The second Chloe’s phone shows 9:30 AM, Alexey calls out to all of us. He doesn’t yell— his voice is calm-spoken, almost eerily so. But he doesn’t need to. His steel words cut the silence like a hot knife through butter, demanding the attention of everyone who hears. Even the sentries on duty look toward the grizzled veteran of fifty years before returning to their straight-laced posture on either side of the door to the warehouse.
Chloe’s robes are comparable in defensive capability to everything else they have available for us, but I’ve been outfitted with a suit of leather armor not unlike the one Lindsey was wearing just a few monts ago. It feels and even slls oddly familiar, as though this is the very sa suit we handed over to the National Guard back at the dungeon days earlier. I’ve also been outfitted with a few [Lesser Healing Potions] brewed by one of the army’s chemists-turned-[Alchemist], along with another [Ether Canister] to go with the one I still have in my possession.
The phials containing the potions are each about the size of my fingers and contain a bright red liquid. I sniff one of them and quickly regret it. Their odor is a pungent and disgusting mix of onions, moldy cheese, and piss, all slowly boiled together over a fla fueled by raw, steaming shit. I should hope that Chloe never falters in her ability to keep us alive and well, and pray to the gods above that the day never cos where I’m forced to drink this abomination.
In addition to the dicines, each of us carries a large backpack with food, spare clothes, and other mundane supplies. They probably weigh a solid eighty pounds each, more than triple that which Chloe and I are used to. I do feel a bit of regret at my decision to neglect my [Strength] stat, but our comnsurately high [Vitality] helps Chloe and
shoulder the weight without much fatigue.
Lindsey returns a minute later just as the rest of us have finished gathering up out in the parking lot next to Alexey. She nods slightly in affirmation and mouths sothing I interpret as ‘all clear’ before getting in line beside us.
“Ladies, Gentlen,” he says, quiet in volu but no less weighty in tone. “Today we embark on a mission against a threat that many civilians aren’t even aware exists. Chloe, Sera, are you two aware of what lies beyond the city limits?”
Chloe shakes her head.
“I can speculate, sir,” I say. “But other than the existence of the dungeon just south of the city, neither of us has left the city and its imdiate surroundings since the System’s arrival.”
“A lesson for you, Sera. It’s good to admit when you don’t know sothing, rather than trying to speculate with poor evidence. I can tell you’ve got the look of a budding scientist, and there are tis when being able to assess the situation on the ground is going to be an invaluable asset. But getting too deep in your speculations is going to make you overconfident. And I can’t count the tis when soone has done sothing so stupid or nonsensical that I wanted to dismiss the idea as completely beyond the pale.”
I’ve no choice but to nod and acknowledge his words, no matter how poor they make
feel.
“Now then, as the System has notified us when it did those so-called ‘world modifications’, the Earth is a lot bigger than it once was. Beyond the large cities and small towns that have largely escaped the modifications, there’s a lot of nasty shit out there. Monsters that roam the landscape. So of which are true titans, as big as the largest dinosaurs that ever road, and several tis more dangerous to boot.”
“And we’re going to fight those things?” Chloe asks.
“Like hell we are! We’re trying to stay alive, cull whatever gets too close to the city limits, and deliver whatever useful, tangible information we can back to headquarters. And yes, part of that will involve combat, since that seems to tie into our level and therefore our capabilities. However, we will be careful and exercise discretion when and if we decide to fight. Do I make myself clear on this?”
“Yes, sir,” we both say enthusiastically.
That he’s taking all of this into consideration, understanding the need to fight and balancing it against the need to not throw our lives away unnecessarily, raises my esteem of him several notches. I’m glad to see that at least this unit is adapting military doctrine to the arrival of the System. And it fills
with hope that we’ll be prepared to face off against the next challenges that await us.
“Lindsey, you’re in the lead as always. Brent, I want you and Jackie to stay with our two recruits in the middle. Anna, you and Nicholas are with
in the rearguard. Now then, let’s move out!”
Despite Alexey’s warnings of monsters out in the countryside and his boisterous chant to fill our morale, the rest of the morning is as boring and uneventful as the worst exam day back in school. Walking and walking and walking so more. My feet grow sore and I swear we do not usually have to deal with this many mosquitos in the middle of March. Oh, and of course, more giant rats and spiders. We ignore both of those; neither of them pose any real threat, and they’re too low level even to give Chloe Experience at this point.
Our lunch al of a package of MRE’s helps
understand exactly why the field rations are sotis derisively referred to by comics and ex-military as ‘als Rarely Eaten’. The barbecued at is dry and lacking in seasoning. The roll is stale, the green beans and peas simultaneously both soggy and overly waterlogged, and the alleged ‘gummies’ are a stone’s throw from the consistency of hard candy. At least the strawberry-flavored water is decent. Overall, it does very slightly beat going hungry, and that’s the best I can say about that.
To add a little injury to the insult, we get the usual spring rainshower in the afternoon. I thank the goddesses once more that we were instructed under no uncertain terms to carry with us several extra pairs of socks. In fact, we were specifically instructed to bring even more than we thought we’d need after knowing we’d need extra. As I slip on a pair of dry socks and feel the warmth and comfort of dry cotton against my heels, I give thanks to the experience and wisdom of the other mbers of my unit.
But I have to say, without a doubt, the worst part of the day has been adjusting to having to deal with the joys of… waste disposal in the countryside, where the luxury of electricity cos second to the luxury that is indoor plumbing. I can stand fighting for my life against monsters and dealing with whatever unpleasantness the System throws at us next. But please, for the love of every one of the goddesses, give
the glyph of [Clean Bowels], and preferably yesterday.
And also darn them for not answering my prayers.
We continue on until about an hour before sundown, where we set up a basic camp for the evening. Chloe and I have by far the lowest [Strength] stats of the bunch, but with [Vitality] that far outstrips our size, we too are able to nearly pull our weight as we clear a square about about fifty feet in each direction to set up a makeshift campsite for the evening. Brent and Lindsey run off shortly after we get set up, returning an hour later with a small deer and an assortnt of local berries to augnt the hardtack biscuit rations we’d brought with us.
While Alexey handles the slaughtering and preparation of our nightly at dish, I get to showcase my own talents at this ti. I install the glyph of [Heat] onto the burner and teach Nicholas how to operate the device. As I expected from a [Tactician], he already has [Basic Ether Manipulation] himself, though he sheepishly admits it’s not as high ranked as my own. Anna likewise appreciates the effort, getting to enjoy an evening of relative comfort rather than one spent as a glorified [Field Cook].
We also boil the rainwater Jackie and Brent collected during the afternoon, using it both for cooking and to augnt our als. And everyone, especially Chloe, is adamant about making sure to keep each other accountable for drinking more water than we think we need.
The al is quite decent by the standards of ‘living off the land’. I’m not sure if Nicholas has so spell that allows him to enhance the flavor of dishes he cooks, but I’m thoroughly impressed that such ordinary ingredients, unenhanced by any seasoning beyond packets of salt and ground black pepper, could turn out this well. Maybe I’m a little nostalgic for the sort of ho-cooked als that I grew up with.
After dinner, Chloe hits everyone with her [Antidote] spell. The spell only costs her five [Ether] per cast, and absolutely no one wants to wake up with the runs in the middle of the night. She and Jackie head off to discuss their respective healing abilities, while Nicholas pulls
aside to start discussing my abilities. We make our way to his tent— left open at my insistence— where he sits down and starts taking notes.
“I understand from our conversations earlier this afternoon that you are reticent regarding sharing the details of your abilities or what you know about the System. Brent and Alexey might not see eye-to-eye with
on this, and as forr military, I understand where they co from. Being part of a unit like this involves military discipline, oaths, and unit cohesion. We have to trust each other completely and without reservation if we are to maximize our chances of survival.
“Were these ordinary circumstances, I would agree with them and be far more insistent. However, they are anything but, and I can already tell that trying to force you to tell us things you aren’t comfortable with is only going to create conflict and cause you to clam up.”
I nod. “I appreciate the consideration.”
“Now, I understand that you are not a spellcaster like your friend or Anna. Nevertheless, you’ve demonstrated the capacity to imitate spell-like effects with these… glyphs, as you’ve called them.”
“The two of us broke past the police barricade into the Tower Gauntlet that appeared downtown the other day. While we were in there, I discovered a number of glyphs on the various devices contained within. I’ve been able to decipher a small number of them and their functions.”
“Can you explain how they work?”
“If you will permit my speculation on these matters.”
“There is a ti for action and admitting that you do not know, as our commander has instructed. But there is no sha in admitting your speculation and logical reasoning when discussing matters of science.”
“Very well. This is my best understanding of glyphs. Ether represents the force of magic, or the supernatural, or our ability to use the effects granted to us by the System. I’m sure philosophers will have their own definitions in ti. However, Ether can also be likened to raw potential energy, in a sense. It is power in its rawest, most unrefined state. Glyphs act by turning this raw [Ether] into pretty much any effect imaginable. You can think of them as the building blocks of spells… or what I have dubbed Ethertech, combining these glyphs into artifacts, enchantnts, weapons, and so on.
“This next part is more speculative, but I suspect that with sufficient knowledge and understanding of glyphs, their effects, and how to combine them, we can make even the most speculative science fiction into reality. Warp drives that allow us to visit distant galaxies on human tiscales, the ability to command virtually every superpower that has ever been conceived. Even the possibility of creating artificial life. Not just the experints on what the dia has dubbed as ‘AI’. I an true artificial life forms— not just intelligences stored on a series of computers sowhere.” That last one is the only thing I’m absolutely certain of.
“I see. Would you be willing to share your knowledge?”
“No,” I say. “At least, not for nothing. But I would be willing to trade knowledge for knowledge, and work together to unravel the mysteries of these glyphs and their functionality.”
“I look forward to it, Sera. Now then, I can see you are quite tired and I do not wish to keep you from sleep any longer.”
I yawn. “I suppose I am and hadn’t even noticed until you ntioned it. And, we’ll pick this up tomorrow evening?”
“I would like that,” Nicholas says.
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