Survival Interval: 448

Kyrie and Michael were up by 0400. After getting ready they immediately set out. Their destination was the center of downtown. They knew exactly where they were headed since outposts, now open for business, were now delineated on the tactical map by fort symbols. Oddly enough there were several others throughout Vargas city. The downtown outpost was the closest to them now, but if Michael had proceeded south from where he initially started he would have run into another outpost on the other side of the freight district days ago.

The garden district passed by in a blur. Michael missed much of it since they kept to the main roads in a straight shot to downtown, but it appeared to consist of normal buildings and several large parks. They passed through quickly although not uncontested. Hound packs and zombies attacked with a steady frequency.

At around 0800 they hit up the pink drop for the garden district. Michael and Kyrie restocked their inventory. The drop had a host of different salads with various toppings. Once again it was a completely new taste for Michael. Michael immediately placed it on par with the soup drop on how much he enjoyed the exotic foods.

Within the next hour they had crossed over into the downtown district. Large buildings rose up on all sides of them. Michael could not help but think of the black spires in Steeple city where all the affluent lived, although these skyscrapers were far shorter in comparison. Other than that, the skyscrapers of downtown were far more visually appealing. Some seemed to be made completely of windows except for the frames in between. Then there were eight story parking garages or an elegantly styled marble courthouse.

A couple times they ran into other groups of contenders. While Kyrie and Michael separated themselves from the other groups after exchanging contacts. It was clear they were headed in the same direction. Word of the outpost located in the downtown district had apparently been spread throughout the city. Michael and Kyrie looked to find the less common routes, so they could grind on the way. They even took a few side tours into buildings to kill some more low level zombies.

Michael was only able to net three more attribute points during the trip. The first he threw into endurance to give him a little more stamina to play with, but after that he decided to bring both his agility and toughness up to 15. Both could use the boost.

Name: Michael Nacht

Tier: 1

Contender: 352,603

SP: 150/150

HP: 100/100

K:--

P:40/40

S:--

Primary Attributes

Strength: 26

Endurance: 15

Dexterity: 20

Agility: 15

Vitality: 10

Toughness: 15

Secondary Attributes

Ki: –

Pulse: 4

Spirit: –

He was really coming along, approaching the limits of what a normal human could reach in strength and speed. Of course with his pulse powers he could already be considered to be on the super human scale.

The outpost came into sight, a large open lot with several overpasses running overhead on opposite corners. Other than that the grass lot looked like the beginnings of a market with tent pavilions and side shop tents. There were already hundreds of people inside the outpost. Michael analyzed one after another getting ‘unknown contender, tier 1,’ over and over again. A time or two he got a Non Contender, salesmen.

“I bet there are at least 500 contenders there already,” Kyrie remarked, staring dumbfoundedly.

Michael checked the time on his interface. It was 1613. “By the time we get there we won’t have much daylight left. Let's go take care of business, and then get out of there,” Michael stated calmly.

“You make it sound like you want to stay with me after this,” Kyrie said, smirking.

“Oh, ah,” Michael stammered, flushing. “It makes sense.” At this point, it seems it would be difficult to go after the real good stuff alone,” he concluded.

“Very well, as long as I don’t find a better option down there. If I do, I will have to go with them. After all I will likely be in high demand,” Kyrie said, using her hand to fling all hair to the side in a diva-esque manner. Then she continued. “I don’t think the battle is quite at the point where I need more than one other person in my party with me,” Kyrie said winking. She started down the road. They would hit the outpost in a matter of minutes.

Michael grimaced. She acted like she was carrying this team, but she could not have gotten either of the green drops without him either. She would have ended up as dog chow if she had tried. “You know I lost a toe for this team,” Michael called after her.

Open passing the outpost boundary on their tactical map they both received a notice.

[Welcome to the Vargas City Downtown outpost site. Outposts are safe areas free from battle threats, where contenders can buy, sell, and trade for equipment, consumables, upgrades, and weapons. Contenders are limited to spending a maximum of 3 days inside of an outpost(s) per a given week. (Warning: safe areas do not protect contenders from one another.) (Warning: the interface will prevent contenders from stealing from the interface run stores or killing shop personnel.) (Warning: Outposts will not be available during the last month of the survival battle.) Occupancy limit: 678/1000.]

“In other words we are safe from battle creatures inside, and are not allowed to steal from the store, but robbing and killing each other is fair game,” Kyrie remarked dryly.

“Well at least people cannot just lounge around most of the battle in the outpost. More than half of their time has to be spent outside,” Michael added.

“Ha, that is probably why they are closing the outposts in the last month of the battle. No safe spaces for contenders to hide away or fall back to at the end.”

“Well let's figure out how things work around here,” Michael stated, moving closer to a contender standing by himself. A blond haired man of medium height wearing a beige cloak that covered his whole body.

“Good afternoon, I am Michael Nacht and this is Kyrie Allison. We just arrived. I don’t suppose you could give an overview of the place?” Michael ventured.

The guy turned toward them. His eyebrows and stubble were as blond as his hair. His skin had more of a red tinge like he was sunburned on any piece that was exposed to the light, but it appeared to be more of a permanent flush.

“Pleasure, My name is Barret. There is not much to tell. Each stall has a handful of merchants. They are real people, like me or you. Of course their lives are not on the line, like for us. They come in here to make a bundle, which they do by keeping the prices high so they can make more money on the outside. Don’t be fooled, there is a minimum price for things, but these bastards inflate the amount as much as possible,” Barret said angrily wiping his nose.

“Today is just day 1 for the open market, so they are probably making a killing, knowing we have little choice. You guys good with being added to my contact list?” Barret asked with a scowl.

“Sure,” Michael and Kyrie answered in unison.

“Perfect, well then. I will see you around. Remember, don’t let the bastards cheat you. We are here just trying to survive and they are lining their pockets,” Barrett moved away.

“Well it sounds like he did not get a good deal,” Michael noted, watching the blond man in the beige cloak walk away.

“From the sound of it, it sounds like there is a base price, but the merchants can decide on a much higher price and refuse to sell for anything less,” Kyrie said angrily. “The guy is right. The merchants are real bastards. We are risking our lives and they are trying to make more money. What is to keep them from raising prices to absurd levels, ” she asked worriedly.

“Probably not as simple as that. There are multiple merchants per a stall, so you could always propose a lower price to one of the others. Not to mention I am sure there are incentives for how much they sell. Here let's go talk to that guy, his stall is completely open,” Michael started toward a stall that had very few contenders around it. Conversely, most of the other stalls were virtually being swarmed.

“It's probably open because all he has is crap,” Kyrie shouted after him. It did not stop her from following after him.

“You don’t have enough crowns,” the old male shop keep with a drooping face said as they arrived in front of them.

“How would you know that,” Kyrie said defensively.

“The lowest any of the items at this stall will go for is 500 crowns. Now do you have 500 crowns?” the old man said with a smug expression.

Michael’s eyes widened. He was sitting at just over 200 crowns at 214, and Kyrie had around 30 or 40 more. The shop keep was right, everything was well out of their price range, even if they could negotiate them significantly down.

“Could you show us what you have anyways?” Michael asked. “So we know what is available,” he added.

“Hmmmgrrr… sure kid,” the old man said before displaying some on his interface that he was sharing with them. A list appeared, with the man’s starting prices.

Upgrade shop

Equipment upgrade: 500 crowns

Equipment upgrade (premium): 2200 crowns

Tier 2 basic method: 1000 crowns

Bonus attribute point: 500 crowns

Secondary attribute unlock: 2,500 crowns

Base Skill level up: 500 crowns

Base Skill level up (premium): 1800 crowns

Base skill: 2000 crowns

“I don’t suppose you could tell us a little about them,” Michael flashed the guy a smile. The guy stared back at them. “What about if we gave you a crown as a tip,” Michael added.

“Hmmmmgrrr… Fine, but 3 crowns each. To do a good job I would have to describe how inventories work. I’m sure you will find the information invaluable. You might get one of the other merchants to tell you for free, or work it out as part of a deal, but they don’t seem to have the time right now,” the old man stated.

“Sure as long as the information is helpful,” Michael replied. Kyrie shrugged before nodding her head. Michael noticed that 3 crowns were automatically subtracted from his status.

“For starters, there are two types of inventories that merchants have access to: the standard inventory and the limited inventory. The limited inventory, like its name, is limited. It is made up of items sold by other contenders, but it also includes items that get added based on various criteria or conditions met by contenders. A condition could be as simple as a switch somewhere gets thrown, and items are added to inventory, but it could also be as difficult as wiping a species off the map. You will be notified, if you ever meet one of these conditions, and if you do, you will get a short period of time where you can buy them before they go out in the open market. Once item quantity in the limited inventory reaches zero they are just gone.”

“The standard inventory on the other hand are items delivered by the interface weekly or monthly, but do not assume there is an infinite supply of them. The interface determines how many of each type based on an algorithm based on factors like how many contenders and such. Sure you get the gist.” The old man sighed.

“Finally, although this is a bit beyond what you need to know, merchants can reserve portions of the inventory. It takes actual money to do so, so it will probably only be done for things that fly off the shelves. What it means for you is that things that are not available today, could be available tomorrow. Merchants can sell or trade with each other, or even resell to the interface at a higher price. It’s… I guess you could say it's a form of speculation.”

“Hau,” Kyrie snorted derisively. Michael nodded. He could understand Kyrie or Barret's position on the in-battle merchants, but he could also understand the merchants. They likely were not extremely well off either. Probably just doing what they can to support their families. Getting a good deal at a contender's expense might mean getting something for their child that the child could never see otherwise. Not that Mark would not try to get the better end of deals while in the battle. He had to survive too.

“The eight items you see here are what became available today for upgrade shops around the map. While there is only a limited quantity on each item, right now nobody can afford any of them, so it's hardly worth worrying about. Next week the quantity available will reset to whatever the algorithm determines for that week. Don’t think the prices of these won’t change either. Right now, the interface knows none of you have too much money, so prices for certain things are low so that some of the top contenders can grab some of these items.”

The old man stopped. “Can you tell us about the items, now,” Michael prompted. The guy glared at him, but did as he was asked.

“Equipment upgrades can increase a weapons length or width and perhaps even its quality if the quality is low enough. The premium option can add nifty little features such as incorporating secondary attributes into a weapon or improve the amount of shots an item may have,” the old man's frown tweaked upward forming his version of a smile as he looked at Michael’s bracer.

“Tier 2 basic method will bring you up to tier 2. It gives 20 bonus attribute points, although you can also find other methods through drops,” the old man emphasized the second half of what he had just told them. He also was giving them a look that seemingly indicated that they should look for the later and not take the basic method if at all possible.

“Bonus attribute point gives you one attribute point to add to one of your primary attributes. It will not count toward your total for the next tier.”

“Wait, can’t it also be used to raise a secondary attribute by a point,” Michael interrupted.

The old man stared at him before smiling. “No, you would need three of these. I think I know what you are asking though. Bonus points given during tier up will always follow the tier up criteria. You both are tier 1, so I can say. The automatic tier 1 upgrade gave bonus points based on performance. Points went to areas where you already had attribute points allocated. Regardless, where they went, you would get how many points you earned… So if you got one of them to go to a secondary stat point then you lucked out. Now where was I?”

“Secondary attribute unlock will allow you to pick one of your unlocked secondary attributes to unlock. Skill level ups will level up skills. Obviously the premium option will improve more features than the base option, more bang for your buck. I promise you will want the premium option if you can choose between the two. As for base skills, there are a couple of options, but I won’t go into them. Now wasn't it worth 3 crowns? Feel free to give me another as a tip,” the old man finished.

“Thank you, but our funds are limited,” Michael smiled sheepishly. “Let's go check out the stalls we can actually afford.” Michael dragged Kyrie away by her arm. The guy ‘hrrrrmmmffff’d watching them go with his arms crossed. The upgrade stall items were all out of range for now, but Michael was glad to see what was available.

The next stall they arrived at was a weapon stall. Swords, spears, and maces were aligned along the same wall with more modern weapons. When an attendant finally got around to them, Michael quickly saw that the latter firearms would be outside every contender's price range, likely for weeks to come. The worst revolver was priced at over 3,000 crowns.

The more primitive weapons however were within reach. Of course the better quality stuff threatened to clean them out as Michael quickly witnessed as Kyrie haggled over a katana that the shopkeeper priced at 275 crowns. He had only half paid attention as he sifted through the inventory himself.

“Michael, how would you like to invest in your companion?” Kyrie pleaded. Michael replied with a blank expression. “Come on, he said he would sell me this katana for 250 crowns, and I am 8 short. I just need you to spot me some… and probably buy me a potion or two,” she added.

Michael hardened his expression. “That will mean you can use my machete…” Kyrie offered. Michaels expression softened. The machete was a very durable weapon. Kyrie’s machete had a couple scratches and nicks but would still work for now. The shopkeeper had priced the same average quality machete’s at 100 crowns. While he could potentially get the price dropped to an extent, paying 8 crowns for a slightly worn version was far better. Then he would be able to save money for something he actually needed or to buy a better weapon later.

“Fine,” he said transferring 8 crowns over to Kyrie. She was excited to get the weapon and the shopkeeper was excited as well. It probably meant that the katana was sold for quite a bit over the minimum price threshold. Michael took the machete and the leather scabbard, quickly affixing it to his side.

Remembering that things could be sold, Michael offered up his stash of pipe wrenches and golf clubs. The shopkeeper did not seem enthused, but ended up giving 10 crowns for all of them. Michael kept one pipe wrench, the bat, and knife as spare weapons. Kyrie glared at him, probably realizing she could have sold the machete for more than 8 crowns, but it was too late now.

The next stall sold materials, so they passed right by that one. The shopkeeper looked as bored as the one at the upgrade stall. The next set of stalls included all sorts of general supplies. Unlike the rest of the stalls they had passed so far the items were relatively cheap. It made sense, since most of the items could potentially be found around the map if contender’s looked in the right places. Michael purchased three flashlights for 24 crowns. One for each of them and a spare.

Kyrie held her hand out to take hers, but Michael put all three in his inventory. “In case you find a better option, I would not want to lose one of my flashlights,” he said gloating. She gave him a cool stare.

They continued to be perhaps the most popular stall, the apothecary. They actually had to wait a good 15 minutes to get the attention of one of the attendants. A young female with a no nonsense expression. To be fair, she had probably been working all day.

“The inventory is out of average heal potions and down. I have no intention of negotiating, so either buy it for my offered price or you can try the next guy,” the saleswoman said, bringing up an interface with the available options.

Apothecary

Healing potion (above average) 150 crowns

Soldier shot (Average-above average) 75;100 crowns

Energy shot (poor-above average) 10-150 crowns

Sun quintessence (above average) 100 crowns

Rebuff pill (poor-above average) 5-100 crowns

“Could you explain what they do by chance?” Kyrie asked.

“An above average healing potion will restore up to 250 HP and will cure or stop most moderate conditions instantly, we are out of stock on lower quality healing potions till next week. Should have gotten here earlier if you wanted something cheaper.”

“Soldier shots are like any other shot. You stick it in your body and push the flange down. The soldier shot increases all of your attributes temporarily and decreases the chance for certain statuses or conditions to take effect. New wounds will also work to stabilize themselves. Like most of the things at the apothecary they can be toxic if taken too often, but the soldier shot is worse than most, so don’t plan on using them continuously.”

“Energy shot will restore ki, pulse, or spirit energy. Sun quintessence can be applied to a weapon. The weapon will then do more damage against beings from the undead category. Rebuff pills last about 10 minutes. You pop it in your mouth, and they will help you rebuff all sorts of debuffs and conditions while the pill melts in your mouth,” the woman concluded with a sign. It was clear she had given the same spiel many times over the day.

“How much energy does a poor quality energy shot restore,” Michael asked.

“You probably will want the poor quality or the below average at most. They restore up to 25 and 50 points respectively. Anything else?”

“I don’t suppose you have something that will help me regrow a toe…?” Michael asked.

“Pthahaha… Oh sorry. Haven’t heard that question yet,” the woman laughed sputtering. “But for now the answer is no,” she replied after composing herself for a few moments.

Damn, it was worth a shot, Michael thought as he dwelt on the options. A few minutes later they left to see what else the outpost had to offer. Michael had decided to buy the average quality soldier shot for 75 crowns, two below average rebuff pills for 20 crowns, and three energy shots for 30 crowns. It left him with 64 crowns, but he just did not need anything else. He would save them for their next outpost visit.

“I can’t believe you asked her that,” Kyrie said, punching him in the arm. “Don’t worry I’ll stick with you nine toe,” she added laughing.

“Hey you’re just saying that cause you could not find anyone better,” Michael called after her.