"Do not fear the dark. Fear what it is forcing you to become."
~Unknown
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Leo's eyes remained on ReachHope's headquarters, the building now standing much closer than before. From his perch, the golden flashes of lightning along the walls were now impossible to miss, their brightness almost blinding. They appeared every few seconds, rushing along the surface like a speeding train.
Pulling his gaze away, Leo blinked away the slight stinging in his eyes. Evidently, staring at flashes of unknown origin wasn't the best for his vision. Who could have known?
The color is pretty much the same as the ball of light that arrived with my task rewards... Is it Ether? That would make sense. It can be made into items that can protect you from Voidlings, after all…
Yet, one important question remained. How did this safe zone even come to exist in the first place? Did the group create it, or was it here since the beginning of the Outbreak?
And then there is the part about it being temporary... Leo frowned, leaning against the trunk as his eyes jumped between the safe zone's windows. The System can be helpful at times, so a temporary place to hide isn't that much of a stretch. Still, somehow I doubt that's the case here.
Not that he had a way to confirm it without talking to the survivors inside. Identify still refused to work on the building, and during the last week, Leo never had a chance to learn more about safe zones…
No, that was wrong. He had a chance, a few of them even. However, other matters made him forget this subject when he met Lone Traveler. There was just too much happening back then.
Nikra might have known too. Leo noted. Even if she has been dead for a long time, that woman knows more than she probably should.
It was a possibility that as soon as the ancient entity woke up, she could enlighten Leo about the safe zones and their creation. Yet, Nikra, at best, should be a backup plan, not the primary source of information in this case.
This piece of knowledge was just too important to leave to such a big gamble. So, if those survivors could tell him whether they created this safe zone or just claimed it as their own, then Leo had to find a way to ask them.
Not personally, though. Don't want to show myself to them just yet. He scrunched his brow. For now, I can maybe add it to the favor from the trio. And if that doesn't work... Well, I was told I look scary as fuck. It shouldn't be much of a problem getting this info out of anyone who strays too far from the safe zone. A last resort if nothing else works.
Of course, all of Leo's plans depended on the survivors inside being friendly. Not to him, but definitely to the trio. He had no delusions that other humans would welcome him with anything other than a bullet in the head if he appeared before them out of the blue. Well, that or a scream loud enough to wake the entire Wolford.
Good thing then that I don't plan to join them. All I need is to know if Ava and Adam are inside. And then... then I will decide what's next.
There was also the possibility that madness had long since claimed the occupants of the safe zone, and they attacked everything in sight. Not that Leo wanted to even dwell on that particular scenario. Honestly, he had no idea what he should do if that were the case, so it was better to leave the choice for when it was needed.
Also, I need to know if this safe zone can stop me... That's too big of an unknown to be left for too long. Gonna need to find a good moment to test it.
Nodding, Leo averted his gaze from the building, his eyes once more straying to the odd half-domes of Vetilim. Not domes, ant hills. He quickly corrected. Identify pretty much confirmed that just a few minutes ago, after all.
Nest Colony... Wonder if that just means multiple nests or if there is more to it than that. Not that the former isn't worrying enough.
Leo had never imagined that there was even more to nests. Their existence was scary enough, and then he had already heard about those so-called 'Nesting Gates' that formed inside after some time. Yet, now he learned that Nest Colonies could also exist.
Why can nothing be simple in this bloody world? Leo grumbled, his gaze lazily drifting over the 'trainyard.' I hoped that at least nests were fucking simple, but evidently not... System, anything to add?
This time, the mysterious entity remained silent.
Leo's shoulders sagged. He was beginning to expect too much from the System. Not his fault, though; it was just too helpful lately…
Still, would be nice to know if a colony has to be created by Voidlings of the same subspecies. I mean, if that's the case, those things have to be rarer than Tainted Wastelands.
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There was also the possibility that Nest Colonies could only be created by Ameists, but somehow Leo doubted that. That would be too good to be true, especially in this new messed-up reality.
Shit... I really am a ball of sunshine. Leo snorted, rising from his perch, Essence stirring. Time to go back... There are definitely people inside — no reason to waste any more time.
Yet, just as Leo prepared to drop from the tree, the huge plants in the distance, close to one of the ant hills, stirred. Blades of grass darted to the sides, waving like a flag and almost exposing the ground they hid with their size. Yet before that could happen, they snapped back into place while the grass next to them picked up the movement.
As if something was rushing through the area…
Leo followed the swaying of the overgrowth with narrowed eyes. While it began at the half-dome, now the bustling of plants was nearing a street that led straight to ReachHope's headquarters. Or rather, it was a road in the past, now overgrown like everything else. However, compared to the trainyard area, the grass on the street should barely reach a human's waist.
This prediction quickly proved true as multiple figures burst out of the overgrowth and onto the road, now no longer hidden by the colossal plants. Ameists made up most of the group, with four Minions and one quickly identified Warrior that possessed two additional lancer arms at the front and chitin as white as snow.
Not that those weak creatures captured much of Leo's attention. He only skimmed over them before putting his full focus on the two humans sprinting toward the safe zone.
It was hard to make out their complete features from Leo's angle and distance, but the duo was undoubtedly comprised of two women. By the knives, or daggers, held in their hands, it also wasn't too hard to figure out their class.
Awakened Human | LVL: 7
Awakened Human | LVL: 6
Not bad, but what will you do? Those ants might not be too strong, but it's still two versus five…
Reaching the safe zone and hiding there seemed like an obvious answer. However, the moment the duo arrived at the walls of the building, Leo quickly learned how wrong he was.
The entrance doors burst open, and a group of six ran out, their weapons at the ready. Without wasting a moment, half of them rushed to join the two assassins, who separated and were now leading the Ameists in circles. The other half stayed at a safe distance, two nocking their arrows, while, who appeared to be a single mage, raised his hand, flame flickering across his fingers.
They were baiting them here…
As the group joined and descended upon the poor ants, it became evident that there was no other explanation. They reacted too fast, too eagerly, almost like they had done this tens of times before.
They probably did. With almost no other Voidlings here, they use the Nest as an opportunity to level. Good plan, but... Leo's mind flashed to the System's warning about the Nest Colony. I can bet this will bite them in the ass if they abuse it too much... There is no way that such a colossal gathering of Voidlings doesn't have a way to escalate things…
Leo shook his head, once more focused on the battle. With the number advantage, the winner now became obvious, but he was still curious about how such a large group fought.
Squinting his eyes, Leo watched as the three warriors at the front shielded their group with almost transparent shields of Essence held in their free hands. Once the onslaught stopped momentarily, the humans retaliated, attacking with everything they had.
Arrows, swords, daggers, hell, even small bursts of fire fell on the mutated ants, their hissing filling the area. The group worked quite well together, covering each other and attacking in synchronization whenever they could. Not even the single Warrior Ameist could do anything.
And they know how to avoid the acid and work together to some degree. Leo mused as one warrior danced away from a fallen Ameist, letting two glowing arrows finish the beast. The same arrow enhancement skill that Laura used…
The large group continued to slaughter their way through the ants, and while their teamwork and use of abilities were fascinating to watch, something else caught Leo's attention halfway through the fight. Something he should have taken notice of earlier.
They have items. And not common ones... Identify didn't work on equipment from this distance, but there was no need for it when those items were so easy to see.
The dark leather armor the warriors wore couldn't be missed by anyone with eyes. It just didn't fit the old, modern world unless there were people in Wolford who possessed ancient armors just for the fun of it. And even then, the barely visible symbols engraved into the hard material made that even harder to believe, especially when they flashed with an almost unnoticeable blue glow.
And even if those aren't higher-grade items, that bow and sword definitely are…
Both weapons were red, the color flowing over them like freshly spilled blood. It was unnatural, unlike anything Leo had ever seen, and that was without adding their odd and fancy appearance to the mix.
Those things have to be at least Rare... But where did you get those? Crimson Mirages, or am I missing something important?
Leo had never cared about items too much. What he received, he was happy with. To him, items were rare finds, at least for now. However, he just might have been wrong.
Maybe the safe zone had unique loot inside? Fuck... And now I have more shit to figure out.
Blowing out a long breath, he settled once more to watch as the group finished the last Voidlings. They all exchanged some pats, hugs, and quite loud words, but not loud enough for Leo to catch the gist of them. They were just too far.
Still, they seem pretty sane to me. He grunted as his feet met the earth again. The sight of the group dragging the dead Warrior Ameist into the safe zone definitely earned a raised eyebrow, but it wasn't important enough for Leo to stay here any longer.
He had a very interesting conversation with the trio ahead of him. Leo just hoped they cooled down enough for them to have a civilized discussion.
And wasn't it ironic that he was the one worrying about it? He was the monster here, after all. Humans sometimes didn't make sense.
Ah, whatever. Leo huffed, the grass slowly growing smaller as he weaved through the overgrowth. At least Dylan should be smart enough to talk like a normal person. The other two? They don't really matter in the long run...