My Plunderer System

Milo rested the next day as per David's recommendation and went into the day that his team would be closing the C rank gate at top condition. Showing up at the guild headquarters for their briefing before closing the gate, Milo learned something new. For gates closed by guilds, if the gate was a low enough rank, either ranks C or B, they'd send a scout team ahead of the main strike force. Usually it consisted of 2 or 3 people who would just survey the interior of the dungeon using stealth related abilities. They'd gather intel such as what types of beasts could be found within, as well as if there were any strange variables to watch for in the gate.

Based on the scout team's intel, the beasts the team would be facing in this gate were undead type beasts. They were called Ghouls, which were considered to be some of the easiest undead creatures to fight besides Zombies, although that didn't mean the gate in general would be easy. Ghouls had extremely fast regenerative powers and would attack relentlessly, as they had an endless hunger for flesh.

They also learned that there were a few Blood Ghouls inside as well, these were stronger versions of the ghouls and in some cases would lead a pack of regular Ghouls as they were considered a bit more intelligent. They hadn't gotten a peek at the boss, but the scout team said it most likely was also a beast of the undead variety.

Using this information David formed a game plan for the squad, such as where to attack the ghouls to limit their regeneration, what to avoid, and other things of that sort. The main thing they needed to look out for was a type of attack Blood Ghouls would do, it involved throwing up some sort of bile at them and the bile was highly acidic and would attract nearby ghouls and send them in a frenzy. It was decided that Milo would be the one set to look out for this, as he showed very high awareness when training in the simulation.

After their briefing the team made their way outside to the front of the guild office and boarded a group of black SUVs with the guild logo on the side that would guide them to the gate they'd be closing. After about an hour of driving, weaving in and out of busy streets in the concrete jungle that was New York City, the envoy filled with the strike squad arrived at their destination, close to the outskirts of the city, an abandoned warehouse stood on the bank of a river. The building itself was made of metal and was rusting all over. It looked as if no one had been to the building in years. Without the magic detection satellites that had been designed to pick up on large traces of magical energy, Milo wasn't sure anyone would have found the gate before a gate break occurred.

When stepping out of the vehicles, a large group of people were already on the scene at the warehouse. Some were guild members taking measurements of the gate with different strange devices, others were reporters who were on the scene to witness the first attack of the Incubus guild's newest attack force, and the last of the people already at the warehouse were GAA members keeping a perimeter around the gate and also preventing the reporters from getting too close to the gate's entrance.

Seeing the amount of attention that the strike squad Milo was taken aback, he wasn't one to seek out attention and because of this, when seeing the reporters he wanted to hide in the back of his group. Seeing Milo a bit uncomfortable, David took the forefront and answered any questions from the reporters about the strike force. David understood Milo's stance on attention, he also wasn't big on wanting attention but hoped that for Milo's sake he would get used to it. Being a gatecrasher, especially a strong one drew a lot of attention, and with Milo being so young, he was bound to attract even more attention if reporters ever found out about how strong he was.

Eventually David had quelled the curiosity of the reporters, saying that they could contact him directly and he'd answer any questions they had about the next generation of gatecrashers from the Incubus guild. Even if some of the team's members were a bit older, they were all considered new to gatecrashing.

The group was now all gathered around the entrance to the gate and checking their equipment. Milo checked in with all the dealers to make sure everything was set and they knew their strategy. The twins were told to stick together and fight ghouls 2 on 1, Milo on the other hand would be focusing on protecting the backline and fighting at range with Claire, their ranger. Milo's main focus throughout the whole gate would be to use his ice to keep the ghouls locked down, freezing them in place until it was safe to dispatch them. Due to the strength and regenerative abilities of ghouls, they wanted to avoid getting into a dog fight.

Once their equipment was all checked and they were ready to go, the team, with David tagging along, headed into the gate prepared to finally close an actual one and not some simulation. When crossing through the dimensional door, Milo felt a cool breeze and once the distortion from going through dimensions finished, he immediately noticed the smell.

"Ugh, they weren't kidding when they said this was a dungeon full of undead type monsters, it literally smells like death," one of the team members remarked.

After getting used to the smell, the group began to make their way through the gate carefully, they encountered a few odd ghouls who were out on their own or in small groups. Just like the intel they received, the ghouls were extremely vicious when attacking, they showed close to no intelligence and just rushed in attempting to slash and bite at the strike team. Milo had only had to freeze a few of the ghouls in place as they mainly targeted those closest to them, which led to them mostly targeting the front line which consisted of the twins and tanks. While they continued on through the gate, David was the unfortunate one that had to cut the essence cores from the corpses of the ghouls since he was joining this raid as a spectator and porter.

Eventually entering into another chamber within the gate, Milo noticed a Ghoul that looked strange. It had darker skin, rather than a pale gray like normal Ghouls, its skin almost looked like stone. Along with this, there was a yellow green foam around its mouth.

"Stay sharp, we've got a Blood Ghoul," Harvey said.

It was just as Milo was expecting, they knew that there were Blood Ghouls inside the gate thanks to their intel, but Milo wasn't sure what they looked like. He then used his inspect skill on it in order to get some more details on it from the system.

[Unique Tier Beast]

Species: Blood Ghoul

Status: Diseased

Disposition: Aggressive

An undead type beast that is a diseased version of a regular Ghoul. They are in constant pain due to their unending hunger for flesh. Once they smell blood they will hunt for the source of it even if it means they have to injure themselves. They are stronger and faster than regular Ghouls in exchange for weaker regeneration. Their stomach bile is extremely acidic and causes extreme pain when touched.

[clear]

Reading the description of the Blood Ghoul, Milo was able to learn that they wouldn't heal as fast as regular Ghouls but they would be stronger. Based on this info he chose to let his teammates know so that they would be prepared for this difference. The battle took a bit longer due to the monster seeming to be a bit more intelligent than regular Ghouls. It easily broke out of Milo's ice path so Milo chose to focus on close combat for this battle.

He used his chain at mid range rather than up close to avoid getting struck by the savage undead creature. Eventually the beast was defeated and Milo and the team stopped for a rest. A few times the beast seemed to projectile vomit in an attempt to cover the gatecrashers with its acidic bile but thanks to their intel and Milo's callouts, they were able to avoid it, and it proved to be the right choice as it seemed to eat away even the ground they were standing on as if it was butter.

The team continued on from their defeating a few more Blood Ghouls and groups of normal Ghouls. Their toughest battle came when they came across a Blood Ghoul that was leading 4 normal Ghouls. Their plan was for the tanks to be extremely defensive to allow the damage dealers to dispatch the regular Ghouls before they took on the Blood Ghoul as a team.

While the dealers were taking out the enemies, one of the twins, Cameron, was too careless and ended up getting himself surrounded by three of the ghouls. When this happened, Conner, his brother rushed in to try and help him, but was swatted away into a pile of rocks towards the backline. Cameron was fighting for his life trying to hold off the bloodthirsty creatures, seeing his teammate in that position, Milo did the only thing he could think of, he took the sickle side of his weapon and created a small cut on his arm, between his chest piece and gauntlets near his bicep. When blood was drawn, all the Ghouls in the room sniffed the air and all turned towards Milo with their mouth's watering.

While watching this all unfold, David began to pull his weapon from his back thinking he'd have to get involved. When the Ghoul's attention was drawn away from Cameron, Milo did the same move he did in his provisional license exam. He ran to a wall essentially cornering himself, before vaulting off the wall and creating a massive blade of ice before swinging it beheading all the Ghoul's that were chasing him. Even the head of the stronger Blood Ghoul made a wet thumping noise as it hit the floor. While Ghoul's could regenerate from almost anything, even a lost organ, without their head they weren't able to do anything.