Chapter 4: First Quest

  President Forest sat in the middle of a small dark room. This room was a recent addition to the White House and was built at the very end of the last administration's term. The purpose of this room was instant direct communication with the leaders of every G20 member nation and creating closer ties. The room was fitted with the most advanced communication technology the world had to offer. Besides the holographic screens and interface, the program was fitted with a instant translation program to allow the leaders to speak to one another in their native tongue.

  Forest pressed several buttons on his armchair. A couple dozen holographic screens appeared in front of him. On each screen was a leader of a G20 nation. Forest could tell by their faces that, just like him, they were all stressed and fatigued from the events of last week.

  "Everyone, thank you all for meeting with me on short notice," Forest greeted. "I'm sure you have all realized that this meeting is about the attacks last week. Each of our nations have suffered loss by creatures that, before last week, only existed in mythology and folklore."

  "Our nations are still reeling from the attacks," the Chinese President, Jiang, said. "People around the world are worried of further attacks."

  "Sadly, they may be right," Forest said.

  Each of the leaders sat up straighter upon hearing his words.

  "What do you mean?" the Canadian Prime Minister, MacNeill, inquired.

  "I believe our world is facing a threat beyond anything we have faced before," Forest said. "And I believe when faced with a threat against humanity, humanity should stand as one against it. Which is why I have made the decision to share all information our investigations have turned up about these monster attacks."

  A small holographic screen appeared next to Forest's right hand. He did a swiping motion across the screen. A notification appeared on each of the screens.

  "Our investigation of the attacks have found that in each of the ninety-nine attacks, one individual saw a blue screen appear to them warning them of the attack. It's all detailed in the report sent to you all. The fact that these 'blue screens' were mentioned in every attack means that this isn't coincidence. There is no evidence of mental health issues or chemical attack. At this point, we have to consider that these blue screens are real but were only visible to certain individuals."

  "I do recall, reading a report mentioning blue screens being seen by one of our police officers," Brazil's President, Silva, mentioned.

  "And in each case, the message from these blue screens was the same. It mentioned that each of these individuals were to be tested by killing a monster to give them access to something called the 'system' a year before anyone else. Now at this point, we do not know what the 'system' is, but what we do know is this. The message went on to specifically mention that the person and ninety-nine others were to be tested. At this point, we know only of ninety-nine cases of monster attacks."

  "You're suggesting there's someone else?" the UK Prime Minster, Gooding, asked.

  "That's exactly what I'm saying. While it's possible that there is a monster attack and a death that isn't accounted for, there is a possibility that this hundredth person passed the test. And if that is the case, our chance for answers relies on this survivor. However, I must reiterate, this survivor is only a theory."

  "But it makes sense, going by the report here," Jiang said. "Every monster case mentions one hundred participants in this 'test'."

  "This theory, however, leads us to another question," the Russian Prime Minister, Ivanov, said.

  "And that is?" Gooding asked.

  "If there is a survivor, why haven't they come forward yet?"

  "Who would believe them?" Forest answered. "From what we've seen, these monsters disappeared after the attacks and the blue screens are not widely known yet. If this person survived, what possible evidence do they have that they were part of the test?" The President sat up and flattened his back against the back of his chair. "As I said before, we do not know for a fact that this person exists, but if they do, they need to be found."

  VVVVV

  Tom lazily stared in the mirror as his slid his shirt on. It had been a week since the day of the test. The training he has put himself through made the time fly by. He had gotten much stronger since that day and was confident in his capabilities. Tom stretched his arms and heard a quiet snap as his back cracked.

  Tom felt his heart fall into his stomach. He knew this day was coming but to see the message filled him with dread. Tom took a breath and waited for the next message.

  'No pressure,' Tom thought.

  "Yes," Tom affirmed.

  Tom called out his inventory and quickly equipped his armour set and armed himself with his sword.

  "Yes."

  'Okay, okay, okay,' Tom repeated in his head to amp himself up. Like trying to tear off a band-aid. He flipped up the hood of his cloak over his head, took a breath and said, "Fast Travel to Quest Slime Invasion location."

  One moment he was in his home, the next he was on the streets of Madrid. It was disorienting for it to happen. Tom looked around to get his bearings. The time there was mid-afternoon. Despite the time of day, it was dark from the thick overcast sky and the pillars of smoke from the nearby buildings and cars.

  'What the fuck? How long were those slimes here for?'

  Tom heard screams and gunfire. He didn't have time to think. Tom moved towards the screams in hopes of finding a slime. The rattling of a metal trash bin stopped Tom in his tracks. He looked over and saw a dark shadow move towards him. Tom backed away from the alleyway to draw whatever was there out into the open.

  A yellow goo pile slid out from the shadows. The slime was translucent and roughly the size of a dog. Tom could see a gem sphere in the center of the slime. The slime made a bubbling noise as it moved. It wasn't fast, but Tom remained on guard nonetheless. As he remembered from the bestiary, slimes digested their prey by surrounding it with their goo and dissolving it with their acidic body.

  The bestiary further explained that slimes could not be harmed by physical attacks. They could only be harmed by element attacks. Thankfully, since his Identify skill reached the intermediate stage, Tom could now read element resistances of others.

  'Let's see what you're weak to,' he thought. 'Identify.'

  Tom stared intensely at the screen while hissing, "Ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffuck!"

  This slime was immune to every possible attack he was capable of. Tom noticed the slime move closer towards him.

  "Close window," Tom said while moving at a brisk pace away from the slime. He needed to figure out a way to kill the slime. The slime moved a little faster, forcing Tom to pick up the pace.

  'Come on, come on,' he urged himself. 'There has to be something I can use.'

  Tom's eyes landed on a car that was on fire near a construction site. There was a pile of scrap rebar lying nearby the torched car.

  "Ah ha!" he exclaimed.

  Tom ran over to the pile of rebar.

  'Inventory.'

  Tom's Inventory appeared in front of him. He grabbed his t-shirt from the Inventory and then tied it around the end a two-foot piece of rebar. Tom placed the clothed end of the rebar in the fire of the car for a couple seconds to allow it to catch fire. He pulled the rebar out and smiled at his work.

  "There we go! Now let's see what you are. Identify."

  'Not the best, but it will do.'

  Tom heard the slime crawl around the street corner. He looked at his club and then at the slime. "Bring it," he dared the slime.

  The slime expanded and rippled as if it was excited by catching up to its prey. It moved forward at an alarming pace. The speed didn't worry Tom. His base speed was at least four times higher than the average human. With Sky's Fury equipped on his back, Tom's Agility was over six times the average human.

  The slime jumped towards Tom. He sidestepped the blob and swung his club, hitting the creature twice in rapid succession. Damage windows appeared over the slime as it splattered across the pavement street.

  "Yes!"

  Tom rather not have to remind himself to loot every creature he defeated. He'd look at the loot as soon as he finished the mission.

  'Alright, cool. Okay what next?' he wondered.

  A close-by scream echoed throughout the area. Tom focused on where the scream came from. He quickly figured out the direction and ran towards it. It came from an industrial warehouse. Tom jumped up to the second floor of the fire escape and kicked down the door.

  Down in the warehouse was a police officer having his leg eaten by a slime. It was also a Lightning Slime. 'Is every slime in this quest a Lightning type?' Tom jumped down from the interior balcony next to the police officer. He raised his rebar club and bashed the slime twice over.

  The fire of Tom's club went out after the attack. The slime melted away, revealing that it had consumed everything from the knee down of the police officer. The officer was heavily heavy with tears in his eyes. He spoke Spanish, but Tom could understand him perfectly.

  "I-It ate my leg," he cried out. "It ate my leg!"

  "Shh, shh, shh," Tom said to calm him. "It's going to be okay."

  'Identify.'

  "Hopefully this will work," Tom muttered. He pointed his right palm towards the severed leg. "This may hurt."

  "Wh-What will?"

  "Heal!"

  "Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" the man screamed while clutching his leg.

  Tom saw the bone grow out to replace what was lost. 'It's working! Gross, but it's working.'

  The bone of the shin and foot quickly returned. The tendons and muscle stretched across the leg like spider webbing. Finally the skin grew over the new muscle of the shin and foot. His pant leg was still gone from the knee down but the leg was back, good as new. The police officer fell to his back sweating from all the pain he endured.

  "I'm really sorry for all the pain," Tom apologized. "But look! Your leg is back."

  The officer struggled to sit back up. He looked down and saw his leg. Tears returned to his eyes, he then bawled. "Thank you!" he cried out. "Thank you so much!"

  Tom held out his hand to help the man to his feet. The cop struggled to stand on his new leg.

  "Take it easy," Tom cautioned.

  Vega steadied himself on his two legs. He wiped away his tears and looked at Tom. Vega tried looking at his face but he couldn't see it. All he could see is darkness.

  "Who are you?" he asked. "And how did you do that?"

  "Uh, I'm, um," Tom scratched his cheek. "I'm really a nobody. I guess a survivor from last week's monster attacks. That's about it. As for the healing, it's magic." Vega gave him an incredulous look. "Not joking. Look I don't have much time. I need you to tell me about these slimes. When did they appear?"

  "About an hour ago."

  "An hour? And they've caused this much destruction?"

  "The police tried to fight back, but our bullets did nothing. After watching many officers get eaten by those things, people panicked. Those slimes, as you call them, started eating everyone, civilian and police alike. I think the police is trying to quarantine the area before a counter attack, but I'm not sure."

  "Shit, of course," Tom muttered while smacking his forehead.

  "What?"

  "Slimes are immune to physical attacks. Bullets fall under physical attacks."

  "But I just saw you kill a slime."

  "I killed it using the fire element of this makeshift club." Tom started searching the boxes and bins inside the warehouse. "These Lightning Slimes take fifty percent more damage from the fire element. Now tell me where the slimes are most concentrated."

  "A block down that way," Vega pointed.

  Tom found oily rags in a bin and wrapped a bundle around his rebar. He used Lightning Strike to light it on fire. Vega was shocked to see this man shoot lightning out of his hand.

  'Identify.'

  "Alright, Vega. I need you get out of here to safety."

  "Where are you going?"

  "I'm going to stop this slime mess before it gets any worse." Tom shoved the remaining oily rags into his Inventory. "Now get out of here to safety."

  The police officer ran off with a hobble. Tom spotted the exit of the building and left. He started running towards the direction the officer pointed to. The officer was right on the money. There were Lightning Slimes everywhere. Dozens of them. Some crawled on the streets. Others were on the walls of the buildings like slugs. Each of them searching for food.

  'Time to draw aggro.'

  Tom stood there and took a deep breath. "Hey!" he released.

  Every slime in the area stopped in its track. All of them began to converge on Tom's position.

  'I should have thought about this more than nothing.'

  Tom scanned the area, looking for an advantage to use to take on the swarm of slimes. Just down the street, he saw a gas station. The street leading to it was on a hill that sloped towards him.

  'Perfect!'

  Tom ran up the hill to the gas station and picked up the gas pump.

  "Please don't be one of those bullshit prepay gas stations," he whispered to himself as he pulled the trigger.

  Fuel sprayed out of the nozzle onto the street. The gas spread across the street and flowed down the hill. Tom wave the pump back and forth to get as much of the street covered in gas before the slimes could catch up. Tom shut off the gas as the slimes approached and threw the gas pump away to make sure he didn't accidentally kill himself.

  The slimes reached the edge of the gas-covered ground before they stopped. While they were without eyes, they were focused on the smelly liquid that covered the ground. There was nothing like it back on Xoth, so they instinctively treated it with caution.

  'Come on, come on.'

  One of the slimes was brave enough to touch the gas. Seeing it took no damage, it moved forward. The dozens of other slimes followed after.

  'Yes! Now I need to time this.'

  Tom watched as the slimes crawled up the hill to him. His club was ready to strike the ground.

  'Just a little bit... Just a little bit...'

  The closest slime managed to get within three feet of Tom before he yelled, "Ha!"

  The club struck the gas-covered ground. Fire erupted from the strike site and quickly spread across the ground, engulfing the slimes in flames. The slimes squealed as the fluid of their bodies boiled away in the intense flames.

  Tom gazed upon his work with a smile. He was relieved that his trap worked.

  "Woo!" he screamed.

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  "Warrior," Tom replied.

  "Status."

  Tom scanned his status and came to several conclusions. First, each of those slimes on average had five copper coins, based on the assumption that one hundred copper is equivalent to one silver. Second, running the numbers in his head, each of his stats increased by one per level. Third, he gained five unallocated stat points per level. Finally, he kept his experience points but the threshold to the next level increased every time he levelled up.

  Something hit Tom's hand while he was reading his Status.

  "Close window."

  Tom looked at his right hand to see it was water. He looked up to get hit with several more drops of water to the face. Rain started to pour down from the sky.

  Tom looked at the fire he created and saw it start to die down. At the bottom of the hill, he saw the slimes he missed. A new screen appeared in front of him.

  [table=#800000]WarningYou have angered all the slimes in the area.[/table]

  "Uh..."

  [table=#800000]WarningTo fight back, the slimes are combining.[/table]

  "Uuuuuhhhh...."

  Down the hill, slimes from all over the area started to pile upon each other. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed across the clouds as the slimes combined. The pile grew more and more until it was as tall as the nearby buildings. The creature groaned as it came forth. It sounded like the rumble of a coming tsunami. Lightning struck the ground nearby, as if to announce the monster.

  "Grreeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" it screamed into the air.

  The scream sent chills down Tom's back. He felt tears form in the corner of his eyes as terror filled his being.

  [table=#800000]WarningYou have been inflicted with the debuff "Terror". You cannot move for two minutes. All stats suffer a 20% decrease while you are inflicted with Terror.[/table]

  "I-Identify," he croaked.

  The fire from his club petered out from the rain.

  "Th-This isn't fair," he muttered. "Fucking bullshit!"

  The giant slime rubbed against the buildings on both sides of the street as it moved. It unintentionally sucked up everything that got in its way. The creature was too busy trying to reach Tom as it avoided digesting the objects it absorbed.

  Unable to move, Tom watched as the building-size creature crawled right up to him. He stared upwards at the towering behemoth, unable to catch a full breath. The slime grew a tentacle from its side and wound up. It threw its tentacle forward, slamming against Tom's chest.

  It felt like a semi hit him. Tom was sent flying down the street and right into the wall of a brick building. He was stuck in a small crater in the wall. Tom felt a sharp pain in his stomach and looked down. He was impaled on rebar.

  'Ironic...'

  [table=#800000]

  [tr]540 Damage[/table]

  [table=#800000]WarningYou have been impaled.[/table]

  [table=#800000]WarningYou have been inflicted with the debuff "Bleeding". You will lose 7 HP per minute until you heal yourself.[/table]

  'I'm going to die here...'

  "Hey, hey buddy!" a voice called out to him.

  Tom looked up and saw it was Vega.

  "Wh-What are you doing here?" Tom weakly said.

  "I saw you fighting those slimes. I thought you might need my help."

  "Y-You need to get out of here, it's coming..."

  The giant slime was slowly making its way to their location. Vega showed no concern for it as he kneeled by Tom.

  "I'm not leaving you here to die," Vega said as he examined the rebar that was impaled through Tom's stomach.

  "Why did you come back? You could have gotten out of here."

  "You saved my life and leg," he said. "I'm repaying the favour."

  Vega pulled Tom off of the rebar to Tom's displeasure.

  "Besides, I'm a cop. It's my job to protect and help people." Vega pulled Tom's arm around his shoulder to allow him to stand up.

  'Protect people...' Those words rang through Tom's head. 'I came here to protect people. If I fail, that monster will kill thousands...'

  "Look, buddy. We need to get out of here. You did everything you could. You probably gave the civilians a ton of extra time to evacuate-"

  "I'm not leaving," Tom cut him off.

  "What are you talking about? You are severely injured. How you're still alive is beyond me. We need to get you medical attention."

  Tom pushed himself off of Vega. His vision flashed as the pain in his stomach wound spiked. "I came here to protect people with the abilities I have. If I don't stop this slime here and now... Thousands will die." Tom looked at Vega. "I can't leave until I kill that thing," he declared as stabbed his finger towards the slime.

  A bluish aura surrounded his body and the sound of breaking glass was heard by them both.

  Tom felt his strength return to him. His mind was no longer clouded. Tom lifted his hand and yelled, "Heal."

  What was interesting was that Tom was able to know how much Health, Stamina and Mana he had without looking at his stats. It was like a subconscious HUD for him. He notice that Heal managed to recover about ten percent of his total health.

  "Heal, heal, heal, heal, heal, heal, heal!" he said repeatedly.

  "Okay, you're back to normal," Vega stated. He gave up the notion of trying to rationalize what this man was doing. "But how are you going to defeat that monster?"

  Tom looked at the creature and noticed that it was filled with cars that moved around its insides. He then noticed a gasoline truck parked outside the brick building.

  "I have an idea to kill that creature, but I'll need your help," Tom said.

  "I'm listening."

  "Can you drive that gasoline truck?"

  "I think I might be able to pull it off."

  "Okay, I'm going to run distraction. Without the Terror debuff in play, I can avoid its attacks. I'll need you to drive that truck right into the slime and then get out of there as fast as you can. I'll do the rest."

  "Got it!" Vega affirmed. He didn't know what Tom meant by debuff, but understood what he was planning.

  Tom stretched and cracked his back before beginning. He jumped onto a nearby window sill and then climbed upwards to the top of a three story building. The slime was just a half a block away.

  "Yo!" Tom called out to it. "Over here!"

  The slime changed its movement and made its way to Tom. Tom held his hand up and fired off two Lightning Strikes at the giant blob. A tentacle formed out of its body and bent backwards to attack.

  "Not this time, asshole."

  As the tentacle swung towards him, Tom jumped up and avoided the attack. He landed back on the roof. In the corner of his eye, Tom saw the gasoline truck driving towards the slime. Vega jumped out of the driver seat to let the gasoline truck ram right into the slime.

  "Run, cop, run!" Tom yelled.

  Knowing what Tom's plan entailed, Vega ran as fast as his two legs could take him. Tom waited for the slime to absorb a good amount of the gasoline truck.

  Tom took out his rebar club and said, "Lightning Enchant."

  Even though it was raining, the electricity on the weapon stayed on the weapon and didn't run into Tom's body. He assumed that the electricity only activated against an attacked target. Tom took aim with the rebar and threw it with everything he could muster at the gas tank of the truck.

  The rebar spun as it approached the tank. The force of the projectile punctured the steel side of the tank. The electricity jumped and sparked the gasoline, starting a fire. The tank exploded in a large fireball. Tom felt the shockwave and nearly fell backwards.

  The slime screamed from the giant explosion. As part of a chain reaction, the other cars inside the slime went off in smaller explosions.

  The monstrous slime screamed as it was engulfed in flames. Not even the rain could save it. The creature melted and bubbled as the flames grew around it.

  Tom walked over to the edge of the roof and sat down to watch the creature die. The slime grew smaller and shorter as it lost its died. Eventually the creature turned into a large yellow puddle.

  Tom's eyes widened, seeing the drops. "Fuck off!" he yelled.

  Tom fell on his back with an exhausted smile.

  "Hey, hero!"

  Tom sat up and looked down from the roof and saw Vega. He jumped down to him.

  "Good to see you made it out alright," Tom said to him.

  "You actually did it! You killed that monster."

  "Thankfully, that's the last of the slimes. The city is safe. I have to go now and recover, but know this. This is only the start of what's to come."

  "What do you mean?"

  "There are going to be more monster attacks. A lot more. I'm still compiling information, but I'm close. Once I have it complete I will release it publicly. The situation is a bit too complicated for a conversation and I'm really exhausted from my near death experience." Tom patted Vega on the shoulder. "It's been a pleasure, Vega. Fast Travel home."

  Tom then vanished from sight leaving the man confused.

  "How did he know my name?"

  VVVVV