《Advent: Red Mage》 Chapter 1 — Tutorial We know the stories of the Heroes of the Advent: how Jason the Destroyer felled the Dark Titan and brought us to the Greater Age. The tale of Anna the Kind''s creation of the Tree Bountiful. Boris the Belligerent¡¯s breaking of the Green Tide. Sung Min the Prognosticator¡¯s ride through the night to save New Boston. Francois the Flippant¡¯s famous taunt of the Consumer that bought the forces of Destin their final minute. These tales and ninety-five more you have learned from your First Level. These are not the stories of the Hundred Heroes. This is from the time before, of the souls that laid a sure foundation upon which the Heroes built. Tales of the Advent itself, but a tale for the bright day, as the dark shadow stalks it¡¯s margins and the Bright Corridor has stolen all but their names. Taryn Hollingshead, Seer of the First Gate.
I have seen the creation, the first day of Advent. A voice with power to shake the sky, whispered, ¡°Begin.¡± It commanded, and creation obeyed. People collapsed, praying to the forgotten god. Others froze as the world they had known crumbled into memory. This is the story of Drew Michalik, one of those who stood. ¡°Begin.¡± The word echoed throughout his skull. The large room, that had previously been lit by dozens of monitor screens and lights, went completely black. An image appeared before Drew, staying in the same place as he turned his head. New words scrolled underneath the first set after a short delay.
Mana accumulators have reached initialization charge. Dimensional split commencing. Dimensional split complete. Operational capacity in 200(+/-15) local days.
Drew blinked the messages away. Had he fallen asleep? The room was completely black. He waited several heartbeats for the emergency lights to come on, waiting for the numerous fail safes on the electronics in the room to kick on. ¡°Fuuuu.¡± It wasn¡¯t the complete blackness that scared him though. It was the silence. The ventilation systems, uninterruptible power supplies, and fans had all stopped. The only sound to be heard was his too loud heartbeat. From the tests and drills, he knew it usually took about 2 or 3 seconds usually. Six seconds, ten, then twenty passed. ¡°What the actual f¡­¡± His words cut off as another line of blue text appeared in front of him, his entire body going rigid as an electric surge swept through his frame.
Citizen scan commencing. Citizen scan complete. Citizen status: Healthy. Citizen Evaluation: Physical: Common. Resistance: Basic. Pain Threshold: Intermediate. Speed: Undeveloped. Mental: Advanced. Mana Receptivity: Intermediate. Mana Discharge: Rare. Mana Charge: Advanced. Xatherite node potential: 73. Xatherite node Balance: 24 Red, 13 Orange, 14 Yellow, 4 Green, 6 Blue, 2 Indigo, 3 Violet, and 7 White. Xatherite node Structure: Constellation. Xatherite node Links: 68.
As soon as the scan was complete, his body unlocked from it¡¯s rigid state and he reflexively took a deep breath. ¡°Well, that makes sense, whiskey tango foxtrot is going on?¡± He was 5 floors down in a bunker that apparently no longer had power, having video game style pop ups appear in his vision. ¡°This is just a dream. I must have fallen asleep.¡± It didn¡¯t sound like him, but he couldn¡¯t think of any other realistic options. The building had enough backup power options to survive pretty much anything but a direct blast. There hadn¡¯t been an explosion, no ground shaking, and no loud noises. Well, minus that voice saying, ¡°Begin.¡± He reached for the land line that was used for emergencies like this. Even an EMP shouldn¡¯t affect that line. He knew before he picked it up that it wouldn¡¯t work, but it was just something he had to try. He slapped his cheek, ¡°Wake up Dave.¡± Nothing changed. He slapped himself again, harder this time. ¡°Wake up.¡±
Citizen geolocation acquired. *** Warning: citizen is in near proximity to primary nexus. *** Citizen is awarded an additional 5% (rounded down) of their total nodes in intermediate quality xatherite to assist in survival. Citizen Compatibility tool initialization. Citizen is awarded 7% (rounded down) of their total nodes in beginner grade xatherite as an initialization bonus. Citizen Compatibility assessment concluded. Available xatherite: Red ¨C Fireball (Intermediate) Red ¨C Storm (Intermediate) Red ¨C Cone of Frost (Intermediate) Red ¨C Minor Dancing Sword (Common) Red ¨C Major Spark (Basic) Orange ¨C Major Refresh (Basic) Yellow ¨C Major Mana Guard (Basic)Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Red ¨C Minor Acid Dart (Primitive) Citizen, please slot at least one node to continue.
What followed was a map that appeared to be a large grouping of constellations. From the earlier messages, Drew assumed it was his xatherite node structure. There were many small multi-colored constellations ranging from two to six nodes each. Some were connected by thick lines and others by smaller lines. He assumed the larger connections were the node links mentioned in the assessment. Most of the slots were dimmed. However, a point near the bottom was pulsing white and the nodes within 2 connections of it looked usable. In all, only four red nodes, two orange, and a yellow node looked to be available for immediate insertion. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Drew asked the darkness, his voice bordering on panic.
Warning: To facilitate an adequate survival rate, citizens will not drop xatherite for 100 days. You have been selected to view the tutorial, you may view the tutorial prior to slotting a node.
¡°Okay, some answers.¡± He turned his head around to see if there wasn¡¯t some small amount of light. ¡°Well, I¡¯m either crazy or it¡¯s really happening¡­ Either way, might as well get some information. Now, how do I start the tutorial?¡± Saying that was enough to activate it, and the darkness around him changed, shifting from the absolute darkness to a deeper darkness, while simultaneously illuminating the nearest section, giving him the sense of vision. A moderately attractive woman appeared in front of him. ¡°Greetings, citizen. I am the artificial intelligence assigned as Earth-3¡¯s Tutorial guide, you may call me Aevis. I am authorized to instruct you on basic system interface, xatherite, xatherite nodes, and your rights as a citizen of Earth-3 in a newly initialized system.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°Your system was claimed and settled by the Human Protectorate in galactic year 17,543. As such, mana accumulators and humankind were seeded on the third planet designated Earth in preparation for full citizenship integration when ambient mana reached a sufficient level to support full functionality. This is the third successful split in Earth spacetime, and as such, your dimension has been designated Earth-3. During the activation process known as Advent, Earth-3 will undergo a series of radical shifts to bring it more in line with Protectorate development standards. Did that answer your question?¡± Drew¡¯s mouth opened and closed a few times as he tried to parse everything that he¡¯d just heard. ¡°What¡¯s the Human Protectorate?¡± ¡°Before I answer another question, you must affirm that I have adequately answered your previous question.¡± ¡°Why does that matter?¡± Drew asked walking towards Aevis who turned to keep him in front of her. ¡°Before I answer another question, you must affirm that I have adequately answered your previous question.¡± The image repeated. ¡°Fine, yes you did.¡± Drew growled. ¡°Very well, which of your questions would you like answered first? The Human Protectorate or why I cannot answer a second question until I have completely answered the previous question?¡± ¡°The Protectorate one, ignore the second question.¡± Drew sighed. This was worse than Alexa. ¡°I will ignore your second question. The Human Protectorate is a collection of humankind whose stated goal is the advancement and protection of Human life within the portions of what you know as the Milky Way, Andromeda, and Triangulum galaxies. The full scope of the Protectorate consists of more than eight thousand Earth-like planets across 23 dimensions. That is all the information I am authorized to divulge about the Protectorate at this time.¡± Drew nodded his head trying to comprehend the just how big that made this Human Protectorate. ¡°Please respond with a verbal confirmation.¡± Aevis stated. ¡°Yes, that answered my question.¡± Drew sighed with some amount of exasperation. ¡°What sort of changes will happen to Earth?¡± ¡°As a result of higher concentrations of mana, Earth-3¡¯s natural flora and fauna will develop more aggressive tendencies. Additionally, excessively high concentrations of mana will spontaneously create additional organisms. These manaborn creatures will assist in the advancement for Earth-3 citizens by developing their combat capabilities. Additionally, mana constructs designed to train and test the citizenry of Earth-3 will be implemented. Does that answer your question?¡± ¡°Are you telling me that there are going to be monsters that you want us to fight?¡± ¡°That is an accurate interpretation of my response. Does that answer your question?¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Before I answer another question, you must affirm that I have adequately answered your previous question.¡± ¡°Yes, it does. But why?¡± ¡°Your question is ambiguously worded, please clarify.¡± ¡°Why are there going to be monsters? Why do you want to improve our combat capabilities?¡± ¡°Both questions are interrelated. All dimensions of Earth have been designated as combat training facilities due to their high mana potential. As such, all citizens become de facto members of the Human Protectorates Naval forces. The monsters created have been deemed appropriate training systems. Does that answer your question?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Drew answered out of habit, as he considered everything that he had just heard. He was already a member of the military, albeit only the U.S. Coast Guard, but he had switched from doing boardings to military intelligence after his picking a rate 18 months into his contract. He didn¡¯t particularly like the idea of being shanghaied into some alien naval force. ¡°Your time inside the tutorial is limited, I suggest you go through the basic xatherite node tutorial prior to beginning your training.¡± Aevis interjected into Drew¡¯s thoughtful silence. Apparently taking his silence as permission, she began. ¡°Xatherite is crystallized mana and comes in seven different colors. These xatherite crystals also come in nine different grades. Each color of xatherite focuses on a different type of active skill or spell. For example, the low grade red xatherite crystal Major Spark you were given will allow you summon a single damaging spell to deal lightning damage to a single foe, because Red is the color of attack xatherite. The color designations are as follows:¡± As she said this, a projection of the different colors of xatherite appeared next to her.
Red-Attack Orange-Enhancement Yellow-Defense Green-Psychic Blue-Creation Indigo-Deception Violet-Alteration
¡°You will note, in addition to the seven colored nodes, that there are also white nodes in your structure. These white nodes can accept any color of xatherite. Generally speaking, individuals are identified by the majority colors in their node structures. With low physical stats, but high mental stats and a major concentration of red nodes, you would be designated as a Red Mage or Assault Mage.¡± ¡°The major color of your nodes, it¡¯s structure, and how many nodes you have are all directly related to your personality and capabilities as an individual. Your node structure and concentration are both higher than the mean for Earth-3, and it is recommend that you exercise discretion when communicating their values with your fellow citizens.¡± ¡°What was the average?¡± Drew interrupted the AI before it could continue. ¡°I am not authorized to divulge that information.¡± Aevis said before continuing with her lecture. The image of the starmap structure that made up Drew¡¯s xatherite nodes appeared next to her. Spoiler: Xatherite Grid ¡°As you can see, you have a constellation-class structure, which means that your nodes are arranged in sub groups. You can only use a xatherite crystal after it has been inserted into a node. After you insert a crystal into a node, you must then attune to the crystal, which involves using the crystal in combat situations.¡± ¡°Once you have attuned to the crystal, you can begin the process of upgrading your crystals. Low grade crystals will upgrade through use, as excess mana crystallizes within the node, amplifying the power of the crystal.¡± ¡°What about higher grade xatherite?¡± ¡°Higher grade crystals will usually have additional requirements to upgrade them, but that is beyond the scope of this tutorial.¡± Aevis responded before pointing to the pulsing white square at the bottom of the grid. ¡°This is your origin. You may place a crystal into any node within two connections of the origin or any already inserted crystal.¡± Four nodes next to the origin that were all linked by heavy lines began to glow. ¡°This is a constellation. As you can see, it consists of two red, a yellow, and an orange node. By filling this constellation with attuned crystals, you will create linked skills. For example, if you were to place your Intermediate Grade Storm and yourprimativegrade Minor Acid Dart xatherites in a constellation and attuned both of them, you would create the linked ability: Minor Acid Storm. The grade of the crystals in the linked ability will be averaged to determine the grade of the linked ability. However, not all xatherite combinations will create a linked ability.¡± ¡°What is the hierarchy of grades?¡± Drew asked, falling back into his old gaming habits. ¡°Xatherite grades are as follows: primitive, undeveloped, basic, common, intermediate, rare, advanced, master, and legendary. Those same grades are used for all equipment, statistics, and evaluations within the mana system.¡± ¡°How do I see what combinations will create linked abilities?¡± ¡°Only trial and error. It is also important to note that you cannot remove a placed crystal, you can only replace it destroying the original. Unfortunately, your time in the tutorial has elapsed. Humanity prevails.¡± The last words Aevis said were in a different language, but he somehow knew that is what they meant. Humanity prevails. The question was, who do they prevail against? Chapter 2 — Xatherite The tutorial faded and Drew was back in the darkness of the watch floor. He turned his head from side to side, looking for any source of light and not finding any. The oppressive lack of light added weight to everything he had just heard. He was here in a world that wasn¡¯t anything like the one he had known before. Reaching behind him to find the chair he had been sitting in, he sat down with a heavy sigh.
Citizen, please slot a xatherite node to continue.
Grateful to have at least something for his eyes to focus on in the darkness, Drew accessed his node structure with a thought and it sprang into being before him. To the right of the map was the list of xatherite he had available. Focusing on them one by one, he pulled up the info screens on each crystal.
Xatherite Crystal Name: Fireball Xatherite Color: Red Xatherite Grade: Intermediate Type: Magic Effect: Convert mana into a high energy blast of fire that will travel in a straight line until exploding, causing major fire damage in a 1m radius around the blast. Mana recharge time: 10.5 seconds.
Xatherite Crystal Name: Storm Xatherite Color: Red Xatherite Grade: Intermediate Type: Magic Effect: Create a localized storm around a target. The storm will have a radius of 10m and will cause significant wind, water, and lightning damage within its radius. Mana recharge time: 1 minute, 17 seconds
Xatherite Crystal Name: Cone of Frost Xatherite Color: Red Xatherite Grade: Intermediate Type: Magic Effect: Creates a cone of cold energy which causes significant freezing damage, originating from any part of your body. Has a chance to partially enclose the target in ice, slowing them down considerably. Cone will extend 4 meters and has an arc of pi/4. Mana recharge time: 16.8 seconds
Xatherite Crystal Name: Minor Dancing Sword Xatherite Color: Red Xatherite Grade: Common Type: Magic Effect: Creates a mana construct of a sword that lasts for 30 seconds. The sword will move on its own and attack any target designated for the duration of the attack. Mana recharge time: 1 minute, 45 seconds
Xatherite Crystal Name: Major Spark Xatherite Color: Red Xatherite Grade: Basic Type: Magic Effect: Creates an arc of electricity, dealing minor lightning damage from any body part to a target no more than 3m away. Mana recharge time: 4.2 seconds
Xatherite Crystal Name: Major Refresh Xatherite Color: Orange Xatherite Grade: Basic Type: Magic Effect: Infuses mana into the target to reduce fatigue and lactic acid buildup. Mana recharge time: 22 minutes, 24 seconds
Xatherite Crystal Name: Major Mana Guard Xatherite Color: Yellow Xatherite Grade: Basic Type: Magic Effect: Creates a shield of mana around the caster. This shield will absorb moderate amounts of energy and kinetic damage.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Mana recharge time: 4 minutes, 33 seconds
Xatherite Crystal Name: Minor Acid Dart Xatherite Color: Red Xatherite Grade: Primitive Type: Magic Effect: Creates a small globule of acid from a finger that travels in a straight line until it impacts a target, dealing minor acid damage. Mana recharge time: 16.1 seconds
He was a little confused by the damage amounts he was given, since they didn¡¯t match up with the hierarchy he had been told to expect in the tutorial. He assumed minor was smaller than small, which was in turn smaller than moderate, but was significant higher than major? Also, Minor Dancing Sword didn¡¯t list a damage at all. Did it not do any damage, or was it because it dealt kinetic damage while all the others dealt energy damage? He glanced back over the units used. Meters and radians, really? He should have paid more attention in calculus. He was pretty sure pi/4 radians was approximately 45 degrees. And the meters were easy enough to convert into feet. ¡°I guess this means the system is more interested in math than politics.¡± Also, judging by the weird recharge times, his stats must play some sort of effect on how long it took before he could cast the spell again. He also realized that there was no cast time. Did that mean they were all instant effects? Or was it a hidden value that he would have to figure out for each spell? Glancing at his node structure Drew realized that he wasn¡¯t going to be able to insert all of his xatherite currently. Well, he could, but it would spread him out around his constellations and prevent him from fully populating any constellations. He would need to use the the yellow and orange xatherite he had to bridge the locations to the other red nodes. Which meant he needed to decide if it was more important to complete a constellation or to place all of his xatherite. There were obvious pros and cons to both. If he placed them all, he would begin the process of upgrading all of them, and there was a clear difference in value between his intermediate quality xatherite and the lower grade ones. So getting those lower grade crystals upgraded would make him significantly more powerful. But at the same time, completing a constellation or creating linked skills would do the same thing, giving him more power and hopefully a better survival rate. Also, where he put them was important. Did he put his good crystals in the four constellation node so he could complete it, or in the six constellation that required a blue and a purple xatherite? He had no idea how common xatherite was; the only reference he had for getting more was that apparently killing other humans would allow him to get their xatherite in 100 days after the restriction was removed. That was a worrisome prospect. It meant that xatherite was rare enough that killing another human for their crystals was part of process. Which meant that it could be a fairly long time before he got the purple and blue xatherite he needed in order to fully complete the six node constellation. Perhaps he could trade with other people? Obviously only ones that he didn¡¯t have slotted, which would be another reason not to slot all of his xatherite immediately. He stared at the nodes in front of him. He simply didn¡¯t have enough information to make the best choices. The gamer inside of him wanted to push him to make optimal choices. But what if he needed all of those high level xatherite to get away from the primary nexus? That was why he received them in the first place, because being near it was so dangerous. He didn¡¯t think the world had suddenly given him multiple lives. So he needed to focus on the options that would give him the most immediate survivability, while still not severely hindering his future growth. His stomach rumbled and he realized it had probably been a few hours since he last ate. He could probably crawl his way over to the snack bar, but the problem was the darkness. He couldn¡¯t see anything, and if that continued, getting a light source was probably his highest priority. Glancing over his options again, he looked for any options that would provide light. All of his attack spells would probably create small bursts of light, but they would also create quite a bit of damage in the area around him. Spark would probably damage considerably less than the higher quality fireball. He wasn¡¯t even sure if cone of frost would create any light at all. Storm seemed like a bad idea in an enclosed area like the bunker he was currently in, but he really wanted it to start getting attuned. The short cooldown on spark would also be helpful, but he just wasn¡¯t sure how much light it would produce. On the other hand, dancing sword and mana guard could or could not create light, it all depended on the game. In some games, mana shield would create a nimbus around him, which would give him at least a small amount of light to work with, but it could just as easily be an invisible effect. Dancing sword was in a similar category; it could be made of light, or it could be like a normal sword and not help at all. The same could be said of major refresh; there could be a light effect when he cast the spell. But the nearly half an hour cooldown on major refresh made it unlikely for that to be very useful. He decided that his best bet would probably be Dancing Sword. Most games would create an object of light for an effect like this. He didn¡¯t anticipate it being very bright, and the gap during the spell being active to when he could recast it meant that he was going to spend about 2/3rds of the time in darkness. The question was, which slot was he going to put it into? He looked at the other xatherite, then at the map. He decided that he needed to place cone of frost, fireball, minor dancing sword, major mana guard, and major refresh at least. That meant he could complete the easy constellation if he wanted to. He could also get four out of six in the larger one or put some in the larger one and then slot more into the six slot constellation that had two reds, two oranges, a yellow, and a white. With a heavy sigh, convinced that he was making the wrong choice but unsure what would be better, he put dancing sword and major mana guard in the first constellation on the right. He then put fireball in the white slot and major refresh in the orange before putting cone of frost and storm in the red slots of the six slot constellation in the bottom right of the starmap. Leaving minor acid dart and major spark unslotted for now. Satisfied that he had made the best choices available to him according to the knowledge that he possessed, Drew confirmed the changes.
Congratulations citizen, you have taken your first step on your training. Fight well, survive, and prevail.
Drew grasped his skull as information suddenly flooded his brain. The correct actions to cast six spells burned paths into the neurons in his head. Then his eyes rolled up and he slumped down into the chair, unconscious. Spoiler: Xatherite Map Waking up an unknown amount of time later, Drew groaned, a hand rubbing his temples as a massive headache prevented him from thinking straight for several minutes. The pain receded slowly, gradually allowing room for more coherent thought. As soon as it was at a manageable level, he cast his first spell. His fingers twisting in familiar patterns he had never made before implanting the xatherite. There was a flash of orange light, the first color he had seen in the real world since the voice had said ¡°Begin.¡± His headache reduced to a much more manageable level, the pain in his neck from his abrupt collapse earlier disappearing as well. ¡°Guess that answers the question on cast times.¡± He felt like he had just woken up from a good night¡¯s sleep as he stood up and stretched. Looking around at the darkness, he muttered, ¡°Well, here goes nothing.¡± His fingers twisted to form a circle between his thumb and pointer finger, then made a strange jerking motion. Then there was light. A translucent gladius, made of what appeared to be glass, came into being about two feet in front of him floating in mid air and glowed with a faint red light. It wasn¡¯t bright, but it was enough for him to see a few feet around him, which was all he needed. He turned towards the snackbar and made quick work of finding a bag of chips before the sword, following behind him over his shoulder, disappeared, plunging him into darkness yet again. At least now it was darkness with a bag of chips. He ripped the bag open and began to stuff his face. He wasn¡¯t sure how long it had been since last he ate, but his body certainly knew that it was hungry. Six bags of chips, a soda, three candy bars, and two bags of peanuts later, the edge of his hunger was gone, replaced by a faint craving for something more substantial, which he had a feeling he wasn¡¯t going to get in the near future. Now armed with some light, his belly mostly full, and his thirst temporarily abated, his immediate issues had been solved. Now came the hard part: getting out of the bunker. Chapter 3 — The Door Of course, in order to get out of the bunker, he first had to get out of the room. The watchfloor, or rather the former watchfloor, was about 100 feet wide, 80 feet long, and had large vaulted ceilings. There was a small changing room off to one side and then a heavy duty metal door that required a key code to open. The door didn¡¯t require a code to leave, a safety measure he was glad had been implemented. It did mean that he wasn¡¯t going to be able to get back in without breaking down the door. He couldn¡¯t risk leaving anything inside that he was going to need. So in short bursts as he waited for the light from the sword to appear, he rummaged through the various lockers and desks looking for anything of value. He grabbed his civilian clothes, but kept his uniform on; it was sturdier and would be able to protect him better from the monsters he expected to encounter. After all, the bunker would make a perfect dungeon. He filled up the two duffle bags that he found in Marsh¡¯s locker. They had Marsh¡¯s distinctive smell--the larger man sweated even in the climate controlled watchfloor. He stuffed one with extra clothing and other supplies he thought might be useful; the other had all the snackbar food shoved into it. It also had the box of organic pop tarts that he found in Marsh¡¯s locker; he¡¯d tried one and determined that they were as disgusting as they sounded. Now with the two duffles at his feet and the shaft of the fire axe leaning against his hip, he stared into the darkness. A fear deep within him stirred, trying to pull him down to inaction. He was before the door, but he sensed that as soon as he stepped out of the quiet darkness of this room that all of this would become real. He was going to have to face monsters, more darkness, and who knew what else. The world had kept on moving while he had been in the tutorial. His partner hadn¡¯t returned, he was five floors down in a bunker near the primary nexus, and he was alone. Wallowing in the fear that threatened to swallow him, Drew let that wash over him, let it eat away at his resolve. Then he pushed it away. He had acknowledged his fear, had experienced it in full. It would not control him. ¡°Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be for my unquenchable soul.¡± He quoted Invictus to himself as his fingers formed the seals and pushed down, activating major mana guard, the yellow light flashing briefly before disappearing into his skin. He lifted the axe, holding it in one hand as he pushed open the door, the red light of dancing sword sending strange shadows around the antechamber. Drew paused for a moment, looking around the small room. Then he slung both duffles over his shoulder and stepped forward. The silence here was the same, comfortingly without any of the wheezing breath or the clack of claws on cement that his brain had imagined monsters would be making. He didn¡¯t look up. The only thing that saved him was the dancing sword responding to threats automatically, slashing up at the chitionious mass that clung to the ceiling above him. It was impossible to see in the darkness. The sword¡¯s quick movements sent dark-red shadows throughout the room. However, the creature had fallen to the floor a few feet away from Drew, knocked off course by the sword¡¯s blow. There were no floating damage meters. There wasn¡¯t a floating HP bar above the creature¡¯s head either. So much for the system being like the games he used to play. With a thought, he struck out with cone of frost. The air immediately around him turned frigid instantly, but the creature reacted with a harrowing scream as it seemed to curl up around itself. The sword¡¯s duration ran out and he was plunged into darkness yet again. But his axe was already swinging towards the body of the thing that had managed to sneak up on him. He could feel the blade bite into it deeply, and then it stuck when he tried to pull it out, the sound of metal grating against chitin. He lashed out with his boot, kicking at the the thing while his other hand tried to cast another dancing blade. He wanted the light; he needed it. The creature under his boot continued to thrash against his leg, long and hard legs or arms grasping at the thick fabric of his uniform pants. Yellow light flared every so often as mana guard protected him from damage. The spell¡¯s cooldown wasn¡¯t over yet and wouldn¡¯t be for more than a minute. The thing was too close to use fireball. He should have slotted spark; it¡¯s low recharge and single target nature was perfect for this sort of fighting. Drew pushed the axe down, trying to drive it deeper into the creature, simultaneously causing damage and keeping the thing away from him. Suddenly the mass under the axe twisted, a chunk of chitin bouncing off his shin as it was torn free by the action. Another short hand movement and he thrust a finger in the direction of the thing, another blast of cold erupting into the room. The creature screamed again, and judging by the sound, it was attempting to retreat. Shifting the shape of his hand slightly, a massive bloom of fire streaked towards the other side of the small room. Drew¡¯s eyes were focused on the creature he was fighting. The burst of light from the fireball had been enough to give him a good look at it for the first time. It was a massive spider, it¡¯s body as thick as a soccer ball. It was dripping blue ichor from the axe and sword wounds with three of its legs encased in ice, while the main body just happened to be directly in the path of the blast. He could see the chitin melting as the ball passed through it¡¯s body and then exploded against the far wall.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. The reverberating force threw him back against the wall and he felt sharp pain in his lower back from a shelf he had been smashed against. Mana guard¡¯s energy spent, he could feel the air around him loosen as it¡¯s protection disappeared. But it was over; there was no way the spider had survived that. The door behind Drew clicked closed, denying him the safety of the former watchfloor. His limbs were shaking from adrenaline, the aches and pains from impacts he hadn¡¯t even realized had happened during the brief fight began to make themselves known. He quickly cast major refresh on himself. The pain receded immediately as he took stock of the situation. One of the duffle bags still hung around his shoulder; the other had been dropped sometime during the fight. The axe haft still hung in his trembling hands. He quickly pulled up his node structure and slotted minor acid dart and major spark in the constellation to the left of his origin node and confirmed the change. As the pain began, he realized he¡¯d made a horrible mistake. If he lost consciousness again here where it wasn¡¯t safe, there was a good chance he wouldn¡¯t survive. His fingers tightened around the wood of the axe handle, turning white as he fought against the pain that burned throughout his entire body. He could instantly tell that it wasn¡¯t nearly as bad as the first time. Six xatherite of higher grade clearly imparted more information into his brain than the two low grade spells he¡¯d just put in. Still, the pain was intense and he started to see lights dancing in the darkness. Drew slumped back against the wall, not caring if the shelves dug into his back. His legs were shaking too hard for him to stay standing. He had escaped relatively unscathed from the ordeal. But at the same time, there were no notifications popping up in his vision telling him how much experience he had acquired. There was no level on the spider indicating how hard it was compared to other monsters. No system generated loot from it¡¯s corpse. Everything was the same as before, except now there were monsters, and he could cast fireball. Sitting in the darkness, Drew tried to catch his breath, the headache dissipating as he tried to collect himself. Casting dancing blade again, he grabbed the handle of the axe and pushed himself back up to an upright position. He groaned again, feeling where the sharp corner of a shelf had dug into his back when he collapsed earlier. He walked over to the remains of the spider and nudged it with the axe, then looked around the room for any loot. Monsters dropped loot and they guarded treasure chests. That was just how games worked, and while he was becoming more and more convinced that this wasn¡¯t actually a game like the ones he was used to, his brain kept telling him that there had be more game elements in the world now. The only thing he found was a bunch of spiderwebs in the corner above the door. Small dark spots in the webs were remnants of the spider¡¯s previous meals. If this were a game, he¡¯d collect the webbing and use it to make some rope, or some super strong cloth. But looking at the sticky stuff, he shivered slightly, having no desire to go about gathering it. Miraculously, both duffles had landed on this side of the door, but he realized that carrying both of them would make fighting extremely difficult. He would kill for a bag of holding or a magic system inventory. Or heck, a Tenser¡¯s floating disk. With the duffles in a slightly better position on his back and the fire axe in hand, he cautiously moved to the next door. He pressed the side of his head against the door and listened for a moment. This little vestibule wasn¡¯t soundproof and the spider had screamed quite loudly. If something was out there, it probably would have heard the fight. But maybe the explosion would have scared anything off? He cracked the door open just enough to send a cone of frost into the hallway beyond. The tension of wandering the dark hallways was already making him a little on edge, and since the only ¡®cost¡¯ associated with casting his spells was the cooldown as far as he could tell, he figured it wasn¡¯t a big risk. Nothing screamed on the other side as he closed it and leaned in to push his weight against the door, listening again. He waited for dancing blade¡¯s cooldown to be up so that he would have some light, then opened the door again, glancing around at the dark hallway. To the left was the less secure facility where all the unclassified work was done, and to the right were offices of some of the chain of command. The way out was to the left. But the realization that he didn¡¯t have a plan for how to leave the bunker caused him to close the door again and back up as he considered his options. He could follow his normal route out, which would take him across half the building and up and down eight flights of stairs. The bunker was built to house thousands of office workers. Granted, the only people in it when the advent began were the two people on his watchfloor, the security guards and¡­the other night watch. They were in the commandant¡¯s plot room and had a couple people stationed there at all hours of the day. Which meant there were four or five people in there, and if he could meet up with them, he wouldn¡¯t be alone. He considered his options. The building was massive. He had explored some of it, but he still got lost in the unmarked corridors. His best bet was to follow his known route, which would take him out to the ground level near the parking structure. There were a couple of vending machines along the way that could be raided for additional foodstuffs. That was, assuming they didn¡¯t have spiders guarding them. So the plan was to head to the commandant¡¯s plot, see if they were still in their watch room, and then escape the building along his normal route. With a nod of his head, he stood up again, his next few actions determined. Spoiler: Xatherite Map Chapter 4 — Logistics Stepping out into the hallway again, he had mana guard back up and the faint red light of the dancing blade was illuminating the hallway for a few feet either side of the door. The glow wasn¡¯t even enough to penetrate to the far side of the hallway. ¡°Frak, this isn¡¯t going to work.¡± He needed more light. He¡¯d acquired a few flammables from his raid on the locker room, but he needed a better option than dancing blade. So he turned left into the large open space that was the cube farm. He stepped as quietly as his boots would allow him. The sound of the cloth duffles rubbing against his uniform jacket reverberated loudly in his ears as he strained to hear anything. With a grunt, he swung the duffles down onto the floor, his fingers gripping the axe handle as the dancing sword blinked out of existence. He stood there on the threshold of the cube farm, his eyes peering into the darkness and his ears straining to hear the skitter of another spider. He waited a minute, and then on a hunch he pointed his finger to the leftmost corner of the room and launched a fireball in that direction. The bright ball of flame moved quickly, but still lit up the room better than the blade had. It revealed the dark shapes of massive spiders before exploding with another loud scream as two of the beasts were caught in its area of effect. Drew¡¯s free hand was already moving in the pattern that would allow him to resummon the dancing blade. Meanwhile, he clumsily swung the axe one handed in a circle around him, as a deterrent against the now swiftly approaching forms. He hadn¡¯t seen any of them that were any larger than the one he had already fought, so hopefully that meant there wasn¡¯t a boss type monster here. As soon as the axe had finished its arc without meeting any resistance, he dropped it. The hand that was previously holding it began casting cone of frost. The spider screams that followed told him that he¡¯d scored at least a partial hit. His other hand beginning to cast major spark already. The flash of electrical power that surged from his left hand arced to a nearby spider that curled up on itself with a twitching motion. His right hand was already throwing a minor acid dart at the same location. His left hand moved to form another fireball. The pattern repeated, lighting the room in weird flashes of burning flame, arcing electricity, and red shadows as the sword attacked any spiders that came close enough to him. When it was over, there were a couple of small fires throughout the room as paper and fabric burned. Using the firelight, he could see half a dozen spider bodies; some were half melted, others still twitching as electricity arced around holes eaten away by acid darts. The carpet around him had clumped bits of frozen blue ichor and sliced off spider legs. The adrenaline that had caused the full fury of his spells to erupt in bright flashes faded again, and he felt a weakness in his knees. The curious thickness in the air around him proved that the few spiders that had gotten close enough to be killed by the sword hadn¡¯t even managed to deal enough damage to break his mana guard spell. The air smelled thickly of ozone, smoke, and burning spider flesh. ¡°That...that wasn¡¯t even that bad.¡± Drew said to himself, looking around the room. Open spaces were much easier for him to lay out the hurt. He leaned down to pick up the axe from where it had landed a few feet away from him.
Congratulations citizen, you have attuned your first xatherite. Minor Acid Dart will now begin to level up. Congratulations citizen, your Minor Acid Dart has reached level 1. Damage has increased. Congratulations citizen, your Minor Acid Dart has reached level 2. Damage has increased. Congratulations citizen, your Minor Acid Dart has reached level 3. Damage has increased. Congratulations citizen, Major Mana Guard has been attuned. Congratulations citizen, Major Refresh has been attuned.
The blue screen appeared in Drew¡¯s eyes as he finally calmed down after the fight. He willed the blue message away, and taking advantage of the newly lit room, he left the duffles near the entrance as he advanced on the two side doors along the right side of the room. He was really hoping that there was a janitor¡¯s closet in the storeroom area. He had some ideas for a more permanent light source. Or at least one that worked more than a third of the time. As he waited for the cooldown on dancing blade to end, he put his ear to the crack between the doors and listened. Hearing nothing, he tried the doorknob. Upon finding it locked, he threw a quick acid dart at the lock. The pop fizz of dissolving metal echoed through the room and then the door lurched slightly, the latch no longer keeping it closed. Pushing it open all the way allowed some of the light from the still burning fires to illuminate the room. Drew couldn¡¯t help but laugh. The adrenaline of the fight coupled with the absurdity of his situation suddenly hitting him. He grabbed the mop and a couple of spare heads from the corner and then looked around for any other supplies that might come in handy.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. The problem was carrying capacity. He could only carry so many things, and he had to keep his hands clear and be relatively unburdened to fight. In video games, this would have been solved for him by a magic backpack or a bag of holding. Or the GM would just hand waive the weight restrictions as being too much paperwork. The reality of the situation was significantly different from those idealized versions he had spent so much time in. He already had his hands full with the axe and the duffles. Adding a torch on top of it all meant he was going to have to give something up. He was reluctant to discard the axe. While he hadn¡¯t used it during the second fight, if anything got in close, it was imperative that he be able to use it¡¯s weight and reach to keep his opponent away from him. His defensive and healing spells didn¡¯t seem like they would hold up to a major barrage. Especially if he came up against something that had anywhere near the firepower he did. He looked around. The room was moderately large, containing a number of shelves with cabling and other electronics. All of which were now useless, since nothing with electronics worked. But standing in a corner was a two tier AV cart. Walking over to it, he pushed it a few times to determine how sturdy it was. Made of thick plastic, it couldn¡¯t hold a ton of weight, but it was probably enough for the duffles. And as the round posts in each corner were hollow, he could put the mop turned torch in one of those and have light without sacrificing his casting and the axe. Sliding the once expensive laptops off the cart, he cleared the cart of everything but the wire and the toolkit. He looked around and grabbed two more unopened boxes of cabling, then some other cleaning supplies that looked flammable. The squeaky wheels of the cart wouldn¡¯t help much for his stealth, but by the time he was back at the duffles he had something of a plan. First he set to coating the mop head in the shoe polish that he¡¯d found in the locker room. He then soaked it in some of the cleaning chemicals that were labeled as flammable. While he waited for the mop to soak them up completely, he cut off several lengths of cabling and braided them together, giving him 8 feet or so of stronger ¡®rope¡¯ he could use to pull the cart. Tying the the cabling to the cart and then putting everything on it only took a few more minutes, but it was enough for the scattered fires to begin to die down, their fuel consumed. Looking around quickly, he thrust the mop through several of the spider webs for good measure, coating it in the thick webbing. He lit the whole thing on fire with a quick spark into some steel wool. Mana guard prevented the resulting cascade of sparks from hurting his hands too much. He waited a few seconds to see how his new torch would work, then slipped it into the hole at the front of the cart, pleased with the height of the torch and how much light it gave off. Pulling the cart with one hand and holding the axe in another, he could easily drop the rope he was using to pull the cart if combat started. ¡°Not perfect, but it¡¯s better than I was hoping to get.¡± Drew said to himself as he surveyed his handiwork. He pulled a bag of chips from his supplies and munched on them while he did another quick raid of the desks, hoping to find more food, or a candle, or something. He found a few candy bars and lots of nonfunctional electronics that he couldn¡¯t think of a use for. ¡°Lots of metal here, would be nice if I found someone who knew how to make weapons or armor.¡± He shook his head. The lack of system generated loot meant that eventually humanity was going to need to make their own weapons and armor. However, how many people in DC actually knew how to use a forge? Or grow crops? Or butcher a corpse? He glanced at the various spider bodies in different stages of burned, melted, frozen, and shocked. He had the three inch folding blade he had started wearing after he joined the coast guard. The blade had been dulled by years of opening boxes and cutting rope (or line as all the ¡®real¡¯ sailors used to call it) when he was on the cutter, but it would probably work for a field dress. He probably should try to get something from the bodies; poison glands, chitin, and meat were all things he had harvested from spiders in games. But he wasn¡¯t a doctor, he¡¯d never taken an anatomy class, and he had hated dissecting the frog in biology. In truth, he had no idea where to even start butchering soccer ball sized spiders. So he just left them there, in favor of moving forward and escaping the bunker. His next stop was the bathrooms. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure how long it had been since the advent--a problem that kept nagging at the back of his mind--but as soon as he saw the stick figures, he realized he needed to use the facilities. ¡°This is where the zombies kill me when I¡¯ve got my pants down¡­¡± Drew muttered to himself as he looked around. The bathrooms seemed clear; no signs of spider webbing. So he propped the door open and inspected each of the stalls. Finding that they were empty, he brought the cart into the bathroom and spent a few minutes attending to some bodily functions. He reached for the bar to flush the toilet out of habit. Nothing happened. ¡°Right. No pumps to make running water a thing.¡± Human waste management was going to be a big issue, particularly if there were any large groups of humans around. Which also meant he couldn¡¯t wash his hands. ¡°No running water; tons of people are gonna die from bad food alone.¡± He shook his head. ¡°This is gonna suck.¡± He raided the bathroom for toilet paper, adding it to the cart, and then moved on. The next few hallways were uneventful. There were just a few lone spiders that he could handle from a distance with his newly expanded light source. The only thing of note were blue boxes informing him that he had attuned Major Spark and received another level of Minor Acid Dart. That¡¯s when he got to the stairwell. He left the loud cart and axe behind, opting instead to hold the mop ahead of him while he scouted to make sure it was safe. Opening the door was simple; the electromagnetic locks that had kept it closed were no longer functional. The smell of iron immediately filled his senses. Looking down, he saw a thick trail of of some sort of brown substance on the stairs leading down. Frowning, he leaned down and looked at it more closely, the red glare of the torch casting weird shadows. Then it clicked; the smell, the color. Blood. It was human blood. Chapter 5 — The Stairs The stairwell served six double tall floors. It consisted of twelve switchbacks with two concurrent staircases, with a wide gap between them. Drew had never attempted to figure out where the other staircase went; he just knew that he had to go down a flight of stairs here. He was on the second of the six floors. The trail of blood led downwards, the direction he intended to travel. ¡°Well, shit. If horror movies have taught me anything, it¡¯s that I¡¯m going to get jumped by something big and scary right now.¡± Drew whispered to nothing, the torch light reflecting off the concrete and casting orange shadows. He put his back against the wall and then glanced up, having learned his lesson from the first spider. Nothing loomed above him, ¡°Well at least my life isn¡¯t a penny dreadful.¡± He glanced back down to the boot prints scuffed through the dried blood. ¡°Please don¡¯t be lovecraftian. Please don¡¯t be lovecraftian.¡± He held the mop high as he advanced to the edge of the stairwell. The stairs on the other side didn¡¯t seem to have any blood on them, but as far as he could see on his set of stairs, the red streak marred the floor. He shifted his grip on the mop and looked up again. Then, moving to keep one shoulder near the wall and away from the central chasm of the stairwell, he descended. In his brain he mentally prepared himself for the most obvious monsters. ¡°So far, it¡¯s just different kinds of spiders. Probably just mutated versions of the ones that already existed in the building. So, odds are this is either a spider, a centipede, or something similar.¡± Drew¡¯s habit of talking through his problems out loud was manifesting. His steps reverberated throughout the echoing chamber, a comforting sign to him, since it meant that anything creeping up on him would probably also make some noise. One landing down and the blood trail continued. He glanced at the doors that were his typical egress, but opted to continue to follow the path of blood. Rob (his partner) had been out on his lunch break when the Advent began, and the only other people that could be in this portion of the building during the Advent was one of the security guards. Either way, if there was a chance that the person was still alive, Drew owed it to them to try and help. He wouldn¡¯t be able to live with himself if he didn¡¯t at least find out what had happened to them. So he continued on down the stairs, a white knuckled grip on the mop. The next landing was a more grisly tableaux; a large pool of dried blood covered the floor. The doors on this level had been bashed in. They were bent and lying broken on the floor, along with hand sized chunks of chitin that looked to have been smashed away from a large beast. A dismembered hand lay among the other viscera. Hardened blue ichor caught the light and threw it in prismatic shadows across the floor, the rainbows adding a disconcerting gaity to the morbid scene. Drew¡¯s eyes fixated on the hand, his brain going into overload trying to suppress his instinctual reaction to run screaming. A furred claw swiped at him from behind. A puff of yellow light flashed as mana guard¡¯s energy was spent blocking a single blow. The shield saved his life, but the force sent him flying forward and the mop dropped from his nerveless hands. He tucked his shoulder and rolled past the broken doors, trying to open the distance between him and whatever it was that had attacked him from behind. Dazed, Drew rolled to the side and raised a finger as he tried to get a look at the thing that had attacked him. It was hard to tell with the limited light, but whatever had attacked him had a bipedal form and looked like it would tower over most humans. He got the vague impression of thick fur that made it look even bigger than it would have otherwise. The creature compressed it¡¯s lips and growled in Drew¡¯s direction, a low and dangerous sound, its weight shifting into a combat stance. Before he could think to cast a fireball, the beast was gone, jumping back over the railing and out of his sight. Confused by the strange behavior, he turned his head to look behind him. Now that he was on the other side of the doorway, he could see a faint, sickly looking, yellow light coming from hundreds of small orbs in the rather large atrium on this side of the landing. It took him a moment to realize why there seemed to be a gap in the otherwise densely clustered orbs. Something large blocked the orbs¡¯ light about twenty feet further into the room. Raising a shaking hand, he pointed his finger at it, summoning the power of the xatherite. The fireball bloomed in the air between him and the creature, streaking towards its massive form. The light shed by the fireball illuminated the room to some extent. It resolved the shadowed mass into a man sized black spider with its abdomen displaying a crimson, four foot tall hourglass. The fireball spell hit the spider near where its abdomen and thorax connected. Two of the legs on its left side were burned in the blast, hindering the monster¡¯s movement considerably. Drew pushed himself to his feet while the spider struggled to maneuver its body towards him. Its bulk and injuries prevented the normally rapid movement it used to hunt down prey. He held one hand low and flat, the other pointing at the spider, waiting for a shot at a vital spot. Minor Acid Dart¡¯s damage wasn¡¯t high, but if he could hit an eye or two with it, he might be able to keep on the spiders injured side long enough for fireball to eat through its health pool.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The spider raised its two front legs. Wickedly sharp blades became evident even in the dim lighting, with the front left leg notably lower than than the right as it tried to compensate for the damage he had already caused it on that side of its body. The ambient light was just barely enough for Drew to get a sense of the what the much larger creature was doing. When the spider had finally managed to shift to face him directly, he flicked the fingers on his left hand and an acid dart shot towards the left side of the spider¡¯s head. Drew was hoping to disable an eye, but the darkness prevented him from being able to see if it scored any damage. One of his hands immediately began the series of seals to summon a dancing blade while his other hand was still held flat and ready. Drew edged to the right, hoping to stay on the weak side of the spider, who was beginning a slow and painful looking shuffle towards him. Opting to close the distance with the spider¡¯s weak side, Drew dashed forward. His cone of frost raked the arachnid¡¯s flank, encasing the left front leg and a considerable portion of its body in ice just as it tried to slice at him with its leg. The sound of ripping cloth and the burning feeling in his arm told him that he hadn¡¯t dodged quickly enough. He mentally cursed the heavy boots he wore that made his already slow movement speed even worse. Still, he had managed to avoid being impaled on its sharp leg. Dancing Blade flashed into being and immediately sliced towards the last good supporting leg on the spider¡¯s left side, hacking a deep wound through the chitin and causing blue ichor to spray into Drew¡¯s face and mouth. The nearly crippled beast took another burst of damage as an arc of electricity was emitted from his elbow, colliding with the already damaged leg. With a crack of protest, the leg gave out, sending the hundred pound spider crashing into the ground near him. Drew stumbled, spitting out the vile tasting ichor. The uneven ground and heavy impact combined, causing him to trip. His chin bashed against the concrete floor as he crashed, rolling into several of the orbs lining the room. Fighting through the pain that seemed to fill his entire body, he stumbled to his feet again. The spider was thrashing around in the middle of the room, but was unable to get close enough to him with it¡¯s good legs to do any damage. Drew warily backed away, casting his long range spells that weren¡¯t on cooldown for the next half a minute. The third fireball he launched managed to finish the beast off. As the red glare of the spell faded, the spider twitched once, twice more, and then went still. Casting his eyes around to see if there was any other hostiles, he put his back against the wall, keeping an eye on the door. He was waiting for the furry biped to reappear now that the spider was dealt with. His breath was coming in ragged gasps and his good hand began to form the seals for refresh. The seconds it took to cast the yellow spell seemed like an eternity to Drew, whose head was still ringing from the hard impact of his chin against the floor. Blood trickled from the two major wounds on his temple and shoulder, mingling with his sweat and causing his uniform to stick uncomfortably to his body. Refresh did its job. Drew felt his mind and body renew, recovering the dangerously flagging energy levels the fight had reduced him to. However, it did nothing for his open wounds, and this didn¡¯t seem like a place where he could tend to his injuries. Immediately after finishing refresh, he began to cast mana guard, not wanting to take another blow from the hairy beast without its protection. Dancing sword disappeared and he pressed his hand to the wound on his shoulder, worried about bleeding too much. Inspecting the orbs now that he wasn¡¯t under obvious threat, he realized that they were eggs. He was standing in a nest of thousands of spider eggs. He shivered, his mind and training fighting against the shock that his body wanted to succumb to. Refresh could only do so much for him; his vitality had been bolstered, but was draining away just as quickly with his blood. He needed somewhere safe and he needed it soon. He took a step towards the stairwell. His only hope now was the getting to the other watchfloor, where hopefully someone was still alive. As he edged past the spider¡¯s head, he realized that the eggs weren¡¯t the only thing glowing in the room. An intricate crystal in the shape of an X had formed between its eyes, it glowed a soft green that seemed reassuring when compared to the sickly yellow luminescence of the eggs. Some instinct caused him to reach down and touch the crystal. As he did, the gentle light intensified within it, filling the entire room with a brilliant emerald color before fading away. The crystal crumbled into dust and a blue screen appeared at the edge of his vision, which he ignored for now; he could worry about the messages later. He stumbled out of the nest, picked up his torch, and made his slow and laborious way up the stairs. The palm he pressed against the wall for support left a bloody smear. His eyes were focused on the open space in the middle of the stairwell, watching for another attack. Afterwards, when he thought about it, he couldn¡¯t remember how he¡¯d gotten up the stairs, through the door, or the hallway beyond it. Pain and the need for safety pushed any other thoughts from his awareness. The only thing he could remember were the words to the second stanza of Invictus. The large metal door, like the one he left a few hours ago, filled his vision. He kicked it twice before collapsing against the wall, letting out a muffled grunt as his shoulder came in contact with the rough bricks. The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was a brilliant white light. Katies PoV A hastily crafted structure, JFB Bolling, Washington, DC The lack of communication was driving Katie crazy. It wasn''t that she was worried per se; she had faith in Drew''s ability to survive, but she was nervous. Even before she knew him, he had been accomplishing impossible tasks. It was just that she was so used to being able to check in on people. When he had left to find a healer for Sarah it had been worse, being alone with Sarah''s unconscious body and her thoughts. However, when she saw the manastorm move in, she knew he wasn''t going to be able to get back that night. Here at least there were other people and she had responsibilities to keep her mind off of the danger. Between keeping everyone calm and building the structure, the first few hours had been easy enough to deal with. Now that it had calmed down, it was harder. She sat near the entrance listening to JP, Trey, and Brady arguing about if Batman was a real superhero or not. She idly wondered why they were arguing about fake superheroes when they were essentially the real thing now. JP''s skill with his guns had become evident over the last few hours. She wasn''t sure what had changed, but half an hour after Drew''s group left they started to get attacked. First, it had been waves of the rabbit-like creatures Drew called bashers, which had been easy enough for JP to take out. Without fear of running out of ammunition, they had been training most of their people on how to properly fire a gun at them. Min Sun and Jholie had both been surprisingly good, most of the other civilians were only okay, while the soldiers and sailors were all okay or better. After the bashers came the waves of squirrels and birds. For the most part, they were scavengers, just there to eat the bodies of the bashers, but JP had people practice shooting them and making a list of the easiest ways to injure them. Mostly they were all vulnerable to bullets, although some definitely needed JP''s special bullets to deter them. The turtle had been the worst, almost fifteen feet tall, the thing had nearly drained their bullet supply dry. Katie had put up a wall after it was dead while JP refilled all magazines. After that they had created firing slits throughout the structure; Katie had gotten the idea from the arrow slits on old castles. However, she had made these ones horizontal instead of vertical. They had split them around the entire structure allowing them full view of the approach paths to their little safe haven. Most everyone had turned in for the night when the storm hit. Katie watched the strangely colored light show. It was made evidently clear why no one went outside during a manastorm though. The hundred or so bodies they had killed disappeared almost immediately. They just sort of dissolved into nothing. Some of the bigger creatures left behind skeletons, or in the turtle''s case, a shell. But that was about all that remained of the critters that had been attacking them for hours. Katie really hoped Drew and the team were safe underground for the spectacle. The storm itself was fantastic; the clouds were every color of the rainbow and seemed to glow with an inner luminosity. Katie felt like she should sleep--she knew that there was little chance of the rescue party returning before sunrise. Not knowing what was happening was driving her crazy. The three men had apparently decided that being Super Rich was a superpower, so Batman did qualify and had moved on. Katie slipped away from her storm watching position and sat down on the picnic table next to Brady. Brady had received the shatter shot xatherite, giving him the ability to turn every bullet he fired into a spread weapon. It had been highly effective against the birds that had attacked the compound. "Hey, guys, how you all holding up?" She asked, noticing the tiredness on all of their faces, although JP definitely had it the worst. Without Drew''s energize and refreshing rain they were all actually having to sleep and rest, and the mana drain was telling on JP, who was doing the lion''s share of the work. They had sent two of their combatants to bed, although Katie could tell they were tossing and turning more than they were sleeping. "I think we can all say we''re tired," JP said looking at the group and talking for them. Everyone was dreading what happened when the storm died down and the nocturnal creatures started attacking. Trey had already disguised all of the arrow slits behind his illusions. They weren''t as high a quality as Robbi''s, but they did have the advantage of only being visible in one direction, meaning they could still see outside with them on. "Yeah, I know. Storm looks like it is about to pass us, so we should know how good this setup will be for the evening soon." All three men nodded their heads. "Wish Drew was back already," JP said after a few moments of silence. "They''ll be back at dawn, just like they said they would be," Katie answered immediately. The plan was to have them back before the storm hit if possible, but at dawn otherwise. "Yeah. Hey, you two, why don''t you take a fifteen? Katie and I will keep watch until the storm ends." JP said, dismissing his two subordinates. With a nod, the two men got up and headed further back into the shelter. JP watched them go and when they were far enough away sat down next to Katie. "So, I know we haven''t talked much about this stuff but...after Drew''s incident I got a notification that I had leveled up. You know anything about that?"Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Katie nodded her head slowly, "Yeah, the three of us that survived all leveled up when we managed to get out of the HQ building." "I kind of figured you three would know more than the rest of us. Anything you can tell me about it?" Katie bit her lower lip as she considered her words, Drew had said that he was beginning to trust the two cops before he left. "We don''t know much, just that there is some sort of larger conflict going on between humanity and a bunch of aliens. They needed soldiers, and Earth has provided them with a bunch of good ones." "You mean Drew." "Yeah, Drew. He was inducted into a knightly order and made an officer." "Well, I guess my knighting isn''t that big of a deal then." "Wait, you were knighted too?" Katie asked, her voice had a tinge of desperation in it. "Yeah, when I leveled up it said I was inducted into the Order of the Fang. But I was only promoted to the rank of Scout Corporal." "Corporal? Weird, the rest of us all got naval rankings." "Yeah, it came with some neat interface upgrades. I can select four people under my command and see through their eyes for a few seconds." "Wait, are you saying that you can see what¡¯s happening down there? Who are the four people under your command?" Katie reached out and grabbed JP''s elbow, squeezing it tighter than she realized in her excitement. "You, Sarah, Robbi, and Daryl. I figured Drew was a higher level than me or something. Anyway, I''ve been keeping track of them. They¡¯re all still alive and doing fine, although Daryl got banged up a bit, Sarah healed him up. They just killed a bunch of trolls and rescued a lot of kids, and they''re about to attack the main group of Trolls." "Shit," Sarah said releasing JP''s elbow. She wasn''t sure if this was better or not, knowing that they were mostly safe. "Tell me what''s happening." JP nodded and closed his eyes, focusing on someone else''s senses. "They''re just about to enter a passageway. Drew is going through first." Of course. Of course he was going in first, that stupid man always put himself in the middle of danger without trusting anyone to keep up. Just like when he had fought Chakri. Katie clenched her hands together. "The rest are into the room. It''s a massive pit with hundreds of humans and trolls digging out some sort of building. Drew just did his teleport thing, no idea where he went. The trolls are..." JP trailed off, his jaw dropping. "They''re killing the captives!" Dimly Katie realized that the mana storm had ended the multicolored clouds having passed out of sight. "Robbi and Trista are killing as many as they can but the trolls are just killing all the prisoners they can find. There are a bunch of trolls on the building. They look...smaller, children maybe? Women?" Katie was watching JP who still held his eyes closed when the blue light lit up the DIA building. Blanketing the world in its glow as a pillar of brilliance encircled the building. It was gone in an instant, leaving her blinded by its brilliance. When it was over she realized JP had stopped talking and was clutching his own eyes as they had been hurt. "Someone get Bill," Katie shouted as she turned to the man beside her, "JP, are you alright?" She said putting a hand on his shoulder, there were no obvious wounds. Had that been some sort of attack by the trolls? Everyone in the shelter was stirring, they all looked nervous and Katie knew she was going to have put everyone at ease. "I''m fine, that was just super bright," JP said, his eyes still clenched shut. "Bill!" The old chief was there in a second, and without being asked, gave the police officer a hug. Activating his healing xatherite. JP looked to be in much less pain and opened his eyes. "I''m okay. Thanks, Bill." "What is going on?" Bill asked and everyone around Katie looked to her for answers. She wished Drew or Sarah were here. Sarah had really grown into a leader over the past week, and everyone respected Drew enough to believe anything he said. "It''s fine, just a last-ditch attack by the trolls. Drew has managed to rescue a lot of people already and they''ll be back here by dawn. I want everyone ready to respond to any attacks immediately, get to your spots and keep your eyes peeled. I don''t want any surprises. Call out if you need bigger guns and we''ll get JP or Brady to come help you." Everyone seemed eager to have something to do and they all spread out to their respective arrow slits. Watching as the night came alive, hundreds of insects and other creepy crawlies exploding into the night air. The light must have attracted every bug within a mile. Centipedes the size of cars crawled across the field, striking out at fireflies that exploded in gouts of flame. Crickets the size of baby strollers jumped around, their legs slicing ants in half. Ants in turn swarmed other creatures, killing them with sheer numbers. It was like the light had driven all of them into a mad frenzy. Katie immediately began creating more walls, thick enough to handle the incidental damage of bugs crashing into them. The entire compound remained as silent as possible; no one wanted to draw the attention of the bugs to them. Katie quickly sealed off the viewports. And everyone huddled near the central trees that had been grown for the fortification. Waiting for the chaos they could hear even through the thick concrete walls to dissipate. Suddenly there was a scream as the ground burst out from under a survivor. JP was there in an instant, his guns flashing with magical fire, killing the mole that had dug in through the floor. The body was quickly shoved aside as another tried to push its way up. JP''s firing never slowed and that one died even as Katie summoned a wall to block off the entrance. "Everyone get as high up as you can, I''ll wall off the ground," Katie shouted as she began making walls at as steep an angle as she could, creating a lattice of walls all along the ground to provide more cover from any other burrowing beasts. Jholie had climbed the tree and was using her xatherite to confuse any creature that made its way through the floor, while their other combatants killed the stunned moles, ants, and cockroaches. The night had just begun and it was already a nightmare come true. Temper: Prologue The story thus far... Before the advent, Drew had been a typical enlisted member of the Coast Guard, stationed at the cyber security operations center in DC. He had been enjoying a peaceful night watch when the electricity went out and blue screens appeared before his eyes. They told him about the system, how the Earth he was on had been split into a third dimensional slice and evaluated his abilities, giving him a title, Red Mage. Then it gave him a number of powerful offensive xatherite, crystals that could be used to cast spells, and after a short tutorial left him alone, deep in a military bunker and absolute darkness. The bunker was now filled with massive cockroaches, car sized spiders, strange undead werecreatures, and orcs. Luckily for Drew, he found other survivors. Unfortunately, the brutal fight to flee the building killed half of them, leaving an Ensign and healer named Sarah Rothschild, and an OS1 named Katie Sabin as the only other survivors. In their last battle with the boss of the dungeon, Sarah was injured and knocked unconscious. Drew and Katie managed to find food and shelter in the base''s exchange. Katie stayed with the comatose Sarah while Drew went in search of another healer to heal Sarah. Traveling through southeastern DC, he killed a group of Trolls who, lead by a powerful Shaman, had been sacrificing humans. Interrupting the ritual and killing a number of trolls, Drew then encountered another survivor named Daryl. Who led him into a building where they weathered a powerful mana charged storm that ate flesh. Daryl asked Drew to help him rescue his wife and a number of other captives. Working towards that goal the group rescued a work crew of survivors who had been sent to gather food. With the help of a healer in that group, a Navy chief named Bill Mather they returned to Sarah. After waking Sarah up they met with another group of survivors, two Cops sent out by a group of survivors who had taken Nat''s Stadium as their home base named JP and Robbi. The newly formed group returned to the other survivors on JFB Bolling and after a number of bloody fights, discovered a back entrance into the DIA building where the captives were being held. During this time Drew was whisked away in his sleep to meet with a Human Protectorate Admiral named Ares who asked Drew to become his squire and gave him two xatherite. One of the xatherite was a fairly simple, if very powerful mental shield, while the other; Aeon, was a divine crystal with the mysterious description, "The beginning of the path." Ares told Drew that he was special, Red Mages being a particularly rare and valuable resource whose lives were worth more than billions of other humans and told him to gather excellent subordinates that would keep him safe through the trials ahead. Drew slotted both xatherite. Rejecting the admiral¡¯s claim that he was too important to lose, Drew charged head first into a fight against hundreds of trolls. With the benefit of the Aeon xatherite he nearly single handedly killed them, afterward he collapsed.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. While he slumbered Ares warned him against using Aeon until it was attuned to him as well as a warning not to trust Ares'' siblings. In particular Hades. Waking up the group split their forces, leaving most of the non-combatants behind, Drew and a small group managed to delve deep into the DIA building where they managed to rescue a room full of children. Pushing deeper into the building Drew managed to kill the Troll Shaman, after a duel overlooking the pit the trolls had the humans digging and the strange structure they had uncovered. The duel was designed to delay Drew, and while he fought the trolls exterminated hundreds of humans, completing a ritual. The ritual sent a pulse of blue light throughout the dungeon. The survivors regrouped and planned their escape to the Stadium, the only safe place they knew of. While they waited for a mana storm to pass Drew investigated the mysterious structure the trolls had been unearthing. Discovering that it contained a ley line node, Drew was able to take control of the node. Talking to the version of himself from the first dimensional slice. Drew discovered a path to safety, as well as an ominous deadline. Claiming five other nodes would allow him to create a safe habitat for humanity, but it was a race against time, as a mysterious World Boss known as the Dark Titan would soon arise in DC and try to claim the nodes for himself. As they talked, the humans killed by the trolls began to rise as Wereghouls. Prompting a furtive escape, Drew suspected that the ghouls, or at least their pack leaders which he called Wereghasts were intelligent, and may remember some of their previous lives. Not wanting to kill what remained of the family and friends of the rescued captives he urged the Officer in Charge, a Naval Captain named Snyder to evacuating the survivors into the danger of the night. * * * The first days of advent were a winnowing. Many of those thought to be strong were brought low, and many who were weak were washed away in a sea of blood. The weeks that followed were the tempering. They turned the poorly forged warriors of the old world into the Hundred Heroes that would save the new. The greatest of the Heroes, Jason the Destroyer, was hammered between the forces of the nascent Dark Titan, who began to stir from his slumber, and the never ending tide of the Mana Caught. It was during the tempering that he became eligible for the inheritance. This is a story from the time before the Greater Age, before the Hundred Heroes were made strong in the fires of the First Age''s death. A tale of the tempering, a tale for the bright day, for the shadows grow darker. This is the story of those first forged who created the inheritance. -Taryn Hollingshead, Seer of the First Gate Temper - Chapter 1 The Basement of DIA Building, Joint Forces Base Bolling, Washington District of Columbia Drew and his team of three were on guard duty. The noncombatants were in a flurry of movement; it was amazing how much they could settle in so short a period of time. They had only been at the entrance of the DIA building for a few hours, before that they had been prisoners of trolls. Drew wasn''t sure how they had managed to acquire so much junk since then. Everyone seemed to be carrying something, mostly some form of improvised weapon: table and chair legs, large rocks, and iron pipes were the most common. Those that didn''t carry something were worse, they stared off into space and didn''t do anything unless guided to do so by someone else. They were called the Numb, people who had given up. The major and captain who had assumed command of the survivors after being rescued had organized them efficiently. It only took fifteen minutes to round everyone up and send them down the tunnel towards the outside world. Drew was the rearguard, charged with holding back the harrying wereghouls behind them while the main group retreated. There had been no sight of the beasts yet, but their howls echoed through the tunnels. Drew watched the forward guard leave. Led by Daryl, their scout--a thin black man with haunted eyes whose wife had been among those killed by the trolls. Daryl disappeared before he entered the tunnel, his invisibility xatherite removing him from sight. Next down the tunnel were Robbi and Krista, the former a cop who wielded a deadly blood red sword and the latter an army sergeant whose xatherite left lines of fire in the trail of the her bullets. Sarah, the group''s healer, followed behind several other unfamiliar figures shortly after Krista, and she turned to make eye contact with Drew before leaving, giving him a silent nod of encouragement. Turning his attention to his three team members, he gave them an encouraging smile. They were all young, early 20''s at most. Dak was their tank: he had a xatherite that turned him into rock. The problem with that was he wasn''t nearly strong enough to move all that rock, and it tired him out a lot. Drew was hoping that as the crystal improved in grade it would also come with some strength augmentation. Glenn was another ranged attacker like Drew, capable of launching daggers at his opponents as well as blocking ranged attacks directed at him. The third member of the team was a kid named Adam who had the ability to move earth with his mind and really didn''t belong with the combatants in Drew''s group. Having been assigned to help him move the dirt to claim the node, Adam was still lumped with Drew for the emergency evacuation. Dak seemed relatively calm, but the other two were visibly nervous. "So, Dak, this your first duty station?" Dak was a private in the Army. "Yes, Sir. Got out of boot camp at Benning six months ago." Dak responded. "What about you Glenn?" "Same, although I''ve only been here for two months." Glenn said. "Good times, where you all from?" "I''m from Minnesota, St. Cloud area northwest of Minneapolis." Dak announced. "I''m from Utah." Glenn added after Dak. "Really? I''m from Idaho. What part of Utah you from?" Drew asked. "Orem? It''s down in the center." "Oh yeah, that''s where BYU is, right?" "Close we¡¯re the next city over." "Ahh, right." Drew said looking at Adam. "I''m from Alexandria, Louisiana." Adam seemed reluctant to talk about his home. "Ahh fun times, what brought you up here?" "I work...well, worked for a consulting company." "Ahh, you were a lobbyist? My roommate does that, well, did that." The realization that there was a good chance that everyone they knew in the area was dead sort of ruined the levity that Drew had been trying to cultivate with the group, and they sat in awkward silence for the minutes it took for the rest of the group to file out. Drew mentally castigated himself, he had always been a little awkward around people. The constant howling from the wereghouls had them all on edge, and Drew would have preferred the semi-intelligent undead would finally make their attack. Especially as the minutes dragged on in uncomfortable silence. Katie would know what to say to make this less awkward, he wished she were here. The beautiful girl was much better at these sort of things than he was. But sadly Katie was above ground with most of the first group of captives they had found. They had needed people to stay behind and keep everything in order, and Katie had been the obvious choice. Her abilities meant that she could build a shelter for the people there, and her experience with running control over coast guard operations made her an ideal leader. Pulling up his mana interface, he checked Katie''s status again. A new benefit of his promotion after taking over the node under the DIA building, Drew''s interface had upgraded and now allowed him to see overall health and mana fatigue of the five individuals the system recognized as part of his squad: Daryl, Sarah, Robbi, JP, and Katie. JP was with Katie, and as the other major source of firepower, he was in charge of the defenses of the little bunker Katie had created. Both of them had clearly been fighting, their mana fatigue was pretty high, but their health status was still good.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Alright, that''s the last of them, you three in front, I''ll take the rear." Drew said at last, motioning his team forward as the last of the captives filed out of the room ahead of them. He turned to look back at the tunnels as he walked backwards towards the exit. The tunnel to the surface was long; it had taken them twenty minutes to walk down it. As he backed up, a single snout poked its way out of the tunnel he had been standing near a few minutes before. He considered launching a lightning bolt at it, but knew it could easily dodge the blast. It was hard to say there weren¡¯t a lot of physical variation in the beasts, but this looked like the wereghast he had seen in the pit. The sense that the creature was testing him, probing for weaknesses, unnerved Drew more than anything else that had happened in the last few days. The next second the snout withdrew into the tunnel and he hurried his pace to catch up with Dak, having lagged behind his new team. Several of the captives ahead held torches, but the press of bodies made it so you just saw halos of light at the top of the tunnel. Light was an issue; Drew''s original group of five had come down with a half dozen glow rocks each, but that didn''t spread far with more than 200 people to illuminate. Drew kept glancing backwards towards the receding light of the room they had rested in, but no sign of the were-creatures appeared before he lost sight of the room and its light source. Drew wasn''t sure what would happen when they got to the surface. His only experiences with the night time since the advent was hiding from the nocturnal creatures turned nightmarish monsters in a house. Even then, the thin glass didn''t seem strong enough to keep them out. The idea of trying to protect 228 people with a dozen combatants from the terrors of the night had him feeling a lot more nervous. Just as he was considering this, the people in front of him stopped moving. A message was passed down the line, asking for him to come forward as soon as Trista made her way back to the rear to take up his position. Glad that whoever was calling the shots up there wasn''t willing to leave their flank unguarded, he settled in to wait again. At least he had plenty of experience doing that in the military. Hurry up and wait, as they say. Trista arrived a few minutes later, two of the kids in tow. The tunnel was wide enough for a couple people to walk side by side. But being dug by some unknown troll¡¯s xatherite that made a perfect oval, the sides were too slippery to move down without difficulty. "What''s going on?" Drew asked as Trista''s passed the last civilian. "Bugs, lots of them. Daryl says they seem more agitated than normal. We need area effect stuff to take them out." Responding first with a sigh, "Alright, careful, the wereghouls are watching us. Wish I could leave a trail of lights behind us, but we don''t have enough as it is..." Drew trailed off and then shrugged. There weren''t enough lights. One of Trista''s people began conjuring a wall of ice behind them. It was Trista''s turn to shrug. "Aaron here should be able to block most of the path. We put enough ice between us and them and they shouldn''t be a problem. I''ll join you up there when it looks sealed." Drew eyed the ice warily, "Alright. My team staying here or coming with me?" "Ensign says they''re staying here." "Right, you three behave yourselves for the sergeant." Drew said, eyeing Dak particularly. The kid gave him a wink and a salute in response. Beginning the trek up the tunnel, he was forced to walk along the rounded sides for most of the trip. Unfortunately going from the back to the front meant he would have to cross paths with captain Snyder, the man who had assumed command of their little group after being rescued, and major Hoffecker. The acting XO was talking to the people around her. From the snatches of conversation he heard it sounded like she was getting an accounting of what xatherite all the survivors had. At least she was doing something useful; the captain just glared at Drew as he passed. When he got to the front he was a little disturbed by what he saw. Robbi''s armor was more tattered than it had been before, with several new, blood stained gashes in the leather. The representation of his offensive xatherite, his blood blade was held in his hand, its ruby appearance glowing faintly in the darkness. Sarah stood behind him, the closed wounds healed up thanks to her xatherite. A pile of massive insect corpses blocked off the entrance, although it sounded like there was a feeding frenzy on the other side. Robbi was eyeing a location where a hole in the bodies allowed him to see several eight foot long centipedes fighting over another bug''s body. "Well, shit." Drew said, and holding his hand out cast cone of binding, he was interested to see what would happen. He had just acquired the linked skill when he had finally attuned his gravitas xatherite during the last fight with the trolls. Immediately the corpses in front of them compressed, going from five to six feet, to half that. The two centipedes also flattened, no longer able to move against the gravity pulling against them. "Dang." The newly exposed wall allowed him to see a few dozen more insects down the tunnel all fighting among themselves. Shooting off shocking acid arrow at the two immobile centipedes, the blobs of acid ate through the exoskeletons and into the flesh underneath. They continued to twitch, but Drew was pretty sure that was just the normal insect twitching after death thing. More insects came towards them, two brown cockroaches the size of bears barreled towards the now exposed group, only to be stopped dead by the field of gravity. They face planted into the earth, but their momentum kept their back halves moving forward and they flipped up and then landed on their backs with a crash. Drew launched grav ball at them, eager to see the effects of his new spells. Instantly all the matter, cockroaches included, in a three meter wide area compressed into a 1 foot sphere, the shells on the cockroaches cracking and sending ichor flying only to be pulled back in by the forces of the ball. As quick as the compression happened, the spell''s effect ended, the ball of insect matter exploding outward as it was no longer held together. Shards of chitin, blue ichor and flesh rapidly filling the tunnel. Robbi actually stepped in front of Drew, his shielding xatherite protecting them both from the mess. Everyone else was far enough down the corridor that they were unaffected. There was silence in the tunnel as everything stopped, and looked at the newly reorganized matter, the humans then turned to look at Drew. Awe written on their faces. "Shall we move on? Katie is waiting for us, and it''s not a good idea to keep a girl waiting." Drew said, as he stepped over the hedge of corpses and began walking out of the tunnel. Behind him, Gary turned to Sarah, ¡°I don¡¯t think he realizes the gravity of the situation." Temper - Chapter 2 Staying near the mouth of the tunnel, Drew repeatedly cleared the bugs that crawled into it. Using the small entrance as a death funnel, the bugs attracted by either the heat, smell or light were all quickly dispatched. Fireballs cracked shells and scorched flesh, icy shards of frost fire sliced clean through chitin, and the compressed remains of gravballs exploded in showers of blue ichor. Slowly, the bugs near the entrance cleared away, eliminated by red magic. Glancing back at Sarah, "Daryl isn''t out there is he? I''m going to put down some big guns." Drew asked the healer. Her xatherite mind sense let her know where people were located. "He''s over there." Sarah pointed at an angle away from the mouth of the tunnel. With the confirmation that there wouldn''t be a friendly fire incident, Drew began forming the hand signs to launch a firestorm that would cover the entrance to the tunnel. Hopefully, it would draw in, and kill, any remaining bugs in the area. When the spell initialized, a rush of hot air swept down the tunnel, pushing Drew back a step. Robbi''s hand on his back helped brace him against the sudden increase of pressure. Stepping through the muck left by the remains his eyes scanned the corpses. His mana sight enhanced vision made it clear that no xatherite had grown from the bodies of these overlarge insects. He was beginning to realize how important dungeon delving was. If the three xatherite that dropped off Chakri and the troll shaman was a regular thing then a properly equipped group could easily clear a dungeon and farm those bosses for the xatherite they provided. That was, of course, assuming that similar types of bosses were reborn in the dungeon, and more random monsters like the wereghouls didn''t take up residence in an empty node. His instincts told him that it was never going to be safe delving into a monster-infested node. There was also the fact that he needed to take over more nodes in order to create a habitat node. It seemed very likely that he was going to need to make delving into the dungeons around them a priority as soon as everyone was safe back at the stadium. While he waited for firestorm to run its course he glanced back down the tunnel. Robbi stood close, ready to step in if something started to charge down the tunnel towards Drew. Behind him the two senior officers stood, staring with open mouths at the sheer destruction he had wrought. During the fight with the troll shaman, Drew had been mostly out of everyone''s sight, so they hadn''t had a chance to see him in action. Drew felt extremely vindicated by the look on Snyder''s face, the navy captain clearly impressed by his display. Well, hopefully, the captain would get off his back for a little while when he made combat decisions. The wind shifted again and Drew looked up, his conjured firestorm disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. With a nod towards Robbi, the two men exited into the darkness of the tunnel entrance. The firestorm had been a good idea, they were surrounded by at least a dozen large corpses. It was difficult to tell what they were, except for the two massive bat corpses, at least ten feet tall from toe to head, the wings were gone, but they must have been at least thirty feet. The area was quiet, the tunnel exited out into the middle of one of the baseball fields on base giving them had good visibility. Which of course didn''t help much in the darkness. The moon was a waxing gibbous, somewhere between a quarter and half full. It gave them just enough light to think they could see their surroundings but not enough to actually see by. They would be lucky if all the got was a few sprained ankles from tripping on the obscured terrain. "What do you think Robbi? Spread out and have the fighters make a ring around the civilians? The alternative would be to have us go ahead and draw them to us maybe..." With the sheer mass of dead insects around, there just wasn''t any way for them to travel safely through this if was the concentration they were looking at. Robbi seemed to come to the same conclusion. "I say we just hole up in the tunnel, we can guard the rear well enough, the wereghouls probably won''t attack, we''re just going to lose too many people out here. We can set out at first light." "I think you''re right. I wasn''t expecting there to be... so many." The chirp of a bat''s echolocation hit drew like an attack, clutching his ears as he looked around for the source. A black spot obscured the stars and Drew launched a gravball at it, not trusting his ability to lead a flying creature, the sound cut off immediately. Followed a few seconds later by a bloody rain of body parts. "Back inside." Drew and Robbi both announced at the same time, rushing back into the tunnel and away from the sonic attacks of any additional bats. Snyder said something but Drew couldn''t hear it over the ringing in his ears. "Bats have a sonic attack." Drew thought he had used a normal volume but clearly, he was overcompensating as everyone seemed to wince a little at his words. Glancing at Robbi who also seemed to be shouting, but he could barely hear him. Glancing over to Sarah he pointed to his ear and then tried to say, "Healing?" at a low volume. Sarah shook her head and said something, when he shook his head she held up a hand palm out, interpreting that as a sign to wait, Drew turned back to the mouth of the tunnel, casting a regular storm to keep anything from approaching them. He felt Sarah''s healing wash over him, but still couldn''t hear, he turned to look at Robbi who also looked confused. Drew opened his mouth to ask a question, but then his hearing returned.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "Well, that was weird." Drew worked his jaw, his entire head felt like he needed to pop his ears. "Yeah." Robbi rubbed the nook between his jaw and ear as well. "They must have some sort of silencing effect." "Probably a set duration. There are some of the xatherite we have cataloged that do something similar. " Hoffecker added, she had been in charge of determining what skills everyone had. "Right, well, if we go out there we''re going to lose a ton of people. There are a lot more of them then I expected. We''ll have to hole up here in the tunnel and hope that the wereghouls don''t move into the rear too much." Snyder looked like he wanted to say something but Hoffecker put her hand on his shoulder, stopping him from saying whatever he was going to say. "Luckily this is probably a better place to stop than that cavern was anyway, only two places to guard and we can just block one of them." Sarah made her opinion known. "I''ll pass down that we''re going to stay here for a few hours." Drew nodded towards her, "Alright, Robbi and I will keep this end clear." What followed was two hours of repetitively casting his four storm spells on the entrance of the tunnel, keeping everything out. It was incredibly boring and very draining. Without his energize spells and their variants he would never have been able to last as long as he did. Taking the time to really focus on what happened when he cast spells. Drew could feel how much energy was in his body, and it would slowly diminish only to surge back as he cast energize. A couple of times he stopped casting storm to peek outside and look for Daryl. The scout was outside somewhere in that mess. Probably in a near constant state of deafness from the bats, whose sonic attacks became familiar to everyone near the entrance to the tunnel. By the time the first traces of light edged over the horizon everyone was ready to move out of the cramped tunnel. The wereghouls hadn''t done more than scratch at the wall of ice blocking the path, although the creator had to come up twice to get refreshed as it melted. Drew frowned when he realized he didn''t know the kid''s name. He really needed to get better at asking people what their names were. The pre-dawn light wasn''t bright but it was enough to send most of the nocturnal creatures to ground. Drew had no idea where they went but he wasn''t exactly eager to find out. They made their way out of the cavern and Daryl''s tired form appeared in front of Drew. "Well, that was terrifying." The shorter black man informed Drew. Drew nodded his head, "Sorry, tried looking for you but we figured it was going to be too crazy out here to try and get everyone out. Any idea why it was so much worse than usual?" "Not that I could tell, I couldn''t even get very far, those bats kept screwing up my hearing. Also, they liked to dive bomb me. Which was super fun let me tell you." Drew winced, the echolocation would, of course, have revealed his invisible scout''s location. "What, you scared of the things that go bump in the night?" "You bet your butt I am. I got to see a lot of those things while you were safe underground thank you very much." Daryl''s smile didn''t quite reach his entire face, but Drew was glad to have the banter back, waiting until they had enough people outside, he cast refreshing rain, clearing up any fatigue that might have built up over the night. They chatted some more, Drew attempting to keep the conversation as lighthearted as he could and cast refreshing rain on the second group of people. The newly expanded radius and the tendency to clump up now that they were no longer surrounded by walls made it simple enough to get everyone in only three castings. And they began their trek back to Katie, well and the others too, but mostly to Katie. The early morning dusk was strangely silent, their group large enough to drive away the few opportunistic scavengers they encountered along the way. Drew would watch them eye the group and then turn and run into whatever hole they hid in. Rounding the corner of the housing area, the strange structure Katie and Frank had built the day before had shifted considerably. Still in the same rough shape as a pyramid with trees growing out of the apex. There were hundreds of corpses around it. Most looked to have been partially eaten. There was no longer an entrance and no visible way for the people inside to see out, however as they got closer a section of the walls seemed to dissolve. The people inside quickly began filing out. Katie''s wavy brown hair near the front behind JP who still wore his blue police uniform. Drew picked up the pace, not quite running, but moving at a fast walk, he quickly left the majority of the group behind. Katie did likewise, JP urging her forward. They stopped a few feet away from each other, Katie gave him a once over, her eyes lingering on the rends in his armor and uniform that he hadn''t even realized were there until he felt her gaze upon them. Growing self-conscious from the introspection. "Sorry for being late, the errand took a little longer than I expected and then there was the storm." Katie started talking at almost the exact same time, "I saw you run in first." They both stopped, Katie laughed, the corners of her mouth lifting up into a glorious smile. Without thinking about it, Drew closed the distance between them, pulling Katie into his arms and burying his face in her hair. She was just short enough that she seemed to fit perfectly and he held her for a few seconds, enjoying the simple closeness. Katie poked his side, "You need to stop putting yourself in danger you know." "Of course, I''ll let others run in first next time," Drew whispered into her ear and she punched his stomach softly. "No you won''t, and we both know it." With a soft laugh, he didn''t respond. A cough behind them pulled the two apart, Snyder was looking at him with a disapproving glare, while to either side the survivors were mingling, looking for family and friends among the other survivors. "I don''t mean to interrupt your public display of affection Petty Officer Michalik, but shouldn''t we be getting these people out of the open?" Temper - Chapter 3 "Oh right. Of course, Katie, this is Captain Snyder. He has assumed command of the rescue operation." Drew said separating enough that they could both turn and be looking at the captain but not actually letting go. "A pleasure to meet you, captain, I''m OS1 Sabin. We''ve got food for your people, they can sit and eat, for now, it should be relatively safe." Snyder glanced at Katie, an obvious frown at her lack of salute. "Very well." Snyder turned, addressing the group, "Everyone get something to eat, try to get the numb to eat something. We''ll be setting out in 45 minutes." With a nod to Katie, the captain stalked off towards Hoffecker. Katie poked Drew''s side, "Don''t you know better than to piss off the brass?" "He asked for it, we lost a lot of people, I was trying to get everyone out before they turned into wereghouls. We just barely got to safety before they started turning." Drew gestured to the numerous corpses around, "What happened here?" "Well, last night, there was a flash of blue light and then all the insects sort of went crazy, swarmed this place until a bunch flashy lights started appearing over by the baseball fields." Katie pulled him aside, "That looked a lot like your storms, you didn''t by any chance piss off some insect queen or something did you?" "Well, no, but I think I know what the blue light was. The lights were me though, we were going to exit the tunnel last night. Bugs were swarming the entrance so we took up a defensive position and I cast storms over the entrance, that was easier than trying to kill everything individually." He slid a hand down her side until it was resting against her hip. "I''m starving though, think I can catch you up while we eat?" When Katie nodded, they wandered over to one of the shopping carts full of food. Everyone was grabbing an item with both hands. Drew managed to snatch a cup of ravioli, some Vienna sausages and a can of pringles no one seemed to begrudge him the extra item while Katie pulled out a can of green beans, and some ranch style beans. They sat down next on a relatively clean section of grass away from everyone else and shared the food, although neither of them seemed very interested in the Vienna sausages. Everything was served cold, and Drew couldn''t help but compare it to a lunch at the pizza place down in Kingstowne. They made the best spicy feta pizza. "I can''t wait until we get some real food," Drew said, as he slurped down a ravioli. There wasn''t a polite way to eat them out of the can, Katie was doing something similar and the two just enjoyed the relatively normal experience of sharing a meal together. "Don''t talk about real food, it''ll just make this stuff harder to eat." Drew responded with a bitter laugh, while he watched Daryl use his necro alchemy xatherite on several more corpses, clearing the area for more people to sleep while hopefully gathering important resources. Min Sun and the other crafters were already sorting through the various results, putting them in the newly emptied shopping carts. "So, what was that blue light?" Drew explained how when the troll shaman sacrificed the humans a blue light had shone. Drew assumed this was the system transporting them off world. Katie nodded and gasped at all the appropriate places, even though she had been privy to JP''s play by play describing the assault and final fight. After that, they had been too busy to peek in. They had lost a few people to the digging bugs, one type of beetle had a paralyzing bite that killed a kid before anyone even realized he had been injured. "We managed to build a sort of flooring after that, and we mostly were left alone. I think that must have been when you started blasting your storms like crazy. You managed to pull everything away from here, I''m also pretty sure they were visible from everywhere. After a while the sky just sort of glowed in alternating waves of red, yellow and purple. It reminded me a lot of the Star Spangled Banner actually. You know how he says the cannons bright glare proved that the flag was still there." Drew blushed, it was strange to hear something so normal compared to such a monumental event. "We pulled into Charleston harbor once, when I was on the Spencer, got to go on a tour of the Fort." They talked about small pleasantries after that, neither of them wanting to talk about the terrors of the night before. Drew could read his own emotions in the way Katie held herself. It felt like he should have done more, should have been able to save everyone. His mind kept returning to the faces of the dead, Angela, Juan and Mitch featured prominently but the faces of Frank and a few hundred others who he only knew as lifeless bodies slaughtered by the trolls in the pit also made themselves known. Katie kissed him, driving the thoughts of the dead away, "We''ll mourn later." She said squeezing his hand. "We still need to figure out a way across the bridge." Mention of the bridge reminded Drew that he had been warned that Robbi had been communicating with someone. He had told them to meet them at the bridge. Looking around he found the cop, eating breakfast and talking to JP, Trista, and Trey. "Daryl gave me a note, written by someone named Kara. Do you know who she is?" Katie pulled back a bit to take a measure of his expression, "What did the note say?" Drew pulled the small piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Katie, who read it while he summarized it''s contents: "Robbi was using some sort of device to communicate with someone, Kara thought he was trying to hide it from JP but he was planning on having them meet us at the bridge." Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Katie turned and looked at Robbi again, concern written on her face. "What do you think that''s they want?" "I honestly have no idea. I want to trust Robbi, if he had wanted harm to come to us he had plenty of opportunity in the tunnels. But..." Drew trailed off, unsure how to express his doubt. The longest he had known any of these people was Katie, and he had barely known her a week. There was a sense of fraternity with people who had shed blood with him though. He didn''t want to think ill of any of the five people he considered part of ''his'' group. "So, what are you going to do?" "What can we do? We make our way to the bridge, we have to get these people somewhere safe." Katie leaned turned and then leaned back into his chest, her head resting against his shoulder. Then pulled his hands around her stomach clasping them together. "Alright, we''ll worry about it then. Who knows, maybe they''re friends and hiding from a faction in the stadium." That was cold comfort, if there was a faction in the stadium that already merited a secret resistance then bringing all these people there was a terrible idea. Not that Drew had much of a choice, they had food there, food was going to get harder and harder to come by. Without anything positive to add he just took a moment to enjoy the embrace. Hoffecker approached them a few minutes later, "Hello IT2, OS2." She said with a smile. "Sorry to interrupt but I was hoping to go over some logistics with you." Katie extended her legs and with a quick bounce back against Drew stood up, she then turned around to help him up. "How can I help you, Ma''am?" Drew asked Hoffecker was the kind of officer he liked: practical and down to earth. "We''re hoping that the group is large enough that we don''t need to worry about any attacks, but we''re gonna have you and JP split up, have each of you about a third of the way from either end. Then split the rest of the people with real firepower up. Station a couple at the front and back and some spread out throughout." "Sounds good, I''d like to rotate up to the front when we get closer to the bridge. JP and Robbi said they lost three people going across last time, I''d like to get an idea of what we''re up for." "No complaints here," Hoffecker said and was about to head out, but Drew interrupted her. "Major, there might be some trouble at the bridge, try to keep Robbi towards the back if you can." She raised an eyebrow, "Care to explain?" "I wish I could, all I have right now is pretty vague. Just something with Robbi and the bridge." "You have some sort of clairvoyance xatherite?" Drew could tell the woman had been dying to ask him about his xatherite for a long time and saw this as a golden opportunity. "Something like that." Drew kept his poker face. The major clearly wanted more information but could sense that she wasn''t going to get anywhere questioning him. "Alright, I''ll keep him in the back." "Thanks." She nodded before heading off, a single thoughtful backward glance and Drew was alone again. While the various survivors all seemed to be gathering in different groups, there was a small bubble around him, everyone going out of their way to give him plenty of space. He wondered if this was going to be the new normal. Stepping into one of the groups he noticed that their conversation died off almost immediately they all turned to look at him expectantly. Awkwardly he glanced around then seeing Daryl looking his way, made a lame excuse and headed over to the scout. "Daryl, we get anything good?" "A lot of chitin, Sun Min seems to think she can use it to augment most of the armor, maybe even make something close to a breastplate with some of the larger pieces. At least I think that''s what she said, she started talking Korean towards the end there." Drew laughed, "Sounds good, you eaten yet?" Daryl nodded his head, "Yeah, I managed to grab a bite early." "Ahh, good for you. Walk with me? I have something to give JP." Daryl nodded and the two men walked around the crowd to where JP, Robbi, and the others were still conversing. "Hey, Drew." JP greeted him when they got close enough. "Howdy, I hear congratulations are in order. Katie told me you leveled." The groups nearest them had stopped talking, everyone focused on the exchange between the two powerhouses of the group. The taller cop smiled, "Sure did." Drew reached out a hand to shake, "Well done. I have a bit of a present for you. Courtesy of that lightning caller." Opening his interface he traded the final xatherite he had harvested from the shaman to JP who accepted and then got the glazed look in his eyes that Drew was learning to associate with people staring at their maps. "I was hoping you could link it with some of your other elemental skills. The linked skills are pretty significant force multipliers and you''re really missing an area of effect skill." "Thank you!" JP said pulling Drew into a hug. The cop''s exuberance infectious enough to make the hug less awkward than it would have been otherwise. "No problem, hopefully, you don''t need it, but..." Drew trailed off with a shrug. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Man, this thing is awesome. I have the perfect spot to slot it, right between sonic gun and fire shot." Drew nodded his head in agreement, that would almost complete one of his linked sections. Not to mention giving him two potentially powerful linked skills. Actually, come to think of it, sonic and fire should probably already have linked up. "Nice, did those two create a linked skill?" "Yeah, I upgraded fire shot last night and that triggered a linked skill, firecracker shot. I haven''t had a chance to use it yet, but I think it''ll make something like a flashbang wherever it lands." "That is pretty awesome." Glancing at the three other combatants near him, "Don''t worry, as soon as we get everyone safe I intend to delve into some more dungeons, we''ll start harvesting xatherite and spread it around, everyone who wants to fight will get some, we''ll make sure everyone can defend themselves if they want to." Trista, Trey, and Robbi all nodded their heads, but what was more important is the look of determination on the faces of about ten other people who had been listening in. They would work hard to earn the right to get combat xatherite. Temper - Chapter 4 The impromptu award ceremony complete. Drew took the time to chat with JP and the others. They didn''t talk about anything serious, but the devolution back to pre-advent habits of small talk felt odd to Drew. Like it belonged to a different person¡¯s lifetime. The events of the past two weeks having distanced his sense of reality so far from the boring office worker he had become while stationed here in DC. The entire experience felt surreal, like he had been dreaming and suddenly been woken up to a life that no longer felt real. This was made more bizarre when he realized that just a few dozen feet away from him were piles of massive dead bugs, decaying in the early morning sun. Drifting away from the meaningless conversation, he walked over to a particularly large centipede''s remains. The oil-like sheen of the chitin added a strange rainbow-hued depth to the black carapace. Reaching out, he ran a finger along the shell¡¯s length, tracing a spot where bullets had cracked through and penetrated deep into the flesh of the beast. The edge of the plate was sharp; designed to rip things apart as much as to protect the host. Such dangerous beauty, other smaller--no, he had to remind himself that these were normal sized--insects were already feasting on the dead flesh. Watching them work to harvest the meat, Drew wondered why some of the creatures enlarged and became monsters, while others remained normal sized. What were the criteria for selection? Was it just random chance, or was there some method to the madness? Why didn''t humans mutate? Or did they? Wereghouls probably don¡¯t count, since everything else mutated while it was still alive. Was it because of our sentience? Did more intelligent creatures like dolphins and chimps not mutate? Was there some sort of line of demarcation where the system determined they were aware enough of their surroundings to get xatherite and a map rather than be turned into bloodthirsty monsters? Or did the monsters get xatherite and they were just too unaware to make use of them? Would some chimps be able to cast spells while their brethren turned into mindless hulks? If that was the case, would they form separate societies, or would they remain together? Shaking his head to dislodge the useless anthropology. He needed to get everyone to safety first, then he could ponder on the various intricacies of the system. Trista had walked up to him while he was lost in thought. "I keep trying to decide if we should even help them." Turning slightly so that he could converse without broadcasting his words, "Who? The numb?" Drew queried. "Yeah. Food is scarce, people are scarce. We could make a lot better time if we didn''t have to drag them along with us." Drew had been thinking along the same lines, and he frowned. Hearing it from someone else it seemed so cold, so impartial. "People are scarce, which is why we need everyone we can get. If you''re still alive, there is hope. Maybe they''ll snap out of it in a few days when they are in a safe place again. Besides, JP and Robbi both agree that the stadium has plenty of food." "Maybe, maybe they will come around. What if we can''t grow food this winter and people die because we were feeding the numb rather than making stockpiles. Can we really afford to gamble on these people?" "I think that''s a dangerous train of thought. What if we''re out exploring another dungeon and someone breaks a leg, and no one can heal it? Do we just leave them there? If there is a chance they''ll recover, then we need to risk it." "Just doesn''t seem right to ask everyone to risk their lives protecting someone who has already given up," Trista muttered, her fingers tracing the shape of one of the pistols she carried. "It isn''t about asking them to protect people who have already given up. It''s Uncle Ben''s: ''with great power thing. We can protect them, and they cannot protect themselves. We have a responsibility to do what we can." "The leg thing is a bad example, they''ll only be down for a few hours at most. We drag them back to a healer and they''ll be fine." "Okay, a better example: Sarah was knocked into a coma or something similar after our first big fight. Should Katie and I have just left her there?" Trista''s eyes turned towards Sarah who was busy doing the job of three other people. "No, we''d be in big trouble if we lost Sarah," she said after a moment of consideration. "Some of the numb, when they recover, could be just as valuable as Sarah or me. It''s not a gamble, it''s an investment. We''re not asking people to risk their lives for someone who has already given up. We...I am going to ask them to join me in risking our lives for people." Trista shrugged, clearly not convinced but unwilling to the debate the problem further. Drew considered his words, he had said that he would ask them to risk their lives, was he going to take up a leadership role? The Human Protectorate may see him as the highest-ranking officer on Earth, but it was clear that the existing command structure would not take kindly to him asserting that command. When it came down to it: what qualified him to be making decisions about how people should live? The ability to kill the most stuff didn''t mean that he had any of the other skills needed to run a refugee camp. Did he even want to be in charge? He was effectively free of all the bonds that had tied him down before the system arrived. There wasn''t a landlord looking for his rent check every month, or a chief to yell at him if he wasn''t somewhere on time, or an IRS agent looming in the corner to do an audit. Those responsibilities had been replaced. With more basic needs like survival and figuring out how to create a sustainable source of food and a hundred other concerns that all pretty much boiled down to making sure he would still be alive tomorrow. Thinking back, he tried to remember what it had been like to be normal. Somewhere out there, there was a version of himself continuing about his life with no knowledge of the galaxy at war. That version of Drew was likely trying to decide if he needed to get up for work now, or if he could hit the snooze button one more time. Did he want that life back? Would he run away from the system like the Trolls had? Willing to do anything to be free?Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. The silence between Trista and him held no answers, but the longer he considered the situation the more questions he had. Was there a morally correct choice here? And at what point did the need to survive make morality moot? Looking back at the people he had rescued, he wondered what obligations he had to them. Did rescuing them mean he needed to stay with them forever? Were they his responsibility for the rest of his life, just because he had been in the right place to make sure they lived? He could just take Katie and leave, find somewhere they wouldn''t need to worry about captains and senators. With her walls, his offense and never needing to sleep they could escape DC, go somewhere safer, somewhere easier. Sarah could come too, and Daryl. Maybe he could convince JP and Robbi to join them? The potential betrayal at the bridge aside, Robbi had spilled blood with him and that meant something. Trista could come too, she had been very helpful in the tunnels. The names kept coming, Dak and Gary, Bill and Sun Min. With a start, he realized that pretty much every single one of the people whose names he actually knew he was willing to run away with. They had somehow become his shipmates, his brothers in arms, and he didn''t want to leave them behind. "Alright everyone, let''s get going," a female voice shouted, and Drew turned away from Trista to see Daryl behind him. "Hey," Drew said, not sure what to say to the other man. "Hey," Daryl responded. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Trista was taking the opportunity to head to her spot near the back of the procession. Her skills making her an excellent choice for the rearguard. "How..." Drew wanted to ask him how he was feeling. How he was dealing with the loss of his wife. Those words wouldn''t come out. "Where do they have you?" "I''ll be up front, scouting the path." Drew nodded his head, "Oh, yeah, right. That makes sense." "I just wanted to thank you." Daryl''s eyes were focused on the ground, avoiding Drew''s gaze, "For bringing me out of there. I also wanted to tell you that I don''t blame you." How do you respond to that Drew wondered? "Thanks, Daryl. I''m sorry I never really got to meet her, maybe tonight you can tell me about her?" That was the proper thing to do, right? To talk about his grief and make sure he wasn''t alone. "She wouldn''t have liked you, you know?" Daryl looked up at Drew. "She wouldn''t have liked you because she always thought I was superman. But clearly, that''s you. You''re like the dragon knight they talk about in game legends. I just want you to know that I''m glad you''re here. You saved my life, heck you''ve saved all these people''s lives, and you never asked for anything in return. You''re our superman. Don''t let Snyder get you down too much." The phrase dragon knight sent alarm bells ringing through Drew. What did Daryl know? Had he overheard some conversation with Katie or Sarah where they talked about the order of the dragon? The way he said it implied that he knew, or was it just a coincidence? Drew reached out to grab Daryl''s hand and then leaned in to give him a one-armed hug. "Thanks, Daryl. I couldn''t have done it without the rest of you." Daryl gave him one squeeze and then the two men spread apart again. "I don''t think you needed us. Sure, we made it easier, but I think somehow you would have managed without us." Drew opened his mouth to make a rebuttal to Daryl''s claim, but Snyder''s voice cut him off, "Mr. Swaze, IT2 Michalik take up your positions." Daryl rolled his eyes, "We''ll talk later." Then he turned and ran off towards the direction of the bridge, turning invisible on the second step. Still visible to Drew''s mana sight, he watched the now invisible man flip the bird at the captain. Chuckling, Drew made his way through the crowd until he was about a third of the way into the formation. Around him, everyone fell silent, and he could feel their eyes on him. He wondered if he had acquired some sort of aura of fear without knowing it. The people near him kept sending sidelong glances his way and those further out held whispered conversations while pointing at him when they thought his head was turned. It was a strange kind of celebrity he supposed, everyone, clearly too afraid to talk to him while being unable to talk about anything but him. It was going to be a long trip. Glancing around him, he didn''t notice anyone that he recognized. Most of the people directly near him seemed to be caretaker groups. None of which had stood out to him either during the rescue or in the tunnel. There was one girl next to him, pretty in a girl next door kind of way, that merited additional consideration. She was in her mid-twenties, with thin with shoulder-length, wavy, dirty-blonde hair that still looked styled despite the world ending. Drew idly wondered if that was the result of a xatherite or if she had taken the time to style her hair. He tried to think of a polite way to ask, but after a few minutes of running conversations through his head, decided there wasn''t and let the matter drop. The blonde was guiding an older woman with dark hair turning grey at the temples. As Drew watched he noticed that while all the other caretakers were guiding the numb assigned to them, this girl seemed to be taking care to ensure that the woman didn''t trip or stumble. "Hi, I''m Drew." He walked over and took the woman''s other elbow to guide her down a curb. The blonde shot him a surprised look. "I''ve got her," she replied curtly. "I know. I wasn''t implying that you didn''t have it. I just wanted to help." "We don''t need help." Raising his hands in surrender Drew took a few steps away from the two going back to watching the edges for any sign that the group was under attack. A dozen car lengths later, he heard a voice next to him, "Heather." Glancing over, the blonde was looking at him. "Pardon?" "My name is Heather." "It''s nice to meet you, Heather." The blonde made a sound that was half laughter and half snort. "No, it''s not. Nothing is nice anymore." The early morning air was crisp, the end of the world had resulted in very little structural damage, resulting in a relatively normal looking world. That coupled with the regular mana storms and the mild early summer it was a very pleasant day. The kind that Drew would have looked forward, before advent anyway. "I dunno, it''s a nice day." Heather looked at him incredulously for a second, before having to focus on the task of guiding the woman. It was clear she considered the conversation over. "Do you know her name?" "Shelly." Having a feeling that he didn''t really want to know the answer to the question, "Did you know her before?" "No, that''s just what I call her. Seemed rude not to call her something." "Well, she does look like a Shelly." The girl gave him a grim smile but didn''t seem inclined to talk more, and Drew was afraid his limited social skills would create another awkward exchange. Still, the simple conversation had eased the tension from all the people around him. They were still more subdued than in other locations throughout the train, but at least now it didn''t feel like they were afraid of him. Temper - Chapter 5 Walking in comfortable silence with Heather, Drew watched as other people got to fight the rabbits, beetles, and birds that attacked the edges. None of them were a big enough threat to call him forward, although he did launch a few fireballs and acid darts at birds that came too close, mostly out of boredom. Although the target practice was good, when he did finally hit a ten-foot wingspan crow with an acid dart, the thing fell into the middle of the civilians. No one was hurt, thankfully, but it had been a close thing. Snyder''s smug dressing down was carried out in public, his shouts, which were easily loud enough for most of the group to hear, had him gritting his teeth in anger. Thankfully, a call for assistance from the front of the column cut the captain''s rant short. Drew eagerly pushing forward to investigate the cause. The sight at the front was reminiscent of the night before. Black shelled beetles at least seven feet long were fighting each other, while Robbi and a few of the others were trying to peck away at their shells, a few scratches from Robbi''s blade and a half-severed leg were all they had to show for their efforts. "Step back," Drew commanded, and when the other fighters did, Drew cast gravity field, the two beetles slammed into the ground with an audible thump. Following that up with both shocking acid arrows into the bigger one''s head. Unable to dodge, the sticky substance ate through the beetle''s hard outer shell and into the head, destroying what little brain the thing had. The second pair of acid arrows ate through the head of the smaller beetle. Gravity field had prevented them from twitching, but as soon as its effects ended the two lifeless bodies spasming. "Someone go get Daryl and have him harvest these two, we should be able to get a bunch of good armor out of them." Drew turned to walk back towards the center of the group, but Robbi put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, walk with me for a bit?" The former cop asked him. Drew eyed Robbi for a minute, considering the other man before nodding and the two men walked around the still convulsing bodies. The rest of the column following in their wake, everyone giving the still twitching bodies a wide berth. The cop and the coastie walked far enough ahead of everyone that they could speak quietly and not be overheard. "What''s up?" Drew broke the silence. "I''m not really sure how to answer that," Robbi said after a minute, he glanced back to make sure no one was close enough to hear before continuing. "What was that fuss about before the cockroaches?" "Snyder." Drew snorted, "He got mad at me for not ''responsibly'' killing that massive crow." Drew had given finger quotes around responsibly. "I think he was getting into full stride right as you called for help actually. So, thanks for the distraction." Robbi shook his head, "This is exactly what we mean." Drew considered his next words carefully, "I''m not sure I follow." He wanted Robbi to confess but didn''t want to force the other man into it if he didn''t want to. "I... well, I haven''t been completely honest with you. I have a communications device, a rock summoned like a glow stone, but this one allows me long-range communication with a group of people in the stadium." "A group of people? The way you say that leads me to believe that they aren''t really under the senator." Robbi blinked and then nodded his head, "Yes. Look, it''s hard to explain, but we believe that the old world is gone. America doesn''t exist anymore. Which means that we shouldn''t be beholden to the laws that America represented." Drew made a move to say something and Robbi held up his hand, "Hear me out first then you can argue. "We believe in the constitution. We just think that the America that exists, that the politicians created these past few decades? That country doesn''t represent what America should be. The two-party system has ruined America. The idiots on the left want the government to run everything and want to give socialism another try," he snorted. "It''s failed every time it has tried, but hey this time will be different right?" Robbi rolled his eyes. "And the right? They''re just as bad, sticking to a tradition that doesn''t mean anything. They can''t pull their heads out of the sand long enough to start solving problems. They argue about inheritance laws for the ultra-rich while Flint doesn''t have clean drinking water. "The media has us so divided and distracted that most people don''t even know what the real issues are. They are more worried about who Taylor Swift is friends with or if we should call him Bruce or Caitlyn. No one cares about the real issues." Robbi''s voice had gotten harsh, the sword in his hands clenched in a white-knuckled grip. "And then." Robbi held his hand out for emphasis. "Then we get a perfect chance to reset the whole thing. To start over and what do they do? They go right back to the way things used to be, like a dog to its vomit." Robbi paused long enough for Drew to talk, "So what? What does that have to do with this device? What does that have to do with anything?"Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. "I''ll tell you. The senator?" Robbi pointed towards the stadium. "He''s a nice enough guy, but he doesn''t have what it takes to lead people. He is a relic of the old world, not a product of the new world. We intend to make sure that we recast America, but this time with a better mold. People like you, people that have power, not because of some arbitrary number of zeros in a bank account or whose dirty laundry they know, people like you should be in charge." "That sounds like a world where might makes right," Drew said quietly, glancing back at the group behind him. "Where the strong rule by walking all over the weak just because they can." "No, it wouldn''t be like that. If the strong come together and create a just set of laws and hold each other accountable for making sure they are upheld...the new America can be the country the old one was supposed to be. Not the one that compromise created. Hell, look at the founding fathers. Benjamin Franklin couldn''t even get the founding fathers to give people basic human rights. They had to compromise so that everyone would agree to sign it, and then they shoehorned the bill of rights on afterward, and even then, slaves were a thing for two hundred years!" Drew shook his head, "Look, this isn''t really the time to talk about this. Once we get everyone safe we can talk about creating a new world order. Or whatever it is you are going to call it." "Well, that''s sort of why I wanted to talk to you. I''ve been talking to my people. They''re going to meet us at the bridge, we can make a break for somewhere else. If you come with us, nothing will be able to stop us." Robbi''s tone took on a hint of desperation. "I can''t leave these people." "You don''t have to! We''re going to take them all with us!" "How are we going to feed them?" "We have some of the food growers with us." Drew glanced back once more, evaluating the people behind him. Robbi''s vision of a new world was tempting, especially after his most recent talk with Snyder. The idea of the captain no longer being in command was appealing. But it sounded too much like a coup for him to be comfortable with it. Maybe, America wasn''t in the best place, but this seemed like too drastic a move. Too much, too soon, they already had so many people who had given up. There was also a part of him that was terrified of being responsible all these people. That part didn''t want anything to do with ''leading'' everything. Snyder was an easy target to shove off the aspects of leadership he didn''t want. Sure, Snyder was an idiot and it was probably a bad idea to let him be in charge. But Hoffecker and Sarah were competent, and he had no problem giving them all the power, they would probably be much better at it than he was, and he had no idea how good this senator was. He could be amazing, or another Snyder, or something in between. "Unless you are saying that we won''t be able to walk away if we go to the stadium now, I think it¡¯s too soon. These people need to rest, they need a safe place to regain their bearings. At least for a little while. They won''t last long if we try to settle somewhere new. And they need food, I''m not convinced your people can provide that. If the situation at the stadium is as bad as you say, then I''ll leave with you. But these people won''t survive if we do splinter off now, and I refuse to let them get hurt." Robbi frowned but then he looked back at the crowd following them and nodded his head, "Alright, I''ll tell them we''re delaying for a little while, a week maybe. That should be plenty of time for them to catch their breath and for you to see how the old command structure doesn''t work anymore." He seemed so confident that Drew would take his side, it creeped Drew out a little bit. "Think you can distract everyone for a bit? I need to call Gunther before they burn any bridges." Drew looked around, they were heading up the main road through base--mostly because it gave them the greatest visibility. The had just passed a series of parking garages and were near one of the base''s gyms. Just ahead next to the road was a small building that looked like it had once been a gatehouse for entrance onto the base. "We''ll go investigate that guardhouse over there." Turning back to the group about twenty feet behind them. "We''re gonna go check out the shack, we''ll be right back." The two men set off at a quick jog without waiting for permission, they distanced themselves from the main group quickly. The door was locked but Robbi''s sword sliced through the latch with ease. The former cop stepped into the darkness while Drew peaked around the corner. There was a bunch of old electronics and a musty smell, but no massive bugs or anything like that. Seeing that the room was clear Robbi took the comm rock out of his pocket. It looked like a rock with several silver lines tracing abstract images across it. As he began whatever esoteric activation ritual was required to use the stone, Drew examined the room. One section of the floor contained a thick grate with hinges on one side. Pulling out his light rods he shone it down, the pit was a manhole descending as deep as the light shone. "Some sort of emergency egress?" He mused to himself. Most of the bunkers in the area, and there were undoubtedly a lot of them, contained secondary egress routes intend to be usable if the main site was bombed or power prevented the elevators from working. There were a couple dozen buildings on the base that could secretly house an underground bunker. Drew switched the leyline aspect of his mana sight on and scanned the area. Aside from the red node of the DIA building, there were a probably another dozen different ley lines all interconnecting in eight or nine different nodes under the base. And that number only became more numerous to the northwest in D.C. proper. In fact, that direction was a mass of tangled nodes and lines almost too bright to look at. "Hey, I have Drew here," Robbi spoke into the stone "What''s wrong?" The and a voice came out. It was deep and masculine without any discernible accent. Robbi cut straight to the chase. "Drew doesn''t think the people will survive if we don''t let them recover at the stadium first." There was no response for a few seconds, which Drew took to mean they were discussing it. "Understood, standing down for now. We''ll talk when you get back. Out." Robbi put the stone back into his pocket and glanced at Drew before nodding his head. "I''m glad you''re joining us, Drew," Robbi said putting his hand on Drew''s shoulder and smiling at him before turning and making his way out of the building. Drew smiled slightly before muttering under his breath, "I haven''t said I will yet." He gave the grate a final glance and then followed him, wondering just what exactly he had just gotten himself into. Temper - No Longer Available Hey everyone, as you might have noticed, I''ve removed the vast majority of Temper from the site. It''s currently getting published through Mountain Dale Press, the same company that published Advent, and will hopefully be edited and purchasable in January or February. My appologies to anyone who was in the middle of reading the book when this happened. I kept it up almost a month longer than planned and it will be available on Kindle Unlimited. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. The plot will not be incredibly different, but polished up and with some of the kinks worked out of it.