen that.¡±
¡°That singer kinda fucked us over. Look there¡¯s a palm tree,¡± Santi said, nudging Chloe as they watched the long tree walk forward, fronds swaying. The ephemeral shape of the dryad was more formed around it. It had a fully formed body with emerald tresses that swayed in rhythm with the fronds.
Juvenile Dryad lvl. 43
(Enraged)
¡°You can handle that one yourself?¡± Santi asked.
¡°Yeah, I can handle it. Why aren¡¯t you interested in it?¡±
¡°Look that way,¡± Santi said, pointing out what he¡¯d spied sneaking closer.
¡°Shit. Guess they weren¡¯t alone. Can you hold them till I finish the tree off?¡±
¡°Got to do it. Finish it quickly and you can come and save me.¡±
¡°I get to play the hero? Well can¡¯t let you down then. Get cracking,¡± Chloe shoved him with a shoulder and flashed a smile that had hints of concern in it. She raced down toward the melee, trying to interdict the palm tree dryad before it reached the group of fighters.
Santi followed after her, peeling off to the side towards the trio of satyrs sneaking their way toward the pillar. They couldn¡¯t take it from him by touching it, they needed to kill him or force him to leave the area around it to claim it for themselves. Once it was confirmed his, then the only way they¡¯d get it was by prying it from his cold dead fingers.
The three monsters didn¡¯t know that. They were getting close to the pillar using the distraction caused by the original singer''s sacrifice. Santi was racing down toward them without a thought, his blood already humming in anticipation again. The curse was rather insidious, Santi could understand how the others had been lost in the curse.
Satyr Hunter lvl. 50
Satyr Hunter lvl. 52
Satyr Singer lvl. 54
Weaker than the previous squad of satyrs, but he was alone this time. It would be a challenge, all three of them higher than him, but he had plenty of advantages of his own. He sped up, muscles bunching tight to explode thunderously as he shot towards them. The two hunters looked up in time to meet him, their flashing blades rising up to attempt disemboweling strikes.
He swept aside both of them like they were nothing before him, his blade smacking both of the daggers to the side as he landed in a crouch right between the satyr hunters. The singer was lifting its lute to its lips, ready to start playing as Santi cast [Crosscurrent-Orb] right at his feet. [Air Shield] and [Air Manipulation] tamed the wind around him as the two hunters were lifted from their hooves and tossed away like leaves. The singer met his gaze with wild, fear filled eyes. Santi struck once, morph blade drinking deeply from the rich blood of the powerful monster.
Santi watched as the life faded from its wide eyes, letting it slump to the ground as the two hunters began to work their way back to him. Without their protections though, they were vulnerable. [Gust] picked the one on the right up and threw it through the remnants of a wall of a former fast food restaurant. He turned to the left one and stood there, waiting as the satyr charged him.
It swung horizontally, razor sharp tip aiming for his throat. He stepped back and let the scythe pass him. He stepped back toward the monster in the open space left by the wide attack. A gauntlet formed over his hand and he slammed it into the satyr¡¯s gut. Spikes erupted from the gauntlet and blood coated his arm as Santi kept his eyes locked with the hunters.
He saw as the rage was replaced with fear. With uncertainty and then acceptance. The satyr headbutted at him, [Air Shield] cast inches from his own face to stop those wicked horns from hitting his vulnerable nose. He jerked his arm upward, spikes tearing flesh away as he ripped and tore.
He used his free hand to toss the dying satyr to the ground and spun around as he felt as the other hunter entered his range. Santi caught the descending blow and tossed it to the side with a twist of his hips and wrenching his arm. The tip of the scythe dagger cut into the asphalt with ease. Santi stomped down on the fragile ankle joint and felt a jolt of joy when he heard bone break.
The hunter didn¡¯t make a sound as it tried to headbutt him. Santi grabbed its horns and jerked it toward him, making it walk on the broken ankle. It finally screamed as the leg buckled and it fell to a knee. The horns were rough in his palms as Santi jerked its head viciously to the side. The gratifying crack of bone was highlighted by a ding of a kill notification as he let the limp hunter fall to the ground.
Bloodlust Upgraded
Infection of Bloodlust
(Minor)
Strength becomes you. Blood fuels you.
¡°Fuck,¡± Santi hissed staring at the alert. He looked down at himself and saw himself. From neck to shoes he was coated in satyr blood. Thick and tacky with the heady iron scent surrounding him. Every twitch of his body alerted him to the strength running through his muscles, the heady feeling of power that suffused him.
¡°Close to ten percent. Maybe a bit more, maybe twelve,¡± Santi muttered aloud, trying to put a number to the curse''s power increase. It was hefty, that was sure. Strong as the coat he had earned. Enough to let him snap a monster''s neck with ease. He was strong for a mage but he wasn¡¯t that strong. He could have gotten it, but not that easy.
He looked over to the gurgling hunter still holding on to life. The dryads were still rampaging around him, all avoiding him. Chloe¡¯s axe was flashing, bursts of light as she used skills to prune the tree monster. He looked down at the dying satyr and finished it with a thought.
¡°It¡¯s going to be a long fucking day,¡± Santi said with a sigh.
Ch. 3.17 Wind Storm
17.
¡°How you doing, Chloe?¡± Santi asked as he jumped back, avoiding a crashing knot of roots and earth. Dirt scattered everywhere as the improvised maul exploded in a spray. Loose shards of razor sharp roots sprayed out in a shrapnel blast that Santi was forced to use [Air Shield] to prevent the attack from shredding him.
The dryad rustled in annoyance, its canopy shaking and releasing a rain of green walnuts to the ground. The morph blade pruned a thick limb that sent a primary branch to the ground in a loud crash. He was forced to the side, further away from Chloe, as another wild wave of magic sharpened branches sliced apart the space he had just occupied.
¡°I¡¯m fine. Got the perfect weapon for this!¡± Chloe barked, a hint of laughter in her voice. Santi risked a look over toward her and saw her covered in bark, sap, and shredded shrubbery. She had been a force of nature in dealing with the forces of nature.
¡°Are the others still alive?¡± Santi asked, his vision blocked by the dryad that had inhabited the walnut tree.
¡°Most of them!¡±
Santi mimicked her weapon, turning his long sword into a wide axe and he stopped dodging and began to attack. The fight with the ent was so long ago that it felt like a different life, but the memories were there. He started near the base and worked his way up. The dryad died with a few swift and powerful blows, the weak Acolyte monster dying with little fanfare.
¡°How many of these things are there?¡± Maya panted out in exhaustion. The fist fighter was wreathed in small cuts and abrasions as her skill enforced fists punched apart a medium sized lime tree.
¡°How many plants or trees were in the city?¡± Santi retorted.The entire downtown region, which hadn¡¯t been in the best of shape to begin with, was looking rather wretched. The entire area was filled with shredded shrubbery and broken trees.
¡°FUCK!¡± Maya snarled as she exerted herself. Power surged around her and her red fists cracked the sapling in half, blowing it apart in a shower of splinters.
¡°Oh, it¡¯s fun and easy so far!¡± Chloe said, stifling laughter as she knocked down another tree. With the satyrs dead, nothing had come that could realistically challenge them. They were simply too strong, fast, and durable for the weak dryads to kill them. The amount of the dryads were concerning though.
Neither Santi or Chloe were strong and fast enough to protect all of their new citizens. The huddled masses had been hustled into the guts of the partially destroyed store and now all the strongest fighters, barring Maya and Frank, were standing guard.
¡°Retreat back to the store!¡± Santi ordered. He slashed apart a rhododendron and moved his head to the side to let rose thorns the size of his fingers fly by him. [Gust] cleared the area around him and the others, giving them a clear path towards the store. Maya and Frank ran without word, both of them tired and bloody, while Chloe took her time, slashing apart anything that got too close to them. There was finally a break in the fighting that allowed him to breathe and think.
That hunting party of satyrs wouldn¡¯t have been it. There was likely more to them and there should be stronger dryads around the small town. Ancient trees that needed something more powerful for them to awaken. If there were more singers, and they were using the first one¡¯s sacrifice as a distraction, then there were likely more out there working on awakening more powerful nature spirits.
He needed to go and find them, but he needed to get everyone safe before that and cutting apart every overgrown plant one at a time wasn¡¯t working out. Frank and Maya got past the lines of guards and slumped down right past them while Chloe simply took up her place in the line near the center.
¡°Is everyone here?¡± Santi asked Zeke. The boy looked about and shrugged.
¡°I think so? People are missing, but they might be gone. We had to hurry everyone over here when the fucking plants came to life.¡±
¡°Good enough. Everyone, stay inside the shelter of the store.¡±
¡°Santi, what are you doing?¡± Chloe asked, more curious than concerned. Her forearm had stopped bleeding and for most of the fight she had taken no wounds from the weaker monsters.
¡°Being a real mage,¡± Santi said with a flash of a smile. With a quick run and jump he scaled the side of the building, fingers grabbing the cracks in the broken wall with ease to haul himself up.
Turning slowly he looked down at the world below him. Now that they had retreated the army of plants were marching in step to surround the store. A wall of vegetation that surrounded the entire block, rustling and shaking, branches whipping the air as they closed in on the thin line of defenders. He scanned them quickly while he mentally prepared himself. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Not a single Acolyte level monster in the horde, all of them having been trimmed back by Santi and Chloe. He still remembered the [Night Hag], the circle around her as blows fell like rain until she had fallen to the much weaker crowd. Chloe was laughing and shrugging it off, but there was danger here.
He reached into himself, drawing on the mana that filled his body and began to draw it forth. Just like manipulating spell forms, supercharging them was something else that could be done with enough time and practice. The spell forms were like a template, you activated if you had the required resources the spell would work. A year or two into the integration people had started to play around with spells and skills by pushing more into them.
It went beyond strengthening the spell like he did with [Air Manipulation]. Santi took a deep breath as he began to cast. The familiar feel of [Gust] came to mind, the howling gale kept tame only by his iron will as he began to feed it more and more mana. Pressure built in his body, straining him at the seams as he watched below as his allies held the line.
A few moments melded into minutes. Blood ran from his nose and ears, distant wetness that he could hardly pay attention to as the entirety of his world had shrunk down to the forest that had filled the area in front of the store. [Gust] was there, aching to be released, but it had grown into a tempest, a shape of unimaginable strength, held back only by Sant¡¯s strength.
He coughed, blood spraying out of his mouth as he finally released the mutated spell. It was like a balloon popping inside of him as he deflated, his knees buckling as he hardly caught himself on the ledge in time to prevent himself from face planting. The air pressure changed as the world warped, winds that drowned out the world as they were summoned.
The dryads dug their roots into the earth, sliding through the cracks in the concrete and asphalt to anchor themselves. It saved them for a split second as the earth below and in front of Santiago was scoured clean. Chunks of road, sidewalk, buildings, and dryads were all picked up and flung away as if by the hand of god.
Six seconds the storm lasted, a gale of such ferocity that Santi watched as buildings were shaken and broken apart, thrown away and out of town limits. As it ended, the winds disappeared like they had never been there, nothing remained of the dryads.
Hundreds of kill notifications began to rattle through Santi¡¯s skull as he chuckled weakly at the destruction wrought before him. His strength was gone, the effects of the curse fleeing as he depleted himself in the attempt at saving themselves from a death of a half million cuts.
¡°Santi? You alive up there?¡± Chloe called to him, her voice filled with awe.
¡°Barely,¡± Santi managed to croak out.
¡°I¡¯m coming up!¡± Chloe followed her words moments later by crawling up the side of the building and landing in a crouch. She raised her eyebrows at him laying there, propped up against the wall.
¡°That took a bit out of me.¡± Santi could already feel mana beginning to flow through him again, thin as a mountain stream at the heights of summer. In a few minutes he¡¯d be able to be functional, but it had taken more out of him that he thought it would.
¡°So, didn¡¯t know you had that in you,¡± Chloe said as she stood and looked down over the ruins of the town. Santi looked over at the area and had to shrug weakly.
¡°Lot of those buildings were already structurally compromised.¡±
¡°Ohhh, is that how you¡¯re going to play it? I¡¯m not strong enough to wipe away a third of a town¡¯s downtown region unless it¡¯s already structurally weakened?¡±
¡°I mean, it was.¡±
¡°Doth protest too much, I believe. This was impressive Santiago. Terrifying, but impressive. I can guess you needed that build up time to get the spell off? You can¡¯t just do it off the cuff?¡±
¡°Takes a few minutes for me to get the power behind it. Only became possible the last few levels when my mana stats were high enough to be worth it. Won¡¯t be doing this again for a while, I feel very wrung out.¡±
¡°I can see that,¡± Chloe reached into a pocket and pulled out a stained piece of cloth. She bent over and wiped at his face and ears, wiping away the blood with a faint concerned frown on her face.
¡°Is that the same piece of scrap fabric you use to clean your axe?¡± Santi asked as she leaned back, shoving the scrap back into her pocket.
¡°Yeah. It¡¯s the cleanest thing I have right now and you looked like death warmed over. If you¡¯d gone down to them looking like that you would have started a panic. They¡¯re impressed and scared because of what you just did. You come down looking like you were bleeding out of your eyes and they¡¯ll start thinking maybe you aren¡¯t invincible and they don¡¯t have to listen to you.¡±
¡°Heavy is the crown,¡± Santi offered her a weak smile and then his hand. She gripped his hand with a hearty smack and heaved, pulling him up so he could stare at the destruction he had wreaked.
¡°There might be more of the satyrs around. Trying to awaken the bigger and older vegetation around here. We need to find them. Go and ask Frank if there¡¯s any old growth, parks, anything like that while I catch my breath. If there is, we¡¯ll have to go and see if we can stop them from awakening those dryads.¡±
¡°You got it. Will you be strong enough to get into a fight with more of those satyrs?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll be as strong as I need to be. Got a couple levels and I¡¯m going to assign those points. Ohh, and an achievement. Maybe I¡¯ll have something nice to add to the collection.¡±
¡°The collection that you always leave at home?¡±
¡°Mom will bring it up. Didn¡¯t think this trip warranted my full war regalia for a small den.¡±
¡°Proper prior planning prevents poor performances.¡±
¡°What are you, a motivational poster?¡±
¡°Shut the fuck up,¡± Chloe said, throwing her head back and laughing.
¡°I¡¯ll go ask Frank, you assign your levels. I got some too, we gear up, catch our breaths and then clear this town of the goats before more monsters show up.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think anything will be coming from that direction,¡± Santi said, waving his hand in the direction he had directed his spell. He had thrown enough debris that way with enough force that it would have required strong Acolyte level monsters to survive.
¡°Hana better be dragging them back here. That was a little thorny there for a moment,¡± Chloe said. There was a hint of mischief in her eyes as she swung a leg over the ledge.
¡°Thorny? That¡¯s what you went with? Poor punning is unacceptable,¡± Santi said, rolling his eyes as he smiled at her. She simply laughed as she jumped down to talk to Frank. Santi stared at the ruin he had wrought and then brought up his stat sheet. The day wasn¡¯t over yet.
Ch. 3.18 Breather
18.
Santiago V. Silva
Air Mage lvl. 45
Strength: 37 (72)
Durability: 40 (75)
Stamina: 40 (75)
Dexterity: 37 (72)
Vitality: 40 (75)
Perception: 35 (70)
Intelligence: 105 (140)
Mana: 140 (175)
Willpower: 108 (143)
Potential: 99%
Santi looked at the big block of text that composed his stats and had to fight back a smile. They were growing at a quick rate, especially his primary stats. He had only leveled twice in the last six weeks and had used the free points on boosting his physical stats. With the newest level he had put the points toward willpower, the curse was getting the best of him and he needed every spare iota of power he could to battle it.
From a pure stats point he didn¡¯t think there was anyone who could match him. With the extra thirty-five points over the nine attributes he had three hundred and fifteen extra points. His class was strong, but close enough to average that fourteen stat points per level weren¡¯t an outlier. From pure numbers he had an extra twenty-two levels on anyone who faced him.
Which led him to his biggest problem as he stared at the list of spells in front of him. The majority of his stats were locked into his mental and mana stats. Stats that were directly tied toward his spellcasting. His spells which weren¡¯t currently directly lethal. He could twist them, overcharge them, or use them to help control the battlefield. His most powerful directly combat oriented spell, [Crosscurrent-Orb] wasn¡¯t a heavy hitter though. It was good in crowds of weaker monsters, but anything durable and it was useless.
He had his future plans, tempting spell forms that he could use to create powerful spells when combined. Right now though, he was squandering a huge amount of his battle potential by waiting. The enemies coming from them were stronger and stronger, the bear they had fought and killed would have been a brutal fight by himself. He needed something that could punch and put what he punched down right then and there.
So he browsed the list of spells available to him. Even as an [Air Mage] he had access to spells outside of his affinity. The penalty for using them would be a huge mana sink in comparison to his current spell forms. [Fireball] was classic and could be combined with [Gust] to make raging conflagrations. How many [Fireballs] could he cast before he burned through even his own deep mana pools?
So he kept looking. If he focused only on basic spells he could get three. Or if he really wanted to spend he could get one common spell. Santi had needs though. His speed was good for a mage, but fighting against Duncan had been frustrating as he couldn¡¯t reposition fast enough. If not for his boosted stats Duncan would have ran circles around him and left him a bleeding mess.
[Wind Step] cured that.
Wind Step: An explosive burst of air to propel yourself
It was a good way to counter the quicker moving scouts and assassins that would be coming. He needed firepower now and only had two slots free leaving him fairly limited of choices.
Wind Blade: A concentrated narrow band of air, it slices like steel
He¡¯s had something similar though more powerful in the last timeline. [Razor Wind] had cut through monsters and men alike with ease. It¡¯s weaker, younger sibling was going to be his bread and butter for now. The final spell slot he left open, he would soon have the Pillar of Civilization and with that would be the ability to upgrade spells. He would need the open space for when he boosted up one of his base spells.
Achievement: Spell Manipulator
Reward: Loot Box (Lesser)
Achievement: Peacemaker
Reward: Loot Box (Lesser)
Achievement: First to Claim
Reward: Loot Box (Common) The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Spell manipulator was for his work with [Air Current] and now [Gust]. The wooden box was quickly ripped open and the rack of mana potions set off to the side as the box disappeared. Santi kept his eyes locked on the silver box, afraid as if it would disappear. Common grade loot boxes had been good to him and he wanted to see what it was, but the anxiety of waiting as he ripped open the peacemaker box was pleasant.
Peacemaker was probably for getting the two factions in the town to stop killing each other. In addition to his own work at home, it was just like spell manipulator in that it had been a cumulative reward. The wooden coins he dumped on the ground were nice, especially with the pillar soon to be open for business, but then he was grabbing the heavy silver lid and sliding it free.
A blood red circlet sat in the silver chest. Thin with a trio of spikes rising up from it, capped in glittering obsidian. Santi reached down with trembling hands as he pulled the circlet free and ran [Identify] on it.
Circlet of Lords
(Upgradeable)
5% Increase to all stats.
Another upgradeable item. That by itself made it nearly priceless. If it¡¯s base mode as a five percent increase to his stats then he could only imagine what would happen when he managed to upgrade it. How to upgrade it was a good question, but Santi had a suspicion that he had to acquire more Pillars of Civilization and extend his territory.
Donning it, he felt it stretch out wide as it settled on his head. For a moment there was peace as he turned his head this way and that to feel how the circlet moved. Then it burned and pain wracked through his head, he could feel blood rolling down his skull as he reached to grab and tear the circlet free. Then it was over, fast as it had begun, the thin trickles of blood leaving stains down his cheeks the only sign that violence had occurred.
¡°What the fuck?¡± Santi muttered as he ran his hand over the cool metal that was now welded into his head. He tugged at it and felt skin starting to pull and decided to leave the circlet where it was for now. The silver loot box had disappeared while he had been occupied and now he was standing by himself, and the pile of wooden coins and mana potions, waiting for Chloe to come back.
Santi grabbed a single mana potion and pulled the stopper out of it. That empty feeling inside of him had slackened somewhat, but he wasn¡¯t there yet. He drank the potion in two quick chugs and started to shiver as the icy potion ran down his throat. The taste of mint exploded on his tongue and he felt the sudden surge of mana racing through his body. He still wasn¡¯t fully recovered, but he was closer to full than he was half full.
He¡¯d leave the rest of the potions up here for now. He cursed not having a better way of moving the fragile bottles around. Once the pillar was up and he could buy directly from the marketplace, but the cost of the potions had been high in his last life. He didn¡¯t want to be wasting money on having broken bottles in his pockets as he ran around fighting.
¡°Hey, you ready?¡± Chloe shouted up at him, not bothering to scale the side of the building. Santi left the pile of money and potions and hopped over the side to land next to her lightly. He kept his newfound spells to himself, he trusted her, but he didn¡¯t know who was around. Duncan had managed to sneak up on him and he didn¡¯t want the sneaky bastard to know he had chosen more spells. The element of surprise was what was going to allow him to kill the Apostate.
After they dealt with Mercy.
¡°Didn¡¯t know you were into headwear. Not exactly your color though.¡± Chloe was looking at the circlet, her eyes a mix of curious and greedy.
¡°You take what you can get. Plus side to taking over the pillar, gives me a nice boost. Need the help with this damn curse, it¡¯s more insidious than I had thought.¡±
¡°You underestimated something? No, that can¡¯t be right,¡± Chloe said sarcastically.
¡°What? I appropriately guess how dangerous things are.¡±
¡°No you don¡¯t.¡±
¡°Am I alive?¡±
¡°Somehow,¡± Chloe said, her smile was still there as they walked away from Frank, Maya, and Zeke. Santi hoped they wouldn¡¯t revert back to their natural state of murderous rage with each other. He had just earned a nice achievement for keeping them from killing each other.
¡°See, if I¡¯m alive and almost everything else is dead, then I¡¯m a good guestimater in danger levels.¡±
¡°That¡¯s not a real word.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t flee to technicalities because I¡¯ve disproved your point.¡±
¡°You like this, don¡¯t you? The verbal sparring?¡±
¡°Normally it¡¯s fun. With this curse, it¡¯s pushing me to all sorts of confrontations. It¡¯s good practice for me to keep it nice and playful with you.¡±
¡°So, I¡¯m just practice?¡±
¡°I think this is where I wave the white flag.¡± Santi shot her a quick grin as she led them further away from the ravaged downtown and toward the housing areas that Santi had gone through to find Zeke.
¡°Where are we going anyway?¡± Santi asked.
¡°Frank said there¡¯s only one park worth noting that has any type of trees. The rest are all small and are full of kid toys, not a lot of vegetation. This park was apparently built around a tree. An old, big ass tree.¡±
¡°If there¡¯s satyrs still alive and running around, I can bet they¡¯re going there then.¡±
¡°They wouldn¡¯t attack us straight up? Or go in with the dryads?¡±
¡°If we killed the strongest of them in that first skirmish, no. They¡¯ll try to even the playing field. They¡¯re smarter than the monsters we fought back at home. Likely has to do with them being higher level.¡±
¡°Are we going to have to worry about that more often you think? Smarter monsters? Have them planning ambushes and making alliances like the goblins and hags?¡±
¡°Yeah. Which is why we¡¯re making alliances and training and planning. At the end of the day we are, or will be, stronger than them. As long as we can keep from fighting with each other, then we have a chance of reclaiming our world for ourselves.¡±
¡°I can¡¯t imagine our world anymore. It¡¯s a dream and every day I wake up in this nightmare. But¡I like parts of it. I¡¯m strong now, stronger than anything I could have dreamed of before. When we¡¯re all together, I like that. The feeling of togetherness, we¡¯ve all been through it and we can just understand each other. Before this, I don¡¯t know, I just felt like I couldn¡¯t connect easily. Now all of us have something in common at least.¡± Chloe fell silent afterward, a tinge of red on her cheeks.
¡°Brotherhood. Siblinghood. It¡¯s what you read about from soldiers. The camaraderie. We¡¯re going through the absolute worst thing ever, but we¡¯re all standing together. I would never wish for this to happen again, but we¡¯re all together now and I wouldn¡¯t want that to go away.¡±
¡°Shit, we¡¯re right next to the park. We can pick this up when we¡¯re on our date.¡±
¡°Little heavy for a first date. Figured I¡¯d ask what your favorite color was or movie.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t know my favorite color?¡±
¡°Oh hey, look, it¡¯s a giant tree monster.¡±
Ch. 3.19 Old Growth
19.
Mature Dryad lvl. 68
(Dormant)
¡°I don¡¯t think we can fight that,¡± Chloe said as she looked up at the giant oak tree. An ephemeral spirit was trying to force its way out of the bark, the limbs shaking violently as the dryad stirred from its sleep.
¡°I¡¯m going to agree with you on that. Let¡¯s kill the goats before they wake up the tree.¡±
¡°That¡¯s a weird sentence.¡±
¡°It is, isn¡¯t it. Together or split up?¡±
¡°Split up. I¡¯ll take the two on the right and you get the three on the left?¡± Chloe suggested.
The two on the right were both weaker singers, only in the low forties. The three on the right had a level fifty-three hunter standing silently as its two charges, both high forties singers, did their work. Chloe would be able to burn through both of the singers if she could catch them off guard.
The hunter on the other hand was alert, dark eyes scanning the field around the towering tree, long conical ears twitching back and forth as it kept all its senses alert for anyone. Chloe was good, she had great equipment, but the level disparity was too much. Santi rolled his head, feeling his neck crack as he nodded his assent to the plan.
The distance between the corner of the block they were on and the middle of the park was two hundred yards or so. There was a slight valley that led to a soccer field that went back up towards the small hill that the giant tree sat on. They¡¯d have to cross the street, down into the valleyl and across the entire soccer field to get to the five satyrs.
The distance between the two small groups was negligible. Chloe wouldn¡¯t have much room to maneuver in her own fight unless she strayed toward his own battle. Santi wasn¡¯t worried about the two singers she¡¯d be fighting, but he didn¡¯t want to get pincered in the fight. The hunter was too strong for him to focus on all five opponents.
¡°On three?¡± Santi asked.
¡°Three!¡± Chloe yelled, bursting from cover in a hard sprint. Her powerful physical stats showed as she was just a dark streak as she headed toward her targets. Santi didn¡¯t let her quick burst of speed take him off guard, he was right on her hip, racing for all he was worth even as the hunter turned to look at them.
[Gust] smashed the hunter and its two singers, pushing them backward as their hooves tore furrows into the earth as they fought to hold their ground. The hunter¡¯s sickle blade came out from a sash it wore around its waist as it lowered its head, bellowing a screeching warcry as the spell faded and allowed the monster to charge him. The two singers turned back to the tree, their music picking up its pace as they hurried to complete the awakening of the powerful dryad.
Santi and Chloe flew down the slope of the hill, hitting the soccer field and crossing it in the blink of an eye. The ground was dry and hard packed, giving Santi firm footing as he dug deep, rocketing up the hill in a single bounding step. The crest of the hill came up and he was inundated with an angry goat, its sickle dagger coming down and across to sever his throat.
¡°Fuck!¡± Santi shouted, the morph blade barely turning the dagger away from him as the heavier monster hit him in the stomach with its shoulder. Physics won out and Santi¡¯s momentum was reversed, him and the hunter falling back down the hill while Chloe headed toward her targets.
His back hit the earth and he was able to wedge his foot up and into the satyr¡¯s gut, pushing up and shoving the monster backward, toward the street they had come from. The heavy hunter was sent sailing even as Santi continued to roll backward, the explosive kick adding to his backward momentum.
Santi stabbed the morph blade into the earth and slowed himself as he got his feet back under him and stood upright on the soccer field. The hunter had already regained its feet and was launching itself down toward him with its evil looking scythe flashing in the sunlight. The glint of light twisted and stabbed as the hunter directed the gleam at Santi¡¯s eyes. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Blinking suddenly teary eyes, Santi lashed at knee height with a whip, feeling out where the goat was with his spell forms. The satyr leapt over the tendril whip and landed with ease. Right as [Crosscurrent-Orb] detonated. Earth and dried grass was shredded in a blast of power, the satyr picked and flung to Santi¡¯s right. Dust rolled out as the dry dirt spread out in a haze, Santi racing through it without hesitation as the hunter rolled and came upright.
Both of their visions obscured, Santi relied on his spells while the satyr used its superior hearing, sensitive ears twitching constantly as it caught every whish of displaced air as Santi wielded the morph blade as a longsword, trying his best to cut down the higher ranked monster quickly. Chloe was by herself against four singers and he couldn¡¯t spend time slowly whittling down his only opponent.
The scythe¡¯s tip caught the edge of his blade and twisted, forcing him to strike the ground as a furry fist came flying at his face. Santi jerked his head to the side as hard as stone knuckles scraped across his jaw. The morph weapon turned to liquid and freed itself, forming up and over his fist into a thick spiked gauntlet.
Santi punched the goat in the side, bones crunching as he pulverized the satyr¡¯s rib cage. The monster screamed in pain as Santi twisted his arm, ripping the spikes free in a spurt of warm blood. His free hand reached up and grabbed the goat¡¯s horns, the smooth texture warm under his palm as he brought the taller satyr down to his eye level.
Pain blossomed through his leg as the satyr slashed him, but he was beyond that at the moment. Adrenaline was coursing through him as he reared back and hit again and again, mulching the satyr¡¯s left side. The monster¡¯s hot breath washed over Santi¡¯s face as it screamed, pain and rage intermingling as it tried to gore him through the eyes with its horns.
His offhand strained as he kept the powerful monster from killing him while a smile spread across his face. He kept hitting the beast, anything that he could reach while the monster slashed wildly at him, scraping off his metal breastplate in showers of sparks. Twice more the blade found flesh, slicing deep on the outside of his leg.
¡°Come on, you have more! Fight me!¡± Santi screamed, his heart was racing as the curse surged through his body. Power was infusing him as he twisted the satyr¡¯s head sideways and forced it to its knees. He rained blows down on it without hesitation, smashing bone and pulping flesh until the ding of the kill notification sunk through his killing haze.
He let the hunter fall dead as he shot up the hill, the wounds not slowing him as he continued to hunt for more opponents. Santi willed himself to force the red haze in his vision down. Chloe was fighting two singers at the same time, both of them dodging and twisting as she slowly whittled them down. Neither had any physical weapons, relying on their sharp hooves and wicked horns as they tried to avoid Chloe¡¯s deadly black axe.
The other two were singing and dancing, their music a discordant harmony that raked at his soul. It seemed to be pissing off the dryad too, making it struggle fiercer and fiercer as it struggled to work itself out of the confines of the tree and into the waking world.
He attacked, morph piercing the closest one¡¯s skull like a balloon. He twisted his wrist and ripped it free of the satyr¡¯s skull as he lept over its falling body to slay the second singer before it could fully comprehend his arrival. The horrible sounds faded, lingering in the air for a few moments even with the death of the singers.
Santi spun and watched as Chloe finally landed a deadly blow. Eviscerating a singer that was just a bit too slow to back up. She shoulder checked it as it was bowed over and closed in on the final singer who had decided to try to flee. While fleet of hoof, it took a second too long to turn and Chloe¡¯s axe was buried in between its shoulder blades as she rode it to the ground. With another brutal strike she took its head and gave a mercy blow to the first singer she had gutted.
¡°You good?¡± Chloe called over, standing over the headless corpse of the satyr. Santi was busy watching the tall oak tree to see if it was going to wake up or not. The thick chlorophyll green spirit had been strengthening in density the entire time they were fighting and now it had stopped, frozen partially freed of the tree.
¡°Yeah. Had a moment, but I¡¯m okay now.¡±
¡°No homicidal urges?¡±
¡°No more than usual.¡±
¡°Fair enough,¡± Chloe chirped and came away from the dead corpse to stand next to him, her shoulders relaxed as she stared up at the entombed dryad.
¡°Could we kill it and harvest the experience?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know. Probably not. The system doesn¡¯t seem to give us freebies so far. Probably wake it up the moment we hit it and it decides to kick our ass.¡±
¡°So, we don¡¯t touch it and just leave it sitting here. Like an unexploded bomb?¡±
¡°Yup. Let¡¯s get back to the others and get ready for anyone else who decides to come and challenge me for the pillar.¡±
Stub Announcement
I am thrilled to announce that I will be stubbing on December 20th thanks to the awesome work of my publishing team Shadow Light Press, who have helped clean up my novel to an amazing degree, made the amazing artwork, and are handling this launch along with so many other small details that I could never imagine. I will have a link soonish and will post that for anyone who wishes to support me by buying the book. I will continue to post on Royal Road and look forward to finishing Santi''s story with all of you. Book 1 is through chapter 59.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Ch. 3.20 Apostate 5
20.
Naomi blocked the heavy swing of the minotaur¡¯s club, her sword hitting the magically hardened wood with a clear ting, rattling her hands as she pushed back the monster¡¯s attack to the ground. All around her was chaos as her team fought back against the tribe of juvenile minotaurs. Alan stood toe to toe with the only mature minotaur to take the field. The bull headed monster was landing bone shattering blows with every swing, Alan¡¯s body deforming and bursting apart with each strike.
His body reformed as fast as it was torn apart. For every blow that landed, Alan hit the beast three to four times, his bare knuckles a blur of blood as he punched the monster. Aura was slowly gathering around him, a red-purple ugly bruise of power that was slowly rolling up his body with every strike. His hands and forearms were coated in the aura so thickly that Naomi couldn¡¯t see through it to his hands.
Naomi was forced back to her fight as the minotaur lowered its head and tried to charge, yellowed horns still covered in sticky red-black gore attempting to skewer her. She struck its head with her circular shield, the sharp edge flaying flesh and cutting to bone as she tossed the seven foot monster to the ground.
As it flew by her, she slashed with her longsword, hamstringing the monster as it landed on the ground. It mooed in rage as she walked and got atop of it, heavy boots pinning its arm as it tried to rise. She lifted her sword perpendicular to the ground, point down, and severed the spine with a single thrust downward.
Now free of the annoying monster she looked back to watch as Alan did his gristly work. In the time she had looked away, the aura had crept to his biceps. Each of his blows punches landed with cataclysmic force now, rocking the nine foot tall minotaur backwards with every strike.
The minotaur was beginning to look panicked as Alan refused to die. Blood burst from its bovine lips as Alan stuck hard, bone breaking in the minotaur¡¯s chest. It staggered, roared in rage, and then brought around its large club in a massive overhand strike. Alan punched up, aura swirling around him so thickly it was like a blanket. The aura condensed around his fist and when it connected there was a burst of power as the club shattered apart like cheap glass.
The minotaur stood stunned for a second as Alan began to start the process all over again. His first punch was weak, just his regular strength that the minotaur hardly noticed. The next, only a half second behind it, was slightly stronger. Naomi watched as Alan launched a flurry of jabs, each strike growing his strength as he stole from the minotaur.
She quickly went to help one of her people, a processor named Aida, who was trying to run away from another juvenile minotaur. She stepped in the charging monster''s path, catching a crushing blow with her shield while she stabbed upward with her longsword. The creature¡¯s rush forced itself onto the sword, sharp steel parting flesh and muscle as she twisted and tore the blade free, ending the minotaur¡¯s life.
Aida was panting hard, her oversized pack dwarfing the small woman. Her emerald eyes were filled with fear as she looked around her, shrinking into Naomi¡¯s shadow as survivors of the fight started flocking to her.
¡°TO ME!¡± Naomi roared, lifting her sword over her head as she tried to rally those of her party still alive. They had set out days ago with nearly forty people, much more than she had been planning on going with. There were simply too many people who had wanted to go and too many objectives to achieve with just a small war-party. Now nearly a third of them were laying on the ground, still forever.
Her fighters were mostly fine, one or two having fallen in the surprise of the ambush. It was her gatherers and processors who had taken the worst of the losses. They had managed to collect plenty of rare ingredients and build caches on their way here that would be useful later. Now they would have to build cairns for the dead. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Everyone drifted to her while watching Alan¡¯s duel. It was devolving from a closely contested contest of strength and endurance into just a beating. The minotaur refused to back away, but Alan was overwhelming it with every passing moment. Each blow collected more of that ugly aura around him until, as the minotaur began to sway on its feet, he struck with a single hook and the aura condensed down to explode in a burst of power that disintegrated the minotaur¡¯s head.
Silence fell over the deserted town center. There was a den around here somewhere, likely with a few more minotaurs lurking around, but for now it was peaceful. Alan stepped away from the dead cow, shaking his hands out as if they were asleep. His gaze was still sharp, lucid, no trace of madness on his face.
¡°Alan? You good to hunt?¡± Naomi asked him. They were closing in on his hometown, only a day or two away at their current pace, but he had yet to turn down a chance at hunting down monster dens.
¡°Yeah. You coming with?¡±
¡°No. I need to stay here and set up camp. Lucas, Gio, Darnell, and Monica, go with Alan and clear the den. Bring back whatever we need here. Aida, I want you to start securing everything from the fallen. Anything that we can use and need or be repaired. We¡¯ll secure a cache here. Josie, you and two others, start grabbing anything burnable and start building pyres.¡±
Everyone got to work as she took the remaining fighters and spread them out in a loose perimeter. She had sent her top fighters, aside from herself, to go with Alan. Those who remained were fresh Acolytes with little higher end fighting experience. They were rattled, the speed and ferocity of the minotaurs had taken them off guard and they were reacting badly to how quickly they had lost friends.
She went to each of them, checking on them, touching a shoulder or arm, trying to ground them. She told them they had done well, that they were good warriors. She judged each of them silently, none of them were going to ascend past peak Acolyte. They lacked the strength of will, the iron conviction to keep pushing past all normal boundaries. They would still be valuable. They could contribute and add to the community she was building and thus they were worth the time she invested in them.
It took over an hour for Alan to come back with all of her fighters still alive. He held a pair of minotaur horns, silver and gleaming with power, one in each hand. The team she had sent with him looked at him with a mix of awe and fear. His clothes were little more than blood soaked rags that hung off of him, offering little shielding from roaming eyes.
¡°Alan? Do you want some clothes?¡±
¡°Hmmm, oh yes, that¡¯d be helpful. Seems it¡¯s a bit drafty.¡± He looked around expectantly, a small smile on his face.
¡°That was terrible. Leave the horns with Aida and get some fresh clothes. We¡¯re going to burn the bodies and get a move on.¡±
¡°Damn, how many did we lose?¡± Alan asked. He looked at the corpses with a hint of sadness in his gaze. The dead had been gathered and pulled onto hastily built pyres of broken apart wood and soaked in gasoline.
¡°Seven dead. Mostly from support staff, but Benny died saving Conrad and Bethany.¡±
¡°Fuck.¡±
¡°Yeah.¡± Their conversation was interrupted as the system alert of the pillars flashed before Naomi¡¯s eyes. Columns of fire entered the atmosphere, the sonic booms of the shattering sound barrier a constant crash against their ears as people fell to the ground, covering their ears and yelling as the Pillar of Civilization¡¯s arrival acted as an assault upon the world.
Naomi stood her ground, weathering out the assault as everyone else collapsed to the ground. She had the highest physical stats of everyone and even this was a war upon her senses that she struggled to withstand. As fast as it came, it ended.
Echoes of the entrance still rumbled across the world, but the painful attack was over. Naomi scanned the area, looking hard for any sign of a close-by pillar. She had been waiting for this before their expedition had set off, finally giving in to Alan¡¯s requests when they hadn¡¯t arrived soon enough.
Now they had landed in her lap while she was away from her base of power and lacking the man power needed to hold one. She looked around at the others clustered about, read the looks on their faces as they slowly got to their feet. Alan looked about, a mix of irritation and concern on his face.
¡°We¡¯re going to have to get one of those, Alan,¡± Naomi said. She wasn¡¯t going to yield the possibility of gathering the resources of a single pillar if she could avoid it.
¡°There¡¯s a plume of smoke coming from the direction of home. Two birds, one stone,¡± Alan offered the suggestion.
¡°It will slow us down. Might take us longer to find your son.¡±
¡°He¡¯s survived this long, he¡¯ll last a few more days. You say we need it, then we need it.¡±
Ch. 3.21 Besieged
21.
The moon¡¯s light gave Santi enough illumination as he pulled the spike free of his leg. Cursing bitterly he looked at the mutated porcupine that he had just put down. Dead mutated animals littered the edge of the city, drawn in by the power of the Pillar of Civilization. No other monsters had arrived yet, but it had still been enough to push him and Chloe to the near breaking point.
A huge condor lay in broken pieces off to his left, Chloe slumped next to it breathing hard as she clutched at her shredded left arm. Her blood looked black in the dim light and Santi limped over to her, exhausted from the marathon fighting. Even his monstrous mana stores were running low, having burned through another two of the mana potions he had earned.
Chloe was in even worse shape, often having to back out of fights to recover before she could help him deal with the worst surges. The mutated mammals hadn¡¯t been terrible, but the ants had nearly killed them. Scores of the low level Acolyte ants had nearly overran them, the two of them forced to overexert themselves to push them back.
¡°Hey,¡± Santi offered her a smile as he let his knees fold as he fell next to her. He gently grabbed at her torn up arm, turning it this way and that as he looked at the deep furrows the condor had inflicted on her.
¡°How you doing?¡± Chloe asked, exhaustion and pain robbing her voice of any of its normal joviality.
¡°Haven¡¯t been consumed by an all consuming bloodlust that makes me a raging monster. Yet.¡±
¡°It¡¯s the yet part.¡±
¡°For me, it¡¯s the you bleeding out part. Let¡¯s get you back to the others. Get some bandages on this. The others should be here soon enough.¡±
¡°You¡¯ve been saying that for hours.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll eventually be right.¡± Santi grabbed her under her arms and pulled her up, ignoring the grunt of pain as he leveraged her good arm over his shoulder so she could lean on him. She never set down her axe as he led her toward the repurposed store. Chloe just grunted as they continued over to the store.
Maya, Frank, and Zeke were standing there, watching them come in with concerned expressions. Or maybe they were looking at shadows, the light was weak enough and without the evolution they¡¯d have a hard time peering through the darkness. With enough stats to their perception they¡¯d probably be able to see the two of them.
¡°MEDIC!¡± Santi barked. Movement came behind the three leaders and a pair of people Santi hadn¡¯t talked to yet came running out, scooping Chloe up and leading her off towards the store. She waved at him weakly with her axe still in hand and he leaned up against a wall to talk to the three leaders.
¡°That was the last of them. Got a few more hours to go.¡±
¡°Wish we could be of help. Everything coming this way is overleveled. Didn¡¯t expect so many Acolyte monsters were around,¡± Maya said. She actually did sound disappointed that she couldn¡¯t fight. Zeke simply shrugged, not sad at all in the fact he wasn¡¯t out there in the fray. Frank was placid, calm in the face of the chaos, alert for any trouble that could come his way.
¡°These are just the survivors. I would be willing to bet that outside of the town limits is a bloodbath as all the mutated animals and monsters are fighting to get towards the pillar. When the pillar is finished calling everything towards us there will be some good harvesting to do. Hopefully Hana brings enough people to get it done right. Can¡¯t have all this food going to waste.¡±
¡°I miss pizza,¡± Frank said suddenly.
¡°I¡¯d murder for a pint of ice cream. Literally murder,¡± Maya threw in her two cents.
¡°You¡¯ve murdered for less,¡± Zeke hissed under his breath as he looked off to the side. Everyone ignored him.
¡°You¡¯re bleeding.¡±
¡°I noticed. It was a porcupine.¡±
¡°Aren¡¯t they herbivores?¡± Zeke asked, looking back at them from his spot against the wall.
¡°Yeah, it didn¡¯t try to eat me. Just stabbed me with its quills. Big ass quills.¡±
¡°That¡¯s even worse. At least a carnivore is trying to eat you. That porcupine just fucked you up for no reason.¡±
¡°It didn¡¯t fuck me up. It just stabbed me a little,¡± Santi defended himself as he lowered himself to the ground.
¡°Regardless. I¡¯ll go and see if there¡¯s any bandages around.¡± Zeke fled from the group without hesitation.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
¡°I don¡¯t think he likes us,¡± Maya said straight-faced.
¡°I¡¯m going to have to agree with that statement. Killing his friends didn¡¯t ingratiate yourself to him.¡±
¡°Yeah, that¡¯s probably my bad,¡± Maya said with a shrug.
¡°Probably?¡± Frank and Santi asked at the same time.
¡°Definitely my bad.¡± They all sank into silence as Santi strained his hearing to hear if anyone or anything else was pushing toward the store. He could hear the breathing of the survivors in the store, but nothing else. Just a warm summer night breeze blowing across the town.
Zeke came back with a bunch of boiled cloth squares that he handed to Santi. Santi rolled down his pants and wedged the squares on his blood slick thigh. They wouldn¡¯t be of much help, but something was better than nothing.
¡°How¡¯s Chloe?¡±
¡°Tough as hell. Wasn¡¯t making a sound as they cleaned her up.¡±
¡°That¡¯s Chloe. She¡¯s going to be something special.¡±
¡°When are your other friends coming?¡± Zeke asked.
¡°Should have been here by now. Any minute.¡±
¡°You have a lot of faith in them,¡± Frank commented.
¡°I trained them. It¡¯s going to be rough out there. I doubt that they¡¯ll be able to get to us without a hell of a fight.¡±
¡°Think there¡¯s really that many monsters and animals out there?¡±
Santi could feel it. The blood splashed on the thirsty ground. Torn flesh and dying hearts. The curse surged in his veins, pushing, wanting to go out there into the night and revel in the violence of it all.
¡°Yeah.¡±
¡°Fuck.¡±
¡°Yeah.¡± Santi looked about, feeling a stir in the shadows. Either Duncan or Daniel. Daniel would try to sneak up on him and scare him through. Not alert him of his presence by being clumsy just in range of his spell forms, but not in range of his morph weapon.
¡°You all go in the store. There¡¯s someone very dangerous here,¡± Santi told them as he got to his feet.
¡°No need for that Santiago. I¡¯m not their enemy.¡± Duncan walked out of the dark like it was a pre-integration summer night and that the town wasn¡¯t surrounded by hordes of fighting and dying monsters.
¡°You¡¯re all of humanity''s enemy, traitor.¡±
¡°Harsh words from a dictator. My actions aren¡¯t for personal gain, but in service of something more.¡±
¡°All of you, get inside of the store. Now, please.¡± Santi felt the others walk back into the guts of the store, Zeke looking interested in staying while Frank just tugged Maya along.
¡°I think you have either the greatest eye for talent in the world or the most luck I¡¯ve ever seen. The woman and boy will both be monsters if you can keep them alive and growing.¡±
¡°What are you doing here, Duncan? Miss me already?¡±
¡°I¡¯m going to enjoy killing you when this is over. But, to honor the spirit of our tentative agreement, Mercy¡¯s people are fighting yours a few miles outside of the town.¡±
¡°Casualties?¡±
¡°Many. Most of them the cursed. You have trained your people decently and the dwarves are a massive boon. Their weapons and armor and golems are decimating their ranks. The problem is several of their strongest have broken free and are racing here.¡±
¡°Acolytes?¡±
¡°Yes. All of them forties plus. And fueled by a curse. They¡¯re carving their way through the wall of flesh that¡¯s outside of the town. I can¡¯t have you dying yet. Need you alive to help me kill Mercy.¡±
¡°You¡¯re here to help me?¡±
¡°You¡¯re a bit slow. Yes. I am here to help you. My people will fall on the horde of the cursed that are occupying your people. I only have a few scouting teams around, but they¡¯re good. It should be enough to clean them out of the area. Once the cursed are killed, they have orders to retreat back to our staging area. You and I will kill the Acolytes on their way here.¡±
¡°And you won¡¯t ram a dagger in my back because you need me to help kill the curse holder.¡±
¡°Yes. I won¡¯t stab you in the back again because I need you. Once she¡¯s dead and the curse is broken, we can go back to killing each other.¡±
¡°How many are coming?¡±
¡°Five at minimum. Maybe seven. It¡¯s very chaotic right now. That pillar is like a beacon to anything and everything out there right now. It was a struggle for me to make it into the town. Your little scout tried but was rebuffed. Repeatedly.¡± There was an edge of smugness to his voice.
¡°You have a decade of experience on him. Why are you proud of doing what he can¡¯t. It¡¯s like taking candy from a baby.¡±
¡°Spoilsport.¡±
¡°What direction are they coming from?¡± Duncan simply waved in the same direction that Santi, Hana, and Chloe had come from.
¡°I stand in front and draw all the attention and you stab them in the back?¡± Santi asked. It was a simple and easy plan that could work out decently.
¡°Works for me. Your girl going to be ok back there? Her arm didn¡¯t look good when you came in.¡±
¡°How long have you been watching us?¡± Santi asked, suddenly suspicious of the assassin. How soon was it till the wave of cursed Acolytes got here if Duncan could snoop around and spy for the better part of a quarter hour.
¡°Get better at sensing me. Basically had to wave a flag for you to notice me. Nice crown by the way, really helps with the dictator image you have going.¡±
¡°How has nobody killed you yet? You¡¯re annoying as fuck.¡±
¡°Plenty have tried. Now, are you in condition to do this? You''re looking a little tired.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I can handle my end. They can be here any minute you said. I don¡¯t want this fight happening where there can be collateral damage.¡±
¡°After you,¡± Duncan said with a thin smile, waving his one arm into the darkness.
¡°Yeah, that¡¯s not happening. You can go first and I¡¯ll follow behind.¡±
¡°How can I trust you? You¡¯re just as likely to stab me in the back as I am you?
¡°I don¡¯t need to stab you in the back to kick your ass.¡±
Duncan fell silent for a moment and then glanced down at his missing arm. His faint smile faded and an ice cold certainty filled his face.
¡°No, you didn¡¯t, did you. I¡¯ll get my pound of flesh for that, don¡¯t think you¡¯ll get away with taking my arm. After.¡±
¡°After.¡± Santi agreed.
Ch. 3.22 Unlikely Alliances
22.
Santi followed behind Duncan as the two men left the false safety of the others. Only Chloe would have been of any help and she was laid up with her arm ravaged and her energy exhausted from the fight. Santi quietly pulled another mana potion out of the pockets of his torn up pants and sipped it down slowly. The cool mint taste had become a raging, icy, fire that ravaged his throat.
It did stir his mana though and he could feel himself regenerating slightly faster than he had been. He was still in rough shape when it came to a pure casting standpoint, but then again, he hadn¡¯t been purely relying on his mage skills since this initialization had started.
The morph weapon on his wrist was a limp wire that radiated happiness. It had drank deeply tonight, consuming blood and potential in equal measure as they cut their way through the horde of monsters and mutated animals that had fought their way through the slaughter happening on the outskirts. Even as they walked closer to the edge of the ruined downtown, Santi could hear the fighting.
Animal screams of pain and rage and the thunderous boom of high ranking monsters locking horns with one another. All over the power that Santi was claiming for himself. It was a heady feeling, that they wanted what he had. His chest puffed out and his tired body found a bit of energy to get him to walk with the hint of the old spring in his step.
Santi couldn¡¯t tell if it was the curse, feeding him a bit of energy as it felt the carnage all around him. Or his own ego, small and battered as it had been, rising to the occasion. Between the slight boost and the mana potion he almost felt human again.
They made it to the edge of the downtown region, Duncan not saying a word as he began to meld into the shadows off on the side. Santi instantly alerted as the assassin began to do his thing, Santi¡¯s instincts not allowing him to relax as the killer tried to hide.
¡°Where you going?¡± Santi spat out as the morph blade became his trusted saber.
¡°I¡¯m not exactly a stand in front of someone and punch them in the face type of fighter. I do my best work quietly and unseen. You¡¯ll have to stand there and keep their attention.¡±
¡°So I stand here and get punched in the face?¡±
¡°If you¡¯re slow, then yes.¡±
¡°I¡¯m going to kill you. Can¡¯t wait.¡± Duncan looked towards Santi and smiled viciously.
¡°The minute Mercy is dropped, you and me are going to war again.¡±
¡°Promises, promises,¡± Santi taunted back as his heart began to beat harder.
¡°They¡¯re coming down the road right now. You hold their attention, I¡¯ll finish them off.¡± With that, Duncan completely disappeared from sight and Santi¡¯s other senses. Santi wanted to bite back a curse as Duncan dipped, but he let the words stream out anyway.
¡°Getting sick of dickheads always disappearing like that.¡± Santi looked toward the edge of the town and waited. Duncan had been right, it didn¡¯t take long before the cursed Acolytes came out of the dark. Six figures, drenched in blood, some limping, walked slowly toward him. Santi stood straight and unafraid as the curse in his body stirred, resonating with the more powerful curses that the Acolytes had.
¡°Brother!¡± the lead shouted, his voice a thunderous boom across the night. He swaggered forward, half a stumble as if he was drunk. The pale light of the stars showed him dripping wetly as he lifted a heavy spiked maul to his shoulder. Santi ignored the attempt at fraternity and simply raised his saber to shoulder level, aimed at the cursed Acolyte.
¡°So be it, you will not be the first who has met their end at my hand. I will crush you and take the Pillar for myself.¡±
Cursed Barbarian lvl. 44
(Blood Thirst)
¡°Oh, fuck, he¡¯s kinda high leveled,¡± Santi muttered to himself even as the man lunged into action. His powerful stats allowed him to move in nothing more than a blur, the spiked cudgel hissing through the air as he directed it toward him. Santi swung his saber and met the cudgel in a blast of force. The cudgel didn¡¯t yield, steel scraped on whatever it was the morph blade was, as Santi was forced back.
A System granted weapon then. High quality, but not a growth weapon like the morph blade. A hazy red aura appeared over the man and his blows picked up speed, Santi struggling to match the man¡¯s physical stats. An aura skill, or an enhancing skill, nothing that he wanted to match in pure physical stats. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Santi jumped backward and allowed the cudgel to sail by him, to crack asphalt into powder in a spray of chunks. He reversed his momentum and lunged upward, knee leading the way as his knee hit the barbarian¡¯s chin. Bone cracked and the barbarian staggered backward while Santi was forced to catch a long spear strike with his saber, turning the broad head away from his ribs as the second of the cursed came at him.
Cursed Spearmen lvl. 41
(Blood Thirst)
¡°Fuck off, I¡¯m busy!¡± Santi snarled at the spearmen, irritated that his duel had been interrupted. He slashed three times as fast as he could while the barbarian was still reeling from having his jaw broken.
The spear holder was able to catch each blow, speeding up as his spear tip caught the morph blade and shoved them to the side like nothing. Santi was rapidly reaching the levels where even his titles wouldn¡¯t let him compete directly physically with physical fighters. It was why he had spells.
[Crosscurrent-Orb] detonated in a massive explosion, tossing the barbarian backward before the barbarian could get close to him again. Santi dropped to a crouch as a skill activated, a cool blue light surrounding the spear as it suddenly triple thrust over his head fast enough that after images were left behind.
The saber lengthened and cut across the leading quadriceps of the spearman¡¯s leg, parting flesh like paper. The lean spearman smiled and howled in a mix of pain and pleasure, stumbling as his leg collapsed underneath him. Santi leapt backward as two more of the cursed came chasing after him. A burst of fire rolling over him, kept at bay only by his [Air Current], the flames flicking at the edge of his skin.
¡°Anytime Duncan,¡± Santi spat, dodging a rock that was hurled at him, air cracking as the golden glowing rock flashed by.
Four Acolyte warriors were homed in on him, their skills flashing and burning as Santi pushed himself to the fullest of his abilities to simply stay alive. His morph blade was an amorphous blur, changing to meet every attack as Santi ran backwards, circling around to keep the four fighters from overwhelming him.
Santi nearly missed Duncan entering the fight. The assassin simply stepped into being, his knife tearing apart a throat in silence, skills at play. The furthest cursed warrior, some type of healer, died without making a sound. The others were too lost in their own battle to notice the least of them dying.
Santi stabbed down and caught the barbarian¡¯s foot, splitting the foot in half as he twisted and ducked to dodge a spear strike. Flame spitted the air around him, burning at the spearman as the fire mage began to act wild. There was chaos in the air, joy in the fight, the thrill of death being only a misstep away. Even as blood began to soak their clothes as Santi cut them, they were growing faster and more wild.
A laugh started to rattle around in Santi¡¯s chest as he ducked and slashed, severing a few fingers from the barbarians off hand. The bigger man simply roared, never slowing as more and more skills came out to contest Santi.
Duncan killed the next one, an archer who was dancing around the edges of the fight, not lost to the siren¡¯s call of his curse. A shadow clone emerged from one side, causing the archer to jerk away and fire his bow into the shadow. The shadow fell apart even as the archer¡¯s lunge carried him onto Duncan''s knife. None of Santi¡¯s opponents noticed the second death.
He pushed off hard, taking a grazing wound along his ribs from the spear user as he crossed the distance toward the rock thrower. The long lanky woman¡¯s eyes widened in surprise as Santi cut apart a wall of flame, emerging from the other side slightly singed. He speared her through the chest, cracking apart ribs like they were dry branches as she died without making a sound.
He kicked her limp body away, his body straining as he was forced to spin and knock aside the next cudgel blow. The spiked cudgel hit and tore into the ground while the spear user lunged, crossing more ground than possible as he used another skill.
[Gust] pushed the spear away from him and the spearman flew past in a blur. Santi redoubled his attack on the barbarian, slicing away skin and slivers of cudgel with every blow as the fire mage circled around them, trying to get a clean shot on him. Santi stuck close to the barbarian, using his weapon¡¯s superiority to keep the huge man from overwhelming him.
He spun the blade around into a shield, swatting the cudgel away, and turning into a knife to slash along the barbarian¡¯s arm. Blood was spilling, filling the air with its iron scent, warm on his skin as he kept cutting and slicing, tearing apart the barbarian as power surged through his body.
Heat exploded over him, his senses hardly reacting in time as he cast [Air Shield] to stop the fireball from consuming him. The barbarian wasn¡¯t as lucky. His skin blackened and burned away, hair disintegrating even as he screamed, cudgel going from blue-black to red-orange.
Santi leapt away from the barbarian and toward the maniacally grinning mage. The man was lost in the madness of the fight, fire streaming off his fists in waves as he lifted his hand to punch at Santi. Santi cut the man¡¯s hands off, the morph blade not bothered at all by the fire magic.
He reversed the strike and relieved the mage of his head. Santi looked back in time to watch Duncan appear to finish off the barbarian with a single strike. The spearman was running back toward him as fast as possible, but Santi had his feet set and his heart was sure. He moved with ease, stepping forward and toward the man as the spear flashed past him. Santi sliced hard, taking the man¡¯s head without hesitation.
As fast as it had started it was over. He had killed three of them and Duncan had claimed three. The levels were waiting for him, ready to claim his new stat points in a moment.
¡°We¡¯re done here. You¡¯re fairly effective. Pity I¡¯m going to have to kill you.¡± Duncan was down the street from him, not willing to be within striking range of Santi. Santi couldn¡¯t blame him.
¡°Go now, or we can finish what we started weeks ago. When I¡¯ve gathered my people, then we can discuss finishing Mercy.¡±
¡°And how will I know?¡±
¡°You¡¯ll be spying on me, like you always do.¡±
¡°See ya around then, Santiago. Try not to die till I can kill you.¡±
Ch. 3.23 The Toll
23.
They came two hours after dawn. Cameron led them through the ruins of the city outskirts, his armor dinged and bloody. His shield was a battered wreck that he let hang by his knees as he trudged at the front of the group. The rest came behind him in a ragged line, all of Santi¡¯s friends and family still alive. A heavy weight left his shoulders as he saw them all, Tank, Bianca, Daniel, and Hana. Yessenia was walking in the center, her massive golem drenched in gore, by her side.
Grimvr and Torin were next, Mom between them looking blankly about her. Behind her trailed twenty or more people, all of them looking worse for the wear. Rayleigh had a group of her own people that clustered around her, seeking her stubborn strength after the tribulation they had just endured.
Chloe leaned against him, more in exhaustion than in any type of affection. After he had finished off the Acolytes, more and more monsters had come. Chloe had come out of the store, tired but willing. She had killed her fair share before the waves had finally broken, thirty minutes before dawn.
They had rested, sitting next to each other and waiting to see who would be coming out of the frenzy outside. Santi didn¡¯t know how large of a group had originally come, who had answered his call, but he was staring at a battered and exhausted group. He could only imagine who had been left in muddy ground.
¡°Cam! Good to see you. Tank, you have any juice left in the tank? Me and Chloe are torn up,¡± Santi said to them as they walked up to him. His wounds were half healed, coagulated messes that had drenched his clothes and were now tacky and stuck to his skin.
¡°Santi. This had better been worth it. There is enough dead left behind us to fill a cemetery,¡± Tank¡¯s voice was dead and flat. Exhaustion shot through his body as he staggered up to them. Santi pulled a mana potion free, his second to last one from the box he had earned, and handed it to the medic.
Tank didn¡¯t even hesitate as he grabbed the potion and drank it down in a single swig. He went to Chloe first and started to do his work while Santi headed toward Cam and Bianca. The rest of the war party was breaking apart, collapsing into the street or against a wall, spent to their last.
Bianca leaned against Cam who still stood tall. Mom marched toward them in a clatter of metal, her once pristine armor dented and battered. Torin stayed next to her, his hammer held easily in his hand, still dripping his opponent¡¯s blood. Grimvr stuck with Yessenia as they marched straight into the grocery store without looking at him.
¡°Are you guys ok?¡± Santi whispered to his best friend and older sister.
¡°Fuck no, Santi. That¡that was horrible,¡± Bianca whispered towards him, seeming to draw strength from leaning against Cameron.
¡°Santi. It was a nightmare. That shit. That shit, man,¡± Cam swayed and Santi reached out to grab him and by proxy his sister. The three formed a tripod for a moment, helping each other stay upright. Cam got his legs back under him and Santi lead them to a partial wall and they all sank down. Mom and Torin followed after, but didn¡¯t crowd them.
¡°It was just a wall of flesh and blood and teeth, Santi. There were so many of them, they just kept coming and coming and coming. Then there were the other people. The cursed. They were worse. They laughed and howled when we cut them, they didn¡¯t care no badly how we hurt them. They only stopped when they died,¡± Bianca whispered, curling into Cam.
¡°How many were there?¡±
¡°Fuck man, who could tell? There were lots of them, dozens, fuck maybe a hundred. Most were weak, sub twenty-five, but there was maybe three or four who were strong as us. Me and Bianca got one of them and Grimvr, Daniel, Hana, and your Mom got another. Torin killed one and Yessesnia¡¯s golem got another,¡± Cam cut in. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
¡°We need an accurate count. That scout we snagged said their camp numbered in the hundreds if not thousands, but they had roughly a hundred Acolytes. Six made it into the town and you got four. That¡¯s ten percent of their Acolytes right there. Then the ones we got on the coast. They¡¯re thinning down.¡±
¡°Santi, we lost a lot of good people. We can¡¯t afford another victory like that,¡± Cam interjected.
¡°Agreed,¡± Tank said as he came leading Chloe over. Chloe slumped to the ground while Tank leaned over, resting a warm hand on Santi¡¯s shoulder as spells started to work on him.
¡°Then we need to be smarter. They outnumber us and can absorb losses we can¡¯t afford. Where¡¯s Daniel?¡± Santi asked, looking around.
¡°I¡¯ll go get him,¡± Mom said, breaking off to go find the elusive scout.
They all settled down to wait as Santi thought feverishly. His mind was in a thick fog, tired and drained of all energy, but he could feel things connecting. Dots connected together as he thought of how to solve his problems.The variables were sliding together, the pillar, the beatles, missing scouts, his sisters class.
Daniel came up, walking slowly and without hurry as Hana trailed behind him. Mom was nowhere to be seen and Torin frowned when he failed to spot her. He turned and marched off without a word while Daniel sank into a crouch across from him.
¡°You called?¡±
¡°The scouts you lost to the beatles. Where were they? From here.¡±
¡°Little North and East. Maybe thirty miles.¡±
¡°That¡¯s where we¡¯re going then. Let everyone catch their breath, any who are still able to fight will move toward where we lost the scouts. Me, Chloe, and Daniel will go find Keegan. Those who are too hurt to fight will lead the community here back to Homebase. Everyone else will go to where the scout base was wiped out.¡±
¡°What are you planning, Santi?¡± Chloe asked sleepily next to him.
¡°We have too many enemies and not enough allies. But, Duncan told me he didn¡¯t kill that base and I believe him. Which means there¡¯s a high level bug nest close to that town. We¡¯re going to make a trap and we¡¯re going to endure. Yesi¡¯s going to need a lot of supplies and we have plenty of ingredients sitting right outside the town limits moldering right now.¡±
¡°Who the fuck is Duncan?¡± Cam asked. Santi ignored him for the moment as he continued to come up with a plan on the fly.
¡°Someone go and grab Yesi. Her grimoire will have the ingredient lists she needs to make something special. I¡¯ll pay anyone who goes out there and works collecting five wooden coins and open up the market to them immediately when I finish claiming the pillar.¡±
¡°Are coins really worth that much?¡± someone muttered. They definitely were, but only Santi and the dwarves knew that. The wealth his Mom and Dad had acquired while running their little restaurant was impressive. It¡¯d be more than enough to pay back Torin for his time and work, if he would accept it.
¡°How soon till it¡¯s yours?¡± Chloe muttered.
¡°Later today. We will have it set up before we move out of here.¡±
¡°I need a nap,¡± Chloe declared, closing her eyes and falling asleep nearly instantly.
¡°We¡¯re getting off track. So, we¡¯re going to lure everyone up there and somehow lure a bunch of high ranking bugs into the fight and just hope we get out of it ok?¡± Bianca asked.
¡°It¡¯ll be more than just hoping it goes ok. We¡¯ll work it out, but Yesi is going to play a big part. We just need to find her the right ingredients and a good power source.¡± Santi¡¯s mind flashed back a particular rift heart that had been stolen from him. One that hadn¡¯t been used for the earlier ritual that Duncan and his faction had planned.
¡°There¡¯s plenty of ingredients, but where are we going to get a power source? I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any rifts around here for us to take.¡±
¡°You¡¯re good now, Santi. I don¡¯t have anything left in the tank anyway,¡± Tank said, as he stepped away from Santi. The healing had been more subtle than a healing potion, but it still felt good.
¡°Did you just make a pun off of your nickname?¡± Santi said with a chuckle so weak it barely passed his lips.
¡°Yes. Laughter is the best medicine. What we need, all of us, is some sleep. We¡¯re all burnt out and at the edge of our abilities. Need to heal up and prep for tonight. Doctor¡¯s orders.¡±
¡°Can¡¯t ignore the doctor. Someone gather up the community members from here and have them do the harvesting. Five awake and on watch, the rest sleeping.¡± Santi¡¯s orders were met with a wave of nods and acceptance as everyone staggered to their feet and headed toward the burnt out store that Frank and Zeke¡¯s factions were set up in.
Santi had a moment of isolation as everyone left, only Chloe, slumped against the wall next to him snoring softly, his only company. He had a long line of notifications he had to scroll through, but his eyelids were drooping shut and he was struggling to stay awake.
With a groan of effort he got up, his knees weak and wobbly as he scooped up Chloe. She hardly stirred against him as he started off toward the store. He had a tentative plan, he had the pillar, and he had enemies. His allies were with him, now all he had to do was execute the plan.
Ch. 3.24 Options
24.
Santi stared up at the pillar in the midday light. He watched as the seconds counted down the last few seconds as the pillar unlocked and he could fully utilize it. The stench was truly becoming something else, the hundreds of corpses littering the perimeter of the town had a phenomenal stench that had Santi wrinkling his nose.
Frank and Zeke¡¯s people were out there in that charnel house, gathering up supplies under Yessenia and Grimvr¡¯s watchful eyes. Santi didn¡¯t know how they had convinced Yessenia to go outside, but someone had done it. Now a pile of grisly remains were being piled up around her, all of which she looked at dispassionately.
Santi was worried about that blank look in her eyes. The way she seemed to be just walking though the world in a daze. Fear and anxiety were all that broke through that daze and Santi didn¡¯t know how to fix it. That familiar rage at Abraham burned up hot and fast in his gut.
Mom and Torin were cleaning their armor. The older dwarf showed Mom the proper maintenance needed for her armor and weapons. Mom took to it with the single minded determination that she had been exhibiting since Dad had died.
Killed. Since Dad had been killed. Santi looked away from them and back towards the pillar as the countdown ended.
Congratulations, you¡¯re still alive!
Now the Owner of 1 Pillar of Civilization
You have 1 Free Move for this Pillar
There were more of course, walls of text that Santi scrolled through that described the minutiae of what he could do with the pillar. Even with his high intelligence allowing him to process information at superhuman speeds, it took him the better part of a half hour to read it all.
Everything was there that he expected. The wealth of options a pillar gave its owner was well known, but there were a few caveats he hadn¡¯t known about. He would have to adjust some of his plans, but for now everything could work short term. Santi dismissed the Owner¡¯s Manual and entered into the menu section for the first time.
Owner¡¯s Menu
Market Place
Map
Survey
Taxes
Santi locked his eye on the map tab and clicked it. A topographical map sprung up in his vision, the pillar and everyone else disappearing. The map was topographical, the valleys and hills of craggy Northern California easy to read for a twenty mile circumference. Santi didn¡¯t need to know the lay of the land, for the map didn¡¯t reveal any of the towns or settlements, just the geography of the area.
And little blips that showed people who had the System. Santi saw the cluster of blips all around him, the scattered line right outside of town of the scavengers. He even saw one or two hiding about inside the town, either survivors from that death cult or people shirking work.
He saw the watcher who was outside of town. He clicked the blip with his mind and a small screen popped up.
Scout lvl. 31
That was the only information the pillar offered him. The scout was either one of Duncan¡¯s or Mercy¡¯s. He needed both of them to know what he was doing, so he left the scout alone for now. Santi wished the pillar allowed him to see names of people, but class and level had to be good enough for now.
He pulled up the market menu and frowned when he saw so few options. None were of much interest to him currently, most of them having to do with settling a region. Once he had the pillar back at Homebase, then he could fully utilize things like irrigation lines and purifying ponds and enriched topsoil. There were survey probes which cost ten wooden coins each. Most of Santi¡¯s horde was back home, but he had enough to buy three of them. Santi felt the weight of the coins disappear from his pocket as the pillar absorbed them.
The map dissolved and he was back in front of the pillar as three circular, purple glass orbs appeared in front of him. He had to reach out and snag them before they hit the ground, the heavy weight of them taking him off guard for a moment. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
¡°Oh shit, what¡¯d you buy moneybags?¡± Cam asked him and Bianca came strolling up to him hand in hand. Some of their swagger was back after getting a few hours of sleep and scrubbing the blood off of themselves. Cam¡¯s shield was dented but the scraps of flesh and blood had been washed off and he looked presentable enough. Bianca macuahuitl hung from her hip, clean of any detritus, and she had found spare clothes somewhere and managed to tame her hair.
¡°Probes.¡±
¡°For a first date?¡±
¡°Survey probes for the area, dick,¡± Santi said trying to hide his smile as Bianca shoved Cam with her shoulder, absolutely not moving him at all.
¡°What, he¡¯s been weird lately. I just wanted to check,¡± Cam defended himself while Chloe looked at him with an arched eyebrow, not deigning to respond.
¡°Yo, DANIEL!¡± Santi hollered, looking around for the sneaky scout.
Daniel and Hana poked their heads out from around the corner. Santi jerked his head, telling them to get over here. Each of the probes were cool and glassy, but the weight was enough that it was irritating to hold.
¡°Toys for us?¡± Daniel asked as they got closer.
¡°We all know you heard us talking. Yes, they are for you. You and Hana each get one, take them out through the town. I want to see how accurate they are with recording data. Cam, want to take the third and go the other way?¡±
¡°Why me?¡±
¡°Because your jokes suck.¡±
¡°It was funny.¡±
Everyone looked at him and silence fell over them all. Cam looked back and forth, a look of betrayal slowly spreading over his face as he realized nobody was coming to back him up. Finally, he turned to look at Bianca who just looked disappointed.
¡°Fine. Come on, amor, you can show me the town,¡± Cam said sarcastically as he grabbed one of the probes with his giant hand before walking off with Bianca. Everyone turned to look at Santi, faint smiles on their faces.
¡°All of you, off, scatter, begone. I have stats to go through.¡±
¡°So, just you and Chloe,¡± Hana began, but Chloe cut her off.
¡°Actually, I want to take a stroll myself. Me and Hana, some girl talk. No boys allowed.¡± Chloe grabbed Hana, interlinking their arms and the probe in one smooth motion before leaving Daniel and Santi standing by themselves.
¡°I don¡¯t think the two of them together is a great idea. Sneaky and muscles,¡± Daniel said.
¡°It¡¯s the apocalypse. We have more pressing concerns than our girlfriends chatting together.¡±
¡°Ye of little faith. Give me that probe. I¡¯m leaving before they get back.¡± Daniel snagged the probe and went off in the opposite direction of the girls and Santi finally had a moment to himself as he walked a few steps away from the pillar to go over his gains.
Santiago Silva
Air Mage lvl. 49
Strength: 40 (75)
Durability: 40 (75)
Stamina: 40 (75)
Dexterity: 40 (75)
Vitality: 40 (75)
Perception: 35 (70)
Intelligence: 114 (149)
Mana: 149 (184)
Willpower: 120 (155)
Potential: 99%
The gains were quick and easy to find, extra stat points allocated to strength and dexterity to make them equal and the final points towards his waning willpower. In the quiet afterglow of a large affixation he could admit to himself that he wasn¡¯t controlling the curse.
It was insidious. Burrowing itself deep into his psyche, whispering to him to cut and cut and bathe in the blood that was flowing. It spoke to that rage nestled deep in his chest, that hurt and emptiness and pain.
It told him it could make it all go away.
If he gave in.
So he allocated extra willpower points to the stat and felt that the thick wall he had built around those treacherous thoughts grew just a bit stronger. It was unfortunate there were so many cracks in it.
There were no awards for the butchery he had participated in last night. No alerts of the curse gaining in strength, for which he was grateful. At times last night, when the fighting was the fiercest, when his strength flagged and his mana was running dry, he thought about letting those walls fall and embracing the curse.
The heavy thump of a golem¡¯s footsteps stirred him from his daze as he watched as Yessenia and her protector came up towards him. Yessi was dressed in an oversized sweater that fell to her knees, the gray garment stained up to her elbows with all sorts of gore. Her golem was spotless, just dull gray metal that didn¡¯t reflect the light as it marched.
¡°Santi, I got everything that the book says we need. Except for the power source,¡± Yesi¡¯s voice was whisper quiet as she stood next to him.
¡°I¡¯m going to work on that. Is the grimoire unlocking more spells for you to study?¡±
¡°Yes. Every time I get to a new level more diagrams open up for me to study.¡±
¡°Are you confident in the final spell? It¡¯s a lot more complex than most of them.¡±
¡°I¡¯m going to need two days at the minimum to set up the final spell. It needs to see both starlight and sunlight, and some of the ingredients I have need to be purified. Which is a skill I just had to buy by the way.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s say three days from today then. We¡¯ll move all up together and I¡¯ll leave you and some guards there to set everything up. I¡¯m going to have to go and kick a hornet¡¯s nest.¡±
¡°Sounds like a normal day for you. I understand the other spells, but why the exorcism spell?¡±
Ch. 3.25 The Groundwork
25.
So few were left. The majority of the reinforcements Santi had called for had been injured or killed and the majority of the survivors had escorted Frank¡¯s and Zeke¡¯s people back to Homebase. Santi¡¯s team, plus his Mom, Torin, and Yessi and her golems. Rayleigh had four fighters left, all Acolytes in the low thirties. Frank, Maya, and Zeke had all come with them, not having been asked but told. Their own evolutions coming soon enough.
They had all watched in awe as the Pillar of Civilization had shrunk, falling into itself until it was nothing more than a thick seven foot long staff. Santi had it over his shoulder as he walked, eyes alert as they entered into where Daniel¡¯s scouts had been killed. The heavy staff on Santi¡¯s shoulder was reassuring as they looked around the cluster of buildings that composed the entirety of the town.
Population 545. There were no apartments, no large homes. Most of the surviving houses were tract homes, easily thrown up and left alone. It was these little settlements, little more than villages, that survived the best. The populations were wiped out in most cases, but the infrastructure didn¡¯t take quite as much of a beating.
It was a decent place to have a small team of runners. Close to the interstate, could move in any cardinal direction with ease. Slightly out of the way so nobody should have ran over it without searching for it. The carcasses of the dead beetles were still there, massive and hollow, eaten out by other wild monsters or animals.
¡°Isn¡¯t this cozy,¡± Santi said, leaning toward Cameron. The bigger man just looked around and raised an eyebrow at the deserted town.
¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to be doing whatever it was Daniel had them doing way the fuck out here.¡±
¡°They hung out and played board games or card games most of the time,¡± Hana supplied.
¡°Boring.¡±
¡°Then they all got killed,¡± Santi reminded Cam.
¡°Yeah, there is that part. Bored to death.¡±
Everyone pulled away from Cam as he stood there, his dark humor not landing. Bianca was shoulder to shoulder with Yessi as the two of them, and Yessi¡¯s golem, marched into where the scout¡¯s building had been.
¡°Fuck, everyone¡¯s a critic,¡± Cam grunted as he started to move toward the dead beetles. Chloe went with him, the two of them the physically strongest people in the small group, and they began to haul the corpses out of the way while Santi looked around for a good spot.
He couldn¡¯t access the pillar while it was in its travel mode and if he wanted this to work he was going to need the map. The three probes had provided a very accurate topographical map and the plan was for Daniel, Hana, and Bianca to move around town and develop a good map of the town and the surrounding region.
The heavy spells Yessenia would be making over the next few days would require an accurate knowledge base of the terrain. Now that they were progressing past the easy ritual spells, things like altitude and slope of the land could affect the spell. It was rapidly growing beyond Santi¡¯s limited knowledge, but Yessi was sinking into it like a duck to water.
She had plenty of work to do and the math of building a half dozen spells, most of them overlapping, had been enough to make Santi¡¯s head hurt. Yessi¡¯s skills had been useful, shaving so much time off the effort that Santi had a brief moment of jealousy. He had faith that she could figure out all the spells needed to activate their trap, now it was just up to him to get the power source for the biggest of the spells.
He¡¯d need to get it from Duncan. He didn¡¯t think the assassin would just hand it over, he¡¯d need to have something in return. Something of equal value to a powerful rift heart. For that he¡¯d need to start searching, these sparse areas likely had a few secrets hidden in them.
First was to establish a small base here while he went and found the missing scout, Keegan. He¡¯d take Daniel, Hana, Chloe and Tank. The rest of the group would stay here and protect Yessenia and prepare for the siege that was coming. The two dwarves would be massive help here, the experienced builders would have tricks up their sleeves that would help even the field.
In the center of the small town was a little field, that was more a large yard than anything. It was surrounded by ribbons of concrete, the roads all barely single lane. It was good enough for him. Santi speared the pillar into the earth, the heavy staff spearing into the hard packed dirt with ease. With a thought the pillar began to grow, stretching up higher and higher.
The menu popped into his mind and he quickly checked the map. There were no other people around and a little bit of tension left Santi¡¯s back after seeing that. The scout had been left behind in their fast paced march to the outpost. Duncan would be around, but Santi needed to see him later, not sooner. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
Santi left the pillar there and went back to the outpost that the runners had been housed in. It was a simple building with just a bit of plywood over the windows and the backdoor barricaded. The girls had pulled out what little was left of the runner¡¯s personal possessions, tossing them on the lawn without a care. The dwarves were looking around, pointing to this and that, their guttural native tongue gruff and grating.
¡°Pillar¡¯s set up. Probes are deployed. Should have a decent map of the area in a few hours.¡±
¡°Will we be able to access the map while you¡¯re gone?¡± Bianca asked.
¡°Yes. I¡¯ll set you, Cam, and Torin as being able to access it. Won¡¯t be able to do any of the functions I can do, but you¡¯ll be able to use the maps.¡±
¡°You trust Torin?¡±
¡°Trust him far enough. We have an agreement and he won¡¯t break it.¡±
¡°If you say so. Mom likes him. Don¡¯t know if I like who she is right now.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think many of us like who we are right now. Work got to get done. You going to be fine without me?¡±
¡°We¡¯ll be fine. Torin is impressive, have no idea how those cyclops captured him.¡±
¡°Numbers can still overwhelm people. At least, so far it can.¡± Santi had an image of a Champion, wreathed in lightning, as Disciples and peak Acolytes threw themselves at her. They all burned, turned to ash with a flicker of the fingers. At a certain point one would be strong enough that only their equals could match them.
¡°Get your ass in here and help out. I don¡¯t care how big and bad you are, you¡¯re still my little brother and you don¡¯t get to stand around while I clean.¡± Bianca had a fake stern look on her face and Santi felt grateful to her. At times he felt strange. Like he wasn¡¯t who he thought he was. That the person who was accomplishing the things he was accomplishing, the man people looked to for advice and leadership wasn¡¯t him. Just someone walking around with his face and body.
His family helped ground him. Remind him that he was still Santiago. Which was something he sometimes forgot. He looked at the pool of silver metal wound around his arm, the numbers floating in his eyesight, and he saw the fields of the dead who¡¯d died to his hand and he forgot who he was, lost in who he was becoming.
The inside of the outpost was mostly already cleaned out. Personal belongings strewn out and any food thrown away to get rid of pests. The food was too weak for them to eat and was already moldering. He saved a few books and a deck of cards, but otherwise everything was thrown out. Yessenia quickly found a bedroom in the depths of the house and claimed it as her own.
¡°Don¡¯t forget you need to get those evolutions done!¡± Santi yelled after her. She had been more out and about the last day, but she was just as withdrawn as ever. She only talked to the family, even giving Cam just one word answers.
¡°I¡¯ll make sure it gets done. Those three going to get along or kill each other?¡± Bianca asked of the newest acquisitions to their little band. Santi had to think of it as he drug a couch against the wall and fluffed a few pillows.
¡°I think they¡¯ll get along a bit better now that they¡¯re no longer competing for the same resources. Maya needs to be kept away from the rest of the group though. I think she¡¯ll make a good addition to Rayleigh¡¯s teams, or maybe even a heavy hitter like Daniel and Hana. She has the spirit for it, the drive.¡±
¡°As long as she keeps that drive and spirit pointed away from us.¡±
¡°If she steps out of line and threatens the family, I''ll put her down.¡±
¡°Get in line. I won¡¯t let anything hurt us again.¡± Bianca was fierce, her eyes set and hard, a scowl on her face. They both remembered the day Abraham had come and how neither of them had been there. A lesson carved into their souls.
¡°I should have ended that before it started. I was weak and we¡¯re all paying for it. I¡¯m sorry Bianca.I brought you into the town I built and told you it was safe. I was wrong.¡±
¡°It¡¯s Abraham¡¯s fault. He was the one who did it. His insecurity and greed is what killed our father.¡±
¡°I know that. I understand that. I still blame myself.¡±
¡°I love you Santi. Dad loved you and Mom and Yessenia loves you. No one blames you for what Abraham did.¡±
Santi felt tears pricking at his eyes as he dropped the fluffed pillow to the edge of the gray couch before flopping into it. Bianca sat down next to him and leaned against him, the two siblings staring at the undecorated wall across from them in silence for a few minutes.
¡°Remember how he always sang the wrong words to Mom¡¯s music?¡± Bianca asked.
¡°She¡¯d get so pissed, but would always laugh in the end.¡±
¡°Vicente! That¡¯s not how it goes!¡± Bianca said in a terrible impression of their mother. Both of them laughed and the tears did slide down his face then. It was a good thing though, the old memory bringing the warm comfort of familiarity rather than the sting of loss. They sat there, just talking quietly to each other stories of before, mainly of Dad, but of just before.
They both pretended to not hear the sobs behind them coming from the hallway where Yessenia sat, not strong enough to sit with them. When Mom came in she took one look and then held up a hand, preventing whoever else was following her to stop. She closed the door and walked past Santi and Bianca and into the hallway. The sobs grew louder, heart wrenching wails as the bottled up emotions Yessenia had been holding for months finally broke free with the gentle reminder of happy times.
Ch. 3.26 Setting the Stage
26.
Santi left the others behind as he started to work his way up and into the dry brush and hills. The prickly plants around tugged at his pants, leaving burrs in the hem and in his socks as he kept moving up. The hill was nude, bare of any vegetation aside from scrub as he kept climbing.
It had taken three hours before the [Scout] had appeared again. When they had shown up, Santi knew that Duncan wasn¡¯t far behind. He needed to talk to the man to start the next part of his plan. Without a way to contact him directly, he just had to hope that this would work.
He pulled out his bottle of water and drank it while he sat. He munched on a meal stick and waited. And waited. And waited.
The sun sank below the horizon, dusk flowing across the land. Santi kept waiting, his senses stretched wide and far. Duncan would be coming soon enough, the twilight of the world his perfect operating time.
The assassin came right as the entirety of the world teetered on falling into darkness, the bruised horizon hardly emitting light and the stars yet to make their appearance. Materializing unseen and unfelt, the palid faced man walked up to him with little thought of his own safety.
¡°We keep meeting like this and your girlfriend might start getting upset,¡± Duncan called, his one remaining hand close to the pommel of his knife.
¡°I need that riftcore you stole from me.¡±
¡°Sure, let me just hand over a powerful possession to one of my enemies,¡± his tone dripped with sarcasm as he rolled his eyes. The longer he interacted with Santi, the more personable the man got, little slivers of his personality showing.
¡°What do you want for it?¡±
¡°Your help. Mercy is about four days out. She crossed the mountains into Nevada and is razing what¡¯s left of Reno to the ground. If she backtracks, and she should, after us killing a bunch of her people, it¡¯ll be four days. I found a dungeon but I¡¯m missing a good mage.¡±
¡°A dungeon run? You want me to participate in a dungeon run for a riftheart?¡±
¡°You participate and don¡¯t claim any of your share. It¡¯s a five man dungeon, you can bring your girlfriend or the healer. I keep all of the dungeon rewards, I pay you with the riftheart.¡±
¡°This seems much too good to be true. What¡¯s the catch?¡± Santi asked.
¡°It¡¯s a level fifty dungeon. None of my people can handle it. Rewards will be juicy since we¡¯ll be the first clear team.¡±
¡°Average level in the dungeon is fifty, with the boss monster probably being close to sixty?¡±
¡°Probably sixty-five. The dungeon hasn¡¯t been cleared yet afterall.¡±
¡°That¡¯s a big ask. You, me, Tank, and two of your damage fighters?¡±
¡°Yeah. I got a pair of guys. Bout as good as your girl, but not quite up to standard. No defender class though. Your friend isn¡¯t good enough yet to do it.¡±
¡°I wouldn¡¯t drag them into a level fifty dungeon. Even with the two of us, this is a big ask. What¡¯s the dungeon?¡±
¡°Labyrinth.¡±
¡°We don¡¯t have a pathfinder,¡± Santi protested, even as he started to feel the itch to try it. If there was any dungeon type to attempt with a level discrepancy, it was a labyrinth.
¡°Please. I¡¯m a former Champion. I could figure out the way through the labyrinth by myself. Killing everything in it on the other other hand.¡± He shrugged his shoulders.
¡°This the only way you¡¯ll give me the riftheart?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Fuck. When?¡±
¡°Tomorrow at dawn. It¡¯s closer to your home. Four to six hours of hard travel. Your medic should be able to keep up.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll go let them know. Bring your people here to stage. I have a plan to lure Mercy here. Trap and kill her and her people.¡±
¡°Was wondering what you were planning on doing. This is agreeable. Should only take a day or so to get there and back.¡±
¡°Meet you in the morning then.¡± Santi stood and left, exposing his back to the assassin. Part of him was waiting for the blade to enter it, but nothing came of it as he walked back to their new camp. He slowed his steps and thought of what was going to happen, rationalizing and plotting his steps out. Every step of the plan was analyzed and attacked in his mind as he searched for hints of the curse¡¯s influence. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Santi needed the riftheart. There were no other power sources that he knew of that he could acquire in the necessary timeframe. Was this plan the only plan that could work? Probably not, but it was the best he had at the moment. It would accomplish multiple goals at the same time and offered the safest path with the least amount of weak points.
Would Duncan betray him in the dungeon? Doubtful. Not as long as Mercy was alive. What was the dungeon reward and why was he so certain he needed it? The expansion of Earth¡¯s potential had changed the dungeon spawns, none of them having appeared around Homebase. So how did Duncan know what this one had?
His ruminations were cut short as he entered the little town they were planning their ambush in. Some of Rayleigh¡¯s people were awake and on watch, hiding behind cover on rooftops as they looked about for threats. He waved lazily at one of them and marched into the house that his team and family had occupied.
Their evolutions had reduced the biological need to sleep, but there was still the psychological need for it. Sometimes the brain just needs to be shut off for a few hours. His Mom was sprawled out in the corner, her arms and armor stacked neatly next to her as she snored softly.
Daniel and Hana had called the other bedroom and were locked in there. Chloe, Bianca, Cameron, and the dwarves were playing a vigorous game of dominos. Santi watched them play for a moment before deciding all five of them were cheating and not in the same ways.
Yessi was in her bedroom, locked away from the world for at least a little while. Tank was perched on the too small couch watching the game with a smile on his face. Santi flopped down next to him and pulled his boots off and started picking at the burrs stuck to his clothes.
¡°Get done what needed done¡± Tank whispered.
¡°Yeah. Going to get the riftheart. Plans changed though.¡±
¡°That¡¯s kinda the running theme with this group. Plans always change.¡±
¡°You know what they say, plans never survive first contact with the enemy.¡±
¡°Santi, your plans don¡¯t survive the walk to the enemy.¡±
¡°Fuck off,¡± Santi shoulder bumped the bigger man, hardly stirring him.
¡°So, what''s the new plan?¡±
¡°Dungeon run. You, me, Duncan and two of his guys.¡±
¡°Me. Not Chloe? Or Cam?¡±
¡°Naw, they¡¯re needed here. When Daniel and Hana disentangle themselves, they¡¯ll have to go and find Keegan. Chloe, Daniel, Hana, they can move fast and bring Keegan back. You guys heard that, right?¡± Santi said, turning to look at the five rowdy dominos players. He got a quick thumbs up or nodded heads as nobody looked up from their hands.
¡°Rayleigh and her team will stay here, along with Mom, Torin, Grimvr, Cam, and Bianca. They¡¯ll provide security and help for Yessi. We get this set up right, we can save a lot of lives.¡±
¡°This Duncan. He¡¯s going to fuck us over, yes?¡±
¡°Undoubtedly. Doubt he¡¯ll do it in the dungeon. He needs me and you are valuable.¡±
¡°Told you that the healer is the most important person on the team,¡± Tanks smiled widely.
¡°Yes, yes you did. And it¡¯s true, especially now. We¡¯ll split the health potions, give Chloe and them a couple a piece, leave some here, and take the rest.¡±
¡°How dangerous is this dungeon?¡±
¡°Dangerous enough that Duncan needs me to clear it.¡±
¡°And what does he get from it?¡±
¡°The rewards from clearing it.¡±
¡°Interesting. What is it?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±
¡°I think that''s what we need to focus on. If he¡¯s willing to take this type of risk, the dungeon, you and me, whatever, then the reward has to be something he thinks will tip the balance.¡±
¡°It could be a future thing he has going on? Plans on plans on plans.¡± Santi didn¡¯t think that was likely what was happening, but it could be.
¡°He knows you''re going to kill him. He knows you¡¯ve already beaten him once, took off his arm. I will assure you that he believes that what¡¯s in that dungeon will give him the edge in the fight.¡±
¡°Tank¡¯s right!¡± Chloe yelled over her shoulder. She shoved a handful of dominos to her right and into Grimvr¡¯s stack. Santi was sure that none of them actually knew what they were doing.
¡°Damn straight. So how do we counter this plan he has?¡±
¡°He¡¯s focused on me. I took his arm, I beat him. He¡¯s not thinking about the rest of us. Let him focus on me, make all his preparations for me.¡±
¡°Uhmmm¡Santi, that¡¯s what we¡¯re trying to avoid?¡± Tank asked, genuinely puzzled.
¡°No. It¡¯s how we beat him. He hard counters me. He plans everything out, thinks it through, makes contingency plans, everything about me.¡±
¡°Ahhh, then we just stalk up behind him and hit him in the back of the head while he¡¯s not looking?¡± Tank asked, half joking.
¡°Close enough. I¡¯m playing this one close to the vest. Not that I don¡¯t trust you guys, it¡¯s just loose lips sink ships.¡±
¡°Sure. Have to be careful with sneaky fucks running around.¡± There was a chorus of amens and nodded heads as everyone agreed.
¡°Did someone say my name?¡± Daniel asked as he walked out of the backrooms. He sat down between the Santi and Tank.
¡°Your counterpart,¡± Tank supplied.
¡°Ohh, that asshole. Can¡¯t believe he literally snuck around my city. Didn¡¯t get a single good look at him while it was happening too.¡±
¡°He¡¯s damn good. So we keep our plans quiet and to ourselves. If anything happens to me, Yessi has what you need.¡±
¡°Not a huge fan of this secrecy. But if you think it¡¯ll work, then let''s do it. When do we take off?¡± Tank asked.
¡°At dawn. We meet Duncan outside of town and we hit the dungeon.¡±