Quest 2- Using the Map
A gas station attendant is working smoothly to finish the transaction of every person lined up. Just 5 more until the line is empty. Every person is spoken to exactly as much as needed, and every item is scanned with a (beep) in 2 or less passes of a laser gun. The attendant taps the keys with an automatic familiarity of where things are.
“So pump #2, and these brings your total to $38.64… Will that be cash, credit or something else?”
“Debit please..”
“ok, Just swipe your card on the pad then…”
Beep… bzzt.. bzzzt… bzzzt.
Paper is ripped off the printer.
“Thank you for shopping at Sauropod Station.”
With a beckoning gesture the attendant says “Next please.”
It’s been a few days after the sudden leveling. Honestly I was expecting more. All the papers said as a hero levels up in the system they get stronger. All I’ve learned in the last few days is depending on the state of decay or how much of an animal remains the smell is proportionate to the flesh left on the body. And there is something about fire that destroys animated dead animals. I am not just referring to the smell of rotting flesh burning. But it is how quickly the zombie like creature falls apart, and cannot be reanimated after. Of course I tried to look up Necromancers but all I could find is jack and shit. Nobody wants necromancers, no one sells gear of necromancers, and there is no information on advancing the class. Rather there is no trust between guilds, police, military, or anyone else for a necromancer class. I’m stumped, now what should I do.
“Next please…”
4 people remain in line….
“Next please…”
3 people remain in line…
“Next please…”
“Next please…”
“Next please…”
As the last person exits the station the attendant takes a deep breath, and sighs.
“UHHH!!” Good grief this is just frustrating. How much of my life am I going to be stuck here at this gas station?”
-Ding!!! Congratulations Necromancer! Your second quest is to use the menu. You have 24 hours to learn the functions and complete the chain quest. Good Luck.–
“WHAT! What the hell…” I don’t get it… Now I get another quest and it’s a chain quest to boot. Come on, how can I do a damn chain quest when I’ve got 5 hours to go until I get off work? Besides do you have a guide book for the bloody Menu?
Menu… how do I even open this thing?
“Menu!” Johann calls out loud.
Light flashes over the attendant’s eyes. Ordinarily his eyes are a darker shade of blue, but while he stands there his eyes actually turn very pale. In several surges his eyes grow pale and on the last one his normal eye color returns but it the blue is surrounded by a ring of white. In Johann’s vision is a complete overlay of the world he would normally see, but markers and icons, and tiny check boxes pop up. Multiple segments pass by his vision and on each pass things are left in his vision. Of course as he looks around the markers all move with it. A few things become clear to him in a matter of moments.
A single green line indicates the direction and distance his latest undead raccoon is from his position. With some experimentation he can tilt his head forward and back and turning his body left and right he can tell the direction is based on his actual perspective. While looking down the green line is on the low part of his vision. When he turns around to face the direction “stinky” (the raccoon) is actually in, the green marker stops centered on top (north) of his vision. He also can see an orange line indicating a nearby dead creature that has the potential to be animated.
Over the next few hours as he works he continues to play with the interface and overlay. He finds the 3 bars open more of the menu. He can open it with a swipe of his finger or open it with a look and will to drag or swipe like with his fingers. He’s rewarded 20 xp every time he finishes discovering the full aspects of one menu function.
He figures out how to open a mental map of the local area, toggle on and off a HUD (heads up display). As well as modify what is actually made visible on the map such as his dot (personal location), his animated minion represented as a green dot, toggle visible names.
Other menu features include the quest log and a list of completed (grayed out), or incomplete objectives that are highlighted in white text. Current gear and their modifications on a inventory sheet. Of course this only serves to disappoint him when he sees the company cloths give a negative to his personal interactions. When he opens up a character sheet he’s able to see statistics and see that he has 3 points to spend to increase his personal abilities. The section with special abilities is represented by one skill called “Raise Lesser Undead”. This also lists one minion under that ability and is named “stinky”.
/facepalm
“OH come on, it took me literally?”
Continuing to work Johann kept fiddling with the menu options, but based on the quest 2 for learning the menu he still has to complete the map section. By the end of his work shift he clocked out and sat in his car just to check out what he’s missing for completing quest 2.
Almost everything has grayed out except for a couple objectives.
* Map
* Follow 10 map markers. (Prove your ability for geographical orientation, and dead reckoning navigation. )
* Skills
* Advance any skill. (Every hero grows and becomes stronger.)
* Gain Victory
* Defeat a monster. (Prove your mettle.)
Seriously? Prove my mettle? Hey system Prove Your Mettle. I’m a hulking 114 pounds of skin and bone. People have literally told me to my face I have no ass. And I should just run out and fight a monster in the next….
Quest Time Remaining 19:53...
Well I guess I could go find out where these points are at least. Maybe even get them done.
17 minutes latter Johann is staring at a Susaon Park. This park has a small barn with horses, goats, geese, a few small lakes and a few people remain fishing as sunset draws near. He remembers coming here as a child and was actually chased by a herd of goats when a family member spooked the herd.
Well at least this should be easy. It looks like I’m going to have to do this one at a time. Johann pops open his trunk and roots around for some stuff. He pulls out a short stick he keeps for walking, a small backpack with a little hiking gear, and a dark green jacket. From the backpack he immediately pulls out a pack of trail mix and starts munching. After some nine hours and no lunch break I need at least a snack if I’m going to get this done and not feel starved.
Checking the map the first mark is down between two lakes and the barn. After a couple minutes of walking to the spot, the map marker changes to a different spot, and a slight chime sound is heard. Humm.. Was that the first one. Reopening quest-map- and reading 9 markers remaining gives exactly the answer he was hoping for. Onward to the ninth marker, this one is on the outside of the furthest lake.
When a chime is heard, he checks the map again to get a rough idea where the next marker is. With a sigh Johann heads off the trails and into the woods. Almost another 20 minutes later the quest log reads 7 markers remaining.
Really? Is the difficulty here scaling with the map markers? Pulling up the map and zooming out it shows a great distance between his current location and the park. Even running for 5 minutes or more there is no way to reach the barn in case of emergency. To top that off the sun is setting and the woods are starting to cast more shadows. I really don’t want to have to come back out here again and pick up , where I would have left off. I have to get this done before night fall at least.
Picking up the pace Johann walks on at an almost skipping speed. Making short leaps between tree roots and rocks helps speed up the time between markers. Hopping down steep hills, and sliding down with leaves and branches he covers more markers. Every few minutes press the urgency in the back of his head. The slightest movements of shadows remind him every moment of the impending night fall.
One by one he reaches the map markers..
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
* 6 Markers remaining…
* 5 Markers remaining…
* ….
* 3 Markers remaining…
* 2 Markers remaining…
The sky is turning a deeper shade of gray as the clouds move in for the evening, and the moist woodsy earth smell makes it clear to Johann he’s far from civilization as night creeps in. His heart is beating faster from the effort he’s been putting in and his breathing is somewhat labored from the effort. Sweat covers his back, and he opened the front of his jacket to help let the heat escape from his body.
When he hears another chime and checks the quest log to read.
* 1 Marker remaining
He takes a sigh of relief and turns the direction of the next marker. In just a few yards distance he feels extra beating. A thumping and pounding and it is a growing feeling. Feeling his chest he can tell it isn’t in his heart but it’s coming from nearby. The pounding is something he can feel. In just a few heartbeats latter he sees yellow lines closing in on him and it’s promptly mixed with red lines.
Johann charges at full speed to the largest and nearest tree he can. With a shock to his legs he stops with both legs and slams his back to the tree. If god be willing let this pass. Whatever this is then please let it pass.
The pounding grows louder and louder and it is being followed by swift and nimble feet. Something is chasing a herd and they are cackling like wild insane mad men. The voices are sharp and piercing. These damn things are flocking this way. Or maybe whatever is chasing them is headed this direction. I just can’t tell.
Just when it felt like the pounding would shake his chest loose and might threaten to take him off his feet he sees the first of them. It is a herd of deer. Some are small but then he sees the larger ones that cross the lines of monstrous animals. A few deer are over 6 foot tall and probably 300-400 pounds. Some have antlers and he knows they are males. The others without are doe, they are female.
While the deer come bounding around and past the trees he notices stones and what must have been some arrows come flying by. He ducks and huddles low against the base of the tree hoping nothing will see him. One of the animals make a loud nahyy sound as it rears up and collapses on Johann as he tries to spring away. But it fell shoulder and neck on his legs and lower half.
After being bludgeoned by a falling animal body, Johann got the air knocked out of him by the hard skull of the animal. After a few moments he got back his breath and was trying to squirm out from under the animal while it was writhing in pain. But as soon as he heard some noises coming around the tree he paused and looked back.
Several bone like and lanky humanoids came skulking around the tree. Their ears were pointed but they were not elfs. Their smiles were wicked and full of short needle like snagged teeth. One was dark green, grayish, and eventually one was a dirty blue. Being looked at by their huge round eyes was like being looked at as dinner. Malice was evident in their behavior, but when the first two looked like they were ready to strike with rocks the blueish one slapped them each with one swing of a bow. And they paused.
“STOP…. Ha ha ha ha” the blue one said in a voice like that of a 90 year old smoker.
Johann gaped back in open mouth shock. These things can speak. When the blue one skulked out from behind the other two it gazed down. It had a loin type cloth as well but instead of a generic bony chest this one had two small mounds protruding from it. Its head was just as obscenely large as the other two for the size of its body. And the smile stretched longer and wider like a shark’s mouth.
“You both see…. Humans are not just tasty… But they can be useful.” She if it could be called a she, smiled like a cat who just caught a mouse and was going to teach the other cats the joy of playing with their food.
The other two nodded while getting her attention. Mean while the deer continued to run off leaving behind the wounded and me. Several more of these bony goblinoids could be seen giving chase to the herd. Good god, how many of these things are there? And so close to a human park?
Johann was slashed by the nails of the blue goblin and pulled from his thoughts. The heat of his own blood trickling down his face was a sharp reminder of what his situation was.
“HUMAN!!!” she demanded.
Johann turned to give his attention to this monster while trying to slide out from the weight of the deer.
“Good, so good… I can smell it. Your fear is soo sweet.” The blueish goblin came closer with it’s clawed feet in touching range. The smell of dirt, sweat, sex, and death clung to the skin of this creature.
“That’s right! I’m going to make good use of my new toy before the others get a chance to break you..” She smiled and pulled the strings on her loin cloth to toss it to the side. Gnarled skin dangled below her bony legs and thighs. Like loose meat dripping with disease and a stink like a skunk. It’s a scent like something sharp and enough to curl your nose hairs.
Johann could feel the blood draining from his whole body. Like a cloak of ice covered not just his heart but his essence as well. The misery of the deer is likely going to include him as well, If he can’t over throw this situation. First issue is this massive beast has to get the hell off me. IF it would only die first. In a few steps she’s going to be right over the top of us… I need a distraction.
“AHHHHHH!” Screamed the gray goblin. Stinky latched onto the largest part of the muscle on the goblins leg and proceeded to chew as fast as possible.
Johann wrapped his one leg part way around the neck of the deer, and grabbed the skull with both hands. He twisted and pulled at the same time. Bones popped, and the neck of the deer looked unnatural a moment later. When the deer obtained an orange and golden glow just before it flashed white he knew the deer died.
“Don’t just stand there. Kill the pest. And Don’t distract me from my MEAL!”
The green goblin started to throw rocks at stinky (the raccoon), but he also struck the leg of the gray goblin.
With a mental grip and connection the deer shuttered and snapping sounds could be heard as the neck took a slightly better angle. With that it started to roll up, and get to a standing position. Johann rolled and reaches to get his now broken walking stick.
The blue goblin screamed and lunged toward Johann, but the deer plowed into her body and the other goblin that wasn’t distracted.
Goblins were screaming, and the deer was naying in reply. Stones struck the deer and made sickening cracking sounds. The blue goblin pulled out another arrow and started plunging it into the hide of the deer like a horror movie killer. When the deer reared up and struck the gray goblin in the head it made a popping sound as the hoof broke the skull open and spattered the contents like Galliger and the hammer he used on watermelons.
In a few heart beats the two goblins were savagely attacking and rolling on the ground with the deer. Johann waited for just a moment, then two. As soon as he got behind the blue goblin he lunged forward with both hands gripping the broken stick and he drove it into the back of that goblin.
He could feel the broken end plunge into the skin and soft flesh. But the bones reject the stick as it slid off and around them tearing meat and nerves. The goblins head turned around almost like an owl and it freaked out trying to reach for him. But Johann continued to put all his weight into pushing her toward the body of the deer. A few times her sharp nails raked at his jacket and skin. Her claws tore small lines in Johann’s flesh every time they could make purchase.
“YEA!!! How’s that for penetration? You GET ENOUGH YET!!!
After nearly 2 minutes of struggling the area grew silent except for Johann’s heavy breathing. Stinky was crushed. And the deer had numerous broken bones but still was able to limp on. After a few moments even the goblin corpses became highlighted strangely like the deer did. He reached out with his mind and grabbed them too. They popped and crackled before springing back to life. But he did not let them smile. This is creepy enough.
He covered the goblins lower bodies with his shredded clothing, and pulled the arrows from the deer’s hide. With the goblins help he mounted the back of the deer. Together they marched on toward the final marker point. Meanwhile Johann pulled first aid gear from his bag and put little bandages and wiped the wounds with little pads.
Being relieved to a degree the final Marker point was reached with no more problems. Then the system started to react.
Ding!!! WOOSH!!! Congratulations Hero, you defeated a monster! Lights and fan fair.
Ding!!! WOOSH!!! Congratulations Hero, you learned to use the menu! Lights and fan fair.
Ding!!! WOOSH!!! Congratulations Hero, you learned to advance a skill “raise lesser undead” to “raise undead”! You have learned how to raise undead! Lights and fan fair.
Ding!!! Congratulations Hero, You have been awarded 300 xp for a completing a quest.
Ding!!! Congratulations Hero, You have been awarded 100 xp for a killing a goblin.
“What that’s it? I didn’t level up over this? 100 xp for a damn goblin, and 300 xp for this chain quest?”
Ding!!! Congratulations Hero, You have been awarded 100 xp for a killing a goblin.
Ding!!! Congratulations Hero, You have been awarded 100 xp for a killing a goblin.
“If not for the bloody deer those things would have killed me! AND WORSE!”
Ding!!! Congratulations Hero, You have been awarded 50 xp for a killing a young deer.
Johann glared at the menu screen during the announcements. “wow… and a big fuck you too. That monstrous deer was worth 50. Who wrote this shit?”
….
After a few more moments passed it was clear this was all the system was going to reward Johann with. So he gave up waiting and got the direction of the parking lot and started to travel that way with the undead minions.
Ding!!! Congratulations Hero, You have been awarded Title Minor Backstabber 50 xp for a killing a young deer.
Ding!!! Congratulations Hero, hit them when they don’t see it coming. You achieved a back stab on a lesser opponent (equal or lower level) while not a rogue class, and you are now recognized as a tactician. You have been awarded the Back-Stabber! All your tactical actions receive no penalty. Note this is a stealth title, only you and those you want to reveal it to may see it. You have been awarded 100 xp for a minor award.
/faceplam “uhm… I don’t know if I should be flattered or insulted at this. Hey, system, are you trolling me again? Just like last time? Did you set me up to finish the quest or get killed by it? Did you know there were goblins here? Is that why I was wondering all over the fucking woods for no apparent reason? I seriously would have brought some guns if I knew goblins were out here.”
All was quite except for the sound of the group walking and Johann complaining.
Johann was late getting back to his car. Then when he tried to leave the park while being followed by the undead the park gates were closed. They locked him in. So he tried to have the undead lift up one side of the gate together and it worked. The gate was lifted off the hinges and it all collapsed to the ground while the other side was chained up. So he had the goblins run with the deer along the side of the road without stinky the raccoon. Sadly stinky was completely crushed and broken in the struggle.
The few cars that were out passed Johann by without a second glance and he went slowly enough for the deer and goblins to keep up. When he got home he had the goblins carry the trash out. Then start to clean up the back yard of debris so he could leave them along the neighbor’s privacy fence. He figured if they were going to stink then might as well keep it along the side of the neighbor that always gave him trouble in the first place.
He continued to try and treat the wounds as best he could with hydrogen peroxide, and iodine. Then wrap it in gauze, and medical tape. It was a strange feeling to be both fairly normal but also feel this undead connection linked to the monsters out back. He has tested it and there is a limit to the range. But actually fine control he has to see them to have it. It’s sort of like trying to use a robot arm to do something around a wall. Like you could give undead basic directions, but if you can’t see them and don’t know where they are then you would end up with them walking off the road, or attacking a tree. Like working blind with an artificial arm.
Even so there must be more to being a hero than this. Everything is still so average and normal. Maybe he needs to find a humanoid skeleton. Then it wouldn’t stink and he could be my butler. That would be nice.
I wonder if there is a way to animate bones in a way that is not human like but maybe like a bone chair, or bone box, or bone oven with arms that could cook for me.
“ha ha ha ha, wow that would be something. But really is it possible?”