Enter System, page 4
part #1 of Natural Laws Apocalypse Series
“What is it?”
“Staff of Minor Healing. Can be a weapon or wand. So I think you can use it to heal if you figure out how. Not the type of magic I was after though, so it's all yours if you want it.”
“What about those two?”
“Jeff? I think we both know he's going for rogue, Rob is probably going to be a front liner. I'm pretty sure they'll both agree to need before greed terms. I probably should've given Rob this suit of armor even, but...”
Marc shrugged.
“Yeah, I feel safer with you tanking for now,” she said. “He'll learn though and then he'll be good at it. You got hit that last fight, didn't you?”
He nodded.
“It feels like it's almost all the way healed now though, so don't worry about it. Experiment with that staff though, would you? It'd be nice to not have to wait for it to heal next time.”
“I'd love to tell you that there won't be a next time, but I think we both know better,” she replied, then started her own looting as Marc took over standing guard.
Jeff and Rob were finished looting by now. They left the makeshift clubs behind since they all had better weapons, but there'd been an assortment of coins on the hobgoblins as well as a few minor items, mostly crafting components.
“I sure hope someone wants some of this stuff,” Jeff said. “I really don't like carrying a hobgoblin spleen around in my inventory.”
“Hey, I bet that's an alchemical thing,” Felicia said. “I remember that the spleen has something to do with blood cells, so maybe it's a heal or a cure component or something.”
“You want it?” Jeff said.
She shrugged.
“Sure, I'm not carrying much yet. I'll take it and we can always ditch it later if we need the room.”
Jeff produced the fist sized purple organ from his inventory. It was clean, which took Marc off guard for a moment before he realized that it had been looted, not cut out of the corpse.
Said corpses were in the process of flaking away now, so Marc looked up.
“Should we keep going in here? I'm thinking it might be a good place to hole up. It's all brick work, not like the local houses, and just seems more solid than most of the other buildings in the area.”
“Kind of large for four of us to keep an eye on though, isn't it?” Jeff asked.
Marc grinned.
“Who said it would just be the four of us here. I figure we clear the place, then see if we can find more people to help populate it. Some of them might even be useful to help keep it spawn free. We can't be the only ones that have started figuring things out, right?”
Jeff opened his mouth to reply, but Felicia cut him off.
“I think that's a good idea. Who knows what skills there are to be learned? I bet the four of us wouldn't be able to cover all of them ourselves and maybe this way we'll have access to the other ones we can't or don't learn.”
“Yeah, let's help the others out,” Rob said. “It'd be a good thing to do.”
Jeff sulked quietly for a moment, then the look on his face lightened up.
“Alright, sure, yeah, it's probably the right thing to do so we can do that, but first we're clearing this place, right?”
“Right,” Marc said. “Now Jeff, you want to keep working on your Stealth skill for a bit?”
* * *
They worked their way through the corridors, checking the classrooms. The majority of those were empty, although they did run into goblins in a few of them. The small green creatures were even easier to defeat in the larger rooms than they had been in Marc's basement.
When they got to the cafeteria it was a different story. There were ten hobgoblins in there.
“Damn, I wish I had a missile weapon,” Jeff said.
“If only our track team did javelin,” Marc replied, “but they don't, or didn't, so what else do we have options on?”
“Well, the chemistry labs don't keep any dangerous chemicals either, or at least not enough of them to matter,” Felicia added.
“Hey, chemicals,” Jeff said. “Follow me.”
The maintenance crew had their own room and Jeff led them there right off.
“Quick, look around at the labels on the cleaning agents. Find me something with ammonia in it,” Jeff said.
He went over and pulled out several industrial sized jugs of bleach. Then started rummaging around the rest of the room.
“Jeff, should we ask why you know where stuff is in here?” Marc asked.
“Hey, where did you think I went when I blew off class? I used to come down here, sometimes. The maintenance guys are normally pretty cool, at least all but one of them. The one that wasn't ended up on night shift, so since I got along with the rest I'd disappear and come down here. Hmm, I wonder if Bobby was still up to his old tricks?”
Jeff moved over to a refrigerator on one wall. After opening it, he pulled out a bottle. Sniffing the contents, he proceeded to tilt it back and chug it.
“Ah, that's just the ticket,” Jeff said.
Rob looked at the bottle.
“What the hell, Jeff?” he asked. “Why are you drinking solvent?
“It isn't solvent. Bobby has a beer that he likes and the bottle resembles one of the ones for solvent. So he prints up fake labels and stashes some in here in case he wants to drink at work. Well, he used to anyhow. Don't know if he's even still alive now.”
“Wait, drinking beer at school?” Rob said.
Jeff laughed.
“Yup, and Doug likes to take naps during the day. He's got a recliner back in the materials closet over there. Alex, well that man's a perv. He's got a stash of porno mags in the ceiling tiles, you know the one with the girls who are barely eighteen? Then he spends lots of time staring at the girls in the school. Guy's a freakin' pervert.”
“Why didn't you tell anyone about this stuff before?” Felicia asked.
“Why? They weren't hurting anyone. Alex never did anything about his fixation, Doug would wake up if maintenance was paged and it'd take more than a beer or two to get Bobby drunk. They weren't hurting anything and they let me hide out here. I wasn't about to say a word.”
He pulled out another bottle and was about to chug it.
“Wait, that one is solvent,” Jeff said, recapping it and setting it down.
A third bottle he pulled out and sniffed satisfied him.
“Anyone want a beer? I need the two empty bottles for my plan and this stuff is too good to just dump out.”
He waited a moment.
“No? Okay.”
He started to tilt the bottle back before Rob reached out and grabbed his arm.
“I'll have one,” Rob said.
Marc relaxed a little.
I was worried that Jeff was going to get drunk, Marc thought. I've got no idea what his alcohol tolerance is. Rob, on the other hand, is a solid dude with a lot of weight to him. A beer shouldn't do much to him except maybe help him relax. I think he's been tenser than the rest of us.
“Here ya go, buddy,” Jeff said, handing over the bottle.
Rob didn't chug it, but he did finish it quickly.
“Anyone find something with ammonia in it yet? The higher up the ingredient list, the better,” Jeff said.
“Yeah, this one has it as the third ingredient,” Felicia replied, holding up a bottle of window cleaner. “Now what are going to use it for?”
“Well, you know what happens when you mix bleach and ammonia, right?” Jeff asked.
Marc figured his face was as blank as the other two as they stared at Jeff.
“For Pete's sake. What did you guys learn in school? One of the things I learned, from the maintenance crew here, was not to mix bleach and ammonia. It makes something called chloramines. Really messes you up if you inhale it. So we get the mix into the cafeteria, then bait the hobgoblins. They'll be all messed up and trying to fight, should make it a lot easier.”
“All messed up?” Marc asked.
“Yeah, like coughing, watery eyes, wheezing, chest pain, that type of all messed up,” Jeff said.
“So, how are we going to mix it?”
“We'll dump the bleach out, the whole mess. That's bad enough to breathe in, but then we'll fill the two beer bottles with the ammonia stuff and smash them into the bleach. That ought to mix it well enough for the chloramines to form. Then we just wait on the hobs to breathe it in and kick the crap out of them.”
“Um, Jeff? How are we supposed to do that without breathing it in ourselves?” Marc asked.
“Jeez, you expect a guy to have all the answers?” Jeff said. “These will do it, but I'd rather draw them out after they've all snorted a bunch of the stuff. Pull them into the hall and take them on there. They can't have all ten on us at once that way.”
He turned and tossed a package of masks to Marc.
Huh, N-95 masks. Not perfect protection, but ought to do for a short while, Marc thought.
“Jeff, tell me again what you were majoring in?” Rob asked.
Jeff folded his arms in front of him.
“Engineering, why? I was thinking about maybe switching to chemical engineering, but hadn't decided yet.”
Rob just nodded.
“Makes sense you'd know some of this stuff then,” Rob said.
Marc just shook his head. He caught Felicia's eyes and noticed that she was barely keeping herself from laughing. He felt the same way himself, but he knew that he shouldn't be. He knew that things were serious enough that laughter ought to be the last thing on his mind. Marc's idea that the System had something to do with how they were all reacting and feeling took on more credence in his mind.
* * *
“Well, let's do this,” Jeff said.
He'd poured the bleach containers he'd grabbed into a large metal trash can that he put a lid on, then he tossed it on a hand truck, tying it in place so it wouldn't fall over. Marc and Felicia were carrying the two glass bottles filled with the cleaners containing ammonia.
“Here, give me that bottle. You'll want to be ready to tank, won't you?” Felicia said.
Marc handed over the bottle and shifted his gear so that he was ready to fight.
“Ready?” Jeff said.
At a nod from the others he dumped the hand truck over, forward through the double doors leading into the cafeteria. The lid came off the can and the gallons of bleach that he'd poured into the can went spilling out all over the floor.
The hobgoblins stayed still for a moment, heads swiveling towards the door, then let out a howl and started trotting for the door.
“Masks!” Felicia said, pulling her own up.
She tossed the first glass bottle high up into the air to ensure that it would shatter and spread its contents. Before the first bottle hit the ground she'd tossed the second one also.
Everyone else had masked up also, but instead of trying to hold the doorway, they stepped back a couple of paces. Even with the masks, they didn't want to risk inhaling the mix that they'd created.
The bottles slammed down, shattering and spreading their payload out. For a second or two there was no reaction and Marc began to think they were screwed.
Crap, did the System alter chemical reactions somehow? he wondered.
Then, a moment before the hobgoblins started walking into the liquid bleach where it spread out over the floor, areas of it started foaming up, bubbling almost like a baking soda volcano. Fumes began to rise from the bleach, gray and iridescent.
“Shit, that's not supposed to happen,” Jeff said pointing. “The reaction isn't supposed to be this strong.”
“Back up more?” Marc asked.
“Hell yeah,” Jeff said, running back another five steps. “I don't want to breathe that shit in, who knows what it is.”
“An alchemical reaction,” Felicia said.
“How do you know that?” Jeff asked.
“Because I just got the Alchemy skill from tossing those bottles into the bleach,” she said.
“So what's going on?” Jeff said.
He wasn't going to get an answer any time soon though since the hobgoblins, coughing and wheezing, came through the door. They were limping too, whatever alchemical creation that had been accidentally created having damaged their feet.
Marc leapt forward again.
“Let's try to keep them in the cafeteria,” he called, voice muffled by the mask. “Whatever it is we made doesn't seem to be coming into the hallway and if we can keep them in it, they'll be in worse shape if and when they get out here.”
Marc tried rushing a hobgoblin and slamming it with his shield. The hobgoblin, feet damaged already, had no luck in trying to resist the attempt and it slammed into the hand truck and garbage can still partially blocking the doorway.
Rob came along and thrust his pilum into the other hobgoblin who'd made it past the blockage. Once Marc reset his stance he thrust at it a well since the one he'd bashed wasn't getting back onto its feet very quickly.
With the blockage in the doorway the hobgoblins weren't able to make a concerted attack and those that were still in the cafeteria were standing in the ammonia-bleach mix. One of them realized that it was causing them a problem and started screaming at the others, backing up and moving out of the wet area.
It started chanting and waving its hands around, although the first couple of attempts were interrupted by it doubling over and coughing. Then it managed to finish its spell and Marc cursed as several bolts of glimmering energy shot from the hobgoblin, through the doorway, and into his body.
“Damn it! We have another caster,” Marc cried.
“I'm on him,” Jeff said, sprinting down the hallway.
Marc was pretty sure that Jeff was headed for another cafeteria entrance in an attempt to get behind the caster, but if the caster had many more spells in him, then it might not happen quickly enough.
He continued thrusting his pilum, but kept an eye on the caster.
Because I'm hoping that my shield can block those missiles if he shoots them again. Damn, it feels like it took half my health with that. I wonder if there's way to check just health?
The result of his thoughts popped into the lower right of his field of vision:
Health: 20/38
Good, I'm glad that works. Two more of those and I'm a goner though, or even just one more plus a hit from one of these hobgoblins, Marc thought.
There were only two hobgoblins left standing in the liquid now, three of them had fallen, never making it out of the liquid trap and they'd taken down four as they tried to make their way around the hand truck and garbage can in the doorway. The caster was chanting again now though, and a moment later Marc found that his shield could partially block the missiles, but not entirely.
He mentally requested his health total again.
Health: 11/38
“Crap, I hope Jeff gets there soon,” he said, moving his shield to block a strike from one of the remaining hobgoblins. The action gave the other hobgoblin time to clamber over the blockage and engage Rob.
“I think I have it,” Felicia called out.
A moment later a flood of warmth washed over Marc's body. He felt better and the wounds he'd taken from the missiles started to close.
“Awesome,” he called. “Got another?”
“I can do one more before I'm out of mana, or at least won't have enough for any more heals.”
“Hold onto it for now then,” Marc said.
He lunged forward with the pilum as the last of the hobgoblins tried to clear the blockage. The hobgoblin had jumped to try to clear it quickly, but Marc caught it in the air with his pilum, driving it deep into hobgoblin's body.
He angled his pilum to the side a little, letting the body of the speared hobgoblin strike the one still fighting Rob. When Rob's opponent staggered and slid to the side, Rob was quick to take advantage of it, dropping the last melee combatant.
The caster was chanting again, but it was cut off with a gurgling scream as Jeff came from behind and struck it in the back with his gladius.
The caster didn't fall though and Jeff backpedaled quickly as it turned to swipe at him with its claws.
“Hey Rob, these things were originally intended as missile weapons,” Marc said, hefting his pilum.
He hurled it towards the caster, his throw going a little low but taking the caster hobgoblin in the leg. Rob's throw followed a moment later and was nearly a bullseye, lodging in the caster's body immediately adjacent to the wound Jeff had given it.
The last pilum throw was enough to take out the caster and it slumped to the ground.
* * *
Marc's attention was grabbed by the flashing dot in the corner of his vision. His notifications light was flashing, so he opened it up.
You have gained a level (1->2)
You have two ability points to distribute.
You have one new skill point to distribute (skill point banked due to lack of class).
“Yes!” Marc cried. “Ding, ding!”
“Me too,” Rob added.
“And here,” Felicia said.
Jeff was already absorbed in looting and didn't look up.
“Yeah, I like leveling, but it's banking my skill point because I don't have a class yet,” Marc said.
The others agreed, claiming that they were in the same situation.
“But...” Felicia said.
Marc cocked his head.
“But what?”
“Well, when I healed you during the fight my notifications light flashed then too. I've qualified for a class according to that one.”
“What class?”
“Healer, that's it's entire name, so I don't know anything about it,” she said. “When we looked at the class help before we couldn't pull anything up about it, so I've got no idea if it's a decent choice or not. Yeah, I want to heal, but is straight out healer my best option?”
“We didn't even find out the names of classes from the help file on classes, right? Have you tried help on healer specifically? Maybe knowing the name will let you access the help,” Marc said.
Felicia's eyes went unfocused for a moment, then she broke into a grin while staying unfocused.
