They sat together as a family, the comfortable bonds being pushed away as a voice appeared in their heads.
"Congratulations on your first training opportunity! This one will be simple and will be the lowest threat level you will face. This will last until all remaining denizens of your planet have reached level five. You will face low tiered creatures from your planet that have been enhanced. As some of you have already discovered, though, fighting is not the only route to power. All skills will be considered and many non-combat classes will be necessary. Please be aware that focusing on non-combat classes will not automatically guarantee safety, the creature encounters do not discriminate. Find ways to grow. Find ways to survive. The benefits of forging ahead, creating your own paths, and setting new records will be rewarded accordingly."
"You all are about to embark on an exciting journey and we will be watching you with interest! And now, it begins."
With that a final tone sounded in their heads and the world came back. They sat in silence, listening for sounds of danger that had yet to reach them.
Cass tapped the tablet on and they all hunched around it. Nothing. They kept cycling through all the screens until Zavier saw something.
"Stop!" Zavier touched that window and opened it to full screen. There was movement just at the edge of the woods. A figure started to emerge from the shadows, low and furry. They could see chestnut fur and large teeth in a face that was as cute as it was dangerous. It paused and blinked before looking around at the open space, seemingly scanning for threats. Then in an instant it froze and hunched low to the ground. A light tan and black blur flew from the woods and landed on its back before lunging back into the woods, carrying the squirrel with it. They got impressions of claws and fangs in the instant before it was gone. The foliage around where they disappeared shook and a frenzied screeching sounded out against the chittering. Then just as quickly as it occurred, everything went silent.
They stood open-mouthed at what they'd just seen. Luna reached over and switched to a different window, another squirrel coming out of that part of the woods. It skittered forward in fits and bursts, trying to get out of the woods but obviously skittish about being in the open. They saw it look towards the house and its body language changed, aggression evident on every bristled hair. It lunged towards the house and they screamed when they heard it slam against the wood panel protecting the window. Zavier ran to the kitchen and looked out above the wood. A face with two long, yellow teeth slammed into the window making Zavier jump back in fright.
Scamperer: Level 1
Zavier realized he'd identified the creature without meaning to. He watched in horror as it started gnawing on the panel, tearing off big chunks.
"Zavier, down!"
Zavier reacted to Tess's shout on instinct and dropped to the floor as she stepped into the kitchen, 9mm held in a straight armed, double handed grip. She took a second to aim then fired two quick shots through the window. Zavier threw his hands over his ears too late, the ringing in his ears barely picking up the tinkling of glass hitting the kitchen sink.
"Scamperer, Level 1 defeated."
"Something just happened," Tess said with an unfocused look in her eyes.
Zavier gave her a moment and her eyes refocused. "What happened?"
"I just… I think I just got experience for killing that squirrel thing."
"How do you know? What did it feel like?"
Tess was lost in thought for a second. "It felt like suddenly a stomach I didn't know I had felt a little more full, but now that I know it's there I can feel it any time."
"Can you gauge how full it feels?" Zavier asked.
Another moment of concentration. "It's hard to tell exactly but I feel like I'm about 10% full, which I guess means 10% closer to level 3."
"Which means another nine of those things and you're at level 3, so 40 in total for all of us. Damn, that's a lot. If we kill one an hour it'll take us a week of doing it all day. I don't know if that's fast or slow, but I know it's going to lead to us getting tired and making mistakes if we're not careful," Zavier said. "On the other hand, if we don't we may fall behind whatever is coming next. Call me crazy but something tells me that fluffy squirrels are going to be the very least of what's coming."
"Then again…" he said. Everyone else waited with the patient expression of people that have watched a stream of consciousness play out like this before. "... if the creatures get higher level then we'll probably get more experience for them. We just need to find ways to safely kill them. We can't all rely on firearms…" his voice trailed off as he stared in the distance. After a moment his eyes refocused and he looked at his family.
"Okay everyone, we need to see where we all are. Everyone, search your feelings…" Tess gave him a warning look which he promptly ignored, "... you know it to be true." The inevitable slap on the shoulder wasn't a surprise.
Their faces all showed a moment of concentration before their eyes went wide. "I can feel it!" Luna said. "I feel like I'm at 0%."
"Me too," said Cass. "My experience bar is empty."
"Huh," Zavier said. "I guess that makes sense since we were all gifted the last level. But that also means that we need to kill a bunch of feral squirrels."
They looked at him incredulously.
"I'm serious. We knew this was going to happen and it's here now. We're in a zombie movie moment. The first part is terrifying because the threats are everywhere and everyone is running frantically. We need to face these things eventually so we may as well do it now."
"Can't mom just shoot them all?" Cass's tone held the beginnings of panic.
"No she can't. That will give her a lot of levels but not us."
"Plus the ammo isn't going to last forever," Tess said. "We're going to have to figure out how to kill these things the hard way. If we're smart and come up with a plan," she looked to Zavier, "we will be able to do this."
Zavier nodded, straightened, and confidence lit his face with excitement. "It's time to suit up and discuss tactics. Regulators… mount up!"