Exodus: Guns & Gore

QJ helped clean up after dinner and then escorted Lotte back to her house. Her family had just finished eating when he dropped her off. QJ couldn't shake the feeling that there was a sense of sadness in the Hall household. "Perhaps it will turn around now that things are a bit more stable."

Welcome to Guns and Gore the Phoenix Server.

Laredo 8 PM, Player population 7,765. Your current level is 8.

QJ logged in at the Laredo Platform, he equipped Scorched and immediately set out for the rear entrance of the Bee Cave. After a few minutes of hard running, he arrived at the place where he had helped Nina the night before. He stowed Scorch and started in on foot.

*Fade*

Using his lariat, he was able to easily climb up to the entrance, the buzzing of bees warned him that the cavern was once again repopulated. Carefully he maneuvered through the nest, making sure to give the bee queen a wide berth.

When he arrived at the opening, he discovered that it had been resealed. "Of course, bees are busy after all." He took another five minutes to cut through the wax wall, storing most of the wax chunks in his inventory, then stuffed his ears full.

He held his hand out, palm up. "Come."

Spider Bee

Level 16

HP 150/150

Strength 22

Agility 27

Stamina 17

BR:4

Incider Spider

Level 15

HP 100/100

Strength 16

Agility 16

Stamina 16

BR:2

Incider Spider

Level 15

HP 100/100

Strength 16

Agility 16

Stamina 16

BR:2

"You guys only went up one level this morning?" The two Incider Spiders scurried up his sleeve, the Spider Bee moved up his arm and perched on his shoulder. He felt a strong feeling of warmth coming from her, "you want to chat, do you? Well, let's see what's left. Display Stats."

Kingslayer QJ (Cursed)

Wrangler: Level 8

Agility 35

Perception 35

Stamina 22

Wisdom 9

Strength 20

Command 5

Total BR:5.5/12

Skills

Pistol 65/100 Level 8

Shotgun 34/100 Level 8

Show Stopper

The amount of XP you

need to reach level 10

has been tripled.

129,850/135,000 You need 5,150 XP to reach level 10

QJ felt the eyes of the Spider Bee still focused on him. "Think I'll call you Cleo, you like that? Go join the others, I'm going to make some noise."

Instead of moving to his sleeve, she crawled under his collar. A feeling of contentment radiated from her.

He walked back to the massive Stalagtite and secured his lariat to it. Taking a quick look around to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything, he got in position next to the opening.

He found a comfortable firing position and took aim at Keku.

*Aimed Shot*


(Head-Shot Bonus x Critical Hit)

Keku has been hit for 5,500 damage.

QJ didn't bother to waste any more time shooting, he turned and ran for his life-line. Keku followed close behind, the Queen Bee seemed to notice him right away this time. He watched them start to fight below, QJ kept an eye on the opening, the ants were streaming through it much faster this time. Had QJ not been present, they may have managed to take over the nest.

He aimed at the crystal ceiling and started shooting, like before, the damage and xp scrolled across his hud for several minutes before stopping.

Sliding down the rope, he looted Keku and the Queen Bee. As he approached their corpses he felt the hunger pangs of his spider friends. The two Cider bees crawled out and stared upward. A moment later Cleo came out from beneath his collar and perched on his shoulder, she looked down at the other two spiders and immediately they scurried toward Keku.

QJ smiled at the little Spider Bee, "you giving the orders now Cleo?"

She looked up at him, unmoving. QJ smiled and extended a finger. Her carapace was covered with a soft brown fuzz. "Go on, get yourself something to eat." He watched as she moved toward the Queen Bee Corpse. "Don't like Ant? I don't blame you."

Queen Bee dropped an unidentified Glove, and Keku an unidentified bridle. QJ smiled when he saw the bridle, they were super rare drops and often sold quite high.

"Display Stats."

Kingslayer QJ (Cursed)

Wrangler: Level 9

Agility 35

Perception 35

Stamina 22

Wisdom 9

Strength 20

Command 5

Total BR:5.5/12

Skills

Pistol 70/100 Level 8

Shotgun 44/100 Level 8

Show Stopper

The amount of XP you

need to reach level 10

has been tripled.

162,108/195,400 You need 33,292 XP to reach level 10

"One more ought to do it, I'll do a bit of hunting until then." He glanced at the corpses, "you three stay here and relax."

"Turn on Guild Notifications."

System Message: Guild Notifications on.

QJ glanced at the guild stats. Ringo and Lotte were at 11, he didn't see Breeze on.

*Guild Speak QJ* Heya!

*Guild Speak Lotte* The church mouse speaks.

*Guild Speak Ringo* Squeak, squeak.

*Guild Speak QJ* Speak up if you haven't acquired a mount yet.

*Guild Speak Leeta* I don't have one yet.

*Guild Speak QJ* I'm sending you one that just dropped, you'll have to get it identified.

QJ dimly recalled the quiet girl who sat behind Breeze, she was a field medic. At level 7 she was the lowest current player in the guild. Field medics were traditionally very slow leveling, especially new ones.

*Guild Speak Leeta* You are? Thank you QJ!

*Guild Speak QJ* Supposedly it's good Karma to take care of healers. Just remember me if a shotgun drops.

QJ took a moment to send her the bridle and then proceeded to exit the cave. He spent the next four hours hunting at the foot of the entrance. Several times he spotted groups at the far end of the canyon, but the mobs were too dense for them to make it through.

*Whisper Nina: QJ* How did you get past all these mobs?

*Whisper QJ: Nina* I plied them with ice cream.

*Whisper Nina: QJ* Can't you be serious?

*Whisper QJ: Nina* Did you bring ice cream?

*Whisper Nina: QJ* Of course not you idiot!

*Whisper QJ: Nina* Then how do you know I'm not serious?

*Fade*

You have faded from view.

QJ reentered the Bee Cavern and made it his back to the stalactite, his three spiders were waiting for him there. They lay bloated on the ground, unable to crawl. "That is so sad... you fatties can't even move."

Spider Bee (Evolving)

Level 19

HP 250/250

Strength 25

Agility 32

Stamina 24

BR:5

Incider Spider

Level 19

HP 175/175

Strength 20

Agility 20

Stamina 20

BR:3

Incider Spider

Level 19

HP 175/175

Strength 20

Agility 20

Stamina 20

BR:3

He gently picked them up and slid them under his sleeve, he felt indignation from the Spider Bee. "Oh, you like the penthouse suite better?" He moved her up to his collar and she managed to crawl underneath. "Fine, but after this, you guys are going to start helping. No more free rides."

QJ lined up the shot with Keku and started the process one last time. A quick rope climb and a few minutes of firing at the crystal ceiling saw QJ finally reach level 10.

System Message: Show Stopper has been upgraded to Indomitable Will.

Kingslayer QJ

Wrangler: Level 10

Agility 40

Perception 40

Stamina 27

Wisdom 14

Strength 25

Command 10

Total BR:4/12

Skills

Pistol 11/100 Level 9

Shotgun 33/100 Level 9

Indomitable Will

+5 All stats, immune

to curses.

196,000/211,000 You need 15,000 XP to reach level 11.

"Hmm... does this mean it wasn't a curse after all?" QJ checked the corpses, Keku dropped an unidentified bracelet, the Queen Bee dropped an Evasion Scroll.

Evasion: Group Only

The entire group is evacuated

to a safe area. Combat use

only.

"That's kinda nice." QJ decided to take a break and head to the Songbird, his favorite engineers had left him a level 10 care package.

*********

The Songbird was busy as usual, he sat down with Lark who was off-duty. She smiled when he joined her. "You trying to steal me away from your sister?"

QJ nodded, "yep, my evil plan has been found out. I even got you a bracelet."

"Well... if the bracelet is nice, I'll consider it." Lark winked and downed the rest of her beer.

"You'll have to identify it first." QJ handed her the bracelet that had dropped. Lark was the Songbird's fence, there wasn't anything she couldn't identify.

"Is this your way of getting me to ID your drops for free?" Lark took the bracelet and focused on it for a moment.

Lightbringer

A simple light

to see your path.

"Um... you can have that Lark," QJ said it with a straight face, the bracelet was total crap.

Lark didn't comment, but she fastened the bracelet around her wrist anyway. "There's a package for you behind the bar."

"I'll pick it up on my way out." QJ sensed that Lark wanted to say something. "You seem troubled. What's on your mind?"

"Do you think your parents approve of me?" Lark's fair face turned red when she asked.

"Yes, one hundred percent." QJ reached over and took her hand, "I can mediate if you wish to approach them."

Lark's smile was dazzling as she stared at him, "you'd do that?"

"Of course." QJ got up and walked behind the bar, he grabbed the boxes and quickly stowed them away. "I need to get back to GnG."

Lark got up also, "I'll walk with you as far as the GnG market, they have a few things I want."

They exited the Songbird and walked toward the GnG gate. Lark slid a hand through his arm and smiled up at him. "Do you like this color?" Her pale green hair was tied up in a neat bun, QJ recognized the hair clip as a gift from Ren.

"It's my favorite so far I think." QJ was aware that her original hair color was similar to Leah.

Lark nodded and released his arm, "I may keep this one for two months then."

"Very bold." QJ gave her a quick hug and then walked toward the gate. "Say hi to Ren for me."

"Okay." Lark watched as he gated out, then she moved to the jewelry section. A sense of movement caused her to turn back toward the gate. Someone was stealthed and moving toward the gate. As a high-level rogue, Lark could easily detect the stealth of lower levels. "Why go through all that effort?"

She continued to look through the accessories, her hand playing with the bracelet QJ had given her. A sudden suspicion caused her to move toward the gate. She accessed her hud and contacted Anna.

Anna's face showed her surprise, she obviously had still been up working. "Hey Lark, something up?"

Lark shook her head, "not really. I just want to surprise QJ, know where he is hunting?"

Anna nodded and sent her a map of the area with the Ant caves. "He's been there the past few days."

"Thanks, Anna, have a good night." Lark closed her hud and went through the gate.

*Stealth*

Anna broke into a run and headed toward QJ's hunting area, on foot it took her half an hour. Lark paused to put fighting gear on, then moved to the entrance of the cave.

*Grappling hook*

Lark shot up to the entrance of the cave and started looking around. The caves were empty, QJ had told her that he was waiting for respawn. She strode silently to the back of the ant cave and through the opening. Immediately she sensed the hidden person.

"I'm curious... why would you be hiding in this cave?" Lark walked toward the person, "come out from behind there. I'll only say it once."

A slim white-haired woman stepped from behind the rocks. She stared at Lark, her pale eyes carrying deadly intent.

"Those are some creepy peepers you have there." Lark smirked when the woman drew her sword, "we can talk peacefully and you can explain why you are waiting in ambush, or you can try your luck."

Lark shrugged and immediately stealthed. The woman tossed a flashbang towards Lark and charged in.

*Backstab*

Lark has struck Nae Sunni for 188,632 damage.

Nae Sunni has been slain.

Lark looked down at the corpse and shook her head. "Stupid..." Lark knelt down and checked her body for clues. "Why were you waiting for QJ?"

A sense of danger caused her to spin around, both daggers raised."

*Binding Chains has been activated*

Lark screamed in pain, her body convulsing as she was imprisoned by dozen of chains. A flash of whiteness caused her to close her eyes before she disappeared completely.

A cloaked figure approached, he bent down and picked up the crystal cube. The small image of a woman was frozen inside. He then turned toward the dead body and broke open a scroll.

*Resurrection*

Nae Sunni has been resurrected.

The man waited as Nae recovered her strength. "As soon as you are able, we must leave this place?"

"What?" The white-haired woman frowned at him, "we have to grab QJ!"

"How do you propose we do that now?" He held up an object in his hands.

Binding Chains

Artifact: Unknown

Description: Unknown.

Use: 0/1

"You said that could hold him. Keep him from logging off." The woman's voice raised as her eyes flashed in anger.

"It's trash now, one-time use." He tossed it over a shoulder. "Why did you try to fight her? You could have made up anything. Do you have any idea the fortunes that were spent acquiring this?"

"You should have fought her too!" Nae gripped her sword in anger.

"Had I done so, my corpse would have joined yours. That was one of the Songbirds; every one of them is lethal."

Nae relaxed her grip and exhaled deeply. "Now what?"

"We go back and see what she wants to do." The disdain in his voice was apparent as he turned toward the entrance.

A flash of silver caused him to freeze in place, after a moment he collapsed onto the ground, his head rolling away.

"That's a good idea," the woman opened a vial of white liquid and emptied it onto his corpse causing it to burst into flames. She waited until it was done burning, then she bent down and recovered the small crystal cube.

**************