The Connected System

They spent the night on Saddleback Mountain, down off the peak and out of the wind where the trees could provide some shelter. It was a quiet night, nothing disturbing them. Loch thought he’d felt the same feeling as the other night, maybe the same creature, but it had been fleeting. Only a couple seconds, not long enough to be sure of it even existing.

Loch wanted an early start, the group up just as the sun started rising in the west. Camp was packed up quickly and the group set off down the mountain. Instead of taking the backside of the loop, Loch had them follow the same path. They might have missed out on something by not taking the other trail, but Loch was looking for speed. They already knew what to expect since they’d come up the same way.

Even having to climb down the small cliffs, it didn’t take long to reach the bottom and Old Mountain Road. Northwood Meadows was made up of trails of varying widths, or it had used to be. Some were just for walking, others had allowed driving years ago, and some were wide enough for snowmobiles. There had been a dirt road that connected Old Mountain Road to Route 4 and the state park’s entrance.

Most of the road still existed, similar to the condition of Old Mountain Road. Parts of it were overgrown, the trees now growing close in, the canopies hanging over the road, casting it in shadows. They were able to make good time, not bothering to stop for lunch but eating as they walked. It was only more jerky and some water.

Cerie had mentioned how some meals, prepared with special beast meat and herbs, could provide temporary stat boosts, even buffs. Loch hoped they’d be able to get the Clan’s Cooks Classed and making those food items. Not only was he tired of jerky, but any bonuses would be extremely useful. Loch really wanted good food again.

He’d never been a foodie. Never been adventurous with what he ate but he couldn’t wait until the Clan got to the position of having a surplus of food and not having to ration it anymore. He didn’t know when that day would be but hoped it would be soon.

After the winter most likely.

They had to get through the winter first.

***

Loch remembered the years when Meadow Lake had dried up. It had been a man-made lake, with a dam at the south end to hold the water in. The dam had failed and the lake had drained. It had taken a couple of years before the State had repaired it, allowing the water to fill up again. No one swam in the lake, there had been some fishing, but it had mostly been for the wildlife. Ducks, other birds and turtles had lived there, the woods filled with deer, beer, fox and other animals.

He looked down at the dead fox at the water’s edge. The Red Stalker Fox had started to retreat when it knew it was dying. It had only made it the twenty feet to the edge of the water, collapsing half in and half out, its blood mixing with the murky water of the lake. A normal fox wasn’t that big, the Stalker Fox had been enlarged by the Connection but only to the size of a wolf.

The trail they’d come down had been heading west, intersecting with the trails that ran north and south around the lake. The Fox had charged at Harper and Elora, coming up the south trail. It hadn’t stood a chance. The two had killed it before anyone else could even react.

Being near the back, Loch hadn’t even been able to see the fight. He’d heard the growls, yips and then pained cries of the Fox. That was it. The fight had ended in seconds. The two had made efficient slices. Both Harper and Elora fought in a way that led to dozens of small wounds versus larger wounds. The Fox must have been lower in Level that their first couple strikes were enough to kill it. The dark red furred hide looked to be in pretty good shape. There would be some meat on it. He wondered how different Fox tasted from Lynxia.

“Any of you able to harvest hides,” he asked the scavenger team.

“I can,” one of the women answered. “I have a general harvesting Ability. From what I understand,” she started, glancing at Cerie for confirmation, as she walked forward pulling a knife from her belt. “It’s not as good as a specialization so I won’t get as much hide but it’s better than no Ability.”

Loch stepped aside to let her get to the Fox. Barbara Johnson was in her mid-40s, brown hair starting to gray. Loch didn’t know where she was from originally, this was the first time he’d spent any time with her and they really hadn’t talked much at all. He didn’t even know when or how she’d gotten to the Clanhold or why she’d chosen to be one of the scavenging teams. The only reason he knew her name was they’d all introduced themselves back on Route 4 when split from the rest.

He felt bad about not knowing all the people in the Clan. There were just too many and more coming almost everyday. He wouldn’t be expected to know everyone or their life stories. It still bothered him though. There weren’t that many. Only around two hundred now and Northwood had over four thousand people before the Connection. He hadn’t known all four thousand but he’d known a lot. Add in his co-workers and other people he knew. That was a lot of people so why couldn’t he at least know the names of all the members of the Clan?

Barbara crouched down, looking over the hide before setting the blade of her knife against it. Loch turned away, letting her work. He stepped over to the edge of the water. There was no beach, the grass running right into the water where ferns and other plants started to grow. Lily Pads and weeds filled the shoreline and out into the lake. He could see some large rocks poking above the surface of the lake and in a couple spots where the trail was visible through gaps in the trees.

How many times over the years had he walked the loop trail around the lake? Kelly, the girls and himself had picnics in various spots multiple times. They’d probably hiked every inch of trail in the Meadows. But now it was so different. Parts were the same, recognizing some of the familiar landmarks, but it had grown and new landmarks had appeared. Something disturbed the surface of the water, causing waves to form. He followed the movements as whatever it was swam around. It was joined by another one, the two ripples moving around each other. He couldn’t make out the size or shape, just saw the disturbance of the formerly calm waters.

He thought of Unfey, the Dragon Turtle living in Harvey Lake. And the giant loon-like Gavia flying around Northwood Lake. Did every large body of water have a large and seemingly unique creature living near it?

That was a scary thought.

He didn’t doubt that there were monsters in the lake. Just what kind and what size were questions. There were beavers in the area. Had there been otters in the lake? He didn’t think so. Turtles and frogs. What else?

Judging by the size of the ripple, whatever was swimming through the lake was large. Meadow Lake had never been a deep lake but that had most likely changed with the Connection.

Loch watched the waters as Barbara worked on the fox. Brian, Jenny and Elora were spread out watching the three trails. The other scavengers had spotted some plants in the surrounding woods and were quickly gathering them. Piper and Harper walked over to stand next to their father, looking out at the lake.

He wondered what they were thinking. Remembering the many times they’d all been there? The times Harper had come with her friends? The first time they’d done a solo trip as teens, Loch had wondered if they were going to meet boys at the Meadows. Back in his hometown, they hadn’t had a central park or any areas to gather, but if he had been a teen in Northwood then the Meadows would have definitely been the place to secretly meet.

Loch didn’t ask them, letting the girls have their thoughts.

“Done,” Barbara said.

Loch turned around. Barbara was standing, her clothes covered in blood. To the side was a small stack of hides, the edges mangled with some flesh and muscle still attached. Placed on top was a larger pile of meat. It was all rough cut and jagged. Glancing at the scavenger, Barbara gave him a small smile and shrug, her expression telling him that she’d tried her best.

Both his girls walked toward the trails, giving the remains of the fox a wide berth. Piper had to move a little closer, gingerly stepping to avoid the rivers of drying blood. She grimaced as she reached out, touching the hides and meat. Loch avoided watching the resources twist and warp as they entered the spatial bag.

“Good job,” he told Barbara.

“Thanks,” she replied, stepping away from the remains.

Loch wished that corpses disappeared like they did in Dungeons. Their Spirit flowed out of the bodies in the form of the multi-colored sparks, but the body remained behind. Any Resources had to be harvested, cut or removed from the body. And anything not taken stayed, waiting for scavengers to come and claim it later.

Barbara had not taken anything from the head. The red furred head, with small pointed ears capped in black and white under the chin, was still there. The eyes were still open, staring toward the water. Barbara had stopped removing the hide at the neck.

Meat and muscle still covered most of the body, the few organs that had been removed had been tossed into the woods, the rest remained attached. Bone was visible, cut marks chipped the stained surfaces.

It was not a pleasant sight but Loch had to admit that she’d done a much better job than he would have. Her Harvesting Ability had to be pretty low and she’d mentioned that it wasn’t specialized. Someone with a higher Harvesting-Skinning Ability would have done a much better job. Even someone with a lower Harvesting-Skinning Level compared to her Harvesting would have ended up doing better.

But she’d done a good enough job. They had some hides for the Clan’s future leatherworkers and she’d gotten a decent amount of meat. Loch thought maybe they could carve off some more chunks but it would be much smaller pieces. Not worth the effort.

And they’d spent enough time there.

“Let’s get moving,” Loch said, pointing to his right which was the trail heading south around the lake. “We’ll follow the trail along the shore. There’s some other side trails but I don’t necessarily want to explore everywhere this trip. If something pops up or captures our attention, we’ll check it out, but for now let’s just circle the lake.”

***

“Are you sure,” Loch asked Stuart, the Scavenger looking down at the water’s edge.

To Loch, the plant didn’t look anything special. He didn’t get a feel of increased Spirit coming off it. There was nothing different about it. To Loch it looked like just another fern. But to Stuart, there was something special about it.

“Oh yeah,” the man said, taking another step.

They were about halfway around the lake, at a part of the trail where it was ten feet or so from the shore, sloping down to the water, the space filled with tall plants and no clear way to the water’s edge. But that didn’t seem to want to stop Stuart as he took another step. One foot was off the hard packed dirt of the trail, on the steep slope.

Cerie hovered over the man by a couple of feet, glowing brightly as she looked at the plant. Her eyes flashed. She turned back to Loch as Stuart stepped fully off the path.

“That is nothing that I know,” she said, flying back to sit on Piper’s shoulder. “It is not similar to anything native to Tirna or that the Silver Bark have encountered.”

Loch turned away from the water, looking north up the trail. This part was the width of a car, just like it had always been. It served as road access to the dam that they had passed not that long ago. To the left was a slight wooded slope, more trails a hundred feet or so beyond. At least it had been a hundred feet. It was probably more now. Brian was in the rear, keeping an eye out behind them. Elora and Harper were still ahead, leaving Jenny, Julia and Piper with him. The scavenger team had spread out. If Stuart had found something, there might be more around them.

He could hear Stuart working his way through the tall bushes. It had always been thick with bushes, plants, fallen trees, but now it was even worse. They had grown thicker, not just in density but also in size. There was just more. Stuart had to pull out a machete, which he used as a weapon, to hack his way through. He cursed and grunted, the sound of blade against vine loud.

Loch looked up into the sky, seeing birds circling. By the shape of the wings, he thought them to be hawks. Larger than normal, but so far they’d shown no interest in the party. Loch hoped they wouldn’t run into any more Sunrise Phoenix. They’d have to be careful when they got close to the parking lot.

He looked back at Stuart who was now at the water’s edge. He was crouched down, holding onto a log as he stretched out toward the strange plant. The surface of the water was calm. He leaned forward, hand grasping the plant just above the water, a foot sliding into the Lake, sending out small ripples.

The ripples met a wave of larger ones.

“Look out,” Loch yelled as a creature burst out of the water.

Stuart fell back, both feet splashing in the water, clutching the plant tight to his chest as he landed on the shore breaking ferns and other bushes. The monster surged after him, jaws open as it lunged. Onyx slammed into the top jaw with a loud crunching noise.

With Windstep, Loch was there, swinging the returned Onyx down onto the long snout of the monster. It bit into the toughened scaled hide, drawing a line of black blood. Front feet landing on shore, as Stuart managed to scramble away, the creature lunged at Loch. He stepped to the side, avoiding the snout, smacking it with the flat side of Onyx.

The creature’s head snapped to the side as the back set of legs stepped onto land. It pulled a long, wide and flat tail behind it that it whipped at Loch, the entire body turning. Loch jumped up, letting the tail swing past. He landed, slicing Onyx down onto the returning tail. The axe bit deep, almost cutting the tail off.

Jerking forward, the monster tried to get away from Loch, turning and scrambling through the thick plants and bush. Loch threw Onyx at its retreating back, the hammerhead slamming into the thick scales, stunning the monster. Loch stepped forward, holding out his hand for the returning axe. It grew to its full size.

He swung the axe down onto what he thought was the creature's neck. Onyx bit deep. The creature spasmed, the body jerking as the legs kicked out, dropping the body to the ground. It stopped moving, the multi-colored sparks drifting up and entering Loch’s body as he received the kill Notification.

YOU HAVE SLAIN SCALED CROCOLISK

He had missed his chance at using Evaluate, the whole thing happening so fast. Loch didn’t know what the Crocolisk’s Level was. He didn’t think it was that high, even with his power the fight over quickly. He didn’t get much in the way of Spirit Experience, the bar in his mind barely moving. He’d noticed that it seemed like it would take a lot more to reach Level Twenty-Six than it had to reach Level Twenty-Five. Which made some sense. It was like that in many games, there being Level thresholds where it became much harder to Level after.

It didn’t help that the fights were giving him less as the opponents, even the Golems, weren’t close to his Level. He would need to find some stronger monsters to fight if he wanted to keep Leveling at a good pace.

Now that it was dead, Loch was able to get a good look at the monster.

It looked like a miniature crocodile. Or alligator. Loch could never remember which was which, but by the name he assumed it was some kind of crocodile. Had anyone ever dumped one in the Lake?

The Crocolisk wasn’t as long, only about four feet or so. It had stood higher off the ground as well, the body not as flat. Maybe twice as thick as expected. The tail wasn’t long, but shorter and wider. More like a beavers than a crocodiles. The head was the same though, close set eyes on a small ridge above the long nose filled with sharp looking teeth. The body was more brown than green, an odd mix of shades in a random pattern. There was some green mixed in, making it some kind of camouflage pattern. The hide was thick, covered in scales like a crocodile.

“That thing came out of nowhere,” Stuart mumbled, from where he now stood on the trail.

“Did you get the plant,” Loch asked.

“Yeah. No idea what it is but figured one of the crafters back home would be able to figure it out.”

Home.

Loch knew that Stuart meant the school but it was just odd hearing him refer to it as home.

Loch knew it was probably reflex. A lot of people referred to the place they slept as home, even if it technically wasn’t. But maybe Stuart was really thinking of the Clanhold as home. For all of them now, it was. At least for the time being. It shouldn’t be surprising to hear the clan members call it home, even if for most of them it was just a sleeping bag or blankets on the floor in a shared space. The school was the only place they had to go.

So it was home.

“You want me to skin that thing don’t you,” Barbara asked, pointing at the dead Crocolisk with her knife.

Loch smiled, stepping away from the body to give her room.