NOVEL NEXT Chapter 37: Penny the Murderer
Skippy moved back outside. The frosty winter air scraped at his lungs as he snuck through the snow, each step crunching as he walked forwards.
Crunch Crunch Crunch
Regardless of how nice of a winter day it was, Skippy was still grumbling as he marched through the snow by Highway 10. He was only partially annoyed. He was actually pretty happy with his latest skill purchases.
[Feather Steps] - Rare
[Feather Steps]: You possess an ethereal grace, moving with silent, effortless precision. Your steps are unheard, and you never slip or trip, always finding perfect footing. Gain +1.25% to your Stealth Mastery, Sneak Mastery, and Footwork per skill level.
Additionally, you partially defy gravity, allowing you to perform gravity-defying feats, such as running over walls, balancing on narrow surfaces, or sprinting across water. Your weight is reduced by 0.33% per skill level, making you lighter and more agile, as if you walk on air.
[Focus] - Uncommon
[Focus]: This skill grants a 5% increase to your ability to ignore distractions, including all-consuming agonizing pain. Also, this skill allows the healing of brain damage and can even restore damaged memories without requiring specialized Skills on the part of the healing individual.
The list of passive skills would help build his foundation. However, he was annoyed at having to go out into the snow on his own. He was a little annoyed that his current build wasn't meeting his expectations, but he was mostly annoyed at having to waste his day robbing stores.
He would have much rather spent his time grinding out skill levels, but Tom had ordered him to go and rob grocery stores, so that was what he was going to do. Unfortunately, he looked like he wasn't the first one to have that idea. The shopping area was flooded with people trying to buy food, water, and toilet paper. It reminded him of Black Friday, only the people were somehow even more violent.
"Ha," Skippy chuckled as he looked at the people killing each other. "What a bunch of assholes. I mean seriously. We're not even into the shit storm, and you're already this bad?"
Skippy shook his head. Those preppers were right. People were fucking sheep.
"Regardless, we need food, and I'm not going to swim in that pile of dicks." Skippy muttered to himself as he saw some fat asshole punch out of a woman over a box of toilet paper.
Skippy's eyes slid away from the people rioting and moved over to the A&W just next door. The building was empty.
"Well, it's not the no-frills. But there should be plenty of food." Skippy muttered to himself.
Activating [Mirage Step], Skippy teleported across the street he landed in the snow just in front of the building. With a quick activation of [Piercing Strike] he broke the lock on the doors and was inside.
As he had expected, the building was empty. Leaping over the counter, he rushed into the back room and into the refrigerator, where he promptly started to loot everything. Eggs, fries, condiments, vegetables, cheese, and a dozen different sodas- and god knows how many burger patties were all thrown into his inventory without so much as a second thought.
"Free food, free food," Skippy muttered to himself as he stuffed the last box of patties into his inventory.
<[Rataskurs Pocket] has Reached Level 15>
<[Rataskurs Pocket] has Reached Level 16>
<...>
<[Rataskurs Pocket] has Reached Level 20>
"I wonder if the Dairy Queen is well stocked." Skippy wondered.
Then he decided against it. The Dairy Queen was practically right next to a food riot. Better to hit up the Tim Hortens and Mcdonalds up the road. Skippy left the building just as someone yelled.
"MONSTER!!!"
Skipppy froze and turned, finding himself staring down the barrel of a gun.
"Shit," Skippy said as he activated [Mirage Step].
The gun exploded, blasting apart the after image skippy left behind as he teleported nearly thirty feet backwards. Then Skippy leaped into the snow in order to hide himself.
"Did you get it?" someone asked.
"I shot it in the face. Of course, I got it." the man who shot him said.
Skippy used [Mirage step] two more times again to gain more distance from the two gun nuts.
<[Feather Steps] has Reached Level 2>
"Hello, old friend." Skippy chuckled as his form became slightly harder to see as he entered the Timmys and made a repeat of his smash and grab. This one was a little healthier than A&W, but it was still fast food.
After he was done, he moved to the McDonald's near the corner of the intersection. That's when things got decidedly weird.
Penny found herself running through a twisted city. The buildings were warped like faces waiting for her to get closer so they could eat her. The ground beneath her feet was slick with mud and blood, slowing her down, but the chanting behind her never stopped. Goblins. Dozens of them, eyes glowing red in the darkness, teeth bared in wicked grins as they closed in. Her legs burned with exhaustion, but every step felt heavier than the last. She stumbled, falling face-first into the muck, only to feel tiny, clawed hands grab her ankles, dragging her back. She screamed, but the sound was swallowed by the night as they swarmed over her, biting, clawing, pulling off her clothes as they prepared to …
"NO!!!!"
Penny screamed as she shot upwards, slamming her head into the underside of the table. A loud thud rang through the room as pain exploded in her skull.
"Fuck," she groaned, rubbing the knot forming on top of her head. Crawling out from under the table, she squinted against the daylight, streaming into the fast-food restaurant as a knot formed on top of her skull.
"Hey, did we wake you?" Eve asked as she sat down next to her.
"No," Penny mumbled, her fingers still massaging the lump on her head. "What happened? I remember stumbling into a building and then …"
"We got here, then you passed out in one of the booths," Eve explained with a small smile. "Honestly, we were all pretty out of it by that point, so we just slept here for the night. Come on—the kitchens are still working, and the other girls made you breakfast to show their appreciation."
"Appreciation?" Penny echoed, confused.
"Well, yes. Penny, you got us all out of there."
"I … I didn't know what I was doing, and I'm still amazed it went as well as it did, " she admitted.
Breakfast, as it turned out, was McDonald's pancakes followed by a small mountain of bacon and French fries. She all but inhaled the meal, and the one after that, and the one after that.
"God, you're hungry," Eve chuckled.
"I swear I'm not normally like this," Penny said as she ate her fourth helping of pancakes. "I'm going to end up so fat later."
"I don't know about you, but I haven't eaten since dinner on Monday. Mama is eating until she's full," Eve said, chowing down on her ninth egg McMuffin.
Before Penny could respond, a few other women from the group tentatively approached. One of them, a girl Penny vaguely remembered from the chaos last night, stepped forward first. She had short, spiky hair and nervously twisted her fingers together as she spoke.
"Hey, uh, Penny? I just wanted to say thank you," the girl said, her voice quiet but filled with emotion. Another girl, who had been lingering just behind, nodded in agreement. She had tear-streaked cheeks, and dark bags under her eyes came up and hugged her.
"Yeah, seriously. What you did—it saved us. I don’t know how you stayed so calm."
Penny blinked, glancing down at the remains of her food as a knot of unease formed in her stomach that had nothing to do with hunger. She hadn’t felt calm or in control yesterday, and every moment had felt like a desperate scramble, her heart in her throat the whole time as she tried not to vomit or piss herself.
"I—" Penny started, but her voice caught.
She didn't feel like a hero. She had acted to save her own ass, driven by fear more than anything else. But they were looking at her like she was something more, someone, strong.
A third girl, older than the others, came up and hugged her, cutting off any other words.
Penny just stood there. What was she supposed to do?
Further musing was cut off as the door crashed open. Penny spun around in a panic to find five men with guns all but rushing into the building.
"EVERYONE ON THE GROUND!!!" The lead man was short with a thick neckbeard and was dressed like he was going to a Renaissance fair, with only his stomach sticking out of his grease-stained shirt.
"Wait, we"
BOOM
Neckbeard fired his shot into the ceiling, blowing apart a chunk of plaster and cutting Eve off.
"GROUND NOW!!! Or I give you more holes for me to fuck!!" neckbeard screamed.
Penny and the other girls lowered themselves to the ground.
"Christ, Randy, relax," the man behind him said.
"Shut up, Nico. You three get the food now," Randy said, spittle flying from his mouth the entire time.
The three other people who had come into the building with them ran into the back of McDonald's, tossing aside any girl who was in their way as they started pulling the frozen food out of the walk-in freezer. Each one then raced back outside to meet a truck that pulled into the parking lot, dumping their food into the back before racing back into the kitchen to do it again.
"Alright, once we finish getting the food, we need to get back to the bunker. I don't want to stay out here longer than we need to," Randy said.
"Are there any other supplies we need?" Nico asked. "Anything you might have forgotten."
Penny shivered as Randie's eyes landed on her.
"Hey, what about the girls?" Randy asked
"What about them?" Nico asked
"We should take some with us."
"For what, Randy?"
"You know, for company," Randy said, making hip thrusting motions.
Penny shuddered in revulsion. She immediately started draining her mana into [Summon Demonic Familiar].
"Your fucking sick, Randy," Nico said. "We're not raping people."
"Hey, the entire planet is going to shit in a handbasket. If we leave them here, we might as well just put them out of their misery. And I don't want to be stuck in a bunker with a bunch of dudes. I'm being generous by offering them a chance to join my harem and have my babies."
"Jesus Christ, man, you need help."
"Hey, if you don't like it, you can stay out here and get eaten by monsters. My bunker is for me, my friends, and our girls. You guys aren't even Beta-testers. You're only here because Barry vouched for you!"
"I'd rather take my chances with the monster than stay in the bunker with you. You sick fuck."
Randy held up his shotgun at Nico.
"Are you disobeying me?! Grab the girls and put them in the truck. Or I will blow your fucking brains out."
"What the fuck?! You're going to kill me because I say no to you?!"
"You know where the bunker is; if you aren't with us, you're dead." Randy spat.
"You know what, Randy, go fuck yours ---"
BOOM
Nico didn't finish as Randy blew his head off with the shotgun.
The other girls screamed as Nico's brains splattered across the restaurant and his body hit the ground.
"SHUT UP OR I"LL KILL YOU TOO!!" Randy screamed.
Everyone stopped screaming, but they were all shivering in terror as he glared at them.
"Jesus Christ, Randy, what the fuck!?" one of the men transporting food dropped the crate and stomped over to Randy
"He was a traitor, Zach and if you don't want to join him, you will do as you're told!!" Randy ranted, causing the other four men to come inside to surround their apparent leader
Penny saw her opportunity and activated [Summon Demonic Familiar].
"Now grab the girls and put them in the tru -- HOLY SHIT!!!" Randy swore as Des popped into existence in his full demonic glory.
"Attack," Penny ordered.
The demon's claws ripped into Zach's belly, disemboweling him in an instant.
"Kill it!!" Randy screamed as he tried to shoot Des.
Des ducked under the attack and charged at the other men, its blades glowing hot red as it slashed across the stomach of one man, leaving a deep cauterized cut across his stomach. "Oh my god, it's killed me!! It killed me!!!" the man screamed as he dropped his gun, clutching his ruined stomach.
The demonic form twisted and spun, a blur of red and black as it danced between the bullets. As Des moved in closer, he almost seemed to be toying with them.
"Kill it!! Kill it!!" Randy’s panicked shouts were all but drowned out by the chaos of gunfire and screams.
The eight men unloaded their guns at the demon, but even when they hit Des, it seemed like he was barely affected at all. The demonic form moved with terrifying speed; his movements were fluid and precise, ducking under bullets and weaving through their line of fire as his claws ripped through a second person. Tables splintered, windows shattered, and a spray of bullets ricocheted wildly off the walls.
Unfortunately, they were still in the line of fire, and some of the girls screamed as they were hit. Penny quickly grabbed Eve and dragged her under the nearest table for what cover it could offer
"Fuck" Eve swore as she grabbed her leg.
There was a hole going in one end and out the other.
"Are you ok?" Penny asked.
"I'll live." Eve cursed as she ripped off her sleeve and started bandaging her leg.
Penny took a moment to peek out from behind the table. Two more men had died when she wasn't looking, leaving only five people and Randy.
One of the men had caught Des in his sights, but before he could pull the trigger, the demon's burning bone blade cut off his arm, cauterizing the limb as it did so. The man fell, writhing on the ground, screaming in agony as he gripped the stump of his right arm—the smell of cooked flesh filled the air.
"Why can't you idiots hit it!!!" Randy screamed, his voice cracking as he tossed aside his shotgun in disgust.
Another man rushed Des, aiming point-blank at the demon’s head with a shotgun, but Des sidestepped; instead of taking his head, the slug ripped off the demon's left arm.
"I got it. I got ---" The man's words were cut off as Des's blade pierced its neck.
The man crumpled; he didn't so much scream as spew blood across the greasy floor.
"How isn't it dead?!" Randy screamed
"Randy, we gotta get out of here!" one of the men yelled, backing toward the door.
"Shut up and kill it!!!" Randy screamed again. "Crystal Buckshot"
Des lunged at another man, blade raised to strike—but a loud blast echoed through the room, and finally managed to stagger the demon. Randy had ditched the shotgun and sent shards of gemstones shooting from his hands. The unexpected attack sent Des skidding backwards.
"Dammit, I didn't want to waste my mana." Randy cursed. "Crystal Spears"
Spears made out of what appeared to be pure diamonds shot towards Des. But the demon wasn't finished. Snarling, Des charged towards Randy.
One of the other men tried to get in the way, but Des cut him down without a second thought.
"Got you!!" Randy cheered as a spear of diamond stabbed through his friend and impaled Des.
Des froze its head, turning to see the crystalline spear sticking out of his chest before the demon collapsed to the ground like a sack of bricks, its body evaporating into nothing.
"Ha, you see," Randy screamed to the ceiling. "I might even get the [Demon Slayer] class for this."
"You killed Carl," the one-armed man screamed.
"So what? That's why we have a healer at the Bunker so that we can resurrect the dead."
Randy's eyes flicked to the girls, and he licked his lips, sending shivers down Penny's spine.
"You girls killed a lot of my men, and I'd say you owe us for that," Randy said, smiling as he stalked towards them, his hand going to unbuckle his pants. Penny's found her hand reaching for her dagger as he stalked closer to her.
"Randy, I want to go first." One of the large men said, licking his lips as his eyes stared at her chest.
"You already ruined that other girl, Lee. If you keep breaking your toys, I won't give you new ones. Though, since she summoned the demon, I guess you can have the blonde. I'll take the short one." Randy chuckled.
Thump
Randy froze and spun around, a wall of crystal coming up just in time to stop a sword from taking off his head. But it was the thing holding the sword that drew everyone's attention. An anthropomorphized squirrel dressed up in kid's clothes was smiling at Randy.
"You know, when I got here and saw the demon, I wasn't sure who the good guys were. I'm not wondering that anymore."
The squirrel chuckled as he disappeared, bullets ripping through the air where he had just been. The squirrel reappeared next to one of the gunmen and nearly bisected him with his sword.
Penny didn't let the opportunity disappear. Gripping her knife, she swung at Lee. The big mana didn't even see her before she buried the knife in his neck. Wet, hot blood spurted out across her face as she stabbed him again and again as she screamed at him. Her knife never stopped making holes in the rapist's body.
The squirrel was making quick work of the other rapists, but Penny wouldn't stop, or maybe she couldn't stop. When she finally stopped stabbing Lee, she took his gun and raised it at Randy as he missed the squirrel with yet another spell.
"Don't move," she ordered.
Randy froze and stared at her carefully, raising his hands in surrender as he started backing away.
"I said don't move," she shouted at him.
Her heart was racing in her chest so loudly she could barely hear anything.
Then Something moved off to her left. Swinging around, she squeezed the trigger.
BANG
She stopped staring at the one-armed man she had just shot; his hand was raising a gun, but now he was looking down at the massive bloodstain running down his shirt. He didn't say anything. That was the worst part, the silence as he slumped over, dead.
"[Waypoint]," Randy called out, disappearing in a flash.
Penny barely even noticed her ears were ringing from the shot. She had killed a man. Not an orc or some monster, but a human being.
Penny felt her stomach churn, and before she knew it, she was kneeling on the ground as she threw up her breakfast. She didn't know when she started crying, but she was. Even as she tried to regain control over herself as she was taking deep gulping breaths for air as she tried to steady her sobbing.
Eve and the squirrel man came over to her. Eve held her hair as the squirrel rubbed her back.
She didn't know how long she sat there, but eventually, she was able to talk again.
"Hey, you ok, Penny?" the squirrel asked.
"How … how do you know my name?" Penny asked, tightening her hand around her dagger's hilt.
"What do you mean how do I … oh right, I changed my race. Eh, hem. I am Skippy the magnificent," Skippy said.
"Who?" Penny asked
Skippy looked crestfallen.
"Skippy? Sawyer Ownes? …. I'm Tom's friend." Skippy said.
"Hector?"
"The other one!!" Skippy said in mock outrage.
"Oh," Penny said as she finally put two and two together. "Sorry."
"You know him?" Eve asked concerned.
"I think so," Penny admitted.
"I'm right here, you know." Skippy quipped.
"Why are you a squirrel?" Penny asked in confusion.
"I apparently made a poor choice," Skippy grumbled, clearly annoyed, as he started to collect the food the men were carrying. He just picked it up, and then it disappeared.
"More importantly, what the fuck happened to you guys?" he asked.
"We were attacked by goblins." Penny started.
She told him everything: how she had been kidnapped, meeting Eve, escaping the goblins the demon, and even how the men had broken in. Once she started, she couldn't stop.
"Alright, alright. Once I collect everything here, I'll take you all back to Hopkins. My guild owns the school. We even have police guarding the place. We're still building the magic defenses, but it's probably the safest place in the Vancouver area right now. You'll be safe there." Skippy said.
Penny was tired, exhausted even, so she just nodded. It wasn't a long trip—the school was just around the block. But the moment Penny entered the school, it felt like a weight had been dropped from her shoulders. She fell asleep in the cafeteria as they were waiting for food.
You may skip to the next chapter.
Name: Penny Noel
Race: Human
Type: Humanoid
LVL: 11
SubRace: Caucasian
Age 18
Health: 320
Stamina: 400
Mana: 1260
Health Regen: 4.0 per hour
Stamina Regen: 4.8 per min
Mana Regen: 1.6 per min
Titles: Free*, Breaker of Chains
Immune
N/A
Resistances
N/A
Weakness
N/A
Bane
Manslayer
Classes: Courtesan 4 / Warlock 4 / 3 Levels Unassigned
Total
STR: 0
AGIL: 0
DEX: 0
CON: 24
END: 16
PER: 0
INT: 63
WILL: 0
SPIRIT: 16
EGO: 8
CHA: 53
LCK: 0
Base
STR: 0
AGIL: 0
DEX: 0
CON: 24
END: 16
PER: 0
INT: 63
WILL: 0
SPIRIT: 16
EGO: 8
CHA: 49 +10%
LCK: 0
+56 INT
Racial: +3 CON +2 END +2 SPIRIT +1 EGO
Skill Slots: 12/60: Skill Points: 1
Personal Skills
- [Pursuit Hunter] - Level 10
- [StoryTeller] - N/A
- NEW!!! [Knives] - Level 1
Courtesan 5/11
- [Charm Speak] - Level 8
- [Poison Nail] - Level 4
- [Walk of Shame] - Level 7
- [Pheromone Control] - Level 1
- [Get Naked] - Level 2
Warlock 5/11
- [Summon Demonic Familiar] - Level 5 >> Level 7
- [Blood Conversion] - Level N/A
- [Air Magic] - Level 1
- [Channel Magic] - Level 4
- [Demonology] - Level 2 >> Level 3
Name: Skippy
(Sawyer Owens)
Race: Theirinthrope
Type: Humanoid / Beast
LVL: 17
SubRace: Squirrel
Age 18
Health: 425
Stamina: 595
Mana: 340
Health Regen: 5.1 per min
Stamina Regen: 6.8 per min
Mana Regen: 3.4 per min
Titles: Beta-Tester, First, Awoken Myths
Immune
None
Resistances
Physical 12%, Elemental 12%, Magical 12%, Vitality 12%, Mind 12%, Soul 12%, Crit 24%, Poison 24%, Disease 24%, Insta-Death 24%
Weakness
None
Bane
Manslayer, Beastslayer
Classes: Swordsman MAX, Dancer 7
Total
STR: 17
AGIL: 221
DEX: 102
CON: 34
END: 17
PER: 119
INT: 17
WILL: 17
SPIRIT: 17
EGO: 17
CHA: 17
LCK: 153
Base
STR: 17
AGIL: 221
DEX: 102
CON: 34
END: 17
PER: 119
INT: 17
WILL: 17
SPIRIT: 17
EGO: 17
CHA: 17
LCK: 153
Personal: +4 AGIL +4 PER +3 DEX +3 LCK
Racial: +3 AGIL +2 DEX +2 PER +1 CON
Bloodline: +5 AGIL +5 LCK
Level Bonus: +1 to all Stats
Bloodline:
[Bloodline of Ratatoskr] - Legendary: The Blood of the Legendary Squirrel who runs up and down the length of the world tree carrying insults from the dragon Nidhogg at the roots to the great eagle at the top of the tree.
- [Ratatoskr's Tongue] - Level 4 >> Level 6
- [Ratatoskr Instincts] - Level 18 >> Level 26
- [Ratatoskr Vicious Mockery] - Level 20 >> Level 24
- [Nidhogg's Gift] - Level 7 >> Level 11
- [Ascending Yggdrasil] - Level 15 >> Level 20
- [Aura of the Divine Beast] - Level 12 >> Level 16
- [Defiant Regeneration] - Level 16 >> Level 23
- [Raid Boss Physiology] - Level 16 >> Level 24
- +5 to AGIL per level
- +5 to LCK per level
Skill Slots: 14/60: Skill Points: 0
Personal Skills
- [Stamina Burn] - Level 8 >> Level 12
- [Rataskurs Pocket] - Level 14 >> Level 20
- [Mapping] - Level 17 >> Level 20
- [System Wiki] - Level 8 >> Level 10
- [Blades] - Level 27 >> Level 30
- [Sneak] - Level 1 >> Level 13
- [Assassination] - Level 1 >> Level 5
Swordsman 6/6
- [Perfect Strike] - Level 12 >> Level 16
- [Piercing Strike] - Level 26 >> Level 27
- [Soul Strike] - Level 16 >> Level 19
- [Far Strike] - Level 20 >> Level 23
- [Venom Strike] - Level 19 >> Level 21
- Capstone: [Manifold Strike] - Level 13 >> Level 15
Dancer 05/6
- [Swagger] - Level 22 >> Level 27
- [Mirage Step] - Level 20 >> Level 24
- [Gymnast Grace] - Level 12 >> Level 18
- [Feather Steps] - Level 1 >> Level 14
- [Focus] - Level 1 >> Level 4