Chapter 12
Doing Better
When Athios came to, Garath was leaning over her with a panicked expression plastered on his face. He was back in human form and held the bloodied scimitar in one hand and an Endless Potion of Healing in the other. His glowing eyes and intense features scared the shit out of the Dimensionalist and she screamed.
"Bahhh!"
"Are you okay?" the Necrologist asked her, his panicked expression softening into relief even as Athios scrambled back and away from him. She was okay.
The Fel Hound circled protectively around them, its nose probing the air for any sign of danger. The respawn time had elapsed for the undead on the roof while Athios was out and seven Fetid Ghouls replaced the seven they had just killed.
"I got this," Garath told her, shifting again into House Cat form. He focused his will into the instant cast of Blight. A dark purple energy shot out from his diminutive body in every direction, landing a poison debuff on five of the seven Ghouls without sparing a thought for the Tainted Soul cost. All five turned on him with their weapons raised the second the purple energy entered their bodies.
In his nimble form, the Necrologist pounced at the feet of the closest Ghoul and started weaving between its bony legs, easily dodging the clumsy swings of scimitar after scimitar. The DoT (damage over time) of his Blight and the friendly fire of scimitars aimed at the evasive feline chipped away at the Health of every Ghoul on the roof. The two Ghouls unaffected by Blight jumped to action shortly after the fight began, joining their comrades in a deadly game of slap 'n’ tickle - the armored undead simply lacked the Dexterity to land a hit on the quick little creature. The Fel Hound performed its role with enthusiasm, biting down hard on whatever limbs or chainmail it could fit in its mouth. Athios watched in bemusement as her Health bar refilled with a drink from her own Endless Potion of Healing.
When the thirty-second cooldown for Blight came to an end, Garath cast it again - infecting all seven of the Ghouls desperately trying to kill him. After that it was a simple game of rinse and repeat until the final hit points of the undead on the roof ticked away. Garath jumped to the highest part of the building and bathed in the experience points flowing into his tiny form. It was amazing; the energy and power of their lives surged into him, making him stronger. Had it felt like this when he made kills in human form? Was it a part of fighting in cat form? They were nature's little murderers after all. Or could it be a part of Tainted Soul? Whatever the reason, he couldn’t care less. All Garath wanted was more.
From his perch atop the chimney, Garath heard raised voices and turned his gaze to the street below. Every Fetid Ghoul within 50 meters of the school had crowded the building entrance, where they had basically formed a queue to be slaughtered by the group of fighters that had been growing stronger all morning. Outside of the apparent aggro proximity, thousands of undead wandered the streets aimlessly searching for a beating heart to snuff out. It didn’t take Garath very long to locate the source of the raised voices.
A large man was leading a single-file line of frightened children down Hoyt Ave toward the school. He was moving at a trot, slamming a broad kite-shield into Ghoul after Ghoul - each blow inflicting minimal damage, but the concussive force knocked the rickety undead off their feet and stopped them in their tracks with some kind of stun debuff. The undead soldiers that had been knocked to the ground would get back on their feet after just a few seconds, and then join the growing horde hot on the heels of the shield wearer and the children in his wake. Garath looked intently at Athios.
*Can you transport them up here?* he asked the Dimensionalist urgently in the mental communication he was starting to adjust to in House Cat form.
*No. My transportation spell for allies is limited to Party or Raid group members,* she projected back.
*Then you could transport me down there?* he asked.
*Well, yeah, but...* she started.
*Do it,* he commanded.
A white disk sucked Garath in his feline form through a tear in space, relocating him two-meters off the ground and directly above the group of scared children scurrying behind the large man. As he fell, the children moved forward beneath him and the Necrologist landed between them and the Ghouls charging close behind. The Fel Hound tore this way and that across the roof, whining and looking for a way down to assist its master.
Garath focused his will and released the instant cast of Blight as the mass of Ghouls got within range. A deep purple energy exploded again from his slight form, infecting every Ghoul in the spell’s three-meter radius. The ravenous undead soldiers continued right passed Garath, ignoring him completely in their pursuit of the small Party - until the first tick of Blight’s damage-over-time ripped Health away from them. As one, the horde looked down at the puny creature that dared to poison them, and lurched to attack. Again their swings struck nothing but air and gravel and the bones of their allies as Garath darted between several pairs of rotting legs.
Several prompts appeared and minimized his vision, but Garath didn't even notice in the chaos of the fight. He continued to bring up the rear of the escort casting Death Bolt(s) when able and Blight as his Mana regeneration and the Skill’s cooldown allowed. He found that he wasn't able to access the Items panel, or the contents of his pockets in House Cat form, an untimely realization as his Mana bar dipped below 30% and the light-headedness and lack of focus that would occur if his Mana got too low could be devastating in his current situation.
‘So there is a down side,’ he thought, looking up to check on Athios. She was watching him from the roof as his Fel Hound tore the boney limbs from a savaged Ghoul pinned beneath its paws.
*Get off the roof! Can you walk now?* Garath projected the thought to Athios as loudly as he could, hoping the distance wouldn't be a problem for this new form of communication.
*Don't yell at me, kitty,* she replied calmly. *Yeah, I'm fine actually... The hole in my chest closed and my Health is almost full.*
*Well that's great news, I'm happy to hear it. Now get your ass inside before the next respawn,* he projected the thought to her even as he sped to the front of the group.
The smooth coated, white cat sprang ahead of the shielded man as the group of children in their wake rounded the entrance to the fenced area. There were still dozens of Ghouls between them and the safety of the brick building. Garath fired a black ball of death energy, blasting an unaware Ghoul in the back - and dropping its HP by nearly half. The soldier turned on him with its shield raised and charged. Another four of the uniform undead turned away from the small horde locked in battle outside the doors to lend aid to their enraged ally.
When all five were within range of Blight, he released the instant cast. Deep purple energy shot from his diminutive form again, infecting the putrid, armored undead with a devastating poison that immediately got to work depleting their HP.
He focused his projected thought to communicate with those fighting the Ghouls from the other side over the Raid sub-channel. *Warrion, help me clear a path to get these kids inside.*
"On it," Warrion verbalized his reply over the sub-channel. The Assassin crouched low and dashed through the company of undead gathered at the door, each of them desperately clambering against one another in an attempt to spill the blood of their quarry. With one dagger held out on either side, he raked the chain armor and bones of a handful of Ghouls on the way.
When the lanky Assassin broke out of the bottlenecked horde, he wasn't alone. A stream of enemies followed in his wake, the damage caused by his daggers striking rage and vengeance in the soldiers.
"That should do it, G! Get 'em inside then help me finish these things off," said Warrion, turning to deflect a blow then brain his attacker with the heavy pommel of his dagger.
The shielded man looked on in shock as Garath shimmered and returned to his human form, then addressed him. "Get the kids inside. I'm Garath, by the way. Everyone calls me G, though."
"Thank you," the man said simply, hi
s bearded face said the rest - gratitude, deep rooted and sincere. "I'm Gary."
Chapter 13
The Band of the Hawk
Once inside the old building, Garath got a better look at the gaggle of children and their protector. Gary was a large, red headed man with a thick beard and a beanie that really added to his flannel shirt in pursuit of the lumberjack look. There were five ginger children huddled behind the bearded man with ages ranging from six to sixteen, all boys. Garath accessed his MENU panels to send off a Raid invitation to Gary’s already established Party.
Would you like to invite Gary's Party to join Garath's Raid Group?
Yes or No
‘'Garath's Raid Group', how lame is that?,’ Garath thought as he read over the prompt. He accessed the Raid Group options and found that he could change the name of his Raid Group without great effort.
Would you like to invite Gary's Party to join The Band of the Hawk?
Yes or No
‘Better,’ he thought - and then chose yes.
"The Band of the Hawk?" the bearded man asked when he received the prompt asking if he would like to join.
"Yeah, it's from my favorite anime. It sounded better than 'Garath's Raid Group'," Garath replied, thinking about how much cooler it sounded before verbalizing that he had taken the name from an anime.
"Oh. Hey, is there a bathroom or kitchen somewhere with running water?" the bearded man asked.
"I honestly don't know," Garath replied. "Would running water work though?"
"Probably,” Gary speculated. “Some water pumps will run on electricity but a lot of the function is just gravity and pressure based. It won't KEEP working, but power’s only been out a few hours. It should for now.”
"Sick. Let's look around then."
Garath was coming down from the Adderall he took that evening and the cotton mouth was quickly moving from a minor annoyance to a legitimate concern.
Gary nodded then pointed to the group huddled near the entrance. "Boys, stay here."
Together, the gamer and the lumberjack went off in search of water. They walked across the gleaming white marble floor into the main hall. Garath hadn't noticed before but now that he was looking for it, there was a fairly obvious 'restroom' sign on either side the long, open room. Gary pushed open the door to the boys loo and they entered, he turned the faucet and water sprayed freely out of it. Garath marveled at the last real remnant of working human technology.
Gary filled a bottle from one faucet while Garath shoved his face under another.
"I'm going to go back and get the boys," the bearded man said, screwing the cap on the full bottle of water.
"I'll come with you, we're stationing people behind the group to rest and protect us from behind. I’m out of Mana anyway so I’ll take the next shift."
"Mana?"
"Yeah, I use Mana to cast. Do you not have Mana? What Class did you pick?"
"Armoron,” Gary said sheepishly. “The fact that ‘moron’ is in the Class name just about talked me out of it. But it came with this shield," he said, lifting his triangular hunk of metal proudly. "... that and they were listed alphabetically."
Garath laughed as he pulled the door open, thinking about the useless staff the Necrologist Class came with. He did get a pretty cool hat that gave him +30 mana and looked like the sorting hat and the staff may be the cause for his poorly aimed spells connecting with his targets though, so he didn't complain (verbally). He looked at the five scared boys in the entrance as they crossed the main hall to join them, then stopped and his face took on a serious expression when something occurred to him.
"Listen, Gary. It's uncomfortable, but I have to ask. What is one grown man doing alone with five kids at a time like this?"
"Excuse me?" Gary asked, one eyebrow raised. His soft features hardening rapidly.
"K. Yeah. Wow. Super uncomfortable. Just think of it this way, if some guy had YOUR kids, wouldn't you want someone to at least ask?"
Gary considered it for a moment, then smiled as the anger and offense melted away from his face. "Maybe," he said, "but any idiot would know to just ask the kids if they were in trouble."
The Necrologist just looked down at his feet feeling like a moron. Gary was right, it would make more sense to ask the kids.
"These two idiots are mine," said the lumberjack. He walked over and put his hands on the red haired noggins of an elementary school aged boy and another that looked to be in his early teens. "The other three are my nephews, they were staying at our place because their mothers were having a girl's retreat for the week. I ran across your thread on the Community panel when I posted a message to them. I just hope they find it..."
"Sorry, man. That’s awful. I’m sure it'll be easier to find them after this Culling shit," said Garath. "Have you tried sending a friend request? It gives you friends’ locations on the map."
"Yeah, I did. It said something like, 'that player does not exist'. You don't think that means..." he didn't finish. His eyes glossed with tears and he turned his face to keep his boys from seeing.
"Not necessarily, did you input her real name on the request?" Garath asked.
"What else would I input?"
"Well, believe it or not, my parents didn't name me Garath. We all had the option to change our 'name'. A lot of us just put in our gamertag," he explained. "Maybe she just picked a different name. Or got assigned a number like Sharon#142 over there."
Gary's face filled with hope and the man who had thought his wife dead steeled his nerves. "Maybe she did, or maybe not. At least I hope that's the case. Either way, my priority right now is to keep these boys safe. The skeletons of that first wave may as well have been zombies from Shawn of the Dead but these Ghouls are different. We were in the house for the whole first wave and nothing happened. I mean we heard them on the roof and saw them through the windows, but that's it. As soon as these things appeared though, they seemed to just sense where we were. They broke the window to get in and we booked it."
"Rough. I wonder if the reason they haven't broken in here is because we're hugging the entrance - there is an obvious path to us, you know?"
"Probably," Gary agreed. "But what about the next wave?"
"I've been thinking that too."
After a few minutes of talking, Garath learned that Gary had spent most of his life as a carpenter. The bearded man volunteered himself and his boys to fortify the building, boarding up the windows and barricading the stairs to the upper floors. Athios went along in case anything heavy needed to be relocated. As they left the main hall, Garath took over the watch behind the group and finally sat to go over his new prompts.
Chapter 14
Curiosity Killed the Cat, You know.
Congratulations, Garath! For reaching level(s) 7 and 8 you are awarded +6 Attribute Points (3 per level) and +2 Skill Points (1 per level) to distribute at your discretion. As a Necrologist, you receive +3 Wisdom, +3 Vitality, and +1 Regeneration per level. You have one week to distribute the points before they are assigned for you based on your chosen class.
Unused Attribute Points: 6
Unused Skill Points: 4
Garath did a quick perusal of the newly improved stats displayed on his Profile panel.
Garath
Race: Human
Class: Necrologist
The Culling of Man: A litrpg adventure (Peril's Prodigy Book 1) Page 9