They were moving southbound at a speed on the NJ Turnpike now. The abandoned vehicle obstacle courses really only amass closer to more populated areas. There were large stretches of highway that ran through nothing but trees and undeveloped land. Once they got closer to Leaf’s Bend they’d have to slow down. For now, Roger was taking advantage of the empty lanes of pavement.
The sun was setting on CJ’s right side as he looked over the collection of junk strapped to the vehicle. It gave an eerie orange glow through the trees. As he paid attention to the dancing shadows he thought he saw movement. The tops of trees began to bend away from each other forty or so yards ahead of them.
New Message from Party Leader CJ: Eyes Right!
New Message from Rubio: I see it. Roger, drive faster.
New Message from Roger: What is it? Not much more speed considering all the weight she’s hauling.
New Message from Party Leader CJ: Rubio, what does your scope say?
With that Rubio detached his scope from his rifle and peered through it. A sharp inhale passed his lips as he read the description out loud. The inside of the Escalade became a cacophony of people all talking at once. Some shrieks were mixed in as well.
New Message from Party Leader CJ: All I can hear out here is wind. What the hell is going on?
New Message from Monty: Rubio said it’s an Alligator Rex, Level 15. It’s huge.
New Message from Elena: CJ, we’re only thirty minutes out away from town. That thing is only going to get bigger, isn’t it?
New Message from Psycho: I don’t think we can fight it, from what Rubio said we’d need C4 to take it down. A few grenades aren’t’ going to do it.
New Message from Rubio: It looks to be the size of a burger franchise. It’s currently humping a copse of trees. I don’t know what that’s about and I’d rather not find out.
New Message from Party Leader CJ: Fighting it right now is off the table. We’re all exhausted and prone to mistakes. Keep guiding Roger back to town.
CJ was starting to feel the chill of the early evening air. He converted his clothes back to the High Examiners Robes. This gave him a hood to use and covered more of his body with fabric. It also added to the drag on his person up here. The loose cuffs and flowing robes snapping in the wind. His left wrist began to chafe against the strap but his regeneration quickly dealt with it. He was tempted to cast Polychrome Flames on his hands for that extra bit of heat, but he didn’t want to draw any more attention to their position. All he needed to do was tough it out a little further.
About twenty minutes later CJ spied the big green sign that marked the freeway exit for Leaf’s Bend. He thought quickly about what it meant to have a sign pointing the way to their protected environment and made a snap decision.
New Message from Party Leader CJ: Monty, Earth fist that sign down. I’ll take the right side.
He received no response as he prepared the spell. He sent his revolver back to his inventory to free up his right hand. Brown runes accompanied by tiny falling leaves spun around his right wrist as a dirt and stone hand rose up out of the ground on the right side of the highway sign. It grabbed onto the metal support structure and twisted. This caused the supports to bend and fold. A mirrored fist appeared on the opposite side and began bashing at the support. The opposing forces spun the sign ninety degrees before it toppled over due to its own weight and faulty foundation. The two fists were summarily dispelled as the Escalade slowed upon approach of the off ramp.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
There weren’t as many cars as CJ and Tommy’s escape after they ran into Doc Redmond’s family. Even still there were a few sedan sized obstacles that needed to be navigated. That reminded CJ that he still needed to go back and retrieve them. He had a safe place for them now and a collection of people he could trust. It was high time for a return trip back to Skippers Reservoir. He was fairly sure he knew the way back. If not he’d just ask Monty.
As CJ crossed the border from the corrupt mana environment to the purified mana zone that protected their little town, he felt lighter. Almost as if the corrupted mana constantly weighed them down spiritually. They pulled into the center of town and parked right in front of the gutted hardware store. CJ finally hopped down off the roof, rolling his left wrist as his regen repaired the damage. The rest of the team filed out one by one.
New Message from Rubio: Now don’t run off in all directions thinking we’re safe. We need to sweep the area to make sure no one else found this place while we were gone. Rogers with me, we’ll take the north end of town toward the mannequin factory. Elena and Jenn take the south end. CJ and Monty take the east side and track back to the highway exit. We will all meet back here in fifteen minutes. Got it?
New Message from Elena: Roger.
New Message from Roger: Yes?
New Message from Psycho: Roger.
New Message from Roger: Come on, not funny. Wait your message name is Psycho?
New Message from Monty: Roger.
New Message from Roger: Not you too.
New Message from Party Leader CJ: Copy that.
New Message from Roger: Finally.
New Message from Rubio: Cut the shit.
They all took off toward their assignments. CJ and Monty sweeping the buildings they knew lay inside the zone of protections. CJ breathed in deep breaths enjoying the feeling. Outside the purified zone it always felt like he wasn’t getting a full breath every time. Something he could address with Monty right now.
“Hey, what’s the deal with the oppressive nature of corrupted mana?” he said as he cast Polychrome Flames on a nearby streetlight. White light bloomed from the flames and illuminated the surrounding area. “It feels like someone is sitting on my chest the whole time. It’s not like it stops me from doing anything, it’s just noticeable.”
“That is the nature of corrupted mana.” Monty replied as he hopped up on the hood of a nearby Nissan adopting an upright pose as he began to lecture. “The corruption seeps into you over time. Often it takes a long time, and it tries to force your regular mana out. That’s the slight pressure you’re feeling. Under most circumstances, there won’t be enough corrupt mana in one area to truly harm you. If you find yourself in a high density corrupted zone, I suggest you finish your business and leave. You would only really find that at the base of this world’s mana fonts since they are all corrupted or deep within a rampant dungeon. You wouldn’t want to be there since that’s where the worst monsters would be. Higher levels and extremely deadly. That’s why it’s so important that we keep clearing dungeons.”
“About that. I used the boss monster concentrate on my Harbingers Grasp. It evolved into Harbingers Proclamation.”
“Share your slate with me.” The bunny frowned as his whiskers twitched. Then his eyes lit up again as his attention switched back over to CJ. “That was a smart move. If any of those guys you unlocked back in the parking lot end up clearing dungeons, it’ll be a great help. That ability was granted to you by Sun Wukong. I’m a little surprised the Boss Monster Concentrate worked on it.”
“It was a good test case. I have plans to improve some of my other abilities as well.”
“Be careful. Some things weren’t meant to evolve. You could make an ability more powerful but give it an unintended flaw. Like if you tried to improve your playing card ability and it forced you to always have the cards on you or it doesn’t work. You don’t know what the new rules would be.”
“Noted.”
None of that mattered to CJ. He fully intended to try and evolve one of his boons, but not until after a few more rounds of testing. The mana inside of him churned along with his thoughts. He knew he could do it, all he had to do is figure out how. As they passed the next small home that didn’t look disturbed since the last time they were here, he asked Monty another question.
“If I wanted to go back to for Tommy and the rest, do you think you could find the reservoir?” he asked expecting some push back with respect to everything else that was going on. “We should really bring them here.”
“I don’t know what took you so long. We’ve gained much more power and leveled up since the last time we were in that forest. Tommy’s a little ass wipe but Doc Redmond’s family was alright. We should definitely save them.”
“What took me so long? You were with me the whole time and you didn’t say anything!”
“Semantics.”
“That’s not the proper use of the word semantics.”
Monty just hopped off the car giggling as he scurried across the street to check the next house.
New Message from Elena: CJ, you’re going to want to see this. Come to the south end of the barrier.