CHAPTER 102: WWAD

“Are you insane?! Absolutely not! Get away from me!” Swan screamed at Nick.

Nick kept getting closer as Swan, still shaking but finally on her feet, was backing away from him.

“I don’t see what the big deal is. This is just how it works,” argued Nick.

“Maybe don’t try to convince her while dragging a still moving invader up to her before convincing her,” Lamar said with a shake of his head.

Nick looked down at the tracker that he had been dragging, as if he had forgotten it was there. The creature was still trying to flail about at him, but it was a mess of cuts and blood as Nick had been forced to incapacitate him quickly and violently. After a pause, Nick just tossed the invader back towards the road.

“There. Fine. No more scary monster. Now would you take my knife and kill them?” Nick pleaded.

“No! Of course not!” Swan shouted once more, then looked around terrified to make sure there weren’t any more invaders that heard her. “I still don’t understand why you are telling me to do that.”

Her last words were much quieter and desperate. Lamar waved Nick back and held his own ground so as not to make Swan feel threatened.

“Swan. This is unpleasant but it is important. We all went through this as well. If you don’t kill the invaders or mutated animals, then you can’t get XP to become stronger. If you stay low level then you’ll be weak and won’t be able to help anyone,” explained Lamar in a soothing voice.

“But what about ‘Thou shalt not kill’?” she asked while eyeing Nick like he was about to charge towards her.

“I’m pretty sure the invaders weren’t covered by that. Besides, don’t people go to war all the time in the bible?” Nick retorted flippantly. Swan took another step backwards.

“Nick, can you go make sure there aren’t any more around?”

“Fine,” Nick sulked. “Why does Adam get away with it and I can’t.”

“Because Adam is an incarnation of anger and violence, with people getting caught up in his emotions. Besides, his sister hates him for it and hasn’t gotten over it.”

“Gracie got over it.”

“Gracie was given a choice. You weren’t doing that.”

“Fine. I’m going. Just make sure I get my hit in if she isn’t taking it,” said Nick, then turning and walked off down the street.

Lamar then explained why they had left so many alive and how Adam had made sure everyone got XP and leveled up.

“You’re saying that just by murdering these guys I’ll get stronger and faster?” Swan asked skeptically.

“I’m pretty sure it isn’t murder if it’s war or self-defense. You can either level your class to strengthen your healing, or you can level your body and choose where there are stats. Right now those physical stats won’t benefit you, but being a stronger healer will make it easier for us to get you out of here. If you hadn’t healed my arm before, then Nick wouldn’t have been able to take that group out. Healers are always welcome, both in combat and civilian life.”

“You said I could hunt animals to level up too?”

“Back in Jackson, all low leveled people are expected to go on hunts. Level zeros are so weak, not just in combat but every aspect of life, that they become parasites on the rest.”

“That’s painting a bleak image. What you’re saying is that I have to kill if I want to live now?” asked Swan with a frown. Lamar noticed she wasn’t shaking anymore and was being more thoughtful.

“These guys don’t even look like humans. They’re animals. No different than normal hunting or pest control.”

The tracking Scyrric that Nick had thrown glared at Lamar and made a gurgling hiss at his words. Lamar just shrugged. Swan looked around with trepidation before taking a deep breath.

“Ok, I’ll try it. Bring one over here,” Swan said. Lamar handed his knife over and walked towards the tracker.

“Finally,” said Nick, reappearing next to the Scyrric and once more dragging it towards Swan, causing her to jump and scowl at him.

“Is he always so abrasive?” she whispered to Lamar.

“No. He’s usually charismatic and nice to everyone. We’ve been away from our group for a few days, so I think he is on edge and impatient.”

“Makes sense, I guess,” Swan responded.

When the Scyrric was brought up to her, she took Lamar’s knife and pressed it against the lizard man’s neck. Nothing happened. The scales blocked her strength.

“You guys made it look so easy,” she muttered, pushing with all her might.

“We’ve leveled. A lot. Here, let me help.”

Lamar put his hand over hers and, with a slightly painful grip for her, added his strength to her force.

Scyrric Cheeky Canary [8] slain. 1,221 shared XP gained.

“Cheeky Carnary?” asked Swan, to distract herself from the shaking.

“No idea. Maybe its an obscure translation,” responded Lamar.

“Or maybe the [System] is trying to lull us into a false sense of security by making their classes seem silly,” scowled Nick.

“Paranoid much?”

“Not enough, considering life has become a battlefield. I’ll go get the Scyrric hot dog tongs” Nick said absently as he went for the next living Scyrric.

After all the Scyrric were dead, Nick went about stripping their gear and armor, in case any of it could be adapted to human needs. The armor wasn’t as sturdy as the Testudinate metal, but their blades had an unnatural sharpness to them. The small round shields were also much sturdier than the metals that they had gotten so far, plus the little symbols etched into the front and back seemed like more than decorations. Who would spend all that time decorating a barrel lid that was made to be bashed on.

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Lamar sat with Swan as she went through her status menu to assign levels. It was a bit surprising that she was able to get her class to level 12 and put two levels into body for the enhanced strength, agility, and vitality. Lamar couldn’t even count how many goblins he had to kill to get that much XP. Either it came easier now, or the Scyrric were just worth more than other invaders.

Like the Scyrric, hadn’t the Elves been Tier 2 as well? Then again, they had put a lot more levels into body to help them survive the goblins, so it made sense that his class leveled slower. Maybe there was a penalty when getting your body levels first. If only there was a [System] guidebook to help them understand.

That thought led Lamar to the realization. His group had probably said it before, but this was the moment it clicked. The invaders probably already had the [System] guidebooks, formulas, and cheat sheets already developed. Even if the class names of this particular group of Scyrric had been comical and weird, they knew how to get specific classes. Otherwise, how could that chump have been the unit leader? He hadn’t shown any leadership ability in that skirmish.

Before Lamar could cradle his head and sigh, Swan spoke to him.

“Wow! I really do feel stronger and quicker. It’s easier to move and I feel like I have a better understanding of my body,” she said.

“The army soldiers complained after getting a bunch of levels at once. They needed to retrain their bodies because there was a disconnect between what they thought they should be able to do and what their bodies truly could do. My group didn’t have that issue since we leveled slower, starting with weak invaders and moving up. Plus, we were always in life-or-death situations. We had no time to hold our bodies back.”

“Here, let me punch you. I want to see how much stronger I am.”

Lamar looked oddly at Swan. That hardly seemed like a good test of her strength. Maybe she just needed to blow off some stress. He stood up, and to be fair, removed his armor so only a light shirt underneath was between his skin and her.

“Ok, I’m going to punch you now,” Swan threatened, getting into position.

Lamar patted his stomach and flexed his abs. “Go ahead, just be careful when you…”

“Ouch!” yelped Swan as her fist connected with his stomach. Her stance and technique had been good, which showed she wasn’t all peace and love, but there was still too much of a stat difference. [Slight Heal] flashed several times as Lamar saw her wrist swell up and then return to normal over the course of a few seconds.

“What was that?!” she demanded, as if Lamar had done something to her. “That’s not what punching someone feels like.

“I have 72 vitality. You have maybe 12 or 14 strength. What did you expect? Never try hitting our shield maiden, Brittney. She’s probably near 200 vitality.”

“She must be tough. A girl as your shield person. I’m not sure if that’s reverse sexism or something else,” Swan mused.

“It was her choice and fits her personality. She’s quite small too. You should see it when big guys try to mess with her. She’s at least as strong as I am.”

Swan chuckled, but then froze.

“In all the craziness I forgot the kids! Do you think we’ll be safe here?” she asked, rushing to the bags of food and drinks that Nick had gotten before the fight. Really, it had only been about 25 minutes since the Scyrric group had come, even if a lot had happened. The fight had only taken about three minutes. Less time than Nick spent trash talking them and a lot less than it took to calm Swan and get her XP.

“Definitely not safe. There are loads of signs of our fight, the smell of blood, footprints all over, and the bushes we pulled out from the church. We plan to get you guys back to Jackson asap. It might be a tough trip though, since these areas aren’t in the Sentinel Army’s control. You go handle the kids for now. Get them food and drink. I’ll discuss with Nick our next plan.”

Swan nodded and headed inside.

***

It turned out the plan was much more difficult that they had expected. First was transportation. The only three capable of driving were Swan, Nick, and Lamar, however if fighting was needed then Nick and Lamar wouldn’t be able to drive. A large vehicle wouldn’t be able to outrun or outmaneuver faster invaders. Anything less than a bus or a stripped camper wouldn’t fit everyone.

Then another problem appeared when they began testing vehicles. The ones that people had been using after the invasion were trashed when the invaders came to town. Other vehicles that they tried, trucks behind gas stations or cars sitting in driveways, had dead batteries or other issues.

They even discussed having Nick and Lamar pull vehicles, but that had the same issue if they were pursued. Nick and Lamar would have to fight while protecting stationary targets. Other options were discussed and dismissed, such as sneaking them out by foot, trying to get to the South Hampton base, or leaving Swan, Lamar, and the kids in hiding while Nick went for help.

Nick really was getting close to lashing out. Lamar wasn’t sure what was bothering him so much, but it must have been deeply eating away at the usually congenial guy. Nick tended to be the peacemaker and mediator. He wasn’t the one who got angry, but he was nearing a limit that Lamar hadn’t seen before.

“What’s wrong?” Lamar asked, wanting Nick to keep it together long enough for them to get out of here.

“What’s wrong is the damn lack of options. We should probably load everyone up and just head to Jackson,” snapped Nick.

“You and I both know that’s a bad plan, and not what’s really bothering you. Considering how many bad spots we’ve been in; this is rather mild. Even compared to just a few days ago after that failed raid,” said Lamar calmly. “Something unrelated seems to be bothering you.”

Nick glared at him, then with the petulance of a small child he said, “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Nick, if you’re too tightly wound now, then when stuff hits the fan, you’ll snap. That won’t help us. Let’s deal with it now.”

Nick gripped the hilt of a knife until his knuckles got white. Then he took a deep breath and let it go.

“I’m pissed at Adam,” admitted Nick. He looked at the ground with shame all over his face.

“Why? Adam isn’t even here,” said Lamar with confusion. “Is it because he left us?”

“Yes! Well, probably not. I know he had to look after the group. They were in South Hampton for a few days so they must have been in a bad spot.”

“Then why?” pushed Lamar.

“I keep asking myself WWAD.”

“WWAD?” interrupted Lamar.

“What would Adam do,” said Nick, causing Lamar to laugh. “Every situation I ask that. When I had to decide between getting back to Adam or trying to find you. When you were injured, and I couldn’t do anything about it. When we looked at the tracks, or tried to calm Swan, and even right now. I wonder how Adam would have done it.”

“What did you come up with?” Lamar was curious this time. Nick knew Adam the best of everyone, and his insights might help Lamar with what to expect from Adam in the future.

“That it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what Adam would do because he isn’t here! My whole life I had to push Adam to do anything, to come out and play, or to join a game, and even to talk to other people. It was like I was his connection to the world,” ranted Nick, getting heated.

“And now…?”

“Now he’s king of the world! Tom is practically forming a religion out of him, with plenty of people signing up. Abbey, Andrea, Alissa, and Brittney are literally beating back girls trying to get to him, which I doubt he even knows. Everyone wants him, and there are people to do anything that he wants.”

“You know that’s not really fair, right?” asked Lamar hesitantly.

“Of course it isn’t,” Nick agreed while breathing heavily. “He doesn’t care about how people treat him. He doesn’t want girls, or power, or control. Those come in spite of what he wants.”

“Then what does he want?”

“He wants to kill the invaders. WWAD? He’d go charging into the invader base with or without backup, kill all of them, then probably get severely wounded, maybe coming out with a new superpower. Drink a little blood, eat a few dozen pizzas, and he would be right as rain.”

“Then you’re jealous of him?”

“Hell no. Even with all the big moves he makes, and attention he grabs, he’s still who he was. Quiet and kind. Disinterested and unaffected. The stuff wrong with his soul has changed him, but even those actions still remind me of who my friend was when push came to shove. It’s just less subtle now,” Nick sighed.

“Then why is it getting you so twisted?” questioned Lamar.

“I guess because it’s all become so easy for him. He just knows and does. That’s how it was for me before the [System]. Most things came easy. I was good at sports, school, people…even now I’m good at this. But that doesn’t mean I'll win, or make the decisions easier to choose, while Adam just does whatever and it works out.”

“I’m not sure a gunshot wound to the neck, having fingers torn off, or burning through skin due to his own power being uncontrollable is really it working out, but I do see a lot of your points. That just leaves us with one question to answer,” said Lamar.

“What question is that?” asked Nick.

“WWND. What will Nick do?”

Nick looked to the sky, took a deep breath while gripping his knives, and then looked down the street.

“Let’s go find out,” he said and began walking.