Chapter 124 - Extermination

Blake lounged within the foldable chair as he scrolled through the comments of Jennifer’s latest video. His Public Relations expert kept her word, and made the leader of the Black Diamond faction infamous. Jennifer also allowed all viewers to reply, rather than her subscribers only. The comment section was riddled with indignation at the captives’ treatment, and some even promised to ‘take care of him’ themselves if they found him.

Blake did not think that was likely.

Jacob and his group were all armed and dangerous. Not to Blake, of course, but to anyone else they came across. Anyone they crossed would be best served to stay hidden and report the gang’s whereabouts.

Is this it?

Blake leaned forward in his seat and eagerly read a commenter’s response who claimed to have spotted the group. As this was the third time someone claimed to have seen them, he tempered his anticipation. 

The first time he was told they were found, a man claimed to have seen them in Phoenix. Since they did not have access to vehicles, and Phoenix was over a hundred miles away, Blake thought that was extremely unlikely. When he asked for video footage of the gang, he was sent a video that showcased thugs with no relation to the Black Diamond faction.

A few hours later, another woman claimed to have seen them in Canada. He did not even bother to question her further. Instead, he immediately blocked her contact and moved on.

Blake added the newest responder to his contacts list and messaged him directly for more information. Tyson immediately accepted and could not believe that he was talking to the Scion of Humanity. After he answered the young man’s many questions, he finally got him back on track. 

Tyson was located in Skull Valley, a small town twenty miles west of Prescott. He claimed to have seen them pass by the campground he managed and even recorded their passing for proof.

Twenty miles is pretty far. Is eight hours enough time to reach it by foot?

Blake obviously could, but he was enhanced by nanomachines. While it was possible Jacob had also invested in his own attributes, the chances of his entire pose doing the same was slim. It had only been a week since Invasion Day, and they had somehow managed to save up a billion nano to form a faction.

When he finally opened the video Tyson sent him, all doubt vanished. Jacob and at least fifteen others marched tiredly along the street. 

Bingo!

After he received directions, Blake shot out of his folding chair and exited the level one faction hall, spear in hand. He immediately spotted Bobby and Jennifer, in conversation with one of the local captives, and strode over to interrupt. When he approached, all heads immediately turned to him.

“I found Jacob and his gang,” Blake said without preamble.

Jennifer’s brows rose. “Really?”

He nodded. “One of your commenters sent me video proof. They’re twenty miles west of here, down in Skull Valley.”

“What are you going to do?” Bobby asked.

“That depends,” he replied. “Do you think you and Jennifer are capable of defending this store for the next few hours?”

Bobby glanced over to the single barricaded entrance while he brushed his hand against the butt of his pistol. He looked back to Blake and grinned. “We’ll be fine.”

Blake nodded and turned to Jennifer.

“Go get those bastards,” she demanded.

The ex-captive spoke up. “Bring plenty of water, it’s even hotter down there than up here.”

Blake grinned. “Heat won’t be a problem.”

To prove his statement, he immediately began to cast Shared Improved Flame Shield on everyone present. Ten seconds later, the spell took effect, and he heard the woman gasp in surprise.

“It’s like I’m back in the air conditioning!” she exclaimed.

He chuckled at her reaction.

“Are you going to take the truck?” Bobby asked.

Blake shook his head and turned to leave. “No, I can run faster.”

The last thing he saw before he left was a look of disbelief written across the woman’s face.

Besides, I want to practice on the way.

Ever since Jennifer published her newest video, he spent hours in a chair as he read through responses. Now, he was relieved to finally do something productive, and even planned to practice his aether exercises along the way. Blake wanted to alter his Spatial Step ability to reach a greater distance without the AI’s assistance. So far, he had been unsuccessful, but he had not given up hope.

I was so close last night.

He squeezed through the front door’s barricade and sprinted across the parking lot. Once he reached the main road, all he needed to do was stay on it for twenty miles, and it would lead him directly to Skull Valley.

Along the way, he leapt over stalled vehicles and utilized Alacrity every time it was available. Within just a few minutes, he left town, sprinted downhill, and entered the desert. Once he was on the open road, he began to practice. 

Blake focused on his aether spell and pushed. Just as before, he felt a sort of mental resistance, but unfortunately could not push through. He teleported the standard twenty feet and briefly stumbled before he quickly recovered.

Why didn’t that work?

For the next ten minutes, he practiced the alteration every time a charge refilled. Unfortunately, he reached the small town far sooner than he expected, and had only made minimal progress. Blake passed by the primitive campground and continued along the road.

Eventually, he reached an intersection with a general store, post office, and fire department. He used Mind Sense to detect sapient life, but found only a single response nearby.

Which way did they go?

With no better option, he strode over to the tiny general store where he detected life. Blake was not sure if it was a monster or human inside, but the intact door gave him hope. He knocked on the flimsy wooden barrier and called out to the single occupant. 

“Hello? Anyone home?”

There was no response.

Blake turned the doorknob, but it was locked. 

“If you don’t answer, I’m forcing my way in,” he warned.

After another few seconds, he shrugged and forced the door open. The wooden jamb splintered, and one of the hinges was now bent, but the door continued to hang. 

However, as soon as he stepped inside, a blast resounded from within. Shotgun pellets slammed into his chest armor, but none penetrated through. 

His hearing recovered almost immediately, and he saw an old man hurriedly load another round into the chamber. Before the man could cock the mechanism, he stepped forward, grabbed the warm steel barrel, and ripped the shotgun from the man’s trembling hands.

“You can have this back after you answer some questions,” Blake told the old man.

The senior was either hard of hearing, or was temporarily deaf from the blast, as he did not acknowledge Blake’s demand. Instead, he backed away with wide eyes until his back met the wall. With raised hands, he pleaded for his life, loudly.

“Please! Take whatever you want, but leave me alone!”

Blake rolled his eyes and spoke louder, “I just want information.”

“What?”

“INFORMATION!” Blake shouted.

“About what?” the old man asked in confusion.

“DID YOU SEE A GROUP OF MEN ON THE STREET?”

“I want nuthin to do with them,” he replied.

Blake sighed in frustration. 

“WHICH WAY DID THEY GO?”

Rather than respond, the elderly man pointed to his right, south.

Finally!

Blake tossed the man his shotgun, and exited the General Store. He did not hold the experience against the old man. After all, Blake had been the one to break in. However, he was pressed for time and did not want to deal with the man’s lack of hearing.

If I head back this way, I’ll see if he wants to join us.

There was no way the thin old man could make the trip, so Blake would be forced to carry him. However, with his strength, a hundred and forty pounds was nothing.

Blake sprinted down the open road for another five minutes before he spotted a large group ahead of him. 

There they are.

He quickly closed the gap, and was only feet away by the time they became aware of his presence. The group turned in shock, which revealed their faces. The moment Blake identified Jacob, he immediately went into action.

Blake used a Mind Blast to stun them, and half collapsed to the ground unconscious. The people further away dropped their weapons and clutched their temples as a major headache prevented all action.

While they were disabled, Blake used his spear to cut them down. He showed no mercy and quickly eliminated the group. Within minutes, the entire group was dead.

That’s done.

Suddenly, a notification appeared before him.

You have gained fifty million nano for completing a directive.

The Black Diamond faction is now subordinate to yours.

Nice.

Since he already laid claim to the faction, once he killed its old leader, the countdown immediately completed. He no longer needed to wait until tomorrow morning for ownership to transfer. 

Blake did not bother to check his combat log. The miniscule amount of nano he received from level zero people was almost unmeasurable, even with the twenty-five percent increase. His Mark of Cain would grow larger and darker, but was more hindrance than benefit.

He cleaned the blood off his spear, grabbed one of the few water bottles that still contained liquid, and gulped it down. Afterward, he threw the bottle to his side, it would degrade completely within weeks thanks to the nanomachines, and then reached for the largest backpack they had. 

Blake emptied the spare water bottles and food from it and searched the group for pistols and ammo. While he would love to take the rifles as well, they were too bulky, especially if he were to carry the old man back to Prescott.

Once his pack was filled, he strapped it over his shoulder, gathered his spear, and sprinted back the way he came. The corpses were left behind for either animals or monsters to feast on, he did not care.

Just a few minutes later, he arrived back at the general store. He called out to the old man before he entered, and was surprised when he received a response.

“What do ya want this time?” the old man demanded, not bothering to point his shotgun at Blake.

“To see if you want to join my faction,” Blake replied. “I can offer you food, safety, and everything else you need to survive this invasion.”

The man turned his head and spat. “Don’t need none of that. I got everything I need here.”

Blake glanced around the tiny shop. Most of the food on the shelves was missing, and everything in the freezers was rotten. “Are you sure? It looks like most of your food is gone already.”

“How I survive don’t concern you,” the elderly stated.

He furrowed his brow.

Why the hell are people so stubborn?

Blake shook his head. “Fine. If you want to die here, alone, I won’t stop you.”

He turned and stepped outside the small shop to leave the obstinate senior behind. There were thousands of people who wanted to be saved, he would not waste his time on those who refused his help.

On the trip back to town, he continued to practice his spell alteration. Once, he thought he was partially successful and might have extended his range by a few feet. However, when he turned around and paced out the distance, he realized he was mistaken.

There has to be some trick to it.

A few minutes later, he re-entered Prescott and began to scan for monsters or people. Since he was no longer on a timer, he took the time to investigate each grouping, and found multiple families huddled behind barricaded doors.

Unlike the old man, once they moved past their initial fear and suspicion, they were eager to be rescued. Once he began to escort people back to the grocery store, his progress stalled, and he became wary of any nearby monsters. Blake was all but invulnerable, but his new faction members were not.

When he invited a third family to his faction, his brows rose in surprise.

For gaining over ten thousand faction members, your title has been upgraded. - [Baron] → [Viscount]

The [Viscount] title increases your attributes by fifteen percent and grants members of your faction three percent of your attributes.  Increase the size of your faction to upgrade your title again.

Wow, a Viscount already.

While his new faction members gathered their belongings, Blake quickly checked his new title and attributes and admired the change.

Viscount Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity, Ambassador to the Architect

• Attributes - Increased by 82%

• Physical Power - 34.6[5]

• Physical Stamina - 29.1[1]

• Physical Resistance - 29.1[5]

• Magic Power - 29.1[5]

• Magic Stamina - 29.1[2]

• Magic Resistance - 30.9[2]

The new title was a five percent upgrade over his old one, which granted him an additional five attribute points total. That was almost half a level worth for basically free. In addition, his entire faction would now receive three percent of his personal attributes, rather than two. While his nano-gear did not contribute to the title, his faction members would still be granted five and a half attributes just for joining. 

Too bad it won’t affect our new sub-faction members.

Once he finished reviewing his attributes, he decided to glance at the rest of his progress as well. He ignored the achievements, as they had not changed, and instead focused on his general skills and spells.

General Skills -

•      Summon Companion

•      Spatial Storage III - 11%

•      Analyze III - 1%

•      Request Audience

•      Unarmed Combat Mastery IV - 100%

•      Sword Mastery VI - 82%

•      Spear Mastery VI - 92%

•      Bow Mastery II - 24%

•      Shield Mastery III - 57%

•      Axe Mastery IV - 1%

•      Knife Mastery II - 34%

•      Tracking IV - 13%

  Spells -  

       Chi - 

•          Transferable Focused Regeneration - 8%

•          Sustained Alacrity - 34% 

       Mana -

•          Shared Improved Flame Shield - 24%

•          Hastened Gale - 11% 

       Psi -  

•          Improved Directed Mind Blast - 4%

•          Oblate Mind Sense - 48% 

       Aether -  

•          Charged Guided Spatial Step - 92%

•          Adjustable Dampen Sound - 28%

  Nano - 884m

Blake had reached one hundred percent mastery in Unarmed Combat Mastery IV, but was not high enough level to upgrade the skill. To buy the next upgrade, he would need to reach level four. 

He had made steady progress on his spell mastery as well, even his newest evolution, Improved Directed Mind Blast. The upgrade had only been achieved a few days before, and was already at four percent. 

Finally, he stared intently at the almost nine hundred million nano he had saved since Invasion Day. He was over a third of the way to level three and was eager to increase it further. Once the combat teams arrived this afternoon, he would be free to return to their new faction town at Goldwater Lake. 

Then, he would finally explore the portal.

Next Chapter