Now that the group was back together they had their work cut out for them, namely getting their Head Researcher caught up on levels with the party. The current Guildmaster Charles the Battle Brewer held a colorful stack of dry erase markers as he laid out the current plan on the smooth high gloss painted wall of the ‘War Room’ that was still set up with the D&D Lego compatible game board.
“Ok my fellow educators, its crunch time. Our initial scouting has gathered some promising quests and grinding areas for our surroundings. This is still Day One of the System Rollout and from what we can tell it fits most of the tropes of LitRPG and Gamelit. Most of you are long term members of our D&D group and/or Book Club but let me boil the battle plan down to Dora the Explorer levels of simplicity.
First step, we escort Gus to the Pew Pew Prepper Shop and Gun Range down the street. The owner Manny is a regular at the shop and has accepted the Guild role as Quartermaster. Until we reach our stockpile lets break out the hand-me-downs to outfit good ol’ Gus so he’s less squishy. Props on the Starter Weapon design on the way. I took the liberty of cleaning Blood Swimmer and greasing the moving parts with a protective coating of Elbow Grease my class lets me craft to coat my stills, hash grinders, and cast iron cookware. It adds 5 points of temporary durability and 24 hours of corrosion resistance. I can loan my Wand of Boiling to start off.” Charles plucked a brass wand with a steam whistle topper from his Inventory and set it on the model adventurer’s tavern tabletop. He sketched a basic outline of the Equipment Screen on the white board and wrote Blood Swimmer in the Primary Weapon slot with the Wand of Boiling in the Sidearm position.
Not to be outdone the others piled on a few more items they could spare or had outgrown. Gus looked over the ‘Pity Pile’ as Nick had helpfully labeled it with a post it note.
Wand of Boiling: Charges 10/12 - Shoot a bolt of the spell Boil Liquid 10 feet. Costs 5 MP per Charge refilled or automatically Recharges at local midnight in a Safe Zone.
Boil Liquid Spell Effect: Utility - Minor Destruction - Target liquid up to 1 gallon comes to a roiling boil. When targeting a living creature damage is dealt as if a 1 liter of boiling water is splashed on them.
Leather Armor Set (Uncommon)- Sewer Gator Sunday Best:
Vest: Under Layer Slot - Povides 2 Armor HP - Set Bonus: When worn with the rest of the set, provides 10% Slashing Resistance from foes level 8 and under
Suit Jacket: Provides 3 Armor HP - Set Bonus: +2 Charisma for Intimidation Checks
Slacks: Provides 2 Armor HP - Set Bonus: Death Roll - 6/6 Charges - User may spin in place 360 degrees in .3 seconds per each charge. This occurs 1 millimeter off the current footing.
Loafers: Provides 1 Armor HP - Set Bonus: 1 hour Waterproof Buff *System Tip* Buff counts down only when wearer would normally be soaked, think of it like a candle that is only lit when needed.
*System Tip* Armor HP takes damage before your actual HP when hit on an armored location. Has on tier fewer priority to other false or temporary HP effects. Armor HP in this case is equal to the armor’s durability value. This may not always be the case depending on the enchantments and quality of material used in crafting.
It seemed the four Guild Officers had each received a piece of the armor set as a loot drop but had since found better gear. Gus made another Research Notes folder he titled System Quirks then notated how lately the System item descriptions used both Imperial and Metric units of measurements much like American automobiles. Once contact was established with the rest of the world he would compare notes. Most likely that opportunity would arrive first once the Staff Lounge on the moon opened up, as the Internet was bugging out and only showed local connections and previously accessed pages.
After equipping the offered items Gus fought back the urge to do a falsetto impression of Rumpelstiltskin from the show Once Upon a Time who was known for his crocodilian leather duds. They were burning daylight and he would likely find better gear later in the day as their Party tackled the local Quests and mob grinding.
Charles waited for the wolf whistles to die down before continuing his presentation. “Alrighty then. For Step 2, we’re going to run Gus through the Obstacle Coarse mini game that popped up at the Senior Center a mile away. We’ll work on crafting with the local silver foxes and vixens while we rotate for kiting and luring in easier mobs for him since the course itself is designated an Arena Semi-Safe Zone and he can only be knocked down to 1 HP there. Once he hits level 10 and unlocks Class selection we will break for lunch. After serving a meal with minor buffs for our party and the seniors we move on to Step 3, The Zoo Lights Dungeon. As we have spent most of the morning running it to earn Sterling the Dungeon Core to go with his title we shouldn’t have many issues doing the same for Gus. Thankfully the System doesn’t nerf smurphing until the party member is above 10 so he should still get normal XP for his combat contributions. We only have to focus on stepping in to give him breathing room and rest breaks to regen his Point Bars. Save potions and their cool downs for emergencies. Once he beats the Boss his Dungeon Master Title should trigger a Level 1 Dungeon Core to drop in the Loot Chest, then we can use it as a Roaming Dungeon which in theory should give us a mobile monster lure to help clear the threats in our Burb. If all goes well, we should have the Core and Gus up to average by supper-time.” With his lecture over, Charles took apart his presentation pointer made from linked dry erase markers and put his ring adorned hand in for a group huddle.
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They chanted, “One, two, three, Don’t Test Me! Master Teacher’s Guild Rules!” Then broke the huddle to look at the new notification that triggered.
Guild Battlecry set. Buff: Yearnin’ for some Learnin’ - 10% XP Boost for 8 hours. Ritual usable once a day.
The mile long trek to the Guild Armory was used as a practice run for future VIP body guard escort quests. The 4 Horseman and Squishy Party did their best to pull off the “Tacticool” vibe, checking corners and clearing alleys with Charles and Nick astride their mounts while Matthew and Brandon were on foot with Gus. The only thing close to combat that occurred was when they spooked a Level 2 Stool Pidgeon that was banging its head on the display window of a bakery. It took to the air and tried to drop a wet guano bomb on Gus, only for Matthew to jump heroically in the way to take the hit and slap the foul fowl down like a volley ball pro. This triggered Gus’s Hackysack reflexes causing him to pendulum kick the plummeting pigeon, taking its few remaining hitpoints.
Combat Log: Stool Pigeon Level 2 hits Matthew for 1 damage with Guano Bomb, Matthew
HP (27/28)
Matthew hits Stool Pigeon Level 2 with an unarmed strike (not to be confused with the Skill) for 5 damage
Stool Pigeon HP (3/8)
Gus hits Stool Pigeon with an Assisted Critical unarmed strike for 9 damage
Stool Pigeon HP (-6/8) OVERKILL
Gus earns 3 XP for Party Combat
Reminder: Level Up to 3 waiting XP will be banked until Level Up is used.
Loot Earned: 2 Copper, Hewn Stone Sprawl Region Statue and Bakery Location Map
The resulting explosion of feathers floated down like confetti, which was skillfully plucked from the air by Nick showing off his Dexterity to catch the potential crafting material. All the while everyone checked their updated maps and circled around Gus in case more mobs came to the sound of combat.
The Pew Pew Prepper Store and Shooting Range now had improvised barriers made of sandbags and scavenged tables creating a zigzagging path to the entrance. Rifle toting guards were perched on the roof and waved their fellow Guildmember’s through the added security. A bubble like film was stretched over the open front door.
Upgraded Safe Zone Screening Passed - No Parasites, Diseases, Tracking, Curses, or Duress Detected
Designated Training Camp EnteredSystem Support Staff are encouraged to mentor when time permits in exchange for a limited time 10% matching bonus of XP earned by students
The shop was an organized hive of movement, in one area bullet casings were being reloaded next to arrows and bolts being fletched. The snack bar kitchenette had been commandeered to brew potions and for some reason a massage table had been set up next to the candle section where a surprisingly muscular ninety year old Chiropractor was waging war on the aftermath of poor posture. Charles tossed a brown gravy colored mason jar to the weather worn man after catching his attention. “Thats all the Elbow Grease I can craft until tomorrow Jaxxon. When you get a minute we found you the perfect new toy we Looted from the Centaur Centurion mini-boss at the Zoo Lights Dungeon on our last run. I’ll put it on the table in the Sorting Room in the back.”
This ignited a beaming smile from the spine specialist who opened the jar and rubbed a small amount on his hands before storing it in his Inventory then slapped his right elbow and leapt almost to the twelve foot ceiling and arced down into a luchador worthy elbow drop on his oblivious patient. After recovering from the initial shock the victim in question flopped off the massage table and flipped back his shoulder length hair like they were filming a shampoo commercial. “Woah Doc I think I just broke six foot in height. You’re a miracle worker.”
The shirtless man who would fit right at home on a romance novel cover tossed his physician a silver coin then did a backflip over the checkout counter.He then grabbed a Hawaiian shirt hanging from the wall and buttoned it half way up. The acrobatic clerk gave a casual salute to the new arrivals then pulled out a clip board and donned a set of horn rimmed reading glasses.
The group ushered Gus forward who all but drooled at all the shiny new magical items to choose from.