Chapter 20 The Preparation

Elysia grabbed the steering wheel, turning to the right of the peninsula, spotting a small overgrown town on the left fifteen minutes later. Instead of docking, she slowed her boat to a stop and anchored offshore.

She stared out the window at the town, scrutinizing every detail. Is it a dungeon? It doesn’t have algae so I don’t think it’s crabs again, but I could be wrong. Zombies are still a possibility. I would rather avoid seeing one of them ever again. At the very least, it looks uninhabited, so I think I am safe from someone reporting me. Though just to be safe, I think I’ll hide my boat around the corner in a small bay on the map. Dungeon or not, I think I’ll do some training and prep work out here. It’s still early so I have plenty of time.

After scanning her control room bedroom, she grabbed the backpack holding six of the crab knives before picking up the other two off the table to the left of the couch. Now armed, she trotted out the back onto the read deck toward the now dry but stinky carpet rolls. Her eyes watered from the stench, but she pushed on, forcing herself to adjust to her extra sensitive nose.

She dragged the rolls to the center of the deck before standing them up at varying distances, then backed away, putting some distance from the targets, standing just before the steps leading to the lower rear deck. Her right hand grasped a crab dagger, flipping her wrist, sending it flying toward the rolls.

Unlike her crab hunting spree, the dagger grazed the left most target before sliding along the polished wood plank desk. She frowned as she let loose another dagger just barely hitting a target, this time on the right of the same target. Where did my accuracy go? I nailed crab mouths from twice this at Neah Bay.

Refusing to give in, she unleashed two more daggers in quick succession, finally sticking the second one in the left middle roll. The last four followed the same pattern, with one out of four sticking while the rest barely missed or grazed a target, fortunately, without causing damage to her boat.

As she retrieved her daggers, her mind wandered. I think the system helped me somehow in the dungeon. It would explain why I only have novice knife throwing level one. Without whatever support I had, I suck. Still, I think this has promise. If I can perfect throwing knives, I could have multiple portable lightning rods to call upon saving me charge. I don’t know if I can rely on throwing knives as a primary weapon, but it doesn’t hurt to have them in my arsenal. My staves and spears don’t seem to have a long life, though they are pretty easy to make.

After returning to the edge of the desk, she continued her assault, flinging the daggers with slightly increased accuracy with each throw. The second-round stuck three but one right at the edge. Aided by her attributes, her throwing arm remained fresh, effortlessly flinging another eight, with three hitting the center of carpet rolls. When the fourth sound yielded her four sticks, she changed it up on the fifth, throwing half with her left arm, missing all four, but only slightly.

Novice Knife Throwing Level 2.

A smile formed from the notification as it meant progress, but unsatisfied, she continued.

Over the next hour, she steadily improved, now consistently hitting the target 3 out of 4 with her right and 1 out of 4 from her left.

As she let her last dagger of the round fly from her left hand, nailing the center of the far left carpet roll, another notification appeared.

Novice Knife Throwing Level 3.

With that notification, she took a break, picking up her daggers, slotting them into the backpack before trotting inside to grab water. While sipping on the water bottle, she brainstormed. What else should I work on? My knife throwing is nowhere near where I need it to be, but I don’t think I’ll make any more progress flinging daggers for hours nonstop. My arm is throbbing anyway. Just the point I can throw that many is a testament to how much stronger my body has become. As much as I would love to practice my lightning, I can’t just spam it without a way to recharge handy. Maybe I’ll stumble upon a functioning power plant sometime. A dam would be my best bet since I can reach it by boat. I wonder where the nearest one would be. I miss the internet.

Elysia plopped on the couch in the control room, nibbling on dried berries while looking over her available slotable skills. She placed Electrify in the third slot, triggering a notification.

Electrify Slotted +15% Power +10% Efficiency.

Next she slotted Lightning Rod, figuring it to be the next handiest skill.

Lightning Rod Slotted +30% Power.

Unsure what else to slot, she waved away the menu and stood up. With a hesitant expression, Elysia glanced toward the stairs leading below deck. In case I run into something really stinky, I should adjust to my increased sense of smell. The best way to do that is in a somewhat safe environment like whomping below deck. I think next on the list is tearing out the drywall. The drywall is beyond saving and I made a bunch of holes anyway. Besides, I need it out of the way to deal with the wiring issues later.

After a few minutes of procrastination, she released a sigh before opening the door. Her eyes watered instantly, but she pushed through, descending the stairs. She stood on the discolored but dry plywood subfloor, breathing through her nose with her eyes closed. Several minutes passed before her nose adjusted, allowing her watery eyes to dry.

First, she pulled the TV and speakers off the walls with surprising ease, dropping them in the center of the room before surveying the drywall.

Elysia unsheathed her hunting knife, choosing to start to the right of the stairs and work around. With the knife, she stood on her tiptoes, reaching the knife as high as she could before cutting a line to the floor. At first, it resisted, but halfway down the soggy drywall barely took any effort to cut, reinforcing her decision to remove it. Why put drywall in a boat? I would use something water resistant. It’s like they cheaped out down here using regular carpet, drywall, and wiring. Most things upstairs work besides the entertainment center and even that didn’t zap me. I suppose everything cuts corners somewhere. At least they built the ship itself pretty tough.

With the knife, she pried at the cut, dislodging it from the screws before pulling hard. Several pops sounded as the drywall gave way, snapping off after a couple of meters. Now with a handhold, she ripped another chunk off, filling the air with white dust, prompting Elysia to dash upstairs to grab a mask before continuing.

An hour later, she had a pile of drywall at the center of the former living room next to the ruined entertainment equipment. It took her over a dozen trips to move the pile on the rear deck, struggling on the last one to lug the widescreen TV up the stairs.

After surveying the bedroom, finding the drywall in a passible condition other than the hole, she put it off for later, returning to the living room. One look at the blackened insulation gave her the next target. This time she was extra careful as she tore it out, trying to avoid releasing the mold and fiberglass into the air. She rolled each strip of insulation between the beefy metal frame of the hull into rolls, carrying them to the rear deck separately until all that was left of the walls was wiring, frame, and the inside of the hull. Several new dents caught her attention, but nothing leaked to her relief. Just in case, she knocked on the hull sheeting but found it solid. I wonder where I can find some marine grade insulation and walling. Maybe a shipyard, though it may be difficult if the shipyard is part of a dungeon. For now, I’ll go without insulation, though it will make it cold down here. Fortunately, it’s only May. If I avoid going too far north, I should be fine for a while. If I do decide to cross the ocean, I’ll need to fix this sooner though.

She eyed the wiring, finding several cuts in the insulation near the floor. Seriously? No wonder I got shocked. Whoever wired this section was a klutz. I’m no expert, but the wire itself looks tough, but with the cuts, shorts were bound to happen, and they did. I think I can salvage the wire for something at least, but I’ll need some tools, so I’ll save that for later. Maybe Ucluelet has a hardware store I can pilfer tools from. The system shouldn’t get too mad at me since I could argue they are essential. If not, I’ll just eat the attribute point loss if it comes to that.

With the living room as far as she could get it, she opened the door to the storage room. After inspecting the furniture, she frowned. Should I try saving them? Now that they dried, they aren’t too bad, and it would be a pain to get rid of them. The fabric itself is fine at least, but mold underneath and in the cushions could be a problem. It would’ve made more sense to use some water-resistant furniture, but the target market for this luxury yacht would probably prefer fancy looking furniture. I guess for now I’ll leave them in here until I figure out what to do with them and the living room.

Upon returning upstairs, she grabbed the dagger holding backpack and set it on the counter, stuffing it with several more meal bars, jerky, and water bottles.

Satisfied with her preparation, she trotted to the control room, raising the anchor before restarting the engines after several attempts. Once started, she coasted past Ucluelet into a small bay around the corner to the left before anchoring again.

Out on the rear deck, she leaned over the edge, staring down at the clear water, spotting normal sized fish swimming about. At least I know regular sized fish exist. I should try some fishing soon. I can’t live on dried berries and meat forever. I wonder if there is a chocolate eating proficiency with high levels allowing the user to live on chocolate. A skill like that would make me the happiest girl ever. Sadly, that’s probably wishful thinking, but it won’t stop me from eating chocolate in the hope it comes true.

Elysia shook her head to clear her delusion, refocusing on the task at hand. She weaved around her increasingly cluttered rear deck to her raft. After checking its inflation, she dragged it down the steps to the lower rear deck before dropping it in. Once tied to the deck, she fetched the motor, waddling her way down the steps, sliding it onto the back of the raft. Another waddle trip brought one of her stolen gas tanks to the raft, finding the gas line attachment the same to her relief. With her boat ready, she returned to the cabin, rolling her bike over to the raft and laying it down. Finally, she grabbed her dungeoning backpack and cinched it tight to her back.

After scanning the boat for anything she may have missed, she returned to the raft, untying it before hopping in. With a sharp yank, the motor fired up, purring at an idle. She turned her boat to exit the bay, flying over the calm waters around the bend until the docks of Ucluelet came into sight. Past the docks was a beach, allowing her to ram her boat onto shore, pulling it the rest of the way up. She stepped out of her raft, tying the raft to a tree before lifting the ebike out. Between the trees, she spotted what remained of a road, so she ventured toward it.

The moment she stepped through the tree line onto the grassy road, a familiar notification displayed in her vision.

You have entered Ucluelet! As the first participant, you shall receive 50% XP boost.