Mathew watched the sky waiting for it to turn night. He and Cherry had set up camp, while Zachary apparently decided to continue to stick around.
“I thought you wanted to split ways, now you plan on camping with me?”
Zachary shrugged. “You are good company. Bit of a school yard bully, but you have good intentions. Plus, I know you are a good person deep down.”
Mathew scoffed. “Nice and good doesn’t let you live long. Not with this shit hole new world.”
“Never said you were nice. Just good hearted. I can just tell.” Zachary said with a shrug. He had laid down on the sand, not bringing out any supplies. Mathew had rolled out sleeping bags, established a small natural campfire, and had Cherry on cooking duties
“So you know a guy for a few hours, and you just know everything about him?” Mathew asked.
“Eh, you are easy enough to figure out. You wear yourself with pride. Nothing to hide. It’s how I knew you were trustworthy enough to begin with. You lie, but only to protect yourself, not to gain something.”
Mathew was skeptical. “That still doesn’t explain how you know I’m not secretly going to kill you.”
Zachary pointed at Agnox and Cherry. “It’s those two. How you care for them, and probably whatever other summons you have.”
Mathew glanced at his two bound summons. “I have to take care of them. Just like you have to take care of your weapons, yourself, your people, everything. The strong lead Zachary. Something you don’t know since you are a lone wolf apparently.”
Zachary didn’t say anything, just closed his eyes and relaxed.
Mathew glanced between Agnox and Cherry. The two of them have been quiet. Both understood to let Mathew handle their new campmate.
“How’s dinner coming Cherry?” Mathew asked.
“I think it’s going okay? What exactly is this? You said they are Merry E’s?”
“MRE. Meals Ready to Eat. They are already edible, but warming them up makes it easier to swallow. I had no clue how often I’ll be able to actually cook, so I had wanted to bring them with me. Luckily Agnox remembered them for us. When we go back to Earth, I’m going to have you learn to cook real food. Maybe you could share some of the recipes from Gaia’s world.”
“I don’t know how to cook.” Cherry mumbled. “Why am I doing this?”
“Last time Agnox did it, he burned it. There was no fire, but he burned the food.” Mathew went to reach for the plastic container the food was warming up in. “So, he is banned from cooking. I could cook, but you need to earn your place on this team somehow. Agnox is a decent scout. I’m the summoner, so you can cook for us. Don’t worry, we-”
Suddenly the light from the sun just disappeared. It was too sudden, and Mathew’s sight was fuzzy from the drastic change in light levels.
“What the hell!” Mathew turned to try and find someone, his eyes glowing as they were empowered.
“Relax.” Zachary’s voice was calm, but had a hint of laughter in it. “I told you, I wanted you to experience it raw.”
Mathew waited for his eyes to adjust. He noticed it was dark, but the night sky had stars. “How does that happen? That defies physics.”
“No clue. The sun just disappears. I don’t think something covers it up, not a rotation from the planet we are on, thus it has to be a magical vanishing act.”
Mathew didn’t care enough to try and puzzle together how impossible that was. Magic was real. It’s only been four months and he still forgets how wide the term ‘magic’ can be applied. Even to giant cosmic bodies of fire.
“Welp, we have a dozen or so hours of night. You want to sleep? I can stay up all night if needed. I don’t sleep but once every couple days.” Zachary offered.
“We do a rotation with my group. I like to take the first watch, so I’ll be up with you for several hours.”
“Works for me.”
It only took two hours before the hot sands cooled down. Another hour after that and Mathew could see his own breath. Agnox woke up shivering from the cold.
“Boss. I don’t like this. Can you put up an actual campfire ritual?”
Mathew shook his head. “Can’t, need to save the stones. I’ll just unsummon you.” Agnox vanished into a red mote that washed into Mathew’s body.
Zachary looked content, even with his barely clothed body.
Mathew had to pull out a few extra layers of clothing. Most of them were backup in case his current armor set became unusable. It was heavily damaged, but it still functioned. A few shallow cuts, singed fire marks, and dozens of markings where Aaron sliced him were seen all over.
“How cold does it get?” Mathew asked.
“Below freezing.” Zachary said. “It’s been several years, but I remember reading as a kid that normal humans can survive only an hour or two in freezing temperatures without proper care. This gets colder than that, but thanks to our stats, we can survive easily. I have over 500 in Endurance, so I’m perfectly fine.”
“Lucky you.” To Mathew, it was chilly, but not freezing. A cold autumn night.
Cherry was the next to comment on the cold after the six hour mark. Mathew knew it was colder than he had ever experienced as a normal human. Yet, he was mostly fine. With just two extra layers of clothes, he didn’t have a problem so long as he moved.
“Mathew, I’m going to need to be unsummoned too. The cold is causing my body to brittle up.”
He didn’t say anything, just flexing his mana to unsummon Cherry.
“Like I said. A good guy.” Zachary joked.
“This the part where you attack me now that I’m defenseless?” Mathew asked, watching Zachary leerily.
“Nah. No point. You aren't worth the effort. You have nothing I need, nothing I want, and you are not preventing me from obtaining my goals. Needless killing is a waste of effort.”
Mathew felt insulted he wasn’t worth killing. Yet, a small part of him was thankful. An even smaller part even agreed.
He looked around across the dark sands. He couldn’t see far due to his lack of night vision. His Axiom allowed him to see with higher clarity and notice smaller details, not giving him the ability to see in the dark.
There was a sense of danger settling over him, but he couldn’t figure out why. The wind rolled by them, carrying a scent of rottenness.
Matthew blanched, “You smell that?”
“Have been for the past half hour.” Zachary said, still laying down, not seeming to be paying attention to anything. “I was wondering when you would too, if ever. What do you think it is?”
Mathew had smelled this scent before. He was hoping he was wrong.
He stood up, and pushed his mana to form two glowing blue balls of mana that were Wispy and Whis. He sent them forward upwind a couple dozen feet, and pushed mana into them both. Their light intensity grew, and Mathew watched carefully.
A shadow moved. Then a second. Then a dozen figures shuffled into the light. Mathew’s eyes went wide.
“Zach. Get up. We have undead coming for us.”
Zach jumped up. “Are you sure? I can’t see anything.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Mathew nodded and turned to make a ritual to light up the area. “They are that way. Just keep an eye out for anything getting too close. I need a few minutes to make this ritual. No more than ten. Then we can take a look at what’s coming for us properly.”
Halfway through creating the ritual and placing the proper ingredients, some of which he was running low on, Mathew heard the groans of undead.
“Mat, they are here.” Zach said, and rushed forward to start fighting.
“Three minutes!” Mathew shouted, and finished the final line. He shoved the mana core into place and started the activation of the Ritual of Illumination.
The sounds of flesh being pounded and bodies hitting sand echoed from behind Mathew. Three minutes went by and the entire area was lit up with light.
Mathew didn't waste a moment and commanded his wisps. Their ice affinity would allow them to be unbothered by the cold. He took a quick glance to see what they were up against.
“At least twenty. Four already taken out.” Mathew noticed they were mostly in a group and brought out his lightning staff. His time with Bob allowed him the precious knowledge that undead were resistant to cold, and out right immune to most poison and all necrotic damage. If he wanted to really deal damage to undead, fire and divine magic was needed.
“If you have fire or holy damage, use that!” Mathew shouted as he blasted one of the undead shuffling past Zachary toward him.
Both the wisps were there to annoy the undead and deal minor damage. Mathew had no clue if these creatures were actual zombies like Bob commanded. They were at least Apprentice rank, which meant they could also be husks. Husks were natural undead versus raised undead from a Necromancer.
“I got neither. Just raw strength!” Zachary said and enunciated the word ‘strength’ with a punch that sent one of the humanoid bodies flying backwards. It slowly stood up with its chest caved in.
Mathew charged up the lightning staff he earned from the Dinosaur dungeon and blasted another undead. He sent a trickle of mana into Wispy, allowing its fast attacks to be boosted in not only speed, but also power. Whis was stuck with its basic attacks. Slow, but powerful.
Undead slowly started to remain unmoving. There were less than ten remaining when Mathew started to implement his [Frostrim Chains]. The undead didn’t have enough strength to destroy them, let alone move around with them on.
The chains did little in damage, but was perfect to keep a few of them occupied while Mathew and Zachary finished off the last of the undead.
Mathew zapped the last undead to the ground. He then summoned Agnox’s sword and started to pierce their heads. Zachary just stepped on them, crushing them like a watermelon.
“Evil minions. I bet there is a Dungeon for them nearby.” Zachary said. “I used to love those comics related to zombies.”
Mathew looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Used to? What made you stop?”
“Eh, let’s just say, they were unavailable in my area.” Zachary said and walked back over to where he was laying.
“We should move. The light would have been easily seen for miles, not to mention the sound of combat.” Mathew said.
Zachary huffed, “Fine, if you say so. Not like anyone is going to bother me.”
Mathew stood over Zachary. “Look. You can keep being an aloof jackass. But I’m down two summons who are uniquely strong. You can stay here, and fight off whatever comes for you. But I’m leaving. Along with my cooling and warming rituals. If you want to keep being a meathead, go for it.”
He left Zachary laying on the sand and started to travel forward. Both wisps remained out to give some sort of light. Mathew could barely see anything out further than a couple dozen meters. Both wisps were kept low to the ground, to lessen the chances of them being spotted.
After ten minutes of traveling, Mathew heard the sand behind him crush as a giant weight landed. He turned to see Zachary, he said nothing but kept walking.
Neither of them said a word after two hours of travel. Mathew set up his sleeping bag, and climbed in. He quickly checked his menu, noting he was now Level 36. He assigned his stats and looked over at Zachary. “You stay up and keep watch. Wake me if anything happens if you want to be useful.”
----------------------------------------
Elizabeth Smith looked around at the growing campground. She was both excited and fearful. So many powerful figures from around the world have gathered here. At least fifty people in total.
She had been running around playing Public Relations Officer to keep some sort of peace between everyone. Yet, they all agreed on one thing. Nobody could finish this floor alone. There are rumors that Zachary Mann could, as he was the highest leveled individual by several levels. This included a few choice high leveled individuals listed. Twice she heard Mathew’s name mentioned as a possible candidate. He was in the top twenty afterall.
Being Apprentice rank meant you were on even footing with most creatures on this floor. Anyone could win a solo fight of equal rank. When you factor in the hordes of enemies that appeared once a week for twelve hours, Dungeons, and Floor Bosses, the ever growing power gap became more and more apparent.
She didn’t want to continue on this floor. She was stuck at Level 24, unable to rank up without a Hearth Crystal. She came only to check it out, then leave before trouble found her. When she immediately stumbled upon others from India, she had to stay. More and more people showed up, some left, others stayed.
Their newest arrivals were causing a positive morale shift. The Undead on this floor were horrible. They traveled in large packs, some of which had a leader. Nobody had chanced a Dungeon yet. Not alone.
The new group were holy avengers. Clad in white robes and steel armor. Their leader was someone Elizabeth was somewhat informed about.
Once she was sure they were settled in, she went to find their leader. He had an aura about him. There was an emotional weight that settled on her shoulders as she approached the dark hair man. He turned to her. “I assume you're the leader here?”
“Yes Leo, I am. You can call me Elizabeth Smith. And yes, before you ask, I am the President's niece. Before you ask again, I’m not here to recruit you to New America’s side. This is beyond politics at this point. It’s survival.”
Leo nodded, seeming relieved. “Good, I hate politics. What is it you need from us?”
Elizabeth didn’t bother with fanfare, she just wanted to be upfront for once. “Your group are the only holy warriors that I know of. Undead are a problem at night. Not only are they hard to see and detect, but they fight in hordes till true death. The Sand Sharks and Quadrupedal Eagles are somewhat easier to take care of. I was wondering if you would be interested in leading a team to start clearing out Dungeons until we find the floor boss?”
A smile grew across Leo’s face. “Oh, I am more than interested, but I’ll only take my team with me. No point in letting others get a free pass on rewards.”
“That’s risky, what about the sheer number of-”
Area Quest: Sundrop Race
A Piece of the sun is condensing into an item on a pedestal. Find it. Defend it until it fully forms, and then claim it as yours.
Time till Sundrop forms: 2:33:47
Reward: Sundrop [Student Rank Body Tempering Item]
Few people hesitated in the camp. People were already either running or fighting among each other for the first Student Rank item to ever exist for them. Few Apprentice ranked items exist, but this was an entire new level.
Elizabeth’s mouth was held open slightly. Leo put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back as someone rushed by, trying to side swipe her. The figure kept running, not bothering to check if he hit her or not.
“I think you should return home, Mrs. Elizabeth.” Leo said and looked toward where everyone was heading.