Vincent had no flashy plans.
Just like how he confused the paparazzi when he was in New York driving the siblings around, he simply treated the troll as a rather nimble bulldozer.
Of course, he wouldn't have attempted this risky maneuver if he wasn't alone. Otherwise, his overly cautious nature would have taken over.
While counting the seconds until Talia's spell dropped, he entered an alleyway.
The troll hadn't expected it in the rush of excitement—he was finally free of the damn curse.
That gave Vincent time to reach the end and turn, making the troll lose sight of him.
But the troll cackled, digging its fingers into the side of the building to climb sideways, as it was too big to fit normally. Gravity didn't seem to affect it much as it reached the end of the alleyway in a few seconds.
But Vincent's figure was gone.
Still, the troll laughed again, ever confident in its newfound intelligence. It followed the obvious footprints—
Over and over, until it realized ten minutes later that it had been going around the building without finding its prey.
It had been fooled.
Enraged, it screamed to the heavens.
[-3 HP]
"Geh—"
Vincent's ears rang, temporarily deafened from the sonic damage. He was inside the building, listening to its movements. But now that he was deafened, he could only hope the troll would leave the building alone.
A total of half an hour had passed since he left to deal with the troll.
Back at the store, the entire group quietly waited, only talking in whispers for fear of any other monsters nearby.
The homeless guys huddled together, no longer looking at the guns with envy but with fear instead.
The woman and her husband had reunited, refusing to leave each other's side while sitting far away from them.
Click—
The door to the back rooms opened, and they all jolted in surprise.
Angel raised her gun right away, devoid of any emotion. She had been scarily silent the entire time, and neither Talia nor Daniel could get her to talk.
The footsteps were soft, growing closer, then Vincent showed himself.
Everyone let out the breath they were holding as Angel ran and practically tackled him, planting her face against his chest, holding him tightly.
"Oof, careful. I have a slash wound right there."
Vincent eased her to the other side of his chest, patting her head gently.
"...Take me with you next time," she grumbled.
"Hahaha, I'll try."
Angel hugged him tighter, huffing.
The supply run finally continued, but this time with an extra seven mouths to feed. Thankfully, the store had more than enough to fill their pockets, bags, and more.
The couple asked to join them as soon as they found the chance, and Vincent agreed.
Later, he noticed the five homeless guys following from afar. One look was all it took for Vincent to know they wanted to join as well.
So he gave them a choice. They could join as long as they continued to act like proper citizens. Otherwise, they could keep following from a distance. During which Vincent reiterated again that he wasn't going to give them another chance.
Should they attempt to harm his friends, he was determined to put a hole somewhere other than their foot.
They were all sufficiently terrified and verbally promised they would do no such thing. All they asked for was food and shelter, which Vincent explained wouldn't be an issue as long as they worked together.
Both parties agreed.
Within less than an hour, after taking a longer but careful journey, the large group reached the mansion safely.
But once they were inside, the smell of fresh blood became apparent.
Vincent gestured for everyone to stay quiet while he and Daniel moved forward with their guns, taking one stealthy step at a time.
The blood came from the kitchen—a chaotic mess lay before them.
Angel liked to keep this place tidy, so the pans, knives, and broken porcelain on the floor were disturbing.
Vincent pressed on, gesturing for Daniel to stay by the door.
Then, he found Ashley lying on the ground, motionless.
With a kitchen knife deeply stabbed into her and the amount of blood pooling beneath her, there was no denying that she was dead.
A full house inspection later, they found all their previous food had disappeared, some essentials were missing (about a week's worth), and the parking space where the Toyota had been was completely deserted.
Xavier had left, and the little girl who had hidden inside the kitchen cabinets struggled to recount what had happened.
"I-I think it was t-ten minutes after you guys le-left."
Palya stuttered the entire time, but Vincent listened patiently, neither hurrying her nor forcing her to speak. She was 14 years old, with short black hair and white skin. But her small frame made her look younger than she was.
Xavier had been fully convinced the team would be dead. He had initially offered to take Ashley with him down south, but Ashley refused, too terrified to go outside and more inclined to cling to the hope that they would be back.
That wasn't an issue, but since Xavier planned to take all the food, he and Ashley fought.
Xavier had taken an assassin's class, with minor invisibility as its basic skill. It had been easy for him to take Ashley down.
-----------------------------------
Minor Invisibility | 300 mana | 3 seconds cooldown
-> Dark Attribute
-> Requires minimal movement
-> 6 seconds duration
-> Weak to light
-----------------------------------
Vincent took a deep breath. The smell of blood seemed to pull his mind into the dark, but he kept himself grounded, knowing twelve people were waiting for his words.
"We can't bury her with all this snow. Let's at least give her a funeral in the shed. It will be a better farewell than just leaving her outside."
The suffocating silence eased right after. Vincent's words pulled them from their depressing thoughts.
Half an hour later, Ashley's body was wrapped in extra bedsheets and placed on the ground at the center of the shed. The place was small, fit for only three people.
Everyone waited outside, watching as Palya bid goodbye to her mother.
"I can't help but feel responsible somehow," Talia spoke softly next to Angel, her blood running cold. She wasn't a stranger to death. She knew full well what type of people she hung out with.
That was why the guilt eating at her felt like a chokehold.
"We all do. It's only natural." Angel kept her eyes on Palya, seeing her own self at the time her mother had contracted COVID.
"We'll keep her safe."
"Yeah."
Peace returned, even if death loomed over their heads.
Daniel happily brought the new recruits to the Revenant's corpse, letting them whack it to become players.
There were four days left for Garret to arrive. To pass the time, everyone got busy with leveling their skills if possible.
When Vincent's Shadow Bullets leveled up, he was given three choices for its next mutation.
-----------------------------------
Hellfire Rounds* | 80 mana | 3 seconds cooldown
-> Dark/Fire Attribute
-> Requires a gun
-> Ignites targets, dealing burn damage for 3 seconds
-> 3 hr -> 4 hr Shelflife
-> Weak to light/water
-----------------------------------
Phantom Mark* | 80 mana | 3 seconds cooldown
-> Dark/Psychic Attribute
-> Requires a gun
-> Damaged targets are visible through walls for 6 seconds
-> 3 hr -> 4 hr Shelflife
-> Weak to light/metal
-----------------------------------
Shadow Bolt* | 80 mana | 3 seconds cooldown
-> Dark/Lightning Attribute
-> Requires a gun
-> Chance to paralyze targets for 6 secs
-> 3 hr -> 4 hr Shelflife
-> Weak to light/earth
-----------------------------------
It was a difficult choice. But Vincent took this opportunity to test his working theory and chose the Hellfire Rounds, even when he really wanted the Phantom Mark.
The theory sounded simple. Vincent believed that every word in a description mattered.
If Shadow Bolt only had a chance to paralyze, then did that mean Hellfire Rounds was 100% going to ignite the target?
There was no way for him to test it in the middle of the Frost Troll's Zone, however, so he pinned it.
Daniel's Quick Fix reached the threshold for mutation and he had an easier time picking through his choices.
-----------------------------------
Adaptive Repair* | 80 mana | 5 minutes cooldown
-> Metal/Psychic Attribute
-> Instantly generates the ideal tools for repair
-> Hands Free
-> Repairs minor -> moderate damage on tech
-> Weak to fire/dark
-----------------------------------
It was simply a dream come true to always have tools ready without it getting in the way.
Daniel instantly found out what "Hands Free" meant as the tools moved on its own. It was great overall but he still chose to use his hands on the more delicate parts.
Angel's Campfire finally reached level 2 before she started regretting her choice. And its effects completely kept the cold at bay, as if they were no longer in the zone.
But finding out that they could gain a full level up from the skill's mutation was what pushed her to the edge.
She was sane enough to not burn through their supplies in indignation, but whenever Daniel poured salt over her wounds, she would smack the air out of his lungs.
By the end of their wait, this was the state of their party.
-----------------------------------
Vincent lvl 3:
[28/28 Hp]
[0/300 Mp]
Angel lvl 1:
[6/6 Hp]
[100/100 Mp]
Daniel lvl 2:
[20/20 Hp]
[400/400 Mp]
Talia lvl 1:
[8/8 Hp]
[100/300 Mp]
-----------------------------------
And yes, someone from the homeless crew "volunteered" to help Talia grind her skill level to 2.