If I wanted to continue to level up, I had to go places where there were lots of enemies that were close enough to my level to provide at least some experience and far enough away from my level that I wouldn't have to worry about dying. Albany seemed like just the place. Going to Albany to hunt would also provide me an opportunity to test a theory. In the worst case scenario, I was most likely dead already.

I saw the faint outlines of the Skeletons moving throughout Albany. I knew where the termites were now, and I could stay away from them. I was 4 levels higher than the last time the group came here, and I could feel the difference. I had gotten better gear and and had leveled up a variety of skills. Most importantly, I had gotten better at utilizing my [Ranger’s Mark] and predicting the critical strike locations with [Analyze].

A level 16 Plague Hound rounded a corner, drool was falling from its face as it snarled at me. The creature was 7 levels below me and would net zero experience if I killed it. Still, it was another 25 or so gold and always had the small chance to drop a piece of gear between Levels 1 and 16. Before I had unlocked [Discovery], I never would have seen the beast coming. It would have rounded the corner and completely surprised me. Instead, I was more than ready for it.

[Analyze] showed me a glowing golden circle right in the middle of its bony forehead. My [Quickdraw] practically teleported the pistols into my hand and I cast my [Ranger’s Mark] over the hound. The creature gave a short bark, still sizing me up and not charging. That was its mistake. It should have ran. With very little energy, I raised my pistol to deliver a fatal shot to its skull. The beast died immediately. Despite not providing me with any experience, the creature was the perfect target to test my ability combinations on.

The 27 gold I looted from the corpse was nothing in comparison to the ego boost I felt from its destruction. I had been nervous about venturing into Albany alone. I had made up a dumb lie to tell Graham about needing to go for a ride. He didn’t question me as I rode out the gates of Harehill alone. I was all alone here and had no help other than a few potions.

I moved street to street, towards my objective. I had a plan. It was a dumb, stupid, horribly and poorly though out plan, but it was a plan. The skeletons who emerged, even the Level 18’s, took 1 to 3 shots to take down. I had barely received a scratch before I got to the town hall.

It was as I was expecting. The skeletons here were worn down. Several of them had wounds that were prominently displayed on their sickly gray bones. A few were missing limbs and a couple were missing more than 1. I stood in front of Albany’s town hall and let out a shout. The sound echoed through the town square and they descended upon me.

As I stood there, at least a dozen Skeletons of various job descriptions along with a few Zombie Drones charged at me. I took note of the glowing yellow dots for critical strikes and readied my [Multi-Shot]. As they got closer, I fired the first one. Two of the enemies dropped dead and another four recoiled. A spare arrow flew past me and I took aim at the archer, positioned on top of a small office building, and fired two shots in rapid succession. The bones collapsed and fell through the air to land with a crunch on the ground below.

I readied my second [Multi-Shot] and fired again, dropping four enemies this time around. My reaction speed was much quicker with my Agility stat and, while feeling like a significantly longer time to me, the whole encounter had most likely been less than 10 seconds so far.

The remaining half dozen enemies continued their charge and got close enough to almost touch me. I fired twice in either direction, dropping the last two Zombies. As the Skeletons closed in and began to slash and stab at me, I fired from the center and took them down with a near-ludicrous efficiency. I was out-leveled for the zone and mathematically it was almost impossible for me to lose. With that said, I still felt cool as all hell as I cowboyed my way to the town hall doors.

I kicked the doors open to become face to face with the Level 21 Elite. General Harlan Marrow stared at me with his crimson eyes. His bony face and metal armor reflected in the sunlight that trickled in from the dusty window. Like his minions, General Harlan displayed several cracks and cuts into both his armor and his body. Whatever battle that had taken place after we escaped from Albany had obviously taken its toll. “Human….”

I gave a grin. “Hey, Harlan. Long time no see.”

“You…you did this!” The General charged at me.

The ‘this’ he was referring to was what I had noticed last night. Immediately after leaving Albany, I was able to see the small zone that was designated as ‘Termite Territory’. However, upon checking last night, I was able to see something that I knew no one else in the Commonwealth was able to see with my [Diplomacy] skill. Albany had shifted from a purple zone with a small yellow center to a yellow zone with intermixed pockets of purple. The Termites had taken Albany from the Undead.

With a smirk, I placed my [Ranger’s Mark] on the General. As he got within point blank range, I used [Quickdraw] and [Multi-Shot] in rapid succession. 6 critical hits met with 6 instances of [Bone Piercing] in addition to the 50% damage bonus from the mark. The General dropped from green health to red as he was blown back from the force of the bullets. As he started to stand, I fired several more times. The General never did get a chance to stand up again. What once was a terrifying enemy was now a wounded creature multiple levels below mine.

I looted the body and was excited to receive decent rewards. 105 gold, a decent chunk of experience, and a beautiful item dropped.

Zombie Flesh Jacket (18R)

[+7 DEX, +7 AGI]

Alright, maybe beautiful wasn’t quite the right term to use. That said, this was the best piece of gear I possessed, save for maybe my pistols. I equipped the gear and was happy to see that, despite its name, the tan cowboy jacket was rather well suited for my appearance. If you didn’t see the name, you would never notice anything was off about it. I turned my attention to a different pop-up announcement.

[Diplomacy] has advanced to Level 3!

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It seemed that I was also correct in my assumption that Diplomacy was upgraded through milestones. With the removal of the Undead leadership from the Albany overworld, and therefore all of Shackleford County outside of dungeons, I had displaced another major faction. The Kobolds were now the only major faction left in Shackleford County. I realized as the yellow portions of the map that indicated Termite Territory grew that perhaps the power vacuum would be replaced, but that was a concern for a different day.

I equipped a small hunting knife from my inventory and tried to hold my breath as I removed the head of the General. I had a plan and this was so far the worst part of it. The smell was wretched and the feeling of my small knife slicing into the rotten flesh was much worse than I had pictured. As the head finally detached from the shoulders, I gave a satisfied grunt and carried the head out of the town hall. I ensured to scan the bodies of the Undead for loot and found not much besides gold and practically useless low level items and crafting materials. I gathered what I could and headed towards my next objective.

I now knew that, under ideal circumstances, I could kill a Level 21 Elite while fighting solo. I figured that may not be the case for a Level 23 Colossal, but we’ll get there when we get there. I walked slowly towards the school. As I got closer more and more of the outlines I could see were those of the low level Termites. I was a quarter of a mile away from the school when one finally approached me. Now was the time to see how well this idea would work.

I held out the skull of General Marrow and gave a wave to the Termite. “Hello.”

The Termite clicked curiously as it stared at me. Several more of the creatures began to appear from alleys and behind buildings. I wasn't sure how many there truly were, but it reminded me of the question my friends and I used to debate in high school: "How many toddlers could you fight without stopping before you lost?"

I gave a smile. “I’m here to deliver this to Tikan.”

The creatures clicked and began to surround me. I kept my pistols off my guns to show no threat. The creatures got near to me and began to smell me. I knew that I could strike out at any moment. I just needed to keep it together for another few seconds.

The creatures soon stopped and took one last look at me before beginning to walk towards the school. I followed them hesitantly, noting the Termites that appeared behind me. I was boxed in, but I felt more like I was being escorted than arrested. This was going exactly as planned.

I soon arrived inside the school and was led to the now open doors of the gymnasium. It was hard to miss the Termite mounds that had moved from just inside of the gymnasium to all over the school. Every classroom and most of the hallways had large mounds for the Termites to dwell in. As I entered the gymnasium, I saw the familiar hill shape of T’sk Tikan at the back of the room. When I opened the profile, I was surprised to see that Tikan was now a Level 24. It seemed the enemies could indeed level up.

The massive colossal gave a hiss. “Human….why….come?”

I tossed the head of Harlan towards the creature. As it rolled to a stop halfway along the gym floor. One of the Termites moved forward to carry it the rest of the way to Tikan.

“You…bring…this…why?”

“You found yourself in a war here in Albany. My people and I are in a war south of here against a group that are stronger than both of our peoples combined. They seek to dominate and control everything, including both of us.”

“Is..that..not..what..you..seek?”

I shrugged. “Perhaps. I don’t like how they’re doing it.” Honesty seemed like the best policy to go with here. I had no idea what abilities Tikan possessed outside of his combat skills.

Tikan gave a clicking sound that sounded almost vaguely like a laugh. “Spoken..like..a..true..warrior. Why..come?”

“I want peace. Me and my people need access to the roads near Albany, as well as to the graveyard outside of town. I will offer you peace and total control of the town of Albany in exchange for no interference in our activities outside of town.”

“You wish to…quarantine…us?”

“I do.” There was no point being fake about the situation. We both knew what this was.

“If..I..say..no?”

“Then I come back with my men and we take Albany by force. I’d lose men, but we’d win. We aren’t trying to conquer you, Tikan. We are trying to avoid you.”

“This…not…favorable.”

“How so?”

“We..seek…destruction.”

“Of what?”

“Of…all.”

That seemed relatively one-dimensional. “You aren’t strong enough to destroy everything quite yet, Tikan. If those people that I am at war with come and win, then you will be the one who is destroyed.”

The creature hissed and shuffled its massive slug-like body slightly, causing layers of caked on dirt and mud to crack and slide along its skin. “We..not…attack…humans…outside…town...”

“Thank you.”

“For…now…human. For…now.”

That was exactly what I was hoping for. I wasn't sure if it was charisma or intimidation, but we were able to dissuade the hostiles from attacking. That meant they all had the same internal sentiency that the rabbits did. We could work with them. “Understood, Tikan.”

I turned on my heels as the tide of Termites parted to allow me free passage out of the school. I walked past rows of old buildings, houses, and stores that were once icons of what humanity could achieve over the rest of the animals. It was what set us apart from everything else on the planet. It took me a while, but I had realized that, in the new world, there was nothing to set us apart from everything else. There were possibly countless numbers of factions and species that inhabited this planet. Each one had goals and motivations that rivaled humanity’s. I only hoped that I could use this to my advantage before other groups figured this out as well.

As I left Albany and rode back to Harehill to inform the group that the Albany Crypts were now open to be cleared, a pair of messages appeared on my screen.

You have now gone from “Enemies” to “Neutral” with [Tikan Termites]!

[Diplomacy] has advanced to Level 4!

It was a nice sight to see. I finally felt like I was making the right calls again. I had done something good today. Maybe it was just kicking a can down a road, but it wasn’t a can I could afford to deal with right now. Who knows? Maybe I could upgrade that relationship even further. I wondered casually what a Termite/Human town would look like as I approached the front gates of Harehill.