Steampunk Zombie Assassin Ch. 19-20

Chapter 19

"Who's the new guy?" Antoinette asked. She looked directly at the man standing behind Rebecca.

"He's in the Guild," Oakley said.

The mystery man walked around Rebecca and when he got to Antoinette, he took and kissed the back of her hand. She was sure that she wasn't going to feel his lips, but his efforts weren't blocked by the level 10 cock-block rule. She wondered if certain things were possible if intentions were of a non-sexual manner.

"It is very nice to meet you," he said. He stood up and released her hand. "My name is Pasteur."

"Hello Pasteur," she said while trying to remember how to curtsey. She did her best while introducing herself, "I'm Antoinette."

"If you are done glad-handing the DPS," Rebecca said. "We can get on with the task at hand. Marching order will be Oakley on point, I'm next with Pasteur after me. Antoinette gets to be the caboose."

Antoinette looked at Oakley as Rebecca said caboose, and he couldn't help but smile. She smiled back and thought that his sense of humor must be close to hers. She turned and wiggled her 'caboose' for all to see and Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"Okay Antoinette," Rebecca said. "Get all that foolish shit out of your system before we enter the prison. We are going to need you to focus for us all to get out alive."

"Choo Choo!" Antoinette said while pulling down an imaginary chain for the train whistle.

"All aboard!" Oakley shouted and started shuffling his feet while his arms moved in a circular motion, mimicking the wheels of a steam engine. He shuffled past Rebecca and she couldn't help but smile before putting her hands on his waist and timing her steps so they were in sync as Oakley 'drove' past Pasteur.

There was no way he was being left out of whatever this was, and Pasteur took his place behind Rebecca with his hands on her waist; they picked up Antoinette last. Once she was in line, they all started to make train sounds while fighting off the giggles.

Oakley turned the train towards the prison and he led them to the side entrance closest to where they were. One of the two gates leading into the area was off its hinges, and in no time they entered the 'yard'. Oakley kept the train a-running until they were within 30 yards of doors leading inside.

He slowed their progress until the line stopped. Oakley turned and said, "Please watch your step as you exit the train."

Antoinette thought about her raid with the Sisters compared to this one. With the Sisters she felt like the outsider and the only reason she got included was because she was an assassin. But even though she was an assassin, there was little help, and she almost got herself killed trying to be useful.

With Rebecca, Oakley and Pasteur, the feeling was light and she felt like she was as important as the next person. No one was throwing shade her way for carrying a bat, and the conga line train was some of the most fun she remembered having.

"Have any of you run this raid before?" Antoinette asked.

The three all looked at each other, hoping that one of the others would nod their heads, but each one slowly shook their heads instead. Oakley and Pasteur both shrugged their shoulders in addition.

"Well, we aren't going to let that stop us," Rebecca said. "The raid is a four-person gig, and we have four of the best around." She smiled as she tried to sell her brief pep talk to the others.

"We can just go slow and if things get really crazy," Pasteur said. "We can just come back here and try again on a different day."

"Is there something special about this raid?" Antoinette asked.

"The warden drops some nice tank gear and we are trying to get Oakley all set up so we can do tougher stuff," Rebecca said.

"Because everyone needs a good tank," Pasteur said.

"And healers," Rebecca said.

"But us DPS types are a dime a dozen," Antoinette smiled innocently.

"That's not true," Oakley said. "You're here because we need you and your caboose to help defeat the warden." He smiled and gave her an exaggerated wink.

"What exactly is my caboose going to do to help us in the raid?" Antoinette said.

"If we start getting our ass kicked," Oakley said. "We will all follow your caboose to safety."

"Choooooo, Choooooo," added Pasteur, extending the sound and smiling from ear to ear.

"Settle the fuck down," Rebecca said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm not sure that's the right strategy against an undead boss, or to convince her to join the Guild."

"I'll join!" Antoinette shouted, almost before Rebecca finished.

"You'll what?" Rebecca asked. "Did you just say you'll join?"

"Yes!" Pasteur said. "Another woman in the Guild." He pumped his fist in the air.

"How many people are in the Guild right now?" Antoinette asked.

"With you it will be four," Oakley said. He pointed at each member of the raid group and counted them off until he got to four.

Antoinette was smiling watching Oakley count. She felt very comfortable with him around. The small guild she was joining might not have that many members or a vault full of legendary gear, but every successful guild had to start somewhere.

"What's the name of our Guild?" Antoinette asked.

"Amicitia," Rebecca responded.

Antoinette looked to Oakley and Pasteur for help with the meaning, but they waited for Rebecca to continue.

"It's from Latin, and it basically means friendship," Rebecca said. "Back in ancient Rome, the term had substantial political and legal meaning. At the core it means a genuine bond of mutual fondness."

Antoinette thought about the name and knew even more she was making the right choice. While other Guilds might have names referencing war and battle, this one was about the people in it.

"I really like that," Antoinette said.

"Once we are done with the raid, we will get you to a terminal to join," Rebecca said. "As long as you don't get us killed."

"Nobody is getting killed today," Oakley said. "Let's get this over with already."

He didn't wait for an answer and started walking towards the building. The rest of the party took their position and in a short time Oakley was standing next to the door. He pulled something from his pack and put it on his head. Antoinette thought it looked like a miner's headlamp, but knew it had to be more than that.

She tapped on Pasteur's shoulder and pointed at the headlamp. Pasteur answered her silent question, "It's to draw aggro. Just wait and see, it's pretty cool."

Antoinette wondered what other devices the members of her party had. She waited, and once Oakley opened the door and entered, she slipped off her gloves and put them in her backpack. Hopefully no one, especially Oakley, would notice the difference to her appearance.

The party filed in and they found themselves in a small chamber. Not all of the lights were working, causing a dull haze over the area. When the door leading outside closed behind Antoinette, the room became darker still.

Only one exit was in the chamber, and Oakley drew what looked like a mace from his backpack as he walked towards it. The head of the mace wasn't covered in large heavy spikes, but instead, several crisscrossing lines of small spurs that were no longer than an inch. He swung the mace like a baseball player swings a bat on the way to the on-deck circle, and the lines of spurs began to spin around the head of the weapon.

Rebecca was holding a pistol in each hand. The barrel of each weapon opened like the end of a blunderbuss. Pasteur also held a pistol in each hand, but the barrels of the weapons were slim like a sophisticated dart gun. Antoinette wasn't sure which weapon she should grab, so she selected her bowie knife. This time she was going to try and act like an assassin at least.

The corridor was tiled and after a short distance it made a hairpin turn that led into a shower area. Oakley was swinging his mace faster and electricity started to arc around the head. Antoinette reminded herself to stop watching the others in the party and pay attention to what was going on.

There were no stalls to investigate and no zombies were in the shower area. They left the shower area and into the adjacent locker room. Oakley looked over his shoulder as he moved to the door on the opposite wall.

"Oakley, guard the door while we search for loot," Rebecca said with a soft voice.

He nodded and put his weight against the door while the others searched.

Rebecca pointed at Pasteur and a bank of lockers, then did the same for Antoinette. She took the other section and slowly they started looking through each locker. After her mistake with the grenade on the last raid, Antoinette made sure to take her time, opening each door slowly and peering in. When she opened the sixth locker, she found a keycard and a disk. The disk had the image of a book on it. She put it in her pocket wondering what that could mean, when she heard Pasteur swear several feet away.

Pasteur wasn't so careful opening lockers and when he was roughly a third through his area, he pulled open a locker, revealing a small device with a blinking red light on it. Opening the locker door set the light to flashing, and seconds later a klaxon started to sound.

"FUCK!" Rebecca shouted. "Oakley, open the door, we need to shut that thing off as fast as we can.

The change in their situation set Antoinette's pulse racing. She moved to the door and when Oakley opened it up, she slipped out. "I'm going to find the source and shut it off."

"Wait!" Rebecca shouted, but it was too late.

The door led to a short concrete block hallway and she raced to the door at the other end and she cracked the door. There were no lights in the large chamber, but parts of the ceiling had fallen in to let some light into the area. The walls to each side were lined with cells, but all the doors were open; probably a result of the device Pasteur triggered.

She could see a lot of bodies moving around, all of them outlined in a light pink. She stepped through the door, hoping the hinges wouldn't creak, but with the sound of the alarm it probably wouldn't matter. When she was through, she put her back against the door to think of what to do next.

The area had metal walkways about 15' off the floor that ran the length of the room on both sides. She could see iron rung ladders in the corners to her left and right. The one on the left was missing several rungs, so she moved as silently as she could to the right, hoping the thin darkness would veil her movements.

Antoinette crouched her body as she ran, and made it several seconds later. She was quickly up the ladder until she got to the top, and found her way blocked by a locked grate that prevented her access. Antoinette reached her fingers through the grate, but she didn't have any tools to pick the lock, and her knife wasn't going to do it. She was going to have to see if Constantine had a kit for that. She assumed that every respectable assassin would be able to pick a lock.

Now that she knew she wasn't going to be able to get through the grate, she had to decide what to do next. Climbing back down was an option, but then what was she going to do? She decided that it was time to put her dexterity to the test. She sheathed her knife and reached out to grip the side of the walkway and swung her body. On the second swing, she flipped her legs up and was able to hook her ankle between two rails. Seconds later she was squatting on the walkway, watching for any indication she was noticed.

None of the figures in the room were moving in her direction, but she did see the doors she entered from minutes ago open a crack. She could see Oakley's head poking through. He looked around and after several seconds their eyes met.

Antoinette gave him the hand signal to wait a bit, and looked over the room from her new vantage point. On the far side of the room, she could see a small box on the wall that was glowing and assumed that was the trigger to shut off the alarm.

She didn't look back at Oakley and quickly crept down the metal walkway until she got to a point where a large part of it was missing.

The gap to the other side was roughly 20', or at least that's what Antoinette gauged it at. She remembered in school being able to long jump 18' in high school, and now she had top of the line dexterity. If she made it, she could get within 30' of the box, but if she missed and fell, her friends wouldn't be able to get to her fast enough to save her.

She decided that safety was the better part of valor, and knelt down on the walkway. She pulled out her rifle and used the rail to help stabilize her weapon. The alarm was pounding in her ears as she tried to train her aim on the box when she remembered Louis. Antoinette clicked play on her iPod and a calm washed over her when the music started.

The glowing box was easy to sight in and after several seconds it seemed to get larger and larger. She pulled the trigger on the rifle and the flash lit the room briefly. A split second later the box exploded and the deafening sound stopped. She smiled to herself and then looked at the figures on the floor, who were pushing tables across the floor under where she was standing.

Antoinette stood up and was about to retreat down the walkway when there was a blinding flash in the room and the zombies all turned. She put a hand to her eyes to protect from another flash, but now it was just the headlamp and the zombies were racing towards him.

Oakley took a position about 10' in the room and his weapon was swirling in a circle, moving from hand to hand, the light from the electricity showing the concentration on his face. Antoinette turned her weapon to the room and let Louis show her the way.

The first shot began a killing spree Antoinette never believed she was capable of. She fired, hitting her first six targets in the head and dropping them to the floor. She hit the seventh in the shoulder, but followed up with another to the neck. She fired over and over, taking out another eight targets without fail.

All her concentration was the repetition of aim and fire, aim and fire. As much as she wanted to watch what was going on with the party, she knew that she had to kill as many zombies as possible from her position, and suddenly there were no more targets. She lifted her gaze from the rifle sights and looked around the room.

There were no more zombies moving around, and she was happy to see that her guild members were all still on their feet. Oakley's headlamp was no longer shining, so she shouldered her rifle and jumped down to one of the tables. The party was already walking towards her, and they met in the middle of the room.

"Thank god you took care of that alarm," Rebecca said. "That sound was driving me crazy."

"I'm not sure if the alarm only triggered this room, but it's likely that we aren't going to be able to sneak up on anything during the rest of the raid," Antoinette said.

"We will also have to watch out so that we don't get surprised," Rebecca said.

After the initial encounter with the room full of zombie convicts, the next several encounters were with smaller zombie guard patrols, which the party dispatched with efficiency. As much as they wanted to keep the noise to a minimum, the sound of Rebecca's pistols echoed off the metal and concrete of the prison, alerting any nearby baddies of their presence.

Out of the four guard posts they cleared, aside from the credits in some desk drawers, the party found two Blueprints. One was for Oakley and the other for Pasteur. Antoinette was happy for them, but wanted loot of her own. She wondered if the rarity of assassins made drops for her profession scarcer.

They moved through the building until they arrived at a door that was unlike the barred doors they had passed through so far. This one was thick steel, but Oakley was able to swing it open with ease. On the other side of the door the floor changed from concrete to tile, and the paneled walls had pictures on the walls. The ceiling was intact and the long rectangular fluorescent light fixtures worked perfectly.

"It looks like we are out of the prison section and into the office area," Rebecca said. "Hopefully the warden isn't too far away."

The party nodded in silent agreement and Oakley started down the hallway, which was big enough for him to swing his weapon, filling the silence with a soft crackle of electricity. From her spot in the back, Antoinette watched as he checked around the corner at the end of the hallway. He turned to the group and held up five fingers.

They hadn't gone through any pre-raid prep, but Antoinette assumed that meant 5 enemies around the corner. If it was a count down to go, people normally start with three, and he wasn't counting down. He took time to make eye contact with Rebecca and Pasteur, getting a nod from each. When Antoinette met his gaze, he looked at her like something was different, but she was already moving towards him.

"Let me see if I can plunk one of them before we barge in there," she whispered. With her success earlier in the raid she felt pretty comfortable she could reduce their opponents before things got messy.

Several shrugs of shoulders and nods led to a silent agreement between the members and she moved to the end of the hallway. She went to one knee and peered around the corner. The room looked more like a hospital waiting room than anything else, except there were five zombies in riot gear gathered around a central desk.

"What the fuck?" Antoinette whispered to herself. "Who puts a zombie in riot gear? Fucking bastards."

Antoinette used the corner to help steady the rifle and took aim. She had turned off her iPod after the first room, and missed the calmness Louis provided, but felt confident she wouldn't need his help for five guards, even with their helmets. All of the guards were outlined in different shades of red, and she trained her sights on the darkest red; if she was going to dunk one, she might as one hit the toughest one first.

She pulled the trigger and watched the bullet strike her target, knocking it off its feet. The other four all turned towards her and started running. The desk was about 50' away and she knew she only had time for one more shot. She aimed at the one in front and fired as she saw Oakley move around her out of the corner of her eye.

The bullet hit in the middle of the face guard and knocked the zombie off its feet. She stood up and switched to her shotgun, as the rest of this fight was going to be close combat. Oakley stood ready to meet the charge, he was weaving his weapon in a large figure-8 in front of him.

Rebecca fired her pistols and hit the front guard in the chest with both shots. It slowed the zombie, but didn't stop it. Pasteur lobbed an orb grenade style to hit directly in front of the oncoming zombies and a clear thick goo spread across the floor.

Antoinette made sure her ammo was set to incendiary and started to hip fire her shotgun. The first shot hit the lead zombie in the leg and its uniform caught on fire. The next step the zombie hit the goo from Pasteur and it stuck. It turned its attention to the goo and Oakley stepped up and smashed it in the neck, separating the head from the body.

The next zombie wasn't able to stop before stepping in the goo also, and Oakley spun in a backwards circle and slammed his weapon into his target's chest. Electricity flowed from his weapon to encircle the zombie and it shuddered with the charge.

Antoinette fired at the next zombie and hit it in the stomach, lighting it on fire as Rebecca's shots hit it twice in the face shield. The zombie toppled backwards, leaving only one left. Antoinette stepped up, ready to take out the last one when a desk came flying through the air. Oakley didn't move in time and the desk smashed into him, knocking him off his feet and dropping his weapon.

Pasteur fired one of his slim pistols at Oakley and Antoinette panicked. She wondered how a spy had gotten into their party and wondered if Hemlock was to blame. She instinctively turned her weapon on Pasteur as he fired another shot into Oakley. Antoinette pulled the trigger on her shotgun, ready to melt the flesh off Pasteur like the guy in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

No Friendly Fire. This is not a PVP Zone.

Antoinette wondered how Pasteur was able to shoot Oakley when she saw him jump to his feet. Rebecca kicked his weapon back to him as she continued to fire her pistols. Pasteur was digging something out of his pack and Antoinette turned her attention back to the oncoming zombies.

To her surprise, the two zombies she shot in the head were running towards her. The face shields on their helmets were cracked, but otherwise intact. She started backing away while firing her shotgun. The zombie closest to her was on fire, but it wasn't hampering it from grabbing her in seconds.

As she was still backpedaling and firing her shotgun, she saw something hit the zombie and the same clear goo started running down its body. Antoinette changed her aim and blasted it in the knees until it fell forward. It hit the floor and stuck, not able to free itself from Pasteur's sticky substance.

She was relieved that it was down, but the dark red zombie was only a step behind. Her back hit a wall and she hoped she could survive until help came, which happened almost immediately. A flash from Oakley's headlamp turned the zombie and she felt like a resident of Helm's Deep. This wasn't the dawn on the third day, but she felt a relief at Oakley pulling the zombie away from her.

Antoinette looked and saw that aside from the zombie engaging Oakley, there was one lying several feet away from Rebecca. The one missing its head had dropped to the floor and the other one stuck was working to free itself from the goo. Rebecca was fighting the last one as Pasteur tossed another goo bomb at Rebecca's opponent.

As quickly as she could, Antoinette moved to the zombie stuck in the goo and pulled out her knife. When she was behind the creature, she gripped the hilt of the knife with both hands and jumped towards it. As she flew through the air she raised her hands over her head. Her knees hit the zombie between the shoulders and knocked it forward. When it hit the floor she brought the knife down as hard as she could and it sliced through the helmet, burying the blade to the hilt.

She got to her feet and the zombie had knocked Oakley off his feet again. It picked up the nearby desk from earlier and launched it into Pasteur, catching him in the body and knocking him into the wall 10' away. Rebecca had killed her zombie and rushed to Pasteur while Oakley struggled to get to his feet. He still held on to his mace, but the head was no longer spinning.

The zombie reached Oakley and punched him in the chest, knocking him back, but Oakley was able to stay on his feet. He started swinging his mace as his feet slid to a stop and Antoinette positioned herself behind the zombie. It moved towards Oakley and he dropped his mace. She wondered what the hell he was doing when he slammed both of his fists on the ground, emitting a shockwave that made the zombie stumble but didn't affect Antoinette.

Antoinette still held her knife in her hands as she crept forward. After Oakley's shock wave, he stood up and his body was glowing. His muscles bulged under his clothing and she thought he looked sexy as hell. She felt a touch of embarrassment considering the situation, but couldn't fight the reaction of her body.

Oakley took a wrestler's stance and was ready for the zombie. It launched itself at Oakley, who casually sidestepped the zombie's punch. Oakley slipped around behind the zombie and put it into a full nelson. The zombie screamed as it tried to free itself from Oakley's powerful arms.

Antoinette moved around so she was facing the zombie and Oakley pressed down on the zombie's neck and head. She moved to drive her knife into the zombie's chest and it kicked her hard in the stomach. Her vision wavered a bit, but it filled her with rage more than anything.

"NOW ANTOINETTE!" Oakley shouted.

When the zombie kicked Antoinette, Oakley kicked out its other foot and dropped it to the ground, leaning his body heavily on the zombie's back, with its arms still firmly over its head. The zombie started flailing its legs to get out of Oakley's grip, and Antoinette took the opportunity to slam the knife into the top of the zombie's head.

The helmet provided some protection, but the tip of the knife broke through and she was able to sink an inch of blade into its head. As much as she tried, she couldn't push it in anymore and she could see that Oakley was starting to lose the match of strength.

She stepped back and gripped her baseball bat in both hands. She locked eyes with Oakley briefly before taking a step forward and spinning her body in a leaping circle. As she spun, she brought the bat over her head and swung it down with all her strength as she landed. Antoinette let her legs bend to let the weight of her body add more force to the impact of the bat hitting the butt of the knife.

The knife slammed into the zombie's skull to the hilt hard enough to shatter the helmet and Antoinette stood shaking with rage, ready to swing again. As she brought the bat over her head she could see there was no more outline on the zombie and she slowly lowered her weapon.

The Sisters of Silence could kiss her ass, she thought. Anyone who has ever fought a zombie knew that there was always a time and place for a shotgun blast and the swing of a baseball bat. Oakley let the zombie fall to the floor and they both looked for Rebecca and Pasteur.

Antoinette could see the glow of Oakley's skin starting to fade and she pulled her knife from the zombie's skull before they rushed over to where Rebecca knelt with their back to them. As they approached, they could see something was wrong. When they reached Rebecca, she had her head down and there was a pile of gear in front of her.

Nobody spoke for several seconds, giving them time to absorb the impact of what happened. Finally, Rebecca broke the silence, "I couldn't save him."

Antoinette could hear the emotion in Rebecca's voice and felt a lump in her throat forming. She remembered Ravioli talking about death, but she realized that she never really believed him. There was always a Resurrection Spell, a Life Stone or a Phoenix Down to bring back a fallen player. Maybe Pasteur would find himself a ghost to run back to his down body or respawn at a Spirit Shrine type location.

"It wasn't your fault," Antoinette said. "Is there any chance of bringing him back?"

"I don't think so," Rebecca said. "I'm not sure we can finish the raid without him."

They all nodded silently, thinking about going against the boss without their main healer.

"If it was anyone's fault," Oakley said. "It was mine."

"It was nobody's fault," Antoinette said. She knew they all felt responsible for Pasteur's death, but they needed to get past the self-blame and decide on what to do next.

"We can always find another member and try again later," Rebecca said.

"What do we do with his gear?" Oakley asked.

"We leave it here," Rebecca said. "It's not right to loot his gear."

"We wouldn't be looting," Antoinette said. "Using his gear is a way of memorial to a fallen guild member."

"I like that," Oakley said. "My grandma used to say 'the greatest casualty of life is to be forgotten'."

"Okay," Rebecca said. "I do like being able to remember him by having a piece of his gear."

The three of them inspected the small pile of gear that lay on the ground before making their decisions. Rebecca took Pasteur's Pistols; Oakley decided on a Ring and Antoinette selected a Pin in the shape of a laboratory beaker.

After each gave a moment of silence, they inspected the room for loot. They found credits and several ++EpiPens, but nothing else until they came to a locked filing cabinet.

"Let's check the guards for keys," Rebecca said.

They searched the guards and found a set of keys on the zombie Oakley knocked the head off of. He rushed back to the cabinet and slid the key into the lock. After the lock clicked, he pulled open each drawer in turn. Inside the cabinet they found diddly squat.

"What the fuck?" Oakley said what they were all thinking.

"See if there is a false bottom or something in one of the drawers," Antoinette said.

He tested each drawer in turn and there was nothing to find. The locked cabinet was just a locked cabinet.

"Fuck this game," Antoinette whispered under her breath. "Who doesn't provide a small bit of loot after a big fight?"

"Do we want to stay and fight the warden?" Rebecca asked.

"I don't think we can do it," Oakley said. "I already used up my special ability, and it doesn't recharge that fast. If we stay here the zombies might respawn and then we will have to do the fight all over."

"Or fight past the room of zombies just to get out," Antoinette added.

"Okay," Rebecca said. "We go back to the beginning and try again another time."

The three party-members walked back to the start of the raid and stepped on a portal that sent them back to their location pre-raid. Antoinette stepped off the blue circle and was back in her apartment. She looked at the Pin in her hand and wondered if she should identify it, or just keep it with the benefits a secret. With a sigh, she set the Pin on the circle and hit identify.

Pin of Research -- Increases player's Inventor skill +1 Lvl

"Thank you Pasteur," Antoinette said. She picked up the pin and attached it to her corset.

Her wrist device buzzed before she could leave the room, it was Rebecca.

"Hello," Antoinette said.

"Do you still want to be in the guild?" Rebecca asked.

With the failure in the raid, Antoinette forgot all about it and was happy that Rebecca remembered. "Yes I do," she said.

"Our code is 8008," she said, a bit embarrassed.

"Why 8008?" Antoinette asked as she walked out of her apartment to the elevator.

She heard Oakley's voice in the background yell, "It spells BOOB!"

Chapter 20

Antoinette punched in the code into the keypad in the elevator and the car started to move. She quickly put on her gloves just before the door opened. She was surprised when she walked off the elevator into a small 50' x 50' room. There were limited furnishings, only a terminal, a raid portal and ten folding chairs.

"I know it's not much," Rebecca said. "But it's home."

"Nothing that a bit of hard work and a dump truck full of credits won't fix," Oakley said and started laughing.

"Oh, so you're just after me for my caboose and credits?" Antoinette joked.

"Well," he answered. "It is a rather nice caboose..."

"Nice caboose or not nice caboose, I'm after your credits," Rebecca laughed.

"I can accept that," Antoinette smiled.

The group moved to the terminal and Antoinette put her palm on the reader and logged in.

Would you like to join the Amicitia?

There was no buzz on her communication device this time, as Oakley and Rebecca were already contacts. She smiled to finally feel like she was where she was supposed to be.

"So how does this work?" Antoinette said. "How can we get better stuff for the Guild instead of looking like the basement of an abandoned church with the folding chairs"

"It just comes down to funding," Rebecca said. "Members donate to the guild coffers and then we upgrade. From what I understand, there are some guild-specific raids that award guild specific loot."

"What exactly does guild-specific mean?" Antoinette asked.

"We don't know yet," Oakley said. "But anyone we can recruit to the guild will help. At the guild's current level, we can have 10 members."

"I assume we are a level 1 guild?" Antoinette asked.

"You would assume correctly," Rebecca said.

"I almost forgot," Antoinette said. "I found a disk and a keycard in the lockers at the prison."

The mention of the prison changed the mood of the room, and the three dropped their gazes to the floor, remembering Pasteur.

"Keep them," Rebecca said.

Antoinette looked to Oakley who met her gaze and nodded silently. It felt wrong to keep both of them, but she also didn't want to start a confrontation over something as silly as a bit of loot.

"I need to go and take care of some things," Antoinette said. "And get some credits so we can spruce this place up."

"Me too," Oakley said.

Rebecca nodded to both of them before they took their turns entering the elevator to return to their living quarters.

Antoinette exited the elevator and walked to her apartment. When she entered the terminal room, she slid the keycard into the slot.

"Kitchen now available"

"Quest Complete"

"Midnight," Antoinette shouted. "We have a kitchen, although I'm not sure where to get any ingredients to make anything.

Midnight barked where he stood in the doorway to the terminal room. His tail wagged with the news, but Antoinette was pretty sure that his tail would have been happy with whatever she said. When she left the room, she saw that the layout of her apartment changed.

Antoinette walked through her new kitchen and saw that there was only a lonely refrigerator in the room. There were no cupboards or other amenities, not even a fucking sink. As excited as she was to have a kitchen, not having any of the stuff that filled the room hit her with a feeling of depression.

"I'm not sure I'm going to be able to afford to furnish this apartment and also donate to the guild unless I get to work," Antoinette said. "I also have to figure out how the portal thing works."

Midnight barked in agreement.

She scanned her quests and decided that the easiest one would be killing zombies with her knife. On her way out, she could see if Constantine was open and also slip the disk in the slot. If Constantine was open, she would see if he had some cheap weapons she could slap together.

Antoinette exited her apartment and took the elevator down. She entered the large chamber and saw that the lights were still dark at Constantine's Crafts. She shook her head to deal with her mild annoyance, but walked to the podium that rose from the floor as she approached.

"Please insert the coin in the slot."

She slid the disk in the slot and the podium slid silently into the floor. Antoinette was pretty sure that the disk was for a bookstore, but until another building appeared, she would have to wait to see if she was correct. With Midnight following close behind, she exited the large chamber and headed outside.

The process took about an hour to find enough zombies to kill with her knife, but eventually she was done and received the following notification:

"Quest Complete"

Level Up!

Now she only had four active quests left, but Constantine was closed and she had no idea where any vampires were. The only choice left was the damn Demon Prince Groolix. She thought about her smashed Hummer while she walked back to her apartment to level up.

She entered the large chamber of her base and there was no new building yet; damn. She took the elevator upstairs and logged in.

Level Up -- 2 Skill Points to Use

Antoinette didn't fuck around with contemplation this time. She clicked twice on Stealth and looked at her improved stats:

Name Antoinette

Level 9

Profession Assassin

Race Human

Health 62

Strength 10

Intelligence 17

Wisdom 13

Dexterity 18

Constitution 11

Charisma 12

Skills

Bloodshed - Rookie 4

Stealth - Seasoned 1

Accuracy - Intermediate 3

Weaponsmith - Beginner 2

Inventor - Intermediate 4

Special Skills

Portal Creation

As she walked back down to the bus stop, she thought about her smashed Hummer and wondered if there was a vehicle repair skill. Maybe that fell under Inventor, or maybe if the new building was indeed a book shop, there would be some reference manuals that would help to explain away her questions. She walked through the front doors and to the bus stop with Midnight trotting along next to her.

While she waited, she thought about how to activate her special skill. She concentrated on forming a portal on the street in front of her, but nothing happened. Maybe she couldn't do it where the bus might pass, so she tried on the sidewalk to the same result. When that didn't work, she tried to make one appear in front of her that she could step through.

Antoinette tried with her eyes open and closed, but after roughly 30 seconds, she gave up when she saw the bus approaching. As the bus slowed to a stop, she hoped this wasn't going to be a situation where it was only activated when she was angry or almost dead, like in most novels. She hated the stories where the main character had a powerful skill, sometimes an almost world conquering power only for it to be out of reach for most of the story.

The comparison was always characters from The Lord of the Rings for her. Even though all the Elven rings were in play, Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel did things more behind the scenes. In The Wheel of Time series, Rand had access to an incredible amount of power, but stumbled to use it. That's great the first time, but for all that's right in the world, how can he not figure it out and harness the power to use when needed?

Unless she could figure things out soon by herself, she was going to have to call someone for help. The doors opened and she climbed on board and she stopped next to the driver.

"Can you take me to the Demon Prince Gr..." She said but was cut off.

"DON'T SAY HIS NAME ON MY BUS!" Carol screamed. "What is wrong with you girl?"

Antoinette was initially startled, but then got a bit mad. "What the hell happens if someone says his name? Is it like saying Candyman five times in a mirror? What about Beetlejuice three times? If someone says it will his goons come and find me like if someone mumbles Voldemort?"

"I'm not sure I like your attitude," Carol said. "Have a seat and I'll take you there, as long as you have a flame thrower."

"Of course I have a fucking flame thrower," Antoinette said. "I'm not an idiot."

"You are wearing them gloves and trying to kill the Demon Prince," Carol snickered.

"What do you know about my gloves?" Antoinette asked as she sat two seats behind the driver and Midnight appeared on the seat next to her.

"Everyone assumes bus drivers are stupid," Carol said. "But we are a wealth of information, almost better than a bartender because we don't have to put up with people's shit. If I don't want someone on my bus, I kick them the hell off."

Antoinette sat in silence for several seconds before moving up one seat to be directly behind the driver. "I'm sorry for how I acted before, Carol," she said.

"I'm not going to give you any information just because you are suddenly nice to me," Carol said. "After you deal with the Demon Prince, my cooperation will be commensurate with the amount of tip on your next trip."

"But I have a bus pass and don't pay to ride?" Antoinette asked. "I never saw..."

A tip container suddenly appeared next to the container holding the fares for the bus. Antoinette smiled and kept quiet. As the bus pulled away from the stop she took time to look at the driver. Carol appeared to be in her late 40's with a lunch lady physique. Her shoulder length brown hair was mixed with gray and pulled back in a ponytail. As she operated the bus, Antoinette noticed several tattoos on her arms, all of which were words or sayings; no images.

"I like your tattoos," Antoinette said. She was trying to reset things with Carol.

"Oh child," Carol said. "You have no idea what you are talking about, but thank you."

"Then tell me," Antoinette said. She leaned in hoping that Carol would share some much-needed information to her.

"Normally people get tattoos for self-expression, for a loved one, as art or fashion among other things," Carol said. "In this world, tattoos have power."

"What kind of power?" Antoinette scooted forward until just the smallest part of her ass was still on the seat.

Carol drove the bus around a corner before answering. "You can call it magic, witchcraft, enchantment or voodoo for all I care, but before you decide to get a tattoo, make sure you do your homework."

"Can I ask what kind of power your tattoos have?" Antoinette asked.

"Sure, you can ask," Carol said.

Antoinette waited patiently for her to continue, but she didn't. Carol continued to drive the bus like their conversation was over.

"Carol, what kind of power do your tattoos have?" Antoinette asked.

"None of your business," Carol said and laughed loud enough to startle Midnight.

He barked in surprise and then turned his attention to what was happening outside the window.

Antoinette followed Midnight's look and the landscape had turned from the concrete of the city to a rolling field of green hills. The bus continued down the single lane road and Antoinette could see a building in the distance, getting bigger with each passing moment.

"The Demon Prince lives there?" Antoinette asked. "Isn't that a bit hoity toity for a Demon?"

"Just because he's called the 'Demon Prince' doesn't mean he's an actual demon," Carol said. She slowed the bus down and stopped at the entry to the property. A large gate with a golden 'G' on it prevented access. "Have fun!"

Antoinette looked at Carol and then at Midnight, trying to make sure she heard Carol right. Carol just told her to 'have fun' at the location of a boss that no one could utter his name without people having a shit-fit. She stood up and exited the bus without a word to Carol.

Carol wasted no time, and when Antoinette was only feet from the bus, she closed the doors and drove away. Antoinette was happy to see a bus stop pole next to the entrance, so if she made it out of this alive, she at least had a ride home.

She looked around to see if there was a security camera to notify the price that company was coming his way, but she didn't see any. She walked up to the gate and listened for the hum of electricity. After not hearing any, she touched the gate with the back of her hand to ensure it wasn't charged.

Three times she tested the gate at different levels before she was satisfied, with the last time reminding her of Carol's words about challenging the Price with her gloves on. She took them off and thought about the connection to the Prince and everyone's warning about using a flame thrower.

If the price was a demon, fire would be almost useless as most demons resided in one of the levels of the abyss. Carol's warning was the first that her target might be something other than his namesake; if not a demon, then what?

She took a deep breath and then quickly climbed over the gate, landing nimbly on her feet. The packed dirt driveway led straight to the large mansion she had seen from the bus. Large oak trees lined the driveway. A light breeze started blowing, the leaves rustled and she was struck by another wave of homesickness.

The house she grew up in was on a small two-acre plot of land in the country. The property had an ample population of beech, birch, and maple trees. When the rain fell, it made the most relaxing sound in the world and she loved falling asleep to the wind in the trees.

Now she was in a small crummy apartment in the city, but she did have her pup and a few friends. She was just going to have to make her situation better, because there was no one else to do the job for her.

Antoinette walked to the tree line and entered the wooded area. She picked her path through the trees, trying to conceal her presence as best as she could. Her dexterity allowed her to make it to the edge of the trees without snapping one branch, and now she was only 50' from the building.

While sheltered in the protection of the trees, she took several minutes to examine the mansion. The large home looked like it was plucked from a Mansions-R-Us catalogue. It was just a big box with no personality. Windows framed a large wooden door on the first floor, and the second floor had windows across the entire floor.

There were no balconies she could try to climb to for a surprise entrance. None of the windows were open. She half expected the sound of barking to break the silence, and then she would have to find a way to escape a pack of Doberman or Pit Bull guard dogs.

The rustling sound of leaves was the only thing breaking the silence. "Are you ready boy?" Antoinette turned to ask Midnight, but he wasn't there; damn.

Antoinette looked for any sign of movement, but nothing caught her eye. She bolted from the trees and ran as fast as she could until she reached the front door. She put her back up against the brick of the building next to the door and waited. Instead of trying the front door, she started to try the windows, and to her surprise, the third window slid open when she tried.

"Bingo!" she whispered and parted the curtains to see inside. The room looked like a study with the walls filled with books. She pulled herself inside and had her knife in her hand when she hit the floor.

The room was empty of occupants other than Antoinette; even Midnight wasn't there. She crept to the door and turned the lock before searching the room. After a quick look around, she realized there was nothing to find and went back to the door. She put her ear to the door and listened, but didn't hear anything except the beating of her heart. She unlocked the door and then turned the handle and slowly pulled the door open.

The door opened to a carpeted hallway. Looking both ways, she could see to the left the hallway had a row of doors, all of them closed. At the end the hallway continued around a corner to the right. When she looked right, there were only a few doors and then it opened to a larger chamber. She chose left.

The first two doors were locked, and she cursed for not having a lockpick set yet. She continued to the next door, and as she was reaching for the handle, it started to turn. Antoinette did her best not to shriek in surprise and knelt down on the ground opposite the hinge. She waited impatiently as the door swung in and a sexy woman walked out.

Antoinette expected some zombie abomination, but the tall brunette woman was dressed in a formal maid's outfit and she was holding a feather duster in her hand. Her skin was white and her lipstick was smeared down her chin like she applied it during a car crash, but it was still dripping like lip gloss.

After the maid exited, Antoinette sprung from her spot and wrapped an arm around the woman's neck with her knife pressing into the woman's side.

"Thank god you're here," the maid said. "I've been trapped here for several days and was just able to break free from my bindings." The woman's voice was high pitched and frantic.

Antoinette felt a second of uncertainty from the woman's confession, and that was enough for the maid to grab Antoinette's wrist. The maid turned and Antoinette was dragged along as the maid spun her and then kicked her hard in the chest. The force of the kick knocked her into the nearby wall and knocked down several portraits from where they hung.

"What the fuck," Antoinette breathed as she applied a ++EpiPen to silence the red outline of her vision. She dropped her knife and clicked to incendiary rounds as she pulled out her shotgun. She pulled the trigger when the maid was only inches away from reaching her.

The blast hit the maid in the stomach and tore a chunk of flesh off her body, leaving a charred ring around the wound and setting her outfit on fire. The impact of the blast knocked the maid back a few feet, which was perfect for another round. Antoinette fired again and hit the maid in the shoulder and spun her around.

By now the maid's outfit was being consumed by fire, and when she turned back to Antoinette it had burned away leaving the woman in only her mob cap, black stockings and heels. She was still holding her feather duster and tossed it towards Antoinette. The fan floated towards her, distracting her from what the maid was doing, but Antoinette fired anyway.

Luckily her third shot hit the maid in the head and knocked her on her back. When the duster was only feet away, the feathers shot in different directions, all trailing a thin black wire. The feathers ledged into the wall behind her and the wires started constricting until they had her pinned against the wall.

Antoinette kept her eyes on the maid, but she didn't get up. She was on her back on the carpet with her breasts out and Antoinette wondered what was going on. The maid certainly wasn't a zombie, and she had incredible strength, but why did she attack Antoinette? It really didn't matter, because right now she had to find an escape from the trap she was in.

The wires were pressing into her skin, but she was able to slide a hand down and reach her knife. Slowly she cut through one of the wires, and then the wires after became easier and easier. Antoinette had half of her body free when she saw the maid sit up like Michael Myers from the Halloween movies. Seeing the robotic way the maid sat up was creepier than seeing that she was alive; Antoinette worked even faster on freeing her other hand.

When the maid got to her feet, Antoinette was amazed that she had already healed some of the damage from the three slugs; plus, the maid had amazing breasts. Antoinette looked at what the maid was wearing, to see if she had a similar item to her gloves that improved charisma. It could be the stockings, or the mob cap, but it wouldn't matter if Antoinette didn't get out of this alive. She pulled out her rifle and took a quick sight before firing.

The bullet tore into the maid's chest and through her heart. She let out a spine-chilling scream before dropping to her knees. Antoinette turned her attention back to the net, and when she got her legs free, she stood up and torched the maid with her flame thrower.

Antoinette watched as the maid's body melted into a pool of gore. When she was satisfied the maid wasn't getting up, she switched back to her rifle. She moved back down the hallway before getting on the floor and lying with her body pressed against the inside wall facing the large chamber. She sighted in her rifle and looked for what might create the loudest noise.

Moving the rifle right to left, she spotted a large white and blue vase. It reminded her of a vase someone brought to the Antiques Road Show and was convinced it was from the Ming dynasty. To no one's surprise but hers, it turned out to be a fake. Antoinette squeezed the trigger and the vase exploded in a flurry of porcelain.

She waited for several seconds before sighting in her next target, which was a duplicate of the first vase; apparently the interior decorator loved the look. She fired and hit the neck of the vase. It didn't shatter, but it started to topple. She watched as it tilted back and forth and then spun off the pedestal it was on to crash to the floor.

A man dressed like a butler walked into Antoinette's line of sight and she clicked on her iPod. The calmness washed over her as she watched the butler look at the destroyed vases. The butler was trying to determine what happened and turned to look down the hallway when the bullet hit him between the eyes. She was up running before his body hit the floor.

Antoinette wasn't going to take the chance of Lurch rising from the dead and torched his body. The butler tried to get up as the fire ravaged his body. She hit him with another spray from the flame thrower and the butler opened his mouth in a silent scream. Soon his body was a black pile of charcoal, and Antoinette switched back to her rifle.

So far she killed the maid and the butler, she wondered how many more servants were around before she came face to face with the reason she was here. She worked her way through the rest of the downstairs, killing two more maids and a cook with her combination of rifle/flame thrower. In the kitchen, she found a Blueprint in a soup pot and a Picnic Basket in the pantry.

In her exploration of the first floor, she never found stairs leading to the second floor, but in the back of the pantry she found a door that opened to a stairwell leading down. The condition of the stairs to the rest of the first floor was like comparing black to white. The first floor was pristine and posh, while the stairs were made of wood and the walls were dirt. It was as if someone dug out a cellar where there was none when the building was built.

There was no light switch, and a single bulb hung from the ceiling with a thin chain to turn it on and off. She was able to pull the chain and thankfully, the bulb still worked. Antoinette switched to her shotgun and started down the stairs. No matter how carefully she put her weight on the steps, several creaked as an alert to whatever was nearby.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, the air was substantially cooler than upstairs. The smell of dirt was strong and she waited several breaths as she inspected her surroundings. Only one corridor led from the stairs, but she still inspected the walls for a hidden latch; there was none.

"Help me," a child's voice pleaded from down the dim corridor.

Antoinette felt a wave of fear wash over her mixed with anger. She hated when kids were held captive, especially somewhere underground. There wasn't another bulb in the corridor so she couldn't see what lay past the darkness hiding the child. She put her shotgun away and pulled out her knife and attempted to blend into the darkness as she started down the hallway.

After she took several steps, the boy's pleading continued, "Pleeeaaasssee, someone help me!"

Antoinette thought for sure it sounded like he was crying. She increased her pace and now the corridor was in complete darkness ahead of her. She looked behind and saw the safety of the light by the stairs, but refused the pull to return. She took several more steps and the corridor turned a corner to her right. When she peered around the corner, she could see a dim outline of a door not far away.

None of this made any sense. She needed to kill the Demon Prince, but she was in a dirt hallway under a posh mansion and there was a child calling for help. Maybe the Prince wasn't a demon in the traditional sense like Carol had said, and was a 'demon' because he liked kidnapping kids. She shivered remembering watching the creepy fucking child catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as a child.

Antoinette crept to the wooden door and sighed. There was only one way in and no chance of sneaking up on the prince. She was just going to have to go in with guns blazing. She switched to her shotgun, but also checked the fuel level on the flame thrower. It showed 40%, hopefully enough to burn anything but the hostage child to the ground.

"HEEEEEEEEEELP!" The panicked child's voice came through the closed door. The fear in his voice was enough to make Antoinette's pulse race. She turned the handle on the door and pushed it hard.

The 'room' was no more than a large cave. A makeshift fireplace burned at the far end, warming the chamber and casting shadows over the few items in the area. On the left a boy no more than 11 years old was in a cage. She could see tear streaks on his dirty face as his hands shook the steel bars. He was dressed in a dirty pair of white underwear.

On the right was a man in his early 20's, dressed only in black leather underwear. His muscular body was shiny with sweat from the heat of the fire. Behind him was a bed, and Antoinette didn't have to think too hard what the room was for. He turned to her and she fired the shotgun, hitting him in the leg, but he still stood.

The prince held a whip in his hands and he lashed out, striking her in the arm and opening up a gash. She tried to ignore the pain as she kicked the door closed behind her and fired again, this time hitting him in the chest. He swung his whip again and this time the lick of the tip struck her in her thigh and her screen reflected the damage with a flash of red.

"HELP!" The child screamed while she moved away from the prince, but he closed the distance while she applied a ++EpiPen.

The whip hit her again and the pain was intense. She screamed in pain and knew she was going to have to take a different tactic. She fired her shotgun and raced towards the prince. If she was closer to him, he wouldn't have the space necessary to continue to hit her with the whip; she would just have to make sure that she didn't get close enough for him to grab her.

The slug hit him in the shoulder and she fired again while he struck with the whip. The crack sounded just behind her ear, which was deafening, but did no physical damage to her. She smiled and fired another shot, hitting him in the head, knocking him off his feet.

"LET ME OUT!" The child screamed. "I WANT TO GO HOME!"

Antoinette didn't turn her attention away from the prince and switched to her bat. She jumped and brought the bat over her head, delivering a crushing blow to his head when she landed. She swung again and noticed two small red dots on the prince's neck. She stood with her bat in hand and turned to look at the child.

"I'll be right there," she said. She grabbed the prince by the hand and dragged him over to the fire and kicked his limp body in.

The prince's body moved a bit, but the fire quickly consumed it, burning like a beacon of victory. She felt amazing at defeating the prince, but she noticed there wasn't a notification of quest completion. Maybe she had to escort the kid to safety for the quest to finish. She turned to the child and started walking to the cage. He looked healthy enough, just terrified of his situation. She didn't want to think of what horrors he had been subjected to, when she noticed the lock on the cage was open.

"I'm going to get you out of here so you can go back to your family," she said, trying to calm the child.

Antoinette took another step and things started to make sense, especially why she needed a flame thrower. "Back up so I can unlock the cage," she said. "I'm going to have to blast off the lock."

She pulled out her shotgun and made sure the ammo was incendiary. The child backed to the far side of the cage and Antoinette knelt several feet from the cage. She lined up her weapon to the lock.

"Cover your eyes," she said.

The child complied with a thankful nod. Once he was pressed against the back of the cage, she quickly switched aim and blasted the child in the chest.

The child let out a roar that shook dirt from the walls. Antoinette blasted him again and switched to her flame thrower. She stepped back as the child worked to remove the lock while covered in flames. The boy roared louder and she could see fangs in his mouth.

"Fucking vampires," Antoinette breathed. She knew she was going to have to tip Carol big when she got out of here.

The actual Demon Prince pulled the lock free and kicked open the door, busting one of the hinges. Antoinette continued to use her flame thrower as she backed towards the wooden door. He stepped out of the cage and his body was engulfed in flames, but he was still moving towards her.

"Warning! Low Ammo!"

She squeezed on the trigger until the flame thrower was empty. He was moving slower and slower with each step, and his mouth was open, but just a silent scream escaped. After two more steps he collapsed on the ground and she administered another beating with her bat, crushing his skull.

Quest Complete

"Fuck yeah!" Antoinette said to the empty room. "Suck it Groolix, you piece of shit. Pretending to be a kid. I saw through your illusion you sick fuck."

Antoinette looked through the room for any loot and found a large steel box under the bed. She pulled it out into the open and looked to make sure there were no more baddies around before opening it.

Inside she found Lenses for goggles, a Scope, a Blueprint, three Daggers and a large sum of credits. She smiled as she collected her new gear, happy to be over this quest. She exited the mansion through the front door, where Midnight was waiting for her with his tail wagging.

They walked to the bus stop and waited a short while until it arrived. Antoinette was all ready to fill Carol's tip jar, but when she boarded the bus, the driver was someone new. She nodded to the driver, who was an older gentleman and took a seat. There were no other riders on the bus and she rode in silence until she exited at Wally's Weapons.

Antoinette filled up on ammo before cashing in her quests. When she was done, her screen flashed:

Level Up!

"About fucking time!" She said to the room. "Finally, level 10, time to get down to business." She laughed.

Antoinette didn't even bother with looking for new quests, she exited the shop and sprinted back to her apartment. She glanced at the shops, noting Constantine's was still closed, and no new shop had sprung up yet. Neither bothered her as she took the elevator upstairs to her apartment and logged into the terminal.

Level Up -- 1 Skill Point to Use

Antoinette was disappointed that she was only given 1 skill point, and she decided to up her accuracy game. After she confirmed her selection, a new message appeared on the screen:

Select new Proficiency

Daggers Poison Disguise Perception Death Strike

Antoinette's eyes lit up with proficiencies for her profession. She tried to think of which would be best for her, both to protect her from other players and also to help in raids. Daggers would be nice, especially since she just found 3 shiny new ones. Poison might be good, but bosses generally didn't succumb to poison damage. Disguise was probably used outside of a raid more than anything. Perception would be helpful to sniff out traps and such, almost like her very own "Spidey-sense". Death Strike was the sexiest of the choices, but it would also mean she would have to be at the heart of danger most likely; probably best left for when she was higher level. She clicked on Daggers and her new stats filled the screen:

Name Antoinette

Level 10

Profession Assassin

Race Human

Health 69

Strength 10

Intelligence 17

Wisdom 13

Dexterity 18

Constitution 11

Charisma 12

Skills

Bloodshed - Rookie 4

Stealth - Seasoned 1

Accuracy - Skilled 2

Weaponsmith - Beginner 2

Inventor - Intermediate 4

Special Skills

Portal Creation

Proficiency

Daggers

Now to find out what her loot was. She set each item on the circle and identified it, starting with the two Blueprints:

Hand Crossbow of Pureness: +3 Accuracy, -1 Damage

Orb of mapping -- Maps limited area until stopped by obstructions

Picnic Basket of Baking -- Contains ingredients to bake 1 dessert, 1 use/day

Lenses of Blackness -- Grants night vision to wielder; must be attached to goggles

Sniper Scope: + 1 Accuracy

Daggers of Blood -- Has a 75% to Inflict Bleeding on target with successful attack

She was giddy with excitement. It seemed like the world was opening up to her. The threat of Hemlock was the farthest thing from her mind. She had credits to use, and a bunch of new stuff to try. She gathered up her new gear and carried it to her bedroom and set it on her bed.

"Midnight," Antoinette sang his name. "Paisley's Pets should be open to us now, and we got this slick basket with stuff to make us some sweet treats! I don't know what to do first."

Her wrist device buzzed and she saw it was Oakley. She tapped his name and answered, "Hello Oakley, what's up?"

"Hi Antoinette," he said excitedly. "I just made it to level 10, and I wanted to share the news with you."

"Oh my god!" Antoinette replied. "I just flipped to level 10 also!" She was almost shrieking with excitement. "Come on over and let's celebrate!"

"I'll be right there," Oakley said and the line went dead.

Antoinette couldn't wait to show him all the new gear she got. She was finally level 10, and so was he, and he was coming over to celebrate. Some of the side effects of being level 10 flooded into her mind. She was now able to enter PvP areas,

which meant that she had to be very careful where she went. The other side effect of level 10 made her skin tingle as a nervousness filled her body.

She wondered if that's what Oakley thought when she invited him over to 'celebrate'. Did he think she invited him over for a booty call; not that a booty call would be the worst thing, but she wasn't sure she was ready for that right now.

"Oh Midnight," she said. "Make sure you don't go far when Oakley gets here."

Midnight wagged his tail to let her know he understood. Just to make sure, he gave his universal signal of approval, "WOOF!"

End of Book 1

Thanks for joining Antoinette in her crazy journey so far! If you like it so far, drop me a line and let me know for encouragement.