Stew went inside to open the garage door as soon as we got back. When it rolled up Stew was nowhere in sight, just Sam holding Stacy. "Roll 'em in boys." We started rolling our loot into the garage. "How did it go?" Sam asked. "Aside from having one of your sentries threaten to shorten us by a head? We're covered in spider goo and ready for a bath. We did get diapers though." I answered "Charlie had a squirrel get in his house and try to eat his kid before we attracted all of them last night. He's a bit high strung right now. You get the right size?" Sam said. "Um. How many sizes are there?" While we sat in the kitchen with Sam we found out what had happened to Stew. He'd already gone upstairs to shower. So we told Sam about what we had gone through. "So is there anything else there we can use?" Sam asked. "Still plenty of cans that looked good. There was a lot of tools but that was before the dungeon changed so I'm not sure." I said. "The Bananapple tree looked neat." Mike said. Sam frowned. "The what?" "None of the produce was any good but some of it had sprouted. Especially the fruit. Some kind of magic, they all had a few different fruits growing on them. So Bananapple" I said. "Well I can talk to Mr. Koontz, maybe a few others. I think he used to work in an orchard. Might help with food long term. Think one of you could take 'em over to the store?" "Stew can." Mike and I both said. "Especially after that 45 minute shower." I said. "Shower's free." Stew yelled down the stairs. "Head on up Mike. I want to ask Sam something." I told Mike. As Mike headed up I set my hammer and hatchet down on the kitchen table. "I need better weapons. I think these would work if they were longer. My crowbar has nice reach but I'm just not getting many skill points out of it." "And you think that would be worth it? At least you know it works."Sam said. "All of these Initiate Titles start with skills. Maybe the crowbar will get there eventually, but I think the hammer and hatchet, or axe, will get it quickly. That will open up options for dealing with monsters." I said. "OK. I'll ask around. It would be easiest if we found someone with a welder. Mind if I take these?" "No, go ahead." Sam picked them up in one hand and walked towards the door. "Can you do one thing for me though? Tell Stew to get ready, Old Koontz is pretty decisive. He won't want to be kept waiting when there is a job to do." "Will do." I gave Sam a sketchy salute as he left. I sat for a few minutes savoring the task to come. Telling Stew he'd have to head back out sounded like the best thing that I'd done all day. I woke up once that night when I heard a gunshot. Sam was walking past the living room when I sat up from the couch I was sleeping on. "Don't worry about it Dave. If it had been serious they wouldn't have stopped with just one shot." I layed back down and fell back to sleep. The next morning Sam handed over my new weapons. Instead of modifying the old ones they had found some with wooden handles and replaced those with two foot long metal pipes. Waving them around I felt a grin spreading on my face. "We have plans for today and you'll have all the chances you can stomach to wave those around later. Keep 'em to yourself in the house. Lets finish up with breakfast. Mrs. Peterson sent scrambled eggs over for some reason." After we finished eating Sam told us about the high school. Something short, green, and fast had grabbed a dog out of someone's yard and headed towards the school. Then last night another had tried getting into a kids bedroom. A guard had seen it and chased it off. He had managed to [Analyze] it before it had gotten away. A level one Goblin. "Fuck yes! We are totally on board for that." Stew said. "Stewart, language please." Sam said. "Yea, yea." Stew waved off his dad's comment before continuing. "Of course we're going into that school. It's getting straight up fantasy now." "A bit more Shadowrun since we have guns." Mike said "I hear you speaking Mike and it just sounds like blah blah I play crappy games." That got Mike upset. "Now wait a minute Stew." "Uh oh. Somebody has a full diaper. I better take care of that." Stew grabbed Stacy and left the kitchen. 'It isn't really Shadowrun because nobody has any implants." I said. "I can dream Dave. I can dream." We heard knocking at the door. "I got it." Stew called out. "So how many people are going in?" I asked. "We have thirty willing to help. A few don't want to go in but will stand guard. I'm thinking we can go in with twenty men in five man groups and one of us will be with each." "That seems like we might be cutting the XP thin with that many." Mike commented. "We won't be getting any XP unless there's something more than first level goblins. We all moved past four. I never got any XP from those spiderlings by the way." I said. "Crap. I hadn't even thought of that. I didn't get any either. So no XP?" Stew returned to the kitchen followed by Meagan and Gilberto. "Why won't we be getting any XP?" Meagan asked. "Glad to see you Gilberto. Sam this is Gilberto, the {Mana Bolt} guy. Gilberto this is Sam, Stews dad." I introduced everyone before I answered the question. "No XP for us because the goblins are level one. Unless we get in further and find something stronger it's just skill points for us." "Well with our Titles that's not nothing. So what are we doing?" Meagan asked. "Clearing goblins out of the high school. Gilberto you're welcome to come if you want." I said. After upgrading weapons, a bat with metal plates bolted on the end for Stew and fiberglass tree stakes with metal reinforcement at the pointy end for Meagan, we started towards the high school. While we walked Gilberto described his {Mana Bolt} technique. Or philosophy. As far as he could tell we were activating the System to do something. If we had a good idea about what was happening then it didn't have to work as hard. As we did more ourselves that allowed the System to move on and do other things. Like making the spell more powerful or activating faster. Mike and I had wildly different ideas about how the {Mana Bolt} spell should have worked and we both had ended up fighting the System. "It's all about focusing on what we want. I practiced last night and my spell got to level two. It's stronger and cheaper, mostly because I know took over some of the Mana manipulation." Gilberto said. "I wonder if the skills are like that or just spells?" Mike asked. I thought about [Stomp], my highest leveled skill. When I had first got it I had improved my stance and motions with the knowledge that I had gotten. Improvement had slowed down since then. If I went by what Gilberto was saying then I was basically using the system to do the rest. If I could take over more from the System then it would gain more levels. I had figured out how to wear a one-size-fits-all shirt, next was making it fit me. Once I did then I would raise the skill level further. Or possibly raise it a bit through repetition but that doesn't create a skill that's as strong as it if I understood it and actively assisted. We arrived in front of the high school and joined the gathering group. Unlike the store a few blocks away the school looked the same as before everything changed. At least on the outside. Just really rundown. Boards had appeared over windows that now had most of the glass broken out. Paint was peeling and we could even see some of the walls internal structure. More abandoned than run down I guess. The biggest difference was the small tower that used to hold the bell decades ago had doubled in height, almost five stories up now. I practiced swinging my new weapons around while we waited for everybody to arrive. One point in proficiency for each. Sam began breaking up the gathered group into smaller teams. There were four teams of five. Sam joined one and had Gilberto stick with him. Meagan and Stew each joined a different group of five leaving me to join the last. This group had the most guns. Three shotguns. My team would be the first group into the building. This left Mike with the reserve, a group of nine people. Twenty-nine level one people plus six made thirty-five and we were going to clear a building that could hold more than fifteen hundred. My group had two men a little younger than Sam, John and Arthur, holding shotguns with baseball bats on their backs. The last gun was held by a guy around twenty-five named Terrance with a bowie knife on his belt. The two others in my group were a thirty year old guy, Raul, and a college age girl, Malia, who had fiberglass tree stakes six feet long with metal reinforcing the tip. "I won't know what's inside until I get in but after that I have a skill that will give me an idea about what is in the whole building once we are inside. Is everyone ready?" I asked my team. I got five nods and we walked up the stairs and approached the double doors. I could hear twitters of laughter coming from inside, behind the boarded up windows. Standing in front of the door I looked back and when Sam nodded I pushed the door open and looked around. The entrance went straight back and turned into the main hall, perpendicular to that was another hall that ran behind the front of the building and opened onto a number of classrooms. The layout seemed the same but all the furnishings now looked like abandoned 70's era. I couldn't see anything particularly odd so I stepped inside and was nearly overwhelmed by my Shadow Sense. After thirty seconds I got used to the overload on my senses and dropped my hands from the sides of my head. Whole rooms were filled with enemies, they had the entrance surrounded. ‡ Welcome to Goblins School of Hard Knocks. Level 5 Dungeon. ‡ ‡ Quest: Goblins spread through pain and death. Stop them. ‡ ‡ Reward: Title: Graduate of Goblins School of Hard Knocks, One Shiny Gold Coin. ‡ ‡ Failure: They like intestines. Maybe they like yours more than you do? ‡