Saiyan

The Second Falling of the Big Brother Government - (A Tale by KrystalKleo & Saiyan)

"Yup," Isaac agreed. To think that a raider leader wouldn't have taken advantage of such an amazing skillset. Dumbass savages. It wasn't a wonder why raider gangs often flamed out as quick as they were created. If they weren't 'got' by a bounty hunter, another gang or the various wasteland scaries, then they were wiped out by their own greed. Blinded by lust for power and destruction. "Their loss."

He was about to tell her that he was in fact a world renowned hide-n-go-seek champion in his youth, and challenge her to track him down some time, but his full attention was drawn to the rock formations when the noises started. He mirrored Zara and got onto his front so he could shuffle along the branch, then decided he'd switch weapons and make use of the newly acquired pistol. For molerats, his 50 cal Raging Bull just seemed a bit overkill.

It just occured to him that this was supposed to be a lesson in shooting for Zara and giggled as he thought of the fundamentals he was taught about marksmanship. "Jeez, this is gonna be the worst ever first shooting lesson in the history of everest."

Weaver stance for right handed shooters - Feet shoulder-width apart, right foot back, left hip turned towards the target...

Lying on a tree branch threw this first part right out of the window. At least the next part, he could tell her, although it wouldn't make as much sense without the stance.

"When shooting right-handed, make sure your right arm is straight. Tilt your head slightly over your shoulder so you can see down the sights." He waited until she followed the instruction, and would repeat himself whenever she needed to hear it again. "Your left hand holds your right, cupping the butt of the pistol. Like this." He demonstrated with his gun. "Left arm relaxed, right arm straight. This should create a push-pull feeling, with your right hand slightly pushing the gun forward, your left hand slightly pulling it back. That'll give you some stability aiming and help absorb the recoil."

The molerats were scurrying around in clear sight now. Three of them. And, no doubt, more inside the cave.

"Now listen; when you fire, you squeeze the trigger. Don't pull it with your finger. Squeeze the whole gun like your getting the last of the toothpaste. And there's gonna be a shocking amount of recoil. Don't be scared of it. But brace yourself, okay."

His voice got quieter as the molerats closed in. "Take your time. You only have six shots for this lesson. If you even manage to hit one, then you're already a better student than I am a teacher. Let's rock."

And they started shooting. Lay on their belly, balanced on tree branches, trying to hit moving targets. This was Zara's first lesson. Isaac was laughing his ass off at the absurdity of it all.

Bang! Bang-bang!

He took one out and injured another. His gun was a crappy condition Beretta, but it fired well enough to hit something. Two more adult molerats came out of the cave to join the fight, only to find that they couldn't reach the two wastelanders. Mostly they just ran around, or scratched up at the tree trunk. Isaac was slow with his shooting to give Zara a chance to empty her cylinder, but once she was done, he started cleaning house.

He fired in bursts of up to three shots, angling his body around, dangerously shifting his weight in such careless fashion that he'd turned himself 180 on the tree branch and was hanging off by a single leg and hand for the last kill.

Bang!

He hung from one hand for a second before dropping down to the ground, keeping an eye on the cave in case anymore tried to rush them. "Hit anything?" he asked as he got out some more ammo, thumbing bullets into the empty magazine.

Caught mid reload, there was suddenly a growl and the patter of feet. One last molerat looking for blood and revenge, charging right for them. Isaac dropped everything in his hands immediately and drew his primary weapon.

Taurus P90 aka The Raging Bull. 50 cal tip already sitting in the chamber.

Stay ready so you don't have to get ready.

Isaac smirked as he looked sidelong down his sights at the charging creature....

BANG!

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@Dark CloudClive doesn't need level-ups. Clive is The Source in superhuman form.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@[e-mail]

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@ZapdosHe is a giant toddler lol He'll stop crying when he finally figures out he has a power too. It'll probably have levelled up 3 times before he even knows it's there lol

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Eyes squeezed shut, shoulders bouncing with muted laughter, Zell could barely contain himself at MacKensie's reaction. When she corrected the record about who saved who, Zell relented and nodded in confirmation to Lillianna. He almost felt bad, it was just too easy. "I owe you a drink for that."

MacKensie and Adam provided some explanation for the situation and Zell tacked on, "Yeah. You should come with. If nothing else, at least we know we can handle ourselves if any more skellies or ogres show up." Subconciously, he rubbed the bump on the back of his head. It was pretty sore. "And if we don't get answers in Valhiem, we'll keep looking until we find them."

...

After taking a leak in some bushes out of sight, Zell emerged from the alleyway near the river, muttering to himself. "One guy gets plant magic, another's covering monsters in ice. James is out here blinding people. I get: A sword. Sounds super fair."

At the river, a couple of townguards were filling waterskins, chatting about the battle. Zell decided to go over.

"You guys should be demanding overtime, huh," he said. Both guards looked at him puzzled and he realised that such a concept might not exist in this world. "Rough battle," he tried instead.

"It was," the taller one replied. "I honestly thought the Commander would die in my arms, such was his wounds. But the Cleric came just in time with his healing magic." The guard suddenly realised who he was talking to. "Saved you too, as I understand it."

Zell was taken aback. "Who me?"

The shorter guard chimed in. "Yes. Dragged your unconcious body from goodness knows where, to the safety of our formation. Then used his magic on the Commander to stop him bleeding out."

"And I would likely have died to the Armoured Ogre without his help," added the tall one.

"Who's the Cleric?" the swordsman asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"One of you. We do not know his name. He carried a staff. And an angry scowl."

Zell's eyes lit up. That could only be, "James. No way." So James saved him from possibly being mauled while he was unconcious. And he had healing magic. Looks like he owed someone else a drink too. "Why'd you call him a Cleric? What's that?"

Both seemed unsure of themselves, but the shorter one spoke. "We just assumed that is his Adventurer Class. Cleric's are mages who specialize in healing magic and Godly blessings. He could well be another class of magic user - we are not knowledgeable of such things, in truth."

"Hmmm." Zell was intrigued. "So what else can you tell me about these classes?"

The Second Falling of the Big Brother Government - (A Tale by KrystalKleo & Saiyan)

He followed Zara as she easily followed the trail. In all honesty, Isaac had taken one look at the mess of animal tracks and knew he it would, at best, take him ages to decipher them. At worst, he'd be stuck having to follow each and every lead that came from the mess and just hope for the best. Zara, on the other hand, read the ground like a good-condition book, then she was off.

Eyes on the surround. Head on a swivel. Isaac watched for danger. However, he had a smirk on his face. Holy shit, she's a prodigy, he thought. We're gonna be done within hours, at this rate.

"There are teeth marks on these, they are definitely setting up a decent sized nest. They like what they are finding around here."

"Good job we bought extra bullets, huh," he replied. When she mentioned that a traveller or two might have fallen victim to the mole rats, it was just about the exact time that Isaac caught a whiff of a familiar scent. His nose twitched as he sniffed about, looked to the bushes just north of their position... "Just a sec." ...and moved toward them.

Pushing through the bushes, he found himself on the summit of a small slope. At the bottom of it, there in the mud, was the owner of that scent. The scent of death.

Isaac went down to the corpse who wasn't quite yet rotting but still didn't look great. The radiation in the wasteland changed the way things decomposed, he'd been taught. Preserved them better. Isaac couldn't imagine what a corpse this old would look like in the Before Times. The victim was wearing a rucksack that'd been torn to shreds and a fair few injuries that left Isaac with an easy guess that this was an ambush by the molerats. He squatted down and rummaged through all the pockets, taking everything of value, including caps, another gun and some bullets. Nice. "You won't be needing this anymore. Rest in peace, fellow traveller."

Getting back up, he stowed away the valuables and went back to the trail, took a big breath and then checked his second wristwatch which had the compass. "West it is then," he said to her, giving her a half-hearted smile. He hated looting corpses. He'd been doing it since he was real young. It was the wasteland way. It would be stupid not to. Still... it always felt... disconcerting.

They turned up at some rock formations and Isaac stopped to survey the area. Then he looked up and around them to appraise the trees, and he found a thick sturdy one that had branches that would take their weight. "Alright, let's get up in the trees and stake out the area." With that they climbed up the tree and tried to get comfortable. "If we go snooping around, we're likely to get ambushed and forced to fight on their terms. Molerats aren't nocturnal so there should be some sign of activity... hopefully sooner rather than later.
We zero in on their position, then we can draw them out on our own terms."

Assuming she'd want to have a branch where she could sit with her back against the trunk, Isaac got on a seperate branch, poking out 45 degrees to the right of her branch, just a little lower than hers so that his head pretty-much next to her. And there they sat for a while.

After quite some time had passed, Isaac spoke up. "So. Where'd you learn to track like a bloodhound?" he asked, relaxed and watching the rocks. "That was pretty amazing. Just full o' surprises, aren't we."

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Hmmmm. Judging by the reactions, his theory held at least a little weight. MacKensie didn't deny anything but her expression said everything. James had his back to Zell the whole time and didn't respond so that was inconclusive. Fenna not remembering anything wasn't evidence against it, after all, Zell himself hadn't remembered either until he smacked his head off the gate frame. The American farm man didn't react, but then again, he seemed oblivious to everything around him. (No matter, Zell loved his accent.) Then there was Adam who had a look on his face like Zell had just crapped in his cereal. The young guy was taking the whole situation hard, that much was clear. Zell understood. He was hurting too. Everyone was hurting, no doubt. Especially the ones that knew they had died. The others - they were looking for answers with possible hopes of returning home. For the ones who knew they were dead - what did they have to return too?
It was over for them. They'd never see anyone from their world again, unless their was a Heaven or something...

Stay focused on the present, asshole, he interupted his own thoughts. Anyway, as for the theory: On the whole, not enough evidence. Ah well. It was worth a shot, Zell thought as his eyes followed other people's gazes up to the air behind him. Another coffin!

"Well aren't your skies busy today," he said over his shoulder to Vadim, after the coffin hit the ground. James and the Japanese bodybuilder started walking over. Zell chuckled. "I suppose we should give a warm welcome."

He started after them and fell into step beside MacKensie (whose accent he loved almost as much as the farm man) who had strong words for him immediately as they walked over.

"You should really think before you talk," she said in reprimand.

"Ha." Zell interlocked his fingers behind his head and leaned back a little to enjoy the sunlight, as if taking a nice stroll in the park on a summers day. "You wouldn't believe how many people have said that to me."

When James asked for water, Zell rummaged a hand through his belt satchel and found nothing, then shook his head and shrugged at his friend. When he looked at MacKensie to see if she came up with anything in her backpack, he noticed, over her shoulder, Adam running over to the river. The swordsman gave a silent wave to the new woman as he came to a stop, then stood and listened to the conversation, allowing the new arrival to reply to everyone, watching the Japanese man bully a soldier for some water, and noting with smiling approval how Adam came running back into the picture to offer her his own water. There was no shame in gaining a little favour from a pretty lady. He even picked up her staff for her.

My dude, he cheered mentally. I like this guy.

Once she'd had a chance to respond to the barrage of warmth and welcome from the group, and when she made eye contact, Zell pointed both thumbs at himself. "Zell Brooks. A pleasure. I take orders from that guy," he said as he pointed at James. "Where combat tactics and strategy are concerned, he's the smart the one. He decides when to sacrifice me for the greater good, and I do it." Then he pointed at MacKensie next to him. "I watch this one's back so she doesn't get herself killed. Honestly, I must've saved her ass like four times already."

He winked at the new woman to show he was just teasing, then sneakily looked in the corner of his eye to see MacKensie's reaction.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@ZoolHa true. She's like studious, polite, considerate, probably never done a crime in her life. Zell's the lazy, drug-dealing douchebag lol he's overcompensating rn because of lack of control over the situation so the douchiness is on ten but he'll probably calm down soon... probably lol

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@ZapdosFair lol

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@Zapdoslol I jumped online to post on a PM RP I missed yesterday. Before I knew it I was dropping a bombshell lol I dunno it just happened