Michael had been able to outright sell the Overdrive tier up method for 1350 crowns at the old town district outpost. The old shopkeeper had been more excited about the overdrive method, than he had even been for Kyrie’s self recouper tier up method. The increased stamina recovery rate by itself made the method an easy sell over the basic tier up method. The halved stamina expenditure when a contender was below 10% was just a bonus.
Michael had known the method was a good one. He was almost sorry to see it go, especially for him to turn around and use a good portion of the money to buy consumables. However, Michael was looking for something game changing, not just good. Not to mention if he wanted to be able to get the red drop he needed some things so that his attempt could be done more safely.
The first was something he had noted after his time in the sewers. The machete he had received from Kyrie was in bad condition. The last fight against the drowned ones had resulted in two additional nicks on the blade's edge. When the armory shopkeeper had seen the machete, he had just sighed. Perhaps the shopkeeper just wanted to make a sale, but he had said the machete was not worth repairing.
Not a real issue for Michael since he had been leaning toward getting something better anyways. On day 7, a shopkeeper had told Michael and Kyrie that prices would vary according to supply and demand. Michael could only grimace as it worked against him. Kyrie had initially been able to buy her katana for 250 crowns on day 7. Five days later on day 12, similar blades were starting out with an asking price of 600 crowns.
Even after talking the price down and turning in his machete as scrap, Michael was only able to talk the merchant down to 520 crowns for a standard double edged sword. It irked him to pay over double what the blade would have cost him less than a week ago, but good weapons were in high demand. As of yet, contenders were not forging their own. What could be found throughout the map and in the stores was all that was available, inflation had quickly taken hold of the dwindling supplies as contenders started to be able to earn more and more crowns while out hunting in shorter periods of time.
Prices at the apothecary however had apparently remained far more stagnant throughout the last week. The few changes had actually worked in his favor as shopkeepers worked to get rid of stores before the next new week commenced on day 14. Michael grabbed an above average soldier pill, vial of sun quintessence, and rebuff pill for 70, 90, and 80 crowns respectively.
The later two he would use for his battle with the disembodied spirit. He had below average quality rebuff pills. Something he should have remembered and used prior to starting his attack on the creature. However, Michael did not think the below average quality pills would cut it against the powerful spirit, so he grabbed the best thing he could currently buy. If the disembodied spirit had decided to attack him itself instead of waiting for minions to take care of him, he would likely be dead. He still was not sure exactly how long he had been frozen in terror due to the wail, but was sure it had at least been 10 seconds, and who could say he would not have been frozen longer if he had not fallen and hit his head. The small bump on his noggin had almost assuredly saved his life.
The sun quintessence could be applied to a weapon and would deal more damage to undead until it wore off 3 to 5 minutes later. The blade itself might not do a whole lot of damage if used against an incorporeal being, but perhaps if it had the quintessence on it, it would still affect the disembodied spirit wisp.
Michael also bought an above average healing potion and 5 below average quality energy shots at cost. The potion would restore up to 250 HP. It was more than he currently had in his health pool especially if he was using his health offering, but it was all that was in stock. It was better safe than sorry. Worst case, he did not need it and would have it in the future when he did have that much HP to recover. The five energy shots similarly could be used in the future to recover 50 pts of pulse, ki, or spirit energy. As long as he survived, he would use them eventually. His weaker quality energy shots were likely still somewhere on the floor in the underground research laboratory. Perhaps he would be able to recover them.
After everything was added up, Michael had just over 250 crowns leftover including the 60 some crowns he had earned through their fights in the sewers. It was a bit sad to spend all his money on consumables right after getting it, but he was now far prepared.
Michael had not run into Kyrie again, although according to his contender page she was still alive out there somewhere. Regardless, he would not wait for her. After making his purchases, and revisiting the faction board Michael had spent the rest of day 12 getting positioned at the research laboratory. With how much daylight that had remained, he had decided to hang back and start fresh on day 13. Still he had managed to grind in the nearby area. The area was full of relatively weak tier 1’s and 0’s, but he still obtained 2 more white drops. Which he had used to bring dexterity up to 27 and agility up to 21.
At 50 of 75 points, he was now officially two thirds of the way to hitting the tier 2 threshold. A milestone that made him feel slightly less okay with having sold his latest pretty good tier up method. However, during his shopping trip he had discovered another nugget of information. People were actually selling white drops on the open market. The going price was around 150 crowns right now. Another note of information on the faction board from Sarge himself was that drops including white drops could be held on for up to a week after obtaining them if they could not be used. However, they could hang out on the open market indefinitely, but you could not buy back your own sell, basically paying yourself and storing something for free.
Of note, white drops could not be transferred to someone else and then transferred back to the originator, and ‘No they also could not be routed through another person and back to the originator.’ Apparently, Sarge, being already at the threshold, had tried everything he could to skirt the rules.
After reading that note, it made sense to Michael why people were putting white drop stat points up for sale. There could easily be hundreds of people like Sarge who had hit the threshold, but did not have a tier up method they were willing to use. It did not matter to Michael. It was not as if he was about to spend crowns to buy stat points that he could pick up himself. He would consider the bonus points that would not count toward a threshold. It was a way to buy yourself strength and be stronger at a given level. However at 500 crowns a pop, he would much rather use his crowns for other things at this point. A new skill could be infinitely more beneficial to him than a handful of extra stat points.
In addition to hunting, Michael had also spent the majority of the day working on both of his skills. Neither had gone up a level, but perhaps they were closer than they were before. Another level in either skill would be extremely beneficial.
The underground hydroelectric research laboratory was actually a facility of Vargas city Bay institute. A small campus of higher learning that was cordoned off in the same approximate area. One massive three story tall building stood in the center of the tiny campus. Michael decided to try it first since the few other buildings on the campus’s surface did not look like they led to some underground facility. The tail, tail reddish glow of the building on his tactical map, confirmed his educated guess.
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Michael took the building's front steps two at a time bypassing two massive columns on either side. It was then he heard a ‘chink’. He then felt a sharp pain in his chest. Looking down, he had a wooden shaft protruding from his chest. It was just to the right of his sternum. The pain after the initial hit wasn’t registering, perhaps due to the shock. He staggered back down a step, before natural survival instincts took over pushing him to take cover. He catered over to the left column besides the step for cover. Along the way the pain hit him like a flash flood, all at once, as the shock wore off.
In the few seconds that had passed, he had noticed a point in the glass ahead of him where cracks were radiating out from. He had actually seen it happen, but had failed to register what was happening till a few seconds later due to the shock of the situation. Someone had shot an arrow at him through the window. A second arrow popped through the same window, whizzing by him a second before he made it behind the column. It would be the last shot, at least until the shooter changed his position.
Michael breathed against the pain. Someone was attacking him. He had always known that it would likely happen at some point. He had seen a bunch of survival movies or shows where people instantly started turning on one another. It was seemingly just a part of human nature. However, for the most part he had not seen things devolve where contenders were turning on one another. Kyrie had mentioned that someone had shot at her with a bow and arrow. Perhaps it was the same guy, shooting at him now.
Michael realized he was getting side tracked. He was wasting time instead of reacting. Already he heard an indistinguishable male voice shouting something. The voice was harsh and demanding. A boss giving orders? It meant there were more than one assailant. Michael checked his health. He was only down 22 HP. Not too much considering he had 200 HP, but he also had an accompanying status.
[Bleeding status: Contender will take 0 to 4 HP of damage every 0 to 3 minutes. Damage and time interval will change based on various factors. Condition will last for an indeterminable amount of time, and can be worsened depending on actions taken.]
Likely, if he moved around or twisted his torso he would take more damage and more quickly. Regardless, the wound would not kill him for a good long while. At least not till after he dealt with these assailants. He wheezed, breathing hurt, but it did not seem like his lung had been pierced. It was not the worst pain he had felt in the survival battle, but was perhaps one of the most uncomfortable. Perhaps some unpleasant feeling created by having something foreign sticking out of his chest, or maybe that was just another aspect of the pain. He realized he was spiraling again. Focus! He mentally told himself.
A good ten seconds had probably passed since he had taken cover. The assailants were probably not in any hurry. Their wounded prey had taken cover and was not going anywhere. However, the respite did not last long. He heard the building's front doors forcibly burst open. Heavy and fast footfalls indicated they were running along the cement walkway above the stairs. They were eager to bring things to a close.
A man carrying a bow landed on the pavement beyond the steps, having jumped down the five or so feet from the walkway. He had come from around the opposite column putting a good 20 feet between them. He immediately sighted an already nocked arrow and fired. Michael fell to the ground to avoid the shot which made a chip into the stone column, about where his belly had been, before bouncing down the steps. It would have been a gut shot if he had not fallen to the steps below the column to avoid it. Michael hardly felt his left shoulder slam into the step.
A deep red energy dart blazed into being above Michael’s head. Michael watched as the man’s eyes widened and he gave a quick ‘Aaahh!’ as he recognized the danger. His center of gravity shifted back toward the building. He was trying to put something between him and the energy dart, the far column was his only option since the courtyard surrounding the building was relatively open. He only was able to put his foot on the first step and start the dive.
It was actually very easy for Michael to choose where to send the dart. To Michael, the man’s movements were incredibly predictable and slow. Michael sent almost all 50 pulse points of energy toward the archer. The dart caught the man high in his side. He cried immediately in pain. His body collapsed on the steps. Only his head had made it behind the column, but not for long. His head became visible as the guy spasmed in pain, over a hole opened on the side of his midsection. Blood poured from the wound, and Michael even caught sight of some of the man’s entrails.
Michael only watched for one satisfying second. The archer was not alone. He pushed himself back to his feet, and then immediately fell backwards to avoid a crowbar which smashed into the column. The archer had come out to fire at him, while this second assailant had circled around the column he had put his back to. If he had kept retreating to keep the column between him in the archer he would have run right into him.
As he backpedaled several steps, Michael noticed a third man. An older man with black hair and a permanent 5 o’ clock shadow had his eyes and mouth open in shock after seeing what happened to his archer companion. As Michael came back into view, the man’s face contorted in anger. He launched himself forward, a machete in hand. He was standing only a few feet from the open doorway, but that was still only 15 feet from Michael down on the third step. The guy who had circled around the column was following after Michael. A heavy set guy, with a crew cut.
With the archer down, his enemies were really only coming from one direction. He used a quickened step to give him a little space. He moved down the steps and away from the building. The arrow inside his chest throbbed with the extra movements. Five o’ clock shadow was pretty quick; he kept pace, only a few strides behind. The heavier man carrying the crowbar started losing ground, based on the chunks of rock that had sprayed from the column he was working on a strength build.
Michael waited till he could once again use quickened steps before he made his move. He spun around on the first step. A small object whirled past him perhaps a half foot away. It might have hit him in the back of the head if Michael had not happened to make his move at precisely the right moment. An fortunate coincidence, since Michael had not expected the man would make such an attempt. Mr. 5 o’ clock shadow was recovering from his throw, but he quickly started adjusting for a swing of his machete.
Michael’s left arm was already raised. Michael backpedaled as the first bolt launched from his bracer. His pulse was sitting at 2, so his shots would not be charged. But unless the man had substantially increased his toughness it would be fine. The man was still stumbling toward Michael, preparing to engage in combat with his machete when the first bolt caught him in the chest. It punched right into the man. The man realized the danger and started shifting his center of gravity away from Michael, perhaps to flee. The second bolt caught the man high up on his right side, just below the armpit.
Michael only faintly registered the man collapsing to the grass below. Only a second had passed, but the heavyset man had seen what had happened only 15 feet in front of him. His response was different. He roared and perhaps sped up his charge.
Michael’s left arm shifted toward the bigger man, even as he used the last of his quickened step to move sideways out of the way of the large man’s momentum. The first bolt caught the man just under the ribcage, just above his bulging belly. The second hit higher up on the chest. The third hit the man in the forearm as he brought it in front of him to try and block the bolt. The fourth shot was sent wide because the man slammed his crowbar into the right of his waist. The man had wanted to tackle Michael, but had to settle for a half hearted swing of his crowbar as Michael darted to the side.
The strike definitely registered as painful, but other than causing his body to spin in the air it did not drop his health. He landed on his left shoulder, before rolling to his back. All of his attention went to the pain caused by the angry arrow shaft that had been jarred about. Michael lost a second recovering, but necessity forced him to recover. He sprung back to his feet and sent several more bolts toward the big target. One hit the guy high in the back, but the second missed entirely.
Michael would have shot more, but the guy was getting pretty far away already. Apparently the guy had no intention or turning back around, he was charging forward to escape. MIchael watched him for a second, before he thought to analyze the guy.
[Sam Weltz; tier 1]
The guy disappeared behind the side of a building a few seconds later.