Blue Pill (Sapphire Blue Drop): A pill designed to increase the oxygenation of hemoglobin, increasing stamina by 70%. This pill can only be taken once.
I downed the pill and washed it down with some beer. High tide was coming, and Odi had left to get behind the village walls before the actions started. I sat in my fold-out chair, watching the clouds darken and listening to the thunder boom. A cutting wind cried out as it flew from the sea, carrying a biting salty spray that nearly put out the last ember of my fire.
There was a goal, now I wanted to kill the titan.
Only points could get me over the finish line. I needed a lot of them. I checked my guns and my knife. It seemed as good a time as any to use my weapon token. When I selected it, I watched a pair of dice roll. I ended up with a civilian rifle, which was an uncommon one. As a result, I could pick any uncommon or below-civilian sold rifle from a long list. There were so many options I couldn't decide. From what Odi told me, I needed something that hit hard with armor penetration. So, big game hunting, I wanted the drone.
I looked through weapons from supernatural settings where high stopping power was needed and filtered out anything for smaller game. Most of the guns I ended up with shot a 45-70 huge round. What I then filtered for was a semi-automatic. There were jamming warnings plastered and too many two-star ratings to count. I then found a scary-looking gun called the Christine. Then I read that a gunsmith didn't enchant the other guns. They were enchanted in a way that added burs in the chamber, causing the jamming.
It was good to know that I wasn't the only fuck up around. Still, Christine looked good. I changed the color of the weapon to resemble the ocean, and they sold blessed rounds 50pt for 500. It was a good deal; every purchase of 500 blessed rounds came with a holy hand grenade.
I looked up the deity that was the source of the blessing. It was a monotheistic god. That was all it said, no names.
I purchased it because I needed a rifle to add to my kit, and long-range was much better.
The gun was in my tent after I purchased it, disassembled in a box. I should have remembered that the system bought firearms in parts. Fortunately, there were instructions.
When the weapon was ready, I loaded a round in the chamber and fired.
Boom!
A grin spread across my face so large it made my cheeks hurt. There was something about having a big gun that made me grin.
The hand grenade was another matter. I had no experience with them and didn't want to touch a high explosive with holy damage. I didn't know what holy damage was or how it would interact with anything.
It was shaped like I imagined a hand grenade should look, only made of glass with a small blue flame at its center. Glowing inscriptions covered the pin.
I carefully placed it in my storage ring and calmed my racing heart.
Maybe this was what I needed to get over the edge. I purchased another 1,000 rounds and carefully placed the grenades in my inventory.
I looked the rounds over. They were made of a strange sky-blue metal. It made me think. Even if we gain power from other worlds, most of us won't come back bulletproof. We're giving the government an excuse to be more heavy-handed with its citizens. The few of us who come back immune to small arms fire will provide the National Guard the reason to use greater firepower.
How long before war breaks out in the US? Worse, what if there are people waiting for us where we left? They had a month to prepare a kill box.
A squawk alerted me to the rising tide and shiny black eyes watching from the sea. I watched the water ripple as a massive humanoid stepped out. Its body was chitinous, its arms were tree trunks, and its thick chest made it look like a moving tank. Four arms extended from its shoulders, and its eyes stared at me like those of a crab or lobster. Compared to its bulk, its head was small, no larger than an elf's. I looked through the iron sights and cursed myself; I hadn't thought to align them. I fired, and my shot splashed behind the creature when I was dead center on its chest.
My sights weren't just off, they were far off. I moved and turned them as a shell steamed on the ground beside me. A drop of sea spray fell and sizzled as I aimed again and fired. The shot was wide and barely clipped the monster's shoulder, where the armor looked thickest. Another shell fell away hot on the cold, wet sand.
Another adjustment as the monster picked up speed and moved into a sprint. I fired.
Blue blood flowed out of the monster's chest. Small starfish points stretched out of the hole in its chest and closed together. The wound stopped bleeding.
That shot had been a few inches to the left where I aimed.
I fired again and saw a splash of blue, and the monster fell. It rolled like a wave, stopping on dry sand as the tide continued to rise. More monsters emerged, all of them turning their attention to me.
Quickly, I ejected the magazine and pulled ammunition from my ring inventory to reload. My heart hammered in my chest as I slammed the mag back in. There was still a bullet in the chamber. I raised the weapon and fired before the closest one was 100ft away. My hands gripped the gun so hard I was scared it would crack the stock as I fired round after round into the monsters, and spent casings piled up beside me.
More of them rose from the sea, those further down the beach raced in my direction, and I ran for it. It was zombies all over again, except I couldn't let these creatures come within arm's reach of me. Their large claws would cut my arms off, and their smaller hands, so human-like, could get hold of my gun.
I turned to see one pick up a spear made of whale bone. It had only two bulky human arms and the black eyes of a shark. Before it threw the weapon, I ran, and felt it when the spear was thrown. I stopped and jumped back as the spear passed in front of me. I turned and fired. A round blew its shoulder off.
Beach worms wiggled out of the hole and picked the pieces out of the waves. I shouldered the rifle and drew my less reliable 45. I didn't know if it could penetrate the chests of the monsters. My Glock had a 13-round clip, and my other only had 8, as much as I would like to draw both and start firing into numbers that wouldn't do me any good. These weren't zombies.
My eyes locked onto the spear, a weapon I had trained with. It was a good weapon for keeping enemies at a distance, but it was best to handle it with two hands. I needed a hand to hold my gun, but I didn't want to get close enough to one of the monsters to use my knife.
I holstered my gun and picked up the spear. I needed to reserve as much ammunition as possible and knew how to kill. The weapon felt balanced, if alien, in my hand. The bird's peck didn't hurt like it had.
One of the monsters lunged as I lifted the spear. They might have been monsters, but they moved like humans.
I stepped around a claw and delivered a killing thrust into a monster's head. The beast flailed as I shoulder-checked it into the claws of another of its kind. I watched the 8ft tall monstrosity dig its claws into the dead member of its species and use its small arms to rip meat free and devour it.
Those claws could rip through chitin like scissors through paper. My bones won't come close to slowing it down. I ran with all the speed my legs could handle and struggled to breathe in the sea spray-filled air. More primal chi flooded my body after I took the pill. I could feel it doing something to me.
I practically flew over the sand as I stabbed the spear through a monster's head before ducking under the claws of one coming in for an ambush. I dodged and weaved until the perfect moment and stabbed true.
All I could do was keep my eyes open and react as more monsters gathered. I stabbed the spear in the sand and unloaded nine rounds, striking two of the monsters in the head and killing them, but more emerged from the sea or ran from miles down the beach.
High tide had only just begun, and it felt like my heart would explode in my chest. My stamina held up, but it felt unreal. 70% more oxygen saturation with 110% more lung capacity, and the ability to train even more gave me stamina for days. Every breath sucked more primal chi into my body that I had no idea what to do with or what it was doing to me.
This was supposed to be my chi gathering stage, but I had no guide for it. My only way forward was to kill and kill until I had enough points to make a difference. But three weeks of this would kill me. If more monsters were coming every day, then there was no way I could win.
A group of twenty ran at me, and I had one of the holy hand grenades in my hand before I knew it was what I needed. I pulled the pin and followed the instructions that came with it. I closed my eyes, and a blinding flash of light filled my vision through my eyelids.
The charging monsters were raining down in pieces when I opened my eyes. I caught a glimpse of bone from one of the unarmored ones hiding behind the bulky chitinous monsters. I raised my rifle and fired. From where the spear dipped down, I knew where the monster's head would be. The uncommon monster fell with a hole in its head.
There were only two grenades left in my inventory, and they weren't grouping up anymore. I drew my other pistol and used nine rounds, saving the last 4. More of them gathered to devour their fallen or charge at me. The 8ft spear was long enough to kill just beyond their claws. Despite the weapon being made of bone, it slid through the weak points in their armor like a dream. Unfortunately, anything that wasn't an instant kill would be healed from by devouring the flesh of the dead.
For a while, I moved between the spread-out mass of monsters and picked them off with Christine. I started feeling confident, and that was my biggest mistake.
I tripped on a rock and fell into a gap in the rocks, cutting my leg badly as I struggled to recover. My spear stabbed down as I used it as a cane to push myself back up.
Two of the big monsters lunged as a flash of lightning lit their bodies. A cold feeling fell down my spine. I knew there were more behind me. I drew my pistol and unloaded the last four rounds. Three shots went wide, and one round found its home in one of the monster's head.
With a heave, the spear found a rocky surface to push off from, and I pulled my bleeding leg out of the hole in the sand. I saw a blow coming, ducked, and jumped to the side. A claw tore through the top of my shoulder, and blood spurted down my arm.
I felt my damaged leg buckle as I tried to put weight on it and throw myself out of danger. The monster lunged, and I speared it through the head. I abandoned the weapon and rolled as a decisive blow snapped the spear in two.
My breaths came out ragged as I ejected a clip and struggled to reload on the spot, as I pushed with my legs, scooting away from the monster. It charged like lightning as I slammed the clip back in the Glock. Four shots were wasted before the fifth one brought it down.
Only the threat of the hand grenades kept the monsters from grouping up and charging me.
Then the tide began to recede, and the monsters stopped. I held my shoulder in disbelief as they abandoned their assault and turned back toward the sea.
I fought back to my feet and applied pressure to my shoulder as they retreated, leaving some of their dead behind. I sucked in a breath and let it out. My stomach gurgled. I needed something to eat.
The Ichor Prime Deep Maw Event
Survive High Tide
Rewards
Common x 48 = 240pt
Uncommon x 5 = 50pt
Total 290pt
Green Pill (Profound Troll Supplement): This pill can be taken 10 times, with each use of the pill bringing the user closer to the regeneration of a troll. Warning burns will not regenerate like other injuries. By taking this pill once, the user's metabolism will sharply increase as the body adjusts to troll-like regeneration. With the first pill, lacerations will stop bleeding and close within hours and heal with little scarring.
I downed the pill and smashed a protein bar from my ring inventory. Hopefully, that would tide me over. I had points to spend. I purchased some rope and hooks. The bodies were heavy, but I was stubborn, and the pill had already stopped most of the bleeding. My heart was still hammering in my chest as I watched crabs and other creatures rip into the bodies of the dead as I dragged the ones I could behind me.
Long-tailed women with silvery dolphin-like bodies played with the remains just at the edge of the tide. I blinked as one waved at me, raised her tail, and exposed herself.
I pulled the bodies with me, dragging the heavy corpses behind me and leaving the oddness of the dolphin girls behind.
The other blue pill from the rewards was concerning. I planned to use my spell, skill, and weapon token before the next tide. That was important. My failure was due to a lack of options and fighting them with a spear. What had I been thinking?
Blood of Tyrants, I wasn't some badass. There were hard limits to what I could do.
I took one of the red pills. After today, I felt like I needed the boost. Every step I took wore on my body. I didn't know how heavy the bodies I dragged behind me were, but there were three of them, and those heavily armored guys moved slowly for a reason.
They were an overpowered army for this day and age. I stopped in front of the hill next to my campsite. For a few points, I purchased a massive pot.
I stared at the bipedal crabs. There was no mistake; I was going to eat them.
The sand was easy to dig through, so I made a hole big enough for a fire but small enough to set the pot over it without smothering it. Then, I purchased firewood, something called ember wood. The wood looked like it was already charcoal, but it caught easily and burned hot. I set the pot where I wanted it and purchased fresh water that rushed into it and 50lbs of Cajun seasoning.
I stared at my points drop as I bought Endsmouth Potatoes. They had small fishy faces on them and were ocean blue. I tossed them in and Cuesta Verde Maize. I shucked the corn that promised to increase my sensitivity to chi and tossed it in the mix. The water started to boil, and I checked the fishing guide for the area and cursed. I needed to toss these guys in salt water for an hour and let them clear the sand out of their guts. Otherwise, they would contaminate everything with sand.
I purchased a live tank for 90pt, wincing at the points I worked hard for vanishing. Beside my property, a massive live tank appeared already filled with spirit sea water. When I purchased it, the settings allowed me to pick a type of water that would naturally absorb ambient chi.
The live tank was a box barely large enough to toss the bodies in on the outside, but on the inside it had a step ladder to get inside and nearly 20ft of depth at the end, 100ft of length, and 12ft of width. There were larger chests for sale with more room inside, but they wouldn't keep ingredients fresh, making transporting them difficult. Like with the live tank, I had to climb inside to get whatever was stored to access it. Thankfully, a little sand wouldn't hurt the live tank.
When I climbed inside, I heard pumps moving the water and filtering out anything harmful. With the bodies tossed inside, I climbed out and purchased some ogre onions. I tossed the green-skinned, smelly things inside. They were supposed to increase stamina. For good measure, I bought a few hundred pounds of fresh Louisiana shrimp for one point.
After pouring them in and adding some crawfish for good measure, I waited in my chair, drinking beer after I set a timer on my phone. My arm was getting itchy, and my stomach ached from hunger. The delicious smell was getting to me even as I kept adding to the mix.
I tossed in some grave peppers. They were like serrano peppers; they only made chi absorption fluid. I took a ladle from the cooking set I brought with me and climbed on a boulder. I sat next to the pot. I scooped up a big boiling ladle full of juice and blew it to cool it off.
The bubbling brown liquid settled down, and I drank it straight before smacking my lips. It needed something. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was some ingredient missing that would make the flavor pop.
I knew it, I felt it, I believed in it. But there was still time, and I needed to use my tokens.
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