by Naosu N R
"Is that why you guys came here?" Mandy asked him, eyes narrowing while she's checking for other drops; there aren't any.
"Its one reason. After we got here we realized we were in over heads on just the normal undead. So it wasn't doable for us unfortunately. But with Jay in party maybe we could! But this is not the only thing we came here for also. Too bad Sadie and Josh chickened out. Bitches deserved it for ditching us and trying to get our car flooded with undead while we're in it too," Miguel swore.
Somehow Miguel is getting to be more on our side. Especially after seeing my job class is pretty awesome, and that we're doing better than his old team.
We pulled back to rest and a little time passed. The sub-boss fight took technically roughly a half hour; which doesn't seem to bad, but isn't that quick either.
Its approximately after 12 PM...
As a dungeon, technically the sub-boss could pop here again. And we're not sure the cool time. So we got out of there with a few minor wandering undead trash encounters.
Miguel then was trying to get us to go to the other sub-bosses. I feel worried about this, and so do the others given that 'this isn't a game', and our lives really are on the line.
'Its unreasonable to think every sub-boss in the same zone would have the same exact strength. And if so, what if this guy was the bottom of those stats and not the top, I thought.'
Another sub-boss in game is supposed to drop another special item similar to these dungeon ranger boots called, a [Traveler's Cloak] with something good enchants. Another one drops an enchanted hood, usable by rangers and mages both. And a third is supposed to drop some kind of ranger only usable 'safe tent', but its a super rare drop.
But also those might be street nick names and not the actual title name of the special gear. So we'll have to watch for more than one thing.
"Do we risk it? The safe zone tent might be worth it," Mandy asked.
A debate followed.
I'm starting to see how this murim world and their dungeons can really draw people in.
Miguel tells us there's mage oriented dungeons, one for knight items also. And he doesn't really know all of it, but just knows the sky's the limit. This he is giving us as some big info dump, while pleading to let him stay in my party and to teach him to pick up women.
But the down side is that he doesn't know which floors and bosses drop the knight class items, and for the others.
Mandy almost shook him, wanting to know more but frustrated.
"Wait, how do you know so much?" Shelly asked him.
"Seriously? You are a walking treasure house yourself and you are asking me that?" Miguel said. "If you want to know that, then tell us more of your secrets."
"Stupid. No way will I do that," Shelly said and walked away.
"I thought as much," he said.
"Well she's got a point. You do know a lot," I said.
Miguel looked conflicted.
"Well, you are a real bro and didn't ditch me back there. Fine. I'll tell you just a bit. But you can't tell anyone. I want your word of honor if I tell you," he said.
"Word for what?" Mandy asked.
"That you just won't back stab me if you know more or reveal it to others," Miguel said.
Mandy frowned.
But Simone and I thought that was actually a pretty decent enticement with no risk. He's just asking to be treated like a decent person.
"We won't harm you," I agreed.
"Well..." he appeared to be stressed thinking about it.
"My family works to hunt the demon lord clan night and day. We work for a paladin organization. The rumors are that some of them live in this area near LA. But we can't find a break finding them. So that's not the only reason why I need you to help find my missing family members," he told me.
Shit.
This is the worst thing that could happen.
I glanced up to see that Mandy is horrified. She's standing behind Miguel so he doesn't see her reaction. And luckily Shelly is out of earshot. Thank goodness.
I think Shelly might have lost her cool and had a bad reaction. It was lucky she had gotten impatient and walked away.
Melanie only cares what I think. So that's not a problem. And I'm not into my family and clan politics anyway.
It was...lucky. Really.
But I'll have to talk to Mandy tonight and pull her aside. This could get bad fast. If she tells my mom what happened, it could have the trouble spill over onto me also.
Jeez...if my mom hears my party members are people hunting the clan, I could become a fugitive in the clan just like that!
...
I checked again, that weird spell coding I'd found a few days ago is getting closer to being unraveled. The last few days I'd kept analyzing it.
Soon, I'll know what its about. Its already over half finished!
...
We started hunting in a different approach, using an abandoned commercial street after resting.
I didn't dare use any extra mana for enhancements right now, since we keep running into strong stuff.
This area was void of anything usable classified as loot. And it was hard to accept that.
But it had plenty of zombies.
However, unexpectedly with a lot of alley ways and backdoor fencing etc, it meant that we could maneuver forward with smaller zombie clusters. This was a good point because it meant lower numbers.
But it was also a death trap, for anyone except my combination of skills. Specifically my map detector stopped us from walking into zombies hiding around corners, or under things, or just concealed by debris or trash. And the umbrella damage shield also helped that.
At one point we were behind what felt like a whole section of stores, but which we have to avoid. This was around maybe 3:40 PM ish.
We'd just finished zapping several zombies, and a midget darkling that was probably newborn. (Nice. Its good if we can catch them while they are small and less hurtful.)
Then we found some obstacles.
"Darn. The mana mapping detector just expired. Don't move," I warned the others.
This is the kind of phrase that scares the shit out of them during the day. But about once every 3 hours now I have to reset the monster detection spell formula on my status screen map. (Plus, I still wish the map radius of the detection were bigger...)
Luckily it doesn't cost much mana. After activating it, it bleeps back onto the screen with light!
Success! (-5 mana)
"OK, we're good," I said.
The others had been too scared to even talk while I was resetting it. I heard breaths of relief also.
In one spot, we had to go back the way we came from, not because the way was blocked, but because the store a hundred feet in front of us had a wall of over 100 zombies in one tight spot!
"Get us out of here, fast," Melanie urged.
"What?! How could there be that many?" Miguel demanded.
"Shh! Quiet! So noisy," Melanie told him.
"Stay down," Simone whimpered. (She's right to whimper when there's that many of them!)
"Sorry," he said.
"Oh! Its because that's a night club! They must have been in there partying when all this went down," Simone said.
"Are you serious?" Melanie managed to peek again.
"Yep. That's a night club," Mandy confirmed.
"Figures..." I groaned.
We went back the way we came going down a tight alley way. With a little luck we could maneuver. The spears, we made for Simone and Melanie were very helpful in this spot, letting us prevent zombie attacks before they got to us.
Unexpectedly I'm starting to enjoy the zombie map and its thrills of leveling up, but I don't tell the others that. They wouldn't understand. This is the ideal spot to level up.
And plus, if we were in a less deadly map, technically there would be more 'opposition' from others. Opposition in the form of murim player killers.
We got a bit closer to the spot where those people need a rescu
e.
But...we still can't go forward. We found a dead end because someone had created an impassable wall of junk!
"We'll have to go around," Simone observed, after using her search skill. (We're still having her use it every chance we can.)
"I see that," Miguel was annoyed.
"Easy Miguel," I said.
"Sorry. I'm just stressed out," he said.
"But we are closer! Look! We've got less than a block between them and us! We're so close!" Mandy cried.
...
We hunted a few more hours.
We got Simone to level 8 finally around 6:11 PM.
I got my level up to 9, also around that same time.
We found 1 can today, which is worse than yesterday. Its got me worried.
Tomorrow we'll have food. But not the day after, except for water. Its harder to fight on a 'rationing' setup with low food already also.
...
I managed to stack another enchant successfully near the end of the day.
But I was surprised that this one was random also.
Enchant success!
[Canned beef stew; can of stew that replenishes itself at the end of the day, as long as over [25]% remains of the can, using sun exposure energy collected on the person carrying the can. Produces 1 meal worth of nutrients a day.]
The others cheered...
Which meant we had to fight off 4 zombies that heard them and charged us.
Whoever thought an enchanted can of beef stew would be the happiest thing in the world?
...
Sex with Simone at 6:17 PM.
Dinner with the team at 6:40 PM around a fireplace that's lit up in an older house.
Spousal intimacy with Melanie at 7:02 PM.
Spousal intimacy with Simone right after at 7:20 PM.
Wait something is off.
Why do they keep coming back so frequently?
...
I looked at my level up near evening.
Name; Jay Williams
Race; Type 349F human hybrid
Magic job; Mind/Enchanter Mage
Titles unlocked; Support Mage (+1 MP), Novice Tactician (+1 MP), 'Mage Combat Survivor' (+1 to magic resistance)
Level; 9
Health; 113/113 → 118/118
Mana; 129/377 → 129/384
Mana Regen; 24 (per hour)
Health regen; 3 (per day)
Element affinities; mind, enchantment
Str; 31Agi; 35Con; 41
Int; 105 Wis; 94App; 104
Skills; athletics (+1 con), jogging (+2 agi), math (+2 int), physics (+1 int), mana affinity (enabled), defend+2 → +3, block+1, parry, (weak) Stun (4 seconds), First aid, alertness
Magic skills; Seduce +3, Charm +3, Mesmerize +1, Enchant, Enhance, Hypnotism (Temporary Charm), Dungeon Map Detection, Ice snap (new!)(reduced damage +2, element incompatibility), Love (emotion magic)(not sure how to use this yet?)
Passive skills; demon lord clan heritage (bonus starting mana +50), demon lord heritage (bonus mana; +2 mana points per level), +1 to mind control. Team leader skill (+1% to group offense), party team window management magic, enchant; enhancement, enchant+1, weapon enhancement+1; Mind Control Efficiency (+12% → +13% to efficiency), Quick reflexes, Love Magic Efficiency (new!)
Gear list;
Crowbar +3 (Knock back effect)
Health necklace +1 (per 6 hours, maxed)
Baseball cap
Jacket +2
Jeans (+2 defense)
1 long crowbar +2
Hoodie +3 defense
Flashlight (energy efficient enchant, blind 3/day)
Flashlight #2 (nothing yet)
Remote Control (slow 1/day)
Baseball Bat
Buckler
(+5)+3
Belt +2
Ring; mana regen+1
Ring; Charm skill+1
Umbrella (Damage absorption shield enchant on activation)
Endless Water canteen
Endless Beef Stew
Supply bag; 1 red health potion, 2 med gels, 3 pain creams (borrowed from the house)
Bank account; $2,561
Unused stat points; 3
At this point I have to gamble.
Some of me wants to sink everything into mana regeneration. But its also true that my appearance score holds my harem to me and is in an actual formula that holds the mind control together, blended with a percentage of 'INT' also.
And some of me wants to put some of it into 'INT' for that reason also.
Wait, my stats are really moving fast actually.
I mean my level isn't moving fast at all. In fact its slow, and a pain in the ass.
But for my stats and skills per level, I'm really kicking ass and getting a lot of free stuff, and bonuses.
'Love magic'? I wondered.
Is that an element or a skill, or a group of skills?
If I got an efficiency skill for it, then does that mean I'm close to unlocking more of it, and for what skills its related to? And this thing must be partly why my wives are much more interested in intimacy lately. It must have something to do with feeling 'love and shared joy'.
I feel very excited.
Some people wouldn't appreciate a love skill. But I would. And who cares what others think. Such a skill would have huge benefits on cementing mind control skills.
Even if I had bad skills, no chance to level, and crap stats, I'd still be happy with a huge harem of sexy girls.
I'd also seen that the love skill has some kind of bonus to mana regeneration.
Who would have guessed love could do that?
Or is it lust? Or both maybe?
I feel embarrassed to ask the others. Plus, Shelly might be the only one who could tell me anything about it.
I put my 3 level up stats into +1 to INT, +1 to Wis, and +1 to App.
As soon as I clicked confirm, also I see that its given me a bonus two skills!
Wow.
I'm beginning to think that those that actively seek out skills may easily find them. But those that don't could have vastly under powered builds than others would have.
My status screen updated itself after confirming. And I was happy to see the new numbers.
Name; Jay Williams
Race; Type 349F human hybrid
Magic job; Mind/Enchanter Mage
Titles unlocked; Support Mage (+1 MP), Novice Tactician (+1 MP), 'Mage Combat Survivor' (+1 to magic resistance)
Level; 9
Health; 113/118
Mana; 129/384 → 129/387
Mana Regen; 25 → 26 (per hour)
Health regen; 3 (per day)
Element affinities; mind, enchantment
Str; 31Agi; 36Con; 41
Int; 106 Wis; 95App; 105
Skills; athletics (+1 con), jogging (+2 agi), math (+2 int), physics (+1 int), mana affinity (enabled), defend+2 → +3, block+1, parry, (weak) Stun (4 seconds), First aid, alertness,
Magic skills; Seduce +3, Charm +3, Mesmerize +1, Enchant, Enhance, Hypnotism (Temporary Charm), Dungeon Map Detection, Ice snap (new!)(reduced damage +2, element incompatibility), Love (emotion magic)(not sure how to use this yet?), Spell Evade!(new!)
Passive skills; demon lord clan heritage (bonus starting mana +50), demon lord heritage (bonus mana; +2 mana points per level), +1 to mind control. Team leader skill (+1% to group offense), party team window management magic, enchant; enhancement, enchant+1, weapon enhancement+1; Mind Control Efficiency (+12% → +13% to efficiency), Quick reflexes, Love Magic Efficiency (new!), Clan Heir (new!)(+5 bonus to Health, mana, and stamina.
Gear list;
Crowbar +3 (Knock back effect)
Health necklace +1 (per 6 hours, maxed)
Baseball cap
Jacket +2
Jeans (+2 defense)
1 long crowbar +2
Hoodie +3 defense
Flashlight (energy efficient enchant, blind 3/day)
Flashlight #2 (nothing yet)
Remot
e Control (slow 1/day)
Baseball Bat
Buckler
(+5)+3
Belt +2
Ring; mana regen+1