“Fortieth floor?” Kristil says.
“So that whole song and dance was good for… I guess nine floors, plus the transporter floor?”
“It appears to be as much,” I say.
“I’m not really sure how the System determined that that was nine floors of trials, but it did, so I’m not going to complain too much about it.”
Even my best attempts to try to demarcate it all co up short.
There’s the outskirts, the town, the jail, the catacombs, the Crystal Monolith, a couple of boss fights, and then a return to the town afterwards, but that’s only eight.
At Chloe’s behest, I activate the transporter, taking us down to the ground floor.
To my shock, however, the entrance isn’t quiet and empty like it has been every other ti we’ve co or left.
It’s not jam packed, but it appears that the military has finally gotten around to setting up a little checkpoint and waiver system, just like what happened when we explored and eventually conquered South County Dungeon back so months ago.
I wonder if that’s Alexey’s doing.
Or maybe…
The soldier— a man in his early twenties with ‘Jas’ emblazoned on his naplate— looks at
with a glare.
“And you three are one of the groups that went in yesterday?” he asks.
“We did,” I say.
“Although I’m not sure how long it’s been since we went in.
Ti is… strange up there.”
Chloe takes advantage of his focus on
to perform a bit of sleight of hand, summoning her phone out of her [Inventory] and checking the current date and ti.
A ntal nudge a couple seconds later confirms that almost exactly one full day has passed since we entered.
“Well, that’s good to hear, at least,” he says, a tiny bit of sarcasm underlying the otherwise professional remark.
“There’ve been more than a few reports of people going missing lately.
In light of that, we’re restricting who’s allowed to go in to those who aren't likely to imdiately succumb to the Tower’s perils.”
“What specific criteria are you using to determine that?” I ask.
“Also, if I may ask, under whose order are these new initiatives being implented?”
“Well, you three are automatically cleared by virtue of having descended down from a higher floor.
We’re only checking writs for people going up through the main entrance; those who use the transporter are assud to be responsible for themselves.
Other than that, you need a writ of passage either from the military or the mayor’s office.
As for who gave the order, I don’t know and couldn’t care less.
It ca down the chain of command and I’ve been charged with enforcing it.”
He gives
a glare and his hand moves to the sword sheathed by his hip, a subtle indication that he’s prepared to enforce the order if necessary.
And he’s not weak, either.
Definitely had his first ascension already, and the weapon is well-crafted to boot.
Kristil yawns.
“I couldn’t care less.”
She tilts her head toward the door leading back outside.
“In any case, I’m getting tired and I’d like to get ho before I feel an inclination to pass out.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to rest up at our place and then leave this afternoon?” Chloe asks.
“I appreciate the offer, but I’ll pass.
I can handle myself for a few hours longer.”
“Well, then, I guess we’ll see you around,” Chloe says.
She extends her hand toward Kristil.
“And if you need us, just let us know, and we’ll be over there as soon as we can.”
Kristil gives a smug smile, pulling Chloe into a hug that my girlfriend eagerly accepts.
“It’s been real.
Both of you.”
With that, she opens the outside door, letting the dawn’s early light stream in.
In the blink of an eye, she’s in her elental form.
Another blink later and she’s already off, streaking off like so much violet lightning.
“So, what do you want to do now?” I ask, wrapping my arm around the back of Chloe’s waist.
She yawns, a bit exaggeratedly.
“Well, I’m getting pretty tired after looking after you all last night.
Care to join ?”
“Oh, I’d love to, Chloe.
But I do think it’d be best if I headed down to the university to take care of a few things first.
The first day of classes is less than two weeks away.”
“Do you need
to stop by?”
“I don’t think so.
I am going to ask that you be put on staff as my teaching assistant for the combat training class I’ll be teaching, though.
Accidents are likely and there’s no one I trust more to handle a rowdy bunch of students… or clean up after any accidents.
So there may be so paperwork you’ll have to fill out when I get ho.”
Chloe gives an exaggerated yawn, reaching behind
and giving
an ass squeeze.
“Don’t be too long, alright?
I’ll keep the bed warm for you.”
With that, she takes off as well, heading off due to the south, quickly breaking off Kristil’s southwesterly path and back ho.
With a deep breath, I sprout my wings, only to be stopped by Officer Jas— I still don’t know the insignia well enough to figure out his exact rank, but he has a poise and bearing that screams ‘officer’ and not ‘enlistee’.
“You are… the Angel, right?”
“The na’s Seraphina, although, yes, so people have taken to calling
that.
Is there sothing you need from ?”
“No, I just wanted to thank you.
During the attack last month with the giant lizard and all those flying horses attacking everywhere, you were one of the ones leading the charge against them, weren’t you?
You were the one on the news, the one who dealt the finishing blow.”
I sigh.
“Yes.
That was .
But I couldn’t have done it without everyone’s support backing
up.”
“You’re a real hero, you know?
Never thought I’d get the honor to et you in person.”
I shake my head.
I’m not a hero and I don’t pretend to be.
I’ve made more than my share of mistakes.
During the harpy attack the month before last, the spell I cast had… spillover effects.
System notifications about killing humans.
And that’s not the only ti, either, that my actions have led to people dying.
So please, I’m no hero.
Just a flawed girl trying to do the best she can with the power she’s been given.
And sotis failing.”
“It’s one of the first things we’re trained for in the Forces.
Not all of us will ever see frontline duty, especially in the Officer Corps, but we all sign up knowing there’s the possibility that we’ll be ordered to jump into the fray, where the only options we’ll have are to either kill or be killed.”
He pauses for a mont.
“Not everyone takes it so well.
Plenty of people end up getting hit with PTSD after their experiences, although it often goes…underreported.”
I nod.
Easy to see why.
They’re trained as soldiers— as killers, if need be.
No one wants to be seen as the person who was too soft, and I’m sure the Pentagon not-so-subtly discourages people from coming forward as well, lest the troops avail themselves of the health and psychological benefits to which they’re entitled.
“Do you have any advice?” I ask.
“Unfortunately, no, I don’t.
We’re taught to do our duty and carry out our orders, to see our enemies however we need to in order to get in the mindset necessary to pull that trigger or press that button.
I can’t say I have any advice on how to do the opposite.” ???? ?????? ???????? ???? ???????? ???????? ??????????????s, ????????s?? ????s???? NoveI[F]ire
“I see.
Well, I appreciate the conversation…”
“Jas, Seraphina.
Captain Russell Jas.”
I return the offered handshake before I, too, spread my wings and take to the skies.
My path leads
eastward, flying fairly low over the downtown skies.
More and more Ethertech cars are finding their way onto the road as people commute into work, although the skies are still thankfully rather clear, only a few dozen people darting around above the city at this hour.
The air is fresher and cleaner, slling better than I’ve rembered it being in a very long ti.
Although the electrical grid is still operational and mostly powered by natural gas in these parts, the transition from conventional tech to Ethertech in transportation and manufacturing has quartered the number of smokestacks and other emissions sources that I can see billowing out their toxic payloads.
It’s scarcely a minute before I arrive, touching down in front of the central administration building.
I’m sure it has a na.
All the buildings are nad after soone who gave a lot of money to the school way back in the day.
I’m not sure, however, if there will ever be a Seraphina Hall.
Or if I’d feel comfortable if there ever were.
It’s a lot more lively than it was the last ti it was here.
Already there’s a few students settling into the on-campus dormitories and apartnt buildings, wide-eyed n and won my age and teary-eyed parents watching as their kids are moving in and eventually out for the first ti in their lives.
This would have been
as well, right around now, had the System not arrived.
Mom and Dad, helping
pack, probably with Chloe and the Jacobses alongside.
We would’ve been sharing a dorm and, if my suspicions are correct, probably would have started dating after a few more months of close contact and Chloe’s subtly bringing up the idea.
I guess we just got off to an earlier start than we would have in this hypothetical universe.
“Hey, you!” a shrill young woman’s voice cries out.
The source of the voice, a woman wearing what appears to be a coach’s uniform, starts charging at , though compared with the fights from earlier today, she might as well be swimming through molasses.
I turn to her and lower myself slightly, waiting for the berating that I’m sure is about to follow.
“And just what are you doing, standing around here?
I told you all, ten laps around the campus!
I can tell from your lack of both sweat and shortness of breath that you were taking it easy.
Do you think it’s going to be easy pickings just because you have a System now?
Or have you forgotten that all of your opponents will as well?
Now, fifteen laps, and I expect that you’ll be keeping up with
the whole ti.”
She pulls out the whistle and blows it, thankfully not directly at .
Still hurts like hell, even managing to shave five points off my [Health].
The two of us make off at a light jog, circumnavigating the pathway.
The woman— who still hasn’t told
her na— is setting the pace…
And it’s far too slow.
Barely good enough for a warm-up, maybe a 2:35 per mile pace?
Deciding that I might as well oblige her, and because it’s a good bit of exercise and a chance to get to know my fellow instructors a little better, I subtly tap the back of her shoulder, infusing her with the light of [Angel’s Grace].
This, in turn, causes her to pick up the pace, the two of us now easily passing by the others— her students, probably— running around on the sidewalk that surrounds the outer edge of campus.
It takes the two of us about twenty-two minutes to finish our fifteen laps.
As we finish— her winded,
lightly fatigued, the running coach looks at
with bemusent. None of her students have completed their morning regin, which shocks her.
She looks at her watch, and I smile as her jaw nearly drops straight off her face.
“Twenty-one forty-six?
That’s a… what is that…
Let
get out my phone real quick and… No way…
We were running sub- ninety second miles?
How?
That doesn’t make any sense.
I’ve never run a mile in under 2:18 and here I am, casually running fifteen at a 1:27 pace?
All from one level?”
I grin.
“Sorry, Coach.
That’d be my fault.”
“What did you do?”
She reaches up and grabs
by the shoulder.
“You better not have done sothing funny.
I swear to God I will–”
“You said I should get a good workout in, but I felt like it would be rude to rush past you, so instead, I went ahead and cast one of my enhancent spells on you.
Figured that after I supercharged your [Speed] and [Vitality], you’d be able to give
a good warm-up.”
And I was right!
Though I could have gone a lot faster still had I flown instead.
The coach stands in stunned silence for several seconds before finally regaining enough focus to set her jaw back in place.
“You’re not one of my students, are you?”
“No,” I say.
I offer my hand to the running coach.
“Seraphina Mortensen.
I’ll be teaching Basic Combat Training and Applications of Ethertech once the sester starts.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
I shake my head.
“I’m not.”
This, expectedly, makes the coach faint.
Reviews
All reviews (0)