Chapter 56: The Hospital Behemoth (1)
—[QUEST: The Hospital Behemoth]—
Goal: Eliminate the Behemoth that has nested in the Three Lakes Hospital.
Progress: 0/1 Behemoth Eliminated
Time Limit: None
Reward: 6000 C.L.A.S.P. Points, 5500 Survival Points
Special Conditions: Target is a Level 18 monster with powerful regeneration abilities.
Description: Keth’moran, the Vendor, issued a quest: take down the Level 18 Behemoth hiding in the Three Lakes hospital. The hospital has all the medical supplies the survivors need. Past attempts to deal with it ended badly.
Warning: Failure to eliminate the Behemoth will leave the medical supplies within the hospital inaccessible until the beast has been killed.
—[QUEST: Medical Reclamation]—
Goal: Retrieve the medical supplies from the Three Lakes Hospital.
Progress:
Crates of Antibiotics Retrieved: 0
Surgical Kits Retrieved: 0
Rolls of Sterile Bandages Retrieved: 0
Reward: 10 C.L.A.S.P. Points per item retrieved, 8 survival points per item retrieved
Special Conditions: High-Risk: The Level 18 Behemoth guards the hospital, making any retrieval attempt extremely dangerous.
Time Limit: None
Description: With the Behemoth nesting in the hospital, the settlement’s caches of antibiotics, surgical equipment, and bandages are at risk of being ruined. Securing these resources is important to treating the wounded and preventing deaths from infection until the survivors in the Three Lakes settlement get strong enough to buy medical supplies from the vendors. Supplies may be retrieved by sneaking into the hospital or by clearing the area after the Behemoth has been dealt with.
Warning: The Behemoth will attack any intruders on sight. Each passing day increases the risk of the supplies being permanently destroyed or contaminated.
—[END]—
Reidar stood before the crumbling hospital. Its windows were mostly shattered, no doubt a gift from the behemoth or the earthquakes that ravaged the world, but surprisingly, not everything was in ruin.
Though those shattered windows reminded Reidar of something gaping, like empty eye sockets.
<Creepy...>
Vines choked the walls, another gift from the world restructuring that mana gifted to the world.
<My carbon footprint must be amazing right now.>
Those plants released a horrible stench over the area that reminded Reidar of rotting corpses.
In truth, based on what monster was inside the hospital, it was likely that the thing feasted on everything that was in the building, most likely leaving the remains behind.
<There must have been thousands of people here before the world turned into this hell.>
Maybe all those kills were the reason why the Behemoth was level 18 while the rest of the monsters were still at level 12 at best.
The only problem was that Reidar didn’t know how monsters became stronger. He only made assumptions about it.
Sure, they got stronger as they absorbed mana, which meant as time passed they were bound to get more and more problematic. But was this really everything there was to it?
<I doubt it.>
His fingers tightened around the Rift-Sprite Conductor as thoughts of monsters he could not kill surfaced in his mind.
Reidar looked at the item’s description.
<Level 9... I would need to get some better equipment. My things are too low-level now to be really useful.>
Luckily, the Rift-Sprite Conductor gave some more perks, such as increasing the damage dealt and the casting speed of the Rift-Sprite squad or an increase in damage done by Reidar’s elemental spells. Even if the item didn’t have high statistics, those skills were good.
<More than good, actually...>
He scanned the rubble-strewn entrance, noting deep gouges in the asphalt. There were claw marks wider than his torso.
The Medical Reclamation quest flickered in his vision alongside the Behemoth elimination goal.
<Let’s see what this baddie can do.>
Five forms materialized beside him as they got out of their portals, his Rift-Sprite Squad. Next came the guardian shade, then the ten skeletal warriors from his Bone Militia, who clattered into formation in front of the Rift-Sprites.
<And last!>
Then came the skill Reidar wanted to use more than anything else after he got it.
In front of Reidar appeared a panther, a bear, and a wolf, each materializing from shimmering portals of coalescing energy that vanished as soon as their forms solidified.
They were not just large. They were colossal, scaled to a size that defied any natural order. But that was the only comparison. They were large, far larger than any bear, panther, or wolf should have been. Yet Reidar saw larger things.
The beasts took shape around Reidar.
<The good news is, intimidation is handled. The bad news is, the food bill is going to be apocalyptic. That and the fact that subtlety is no longer an option.>
The panther appeared like spilled ink, its black fur swallowing the light. Those hooked claws promised nothing but pain and bleeding. It was huge, way bigger than any panther Reidar had ever seen in a zoo. Honestly, it was easily as tall as a rhino.
<Right. I may have overcompensated.> Reidar thought as he saw the creature. However, it wasn’t the only large thing at that point.
The wolf was of a similar size, if not taller. With silver fur bristling along its powerful frame.
<This one is built for bloody work... I’m going to need a bigger whistle.>
But the bear made them both look small. It towered under the ruined hospital awning, claws scoring deep grooves in the concrete as it shifted.
When it growled, Reidar felt the vibration in his ribs. That thing was at least as large as an elephant without even standing on its hind legs. It was scarily tall and round.
<People would have called the army if they had seen this monstrosity.>
The bear was level 22—two levels below him—and the others were, too.
"Find the monster," Reidar said. The undead shuffled forward, joints creaking, followed by the Rift-Sprites. Reidar summoned all but Fire Rift-Sprites, since the last thing he needed was to destroy the hospital.
This place, if taken care of by Malcolm, would be a great addition to the city. It could either be used as a new main base or a hospital, as it did in the past, or a storage area. It was far larger than the mall they were currently staying at and was more easily defendable.
There were also different levels to the rooftop, meaning that they would allow far more defensive tactics.
His Guardian Shade went behind him, tendrils of darkness licking at his boots. The Primal Pack creatures were with him too.
A guttural roar shook the building, dislodging chunks of masonry. Reidar’s lips twitched upward.
<It looks like the Rift-Sprites and the Bone Militia already found the beast.>
It was most likely the opposite.