Michelle – Outpost #846 – Habitation Unit #692
It had been several months since she was plucked from Hollywood stardom and thrust into bloody and brutal system enhanced world against her will. She would like to say she was finally adjusting, but that would be a lie.
Still mentally scared from her disfigurement by the spell of the wretched Goblin Shaman, her hand moved to her recently restored face. Marveling at the reversion to its previous smooth texture, she traced the skin of her newly reformed ear self-consciously.
Of all things, the impossible was made manifest with a simple, if somewhat expensive potion:
Basic Vapor Potion of Permanent Cure – Price = 15 Manamotes
Level Requirement: 1
Effect: Cures individual of all minor Poisons, Toxins, Paralytics and also removes minor scar tissue.
Description: Synthesized permanent potion of curing that cleanses the individual of all minor poisons, toxins, paralytics whilst also removing any minor scar tissue present. A ubiquitous and necessary consumable generated for phase 1 worlds.
At first she wanted to surrender to her inner defeatist and never leave the white cube that passed for a shelter in this changed world, yet Svetlana wouldn’t let her.
Michelle’s tall and commanding savior had stoically stated her intent in aiding her revenge on the creatures who had attacked her, marking her indelibly. Initially she was more than a little apprehensive and skeptical to say the least of their chances of success. And while she certainly now had access to explosive magic’s, the burnt stub of her ear was an all too keen reminder that their potential foes did as well.
Ever since that day their party had stood victorious in the heart of the unnaturally monsters camp, she swore to herself she would follow the charismatic Russian for as long as she was able. Sadly it was not without a bloody cost as Terrance, having lost a leg, was forced to take up a craft, unceremoniously bowing out of the fledgling Party.
The whole party agreed to collectively fund the purchase of the [Profession Tome of Basic Blacksmithing] he wanted, in honor of his crippling sacrifice. It had taken them a few quests but eventually they managed to obtain the tome for him, thus engendering a new sense of purpose and belonging for the humble Welshman.
Irritatingly, they would have been able to afford the pricey tome sooner, if not for the Outpost’s new ‘Council’ setting up an entry fee of 1 Manamote per person.
She couldn’t help but grumble to herself as she remembered when the chupamedias armed guards delivered the unwelcome news after their third or fourth outing in the wilds.
“It is too early, go back to sleep my sweet…”
Her mood unintentionally lifted as her eyes rolled and mouth involuntarily quirked, due to Svetlana’s half hearted complaint.
Michelle was the first to admit that she surprised herself when discovering her attraction to the 6ft gorgeous spear wielding Apprentice Spearwoman that lay in a state of undress next to her.Especially considering she was not usually into women, not that she hadn’t ever before…just that they were generally too…temperamental for her tastes.
Grinning to herself at her contradictory line of thought, she luxuriated in the darkness of their shared Habitation Unit. Laying there half dozing, she enjoyed the quite of the morning whilst snuggling up to her light shy bedmate, contentedly waiting for the day to arrive.
When the pair had arisen and readied themselves and their gear, they commanded the HU to make them packed lunches for their day. They had discovered from word of mouth with other questers that it was possible to have the HU make, within reason, your daily rations in degradable containers. For example; you had to mentally intimate at the HU what you wanted with a clear visual image and voi la, you had anything that could be considered a single meal for yourself materialized, pre packaged, for the day at hand.
It also seemed to work for portions of whoever else lived in the HU, though given that there was really only room for two adults and a child to sleep at best, no one had been able to get it to produce anything more than 3 rations at once.
Having stowed their lunches and corresponding water rations in crudely woven bags a Basic Tailor had made them out of harvested wolf’s pelts, they exited the HU to meet the morning sun.
Reflexively Michelle pulled her robes hood over her head to hide her face, as although her face had been miraculously restored, she now had the drawback of being recognized again.
At first it had been a relief to receive affirmation that she had recovered her renowned and tabloid envied beauty.
However after she was almost kidnapped by a Party of apparent fan boys whilst taking a leak in the jungle, which her own Party had to rescue her from. A thoroughly red faced and embarrassed, Michelle fucking Rodriguez, reinstated her paparazzi disguise in this new, but still mad, world.
Making their way to the hub to meet the rest of the Party, she let the smells of the food stalls and susurrations of Outpost life wash over her as the pair made the familiarly short trip to its hub.
Arriving whilst the sun was just peeking over the Outpost’s wall, they found Calvin and Judy already present and situated around Terrance’s stall, off to one side of the hub’s clearing.
The clearing had had some new additions in recent months, as there were three new smaller dome shapes that had gradually been added.
The newly materialized buildings themselves were just the entrance point to the separate subterranean craft halls. One being the Blacksmith’s Forge, the second being the Tanners Hall and the third being the Tailors Hall.
To be fair to the ‘Council’, it was they who had spent the taxed Manamotes to manifest said buildings, but they still demanded that the crafters equip the town guard at cost.
It wasn’t like Michelle didn’t see the caquita de la vaquita point in setting them up, but having a group of a few people tell the majority what to do had always pissed her off, and there was no two ways about it.
Breaking from her thoughts she and Svetlana greeted the other three before pulling up a crudely constructed wooden seat and settling in to wait for Un-Bep’ee whilst exchanging polite small talk. Svetlana broke off for a few minutes to go and collect quest’s while she contented herself with swiping a [Seasoned Boar Skewer] from a food vendors stall before settling back down to wait some more.
“It is good to see you this fine morning my friend’s.”
The Botswanan greeted the rest good-naturedly when he eventually showed up. The rest exchanged greeting before Calvin turned to address their returning leader.
“So what’s on the quest menu today Svet?
Chuckling she happily supplied.
“For today the entrée is some Gnoll’s, chased by serving of Troll’s and to finish the main course is one angry Ogre.”
There was a collective groan when everyone heard that they’d be hunting troll’s again. The Party’s previous encounter had been a war of bloody attrition Michelle grudgingly recalled with a grimace. Then there was the slight complication that they hadn’t actually fought an Ogre yet, which meant they would have to make it up as they went along…again...
Terrance began to chuckle in amusement whilst adding.
“Glad I’m not roped into this madness anymore.”
Which caused several rude gestures to be directed his way from the rest, before Un-bep’ee rejoined with mock hopefulness.
“So this means I do not have to gather material’s for you this time?”
To which the Welshman countered with a grin.
“Hey now no need ruin a perfectly working business relationship due to your laziness my lad!”
Just as it looked like their friendly banter might carry on for the rest of the morning, Svetlana interjected by sharing the quests:
Your party member has shared the quest – Gnoll Patrol (T1) – Do you wish to accept Yes/No?
Your party member has shared the quest – Troll Death Toll (T1) – Do you wish to accept Yes/No?
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
Your party member has shared the quest – Ogre There (T2) – Do you wish to accept Yes/No?
Groans rose once more from the party which Michelle couldn’t help but join in whilst accepting the systemic offers:
You have accepted the quest – Gnoll Patrol (T1)
You have accepted the quest – Troll Death Toll (T1)
You have accepted the quest – Ogre There (T2)
Further enunciating her not so subtle point, the Russian woman continued.
“Now now children, the daylight it is wasting and I would like to return before the dark this time…So onward to the Gnoll’s!”
The Party exchanged farewells with the blacksmith and headed in the direction of the green arrow that pointed to Gnoll’s questing area. They had discovered through experience that if they thought about a specific quest, the translucent guidance arrow would point to it as opposed to the system default one.
It was also usable in the case they ended up lost and wished to return to the outpost. Just willing it to appear was enough and ‘poof’, you had your own augmented reality GPS, and although Michelle would never publically admit to such, she had been forced to utilize the function on more than one occasion.
Leaving through the closest Outpost gate, she noted that the number of beggars and people in search of loved ones was almost nonexistent now. This was mostly due to the fact that people had come to terms with the new reality in a variety or startling ways.
Granted some simply left it to the council or gone to look else ware. Yet there was also an alarmingly large number of people who seemed to have just given up completely and walked off into the wilderness to die after their free HU month was up.
She felt the gnawing of guilt at the thought that she could have helped others more, before quietly chastising herself for that line of thinking as she remembered her own initial struggle to survive.
Well into the jungle now, her eyes habitually scanned their towering imposing surrounds. Michelle’s thoughts flitted to how their levels had increased over the past few months.
With the Party’s average level being in the low 20’s and Michelle herself being at 23 close to 24, they still had to be constantly alert for danger. It was not so much that low level monsters could that much harm to them anymore, but rather that as the level of their Outposts occupants increased, so too had the now ever present monsters’. The end result of the phenomena being that it was not uncommon to find Level 10 and 15 monsters within a kilometer or two from the Outposts clearing.
If that was not enough of a cause for constant vigilance, there had also been the rise of banditry by other humans on their fellow man or woman, and although their Party had been lucky for the most part, no one wanted to relax and fall prey to either potentially fatal danger.
So with habitual caution ingrained in their practiced gait, the Party trudged on toward the next zone. Yet despite the obvious need for attentiveness, Michelle couldn’t help checking her ‘Status’ with but a thought, as it had become another, somewhat less productive habit of hers on the long trek’s it now took to reach the level 21 – 50 zone:
STATUS
Name: Michelle
Age: 22
Titles: N/A
Class 1: Apprentice Mage Level : 23
Class 2: N/A
Profession: N/A
HP: 63/63 MP: 277/164 + 113 (277)
Status Effects: N/A
Vitality: 30
Strength: 6 Dexterity: 11
Intelligence: 55 + 10 (65) Wisdom: 58 + 7 x 1.05 (68)
Charisma: 9 Luck: 7
Undistributed Attribute points: 0
Passives –
Human: + 5 attribute points per level
Lingua System: Able to communicate verbally with any system integrated entity and be understood
Introspective: + 5% to Wisdom
True Believer: + 15% to damage dealt and -10% damage taken when taking an action or actions that you believe are correct , -20% damage dealt and + 15% damage taken when taking an action or actions you believe are incorrect.
Skills – Apprentice Mage
1) Magic Missile (LvL 10): Cast a Magic Missile at a single target causing it to seek the target whilst caster is in line of sight and deal 30 – 70 Arcane damage (damage and mana cost scales with skill level). Cost: 15 Mana, Cast time: 1 second, Cooldown: 10 seconds
2) Minor Mana Barrier (LvL 7): Cast a Minor Mana Barrier within 1 meter of yourself that is able to absorb damage until the imbued mana is depleted (size, absorption and mana cost scales with skill level) Radius: 70cm, Cost: 22 Mana, Cast time: 3 seconds, Cooldown: 30 seconds
3) Blink (LvL 3): Cast Blink on yourself causing you to disappear and reappear instantaneously at a target location 3 meters from your current position (distance, cooldown and mana cost scales with skill level) Cost: 18 Mana, Cast time: 0 seconds, Cooldown: 50 seconds
4) Fireball (LvL 4): Cast a slow moving Fire Ball toward a target location which will explode on contact with any surface causing a radial explosion of 40 – 50 Fire damage (damage and mana cost scales with skill level). Cost: 25 Mana, Cast time: 6 seconds, Cooldown: 15 seconds
5) Silence (LvL 2): Cast the effect of Silence on a target causing it to be unable to use magic for 2 seconds. If the target is casting while Silence is cast upon it the spell being cast will be interrupted and cause disorientation to the target for 12 seconds. The target has a chance to resist the effects of Silence bassed on their wisdom and intelligence when compared to that of the caster (Duration of silence, disorientation, cast time and mana cost scales with skill level). Cost: 25 Mana, Cast time: 4.5 seconds, Cooldown: 60 seconds
6) N/A
They had all noticed that as their attributes increased they in turn had welcome side effects. One example was where her Intelligence was concerned. As where once she sometimes had problems thinking out the repercussions of her actions, she noticed every time that she increased it, she was able to thick much more quickly about potential outcomes and such.
When it came to Wisdom however, the only difference she noticed was that her memory had improved. Certainly she had less mistakes to remember but what good did that do her?
Thinking about the other stats, she was still annoyed that Svetlana had hounded her into having at minimum 10 into Dexterity to be able to react to things in a reasonable time frame. She saw the point in it, however she just hated being told what to do, even if it was by the most beautiful woman she had yet to lay eyes on.
This train of thought led her to grow red faced in embarrassment as she in turn stopped staring at their fearless leaders toned, leather clad derriere. Instead applying somewhat excessive vigor, Michelle used her wandering eyes to scan the rest of the rag tag group.
In short order they rested on Calvin who was no longer the scrawny and ill at ease man she had first met in the Outpost. She was unsure exactly how much he had invested in his physical attributes, but due to the blatant change in his physical appearance, he now put professional athletes to shame. Coupled with their shared combative experience over the past months the young Australian had become a calm, confident and more than a little intimidating individual.
Roaming onwards, her eyes then found Judy who was so lithe on her feet that she almost floated through their green surrounds, causally flipping over the intruding roots onto the once barren path. This obvious improvement in the young redheads ease of movement Michelle easily attributed to her Dexterity focus.
However where she had grown to rely on Calvin, the same could not be said of the dagger wielding woman. She would often be indifferent to other party members suffering or act recklessly in fights, exposing other to needless dangers. And if that wasn’t enough cause for concern, she would take off on her own to ‘scout’ without consulting even Calvin.
Stifling her rising irritation she moved her gaze to Un-Bep’ee. Where the others had changed markedly, the Botswanan had bucked such a trend, save for that he no longer looked like a lost puppy. However this was easily attributable to their past months tribulations. Besides that she had discovered time and again that the young African man was one of the most naïve people she had ever met. Though when she considered his worthiness as an ally and friend, Michelle couldn’t ask for a better teammate or healer in that he was reliable, considerate and patient in many situations where others would fall short.
Her wandering eyes once more found Svetlana’s form and she found herself in admiration yet again of the leggy Russian. But it wasn’t because of her improved physique, though she did enjoy it in their down time, no. It was because that she had been the main reason that the Party had held together through thick and blood drenched thin, where many others would have no doubt died in failure.
There was no shortage of other teams getting into fights with themselves both outside and in the outpost or being completely wiped out by monsters. Their internal fighting resulted in either an Outpost removal teleport to sometimes even leading to fatalities between the feuding party members.
Their own Party thankfully had had no such fallings out, even with the cantankerous and flighty nature of Judy. This she wholeheartedly attributed to Svet and her near faultless leadership.
Stopping herself from retracing Svetlana’s curves, she turned her thoughts to the next skill she might get at level 25. If the previous new skills at every five levels were going to balance out at three utility and three offense, she dearly hoped that the next one would be electricity based.
Judy had told her in one of their very few amiable conversations, that chain lightning was a common mage spell in RPG games and fantasy literature. The idea of casting a singular spell at one monster then it jumping to the rest sounded way too good to be true…and she pinche wanted it!
And so with her head in the proverbial clouds, Michelle and her Party strode deeper into the Jungle, bringing them ever closer to their certain battles to come.