The average human survived without food for up to 3 weeks, depending on various factors. A System enhanced human would survive for 4, given a low vitality stat. Though they could survive longer, it was no less painful than those who didn’t have System Dust bonded to their cells. Being very conscious of these facts, the leaders of the group, being Gideon’s party and Sherman, directed everyone that they were to save their food items for scheduled consumptions until they found more supplies. They were fully aware that they couldn’t stop people from eating their food items in secret, which was why they kept the bulk of the nourishments that Arthur had given between themselves.
The way they distributed food was correspondent to the differences between those with and without a class. Previously, they’d distributed as per normal human standards for everyone, but after speaking to Arthur about it, he’d asked his Accord partner if System enhanced humans were different. After getting an answer and promptly explaining it to the others, he’d attempted to air out a bit of the list he’d built up so far for things to ask the “Fallen Angel”, but laid off after being told that he was busy. Arthur attempted to ignore the looks the others gave him after he’d appeared to gain System related knowledge out of nowhere.
After learning of System enhanced human’s capabilities to survive longer without nourishment, they decided to break up the rationing into two groups; those with a class and those without. As the latter group was much larger than the former, it was hardly any different than what they’d already been doing. Hardly different was still different, however, and the group was glad to get any advantage they could squeeze out of this harsh new reality. With this in mind, Arthur’s “dinner party” was grossly unpractical for their purposes. Unpractical as it was, however, it was such a grand morale boost that it was well worth it for even just that alone.
After the logistics of their supply situation was worked out, the survivors had a group discussion. This group discussion involved the entire entourage of 20 plus individuals, as it was a decision that would affect them all.
The topic of discussion was whether they would risk pushing for an escape.
As things were right now, it was the best chance they might ever get. Before now, such a proposition was impossible for several reasons. Aurora, Gideon and Ema were the only people in their group worth anything in a fight. Now that Sherman was up and better, he was determined to become a fighter as well, but as it was, he was still only level one. Ema and her friends were the only ones who were above level 5, and even that was not a high bar compared to the enemies they faced consistently. Most of those who had gained levels didn’t truly have the stomach to fight, though they hardly had the choice to. Not only this, but the group previously had Mariana Trench low morale. Before Arthur arrived, these two things had them permanently on the back foot rather than moving forward. Being consistently hungry didn’t help that cause.
The other thing that was different now was the addition of Arthur himself. He was just what their group was missing; a dedicated shield to stand between the enemy and their back line. Gideon had been playing the role previously, but he had never been meant for such. He was a versatile brawler, better at dealing damage than negating it. While he was a front liner, he was a much less effective meat shield than the enthusiastic Lindow. Not only that, but the addition of the Audacity Knight to their mix lent his prodigious buffs. That laundry list of positive effects one gained simply from being Arthur’s ally was, by itself, already potent enough to bet their survival on. In the face of that, even if he was weak, he was well worth keeping around. The simple fact that he was not was just gravy, despite the man himself insisting he’s “not that strong”.
Those arguing in favor of pushing forward met resistance from multiple individuals in the group who hadn’t leveled up yet. They were afraid of the terrifying fables that hunted them for months, and rightly so. One could make an argument that those who were in this camp were cowards and that they would be less afraid if they had just accepted the new world for what it was. Conversely, however, the argument could also be made back that being ripped out of a peaceful time so suddenly was jarring, and any of those who adapted quickly and without issues could be considered psychopathic. As it were, both arguments were made and shot back and forth as the leaders attempted to smooth over the friction among the survivors.
Eventually, it was decided that the group would push for an escape. It went without saying that not everyone would survive, but it was pointed out that there wasn’t really a choice at all. They would either try to get out, or they would all be hunted down and killed. As the backbone argument of the individuals pushing for the escape plan, it was simply infallible.
As the group of survivors prepared to move, Gideon added Dr. Sherman to their party. Since he was a leader of the group and wanted to fight as well, it only made sense to give him access to the True Heart of Devotion’s effects. Something that the others didn’t realize yet was that one of Arthur’s many passives also gave enhanced experience per kill, making the decision more optimal than they even knew.
The group of survivors had few possessions that they didn’t keep in their Vault, so it wasn’t long before everyone was ready to leave. Most of the group consisted of normal humans who hadn’t leveled up yet. Many of them were terrified of the danger their imminent push for freedom would bring, regardless of their understanding that it was the only option available to them.
The way they would start their escape would be a sort of “wedge” formation, with Arthur at the front backed up by Dennis and Maxine. As semi-experienced lookouts, it would be their job to spot threats. The campus they were currently trapped in was much larger than the norm, with a multitude of lecture halls, residential buildings, and fields. As a result, there was also a preponderance of back alleys, which the group intended to use. The campus had previously been of fairly high-class quality, with most of those who attended being of the same social standing. Arthur’s parents were decently off and spared nothing for his education, which, although they had the best intentions, had only fueled his mental issues.
While the rest of the group prepared to leave, the leaders had another discussion between just themselves. The purpose this time was to bring Arthur up to speed about each of their individual abilities, and vice versa. He’d seen much of what they were capable of before during the battle, but just like anyone else, he could not see specifics of what other people’s skills did. The others telling him exactly what each of their skills did not only sated his curiousity, but also provided him context for future combo’s and synergies. Arthur returned the favor and explained what all his passives did, in detail.
During the previous battle, the team had already seen the directory index of passives he’d granted earlier. With their current state, Gideon and Ema were unable to parse even some of the effects it gave out. Only Aurora had been in a safe enough position to read through the powers affecting her through their new partner, courtesy of levitating above the danger. Now that they weren’t in the middle of a fight, they were interested to hear just what they did.
“That’s…” Ema started. “I don’t even know what to call that. Ridiculous doesn’t even begin to cover it. I’m a purely support focused class, and you have more support-focused buffs than even I do!” She shook her head. “You do more for a group just for being in it than I can do by actively participating. My buffs can only be activated one at a time, but all of your passives activate all at once, and don’t have time limits! Do you realize how stupid that is?!” Arthur looked at Aurora for support as Ema ranted, but was met with a shrug.
“By itself, that’s already unbelievable, but that’s not even the end of it! Increased experience gain, enhanced damage against everyone for no reason, for crying out loud one of your buffs is to grant passive health regeneration! That’s not even supposed to be possible!” Arthur tilted his head in inquiry at that. “Come again?”
“You don’t even know?! Passive health regeneration is impossible! The only way you can get healing, regeneration or otherwise, is through active skills! Your… ‘buffs’ give effects that nothing else in the world can!” Arthur’s jaw fell slack at the revelation of his own True Heart of Devotion’s logic defying nature.
“How did you know that it’s impossible, anyway?” Gideon asked offhandedly.
“I read it somewhere when I was choosing my skills. I remember thinking, ‘wow, that’s kind of rough’ and then this guy comes along and breaks that rule by virtue of simply existing!” Arthur was caught between wanting to disappear from the attention of the group and the realization that he was essentially a walking cheat. He’d always known that the passives he had were powerful and maybe even singular, but he’d never realized just to what degree that singularity ran to.
“Go easy on him, Em.” Aurora said. “It’s not his fault that he has his abilities.” Arthur shifted uncomfortably. Looking down somewhat, he thought about the moment he died and gained the passive, and spoke quietly. “Well… maybe not entirely not my fault.”
“This Tin Man’s entire existence practically makes me useless, and you want me to take that in stride?”
“I think that’s a bit much. He doesn’t make my mana expenditure bearable like you can.”
“Maybe, but we saw last night he can heal just as easily as I can if not better! He’s also ridiculously strong, overshadowing Gideon at the same time as me!”
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“Hey!” Gideon protested.
Sherman had, hitherto, been silent. Rubbing his beard and thinking, he listened to all the information on the table. He chose this moment to speak up. “I think, Ms. Ema, you may be jumping the gun a bit.” Before the System, Sherman had been a professor at the college they were now trapped in. He both possessed and consistently used his authoritative voice when he took part in the lecture halls, and the previous college students were all well trained to listen when he did.
“Mr. Lindow is potent. This is true. But he certainly doesn’t replace anyone here. Aside from me, of course, powerless as I am.” He smiled. “He can heal you, yes, but he can’t do it often. His buff grants passive healing, but it’s not as powerful as healing done through active skills.” He nodded at Ema. “If I’m not mistaken, Ms. Ema, you can heal very often, and for more than his passive regeneration allows. The overall amount of health you can account for surpasses what Mr. Lindow can. Not only this, but as Ms. Diné pointed out, you can do things that, as of yet, Mr. Lindow cannot. Is that correct?” He pointed the question at Arthur.
“Uh… yes sir.” He answered hurriedly, grabbing the lifeline with both hands. “I don’t have anything that supplements mana usage as much as Ema does. I can increase overall mana and reduce mana cost, but nothing as good as Ema’s Mana Cushion.”
“And there you have it.” Sherman stated matter-of-factly. “As for Mr. Omari, Mr. Lindow may have you beaten in brute strength and speed, but can he control the flow of battle as you can? You have abilities that allow you to move enemies to where you want them to be, and if your previous skills were of any indication, you will gain more soon. Can you replicate this, Mr. Lindow?”
“No sir.”
“I’m not a professor anymore. You don’t have to call me sir.” Arthur nodded, but didn’t respond.
“Back to the topic at hand. He said himself that he is incapable of duplicating your ability to control the battle. If you’re going to acquire more ways to do just that with your next skills, that gulf will only grow.” He turned to Ema. “That goes for you, too. He may be able to ‘heal’ afflictions and debuffs, but it’s unreliable due to its restrictions. Not only that, but the skill he used on me heals nothing. It simply moves the damage and negative effects from me to himself.” Arthur had been hesitant to share the specifics of that skill with the others at first, but after giving it some thought, decided it’d be best to. Gideon and Ema looked contemplative, while Aurora simply nodded her head.
“All of you have your specific capabilities.” Sherman continued, in a tone that made it seem like he was winding down from a lecture. “If you plan on staying on as a team, then it’s important to not only build upon that, but to be clear in your communication in doing so. It wouldn’t do for someone to choose a skill that wouldn’t fit your synergies.” He picked up his woodman’s axe he’d found in the survivor group’s stash of weapons. “That being said, however, I wouldn’t mind making use of your ‘ridiculous’ buffs myself, Mr. Lindow. Especially the one that enhances experience gain.” He laughed as Ema groaned, annoyed.
“Well…” Gideon said. “I suppose he doesn’t make you completely useless, Em- Ah!” He was interrupted by Ema’s fists of fury landing on him like passive buffs of their own. Arthur stayed quiet, unsure of whether he should inform the others that technically, he couldn’t choose his own skills. He decided that he’d given them enough revelations for one day as Gideon defended himself feebly from Ema’s righteous rage.
The group of survivors made their way down the path they discussed during the meeting earlier that day. The only change that’d been made to their plans was that Arthur would be joined at the front by Sherman, Ema and Dennis. The reasoning was that Sherman could use the encounters they’d surely have to finally gain a level and be granted the same superhuman powers he’d observed the others using. Ema was there to ensure that he stayed safe, along with Arthur being present for the same reason. Not only that, but the spearhead of the group’s “march” would need to be a solid one.
While they’d established earlier that Arthur did not replace any of them with their abilities, it was still clear he was easily the strongest among them in terms of all-around power and robustness. For this reason, he was placed at the front of their campaign, with Gideon, Aurora, and Maxine in the back. While he wasn’t the equal of Arthur in terms of close combat, he was still the second best in their group by a wide margin. Aurora would fill the gap of damage, and Maxine would watch for threats, the same as Dennis did in the front. She would have the secondary responsibility to watch for any supplies they may have missed while moving, and her Vault was therefore cleared out to have as much space as possible.
It wasn’t long before they had an encounter. Hobgoblins were normally rare to find, but would always solicit a retreat. Even Gideon had trouble with beating them in close combat, and they had the speed to pose a threat to even Ema. The threat these monsters posed was why most of the group in the front went white with terror as not one, but two hobgoblins interposed themselves in the escaping collection’s path. Sasaki Ema and Nicholas Sherman backed off as the monsters approached, causing the entire group to back up as well in an attempt to stay behind them. Sounds of despair were heard from the herd of helpless survivors as they encountered such a grand obstacle so quickly out of the gate.
“Er… I think we should find some way to get Gideon and Aurora up here…” Ema said, as she put her arm out for the people behind her. “This is a bit much…”
“Damnit…” Sherman said, as he backed off even more than Ema was. His frustration at being unable to help at all was writ across his face.
Everyone’s eyes were on the hobgoblins, so no one noticed Arthur had begun running forward until it was too late. Before Ema or Sherman could stop him, he’d summoned his armor and jumped onto a nearby dumpster, spring boarding off of it towards the hobgoblins. The Aged Blade was above his armored helm and prepared for a huge, two-handed overhead swing.
Before they had set off, Gideon made a suggestion to Arthur in secret. He’d told Arthur that while the team might know he was effective in battle, they likely didn’t understand the exact degree that was true. As the only other melee fighter on that team, only he truly understood just how strong he was. Although Arthur tried to tell him he wasn’t that strong compared to his friend he met in the dungeon, Gideon insisted that it was important for the others to understand the degree of just how much more powerful Arthur was. Not only that, but the survivor group at large may not know at all. Normally that wouldn’t matter, but in a situation like this, knowing that a giant like Arthur was on their side would do just as much, if not more, for morale as the dinner party they’d had earlier. He insisted that during at least their first encounter with an enemy, he should show that titanic strength to them firsthand. The argument about the helpless individuals feeling safer was the only reason he agreed.
Before he’d even spring boarded off of the dumpster, Arthur had used his second aggro skill he’d ever gained.
[Challenging Moxie]: Expend a stack of [Audacity] to inflict [Enraged] on all enemies within 10 meters of you. Gain a stack of [Audacity] for every enemy inflicted with [Enraged].
Hobgoblins, unsurprisingly, did not possess sufficient willpower to deny the Enraged debuff its due. As both of the enemy’s eyes began glowing red, Arthur switched his Intricacies of Exaltation to its sister skill, Intricacies of Engagement. He didn’t have many offensive skills to supplement his charge, so he activated it in the fullness of its power.
[Intricacies of Engagement]: Changes bonuses gained from [Audacity] stacks to a small bonus to STR, DEX and damage. You deal greater damage to enemies with the [Enraged] debuff. Gain a stack of [Audacity] whenever you defeat an enemy. Gain enhanced experience whenever you defeat an enemy. Expend a stack of [Audacity] to grant yourself increased stamina and mana regeneration, as well as offensive skill cooldown. No cooldown.
He brought his Alexandrian blade down towards the hobgoblin’s head. It raised its tree-root sized club to block, but to everyone but Lindow’s surprise, it did absolutely nothing to arrest the Aged Blade’s worn edge. It ripped through the tree-root like a power saw through an unfortunate cabinet on fast-forward, connecting with the monster’s head with the same force of pressure and cutting power.
While it was true that he was not the equal of Mira Seigan in terms of attacking power, the Enraged combination he’d implemented since meeting her was just as crushing as it had been then. After witnessing Aurora’s display at the battle he’d nosed into, he’d realized it was even more effective than he’d previously thought. That crushing effectiveness meant that his strike had more than three times the power behind a strength stat that was already well into the two hundreds.
The hobgoblin was both crushed and torn in half at the same time. Its club was turned into splinters, as though thrown into a merciless wood chipper. The Aged Blade continued on its bloody yet bloodless path down, as though going through butter, until it collided with the ground at the hobgoblins feet. The incision was not clean. It looked like a chainsaw had ripped through it, and it sounded like the god of war had karate chopped it down the middle. When it struck the concreted floor, it tore a furrow in its shape and width as the ground around the impact area crumbled and cracked in huge chunks. The hobgoblin nearby, unnoticing or uncaring of the fate of its associate, charged Arthur immediately with glowing red eyes. He looked up, and with a step forward, pulled his sword from its new stone scabbard effortlessly. With the same motion, he made a wide, single-handed horizontal slice that traveled his blade from his left hip to behind him on his right side.
The swing had no less effect on the second hobgoblin than it had on the first for the lack of the two-handed grip. It swept through the second hobgoblin like a cool breeze, as it met no more resistance than such would, bisecting it mercilessly. The two halves of the hobgoblin flew with its previous momentum, the top half landing near the shocked onlookers and soliciting gasps and short shrieks of surprise and fear.
As Arthur’s unbloodied form stood, a previously unseen monster made good its doomed ambush with glowing red eyes. Unbeknownst to the group, there had always been three hobgoblins. Arthur, however, had noticed that he gained 3 stacks of Audacity in return for using Challenging Moxie instead of just 2.
“Watch out!!” Ema screamed, as the hobgoblin charged at Arthur with no weapon. He frowned, unsure of what the monster hoped to accomplish, but soon realized that ascribing logic to monsters crazed by Enraged was pointless. As pointless as it was for the monster to attack him at all, considering what had just befallen its allies, yet it charged anyway, spittle flying from its roaring maw. Its fist raised, it slammed all of its strength and momentum against Lindow’s chest with a snarling screech.
Its wrist folded against the dingy armor.
Everyone, including Ema and Sherman, were frozen in abstract shock. No one said a word as not only the monster’s wrist folded against him, but his arm too, bending and cracking in several places not meant to bend or crack. Bone was poking through skin, making its arm look like a modern art piece covered in animal leather. As it let out a roar of pain, Arthur let his sword go from his grip. As it crunched into the ground, its weight and sharpness impaling it into the concrete, he considered just how many people this monster had killed. He considered just how much fear he’d wrought, and how long it’d gotten away with its murderous inclinations without so much as a single consequence.
As his fist clenched, he amended his thought. Without a single consequence… as of half a second ago.
He raised his arm and delivered a punishing, forward-leaning right cross to the monster’s face. Its face didn’t take the blow well. Its entire body folded around the strike, legs flying up even as it rocketed back towards the half destroyed building from which it came. It crashed into the wall, destroying the building’s last support. As the wall crumbled around the slugged monster, the rest of the building followed, causing a huge racket as concrete, steel and wood fell like rain. The mess caused a huge gout of dirt and dust to billow out, coating the survivors in yet more grime as they gaped. After the dirt and dust settled, Arthur looked back at the survivors. None of them said a word, with even Ema and Sherman looking at him like he was an alien. He wasn’t sure how right they were.
“We should move. Someone had to have heard that.” He didn’t mince words as the others nodded silently. As Ema watched him during their march afterwards, she wondered just how far he could go if he disregarded their group. She hoped that she would never learn.