Benjamin – Alpha Zone #193 level 1 - 20
Standing mesmerized by the dying bonfire for a time, I belatedly realize that the dawn is breaking and I should probably finish following the potentially Karen generated green arrow that won’t stop bugging me.
The Jungle seems much quieter as I cautiously make my way through its giga-fauna infested undergrowth. Easily vaulting from enormous tree root to enormous tree root, I get a pretty decent overview of any potential threats and only end up having to [Increase Gravity] at half strength on one Large Boar as I make my way:
You have slain a Large Boar level 2, No experience awarded due to level disparity.
Kicking the heifer sized body in annoyance when it failed to reward any manamotes, it comically bounced between a couple of tree trunks before it lost momentum and thudded to the ground a little ways away. Bounding over the tree roots to continue my game of kick the pig, I almost fail to stick my landing on the two meter high protuberance when I hear a frightened scream.
Standing stock still, I hear more shouts break the jungle’s silence and head faster than humanly possible, to where I think the sounds originated.
Skidding to a halt, I catch myself before I get too close as I almost jump headfirst into what is probably just some monsters fighting each other before adopting a much more circumspect approach.
Peering around a ginormous tree trunk, I catch sight of two weapon wielding definitely people this time as they valiantly try to fend off a swarm of giant ants.
Wondering how to enter the fray as I remember that showing your true power level is always a bad idea, I opt to use brute force on the insectoids as I charge forth as one of the hapless survivors gets their spear arm pincered clean off.
I will be the first to admit that I know no kung-fu or jewjitsu and only some rudimentary boxing. What I have been taught though, through my decidedly informative upbringing is that if you want to stop something from moving, you go for its head.
Using the spear I permanently borrowed from my green skinned un-friends, I set about ducking and weaving through the throng of insect appendages as they move laughably slowly, in a vain attempt to pincer me.
Lancing beady eyed head after beady eyed head I make a noticeable dent in their number until the budget-ass goblin spear fucking breaks.
Stopping like an imbecile in annoyed shock, one of the insect takes the initiative and grabs my leg with its mandibles and…nothing happens.
It and I stare eye to eye for a moment as I swear, if ants could have expressions, the enlarged son of an ant queen would be looking pretty bloody sheepish right about now.
Then reality speeds back up and I lash out with an amateurish downward chop to its chitinous head and it explodes in a fountain of ichory goodness as I feel a warmth flood through my body.
Barely containing my manic laughter due to the surge of energy and ease with which I can now apparently make heads explode, I draw the ire of its kin which only makes the head popping montage accelerate, as I paint the surrounds in green goop and cracked bits of chitin.
Like all good things however, it ends when the last of the grabby insects starts to twitch after another of my apparently herculean blows. Huffing, I make a mental note to speak to the developers about the excessive amount of fluids employed in the systems current iteration when there is an opportune moment.
Taking in the twitching carcasses, my gaze rests on the sole survivor of what looks like a group of some kind as she trembles and holds a dagger in a defensive manner while looking at me with what might be incredulity. Not getting the reaction I was hoping for, I take a moment to study of the young woman, in an effort to understand what I might be dealing with here.
The woman in question had red hair down to her shoulders and clad in joggers, black jeans with accompanying black shirt that had a faded logo of some kind, which I can’t make out due to the shaking knife held in front of her respectable b cup. She also appears to be of Anglo descent in her early 20’s and in a state of fearful amazement, if I am managing to interpret her conflicted expression correctly.
I get told I’m a fucking psycho and that she will leave me just like Kelly did, whilst I wave and do my darndest to school my expression into one of friendly innocence.
Receiving a shaky wave in return, I take it as an invitation to initiate verbal communication.
“H-hi there.”
Blinking in what I take as surprise she stammers out in an Australian twang.
“N-no way! Another Aussie? W-wait a second…How did you do that to those ants?...What’s your level?”
Silently cheering that the first living person I find in the end of the world Is an attractive manic pixie dream girl, I stifle my chuckle into a cough and decide to play it cautiously based off of my previous experiences with women today, yes I’m fucking talking about you Karen!
Regaining my composure I offer.
“Crazy right? Running into another Australian this soon into the apocalypse!...Usually we’re like the jingoistic idiots or worse, the bad guys...well there is that one fiction about the guy who fights with monsters, but it gets kinda repetitive and boring because every charachter ego strokes MC’s way through it, am I right?”
Unfortunately she doesn’t seem to share my views, on account of the fact that shes frowning as she supplies.
“That’s one of my favorite fictions…”
‘Hawwwwkward….’
Silence reigns and magical crickets chirp as a complicated series of expressions war across her face and she queries reservedly as her pale skin flushes.
“Why are you at here alone?...A-also…W-where are your clothes?”
Thoroughly confused at the direction the conversation has gone I’m a little pissed that she hasn’t at least thanked me for the whole giant ant smashy smashy thing.
So in try to find middle ground before asking a question of my own, while gesturing at the still twitching ants.
“I respect your right to bad taste...And my clothes got shredded but that’s all beside the point because didn’t you...You know...Get teleported into the middle of nowhere with monsters too?”
Eyes glued to my makeshift jungle undies or as I now affectionately call them, ‘Jungies’, the young woman in question looks a bit confused before she shakes her head and laughs as she rejoins.
“Riiiiighhht, well yeah everyone did get dropped in the jungle…But that was almost a day ago and everyone who survived went to the Outpost. Wait...D-did you spend all night out here alone?”
Hey eyes still firmly glued to my crotch I cough uncomfortably as it’s my turn to turn into a beetroot and point to one of the people she was with as I reply.
“Uh yeah it was the worst night of my life…”
In an effort to avoid more uncomfortable questions I further.
“So on the topic of clothes, do you think they would have mind if I borrowed some of theirs, before we bury them that is?”
Snapping out of her inappropriate staring contest with my Jungies, she starts to pale and softly replies.
“S-sure, I don’t mean for you to do all the work but w-would it be ok if you buried them without me?”
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Waving her off I reply.
“No worries.”
Thus I go about gathering up their bodies and respectfully as I can, remove a useable item of clothing from each so as to leave them sufficient dignity. Then using and subsequently breaking a couple of large branches in the process, I dig four 2 meter deep graves, wherever the giant twisting tree roots will permit.
As I’m doing this I’m also scrolling through my pending notifications in an effort to keep my paranoia at bay while the young woman stares uncomfortably in my direction as I work:
You have slain a Giant Ant level 2, no experience awarded due to level disparity.
You have slain a Giant Ant level 1, no experience awarded due to level disparity.
You have slain a Giant Ant level 3, no experience awarded due to level disparity.
You have slain a Giant Ant level 1, no experience awarded due to level disparity.
You have slain a Giant Ant level 4, no experience awarded due to level disparity.
Parasitic Mutator trait activated, absorbing Lesser Insectile Musculature.
Lesser Insectile Musculature, trait inherited.
You have slain a Giant Ant level 1, no experience awarded due to level disparity.
You have slain a Giant Ant level 2, no experience awarded due to level disparity.
You have slain a Giant Ant level 2, no experience awarded due to level disparity.
You have slain a Giant Ant level 1, no experience awarded due to level disparity.
You have slain a Giant Ant level 2, no experience awarded due to level disparity.
You have slain a Giant Ant level 1, no experience awarded due to level disparity.
Dismissing the notifications, I move the second body of a barely more than 18 year old male of possibly middle eastern descent to his resting place while pulling up my ‘status’ screen and focusing on the new trait:
3) Lesser Insectile Musculature: Your muscles have increased strength of 150% at the cost of increased metabolic energy.
Smiling at the new windfall, I ruminate on it as I finish lowering the third body of a middle age Caucasian woman into the impromptu grave.
Then out of the blue an idea occur and a hope I once thought infantile rekindles within me.
What happens when I get a new trait?
Will it replace an old one?
Will I finally be free from my mother’s madness?
Not daring to indulge the fantasy any further I remind myself of my new companion and the danger I would put her in should I go hunting for monsters right now as I’m called a pathetic pussy.
Moving the last body of a twenty something African to his grave in the crook of a giant trees base, I turn to the still fixated red headed woman and ask.
“Would you like to say a few words before I cover them up?”
Startled by the question she almost falls from the raised root on which she’s perched as she stammers.
“W-what? Um….I didn’t really like, k-know them at all…We just met yesterday y’know?”
Wanting to ask why she went out into the woods with a bunch of strangers but thinking better of it in the circumstances, I instead fight down my surge of annoyance at her callousness. Chiding myself that I just took clothing from dead people, I make my own half-arsed attempt at honoring them.
“I don’t know your names, or where you came from. But I hope that whatever gods you believe in, will be the sheppard’s of your souls now.”
Looking to the silent woman, she just gives me a meek nod and her lack of effort depresses me more than a 48 hour psychiatric hold ever could, before I get to work covering their bodies with the corresponding piles of earth.
When I just about finished, the STILL staring young woman asks.
“So, I just was wondering, like, what are you going to do with the ants manamotes?”
Tamping the earth on a grave I shrug and reply honestly.
“There are probably only a couple, you can have em.”
Brightening, she follows up with another question while she doesn’t stand on ceremony and darts over to the green splattered, chitinous remains.
“Cool, thanks! So like…Where are you headed next?”
Shrugging again I offer.
“Before I ran into you guys I was following a…suspicious...green arrow thingy to find shelter, so unless you have some other plans I’m probably gonna keep doing that?”
I start to don the recovered clothing that barely fits due to my new muscles tear it in some places. Her voice takes on a happier tone as she supplies.
“Oh that’s how you get to and Outpost! Like, do you mind if I come along with?”
I shrug in an effort to hide my mixture of relief that at least in this instance, Karen isn’t out to get me, and joy at having an attractive companion that is actually real while I try to play it cool by replying.
“Sure no problem love.”
She blushes a bit at my poor choice of words as I start silently yelling a few degrading obscenities in my head while others join in and I’m eventually brought back to the present when she queries.
“Names Judy by the way…So like, which way is the arrow telling you to go anyway?”
And so, we head off in the direction of the arrow while she occasionally throws me a few leading questions about my abilities and class which I awkwardly dodge as best I can.
She eventually gets annoyed by it and opts to continue the journey in uncomfortable silence as I start to chastise myself about my overt caution once more while she quietly bores holes into my back with her lovely haze-
NO BENJAMIN FOCUS!
After what feels like about an hour of me going slowly enough for my not yet waifu, to be able to keep up, we come upon a clearing of sorts, which is larger than any I have yet encountered. Coming to a stop at its edge the young woman with me gives me a confused look when I don’t keep going.
In the center of the clearing is a couple of kilometers across raised level of earth with a white wall that has a couple of entrances. One of which is slightly off center and the other one is way over the other side. There appear to be people coming and going from both while the late morning sun beats down on their disorganized journeys.
My stomach betrays my hunger as it growls, but I ignore it as I point to the construction and ask more forcefully then I probably should.
“What the fuck is that?”
Taken aback by my serious tone, the woman stiffens and puts up her hands defensively as she counters.
“Easy there big guy…it’s just the Outpost…”
Dialing back the sternness of my voice I follow up.
“You said that word before, but what actually is it?”
Relaxing slightly she lets out a laugh which she cuts off as her eyes meet mine, after which she hastily continues.
“Well it’s where everyone’s first quest led them...B-best way I can describe it is like a town with magical convenience stuff where you use manamotes to pay for things like rent and items.”
Thoroughly confused now I rejoin.
“Oooook, but that doesn’t make any fucking sense! Why the hell did the Arbiter guy chuck us into the jungle instead of here?”
She starts to look defensive again as I realize I’m starting to let my anger seep into my voice whilst she stammers out.
“L-look I told you what I know ok? I’m just as confused as you a-are…”
Pinching the bridge of my nose I do a repetition of my breathing exercise before I reply much more calmly.
“Sorry…it’s been a rough 48 hours for me…So what I should have asked you is. Is it actually safe?”
This seems to placate her a bit and she supplies.
“As far as I know, sure. You just go in and the quest will complete, then you can pick a Habitation Unit, leaving you free to do whatever you want after that!”
Trying not to get caught in an anger fueled question and answer session with the strung out gorgeous young woman, who’s red hair lovingly accentuates her fr-
ENOUGH BEN! GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!
Sufficiently self censured, I start to cross the clearing with my scarlet temptress in tow, to what I’m led to believe is to be my new home, while I smirk as I hear Computer Camp by Data Rock begin to play.