by Tao Wong
“Elder Badger says you’re quite knowledgeable about the System that’s imposed itself on us. That you have a short fairy friend that aids you?” the Mayor continues and I nod slightly, grumbling mentally at Ali for making himself known. Not that he’d be hidden forever, but I really hadn’t wanted him to show himself immediately. “Could you elaborate on that?”
I pause, considering my options for a moment and then shrug, “I managed to acquire a Level 1 System Spirit Companion very soon after all this started. He’s sort of like a giant help desk with a personality. Of course, most of what he’s told me is covered in Thrasher’s Guide in the Shop.”
At my side Ali snorts, flicking his hand.
Skill Acquired
Dissembling (Level 1)
The truth is such a bendable thing in your hands.
The Mayor nods at my words and there’s some quick discussion about the revelation of the guide with a single pointed question letting them know how much it costs. I’d send them the Guide myself but I’m restricted. On the other hand, 50 Credits isn’t that hard to get especially if the Hunters pooled their resources. Christ on a pogo stick, what have they been up to?
Minion looks like he’s eaten a lemon, his face all screwed up as he speaks, “Show us this fairy.”
“Mmmm… unfortunately, my spirit companion is an independent entity. I can’t make him do what he doesn’t want,” I shrug and glance to where Ali laughs at my description of him.
“So you have little control over your companion,” Minion sneers.
“More or less,” I can feel my lips pulling into a smile, one that holds no humor in it. To my side, I can Luthien begin whispering to Nic. She knows what that smile means.
“Mr. Lee, would you tell us about your interactions with Lord Roxley?” Fred takes control of the discussion again, dismissing the other thread of enquiry.
“I’ve seen him twice. He gave me a quest to find other survivors the first time and the second, I went to complete part of a quest by informing him of Carcross,” I reply, watching their reactions.
“You let that invader know about Carcross?” this time, a grey-haired, flower wearing old woman hisses at me. “Why would you do that?”
“Quest.”
“You betrayed us for a quest!?!” she leans forward, glaring at me and I decide to call her Battleaxe. Minion is nodding in agreement, joining the glares while the rest of the group stay silent. Interestingly enough, Ms. Badger doesn’t seem as concerned.
“Betrayed? I didn’t realise there were sides,” I snap back, then draw a breath trying to push the anger down.
“He invaded us, stole our town and declared that he owns it!” she smacks her hand down on the table, half-standing now as she snarls. “He’s an invader. He took our lands! How can there not be sides!”
“He’s also the one who bought the schools and has been sending his guards to deal with the nastier monsters. Seems he’s doing as much good as he has done bad,” I point out.
Battleaxe is about to start shouting when Fred cuts her off. “Miranda, not now. This is a discussion for later. Mr. Lee, we’d like it if you perhaps worked with us, perhaps reporting in on your activities? We didn’t know about Carcross until Elder Badger herself walked in.”
Struck by a thought, I look up to my companion, “Ali, why aren’t I getting a quest like you did with the Elder?”
“It’s a matter of importance, hierarchy and levels. If you don’t have a high enough level or status, the System only recognises quests that are important. Getting the Elder here and back? Important. Making reports on a daily basis? So not important to the System,” Ali replies.
While I listen to him, I pretty much ignore the group who are just glaring at me as I stare into space. I hear Fred clear his throat but I ignore him as I think about it. Importance… Okay, let’s see if we can actually get something out of this then, “Why should I?”
“We are the Council of Whitehorse, your government!” Minion barks, glaring at me.
“Yeah, and you guys do civic planning and ummm... whatever it is you did,” Alright, so I’m not actually all that knowledgeable about local government responsibilities. “I’m still asking why.”
“Young man, certainly you can see the advantages of working together in such a time. We humans need to stick together,” this time, it’s the other old lady speaking in an English accent. She’s very average, other than being in her 60s I’m not even sure I’d remember her if I saw her again so I mentally name her DA for Downtown Abbey.
“That still doesn’t say why you need me to report back,” I say.
“You are being very confrontational. It’s such a small thing…” DA continues to speak, taking the lead for the moment.
“He started it,” I point to Minion and he bristles.
“This is a waste of time,” snaps Minion and I widen my smile. Well, if I’m not getting a quest, we’re both in agreement there.
“Are you refusing to help us, Mr. Lee?” Fred speaks now, his voice growing stern.
“I’m refusing to dance without knowing the song,” I say.
“We cannot make plans without knowing the status of the world around us. You seem to have acquired transportation, are actively exploring the lands around us and have a knowledgeable companion. We just ask that you provide us information that might benefit the community when you come across it,” the Mayor snaps back.
Quest Received
Report the Council of Whitehorse any information of importance.
Rewards: XP Reward Varies
Accept: Y/N
I watch everyone around me jerk as I mentally accept the quest and they get their own notifications. A quick confirmation with Ali leads me to talk, drawing everyone’s attention; “Okay, lesson 1 then. Simply put, you guys can’t create quests unless it’s important. However, if you do designate an activity that is important enough, the System will generate the quest for you. This holds true until you guys level up. A lot.”
I leave out the part of hierarchy, no need to rub it in their face that they actually aren’t officially part of anything. At least, not as far as the System is concerned.
“Second thing, you want information? There’s a fort out at the Carcross Cutoff. Found a bunch of Space Orcs there wielding energy rifles. I’ve got control of the fort now, but it looks like forts can be created or designated all around the city as buildings of strategic importance. It’s also in a zone that’s significantly tougher than the surroundings, so I’d recommend not going there yet for the majority of you guys.” In the corner of my eye, I see Ali create ultra tiny pop-ups of XP rewards pop-up before making them disappear as I speak.
“Third? You guys need to get on the entire buying up buildings in Whitehorse. I’m not sure why Roxley isn’t buying more, but as residents, we get a discount. Buying a place makes it a safe zone as you guys probably know, but what you might not have realised is that if you get 80% of the buildings in the Whitehorse city zone claimed, the entire city becomes a safe zone.
“That what you’re thinking of for information?” I smile widely, knowing that it is.
“That… that will do,” the Mayor just blinks at the series of notification windows popping up in front of him as I get my quest rewards. I smirk mentally, noting how it has derailed the rest of their enquiry. Right, time to get out of here before they remember they had anything else to ask me. “Good. Ms. Badger, let’s go.”
I turn and start walking away before Luthien finally speaks up. “What are you planning to do John?”
“What I’ve always done isn’t it? Whatever the hell I want,” I shoot back and walk out.
“John…” Ali is floating beside me as I walk to Sabre, leaving Ms. Badger to catch up. Ah good old Chinese culture, not even able to think of her as Andrea in my mind since she’s an old person. “Not saying I’m a people-person, but what the hell?”
“I don’t like those guys,” I say.
“No shit.”
“They’
re idiots. They want to start a fight that they can’t win with Roxley. Hell, they had the Shop from day 1 and could have gotten knowledge of the System pretty fucking easily, but they’re so affronted by Roxley that they refuse to talk to him or go into the Shop and use it properly. Luthien and her friends obviously know about it, but somehow, they haven’t mentioned shit. Or perhaps they haven’t been listening. They let Jim and his people run around not knowing about looting for over a week!
“They’re so fucking incompetent and then they fucking start accusing me of whatever the fuck it is they were accusing me of, they can go fuck themselves,” I can feel the frustration that’s been building up inside me want a release as I snarl out at Ali mentally, “I get it, we need to work together. They don’t have money to pay me, don’t have any resources and are desperate. They could have asked nicely, but they decided not to. So fuck them, I’ll be damned if I let them drag me into their petty games. My life, my rules. I’ll help them the way I want to and for the rest of it, they can fuck themselves.”
Ali backs off a bit as I bite his head off, a hand held out placatingly. I draw a deep breath, forcing some calm over me and hit the button on my helmet as the Elder comes out, hiding my face as I straddle Sabre. Time to get this shit done.
The ride back is held mostly in silence. This time around, my inventory isn’t stuffed to the gills with cheap materials, so I’m guessing the Elder hasn’t really done as much buying as I thought she would. Then again, I have no idea how many Credits she managed to get. We only stop once, pausing long enough in the fort for me to show it to her and switch ownership briefly to allow her to gain the experience before I take control again. She doesn’t protest when I do it, which is good. I’m not sure what I need a fort for, but I bled for it.
Back at Carcross, the moment I roll in, the quest completes.
Level Up!
You have reached Level 11 as an Erethran Honor Guard. Stat Points automatically distributed. You have 11 Free Attribute Points to distribute.
Finally. Unfortunately, from now on Level Up’s are going to slow down again with experience requirements for each level twice as much as previously. I’m still far behind most of the combatants in Whitehorse, at least in terms of absolute levels which is not surprising. From what we’ve worked out, it’ll take me roughly twice the amount of experience to go up a level compared to those who started with a Basic class.
The Elder heads into the Tagish Centre almost immediately, leaving me to sit on my bike in the middle of the road wondering what next. Beyond curt nods, no one pays attention to me. Everyone is obviously caught up in their own work and I realise, for all that I’ve done them a favour, I don’t belong here.
I feel a wry twist crossing my face, a half-remembered piece of advice coming to me - do good, but never expect gratitude. I give myself a mental shrug and turn the bike around, waving the guards to open the door. Right, there’s another town to check out anyway, just about 20 minutes down the road - Tagish. Ali tells me no one from Carcross has tried to make contact that far as they’ve needed to keep their fighters close on-hand. It’ll only take me a few minutes and if I find even a couple of survivors who want to head into Whitehorse, I’ll earn more Credits than hunting.
I take the Highway down, though really, it’s a 2-lane road that’s pitted and potted. The scenery is gorgeous and dramatic as usual, towering cliffs next to the road and straight drops with untouched forests and mountainous vistas in the distance, bisected by the glacial Tagish river that can be spotted once in a while. Occasional birds flap in the distance, some looking larger than normal and something that I can only describe as a short-nosed pterodactyl.
At Crag Lake, Ali starts telling me to slow down and I spot the group soon after. There are about a score or so humans walking together and eyeing the scenery for potential trouble, mostly adults with a small scattering of children. They look rough, beaten and scared and there is more than one injured among them. As I approach, the leaders in the front level guns at me and I stop a good distance away. It’s only when I drop my helmet and show my human face that they actually relax.
These are the survivors from Tagish, everyone that is left. They’ve left a trail of bodies behind them, those who never grouped up in time, those who died defending the group and the fallen from the initial monster attacks. The entire group looks like they would shatter in a stiff breeze and it’s only the insistence of the leaders that have kept them moving.
I channel my healing magic and do what I can for those that need healing, offering up the bike to the young to speed up the group as I walk. It’s not the best option for defense, but since Sabre can self-balance, it’s the fastest option. I keep my rifle with me as we make the trek to Carcross, my head swiveling for potential dangers as the occasional sob is choked off behind me.
It’s a strange thing, escorting such a large group on foot. The first time we are attacked, it’s by a spine monster which rises from the cliff face, its presence hidden by simple camouflage. It starts the ball rolling by firing spines into the group from its back, each spine over a foot long and dirt brown. We lose another human that time, a spine impaling her chest and heart. I’m wounded too in my shoulder from the initial barrage as I move to put myself in front of the kids on my bike, which means killing it was not the easiest with a single hand to maneuver my rifle. Luckily, the fact that I’m doing the most damage drags its attention to me so we spend a few minutes shooting at each other from the cover of rocks away from the main group. Damn but sneak attacks suck.
The second and third time, Ali warns us well in advance and I’m able to intercept the danger. The first is a crazed wolverine, so fast and vicious I end up having to fight it in close range since I couldn’t manage a killing shot at distance. As fast as the wolverine is, it doesn’t have a sword and lopping off its paws is sufficient to end the fight. The third time, I fight my first slime monster, a gelatinous greenish-purple creature that rolls along the forest floor leaving a trail of slimy destruction behind it and which sits at Level 42. It’s only Ali’s coaching on where to shoot that lets me defeat it – seems like the creature uses a diffused nervous system with a small number of clusters that must be destroyed, otherwise, it’s pretty much immune to most damage. Unfortunately for it, slime doesn’t work well against beam weapons and being able to attack from a distance forces the creature to chase me around in a futile attempt to hurt me. The slime gets me a slime nervous system core as loot, a spongy mass that makes up its central nervous system. According to Ali, it’s quite prized as a material for bioware implants.
Other than the occasional fights, the rest of the journey blurs into one long, tedious and mentally wearing half-day. Every time there is a monster close enough to be a danger, I head out with Ali to deal with it. It’s possible I’m being paranoid, that many of those monsters would never have known or cared about the group, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Each time, I collect the loot but leave the bodies, mentally making a promise again about finding a storage solution in the Shop when I get back and have enough Credits.
“Ali, what’s up with the monsters? We’re in a zone 40 plus area, but we’ve only seen one major monster,” I ask the Spirit in my mind as I walk alongside the children.
“A few things. We’re just starting the transition, so higher level monsters aren’t that populous yet. The Council normally grabs a few high-level monsters at a time, dumps them into a Dungeon World like this and basically lets them breed. In a year, this place will be crawling with monsters,” Ali says. “Also, don’t forget – monsters need to eat. A high-level zone also means a higher number of low-level monsters, most of which are created from mutations of local animals. Of course, the mutations might actually come up with something really interesting too; but that’s normally in the later half of the transition.”
I nod slowly, reviewing what he said; “So, if we kill off a bunch of high-level monsters now, does that mean we can lower the level of the area?”
�
��Yes, no, maybe?” Ali shrugs. “Depends on how major a change it is and what the Council decides. It might lower the level here or the Council could just grab more monsters to add directly if they think the zone needs it.”
“Why create a Dungeon world in the first place?” I ask.
“Resources and power. The best way to get both is via the System, which requires fighting like what we’ve been doing. The Dungeon Worlds allow the Council to ship off the dangerous activity of resource gathering and leveling out of their backyard, basically creating farmland. Not to say that there aren’t Dungeons in other worlds, but Dungeon worlds are purely dedicated to it.”
When we get back to Carcross proper, most of the survivors are just grateful to be somewhere relatively safe. Only two want to actually go to Whitehorse, but 2 is more than I can carry. That’s another thing that I need to fix at some point, though I’m loath to trade in Sabre. Perhaps a sidecar? Elder Badger has picked up the parts needed to rebuild a few trucks as Ali points out, but it’s not going to help me right now. Well, nothing to be done about it right now so I just plan to do a pair of speed runs, blazing through the turns at speeds that leave monsters that want to fight me at odds.
That is until I’m on my way back after the first run. Increased Perception lets me spot the problem a few moments before I hit it, the spider silk strand so thin I don’t see it till then. I don’t bother attempting to stop as I’ll never make it, instead I engage Sabre’s transformation so that I can keep hold of Sabre when I hit the strands.
I end up spinning through the air, skipping along the pavement and only coming to a stop after smashing through a couple of trees by the side of the road. I groan piteously, a flashing notification letting me know I’m stunned.