Amazon Apocalypse 2: Chapter 33 (Patreon)

Our next quest from the Samhain Clan proved easier than the first, but I personally would have preferred fighting more monsters and bandits. I had to lug Myrina around town and slowly pry from her which ale houses she'd visited and which dress shops she'd placed orders with. It took the rest of the day before we got them all.

By the end of the day, Myrina looked more wrung out than she did after an entire day's training. "Finally done!" Myrina yawned. "What do you say we wind down with a quick visit to the alehouse? We could try some of the brews in town and—"

I shook my head. "Myrina, we just spent the whole day going from alehouse to alehouse and paying off your tabs. How on earth did you drink this much while I was gone? I wasn't even away for a whole week and you racked up bigger tabs than I have in an entire lifetime."

Myrina shrugged her shoulders and batted her eyelashes at me. "Well... I missed you."

I rolled my eyes. "If you're trying to sweet talk me into buying you drinks, it's not going to work."

"It's my family's money..." Myrina groaned as she reached for the second bag of holding I was carrying, containing the reward from our previous quest.

"But your mother trusted me with it," I replied.

"But she said we could have the rest!" the tall redhead protested.

"And we'll spend it responsibly." I waggled my finger at Myrina.

"Come on, Carter!" Myrina pleaded. "Remember when we were kids? You always listened to my great ideas..."

"Looking back, not a single one of those ideas was great… or safe…. or even sane." I sighed. "Remember that time you had me roll you down a hill inside of a truck tire? If you hadn't had such high stats, one of us would have died."

"That was different. Back then we were kids. I'm now a responsible adult!" Myrina jabbed a thumb at her chest and grinned.

Sometimes it was hard to remember that Myrina was well into her twenties, just like me. I supposed life under the System meant people could take their time growing up. There was no rush to move out and get a career—not when someone like Myrina could fight for and serve her family perfectly well while still living in her childhood bedroom.

Perhaps humanity would be like that one day—many years from now. By then, I'd have upgraded our racial perks several times and forged a way forward for Earth after the integration. Maybe Earth’s future generations would be more like Myrina than me.

Myrina stared at me with eager, pleading, puppy dog eyes. "Please?"

***

An hour later, Myrina lay passed out face-first on the table of a restaurant after drinking six horns of their finest ale in quick succession.

I swirled my cup of water a few times. That was all I'd allowed myself. After all, I still had a lot to do. And letting Myrina catch up on her sleep actually gave me the perfect opportunity to do them.

I paid for our food and Myrina’s ale. It had been a good dinner, too. I couldn't remember the last time I'd sat down at a table with a woman and just talked—not since long before the integration, that was for certain. And it had never been with someone I'd connected with as well as I had with Myrina.

It almost felt like a date.

I’d paid for our food, as well as a ride home for Myrina. The restaurant was owned by the sister of one of the Samhain Clan's guards, so I had no doubt that Myrina would be tucked into her bed, safe and sound.

But not me. I would make my way back to the castle sometime after dark. I glanced at the setting sun. I had a few hours, at least—I figured Myrina would probably sleep through most, if not all of the night. That should give me plenty of time. I pulled the hood of my cloak up over my head.

Valkyrie's Watch felt like a different city when I didn't have Cyra or Myrina at my side. The two women of the Samhain Clan could clear the streets with a glare. Of course, they got respectful nods and bows in the city's nicer districts.

I’d barely made it ten paces before I felt my spine tingle. Someone had used Examine on me. It seemed like being rude was more tolerated than I'd been taught. Without the Samhain Clan standing next to me, people were more than willing to be a little nosy.

"Well well well... what do we have here?" a rough woman's voice asked.

I could tell just by the sound that she was trouble.

"What's a lad like you doing wandering the street, hmmm?"

"My business is my own. Kindly step aside," I said.

She did the exact opposite. Instead of stepping aside, she moved to block my path. Two others who'd been lounging outside a shop soon joined her. These two had the look of day laborers. Their clothes were little more than rags and they were barefoot and dirty—though each of them stood a head taller than me. They were there to be the muscle in whatever criminal enterprise this was.

The one in the center seemed to be a higher caliber of thug. She was outfitted in the overly gaudy clothes of the newly rich. Her hair was held back by a clasp of solid gold, and her fingers were studded with gemstone rings. She grinned malevolently, showing gaps where missing teeth had been replaced by gold replicas.

She might have looked like the other two, once, but some opportunity had granted her newfound wealth. And I had a feeling that opportunity had something to do with innocent people wandering the streets—just like I was. I used Examine.

Amazonian Ranch Hand (Level 36)

Amazonian Ranch Hand (Level 38)

Amazonian Kidnapper (Level 42)

The kidnapper had the highest level of the bunch. I wasn't sure if Kidnapper was her class or her job, but it didn’t really matter. Whichever it was, it painted a pretty clear picture of how she'd gotten her wealth.

"A young man like you shouldn't be wandering the streets alone. Let me guess, you're a visitor from another world? Let me guess…” she tapped one calloused finger against her chin. “Are you Atlantian?" the Amazonian Kidnapper flashed another gold-toothed smile.

"Cousin, you... you sure nobody will miss him?" one of the Ranch Hands asked. "He looks well outfitted. We could get in trouble if his family has the right connections."

"Have you fenced a street urchin before? No? Then shut up," the Kidnapper hissed.

She turned back to me. "Listen, kid. Why don't you come with us quietly? You'll have a free place to sleep, guaranteed."

"Not interested," I replied, turning to circumvent the trio.

The Kidnapper dropped her fake smile. "I wasn't asking. Grab him, girls!"

The leader of the trio lunged forward, but the moment she did I activated Warp Step. In the blink of an eye I was behind her.

"Where'd he go?!"

"Shit, he's getting away!"

"That's your payday escaping!" shouted the leader of the three Amazonian criminals.

I had hoped to get away clean, or at least to make my way back to a crowded area. There were some bystanders about, and I might have gotten help from some of them if not for what the Amazonian kidnapper said next.

"Stop him! He stole my bag of holding! Someone pin him to the ground for me!" shouted the Kidnapper.

I felt a growl rising in my chest. Trying to kidnap and sell me into slavery was one thing, but I’d  have been happy just to slip away and ignore them. I would have, too. It wasn't my job to clear the streets of criminals, after all.

But then this woman had to go and make it personal.

Whether some of the bystanders knew the Amazonian Kidnapper and leaped to her aid when she gave her excuse, or they were just fools who fell for the woman’s obvious ploy, my path was soon blocked. I had no intention of allowing myself to get stopped or pinned, though.

My Bag of Holding had close to half-a-million gold in it. No one would believe I'd come across such a fortune legitimately. I had no option but to fight.

Fortunately, the source of my frustrations was right there for me to take my anger out on. Raising myself to the third level of Mania made my eagerness for battle grow that much greater. By the time I turned to fight, I knew I had no plans to take any prisoners.

My wand found its way to my hand and an Eldritch Blast staggered one of the Ranch Hands, while two Mana Bolts struck the other in quick succession. Then, quick as a flash, I was behind them and lashing out with Arcane Blade.

Between my titles, my proficiency with neutral mana, fighting multiple foes, and the third level of Mania, my attack struck with more than four times its base damage.

You have dealt a critical hit!

Your race, Homo Acceleratus, has gained a level to Level 38!

The Amazonian Ranch Hand's severed head rolled to the side of the street. A level-up notification appeared as my base stats grew a little more. I shoved the notification aside and let the points be assigned automatically, based on my prior instructions.

That was another of the tricks Myrina had showed me. In a prolonged fight, I might not have time to stop and fiddle with my menus to claim stat points that might otherwise give me a life-saving edge. She’d showed me how to auto-configure my free points.

Now, at point-blank range, I stuffed my wand back into my bag of holding and launched two spells in quick succession.

The Amazonian Kidnapper lunged for me with a net. Where it had come and how she had brought it out so fast probably related to one of her skills from her kidnapper class.

I used Warp Step to dodge the descending net, firing off another two spells before engaging the second Ranch Hand. I activated Exploit Weakness, targeting her vitals with my spells before preparing to rush in to deal more extensive damage with Arcane Blade.

"Cut him off!" the Kidnapper yelled to her surviving compatriot.

The remaining Ranch Hand rushed to block my escape while the Kidnapper held her hands wide. Though she was leaving herself wide open for attack, her vulnerabilities as seen through Exploit Weakness suddenly vanished. She was using some manner of defensive skill, and I had a feeling challenging it head-on would go badly for me.

Instead, I took on the remaining Ranch Hand.

"Blood Sacrifice," I whispered.

Blood oozed from my ears and mouth, but it poured out of the Amazonian Ranch Hand’s ears, too. That brought her health low enough that I activated my Corrupting Marks. My foe staggered in place, stunned by the sudden rush of damage from two sources.

In that brief instant, she let her guard down. It was the last mistake she ever made as my short sword plunged through her eye. Lifesteal flooded me with new vitality, and I wiped the blood from my chin as I was restored nearly to full health—despite having used Blood Sacrifice to offer up half my health just a moment ago.

Fighting someone who wasn't Myrina or Cyra was an odd experience for me. After sparring with the two of them for so long, my sense of how strong someone should be at my own level had been massively distorted.

Those two Ranch Hands should have been roughly my match, based on their level alone. But it was clear that neither of them had a combat-focused class. Nor did they have particularly good proficiencies or any titles. I was superior to them on all accounts. What might have been a fair fight was instead a slaughter.

All that was left, was for me to deal with the Kidnapper.

"Shit," she cursed when she saw her remaining ally die. She glared at me through narrowed eyes. "You're no ordinary kid! Why’d you have to go and make yourself look like an easy mark, huh?"

She balled her hands into fists. Crimson energy cloaked them, much like the power that surrounded Sakura's club when she wielded it in battle. She rushed forward, and I prepared to meet her with my sword.

I launched an Eldritch Blast, but before it landed, the Kidnapper twisted to dodge it. Instead of charging at me, she dodged right past.

"Help, help! Murderer! Guards! Get the guards!" the Kidnapper yelled.

I rolled my shoulders, cocked back my arm, and threw my sword. It spun end over end to embed itself in the Kidnapper's back. She staggered and fell to the ground, dying only when I detonated my Corrupting Marks.

Your One Against Many proficiency increased by one to Level 7!

Your class, Scholar of Forbidden Knowledge, has gained a level to Level 31!

I closed my system notifications, collected my sword, looted the Kidnapper’s bag of holding and her gaudy rings, and quickly made myself scarce. Our fight had not gone unnoticed. It should have only been a matter of minutes before the city guard showed up. Only, they never did.

Minutes passed and the hustle of booted feet never came. Someone did collect the corpses, but they weren't a guard. I suspected it was just someone who planned to sell the bodies to a necromancer, just like that thief's body Myrina had sold to the wizard the last time I was here.

It was rather disappointing for my fight to have such an anticlimactic end, but that was probably just the Mania talking. I waited in the shadows until I calmed down. When I was finally myself again, I checked myself over. I was okay, but the cloak Sakura had made me was a mess.

With a sigh, I shoved my cloak inside my bag of holding. It was covered in blood. Being a cloaked stranger was suspicious enough. Being a blood-splattered, cloaked stranger made me look even more suspicious.

Without a hood to cover my features, even more people eyed me. My annoyance was building at the looks I kept getting and I was soon preparing myself for another fight. As my frustration grew, a new proficiency appeared before me.

You have gained the Examine Resistance proficiency!

Your identity will be harder to ascertain by those with lower proficiency at examining others than your resistance.

Entities above your level will have an advantage when discerning your level. Enemies below your level will have a disadvantage.

Immediately the buzzing stopped. I hadn’t known there even was an Examine Resistance proficiency. And if there was, I hadn't figured out how to gain it.

I couldn't be too mad, though, since the increasing number of people failing to Examine me meant that most people here didn't know about this proficiency, either. I was quite pleased with the number of proficiency levels I quickly gained.

Your Examine Resistance proficiency has increased to Level 2!

Your Examine Resistance proficiency has increased by 2 to Level 4!

Your Examine Resistance proficiency has increased by 3 to Level 7!

Each time, the threshold needed to perceive my level grew higher and the number of people who could see my real level decreased. When the tingles stopped completely, people started avoiding even more than they had when I'd been walking around with Myrina and Cyra.

What was it that Myrina had told me? The men who could walk openly on Themyscira were exceptional powerhouses in their own right—men of unyielding might who could make anyone think twice before harassing them. Perhaps I was now being mistaken for such a person.

Eventually, I made it to the teleportation array. "Can you take me directly to the Themyscira main teleportation center?" I asked. "Send me to the one in the capital city with the strongest teleporters."

The person standing guard over the teleportation array looked me up and down, then shrugged. "That'll be eight thousand gold," she said.

I handed over the gold quickly. That sum was twenty times more than Myrina and I had spent at dinner. It was nearly as much as we'd earned selling monster hides and the bandits’ equipment we'd gotten when clearing the roads.

I stepped onto the teleportation pad, and a flash of light later I was in the capital.

Outside of Valkyrie's Watch, the average level increased dramatically. I remembered how wary Myrina had been each time she’d escorted me through this place. I wasn't shy about using Warp Step to quickly make my way to the main teleportation center. This was the only place I knew of that could teleport someone all the way from Earth.

And I had two ladies I was eager to bring over. Now, I just needed to find the discrete orc woman Myrina always used.