The Rifleman - Bk1 - Ch.21 (Patreon)

Chapter 21

Third Floor

Wesley stepped out of the portal and into a very familiar-looking alley. He could even see the same poster stuck on the walls around the place. It was an immediate and unpleasant reminder of where everything had gone wrong. Following the others out of the alley, he saw the same street he had fought on, although this time, the lights were out, and the sun rose over the buildings behind them.

“Well, that is new,” Alber pointed down the end of the road. The last time they had been there, it had ended in a cross street, preventing a view of the rest of the city.

Wesley looked over to see that in its place was a long, straight road that ended in a very large and intimidating building. A single piece of paper blew down the middle of the road, and Mace reached out and caught it, chuckled, and showed it to the others.

It was a wanted poster with their faces on it.

“This is going to get interesting,” Mace said as he drew his weapons and started to walk forward.

Instantly, they saw lines of enemies run out of side streets all up the road. They took position a few feet apart, standing between the party and the building at the far end of the road.

“Okay, everybody, be careful,” Mace growled. “Alber, cover my left, Pris, my right. Hold most of your summons for now.” He glanced behind him at Wesley before adding, “Rifleman Lancaster, engage as you choose.”

“Understood,” Wesley said. It wasn’t much, but it was better than ‘Get ‘em, Wes!’

He gave the first few lines of dog soldiers a quick glance and didn’t see any sign of ranged attackers, so he decided to start the fight in melee.

While he hated what Mace had done so far in the dungeon, it had taught him the advantage of saving his bullets and Reload charges until he really needed them. These first few waves were a great time to polish his melee skills a little while saving his charges for the later ones. 

He lunged at the enemy in front of him, the remains of his bayonet lashing open the soldier’s throat before he spun and cracked another in the nose with the butt of his rifle. He swept the legs out from under the stunned creature and drew his hand axe, burying it deeply in the neck before ducking under a sword swing and drawing back before he was overwhelmed. 

Mace and Alber finished off the remaining members, and they advanced.

After the first three groups, the melee got more brutal, and he started to get out of his depth. Still, he persisted, firing his rifle in close quarters when needed to ensure he didn’t take too much damage. His Gorger vest was the saving grace here. It took several hits for him.

Wesley made it two more waves before he was forced to drop back into purely ranged attacks. Picking targets was easy with a team actually working with him. He was able to cover them from range while picking off the injured that stumbled away and tried to retreat. 

Despite that, things were definitely getting more challenging. Pru had barely any downtime as she worked to keep Mace and Alber in fighting shape, while Wesley was forced to start and shoot less as he worked through the charges on his Reload skill.

Reload(100%)

Choose upgrade:

Clip Size – 

Increase the number of bullets in each clip to 

20.

Enchanted Clip –

Bullets are enchanted for increased speed and force.

Clip size reduced to 6

Considering the situation, his choices were pretty limited. He was starting to run out of bullets a lot more often than he would like. Outside of a dungeon, the Enchanted Clip would have been his first choice.

Wesley was not much of a killer. Outside of the fake dungeon environments, he would prefer never to fire his rifle, but if he had to, he would do it from further away and kill in fewer shots every time. 

Even in the dungeon, he considered choosing it. Wesley was pretty clear that he would not be continuing in the team, and after his experience here, Wes was frankly hesitant to team up again any time soon. 

Nonetheless, he was here, and there was a lot of road left before the building at the far end, which had to house some sort of boss creature. 

Promising himself he would take the enchanted clip next time, Wes chose the increased clip size. He felt the tattoo change and looked down at the new tattoo. 

It had morphed into something like the BM59 clip that Baretta made, but when he cast the spell, he could see the .30-06 ammunition inside.

Having effectively doubled his available ammo was quite the upgrade, allowing Wesley to start firing again at his old speed. It shifted the balance of the battle back toward the party, and they began to advance quickly. 

It was once they were facing the final group that Mace called a short halt. 

Standing over the bodies of over two dozen dog soldiers, the Wyrd Watchmen and Wesley were all grateful for the break. It was the first break they had taken, which is why they were surprised when, seconds later, one of the crossbowmen raised his bow and fired, causing the rest of the line to charge. 

They were caught off guard, the unexpected attack flying past a startled Mace and Alber, directly for Pru’s head.

With no time to get there, Wesley tried the skill he had gotten from his Steward profession and cast My Shield with his hand outstretched toward Pru.

A transparent shield shaped like a medieval tall shield appeared before Pru. It covered her head and all the way down to her knees. The crossbow bolt bounced off it and clattered away to one side, and then they were all moving and fighting as the line of dog soldiers crashed into them. 

Wesley was forced to use his shield again to blunt a charging shield bearer’s attack against Pris, allowing her to get to safety before summoning a pair of ghostly riflemen. 

Everything he had learned. From the wisps’ gift to the hard-won experience of both dungeons came into play as he fought to survive. He used his wisp form to reposition often, escaping being killed by the skin of his teeth more than once. 

He quickly lost track of the Watchmen and fought alone, ducking and diving as much as he could in the midst of enemies. 

He took a sword hit to the leg and used Emergency Heal to staunch the flow, flighting on as he tried his best to get clear. 

A gunshot to the head put one of his attackers down, and he got a clear view of the Wyrd Watchmen gathered around Mace a few feet away. The big guy was down, Pru channeling healing into him as she chanted. Alber and Pris were watching anxiously. 

“So much for watching my back!” Wesley yelled angrily as the group closed around him again. He cracked an attacker's knee with the butt of his rifle and fired three rounds into the ones closing on his other side. A quick change into wisp form and he leaped through the gap, flying clear of the crush before rolling up into a firing position and dropping wisp form. 

He took a bolt in one shoulder and winced before emptying the rest of his clip into the soldiers charging him. The moment he was done, Wesley ripped out the crossbow bolt and cast his heal, pressing hard against the wound. 

It hurt like hell, but it was fading slowly. Emergency Heal was great for keeping you alive, but it sucked when it came to everything else. 

Looking up, he saw the chalky writing scrawl itself over the entrance of the large building.

Dungeon Complete!

Enter the building to collect rewards.

Time remaining: 59 minutes.

“Oh, thank fuck for that,” Wesley said with a happy chuckle. He gingerly got to his feet, hand still pressed against the healing wound, and cast an extra heal on both wounds. 

Then, he limped back towards the building.

Mace was just being helped to his feet, a significant gash healing visibly as Wesley watched. The injury seemed to stretch from one shoulder to the opposite hip, and just seeing it made Wesley wince. 

“What happened?” He asked. 

“Mace took a bad hit,” Pru said, wiping her brow. “We had to cover him while I healed it. It could have been fatal if left unhealed.”

“Yeah, my heal would definitely have helped,” Wesley noted. “It prioritizes life-threatening injuries.”

“Shit,” Pru shook her head. “In the moment, I just panicked and forgot you had healing.”

“I’m glad I didn’t,” Wesley chuckled at his own joke but stopped because it hurt too much.

“You have shields?” Pris asked suspiciously. “Why didn’t you use them before now… I wouldn’t have gotten hurt if you…”

“I got them with my new profession,” Wesley said, cutting her off. She had been the last one he sort of trusted, so it hurt to hear the suspicion in her voice. “I got offered it in the last safe room.”

“Ooh,” Pru nodded. “That was the system message you were on about?”

Wesley just nodded.

“I thought…” Pris trailed off.

“I know exactly what you thought,” Wes said sourly. “Doesn’t matter now, anyway.” He grinned, “Dungeon complete; all that’s left is to collect the reward and go.” He turned and started limping toward the building.

“Wait, let me heal you!” Pru called after him.

“Save it,” Wesley called back bitterly. “I’ll be fine in a minute.”

Given his limp, the others caught up to him pretty quickly, and they all arrived at the entrance together. 

Five doors awaited them, a picture of one of the group above each door.

“Individual rewards,” Mace sighed. “This must have been a Training Dungeon.”

“Training? This was training?” Wesley asked, horrified.

“They are designed for Player Faction Characters. They have much better classes.” Alber said. “Bad news is we won’t get any other reward, given that it is this.”

“The contract was for the dungeon reward,” Mace explained. “But a Training Dungeon gives tailored rewards, which are not good for other people.”

“The earlier rewards?” Wesley asked.

“Right, we better give you a share of them,” Pru said, reaching into her seemingly limitless bag. She pulled out one item, showed it to the others, and then tossed it to him.

Potentia Orb:

Reveal the hidden potential of an item.

“Is this like an upgrade token?” He asked, looking at it.

“Sometimes,” Pru said doubtfully. “It's more of a portable identifier—single-use, though.”

“Better than nothing,” Wesley said and put it into his backpack. 

Pris whispered and gave a few meaningful glances at the others, but they all shook their heads. 

Wesley was pretty sure they were keeping most of the loot for themselves, but he was happy enough to leave the dungeon and put this all behind him. He had gotten a profession and a skill upgrade here, so it was far from a waste of his time. His fighting skills had improved, too.

He walked off towards his door, his limp only slight now the spells had been at work a little longer. The others seemed to head for theirs as well, but Wesley paid them no mind. 

He walked through the door and stepped into a silver corridor, an exit portal, and a silver lockbox on a stand at the far end. He walked on as text began to sprawl itself on the walls.

Training assessment complete.

Candidate rating: Reasonable.

Failing: Close Combat.

Best Area: Ranged Combat.

Worthy Mention: Agile and Creative Mind.

The candidate would benefit from increased melee training and skills.

Placement in relation to group…

2/5

Wesley was pleasantly surprised by the results. They were about what he expected, as he had a feeling Alber would come in first. All in all, it was a pretty good result, and he was excited to see his reward. 

He approached the box, and it slid into the lectern it sat on, revealing a small scroll. He picked it up and looked at it, seeing an ornate script that seemed to write itself as he watched. 

Scroll of Entry

Your performance in the training dungeon has been of a level to grant you access to a training academy of your choice.

Present this scroll in any large city to receive training there in your chosen subject.

Note: Present it within a Player Faction city to enable testing for recruitment into the faction.

Note: Soulbound

Note: Non-transferable.

It was definitely not what he wanted, but he tucked it into his backpack just in case. It was his, after all. Maybe he could find a neutral city at some point to get some pointers in melee combat or his profession.

He took a single step and saw more writing appear.

“Fuck, no!” Wesley ran for the portal but crashed to the floor as he tempered again.

Tier Four Attained!(36%)

Tempering….

“What? No!” Wesley screamed as it hit him again.

Tempered x5

40% increase in Toughness.

40% increase to Vitality.

10% increase to all stats.

Choose One Skill:

Flash Movement:

Move at an accelerated rate in the current direction of travel for up to ten feet.

Charges: 3

Tracking Shot:

The projectile will curve to follow the target for up to fifteen feet.

Charges: 2

Jolt:

Release a small electric bolt. Causes low damage but has a stunning effect on any being with a nervous system.

Charges: 3

Finally, he got another spell! Wesley grinned through the fading pain of the tempering as he examined the options, already well aware of which he would be taking. He moved fast enough in Wisp form to ignore the movement buff, and for the other, well, he didn’t miss all that often.

Honestly, he didn’t even really try to justify it to himself before he picked it. He saw a small lightning bolt appear on the ring finger of his right hand and let out a pained laugh.

A few minutes later, he got to his feet and took some deep breaths. The change in Tier came with another massive boost as his actual stats moved to Tier Five, and then the added effect of tempering was taken on top of that. He took a minute to stretch and do a few tests on his new body, getting used to the new speed and power. It was more noticeable than the change from Tier Two to Three had been, and that was with the stats jumping to Four that time. It seemed the stat boost at Tier Five was a big one, but he still wished he had a way to quantify it. 

Numbers may not have been all that clear unless you knew what the baseline was, but at least it was something. He could only hope he would get some at a later Tier. 

From what he could tell, he was about twice again as strong as a really strong person back on Earth, slightly faster than even an Olympic sprinter could dream of being, and had the kind of balance and reaction speeds that were well beyond what he could ever have dreamed of having. It was quite amusing to think he was closing in on the old Captain in terms of sheer power now. 

With that cheery thought in mind, Wesley stepped through the portal and back into the game world at last. 

///////////////

He felt his Guild Badge vibrating and pulled it out to check. Now, it showed a green tick in the center, which he assumed meant his contract had been completed.

He also noticed the Wyrd Watchmen's name was still on it and marked as provisional. Maybe he had to go back to the guild hall to change it? It was not a problem for him, as he was in a hurry to get back anyway. He trotted up the tunnel and out into the sunshine, passing a couple of smashed beetles on the way. 

The Watchmen were waiting on the outside, talking among themselves as he came out of the tunnel, and he was immediately on guard.

“You were a while,” Mace said with a smile. “Get anything good?”

“Tiered up,” Wesley replied honestly. “Other than that? Just a scroll.” He saw no reason to hide it as it was nontransferable anyway. 

“Show me,” Mace huffed and crossed his arms.

“Yeah, no,” Wesley laughed. “I completed my contract, so I’m off.”

“He’s lying,” Mace insisted. “He shows us this scroll; I’ll stand aside.”

“Really?” Wesley sighed. “Not tired of this shit yet?”

“Prove it, and I’ll stand aside,” Mace said again.

“You know what?” Wesley sighed. “Fine.” It was right on top of his stuff, so it only took him a few seconds to reach back for it and unroll it for the others to see.

“Wow,” Pru said. “I’ve only ever heard of those before.”

“You must have gotten something else,” Mace said. “Let me search your bag.”

“Enough, Mace,” Alber said quietly. This is very close to attacking a teammate.”

“He’s not one of us, said so himself,” Mace said. “You saw him check his badge.”

“Oh, it still says provisional,” Wesley said angrily. “Don’t worry, I’ll get that removed the moment I get back.”

“Which you can do once I’ve searched your gear,” Mace growled.

“Fuck’s sake, Mace.” Pru slapped his back. “Stop.”

“I’ll just be going now,” Wes said.

Mace moved to grab him, and Wesley flickered into Were-wisp instantly, kicking off as he summoned a shield behind him blindly. He heard it crack as Alber hit it with something. 

“No!” Pris yelled as he kicked off the rock next to him and sailed higher. “What have you done?”

Wesley felt his badge go wild as he landed on a ledge out of the Watchmen's range. He leaned back and pulled it out, seeing the team name disappear as it was replaced with blank metal.

“I, I was only going to grab him,” Mace stammered.

“I was not intending to injure him,” Alber added, “His speed was unexpected. I believe he did, in fact, Tier up.”

“No shit,” Pru said simply. “Now, we have not only gotten no evidence he has done anything wrong but attacked a teammate!”

“It was a misunderstanding!” Mace insisted.

“The guild will have already noted the change in status and the reason,” Alber said calmly.  

“We can explain,” Mace insisted.

“Explain we thought he was a spy or something?” Pris laughed nastily. 

“We can wait here then,” Mace said. “Gem said she would send anyone who might fit in to us. Maybe she still will…”

“Wait, you lot know Gem?” Wesley called down, feeling even more pissed at his least favorite Necro.

“What?” Pru called up.

“She sent me because…” Wesley stopped. “Hah! Crafty.” 

When he considered it, it made a twisted kind of sense. She knew he was open to things like Necro’s not being evil, and she needed him far from the city—kill two birds with one stone.

“Wait,” Pru laughed, “Gem was the officer that sent you?”

“Yup,” Wesley sighed. “Remind me to thank her for that.” 

“But, I thought…” Mace trailed off.

“You fucking paranoid asshole!” Pru snapped at Mace. 

Wesley didn’t hang around to hear any more, kicking off from the ledge and gliding down the side of the cliff, aiming for the next outcropping where they had camped on the way up.

He had to use a pair of Improved Flare charges to keep him airborne, but it was worth it for the lead time on the Wyrd Watchmen. Even if they stopped arguing immediately and set off after him, he would have at least an hour’s headstart on them. Increasing his Tier had given him a small energy boost, so he planned to get as far away as possible from that lot. 

With any luck, he could get back through the portal and return to the Guild before they even made it down the cliff. 

Deactivating wisp form as soon as his feet touched the stone of the outcropping, Wesley began to hurry down the narrow staircase as fast as he could. 

While he walked, Wes considered everything that had just happened. It had been a busy few minutes, to put it mildly.  

There was some kind of connection between Gem and the Wyrd Watchmen, but he had no idea what it was. They seemed to think highly of her; that was all he knew. She had apparently promised to send any compatible recruits their way, and Mace and the others had been waiting for a while, he imagined, given she had been stuck in that village for a long time. 

What he was less sure of was why she had sent him to them. If they hit it off, being with the Watchmen would certainly keep his interactions with others to a minimum, but if they didn’t?

The light faded long before he reached the ground, but a shift to Were-wisp and an Improved Flare kept him moving as he gently glided down the stairs.

Before he even hit the ground, Wesley had decided to ignore the whole situation as much as possible. With any luck, he could simply hand in his badge and get a solo mission or two. If Gem was even still his handler, Wesley was quietly confident he could convince her that a few solo missions to far-off places would be in both their interests.

Maybe he could even use this as an opportunity to prove she could trust him to keep his mouth shut. 

He kicked off from the wall the moment he hit ground level and began to glide toward the distant outpost, feeling almost optimistic about his future.