As the groups start to section off and get ready for the day Decker pulls me aside.

“So I realize you said something last night that I totally blew past without giving it a second thought.” He tells me.

I look at him unsure about what he meant.

“You said something about making a skill. What did you mean by that?”

Realization dawns on me and I once again feel stupid. For having such a high intelligence I really am not the sharpest tool in the shed.

“Yeah I made some skill called Channel Purification.” I say.

I fall into an explanation of how I discovered the skill. Decker listens intently as I retell the story. Once done he scratches his chin. Then his eyes glaze over as he reads some screen in front of him.

“Fascinating. How many skills do you have?” He asks.

“Two.” I say.

“What are they?”

“Mana manipulation and Channel Purification.”

“Ah. I wonder if the skills displayed are related to our classes.”

He scratches his chin in thought for a few moments. His eyes focus back on me as he dismisses whatever screen he was reading.

“Keep an eye out for any other skills or anything else the system shows you.” He says.

I agree to do so and leave to grab something to eat. While eating Decker drops off my trusty tire iron. It’s metallic surface feels cold to the touch but having it close to me makes me feel more comfortable.

Once done eating I meet up with the other Hunters. The three of them gather around a desk. Upon getting closer I hear Abby explaining the route to the police station.

“So it’s a straight shot down Third Street. It’s about here but there’s a park in front of it that usually holds a lot of homeless people.” She says.

On the desk is a crudely drawn map of the few blocks around the office building. Where Abby is pointing is a square with “Police Station” written inside of it. A large square taking up a whole city block rests next to the police station.

“So we might expect a decent amount of zombies around there. However, once we’re inside I think we should be safe.” She continues.

“What about any zombies in the police station?” Andy asks.

“I don’t think there will be any super strong zombies inside the building. The night crew for the police station is skeletal at best. They’ve been dealing with a lot of officers who resigned recently. So the people in the office are generally filling out reports or watching the jail house. Probably no more than 30. But still be cautious.” I say.

The company I work for works closely with the police department. We even have a few police officers that work from my company's offices. They’re the ones we call when we need a police officer on the scene. So I’ve heard a thing or two about the inner workings of the police precinct.

Andy glares at me while I answer. I ignore him as I turn to Abby.

“So once we get done with the police station, where is your house?”

She takes a second to add to the map before drawing a rectangle a few blocks away.

“It’s an apartment complex with three floors. Each floor has only a few house units. My house is on the second floor, the third unit. I live there with my father and two brothers. Otherwise most of the units have no more than five people.” She says.

So as long as no high levels stand between us and her apartment then it should be relatively easy. I look at the small group. Andy is a warrior and already reluctant to be on the team. In a real fight he’s probably useless. Abby has proven herself reliable and when I show her how to use magic I’m sure she’ll be a power house.

My eyes fall on Kyle as I realize I have no clue what class he is.

“What class did you choose?” I ask him.

“Warrior.” Kyle says.

Damn. I was hoping for another mage. But a warrior isn’t bad, hopefully with a decent weapon he’ll be useful.

“Well I personally don’t have any questions. I’m ready to go when you guys are.” I say.

Abby and Kyle say that they’re ready while Andy grumbles about his readiness. We make our way to Decker who hands me a radio and one of the master keys.

“Alright don’t worry about taking anything back. Just clear the way to the stuff and radio when you’re ready for the scavenging team. If you see anything or get in trouble, radio for help. We won’t be far away.” Decker says.

With that we head to the bottom floor and exit the building through the side door on third street. Dead bodies pile around us as I look at the carnage on the street. Dozens of bodies lie motionless.

I’m shocked by the carnage before me. Hearing that you slayed forty zombies and seeing it are two completely different things. Granted I have slain more than forty but when I cleared out the lobby I was taking pot shots from behind a reinforced door.

Once outside I extend my mana into the air around us. My Magical Sonar picks up the others and stretches just across the street. Looking up and down the road it appears to be safe to start traveling.

“So…” Abby says.

I barely catch her words as my focus is on if any zombies are around. She talks barely at a whisper next to me while surveying the road ahead of us.

“How do I use mana?” She finishes asking.

I ground to a halt and look towards her. She holds a spear in one hand while looking at me quizzically. I totally forgot that I’m supposed to show her how to use it. In all honesty coming outside without making sure that she could at least form a Rifle Round was just dumb.

I continue walking knowing that we shouldn’t waste time. While walking I turn to her, keeping half of my focus on the area in front of us.

“Manipulating mana is a lot of just mental imagery and will. If I want to make a spell I will the mana outside of me and then give it a shape.”

To demonstrate I push a blob of energy outside of me. I’ve always naturally given the energy the shape of an orb, that being what I’m used to seeing from the media. However, I can feel that it naturally wants to expand in the air, saturating it with energy.

Abby watches in amazement as I force the blue light into different shapes. In part I’m trying to show her what I mean. However, part of me realizes that I’ve been using mana inefficiently.

In my battle against the Banshee I could have wasted less mana by using thinner tendrils of mana for my scythes. Or even my wasteful use of Rifle Round. I can now make sharp bits of mana so maybe it’ll cost less mana to make needles to shoot at zombies instead of the balls.

I play with the malleable energy forming all sorts of shapes. Needles to knives to throwing stars. The more complex a shape I want it to take, the harder it is to force it into the shape and to keep it there. Simple constructs like orbs take almost no conscious effort to sustain while blades take just slightly more.

A few zombies dot the streets to our right and left in the intersections. I instruct Abby on how to form a Rifle Round. It takes her a few tries but she eventually gets the hang of it. I also take care of a few myself while experimenting with different shapes of mana.

Using a needle like shape doesn’t instantly kill any zombies. I think it’s because I can’t build up enough force or speed with them. However, using a thicker blade construct that looks like a crude throwing knife does a decent amount of damage, still not as much as a Rifle Round.

It takes us very little time to get to the police station. When we reach the steps leading up to the front doors I’m hovering around ninety percent of my max mana. While Abby claims to be resting around sixty percent.

I ask her to keep an eye on our rear. To help her I instruct her on how I use Magical Sonar. It takes her a while to figure it out and when she does she tells me it only extends around eight feet.

“What are your stats at?” I ask

“I’m level 5, Strength is at four, Dexterity is at six, Agility is at seven, Endurance is at six, Intelligence is at ten, Wisdom is five, Luck is seven, Charisma is seven, Perception is twelve, and Willpower is five. I also have 25 free Attribute Points.” She says.

Either Willpower or Wisdom affects how much ground we can cover with Magical Sonar. I think it’s a mix but I need to find out.

“Put a few points into Willpower.” I tell her.

She nods and her eyes grow hazy. A second later they focus back on me.

“Now try to push your mana further.”

She closes her eyes as I feel the air grow heavy.

“Oh wow that almost doubled the distance.” She says.

“Good. Now make sure nothing sneaks up on us.” I tell her

So Willpower affects how much you can control. But still thinking about Perception should also have an effect on Magical Sonar right? If not how far you can see then how much detail you can pick up.

Imagine how far you can push Magical Sonar. With enough points in Wisdom and Willpower you might be able to keep tabs on everyone inside of the office building no matter where they are. When it comes to scavenging it might be very useful to be able to feel what’s in places we can’t see.

With that in mind I open my own stat page.

Personal Stats:

Attributes:

Value

Name:

Joel Dylan

STR:

9

Level:

16

DEX:

5

To Next Level

50/1100

AGI:

6

Sex:

Male

END:

15

Age:

19

INT:

55

Class:

Mage

WIS:

15

LUC:

4

HP

100/100

CHA:

5

Mana

120/120

PER:

8

WIL:

11

Free Attribute points:

10

As I read through my stats my eyes fall onto perception. The tingle in my mind flares up just a bit as I glance over it.

Does perception affect my Magical Sonar? Actually how much does the perception stat affect us?

I only have ten free stat points but I can’t get rid of the feeling that I should invest some of them into Perception.

As I debate on adding to Perception it starts making more and more sense. It’s dangerous enough outside of the office. Imagine how much more dangerous it is when you aren’t aware of your surroundings. It honestly seems like suicide to not invest more in my other attirbutes like Perceptions.

I dump two points into Perception. I want to place more there but I don’t want to waste my points. Next I place three into Wisdom and Willpower. The more control I have over my mana, and the faster I replenish it the more effective I’ll be at hunting. At least that’s what I tell myself to justify spending almost all of my points.

Once done allocating my free points I study my sheet. All of my attributes still feel low, except for my intelligence. But hopefully that will change with time. I mean that’s why I’m out here isn’t it? To get stronger?

With that done I turn to the others.

“Is everyone ready?”

They all nod giving me the all clear to enter the building. The door swings open quietly leading us into an empty dark lobby.