Ray
Ray sent a few Orkin and half his total number of Goblins into the complex ahead of himself, holding back most of his heavy hitters and Grok. He had no idea what was inside, but he didn’t want to be on the receiving end.
Opening his map, he changed to the view that was more or less one from a strategy game. He could zoom in and out, issue orders, and even track his units through a dizzying variety of custom icons. For now, however, he simply used the numbers one and two to identify the two groups on the map. The unit interfaces even came with hand designators showing what troops were where, and even how they were equipped!
Equipment would be next on his to-do list, which seemed to be growing longer by the day. However, that thought needed to be set aside for now. He watched carefully as the group went inside and spread out in twos and threes. Yet nothing happened, even as they moved deeper into the complex.
In fact, nothing happened for so long that Ray began to wonder if whatever had been here had simply moved out. If it was him he would have hit and run, eschewing a superior position for mobility. Unfortunately, that line of thought came to an abrupt halt as a trio of goblins simply vanished from the map
“Got you bitch,” he grunted, issuing orders the everyone to converge on that location. “Let's go, guys, we have a … whatever the fuck is in there to kill,” he ordered as he racked a round into the pistol. He didn’t have many rounds left, but hopefully enough at the very least for this little adventure.
Ray and his group entered the massive structure. It had been, at its most recent point, a vehicle manufactory. Something that would be invaluable once he developed his sector more.
Several more icons from the forward group disappeared, even as the sounds of fighting echoed through the cavernous buildings. “Let's go!” ordered Ray, doubling his speed as they rushed forward to support the other group, which was apparently getting its ass kicked.
As they moved from the initial manufactory to a larger, more open materials storage warehouse Ray froze. Letting loose a long string of profanity that made even Grok look impressed, he ordered his troops to charge the massive undead that was filling the center of the room.
He recognized the damn thing even as it turned, its small black beady eyes locking onto him while ignoring everything else. With a roar that shook the rafters, the truly huge undead that had chased him up the side of the chemical tower started trundling his way.
Ray unloaded two shots at the thing's head, missing both times. Cursing as he began to strafe, he lined up another shot. This one glanced off the monstrosities head, causing it to roar again. It snatched up a Goblin in fury and, with unsettlingly good aim, pitched it at him.
With a squeal, the squealing green monster was flung through the air in Ray’s direction. Going into a roll, the Goblin narrowly missed him but was traveling at such speeds that when it struck the ground it simply left a long green smear across that section of the warehouse.
Yells of rage came up from the other Goblins, who summarily rushed the giant undead and began perforating its knees with their spears. Ray was surprised at their sudden fury and directed the Orkin to assist. Even as the much larger monsters began to move, Grok yanked his human owner up and set him back on his feet.
“Look herez,” said the bruised bruiser, “Ya gotz ta stay on ya wahkaz to kill dem undeadz.” With that simple piece of advice behind him, Grok threw himself into the fray, leaving Ray to puzzle out just what the hell he had been told.
With several more losses, the group eventually wore down the fifteen-foot-tall undead and it fell to its knees. However, this posed a new set of problems. While it was no longer mobile, it could now reach all of his troops much more easily. Goblins and Orkin began flying through the air as the massive undead simply grabbed them, and then pitched them through the air.
This was not the kind of fight Ray had in mind when he came down here. In fact, this whole expedition was rapidly turning into a disaster.
Circling around, Ray got into the undead juggernaut's blind spot. Stopping for a moment, he designated the creature just that. A new label appeared above the things head:
JUGGERNAUT
RACE
UNDEAD
CLASS
JUGGERNAUT
NEX
N/A
LEVEL
12
PHYSICAL STATE
HEALTHY
MENTAL STATE
DETERMINED
ATTRIBUTE
BASE
CURRENT
NEX TO INCREASE
YOU JUST ANALYZED A FUCKING JUGGERNAUT. STOP STARING AT ITS GIANT FUCKING MEMBER AND FUCKING KILL IT!
Ray was both annoyed and stunned at the response to his attempted analysis of the mass of undead flesh. This only drove home the fact that the System was both more, and less, than others, suspected. He would not be the one to bring it up however, he was beginning to get the feeling that anything System related was … dangerous at a minimum.
Deciding on an all-out attack, Ray sprinted at the creature's back. He quickly reached his top speed and then jumped, going much higher than anticipated. His poorly thought-out plan had been to leap past the side of the thing and fired several rounds into its face. Instead, he landed neatly on its shoulders. Wrapping his legs around its neck Ray panicked, put the pistol to its head, and pulled the trigger. Repeatedly.
Orkin, Goblins, and Grok looked on in impressed amazement as their fearless human leader rode a bucking giant undead while repeatedly shooting it in the top of the head.
Ray struggled to hang on as the creature whipped side to side, attempting to dislodge him. Even as he held on for dear life his troops continued their attack, distracting it as much s they could. But it was finally Grok who put down the monstrosity.
Having climbed to the top of a nearby storage rack, Grok was a full twenty feet above the berserk undead. With a loud war cry, he hefted his club and leaped off. Ray looked up and saw his minion leaping directly at him. With a curse, he loosened his legs, allowing their opponent to throw him clear just in time for the Orkin to deliver his kinetically charged strike.
As the club met the creature's head, two things happened. The first was that a wild backhand swing caught Grok and flung him sideways, smashing him into and through a steel storage rack. The second was that the steel banded club Grok used caved in a part of the juggernaut's head, embedding the club into its skull in a spray of rotten fluids and matter.
But the damn thing still wasn’t dead.
Sitting up, Ray had just enough time to see the thing drag itself towards Grok, who was helplessly tangled in the storage rack. Getting up quickly he raced over and, planting one foot on the monstrosities neck to steady his aim, unloaded the remainder of the magazine into its exposed brain.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
The shots echoed into the storage facility causing the Goblins to drop their spears and cover their ears. The Orkin grunted in discomfort but seemed hardly worse for the wear. The juggernaut, however, finally stopped moving, outside of the occasional twitch.
Breathing hard, Ray stepped back to observe his handiwork. Looking back at Grok, who watched him warily, then over at the remnants of his fighters, he directed them to begin freeing the trapped Orkin.
He moved a bit further away and sat down heavily. Weary, Ray began re-loading the pistol's magazine, irritated that he only had a few shots left. Looking up as he returned the weapon to his inventory, he saw Grok rise out of the mangled steel like a great big bruised, and bleeding avenger. The big Orkin staggered over to Ray with the help of several Goblins standing on one another’s shoulders. He couldn’t help but snort at the sight.
“Dat waz a good move Boss,” grunted out Grok. “Iz seen’d plenty of udders take down a jugg before, but I’z neva seen a person ride one beforez.”
Ray just chuckled and finished up with the handgun. Slipping it back into his inventory he turned back to Grok. “This could have gone a lot worse. I could have gotten everyone killed just because I was being hasty. I … I’m sorry about that,” he blurted out without thinking, feeling horrible that he had just rushed in with no plan.
Grok blinked several times, even the Goblins look a bit uncomfortable. Eventually, the big green lug said, “Look, Boss, I’z getz it. You’ze are all new to the leadin bit. Fair. But … uh … we’z slaves and stuff. We get boughtz to die. No need to be all apologizein.”
“Well, I did. So there,” Ray retorted. “And look, for what it's worth I don’t agree with the slave thing. My world, this one, never held to that. I mean … it was there at one point in our history, but we got rid of it fairly early on.”
Grok just grunted in acceptance, his attention being pulled back to the giant rotting body of the juggernaut. “Datz a fukin mess Boss. I’z gonna light it up.”
Taking a rock and a piece of metal out of his chest wrap, he walked over the to the creature. Curious, Ray watched the Orkin closely as he drew the two objects together, casting sparks on the undead corpse. In shock, he realized that he was witnessing what he had only heard about in stories and tales from a hundred years ago or more. Grok was using flint and steel.
With a rushing sound of air being displaced, the body suddenly went up in flames. Ray hopped up and stepped back from the roaring inferno. As soon as the fire had started, however, it burned itself out. The body was nothing but a pile of bones and ash. These undead were highly resistant to physical trauma, at least the big ones were, but apparently, they were highly susceptible to fire. Particularly after being killed.
“Alright Grok, good job. Take the rest of the squad and clear out that final warehouse. I am going to head back to base and discuss our next steps with Gale,” Ray ordered as the Grok grunted his acceptance of the orders. Grok wasn’t one for words really. Actually, he wasn’t one for anything except bashing the skulls of his enemies in. It's what made him so endearing.
Walking out of the complex, Ray looked up at the waning daylight. There was only a finger-width of sun coming in over the horizon. It would be night soon, and Ray hoped that there would be no more serious surprises. He was exhausted, running out of ammo, and didn’t have much NEX left after that emergency purchase of slaves.
Finally looking at his notifications as he walked back to their small base, he sucked in a breath at the information that was being relayed to him:
FIELD BOSS EVENT COMPLETE
ADVANCED ENEMY KILLED: 150 NEX
NATURAL GROWTH DETECTED: STR +1
NATURAL GROWTH DETECTED: AGI +2
UNDEAD REMAINING IN HEX: 43
HEX CLAIM TIMER: 23:11:51
Ray felt strength course through his body, almost as if he had just taken a hit off the best drug ever. Gasping, his muscles relaxed as he came down to the flats of his feet. Fuck, powering up could be addicting. Shaking his head, he noticed the timer at the bottom and was astonished this had taken them as long as it had.
Shit, it had taken them nearly eleven hours to clear the complex. Not to mention the fight with the giant undead. Although … he had come out ahead. From NEX to learning some valuable lessons about leadership, Ray was feeling a bit more composed and in control.
Not to mention the juggernaut had been worth a hundred and fifty NEX. Even if he had nearly died beforehand, that was still fifty Goblins worth of the System currency. With his stores now and the recent basic undead kills, he was at over three thousand total NEX. Hopefully, everything wasn’t insanely expensive when it got to developing his HEX. God only knew what he would have to do to earn more.
The walk didn’t take him long, as the hex he had claimed didn’t seem to expand more than a couple of miles in each direction from where the core had been planted. Granted, he didn’t know the precise size of his claim, but he was sure he would find out at some point.
Just as he crossed the threshold into the base, a notification came up.
HEX CLAIM TIMER: 22:41:08
UNDEAD REMAINING IN HEX: 0
HEX CLAIM COMPLETED
BASIC DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS UNLOCKED
“Fuck yes!” Ray exclaimed in excitement. Up until now all of his upgrades to the base had been done by improving one section of the building at a time. However, according to Gale now that this option was finally unlocked he could make sweeping changes all at once. Excited he opened the menu and began looking through all of the items listed there. And his heart sank, they were prohibitively expensive. The cheapest housing option was nearly twenty thousand NEX. He couldn’t afford that, much less any of the more expensive buildings and factories.
Gale watched Ray’s expression fall. Snorting a short laugh she said, “Thou hast now understood the cost of developing thy lands. However, such exorbitant costs are not the final bill. Thou hast yet to gather resources and store them. Such actions will significantly reduce such costs. Remember, the System gives thou what is possible, not what is plausible. All else is negotiable.”
Ray, blinking at such a summary, realized that she was correct. As if repeating it made it more obvious to him, he began to realize that anything in this new world was possible. No. That wasn’t it. Anything had always been possible, and it was up to him and the people around them to ensure that the variables for success were present. The tools and opportunities wouldn’t gather themselves, they had to be made.
Nodding at her he issued a recall notice to his Orkin and Goblins. It was time to issue some new orders. This time, however, there would be a bit more manual labor involved.
Shuffling through his troops, he took note he had a dozen Orkin and twenty-four Goblins left. This made the math really simple. He assigned two Goblins to an Orkin and had them begin searching for materials. From machinery parts to wood and steel, they were instructed to bring everything back to the warehouse at the main building.
“Thou wilt need a converter,” said Gale, watching him from over his shoulder. Quirking an eyebrow to question that statement, the Drakling expanded, “Thou wilt need a converter within thine warehouse to create usable materials from scrap gathered. Only then can such materials be applied towards the construction cost of buildings.”
Ray nodded. He guess it made sense. You couldn’t just magic up a new building out of a big pile of shit. You needed refined materials, and probably rare materials at some point. Searching through the options he found a basic-level converter. He sucked in a breath at the cost:
CONVERTER
COST: NEX 2500
STATIONARY CONVERTER THAT CREATES BASIC MATERIALS FROM SCRAP AND REFUSE
ONCE PLACED CAN NOT BE MOVED WITHOUT BEING DISSASEMBLED BY A RANK TWO MECHANIC
Looking over his NEX reserves he winced. This was … really going to suck. He quickly made the purchase without thinking about it. They would need the resources far more than the NEX over the next few days. This would also allow him to begin stockpiling resources for future projects. Ray stared at his balance, almost in a state of depression.
NEX BALANCE: 1
Gale giggled, the unusually girlish sound drawing his attention away from his screen up to meet her eyes. She winked at him, “Thou art a mighty, yet poor Lord. Mine advice wouldst be to get thy rest, food, and prepare for the future,” she said. Then she sobered quickly, “I doth suspect that something … unusual may take place.”
Ray stared at her for a long time before responding.
“I really hope you’re wrong,” he said, with both fear and apprehension in his voice. “It’s not like we could stop much right now.”
***
RAYMOND ‘RAY’ FINNEGAN
RACE
HUMAN
CLASS
NONE
NEX
CALCULATING
LEVEL
1
PHYSICAL STATE
HEALTHY
MENTAL STATE
DETERMINED
ATTRIBUTE
BASE
CURRENT
NEX TO INCREASE
STRENGTH
5
8
50
AGILITY
3
6
30
POWER
0
0
100
WISDOM
4
6
40
LUCK
2
2
400