I don't own RWBY.
I carefully made my way through the corridor.
It seemed like there weren't any bodies here on the fifth floor. It made sense: in the event of an emergency, most people would rush to exit the building, not go upstairs. Besides, this floor's classrooms were less used than the other floors.
When I reached the door of the classroom right next to ours, I put my hand on the door's handle, slowly opened it, and took a peek inside.
"Grrr…"
Zombie (Human)
Zombie (Faunus)
Infected (Human)
Infected (Human)
Zombie (Faunus)
Zombie (Human)
Infected (Faunus)
My eyes widened, and my heart started hammering in my chest. Seven of them were standing there, looking at the schoolyard through the window.
These guys had been there the whole time?
It seemed like they hadn't been able to break through the glass like the others. Or they just hadn't tried to. Their sense of navigation was definitely not good enough to open a door, or know to take the stairs.
And why were some of them Zombies, whereas others were Infected ? Were there a difference ?
Actually, if they were zombies, were they considered as living targets for [Identify]?
So many questions... Unfortunately, they were too far to try using [Identify] on one of them. At level 2 the skill's range had only increased by one meter, which only made it six meters.
So, what to do now?
If I sneaked past them, and engage a fight with goblins too loudly, they could start banging on the door, and if they broke it, they would come out to bite me or Ebony in the ass.
Literally, in fact.
Fucking hell. Those weren't exactly normal zombies, either. They had to be fucking sprinters. Since they were close to the windows, they would have momentum, so I could already imagine them charging and throwing themselves into the door like a bunch of bulls.
Like I said. The worst kind.
Thankfully they seemed extremely dumb… What about their senses? Were they attracted to noise? Did they have an enhanced sense of smell ? Could I cover myself in guts to make myself invisible to them, The Walking Dead style?
I'd rather not do that… I was still shirtless after all. I really needed to find some clean clothes.
Seven of them… I looked at the weapon in my hands. Maybe the spear had been not the best choice of weapon. It would be useful one on one. But against multiple enemies it would weight me down more than anything.
I couldn't handle seven, not even close. Especially not when a bite could spell my doom, and I was still shirtless. In fact, I didn't even know how people got infected. It could be airborne, in which case, we were completely and thoroughly fucked.
Let's not think about that. Focus on dealing with things that you can actually survive.
I silently closed the door. Hopefully, they didn't know how to open them.
I gulped, slowly walking through the corridor to the stairs to the south, making as little sound as I could.
A stealth skill would be really handy right about now.
I checked the next classroom.
Locked.
I pressed my ear against it. I didn't hear anything inside.
Maybe the next one then. I continued and checked the last classroom before the stairs.
As the door opened silently, I peeked inside.
"Kah… Kah…!"
Goblin Scout
A goblin was in there, standing on a table, using it as a stool to search a shelf.
His back was turned.
This is it. An opportunity.
Quietly, I opened the door.
"Grrraah!"
Suddenly, a loud grow was heard in the room, and I froze, turning my head towards the noise in panic.
A zombie, a 'crawler', pinned under a table, was waving its hands towards me its feet missing, in the middle of the classroom.
"Kakah!"
The goblin grinned viciously as if he had found a new toy, and jumped down the table, drawing two knives from his back.
My heart-rate accelerated. Shit. Two knives, that was worse than one dagger in my opinion.
Calm down, Shean. You've already killed one of these fuckers, and now all your stats have doubled.
"Kahaaa!"
The goblin suddenly threw one of his knives at me.
"Sh-shit!" I exclaimed, barely managing to move out of the way. The knife grazed my arm and embedded itself into the door.
"Kahahaha!" The goblin laughed, mocking me.
"…" I gritted my teeth, "You little shit." I growled, grabbed a nearby chair with both hands, and threw it at him.
"Kaaaa!" The goblin screamed in panic, jumping to to the side.
I dashed forward as the goblin stood back up. Clenching my hands on my improvised spear, I stopped a couple meters away from the creature, and attempted a stab at its torso.
The goblin twisted its body around it and stepped forward, getting in close range.
Shit, he's faster than I thought! I immediately let go of my spear.
"Kaha!" The goblin smirked victoriously, raising his knife to strike.
All kinds of danger warnings went off in my head as I tried to block the attack, moving my arms to shield my body.
The blade pierced right through the palm of my hand.
Ding!
You have been [Poisoned].
"AaAaAAh! Fuck!" I cursed, violently pushing the knife's blade away, destabilizing the goblin.
I twisted my injured hand and yanked the blade away from the creature.
"K-kah!" It yelped in surprise, and before it could react more, I grabbed its wrist that held the other knife with my uninjured hand.
"Kaaaaka!" The goblin struggled in my hold, and with a simple squeeze, he was forced to drop his knife. He opened its mouth showing his yellow teeth, as if he was about to bite me.
Before he could, with a single hand, I raised the little fucker in the air above me, and slammed him against the wall, once, and twice, as if I was using a particularly big hammer.
"K-kaaa-aaah…!" Stunned from the shock, the goblin was shaken, as he practically hanged off my hand like a puppet.
I threw him on the ground against the wall, letting go of his wrist.
"K-kah!" It squeaked weakly, and raised its head towards me.
Just in time to see my foot crash on his face.
Crrack! The skull broke under my step, spreading the goblin's brains on the wall.
Ding!
You have defeated a Goblin Scout.
The [Physical Resistance] stat has increased by one.
"Screw you." I groaned, spitting on its body.
I turned to the other growling asshole in the room, who alerted the goblin, and walked to him.
"And screw you!" I said, kicking the zombie's head under my foot as hard as I could.
You have defeated a Zombie.
Once that was done, I walked to the door, fuming, and closed it. Only then, did I inspect my wounds.
Status Effects: [Minor Wound(Badly Bandaged)] , [Minor Wound(Bleeding)] , [Deep Wound (Bleeding)] , [Poisoned]
Poisoned. And a Deep Wound. Fucking hell.
My stats have almost doubled and I got even more injured than in my last fight with one of those shitheads.
I can't continue to fight like a bull anymore. This isn't the streets, this isn't step-fucker. One hit and I can die.
The zombie's clothes were bloody so I couldn't use them as bandages. Shit.
Scanning the room with my gaze, I spotted a sweatshirt resting on the chair.
'Identify'
Sweatshirt
A basic sweatshirt.
It has no trace of blood on it. It's clean.
That's all I need to know, I thought as I grabbed it, not wasting any time.
"Gnnnh…" I struggled with it for a bit, stepping on one end of the sweatshirt and using my other hand to tear it apart.
The [Strength] stat has increased by one.
Man I love my strength.
I quickly grabbed the knife that was still impaled in my hand and yanked it away, causing me to hiss in pain. I summoned all my Willpower to endure the agony, and bandaged the wound on my hand as best as I could.
As for my arm, I didn't even bother with it.
In fact, it didn't seem to be bleeding anymore.
"Status."
Status Effects: [Minor Wound(Bandaged)] [Minor Wound] [Deep Wound (Bandaged)] [Poisoned]
"It already stopped bleeding without even needing a bandage?" I raised my eyebrows. "Good. One less thing I need to worry about."
Then I suddenly remembered.
The +500% boost to healing rate that I had received as a compensation for my first injury! That was probably why. Why this wound was no longer bleeding already, why my leg was healing so fast, why I survived a troll's kick.
If I remembered correctly, the boost would last until my leg's injury was healed.
"That won't do," I groaned, unwrapping the bandage around my leg.
What would Carl call this again? Abusing an exploit?
See, the longer I kept this insane healing boost compensation, the quicker my hand's deep wound would heal. So ironically, I needed to slow down the healing of my leg as much as I could.
Now, the poison. Hopefully the healing rate boost was helping me fight against it as well. If not, I may be screwed.
"…" I eyed the corner of a nearby table.
I pushed my leg's wound into it. "A-aouch…" I winced at the pain, but it was nothing compared to the agony in my hand.
Just enough to reopen the wound... Good.
Poison may take a bit to spread through my system, so I would need to keep the healing boost for as long as I could.
Shit… I wanna go back to the classroom and have Nurse Arc take care of me.
I frowned, feeling a drop of sweat roll down my neck. I could go back now… A couple of knives wasn't too bad for a first loot run.
After thinking about it, I decided against it.
If poison took a while to kick in, then I needed to use the time I had to grab more loot. Because I was probably going to be useless for many hours once the poison kicked in.
The [Vitality] stat has gone up by one.
Hmm… Or maybe it was already starting to kick in? Had my vitality gone up because my body was already fighting the poison?
In other words. The more vitality I had, the more chances I had to survive this poison. Especially since the healing rate was most likely based on vitality in the first place. So every point of vitality I gained would get affected by the +500% boost.
'Identify.'
Goblin Knife
A rusty knife, mainly used by goblins as a convenient tool. Goblins may also throw them if needed.
It is in poor condition, but it still has good stabbing and slicing power.
+1 Dexterity
[The Gamer]: +2 Vitality
I grabbed both knives, which were the same, one in each hand. Even if I couldn't use one of my hands anymore, I needed the vitality. Badly. +4 was a great buff.
What else… Now what the hell is this?
A disgusting blob of flesh, about the same size as my hand, had dropped next to the goblin's corpse.
I grabbed it, and threw it in the bag, not bothering to wait for [Identify]'s cooldown to finish. I was on a timer. Each second that passed, the poison progressed. So, no time to waste. I needed to hurry. I quickly opened the door, stepped out, and made my way to the stairs.
I peeked downstairs.
Infected(Faunus)
Right around the corner, was an Infected sat against the wall.
'Identify'.
Invalid target.
So it's still considered a living creature? I frowned.
As I thought that, the infected raised its head at me. Before it could scream, I stabbed its skull with the goblin knife.
Ding!
You have defeated an Infected(Faunus).
The [Dexterity] stat has gone up by one!
I noticed the Infected had a backpack. I grabbed it and opened it, searching through it.
A bunch of notebooks, some school supplies, a scroll, earbuds, and…
A water bottle, and an energy bar.
I grinned, opening the bottle to take a big drink. I would probably need a lot of water through my system to purge the poison.
And…
'Identify.'
Energy bar.
A simple energy bar. Useful food to keep a student going through a long day.
Calories: 406
[The Gamer]: +3 vitality (6 hours) (unique : food).
As soon as I finished reading, I immediately shoved the energy bar in my mouth.
More vitality to fight the poison, yes please!
I groaned in satisfaction as I chewed on the bar. My decision to keep going had been the right one after all. I didn't know what the "(unique)" thing was about, but right now I couldn't give a shit.
What else was in the bag...?
A lighter and some cigarettes.
"A gift for Daryl." I grinned, throwing them in the bag. "Thanks, buddy." I patted the dead infected's shoulder.
Encouraged by my findings, I continued my expedition and went downstairs. Down there, I peeked into the fourth floor's corridor. The goblin bathroom should be right there…
Goblin Scout
Goblin
Goblin Archer
Goblin
Goblin Warrior
Goblin Warrior
Goblin Warrior
Goblin Warrior
Goblin Archer
Goblin Shaman
Zombie(Human)
Zombie(Human)
Zombie(Faunus)
Infected(Goblin)
"Holy shit." I breathed, gulping. So many enemies.
In the corridor, a dozen bodies were scattered. Moreover, goblins were moving the corpses, as if organizing themselves to clean the corridor. Further away, five goblins could be seen fighting a bunch of zombies. They were using a formation, two goblins with shields and short masses in front, two goblins with spears in the back. The fifth one, the 'shaman', stood behind them, and seemed to be giving orders, waving what looked like some kind of branch with a skull attached at the end.
It looked like they were trying to clear the floor. Did they want to set up a territory of sorts?
"Kah?"
I duck my head back behind the wall. A goblin saw me. I think.
"Kah…?"
Splash splash splash...
I recognized the squelching footsteps as he approached my spot.
Shit. Shit. My heart hammered in my chest, and I covered my mouth with my hand to lower the sound of my breathing. I felt my sweat roll down on my nude chest.
"Kah! Kah! KAKAH!"
An other voice, deeper for a goblin, resonated from further away in the corridor. The splashes stopped right around the corner, and I readied my knife, gulping.
"K-kah…"
That's right. Go back to work. I thought, hoping that was all this was about. It was just the wind.
"Kah."
I heard him turn around.
I let out a quit breath of relief, and I took a chance, carefully peeking around the corner.
Goblin Archer
My eyes widened. Close. Extremely close. One meter away. His back turned. Walking away.
I looked up. No one looking.
I moved.
"K-ka-"
I grabbed him with my injured hand and lodged my blade into its throat, interrupting his attempt at screaming.
He made a gargling sound for a bit, and I moved my hand on his mouth to cover it a bit.
Ding!
Critical strike!
You have defeated a Goblin Archer!
Ding!
The [Agility] stat has increased by one.
Ding!
You have acquired a new skill: [Sneak]
Ding!
You have acquired a new sub-kill: [Sneak Attack]
Not wasting any time, I didn't bother to read the windows, and I threw the body on my shoulder and quickly ran upstairs, as quietly as I could.
I went back to the classroom right next to the stairs, and threw down the body next to his buddy.
This one goblin wore some kind of tunic. I quickly searched him for any loot.
He had a bow, a quiver with six arrows, another disgusting weird fleshy blob that smelled like rotten meat, and… some kind of green potion in a pocket.
Jackpot?
'Identify'
Flask of Poison
A flask of poison, brewed by a goblin Shaman. Goblins generally use it to slowly bring their victims near death and play with them while they can't defend themselves.
…Play with them? I blinked at the words. Sadistic pieces of shit.
Can be used to coat weapons and arrow tips.
Will spread through the blood system to either kill or weaken the target, depending on the quantity applied and the target's stats.
Remaining: 92mL
[The Gamer]: 30% chance of getting +3 [Poison Resistance] (new stat) (unique)
"..." I stared at the last line for a long moment, considering the possibility it entailed.
Was it worth? Drinking a tiny bit, just enough for the bonus of [The Gamer] to trigger, gain the Poison Resistance stat, and get an instant +10 from my title?
Just, how much would I need to drink to trigger the bonus?
Shit, I don't know. I frowned anxiously, biting my lip and glancing at the door to check no one was sneaking on me. This is risky. But this poison could kill me, vitality may not be enough. And 11 poison resistance sounds much better than a flat zero.
I read the item's description again.
Actually, it didn't say anything about direct ingestion and digestion. It specified that it spread through the blood system. But if I drank it, it would end up in my stomach… Not in my blood.
Plus, I still had the 500% healing rate boost and I needed to leverage it for as long as I had it, before the wound on my leg was fully healed. And with 13 poison resistance, my body would have much higher chances of purging the poison before it the compensation bonus was removed.
Ok, I'll do it. I decided, popping the flask open.
Slowly raising it to my lips, I gulped a small amount of poison.
It tasted like shit. Like, actual shit. It made me want to puke. But with my willpower I powered through it once again.
Nothing.
I took another sip.
Nothing.
Another.
Nothing.
Another…
Still nothing…
Another… shit, my stomach was starting to protest. Still nothing.
This time I took a big sip.
Nothing.
Oh come the fuck on! What the fuck is wrong with-
Ding!
You have been Poisoned (Severe).
You have gained a new stat: [Poison Resistance]
Ding!
The [Luck] stat has increased by one.
Luck has increased, my ass. That wasn't lucky at all!
"Pwah." I grimaced, scrunching up my nose as I closed the flask. My stomach rumbled painfully.
I drunk too much. I need nursing. Right now.
I grabbed the goblin bow, arrows, knives, blobs and flask of poison and threw them in my bag pack, which was starting to get full. I grabbed the improvised spear, and went back in the corridor.
"Grrah!"
Infected(Faunus)
Somehow, an infected had showed up in the corridor. Upon seeing me, it growled loudly and dashed towards me.
"Shit…" I raised my spear, letting him impale himself on it, through his chest, right through the heart. Pain shot up my arm from my injured hand. The Infected growled in pain, and stopped moving.
You have defeated an Infected(Faunus).
I stepped forward and placed a foot on the corpse's stomach, intending on pushing on it to free my embedded spear.
"RAAAAAHHHH!" The corpse moved and screamed angrily, grabbing my foot.
"What the hell?!" I screamed in surprise, falling backwards to the ground, letting go of my spear.
Zombie (Faunus)
"L-let go!" I yelled, kicking at him trying to free my leg.
"GRAAAAAH" The zombie screamed insanely loudly, its grasp tightening around my ankle.
Many other screams echoed in the building, as if answering the previous one, making my blood freeze in my veins.
Boom!
The door right next to me started banging, creaking loudly. The seven zombies from before were trying to come out!
"Shit…!" I cursed as the zombie still had a firm grab on my leg.
Bonk!
A metallic bucket was thrown on its head.
"I got him!" Ebony exclaimed, maintaining the zombie in front of her, hands grasped on its back.
I stood up and quicky grabbed the knife in the bag, and with a quick move, I raised the bucket just enough to stab the zombie through its jaw up to its skull in on clean hit.
Ding!
Critical Hit!
You have defeated a Zombie (Faunus).
"Thanks for the assist..."
"You okay?" Ebony breathed, eyed wide staring at the body of the infected.
"I… got poisoned by a… goblin."
She stared at me. "…You got poisoned by a what now?"
"A goblin." I repeated, my vision starting to blur. Maybe drinking the poison hadn't been a good idea after all.
Boom! Boom! The seven zombies were still banging on the door.
"We need to go... Let's… get inside…" I panted. My entire body was drenched in sweat.
Ding!
The [Vitality] stat has increased by one.
"Kaaah!" At this moment, I heard a scream behind me, and I looked over my shoulder.
The goblin shaman was smirking, pointing at me with his ugly staff. Answering its call, Three goblin warriors and a goblin archer started running towards us.
"GO!" I yelled at Ebony, pushing her towards the classroom, before turning to the door with the seven infected.
"Shean, come! HURRY!"
"Fucking GO!" I yelled, and slammed a powerful kick on the door.
It resisted.
Ding!
The [Poison Resistance] stat has increased by one.
I ignored the message. The goblins were almost on me.
Gathering all that was left of my strength, I gave the door another, powerful kick.
Seeing one of the door hinges snap and fall down, I immediately dashed after Ebony.
"Quick!" She already had one step into the classroom, waiting with a hand reached towards me.
"Ngh…" I grimaced at the pain in my leg shooting up again. I felt my airways swelling, and I coughed a little. I glanced behind me, anxious.
Right as the goblins passed in front of the damaged door, it gave away.
"Grraaaah!" The zombies threw themselves into the corridor onto the goblins.
"K-kaaaah!" The goblin screamed in fear, breaking formation as one of them was bitten.
Ding!
The [Intelligence] stat has increased by one.
I continued my jog as I smirked viciously and looked back at Ebony.
Only a few more meters now.
Schtck!
I suddenly felt something impact my back.
"Argh!" Pain exploded in my shoulder. I stumbled and fell to the ground, a hand reaching to touch my shoulder.
I recognized the shape. An arrow. An arrow hit me. "Hngh…" I grimaced as I tried to stand back up. "Nngrr… Come OONN!" I yelled angrily, forcing my body to obey me.
Ding!
The [Willpower] stat has increased by one.
Ding!
[The Gamer]'s level has increased to Beginner Level 2.
"SHEAN!" Ebony was suddenly next to me, grabbing my other arm and putting it around her shoulders, helping me up.
"Oh god!" she cried out. We were both terrified as we stumbled forward. I coughed again, and suddenly noticed I had a hard time breathing.
Fucking asthma! I coughed again as we limped back to the classroom. I pushed her in first before stepping in.
"Grrrraaah!"
"RRRraaah!"
"Rreeeh!"
"Kakraaaah!"
I slammed the door shut, right as a bunch of zombie goblins and zombie students reached it, and I immediately threw my back against it.
Boom! The door banged loudly, the impact sending me rolling away from it.
"Steele! Barricade!" Ebony called.
"O-on it!" A familiar voice squeaked.
As I haggardly moved away from the path between the tables, desks and chairs that made our barricade, my eyes vaguely caught sight of a familiar face who was pushing more furniture against the door. He was the know-it-all nerd from my class.
Still coughing, I found the nearest chair and let my body fall on it, my shoulder aching like a bitch.
"Shean." Ebony was on me instantly. "H-hey. Are you all right…?"
"What the hell… do you think?!" I tried to raise my voice. I couldn't even do that. "Cough… I'm fucking… peachy…" I groaned weakly, wheezing, and starting to feel the poison's effects. My body felt hot and I had vertiges. Like I was in a constant state of falling.
"Lay down, Shean. Lay down." Ebony ordered, taking off my back pack, and helping me settle down on the ground. She grabbed the satchel we had found earlier and put it under my head, before turning my body to the side, so I was resting on the shoulder that wasn't wounded.
Ding!
You are being Nursed by Ebony Arc.
Effects: +6 Vitality, +120% heal rate, as long as the [Nursing] skill is active.
[The Gamer]: +6 Vitality, +6 Willpower, +6 all Resistances(2), as long as the [Nursing] skill is active.
Wheezing, I widened my eyes at the huge boost that I could barely read. Was I saved?
"Keep… bag… and knives." I managed to say, gasping for breath. "B-boosts… vitality."
"O-ok, I understand..." Ebony replied softly, placing the school bag in my arms. I squeezed on it like a stuffed toy. Then she put her hand on my forehead. It was cold but oddly comforting. Through my wheezing, I noticed tears running down her eyes that were wide with fear and panic. "Y-you're burning… Oh god. This is bad." Her voice cracked, anxious. "What do I do, what do I do... Should I take out the arrow?"
"No! Not now!" The Faunus nerd exclaimed.
"T-then what... Oh god, his hand is injured, too!" Ebony panicked, grabbing my arm to take a closer look. "It's bandaged, but it's still bleeding!"
Darkness started peaking at the edge of my vision.
"… He's deathly pale. He must have lost a lot of blood!" Ebony said. "Uh... Tear down a curtain, Steele. We need more strips to bandage stuff!"
"Y-yes!"
"Hurry!" She urged.
"D-don't… bandage… leg…" I muttered, my wheezing already softening under the nursing effects.
"Wh-what? What are you talking about? It needs to be taken care of!"
"He must be delirious," Steele said.
I sighed weakly and coughed a little to clear my throat, clearing a better path for air.
I looked up tiredly. Ebony was watching me anxiously while Steele was trying to tear up the curtains – and failing. That guy was all bones; zero muscle.
Ding!
The [Poison Resistance] stat has increased by one.
I heard a ding, but my vision was so blurry that I couldn't read anything.
My eyelids were starting to become heavy...
"H-hey. Stay here!" The blonde girl panicked, putting her hands on my cheek. She sounded like she was far away, or underwater. "Don't close your eyes! Stay with us!"
I tried to stay awake. But somehow, I didn't have enough Willpower to do that.
It was the first time that my favorite stat failed me.
I'm tired...
Unable to resist, my eyes closed on their own, and the darkness claimed me.