Windfalls

Not wanting to seem out of place, Delvin accepted Anna and her three stooges. He then abruptly excused himself, saying he had to go number 2, earning him more than one weird glance.

Safely from view, his attention was once again glued to the plum tinted notifications.

[Inject 'Grounded Mana Crystal(Epic*)' into Base formation?]

[WARNING: The injection could have unexpected or unwanted consequences]

'As if I know what to expect from a Base formation injected with a mana crystal.' Picking it up from his inventory, the small and light crystal had somewhat changed appearance. Its now-refined surface was dyed a pale purple and Delvin sensed the dormant energy inside slowly waking up.

"Fuck it, the biggest risk is not taking any risk." He agreed to Inject the crystal into the formation and felt nothing from the crystal or the System at first.

Just as he was starting to worry something had gone wrong the crystal started shaking lightly. A golden thread materialized from thin air before wrapping itself around the entire crystal while a silver-coloured thread touched the temple on Delvin's head.

A wave of energy hit him, and before everything turned black he saw the rapidly approaching car. 'Ah, I'm falling.'

Hannah was starting to get worried after Delvin still hadn't returned, it had already been more than an hour since he went 'Number 2'.

'Has he been assassinated by an advanced dagger-type mutant? No, that Leo kid had good eyes and ears, he'd have heard any rustling of the bushes or stepping of the branches if that was the case.' Even the inconspicuous aura coming from Delvin was now completely missing. Hannah hadn't divulged anything about the aura to the android so far and was now regretting that decision.

'Did that wanker walk off?! I'll fucking stab him, the cocksucker!' The negative thoughts took centre stage and her brain raced to come up with a probable explanation for the man's disappearance. Then the memories came, the unforgettable sight of her closest friends being torn limb by limb while all she did was tremble in terror.

The scar was still too fresh. The loss too great. She wouldn't think about that time; not until she killed all of those zombie mutant fuckers. Every single one...

Taking out her daggers Hannah started going to town on a nearby tree. The sense of progressing, acquiring new techniques and skills gave her solace and peace, and she wouldn't have to actively supress the lingering trauma. Ever so slowly, the act of vengeance was becoming her guiding star and just the thought of slaughtering monsters made her focus even more.

The increasingly speedy and fluent movements garnered a several looks, some filled with horror, a few with panic, and fewer still were looks of adoration and awe . 'Most of them are good-for-nothings...Useless baggage that will slow us down.'

Such radical words would earn her the hate of Anna's group, but they were the truth. She knew they were all civilians, never having experienced a life or death scenario they'd be hard pressed to suddenly start fighting monsters on the daily. If, and only if they come to accept this new reality would Hannah see even a shred of hope for their survival. They will need someone to guide them, to tell them it was not all going to be okay, 'But that role isn't mine to fulfil.'

The wood carving session ended and Hannah holstered the daggers around her waist, it was handy to have them on hand at all times. 'At least I can still crack a joke or two.' Shrugging, she walked over to the freshly built campsite where the good-for-nothings were bothering the Zinic family who acted as their foremen, and the shrug turned to a scowl.

Gathered around the central, and biggest, campfire was the two-dozen-strong group that wanted to part ways before Delvin's offensive speech. They had settled down afterwards but with the big man missing the complaints and whining returned, along with the headache.

"Where did he go?!" An anxious and alarmed voice exclaimed.

"We have to get out of here!" A horrified young man cried out.

"You hear their wishes Anna! These people don't want to stay in this godforsaken place any longer, and they certainly don't want you and yours to keep leading us into one brush with death after the other." Hannah deduced this was the proclaimed leader of the separatists. 'Was her name Yvonne, no. It was Yelena...something,' and the woman sure did have a knack for yelling.

With Anna and Davor refusing their request, Yelena started throwing threats around, saying how they'd all start running in separate directions at the same time if need be. Hannah took this as her cue and quickly withdrew the Tested Daggers.

< Tested dagger> (Uncommon)

-Sub weapon, One-handed

Damage: 4/4

Increase in stabbing damage (Miniscule)

The standard weapon for certain types of Mana-crazed humans. Its previous owner was slain and laid to rest thus weakening the weapon.

The other one gave the same 'Miniscule' increase to slashing damage but it could only inflict 3 damage. Not that she had the feintest clue what a miniscule boost actually meant, only that Delvin told her it was the lowest possible increase the System categorized; but hey, she'd take any improvements if it meant killing more monsters.

Another piece of info Hannah picked up from the android's occasional comments was that mana-related stats wouldn't be relevant until one reached Tier 1. Coupled with his healing ring, Hannah decided to abandon 4 stats completely: VIT, END, INT, WIS.

Every SP she acquired was distributed in such a way that there would be an immediate effect, meaning they all went to STR, AGI or PER; with the majority reserved for the stat she found most impactful, Agility.

With over 20 AGI and her battle-hardened finesse, the wannabee-assassin was holding a dagger at Yelena's throat before anyone had a chance to react.

"A a aah, not yelling so much now are you Yelena? NOW LISTEN HERE!" The crowd took a few steps back with some wincing and others stumbling; they truly were good-for-nothings. "If any of you little bastard tries to pull of some shit like running away or causing disaray, I can promise you that bastard will shortly find a dagger lodged in their neck." The crowd was now properly terrified, and Hannah smiled as she finally commanded their full attention.

"Don't think I am some stranger to killing humans. Just ask your beloved lieutenant about what we had to do to survive. Members of our own platoon got transformed into those bloody monsters and I was forced to end their lives." Some children were now crying prompting Hannah to wrap up before the group fled thinking this crazed soldier would go on a rampage, slicing throats left right and centre.

"Unlike what Delvin said, I really don't have a problem with your blood on my hands. It would simply mean I have successfully weeded out those who would seek to do us harm. So be good little boys and girls and shut your trap while we stabilize the situation. We won't be staying in this fucking car prison for too long" She climbed over the barricaded cars the group thought would protect them, and returned to the carved tree. She'd keep watch while the rabble slept, she couldn't and wouldn't close her eyes because the memories would resurface once more.

She couldn't know when Delvin would come back so she'd have to find something to keep her mind occupied throughout the night, 'At least this thing is always interesting.'

[STATUS]

Name: Hannah Olivia Smith

Age: 26

Race: Human

Title: N/A

Trait(s): Unbroken(???)

Level: 5 (12/100%)

Class: -/-

Subclass: -/-

Health: 43/43

Mana: 65/65

Stamina: 55/55

Stats: No available SP

STR: 11

AGI: 23

VIT: 5

END: 9

INT: 8

WIS: 5

PER: 11

LCK: N/A

---

She'd have to start considering putting some SP into Endurance since stamina became much more important after gaining Tumble and Eviscerate. Her low Health Points didn't bother her, they were in fact a crucial part of her fighting style. Knowing she couldn't relax in combat, and threading between life and death, where one well-aimed attack spelt the difference only served to push her forwards. A few days of adapting to the new Techniques will improve her strength by leaps and bounds, and the waltz between life and death will continue.

Before she opened her Skills tab, a curious glance was passed to where Delvin left from, 'Perhaps he's merely taking the biggest shite of his life?'

And it just so happened that Delvin was truly in a shitful predicament. The forming of a Base was an undertaking he had no clue about, so imagine his surprise when he woke up some 2km above the ground. The landscape of Mebaya was strewn in front of him but being so high up meant he couldn't focus on any particular part of the city, and with night already fallen a panic arose when he thought about the Earthlings he was supposed to protect.

'None of that matters, how THE FUCK am I floating??' Del was frozen in the air, not being able to move or even access the System only heightened his trepidation. But a floating crystal garnered his relaxation. 'Is this how Bases are formed, what the fuck...'

The System answered him and gave out a bunch of new information.

[Grounded Mana Crystal has been successfully injected into Base Formation process]

[Please choose a suitable location for Base Fragment]

[Rewards will be presented after Fragment location is decided]

Turning his head towards Earth, Delvin saw several demarcations around Mebaya. He counted five such zones, the borders of which all criss-crossed the ruined city, the meadow surrounding it and some even extended up until the Blossomwood.

[Please choose location]

'Looks like the System wants me to get on with it' He journeyed to Mebaya from the Southwest with the ginormous mountain to the east of the city. The decision was formed and the zone encompassing the south, southwest, and some central parts was chosen.

The crystal released a pulse of purple energy before shooting off to the heart of the chosen zone. 'Is it supposed to do that?' But he was shortly answered with a barrage of notifications.

[Location chosen successfully]

[Base Fragment successfully evolved into Beacon of Civilization]

[Locate Beacon of Civilization to receive rewards]

[Rewards include: Skills, Items, Treasures...]

[You have unlocked the achievement 'Budding Leader']

['Budding Leader' has evolved to 'Budding Prodigy']

The achievements would be read later, not now when he was screamingly blazing towards the ground. Before he knew what hit him, Delvin awoke atop a bent car roof. 'Whew, thought I was gonna become mincemeat real soon.'

Jumping off, the android could see a blinking purple marker, shaped like the mana crystaal, on his Map. With Sprint he would soon reach it, and his unbelieveable speed was soon noticed by a certain wannabee-assassin.

"Don't follow me, I'll be back in a bit. There's something vital I must check up on." The ever-faithful companion that she was, Hannah begrudgingly nodded and kept her distance. 'I'll explain later, don't be mad.'

The journey didn't take long, and Delvin soon returned to a familiar place. A gravesite was behind him, and a decomposing body of a hulking gorilla monster was some distance away. Smidgeoned between the two was a large crystal that Del identified as an enlargened version of the Grounded Mana Crystal.

As soon as he touched it, a menu dropped down with a plethora of options to choose from. 'Well this is a first'

[Choose 2 Rewards]

[Item]

[Skills]

[Soul Treasure]

[Achievements]

[Stat Boosts]

[Infrastructure]

[Credits]

...

The rewards were all listed as such, only a name with no clarifications on what the reward would entail. He would have to think this through and not miss out on a potentially life altering reward.

He withdrew the Journal and thought, 'This is gonna take a while...'