CWD: OE ~ Twelve

Nacho threw another log on the fire, hoping that having extra heat in the air would let his skin stretch with less tearing or pain as his muscles writhed.

The hard oak rapidly perfumed the cabin, along with the sweet smell of Reuben’s root beer burps, as the man himself waxed eloquent. “I guess it’s fair that spending credits on small steps isn’t as exciting as getting those big, chunky upgrades. But those days are gone, unless we start earning and spending in the millions.”

“Let’s hope we get there someday,” Nacho enthusiastically agreed, not at all matching the tone the Healer had been setting. He dramatically lifted his arms toward Armor Mountain, “I’m going to need to borrow some credits from the Chips Guild Coffers. Forgive me, Old Bill!”

When he transferred them to his personal account, he knew Mayor Dan would get a message. That wasn’t an issue, since Mayor Dan trusted them. Nacho did suddenly wonder if they could use those messages to communicate. Could they somehow come up with a system of Morse Code by transferring credits in increments? Even something as simple as a code that meant ‘city is under attack’?

Nacho kicked off his shoes, bought and spent the Experience Points he needed, and was soon feeling the burn in his blood. His skin started to hurt, and he didn't think the fire was helping whatsoever. He looked down and saw the flesh over his bicep rip, and the adipose under the surface literally boil and steam as it was expended and removed, only for his body to seamlessly heal over it. Nacho decided not to watch so closely anymore.

“That was truly disgusting, thanks for the nightmare fuel.” Brie gave him a thumbs up as he finished the process and collapsed in an exhausted heap. “Now, I’m excited to see what your Balance Delayed Build type gave you.”

Nacho shared his Stat Sheet silently, taking deep breaths to try and move past the mental component of leveling up. One nice benefit he found right away was that he could inhale a massive volume of air, and keep it in his lungs for longer than he really wanted to test. If he had to guess, he could likely survive nearly three-quarters of an hour underwater. Internally, he told himself, “It’s the little things that make the boost that much more noticeable.”

Eli ‘Nacho’ Naches

Class: Junior League Chef

Level: 15

Experience Points: 159,700 to Level 16!

Current Credits: 0 (0 total Dinner Party pool)

Build Type: Balanced, Delayed

Body:

• Fitness: 25
• Metabolic Efficiency: 25

Mind:

• Mental Energy: 25
• Circuit: 25

Satiation:

• Hunger: 100
• Thirst: 100

Health Points: 60

Bonus Physical Damage: 12.5%

Health Regen: 25% Health Regen/minute

Total Mana Pool: 47.5

Bonus Spell Damage: 12.5%

Mana Pool Regen: 25% Mana Regen/minute

Skill Slots (4/4)

• Small Blades (Passive) Level 19: 38% bonus damage on all knife attacks.
  • Tier 1 Enhancement: Your blades can slice from up to 6 inches away from their edge!
• Ingredient Processing (Active) Level 19: Remove Putrid Mana from monsters up to Level 21.
  • Tier 1 Enhancement: Process ingredients from 15 feet away!
• Cooking Magic (Active) Level 19: Create food that enhances a single stat by 95% of maximum.
  • Tier 1 Enhancement: Throw magic into a food item you cooked from 15 feet away!
• Feasting Feats (Active) Level 19: Cook 19 times the food you’re currently preparing!
  • Tier 1 Enhancement: you can choose up to five places people can use you like a vending machine! At the low, low cost of 15% of the sale price, people no longer need to come bother you directly for their food. It’ll just appear in front of them, wherever you specify, within 500 feet of the food source.
    • Caution! As this is meant as a feast for many, and not for one, only a single portion of each meal created through the use of this skill can be eaten by each person!

Nacho had to wince at their current surplus of credits. They were flat broke, which was beyond dangerous. They needed to have at least a bit of cash, so he transferred another fifteen hundred credits from the guild’s coffers just in case. He divided the extra money among his friends, so each of them were holding five hundred, then focused on the changes that he had gone through with his level increase.

Every fifth level he got the benefits of his ‘Balanced, Delayed Build’. In this instance, all of his Stats went from twenty, to twenty-five. The results were dramatic. He had gained ten extra Health Points, and his Damage Bonus had jumped to twelve and a half percent.

His Mana Pool jumped seven and a half Points, and his Mana Regen was now at twelve and a half percent. “Every little bit helps.”

Nacho shared his screen, as the others had, and all of their eyes glowed as they looked over his Stat Sheet. Reuben started muttering to himself ‘quietly’. “Don’t be jealous of Nacho. Taking a bite of his arm won’t increase any of my own stats. Just relax. Then again, one bite just to check wouldn’t hurt him too much-”

“No. Bad Reuben.” Brie slapped her husband’s arm as he started reaching for the Guild Leader. “Don’t blame Nacho for being able to plan ahead.”

“This wouldn’t be possible for all of us.” Nacho blew out a breath. “The incremental gains you guys get at every level is far better for staying at the top of your game as we fight through stuff on the daily. Otherwise we’d have to grind the same, safe creatures over and over until we reached our credit goal. Also, I had no idea back at the start that we would be able to pull in the number of credits that we’re earning. It was the safest, best option, and I stand by it.”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t want those thick numbers, bud.” Reuben looked at Nacho one last time, searchingly, then grumbled and handed the cook the salt shaker he had grabbed. “It was just, you know… in case.”

“In case I didn’t stop you from biting him, and Nacho needed salt?” Brie’s words earned a guilty smile from the Healer. “Right, glad I’m here then. Any chance we can shop for some Skills before we go to bed?”

“Not like I couldn’t heal him.” Reuben muttered as he waved off Brie’s question. “No shopping, please. I’m beat. We’ll wait for this Skills Box thing that Nacho keeps practically drooling over.”

The cook could easily understand why his friend was so tired. It was well past midnight, and they’d be up at first light to rush the rest of the way to the CrossWorld Portal. He turned to the Berserker. “Gustav mentioned something about a skills dungeon near the CrossWorld Portal. Let’s just wait a bit longer? Both because we’re outta money, and because I truly think there are going to be better options.”

Brie looked troubled, and finally spat out the words that had been clawing their way up her throat. “We have to be at our best. I can’t lose Reuben, and I can’t lose you. You should know better than anyone that new skills might keep us alive.”

“No one is going to be dying. But…” Nacho looked at the ground, lost in his thoughts for a long moment. “You’re right. It’s better to be ready for anything, and I agree that it’d be better to have skills that are better short term, than lose one of you because we wanted to be ‘thrifty’.”

Reuben called from his bunk. “I know for sure that lack of sleep might kill me! Being distracted in combat is deadly, and all that.”

“Thank you for seeing reason. Good night.” Brie seemed to agree to at least try sleeping, though like Nacho, she was nervous about the next day. It would mean fighting, and not just against Juxtaposition monsters, but CrossHumans.

There was a side benefit to having leveled up: the massive stressors on their bodies—especially Nacho—had worn them out. A good night of sleep, and a hearty meal in the morning, would let them utilize their new stats far better. He climbed into one of the bunk beds at the back of the cabin, suddenly missing his kitchen shelf. Not that he’d be sleeping on the shelf anymore, as he’d be expected to sleep in the new tower that was being constructed while they were out and about.

“Ugh. People are getting too coddled already. Me too, I suppose.” He fell asleep right after he finished muttering to himself, then was up first at first light. He roused both his friends by making coffee. While it was not something that was technically needed, old habits die hard. Old addictions die harder.

With how much cream, sugar, and epic Store vanilla sauce that Reuben put in his coffee, it probably had enough nutrients to give him a quarter of his Hunger Points back. Nacho could only look on in disgust as Reuben finished off the bottle of syrupy fluid, then took a sip of his…. abomination, and let out a happy sigh.

After ‘coffee’, they packed up and were back on the road just as the sun crested the horizon. While they walked, Nacho discussed options on how they might be able to communicate long-range with the guild. By actively moving money in and out of the Chips Guild coffers, they could work up a code that would allow them to send messages. The automatic guild taxes hit without notifying them, but any deposits or withdrawals came with careful accounting from the System for the top three people in the guild, which in this case was Nacho, Reuben, and Mayor Dan.

They discussed what each of the values would mean, and to no one’s surprise, Reuben had a few excellent ideas and points that he was able to share. In practically no time at all, they had a rudimentary morse code set up between them. They never expected to have to use it, but it was a good way to pass the time as they moved.

Eventually they turned off their normal path to the Bove’s Lair, instead following a trail to the southeast that had been marked by members of their guild. They only slowed, and eventually stopped, when Nacho caught the rank stench of the Portal blowing into their world. He dropped his pack, equipping his armor and weapons, though he kept his blades sheathed for maximum stealth.

The sky was a curtain of black clouds, and while it wasn’t raining—yet—the smell of an imminent downpour mixed with the rotten chemical smell seeping off the Portal. Nacho was grateful for the pseudo-darkness: he didn’t have any special stealth abilities, but after spending three years skulking around in his Probability Vision, he knew his way around a shadow or two.

“Splitting the party isn't good,” Brie argued futilely one last time. “You both told me that for months now, and here you go running off on your own.”

“I’ll be right back,” Nacho stated with minimal exasperation. He was thankful that she was worried about him, and there was no reason to downplay that. “There’s just no point in scouting, if all of us are going at the same time. Don’t worry… we can use our new System. If I transfer two credits, I’m fine. The second I need help, I’ll transfer three credits, and you’ll know to come running. Four credits means stay. Five credits means I need help, but approach with extreme caution. Six credits means I’m fine, but weirdness is afoot, so come but be careful. Seven credits means you should use Combat Dash to come and rescue me.”

“Nothing that says don’t come, but you’re in trouble?” Reuben quirked an eyebrow and showed an unhappy grin.

“No, always make sure to save me at any cost.” Nacho deadpanned in return.

“Nice.” The Healer shook his head. “There’s just one problem with our code. If you’re in Active Combat, you won’t be able to access the System. That means no Credit transfers. Be careful, and don’t take any unnecessary risks. After all, we are going to forgive you for dashing our hopes with the donuts… eventually.”

“We’ll forgive him when we’re forced to use them and they actually help.” Brie clarified, turning the mood somber. They all knew they’d be eating donuts that very day.

Nacho nodded at his friends, then melted into the forest. He focused on staying off the path and avoiding the tangles of thickets. With the thick layer of clouds, there were plenty of shadows for Nacho to use, and he was careful not to get entangled with any monster plants. Having been almost murdered by a basic millet, he didn’t want to fall victim to any flora that had started dangerous, like poison ivy. “Leaves of three, don’t devour me.”

Nacho followed his nose to the Portal, but caught the scent of something else. A sweeter perfume than normal rot. “Zombies? I’d bet fifty credits that I just smelled zombies. Now there’s a bet I'd be happy to lose.”

He crept through the undergrowth, every one of his senses awake and alive. His heart was pounding, his lungs screaming for him to take deep breaths. Nacho crossed a dirt path marked by monster hooves but also by very human footprints. For a second, he felt that thrill of battle, that intoxication of being in imminent danger.

Just then he caught the scent of a campfire.

Creeping closer to his goal, Nacho came to the edge of a glade; still a good ways away from the Portal itself. What made him stop and hold his position was the numerous undead standing next to trees, motionless. Many were dressed in armor, surprisingly few held weapons, but all of them had rotting faces. To Nacho, that meant only one thing. “Someone really doesn’t want to see these things as people.”

He picked out a narrow path, making sure he could move without being seen. Getting back out would be tricky, but just like getting in, not impossible. Zombies were not good guards. Likely something to do with their eyes frosting over.

Then Nacho saw the woman in the glade, and all thoughts of reconnaissance left him. Actually, for several long seconds, he couldn’t think at all. He was too stunned by what he saw.

She was cooking.