Michael contained the brief bout of disappointment that had welled up inside. He had been expecting to at least unlock one of his secondary attributes, or perhaps to get a skill. His frustration only lasted a moment as he eagerly examined the item.

[Wasp nettle bracer (good quality) Bracer can be equipped to one arm. User can use bracer to fire up to 30 bolts. Bracer can respawn 1 bolt every 48 minutes. (warning: if the last bolt is fired, the bolts will not respawn.) (Warning: Once equipped, bolts will not respawn if the user unequips the item or is killed.)]

[item Quality: Item quality can vary from poor to artifact. Higher quality items will endure more abuse, with items at good quality and above even being able to self repair as long as they are not overly damaged. An item's quality is not necessarily indicative of its relative use.]

Michael nodded to himself. The item seemed pretty useful. It would give him a ranged attack. Every day he would be able to shoot 29 crossbow bolts at unsuspecting enemies, and apparently the bracer would self repair if it was damaged. Michael checked his bat’s quality. It was just average quality. If it got damaged, it was just done for.

In truth, Michael was slightly annoyed that this thing would just be attached to his arm till he had outgrown it. Like an annoying cast. Michael had never broken an arm or leg, but had known several who had. Having the bracer sealed to his forearm for the foreseeable future would definitely be a little unpleasant.

Still it was not like Michael would pass this up. After only a moment of thought he equipped it to his left forearm. His right hand was his dominant hand. He could not risk encumbering it.

The bracer replaced the green curved wooden one he had started the battle left. It was a simple circular group of black half foot iron bolts held together by metal rings. A metal sleeve separated the bolts from his arm. There was no apparent shooting apparatus. The bolts would just magically launch from just behind his wrist. There was an iron sight on top for aiming. Presumingly the bolt on top would launch and another would move up to take its position, but Michael was not entirely sure of that. For all he knew any bolt could launch from any position when fired.

While it was good that the bracer was not near his hand, preventing Michael from fully utilizing his hand. Michael quickly pictured one downside. If he bent his hand up or down depending on where the bolts fired from, he might end up sending a bolt into the back of his own hand. That probably would not be pleasant, he thought.

Michael instinctively knew how to use his new item. He just had to will it to happen and it would. Thankfully, it had to be purposeful and would not be triggered by just a stray thought. He could get up to 29 shots. Since he was not planning on fighting constantly, he should be able to use it fairly liberally. He just needed to make sure that he did not accidentally expend the last bolt, or they would quit respawning.

Only a little over two minutes had passed since he had ducked into his hiding spot. While his attention had been otherwise occupied, he did not miss the fact that buzzing now surrounded him. A peak out from under the door solidified the fact that the gig was up. The wasps had somehow located his position.

A monstrous wasp about 3 feet in length hovered not 15 feet away. Michael actually thought to analyze it

[Queen wasp, Tier 0]

Holy crap, that thing was still just a tier 0. Michael supposed that all tier 0’s were not created equal. Michael’s left arm shot up the next instant. The queen was hovering there for now. As easy a target as he could expect.

The first bolt streaked over his closed fist striking the creature center mass. The second and third were right behind it. Both also scored hits. The fourth and fifth that had followed in the same fraction of an interval after the third, both missed as the queen fell. She was already dead. Michael’s reaction had been too slow, and he had wasted two shots.

The other wasps went berserk. One instantly darted beneath the board. His face and the creature’s body collided. Somehow the wasp remained attached. It’s wings beat against him, but it was not as if they caused his HP to drop. The stinker that had just barely pricked his throat did.

Michael might have been in serious trouble if the creature had actually been able to sink its stinger fully in his neck, but due to its body having slammed against his face the stinger went under his chin barely able to reach flesh at all. Still it was enough to cause a few HP of damage and Michael felt a squirt of venom enter.

It had all happened quite quickly. In just a second it had attacked, resulting in Michael’s almost instantaneous reaction. Michael had dropped his bat and swatted the wasp off his face with his right hand. The wasp slammed into the side of the crate before sliding down. However it was not dead.

Michael slammed his new bracer against the creature pinning it to the cement. The creature’s abdomen twitched a couple times as it tried to stick him with its stinger. Luckily, it could not reach him. A second later the wasp ceased all motion. The thorax of the creature had been crushed almost completely, covering Michael’s left forearm and new bracer with wasp pulp.

Michael could hardly worry about it now since another wasp hand landed on his back. Liquid fire shot into his body. He rolled away from under the board. It really was not helping, now that they had found him. It only restricted his movement and his sightline.

However it also restricted the movement of his attacker. Almost like he had practiced the move, Michael’s left arm rose pointing at the little bastard. In truth, he just really wanted to see the creature dead after what it had done to him. The wasp was bobbing in the air in a hover, so it took Michael three bolts to hit it. Once again he let several more bolts slip by, despite no longer needing them. This thing had a mental hair trigger.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Michael rolled back to recover his bat, just dodging the wasp that struck the cement where he had been lying. Michael rose to his feet with a wide swing. He did not hit anything, but it had been done more out of instinct than actually targeting one of the wasps.

Another wasp came at him and Michael's bat blurred right through its body, cutting it in two, and…. Also sending another goop of wasp pulp his way. Another blind swing to ward off other attackers, but Michael found that there was only one left.

The right side of his back ached and he felt the effects of the venom coursing through his body. Not near the point he had got to this morning, but he was over the wasps. The need to kill the last little bastard overrode his need to conserve ammo. The wasp circled around above. Bolt after bolt streaked out from Michael’s left hand after the little bugger. It was the seventh that clipped the wasp, sending in tumbling down to the pavement.

Michael charged in to finish the wasp off. It never stood a chance. When it was all said and done Michael had only killed four more of the smaller wasps, on top of killing the queen. In the effort he had expended 18 of 30 bolts from his new piece of gear. He would definitely have to be careful not to overdo it in the future, but the Wasp nettle bracer had clearly been extremely beneficial. He definitely no longer felt slighted about receiving it.

Now on to his reward. Once again he had noted the white ball of light earlier, but had been a little too preoccupied to pay it any thought. The ball of light hovered about a foot above the corpse of the dead queen wasp. It was honestly a bit satisfying to have come into the wasp’s house, take her treasure, and then kill her with it.

“Who's the queen bee now…” Michael said, while standing over his vanquished foe's body. It had felt like something needed to be done to mark the occasion, and for a second he was quite proud of himself despite knowing that a wasp was not quite a bee. Eh… They were similar enough. Then Michael considered his reward.

“Seriously, I just killed a boss and got a paltry white drop for the trouble. The creators of this battle sure are stingy…” Michael glanced up frustratedly before he swiped his hand through the white ball of light.

Michael was not too upset. The exhilaration of victory was still front and center, and supposedly the green drop had been the true reward for conquering the wasp nest. He had just done things in a bit of a reverse order.

Michael took stock of his status. It was 1736, meaning there was likely about an hour of daylight to go. His HP was sitting at 76, the nip in his neck only having taken away 4 HP, but his throat felt a little constricted, making him wonder if he had taken a full dose in the neck whether it might have killed him. Were critical hits a thing here? It was worth being weary of. Things might seem very game like, but not everything lined up perfectly. One hit might be all he got in some instances.

Michael quickly found himself on his status page. This time he did not have any need that might drive where he allocated the point, but he knew where he wanted it. He added it to dexterity bringing himself up to 12. Better motor control and reaction would be very beneficial in regards to using his new weapon.

That having been accomplished, Michael honestly did not know what to do next. He was hungry, but had no real options on hand. The sun was already on its way down. Was he willing to go out during the night? Eh… Maybe. However, the wasp nest seemed to be clear of zombies. What were the chances that he would find another such location? While he could always come back, who knew what other threats he might stumble on.

Finally, he decided to just fortify the place. Sure he had slept through the later half of the morning and into the early afternoon, but he would be lying if he said he was not mentally drained. Perhaps, it was due to a long day, or due to the latest dose of wasp venom he had received. Regardless, he had done well for the first day. It would be better to not tempt a good thing.

Michael quickly searched through the warehouse affirming that it was indeed clear of zombies or more wasps. Next he moved to fortify the place. The doors were barricaded, and he scooted a crate over the hole. Last thing he needed was for a zombie to come crawling in, in the middle of the night. He had just finished things up when the notice came.

[Congratulations: 3,051,843 contenders have survived the first day. Over ten thousand contenders even managed to get a green drop. Of note, battlefield restrictions have been lifted. Beasts, plants, and undead are no longer restricted to Tier 0. Come tomorrow morning, many on the cusp will have evolved to Tier 1, with Tier 2 and the other higher tiers to follow. Blue drops will start to spawn in the near future, with the higher quality drops following soon thereafter.]

[While some of you have found food by other means. Food and supplies will now regularly and randomly spawn throughout the map. Look for the pink drop locations on your tactical map. Of note, contenders can only store up to seven days worth of food and water supplies in their inventories although more can be carried by other means.]

[In battle currency, will now be enabled. Save up, to spend at outposts which will become open at the end of the week. At that time a ranking’s page will be added to your interface naming the top 1,000 contenders and what your current rank is if you fall within the top 10,000. Good luck and happy hunting.]

And that was it. “Ha,” Michael could not help but snort, so the beasts and undead had been capped at Tier 0 for the first day. The wasp queen was likely one of those on the cusp, ready to move up to Tier 1. He was lucky to have gotten to her first, and he had not been the only one. According to the message, at least ten thousand others had found and obtained one as well, so much for the early lead he had hoped to establish. Still it was good to see that he was competitive with the other top contenders.

The green drop was apparently the highest anyone could find as of now. Although it sounded like blue drops would start to become available. Perhaps by morning, some would have spawned. Perhaps, the green drop he had just taken, could have evolved into one after enough time, corresponding to its guardian’s strength.

However, Michael knew he didn't really want to run into the type of monster that might be guarding one of the blue drops, yet tomorrow morning Tier 1 monsters would be out and about, and Tier 2… who could tell? Hopefully, it would be a couple of months before they started getting any of those.

However, assuming that other battles could be used as a good example of what to expect, there might be a few monsters evolving up to higher tiers fairly early. A battle a year ago, had pitted contenders against a bunch of quadrupedal monsters that spread rapidly throughout the map. Several queen or high Tier monsters had existed from the get go. It would probably be the same in this battle. A contender would be just unlucky if they ran into one of the really powerful ones right off.

It took Michael another ten minutes to set up his bed. Enough tarps piled on top of one another, should be somewhat comfortable. However it would take him time to actually fall asleep. His thoughts shifted between different aspirations of finding a host of different and high quality drops, and what rewards he would receive. But in the end, they were just fantasies. Nearly a hundred thousand contenders had already fallen, and that number was sure to get higher in the upcoming days. The figurative kiddy gloves had been removed. Tomorrow might begin a wholesale slaughter.