Ray quickly made the connection that the beautiful woman in front of them was Rivea, somehow in human form. Recalling that she had an ability called {SHIFT}, he made the assumption that it was an ability to alter her body itself. The fact she appeared human at all, as opposed to her massive winged form, surprised him to no end.
Quickly apologizing, he introduced the Drake to Derrick and the Orkin. The Goblins seemed less than enthused, however, as the moment that Rivea saw them she squealed in joy and immediately grabbed one to cuddle like a teddy bear.
The Goblin was not enthused.
No matter how it squirmed, however, it could not escape the impressively powerful grasp of the small woman. Petting the extremely perturbed little green guy, she explained that Goblins were long-time servants, foot soldiers, and laborers for the Drake and Dragon tribes. They would often push the Goblins into evolutionary paths that would make them stronger, faster, and smarter. This only confirmed what Ray had suspected. The Goblins were more than they seemed.
“So the Goblins do evolve and change over time,” Ray mused aloud. “That makes so much sense. I remember them clearly starting to do tasks that were far, far beyond what they had been capable of when I first got them through the System.”
Rivea nodded with a grin, “Some of the stronger Hob-Goblin variants fought as well as Orkin Warriors. Goblin Shamans and Casters could heal, weave powerful hexes, and were considered tribal leaders. Goblin tinkers could build almost anything if you invested enough into them. They start out numerous and weak, but once you have a stable population they evolve quickly into various archetypes and classes.”
“Damn. Little green guys have got serious potential then,” whistled Derrick. “Always knew there was more than what I saw going on. Some of my helpers were… too damn smart at times.”
“That’s for sure. Remember that Goblin who was fishing?” Ray recalled, “He was fishing Derrick. Yanking those giant ass piranhas out of the river and having a half dozen of the dumber ones club the shit out of them.”
The two chuckled at the memory as Nyx, Rivea, and the captive Goblin looked on in curiosity at their mirth. The two sobered quickly and redirected their conversation back to the situation at hand, namely expanding their territory.
“Alright. So. Turns out that we can’t just use the System Shop to bring in more power. We need to find our people and bring them home,” he said, deathly serious. “Although… there are two other factions in this Hex as well. I am wondering if we can co-opt them somehow. Bring them into the fold. It is going to be a complete requirement to have more people in order to retain control of our area.”
Nyx looked at Rivea, “See? He grasps anything that isn’t personal quickly. He just needs a prod at the more complicated stuff that doesn’t involve survival or people management. You should tell him,” the canine prompted.
Ray frowned, “Tell me what, exactly?” he asked suspiciously.
Rivea sighed. “Much like you, I survived the Integration. I was brought all the way back down to this base level of power and am much weaker than I was before that event happened. However, I was not alone. Drakes are not Dragons. We are not solitary creatures. We live in clans, small mobile communities that have a central roost where the leadership resides. We travel extensively to hunt and gather resources or treasure, then make our way home to share and brag about our conquests and exploits. It’s a large part of our culture.”
“Okay? And that’s what you wanted to tell me?” Ray asked, confused.
The Drake shook her head, “No. What I wanted to tell you was that in my clan my role was that of a flight leader. A scout and warrior. I managed a team of Drake’s that would forage, hunt, and combat threats to the roost.”
“You have to be more blunt. The history is nice, but he doesn’t get what you’re trying to say,” Nyx said admonishingly.
Rivea bowed her head, “Sorry. Look, I am bound to you for quite a while. I may even choose to extend that should… you be successful. What I am trying to say is, if you give me a group of Goblins I can scout the area around us for threats, your allies, and resources. I am powerful in my Drake form or as a humanoid. I can even clear out entire buildings on my own as I am now… that is now that I am small enough to actually fit inside of said buildings,” she explained, muttering the last bit under he breath.
Derrick raised his hand to get everyone’s attention. “I suggest we take control of this block first. That’s this building, a slightly large tower next to us, a small shopping center with apartments, and a park in the middle. Then we turn this whole fucking block into a fortress and expand out. That should give us a ton of options, materials, and NEX to work with.”
“That… actually sounds like a really solid idea,” Ray agreed after a moment of hesitation. He turned to Rivea, “Take all the Goblins. Start clearing out buildings and gathering all the materials you can. When you finish a building let me know and I can come to claim it,” he said getting a nod of confirmation from the Drake. “While that happens, I want Nyx and the Orkin to scout the surroundings. Some of the buildings we passed had a lot of skulls attached to them. I am going to assume that means a nasty danger rating. Let's avoid those, but scout the area to see if there is anything around that we can really use. Transportation would be nice, but I’m not holding my breath.”
“I can do that. The Orkin may not be able to keep up with me, however. Are you sure you want them to come with me?” Nyx wondered.
Ray gave the canine an intense look. “Absolutely. You're fast, agile, and strong. But those Orkin can punch way above your weight right now. If you run into something that needs a serious beat down, you are going to need them.”
She chuffed a laugh, “Very well then Ray. I will do as you ask.”
“You and me,” he said pointing at Derrick, “Are going to work on using my abilities to fortify this place and create what we can. We are also going to check the basement.”
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Derrick blinked, “There’s a basement? What the hell? I didn’t see an entrance anywhere.”
“It's probably a glorified crawl space or something. Maybe a boiler room. But I would absolutely hate it if it connected to a tunnel or sewer system and we didn’t know until it was too late,” Ray said. “Remember the tower back on Governors Island?”
Derrick shivered. A tower connecting Governors Island to an unground highway that regularly disgorged mass numbers of undead onto the island was something you didn’t forget. Add in the fact that was where he had already died once at? He would never forget that place. Ever.
“Good point,” the engineer mumbled. “Let’s get that taken care of as soon as possible.”
Ray grinned a bit at the normally upbeat man's depression. “Don’t worry about it. We got this. But I can’t do anything until my Power is restored. I think I need to rest for a while to get it up.”
“That’s what she said,” muttered Derrick.
Ray glared at him briefly but ignored the interruption and continued, “Let's take it easy for what’s left of today, then take on what we discussed starting in the morning. We need every drop of Power that we can muster, and being well-rested will only help.”
The group agreed and split up for the remainder of the day. Derrick and Ray tinkered with breaking down materials and testing out the creation of small objects with Ray’s remaining power. Nyx and Rivea went off to do whatever they were aiming to accomplish while the Orkin and Goblins broke down the materials on each floor and stockpiled them near the stairwells. Overall the day was productive and ended without any additional incidents.
The night was a different story entirely.
Ray was sleeping fitfully in his bunk when a hand grabbed his shoulder and shook him awake. He popped up out of his bunk ready for a fight when he saw the Orkin who had gotten him up placing a finger over his lips in a plea to stay silent. Nodding, Ray got up and followed the green man out into the main lobby.
Looking over at the shop, he saw that the lights were off and no one was at the front counter. Shrugging he turned back to the fully assembled group. Ray didn’t have any idea what was going on, but now that everyone was here he was about to find out. He and the Orkin joined everyone and the big green man began to explain, albeit quietly.
“Boss, derz a ton of undead fukkahz outside. Dey tried da doorz earlieah, turnin da knobs and stuff. I think dey know we’z in here,” he grunted out slowly and quietly.
“Fuck,” Ray grunted, as the Orkin just nodded.
“Well… what do we do? Have they gotten inside at all? I doubt they can get through the walls,” he quietly worked out. “Let’s get a barricade together, as quietly as we can, just to be safe. Then we can-“
Everyone turned towards the main lobby doors as the distinctive click of a lock turning got their attention. The two handles on the large, solid metal doors began to turn.
“I think it’s a bit late for a barricade,” whimpered Derrick in horror.
The doorknob turned all the way to one side, then the door slowly swung open. It was pitch black outside, darker than any darkness Ray had ever seen before. The group stood frozen as the sheer scale of the black maw that was the outside world stared into their very souls.
Then the first undead shambled through, breaking the illusion.
The moment the decaying horror stepped into the lobby it saw them. It opened up its broken and disjointed maw and pointed with the remaining three digits of its bony hand. Then it unleashed its screech.
“Fuck!” Ray grunted, covering his ears with the others as the high-pitched guttural howl filled the first floor. Once it ended several of the Goblins screamed back at it, but quickly pulled back as dozens more undead flooded into the lobby.
“Quick! Push them back to the door and force them into the checkpoint!” Ray ordered. “If we get pushed back, go to the stairwell!” A System message slammed into his vision even as he issued orders, and his eyes went wide in fear.
{LARGE COMMON HORDE ENCOUNTERED}
BASIC UNDEAD REMAINING – 2,944
“Fuck! Stairwell, now!” he roared. There were nearly three thousand undead out there. Basic undead, yeah, but the sheer number of them would overwhelm their small group if they allowed the undead to surround them.
The group abandoned all pretense of fighting and ran for the stairwell. While basic undead didn’t seem to be strong or overly fast, they were still able to shamble at a decent pace, ensuring that if the group didn’t move quickly they would be caught up to. If they were caught, they were dead.
Fortunately, they got into the stairwell and Ray slammed the emergency door shut. He took a deep breath and turned to head up the stairs when the tidal wave of basic undead slammed into the concrete column the stairwell was in with a meaty thud. While the column held, the door was not as fortunate.
It began to bow in from the pressure of bodies on the other side.
“Fighting retreat!” he screamed, running up one flight and taking up position behind two layers of goblin spears. The Goblins layered their weapons, effectively creating a very small phalanx in the stairwell. It would be hard for the undead to push their way through if there wasn’t so many of them that was.
With the sound of tearing metal, the emergency door popped off its hinges as the first few undead simply fell through, landing on the floor. The rest quickly filled up the landing at the bottom of the stairs before noticing the group one flight above them. They clambered up the stairs, falling over every few steps to create a carpet of undead bodies that their horde mates clambered over in order to reach the tasty living snacks in front of them.
Then they ran into the spears.
Goblins are, by their very nature, curious, pranksters, and pretty gross. Until they get into a fight. Then they turn into savage, brutal fighters who aim to tear their opponents into shreds at any given moment. The Goblins who had been working with Ray, however, had something else going for them. They had picked up fighting techniques from the Orkin and even from Ray himself just by observing and fighting next to them. And they demonstrated these proficiencies with deadly efficacy.
Ray had expected the Goblins to stab forward with the gleaming and deadly spears, then take a step backward or forward to allow the back ranks of Goblins, or even the Orkin, to finish off the fallen enemies. That was definitely the farthest thing from what actually was happening.
The front line of Goblins thrust forward, skewering the first undead to meet them in the upper portions of their torsos. The furthest line behind them skewered the lower portion, causing the undead to be effectively bisected between the two rows of spears. The middle row of Goblins? They grabbed the two rows and shook them for all they were worth, with some of the small green men even going as far as to jump up and down on their peers’ weapons. This had the insane effect of ripping the undead to pieces.
The process repeated itself over and over in front of Ray, stunning him into inaction. The little green guys' tactic was so effective that the undead didn’t even have a chance to pile up and use their collective weight to push the line backward before they were torn to pieces. They were simply shredded into chunks of meat.
He heard Derrick gag while Rivea simply muttered under her breath about the insanity of the situation. For over an hour they fought but the group wasn’t forced back more than once, when the pile of undead at the stairwell got so high that they were forced to go up another flight or risk being flanked by the yet-to-be-dispatched creatures who were crawling up the pile. Ray hadn’t needed to intervene even a single time, and even the Orkin looked bored. They were nearly at the end of the horde, with a few stragglers, when the situation went from close resolved to them all nearly dying from their complacency.
Ray had just opened his System screen to check on how many undead were left in the horde when the first giant bat dropped into the middle of them, pushing one of the Orkin over the railing… and into the waiting arms of the undead below.