Chapter 82

Crisp County-Cordele Regional Airport, Cordele - 6:20 PM

The air outside of the Angel Express was brisk, but not uncomfortable. I stepped outside and stretched, letting the cooler air roll over me as I looked around. It was already nearly night time, but that wouldn’t be a problem for Kayla and Jeff. The watermelons had all started to glow, illuminating their surroundings with cool greens, blues, reds, and golds.

[[Main Scenario Cordele (3)]]

The Melon Menace in Cordele is out of control! After failing to stop Watermelon Walter from providing a miracle grow to his plants to counteract the cold climate, the city has been covered with vines and man-eating fruit! If he’s not stopped, the melons will become acclimated to the cold and gain the mobility they need to spread out across the land. Even now he plots and schemes, ready for the day his mischievous melons go out to play.

Objective: Defeat Watermelon Walter and prevent the Melon Apocalypse.

Time limit: 2 days, 14 hours.

Reward: +700 points, Three-Striped Melon Orb (MVP), MVP token (MVP)

“Damn, that’s cold,” Kayla said as she stepped off of the train. Her hands immediately went to her arms, trying to keep herself warm, though I saw her eyes diligently scanning the Main Scenario notice that popped up.

“Oof, brisk,” Jeff said as he emerged after Kayla. He wrapped his arms around his wife and pulled her close. “Perhaps we’ve spent too long in Florida, ay, Kay?”

“Perhaps,” she admitted before closing the notification. Jeff and I swiped ours away as well.

Every safe zone had a temperature regulation system whether it was magical or simply working air conditioning, and stepping out of the train made a world of difference. I pulled off my Windbreaker of Warmth and handed it to her.

[[Unequipped]]

Windbreaker of Warmth

(-20 health, -2 constitution, Cold Resistance passive removed)

[[Passive]]

Cold Resistance

Take 25% less damage from cold based attacks. Exist comfortably in cold environments as low as 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

Kayla eyed it before looking up at me. “Are you sure?”

“Wouldn’t offer it if I weren’t. It’s only 40 hit points, I’ll survive,” I replied, waving it off. “I’m fine, but if you’re too cold to move properly then you won’t be. We’ll get you some of your own cold weather gear once we’re in Atlanta.”

Nodding, Kayla took the windbreaker from me and put it on. It automatically adjusted to her size the moment she put her first arm through the much bigger sleeve, and she stopped shivering immediately. “Thanks, Anthony.”

“No problem." Turning away, I looked at the field of watermelons ahead of us. It was vast and covered the entire field we had stopped in.

“Where’s the Dealer at?” Jeff asked, looking around. “I thought he’d meet us here.”

“Probably waiting for us to finish this scenario. I imagine he’ll be waiting for us by the time we’re done.”

The Crisp County-Cordele Regional Airport was not large. It had long ago been used by the air force, but that was back during the second World War. In the days leading up to the system, the biggest aircraft to fly out of here were single-engine planes owned by private citizens, not by the military or by airlines. Right now it was barely recognizable.

Just like in the city proper, watermelons grew to outrageous sizes as far as we could see. One particularly large specimen was colored red and stood upright like an egg. It was nearly three stories tall. The smallest of them were still as big as Corwin in his base form. The bigger they were, the brighter they glowed.

“So we just need to find this Watermelon Walter monster and defeat him?” Kayla asked, looking over the glowing field. “What about the people?”

“That’s the gist of it, and most of the people are fine,” I stated. “Once things started getting too out of hand, the people left for the farmland around Cordele. They’re cold, but the majority of the people are safe.”

“Good, I don’t think I’m ready for another scene like that last one,” Jeff admitted. I saw Kayla nod, and I couldn’t blame them for their trepidation.

“I understand. Don’t worry, there’s no people in this one. Just us, a bunch of man eating giant watermelons, and Watermelon Walter.”

“Wait, man eating?” Kayla asked.

“Yeah, let me go ahead and give a demonstration.” I began walking towards the nearest golden watermelon.

“You’re not about to let yourself get eaten, are you?” Jeff asked anxiously.

“Psh, of course not,” I replied calmly. “I’ve got memories of being swallowed whole before, I do not recommend it. But, pay attention because you two are going to be doing what I’m about to until we find Walter.”

The vines lying haphazardly along the ground started shifting as I approached. They moved slowly and reminded me of coiling snakes. Reaching into my inventory, I pulled out two items. The first was the skill book I had received from looting Vermon’s corpse. I opened it, activating the prompt, and hit Yes to learn the passive inside.

[[Passive]]

Smasher

When attacking an object or structure, deal 25% more damage.

Pure and simple extra damage. Thanks to it not specifying “inanimate” like some other passives of its kind, it worked great on things like armor or constructs.

The second was the club that looked like the Vespae Vermon’s mandible. It was just a tad bit longer than my own arm and just as thick. I held on to a thinner portion that was wrapped in leather, and the other side ended in a point that came out from the main structure at an angle. A second point jut out from the middle of the club. It wasn’t anything special, but it was effective. I brought up its stats.

[[Equipped]]

Vermon’s Smash Stick

(+8 Strength, Smasher passive acquired)

[[Passive]]

Smasher

When attacking an object or structure, deal 50% more damage.

You have learned the Smasher Passive. Increasing the bonus damage to 75%.

I gave it a few practice swings, gripping it with both hands. My strength, now at 28, was high enough that I could easily have used it one-handed but I didn’t want to give up any damage. Plus, they were watermelons; while the Smash Stick wasn’t a mallet or sledgehammer, swinging it two handed just felt right.

“Uh, Ant? Vines are coming in,” Jeff said from behind me.

“Good looking out, Jeff,” I replied even though I hadn’t taken my attention off of them. I really didn’t want to get grabbed and eaten by a giant watermelon. Well, eaten was a bad word for it. Digested was far more accurate. Giving the Smasher Stick one last swing, I got moving.

Activating Divine Messenger shot me forward and I jumped towards the closest green watermelon. The vines beneath me recoiled with an audible snap, but it wasn’t until I landed on the oversized fruit that they began to reach into the air.

The watermelon made a hollow sound as I landed on it, and I took a better look towards my target. The golden glow I was looking for was roughly fifty feet from my location. All across the ground, vines were scattered and slithering like snakes to prepare for my approach.

Underneath me, I could feel the melon shift. Raising Vermon’s Smash Stick, I jumped off and activated an Air Step at the same time as I swung.

The club did exactly what its namesake implied and smashed through the watermelon. Black seeds and pinkish red flesh flew towards my destination. I jumped backwards towards the Mills, who were still watching, and landed in an area free of plants. The leafy vines in the splash zone immediately recoiled as the watermelon’s innards touched them and sizzled loudly.

Leaping forward, I landed in the now cleared area and returned to traveling on my Heelies with Divine Messenger. The bottom of my shoes were fine, but anything organic was not. I made it to the next watermelon, this one bright red, and I raised the Smasher Stick with the spike facing the fruit. I swung, but stopped before I could do any real damage. One of the mandible’s spikes lodged itself into the car-sized watermelon and I pulled.

It fell down towards me, and I jumped towards the vines to my left. I activated Air Step before I could land, and swung with the intent to kill. This time, however, the watermelon had enough time to begin screaming.

The red rind ripped apart in a facsimile of a sharp toothed mouth and fire burst into the air. Not towards me, thankfully, but straight up. It only got to do this for a few seconds before I smashed this one and jumped back onto safe ground, Shield already activated.

The red watermelon exploded in front of me, sending flaming flesh in every direction. It smacked into me, but I was already protected. I jumped through the explosion and began running before jumping onto a blue watermelon. The air around me was much colder, and I could feel my toes begin to freeze through my Heelies of Hermes, but I was only one or two more Air Steps away from the golden gourd I had set my sights on.

All around me, vines began to rise. I jumped off of the icy melon, nearly falling due to the slippery texture, but managed to save myself with an Air Step. After gauging the distance, I recognized that I would need another one. The vines lashed out, but I stayed above their reach as I sailed through the air. Reaching into my inventory, I pulled out some fungus.

I looked at the truffles in my hand before using a second Air Step to land on the top of the golden watermelon. Unlike the green and blue versions, this one sounded solid instead of hollow. The vines also started towards me much faster now that I was on top of it. Taking my hand with the truffles in it and crushing them in a fist, I dropped to my knees onto the gourd and punched it while reactivating Shield.

The golden rind was tough, but no match for my enhanced Strength, although what was inside ate through my weakened Shield almost immediately. My fist sank elbow-deep before I released the truffles and pulled my arm free. It was covered in a viscous, honey liquid that burned my skin and would have burnt my windbreaker’s sleeve if I hadn’t taken it off.

Vines caught my legs as I was shaking the watermelon’s juices off of my arm. In the distance, I could hear Kayla and Jeff yelling at me.

Try as they might, the vines could not get me to topple. They tried, and I had to fight to stay upright, but it was much more manageable than it would have been seconds ago. It happened quickly, and the vines went slack in seconds as the watermelon’s golden glow dimmed out.

All of the vines in the area went still, and the other watermelons began to dull in brightness though they didn’t go out entirely. I jumped down, tossed Vermon’s Smash Stick back into my inventory and pulled out a fluffy gray towel. It cleaned up my arm well enough, though in the process it turned into a rag and I returned it back into my inventory with a few goopy splotches still left on it.

I grinned as I stopped in front of the Mills, my arm already healing. “Alright, any questions?”

“Yeah, psychic boy, are you okay?” Kayla asked, crossing her arms. “You could have done that without all the risk if you just used your psychic powers.”

“Sometimes you have to do things with style,” I said defensively. “Besides, it’s been a really long time since I’ve had to actually fight the watermelons, so cut me some slack. You two are going to be doing most of the work to make Watermelon Walter show up, anyway.”

“I don’t know if risking yourself unnecessarily merits cutting you some slack,” Jeff remarked. “Dunno if it’s true, boss, but it seems like you’ve been going down the route that causes the most pain lately. We heard from Tommy what happened to your arm, and your chest.”

“And what we saw just now,” Kayla continued. She reached out and took my injured arm in her hands, inspecting the still healing burns. "Can you even feel pain?"

“Of course?” I asked more than said, raising an eyebrow at her. "It's just not a big deal. And I have a belt that lets me heal fast, so I don't want to be wasteful with potions."

“We are concerned,” Kayla said, ignoring my reasoning. “Because that was unnecessary. We want you to stop getting yourself hurt just because you’ll survive it."

“After everything we saw just this morning, the thought of you rushing into these things is especially heavy," Jeff added. "It’s hard to get over, right?”

That gave me pause. What they saw only hours ago would have been incredibly traumatic, and seeing me injured might be too much for them this soon. My eyes flicked to Kayla’s, and then to Jeff’s, and I saw that, while they were still willing to do what they needed to, they were still processing.

Out of the dead, Gloria was the only one I thought they had gotten close to, but Jeff had rattled off a lot of names during his eulogy. They had gotten to know a lot of people during the short time before we joined forces.

[[Patron Message]]

They’re right. I don’t want to see you hurt. Please don’t rely on Eldritch Regeneration when not taking damage is possible.

Sincerely,

A Very Concerned Patron

“Oh, come on,” I sighed, looking towards the sky. “You, too? You know I can handle this.”

“We don’t mean to upset you," Jeff said. "We just want you to take better care of yourself."

I took a deep breath, and then nodded. “I see where you are coming from, and I thank you all for trying to look out for me,” I said, though I changed topics to prevent this one from lingering. “From here on, you both will be taking care of watermelon duty because you’re both the ones with Serranras’ boon. These here are plant monsters that have no machinations against humanity yet, so they won’t act hostile to you. Consider what I did as a demonstration of what we would have had to go through if none of us participated in the Dryad’s ritual.”

Kayla and Jeff looked at each other, but I continued. “The green ones are filled with acid, the red ones can belch alchemical fire and explode when struck, and the blue ones are slick and cold. The gold ones are the targets. They control the vines, but they also empower the other watermelons. When enough golden gourds have been killed, Watermelon Walter will show up to stop us from wrecking his garden. We’re going with the Talspra playbook on this one since we want Jeff to get an MVP token.”

Opening my menu, I pulled out a handful of truffles. “These are Specter Truffles. The Tuskgutter Ghost uses them to become incorporeal, but to damn near everything else it is fatal to ingest. They're dangerous even at my ridiculous levels of Constitution. That includes fatal to watermelons, apparently. Make a hole in the side and shove them in as fast as you can before the vines react. They’ll start slow, so you have about five seconds between stabbing it and filling it with truffles. Two or three will work, and be sure not to touch your face after. So, once more, any questions?”

"Why use the Specter Truffles instead of smashing them?" Kayla asked.

"Because if you start smashing, they'll go after you despite the boon," I explained. "And this way also makes the dimly lit watermelons go dormant so that I can pass after you and Watermelon Walter can't use them against us."

Jeff raised his hand, and I pointed at him. “Is this Walter fella going to be as terrifying as the Vespae queen?”

I shook my head. “Not even a little bit. That administrator here isn’t like that scum sucker, Seraphim. They're bad, sure, but more lax. All of their attention is on Columbia and Augusta, so I don’t expect them to dick around with the settings here. Think of this as a filler scenario."

“What do you mean ‘the administrator here?’ Isn't Seraphim in charge of everything?” Kayla asked. “I know he got in trouble, but I figured that was the system putting him in his place.”

“He also started the announcement with ‘population of Earth,’ right?” Jeff scratched the back of his head. “As in, everyone?”

Tilting my head, I pursed my lips and glanced between the two. “Didn’t I explain this already? I could have sworn I had.” When they shook their heads, I sighed. “Alright, so now I have two things to catch you both up on. My angel, and the administrators. This is going to be a fun conversation.”