Timothy Nugent Author
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Chapter 4 - The Collective
🕑 Added 2024-07-01 13:38:53 +0000 UTCBlake observed his enemies from forty feet away, concealed behind a large pine trunk. A young guard’s head began to lean forward as it struggled to remain awake through its watch. As it nodded off, the equally juvenile goblin across from it reached out and slapped it with its hand.
“Ahh!” the sleepy guard complained. “What do that for?” It hissed.
“You stay awake.”
After it rubbed its face, it stood and began to unsteadily walk in Blake’s direction.
“Where you go?”
“Poop. You want come?” it groused.
A grunt was the only response.
Okay, this is my chance.
After waiting for thirty minutes, his patience had worn thin, yet he tempered himself. The goblins had the strength of a twelve-year-old, and he could not help but look down on them. They seemed incredibly young and inexperienced from his observations. He doubted that any of these goblins had gained enough nano to enhance their attributes.
That’s one blessing.
The sleepy guard stumbled through the woods until it was twenty feet from Blake’s vantage point. It then dropped its loincloth and squatted awkwardly over the ground.
Blake wrinkled his nose at the smell as he stalked closer to the vulnerable being. As he neared, he proceeded with greater caution. Luckily, the young goblin seemed to focus exclusively on its defecation.
Rather than brain the pitiful being with his bat, Blake quietly sat the weapon down, and withdrew his pocket knife. He slowly extended the blade as he leaned forward toward the exposed goblin’s neck.
With its back turned to him, it had no idea death approached. With a single motion, Blake muffled its mouth and nose, hugged the goblin to his side and slid his blade across its throat.
I wish this blade was sharper.
The small humanoid loosed a muffled scream into his hand as it struggled. Blood squirted from its exposed artery, and its movements slowed. It slumped forward, and Blake allowed the body to crumple to the ground.
He took a few deep breaths and listened intently for any sign that his deed was discovered.
That’s one down.
He stepped gingerly around the pile of goblin excrement. Blake felt no sympathy for the young goblin he had just killed, he had long ago grown accustomed to murdering intelligent beings for their nanomachines. Thanks to the Architect, it was the only way to survive. That was the true target of his anger, the all powerful AI which destroyed his planet and forced them to kill to survive.
He knelt to inspect the body.
Did it really not bring its weapon with it?
Blake shook his head in disgust when he found nothing of use after searching the corpse. Going anywhere unarmed was a sure way to an early grave.
He moved away from the corpse and leaned against the nearby tree in the dark as he waited for another goblin to investigate. A few minutes later, his patience paid off as the goblin which slapped its sleepy comrade called out, “Where you be?”
When no response came, it abruptly stood and pulled its chipped short sword.
Blake grinned.
At least this one will have a weapon I can use.
It angrily stomped through its camp and muttered to itself in Blake's direction. When it saw the slumped form of its fellow guard on the ground, it hissed and kicked the prone form.
“You wake up!”
When the corpse refused to respond, the goblin kicked the body harder. While it was preoccupied, Blake slipped around the tree and approached the angry humanoid from behind. Just as before, he reached forward and muffled the goblin’s mouth, drew it in close, and slit its throat with his inadequate knife.
Soon, its struggles ceased, and two dead bodies littered the ground. Blake froze against a dark tree and waited to see if the last guard would respond.
After a full minute, when it continued to stare off into the dark forest blankly, Drew shook his head and lifted the sword from the corpse.
I can’t believe how inept these guys are.
It had been a long time since he faced such weak and foolish enemies. He found that it was not just attributes and abilities that made someone deadly, it was also their sense of self-preservation. Only the most cautious and wily creatures survived long enough to become strong.
When the remaining guard refused to leave the smoldering campfire and investigate, Blake was forced to go to it.
Slowly and methodically, he crept along the ground with the stolen chipped short sword in hand. He circled the camp until he was behind the absent-minded goblin.
Blake planned to slit its throat with his pocket knife as he had before, but if it were alerted to his presence, the sword would be a far more capable weapon. After closing the distance, he quietly sat the sword down onto the dew filled soil so it was ready, and extracted his knife once again.
He held his breath.
With a burst of movement, he grasped the dazed goblin’s mouth from behind and ran his knife along the skinny neck with all his teenage strength. It struggled far more than its comrades, and Blake was forced to lift it into the air with pure adrenaline to keep its feet from slamming into the ground and waking its fellows.
When the goblin finally stilled, he carefully set it on the ground and waited motionless. Soft snores filled the night and proved that the young goblins slept like logs. Blake shook his head. Sleeping lightly was one of the first things he learned to do when monsters invaded Earth.
For the next ten minutes, he meticulously executed the sleeping goblins. There was no glorious battle, and no fight to the death, just a grim deed to be completed. He took no joy in dispatching the sleeping forms, but it had to be done.
When the last goblin died, he searched the bodies for anything of use. Unfortunately, their armor was stained loin cloth that smelled similar to a latrine, and their weapons were equally chipped and dull as his pocket knife. He searched through his new collection of knives, clubs, and blades until he found the sharpest sword, and left the rest behind.
He sighed at the waste, and silently left the encampment to find the next gathering of goblins. Blake could use any weapons or armor he found within the combat scenario, but the only loot he could bring back through the portal was the final reward. That, and any resources a non-combatant was able to harvest. Unfortunately, there was no faction full of crafters and laborers waiting to exploit this land after he completed the scenario. There was only Blake, and he was not even part of the Collective yet.
The amount of enemies he needed to face varied, but there would definitely be more than the eight he had killed so far. Blake stalked through the murky woods, and paused every so often as he strained to hear any sign of his foe.
His vision suddenly lit up with bright text, and he let out a gasp of surprise. He was so surprised, he almost dropped his blade. Blake quickly hid his body under a bush for cover and focused on the text.
Welcome to the Collective!
The message startled him, as he had not expected to be inducted until after he completed the scenario. Although, it was just an assumption on his part as he had never met anyone who received nano before Invasion day, and had not known the specific details of how it was achieved.
Blake quickly dimmed the bright letters until they were less jarring to his vision. He was quite familiar with the augmented reality interface the Collective provided. It was completely customizable and responded to his thoughts. There was no need for a settings menu when you could focus on the elements you wished to change and force it to adapt to your will.
After the change was completed, he absentmindedly dismissed the welcome message and a short introduction replaced it.
Your species has been chosen by the Architect to join countless others on a path to power. As a member of the Collective, you will use nano to enhance your body, gain access to combat classifications, and harness power previously unknown. This will be necessary to overcome the challenges your planet will face in the future. You will be given directives to follow to show you the path. However, it is up to you to decide how you achieve it. Always remember, the greater the risk, the greater the reward.
As the first of your species to join the Collective, it is your duty to spread this message and prepare others for what is to come. You may induct others into the Collective early by transferring nanomachines to them.
The first paragraph was exactly as he remembered it from Invasion day. It revealed almost no information and massively understated the future danger they would face in the coming years. Nowhere did it mention that it would somehow disable all electricity, which would kill billions of people. It also left out the fact that tides of monsters would be loosed upon the Earth, which would wipe out most survivors.
Instead, he focused on the last statement.
That’s new.
As far as he was aware, no one had known about the invasion before it happened. Either the thousands of people who survived entering a portal had refused to inform others, or no one believed them. Blake was pretty sure it was the latter.
Am I remembering it wrong, or did something change? Why is it different?
He paused as a thought struck him.
Maybe it was suppressed.
He dismissed the welcome message and a notification replaced it.
As the first of your species to join the Collective, you have gained a title. - [Scion of Humanity]
Blake could not help but grin. This was exactly what he hoped to achieve by entering the portal as early as he did. Just to ensure the title’s benefit was the same as he remembered, he focused, and a description was displayed.
The [Scion of Humanity] title doubles all nano gained. Titles are always visible to others within the Collective and can not be hidden.
His grin broadened. The title would allow him to gain power at twice the normal speed. It changed what he considered possible and would remove some of the detriments of multi-classing. The numerous new possibilities it opened flooded his mind, yet he pushed down his elation.
Focus Blake, you can celebrate later.
He needed to get through the rest of his notifications and then check his status and logs. The only downside he could imagine, was his inability to remove the title’s display. It would mark him for death.
As the first of your species to kill a nano-enhanced being, you have been awarded an achievement. - [First Kill]
The [First Kill] achievement awards you two of every attribute.
Blake’s jaw dropped in shock.
How did the first Scion die with these kinds of benefits?
He shook his head at how ridiculous of an advantage the achievement was. There were six attributes total, and you could only increase them twelve times each time your combat class leveled. The achievement granted him an entire level, something that normally took months to gain, instantly.
Achievement detected, Dual-classification unlocked.
Blake dismissed the message. Once he received his first achievement, the ability to choose two classes simultaneously was enabled. He recalled that Tri-classing would be unlocked if he gained five achievements, and finally, Omni-classing at ten. No other notifications presented themselves, so he quickly opened his status page and eagerly reviewed his attributes.
Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity
Combat Classification - None
Race - Tier I
Attributes -
Physical Power - 4 (2)
Physical Stamina - 4 (2)
Physical Resistance - 5 (2)
Magic Power - 5 (2)
Magic Stamina - 4 (2)
Magic Resistance - 6 (2)
Achievements -
First Kill
Nano - 120,703
He allowed himself a moment of amusement regarding the title behind his name, and imagined how envious his old group would be.
Except for the pending changes, his attributes were displayed exactly as he remembered them ten years before. They were pathetic. The average physical power for a human was five. If you were handicapped prior to Invasion day, it could go as low as one, and if you were an Olympic level athlete, it could be as high as nine.
Blake was below average in half of his attributes, and was only above average in one, magic resistance. Next to each of his starting attributes was the number two. It denoted that nanomachines were currently working to enhance his body. They could take up to an hour or more to finish the job, and until they did, the added capability would only be shown in parentheses.
Why couldn’t I have been obsessed with working out?.
While the nanomachines worked through his tissues, there was no pain nor uncomfortable feelings. Instead, he relaxed in the assurance that his body would slowly grow stronger and more resistant over the next hour or so until the process was complete. When it completed, his status sheet would reflect the increased capability, and he would gain full use of the added attributes.
Before he moved to complete the combat scenario, Blake decided to remain where he was for the process to finish. It would be shortsighted to attack the goblins now, when in a scant hour he would be far stronger.
