Inflame (The Completionist Chronicles Book 6), Dakota Krout [free novels to read TXT] 📗

about her.” Havoc shook his head and looked at the ground. “There’s no help for her. One of you humans decided to focus way too hard on one single skill, specializing over and over again in the same thing without getting the characteristics required to properly use it.”

“What… um. Any idea what she did?” Joe couldn't help but feel sympathy for the poor lady; he too had done things that he should not have been able to do. He rubbed his hand over his bald head as he reminisced.

Havoc started to chuckle, which seemed fairly out of character for him. “I know exactly what she did. She specialized in ‘power walking’. Apparently, that was a form of getting healthy back in your world, and she was addicted to what she called ‘mall walking’. Anyway… she was working as a courier, back on Midgard, and specialized three times in movement-type classes. She put everything she had into dexterity and constitution, then hopped on the Bifrost. She's been here ever since, steadily increasing her body stats. Unfortunately for her… her perception is somewhere in the first tier still. Once she starts moving, she can't see where she is going, and moves in pretty much a straight line until she runs into something. Screams the whole time. Pretty funny, actually.”

“That's horrible! Can’t you-” Joe was going to say more, but Havoc cut him off. The human looked around, noticing the utterly massive city they were in. They had to be up on a mountain; the view gave that away. They were in the fortress area, nearly at the summit itself. For some reason, Havoc grabbed him and ran away from the fort, and Joe’s view dissolved into streaks as they travelled downhill. When they finally stopped, they had crossed several districts and a huge park, almost reaching the outer wall. “What was that all about?”

“Either the restraining order or the warrant was going to start messing with me if we hadn’t hurried.”

“The what?” Joe opened his mouth to press for more information, but Havoc shook his head.

“Enough now. Game face on; we're here. Now, once you go in there, you're going to have to make your way to a door if you want to get out. Here is the security code, which you’ll need in order to open the door from the inside. Watch out; such a huge area filled with gear, even busted, tends to draw scavengers. Doesn’t matter if they’re animals, monsters, or people. I recommend finding a door, then working until you get what you need.” Havoc waved toward a garbage can that was on the side of the street. “Well? What are you waiting for? Everyone puts every failure into the landfill. There are almost certainly going to be things in there you can break down, all the way to the Mythical tier! You just need to find them.”

“You want me to get into the garbage can?” Joe could not quite get past that fact. “Then just… what? Root around for a while?”

“Basically… yes.” Havoc pulled the lid of the garbage can off, and it expanded wide enough for Joe to fit through sideways, if he wanted. “Take a week. Fill up on aspects.”

“But I need weapons! Armor! Supplies?” Joe took a step back from the crazy Dwarf. Nothing that he said was swaying the Dwarf in the slightest.

“Fill. Up. Consider it a very, very important test.” Havoc chuckled darkly and gestured at the opening. “You can requisition anything you need… but you won't know what exists unless someone tells you about it. Do this my way, survive a week down there at a minimum, and I will get you a weapon that fits your class and abilities. I'll even get you someone that can teach you to use it properly.”

Joe tried to protest, so Havoc simply raised his voice to talk over him. “Here's a hint: the doors are spaced one hundred feet apart, and every ten feet vertically. The walls will have measurements on them. If you can clean enough of the muck off, you will be able to find your way pretty easily.”

Quest offered: The Treasure of Trash. Havoc wants you to go into a landfill within the Dwarven capital. If you survive a week, he will get you a weapon specific to your class. He is definitely not trying to use you to solve the massive garbage issue the Dwarven people have been concerned about for a decade or so. Rewards: new weapon, minimum Rare rank. Failure: upon death within one week, no additional assistance will be offered from Havoc besides the minimum he is required to provide.

“Seriously, man?” Joe was about to argue, but the quest acceptance button suddenly gained a ten-second timer. The human plodded forward, grumbling the entire way, then pulled himself up onto the edge of the trash can and glared at Havoc. “You had better put together some amazing intel for me.”

The human slid forward and started dropping. The tube was either magically slick, or just… Joe decided to think of it as magically slick. It was not slimy. He heaved for breath; the air was absolutely ripe. “Don't look at the wall you’re sliding on. Don’t do it, Joe. Ugh…! I looked.”

Debuff added: Legionnaires’ disease. You can expect a cough, shortness of breath, high fever, muscle pains, and headaches!

Joe landed heavily, plopping directly on some shards of metal that dug into his skin, only stopping once they hit bone.

Damage taken: 40 (fall damage halved due to Jumplomancer skills!)

“Ugh…” Joe groaned as he yanked the shards out of himself. “Mend. When did I turn my shell off?”

Please note that teleportation between fortresses deactivates any passive Buffs or spells which are not permanent enchantments! This is to ensure that reinforcements to fortresses must include healers and others that can add buffs.

Debuffs added! As there are multiple, they have been broken down into easy categories for explanation!

Bacterial diseases include:

· salmonellosis

· shigellosis

· staphylococcus

· tetanus

Viral diseases include:

· gastroenteritis

Parasitic diseases include:

· hookworm

· threadworm

· roundworm

“All buffs