Chapter 114: No Longer Commoners
Chapter 114: No Longer Commoners
The party ran late into the evening, and the last of the party goers only gave up and went to bed when the late shift took over on the towers.
When Kalli went down to her office the next morning at dawn, she found that there were heroes sleeping on the floor of the hall, wrapped in sleeping bags, and fully dressed in their battle armour.
"Oh, good, you’re back bright and early. The special forces types went to work out already when they saw that you weren’t here.
They said they’ll tell you if another hero awakens, but we’ll likely get the message anyhow."
"Well, I suspect that they’ll all be choosing to become riflemen, so we’ll be in a good place for ranged combatants once they’re officially heroes. Modern weaponry really is a cheat code against monsters."
"That’s no joke. However, there really isn’t anything more effective up close than simply stabbing things or beating them with a club.
Those flanged maces that you gave the new arrivals are hugely popular, even when there are better weapons available."
Kalli laughed. "I have heard that the mages are a bit jealous of the rifles, though. Their class doesn’t let them use them. So, they don’t get any bonus damage with them, and they can’t cast spells properly while carrying a rifle or wearing heavy metal armour.
The restrictions seem a bit arbitrary, as I know that Yara has shot more than one monster, and she’s a healer."
The hero laughed at the memory. "She puts the pistol back in her coat afterward, or she can’t cast healing spells. I just think that it’s funny that the system doesn’t take any measures to actively stop her.
You’d think that if she wasn’t allowed to use guns, it would penalize her for always having one in a holster on her person. But it doesn’t."
The door slid open, and the Special Forces team entered with huge smiles on their faces.
"Well, we’ve got good news.
Everyone managed to get classes today, but we didn’t get a message like Kurt did. I guess that we’re not cool enough, since we were a day behind. And that tells us that the requirements are an average, as we all had similar training to start with, and specialized a bit later, but we all finished within one training session of each other.
So, we’re up by nine more heroes, and there is hope that the residents of the apartments will also join us one day.
It might take some time, unless they’ve been keeping up with the training mission.
I don’t think that any of us ever asked, but I do know that the maids who work here do hit the gym before they go home at night so that they can get the extra gains and make their jobs easier.
But there is more good news.
Rip got the Combat Medic class. So, it’s not all about the skill that you choose. He was one of our best medics before, and the System awarded him a healing class that can use guns after he picked the [Sharpshooter] skill.
"Oh, now that is handy. Any healer that can fight from a distance and heal is a good one. I know that many of the others wish that they had an offensive ability, but had to pick the healing ones because they needed them for their role in the group."
"Right? Now our group has a healer as well, even if he’s not the high output healer that most of the other teams got.
But we came here for more than just to brag. We need fresh ammunition for today’s kill mission."
Kalli smiled. "Alright, this one’s on me, as a welcoming gift for our new heroes. Ten cases of Uncommon Grade ammunition for our new heroes."
Esmeralda winked her, "Now we’re talking. It might still be less cool than the laser rifles, but the damage is right up there."
Kalli laughed at their enthusiasm. "Well, you can work hard for the next two days and get a batch of laser rifles. The regular ones are only five points, and the Uncommon ones are a quarter more damage for the same reload mana but twice the price.
Take whatever time you need. A whole case of ammunition each should last you at least a full week, unless you’re planning to go on a rampage out there."
"Can’t have that. It would mess up everyone else’s hunt, and make them go too far to find the monsters to complete their quests.
We’re going to head down toward the black temple thing today.
With all the volcanic ash, it seems to fit in too well with the surroundings, but the bushes around it appear to be fine, and the ditches didn’t fill with ash. That’s worth investigating, but we’re not going to get too close today.
Just enough that we can properly inspect it through our scopes."
"Alright, keep safe. That place has to have some sort of significance, since it’s the only building anywhere that we can see, and it survived the volcanic eruptions. Take a radio with you as well. We’re all listening on channel 16, the emergency channel for the marine radios.
If there is a ship out there, they might hear us, and that would be convenient. But mostly we just picked a channel."
"Got it. We won’t be too long. There are a lot of monsters in that direction, so we’re going to gather some more teams to clear the way, and then we’re in and out before they start to swarm us."
"Alright, you’ve got the plan, and it sounds good to me. Make sure you take notes, so I can add it to the official records. Also, if there are any differences between different monsters that have been infected with whatever that magma corruption is, record that too."
"Alright. We should have good news for you soon. With this ammunition, and the new skills, we’re going to make short work of the monsters. Plus, we haven’t been out in that direction yet, so if we bring half the teams, we can all explore new areas for surviving materials and new opportunities," Esmeralda agreed.