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SoK Chapter 139
🕑 Added 2025-05-06 15:00:11 +0000 UTCTJ slept fitfully. Every movement he heard outside had him out of bed and patrolling the area. There were a dozen interruptions to his sleep, but TJ didn’t begrudge that, as being ambushed would have been a lot worse than sleep less with a body that nearly didn’t need any. The wind danced through the house, bringing him news about whatever was happening outside. He realized he didn’t need to go out to physically take a look at these things, but he felt better doing it.
Long before true light and the first blush of sunrise painted the sky, TJ got out of bed definitively. The System said that it wasn’t quite 6 am, but TJ wasn’t too tired and he wanted to be on campus early enough that they could get back to the house in case anything went topsy turvy. As such, he resigned himself to cutting a couple steaks from the Vargr’s leg and grilling them in the backyard. When he looked over the vegetables he’d planted, there were the faintest sprouts letting him know what he’d done, but they wouldn’t be ready for harvest any time soon. Of course, that was unsurprising, but he’d hoped for Stanton levels of speed on more vegetables growing, unreasonable or not.
With no rain falling, since he hadn’t summoned a storm, TJ enjoyed looking out over the neighborhood. Ordinarily, houses and walls interrupted any clear view he had, but as the steaks cooked, he hopped onto the roof with an easy leap. The surroundings were more damaged than they’d been just a couple days before when he’d come back. Cinderblock walls were toppled, and homes were splintered. With everything washed away from the rain he’d brought down yesterday, TJ couldn’t see any bloodstains, but he could see crumpled bodies that’d been chewed by monsters. Yes, these monsters were on the prowl, even if he couldn’t see any at the moment. More and more, TJ saw that the area wasn’t safe. Could he justify keeping two teenagers here, when the campus was almost certainly a safer place?
The easy answer was no, and the harder answer was also no. There just wasn’t any reason for him to do it, not when it was the worse option available to them. They’d need to get stronger, and so did he, so that was that. For now, they’d investigate what was going on, and take it from there. His decision reinforced, TJ pulled the meat from the grill and carried it inside. Hopefully, the food would wake the teenagers up and get them ready for the day.
Mimi was the first to wake up, or, at least, get up. She walked out into the hallway and smacked her lips unhappily.
“You don’t happen to have a spare toothbrush, do you?”
“I think there’s some in the laundry room.” TJ answered from the kitchen. “You wanna get them or have me do it?”
“I got it.” Mimi said. After a minute of shuffling drawers and cupboard doors, she grumbled something to herself and walked out into the kitchen. There, she held a pair of brushes and a tube of the paste.
“Got another one for Sam.” She explained. Something in her face showed the justification was second nature, looking to keep a fight from starting before someone accused her of anything.
“No worries.” TJ shrugged. You wanna brush before or after we eat? Meat’s getting cold.”
“After.” She groaned as she stretched. Mimi was still wearing the jeans and tee that she’d shown up in, and TJ realized he hadn’t even offered additional clothes to the two kids.
“You been sleeping in your jeans?” TJ asked, incredulous.
“I’m not stripping down in front of my brother.” Mimi said, her tone a little accusatory. Then, she thought about it and waved both hands. “No, oh, I haven’t gotten the bed dirty! I… well, maybe a little, but I’ll wash the sheet!”
“Not that, you dork.” TJ shook his head. “Sleeping in dirty jeans, and you haven’t been able to shower. Why didn’t you say anything? I’ve got a dozen pairs of gym shorts that have a waistband you could tie! Is Sam just in his jeans too?”
“I… Yeah. We could probably use that. Thanks.” Mimi said, bowing her head. TJ shook his own as Sam walked out and looked between the two people in the kitchen with heavy eyelids and a yawn.
“Before we go out for the day, we’ll get you and Sam both a quick rinse off and wash the clothes. With my wind, I can dry it pretty quick, I’m sure. Oh, and by the way, that’s not a request.” TJ said with a laugh as he watched Sam and Mimi’s faces shift, unsure of how to feel about his commands.
—-
It wasn’t long before the two teens had bathed in Roger’s pool with permission. Their dips had been quick, the water still cold for Dirt tiers, but TJ provided towels and a magical blow dry for the clothes that got a rough and ready washing. Before it was 9 am, they were on the road, Roger and Susan in tow. When TJ had explained where they were going and why, Roger had looked at his wife before they broke into a quick conversation in what TJ could only assume was Vietnamese.
“We’d like to come too,” Roger explained, “if you’ll allow us. There’s nothing for us here any more. We just… want to be safe.”
“A good idea.” TJ nodded. “Safety in numbers and so on. If there’s anyone nearby that wants to join us as well, they’re more than welcome. I’d imagine that there’s plenty of need for more hands to keep things safe.”
When everyone was preparing to leave, though, TJ had to figure out how to explain to Sam and Mimi that they’d better take all their stuff.
“I just think that if we’re comfortable there, it’d be better for you to be ready to claim some space.” TJ maintained. “I’m sure more and more people will be going in there before long, and having your stuff already set up in a dorm or whatever will help you to keep some space to yourselves. If I need to come back here and collect some big stuff, like my other pelt or whatever, then we can get it then.”
TJ was carrying the Vargr’s pelt that Sam had hesitantly treated with the brain slurry the day before. The mixture had mostly dried out overnight, but TJ was taking special care to ensure the valuable material wasn’t mistreated as they travelled.
“And we’re taking this one along, why?” Sam asked, his eyebrow cocked.
“Because if I’m leaving you there, it’ll be something you can work on and keep an eye on to see what you learn from the process.” TJ was grasping at straws as he explained. “Now, you ready to go?”
“I guess.” The younger Zealot gave up on questioning, but it was obvious he wasn’t quite sold on what TJ had said. They set off, keeping an eye on their surroundings, ensuring that no monsters got the drop on them. With TJ’s Perception being as high as it was, no Dirt tier monsters could get the drop on them. The journey was relatively uneventful, though there were plenty of monsters that appeared. TJ merely pointed to them as they approached, letting the four Dirt tiered Participants take care of it.
Several of the newest appearances were generally unremarkable. Four snake-like creatures called Infant Basilisks popped out, the only truly dangerous moment had been when two spat a gray fog at Sam. He’d dodged them, knowing how dangerous it could be. TJ had two of them slung around his neck to see what might be valuable once they weren’t in active danger. Then there were some Duendes, three-foot-tall human-looking things that Roger and Susan obviously recognized and hated. They had small stone tools that Susan collected, as nobody really wanted to make anything out of a creature that looked so humanlike. If they’d been Copper tier, TJ would have thrown away such worries, but as it was, they weren’t worth much.
The only surprise that came was a cavalry of pukwudgies. Mounted on massive scorpions. TJ thought about killing them for old time’s sake even though they were all no higher than level 15, but was surprised as Mimi took the front line with a shield that Sam had fashioned for her the night before. It… would hold up for now. Bones tied together in a roughly rectangular shape, and it would serve as enough to block the worst attacks. Right?
Three pukwudgie spears immediately tested the integrity of the shield. Bones splintered and one shattered to let a spear through. It scraped up Mimi’s arm and she screamed in a mixture of pain and challenge as she struck back with her Geirr. It pierced straight through a scorpion’s claw and into and through the pukwudgie on its back. The scorpion’s scream of pain was strangely low pitched, while the pukwudgie went limp with the spear destroying its insides. Sam rushed forward, ready to deal death with his own weapons, but contrary to TJ’s expectations, the pukwudgies all dismounted and shimmered to near invisibility as the three frontline combatants engaged with the seven remaining enemies.
“You gotta be more careful than that!” TJ warned as one of the pukwudgies circled around Sam. It went to bury its spear in his spine, but TJ casually flicked his wrist and pushed the spear lower with some wind. The weapon pierced deep into the top of Sam’s thigh, and the teenaged Zealot shouted in pain and anger as he turned and whipped his sword at the creature’s head. It dodged back and raised its weapon in a parry, turning the killing blow into a mere wound.
Mimi whirled and pressed her right hand against Sam’s back as she healed his wound with a quick use of her Skill. Then, with a certain measure of craziness in her eyes, she stabbed at another pukwudgie that tried to hamstring her too. The strike was true, and another pukwudgie went down. With only two pukwudgies left, the tides began to turn and Roger threw himself at one of the scorpions, a makeshift club smashing into its face between the strikes of its claws and tail. His armor deflected the worst of its strikes, but he took a sting to his arm and grunted in pain.
“You’ll be fine for now!” Mimi shouted as she stabbed another scorpion’s face. “I’ll cleanse it once we’re done.”
Sam focused on the scorpions. Used to their pattern of attack and with a magical shield in his hand, he could keep from sustaining any real injuries, though one did manage to catch his sword in its claw and twist it free. It disappeared after a second, but he’d already shifted to the dagger that he punched into the monster’s face twice. It fell, and the battle’s tides had shifted entirely. TJ kept the pukwudgies from escaping, as the scorpions seemed too stupid to even try to escape the inevitable death.
Once every one of the creatures was dead, Mimi touched Roger and his pale face improved immediately.
“I won’t heal you for now.” She said, “We’re almost at campus, and I don’t want to exhaust my MP right now, just in case.”
“A good point.” Roger nodded. “You are clever.” Mimi blushed as Sam walked next to TJ, who quickly cut the tails off the scorpions and slung them around his neck just like the basilisks.
“You seemed like you knew those goblins.” Sam said as TJ kept his eye out.
“Pukwudgies. Yup. Nasty little bastards. Sneaky, turn invisible, run away if their attacks don’t work. Haven’t seen any Copper ones yet, and I’m not looking forward to it. I was kinda hoping there wouldn’t be any around here.”
“They… they were a lot more dangerous than the scorpions, I think.” Sam seemed unsure about his point, looking to TJ for confirmation.
“Eh… altogether, I’d probably agree with you. Smarter enemies aren’t gonna be fun to deal with, that’s for sure. But if you can catch them, they’re pretty fragile.”
“Well, I guess so—”
“Hey! What’re you doing there?” An unfamiliar voice interrupted the conversation.
