Amazon Apocalypse 2: Chapter 48 (Patreon)

I hoped to get Bridget and Sakura back up to their old levels as soon as possible. I was a bit jealous of how easy those who could simply kill monsters had it with respect to leveling. I suppose people who fought monsters all day might be tremendously jealous of how I leveled with Fabulous Phallus and my Vampiric Soul skills. It might be one of those things where the grass was always greener on the other side.

Over the next two days, we fell into a routine. We'd wake up, eat breakfast, hunt some monsters so the two of them could level, then return for lunch. After lunch we'd craft and resupply. Sharky got the most out of the hunting trips, and after the first day he seemed appreciably bigger than he’d been before.

I didn't tell Bridget or Sakura, but my end goal was to finish things off by taking out that Lava Elemental. I needed its core so I could build that Chaos talisman. I didn't dare take the elemental anything less that seriously, though.

It was a deadly foe and a much higher level than I was. Sakura and Bridget wouldn't be able to back me up as I'd hoped, since they were still less than half my level, but if I could push them up a little higher, perhaps they could find a way to help me safely.

I'd figured out how to make the Mana Bombs to take out the Specter haunting my house, after all. Another invention like that meant to target the Lava Elemental's weakness would be a huge help. The only problem was, of course, figuring out what Lava Elementals were weak to.

I pondered that thought during my mid-afternoon crafting sessions. With Gobgob and her tribe of goblins working every day to craft new items for me, I always had plenty of items to put the finishing touches on. I’d noticed that the price we were getting for my Mana Bombs had started to drop—likely because we were supplying so many of them.

The Mega Mana Bombs would probably see a drop in their price, next. But that was okay. Based on the last note Misa and Myrina had sent us with a load of enchanted goods, the Mana Swords were a huge hit.

I wasn't worried about declining sales prices, because I was sure that with a bit of brainstorming I'd come up with new items that would sell just as well, if not better. After all, I was a far superior Artificer now than I had been just a few days ago.

You have gained 4 Artificer levels!

New Blueprints are available!

The experience I was getting from the items I crafted on a daily basis was starting to slow down. I suspected the enhanced efficiency I gained from mastering an item also meant decreased experience points for my job from making them. It made sense, in a way.

The System wouldn't want someone to become a master of their craft while only knowing how to make one or two items.

Whenever I caught up with everything Gobgob and the others goblins had prepped for me, and if Sakura and Bridget weren't quite ready to go hunting monsters again, I focused on experimenting. There was nothing quite like cobbling together useful odds and ends into something useful in my workshop. The feeling of unfettered creation was fulfilling.

I hoped to craft every item I had a Blueprint for at least once. The instructions for each were fairly easy to follow, given the background knowledge the System had stuffed into my head when I’d first picked up my job. With the additional experience I gained in my job, I could feel not just my level, but my actual understanding of Artificing grow each day.

"An active defense shield. Not bad..." I said as I hefted one of my latest creations.

It was based on one of the blueprints I’d picked up with my latest job levels. When activated, the shield shot out tiny beams of light that knocked incoming projectiles out of the sky as they flew toward the wielder. The best part was that it wasn’t just an individual protective item. It let someone carrying the shield protect their entire party instead of just themselves, being powered by a combination of the owner’s vitality and raw mana.

Unfortunately that meant it was unsuitable for me or my companions. I was the only one who had picked up a shield proficiency, though I’d only used one in training with Cyra. We liked to fight with both hands—Bridget dual wielding her daggers, Sakura smashing things with a two-handed grip on her club, or my own combination of sword and spells.

Nor were we the sort of party that fought in a tightly packed formation, with a tank at the front. That was who this sort of thing would be perfect for.

Not wanting it to go to waste, I packaged it and a half dozen other items up for transportation back to Crownhill. It was nearly time for me to head into town to pick up more raw materials to craft with anyways. Gobgob and the goblins were running low. Selling off my scraps would hopefully earn me more than enough to pay for the crafting supplies we needed for Mana Bombs and Mana Swords—that is, if the gold and goodies from Myrina's world hadn't sold yet.

"Anybody up for a trip?" I asked Bridget and Sakura that afternoon. "I want to visit Crownhill again."

"It would be nice to check in on people," Sakura agreed, her head once again stuck in a nearby tree. She’d been diligently practicing her new headbutt skill. "We could introduce everyone to Sharky!"

I grinned. "Yeah, that would be cool. Let me resummon him again!"

Sharky had, unfortunately, met an untimely end when he’d tried to eat a spectral swamp monster twice his size by swimming into its mouth and biting its tongue. For all his ferocity, Sharky wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. I'd killed the spectral swamp monster easily enough, but Sharky had to be resummoned.

I'd been waiting for the four-hour cool-down to expire and the right opportunity to bring him back.

"I suppose we'll need to start venturing beyond the valley, anyway," Bridget said and then shrugged. "We've wiped out anything worthwhile around here. The valley is safe once more, despite the monsters constantly coming for our dear beloved Carter."

The three of us packed our things into bags of holding and started the long walk to Crownhill. This same trip had once taken Sakura and I hours, but now all three of us could leap over rocks and from ledge to ledge to avoid detours that would have taken us hours to walk around or scale before.

Every time I was reminded of the might of my new body, I was impressed once more. I could hang from my arm one handed without the slightest strain from a ledge as I swung out far enough to sail over a deep crevice and then slid down a rock face, landing at the bottom without even breaking a sweat.

"Catch me!" Sakura yelled, already jumping off a cliff the height of a four-story building.

I held out my arms, darting forward with my arms extended as Sakura fell to catch her in them. Bridget rode down on Sharky's back, as he floated through the air behind us.

Sharky seemed supernaturally strong—at least when loaded up with Earth mana. Whether one person, two people, or all three of us rode on his back didn't matter to him. He just kept swimming forward through the air. The three of us rode into Crownhill in style on the back of a ghost shark.

It prevented people from thinking he was a monster and attacking him. We certainly got a lot of strange looks. Most people backed away at the sight of the ghost shark, but one young lad approached without a care in the world.

"Are you a pimp?" A kid asked me as we entered the city.

I raised my sunglasses and adjusted the flowing fox fur cloak I wore over my shoulders. "What makes you think that?"

He looked me over, as well as the two beautiful women riding my ghost shark, Bridget in front of me and Sakura behind me.

"Uh... no reason..." the kid quickly scampered away.

I shrugged my shoulders, while Bridget stifled a giggle.

"Is it just me or does the place around the obelisk seem way more crowded than normal?" Sakura asked, pointing ahead.

What she said was true. There were a lot more people standing around the camp than usual. The walls looked different, as well. Instead of a barricade of cars and scrap metal hastily thrown together, there was a neat wall of salvaged masonry from some of the nearby system-generated buildings.

The new wall was much further out, too. Instead of merely containing just the small cluster of six buildings that surrounded the obelisk, this one appeared to wrap around the entire city block. Still, the number of people hanging around the front gates made the newly expanded shelter look smaller than the old one had—despite being five times its size.

"You're right. It looks like something is going on."

We flew ahead, eventually coming to a stop at the back of a mass of people somewhere halfway between a mob and a line. People made way for us, since we cut a rather strange sight—riding a ghost shark and dressed for battle, like we were. Everyone else was still wearing the trappings of life before the System.

In contrast, the three of us were outfitted in clothes from Myrina's world or leather gear that Sakura had made from monster hides. While not as intricate or comfortable as modern textiles, the ranking and remaining magic in the materials made our outfits considerably tougher—if it did make us stand out in the crowd.

I hopped off Sharky, leveling my gaze at the sea of anxious faces. Spotting a guy in the queue, I raised my hand. "Hey, what's the holdup?"

"We're queuing for the Obelisk!" he shot back, a hint of excitement in his voice.

I looked at the semblance of a line that stretched more than a hundred yards from the gate.

"It's a game-changer,” he continued. “Think online auction, except for the real world. It’s the best place I’ve found to buy computer parts.”

“Computers?” My skepticism was evident in the tone of my voice.

He shrugged. “I’m trying to get a few machines networked. Some of us think we can make the System give us related jobs by using them.”

I squinted, my confusion palpable. "Why the line, though? The Obelisk can handle a crowd, right?"

He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You'd think so, wouldn’t you. That used to be the case when the settlement's old owner was in charge. He shared the love and didn’t charge a dime at the gates. His governing council even blasted out a description of the Obelisk's features over the airwaves. Looks like that was a big mistake."

I tilted my head, sensing trouble. "What happened?"

"Crownhill Prison's worst decided to pay a visit," he spat, his disgust evident. "The three big players over at the prison? They’re all over level 30. They’re locked in a tenuous power balance. One of them, Cromwell, heard the broadcast and thought the Obelisk would give him the upper hand."

I leaned in, intrigued. "Cromwell?"

"Mob boss, pre-integration. His crew? Brutal. They tore through our defenses. Our militia? Didn’t stand a chance against them. These guys, they earned their stripes killing men, not monsters. And post-integration? Now they're supercharged killers."

His eyes darted around nervously. "Just... um… steer clear of them, okay? See that big guy by the gates? He's over level 25... and he’s just one of Cromwell’s enforcers."

I tracked the man’s line of sight. Three menacing figures stood near the gate of this new wall. The middle one, in particular, radiated sheer power.

Raider Brute (Level 25)

Raider Thug (Level 19)

Raider Thug (Level 18)

The only one worth my attention was the Raider Brute. My eyes lit up at the familiar class designation. I’d gotten into fights with quite a few Raiders and Bandits with various subclasses like Brute and Thug. How many of them had been Cromwell’s subordinates?

I needed to deal with this sooner rather than later. If what the man next to me had just said was true, Marcus, Frank, Margaret, and everybody else in the shelter were fighting for their lives right now. They needed my help.

“Out of the way, please!” I yelled.

The crowd didn’t budge for me so much as they did for Sharky, who glided forward menacingly. But in any case, the end result was the same. I soon found myself at the front of the line.

I locked eyes with the trio of raiders at the gate. “I’m passing through. Please step aside.”

The leader of the other two thugs barked out a laugh. He was level 25 and had a jaw that looked like it could crack walnuts. He wore a biker’s jacket with the obvious outline of a gun at his hip. In his right hand, he loosely held a machete.

“Where do you think you’re going, little man?” the Raider Brute demanded.

“Through the gate. Move.” I had neither the time nor the patience for this.

The Brute laughed and it was a deep, mocking sound. “You think you can just waltz past us?”

I didn’t just think I was going to, I knew I was going to do just that. But it was clear these three were going to be a problem. My mood had taken a sudden turn for the worse, and it looked like these three were going to be on the receiving end of my growing anger.

“Yes.”

The man stared at me good and hard, his brows scrunching together, but nothing happened.

“Are you some sort of stealth specialist? The stupid level scanning thing isn’t working,” the Brute grumbled, then frowned.

I’d grown tired of waiting. And more tired still of these fools blocking my path. I reached for the short sword at my hip and drew it. In one quick motion, I thrust it at the Brute’s center of mass.

He reacted just in time to put some distance between him and my blade, but I’d fought fast foes before.

I cast Arcane Blade, extending my weapon’s length by another six inches.

The Brute’s eyes widened in shock as the arcane energy pierced his torso just above his belt. The air around us hummed with power.

“Watch out!” one of the thugs shouted, but it was too late.

I swept my sword upward, disemboweling the level 25 Brute in one clean motion. A critical hit notification flashed up on my screen. The man clearly had plenty of hit points, though, because that wasn’t enough to bring him down. It was, however, enough to take him out of the fight for a moment.

“You bastard!” one of the Thugs shouted.

I flicked my free hand towards him, blasting him in the face with an Eldritch Blast.

“Sharky,” I ordered, “get him.”

The man reeled backward from my spell. Right into Sharky’s waiting jaws.

My ghost shark bit down on the Thug’s head. Bridget and Sakura jumped to the ground just as Sharky started to thrash back and forth, tearing the Thug’s head free with a sickly snapping sound.

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

The other Thug was slower to react—so slow, in fact, that Sakura had her club in hand before he could rush me. I heard his bones snap as Sakura brought her glowing red bat down on the back of his leg, sending the man sprawling to the ground.

Sharky was on him an instant later. “NOM NOM,” Sharky said as he rushed forward to attack the vulnerable man on the ground. My summons teeth clamped around his head and he started thrashing back and forth, just like he’d done with the man he’d killed moments ago.

Soon both thugs were dead and sliding through Sharky’s ghostly throat.

Your Neutral Mana proficiency has increased to Level 19!

“Holy fuck. Who… who the hell are you?” the Bandit Brute gasped. He had both hands on his stomach and was desperately trying to keep his insides…. inside him.

“The one who’s going to kill your boss. This is my territory, not his, and not any of the Three Kings,” I snapped. “You want to live? I need you to point him out to me.”

The terrified Bandit Thug climbed shakily to his feet and stumbled forward, both hands pressed to his stomach.

“Okay, okay… I’ll lead the way,” the Brute said.

There was a keen glint in the corners of his eye, and he paid no mind to Sharky tearing apart the remains of his two former comrades behind us. This man was scum, plain and simple. I would have to keep an eye on him.

“He’s at the second set of walls up ahead. We’re having ourselves a little siege.” The man couldn’t point, so he nodded to indicate where he meant.

Sure enough, after we rounded a few more sets of buildings, we came across the old walls. While the Council had gotten ambitious, building the second set of walls further afield, they hadn’t abandoned the original walls that had repelled the Alpha Wolfman and his kin.

There were settlement militia manning those walls, now. I heard the occasional pop of gunfire every now and again between shouted insults. While I watched, one of the Bandits threw a flaming beer bottle filled with diesel fuel at a chunk of plywood that reinforced the wall. The bottle shattered and that chunk of the wall caught fire.

One of the militia defending the wall rushed forward with a bucket of water to put it out, only to be shot three times by the hollering group of bandits besieging the settlement.

“Now, point out this Cromwell to me,” I growled, but the bandit next to me was already running.

“Boss! Boss! Help me!” the Raider Brute yelled. “Everybody, get that guy!”

He doubled over to keep his guts from spilling out as he pointed an arm back at me. All heads turned in my direction.