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Fractured
Chapter 17: Preparation

Chapter 17: Preparation

Hector watched Mia, and his heart ached for his friend. She sat hunched over, her arms wrapped tightly around her knees, her face buried in her hands.

"Mia," Hector said softly, moving closer to her. He reached out and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know this is tough. But we're in this together. We'll figure something out."

Mia didn't respond. Her shoulders shook with silent sobs, and Hector could see the tears soaking into her clenched fists.

Frank, feeling the need to distract himself, quietly stepped away from the group and made his way to the edge. He peered over cautiously, his eyes widening as he took in the view below.

"Hey, guys," Frank called out, his voice filled with a mix of awe and curiosity. "You might want to come take a look at this."

Hector ignored Frank and kept hugging Mia. Diana stood up and joined Frank at the edge.

As she approached the edge, Frank pointed downward, and their gazes followed his outstretched arm. Below them, the city seemed to stretch endlessly, with floors upon floors disappearing into a thick, swirling fog. It was an eerie sight, and the lower levels of the city appeared as though they were submerged in an impenetrable abyss.

"What is that?" Diana asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "It's like the city goes on forever."

Frank leaned in closer, studying the strange phenomenon. "It's almost as if there's no end to this place," he mused, his brow furrowed in thought.

"What do you think it means?" Diana asked, her voice trembling.

"Maybe this city doesn't have a bottom," he quipped. "It's just endless levels of weirdness."

“I lost count after thirty levels, it stretches down way further than up.” Diana said, visibly shaken.

"Well, at least we've got plenty of leg day workouts ahead of us," Hector said with a weak smile. But his attempt at levity fell flat in the face of the eerie abyss.

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The group trudged back to their hideout, the atmosphere somber and heavy with Mia’s despair. The memory of their unsuccessful attempt to leave the city lingered in the air like a bitter taste. They gathered in their dimly lit sanctuary, where the soft glow of the fire pit cast long shadows on the walls.

Frank sank down onto the floor, running a hand through his disheveled hair. He looked at the others, his expression mirroring their shared disappointment. "That... that was something else," he muttered, his voice tinged with disbelief.

Mia sat down on the floor, her legs drawn up to her chest, her eyes distant. "I can't believe it," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "There's nothing out there, just... emptiness."

Hector paced back and forth, his restless energy clearly visible. "We're stuck in this nightmare with no way out," he grumbled, frustration etched into every line of his face.

The room fell silent as the weight of their predicament settled upon them. The hideout, which had once been a haven, now felt like a prison.

Hector looked at his friends with a determined glint in his eye. "We can't lose hope," he urged, his voice unwavering. "We've faced impossible odds before. We'll find a way out of this, no matter what it takes."

Mia glanced up at him, her eyes filled with a mixture of gratitude and doubt. "But how?" she asked, her voice quivering. "We're trapped in this place, and there's no way home. What are we supposed to do?"

Hector, ever the optimist, was the first to break the silence. "You know, maybe that pyramid is the way out of this place. If we can get there, who knows what we might find? An escape route, a portal, or maybe just answers about what this city really is."

Diana nodded in agreement, "It's worth considering, but there's one major obstacle in our path." She glanced at her friends. "We'd have to pass by one of those infected buildings to get there. And we all saw how many monsters there are."

Frank, always willing to voice his thoughts, chimed in, "Well, if we're clever about it, maybe we can sneak by."

Mia had been uncharacteristically quiet throughout the conversation, lost in her thoughts. She couldn't shake the image of endless fog.

Diana spoke, her tone grave and filled with concern. "Look, the pyramid might be our way out. But we need to be realistic. Those infected buildings are crawling with danger, and we can't just stroll past them. We'll need a well-thought-out plan, not a half baked one. Let's gather more information, assess our options, and then decide."

Mia, however, couldn't seem to let go of one glimmer of hope amidst the despair: the pyramid. She believed it held the key to their escape, a way out of this never-ending nightmare. She had to believe that or she would go insane. So she held to that thought like a lifeline.

“We don’t have time to wait, we should go as soon as possible” Mia said with a fever in her eyes.

Hector watched Mia with worry, he saw her like this before, driven to a singular focus that bordered on obsession. "Mia," he said softly, placing a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder. "I understand you want to find a way out, but we all need to take a break."

“And more information and probably levels” Diana interjected.

Mia, taking a deep breath, finally relented. "You're all right," she said. "We need to be prepared and not rush blindly into this. Let's rest for now, gather our strength, and when we're ready, we'll face that pyramid together."

The group agreed, and as they settled down for some much-needed rest, Frank couldn’t shake a feeling that something was wrong with Mia.

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Mia sat on the dusty floor of their hideout, her brows furrowed in concentration as she examined the two massive scorpion stingers they had collected from their recent battles. They were substantial, wickedly sharp, and created for destruction. Mia had a similar purpose in mind for them – she was determined to turn them into formidable weapons.

She was full of nervous energy and felt a bit feverish. It was hard to focus on her crafting. She needed to finish the new weapons to make everyone stronger as soon as possible. She looked back to her crafting.

Lacking the luxury of a forge, Mia had to rely on her own resourcefulness and the limited tools they had scavenged in this forsaken place. She began by carefully cleaning the stingers, using a sharp piece of metal she found earlier. It wasn't the ideal tool, but it would have to suffice.

With the stingers cleaned, she turned her attention to reshaping them. This was the challenging part. Currently she had a large bulb with a thinner spike protruding from one end. She briefly considered creating double daggers for Frank. However she didn't think the stingers could be sharpened to hold an edge, they could be only used for stabbing and that was too much of a trade-off. Mia decided on crafting a war pick for Hector with a pointed spike on one side and a hammer on the other.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

She decided to ask Diana for help, she saw her before using some combination of runes to create heat. Perhaps with Diana's help, they could heat up the stinger and make it more malleable for shaping.

"Diana, could you help me with something?" Mia said, as she approached Diana with an eager look in her eyes.

Diana looked up from her runes, her expression curious. "Of course, Mia. What do you need?"

Mia gestured to the two massive scorpion stingers they had collected earlier. "I want to craft a war pick from these, but I have no way to heat them up for shaping. I saw you use your runes to create heat before. We could try that on the stingers?"

Diana considered for a moment before nodding. "I can give it a try."

Together, they positioned the scorpion stingers on a sturdy wooden surface. Diana focused her energy and began drawing the necessary runes in the air, her fingers moving with precision. As she completed the rune sequence, the runes appeared on the stinger, heat radiated from them.

Mia watched in fascination as the stingers slowly started to soften under the influence of Diana's magical heat. With careful guidance from Mia, by the way of a steel pipe, they began to shape the stingers into the forms she needed. It was a delicate process, requiring patience and skill.

The patience part was extremely difficult for Mia right now, her thoughts felt scattered and hard to focus on. Through sheer willpower she forced herself back to the current moment and went back to shaping the stingers.

After what felt like hours, they had successfully crafted a formidable war pickaxe head from the monstrous scorpion stingers. Mia inspected their handiwork with a satisfied smile. "It's perfect. Thank you, Diana." She quickly dismissed her friend afterward, she didn’t need her at the moment.

Next, she needed a shaft. They had access to wood, so Mia picked a straight piece and attached it to the head.

As she held the war pick in her hands, Mia couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment. It might not have been a work of an actual blacksmith, but it was a weapon forged out of necessity and determination. She tested its weight and balance, feeling the satisfying heft of the weapon. She then reinforced the handle like with Hector's last mace. Even with the finished warpick in her hands the energy didn’t seem to leave her.

She gave the war pick to Diana to enchant.

With the war pickaxe handed over to Diana, Mia turned her attention to Frank’s weapons. She knew he needed a new set of daggers to replace his worn ones. Looking around their hideout, she noticed a pile of teeth they had collected from creatures they had encountered.

She began by selecting two of the sharpest and most suitable teeth for her purpose. The teeth, while not ideal for crafting, were still formidable in their own right. Their jagged edges and serrated tips promised deadly effectiveness.

Using a small rock and a piece of jagged metal she found, Mia carefully worked on shaping the wooden handles for the daggers. She knew that having a secure and comfortable grip on these weapons was essential, especially in the heat of battle. It wasn't easy work, but Mia's determination pushed her forward.

As she fashioned the handles, she couldn't help but marvel at the sharpness of the teeth. These weapons were going to be deadly in the right hands, and she hoped that Frank would put them to good use.

Mia finally completed her makeshift daggers. They were functional and sharp, capable of inflicting serious harm.

YOUR SKILL CRAFTING HAS REACHED LEVEL 2 !

She felt a torrent of new ideas enter her head but pushed that to the background for now.

She admired her handiwork for a moment before talking to Diana to enchant them. It turned out four hours had already passed and Hector’s weapon was ready.

Diana handed over the war pick and took the daggers with a sight as they were another eight hours of enchanting for her.

Mia looked at the finished weapon.

ENCHANTED POISON STING (REINFORCED)

ATTACK: 20-25

DURABILITY: 30/30

RANGE: 1 METER

RARITY: UNCOMMON

ENCHANTMENT: BASIC

SPECIAL: ADDS 5 POISON DAMAGE EVERY 5 SECONDS FOR 60 SECONDS.

IGNORES THE FIRST 10 POINTS OF ARMOR.

Mia approached Hector, a determined look in her eyes. In her hands, she held the newly crafted war pickaxe. She extended it toward him.

"Hector, this is for you" she said, her voice filled with conviction, “so that we can get out of here faster"

Hector accepted the war pickaxe with a grateful smile, his grip firm on the weapon. "Thank you so much, Mia. This is awesome."

“No problem Hector” Mia said distractedly, she needed to make them as ready for the infected towers as possible. The last item she wanted to craft for today was her spear.

Mia envisioned her new spear, the straight piece of the scorpion stinger forming its deadly tip. While she would lose the capacity to cut with it, she knew the trade-off was worthwhile. The stinger's natural venom and armor-piercing capabilities would make her thrusts far more lethal.

With focus, Mia set to work crafting her new spear. She had carefully chosen a sturdy wooden shaft, one she had salvaged from an abandoned building during their previous explorations. Using a small, serrated shard of steel as her primary tool, she began carving out a narrow channel in the wood to accommodate the scorpion stinger.

It was painstaking work, and her hands grew sore from the effort. She had to ensure the fit was snug, allowing the stinger to sit securely in place without wobbling. Finally, Mia managed to shape the wooden shaft to her satisfaction. She cautiously slid the scorpion stinger into its designated slot, testing the fit. It was a perfect match.

Mia then used sturdy cloth strips, scavenged beforehand, to tightly bind the stinger to the wooden handle. This secured it firmly. She examined her creation with a sense of accomplishment, knowing that it would serve her well in the dangerous days ahead.

Mia only then remembered the skins she spread over the racks, but when she went to check on them they were rotten and unusable. She prepared them wrong and now thanks to her Crafting reaching level two she understood exactly what it was. She needed to somehow dry them, preferably with salt and tan them using the monster's brains.

She didn't think there would be a need for that.

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Mia had been feeling a deep urgency, a desire to reach the pyramid as fast as possible. She knew she couldn’t stay in this place any longer. It gnawed at her mind, and settled in her bones like a fever. If she ate a single additional meal of monster meat she would snap. She felt trapped in this alien world, suffocated by the ever-present danger, and the only respite was the hope that the pyramid held the key to their escape.

As she finished her crafting, Mia's anxiety couldn't be contained any longer. She paced back and forth like a caged animal.

"Guys, we need to go to the pyramid, we’ve prepared for the whole day since we returned from the edge." she pleaded, her voice trembling with an edge of desperation.

Hector raised an eyebrow, his confusion clearly visible. "Mia, I thought it would be more time than a single day"

But Mia cut him off, her words rushed and feverish. "Hector, we can't wait. Every moment we waste down here is another chance for those creatures to find us, to kill us. I won't die in this place, and I won't let any of you die either. We have to go, now!"

Frank rubbed his temples, his exhaustion evident. "Mia, you're not thinking straight. We need a plan. We need to be careful. You're throwing us into a suicide mission."

Tears welled in Mia's eyes as she responded, her voice cracking with emotion. "Do you think this place is going to let us plan? We've seen how unpredictable it is. I can't take it anymore. I can't take the uncertainty. The pyramid is our only chance."

Diana, always the voice of reason, approached Mia cautiously. "Mia, I know you're scared. We all are. But rushing into this will only get us killed. We have to think it through. Hector's right; we need supplies, information, a strategy. We can't just blindly charge at the pyramid."

Mia's face contorted with frustration. She wanted to scream, to shake them, to make them understand the urgency that was tearing her apart from the inside. But instead she pushed all her feelings down. "Fine. We'll prepare. But we can't take too long. We need to get out of here before it's too late." If they were stupid enough not to see that they needed to move right away she couldn’t convince them with her words.