Chapter 10 Gaining Confidence_Once a Hero

Authors Note: So here they are the first 10 chapters. I hope you enjoyed them so far. To be honest I have more ready but need to slow down and proof read alot more as I am still finding mistakes in the first 10 chapters. I appreciate any help of honet feedback! As always thank you for reading!

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Chapter 10 Gaining Confidence

As we head out of the house I looked over at my neighbors place. Jim Burke. He and his wife have lived there now going on 25 year. Their daughter, Erica, had moved out a few years ago, just as I was moving into my place, to attend college. I think she went to Tuscon or Phoenix, can not remember exactly.

“Wait here in the Truck, I want to check on my neighbor to make sure they are ok,” I tell the girls, both nod and get in the Truck.

I walk over to the neighbors house and survey the area while approaching. The blinds are still open, which for a Sunday at this time is unusual for them. I decide to peek thru the window first to see inside, since it was available to me. On doing so, I can see into the living room and already see a pool of blood. Upon closer examination, I see body parts all over the living room, the scene is gruesome, like someone had been torn apart. I can not make out of it is Jim or his wife, really no telling in that mess, as most of the body was missing.

I perform a tactical retreat moving silently back to the Truck, Damn, that sucks, Jim and his wife were good people I think to myself.

I get in the Truck, and sigh.

“Is your neighbor alright?” Julie asks looking at me with concerned eyes.

I shake my head no, “No, they did not make it” is all I said and turn the ignition.

We get to Julie's place quickly, after seeing hat happened in Jim's place I realize that could have been us, I was careless to believe my house was safe, so I will take extra precautions here at Julie's.

We did not pull into the driveway, in fact we stopped a few houses short of hers, she was giving me a questioning look “This is a precaution in case something is inside, we do not want to make it aware by pulling up in the Truck.”

Then I look at our surroundings, “ in any of these houses could be something dangerous” I say surveying the area, no movement is seen anywhere. It is deathly quiet. Then I spot the blood trails.

I see splatter on various car windows. Here and there I see a body part, at first hard to see, but it all starts to come into focus. I can see drag marks here and there, upturned dirt in the lawns where something had dug gauges into the lawns.

Here and there, I notice doors slightly ajar to houses. Not many, just a few from my vantage point.

“This might not be a good idea,” I say, then continue, “we are out in the open and do not know what we are up against or if we can even handle it or them.”

I pause, but then I see it slowly strolling towards us. It is wolf like, but bigger and ugly. Almost the half the size of a horse. It has not seen us yet, but is sniffing the air left and right while walking down the street. It is about 120 meters ahead of us and walking the street towards us.

I examine it closely.

Creature TypeWorg Level 12

I make my decision, , summon my Electromagnetic Rail Rifle. It is charging. The Worg is still casually moving down the street towards us, a little over 100 meters away, stopping once in a while to take a sniff as if searching for something.

With the Rifle charged I open the door, exit quickly and take aim. The movement catches the Worg's eye and it fixes it's gaze on me. I have it's head in my sights and pull the trigger. Boom, a massive recoil shocks me, but I hold my ground, but hell, that noise is echoing everywhere. Shit I just sounded the alarm to everything within a 5 mile radius.

At the same time the Worg springs into action the round hits it square in the head. Where once the Worg stood, was now a bloody vapor cloud in it's place. Further down, the road curves and a house that was in line with me, explodes, then further back another explosion, and then another behind it.

Crap overkill I think as I look at the weapon.

At the same time

Level Gained!

NOTICE!You are now level 12

NOTICE!Your party has been awarded 5000 XP each

Title Awarded: Seven in One ShotCongratulation the have gained the title:

Seven in one Shot.

Benefits: You gain 20% additional XP when killing more than one monster in a single blow.

Dex +10 Str +10 End +10

Note: Each party member has been awarded Title

Congratulation The title Seven in one shot has increase to stage 2

Benefits +5% additional XP

Title Awarded: Lethal ShotCongratulations you have gained the title:

Lethal Shot.

Benefits: you gain 50% additional XP when killing Bosses in a single shot.

+50 to all stats.

Note: Each party member has been awarded Title

Holy shit! “Holy Shit” I yell out as well stunned and excited at the same time

“Scott?? What did you just do?” Called Cindy from the Truck, leaning out the window, “ Julie and I just gained 8 levels and 2 titles and one of them went straight to stage 2”.

“Return to inventory Advanced Electromagnetic Rail Rifle” I call out “Equip Energy Gun.”

Ok that was a little too much hardware for the job, maybe this will be a little more suitable I look a the gun now in my hands “Umm yeah about that, maybe that rifle was a little overkill I think.”

Cindy laughs “Ya think?”

From the other window Julie now chimes in laughing” Uhh Scott did you just blow up a bunch of houses and that creature?”

“Yeah yeah I did, and I put the rifle away already,” Then I say, "god I hope no one was in those houses”.

But I did not get notification of any human kills so I can pretty much rest easy on that subject. I got lucky there big time.

Looking around for any activity, I spot 2 more of the Worgs eyeing us suspiciously and slowly advancing, coming from the houses to my left. They are about 80 meters out. I take aim with the gun, pull the trigger several times. A beam of light is emitted from the gun with each release of the trigger. The shots are true and thru. 3 holes appear on each of the Worgs heads and they drop to the ground where they stand.

NOTICE!Your party has been awarded 1333 XP each

Level Gained!

NOTICE!You are now level 13

Cindy calls out, “I just gained 2 more levels and now at level 10!”

Julie chimes in” I did too, Scott!”

I look around and see no other Worgs around, well that was easy I think we can handle these guys.

“Ok , Cindy and Julie lets head for the house”, my confidence is at a high right now after that display.

Both girls roll up the windows of the Truck, exit and Julie locks the door with the remote on the key chain. We head towards her house slowly watching for any movements the girls slightly behind me.

We get to Julie's house without incident, I enter cautiously and scan the area first before letting the girls in. Once I am certain all is clear, I let them in and Julie moves around quickly adding almost everything in sight to inventory. She even added her bed! Hmm size does not matter it seems? Nor weight? Is there really a limit?

I open inventory and take a look. There is a description screen there, I access it. Up to 99 items can be stacked and up to 60 slots can be used. Well that is convenient. But those slots can be used up quickly with unnecessary stuff like clothing articles. I scan my inventory quickly skimming over it, and sure enough I only have 11 slots left unfilled due to clothes. Dammit I should have read that sooner.

“Julie, kitten!” I call out to her.

“Yes Scott?” she replies while inspecting some items.

“I know you would like to take everything, but you have limited slots in your inventory, you might want to see how much space you have left.” I tell her nicely and carefully.

“Oh damn you are right.” she sighs.

“Ok well let me pack then” she laughs.

“Pack huh? What do you mean pack?” I ask confused.

Well If an item takes one slot then would a suitcase full of clothes only takes one slot or a box full of beauty products only takes one slot then?” she muses whimsically.

She got me there and is right. I sigh, Where do you want me to start? I ask resigned to the fact that this is going to take a while.

After 4 hours we finally finished in Julies house, It is practically bare, pictures, fixtures even, clothes, even the furniture are all gone. She found a way to stuff it all into one thing or another creatively, to take up one slot in inventory and freed up enough space, so that she was only using 8 slots total of her inventory.

We also grabbed some spare boxes to take to Cindy's house, I am thinking it we will spend another 4 hours there probably.

We cross town, seeing little to no traffic or movement, the occasional Worg jumps out and chases the Truck, but at the speed I am going, it can not catch up and gives up after a short distance. As we enter the South side of town, where Cindy lives things change.

There is a mist in the air, but the sky is clear, the mist gets thicker the deeper we go. I slow down, now getting a little nervous. It is getting thick now and visibility is going down drastically. Suddenly, I run into someone and come to a screeching halt. I jump out of the Truck to see who I hit and if they might still be ok, which I doubt, but I have to check.

As I approach the rear of the Truck to where the person would be, I see someone standing up slowly, getting up off the ground, must be the person I hit, thank god they are ok. Lucky bastard. I think.

Based on the way they are dressed and the build I can tell it is a guy. “Mister are you ok?” I call out and reach out to give him a helping hand. The man turns around and growls at me, I quickly begin to back pedal, Holy christ a freaking zombie

I quickly pull the gun from its holster and fire off 2 rapid shots one to the chest one to the head. 2 holes appear in the Zombie. The chest shot was close to the heart and the head shot was middle of the face, removing the nose are leaving a perfect hole thru the head, but the thing is still approaching me unfazed.

Fuck what is it going to take to kill this thing? I think. I fire 2 more shots at the head, more accurately, the brain area. The 2nd shot seems to have done the trick, as it falls to the ground unmoving.

NOTICE!Your party has been awarded 333 XP each

Looking around I survey my surrounding and see more shadows moving in the mist heading towards us. Damn, there is a lot of them. I think and begin to wonder if we should not retreat for now.

Suddenly standing next to me are both Cindy and Julie. “You were suppose to stay in the Truck...” I started to complain.

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“Scott how can we learn and grow stronger if you are always doing it by yourself?”, Julie asks

Sigh she is right, I have been over protective as of late, but till, there are so many unknowns here and I am blind with the lack of information.

“Scott you are used to being in total control of a situation. However, right now, things have changed so much, that you will almost never have the full picture. You are going to have to trust in us too once in a while”, Cindy steps in.

“I trust you..” I begin, the fall silent. They are right, I need to train them, give them combat experience. We did it with green soldiers back in the marines, no matter how much training you have nothing beats combat experience.

With a silent nod, then I notice the Browning 1911-22 in Julie's hands, with pink grips even! “Where did you get that?” I ask staring at the gun.

“I've had it, I normally always carry it with me for protection!” she exclaims proudly, showing me the gun in a safe manner, “No worries safety is still on, my dad taught me how to shoot!”

“Always have it with you for protection?? Why did you not say anything at the Mall?” I ask with a strained voice, almost not believing what I am hearing.

“I said normally, but since I was going out with you yesterday, I did not think I would need it and left it at home. Believe you me, this puppy is not leaving my side ever again.” she says with a smile.

I holster the Energy gun, “Equip AR-15”, and in a flash the AR-15 is in my hands. I look at Cindy, “can you shoot?

“No need”, she smiles and small flame erupts from her hand. Then forms into a ball and whizzes at the nearest Zombie and engulfs it in flames incinerating it. Another ball already forming in her hand.

NOTICE!Your party has been awarded 333 XP each

“Handy,” I say and nod Then shoulder the AR-15, and take my sight on the approaching zombies “Head shots only, destroy the brain, nothing else matters and will be a waste of bullets", I instruct and then begin to fire off one shot after the other in rapid succession, each bullet finding its target without fail, dropping a zombie on the spot.

NOTICE!Your party has been awarded 333 XP each

Julie takes aim and fires also, but more slowly

NOTICE!Your party has been awarded 333 XP each

Cindy flings one Fireball after the other at the approaching Zombies

NOTICE!Your party has been awarded 333 XP each

After what seemed to be about 15 min, many bodies lay lifeless, unmoving. In total 28 Zombies were vanquished. All in all, I rose to level 21 in quick succession, while the girls both hit level 20. But now things were slowing down drastically. It seems the higher level we were getting, the more XP was needed exponentially.

I guess just like in the MMO's, the early levels were easy, but the higher you rose the longer it would take. And this was looking no different.

We get back into the Truck and begin to move forward. Having seen the girls in action, I feel more comfortable now, and it made my job that more easy.

“Cindy, how did you create and shoot those fireballs?” I ask curiously while driving.

She seems to be engrossed in reading the blue display screen in front of her, but answers quickly,” I read the tutorial on magic, it said to gather mana in your body, then visualize the spell then command it. In this case, I visualized the fireball in my hand, then commanded it to fly to the target.”

“Gather mana?” Again I ask.

“Well you see in your status you have a st amount of mana, so you have to gather some for use of a spell, in this case for my fireball it uses 300 mana per cast.” She says looking away from the screen and at me.

Julie listens in, and nods at Cindy's comments in agreement when she found something she knew or understood. Saying the occasional "mmhmm."

“How much mana do you have to cast so many fireballs in quick succession?” I am asking as I know I only had about 1150 mana, so in my case I could have cast 3 fireballs in those circumstances.

We were leveling so fast back there my pool kept refreshing itself, so at the time it was like an unlimited mana pool hehe”, she snickers.

Ah that was it. And now her level being 20 with all her accessories, her pool must now be enormous.

I then ask,” Julie do you have any offensive spells?”

Julie shakes her head,” no I am pretty much a healer, plus the gun was more familiar, so I did not want to experiment just yet if I had.” she replies.

Then it hits me,” you girls did not seemed fazed by the zombies back there, normally and I mean no offense the normal person would be screaming in fright at the sight.”

“I was scared, I was shivering all over, but for some reason I also felt calm all of a sudden when we started to shoot at the zombies,” Julie says tilting her head in thought.

“Yeah I felt it too, a calm came over me, like it was a natural thing, I do not now how to explain it” Cindy adds.

Hmmm ok, well that is a good thing I think, calm under fire makes good soldiers.

The occasional Zombie can be seen walking aimlessly, but turns towards us as we drive by. The mist is still thick, “How close are we Cindy?, I ask

“Should be at the next right turn, 4th house on the left”, she replies.

We arrive at her house, quickly exit and make for the house, which is still secure. A thought hits me, I run back to the Truck, “Take ownership”

NOTICE!You have taken ownership the Truck

“Return to inventory Truck”

The Truck vanishes. Oh hell yeah this is indeed handy!

Cindy had already unlocked the door and we enter, which she quickly closes and locks. I move towards to the window to see outside but see no movement.

I whisper “ok we need to do this quickly”, both nod and begin moving about whispering to one another. Moving to the bedroom. I stay in the front room keeping an eye out the window. After a few moments a gathering of zombies is seen walking slowly down the road, seemingly still chasing us, but pass the house by. I breathe a sigh of relief and allow myself to relax a little.

A few hours pass, Cindy takes the time to fix up something to eat as well, as we were getting hungry. Then packs the rest of the food items into her inventory clearing out the entire kitchen. Most canned goods she simply threw into a trash bag, then put it into her inventory.

I am studying my status screen and keeping watch out the window.

StatusName: Scott SmithLevel: 21Race: Human Age: 18Experinece to next level: 18833/19200Title 1: Goblin Hunter

Stage 1 +5%XP when Killing GoblinsTitle 2: Seven in one Shot

Stage 1 +20% additional XP when killing more than one monster in a single blow.Title 3: Lethal Shot

Stage 1 +50% additional XP when killing Bosses in a single shot.Title 4: (empty)Title 5: (empty)Profession 1: Advanced MarineProfession 2: None SelectedFame: 2000Infamy: 0Health: 13700Base Attack: 102%Mana: 7750Base Defense: 172%Stamina: 18150Base Accuracy: 98%Strength: 363Dexterity: 360Vitality: 264Endurance: 361Intelligence: 150Wisdom: 160Luck: 10Sexual Stamina: 242Unused Stat Points: 170SkillsUnarmed CombatSkill level 1 +10% DamageField MedicSkill level 1 +5% HealingStealthSkill level 2 +6%Sneak AttackSkill level 1 +5% damage 2X damageSword MasterySkill Level 1+10% damageDagger MasterySkill Level 2 +20% DamageFirearms MasterySkill Level 2 +12% AccuracyItems EquippedAdvanced Marine UnderwearKeeps you cool/warm and dry in any environment.Advanced Marine Shirt+20% Defense +20 Str, +20 End +20 Dex. Fire, Cold, Acid resist 50%Advanced Marine Pants+20% Defense +20 Str, +20 End +20 Dex. Fire, Cold, Acid resist 50%Advanced Maine Boots+10% Defense +10 Dex +10 Vit Fire, Cold, Acid resist 50%Advanced Marine Utility Belt+5% Defense +5 to all stats Fire, Cold, Acid resist 50%Advanced Marine Flak Jacket+50% Defense +3 to all stats Fire, Cold, Acid resist 50%Advanced Marine Helmet+20% Defense +20 Int +20 wis Fire, Cold, Acid resist 50%Advanced Marine Weapon Energy PistolDamage 150 -250Good Quality AR-15Damage 50-75

I view the stats and Firearms Mastery jumps out right away. I then see unread notices, and read them

Skill Awarded: Firearms MasteryCongratulations!! For successfully performing Firearms Mastery,

you have acquired the skill Firearms Mastery.

Benefits +10% Accuracy

Dex +5 End +3 Vit +3

Skill level 2

Experience to next level 160/250

Skill Awarded: Firearms MasteryCongratulations! Firearms Mastery Skill raised to level 2

Benefits +2% Accuracy

Experience to next level 160/250

I nod in satisfaction, and decide I will allocate the skill pts at a later time. In the meantime the girls are busy packing and storing as fast as they can. I put on my All purpose goggles and start to use the various functions looking into the houses across the street. Using X-ray I can see inside, and by adjusting the power can go room to room.

Inside some, I see a few zombies, some bodies as well. No life besides us. I switch to infra red, but see nothing thru the thick mist that would indicate life. I see the occasional water heater light up. Putting away the goggles, I stare out the window alert waiting for the girls to finish.

This time it took longer since I did not help but stood watch, but eventually the girls were done. I glance at my watch. We left the house about 5:10 am, spent 4 hours at Julie's and now another 5 hours here with the 30 min travel time to get here. It was approaching 4 pm and I still wanted to hit at least one spot before heading home,

We leave the house, Cindy does not even bother to lock the door, I call out the Truck, we all enter and I drive off to the next goal and hope we have no more encounters.

Chapter 10 Gaining Confidence

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