If it were just goblins here, Ashton probably wouldn't have much to worry about. Though he would like to avoid it, considering that these were a good bit stronger than the tutorial goblins, he could just storm in there and take them all out. However, there were orcs there as well.
And yes, sure, boss monsters were more powerful than normal, but it was still possible that the tutorial boss monster that Ashton faced in the park the other day was around as strong, or weaker, than these orcs wandering around. Plus, there was something else off about their behaviour.
They were just sitting there, clearly waiting for people to come by. And the fact that the orcs were cooking their food before eating was also a little weird. Ashton had already encountered one - a monster with surprising intelligence. In one of the first groups of goblins that Ashton encountered, there was one that was noticeably smarter than the others, taking on a bit of a leadership role. The system considered it just the same as the others, and it gave the same amount of coins, but it was different. It probably had a 'trait' that made it smarter.
Traits showed a different aspect of the system compared to skills and abilities. Skills could be grown through effort, where the user had to actively work on improving them. Abilities were things that simply grew stronger alongside the being that possessed them.
Traits, similar to those two, were factors that changed something major about a being's very nature. However, they didn't 'grow' directly, though they could advance and evolve over time, or even disappear. They were simply like a modifier. 'Hungry', 'Talented', or in this case, maybe 'Intelligent'. They changed the behaviour of the being they were on, or adjusted their growth in certain directions.
There were people with such traits as well, but it was more common to see them in monsters. Ashton didn't know why, though. Maybe it was just because they were beings that naturally had traits more often, or the council just made it easier for them to be 'born' with traits. Whichever it was didn't matter much. The only important thing one had to know was that a trait could make a simple, everyday monster extremely dangerous.
Considering how this group was acting, it was very likely that there was one with a similar trait that made one of the monsters here into the leader. Usually, even with a trait like that, they would go for the mass of humans they must have noticed hiding inside of the school, but maybe because of the protection of the Guardian of the Innocent, they could just camp out here without feeling the need to storm the school directly.
For now, he had to get into the school to make sure that everyone was fine. If these monsters weren't actively trying to kill the students, then he could take his time and properly scout these guys out.
It was likely that there were more monsters hiding out by other potential exits or entrances, trapping the people in the school.
He just had to open a path into the school for now, preferably without being noticed.
Ashton looked around, noticing a group of goblins that seemed to be a scout party. The others didn't seem to be paying any particular attention to what was going on around them.
He momentarily channelled the backpacker to select three of the altered coins, which the spirit quickly gave to him. There was a narrow alley nearby, between two residential buildings, and Ashton quickly threw one of the coins in there before hiding back around the corner.
He could hear the loud crackling of the coin as the mangled spheres of mana within it were set off, and it was likely that the monsters heard it as well.
A few moments later, the mischievous chuckling of goblins sounded out, as they disappeared into the alley. Ashton pulled the salamander and wisp back into his vessel. They were too conspicuous to use in a fight. The undine could at least be used to silently choke a monster if he came across it, rather than blowing them up outright.
Quietly, he snuck by the side of the road, hiding behind the cars that were littered around. The scout goblins soon came back out of the alley, looking around confused. So, Ashton threw another coin back over to the place where he was standing just a few moments ago, luring them a bit further away.
Ashton kept an eye and ear out to make sure he knew where the monsters were. But soon, he got to the walls. He could climb over them easily enough, but he would be completely out in the open. Peeking through the windows of the car he was hiding behind, Ashton tried to find a good angle, and then threw the last coin as far as he could over the small monster camp. It didn't have to work for long, it just had to be enough to make the monsters look away from the wall.
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
Once the coin began crackling and the monsters' attention was grabbed, Ashton jumped up onto the wall and pulled himself up. In this body, just a few days ago, he wouldn't have been able to do this, but now, it was easier than ever.
He climbed up and over, dropped down onto the school's property, and then proceeded to silently sprint through the school yard until Ashton got to one of the windows. They were all perfectly barred up. Many of them were broken, probably shattered by the monsters, but there was still no way for them to get inside.
Ashton snapped his finger and called the Backpacker out, "Can you check the post? Is there any more info of where to go?"
The backpacker nodded their head, pulling out the phone. They opened the post and turned the screen toward Ashton. Commenting under posts just cost a single coin, so there were a fair amount of unrelated comments by people also looking for help here. But Ashton had to focus on this for now. The same user also posted a comment here, telling people to go to the red door at the side of the building and knock five times.
Ashton went around the main building, avoiding the few goblins that were running around on the property pretty easily, and soon found the bright red metal door mentioned in the comment.
He quickly knocked five times, and waited. Then, he knocked five more times, and waited again. But nothing happened.
"... Backpacker, can you post a comment? Say that we're at the red door, but nobody is answering."
The spirit nodded their head, quickly tapping away on the screen. Ashton double-checked to make sure that they could actually write, and though the message was a bit barebones — 'Am here. Red door.' — it should do the job.
Ashton waited a few more moments and then knocked five times again. This time, someone seemed to unlock this emergency door and opened it up, letting Ashton inside.
"Thank god!" the one that let him inside was a young woman, probably in her early to mid thirties. From her appearance, she seemed like one of the teachers here at the school, "Is your group here to take out those monsters?"
Ashton looked around while the teacher locked the door again, "I'm here on my own, but yes. I just need to get to a better position to scout them out."
The teacher stared at Ashton, startled, "You're alone? Christ, of course, the one person that finally responds to us is here to kill himself..."
[[Executor of the End] agrees that it seems stupid to face such a group on your own]
[[Daughter of the Scarlet Heart] is curious about your confidence]
Ashton glanced at the windows and just waved them away, "I'm not here to kill myself. Just calm down. First, you're injured. What happened?"
Though she was hesitant, she knew that she had no choice but have at least a little hope, "There was a... a quest that appeared, like in a game? A 'bonus quest', beyond the main one. It said that if all the surviving teachers can take out ten of those monsters, none of the children have to complete the quest. So, we gathered together and tried to fight them. Most of us made it through and some didn't... but a lot of us got hurt."
"I see," Ashton muttered. So that was the deal that was made for places like this. In exchange for a harder challenge, these teachers could protect the students, "How are the kids doing?"
"They're... holding on. They're scared, obviously. Asking why they can't go outside. Some of them saw terrible, terrible things that I would not wish upon anyone," the teacher explained, looking away bitterly.
"Are any of them injured?"
"... A few. Most of them aren't serious injuries, though, we were able to protect them for the most part. But... there are a few that we are worried about. But we can't leave from here and go to a hospital right now, either. If hospitals are even still a thing."
"Hm. Okay, don't worry, I can help with that. Please show me where the people with injuries are, whether they're kids or faculty."
The teacher's eyes widened, "Are you a doctor?"
So that he wouldn't worry the teacher further, since explaining that he had some potions and trying to use them to treat the kids' injuries wasn't exactly inconspicuous, Ashton just smiled and started walking down the hallway.
For now, the teacher led Ashton further into the school. It looked like most of them were gathered in the gymnasium. Considering this place was filled with young kids, the silence was just that much more deafening.
But soon, as though he was trying to avoid having to see the expressions on the kids' faces, Ashton looked around. The doors directly outside were blocked with solidly-built walls made from tables, "Who built all those?"
"Ah, that was Rory, our janitor. He's always been good with these things, so he got right to work when we needed him to," the teacher explained. Ashton was pretty curious, but for now, that wasn't what he should focus on.
"Got it. So, where are the people that are hurt?"
Quickly, the teacher led Ashton to a small, sectioned-off area the corner of the gymnasium. There, on those thin, way-too hard gym mats, a few people were sitting or laying, trying to relax and recover, "We gave them some pain meds from the nurse's office, but for some of them, they're not working very well..."
"Is the nurse here?"
"No, she wasn't around when all of this went down... She's usually just here on one or two days out of the week."
Ashton nodded in understanding, and started approaching everyone there. There were three teachers here that were hurt, and about five kids sitting there on the ground. All the kids had been staring at Ashton since he came in anyway, and these ones weren't different. But more importantly, one of the teachers jumped up almost immediately.
"Is that- Did you come here because of our post in that community thing?" he asked, desperation in his eyes. Ashton slowly nodded.
"Yes, I did."
A smile appeared on the man's face, which faded as soon as it came when he also realised, "You're... alone?"
"I am. But don't worry, I'm more than enough. For now, though," Ashton clicked his finger, and the Backpacker appeared beside him, giving him one of the potion bottles, "Show me where you're hurt. Those monsters can wait."
[A [Bonus Chapter] has been redeemed]
[Currently Available Milestones]
[+2 Chapter | 20 Reviews | 10/20]
[+2 Chapter | 150 Ratings | 87/150]
[+2 Chapter | 200 Favourites | 161/200]
[+2 Chapters | 1000 Followers | 823/1000]
[Current [Bonus Chapters] in queue... [5 Chapters]]
! There, you will find 15 Chapters ahead of Schedule!