Chapter 118 - Heading Out

“Is this the first time you’ve been outside town?” Blake asked from the front passenger seat of the converted diesel truck as they pulled through the first gate. The original entrance remained, yet the large area beyond it was now entirely filled with farms, their metal workshops, and tanneries.

His people celebrated the move of their loud, smelly industry away from their living area. The constant clang of Kuruk and the other blacksmiths was now dampened, and people no longer smelled ammonia from the tannery when they walked the streets. 

If only all my issues were that easy to solve.

“You mean since monsters showed up everywhere?” Jennifer asked rhetorically. “Yeah.”

“Blake turned to their driver. “What about you Bobby?”

“I made a trip to the dollar store shortly after we arrived, but it was already cleared out,” he answered. “I considered going further, but it didn’t seem safe.”

Blake nodded. “Probably a wise decision.”

“How many monsters are there outside?” Jennifer asked nervously as they passed through the outer gate. 

The perimeter wall was still under construction, but already  rose over ten feet from the ground. It was plenty tall enough to ward off the simple level zero monsters that roamed the area, but could not interface with the shield generator until it was fully upgraded to level two.

“It varies,” Blake answered. “Generally, there’s a larger amount of monsters in highly populated areas, but they don’t exactly stay put. They roam a lot, looking for food and easy nano, so you can never be too sure. It also depends on whether they’ve been culled recently.”

“Culled?” Jennifer asked, curious.

Blake nodded. “Yeah. After enough monsters show up, the Architect starts giving everyone nearby directives to ‘clear out the monster nest’, or ‘eliminate the goblin leader’. Things like that. The longer the directive goes without being completed, the higher reward it offers.”

“Kind of like the lottery,” Bobby muttered.

“Hmm?” Blake turned to their driver.

The bodyguard shrugged. “If no one wins the lottery, they raise the payout, which gets more people to buy tickets. I was just thinking that it’s kind of the same thing.”

Jennifer frowned. “I didn’t think you saw the directive rewards until after you completed them. How will people know if it’s worth it?”

“Oh, that’s only for normal directives,” Blake informed her. “Trust me, when it wants you to do something, it’ll let you know. One time, there was this massive horde of monsters in Phoenix. It got so bad, that everyone in the city had a constant alert on their heads-up display that wouldn’t go away. There was this big red warning that blinked for three weeks until our faction finally wiped out the nest.”

After Blake shared his tale, no one spoke as they watched the scenery pass them by. As the lead vehicle, Bobby kept his speed low. The rest of the convoy towed trailers with supplies, which had no brakes. Their progress was three times slower than it would have been before Invasion day, but was still far more efficient than walking.

“I think I see one!” Jennifer pointed out the back window.

To their right, what looked like a four-foot tall rat pummeled headfirst into the locked, metal door of an abandoned house. Its head was coated in blood, yet it remained singularly focused on its task, despite the door only being dented.

“Are we going to stop and kill it?” Jennifer asked.

Blake snorted. “If we stopped to kill every monster we see, we’ll never make it to Prescott before dark. Hell, it was like a four-hour drive before Invasion day. Now, we’ll be lucky if we make it there before dark.”

“What happens if we don’t?” Jennifer asked, then clarified. “Make it before dark, that is.”

Blake shrugged. “Then we circle the wagons and hole up for the night.

“Are the monsters more dangerous at night?” Bobby asked.

“No, but it’s harder to see them.”

“Maybe I should just spend my nano now…” Jennifer muttered.

I wonder how much she has after her new subscribers.

Blake used Analyze on her and saw that her attributes remained the same as before the interview. She had placed all twelve level zero points into Magic Power, with nothing spread to the others.

Jennifer frowned as she studied her interface. Finally, she glanced at Blake. “You said it was a bad idea before to put all my points in Magic Power. If I want to buy another twelve attributes, where should I put them?”

“That depends,” Blake shrugged.

“On?” she prodded him.

“Do you plan on getting into combat, or do you just want to read people’s minds,” he said.

Jennifer rolled her eyes. “I don’t plan on wading through monsters, but I would like to be able to defend myself.”

“Then I’d suggest you put six points in Physical Resistance and the other six in Physical Stamina.”

“Why stamina?” Jennifer frowned. “I don’t think I’m going to be doing a lot of cardio out there.”

Blake snorted. “It’s not just how good of shape you’re in, it also determines how quickly you heal. Hell, once you get above ten, you don’t even really get sick anymore. Your body fights off the cold before it becomes a problem.”

“Oh my God, that’s amazing! Why isn’t that in the guide?” she demanded to know.

“It is,” he insisted.

“Nope,” Bobby disagreed. “All it says is that it increases the speed of healing. Nowhere does it say you’ll never get sick again.”

“Oh,” Blake frowned and scratched his cheek. “I guess I thought it was obvious.”

“How the hell is being immune to disease obvious?” Jennifer threw her hands into the air.

“It doesn’t make you immune,” Blake argued. “It’s still possible to get food poisoning, at least until your stamina reaches fifteen, and there’s a chi spell that can make you sick as well.”

“So, you’re saying, with a high enough Physical Stamina, you could drink bleach and be fine?” Bobby clarified.

He shook his head. “No, that would be your resistance, not stamina. Although,” he trailed off. “If you healed fast enough, the bleach wouldn’t really hurt you either…”

Jennifer’s jaw dropped. “Why would anyone…”

“Hold up,” Blake interrupted. “I need to take care of this. Just keep driving.”

During their discussion, he noticed a group of goblins which had attempted to ambush them. They hid behind an abandoned vehicle in the road ahead, and would likely pop out after they drove past. While the goblins would likely be unable to harm anyone inside the vehicles, they could still pierce a tire and ruin their day.

He opened the passenger door and stepped out of the moving vehicle. After his shoes hit the ground, he quickly recovered his footing and unhooked his bow from his shoulder. He retrieved an arrow, automatically charged it with chi, and loosed his projectile at the vehicle.

The arrow pierced through both the front and back windshields and became lodged within a goblin. A moment later, it exploded and injured those nearby. While the goblins shrieked and fled, Blake calmly released arrow after arrow into the backs of the monsters. 

Within seconds, the entire patrol was eliminated. Blake jogged forward to catch up to the truck. He pushed the door open further, and then hopped back inside with the bow once again looped over his shoulder.

“Nice,” Bobby nodded.

“How did you know they were there?” Jennifer asked in awe.

“Oblate Mind Sense,” Blake explained. “It works kind of like sonar in a submarine. It pings a signal out, and I get a mental map of every mind within like two hundred feet.”

Jennifer shook her head. “But you were talking to us the whole time.”

Blake shrugged. “Honestly, I’ve been kind of doing it automatically any time we get close to something that looks like it could be an ambush. At this point, I don’t even really think about it.”

“Should I buy level two and take Mind Sense?” Jennifer asked.

“Buy level two,” Blake’s brows furrowed. “Just how much nano do you have?”

Jennifer tilted her head. “A little over six hundred million nano right now.”
 What the hell?!

Blake’s jaw dropped. “That’s insane! You got that many more subscribers after the interview?”

“Yep. Although, I lost some of my original followers, too. Some people thought ambushing Warner like that was a low blow.”

Bobby snorted.

“I mostly picked up international viewers,” Jennifer explained. “They really liked seeing Warner taken out.”

“What about Warner’s subfactions? Did any of them leave yet?”

“I haven’t heard anything yet, but you said it takes twenty-four hours. If some governors or congressmen abandoned Warner, they probably wouldn’t announce it until they were sure it would work.”

I can see that. Although, that could also bite them in the ass once Warner has troops stationed everywhere.

“Okay, I upgraded my Physical Stamina and Resistance, and bought level two. Now, what spell should I get when it’s done?”

Upgrades to your body were never instant. Instead, they slowly took shape over minutes or hours. Jennifer would likely not reach the next level for another hour or two.

“I still can’t get over the fact that you can just get six hundred million nano in less than twenty-four hours for doing nothing.”

“Not, nothing,” Jennifer scowled.

 “Last night, I spent four hours fighting for my life against the Ursa so I could get a hundred mega-nano. While you were comfortable in your room chatting with your subscribers, I was almost bleeding out.”

“Maybe you should switch careers,” she said dryly.

Blake shook his head. “When I asked the Architect to let us transfer nano remotely, I was thinking about alliances and trade deals, not this.”

Jennifer snapped her fingers multiple times to get his attention. “Back on track. What spell should I learn?”

Blake sighed. “Honestly, Mind Blast is probably your best bet.”

“What about Kinetic Shield?” she asked. “That can stop bullets, right?”

“Good luck keeping that active for more than a minute.”

Jennifer frowned. “The guide doesn’t say anything about a time limit.”

“That’s because psi spells don’t need one. After a minute or two, you’ll just pass out from blood loss or a brain hemorrhage.”

Jennifer’s breath hitched. “Will that happen with all psionic spells? Is it permanent?”

Blake shook his head. “Yes, but it’s not permanent. You can also mitigate it a bit by raising your Physical Stamina and Magic Resistance.”

“Why not Magic Stamina?” Bobby asked.

“That determines how quickly you restore your energy, it doesn’t affect mental recovery, that’s still Physical Stamina. But, every time you cast a psi spell, it damages you. Magic Resistance determines how well you resist that damage.”

“So, should I put points into that next?” Jennifer asked.

“That depends, are you going to spam your spells over and over again? If not, then don’t bother. Most monsters outside scenarios won’t be able to cast a spell for at least another couple months.”

“Most?” Bobby frowned. “I thought they would all be level zero for a while.”

“Well, like I’ve been saying, the Architect is an asshole and sometimes portals in a higher level monster to act like a ‘boss’.”

“How much higher?” Jennifer asked.

“I’ve seen one up to four levels above the other monsters, but that was a special event.” Blake then pointed to the left. “Turn here, then keep going for the next two hours until we get to Payson.”

Bobby nodded and slowly turned the wheel. Once he completed the turn, he asked, “What about me? What attributes should I focus on?”

“As a chi user, I’d focus on the Physical attributes for your first five levels. After that, you’ll need more energy and magic resistance, but you basically just need to become bulletproof, fast.”

“Should I put twelve points into Physical Resistance before I level?” he asked.

Blake furrowed his brows. “How much nano do you have?”

Bobby shrugged. “Whatever Jen gives me.”

“I don’t have enough to get you to level two yet, but I can give you the two hundred and forty million for twelve more attributes. Here,” she slapped a hand on his shoulder and transferred the nano. “Enjoy.”

“Thanks.”

Jennifer snorted. “You’re going to earn it.”

“What’s your resistance right now?” Blake asked the driver.

“I pumped it up to ten last time,” he answered.

“Then twelve to your Physical Resistance would make you bulletproof to pistol fire, but not rifle. Since you're more worried about people than monsters, it’s not a bad plan.”

“I thought you said don’t put all twelve in the same attribute?” Jennifer complained.

Blake shook his head and re-enunciated, “Bullet. Proof.”

Bobby grinned.

“Fine,” she muttered. “I’m going to start recording help videos about all this stuff for my subscribers. I need exclusive content for them, anyway.”

“Be my guest,” Blake replied. “I don’t mind shutting up for the rest of the drive to Payson.”

“Oh no, you’re not getting out of it that easy. You’re participating,” Jennifer threatened.

Damnit. I knew I should’ve picked a different truck!

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