NOVEL NEXT Chapter 48: First Foray Out
<Alex, Real - Endure, Understreet Maintenance Tunnel>
Alex had mixed feelings as they decided to change up the order of travel for their first foray out of the high school.
Natasha would be in front with John right behind, then Pilar behind him. Mr. Southard, then Ms. Woods, and Mr. Weston would be next, in that order. Those three would be followed by Alex so he would be able to protect the civilians, even hopefully being able to take attacks at need. Grant would bring up the rear.
All things considered, Alex was a bit surprised to not be put at the front, but he supposed it made sense.
His greatest benefit was his immunity to zombism, and he could impart that through his blood if Natasha or any of the others were bitten.
The teachers, on the other hand, were essentially defenseless. If even a weak attack hit any of them, they'd be dead near instantly.
There was the danger of Plague Witches, but no strategy would be perfect, and this one seemed better than most. There were no solutions, only trade-offs.
Alex frowned for a moment. Was he making assumptions that he shouldn't? He decided to do a quick Analyze on the two other teachers, as he likely should have from the beginning.
Mr. Southard
Human, Level 4
Ms. Woods
Human, Level 8
Huh… Well, they'll be at least a bit more survivable. It was funny that they were taking two old men and a young, unmarried woman with them as their pack-mules. Oh, how the System changes things.
He vaguely wondered if Ms. Woods had been paid more, being higher level as teachers with more certifications had been back home… It didn't actually matter though.
As he considered some of the meanings of what he saw, he simply decided to ask. "When I analyze another person, is the level that shows up their race? Class? The lowest of the two? Highest?"
Mr. Weston grunted. "You will see the highest level they possess, whether race or class."
Ms. Woods called back, "But be careful, it can still be deceiving unless you are able to get the grade as well. It's an okay metric if you can learn it, but don't rely on it too heavily."
"Huh… thank you."
"Of course."
The group was moving in the prescribed order down the long narrow tunnel.
As they began to move down the passage, Mr. Weston glanced over his shoulder. "I'll begin summoning boxes again, Mr. Alex. I know you'll be able to react quickly and take them into your Inventory before they fall, but I would like you to try to have the action prepared so that each box comes into your Inventory as soon as they come within your range."
Alex sighed. "I'll try, but please be thoughtful about when I need to be paying attention to other things."
"Of course."
Mr. Southard spoke in a carrying voice back toward them. "Don't think about it like being ready to catch something, think of it more like taking a breath as soon as you breach the surface after a dive."
Alex… had no idea what the distinction was. It seemed like both were simply being in a ready state to take an action upon noticing a change, but he decided to keep the advice in mind regardless. "Alright."
The older man grinned, turning to face forward once more. "I know you'll do fine."
Alex had only taken three steps before a cube appeared before him, Mr. Weston not even having to turn around to expel the item so perfectly.
Alex extended his hand, pulling the box into place around the other cubes in his Inventory without having to touch it directly.
His Inventory felt… sore wasn't quite the right word, but it was close enough. In that vein, it was like he was trying to work muscles that had stiffened after the previous day's exercise.
Cube.
At first, it felt like too much, but that quickly passed as he got the skill 'moving.'
Cube.
It helped that he trusted Mr. Weston both personally and as someone whom the System seemingly had put in this Tutorial specifically to teach them about skill use.
It made him wonder what other resources were hidden within this city, just waiting to be uncovered.
Cube.
They had exchanged a total of four boxes before Natasha opened the outer door, revealing a dark passage barely large enough for a small car to drive through… though no car would ever have a way to get down here.
Hey, maybe the Italian Job wasn't quite as absurd as I thought.
He just hoped that their venture ended as well… ideally without quite as many unforeseen issues as that movie had depicted.
Yes, I can hope…
Each of their group had ropes of magical lights around them to ensure good illumination and a minimum of shadows around them. So, Natasha was well lit when she left the tight side tunnel from the gym basement, moving straight across to another door on the other side, which they'd previously seen was open.
John and Pilar took up positions in the middle of the perpendicular passage, one looking either way to cover their crossing, and once they had that formation in place, the rest began to quickly move across.
The door they were entering should lead into the building across the street from the high school, and there were supposedly six families for them to check in that single building.
Apparently, there was something in the housing codes that made it easier for families with school aged children to get units close to appropriate schools. They also made it easier for workers at the school—whether faculty or staff—to do so as well, if they so wished.
Stolen novel; please report.
That sounded like a bureaucratic mess to Alex, and he couldn't easily figure out a way that it couldn't effectively devolve into property seizure under many circumstances, but he supposed it made sense for a scenario like this. The System just had to say that it worked, and it did for the purposes of the tutorial.
I won't envy the churn in tenants, however. Being a landlord around schools must be a nightmare.
The teachers were all across the larger tunnel and safely into the side path by that point, and Alex was halfway across when a fourth teacher came up behind them, seemingly sent by Kaylee to lock the door after them and man it until their return.
Grant and the teacher exchanged a few words before the big man followed Alex across to the side passage, Pilar and John falling in behind him, only after the door into the school's basement was sealed.
The door to the school closed with a metallic rattle that echoed through the seemingly deserted tunnels. Then, the sound of metal sliding on metal indicated the crossbar falling into place. A moment later, Pilar closed the door that they'd passed through into the new side passage, sighing when she found no means of locking it behind them.
That at least explained why it had been open.
The tunnel to the basement was shorter on this side, but the room itself was very similar to the one that they'd left, save it lacked the large vats and rot tendrils.
Alex shuddered, glad for the second at the very least.
Natasha cleared her throat. "Focus up, everyone. I expect there to be undead in the halls, even if the main entry hasn't been breached."
That sobered everyone's mood and elicited a round of nods.
Alex cleared his throat. "My Danger Sense indicates that something is close at hand."
Mr. Weston pulled back, clearly uncertain, but also willing to forge ahead… if hesitantly.
Natasha glanced toward Alex, considering, and nodded before facing forward once more. "Alright. Let's do this."
In this basement, the doorway leading to the stairs had a door on it. Natasha unlocked it with a flick and pulled it open, revealing a quivering mass of flesh and limbs, several bodies already launching themselves toward the still-swinging door, toward their group.
Oh, mustard candy!
<Kaylee, Real - Endure, High School Gymnasium>
Kaylee stared in fascination as her map of her base grew along with the party's progress. She could see the passage under the street, though she could only see out to what she assumed to be the distance that light reached from the group.
It was marked differently on the map, however. She knew that the base extended to the once-more-sealed door in the basement, but the tunnels weren't being added.
Maybe that's because it's not secured? There's no physical barrier, so the magic won't extend… If that was the case, it might be useful to build something, because that might extend their base even as far as one or more of the apartment buildings.
She watched as they passed into the first side tunnel, the map not expanding further, and the indicators of the individuals faded from view. Well, there goes that idea.
She'd hoped that they could build out a map of the city and keep a close eye on their people with the base map, but it seemed that the System didn't want it used that way.
Kaylee sighed, pulling up some of the other menus.
It had been hours, and so she had a bit of a backlog of mana to use, and one potential upgrade had stood out to her above all others.
The 'Undeath Mana Syphon' said that it would pull magic of undeath from the surroundings into the base, and concentrate it for later use.
She had no desire to use it later, but she figured that if she was draining the energy, then it couldn't be used to spawn more enemies in the vicinity. That should give them a bit more safety and security close at hand, even if that wouldn't prevent undead from wandering their way.
Still… she didn't want to spend the magic, nor use the 'augmentation slot' without discussing it with the others.
She sighed, noting it down on a sheet of paper and diving back into the mass of information and options available to her.
This is like an odd cross between an RTS and Tower Defense games… except I can completely seal off the tower that I'm defending… She shook her head. She hadn't played that many games, so there was probably a better analogy out there somewhere, she just didn't know it.
It didn't matter, though. She had work to do.
<Alex, Real - Endure, Random Apartment Basement>
Natasha's spear lashed out in three strikes that seemed to only hit air for all the resistance they appeared to meet.
Even so, the sound of steel in flesh was enough to make it clear that she'd struck home.
Pilar gestured, and fire roared forward.
As soon as it passed through the doorway, Alex saw a Force Shield pop into existence, blocking most of the backwash of heat.
Huh, I wonder why it blocks heat but not light… I suppose it keeps hot air from moving our way. I bet radiant heat still gets through?
He had no idea, and it was hardly the time.
A moment later, Pilar gestured again, and all the fire winked out.
Their enemies were dead.
Ms. Woods looked a bit pale, and Mr. Weston cleared his throat loudly. "Well… Well done. I… I can't say I actually expected to see the undead so close."
Mr. Southard chuckled. "Thought things were a bit overblown?"
The thinner man shook his head, clearing his throat again. "No, no. I went out to the school yard before agreeing to take this little trip. It's easy to see the masses of undead through the fence after all. I simply expected them to be… at a greater distance, I suppose."
Alex grunted. "Well, as we advance, we're going to see more and more. Do you need to go back?"
The older teacher shook his head. "No… No, I'll be fine."
"Well, I don't want you to forget that I can cure zombism. If you get hurt, tell someone if you're able. We'll try to watch for any signs of the turning paralysis. Because of that, and so many other reasons, you shouldn't be in any lasting danger while with us."
The three teachers gave nods of understanding.
Cube.
Alex let out a squeak and barely drew the cube into his Inventory before it hit the floor.
Mr. Weston smiled, clearly trying to use helping Alex as an anchor for his own courage. "You're still reacting. Try to be in a ready state."
Alex sighed but still gave a firm smile in return. "Yes, Mr. Weston."
That made the man's smile grow considerably. "Such a good student."
Chuckles rippled through the group, and by that time, Natasha and Pilar had finished ensuring the mass of bodies were all truly, fully dead.
At a gesture from the Russian spear-woman, Alex came forward and ashed the undead with his Basic Life Transfusion.
He only sent out HP so he wouldn't have to get it back, and it only had taken a few points to deal with the whole cluster.
He was fully healed again before the others were ready to advance.
They got back into formation, and Natasha led the way up the stairs.
There was danger ahead, and they would face it together.
Speaking of which, Alex called out softly, "Danger."
Natasha seemed grateful for the indication that his Danger Sense was vaguely triggering again. She grunted but only hesitated for a moment on the stairs.
When she carefully opened the door at the top—thankfully encountering another dial rather than a keyhole on this side—she jerked back. There had apparently been something waiting for them, and it had torn the door open and bull-rushed forward as soon as she unlocked it.
We were too loud!
The creature got in close to Natasha before she could stab it with her spear, but she got a Force Shield in the way—wrapped around her torso—just in time to keep her from taking slashes.
The thing was not a regular zombie.
Bone plates covered it like an exoskeleton, and its arms were as long as its legs, all four appendages tipped with razor sharp bone-claws, and they were all scrabbling for the kill.