Hergy, The Royal Chef, Lvl 15* stood at the end of the table and turned to look us over. She brought a pointed knife up to her chin in thought “I wasss wonderrring what to make forrr dinnerrr. YOU WILL DO!” The various butchering knives that were buried in the cutting board and butcher block shot into the air and streaked towards Johnny and myself.

Johnny threw up a barrier and deflected a good many of the dozens of knives that tumbled towards us. It didn’t last though and I heard him grunt as he caught a rather wicked looking serrated knife in his right shoulder. Which was better than me. His barrier only covered himself and I had to use my own agility to avoid the assault of pointy objects. I managed well but still caught two in my vest and another that sunk painfully in my thigh. Kaia and Brother Coyote had already spread out and began a mad charge for the Chef.

“Doooon’t fight, he he he, yourrr end isss inevitable.” She taunted as she jumped up onto the dinner table and charged our position. The coyotes dove in on her in uncanny coordination, Kaia went for her head and Brother went for her feet. Hergy giggled and a pair of silver serving platters sprung up from the table and smashed the coyotes back. They tumbled onto their backs and quickly sprang up and prepared their next attack.

“MAG DUMP!” I yelled as I drew my pistol and began stroking the trigger. She cackled and more platters sprung up and deflected the majority of my shots away from her. The shots that landed caused her to flinch and then she cackled madly and flung more knives at me as Johnny finished healing his wounds and thrust with one of his spears. The attack was again blocked and he jumped back as another trio of knives spun through the spot where he had launched his failed attack.

I reloaded my pistol and fell back a few meters to create some distance. She pointed a crooked finger in my direction and every sharp object in the room gathered in front of her in a swirling maelstrom of deadly metal and then rocketed towards me. I flipped a small serving cart up and braced as the onslaught struck the impromptu shield. It lasted all of 3 seconds and then exploded around me, I fell backwards somehow managed not to get skewered in the process.

Kaia took the moment to lunge in and take a chunk out of her arm. She hissed at him and another trio of knives smashed into his flank and he yelped and tumbled to the side. When she launched the attack KEEN OBSERVATION pinged and I realized every time she launched one of those attacks the oven flared to life. How does that play into defeating her?

Johnny, we need to shut down her oven, I think it’s what is feeding her ability to keep throwing everything but the kitchen sink at us.

I have nothing I can think of that can help us with that. He responded.

I continued shooting at her ineffectually and Johnny continued to take stab at her with his spear. KEEN OBSERVATION was still churning helping my mind process the situation around me while I fought. Hergy flung another cluster of knives in my direction and I slipped behind a stone pillar and took a breath as the projectiles impacted the pillar with reverberating force. This was the first time I took a look at the ‘livestock’ wall of cages. I peaked around the pillar and saw Brother Coyote beat back by a tenacious serving platter. I looked the other direction and saw a large barrel sitting near the oven on wooden supports. I looked across the room and saw another massive barrel in a similar position.

COLD BLOODED INTELLECT was now ringing in my ears and I knew this was the solution to the flying cutlery. I turned to Brother Coyote and Kaia, pointed at the barrels and yelled “KNOCK THE BARRELS INTO THE OVEN!”

Hergy snarled at me and another maelstrom of knives formed at her finger tip. I ducked behind another pillar as the attack launched towards me. Kaia and Brother Coyote charged from the end of the room and leapt at the barrels. The maelstrom struck the pillar in a roar of ringing metal as the coyotes impacted the barrels with their shoulders. Kaia was bigger than Brother Coyote and his barrel slowly tipped with the impact and then fell towards the oven in slow motion.

“NOOOOOOOO!” Hergy screamed a blood curdling cry. The barrel impacted the edge of the oven and the water contained within exploded and doused a large portion of the flames. “YOU WILL RUIN THE MEALLLL!”

The other barrel rocked precariously on the verge of tipping. Hergy spun and summoned another maelstrom and the serving platters started falling from the air. “CRACK SHOT!” The round struck her in the left back shoulder and she rocked forward. The maelstrom faltered and she raised a platter to defend her back and then condensed a much smaller attack than she had been slinging at us before.

Brother Coyote began to leap for the barrel as it seemed to be stalled in its collapse. The Chef let the attack fly and Johnny stepped into the path with a barrier in place. The weakened attack deflected from the barrier and Hergy screamed in rage. Brother Coyote smashed into the leaning water barrel and it fell quickly to smash against the oven and flood the last remaining embers.

Hergy wailed furiously, “RRRRRRRUINED! IT’SSSS ALLL RRRRRRUINED!” For the first time in the fight she picked up two of her wicked looking butcher knives. She leapt off the table knocking over the ‘main dish’ as she did. Then she was swinging madly at Johnny. Kaia and I charged from our position by the now extinguished oven to support him. Brother Coyote had landed in the support structure for the water barrel and was attempting to free himself when Johnny brought the butt of his spear around into the temple of the fat kobold. She looked on stunned as she flew sideways and slid to a stop under Brother Coyote.

Forgot he’s probably as strong as me, maybe stronger. I mean the system did basically reward me for my age and Johnny’s got a couple decades on me at least.

Brother Coyote lunged awkwardly for Hergy’s head but she wasn’t completely stunned and she rolled to the side and all he got was a piece of her bloody apron. Brother Coyote finally broke free as the kobold backed into a corner with nowhere else to run. She hissed and snarled, fear danced in her eyes. She was out of tricks. She knew it, and we knew it. I looked at Johnny and waved my hand. He closed on her and plunged his spear into her neck. She of course tried to deflect the attack but failed and squealed for half a second before she began to choke on her own blood.

Johnny pulled his spear from Hergy’s neck and let her body slump to the floor. I walked up and checked her body for loot and found nothing of interest. Johnny leaned against the macabre dinner table with his spear held upright between his feet and took a deep breath.

“You’re stronger than you look, old man.” I smiled at him as I moved to the other end of the table.

“Stronger than I’ve been in years.” He smiled back.

I looked around the fringes of the room at the cages with bodies in them. Then back towards the oven where I saw a wooden chest had appeared, the seam between the lid and the body of the chest gave off a faint glow. I walked up and touched it and jumped back when it sprang open in a kaleidoscope of color.

A light shirt of hide of clearly native origin appeared first. I analyzed it as he took it in his hands.

Leather Jerkin of the Coyote (Rare)

+100 Mana

+10 Agility

+10 Perception

“Got a theme going there don’t you?”

He smiled and quickly pulled it on over his T-shirt. He was certainly starting to look the part of a legendary Navajo Mystic. The next item to appear was clearly for me.

A ballistic shield sprang up from the chest. It stood about three and a half feet tall with a gentle curve on the left side. On the top right was a small notch that extended out from the right side of the shield made to brace a rifle. It was all black and appeared to be made of AR500 steel. It felt too light in my hands, though my system enhanced strength was probably compensating for what should have weighed 75 pounds. I whistled out loud when I analyzed it.

Ballistic Shield of the Rifleman (Epic)

+100% Kinetic Absorption (Small Arms), +25% Kinetic Absorption (Heavy Weapons)

+25% Energy Absorption

+50% recoil control when using rifle type weapons

+20 Strength

Special Ability: Brace - when using the shield can brace for increased knockback and stun resistance equal to total strength, costs 50 stamina per activation and lasts 30 seconds or until cancelled.

Niiiiiiiiice.

I looked back smiling about my new toy and noticed that Johnny and Brother Coyote were checking the cages for anyone still alive. I went back to the front of the room to check on the young girl I had seen before the fight started. I found her with a knife sticking from her eye. I looked at Johnny as he finished his inspection of the other side of the room.

“I have found three that still live, though…”

I came over to him and looked at the three he had freed from the cages. The first was a young woman, maybe in her early twenties who had her left arm removed below the elbow, other than that she looked relatively fine all things considered. She refused to look at us and simply murmured something even my enhanced perception couldn’t make out. She was naked and tried to curl up to protect her modesty.

The next was a young boy of about ten with sandy blonde hair wearing a pair of swimming trunks. Confirms our suspicion. He appeared to be whole until he opened his mouth to speak. His tongue had been removed. And salty streaks remained of the tears he had shed.

The next man was propped against a wall and my mind swam with bewildering thoughts. HOW the hell had he survived!? I looked at the body of the ‘main dish’ and then back at him and realized what his fate would have been. All of his limbs had been removed, even the frank and beans. The anguish on his face was apparent, even so he smiled weakly when I knelt next to him. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. He knew I knew what needed to be done.

“Take the others out and back to the intersection, we will decide what to do when I get there. Maybe check on Alyssa?” I said quietly.

Johnny nodded wordlessly and chivvied the other two into motion and exited the room. I sat in front of the man who had not fared well under the first 24 hours of the system.

“I’m Karl. What’s your name?” I asked the man looking straight into his weary eyes.

He gave me a wan smile and responded softly “Nate. I’d shake your hand but…” And his eyes drifted to the stump of his shoulder.

I smiled back, almost chuckled even, didn’t seem right though. Instead I placed a hand on what was left of his shoulder, drew my pistol and asked “Kids? Family?”

He shook his head and tears began to roll down his cheeks. I squeezed his shoulder, stood and stepped to his side. I pointed my pistol at his temple and pulled the trigger. His body slumped to the ground and a combination of sorrow and rage welled up from my stomach into my chest. And I cried.