2 - First quest
Merlin woke up, he let out a groan of pain as it shoot through his back as he attempted to stretch, he didn't remember where he was at once but the back of the android juggled his memories quickly, he sighed
'So it wasn't a dream after all… How the fuck am I going to survive here..? Where ever this is?'
Merlin patted his empty stomach a bit before he spoke out
"Check for movement, turn the turret 360 and give me fire control"
After doing a brief perimeter sweep Merlin sighed before he spoke again
"Open hatches"
Sticking his head out of the top of the turret Merlin looked around a bit before he looked ahead and saw the carcass of the giant lizard he had shot with a 45mm armor-piercing shell the night before, around it was several humanoid green-skinned creatures
"Goblins...? Load high-explosive, turn on the engine, advance 50 meters forwards"
The engine of the BT-5 came to life with a roar and drove forwards about 50 meters, by now the green-skinned creatures had spotted the tank and were trying to intimidate the tank by waving around their crude wooden clubs, Merlin narrowed his eyes, as he saw it this was a survival situation, as such he had to secure food and water, and the giant lizard seemed pretty edible to him, thus the goblins that stood in front of him was a treat, a treat he had to remove to secure his own survival
"Fire the DT!"
DT referred to the Degtyaryov light machine gun mounted in the turret of the BT-5, the androids opened fire with the DT, and soon 7,62mm machine gunfire hosed down the goblins that were crowding around the corpse of the giant lizard, the goblins scattered and ran away in panic, Merlin showed no mercy and made the android gun down every last one of the goblins, then he took a deep breath and climbed out of the turret of the tank and stepped down onto the ground and walked up to the carcass of the giant lizard, he felt a little sick but kept from puking and looked around the corpse, he quickly what he was looking for, a large piece of shrapnel that was logged in the bone of the giant lizard, Merlin pulled it out and used it to cut into the carcass of the giant lizard for a bit before he cut out a few pieces of meat
"Now how to cook it… I got it…"
Merlin then climbed up on the BT-5's engine deck and opened it op, then he laid the pieces of meat on the engine that was running and soon the sizzle of cooked meat sounded out, using the piece of shrapnel to turn the meat over Merlin soon secured himself some well-earned breakfast
"...This tastes like shit though"
The meat tasted like raw chicken meat smelled, even though he had roasted it thoroughly after he was done forcing down the lizard meat Merlin looked around from atop of the engine deck of the BT-5 for a bit before he spotted a body of water a few kilometers away, just as he turned away from the carcass of the giant lizard he spotted something out the corner of his eyes and turned back, there in the middle of the carcass of the giant lizard was a gem, Merlin jumped off the BT-5 again and walked up to the carcass and dug out the gem, it was a half-transparent blue-ish gem the size of a tennis ball, Merlin rolled it around in his palm for a bit before he wondered out loud
"I wonder what this is?"
[Ding! This is a grade 3 monster core]
"...What is a monster core?"
[Ding! A monster core is the gathering point of a monster's mana, it can be sold or exchanged to points by the system or used to satisfy quests]
Merlin nodded a figured that it was something to hold onto, then he looked around and asked the system
"Do those goblins also have monster cores?"
[Ding! Yes, they have grade 1 monster cores]
Merlin nodded before he walked over to a goblin carcass and asked the system
"Where is the monster core located?"
[Ding! In the center of the body, near the heart]
"Alright…"
Merlin looked down at the carcass of the goblin that had been shot multiple times in the chest by the DT, it looked like it had still been alive a bit after it had been shot by the looks of its coughed up blood on its chest, Merlin felt that its blank eyes looked straight at him and muttered
"Don't look at me like that…"
Then he used the piece of shrapnel to dig out a bead sized green gem from its chest before he went onto the next one, while he worked on digging the monster cores out he asked the system
"What can I use points for?"
[Ding! Points can be used to purchase tanks, upgrade the rank of available tanks and on the gatcha]
Merlin nodded before he asked
"How is the price of a tank calculated?"
[Ding! The price of a tank is calculated like this: ammo count (main armament only)*weight in tons * main tank gun caliber / 1000]
"Okay… Do I need to purchase ammo and fuel?"
[Ding! Ammunition and fuel is automatically restored at midnight]
"Okay… Then how much is a grade 1 monster core worth in points?"
[Ding! 1 point]
"What about a grade 3?"
[Ding! 3 points]
Merlin nodded and finished digging out the 8th monster core before he crawled up on the BT-5 again and crawled into the cramped turret before he spoke
"Close hatches, half-speed ahead"
When the BT-5 arrived at a small hill overlooking the lake Merlin popped his head out of the top of the turret and observed, it appeared that the lake was entirely populated by some sort of humanoid fish people with nasty looking teeth, Merlin saw no reason to poke the hornet's nest and set a course towards the river that led downstream from the lake, after following it for a bit he found a somewhat safe-looking bank and drank some water from the river before he declared
"Alright, this will be my basecamp…Now I need something with a higher rate of fire in case those fish-looking midgets come downstream… system I still have another 2 free tanks right?"
[Ding! 2 free class 1 tanks are available for redemption]
"Redeem a panzer 1"
[Ding! Tank redemption complete!]
In front of Merlin appeared a square looking tank, it was a little over 4 meters long, a little over 2 meters wide, and stood about as tall as Merlin at around 1 meter and 72 centimeters, the first thing one would notice when looking at the panzer 1 was that it had no real 'tank gun' instead it had 2, 7.92 mm MG 13 machine guns mounted in the turret, this small tank, or tractor was produced in secrecy in Germany in the early 1930s, as for the reason why it was called a tractor was simple, Germany was under the treaty of Versailles which among other things prohibited the Germans from manufacturing "armored vehicles, tanks or similar machines, which may be turned to military use"
The panzer 1 was used to train German tank crews before the start of the 2nd world war and was used under the entire war in an anti-infantry role
"Perfect for turning fish midgets into fish food… Fire at any monsters that enter a 300-meter perimeter"
The turret of the panzer 1 turned in Merlin's direction
"Eh..?"
Merlin quickly ducked down or actually straight-up jumped and quickly laid down as the two 7.92 mm MG 13's lit up as they fired 600 rounds a minute at the wolf-like monster that had attempted to sneak up on Merlin while he had been admiring the panzer 1, Merlin looked back and saw the wolf-like monster and sighed before he spoke
"Check for friendly fire first idiot!"
When the Panzer 1 finished firing Merlin walked over and cut out the monster core with the help of the shrapnel piece before he walked back to the river and washed his hands before he climbed on top of the BT-5's turret and looked at the monster core in his hand
"What grade is this monster core?"
[Ding! Grade 2]
"So it's worth 2 points right?"
[Ding! Yes]
Merlin sighed before he put it into his pocket where he kept the rest of the monster cores, then he asked the system
"What are the requirements to unlock rank 2?"
[Ding! The requirements to unlock rank 1945 is 10 grade 1 monster cores, having summoned 3 tanks and a completed a randomly generated quest]
"Hmm… Can I take the quest now?"
[DIng! Yes, though be warned, failing a quest comes with a point deduction]
Merlin considered it for a bit before he spoke decisively
"I'll take the quest"
[Ding! Quest received:
Wipe out the colony of Fish midgets/Gutlings at the lake
Fail condition: Time limit 02:59:59 left]