On making their way back, Rose was making a few observations. The first was of Toby’s new tag.
Canine – [ALPHA BLOODFANG WOLFHOUND] – [LEVEL 6]
Slaying the slimes and other less intelligent greenskins had tripled the wolfhound’s level. He was also a bit bigger now, a full five feet tall. Expanding his tag, Rose found out why the race had also changed.
[ALPHA BLOODFANG WOLFHOUND]
[BLOODFANG WOLFHOUND]’s are a common race throughout the universe. Their sharp teeth and claws are their main weapons and means of attack. They have a naturally high perception and can see in the dark. They are commonly used to challenge newly incorporated worlds due to their ferociousness and the difficulty in taming them. A [BLOODFANG WOLFHOUND] will not submit to anyone they deem weaker than themselves. Even if one’s level is higher, if you can’t bring them to the ground then they will not accept you as their superior.
[ALPHA BLOODFANG WOLFHOUND]’s are the evolved versions of their inferior brethren. They are stronger, faster and more cunning. These wolfhounds can only evolve to an alpha if they have conquered other wolfhounds and made them submit. An [ALPHA BLOODFANG WOLFHOUND] can not be tamed. Alpha’s see submitting to the enemy as submitting their entire pack. These types of wolfhounds will either take their pack and run, or die trying to protect their own.
Woah. That sounded intense. Rose supposed the only reason she could keep Toby as an alpha now was because she had tamed him while he was still only a [BLOODFANG WOLFHOUND]. Getting a goofy grin on her face she reached over and rubbed his ears. He really was such a good boy.
Her second observation was of their raid team leader. Rose wasn’t sure at first, she thought that maybe it was just his skin reflecting the colours of the setting sun. But now she was certain. “Hey Martin, why is your skin turning blue?”
She had a feeling she wasn’t the only one with the question. “I think its because of the reward I accepted” he responded, “My reward was to get a [BLOODLINE]. It’s called the [GREAT BLUE OGRE] [BLOODLINE]. The description only said it was a strong [BLOODLINE] that grants me a thirty percent boost to [STRENGTH] and a twenty percent boost to [CONSTITUTION]. It didn’t say anything about my skin changing colour. Although its not all that surprising considering the name.”
As Martin spoke, he stared at the slight blue hue to his arm. “Huh, okay” Rose acknowledged.
“What about you two?” she asked while staring at the brother sister pair that were keeping an eye out to their surroundings.
“What about us?” Jasmine questioned back while giving a glance at her perfectly normal pale skin.
“You have black streaks through your hair and both your blue eyes are now a dark brown.”
“Oh” both siblings said in unison, finally looking at each other, though with sheepish expressions that they hadn’t noticed the changes yet despite staying on the lookout.
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Jason answered this time while Jasmine looked at her feet in embarrassment. “We got offered a [BLOODLINE] too. The same one was offered to both of us. It’s called [SHADOWWALKER]. Apparently, it’s a demon [BLOODLINE] that helps you blend into the shadows and stay unseen. The description talks about how it’s been used for many of the most famous assassinations in the universe. Ones that were considered impossible. The benefits include one hundred percent proficiency in [DARK] and [SHADOW] magic affinities and a ten percent boost to [WISDOM].”
Everyone gaped in astonishment. That was… really awesome and useful. Rose was honestly surprised that Martin and the siblings had shared so much of their abilities. Then again it would be wise to make sure your comrades in arms knew your strengths. If people that you worked with didn’t know what you could do then you could end up in each other’s way.
Eventually they reached their home base and entered. The smell of roast meat and pumpkin soup hit them as soon as they reached the common room. Herding the captured greenskins to the maintenance room, the team marched back to begin their feast. Margaret the elderly chain smoker had made herself head cook and was organising all the food for everyone. Margaret and those that followed her command had ransacked all the fridges and the small shopping plaza on the corner. They requested that the scouting teams speed up the plans to clear the shopping centre. Larry, whose team had got back shortly after theirs, had agreed to the proposal. Both scouting teams, along with another team that would be formed by all the new fighters they had gathered from the surrounding houses, would head for the Stafford shopping centre tomorrow.
Looking around Rose noticed that there were a lot of unfamiliar faces around the room. Listening to the conversations she found that Margaret and co had actually made signs and put them out the front of the building saying that it was a safe zone. Many people wandering the streets in fear and desperation had seen the signs and come in looking for shelter. The talk then turned to how to create safe zones. Rose didn’t even need to look into the tag as the crowd nearest her discussed it. To form a safe zone, you either needed to clear a residential building that had more than fifty people living in it, or you had to clear a full block of houses with the road being the border. Interesting. She would have to keep that in mind.
Resting her head against the wall Rose scratched Toby’s neck as she sat and listened to the crowd. She was sooo tired. Another interesting point came up in a different nearby conversation. Even though power still worked, it was as if internet and phone reception no longer existed. Rose maybe should have realised this earlier but she had just been too busy. If communications technology had still been working, perhaps she would have contacted her parents, even if they had been on bad terms before this whole nexus thing happened.
After a while, she stood up and put her dirty dishes in the labelled tray before plodding up the stairs one step at a time. Toby nosed her back from behind to keep her motivation going, for now. Everything hurt. There were way too many muscles and it felt like she’d overworked all of them. Finally, reaching her door she walked in to find her new roommates asleep on the couch. Zen was curled up on top of Urgle’s head but when she trudged into the living room he leapt off, stretched, and tried to tangle himself between her legs. Too exhausted for much of anything, Rose made her way to the bathroom, ran a bath, fell asleep in the bath and then had a wolf unexpectedly try to join her in the bath. Muscles groaned and twinged as she dried both the big puppy and herself. Zen watched from a measured distance, making sure to dodge any imaginary flecks of water that came his way. Crawling into bed Rose knew that she would wake up tomorrow and this would not just be a dream. How? Because everything hurt and there was a giant wolfhound trying to curl up beside her on the double bed. Zen decided that Toby’s head was much more comfortable than her belly and climbed the mountain of a canine to get there. It seemed Toby had gotten used to Zen and even acknowledged him as the supreme warden of the apartment. Like this they all fell asleep, ready to leave tomorrow’s aches and pains for later.