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Shovels In Spades
B1: Chapter 10: Poison and Charisma

B1: Chapter 10: Poison and Charisma

Daz was just about to identify the classes of Sarah, Ellie and Lyle, but was disturbed by Ger's masculine and wisened voice.

"We'll go with you. I'm truly sorry for my rude behaviour to your friend, Lord Rimmy McShineston, and to yourself, so please, look after me, my employer and my daughters," Ger requested politely before he bowed slightly to show his sincerity.

Daz was honestly quite shocked at how cordial Ger was being. It was only day two of the attack, and he was so quick to put his life and his daughter's lives in Daz's hands? Just how bad was the first attack on them? Or was his acceptance possibly related to Daz's charisma stat? Thinking up on here, Daz suddenly realised something.

"Did you guys get a notification for completing day one's attack? I killed all the monsters outside with Rimmy, were they your monsters?" Daz asked curiously. He was wondering what kind of merits they had gained despite him being the one to kill the creatures.

"I think something like that may have appeared? We were terrified and frightened by the loud sounds and the vault's door being torn apart, so I think we accidentally dismissed it. Can we call it back up to show you?" Ger asked with concern in his voice. He was worried that the 'notification' may be a vital piece of information for Daz and that it would upset him were it to be unavailable to him.

"Nah, I don't care that much. Just tell me how many points you have back at the base, we need to get moving now 'cause the attack is coming in about an hour and a half," Daz said to Ger and the girls who had now calmed down. It was strange. He was the youngest person present, ignoring Rimmy, yet he held the most authority. The apocalypse was definitely what Daz had needed. He would never have gotten the chance to experience something like this before the experiment happened, so he once again thanked the system internally before he began walking out of the store only to stop in his tracks and look at Lyle suddenly.

"Ah, can he walk? What's wrong with him anyway?" Daz said while he pointed at the still whispering Lyle. The twins glanced at the mumbling man with disgust while Ger looked at his employer with pity in his eyes. Daz could see a story brewing between these gazes, but remained silent while he waited for an answer.

"He OD'ed. Not a severe overdose, but now he's entered a kind of shock-like state. He hasn't had a 'hit' since just before the attack, so he's losing his mind a bit," Ger said with some frustration clear in his voice. He was frustrated that he couldn't help Lyle right now. Although the man was insane, he was generally a good person and allowed Ger to follow his code of justice while dealing with 'unruly' customers.

"Heh... I bet the system could fix him right up," Daz stated to which Ger's expression livened up immediately.

"Really?! How?!" he shouted at Daz. Ger took a second to realise that he had lost control for a second there and coughed in an embarrassed manner before he spoke again, "Sorry, I got excited. He means a lot to me. How can the system fix him?"

"You really know nothing? Oh well, no harm telling you. Once you finish an attack, you get merit points. You can use these merit points to buy things, fantastic things from the system's shop. Like my outfit, or Rimmy. Truly, a wonderous thing, the system's shop. Anyway, I was bitten by a zombie during my first attack, and nearly died, but the system had a cure for the infection, so I'd be willing to put merit points on it having a treatment for OD'ing and withdrawal symptoms. What was his poison anyway?" Daz asked in curiosity. He had never met a junkie before, and he had never heard about this habit of Lyle's from the local newspaper he read before the experiment, so he was mildly interested.

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"His poison...? Oh, it's heroin. Or was heroin," Ger replied sadly. He didn't understand why Lyle was still taking the stuff even after he had escaped the machinations of his family and had started a life of his own, but people were weak, and old habits died hard.

"I'd like to bring him back to a normal state rather than the way he is now. System, is there a cure for heroin addiction and a cure for a heroin overdose in the shop?" Daz asked the system, hoping for a quick fix to his immediate problem.

Confirmed. Desired items exist. [Basic Drug Affliction Cure] price 500 merit points.

Confirm purchase and usage?

"Hmm... no thank you, system," Daz replied. He then returned his attention to the slightly nervous Ger. "He can be cured, but for five-hundred merit points. His lifeforce is still maxed out, so until that starts dropping, I won't spend my hard-earned merit points on curing him when it's not a critical condition. Rimmy, pick up the guy lying on the floor and gently carry him, please," Daz asked the Golem that was still waiting outside of the room.

Rimmy tilted his head slightly before he turned around and re-entered the vault and walked carefully towards the man lying down who seemed to be having a panic attack upon seeing Rimmy approaching him. Ger's heart leapt to his throat as he watched the poor man squirm about like a Defenseless rabbit while Rimmy tried his best to pick Lyle up.

"This is a bother, time to use my charisma, I guess," Daz mumbled before he walked up to Rimmy and the still struggling Lyle.

"NO! NO BLUE MAN, PLEASE, NO NOM NOM! LYLE NOT FOOD! NO NOM NOM! EHEEE!" Lyle cried in desperation while he continued his best to wriggle about. He wanted to free himself. He absolutely couldn't die here. Suddenly, he felt a warm hand gently caressing his handsome face and short, cropped hair.

"Shh, it's okay. He won't hurt you. He's here to help you. Sleep, Lyle, we're friends. And what do friends do? They trust each other, so it's okay, Lyle, let your friend, Rimmy, help you," Daz soothed while he continued to gently stroke the middle-aged man's face.

Lyle felt a particular compulsion to Daz's words. No one had ever cared for him before in his life really, no one except for Ger, his head of security at work, but that was different. Daz's words sounded almost like those of a father trying to calm his child that had lost control after being jabbed by a needle at the Doctor's, or after getting terrified by the man wearing a mascot outfit at the theme park.

"Blue man, friend? No nom nom?" Lyle asked with a weary voice. He was feeling tired, very tired.

"Yes, Lyle, no 'nom nom'. Let the blue man hold you and sleep, he'll protect you and care for you," Daz said with a charming smile that didn't suit his average looking face.

"No nom... nom..." Lyle uttered before he lost consciousness completely and fell limp in Rimmy's, cold, crystal arms.

"That went better than expected. I guess fragile minds are easier to persuade? What a poor man. I suppose I will buy the cure for him if he still needs it when he wakes up," Daz whispered before he spun around only to be met with the admiring gazes of Ger and Ellie and an almost fanatic look from Sarah, which worried him. Her status did say she was easily influenced, so perhaps she had taken a fancy to his actions just now?

Regardless, Daz had to return to his base so that matter could wait until later. "Let's go then, now that Lyle has calmed down. We'll have to be careful, I'm still not sure if there are monsters that roam about yet or if it's just the monsters that haven't been killed from last night's attacks, so stay sharp," Daz ordered the three who happily agreed. Daz had already weathered the outside for at least a day, so following his instructions would be for the best. "Oh, I almost forgot, stuff your pockets and bags with all the jewellery here. Rimmy and I need them," Daz finished with a toothy grin. Perhaps following his instructions wouldn't be the best of ideas?