SeerKing looked up from his desk, where he was writing a list of some sort.
"Oh, hey you lot." he said with a quick wave. "Just doing my preparations for Christmas. I hope you all are as well; there's only four weeks to go before the big day!"
Leaning back, he smirked. "This will be the last update from my schedule for 2019. I am not happy about the length of time that I've taken off this year, but it wasn't my fault. Stupid motherboard. Anyway, the next scheduled update will be on the 15th of January 2020. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, one and all."
"Iustitia!" - Regular Speech
'Mistress!' - Thoughts/Telepathy
[Justice For All!] - Skill/Ability Being Used
Beta'd by BigCC
Quest 2.2
The Next Day
Kitchen, Hebert Residence
"There's something I still don't understand about you, Iustitia." Dad said as he sat down to breakfast.
"Hm?" my Embryo hummed to show she was listening as she devoured her breakfast of bacon, eggs and a few other fried delights. She wasn't kidding about how much she loved home cooked meals...
"Why are you humanoid? What makes a Maiden Embryo different from the other categories of Embryo?" he pressed.
I admit, I was a bit curious about that myself.
"Love." Iustitia replied simply. "Maiden Embryos are born from those who love something or someone dearly. We are rare because few people love with the intensity and purity that is required to form us. My Mistress loves you, this city and her memories of her mother dearly and purely. That is what caused my birth as a Maiden With Arms."
I blushed at the warmth in Iustitia's voice. The pride she felt in that simple statement was supremely obvious.
"Are there any other types of humanoid Embryos?" I asked once I had my blush under control, desperate to change the subject.
"Some Guardian Embryos are humanoid." the Maiden of Justice said before grimacing. "There are also...Apostles."
"Apostles?" Dad and I asked in unison. There was a note of something distinctly sinister when my Maiden had uttered that word.
"Apostles are similar to Maidens in that we are humanoid and can possess forms from the other categories of Embryos, but the source of our birth is...different." Iustitia said haltingly. "Maidens are born from love and are always female. Apostles...Apostles are always male and are born...from hate."
"Hate?" I muttered uneasily. "I was feeling quite a bit of that when I was in the locker."
"You loved more than you hated, Mistress." Iustitia reassured me with a smile. "Your love eclipsed your hate, thus I was born."
"Should I start referring to you as my granddaughter, Iustitia?" Dad teased as my blush redoubled.
"Daaaad!" I groaned. "She doesn't share my DNA...actually, do you even have DNA, Iustitia?"
"I can if I want to, but I don't see the point." my Embryo shrugged. "I am your Embryo, Mistress, and that is all that matters to me, far more than a mere blood connection."
I reached out and patted my Embryo on the head gently. "Awww."
My adorable Embryo just pouted cutely.
Later
Street, Docks Area of Brockton Bay
As it turns out, Dad was a lot more up-to-date on games than I had thought; apparently, the DWA had their own server for games like World of Warcraft and other MMORPG's and Dad was the official Guildmaster of the DWA and their online guild.
The things you learn about your own father...
Anyway, he had agreed with Iustitia's idea about maxing out my [Swordsman] job to its maximum level, but he also suggested getting [Maceman] and [Gunslinger] to at least Level 10 before doing that. As it was, I'd focus on getting [Swordsman] leveled up to ten first before going back and repeating the process with the other two, as my first job still had the highest level of the three.
Something that I had only just noticed when Dad pointed it out was that my Job Class Skills had leveled up and gotten more powerful as I'd leveled their respective jobs up, which flew in the face of most RPG's that I was aware of. I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth though, so I rolled with it.
'Why would you level up the skill you got from a job separately from the job itself, Mistress? It sounds far more tiresome that way.' Iustitia asked in amusement. She was currently inside the crest on my hand, as I was walking along in plainclothes.
'Humans tend to enjoy having as much control over a situation as they can, Iustitia. That tends to make them micromanage a lot of things that could be handled a lot more simply.' I answered her in amusement. 'I am actually glad I don't have to mess around with Skill Points and the like. I can just focus on fighting and gaining strength, especially since you said you'd handle learning a lot of the supplementary skills like [Sewing] and stuff.'
'I am glad to be of use to you even outside of combat, my Mistress.' the Maiden of Justice replied warmly.
Blushing slightly at the earnestness of Iustitia, I paused as I rounded a street corner and turned into a familiar street. It was from here that Hamelin had kidnapped me, and it was to here that I had returned after fleeing the collapse of Hamelin's pocket dimension. I suppose it was fitting that I returned here to make another sally into what remained of the pocket dimension.
Discretely checking around me for cameras and passersby, I snuck into an alley and equipped my armor, which was all rat-based. That was not something that I was pleased with and was I honestly hoping that I'd be able to upgrade or redesign it before I made my official debut to the public at large.
I could already hear people calling me a Mouse Protector fan-girl if I showed up in public wearing this stuff.
'So how do I use this thing? Just say the name of the skill?' I asked Iustitia as I fingered my technicolor cape.
'First, you must be in the correct location, within at least a meter of where we originally entered Hamelin's dimension.' Iustitia said, mentally nudging me to walk forward. 'Then, yes, you have to invoke the name of the skill aloud. Once that happens, we will be whisked away into the pocket dimension.'
Nodding, I headed for roughly where I had stood when Hamelin had kidnapped me. Stopping, I adjusted my cloak, straightened up, and summoned Iustitia in her First Form as well. If I was doing this, I was going in ready for whatever was waiting on the other side
"[Dimension Step]!" I whispered before taking a step forwards.
In that instant I was surrounded by red and black light so bright that I lifted my arms to instinctively shield my face. Then the light died and I peered out to see a window pop up in front of me.
[Welcome!]
[The pocket dimension previously known as [Grand Lair of Hamelin] collapsed upon the death of its creator, Hamelin the Pied Piper. You have entered a remnant of it via the power derived of Hamelin's own. You can conquer this section by defeating the boss that has generated in it, which will lead you to locations to enter other remnant pocket dimensions. Once you conquer all of them? Who knows what may happen...]
[Current Level: 10]
[Target Remnant Pocket Level: 10]
[Entering Remnant #1: Rats on a Sinking Ship...]
Oh lovely, MORE of those evil rats!
An instant later and I was in a wooden room that was reeking of rot, seaweed and disrepair. The disgusting smell, mixed with my sudden translocation, was almost enough to make me hurl. Mightily forcing the urge downward, and breathing through my mouth, I looked around.
"What the hell?" I asked aloud. "It wasn't like this when I was here last time!"
"I believe that Hamelin's deteriorating mental state might have had some effect on his pocket dimension when it fractured." my Embryo theorized. "It's possible that each pocket perhaps represents an emotion or part of his mental state prior to passing away."
"He didn't just die, Iustitia. I killed him." I said, with a shiver. "Let's not try to delude ourselves about what happened to him. I did it and I have to own that. As a human being he deserves that much, if nothing else."
"As you say, Mistress." Iustitia deferred to me, but I had this funny feeling that she didn't want to, as she didn't like people trying to kill or capture me. Honestly, having someone aside from Dad who was a hundred percent in my corner was...reassuring beyond words, really.
"Well, regardless of what the heck's up with this place, we'd better get a move on." I sighed and started to take a closer look at my surroundings. The room was about the same size as an average-sized lounge, and there were no decorations or anything on the walls. There was also only a single door allowing entry/exit to the room, so I guess I know which way I'm going.
Thankfully the door wasn't locked and despite the rust coating the hinges it opened easily. I nudged it open with a careful toe, and peered out to see a wide, dimly lit corridor leading onward. The ambiance here made me think of zombies for some reason; I really hoped that I didn't encounter zombies here. I think I'd hurl if I had to deal with the smell of rotten flesh in addition to the foul funk of this rotting ship.
Treading carefully down the corridor, I strain my ears for any sign of more monsters. The title of this place suggested that the monsters here would be more rats, and they were likely stronger than the ones I'd faced before. I didn't want to give the damned things a chance to sink their teeth into me, thank you very much. Rats had almost killed Panacea, and it had looked quite painful. Nope, not something I wanted to go through myself, even if my armor protected me.
Speaking of my armor, my current equipment read out as:
Face: Rat Fur Half-Face Mask
Head: Half-Closed Helm of the Rat King
Body: Rat Skin Leather Armor
Legs: Rat Skin Breeches
Belt: Rat Skin Belt
Arms: [Empty]
Feet: Rat Skin Boots
Neck: [Empty]
Cloak: Dimensional Cloak of the Pied Piper
My only open slots were my arms and neck, the latter of which concerned me. Having one of the most vital portions of your anatomy unprotected when facing creatures that instinctively went for the throat was not a good thing. Plus all of this armor was pretty low-level stuff. I'd have to look into upgrading it.
The sound of running claws on wood made me tense up and I took a stance. Seconds later, my first enemy came into view, bursting through an open doorway. It was a rat, but different than what I had expected. Whereas the rats from Hamelin's completed dimension pocket had all looked healthy and well fed (for, you know, giant rats), this one looked as if it had gone for a week or so without food, and had then been thrown in the ocean for good measure. It was skinny enough that I'd probably see its bones if it wasn't for the thick coat of dripping wet, matted gray fur coating its body. Mad, bloodshot yellow eyes glared at me as it charged towards me, a long whip-like tail lashing furiously behind it.
Deciding to meet the charge head on, I lifted Iustitia's sword form and activate a combat skill. "[Blade Charge]!"
Shouting the skill name like a battle cry, I surged forward, sword aiming straight for the rat's body…before it suddenly opened its mouth and shot a fucking cannonball of water right at me. Whether by design or coincidence the water ball met my sword mid-charge. My Embryo's weapon form easily sliced through it, but the impact still threw my aim off and led to my attack piercing the rat's right fore-shoulder rather than the neck where I was aiming.
The impact was still enough to send the rat skidding back across the wooden floor, screeching in pain.
I immediately moved to follow, stepping forward and twisting my weapon to a horizontal position before activating [Blade Sweep] to rip through the monster's exposed torso before it could recover completely, eviscerating it in a surge of blood and gore.
You have defeated Giant Drowned Rat (LV10)! You receive 150 EXP!
You have looted Mangy Soaked Rat Pelt X1!
You have looted $20.00!
Yeah, like I'd use that pelt for anything. The EXP and money is nice though.
"Iustitia, was I seeing things, or did that rat just spit a water blast the size of a basketball at me?" I asked with a blink of disbelief as the rat corpse dissolved.
"No, Mistress, you saw truly." my Embryo reassured me. "At a guess, the fracturing of Hamelin's pocket dimension has affected more than simply the dungeon's aesthetics; the enemies you face will likely have been affected and enhanced by it as well. Each Remnant and the creatures that inhabit it will likely have been similarly distorted by some emotion Hamelin felt as he died."
"Ah...that means this 'Remnant' must be...despair." I concluded, looking around. An abandoned ship, left to rot and fall to pieces... you didn't need a Masters in Psychology to know that was pretty representative of stagnation and despair.
"Quite likely." Iustitia agreed. "Step carefully, my mistress. Whatever other effect it has caused, the fracturing has bled more power into the monsters that inhabit this dungeon."
I can guess why; Hamelin's conscious mind must have given cohesion and control to the original dimension pocket once he formed it, even when he was asleep. With him dead, the unrestricted emotions he had felt as I killed him had spread out, fractured and echoed and then resonated with specific fragments of the pocket dimension as it collapsed. Now the monsters in the remnants were stronger, yes, more tricky, yes, but also less directed and far less organized without Hamelin's will to guide and direct them.
Now aware of the types of enemies I would be facing, I advanced again, but somewhat more cautiously than before. I wished I had some way of seeing the stats of the rats so I would know if using Iustitia's [Balance the Scales] ability would power them up or power them down.
As I went, I cut my way through two more [Giant Drowned Rats] and leveled up, which was really quite nice. I assigned the level to [Swordsman] and received a new attack skill, [Double Strike], which was a quick combo of a stab followed by a wide slash, both powered up of course.
I paused at the first intersection that I found and looked around. Including the way I had come from, there were four paths I could take. Ahead of me was a set of stairs that led up to the next level. To the left was a doorway with a sign emblazoned with 'Armory' above it, while to the right was a doorway (sans the door itself) that had 'Crew Quarters' on a sign above it.
After less than a second of consideration, I discarded the idea of going up for the moment. Mostly because the first rule of any RPG was 'explore everywhere thoroughly' so I considered which way to go out of left and right. Deliberating with Iustitia, we eventually decided to go to the armory, as it was possible that some half decent weapons and armor would be in there. Also, it might make any fights against any possible humanoid enemies easier if I preemptively disarmed them before they could grab their weapons.
"...wow..." I gaped as I closed the Armory door behind me. The room had likely once been full of racks of highly polished wood, mounted with guns, swords, pikes and other stuff. Now, over half of the racks were empty and collapsing under the burden of their own weight, while the remaining ones were only half full. I'd take all of them, of course, but they were still in pretty bad condition.
You have acquired [Boarding Pike] X10!
You have acquired [Poor Quality Steel Cutlass] X20!
You have acquired [Flintlock Pistol] X10!
You have acquired [Flintlock Musket] X10!
You have acquired [Belaying Pin] X30!
Well if nothing else, I can sell the clubs to the Dockworkers for self-defense against the gangs.
There was no armor in the Armory sadly, but there was a set of [Fingerless Pirate Gloves] that were in a drawer that gave my arms some degree of protection, as well as adding to the damage I dealt with swords by one. Pretty nice.
Leaving the Armory, I next went into the Crew Quarters, which was a wide open space full of old, rotting hammocks...as well as a bunch of [Giant Drowned Rats], at least twenty of them.
There was a moment of silence as the waterlogged rats glared at me in feral hatred before I smirked.
"Iustitia...I believe that it is time to give your new form a test run!" I said, pointing her sword form at the rats. "Form Three, now!"
"Aye-aye, Mistress!" my Embryo shouted. "[The Lone Gun and Star of Frontier Justice]!"
In a flash of light, the sword morphed into the silvery revolver, while the scales I held in my other hand disappeared and the slight weight of the silver star on my breast registered. I could feel the power of [One Riot, One Ranger] flowing through me as I lined up my first shot against the rats, which were starting to charge, very slowly...which I realized was the effect of my [Quickdraw] skill. It gave me bullet time for the first shot I fired every combat.
Making good use of it, I leveled my pistol and took aim at the leading rat.
BANG!
The gun roared as I sent my first bullet shrieking down the room and into the eye of one charging rat, killing it instantly. I quickly adjusted my aim and used [The Bullet Strikes True] to ricochet my next bullet off the wall and into the back of the head of the next one, which collapsed and tripped over the six or so following it, giving me a palpable gap between the group.
I quickly fired my last four bullets, taking down four of the six rats of the first group. Now I had ten seconds before my weapon could be fired again and I still had two rats charging at me while the others were blocked by the corpses of their fellows. Fortunately, Iustitia and I had talked about this eventuality yesterday and we had come up with a useful little idea based on what she knew of the [Gunslinger] class and its eventual skills.
I flipped my gun into the air and grabbed the barrel before swinging it like a club, smacking the lead rat across the head with it, sending the beast flying a couple of feet to the deck. I lashed out again, pistol-whipping the other one in the jaw and sending it reeling.
"Reload complete!" Iustitia shouted. I swiftly flipped my gun around and finished off the two nearby with two neat headshots.
Turning my attention to the remaining six, who'd just managed to clear their way through, I took aim and fired four time in quick succession. Luckily, with the rats so packed together and charging straight ahead, they were easy targets and all four headshots took down another rodent.
Flipping my gun once again, I slammed it into the jaw of the first charging rodent. While it was reeling from the impact, I twisted around just in time to slam my improvised club into the face of the other one as it lunged at me. This time the grip of my pistol slammed into the rat's eye, splattering it. As the creature shrieked in agony I brought the heavy handle down on top of its skull, cracking it and killing the rat. Another twist allowed me to do the same for the remaining rodent, ending it with another solid blow to the top of the head.
As it crumbled to the ground, I just stood there; panting slightly as the adrenaline slowly left my system.
That had been….quite the rush.
It took me a moment to regain my calm and notice the screens that had popped up.
You have slain Giant Drowned Rat (LV10) X20! You gain 2600 EXP!
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
Levels automatically slotted into [Gunslinger] class.
You gain 20 Dexterity!
You gain 20 Wisdom!
You gain 20 Intelligence!
You gain the skill [Pistol Whip]!
You gain the skill [Improvised Weapon Mastery]!
You gain the skill [Headshot]!
Looting...complete!
You gain Mangy Soaked Rat Pelt X20!
You gain Totem of the Drowned Rat X4!
You gain $400.00!
Seriously, enough with the mangy pelts!
Ignoring my irritation at the looting system, I examined my new skills eagerly. Just as Iustitia had said, [Pistol Whip] was a skill that let me use any pistol weapon I was wielding in close combat, with it counting as both a club (and thus able to gain the effects of my [Club Mastery] skill) and as an improvised close combat weapon, which led to the creation of the next skill, [Improvised Weapon Mastery], which basically allowed me to use things that weren't, strictly speaking, weapons as weapons. Kinda like using glass bottles as either clubs or thrown weapons, cutlery as knives, that sort of thing. It also let me use pistol butts as clubs, which was pretty useful.
The last skill was [Headshot]. For a low cost of ten MP, I could activate it and double the chances of a critical hit on my next attack with any projectile weapon, not just a pistol. Downside was that it had a ten minute cooldown. Hopefully that length of time would go down as I continued to level up.
The loot (that wasn't waterlogged fur or money) was what I next turned my attention to. I love the fact that my power gives me the ability to see the description of things that are in my inventory.
[Totem of the Drowned Rat]
Rarity: Uncommon
Accessory
A snarling rat's face that is seemingly perpetually wet. Carved from wood and dangling from a leather cord, it is a charm to ward away enemies five or more levels lower than its holder. As a result though, anyone who wears it has the sensation of being soaked and chilled to the bone so long as it remains on their person.
So a vendor-trash item then. Good to know.
Satisfied with my examination of my loot, I had Iustitia switch back into Form One and started examining the crew quarters. There was basically nothing here aside from rotting leather and waterlogged cloth, which wasn't as surprising as you might expect. The crew on an old fashioned sailing ship barely had any money to rub together during voyages. The most likely location for treasure to be would be either in a treasure room or in a strongbox in the Captain's cabin, the latter seeming more likely to me if this place was anything like a normal RPG dungeon.
"Iustitia, why were my levels automatically assigned to [Gunslinger]?" I asked as I cut down more hammocks with her sword form.
"Because you gained two levels at once using only one of my forms, and thus one of your classes, Mistress." my Embryo explained calmly. "Gaining one level with a single class isn't unusual, but gaining two presumes you're training that particular class hard."
"Makes sense. So I just have to switch weapons during combat if I'm involved in a big scrum like that again?" I questioned.
"Precisely." Iustitia replied. "During a boss battle, you frequently switch between weapon forms as needed, so it wasn't as obvious last time."
Nodding, I resolved to switch my weapons around in fights more. I liked having the choice of where to put my levels.
Climbing the stairs to the next level, I had five more ways to go. One was the stairs leading up, which I crossed off for the moment. The others were two doors and two corridors. The doors lead to the 'Galley' and 'Brig', which makes me puzzled. Why would the brig, where prisoners be held, be on this floor rather than the bottom floor? More than that, why would it be next to the galley? I'd call that unhygienic.
Dismissing it, I'd gone into the Brig first and had found several cells with rusting iron bars, as well as a case full of old-fashioned manacles, both for wrists and ankles. Those could be useful for arresting gang members when I go out patrolling.
Taking the keys to the cuffs as well, I left the Brig after searching the cells and headed to the Galley. It was full of wooden tables and rusting cooking equipment, but the only thing that interested me was a wooden chest that practically screamed 'loot chest.'
Deeply suspicious of it, I used Iustitia to flip the lid open, just in case it was a trap or a Mimic monster, but I was relieved to see that it was what it looked like. Inside it was a large red scarf, emblazoned with multiple skull and crossbones in white and black thread.
Muffler of the Jolly Roger
Rarity: Rare
Throat Armor
Defense: +5
A long scarf that flaps in the wind silently when the user is stationary. In addition to making the wearer look badass and protecting the throat, it also adds an additional +20 to the wearer's Dexterity. Also useful to keep warm in cold areas.
Oh god, now I have a dramatic piece of equipment. If I ever ran into Clockblocker again, he would not let me live it down. I still equipped it though, as it allowed me to finally fill every single armor slot that I had.
Satisfied with that, I still examined the rest of the Galley for anything useful, which amounted to a drawer full of knives, meat cleavers and other largish cooking implements. After leaving the dingy kitchen/eating area behind, I headed towards the rear (stern) area of the ship.
Once there, I found the rear gun room, and I suspected that there'd be another one in the opposite direction. It was filled with numerous cannons facing towards what were clearly closed gun ports. Most of the cannons were rusted to the point of uselessness, but four were in near perfect condition, oddly enough.
"Iustitia...can I put these things in my inventory?" I asked slowly, eyeing the shining steel cannonades with interest.
"Theoretically, yes." my Embryo said slowly. "Why would you want them, however?"
"Base defense." I said simply. "At some point, I might try to claim a dimensional pocket as my base, and a base needs defenses. Even if I'm the only one we know of that can enter dimensional pockets, the likelihood that someone can't buy some sort of dimensional tunnel from Toybox isn't entirely out of the question. Thus, defenses are needed."
Toybox had come up in my talks with Dad yesterday. Only peripherally though, as the Rogue Tinker group was reclusive and only allowed Tinkers to join them.
"Very well. Take your mirror out, open it to the inventory screen and tap it onto the item that you want to put into your inventory." Iustitia instructed me. Following her instructions, I did so and gawped in shock as the massive cannonade was sucked into my mirror like water going down a sink drain. Shaking my head, I repeated the process on the other three working cannonades, as well as about twenty cannonballs, before going to look for the Powder Room, where all of the gunpowder on the ship would be stored.
I found it at the rear of the Gun Room and took all of the powder barrels I could find before checking and removing the ones with poor quality or wet and useless powder. I also took four sets of the equipment needed to arm and fire the cannonades.
"This has been a very profitable little trip, Iustitia." I said with a smirk as I sauntered out of the Forward Gun Room twenty minutes later. "Eight cannonades and more than enough cannon balls, equipment and gunpowder to use them. All I need is a manual on how to fire the things and It'll be perfect. If I don't find one, I'll surf the web; there's bound to be some kind of LARP video or something on how to fire the damned things."
"Agreed. But Mistress...this ship...we haven't seen nearly enough monsters." my Embryo said seriously. "I am deeply suspicious."
"Join the club." I muttered, looking about warily as I came upon the stairs leading up again. Aside from the scrum of rats on the deck below, I hadn't been attacked at all. This led me to draw a conclusion that I didn't like...I was going to be ambushed on the deck of this ship itself. Just lovely.
"Keep an eye out for anything or anyone, Iustitia." I cautioned her as I started up the stairs. "I have a bad feeling about this..."
Skill: [Danger Sense] has leveled up! LV1-LV2!
I froze at that little informational window. Just great. I hate it when my instincts were right about crap happening to me.
The topmost floor of this 'dungeon' (as Dad had started calling the dimensional pockets) was the main deck of the ship as I had suspected. The sole mast was snapped in half, with the topmost half missing. And, just as I had half-dreaded, gathered on the fo'c's'le was a group of twenty humanoid enemies.
The enemies looked like undead. There was literally no other way to describe them. Their flesh was white and looked as if they'd died from drowning. Their clothes were soaking wet and they carried pitted and rusting cutlasses in their hands.
At least in the open air, the mixed smell of rot and decay wasn't strong enough to make me lose my lunch.
I blinked as another window popped up in front of me.
[As you raided the Armory and stole their better weapons, the attack strength of the [Drowned Dead Pirates] have been sharply reduced and their ranged attacks locked!]
Heh...well, this works for me. Transforming Iustitia into her Third Form, I pulled the trigger, using the bullet time to aim it right into the head of the lead pirate, an ugly brute who was missing his jaw entirely. I seem to remember an Earth Aleph film that had the advice 'remove the head or destroy the brain' as being the best way to kill zombies. Might as well see if it worked here.
"[Headshot]!" I hissed as I fired. The bullet wailed across the deck and slammed right into the forehead of my target, making its head explode like a melon.
"Holy shit!" I blurted in reaction. "OK, its official: the [Gunslinger] class rocks. Iustitia, I hope you like being in this form, because we'll be using it against monsters a lot."
"It brings me joy that my evolution pleases you so much, Mistress." Iustitia said in delight.
My Embryo was very easy to please, apparently.
As the miniature horde started to shamble towards me, I took aim and started firing again, putting two bullets each in another pair of zombie heads, bringing both down. The sixth and final shot slammed in zombie jaw and tore it off, but the undead barely seemed to notice. Before my gun could even start reloading, I switched over to the [Cudgel of the Law] and started to run at the shambling crowd of dead pirates. I could feel the power of [Order in the Court] flowing through me and grinned savagely. There was one skill of the [Maceman] class that I hadn't used yet, and I was about to rectify that situation...
"[Mighty Smash]!" I shouted, drawing back the club in my hand and then slamming it into the stomach of the first zombie that I reached. The force of the blow made the zombie pirate fly back like a bullet and bowl over quite a few of its fellows, causing something of a domino effect as the rest of the drowned dead tripped up over their thrashing and prostate fellows.
If I wasn't dealing with a bunch of killer corpses then it would likely have been funny to watch.
Still, back to the task at hand. Roaring out a battle-cry, I charged forward and started smashing heads before the undead could fully recover themselves. Soon enough there were just three left, standing near the opposite side of the main deck from me. With another mental flick I switched Iustitia back to gun form and managed to take all three down with a double headshot each.
You have slain Drowned Dead Pirates (LV12) X20! You gain 2800 EXP!
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
Please select which class you wish to level up!
Looting...complete!
You gain $1000.00!
You gain [Symbol of the Brotherhood] X10!
You gain [Rusted Steel Cutlass] X20!
Smiling in relief at Iustitia's suggestion paying off, I happily assigned both of the level-ups to [Swordsman], making it the closest Job I had to Level 10. All of the skills leveled up in the Job, plus I got my hands on one new skill, [Rending Slash], which dealt extra damage to unarmored enemies. Considering the number of unarmored enemies I was finding here, that wasn't too bad of a skill.
"Now then..." I looked around and spotted the door leading to the Captain's Cabin. After checking the fo'c's'le and poop deck (who invented these terms?!) and stowing another smattering of belaying pins in my inventory, I started to head to the door.
"Iustitia, anything that you can tell me about bosses?" I asked quietly.
"There are several categories of bosses, each more powerful than the last." my Embryo replied equally as quietly. "Ordinary Boss Monsters, Rare Boss Monsters, Superior Boss Monsters, Unique Boss Monsters and Superior Unique Boss Monsters. The [Rat King of Hamelin] was a Rare Boss Monster, while Hamelin himself counted as a Unique Boss Monster. While the rewards from Ordinary to Superior Boss monsters are good, rewards from UBM's and SUBM's blow them out of the water. Unfortunately, the amount of effort needed to defeat them in the first place is also correspondingly greater."
"Great. So what is this one likely to be?" I asked, dreading the answer.
"I'm hoping that it's an RBM, or an SBM at worst, but I think it's actually a UBM." Iustitia admitted. "This place has been almost bare of monsters; we've only fought forty-three or so monsters since we've arrived. That leads me to believe that most of the power of the remnant has been gathered in the boss."
Lovely. So I'll be fighting against Hamelin Version 2.0, Despair Incarnate. Just wonderful.
The door before me was large and had the skull and crossbones of the Jolly Roger carved into it. I sighed, rolled my shoulders to loosen them up and raised the gun that was my Embryo as I opened the door with my other hand.
Name: Taylor Hebert
Cape Name: Justitia
Gender: Female
Level: 15
Title: None (*)
Job (s): (1) Swordsman (LV9)
(2) Maceman (LV2)
(3) Gunslinger (LV4)
EXP: 1573/1900
Embryo: Maiden of Justice, Iustitia
Embryo Type: Maiden with Arms
Embryo Forms Achieved: 3/7
Stats
HP: 990
STA: 4300
MP: 425
Strength: 75
Toughness: 75
Endurance: 77
Dexterity: 55
Intelligence: 115
Wisdom: 120
Luck: ?