The mental attack came suddenly and sharply. Joe could feel two minds hammering at his defenses. The pain dropped him to a knee, pulled a cry from his lips and he could hear Bixby wail in pain next to him. He reached out a hand and found the course fur that was now Bixby’s ruff. He dug his hand deep into the fur and the pain cut in half, then disappeared altogether.
Congratulations! Your ability, Mental Fortress, has increased to 50%.
Both took deep breathes but Bixby’s was followed by a piercing howl. A howl that was returned by many throats all around the neighborhood. Joe glanced about and saw the two remaining crab monsters scuttling towards him from between buildings. They were followed by a deluge of void wolves. Jesus! Just how many did Bixby call?
Prior to reaching his class, Bixby seemed to be able to call about six void wolves, from what Joe could see pouring from the shadows, there were at least a dozen, probably more. With snarls and barks, the black wolves pounced on the two Harrowed Crabs and began tearing into them. Unfortunately, the wolves could do no discernable damage through the hard shells of the crabs and the crabs were too slow to grab onto any of the wolves. But what the wolves did do, was keep the crabs occupied so they could not focus enough to use their mental attacks. This left Joe and Bixby free reign to bring serious destruction onto them.
Having fought the first one, this time, the duo was prepared. First, Joe cast [Hunters Mark]. This spell allowed him to mark both crabs as high priority targets and added a nice little ten percent bonus to attack and damage for both he and Bixby. He then focused on one of the crabs and cast [Umbral Shackles] and half a dozen umbral tentacles erupted from the ground and entwined themselves int the creatures’ legs, immobilizing it. Not to be outdone, Bixby charged forward while casting his own spell, [Pull of the Void] and a ball of void energy tore into existence behind the second crab with a score of void tendrils reaching out and securing themselves to the beast’s carapace. Wherever the tendrils touched, the shell began to slowly spin into nothingness. The tendrils dragged the giant crab backwards, effectively keeping it from maneuvering.
With both monsters currently unable to move or attack, Joe walked over to his chosen opponent and stood in front of it. He could feel it trying to attack his mind, but it was in too much pain and too distracted by the wolves biting its bound limbs to be effective. Joe studied the creature’s face and saw an opening. He summoned one of his blades and with a quick motion, buried half of it into the crab’s mouth. A high-pitched squeal came from it and Joe pulled the sword free, placed his fist in front of the creature and let loose another spell, [Umbral Shot]. This spell impacted the octopus creature inside and Joe could see the damage wrought in its wake as the Harrowed Crab’s health dropped substantially. Joe sat and alternated between [Umbral Shot] and using his void ring until the creature finally died. This time it was not even a fight and Joe felt kind of like a bully by the end.
Meanwhile, Bixby used much the same tactic and fired his own [Void Bolt] spell repeatedly until the carapace in the front of the crab was gone and he simply clamped his jaws onto the octopus inside and pulled it from the shell. A few swift [Void Fang] bites and it too died.
Joe looted the corpses and stored the bodies. He had Bixby dismiss the wolves so as not to scare the kids and made his way back to the center of the cul-de-sac. Bob had also decided to come to the center. Standing there, he was the center of attention as he looked so completely out of place. “You are strong. I am thankful you are also kind.”
Joe did not know how to respond to that, so he just nodded and turned to the building housing the survivors. “Alright, listen! The crab thingies are dead and I’m running out of patience. We are here to help, and we have more children in our city center that are safe. We may even have some parents of yours, just waiting to see you again. So please…” He paused, “Please come out so we can get going. Waiting until dawn is just inviting more trouble.”
There was an argument as many voices could be heard yelling at one another, many of the voices were very young sounding, finally a singular female voice yelled out, “Ramon!” Then the door creaked open. Joe was stunned and unable to move as he saw Mirabella step out of the open doorway. Bixby’s eyes narrowed and he took a tentative step forward, then he flew like a bolt to the door and licked her face. Her giggle was like a splash of cold water and Joe’s disbelief disappeared. He walked over, seeing children’s faces in the darkness behind his friend. “Bella? What the hell are you doing here?”
He could see her eyes narrow with what he suspected was guilt. “I followed you.” Joe stood staring and she followed up with, “I wanted to see how your Class worked as you and I now utilize the same element. And because Kier told me to keep an eye on you.” She ended flatly.
Joe scowled for a moment then let out a laugh. Of course, the dwarf would want someone to keep an eye out for me. Joe knew he had a reputation for being impulsive and a bit reckless so instead of being annoyed, he felt amused. “You know I’m probably the strongest human on the planet right now, right?”
Mirabella simply shrugged, “Friends watch out for friends, right?”
At that Bixby gave Joe a woof, agreeing with the halfkin. “Yeah, yeah. But next time, just tell me you’re coming along, I can add you to the party. You missed some good experience and loot.” He sent a party invite to her which she accepted.
A voice from inside said, “Is he going to wake up soon? I want to leave here as quickly as possible, okay?”
Joe peered inside and saw a teenage girl with cocoa colored skin and tight braids, wearing a very bright, but dirty yellow dress. He also saw at least a dozen children. He looked back to Mirabella, “I assume you put him to sleep like before?” Joe felt a pain at remembering Gabe, and the fact that they had yet to lay him to rest. He resolved to take care of that when the sun rose. However, he could not ruminate on past events as he now had a boat load of kids to rescue. He stepped into the open doorway and was met with a chorus of screams as he loomed over all the children.
Dammit! The armor. Instantly, he swapped his armor for more sedate tunic and trousers that he had purchased at the Shoppe. “Sorry kids.” I opened his hands in a show of contrition, “I’m one of the good guys, but my armor is scary looking.” As he scanned the room, he saw a thin Latino boy in a rather nice leather and chainmail set of armor, a longsword lay next to him and several of the children were trying to rouse him from Mirabella’s sleep spell. He pushed the door wider, and the children saw Bixby. The scary dog was doing his best to look friendly. He sat on his haunches with his tongue lolling out and his tail wagging. “Kids, this is my best friend, Bixby.” Bixby gave a friendly woof and Joe smiled, “He says he's pleased to meet you all.”
At seeing Bixby, most of the children stayed rooted in place, mostly from fear, but a few just saw a dog and moved to pet him. Joe watched in amazement as one after another of the children, who ranged from what he thought may have been a newborn, held in the arms of a ten-year-old, all the way to Ramon, who looked to be in his middle teens. Bixby’s allure stumped Joe, but the children all instantly loved him. Just as with the children they had rescued earlier, these flocked to the black dog. He had even dismissed his own armor and allowed the kids to pet and hug him.
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The girl in the yellow dress was hesitant, but with a forced smile, she held her hand out for Joe to shake, “I’m Rebecca or Beks like the kids call me. Thank you for coming to help us.” She glanced back at Ramon, “Is, is he going to be, okay?”
Mirabella gestured and the boy began to rouse. It took only a few seconds and he dashed to his feet. Joe was impressed to see that the boy grabbed his sword as he stood, ready to face danger. “What the fuck?”
“Whoa, easy there, my guy.” Joe held his empty hands up, “We come in peace.”
Ramon Carranza
Level: (B) 6
Race: Human
Class: Corsair
H: 300
S: 430
M: 280
"I'm sorry Bella had to knock you out, but we can't be wasting too much time here." Joe watched the wariness in the boy’s eyes as he took in the sight of the children all around Bixby, Mirabella and Joe himself. Joe gave the kid bonus points for stepping in front of the girl in the yellow dress as well as noticing Bob standing out in the street. All while keeping his sword pointed at Joe. This kid is sharp. “Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot.” Joe held out his hand, “I’m Joe.”
Ramon hesitated just long enough for the girl to smack his arm and reluctantly he shook Joe’s offered hand, “Ramon.” And just like that, he seemed to deflate, as if a great weight was lifted from him. “Sorry for the…” He waved his hand, “Well, everything. But when we arrived it was just me and my boy Raul and all these kids. We been running through this village for hours until we found this place to hole up in. Then the crab fuckers came and tricked us, and they got Paul. That’s when I shut the doors and stayed put.”
Joe felt for the kid and his regard for him increased a great deal as he saw the determination and sadness of someone who swore to protect others. “Hey, I’ve been there. I lost some people as well. I can promise you a place to keep these kids safe, well, at least far safer than here and it’s not super far away, but we’ll have to move quickly and take a route through town that may have changed in the integration just like the boardwalk areas has.”
Ramon perked up, “We’re at the boardwalk? Ain’t no rides here.”
“Yeah, that’s because the System stitched the world together with other worlds. So, if you were near the boardwalk when the integration happened, it put you right back where you were, just not with the buildings you’re familiar with. Our city center is at the county building, but we’ll probably have to go all the way the Water Street to cross the river. The Riverside bridge is broken.”
Ramon let out a breath, he suddenly seemed older than his actual age. “Damn dude. I’ve been protecting these kids for a day, but it feels like a year. How do I know I can trust you?” His eyes narrowed at Joe, suspicion still dominant.
“Honestly? You don’t. Not really but look at the kids. Kids seem to love Bixby and he looks scary.” He pointed at the children all clustered around the dog. “At some point man, you just have to take the chance.” He raised an eyebrow at Ramon, “And just so you know, there’s no way I’m walking away from these kids, so unless you want to be stubborn and either attract more monsters or throw down with me, either of which I highly recommend you don’t do, can we please get moving?”
The girl, Beks, pleaded with Ramon to consider going with Joe. As the two talked, Joe inspected the girl.
Rebecca Sloane
Level: 0
Race: Human
Class: None
H: 30
S: 60
M: 30
Joe’s eye’s opened wide at reading her information, “Beks, how old are you?”
The question was out of left field for the girl, but she answered quickly, “Sixteen. Literally today.” Suspicion entered her voice, “Why?”
Do you have banked experience?”
“Um, yes? Again, why?”
“Because I know what that’s like, and it means that I can add you to my party and bump that experience up substantially while we head to the city center. We have a Classroom and you can get your class there. And with enough banked experience, you can start off at a higher level right away.” Joe immediately invited Beks, and Ramon to his party. He then quickly explained the benefits of joining a party and how it worked.
Getting impatient, Mirabella pointed to Bob, “You may want to introduce the treant to the children?”
Joe almost slapped his head, “Damn! Yeah, sorry.” He knelt down and got the children’s attention, “So, I’m Joe, this is Bixby and that guy over there…” He pointed to Bob, “Is Bob the treant. He’s with us and he’s super nice. He’s going to the city center with us.” He glanced over to Ramon, “Can we all go over and say Hi to Bob?” At Ramon’s nod, Joe and Bixby, children in tow, went to Bob, standing in the center of the cul-de-sac.
“Hhhhrmmmm. These are human infants?” Bob eyed the children warily.
“A couple of them are, but most of them are children. Younglings.” Joe introduced Ramon and Beks while the children all ooohed and aaahed over Bob. For some reason Bob found the children’s interest entertaining. “We need to protect them as we travel since they are too young to use the System yet.” As he spoke, he noticed Mirabella and Beks in a conversation and Mirabella handed the girl a knife and a necklace. Joe nodded to himself in satisfaction.
Bob spoke in his deep tree voice, “The young ones may travel in my branches if you like. I will keep them safe while we travel.”
Joe, surprised, agreed as long as the children all understood they had to behave while in the treant’s care. There was a conversation between the older children and the younger, headed up by Ramon. It took longer than Joe liked standing in the open, but after ten minutes, all the children had been placed on the strong middle branches and Bob wrapped the long whiplike branches around each child to keep them safe from falling out. The two infants stayed cradled in the arms of the older children.
Eventually, they were ready to head home. “Bella, you’re on scout duty. Bix, I’d rather you stayed close to Bob. Also, can we get an escort?” Bixby nodded and woofed, then howled. That startled the children, a few of which began to cry. However, Joe explained that Bixby had just called his friends to help get everyone home safely.” Unfortunately, even with the explanation, when the Void Wolves appeared, the children once again began to cry from fear. Bixby immediately had the wolves take to the shadows while Ramon, Beks and the older kids calmed everyone down. Joe chafed at the delay but understood.
Finally, Bob just began moving. He seemed irritated, but Joe could not be sure. It was very hard to read the creature’s mood. In just a few moments however, Bob and Beks began a slow conversation. The girl in the yellow dress listened to Bob speak in rapt attention. Good, Bob has a new friend. Maybe she’ll help keep both he and the kids calm.
“Okay, I’m going to try to get us up to Front Street then to Laurel. As far as I know the Laurel bridge is still intact. If we can get across there, then we’ll be in a safer zone as that area has been swept for monsters. It looks like the major issue we have now is that this damn village uses switchback roads to climb the hill. That’s going to take some time, especially at Bob’s speed. Ramon, I want you to stay as close to Bob and the kids as possible. If something happens, let Bixby, Bella and I handle it.”
Ramon bristled at the orders, but relented as he knew he was outclassed by most of the things they would encounter, they were still in a Level Twenty zone after all and some of the higher-level monsters that had wandered in could still be lurking in the shadows. And as if he was prescient, only three blocks into their travels, the void wolves encountered an enemy. Bixby ran off to deal with it and returned shortly, reporting that it was an overgrown lizard of some sort. It was mostly dead by the time he even reached it as the wolves tore it to shreds. Several more non-encounters occurred in the same way, although one was obviously the handywork of Mirabella as the lizardman was face down on the ground with a knife wound in its back.
When they crested the top of the hill, they found the demarcation between the stitched in village and Santa Cruz proper. They came out of a side street directly next to the local sports arena. From their vantage point, Joe could see that the Laurel Street bridge was still intact with the river flowing strongly beneath it. The neighborhood across the river looked peaceful. That was Joe’s goal as he swept his eyes along the street. There was a used car dealer and a coffee shop across from the arena and several open parking lots. The cars, buildings and even the pavement in places had what appeared to be decades of plant growth on them. System shenanigans. No way did that stuff grow like that in a month on its own.