Wading through the gloomy passages of the water treatment plant, Blake felt like he had stepped into a macabre version of a survival horror video game.
The constant sound of dripping water echoed throughout the hallways, yet its source remained elusive. Blake took the lead, guiding the group of survivors through the maze-like facility.
The survivors scoured the rooms as they passed by, searching for any useful items that might have been left behind. They found food, supplies, and even everyday objects like pens and paper – items that now held greater value in a world where resources were scarce, and nobody was left to manufacture more.
As they delved deeper into the depths of the water treatment plant, they began to encounter rock crabs of varying sizes. Some were relatively small, similar in size to a housecat or a golden retriever.
As they made their way deeper into the water treatment plant, Blake couldn’t shake the feeling of unease that had settled in the pit of his stomach. The feeling of being watched intensified, as if something was right behind them, just out of view.
Blake summoned his Stone Slasher Golem as a bodyguard, feeling relieved to have another set of eyes and weapons on his side. He couldn’t use too many of his cards, as he had to conserve his anima, but he also didn’t want to be completely vulnerable.
Terry, one of the survivors, had the same Stone Talons card as Harry.
“So what level is your Stone Talons card?” Blake asked Kerri.
“Whoa, you know what this card is? Nobody else has ever heard of it. It’s only at Level 3 at the moment, but close to the next,” Kerri answered.
“Make sure you keep leveling it up,” Blake said. “Having the power of flight is one of the most powerful options you can have. When it reaches Level 5, you’ll have the opportunity to evolve it into Gargoyle’s Fury. You’ll still have the stone talons, but you’ll also have a pair of stone wings. There’s another option that lets you adopt the form of a beast, but my friend wasn’t interested in that path.”
“Wings?” Kerri asked. “I had no idea that my Stone Talons would evolve into something with the power of flight.”
“Keep it under wraps as long as you can,” Blake warned. “The moment I revealed the full extent of my power, I started getting more work orders and a lot of unwanted attention from Clay Atlas and his cronies.”
“Agreed,” Samuel nodded.
“I’ve heard of the same thing happening,” David said, and shared a knowing look with Samuel.
Every time they killed a rock crab, whoever was involved in the battle received a little bit of experience. So far Slasher Golem did most of the work.
Kerri was still learning the ropes, and she was doing her best to level up her Stone Talons card.
As they ventured further into the depths of the water treatment plant, the once sterile and functional environment began to take on a twisted and unnerving appearance. In the corners of rooms were small accumulations of a sticky, resin-like substance, each with tiny indentations that hinted at some unknown purpose.
Their worst fears were confirmed when they stumbled upon an administrative room and were greeted by a sickening sight.
The body of a human was trapped in the resin, its chest cavity and abdomen exposed, with half a dozen tiny, newly-hatched rock crabs scurrying around, greedily devouring the remains. The gruesome sight stunned every single one of them.
Kerri retched, her body convulsing as she emptied the contents of her stomach onto the floor. David, looking pale and sick, followed suit, vomiting beside her. Sarah and Samuel stood solemnly, their expressions grim as they gazed upon the disturbing sight of the half-eaten body and the baby rock crabs feasting on it.
“Do you recognize her?” Blake asked, turning to Samuel.
Samuel shook his head. “She’s not one of ours. Probably a wanderer looking for supplies.”
“Has anyone got any fire abilities that can take care of those remains?” Blake asked.
“I do,” David said, then turned toward Sarah. “Will you be able to guide me once I activate it?”
“You know I will. I’ll take care of you,” Sarah said in a motherly tone.
David pulled out his power card and played it.
The card broke up into motes of luminous light, which then sunk back down into his eyes and mouth. His eyes began blazing red and David closed them immediately. He kept his mouth closed as well until he turned his head in the direction of the dead body.
Then David opened his eyes and his mouth, and three streams of bright red flaming energy burst forth. The flames battered the dead body and passed over the six rock crabs playing in the woman’s corpse. The moment the beams of fire slammed into each of these tiny little crabs, they popped from the extreme heat like they were kernels of corn in the microwave.
Blake’s own eyes flew open in surprise. He’d never seen an ability like this and was instantly curious.
The moment David was done destroying the body and killing the crabs, he shut his eyes and mouth tight again. He reached out and took Sarah’s hand. It was almost like David couldn’t see or speak while this power was activated without letting loose those beams of pure destructive energy.
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“This power comes with a massive downside,” Samuel said as he stepped next to Blake. “Once activated, Flare Beam will scorch anything that the user looks at or opens their mouth toward.”
“It looks incredibly powerful,” Blake said. He wanted to see what kind of monster it might summon. “Why did David tell me before that he didn’t have a power card?”
“Because he’s terrified it’ll make him a target, Blake. But we’re in a situation now where it is necessary to use it. Besides, the card has such an extreme downside. If the user was able to focus such an intense beam of destruction without any negative impacts, this card would be far too powerful. It’s already epic in quality as it is,” Samuel explained.
“When did David get it? And does Clay Atlas know about it?” Blake asked.
Samuel seemed to weigh his words before he spoke. “No. David’s never used it in front of anyone but us before. So we’d appreciate it if you kept this a secret.”
Blake nodded. “Your secret is safe with me.”
There was a moment where Blake almost wanted to tell Samuel everything. He seemed like a trustworthy kind of guy, and Blake’s burgeoning plan that was formulating in his mind required others to work with him.
“Say, what do you all think about New Meridia and Clay Atlas?” Blake asked.
“We have no love for him,” Samuel said, but the tone conveyed more than the words ever could alone.
“He exiled me in the opening days of the city,” Sarah said as she led David forward. “I refused to do the things he asked, and after his soldiers tried to kill me, I vowed to never go back inside those walls. Unless it’s the knock him off his perch, of course.”
“The more power he gains, the worse it’s going to be for his citizens. It’s all toil and safety now, but what’s to stop him from building a true army?” Samuel said.
Blake nodded. “He can control the citizens through the work order system. He threatens to take everything away from those who live in his city unless they do what he wants. He… needs to be removed from power.”
The survivors stopped in their tracks and turned to look at Blake.
He took a breath and felt as though the atmosphere in the room had changed.
“I have to tell you something,” Blake began. “What I’m about to tell you could kill me, and I don’t have all the details worked out, but I am going to need people by my side. Clay Atlas is holding my parents and my best friend hostage in a secret prison beneath Atlas Tower. My plan is to challenge Clay Atlas to a duel, and once I defeat him, take control of the city myself.”
It sounded crazy as the words left Blake’s mouth, but his conviction grew with every passing moment. This was something that needed to be done, for the good of the people of New Meridia, and to save the people that Blake loved.
Because of the way that Blake’s cards interacted with the system, he was in a unique position to blindside Clay Atlas with some tricks he still had up his sleeve. Clay might know about his monsters from the Rank 3 exam, but there were plenty of surprises left thanks to Blake’s hidden Monster Summoner’s Lair.
A look of shared understanding passed through all of the survivors, aside from David who was still squinting his eyes shut and keeping his mouth tight-lipped.
“We’ve heard rumors of this prison you speak of,” Samuel said finally. “There are many survivors out there looking for missing loved ones who think that they’re being held somewhere in the city. I would say that we could probably arrange at least three dozen challengers willing to stand with you against Clay Atlas.”
Sarah shot Samuel a stricken look, like the old man had just revealed far too much. “Are you sure about this, Sam?”
“I’m not real sure about anything at all Sarah. But I’ve seen what Blake can do in combat, and I’ve seen how much power he holds in the cards that he has. We’ve been looking for a way to infiltrate the city and find our missing people, and Blake wants the same. What was it that you said to me just the other day? When an opportunity arrives, you need to seize it with both hands, otherwise you might lose it forever.”
Sarah sighed and gave Samuel a sad but amused smile. “Yeah, I guess I did say that. So what’s your plan, Mister Rank 3 Challenger?”
“It’s in progress,” Blake said. “Is there any way we could use the parts that we’re about to collect to cause a distraction or a disruption to New Meridia, that wouldn’t negatively impact the people of the city?”
David, even though he still had his eyes and mouth shut tight, nodded.
“Do you have a plan?” Sarah asked.
David nodded even more firmly than before.
“David was studying civil engineering and city planning before the end of the world came,” Samuel explained. “If he has a plan then let’s focus on getting out of here as quickly as we can. Then we can regroup to talk about it.”
“That works for me,” Blake said.
They continued further on into the water treatment plant. The sticky resinous substance became even more prevalent as they forged ahead.
They found other human bodies trapped in the substance, but some of them had been there for much longer than others. A lot of them were wearing uniforms and overalls that belonged to the company who managed the water filtration plant: AquaLife.
Working back from what Blake saw now and had experienced before, it became obvious that most of the lakes in this area had been seeded or populated by rock crabs. It may have just started with a single entity, a fertile breeding female empowered by the system, but it seemed like all the freshwater water sources around had been infested by now.
The massive crab that they had defeated at the Whispering Pines campground had required the Meteor Colossus to defeat. Another one like that could spell trouble.
He only had three of eight anima remaining for him to use.
Blake had a chat with the other survivors about how they were going to make this work, depending on what they found further into this place. He described the massive Ultra Rock Crab he defeated earlier, the Level ?? Boss Monster and wanted to know exactly what power cards the rest of the survivors had up their sleeves.
Kerri had her Stone Talons ability, which Blake knew was very good at piercing the tough stone hides of rock crabs. She had two anima left for today.
David only had a single anima remaining, which he indicated by holding up a single finger when asked. He could empower himself once more with his Flare Beam ability, which had a secondary function that they hadn’t explained to Blake until they had a chance to demonstrate it.
Eventually they came to a heavy steel door which was locked tight. The security card swipe access was powered down, and there was absolutely no way through the door from this side. Luckily they had a universal key to big metal doors.
David opened his eyes and his mouth. Beams erupted from his face holes and started melting through the steel.
It took them another fifteen minutes to get through to the central section of the water treatment plant, which left only about twenty minutes left on the summon timer for Blake’s Stone Slasher Golem. It had a much longer summon duration than it had when he first received the card, but still less than an hour in total.
They came to a glass viewing platform that overlooked the central pit filled with lake water. It was murky and muddy, with patches of that same sticky resinous substance floating on the surface.
A massive shell stuck out like a small island, with serrated spines that rose from the back of the gray carapace like the dorsal fins of a great white shark.
When Blake focused on that massive shell a window appeared in front of him.
Rock Crab Prime Mother
Level ?? Boss Monster
This monster is far beyond your abilities. Leave now or end up as a baby rock crab’s first meal.
Blake was about to summon his Meteor Colossus when Kerri gestured urgently at something down below. There was another human covered in that stick resinous substance.
“Oh my God, it’s Randall!” she cried out. “He’s covered in rock crab eggs!”