Here to give you the latest and greatest from bolthole to hellhole.
Now we're all keeping an eye on the sky so here's a forecast that won't lie.
It’s business as usual with thunderstorms over the Shattered Coast, another scorcher in the Nuclear Wastes, and there's a high chance of acid rain if you're passing through to our fungi friends in the midwest. Lucky for us it's otherwise clear skies through to the east coast.
Coming back down from heaven to earth, we're moving onto our hourly report.
We've got reports of increased missionary work by the Second Adventists all the way out in Alabama, no news from the squidheads which we all know doesn't mean good news, and a monster resembling a Desert Stalker killed some livestock in Phoenix so look out for that posting.
In more somber news, Artemis returned from the Florida swamp zone with the whereabouts of Gamma squad. Looks like a Kraken made its way into the heart of the swamp and it doesn't like to share. Lt. Sandra Leih is the only surviving member of Gamma squad and is currently recovering from her injuries.
Our obituaries for the day, a moment of silence for our fallen comrades. Jose Martinez, Ruby Smith, Eileen Watts, Judy Denver, and Fred Daniels.
As always check with the front desk for any details about funeral times or information for next of kin.
Alright alright alright, let's get some pep back in that step.
We've got a very special day for five of our Initiates who will be advancing to the ranks of us regulars.
That's right, they've just passed their graduation test and formed their first cores.
Give it up for our new Hunters, Kayla Sykes, Dominique Rios, Abel Muhammad, Zachary Thomas, and Alex Summers!
Congrats y'all, you earned it.
That's all for the news.
This has been DJ Sergeant Sparks of H U N T radio Free Hunt. The only radio station, for hunters, by hunters.
Sparks Out
- Radio Free Hunt
I'm sitting on a broken chunk of concrete and staring at the rusted metal and overgrown vines of the city ruins, thinking about how peaceful and quiet it'd be to live here.
Minus all the murderous creatures infesting it.
A nest of necrophages is lurking somewhere inside the rows of towering pre-apoc buildings, the current target for my graduation test. I wouldn't have walked forty-five kilometers from Dallas to Fort Worth in the Texas heat if it hadn't been, maybe if I were desperate enough for marks.
Nobody tells you how much of your job as a hunter is walking for hours, waiting for something to jump out of the shadows and eat you.
I blink away the sweat stinging my eyes and wipe the slick hair out of my face with my sleeve. Alright break time is over.
Taking a deep breath of the earthy fresh air, I hop off my improvised seat and grab hold of the heavy body bag next to me. The deer carcass inside is my bait since there's zero chance I'm walking in there to pick a fight, far too many blind spots and dark corners for things to hide in. As my mentor would always say ‘You're a hunter not a fighter, if the prey can fight back then you've screwed up’.
Dragging it through the overgrown weeds I drop the large bag off right in front of the outermost building, rolling my stiff shoulders and getting a satisfying crack from my back as I stretch. It should be just about one hundred meters away from the twisted knot of highways and short grass hills I've set up on.
Fishing out a spool of det cord and blasting cap from my pack, I rig a hundred grams of explosives under the carcass and start slowly unspooling the cord. Stepping carefully to avoid the sharp bear traps staked to the ground while walking back up to my perch. High ground with clear line of sight in all directions, a spot that would make the people who write the manuals proud.
Slinging my bow off my back and giving the string a pluck, it gives me a satisfying snap so I get myself ready, shifting my quiver to my hip and flipping open the metal cap of the detonator switch.
Now or never.
With a loud pop the improvised bomb goes off sending a spray of gore into the air along with a puff of smoke. I silently wait for the nest to take the bait and send a short prayer to the guide network that nothing bigger or scarier is close enough to join in. It only takes a couple minutes before I see the creepy little things scamper out. Long thin clawed limbs, bulbous torsos like a bloated tick, and a canine like head with all teeth and very little skin. They're maybe half my size, but still look twice as deadly.
I spend another few minutes patiently watching them slowly rip chunks out of the deer before I'm confident there's nothing else around. There's seven of the monstrosities crawling about right now, but I have more than enough arrows and traps to take down double that number.
Taking a deep steadying breath, I nock my compound bow and pull all one hundred pounds of draw weight back with a straining flex of my back, then loose the arrow as I breath out.
One hundred meters and the necrophage I aimed at is still punched to the ground by the force of the projectile piercing through its skull. I really want to let out a whoop of victory. All the blood, sweat, and tears, and more tears, and a whole lot of cursing that went into archery practice with this monster of a bow. It all paid off. I settle for pumping my fist in the air before I swipe another arrow and take aim.
The furious creatures tear up dirt as they rush toward me and I manage to get one more shot off, a loud thwip sounding out as the arrow streaks into one's skull and bursts it open like a ripe melon. The remaining five get to the first line of traps before I can get another shot lined up and I hear snaps go off like metal firecrackers as all five have their legs chomped down by steel teeth.
Then my blood runs cold as I spot movement out of the corner of my eye. I immediately throw myself into the ditch I dug in the backside of the hill and pull my camo cloak up to blend in with the grass and dirt. An excruciating twenty seconds of silence pass before I hear the flap of wings followed by the sound of dirt being torn up. As much as I want to look my instincts scream at me to keep still and so I stay hidden as the sound of rushing air and leathery wings fades away.
My heart feels like it's trying to break free of my chest, but I still drag myself up to peek over the hill. There's only four necrophages now, desperately yanking at their legs to free themselves, but whatever flying horror that was seems to have taken its snack and fucked off.
I remain on edge as I finish off the remaining four trapped monsters with careful shots, my eyes darting around and looking for any sign of danger. Every moment spent aiming is a moment too long and a window of opportunity to be torn apart by death from the skies. I'm hyper aware of each shifting blade of grass or slight gust of wind, even when the last necrophage finally drops with its skull caved in.
Reminder to never let my guard down.
It takes some time to dig out the pebble sized mana cores from the necrophages, especially while never losing track of my surroundings. I don't have the mana core to activate a drain rune to pull it out like a full-fledged hunter would so I have to settle for the time-consuming task of butchering the nasty things. The bits of animal spilling out of their stomach sacks makes me feel ill and I'm glad there's no people around here for them to eat or I don't think I'd be keeping my breakfast in. The week old corpse left in the sun smell they give off doesn't help either.
Ugh and the flesh is always so slimy.
Once I finish collecting all six cores I scrub them off thoroughly with water from my canteen and steel myself for the next bit. Taking a few steady breaths I start popping the cores in my mouth and choking them down while trying not to think of where they came from. When I get to the fifth I see what I've been hoping for.
[Mana Density Requirement Achieved]
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
[Initializing Guide Network]
[Please Choose A Core]
-Crystalline Core-
-Expanded Core-
-Specialized Core-
I choose the Crystalline Core like any self respecting enchanter would. I'll leave to Expanded Core to the walking armories and Specialized to the elementalists. As soon as I confirm my choice I'm immediately speared by a force that feels like a frozen chunk of acid slamming into my chest. It's thankfully short-lived and the pain disappears as if it never happened after only a few seconds.
[Name: Alexandra Summers]
Core Type: Crystaline ■
Core Power: 100/100
Stored Power: 0
[Nervous System]
-none-
[Frame]
-none-
[Internal]
-none-
[External]
-none-
It’s just a blank profile with a core and my name, but I can't put words into the relief it brings me. One step closer to never feeling powerless again, to never feeling worthless again.
Warm tears streak across my cheeks, the heavy weight crushing me feeling a few kilos lighter. I sniffle and clear the snot from my face, forcing my emotions back down before they can get me killed out here.
Getting my head bitten off because I'm too busy crying would be a humiliating way to go.
I pop the last core in my mouth and get to work packing up.
+5 SP
Time to go home before I do something stupid and get myself killed.
Okay, so you know how I said I wasn't going to do something stupid. Yea, I know, I KNOW, shut up. I didn't get myself killed, I'm just kind of uhhhh stuck in a tree.
Everything was going great up until I ran out of traps. Not too big an issue, I just have to kill the three circling the tree I scrambled up for safety. Without any arrows. Only a hunting knife.
If I were suicidal, at least more than I already am, I would drop down with my knife to finish them off. However, fighting is stupid and I'll repeat it however many times I need to. Which is why I'm whittling my little wooden spike things out of this branch until I have enough to put splinters in the brains of the last three of these things.
"You didn't think it through Alex, screwed up again Alex, talking to yourself Alex, just another failure Alex"
Anger and shame mix inside me so I whip the chunk of wood I was holding into the nearest necrophage's head. It doesn't really do much to it, but it makes me feel better. I'm ready to start shooting anyway.
I snort out a puff of air and start nocking the makeshift arrows. They're not great, but I only need to hit a target five meters away so it should be good enough. The necrophages scrape and claw at the tree, but they can't climb so I'm safe from them for now. Taking aim at the one standing on its hind legs and scratching the bark right below me, I draw halfway and loose the makeshift arrow. It still shifts off target, but it's close enough to splinter against its skull with a loud crack. Not perfect, but enough to shatter the bone and send shards into its brain.
Unfortunately the last two take almost all ten of my remaining poor quality projectiles to down. Each spike that spins off or misses grates on my nerves and I'm grinding my teeth by the time the last one spears deep into the remaining creature's side. It feels less like a victory and more like collapsing onto the finish line.
"Whatever, I lived and they died. That's all that matters." I mutter half-consolingly.
After clambering back down it takes almost thirty minutes of tediously collecting arrows and traps to fully pack up. The entire time feeling increasingly paranoid that something is waiting to pop out and kill me, but nothing ends up appearing. I drain some necrophage blood into a couple silver tubes, even if it’s not worth much every bit helps. The mana pebbles only take a few minutes to absorb now that I can power a drain rune, the strange feeling of something flowing through my veins to my core is still infinitely better than opening them up.
+105 SP
Twenty one necrophages plus the seven at the start brings it to twenty eight in the nest, maybe, I'm not going inside to check. I have one-hundred and ten SP now so I can probably afford a modifier, better bones or muscles would be a safe bet. Not that it'd be smart to do so now when getting thrown off could get me killed.
I'm not sure how different it will be, but I'm definitely not risking testing it here.
Shoving thoughts of upgrades out of my brain, I hop up onto the highway headed back east, flipping my cloak around to the grey and green mix meant for urban camo. It's a long way home along the cracked and broken asphalt leading to Dallas, forty five kilometers back to one of the few surviving cities and home to the Northern Hunter HQ.
My pace is slow, partly because I'm watching the skies for signs of trouble, but also because I'm plain tired. According to my watch I've been at this for eight hours at this point, the slow ticking of the plastic hands counting down to when the real nasty stuff comes out to play. All I can do is keep marching my weary ass home and hope I make it back in time.
There's a quiet tension to the trek, no movement or sounds beside my own to break up the monotony. The highway buckles and splits from neglect, surrounded on both sides by overgrown grass that’s been beat down by the blazing sun. A few patches of trees spring up every now and then, but it's mostly the decaying heaps of wood that used to be homes which line the road. They're far enough away to see something coming, but too close to completely ignore.
Unfortunately for me, about two hours into my six hour march I run into a major obstacle. A blurry spot in the air like a heat haze stretching out a few hundred meters across the road and overgrowth, blocking my way. I toss a branch into the anomaly and it twists and stretches into a gnarled mess before hitting the ground.
Looking at the mangled wood I heave a tired sigh. “Was hoping this wouldn’t be in phase ‘til tomorrow.”
I shrug the canvas pack off my back and start rummaging around for my map of the area. Unfolding the laminated sheet out to its half meter length and plopping down with my back to a concrete column. I scrunch my nose a bit in concentration as I trace out a new path.
The anomalous zone in front of me mostly covers the highway so I can loop around north or south and make it back on track. The only problem is that either way I’m cutting through the suburbs, which means houses, which also means whatever nasty things are now living in those houses. I drum my fingers on the concrete in thought, but I can’t see another way through that isn’t somehow worse so I pick north and get to it. Hopping to my feet, I fold the map back up and stuff it into my pack then dust off my pants. There's an off ramp some fifty meters back that I head towards which should bring me north.
Ten minutes later and I’m already regretting the decision when the first houses come into view. They’re rotting and falling apart, but they’re still intact and that means rows and rows of places where something lethal could be hiding.
“Hi, I’m your new neighbor, Mr. Wendigo. Would you like to come over for dinner?” I whisper nervously as I quickly peek from side to side.
After the third set of houses I finally decide to listen to my gut about this being a bad idea and resolve to make it less bad. Picking a relatively intact home, I move toward it with my bow ready as I close in on what remains of the front door. A quick peek through the front window shows no movement and the place is torn up, but no fresh gore or residue from nesting either.
Looks safe enough.
I pull out a small lockpicking kit, but there isn't enough of the door left for it to matter, a quick shove creaking it open. The smell that pours out is a lot, but I power through the putrid stench and head inside. I'm hit with a few creaky jump scares from the decaying wood, but It doesn't take long to find the moldy tiles of the kitchen and exactly what I'm looking for. One greened copper bottom fry pan in particular still sitting on the stove top, which I start scrubbing down with the nail file from my personal kit until the copper looks almost brand new.
Good, good. I can work with this.
I start scratching out a circle that looks similar to a compass into the metal and drip some necrophage blood on it. I wouldn’t trust a hastily made enchantment in the field if this weren’t one of the most common ones used by just about every hunter. This is kind of my thing too, so if I can't pull this off I should probably quit now.
[Name: Alexandra Summers]
Core Type: Crystalline ■
Core Power: 60/100
Stored Power: 110
[Nervous System]
-none-
[Frame]
-none-
[Internal]
-none-
[External]
-Weak Mana Core Detector ■■-
That’s right, Tier two enchantment baby!
Sure it eats up almost half my power output and the thin copper won’t last more than a day at best, but it’s perfect for what I need. I’m kind of kicking myself for not bringing one in the first place, but materials to create a garbage detector hadn't crossed my mind at the time. Taking a quick peek at the circle I don’t see any glowing so nothing nearby with a core except me and I'm attuned to it so it's ignoring mine.
I still don’t let my guard down completely as I make my way back out because that’s a good way to get killed by something unexpected like falling into the Earth or walking into an anomalous zone. It does make me feel a whole let better about this detour as I resume walking down the street, frequently glancing at the bottom of the pan I’m holding to check if I missed anything. Despite the vigilance the only things that are out and about are the rusted remains of cars and overgrown weeds.
I’m almost at the intersection that cuts back to the highway when two of the four runes light up on the pan. I rotate it around a bit until only one rune is lit to get a better idea of where to look. It’s a bit crude, but it gives me a direction and it seems whatever it found is hiding somewhere near the athletic field of an old school.
I had planned to steer clear of whatever it is, but as soon as I spot it that idea gets squashed. It’s a leaping lizard, one meter tall and two meters long, looking like a cross between a gecko and a frog. The thing’s leathery skin almost completely blends in with the tall grass surrounding it which explains how I missed it. Not terribly fast fortunately, but it can hop almost ten meters so there’s no getting a height advantage from it.
Okay, I swear I’m not being stupid this time, it really is the smart plan to kill this thing. Leaping lizards are ambush predators and there’s no telling if this thing will follow me to attack.
I reiterate to myself that I'm not picking the wrong choice, trying to stave off the nagging voice in the back of my mind. I know where the lizard is now, but as soon as I lose track of it I’ll have to rely on my fry pan detector to find it again. That sounds like a good way of getting jumped when I least expect it. So either I kill it now when I have an advantage or risk getting attacked when I don’t.
With my mind made up I start backing up toward the house across the street while laying down bear traps until I get to the door. A quick check shows it's unlocked so I crack the door open and take a peek inside to check my escape route. The entire time I keep glancing over trying not to lose sight of the lizard for more than a moment, but it never moves.
I slowly put down my pan, taking a deep breath as I unsling my bow. My arms and back ache from the long day as I pull the string back, taking aim at the creature. As soon as I fire it leaps, the arrow streaking past under it while it flies through the air toward me, landing with a heavy crash on the street.
That’s fine though, I start readying my next shot as It’s frantically hopping toward me in thumping five meter leaps. Timing my next shot for when it jumps again, I draw once more aiming at where I expect the landing spot to be. Now that it’s stuck moving in a predictable arc it has no way to dodge and the arrow pierces right through its cheek into the back of its throat.
Thrashing around in pain but still alive, it eyes me warily with a hateful gaze. Unfortunately for the lizard, it has no choice but to run away or keep going since it is out in the open. Except to my surprise it doesn't move, just stares at me probably waiting for the next arrow. Which means I can’t shoot or it’ll move as soon as the arrow is in flight leaving us in a stalemate.
But not really
I take a step forward, and then another, and another. If it can dodge before the arrow gets there I just need to get close enough that it can’t react in time. Which it seems to understand as it starts shifting around in panic and getting ready to leap at me anyway.
Smart lizard.
I'm not going to be done in by a weak monster though so I immediately pull my bow up and draw the arrow, letting it loose and causing the lizard to leap forward. Except the arrow is still in my hand when the string snaps forward and I draw and fire it for real before it hits the ground. This time it goes through its forehead, the force snapping its head back as it collapses onto the road some twenty meters away.
Stupid Lizard.
I pick the fry pan up and keep one eye on the pan and one on the field as I approach the creature's stiff body. Unfortunately the circle picks up dead cores until they bleed out so it isn’t until the drain rune activates and the light blinks out that I sigh in relief
+20 SP
At this point I’m already done with this day. I’ve fought way more than I wanted to, walked more than I wanted to. My arms are dead tired, my legs are dead tired, I’m pouring sweat, I reek, my boobs are itching like hell from my body armor, and I am still four hours away from home.
I let out a deep sigh. “30 kilometers to go.”