Sam was surprised he was even able to see the notification screen. He was wondering if it meant something that forming a settlement had somehow labeled them as a party. Was there some type of benefit that came from being in a group? His train of thought was forgotten though as he noticed the rest of the text. His face went pale as he dismissed the screen and a countdown appeared in the corner of his eye.

Wave starts in 60,59,58…

The group shared a look. Maybe it hadn’t been a good idea to create a settlement. They didn’t have time to dwell on that though as they had to figure out how to survive this quest. The first thing they did was divide up the weapons. He and Alfred each grabbed a rifle. While Evaleen picked the pickaxe. There was a brief discussion on should the kids hide or not. However, both kids argued against the idea and surprisingly Dara agreed with them. In the end, Dara gave the kids the two metal shovels and she grabbed two knives from the kitchen.

Sam felt better about their chances with a rifle in his hands. While the rest of the group armed themselves he was pacing by the window.  Which was why he saw the group of coyotes near the house. The creatures were twice the size of a normal coyote, and their grey fur shimmered with a pale light. The most disturbing thing about them, however, were their yellow glowing eyes. They were so bright that he could see them even at a distance.

Wave starts in 45,44,43….

After seeing the coyotes his gun no longer felt like enough. Two guns couldn’t take out a dozen coyotes. At least not before they rushed them. The rest of the group noticed him staring at the window and came over. He saw Evaleen looking at her pickaxe doubtfully and the kid's earlier determination deflated somewhat. He couldn’t fault them since his own hands had started to sweat the moment he saw those yellow eyes. Going outside to meet them with the weapons they had would be suicide. Staying in the house wasn’t much better with so many windows and no time to board them all up.

They needed some type of plan but for the life of him, he couldn’t think of one. He had never been the best at thinking on the fly. He’d always preferred making plans well in advance. He thought about going down to the basement. There were no windows down there and the coyotes could only come at them in one direction. and If they did it right the entrance could act as a choke point which would help prevent the coyotes from overwhelming them with numbers. He wanted to speak up and suggest they do just that but he hesitated. His judgement been proven to be faulty in the past and wasn't sure if this was the best course of action to take. Dara had also tried to come up with a solution but unlike him she didn't hesitate to share her idea. She suggested building some type of fortification out of the furniture.

He wasn't sure that was the best idea however everyone else agreed. And the house was soon full of activity as they grabbed everything that could be used to make a fortification. Dara led the effort and decided where to place the thing. Dara had them place the fortification in front of the entrance. The front and back of the fortification were overturned couches. While the sides were comprised of the living and dining room tables. When the thing was completed Dara seemed to get some type of notification and the fort seemed to glow with a blue light for a moment. When it was over the thing seemed somehow studier. After that, they gathered anything that might be useful. Which turned out to be medicine and any thing that could be used as a projectile.

3,2,1...Wave has Started

As soon as they saw the notification screen everyone got into position. Sam still had doubts but he joined Alfred at the front door which had been left open. The coyotes they had seen earlier were now charging toward the house in one huge mass. He and Alfred started firing as soon as the coyotes got close enough.They took out two before they even got near the house and they were able to wound several more. However, their luck changed as the coyotes got smart and spread out. They wounded a few but failed to kill anymore before they got too close to the house.

He and Alfred managed to concentrate their fire on the coyotes directly in front of the door. Thankfully they were able to stop the creatures from just swarming the door. What they couldn’t do though was stop the two coyotes that got inside by crashing through the windows. Sam wanted to turn around and help but most of the creatures were still outside. It seemed like the creatures had grown weary of their guns. When the first two coyotes got in the rest tried to follow. They did their best to stop the coyotes from getting into the house through the windows, but they couldn’t do too much as there were simply too many of them.

The best they could do was slow them down enough so that the rest of the group wouldn’t be swarmed. This worked for a while as they were able to kill two more coyotes but after a while, too many of them had managed to make it inside. Alfred had to turn around and help others. This left Sam to deal with the last two coyotes outside. He was doing fine and had even killed another coyote until he ran out of ammo. Normally they would take turns covering each other when it was time for one of them to reload.

Now however he was alone and didn’t have enough time to reload as the last coyote rushed him.

...

When the first coyote broke through the window Evaleen had thought that they were ready. She was wrong. Things started poorly for them when the coyote easily dodged everything, they could through at it. The creature was just too quick. It closed the distance between them way faster then she thought it could. She and Brian were forced to throwing things and quickly grab their weapons. Her grandson attacked first.He let loose with a wild swing that  actually managed to hit the beast. The flat side of his shovel connected with it’s face. While the blow did little damage, it managed to stun the beast, which was all she needed. She swung her pickaxe and impaled the creature. Blood spurted from the creature's side and she thought that would be the end of things. Somehow though, the coyote dispite its injures, still managed to lunge at her. 

She let go of her pickaxe in surprise. And barely managed to raise her right arm before the coyote bit into it. The pain was terrible. If this had happened yesterday, she would have crumpled to the ground. Now, however, the pain seemed to make her blood boil.  As her body heated up strength flooded into her as she pried the things jaws off and threw it back. As soon as the beast was away from her Brian was there. This time he attacked with the edge of the metal shovel. More blood spurted from the coyote and it turned to face her grandson. This gave her the chance to retrive her pickaxe which was still stuck in the things side. She attacked again and this time the coyote went limp. When she looked up her side of fortification was empty. She turned and checked on Dara and Niki. Which was why she caught sight of Dara diving one of her knives into the nape of the coyote’s neck. The creature went limp instantly, yet that didn’t stop Niki from hitting it a few more times with her shovel to be sure.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The four of them shared a quick look then Dara retrieved her knife from the coyote’s corpse. They had each faced one yet both thier groups were already injured. And it seemed like more coyotes had decided that going through the window was the smart choice. She saw even more coyotes jumping through the windows into her home. Now there were six of the creatures. Four on Dara’s side and two on hers. She thought that maybe they could take two on but there was no way that Dara and niki could take on four. Noticing the situation Alfred turned around help. This left Sam alone she hoped he would be fine. She was pulled from her concerns though by the approaching coyotes.

This time the creatures were noticeably slower. That's when she realized that they were already bleeding from bullet wounds. She almost smiled in relief when she realized that their chances had improved. This time the coyotes weren't fast enough to avade their projectiles. By the time they came close to the fortification, their yellow eyes had deemed and their body was coated with broken glass and other sharp objects. She even managed to kill one with a single swing of her pickaxe. While Brian beat the other coyote to death with repeated blows to the head with his shovel. When they turned around to check on the others they were greeted with a horrible sight.

There were two coyotes in the fortification. One was on top of Dara trying to get its jaws around her throat while the other coyote was biting into her son’s shoulder. His gun was laying on the floor next to him and Dara was similarly disarmed as one of her knives was in the creature's stomach while the other lay on the floor out of reach. She was about to rush forward to help her son when she noticed her granddaughter was trying with all her might but failing to keep the third coyote from overwhelming her. Evaleen found herself rushing to her granddaughters' side. By the time she got there the coyote was leaping over the dining room table to get at Niki.

A scream of rage came from Evaleen’s lips as she swung her pickaxe once again. This time the weapon in her hands glowed a light red before hitting the creature. The blow tore through the coyote. Its dead body fell to the ground at her feet. Before she could even wonder at what had just happened a weakness spread throughout her body. She could barely move and could only stand there and watch her family fight for their like. With the third coyote down Niki was free to run to her mother's aid. She smashed her shovel into the creature's side. The attack distracted the coyote long enough for Dara to grip the knife in the creature’s stomach and rip it out. She then proceeded to repeatedly drive her knife into the coyote until it went still.

Alfred also dealt with the coyote attacking him. He just let the creature have his shoulder. And while it was tearing into him, he was able to grab Dara’s second knife and stab the thing to death. After the last coyote in her home died, she seemed to slowly regain some of her strength. she felt like collapsing due to a mix of relief that the fight was over and the blood loss. The only thing that kept her up where all the blue notification screens that appeared in front of her.

Delayed Combat Log

Brian attacks with metal shovel Mana infused coyote loses 5 Hp remaining Hp 35/40

Mana infused coyote is stunned!

you attack with a pickaxe

Mana infused coyote loses 10 Hp remaining Hp 25/40

Mana infused coyote attacks. You lose -10 Hp

Hp remaining 90/100

(Natural Trait: Adrenaline Rush has been unlocked)

Brian attacks with a metal shovel. Critical Hit! Mana infused coyote losses -10 Hp remaining Hp 15/40

You attack with a pickaxe. Critical Hit! Mana infused coyote loses -20 Hp remaining Hp 0/40 Mana Infused Coyote has died.

You and Brian have gained 15 Exp

She was surprised to find that their entire encounter had been somehow recorded in some type of log. When she got to the point about the natural trait, she guessed it must have been behind her sudden surge of strength. See this she skipped past the rest of the combat log in order to find the explanation behind her pickaxe briefly glowing red.

You have used the skill Crushing Blow. your attack has been augmented with 100% of your Mana.

Mana infused coyote loses -40 Hp

remaining Hp 0/40 coyote has died

You are experiencing Mana withdraw weakness effect applied until Mana regenerates

So, the glowing red light was a skill. Despite her forearm still hurting she couldn’t help but grin. Her grandkids started to laugh as they lay on the floor. She could hear the relief in their voices as well as the excitement. The rest of the group broke out in smiles. It seemed like they too had unlocked powers and gained a level. Despite the relief, she was a little worried about the future. If this was just the beginning of the trial, she couldn’t imagine what would happen later. After a while, another emotion began to emerge again. The feeling of excitement. Just yesterday she had been struggling to come to grips with the fact that her body was beginning to fail her. Now in this new reality, she found herself in, not only was she strong but she felt that she could become even stronger. She was pulled from her thoughts when she realized there were more notifications blinking in the corner of her eyes.

Congratulations Trial participant you have unlocked a new level of strength! (Open your status page to choose your development path) 

Congratulations Trial participant you have discovered the skill Crushing Blow! (open your status page to learn about the skill)

Trial Participant: (Evaleen Dasher) 

Species: #372 

Reputation Points:0 

Level:1 Exp: 50/50 Mana: 100/100 Health:90/100 

Age: 89 

Would you like to level up? Confirm 

Stats: 

Strength:5 (base stat for all trial participants) 

Constitution:5 (base stat for all trial participants) 

Agility: 5 (base stat for all trial participants) 

Wisdom:5 (base stat for all trial participants) 

Intelligence:5 (base stat for all trial participants) 

Charisma: 5 (base stat for all trial participants) 

Natural Traits 

Adrenaline Rush (Passive)-After your blood is drawn you gain a 5 percent increase to all physical stats during combat 

Skills-1/ 2 

Crushing Blow (Basic)-Doubles the damage on a single attack. Damage triples on critical hits. Requires 100 mana to activate. 

Titles-None 

Congratulations Trial participants you have completed the quest “Alpha Settlement” 

Construction of Alpha Settlement will begin once every basic role has been assigned. 

Normal settlements start off with basic roles that are upgraded through settlement quest. Alpha settlements, however, offer the settlement owner three advanced roles. These roles are generated and assigned based upon the skills of the randomly selected trial participants. 

(Settlement Role Progression: Basic, Advanced, Expert, Master) 

Settlement Roles 

Leader (unique): Evaleen Dasher 

Alchemist (Advanced): Sam Ashford 

Merchant (Advanced): Alfred Dasher 

Architect (Advanced): Dara Dasher 

Defender (Basic) ??? 

Laborer (Basic) ??? 

(Unique roles are singular and settlement role ranking doesnt apply)

Begin Constructing Settlement? Confirm