A warm and dry breeze ruffled Theo’s hair. With a brief sigh, he stopped, his shoes crunching against the loose gravel.
“Why are you following me?” He looked over his shoulder with a single eye glowing red.
Archie stopped a few feet away and sat on the ground. The ginger cat tilted his head, a look of concern weighing on his bright emerald eyes. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“They need you more than I do.” The vampire looked back ahead of himself. Nothing but rolling plains and the blurred shapes of structures in the distance. “What they need is to be safe - I can’t guarantee that now.”
Archie stood and walked around in front of Theo. The man looked dire. Tired and even more gaunt than usual. His eyes constantly burned red, and his jaw worked as though he wanted to grind his teeth.
“Perhaps I told you too much.”
“It’s not that… I’m… Archie, the System understands some pop culture references, right?” Theo knelt down to look into the cat’s eyes better.
“To a degree, as far as I can understand it.”
“So,” Theo brushed his dark hair back, “if I were to say that I could see a percentage figure slowly going up, the worse that I feel? Ring any bells?”
Archie waved his tail back and forth. “That isn’t something I personally get, but I understand the implication.”
“Great.” Theo stood back up. “I don’t want to be near any of my friends once it gets to one hundred.”
The ginger cat furrowed his brow. “Current percentage?”
“Fifty-seven. It was forty-six when I left the Party. So, I’m continuing to leave.”
“What if you don’t have a choice about that?”
“Huh?” The vampire looked down at the cat, who was now pulsing with bands of green and yellow energy.
“I think you’ve…” Lucius gagged, “…you’ve clogged up the entrance with their bodies.”
Sally panted and rubbed the blood from her face. It seemed to be a common theme that the System-created had absolutely no brains when it came to choke points. Now they especially had no brains on account of her feasting on any that had tried to emerge.
With a shrug, she flexed out her stiff stabbing shoulder. “I was kind of hoping that the Monsters in the second area wouldn’t just yeet themselves at us. That’s basic. Real basic.”
“Stop complaining and at least loot the ones here,” Humphrey huffed and planted the end of his sword into the viscera-soaked earth. “We aren’t just here so that you could have a snack.”
The zombie rolled her eyes. She had managed to get back her full thirty-strong zombie army thanks to the lack of tactics on display from the barbarians. A little too stereotypical, in her honest opinion. Even the orcs had been more fleshed out with the more interesting terrain and magic caster. Waves of these humans had just popped out in a frenzy to meet her knife, the Death Knight's sword, and over a dozen undead that could reach in.
“At least we didn’t have to go in the tunnel,” she relented and started looking through the bodies.
Lucius turned away, the unwell emoji appearing from the side of his head. “I’m both impressed and disgusted. Beats me why they are so stupid, though, I guess there isn’t a Unique among them to lead.”
“True.” Sally nodded as she gathered what she could find in the mess of chopped-up corpses. The Uniques were often a huge boon as they were capable of independent thought. These poor chumps were just… coded? To run in and hack and slash. But perhaps it was nice to not have been scorpions or snakes. Humanoids had the best brains if the giant mice were anything to go by.
Although, you couldn’t beat a Player's brain.
“So there’s really no Players around this first section?” She asked, letting her stomach do the talking.
“Not as far as I’ve seen - but I only have the one pair of eyes. If there are, then they’ve been hiding out for a while.” Lucius turned back and shrugged.
The zombie eyed up the Death Knight, who nodded.
Humphrey stowed his blade behind him. “There may be underground outposts of Players. It is unlikely all have Levelled beyond or perished.”
Sally sighed. “That would be pretty terrible if that were the case.”
[186 Gold]
[Dagger (3)]
[Skull (8)]
[Uncommon Weapon Chance Box (2)]
[Rare Armour Chance Box (1)]
“Some neat things here, I guess? Is it worth pushing these gross ones out of the way to go inside? I really don’t want to.”
Lucius put a finger to his chin in thought. “There might be treasure, but if you amass a bunch of wealth, you’ll get Edward or one of the other cronies bugging you more often.”
“Shoulda told me before I looted, punk.” She turned her nose up at her Inventory. No chance she was going to drop it or hand it over to the demon. The annoying one. Theo had been right about not paying the toll; she didn’t want their hard-earned cash going to some dragon who had messed up the Wastelands.
She walked around the pit and looked out back to the shimmering dark buildings of Bordertown. “Humps, as part of the System, you’re aware of certain pop culture references, right?”
The Death Knight shrugged. “To a degree, but not explicitly.”
“There’s a trope where zombie movies aren’t really about the zombies, but the struggles and choices of the surviving humans.” Her head tilted to the side.
“So… you’re saying we should go back and get the coffin?”
“Not yes, but not not yes.”
“…Okay.”
Lucius watched them silently. A small bubble with three dots pulsed in the air. “Say, friends - do you even know where to begin in finding your pal?”
Sally scratched at her hair. The heat had already dried the blood in it, and it had become matted to her scalp. Combined with the mess from the fight with Zero and the Swamp muck… she looked quite the part of a zombie. “Well, knowing Theo, he is probably going to grind for items or something - he can’t level still?”
“Yes, correct.” Humphrey nodded.
With the vampire unable to complete his Keystone Quest, he would be stuck at his current level - and the experience gained would be wasted. If anything would be driving him mad, it must be that. Why he couldn’t just nap was the real issue.
“So, how do you plan on finding him?” Question mark bubble.
Sally narrowed her eyes at the new party member. Trust was something she had easily given, but questions quickly eroded away at her leniency. Perhaps being a Queen now, she just didn’t like people poking holes in her half-attempts at plans. Or maybe it was just odd how friendly this demon was - either way, seeing as he was so weak, there wasn’t much to fear.
“Any ideas, Humps?” She spun on her heels to face the Death Knight.
“Yes.”
“Cool. Well, let’s get the coffin first, yeah?” Sally deflated. Something about this oppressive heat was making her not want to argue. Whatever plan the Death Knight had could be squeezed from him on the walk back to the town. “Let’s hope we don’t run into the Unassailable Edward again.”
“I think we will,” Lucius hopped after them as they set off, “I’d say that it is Inevit-“
“Don’t.” Sally shook her head and cast [Endless Sleep] to shadow away her zombie horde. It felt nice to have them all at full power. As if they weren’t already overpowered enough.
Maybe that was why she had been feeling so glum. Party falling apart aside, after the Sanctuary fight, they had all felt a little invincible. Growing stronger and working better as a team, without the need to strive for survival everything had started to feel flat after gaining the acceptance of the Crown. Or the Council. It was never really clear what they were called, and they had agreed to steer clear of the Capital on this occasion. It would only be inviting trouble.
So the question was, how could they now find some challenge? Firstly getting the gang back together and in normal fighting form seemed like the hardest and most important thing. She was glad she could at least rely on Humphrey to stick around. Theo, she could understand some of his mania… it had happened before when he hadn’t slept. But not this wild, and he had never run off. Archie was ever the wildcard, but he should still answer his messages.
She tapped up the STAR.
[Sally: answer me arch]
[Sally: worried about you and theon]
Her feet caught on some loose stone as she stared at the screen and stumbled before she switched to direct messaging Chuck.
[Sally: things okay, Chuck?]
[Chuck: this area sucks]
[Sally: right?]
[Sally: just me, humps, and a demon]
[Sally: unending barren plains]
[Chuck: demon?]
[Sally: and chance boxes]
Sally pouted as she closed the chat. There was a point where she thought that she had been friends with so many people. Jackie and the goblins seemed so far away now. All the weird Uniques they had fought alongside or helped had now settled into normal lives, where for the most part, they were outside of danger.
That was what she had wanted… but it wasn’t for her. The short time they had spent not in constant struggle was pleasant enough - however, knowing that there was a bigger world out there kept her striving for something more. That and wanting to find the exit portal from this world or whatever they had. Sure, going back to being a normal human in the diner would be quite the downgrade, but-
She stopped and turned a scowl to the sky. Her hand raised, with her index finger outstretched.
“Lucius, what is that?”
In the air, fast approaching their location, was a sphere of darkness.
Sweatdrop emoji.
A warm and dry breeze ruffled Theo’s hair. With a brief sigh, he stopped, his shoes crunching against the loose gravel.
“Why are you following me?” He looked over his shoulder with a single eye glowing red.
Archie stopped a few feet away and sat on the ground. The ginger cat tilted his head, a look of concern weighing on his bright emerald eyes. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“They need you more than I do.” The vampire looked back ahead of himself. Nothing but rolling plains and the blurred shapes of structures in the distance. “What they need is to be safe - I can’t guarantee that now.”
Archie stood and walked around in front of Theo. The man looked dire. Tired and even more gaunt than usual. His eyes constantly burned red, and his jaw worked as though he wanted to grind his teeth.
“Perhaps I told you too much.”
“It’s not that… I’m… Archie, the System understands some pop culture references, right?” Theo knelt down to look into the cat’s eyes better.
“To a degree, as far as I can understand it.”
“So,” Theo brushed his dark hair back, “if I were to say that I could see a percentage figure slowly going up, the worse that I feel? Ring any bells?”
Archie waved his tail back and forth. “That isn’t something I personally get, but I understand the implication.”
“Great.” Theo stood back up. “I don’t want to be near any of my friends once it gets to one hundred.”
The ginger cat furrowed his brow. “Current percentage?”
“Fifty-seven. It was forty-six when I left the Party. So, I’m continuing to leave.”
“What if you don’t have a choice about that?”
“Huh?” The vampire looked down at the cat, who was now pulsing with bands of green and yellow energy.
“I think you’ve…” Lucius gagged, “…you’ve clogged up the entrance with their bodies.”
Sally panted and rubbed the blood from her face. It seemed to be a common theme that the System-created had absolutely no brains when it came to choke points. Now they especially had no brains on account of her feasting on any that had tried to emerge.
With a shrug, she flexed out her stiff stabbing shoulder. “I was kind of hoping that the Monsters in the second area wouldn’t just yeet themselves at us. That’s basic. Real basic.”
“Stop complaining and at least loot the ones here,” Humphrey huffed and planted the end of his sword into the viscera-soaked earth. “We aren’t just here so that you could have a snack.”
The zombie rolled her eyes. She had managed to get back her full thirty-strong zombie army thanks to the lack of tactics on display from the barbarians. A little too stereotypical, in her honest opinion. Even the orcs had been more fleshed out with the more interesting terrain and magic caster. Waves of these humans had just popped out in a frenzy to meet her knife, the Death Knight's sword, and over a dozen undead that could reach in.
“At least we didn’t have to go in the tunnel,” she relented and started looking through the bodies.
Lucius turned away, the unwell emoji appearing from the side of his head. “I’m both impressed and disgusted. Beats me why they are so stupid, though, I guess there isn’t a Unique among them to lead.”
“True.” Sally nodded as she gathered what she could find in the mess of chopped-up corpses. The Uniques were often a huge boon as they were capable of independent thought. These poor chumps were just… coded? To run in and hack and slash. But perhaps it was nice to not have been scorpions or snakes. Humanoids had the best brains if the giant mice were anything to go by.
Although, you couldn’t beat a Player's brain.
“So there’s really no Players around this first section?” She asked, letting her stomach do the talking.
“Not as far as I’ve seen - but I only have the one pair of eyes. If there are, then they’ve been hiding out for a while.” Lucius turned back and shrugged.
The zombie eyed up the Death Knight, who nodded.
Humphrey stowed his blade behind him. “There may be underground outposts of Players. It is unlikely all have Levelled beyond or perished.”
Sally sighed. “That would be pretty terrible if that were the case.”
[186 Gold]
[Dagger (3)]
[Skull (8)]
[Uncommon Weapon Chance Box (2)]
[Rare Armour Chance Box (1)]
“Some neat things here, I guess? Is it worth pushing these gross ones out of the way to go inside? I really don’t want to.”
Lucius put a finger to his chin in thought. “There might be treasure, but if you amass a bunch of wealth, you’ll get Edward or one of the other cronies bugging you more often.”
“Shoulda told me before I looted, punk.” She turned her nose up at her Inventory. No chance she was going to drop it or hand it over to the demon. The annoying one. Theo had been right about not paying the toll; she didn’t want their hard-earned cash going to some dragon who had messed up the Wastelands.
She walked around the pit and looked out back to the shimmering dark buildings of Bordertown. “Humps, as part of the System, you’re aware of certain pop culture references, right?”
The Death Knight shrugged. “To a degree, but not explicitly.”
“There’s a trope where zombie movies aren’t really about the zombies, but the struggles and choices of the surviving humans.” Her head tilted to the side.
“So… you’re saying we should go back and get the coffin?”
“Not yes, but not not yes.”
“…Okay.”
Lucius watched them silently. A small bubble with three dots pulsed in the air. “Say, friends - do you even know where to begin in finding your pal?”
Sally scratched at her hair. The heat had already dried the blood in it, and it had become matted to her scalp. Combined with the mess from the fight with Zero and the Swamp muck… she looked quite the part of a zombie. “Well, knowing Theo, he is probably going to grind for items or something - he can’t level still?”
“Yes, correct.” Humphrey nodded.
With the vampire unable to complete his Keystone Quest, he would be stuck at his current level - and the experience gained would be wasted. If anything would be driving him mad, it must be that. Why he couldn’t just nap was the real issue.
“So, how do you plan on finding him?” Question mark bubble.
Sally narrowed her eyes at the new party member. Trust was something she had easily given, but questions quickly eroded away at her leniency. Perhaps being a Queen now, she just didn’t like people poking holes in her half-attempts at plans. Or maybe it was just odd how friendly this demon was - either way, seeing as he was so weak, there wasn’t much to fear.
“Any ideas, Humps?” She spun on her heels to face the Death Knight.
“Yes.”
“Cool. Well, let’s get the coffin first, yeah?” Sally deflated. Something about this oppressive heat was making her not want to argue. Whatever plan the Death Knight had could be squeezed from him on the walk back to the town. “Let’s hope we don’t run into the Unassailable Edward again.”
“I think we will,” Lucius hopped after them as they set off, “I’d say that it is Inevit-“
“Don’t.” Sally shook her head and cast [Endless Sleep] to shadow away her zombie horde. It felt nice to have them all at full power. As if they weren’t already overpowered enough.
Maybe that was why she had been feeling so glum. Party falling apart aside, after the Sanctuary fight, they had all felt a little invincible. Growing stronger and working better as a team, without the need to strive for survival everything had started to feel flat after gaining the acceptance of the Crown. Or the Council. It was never really clear what they were called, and they had agreed to steer clear of the Capital on this occasion. It would only be inviting trouble.
So the question was, how could they now find some challenge? Firstly getting the gang back together and in normal fighting form seemed like the hardest and most important thing. She was glad she could at least rely on Humphrey to stick around. Theo, she could understand some of his mania… it had happened before when he hadn’t slept. But not this wild, and he had never run off. Archie was ever the wildcard, but he should still answer his messages.
She tapped up the STAR.
[Sally: answer me arch]
[Sally: worried about you and theon]
Her feet caught on some loose stone as she stared at the screen and stumbled before she switched to direct messaging Chuck.
[Sally: things okay, Chuck?]
[Chuck: this area sucks]
[Sally: right?]
[Sally: just me, humps, and a demon]
[Sally: unending barren plains]
[Chuck: demon?]
[Sally: and chance boxes]
Sally pouted as she closed the chat. There was a point where she thought that she had been friends with so many people. Jackie and the goblins seemed so far away now. All the weird Uniques they had fought alongside or helped had now settled into normal lives, where for the most part, they were outside of danger.
That was what she had wanted… but it wasn’t for her. The short time they had spent not in constant struggle was pleasant enough - however, knowing that there was a bigger world out there kept her striving for something more. That and wanting to find the exit portal from this world or whatever they had. Sure, going back to being a normal human in the diner would be quite the downgrade, but-
She stopped and turned a scowl to the sky. Her hand raised, with her index finger outstretched.
“Lucius, what is that?”
In the air, fast approaching their location, was a sphere of darkness.
Sweatdrop emoji.
