CC5 ~ 14!

14

Major General Havoc absolutely abused the ability to transfer between major forts. Every time someone tried to call him out on it, he would just point at Joe and mutter ‘Candidate rights’. Every time they needed to walk from one area to another, the Dwarf would loudly talk about the area, as if he was trying to prepare Joe for a mission. Not a single person dared to actually stop them, which was what Joe assumed the point was. Act confident, like you belong there, and people look the other way. “Over here is the Fields of Blood; it was one of my first conquests. The scars are still healing, hee…”

“See that?” Havoc pointed at a pillar of smoke in the distance. “Minor fort that got hit by a meteor recently. Pointy-ear mass-murdering beasts.”

Joe decided against pointing out that he had proudly just pointed out the ‘Fields of Blood’. A place didn’t earn a name like that casually.

“Over there is the rest and relaxation area. The light one contains the Caves of Solitude, one of the best places to try out new things without interruption.” On one of their last stops, Havoc waved at two mountains that appeared tiny due to the sheer distance. “The dark one is Gramma’s Shoe, the most active volcano on all the planes. Practically an eruption every week. It’s so dangerous to be nearby that it’s almost the only place in this Zone that hasn’t been a battleground. Even though we can see it, that’s a three-day forced march from here. I point these out so that this next transfer means even more to you.”

“On to the Capital.” One last flash of light, and Havoc pointed to the mountains again. “See that? Now they’re only about a full day’s march from here. That should give you a clue to how vast our territory is, as well as how much uninterrupted supply lines between forts means to our people.”

There was one final surprise on the trip, right as they were finishing their journey. Somebody zipped past the two of them so quickly that Joe could only make out a blur. A panicked voice trailed after them, “Oh-abyss-someone-help!”

Joe stared after the afterimage that was already vanishing into the distance, before turning to Havoc, “What was that? Should we go and help whoever that was? Was there an attack?”

“Yeah… don’t worry about her.” Havoc shook his head and looked at the ground. “There’s no help for her. One of you humans decided to focus way too hard on one single skill, specializing over and over again in the same thing without getting the characteristics required to properly use it.”

“What… um. Any idea what she did?” Joe couldn't help but feel sympathy for the poor lady; he too had done things that he should not have been able to do. He rubbed his hand over his bald head as he reminisced.

Havoc started to chuckle, which seemed fairly out of character for him. “I know exactly what she did. She specialized in ‘power walking’. Apparently, that was a form of getting healthy back in your world, and she was addicted to what she called ‘mall walking’. Anyway… she was working as a courier, back on Midgard, and specialized three times in movement-type classes. She put everything she had into dexterity and constitution, then hopped on the Bifrost. She's been here ever since, steadily increasing her body stats. Unfortunately for her… her perception is somewhere in the first tier still. Once she starts moving, she can't see where she is going, and moves in pretty much a straight line until she runs into something. Screams the whole time. Pretty funny, actually.”

“That's horrible! Can’t you-” Joe was going to say more, but Havoc cut him off. The human looked around, noticing the utterly massive city they were in. They had to be up on a mountain; the view gave that away. They were in the fortress area, nearly at the summit itself. For some reason, Havoc grabbed him and ran away from the fort, and Joe’s view dissolved into streaks as they travelled downhill. When they finally stopped, they had crossed several districts and a huge park, almost reaching the outer wall. “What was that all about?”

“Either the restraining order or the warrant was going to start messing with me if we hadn’t hurried.”

“The what?” Joe opened his mouth to press for more information, but Havoc shook his head.

“Enough now. Game face on; we're here. Now, once you go in there, you're going to have to make your way to a door if you want to get out. Here is the security code, which you’ll need in order to open the door from the inside. Watch out; such a huge area filled with gear, even busted, tends to draw scavengers. Doesn’t matter if they’re animals, monsters, or people. I recommend finding a door, then working until you get what you need.” Havoc waved toward a garbage can that was on the side of the street. “Well? What are you waiting for? Everyone puts every failure into the landfill. There are almost certainly going to be things in there you can break down, all the way to the Mythical tier! You just need to find them.”

“You want me to get into the garbage can?” Joe could not quite get past that fact. “Then just… what? Root around for a while?”

“Basically… yes.” Havoc pulled the lid of the garbage can off, and it expanded wide enough for Joe to fit through sideways, if he wanted. “Take a week. Fill up on aspects.”

“But I need weapons! Armor! Supplies?” Joe took a step back from the crazy Dwarf. Nothing that he said was swaying the Dwarf in the slightest.

“Fill. Up. Consider it a very, very important test.” Havoc chuckled darkly and gestured at the opening. “You can requisition anything you need… but you won't know what exists unless someone tells you about it. Do this my way, survive a week down there at a minimum, and I will get you a weapon that fits your class and abilities. I'll even get you someone that can teach you to use it properly.”

Joe tried to protest, so Havoc simply raised his voice to talk over him. “Here's a hint: the doors are spaced one hundred feet apart, and every ten feet vertically. The walls will have measurements on them. If you can clean enough of the muck off, you will be able to find your way pretty easily.”

Quest offered: The Treasure of Trash. Havoc wants you to go into a landfill within the Dwarven capital. If you survive a week, he will get you a weapon specific to your class. He is definitely not trying to use you to solve the massive garbage issue the Dwarven people have been concerned about for a decade or so. Rewards: new weapon, minimum Rare rank. Failure: upon death within one week, no additional assistance will be offered from Havoc besides the minimum he is required to provide.

“Seriously, man?” Joe was about to argue, but the quest acceptance button suddenly gained a ten-second timer. The human plodded forward, grumbling the entire way, then pulled himself up onto the edge of the trash can and glared at Havoc. “You had better put together some amazing intel for me.”

The human slid forward and started dropping. The tube was either magically slick, or just… Joe decided to think of it as magically slick. It was not slimy. He heaved for breath; the air was absolutely ripe. “Don't look at the wall you’re sliding on. Don’t do it, Joe. Ugh…! I looked.”

Debuff added: Legionnaires’ disease. You can expect a cough, shortness of breath, high fever, muscle pains, and headaches!

Joe landed heavily, plopping directly on some shards of metal that dug into his skin, only stopping once they hit bone.

Damage taken: 40 (fall damage halved due to Jumplomancer skills!)

“Ugh…” Joe groaned as he yanked the shards out of himself. “Mend. When did I turn my shell off?”

Please note that teleportation between fortresses deactivates any passive Buffs or spells which are not permanent enchantments! This is to ensure that reinforcements to fortresses must include healers and others that can add buffs.

Debuffs added! As there are multiple, they have been broken down into easy categories for explanation!

Bacterial diseases include:

· salmonellosis

· shigellosis

· staphylococcus

· tetanus

Viral diseases include:

· gastroenteritis

Parasitic diseases include:

· hookworm

· threadworm

· roundworm

“All buffs are deactivated? Abyss!” Joe stopped reading and activated Neutrality Aura as fast as he could. The stench lessened instantly, but he was still getting a lungful of filth with every breath. A few seconds of coughing later, his head stopped swimming long enough that he could read his messages again.

Calculating… as each of these were rapidly introduced and have not had any time to set in, Neutrality Aura has resolved each issue. Please note: you are in a toxic environment. Neutrality Aura, subcomponent ‘gas exchange’, is lowering the damage you are taking over time.

Debuff added: Toxic… everything. All air, ground, and liquids in the area are toxic. -10 health per second. Neutrality Aura is regenerating Health at 30 health per second. Damage is cancelled out, but please note that you are currently in a downdraft of fresh air.

Joe stared at all of the information that had appeared in the last few seconds, his hands literally shaking with rage at being tossed down here by the ‘mentor’ he had been assigned. Joe was at least starting to understand why being assigned to him was considered a punishment. He had thought it was because Havoc didn’t like people, but it turns out it was because the madman was just ready to abuse anyone in his command under the guise of an ‘experiment’. The fortress that had been empty, except for the two of them, should have tipped him off; but there was nothing Joe could do at this point except try to power on.

“I would already be dead without this skill… at least I won't have to drink anything down here. Hooray for passive hydration… that’s… pulling water from the area around me. Ew.” Joe closed his eyes and powered up his Exquisite Shell, absolutely ready to not take any more damage from stepping or falling on something. He peered around the absolutely dark area, as happy as ever with his passive Darkvision. He was standing in a… the mountain the Capital was built on must have been hollowed out; that was the only reason he could come up with to explain the immense cavern.

He glanced up and could see the ceiling of the space. Joe had fallen maybe fifty feet total after exiting that tube, and he wondered how high—full?—the landfill actually was. After walking over to the wall and sitting next to it, he allowed his aura to begin dissolving the thick, crusty slime that was coating the stone walls. He wasn't overly concerned about getting dirty; his shell kept new things from sticking to him, and his aura was constantly cleaning him. It took about four minutes to finish, but a large section of the wall was now clean. He easily found the markings that Havoc had mentioned, and tried to make sense of them.

+4189, -22.

Joe eyeballed the distance between his position and the ‘door’ he had fallen through, which was roughly one foot above the marking. No, it was likely exactly one foot above. “There's over four thousand feet of filth in here?”

He tried to look across the room but could not see the other side. Whether it was because it was too dark, or just too far away, Joe couldn't tell. He did know that it was an utter behemoth of a space, and there were probably literally hundreds of square miles of space in the cavern. Joe knew that he had been at the extreme outer edge when he had dropped down here… did that mean this space went under the entire city?

“How… how in celestials’ sake am I supposed to find anything in here?” Joe closed his eyes and flopped backward onto the soggy floor. He laid there for a moment, contemplating making a trash angel, when his ears started to ring with very soft sounds. “Great, now I have tinnitus?”

…Seventy-six Rare…

…Eight thousand Trash…

“I’m hearing numbers? Am I going crazy? My debuff list was empty when I last…?” Joe abruptly sat upright, and the sound stopped. He closed his eyes and leaned his head toward the floor again, and the sound started up very faintly. “All sensory abilities give information on aspect count! That means I’m either getting the info from Hidden Sense or Magical Synesthesia. Either way…”

“Sounds like…” Joe’s eyes popped open, all of the angst and desperation gone in an instant as a plan started to take form. “I have a way to find whatever is waiting for me.”