Augment: True North
Uncommon
Effect: push shield five feet north.
Range: 10 feet
Cooldown: 10 seconds per shield.
Experience gained, level up!
Steven, Kalio, level 13.
Steven smiled at the notification as the comforting warmth of a level-up flowed through him. He had enough stamina that he wasn’t tapped, but keeping hockey mask in place had been draining. Now, that exhaustion was wiped away, replaced with a feeling of warmth and strength.
One event down, and he already gained a level.
He figured he’d been on the cusp of leveling for a while with the fights he’d been in recently, but he still felt like this gave a sizable amount of experience.
In fact, he was certain it had. He couldn’t actually feel himself gain the experience, but he felt… more than a moment before.
Steven scanned his new Augment and nodded. It was niche but potentially useful. And it made sense that he got a navigation-themed Augment from the event.
Before he could see what the others had gotten, he needed to see if their new friends were still friendly.
They had regrouped once the Captain turned back into a simple statue, and we’re now eyeing Steven and the others cautiously, though without malice.
Margie sucked in a deep breath before clapping her hands together. “Welp, do you guys want to fight to the ‘death,’ or would you rather stay friends? I would rather stay friends, but since nobody will actually get hurt, I guess it’s no hard feelings either way.“
Steven laughed at the same time the goth woman broke out into a wide smile. “I like your attitude, old timer. Happy to stay friendly.”
She rubbed her chin. “We worked pretty well as a team. Do you all want to stay in the same area? If we find an event that doesn’t suit us, we can always split up and regroup later.“
Steven glanced at his friends before shrugging. “No objections from me.“ The others nodded.
Steven felt a pulse of warmth in his stomach. Finally, another group that didn’t want to kill them on sight.
He knew he was being unfair with that thought, they’d met friendly people. It was just that the Corners, followed by stopping territory claims, had put him in a bad headspace.
Del opened her map, snapping him back to the present.
She frowned. “There’s a string of events around us that all have the same timer. She narrowed her eyes. “Wait a second, it’s all restaurants and bars. I think it might be a linked event. The timer is identical for all of them.”
Everyone checked their maps. “Well, 49th State Brewing is close. Let’s run to it and see if the system gives us a prompt,“ Micheal offered.
Del arched a brow at their new friends. “That good with everyone?“
The goth grinned, then took off in a run. “Let’s go!”
~<>~<>~
Micheal ran near the middle of the group and marveled at his surprisingly comfortable new hat.
The System must’ve changed it somehow because a metal hat shouldn’t be this light, and he was pretty sure it shouldn’t feel warm and comfy either.
As they jogged, he found himself next to the tall woman with a hammer. He nodded to her as they went. “I’m Micheal.”
She returned his nod, a reserved expression on her face. “Vanessa.“
Micheal eyed her group. “Did you all know each other before the system?“
She shook her head. “No, we were all in the same Scenario together, and we clicked.“ She rolled up a shoulder. “ The rest is history.“
She eyed him. “What about you guys?“
Micheal shook his head. “Steven, the guy who summons shields, and Margie, the lady with the dogs, they knew each other. But the rest of us didn’t. They saved my ass when a giant zombie started tearing my house apart that first morning. We met Markus in the Contest and Del a little later.“
Vanessa nodded and pointed at the members of her group, introducing them in turn. She pointed at the short man last and grinned. “That’s our leader, Vern. Make sure to try to get him to make some decisions if you can.“
Micheal arched a brow. “What, does he like to be involved or something.“
Vanessa gave a dark chuckle. “Oh, no, he hates it, but it’s good for him, so we’re trying to get him out of his comfort zone.“
Micheal laughed. “I see, I’ll try and do that if I can.“ Something about her cheeky grin, the casual way she spoke about pushing Vern out of his comfort zone as if they were just a group of friends out on a stroll filled Micheal with a strange blend of emotions, at once charmed and melancholic.
He wished they could be friends out for a night on the town. Instead, they were doing… This. But despite the fighting and the monsters, they were still finding time for jokes, for humor.
He slowly nodded, this time really meaning it. “I’ll help if I get the chance.“
~<>~<>~
Margie jogged along the streets of downtown and marveled at that fact. She had hiked all her life, and she never stopped moving. At her age, that was an excellent way to die miserable and immobile.
But while she stayed active, there was no denying Father time his due. She hadn’t had the stamina for sprinting in some time and a long-distance jog? Also out of the question.
Except now she was stealing time back. Her limbs felt strong, and her lungs pulled in the air with ease. And while part of that was because of the Skills flowing through her, another large part was that her body was stronger than it had been in years.
It was a wonderful feeling, a nice silver lining for all the bullshit they had to deal with.
The blond man with a bow pulled up beside her but said nothing. His eyes were focused on the road ahead, scanning for any sign of trouble.
He glanced at her and nodded. “Vince.“
Margie chuckled. “Margie.“ She didn’t say anything else, and neither did the man. They just kept on jogging. She continued chuckling to herself as they went.
Nothing wrong with a strong, silent type. They had too many jokester’s running around anyway.
~<>~<>~
Steven pulled to a stop outside the 49th State Brewing. The restaurant and brewery was at the far corner of downtown, with the roads past it leading into residential neighborhoods.
It was a large two-story building with red siding and black finishes. Steven had never been there, but he knew it was a popular spot. He slowed to a stop, breathing deeply but not close to winded.
Before he could move any closer, the System brought up a prompt.
Event starting in three minutes! The pirate Pub Crawl.
An anchorage tradition for 12 years now, several restaurants and bars in downtown Anchorage will open their doors for a pub crawl with pirates!
The residents dress up in swashbuckling attire and crawl across downtown.
I was feeling kind of lazy, so I didn’t really check if this was like for charity or why you guys started doing it. I just know you’ve been doing it for a while, which I find rather charming, so good job on that. You made me smile.
Now that pub crawl has gotten a bit more literal. Some dread pirates have taken up residence downtown. The dread pirates have a taste for booze, good food, and murder. Your group will need to complete this crawl by going to each of the restaurants and the bars marked on the map and defeat the crewmembers stationed there.
Once you’ve defeated the whole crew, the event will end! This event is a medium/variable difficulty for a group of your size.
Quick hint: the captain doesn’t have a set bar. He likes to wander and party with his crew freely. He also isn’t a fan of people messing with his crew. For each crewmember you defeat, the captain will grow stronger, so the earlier you run into him, the easier this event will be.
Good luck!
Steven stared at the words for a second before throwing his head back and laughing.
The rewards for completing events were good, and he was sure they had the chance to be amazing. And that was to say nothing of the XP. But there was something about this whole situation.
Maybe it was because he knew things would escalate after tonight, what the territory limit dropping would mean for the city, combined with the ability to relax, knowing that their lives weren’t at stake here.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
All of that together let him genuinely appreciate the absurdity of the situation. And for a brief moment, Steven thought he was as entertained by this whole debacle as the System was.
“Of course you’re entertained. I’m hysterical. I put quite a lot of effort into my seemingly effortless wit.“
Steven kept laughing, and the looks the others gave him only made him laugh harder.
~<>~<>~
Del and Micheal watched Steven laugh himself sick as he stared at the restaurant.
Del thought her friend had lost his mind for a moment, but after a few seconds, he wiped tears away and turned to face them. “Sorry guys, the System’s dumb humor finally broke me. What’s the plan?“
Del chewed on her lip. She examined their two groups and then the prompt explaining the event.
The best thing to do would be to split up into multiple teams. They have enough people to make three relatively balanced groups here.
Then they’d tackle the different bars simultaneously, increasing their chance of meeting the captain early before he could get powered up. 
But while Del liked her new allies, she didn’t trust them enough to leave some of her friends alone with them, and she suspected the feeling was mutual.
“I think we should try and split up and start at a different location. Work towards the middle, maximize our chance of finding the captain early. And if we find him later, then we regroup and tackle him together.“
Vanessa rolled her shoulder. “I could see an argument for doing the whole thing in one big group and blowing through everything, but I like this plan. And since we don’t know how strong he can get, it’s probably best to try and find the captain early.“
She nudged Vern. “What do you say, boss? That plan work for you?“
He gave her a sour look before nodding. “I think it’s a good plan. Everyone else?“ They nodded.
“Perfect,“ Carla said. “Why don’t you guys tackle this place and will run to the next one?”
Micheal gave her a thumbs up.
As the other group ran off, Del turned her attention to the restaurant.
She rolled her shoulder and brought up her new Augment.
A Sailor’s Grit
Uncommon
When applying More Or Less, the target either receives an increase or decrease to their abilities in the water, swimming faster, maneuvering easier, and have a resistance to the cold, as well as blunt force inflicted from water.
Cooldown equal to attached skill.
Range, equal to attached skill.
Energy cost: none.
She didn’t plan on jumping into any pools tonight, but they were fighting pirates. The chances of someone having a water-based Skill were pretty high.
They approached the restaurant and fell into formation, Buford and Markus at the front, Micheal and Margie in the middle, and then her and Steven at the back.
They opened the front doors into the Arctic room. Del had been here before; the second set of glass doors should’ve given them a view inside, but now they were completely blacked out.
Cautiously, Markus pulled it open. A wave of sound crashed into them.
Men singing, the jaunty sound of a violin, and a piano? Del blinked. Yep, that was a piano effortlessly weaving between the sounds of mugs clattering together, dice rolling, and the hum of conversation.
The receptionist's booth was covered in netting and lined with barrels. The deeper parts of the room were barred off with more ships and netting, and a sign pointed to the staircase on the right, and it read “crew celebration.”
Margie chuckled. “Well, let’s go party, shall we?”
They climbed up the stairs to find the restaurant had been remodeled. Instead of booths, there were round tables with short barrels instead of chairs. A bar lined the entirety of one wall, which Del was pretty sure hadn’t been there before.
The scent of alcohol and roasting meat filled her nose so strongly that it almost made her eyes water.
And filling the room was over two dozen pirates. They were dressed like they just stepped out of a movie. Tight pants and white shirts with loose sleeves, others with dirty vests and coats. They laughed and gambled and drank as a man and woman in the corner played their instruments.
Someone caught sight of them, and the music stopped. The sound of dice and clattering cups faded as every eye turned towards them.
Del scanned the group for anyone who looked particularly captain-ish but came up short. The pirate with the strongest sense of authority about them was the piano player, a rugged woman with a tight leather jacket and a black bandanna hiding away her hair.
She raised a finger to point at them and hollered. “Get ‘em, boys!“
The pirates erupted into cheers as they pulled out swords or hoisted their mugs in gnarled fists.
“System, these are constructs, right?“ She asked.
“Yeah, I’m controlling them, darling, don’t fret.“
With that momentary fear assuaged, Del focused on the horde of pirates barreling down on them.
The music started again, the tune no longer jaunty but instead frantic, violent!
A shroud of red light covered the pirate's hands as they charged.
Shields began to fly immediately, tripping and slowing on mass.
Markus and Buford charged in while the rest of them watched.
Del waited for the first clash before deciding her role for the fight.
Buford bowled into a group of pirates, scattering them like pins. They slashed and punched at him, and what wasn’t blocked by a green shield barely phased him.
A pirate swung at Markus, only for the old man to catch his wrist before the hit could land, grabbed his face with his other hand, and drove him straight into the floor.
They didn’t need her holding buffs in reserve. There were dozens of pirates; they needed another body in the fray.
As Del rushed in, she called over her shoulder. “Send Noodle at the musicians!“
She layered two buffs onto herself and hurled herself into the melee.
~<>~<>~
Margie watched Del crash into a group of pirates and nodded. She seems to have that in hand with the boys.
She turned her attention to Noodle. “Hear that boy? We’ve got some musicians to bite.“
Noodle wagged. With a portion of her dog's buffs flowing through her, Margie took off around the edge of the room with Noodle in tow.
The dog was much faster than her, but he stuck close. He was sweet like that.
A pirate holding a mug like a club saw her. His bushy beard split into a grin, and he rushed in with mug raised.
Margie didn’t have the fancy moves that Markus did. She didn’t dance around the fight like she was on wires. But she was tough despite her appearance. She caught the mug with her offhand. Her arm shook, and a lance of pain shot down her shoulder, but she stopped it.
She swung for all she was worth with her other hand, cracking the pirate across his beard. As he staggered, Noodle crashed into his legs. he hit the ground, and then the dog was at his throat, dark teeth flashing.
They kept charging straight for the musicians, taking out pirates as they went.
As they approached, the music swelled, the pianist's fingers dancing across the keys at a frantic pace.
The light surrounding the pirate’s limbs shifted, moving from red to an electric yellow.
The pirates around them sped up, and Margie took a hit to her shoulder as the man’s fist was suddenly faster than a moment before. She took another hit, pain lancing through her side.
She struck back, and while the pirates were quick, they seemed to care more about hitting than dodging.
Noodle wove in and out, never getting hit, but he could only bite so fast.
A sword swung in from the left, and Margie barely ducked it. She wasn’t fast enough to get out of the way of a kick that followed from her right.
It caught her in the hip, and if it weren’t for her portion of Jugger Hound, the hit would’ve cracked something.
She started to flounder but then green zipped through the air. Sword strikes clanged into shields, mugs were blasted back into the owner's chins, and sprinting pirates were tripped and clobbered as they ran.
With a grin, Margie dashed forward, striking freely as the tide of green turned every attack.
She made it to the musician, who glared at her with fire in her eyes. As Margie closed in, the System began to speak to her.
“Listen here, Senpai! That big scary pirate is Cynthia, lead musician of the dread pirate crew. She’s like super strong and when the group played the best songs on the seas. It was said you could hear music rolling out from whenever the dread pirates sailed!”
”Shut the fuck up!” Margie thought at the System before charging the pirates.
The music changed tempo again, moving into something slow and methodical.
Four pirates grouped together in front of her as the light covering them shifted to an inky black. They planted themselves down, and Margie got a sensation of… Stability. The hell? How can I sense stability?
She shook the thought off as she ran towards the group.
Shields started peppering them, but the black light flared whenever they impacted, shifting along their torso like a suit of armor.
The men grunted and winced but didn’t move under the onslaught. Margie raised her hands as she charged the line, making herself as distracting as possible.
As fists and swords raised to strike her, Noodle sprinted between their legs, his shadowy form unnoticed in the chaos.
Just before Margie reached them and took a cutlass to the chest, she activated Hopscotch Hound.
Without a charge up, the energy cost nearly knocked the wind out of her. She shook the sensation off as two surprised musicians turned their eyes to her.
She heard the pirates behind her curse as she vanished, their swings sailing over the dog she had traded places with.
The pirate with the violin choked back on the thing like a club and swung at her.
Margie took the hit on a raised arm before slugging the pirate across the cheek. He staggered and then whipped her with the violin bow.
She cursed as he caught her across the face with it. It didn’t do much damage, but it stung like a bitch.
Cynthia kept playing, the sound growing harsh and desperate. Margie tackled the violinist with a growl, making sure to lift before impact.
Training with Markus and the others had made it clear that even if she was stronger than before, she didn’t actually weigh more, at least not significantly.
Unless she were in a full sprint, hurling herself at the pirate would have her bouncing off like a balloon.
She took the pirate down to the ground.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cynthia raise her hand as the piano stopped. The pirate leveled a flintlock, and Margie considered swapping with Buford, but she didn’t know where the dog was. It probably wasn’t a good idea to teleport into an unknown location during a fight.
Besides, she didn’t need the swap.
Shadowy paws raced across her back as Noodle leaped off her like a SpringBoard, his shadows trailing behind him like streamers of mist as his jaws opened wide.
The pirate jerked the gun up and fired, but the shot went wide of the sailing hound. He landed on the piano, paws scrabbling for purchase, and then dove at the pirate. She went down with the sound of mashed piano keys.
Margie turned to help the others only to find them mopping up the rest of the pirates with ease. Now that the music was gone, they were falling in droves.
In less than 30 seconds, the last pirates fell in a prompt filled their vision.
Event update! Pubs cleared one: 1!
Del threw her fist into the air and cheered, and they all joined her.