As I headed down the stairwell, I browsed through the catalogues I currently had. The one I was most interested in was the cybernetics, as it looked like it would be the quickest power upgrade I could get.
"Hey Celeste, how am I supposed to contact another guardian anyways? You said the internet and other stuff doesn't work during an invasion."
"There's some technology specifically designed for communication between guardians in your cybernetics catalogue, shouldn't cost you too much. I'd recommend buying anything else you want before we get down to the seventh floor, as it may take some time to install." I took a look at the implant she had suggested, which seemed to have a variety of features along with being able to contact other guardians. I bought it, then took a look at some of the muscle enhancers. While I could kill these weak entities in one shot, the problem now was speed. I needed to be quick enough to get the rest, so I decided I would grab a pair of the cheapest option for my arms and legs.
Grade 1 Guardian Communicator Purchased for 20 Points, New Total: 75
Grade 1 Fast Twitch Muscle Enhancement x2 Purchased for 50 Points, New Total: 25
The communicator acted the same as the translator had, giving me a slight headache as it installed in my brain. When it finished, a few things popped up in my vision, including a clock and the current weather. Thankfully I could turn it off if I needed. The other enhancements seemed to work different, as four syringes appeared on the ground in front of me, and I scrambled to grab them before they rolled down the stairs.
"You'll want to inject one of those into each of your thighs and near your shoulders. It will sting, but after a few minutes they should be good to go." I followed Celeste's instruction, and after a minute I felt whatever nanomachines were working down there start to take effect. It did hurt quite a bit, but I just bit my lip and kept walking down the stairs. While I did, I decided I would try and give a nearby guardian a ring, since I was going to need some help later anyway. I just pictured sending out a call to the nearest person, and after a second, I heard a very generic ringing sound play over.
"Is this gonna take a while?"
"Possibly, often higher ranked guardians tend not to interact with lower ranked ones." As she finished the sentence, the ringing noise stopped.
"Hey, who am I speakin to?" A rather husky but still distinctly feminine voice came over the phone.
"Or they could answer right away, that works too."
"Uh, hi, the name's Liara? I need some help evacuating an entertainment center in maybe a few hours." I said as I made it to the door to the seventh floor. I would wait here a couple more minutes just to make sure the muscle enhancers were fully installed.
"Liara's a bit of a weird persona, but alright. Name's Arc Angel, nice to meet you."
"Huh? Oh, no, my name is Liara. I don't have a guardian name yet." I heard the woman gasp slightly, and suddenly a picture of her face appeared in the corner of my vision, making me jump. She looked like a succubus from a video game, with cherry red skin and two curved horns on either side of her head, and her facial features were honestly stunningly beautiful.
"Yes! I finally got to a newbie first! Also wow, you are adorable, love the ears. Anyways, you know what that means? I get to help you pick out your name!" She said, and I stared at her, incredibly confused by this conversation.
"...gonna be fully honest, I didn't hear anything after adorable. What was that?"
"You see, a guardian gets their name from the first experienced guardian they meet! I got my name from the guy with the mech suit up there, because I use electricity and, well, I look like a demon. A bit ironic for my tastes, but I've grown to love it."
"You know that guy? And wait, I don't even get to pick my own name?"
"Oh yeah, me and Fortress go way back. And of course you get to pick the name, I can't just give you some joke name. It's just a fun little tradition. Anyways, you mind if I call you back? I've got like eight things chasing me right now." I perked my ears up and noticed I could hear a bunch of stomping in the background.
"Uh, yeah, go ahead. I've got some people to go save anyways. Call me in ten minutes." I said, hanging up the phone. She seemed like, a lot to deal with. But hey, at least she was nice.
"It seems we are rather lucky."
"Yeah, I'm glad we found someone actually helpful instead of some asshole who's just worried about points."
"You misunderstand, I meant we are lucky there are no entities that look like beautiful women, as they appear to be your weakness." My face turned slightly red, and I wished Celeste was in her physical form so I could take a kick at her.
"For the record, it would be beautiful people, not just women."
"While that is nice to know, there are people in mortal peril at the moment."
"You brought it up- ugh, whatever!" I tested out the new enhancements with a few practice jabs. Sure enough, they came out more than twice as fast as before. Now they would really need to modify that next taekwondo test. I opened up the door and headed out onto the seventh floor, pulling out my new gun as I walked. This floor seemed to be more of a shopping area, and it had a lot of variety. There were electronic stores, clothing stores, and some I wasn't even sure what they sold. As I walked, I tried to sneak around like earlier, but after a few minutes a Basher flying around noticed me and made this horrible howling sound. I popped a new magazine into my gun and took it out of the sky, but at that point it was too late, and I saw a decently sized horde of entities approaching me from across the room.
I sprayed into the crowd and managed to take down a few of them, but before long something that looked like a venus fly trap with legs shot a ball of what appeared to be acid at me, and I quickly lowered my weight and hopped into the air. I made it about twenty feet vertically and looked down at the horde below, as most of them just stared up at me angrily.
"Heh, can't exactly get me up here can t-" Somehow not learning when to shut my mouth, as I said this a Basher flew directly into my face, sending me spiraling off in some random direction as my vision blurred. When I could see clearly again, I saw I had slowed down and was about to hit the floor a decent bit away from where I started. Fortunately, I wasn't moving too fast, so I caught myself and landed on my feet, and I also managed to keep my grip on my gun. Unfortunately, the horde was moving a lot faster then I was falling, and they were now clearly not screwing around. I pulled a bottle out of my inventory and lit it up, throwing it towards the horde. A few of them dodged, but a majority of the slower ones got hit, and they began burning.
However, I had failed to accommodate for one thing. Fire doesn't kill immediately, and these entities seemed like they were willing to take me down with them. So I had about five seconds before about five monsters jumped at me, and ten second before thirty two monsters actively on fire jumped at me. First, I shot down the few Bashers trying to get at me and took a few shots at the closer entities. I then executed my incredible new strategy, running away like a coward, albeit one that was still alive. As I did, I expected to start losing my lead on the horde, but the muscle enhancers had done just as good a job on my legs as they did my arms, and I blasted down the room before coming across what looked like a food court, and I could see on the opposite side of the room the shelter on this floor. That did however leave me with one question, where the hell was the crowd of people needing saving.
"Wait a minute...did I accidentally get the attention of the entities that they were hiding from?" I asked Celeste.
"From what I'm seeing, yes. The crowd was inside a store nearby when that Basher revealed your position." I sighed, realizing I would have to go back the way I came, which was filled with some unfortunately not yet dead entities.
11 Entities Killed, New Total: 88
Well, I guess some of the entities were dead. I turned around and saw that while I had gotten some of them, there was a very annoyingly placed fountain in the middle of the ring of stores, and some of the smarter ones had gotten in there. And to make things worse, I couldn't just gun the rest of them down, as they had realized what I was doing and were ducking behind cover as they ran.
"Celeste, warn me if they do anything crazy or get too close, I'm going to try and buy something to give me an advantage." I pulled out my glaive and looked through my catalogues to see if they had anything that could help. While I was looking in the tome section, I noticed something intriguing.
"Well, you know what they say. If at first you don't succeed, light it on fire again." I purchased the basic fire spell and then went to see if I could grab any helpful weapons. I saw a section called Modifications, and as I clicked on it, a list of my current weapons appeared. I clicked on the glaive and saw a few options pop up, one of which was a second retractable blade, which seemed helpful, so I got it as well.
Minor Flame Purchased for 15 Points, New Total: 73
Retractable Blade Modifier Purchased for 12 Points, New Total: 61
"How do I use this? Oh, that's how!" I said, pressing a button that had formed on the side of the glaive. The bottom end folded in on itself before a second blade shot out, so there was now a blade on either end. I gave a few test swings, looking back to see what was happening with the entities. The ones that were left were mostly the wolves with a few Watchers in the mix, so they were keeping their distance.
"Alright, I'm getting pretty sick of running away today. Time to get some real hand to hand experience. Well, they don't have hands but...who am I arguing with?" I shook my head, realizing I was just making myself nervous, and sprinted out towards the remaining horde. Most of them were still in the fountain putting themselves out, but the rest got into position to attack as I came near. I sprang forward and cut one of the wolves before it could react, and as the one next to it began to multiply I brought the other end of the glaive up and sliced through its head. I heard a hiss behind me and ducked as a watcher sailed over me, and I stabbed up, catching it in mid air. It stayed speared onto the end of my glaive as three more entities came towards me from my left.
One was just another Cloner, but the other two looked like giant hornets, and I was immediately not a fan. As they came forward, I threw my glaive straight up and put my hands together, charging up an explosion. They somehow recognized this and lined up, the Cloner in front trying to shield the other two with its body. It was too late to let the spell go, so I instead just put my hands closer together so the gap in the middle was narrower. This funneled the explosion, and instead of just killing the wolf and knocking the other two back, it ripped a hole through all three and went about ten feet past them as well. That was probably a good trick to remember for the future. I grabbed my glaive from midair and turned to the fountain to see they had finally finished being on fire and were quickly heading for me. One of them was the plant entity from earlier, which proceeded to spit more acid at me. I cut the ball of acid in half, but that turned out to be very stupid, as it didn't split fast enough and a decent amount splashed onto my arms. My outfit got most of the damage, but I still felt a decent amount start to burn on my skin, and I restrained myself from giving a slight scream as it did. Before I could do anything else, I heard a ringing noise and out of nowhere I heard a robotic voice.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Answering Call
As it said this, Arc Angels face appeared in the corner of my vision.
"Hey! Is this a bad time?"
"YES!" I screamed, dropping my glaive and casting a quick healing spell on myself with one hand as I increased my density and grabbed a jumping Cloner by the neck with my other hand. I threw it at the plant and they both smashed into each other, which I hoped had put them both out of commission. Another hornet came down at me from above, so I moved my head to the side to dodge and threw a jab into the side of its abdomen. It dented and the bug rocketed away, skidding along the ground. The last things running at me was another large pack of wolves, so I just picked up my glaive and held out one hand, pouring mana into it before a jet of fire burst from it, clearly much hotter than the Molotov's from earlier were burning. Instead of simply lighting them on fire, it essentially melted them, and I was able to get all of them before I started feeling exhausted like before. I panted and looked around, seeing no more enemies.
"Okay, I think now we're good to tal- FUCKING CATS!" I screamed as another Basher came down at me, and I grabbed it by the tail and slammed it into the ground, stomping on its head. I huffed in anger, but this time it did seem like things were actually over.
23 Entities Killed, New Point Total: 193
"Uh, should I call back?" Arc Angel asked, and I shook my head.
"No, sorry, just dealt with a giant horde. Gotta go talk to some civilians in a sec, but we can talk while I head over there."
"Oh cool! How many did you kill?" She asked oddly happily as I walked back over to where this had all started. I could see some people walking out of a game store, clearly scared and confused.
"Like ten of those wolves, five hornet things, these annoying plants that spat acid. Got over a hundred points for it though."
"Not bad for an early killing session! How did you deal with them all at once, any aoe?"
"Yeah, I got some fire magic and explosion magic. Also this cool glaive and this gun."
"I considered using fire magic at first, but my ability has to do with electricity, and honestly with the whole demon thing it felt a bit cliche. Speaking of which, before you talk to those people, let's figure out your name!"
"Are you sure? I'm only like forty feet away." I looked over at the civilians, who were waving at me, and I held up my hand trying to somehow signal that I was talking to someone. Arc rolled her eyes at me but nodded.
"Alright fine, go lead them to the shelter first. I've got some time to kill anyways, the people here are still trying to get everyone ready to head out." I nodded and ran over to the crowd. They were clearly relieved to see me, but I noticed the group was oddly small.
"Hey there, you're all going to be safe. My names Liara, I was told you guys needed help. Although I thought there would be more of you." I said. and one of the security ran up to me from the back of the group.
"We have more people, but they're too injured to walk. Can you help with that?"
"Shit, lead me to them, quick." He ran towards the store they were in before and I followed. It was some kind of merchandize store, but my lack of alien pop culture knowledge led me to not recognize any characters. In the corner, I saw people tending to the injured. Some of them looked not too bad, but one older looking Zenith was writhing around in pain. I bolted over to him but didn't notice any obvious wounds.
"What happened to him?" I asked the woman standing next to him, who I assumed was his wife.
"I don't know, he didn't seem like anything was wrong earlier! Then he said he felt bad, but he didn't want to take time from the actual injured people. And out of nowhere he collapsed."
"Really regretting not going to med school right now! I can't heal him unless I know what's wrong. Celeste, is there a spell that can diagnose people?"
"There is, and you could afford the tome currently."
"Get it and throw in some kind of poison removal spell while you're at it. I get the feeling this might be something like that."
Basic Medical Tome Tier Amethyst Unlocked for 30 Points, New Total: 163
Diagnose Purchased for 20 Points, New Total: 143
Minor Cleanse Purchased for 25 Points, New Total: 118
As I cast the diagnose spell, it was like I had an x ray of his entire body, and little text bubbles appeared in my vision pointing out issues. I severely doubted his celiacs disease was causing this problem, so I looked deeper and saw his blood had some odd mixture in it.
"Yep, just what I thought. He must have been stung by one of those hornets or something on the way in." I cast the cleansing spell, and I saw the toxin get flushed out of his body through his skin. His wife backed up as it began leaking out of his pores, and eventually he stopped moving and seemingly passed out.
"Alright. Celeste, how do I get more mana? Cause if I cast another spell then they're gonna have one more person to carry to the shelter." I said, woozily standing up. I had clearly exerted myself too much.
"In the long term, the only way is to practice and build up your mana stores. There are certain enhancers you could use temporarily, but at your level they would wreck your body for a while, so unless it's a life-or-death emergency, I will not purchase them nor tell you how to." I groaned but relented, shakily walking over to the group of guards by the door.
"Listen, I've done what I can for now, but we can't safely get these people out until I heal a chunk of them, and there's at least twenty people in there who need healing. I need some time to recharge, so we'll have to hold out here for now."
"Well how the hell are we going to do that? You got that horde out of here, but you made so much noise doing it who knows how quickly more will be back?!" A human looking guard said, getting annoyingly close to my face.
"Calm down bud, I have some ideas. You guys know how to shoot guns right?" I asked, and while I expected a swift yes, most of them simply stared at me blankly, with only two people raising their hands.
"I can now see why there were so many casualties in this place.”
“Sorry, only the higher level guards are given firearm training.” A Zenith girl who had been one of the ones who raised their hand said.
“It’s fine, we’ll make it work. Celeste, can I buy things that shoot guns instead?"
"You have a few options for that. Would you prefer turrets or something more mobile that can't be easily destroyed like a drone?"
"Let's go with drones, can't exactly afford to lose my deposit on these things. What gun would you recommend for the ones who can shoot and the drones?"
"A lighter option would be best for both, as we do not need a mistake to happen and more injuries to occur mid combat. There are a variety of pistols available in your basic weapon catalogue, and for extra you can have one that shoots homing projectiles to make it easier for them." I thought for a moment, looking through the options and the cost.
"Alright, let's get two homing pistols for the guards, and two more powerful pistols for two drones."
Basic Robotics Catalogue Tier Amethyst Unlocked for 30 Points, New Total: 88
Automatic Assault Drone x2 Purchased for 40 Points, New Total: 48
A-33 Tracker Magnum x2 Purchased for 30 Points, New Total: 18
"Shit, ran out of points, need like two more for the drone guns." I scratched my head wondering what to do, before one of the guards pointed in the air.
"Well, you could kill that one?" She pointed up at another Basher, which I swore was staring at me with hate in its eyes as it flew above us.
"I am going to eradicate these fucking cats from the universe someday." I pulled out one of the new pistols and shot it between the eyes.
Entity Killed, New Total: 20
M-1911 x2 Purchased for 20 Points, New Total: 0
"Ooh, going for an Earth classic on the guns I see, very nice choice Celeste." I looked back to where everything had appeared, and picked up the two drones. They had orbs for a main body with a camera on top and eight long wiry arms sticking out, complete with fans at the top for it to fly.
"Let's see, I'll call you Mars, and I'll call you Venus! Welcome to the team you two!" I said holding up the two drones, that upon hearing my voice activated and began floating in midair. I turned to the guards, who were all staring at me perplexed.
"Oh what, a girl isn't allowed to have some fun every now and then? Besides, it'll be good for branding. Now, non-shooters, head back into the store." They walked back inside, and I handed the remaining Zenith girl and human man a gun each.
"How do you know we won't just shoot you?" The man who had been yelling at me earlier asked, and I slowly turned to look at him.
"I did not consider it. I should hope you would do the same. I mean, I just saved your life." I said, and he looked away flustered.
"I just meant because we were arguing earlier, sorry."
"No hard feelings bud, this is a stressful situation. I know I joked earlier about the casualties, but you guys have done good keeping everyone as safe as you can here." The man smiled as I said this, and I simply gave him a slight nod.
"As heartwarming as this conversation is, our time for talking has just about run out. Give those pistols to the drones and get ready to start killing." I nodded and held up the guns, which the drones snatched out of my hands.
"Alright gang, we got company. I couldn't afford extra ammo, so once we kill a few then I'll buy you some extra. Just listen to what I say, watch all angles, and for christ's sake don't shoot each other. I didn't give you a homing pistol so you could still somehow hurt yourselves." As I said this, the Zenith girl held up her hand, and I pointed at her.
"Sorry, who's christ?"
"...don't worry about it. Although if we don't survive this next push, you might be seeing him."
"Is he a medic of some kind-"
"Get ready to fight!" I yelled as three more of those hornets rounded the corner. I could tell this was going to be a long standoff.