[Pathway Mission: Build a Personal Base in the Fallen Kingdom of Bravdi. As a foreign being, lost and confused and new to the system universe and all its worldly woes, you are to be given a chance to make your mark on the planet of Aeos. The fallen Kingdom of Bravdi used to be known as the city of knights, but had fallen under the power of Necrosy, the system's antithesis, being filled with creatures of the undead. By completing three objectives, the system will help you purge an area to act as your base, offering relative safety.
Objective 1: Clear a designated structure of all hostile threats.
Objective 2: Defeat an Elite Level 5 or above monster and claim its Life Force crystal
Objective 3: Defend your designated structure for 12 hours (Your territory core must not be destroyed)
'Son of a bitch, none of that sounds easy, and I'm expected to finish it in under seventy hours. I think I might have bitten off more than I could chew.' Looking over the objectives, even though the tasks appeared simplistic in their wording, there was more information revealed under the surface. The first objective designated a structure, but what kind of structure? What was the maximum or minimum size? What's deemed a threat? Are spiders a threat? Gazing at the first objective in my mind's eye, I felt like it had more to give. With focus, I willed it to express more information. After only a second, my forced focus was rewarded.
[Objective 1: Clear a designated structure of all hostile threats. Threats are any creatures or beings actively aiming and able to inflict damage, physical or otherwise, onto yourself. A structure can be deemed usable through the system interface if within ten meters of a designated structure.
Now that's more like it, less reaching around in a dark room. Focusing on the next objective, I was able to get a little more information, which proved tremendously helpful.
[Objective 2: Defeat an Elite Level 5 or above monster and claim its Life Force crystal. Only Elite Monsters Level 5 and above will manifest a life crystal upon death, holding a large amount of their life force within. Necrosy animates undead creatures, prohibiting any life force crystal manifestation due to their inherent opposition.
Damn, considering I'm being dropped into a kingdom that has apparently fallen to the undead, I imagine finding an elite monster that's not an undead one will prove difficult. I once again tried to focus on the third objective, but after several seconds of no change, I realized that the third objective of defending the chosen structure was just that — to defend. Well, I can't expect there would be hidden depths every time. Taking several deep breaths, I looked over the tasks and then mentally sent them away. The previous countdown had now changed, showing I had twenty-three minutes left.
Regathering my focus, I looked over to the two I was sharing the dusty truck cabin with. Marla and Sid had both given me privacy while I was looking over my notifications, even though both were doing their best to look at me, while trying not to appear to be looking at me. Obviously, they were both immensely curious about what I had just read.
Clearing my throat softly to catch the pair's attention, I briefly explained what the task given was and the information it revealed. At this point in time, information was worth its weight in gold, especially considering the high likelihood that this will not be the only time we will be taken to this world. "So, yeah, that's about it. I'm not exactly sure what benefits I'll get for having a so-called safe zone, but even if it's literally just somewhere to rest without being attacked, I believe it will come in mighty handy. Maybe it will also work like a save point? Where, when or even if I get teleported back here again, I won't be in some random place but at my base."
The pair both looked intrigued after I went over my task details, though for vastly different reasons. Marla was similar to me, in the sense that information about life force Crystals and the Systems clear dislike of beings with Necrosy, spoke to the system having an actual objective for sending myself to the fallen kingdom and it wasn't just some random auto generated quest. Sid, however, whether as a defence mechanism to avoid the true horrors of this world or in genuine excitement, was looking at all the information given through the lens of a video game enthusiast.
"Wow. So, you'll need to defeat a boss to snag one of these life crystal things and then take over a building to turn it into your own base. That's just like Kingdom Came. So cool. Imagine if you could upgrade your base, so if it's like a house, you could summon walls or even a force shield around it. Or even build something like a mage tower or crafting room. Like you, you just need to bring more materials or something. Hmmm, but then how do you gather materials? Hmm..." Sid began to talk excitedly about all kinds of possibilities but was soon lost in his imagination as he thought over what could be gathered or whether it was all brought with some form of currency like the life force crystals.
Although the boy conjured bizarre ideas, like summoning colossal stone golems or dragons, a couple seemed plausible. Just as Sid was telling me all about the amazing sorts of mythical beasts he planned to summon when he got his own base, Marla interjected with a question that she had apparently been gnawing on for a while.
"Grubbs, there is one thing that confuses me about the story you told me before this Life ascension thing you experienced. Now, I'm not saying you're not a good fighter or anything, but how many zombies would you say you have actually slain tonight?" Marla asked with an earnest face, as if the question would have hurt me. Not bothering to delve deeper, I thought over my desperate but brief fights and said, "If we're only counting the zombies I had slain before my life transition, I would say ten? Why?"
Marla furrowed her brows and was silent for several seconds before she replied with a somewhat skeptical voice, "That's what confused me so much. I've only killed a couple of normal Human level 1 zombies, and they gave me 10 experience points apiece. Are those special zombies actually worth so much more?"
I scrutinized the young woman with a raised eyebrow. Thinking it over for a second, I explained, "I don't think it's a lot more; I received about thirty experience points for killing the snatcher zombie. Altogether, it's just over the hundred cap needed to level up. Checking my logs, even that muscle-bound freak only gave me fifty experience points. So, it's not a huge difference."
After mentally scrolling through my battle notifications to double-check, I looked back over to Marla. Finding to my surprise that both she and Sid were giving me almost identical frowning faces, and the atmosphere inside the back of the truck turned heavy. Looking between the two, I felt nervous, as if I had done something wrong. After swallowing audibly, I whispered, "What's wrong? Why do you both look so serious?"
"You said you only need a hundred experience points to level up?" Marla was the first to break the awkward deadlock, speaking between gritted teeth. Scared that my answer might somewhat upset the pair even further, I hesitated before mumbling, "Yes. And now it says I need two-hundred to get to Level Two."
"That's bullshit! I call Hacker!" Sid's curse came so abruptly and loudly that I almost jumped up in a defensive posture. Marla, who looked like she was also just about to let out some very unladylike words, appeared to morph into older sibling mode the moment she heard her little brother curse. "Sid. Don't curse, or I'll tell mother when we get home, and she'll wash your mouth out with soap."
Sid, who had stood up, huffing and puffing as if he were a lion cub trying to look intimidating, appeared to deflate at his sister's words. Especially with the warning of his mother being informed. The boy went from a lion cub whose tail had been stepped on to a turtle retracting its neck to hide under its shell. Even though he was somewhat cowed, when he looked back at me, who was pretending to meld into the background, he couldn't help but point and complain, "But, sister. It's not fair. Why is his so low!?"
Hearing the reminder, Marla's stern face looked back towards me, and her pinched-nose expression returned; however, after looking at my obviously confused and screaming innocent face she softened somewhat. Taking a deep breath, the young woman, with a flat tone, explained, "Grubbs. The reason Sid's so angry is that on both of our profile screens it says we need one-thousand points to get to level one, not a hundred."
"What!?" The explanation surprised me so much, I copied Sid and stood up, towering over the young man as I pointed at Marla and questioned loudly, "How's that possible? Why would there be such a massive disparity?"
"I don't know either. But that explains why you've exceeded the parameters of the safe zone so quickly. Even if we go all out killing just level one zombies for the next sixty hours, it's possible Sid and I still won't make it to Level 1. See, if I pull up my profile, it says I have sixty of five-hundred... Wait! What the fudge!! Five-hundred!?" Marla, explaining the difficult days ahead of her and Sid, suddenly cried out after opening up her profile screen.
This time, Sid and I both jumped at the piercing exclamation from Marla. After a second of shock, Sid was actually the first to ask in a worry, "What's wrong, sis? What's happened?" Marla, coming back to herself after staring wide-eyed at what must have been her profile screen, gave her brother an apologetic smile when she saw his worried look. Patting her brother on his head, she said, "Sorry, Sid. I was just surprised. I'm not sure how I overlooked it before or whether it just happened. But my experience points to the next level has dropped to five-hundred instead of one-thousand." Hearing his sister's words, Sid at first looked equally puzzled before excitement flooded his face as he gazed into nothingness for several seconds. His rising smile soon went back down, and he looked even sadder than he had before, appearing as if he were a beaten puppy.
"Mine's still one-thousand." Sid mumbled, which made me as confused much as it did Marla. She had turned into older sister mode though and was now comforting Sid, forgetting all about the how and why her experience level cap had changed. I pondered for a moment, but a sudden beeping noise, like one would hear coming from a microwave, made me subconsciously look at the countdown timer in the corner of my vision. Seeing fifteen minutes just tick past, all previous thoughts and theories were thrown out of my head as I began to rapidly plan.
Looking down at myself, I couldn't help but click my tongue. I was woefully unequipped, not even having a shirt. The only equipment I currently had was my personally crafted zombie skin wrist guard and an empty sheath clipped to my pants. The sight of which made me think of my uncommon knife and the hulking mass of meat I must have left it in. Looking back at the sister and brother pair, I first apologized for interrupting what was obviously a whispered conversation. "Sorry, guys. I know there's a lot going on right now, and finding out that our experience to next-level caps is different just leads to more unanswered questions, but I don't have the time to go over it right now. I've only got fifteen minutes left before I'm teleported away."
"Sorry, Grubbs. I just hate... falling short. I know it's not your fault. Sorry for wasting your time." Sid first apologized, his big doe eyes shining with water. Laying my hand on his shoulder, I gave the boy the best smile I could as I said, "Don't be ridiculous, Sid. If I found out I had to work ten times as much just to achieve what someone else could with half the effort, I'd be spitting bullets and calling cheat as well. I'm sure there is a reason for my and your sister's change; we just haven't figured it out."
Marla smiled gently towards me after hearing my words and said, "I totally agree. We will figure out the rules of this world slowly. Don't worry, you will not fall behind. Sister will always be here." After finishing her words, Marla began to pick up the food and water laid out onto the ground, stuffing them into the worn backpack before attempting to hand it to me.
Pushing the backpack into her arms, I said, "You guys keep it. I can find more." Marla pouted with the most adorable expression I had seen her display that night, and truly for the first time, she gave off a more mischievous and fun vibe that actually matched her age. "Don't be stupid; these are yours." With a shake of my head, I reached into the open bag she was proffering and pulled out a bottle of water, a packet of crackers and two of the rolled-up zombie skins. Stuffing the items into my pants pockets, I pushed the bag back and gave a sunny smile to Marla. After patting Sid on the shoulder again, I walked to the back of the truck and leapt out. Checking the area, I looked back at the brother and sister pair, who had followed me and were standing on the edge of the truck.
"I'm going to check out where you found me to see if I can find my knife. If it's gone, I may need to hunt a couple of zombies to see if I can loot a weapon, so I'm not teleported to the city of the damned with nothing but my bare hands. At least for the moment, this is goodbye." After I finished explaining, I looked over the pair, who were both showing some conflicting emotions. Sid's was easier to read than his sister's. He wanted me to stay, putting on a brave face with his puffed chest and manly nod.
Marla, on the other hand, looked more complex. Hearing about my departure, she looked relieved, but then spoke with care. "I'm not sure what to say but be careful out there. And as we agreed before, after we return home, we will contact each other on The Wave. I hope you'll be able to tell us all about the new planet in three days."
Giving the young but mature woman a nod in return, I thought about the fact that I had known this brother and sister pair for less than half a day, but I still felt great reluctance leaving them alone. I wondered if constantly running and fighting for my life on an alien world fostered my enjoyment of company, because back home I craved solitude. 'It could also be the fact that both of them have been genuinely nice to me from the moment they met me.' Waving once more at the two, I made my way out of the underground park while still pondering.
I suppose some people could also look at my current actions as utterly heartless. As I was choosing to leave two legally classified children on their own, in a land filled with zombies and only God knows what else, to pursue a quest given by some omnipotent system with unknown wants. However, what Marla had previously said about the possibility of our strength and acquired power coming with us back to our own world rang through my mind non-stop since hearing it. If it were truly possible, it would be a complete game changer, regardless of whether it was something the entire federation would ultimately experience or it was just something the people in Bayswater and the surrounding suburbs experienced. Attempting to give myself a head start on this path to power was the best choice possible for me and my family right now. There were many things I could achieve with just increased physical capability alone, let alone superpowered strength.
Walking up the ramp and out of the underground parking lot, I turned off my tumbling thoughts and gazed around the area. Gazing around the darkened street in front and around the shadows cast by half-wrecked cars, I strained my eyes and ears. After several seconds of silence and seeing no moving presence, I slunk from one car to the next, making my way to the entrance. Once out front, I hid behind the boot of a car and checked both sides of the connected street. On my left, I saw the flower delivery truck I had nosedived off the roof inside; it was flipped upside down with its wheels pointing to the sky like an overturned turtle.
In a sort of crouch run, I made my way over to the back of the truck and, leaning against the side, I stuck my head in for a quick peek before retracting it. Seeing nothing, I sighed in relief. In doing the action again, I double-checked that the crumpled inside of the truck was empty before heading inside. Treading gingerly so as not to impale my thin-tread shoes on all the glass and twisted metal, I made my way to the front of the truck. There was a literal forest of jagged metal sticking out, covered in foul-smelling sticky blood. However, the hulking behemoth wasn't there; instead, a pile of ashes that was as tall as my knees was sitting on the ground.
"Hell yeah!" Just to the side of the pile of ash was a foot long knife, with a blade so black it was hard to see that it was liberally coated in dark green blood, after a suppressed cry of excitement I picked the knife up and checked its condition.
[Trench Knife – Uncommon – Req. – AGL 7]
Durability – 73/100
Damage +25
Agility +1
Increases Total Damage to unaware targets by 25%
"Damn, took some heavy damage. I wonder if it was because the brute's skin was so tough or from being knocked around when we slammed into the ground." I was disheartened to see the blade had taken such a hit to its durability but still thrilled to see it hadn't been stolen or lost. Wiping the blade on my dirty pants, I did my best to get the majority of the hardened blood off before putting it in its sheath. Looking at the large pile of ash, I thought back to what Sid had previously said about looting. It appeared that if the one who had slain the monster didn't receive the loot, the items would become anybody's. 'I wonder what the actual time before they turn to dust is though?' While I wondered about the mechanics of the system, I searched through the ashes. The very first discovery brought a large grin to my pale face.
[Zombified Leather Cuirass (Front and Back) - Common – No Req]
Durability 100/100
Armor Value +20
Holding up the piece of armor, I was immensely satisfied. It had a dark grey coloring, which was good as it wouldn't stick out, and besides the carved-in abs and packs on the front part it was non-descript. Tapping my knuckle against the boiled leather, I was surprised and happy to find that it felt quite hard, harder at least than my zombified vambrace. Unbuckling the straps on one side of the cuirass, I put my head through the top and with just a little fumbling I pulled the buckles tight, so it didn't shift around when I moved. Jumping on the spot lightly, I felt that even though the hard leather wasn't exactly comfortable to wear, it at least fit snugly. Gazing down at my new piece of gear, I couldn't help but mutter to myself, "At least my tits aren't hanging out anymore."
Feeling at least a modicum more secure now, even though my arms and head were still bare, I began to rummage through the pile of ash with a grin on my face. Surprisingly, besides a piece of rolled-up zombified skin that was of uncommon quality, I found only one more item. This one surprised me deeply, as it was a cube just slightly smaller than my hand. It was metallic and had strange unfamiliar symbols on each side. It felt warm to the touch as I held it, and after activating my analyze skill, and reading the cube's description I was so excited I nearly crapped my pants.
[Inventory Dimensional Cube – Unique – No Req]
Activates the Inventory system
Uses 1/1
System note: Inventory Cube gives the user one square meter of suspended space to store non-animated objects up to the weight of 100 kilograms. The size and weight capacity of suspended inventory space will increase with the use of every Inventory Cube