AN: I've been letting people know on each of my stories that I have been ill of late, and had some family concerns.. Currently I need to catch up on Origin ARS, so that is the main focus. I did promise this chapter, though. I will be updating Origin ARS tomorrow, with a possible Blackthorne update as well. Impossible Devices, will have one sometime this week, as will Nocturne Version 2. Hopefully within the next week or two Origin ARS' 6th volume will be finished and ready for proofing, so I can focus on catching other stuff up.

Chapter 12: Lady of the Manor

The long road that he had taken was quickly coming to an end. Scott had managed to traverse the city, somehow, and now the sight that he most wanted to see came clearly into view before him. On the way he had run across goblins, raiders, kobolds, and flying eyeballs. He had even run into an old acquaintance, and kicked a killer clown in the balls. It had been a grand adventure indeed.

Near the end of the journey he had even managed to snag another Loot Master MK I after a short battle with a small raider group. His grand total of loot master weapons was now two. It was the start of an arsenal!

His ultimate destination was a well-appointed manor situated a good distance off the road. A long concrete drive way led down to a set of steel gates.

Scott had seen the manor frequently whenever he had taken the long way home from his classes. It was a three story house that could easily be converted into enough room for twenty people. Certainly it would still be a bit cozier than most people might like. But it would be better than trying to cram everyone into his house, or making the attempt to live in the apartments next to the shopping arcade. It was far enough from town that the main monster issue was not a problem at the moment.

Roving bands of non-humans might wander across them or even follow them home, but most of the activity of that type was still focused on the city itself. The monsters seemed to be at war with each other over rival claims on the local turf. Once a clear victor was observed, things would become more dangerous in the nearby areas, but that was a concern for another time.

Scott directed Harley down the path and they stopped at the gate. A short individual in police style body armor popped up and pointed a weapon at him. “Hold it right there!”

The bike stopped. The feminine sounding officer called out. “Drop your weapons, hands in the air!”

Scott did as directed. He saw no reason not to comply, yet.

“Alright, now turn around and walk away.” said the supposed police officer. It did not take much to notice that the black clad individual was covered head-to-toe in everything they could wear, including a gas mask. The only key to their gender identity was the feminine sounding voice.

“Not doing that one.” said Scott.

“I will shoot if you don’t.” said the armored officer. The rifle was used to make an emphasizing gesture.

“You really a police officer?” asked Scott.

“I ask the questions!” said the officer.

“Thought you were giving orders.” said Scott.

“I also give the orders.” replied the officer without missing a beat.

Scott could not get a read on her, rather he assumed the officer was a woman. He was almost certain that she was human. “Hey, Harley. Can you read the one in front of us?”

“Who are you talking to?” asked the officer in agitation. She looked around as though she expected other people to appear out of thin air.

“Yes. She is a modified human with a current level capacity of one.” said the bike.

“So, level one?” Scott looked over to the armored woman. A few pieces of the puzzle began to come clear for him. “You haven't left this place since the beginning, have you?”

“What are you talking about? Who are you talking to?” she asked, gun rising up once more in a show of agitation and fear.

“How are you even still alive?” asked Scott in surprise. There was a human player who was this low in level still floating around? The very idea was bizarre. Had she merely lucked out this whole time?

“Look, just turn around and walk away. This is the last time I’m going to warn you.” she said.

“Go ahead and shoot for all the good it will do you.” he said.

She raised her weapon and shook it at him. “Are you crazy?”

“Master, that weapon’s output is similar to your firearm. Given her biological potential, it poses no threat to you.” said Harley.

“Who’s talking? Do you have a radio?” snapped the woman.

Scott understood now. She had been here this entire time, low-level and with a weapon that was only capable of killing the weakest of monsters. She was probably low on ammo as well since she had never gone to get more.

“Look, stop pointing that thing at me. About twenty people are supposed to be heading this way. Who knows when or if they’ll arrive, but we agreed to meet up here.” said Scott.

“Bandits! You’re coming to take over. I won’t let you!” cried the woman.

“Uh, no. Survivors. I planned to see if the South bridge was clear so that I can cross the river and collect a few more people.”

“The South… there are monsters there. Lots of monsters. They don’t die if you shoot them.” she said, a slight hint of hysteria in her voice.

“I can kill them. The people coming can kill them.” he said. He did take note that she knew about the monsters on the bridge. Due to that fact, he assumed that she had at least tried to leave, but found her weapon to not be up to the task. It was a wonder that she was still alive if that was the case.

“You… No. They won’t die even if you shoot them… the bullets bounce right off." She shook her head, it was not true. It could not be true. "All you can do is run far enough away that they turn back to the river.”

Scott was at a loss for a moment. He needed to convince this half-cracked woman that he was serious. It took a moment but an obvious solution arose. “Shoot me.”

“What?” she asked, confused.

“Simple. If I’m a bandit and lying, I’ll die. If I’m telling the truth, I’ll live. Either way, you’ll know.”

“You’re crazy! Just walk away…”

Scott sighed loudly. “I’m coming in there one way or the other. Shoot me, or don’t.”

He stepped forward and she raised her weapon again. “Don’t!”

“You’ll have to shoot me.” said Scott.

Her hands began to shake. “Just, please…”

Scott reached the gate. “I’m coming in. Shoot me.”

“Dammit!” she snarled. The terrified woman ran forward and slammed the buttstock of her weapon against Scott’s hand. He barely noticed the effort.

His eyes filled with pity. “You don’t even have any bullets, do you?”

She beat at his hands with her weapon and started to cry. “No. no.”

“Hold on.” He walked over and picked up his gun. Her eyes widened and she took a step back.

Scott reared back and threw it over the top of the gate. “That has something akin to infinite ammo due to a special option. Try shooting me again.”

“Infinite…”

He ran toward her in a threatening manner and she fired off three rounds instinctively. They pinged off his body armor uselessly.

“That sort of weapon is something you’ll need to survive in this world. It can kill weak monsters, even if you're level one.”

“It… What?” She was so confused. Blanks did not fire like that. She had just seen a man shrug off automatic weapons fire.

“Look. I’m human. I’m not a bandit. Let me in and I can try to help you.” said Scott.

“I don’t… I.” She hesitated. The last few days had been terrifying.

She closed her eyes and bit her lower lip. “I- Yes, I’ll open the gate.”

Scott retrieved his kaiser blade and mounted Harley. He rode her into the yard, and the officer locked the gate.

“Are you here alone?” asked Scott.

“Yes…” she said softly.

"What's your name?" he asked her as quietly as he could while still being heard.

"Name...? It... It's Rosalina, Rosalina Sanchez." she said after a moment of consideration. "I like to be called Rosa."

He looked at her for a moment then nodded. “My name's Scott. Let’s get out of sight, Rosa. Are there any monsters inside the gate or house?”

“No. I-I don’t think there are.” She shook her head. Gone was the attempt at being tough that she had shown earlier. Now she sounded like a frightened young girl.

They walked toward the house and Scott took note of a few things. The way she moved in her body armor seemed a little awkward, and the armor itself did not fit that well. Her helmet wobbled a little when she walked. He suspected that it was the wrong size for her head.

“How long you been here by yourself?” he asked.

“A little after it started.” she admitted.

Scott nodded. She would have had to have been, though it made no sense that monsters had not come to this place. He asked her about it and she said, “I don’t see many here, mostly the animal ones. Some of the other kind hang around near town and the bridge, but don't stray too far from it.”

It was as he had thought. The monsters currently hung out near places where people lived. The suburbs had less monsters than the city proper. People had become monsters after they were killed. If there were fewer people in the area, fewer monsters existed in that area.

“What kind of monsters are there at the bridge?”

“I don’t know what they are, but they look like people covered in green scales.”

Scott thought about that. “They have a tail and a crocodile head?”

“Yeah, something like that.” she said.

They went inside while Harley remained outside to stand guard. The police girl was a little confused when it came to the idea of a mini-bike standing guard, but she didn’t argue. She did, however, ask how he could kill monsters like he claimed.

"Have you noticed the occasional weird little screen that pops up? It often says random things?" he asked her.

"Yes, I've seen that a few times." she admitted.

"Well, somehow reality has turned into some sort of weird game. You can gain levels, increase your stats, and need to constantly find stronger equipment if you want to survive." Scott continued to tell her things about the world, about what he knew of the current situation.

"Is it... How can it be safe to fight those things?"

“I’m still alive and I can fight those things. That’s as close to safe as you’re going to get in this world.” he said.

“Fight those things.” She bit her lower lip. “I can kill those things if I use a stronger weapon?”

“Damn right.” said Scott.

“Yeah, you already have one of my guns. You might as well keep it until we can get you some ammunition for your own weapon, or we get you something better. It can kill some weak things, at least once you gain a few levels."

"Are you sure? Don't you need it?" she tilted her head toward him carefully as though she was eyeing him.

"Yes, but you can consider it temporary payment, like collateral, for letting me stay here and for bringing in other survivors. That is, if you're willing to do so."

"I... I suppose that would be better than trying to survive here alone." she admitted slowly. She slowly ran her hand over the newly gifted weapon.

"Too bad about you running out of ammo, though. I chose a close-up weapon because it was all I had at the time. It's worked wonders for me." Scott took out his Kaiser Blade and showed it to the girl.

"Close-up weapons are better now?" she asked curiously.

"Well, I don't know about better. You just don't need ammunition. I've started to see that guns are still good weapons, though." He glanced at his blade briefly then said, "I still prefer close weapons. Feels like the difference now is that close weapons are for trying to fight off tough single monsters, while firearms are more for killing lots of weak ones or used in group battles."

“Close-up weapons for tough monsters." She nodded once then started to repeat herself. "Close… Oh, I know!” She ran off toward the next room, and Scott followed. The house, rather a small mansion, was quite large. They had to go through several rooms to reach the place that she wanted to go.

Scott looked around. “What is this? Some kind of museum.”

“It’s my dad’s-”she used her fingers to make air quotes, “collection.” She took a breath and said. “He liked swords and things like that, even taught me proper fencing with live weapons.”

Out of all of the weapons in the little family museum, there was a single one that she gravitated toward. It had a short blade that was wider near the point than near the base, and a black leather grip. Scott's recently acquired knowledge of blade weapons told him that it was of excellent quality.

“This is the only thing in his whole collection that has actually been used in a fight. It’s a xiphos that my father had custom made by a professional swordsmith. The maker used high-end modern materials so that it would survive when dad wanted to play hoplite on the weekends.” she said.

"So, he did like re-enactments?" asked Scott curiously.

"Uh... no. I wouldn't call what he did a re-enactment." said the girl, softly.

Scott looked at her curiously for a moment then his eyes slowly widened. A lot could be said about the implications of her statement.

After a moment, she clarified something else. “The armor I’m wearing was his too, but it's not exactly ancient warrior gear.”

She took her gas mask off, revealing long black hair and a pretty face, but eyes that were bloodshot. She had dark circles under her eyes denoting a lack of proper sleep. She stared at the sword in her hand then blinked twice. Tears brimmed along the edges of her eyes and then trickled down her cheeks.

“What happened to him?” asked Scott gently.

“I don’t know. He was out of the country on business. He ran a security firm.” she said.

“Security firm…. Some kind of paramilitary thing?” asked Scott.

“Yeah, something like that.” she said. “He taught me to defend myself.” She snorted then closed her eyes tight. “Some good it did.”

“You’re alive, aren’t you? A lot of other people can’t say that.” he reminded her.

“Yeah. I suppose.”

Scott reached out and gripped her shoulder. “Whatever he taught you worked. I’ll show you a few things too. You can survive this, and you might even see him again to thank him.”

She blinked then looked up at him. “Are- Are you serious?”

“He’s the sort of guy who trains to be a hoplite in modern America and runs a para-military security firm. He wouldn’t have died easily. Right?”

“Right.” She nodded. It was obvious that she had begun to dare to believe his words.

“I’m just a slacker who couldn't even prevent his girlfriend from turning lesbian on him. Yet, I’m kicking all kinds of ass. Think someone like your father wouldn’t be able to make it?" he asked her, a bright and silly smile on his face.

She blinked then laughed slightly, the tears still fell but not so quickly now. “Yeah. You’re right.”

“Good. Let’s get you properly prepared for ass kicking. Alright?” asked Scott.

“OK.” She nodded once for emphasis then smiled a little more brightly.

Scott gave her a systematic rundown of what he knew. She was already aware of how to check her status and how to view her item information.

She started to ask questions, and Scott gave her what answers he could. It was not until she happened to check the status of her xiphos that she asked a question that Scott could not properly answer.

"What do you mean? It shouldn't have stats." said Scott.

She shrugged her shoulders then held up her blade. "Well, it does."

He asked her to tell him what the stats were then blinked slowly. "Damn, that thing's actually a little better than my kaiser blade!"

"Really?" she asked. "Why would it have stats at all though, if it was not part of the system?"

"Who knows? I didn't invent the way the world works. I just work here." said Scott flippantly. Several thoughts occurred to him, however. One of which involved wanting to speak to her father about how he actually acquired the sword. It might have been just as he was told, but there were other possibilities.

Remembering that he had fought a great deal that day, Scott decided to check his status. He grumbled slightly about the fact that he was still level ten. All of the fighting he had done all day had not increased his level despite the fact that he had killed a boss monster. While he had not received a level-up notification, it would have been nice to just see his stats increase when he checks them.

“What’s wrong?” asked Rosa.

“Still at level ten. Leveling up is getting harder.” he said.

“It’s hard to gain a level, huh?” she asked in a worried tone.

“Well, for me it is. You could probably gain a few of them pretty easily if we went hunting for weak monsters.” said Scott.

“Would you help me?” she asked him softly, a tremor in her voice.

“Of course.” he said. “Let’s go now. It won’t be good to fight in the dark at your level.”

She nodded and followed him out to the yard. Then nearly fell over when she saw the mini-bike from before slowly moving around in a circle out front. “What!”

“Ah, that’s Harley. She’s my pet.”

“Pet?” Rosa shook her head slowly back and forth.

“Harley, have you sensed any monsters nearby?” asked Scott.

“Affirmative, master. There are eighteen monsters of four separate species all within one mile of this structure. They have an average level of two.”

“The bike talks… it’s not a radio?” asked Rosa.

Scott smiled. “No. Not a radio.”

“Harley, can you take us to the closest, weakest, monsters? You and Rosa need to train.” asked Scott.

“Affirmative, master. However, Harley will not be able to carry both of you or engage in combat in this form.”

“You can change forms then.” he instructed her.

“Understood.”

“Change forms?” asked Rosa.

Scott did not need to answer her as the pink mini-bike made a clicking noise then various parts started to shift. Soon, the bike had become a robotic looking girl. The girl shimmered and flesh appeared where only metal had been before.

“Holy shit… a mini-bike terminator.” said Rosa, her eyes wide and her jaw slack.

“Harley, meet Rosa. Rosa, this is my pet Harley.”

“Harley is pleased to meet you. Please be kind to master.” said the robo-loli.

“L-likewise…” said Rosa.

They left the comfort of the gated mansion, and headed off to the field behind the house. Rosa had her xiphos belted to her hip and her new loot master in her hands. Harley held the other loot master, while Scott wielded his kaiser blade. He would only act if either of them were in danger.

It was not long before they came up on a group of the over-sized rats that Scott had seen before during his trip through town. The creatures hissed angrily then bounded toward them. The customary blue field of light rose up around them, and the announcer called them all to battle.

“Fire!” exclaimed Scott while gesturing with his hand.

Harley did as instructed immediately. She spent her entire turn firing relentlessly on any rodent within range. Rosa's turn came last, but the rats had only managed to make a slight dent in the distance between them before her turn came around. She took a precious moment to steady her nerves then opened fire as well.

Her stats were abysmal, straight level one. She was able to perform a single action, and fired off three shots in rapid succession to end her turn.

Two of those rounds hit the closest rat. A thirty-three, and an eighteen floated up from the beast just before it squealed loudly and slumped over. The rats were pathetically weak and were downed quickly by arms fire.

Another turn sequence began with Scott moving to position himself at a strategic location to draw the attention of the rodents. Harley moved to a slightly different firing position and took down two more rats.

Just like before, Rosa proved to be too slow to act. Her turn came last, as the rats had superior agility and other factors that helped them along when compared to her. It did not matter, however. They could only take a few steps during their movement phase. Five of them broke off toward Scott, as he was the nearest prey.

Three shots rang out and another rodent died. Rosa was doing her best with what she had to work with at the moment.

Several turns passed as the rats and the hunters went about the business of battle. Each time Scott's group came into play three or four rats were slain. The group numbers dwindled rapidly. Soon only three rats remained by the time Rosa finished her most recent turn.

Two of those rats were dangerously close to Harley. The third reached Scott just in time to launch the first rodent attack of the battle. The enraged little beast hurled itself toward Scott with deadly intent, only to be easily side-stepped. Scott's blade whipped around with lethal accuracy and brutal power that neatly cleaved the beast right down the center before it ever hit the ground. It was a sickening display, but effective.

"Counter!" cried the announcer voice, while the customarily cheerful background music continue to pound away.

The beasts were close enough now that Rosa was actually able to hit with all three shots. Another rat died, and the final one was left all alone for Harley to finish off when her turn came immediately afterward.

“That was… intense.” said Rosa. “Are they actually dead?”

“Yeah, seems so. Good job ladies. We should move on to the next group after a short rest. We need to restore out stamina so Harley can keep reloading when necessary.”

"I never ran out, can we just reload now?" asked Rosa.

"No, I doubt you have enough stamina to do that without being close to passing out afterwards. I'll just reload them for you, or Harley can do it. Once you girls gain a few levels, we'll head back. You need to train your stats before doing much else."

"Right, you said that if I train my stats I can get more power when I level up..." said Rosa.

Scott nodded to her. "At the moment you need a little cushion. At level one, our stats are ridiculously low. A stiff breeze can kill us. Get a few quick levels and it'll help a little, but I'd definitely spend time training stats before going too hard on the leveling."

"Master. Harley does not gain power in that manner." said the robo-loli.

"What do you mean...? Oh, right. You told me on the way over." said Scott. "Let me know when you've gained a level or two. I'll congratulate you."

“Thank you in advance for praising Harley, Master.” said Harley before she led them onward. There was no loot for these creatures, sadly. They veered away from the bridge area and headed off toward a small wooded area. In the darkness of the wood, they faced several more rats in small groups, before Harley discovered a larger concentration of slightly stronger monsters.

“There are eight goblins nearby, Master. Their average level is four.”

“Perfect.” he said.

“Hey, isn’t that too much!” exclaimed Rosa nervously.”

“We should be fine. You girls make sure you cover each other and try to aim at the same goblin. I’ll run in and fight them directly, since neither of you is likely to hurt me with friendly fire.”

“What do you mean? We could shoot you by accident, you know.” asked Rosa.

“I’ve been shot in the face with a shotgun and pelted with the ammo from those same weapons several times today. I’m fine.” said Scott. He pointed at her briefly then said. "Besides, you've already shot me a few times."

Rosa did not look like she believed that it would be fine, but she did not speak of it again. He had seemed to know what he was talking about so far, and she had already shot him. Old habits and beliefs died hard.

The eight goblins were sitting around a campfire. A large rat had been skewered and placed over the flame to cook.

“Rat, rat… always rat. Why we not get something else?” asked the scrawniest goblin of the lot.

“Shut up and eat, Greeok.” said the largest goblin. Why, he was nearly the size of a short man!

Greeok started to backtalk his group leader but the sudden flare of green energy, and the loud cheerful cries of the announcer voice caught their attention. Unable to move for three full turns made by the entire attacking party, the goblins could do nothing but stare at each other in horror as the explosive roar of a madman echoed through the area.

Scott came running into the small clearing and hacked at the closest of his opponents. The goblin tried to block with a rusty metal pipe the moment that he was freed to do so, but the force of the blow that he received was enough that he was driven back. A large and bloody gash was torn in his forehead and he was stunned temporarily by the blow.

The next attack included a lengthy side-step and hard strike to the side that the goblin was not fast enough to block. His arm was cleaved from his shoulder. Fifty of the beast's hit points flew away in an instant, but Scott was not nearly done. Another hard diagonal step put him directly behind the monster. His next strike slammed down through its skull like it was made of the softest of soft butters.

Scott opted to stop his assault there and turned to face the other seven beasts. It was not over for them by a long shot, however, as the thunder of gunfire echoed through the area.

Greeok's eyes signaled his fear and the onset of his untimely demise. His body was brutally penetrated by several rounds of ammunition. He gurgled quietly amid the fury of the one-sided battle and then fell lifeless to the ground.

“Attack! We’re being attacked!” shrieked several goblins even though they were frozen in place.

“Kill the bitches with the guns!” snarled the leader of the camp. He was a bit early with that order as the rules of war were clear. The opposing team had the advantage and at least three free turns. All they could do was try to defend during the instant before an attack.

“Kill that bastard meat!” snarled one of the other goblins in the camp just before gunfire riddled his body. He was not slain like his sub-ordinate but there were several puncture wounds in his body that bled freely. Rosa had not leveled up yet, and her attacks were not as strong as Harley's.

Scott jogged toward an uninjured goblin then swung his blade once more. He cleaved into his opponent’s face, just before three goblins attacked him in tandem from the side.

"Special Counter-Assault: Goblin Tribe Unity!" cried the announcer voice.

Surprised by the fact that they could move at all, Scott was unable to fend them off completely. He was well beyond these creatures. He did his best to avoid their attacks, but he was hit several times. However, they did little damage. The greatest victory on their part included a brief instance where the force of their blows knocked him off-balance. Had they been better equipped, or higher in level, the attack would have left Scott in serious danger.

“Fire on the ones around me!” shouted Scott. His turn had been brought to a swift close the moment the goblin's counter-attack had been utilized.

“Affirmative.” said Harley. She immediately switched targets.

Rosa glance at Harley, hesitantly. However, she saw a bullet bounce off of Scott’s armor and then closed her eyes. It was a stupid thing to do in a fight, but this was the first real combat situation that she had to survive that did not include running away. The rats had been easy kills.

A three-round burst erupted out of Rosa’s weapon that peppered the back of one of the goblins. He did not die. Instead, he peered off to the side and half-turned toward her before the battle paralysis kicked in again.

The final free turn came around. Sensing the possibility that these goblins might be dangerous to his team mates, Scott decided to activate his burning soul ability.

Intent upon using his entire speed and movement in this turn, Scott dashed around behind the largest goblin and immediately launched a series of rapid strikes. The beast started to scream out in pain while turning his battered body toward his would-be killer.

Scott did not give him time to finish his outcry. His blade slammed upward in a powerful rising strike that shattered the goblin’s jaw and knocked several teeth out of its ruined mouth. Scott finished the attack by thrusting his shoulder forward to knock the beast back and then whipping his blade around in a powerful horizontal arc that tore through its chest cavity and sheared through his heart and lungs. The goblin spat out blood then crumbled to the ground. Despite the brutality and number of strikes, Scott still had more than enough speed and movement to move on to the next.

Scott broke the goblin's ability to use their unity attack by killing another goblin with three quick strikes before his turn ended. Two goblins left in the fight, it was now Harley's turn.

Another unfortunate goblin fell to the ground clutching at his wounds after being riddled with bullets. However, one was left and it was now his turn.

The goblin left behind was the one that had turned to notice Rosa. He whipped his spear up and ran forward in an obvious attempt to skewer her, but she was too far away. His turn ended three steps from her position. Two bullets slammed into him knocking his health down by a large margin. One hit him in the head and he was temporarily stunned, not that it mattered.

Scott's turn came, and with the swiftness of a man possessed, he rushed over and leapt into the air before slamming his burning blade down atop the unfortunate beast. He sheared through the goblin's ear, tore a chunk of its cheek free from his face, and blasted through the meat of his shoulder before crushing his clavicle.

The goblin caught fire just before Scott's boot slammed into its back. He used the momentum to pull his blade free and the beast fell forward, defeated. It had been a total slaughter due to their surprise attack.

“We did it.” said Rosa, surprised by their own success.

The goblins dropped a few copper coins, a silver coin, a ring, and bloodstone gem. It was a fairly nice haul, all things considered. A little too nice. Scott wondered about it for a moment. When he hunted alone, he rarely got much from monsters like this. Did it have to do with their levels? That bore investigating in the future.

“We should head back to the house and see how you girls did.” said Scott.

They returned to the house and got cleaned up. During their clean-up notifications popped up for the ladies that all three of them considered to be welcome news. The girls had increased their levels to five during that short hunt. Scott was rather impressed. Hunting in a group was definitely better than hunting alone. It had taken much longer to reach level five for him due to constantly being near death when fighting. However, even with that wonderful news, he was still annoyed that he was stuck at level ten. He could not be that far from his next level, could he?

Scott explained the situation to Rosa once more after he heard her giddily talking about going out to hunt again. She was sad to hear that she should still wait to level up further, but glad to know that she could become even stronger in the future if she received a profession and trained her stats.

Harley revealed to Scott on their road trip earlier that her stats automatically increased with each level in accordance to various factors. She had no skill tree, but would awaken new abilities at pre-set intervals that she did not know. In short, she operated like a monster.

It was mid-afternoon now, and Scott was exhausted. He needed to sleep for at least an hour or so before scouting the bridge. He would hate to venture out at night, but with Harley they might be able to arrive at his house well before dark. Either way, a short nap was in order.