TAKE ON ME [Survival LITRPG Apocalypse]

The first thing Amber noticed was the new flavor of monster. Five [Level 6 Enraged Giant Ozark Beetles] leading the charge, and five new creatures fanning out behind them: [Level 6 Giant Ozark Beetle Nest Guard].

Dang. No Boss.

The enraged Beetles scurried forward.

Tom and Kate the Bear moved to intercept.

However, the [Nest Guard] variants had hung back, their shells vibrating in harmonic resonance. Long black spikes grew from their carapaces like thorns. One Beetle's whistling hit a new octave. Its spiked cones glowed with purple energy, then launched from its back.

Tess got her Shield up just in time. Three spikes slammed into the wooden circle.

Something burned Amber's left cheek. She tilted her head to the right until the burning stopped. A spike flew past her face—barely ruffling her hair—and embedded itself in the tree behind her.

Yep . . . [Spider's Grace] is the GOAT.

"Dad, music! Amber, Chloe, Mom, get on the Nest Guards! Everyone else, normal plan!" Tess's orders snapped out rapid-fire. "Loo, time to test your new spell!"

"Whoo hoo!" Loo's yell broke through the battle noise.

Loo began to move through her Qigong steps. Her hands and feet wove complex patterns as she worked through the forms of [Mana Spring]. Everyone around her began to look like they were caught in a rain storm. A second later, millions of dancing blue lights erupted from the ground, followed by a swarm of silver.

Bo summoned his guitar and belted out another old guy song: [Black Betty by Ram Jam]. It gave a strong buff though, and his spell spread across the battlefield with enough force to make the air vibrate. Amber's skin buzzed as the buff settled onto her, bringing strength, speed, and precision. Combined with Loo's mana flow—which now also included algae—Amber was primed and had everything she needed.

She kicked off a tree and launched herself toward the ranged Beetles, having already delayed too much while making sure Loo would be all right.

One of the [Nest Guards] let loose its piercing shriek and began to glow purple. The spikes shot off its back; most clanged off Tom's armor, but several shot past him toward the support line. The icon for [Tank's Sacrifice] flared to life over the back line just in time for one of the spikes to slam into Bo's thigh.

Bo screamed.

The musical buff dissolved into a debuff.

Amber felt like she had been dipped in syrup. Her foot caught on something, sending her lurching forward. She barely caught herself and glanced back over her shoulder at the support line.

Finn stumbled forward. One hand pulled the projectile free, while the other glowed green. However, Bo's hit points were still full, and his skin rapidly closed over the hole on its own.

Amber looked at her father, who had taken a large 15 percent hit to his health pool. It looked like her father's spell absorbed the damage, but Bo still felt the pain.

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"Get that wall up, Loo!" Tess shouted.

"On it!" Loo shouted. Within the [Mana Spring], large white coral skeletons emerged from the earth; some grew out like branching trees, and others formed into large flat shelving plates. Colors bloomed across the skeletons: vivid turquoises and blues; bioluminescent greens and purples; and yellows and pinks like dawn.

It's beautiful.

Spikes slammed into the side of the coral. The new wall extended the rock bluff's protection, growing just in time to absorb another volley of Beetle bullets. The spikes cracked against the living barrier, leaving spiderweb fractures that healed in front of Amber's eyes.

Well . . . that makes me feel a little better.

Bo fought to his feet and began to strum the guitar. After a few pained notes, he found his voice, and the debuff began to shift back into a buff.

"Good Recovery!" Tess shouted. "Check your targets! Finn, move up and be ready to heal Tom if he needs it, but stay behind the coral wall! Amber what are you waiting for!"

Amber shook her head and continued her charge. Maybe she was imagining it, but it was like she could feel the team's collective efforts come together. Spells and buffs were synergizing.

Amber danced and flipped between her own targets, dealing massive amounts of damage with [Slice] and [Stab]. Her Dad held the line while her Mom savagely mauled any Beetle that tried to flank. Chloe's crowd control held down two of the [Nest Guards]. Hana would cast a spell, drop the bone arm, shuffle through her backpack, pull out a new arm, then cast a spell and repeat the process. Richard cast [Fireballs], and cursed Tom and Kate the Bear for blocking his line of sight. Loo was flinging red jellies all over the place. Finn watched and waited.

After the last Beetle fell, they were breathing hard: a little beat up, but victorious. Tom and Kate the Bear had both been pierced and bitten, but Finn's healing patched them right up.

The group's mana reserves were spent, even after Loo's [Mana Spring].

The Beetles must have massive hit point pools.

"Okay, we've pushed our luck far enough," Tess said. "Good job, everyone!"

But we haven't leveled!

Amber wanted to try one more time to talk the team into staying but . . . holy cow, she was tired. It was dawning on her that her class wasn't really suited to the sustained killing of monsters. She loved the thrill, but her Daggers didn't do much damage without her abilities, which were a massive drain on her stamina. She would have to speak with Tess, but Amber was starting to see herself in more of a 'selective tactical strike' role.

"Loot on the way out," Tess said. "Move fast."

They hadn't touched the loot between the waves. Now, they quickly swept through the battlefield with practiced efficiency, scooping glittering remains into belt pouches and bags.

The haul was . . . disappointing. All the blueprints and recipes were [Crappy], and there were even fewer Copper Coins than usual. The Level 6 Beetles dropped three or four Coppers each instead of singles, but the effort required to kill them wasn't worth the sucky reward.

"I thought higher levels meant better loot," Bo muttered, kicking a still-dissolving Beetle corpse.

"Maybe Deep Woods are bad for loot," Chloe said.

They left before Wave 7 could spawn. The air immediately felt lighter.

"Sooo . . . today was to test the concept," said Tess. "Tomorrow will prove it. We're coming back here, and bringing Teams One, Two, and Three with us. Plus the battle masters for each team, and a few other choice picks like extra healers and some utility people."

"Boom!" Amber said with a giant smile. She knew Tess wouldn't let her down.

"That's what, like, forty or fifty people?" Bo said. "You want to fight monster waves that big?"

"Yes. The battle masters and I need to practice our formations. We'll fight the waves as proper army units, not just independent teams. Coordinated front lines and attacks, layered buffs and defenses, communication . . . the whole thing."

"What wave will we stay till?" Kate said. She was human again, but still favoring her left arm: her right one had been hit by a spike. "If we mess up, and a huge wave is set loose on the town. . . "

"We'll move slower, and take longer between waves," Tess said. "And, even though we didn't level today, I hope we will soon. Plus, we're not the only ones who need levels. When we get back, everyone take two hours. Rest, eat, check on your projects." Tess pointed at Bo. "Dad, I know you'll want to inspect the construction projects. Do it, but make sure to get some rest and eat too."

"The new [Lumbermill]—"

"Will not be built any faster, whether you stare at it for two hours or two minutes," Hana said.

"We need you functional," Tess said. "After two hours, we're hitting the Headless Dungeon."

"But we're already tired," Loo protested. She stopped when she noticed Amber's glare.

"There is too much going on in the town," Tess said. "We can't afford to let the Headless roam around. We clear it today, and remove that threat from our board."

"What about the Spider Dungeon?" Chloe asked. "Are we sending someone out to defeat it?"

Tess sighed. "It's too far away. We'd lose a group and its support team for several full days minimum, and I don't want them to miss out on training and levels here."

"You know, I actually think that's the right move," Chloe said. "We have no structures there, so who cares if it hits Level 2. There is the added bonus that the Dungeon should only send a handful of Level 2 Spiders, instead of a swarm of Level 1s."

"That's a great point, actually," said Tess. "That might be how we handle future Dungeons. If we don't plan to build on the territory, maybe Level 2 is actually safer. Fewer monsters, even if they're individually stronger."

"That's quite brilliant, Ladies," Hana said, smiling.

"We'll test the theory later. For now, we focus on what's in front of us. Headless Dungeon today, Deep Woods training tomorrow."

They crossed back into patrolled territory. The Town Hall and Shacks appeared through the trees. Despite their crappiness, for the first time Amber thought of them as 'home'.

"Two hours," Tess reminded them for the fifth time as they reached the main 'road' through Foundation. "Then it's back to the Headless Dungeon."