Billy Arch-Silvan was the 5th wheel in an Epic Quest full of royalty, foreign nobles kids with superpowers, monsters, giant ants, and now a robot dog with the personality of a loyal lapdog. Their new companion rode his dog with us while the Babysitters Club helped the new guy’s bodyguards clean up the battlefield and caravan ruins.

The guards and the new guy Wang were quite surprised when 3 adults in menacing Black power armour stepped out of shadows and Introduced themselves as “Members of the Babysitters Club keeping an Eye on these little rascals.” while gesturing to us.

Billy had no idea they had people watching out for them, it made him feel a bit safer. Billy had not felt very unsafe, well at least not from outside threats. An Afternoon seeing Mr. Thing writhing out of the corner of your eye would make anyone jaded to other sources of fear. Although he had to admit that his transformation into a zombie, then an Aetherial might also have something to do with his newly fearless persona.

When the Tiger had been charging them, his only thought was if it would taste good, then a bit of disappointment when they did not get to eat it. Not like the zombie craving for flesh, but a nice bloody, err, maybe rare tiger steak would not have disappointed him.

Then during the battle with the Steel Talon reavers, Billy had not been very useful. He managed to get his Leafcutter Ant mount to pick up one and bash two more unconscious with it before the battle ended. But he had no combat skills to wade into the fray like Prince Jaw or magic like Tiffany, nor a magic pouch he could pull self-propelling arrows from like Junior.

He Ignored the other kids Playing Princes and princesses while they rode and instead considered his place in the world. He was strong, he kept some of the strength of his temporary zombie form. Most of that strength was in his legs, The Mini boomers jump towards prey before self-detonating, so it made sense. His status called it: Apprentice Super-Strength and there was a note that the bonus was doubled for his legs. He also had points in a Vertical Jump skill that seemed to stack well with the modified Super strength to make him naturally good at jumping at people. For whatever good that was.

His Explosive Gland now let him Vomit grey Aetherial goo, It seemed like he had the same power to spread their condition as Tiffany Did, But he seemed to be lacking the instincts for how to use that ability that Tiffany Clearly had. He would probably get the chance to find out soon, they were only a few minutes from the border of his old home’s hex.

He had a zombie claw wrapped in cloth in his bag, His system registered it as a Reservoir of Zombie Virus, it had similar stats to a steak knife, but with the addition of spreading the zombie virus to a damaged target, living or dead. He thought that if they found bodies not infected, they might still be able to make a zombie then turn them aetherial to resurrect them.

Sure there were other ways of raising people, but the cheapest methods cost tens of thousands of Dust Dollars, no one was going to spend nearly a million dollars to resurrect a bunch of dead orphans and volunteers.

But stab a corpse then puke on it. That was a method of resurrection the poor could use. Sure they would all be a little different. And maybe feel slightly compelled to obey a Troll toddler. Billy would take that deal any day of the week though. Especially as the other option was that he would have been one of the many dead zombies in a pit in the wasteland, or part of a horde that destroyed his life and home. So ya, he would play stabby pukey if he could save more people from the fate he had been rescued from.

He eventually found the options to spend unspent Xp and nearly fell off his Ant, He was Level 80 something, which was crazy high for a kid his age, but that was still only a third of Tiffany or Junior’s Level. Most of those levels were his new powers or upgraded racial Abilities, so he assumed he would not have any Xp to spend yet, The 3975 Unspent Xp stared back at him, mocking his assumptions. There was a new help icon on the left of his display, which he could drag and it turned into a pointer for what he wanted help with, he pointed it at the nearly 40 levels worth of Xp.

A table showed up, he had some big gains from the 2 battles, nearly 1000 Xp from that alone, but the rest was from his Zombie transformation, he had been made into an over level 100(E) mini boomer, the Aetherial Transformation stripped any power that had made him a mini killing machine, but he kept all the Xp from the powers he had lost, some of it was used to augment his natural half-elf racial benefits, and the zombie powers it was safe to keep. But Much of the Xp he had “gained” from becoming a zombie was now sitting in his unspent Xp pool. He sorted his available Skills and powers based on how close he was to unlocking them. Then he dismissed a bunch of mundane options trimming down the options to just things that appealed to him. looking for something to be his thing.

Available Skills

(C ) Aether knowledge 1 (200/250) 50 Unspent Xp To Unlock Lv 1.

(D ) Basic Martial Arts 1 (20/100) 80 Unspent Xp To Unlock Lv 1.

Available Powers

1(C rank) Minor Aether Control (2000/9000) +3 (life base+ death + dark +light)

1 element blast

1 element shield

1 element absorption

1 element movement

(Ghost touch, soul element)

1 subtle

-1 ineffective (soulless)

1(C Rank) Aether Lordling (0/10 Aetheric vassals)

First, he dropped 300 Xp on the Aether Knowledge skill, getting the first rank, then paying the cost for a full second rank. his mind flooded with knowledge of not just the Aether, but all the elements and combinations of elements that made up the Aether. Next, he Put 280 Xp into the Basic Martial Arts Skill, upping it to 3. He hoped the flood of knowledge would help him put his strength and powerful legs to good use.

Now that he better understood the Aether and the potential of the power to control it he wanted it even more. But he needed more than twice the amount he had left just to unlock the first level of the power. And it was a power Tiffany already had. He wanted to have his own thing, to help him stand out in this group. So he could feel more useful.

After a few seconds of poking bits of the power with the help functions, he found out he could remove some of the additions to the power, or add flaws to make the power cheaper per level.

His martial arts skills had a basic technique called the spirit yell or Kiai, where one yelled to empower their fighting spirit and potentially throw off a foe. He liked the idea of using his Aether control to empower his strikes with his soul. so he first stripped the excess Light and dark control from the power, which also changed the name of the power to Lesser Soul Control. This dropped the cost from 9k per level to 7k per level. He Considered getting rid of the Other add ons, but the Element blast would give him a ranged attack, The shield would allow him to empower his body for defence, Movement would allow his to travel to and from the plane of lost souls. And absorption let him regain energy from Souls, but Also from sources of life and death energy. Then he poked the subtle add on and realized that not only could he remove it, he could add a flaw called obvious, which made it easy to tell he was the one manipulating energy, but he wanted his power to be flashy and intimidating, so this was like an added bonus. With his Obvious “flaw” the power was now only 5k per level and he could afford it.

1(C rank) Lesser Soul Control (2000/5000) +1 (life base+ death = soul)

1 element blast

1 element shield

1 element absorption

1 element movement

(Ghost touch, soul element)

-1 Obvious

-1 ineffective (soulless)

He Dumped three thousand Xp into the power and got his first real super-power as he jumped from Lv 80 before he opened his menu to level 116 with the power and skills. Sure, the girls were still twice his strength, but he was closer. He still had a few hundred Xp in case he needed another skill.

Oh! He could see ghosts now. Some ghostly guards were surrounding Wang Shu.

He sent Tiffany a Private message: {To Tiffany: Hey Tiff, do you see the ghosts around Wang?}

{To Billy: No I don't think so.}

{To Tiffany: Try just using soul energy instead of aether empowering your eyes}

{To Billy: Oh thanks, that is neat. Yes, I perceive them now. Some of the guards that died?}

{To Tiffany: Yes, I think so, message the babysitters to preserve the dead guards, if we can save any non-zombie dead we may be able to do an aetheric resurrection on them as well. They don't seem upset with him, just like they try to guard him still.}

{To Billy: True, I’ll do that. it seems like they are having trouble keeping up with him the further they get from their corpses. I have an idea for that though}

Before billy could ask what she meant, she shot him a shush gesture and maneuvered her Mutant Tiger mount to a pile of rubble and pulled out a few rusty re-bars from the pile and then ran over to Juniors mount and grabbed a handful of magic dust and sprinkled the “magic” dust over the piles of rusty metal while channeling a ton of Aetheric energy that billy could only detect because of his new power and skill for understanding Aether, this would just look silly to an outsider. He realized the potential power he gave up along with the subtlety extra she must still have.

He watched as the dust turned the pile of useless junk into two metal bones flowing with aetheric lines and symbols that he was sure only he could see. He dragged the help button out of his menu and aimed it at one of the bones as a test, and was surprised when a window popped up for the item.

Aetheric Soul Anchor- Large Beast Accessory

Friendly lost souls can connect to the Anchor like they would their dead body or place of death, these souls can donate spirit energy to the Anchor to empower the Entity carrying the anchor. This donated power creates stacks of energy that can be drawn on in a pinch, or alternatively the distance spirits tied to the anchor can travel from it safely will increase by 3 meters per stack (100-meter radius base) to a maximum of 500 stacks (Max Anchor radius 1600 meters)

Well ya, that would work. Tiffany waved me over and asked me to put a charge in each of them. I wondered why, but then realized the blue-ish aura I pumped into the bones to make them glow, was to give a visual indication they were now enchanted to everyone else. Including the ghosts, who were paying attention to me and Tiff now. She had me pick one up and take it over to Wang and Chiga while she gave the other to her Tiger for some reason.

I presented the Metal bone to the Metal Dog like someone presenting a sacred sword on a Pillow. “Please Accept our humble gift to help guide your follower's spirits back home someday.”

“Is this some local custom?” the noble asked me

I decided to drop my attempts a solemnity and went for blunt, “No, the ghosts of your dead guards,” I pointed at the ghosts I knew he could not see. “They are following you and might have trouble getting back to their bodies when we try to revive them later.” I ignored his look of stunned disbelief and plowed on “So Princess Tiffany made these to give the ghosts something to hold on to. Also, it can power up Chiga in a pinch, allowing their spirits to fulfill their desire to help protect you.“

I realized that my new power slipped into my voice when the ghosts scrambled to touch the bone in front of the Metal Lion Dog and it started to glow with a few fresh stacks. The Dog started to salivate some kind of dark oil, and let out a pitiful whine as he Eyed his master for permission.

Wang Shu chuckled at the giant dog's antics a bit before he said “go ahead” to him and the great beast started to gnaw on the artifact.

The Ghosts looked much happier now that did not need to strain to keep up with Wang, and Wang Shu himself looked happy for a minute watching the dog before his face scrunched up and he looked at Billy. “Wait, did you say you would try to revive my lost men later.” I just nodded, but rather than look relieved or happy he seemed confused and annoyed “How could you kids afford to revive a bunch of foreign soldiers, it would cost at least 1000 Gold to re-incarnate them, and they would lose a good chunk of Xp, while also becoming a young adult of a random new race. A regular revival would cost 5 times that or more.”

“Ya, no. I am pretty sure we are still poor. But I was a ghost following his zombified corpse at one point earlier today, so my perceptions on what is reasonable to come back from, are now, maybe a little off.”

“Wait, you died today?”

“Yup, Tiffany puked on me and cured my zombism, now I am an Aetherial, which seems to be like an advanced undead mixed with angel blood or whatever the holy opposite of undead are called. I am fully alive, but still, I have a touch of zombie strength, and I can do soul magic now.” I empowered my fist then punched out a blast into the pile of rubble, which only really stirred up some dust when it hit as I remembered that the power only damages things with souls, but the pulse of blue Energy looked super badass. “A minute after I unlocked this new power I could see your Ghost buddies having trouble to follow, So I told Tiff, and she made the bones for them.”

I gestured to Tiffany, who was wrestling with her tiger mount over the other metal bone, which no longer had any charge to it, she must be scolding it for eating the energy charge right away.

I continued while we watched the Troll toddler punch her Tiger in the nose ”I am not sure what her plan for the other Anchor is actually”

Wang mused, “Maybe she just did not want her pet to be jealous of her making a toy for someone else's pet?”

“True, that thing would have whined and mewled until it got a bone too. Well anyway, you should be able to see if we can resurrect your guards when we finally get to our Quest”

“Which is? The Girls Were light on details while they dragged me away, My living guards barely let me go with you guys because those scary babysitter folks said they still had a pair of guards on us. But I have not seen them yet”

“We need to resurrect our dead Orphan friends, well I don't like them all, maybe peers would be a better phrase. As for the Babysitters, The first time I saw them was the same time as you, but we did not stop that pair of Steel Talons from getting you just as we arrived, So the babysitters Probably have a sniper or something that saved you Right before Jaw’s charge distracted the rest. I can feel a slight distortion a few hundred meters ahead of us, I am guessing that is the most that I will be able to sense our babysitters though.”

“So we are on a quest to save dead orphans, and we have secret power armoured ninjas protecting us”

“Yup, that sounds about right”

Wang Shu sighed “I did not see my day going this way”

Billy laughed for the first time all day. “I was a dirt poor Orphan this morning, I was a zombie at lunch, an hour later I was adopted by an Empress and now I can punch ghosts, and maybe raise the dead.” I sighed as I watched my princess comfort her Mutant Monster Mount. “And I feel invisible and useless compared to my new family” as I gestured to Tiffany and Junior.

Wang Shu laughed too “I have a psychic bond to a giant robot dog, and yet I feel constantly overwhelmed and inferior to them as well, I had no idea Inferiority complexes were contagious”

Then he sobered “I did not want to worry the girls, but I am mostly sure I was supposed to die in that attack. My guards and Lei Wen are beyond loyal to me specifically, but some of my cousins have over a hundred higher level guards then me. I am too far from the throne for this to be a grab for power from one of them, which means grandfather or one of my uncles wants me dead as a reason to declare war on this….. ‘city?’” he said with a hint of suspicion like he was unsure if the Scav Hive even counted as a city.

Billy could not blame him, he heard tales from adventurers who came to donate at the orphanage and even Mr. Smith about other cities, full of glass and clean architectural lines, beautiful parks, fountains of water.

The hive looked like a junkyard from out here, the patchwork wall of metal sheets and razor wire surrounded the hexes of the city proper. Inside hovels made of similarly poor scavenged materials were stacked on top of each other in chaotic messes that vaguely resemble the cells of a beehive. One cell per family. Over 70% of the population lived in that mess, he had felt lucky to have a big home and a big family outside that hell hole. But no one from the hive had come to help them either. And the other sections of the city stayed in their ivory towers and didn't bother with insects or their problems. That's what the merchants and adventurers called the people of the hive, the lifeblood of the city. Insects. Little drones.

Visit the orphanage, tells the little spawn a story, get a blessing from the priestess to help them slay a monster or something. Billy had hated them while hanging on to every word about anywhere but here.

“I'm sorry if I offended you,” Wang said, looking at billy a bit concerned.

“Huh, what? No no. I was just lost in some bad thoughts.” Billy had been a bit confused until he remembered what Wang had been saying about a potential war. “What is here worth fighting a war over though? Who would want to kill a kid to start a war to conquer something? Maybe having a family has downsides too.”

Wang Chuckled a bit “my family is mostly downsides, I went out of my way to get lowered in grandfathers eyes so that I would not get caught up in the ascension games of my uncles and older cousins, but it seems I have fallen so far as to be a sacrificial pawn. One look at this place tells me that most of the locals don't usually keep invisibility potions or stealth cloaks and bail on their employers.“

“Most locals would sell such a trinket and feed their family for a year, they would be more likely to die trying to get the potion back to town then use it on themselves”

Wang Shu nodded “about what I expected. As for what you asked about why this area would be worth fighting over, there is the obvious trade with adventurers of almost every major nation or faction, but a lot of that is due to the scavengers being neutral and having a good area for mid-level adventurers to grow.”

Wang Shu paused to gather himself before continuing. “What I am about to tell you is considered a secret by high-level artificers and the royal family of my home. The red dust you scavengers use as a currency is a highly efficient way to store energy, better than an inactive dungeon core gram for gram. The supposed mission my caravan is on is for trade, but really, we were to secure a large supply of the dust, or discover the source of the resource, as even our highest level Artificers and Enchanters can’t figure out what it is exactly or how to shape it.“

“Ahh, so they want to kill you to have a reason to conquer the source of the dust.”I said before stopping to give him an odd look “Hasn’t your Emperor heard of the conquers curse? Any non-local nation or large faction that conquers the hive either abandons it or their faction collapses within a year or two. At least 10 times in the last 200 years, it's the main reason we can stay a neutral trading hub.”

“I’m sure grandfather dismisses it as foreign superstition. Especially as no one knows who or what might be behind the curse.“

“Once we raise all our friends and your guards, we can add finding the origins of the dust and the curse to our quest list. We just need to make sure you go home with a ton of money and a good reason not to go to war for your family.” I said it in a friendly casual way, but I gave Wang my most serious look, so he would know that I would seriously do my best to help him survive and prevent a war.

We chatted amicably for another few minutes while we got back underway and until we finally reached the still smouldering ruins of the only home I have ever known.

We were about to split up and find the mini-boomers closest to putting themselves back together. When we saw movement inside the skeleton of the building. We heard voices get louder as we approached.

“Won't let you shoot them, they have a chance.”

As we rounded a collapsed wall we saw three town guards pointing guns at a frail old man who was bodily shielding a few half re-assembled mini-boomers.

Tiffany Leapt off her Tiger and vanished in mid-air only to appear over the zombie children, she subtly poured necromantic energy into the zombie below her, taking control of it, and beginning to speed up the process of healing it. While she faced down all four men.

The other children and I scrambled off out mounts to get in to back Tiff up, I took an extra moment to instruct all the ants to surround the ruined building and bodily block exits.

This made me the last of the kids to join the wall of children blocking any zombies from being killed.

The guards seemed flabbergasted at the sudden appearance of the kids, Then as they looked around they Took in the huge Aetherial Tiger peeking in the way we came from, and the huge ant blocking the door or another with evil-looking metallic Mandibles poking his head into a blast hole in the wall.

Now that they had the illusion of control Tiffany stepped forward to give a dressing down to the guards.

“Bad men no hurt frienz” Then she looked confused “Why my wordz iz bad?” she looked at her sister Junior “Dear sister I seem to be having issue speaking with my usual command and eloquence” then she seemed to hear herself, get back her royal poise and then tried again “Please ugly bad men no hurt frienz” then deflated. Zoning out as she looked at her system.

I stood forward while my princess was having issues. “My Lady seems to be having issues speaking. We are here to cure these children of their zombie status. Please leave our home. The Hive security is not welcome here as you were happy just let us die. The old man can stay and explain why HE wanted to help them.”

The guards looked confused, scared of the monsters, and a little pissed off that this kid was bad-mouthing the guards, even if they had not done anything more then take potshots at the horde from the safety of the wall. Where my insults were a bit miscalculated was the third member of the group, a trainee. Being a newb, he was less used to the contempt some people had for the guards. His face turned beet red and he pulled an Electrified club and advanced on me. One of the other guards tried to grab his shoulder, but he shook it off.

“Just let me beat some sense into this kid, teach him a lesson in respect.”

The last guard asked “Wait, did he say they were gonna cure the zombies? Is that even a thing?”

The angry newbish guard replied “he’s obviously lying” then he swung his club at me. Yesterday I would have maybe been able to dodge one swing before he caught me. Today however I knew some martial arts. I leaned out of the way of the clumsy swing and tossed a quick jab into his arm. I instinctively let a bit of power out with the punch and his arm went limp and nerveless as the club left his hand and clattered to the ground with a zap as it discharged into the ground.

Rather than stop to look at the damage the enraged guard reached for his gun with his other arm. I realized that even if I could dodge a shot, it would likely hit one of the other kids behind me. My princess was in danger.

My vision went red and tunnelled in on the man, I crouched and felt the enhanced muscles in my legs tense, preparing for a long-range jump, then I angled my jump towards the guard's face. Within a flash, I went from the ground to suddenly delivering a savage jump kick to the guard's face.

My rage washed away as I watched the man fall twice. Once physically, and the second time a bit further away fell a blue glowing soul shaped like the man. His physical body was not dead, which meant that he accidentally kicked the man's soul out….

Ooops.

I quickly scrambled over and shove his soul back in, once done his breathing became even. Hopefully, he was just knocked out now.

I guiltily looked up at the other two guards. “He he, sorry about that, I could not let him shoot near the other kids.”