Apocalypse: Generic System

by Macronomicon

  You have gained a level!

  You are now level 22!

  There was a deep, reverberating croaking sound that rattled the walls of the hut. Then there was a bloom of orange light.

  That was their only warning before a swarm of fireflies burst out of the house, spreading like the wings of a majestic – Oh crap, dodge!-

  The fireflies weren’t yellow like your typical firefly. These things were Fire Flies, with big old Capital Letters. They were glowing a soft orange, and looked like something like sparks rising from a fire.

  Except they weren’t floating up; they were coming after him, closing in from nearly every direction except straight backwards.

  Taking discretion as the better part of valor, Jeb flicked his knives backwards, dropped control over them, then telekinetically grabbed his armor and yanked himself backwards, skimming over the muddy center of the village with inhuman speed, barely escaping the swarm engulfing the area he’d just been.

  Everywhere a Fire Fly touched caught on fire. Dirt, thatched roof, puddle of unidentified liquid. Nothing was off limits. Not interested in those touching me.

  A frog-man waddled out of the hut, but unlike the others, this one was big. He had darker coloration, a huge girth, a mouth that was almost…

  He looked like a toad. He was wearing what looked like ceremonial leathers, and wearing a big old hat. Everybody knows the guy with the biggest hat is in charge.

  The toad-man was carrying a lantern that burned with inner fire.

  Wait, that’s not inner fire, that’s Fire Flies! As he watched, four more fireflies left the Lantern and joined the swarm that was even then trying to engulf him again.

  Okay, what do we have that works against flies, Jeb thought, dragging himself around the village, his feet not even touching the ground, all to stay out of the grasp of the buzzing swarm of firestarters.

  His bullets weren’t big enough, none of his safety words were any good at fighting swarms.

  Grenades, maybe? He would need some way to focus the blast, to make sure the flies felt the full force of the shock.

  Yeah, that might work.

  Jeb dragged himself in a wide circle, allowing the swarm to clump up on itself as it tried to chase him.

  He dropped control over his armor, staggering to a halt before he siphoned Myst out, creating a large dome of telekinetic force around the flies, with a little hole in the front.

  He fished out his rock grenade and tossed it through the opening only he could perceive.

  “Rock go boom.”

  The deafening sound of the explosive wave of force emanating outward, was somewhat muted by the dome of force. He’d designed the grenades to release a thunderclap of force to generate the ‘awe’ whereas the blades generated the ‘shock’.

  In this case, the thunderclap was all that was needed, as the tiny bodies of the fireflies were crushed against the wall, with a spray of broken insects pouring out of the hole, setting his armor on fire from their residual heat.

  Lucky, Jeb thought, suppressing his panic and tugging the last couple straps of his armor off, allowing it to fall away.

  His eyebrows had seen better days, but he’d dealt with the –

  “Look out!” Jeb glanced over and saw a sparkling bubble heading his direction at high speeds.

  Rule of thumb: don’t let the other guy touch you with something if you can help it.

  Jeb dropped to the ground, back splatting in the mud. The scintillating, multihued bubble rocketed over his head before punching a hole through the hut behind him.

  But, it’s a bubble?

  Jeb scrambled away, watching the toad’s neck expand in a very toad-like manner, before he opened his mouth, revealing…another bubble.

  The toad’s tongue lashed out, spinning the bubble and sending it careening forward on a u-shaped path, like a rising fastball.

  Jeb rolled to the side, siphoning two new strands of Myst out of himself, taking control of his stiletto and his cane.

  The creature’s throat expanded again, and it created another bubble.

  How many bubbles is this guy gonna make before he’s satisfied? He instructed the stiletto to go wide, slipping out of the creature’s field of vision…hopefully. Their eyes were a little wideset. It held up the lantern, and another five Fire Flies flew out, joining the slowly repopulating swarm.

  Jeb was instructing the knife to sneak up on the creature’s ankle when it did something unexpected.

  The swarm of Fire Flies flew into the bubble, and it caught fire, burning up in an instant like a bit of flash paper.

  The fuck?

  A bright light came from behind him, followed by a searing pain in his right shoulder.

  Jeb glanced over his shoulder and spotted the fastball bubble hovering above him, an orange glow slowly cooling from it.

  Oh, so that’s how it is, huh? Jeb thought, his adrenaline drowning out the pain.

  Then you won’t mind if I do this.

  When the toad’s neck was billowing outward again, Jeb brought the stiletto skimming out from behind the hut closest to the toadman, hugging the ground as much as possible. It managed to avoid detection, striking just as the creature’s eyes were rolling back in its head, about to barf up another bubble.

  The stiletto blasted a hole through the creature’s ankle, forcing it down onto its knees. Jeb reversed the knife’s trajectory, plunging through the shaman’s back, then through the top of its skull.

  The toad-man collapsed to the ground with wide eyes and a strangled croak.

  You have gained a level!

  You have gained a level!

  You are now level 24!

  Congratulations! You have Beaten the Krokker Shaman R-R-RubU, in a one-on-one duel. Your Mastery of Myst is beyond reproach!

  R-R-RubU’s Mysteries Accolade Granted!

  +5 Myst

  As usual, Jeb dropped his extra points into Myst, suffering through a mild headache for his troubles.

  Jebediah Trapper

  Mystic Trapsmith, Level 24

  Body 10

  Myst 52 +2

  Nerve 18 +3

  Abilities: Mystic Trigger

  “How’d it go?” Jessica asked, landing beside him.

  “My shields can’t observe heat, or light, or Myst. I’m not sure what he was using, there,” Jeb said, pointing at his right shoulder. “On the other hand, the fight was actually a lot easier than the other two. Most of that can be directly attributed to my class ability.”

  Jessica stepped behind him and gave a sympathetic hiss.

  “That burn doesn’t look great, but you’ve got superhuman healing, so…”

  “Barely,” Jeb said with a chuckle, wincing as he headed over to the dead toad shaman. After searing pain in his right every time he moved his right arm, he settled for putting his arm in a makeshift sling.

  “You gonna use your cane?” She asked.

  “I dunno. How bad was it?”

  “Really red and swollen.” She said. “Like the worst sunburn ever.”

  “No charred skin?” he asked.

  Jessica shook her head.

  “Then I should be fine. We’ll save the cane for life threatening emergencies. Thankfully, injuries don’t impact my combat performance that much.”

  “Says the guy limping along with a cane and a sling.”

  Jeb chuckled as he knelt beside the shaman, setting down the cane to investigate the lantern. It was one of those box-like ones with an opening glass door on the front and three more glass panels topped with a metal ceiling with a brass hoop to hold it by.

  Lantern of Fire Flies (Uncommon)

  Built by the most legendary Krokker artisans who have left their forest homes to study magical design in Marid cities, this lantern is designed to aid weak Myst users by drawing small amounts of the user’s Myst and converting it into controllable Fire Flies.

  Against stronger enemies, this is little more than a gimmick, but it’s extremely effective against weaker cr
eatures.

  Once the lantern is full, it stops drawing Myst, waiting to be used.

  “Me likey.”

  Jeb awkwardly tied the lantern to the growing collection of knick knacks in his belt with one hand.

  “You need some help with that?” Jess asked, raising a brow.

  “Naah, I’m good.” Jeb said, picking up the cane with his left hand and standing up with a grunt. Between his magical girl stick, sacks of darts, grenades, and lenses, he was starting to take on the appearance of a medieval peddler.

  Damn Ron and his endless supply of free porters.

  Ding!

  Your party has cleared the Krokker Village! Please take your rewards.

  Jeb didn’t even flinch away from the sphincters anymore. It was just a fact of life at this point. The Myst deposited two chests in the center of the village, which was burning merrily, riddled with frog-people corpses.

  Jessica made it to the chests before him, opening both of them before he could even get to the closest one.

  “That’s petty,” Jeb muttered, clomping along to catch up, his pain and missing foot slowing him down substantially. “What’d we get?”

  “Two Body potions.” She said, frowning.

  “Not bad.”

  “I get the next boss. You’re caught up,” She said, holding both the potions and eyeing him critically.

  “More than fair,” Jeb said, to which she tossed him the potion. He caught it in his left hand, letting the cane fall to the ground in the process, nearly losing his balance.

  “I can’t believe you’re more dangerous than I am.” She said, shaking her head.

  “That’s subjective,” Jeb said before downing the red liquid. It tasted…silty.

  “Doesn’t seem like it to me.” Jess replied with a small smile.

  Did she just make a joke? I mean, sure it was a terrible play on words, but still, it’s something.

  +3 Body

  “Aw man, you drank the potions!” A voice came from the far side of the village, and Jeb glanced over, spotting a group of some fifteen humans emerging from the woods.

  Fifteen. That’s a lot.

  They were, on average, better equipped than Jeb, but worse off than Jessica.

  Their armor was a patchwork of different sources, their weapons running the gamut between heavy tree branches and glowing swords.

  “Can we help you?” Jessica asked, eyes narrowing.

  “No, no,” the man in the lead said, holding up his hands. “Just, those potions are worth a lot in trade.” He was wielding the glowing sword, of course, and his armor was more cohesive than the others.

  That meant he was probably the toughest they had to offer. Jeb made a note of it. If he had to take someone out of the fight first, that would be the guy.

  No one says you’ve got to fight anybody. Jeb corrected himself. Still…

  The newcomer scanned the burning village. “You guys do all of this one your own?”

  “That’s right,” Jessica said with a shrug.

  The man whistled in appreciation. “Look, my name’s David,” he said, slowly reaching into his pocket and pulling out a scrap of paper. “We’re forming an army to take down the World Tortoise. This is where our base is.”

  He showed them a scrawled image of the forest with an x on it. Jeb oriented on the lake and mountain, estimating their base to be about twenty miles northeast.

  “We could use every able body,” He said to Jessica, his gaze flickering to Jeb’s slung arm and missing leg. “If you guys can beat a miniboss with just the two of you, you’d be more than welcome.”

  Jessica glanced at Jeb before looking back at David. “We’ll think about it.”

  “Well, don’t take too long, the safe zones expire in two days.” David said with a shrug. “We’re gonna make our attempt before then.”

  “Who’s in charge?” Jeb asked.

  “Pardon?”

  “Who’s running the show?” Jeb asked. “Who’s the one pushing you to kill the tortoise in the next two days?”

  “His name’s Freeman, a level forty-two Phantom Brawler.” David said, a huge smile breaking on his face. “Watching him fight makes me glad he’s on our side, you know what I mean?”

  Jeb couldn’t really ask any more without seeming nosy, but the big smile on the guy’s face suggesting this Freeman dude wasn’t abusive, at least not to David.

  Jessica glanced at Jeb.

  “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

  “I don’t know what good I’ll be like this,” Jeb said, wiggling his wounded arm. “But if you’ve got stuff to trade, I’d be willing to stop by your safe zone.

  “Oh, sure, we’ve got stuff to trade. This husband and wife, Brett and Amanda , took the Soldier and Healer classes, and together they can restore people or gear back to full in a matter of seconds. They’ve got a pretty decent stash of stuff as a result.”

  “I’m familiar with the soldier class,” Jeb said, nodding.

  Buy broken gear off people, fix it up and get healed by the wifey, then trade it for other stuff. Not a bad racket. I’m surprised the fellow didn’t get the Merchant class…Assuming it exists.

  “That reminds me, David said, pulling out his sword and brandishing it in front of him. the sword flopped over like a limp dick. “I’m a Swiftblade, I can change the shape of my Weapon. What are your classes?”

  “Jessica. I’m a Soldier,” Jessica lied with a straight face.

  “Jeb. Beggar,” Jeb followed suit. “I scrounge more treasure than average.” With his numerous pouches and stuff hanging off the rope slung around him, he totally fit the picture, too.

  “Jess keeps it in good condition with her Soldier Ability by saccing health.” Jeb offered that to remind Jessica of the Soldier class Ability if she didn’t already know.

  “I never heard of the Beggar Class, but I can see how you might have gotten it with that,” David said, nodding at his leg.

  “Yeah, a combat Class wasn’t in the cards after this baby,” Jeb said tapping his cane on the peg supporting him.

  “Look forward to seeing both of you.” David said, nodding, then the squad turned and left.

  “What are you thinking?” Jessica asked him.

  “I’m thinking we check in on Ron, see if we can’t score another Boss or two, then do some recon on these people.”

  “And then?”

  “Well, if they’re not mustache twirling villains, we’ll probably barter with them a bit before leaving them to die.”

  Chapter 9: Air Force

  ***1 Day 16 hours remaining***

  “How is this safe!?” Jessica demanded as they floated over the vast forest.

  “All falling or crashing injuries are dependent on inertia. Since you can bring yours to effectively zero, this is perfectly safe for you.”

  “Are you saying we’re gonna crash!?”

  Jeb shrugged as the forest rolled by beneath them.

  He wasn’t flying so much as using telekinesis to pick himself and Jessica up like duffel bags and carrying them along.

  But to the average person, it would look a lot like flying.

  Tomato, tomahto.

  Jeb’s telekinetic lift had ballooned, clocking in at about two tons, and his cruising speed was somewhere between sixty and one hundred and twenty miles an hour if he really pushed himself. His limits were expanding rapidly to catch up with the growth of his Myst Core, and he still didn’t feel like he’d caught up.

  Well, I have been pushing Myst really damn hard. I should be able to do at least this much.

  They were going as fast as a car, but they didn’t have the proper wind-shielding for it, forcing Jeb to squint against the wind as they passed over the Stealth-raptors, giving the ambush predators the finger.

  Why on earth should he fight fair against these things?

  From this height, Jeb could see where Ron’s army had cut a path through the forest, the hundreds of deadites stomping a relatively clean trail through the brush, aiming
for the mountains. It didn’t seem like the necromancer had spent much time in the forest, so there was a possibility there was still some pickings left.

  “Definitely looks like Ron came through here,” Jeb said, fishing through his pockets for his aerial bombs.

  His aerial bombs were set to trigger the moment the Myst-bound rock touched the ground.

  They even had little homemade fins to make sure the right side of the rock hit the ground. Otherwise, the explosion might be directed underground.

  Taking the first one out of his pocket, Jeb couldn’t help but think of his middle school egg-drop project, designed to spin a rotor and ease its fall.

  It almost worked.

  Jeb gave the rock an encouraging little smooch and dropped it into the forest. This was the most excitement the rock had seen in a million years, so it was onboard, too.

  The stone plummeted down into the forest, and all hell broke loose.

  There was a thunderous crash as the trees in the surrounding area – for a good fifty feet in every direction – were severed in half and toppled over.

  The behavior of the Myst attached to the rock was that it would go up about three feet –the finned side of the rock – then expand a razor thin line of telekinetic force in every direction.

  If it was taller than three feet and standing on the ground, it was dead meat.

  The forest burst into activity trees shaking and howls of pain and anger rising up.

  It looks like Ron didn’t fully clear the place out.

  “All right, let’s do some bombing runs,” Jeb said, pushing Jessica away from him until they were a hundred feet apart, so the radius of their explosives just barely grinded up against each other.

  I think I need to get laid.

  Together, they flew over the Forest of Scary Stealth Dinosaurs, unloading their heavy bags full of rocks and turning it into The Forest of Bloody Mulch.

  You have gained a level!

  You have gained a level!

  You have gained a level!

  You have gained a level!

  Congratulations! You have beaten the Phantom Raptor, Gresh, in a one-on-one duel.

  Whoops, did I just accidentally a boss?

  Your Mastery of Stealth is beyond reproach!