The thing screamed as it swiped at him, a huge law that was disproportionate to its body slamming into his chest and sending him hurtling through the air. Ray hit the cracked asphalt of the road a dozen feet away. The benefit of being hit that hard is that he was now a good distance from the horde and the Wendigo, affording him a chance to get back to his feet.
The hit had hurt, but much less than he had thought. “Dog! Get out of there!” he yelled as the white monster charged him again. Refocusing on his enemy, he couldn’t worry about his canine ally.
After their first exchange, Ray realized he was far slower, far weaker, and far less combat able than he had been prior to the Integration. He couldn’t fight this thing head-on, but unfortunately, it didn’t seem like it was going to give him the opportunity to think of an alternative way to kill it.
The Wendigo was already in striking distance, swinging brutally at Ray. He dodged out of the way, narrowly avoiding being sent flying et again. This thing was way stronger than he was. While he avoided the attack, he didn’t dodge the next one, taking a raking claw across the back.
Yelling in pain and anger, he refocused on the creature. It was grinning. The fucker was grinning at him, wearing a malicious smile that was bearing its fangs. Ray’s vision went red.
“Fuck off you fucking winter land wanna be motherfucker!” he screamed, at its face. He felt a surge of power course through his body as he ran directly at the creature and body checked it. The thing didn’t budge, huffing a laugh at him. It was the last thing it ever did.
Ray brought the gun out and up under its chin. With a scream of range, the forty-five unleashed a gout of green fire when he pulled the trigger.
{INFUSED ATTACK}
POWER CONSUMED – 10
The Wendigo's head, shoulders, and most of one arm simply disintegrated in the ball of fire that shot into the sky. Then it exploded. While not a large explosion, it was large and loud enough to get the attention of every remaining undead in the horde in front of him. Every single undead turned his way.
“Fuck,” he mumbled, tossing the gun back into his storage, he waded into the horde with his crowbar. The world devolved into a slow retreat, with Ray smashing skull after skull in an effort to reduce the number of undead trying to eat his face. After what seemed an eternity, he swung the bar through the air, vision a bit blurry after such an extended level of exertion. The crowbar didn’t hit anything, and he took a moment to pause, breathing heavily. Surrounding him was the horde, or what was left of it.
{COMMON HORDE DEFEATED}
REMAINING ENEMIES - 0
The bodies were missing arms, had their heads caved in, and were otherwise in an utter state of destruction. He glanced around, looking for the dog.
“Dog are you there? You still alive?” he called out.
The canine crawled out from under the remains of a nearby vehicle. “Yes. I’m here. I gave up trying to help you after you took a swing at me. Glad to see you didn’t need much,” she said in an annoyed tone. “You really should start calling me something else other than dog. It's demeaning.”
“A name is fine but dog is demeaning? Aren’t you a dog?” Ray wondered.
She growled, “You’re a human, so I’m going to start calling you man thing. It's what you are, right?” she shot back.
Ray chuckled, “Fine. Point taken. Let’s get inside and see who is still alive, gather our thoughts. Then we can figure out a name for you too.”
The Shephard just chuffed her agreement. Ray made quick work of gathering any dropped leather bags. Each bag gave him the expected one NEX. When he got back to the Wendigo's body however, there was no bag waiting for him. Instead, there was a very small chest. Reaching down, Ray touched it. The moment he did a new notification popped up.
{SMALL BASIC CHEST}
NEX – 5
WENDIGO CLAW – 1
WENDIGO EYE – 1
WENDIGO MEAT CHUNK – 5
Ray examined each item, a bit off-put that he had gotten random body parts as a reward for such a difficult fight. Shrugging, he tossed everything into his storage. He would check it out later, maybe the bits could be used for something.
Straightening up, the two headed over to the building. Before he could even reach the door, however, the barricade burst open and disgorged Goblins, a couple of Orkin, and one of the last people Ray was expecting to see... After all, Derrick had been dead. However, that supposedly very dead man was now running his way.
“Holy shit! Ray! Raymond! Damn! You're alive!” the engineer yelled happily, practically dancing as he hopped from foot to foot. “God it's so good to see you!” the man wrapped him up in a fierce hug, overjoyed that he had run into someone that he recognized.
Ray grinned and accepted the hug. He knew that he had a new arm, but he wouldn’t have guessed everyone who had died would have come back as well. This was good news. That meant that Grok and the others were definitely out there somewhere. He just had to find them.
“I can’t believe you’re alive!” he said once Derrick had stepped back from him. “I was hoping to resurrect you after the Integration, but I guess that’s not needed anymore.”
Derrick shook his head, then peered around the plaza, “Let's get inside and seal up the building. Quickly now. We can talk when we are safe.”
Ray and the German Shepherd followed Derrick inside. The moment they were through the front doors the Orkin and Goblins quickly put the barrier back in place. Once they were done with the work, Ray got a notification;
{BUILDING NOT SECURE}
“Well… that certainly lacks a lot of information,” he grumbled.
Derrick couldn’t help but agree. “Yeah, the System hasn’t told me a whole lot. We get mostly partial notifications and messages. Nothing really gets explained to us. On the other hand, that could have something to do with the fact that we can’t access the upper third of the building. The staircases are all blocked off. There could be something up there that isn’t exactly friendly,” he rambled. “I’ve noticed that when there is a conflict somewhere, information is heavily limited. This could be a perfect example of that.”
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“Stop, stop!” Ray said with a grin. “Before any of that, tell me how you are alive! What happened? How did you get here?”
The excited engineer nodded rapidly. “Right. Basics first haha!” he laughed, practically giggling. “So, Grok and I blew ourselves up and I found myself in this white-and-black limbo. It was only for… a few seconds it felt like before I just woke up in the plaza out front. There were some Goblins and those Orkin with me. We explored a bit before we ran headlong into that horde. So we ran inside, blocked up the entrance, and then you showed up. The rest you know.”
Ray nodded. It seemed that the Integration brought back every, or mostly everyone, that had been killed. Literally just dropped them into the street. That confirmed that everyone who was there prior to the huge event was most likely still alive.
“And I got a class too!” Derrick said, interrupting his thoughts. “I didn’t think I was going to, but apparently you get one the moment you come under the Systems influence. Probably when you’re born as well, or maybe if you hit a certain age. I don’t know yet, more information is going to be needed.”
Ray focused on the man, curious as to if he would pull up any information like he did the Wendigo. He was unsurprised that information did come up. He was very surprised at just how much was made available to him;
DERRICK VANHALEN
{RACE}
HUMAN
THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF EARTH 4.
{CLASS}
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
THIS GUY CAN BUILD BUILDINGS THAT DON’T FALL DOWN.
{CLASS GRADE}
UNCOMMON
A FAIRLY UNCOMMON BRANCH OF THE ENGINEER CLASS
{STAGE}
1
STAGE INDICATES THE POWER LEVEL OF THE CLASS ATTACHED TO IT. ONLY ONE CLASS CAN BE ASSIGNED.
{LEVEL}
1
PERSONAL LEVEL INDICATING OVERALL CAPABILITIES
{STRENGTH}
6
HOW MANY MUCH YOU CAN CARRY.
HUMAN BASE: 5
{AGILITY}
5
HOW FAST YOU CAN RUN.
HUMAN BASE: 5
{POWER}
5
THE INFUSABLE ENERGY OF YOUR UNIQUE CLASS.
HUMAN BASE: 0
{WISDOM}
15
HOW WELL YOU CAN APPLY KNOWLEDGE.
HUMAN BASE: 8
{LUCK}
2
ARE YOU LUCKY PUNK?
HUMAN BASE: 2
{ABILITIES}
ALTER STRUCTURE
ALTER AN EXISTING BUILDING, FORTIFICATION, OR CONSTRUCT
CREATE BASIC MATERIAL
CREATE 50 UNITS OF BASIC BUILDING MATERIAL FROM SCRAP OR WASTE
BASIC REINFORCEMENT
REINFORCE A BUILDING, FORTIFICATION, OR CONSTRUCT
“That’s awesome man, you can build buildings,” Ray said, enjoying looking through his stats.
Derrick blinked at him, “I didn’t even tell you what the class was yet, how did you know that?”
He shrugged. “I just looked at you, focused, and your stats page popped up. Why? Can’t you do that? I figured that was a pretty base-level ability if I could do it at level 1.”
The man shook his head, “Not at all. I can’t do that at all. I focus on stuff and I am lucky to get a nameplate of something. Mostly I get details through System messages and stuff. I can identify materials all day long though, and my class and abilities let me instinctively know how to construct or fortify something. The {CREATE MATERALS} ability is pretty awesome too, that’s what I used to make the barricade, but it takes an entire point of my Power to use.”
“How does the Power thing work anyway?” Ray asked, curious. “I apparently used ten units of it earlier, but I haven’t even gotten a single point back yet.”
Derrick stared at him. “Ray, how much power do you have?”
“Fifty total, but forty right now,” he answered. “I did something and turned one of my bullets into some kind of focused torch. Melted that Wendigo into slag.”
Derrick nodded. “That’s a lot. I have five points. They came back after I rested a bit, so maybe you just have to stop moving for a while? That’s my theory at least,” he said, thinking about it. “It also seems that the amount of Power needed is proportionate to the changes you want to make. I can conjure basic materials out of basically garbage, or in this case a bunch of old furniture,” he said gesturing at the lobby they were standing in.
“That cost me a single point of Power. You, on the other hand, turned a solid object into basically pure energy. Much more expensive,” he explained. “I still don’t know how you did that, but it must be a Class or Ability based action. More information is definitely needed.”
“Definitely,” Ray agreed.
The engineer hopped onto what remained of a decaying couch and looked at him, “What’s your class anyway? Fifty power is crazy.”
“{SYSTEM LORD}. I have no idea what it does, but I get a couple of interesting abilities. {CLAIM HEX}, {OATH OF FEALTY}, and {SOUL COMPANION},” Ray explained. Then he gestured at his canine friend. “Speaking of, this is… Coco.”
The dog growled at him.
“Right. Not Coco. Bella?” he corrected.
“No bueno little man. Try again,” the dog snarked back.
“The dog can talk?” Derrick said incredulously, jumping to his feet. “Holy shit, that’s amazing! Can all animals talk now? Can I recruit an army of squirrels or something?”
Ray shut that line of thought down immediately. “No. No squirrels. Never again,” he snapped, drawing a hand through the air to cut the idea off even as the dog chuffed in laughter. Derrick was wearing a look of confusion as he also shut down any questions. “And don’t ask.”
Turning to the dog he pointed accusingly, “You know what? You have sleek black fur. You're big, tough, and nasty in a fight. Your fucking name is Nyx. There. Done.”
“Nyx? Goddess of the night? I’ll take it,” Nyx said happily, her tail wagging.
Ray rolled his eyes. “Right. So, meet Nyx, my ex-nemesis made Soul Companion by some Supreme System Administrator who doesn’t give a shit about anything that happens.”
“I… don’t really know how to digest that,” Derrick admitted hesitantly before choosing to just move on. “So other than Soul Companion, have you tried any of your abilities? I don’t know what it takes to claim a Hex, but if you have the ability to do so then it must be hard.”
Ray shrugged as they sat back down on the ratty furniture. “No idea. I’m a bit afraid to try. We have next to no resources. Very little combat power… fuck,” he grunted. He opened his inventory and began moving stuff out of the storage space into the lobby of the building. “I actually have a ton of stuff. Probably a bunch of weapons in there too somewhere.”
“You never cease to blow my mind Ray,” chuckled his friend amicably. “Now, that ability?”
He eyeballed Derrick, “If I try to use this, and it brings a horde down on us don’t blame me if we get eaten alive. Seriously. I will haunt you. Probably a System option somewhere for that.”
The engineer drew a cross over his heart, “Cross my heart. I won’t hold you responsible.”
Ray muttered a response too quiet to hear then tried activating his ability;
{CLAIM HEX ACTIVATED}
POWER REQUIRED - 50
CLAIM FAILED
POWER REQUIREMENTS NOT MET
HEX IS CURRENTLY CONTESTED
HOSTILE CREATURES REMAINING – 12,006
HOSTILE FACTIONS REMAINING – 2
“Nope. Can’t do it,” Ray reported after reading out the contents of the System message to the others. “Not only do I not have enough energy, but it looks like we are going to have to fight for it. There’s a couple other factions and plenty of targets.”
Derrick leaned back and said, “Yeah. But I bet we could clear this building and at least get some kind of base going. Your message said creatures, not undead right? And that there were two factions?” Ray confirmed that so he continued, “I bet there’s another group of survivors or something here. We just need to find them, absorb the factions to increase our power, and then claim the Hex.”
“You’re pretty fucking intuitive for an engineer, you know that?” Ray accused. But Derrick only shrugged in response.
“I played a lot of 4X games when I was a kid. It's what got me into engineering in the first place. I always wanted to build a real-life city, and I got damn close before the world ended,” he explained. “Besides, I’m surprised that you’re not thinking of this stuff.”
He gestured at the supplies, “You obviously made out like a bandit. So let's crack these things open, clear this building, and then look at taking over this Hex. Maybe the others are nearby?”
Ray couldn’t help but grin at his friend’s enthusiasm. Ever since they woke up it's been one fight after another, but he had noticed something early on. The world seemed clearer like a fog had been lifted. His mind, thoughts, and emotions were sharper than he ever remembered.
He stood and started directing the Goblins and Orkin to open boxes. He and Derrick dug into the work as well. It was clear that not only the world around them had changed. There were plenty of other things they had yet to even realize were different.
Including themselves.