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

he wanted it to. “I’d need a large structure with a permanently-built Aspect Array, and it would need to be strong enough to function for a long period of time. I’d need huge jars that could store all the aspects being generated, Mana Batteries powerful enough to keep it running, and either a system or workforce that could keep them charged.”

While his mind was running through various daydreams to determine what the building should be shaped like, a zombie wandered into the area in front of him, falling into the pit that had been dug out by the reduction.

Living creature detected in Field Array! This is not allowed! The reduction of living creatures is impossible. Calculating culpability… unintentional. Administering punishment.

Joe's array shattered like spun glass, and a backlash of mana drove into his heart.

Damage taken: 115!

Even though the damage taken wasn’t all that extreme, the fact that it had happened so suddenly and unexpectedly—also bypassing his Exquisite Shell—almost caused Joe to stumble right into the pit with the zombie Dwarf. “That’s… ow… another thing I’ll need. A sorter or filter. I think I got it. A decagon, a ten-sided building with ten storage areas. A hole in the middle to drop living things out of it. A supercharged Ritual of Little Sisters Cleaning Service to sort by rarity, a ton of batteries to power everything, all of it laced with a permanent Aspect Array. Sounds good? Great, break! Go team!”

He didn’t want to waste the free experience the monster offered, so he pulled out three Ritual Orbs and set them to slamming into the trapped undead. That was slow going, so all six eventually came out, and Joe used them like a giant hammer, all moving together to hit at roughly the same time. That caused three hundred points of damage per strike, also known as too slow! On the next descent, Joe activated Cone of Cold as well, dealing a total of over five hundred on hit damage.

The creature tried to escape the pit, but every lunge upward only made the walls of garbage sink down, sending it tumbling away from Joe. This reaffirmed the human’s decision that he really liked having the high ground, and he resolved to keep it as much as possible in the future.

As the orbs started striking out of sync in their one-sided assault, Joe adjusted them slightly. The attack was as fun to watch as it was to carry out, so Joe didn’t worry too much about how long it was taking. He tossed in a Dark Lightning Strike to hurry things along whenever possible. Over the next thirty seconds, the monster’s health dropped rapidly. Joe had Corify activate on what he hoped was the last hit. It wasn’t, but he managed to deal another eight hundred damage over the next five seconds—another Cone of Cold activated—and the Zombie went from undead to dead-dead.

You have defeated a monster that was over ten levels higher than you! Bonus experience has been granted! Experience gained: 777!

Joe stared at the notification, then the defeated creature, then the notification again. “I didn’t even think about that until right now, but the only reason it would have been here is because the ritual drew it in due to the level difference between us. I… do I need to leave?”

He rushed to summit a tall slag pile and scanned around. As far as he could tell, no other monsters were currently approaching him. “Okay… that was a fluke. Everything is fine for now, but I need to remember that I’m here for a reason. Everything else can wait until I’m in a safe location. I need to bring power to the upcoming fight.”

“I can start here.” Joe looked down at the pile of slag he was standing on, and his mana pool that had refilled over the last few seconds. “But first… gotta check to see if that Zombie dropped a Core.”

Chapter Fifty-Two

Joe staggered out of the landfill just over a day later, remembering to use Lay on Hands only thanks to the ‘bleeding’ notification that kept popping up. His vision was swimming; the last day had been a constant grind that tested him immensely, but the profit was certainly worth the effort.

He had managed to reduce things in the landfill for almost twenty-two hours straight, his improved constitution allowing him to ignore sleep for more than a week if he wanted to do so. He had managed almost thirty reductions an hour, which meant his mana pool had refilled six hundred and sixty times. At that point, he had made a sizable dent in the area, and his actions were drawing attention from the more powerful inhabitants of the landfill.

The zombies had come one at a time, at first, but eventually, one of them broke through while he was distracted. It didn’t go after Joe directly, as he had expected; it had charged directly at the Ritual of Quarantine and smashed it until the ritual shattered. Then it had howled, and a wave of lower-level undead had flooded through the landfill toward him. Joe had no choice but to run, jump, flee for his life. He had managed to escape, but by that time, he was near the walls and decided that it was a good time to leave.

Just before he had stepped out, a sneak attack struck him and demolished his Exquisite Shell, sending Joe reeling and bleeding into the streets of the capital. Now that he had escaped, he looked around for the door so he could use it in the future. Once again, the entrance to the landfill was nowhere to be seen, and he couldn’t risk opening the door and letting Zombies through… so he didn’t go out of his way to learn how to open it.

Joe sat in the small puddle of his rapidly vanishing blood—thanks being given to that magnificent Neutrality Aura once again—and perused the increases from the last day of grinding.

Strength, dexterity, constitution +3!

Intelligence, wisdom, perception +4!

Luck +5!

Class experience