Teresa Of All Trades (Book 1 Complete)

"You know what, I totally get it." Teresa said as she walked through the streets of Arconette in the morning.

"I still think it's ridiculous that's the main appeal of the place." Mathew insisted as the party walked with her.

"I mean I heard some people are working on making wine, but it takes a while for it to get super strong I guess." Gabriel reassured him.

"There were those monsters that made radioactive wine, but it was terrible." Preston said with a shudder. "Never again."

"Even then, who goes to a bar for wine?" Mathew asked. After a moment of hesitation, he turned to his father. "People don't go to bars for wine, do they? I thought they had cocktails and shots and stuff."

"No, they go for the eggs." Thomas answered, keeping the bit alive.

"Exactly, though sometimes I like wine with my eggs to be honest." Sarah added, marking the first time her and Thomas had ever agreed on something.

"You guys are messing with me."

"No, it's true." Teresa lied. "Every full bar serves eggs."

"I don't believe you."

"It has something to do with the protein in it, prevents hangovers." Jake pitched in, totally not spreading misinformation to a 14 year old.

"You guys didn't even drink anything! We all went to a bar, had eggs, and left!"

"Calm down Mathew, it's not even noon yet." Teresa snorted, trying to keep herself from smiling. "What kind of lush do you think I am?"

"I don't know what that word means."

"You also didn't know they served eggs at bars, but now you do." Teresa continued. "Learn something new every day."

"I hate that I'm actually starting to believe you." Mathew sighed, shaking his head. "Why aren't any of you training with us today?"

"We have some stuff we have to do we can't really tell you about." Teresa answered.

"Is there anything you can tell me about?"

"We won't be back for a few days probably, but you shouldn't mention to anyone that we're gone."

"Okay, got it." Mathew said. "We'll still be good to hunt monsters on our own though, right?"

"It'll be slower since we'll be going with larger groups, but I think things are going to be progressing a lot smoother than they were before y'all showed up." Gabriel answered. "Most people fight monsters using their skills only when a good chance to use the skill pops up. You guys go out of your way to activate your skills creating situations where they're useful. It's less resource efficient, but you get a lot more from it and it makes you an effective fighter. I've made more progress over the last few days than in the entire first two weeks."

Teresa wasn't sure how true that actually was, but it was undeniable he had improved. He had been level 23 when Teresa first met him, and now he had reached level 29. Most of his gains likely involved his skills and his ability to fight improving rather than his personal level. To be fair, he had spent all of his time with his low level brother and father, so all things considered he had been doing pretty well.

The same could even be said for Mathew and Thomas. Now that Mathew's monster hunting was out in the open, they got to hear how the youth could gain a class. Apparently it was pretty simple, as soon as he got his first kill with the crossbow he was offered the ranger class. Theoretically, if he had killed something with a sword or used a shield he could have gotten either light warrior or tank to choose from. It did open the question of how could a child possibly become a mage or a healer if getting a class required doing something actually related to said class. Level 0's did have Mana, but without any skills it's not like they had a way to actually use it.

Thomas had gone from level 4 to level 14, and Mathew went from 6 to 13. Most of the low level kills had gone to Thomas as he was the one they needed to improve the most, but from what Teresa had heard Mathew had more potential. None of them were strong enough to go on the trip to Chernobyl, not that any of them should be coming along.

"We're going to head out now, make sure you guys stay safe here." Teresa said, deciding it was time to go to the meetup spot. There was still the threat of trafficking within the city. Lilith had been assigned to track down the missing people from Marty's bar, but Teresa hadn't heard anything about that. Apparently a few of them had returned, but many were still missing. Lilith was going to be involved in the attack on Chernobyl, which left Teresa with some mixed feelings. She could understand that Chernobyl was the bigger threat at the moment, but surely there was more that could be done. Maybe there was more being done that she just didn't know about, but at the end of the day there was only so much Teresa could handle herself.

"You too!" Gabriel responded, but Mathew snorted.

"I know darn well you guys aren't going to stay safe, but at least come back alive." He said with a smile.

"Will do." Teresa confirmed, unsure if that was a promise she would be able to keep. This wasn't some small operation to take out a random Portal, they were going to be shot at and bombed. It was extremely unlikely that the attack would have zero casualties, and while Teresa felt guilty for thinking it she very strongly hoped none of them would be from The Mall.

After saying their goodbyes, they made their way towards the city gate that was still under construction. Now that the reality of the situation was setting in, every step felt more somber than the last. Teresa herself had to accept the possibility even she could die, for once she wasn't the strongest person involved. There were always risks when they went out, but this felt particularly dangerous.

Through a window she saw someone create a floating orb of light in the palm of their hand, only to leave it floating in the air before moving out of view. How did that work? What class was that skill from? Elsewhere she saw a group of teenagers holding a Monster Core of some sort, looking at it with curiosity. She hadn't even figured out what monster parts were for yet, they were just a way to make money for now.

It was conflicting. Teresa had spent so long wanting to die, and if she was being honest with herself a part of her still wanted to. Just not yet. There was too much shit to do for her to go and die. Fuck it, enough whining. Everyone was worried about it. Jake, Preston, and Sarah didn't want to die either, yet despite being lower levels they were still involved just like Teresa was.

They passed through the city gate without incident and made their way west. The Contaminated Zone was to the north, but since there were a lot of high profile individuals involved in what was supposed to be a secretive mission everyone had to take a detour before arriving at the meetup spot. If one of the Completionists against the destruction of the Contaminated Zone caught on, it would cause way too many problems.

After traveling west from the city for a few miles, they changed course to head northeast. There was a specific Radioactive Portal everyone was supposed to meet up at, one that spawned Decayed Echidna at level 37. The Guild had the Portal marked as 'destroyed' but in reality it was still standing, to be used as the starting point for the attack.

It was a pretty short trip for Teresa's party, and when she arrived she immediately saw some familiar faces.

"Well well well, lookie who we have here." Theo said as he spotted Teresa's party approaching.

"Aw shit, of course they win the competition." Leo, their healer, groaned.

"Doesn't count, their party only has five people." Chloe reassured. "It's still between us and the Swiss guys."

"Good to see you too. What are you on about now?" Teresa asked.

"We're having a race to make a full party reach level 40 first." Theo explained. "It's between us and the military guys right now, we have two level 39s left so we should be able to win it before Nikolas does."

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"Our whole party is above level 40." Jake said. It was true, he and Sarah had both hit level 40 while Preston had hit level 42. Fighting high level monsters with Teresa had given them shitloads of experience, especially as they continued to improve their gear and fight even stronger monsters.

"Yeah, but there's four of you, a full party is five. Doesn't count." Chloe said, smirking. "Where are the two you left with?"

"Thomas and Mathew are in the city, we found the kid they were looking for." Teresa answered. "They should be safe in the city."

"But they're not level 40, are they?"

"Oh definitely not."

"Then the race is still on! It'll be so satisfying to beat those guys even though they have military training." Chloe celebrated.

"To be fair Nikolas has had a lot to do ever since he became the General, but we're totally gonna kick their ass at this." Theo agreed with a friendly tone to his voice.

Teresa quickly refreshed her memory of Theo's party and their names. Theo was their tank, Chloe their ranger, Amelia their light warrior, Leo their healer, and… shit who was the last one? Noah, the mage, that's right. Teresa habitually combined the healer and mage class in her head, but at least she was caught up.

Roughly half an hour passed as more people trickled in. Teresa used <Identify> on each person that arrived, revealing just how ridiculous the Completionists were. There were a total of 18, with the majority of them being above Teresa's level. Some of them were weaker, but most of them were in the 60s. Teresa would catch up soon, especially considering how her party was doing now, but it was still a little unnerving. Was this how people felt around her? She sure hoped not.

"I don't even know what most mages are supposed to do." Noah said. "I heard the Avatars are fire resistant since they've been trying to counter that Ezio guy. I know I've got other skills than <Embers>, but how are we supposed to compare to that? I don't think I believe any of it."

"Trust me, he's pretty ridiculous with <Embers>." Teresa confirmed.

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"I think everyone is here now, shit is that Percy? We were in a party together for the first few days." Sarah said as she spotted others from The Mall. "I'm gonna go say hi."

The combatants continued to mingle for a short while as everyone arrived. There was an awkward and unspoken gap between the parties from The Mall and the parties from Arconette, one that Teresa figured she might as well try to fix.

She spotted Ezio and approached him, making eye contact with the man as a flash of understanding crossed his face. He reached his hand out, and Teresa did likewise.

"Are you ready?" He asked as the two shook hands. It wasn't much of a gesture, but hopefully it would tone down the tension between the groups a bit.

"100%"

"Then let's get moving."

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Some people didn't deserve to live. Some people were nasty, foul, wasted potential contained within a bag of meat. Angelo had always thought so at least. The first time he had been forced to kill someone, he had been filled with a euphoria like no other. That one hadn't been his fault, honestly. Someone broke into his home, so he had gotten his dad's shotgun and made sure it was safe.

The man who had broken in was armed, sporting a gun of his own. It all came down to homefield advantage, literally. There was no way the intruder could have cleared every angle by himself, so when young Angelo had shot him it had been in the back.

Gore had blasted out from the man's body as pellets from the shotgun ripped his torso apart like swiss cheese. He had shrieked out in terror, dropping his own weapon as he collapsed on the ground. The man pleaded, he cried, he begged as blood pooled out around his collapsed figure. Angelo had hit his spine, the guy would be crippled for the rest of his life.

Great, a friggin freeloader. Angelo had only been 13, but the idea of someone like him getting special treatment and wasting society's resources to keep him alive in prison infuriated him. The man had broken in, armed, he deserved this.

As the man cried, quickly bleeding out, Angelo felt nothing but fascination. Did it really hurt that bad, or was he just a crybaby? Angelo could have called the police, but chose to wait a minute and watch as the man went still.

It felt good.

So damn good.

It was proof that Angelo was better, that he was more fit to survive. When adults had eventually gotten involved, he knew he had to play up the waterworks. As much as he believed the man deserved it, he knew that's not what people would expect from a 13 year old.

As he grew older, his disdain for others grew too. He had trouble keeping friends for long, he had been called creepy one too many times, and it all came to a head when he overheard some bitch on the phone. Walking home from school, a lady was yelling at her grandmother while taking a call on speaker. They were in public, didn't this lady have any fucking decency? Angelo didn't want to hear that shit, people like her should be taken out back and shot.

It wasn't the first time Angelo had thought that about someone, but he was having a particularly bad day. All it took was something as simple as that. He decided eh, fuck it, and followed the woman home. Once he knew where she lived, it was only a matter of planning.

Nobody cares about a missing person. There's a search for a while, but eventually people stop looking. What people do care about is a dead body. That's when things can get bad, and an investigation can open up.

After a week of planning, he finally took action. It had gone flawlessly, he killed her right outside her apartment and managed to clean up the scene without any evidence of a struggle. The thrill could only be described as immaculate. He was a natural, he had talent that would put other serial killers to shame.

Not that he should be in the same boat as other serial killers, he was actually right. Some people deserved to die, people needed to learn what it meant to be afraid again. They were too damn comfortable, it was annoying.

He eventually got the chance to take his time, killing one man by cutting his limbs off until he bled out. It was just so interesting, the way people had different pain tolerances, the way people looked so different on the outside but so similar within.

It helped that he knew he was smart. He kept getting away with it after all. Like everyone else, he needed to make a living. He had gone to college and put himself through most of med school, taking out loans figuring he could always pay them off later. He wanted to be a surgeon at first, but being an anesthesiologist just paid better. He didn't need to cut someone open at work when he could do the same thing on his own time.

Until he got caught.

There was a trial, and he was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. A foot washed up on a beach, turns out fish are less likely to eat a foot if it's wearing tightly tied shoes. A missing person had turned up dead, and as more victims were found there was a petition going around requesting the death penalty.

What a load of bullshit. If they knew how foul those people were, how disgusting most humans could behave, then would they still be upset? They were too fucking comfortable, it was only thanks to him that things had any chance of getting better!

Thankfully, some twisted god out there must have been on his side. Only a month into his sentence, the apocalypse happened. The nice thing about it all was there were no background checks, no internet, and it was unlikely anyone who knew his face would be in Arconette. He and his party beat the Tutorial, they practically worshipped him. It was what he had earned, what he deserved.

There was even a perfectly nice field of radiation to the north, something for him to experiment with. There was already a trafficking problem in Arconette that few people really knew about, what were a few more missing people?

Because of the gifts he had been granted, he could see people's dreams. He knew what they were thinking at night, how twisted most people actually were. It wasn't enough to get rid of those he found annoying, he could do so much more. Taking someone and leaving them out in the Contaminated Zone, watching as high level monsters tore others apart, that was just survival of the fittest. If they deserved to live, they would have.

Until he got wind of some sort of operation.

He spied on people's dreams at night, if he wasn't meant to do it then why would he have the necessary skills? More than one Completionist had dreamt of meetings and battle plans, inviting foreigners to assist in the endeavor of destroying his playground. Unacceptable.

Thankfully, many of these dreams had a common denominator.

"I know darn well you guys aren't going to stay safe, but at least come back alive." The young boy said with a smile.

"Will do." Said the short woman with mismatched equipment.

As the group split up, Angelo continued to watch silently from a distance. That woman was heavily involved in this somehow, and these people knew her. Angelo wasn't confident he could single handedly take out her entire group, but he could handle the weaklings on his own.

Once the coast was clear, it was time to act. Mist spread out towards the family, rapidly approaching with an efficacy strong enough to knock out an elephant.

"Something's wrong, run!" The boy with a sword yelled before the gas even hit them. What a little shit, who the fuck does he think he is? The other child acted quickly as well, immediately breaking into a sprint to follow his brother away from the mist.

The same couldn't be said for the older man.

"GO!" The man yelled as the mist overtook him, moving faster than he could manage. He collapsed to the floor the instant a wisp of Angelo's magic entered his nose. The kids would get away, but that was no problem. He only really needed one of them to find out what they knew.

Before the System, there was always the problem of someone dying too quickly. There was only so much damage someone could take before they were gone. The same wasn't true now, not in people's dreams.

Angelo could dismember the man as many times as it took to get what he wanted. It would all be in his head, but that didn't make it feel any less real. As soon as Angelo felt he knew enough, he would venture out into the Contaminated Zone and stop this nonsense.

He wouldn't be alone, either.