‘ding!’ ‘Saphleer Broodmother lvl 25’
“Look, monsters are spawning,” Jason said, barely containing his excitement. He dismissed the notification and shoved the curtains further aside to make room. Tyler warily approached, then peeked out the window.
“No,” Tyler whispered, momentarily forgetting his shock at Jason’s condition. “Shit, it’s huge.”
“That's what she said,” Jason replied, grinning as Tyler literally growled in response. He squinted out of the window, scanning the beast through the gloom of the night. It had no obvious weaknesses and displayed just as much alien physiology as the Grothlits from the tutorial. He would have to get closer to get a better idea on how to kill it. “They spawn in the dark. We have to go warn everyone else.”
Jason turned from the window and headed for the front door.
“How do you know that?” Corinne stopped him with a hand on his forearm. “And what happened to you in there? You weren’t like this last I saw you.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m great,” Jason grinned as he pulled his forearm out of her grip. “I spent a little extra time in the Tutorial testing a few things out. Long story short, monsters spawn when it's dark and when you’re not looking. I can tell you the full story later, but right now, there are monsters spawning all over the building, and if we don’t light it up, we are going to have a horde on our hands.”
“Fine. But you owe me an explanation afterward,” Corinne said through a clenched jaw. She paused, looking out the window, then turned back to Jason. “Did you say you have a plan?”
“Uh,” Jason hesitated. “I figured I’d just warn people and go from there. Make sure someone is in the stairway so the sensor keeps the lights on. That kinda thing.”
“Yeah, that’s a good start,” Corinne said, chewing her lower lip. She whipped out her phone and started texting even while she continued speaking. “But first, we need to armor up. Put on as much clothes as you can. A helmet. Tyler, you too. And get your baseball bat. You had two didn’t you?”
The boys jumped into action as Corinne organized their preparations. Tyler muttered a steady stream of curses under his breath but easily went with the flow. Jason, for his part, rushed into his room and started stacking shirts. Four long-sleeved T-shirts went under another gray hoodie. Two jeans protected his legs and slid cleanly over his heavy boots. On his head went his old motocross helmet. The thing had an open front, where a pair of heavy-duty photochromatic goggles covered his eyes in a rainbow tint.
They snapped all the lights on in the apartment, including the small, battery-powered lamps inside the kitchen cabinets, before rushing out of the apartment.
Corinne somehow managed to pull off wearing several sets of Tyler’s much larger clothes as they sprinted down the hallway. They gave each door several heavy knocks and shouted the dangers of the monster spawns through the closed doors. Nearly all the doors swung open almost immediately. But not all.
Rattled, scratched, and bloodstained students suspiciously stepped out of their rooms. A hubbub rose as everyone started speaking at the same time. Through some kind of mental wizardry, Corinne took charge once again and quieted the growing mob. She quickly and easily navigated between the clusters of people, explaining the situation and what needed to happen.
As quickly as everyone rushed out, the hallway quieted as people rushed back into their rooms to turn on all the lights. Distantly, the sounds of combat emerged from one of the rooms.
Jason ignored them, and slammed into the heavy door leading to the building’s stairway. An empty, concrete stairway lit by fluorescent bulbs greeted him. Luckily devoid of mobs. He located the small wall-mounted sensor and waved his hand frantically in front of it.
There. That should keep the light on for a few more minutes. The next step was to make sure the other floors were aware of the situation.
The door one floor down slammed open. Jason caught a brief glimpse of a fully armored black figure bursting out. It blurred and practically teleported down the next flight of stairs. Whatever the skill, it must have overshot because the armored figure bounced off the brickwork and staggered slightly from the impact.
“Hey!” Jason shouted, waving down the figure. He leaped onto the stair’s railing and slid down to join the figure. Now that they weren’t moving at eye-searing speeds, Jason got a better look. They were wearing quilted 350N impact-resistant HEMA gear with a steel mesh face guard that obscured their face. “Wait up. Where are you headed?”
The figure turned, revealing the full extent of their armor. Jason was suddenly starkly aware of how flimsy two layers of jeans were compared to proper stitched nylon.
“Shit! Man, you scared the crap out of me,” said a distinctly feminine voice. She rubbed her shoulder, glancing at the wall before facing Jason. “Dunno if you got the memo or not, but there are monsters spawning outside. I was going to clear them out before they swarm the building.”
The girl patted her hip where a long sheathed blade was resting.
“You mean the Saphleer Broodmother?”
“You saw it too?” The girl cocked her head, the motion heavily restricted by a sturdy gorget around her collar.
Before Jason could reply, the doorway behind him slammed open as Tyler and Corinne rushed through.
“Who are you?” Corinne snapped, then shook her head. “Never mind. Jason, I need you to light up the bike room and keep the Saphleer Broodmother away from the building. It’s spawning these wasps that are getting in through open windows.”
“Sure,” Jason agreed readily, happy to let someone else take charge.
“Good, I’ll send you whoever can help. Tyler and I will warn the rest of the building.”
“Uh,” the armored figure raised a hesitant hand. “You should probably talk to Mark. Tall. Black hair. Wearing rhino PJs. He’s shouting at people on the third floor.”
“Thanks,” Corinne nodded. “I’m Corinne. That’s Jason and Tyler. Do you happen to have any healing skills?”
“Emily. And, uh. No. I’ve got [Dash] and [Impale].”
“Two?—” Corinne shook her head. “Later. Would you mind going with Jason to secure the parking lot?”
Emily shrugged. “That was the plan.”
“Cool, thanks. If you find any healers, send them up,” Corinne said. “I’ll take the third, Tyler, warn the second. I’ll be with you after I talk to Mark.”
They split, Jason sliding down the railing to keep up with Emily. Despite her heavy armor, [Dash] made her almost impossible to keep up with. In barely any time at all, they burst out of the stairway and into the lit foyer. To his surprise, Emily vanished into the bike room to light it up, so he stepped out of the building.
He walked into a wall of buzzing insects. They swarmed him. The buzzing insects slammed sharpened black stingers into his exposed neck and hands. Spurts of pale yellow venom ejected from their abdomens before they melted into lazy motes of dust. The sharp stingers were left behind.
Jason flinched back into the safety of the foyer.
He slammed the heavy door shut, then nearly fell as delayed onset pain snuck up on him. He was burning. His neck, hands, forehead. Basically, everywhere that was even remotely exposed felt like he had dipped them in acid.
‘ding!’ ‘Congratulations! You have learned the skill [Venom Resistance]: You've survived over 50 simultaneous injections by the formidable Saphleer Venom. Your blood grows more capable of neutralizing this and all future venoms you encounter.’
‘ding!’ ‘[Venom Resistance] has reached level 1’
Jason straightened, the pain instantly reduced by an order of magnitude. His throat swelled up, the skin red and angry as the venom worked its way into his system. Bits of skin flaked off, pushing out black stingers and leaving behind fresh pink skin.
“Wow, that’s impressively disgusting,” Emily remarked. Jason plucked one of the stingers from his neck and eyed it curiously. The thing was black and matte and way wider than normal insect stingers usually were. “I assume you’re a Tank class.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Jason replied after a second. He rubbed roughly at his neck to get rid of the excess stingers. It itched fiercely. “What about you?”
“[Dash] and [Impale]. Which, I guess makes me a fighter? Maybe a lancer. Close-range damage dealer,” Emily summed up. She peered through the glass of the window, locating the Saphleer Broodmother. “You’re gonna need to aggro those wasps if you want me to whack that thing. That, or just let them all kill themselves by stinging you.”
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“I just got [Venom Resistance]. Should be able to tank them if you give me a bit.”
Jason marked those words by stepping outside. The wasps swarmed him, stinging incessantly. This time he grit his teeth and held his ground until he saw his health dip before hopping back inside.
‘ding!’ ‘[Venom Resistance] has reached level 2’
“Ow,” Jason said dryly once the door was firmly locked shut. The pain was sharp, but it was nothing compared to the constant dull ache of Starvation. “Don’t mind me, just gaining some resistance levels here.”
“You’re insane.”
Jason shot her a cheeky grin that was lost behind his helmet before repeating the previous performance. [Flesh Regeneration] pulsed like a dynamo in his heart as it knit his flesh together in real-time. It was almost keeping up with the damage, and with every additional level of Venom Resistance, it became easier.
As he stood out in the cold, letting himself get stung, he was suddenly struck by how the insects had three sets of parallel wings, like some kind of mutated dragonfly.
‘ding!’ ‘[Venom Resistance] has reached level 3’
“By the way,” Jason asked casually as he stepped back inside. A few stinging insects had snuck in, but they couldn’t find any purchase on Emily’s armor. She easily crushed them in an armored gauntlet. “How’d you get two skills?”
“At level ten, the system let me choose an attribute to ‘guide’ my journey,” Jason could almost feel the smirk in her tone. “I chose dexterity, and it gave me [Dash].”
“And there wasn’t any downside to making that choice?”
“No. Why? Should there have been?”
“Dunno, I’ve just been putting off the choice in case there was.”
“Wow, uh, yeah. You should really evolve before we fight that thing. It buffs your attributes as well.”
“Let me get on that then,” Jason said.
He flicked open his interface and selected Constitution. The other attributes had merit, but surviving was the most pressing concern right now. Jason let his eyes unfocus as a flood of notifications blocked his vision.
‘ding!’ ‘Congratulations! You have broken past the first Saf through Constitution. Your body, mind and soul grow more attuned to the Weave’
Health : 77% |███████████████████▁▁▁▁▁▁| 90/117
Stamina : 77% |███████████████████▁▁▁▁▁▁| 70/91
Mana : 77% |███████████████████▁▁▁▁▁▁| 40/52
‘ding!’ ‘Congratulations! You have learned the skill [Callous Hide]’
[Callous Hide]: You’ve found yourself surrounded by innumerable threats and have chosen Constitution as your Path. This skill will allow you to consume
‘ding!’ ‘[Callous Hide] has reached level 1’
Jason grinned and stepped into the swarm.
Stinging insects swarmed as the heavy door slammed behind him. They landed everywhere. On his neck and hands, their stingers punctured his skin easily. They had trouble everywhere but still managed to sneak in a sting or two.
Jason activated [Callous Hide].
A force drained out of him, radiating from his center and seeping into his extremities. His skin grew thicker, losing a bit of flexibility for an immense increase in toughness.
The effect on the insects was stark.
Jason watched in awe as the tiny creatures stabbed him, only for their stingers to barely penetrate before their bodies went up in glowing motes of light. Instantly, what little health he’d lost, he recovered.
He turned to face the looming Broodmother at the end of the sidewalk.
The creature seemed to notice him for the first time. Its four waving heads stiffened, then shrank down around its main body. As one, the pyramidal heads opened up, and a fresh wave of stinging insects burst forth.
Jason ignored them and broke into a run. Insects stung him on all sides, but his goggles and skills protected the most vital areas. He neared the creature and tentatively swung Tyler's aluminum baseball bat at one of the waving heads.
The hit connected with a meaty thwump. It rocked back before it returned to lazily swaying in an invisible breeze. Jason hit it again, this time with more force, but the effect was the same. It was like hitting a speed bag, where the swinging nature of the object stole all the weight behind the punch.
The creature didn’t respond visibly to his attacks other than spewing an additional wave of stinging insects. Jason took a second to refresh [Callous Hide] but was otherwise unperturbed.
The main body was grounded, so Jason turned his attacks there. He rained a string of heavy kicks on the thing’s body. Each one smashed into the blubbery flesh like a gunshot but then bounced off like he was kicking a bean bag chair.
It was clearly doing something, as the creature’s movements were growing agitated, but there wasn’t any visible damage.
After a minute of this, Jason stepped back with a frown. He supposed it made sense in a way. He had two defensive skills, barely any points invested in strength, and he was fighting a monster more than double his level. He had also lost significant muscle mass since using Starvation as a training tool. Still, it felt wrong that his attacks were so ineffective.
“Need some help?”
Jason spun, suddenly noticing nearly no stinging insects buzzing in the air.
A blur of movement flickered by. Jason blinked and focused on Emily as she appeared before the Saphleer Broodmother. Her HEMA practice longsword was raised high above her head in an overhand guard. She grunted, and light coalesced around the hilt before it shot down to collect at the dull tip.
Emily lunged. The meter-long, dull slab of metal punctured through the thick hide and impaled the creature along its entire length.
The Broodmother spasmed, hurt by the attack. Its four heads shook and opened in unison to vomit out a fresh wave of stinging insects.
“Back off!” Jason called as he leaped at the creature. Emily ripped out her blade and pulled back. He grabbed one of the heads, manhandling it and drawing the attention of most of the stinging insects.
They converged on him, but [Venom Resistance], his rudimentary armor, and [Callous Hide] meant that whatever damage got through was easily healed by [Flesh Regeneration]. In moments, all the stinging insects vanished in puffs of smoke, and Emily dashed back into range.
She tore into the creature with two bludgeoning hits. Although her weapon was technically a blade, its edges and tip were dulled to the point that it was more like an awkward staff. Or a lance.
The Saphleer Broodmother shivered, and another wave of insects burst forth. Emily once again retreated as Jason tried his hardest to keep their attention. This cycle repeated thrice before Emily's powerful thrust ended the creature’s life.
‘ding!’ ‘Your party has slain a lvl 25 Saphleer Broodmother. Experience awarded’
‘ding!’ ‘Congratulations! Your level has increased to 11. 5 stat points awarded’
‘ding!’ ‘[Venom Resistance] has reached level 4’
‘ding!’ ‘[Venom Resistance] has reached level 5’
‘ding!’ ‘[Callous Hide] has reached level 3’
Jason dismissed the notifications as he let his heart rate come down. Emily slowly pulled out her blade from the corpse and used it as a crutch as she heavily panted behind the steel wire mesh helmet. [Callous Hide] faded after a few more seconds, and Jason didn’t bother refreshing it. Despite minutes ago being fresh from a full night’s rest, the constant use of the skill had left him with a bone-deep exhaustion that had cut his stamina in half.
Health : 100% |█████████████████████████| 117/117
Stamina : 46% |████████████▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▒▒▒▒▒▒▒| 42/91
Mana : 79% |████████████████████▁▁▁▁▁| 41/52
“Good fight,” Jason said, eying the gray on the right side of his stamina bar. Emily merely nodded and let herself sink to the ground. Utterly exhausted. He would have to be careful with [Callous Hide] if it drained this much stamina.
He resisted the temptation to join Emily on the ground and approached the Saphleer Broodmother. Although it was no more graceful in death than in life, Jason still marveled at how it ignored all standard earthen rules of biology.
There was no apparent symmetry, and while symbiotic relationships between insects and large animals did exist, Jason had a feeling that the stinging insects were a part of the Broodmother. A skill. Not a separate species at all.
A gunshot cracked in the distance. Jason glanced up, suddenly noticing a haze of smoke rising from the waterfront. A scream sounded, followed swiftly by another sequence of harsh gunshots. Several police sirens started up in the distance.
Jason let his eyes unfocus as he scanned them casually across the dark parking lot. It was a trick he’d learned back in the Tutorial to prevent monster spawns in a wide area. The world really was going to shit. There was shouting back in the dorm, but no one else in any of the nearby dorms had stepped out onto the street.
A glimpse of movement caught Jason’s attention. He turned and watched as a group of people appeared on the far end of the lot. They were a scared, injured bunch huddled around their leader as if afraid of being left behind.
At their helm was a familiar, balding old man with just a little bit of a paunch.
“Ho, Jason,” Billy raised a hand in greeting as he approached with his group.
“Yo, Billy. The hell you doing here?”
“Lookin’ for you,” the old man grouched, pulling a pristine caseless phone from his pocket and waving it at Jason. “The world is ending. The least you can do is answer your phone.”
Jason opened his mouth, then chuckled and gestured back to his dorm. “Left it in my bag. Sorry man, got kinda distracted by the apocalypse.”
In truth, it had been months since Jason had even thought about his phone.
“Uh, guys?” Emily interrupted. “I don’t mean to burst your little reunion, but are those shooting stars?”
Jason followed Emily’s pointed finger toward the sky. Dozens of tiny white streaks burned lines in the midnight sky, a phenomenon consistent with objects reentering Earth’s atmosphere.
Jason’s mind raced. He would have heard of a meteor shower of this magnitude occurring right over the city, which meant that this event was somehow linked to the system. Could the system have spawned meteors? It was possible. More than possible, but still...strange.
Suddenly, a thought struck him.
“Billy...Can you check your location on your phone,” Jason asked slowly, his eyes locked on the sky. Not daring to believe what he’d realized.
“Location?”
“Yeah, like in maps.”
Several seconds of silence passed, marked only by the shuffling of feet and the escalating distant sounds of chaos in the city.
“It says I’m here, Jason.” Billy broke the silence.
“What about the dot? Is it blue or gray?”
“Gray, and... it says that GPS signal is lost.”
Jason blanched as realization dawned on him.
“My god, those are satellites.”