“Alright, lets role.” Matt calls out as he turns and enters his vehicle.

Even before the sun has peaked over the horizon, our caravan is already pulling out onto the road. Sitting in the passenger seat Brent keeps a watchful eye as he quietly directs the cook along the right path.

Originally we had wanted to have Samantha be our driver so we could have the guys poised and ready to fight. But the girl adamantly refused stating that she was not leaving her brother’s side….

Along the way I discuss various aspects of the system and tips for class building. Despite answering questions from the others, my focus is on Bobby and his three unspent levels.

After some debate and ‘permission’ from Samantha, I finally get Bobby to spend his points.

StatusNameBobbyRaceHumanLevel4ClassN/ATitles---Party----Health(130/130)Stamina(130/130)Mana(130/130)-Strength8Endurance8Perception10Agility9Intelligence8Wisdom8Charisma7Luck20Unallocated Points0

When Bobby first shared his base stats I was disappointed, that is until he shared his Luck – 14. Which was his highest attribute and also the explanation for his rapid advancement.

It turns out that when Matt had originally tested the limits to the party, Bobby was added as an experiment after discovering the Level 0’s. And even after having Martha and Rachael form their own parties, Matt had never thought it necessary to switch the boy. After all, originally the parties were just there to get us the gold.

However, in a fit of ‘Luck’ Bobby was able to gain experience from the goblin horde without lifting a finger.

“2 o’clock, two zombies.” Brent interrupts my thoughts as he announces the approaching threat.

Stopping the car, Brent goes to handle the easy prey. The first one dies quickly as a hatchet buries into its skull. The second comes up, but is easily knocked onto its back before having its arms chopped off.

“Bobby.” Brent calls out as he pins the zombie in place under his foot. Bobby comes out nervously, followed closely by Sam. With a little encouragement from his sister the zombie is soon killed by his own effort.

“We got 7 bronze tokens.” Bobby proudly tells me as he crawls back into the vehicle.

“Good.” I nod my head slightly at the news. However I can still feel the scornful gaze of his sister boring into my skull.

She may not be happy with her brother having to fight, but she also understands that if he levels he can grow stronger. This was the excuse I gave her, but honestly I plan on exploiting his Luck to increase our drops. After all, the more money and items dropped the better our chances of survival.

Continuing down the different roads we occasionally stop to kill a few more monsters. Mostly zombies, but we also met a feral canine that took both Brent and me to kill. It is debatable if it came with the system, or if it was once a normal dog that some how evolved due to the system….

“Okay, this is the entrance.” Brent points out a drive and we get our first glimpse as the car turns in.

“Um… Brent. I thought you said this was an apartment complex?” The sight before me is larger than I had anticipated.

“Well, this is a college town, so there are going to be things a bit… extravagant?”

“More like rich parents spoiling their snobbish brats when they go off….” Surprisingly it is the cook that speaks up sharing an obvious sneer along with his words.

Pulling into the empty parking area of what is labeled as the ‘office’, we cautiously huddle around the vehicles. Matt commands a few people to keep watch as he pulls Brent and me into the building.

The inside is clean and has a ‘new’ smell to it, but there is no one here to greet us.

The other two go to check out the back rooms as I wait in the lounge ready to run in either direction that might need me. To pass time I carelessly pick up a brochure and read over the amenities offered.

Community pool, recreational area, fitness gym, laundry facilities and other provided appliances…. Even the rooms are provided with basic furniture.

Good grief … what in the world did we just find?

If we can keep this place defensible…

“No one back there…” Returning to the lounge room Matt notices my odd expression. “You okay?”

“Just overwhelmed from reading the brochure…. This place is like its own village.”

“Yeah, I remember seeing an ad for this place.” Chuckling Matt looks out the window at the surroundings. After a moment’s pause Brent coughs to snap us out of our daze.

“This building should be safe enough. We can leave everyone here while checking out the other buildings.” Brent is quick to suggest and we quickly agree.

Bringing everyone inside, we split the group into two before scouting. I will stay on guard with the others while Matt and Brent go check the other buildings. I do not particularly enjoy babysitting, but I figured an officer and Matt’s high charisma would be the best combination if any survivors were found.

While waiting I decide to consult our newly leveled members thanks to the experience share along the way.

StatusNameMarthaRaceHumanLevel2ClassN/ATitles---PartyQuests-Health(110/110)Stamina(110/110)Mana(110/110)-Strength8Endurance9Perception10Agility9Intelligence10Wisdom10Charisma20Luck10Unallocated Points0

StatusNameRachaelRaceHumanLevel2ClassN/ATitles---PartyQuests-Health(110/110)Stamina(110/110)Mana(110/110)-Strength7Endurance9Perception9Agility9Intelligence9Wisdom9Charisma20Luck10Unallocated Points0

StatusNameJohnRaceHumanLevel2ClassN/ATitles---Party----Health(110/110)Stamina(110/110)Mana(110/110)-Strength12Endurance10Perception12Agility12Intelligence9Wisdom9Charisma9Luck10Unallocated Points0

Over all there is not a lot to discuss. The two women both wish to work towards their base physical attributes, while John goes with a balanced approach of +1 to Strength, Perception, and Agility.

With nothing else to do I peruse the System Index for new information. The minutes drag by and soon I hear the back door swing open. Twisting my head around I see Matt come walking in. Following him is a middle aged man, a woman carrying a small toddler, and lastly Brent.

“Who’s this?”

“Jack, this is Hank. He handles the maintenance for the apartments. He and his family live here in their own residence.” Matt calmly introduces the new people.

I reach out and give a handshake to the man before asking him numerous questions about the facility. Startled by my barrage of questions the man looks blankly between me, Matt, and Brent unsure of how to respond.

“Hank, you have to excuse Jack. He can be a bit impatient at times.” Matt purses his lips while slanting his eyes my way obviously not happy with my lack of tact.

With the aid of Matt’s ‘Charisma’ the conversation with Hank goes smoothly. Turns out the place is designed with the office building being stationed up front with a workshop attached directly behind. As I had hoped there are indeed extra building supplies that the complex keeps on hand for Hank to use whenever.

Further behind these two buildings are the recreational area, fitness gym, and swimming pool. On each opposing side are the apartment buildings, four in total each three stories tall. Every floor holds six apartment units with them varying between one, two, or three bedroom designs. Hank’s family stays in one of the three bedroom units.

Overall I am happy with the layout. If we barricade the entrances the perimeter fences will help secure our surrounds. Also the height of the apartments will allow us to keep an eye on any threats coming… However, there is a slight catch.

“Go ahead Hank, tell us what happened.” Matt encourages Hank to continue.

It seems that when the system first activated there were several renters having a pool party. At first Hank thought the kids were just causing a ruckus, but the screams persisted and grew in intensity. Going to check it out, he remembers the gruesome scene.

Numerous blobs were moving around the area trapping the swimmers inside the changing rooms. Some had tried to escape, but were caught and slowly eaten before the others which only added to the nightmare.

Hank had rushed back home immediately to try and call for help, but the phones were of course down. It was also at this time that he and his wife noticed the news alerts on the TV.

“News alert?” Oblivious to this information the group is anxious for details.

“Yeah, I had it on a local channel watching a soap opera. But soon the channel was interrupted with an emergency broadcast. Footage changed to a reporter crying out from the news room. At first we had trouble understanding what was going on, but the camera panned out to show a city shot….” Chocking up from recalling the scene, Hank’s wife is unable to continue the story.

“I can finish telling.” Hank reaches out and gently touches her shoulder before continuing the story. “The camera showed numerous creatures running across the street attacking people. Next thing we know, there were screams coming from inside the studio. The last thing we saw before the camera went out was a body being cut down by some type of green man…. After seeing the news, I didn’t want to risk leaving. So we locked ourselves inside and planned to wait for help to come.”

The room is sullen after hearing this news. We once again realize how dangerous the world has become and the fact that we have been lucky so far.

Noticing the drop in morale, I decide to force a change of mood. With a loud pop, I clap my hands getting everyone’s attention. “Who wants breakfast?”

Everyone is stunned by the rapid shift, but after the thought has been planted people start to realize their own hunger while rubbing their bellies.

“Sounds good, Hank do you mind if we use your kitchen?” Brent gives a small nod and pat on my shoulder as he passes by to help get the ball rolling.

***

With full bellies, everyone is noticeably livelier as they sit around the cramp living room.

“Do I really have to go?” Hank is extremely timid after we had discussed our plans to destroy the slimes.

“You are the most familiar with the buildings so if anything happens we need you there.” I try to explain the reasoning, but his face shows I have not helped the situation any.

“Don’t worry, we explained about how the system has made us stronger so you won’t have to do any of the fighting.” Matt encourages Hank and the man reluctantly agrees.

With our plans formulated, we get up to go clear out the area. Surprisingly we had a few people volunteer to come help, obviously eager to get experience. But for the sake of efficiency, we decide to keep the group small. Only Matt, Brent and I will go fight and Hank will come as our guide.

Moving outside, we take a slight detour to pick up some fire extinguishers along the way before stopping just outside the fenced poolside.

“Remember, once you shatter their bodies you have to find the core and destroy that or they will just reform.” This is the last advice I have before I push the gate open and we step towards the pool.

Just as Hank had mentioned, there are slimes slowly oozing around the pool. With haste, we immediately spread out and each claims a prey. Soon the sound of heavy spraying fills the area followed by the occasional shattering of frozen goo.

The battle is going easy with the number of slimes steadily decreasing. However, as I step towards my next slime I pause noticing its odd behavior. Usually the slimes’ movements are smooth, but this one is starting to jiggle and shake furiously.

“Umm, Jack. The slimes are starting to act weird.” Looking over I see what Brent was saying to be true. All the remaining slimes are shaking furiously.

“I don’t like this, let’s tak…” Before I can even finish my sentence I have to quickly dodge down as a flying slime jumps past me.

Startled by this new phenomenon, I unconsciously drop my extinguisher and move to grip a dagger. Looking in the direction of where the slime went I am horrified by the sight. All the remaining slimes are jumping towards one gooey mass. Even slimes that had been hiding in the changing rooms are soon joining the pile.

Like a balloon being pumped full of air, the mass of slimes steadily grows until there is a huge gelatinous monster before us easily two meters tall and twice as wide at the base. Looking over this creature I swallow heavily as a slimy tentacle menacingly rises into the air.

A heavy bang echoes as the tentacle slams down towards Brent who was able to dodge to the side. The impact leaves behind cracked concrete as the monster immediately begins numerous attacks as more tentacles sprout out.

“Everybody get back!” Matt yells out as we all quickly jump away from the flurry of attacks.

Huddled away from the creature we are breathing heavily, more so from fear than actual exhaustion.

“How are we supposed to fight that thing?” Matt questions as he stands up regaining his composure.

“Perhaps it was an agro affect. If we wait awhile it will probably separate and we can make it a game of attrition.”

“I don’t think it will let us do that.” Brent refutes my idea as he gets us to look at the giant slime… that is now moving our way.

Cursing under his breath Matt turns to look at me. “Run or Fight?”

My mind is immediately grasping for any idea possible to fight this thing. I know the battle will definitely be dangerous but the other option would be to give up this amazing facility.

If only we could continue freezing the slime. But I doubt the bastard would just sit there while we freeze it. Besides the image of the earlier impact serves as a reminder of how powerful its’ attacks are….

Staring at the mini crater my mind calms down as an idea pops into my head. Moving my eyes I slowly look over the blob to check on an important detail. Sure enough, spread haphazardly amongst the mass are the cores of the numerous individual slimes.

“I got an idea.” Smiling fiendishly I immediately share my idea with the others.

“Where in the world do you come up with these plans of yours?” Brent is once again flabbergasted at my suggestion.

“I think instead of Intelligence he has been raising an Insanity attribute.” Matt jokingly quips at me while shaking his head.

Rolling my eyes at their responses I continue speaking. “Look, it can work. Just be ready to follow my lead.” The two reluctantly agree and I take one of the spare tanks to begin our counter-attack.

With a deep breath in, I dash forward towards the slime. Dodging the first two strikes I get steadily closer to the monster before crouching down and baiting an attack. Being so near, two tentacles fuse together as their paths collide forming a thicker one which careens down towards my location.

Pushing all my strength into my legs I jump as far away as possible. Just as I am touching the ground, an earsplitting boom occurs from behind. Using my shoulder to take the fall’s impact, I easily roll into a crouching position while snapping my head around.

With a smirk on my face I proudly look at my achievement. The massive tentacle is now frozen after exploding the extinguisher that I had ‘conveniently’ left in its’ path. The crystalline structure spreads all the way to the point of attachment with the body.

Not wasting any more time looking, I immediately dash off to retrieve my earlier dropped extinguisher. As I am moving I hear the sound of shattering and quickly glance to confirm Matt and Brent handling their part of the plan.

Reloaded with another cold mine I move in beginning my dance of death. Soon the satisfying crescendo once more hits its note leaving another smile on my face.

Stepping back I take another of our extinguishers from our stock and enter into the fray of tentacles for a third time. All along, Matt and Brent are steadily pulling away and destroying cores which slowly cause the blob to shrink in size.

Having set the third mine I once again jump out of harms way. However, instead of the usual boisterous noise accompanied by the impact, this time there is only a dull thud. Confused I glance back and see that instead of exploding the tank is merely dented, even the concrete barely cracked from the hit.

“There’s not enough force!” Cursing the turn of events I dodge backwards while regrouping with the other two.

“Well, at least it shrank some.” Matt optimistically speaks as we stare at the now two third sized slime boss.

“Should we try to get close and spray it again?” Brent asks for arguments sake, but his tone indicates that even he does not think the idea would turn out well.

“No, I still think the cold bomb is the best plan…. We just have to figure out how to increase the damage causing it to explode.” Deep in thought I scan around the area looking for something to aid us. Lawn chairs, discarded towels, inflatable toys, nothing but garbage is around us.

“Guess I will just try for multiple hits on….” My voice trails off as I notice a galvanized object attached to Brent’s belt. “How good are you with that pistol?”

A moment of confusion from question quickly fades as Brent understands my intention. “Good enough.” Smirking, he does not brag excessively, but instead moves to un-holster his firearm.

“Okay, well this time we aren’t going to waste our efforts on an arm, instead we go straight for the body.”

With excitement building up I eagerly dash forward swaying between attacks and easily retrieve the bent tank. Dodging a few more times I get close enough and casually toss the extinguisher. An audible plop is heard as the blob starts pulling the tank further inside.

Having retreated a safe distance, I turn to stare at Brent. The officer is now crouched in a stable aiming position. A quick triple tap of the trigger releases the bullets which ping onto the metal before the hull breaks.

The pressurized fire retardant spews forth from within the blob and a beautiful crystalline structure spreads out consuming the blob in its’ entirety.

“I guess that was good enough.” Grinning I quickly ebb Brent as I confidently dash forward giving a stout kick to the frozen monster and watch as the dominoes fall.

Looking through the shards I find the first core and smash it beneath my foot earning myself another level.

“Hey, see if you can store the cores in the Inventory. If so we should take them back for the others.” Turning my focus over to my self, I open my screen and tap raising my level to 10.

Congratulations!

For reaching level 10 the restriction upon ‘Class Selection’ has now been lifted. To begin training please select a class type within the Status page. To further assist, a one time reward of double attribute points is additionally given.

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