I keep getting kill and experience notifications for a while, as more monsters die either to the flames or to the smoke. A thick column of it rises up in the night behind me, blotting out the stars as it spreads.
Good thing it’s just fields of green grass for hundreds of feet around the cluster, else we’d have a forest fire on our hands to top off this epic shit show of a night.
“But then again, with how the monsters are running around on fire, it’s not a guarantee.”
The light of the blaze and the column of smoke grow smaller in the distance as I leave the area, and while I’m thankful for the experience, I can’t help but feel like this stunt wasted more time than a detour would have.
Not like I have a watch to tell, though. I only have this nebulous concept that it might be around three in the morning.
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I run into a few more groups of monsters on the way to my parents’ house, but I avoid most of them. When I can’t sneak around them, I bring out the firecrackers. They make for mighty fine distractions while I slip away unnoticed, even if I get the occasional dud that doesn’t pop.
When I finally reach my destination, I don’t find my parents there. Mike was probably right, Pops is out and about playing hero and he dragged Mom along to keep her safe.
It’s what I would’ve done. What I am doing.
I let myself into the house with one of the spare keys, taking the fact that the front door is locked as a good sign. There's no destruction, not like at Mike's place or at mine. Pops runs a tight ship, and seeing the ordered way they left fills me with confidence.
He even remembered to lock the front door, for fuck's sake. That small detail makes me laugh, I left mine wide open for anyone or anything to wander right in. I got swept up in the chaos, but he didn't. There's little that can shake the man after what he's been through.
I do a quick search of the house, but am rewarded with little for my troubles. Pops has a gun safe that I find wide open, not a single gun or bullet left in there.
“Bummer.”
I don't find any notes to clue me in about where they went, but I have this feeling that I don't need them. I do, however, find a few Relics, in the form of military paraphernalia. Pops has some framed medals and a military uniform in the bedroom, all of them displaying that telltale milky white shimmer.
I take them, but I don't plan to turn them in. I just want to keep them safe from others who might.
With my worries somewhat eased, I take a short breather in their kitchen. It feels like a waste of time, but now that I've slowed down, I feel the fatigue of the night creeping up on me.
I need this. I need to unwind, even if just for just a few minutes, otherwise I'll collapse. I've been awake for over twenty four hours now, the last five or so of which I've spent running around like a mad man and fighting literal monsters.
Much like back at Mike's place, I raid the fridge for something to eat. My earlier suspicions are all but confirmed, regenerating stamina and health takes a heavy toll on the body. Being able to run around indefinitely and heal from previously mortal wounds is mighty useful, but it doesn't come for free. We need to pay for it with calories.
I come away from the fridge with two hefty portions of Mom's famous lasagna, and I dig through the menu some more as I sit at the table to eat. There's only one more tab I haven't checked out, the events.
Something needs to be done about those wave bosses, and while I have the bones of a plan, I need more knowledge. The events tab might hold that knowledge.
Event: Mana Integration Phase.
Event type: global.
Description: The mysterious energy known as Mana has begun flooding your planet. Over the course of the next three Terran years (duration may vary), mutations will occur in the fauna, flora, and even the environment itself. As the Mana flows in and soaks the world, it creates many currents that lead to an unstable ambient Mana field.
The Mana Integration Phase will end once the Mana fields stabilize. You may help shorten the process by defeating monsters, repelling sieges, and clearing dungeons.
Current estimated time frame: 1094 days, 19 hours, 7 minutes.
Notice: To ensure the smooth integration of the Terran population into the wider galactic community, all native sentient lifeforms are granted an experience boost. This boost will last for the full duration of the Integration Phase. This boost is compatible with other experience modifiers that may apply.
Current experience boost: x4.
Event: Monster Siege #1.
Event type: local.
Description: The monster population in Stelver's area of control has reached a critical threshold. Several monsters have undergone rapid evolution, emerging as powerful wave bosses. Their presence sends all nearby monsters into a killing frenzy, marking the beginning of a Monster Siege. Waves of monsters are now seeking to destroy any nearby Bastions.
Total number of waves: 3.
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
Number of waves cleared: 0/3.
Notice: The high number of monsters in the area are causing major disruptions in the ambient Mana field. All experience earned during a siege can not be paid out and will be banked. Repel the siege to receive any earned experience (this limitation has been temporarily overwritten as part of the First Siege protocol).
I fiddle a bit with the second event and with the Survive the Siege quest, getting them to display some basic counters in the main interface. It’s nothing too complicated, just a quick way to check what wave we’re on and how many wave bosses and monsters are left to kill. The system lets me customize my own interface however I please, and I place the three new counters in the upper center of my vision, between the health bar and the tabs.
Being able to get that kind of information at a glance might be useful.
Unfortunately, the events don’t give me anything new on the knowledge front. All of it is either information I’d already puzzled together from previous notifications, or lore that’s of little use right now.
I finish eating, and I take the dirty dishes to the sink to wash them. Let nobody say I’m a messy person. I turn the tap, and to my surprise, the pipes still have pressure. It won’t last forever without electricity to run the water pumps, but it should hold for a little while longer since people aren’t likely to take showers right now.
I wash the dishes and leave them on the drying rack next to the sink. It’s silly to be doing something so mundane with everything that’s going on outside, but indulging that little habit does wonders for my soul.
Like all good things, it’s done too soon. There’s nothing left for me to do except to leave the house and rejoin the madness.
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To end the siege, we need to do a few things: repel the waves, kill the three wave bosses, and kill the monsters remaining in the town. All are difficult, each one for different reasons. And I still don’t know how the waves work or what role the wave bosses play in all of this.
At the very least, I’ve located one of those bosses. Now I need to find help in order to bring it down, and I know just where to look. The one place where people are most likely to gather, where I’ve been sending groups all night long and where I’ll probably find Pops as well: Stelver’s downtown.
I set out towards it, still avoiding groups of monsters. But, predictably enough, it doesn’t take me long to get bogged down again.
I find a group of over fifty people fighting off about as many monsters. They’ve taken over an entire neighborhood, boarding up windows from the inside and barricading the roads with cars. Some fighters are on the ground level, squaring off against monsters in close quarters combat, but there are people up on top of the cars and on the rooftops as well.
I rush towards them, hoping to help, but they’ve got things under control. The cars are angled to form funnels, with their hoods facing outwards and their back bumpers almost touching. The fighters on the ground are using the funnels to beat back the monsters, holding them at bay and killing any that slip through. The men and women on the rooftops offer support, shooting guns and the occasional skill or two into the masses.
I’m impressed.
Some are mage type classes, letting loose on lightning bolts and fireballs. Others have gun-related classes, scoring headshots left and right or shooting bullets that either split or explode on impact from guns that definitely shouldn’t do that. A single girl among them is an archer of some sort, using a compound bow to launch handfuls of arrows at once that curve in the air to hit different targets.
By the time I reach them, they kill the last of the monsters. I wave a hand and yell a greeting to avoid being shot by accident.
“Hey!”
A few guns turn on me right away, and some of the mages aim glowing hands in my direction. Even the archer girl nocks a couple of arrows. No one fires, but sheesh. I was expecting a warmer welcome.
A couple of the fighters peek over a car, and one waves back at me.
“Hey! Please stop right there, you’re close enough!”
“Also,” the other one adds, “raise your hands!”
I do as I’m told, barely containing a sigh. These fucking guys, it’s only been hours since the apocalypse started.
“What’s your business?” The first one asks.
I can’t help it anymore and I let out a laugh. One of the gunmen lets loose a shot that hits somewhere to my right, churning the dirt and cutting my amusement short.
For real, what’s their fucking problem?
“Oh, you know,” I start answering. “Running around, fighting some monsters, making sure people are safe.”
“We’re safe,” the first guy says.
“I can see that, so I’ll be on my way. Just don’t shoot me in the back.”
The archer girl brings out a pair of binoculars and looks at me through them. She’s too far away for me to make out her reaction, but she jumps off the roof and runs up to the two stooges.
“Please wait just a moment, don’t go anywhere!” One of them says.
They talk between themselves for a short minute, and while I can’t make out any words, it’s a pretty animated discussion. Archer girl doesn’t say much, and hers is the most quiet voice when she does speak. She slaps one of the men over the head, then she’s off again.
“Anything wrong?” I ask.
“What’s your name?”
“Jack,” I answer. “Jack Harrington.”
“Okay, just wait there a little longer.”
A monster crawls out from somewhere and rushes towards me, but the guns bark and fill it with holes before it gets anywhere close. Everyone is silent after that, myself included. I don’t want to tempt any itchy trigger fingers. About five minutes pass before anything else happens, which comes in the form of archer girl returning with another woman.
They stop behind the car, and after another short discussion that I can’t make out, the newcomer calls out to me.
“What’s your name?”
“Jack Harrington.”
She looks me up and down, unconvinced. I do the same, though I don’t recognize her. She looks like a stereotypical Karen, complete with the dirty blonde hair styled in a bob cut and a scowl on her face. After a long, tense moment, she breaks out into a chuckle that sets me at ease.
“Okay, guys! Weapons down, let him through!”
She waves off her group, and everyone listens. I walk up to the barricade, jumping over monster corpses until I make it to the other side.
“Sorry for the hostile reception,” she says, “but you came over looking like…well, that. I almost didn’t recognize you.”
She waves a hand at me to accentuate her point, and I realize I must be a sight to behold. Torn clothes that barely cling to my body, soaked in blood and gore from head to toe, and carrying a nasty looking crowbar, I must’ve appeared like a talking monster at first.
“Don’t worry about it,” I say, adding a bit of laughter to make it clear that I mean it. “I get it.”
“Okay, good,” the woman says.
I don’t put out a hand for a shake, intending to keep my blood and gore to myself, but she does. We shake hands with another round of laughs.
“Name’s Karen, by the way,” she introduces herself, and for a second, I think she must be pulling my leg. “Come right in, I have a few questions for you.”
She gestures for me to follow, and I do so reluctantly. This feels like just another waste of time, but I might be able to sway her group into helping out.