by Tao Wong
The lightning explodes. Lightning Squirrels are no longer able to contain and direct the overflow, so it heats them up—heats us up—and I know I’m screaming. One second we’re in the middle of a maelstrom, and the next, it disappears. Stray arcs jump and skip all around us, the ground molten glass. I stumble away, brute forcing Sabre to move because it’s still rerouting from all the damage. I fall on my face on smoking, ashen ground as Ali slowly floats down, his eyes sparkling.
“What a rush!” Ali says, holding up a hand and waggling olive-colored fingers that dance with electricity. “Woah! That’s a ton of notifications—wait one second!”
I stare into the sky, my muscles twitching occasionally from the after-effects. Eventually, I reach out with one of my Shop-purchased Skills and dump Sabre directly into my inventory. Quite a useful Skill to have, being able to put anything that the System registers directly into my inventory just by being in contact with it. My body drops onto the scorched earth and I groan, rolling up as the heat cuts through my skin-tight armored coveralls. I don’t even want to know how much it’s going to cost to fix Sabre. The remains of Jim’s party, with an added golden-brown Minotaur, stumble over, staring at the smoking squirrel corpses around me, their eyes wide.
I look around for a moment, taking in the smoking grass, the occasional glassy spot, and the hundreds of corpses, as well as the occasional burning trees, and realize I’m having one of those post-apocalyptic moments in real life. Hell, I can’t even be blamed for this one.
“John?” Jim, the big First Nation Elder, stammers as he limps up to me.
“Yeah?” I look at Ali, who continues to float, muttering to himself. “I thought you might need some help.”
“Shit, you got that right.” Jim’s voice rises and falls as he tries to stay calm. “It was supposed to be a relatively easy kill, just a bunch of ground squirrels. I lost half my men…”
“Sorry.” I looked around then sighed. “That’s a hell of a lot of looting.”
The group jerkily nods, each of them moving to their respective glowing corpses. Lovely System, only allowing us to loot our own kills. At least if you aren’t in a party and I never did formally join theirs. Not that I really want to share – it’s going to be expensive enough fixing Sabre.
I start looting after a few minutes, when I can handle standing up, after eying Lana’s group in the map. Seems like they survived without me. A short while later, Ali finally perks up and waves, flicking a series of System windows to me.
Level Up!
You have reached Level 22 as an Erethran Honor Guard. Stat Points automatically distributed. You have 3 Free Attribute Points and 4 Class Skills to distribute.
Resistance Improved: Electricity +10% (50% Total)
Well, that was interesting. I’m grateful I don’t have to wade through all the text about how many monsters I killed. Looking at Ali, I point at the bodies while I pull up my information to take a closer look at my Status. I can hear him muttering about being given the scut work as he does the looting for me but I ignore him. If he didn’t complain, I’d be worried he was sick. Can Spirits get sick?
Status Screen
Name
John Lee
Class
Erethran Honor Guard
Race
Human (Male)
Level
22
Titles
Monster’s Bane, Redeemer of the Dead
Health
1070
Stamina
1070
Mana
840
Mana Regeneration
70 / minute
Attributes
Strength
66
Agility
102
Constitution
107
Perception
42
Intelligence
84
Willpower
90
Charisma
16
Luck
20
Class Skills
Mana Blade
1
Blade Strike
2
Thousand Steps
1
Altered Space
1
Two are One
1
The Body’s Resolve
1
Greater Detection
1
Instantaneous Inventory*
1
Cleave*
1
Spells
Improved Minor Healing (II)
Greater Regeneration
Improved Mana Dart (IV)
Tinder
Enhanced Lightning Strike
I nod slightly, glancing over the basic screen. Got to let Ali know to add a section about Resistances to this, but it looks a heck of a lot neater without my Skills. They were cluttering it up, and like Ali said, what’s the point of listing them? I can either do it or not.
Mental note—time to purchase another area effect spell that isn’t Lightning. Maybe a Fireball or something like that, though maybe there’s a Skill. Then again, all the really useful Skills are expensive. Not that Spells aren’t either, but didn’t I come along just to watch out for Lana? How the hell did I end up in this situation again?
I glare at Ali who, at least, is helping with the looting and storage of bodies. This is going to take forever, but every single Credit counts.
Chapter 5
It takes me hours to get everything collected and shoved away. Hours of collecting dead bodies and scanning the map to ensure the others are fine. Only once does Ali stop, frowning before he shakes his head. He lets me know, later, that it was just the reserve team being called out to help another group with a larger monster mob than expected. Since the initial party had scouted it out before engaging, it all went pretty smoothly.
By the time I get back, most of the groups have already reported in and the day is coming to an end. Walking without power armor sucks, but at least that gives me time to kill more monsters. I drop Sabre off with Xev, who promises to give me the estimate later. The way Xev says it, I make sure to head to the Shop and the butchers immediately. A few hundred Squirrel corpses and fur and assorted loot drops later, I might have enough for a few days of meals. Gods, that sucked.
As I exit the Shop, I find a golden yellow Yerick waiting for me, the same one that was in Jim’s unfortunate team. Standing just under nine feet tall, he wears a bulky armored vest along with a simple, reinforced jumpsuit. Slung over his shoulder is a rifle, and another pistol is strapped to his legs. A series of grenades hang off his belt. Other than the lack of a melee weapon, it’s a pretty typical setup for the Yerick from what I can see.
Aron Hauser (Level 38 Axe Brother)
HP: 1240 / 1240
“Monster’s Bane Lee,” he greets me, bowing slightly. “I am Aron Hauser. I wish to thank you for your aid this day.”
“Not at all.” I flash him a grin then tilt my head. “Jim and the rest okay?”
“Elder Calbery is speaking with Councilor Roth. He requested I pass on his thanks as well.”
“You’re welcome.” I grunt, walking past him.
Aron just nods slightly, watching me stomp off. Thanks. Har. Thanks doesn’t pay my bill with Xev or get me a new bike. Stomping back to the city, I glare around me, headed back to my house.
Grumbling to myself, I find myself staring at my house. No Sabre, not enough Credits to fix her up properly, and no transportation means I’m stuck in Whitehorse for the next few weeks. As much as I love the mecha, getting her fixed is becoming a real drain on my resources each time she gets damaged.
“John! Everything okay?” Richard asks, watching me and the floating, silent Ali.
“Fine. Just fine,” I snarl, not bothering to stop as I head downstairs.
I shut the door, forcing myself not to slam it, before I flop onto my bed. Why the hell did I help them? I glare at the ceiling. Every time I think I’ve contained one problem—the Yeric
k, the Hakarta, my anger—something else crops up and bites me in the ass.
“Morning, John,” Lana says as I crawl up the stairs the next day.
Mikito and Richard nod to me, tension filling the room. When I choked Minion in public, it was Mikito and Richard who stopped me, rather forcefully. Let’s just say I wasn’t exactly in a listening mood. Since then, I’ve been staying away, hiding out in the fort while they lived in my house. I needed time to sort out my brain, my emotions. While we’ve interacted in passing since then, things just haven’t been the same.
“Where’s Rachel?” I tilt my head as I look around the kitchen.
“She, well… she’s with the Brothers of the Wolf,” Richard answers.
Mikito nods, adding another piece of fried fish to her bowl of rice. I sigh and take a seat at the setting that has been laid for me. I nod in thanks as Lana drops a stack of pancakes on my plate before taking a seat herself.
Lana smiles slightly, stretching and making my gaze shift to her ample rack before she continues. “I heard you had some trouble yesterday.”
“Not me. Jim,” I reply around a mouthful.
“Really? I heard you had to walk home,” Lana replies, her face perfectly serene.
“Sabre was damaged.” My eyes narrow as I dump more maple syrup on the pancakes. I could almost feel bad about how well we eat compared to the general population, but we do pay for this food ourselves. Most of us spend our days working to get additional food and Credits for the city—so spending our own money on luxuries shouldn’t feel wrong, right? Right.
“Mmmm… so, trouble.” Lana sips on juice before she continues. “And someone was worried about me.”
I sigh, finally catching on. “All this was to say ‘I told you so’?”
Lana smiles innocently, slowly cutting apart her own pancake. “I never said those words.”
“Uh huh.” I grunt, and a part of me wants to point out she’d have been in as much trouble as Jim was if she had been the one fighting the Lightning Squirrels. A wiser part of me makes me focus on my own breakfast. Some things, you just don’t say.
As I chew my next bite, I see Mikito smiling slightly while Richard pays way too much attention to Shadow. I sigh, deciding to not engage further as Lana finishes her breakfast.
As I finally finish eating, Ali pops into existence next to me. “So, boy-o, where to next?”
“John?” Richard butts in, leaning forward. “We could use your help. There’s a monster lair we’d like to clear out.”
I grunt and shake my head. “No. I’ll be fine.”
Mikito opens her mouth then shuts it, staring at me before she sighs and grabs her naginata. Richard nods as well, following Mikito out. I watch them leave, a part of me wondering if they’re going to try to take on a lair all by themselves.
“You going to cold-shoulder them forever?” Lana asks as she puts the plates away, leaning against the counter.
“What?”
“You know what.” She points at me. “You need a ride and you’re refusing to go with them? For what? Your pride?”
“I’d rather hunt by myself,” I mutter, not meeting her eyes. “They’re doing well enough without me. I like hunting alone.”
Lana uncrosses her arms, shaking her head. “Well enough? Rachel left because of you. Richard and Mikito have been grabbing whoever is free whenever they can, working what they can, when they can. They aren’t leveling up that well because of that.” I keep staring at my empty plate and Lana sighs, shaking her head. “You could just admit you’re still pissed at them you know.”
“I’m not,” I protest, looking at her again, my anger flaring.
“Really?” Lana crosses her arms, staring at me before shaking her head. “Fine. You stubborn idiot.”
“I am not.” I watch her leave, and I sigh. At some point, there’s a conversation we have to have. But I think we both know it’s one that can’t be taken back. I shake my head, dismissing the thought, and I look at Ali. “I’m not being stubborn. I like hunting alone.”
“Uh huh. Right. Sure.” Ali nods. “Let’s head south. Records indicate that it hasn’t been swept in a few weeks. If we move fast, we should be able to break out into a higher-level zone too.”
“Gotcha.”
The first couple of hours are easy. I turn on Thousand Steps the moment I break into the tree line at the back of the house, moving from one blip to the next. None of the monsters are hard; in fact, they’re so easy it’s trivial. Alpine forest filled with aspen, pine, and fir has mutated under the influence of Mana. Some just grew stronger and harder. Other trees grew new defenses—a silvery sheen on one, spikes on another, pollen that’s acidic or toxic, fruits that are now edible. I dodge the dangers I know of, breathe deeply when I can, and make note of new changes absently. The forest changes, just like the rest of the Territory, and all that we can do is wait for everything to settle and change with it.
Moving in a zig-zag pattern, I end up spending more time than I’d prefer in the lower level zone around Whitehorse. I’ll have to ask Ali to run the numbers later and see if it’s worth the time compared to what I can get dealing with higher-level monsters.
Monster zones aren’t particularly steady, especially in a burgeoning Dungeon World. They’re more a guide than a rule, which is why when I hit the Level 30+ zone, I slow down. You never know when you’ll run into a truly nasty monster out here, and without Sabre, I’m not entirely confident I can take on anything above Level 50 without getting seriously hurt. Sure, we heal after a few minutes, but you try having your guts torn out repeatedly and tell me you want to sign up for it on an on-going basis.
Without Sabre, all I’ve got for protection is a simple armored coveralls that might soak up incidental damage but not much else. That means that when I fight, I can’t just bullrush into danger and let the mecha soak up the damage while I hammer away at the monsters. Instead, I have to fight like Mikito—working on positions, dodging, and striking only when it’s safe to do so. It slows down fights and forces me to use a lot more Mana to heal when I inevitably get hit. Worst, since I’m fighting alone, I can’t afford to let my Mana drain completely in case I run into something nasty, so I end up doing more rest stops.
Funny thing is that the drop in mobility is the least of my concerns. Sure, in mecha mode I could run through the forest at a slightly higher speed due to the increased attributes, but it’s not that much different these days. When I first bought the personal assault vehicle, the boost in attributes by itself made the purchase well worth it. At that time, it added anywhere from a third to half again to my physical stats, making me stronger and faster when I desperately needed every edge I could get. These days, the boost is much less, though even a ten percent increase is nothing to sneeze at. And while in bike mode, I can cover a lot more ground a lot faster. I long ago stopped working easily accessible hiking trails, preferring to head into the untamed wilderness. Lots more monsters out there since there are fewer hunters.
In the end, all my concerns about dangerous monsters are for nothing. I don’t run into anything out of my level, and while today’s hunt is slower than previous ones, I don’t run into anything that gives me too much trouble. I admit, it’s a bit of a cheat when you can sense and track monsters before they can see you, especially when you can take them out at range.
When I get back, it’s around four in the afternoon and the only reason I’ve called it a day is because I’m out of space. I have trouble just leaving corpses around and not dragging the bodies back for processing. It’s not as if the many, many, many new bugs, pests, and other vermin don’t clean up those bodies within days, but just leaving the bodies seems wasteful. It’s not an entirely rational viewpoint since the Credits I gain from doing so won’t make a dent, but there it is.
In Whitehorse, I head straight to the butchering yard, then I go to the Shop to sell my System Loot. As I exit the Shop, I find myself overtaken by a man dressed in clothing two sizes too large. The man is hunche
d over, his fists curled up and his face scrunched as he strides right past me. I have to jerk to a stop so that I don’t run him over, and I almost call out to berate him when something makes me stop. I frown, staring after him as a sixth sense nags at me. Something. Something is wrong and I work on pinning what it is down.
I look closer as he walks right down the street to a new store finally realizing what it is. His right hand—it’s larger than his left because it’s curled up around a grenade.
I shout at him, but he’s already throwing the grenade into the store, screaming, “I warned you!”
I flick on a Thousand Steps as I sprint toward him, my head turning to see who is within the store. I see the storekeeper, and without thought, I activate my other Skill—Two are One. She’s staring with a dumbfounded expression when the grenade explodes, cutting off my line of sight in an explosion of flame and glass. My body feels as though it’s being roasted alive in a sudden flash of heat that cuts right through my coveralls before the explosion itself reaches me, throwing me back.
I have to pick myself off the ground, my pain already receding. The attacker is rolling on the ground from the backblast, and the storekeeper, despite my Two are One skill, is dead. I force myself to take in the injured who were caught in the explosion, and I stagger over to the first injured body I can reach, casting my Minor Healing Spell.
It takes a surprisingly short time for things to calm down. A nearby mage throws a raincloud into the burning store while her neighbors fix the walls leading to their stores by purchasing upgrades in the Shop itself. Bodies are either healed by spells or mend on their own, and the survivors stagger away. The attacker is hustled off into Roxley’s domain by a pair of silver-and-gray-clad guards. Fred Curteneau, our erstwhile mayor, pops out of the Council building to talk to people for a few minutes, walking around and glad-handing people with that big, oily smile of his. Somehow, people find it comforting. They set to work sweeping up the mess of glass and steel from the road, then it’s over. At least for most people.
