Name: Natasha

Race: Mandrill matriarch lvl 10

XP: 470

Size: 75

Type: Beast

Faction: Unaligned

Armor: 0

HP: 100/100

Strength: 8/Speed: 11/Endurance: 8/Magic: 8/Plasticity: 5/Luck 10

Senses: Vision 4, hearing 4, smell 4, taste 1, touch 2

Abilities: Balance 2, omnivorous 4, aposematism 3, specialized innate magic 6, Voice 1, coordination 2

Skills: Piercing bite 6, Jab 8, grapple and strike 7, precise throw 7, agile climb 7, nimble sneak 6, hide 1, rapid dash 6, dodge 2, block 1, discern weakness and strength 6, mysticism 1, quickstep 1, tumbling 1, leadership 4, mystic channeling 1, adaptability 1, infliction 1

Spells: Wind drake breath 6, windfury 5, jetstream 1, cloud step 1, thunder missile 1, misty path 1

Boss ability: mob boss

Lao Tzu

Mandrill lvl 5

HP:25/25

Tony Luciano

Mandrill lvl 5

HP: 25/25

XP? From a mushroom? That was not what I was expecting at all. I was thinking something like hp, or magic or something. This adds a weird little twist to my idea of farming them earlier, though again only if I can figure out how to make it work. Though I don’t know if it would be faster to just do the trap idea, or the mushroom garden. Though if I were to use it for potions, presumably there would be some sort of XP potion? Not sure if that’s how it works.

While I was mulling the thought over, I looked down at my hand, and realized my head was starting to feel… weird. It was odd. Like the feeling you get when you stand up too fast. I raised my hand up to look at it and watched as the black skin slowly turned pink. I blinked in confusion before realizing the room around me was starting to sort of melt? Oh… Wait… I realize what’s going on here. I was expecting poison mushrooms, these are hallucinogenic mushrooms. I forgot that was a possibility. I was too focused on the system side of things. Well, I am just going to have to deal with this now. Just stay calm, and I guess wait it out.

I looked down at my arms again and my fur fell away, showing human arms again. So I glanced down at myself, and saw the rest of me was human again. I know this isn’t real, but it feels odd being back in my own body again. Well, the monkey is also my own body, but my original I mean. I’m dressed in my old black t-shirt that has a picture of wolves on it that I got from a thrift store, and a pair of blue jeans that I distinctly remember has a tear right at the back pocket. And lastly bare feet… That’s impractical.

I look back up again and I’m not in a hot spring any more, it looks like I’m in an office building? No wait, this is the bank near my house. I recognize the ugly yellow staplers they put on every desk. I walk over to the door out into the lobby and look around at the pseudo-roman design of the pillars. The front door is glass, so I can see it’s night time outside, which is odd because it was very clearly daytime just a minute ago.

I walked up to the door and tried to open it before noticing that the door was barred shut from the outside. Why on earth would you bar a door from the outside? I sighed and turned towards the elevators. If I go up to the second floor I should be able to open a window or something. So I walked over, the soft plap of my bare feet on cold marble echoing in the empty room. I came up to the elevator and pressed the button, but it didn’t light up. I clicked again, and still nothing. No power. Perfect.

I turned to the door that headed to the stairwell and walked up to the second floor, walking out into a hallway. I looked left and right, but I could hardly see anything with no lights on, so I just followed the right wall until I reached a door and pulled it open. It was a small plain looking office, and it did have a window, so I quickly walked up and pulled it open, sticking my head out and only then noticed my hair falling in front of my face. Which means I have my long hair back. I missed that.

I dismissed the thought and started climbing down, and dropping from the second floor onto the top of a dumpster in an alleyway. I looked to the end of the alley and saw the one that goes to the street was fenced off, so I decided to go the other way, keeping a lookout for anything like glass I might step on since I don’t have any shoes. Following the alleyway and around a corner. I’ve never been around the back of this building so I don’t know what to expect.

Around the corner was… more alleyway. Not sure what I was expecting. So I just continued to the next corner, which was much narrower than the one I was in before, and I could see it coming to an end where this side was fenced off too. That’s unfortunate, am I going to have to hop the fence? Though as I got closer, I heard something. It was raining. I looked up, and the skies were pretty clear, no stars in a town with light pollution, but no clouds either. It wasn’t until I came to the end of the alleyway did I realize it was only raining past the fence. Never seen rain that obeys private property before.

Still I need to get out of here. So I hopped up onto the fence to climb over, and saw the street on the other side, but it was absolutely flooded. It looked more like a river than a road at this point. Not sure how it was stopped by a chain link fence, but not my problem either. I sidled over across the outside of the building to my left, just holding onto a window sill so that I wouldn’t be going for an impromptu swim, and started climbing up towards the roof. With the world being as topsy-turvy as it is, I could use a better vantage point to look around.

It wasn’t too hard to get up, once I got a hold of a gutter pipe, and climbed all the way up. However, when I pulled myself up, I wasn’t on a roof… I was on the street. I looked back over the edge, seeing the flooded street below, then back up to the street in front of me. And even more, it’s not even raining up here, just down there. I rubbed my face slightly and just started following the sidewalk. Alright then, what street is this?

I looked up to find the sign at the end of the road. I was on Morning street. Ah, well that’s easy, then I know where my house is. It should be right down the road and to the left. I started walking, and as I did, my mind was wandering a bit, just looking up at the signs, most of which were just gibberish interspersed with one or two totally normal ones. It’s also weird being in town and seeing no cars on the road. I came to the intersection and looked to the left where my house should be, but instead I saw people.

At first the sight was welcome, but as I raised my hand to wave I paused, looking closer. They seemed off, and moved in a way that was just unnerving. It was a long moment before I could peer through the darkness well enough to realize they didn’t have faces. They were just human shaped, kind of like those totally smooth mannequins, except they were clearly alive and moving. I hesitated, not really wanting to catch their attention any more. I gotta get to my house, but these things are clearly between me and the house. I looked back and there were none in the other direction so this seems intentional to me.

I grumbled a bit under my breath, trying to come up with some sort of plan to get in without getting anywhere near those things. I could possibly just make a run for it and try to just slam the door shut behind me, but something tells me I won’t run faster than them… and that something is anxiety. The dim illumination from the street lamps and errant neon sign was the only way I could actually glimpse at their features, but the more I saw the less I wanted to.

So I figured, I climbed to get up here, why not climb to get around them? I could try to get into my house through a window instead of the front door. I’ve been doing a lot of climbing lately. So I made my way over to the house on the corner, walking up onto their stoop and jumping up to climb the doorframe, and hoist myself up to one of the upper windows, glancing inside as I did. The inside of the hoses were completely barren, and I mean completely. As in the room this window leads to didn’t even have a door. There were just four blank walls and a floor.

I dismissed the view as more than a little odd, but continued anyway, ambling across window sills to the corner, and swinging around to make my way over to the street my house was on. Below me, the human-things walked around doing random human-like behaviors. One was even trying to light a cigarette, despite having no mouth to smoke with. I tried to shove it out of my mind.

I pushed aside, hopping over from one building’s window to the next, only about ten more and I’ll be back home again. I tried to contain my disappointment silently rather than sighing like usual, but really having to climb across strangers' houses to get to my own was not how I imagined spending my day… Though then again I didn’t really have much of a plan for my day anyways.

I came up to the space between buildings and I was pretty sure I could not make the jump across. At least, not while climbing anyways. I gave a quick glance around and spotted a lamp post. I could probably jump to there and back onto the other building to continue my climb. So I gripped the corner to turn myself around, and face outwards. I brought my feet up, pushed off the wall, and leapt over to the metal pole… only it wasn’t metal, or at least didn’t act like it.

I felt it simply bend as I touched it, like I was grabbing onto a wad of cloth. Though I expected to call forward as it gave way, it didn’t. I had made a second incorrect assumption, assuming that the lamp post was in fact standing from the bottom, but instead it was hanging from the top. The light stayed stationary as the supposed metal dangled below. I clung to the pole tightly until it stopped swinging, looking down at where it had previously been connected to the ground, and it was now dangling off kilter.

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I was not happy about this, but it did mean I could get closer to the building at least. So I started swinging my feet, and once I’d had enough of an arc, I jumped over to the next building, clinging to the window on the second floor. I chewed at my bottom lip, setting my chin on the windowsill and climbed back into a stable position. As soon as I did, I glanced back down only to see the faceless things all staring up at me. Or rather, turned their head towards me, you can’t really stare without eyes I guess.

They’d given up all pretense at being human, pausing mid-step, or in awkward positions halfway through a turn. There was a solid ten seconds where neither they or I moved a muscle, before I slowly started to continue climbing. Only after I started moving did I see one pull a pistol out of his coat pocket, and quickly fire off a shot at me. I saw the bullet hit the brick and spray me with dust, as I heard a second hammer click. Luckily I was already falling back so the bullet landed where I just was.

I needed to move, so I didn’t climb, I jumped, landing on top of one of those outcroppings above someone’s stoop, and jumped again to a drainpipe on the next building. I scrambled up that pipe faster than I even thought I could move, hearing another bullet wiz past me and hit a window, throwing shards of glass across the sidewalk below. As soon as I had my hands on the roof I practically threw myself over it, rolling on my side.

At first I figured I was safe now. They can’t shoot me from up here. That was until I saw them opening windows from buildings across the street. Another one shot at me, but at fifty or so feet, his aim wasn’t great. I broke out into a sprint, running and jumping from one building to the next as I heard a second shooter joining, and a bullet hitting a metal vent pipe. I didn’t even look back, just jumping to the next roof. I don’t think I’ve ever run this fast before, but then again, I’d never been shot at either.

So, I kept running until I came to the roof of my own house, but there was no way to get in through the roof. I needed to get down to the front door to get in. I quickly patted at my pockets, but there was no house key. Well, that’s not good. Maybe I can get in through the windows. My thoughts were interrupted by another gunshot, the bullet whizzing past before I tucked, and jumped over the side of the roof. I looked down and saw a dozen of those faceless things below, and even more coming.

I am not going down there. I came to the second floor window and took a deep breath. Never broke a window before, but it can’t be that hard can it? I squeezed my eyes shut, pulling my leg back and swinging my knee forwards, shattering the glass, but it was not as easy as I’d suspected, the shock of it sending a ripple of pain up my knee. I threw myself inside after, careful to cover my head in case of broken glass.

I rolled inside as I heard another gunshot zoom in after me, hitting my ceiling. I’d landed in the upstairs guest room. Looking around, I saw the dozen or so boxes cluttering the room and covering the bed. It was dark and gritty from all the dust. I never had any use for this room besides storage really. Still, I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees, and stood, trodding over to the door, but as soon as I opened it, I was face to face with one of those faceless things.

My blood felt like ice in my veins as it reached for me, standing at least half a foot taller than me and maybe thirty pounds heavier. It grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me forward, so I just wildly flailed my arm until my fist hit it in the temple, knocking it over. That’s when I remembered… Oh right, I’ve been fighting constantly for the past week. Only difference now is that now I’m doing so in my human body again, and this body is much easier to move around in, being bipedal.

I looked at the thing as it quickly started pushing itself back into standing, and took a deep breath. The worst part of fighting is taking a hit, and I’ve done that plenty by this point. If these things are in my house, I am going to have to actually fight these things off. I balled my hands into fists and before the thing could stand up completely, went in for a sucker punch right on the back of the head, slamming him into the wall with a loud CRACK. Okay, unlike the movies, punching actually really hurts too…

I shook my hand at the stinging in my knuckles and wrist, but quickly turned my attention over to the stairs as another one started running up them and towards me. He wasn’t unarmed though, he was holding a kitchen knife in his hand. That was less manageable. I stepped back into the guest room as it bolted forward, and I grabbed the door, slamming it into the creature’s shoulder. It didn’t manage to slam shut, but it made the creature stumble. I took the opportunity to send a kick right up between its legs.

As it started to fall forward I raised up a foot, kicking it in the side of the head. It went down and I didn’t pause for a second, stomping on its head, hearing it crack open. Though there was no wash of gore, it cracked open like a papier-mache egg. Somehow that was kind of worse, but I didn’t really care right now. I grabbed the dropped knife off the ground and pulled the door open again, running to the stairway and looking down it. I saw two more on the stairs, and the front door was wide open with probably a dozen more coming after.

At first I was thinking that this was going to be tough, this was more of a hope dwindling situation. Maybe three, or four. With the skeletons I think I managed six, but this? I don’t even know what I can even do. If I had my magic… wait. Why wouldn’t I have my magic? I do still have it. None of this is real. I keep forgetting. I gave my cheeks a slap to hype myself up as the first one got closer, exhaling sharply as wind surrounded the knife.

Suddenly it was like a change, the world shifting as I resigned myself to fight. The dark halfway suddenly becomes more saturated, the dark wood of the walls showing a deeper reddish brown, the knife in my hand silver to almost a mirror polish. The first creature came just out of reach of me and I jumped forward, stabbing the knife into the chest. It swung, seemingly wearing some brass knuckles but I was too close, and the punch went wide. So I just shoved it down the stairs into the waiting group trying to climb up after.

The second one came forward and had a baseball bat, but the swings were slow, and with the wind assisted slashes, I was able to step away from the swing and then stick the knife in the armpit. It tried to swing again, but I’d managed to stab the knife into its gut three more times already and it fell again. That’s when I noticed something else that was odd. There were no pop ups. No notifications when either I got hurt before, or when I killed them. And with it, It suddenly felt more real.

As they scrambled up, trampling the stabbed one I’d thrown down at them, the fact that the system apparently wasn’t watching, made me feel like this wasn’t a game. In reality I knew it wasn’t a game to start with, but something about being a human, and grabbing a baseball bat to defend yourself from a crowd, feels so much more horrifying than fighting animated skeletons. As the wind faded from the knife I silently cursed, chucking it down at the closest one, but it just bounced off his chest.

I backed up to the top of the stairs, holding the bat as they clambered up, but as soon as they got within a few steps of me, I went for a swing upwards, clipping the creature under the chin and then as it faltered, put all my weight into a click directly into its stomach, sending it clattering backwards, dominoing the group all down the stairway. Though I wasn’t content to just rest on my laurels.

I went for the closest limbs I could see and started smashing, first a hand, then a shin, and a head, as they wrestled to stand up, readily trading upon each other to do so. One ran ahead, literally climbing over the others on its hands and knees as it grabbed my ankle. It tried to yank me off balance, but I swatted at its elbow with the bat before it could drag me down. It reached with the other hand, but I gave it a click to the face, or lack thereof. Still, it was stunned, and I had enough time to go for another swing of the bat against its crown.

I took a step back as they seemed to mostly manage to get back on their feet, and I took a deep breath in, getting ready to send them back down again, but before I could, I spotted the revolver being pulled from the back, and jumped back. The shot rang out and hit the roof, as I tumbled back, and ran into the guest room. I slammed the door shut, but there wasn’t time to barricade it. So I just stepped off to the side, raising the bat.

As soon as the door shot open, I took the swing, hitting the first one in the dead center of the ribs, hearing a number of loud cracks before wind enveloped the weapon. It slammed up under the creature’s chin fragmenting the head as the body went limp. The next three ran into the room, simply shoving the body out of the doorway. I could see one had a switchblade, one had a police baton and the third had a revolver.

I went for the one with the gun first, the unnatural speed of the wind coated bat coming down on the shoulder, but at the same instant, the baton came up and hit me square across the jaw. The vision in my right eye went white, and I could feel my jaw was hanging loose, dislocated. Still, as I stumbled I went for a blind swing to my right side, feeling a heavy impact as the one with the knife lunged.

I grabbed the wrist and tried to stop it but it was stronger than me. So the blade was just getting closer to my ribs. Another swing of the bat straight down on the crown of the head, and it shattered like porcelain. I gave a shove and turned to the final one as my vision slowly returned to my right eye, its shoulder was broken and the gun was on the floor, but it just tried to grab at me with the good arm. I felt the wind fade, but I wouldn’t need it, rearing up and going for a wide swing at the ribs, making it crumple to the ground.

I didn’t have a moment to rest though, as the next batch came through. I dove down to the floor, snatching up the revolver and pulled back the hammer. No clue how much ammo it had left but when I saw the group of five of them swarming through the door, it didn’t matter. I pulled back the hammer, and pulled the trigger, the thunderous crack is louder than the TV made it look. My ears were ringing, but it didn’t matter, as the first one fell over dead.

I pulled back the hammer again, and fired again, hitting the second one in the gut, but that didn’t stop it. Next shot hit square in the chest and it went down. They were getting close now, so I raised up my aim, hitting the third one square in the head. As it shattered I was already moving on, pulling back the hammer and hitting one in the collarbone, but it kept coming, and grabbed my hand, trying to wrestle the gun away from me. The other grabbed my leg and dragged me forward, where I landed on my back.

There wasn’t much I could do, as they were clearly stronger than me, but I was going to go out swinging. I grabbed the switchblade off the floor and shoved it into the leg of the one that had wrestled the gun from me, dragging the blade down the side of the thigh as I was pulled again. I felt a swift kick but my arm was in the way, so it hit my bicep and not the ribs. And I plunged the knife into the stomach of the one now holding the gun.

The second kick came as a stomp to my stomach, which nearly knocked the wind out of me, but I managed to breath, kicking up my free leg to kick it in the hip and grabbing onto the stomping foot. The kick didn’t do much damage, but pulling a knife across the back of the knee certainly did. It fell back as I turned my attention to the gun wielding one, but it looked like it was still moving, fumbling with the revolver to get its finger through the trigger guard.

I practically dragged myself up onto its back as the knife stabbed at the kidneys. Or where kidneys would be anyways. It took a surprising number of stabs to finish it off, but I was suddenly pulled backwards, the one behind me grabbing a handful of my hair and dragging me off before raising the baton it’d grabbed off the floor. I raised my arms to guard my face, but I could feel the impact on my forearms all the way through my back.

I looked back and saw another six more coming through the hall up to the door behind it. No thoughts went through my head, just a wave of fear, as I filled my lungs, and all at once a shock of wind burst out as I used drake’s breath. I could feel a chunk of my air rip as the one was flung off of me and into the hall. I kept the wind going, rolling over to get back onto my hands and knees again. Now seven of them were pushed up against a far wall as I rushed back to the window.

As the spell faded, I quickly climbed out the window and dropped down onto the street, by my front door. Now all of them were upstairs. I used the moment to catch my breath, stepping out onto the street again as I balled my hand into a fist. I brought my hand up pushing into the bottom of my chin to try and reset my jaw back into place. There was a loud click and a grinding pain that ran through my head and stayed there, but it was still a relief to have it back in place.

Waiting for the magic to come back, I turned my attention back to my door, seeing the crowd start running down the stairs. I pulled out the switchblade again, only just realizing I was still holding onto it. I backed up into the middle of the road, gritting my teeth. I could run, maybe, but I don’t think that I can outrun them, I’ve just gotta fight.

I watched as they flooded out and there really must have been maybe ten left. It doesn't seem possible to fight ten people who are stronger than me, but I don’t really have an option either. It’s do or die. I took a deep breath in, feeling the wind come back to my lungs, and with a sharp breath, I was surrounded by a loud whipping wind, casting jetstream on myself.

Showtime.