Nick’s idea of being stuck between a rock and a hard place had come to full fruition. Six of my people and myself had gone a mission to clear out the town of Albany to make the path to the dungeon safe. On the off chance that we couldn’t clear a Level 11-20 Zone, something that we had been doing for months, we would report back home with the situation and what we needed to do. However, we were surrounded. Every minute, more Termites joined the insectoid army behind us. Every minute, more Undead joined the force in front of us.
We were encircled by an undefeatable armada of bugs and Undead. This didn’t make any sense. The Termites were just regular enemies. They weren’t sentient. It was like having an army of wolves. A pack could only be so big. What the hell was going on?
A notification appeared.
Your party has caused a political event with multiple enemy factions. You will now be able to see rough sketches of minor faction controlled areas in zones you have explored.
I opened my map and the [Diplomacy] skill upgrade seemed to have taken effect. “Tikan Termites - Invasive” was scribbled over Albany Elementary School in fine print. The yellow-tinted pale coloration of the territory stood out in contrast to the bright purple of the Undead controlled land.
It was odd. The [Diplomacy] skill seemed to level up, not with experience, but with milestones. That was in contrast to every other skill that we had been learning so far. I wondered what the other milestones were? Why didn’t the friendly factions count for my diplomacy skill? The skill was listed in my Profile as a special skill, so that most likely had something to do with it. What were the other special skills? Then a thought struck me. If these were two different factions…what if-
“Jeremiah.” Cain interrupted my train of thought. “What do we do?”
“Huh?” I snapped out of my deep thought to see the Undead cocking back the massive crossbow machines and the Termites hissing as more minions poured out of the giant hole in the wall of Albany Elementary.
“What do we do?”
“I…I don’t know, Cain.” It hurt to admit, but it was true. I was in a corner and had no idea how to get out.
“We could make a break for it?” Matt stared at the narrow lanes of open land to our East and West sides.
Elsa shook her head. “Look.” She pointed to lines of Skeleton Scouts that stood in the back ranks of the Undead frontline. They all had bows with arrows notched. “They’d shoot you down before you made it out. Plus, we are all dangerously low on energy.”
Matt blinked. “Can we buy more potions?”
I shook my head. “Market doesn’t open within 100 yards of enemies. You know that.”
Matt gave me a look. “Are we within 100 yards?”
I thought on it for a second before attempting to open the menu. It didn’t open. “Yeah. We are.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to focus, as Graham walked up next to me.
“Ya know…the girl could get out of here.” Graham's voice was barely above a whisper.
“Theresa?”
“No. The quiet one. She’s got that [Stealth] skill.”
I nodded. “You think this is it?” There was no sense in all of us dying.
Graham gave me a strange look. “Yeah. I think it is.”
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Albany, TX - Shackleford County (Oct 1st, 2049)
Graham ran from the weird rat-men and made several turns along the side streets. He knew that, whatever was going on, he knew these roads better than they did. He led them down the maze of residential streets, yelling at the occasional stubborn resident who had not gone to the gathering center to get their asses back inside. He could hear the faint steps of the rat-men on his tail, but he could out run them.
As he got to the shelter, his eyes went wide. It was in flames. The surviving population of Albany ran for their lives as they were cut down by Kobolds left and right. “Harlan!”
The old war vet looked up at him. “Sheriff?”
The rat-man behind him ran a spear through Harlan’s chest. He dropped to the ground, still clutching the rifle he had been holding. The rat turned to look at Graham, seeing he was gone.
Graham hid behind a the rear wall of a dollar store as he tried to tune out the frantic screams for help. “Protect and serve…protect and serve…protect and…” Graham broke out in tears of frustration and despair before running away from the slaughter.
-------------------------
Graham gave me a faint smile. “Ya know…it’s kind of symbolic to be killed by the people I failed.”
My eyes went wide. “What?”
He gestured with his blade to the Undead front. “They’re all the old citizens, J. The Elite was one of my friends. The war with the Chinese fucked his head up pretty bad, but not like this.” Graham gave a faint chuckle. “Seems like it's a wrap, J. We had a good run of it.”
I shook my head. Theresa was faintly crying in the background as Matt looked left and right, still gauging if he could run for it. Elsa sat quietly. I think she knew she was fine. If everything went to hell in a handbasket, she could just step away. Graham was far too accepting of his fate. Cain was the complete opposite. Cain wanted to go down fighting. Nick stood right by me, waiting for my order. He might have been young, but part of me had a feeling I could order him to go stand in a field and starve to death and he’d do it without question. That loyalty and complete trust in me confirmed my desire to get the hell out of this alive.
“Alright….so…here’s what were gonna do.”
“YOU COULDN’T KILL THEM YOURSELF, TIKAN?!” The Undead General shouted across the parking lot. The rusted cars seemed to shake with the voice. I wasn’t quite sure how a skeleton without organs was capable of speaking, but they should have been able to wield weapons either.
“TINY…CREATURESSS…HARD…TO…..CATCH….MARROW….”
The Undead Elite gave a laugh. “COME ON, TIKAN! LEAVE YOUR NEST!”
The giant insectoid creature clicked in annoyance. “I…KNOW…OF….THE….FIRE…”
I scanned the area, looking for whatever he was talking about. It was not my eyes that caught it, but my profile selector. A profile popped up in the distance, and I could barely make out the title. “Undead Mage - Level 18”. I saw several more of what was presumably the same creature on top of roof tops on the far end of the school, facing the gym.
“YOUR MAGIC IS WEAK, TIKAN! YOU’RE TO FAR FROM THE MOUNDS!” Harlan's voice boomed. The deep voice was sent tremors through my body. My [Resolve] skill was strong, but even it was cracking.
“I….FEAR….NOTHING….RISEN…FROM….SOIL. YOUR…FIRE….WILL NOT….BURN.” The creatures mandible clicked furiously.
“Nick…were you trying to stop your fire from spreading?” I looked at him as he tried to follow the conversation between the two titans.
“Huh? Like…in the gym?”
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“Yes.”
“No…I just cast it down.”
Cain snorted. “The bug stopped the fire.”
I nodded. “There are Undead mages on the rooftops by the gym. They are trying to burn the school down and can’t.”
Theresa wiped her eyes and looked around. “So the Termites can’t leave the gym?”
“I think it’s just the Colossal. He keeps the gym from burning. That's why he didn't break the [Ring of Fire]. He was stopping it from spreading. The rest aren’t powerful so they go out and harvest things to bring back to the nest. ”
Nick gripped his staff. “Like a real-life bug colony?”
“Mhm.” I started to look at our options. The Colossal couldn’t leave the gym. That was good. The Skeletons were either weaker or just as strong as the Colossal. That was also good. It looked like this was some sort of old west stand off with a hundred or more living beings of three different factions instead of three white men with single shot pistols.
“Nick…how much energy you got left?”
The red-headed teenager had a face of pure exhaustion. Still, he rallied and smiled. “Enough for one good spell.”
I nodded. “We’re gonna need it. Graham! I have a plan.”
“TIKAN! ARE YOU GOING TO ATTACK, OR WILL WE HAVE TO?”
“THE….CREATURESSSSS…..MUST…DIE.”
“THEY WILL! STRIKE THEM DOWN FIRST AND THEN WE’LL HANDLE OUR OWN ISSUES.”
“YOU….KILL…THEM.”
The Undead General scoffed, waving his hand at one of his men.
As we discussed our plan, a massive crossbow bolt flew over our heads. I watched it fly into the Termite line and impale two of the creatures next to the Colossal.
The creature roared in response and spit a massive ball of acid at the Undead. The first shot was fired and now it was time for the fun to start. In an instant, projectiles flew. Archers from the Undead line fired a volley of arrows. Crossbow bolts and balls of fire from Skeleton Mages flew overhead at the bugs. Several of the projectiles were aimed at us as well.
Cain brought his shield up to block a fireball, the impact making him slide several feet across the concrete parking lot. The plate armor of his boots caused thick lines in the concrete to appear. “Jeremiah? Now?”
I nodded. “NOW NICK!”
Nick created a [Ring of Fire] that was massive, blocking off the Termite line. After the cast, Nick passed out into Cain’s arms. With his massive Strength stat, Cain lifted the teenager and began to run. We all moved swiftly at an angle towards the Termite line. The bugs screeched at the fire and balls of acid from the larger Termites flew at us along with the Undead. The Skeletons, upon seeing us flee, charged. We ran fast, but the massive hordes of both groups were closing in. We just barely made it out of the parking lot as the two armies clashed in the middle. Several of the Termites were in flames from crossing the ring, but that didn’t mean they fought any less viciously against the higher-leveled but numerically fewer Skeletons.
We sprinted from the battle zone for our lives. Cain was exhausted, but managed to carry Nick without so much as a grunt of complaint. It took us less than 5 minutes to make it out of Albany proper, entering a row of farmhouses and the occasional gas station as we began to move south and back to Harehill.
----------------------------
We made it back in the middle of the night. The sound of the guard-rabbits trumpets filled our ears and the relief that washed over us was unable to be put into words. We all made it back.
Inside the wall, Nick was rushed into the medical office. The Rabbitfolk greeted us like war heroes and began to supply us with food and drink free of charge. Jerry walked out to ensure we were okay and asked for a status report. We informed him of what happened and he nodded, going to repeat the events to Chief Cassil. We had recently realized that, without knowledge of the current events, the rabbits were unable to offer quests. I figured that, once informed about the situation, Cassil would be able to offer bounty quests on the two faction heads.
It took another hour of debriefing before I was able to sit on my bed with a cup of water and look over the options for my Level 20 skill.
ACTIVE SKILL SELECTION (RANGER)
COVER FIRE
Fire rapidly, producing x5 as many bullets with 20% of normal accuracy and 50% of normal damage.
PYRO-SHOT
Shoot an explosion of flame, blinding enemies as well as dealing minor burning damage.
NATURAL HIDE
Gain a stealth cloak. Must be 50% obscured by natural flora.
Once again, all 3 options were beneficial. However, as I dwelled on the massive war fronts we had been facing, I realized that [Natural Hide] is not a skill fit for a leader. The remaining two would have both been useful. The [Pyro-Shot] would have done well for escaping. It would make me rely on Nick’s fire skills a whole lot less. The sight of those massive fronts made me realize that there was a good chance that those were the first of many. If we really were going to enter a stage of warfare with other guilds and massive waves of enemies who had been reproducing this whole time, I realized that having what was effectively a machine-gun like ability made more sense than a distraction-based ability. Yes, [Pyro-Shot] meant I could rely on Nick less. That said, Nick had proven to be more reliable than even myself. The choice was clear. I selected [Cover Fire] and assigned my skill points. I decided to place them in Wisdom, still desperately needing the ability to fire [Multi-Shot] more often than I was currently able.
Finally, I opened the market page. I scanned the dual pistols and was surprised to see the prices had dipped a bit more. I finally found a significant upgrade. (Black Dawn Pistols) was a Level 15 Rare item. The weapon granted +11 Dexterity. My current weapon, a Level 7 Uncommon, only granted +5. I had no clue on the specific damage increase, but I knew I needed it. The six critical hits on the Termite Colossal barely scratching the creature had confirmed that for me. It was 2,400 gold. With shipping, that was 3,120 Gold. I had 3,140. With a deep sigh, I selected the purchase button and equipped the new gear.
NAME
Jeremiah, L.
CLASS
Ranger
LEVEL
20 (1%)
GOLD
20
STRENGTH
10
DEXTERITY
41 (18+23)
WISDOM
17 (12+5)
AGILITY
33 (20+13)
CRAFTING SKILLS
Cooking (1)
SPECIAL SKILLS
Diplomacy (2)
ACTIVE SKILLS
Multi-Shot (12)
Quickdraw (9)
Ranger's Mark (6)
Cover Fire (1)
PASSIVE SKILLS
Tracker (8)
Resolve (8)
Bone Piercing (6)
Analyze (2)
MAIN-HAND
Black Dawn Pistols (15R)
[+11 DEX]
OFF-HAND
N/A
HEAD
Bullhide Hat (10U)
[+5 DEX, +5 WIS]
CHEST
Shackleford Vest (12C)
[+7 AGI]
LEGS
Gnoll Hunter's Leggings (12C)
[+4 DEX, +3 AGI]
BOOTS
Scout's Boots (14U)
[+6 DEX, +6 AGI]