"Kyree, come out you coward!"
Shouting at a larger of the wooden structures that acted as the houses within the outpost, this was one of the three managers buildings the other large building belonging to the armory, and storage warehouses.
After not much time at all passed a man exited the building through the main double door.
Kyree was a seasoned veteran of the fringes, he's lived his entire life in the post-apocalypse however he'd only ever come to rule in outpost #7 after having successfully escaping 8 other outposts before their total destruction and coming here to try it all over again but this time with himself behind the drivers seat.
It was rare especially in the outpost to see an elderly man, or woman.
Normally they were targetted for their valuables by the younger crowd Kyree however had broken through to the 3rd tier, this would mean if he wanted to he could have gone to the fortress city and received lavish treatment and rewards plus teachers to aid him in advancing further in his cultivation but the old man was stubborn, the fortress cities did not want him when he was just a normal human so they didn't deserve him now that he had gained the power they wanted.
"Kid this place is not a place for you. Acting recklessly as you have, Leave your things behind and leave this outpost naked..."
The old man began spouting his demands after admonishing Jake but
"Stop talking nonsense old man. If you want to fight me let's fight. I have better things to do."
Kyree's face twisted in rage to have been challenged so brazenly, he knew the power of the combined forces currently behind Jake, but the assumption he had a powerful backer also still loomed.
But if he let Jake go now, would anyone again ever listen to him in this outpost he struggled so hard to gain a seat at the table of? Did his lifespan allow him the luxury of setting out to found another outpost and build it up once more from the ground up.
However if he could capture this youth and his men, their ransom alone would allow this outpost to rise up from being a simple outpost to one that could even become the foundations for the next Fortress city.
From his spot on the street Jake could see the look of greed growing deeper in the old man's eyes.
Greed as all know leads to death as ones greed for everything leads them also to possessing the one thing many wish never to own, their own death.
But greed was the one thing many could not restrain, and their end as a result was often tragic.
"Get them"
The old man ended the stare down commanding his men to attack the 10 before them.
Most of his own men were only normal humans or 1st tier awakened, while their own side knew Jakes own side to possess a 2nd tier, but they still did not hesitate to attack only Kyree's minions could know just how cruel their boss could be.
He was utterly without mercy to others and to himself!
As the gangs forces rushed out of the building to meet the RA soldiers, the battle lines were drawn, as all except for Kyree, Alpha, and Jake were locked in combat while the remaining three continued locking eyes.
The sneer on the old mans face was deepening as Jakes forces were outnumbered but still holding their ground.
From the perspective of both sides either Kyree would die, or Jake would there was no third possibility.
Jakes face meanwhile remained impassive, as Kyree's advance was blocked by Alpha the peak 2nd tier blocking the attack of the low 3rd tier.
two transcendent of this level meant the top powers of the outpost were facing off and every move they made was highly noticeable, as the very air around them shook as they came to blows.
Each drawing a weapon seeing that fists wouldn't cut it, Kyree wielding an iron rod, while Alpha had his combat knife.
As the battle raged Kyree's face contorted, to his sides he could see his men falling one by one while his own battle that was assumed to be a stalemate was anything but, his own stamina was beginning to wane while the man standing before his target had barely started breathing heavy despite the exertion.
He could easily end this if he used firearms but in agreement with the other mangers firing firearms within the outpost was illegal and if he broke that rule to take down these upstarts the other two would surely deal with him while he's weakedn citing his breaking of the law.
Jake meanwhile was getting bored, his men were assured victory and the only question was how long it would take.
So he began to further question the system support.
Hey support aside from consuming soul gems, and ranking up from combat experience is there any other way to enhance my forces strength?
[Yes Master, in additional to cultivating through soul gems, the host can directly use credits to enhance their strengths]
How much would it cost to enhance Alpha to the 3rd tier?
[1,000 credits]
Jakes mouth twitched involuntarily, if only he had so many credits after the ambush his system only had 500 credits at the moment from the 2nd tier beasts defeat and the 4 1st tiers slain in the ambush earlier.
With that amount he could only produce a new 1st tier soldier, it was impossible to raise Alpha to the next tier at least for now.
wait.
Support what if I didn't want to bring Alpha to the peak of 3rd tier?
[50 credits master.]
Perfect!
50 credits to low 3rd tier, and also learning his other tier once would be brought up to low 2nd tier for 25 credits each.
The cost was negligible as there were still several or so 1st tiers against them plus Kyree himself so using the system Jake spent 250 credits to elevate all of his forces at once all 9 units.
The battle had ended the lives of all Kyree's regular human minions and they were now on even ground numberwise.
System enchnace all my soldiers to the low level of the next tier to them.
With the command resounding in his mind.
The battle before him changed where the odds only slightly in their favor quickly changed, Kyree and his men were equally shocked, advancing during combat and all 9 of them at once! that's impossible.
However before he could voice his complaints at the world his life was ended, Alpha's dagger had already descended down upon his head driving itself through the crown of his skull, all around Alpha his fellow soldiers likewise reaped the lives of the remaining combatants.
[Killing a 3rd tier - low transcendent earned 750 credits, killing 8 1st tier - peak transcendent earned 800 credits.]
At the cost of only 250, jakes credit reserve had been bolstered to a total of 1,800 thanks to the conclusion of this fight.
Kyree alone provided a good sum but his minions actually were worth more collectively.
This number was enough to raise Alpha to the peak of third tier however for now an early third tier was enough to dominate the outpost, per Sarah only two others could stand against them resulting in a new three way deadlock.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
By the time she'd arrived Sarah could only bear witness to the bloody mess as the street before Kyree's building were coated in blood stains that were being absorbed by the earth, as Jakes me were busy moving the bodies once littering the entrance off the the side of the road, the last left where he was slain was Kyree himself.
"Did... did you really kill Kyree?"
She could only just barely speak these words towards her savior as he'd just become one of the powerhouses of this outpost.
Not only Sarah, but everyone who came upon the scene could likewise not believe it.
"Is it strange that I killed him?"
She had no response back to his retort.
In this outpost might makes right and well, Jake was powerful so he could do anything he wanted here.
"Don't you know you've caused massive trouble for this outpost?"
Her tone was livid, the long peace installed by the three way deadlock was now broken, Kyree was dead, Jake was a wild card, and the other two were not likely to sit on their laurels while their new opponent recovered his strength before he could then turn his fangs against them.
"To me this isn't trouble, besides I'll be gone in a few days anyway and things can go back to the way they were before if you want."
She had never seen a person like this before, who would kill at the sight of injustice against the weak, then conquer the strong but only stake claim to their possessions for a day or two before moving on...
She ended up leaving them be, but the thoughts still swirled in her mind, and in the end she made a decision one looking towards a brighter future.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jake had taken ownership of Kyree's mansion as his own, the building itself was capable of housing close to 50 the total sum of Kyree's gang, but with more than half the gang dead, the other half was seeking refugee in the arms of their former enemies bolstering the local enemies of Jake.
Thankfully the mansion was stocked with provisions so for the first time the squad could feed themselves, the food was all preserved in some manner but still a basic soup could be made by rehydrating the meat and freeze dried vegetables.
As they conducted their search of the mansion they located the great wealth of Kyree, and chose to simply store the Salvation coins away in their combat packs, meanwhile Jake himself was more interested in located a map of the local area or possibly even the world itself.
He needed to confirm if this was a perfect parallel of the world he knew or if it was different.
Luckily enough he managed to find a local region map, it denoted the basic terrain and the various danger levels of the surrounds rated on a scale of 1-5.
Hmm if this map is accurate then there would be tier 1-5 beasts in the surrounding area, which means our primary hunting grounds will be those listed to be areas up to Tier 3.
But beasts being beasts mean these borders are always in flux so we should for the time being stick to the 1 and 2 danger zones.
Afterall even though it was the apocalypse that does not mean a beasts survival of the fittest instinct had gone away just like with humans.
Compared to Jake who slowly ate and savior his meal, the RA soldiers ate as fast as they could before getting up to swap out with the guards or return to their own duties, eating for them was just a way to replenish their stamina after all.
Surprisingly the dishes made of monster meat were delicious, okay maybe not quite the same as his earth's standards but it's better than dining on beef jerky or hardtack.
back in his world Jake had eat a number of MRE's during camping trips so the low quality of the homecooked meal affected him little, besides this was a starting point they could always increase the quality over time, and with fresh meat.