Lair
Page 14
Making his way up the manor path, Gus decided to head down to the beach on this side of the island when he got to the lawn. There were showers in the manor, but the thought of tracking in the black mess disgusted him. A quick ocean pre-wash followed by a long hot shower sounded really good to him.
Crouching at the water’s edge, he washed the gore off of Razorback, scouring it clean with sand and water. Then it was his turn. He rubbed his skin raw, using the sand as an abrasive to scrub where the black gore had been, continuing to do another couple passes, even after the black disappeared.
When he was finally done, Gus picked up Razorback Prime and trudged back to the manor, seeing the beachcombers doing their jobs. Watching the balls zoom about was oddly comforting, as they left little trails in the sand like a Zen garden. That along with the slap of the waves on his back felt like it was carrying the remains of the battle off of him, diluted into the vast ocean where it could do no harm.
Feeling refreshed, Gus headed back to the manor to see if he could take a real bath and to check if he had leveled enough to wear some basic clothing again. He opened up his display as he walked back.
Chapter Seventeen
Room at the Top
Day 5 9:58 AM
10:03:50 remaining
Arriving at the manor, Gus dropped everything and slowly walked inside. He walked to the master suite, hitting the appropriate button in the elevator. He checked the display and read the notices that had accumulated from the battle.
Gus was scanned and the elevator began moving; he became lost in his logs.
You have killed a level 3 Shambler, 75 XP awarded
Skill gained: Two-handed weapons (Level 1)
+10% damage when using two-handed weapons.
100 XP awarded
LEVEL UP! You are now level 4.
1965 XP to next level
You have leveled up during battle! To avoid distraction, changes due to leveling will be postponed until logs can be reviewed and cleared. Skills will level and improve functionality but stats will not be increased until allocated. This feature can be toggled in the interface if you desire.
You have (5) additional stat points to assign.
500 Facility Points (FP) awarded
Skill gained: Polearms (Level 1) +1 to initiative when fighting enemies without polearms.
100 XP awarded
You have killed a level 4 Shambler, 100 XP awarded
You have killed a level 5 Shambler, 250 XP awarded
You have killed a level 4 Shambler, 100 XP awarded
You have killed a level 4 Shambler, 100 XP awarded
You have killed a level 5 Shambler, 250 XP awarded
You have killed a level 4 Shambler, 100 XP awarded
You have killed a level 4 Shambler, 100 XP awarded
Skill gained: Backstab (Level 1)
Unnoticed attacks from behind deal double damage!
100 XP awarded
Skill upgraded: Wreck-tums! (Level 2)
Current level: +10% chance to trigger during a successful attack.
50 XP awarded
You have killed a level 6 Shambler, 400 XP awarded
You have killed a level 5 Shambler, 250 XP awarded
You have killed a level 5 Shambler, 250 XP awarded
…
As the list continued, he scrolled down to the end of it, noting how XP gain for lower-level mobs dropped rapidly. He reached another level notification:
LEVEL UP! You are now level 5.
2675 XP to next level
500 FP awarded, 1200 FP total
You have (5) additional stat points to assign. (10 points total)
Special skill unlocked!
Skill unlocked for reaching level 5! Wreck-luse (Level 1)
Upon touching an enemy, with weapon or physical touch, a toxin is released which causes them to flee away from friend and foe for one minute per level. Necrotizing damage at site of touch continues to spread outward, dealing damage until healed. Gives poisoned debuff, -20% movement speed, -20% attack damage.
100 XP awarded
2575 XP to level 6
After the slight pressure of upward movement stopped, the doors opened with their telltale *skiss.* Gus made his way to the shower, still reading the log, trying to absorb the changes, and plan his point allocations. He stepped inside, noting that the shower stall was larger than some of his berths in his previous jobs.
Gus fist pumped at unlocking an active attack ability. Then the euphoria of leveling twice hit him. He stumbled back and slid down the tiled wall of the shower, falling hard on his butt, but not caring.
“Whoa, double rainbow, all the way… whoa, that’s so intense,” Gus moaned as the leveling rapture faded. “I wouldn’t give it up, but man, that would kill me with the distraction if I were mid-battle,” he mumbled. He was glad the system postponed things until he checked his logs. That safeguard had probably saved his life.
He dropped his woven clothes in the corner of the immense shower, turned on the taps and stood there. Finally, level five… normal clothes, here I come! Warm water rushed over him, almost feeling like it was washing through him, flushing away the fatigue and soreness. He lathered up from a soap dispenser on the wall and did a cursory wash; he had removed most of the gross bits in the ocean after the battle. Despite that, he still spent an embarrassing amount of time in the shower, while he tried to think of the best way to spend his ten stat points.
Agility definitely needed a boost, so he dropped three points there, bringing him to eleven. His muscles vibrated slightly, as if he were shivering, for ten seconds. When they stopped, Gus could tell no other noticeable change.
Next, four points went into strength for a total of twelve. This resulted in a tightness in his whole body, as if every muscle were clenching. It didn’t quite hurt, but it was close. Soon the sensation passed. His body looked harder; he watched in amazement as his skin became taut. He looked more streamlined and condensed, but he didn’t notice that he had bulked up anywhere.
Perception was next with two points. This must have passed some threshold, because his eyes began to burn and itch. He closed them and rubbed at his eyelids while tears welled up. A sharp tinnitus hit at the same time, like an icepick to the ears. Gus fell to his knees, clutching his head as water poured over him.
Gradually, both faded and as he blinked his eyes clear, he noticed a new tab labeled filters at the top of the display. He gasped, shaking away the water and shampoo that had run into his eyes.
When he had caught his breath, he checked out the changes. Accessing the tabs, he could isolate infrared and ultraviolet spectrums. After playing around with seeing how the world looked through the filters, he went back to default settings, allowing some time for him to get used to his usual way of seeing the world. A similar tab allowed him to extend his auditory range, or amplify sounds too quiet to be heard normally.
The last point went into constitution, bringing it to ten, and while no untoward side effects happened, his MP, HP, and stamina bars increased by twenty apiece.
Still distracted, Gus dried off and donned one of the robes hanging there, almost on autopilot. Finding a lone remote on a bedside table, he managed to open the curtains and take a look outside. The impressive view from the balcony overlooked Atlantis Beach and a fair stretch of the coastline beyond. A warm wind blew in, causing the curtains to undulate with the gentle rhythmic gusts.
Gus stood silently, listening to the crash of the waves below. The sound of the surf was so relaxing, he decided to leave the balcony door open when he slept. He stared, mesmerized by the rhythm of the waves. He didn’t know how long he just stood there, feeling the water’s hypnotic pull. Finally, he tore himself away and crawled into bed. He smiled as the mattress first conformed to his shape then began pulsating, massaging his back. He didn’t recall that feature last night, but he was so tired and had fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Gus closed his weary eyes and slept.
When h
e awoke, the room was dark. The only illumination was the starry, moonless sky that sparkled without the effects of light pollution. He wondered if his increased perception played a role in the majestic expanse of stars on display. In the past, Gus usually had the habit of sleeping in whenever possible, but right now he felt wide awake and restless—like he had drank three or four energy drinks. He doubted he could fall back asleep even if he wanted. It was a welcome change; he had felt so tired and sleep deprived in the past couple days.
Finally, he had hit level five, so he was now able to wear some real clothes. While his homemade outfit had worked well enough, having some more reliable clothes that covered him completely would give him a little more confidence and peace of mind when it came to fighting against Dark Nth.
He made his way down to the uniforms, and found a suit that gave +1 to constitution and provided +25% reduction against melee attacks. The outfit was gray, with black sleeves. A golden lion with wings and a tail was emblazoned on the back of the outfit, a feature he hadn’t noticed before. Suitably badass, he thought, nodding in appreciation. A quick change into the spandex-like jumpsuit and he evaluated the fit. The stretchy material was comfortable and appeared to conform to his movements. It managed to be breathable and it didn’t impede his range of motion as he twisted and tried out the feel of it. He found some matching boots, also gray, completing the ensemble. He checked his stats again to see where everything had ended up.
Gus Vannett
Level 5
Agility: 11
Constitution: 9 (8+1)
Charisma: 8
Strength: 12
Perception: 16
Intelligence: 11
Luck: 6
HP: 160
MP: 120
Stamina: 160
The change in clothes had shuffled his stats a tiny bit; he had lost one point from luck by losing the kilt, but gained another in constitution. Not a bad trade-off, especially since his homemade outfit was falling apart and torn up from his struggles with the zombies.
Gus was eager to visit the training arena and improve his fighting skills, not to mention seeing what these stat boosts did for his ability to fight. He asked Nick to show him the way and he was off to train.
Chapter Eighteen
…Baby One More Time
Day 5 3:02 PM
9:22:44 remaining
As he made his way to the training facility, Gus asked Nick for more details about it.
“The training facility offers training in multiple styles of physical attack skills. At level one, it comes with a standard complement of the most basic weapons, and has ten levels of upgradeability. Each level allows the holo-instructors to illustrate more techniques and foe-bots to become more adaptable and work as coordinated units, with ever increasing sentience and battle savvy,” Nick explained.
“That’s exactly what I need. Hopefully, if I can take the basic weapons out of there, it may kill two birds with one stone.” Gus mused, thinking about his weapon troubles in his last battle.
“Since weapons frequently break during training, there is a considerable stock of them in the facility. However, no additional weapons can be made until you unlock the Foundry. This allows raw ore from storage to be fashioned into new weapons. Should you choose to learn virtual smithing skills, you can directly impact the formation of the weapons produced,” Nick explained.
“Virtual smithing? Is that something I unlock or a skill I obtain?”
“It can be both, but unlocking it will allow you to obtain the skill by using the interface provided by the manor. It is a form of influencing the structure of the weapons made on a molecular level. Impurities can be virtually seen and removed, matrices applied to strengthen the core of weapons, dimensional effects made to raise or lower density. There are many uses when the full abilities are leveled and unlocked. Occasionally, you may have an epiphany and create a new blueprint, based on your unique application of skills and powers.
“These provide special bonuses tailored to the creator, and are one reason that crafting is very valuable in terms of leveling faster. Unfortunately, you haven’t created enough items to gain a crafting skill that can be improved and leveled, thus offering XP. Some supers specialize in that; you just have to decide how you want to grow your skills.”
“On the one hand, that’s awesome, but everything being locked is exasperating. It makes no sense! Why make something as amazing as the manor, and then limit how you can use it?” Gus huffed, clenching a fist at his side.
“There are many reasons. First, some facilities require skills that are not obtained until one is trained and adept. Even if unlocked early, they cannot be used by anyone with a lower level that lacks these skills. This forces a certain focus and planning as one grows. It results in a more comprehensive use of each specialization, as well as preventing dabbling in so many potential facilities that none are used to their full potential. Supers and Nth level and evolve much more quickly this way, based on centuries of trial and evaluation.
“Another reason relates to how skills advance in high level supers. One of the trade-offs that happens when a super attains higher levels is that to maintain their powers, the Nth must evolve more and more to maintain homeostasis. If a super decides to retire and relax, he will actually have powers become dormant and lose the ability to utilize them.”
“My grandpa is retired, so you’re saying that he is losing or has lost his super abilities?”
“Definitely. Even if he uses them occasionally, the atrophy penalty for lack of use is significant for hosts. Many choose to gift their abilities to an heir at some point. If a host dies without transferring their Nth, they either seek a suitable host nearby or return to the collective until a new host is determined by the quantum server and integrated.
“This is generally unknown by regs, and is intended to be a motivator for constant improvement. XP is primarily earned through fulfilling quests, crafting, engineering, and battle. The first three are service-based and the latter generally is not. As power increases, many of the human supers shift away from quests and creating new things for the benefit of humankind. The result is a tendency for conflict as a means of providing a way to level when one does not wish to serve. All high-powered supers manage a lair, base, or manor like this one, to complement their powers and push them to higher levels,” Nick said.
Gus contemplated all the time his father had been at work, and the resentment he felt at times that he never seemed to have time for his family. Tempest wasn’t just a high-powered super, but he was in the Purple Faction’s governing leadership—which probably involved a lot of additional requirements, based on what he had just learned, to simply maintain his powers. Maybe that was giving him too much credit though. It still burned him that he valued his power level over his family. The times he was at home somehow weren’t that one-on-one. He did look pretty exhausted a lot of the time, however… Gus shoved the old argument back into a corner of his mind reserved for emotional baggage that he didn’t want to deal with.
He felt amped and agitated, old emotions stirred up from thinking about his father. Maybe knocking some robots around would be a good release.
“Currently, only the training facility is active. The manor has two-thousand remaining power units available for future expansions. One of the things we should plan for is increasing the manors’ power generation abilities,” Nick suggested.
“Put it on the list…” Gus sighed as he stepped purposefully toward the elevator. The trip down the elevator took longer than expected, the training facility being farther underground than many parts of the manor. Stepping into a multi-tiered room, Gus took in the amenities. There appeared to be exercise equipment along the outer top tiers. Padded mats and sparring areas formed another tier. Racks of weapons lined the third tier, along with humanoid robots who stood as still as sentinels over the large arena that formed the bottom central section of the facility.
Reaching the edge of the arena, Nick directe
d Gus to stand on a circular disc in front of a console. Gus was scanned again.
Assessing…
A holograph of a tall, lithe figure with pinched eyes materialized in front of Gus. “Which martial skill do you wish to train?” he stated gruffly, then lifted his chin and folded his arms while waiting for the response. Gus thought he looked like a clean-shaven Genghis Khan.
“The spear. Or polearms, I guess.” Gus offhandedly decided while looking at the variety of weapons encircling the place.
“BE PRECISE!” the trainer bellowed. “Do you wish to train in the spear or learn the fundamentals of all polearms? Which type of spear do you wish to use? Without focus, there is no power!” the trainer barked, then returned to his folded arm pose.
Gus’ eyes snapped back to look directly at the teacher and his posture became rigid as it had been trained to assume when at attention. The abruptness of the instructor shocked him, partly because it was so reminiscent of his father’s brutal nature when training. Not wasting time, Gus spied a basic vanilla spear without any elaborate embellishments or fancy blades. He pointed at it and stated, “I will start with this spear, but am unfamiliar in even the basics of its use.”
Quest Granted: Shake spears!
Quest Conditions:
1) Reach level 2 with polearms and level 3 in spear subspecialty
Time Requirements: Limited to 3 hours or less
Quest Rewards: New skill unlock. If unable to meet quest requirements in time allotted, opportunity for new skill will be lost. 500 XP
Do you want to accept this quest? (Y/N)
Gus mentally punched the yes prompt.
“First, you must learn a battle stance.” The virtual instructor came to life and assumed a ready pose with a slight crouch and one leg extended backward. He flung his leading hand back and the area above and behind was illuminated with moving figures. After a second, Gus recognized them as a replay of his movements and the Shamblers in his battle the day before.