《Apocalypse Born》 Book 1 Prologue: A Brief Official History of the Apocalypse January 31st, 2000: Multiple portals begin to appear and then sometimes vanish all over Earth, clustered roughly around major population centers. At first dubbed ¡°Slides,¡± they appear to be two-dimensional views of other worlds, no matter what angle they¡¯re approached from. The Slides vary in width from a few feet across to the size of a modest city block, and show scenes ranging from near-Earth ecology, to horrific hellworlds, to what can only be described as recognizable, mythical places. Every Slide, no matter what is viewed through it, seems frozen in time. February 2nd, 2000: The rate of Slides manifesting and disappearing seems to stabilize, with news media estimating and arguing that anywhere from one to ten thousand exist across the planet. The last remaining records seem to indicate that the general attitude toward the Slides was wary, curious, and strangely optimistic. At approximately 3:00 PM GMT, all electronic devices cease to function and a small percentage of the global population immediately suffers from sudden and quickly fatal seizures. Millions, possibly billions die, but information is spotty at best. Three minutes later, every living person sixteen years of age and above has the same collective experience: a new, sixth sense is forcibly injected into their awareness, a holographic field entirely outside one¡¯s field of vision but constantly in focus, written in an alien language that is somehow as familiar as their mother tongue. The field reads:
Initializing [Infra] Emergency Protocols v. 171.01¡­
Your world, [Earth ¨C Infra Emergency Zone 00171], has been discovered and targeted by various multiversal factions, including imperialist colonizing nations, exploitative multisystem corporations, and hegemonizing swarm entities. This is well outside the calculated bounds for system discovery and integration and this lapse in preparedness is currently being considered gross negligence on the part of [Infra]. In compensation, in addition to the planned upgrades to the [Earth] solar system, all [Humans ¨C Earthborn Bipedal Sapients] will receive three free, semi-random [Talents] upon integration, from now until perpetuity. The multiverse portals appearing as [Slides] will be fully operational within four [Earth] days. A defense against these incursion sites may not be safely possible at this level of [Infra] integration, so it cannot be recommended in good faith. Full integration will be complete in the next seven days. Please avoid national, historical, cultural, and geographical landmarks in this period, as they will be undergoing extensive metaphysical changes and will not be amenable to [Human] life. Estimates based on current [Earth] resources and the number and origin points of existent [Slides] place an outer bound on total depletion of the planet at twelve years. If at least eight out of every nine hostile [Slides] are not closed and [Human] civilization is not stabilized and independent by the end of this period, this world will be reclassified as [Earth ¨C Infra Exclusion Zone 00146].
[Messages], [Groups], [Menu] and partial [Talents] are all available.
February 6th, 2000: Utilizing the networking capabilities and supernatural abilities granted by [Infra], a large portion of the remaining [Human] population organize along three ideologies, later codified into [Paths]. Unintegrated minors, people unwilling or unsuited for combat, and those willing to defend them form [Redoubts] in areas less affected by [Slides], hoping to keep out of the way. What remains of governments, from local to international, consolidate their police forces, armies, and anyone else willing to join into [Orders] and prepare to combat whatever comes from the looming portals. Lastly, anyone too far away or unsuited to join a major defense, but still determined to combat the threat of invaders, becomes what¡¯s quickly known as [Adventurers]. The [Slides] open fully and it is disastrous. At least one in three major cities are overrun. [Human] ability to gauge the threat of individual [Slides] is found to be woefully incompetent. Some heavily defended portals only discharge friendly beings, some nothing. Innocuous [Slides] left for [Adventurers] to clean up erupt into violent, aggressive packs of invading monsters. The fighting continues nonstop for three days until the next message from [Infra]:
Infra Emergency Protocols v. 171.03 Update
[Earth] integration is now at 85% and more functions are currently available to [Humans] sixteen [Years] and older. Your planet¡¯s [Essence] generation has been successfully harnessed and contained into [Sources]. Historically, this makes a planet¡¯s resources 56% more difficult to obtain by multiversal invaders. The previous restriction on visiting landmarks is hereby rescinded, and all [Humans] are invited to explore the [Sources] implanted there and reap the bounty of your planet¡¯s existence. Warning: each [Source] is different and dangerous, due to random effects of high [Essence] concentration. [Essence] distribution is now unlocked and rewards are calculated for the past three [Days] of offline conflict. [Essence] will now be earned immediately after actions which contribute to the well-being of [Earth], and can also be harvested from [Sources] and enemies.
[Resilience], [Affinity], [Vigor]. [Stats], [Skills], [Levels], [Achievements], [Classes], the full [Talent] set, and [Help] are now available.
Progress and Statistics:Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. 100% of hostile [Slides] active 86% of [Redoubts] intact (62% of population) 71% of [Orders] operational (34% of population) 30% of [Adventurers] alive (4% of population) 0% of [Sources] discovered
March 17th, 2000: The first recorded [Source] to be successfully raided, [Parisian Catacombs], is claimed by a combination of [Orders] working to retake Paris. The rewards provided by [Infra] bolster their efforts to secure the city, but the mechanism to close active [Slides] is still unknown. March 29th, 2000: A lone [Adventurer] somehow irreparably damages the [Below Niagara Falls Source] and then closes the three nearby [Slides]. The process used for both acts appears to be reproducible, and involves shattering the [Fount] at the heart of the [Source] into [Shards]. December 31st, 2000: [Infra] reports the population of [Earth] has stopped declining just above two billion [Humans]. February 6th, 2001: A year to the day after full integration, the first [Human] reaches [Level 100] and unlocks [Ascendancy]. Large swathes of unclaimed land begin to undergo [Essence] mutations usually only seen inside [Sources]. April 10th, 2001: Groups of [Adventurers] join with the [New South Wales Redoubt] and create [Earth]¡¯s first [Guild]. June 18th, 2001: Multiple [Orders] disband and form the [System Polity Grand Order ¨C SysPol], dedicated to preserving and cultivating the largest [Sources] while still obtaining sufficient [Shards] to close [Slides]. October 12th, 2001: [SysPol] grows exponentially after sharing the trick to obtaining [Shards] nondestructively, absorbing multiple [Orders] across the planet. July 6th, 2003: A South American [Guild] claims the [Hidden Jungle Temple Source], unlocking [Transcendency] and breaking the [Level 300] limit. [SysPol] and the [Manassas Redoubt Guild] close the [Slides] in Washington, D.C. and proceed to clear most of the North American east coast. May 25th, 2007: The [Sublime] barrier at [Level 600] is broken somewhere in China. Chinese [Orders] and [Guilds] remain secretive about it, but rumors of a [Tamed Source] run rampant. October 25th, 2007. [SysPol]¡¯s [Sublimed] members close the largest remaining hostile [Slides] in Tokyo, Mexico City, and Sao Paulo. There is no general [Infra] broadcast. December 1st, 2009: While monster invasions from hidden [Slides] continue to occur, the lack of major threats allow formerly walled and secluded [Redoubts] to open up, most contracting [SysPol] to provide protection. A roaming [Ascendant Adventurer] closes a [Slide] menacing a small Siberian [Redoubt], gaining a unique [Achievement] [Not the First, but the Last] and [Infra] updates once more:
Infra Emergency Protocols v. 171.27 Complete Initializing Infra Regency Structure v. 1375.01¡­
Congratulations [Earth ¨C Infra Probationary Member Zone 01375], 88.9% of hostile [Slides] have now been closed, and the worlds on the other side are no longer able to threaten you. The remaining portals will remain open, which has been scientifically proven to encourage [Essence] growth in member planets. The previous method to close [Slides] will now only serve to force them into a dormant, migrating state, as unlockable [Slides] have a tendency to grow in size and threat if left unchecked. [Earth] is now at 97% integration, and will be granted [Full Member] status upon completion. In the interim, your solar system will be assigned an [Overlord] to assume responsibilities previously assumed by the [Infra Emergency Protocols]. Tax on all [Essence] generation will be limited to one part of every twenty-five (4%), and will be allocated to the [Overlord] to create opportunities for new [Essence] gathering and further integration. After self-arbitration, [Infra] has decided to confirm the extra [Talent] allocation for newly-integrated [Humans], and at the [Overlord]¡¯s discretion, more [Talents] may be added to the pool.
[Quests] and [Currency] are now available.
Progress and Statistics: 11.1% of hostile [Slides] open (locked) 2.1 billion [Humans] integrated 74% [Level 1-100 Mortals] 16% [Level 101-300 Ascendants] 7% [Level 301-600 Transcendents] 3% [Level 601-1000 Sublimed] 0% [Level 1001+ Divinities] 93% of [Sources] discovered 37% of [Sources] destroyed Estimated [Essence] generation planetwide: 60% of optimal
February 9th, 2012: On the former deadline for [Earth]¡¯s exclusion from [Infra], [Overlord Crushes-Valiant] opens the first [Earth Advancement and Assessment Festival], a month-long fair in his own [Personal Source] to encourage [Human] progression toward [Full Member] status. 1: First Brush with Adventure Hunter had been outside the Willard Redoubt before. His house was right up against the northern wall, and when the Pols gave the all clear two years ago, Hunter¡¯s dad expanded the farm past the wall and the river, out into open space. He¡¯d been outside as often as possible actually, running through the fields, ¡°helping¡± his family work the farm, doing anything other than huddling in the same cramped, walled town he spent his first seven years of life. But when Hunter was nine, the whole family got together, his Mom and Dad, his little brother, even Uncle Ernie who¡¯d been out in Wichita, and they went to the Festival. That¡¯s when Hunter realized he¡¯d never really been outside. Sure, he¡¯d been on the other side of the wall, but maybe that wasn¡¯t the same. First they lined up at the portal that appeared in the center of town, one the adults assured him wasn¡¯t a Slide, high danger, run and report. Instead, it was a doorway the size of a house, made of shimmering, cascading water, and for a few minutes it was the most beautiful thing Hunter had ever seen. Person after person stepped through the portal, each vanishing with a dull flash, until finally it was his turn. He kept his eyes wide, his head up, he wasn¡¯t going to flinch just because he was about to teleport thousands of miles and between dimensions in an instant, and he stepped through. His first thought was big. Everything was simply enormous, from the crowds, to the colorful, towering tents the size of five maybe six houses, even the avenues stretching out from the portal in eight directions had to be at least as wide as the river. Hunter ran around the shimmering door, darting between people simply popping into existence from all over the Midwest, and took in the sights. He skidded to a stop after a full revolution, rejoining his family with a false look of chagrin on his face, when he suddenly had his second, more important epiphany from the Festival. He couldn¡¯t see the walls of Willard, for the first time in nine years. Life in the redoubt was safe. That¡¯s what it was for. Hunter knew, intellectually, that the thirty foot tall mish-mash of wood and earth mingled with high-tech magical metals was for a good purpose. Twelve years they¡¯d stood, twelve years since they¡¯d been raised by a mass of refugees with hard work, precious little engineering knowledge, and otherworldly talents they¡¯d just gained without understanding how or why. The walls and the people manning them were the first and last defense for Willard, protecting Hunter, his family, his friends, and literally everyone he¡¯d ever known from monsters they couldn¡¯t possibly understand. Hunter knew that, but he was nine, and now he felt free from them, somewhere deep inside, and he didn¡¯t have the words for it yet. If he did have the words, if he wasn¡¯t a small child, if he knew a little more of the outside world, he¡¯d be able to put his thoughts in order. Hunter just knew that he could see the walls from his bedroom, he could see them from the schoolhouse, he could see them from the fields and while floating on the river, and now he couldn¡¯t. When you¡¯re outside the fort-like walls, you keep them in view need to know which way to run, don¡¯t hesitate but he couldn¡¯t do that, and he couldn¡¯t tell if that feeling building up inside was panic or calm. It must have looked like panic on his face, because his mother put her hand on his head, ruffled the mess of his red hair and suggested they go find some food before he ran off to join his friends. She could find him at any time, some kind of mystic schoolteacher power, which didn¡¯t feel nearly as oppressive as the thought of those walls. Also, food sounded good, new and interesting food that he had no idea where it came from. The feeling, that weird, unencumbered sense, faded as he ate a turkey leg what¡¯s a turkey as big as his thigh, but it never went away.
¡°Red!¡± ¡°Schmidt!¡± he heard simultaneously as he stumbled, overfull, out of the food tent. Hunter looked around, first on his toes, and then with a little hop, and saw his two closest friends approaching. Miracle was easier to pick out of the crowd, twelve going on thirteen, dark-skinned and tall for his age, waving both arms over his head as he continued to call out Hunter¡¯s last name. ¡°Schmidt, we almost won a pet!¡± ¡°Hey guys, a pet, wha-oof!¡± Hunter managed to say before being tackled by Ellie, the smaller of the approaching pair, but still taller than him when did that happen. She wore an oversized t-shirt with a picture of one of the tents and some squiggly letters he figured was Infra across the chest, the sleeves hanging down past her elbows. Curly brown hair hung down, framing her face as she sat on his chest and yelled to drown out the two boys. ¡°They have games, with prizes, Red! And jugglers, and musicians, and-¡± ¡°And aliens!¡± ¡°Oh right and aliens! Lots of them, and they¡¯re weird but really nice. One of them lives in Kansas City and s-s- zhe might come visit the redoubt!¡± Ellie slumped onto her side on the grass, panting, catching her breath with a grin on her face. Miracle sat on Hunter¡¯s other side, helping him up with a hand on his shoulder. ¡°We even found a tent with rides, but I said we gotta wait for Schmidt for that one.¡± ¡°You were scared!¡± ¡°Was not, Ellie! The guy at the entrance said the sign said ¡°Ride of Your Life¡± and do you really want to do that without Schmidt? Yeah.¡± ¡°So let¡¯s go. Rides! Rides sound good.¡± Hunter scrambled to his feet, offered a hand to each of his friends, and let them pull him off into the loud, confusing, but interesting maelstrom of the Festival. They ducked through the edges of a crowd watching two jugglers tossing an innumerable number of knives back and forth between their half-dozen tentacles, each gave a shove to a crab-person hovering two feet off the ground calling himself ¡°The Immovable Grakh,¡± and soon found themselves in front of a large, bright red tent near the middle of the grounds. A huge banner in Infra was strung over the flap, and a hawker stood next to the entrance, a squat little person that appeared to be made of stone or rock, wearing a pair of overalls and a funny hat. ¡°Come one, come all! Do you dare to take the ride of your lives? There are twists, there are turns, is there danger? Come and find out! You! You little human children, brought your friend, have you? No excuses now, are there?¡± The three friends steeled themselves in their own ways for a moment, stepped through the entrance, and found they didn¡¯t enter a tent, not exactly. ¡°Wow!¡± ¡°Where¡¯s the¡­ where¡¯s the roof?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t get it.¡± Instead of red walls and a ceiling high above their heads, the same grass as outside under their feet, Hunter and his friends stepped out of a light mist to find their shoes crunching on white sand, an expanse of rolling blue sea ahead of them, and a sky filled with dark, menacing clouds. Hunter stood on a groove in the sand leading to a circle dug out just shy of the lapping waves. He took a deep breath, slipped his hands out from the others¡¯, and darted forward. ¡°I don¡¯t get it, but I¡¯m going first!¡± Whatever they started to protest was drowned out as he skidded to a stop in the circle and the air started to swirl around him in a tight circle, his clothes and hair flapping about. What felt to Hunter like a very long moment later oh I shouldn¡¯t have done this, the vortex stilled and then roared, shooting him into the air in a tumble. He managed to straighten out and try to get his bearings, the beach and the water seemingly miles below him, right before he shot up into the cloud layer, everything going quiet and damp. Hunter soared, or floated, his inner ear going crazy, taking deep breaths as he watched occasional flashes of red lightning coloring the surroundings, waiting to hear thunder that refused to come after. Even if he couldn¡¯t time it, Hunter could see each burst getting larger, more of the mist around him turning an ominous red, until he almost closed his eyes because he couldn¡¯t bear to see the next bolt so close. At that moment, the clouds parted, and a gigantic ok I just fish flew toward him, so big it couldn¡¯t have fit in the tent, so big it maybe couldn¡¯t have fit in Willard, with a maw full of I can¡¯t tree trunk teeth and flapping I just can¡¯t insect wings instead of fins. It flew, or swam, or just hurtled toward him, only veering off to the side at what seemed like the last moment, its tail flicking past him in a rush of warm, briny air and sending his body spinning again. He flared his arms and legs out until he slowed enough he wasn¡¯t feeling sick, still not sure if he was headed up, down, or otherwise, when the next crack of lightning went off. It was loud. Not as loud as it should have been, seeing as it was close enough to make the fine hairs on his arms and legs stand up, but it was certainly, momentarily deafening. The arc of brilliant, ruby electricity just missed him and the fish-bug-leviathan, currently darting away, and when Hunter whipped his head around to see if he could find the source, he almost wished he hadn¡¯t. Half as big as the fish, but still too big for any one thing to be, a great, metal lozenge came into view. It was shaped like a raindrop, or a doodle of a fish you draw with one loop, made of huge dark gray planks with rivets the size of dinner plates seeming to hold it together. The fat end was tipped with a huge spike, glowing red and crackling, while the skinny end had a blur following close behind, making a noise that sounded like it¡¯d take Dad all weekend to fix it, whatever was wrong with it. When it flew past him, much too close for comfort, all screeching metal and burning oil, Hunter saw it had little windows along the side, with one of those curious stone men giving him that¡¯s it I can¡¯t a thumbs-up from inside. The metal monstrosity plunged down after the fish terror, and Hunter fell after them, breaking back out of the clouds, unable to tear his eyes from the chase, flares of lightning going off every few seconds. Too late, he realized what comes after being thrown into the air, just as the fish crashed into the ocean with a tremendous splash, followed by the machine, so much water being thrown into the air he¡¯d get lost walking from one end to the other. He closed his eyes the moment before he hit the tip of the plume and only opened them when his brain began to process the fact he somehow wasn¡¯t wet. Hunter was in a bubble, floating lazily down toward a spire of yellow and red intertwined, a cross between a termite mound and a tree, something he knew there¡¯d be a name for but wasn¡¯t coming to him. All around the bubble was the sea, intensely blue and calming, the exact color of weightlessness, and he looked around with a lazy sort of detachment. The battle he witnessed in the clouds seemed so far away, even though he could see it occurring in variations around the tower as he descended. Fish in every shape and color swarmed and schooled in patterns he couldn¡¯t discern, every so often turning to swallow one of those metal lightning spewers, or to be vaporized from one of the red bolts. It was too big to frighten him anymore. One of those fish could feed the entire Redoubt for years, or crush it in an instant. Their imposing walls would explode into particles from that red lightning, and he had no idea what could dent that metal if a fall from that height couldn¡¯t. There were simply bigger and scarier things in the multiverse than he had ever imagined, and when his bubble touched the spire and popped, he was still trying to come to terms with that. Hunter stumbled, found himself safe on his feet just inside the entrance to the tent, his elbow clutched firmly but kindly by another of the little people. ¡°Thanks,¡± he mumbled be polite, it¡¯s easy, let himself be guided to a chair just his size and quickly found a cup in his hands. He sat there a moment, sipping something that turned out to be crisp, refreshing, and completely unidentifiable, until his two friends joined him, looking not equally but similarly dazed. He looked across the low table in front of him at another of the small, stone people. If he had to guess, this one was older. He had a similar face, protruding nose, wide ears, and rounded eyes that were black from edge to edge, but the grayish-brown stone making it up looked craggier. The lines around his mouth and eyes looked deeper, and Hunter thought he could see veins of another color when he changed expressions. The man wore a soft-looking hooded robe the color of the clouds Hunter had just hurtled through, and he smiled at the children as he pulled the cowl back and spoke. ¡°That was a partial replica of Siege on the Ocean Gargantuan, one of the high divine sources on our home planet. That particular experience might be fairly intense for unintegrated minors, but my brothers and I are accomplished illusionists, and you were never in any danger.¡± ¡°That was amazing, but-¡± Miracle started. ¡°Amazing,¡± Ellie chimed in. ¡°But I don¡¯t think I ever want to do anything like that, ever again. Thank you.¡± ¡°Totally. Never.¡± The stone man chuckled, a low rumble. ¡°I understand. Among the Stone Dwarves, our people, that source is seen as a rite of passage. Not many clear it completely, but simply experiencing it is an important step for those that want to be seen as true adventurers. It¡¯s perfectly understandable that you¡¯d find it so daunting, and you have our apologies.¡± ¡°I think,¡± Hunter started, then sat back for a moment with a frown. ¡°I think I¡¯d like to try it again. Not the ride, not now or any time soon, but I think maybe I¡¯d like to be the kind of person who can do it for real.¡± ¡°Well then, young man. If you ever find yourself on our planet, Mountain Home, feel free to look up the Four Corners Guild. It might be a long way off before you¡¯re ready to leave the Earth, but it¡¯s something to look forward to. That¡¯s important, don¡¯t you think?¡±
Hunter walked along with Ellie and Miracle, eating lemon-flavored rock candy on a stick, and checked his pouch of crystallized essence. Between the Ride of His Life, playing that fishing game enough times to win Ellie her auto-pixie, and buying enough candy for at least a week, he was running low on what his parents had sent him off with. ¡°Hey, guys. I think I can only do one more tent. I don¡¯t know what ¡®tip what you¡¯d like¡¯ means so I¡¯ve been tipping a lot.¡± Ellie looked up from the small jar they¡¯d won, still trying to figure out how to make the little orange sparkle hop out of the top and follow her. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m a little short too, Red. We should find a really good one to finish on, right Miracle?¡± The taller boy struggled with his own rock candy and the ¡°Willard¡± pennant he had made, finally shoving the little flag down the back of his shirt to check his own pouch. ¡°I can do one more, sure.¡± Ellie closed her eyes, spun around a few times, and then pointed, ¡°This way!¡± After a few minutes of walking, Ellie grumbled something about the auto-pixie, stuck it in one of the wide pockets on her pants, and said, ¡°So I¡¯ve been thinking about something.¡± Miracle grinned at her. ¡°The farmer thing?¡± ¡°Oh the farmer thing! Red, you have to hear the farmer thing.¡± ¡°The what?¡± ¡°Ok so you know how Mr. Jenkins over on the west side has all those cute robots that help him do his farming? So I thought someone could do the same thing, but with skeletons. With magic!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t get it, Ellie?¡± ¡°You could dress them up in overalls and straw hats, and the tallest one could be a scarecrow, and they¡¯d work all day and night and then you make more when they fall apart.¡± ¡°I mean, yeah that¡¯s pretty cool.¡± ¡°And then, at harvest time,¡± Ellie paused and grinned even wider, ¡°you¡¯d have the spookiest pumpkin patch in the whole state!¡± ¡°Halloween Hay Rides at Skeleton Farm!¡± Miracle shouted. ¡°Oh. Oh wow.¡± Hunter boggled for a moment. Ellie might be a genius. ¡°But no, I was thinking about something else. You guys know how none of this is real? I mean, it¡¯s real like you can touch it, but it¡¯s not a real place?¡± Miracle nodded, Hunter mirroring him a little later. It felt real, but so did that terrifying flight into the clouds. ¡°Like, we can keep walking, and there¡¯s always going to be tents, and there¡¯s always going to be people. Plus, we didn¡¯t know where the rides were, but we wanted to go on rides, and then we found the tent with rides.¡± Ellie¡¯s face was all scrunched up like she was thinking hard while she talked, and Hunter thought maybe his was too. ¡°So the thing I was thinking was,¡± she paused here, took a breath, and held up a finger, ¡°we want to see something really cool.¡± Another finger. ¡°We don¡¯t know what it is, but we know there¡¯s a lot of tents full of cool stuff.¡± A third finger, after managing to get her thumb to hold down her pinky. ¡°So instead of thinking about rides, or candy, or magic dancing Halloween skeletons, we just think it has to be cool. Like, the idea of cool. What cool means.¡± Ellie held out her arms and stopped the boys when she finished talking, and Hunter looked up to see a small, dark purple tent wedged in between two much larger ones. The ropes holding it up were sparkly and golden, and two shimmering lamps hung on either side of the entrance, lit up even though the entire Festival had been as bright as any summer day so far. Most interesting of all, however, was that when Hunter glanced around, he couldn¡¯t see anyone milling about for the first time all day, like the three of them had found their own little private spot. ¡°Cool. For sure, cool.¡± They stepped into the tent together, into a small, dim space, to see the grass tamped down with carpets, and three cushions on their side of a wide, low table. The person opposite them was hard to make out, their face dark and triangular, almost featureless except for a ridge near the middle and three eyes underneath, hazy and lit up like embers in a dying fire, if embers glowed green. The figure extended a limb, tapped the table with something between a claw and a pincer, and spoke with a voice that sounded like a million beetles had gotten together, learned English, and discovered that the low, clicking hum of their wings all beating at once made them sound like a kindly grandmother. ¡°Come, human children, and take a seat, if you¡¯d like your fortunes told.¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
After winning the quick rock-paper-scissors tournament and the quicker argument that he hadn¡¯t done anything first yet, Miracle took a seat on the middle cushion, then took a deep breath. ¡°Yes, please. Umm, one fortune, please.¡± Hunter felt the hairs on the back of his neck tingle as the fortune-teller laughed with a soft, musical chirping, then watched, immediately fascinated, as she held up a large deck of black cards in one of her spindly, excessively-jointed hands, and then began to shuffle them in a complicated pattern. ¡°These are Infra Cards, children. They know all, but they do not tell all. They are secretive and shy, afraid that if they empty their cup of knowledge into yours, both would break. Luckily for you young things, I know how to coax them into spilling at least a drop, perhaps more. Even more luckily, this whole Advancement Festival is for children just like you, and the cards, I think, are feeling generous. I will tell you two fortunes each, one about yourself, and one about the world you¡¯ll find yourself in. Please cut the deck.¡± Miracle leaned forward and with a steady hand I¡¯d be shaking, am I shaking, made two piles out of the cards, which she quickly scooped up and began to deal. She held up the first card, a mountain with grass growing at the peak, the green blades swaying gently in a breeze, and all three children let out a soft ooh when they realized the picture was moving. ¡°Your first card is The Mountain with New Growth. It tells you what those closest to you think of you, what you are in others¡¯ minds. The Mountain is strong, sturdy, always in view and always has been. You are dependable, reliable, even at your age. People look to you just to remind themselves that you¡¯re there. The New Growth says you were probably the first born in the village where you live, maybe one of the first in the whole world since Infra came. What happened to you all was hard, but still those shoots grew from the soil. ¡°Your second card is the Calm River, Slowly Widening. This is what you want from yourself, what you see of your strengths and your goals. River cards imply change, the water always moving, but the Calm River means that the change you enact will be steady, not tumultuous. You want to make yourself and your surroundings bigger, Slowly Widening, and better. It will take time, but Rivers are patient, and every year you¡¯ll try to see things are more improved than the last. ¡°Now, this is interesting. Your next card is The Mountain with New Growth again. The third card is the mark you can make in the world. Some might say this is an ill omen, that what your friends and parents think of you will be the defining part of what you do. But the Mountain and the River complement each other, they are strong parts of nature. You can be a hopeful presence of strength for others, reinforcing your circumstances with your actions.¡± The fortune-teller had set down the first three cards in a vertical row in front of Miracle, Mountain-River-Mountain, but she placed the fourth to the left of center. ¡°To the left, the sinister, you have The Barren Field with Sickly Boar, your opposition. You may take this card at face value, of course. Your village, it¡¯s a farming village, yes? Mountain, River, now Field, you¡¯ve aligned yourself close to your Earth, you express yourself through those images. Any good farmer knows that a poor crop or unhealthy livestock can ruin your plans. The Barren Field to the left of the Calm River, however, reminds you that the change you want from yourself, the growth you hope to achieve, can¡¯t come at the expense of others. The river will nourish the field, and the field will nourish you. ¡°Completing the cross is your ally, in this case The Goatherd carrying Kid. If your opposition is what you should be worried about while growing, this card is a worthy goal to progress toward. The Goatherd can mean many things, but is fairly unambiguous when carrying the Kid. Every step you take helping those around you, shouldering their burdens, is a step away from the Barren Field, and the River will run clear and wide alongside you. ¡°That is the basic Infra Cross. A firstborn human child, steadily growing into the beacon of hope his parents named him, leading his people away from ruin. Any questions, or shall I complete the pattern and fill in the world around you?¡± Miracle just shook his head, mouth open slightly as he stared down at the cards. Hunter found his gaze torn between the boy and the table, wondering how much of that was real and how much was wishful thinking on their part. It sounded real, though. ¡°Then let us continue. At the top left is the inciting opposition, something that happened before you were in existence but remains a threat to your sense of self, and yes. I should have guessed that. It is The Calamity. Your planet was invaded just before your birth, the dangers that were spawned took someone close to you, and even though everyone says things are much safer, no one says that they¡¯re safe. This close to Infra integration, we find The Calamity everywhere, and for that you have my deepest sympathies. ¡°Your second world card is The Aggressive Bull, Pulling a Plow. Across from the inciting card makes this your helpful foundation, somewhere steady for you to put your feet before you climb. Your village, or perhaps your planet, has leashed their inner violence and made it work for them. I see this card on new planets often, as well. One thing to remember is that this isn¡¯t The Tame Bull, and he is not working for his best interests. He is angry, ready to break from the plow, to exert his full strength. The power you rely on wants to be free, not shackled. ¡°On the bottom left we place the oncoming. This is something that is yet to pass, that may affect you directly, and may not. It is neutral, but it is still a warning, and therefore on the sinister. Your card is Two Herds meet in The Valley, one of goats, one indistinct. There will be a merger of people, or villages, or ideas in your lifetime. If you are not involved directly, the ripples of this change will certainly reach you. It is said that a neutral card laid on a neutral space like this is an invitation or an opportunity. Keep that in mind as you go forward. ¡°Finally, your last card is The Mountain in Full Bloom, in the contemplation space. This doesn¡¯t tell your specific future or reveal your dreams, even my magic can only go so far. Take your time, thinking about the first eight cards, what they have revealed, what they have implied. Then, find where the last card fits, and you¡¯ll see where you fit. Oh, and one last thing, because you¡¯ve been such a good audience.¡± She drew a final card, spun it in her claws, and slid it across the table to Miracle. At first, it just looked like another Mountain card, but then as Hunter and Ellie leaned over to peer at it, the view began to zoom in toward the summit, quickly refocusing on a man standing on the peak, bearing a shield on one arm and staring out of the card. ¡°Oh wow, Miracle, that¡¯s a grown-up you!¡± Ellie pointed at the scar through the man¡¯s eyebrow, exactly the same as the one Miracle had from falling off his front steps when he was younger. Then, the bottom of the image rippled and formed the words, [Miracle Guillen, Firstborn Defender of Kansas]. All three kids sat back on the cushions, speechless, while Miracle fumbled in his pouch and emptied the entire contents onto the fortune-teller¡¯s table. She laughed once more with the same unearthly timbre, took two of the little crystals and slid the rest back toward the boy. ¡°I didn¡¯t come here to be greedy, child, but I thank you.¡±
Ellie went next, her card proclaiming her [Eleanora Hernandez, SysPol¡¯s Greatest Detective], and then sooner than he was prepared for, it was Hunter¡¯s turn. The fortune-teller shuffled the deck once more, asked him to cut the cards, and then dealt the first one in front of him, but it remained curiously blank. She made a low, humming chirp and said in a softer voice, ¡°My goodness, child. That is certainly unusual. Invalid. I haven¡¯t seen that in quite some time.¡± A quick flick of her wrist tucked away the deck of cards and drew out another set. ¡°But I promised you a fortune, so we will have to do this in the ancient manner.¡± The woman set the cards on the table, and then started to spread them around, both hands darting back and forth as she made more of a mess than a pattern. ¡°This deck is called The Dance of the Burrowers. Long, long ago, my ancestors would seek guidance by finding burrower nests, knocking upon them with their walking sticks, and interpreting the burrowers¡¯ reactions. Eventually, they recorded every omen onto stones, and then onto cards much later. Now, we can emulate our cousins¡¯ portents without agitating them so. Please, gather up a few cards, as many as you¡¯d like.¡± Hunter leaned forward to scoop up a small pile, peering at the designs on the backs of the cards. He squinted and held them closer and closer to his face, but was unable to make out what the slender gold patterns signified. By the time he gave up, the fortune-teller had cleared the table and began speaking again. ¡°Lay out your cards in any pattern, but set the last one aside. The Dance of the Burrowers is as much about the shaman swinging his walking stick as what comes after.¡± Hunter put down two horizontal rows of six cards each, one directly above the other, slid the thirteenth card to the side, and she continued. ¡°Ah, that particular form is called The Walk and the Work. Below, the six toes that brought you to this place, and above, the six fingers with which you¡¯ll do what needs to be done. It is a simple deal, but strong and precise. A good choice for a beginner. Please, start from your bottom left and flip the cards, one by one. I will tell you what they reveal.¡± Hunter turned the first card over, revealing a slightly abstract picture of it¡¯s just a hole in a patch of dirt. ¡°Oh, Collapse. Yes, of course. Collapse can have many meanings during a reading, but as the origin of your walk, it¡¯s analogous to The Calamity in your friends¡¯ fortunes. A great injustice was done to your world, and a new path was carved for every human to walk on after.¡± Hunter flipped the next card in the row when she finished speaking and frowned at the image. It depicted two dark red bugs, perhaps beetles, with four horns and four legs each, and even though it was a still painting, it gave him the impression that the bugs were dangerous rushing at him. ¡°Attack. The burrowers send their best and fiercest out to chase the shaman off. I wonder, young human, if you aren¡¯t telling the story of how your people arrived at this point in time, rather than yourself. No? No matter, please proceed.¡± The next card showed one burrower standing on two legs on top of its nest, raising the other two, except the picture was upside down. ¡°Defiance, inverted. Defiance is also sometimes known as Victory when dealing the dance. At this point in the walk, it signifies misfortunes survived, but inverted means it isn¡¯t a proud survival. Humans endured their apocalypse, but they don¡¯t feel that they conquered it, do they?¡± Fourth, the burrower nest, covered in similar bugs, but lacking horns. This card wasn¡¯t the right way up, either. ¡°Activity, inverted. Day to day life becomes more normal, there is a routine established. The burrowers live their lives ignoring the stick, admirably. However, it is inverted once more, because life can never really be the same. You have food, shelter, entertainment and more again, but you do not have what you lost.¡± Next, the nest again, alone. ¡°Nothing. The shaman wonders if it is a dead nest, a deaf one, or simply full of apathetic cousins. I can¡¯t help but think you might be thinking too negatively, child. Your world wasn¡¯t defeated or quarantined, and I sincerely doubt that this card represents a true appraisal of where you are on the walk.¡± He flipped the last card, and on this one, the nest was dwarfed by a bug breaking out of the top. It had more horns than the attacking burrowers, and iridescent wings sprouting from its back. ¡°Hive Queen, a rare card. Shamans faced with this result seldom lived long enough to carve her likeness onto a rock. It signifies upheaval or a turn of luck, and in your case I think it might be a fitting card to represent your Overlord. This is quite the interesting festival he has engineered, and after the devastation and apparent desolation you¡¯ve gone through as a people, it might be just the push that is needed.¡± Hunter sat and touched each card in turn, his fingertip taking the walk the fortune-teller described, imagining the little bugs as people he knew or knew of. The hole in the ground could be Omaha, where his grandparents lived before the Slides opened. The horned burrowers he saw as his Uncle Ernie, scarred and mostly quiet, or as Miracle¡¯s mother who passed before he had a chance to really get to know her. Neither of them really seemed victorious, when he really thought about it, but sadly defiant, maybe that fit. He saw the memorial, almost every day, that Miracle¡¯s dad had incorporated into the new eastern wall of the redoubt. It was sturdy this will, it was mournful never fall, but the fortune-teller was right, it wasn¡¯t proud again. He thought about his father, a farm boss without farmhands, and how even when his hard-worked crops came in full and healthy, there was never any joy in it. Hunter knew survival was the first, most important goal, he had learned that from a very young age, when he saw what failure to do it meant. He remembered Miracle, older and bigger than him, and the boy¡¯s father even moreso, and how they just seemed to break. Hunter blinked away sudden tears, his finger on the fifth card, promising himself that he¡¯d find something else to work toward in his life other than bare, knife-edge existence. He let out a little sniff, then tapped the last card. ¡°Miss? Can I ask a weird question? How¡¯s this guy supposed to help me, or us, when all dad says he does is collect taxes and sit around on his fat, umm, butt?¡± She chirped again, softer and encouraging, and Hunter was sure that if either of his grandmothers were still alive, their laughs would be less weird but just as nice. ¡°I haven¡¯t met many Overlords in my time, but I have made the acquaintance of Crushes-Valiant. I can assure you that no one, as a rule, becomes or stays an Overlord by sitting on their butts.¡± Ellie tipped over in a fit of laughter. ¡°Oh man, she said butts!¡± The fortune-teller let her finish, gasping and more than a little red, before continuing, ¡°While I don¡¯t know all the particulars of his goals or methods, there is no doubt in my mind that he is working hard to ensure your species achieves full integration. Let me make you a promise. I will dig around some and discover what I can regarding these plans of his, then find a way to contact you later. In the meantime, shall we continue the reading?¡± Miracle frowned somewhat as he spoke. ¡°You¡¯re going to investigate the Overlord for us? Won¡¯t that get you into some kinda trouble?¡± ¡°I suspect there isn¡¯t some great, worrying secret, children. It might just be a matter of perspective. Would you three necessarily notice if, for instance, source extraction values were changed? I will look into it because my curiosity compels it, but no one will be troubled by a few inquiries.¡± Hunter noticed that his friend seemed satisfied with that answer, and so he turned over the next card, the first in the top row. The burrower nest, this time, was covered in the little bugs, each facing outward from the center, and this picture sparked another quiet little emotion in the back of his mind. They seemed to look run scared, but also somehow don¡¯t look back free. The card wasn¡¯t right side up, though, and so far that had been bad. He looked up to the fortune-teller with half a smile on his face, expectant but worried. ¡°The Walk may have included your people¡¯s journey to this point, but the Work won¡¯t. This card is Evacuation. The burrowers exit the nest, orderly and practiced. It can be taken literally, but I don¡¯t think it should be at your young age. Instead, think about the coordination they exhibit, thousands of little cousins each in their place in line, knowing exactly when and where to leave the nest, to the maximum benefit of the colony as a whole. When it is inverted, it means preparation. The shaman taps the nest, and the nest responds, ready to flee as safely and sanely as possible.¡± His next card showed a larger bug leaping upward from the top of the nest, its four wings oil-slick shiny, each twice the width of the burrower¡¯s body. ¡°The Princess leaps up from the nest, newly-hatched and ready to take flight. An ambiguous omen to the ancients. Is she fleeing to find help from a nearby colony, or abandoning her nest to begin a new one? In either case, she leaves with purpose in her actions, but precious little actual knowledge of the outside world. She has just been born, and her first real experience has set her life on a new, interesting path.¡± Hunter¡¯s third card was the two attacking burrowers again, this time locked together by the horns, fighting each other. ¡°Struggle. The warriors want to attack the shaman, but they cannot agree on who will have the privilege. Years ago, this card spoke of chaos, of a fight for dominance, an internal struggle that precludes the external threat. In more recent times, our scientists have determined that this sort of combat is ritualized, that our little cousins are not fighting each other with malice, but formally and honorably. If there is violence in your future, it will be for justifiable reasons, not senseless.¡± The fourth card, upside down, was a simple picture of the nest, but only half of it. ¡°The Pass card, inverted. This signifies a lull in your future, a brief period in time where the machinations of fate have chosen to leave you be. When a nest was half-built like that, the elder fortune-tellers would make note of it and walk on, not wanting to bother their cousins when they are hard at work. In that position, it is a new nest, freshly-formed, but the next time it will be ready.¡± Next, Hunter flipped over an odd card, compared to the rest. The nest was blurry, out of focus in the background, but in front there was what at first glance appeared to be a very large burrower. Its limbs were longer, the carapace narrower, and its head was more distinct from its body. With a start, he realized this was one of the fortune-teller¡¯s people, prone on the ground, stick broken and cast to the side. ¡°Ah, Hazard, and immediately following Pass. These two cards are not often seen together, being almost two sides of the same coin, as your people would say. It looks like fortune will continue to ignore you for a while longer, but the reason will change. The shaman visits the nest, presumably taps it with his stick, and something unexpected but dangerous happens. The cousins will provide no omens, but instead of a friendly postponement, they have given a forceful rejection.¡± Hunter hesitated before his last card, trying to picture what they were trying to tell him. Flee twice, fight, then defy fate twice again. That didn¡¯t sound good, and these were supposed to be his best options. He looked up at the fortune-teller, worried he was going to cry twice, in front of his friends, but didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°Is something wrong, child?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just, I mean,¡± Hunter stammered, ¡°this is all a lot, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯m nine.¡± ¡°Mmm, I see,¡± the fortune-teller spoke, her middle eye closing for a moment. ¡°You¡¯ve only been walking and talking for, hmm, seven of your years perhaps? And seven more to go until you integrate, and properly need to worry about these things. May I ask you a question?¡± Hunter nodded, and she continued, ¡°Last week, if someone had asked you what you thought you¡¯d be doing with the rest of your life, what might you have said?¡± ¡°Umm, a farmer maybe? I like gardening, but not a lot of the farm stuff. Mom always says I¡¯m smart enough to be a doctor, and that¡¯s cool.¡± ¡°What if the same person asked you the same question, next week?¡± ¡°I, gosh, I dunno.¡± He sat there on the cushion, his friends on either side, looking at him, each with a little, curious smile on their faces. He saw the cards they received, the heroes they might be, and he genuinely wondered what his would say invalid, if he had gotten one. He nodded, eyes down, with just a hint of a sniff. ¡°Something different, for sure.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all you really have to see the cards saying, then. You¡¯ll work hard, find yourself taking a different path, perhaps with a struggle, and then you¡¯ll do something that even fate can¡¯t see yet. That¡¯s not so bad, is it?¡± She reached out, flipped the last card over, and tapped the picture with one of her narrow claws. It depicted the same nest as the rest of the cards so far, but this time it seemed bigger somehow. ¡°Growth. The nest shifts slightly, and swells in response to the shaman¡¯s knock. A very good card to see in someone¡¯s Work, especially at the end. There is no catastrophe at the end of your road, no great upheaval. I think, when you look back at yourself and what you¡¯ve done in your future, you won¡¯t see anything but yourself, perhaps grander than today, but no less recognizable.¡± ¡°Skeleton witch,¡± Ellie said, probably the quietest he¡¯d ever heard her. ¡°Red Schmidt, Skeleton Witch. You could still have a pumpkin patch, just in between adventures.¡± ¡°Finally, take the last card, the undealt. Place it in your pocket without looking at the face, until later tonight. When you¡¯re relaxed and ready for bed, think back about the Walk and the Work you¡¯ve seen laid out. Picture a person with those six toes and six fingers, metaphorically of course, and then look at the last card, your card. It will be up to you to interpret the picture, to find for yourself what it means.¡± Miracle, the bravest of the three, asked, ¡°Metaphorically?¡±
When Hunter finally got to bed that night, it was late. His mom and Uncle Ernie had spent the evening catching up, his dad was out meeting with the redoubt¡¯s council, and his little brother was fussy and somehow his responsibility the rest of the night. His usual bedtime was a while past dusk at that time of year, but he had heard the last bell of the night well before he actually managed to crawl under his covers, still full of rock candy and new ideas. He dug out of his mattress a small flashlight he had smuggled into his room for reading, fished the card out of the pouch he¡¯d tucked it in, and took a few deep breaths calm, child while he thought about the fortune he¡¯d had told. One part of him was just as worried as earlier, one part was trying to be reassured by the fortune-teller¡¯s explanation, and a third tiny part thought that maybe he was putting too much faith in a deck of cards. They weren¡¯t even fancy ones like Miracle and Ellie got. ¡°So, worst case scenario, everything¡¯s dangerous and scary and miserable,¡± he whispered to himself. ¡°Second worst, I got bamboozled. Hoodwinked. Snake-oiled.¡± Hunter giggled a little as he thought of a few more of Ellie¡¯s favorite words, then decided it was time to finally look at his card. It showed a burrower atop its nest surprise, but it was yet another different type than those he¡¯d seen earlier. The little bug was standing upright on its two hind legs, the front two raised up for balance, and its body was more slender than the others. If anything, Hunter thought, it looked about halfway between the regular cousins and the fortune-teller herself. The entire burrower was framed in a beam of soft light that was coming down from the top of the card, like the clouds broke solely to illuminate his trick of standing on two legs. Hunter knew he was supposed to relate this back to the cards he¡¯d already seen, but he couldn¡¯t really figure out how it fit. If he squinted, the pose the burrower was in looked a little like some of the exercises his mom had taught him, the ones that looked easy, sounded easy, and felt really difficult after doing more than five or six in a row. The light itself reminded him of some of the pictures the old folks in town had hung up in their houses, all of the same guy, usually bathed in white beams from the sky. Maybe, Hunter decided, he didn¡¯t have to know what this fancy burrower meant to him exactly, he just had to feel it out. He could do this metaphorically. He imagined that the fortune-teller did his reading just like his friends, and this was the last card she handed to him. Maybe he wasn¡¯t destined to be a Skeleton Witch, or a Moose Rider, or a Robot Eater or anything else Ellie and Miracle had come up with on their way home. Maybe, if he worked hard, he could be a Tai Chi Jesus like the burrower on his card. Hunter spent the last few minutes before he drifted off to sleep, exhausted and in that dazed and disconnected state where both nothing and everything make sense, wondering what that meant. 2: Looking Forward The Festival didn¡¯t change Hunter¡¯s life immediately. There wasn¡¯t much farming to do in the winter, but there was still school, playing with his friends, and all the various things that add up in someone¡¯s life and get in the way of preparing for their nebulous I¡¯m nine future. He didn¡¯t deliberately try to forget about how being in that open space felt, the ride through the clouds, or having his fortune told, but it wasn¡¯t his focus as much as he thought it would be back on that day. There really were too many things to do that didn¡¯t make him as nervous as growing up, leaving the redoubt, and being an integrated adult did. Spring seemed to come quickly that year, and brought his birthday with it. He didn¡¯t remember what his birthdays were like when he was younger, but they were pretty good now. When the outside world calmed down a little and Willard got its SysPols, enough people moved into town that he and Miracle were no longer the only children near his age, and that meant parties. The year before, his uncle had somehow smuggled buckets of water balloons into the redoubt and hid them all over, which turned Hunter¡¯s party into a running, ducking, and hiding fight for the entirety of the afternoon. It was a tight vote between that day and Miracle¡¯s eleventh birthday, when his dad had made an entire wooden castle twice as tall as a house out in the eastern field with magic, every time the children tried deciding who had the more exciting party. This year, though, Ernie couldn¡¯t make it out, although he had sent a present, and Hunter¡¯s younger brother was getting to that age where he seemed to need both parents¡¯ attention as much as possible. That¡¯s why, for his first double-digit birthday, Hunter was dragging a toy wagon filled with snacks out the north gate and up the old road, toward the river. When he arrived, he found Ellie tying the last of three large innertubes, each of them nearly the size of her, to a tree on the bank. ¡°Hey! How did you-?¡± ¡°Get these all the way up here? Secret,¡± Ellie grinned over at him. ¡°What¡¯d you tell your parents?¡± ¡°Fancy picnic,¡± he responded, grinning back as he dropped the wagon¡¯s handle. ¡°How about you?¡± ¡°Bumper wrestling. Couldn¡¯t think of anything else.¡± Ellie flopped onto one of the tubes, almost bouncing herself to the ground before she got settled. At Hunter¡¯s look, she continued, ¡°You know, strap them on and run into each other real fast or something? Seems fun, we oughta do it sometime.¡± ¡°For sure! Want a fruit soda?¡± Hunter pulled a pair of clear, plastic bottles out of the bucket of ice at the back of the wagon and handed one to her. ¡°What are they?¡± Ellie followed his lead, twisting off the top, then took a big drink, coughing and spluttering after, ¡°It¡¯s tingly juice! And it¡¯s good! Where do we get more?¡± He took a smaller sip of his own drink what¡¯s pineapple, and then shrugged. ¡°The trader guy came last week, had a bunch of new stuff. Everything was more expensive though, Dad says. Then he went off on bloodsucking, post-apocalyptic corpor-, cor-, something, I dunno. You know how he gets.¡± ¡°Oh man, last week, my mom?¡± Ellie paused for a fit of giggles and more coughing on her soda. ¡°She got some new kind of work from the Pols? And she spent all night grumbling and drinking her holiday wine! What did she say, umm. It was like, ¡®How is there paperwork without any paper?¡¯ and ¡®Why do I even have a sword if I¡¯m just working for the DMV?¡¯ It was funny, umm, for a little while.¡± ¡°DMV?¡± ¡°I asked, got a don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°So, bad. I got one of those when I asked if we were getting any farmhands this year.¡± ¡°Oof,¡± Ellie muttered, taking a slower drink from her bottle. ¡°That¡¯s a rough one.¡± They rested in silence for a while until they caught sight of Miracle, the taller boy wobbling as he walked up the road, balancing three long wooden poles across his shoulders, each easily as long as three of him end to end. He waved, then quickly scrambled to right the tipping poles, while the other two children ran over to help. ¡°Before you ask, I couldn¡¯t think of anything. I just said, ¡®Dad, I need these, don¡¯t ask questions,¡¯ and that was that.¡± ¡°Spoiled!¡± Ellie gasped, grinning. ¡°You have to try these fruit sodas!¡± ¡°Also, why aren¡¯t we telling our parents about this? We¡¯re just going on the river, right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s, umm, Hunter?¡± ¡°It¡¯s practice,¡± he said. ¡°In case we ever want to do anything really sneaky, then we¡¯ve got one success under our belts already.¡± It took them a little while to set up their secret, against the rules, don¡¯t tell anyone birthday party, but they had a plan. Hunter split up the snacks and drinks into waxy cotton sacks and tested them by dipping them into the river before he tied them to the innertubes. It took two kids at a time to wrestle the tubes over to the riverbank, and the third to keep the ropes untangled, but they managed it in a few minutes. Then they stripped down to swimwear, climbed onto the heavily patched but still inflated tubes, and used the poles to guide themselves out to the middle of the river, to have a nice, lazy spring day.
Hunter was just drifting off, full of sandwiches, candy bars and soda, enjoying the bright sun shining down, when the other two tubes jostled into his. ¡°So, Schmidt,¡± Miracle started. ¡°You¡¯ve been, you know, kind of down lately. Your mom always says if we see someone having a hard time, we should ask if they need help, because it¡¯s, you know, hard for them to ask. So, do you need help?¡± Hunter exhaled a little sighed and struggled to sit up straighter to look at his friends. Miracle was frowning, and Ellie had a soft, nervous smile instead of her usual energetic one. He started to answer, to dismiss it out of hand, but then he really thought about the question, if his friends could do anything for him. ¡°It¡¯s the Festival, guys. Or maybe just growing up? I¡¯m ten now, and when I¡¯m sixteen everyone¡¯s going to expect me to do something, to be something. Everything outside of Willard seems so exciting, but dangerous. I dunno,¡± he trailed off. ¡°It¡¯s not all like that, Red. Willard¡¯s the third place we¡¯ve lived, and it¡¯s the quietest, yeah.¡± Ellie scratched her head, head tilted, as she put on her thinking face. ¡°Boulder was kind of scary sometimes sure, but not all the time? Outside isn¡¯t like, all fighting, all the time.¡± ¡°Yeah, and inside isn¡¯t totally safe either,¡± Miracle mumbled. ¡°That¡¯s why there¡¯s people like my dad and Ellie¡¯s dad, defenders and Pols.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not worried about going out and fighting, I guess? More like I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to happen if I get it wrong. Sure, Dad said he wanted to be a kind of farmer before Infra, and even after when he didn¡¯t know what was going on really, he enjoyed it. I dunno about Mom. But all the old folks, they didn¡¯t get much of a choice about what to do, and we do. I just don¡¯t wanna make a bad one.¡± ¡°I think that makes us lucky, Schmidt.¡± Miracle and Ellie slowly pushed the tubes back to shore while he talked. ¡°Ellie¡¯s parents are going to make sure she does well in SysPol, whatever she ends up doing, my dad¡¯s going to try to teach me magic and let the defenders help me with the rest, and your parents, well, oh.¡± Hunter sighed for real at that. ¡°I don¡¯t think my dad even wants me to be a farmer. And I mean, that¡¯s fine, maybe I don¡¯t want to be one either, but all I know how to do is carry stuff around.¡± ¡°That might be a good thing, too? More options? I dunno, Red. Back in Boulder, I was still pretty young so I didn¡¯t have to do anything, but sometimes it got bad enough that kids had to help, a little older than us maybe? They¡¯d run around and do whatever was needed, but then they¡¯d hit sixteen and just be doing the same stuff. They¡¯ve got a lot of shield bearers and ammo loaders there. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s automatic or what, but you don¡¯t want to wake up with a fancy new thing in your head, and keep doing the stuff you¡¯ve already been doing, right?¡± ¡°I guess. I just wish I had an idea of what I¡¯d be good at,¡± he replied, crawling off his innertube and pulling it back up the bank along with his friends. Miracle was looking off into the distance as he helped the smaller children with their ropes, chewing on his bottom lip. When they were all settled again, with the tree to shield them from the midday sun, the mostly quiet, dark boy spoke again. ¡°Does your mom ever teach you anything, Schmidt?¡± ¡°I mean, everything? She¡¯s a teacher.¡± ¡°Well, yeah. But anything special that¡¯s not in class?¡± ¡°Umm, manners and stuff, and now a lot about taking care of two year olds. Oh, and our morning exercise stuff. You know, like greeting the sun and the ground.¡± Miracle shook his head a little, brows pinched together. ¡°Can you show us?¡± Hunter shrugged and rolled off the tube, moving a couple steps away to a level patch of dirt. He rolled his shoulders and worked on calming his breathing as he moved his feet into position. After a moment of hesitation, fighting down a flush on his cheeks that threatened to match his hair, he mumbled, ¡°I always forget the real names of the moves, but don¡¯t let my mom hear what I call them, ¡®kay?¡± He moved into his first relaxing position, suddenly glad he¡¯d skipped this morning for his birthday, or else he¡¯d have been way too sore to do it all over. He started to move one palm up, the other down as he incrementally shifted his feet apart, keeping all his weight on one until his arms and legs both burned from the effort. Eyes shut tight, he murmured, ¡°This is how we greet the sun and ground. I think maybe it¡¯s a farming thing?¡± Inch by inch, concentrating on his breathing, balance, and keeping his movements steady, Hunter went from pose to pose of his usual morning stretches, from arms full with punch bowl, through balancing three sticks, to hold up this wall for a while, occasionally mumbling out the next step before demonstrating it. He had just finished push away person and dog with only a little wobble when Miracle called out. ¡°Schmidt! Can you do that last one, but like fast?¡± ¡°No? Umm, well, maybe?¡± He rocked back and forth a few times, moving his center from over his front foot to his back, more quickly with each repetition. He stepped forward, arms up in the previous position, palms held outward, then shifted onto his back foot quickly, kicking his front leg up and out as he shoved his palms forward, somehow staying balanced on the one leg after. ¡°So cool!¡± ¡°Huh? It was?¡± Hunter whipped his head around, forgot his breathing, and lost his balance, ending up sitting down with a thump. ¡°It really was, Red!¡± ¡°I think I need to tell you a secret, Schmidt. At least, I think it¡¯s a secret. No one ever talks about it,¡± Miracle said as he and Ellie walked over, sitting down with their friend. There was a real serious look on his face as he continued. ¡°You probably don¡¯t remember much about when we got overrun, huh.¡± ¡°No, not really. Just after.¡± ¡°Well, I do. I was six, and we were out looking at one of the walls, me, my dad, and my, my mom. They were looking, umm, I was just out with them, I mean. There was all this noise all of a sudden, and then there was a hole in the wall, right in front of them. Mom got in the way of Dad, and then grabbed me, and I guess she got hurt because we were running away and her arm was all funny.¡± ¡°Oh man, that¡¯s so scary,¡± Ellie said as she leaned over to give him a hug. ¡°Yeah, it was. But umm, so Mom¡¯s leading us to one of the shelter buildings in the middle of town, and everything¡¯s getting noisier and noisier, and we get around the corner and there¡¯s this big like, crab thing, and it¡¯s taller than my parents probably. Except it¡¯s blue, bright blue, and made out of metal, and sounds like a tea kettle screaming while you bang it on a table. ¡°So, Mom¡¯s got me under one arm, she¡¯s got her shield on her hurt one, and I don¡¯t know where her axe is anyway. Dad¡¯s not very fast at magic but he still tried to start some kinda spell, I dunno. I, I think Mom was going to do something super brave then, because she set me down on the ground, but she didn¡¯t get a chance. There was another big loud noise, but muffled like it was far away? And your mom was standing there, in front of us.¡± ¡°Wait, my mom? Why?¡± ¡°I dunno, but she saved us. Her hair wasn¡¯t tied up like it usually is, it was big and red and frizzy like yours when you grow it out, so I didn¡¯t really recognize her at first. Like, she wasn¡¯t there, and then she was, and the crab thing wasn¡¯t. She was standing there, with her arms and leg out like you were, and the metal crab monster was tumbling down the street, making way less noise but a lot of dust. Then she turned and smiled at us and that¡¯s when I knew it was your mom, she had that same smile as when we do a good job in class, or she¡¯s giving us cookies. Then she led us to the trading post, and pushed or slapped or whatever that is at least two more metal crabs on the way there.¡± ¡°Crabbots,¡± Ellie murmured. ¡°Crabbots, right. So, she saved us? Then things got worse, after, but I was hiding by then. And then no one ever talked about it again. Not my dad, not her, no one.¡± ¡°Mama Red, Secret Fighting Genius? We should investigate!¡± ¡°No!¡± ¡°No, Miracle¡¯s right,¡± Hunter nodded a little as he spoke. ¡°If no one¡¯s talking about it, it¡¯s a secret for a reason. Dunno what it could be, but yeah.¡± ¡°So maybe your mom is teaching you stuff to help, it just looks like exercises? She just can¡¯t come out and say it.¡±
For the rest of the afternoon, the children ate snacks, lounged around in the shade, and showed off what they¡¯d been learning from their parents. Hunter thought maybe the other two had been afraid to admit they¡¯d been getting training without knowing he was, but he figured he¡¯d have been interested anyway. Miracle was mostly doing real exercises, but he said his dad was going to get him weights once he was big enough. Ellie, though, was getting secret lessons from her mom like Hunter apparently was, that at first looked like dancing, but when she picked up a stick and swung it around, he could tell was some kind of sword fighting. After a stumbling, complicated routine he suspected she made up more than half of, she lunged and smashed her stick against the tree before turning around and shouting at the two boys. ¡°Presents! We haven¡¯t even done presents!¡± ¡°Aww, man, you guys didn¡¯t have to. I only really get birthday presents from Uncle Ernie, you know that.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s ok. We kinda thought this would be a good year for it,¡± Miracle smiled over at him as he rummaged through his pile of clothes, but Ellie beat him to it, jumping up with a small bundle of paper twisted up like a hard candy. ¡°Here! Open mine! I picked it out and everything, Red.¡± Hunter took the little present and tore it open at her insistence, instead of unwrapping it like he started to do, and pulled free a milky white crystal about the size of his thumb, hung from a leather cord. It was really kind of pretty, a little diamond shape with etching on it that he couldn¡¯t make out, and Ellie beamed her biggest grin as he put it on. ¡°It tracks your heart rate, or something? And when you¡¯re really happy it takes a holo picture! Then later you can make the pictures pop up and see what you were happy about. I, I wanna see you put a lot of pictures in it, ok?¡± ¡°That¡¯s so cool! I promise, I will,¡± Hunter nodded, glancing down at the necklace after it suddenly made a tiny, blue flash. ¡°See, like that!¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I, umm, I didn¡¯t wrap mine. My dad made it, but I told him what I wanted,¡± Miracle said, a little shy as he handed over a bracelet made of twine woven through wooden slats. Hunter pulled it onto his right wrist, feeling more than a little fancy at having two pieces of jewelry now. ¡°Stand up,¡± Miracle continued, ¡°and then think about, umm, what¡¯s in the bracelet and how you want it in your hand, instead. I think.¡± Hunter got up, frowning, looking between his friend and his present, and held out his right hand. He opened and closed it, thinking about what¡¯s in it the weird instructions, and how¡¯s there something in it what exactly he was supposed to do. He closed his eyes, still flexing his hand, give it give it and didn¡¯t open them again until he felt the weight of something in his grip, and heard Ellie gasp. ¡°Wizard stick!¡± He looked up and found he was holding a long, straight length of wood, a gnarled branch that had been smoothed out, longer than he was tall. It felt a little big in his hand, but he still had some growing to do. ¡°Wow, how does it do that?¡± ¡°No idea, Schmidt. Just magic my dad did. You can¡¯t put anything else in the bracelet or anything, and it¡¯s really just a pretty stick, but it¡¯s neat right? Oh, and you can put it away, like, the same way I think.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a wizard stick, Red!¡± ¡°That¡¯s so cool. Thank you both, so much,¡± Hunter mumbled, starting to sniffle but bursting into laughter as his necklace flashed again. ¡°Hey, umm, I brought my uncle¡¯s present, too. You guys wanna open it with me and play with it? They¡¯re usually pretty fun.¡± He banished the stick back to wherever it came from, easier than getting it out, and went over to his wagon, pulling out a big package from underneath the remains of the snacks. He popped open the lid as his friends crowded around him on either side and found a note on top, pulling it out to read. ¡°¡®Hey, kid. Sorry about missing your birthday, but the group had some things to take care of that I couldn¡¯t miss out on. This isn¡¯t the first one I haven¡¯t been to, but I bet it¡¯ll be the first one you remember, and that¡¯s on me. I hope you and your friends,¡¯ ooh.¡± Ellie bounced in excitement next to him. ¡°¡®Enjoy the tablets I sent. You can use them for almost anything, including messaging your dear old Uncle without having to bother your parents about it. I¡¯ll see you and the family sooner than you know it. Love, Ernie.¡¯ Oh wow.¡± He took the tablets out of the box one by one, each not much smaller than a piece of paper and thinner than his littlest finger, and handed them to his friends before sitting down with the last one. After a few taps and shakes, he found the button on the top and gasped as the entire panel lit up a shimmering blue.
Initializing Infra Limited Plus v. 904.16¡­
Welcome, [New User]. Please choose a name for the [Messages] program.
¡°Aww, nuts! Someone already took ¡®World¡¯s Greatest Detective.¡¯ What a jerk. Ok, guys, I¡¯m [skEllieton witch], add me!¡± Ellie was talking fast, like when she got really excited, but Hunter just kept staring at the screen, not sure what he should put. He considered [Tai Chi Jesus], but the conversation with his mom about that particular name didn¡¯t go very well. He didn¡¯t want to offend any of the old folks who he might message in the future. He almost just settled on [Red Hunter], but that one was already taken, probably by someone whose name wasn¡¯t even Hunter. He was just about to give up and make it a later problem when Miracle patted him on the shoulder and reached over, typing on his screen.
You have chosen [smashbot Schmidt]. Is this acceptable Y/N?
Hunter looked questioningly over at Miracle, who just said, ¡°Like your mom. For good luck,¡± so he pressed down on the Y with a grin. ¡°I just put [FBGuillen]. Add me too.¡± They spent the rest of Hunter¡¯s birthday sitting around in a circle, giggling to each other as they made full use of the [Messages] function on the tablets. His camera necklace flashed more than a few times that evening and they figured out how to share those pictures back and forth, too. Finally, Miracle decided to be the older, responsible friend, and messaged their parents to come pick them up, thinking it was too late and too dark to bother walking home alone. As Hunter walked home, propped up on his new wizard stick, his two friends slumped over in the wagon and being dragged by his mom, he decided this was going to be his vote for best party so far.
The next couple years seemed pretty nice to Hunter. One day bled into the next, mostly following the same pattern. He¡¯d wake, exercise with his mother, go to school for the rest of the morning and early afternoon, come home to help his dad with chores around the farm, then spend the end of the day and evening goofing off with his friends. He knew he wouldn¡¯t ask his mom, ever, about her secret fighting ability, but he also knew that if he thought about it in her presence she¡¯d figure out he knew. He also had the idea that if he specifically didn¡¯t think about it, she¡¯d figure it out, too. So, instead, he concentrated more during exercise and school and found he improved faster in both. His mom started teaching him more difficult movements, and then a few patterns he could do holding his stick staff, call it staff, and finally even partnered exercises where they¡¯d push against each other while shifting from pose to pose. It was a hot morning in the middle of summer, straining to both move slowly and push at the same time, when the twelve year old lost concentration, fell into a heap, and muttered something uncouth in front of his mom. ¡°Would you like to repeat yourself, Hunter?¡± ¡°No, Mom, no, sorry,¡± he mumbled, pushing the sweaty mop of red hair out of his face. ¡°I just, I just don¡¯t get why we¡¯ve gotta do this part. It¡¯s just so hard.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good question, if it was a question. It sounded a bit like a complaint,¡± his mom teased, leaning over to help him up. ¡°We exercise in the mornings to become healthier, stronger, and more in touch with our bodies, correct?¡± ¡°Right,¡± he replied, trying to keep his mind blank, so she couldn¡¯t read his real answer smashbot. ¡°One thing I want you to realize, bump, is that humans are extraordinary creatures.¡± Hunter blushed a little at that old pet name as she continued, ¡°Or rather, they have the potential to be. However, there¡¯s only so far one can go solely on one¡¯s own, only so fast you can run even if all you do is run. Instead, you push more than just your body with your legs, perhaps by lifting weights, perhaps pushing around heavy things. So, if you want to be stronger and more balanced than exercising in open space will make you, you give yourself resistance.¡± ¡°Huh. Does that work for everything, or just exercise?¡± ¡°Regrettably, it seems to be the case for everything. People never travel nearly as far as when they¡¯re pushing against something that is attempting to hold them back. Now, back into position. We have plenty of morning left before school.¡± Hunter thought about that conversation for a few days, and then he decided to test it out. He¡¯d been doing his fast version of exercises some afternoons while he spent time with Miracle and Ellie, and while it was fun, he wasn¡¯t progressing like he was with the regular, slow kind he did with his mom. He still stumbled in the same places, found himself worn out quickly, and overall still felt a little silly pushing and slapping nothing but air. So one day after school and chores, he sent his friends a message, ¡°out doing something stuuupid. talk ltr,¡± and headed out the west gate to Mr. Jenkins¡¯ farm. He really only knew three things about Mr. Jenkins. First, most people in Willard thought he was ¡°an odd duck,¡± ¡°a misplaced city folk,¡± or ¡°a Californian,¡± and they didn¡¯t mind saying that around town. Second, his dad thought he was some kind of faker, but that overall he was a good guy. Hunter remembered a conversation from a while back, an argument really, where his dad ended up yelling at a group of the older men in the redoubt, shouting, ¡°He may act a damn fool, but if that¡¯s all he walked out of that mess carrying, he¡¯s doing just fine!¡± His dad could be grumpy sometimes, but he only ever told off the old folk on things he really believed. The last thing he knew was that Mr. Jenkins had robots, and that fact was why he was visiting him. Hunter passed a few working in the fields as he made his way to the house. Each was a little taller than him, maybe just shy of five feet when they stood up fully. Also, they looked weird. Take a big, beige plastic cone, rounded off at the top, about three feet tall and two wide and tip it backward about halfway to falling over, then stuff it full of telescoping, dull metal limbs, and Hunter figured you¡¯d have one of Mr. Jenkins¡¯ bots. Some of them had rectangular screens fastened halfway up the cone, some had cameras on stalks, and some just had a strip of what looked like paint across the same spot. They walked slowly and carefully on three or four legs, their flat pincers knuckled under, and worked with two or three others, tugging at weeds or pushing carts through the fields. He was paying too much attention to the deliberate way the robots balanced, and not enough to how far he¡¯d walked, because he was startled to hear a shout from not far away. ¡°That looks like the Schmidt boy, or one of them now, I should say! I¡¯d recognize that mop from a mile away, I reckon.¡± Hunter laughed a little and ran a hand through his hair, which was getting a little long and unruly, not that it was ever very different. ¡°Hi, Mr. Jenkins! How¡¯s things and such?¡± ¡°Not bad, not bad, Hunter. You know, I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ve seen you since your folks were kind enough to get me settled in here, nigh onto five years back now.¡± ¡°Umm, yeah,¡± he mumbled in reply, looking down as he felt his cheeks color slightly. ¡°You know how it is, with school and chores, and umm. I¡¯m sorry I haven¡¯t been more neighborly.¡± ¡°Naw, it¡¯s no worry, son. Can I get you anything now that you¡¯ve made it out to my neck of the woods? I think I¡¯ve got cold lemonade.¡± ¡°No, sir. I wouldn¡¯t want to, umm, bother you too much. And I¡¯ve already got a favor to ask.¡± Hunter closed his eyes briefly, knowing this wasn¡¯t how he thought this conversation would go, knowing his friends would have done a much better job. ¡°It must be one heck of a favor, to come on out here on a summer day and turn down a lemonade. What can I do ya for, son?¡± Hunter steeled himself and looked up at the man before answering. If he thought about it, Mr. Jenkins was kind of odd. He was tall and gangly, towering over most of the other people in Willard, but especially the under-sized boy. He wore vividly dyed blue jeans, when Hunter¡¯s and most everyone else¡¯s were more of a faded gray canvas, and a white tank top that strained to cover his round middle. Combined with his big leather boots and wide-brimmed straw hat, he really did look like someone who stopped in town on vacation and never left. He was even chewing a shoot of wheat, and a quick glance confirmed to Hunter that the fields surrounding him weren¡¯t growing any. He shook his head briefly stalling and smiled his best, copied from Ellie, we did nothing wrong smile. ¡°I¡¯d like to fight one of your robots, sir.¡±
After some laughing, and Hunter patiently trying to explain his conception of resistance training, Mr. Jenkins sat down on his porch, let out a high-pitched series of whistles, and smiled crookedly at the boy. ¡°Ya know, these ain¡¯t really fightin¡¯ robots. And the way I see it, you ain¡¯t really fightin¡¯ age, either.¡± ¡°Well, umm, wait. Aren¡¯t all robots, like, fighting robots? Isn¡¯t that what they¡¯re for?¡± ¡°Naw, that¡¯s not how it works. Robots are just machines that do the things people don¡¯t feel like doin¡¯. Say you were a preteen boy that hated keepin¡¯ his hair combed. I could fix you up a robot to do it for you when you wake up. That robot would only be about the size of your noggin and no good for any kind of fightin¡¯.¡± He stopped talking as one of his farmbots ambled up to him, close enough that Hunter could hear the soft whirring of gears and hissing of air from the limbs when it sat down at the man¡¯s feet. Mr. Jenkins popped open the top of the plastic cone with a screwdriver as he continued to talk. ¡°Now, these here robots are a fair bit bigger than a hair-comber, that¡¯s for sure, but not the size of a man. They also aren¡¯t very tough, and I reckon a good thump most anywhere on one will cost me a day in the shop, fixin¡¯ it back up. But, they are pretty quick, seein¡¯ as not only are they in charge of pickin¡¯ and plantin¡¯, they also got to zap any varmints that come on my property, and these days, varmints is speedy.¡± ¡°Zap?¡± Hunter rocked back on his heels, eyebrows raised. ¡°Yeah, they got themselves a little crackle gun. It¡¯ll knock out a gopher or a crow long enough cage ¡®em up and drive outta town.¡± He snapped the bot¡¯s top closed after rooting around in the hole while he spoke, pausing to watch it stand back up and flex out all its limbs one by one. ¡°I¡¯ll make you a deal, son, since I don¡¯t feel I rightly paid your folks back enough for the kindness they done me. You can fight this here robot twice a week, as long as you follow two simple rules.¡± ¡°Yes, sir! Anything, I can follow rules.¡± ¡°First, you don¡¯t get yourself hurt, you hear. This guy¡¯s in trainin¡¯ mode now, which means he¡¯s going to learn what kind of varmint you are, and what¡¯s the best way to get you zapped. That means you¡¯re gonna have to get better too, since you¡¯ll be trainin¡¯ him as much as he does you.¡± Hunter just gulped and nodded eagerly. ¡°And?¡± ¡°And second, you don¡¯t hurt the robot none either. The size you are, I don¡¯t think I gotta worry about you punchin¡¯ a hole in one, but these are interesting times we live in, and I can¡¯t be sure. But I think I got a solution that oughta butter both sides of this bread. ¡°A long time ago, there used to be folks around these parts that had the same kinda problem you¡¯ve got. They wanted to get better at fightin¡¯ and feudin¡¯ and sometimes they didn¡¯t want to bother hurtin¡¯ anyone else. So they¡¯d do a thing where they¡¯d find somethin¡¯ worth fightin¡¯. Maybe a big shaggy buffalo, or a feller from the next town over. Then they¡¯d run up hollerin¡¯ and wavin¡¯ their axe, or they¡¯d sneak up real quiet-like, dependin¡¯ on the situation, and they¡¯d get up so close that nothin¡¯ coulda stopped that axe from what axes are good at doin¡¯. ¡°And then ya know what they did? They¡¯d take their other hand and give that buffalo or that other feller a nice fair slap, and then they¡¯d run off to tell their friends. I reckon you can probably manage that, right? Get all the hard work out of the way early, learnin¡¯ how to get inside someone¡¯s guard, and just give the bot a nice push or slap. Leave the breakin¡¯ things into a million pieces for later, when you¡¯re bigger. We got a deal, son?¡± ¡°Yes, yes absolutely, sir.¡± Hunter jumped up to offer his hand to shake, giving the farmbot a quick side glance. ¡°So how is this gonna work exactly?¡± ¡°You just got to tell it to E-N-G-A-G-E and it¡¯ll come after you. Yell out ¡®desist¡¯ if you need a break and it¡¯ll quit. If you knock it down or tap the carapace a firm one, it¡¯ll quit, too.¡± Mr. Jenkins grinned as he backed up further onto the porch, then nodded at him. ¡°Go on then, give it a try.¡± Hunter took a calming breath this is, finding the right rhythm as he squared himself gonna be, settling into one of his favorite stances so bad. He rocked from heel to toe as he made sure he was in balance, holding the fingers down fingers up position, and then calmly said, ¡°Engage.¡± The robot stayed ominously quiet as it rushed at him, its four legs thumping at the dirt in an ungainly manner, reminding Hunter of a puppy barrelling across the yard. Awkward as it may look though, it was fast and before the boy knew it, it was sweeping one of its spare legs up diagonally toward him, and he barely had time to notice the blue arc lighting up the open pincer oh there¡¯s the crackle before he had to move. Hunter stepped forward smoothly and flipped the handkerchief, the back of his right hand sliding underneath the attacking clamp and deflecting it upward. He only let himself have a moment of triumph before he shifted his weight back toward the reverse sky and ground greeting, but before he was halfway through, a second, sparkling robot limb swung in from his blind spot and shocked him right in the side. He thought he¡¯d scream but all he let out was a strangled urk kind of sound as he tumbled to the ground, landing on his side with a grunt before rolling onto all fours. He coughed up some spit, then somehow remembered he was still fighting, rolling again and just out of the way as one of the metal arms slapped the ground with a soft thump of dust. Hunter managed to get onto his backside, scooting away from the robot and its menacing, swinging lightning hands with a scramble of his arms and legs. Just when he thought he was going to take another zap, he managed a deep enough breath to yell out, ¡°Desist!¡± before promptly falling over onto his side. Jenkins was already up and halfway across the yard, muttering ¡°Damn it, Dale, that was what you shoulda expected,¡± by the time his bot sat down on its haunches, calmed. He knelt down by the boy, who was curled up, convulsing, but when he rolled his body over to check him, it wasn¡¯t from shock or sobbing. ¡°Oh man, oh wow! I gotta do that again!¡± Hunter practically howled with laughter as he sat up. ¡°I mean, can I go again? I didn¡¯t do that great that time, but I got ideas.¡± He fought the robot all afternoon, only stopping when he couldn¡¯t catch his breath from laughing again, and then for good when it was time to head home for supper. The score, if he remembered correctly, ended at Humans 2, Robots 13, and Hunter figured that was pretty respectable considering he wasn¡¯t allowed to use his wizard stick. Mr. Jenkins said he¡¯d come up with a solution for that by next time, though, so he was pretty optimistic he could get things closer to level soon. He spent most of the walk home reenacting the fights in his head, particularly proud of the time he accidentally swept all four legs out from under the bot while doing squat with your leg out, and tried to come up with a plan to do it on purpose next time. At the dinner table, he was bouncing and animated, barely even letting on that he¡¯d been shocked all over by a murderous not really farmbot. The boy quickly felt his energy draining by the end of the meal, though, and excused himself for an early bedtime, dragging his feet on the way to his room. He checked the messages on his tablet and giggled softly at his friends¡¯ responses to his earlier proclamation.
You have entered the [cool kidz of Willard] messaging group.
[smashbot Schmidt]: out doing something stuuupid. talk ltr [FBGuillen]: ugh, ok. stay safe, lemme know wat¡¯s up. [skEllieton witch]: whaaat? w/o me? u jerk! >:[ [skEllieton witch]: that¡¯s an angry face, 4 when ur angry [skEllieton witch]: mom showed me how to make all kindsa faces, i¡¯ll show u ltr
He sent a quick message back, ¡°didn¡¯t die, tired, might die ltr. tell you all abt it tmrw,¡± and then flopped into bed. The last thought he had before drifting off, aching and wondering what electricity does to a human body, was that morning exercises were going to be extra hard the next day.
Somehow, Hunter managed to fit twice-weekly robot fighting into his routine without wearing himself to the bone, but he started to really appreciate lazy Sundays with his friends. They¡¯d sit around and chat, or just enjoy the companionable silence, or usually argue about what Infra classes were the best in what situations. The older they got, more and more of their focus seemed to be on official, Infra-recognized adulthood, even when they weren¡¯t in class or their personal training sessions. Even his mom, who usually tried to veer discussions away from his eventual integration, started to mention some tips, especially during morning exercise. He learned, in a very offhand manner, what things he could pick up in a variety of environments to replace his staff, the kinds of people he should in no way ever even begin trusting, what articles of clothing work best in multiple climates, and more. Hunter was all but sure that his Secret Fighting Genius mom had lived a very interesting life, either before or after the apocalypse happened. So, as time went by, he got older and he got better at the things he¡¯d been working on, and somehow he grew comfortable with the idea that the future was coming at him as fast as it usually did. By the time he was nearing thirteen and winter had hit Willard, he could comfortably take on two of Mr. Jenkins¡¯ robots at the same time, either with his bare hands or the padded plastic staff he used to practice, and he was learning to fight three. School was going, as it did, and while he wasn¡¯t shooting for head of the class or anything, he thought he did alright. He even thought he was getting along pretty well with his dad. While he wasn¡¯t learning anything that seemed to do with actual farming on the scale that the redoubt practiced, he was picking up a lot about how to grow things and the forethought it took to have enough to eat every year. Then the disaster in Plano happened, and everything seemed to go off the rails. 3: Emergency Stories and Decisions Hunter was having a rough night. Miracle¡¯s birthday was coming up in less than two weeks and he still hadn¡¯t thought of a really amazing gift to get him to celebrate it. He just couldn¡¯t figure out what you get someone whose whole life is going to change that drastically. His friend was going to go from an unintegrated minor with a later than mine bedtime, to a level one human adult, tasked with literally improving the entire planet¡¯s standing in the eyes of uncountable numbers of aliens. Ellie was an easier prospect, he figured. When she turned sixteen a couple months before him, Hunter planned to get her the loudest whistle, megaphone, and firecrackers anyone made in the greater Midwest area, for her to take to SysPol Academy somewhere in Virginia. That ought to show them for taking away one of his best friends. So Hunter was awake, trying to get comfortable in his scratchy blankets, when his tablet started blaring the angry, mutated goose alarm from his bedside table. He grumbled a few choice words he could have gotten extra chores for and rolled over to shut it off, figuring he¡¯d just set it wrong for the morning, but then he noticed the entire screen was also flashing a bright red light. He snatched up the tablet and sat up to read it with a frown.
Infra Temporary Emergency Warning
At approximately 0003 hours this morning, there was a catastrophic transdimensional event centered on [Plano, TX]. This has been tentatively classed as a [Type-B Emergency Situation], and as such the following measures are being taken:
Temporary staging outposts are being portaled into the area All sapient beings within a ten mile radius of the event must evacuate immediately, preferably to one of the outposts or beyond if your immediate survival is not in question Anyone rated middle [Ascendant] combat-capable or above in a five hundred mile radius who is currently on the [Emergency Response Listing] will be mass-summoned from your designated rally point to the staging areas to form a response. If you are not currently on the [Listing] and would like to be, follow the link All others within the five hundred mile radius should consider basic lockdown procedures, as the full extent of the event has not been calculated properly at this time
Summons will start at 0030 hours on the following [schedule]. Infra thanks you for your quick response times, and further updates will follow when more information is known.
¡°Huh,¡± he muttered, then flicked the tablet to another page and searched the distance from Willard to Plano. ¡°Less than five hundred miles. I wonder who¡¯s going.¡± Since he was pretty sure he wasn¡¯t going to get any more sleep right then, Hunter got up and pulled on his slippers, his stick bracelet, and a warm robe, and was about to slip out of his window when he heard muffled voices from another part of the house. Instead of going out to watch what kind of crowd formed, he crept toward his parents¡¯ room and listened in. ¡°...didn¡¯t even know you were on the Listing. And are you sure you¡¯re mid-Ascendant?¡± ¡°I forgot that I was, dear. I must have checked the box, when it first came up, but I didn¡¯t give it a second thought. And Henry, I could handle Ascendants ten years ago. I¡¯ll be lucky if that¡¯s all they want me to do.¡± Hunter wanted to burst in as soon as he understood what the conversation was about, but he was too stunned to move for a while. He and his friends thought they knew all about his mom being a secretly good fighter, but her being that good was a definite surprise. He pushed open the door and scrambled in to get a hug see what was going on, but pulled up short when he got a good look at his parents. His dad was just wearing an old shirt and pajama pants, looking both like he¡¯d barely gotten out of bed, but Hunter had never seen the look on his face before. It wasn¡¯t that it looked like he was about to cry that was shocking, it was how defeated Miracle¡¯s dad he seemed, even though Mom was right there, still in the room. His mom¡¯s appearance was what really got him, though. Her fiery red hair was up in a bun ok normal, and she was wearing her tough gardening pants still fine, but on top of those she was wearing actual armor what the. At least, he thought that the long, thick sleeveless coat was armor, since it was a dull metallic gray, moved stiffly, and had a few of the seemingly useless pinpoint lights on the shoulders that were part of a lot of Infra tech. She paused while wrapping a plate of metal to the back of her forearm with leather straps, raising an eyebrow at Hunter before turning to his father. ¡°Henry, can you go wake up Jack? I want to say goodbye to him as well.¡± ¡°Mom? Umm,¡± Hunter mumbled as his dad slipped out, ruffling his hair on the way past. ¡°I suppose you received the message as well, on that clever tablet of yours,¡± his mom smiled at him as she talked, finishing one arm and moving to the next. ¡°How can I put this simply without offending my bright boy? I have to go for a while, bump, and I¡¯m very sorry about that. It¡¯s a responsibility, though, and I wouldn¡¯t be who I am today if I didn¡¯t take my responsibilities as seriously as they deserve. ¡°Come sit, and I¡¯ll tell you a little story while we have time,¡± she said, patting a spot next to her on the bed. Hunter sat down, leaned against her shoulder, and listened. ¡°I know that I tell you that the apocalypse was a terrible, dangerous time when it comes up in class, but I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ve given you the right impression. When you lay it out as a series of events, especially to children who have grown up in the world that followed, it can seem almost orderly in how it happened. It wasn¡¯t, not at all. I need you to believe me utterly when I say that when things went bad the way they did, it was completely incomprehensible. Some people may have been able to scrape out a minimal amount of agency during that time, your father was one of them, but mostly simply tried their best to manage. I¡¯ll let your dad tell you his story if he wants, but this is mine. ¡°Your uncle and I were bad kids. We spent a lot of our childhood getting into trouble like you wouldn¡¯t believe. We didn¡¯t get along with our parents, and at that point in our lives, we didn¡¯t with hardly anyone else either. I was at college, but only barely hanging on, and Ernie had skipped it entirely to get some stupid job, I can¡¯t even remember what it was anymore. We¡¯d spent the weekend drinking and complaining about our lives halfway lost in one of the state parks outside our hometown, and when Monday came we just decided to stay instead of heading back to our lives. That¡¯s when we found the Slide, out in the woods. ¡°It wasn¡¯t a big one compared to some, maybe about eight or ten feet tall, but it was the strangest thing I¡¯d ever seen. You¡¯ve grown up in a town where people can literally do magic, bump, but we didn¡¯t. No one did. This was a sphere in the middle of the forest that showed a picture of a street corner in the middle of a dark, apparently gothic city, and we decided to set up camp next to it and see what happened. I was nineteen, my brother was twenty, and I suppose we were idiots.¡± She gave Hunter a sad half-smile at that, and continued, ¡°Three days later, we were bored, and halfway through the week of supplies we¡¯d brought out, when Infra made contact. After that we were scared, confused, a million other feelings. One thing most people don¡¯t mention, and still isn¡¯t common knowledge in fact, is that being that close to a Slide interferes in a lot of Infra functions. Not only was our radio out, but the message system wasn¡¯t working either, so there wasn¡¯t any coordination to guard against invasion on our end. Ernie and I figured we¡¯d block this Slide on our own, since we couldn¡¯t raise any help. ¡°One thing that¡¯s absolutely true that anyone will tell you about those days is that when the Slides opened, bump, it was a disaster. I don¡¯t know what we expected to face, your uncle with his old revolver, and me with my knife I was too unsettled to hold properly, but we weren¡¯t lucky enough to even attempt it. The sphere flickered at some point, fortunately when we were both awake, and dark red smoke burst out, coalescing into snakes the size of my arms spread wide, fingertip to fingertip. We ran, and the snakes were between us suddenly, and we were separated. ¡°I didn¡¯t see Ernie for maybe a year after that, and my Infra continued to malfunction, so I couldn¡¯t even keep in touch with him. I ran, and I heard the loudest noise I¡¯ve ever heard, before or since. That was Omaha collapsing into a smoking crater, it turns out, so I¡¯m glad I ran the exact opposite direction of that roar. It felt like a day, but it was probably less than an hour, when I met my girls. ¡°There were six of them, huddled together, about your age and dressed in scout uniforms. They were even more scared than I was, dirty, and hungry. They¡¯d been out on a day trip when everything happened a week earlier, had gotten spooked by a Slide opening, and ran themselves the exact opposite direction from anywhere safe. Their teacher was one of the Infra-incompatible, so she¡¯d died frothing at the mouth and in agony in front of them, and none of the girls themselves were old enough to be contacted. They knew even less about what was going on than anyone else, and had been following a stream for drinking water, but it hadn¡¯t led them anywhere safe in a week. ¡°I convinced them, somehow, to let me help. I had a little wilderness knowledge and the Emergency Protocols did a good job of supplementing it, and we managed to get the seven of us fed and relatively healthy in a reasonable span of time. I had to fight, a lot, from that point on, because I¡¯d decided to protect the girls, and I couldn¡¯t let myself shirk or run away anymore. We moved around a lot, for around nine months to a year, I don¡¯t know how long exactly. I tried to drop the girls off at each tiny bastion of civilization we found, but they refused to stay without me, and I refused to stay without finding Ernie.¡± His mom swallowed and took a deep, shuddering breath, and that little pause broke Hunter¡¯s heart she cries like me, but he just hugged her until she could go on. ¡°We met up with him outside the Kansas City siege. I only had four of my girls left, by then, and your uncle said I was just on the edge of being feral with grief and exhaustion. If you and Jack weren¡¯t boys, you¡¯d be named Marta and Laurie, you know. I still miss them,¡± she sighed. ¡°Anyway, Ernie and the adventuring group he¡¯d formed led us to Willard, the safest redoubt nearby. By then, my Infra was fully functional so we could keep in touch, so the boys moved on, and the girls and I stayed. I met your father, the girls grew up into fine young women, and the rest of the story would probably embarrass you if I told it.¡± ¡°So, umm, you¡¯re an adventurer? I thought you were a villager like Dad.¡± ¡°Neither, not really. The paths aren¡¯t as rigid as some people say, arranged on either side of a hard line between producer and protector. Mine is more complicated, but as long as I¡¯m protecting my loved ones, or teaching them to do it themselves, I progress. I haven¡¯t stopped gaining levels somewhat steadily in sixteen years, bump, just not as fast as that first year out in the wilderness. That¡¯s why I have to go, you see. I won¡¯t be protecting our family or my girls¡¯ lives directly, but I will be fighting for what makes all of our lives possible.¡± Hunter stayed latched onto his mother in a hug while she explained her departure to his brother with a much shorter talk, and both boys remained comfortably close to her while they waited in the town center for the summoning to occur. He realized, after the faint alarm went off telling everyone to get into position, that the four younger women she went to stand with, the closest thing Willard had to a dedicated adventuring team, and his occasional babysitters growing up, were his mom¡¯s girls from her story. He was so distracted that he only saw Ellie at the last moment, sobbing quietly and holding her parents¡¯ hands on either side, before she and the crowd of Willard¡¯s hundred or so best combatants vanished in a soft flash of light.
Hunter sat out on the bank of the river with Miracle, the evening after his friend¡¯s subdued sixteenth birthday party, both boys idly picking at the grass. With a large portion of their parent¡¯s friends from the early days of the redoubt and their shared best friend both missing, there wasn¡¯t the raucous get-together they may have planned otherwise. No one felt like celebrating much when they were so worried about what was happening elsewhere. ¡°So,¡± Hunter said softly, stopped, and then started again, ¡°what¡¯s it like?¡± ¡°It¡¯s weird, Schmidt. I¡¯ve been thinking about how I could explain it since I woke up this morning with it. I didn¡¯t want to leave you hanging.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay if you, like, can¡¯t?¡± ¡°No, no, I got this. It¡¯s like I grew an extra limb, but it¡¯s in my brain. I can move it around, and feel it like it¡¯s always been there, but it obviously hasn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Is it distracting? It seems like it would be, like if I got my tablet glued to my head.¡± ¡°It can be. You know that thing when adults are talking to you, then they take a tiny pause and their eyes twitch, but they just keep going? I think that¡¯s when they¡¯re accessing something. It¡¯s never in the way, it won¡¯t ever block anything, but you can still focus on it too much maybe.¡± ¡°Oh man, that sounds so weird,¡± Hunter mumbled, crossing his arms on his knees and resting his head on them. ¡°Every time I think it¡¯s fine and it happens to everyone, something always freaks me out.¡± ¡°Yeah, I get it. I signed up for that Emergency Listing, by the way. I don¡¯t know if it was a good idea or anything though.¡± ¡°It¡¯s definitely good and bad. I mean, I¡¯m proud, really proud of my mom for going. But, yeah, I¡¯m really scared too. I miss her. I think, if you ever need to go somewhere like that, the people close to you are going to feel the same kinds of things. But, umm, you know The Bears? In town?¡± ¡°Oh, those adventurers? Ellie was borderline obsessed with them for a little while, sure,¡± Miracle said with a nod, then a faint frown. ¡°Yeah. They¡¯re great, right? My mom told me a little about them, I guess. She¡¯s known them forever, or at least since the apocalypse, and now she¡¯s on a team with them down in Plano, she said. It¡¯s like, when you do those kinds of good, important things for other people, they notice. If you ever get called somewhere for an emergency, I know you¡¯ll be doing your best to help people, and I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a lot that¡¯s more important than that. I don¡¯t know, man.¡± Miracle nodded and put his head down too, both boys just watching the moonlight sparkle on the river for a while. Hunter had too many thoughts going through his brain, sure that if he said any more it would come out as even more confusing babble, so he just worked on his breathing and relaxed. After a while, he broke the silence again. ¡°Hey, is it rude, umm, if I ask if you got any magic powers?¡± ¡°Nah, but I didn¡¯t get much. One active that I¡¯m not allowed to use until we figure it out in training, a passive that¡¯s pretty useful but you can¡¯t see, and then a weird one.¡± Miracle held his hand out and a big metal hammer suddenly appeared in his grip. ¡°Whoa, like my wizard stick!¡± Hunter grinned, his eyes wide. ¡°Oh, yeah it really is, huh. When I get more levels, I¡¯ll be able to store more than just the one. It¡¯s weird, I can¡¯t even fit the fancy mace my dad gave me in it, but I should be able to later.¡± He shook his hand out, the hammer disappearing just as suddenly. ¡°Plus there¡¯s no bracelet to go with it, they just go somewhere else. In me, I guess? It¡¯s weird.¡± ¡°That is weird,¡± Hunter nodded in return, then reached into the small satchel he¡¯d begun carrying his tablet in at all times and pulled out a box about the size of his fist, tied with twine, then handed it over. ¡°Here, umm. I got you a present.¡± ¡°Oh, Schmidt. Hey, that¡¯s really cool of you. I wasn¡¯t expecting anything, not with all this going on,¡± Miracle said softly as he untied the gift. He opened it to find a silvery ring rattling around in the bottom, and lifted a questioning eyebrow at his friend. ¡°Ernie helped me pick it out. It¡¯s a beacon ring. I don¡¯t know how you¡¯re supposed to use it, but he said it¡¯s pretty easy with Infra. It makes some kinda beam of light that you attach a message to, and people can read it when they look over. He says a lot of defenders have started using them, for emergencies or rally points or whatever.¡± ¡°That¡¯s so cool, Schmidt. Thank you!¡± Miracle put the ring on and then grinned wider after a brief pause. ¡°Yeah, it doesn¡¯t seem too hard to use.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great! Oh, and almost the best part? It got delivered by a parrot.¡± Hunter fumbled with his necklace until it projected a little hologram of a brightly colored bird dropping the giftbox into his hands, then flying away. They watched it, over and over, and then a few other weird things the necklace had managed to capture. After a while, both boys stretched out to look up at the stars as they came out, too worn out from the past two weeks to worry about much else.
School was closed while Hunter¡¯s mom was gone, Miracle spent most days training and learning about all his new responsibilities, and Ellie was gone, so the redhead found himself bored most days. Mr. Jenkins had been working on a new version of his farmbot, and since there wasn¡¯t much for them to do in the winter, Hunter was out in the west fields quite a lot, weaving between three encircling robots and trying to not get shocked. He was nearing some kind of wall with how confident he felt, though, and so a week after Miracle¡¯s birthday, Hunter sat on Jenkins¡¯ porch with his tablet, doing math instead of fighting. ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense,¡± he grumbled. ¡°They¡¯re fast, but they¡¯re not faster than me.¡± He had specifically tested that one day, with a series of foot races against the bots and then a game he invented on the spot that involved dumping pebbles on the ground and grabbing specific colors. He was pretty sure that whatever metric Infra scored someone¡¯s agility on, his was higher than any farmbot. That meant that he¡¯d screwed up somewhere else on the equation he¡¯d found on the tablet. It was supposed to be simple, really. You took the robot¡¯s attack skill, which Mr. Jenkins said couldn¡¯t be higher than thirteen with how he built them, and added their agility, which had to be less than eight, because that was the maximum that Hunter¡¯s could be at his age. Then you added the average attack roll, which was probably negligible since they were originally non-combatants. That all got multiplied by the multiple attacker modifier, and then compared to Hunter¡¯s skill, agility, and roll, and from that he should have been able to guess how often he¡¯d get hit, and what his skill in dodging and parrying was. It just wasn¡¯t working, though. ¡°You¡¯ve got the modifier wrong, son,¡± Mr. Jenkins muttered as he sat down, handing Hunter a glass of water. ¡°Combat paths get reduced penalties, and you¡¯re just a kid. You¡¯d need to hit around a hundred ten, hundred twenty or so to have a chance on three bots, I¡¯d reckon. Don¡¯t rightly think that¡¯s goin¡¯ to happen at twelve.¡± ¡°Almost thirteen,¡± Hunter tried to argue, but his heart wasn¡¯t really in it. ¡°You should keep practicin¡¯, though. I hear tell that the one thing that really sets fightin¡¯ folk apart from each other is how good they are without all them numbers. You can tell who really knows their stuff, compared to who¡¯s just ridin¡¯ the Infra ratings boost, mostly by who ends up on the ground at the end.¡± ¡°That makes sense, I guess,¡± he replied. Hunter went out in the yard and gave it a few more tries, but he just couldn¡¯t avoid getting shocked into submission every time he was ganged up on. He walked home dejectedly soon after, paging through the news functions on his tablet, looking for any updates on Plano. The Bears had been passing messages from his mom for the most part, since it turned out that whatever caused the massive Slide-related accident down there screwed up part of her Infra again. There weren¡¯t any updates, and Hunter ended up relaxing the rest of the afternoon and evening, looking after his getting less annoying little brother. After he put Jack to bed, though, he gathered up his things and headed out again. He knew that strictly speaking, he was too young, it was too late, and there was a lightly suggested lockdown in place, all reasons he shouldn¡¯t be heading out of the redoubt, but that didn¡¯t stop him. A while past sunset seemed to be the only time Miracle could get free, and they had sort of an unspoken agreement to meet out at the river in the evenings. ¡°Hey,¡± Hunter mumbled as he shrugged out of his satchel and sat. ¡°Hey, Schmidt.¡± ¡°How was training? Learn anything new?¡± ¡°Nah, just more drills. It¡¯s looking like a lot of those until the guy I was supposed to apprentice to comes back,¡± Miracle muttered, shaking his head, eyes down. ¡°That¡¯s not so bad. Mom says the basics are everything, and I mean, she¡¯s had me doing those for five years now. It probably can¡¯t hurt to go a little while longer before things get scary.¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re probably-¡± Miracle stopped talking at the same moment that Hunter¡¯s ears popped uncomfortably, then he frowned. ¡°Hey, I just got a weird notice. Can you check your tablet to see if you did, too?¡± Hunter took a look in his bag, but there was nothing new on his screen. ¡°What did it say?¡± ¡°Just that there was unusual Slide activity detected. Then it asked if I wanted to investigate,¡± his friend said, pushing himself to his feet. ¡°I said yes. Want to come?¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
The two friends walked along the bank of the river, their steps careful but not entirely quiet. Miracle was gripping the mace his father made him tightly, and had one of his mother¡¯s old shields strapped to his left arm, and Hunter thought he looked pretty awesome, or at least he would have if he wasn¡¯t wearing overalls and beat up canvas shoes too. Of course, his own torn pants and pullover sweater didn¡¯t make him look like a hero either, and neither did using his staff as a walking stick when they started climbing over the old rubble leading to the bridge. ¡°It¡¯s under there?¡± Hunter was peering dubiously at the ramshackle bridge, built precariously on top of the ruins of the old one. He pointed at a particularly dark cavern between the chunks of concrete and steel, just past the first support. He was just glad it was still on the shore, and that they wouldn¡¯t have to swim out and under the bridge to check it out, but it was still a very nope, just nope ominous looking proposition. ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s too far in, at least. But, umm,¡± Miracle trailed off as both boys watched a shape emerge from the cave into the dim light. Hunter squinted as he tried to get a better look, and frowned, not sure he liked what he was seeing. His first thought, before he registered anything else, was that it waddled, and it somehow waddled run, back to the walls wrong. After that brief twinge of instinct, though, he started to take in details. What came out of the dark under the bridge seemed to be some kind of upright lizard person, but shaped irregularly, at best. It was about three feet tall, and just as wide, its torso draped in rags and making up most of its size. Its exposed limbs, head, and tail were all thick and short, covered in knobby brown scales, and it dragged a metal pipe more than twice as long as it was tall behind it as it made its way out onto the riverbank. ¡°Infra says it¡¯s a Lizard Puppet Commoner, whatever that is. They¡¯re strong, but they¡¯re not tough, and they¡¯re not really alive? I don¡¯t get it,¡± Miracle mumbled as he looked at the being. ¡°But, umm, Schmidt? It¡¯s level forty-three. I¡¯m level two. Maybe we should run.¡± ¡°Hey, maybe it¡¯s nice. Not everything that comes out of a Slide is a murderous killbeast,¡± Hunter whispered. He started to say. ¡°We can try to talk-¡± but was quickly interrupted when the lizard caught sight of the boys, opened its mouth wide too wide and screeched out a horrible noise like metal tearing. It flipped the pipe around to face them and did something Hunter couldn¡¯t comprehend, and then the end pointed their direction was spewing a gout of green flame as the puppet monster waddled menacingly toward them. ¡°Okay yeah we definitely need to run,¡± the taller boy started to say as he pushed his friend back with his shield arm. ¡°Wait,¡± Hunter moved to the side, settling into a comfortable stance with his staff, and did some quick math in his head, the quickest math of his life so far. ¡°Forty-three, commoner, two opponents, low agility,¡± he said under his breath, slowly but carefully retreating. ¡°We can take it. We just have to not give it a chance to attack.¡± ¡°What?¡± his friend almost shouted, looking over at Hunter like he¡¯d never seen him before. Miracle was always a strong kid, though, and now he was an adult, a Redoubt Defender, and after a brief bout of indecision, he squared up to face the approaching lizard. ¡°So you have some kind of plan?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he replied, stepping forward and turning to the side, his wizard stick raised over his head as he stretched out into adjusting the lamp pose. He was a little closer to the lizard person than Miracle was, the boys about ten feet apart, and he cheered inwardly as the waddling creature veered in his direction. He controlled his breathing, watching the very poor footwork it was displaying, and then at the last moment before he had to worry about the flame being jabbed at him, he struck. He¡¯d spent days practicing this particular move, even if it looked so silly that it made Mr. Jenkins laugh every time he watched. He slid his left foot out from behind while keeping his weight on the right, and kept his grip tight on the end of his staff as he brought it down in front of him. He swung downward as hard as he could, dropping into a squat on just his right leg, the left extended out in front. There was a loud clang as his wooden staff crashed against the metal pipe in the middle of his successful silly way to chop wood, and then a sputtering, hissing noise as the length of green flame futilely tried to burn the packed dirt a full two feet to his right, the lizard¡¯s pipe slammed to the ground. Miracle was mumbling something over to the side, but the noise of the fire between them drowned out everything he said before shouting, ¡°...Bullrush!¡± Hunter had barely started to move his weight from the back to the front to put more leverage into holding the lizard¡¯s pipe to the ground, when his friend blurred so fast in from the side, only coming into focus as his shield slammed into the lizard¡¯s face with a burst of air that blew his hair back. Miracle stepped in as the puppet thing stumbled back, keeping his shield forward as he swung his mace repeatedly, glancing blows off its head and raised arm and staying inside its guard. Hunter got over his surprise at how quickly that attack happened and stepped in to help, staying at a comfortable distance to his friend¡¯s left and walking forward as they pushed the monster back. He spent most of his effort swinging and flicking his staff, transitioning between make room on the shelves, chop wood regularly, catch that door and other positions he¡¯d found worked well on the robots he practiced with. He aimed each blow at the metal pipe or the arm holding it, keeping that dangerous looking flame pointed well away from himself or his friend, and leaving Miracle with just the lizard¡¯s free arm defending against his hammering attacks. ¡°Schmidt,¡± he managed in between strikes, ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re hurting it much.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± he replied. He¡¯d noticed it too, that the first heavy blow with the shield seemed to crumple the thing¡¯s weird face a little, but the subsequent hits with the mace weren¡¯t doing anything similar. ¡°We need more bonuses.¡± After a moment, he disappeared his staff and immediately ducked down low to the ground as the lizard tried to swing its pipe at him. He stood up, barely wincing as he flipped the handkerchief and banged the back of his hand against the heavy metal, sending it up and out and seeming to unbalance his opponent. He darted forward, arms tucked in to his sides as he spun, only reaching out and summoning his wizard stick at the last moment of scything the wheat. There was a crunch like old wood snapping, Hunter¡¯s arms went numb as his blow collided with the lizard¡¯s right knee, and his staff went flipping out of his hands at the same moment the thing¡¯s leg crumpled and it fell backward. He stepped on the pipe, pinning it to the ground, as Miracle leapt onto the monster, his knees slamming into its middle before he started raining down pummeling blows straight into its face. There were a few more disgusting noises, someone stomping on thick eggshells, or chewing hard candy loudly, before the heat singing his leg went away and Miracle rolled off the body, gasping. Hunter stepped forward to peer down at the mess of the puppet¡¯s face, but there wasn¡¯t much to it, just a dark hollow where the top and front of its head used to be. Satisfied it wasn¡¯t going to get up again and attack, he let himself drop to the ground as well, wiping the sweat from his forehead. ¡°So that could have gone better,¡± he mumbled, ready to apologize. ¡°Are you kidding me, Schmidt? I got ten levels! That¡¯s insane,¡± Miracle panted, lying on his back on the ground. ¡°I don¡¯t know how I¡¯m gonna explain it, but it¡¯s still great.¡± ¡°Well, huh,¡± Hunter said after a few minutes of thinking. He got up, retrieved his stick and made it go away, and then picked up the surprisingly heavy and not really a pipe the lizard dropped. Then he wedged it under the body and rolled the hollow corpse down the riverbank and into the water, nodding as it floated away, slowly sinking as it filled up. ¡°Now you can just say you did a quest out here, investigated that Slide or something.¡± Miracle gave him another odd look, then shrugged and pointed the hand with his ring on it toward the cavern, and after a moment a soft, white beam of light appeared, stretching from the ground to as high as Hunter could see. ¡°Neat,¡± they both whispered, then looked at each other and laughed before trudging back home.
After Miracle reported in that night, the redoubt went on a proper, enforced lockdown. The usual procedure for an open Slide discharging hostile entities, especially one so close, was for the Redoubt Defenders to go out, purge the invasive presence, and then shut down the slide. However, the shards needed to do that were more of a trade good than a staple for a town without easy access to a Source, and so no one had any on hand. Instead, the council decided that the best option would be to bring everyone inside the walls and wait it out. It wasn¡¯t the worst idea, Hunter thought, for another month or so. He wondered what kind of fuss his dad would raise when it got closer to planting season and he wasn¡¯t allowed out to do it. But redoubts like Willard were built just for this kind of occasion, and so everyone was locked in until the crisis down south wrapped up, their higher level people could come back, and someone could get their hands on enough shards to shut down the slide. Hunter spent his days practicing his forms with the staff he took from the dead lizard person, getting used to its weight and length. After the first session, he knew it was going to be a process, because seven feet of solid metal, no matter how narrow, was a pain to swing around. Miracle had identified it as a Weighted Metal Channeling Rod, so they both figured the spitting fire trick was one of the puppet¡¯s abilities, and not something Hunter could replicate. He still tried every so often, just in case. It only took Hunter three days of practicing, watching Miracle drill, and taking care of his little brother before he got intensely bored and decided to break lockdown. It wasn¡¯t his first time, although it would be the first time he did it when it wasn¡¯t just a drill, so he gave himself a day to prepare and decide if it was just a passing whim. The trick to leaving Willard when all the adults would rather you stay in was to have a plan and stick to it, and Hunter and his friends each had their own methods. Miracle was an expert bluffer and could usually walk straight out the front gate no matter what the situation. None of the guards were really going to stop the first kid born in town, especially when he said his dad needed supplies to work on the wall he¡¯d had a big part in building. Ellie used to use distractions, sometimes a bit mean spirited, but not often. He still remembered the time she¡¯d managed to convince an entire guard shift to go round up lost chickens and the three of them had simply wandered out. Hunter was more worried about word of anything he did getting back to his parents, so when he escaped, he had a different approach. That afternoon, when he knew his dad would be out of the house, he took his new staff from where he¡¯d stashed it behind the house and brought it up to his room, along with one of the picks his dad kept around for digging rocks out of the field. Then he sat around the rest of the day, working on homework on his tablet, and making sure to project a faint disgruntled teenage aura every time he saw his father, and not the desperate, clawing to get out feeling he actually had inside. After dark, he found his old knit cap and pulled it down low enough that it would be hard to see any incriminating red hair from a distance, then wrapped his hands with bandages to protect the new callouses the metal pipe¡¯s irregular surface was giving him. He bundled up the new staff and the pick in one of his blankets and slung it over his shoulder, pulling his satchel over it to keep it secure. He opened his window slowly, paused to listen for any signs anyone was still awake in the house, and then slipped out and to the side, immediately wedging himself between the house and the wall. Hunter shimmied up slowly to the roof, back against the building, feet on the wall, until he could tug himself up with a grunt, then took a break to catch his breath on the bumpy tiles. He waited until he saw the light from the patrolling guard¡¯s lantern pass by twice before making his next move. His house, being so close to the wall, was a dedicated emergency exit, in case things really went wrong in Willard. If a mass evacuation was needed, people in town could come in the front door, head up to the second floor and then into the attic, and pop out the trapdoor on the roof, right in front of the ladder Hunter propped up against the wall. He went up the outside of the building simply because the attic access was creaky and much too close to his parents¡¯ bedroom. He snuck up onto the wall, then quickly here¡¯s the hard part flipped over the outside edge and used the pick to make his way down the thirty feet to the ground. Luckily, his part of town was one of the first sections erected, and the old telephone poles making up part of this section of the wall were fairly easy to climb. He dropped down from the wall and into a crouch, stowing the pick and blanket, then waited for the lights to pass again before he headed toward the river on his own. That night, he returned without incident, and his second and third trips out to the area around the bridge were calm as well. If he hadn¡¯t seen and fought the puppet creature himself, he probably wouldn¡¯t have believed there were any out there. The fourth night, though, he found them.
Hunter hid behind the tree, the same one he thought that they had his tenth birthday at, trying not to hyperventilate. There were four of the monsters on the riverbank, three identical to the one that first night, and the last one at least a foot taller, carrying a sword he thought looked too large to handle, but also looked too sharp to rely on that guess. From what he could tell with quick peeks around the tree trunk, the larger lizard was just watching the other three as they stood at the edge of the water and poked down into it with their channeling rods. He knew some of the defenders had been making raids out here during the day, trying to exterminate as many of the aggressive commoners as possible, but he hadn¡¯t heard any gossip about the larger guards. The Slide had only been open for a week, and that wasn¡¯t nearly enough time unusual Slide activity for it to get larger, transdimensional event unless things were weird lately. He bit his lip hard to keep from cursing, trying to estimate how quietly he could run fast compared to how quickly he could move silently. He came to the same conclusion as the last four times, though, that he was stuck for now. Finally, he heard the sound of flat, clawed feet stomping through river muck, and peeked once again to see the large lizard leading two of the smaller ones back to the cavern under the bridge. He waited until they were long gone before he weighed his options. On one hand, he was exhausted from four days running on half sleep and swinging the weighted pole around, and he was really feeling out of sorts from nearly blundering into an encounter he couldn¡¯t win. On the other hand, he¡¯d spent all that effort for this exact kind of situation, a lone lizard puppet that he was pretty sure he could take on. If he thought about it too hard, Hunter wasn¡¯t exactly sure why he had been coming out here, but at least he knew for what. He came out from behind the tree and crept toward the puppet, making sure he took every step carefully so he¡¯d be as quiet as possible. Somehow he made it into range without being heard, shifted his grip on the staff to near the end, and stepped fully into slam that door now. He liked this position because he could feel how every muscle in his body contributed to the same movement, from his back leg pushing off the ground, his torso twisting in concert with his step, to his arms shoving out, it was all one steady line of force. He¡¯d aimed low with the pole for safety, but it made a satisfying crunch as the end collided with the middle of the monster¡¯s back. He hit it so hard that the lizard thing flailed its stubby arms and slammed face first into the muck at the side of the river, without even having time to screech so lucky. Hunter followed up by repeatedly slamming his staff into the puppet¡¯s back and shoulders, keeping it pinned down and occasionally cracking more of its shell-like torso, until it stopped twitching. Afterwards, he didn¡¯t even give himself a moment of satisfaction, instead he just grabbed the thing¡¯s channeling rod and ran home. Hunter spent another week or so like that, his nightly excursions rotating between boredom, terror, and exhaustion. The night he brought home his third looted staff, he was running on empty as he came in the back door, and didn¡¯t notice the lights were on in the living room until much too late. ¡°Hunter,¡± his dad called out, ¡°we need to talk.¡± He did a quick self-assessment, realized he had no plausible deniability, and so instead went with the default Midwestern politeness he¡¯d been taught. He took off his muddy shoes and set them on the stand next to the door, then put his cap on the rack, before walking sheepishly in to probably get in a whole heap of trouble. His father was sitting in one of the old, comfortable armchairs, and Hunter made the effort to not drag his feet as he walked to the other and sat. ¡°I broke through and ascended, not too long ago.¡± ¡°What?¡± Hunter started, confused. ¡°I mean, hey, that¡¯s great!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that much of an accomplishment, really. A hundred and two levels in about sixteen years? But it¡¯s progress. I¡¯m only bringing it up because it¡¯s an easy excuse for why I won¡¯t need you on the farm this year, or at all if you prefer.¡± ¡°You know, umm, I don¡¯t mind,¡± he stammered. ¡°But how? Or, why?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell your mother, but I took a look at her stats a few months back, completely by accident. She¡¯s a transcendent, probably since not that long after Jack was born. She¡¯s going to live a long time, Hunter, and that got me to thinking.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± he mumbled in reply, ¡°I hope she is, too, but I don¡¯t get it.¡± ¡°Mmm, no. It¡¯s a guarantee, actually. Transcendents aren¡¯t actually technically human any longer, or whatever race they transcended from. They¡¯re the same people, absolutely, don¡¯t get me wrong, but apparently if you cut one open, it¡¯s all essence channels and crystalline formations. Once you¡¯re up to that level, you live for centuries, at least.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± Hunter breathed. ¡°I didn¡¯t know.¡± ¡°No one talks about it much, that¡¯s all,¡± his dad said as he shook his head with a chuckle. ¡°Got some ideas why, but it doesn¡¯t matter. Point is, I went twenty years without knowing your mother, just about, and they weren¡¯t nearly as great as the years with her. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s after this life, if anything, so I¡¯ve got to make this one count.¡± Hunter nodded with a faint smile, before asking, ¡°But, you¡¯d still need help on the farm.¡± ¡°Right. Except, well, best to just show you,¡± his father said, glancing around the room before gesturing vaguely at the coffee table. A shimmering white mist seemed to seep out of the floorboards, coalescing after a brief moment into a ghostly hand the size of Hunter, if not bigger. The hand deftly picked up the table, lifted it up near the ceiling and turned it fully around before setting back on the ground. ¡°What or, wow.¡± ¡°After I had that epiphany, I did some soul searching, which these days translates to being given an essence patron by Infra. You¡¯re looking at a devout follower of the Ghosts of the Earth. Once I got myself used to directing these guys-¡± ¡°There¡¯s more than one?¡± Hunter practically shouted, interrupting. ¡°Yes, yes there are,¡± his dad just nodded patiently as he continued, ¡°Well, everything seemed to fall into place. But, as I was saying, planting season¡¯s going to start soon, and you¡¯ll be freed up to do what you¡¯d really like to do. With some ground rules.¡± Hunter was staring at the hand the farmhand, ugh dad joke while his dad spoke, but he turned back and quickly replied, ¡°Two, no, three things. First, please tell me you¡¯re going to have a spooky ghost pumpkin patch this year.¡± His father looked at him, head tilted, for what seemed like a very long moment to Hunter, before bursting into a short bout of laughter and nodding. ¡°That¡¯s perfect, I just might. What else?¡± ¡°I still want to work in the garden. I know on the farm you just got me carrying things all day, but I think I do good stuff with the vegetables.¡± ¡°I think you do, too.¡± ¡°Last, umm,¡± Hunter¡¯s face felt hot as he spoke, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ve been out doing something, umm, stupid. I thought I was helping, but I don¡¯t know if I was.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the other thing I wanted to talk to you about, Hunter,¡± his dad sighed. ¡°Look, I get it. If you asked me what I¡¯d be doing now when I was your age, it wouldn¡¯t be this. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I wouldn¡¯t give up our family for anything, but I can see how life in Willard isn¡¯t really ideal for kids. Look, huh. Can I tell you another secret, and you make sure this one doesn¡¯t get back to your mother either?¡± ¡°Yeah, umm, sure?¡± ¡°I caught the tail end of what your mom talked to you about, the other night. It wasn¡¯t exactly the whole truth, about when she came to town.¡± ¡°What, really?¡± ¡°She didn¡¯t really come to town, meet me, and settle down, you know. Back then, we were both struggling with things way over our heads. I was in college, before, for civil engineering and agriculture management, and somehow that turned into being a farm boss here. When everything happened, and the only options seemed to be run, fight, or die, all I wanted to do was help make a little town that worked and stayed around, and I guess we succeeded. ¡°But your mom, well. You¡¯re a lot like her, Hunter. She came to town and she was the most vibrant, alive person I¡¯d ever met. That¡¯s all true,¡± he trailed off as he spoke for a moment. ¡°But she never really settled down, not that I could tell. You¡¯re a smart kid, you probably figured out that her girls are The Bears. They all came of age a little while after you were born, and she would take them out for days at a time to train them, or let them experience the world. Times were bad, then, really bad, and she always brought those kids back. That wasn¡¯t something you could count on, but I could count on your mother. I¡¯m just glad you¡¯ll never have to go through any of that, to be honest. ¡°The important thing was that she did all that carefully, and she did it right. I haven¡¯t met that many adventurers in my life, but I will say this: there is no one better suited to being out in the wild and coming out unscathed than your mother, or your Uncle Ernie. So I¡¯m going to make you a deal. You stop this sneaking out nonsense, please, and you pay extra attention to her lessons in the morning for the next three years, and I¡¯ll convince her to let you go work with Ernie in the city for a while when you integrate. There¡¯s a lot he can probably teach you about how things work these days. ¡°I can¡¯t lose you, I just can¡¯t. You be careful, you be safe, and I¡¯ll be happy. Just listen to your mother, she knows what she¡¯s talking about, and I doubt she told you to go do what you¡¯ve been doing.¡±
A few weeks after Hunter¡¯s thirteenth birthday, Infra gave the all clear regarding the Plano event. His mother came home, her girls came home, but not everyone was so lucky. For weeks, he couldn¡¯t walk through town without seeing someone¡¯s stoic, simmering anger or worse, sadness. But none of that mattered to Hunter, because Ellie didn¡¯t come back. The new Pol assigned to the town said her parents were fine, they were just transferred somewhere else because of all the work they did down south, but she didn¡¯t come home. He and Miracle both kept up with her, messaging back and forth nearly every night, but it wasn¡¯t the same. Worse, now that most of the defenders were back in the redoubt, Miracle spent even more days out with them. At first, he wasn¡¯t far, just fighting back the infestation from the Slide under supervision, but once they¡¯d shut it down, each trip out seemed to be longer and farther away. Hunter found himself spending a lot of afternoons alone, doing homework, gardening, and babysitting. But he¡¯d made a promise to his father, the first one he could really remember, and he did his best not to go out and do stupid things on his own anymore. It helped that morning exercises were getting more intense by the week, somehow more exhausting even though each form seemed to be shorter, more precise movements. He stumbled upstairs to his room one night in early summer, worn down from an after dinner practice session, and booted up his tablet to find a weird message.
You have an Incoming Transversal Message from [Veras ef Omen-Wanderer]. Would you like to accept? (Y/N)
Hello, child. You should receive this some time after the dimensional catastrophe, but it¡¯s impossible to know just when. You have my sincerest condolences for any losses you may have suffered. If you haven¡¯t gathered, and I will not take any offense if that is the case, we have met before, if briefly. I plied my trade as a fortune-teller at a Festival to celebrate your planet¡¯s progression as an Infra member, and I read your future path, as best I could. I also took upon myself a debt to provide you with certain information, and I hope to discharge that debt now, however poorly I have managed to do it in a timely manner. I feel now that I can safely and accurately confirm that the [Overlord] assigned to your [Earth] is acting both in an honorable manner and toward an admirable goal. His machinations, while appropriately subtle and fairly creative as would be expected for someone as young as he, seem to be in line with similar circumstances that have occurred in the past. To answer your question quite literally, [Crushes-Valiant] is helping by fostering an environment in which [Humanity] can strive for greatness. However, and this is the reason I am contacting you, child, he is failing. There has not yet been a [Divinity] enlightened on [Earth], although there are a handful of [Humans] who have reached that level elsewhere. Until that happens, for whatever reason it hasn¡¯t, I fear these ¡°broken Slide¡± events will continue in some form or another. There are both simple and complex reasons for this, but I am restricted from informing you of any of them. Suffice it to say, I wish you luck and as much advice that is mine to give as I can. Feel free but not obligated to contact me in the future, if you¡¯d like to hear from an old woman that fancies she can see what fate has to offer.
Hunter jammed his finger on the [Save as New Contact] button and rolled over in bed, suddenly fidgety and nervous. He wasn¡¯t sure what most of that had meant, but he knew it made him vaguely anxious. For the first time in a while, he pulled his burrower card out from under his mattress and thought about what it meant to him. Whatever the bug¡¯s pose signified for real, he had the weirdest feeling whenever he tried to puzzle it out. He was considering immediately messaging Veras back when exhaustion claimed him and he slept. He only wondered much later if his inability to focus and retain his thoughts when he stared at the innocuous card meant anything at all, but by then it was too late to do much about it either way. 4: Ups and Downs of Adulthood Hunter woke on his sixteenth birthday on the only bed he¡¯d ever slept on, having just lately reached a height where he might be too tall for it, and didn¡¯t think he felt any different. He wondered, briefly, if maybe his parents had gotten the day wrong, or something worse invalid, and if he was going to integrate at all. Not willing to put himself through that kind of panic attack, he just decided it was his day to relax anyway, and stayed in bed. That¡¯s when he noticed that he had a new wrong direction he could look, and when he looked that way, his eyes didn¡¯t move, but he saw a shimmering holoscreen anyway.
Initializing Infra Regency Structure v. 1375.26¡­
Analyzing Physical Substrate¡­ complete Assessing Optimized Skill Ratings¡­ complete Interfacing Consciousness Command Index¡­ complete Importing Limited Plus Contacts¡­ complete
Welcome to [Infra], [Hunter Redsmith]! Would you like to view the tutorial? Y/N
He understood the words, but he didn¡¯t understand how he seemed to be both reading and hearing them at the same time. What was even worse was he especially didn¡¯t understand how he was doing that, and also still staring at his ceiling and listening to the clatter of dishes from downstairs as well. On top of that, when Hunter squinted and really concentrate on what the screen said, it turned out to be written in that weird Infra language, which he was sure he had no idea how to decipher, yet he still did. So weird, he thought to himself, and then startled a little when he saw that flash on his screen briefly.
¡°So weird¡± is not a recognized answer. Would you like to view the tutorial? Y/N In your general vicinity, zero (0) [Humans] have chosen to view the updated tutorial. There is an [Achievement] to be the first.
He turned to check the time, but stopped when the screen momentarily transformed into a clock, letting him know there was probably plenty of morning left before breakfast, so he shrugged and thought, sure, yes. Then he relaxed, or at least tried to, as a stream of information poured into his consciousness, a mildly unpleasant sensation that took some time to get used to.
Thank you for accessing the tutorial. [Secret Knowledge] achievement unlocked! [Infra] is highly cognito-responsive user interface, connecting quadrillions (>10^15) of sapient beings to an extra-dimensional substrate [Essence] manifold. Without the conduit management services of this manifold, there is a very large chance (>98%) that the local false vacuum collapse that was on the verge of occurring nineteen (19) [years] ago would have obliterated all reality as the sapients of this solar system know it. Now that the transversal obliteration of a small portion of existence has been avoided, [Infra] governs the distribution of raw [Essence], the most refined, smallest bit of substantial reality.
Hunter whistled low to himself, wondering how much of that anyone knew, and why no one had ever told him a bit of it. Sure, it was horribly confusing, bordering on nonsensical, and completely useless for an explanation, but it was information that should have been somewhere, being discussed. He shrugged and decided if it continued to bother him, he¡¯d ask around about it later.
As a sapient [Human] of a vaguely agreed-upon age of majority, you have been granted access to [Infra] and your natural ability as a complex, emergent form of matter to gather [Essence] has been unrestricted. As you accumulate more raw [Essence], the manifold will safely convert it and award you a portion thereof as judged by [Infra].
He was starting to get annoyed with all the pointless links in the window, so he tried something. [Infra], he thought, ugh, that right there. No more links in text, speech, or commands unless it¡¯s something new. And stop capitalizing so much.
Preferences updated! Here is your recorded vital information, as retrieved by direct scanning and inferred through contextual surveillance.
Name: Hunter Redsmith Species: Human Age: 16 Years
Identifying features: Red hair, 65 inches in height, upright bipedal gait Warning: these are all subject to change with no interference from Infra. It will, however, modify your body in other ways. While most changes will occur on an orthogonal dimensional plane, some may branch into this one. This is your [stats] page, which tracks your progress of essence conversion.
Level: 1 Tier: [Mortal] Division: [Beginner]
Path: N/A Class: N/A Mod: N/A
[Resilience]: 108/108 [Affinity]: 18/18 [Vigor]: 106/106
[Strength]: 8 [Knowledge]: 7 [Charisma]: 6
[Agility]: 10 [Intelligence]: 8 [Wit]: 8
[Toughness]: 8 [Willpower]: 8 [Drive]: 6
[Luck] +10/-5
So many links! Clear them all. I know that¡¯s level 1-100, that¡¯s level 1-25, those are how much I can get hurt, how much magic I can do, and how much I can get tired. Stats are a grid of power, speed, and endurance on the rows, physical, mental, and social on the columns. Ugh! And luck barely exists, experimentally it¡¯s a nonfactor, why do you even show it? Literally just show me links for things I don¡¯t know, please.
Preferences updated! Your skills, talents, and achievement pages are locked until you choose a path. Paths provide a long-term goal for members of Infra to work toward, and grant bonuses to progression when fulfilling certain conditions. Please choose a path now from the following list to continue.
Default Infra Paths
Adventurer Villager
General Organization Paths
[Guild Adventurer] [Guild Townsperson]
Unlocked Earth-Specific Paths
[Redoubt Defender] [Redoubt Villager]
[Order Soldier] [Order Citizen]
Unlocked Heritage Paths
[Den Mother]
He glanced through the options with a frown, not realizing how similar and restrictive most of the paths were. He didn¡¯t know that Guild Adventurers only earned bonus essence when in a group with their guild, or that Order Soldiers didn¡¯t earn any at all, and just had access to quests that sounded suspiciously like jobs no one else wanted to do. Den Mother, even though it had a silly name, seemed pretty good, though.
Den Mother
Nothing is more important than one¡¯s cubs. The Den Mother cares not for what is happening in this world, just that her loved ones are safe and prepared while it does. A foe that threatens her protected children is one that is not long for this world, or any other.
Combat Path - +essence gain when defending designated individuals, +essence gain when [Teaching], (bonus) +efficacy of [Teaching] skill
The biggest downside was that Hunter would never, ever be able to tell anyone the path he walked, or his mother would probably be upset. He¡¯d learned so much from her and about her in the last few years, but never the name and specifics of the thing that kept her growing and improving constantly. It wasn¡¯t that bad of a name Mama Bear, but he could see why she¡¯d want to keep it quiet. He stretched out on the little bed and glanced around his room, reminding himself of all the worries he¡¯d had lately. He knew, he just knew, that being an adult was all about compromise and making the best choice out of poor ones sometimes, so maybe this was a lesson. But if he was honest with himself, and that was also important, he didn¡¯t like any of those paths. At best, he could see himself as an Adventurer, but conversations with his Uncle Ernie had made that seem like a poor decision at best. Show me, he closed his eyes and thought hard, available paths that meet the following requirements: combat path, boost to essence gain not tied to cooperation, boost to essence gain not limited to restricted public resources. Apparently, these days, all the good Slides and Sources were camped out and aggressively guarded by nearby organizations, nothing like the beginning of the apocalypse, when a brave adventurer with a good travel talent could simply wander, do good deeds, and rake in essence. When that path filtered off his screen, Hunter knew that Infra was aware of that particular problem.
It is statistically likely that the roles of base Infra paths, over time, are subsumed by more specialized ones. Only roughly three out of every ten (31%) worlds still maintain a culture amenable to these default essence-gathering professions. Would you like Infra to generate a custom path that meets your requirements? (Y/N) Warning: this will require a deep motive neuro-glandular scan to complete. Readings this invasive in nature tend to be very unpleasant for sapient creatures.
Wait, did it just, Hunter shook his head to get rid of the idea that Infra was reading the thoughts he wasn¡¯t deliberately projecting spooky as he read the rest of the message. That didn¡¯t sound like a nice process, but maybe it was worth it. He sighed and mentally nudged the Y on the screen, and immediately passed out.
Hunter couldn¡¯t see, couldn¡¯t move, but after a few brief moments he realized he wasn¡¯t exactly unconscious. He was still aware of the Infra screen rotating in his new field of vision wait, and he watched it for a while, unsure how he knew it was rapidly twisting and turning when he could read it just fine so over this. Each time it flipped, it read something different, too fast for him to comprehend except a few. He managed to catch [Cultivator], [Battle Addict], [Pirate King], [Superhero], and a few others before he got even more distracted. Behind the screen there¡¯s no behind the screen it¡¯s just the screen, there were scenes from his life being played out, even if he couldn¡¯t see them. He knew he felt exactly how he¡¯d felt when he¡¯d gone on that weird ride when he was a kid, imagining the same stomach-lurching terror followed by supernatural calm. After that passed, it was the first time he fought and killed a living being wasn¡¯t alive, doesn¡¯t count, then that terrible storm when the river flooded and he¡¯d spent the whole day helping to rescue that family on the raft. He didn¡¯t realize how much panic he¡¯d been in until he relived each scenario, how much it must have affected him when he could remember exactly how his body felt even if the details of each day escaped him. There was a brief respite, the screen still spinning and spitting out words that barely meant anything, and then it got worse. He felt the day his father sat him down and told him Mom wasn¡¯t coming home wait, the fight with Jenkins¡¯ upgraded robot where he caught a crackler shot to his left eye and felt it literally explode in its socket no, then the time the family dog we had a dog? exploded into a billion spiders and devoured little Jack in his crib STOP! Then things got weird for Hunter. He remembered what it was like growing up as a young, adopted squidling, trying his best to help out on the farm even though he could barely flop around on the bare dirt and each gasp of air burned his fluid bladders I¡¯m checking out. He lived through the drudgery of the decades he¡¯d spent in that dirty factory what, chopping the heads off homunculi with his dull axe and affixing his sticker to those that grew back forgot, checked out. He experienced the insane rush he felt when he slapped an entire planet into the sun with one of his thousand tails ok that one was pretty cool and the despair as he sat on his throne, the last of a dying race, coughing out of his slowly eroding exoskeleton. Still, the screen kept spinning, flashing [INVALID] over and over in colors that didn¡¯t even exist, faster and brighter until he was sick and blind and nothing made sense anymore or ever would or could and this is all your fault for never being settled, not once.
Hunter came to with a gasp, his eyes snapping open, and rubbed his temples gingerly. He¡¯d been knocked out before, but waking up without a splitting headache or a conversation with Dr. Jansen about being more careful in the future was a win in his book. He wondered briefly why he felt like he¡¯d been crying, but his cheeks were dry, and breakfast was going to be soon, so he didn¡¯t spend too long dwelling on it. He checked the Infra window and after a moment, shrugged and mumbled to himself, ¡°Guess I¡¯ll take it.¡±
You have been assigned the custom path, [Truth Seeker]. As a beginner, you will be allowed to change your path at any time, and in a more restricted fashion through the rest of your mortal levels. Sapients may not force unlocks for more than one path each, however.
Truth Seeker
Knowledge is the foundation of all success, and the most important knowledge is when it is good and right to act. You are a Seeker of mysteries and secrets, at many times the first and only to delve into the darker places, and a righter of wrongs when you inevitably find them.
Combat Path - +essence gain when exploring or researching ungrouped, +essence gain for righteous or honorable combat, (bonus) +skill growth and progression
You have unlocked skills! Skills are an assessment of your proficiency in many mundane and Infra-enabled activities. At higher levels, skill levels will also reflect your natural essence ability to supplement your actions with extra force, verve, creativity, etc. Here is your current skills page, reflecting your relevant competence when compared to an average sapient.
Affinity Infratech
Essence Physics: 11 Fundamental Math: 8
Patron Soft Style Martial Arts
Dodge: 100 Parry: 92
Staff Fighting: 83 Touch Attack: 96
General Other Paths
Athletics: 71 Awareness: 38 Farming: 43
Meditation: 16 Stealth: 32
Hunter groaned and would have flopped onto his bed in disgust if he wasn¡¯t already there, instead settling for rubbing his temples harder. He¡¯d been studying hard at those esoteric Infra subjects, for at least three or four years, getting help from anyone who would bother, and apparently it didn¡¯t add up to much. At least, it seemed, that he was a pretty adept fighter already, but he¡¯d previously done the math and guessed that.
Eight (8) achievements unlocked! Achievements are a good way to track your performance and progress as you use Infra. As you accomplish more, you¡¯ll earn both temporary and permanent talents to help you reach even more impressive heights.
[Secret Knowledge] You agreed to view the tutorial before beginning your journey. Who knows what else you¡¯ll learn? +skill growth while still a beginner
[Quick Learner I] You raised a skill to level fifty (50) before integration. You¡¯re very prepared! +skill growth while still a beginner
[Skilled I] You have maxed one (1) skill. Keep training hard to reach your potential. +one (1) free talent
[Quick Learner II] You have maxed one (1) skill before integration. That¡¯s some fast work! +one (1) free talent
[Young Expert] You have unlocked a base skill before integration. Someone¡¯s been teaching you well! +one (1) to base skill refinery
[Headstart I] You defeated a rated opponent before integration. Was there an emergency? +essence gain while still a beginner
[Headstart II] You defeated a rated opponent in solo combat before integration. That¡¯s quite a feat. +essence gain while still a beginner
[Headstart III] You defeated a rated opponent over level twenty-five (25) before integration. That¡¯s very dangerous! +essence gain while still a beginner
Please, Hunter thought, don¡¯t give me the weird commentary on any more achievements, or talents, or anything.
Preferences updated! You have unlocked talents! Talents are a shorthand for anything that exceeds the limitations of the average sapient. Raw essence collected from the environment is fused to your personal extradimensional locus to enable supernatural feats in your current home plane, from simple boosts to skills all the way to reality-bending magic. Talents are earned by gaining achievements, maxing skill ranks, progressing through levels, etc.
You have earned three (3) semi-random talents as per Infra Emergency Order.
[Family Tradition] Uncommon. You are the recipient of archaic combat knowledge handed down from a family member. +ten percent (10%) to all skill ratings while performing your inherited combat style (synergy)
[Combination Ace] Common. You are adept as using one field of knowledge to boost another. all synergy talents have their efficacy boost doubled (2x)
[Oncoming Storm] Near Unique, Upgradeable. You take each conflict seriously, and force those opposing you to do so as well. after ten (10) rounds of sustained combat, +damage inflicted, +damage received, scaling with every ten (10) rounds thereafter. after a number of rounds past the initial ten (10) equal to your opponent¡¯s level, a successful attack will instantly defeat them. each round where you are neither struck, nor receive resilience damage, counts double (2x)
¡°That¡¯s,¡± Hunter whispered to himself as he sat up, ¡°really good? Wait, is it?¡± He picked up his tablet, but it was dead and unresponsive for the first time in six years. Just when he was wondering how he was going to get another calculator, the Infra screen transformed into the exact same layout as the one in his tablet. ¡°Oh, makes sense.¡± ¡°So, rounds are what, six seconds. That means every minute, I do more damage and take more damage. Or, wait. Every thirty seconds, I do more damage, because I just won¡¯t get hit. That¡¯s the plan. And it¡¯s a flat boost, not a percentage, so it should affect touch attacks, I think? I¡¯ll have to ask Ernie, he¡¯d know. So, umm. Peak mortal, one hundred plus ten times six divided by two? That¡¯s five and a half minutes, and they¡¯re down. Mastered ascendant, three hundred, umm, fifteen and a half minutes. Perfect transcendent, thirty and a half. Huh.¡± He settled back in on the bed and chewed on his bottom lip for a while. He¡¯d done a lot of reading in the last year or two, bouncing between all the rumor boards, having fun discussing and arguing about all the talents and paths that had been discovered so far. Limited Plus had a very robust and fun messaging board system for kids, as long as you were willing to ignore a lot of misinformation and speculation to get to the good stuff. He wasn¡¯t sure that he¡¯d ever seen a talent, even on the more poorly sourced threads, that guaranteed a one hit victory on practically anything, restricted like his was or not. After thinking over the options, he decided that powerful talents like that probably popped up at a decent rate, but when someone obtained one, they just didn¡¯t tell any gossipy minors in the vicinity.
You have one (1) talent available from maxing your dodge skill. Please pick from the following pool of dodge talents.
[Evasive Retreat] You are particularly nimble, especially when trying to avoid combat. (active) after a successful dodge, you may disengage from combat without penalty
[Heads Up] You are very hard to surprise or corner. you may dodge at full (100%) skill, no matter the direction an attack comes from
[Sacrifice Play] You pick your battles, and know when to take your shots. (active) you may forgo a successful dodge roll and take the hit instead, guaranteeing a free, immediate counterattack
You also have two (2) free talents available from achievements. You qualify for a large number of available options. You may filter the results before viewing.
Hunter selected Heads Up, because it was the only one that fit his tentative plan to stay in combat for exceedingly long periods of time and never get hit. Even if things didn¡¯t work out like he was hoping they would, it was a good talent. He couldn¡¯t count the number of times he had twisted the wrong way while fighting one of Mr. Jenkins¡¯ farmbots and taken a bolt of electricity to the middle of his back without even knowing it was coming. He also thought that if he had to pick a specialty in combat, he could do worse than focusing on simply not being hit. With that in mind, he asked Infra to narrow his choices down to whatever would make him more proficient at his already-maxed dodge skill and almost immediately took the first result, and then the one that popped up after.
[Wily Opponent] You are very difficult to strike successfully in combat. +ten percent (10%), additive, to all dodge rolls
[Dodge Expert] Unlocked (two (2) dodge-related talents taken). You have taken the next step along the path to being an expert of avoiding attacks, and now may weave between any number of them. multiple opponent mitigation penalty reduced from fifty percent (+50%) to twenty-five percent (+25%)
Hunter finally, ugh got out of bed and wandered downstairs, following the smell of pancakes while he read and replied to the various birthday messages he¡¯d already received. He was pretty good at typing on his tablet while he walked, and doing it all in his head was even easier. His favorite part, especially with the messages from Ellie and Ernie, were that he heard the sender¡¯s voice in his head when he read the text. Everyone else who messaged their congratulations was from Willard, and theirs weren¡¯t nearly so novel. ¡°Good morning, Hunter,¡± his dad said as carefully flipped a pancake, ¡°Managed to crawl out from under the paperwork long enough for a birthday breakfast?¡± ¡°There¡¯s so much of it,¡± he whined as he slumped into his seat. ¡°And I think that tutorial started to sass me halfway through.¡± ¡°Tutorial?¡± both of his parents managed to ask at the same time. ¡°What was that like, bump?¡± his mother continued, kissing him on the top of his head as she set a glass of orange juice in front of him. ¡°Yeah, umm. It said it was new, and that no one around here had actually done it. I don¡¯t know, it did a lot of talking, but, huh. I think the only thing it really did was open all my menus for me, so I knew what it felt like. Oh, that and it got my name wrong.¡± His dad turned from the stove with a heaping stack of pancakes on a serving tray and squinted in an exaggerated manner as he looked at Hunter, making a show out of pulling up his nameplate. He chuckled faintly as he sat down at the same time Jack did, who¡¯d been waiting at the door of the kitchen until the food was ready. ¡°That¡¯s not too bad,¡± he smiled with a shake of his head. ¡°At least, I¡¯ve seen worse. Cat, do you remember Kelly Question Mark?¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. His mom showed the quiet smile she had when she¡¯d feel bad about laughing no need to pile on misfortune and nodded. ¡°She petitioned to get it fixed, and I don¡¯t recall it taking too long. You might be stuck with yours for a while though, since it¡¯s not that far off.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± his dad chimed in, ¡°we¡¯ll still treat you like family, Mr. Redsmith.¡± Hunter ate his pancakes and sausage while his parents chatted about the usual Willard business and only realized about halfway through the meal that he was being stared at. Jack, who at seven years old was finally starting to feel like a real person in the house and not just a sack of trouble you had to keep away from the stairs, had his gaze latched onto Hunter, eyebrows furrowed, while he loudly chewed his sausage. ¡°You,¡± his little brother all but shouted, ¡°tol¡¯ me that you were gonna show me magic today!¡± He looked very proud of himself for voicing his grievance in a calm manner, at least a calm one for his age and usual demeanor. The last time he¡¯d wanted something from Hunter, his idea of a solution was following him around and kicking the backs of his legs, for days. ¡°Oh, Jackie,¡± Hunter replied. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, buddy. I said I might be able to show you magic today, if I got any. That¡¯s my bad, really. I didn¡¯t get anything worth showing off.¡± ¡°Promise!¡± ¡°I know, buddy. I know I promised. It¡¯s just bad luck, hey?¡± ¡°No, promise!¡± Jack broke into a fit of giggles, then mumbled, ¡°Promise you¡¯ll show off someday then.¡± ¡°Oh, for sure, Jackie. I guess I¡¯ve got one thing to show off, if you come out with me to Mr. Jenkins¡¯ farm later.¡± ¡°Robots?¡± Jack said in his best whisper, which was still pretty loud. ¡°Robots, promise.¡± ¡°How does that make you feel, not getting anything flashy, Hunter?¡± his mom asked, smiling. ¡°I seem to remember an eleven year old boy, running around the house, screaming about the ¡®death punch¡¯ he was going to learn.¡± At that last bit, she gave his dad an almost unreadable look. ¡°Look, I¡¯m just saying. There were plenty of movies where tai chi masters secretly know the death punch. Who says Infra didn¡¯t watch any of them and get ideas?¡± ¡°I think, actually,¡± Hunter interjected, before his parents really got started on that particular, playful argument gross, ¡°I may have gotten, you know, possibly, a kind of.¡± He trailed off right at the end, barely mumbling, ¡°death punch.¡± ¡°Death punch!¡± Jack was not helping. ¡°Hunter Schmidt,¡± his mother started, in a tone that said whatever she wanted, she was getting. ¡°I¡¯m going to send you a request, and I¡¯d like you to accept, please.¡±
[Catherine Schmidt] has requested full, read-only access to your menu screen. This will not include the messages or currency functions. Do you accept? Y/N
Hunter pushed his empty plate out of the way, slumped his head onto folded arms on the table, and meekly thought, yes. He wondered, briefly, if it was going to feel invasive to have someone peek in on what amounted to a numerical summation of his life, but there wasn¡¯t any sensation he could tell. ¡°That is certainly interesting, young man,¡± his mom said in a soft voice after a few moments. ¡°It might be verging on impractical to use in most situations, but I would say that it qualifies as a death punch.¡± ¡°Wait, really?¡± his dad spluttered, coughing out some orange juice. ¡°Actual, hidden master, wu hao deadly lotus, seven step doom kind of death punch?¡± Hunter tuned out the rest of their conversation to dish up a second helping of his birthday breakfast. Ever since Plano, the unspoken ban on discussing his mother¡¯s fighting abilities had been lifted, if only slightly. In practical terms, for Hunter that meant more detailed instructions in the mornings, more anecdotes about his forms would help in actual combat, and more time listening to the harrowing experiences his mom had managed to fight her way out of. For his parents, though, it just seemed to be an excuse to revisit a teasing argument they¡¯d been having since before he was born. His mother insisted that what she was taught and practiced pre-apocalypse were exercises, and nothing more. She¡¯d taken up tai chi, yoga, and other meditative practices as a teenager, trying anything to calm a sense of nervous energy that Hunter could relate to very well. It was only after Infra and the first time she faced a terrifying foe in those woods that she ever saw it as a combat tool. His dad as a younger man, however, had watched a lot of movies, which were apparently two-dimensional holoplays or something, and they said something different. Hunter was reasonably sure he was just joking about most of the things his dad said his mom could do, although less sure now. If there really was a death punch, Hunter figured, maybe running on treetops and other stuff was possible, too. He finished eating and helped Jack clean up while he told his parents his plans for the day. ¡°I¡¯ll drop Jackie off at school on time, and I¡¯ll be home to clean up for supper. I hope you didn¡¯t invite too many people, please.¡±
Hunter and his brother walked along the road toward the Jenkins farm hand in hand. Jack pointed out every farmbot they passed while he talked endlessly about every single thing that came to mind. ¡°So, do they punch hard? Do they grab you with their metal claws and never let go?¡± ¡°Ah, they don¡¯t really punch,¡± Hunter mumbled, ¡°And they¡¯ve got clamps, not claws.¡± ¡°Nuts! What if they had claws? Could you still beat them up?¡± ¡°I mean, probably? How big are these claws?¡± ¡°Umm,¡± Jack seemed to be stumped ha. ¡°Big?¡± ¡°Oh, big claws? Yeah, I¡¯d be in trouble. The whole town would be in trouble. Mr. Jenkins would probably be King Jenkins of Willard if his robots had big claws.¡± ¡°Whoa. Hey! It¡¯s King Jenkins!¡± Jack yelled as he yanked his hand free and ran off. Hunter followed along, waving once he was closer to the porch. ¡°Hey, Mr. Jenkins. How¡¯s things?¡± ¡°Well, I reckon you can just call me Dale, now, considerin¡¯ it¡¯s your big day,¡± the tall man replied. ¡°Y¡¯all here to start the next generation of robot fightin¡¯?¡± ¡°Oh, gosh, no,¡± Hunter laughed, darting forward to catch his brother as he tripped backwards off the steps. ¡°He¡¯s not ready, and he¡¯s way more into magic lately anyway.¡± ¡°Alright, that¡¯s good. You¡¯ve got these here bots tuned up so hard that I¡¯d hate to see what they do to a little tyke like your boy Jackie here. It¡¯s bad enough what they do to the varmints.¡± Hunter just nodded in reply, then glanced around and grinned. ¡°Do you mind if I borrow a few for a while? I promised to show my brother something interesting, and I¡¯ve got some new math to check.¡± ¡°Sure, I don¡¯t mind none. They ain¡¯t as busy out there as they¡¯re pretendin¡¯.¡± ¡°Thanks, Mr. umm, I mean Dale.¡± Hunter stuck his fingers in his mouth and blew out three short patterns of whistles, calling over the three closest robots, and then with a wink at Mr. Jenkins, shrilled out a fourth. He waited until all four ambled into the yard before he stood up and moved into the middle of the loose circle. ¡°Ok, Jackie, play close attention,¡± Hunter called out. ¡°I¡¯m only going to do this once, and remember. If I catch you doing anything this stupid, ever, I¡¯ll tell Mom.¡± Hunter took a deep breath well, stuck his hands in his pockets I¡¯m gonna get beat up, and nodded to himself in front of my little brother. ¡°Engage.¡± The first thing Hunter noticed that was new was that his understanding of the forms was entirely different since the day before. He had learned every pose, every transition, and every shift in position by rote memorization. He practiced, for instance, hide behind tree in multiple ways every day, until he could snap into that position from almost any other one. No matter whether in his ready position, squatting, crouching, over-balanced on one leg or the other, Hunter could immediately move to a full standing position, feet together, arms tucked in, and stay perfectly balanced throughout. It wasn¡¯t quite a checklist of assess threat, choose form, enact movement like he thought it would be when he was a kid, things moved in combat much too quickly for that, but he still knew what he was doing when he did it. This was not like that, at all. As the four robots closed in on him and started swinging their crackler arms, Hunter just moved. Keeping his hands in his pockets, he straightened up to minimize his profile, not coincidentally letting the robot to his left jab where his forward leg used to be. Then using that momentum, he leaned forward and slid that same foot back at about the time he thought the rear bot would attack, and felt his shoe jam up against a metal foot that hadn¡¯t set fully on the ground yet. As that robot clattered to the ground behind him, he was already twisting his shoulders and moving his elbow to guide the limb coming from his right side into the one swinging down from in front of him, sending up a quick shower of sparks. He moved back and to the left from the bright flash of the two cracklers connecting, his right foot stepping on the limb of the prone farmbot about to zap his ankle and pinning it down. A moment later, he swept the legs out from under the left robot, a quick tap with his left foot enough to tangle the limbs as it tried to make its second attack. ¡°Now smash ¡®em!¡± he heard Jack shout, and he blinked. All four bots were on the ground, back in idle mode, and Hunter still had his hands in his pockets it¡¯s a win, take it. That was not how things usually went, and it certainly wasn¡¯t anything he had practiced. He stepped off the one robot he¡¯d ended on top of, and thought back. Hide behind tree, then part of bow to the king into greet the east and west except he only moved an elbow instead of both arms, and a finish of lines in the sand, without the arm flourish that usually kept him balanced. He had done all that in about two seconds flat, hadn¡¯t moved more than a foot from where he started, and because you¡¯re a showoff didn¡¯t use his hands at all. He fought with the robots a few more times until it was time to drag his little brother off to school, but as he was thinking about heading back into town, Mr. Jenkins stopped him. ¡°I know you¡¯re headin¡¯ out into the great, wide world soon, son. I was goin¡¯ to bring this to ya at the little get-together your folks are throwin¡¯, but it feels less showy to just hand it over now.¡± He whistled a series Hunter hadn¡¯t heard before, and a new robot came skittering out of the house. It was definitely a cousin to the farmbots, but a much smaller one. It had the same beige color to the carapace, but instead of a hollow shell the plastic formed more of a ball, about the size of both Hunter¡¯s fists pressed together. It walked quickly on three miniature versions of the larger bots¡¯ piston legs, barely a foot tall as it slid to a stop at his feet and stood upright. ¡°Oh my gosh, a hair-combing robot?¡± ¡°Naw,¡± Jenkins chuckled. ¡°It can do that if ya want, though. Think of it more as a helperbot. Life¡¯s real complicated when you¡¯re out on your own, son. Trips here, it¡¯ll make thing a fair bit easier. Straighten up around the house, pick weeds and such. Stuff a young feller out on his own maybe ain¡¯t gonna bother with sometimes.¡± ¡°Hey, umm,¡± Hunter found himself choked up and giving the tall man a quick hug. ¡°Thanks, Dale. I¡¯ll see you tonight still, right?¡± ¡°Sure, I ain¡¯t about to turn down a shindig.¡±
Hunter did some thinking on the way home, Jack and Trips chasing each other in circles as they followed him, and came up with a few disturbing questions. He couldn¡¯t deny that he was much better at fighting than the last time he had tried 130 dodge + 10 agi, but he wasn¡¯t entirely sure he liked the feeling he got while moving. He¡¯d always considered the short, soft moves his mother had started to teach him once he learned the basics to be too scary to use in actual combat, and felt much safer moving out of the way with room to spare instead of just barely. Everything worked more efficiently this new way though, and his mom had always said that one day he¡¯d be able to do the forms instinctively, but the timing was suspicious. He sat down outside the schoolhouse after his brother had gone in and sent a message to the chat room he used to discuss these things with his mom and uncle.
You have entered the [Training Room for Bump] messaging group.
[Hunter Redsmith]: so, some quick ?s [Hunter Redsmith]: 1 what¡¯s muscle memory exactly and 2 can infra hijack it? [Hunter Redsmith]: 3 mom-> are there any moves u know that u haven¡¯t showed me? and 4 how would i know if i¡¯m doing something i¡¯ve never done b4? [Hunter Redsmith]: 5 ernie-> do i get my own room 2mrw? or 6 will we be 2 busy fighting dragons 2 sleep? ;P [Hunter Redsmith]: oh yea 7 if i have 100 dodge and +30% to it ¡­ and the 100 dodge is how good i am at dodging ¡­ what¡¯s the 30%?
He relaxed for a little while, his new friend Trips clinging to his shoulder with its little clamps, and then got bored. ¡°C¡¯mon, Trips. Let¡¯s go find some trouble.¡± The trading caravan was in town, and it had gotten big compared to its early days when the redoubts were just opening up. His dad, Mr. Jenkins, and some of the other farmers had been gaining levels at an increased rate for various reasons and growing more and better crops, including some of the rare, essence-infused ones that higher levelled people were interested in. Kansas City, with its unique situation since the siege ended, had been growing in population every day, and buying up more of the food Willard and the other surrounding communities could produce. Those two things combined meant that there was plenty of crystallized essence ready to be spent in the redoubt, and now enough wagons came by to line up along the entire outside span of the southern wall. Hunter still had a fair number of his own crystals stashed away from selling two of his three channelling rods, but he was holding onto them for the future. Besides, he felt a little odd thinking about buying himself something on his own birthday, so he just settled for a fruit soda from the first, brave trader to ever drag a cart full of goods out to Willard¡¯s particular middle of nowhere. Trips popped the top off of the bottle with one of its clever clamp feet, each about the size of two fingers pinched together, while the man squinted and looked at the teen and his robot oddly. ¡°I could¡¯ve sworn your name was Schmidt, kid,¡± he grumbled. ¡°Yeah, me too,¡± Hunter shook his head and raised his bottle in a toast, ¡°Here¡¯s to contextual surveillance, huh.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± he replied with a chuckle. ¡°New hire, then? Good luck on getting that changed any time soon, by the way. Had a buddy named Jeremy What until the day he died. Congratulations, and take one of these, on me.¡± Hunter headed back in the gate after checking out the rest of what was on display, still chewing on the unfamiliar candy, and realized that he was still so very bored. He watched the defenders drill for a while, but they were too busy-looking to bother, then he swung by his house to check on his personal corner of the garden, but his hot peppers and carrots were doing fine. No one interesting was at the bakery or the new teahouse ugh, he didn¡¯t know any of the guards on the walls personally this town, and he couldn¡¯t even find anyone behind the general store throwing dice is the worst. Finally, he wandered into an alleyway, one of the cramped, crooked little spaces between houses that had been put up too quickly and too closely, and took a seat, setting down the diminutive robot. ¡°So,¡± he whispered at Trips, ¡°I know you¡¯re not a hair-combing robot, but do you think you might be a hair-cutting robot?¡± The bot, whose light-sensitive strip went fully around its chassis for all-around vision, still seemed to look at him, then it carefully balanced on one limb, raising the other two in an exaggerated shrug. ¡°Good enough for me,¡± he muttered, reaching into his satchel and pulling out his short, sharp utility knife and twisting it around until it snapped into a pair of scissors. ¡°Here¡¯s what I want.¡± After ten minutes or so of sheer terror oh man it moves so fast, Hunter made his way home and climbed up the side of his house to sneak into his bedroom. Standing in front of his small, dingy mirror, he honestly thought his hair looked pretty good with the sides slashed down to almost stubble and the top left as a wavy, frizzy mess. He craned his head to check the back, not as short as the sides, but cut into an almost perfect V pointed at the back of his neck, and then sighed. ¡°It was nice knowing you, Trips. I think Mom¡¯s going to kill both of us.¡±
Hunter got ready for the party and practiced using his Infra screens while he was busy doing other things physically. His mom had said it was important to be able to navigate through the windows and notifications in the middle of anything, how she¡¯d seen too many people get distracted by new information popping up at a bad time. He also appreciated how he could send and read messages while he was in the bath or brushing his teeth, unlike with the tablet.
You have entered the [Training Room for Bump] messaging group.
[Catherine Schmidt]: Hunter! How on Earth did you manage to create such an abomination of a message when you¡¯re on a neural interface? [Catherine Schmidt]: I¡¯d almost be impressed if I wasn¡¯t so horrified. [Catherine Schmidt]: I will answer any questions that I can decipher, however, because I love you. [Catherine Schmidt]: First, Infra is not hijacking your body or your muscle memory. It¡¯s all you, bump. That feeling you might be getting, people call the ¡°offload.¡± See, Infra isn¡¯t just connected to your brain through the one conscious interface. It¡¯s hooked into your brain and body in a lot of places, and one of the things you¡¯ll start noticing is that you might find yourself acting quickly in a manner that you while you certainly could do, doesn¡¯t feel like what you would do. [Catherine Schmidt]: It¡¯s not nearly as scary as it sounds, though! [Catherine Schmidt]: Do you remember when you were very small, and your father taught you rock-paper-scissors? You practiced the hand signs every chance you got. [Catherine Schmidt]: Even though your adorably chubby fingers had trouble with scissors. [Catherine Schmidt]: But, every time you challenged your dad, you threw rock. Every single time, bump. The human mind works like that sometimes. It says, ¡°This works fine, I know how to do it well, it¡¯s not optimal, but I¡¯m pressed for time,¡± and then instead of making the correct decision, or any decision, you throw rock. [Catherine Schmidt]: But now your brain is connected to a computing device, that if it had a proper size, would be bigger than any universe we can imagine. It literally fills multiple dimensions. [Catherine Schmidt]: And when you offload, you¡¯re taking some of that computing space for your own to make an optimized decision from all the options you have, not just the first thing that feels right. Your mind, body, and Infra are all working together now, making better decisions. It¡¯s going to feel weird for a while, but trust your mother, it¡¯s all you. [Catherine Schmidt]: The skill boost question, I don¡¯t have a proper answer to. Ernie, thoughts? [Ernie Hallahan]: Wow, Cat. Let me write all that down for next time someone asks me the same question. All that teaching¡¯s really working out, isn¡¯t it? [Ernie Hallahan]: Ok, so, kid. I¡¯m going to have to back you up one step before I answer what a percent boost does. The first rank of a skill¡¯s what anyone could probably do, given practice and a solid understanding. [Ernie Hallahan]: Most folks get stuck around 90-95 when they¡¯re learning on their own, because repetition won¡¯t get you much past that. You can¡¯t be 100 in something without options for edge cases. The fact you got 100 in dodge means my devil woman of a sister¡¯s probably had you stand on a log or in a tight corner to do those exercises of hers. [Ernie Hallahan]: Probably both. [Ernie Hallahan]: So, at 100, Infra¡¯s thinking that no matter what gets thrown at you, you¡¯ve got a handle on it. For dodge that means getting attacked, for other skills it¡¯s similar. [Ernie Hallahan]: But over 100, the advanced and refined levels and beyond, that¡¯s special. Those are essence numbers at that point. 130 in dodge ordinarily means you¡¯re at the peak of how could someone could possibly be at avoiding attacks as a regular person, plus they¡¯re a straight 30% faster. [Ernie Hallahan]: Whether that¡¯s essence pumped into your muscles, extra processing speed on the offload so everything else slows down, or whatever. It depends on the advanced skill you take, which usually depends on your class. [Ernie Hallahan]: But percent bonuses, that¡¯s a little different. Short answer: it¡¯s shenanigans. [Ernie Hallahan]: Medium answer: Your offload¡¯s going to be running smudgy parallel processes on about a six-second window on either side of each decision tree, and yeah that¡¯s basically time travel, and yeah we try to never talk about it. [Ernie Hallahan]: But the end result, if you could grok the math, if anyone could, means that you¡¯ll be succeeding an extra 30% of the time. [Ernie Hallahan]: Oh, and long answer: about a ten year degree in quantum manifold theory. [Ernie Hallahan]: How did you possibly not know any of that, Cat? Haha jk. [Catherine Schmidt]: You know I always run [Unerring Strike] and [Perfect Block]. No one¡¯s even attempted to do the mathematical models for those, as far as I know. But Hunter¡¯s going to try something different, so I haven¡¯t recommended them, yet. [Hunter Redsmith]: ->Mom. i wrote that message the same way you taught me to do everything, with hard work, dedication, and practice. took me four tries! [Hunter Redsmith]: sry, tho. won¡¯t happen again. [Hunter Redsmith]: and thx, Mom, Ernie. i don¡¯t understand hardly any of that, but, umm. It¡¯s reassuring? yeah.
Having just finished trying to digest the explanations he¡¯d received, Hunter stood in his bedroom, looking down at the clothes his mother had laid out for the party. They were very too nice, that was easy to admit, but he had a hard time thinking they were worth the bother. The gray pants were very soft and fit him well, but he doubted they¡¯d survive one trip shimmying up the wall, or a hit from a crackler, or just about anything he did on a daily basis. The shirt was just bad news all around, though. Buttons, creases, and a collar didn¡¯t suit him one bit, but he put it on and tucked it in anyway Mom¡¯s usually so nice, what happened. He rolled up the sleeves and left the collar undone at the top, put on the bracelet with his staff and his necklace, even though the camera function had burned out a year or two back still snazzy. Then, he headed downstairs in his socks no shoes in the house, with Trips draped over his shoulder, limbs holding on with gentle pressure against his chest and back. He tried coming up with something to say, to head off the haircut issue, but with each step down his mind blanked further throw rock. He didn¡¯t even get a chance though, because he caught it as soon as he walked into the open living and dining space where his parents were getting things ready. ¡°Hunter!¡± his mom gasped, ¡°What is that? And what did you-?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s a mohawk? At least that¡¯s what Dad called it,¡± he mumbled in reply, skipping the easy question about Trips. ¡°Henry, did you know something about this? On the day of his party?¡± ¡°What? No. Hey, Hunter, don¡¯t drag me into this.¡± ¡°No, no. Umm, I heard Dad say it a long time ago,¡± he said as he held up his hands in surrender. ¡°I just, umm. You know. I wanted to look cool for when I go to the big city.¡± ¡°Oh, bump,¡± his mother sighed as she walked over to give him a hug. Then, she held him firmly by the shoulders and tilted her head as she looked at him from up close. ¡°In that case, it¡¯s just fine. I gave myself a much worse haircut my first day of high school. And of college.¡± His dad had moved up alongside, and gave the hair left on top of his head a good ruffling. ¡°I think it looks cool, don¡¯t worry. Kansas City¡¯s not going to know what hit it.¡±
The party, Hunter reflected afterward, was fine. The redoubt had missed out, years ago, on successfully celebrating the fact that Willard had raised its first child from birth all the way to adulthood, so he figured this was its second chance. At least, that¡¯s what he and Miracle complained about as they huddled in the corner of the garden, every time someone came up to congratulate the both of them. There were people everywhere too many all night too long, as well. The crowd went from the garden in the small yard, through the side door into the kitchen, absolutely packed the open family space, and spilled out onto the front porch. Hunter saw almost literally every person he¡¯d ever met in passing, not the whole town by any means, but a good portion of the first wave that had fled to Willard in the beginning in the same group as his father, and then even more who¡¯d become just as much of the inner circle as the earlier group. The Bears, their family doctor, Mr. Jenkins and the other more successful farmers, they all mingled past, invariably made some chuckling comment about his hair, his name, or both, and moved on. He did get a present, though, and it was a huge one. Apparently, almost everyone that came to the party had chipped in, months back, to commission a jacket from the same armorer who had made his mom¡¯s long vest. It was, if Hunter was forced to admit, possibly the coolest gift he¡¯d ever received, even over Trips and his wizard stick. At first, when they had him try it on in front of everyone so embarrassing, he thought it was one of those dreadful ¡°you¡¯ll grow into it situations,¡± since the cuffs went down to the middle of his fingers and the hem stopped low on his thighs. His mother assured him it was the style that provided the most protection, and that it was adjustable for when he did get taller. Other than the length that he¡¯d have to get used to, it fit him very well. The smooth, dove gray fabric was very soft on the inside and tough on the outside, and the entire garment including the hood was structured around a pattern of weird ribbing inside the fabric that was supposed to lock up and absorb impacts from any direction. It even had the odd, white pinprick lights around the shoulders like his mom¡¯s did, and a few right over his forehead on the hood. Miracle sat out on the riverbank, after they¡¯d slipped out of the dwindling crowd, while Hunter slowly walked through his forms in his new armor, dress clothes, and a pair of old canvas sneakers, making sure the long jacket didn¡¯t restrict his movements. He stopped when he heard his older friend speak, in a low voice. ¡°So,¡± Miracle said, staring out across the water, ¡°you¡¯re heading out in the morning, huh.¡± ¡°Yeah, umm,¡± Hunter pulled back his hood and came over to sit with the older teen. ¡°Just for a couple months, I guess. However long it takes for my mom to think she won¡¯t have to keep an eye on me anymore. Can¡¯t be too long, right?¡± he trailed off with a weak chuckle. ¡°Sure, but who says you¡¯ll even come back. Ellie, now you,¡± Miracle¡¯s voice became incredibly soft at the end, ¡°first my mom, really.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like that, umm, not really. I¡¯ll be back, I know where I belong. Besides, you¡¯re not stuck here, man. You¡¯ve got that networking thing lately. I hardly see you anyway.¡± Miracle had, not long after he got his class, started a group of younger defenders from redoubts all around the area. They coordinated using the summon network to work together shutting down Slides, booking time on Sources, and occasionally actually defending when a settlement was getting undue attention from monsters. ¡°I guess. I dunno. It feels like we could¡¯ve made a plan together, a long time ago, the three of us, and we didn¡¯t. Instead, we made separate ones and I can¡¯t remember why. I¡¯m gonna head home. You take care of yourself, Schmidt.¡± Miracle squeezed his shoulder as he stood before walking back to the town. Hunter stayed at the river for a while after. He wondered if Miracle was overreacting or not. It didn¡¯t matter, really, because he knew that feelings mattered no matter where they came from, but he didn¡¯t know if it was something he could have fixed. Hunter had known for a long time that he was going to leave Willard gotta run, and everyone around him had seen it gotta get out, even though he tried not to make a big deal out of it. There was a brief, particularly moody period when he was fourteen where he made sure to announce, often and explicitly, exactly how fast he was going to make tracks, but that didn¡¯t count. It just never felt like a choice to him. He was going to leave in the morning to face the world and never look back, because that¡¯s what he needed to do. 5: Back to the Basics? ¡°I¡¯m coming, I¡¯m coming!¡± Hunter shouted out his bedroom door, frantically stuffing the last of his new clothes into his duffel. He hauled it over his shoulder, Trips riding in the satchel already slung across his body, and took one last hurried glance around his room. He was pretty sure he had everything from the first sixteen years of his life that he needed packed up, and it all fit in one bag. ¡°Huh.¡± He picked up the best pepper plant he¡¯d grown and transplanted into a pot, cradling that in one arm, and grabbed the channeling rod from where it was leaning next to his door before bounding down the stairs. His parents met him at the front door and guided him out, walking with him toward the center of town. It was early, so early they¡¯d left Jack in bed, because peak time summons into Kansas City were hard to get, and most of the roads in town were fairly empty. They walked past the bakery, though, and since bakers were usually up just as early as farmers, there were already mouthwatering smells wafting out. ¡°Hey, can we-¡± Hunter started to say, but stopped when his mom pulled a bundle of wax paper out from her bag and offered it, while his dad took the potted plant from him with a chuckle. He ate the homemade cornbread muffin quickly, finishing it up by the time they made it to the rally point, which was really just an old, twenty-foot radio tower with some Infratech lashed to the top of it. He shifted from foot to foot, suddenly uneasy, glancing nervously at his parents. ¡°Well, bump, this is it,¡± his mother broke the silence. ¡°Ernie¡¯s going to take good care of you, or he knows what will happen. Message me every day-¡± ¡°Every week,¡± his dad cut in. ¡°Fine, message me every week and let me know how things are going. We¡¯re very proud of you, and we¡¯ll just be even more proud with what you make of yourself in the future,¡± his mom mumbled the end of her sentence into his hair, hugging him tight. ¡°We love you, Hunter,¡± his father added, wrapping an arm around the both of them, the other still cradling Hunter¡¯s peppers. ¡°Hey, umm,¡± he whispered to his parents, ¡°Is this, umm, is this dumb? Should I not be doing this?¡± His mom just laughed, soft and kind, against the top of his head, but before she could say anything, his dad stepped in. ¡°Hunter,¡± he said in his best dad voice, steady and strong, ¡°this is absolutely not dumb. For the world that¡¯s out there, son, and what you want to do in it? This is probably the smartest way to go about it. Dumb would be sticking around here until you go stir-crazy and then flinging yourself into situations you aren¡¯t ready for.¡± ¡°Yeah, I, I¡¯m sorry about that, still,¡± he mumbled in reply, just as a message flashed on his Infra.
You have entered the [KC Sorcs Teleport Lobby] messaging group.
[Kenny Westing] is attempting to summon you. Do you accept? Y/N [Ernie Hallahan]: Hey, kid. This is the guy. It¡¯s legit. First lesson, though, don¡¯t be a cheapskate like me, buy all your ports through approved channels. You won¡¯t always have a stand up guy like your uncle to vouch for these wizard types.
¡°I gotta go,¡± Hunter said with a sniffle, making sure to hug both his parents harder than he had in a while. ¡°Just a couple months, that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do anything I wouldn¡¯t do,¡± his mom said with a soft, playful smile. ¡°And don¡¯t do a few of the things she would, either,¡± his dad finished their old joke. He gathered his things, stepped over closer to the rally point, and waved with his metal staff before thinking yes at the summon request, and then he got kicked. It wasn¡¯t any ordinary kind of kick, though, it seemed to hit him everywhere he felt solid, thighs and upper arms, the middle of his sternum and forehead. And instead of knocking him backwards, or forwards, or to the ground, the kick sent him in a direction he couldn¡¯t comprehend well, the same direction he had to look to use his Infra screen. He coughed, blinked, and then found himself standing somewhere completely new.
¡°Come in early, do a short range pull to warm up, he says,¡± Hunter heard someone say while his vision was still coming back into focus. ¡°It¡¯ll be easy, make a few crystals, he says. Except this kid¡¯s carrying a type-b Infratech sentient AI, a hunk of extraplanar alloy, an unsecured hammerspace, and a plant! This is the kind of thing that brings the Pols down on an independent contractor, Ernie.¡± ¡°Nothing¡¯s quarantined, man,¡± he heard his uncle say, still trying to shake the cobwebby feeling out of his head, and wondering if they should have paid extra for one of the fancy combat summons that brought you in fresh and alert. ¡°They¡¯ve had SysPol out in the redoubts for what, ten years now? They know what to look for. Kid just hired on anyway, he hasn¡¯t had time to go digging up contraband.¡± ¡°Fine, fine, but get out of here before anything gets flagged.¡± Hunter squinted at the figure that approached him, and while everything was still blurry, the nameplate he accidentally activated in his Infra window was clear and crisp.
[Ernie ¡°Spellshot¡± Hallahan - Level 403]
¡°Wow,¡± he mumbled, letting his uncle take his heavy duffel and guide him out onto a for real city street, then down the sidewalk at an easy pace while he recovered. He started feeling better after a block or two, enough to look around gawk at the sights, and at Ernie. He was looking good, better than the last time Hunter had seen him, when his adventuring group had dragged him to Willard the year before for an enforced break. Back then, he¡¯d been gaunt, worn-out and shaky for the week or so he¡¯d stayed. Now, he looked healthy, his hair and beard were combed out, both a much darker auburn tone than Hunter¡¯s own red hair, he didn¡¯t have any new scars, just the cool one across the bridge of his nose and eyebrow, and he was animated and talkative on the walk as he showed off the city. ¡°So,¡± he said as he pointed to the north, ¡°everything on the other side of the river is pretty much shredded. They had some nasty piece of work called a ¡®Slide confluence¡¯ up there, about a half dozen of the things spewing out construction mecha, assassin bots, and suicide drones. Most folks avoid going up there any more, there¡¯s just too many traps to try to make a dent in reclaiming anything.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what the Siege was, right?¡± Hunter asked. ¡°Mom says you were up there fighting for a while.¡± ¡°Ah, half right there, kid,¡± Ernie grumbled. ¡°I was up there, but the Siege wasn¡¯t much about fighting. Just as many warm bodies and sharp eyes as possible, trying to keep that mess contained where it was. It could¡¯ve been worse, though.¡± They stopped for a moment at a small park on a hill, surrounded by buildings that all looked half abandoned, and his uncle nodded off into the distance. Hunter followed his gaze and blinked, at first confused, then disbelieving, and finally just feeling small. All of those blocks were buildings, bigger than anything he¡¯d ever seen in real life, even from this distance, and there were so many, and all so close together. That was oldtech, lots of hard work and more people than Hunter had ever met doing it together, just to stick a giant building in the ground that went hundreds of feet into the sky. ¡°Wow,¡± he breathed, then pointed at something he couldn¡¯t make out, in the middle of the cluster. ¡°What¡¯s that, though?¡± In between buildings he could see how the bright, clear blue of the midmorning sky was replaced by a deeper, almost purple color that seemed to rock slowly from side to side, but it was too far away to be sure. ¡°That¡¯s the big one, Hunter. That¡¯s how it could have been worse.¡± ¡°Wait, that¡¯s a Slide? It¡¯s like hundreds of feet tall! What¡¯s it doing there?¡± ¡°Funny story, kid,¡± Ernie patted him on the shoulder as they started walking again. ¡°Kind of, at least. In hindsight, maybe. So, K.C. used to be about the biggest place you could find in about four, maybe five hundred miles in any direction. Now, no one¡¯s really sure about the dimensional mechanics, what Slides went where and why, but a pretty good rule was that the bigger the city, the bigger the Slide. And that¡¯s a big one, for sure. ¡°I guess it vanished a whole city block when it popped up, can¡¯t even imagine the total chaos when a whole chunk of a place just goes missing, and on top of that, it¡¯s spooky. The little Slides, you know, you can¡¯t see much. Maybe the front of someone¡¯s house, maybe the corner of the inside of a building, point is you don¡¯t get much context about what you¡¯re looking at. But that one was wide open and you could see for miles, I mean, you still can. ¡°Look at it, see that purple? That¡¯s their sky. It¡¯s dark there, all the time, and when you get closer you can see their end of the Slide¡¯s in the middle of a forest. Well, they call it a forest, they call what¡¯s in there trees. Really, they¡¯re these giant growths of black vines, waving about, and every so often one will snap around and point at you, like it can see you from the other side. Course, the first couple of days, you couldn¡¯t see them moving. Probably did look a little like a forest back then. ¡°So, the army and the national guard,¡± he paused at Hunter¡¯s quizzical look, ¡°Those are both pretty much what we¡¯d call an Order these days. Anyway, they set up around the downtown area, got all ready to blast whatever tentacle monster came crawling out of that thing, then got ready again when all the electronics went down and Infra came up. So, finally, the Slide opens up and nothing happens, for about an hour. Then the monsters came out.¡± ¡°Monsters?¡± Hunter¡¯s eyes went wide as he peeked over at what he could see of the downtown area again. ¡°Well, not really. Could¡¯ve gone bad, you know. Things looking like pretty girls, or really pretty boys, on top at least. From a distance. On the bottom, they¡¯re spiders. Don¡¯t know how they avoided getting shot, first thing.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Things were starting to make more sense now. ¡°I know one of them! Kiki¡¯s super nice, and zhe comes to Willard to buy vegetables and visit. I brought zher a pepper plant.¡± ¡°Right, they¡¯re good people. They¡¯re on Infra, too, and they spent that whole week trying to figure out who was going to go through the Slide and get stuck here for who knows how long. First one, I hear, even came out waving a white flag. They got a good sense of humor. Course, on the other side of the river, it was carnage. Everything was really a dice roll, back then, kid.¡± ¡°That makes sense. It¡¯s scary, but it¡¯s not like everything could be all awful, all the time,¡± Hunter murmured. ¡°Right?¡± ¡°Right,¡± Ernie nodded. ¡°Well, here we are. Got an empty room for you upstairs, new sheets, the works. Let¡¯s get you settled.¡± They¡¯d stopped in front of a long, three-story brick building, with a metal roll-up door on one side and glass windows all along the other. A blinking sign over the glass doors read ¡°Fourex Tech Solutions,¡± and while his uncle unlocked the entrance, Hunter was busy watching it flicker on and off. ¡°You¡¯ve got Infratech lights, just for a sign?¡± Hunter leaned on his staff and chuckled softly. ¡°Gosh, the big city¡¯s weird.¡±
It turned out, the building was one big floor that housed the workshops and training areas for Ernie¡¯s group, and a second regular sized one on top where they all lived. Hunter got his own room, though, with a window, and brick looked pretty easy to climb up and down, so he figured he was set. His mom always said he should make sure he knew his emergency exits before going in somewhere new, which he always understood to be a tacit approval for climbing in and out of windows. Trips helped him unpack and make his new bed, easily twice as big as the one at home, and then he headed out to the shared living area, his little helperbot clinging to his shoulder. Hunter glanced dubiously at the weird chair that looked like a cross between a recliner and a torture machine, and had a piece of tape across the back with ¡°massage-o-tron¡± scribbled on it, instead choosing to settle on the couch and get comfortable. He grinned over at his uncle too wide? feels like a lot of teeth, then cleared his throat. ¡°So, umm,¡± he said, brow furrowed. ¡°When do we start?¡± ¡°Sorry, what was that?¡± Ernie looked up from his book, twirling a pen in one hand. ¡°When are we going to, you know. Train?¡± ¡°It¡¯s your first day in the city, and you don¡¯t want to get comfortable first? See the sights, have some lunch, maybe go find your [Arax] friend?¡± Hunter shook his head too quick, being weird and bounced a little on the couch, Trips matching his movements with a soft whirr of its pistons. ¡°Not really? I mean, no.¡± ¡°Oh, kid,¡± his uncle sighed, setting his book and pen down. ¡°You are definitely a Hallahan.¡± ¡°Yeah, for sure. Half a one, at least. Whatcha mean, though?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got the onnits, that¡¯s all. New hire yesterday, new place today, makes total sense.¡± ¡°Wait, the what? Never heard of it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just, ugh,¡± Ernie shook his head and paused accessing Infra, then said, ¡°It¡¯s something my gramps would say about my granny. Your mother and I, we¡¯d go and visit, and she¡¯d be out in the back tearing up the daisies she¡¯d put in the week before, and he¡¯d say, ¡®Don¡¯t worry none about your granny, she¡¯s just got the onnits.¡¯ You know, because she was on one.¡± ¡°I have literally never heard of this,¡± Hunter mumbled, frowning. ¡°It¡¯s fine, it really is. Your grandmother had the onnits, your mother and I did too for an awful lot of the time growing up, but it gets better. That tai chi stuff your mom¡¯s got you on, meditation, and Infra all really help. The feeling you¡¯ve got right now, when you were back home, did you get it much? And maybe, did you end up doing things you regretted after?¡± ¡°Oh,¡± he thought about it for a while, then said almost under his breath, ¡°Fought things, jumped off the roof, cut my hair, ran away. Did my exercises a lot.¡± ¡°Right, that sounds like a Hallahan to me. Eventually, it¡¯ll stop feeling like someone shoving you from behind, kid, I promise. You¡¯ll still get that itch to move, still second guess things every so often, but nowadays that¡¯s almost a good thing. You want to keep on top of things, you¡¯ve got to keep moving, and you want to stay safe, you trust your instincts. How about I make you a deal. The guys aren¡¯t coming back until tomorrow, and it¡¯ll take me a few days to work up a training plan for you anyway, but I¡¯ll take a look at your info sheet and we¡¯ll find a couple things for you to get started on right away.¡± Hunter nodded and granted his uncle viewing access, then composed a quick message to his mom.
You are sending a direct message to [Catherine Schmidt], priority RED.
[Hunter Redsmith]: Mom! [Hunter Redsmith]: apparently i¡¯ve got the onnits? and no one ever told me? [Hunter Redsmith]: what the flip?! [Hunter Redsmith]: !? [Hunter Redsmith]: ugh
¡°Well,¡± Ernie said after scribbling a few minutes¡¯ worth of notes into his book. ¡°First of all, congrats. That near unique talent of yours is one of the nastier ones I¡¯ve ever seen. And you¡¯re already building around the ¡®no hit, no damage,¡¯ clause, which is smart. I¡¯ve seen a lot of folk with punch up builds, and they almost never think about the consequences. They go in thinking, ¡®well I¡¯ll just vorpal that thing and it¡¯ll turn out alright,¡¯ and of course it doesn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± Hunter said with a little smile. ¡°Hunter ¡®Never get hit¡¯ Schmidt. Or Redsmith I guess. Think I can manage it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really know. I¡¯ll do some research, see what I can dredge up on dodge. Even full-time fighters really don¡¯t bother getting above the fifty-fifty point for whatever they want to fight. But that¡¯s for next week. Right now, if you want to do anything, you¡¯re going to work on your stats.¡± ¡°What?¡± Hunter sat up straighter. ¡°I thought my stats were pretty good.¡±The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Right. They¡¯re pretty good. They can be better though. See, there¡¯s a trick about stats. Ten¡¯s the highest Infra will assess someone at, but it¡¯s really nowhere near ideal human performance.¡± ¡°Really? I mean, I am pretty fast, but I guess that makes sense.¡± ¡°So, pretty much anyone can get tens across the board if they work at it, probably not right at integration, but usually not that long after.¡± ¡°But, umm,¡± Hunter bit at his lip. ¡°Why would you bother?¡± ¡°Look at it this way, kid. Say you get your first three level ups, and you get a primary body boost for each one. Now you¡¯re at eleven, thirteen, eleven, and you¡¯re locked like that until the next level. Infra won¡¯t let you improve anything on your own when it¡¯s ten or above. You¡¯d always be a little weaker, a little less tough than you conceivably could be, and the difference between life and death out there really comes down to the smallest margins. Get your tens, give yourself the best chance possible.¡± ¡°Huh, I didn¡¯t really look at it like that.¡± ¡°Most people don¡¯t, kid. And never forget, compared to when I was your age, most people are dead now.¡± Ernie tore a sheet out of his book and leaned over as he handed to Hunter, patting him on the shoulder.
Hunter scratched idly at the armband Ernie convinced him to wear, some kind of Infratech hack that would keep him from earning raw essence accidentally while he trained, instead converting it to its crystallized form and depositing it straight into his currency account. ¡°His allowance,¡± he¡¯d called it, which made sense. From what he could understand, if you ever levelled up doing dumb or unimportant stuff, your stat boost could go into areas you didn¡¯t care about, which was just more wasted points. Ideally, you¡¯d only progress while doing the things you were best at, which seemed like an impossible standard to live up to, but Ernie was very against wasted stat points, apparently. Plus, a little spending money couldn¡¯t hurt.
You have discovered [Rally Point Coffee], and received essence for a trivial exploration feat. WARNING: your raw essence gain has been artificially restricted by [Debt-Bonder X-09], an Infratech device. You have been credited two (2) small essence crystals into your [currency] account.
He cleared his notifications as he stood out on the sidewalk, alternately peering into the busy shop and reading the notes his uncle had given him. His social scores were the lowest be polite doesn¡¯t work, so he figured they¡¯d be the easiest to raise. The instructions seemed simple, but oh this is gonna be bad they made him anxious. ¡°Six, find something you believe in, and talk to someone about it,¡± he whispered to himself, making sure he remembered. ¡°Seven, respond quickly and relevantly to anything said to you. Eight, listen to someone who seems smart but is saying something you disagree with, until they start to sound dumb. Bonus, never say umm, err, or uhh.¡± He took a deep breath, then thought better of it and decided to do the slow breathing techniques that went along with his exercises, tucked the note into his pocket, and made his way into the coffee shop. He ordered a tea he¡¯d heard of but never tried big city prices wow, then turned to survey the room, arms folded tightly across his chest. In one corner, a group of people were quietly arguing about something to do with taxes, something so boring it couldn¡¯t find any purchase in Hunter¡¯s attention span. They were dressed in vaguely matching uniforms Order but not Pols, and he figured that wasn¡¯t exactly the conversation he¡¯d want to dip into. In the middle of the room, there was a young woman sipping at a coffee with her eyes closed, but her face was moving like she was having an interesting conversation, brows raising and lowering, jaw working slightly Infrachat. As he took his drink, however, he saw a kid probably his own age with long, dark hair hanging into his eyes, fiddling with an iridescent globe and a screwdriver. ¡°Hey,¡± he said softly as he wandered over, ¡°is that a Kellers?¡± ¡°What?¡± was the reply, followed by, ¡°It¡¯s a semi-autonomous floating affinity focus, actually. What¡¯s a Kellers?¡± ¡°The shell, I mean. Kellers makes that kind of plastic. They cook it real hard to get the mother of pearl sheen.¡± ¡°Oh. Yeah, it might be. My professor gave it to me for this project,¡± he told Hunter as he looked up from the focus for the first time. ¡°Why do you ask?¡± ¡°Did you drop it maybe, or bang it into something? The outside¡¯s as tough as all get out, but when they cook it like that, the inside loses all sorts of shear strength. Give it a good knock and it¡¯ll be flaking bits into whatever it¡¯s supposed to be protecting.¡± The other boy just looked at him flatly, then carefully unscrewed the top half of the sphere from the bottom, popping it open with a faint puff of powdered plastic, then sighed and put his head on the table. Hunter reached over and brushed some of the mess away from his face, then took a sip of his tea oh that¡¯s good. ¡°How¡¯d you know that?¡± the teen said, voice muffled with his face still on the table. ¡°You doing one of the tech programs here? Haven¡¯t seen you in any.¡± ¡°Nah, I just know a guy back home who¡¯s real into robots. Thing is with Infratech, at least it seems to me, is you can build just about anything to do exactly what you want it to do,¡± Hunter took another sip and shrugged. ¡°Of course, when you buy something, you never know exactly what whoever made it wanted it to do. That guy I know, he started mixing up his own plastic in his shed. It¡¯s not as pretty as Kellers, or even Braunheim, but it does the job.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I have time to do that sort of thing. These classes are relentless.¡± ¡°I figure, you¡¯re learning what, tech and affinity? That professor¡¯s trying to teach you how to get to the end by starting halfway, it sounds like. Take a weekend or something, work on first principles. You can always do something better if you make it yours, first. That¡¯s what I think. I don¡¯t know, I just moved here from a farm. I¡¯m Hunter, by the way. Nice to meet ya.¡± ¡°My name¡¯s Ajit, and thanks.¡±
Later that night, Hunter sat on an uncomfortable plastic chair in the downstairs reading room of his uncle¡¯s building, two overstuffed notebooks on his lap, reading his instructions again. ¡°Three, read and work through ¡®Insane Logic Puzzles for Insane People¡¯ without taking notes. Four, read and memorize ¡®Mortal and Ascendant Level Source Locations and Tactics of North America.¡¯ Five, do both of those things with ¡®Scab¡¯s Killer Industrial Mix¡¯ playing on the sound system. Fine, ugh. Trips, can you figure out how to work the speakers?¡± He read for about thirty seconds before a horrible, awful sound filled the room, a tornado hitting a metal shack full of cats and goats, and he just sighed before soldiering on. He made it about a quarter of the way through the puzzles before he moved on to the Source listings, which turned out to be in no particular order for the sole reason, he suspected, of making them harder to remember. He had switched back between both notebooks for an hour, maybe two time has no meaning, when Ernie came downstairs and shut off the noise. ¡°That¡¯s enough for tonight, kid. I can hear the factory noises from my room.¡± ¡°Hey, umm, Ernie,¡± Hunter said while his uncle was turning to go back up, ¡°Can I ask a dumb question?¡± ¡°Sure, Hunter. I¡¯m not just here to tell you what to do, you know.¡± ¡°So, these stat things,¡± Hunter drummed his fingers on a notebook in a vague, irregular rhythm oh no it¡¯s stuck in your head. ¡°They¡¯re, like, variable right? Not absolute?¡± ¡°Hit the nail on the head, there,¡± Ernie chuckled. ¡°Line up ten folks with ten strength each and have them arm wrestle, and odds are you don¡¯t get any ties. Stats aren¡¯t Infra¡¯s way of judging end performance, they¡¯re more about the work you put in. Infra¡¯s not going to let a kid who doesn¡¯t get out of his chair unless he has to swing around an axe when it¡¯s his life and others¡¯ on the line, same as it won¡¯t let a kid who never cracked a book without pictures delve into the mysteries of the universe. You show it that you¡¯re committed, though, and things just work better. This stuff I¡¯ve got you doing, it¡¯s not necessarily going to make you stronger, or more confident, but it¡¯ll open you up to it. That make sense, kid?¡± ¡°Yeah. Yeah, it kinda does. Thanks, Ernie.¡± Hunter stayed up for a while longer, reading about the various Sources that had been found, especially those in and around Kansas, before he gave up and went to bed as well. It took him less time than he expected to fall asleep, with the strange bed, new sheets, and unfamiliar noises of the large building, but he¡¯d had a long day. He dreamt about logic puzzles, about sitting next to a man in a blue hat whose name he should know but couldn¡¯t figure out, about cannibals sharing a rowboat with him, about Ernie always lying to answer every question. He woke, early as usual, the sun barely lighting up the horizon, and went through his usual morning routine before getting dressed in a pair of shorts and a tee shirt emblazoned with the Fourex logo. He slipped out his bedroom window, climbed carefully to the flat roof, and did his exercises during the sunrise, concentrating on his breathing and making each movement so slow as to be imperceptible. After, he let himself relax for just a little while. There wasn¡¯t much of a view, most of the other buildings around were pretty similarly built to Ernie¡¯s, but it was different from Willard, and Hunter appreciated that. When he felt centered, refreshed, and had dismissed the meditation skill gain messages, he slid down the drainpipe and walked in the front door, toward the training rooms. ¡°One, pick up the weighted training vest and drop it until your arms don¡¯t work anymore. Two, put it on and run in one direction until your legs don¡¯t work anymore. Bonus, repeat.¡± Hunter rolled his eyes and sighed, and started the workout. The vest had to weigh about fifty or sixty pounds, which wasn¡¯t so bad for a farm kid, but he was a small farm kid, and after a few dozen repetitions he was shaking. He tried to calm his breathing, to center himself, but the heavy vest landing on the concrete floor seemed louder and more distracting each time it fell. A few dozen more and he collapsed, gasping, and had a sudden, stupid epiphany. ¡°How am I supposed to put it on if I can¡¯t pick it up again? Ugh.¡±
Hunter jogged out eastward along the Fourex building¡¯s street, minding his pace with Trips riding on his back and helpfully adjusting the straps of the vest every time it started to jostle. He had originally been very hesitant about the bright yellow sneakers he was supposed to run in, but the odd shape and mesh panels made for a very comfortable stride once he was about a mile in and used to them. As he approached the second set of giant loops of road on his route, his curiosity got the better of him and he ran down one of the ramps to see where they went, only sort of dismayed to see it was just a long, curving highway, a huge version of the ones running through his hometown. It was wide open and relatively flat, and he had nowhere else to go, so he just continued on and checked his messages as he ran, including the flashing ones from his mother he¡¯d been avoiding since the day before.
You are sending a direct message to [Catherine Schmidt].
[Catherine Schmidt]: I¡¯ve already spoken to your uncle about this by the time you read this message, bump. I know how you get when you¡¯re frustrated with this sort of thing, and that¡¯s alright. [Catherine Schmidt]: There¡¯s nothing wrong with you, and the ¡°onnits¡± are not a real thing that you have to worry about. If they were, Hunter, you know I¡¯d have already done everything possible to fix it. [Catherine Schmidt]: Do you remember those block tests Dr. Jensen gave you when you were small? Everything you did came out well within average levels. Your memory was exceptional, your attention span was just fine for your age, and you are such a smart little man. [Catherine Schmidt]: Ernie and I took similar tests at that age, and we did not do as well at all, but even then it wasn¡¯t the worst thing that could have happened. The worst thing would have been ending up like our mother, with no outlet, with no support, slowly and progressively functioning more poorly every year. [Catherine Schmidt]: That will not happen to my boy, to either of my boys. I love you, bump. You will do just fine, I promise. [Hunter Redsmith]: hey, Mom. i¡¯m sry. i was overreacting, and umm. yeah, Ernie had already talked me down pretty good [Hunter Redsmith]: KC¡¯s pretty cool, btw. but Ernie¡¯s a monster. he¡¯s got me talking to people and reading books
Hunter had taken a wrong turn somewhere, back where the road split into five or six branches, and he found himself heading north toward a barricade before what he assumed was a bridge to the bad side of the river. He stopped a good distance away and slumped against the raised concrete wall on the side of the highway, realizing both that he was about thirty feet off the actual ground, and that he had an amazing view of downtown from another angle. He stood there while he caught his breath, just staring at the alien view through the Slide that was so much closer than before, chuckling nervously as the hairs at the back of his neck rose involuntarily so weird. He could understand how the Arax called it a forest, if he thought about it, but each glance he gave the undulating tentacles on that dark backdrop just made him more irrationally anxious. Then, he found out if he tried to focus on the stark edge across the sky, the barrier between peaceful blue and somehow ominous purple, all he got for his trouble was a short, sharp headache between his eyes. It was wrong, it was invasive, and it had been there for longer than he had been alive. It spit aliens onto his planet, and it was only sheer luck that those aliens were kind, playful, people instead of monsters. He felt himself shaking, even if it didn¡¯t make him angry, not this one, but he wondered how he¡¯d feel when he saw a so-called hostile Slide. He just couldn¡¯t figure out how not to be awed and terrified by that other world, how to glimpse at the shifting, slithering vines that dead sky and not worry. So, he searched for calm in the face of the Slide, a symbol of everything that had gone wrong in his world, years before he was born. He sat on the edge of the barrier, legs dangling high above the ground, Trips clinging to his back as a counter-balance, and meditated. He forced himself to stare into the ominous purple, so visually striking behind and between the huge buildings, at the shifting black shapes that were hard to make out at a distance but still seemed so real grasping reaching. After a while, he realized that it wasn¡¯t making a difference, that it was still scary, and that it would stay that way until something changed, but also that it was alright to feel like that.
You are sending a direct message to [Kinistrata Kit-Tender].
[Hunter Redsmith]: hey, Kiki! it¡¯s Hunter, umm, Schmidt. ignore the name, had a little mixup with the paperwork. get this, i¡¯m looking right at where you came from [Kinistrata Kit-Tender]: Oh, it¡¯s my little friend, Red? What brings you to our humble Alien Town? How lovely that you¡¯ve made the trip. [Hunter Redsmith]: ah, i¡¯m not in downtown proper. kinda stuck on the, umm, the 71? great view tho. wait, do people really call it Alien Town? [Kinistrata Kit-Tender]: Only when we¡¯re being subversive, dear. Or bored. Or if we¡¯ve decided we like how it rolls off the tongues. Now, what do you mean stuck? Do I need to come swooping in to save you? It¡¯s been ever so long since I did any proper swooping. [Hunter Redsmith]: nah, i know how to get back. staying with my uncle Ernie. but, umm. think i could come visit sometime? i brought a present [Kinistrata Kit-Tender]: I would absolutely adore that, young Red. I will send you my address, and please, come by whenever you have time for an old friend.
The rest of the week, Hunter subjected himself to more of the same, Ernie¡¯s tasks each day aiming to leave him mentally, physically, and, he supposed, socially exhausted. He ran, he studied, he spent time with Ajit from the coffee shop and a few of his school friends, and when he got a free moment to himself, he explored the big city. He thought, before he came, that it would be packed with people going about their business, and downtown was a bit like that, but for the most part it felt empty, in a good way. The streets were wide, and even though there were buildings everywhere, most the size of Ernie¡¯s, it still felt open free. Every so often, when he was back in Willard, he¡¯d missed that fleeting feeling of just being out, outside of a building, outside of himself, almost, and he really appreciated being able to get it back. He especially missed it, tucked into a crowded Rally Point, listening to a blandly handsome guy from one of Ajit¡¯s classes talk absolute nonsense about how people should be farming these days. ¡°We¡¯d do one building downtown at first. Well, none of them are really glass ones. We¡¯d have to build a new one, but that¡¯s easy. Then, some earth mages, some sun priests and you¡¯re set. Vertical, urban farming. Frees the Pols up from guarding every dude with a field out in the country, and it scales. Need more food? Put up another one.¡± Hunter took a sip of the sixth new tea he¡¯d tried there¡¯s so many, and listened respectfully, because that¡¯s what you did when you were raised by his mother. Someone raised a good point about maintenance which the authoritative speaker quickly dismissed, and so Hunter decided to take his shot. ¡°Nah,¡± he said with a little chuckle. ¡°You¡¯ve got to look at the economics. Forget the earth mages, you just need to rotate your crops, keep the dirt fresh. Sure, nobody likes eating turnips, but they¡¯ll eat ¡®em. Sun priests, yeah I get that. How many you need to make up for bad angles and buildings in the way? Unless you want to move your building out a little ways, get it some room to breathe.¡± ¡°I see what you¡¯re trying to do,¡± the guy replied. ¡°Hunter, was it? The point is to bring in as many people as we can into the shelter of large cities. We have the manpower, scattered, all we need is to bring it in, focused.¡± ¡°Yeah, but,¡± Hunter was about to reply when the screen he¡¯d been waiting for flashed in his Infra.
You have raised Drive to ten (10). Vigor now at 109/110.
¡°Actually, I¡¯ve got to go. Long story short, monoculture collapse, legionaire¡¯s disease, earthquakes? I think that¡¯s where I was going. It was very nice to meet you, and Ajit, I¡¯ll see you around, still got to show you my helperbot¡¯s speech parsing,¡± he said quickly, draining his tea and heading out. Trips dropped off the top of the building¡¯s sign and landed on his shoulder with a soft impact, and then they both raced back home. ¡°I¡¯m done!¡± he shouted as he burst through the entrance to Fourex Tech Solutions, ¡°And let me tell you, I¡¯ve got a bone to pick, Uncle Ernie!¡± He heard laughter long before Ernie made his way downstairs and leaned against the wall in the way Hunter knew he thought made him look like a cool cowboy ok it works. So the teen stalked over and lightly poked him in the chest, scrunching up his face as his uncle laughed at him again, but determined to not let this go easily. ¡°Now that I¡¯ve done it, and it¡¯s officially not whining, just complaining, what¡¯s the point of all that social stuff? It¡¯s awful. A big building full of plants! For an hour, he talked about it. And there wasn¡¯t even an achievement!¡± ¡°Well, kid,¡± Ernie grinned. ¡°You know how this goes. Short answer, it was only a week out of your life. Level one¡¯s really the only time to get all that done like that, and since you can do it that quickly, there¡¯s no reason not to.¡± ¡°Ugh, fine. But why, why bother?¡± ¡°Long answer, then? Don¡¯t look at it as social stats. That¡¯s what we called them back when we didn¡¯t know any better, because that¡¯s what they sounded like. But that¡¯s a superficial way of looking at it. Infra calls it presence, spiritual presence I guess. Infra looks at your body, it looks at your brain, and it looks at the impression you make in total on the world. I mean, you know patron skills work mostly off of charisma and wit, right?¡± ¡°Right, umm, yeah.¡± ¡°But no one thinks that you¡¯re using your charisma to literally convince a giant well of essence to do things for you, right? It¡¯s more like it judges how much of the world you take up, on a level we can¡¯t see all of. All we see is a talkative person that sounds good. That¡¯s why your vigor¡¯s based off of drive. Infra looks at how much of you there is, spiritually, to gauge how long and far you can go.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Hunter mumbled, working through the implications. ¡°And it¡¯s better to have that presence, because the world¡¯s a lot bigger and weirder than we can see, and who knows what else it, umm, affects.¡± ¡°Exactly, kid,¡± Ernie clapped him on the back. ¡°So, what¡¯s next, then?¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re going to like it, I think,¡± his uncle said with a grin that definitely meant trouble. ¡°I need to take a look at what you¡¯re actually good at, not just what the numbers say. Next, you spar." 6: Hard Fought Skills Jimmy ¡°Breaker¡± Barnes was a big man. He wasn¡¯t just tall, although he was, and he wasn¡¯t just muscled, but he was that, too. He had a weight to him, a presence oh I get it, and he seemed to take up more of any room he was in than he should have. Hunter just stared up at him, wondering how that happened, how someone could just get that big, could have hands that could have palmed crushed his entire skull, could have a voice that boomed even if he was speaking normally. ¡°So, you want me to fight the kid, huh,¡± Jimmy said as he looked over at Ernie. ¡°He¡¯s a buck and a quarter, maybe. I hit him, I put him through the wall.¡± Hunter looked around the training area quickly, a large open space where the nearest wall was at least twenty feet away sounds about right. ¡°Yeah, but he¡¯s a buck and a quarter trained by my sister,¡± Ernie replied, arms folded across his chest. ¡°That means he¡¯s fast, and he¡¯s tough, and he¡¯s probably mean.¡± The teen felt himself blush at that, embarrassed, and rubbed the back of his neck bet Breaker doesn¡¯t get shy. He was pretty sure Jimmy had the better idea of what would actually happen in the spar, but it was nice that his uncle was talking him up. ¡°Alright, works for me,¡± the very big man said as he turned to face Hunter. ¡°You want me to scale it down, right? What do ya figure, classer level?¡± ¡°Nah, he¡¯s past that,¡± Ernie muttered as he flipped through his book. ¡°Give him full advanced, no style, pull your stats. And wait for Pete, he wanted to watch. Hunter, get yourself loose. You¡¯re looking nervous.¡± Hunter nodded and pulled off his shoes and socks, looking around for somewhere to put them before he noticed the odd looks on the two men¡¯s faces, then just threw them into the corner with a grin no rack no hamper no rules. He twisted his feet on the slightly cushioned surface of the mats on the floor, then rocked from foot to foot to see if it affected his balance, before starting his most basic, calming stretches. He was about halfway through take the biggest step when he heard the last member of Ernie¡¯s group come into the room, and took his time, left leg sliding out behind him as he crouched on his right, both arms reaching forward, his whole body low to the ground. ¡°That does look like the second coming of Devil Hallahan, doesn¡¯t it,¡± Pete said, laughing. ¡°Just about two-thirds scale, though.¡± ¡°Ah, lay off him, Walker,¡± Jimmy rumbled, ¡°Rile him up any and he¡¯s liable to go for the low blow. Seem to remember that other redhead sending you off with one, yeah?¡± ¡°I dunno,¡± Pete said, arms folded as he stood next to Ernie. ¡°Kid doesn¡¯t look a fraction of how mean his mama can be.¡± ¡°Hey, Hunter,¡± his uncle called over, ¡°Tell these guys how you knocked off a classer when you were what, thirteen? The short version.¡± Hunter straightened up slowly and settled into his most comfortable fighting stance, right arm across his body, palm up, left arm tucked in with his elbow back, knees loose with one foot pointing toward Breaker¡¯s huge bulk. ¡°Snuck up, broke its back, drowned it in the mud. And I was twelve.¡± Ernie had coached him to tell that abbreviated sequence of events, if he ever wanted a story that sounded cooler. ¡°Ok, he¡¯s got the right attitude at least. Anyway, I don¡¯t have all day. Still tuning up the popper after the mess you two fed it.¡± ¡°Well,¡± Ernie said, snapping his book shut. ¡°You heard him, boys.¡±
The rules to an official spar, Ernie had explained earlier, were pretty simple. Both combatants agreed to it within Infra, there was a countdown both could see to avoid accusations of cheap shots, and then you fought. Whatever reality-bending Infra usually engaged in, that allowed human or Breaker sized bodies to wield and withstand immense forces, was flipped around, ensuring that someone could fight with everything they had and not splatter a friendly opponent with one good hit. It even worked for magic, which Hunter was both intrigued and wary about, since taking a fireball or similar to the face without most of the consequences sounded interesting. He tried to remember that fact, that he wouldn¡¯t get punched hard enough that he popped like a balloon, he really did, but it was difficult to keep that in mind as the counter reached zero and Breaker moved toward him, swiftly and steadily, feet staying in a firm stance huh no booms. In fact, it was hard to keep anything in his head when all his instincts were saying it was going to be shortly disconnected from his body. Hunter could work with that, though, a clear mind was one of the keys to a perfect demonstration of the forms, and his mind was completely, definitely terrified clear. Breaker¡¯s first attack as he stepped in was a left jab, picture-perfect like you¡¯d expect from a man who¡¯d spent the last nineteen years punching things for survival, and then for a living. It didn¡¯t even seem to phase him that Hunter was almost a foot shorter than him, the punch angled down directly toward his face. In response, he clasped his hands together and raised both arms as he shifted to his left, all of his weight suddenly slammed onto that foot as his forearm struck just underneath the oncoming fist and deflected it just to the side of his head ok that hurt. Now twisted slightly to his left, Hunter moved his left hand to the angle he thought a follow up strike might come from and flicked his right arm out to try to jam his fingers into Breaker¡¯s armpit. Hunter figured his best chance would be to get close, minimize his opponent¡¯s range of motion, and use the extra leverage to nullify some of the strength advantage. He started to see the problem with his theory with Breaker¡¯s second attack, fractions of a second later. What started as a cross body punch with the man¡¯s right hand, which Hunter could have avoided by turning even further to shrink his profile, turned into an elbow halfway through, and the minor opening Hunter thought he might have had to hit a nerve cluster vanished as Breaker twisted his entire body with the strike footwork must be amazing as he sent the elbow rushing straight at the boy¡¯s face. Luckily, or unluckily, Hunter had guessed correctly where the second blow would come from, and his hand was already sweeping upward, palm to the ceiling, a finely executed waiter¡¯s walk. His arm was just knocked toward the floor, though, the downward angle of the elbow combined with all the weight on his back foot leaving him unable to manage that extra pop upwards that might have saved him. Instead, all he managed to do was duck his head and drop, Breaker¡¯s elbow cracking against the crown of his head, solidly but not devastatingly, and sending him to the ground. With his arms slapping at the mat just before his back hit, Hunter landed and then had what he knew was a really bad idea, but went for it anyway. That twist Breaker managed was fast, and it wasn¡¯t just his upper body, Hunter knew, because he could feel the thump on the mat as the man shifted his feet. Breaker didn¡¯t seem like the kind of guy who¡¯d stay out of position for long, though, so Hunter, still bouncing and rattled from the slam to the floor, kicked out his right heel directly in the path of where Breaker¡¯s left foot would go if he immediately shifted into his ready stance, after knocking the teen down. Hunter felt a very satisfying impact, heel against toes only protected by an athletic sock, heard what was maybe going to be a very funny curse word and the start of someone¡¯s laughter, before a very big, very off-balance man crashed down on top of him, and then everything hurt.
You are unconscious! You have lost your spar! Would you like to send a request for a rematch? Y/N You are conscious!
He snapped his eyes open, checked the clock function of his Infra to see less than a minute had passed, and then noticed Pete waving a buzzing piece of plastic over his forehead, each pass making Hunter feel much less woozy. ¡°Ok, Little Devil, that was pretty funny,¡± Pete said when he noticed the boy was awake. ¡°Never seen Jimmy trip over someone he just knocked down before. Not a good showing on your end, though.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t trip,¡± Hunter shook his head, then realized that made his whole brain feel awful. ¡°Thought he was fancy, quick switched his stance on me. Tripped him. That¡¯s a tie.¡± He turned his head to the side to see Breaker crouched down next to him, looking worried, but he just stared him in the eye and said, ¡°Tie.¡± The big man laughed, and with a quick glance at Pete Infrachat, helped Hunter to his feet. ¡°Alright, it¡¯s a tie. You really think I was being fancy, though?¡± Hunter shook out his hands, still sore from the attempts at parrying, and nodded. ¡°Yeah, umm, yeah. You¡¯re fast, you¡¯re good, and you¡¯re slumming by fighting me. You can handle me southpaw just as good. Or you coulda kicked me and sent me flying. Except you wanted to get right back into first position, like you¡¯re ready for the next one. That¡¯s, you know, fancy.¡± ¡°Kid¡¯s right,¡± Ernie said, scribbling in his book. ¡°Hell, if that was my sister and that happened? She¡¯d have had a knife lodged in your guts when you landed on her, and chewed her way out from under you when she woke up.¡± ¡°Devil Hallahan,¡± both of his teammates muttered, just out of sync, while Hunter looked at his uncle wide-eyed Mom¡¯s so cool. ¡°Anyway, you guys want to go again?¡± Ernie continued. ¡°I think I underestimated how far sixty points goes at that level. You want to hit him with half advanced this time, Jim?¡±
The second fight felt better to Hunter, but went pretty much the same except for the knockout ending. Now that Breaker was moving not much faster than he was, and wasn¡¯t going to take things lightly, the man started to bring his years of experience to bear. Hunter pushed a punch out of the way with a very slim margin, but before he could retaliate, got rocked back with a heavy blow to the shoulder. The next exchange, he twisted all the way out of the range of both Breaker¡¯s massive fists, and took a shoulder check that sent him to the floor and popped up his loss notification. The fight after that, he actually landed a few touches that would have signalled a win to one of Jenkins¡¯ farmbots, as he ducked forward and under a looping feint of a punch, then turned and jabbed his fingers in a pattern along the man¡¯s side that was supposed to hurt an awful lot. Against Breaker, it felt like poking a wall oh, he¡¯s a golem, and the fight continued, Hunter having to duck a quick, nasty back elbow. That bout ended when he tried to be fancy himself, dart in low and see if he couldn¡¯t aim for a tendon at the back of Breaker¡¯s knee, but only caught the other one in his chest for his trouble, actually lifting into the air for a brief moment before crashing back down. By the fourth round, Hunter was breathing heavily, the explosive bursts it took to put any power and speed behind his slight, subtle movements taking a toll, but he went into another stance and waited for the countdown anyway. He settled into one of the earlier forms he¡¯d learned, one palm facing up and ahead of him, the other hand in a weird little claw for nerve strikes and held behind. The rest of his body he kept loose, weight split evenly between both feet, his body turned at an angle on the border of open and closed, not quite facing his opponent but not fully in profile either. Hunter had a good feeling about this time, which, if he thought about it, probably meant the knock on his head earlier was harder than it had seemed at first. When the zero flashed in his Infra, he moved forward to meet Breaker head on, each step quick but careful, keeping his gaze on the man¡¯s hips and shoulders. The first two fights he¡¯d had an opening jab to deal with and the third a probing low kick toward his shins, basically the same strategy, so Hunter had a decision to make. Jimmy seemed like a professional, even while fighting a kid half his size, he stayed safe and cautious, leveraging his physical advantages with precise strikes instead of opening up to really crush him. So, he figured his only chance was to see what happened if Breaker actually opened up can¡¯t die but would die, and find out if the man had any gaps in his guard in the brief moment before he got clobbered. Hunter dropped right before getting into the range of one of Breaker¡¯s kicks, sliding forward on his left knee with his right leg extended toward Breaker¡¯s back foot. He kept one arm free to guard against a blow coming from overhead, while twisting his torso and sending his clawed fingers on the other hand at the inner thigh of Breaker¡¯s front leg. Ideally, he¡¯d never get this low while fighting, never slide forward in half of a splits just to see what happened, never threaten an unfair blow instead of just going for it, but the regular rules passed down from his mother just weren¡¯t working. So when Breaker twisted his right leg to take the finger strike on the top of his quad still tight guard, slid his other leg away from Hunter¡¯s kick even tighter, and went for a hip check that would have shoved the boy down to the ground shoulder check on someone taller, Hunter grabbed. One hand had a fistful of pants, his guarding arm over his head grabbed at shirt, and he launched himself upward to meet Breaker¡¯s hip with his shoulder, while pulling the opposite direction on the clothing. He didn¡¯t throw him. Hunter wasn¡¯t even good at that sort of thing, but he knew enough to fake an attempt, and it might have even worked if Breaker wasn¡¯t just enormous, but that wasn¡¯t the point. When he felt the larger man¡¯s arm hook under his and lift him up from the ground as easily as an empty sack, he managed to deflect the first punch that immediately followed with his knee that¡¯s a bruise, jab the fingers on his free hand into the hollow of Breaker¡¯s throat, and even make a half-decent attempt to wriggle out of the way of the second punch, but his luck ended there. If it didn¡¯t hurt so bad, Hunter later reflected, getting hit squarely in the gut so hard he went flying five or six feet was pretty fun. The aftermath was extremely awful, though, so when he¡¯d finally finished coughing up spit and wheezing, he choked out, ¡°I need a break, please.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± his uncle looked down at him and his mess, nodding. ¡°Take five, or ten. Catch your breath, kid.¡± Then he turned to his friends, opening his book again, and asked, ¡°Thoughts?¡± but Hunter was too distracted by his stomach and notifications to listen in.
You have lost your spar! Would you like to send a request for a rematch? Y/N You have raised Parry to one hundred (100). You have one (1) talent available from maxing your parry skill. You have earned two (2) achievements! You have two (2) free talents available from achievements. You have raised Touch Attack to one hundred (100). You have one (1) talent available from maxing your touch attack skill. You have advanced your [Soft Style Martial Arts] base skill to [Devilborn Soft Style]! You have raised each Body stat by three (3). Resilience now at 32/113. You have one (1) talent available from advancing a base skill. Your Style skill max rank has been raised to two hundred (200). Disclaimer: Combat path members cannot raise path skills above one hundred (100) while sparring or otherwise practicing. Advanced ranks require essence-generating conflict to progress.
¡°-why it¡¯s not a dead end, Pete. Some kid in Egypt-¡± ¡°Somalia,¡± Breaker interjected. ¡°Right, Somalia,¡± Ernie continued. ¡°Some kid in Somalia just broke the numbers on those two talents, and I think they¡¯re viable.¡± ¡°Hey, it¡¯s your nephew,¡± Pete said with his hands up. ¡°Besides, no offense Jimmy, but B.E.¡¯s are boring and take way too much healing. This could be one of them, you know, paradigm shifts.¡± ¡°Hey, umm, guys?¡± Hunter tried to interrupt, his voice still hoarse. ¡°I¡¯m going to need more than ten to figure this out.¡±
Hunter managed to get up and stumble to the corner of the room to have a seat leaning against the wall, as he looked over his too many options. He didn¡¯t even know what one of them was, and following the link didn¡¯t seem very helpful.
[Devilborn Soft Style] An offshoot of Devilbear Soft Style, this advanced martial art focuses on precise, minimalist defense and nerve and joint-disabling strikes, with either one¡¯s fingers or a staff. +three (3) to body stats
¡°I don¡¯t get it,¡± he muttered, then did what he¡¯d been taught to do any time he was stumped.
You have entered the [Training Room for Bump] messaging group. Nicknames have been enabled by the group creator.
[Hunter]: ok so, i got this achievement already but i didn¡¯t know what it did. [Young Expert] [Hunter]: did that link? good [Hunter]: anyway what the flip is a base skill? [Hunter]: because now i got this: [Devilborn Soft Style] and i¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s only called that cuz Ernie¡¯s friends are scared of u [Ernie]: Wow, kid. You advanced your style that quickly? Not bad. Guess that¡¯s what three separate boosts will do. [Ernie]: And yeah, they¡¯re not really scared of Cat, not exactly. More like, they feel your mother is way too much trouble to be on her bad side. [Mom]: Oh, are they still calling me Devil Hallahan out there? I swear, those men are just intimidated by a woman who knows how to stand up for herself. [Ernie]: Cat, they¡¯re intimidated by a woman who literally ripped the arm off of a seven foot tall robot, said ¡°Whoops, there¡¯s a person in there,¡± when yellow blood came spurting out, and then ripped off the other arm. [Hunter]: BLINK BLINK <- that¡¯s me blinking like whaaa [Mom]: Oh, never mind about that, bump. When you¡¯re older, much older, and you¡¯ve had enough experiences to put that sort of thing into a proper context, I¡¯ll tell you some stories about the early days. [Mom]: To answer your question, however, there are four generally recognized base skills, and the potential for a fifth. Affinity, which is basically magic, Infratech, magic science, Patron, a bigger yet less controlled magic, and Style, which is knowing how to fight. The fifth is generally customized, and I¡¯ve yet to encounter enough people with one to discern a pattern. [Mom]: When you become proficient with a number of skills that are grouped under a base skill, you¡¯ll ¡°unlock¡± that base. That means it will get a new name and a specialty. Style may be fighting in general, but Soft Style Martial Arts is all about evading blows, redirecting momentum, and controlling combat. [Mom]: When you advance your skills under a base even further, perhaps raising them to one hundred in what I¡¯m sure were safe and proper conditions, you advance your base and gain bonuses. Later, you can typically refine one base, which is a similar increase. [Ernie]: Perfectly safe conditions, Cat.
Huh, he thought. That¡¯s neat. Enable nicknames on all messages from now on, please. His mother and uncle had decided to chat a little about his progress, but Hunter was still thinking about what to choose, and dismissed the window to think. One rule they¡¯d given him was that he had to make all his own decisions when things like talents came up, something to do with Infra giving better options to those who worked out their ideas on their own. The old Emergency Protocols were weird, and Hunter had a thought that it was some sort of carry-over. ¡°Ok well, start with the easy ones,¡± he muttered.
Two (2) achievements unlocked!
[Skilled II] You have maxed two (2) skills. +one (1) free talent
[Quick Learner III] You have maxed two (2) skills at level one (1). +one (1) free talent
You have one (1) talent available from maxing your parry skill. Please pick from the following pool of parry talents.
[Sweeping Guard] You deflect blows with authority, unbalancing your foes. +strength difference to parry chance
[Fencing Knowledge] You are skilled enough at the fighting arts to use an opponent¡¯s skills against them. +ten percent (10%) of parry skill to attacks, when opponent attempts a parry (synergy)
[Deft Hands] You are careful and precise when you fight. reduce damage to weapons or body parts used for successful parries to zero (0)
You have one (1) talent available from maxing your touch attack skill. Please pick from the following pool of touch attack talents.
[Opportunist] You see no reason not to do two things at once. after a successful mitigation roll guarantee a free, reflexive touch attack
[Anatomy Study] You have built a reputation of striking where it hurts. +damage to critical successes on touch attacks (note: touch attacks still deal minimal damage normally)
[Bully] You are adept at controlling the flow of battle, and pushing people around. after a successful touch attack, -opponent¡¯s next mitigation roll
You have one (1) talent available from advancing your style base skill. Please pick from the following pool of style talents.
[Offensive Art] You are a monster on the battlefield, always attacking. -X mitigation chance, +X attack chance, +damage dealt (variable) (toggle) (synergy)
[Defensive Art] You have combined the evasive arts into a skilled dance. forgo direct attacks, combine parry and dodge skill values (avg. +20%) with full bonuses (100%) from both (toggle) (synergy)
[Tenacious Art] You are a mountain, a wall for attacks to bounce off of. reduce movement speed greatly (-90%), combine block and endure skill values (avg. +20%) with full bonuses (100%) from both (toggle) (synergy)
¡°Umm, yeah, flip. Those are the easy choices?¡± Hunter sighed and slumped further against the wall. He selected [Deft Hands] immediately one down, still feeling everywhere one of Breaker¡¯s blows bounced off him and looking forward to avoiding that particular ache in the future, and then peeked back into the message group, scrolling down past the very long argument going on.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
[Mom]: Ernest Michael Hallahan, if you want me to come over there and show James exactly how badly someone can get hurt even in an Infra-approved spar, I will be on my way to Kansas City as soon as I¡¯ve finished with class. [Hunter]: [Opportunist] [Defensive Art] [Hunter]: is this a combo? did i find my first combo? [Hunter]: i mean, umm. can i toggle on DA and still attack people with the other one? [Ernie]: Actually, yeah. What do you know. Usually the opportunity attack talents are much higher up the tree, and do reduced damage. Never seen anyone actually focus on touch attacks. They¡¯re more of a mage thing, kid. [Hunter]: so dodge parry dodge free touch attack BOOM KO? [Hunter]: combo!
He took his new talents, closed his eyes, and imagined the fights with Breaker. He already had a good idea of the mistakes he¡¯d made, but with the new abilities swirling around in his offload or however that works, he could see movements he wouldn¡¯t, couldn¡¯t have done that were possible now. He still wasn¡¯t entirely comfortable with the idea of part of his brain living and working somewhere else, somewhere outside of the actual universe, but the benefits were pretty nice. Free talents were much more intimidating than the pool choices. At one point, Hunter had looked at the actual, complete list that was available to him, and had immediately gotten a sharp pain like lightning flashing around in his skull from the scrolling text. There were hundreds, if not thousands of tweaks Infra would be glad to apply, and for the most part he just tried to ignore them or else he¡¯d be locked into the screen for weeks, comparing the math. Luckily, the filtering system seemed to be the one aspect of Infra worked without giving him any further sass or headaches, and now he needed to use it liberally. He already had some rules that he¡¯d worked out with his mom and uncle, some easy guidelines to tell him which of Ernie¡¯s three categories a talent fell into. He¡¯d said anything Infra would offer would either be worth it, situational, or a trap. Worth it talents were things like the percentage boost to dodge he¡¯d taken, where you get a clear, obvious boost to something that¡¯s worthwhile to you. Traps were things like Bully, because it didn¡¯t really do much at the end of the day. If you could land a touch attack already, Hunter figured, you didn¡¯t need to drop your opponent¡¯s mitigation. Maybe there was something to it, but he couldn¡¯t see it. The situational pile could obviously go either way, but since there were so many to choose from in the first place, if he wasn¡¯t immediately sure about the benefit, then it wasn¡¯t good enough. Show me, umm, he paused in his thoughts. Ok, show me some talents that will boost dodge or parry chance. And or. Including ones I can unlock with one talent and pick with the other. Sort by, what¡¯s the word, efficacy?
[Parry Expert] Locked (take one (1) more parry-related talent to unlock). You have taken the next step along the path to being an expert at deflecting attacks, and now even close grazes pose no threat. greatly reduce (-90%) the incidence of incoming glancing blows
[Hard to Hit] Unlocked (Dodge Expert taken). You are hardly ever in the path of an opponent¡¯s strike. +fifteen percent (15%), additive, to all dodge rolls
[Practiced Parry] You have worked at and succeeded at deflecting oncoming attacks. +ten percent (10%), additive, to parry rolls
¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense,¡± he mumbled, rubbing at his temples. ¡°Glancing blows? Why¡¯d the tutorial suck so hard?¡±
[Ernie]: In conclusion, Cat, and by in conclusion I mean I¡¯m done talking about it, you asked me to do this. No, wait, you and Henry asked me to do this, and you both knew how I do things. In fact, it¡¯s a little telling that he didn¡¯t ask you to drag the kid out into the woods and make a fifth baby bear out of him, isn¡¯t it? This is the best way to do it, and the fact that you¡¯re implying I just said, ¡°Breaker, smash him,¡± is frankly pretty offensive, considering. Leave it alone, Cat. He¡¯s a good kid, and he¡¯s doing well. [Hunter]: hey guys, it¡¯s me. back again [Hunter]: sort by efficacy is supposed to show me which is better on top, right? [Hunter]: so why¡¯s [Parry Expert] > [Hard to Hit]? [Hunter]: what¡¯s a glancing blow? [Jimmy Barnes] has entered the group. [Breaker]: Hey, kid. Your family took their fight to another window. Sorry, I know what that¡¯s like. [Hunter]: oh. oh hey Breaker. i¡¯m still not ready. trying to figure something out [Breaker]: Yeah, Ernie sent me in to help, if I can.
Hunter glanced up and noticed he was alone in the training room, then laughed a little. He didn¡¯t realize how long this was taking, and everyone else must have cleared out.
[Hunter]: hey, thanks. umm, dunno if this matters, but i don¡¯t think you hit me too hard [Breaker]: It probably doesn¡¯t, but I appreciate it. [Breaker]: I don¡¯t know what I was expecting, but you didn¡¯t do half-bad. Good form, good instincts. Maybe a little crazy when you¡¯re out of ideas, but that¡¯ll just make you get more ideas. [Hunter]: aww, thanks [Hunter]: so glancing blows? what are they? [Breaker]: Ok, I¡¯m not up on the math like Ernie, so I¡¯ll just give you the gist. [Breaker]: Say you¡¯re just as good as fighting as someone else, nerds like your uncle¡¯ll call that the fifty-fifty. You hit em half the time, you miss the other half. [Hunter]: haha, nerds. got it. [Breaker]: But if you¡¯re just as good as someone, and they¡¯re higher level, you don¡¯t got that fifty-fifty no more. Stuff that shoulda hit will graze for not a lot of damage, and stuff you shoulda blocked fine will nick you for a point or two. [Breaker]: You wanna get a real hit in, you don¡¯t gotta beat the guy, you gotta beat him and however much higher level than you he is. [Hunter]: level diff then? so if Ernie shoots at me, i have to dodge by, umm, 402 higher than whatever he rolls? [Breaker]: Sounds about right, yeah. [Hunter]: and with [Parry Expert], it¡¯d only be 40? wowowow [Breaker]: Sure, kid. But how often are you planning on fighting anything that much higher than you? [Hunter]: much as i can, i figure. hey you wanna go one last time? see if i got any better? [Hunter]: and do you know how i can get some resilience back? i¡¯m awful hurt
Hunter took the two parry talents, and then when Breaker brought him down something he called a med focus, he sat for a while with it until he figured it out. Now that he¡¯d integrated, Hunter had noticed that meditating like his mother had taught him to didn¡¯t just clear his thoughts, it also restored his missing vigor after exercising. According to Breaker, it did the same for his affinity and resilience too, just the resilience rose a lot more slowly than the others. But by holding onto this weird, thrumming cube, he could apparently concentrate on one stat to replenish a bit more quickly, and this particular focus was good for his health. After a while, when he wasn¡¯t quite full but definitely feeling better, Hunter set the focus down, stood up, and stretched out his back and legs after being hunched over in the corner for too long. He looked over at Breaker, who was leaning against the opposite wall, huge arms folded, pale and constantly sleepy looking, and wondered. Jimmy ¡°Breaker¡± Barnes was a big man, that was easy to figure out, but even after getting to know him for a while, Hunter still couldn¡¯t decide what else he was. ¡°Hey, Breaker,¡± Hunter said as he made his way to the middle of the room and settled into a stance, sending a spar request. ¡°You¡¯ve been at this adventuring thing a while, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, guess you could say that,¡± was his reply as he ambled over and accepted. ¡°Half advanced again?¡± ¡°Nah, half peak, please.¡± Hunter hesitated a moment before figuring out how to activate his defensive art, then shifted his feet to a form that felt more comfortable, weight on one foot, the other out in front about a foot, ready to lift from the ground. He kept his arms loose, hands held up in front, then with another glance at his opponent¡¯s height how do I keep forgetting that, lifted them a bit more. ¡°You ever think about it like, ¡®aww nuts, what am I doing?¡¯¡± ¡°Well,¡± Breaker said as the counter flashed zero, then moved forward and snapped a quick pair of jabs at Hunter, who ducked the first, slapped the second to the side, and then pushed with his foot, not quite a kick, leading leg against leading leg, to make a quick step backward. ¡°I don¡¯t think I ever said it in quite those terms, but sure.¡± ¡°What, umm,¡± Hunter had to duck a third jab, then dart forward and to Breaker¡¯s left to avoid the followup snap kick. ¡°I mean, what did you do after? To get over it.¡± He was still low and a bit out of position, but managed to knock the swinging left elbow over his head, digging his fingers into the nerves just below, then stepped through to resume a comfortable distance. ¡°Nice,¡± his opponent said under his breath, before feinting another quick kick that Hunter fell for, and then twisting to deliver a right cross that would definitely knock the boy flat. ¡°Not much, really. Never happened when I had time to think about it.¡± Breaker whiffed the punch by a less than an inch when Hunter ducked even lower, then stepped in to drive a rising knee into the teen¡¯s chest. ¡°Oh, right,¡± Hunter was twisted at the waist, almost in a full crouch as the knee sailed toward him, but he quickly uncoiled, both hands flat as they slapped at the side of Breaker¡¯s knee to change the trajectory, the sheer force behind it sending him skidding back a few steps, managing to get himself upright while the man followed up, close behind. ¡°Kinda a crisis thing, then.¡± ¡°Yup,¡± he replied before launching a quick combination at the teen, right, left, faking a knee, then another left. Hunter guided the first punch away with one hand, his body swaying in the opposite direction, leaned back and slap the second fist upward with barely any room to spare between his nose and Breaker¡¯s knuckles, didn¡¯t even see the feint with his head tilted back briefly to the ceiling, and then spun completely out of the way of the third punch, only reaching out to brush his fingertips against Breaker¡¯s wrist as it sailed past. ¡°Hey, that stings, kid.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Hunter exclaimed, wide-eyed, and then held his hands up. ¡°I yield, I yield.¡± ¡°It was just getting good, you sure?¡± ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯m exhausted,¡± Hunter laughed and then slumped forward, hands on his knees. ¡°Did that last one really hurt?¡± ¡°It stung,¡± was the reply, but Breaker was grinning as he said it, shaking out his hand. ¡°So, you¡¯re worried you¡¯re racing off into danger for no good reason, then.¡± ¡°Umm, pretty much?¡± ¡°You see those kids from the college everyday, I hear. They ever seem like they know what they¡¯re doing?¡± ¡°Nah,¡± Hunter bit back a laugh that would¡¯ve been mean. ¡°I mean, Ajit¡¯s pretty smart. But, umm, they¡¯re all learning stuff, they just can¡¯t really explain why?¡± ¡°Plenty of the old K.C. orders hanging around town, still. Ever look at them and think they got the right idea, either?¡± ¡°No, but, they don¡¯t seem to do much either,¡± he said with a frown, still panting. ¡°They do some, but in their own way. Look, kid. I ain¡¯t some motivational speaker here. I just know, I¡¯ve had bad times. Lost people. Had a crisis or two, like ya said. But I kept going, and you wanna know why?¡± Hunter straightened up, looked at the big man, really looked at him instead of marvelling, and mumbled, ¡°Because you had to?¡± ¡°Because I had to. Because doing anything else with my life didn¡¯t seem right. Same as you, looking round and wondering what you should be doing, when you¡¯re already doing it. Should drag you out, toss your skinny butt in a Source, and tell you ¡®I told you so,¡¯ when you come out dragging the worst thing in there. Kid who ain¡¯t supposed to be fighting for a living ain¡¯t going to get that much better at fighting in a day. Don¡¯t worry about stuff too hard. ¡°Now, get some rest. Ernie¡¯ll be out of the fit he¡¯s having on account of your ma by tomorrow, and probably work you twice as hard.¡± Breaker clapped him on the shoulder and sent him stumbling before walking off.
¡°So,¡± Ernie said as Hunter wandered in from his exercises the next day. ¡°I hear you went half peak against Jim yesterday. Sorry I wasn¡¯t there to see it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s, yeah,¡± he mumbled as he poured himself some cereal. ¡°I know how Mom gets, I guess it was bound to happen sometime? She¡¯s not, umm, headed over here right now, is she?¡± ¡°Nah, kid,¡± his uncle said with a faint chuckle relief, ¡°We worked it out. That¡¯s part of why I started you on sparring. Your mother likes Breaker a lot more than Walker, and if you got banged up learning something from Pete, she¡¯d burn this whole city down.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll just make sure I don¡¯t get banged up then, sure.¡± ¡°Right, right. Optimism, good plan. So, bet you¡¯re wondering what¡¯s next.¡± ¡°Well,¡± Hunter said in between bites, ¡°I¡¯ve still got staff to max out. Never could get the hang of fighting the bots with it, so it¡¯s trailing.¡± ¡°Already talked to Jim about it. Next time he¡¯s got a day to blow, he says you can try to hit him with a stick all day. Don¡¯t think he knows how heavy that stick of yours is, though,¡± Ernie said with a wink. ¡°Oh. Sounds fun.¡± ¡°Let me ask you a question, and don¡¯t get offended, please.¡± Hunter just nodded and kept eating in response. ¡°From what I can tell, you don¡¯t know all that much about skills, even the ones you already have.¡± ¡°Oh, for sure!¡± Hunter laughed, then stopped abruptly, embarrassed. ¡°I did a lot of research on the tablet you got me, but it¡¯s all really kids on there you know? Everyone on Plus, umm, mostly talked about talents and magic and stuff. Skills are just like, what you do though, right?¡± ¡°In a way, yeah. They are just what you do,¡± Ernie paused for a moment and sighed. ¡°Jim said you didn¡¯t even know what meditation is for, in Infra?¡± ¡°Well, I mean,¡± Hunter¡¯s voice trailed off. ¡°It¡¯s for centering myself in the world. Don¡¯t use it for recovery, really. But I guess I could, huh. I mean, I will.¡± ¡°Look, kid. Just pull up your general skills in detail and share it over. I¡¯ll walk you through it.¡± Hunter pulled up his menu and fiddled with it a little, only seeing the barest names and numbers for his skills, but after a moment he figured out how to zoom in deeper, mumbling, ¡°Wow.¡±
General Skills
Athletics: 80/100 Running, jumping, climbing, swimming, and every other way you can use your body for getting places faster. (body) +movement speed, -vigor usage
Awareness: 45/100 Finding the hidden, whether it be sneaking foes or buried treasures. (mind) -opposing surprise bonuses, +detecting traps
Meditation: 62/100 Letting yourself be one with the circle of essence that runs through you and the rest of existence. (spirit) (toggle) +resource recovery, +recent skill gains
Stealth: 32/100 Skulking in the shadows and the quiet, avoiding undue attention. (wield) -opposing awareness rolls, -noise created
¡°Any questions, or?¡± Ernie trailed off. ¡°Umm,¡± Hunter bit his lip, reading the screen. ¡°Sure, what¡¯s wield mean? I get body, mind and spirit, but wield?¡± ¡°Really?¡± Ernie gave him a quizzical look, to which he just shrugged. ¡°Carry, wield, bear?¡± ¡°Total blank,¡± he said, and shrugged again even harder. ¡°They¡¯re the rows your stats are organized on. Carry is strength-¡± ¡°Oh, power, speed, and endurance?¡± Hunter cut him off. ¡°Why the funny names?¡± ¡°Is that what the kids are calling them, these days?¡± ¡°Yeah, why?¡± he frowned as he spoke. ¡°It tracks, right?¡± ¡°Not,¡± Ernie paused a moment, ¡°exactly. See, the thing is, for all of Infra¡¯s number-crunching and data-tracking, at its core it wants to be a holistic system. For instance, hmm, agility. You¡¯re a fan of that one, right?¡± ¡°Yessir.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just how fast you are, you know that right?¡± Hunter nodded and Ernie continued, ¡°It¡¯s how well you place your feet on uneven ground, how often you get the trash in the bin from across the room. It¡¯s a number for how well you wield your body, same as intelligence isn¡¯t just the speed you think at, but how well you do it.¡± ¡°Ok so, carry wield bear, carry wield bear,¡± Hunter said under his breath. ¡°Got it. More questions? I mean, I¡¯ve got more questions. The bonuses each skill gives, that¡¯s not all they do right?¡± ¡°Right,¡± his uncle nodded and smiled, apparently glad they were back on track. ¡°Once again, holistic system. Anything that sounds like it would fit under a skill, it probably does. There might be a numerical bonus, there might not.¡± ¡°And like, those are the only four skills Infra has? Out of all the stuff you can do, that¡¯s it? I mean, where¡¯s like, finding roots to eat?¡± ¡°That would be survival,¡± Ernie said, ¡°And it¡¯s a general skill too, you¡¯re right. But Infra only tracks four skills per base, maximum, and it selected the four that you were best with at integration. There¡¯s a way to swap them out for different bonuses, but to be honest, kid, that¡¯s a pretty good set for a soloist.¡± ¡°So Mom probably has teaching in her general skills, Dad has farming, and I got farming in other paths, because?¡± ¡°Other path skills are, hmm,¡± Ernie started. ¡°They¡¯re complicated. You won¡¯t get any bonuses from them, but you can use them. So for farming,¡± he paused again, probably to check his Infra, ¡°there are plants you can¡¯t even try growing without a rating. So I guess you won¡¯t ever be an expert at it, but you can still do more than the average person.¡± ¡°Makes sense, sorta?¡± Hunter nodded along, poking around his other skill screens while he listened. ¡°So, for your next step, I want you to raise all those general skills, unless you can find some you¡¯d rather have to replace them.¡± ¡°You want me to, umm,¡± he paused as he looked at the descriptions again. ¡°Basically do what I¡¯ve been doing my whole life, just harder?¡± ¡°Not exactly.¡±
Hunter thought back to that conversation a few days later, as he held onto a very narrow ledge about ten stories off the ground, trying to calm himself enough to get back a little energy from meditation. He didn¡¯t, on reflection, think that Ernie had been completely forthright about what kind of challenge this was going to be, but on the other hand, maybe his uncle just believed in him. A few years back, apparently, a bored Arax resident of the city had gone around and painted a series of murals in bright, vivid colors as a sort of thank you gift to the humans for being so welcoming during the troubled times. Except, as Hunter¡¯s friend Kiki liked to remind him often, Arax almost never do things simply, and absolutely never do things that aren¡¯t infuriatingly amusing. The pictures zhe¡¯d put up were about a foot square when they weren¡¯t irregularly shaped, and were scattered around the entire Alien Town area in no particular order. A few enterprising folks had, from time to time, collected as many holoscans of these mural pieces as they could and puzzled them all together, then tried to sell the reproductions as a souvenir of sorts. That never lasted long, however, because the Arax had collectively decided that the journey to view the art was just as important as the art itself, or at least that¡¯s what they said. Hunter suspected they just thought it was funny to tell people it was culturally insensitive to sell the paintings. Already, he¡¯d found four fragments of the mural, and one piece of old graffiti that looked awfully like one from a distance. His fifth was inside the abandoned building Hunter was hanging off of, that had been damaged at some point in the recent past and seemed ready to collapse, and was just a splash of eye-catching pink and green just inside the window. Trips was clinging to the shoulder of his armored coat, worn just because it would protect him at least a little if he ever fell, and had already taken the holopic for him after he climbed up. The reason he was still holding on instead of looking for the next piece, the reason he had time to wonder how much of a sadist his uncle was, the reason his fingers were cramping on the ledge and his bright yellow sneakers were slipping on the slick window underneath, was that there were people underneath him, who¡¯d wandered by as he was peeking in windows one by one. He could have made his way down, since usually derelict buildings like this one didn¡¯t have more than one of the pieces except when it¡¯d be funny to make an exception, but he was pretty sure he¡¯d be seen if he slid down. The theory, as Ernie had explained it, was that you could unlock your general base skill into something interesting, even if it was a fairly rare occurrence, that the best way to do it would be to use three or four of the skills all at once, and that an even better way would be by following your path as you did it. So Hunter spent most days exploring downtown, in and out of buildings as well as up and down them, searching for a vast, hidden piece of artwork that he was sure would turn out to be some lewd joke, and he did as much of it as he could trying to stay unseen himself. He¡¯d crawled under more huge garbage cans in a week than he¡¯d ever even seen or thought an area could have, he¡¯d fallen off an oldtech lamppost and almost been arrested by the SysPols, and he¡¯d figured out where to hit an old window and how hard to break it as silently as possible, among other things. In general, Hunter was having a lot of fun, even if at that moment he specifically wasn¡¯t. On top of that, each time he found something interesting, Infra dropped a few crystals into his currency account and he wondered what level he¡¯d be by now if he wasn¡¯t wearing the armband. He just really wished that the group of people underneath him would stop talking nothing is that interesting, so that he could shimmy down and take a nap. When he finally climbed down, Hunter wondered, more than a little sheepishly, why an extra point or two of stealth seemed important when falling from way up there was a possible consequence of earning it. That was not a question he could innocently drop into the training room group, though. He¡¯d have to find someone else he trusted if he really wanted to explore that. ¡°Hey, Mom,¡± he said to Trips as he walked home. ¡°I think I¡¯m doing dangerous things for minimal gains, and it was all Ernie¡¯s idea.¡± The bot did a tiny bob up and down that made its pistons whirr, which Hunter thought might be how it expressed amusement, and he laughed along with it. ¡°That would be pretty funny, if it didn¡¯t get all of us killed.¡± 7: Never Been Home Alone Hunter had been subscribed to a lot of message groups when he was on his tablet still, using Limited Plus. He¡¯d been on boards for interesting talents, rare classes, vs. battles, and whatever other discussions seemed interesting should¡¯ve looked for stats and skills. Since Plano happened, and the weird message from his fortune-teller friend, Veras, he¡¯d also added a lot of news, speculation, and if he was being unkind, conspiracy discussions as well. When he integrated, he kept his contacts, but lost a lot of the subscriptions, since Infra kept a very strict segregation policy between adults and minors for the most part. He still had access to all his news feeds, however, and they were all set to search particularly for anything to do with Slides, emergencies, and especially a combination of the two. He filtered most into a couple categories, based on how much they worried him. The first group consisted of problems with historically safe Slides, like what happened in Plano. No one really wanted to talk about it, but he¡¯d dug up enough information to figure out a rough outline of what had happened. Apparently, when the Slides opened nineteen years before, Plano was one of the lucky places, like Kansas City had been. Their Slide wasn¡¯t nearly as big, but the only thing that came out of it were cooperative people the size of, and with a vague resemblance to, baby elephants, except with a much greater number of prehensile trunks. The residents of the town had worked with them peacefully for thirteen years, most of which they spent on what Hunter could only find referenced as ¡°The Grand Project.¡± It was something to do with the Project, apparently, that destroyed their Slide, opened countless, hostile others, and levelled most of the town. By the time anyone showed up down there who could report back, there weren''t any of the elephant-people left, and no one was sure if that was an intentional consequence of the Project or not. The second category Hunter was worried about was regular or irregular Slide growths, like the one under the bridge back home. Everyone knew that you didn¡¯t leave a migrating Slide alone for too long, unless you wanted it depositing too much trouble to handle in your general vicinity. But sometimes they didn¡¯t follow the rules, didn¡¯t have proper timelines you could plan for, and became immediate problems. The last thing Hunter kept an eye out for were small, threatened towns and redoubts. He wasn¡¯t on the Emergency Listing yet himself, but it was the plan when it seemed like a safe, prudent idea. He had no idea, before that, how often something bad happened to the otherwise boring existence that most little places enjoyed. That¡¯s why, near the middle of April, when Hunter had been in the city for a few weeks, there was another Slide-related emergency, this time around Sioux Falls, and he wasn¡¯t surprised at all. It wasn¡¯t a big one, just a mix of Hunter¡¯s type two and type three, no giant Infra broadcast needed, but it was serious enough that they were looking for moderate-level adventurers to come help out. It turned out that Breaker had friends up there, and Fourex was one of the first groups they got into contact with. ¡°Your dad said he¡¯d ride in with the spring cabbage, but that¡¯s about a three day trip, and they don¡¯t leave until tomorrow. Fresh over fast. Said you¡¯d get it,¡± Ernie told him while he was packing up. ¡°They brought the ice box guy back? Ugh, he¡¯s the worst,¡± Hunter mumbled. ¡°So, Dad¡¯ll be here in four days-¡± ¡°Five if the Topeka mess is acting up.¡± ¡°Five days, maybe. Huh.¡± ¡°Right, so there¡¯s enough food to last you in the pantry, especially if you keep eating at every Arax hole in the wall restaurant you find, don¡¯t go into Pete¡¯s lab, and keep up the scavenger hunt. If anything goes really wrong, you know the codes to the panic room.¡± ¡°Hey, umm,¡± Hunter started, then stopped. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, you¡¯ll be fine. Lock the doors when you¡¯re out, and when you¡¯re in if you¡¯ve got a bad feeling. This is a pretty good town though, kid.¡± Then they were gone, hurrying out the door to a teleport mage, or a fast caravan, Hunter wasn¡¯t sure maybe just running the whole way. He sat down at the front desk, where they¡¯d have a receptionist if they ever had that kind of business, and drummed his fingers on the hard, fake wood surface. He wasn¡¯t surprised by the emergency, but he did feel a little blindsided that his uncle and the other two men would run off so quickly to deal with it. After a while of just thinking to himself, he looked over at his helperbot, who was pacing back and forth in front of the desk, and grinned. ¡°Hey, Trips. I think we need to throw a party.¡±
Before he could get on that, though, there was work to do. Hunter was just about finished with his athletics skill, and the plan he¡¯d made with Ernie about a rare upgrade had him very interested in getting it done. He also thought that maybe, if he was being introspective, he might be feeling nervous about his idea what if no one comes. So, instead of buying food, or organizing a guest list, or whatever else someone did when they wanted to throw a real life secret adult party, Hunter was out in an abandoned train station, jumping from train car to train car. It was good practice for two reasons, in his opinion. While he wasn¡¯t scared of heights, he was definitely wary of being in the air, sailing from one place to another. One of the lessons his mom had implied during exercises was that the easiest target to hit, after a stationary one, was one suspended in the air. If you stayed in contact with something, the ground, a tree, a wall, you could always manage to change directions. So he definitely needed to practice jumping, if anything just to finally get comfortable enough with it to max his skill. His other reason for doing that somewhere deserted was that he didn¡¯t know what he¡¯d accidentally blurt out if he saw anyone he knew downtown. ¡°Hey! Do you want to come to my party,¡± he shouted to Trips, who was watching him as he jumped from an intact car to a very wobbly ruined one. ¡°I¡¯ll have granola, I guess? And music if I can figure it out? Ugh.¡± After another two jumps, the second almost turning disastrous when the roof he landed on collapsed underneath him with a screech of tearing metal, and only barely managing to roll onto the next, slightly less dangerous panel, Hunter got the alert he¡¯d been waiting for.
You have raised Athletics to one hundred (100). You have one (1) talent available from maxing your athletics skill. You have earned (2) achievements! You have two (2) free talents available from achievements. You have unlocked your General base skill into [Explorer]!
Hunter wobbled a little on the top of the train car, flashed Trips a quick thumbs up, and then hopped down to the ground. He pulled up his Infra as they started to walk back to the building, still trying to get used to paying attention to his screens and his regular vision at the same time.
Two (2) achievements unlocked!
[Skilled III] You have maxed four (4) skills. +one (1) free talent
[Quick Learner IV] You have maxed four (4) skills before level ten (10). +one (1) free talent
¡°Uh oh,¡± he muttered, checking his previous achievements. ¡°One, two, four. That¡¯s going to slow down a lot.¡± He shrugged, then selected [Hard to Hit] and the equivalent talent for parry, [Flurry Wall]. ¡°So, another thirty percent to mitigation like that? That puts me at, wow, peak mortal? Wish the rest of this was that easy, huh Trips.¡± He glanced over at the little robot, ambling along beside him on its three legs, and it bounced agreeably as he talked to it. Every so often, Trips would snatch up a piece of trash on the ground and carry it along with them for a half a block or so, walking on two clamp feet until they passed a bin for it to discard it in. ¡°How much, umm, of what I say do you understand, buddy?¡± The bot did its little shrug, hopping along one one limb for a few paces, and Hunter chuckled. ¡°Enough, I guess. Back to paperwork, then. You¡¯ve got trash duty handled.¡±
[Explorer] The ancient and sometimes noble pursuit of the next discovery, the next untouched land, with a particular focus on going far and staying safe. N/A
¡°Hey, wait. No bonuses?¡± he muttered. Hunter just stared at the screen with a frown until it changed with a flicker.
[Explorer] The ancient and sometimes noble pursuit of the next discovery, the next untouched land, with a particular focus on going far and staying safe. N/A (note: unlocked base skills provide no bonuses, except a minor +to skill gain when utilizing the associated skills in a manner consistent with the outlined aspect)
¡°Ok, that¡¯s better,¡± he nodded. ¡°Trips, remind me to just bully Infra any time I¡¯m confused. Way better than causing family fights.¡±
You have one (1) talent available from maxing your athletics skill. Please pick from the following pool of athletics talents.
[Fleet Footed] You are quite the fast traveller. +ten percent (10%) to non-combat movement speed
[Breath Training] You have learned tricks to conserve your energy. reduce vigor usage by half (-50%)
[Leaper] You have practiced jumping from place to place quite a lot. +ten percent (10%) to max leaping distance in all forms
¡°In fact, I don¡¯t even need to ask anyone for help. I know the rules, right Trips?¡± Hunter chuckled. ¡°Non-combat speed is a trap, because there are travel talents later. I hate jumping, and Devilborn drains vigor like nobody¡¯s business. Easy easy.¡± He selected his talent and then walked the rest of the way in relative silence, flashing his staff in and out of his hand occasionally to have something to do. He keyed in the code for the front door when he arrived and slipped in, hesitating in the big, glass entryway and leaning on his stick. ¡°So,¡± he said under his breath, ¡°this is fine. We could eat something, maybe? I¡¯m kind of hungry I guess. Plenty of sandwich stuff, I should make a few before it has a chance to go bad. Then we¡¯ll figure out how to work the music again. You think, umm, they have anything other than that car crash stuff? Probably dadrock, I guess, they¡¯re all the same age. ¡®These are records, Hunter, and you¡¯ll never find better music than on these,¡¯ he says. Plus I¡¯ve got you to talk to, Trips, even if you maybe don¡¯t get what I¡¯m saying? It¡¯s only five days maybe, and we¡¯ll have the party one day, so that¡¯s a whole day that doesn¡¯t count. I just gotta get ready for the party, then it¡¯ll only be four days. Maybe we can find a band? People in college make bands all the time, or something, they¡¯ve gotta. Then Dad will come and it will be a bummer, because we¡¯re responsible adults and can totally live on our own. I mean, I¡¯m a responsible adult, you¡¯re like two months old. We¡¯re gonna be ok, Trips. This is fine. It¡¯s great.¡±
An hour so later, Hunter sat in one of the large, round chairs the Arax preferred, petting the thing that Kiki insisted was called a fox, that was draped across his lap. It didn¡¯t look like any fox he¡¯d ever heard of, being closer in resemblance to a shark head the size of a large loaf of bread that ran along close to the ground on a few dozen insect legs, but it was Kiki¡¯s place and zher pet, and so therefore it was a fox. Its coal black skin was surprisingly soft to the touch, and judging from the humming noise coming from its ten-pound body, it seemed to enjoy the attention. Another one in rust red chuffed softly but constantly as it and Trips chased each other around the living area. Kiki¡¯s apartment was nice and huge, Hunter thought. Zhe had an entire floor in one of the buildings downtown, with almost all the walls knocked down except a few for support and a couple for privacy, which left a very open space zhe called the receiving room just outside the stairwell. There were rugs everywhere, piled in some places, hanging from the walls in others, some that looked like zhe¡¯d scavenged or bought around town, but others that were so odd they must have come from zher home. The entire space was dim, not too dark to see, but definitely a lower light level than Hunter was used to. Kiki had said that while zher people tended to enjoy the novelty of the bright sun on Earth, for comfort they preferred things a little more subdued. Kiki zherself was wearing a long dress like usual, this time in a shimmering emerald color, the bottom of it almost hanging to the floor as zhe walked, and draped around zher numerous legs while zhe sat with them tucked underneath zher. Zher skin, which usually looked like a shiny, if muted pink in the daylight, seemed to shimmer with the darkness, almost translucent like his mother¡¯s pink quartz bracelet. Zhe wore a scarf wrapped around the top of zher head in the same color as zher dress, sharp ears pointing out a handspan to each side from beneath it, occasionally adjusting it with one of zher long thumbclaws. Zher solid black eyes somehow seemed to sparkle as zhe chatted, zhe¡¯d flare zher nostril slits when zhe found something amusing, and zher grin, wide as zher face with so many teeth, stayed lit up for the majority of their conversation. He was watching that grin as zhe told him a funny story about the two days zhe looked for the downtown murals, the way zher lower jaw split just a little while zhe talked, when he had a thought. ¡°Umm, Kiki?¡± he didn¡¯t quite interrupt. ¡°You¡¯re not speaking English, right?¡± ¡°No, my dear, I am most definitely not,¡± zhe said with one of zher soft, teasing snorts. ¡°Dreadful language, that one. So very convoluted, and I couldn¡¯t bear to even try. Why do you ask?¡± ¡°Well, umm. You¡¯re like the only person I really know who¡¯s not a human, and maybe the only one who¡¯s not from around here. Other than Ajit, he might be from far away. When he says back home, I dunno where he means, but he says it like it¡¯s far. But, well, it sounds like English when you talk, and it looks like your mouth¡¯s moving with the words. That¡¯s weird?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t suppose,¡± zhe replied, eyes sparkling even more, ¡°that you¡¯ll be satisfied with an answer that amounts to a cheeky finger wave and the words, ¡®Infra magic,¡¯ will you?¡± ¡°Umm, no? I mean I could, but it¡¯s still weird.¡± ¡°That is why I find your company so delectable, my lovely little Red. You¡¯re accepting and questioning all at once, and it¡¯s such a wonderful little contradiction. I could hand you a magic wand to solve all your problems, and you¡¯d stumble over yourself saying ¡®thank you¡¯ and ¡®why¡¯ at the same time.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Hunter laughed a little nervously. ¡°Thank you?¡± ¡°You¡¯re so very welcome, dear boy. Because you asked, and because I cannot possibly deny one of my youngest and oldest friends on this planet, I¡¯ll let you in on quite the fun little secret.¡± Kiki leaned forward as zhe spoke, zher grin growing even wider how, teeth shiny in the dim light. ¡°You¡¯re not speaking English, either.¡± ¡°Wait, what. I¡¯m not?¡± ¡°I told you it was fun, didn¡¯t I?¡± zhe said as she leaned back, fixing zher headscarf and flaring zher nostrils wide. ¡°I¡¯m sure there are some English words clambering around in your head, for delightfully human concepts like an ¡®athletic shoe,¡¯ or a ¡®puppy parade.¡¯ But for the most part, you¡¯re speaking Infra, same as I am, same as nearly everyone civilized that you¡¯ll find in any half-decent dimension in the world.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense, though,¡± Hunter whined as he flopped back on the chair, the fox on his lap chuffing and crawling further up his chest. ¡°Mom taught me English. I think in English, right?¡± ¡°Oh, Red, you¡¯re almost there,¡± Kiki whispered. ¡°Grasp with those fleshy little claws, with that quicksilver morsel of a brain, and tell me what you really think.¡± ¡°I think in Infra?¡± Hunter mumbled to himself. ¡°Everyone thinks in Infra, even before you¡¯re on Infra. But it¡¯s such a mind-bogglingly complicated language that I tell myself I¡¯m thinking in something simple, like English? So my brain doesn¡¯t melt out my ears.¡± ¡°There you go, my dear. That was beautiful, like a baby clawing zher way out of a mound, screaming and fussing as zhe takes zher first real breath.¡± ¡°Umm,¡± Hunter blushed, then mumbled. ¡°Wait, does everyone know this? I always think I find things out slow.¡± ¡°Oh, the sublimed tend to realize it along their journey, and when they remember to tell anyone it starts to come out, but I wouldn¡¯t say it¡¯s so common to be embarrassed, my dear. I¡¯ve even met people from full member worlds that should have known better, but were convinced that everyone in the entire multiverse was simply speaking their one, true language. Dreadful little goblins they were, but amusing in a terrible way.¡± ¡°I thought, you know, umm, you were speaking one thing and I was hearing something else.¡± ¡°And that Infra had its tendrils buried in your eye sockets, convincing you that my mandibles were moving in a manner completely contradictory to the truth? Oh, Red, that¡¯s positively ghastly, and you should be ever so ashamed you even thought it. It¡¯s almost as confusing and invasive an idea as the truth, don¡¯t you think?¡± Hunter laughed at that, but it was an uneasy one, at best. ¡°Will you do me the honor, you beautiful boy,¡± Kiki said as zhe gathered zher dress and stood, ¡°of allowing me to treat you to dinner? Don¡¯t you dare think I haven¡¯t heard stories lately of the fire-haired boy gobbling up every interesting bit of food in the city that he can. I doubt you¡¯ve found everything worth discovering, though, and it would please me to no end to find you a new favorite.¡±Stolen novel; please report.
Dinner was good, really good, and Hunter thought maybe he ate too much, but also that it was worth it. Half the things on his plate were fairly recognizable, while the other half were delicious foods he¡¯d never seen before coming to the city. That was on par with the other restaurants he¡¯d been to lately, having realized that liking fresh and boldly-flavored vegetables from Earth was an Arax trait in general and not one specific to Kiki. He had just finished slurping the end of something noodle it¡¯s a noodle into his mouth, that wasn¡¯t exactly his favorite texture not wriggling, just a noodle, but tasted so good that he didn¡¯t mind. ¡°Do you ever, umm,¡± he said after he had to force himself away from the table, ¡°wonder how we can eat the same stuff?¡± ¡°You are very interested in the inner workings of the universe today, aren¡¯t you dear? We¡¯re all made of essence, you know, humans and Arax and hot peppers grown by sweet boys. At the end of a very long day, I¡¯m just glad we can share a meal instead of worrying about which directions our respective proteins fold.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s nice,¡± Hunter said, feeling his voice grow hoarse. ¡°Thanks for taking me out, Kiki. I haven¡¯t really seen a lot of friends lately.¡± ¡°I have missed your friends as well, surely not at the level that you have, but it is something I can begin to understand. Has it really been more than three years since I saw your terrible, wonderful trio all in the same place?¡± ¡°Gosh, yeah,¡± he mumbled, ¡°it has.¡± ¡°May I tell you a little story that I assume you haven¡¯t heard my perspective of?¡± Kiki waited for him to nod in reply before zhe continued. ¡°I quite liked [Araxia], my homeworld. You may not meet many of us here who can honestly say that, as a trip through a fresh Slide to a new world has no guarantee of being anything more than a leap of faith, and for the most part only the most disaffected will take that daring plunge. Adventurers, thrill-seekers, anyone who feels penned in by their circumstances, they¡¯re who are going to be the first out, who are going to take that chance they¡¯ll never see their home again. I was content, myself, plying my trade, living with my circle and stalk. ¡°Young man, you¡¯ll know this next part well, but circumstances and fate don¡¯t often hand you exactly what you want, even when your only desire is a soft spot to place your head and sleep until the next day. Arax adventurers need foxes, same as human ones need swords, and I have never been too proud to admit that I raise the best foxes one can find anywhere. Certainly the best ones on Earth.¡± Zhe paused briefly to flash Hunter an exaggerated wink. ¡°The Kit-Tenders have always had that as a mark in our favor, since an enterprising ancestor decided to name zherself after zher particular skill. ¡°I was convinced, cajoled, bullied and persuaded, and finally I relented. You may see me as the beautiful, headstrong Arax that you know and love, but we were all young and foolish once, were we not? I came to Earth, to Kansas City, to guns pointed at me, to just south of one of the most terrible battlegrounds I could imagine, and I hated it. I despised the enormous, bold offenses to nature that were the buildings, the smell of barbecue to the east and death to the north, the burning light that washed out every single one of my senses. ¡°I shut myself off then, in what was not very dignified behavior for a Kit-Tender or anyone else. I claimed that building I live in and I dared any and everyone to challenge me over it. I was Kinistrata Kit-Tender, I had fifty of the most beautiful, well-trained, essential foxes that one could find in the literal entirety of this dimension, and I made sure everyone within earshot knew it. It was a poor look, to put it mildly, but I was a similar age to yourself right now, and if you¡¯ll tell me you never make horrible mistakes of manners and intentions, I¡¯ll tell you that one of my favorite people is a liar. ¡°We have a saying back home, that the only difference between a jest and an insult is a bared claw, and I kept my claws bared for a very long time, Red. I found myself feeling very poorly toward the people of this city, the Arax and humans alike, and it was shameful. If it was fair to admit that there was a specific breed of Arax that came through the Slide, then it¡¯s equally fair to say there was a type of human that came to Kansas City and its siege as well. I was not fond of the adventurers, or the warmongers, as brave as their pursuits may have been. You should know by now, darling, that I am very rarely ashamed of anything, but my behavior for quite a long time is on that sparse list. ¡°On top of that, and I am treading very delicate territory here, so please bear with me as I try to find a way to phrase this, I wasn¡¯t allowed to go home. Year after year passed with no change, and as vaguely frustrated as the people of Earth must have been with their ongoing emergency and then probationary status, I think I can safely say that we expatriates were quite specifically frustrated with it as well. Then your Overlord put on the first of his Festivals. ¡°It was nice, that much I can say, and it must have been an enormous expense, but for we who missed our twilight forests, for we who¡¯d lived a dozen years in a place that didn¡¯t fit, for we who were ready to go home, it was just more of the same. When it was our turn to partake in the festivities, I wandered those grassy avenues and avoided the crowds as best as possible, filled as they were with the same type of faces I dealt with and shunned every day of my new life. ¡°And then, then my dear Red, I met your two friends. One awkward and polite, the other boisterous and clever, and my first thought was so banal that you must never share this with anyone. All I could think was, ¡®they¡¯re so small.¡¯ We didn¡¯t bring our young through the Slide, in fact I don¡¯t believe any of that first wave even had any progeny, misfits and unlucky draws that we were, and there weren¡¯t human children in the city yet, not so near in time and distance to the Siege, it would have been terribly poor parenting. ¡°I think that perhaps, somehow, I¡¯d convinced myself to forget that people that small even existed. Don¡¯t make that face, lovely boy, that one I know means you¡¯re doing your best not to laugh, because it¡¯s true. They came right up to me and asked if I was selling anything, and to this day I regret I wasn¡¯t, because watching them afterward, so excited to trade their crystals for trinkets, was pure joy. The second thing they asked was my name, and I think you can guess which child had which question, and when I told them, the smaller one scrunched up her cute little face and shouted-¡± ¡°Kiki,¡± whispered Hunter, nodding slightly. ¡°Kiki, yes. Not Kinistrata Kit-Tender, the least friendly, least helpful Arax in Kansas City, no. Just Kiki, because it was easier, and it was cute. I had forgotten the difference between the first generation to integrate with Infra, and the first generation to be born with it. You children are informed by the great cataclysm, but you do not let yourselves be dictated by it. You do not see a monster that you have to work with because the alternative is only more strife, you see a person that could really use a cute nickname. You do not see a disaster of a world and despair of how you¡¯ll ever fix it, you just see a world with potential and wonder what your place will be in it. ¡°I realized that what I was missing wasn¡¯t home, it was hope. Your friends, and yes, later when I met you, the perfect little complement to their comedy duo, reminded me that we¡¯re all here for a reason, and that¡¯s why you¡¯re one of my absolutely favorite treasures in this world. I¡¯m going to message them, later when I¡¯m not so emotional, and do my level best to catch up with them, and you¡¯re going to do the same. And when you¡¯re feeling lonely or lost in the city, and yes I could see it on your adorable face the moment you showed up at my door, you will come to me and I will help.¡±
Hunter ended up trudging back to the Fourex building in the middle of the night, climbing up to the roof, and settling himself down on the mat he¡¯d stowed up there earlier. He was emotionally exhausted, almost too shaky to make the climb, and felt a real, aching need to center himself. He dropped slowly into a meditative state, still worried and uncertain about so much in his life, but attempting nevertheless to do as the skill description said, to be one with the underlying fabric of the world, something that made all the sense in the world and none at all. As the sun rose over the city, hours later, he shook himself back awake to find a notification flashing steadily on his screen. Whatever had been keeping meditation back from reaching its maximum was gone, and when he gave a half-hearted glance to the available talents, one spoke to him in a way that few before had.
[Combat Trance] You can maintain a calm, centered focus in the face of anything the world may throw at you. restrictions on [Meditation] usage lifted, greatly reduced restoration bonus in combat (-75%)
He immediately took it and stood up, stretching out the crick in his back, then toggled his meditation once more and began to do his exercises. As he went through the forms, first slowly, and then quickly as if he were fighting, his mind stayed clear and calm, and he started to see things in a new light. While he moved from one position to another, he checked the first and oldest messaging group he¡¯d ever been in, a little embarrassed that the last message there was from over a year prior. He thought about all the things he¡¯d say to his friends if they were with him, everything they¡¯d catch up on, and for once he didn¡¯t have a stabbing fear of what if it goes wrong.
You have entered the [cool kidz of Willard] messaging group.
[Ellie]: o m bluh u guyz. tallahassee is the hworst [Ellie]: mom said there was mermaids. but they¡¯re just swampy fish-people. oops gotta go ltrz [Hunter]: hey, guys. i don¡¯t know if you guys check this room ever. i sure haven¡¯t, and that sucks. i miss you two, and i know you¡¯ve both got responsibilities, but i was thinking [Hunter]: maybe we should make the effort, see if we can¡¯t all take a break together, catch up. in person, i mean. [Hunter]: just, you know, think about it, please. love you both
He left the window open as he finished his exercises, going harder at them near the end than he¡¯s been able to previously, and only closed it when he was done, panting, but still calm and relaxed somehow. He gathered up Trips, who wait had been mimicking his exercises what while he did them, and then climbed down to his room to clean up for the day. As he was getting dressed in tough, loose pants, his crazy sneakers, a worn out shirt and his armored coat, he realized he wasn¡¯t going to do any party planning that day like he thought. Somehow, he¡¯d made a calm, rational decision that having people over, in most cases people he barely knew, wouldn¡¯t make up for the actual stress of the party. He could picture an actual pros and cons list, with ¡°fun, music, new friends?¡± on one side, and ¡°invites, food, cleanup, fights, accidents, new not-friends, getting caught,¡± on the other, the same as he¡¯d scribble down on a notebook if he had one. But not this again, he couldn¡¯t actually remember the decision or the thought process. He decided that maybe it wasn¡¯t so bad, since one of the benefits of meditation, and specifically one of the reasons his mother made him learn it, was finding yourself clear-headed enough to make hard decisions, and he already sort of trusted the concept of the offload. More importantly, trying to throw a party felt bad for some reason, and keeping his [Combat Trance] on felt good. That was the kind of easy, straightforward thinking he could get behind, so he stayed meditating as he started sneaking his way to downtown, taking rooftops and alleyways as often as possible. It was a good day, as a whole. Sure, his friends didn¡¯t post to the group, but he found two murals, ate a very weird but tasty lunch, and barely felt anxious once.
Hunter sat perched on one of the giant signs alongside of the freeway his dad¡¯s caravan would be taking, just past the bridge that was the best way into the city from the west, considering his options. The night before, he¡¯d found his forty-fourth mural so far, maxed his awareness skill, and advanced Explorer all at once. He didn¡¯t get any free talent achievements, like he¡¯d guessed, but even without those to pick from, he¡¯d been too tired to bother with the paperwork of repetitive screens and just made his way home. He had woken up, slipped easily into his third day of constant meditation, and was in the middle of his usual morning routine of exercise, bathing, and breakfast when he received his father¡¯s message. Apparently, Topeka wasn¡¯t as much of a hazard right now as sometimes, and he¡¯d be coming into town before lunch. The teen felt like he could use a break from training anyway, since stealth hadn¡¯t moved the entire afternoon and evening before, and he felt like he was at some kind of block with it red hair, yellow shoes, so he went out with Trips to meet his dad on the way in.
You have one (1) talent available from maxing your awareness skill. Please pick from the following pool of awareness talents.
[Eagle Eye] You can see great distances and pick out small details. greater vision distance and resolution (toggle)
[Tracker] Your sense of taste and smell puts you on the level of a true predator. gain more information from olfactory senses (toggle)
[Kinesthesia] You have a better sense of the absolute and relative position of your body. much less likely (-80%) to lose footing by accident or opposition
That was a simple pick, Hunter felt, but he made some notes anyway. After the discussion with Kiki about zher foxes and speaking Infra, he had some real questions about things with names like [Eagle Eye]. He wondered if other people saw the same name, or just had the same connotation, and what they would be called to someone from an entirely different culture or biome, who didn¡¯t have sharp-eyed aerial hunters. He also felt slightly attacked by the talent he ended up choosing, because he was sure he tripped much less now than when he was younger, but it was still the safest bet.
You have advanced your [Explorer] base skill to [Zen Runner Explorer]! You have raised each Bear stat by three (3). Resilience now at 116/116. Affinity now at 23/23. Vigor now at 113/113. Your General skill max rank has been raised to two hundred (200)
[Zen Runner Explorer] Carefree and quick, the Zen Runner glides across traps that could catch mere dabblers, drifts unseen behind guardians that would stop him, and always finds exactly what he¡¯s looking for. +three (3) to bear stats
Hunter was satisfied with that. After his talent picks for athletics and meditation, it must have been obvious to Infra that he cared more about ease when travelling than speed, and this base skill made sense. He had noticed that the paths he¡¯d taken across the maze of downtown in the past couple of days, instead of direct and challenging, had been long and looping, covering more ground in the same period of time somehow, never giving him an obstacle that slowed down his progress. Before, he¡¯d run straight at a wall that was in his way, carefully climb up and over it, and then hop down the other side. It was good practice, and without the best sense of direction, it invariably got him to where he needed to go. Now, he could see easier ways about it, how if he went from dumpster to balcony to that other window out of the way and then slid down that pole, he could get to the same place in half the time and effort. It was just one more thing he¡¯d have to get used to, one more orthogonal dimensional change to his self, but like the rest, it was a net positive.
You have one (1) talent available from advancing your general base skill. Please pick from the following pool of general talents.
[Stealth Existence] You live in the shadows, out of sight of others, and you thrive. +ten percent (10%) of stealth skill to all rolls while unseen (synergy)
[Escape Genius] Unlocked ([Combat Trance] taken). You find the best way to avoid conflict in the rare instances where you are cornered. +fifteen percent (15%) of highest rated skill of (athletics/awareness/stealth) to all mitigation rolls, when meditating and not directly attacking (synergy)
[World in Focus] You see more than you should, more than you possibly could. +twenty percent (20%) to awareness, additive, for each of the following conditions: healthy (>90% resilience), rested (>90% vigor), meditating, unseen, unmoving (synergy)
¡°Wow,¡± Hunter mumbled to himself. ¡°Those are good. I¡¯d have to redo my whole build, though. You could triple awareness? Wow.¡± As nice as that sounded to him, and as many ideas he had for exploiting [Stealth Existence], the second choice slotted perfectly into the strategy he¡¯d already decided on. He also made another note to filter for talents with prerequisites, since those seemed to give better bonuses than regular ones. Finally, he pulled up the Infra calculator and tried to work out exactly how hard he was to hit now, which turned out to be very, very hard almostbreakthroughascendant. ¡°Wait, that can¡¯t be right. How did I skippeak levels completely? Wait, no. Where do I add in agility, before or after bonuses,¡± he muttered, rubbing the back of his head, then noticed the caravan making its way across the bridge. He waited until they were just underneath the sign before he shouted, ¡°Hey guys!¡± and then immediately dove to the side as a hail of arrows slammed into where he was just seated.
Hunter and his dad had a pretty good week while they waited for Ernie and his friends to return. He tried to show him how good the no hamper situation was, but apparently his father already knew all about that kind of life, and made sure Hunter cleaned up the relatively small messes he¡¯d made around the building, without help from Trips. But in addition to being reintroduced to chores such a dad, Hunter had plenty of time to show him around the city, to take him to his favorite restaurants, to hang out with Kiki a little, and even to listen to a few stories about what Kansas City was like before the apocalypse. They ate lunch downtown on his dad¡¯s last day there, at a tiny outdoor restaurant Hunter had found where they actually served dishes made from food they got from Willard. For some reason, his father didn¡¯t get the joke when he pointed out that the table they were sitting at was right on top of one of the Arax murals, but that was alright. ¡°So,¡± his father said, clearing his throat. ¡°You¡¯re doing very well here, Hunter. Fitting in.¡± ¡°Yeah, umm,¡± he nodded. ¡°I sorta am, huh.¡± ¡°My biggest worry, coming in, was that I¡¯d get here and you¡¯d be miserable. Either in general or from being on your own in the big city. Instead, you¡¯re much more calm than you ever were at home, and you really look like you belong.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been meditating, a lot. And Kiki¡¯s been here for me. Might be that, you know.¡± ¡°It might be, sure. My second biggest worry was that I¡¯d come in and find you recovering from a hangover in the aftermath of a huge party,¡± his dad chuckled. ¡°Well, yeah, but Trips cleaned up the place really well after we kicked all the naked people out,¡± Hunter replied with a grin. ¡°Course, of course. So you¡¯re good, you promise? All I¡¯ve really heard about was that fight your mother had with Ernie. Listening to her, you¡¯d think you were hobbling around town on crutches every day.¡± ¡°Honestly, Dad? They¡¯ve been really great to me, and I don¡¯t even know why. Sure, Ernie¡¯s my Uncle Ernie, and he¡¯s always been cool to me, but to Breaker and Walker, I¡¯m just some kid staying over, and it doesn¡¯t seem to matter. Breaker¡¯s just about the biggest, coolest guy I could imagine, and Walker, well, umm. He lets me use his gadgets.¡± ¡°So, your biggest complaint is you don¡¯t know why people are being nice to you.¡± ¡°Umm, sort of?¡± he started to mumble. ¡°It¡¯s like, they have important jobs. They¡¯re out right now saving people from something or other. But instead of doing that for the most part, they¡¯re answering all my dumb questions and letting me spar.¡± ¡°Ok, I get that,¡± his dad nodded. ¡°Look at it this way, Hunter. No one, Ernie and his friends included, got to where they are today without any help. The people who looked like they could take on the world by themselves and tried? They aren¡¯t around anymore. The people who are, who made sure there are redoubts all over where anyone is welcome, who go out and put down problems like they¡¯re dealing with right now, who run that college your friend is going to, they all did it with help.¡± ¡°Oh, but then-¡± ¡°Right, you¡¯re not a group project kind of kid, I know. If you were, you¡¯d be a defender or in an Order by now. I¡¯m not saying cooperation, holding hands, be neighborly is the solution to everyone¡¯s problems. If you need time on your own, to just be yourself, that¡¯s ok too. But you¡¯re not afraid to get help, and I know you won¡¯t be afraid to give it, either. Ernie, Breaker, Walker, when they look at you, they see a kid who might do great things, might not. It would be certainly not with any help, though.¡± ¡°They¡¯re helping a lot, Dad. Even with stuff I didn¡¯t know I had to work on.¡± ¡°I can see that. Just do your old dad a favor, k? Come visit every once in a while, in between weird and terrifying adventures.¡± ¡°I can do that, sure.¡±
¡°So, kid,¡± Ernie said after they¡¯d gotten back, settled in, and taken a look at Hunter¡¯s progress. ¡°Do you want to learn magic, channelling, or tech tomorrow?¡± ¡°Wow, umm, that¡¯s a pretty big decision to make in a day, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°No,¡± Ernie chuckled. ¡°I mean, which one do you want to learn first?¡± 8: Magic and Other Classes ¡°So,¡± Ernie said, hands on his hips cowboy pose again, ¡°how basic do you want me to start?¡± ¡°All the way, please,¡± Hunter replied with a grin, trying to get comfortable in the awful chair that Fourex owned way too many copies of. ¡°Maximum basic.¡± ¡°Well, back in ancient times, I think it was Aristotle who suggested, or at least made the idea popular, that everything was made up of some combination of fire, air, water, and earth.¡± Hunter narrowed his eyes and mumbled, ¡°Really, that¡¯s where you¡¯re starting?¡± ¡°Hold on, kid. It¡¯ll make sense.¡± ¡°It better.¡± ¡°Sure, sure,¡± Ernie said, chuckling. ¡°By the time I was your age-¡± ¡°So, slightly less ancient times?¡± ¡°Yes, back in the old days, when no one could cast magic spells, much like yourself, and we had to learn it all on our own, much like yourself. End of lesson.¡± ¡°Hey! Sorry, I¡¯ll be good.¡± ¡°Quick aside, kid. How does your mother do this for a living?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I had a lot of trouble paying attention in school, Ernie.¡± ¡°Anyway,¡± Ernie continued as he flipped through his notebook. ¡°When I was your age, we¡¯d figured out all sorts of things about what the world was made of. Atoms, quarks, photons, etc. Except we didn¡¯t know what was underneath all that, if there was anything specific. There were theories, but nobody¡¯d done any real testing on it.¡± ¡°But now we know it¡¯s essence, yeah? It wasn¡¯t before, but it is now.¡± ¡°Right, exactly. Take the most basic unit of anything, matter or energy, break it down a few more times, and you get essence. Except, if that¡¯s all it was, nothing would really be different now.¡± ¡°Except for electronics or whatever?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a question with a much bigger answer, kid. Save that one for Pete next time you want to see him have a fit.¡± ¡°Yessir,¡± Hunter chuckled. He tried not to mess with Pete too much, but it was difficult to resist. ¡°Essence also comes out of nowhere, and yes before you interrupt, literally it¡¯s from nowhere. There¡¯s no pattern to where it spontaneously generates, except for the one Infra says there is. Essence apparently prefers, anthropomorphic emphasis not added by me, to appear in gravity wells populated by emergent phenomena. So, for the most part, planets with life on them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s suspicious, right?¡± ¡°Well, sorta,¡± Ernie waggled a hand as he spoke. ¡°Anthropic principle applies I guess. If essence mostly popped up in, say, stars, we wouldn¡¯t have anything to do with it, and everything would be mostly the same as before, again.¡± ¡°You¡¯re giving me an awful lot to look up later, for the basics. I know what at least one of those anthro- words means, but not both.¡± ¡°We¡¯re almost there, you can hold on. So, all essence is the same. Mathematically, you can even make the case that all essence is literally the same essence. But forget that for now, because there are different types of essence.¡± Hunter groaned and slumped back in the uncomfortable chair. ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, kid. We¡¯re just getting to the good part.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Hunter asked as he sat back up. ¡°We¡¯re going to do magic?¡± ¡°No, I meant the good part of the basics.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Hunter could tell, deep down, that his uncle was enjoying messing with him. ¡°Right. So first, there¡¯s locked essence. That¡¯s what you get way down at the bottom of atoms and energy and such. It¡¯s busy, pretending to be spacetime, you can''t do anything with it except for theoretically make some pretty spectacular explosions if you manage to let it out. And you know about raw essence. That¡¯s what spontaneously appears and seeps up out of the Earth sometimes, that¡¯s what Sources are made entirely out of, that¡¯s what essence plants and animals and other monsters absolutely reek with. Everything wants it, including Infra, because it¡¯s the best stuff to make reality out of, turning it into locked essence.¡± ¡°And we harvest it, and as a reward, Infra uses a little bit of it to make us better?¡± ¡°Pretty much, kid,¡± Ernie nodded and chuckled. ¡°Better than the alternative, though. It¡¯s incredibly difficult to actually get raw essence to do anything you want it to. Infra can do it, because it¡¯s a giant computer, and sometimes you can coax a plant to grow a little differently with it, but other than that, you get monsters. Absorb too much raw essence without a regulator of some sort, and you just get all messed up. Strong, capable of going out and getting more of it, but messed up and incapable of doing much else.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what comes outta the Slides, then?¡± ¡°For the most part, yeah. Essence monsters looking for more raw essence to absorb, either naturally or by devouring something or someone with it. The other thing you get when you try to process raw essence is crystallized essence. It¡¯s mostly a failure state from trying to make matter, but it¡¯s incredibly useful as a power source, to make exotic materials, all kinds of stuff, so useful that pretty much everyone on Infra uses it as a currency in one form or another.¡± ¡°So this armband thing,¡± Hunter said as he looked down suspiciously at the device, ¡°is basically an essence monster that¡¯s eventually gonna go crazy and try to eat me.¡± ¡°Yeah pretty much. You¡¯ll be fine, though. Then, lastly, well not totally but for our purposes today, lastly there¡¯s affinity. That¡¯s a tiny bit of essence with a particular flavor that gets produced in and around anything living, or moving. The flavors, to bring things full circle, roughly correspond to fire, air, water, and earth.¡± ¡°No,¡± Hunter said, shaking his head. ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t work like that, it can¡¯t. That¡¯s, you know, dumb.¡± ¡°Would you believe they¡¯re energy, gas, liquid, and solid? Or maybe a rough scale from high energy states to low ones? Now, you might be right, Infra might be a little cheeky about it, but when you first start out, your affinity will be for one of those four elements.¡± ¡°So weird, Uncle Ernie.¡± ¡°It can be, at times. Imagine learning all this at the same time the world is burning and you¡¯re fighting for your life. It¡¯s possibly even weirder. So when you do magic, you use your own portion of affinity to mimic raw essence processing in one form or another, and it¡¯s easier to do it when what you¡¯re making is closest to your own personal affinity. Basically, since it''s so attuned to you, you can make very small changes in your local reality, which you can''t do with actual raw essence. Like, hmm, this. My affinity¡¯s fire, or at least it used to be.¡± Ernie held his right arm out and it started to dissolve, growing more hazy for a moment, and then reappeared suddenly with his hand gripping a very large, very Infratech handgun. He pointed it at one of the training dummies lined up along the wall, and an instant later, a fireball the size of Hunter¡¯s head, void black with crackling red edges, burst from the barrel of the gun. In an eyeblink it slammed into the dummy and exploded, burning with that same weird dark flame until Ernie waved his hand and made it vanish. ¡°That¡¯s magic. I took some of my affinity, formed it into a very high energy state of protomatter, and shot it out. The gun¡¯s just my mod, but you can do that with a spell too, if you¡¯re careful.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± Hunter breathed. ¡°You¡¯re going to teach me that, right?¡± ¡°Short answer, no. Long answer, probably not. Sorry, kid.¡±
It turned out that learning magic was not nearly as fun for Hunter as watching other people do magic. The first step, Ernie had warned him, was to be able to access his affinity at all. Until he could do that, it was just a number that Infra helpfully tracked for him, and nothing much more. To that end, he had a few basic spells, exercises really, that would each work one of the primary affinity skills until Hunter got a feel for what was actually happening. The first spell he picked was simply called [Cycling] and it was supposed to utilize the [Infusion] skill, a form of magic that kept one¡¯s affinity close to the body, more of a self-improvement magic than a flashy one. The trick to it was to feel one¡¯s affinity channels, pathways in the body that may or may not actually exist in reality, and to force the spare amount of essence in them to move, just a push at first, but eventually to spur the whole system into simultaneous motion, cycling it like the name. Hunter had trouble on the first step, he couldn¡¯t feel what he was supposed to be able to, no matter how often he tried to ¡°flex the extrasensory organs¡± like Ernie¡¯s notes said to do. It just didn¡¯t make sense to him, which was unusual considering how straightforward all of his uncle¡¯s earlier instructions had been. It felt like some sort of particularly confusing homework, where the point of it was to get him into a different headspace before he learned anything new, but he couldn¡¯t find that space. He was doing his morning exercises the next day and thinking about the problem when he came to a realization, or at least half of one. Ernie hadn¡¯t learned any magic while he was still a beginner, he was pretty sure. Hunter thought he remembered that his uncle had levelled into it, picking an affinity-based class when he hit twenty-five, and like a lot of people back then, hadn¡¯t even realized humans were capable of magic until Infra had basically told them. It did sound like it would have been a really big surprise, and Hunter chuckled a little to himself. ¡°Trips! Congratulations on reaching level twenty-five! Would you like to be a mage, instead of a scared beginner running away from everything vaguely menacing? It has been empirically proven that throwing fireballs into monsters¡¯ faces has a high statistical likelihood of making them go away.¡± He continued his poses, moving smoothly from one position to the next, and knew that he was going about things the wrong way. What the basics were for Ernie the brand-new mage, who was probably riding high on a neat, magic-specific class talent, might not be the basics for Hunter the beginner, but he had no real idea how to figure out how to personalize his own studies. Actually, he had one idea ugh, but he wasn¡¯t counting it as a good one. Hey, Infra, he thought. Is there a tutorial for affinity skills?
Only the integration tutorial is available at this time. Check back in v. 1375.27!
¡°Right, ok,¡± Hunter muttered. ¡°Naturally. So, Trips, we¡¯ve got a project. First principles for affinity. That shouldn¡¯t be too hard, inventing magic by ourselves, right?¡± The helperbot paused in the middle of one long stretch, a pretty good approximation of waiter bringing food, and bobbed its carapace in a shrug.
¡°Alright, second lesson,¡± Ernie clapped his hands together as he spoke. ¡°It¡¯s not my specialty, but I know enough to get you started. All set, kid?¡± ¡°Ready as I¡¯ll ever be, I guess,¡± Hunter nodded from the floor, where he sat cross-legged on a mat, the plastic demon-chair shoved to a corner. ¡°Right, so a quick review. What are the four basic affinities?¡± ¡°Ernie, it was yesterday. Do we really need a review?¡± Hunter whined. ¡°Then it should be easy, Hunter.¡± ¡°Ugh, they¡¯re fire, air, water, and earth.¡± ¡°So,¡± Ernie continued oh he¡¯s in a mood, ¡°what do those four elements all have in common?¡± ¡°Umm, they¡¯re all stuff?¡± Hunter replied, face flat let him stew on that one. ¡°Right, exactly. They¡¯re all stuff,¡± Ernie said, looking satisfied. ¡°Umm.¡± ¡°What if you want to do magic that isn¡¯t stuff, Teach? That¡¯s what you¡¯re supposed to ask. You can call me Teach.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense, Ernie. Everything¡¯s made out of essence, remember from yesterday? So everything¡¯s the same, you know, stuff.¡± ¡°Right. Everything is stuff, sure. That¡¯s one way to look at it. Can you name something that exists and isn¡¯t stuff? Take your time, I¡¯ll wait.¡± Hunter blinked at him and then flopped back onto the mat, staring at the ceiling. This is worse than yesterday, he thought. Why does everything have to be such a- ¡°A hassle,¡± he muttered as he sat up. ¡°A riddle. Whatever you¡¯d call disowning your uncle.¡± ¡°Correct! Hurtful, but correct. You can¡¯t affect concepts or ideas with affinity, because they aren¡¯t stuff. You¡¯ll never find a life mage, or a vengeance mage, or a riddle mage, even though that would be pretty sweet. But?¡± ¡°But you can have a life priest. So you can channel things that don¡¯t actually exist with patron skills?¡± ¡°Not exactly,¡± Ernie said with a grin. ¡°but you¡¯re getting there. So, there¡¯s another type of common essence. This one¡¯s been called a lot of things in the last twenty years, things like push essence, channeling essence, etcetera, but I think everyone¡¯s settled on extraplanar essence. I don¡¯t mean essence from another boring dimension that crosses over into ours, either. This stuff is from way outside the manifolds, deep into the conceptual spaces that Infra exists in. You know how I told you that when you get better at physical skills, Infra starts to give you a little push that makes you faster?¡± ¡°Right. Oh, push essence, I get it.¡± ¡°Infra takes this pile of essence that isn¡¯t good for anything else, we suppose, and uses it to create force, injects it into the conduits connected to your body, and you move more quickly. Or with more force, or you negate force, basically anything like that.¡± ¡°That sounds cool and all, Ernie,¡± Hunter was frowning as he spoke up, ¡°but that¡¯s not what priests do, right?¡± ¡°Nope, they work with the other big thing that uses extraplanar essence, and that¡¯s a patron. Or an essence well if you don¡¯t like the connotation of the word, but Infra uses patron.¡± ¡°Hey, I know the next question, Teach,¡± Hunter said with what he hoped was a sarcastic grin. ¡°So these wells can use extraplanar essence to do spectacular things, I imagine, but in what circumstances would they do that?¡± He finished the sentence with his eyes as wide as he could open them. ¡°Ok kid, don¡¯t call me Teach. I changed my mind. I don¡¯t like it. But yes, that¡¯s a very good point you¡¯ve raised, and you are such a little clone of your mother. Did you know she got detention in high school more than me?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard that first part. I don¡¯t mind it.¡± ¡°So, the patrons are just massive pools of this extraplanar essence connected to what we think are pared-down copies of Infra. At least, Infra¡¯s back end, with all the utility functions stripped out and replaced.¡± ¡°Hey, that¡¯s dangerous. No utility functions? Dad says that¡¯s how you get gray goo.¡± ¡°Ordinarily, sure. But they don¡¯t replicate. In fact, all they seem to be interested in are ephemeralities, anything that¡¯s not stuff. And they¡¯re really interested in those.¡± ¡°So like, umm, one could really like riddles, and then that¡¯s how you get riddle priests?¡± ¡°Yup, in fact, it¡¯s usually that simple. A patron will pick, or find, or whatever its process is, a concept it embodies, and then contact anyone who has the right nature and temperament, and when they¡¯re doing things it likes, or if they specifically ask, they¡¯ll flood them and their general vicinity with extraplanar essence.¡± ¡°Alright, so my dad? He¡¯s got a patron, the Ghosts of the Earth. They must like farming, or treating the dirt right, or something else Dad does, because they help him all the time. So he says like, ¡®I want to do farmwork,¡¯ and his patron says, ¡®I approve of that,¡¯ and then there¡¯s a dozen spooky hands doing all the harvesting? Is that how it works for everyone?¡± ¡°Exactly, they do tend to be flashy like that, and have almost all given themselves those kinds of important sounding names. Guess you can do that sort of thing when you¡¯re that loaded with essence.¡± ¡°Ok, Ernie, don¡¯t get mad,¡± Hunter held up his hands. ¡°But this is all nonsense, right? I mean, this is all a ¡®best guess, it all fits, working theory¡¯ sorta thing, yeah?¡± Ernie just laughed. ¡°It sort of sounds like that, doesn¡¯t it? But no, some patrons are very talkative. They¡¯re all pathed into Infra, and they¡¯ll chat with their followers, give out quests for people to help each other, create spectacles on occasion. You know, make some statue talk in a real booming voice, telling people to go gather destruction, or beauty, or whatever it decided it likes. This is just how it works. They''ve said so, and there really isn''t any reason to doubt them much.¡± ¡°So, how do I hook into this vast, transdimensional network of nonsense?¡±
Ernie¡¯s teaching style, Hunter decided, was fun but flawed. It seemed to be a two-step process, first lecturing him about the why¡¯s of a skill, and then sending him off with work to figure out the how¡¯s by himself. He could see the reasoning, and mostly agreed with it, but he felt like he continued to get stuck on the transition, the what¡¯s in between. ¡°This is a pretty neat book, though,¡± he mumbled, sitting on the edge of the roof and paging through another one of Ernie¡¯s notebooks. This one was stuffed full of what his uncle said was the name, interest, and demeanor of as many patrons as he¡¯d heard mentioned since the apocalypse came. It read more like an encounter manual than a reference book, though, like Ernie had actually written down what to do when something starts invoking their patron, and then excised the parts where he outlined how best to shoot them. Hunter was supposed to think about what mattered most to him, and then somehow find a well in the jumble of notes that matched his goals. That was, apparently, the safest way to not get oneself saddled with a patron they didn¡¯t agree with fully, who wouldn¡¯t help when they needed it, whose abilities they¡¯d never master. It still seemed backwards, or at the very least sideways, to him, but he couldn¡¯t put his finger on exactly why.
You are sending a direct message to [Henry Schmidt].
[Hunter]: hey, Dad. how¡¯s it going? got time to talk? [Dad]: Of course, Hunter. Did I leave something there? Do I need to come back for my wallet? [Hunter]: haha [Hunter]: no, i¡¯m just working on something Ernie gave me to do, and i¡¯ve got questions? [Dad]: Oh, and you want your dad¡¯s help instead of the bump room? [Dad]: It must be about optimal plant growth or classic rock. I''m kind of an expert at both. [Dad]: Lay it on me. [Hunter]: it¡¯s actually about, umm, your ghosts. and how you got hooked up with them, i guess [Dad]: Ok, I¡¯m listening. [Hunter]: it¡¯s a multi-parter, so hang on [Hunter]: 1/3 what¡¯s their deal? what do they want from you, or from life [Hunter]: 2/3 how much do you agree with their philosophy [Hunter]: 3/3 what came first, the fact you needed help, or the stuff from 1 and 2 [Dad]: Deep stuff, young man. Give me a minute to think about it, ok? [Hunter]: k [Dad]: First, they¡¯re really big on the ground, as a concept. I know it sounds dumb, but hear me out. They seem fascinated by the comparison of how we bury our dead and grow our food. They see both as equally meaningful rituals that people perform toward the actual soil. It¡¯s like, the digging and burying are a rite that we enact for the things we care about, to them. [Dad]: It didn¡¯t make a lot of sense to me until I realized that they don¡¯t have any of that. No death, no food, no dirt. But they saw what people do and came to their own conclusions, and decided that a wide expanse of ground was their favorite thing. So, to answer your second question, hmm.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. [Dad]: I¡¯d say mostly? In that I feel it¡¯s important to bury the dead, to grow crops, to fill in holes that pests make, to wear paths and eventually roads into the countryside. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s possible to agree with them completely, just because their route to those thoughts is so beyond a person¡¯s regular experience. No one sees the ground and decides to worship it, not really, but we do see the dirt and know what to do with it. [Dad]: Lastly, I¡¯d say the help came first. I didn¡¯t know what I needed exactly, just that I needed something other than I had available. I was already doing the things they like, but it wasn¡¯t until I needed the exchange that it was made. I¡¯d say, if you¡¯re trying to generalize this and not just asking your dad for stories, then that¡¯s the important part. [Dad]: You can do whatever you like, and it may line up with the interests of something like the Ghosts, but just doing it won¡¯t make them react any more than appreciating it. Same as needing help probably won¡¯t connect you to a well, either. [Dad]: I figure you need both. I know that¡¯s probably not a lot of help, but I hope it is. [Hunter]: no, i, umm. actually think it is. thanks, Dad! love you [Dad]: Love you too, son.
Hunter thought about his dad¡¯s advice for a while, meditating, then snapped the book shut, mumbling, ¡°Well, that¡¯s two things I¡¯ve got to do by myself.¡±
Pete ¡°Walker¡± Cloud was a jerk. Everyone said it, including people who came into Fourex for his help and then said it to his face. But they kept coming, because even though he was a jerk, he was an awfully smart one. Hunter kind of liked that about him, though, because he could talk to him without worrying much. Usually, Hunter tried to be polite for two main reasons, first because that¡¯s how he was raised and he agreed that everyone being nice just made things work better. Secondly, he made sure to be polite with most people, even on days where he could barely stand to, because it felt like if he ever stopped, people would be twice as awful back. But with Pete, he honestly felt like he couldn¡¯t get much more awful, so he never felt that pressure. Pete had let him into his workshop on the one day he said he had a few hours free, grunted ¡°Basic math and physics, right,¡± at him, and then set a half-built device down on one of the counters and told him to fix it. Hunter didn¡¯t even know what it was or what it did, but he did know it was broken, because pushing the big, gray button on it did nothing. After about the half hour or so it took him to find any tools in the crowded workspace to start, he looked over at Pete and cleared his throat. ¡°Hey, so lemme ask you a question, Pete,¡± he called over. ¡°Sure, hit me,¡± was the reply, at least forty seconds later, without Pete even looking up. ¡°You guys are like, early four hundreds or so? Forming your transcendental natures, or whatever?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Pete set his tools down and looked over at him. Hunter looked back, keeping his face blank, trying a trick he¡¯d learned from Kiki. Pete was taller than Hunter, if not by much, but a lot wider. He¡¯d have to be strong if he wanted to carry around some of the huge boxes with carrying straps affixed that Hunter saw lying around. He had kind of a coppery, dusky skin tone that the teen wondered was natural, from the sun, or maybe an accident with Infratech. Hunter had heard of worse, weirder things happening when someone didn¡¯t get everything lined up. He was just about to start gauging the size of Pete¡¯s strong, narrow nose in comparison to everyone else he¡¯d ever met, when the trick worked, and Walker broke the silence first. ¡°I said yeah, kid. What¡¯s it to ya? Also, that staring is creepy, knock it off.¡± ¡°Yessir. Anyway, I¡¯ve been thinking about progression speed.¡± ¡°Should be thinking about how to fix that thing I gave ya.¡± ¡°Yeah, umm. Well I¡¯ve been thinking about both. So my dad only hit a hundred a couple years ago, and said that many levels in that many years was awful slow.¡± ¡°He¡¯s a farmer, right? It may be slow, but I guess non-combats worry more about steady. They get things set up so they keep earning, they don¡¯t stop.¡± ¡°And then I was thinking about the history stuff Infra puts out. Apparently people started subliming in like 2007?¡± Hunter asked, trying for innocent curiosity. ¡°Right. The meatgrinders.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°Ah, right. They don¡¯t talk about that much. Uhh, so say you¡¯re an Order, way back in the day. Things have all gone completely sideways, and you¡¯ve got yourself a whole two advantages. First you got a ton of people at a basic level of competence, and second you mighta found or taken yourself a really high level Source.¡± ¡°Umm, did that happen often?¡± ¡°All the time. Group comes in with a thousand swords, says shove off, says they¡¯ll take care of it. Course, they don¡¯t know what they¡¯re doing any more than the rest of us. They just have the swords.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°So what they do, is they take a hundred of those swords, or a thousand if they¡¯re bigger, or who knows how many, and they shove them all in the Source. We¡¯re talking Divinity cusp Sources, here.¡± ¡°Wait, those really exist?¡± Hunter was getting more information than he bargained for, here. ¡°Maybe not anymore. People get real shady about em nowadays. Anyway, whoever walks out after you shove em in, they¡¯re your elite now. Do it a few more times, and you¡¯re bound to get some terrified kid with a lucky build to sublime eventually. Do it even more, and there¡¯s your sublimed army.¡± ¡°That¡¯s, umm, that¡¯s kinda terrible, Pete.¡± ¡°Got that right, kid. If that¡¯s what it takes to level up quickly, and the relatively sane life your old man¡¯s got is what you get from going slow, then I¡¯m pretty fine with being on the slow end. Now get back to work.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± Hunter mumbled as he looked down at the gadget. He¡¯d taken it all the way apart, but now he just had a mess that for sure didn¡¯t work. Whatever parts Pete had managed to squeeze into the device, Hunter couldn¡¯t tell what they were or which ones were broken. By the time he got kicked out of the workshop, he¡¯d made a very small pile of ¡®probably ok¡¯ and just about no progress other than that.
¡°So, Trips,¡± Hunter said, one morning on the roof. ¡°Why can¡¯t we manage this? Well, you can¡¯t do it because you¡¯re just a little robot, but why can¡¯t I do it? Any of it.¡± He set his empty cereal bowl on the ledge next to him, which Trips helpfully grabbed and put somewhere less precarious, then rubbed at his temples. ¡°What do I need? That¡¯s easier than magic spells and stupid tech. What do I need, Trips? For, umm, everybody to be safe, right? For no one to have to be like Miracle¡¯s mom and work so hard and sacrifice themselves and miss out on what they were working for. For no one to have to be like Kiki and so miserable for so long, just wanting to go home. I dunno, for no one to be like me, maybe? Scared of what¡¯s out there and running at it anyway because not running at it makes me even more scared, and what else can I do, Trips? ¡°What do I want? I dunno. That¡¯s dumb, that¡¯s really dumb. I should just be able to say what I want, it¡¯s just you and me. Ok. I want to help. I want to be helpful. It¡¯s selfish, sure. But, umm, if everyone was just fine tomorrow and no one needed any help, I¡¯d be ok with it, yeah. But that¡¯s not going to happen, so I want to help make it happen. Oh, and I want to be ¡®Never get hit¡¯ Schmidt. It sounds cool, and like, no one would have to worry about me. Mom¡¯d be like, ¡®Where¡¯s Hunter?¡¯ but Dad could say, ¡®Doesn¡¯t matter, he¡¯ll be fine.¡¯ I wouldn¡¯t worry so much about me, either. More time to help people. ¡°What do I have? What¡¯s the exchange, why am I worth helping out? Got too much energy and a smart mouth. Heard that a lot. Got a wizard stick, an awesome robot, and a cool hoodie. People I care about, that gave me all those things. A secret or two, and a plan to get more. Is that enough? Dad said he basically didn¡¯t know he had what he needed, maybe it¡¯s the same for everyone. Let¡¯s try it, Trips.¡± The way to connecting with a patron, at the end of the day, was simple. Ernie had said the best way to do it well was to be prepared, his dad said what probably mattered most was to be in need, but in either case the last step was easy, almost insultingly easy. Hunter agreed with both men, if he was feeling honest, but for different reasons. Ernie¡¯s way made sense, because you really could find a patron that didn¡¯t work well with you. Hunter was, for instance, sitting thirty feet up in the air and would feel really stupid if he connected to the Short Elf of Tall Places, or some kind of nonsense, just because he didn¡¯t know what to focus on. His father¡¯s way made sense too because you could apparently just fail, if you were on a lark and seeing what you could do, if you begged Infra for assistance you didn¡¯t need, then you wouldn¡¯t get it. Hunter slipped off the ledge back onto the roof, got comfortable on his mat, and then thought, Hey, Infra. I need some extra help. I¡¯m feeling lost and worried like usual. I know I¡¯m not desperate or in immediate danger like most people, when they ask, but I hope that doesn¡¯t matter. So, umm, you know, is there anything you can do for me? He only had to wait a few moments before a new window flashed up.
Searching¡­ complete An extraplanar entity, a [Patron], is attempting to contact you in response to your request. Do you accept? Y/N
Hunter nodded and thought, Yes, yes please.
There is a wolf in the woods menacing a child. [Hunter]: umm, what? There is a WOLF. In the WOODS. Menacing a CHILD. YOU are there. What do you DO? [Hunter]: i grab the kid and run. can i, can i do that? You have a stick. You can kill. [Hunter]: umm, no. the kid needs to be out of the woods more than the wolf needs to be dead [Hunter]: plus who knows what¡¯d happen while i¡¯m fighting. can''t keep an eye on everything You are in the WOODS. You SEEK. You EXPLORE. What do you FIND? [Hunter]: i dunno. there¡¯s a lot going on and no one knows why and i want to help when i can. a way out? There is a clearing in the woods. There are fifty men, fifty stout sticks, and one wolf. [Hunter]: umm? Forty men pick up sticks and beat the wolf. There is a CLEARING. In the WOODS. There are fifty MEN, fifty stout STICKS, and ten WOLVES. [Hunter]: i¡¯m sorry, i don¡¯t know what you want Twenty-five men pick up sticks and beat the wolves. There is a clearing in the woods. There are fifty men, twenty-five stout sticks, and no wolves. Twenty-five men pick up sticks and beat the men. [Hunter]: ugh, why? what? CLEARING. YOU. STICK. WOLF. DO. [Hunter]: i do, i do nothing. the wolf lives there, it¡¯s not menacing? they weren¡¯t menacing the men either. i don¡¯t get it. i¡¯d try to go home There is night in the woods menacing a child. [Hunter]: i¡¯d take the kid home, right There is NIGHT. In the WOODS. Menacing a CHILD. You are a WOLF. With a STICK. [Hunter]: wait, am i scaring the child? WOLF. STICK. NIGHT. [Hunter]: can i, umm. can i lead the kid home? without being scary? i don¡¯t want to scare anyone There is no clearing in the woods. There is only the woods. There are countless men, countless stout sticks, and you. It is night. Everything is menacing. The men have sticks. The men beat whatever is before them. The wolves live in the woods. The children do not BELONG in the woods. [Hunter]: everyone just, just needs to go home. can i take them home, please? There is a man with a stick in the woods. You are a wolf. You have killed. The man is menacing you. [Hunter]: i can dodge. i can run. i can stop him, if i have to It is night. The men have sticks and have become wolves. Everything is menacing. EVERYTHING is menacing. The woods are vast and no one can find their way out. It is night. [Hunter]: i dunno. can i help? i dunno how. can you help? I am WISP, the LIGHT in the WOODS you follow HOME. I can help. I would like to help. [Hunter]: please I will help you find a way out of the woods, and lead others out as well. I see conflict everywhere, and it troubles me, and yet I continue to look, unable to tear my gaze away. You are the same. There is a way out, for you, for the children lost in the woods, even for the men that have become wolves, but will not be obvious until the light burns brightly, until our light burns brightly, between the trees, visible to all who are still in the woods. We will help each other, and as many others as we can find, as we can lead.
The window disappeared as suddenly as it had popped up, and Hunter couldn¡¯t even pull it up again like he could with an old message log. There were other screens flashing, though, so he checked those.
You have raised Guidance to one (1). You have raised Protection to one (1). You have unlocked your Patron base skill into [Follower of Wisp]! You have learned two (2) spells!
[A Light to Follow] Everyone needs a way out of the woods, but it can be hard to find. Ask Wisp for help and it will make the path easier to discern. (guidance) ten (10) affinity. one (1) hour duration, one (1) minute/level additional, +ten percent (10%), ten percent (10%) of guidance skill additional to awareness
[Flickering Form] Wisp is easy to see, remarkably difficult to reach. Invoke that contradiction and gain some of its aspect. (protection) one (1) affinity. six (6) minute duration, one (1) round/level additional, +ten percent (10%), ten percent (10%) of protection skill additional to dodge
¡°Sounds like an old text adventure, kid,¡± Breaker said as he stretched. ¡°My brother would have loved that.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± Hunter glanced over from across the room as he warmed up as well. ¡°What are those?¡± ¡°Old computer games he used to play. We never had a nice computer growing up, but he had this janky old machine with a tape deck up in our room. The game would type stuff at you, and you¡¯d type back. Sounded exactly like that, too. ¡®It is night. There is a vampire in the road. There is a stake on the ground,¡¯ and you¡¯d have to type in ¡®get stake. stab vampire,¡¯ really quick or you¡¯d die.¡± ¡°Huh, weird,¡± he replied, summoning his staff and giving it a few practice swings. ¡°You never talk about him much.¡± ¡°Try not to. He was a good kid. Got in over his head. Sure, we all did, but it was different with Mark.¡± ¡°Umm, do you mind, how?¡± ¡°Just do me a favor, kid. Don¡¯t trust any new tricks you¡¯ve got until you figure them out all the way. Marky was really good with tech, almost as good as Walker, if you can believe it. Taught me and your uncle everything we know about it, just about. He wanted a little extra oomph, though. Ernie had his magic, I¡¯m a fighter, Walker¡¯s a sneak, so he thought he¡¯d branch out, too. Got himself a patron, said we made a real life adventuring party.¡± ¡°This was a while ago?¡± ¡°Yeah, you never met him, did you. Must have been oh-four or so. Anyway, we didn¡¯t know enough back then to be careful, and even if we did who knows if we would have been. He got himself a patron, and it was a bad one, maybe not bad for some people, but bad for Mark. Long story short, it didn¡¯t do what he wanted, he couldn¡¯t do what it wanted, and things got pretty messed up until we lost him.¡± ¡°Gosh, Breaker,¡± Hunter mumbled. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ll be careful.¡± They sparred for a while, at a much slower pace than Hunter was usually capable of, because he couldn¡¯t turtle up and counterattack to learn staff fighting. It was all sweeps, lunges and chops, with his defensive art toggled off. After a good, dedicated hour or so of practice that almost maxed his skill, the teen meditating back vigor the entire time, Breaker had to go to take care of other things. ¡°You know,¡± he said on his way out, ¡°you¡¯re kind of a natural at this. Must be the Hallahan genes.¡± ¡°That or all the Hallahan practice. I got this talent that, you know.¡± ¡°That what?¡± ¡°Makes me, umm, better at everything while I¡¯m doing my mom¡¯s exercises.¡± ¡°Everything? And you¡¯re not doing them all the time, like when you got that meditating talent?¡± Breaker asked with one of his loud chuckles. ¡°Breaker, you¡¯re a genius!¡±
Before he could try his new idea, however, Hunter had another tech ¡°lesson¡± to go to, and somehow this one went worse than the first one. After at least an hour of tinkering with the pieces he¡¯d taken apart, one of Ernie¡¯s reference notebooks in his lap, he was no closer to even identifying anything, let alone working on it. Then, Pete must have gotten annoyed with him sitting there and grumbling, because he interrupted. ¡°Look, kid,¡± he said as he walked over. ¡°It¡¯s just a crystal charge tester. You¡¯ve studied essence physics, Ernie said. You can do a phase diagram?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard of them? I guess? I¡¯m starting to think Mom¡¯s theory books weren¡¯t very detailed.¡± ¡°Here, I¡¯ll send you what it¡¯s supposed to look like, then you just put it together. That ought to work the skill,¡± Pete said, and then messaged him in Infra. When Hunter looked at it, he threw up. Not immediately, there were a few queasy moments where the three-dimensional no gotta be four or five display shifted back and forth in his Infra screen and he desperately grabbed for the nearby trash can. He was still retching, bent over, when Ernie came in. ¡°Hey, Walker, come on man. What¡¯d you do to the kid?¡± ¡°I just showed him the phase map for the charger I¡¯ve got him working on, that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°Too many colors,¡± Hunter moaned, trying to close the window in his Infra without looking at it and failing, then threw up into the can again. ¡°Hey, buddy,¡± Ernie said as he walked over, lightly patting Hunter¡¯s back. ¡°You gonna be ok there?¡± ¡°No,¡± Hunter spit as he talked, still hovering over the can. ¡°Never gonna be ok again, Uncle Ernie.¡± ¡°Pete, send me that diagram? What could have gone wrong?¡± ¡°Got some ideas, but the kid¡¯s not going to like them.¡± ¡°I want my mom.¡± ¡°So, this is pretty basic,¡± Ernie muttered to himself, glancing between Hunter and the pile of parts on the counter next to him. ¡°What¡¯s the problem, I wonder.¡± After a quick, quiet conversation that Hunter couldn¡¯t hear over his ears ringing, the two men convinced Trips to take the can out, far away, Ernie got Hunter cleaned up a little, and they sat him down on a chair, facing a whiteboard they¡¯d set up. Pete spent a few minutes drawing on it, something that started relatively easy for Hunter to follow, then immediately became complicated after, with arrows and loops and asterisks leading to footnotes. ¡°Alright,¡± Pete said, gesturing to the board. ¡°Here¡¯s the crystallized essence. These lines are the pathways to the test lights. I¡¯ve drawn a red circuit loop for each light, even though technically they¡¯re all on the same line. Anything that¡¯s the same color as a similar shape is a multiphasic pathway, got it?¡± ¡°Umm,¡± Hunter mumbled. ¡°The blue lines are the stabilizer pathways. They ground the essence that comes out of the crystal. Very important, don¡¯t want to get blown up.¡± ¡°Ok, important. They¡¯re the same shape though?¡± ¡°Right, which is why I marked the spin cadence of each individual pathway down at the bottom. That¡¯s beginner level fundamental math, if I¡¯m not mistaken. If you ever want to build anything, you¡¯ll have to have the cadence integrations practically memorized.¡± ¡°Right, those, umm, integers.¡± ¡°Hey, kid,¡± Ernie said and squatted down next to him, pointing at a specific place on the board. ¡°Say you put it together like that and turned it on. Where¡¯s the essence going to go?¡± ¡°Left?¡± Hunter basically guessed. ¡°Or, on the green?¡± ¡°Honestly,¡± Pete said, ¡°the fact he managed to get even double digits in a tech skill is a mystery, Ernie. Kid doesn¡¯t have the knack for it at all. Like, one bit.¡± ¡°Hey. But, robots? Umm, that¡¯s not fair,¡± Hunter mumbled, practically to himself. ¡°He does like robots,¡± his uncle said, shaking his head. ¡°You wanna see something weird, though, Walker?¡± ¡°Sure, weird¡¯s good.¡± Ernie turned to his nephew, put a hand on his shoulder, and said quietly, ¡°You¡¯ve seen Breaker¡¯s gauntlets, right? What would you do if one of them got jammed?¡± ¡°Depends on the noise,¡± Hunter mumbled, rubbing at his temples. ¡°If it¡¯s a click-pop, he probably just got something stuck in the pistons, I guess? If it¡¯s a whirr then stepping on gravel, he better toss em as far as he can. That¡¯s the motor-thingy overcharging.¡± ¡°And how long did Jimmy let you mess around with those things?¡± ¡°Half hour maybe?¡± ¡°What a waste,¡± muttered Pete. ¡°Got the macro down just fine, but the micro makes him puke. Can¡¯t win em all, I guess.¡±
Ernie sat with Hunter while he recovered, and then for a while afterward, trying to console him. ¡°So, kid,¡± he started, ¡°did you know most people only wind up unlocking two base skills, at most? You can get by on your primary and your levels, and plenty of people do it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve done three, huh,¡± Hunter replied with a frown. ¡°That¡¯s pretty good, I guess.¡± ¡°It¡¯s really good. Besides, did you really expect you¡¯d be good at everything I had you try?¡± ¡°Oh, umm,¡± he blushed as he spoke softly. ¡°I guess not, huh. I thought it was all like, basic stuff though?¡± ¡°Right, but it¡¯s basic reality-bending stuff, kid. It was completely worth trying, but I don¡¯t think that not managing to do all of it really says anything about you.¡± ¡°So, umm, can I ask a question?¡± ¡°Well, yeah. Anything. That¡¯s why you¡¯re out here, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Hunter chuckled. ¡°So I¡¯ve been trying to cast cycling and sparkle for a while now, and the skills are going up, but nothing¡¯s really happening. Does that mean I can¡¯t do magic, either?¡± ¡°Not really, not exactly. Like, you know how you had to max a skill before you unlocked your style or your general?¡± ¡°Yeah, but then patron unlocked just by gaining the skills.¡± ¡°Right. Affinity and Infratech are a lot closer to the middle of that spectrum. They¡¯d unlock when the skills really click with you, somewhere in between one and a hundred.¡± ¡°Ok, so,¡± Hunter trailed off for a moment before continuing, ¡°I¡¯ve got an idea. I was going to do it later, but can you watch, just in case? You know, umm, if anything goes wrong?¡± ¡°I sure can, as soon as you feel up to it.¡± They just sat for a while together, the teen slowly getting his bearings, his uncle watching carefully. Finally, Hunter got up from his seat and pushed it out of the way, giving him enough room to do at least the smallest of his forms. Then, just to be sure, he checked the wording on a couple things in Infra.
Meditation: 102/200 Letting yourself be one with the circle of essence that runs through you and the rest of existence. (spirit) (toggle) +resource recovery, +recent skill gains
[Family Tradition] Uncommon. You are the recipient of archaic combat knowledge handed down from a family member. +ten percent (10%) to all skill ratings while performing your inherited combat style (synergy)
He toggled on meditation, reflecting on how different that process was to before he was sixteen, when he actually had to sit and try to do it, then started his favorite, minimalist exercises. When his hands came together while doing oof my stomach, he really let his mind go, trying once more to cast the simplest affinity exercise, his cycling spell. There was affinity in him, twenty-three whole points of it, he knew because Infra said so, and because Wisp was happy to take it from him when he practiced his patron skills, even if he barely felt anything when he cast them. Well, he thought, barely is better than nothing, and then cast A Light to Follow, concentrating on whatever sensation there was from his affinity leaving his body or my space manifold or whatever. Then, he really tried to focus on just feeling, closing his eyes, ignoring the sounds of the room, only paying attention to his body as he moved from position to position and trying to fully utilize the boost in awareness. He cast Flickering Form next, all the while attempting to cycle his essence, and he could immediately feel the extra ease of movement but not much else. Hunter continued to move and to try, tamping down every emotion that dared to peek out of his meditative trance. He refused to be frustrated, to despair, to grow bored. He was calm, everything else drained away, just a perfectly placid river, the surface smooth and cool, while underneath he barely moved. He could almost imagine the feeling of his feet dipping into the river at home, the lazy current swirling around them, gentle and refreshing. Then he felt the same feeling in his hands oh, and soon his arms and legs, everything perfectly relaxed as he moved, slow and powerful there it is. It was only when the sensation encompassed his entire body that he could tell it wasn¡¯t inside him, nor was it outside. The cool, relaxing presence of the water was in another of those unfathomable Infra directions, but he could still track it as it cycled its way through him. He stopped moving after an uncertain period of time, his dodge boost gone but awareness still up, and smiled over at Ernie when he noticed he had notifications. ¡°Hey, I think I got it.¡±
You have unlocked your Affinity base skill into [Water Affinity]! You have earned one (1) achievement!
[Four-fold Path] You have unlocked four (4) base skills. [INVALID] upgraded to [INVALID], more [INVALID] options available
¡°Oh no,¡± he mumbled invalid invalid invalid. ¡°Ernie, I think I may have, umm, screwed something up.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get another trash can, hold on, kid.¡±
You have an incoming Transversal Message from [Overlord Crushes-Valiant].
What in the fsshsh krrrrrr shhhvv [untranslatable] seventh level of [Floating-Creative]¡¯s trials is this? Please wait, I will fix whatever it is in a moment. [Crushes-Valiant] is summoning you. Maintain a safe distance from other sapients and secure your loose belongings. 5¡­ 4¡­ 3¡­
Hunter quickly moved to the center of the room, waved off his uncle, said as fast as he could, ¡°I gotta go I¡¯ll be right back if I-¡± and vanished. Book 1 Interlude: A Conversation, with Context Omitted [Planetary Overlord Crushes-Valiant, Regent of Earth, Fortress-Breaker (...)]: Sit tight for a moment longer, young man. [Beginner Mortal Hunter ¡°bump/Schmidt/Red¡± Redsmith, Kid of Earth, Confused]: i can¡¯t sit. i can¡¯t move. what¡¯s going on? [C-V]: Hmm, I thought a [Human] idiom might calm you. My apologies, I did not consider the implications of the literal translation. [H R]: i can¡¯t see either. or hear. but i can see and hear you? [H R]: you look heavy, wow [C-V]: That is, hmm, a consequence of the medium. Your sensory difficulties, that is, not my weight. [C-V]: I am, in actuality, quite heavy. Thank you for noticing. It is a point of pride. [H R]: you¡¯re welcome [H R]: ...so what¡¯s going on? [C-V]: Please, give me your opinion on the series of events, first. I am reading non-standard levels of certain hormones and brain activity patterns. I will recalibrate my bounds, if needed. [H R]: umm. i got greedy. i wanted to be good at too many things. i screwed something up, and now i broke it [C-V]: Hmm, and what is it that you think you broke? I would like to make a note of it in my records, please. [H R]: [Infra]? umm, wait that¡¯s dumb. my [Infra]? [C-V]: Nothing of the sort has happened, young man. [Infra] is still working just fine, across thousands of [Realms]. You personally, however, are going to be, hmm, inconvenienced for a little while longer. [H R]: yeah. last time this summoning thing wore off a lot faster [C-V]: Summoning thing? Oh, you are referring to the aftereffects of an improperly calibrated intrarealm teleport. I do recall those being, hmm, unpleasant. [C-V]: That is not what you are experiencing, however, as I have not substantiated you. [H R]: umm, huh? [C-V]: You have not been conveyed in total from your [Realm] to the one I am currently occupying. You are, hmm, in one of the information conduits in what we would colloquially refer to as Infraspace. It would have been extraneous to fully summon you, when I can just as easily examine you as data. [H R]: wait. so i¡¯m stuck in a pipe? like you didn¡¯t bother- [H R]: i¡¯ve heard about this! from Dad! this is a transporter accident, you transporter accidented me [C-V]: Please, be calm, young man. This was no accident, in fact it¡¯s a fairly common procedure, and it will only last as long as it takes for me to ascertain and correct the error. [H R]: this is, for real, umm. on both a personal and existential level. so terrifying [C-V]: My apologies, once again. It should relieve you, then, to know that I have addressed the problem. I would ask that you hang on for a short period of time more while I research why such a minor error was flagged for my attention. [C-V]: Hmm, ¡°hang on¡± also has a root in physicality. The sheer extent of what [Human] languages have added to the lexicon is extraordinary. I will, hmm, attempt a third idiom in the near future, and I anticipate success. [H R]: BLINK [H R]: so umm, what was the problem? since it¡¯s gone now [C-V]: As I said, it was minor. You earned a vanity [Achievement] that is commonly only awarded to [Sapients] of a much higher level. I adjusted the rewards and it should no longer be any trouble. [H R]: vanity [Achievement]? i don¡¯t get it [C-V]: [Infra] has estimated, that for certain [Sapient] species, the existence of, and subsequent search for, unusual [Achievements], [Classes], and [Mods] helps individuals maintain a higher engagement rate with [Infra]¡¯s primary goals. [C-V]: That¡¯s the official statement. I wouldn¡¯t have wanted to give you the wrong impression about how I felt about such things. [H R]: oh. so good boy, here¡¯s a cookie. nuts, i thought i got something cool [C-V]: Yes, hmm, that¡¯s apt. I will show you the changes I have made. The first screen is what it would have appeared as, sans errors, had I received the [Achievement], and the second is how it will read when you return to your [Realm].
[Four-fold Path] You have unlocked four (4) base skills. [Graviton Knight] upgraded to [Four-fold Graviton Knight], more [Class] options available
[Four-fold Path] You have unlocked four (4) base skills, at the [Beginner] division. +skill growth
[C-V]: That trivial adjustment should not affect too many [Sapients], and should go into effect immediately. I have registered this change with [Infra] and my fellow [Overlords].If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. [H R]: ¡­[Graviton Knight]? that is so cooool [C-V]: Hmm, thank you. It was a fair amount of work to achieve and to live up to the standards of. I appreciate the sentiment. [H R]: so, umm. can i go home now? [C-V]: I have not yet found the reason for which your issue was sent to me directly. I ask you, with all due respect young man, to please cool your jets. [H R]: haha oh man [H R]: no one¡¯s gonna believe this. officially now [H R]: anyway, umm. i might have an idea? i got some kinda [INVALID] flag already, might wanna look at that [H R]: and then, you know. please not delete me after [C-V]: That is, hmm, definitely one factor. I believe it is most likely a combination of minor issues, that when combined put the error over a certain threshold. I have been in this position for ten of your [Years] and I still have not mastered every aspect of the [Regency]. [H R]: minor? whew. can i ask what they were? umm, i mean, may i? [C-V]: I will excise the relevant section from my report and show it to you, of course.
(events, when possible, sorted chronologically)
  1. Parent with non-optimal neural connection, possibly transversal portal related
  2. Festival Inference Program returned conflicting results, no rating given
  3. [Sapient] accessed partially-defunct [Emergency Protocol] systems prior to integration
  4. Near Unique [Talent] awarded, randomly selected from [Crushes-Valiant]¡¯s Enrichment Experiment #071
  5. [Emergency Protocol Achievements] awarded, partially as a result of (3.)
  6. Very low percentile ratings assessment
  7. In possession of commerce-restricted [Essence] manipulating device
[H R]: so i¡¯m like a weirdo. great, cool [C-V]: That is not how I would phrase it, young man. You¡¯ve made some decisions that others wouldn¡¯t have. I would say there is nothing inherently wrong with that, but [Infra] will typically skew to a more, hmm, results-based schema. For instance, here is your current assessment review, helpfully provided by my [Infra] assistant. [C-V]: Low resource generation, compared to [Humans] of similar age. Very low resource generation, compared to historical custom [Path] holders. Very high computation drain for combat scenarios. Atypical [Talent] selection, resulting in high computation drain for [Talent] pre-loading. Low statistical confidence regarding lifetime [Essence] gathering. Very low statistical confidence regarding lifespan. [H R]: oof. you can just cross that all out and put ¡°redheaded problem child¡± [C-V]: I really must put more time into learning more [Human] idioms. [C-V]: May I ask, knowing that there is a strong cultural bias on [Earth] against this sort of information being shared between relative strangers, what your goals and aspirations actually are? [H R]: double oof. i¡¯m such a mess even the [Overlord]¡¯s winding up a pep talk [H R]: so my mom and dad, they got a lot of ideas. one of em is that you should always be doing good, but like. you should always be aiming to do the most good [H R]: i guess that¡¯s like an obvious thing? but Mom says it¡¯s not, and Dad says that you can start a pretty mean war if you start talking about what ¡°the most good¡± actually means [H R]: my best friend Miracle, he knows what i¡¯m talking about, i think. see, like we¡¯ve got these defenders. they protect the town. if the town gets attacked, they save people. that¡¯s doing good [H R]: but Miracle¡¯s got this group now. kids from all over. they get together, they train, they make sure they¡¯re at their best. then if anywhere gets attacked, anywhere they can reach, they save people. that¡¯s doing the most good. i think [H R]: like, helping anyone at all is good. but it¡¯s easy too. helping as many people as you possibly can is hard, but it¡¯s the most good. does any of that make sense? [C-V]: I¡¯m following your logic, yes. I have heard similar sentiments from, hmm, many differing [Sapients]. [H R]: so i know i¡¯m weird. i know i get distracted easy. i can¡¯t go that route. his route. what if i¡¯m sad and in bed all day. what if i freaked out and wasn¡¯t even in town. i know that whatever i do, that¡¯s going to be the most good, it¡¯s going to have to play to my strengths [H R]: i¡¯ve read the histories. strong sense of duty? order. strong sense of community? defender. useful skills or hard worker? villager. weirdo misfit who doesn¡¯t get along with anyone? adventurer [H R]: and adventurers get killed. four billion people died in the apocalypse. top three demographics? people outside the ages of 7-55, anyone else with critical medical needs, then adventurers. had to search really hard to find that out [C-V]: Those statistics are sadly accurate, yes. Please, continue. [H R]: another thing Mom and Dad say is, umm. an accident you could have avoided is just a mistake [H R]: that one¡¯s less rules to live by and more yelling at me when i run into the screen door and rip it down [H R]: so like, all those people that died? accident. but if i went out and did it, mistake [H R]: so my goals and aspirations? don¡¯t die. get strong and smart enough to make sure i don¡¯t. help whoever i can. make a difference [H R]: and yeah, it sucks that like, for a while i¡¯m going to be some kind of poor investment. sry. but umm, it¡¯s not the end of the world. cuz that already happened, get it? [C-V]: Hmm, so you¡¯re amassing the maximum amount of ability before even stepping foot on the ladder. In addition, because you are in a liminal generation between the [Emergency Protocols] and a settled, [Full Member] civilization, you are taking full advantage of the privileges afforded to both. Ostensibly limited period boosts combined with no external pressure to advance out of that period. I will have to run a search to find out just how many [Humans] your age are doing something similar. [H R]: yeah, umm. that¡¯s not cheating right? [C-V]: I may do something about it in the future, but for now, hmm, you will be fine. If I may, I¡¯d like to offer one piece of advice, especially since you seem to be in the habit of collecting it. [H R]: for sure [H R]: flip, i mean. yessir, i¡¯d appreciate that [C-V]: There are a small number of rituals that, at first glance, appear to be a way to modify one¡¯s [Class] to a more specialized variant. They provide moderate benefits with a cost of perhaps being too, hmm, focused. However, they are available to be performed by anyone, even [Beginners]. I think you would do well with one. [H R]: oh wow. yes, thank you. as soon as i get back. which will be when, exactly? [C-V]: I will start the process to resubstantiate you where you were previously. It was a pleasure to meet and listen to the concerns of one of my young charges, and I wish you the best in the future. Now, I say this, once again, with all due respect, hmm, but don¡¯t let the door hit you on the way out. [H R]: ...haha ok that was a good- 9: Last Days in the City ¡°-telling you, even if it was transversal, I could still plot it. It has to be root level.¡± ¡°But that doesn¡¯t make sense, Walker,¡± Hunter could hear his uncle say, just barely. ¡°Who¡¯s on root level other than Infra itself? The Overlord?¡± ¡°Dunno. Could be a patron. Heard of one of them doing something similar once or twice. Signature¡¯s all wrong for that, though.¡± ¡°So it couldn¡¯t be a patron,¡± Ernie said, starting to sound more angry than worried. ¡°Real helpful, Peter.¡± Angry and snippy, Hunter amended. ¡°Look, alright. I¡¯ll try one more thing, but it¡¯ll make a mess-¡± There was an outrushing of displaced air and suddenly Hunter could see again, once more standing in the middle of his uncle¡¯s library, but now surrounded by at least a dozen machines, all pointed directly at him. ¡°Hey, guys,¡± Hunter said right before taking a deep breath oh wow I¡¯ve got a whole body again. ¡°Sorry about that?¡± Ernie vaulted over the ring of devices and pulled Hunter into a tight hug. ¡°Hey there, kid. Welcome back. Where¡¯d you go?¡± ¡°I¡¯m telling you, kid went nowhere. Welcome back, by the way,¡± Pete said. ¡°Umm, not totally sure,¡± he mumbled in reply great real helpful. ¡°Got a broken achievement, then I got uploaded to the data whatsits to get it fixed.¡± ¡°Like I said, nowhere,¡± Pete said, arms folded. ¡°Alright, Walker,¡± Ernie let go of Hunter and shouted. ¡°We get it, you¡¯re the smartest guy in the room.¡± ¡°Least someone gets it.¡± Ernie shook his head and grumbled something unintelligible, then turned back to Hunter. ¡°That¡¯s all? Infra wouldn¡¯t pull you for a broken achievement. Usually you just get, ¡®Check back later for updates, hope whatever bonus you were supposed to receive wasn¡¯t going to save your life later,¡¯ and then in a month it¡¯s fixed.¡± ¡°Ah, yeah,¡± Hunter mumbled with a blush. ¡°There was something about my personnel file having too many pre-existing issues. I got to talk to Crushes-Valiant for a while, though. He¡¯s super cool.¡± Pete laughed the loudest and the longest that Hunter had ever heard, bent over with his hands on his knees, and from the look on his uncle¡¯s face, it was the most he¡¯d ever heard either. They both waited for him to finish, which took a good forty-five seconds at least, at which point he caught his breath, gasping, and stood back up. ¡°So let me get this straight,¡± Pete said, wiping the tears from his eyes. ¡°Little Devil here, who¡¯s only been sixteen since the spring, and lived his entire life in some tiny, out of the way redoubt in Kansas, has so many red flags in the system already that he had to get data-delved by the Overlord? Hoo boy. Kid, I was wrong about you, you¡¯re alright in my book.¡± ¡°Umm, thanks?¡± ¡°Sure, kid. On the plus side, he sent you back. That¡¯s probably a free pass to tell SysPol to shove it, at least once or twice. That¡¯s the one all-clear even they won¡¯t argue with.¡± ¡°Hey, Pete,¡± Ernie looked like he was about to tell him off, then he changed his mind. ¡°Actually, you¡¯re right. Except it¡¯s too bad we¡¯re not dumb enough to suggest my sister¡¯s kid could start smuggling contraband past the Pols, huh.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah there¡¯s that.¡± ¡°So, umm,¡± Hunter said, wobbling. ¡°It¡¯s been a long day. I¡¯m gonna go take a whole nap or two.¡± Ernie helped him up the long set of stairs, then to his room, keeping a steady grip on Hunter¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Hey, Ernie? You don¡¯t think I¡¯m a weirdo troublemaker, do you?¡± he asked, just as he was falling asleep, and didn¡¯t hear his uncle¡¯s reply.
Hunter was pretty sure that if he never saw a two hundred page handwritten notebook again in his life, he would be perfectly ok with it. Since he had his water affinity now, the two spells he¡¯d been practicing with before refused to give him skill gains, and he had to pick some actual ones if he wanted to continue to progress. Luckily, Infra awarded one free spell, per skill, per skill tier, so while he¡¯d have to use talents or class abilities later, he had two he could take right away. He was just having trouble deciding on which two. ¡°This is nuts,¡± he mumbled, snapped Ernie¡¯s book shut, and dropped it and his head onto the table. ¡°How does anyone even begin to figure out what they want?¡± ¡°Most people,¡± Ajit replied, taking a sip of his coffee, ¡°aren¡¯t just running screaming through Infra like there¡¯s a closeout sale and grabbing everything they can.¡± ¡°Hey, umm,¡± Hunter scrunched up his face, still pressed against the table, ¡°no I guess that¡¯s pretty fair.¡± ¡°For instance, I have an air affinity. I discovered that when I became a mage, not by walking around all day, trying to make sparkles pop out of my fingers and saying, ¡®Hey Ajit look,¡¯ every time I thought I saw a flash of light.¡± ¡°In my defense, you know, that almost worked?¡± ¡°Right, of course. When I found my specialty, my family and I had a long talk, after which I was put in contact with one of my cousins, also an air affinity. He taught me the basics in regards to which spells have which effects, and gave me some advice on how best to proceed.¡± ¡°So you had like a mentor. I¡¯ve got at least one of those. Three or four, maybe.¡± ¡°That may be so, but then after the basics, I decided to come to the school here. They¡¯ve done extensive research as to cost effectiveness, potency, and adaptability,¡± Ajit sat back as he spoke. ¡°Much more than my cousin the dabbler.¡± ¡°And now you¡¯ve got the same spells as anyone else there? The ones that work?¡± ¡°Hunter, there is something to be said for collective decision making.¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right, I guess,¡± Hunter said as he sat up, then grinned. ¡°So you¡¯re past level twenty-five? That¡¯s so cool. I thought you were my age.¡± ¡°I¡¯m seventeen, yes. We don¡¯t all take a gap year directly after integration. At home, SysPol has a very smoothly run system for levelling new hires out of the beginner division.¡± ¡°Huh, I didn¡¯t know that. Where I¡¯m from, the Pol just sits around and occasionally makes sure you¡¯re not poisoning the grain, or whatever.¡± ¡°May I give you some advice, as an acquaintance?¡± Hunter rolled his eyes and groaned until Ajit continued, ¡°As a friend, of course I meant.¡± ¡°Would an acquaintance make sure you had a whole fancy restaurant free to take that guy you liked to?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if it was fancy, exactly.¡± ¡°It had tablecloths, Ajit. Some places you can eat at downtown don¡¯t even have tables. It was plenty fancy,¡± Hunter insisted. ¡°Point taken,¡± Ajit replied with a nod. ¡°Then, as a friend, may I?¡± ¡°For sure, please.¡± ¡°I recognize how difficult it must have been for your uncles-¡± ¡°Just one of em¡¯s actually my uncle, but go on.¡± ¡°For your uncle and his friends, then?¡± Ajit waited for a nod. ¡°For them to make it this far relying on self-determination, extensive note taking,¡± he paused there to look at the book on the table, ¡°and a fair amount of luck. It¡¯s remarkable, actually.¡± ¡°Umm, but?¡± ¡°But looking to follow in their footsteps, with the same rules and processes, and thinking you¡¯re going to get similar results is just faulty logic. It¡¯s like asking someone who¡¯s throwing dice about their technique, and thinking that if you twist your wrist just like they do, then you¡¯ll get the same numbers.¡± ¡°Oof, Ajit.¡± ¡°I know, I¡¯m sorry, but-¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re right, man,¡± Hunter interrupted. ¡°I just got done telling someone the other day that I was going to use every resource available, and here I am not doing that. Wanna know what¡¯s kind of holding me back with this whole thing though?¡± ¡°Absolutely.¡± ¡°Ok, so umm. If I¡¯m throwing dice, I kinda see this college thing, or Order training, or the stuff like that as baking a cake. I want to say baking a cake. This might come out wrong.¡± ¡°I can handle it,¡± Ajit said, grinning. ¡°That happens sometimes.¡± ¡°So my mom bakes a really good cake. She¡¯s got an old recipe, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s hers originally, I think she found it in the house. That doesn¡¯t matter, umm. So one time I wanted to bake a cake, and she showed me how, and helped a little, and it came out just as good as one of hers. Then I wanted to do it again, and I screwed something up, and it came out a mess.¡± ¡°I see, but honestly Hunter, there are awful consequences no matter what in this world. It¡¯s just how things are.¡± ¡°No, well yeah,¡± he held up a hand as he thought briefly. ¡°But when I didn¡¯t screw it up, it was only just as good as Mom¡¯s. Like, I could make that cake fifty times, and the best it would be is just as good as the time before.¡± ¡°Hunter, listen. You¡¯re right. But at beginner levels, honestly for all of the mortal levels, that¡¯s not a big deal. Bake a perfectly good cake first, then later learn how to make it better. Don¡¯t throw your dice so early when you don¡¯t have to,¡± Ajit finished, chuckling. ¡°We got, umm, mixed metaphors here, huh.¡± ¡°Yes, but,¡± Ajit hummed to himself, the way he did when he was really thinking, ¡°at least compromise. Or consider compromising.¡± ¡°Ok, yeah, you¡¯re right. So, umm, wanna sneak me into the library at your fancy college later?¡±
¡°Hey, Breaker,¡± Hunter said, panting and leaning on his channeling rod. ¡°Did I ask you if you ever thought about joining an Order?¡± ¡°Nah,¡± he replied, shaking his arms out oh wow did I hurt him?, ¡°Don¡¯t think you did. Why? You all of a sudden going on the straight and narrow?¡± ¡°Yeah, you know me,¡± Hunter said, tugging on his wait when did that get ripped shirt. ¡°Thinking I might look good in a uniform.¡± ¡°Well, as Ernie¡¯d say, short answer is no,¡± Breaker chuckled. ¡°Never did think about it.¡± ¡°Long answer?¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t never been one for long answers, kid. Medium answer, sure. Saw all the orders here, during the Siege. K.C. Arties, K.C. Cav, K.C. just about everything. Didn¡¯t like em. Guy at the top of the chain gives a bad order, they all still got to do it, then bam,¡± he said, loud enough at the end to make Hunter flinch. ¡°No more K.C. Lancers. Ernie or Pete make a bad decision, I tell em to shove it.¡± ¡°What about the Pols? Nobody¡¯d be doing crime with Officer Breaker around.¡± ¡°Eh, wouldn¡¯t have worked. Especially nowadays. You join up with SysPol, you do exactly what they want outta you.¡± ¡°Umm, what do you mean?¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t noticed? SysPol¡¯s got a curriculum. They snap kids up before they get a class, tell them here¡¯s what you¡¯re gonna learn. Sword, rifle, fire, Chariot, HEP. If it turns out you ain¡¯t good at any of those, they wash you right out.¡± ¡°Chariot? HEP? Dunno what those are, sorry.¡± ¡°Chariot¡¯s their preferred patron, the Chariot of Justice screams as it races, or something, and HEP is high energy projection. You know, the big guns.¡± ¡°Huh, ok. So they¡¯re sorta like the college. Ajit says they only teach the best spells, but I mean, are they the best spells?¡± ¡°Check your uncle¡¯s book on that,¡± Breaker said, then clapped him on the shoulder when Hunter started to groan. ¡°I mean it. Look for anything with red permanent marker. Our rule is, for the most part, if we see a red, we bug out. If they¡¯re teaching those, then that¡¯s a point to them.¡± ¡°Got it. Thanks, Breaker.¡± ¡°Not a problem, kid,¡± he said as he strode out of the room. Hunter took a seat on the mat to clear up his notifications and think, idly picking at the large gash in his Fourex tee shirt.
You have raised Staff Fighting to one hundred (100). You have one (1) talent available from maxing your staff fighting skill. Please pick from the following pool of staff fighting talents.
[Thunder Stick] You smash down your opponents with heavy blows. +damage with staff fighting weapons
[Staff Channel] You are one with the staff, it is an extension of your will. you may make touch attacks with a staff (synergy)
[Dirty Trick] You fight in a way that others do not see coming. (active) forgo damage on a successful staff attack to trip target
¡°Ok that¡¯s just dumb,¡± Hunter muttered. ¡°Can¡¯t trip an Arax, or like a giant slug, or a hoverdrone, ugh. Probably more things you can¡¯t trip than you can.¡± Hunter wasn¡¯t completely sure which of the other two worked better, but he did know he was totally fine with never fighting as slowly as he had been to practice his staff again, and that Staff Channel would probably fit the rest of his fighting style, so he took it. He glanced over at the long metal stick he¡¯d discarded after the spar so heavy, and got a pleasant surprise.
[Weighted Channeling Rod] Uncommon. Made of an unknown alloy, some cultures arm their least proficient fighters with these for an extra boost. +20% efficacy of attacks used through [Staff Channel]
¡°Oh, I get it now,¡± he mumbled to himself. ¡°That¡¯s going to be useful.¡± He spent his time meditating after that until dinner, trying to trick the ¡°recent skill gains¡± part of the skill into raising staff fighting even further, but it didn¡¯t work. It did leave him refreshed and clear headed, though, which he couldn¡¯t complain about.
¡°I gotta say, buddy,¡± Hunter said as he looked up at the ¡°Kansas City Mystics Memorial University Library¡± sign, ¡°I¡¯m a little disappointed that I just get to walk in.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a library,¡± Ajit said, with his particular slow cadence that said he was trying to be patient, ¡°for a practically free college, in one of the safest cities on the continent. Why would it be locked up like a vault?¡± ¡°I dunno,¡± he replied, then quieted down at the look from the lady at the front desk as they passed, ¡°There¡¯s secret knowledge and magical tomes in here, right?¡± ¡°Yes, but the purpose is, ultimately, to make sure less people die. What would be the benefit of making it more difficult to access?¡± ¡°Huh, you¡¯re right,¡± Hunter mumbled. ¡°Just less fun this way.¡± ¡°I promise,¡± Ajit said with a light pat on his shoulder, ¡°if you ever find some crazy old man with a magical library he keeps people away from, I will help you break in. As long as we donate all the books to this one, after.¡± ¡°Ok, deal. Capers are super exciting, you¡¯ll see.¡± Ajit just nodded, led him back further into the library, and waved his hand vaguely. ¡°I believe this is where most of the information you¡¯re looking is. Water spells, affinity advancements, and the like. I¡¯ve got some studying to do over there,¡± he pointed, ¡°but feel free to message me if you feel overwhelmed looking around. But not bored. Read more, if you get bored.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± Hunter nodded, then looked around as Ajit walked off. There were an amazing number of books around, so much more than he¡¯d ever seen. It occurred to him that this may be one of the largest collections of books practically anywhere, in fact. He knew that when people like his dad were hurriedly fleeing the city, they didn¡¯t have much time to gather up anything like literature, and that most of these larger cities were practically destroyed shortly after. Of course, all the books he was looking at were decidedly post-apocalyptic. As he browsed through them, he noticed that most were hastily bound, printed on stiff, thin sheets of what was probably some kind of Infratech plastic, all glossy and curiously formatted. It reminded him, in a weird way, of Ernie¡¯s collection of notebooks, just a mad dash to write down anything and everything in a new world, in an attempt to make sense of hopefully a fraction of it, only done at a much larger scale. He gathered up a small pile, starting with the basics. He had ¡°Efficiency Metrics for Entry-Level Water Spells,¡± ¡°Affinity Coefficients for Practical Water Mages,¡± ¡°A Beginner¡¯s Pros and Cons of Water Advancement,¡± and others, all with names that sounded like they definitely knew what they were talking about. Hunter found a table close to his section and laid them all out, along with Ernie¡¯s encounter notebook of spells, and then sat down to work. His first conclusion was that everything was complicated and dry. Hunter wanted to believe, deep down, that things worked the way they appeared from the outside, that his hazy recollections of Miracle¡¯s dad simply pointing at the ground and having it rise up were both exactly as easy and mystical as they appeared, but it was increasingly seeming like that wasn¡¯t the case. Instead of rhyming chants, there were graphs, instead of quests to find the right wand for the right wizard, there were essays about wood density as it related to casting efficiency, instead of clever riddles that would lead to hidden knowledge, there were more graphs. After paging through the university¡¯s books, Hunter concluded that there were an awful lot of graphs.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Ernie¡¯s notebook wasn¡¯t much help either, he found. Any water spells that were marked in bold red like Breaker had said to look for were magic way out of his reach, which was expected, but they also seemed to be from affinities that the college didn¡¯t teach, at least at his level of proficiency. He got up to pull out a few extra books he¡¯d skipped on the first pass, and then settled in with his own notebook that he¡¯d started carrying around in his satchel oh no I¡¯ve become my uncle. He wrote ¡°Water¡± at the top of a blank page and stared at it for a while. He knew there had to be some pattern to how one advanced and refined their affinities, and he was going to find it. The scariest, run and hide, adopt new strategy spells Hunter could find that sounded like a water affinity were either in the magical poisons category, a group of spells that all drained from a target¡¯s stats and gave them to the caster, and then two that Ernie had double-underlined and under type had just written, ¡°feels like drowning.¡± So at the bottom of the page, Hunter scribbled down those three. He skimmed the textbooks again and finally found a pair of useful graphs. One showed the entry-level spells that seemed to be most useful to cast repeatedly for quick learning at low skill ratings, and the other listed which spells a brand new mage could cast, ordered by their ¡°Resilience Effect per Affinity Cost¡± which Hunter was pretty sure anyone not writing a fancy book would just call the damage ratio. He noticed, with a little embarrassment, that mist spells, which he had been previously considering to supplement his still struggling stealth abilities, were very low on both lists. Near the top of both charts, however, which he wrote down near the middle of his page, were a lot of spells listed either as wave, ice, or ugh blood. He left his table again and only returned an hour later, toting one last book, a thin one titled, ¡°Notable Magic Used in the Kansas City Siege.¡± Ordinarily, this would be something he¡¯d actually read cover to cover, because accurate information about a lot of went on in the early years of the apocalypse was incredibly hard to find, but this time he flipped through and simply made note of the biography blurbs for various mages, where it listed their specialties in detail. When he was finished, his page of notes was a mess, with arrows leading from one level to another, sometimes with notes in between, and a lot of question marks dotted around. He did think he had what he needed, though. ¡°So,¡± he whispered to himself, ¡°blood leads to poison, which is gross, and other things. But I don¡¯t really need a second inevitable doom skill in combat, so let¡¯s just ignore that for now. Ice doesn¡¯t match anything at the bottom, but it does lead to temperature, which is weird because fire spells do too. Wave leads to impact, same as you can get to from the earth side, but it also might branch off to draining? I bet mist turns into whatever these drowning spells are, but I wouldn¡¯t want to risk it. Ugh I hate this.¡± By the time Ajit had come back, Hunter was pretty kinda maybe sure about his choices, so before they left the library he went ahead and selected them.
[Rising Tides] When the water retreats, it always returns, crashing. You embody that nature when you channel your affinity. (infusion) one (1) affinity. six (6) minute duration. +damage to counterattacks
[Water Burst] Conjuring water is a simple trick. Creating it quickly enough to push, to hurt, to even cut is more difficult. (evocation) (active) two (2) affinity. +moderate damage to a successful touch attack
Hunter had a problem. He had four magic spells he knew, actual spectacular magic that he could cast at will, that he could break or at least bend the laws of the universe with, that all combined to improve his Devilborn style to greater heights and to make him even more of the untouchable pain to fight that he was hoping to be. That wasn¡¯t the problem. The problem was that he couldn¡¯t cast all of them at once. He sat on the roof of the Fourex building, the place that had over the past couple months become his troubleshooting spot, his calculator open in Infra, another bulkier calculator on his lap, and his leg stretched out for his helperbot to push against his foot while it moved through its exercises. Over to his side he had two of his uncle¡¯s notebooks open, one labelled ¡°How Infra Calculates¡± and the other ¡°How Infra Maybe Calculates v.2.¡± Neither were all that helpful, or maybe Hunter was just missing something. All he knew was that, while meditating, he could only keep up one spell indefinitely. When he was just exploring the city, that was fine, he would just have A Light to Follow active while he ran around looking for hidden artwork. Before his trip to the library, he was doing alright during morning exercises too, just getting used to the way his body moved when Wisp granted him its Flickering Form. The little bit of skill that bonus awareness would have given him didn¡¯t amount to much, so he usually didn¡¯t bother with it. But now he had Rising Tides to work with as well, and he needed a lot of practice, it turned out. Keeping his affinity infused, feeling the cool water sensation while he went through his forms, moving from position to position in time with the powerful motion of the still-strange essence rushing in and out, it was almost too difficult to manage, even while in his combat trance. He needed to know how his body was going to move before he was at all comfortable even sparring with both spells up. When he did that, however, both pieces of magic coursing through his ephemeral channels, he could watch his affinity drop in the Infra screen, point by point, and that worried him. ¡°Okay, buddy,¡± he said, and Trips tilted its round shell to acknowledge him, ¡°if I¡¯m right, and I¡¯m not sure I am, I can keep up relatively full effectiveness for three and a half hours. That¡¯s, I mean, that¡¯s pretty good. I don¡¯t know if I even have the vigor for that. But if I need that extra edge, that third spell knocks me down to an hour and a half, and a fourth would be under an hour. That¡¯s assuming that higher level spells don¡¯t cost more, which they probably do. And either way, knock off ten minutes for every Water Burst, and Water Burst is fun. ¡°I mean, I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to ever be a real life sorceror or cleric or something. That would be pretty cool, but like, you gotta go with what you know. There are talents to get my regeneration up, but I still have a lot more dodge and parry ones I want to learn first, and I¡¯m running pretty short on them anyway. I guess I¡¯ve only got one option. It¡¯s going to be dangerous, so are you in, Trips?¡± He put a hand out and they bumped fist to clamp, then went on their mission. He prepared for an entire day, drawing maps, coming up with codenames, generally just wasting time in the way you had to when you wanted to make a successful heist. Then, the next day, he was ready, and Hunter and Trips both got into position. He banged on the door to Pete¡¯s workshop and yelled, ¡°I know you¡¯re in there, Walker. Lemme in!¡± He had a strategy, and he was implementing it, even if it was going to get him killed. There was an old self-help book that his parents had at home, another piece of scrap of the old world that they kept around more out of sentimentality than actual usefulness. Neither his mother or father took it seriously, in fact they had a few jokes between themselves about the advice contained within, but one winter a bored Hunter read it from cover to cover three times, and since it was the only actual information about negotiating he¡¯d ever been exposed to, that¡¯s what he was going with. Step one was to start by putting your opponent off balance. ¡°I¡¯m gonna tell my mom you showed me a picture that made me puke, and I¡¯m going to let her come to her own conclusions about what it was, if you don¡¯t open this door right now!¡± ¡°Alright, kid, alright,¡± Pete grumbled as he opened the door and ushered him in. ¡°I¡¯m not doing any more teaching if that¡¯s what you want. Already told Ernie that.¡± ¡°You know,¡± Hunter said as he strolled into the room, hands in his pockets, looking around with a vague aura of casualness. ¡°I know a lot of people in this town, made a lot of connections, maybe even got some favors owed to me.¡± Trips was balanced on his shoulder with only one leg, the other two folded in front of it, the pose they¡¯d both practiced to complete step two, projecting a disinterested yet dominant position. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re being weird again,¡± Pete shook his head and went back to work at one of the tables. ¡°And you know what all those people say?¡± Hunter moved to the other side of the table and leaned forward as he continued. ¡°They all say you¡¯re the best tech guy in town.¡± Step three, flattery, was complete this is going so well. ¡°Ok,¡± was the reply, and Hunter waited until he realized that was all Pete was going to say. Step four was the sticking point to the whole plan, and he was already off course, but Hunter went for it anyway, baiting the hook and waiting for Pete to bite. ¡°Except,¡± he said, stretching it out, ¡°I want the best piece of tech money can buy, and I¡¯m not convinced you¡¯re the guy.¡± ¡°Kid,¡± Pete said with a shake of his head is it working I can¡¯t tell, ¡°if you want me to make you something, just come out and tell me. Not whatever this is.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s exactly what I want,¡± Hunter nodded success, while Trips bounced excitedly to the side of his head. ¡°Well?¡± ¡°Oh, right,¡± Hunter blushed as he continued, ¡°Umm, I want a meditation focus, but I think I need too many features to go out and buy a regular one.¡± ¡°Custom¡¯s where it¡¯s at anyway. One size fits all doesn¡¯t fit anyone great, that¡¯s the rule. And I gotta say, that¡¯s a good idea, you do meditate an awful lot. Like, a disturbing amount of it.¡± ¡°Hey, umm,¡± he mumbled, ¡°so here¡¯s my budget.¡± Hunter had just recently figured out where all the crystallized essence he earned had been going, or at least how to access it, and with a flick of his wrists, his life savings appeared on the table, in the form of two large crystals, seven medium, and a very large number of small ones. He still didn¡¯t really know how much anything was worth, or how the different sizes converted to each other, but he figured this was a lot. Pete nodded as he glanced down at the pile, then leaned back in his seat, ¡°So, what¡¯re the specs?¡± ¡°Ok, umm. So, as strong as you can make it. I¡¯m running three-three and two-three factors in combat and they¡¯re not cutting it. Pie in the sky I¡¯d want a four-nine in affinity, at the least. Hard filtered, I don¡¯t need to waste any on resilience. Two to one A to V I figure, unless you can get better total numbers out of three to two. Gonna have to be a peripheral floater because I don¡¯t plan on having my hands free, and I move pretty quick so it¡¯ll have to as well. Oh, and like, make it cool-looking?¡± Pete whistled low for a moment, then looked from Hunter down to the essence and back up. He drummed the fingers of one hand against the other arm, then nodded. ¡°Ok, I can do it. Don¡¯t know if I can promise an extra one-six on a floater but I can sure try. Now, this is going to look pricey, but I¡¯m doing it at cost. Ask your uncle if you don¡¯t believe me,¡± he said, before reaching out to take one of the large crystals. ¡°This one¡¯s for materials,¡± then he grabbed one of the mediums, ¡°and this one will be the regenerating power source.¡± ¡°Oh, right!¡± Hunter said as he grinned. ¡°And I want eighty percent uptime. You said it, I meditate a disturbing amount.¡± Pete grunted, took another medium crystal, and said, ¡°Gimme a week.¡±
The city was hot as the peak of summer approached. There was something about all the asphalt, the concrete, the tall buildings interfering with any kind of cool breeze, that made Hunter feel cranky. The college didn¡¯t bother giving a summer vacation, so Ajit was almost never free to hang out, Kiki had left on one of zher annual trips to a cooler climate for the season, and the members of Fourex were staying busy preparing for a Source excursion they had scheduled. All of this, Hunter reflected, looked and felt like a prime opportunity to do something really stupid, but he was resisting that creeping urge. He found himself one day sitting on a ledge about twenty stories up, staring across the river toward the cratered remains of what was previously North Kansas City, kicking one heel repeatedly against the building, and he knew he was in trouble. ¡°There¡¯s tons of live ordnance out there,¡± he said, and it didn¡¯t matter. ¡°Those cloaked robots can wait for years before they activate,¡± he said, and that didn¡¯t matter either. ¡°It¡¯s not like there¡¯s any treasure, it was just a merc megacorp trying to set up a base,¡± he said, and it still didn¡¯t matter. He wanted to go out there, even though every single cogent thought and gut instinct was telling him what a bad so bad idea it was. ¡°I have got to get out of here,¡± he said, and while it didn¡¯t matter, he knew it was what he had to do, before he did something else. ¡°One more thing, though,¡± he muttered as he pushed himself up to his feet. He and Trips had taken roughly a hundred, maybe a hundred and fifty holopics of mural pieces around the city, and while he didn¡¯t know his exact progress, he had a feeling he was pretty close to completing at least one picture. Hunter wasn¡¯t exactly invested in it as anything other than an exercise, but it just felt right to at least see one of these mysterious images in its entirety. He closed his eyes briefly, regaining the bit of focus he¡¯d lost when he was distracted by the battlefield view, and then nodded to himself ok got it. There was a drainpipe about eight feet away from the end of his concrete ledge, and with a good two steps build up he leapt over to it, catching a sneaker and a bandaged hand on it and flipping himself upward. The next floor had the remains of a fire escape partially attached, which he caught the bottom of and shimmied up the outside while it creaked ominously. At the top and about two windows over, a two foot wide gash in the building had caved in, leaving a very unsafe looking pile of rubble leading all the way to the top. He made it to the crevice with a hop from one broken ledge to another, catching a handhole and wedging himself in at the last moment, panting less from the exertion than from the rush. When he made it to the top, there was indeed a splash of bright paint, and Trips hopped off his shoulder to go snap a picture.
You have discovered a [Piece of an Arax Mural], and received essence for a trivial exploration feat. You have discovered all of [Arax Mural C] (75/75), and received essence for a moderate exploration feat. WARNING: your raw essence gain has been artificially restricted by [Debt-Bonder X-09], an Infratech device. You have been credited two (2) small and three (3) large essence crystals into your currency account. [Arax Mural C] can be assembled and viewed now. Would you like to proceed? Y/N
¡°Huh,¡± he said under his breath yes. A window opened in his Infra, swirling with all the pinks and yellows and greens he¡¯d seen while collecting the photos, and he watched the screen grow larger with every piece it slotted in. He only realized how disconcerting it was that the mural was nearing life-size while still moving when he discovered he¡¯d fallen to a seated position while staring. It started to thrum gently, or that might have been the blood pumping in his ears, as the last puzzle pieces found their places and the window formed a complete square, about twenty feet on a side, and somehow still contained in the not-space of Infra. Hunter couldn¡¯t quite make out what it was, until the top of the screen flashed ¡°Calculating¡­¡± and bits and pieces of the image began to transform oh it was a code. There was a deeper noise, this time definitely from the painting, or at least the screen, a muted foghorn kind of sound, as entire strips of different colors emerged from the mural, no longer bright and eye-searing. Hunter stretched out on the rough surface of the strange roof and convinced himself to relax, and to keep his eyes open, because the shifting patterns and insistent noise seemed to grow worse when he shut them. Finally, the screen blinked ¡°Calculating¡­ complete¡± and Hunter took a look at one part of what a lone Arax had probably spent years of zher life on. It wasn¡¯t what he was expecting, it wasn¡¯t a joke or a prank or something pointless like that. It was simple, and straightforward, and not at all what one would expect from an Arax graffiti artist. That made it, probably, even more subversive to whoever painted it. This is what Hunter saw: A girl. A young girl, holding her mother¡¯s hand. A girl on a street corner that could have been anywhere in the world, but it didn¡¯t exist anymore. A girl wearing nice clothes, shoes that were shiny for some reason, a girl with her hair done, puffed out on the sides into perfect spheres. A sidewalk, unbroken, that a young girl stood on. Concrete that hadn¡¯t been pried up, hadn¡¯t been hurled in anger. Glass panes, still whole and reflective, showing a young girl from behind. A car at the edge of the frame, glossy and blue and not a rusting piece of steel. A city that was here once, and no longer truly was, and a closeup of a girl in it. A mother, her expression shifting, clutching a young girl¡¯s hand, pulling her back. A mother, treating her child to a day out in the city, or maybe taking her to school, or just out for no reason. A mother in a city that now lacks for them, a world that lacks for them. A mother who could be anywhere now, but in that moment, that moment that doesn¡¯t exist except as a puzzle and a code, in that moment was here. A girl, so young, certainly not 7-55, almost certainly about to enter a world poised against her. A girl with little heels on her buckled shoes that would keep her from running as fast as she could. A girl with such lovely hair that she¡¯d have to tie back, hack off, get rid of to keep from having something for monsters to grab. A girl in a nice dress who wasn¡¯t going to have too many more days where she could wear her nice things. A girl, looking directly at the artist, at the audience, at Hunter. A girl whose eyes he could almost meet, even if it was likely he would never meet her. A girl who had a glimpse of another world, who looked at it head-on, eyes wide. A girl with a smile on her face. A girl who saw something and thought it was interesting. A girl who thought that it couldn¡¯t be too bad. A girl who was wrong. A message, at the bottom of the image. Looping, elegant Infrascript, translated into five words. ¡°We¡¯re sorry. We¡¯re so sorry.¡± A message from an artist. A portrait of a young girl at the last moment of the old Earth. A plea from an artist. A girl, that was, that isn¡¯t, that won¡¯t ever be again. When he finally managed to close the window, to wipe the tears from his face, Hunter made his way back home in silence.
¡°Hey, Uncle Ernie,¡± Hunter said as he found him at breakfast one morning, ¡°I was thinking- ¡°That you¡¯ve learned just about all you can from us, and you want to get out of town before you start feeling penned in?¡± ¡°Well,¡± he mumbled, rubbing the back of his head, ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to put it that way, but kinda? I love it here with you guys, but I¡¯m starting to feel stuck.¡± ¡°It was only supposed to be a couple months, kid. Don¡¯t feel bad that you¡¯re ready to go. So, let me see your info sheet. The full thing, so I can send you home with notes.¡± Hunter granted his uncle permission, and then took a look at it himself, because it¡¯d been a while since he actually did more than scan a section or two.
Name: Hunter Redsmith Species: Human Age: 16.3
Level: 1 Tier: Mortal Division: Beginner
Path: Truth Seeker Class: N/A Mod: N/A
Resilience: 116/116 Affinity: 23/23 Vigor: 113/113
Strength: 13 Knowledge: 10 Charisma: 10
Agility: 13 Intelligence: 10 Wit: 10
Toughness: 16 Willpower: 13 Drive: 13
Luck: +10/-5
Water Affinity Infratech
Evocation: 45/100 Infusion: 76/100 Essence Physics: 10/100 Fundamental Math: 8/100
Follower of Wisp Devilborn Soft Style
Guidance: 92/100 Protection: 87/100 Dodge: 100/200 Parry: 100/200
Staff Fighting: 100/200 Touch Attack: 100/200
Zen Runner Explorer Other Paths
Athletics: 133/200 Awareness: 111/200 Farming: 45/100 Mechanics: 20/100
Meditation: 150/200 Stealth: 95/200
Family Tradition Combination Ace Oncoming Storm Heads Up
Wily Opponent Dodge Expert Deft Hands Opportunist
Defensive Art Practiced Parry Parry Expert Hard to Hit
Flurry Wall Breath Training Combat Trance Kinesthesia
Escape Genius Staff Channel
Rising Tide Water Burst A Light to Follow Flickering Form
Secret Knowledge Quick Learner IV Skilled III Young Expert
Headstart III Four-fold Path
¡°Ugh,¡± Hunter muttered, ¡°they sure stick a lot of stuff in there.¡± ¡°So, two questions before I comment.¡± ¡°Sure, what¡¯s up?¡± ¡°One, mechanics? And two, how did you actually lose a point in a skill? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen that.¡± ¡°Oh, umm,¡± he mumbled in reply. ¡°After the tech diagram fiasco, I tried one more time. Just fixing things, seeing if I could trick myself into a skill. Didn¡¯t work, but Infra says I could make a job out of it, if I wanted. And the other thing? Umm, guess I got reassessed or I just puked up a whole skill point.¡± ¡°Ok, guess that makes sense, kid. I honestly don¡¯t have any notes, you seem like you know what you¡¯re doing. So, when are you going to port out?¡± ¡°Umm,¡± he said, an embarrassed grin on his face, ¡°I checked the prices for transport, with all of my weird stuff? I think I¡¯m going to walk. I bought a neat little sleeping bag tent thingy, and a box that stores way more food than it looks like it does. Plus I can make my own water.¡± ¡°That¡¯s,¡± Ernie paused to think, ¡°actually not a bad idea. See what¡¯s out there, or at least a little bit of it. If you can¡¯t handle a three day walk home, then I don¡¯t know what the last couple months was for. Just avoid Topeka, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard that before.¡± He paused, arms folded, and really look at look at Hunter before continuing, ¡°Well, hmm. You¡¯re officially graduated then, kid. Guess you can hand back over the bonder.¡± ¡°Oh, the armband, umm,¡± the grin turning into a full blush, ¡°I was hoping I could keep it? I got kind of a plan, maybe?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to like the sound of this, but what¡¯s the plan?¡± ¡°Well, you remember my favorite part of the Festival last year? The one you had to convince Mom to let me go see? The one I didn¡¯t even know existed for the first two of them?¡± ¡°Really? I don¡¯t think-¡± Hunter interrupted him and explained his plan, in intricate, confusing detail. He even showed his uncle the extensive notes he¡¯d made, the pros and cons lists, and a few silly drawings he thought added to his case. All in all, the teen thought, he¡¯d laid out a very convincing argument, and he didn¡¯t even need to use his expert negotiating skills once. ¡°Ok ok,¡± Ernie said, ¡°Worst case scenario, it doesn¡¯t work, you just move on. Huh. You know it¡¯s not all a numbers game though, right? You¡¯re going to need to come back here and let me drill you on the intangibles at some point. Deal?¡± ¡°Deal,¡± Hunter said, and they shook on it. He finished packing that night, and in the morning, Hunter left for his birthplace, his home, the Willard redoubt. 10: Going Back ¡°Ok, buddy,¡± Hunter said on their first evening camping, sitting on his duffel and trying to figure out how to unfurl the tent-bag. ¡°You¡¯ve been a lot of, umm, help. Helperbot, right. That¡¯s what you do,¡± he trailed off. Trips skittered over from where it was clearing dry brush away from the side of the road, and with a click of one of its clamps, opened the buckle Hunter had missed on the rolled up bundle. ¡°See, just like that,¡± he mumbled, mostly to himself. Hunter spread out the tent and looked at it, more of a long sleeping bag that angled up at the top so someone could zip themselves all the way in and have a little space to themselves cozy I guess. ¡°You do good work, little guy.¡± The bot stayed at his feet, waggled two of its arms around, and then dipped its head in a nod, or its body in a bow, Hunter wasn¡¯t sure. Trips was basically just an elongated softball on three skinny legs, and sometimes it was hard to translate its movements. ¡°But like,¡± Hunter paused, bit his lip, ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to going back home, don¡¯t get me wrong. But I¡¯m not staying too long, and after that? Things are probably going to get weird and dangerous.¡± Trips looked up at him with the black band that went across its middle in place of eyes pretty sure it¡¯s looking at me, then did its tiny bouncing shrug thing, definitely different than its larger bouncing affirmative thing. ¡°So, you know, you¡¯ve got a decision to make, bud. You can hang around in Willard when I leave, stay safe, play with your cousins the farmbots, take care of Jacky who I¡¯m sure has been making one constant mess since we left, or you can come with me. And, you know, see the world, get shot at, and make Mom worry.¡± The little guy just stood there, mechanisms whirring into a faint groan, not a new sound but one Hunter hadn¡¯t figured out yet, and then held out one limb, clamp closed and angled down. Hunter grinned, leaned forward, and bumped his fist against it. ¡°I kinda hoped so, but,¡± Hunter chuckled, ¡°I didn¡¯t want to jinx it. Ok, so let¡¯s figure this out? How this is gonna work, I mean.¡± He pulled out his notebook and flipped to a couple pages he¡¯d painstakingly copied out of one of the college library books, squinting in the low light until Trips pulled the lantern he¡¯d bought out of the duffel and turned it on. Once he had the right page, both teen and robot peered at it, neither moving for a little while. ¡°I think, maybe, we can do it?¡± Hunter broke the silence. ¡°I¡¯ve got enough crystals to do that part,¡± he pointed, ¡°and the rest of it¡¯s just channeling affinity? I think? Which I¡¯m not great at but we can go slow. We can use the rod for that middle part, yeah?¡± Trips just looked at him I think, then shrugged before holding out a clamp. Hunter hesitated, not entirely sure what the bot wanted, but after a moment he maybe figured it out, so he emptied the small essence crystals from his account into the pouch he kept looped on his satchel, and then handed it over. The helperbot started to walk around the freshly cleared dirt, plucking crystals out of the pouch and setting them down in a complicated pattern, occasionally coming back to check the notebook. Hunter picked up the metal staff and carefully laid it in the middle of the design, then sat at one end of it to prepare. He hadn¡¯t used the focus he¡¯d bought from Pete as much as he wanted to, because he honestly found it too distracting. He was still getting used to how his affinity felt with his spells running, quick and static and ready to jump with one spell, strong and powerful and rocking from one non-direction to another with the other, and with his focus out it was just another effect on his channels he¡¯d have to learn to ignore. It seemed to pull at him, in a weird way. Hunter could feel an odd sensation, like the cycling affinity moved more quickly on its journey, and there was a phantom tug when it swept past his left side, where the focus hovered. He pulled it off his arm where he wore it when not in use and let go of it in the air, watching as the two dull concentric rings started to spin before it darted over to his side. It was so weird, he thought, how something smaller than his head could apparently fit so much power in it. He¡¯d tested it, running full out, up and down buildings, really putting Zen Runner Explorer to the test, and the floating, faintly humming device never strayed more than three or four inches from its position, and he maintained his meditation perfectly. Hunter centered himself while Trips finished laying out the crystals, finding it much more easy when he wasn¡¯t actually using his affinity at the same time. The robot finished, eventually, and joined him on the opposite side of the staff, then with a nod maybe at each other, they both touched the metal and Hunter began to expel the essence from his body.
The crystallized essence on the ground lit up, two or three pieces at a time, in seemingly random patterns not random, can¡¯t see it, and Hunter focused on simply keeping his affinity release steady. He noticed his helperbot twisting from side to side, but it left one limb pressed firmly on the channeling rod, so he hoped it didn¡¯t matter. It was only when every crystal was bright, crackling and hazy like oldtech road flares that Hunter looked up, and he saw that
he wasn¡¯t actually seeing. Everything past the little dirt clearing he and Trips were in was gone, just a solid black wall on every side, not even reflecting the sparkling lights. The entire scene was projected through an Infra screen, it had taken over his senses fully I knew it, and he was somehow experiencing everything through the shimmering interface. ¡°Whoa, weird,¡± Hunter said. ¡°whoa,¡± Trips agreed, and the both of them startled, not quite losing contact with the rod, but it was a close thing. ¡°Hey, buddy, you can talk,¡± Hunter murmured, thinking quickly, ¡°in here. That¡¯s pretty cool, at least.¡± ¡°yeah,¡± the robot said, its voice some kind of low, monotone, modulated whirr. ¡°I mean, umm, we need to come to some kind of agreement, the paper says. It¡¯ll be a lot easier to agree to anything if we can talk.¡± ¡°sure.¡± ¡°Ok, yeah, still not a chatterbox. I get it,¡± Hunter nodded, then noticed the crystals at the edge of the clearing were winking out, one by one. ¡°We should figure this out.¡± ¡°yeah,¡± said Trips, then a moment later, ¡°help.¡± ¡°Right, you want to help. So do I. We just have to figure out how. So I was thinking, umm, you¡¯re small and you¡¯re quick and you can see like, everything around you, or something?¡± ¡°yeah.¡± ¡°Cool, yeah. So the ritual says you can, like, be almost as good as me at one thing, or category? I think maybe it means base skills but I¡¯m not totally sure.¡± ¡°sure,¡± the bot said and nodded. ¡°Ok,¡± Hunter nodded and bit his lip, looking around. The inner crystals were all still flaring, but most of the outer ones had gone. ¡°So maybe you can be a scout? Sneak around places and then tell me what you see?¡± ¡°nope,¡± Trips whirred. ¡°No?¡± he paused a moment huh, ¡°Then, umm, what do you want to do?¡± ¡°help,¡± it insisted. Then, while keeping one foot on the end of the rod, it lifted the other two limbs, one up and one down, assuming greet the sky and ground. ¡°this.¡± ¡°You, umm,¡± Hunter mumbled in reply, ¡°you want to help me fight, little guy?¡± ¡°yeah,¡± Trips said, and nodded. ¡°Ok, ok alright,¡± Hunter spoke slowly, ¡°we¡¯ll work it out. If that¡¯s what you want.¡± He started to focus the affinity that he was already pushing out, and the metal staff started to glow as more crystals went dark. ¡°want,¡± said the little bot, and then it did something what, because the rod lit up the rest of the way, the rest of the essence littered on the ground flashed
and then Hunter realized they were back on the side of the highway, or had never left. ¡°Gosh,¡± he mumbled, ¡°rituals are weird. Let¡¯s do less of those, unless it¡¯s important.¡± He already had notifications flashing, but a new one popped up briefly at that moment, just the word, ¡°sure,¡± blinking in and out of his awareness, accompanied by Trips¡¯ soft little voice. ¡°Ok, but that?¡± he nodded. ¡°That¡¯s going to be helpful.¡±
You have earned one (1) achievement!
[Companion] You have made a metaphysical connection with a non-sapient that Infra cannot, and now share your manifold conduits, neural connectors, and fate with it. companion shares part (50%) of your bonus stats, all (100%) of a chosen base skill set [Devilborn Soft Style], and most (75%) of the effects of related and synergy talents, +1 companion talent
You have one (1) talent available from earning the companion achievement. Please pick from the following pool of companion talents.
[Binder''s Guard] You and your spirit have come to an agreement, it protects and you bolster. companion gains [Audacity] skill at max rank, +one hundred percent (100%) efficacy on spells you cast on companion
[Ranger''s Bond] You and your chosen animal work together in harmony. you and companion share all sensory data (toggle), +fifty percent (50%) efficacy to special attacks used simultaneously
[Witch''s Gambit] You and your familiar have a strange, mystical connection. companion gains some (50%) effect of all beneficial spells cast on you, companion may channel all (100%) effects of your touch attacks
¡°Huh, alright,¡± Hunter scratched the back of his head, then yawned as he climbed into the tent-bag. ¡°Want to just figure it out tomorrow?¡± ¡°sure.¡±
Walking for long distances was boring, Hunter concluded. Walking with a fully-packed duffel, a rolled sleeping bag, his trusty satchel, a giant metal staff, and wearing an armored coat was boring and tiring. At least he¡¯d figured out how to work the temperature control in the coat, and it was slowly circulating chilled air from his neck to just above his knees. On the plus side, he was gradually getting used to the presence of the focus just off his shoulder, because with the extra vigor regeneration he could keep up a slightly less mind-numbing pace. No one was answering his messages, which usually didn¡¯t bother him, but with absolutely nothing to do except put one foot in front of the other, he was starting to get annoyed. At least Ernie had answered a couple questions in the training room, and he could sort of almost have a conversation with Trips now. ¡°So,¡± Hunter said, dragging his stick through the dirt on the side of the highway, ¡°Ernie said audacity is some kind of fancy class skill.¡± ¡°what,¡± said Trips, as it ambled along beside him. Hunter was going to have to get used to the lack of inflection when it spoke, but it was still much better than having to sort out which bobs meant what. ¡°Yeah, I mean. I don¡¯t get it either? But it makes stuff mad at you, more likely to take a swing atcha. I don¡¯t think it sounds like a good thing.¡± ¡°nope.¡± ¡°Plus, I don¡¯t have any spells to cast on you. So, maybe not that one, yeah. The ranger talent would have been pretty cool if you wanted to scout, but that¡¯s a nope, right.¡± ¡°nope.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have any special attacks anyway,¡± Hunter muttered, swinging his staff at a stray piece of asphalt and sending it off into the dirt. ¡°That woulda been cool.¡± ¡°sure.¡± ¡°So, that makes you, umm, a familiar. Always wanted to be a witch, I just didn¡¯t really know what it meant. Guess it means I was supposed to get a cat.¡± ¡°meow.¡± ¡°Ok, that was pretty funny,¡± Hunter chuckled, then trailed off as one of his windows flashed.
You have entered the [cool kidz of Willard] messaging group.
[Ellie]: hey guys. good news bad news kinda thing. [Ellie]: got myself transferred. again. dunno what everyone¡¯s prob is. [Ellie]: anyway that¡¯s not it. so i¡¯m moving again. by myself this time. buuut i just found out i can take detours, as long as i get to the next place on time. [Ellie]: so good news i¡¯m in town tonight! willard. not like another town. bad news it¡¯s just tonight. either of u gonna be around? [Miracle]: Dang, really? The group¡¯s way out in Stillwater for another week and our port allowance is emergency only. Gosh, I would have loved to have seen you two.
Hunter had been making good time, half of it jogging, half walking to let his meters build back up. What would have taken a caravan two days of travel with all the breaks they¡¯d be forced to endure, he had done in one, eating and drinking on the move, and only sleeping about six hours the night before. He looked up at the late morning sky, out at the giant silver flare that was the heart of Topeka, and then at the detour that he¡¯d have to take well around it, another sixteen hours at least before he¡¯d be home, early in the morning. It would be less than half that to go straight through, though.
[Hunter]: i¡¯m not that far out. i¡¯ll be there by dinner
¡°In my defense,¡± Hunter said as he hopped from one giant piece of rubble to the next, Trips stuffed in his satchel, ¡°it¡¯s not like this place is dangerous all the time.¡± He waited for a moment and then slid down the jagged piece of concrete, his sneakers leaving faint streaks of yellow on the rough surface, and then tried not to flinch as another airburst went off where he had just been. He moved out of the way of the shimmering blue ribbons that reached out as they drifted down, ignoring how they sizzled and sparked once they finally struck the ground. ¡°SysPol comes through and sweeps it every couple months, you know,¡± he said as he took off running again, darting in between fallen buildings, rusted cars, and huge craters in the ground. ¡°Sometimes there isn¡¯t even anything to get rid of. We could have been fine.¡± Two more explosions went off in front of him, blocking off the street he was about to take, so Hunter kicked off the remains of a telephone pole in mid-stride and dashed out of the way until he found another relatively clear path toward the middle of the city. ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯s a guaranteed dangerous monster spawner or something,¡± he panted, vaulting from car to rubble to higher rubble and finally pulling himself up to the top of a building with a good view of the problem, looking like nothing more than a flickering, silver candle flame about six stories tall. ¡°Sometimes they come, and there¡¯s just flowers, or seashells, or other weird stuff lying around. One time it was chickens, with four wings, but almost regular chickens.¡± He could see the flash, about two blocks away now, that always preceded one of the weird attacks, and so he dropped down the side of the building, kicking off at the last moment to vault onto the next one and roll across the roof. He took one peek back to see that the airbursts were getting closer, the last one having gone off not where he was standing, but a bit down the building, like it was tracking him on the way. ¡°And if I wasn¡¯t carrying all this stuff,¡± he whispered, tightening his the strap of his duffel across his chest, then bolted between two gaping holes in the roof he was on and leapt off, sliding down a traffic light that only tipped over when he let go of it, ¡°this wouldn¡¯t even be hard. It¡¯d probably be fun.¡± Hunter made a quick run past another building, trying to circle whatever it was that kept shooting at him, and then slid to a stop in the middle of an intersection. His mystery attacker had doubled back on him and was now standing in the road a mere twenty feet away or so, and he really wished it had stayed a mystery. He had a brief moment to look at it and in a way immediately regretted it. At first glance, it looked just like one of the four-winged chickens he¡¯d seen when he was a kid, light brown, feathery, kind of fat like every other chicken, with scrawny, scaly legs. Except this one was at least twice his height, and instead of a head, it had a gaping hole with hundreds of those burning blue ribbons crawling out of it, waving and crackling each time one struck another. The worst part wasn¡¯t that it was a giant bird with what looked like magical parasites wiggling around in its neckhole, the worst part was that he saw the nameplate in his Infra.
[Infected Artillery Essence Beast - Level 153]
The beast leaned forward, braced itself on two of its wings, and its body seemed to swell even further, from ordinary chicken-fat to grotesquely obese, but by the time its orifice flashed and it shot another explosion, Hunter had already heaved himself through a broken window and was well out of the way. ¡°Ok, so, here¡¯s the plan, buddy,¡± he continued to whisper under his breath as he found a stairwell and ran up it, ¡°This thing¡¯s been shooting at us for like twenty minutes, which means if I touch it, it dies. Except I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to land a regular hit it on it. Need to counterattack.¡± He dove to the ground as another burst went off outside the building, the sound so loud and so deep it felt like it made his bones rattle. He crawled toward another broken window slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible. ¡°Opportunist says I can deliver a touch attack after I dodge. Witch¡¯s Gambit says you can do all my touch attacks. Do they combo? I mean, can I dodge and then you touch for free? That¡¯d pop Oncoming Storm and paste it.¡± ¡°boom,¡± said Trips, even more quiet than usual. ¡°Yeah, boom,¡± he mumbled. ¡°Except, I¡¯m not sure we can risk it. I was probably only dodging that thing so cleanly because we had cover, so if it doesn¡¯t combo, you¡¯re stuck close to a fully broken through ascendant and I¡¯m too far away to help.¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°ouch.¡± ¡°That¡¯ll be plan B then. You stay here, watch me. If I start running away, you see if you can¡¯t get a poke in,¡± Hunter grit his teeth, pulled his duffel off, then the sleeping bag, waited for a lull in between the probing explosions, and then tossed the bag out a nearby window. He saw the flash from outside, and then he leapt. Out of the corner of his vision on one side he could see the spinning focus, keeping pace with his two-story descent, and on the other he could see what happened when one of the beast¡¯s airbursts actually hit something. The sleeping roll was first ripped outward in every direction as the initial attack centered on it, then when the waggling worm-things sprung from that point in space, bright blue and angry, then each grabbed a piece and ignited it. By the time Hunter had hit the telephone pole he was aiming for, slid down it, and then rolled to barely a few feet away from the giant, angry, headless chicken, the last pieces of his brand new tent thingy were just dissolving to ash. He faced the beast, feeling his affinity thrumming with all three spells running for that little extra edge, spinning the rod lazily as he moved through his forms. As it turned to face him, he was already approaching, his steps much more confident than he felt, forcing his eyes to watch the disgusting, gaping hole at the top instead of the thing¡¯s body. Then it ducked low, fast but not as fast as Hunter, and one just one? of the shimmering blue worms, looking less like a hazy heat ribbon and more like an extradimensional parasite from this close up, swung at him. The jumping, flickering nature of his affinity pulled to the right, the shifting waves he felt in his channels swung that way as well, and so he stepped closer, twisting his body slightly and sensing more than seeing as the attack swept just to his left. The waves went out, and then rushed back in to the left just as quickly, and he let them pull him, deftly and lightly flicking the end of his heavy staff into the monster¡¯s bulky middle before the worm had even hit the pavement next to him. He¡¯d fought Breaker for long enough periods that Oncoming Storm started to build up, where each of his touches first hurt a little, then gradually more. They¡¯d never gone the full forty minutes and change in one bout that it would have taken to test what the instant defeat clause of the talent actually did, though. Before he got his focus and trained his meditation this much, Hunter couldn¡¯t really hope to last that long in the intense spars Breaker gave him. So it came as some surprise when his blow landed, feeling like nothing more than he tapped a huge, fluffy chicken with a stick, not something he¡¯d ever actually done, but it fit. The chicken itself, however, erupted. It flew like literally flew across the street, slamming into the building opposite the one Hunter had exited, in two giant, splattering pieces. Everything above where his staff struck hit the third floor, and everything below collided with the first, leaving a huge, disgusting smear on the building in between the two impacts. Hunter just stared for a moment, letting out a weak chuckle, still holding the channeling rod out as he watched the pieces of the essence beast begin to dissolve. He leaned on his staff, pretended he didn¡¯t feel a pressing need to throw up, and cleared the page of notifications he had flashing before he ran back upstairs. ¡°Hey, Trips,¡± he shouted, ¡°did you see that? That moron could shoot at us from half a city away and it tried to slap me? What the flip, right?¡± He grabbed his duffel once more, then his robot leapt onto his shoulder and said, ¡°late.¡± ¡°I know, that took too long. We can still make it by this evening.¡± When they left the building, the beast had faded away to nothing more than two large piles of bones, nothing like any chicken skeleton Hunter had ever seen why is everything so weird. They jogged around the silver tower of flame, the former entrance to a broken Source, an anomaly that somehow stayed around instead of fading like the rest, and took off toward home.
The sun was still a fair bit above the horizon when Hunter caught sight of the huge walls around his birthplace, but it was summer and that meant he was still later than he¡¯d have liked. He waved to the gate guards when he reached Willard and wandered in, finally slowing his pace to a relaxing walk. When he neared the street that would take him home, he saw Miracle¡¯s dad talking to a Pol, someone he didn¡¯t recognize from behind, but definitely a member. She was wearing their usual uniform, the snug, dark gray pants with all the pockets up and down the side that his mother insisted he never ever wear a pair of, the stiff bronze breastplate over a shirt in the same color as the pants, and their signature red scarf was looped around her waist like a belt. He was tired, and not thinking as clearly as he would have liked, and could only wonder if Gary had gotten transferred out while he was gone. That would have been a bummer, because Hunter kind of liked Officer Gary, he was a good guy for a Pol. Then she turned, and Hunter¡¯s first embarrassing thought was that she was beautiful oh, with huge brown eyes, warm brown skin, shiny, wavy hair in a ponytail, and an upturned nose that reminded him of nuts- ¡°Ellie!¡± he exclaimed, and pulled his childhood friend into a hug hopefully before she could notice the hot blush on his cheeks. ¡°It¡¯s been like, for real, forever. Hey, Mr. Guillen.¡± ¡°Hey, Red,¡± she said softly as she held onto the hug, ¡°you made it.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t miss it,¡± he mumbled as he pulled away, rubbing at the back of his head. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t feel right about it.¡± ¡°You,¡± she said, teeth at one corner of her mouth showing as she grinned, ¡°need a shower. Did you run all day with that hoodie on?¡± ¡°Oh, umm,¡± he chuckled a little, blushing again, ¡°yeah? It¡¯s ventilated, but yeah. Whoops?¡± ¡°Come on, then,¡± she said as she took his free hand and tugged, ¡°I haven¡¯t gotten a chance to see your folks yet either. Oh, and, hey, I like your hair, Red. Oh! And your little buddy.¡± ¡°Oh, right,¡± he said, glancing down at the robot peeking out of his satchel as they walked. ¡°This is Trips, it¡¯s cool. Gave me the haircut, actually.¡± ¡°heya,¡± the bot said as it waved one limb. ¡°It says hey.¡± ¡°Figured that one out, Red,¡± giggled Ellie, bumping him with her hip as they walked. ¡°So, you¡¯ve been in the big city, huh. How was that?¡± Hunter had to think about that for a moment, because he honestly didn¡¯t know know what to say right away and what¡¯s that mean, and then they arrived at his front door before he had a chance to answer. His family came out, hugged the two teenagers in every possible combination of mother, father, little brother, and then quickly ushered them inside. ¡°So, kids,¡± his dad said, after giving his mother a look oh no, ¡°we¡¯ll have plenty of time with Hunter tomorrow, but you¡¯re heading out in the morning, right Ellie?¡± ¡°Right, Mr. Schmidt. They¡¯ve got everything scheduled so tight, it makes me crazy,¡± she nodded. ¡°We¡¯re going to get out of your way, then,¡± his mom said with one of those smiles that usually accompanied one of his parents¡¯ private jokes. ¡°There¡¯s a bed all made up in the attic, if you haven¡¯t squared away a place to sleep, dear, and you know that you¡¯re always invited to breakfast if you can spare the time in the morning. Hunter can show you up after he puts his things away.¡± ¡°And you stink!¡± shouted Jack, pointing at Hunter of course. ¡°I know! Stick it!¡± he replied, as he went up the stairs with Ellie now it feels like home.
¡°So, tell me all about the city?¡± Ellie asked later, as they sat on the edge of the roof, both with all the travel grime scrubbed off, both changed into shorts and tees for the night. ¡°It was, umm, it was fine,¡± Hunter mumbled, looking down. ¡°Hey,¡± she said, and punched him lightly on the shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, it¡¯s me.¡± ¡°It was, you know,¡± he trailed off as he looked for the word, ¡°lonely. But I was lonely in Willard too, for a while.¡± ¡°I missed you, you guys,¡± she murmured, leaning against him, ¡°so much.¡± ¡°Missed you too, Ellie,¡± he sighed. ¡°It¡¯s like, everything made sense here, for a little while, and then it didn¡¯t anymore. And now I¡¯m like, chasing this feeling of things actually being alright that I barely remember.¡± ¡°I¡¯m chasing something that it turns out isn¡¯t even real,¡± she replied. ¡°You know how my mom¡¯s like, cool sometimes? And my dad¡¯s like, ugh, stuck up and kind of a jerk?¡± ¡°Ok, yeah. I mean, I wouldn¡¯t say it to his face, but sure.¡± ¡°I joined System Polity, ugh, SysPol, to be like my mom. Cool, with a sword, fixing people¡¯s problems.¡± ¡°I know,¡± he nodded. ¡°Turns out, they¡¯re all just like my dad,¡± she said and let out a noise that Hunter could only classify as a harrumph and then dropped her head onto his shoulder. ¡°There¡¯s all these rules, like don¡¯t call it SysPol, and eat these foods at these times, and don¡¯t have any fun, like, at all, ever.¡± ¡°Oof,¡± he said, staring off into the distance. ¡°But, you know, what about your mom?¡± ¡°She¡¯s an exception. They tolerate her, because she¡¯s been a Pol so long. They told me straight out to not even think about trying any of the stuff she did, I¡¯d be mopping floors until I was fifty.¡± Hunter had absolutely no idea what to say oof was about it, but Ellie started quietly sobbing, so he put his arm around her shoulders and just held her until she stopped rocking. ¡°I can¡¯t even quit,¡± she said, still sniffling, ¡°because then I¡¯ll disappoint her. But like, she knew it¡¯d be like this, and didn¡¯t even tell me.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think my parents want me to be an adventurer type,¡± he said. ¡°The whole thing scares my dad I¡¯m pretty sure, and my mom, well. She made a choice, a long time ago, and she¡¯s sticking with it. So like, they don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea, but they¡¯re going to let me figure out if it is or not on my own. Maybe that¡¯s what your mom did, is doing? I know she sure didn¡¯t raise you to be Officer Ellie, the girl with a buzzcut and no sense of humor.¡± Ellie giggled for a little while at that, quietly at first, then snorted and giggled a whole lot louder, and after, they just sat for a while. ¡°So,¡± she murmured, her head still on his shoulder as she poked him in the chest, ¡°what¡¯s this about you being a big adventurer, anyway? You¡¯re still level one. I¡¯ve spent the last six months getting yelled at and confined to barracks for most of my levelling training, and I still made it to fourteen.¡± ¡°I made a friend in Kansas City,¡± he smiled a little, ¡°and he said I¡¯m on a gap year. I kinda like it. A little vacation between being a kid and getting told what to do all the time, and being an adult with responsibilities.¡± ¡°You can just do that?¡± ¡°I mean, I guess? I¡¯m sort of an adult. I paid for all my food and stuff while I was in the city, and I probably coulda paid rent but they wouldn¡¯t let me.¡± ¡°Red, wait,¡± she said, and sat up a little, still pressed comfortably against him, ¡°you totally can do that. You can do, like, anything you want.¡± ¡°Well, umm?¡± ¡°For serious, Red. Like, what are you doing next week?¡± ¡°Dunno? Got a couple things I wanted to practice, maybe get my mom to help with them. Not much else planned.¡± ¡°That is so cool,¡± she breathed. ¡°I¡¯ve got tons to do, and I don¡¯t even understand why.¡± ¡°It is pretty cool, I guess. Thanks for not thinking I¡¯m a slacker or something.¡± ¡°Never,¡± she mumbled against his shoulder, holding back a yawn. ¡°Hey, Red. Make me a promise?¡± ¡°Anything, Ellie.¡± ¡°Promise you¡¯ll come visit me, up in Rapid City? They¡¯ve usually got my messages blocked for insubordination, so I can¡¯t chat a whole lot.¡± ¡°Promise,¡± he said, ¡°and that¡¯s an awful cool name for a town.¡± Ellie giggled at that too, nodding, and then yawned again. Hunter was tired himself, but they stayed on the roof, leaning against each other, until well into the night.
They had a nice breakfast together in the morning, with Hunter telling fun stories about Ernie, Kiki, and Ajit, Ellie telling slightly less fun stories about training, and Jacky telling a story about a bug he followed around for a day, and then it was time for Ellie to leave. Hunter walked her the short distance to the north gate, where they hugged and she made him promise again to come visit. ¡°And,¡± she said with the same crooked, teasing grin as ever, ¡°if it¡¯s really bad up there, you¡¯ll just have to kidnap me.¡± ¡°I was already making plans,¡± he grinned back. After she had gone, Hunter wandered aimlessly through the little town, not quite feeling up to going back home after some of the looks his parents had been passing each other at breakfast. It seemed like there¡¯d be a talk about Ellie in particular, or a repeat of the one on boys and girls and everything outside and in between, and Hunter was just not in the mood. He bought a tea at the bakery and sat at one of the tables outside before pulling up his Infra.
You have defeated [Infested Artillery Essence Beast]! This has been reviewed and rated as honorable combat. You have received essence for a greater combat feat. WARNING: your raw essence gain has been artificially restricted by [Debt-Bonder X-09], an Infratech device. You have been credited one (1) [Fount Shard], three (3) extra large, and two (2) large essence crystals into your currency account. You have earned five (5) achievements! You have raised Stealth to one hundred (100). You have one (1) talent available from maxing your stealth skill. You have two (2) free talents available from achievements. [Oncoming Storm] has upgrades available.
Hunter blinked, took a quick look at his currency screen, and whispered to himself, ¡°Wow, guess that paid for the sleeping bag.¡±
[Not Recommended I] You have defeated an opponent in the tier above yours. +damage to higher level foes
[Not Recommended II] You have defeated an opponent in the tier above yours in solo combat. +ten percent (10%) to mitigation scores while fighting higher level foes
[Not Recommended III] You have defeated an opponent in the tier above yours without taking damage. +essence gain from defeating higher level foes
[Skilled IV] You have maxed eight (8) skills. +one (1) free talent
[Quick Learner V] You have maxed eight (8) skills before level twenty-five. +one (1) free talent
¡°Don¡¯t do this,¡± he mumbled, ¡°but here¡¯s some bonuses to do it again. Weird.¡±
You have one (1) talent available from maxing your stealth skill.
[Sneak Attack] You hide in the shadows and attack when the moment is right. +damage on unaware opponents
[Light-footed] You only make noise when you want to. complete negation (-100%) of all movement sound short of full speed (<90%)
[Shadow Dweller] When you hide, you hide well. much greater (+50%) stealth efficacy in low lighting conditions
None of those were really great for him, Hunter decided, but he took Light-footed because it seemed to fit his whole Zen Runner-Kinesthesia skillset more than being an actual sneak. Then he had free talents to worry about again. ¡°So, if I use both to take either dodge or parry talents, the next one I get can be the Master level of whichever I choose. That¡¯s, umm, pretty good. Too bad it won¡¯t show what they do yet,¡± he said, then decided he was a dodge first kind of guy and filtered for the best of those, according to his amended conditions, including those that needed prerequisites. He scrolled up and down the list for a while before he chose, not entirely sure about his selections, but excited about them anyway.
[Effortless Dodge] Unlocked (Breath Training taken). You hardly seem to move, and you are already gone. reduce vigor cost for dodging by an additional fifty percent (50%), multiplicative
[Move like Water] Unlocked (Water Affinity). Your body is roughly seventy percent water, but it flows like one hundred. +ten percent (10%) of infusion to dodge, while water-aligned infusion spells are active (synergy)
Hunter got up and stretched, then went inside to order another tea before he opened the last notification, muttering as he sat back down, ¡°I wonder if I can make Trips do the next batch of paperwork.¡±
You have completed the first of the (hidden) conditions for [Oncoming Storm] and it has upgrades available. Please pick from the following branches.
[Oncoming Storm A] [Oncoming Storm B]
+damage inflicted/received increased to +moderate damage double (2x) modifier for avoiding damage increased to triple (3x)
¡°So, that one¡¯s a Mom question, definitely. Too bad I¡¯m avoiding conversation with her,¡± he muttered, and drank his tea, and then another, enjoying a lazy morning after two days of running and little sleep. He picked up Jack after school, waved off his mother¡¯s attempt to talk with a ¡°we¡¯re gonna be late,¡± and then spent the afternoon and evening using Water Burst to destroy rocks, branches, and whatever else his little brother could find. He even treated Jacky to a meal from his magic lunchbox he¡¯d bought, the food from his favorite Arax restaurants in the city still steaming as he summoned it out, and they ate by the riverside until it was time for the little guy to go to bed.
The next morning, though, his mother was waiting bright and early for exercises, with a look on her face that promised an unpleasant time. Hunter didn¡¯t even consider skipping them, though, because he both needed some help with his affinity, and because he knew that was something you just didn¡¯t do, not if you wanted to be Devil Hallahan, or Little Devil Hallahan. ¡°Don¡¯t you think,¡± she started with, just as she had him by the elbows, helping him balance while he was bent at the middle to the left in look around the tree, while his cycling spells tried to push him in the opposite direction, ¡°that Ellie has grown into such a lovely young woman?¡± ¡°Mom!¡± he replied, and he hated that he blushed immediately, then quickly clamped down on it, still in his combat trance. She kept a steady gaze on him mom look way worse than dad look while he found his footing again after that momentary distraction, and he broke, murmuring, ¡°Yes, ok. She¡¯s very, umm, pretty.¡± ¡°You two,¡± she continued, while she pressed the outside of one leg against the outside of his, making his balance even more of an act of sheer will, ¡°stayed up rather late the other night, didn¡¯t you. I must have been very asleep, because I barely noticed when you climbed down from the attic, at two thirty-three in the morning.¡± ¡°Seriously, Mom,¡± at this point, he was pretty sure only his Kinesthesia talent was keeping him from tipping over, and every thrum of Rising Storm was urging him to snap back in the opposite direction, but he stayed crooked at the waist as far as he could manage. ¡°I am going to move to Alaska, immediately. That¡¯s really far away, right?¡± ¡°Are you telling me,¡± his mother said with a little gasp of laughter, releasing his elbows just enough that he fell into a heap, laughing himself, ¡°that you don¡¯t know where Alaska is, bump?¡± ¡°We can talk all about the remedial geography you want me to do this year, as long as we¡¯re not talking about, umm, the other thing,¡± he said from the ground. ¡°I get it,¡± she said softly and sat with him, ruffling his freshly-cut mohawk. ¡°You¡¯re young, and you¡¯re having confusing feelings-¡± ¡°Mom! I honestly can¡¯t tell if you¡¯re messing with me or not now.¡± ¡°Half and half?¡± she replied with her head tilted. ¡°It¡¯s just good to remind you not do anything you¡¯re going to regret. I know she¡¯s very important to you, and not just in that brand new way.¡± ¡°We already did this, remember? I was thirteen? Dad said I was a grump because of hormones?¡± ¡°I know, but this is different, bump. That was about,¡± she paused oh man to find the right word this is gonna be bad, ¡°you growing up physically. This is about you growing up emotionally, which is just as difficult and inevitable.¡± ¡°Can I stop you, or at least jump to the end, please? Ellie is like, the best, ok? And I saw her for the first time in years and I thought ¡®wow that girl is pretty¡¯ before I could realize ¡®wow that girl is Ellie,¡¯ and I¡¯m already messed up about that. She¡¯s a real person, and she¡¯s one of the best real people I know, like right at the top. And, umm, you know. I¡¯m a little bit of a mess, and I have this uncertain future thing looming over my head. Sure, she¡¯s really great, and I went momentarily stupid when I saw her, but that sort of thing¡¯s gonna happen from time to time. I¡¯m not going to do anything dumb that cuts her out of my life, ok. I¡¯m just not, I can¡¯t do that to her, or to myself. And, I mean, it was one night after I hadn¡¯t seen her for three years. Come on.¡± ¡°Oh, bump,¡± his mom said great, as she pulled him into a hug I made her sad, ¡°you¡¯re such a wonderful kid sometimes, you really are, but that sort of thinking cuts both ways. I know, these days, that you¡¯re technically an adult, but you¡¯re always going to be my baby bump. That¡¯s what I worry about, and why.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t get it?¡± ¡°I know you don¡¯t, sweetie,¡± his mom said with a soft, sad smile, then pulled them both to their feet. ¡°I¡¯m going to make you pancakes, and we¡¯ll put a pin in this conversation for now.¡± ¡°But I still don¡¯t get it.¡± ¡°You¡¯re forcing yourself to make the responsible decision,¡± his mother said as she led him back into the house, ¡°that you won¡¯t let any feelings you may have,¡± she paused at the look on his face, ¡°or not have get in the way of your friendship, or your future. That¡¯s hard to do, and very adult, bump. But you could have just as easily said and meant you won¡¯t allow your future or your friendship to interfere in any feelings the two of you develop in the future.¡± ¡°Umm, no offense, but that sounds kinda dumb, Mom.¡± ¡°Oh, does it?¡± she chuckled. ¡°If Ellie messaged you a few days, or weeks, or further down the line, and told you she was done with the Order, asked you to come run away with her and make it on your own, how would that feel?¡± ¡°Umm,¡± he thought about that while his mother made breakfast, ¡°oh flip.¡± 11: Vacation from Vacation Hunter woke up one morning and realized he¡¯d been a lazy bum for about a week straight. He did his exercises in the mornings and he kept his little brother out of everyone else¡¯s hair in the afternoons, but little else. That was sorta fine, he decided, but it was probably time for a change. He rolled over in his too small bed, found a scrap of paper after rummaging in his nightstand for a while, took the nub of a pencil Trips had picked up from somewhere, and then wrote a list. He stuck it up on the wall when he was satisfied with it. TO-DO
  1. advance patron and affinity
  2. figure out opp/gambit
  3. ask Mom about onc storm stuff
  4. get certified (fight Gary?!)
He read it once more, hands on his hips, nodded to himself, and then went about the rest of his day like a slightly less lazy bum. After exercises, cleaning up, and breakfast, he went out to the fields with his dad to ¡°do chores,¡± but mostly to hang out. ¡°Ok,¡± he grumbled, hacking with a pick at a particularly tough weed that had grown in between the rows, his third that morning, ¡°what is the deal with this stuff?¡± His dad looked over from a couple rows away, where he was directing a few of his translucent hands, and called out, ¡°Essence vines. High mortal. Wait until you get to a tangler, they¡¯re a trip.¡± He chuckled at his own tiny joke. ¡°But like,¡± Hunter grunted, digging away the dirt around the base of the vine before swinging at it again, ¡°where did they come from? You got an infestation?¡± ¡°They just crop up,¡± his dad said oh he thinks he¡¯s on a roll, ¡°since I started getting higher up in levels. This is all my field,¡± he waved a hand around, and the man-sized ghostly replicas all waved in sync, ¡°and so it draws up more essence than regular soil, which in turn has a chance to turn regular little nothing plants into big, weird ones.¡± ¡°So, are they good for anything?¡± he asked. He lifted the pick even higher and slammed it into the vine with a dull thunk, not chopping through, but lifting the whole thing out of the ground. Hunter grabbed it and threw it in his wheelbarrow before moving to the next one, narrowing his eyes as he saw it start to wiggle. ¡°Very minor explosives.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Hunter turned to look at the wheelbarrow with three fat, brown vines the size of his arm in it that could apparently blow up, then felt a curious tugging at his ankle. He glanced down and saw the next weed in his row had reached out for him, from about ten feet away, and grabbed, leafy little tendrils wrapped around his left leg up to his knee. ¡°Table that. Umm, are these tanglers toxic or anything?¡± ¡°Nah,¡± his dad said as he walked over, then bent down with his hands on his knees and took a look at the plant trying to pull Hunter down and eat me. ¡°Usually they¡¯re a lot stronger than that, though. Saw one once flip a grown man head over heels, or I guess the other way around.¡± ¡°I¡¯m kinda hard to knock down? I mean, lately,¡± he mumbled, his gaze drifting back to the wheelbarrow. ¡°So, about those explo-ow!¡±
[Animated Tangle Vine] has struck you for five (5) damage!
¡°You alright there, Hunter?¡± his dad asked. ¡°Yeah, I just, umm,¡± he shook his head and chuckled. ¡°Just being dumb, that¡¯s all. Hey, Trips! Go give that thing a Water Burst!¡± He cast the spell, but just held the feeling of his affinity building up in his palm, a wave compressed to the size of a marble, ready to scream out in a small but powerful torrent. The bot scrambled over from the tree under which it had been relaxing, having already told him that its job was ¡°help don¡¯t farm,¡± and headed for the base of the vine. It slowed its pace slightly as it darted around another tendril that tried to grasp for it, then reached down and tapped the closest thing to a middle the plant had. There was a bang like a door being slammed as the affinity left Hunter¡¯s hand and shot through Trips¡¯ clamp, tearing through the weed and into the dirt underneath. Simultaneously, a gout of mud shot up about two feet in the air, which the nimble bot easily danced out of the way of. ¡°Ok, that was awesome,¡± Hunter breathed, as the grip on his leg loosened and then fell off, the remains of the plant floating in a small puddle of water. ¡°That¡¯s how I¡¯m farming from now on.¡± His dad just gave him a look barely a five out of ten I¡¯m fine, and he grinned in return. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll clean it up. Now, tell me more about these explosives?¡±
¡°So then he says they got cold before they could haul it all home, and they made a bonfire, and when they tossed the first one in, boom!¡± Hunter threw his arms wide and fell back onto the riverbank, laughing. ¡°Huh,¡± Miracle said, a little garbled as he chewed on the inside of his cheek. ¡°Sounds dangerous, yeah?¡± ¡°Well, I mean,¡± Hunter frowned as he went on, ¡°it was a little explosion? Nobody got hurt.¡± ¡°I guess,¡± was the only reply for a little while, before Miracle continued. ¡°But what if they hadn¡¯t gotten cold? They could have brought it home, and then one of the old folks could have put it in their fireplace or something.¡± ¡°Ok, yeah,¡± Hunter mumbled, ¡°that would have been bad. But this is a funny story? Where that didn¡¯t happen.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s just kind of messed up, Schmidt. Everything, even the weeds you have to pull, has some nasty kind of surprise waiting.¡± ¡°Not everything,¡± Hunter said, arms folded, staring at the ground. ¡°Most things don¡¯t explode. Most things you can, umm, set on fire just fine. You¡¯re just being a bummer today.¡± ¡°Look, I know you don¡¯t get it. You¡¯ve been doing this,¡± Miracle paused and waved a hand around, ¡°whatever you¡¯ve been doing. You¡¯ve got no consequences from the stuff you do, Schmidt. You can set fire to anything you want, sure.¡± ¡°Huh,¡± Hunter just looked over at his oldest friend, feeling like he should argue with that but not entirely knowing how. ¡°How is, umm, I mean, is that a bad thing? Really?¡± ¡°For you?¡± Miracle frowned. ¡°For you, I guess it¡¯s not. Just keep not doing anything, and you won¡¯t have anything to screw up.¡± ¡°Hey? That¡¯s not fair. I¡¯ve been sorta doing stuff. What¡¯s your deal, anyway?¡± ¡°My deal? Ugh, my deal, sure. My deal, Schmidt, is that I¡¯ve met a lot of people in the last couple of years, and most of them come in two flavors. There are a lot of folks out there who are worried, all the time. They know the Pols gave the all clear, but they also know how things can pop up suddenly, and how if you don¡¯t knock them back down, they get worse. They¡¯re the kind of people who can¡¯t go wandering out of the redoubt any time they¡¯d like, because they¡¯ve got families, and responsibilities, and there¡¯s nowhere close that isn¡¯t dangerous.¡± ¡°Oof,¡± mumbled Hunter, looking down. ¡°What¡¯s the other kind?¡± ¡°The rest of them just don¡¯t get it. I mean, you said something in your dad¡¯s field tried to kill you, and you did nothing? And there¡¯s literal explosives growing out of the dirt, and you think it¡¯s funny? Your dad grows an awful lot of the food for the redoubt, the food we eat, man, and the fact that it can all blow up, or he could get grabbed, at like a moment¡¯s notice, doesn¡¯t bother you?¡± ¡°Well, no,¡± Hunter just shrugged, ¡°Dad¡¯s pretty cool, for like, a dork. Plus like, sure that stuff might be trouble sometime, but that¡¯s why we were weeding the field?¡± ¡°Ok, let me give you another example. Stillwater. Pretty big town now, kind of a trade hub, lot of redoubts around there. Absolutely full of the second kind of person.¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t understand, like, what you think is wrong with them. Or me?¡± ¡°Right. So they got hit with the weird Slides, same as we did, when Plano happened. Some kind of crazy neon jungle frogs came pouring out, and they went out and killed them. Big town, plenty of fighters, even with the emergency going on. Except, the frogs brought their crazy neon jungle with them, apparently. Within the week, there¡¯s all these bright green and orange plants and trees everywhere. Not good for anything, mind you. But pretty, so they just let the jungle grow as much as it wanted.¡± ¡°So like, there¡¯s a jungle in Oklahoma? Sounds cool,¡± Hunter nodded, trying to follow Miracle¡¯s story even though it was making him upset to tell it. ¡°Then it turns out, all those plants get to a certain level of growth, and they get dangerous. Weird, man-eating flowers, roots that dig out pitfalls, all sorts of scary stuff. Stillwater¡¯s still fine, they¡¯ve got those fighters, so they go chop down all the problem areas. Wasn¡¯t much trouble for a bunch of ascendants and transcendents. They clear out the roads on either side, burn down the edges, and now they¡¯ve got a garden jungle around the town. Put up a bounty every month or two to go weed out the problem plants and it¡¯s basically free essence, right?¡± ¡°I mean, sure? Sounds good,¡± he said, figuring he¡¯d just play along. ¡°But no one ever figured out where the jungle came from. They didn¡¯t give the frogs any time to plant it or anything. There¡¯s spores. Takes them a couple years to drift somewhere that¡¯s got enough warm bodies, and now every redoubt in thirty miles, every little family farm someone started when SysPol said it was ok, every caravan stop, they¡¯ve all got these neon deathtraps too. Those folks, they don¡¯t have the manpower to deal with it like Stillwater.¡± ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s why you were down there. I tried looking up the alerts, but I couldn¡¯t find anything.¡± ¡°Yeah, they don¡¯t really put up alerts for problems that haven¡¯t happened yet. Even if they¡¯re guaranteed to happen,¡± Miracle grumbled. ¡°Anyway, you said you wanted to spar? I need the practice.¡±
They decided on a set of rules while they warmed up. Hunter was fine with basically anything, but Miracle wanted to go all out, something they didn¡¯t really encourage for training in the defenders. While he didn¡¯t have his armor or his channeling rod, Miracle wasn¡¯t wearing armor either, so it seemed fair. He was going to suggest no actives be used, just because he remembered how fast Miracle could move with his, but the look on his friend¡¯s face told him that no holding back meant exactly that. While the counter approached zero, his focus fluttering to his left, Trips perched on the opposite shoulder, and his spells running through his affinity channels, Hunter saw that his friend still looked upset, and he asked, ¡°Hey, so. What¡¯s got you so bummed? Sounded like there was a problem and you guys fixed it. Cool story, right?¡± Miracle just stood there, rocking from foot to foot, his shield raised up but the grip on his mace loose and down at his side, then shook his head. Hunter¡¯s screen flashed to begin and Miracle immediately threw his hammer at him underhanded, which made the redhead laugh out loud in surprise. He spun out of the way, arms up slightly, his right shoulder pointing at his friend, and watched as the tumbling mace vanished right in front of his eyes. ¡°Wow!¡± Hunter said, ¡°That¡¯s so,¡± and then Miracle wasn¡¯t ten feet away anymore, he was right there, having crossed the distance in an instant. Hunter slapped the edge of the shield about to slam into him with an open palm, keeping his balance as he backed up a step or two, and then finished softly, ¡°cool.¡± ¡°Take this seriously, Schmidt,¡± his friend said, squared up with his mace back in his hand, while Hunter was still chuckling. ¡°I am, but,¡± Hunter mumbled and dodged to the side away from a downward hammer blow, then immediately had to retreat again when Miracle swung from his right and across his body that one had some oomph behind it. ¡°But maybe, you could take it a little less seriously?¡± ¡°That¡¯s,¡± Miracle said through gritted teeth, rushing forward, bashing with his shield which Hunter ducked, ¡°how people,¡± slamming his mace down which Hunter avoided with a quick wrist to wrist flick as his arm descended, ¡°get hurt,¡± and then swinging his shield again, this time not even close to hitting anything. ¡°Come on, man, what happened?¡± he asked as Miracle continued to attack him, various combinations of the moves Hunter had watched his friend drill hundreds of times before. Each swing seemed to come a little faster, cutting through the air with a bigger whoosh, but each also seemed to be a little less controlled than the last gotta be a talent, so he just concentrated on staying out of the way of Miracle¡¯s deadly looking weapon. ¡°Something had to have happened.¡± ¡°Kid got hurt,¡± Miracle said quietly, between panting, and then charged again. Hunter moved away another step, but then he felt his foot start to slip and realized how close to the river he¡¯d moved while staying away from that hammer. Instead of falling into the water, he twisted, sliding one foot forward, yellow sneaker kicking away Miracle¡¯s descending boot, and used the momentum of his turn to shove with both hands against the approaching shield. ¡°He¡¯s ok, right?¡± Hunter asked after he tripped his friend and knocked him into the mud, watching the much bigger almost not a teen slide for almost a yard. ¡°You go out, you adventure, sometimes you get hurt. I fell off a roof in the city.¡± ¡°No,¡± Miracle growled, then he just screamed, voice hoarse, and slammed his mace and shield into the wet soil, staying prone on the riverbank. ¡°He lost a leg. Young kid. We go in to burn the plants out, third redoubt. Done it before, everything¡¯s cool. This one, this neon, alien monstrosity, this one gets mad. Venomous spines just under the dirt. Falling trees that whip like snares, except they¡¯re twenty feet long and as big around as a garbage can.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± Hunter murmured. ¡°Yeah, wow,¡± Miracle shook his head, still not getting up. ¡°Some flower that shot out razor whips. Wasn¡¯t fast enough to block it for him. Wasn¡¯t my burn partner, his was stuck somewhere, but I tried. Just not fast enough. Not even fast enough to hit you, Schmidt.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t, umm, mean much though.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to start in on peak soon, I can¡¯t hit a level one, and that doesn¡¯t mean much?¡± ¡°More like, level one with an asterisk? A little footnote, maybe.¡± Miracle was glaring at him while Hunter spoke, so we talked more quickly, ¡°So, umm. You¡¯re level seventy, yeah? Keeping your skills just high enough to fifty-fifty I bet, which is a problem I¡¯ll explain later, but that means umm, strength every other level for a defender maybe? Round it off, fifty of that, leaves, what, a hundred and thirty on your style skills? Miracle, why?¡± ¡°What do you mean, why?¡± his friend asked, going from angry to sullen. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with fifty-fifty anyway?¡± ¡°Ok, umm,¡± Hunter sat down, right in the mud there¡¯s a talk with Mom, and rubbed his temples as he continued to try to get the words out, ¡°you¡¯re not going into Sources, not often, not as a job. Fifty-fifty is a Source-clearer philosophy. You¡¯re out in the wild, you can¡¯t control how hard the stuff you fight is gonna be, so you gotta get out ahead of the curve. You got block, endure, mace, and some kinda shield bash skill, yeah? Probably a defender base I don¡¯t know about, probably spent the mace talent on damage and the shield on a block efficacy synergy, probably going to run into a skill wall by the time you break through, ugh.¡± ¡°Schmidt, what are you even talking about?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t take this the wrong way, man, but,¡± he looked down, pausing a moment, ¡°you¡¯re levelling like an old person.¡± Miracle laughed, short and sharp, but a laugh nonetheless, and sat up finally. ¡°Explain,¡± he said. ¡°Well, alright,¡± he nodded, and reached up to his shoulder to set his robot on the ground before he continued, ¡°Trips, act this out.¡± ¡°sure.¡±
¡°The year is two thousand and two. You¡¯ve survived the beginning of the apocalypse. You have a sword, you kind of know how to use it, and you¡¯re wandering the forest. You¡¯re humming a song you remember from the radio, back from the good old days. You¡¯re hungry, you¡¯re tired, and none of this Infra stuff makes any sense, but you¡¯re trying your best, and you¡¯re level seventy.¡± Trips walked back and forth on the riverbank as Hunter spoke, wobbling along on two legs, waving the third around. ¡°One of three things happens, inevitably. A goblin appears! Trips, the goblin is that little rock. It¡¯s level ten. You barely remember being level ten anymore, it probably came and went when you were fighting those robot scorpions in Dallas. You stab the goblin and it dies, easy easy. Infra says, good job, that was a trivial combat feat, it¡¯s been proven statistically that you should be fighting harder things, but if you really want, you can kill fifty more of these butts for half a level, you dingus.¡± While he was telling the story, Trips walked over and kicked the rock a few feet into the river, then did a little victory dance, or maybe just a victory wiggle. ¡°Then there¡¯s option two. Kevin, the hardworking but evil centaur barbarian prince appears! He¡¯s level, I dunno, one hundred and fifty? He looks like that little bush over there. He either pops you like a grape, or you manage to run away, giggling, living to fight another day. Those are the two main things that happen in the wilderness. There¡¯s thousands of marbles bouncing around, the big ones roll over the little ones and don¡¯t even notice, and you¡¯re just lucky you haven¡¯t gotten rolled over yet.¡± The helperbot approached the bush, waved it¡¯s one limb menacingly at it, and then at the appropriate part of the monologue, turned and ran stumbling away.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Then there¡¯s option three. This is where the fifty-fifty came from. You meet, umm, a ghost. Who lives in a plastic, floating box. With guns on the sides. It¡¯s level seventy, it looks like my sneaker, time for a real fight! You¡¯re stabbing at it, hitting it every other time, it¡¯s shooting at you, you¡¯re getting shot. It really comes down to the wire, it¡¯s a fight for your life, I¡¯m already bored, and maybe you win. I dunno, maybe you lose and die. Point is, you went fifty-fifty with it.¡± Trips and Hunter¡¯s foot had a poorly choreographed fight, which ended with his formerly yellow shoe covered in even more mud, lying on the ground. ¡°And then you level! You should level, you got hurt by his ghost guns, you had to eat that favor cracker you bought off your priest friend, it was a tough time. Let¡¯s say it¡¯s a level you get a talent or a class thing. You look at your choices and think, ¡®Gee, that fight was really hard! I bet if my sword was mystically sharper, I¡¯d have gotten shot less because I stabbed way better. Plus, I could totally stab those goblins faster.¡¯ So you pick quantum stabulator, or whatever the talent is called.¡± Trips stood there for a moment, then must not have known how to act that part out, because it just wandered off before he¡¯d finished talking. ¡°That¡¯s old people thinking. You¡¯re hardly ever going to fight another ghost box, unless you go find a Source that¡¯s full of them. Most things you meet are going to be goblins or Kevins, and you¡¯re already just fine at goblins. You oughtta pick whatever will help you not get graped when you fight Kevin, which yes I just heard how that sounds, ugh, and that will help if you ever fight a ghost box again, too. Then, you know what you do, even if it sucks? You go to the goblin¡¯s house, and you stab goblins until your sword skill won¡¯t go up anymore. Then you go to the goblin¡¯s older brother¡¯s house, and so on. ¡°Then, the next time you see Kevin, you stab him in both sets of his stupid guts, even if you¡¯re not even half his level, and you wanna know why? Because Infra¡¯s a liar.¡±
¡°Schmidt,¡± Miracle was grinning, just a little, in spite of himself, ¡°you¡¯re an idiot.¡± ¡°Ok, but umm, why?¡± ¡°What do you mean by Infra¡¯s a liar?¡± ¡°Oh, that,¡± Hunter chuckled. ¡°So, you¡¯re level seventy. I¡¯m level one. What¡¯s that really mean?¡± ¡°How much raw essence we¡¯ve gathered, and how much of it Infra decided to give us as a reward.¡± ¡°Right, for sure,¡± Hunter nodded, waggling a hand. ¡°Goblins, ghost boxes, and Kevins aren¡¯t on Infra, though. But they¡¯ve got levels, what do those mean?¡± ¡°I¡¯m guessing not the same thing, then,¡± Miracle said slowly as he worked it out. ¡°It¡¯s got to be an estimate, of what? Combat ability, how much they¡¯re worth to harvest, something like that?¡± ¡°Something, who knows,¡± he replied with a shake of his head. ¡°Kevin¡¯s a weird dude, ok. He¡¯s got a horse growing out of his butt because he ate too much raw essence. He¡¯s strong and he¡¯s fast, and he¡¯s still got a ton of essence leaking out of him. But Infra didn¡¯t make him, like the stuff in a Source, and Infra didn¡¯t rebuild him, like you or me. He¡¯s just a weird dude. Level a hundred and fifty doesn¡¯t mean he¡¯s twice as good as you and a hundred and fifty times as good as me. Infra¡¯s a liar.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°And? Umm,¡± Hunter mumbled. ¡°Most people aim for like two points of skill per level. It¡¯s safe, it¡¯s easy to fifty-fifty from there, it generally keeps you in the running against essence beasts and stuff. But why? Fight stuff for longer on purpose, hit three points a level. That¡¯d take you to peak. Max your tiers, even. That¡¯s half of breakthrough, yeah? Then boost it, hard as you can. Why not?¡± ¡°So, what you¡¯re saying is that instead of going around and levelling up and taking the upgrades that would have helped me in past situations, or that I can see helping me in similar future situations, like an old person, I should be sitting around and trying to figure out how to fight way above my level, and bashing on things that probably even aren¡¯t threats to fresh beginners just to practice.¡± ¡°Kind of?¡± Miracle picked up his things and stood up, staring down at Hunter for a long time. ¡°So, how far above your head can you punch, Schmidt?¡± ¡°Umm,¡± Hunter hesitated there¡¯s gonna be no right answer, ¡°breakthrough for sure, probably mid solid if I pushed it.¡± ¡°One hundred and seventy-five,¡± Miracle said, his voice flat. ¡°Do you know how many people something that¡¯s level one hundred and seventy-five can kill? Do you know how many there are just running around, because us old people haven¡¯t bothered to game the system while we¡¯re too busy trying to actually do things? You¡¯re unbelievable, Schmidt. Not in a good way.¡± Hunter sat in the mud, mouth open partially, as his friend turned and walked back home. ¡°That¡¯s, umm, not how that was supposed to go.¡±
¡°Hey, Mom, Dad?¡± Hunter said quietly at breakfast, a couple days later. Miracle had left the redoubt the morning after their was it an argument, and he¡¯d been worrying about it ever since. ¡°Can I ask some, I dunno, I guess they¡¯re ethical questions?¡± They gave each other a look, obviously a quick message conversation over Infra I hate that, and then his mother nodded to him. ¡°Of course you can, bump.¡± ¡°If there¡¯s like, a rampaging essence beast nearby, and I have the ability to get rid of it, safely and easily, I should, right?¡± ¡°Well, sure,¡± his dad said, a little slowly. ¡°If you can help, you can help. Should is a different thing.¡± ¡°So, umm, how far away is nearby? Like, as far away as Stillwater?¡± ¡°Oh, is that why you¡¯ve been so down lately?¡± his mother asked, and he barely caught the flicker that passed between her and his dad. ¡°I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s going to be any answer that makes you feel better, or is logically consistent, or even seems correct. In fact, I might be one of the very last people you would want to hear from about this, considering it¡¯s something I could be accused of as well.¡± ¡°Yeah, huh,¡± Hunter mumbled. ¡°I never thought about that, Mom.¡± ¡°Comic books,¡± his father said out of nowhere. Hunter and his mother exchanged a look, no Infra needed to have that silent conversation. ¡°Umm, what?¡± he asked. ¡°Alright, hear me out,¡± his dad said, patting the table. ¡°Both of you. Almost everyone who talked about ethics and responsibility and all that back in the old days, they were talking about what one person could do. One person unit of effort. Does that sound right, Cat?¡± ¡°I see more of where you¡¯re going now, and yes, hon.¡± ¡°So, if this were back then, obviously we wouldn¡¯t be having this issue, but I think there¡¯d be a pretty good argument that no, of course a kid shouldn¡¯t have to go all the way down to Stillwater to absolve himself of moral responsibility. Honestly, a kid shouldn¡¯t have to go out to his backyard to do it, either. There¡¯s a framework that someone should be able to grow up in, safe and not having to worry about that sort of thing.¡± ¡°Like a tomato,¡± Hunter added helpfully. ¡°Right. However, no one really talked about if the values changed when someone could produce more than one person¡¯s worth of effort, if they could generate a greater than average benefit to the world.¡± ¡°Except for comic books,¡± Hunter¡¯s mother said. ¡°So, which one do you think fits best here? I remember a few of those arguments, and I wouldn¡¯t be happy with some of them being applied to our son.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Cat. I don¡¯t think being better at something makes you morally obligated to go out and do it. If we owned a gun, should we be forced to go out and shoot criminals with it? Same weird thing. I think, Hunter, we may have given you a complex talking about doing the most good. That leads to running across the country, every minute of every day, fixing every problem you can, and not letting yourself sleep because if you sleep, people are dying that wouldn¡¯t be if you were awake.¡± ¡°Oof, Dad.¡± ¡°I think, son, that you should aim for the best good. That includes what¡¯s good for you, and what¡¯s best for you. Look, we wouldn¡¯t be having this conversation if you¡¯d decided you wanted to be a farmer. You¡¯d be growing food, and no one would think you¡¯re not doing enough. If someone wanted me to go out and squish monsters with my Ghosts, I think I¡¯d have a problem with that.¡± ¡°But,¡± Hunter mumbled, ¡°I¡¯m not growing food or medicine or whatever.¡± ¡°Sure, but if you were an, I don¡¯t know, an artist or something? We wouldn¡¯t be having this conversation either. You¡¯re not a problem solving machine, you¡¯re a person, and it¡¯s ok to be a person. You¡¯re allowed. You solve problems when you can, you go fight all the monsters in this world that you want, but you can take time for yourself. You¡¯re only sixteen, son, and call me old-fashioned, but I don¡¯t mind you still being a bit of a kid.¡± ¡°I¡¯m,¡± Jack slapped the table, unable to stay quiet any longer, ¡°gonna be a, umm, a manager.¡± ¡°Be an assistant manager, Jacky, the hours are better,¡± his dad said. ¡°Also, Hunter, and I say this knowing your mother might not agree with me fully, but talk to your patron. It may seem silly, and they have incredibly alien views on how things work, but they¡¯re entities of this world, and whatever opinion yours has on things is going to affect you one way or the other.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah I can do that. I got, umm, one more question. It¡¯s not about any of that other stuff, though.¡± ¡°You can be an assistant manager with me, Hunter!¡± ¡°Thanks, buddy,¡± he mumbled. ¡°So, umm, it¡¯s about the death punch. Do you think it¡¯s better if I can wind it up faster, or if I just hit harder in the meantime?¡±
Hunter sat on the roof of his house, eyes closed, body still, and meditated. He was close enough to finishing his Wisp skills that he figured a conversation with his patron was going to come to him naturally, and he could ask then. He spent the morning perched comfortably and casting his spells, relaxing and feeling the sun and slight breeze on his skin more immediately, acclimating to the flickering feel of being able to jump in any direction at a moment¡¯s notice, until both sensations were as natural as anything else.
You have raised Guidance to one hundred (100). You have one (1) talent available from maxing your guidance skill. You have raised Protection to one hundred (100). You have one (1) talent available from maxing your protection skill.
¡°Hey, umm,¡± he said under his breath. ¡°No advancement. That¡¯s weird. And no hi, hello, good job, either.¡±
You have one (1) talent available from maxing your guidance skill. Please pick from the following pool of guidance talents.
[Augur] You have visions from your patron that border on fortune-telling. +ten percent (10%) to a semi-random skill for each guidance spell active (synergy)
[Point of Reference] You can mark a person, place, or thing within your sight, and your patron will always let you know where it is. one (1) target, plus one (1) target/guidance spell known additional
[Powerful Guide] You have a better than average connection with your patron. +ten percent (10%) efficacy, additive, to guidance spells for each patron spell active
You have one (1) talent available from maxing your protection skill. Please pick from the following pool of protection talents.
[Well-armored] You find yourself tougher with every connection you make to your patron. +ten percent (10%) to max resilience, additive, for each patron spell known
[Directed Hands] Your patron helps you put things where they need to be. +ten percent (10%) additive to parry while protection spells are active (synergy)
[Shield Bearer] You are particularly proficient at helping others. +twenty percent (20%) efficacy to protection spells cast on others
Hunter pulled out his notebook and looked at his math section, trying to figure out how much Augur would swing him, but then decided against it. One of the first rules he had was that random meant trap, no matter what, even if it sounded good. He took Powerful Guide for even better awareness, and Directed Hands because that one was an easy decision, and then he sat a while longer. So, he thought, did I do something wrong? Why wouldn¡¯t I advance?
Connecting¡­ complete I have been watching you. You are lost in the woods. I will try to lead you out. [Hunter]: i kinda wondered. that¡¯s good to know. how have i been doing? I see what you have accomplished. I am displeased. I see what you have planned. I am pleased. I find myself of two minds. I am displeased about this, as well. A feeble LIGHT is poor at leading. A still LIGHT is poor at leading. You have been working to be less FEEBLE, but have done nothing to be less STILL. [Hunter]: yeah. that¡¯s really the problem isn¡¯t it [Hunter]: what do you want me to do? or think i should do There is a man in the woods. He wants to help. He wants to be stronger. He meets a hermit. The hermit is the strongest man in the woods. He meets a boy. The boy carries water for his family in a small bucket. There is a wolf in the woods. The wolf ignores the hermit, he is too strong. The wolf menaces the boy, he is scared. The wolf meets the man. [Hunter]: i¡¯m sorry. i¡¯m so sorry. i don¡¯t get it The man learns from the hermit to become strong. The man helps the boy to carry water. Does the man learn from the wolf? What does he LEARN? [Hunter]: i¡¯m not sure The man is STRONG but SCARED. That is alright. The man learns that is alright. The next day he becomes stronger, and he carries a bucket. You are alright. Carry one bucket, small or large. You will know it when you see it. [Hunter]: ok, i think, ok. i just have to do one at a time The boy carries small buckets of water, unless there is a wolf, then he carries none. The hermit carries no water, no matter if there is a wolf. You know the BOY. You know the HERMIT. I would like YOU to carry MORE than either. Start with one, and I will no longer be displeased. There is a lot of water to carry, but a lot of time to do it. [Hunter]: alright. thank you. i''ll keep my eyes open
In the old days, Ernie had told Hunter often and repeatedly, Sources were free game to whoever found them. A dedicated adventurer group would often come upon the entrance to one, explore it, and if it was the appropriate level they¡¯d clear it every time it reset until they found it too easy. Hunter wasn¡¯t really too sure about the mechanics of the reset, but it let them go in, kill everything to gather essence, and then leave repeatedly. Then they¡¯d share the knowledge they¡¯d gained, most times, and others could come and try the Source for themselves. The most dangerous part of the process was obviously the scouting. One could die on their first trip if the Source was immediately too dangerous, if there were tricks and traps, or even if they weren¡¯t prepared for how they tended to ramp up in difficulty from the entrance to the exit. Of course, even if someone had read everything that the other adventurers had collected, if they familiarized themselves with the exact, if randomized, threats a Source could have, they could still go in and die. It could happen on their third or fourth trip, even. One thing people found out quickly, according to Ernie, was that Sources got a little more scary every time they went past their reset time and weren¡¯t cleared. Like most aspects of modern, post-apocalypse life, the Pols had a system to deal with these problems. First, and this was Ernie¡¯s least favorite part, they took possession of every known Source in the areas they had a strong presence in, and banned random adventurers from going in. No one could enter a protected Source that wasn¡¯t officially certified by SysPol for the level of danger it contained. Then, they scheduled the certified adventurers who were still interested, and made sure they kept clearing the Sources before problems cropped up. ¡°So, that¡¯s why you have to fight Gary?¡± ¡°Basically,¡± Hunter told his little brother. ¡°It¡¯s either that or let him look at my full infosheet, and I don¡¯t want them all to see everything on there.¡± ¡°But Gary¡¯s nice,¡± Jack whined, tugging Hunter toward the Pol¡¯s rented house. ¡°Can¡¯t you just tell him you¡¯re, umm, good enough?¡± ¡°Yeah, I mean, I could do that. I don¡¯t think he¡¯d believe me, though.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Jack frowned, ¡°that¡¯s not nice.¡± ¡°It is what it is, buddy,¡± Hunter mumbled as he knocked on the door. ¡°Hey,¡± Gary said as he opened the door, nice as ever. ¡°So, it¡¯s just the one of you looking for the cert today, right?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Hunter said with a shake of his head, Jack giggling next to him, ¡°my brother just wanted to watch. Is that ok?¡± ¡°Sure, that¡¯s fine,¡± Gary said as he grabbed the bag he usually carried around town and moved past the boys, ¡°You think that weird yard where the northeast corner pinches in will have enough room for this?¡± ¡°Umm, don¡¯t see why not,¡± Hunter nodded, and then followed the Pol, holding onto Jack¡¯s hand. He took the length of the walk to look at Gary, not really remembering what he knew about the man. Average height so taller than me, kind of a lean build, dark hair in regulation short cut, just a nice guy that somehow made it through the sort of training that was so hard for Ellie. ¡°So,¡± the Pol said as they reached the triangle-shaped empty lot, too small and out of the way for a house, too shaded for a garden, ¡°level one and you want to test for peak mortal, huh?¡± ¡°Umm, Mom says I should just go for full breakthrough ascendant, actually. I¡¯m already skipping a couple steps, so why not. Jacky, go sit on the bench over there, ok?¡± ¡°I have to warn you,¡± Gary said as he set down his bag, then looked the teen up and down, ¡°certification isn¡¯t entirely about how hard and fast you can fight. It¡¯s about if you can deal with the good majority of anything a Source can throw at you. So if you¡¯re planning on just punching me through the wall like your mom would, that¡¯s probably a failure, technically.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± Hunter nodded, then grinned. ¡°It¡¯s about recognizing which threats I can punch through which walls, then.¡± ¡°Close enough,¡± he replied. ¡°I¡¯ll give you an example. You¡¯ve probably prepared for this fight, but you¡¯re not wearing your armor or carrying that giant pole you drag around. You¡¯re small, and you¡¯re muscled, but leanly. Even if I didn¡¯t know you were a little martial artist kid, that¡¯s what I¡¯d be able to tell from looking. You want to rely on speed to not get hit and probably make multiple attacks, from close range. Doctrine says pull the rifle and burn you down from at least two, three angles before you can approach. Try me.¡± ¡°Oh, ok,¡± Hunter mumbled before thinking about what his uncle¡¯s encounter notebooks said about SysPol. ¡°You¡¯ve got a rifle and a sword, so you trained with the shock troops. No Chariot medallion, no tassle on either weapon, so you aren¡¯t favored or a mage. I won¡¯t have to worry about magic. Rifle looks pretty standard issue, so you¡¯re either not a tech genius, or you¡¯re so good that your modifications don¡¯t look weird like everyone else¡¯s. First one¡¯s way more likely. But, they don¡¯t put shock troops out in little redoubts, though, at least not ones in good standing.¡± Gary just looked at him for a long moment, before nodding, ¡°Go on.¡± ¡°Umm, well. It¡¯s not a moral failure, because those folks go out to the bad areas, and Willard¡¯s a good place to live. So it¡¯s a, what do you call it, a tactical error. I bet you didn¡¯t pick up whatever the shock troop style skill is, that weird hotswap sword and rifle thing. I¡¯m thinking, you messed up somewhere, maybe got some kinda dragoon thing? Got too hooked on shoot first, stab later, then two years into the training you can¡¯t fit into the formations anymore. So I guess, umm, I have to dictate the combat. I can¡¯t let you lay down fire and then charge at your best opportunity. Hit you when the rifle¡¯s out, retreat from the sword, basically.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a pretty good guess, actually,¡± he said as he bent down, sliding the rifle off his shoulder and unzipping his bag. ¡°Not a dragoon, though. I carry the rifle for regulations¡¯ sake.¡± He slid the long gun into the bag and pulled out a belt with three shiny handguns tucked into holsters, buckling it around his waist so the pistols were all at his left hip. ¡°It¡¯s more of a corsair style I tripped into, but you couldn¡¯t have known that.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s cool,¡± Hunter mumbled wait is Gary cool? weird. ¡°I bet doctrine says stay out of, oh, small yards with no cover when you¡¯re fighting a corsair. Probably says they, umm, have total tactical control over a fifty foot radius.¡± ¡°Something like that. Are you ready to start?¡±
The fight went just about how Hunter expected it to. Gary was good, and probably would have won easily if he was fighting at his level, whatever that was stupid SysPol tricks, but limiting his skills put him at a fairly high disadvantage. He also only used one of his three guns, firing an orange beam that faded to nothing after about fifteen feet, but sure stung when it clipped Hunter, not having expected it to flare out so wide. The teen made sure to miss a few Water Bursts, because Jack loved to see the misty spray shoot out uselessly when he cast it in the air, and because the little bit of cover they gave helped him with a miniscule amount of distraction. Mostly he just dodged and stayed well out of the way of those wide orange blasts, letting Gary herd him closer and closer to the narrow corner of the yard. That¡¯s when Trips dropped down from a nearby roof to the ground behind the Pol, not very sneakily, but close enough to matter. Hunter dodged Gary¡¯s last shot of the fight and the robot tapped him in the back of the leg, combining the damage from Rising Tide, another Water Burst, and his newly upgraded Oncoming Storm A, not nearly enough to end the fight, but enough to hurt and stagger him. After that, Hunter got in close, and none of Gary¡¯s flowing, powerful swordwork could touch him, not limited as it was. A few more touches and he yielded, panting on the ground and laughing. ¡°Alright, so officially,¡± Gary said with a grin, ¡°I¡¯m going to pass you. Unofficially, at the speed you fight and how much those little nerve taps hurt, you took at least thirty seconds too long. I¡¯m guessing you were trying something new?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± mumbled Hunter, ¡°but I was pretty sure it¡¯d work. Plus, actually surprising you sounded like it might get bonus points.¡± ¡°Right, don¡¯t ever do that again when you have anything on the line. Use what works, use what works best, and don¡¯t use anything else. Got it?¡± ¡°Yessir. So, umm, Gary?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± he looked up from repacking his bag. ¡°Do I get some kinda badge to wear around?¡± 12: Worlds Largest Corn Maze Hunter had figured out a lot of hypotheticals about his combat abilities, but he¡¯d only ever been in the one real fight. He couldn¡¯t tell anyone about what happened in Topeka, because even he saw that trip as at least slightly irresponsible. From an outside perspective, he knew it just looked like he was a kid with a notebook full of math, who might not really know what he was talking about. ¡°So, umm,¡± he mumbled, ¡°the more I was like, ¡®you don¡¯t have to prove yourself to anyone,¡¯ the more I realized maybe I have to still prove myself to me?¡± ¡°That isn¡¯t the worst idea, bump,¡± his mother replied, leading him through cooldown stretches. ¡°Have you picked out a destination?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah,¡± he nodded and pulled his notebook out, then flipped it to the back, where he¡¯d copied out some pages from one of Ernie¡¯s. ¡°There¡¯s actually a couple of Sources with the same name, which is weird and all, but this one¡¯s in Nebraska. It¡¯s pretty far, but there¡¯s a caravan heading sorta that way next week.¡± He flipped the book around to show her. His mother leaned in to read, a faint smile on her lips before she nodded. ¡°Level one hundred, but with a nasty little reputation. What an interesting decision you¡¯ve made.¡± ¡°There¡¯s also, you know, scheduling and stuff?¡± he chuckled. ¡°There¡¯s a spot open by the time I¡¯d get there, because not a lot of people, umm, want to bother with it. It¡¯s long, I guess? I just think it sounds fun.¡± ¡°Not to mention, if I recall my geography correctly-¡± ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± muttered Hunter. ¡°-it¡¯s about halfway to Rapid City. What would you call that, bump, if you were pressed? Fortuitous, perhaps? Would it be, possibly, appropriate to say that it was carefully premeditated?¡± ¡°I mean, yeah,¡± he mumbled, feeling his cheeks color. ¡°I figured, well, why not I guess?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t tease you any more about it, I suppose,¡± she said as she helped him up. ¡°After this, of course. What do you have left to prepare? Are you going to bring her a gift, or would you like some help picking one out?¡± ¡°Mom!¡± he replied. ¡°To prepare, though? I ordered a bunch of stuff, my food box is about half full still, I think I¡¯m pretty good.¡± ¡°That is just terrific, bump,¡± his mother said, as she put an arm around his shoulders, ¡°So, when do we leave?¡±
¡°It¡¯s not fair, Trips,¡± Hunter whined, and then kicked a rock. ¡°I did all that training, I did all the planning, and now she¡¯s going to come tag along? ¡®For my own good,¡¯ my butt. I bet she¡¯s just bored.¡± ¡°sure,¡± his robot companion said from its perch in the tree above him. ¡°And it¡¯s not like she doesn¡¯t think I can handle it,¡± he continued to mutter. ¡°If it was like that, she just wouldn¡¯t let me go. Mom sure isn¡¯t shy about hard no¡¯s.¡± ¡°yeah.¡± ¡°I dunno, the dumbest part is it¡¯ll probably be fun. I guess I wouldn¡¯t mind more company. And hey, maybe I¡¯ll get to see her beat something up.¡± Hunter sat around for a while longer, grumbling and writing in his notebook. He had a few ideas for things that would have made his trip home from the city a lot more enjoyable, and even more that could have made it safer. It was just a matter of if any of those things actually existed, which is why he was being lazy, waiting for a message, and pretending like complaining to Trips actually helped anything. Finally it¡¯s been forever, it popped up.
You are sending a direct message to [Umberto Betancourt].
[Trader Bert]: You¡¯re the guy that wanted the bags and the crazy stuff, right? We¡¯re pulling in to Willard within the hour. [Hunter]: yeah, that¡¯s me! [Trader Bert]: I ended up finding a lot more than I thought I would. I know I quoted you one price, but you did say to bring as much extra as I could fit. [Hunter]: ok that¡¯s the best news i¡¯ve had all day [Trader Bert]: Thing is, it¡¯s a lot, and I¡¯ve got it packed tight. I¡¯ll just keep most of it stowed for K.C. if you think it¡¯s too much. [Hunter]: oh, umm. [Currency\Travel Budget] [Hunter]: did that link right? good. that¡¯s how much i can spend [Trader Bert]: I¡¯ll unpack the whole load, then.
¡°C¡¯mon, buddy,¡± Hunter said as he stood up, ¡°we¡¯ve got shopping to do.¡±
The more he and his mother prepared for the trip, the less upset Hunter felt about it her barging in on it. By the time they decided to spend the day cooking all their favorite foods together to stuff in his lunchbox, he almost felt like it wasn¡¯t the worst idea. ¡°Alright, I got the two tent-bags, and Trips figured out how to roll them up even tighter than normal, so they¡¯re not so bad to carry.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good, bump,¡± his mom said, carefully sliding a series of biscuit and egg sandwiches into the magic box, ¡°I¡¯ve always packed extraordinarily lightly for this sort of expedition, usually through poor planning or circumstance. It¡¯s terrific that you¡¯re picking up on it so quickly.¡± ¡°Aww,¡± he replied, blushing, ¡°it¡¯s more like, thinking about what I¡¯d go crazy about if I didn¡¯t have, then making sure to pack that. Problem is, I can imagine going crazy about a lot of stuff.¡± She nodded and gave him a look not exactly sad, haven¡¯t seen that one, then ruffled his hair as they continued cooking. They mostly made sandwiches, to Hunter¡¯s dismay you can put anything in there, but she¡¯d argued that even if a heaping plate of food would keep, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to eat on the move or in poor conditions. That made sense, Hunter knew, but it still irked him. ¡°Ok, but like,¡± he mumbled, ¡°what if it¡¯s cold and we want soup? We could have hot soup in there and pull it out any time we want. In mugs maybe?¡± ¡°Wait, I think I¡¯ve misunderstood,¡± his mom said, pausing briefly. ¡°Are you telling me that this isn¡¯t a preservation storage space, it¡¯s the stasis version?¡± ¡°Yeah, think that¡¯s what the guy called it. Space-something stasis-something food storage only. All I heard was, you know, magic lunchbox.¡± ¡°How much, exactly, did you pay for this, Hunter? You know my second question, of course, is going to be how.¡± ¡°Oh, umm,¡± he mumbled, ¡°you know. Guy owed Ernie a favor. Ernie owed me a favor. Got a cheap, experimental storage lunchbox. It¡¯s magic and tech instead of one or the other, and apparently that¡¯s a red flag for a lot of people.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard that, but our armor always seems to work just fine, doesn¡¯t it?¡± she said with a smile. ¡°Hey, there¡¯s magic in it?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a small amount, bump. It¡¯s mostly a bit of favor imbued in the fabrics, a little traditional force affinity in the flexspines, some other tiny runic touches. It may not be much, but every piece counts when you¡¯re out in the wilderness.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m carrying a lot of pieces this time,¡± Hunter grinned. ¡°I think, umm, this is going to be a good trip, yeah?¡± ¡°At the very least,¡± his mom said with a tiny smile, ¡°it¡¯s going to be a learning experience.¡±
The trip itself was probably more boring than Hunter¡¯s run back to Willard, he thought. The caravan wasn¡¯t exactly going in the right direction, it turned out, so they only rode in the back of a giant, Infratech powered wagon for about a day, up to Lincoln. It was bumpy, loud, and headed more north than Hunter would have liked, so when they arrived, he found a friendly mage there and splurged on a push port, not the safest or most exact way to travel according to this mother, but it would definitely get them closer. He didn¡¯t exactly know what he was buying, but his mom was letting him run the show and she didn¡¯t use her emergency veto, so it couldn¡¯t have been too dangerous. A push port, apparently, was much more push than port, just a barely less dangerous artillery strike with people as the ammunition. There was only a thin bubble of force around the two, protecting them from the wind and somehow from gravity as they shot up into the air, in what he would have called a lazy arc if it weren¡¯t so fast and so high. ¡°Wow,¡± Hunter said, stumbling as his feet hit the ground, after just seeing a few hundred miles of countryside rush past his perspective in a matter of minutes, ¡°that¡¯s way better than a summon.¡± His mother took a long, deep breath before shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯m not in total agreement there, bump. I rather think they¡¯re both awful ways to travel. I never would have thought I¡¯d be such a firm proponent of simply walking.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t say it,¡± he grinned as he checked his bearings and they started to walk. ¡°Oh, my eldest son won¡¯t tell me that I¡¯m an old lady now, and that¡¯s why I prefer things at a slower pace? How very lucky of me to have raised such a polite boy.¡± ¡°I bet you¡¯re so proud,¡± he laughed, and they walked on, each carrying a similarly-sized duffel and the matching tent-bags. After a while of traveling, Hunter paying more attention to the confusing Infra map system than his surroundings, he asked, ¡°So you did a lot of walking back in the bad times, I figure.¡± ¡°A fair amount, yes,¡± she murmured. ¡°For a while, there were still vehicles that didn¡¯t rely on electronics, and old gas pumps you could get working fairly easily. Once people started developing their Infratech skills more, however, it stopped being so useful to break into an old truck and drive it for the few miles it would last.¡± ¡°Wait, why?¡± ¡°Larger monsters would attack regular cars just as easily as a person, human and alien scrappers started to dismantle everything they could get their hands on, and then the rumors started about bombs planted in stray vehicles. Eventually, if it wasn¡¯t handmade by someone you trusted, it stayed where it was.¡± ¡°Does that count for everything, or just trucks?¡± he asked, hopefully. ¡°Yes, it counts for everything. However, everything in a Source is directly created by Infra, so you can keep whatever loot you manage to find, bump,¡± she chuckled. ¡°There¡¯s usually nothing wrong with that.¡±
¡°Whaddya mean I can¡¯t go in?¡± Hunter asked, arms folded, trying his best to stare down the two SysPol guards posted at the Source entrance. ¡°I got an appointment, I came all this way. I baked the bread, I get to eat it.¡± ¡°Uhh,¡± the first guard said, looking at him oddly, ¡°we didn¡¯t say you can¡¯t go in. It¡¯s just not recommended.¡± ¡°Two weeks ago we had a group come through,¡± the second guard added. ¡°Three weeks.¡± ¡°Right, three weeks,¡± he continued. ¡°They didn¡¯t clear it. Left for about a week, came back with another person. Just came back out yesterday, right before the third reset in a row with nothing to show for it.¡± ¡°And,¡± the first guard said, ¡°they left their friend in there. Got lost, or split up, or something. Probably, they just didn¡¯t care about the new guy. Seen that a few times.¡± ¡°So,¡± Hunter mumbled to himself as he pulled out his notebook, ¡°three resets in a row with no clear? How hard does that make it?¡± Then he noticed a flashing screen, asking for his attention.
You have received a quest from [Wisp]!
You have heard a troubling story about an adventuring team. There is someone LOST in the MAZE. Perhaps you should HELP. This could be the first of many people you lead out of places they no longer want to occupy.
Objective: Bring the missing person out of the maze and to safety. Reward: [Follower of Wisp] will advance to [Favored of Wisp]. One (1) [random] item.
¡°Anyway,¡± one of the guards said, ¡°we¡¯ve got a burn team coming out in three days. They¡¯ll knock the whole thing down and get it back to normal. You might just have to reschedule for after then.¡± ¡°No! I mean,¡± Hunter turned to his mother before he continued. ¡°I still want to go. I have to go. Umm, it¡¯ll be a little harder but I think it¡¯s still an ok idea.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not set in stone how much the difficulty increases when this happens, you know,¡± she said quietly, pulling him away. ¡°There¡¯s no problem with waiting a while longer before you take the plunge, here.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know,¡± he nodded, biting his lip. ¡°But I¡¯ve got to do this one. There¡¯s someone in there, and who knows if they¡¯ll make it another three days alone. And, umm,¡± he leaned in a little, voice low, ¡°I got a quest for it. But I¡¯d have gone in anyway, I think.¡± ¡°Ok, bump. I think that¡¯s a very good idea, and I¡¯m proud of you.¡± ¡°Thanks, and like, you¡¯ll be there if everything goes wrong, right? So it¡¯s ok,¡± he nodded more to himself than to his mother, and turned to face the Source entrance. It was, he admitted, not very impressive. It was in the middle of a clearing in what had probably been a corn field, but had long before gone to seed with all kinds of various prairie grasses. There was a nice enough shack over to the side where the guards probably stayed, but the focus of the entire area was on a pair of seven foot tall stones in the middle. They were a flat almost white like the ash at the end of a campfire, shaped like elongated triangles, and between them there was a view of more fields, but hazy and indistinct. Hunter stepped forward, gave his mom a little glance, and then said to the guards, ¡°So, if it doesn¡¯t make any difference to you, umm, we¡¯ll be going in.¡± He walked the rest of the way in with his mother, very carefully not holding her hand got to do this on my own, and once he hit the shimmering entrance, found himself in another clearing, in another different field.
You have entered [The World¡¯s Largest Corn Maze]!
Something is wrong with [Farmer Olafsson]. He left the village¡¯s summer festival in distress, and now no one has seen him in weeks. It¡¯s going to be harvest time soon, and if he doesn¡¯t bring in his prize-winning corn, the entire village might starve. He will probably be in his house, in the middle of his famous corn maze. Check on him, but watch out, he¡¯s always had a bad reputation.
¡°It looks like you¡¯re all set, bump,¡± his mother said, after checking his armor, including the new pieces that extended from his shin down to cover the top of his foot. She tightened the strap of his satchel across his body and smiled, ¡°My little adventurer. It¡¯s been years since I sent my girls off like this, and now I¡¯ll have to do it with my boys, I suppose.¡± ¡°I think Jacky¡¯s probably going to stay at home for a while,¡± Hunter said, chuckling. ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯re wrong there,¡± she replied with a laugh as well. ¡°You should get going, there¡¯s only three days and it¡¯s a big maze. Not to mention, if you dither here any longer, I¡¯ll convince myself to go with you.¡± ¡°Ok, ok,¡± he mumbled as he gave his mother a hug, and then turned to go. The space they were in felt wrong too constructed to Hunter, but he figured that was to be expected. They¡¯d walked into another cleared patch, but this time instead of tilled-over old dirt, the ground was a dark chocolate, the color of soil his dad would pull out of the compost and loudly wish he had acres of. Except, unlike that rich, life-giving dirt, the ground was unyielding, hard, and completely artificial can¡¯t even scuff it. They were almost completely surrounded by what looked like at first glance tall, overripe and poorly-planted corn. At least eleven feet tall, each stalk sprouted haphazardly from the fake dirt, too close to the next one, in no semblance of a pattern, and there were way too many leaves on each one. Hunter could barely see past the first layer of plants in the wall, which after an embarrassing moment made sense it¡¯s a maze. The husks at the top were split open, the corn the same white gray as the stones that made up the entrance, and one in every four or five was wrapped in wire, it appeared. When Hunter glanced upward, everything got worse. The sky was brown, beige, tan, the color of an oncoming dust storm, but there wasn¡¯t any storm, the color of those fake corn stalks climbing all the way into the air, even if they stopped at about twice his height. It was bright, with no sun, and perfectly uniform except for the swarms of black flying birds in the distance, their circling forms filling at least a third of the sky. When he squinted, Infra popped up some slightly less helpful than usual nameplates.
[Murder of Murdercrows]
[Large Murder of Murdercrows]
¡°Alright,¡± he mumbled, ¡°cool.¡± There was only one gap in the ring of corn around the clearing in which he and his mother had appeared, about fifteen feet wide, so that¡¯s where he went, armored up, clutching his metal staff, with his helperbot companion clinging firmly to his left shoulder and his meditation focus spinning next to it. He walked down the fake dirt path, deeper into the fake, tall corn, and really started to question his choices in life. ¡°This isn¡¯t a bad idea, right?¡± he murmured to Trips, keeping his voice quiet once he could start hearing the constant screeching caws of the birds overhead. ¡°I mean, this whole go out into weird danger thing I¡¯ve somehow decided is my profession.¡± ¡°nope,¡± Trips replied, but only after fidgeting a brief moment on his shoulder. ¡°Ok, because-¡± ¡°crow,¡± the robot interrupted, and Hunter dove to the side just as one of the birds descended, screaming at him. It swooped just before hitting the ground and had flown back up into the sky by the time Hunter stood back up, brushing himself off. All he could really see of it in that brief instant was that it was some kind of flat black, so deeply uncolored it was hard to look at, and at least a yard long. He shifted his grip on the channeling rod and moved on, both he and the robot checking the skies for the next attack.
¡°Such a bad idea,¡± he mumbled when he found his first dead end. He was about to say more, when he heard another horrible bout of screeching. Hunter turned to put his back to the corn, brandished his staff, and looked up to see three of the dark shapes plummeting out of the sky and directly toward him. As the first one got within range, he flicked the heavy metal stick to the side, catching it in the body and sending it crashing to the ground next to him. He let the weight of the staff and the magic coursing through him pull him aside as the second swooped down, missing him by inches just to his left. It actually came close enough that Trips reached out and tagged it with a clamp, the little burst of damage from Rising Tides sending the bird flying into the stalks of corn to the side, where there was a flash of light and noise. Hunter didn¡¯t have time to see what that was about, though something bad I bet, because the third murdercrow shifted course at the last moment. He felt his hood seize up and go rigid as the bird brushed against it, almost colliding with him, then he let go of his stick with one hand and slapped, backhanding the huge crow and sending that one tumbling into the wall of corn to his right side. This time he watched and saw the black shape freeze in the air once it¡¯d gone a few inches into the stalks, then the nearest cobs of corn that had those odd wires wrapped around them lit up with a dull, grainy light, and the body vanished with a thump noise like distant thunder. He whistled softly to himself and murmured, ¡°Ok, no shortcuts.¡± ¡°yeah.¡± Hunter crouched down to look at the one crow that hadn¡¯t gotten violently disintegrated and frowned. It was sort of a bird, he decided as he poked at it with his stick, but mostly not one. The wings were just masses of razor-sharp feather shapes like shards of smoky glass, no real structure underneath, while the body and tail weren¡¯t much more than a black, indistinct oval with a pair of foot-long curved knives attached to the underside for legs or talons. There wasn¡¯t much of a head, instead the body just narrowed to a barbed, gruesome point that looked like it would lodge pretty far into him if it ever struck at full speed.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Ugh,¡± he muttered, ¡°murdercrow. For sure.¡± He walked back to the intersection that he¡¯d gone the wrong way at, and looked up into the air, squinting. There were bigger clouds of those awful bird things in the direction he hadn¡¯t taken than in the direction he had, and he grumbled to himself. ¡°Alright, so we¡¯re going toward the scary things,¡± he said, then rolled his eyes and nodded to himself. ¡°Of course we are, that¡¯s the whole point, Trips. This isn¡¯t safe and responsible, that would have been staying out there. This is do the dangerous thing and succeed.¡±
You are sending a direct message to [Catherine Schmidt].
[Hunter]: learning experience. i get it [Mom]: I knew you would. Stay safe doesn¡¯t always mean to simply keep yourself away from danger. Sometimes it means be adequately prepared to face the danger you choose to experience. [Hunter]: yeah. this is like, what i signed up for, huh
He moved on, occasionally harassed by a bird or two, and always took the path that seemed to lead to more of those monsters. There were still a few dead ends, and each time a bigger flock would descend noisily to attack him, but by the third or fourth encounter he pretty much had it down. They didn¡¯t all try to hit him at once, or else he could just dodge them all simultaneously, but instead they tried to stagger their plunges, to narrow his options for moving out of the way, to corner him against the deadly walls and stab out my eyes I need a mask, but they weren¡¯t quite good enough. What it took was trusting himself enough to dodge the nearest crow without thinking, instead keeping his attention on the next, and then the next. It took him a few scrapes to get there, though, which made him extra thankful for his gray jacket. It managed to take a grazing slice from one of the knife-feet along his side without a leaving a scratch, and he was pretty sure the extra long sleeve was the only reason he still had fingers on his right hand after he got clipped with one of the glass wings. He trudged back to the same intersection he¡¯d already tried twice before, both directions heading toward a multitude of crows having led to dead ends, and stopped to catch his breath and lean on his staff. The last way he could go was suspicious not like any of this place isn¡¯t, because instead of a cloud of birds hanging in the air and lazily circling, there was a large empty space in the sky, where they were apparently avoiding. Hunter had done what he thought was the moderately sensible thing to start, trying the side paths, but he had to resign himself with a sigh to go the even less sensible route. After about ten minutes of walking the twisting, turning path, being ambushed by two more groups of a half dozen crows each, and vowing to never go in a corn field again, he came to another clearing. For a brief moment he thought he¡¯d gotten mixed up and backtracked all the way to the beginning, but instead of the center being occupied by his mother meditating on one of their sleeping bags, there was a large scarecrow on a pole. ¡°Oh,¡± he mumbled, then laughed at himself a little, ¡°that¡¯s why there¡¯s no birds.¡± He stepped into the clearing, ready to take a break from the constant assaults from diving crows, when he was reminded that he wasn¡¯t in a very nice place. What he thought was an ordinary scarecrow in the middle of the patch of dirt, just an oddly shaped man made out of hay and wearing old clothes, started to shake back and forth as soon as he walked in. There was a rustling behind him and he spun around to see his entrance had instantaneously been overgrown with corn, then turned back to the scarecrow once more. The pole suddenly bent, no longer a stake of wood in the ground, but a vine, thick and black and oily looking, and the scarecrow landed lightly on its feet. The blank face somehow looked at him oh no that¡¯s creepy, head tilted slightly to the side, and then it split open vertically to reveal a gaping mouth full of black glass feathers.
[Olafsson¡¯s Brawler Puppet]
[Farmer Olafsson] once bet a travelling salesman he could beat him in a fight with two hands tied behind his back. When he showed up the next day at the agreed upon time, he brought this monster with him, and casually watched it tear the salesman limb from limb, with his hands behind his back, of course.
One (1) of four (4) [Olafsson¡¯s Puppets] found. Zero (0) of four (4) [Olafsson¡¯s Puppets] defeated.
¡°This place,¡± Hunter muttered, rubbing his forehead with his free hand, ¡°is the absolute worst.¡± The scarecrow shifted back and forth, not moving its legs, just being dragged in one direction and then the other by the vine lodged in its back, then it lifted one hand and pointed at Hunter with a gnarled finger. He shrugged at it in reply, not entirely ready to deal with the situation yet, and leaned on his staff as he tried to guess how long the sinuous cord holding it to the ground could actually get. The scarecrow clenched its hand suddenly, and a sudden gust of wind or just force ripped the rod from Hunter¡¯s hand, sending it sailing over the monster¡¯s head and behind it somewhere. ¡°Rude,¡± he muttered, before summoning his wizard stick, which then got pulled away and tossed as well. ¡°Ok, fine. Brawler puppet wants to brawl. Makes sense.¡± He set Trips down to his side and settled into a stance, his arms held loosely across his chest, and stepped carefully to the edge of what he figured might be the monster¡¯s range of motion. It wasn¡¯t, however, because almost immediately the vine lengthened with a squelch and the scarecrow shot forward toward him. He moved to the side and raised his right arm to deflect the first punch, stepping in how he learned to when sparring Breaker to use his leg to block the puppet from turning and delivering a counterblow to his side. The scarecrow wasn¡¯t using its legs to move though, and Hunter hadn¡¯t really internalized that bit of information, because its body simply dragged across his blocking leg, it punched him in the side of the head, and it was a total surprise.
[Olafsson¡¯s Brawler Puppet] has struck you for twenty-three (23) damage!
¡°Ow,¡± he yelped and stumbled back yikes that was on the armored hood even, then quickly resumed his stance. ¡°So, nothing fancy. Got it.¡± He darted in, hands raised, seemingly straight into another one of the monster¡¯s powerful punches. At the last moment, he shifted his weight to the side, cast a Water Burst, and deflected the oncoming blow with two fingers, the explosion of water ripping the scarecrow¡¯s hand off at the wrist and flinging it across the clearing. His other hand was already in position to intercept a second blow when the puppet was pulled back suddenly and yanked over to where its hand had landed. Its weird vertical mouth clacked as it picked it up and reattached it, then rushed at him again. They had another quick exchange, this one ending with Hunter blowing an arm off the puppet monster, after which it quickly retreated once more to fetch it. He considered going on the attack, but with the level of the Source raised an unknown amount, he might be looking at getting punched really hard in the face if he tried it. The third time the scarecrow rushed at him, Hunter tried to slow the fight down, to let his Oncoming Storm build and hopefully end it in one hit. He made softer parries, easing the punches away from him, he kept his dodges minimal so he wouldn¡¯t wear himself out, and he let the brawler keep swinging ineffectually, until suddenly it dropped to the ground on its own. He coughed and looked around as the monster burst into hay and dust, and saw Trips over by the base of the vine, doing a silly dance next to the ragged cut it had punched out of it. ¡°boom.¡±
He rested for a while in the clearing after retrieving his staves, a counter from Infra telling him he had a day remaining of safe time there, but Hunter only used less than an hour of it. Once he¡¯d meditated back his affinity and vigor, not to mention the jittery feeling he was starting to get from being constantly attacked by super disturbing monsters, he was ready to go again. The only thing that really changed from the beginning of the maze was the crows stopped making noise when they divebombed him, but luckily Trips could see in every direction. ¡°So, left means left. We both know that word. Straight up can be, well, head. And, umm, back will mean from the back. That¡¯s easy too,¡± Hunter nodded, jogging along with his companion back on his shoulder. ¡°What¡¯s front going to be, though?¡± ¡°fore,¡± Trips said after a moment. ¡°Like the number?¡± ¡°nope,¡± it replied with a shake of its carapace. ¡°fore.¡± ¡°Oh, like ahead,¡± he grinned, ¡°that works. So here¡¯s the hard one. What about right?¡± Another long pause occurred before the robot whirred and said, ¡°rite.¡± ¡°Wait, hey, can you do that?¡± ¡°sure.¡± They had just gotten the rhythm down of fighting the silent crows, Hunter finding it easier after a while than the first section of the Source who knew getting screamed at was bad, when things changed again. He started to round a corner and suddenly heard what seemed to be a dozen, a score a bigger number of the murdercrows, all screeching more loudly and constantly than he¡¯d heard before. He stopped, leaned on the staff, and whispered to Trips. ¡°So, umm, fast or slow do you think? We can rush them, or we can see if maybe it¡¯s a trick?¡± ¡°help. maze. wisp. fast,¡± Trips replied. ¡°Oh, gosh,¡± he whispered, ¡°you¡¯re right, it might be the adventurer. Ok, cool, umm, time for some real life heroics or whatever, yeah?¡± He ran down the fake dirt path between the corn stalks, toward one of the more disturbing noises he¡¯d ever experienced gosh there¡¯s been a few, and after taking a second corner and an easy choice in a Y shaped intersection, he saw them. There were at least fifty murdercrows, all in a barely airborne pile, just a shifting mass of them taking up the entire span of the path from one side to the other, repeatedly flapping up a few feet and then slamming down against something hard, but not hard enough to stop them for long. Hunter considered shouting, but then he remembered he had options now, he didn¡¯t need to throw sleeping bags for distractions because he had bought better distractions. He rummaged in his satchel for a moment and came up with two small, knobby spheres, clicked the buttons on one, and then threw it over the murder of birds. He managed to step back a pace before the sparkler grenade exploded, suspending a bright, flashing light above the crows, strobing repeatedly as it screamed louder and in a higher pitch than they were managing. At least a third of the monsters flew immediately into one of the walls and died quickly in a loud rumble of repeated thunder, another third had enough room to go forward or back in the corridor and took off into the sky, and the last third tried to go straight up, bravely or stupidly, and ran into Hunter¡¯s second grenade. That one was a crackler, a bigger, nastier version of the little zapguns Mr. Jenkins¡¯ robots had back home, and a huge number of crows just dropped to the ground dead, the unlucky ones that the six foot wide ball of blue lightning didn¡¯t instantly evaporate. Whatever birds weren¡¯t dead had flown back into the brown sky, giving Hunter a chance to see just what probably who they were attacking. He ran over and under the pile of dead crows he found a man, who¡¯d been torn up pretty badly. There were chunks of his blonde hair missing, his face was slashed up in multiple places, and his light brown robe was barely in one piece, and almost more red than its presumably original color. Hunter stood, hands up clutching his staff, unsure of what to do or how to move him, when he was interrupted. ¡°head,¡± Trips said, pointing up with one limb. ¡°lots.¡± Hunter looked up, and he wouldn¡¯t have picked ¡°lots¡± for the amount of birds circling directly overhead. He would have said millions, maybe, or at least hundreds if he was trying to be exact. He tucked the rod under his arm and picked up the man in a fireman¡¯s carry while Trips slid into his satchel, hearing a very weak groan oh thank goodness he¡¯s not dead, and looked around in a hurry. Behind him was safety, but it was going to be a long run with someone on his shoulders. Ahead of him, he could see a second clearing, another gap in the sky the birds refused to enter, even as they were massing just above him. ¡°head,¡± his robot repeated, tapping his chest, ¡°head.¡± He looked up oh no, and there was a tornado forming above him, thousands of the murdercrows spiralling lower and lower no no no, and he ran forward without thinking too hard about it, bursting into the clearing just as he thought the cacophony descending upon him couldn¡¯t get any louder or closer.
[Olafsson¡¯s Swordsman Puppet]
[Farmer Olafsson] once killed three royal courtiers for crossing through one of his fields. When the royal justicar came to investigate, instead of the farmer, he found this monster wielding all three of their blades.
Two (2) of four (4) [Olafsson¡¯s Puppets] found. One (1) of four (4) [Olafsson¡¯s Puppets] defeated.
¡°Not,¡± the man over Hunter¡¯s shoulders said weakly, ¡°this guy again.¡±
There was no trick to his fight, Hunter found, the scarecrow immediately dropping to the ground as soon as he rushed in. He barely even had enough time to drop his staff and set the injured man down before he had to run forward to meet the puppet, making sure there was at least a little room to move without stepping on the man or getting him stabbed. He parried each thrust of the swords as well as he could, only moving minimally from side to side to keep his body in the way of the person he was trying to rescue. He didn¡¯t bother to counterattack, to feint, to do anything other than stay in one place and avoid getting hit by the three swords it was wielding, two on its right and the other on its left. That was more difficult than he had figured, more than once catching one of the rusty but so very sharp swords on his forearm instead of glancing it away, only the quality of his armor keeping him from getting hurt. Each time he¡¯d get grazed more than he expected, it would ruin his rhythm, every time the puppet made a move around him, he¡¯d overcompensate and almost get run through, every time he had to take a step back he¡¯d worry more about how close to the man he was. The worst part was that he was pretty sure the scarecrow was laughing at him. It was silent, but every time he¡¯d catch the worst of an exchange of blows, or he¡¯d get nicked with the sword, or he¡¯d tense up looking for a chance to peek backward, it was laughing. That vertical, horrible mouth would open and close, clacking the glass feather teeth together, and then it would continue to press the attack. If it weren¡¯t for having to guard the injured heap of a person, he figured he¡¯d be able to win this fight easily, but he did have to, because the man was in no shape to avoid being hurt on his own. Of course, he thought, I don¡¯t have to actually win the fight. He noticed a flash of beige in the middle distance, hard to pick out when almost everything in the Source was either too black or close to that indistinct tan, and cast a quick Water Burst. That was another distraction, though, and the monster lunged past him, toward the man, and to its credit made it more than halfway there before Trips cut its cord and it fell into a heap. ¡°You know,¡± Hunter said as he sat down to catch his breath, ¡°I bet these are supposed to be a lot harder. They probably go crazy when they see a person threatening their vine.¡± ¡°yeah.¡± ¡°Still pretty hard,¡± he panted. ¡°yeah.¡± He gave himself a few moments of meditation, until he stopped seeing those three blades coming at him every time he closed his eyes, and then he forced himself back up. Rummaging in his satchel, he approached the barely if at all conscious man and knelt by his side, taking out a small white wafer and sticking it in his mouth. ¡°Favor cookie,¡± he said, trying to be reassuring. ¡°Unless you ¡®revere oppression and hate,¡¯ this ought to help a little.¡± More items came out of the satchel. Hunter¡¯s spare, off the shelf resilience focus went onto the man¡¯s lap in case he roused himself for long enough to hold it, something the trader had called an ¡°Emergency Stabilizer¡± went onto the top of his head like a skullcap, and then he found the bandages. They were, luckily, designed to go over someone¡¯s clothing, so Hunter spent the next few minutes carefully wrapping up what seemed to be the worst gashes, without rolling the man back and forth so much. Then, all that was left to do was wait and see if he¡¯d wake up.
¡°Hi,¡± Hunter said when he saw the man¡¯s breathing change even as he remained still, ¡°I¡¯m Hunter. I¡¯m here to help.¡± ¡°Rodney,¡± the man said after a long pause, then a sigh, ¡°and thank you.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s cool,¡± he replied, rubbing at the back of his head, ¡°Where are you from? Doesn¡¯t sound like around here.¡± ¡°England, originally,¡± Rodney said, and then coughed. ¡°I¡¯ve been working with the Omaha Reclamation Project of late.¡± ¡°Neat, umm,¡± Hunter said I am not good with strangers, ¡°didn¡¯t know there was anything there to reclaim.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s fascinating,¡± the man started to sit up, then slumped back to the ground, ¡°I would be delighted to tell you all about it in better circumstances.¡± ¡°Right, so,¡± he mumbled, frowning, ¡°doesn¡¯t seem like you can move. Even with all that stuff. Shoot. I¡¯ll have to carry you, cuz every minute we waste, more crows are circling.¡± ¡°The more you kill in the third section,¡± a pause for a cough, ¡°the more come after you. We killed a lot.¡± ¡°Oh, cool. Cool. Awesome,¡± Hunter nodded. ¡°So I¡¯m going to carry you, and that¡¯s going to suck, and I¡¯m going to run, and that¡¯s going to suck too because I can barely remember which way I went.¡± ¡°know,¡± Trips added. ¡°help.¡± ¡°Alright, so maybe we won¡¯t take any wrong turns. Ok, let¡¯s go. Sooner the better, yeah?¡± ¡°You¡¯re,¡± Rodney had finally sat up as he said, ¡°only level one? How, why are you even here? We¡¯re doomed.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re level whatever,¡± Hunter said so rude to look at levels, standing up and tucking his channeling rod through the strap of his satchel, then tying it to his lower back with a spare bandage, ¡°and you¡¯re doing worse here than I am. So, umm, I¡¯ll be in charge of deciding who¡¯s doomed, ok.¡± ¡°Fine, yes, my apologies,¡± the injured man said, maybe a bit sullenly. ¡°Yeah,¡± Hunter mumbled and walked over to pick him up, both of them groaning faintly as he managed to get the grown man over his shoulders again. Trips ambled over and then climbed up his leg, settling into his satchel comfortably, popping out of the flap with one grenade clutched in a little clamp. ¡°Good idea, buddy. Might as well make the most of them.¡± He looked up at the storms of birds circling just outside the clearing, one centered above the way he came in, and one above the way he was supposed to exit. He was about to head in the direction of the entrance to the maze, when instead he turned and moved to go further in. ¡°Wait,¡± Rodney said, ¡°you¡¯re going the wrong way.¡± ¡°Just, umm, checking something,¡± Hunter mumbled. ¡°Trips, can you toss a sparkler or two out there?¡± ¡°yeah,¡± the helperbot replied, then threw the grenade out with a flick of its limb. It rustled in the satchel for a moment before chucking another just afterwards. Hunter didn¡¯t bother watching the loud, strobing explosions hovering in the air, instead he kept his eyes on the sky as he recrossed the clearing. Some of the murdercrows on one side were making their way in a loop to go investigate the noise, but not all. He shrugged a little worth a shot, made sure he was as centered and focused as he could manage, and then before he could change his mind, ran out and onto the dirt path once more.
¡°left,¡± Trips said as they approached an intersection, and Hunter veered to his right, dodging a plunging crow and preparing for a wide turn. It took him the entire run between the second clearing and the first to figure out how to keep a good pace while carrying more than his weight, and he was pretty sure whatever Infra did to his body to reflect his one hundred and fifty or so points in athletics, combined with his Kinesthesia talent, was the only thing keeping him upright. ¡°fore,¡± the bot told him right before the next choice, and he ran straight under the blue ball from the crackler grenade it tossed, ignoring the sound of so very many birds crashing into it and vaporizing. He had to keep everything off of his mind except for keeping his feet hitting the ground one after the other, or else he¡¯d lose his concentration and have to watch his vigor plunge dramatically.
Resilience: 89/116 Affinity: 16/23 Vigor: 22/113
¡°Gross,¡± he panted to himself, skidding around another corner and stopping abruptly to let a bird crash to the ground at his feet. He stomped on it and continued to run, feeling a thud as another murdercrow slammed into one of the weak, ghostly shields Rodney could make, and just shook his head. The man had been taking the brunt of any attacks Hunter couldn¡¯t avoid, either with the little scraps of power he could still project, or simply with his body, but eating another two of Hunter¡¯s cookies seemed to be keeping him going.
You are sending a direct message to [Catherine Schmidt], priority RED.
[Hunter]: new estimate. need you at the second left. going to sprint, can¡¯t tell how much it¡¯ll take out of me [Mom]: I copy, second left. Get to ground as soon as you pass me, I¡¯ll cover. [Hunter]: got it. love you, Mom [Mom]: I love you too, bump.
¡°fore,¡± Trips said again, and then continued, ¡°next. rite. done.¡± Hunter nodded and just ran as fast as he could, ignoring the birds, ignoring the groans from Rodney bouncing on his shoulders, ignoring his vigor dropping. He compressed everything to a point, until there was just the Zen Runner, just yellow sneakers on hard brown dirt, until everything was forward forward forward. He came up on the last turn he¡¯d have to make, and over the high walls of corn, he saw a tornado of deep, dark dust forming. Whatever his mother was doing, it was digging up the packed earth under his feet, the earth that didn¡¯t crumble when he stomped on it, the earth that the blades of the scarecrow swordsman just bounced off, the earth he was convinced was an artificial floor just textured like dirt. He rounded the corner, skidding and stumbling, and saw his mom. She was standing just inside the edge of a perfectlyround circle that had been cut into the ground, the dark dirt flattened and smoothed down to almost a polished sheen. Her eyes were closed and her body was posed in her loose, elegant version of greeting the sky and ground that he could never exactly imitate. Above her head, the swirling dirt had formed into a vague halo just above her head, spinning faster and faster as it transitioned from funnel to ring. He lunged past her, just as a flashing screen told him his 3/113 vigor had dropped to 2/113, and crashed to the ground with Rodney, exhausted. He finally looked up from his back in the middle of the circle, and saw how many crows had followed him. It was no longer dozens, or hundreds, and it may have no longer been thousands. The bland, beige sky above him was simply missing, there was only a black mass that was rapidly growing in definition as they all came down for him. Then his mother moved. One of the very first exercises she had ever taught him was the stretching transition between greeting the sky and ground and whatever the real name was for offering up a plate. Left leg slides back, he thought, squat on right leg. Twist body at the waist to the left. Upturned hand sweeps left and stretches out higher, downturned hand moves left and points backward. It was simple, and it was good for stretching, but that was about it, Hunter had previously thought. The first twenty or thirty birds came screeching toward his mother, and her body shifted. First she was in one position, and then immediately she was in the next. Her right hand stayed in front of her, and it only moved a foot or so, but every bird within fifty feet of the narrow arc her hand moved in died. He watched, and he thought he missed something she did, but that was it. His mother waved her hand and all those vicious monsters were sent tumbling to the side, every single one of them crashing into the wall of corn, sounding like a thunderstorm that would never stop as it disintegrated them. The next murdercrows came from the back and they didn¡¯t make it any closer. His mom Devil Hallahan stepped over his prone form and that of Rodney¡¯s, and she actually paused for the briefest of moments to smile at him, and then she was at the other edge of the circle with her palm extended faster than Hunter could blink. Those crows didn¡¯t even get a chance to hit the corn, they just exploded as soon as she gestured at them, and she moved away before the detritus had a chance to hit the ground. Hunter passed out after a while, maybe ten minutes into the carnage, without ever really grasping what was going on. What he did know was that his mother never went into a pose he hadn¡¯t seen before, and she never moved from one position to another in an order he hadn¡¯t practiced with her, thousands of times. At one point, it was a bad angle to see, but he was pretty sure a solitary crow made it to the edge of her circle, and when her hand, formed into a perfect knife edge, swept through its body, the bird simply disappeared. It wasn¡¯t ripped apart, it wasn¡¯t flung into the distance, it simply stopped existing when she hit it. He woke up later, outside, with a blue sky fading to dusk above him, with his head in his mother¡¯s lap and a quiet smile on her lips, with that hand that could vanish whatever it touched stroking his hair, and he felt safe. 13: Time to Finish
You have completed a quest! The difficulty has been compared to your current level (1), and you have received essence for a greater feat. WARNING: your raw essence gain has been artificially restricted by [Debt-Bonder X-09], an Infratech device. You have been credited four (4) extra large essence crystals into your currency account. You have advanced your [Follower of Wisp] base skill to [Favored of Wisp]! You have raised each Wield stat by three (3). You have one (1) talent available from advancing a base skill. Your Patron skill max rank has been raised to two hundred (200). You have quest reward items available to [claim]! Follow the link to receive them.
[Favored of Wisp] Wisp is a great, flickering light in the distance. It is the way home, for people who are lost. Those who are in its favor are generally quick in action and quick to help. +three (3) to wield stats
Please pick from the following pool of patron talents.
[Greater Blessing] You do best when focusing solely on the reduction of harm, a beacon of safety in the middle of a group. +twenty percent (20%) to efficacy of protection spells when none of any other type are active, +twenty percent (20%) additional when casting on others
[Greater Seeking] Your patron is exceptional at pointing out the way, and you are exceptional at following. +twenty percent (20%) to efficacy of guidance spells when none of any other type are active, +twenty percent (20%) additional when not in combat
[Flicker Step] Unlocked (Wisp only). You are no longer content with the speed you can move on your own, so Wisp has granted you a portion of its own nature to use with its blessing. (active) ten (10) vigor. instantaneous. move up to six (6) feet, one (1) inch/level additional in any direction. counts as full dodge success when used in response to attacks
[Quick Steps] Uncommon, Quest. What one needs most when running through the woods is conviction. Second most is a sturdy pair of shoes. +ten (10) to athletics, +ten percent (10%) to all travel speeds for you and your party
Once Hunter had hugged his mom and made sure the SysPol guards were taking care of Rodney, the only thing he managed to do before falling asleep again was pull off his shoes and coat and then crawl into his sleeping bag. He woke up just before dawn to so many notifications and stayed curled up while he dealt with them, mumbling to himself and rubbing his eyes. ¡°Oh, I get it,¡± he said sleepily, ¡°base skill talents are like, specializations? Every single one of them. Except I don¡¯t want to specialize any more, ugh. Unless I do?¡± He rolled over with a groan, looking for his shoes, and found that his grimy and beat up yellow sneakers had been replaced with a fresh, even more vivid orange pair. He glanced around, unsure, then just shrugged and put them on, finding they fit even better than the old ones. Finally, he pulled himself to his feet with a yawn and saw his mom sitting next to the camp heater, drinking from a travel mug. ¡°Hey, Mom,¡± he said, wandering over to the heater as well, and taking a seat, ¡°tell me about something.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± she said with a smile, ¡°What can I tell you about today?¡± ¡°Umm, tell me why I shouldn¡¯t take what I think is a short range teleport talent even though I really, really want to. You know, for starters.¡± ¡°Have you made a list yet?¡± ¡°No,¡± he mumbled, ¡°I just woke up. I don¡¯t want to see if it¡¯s a bad idea, because it¡¯s cool.¡± ¡°Would you be ignoring useful alternatives simply to get something cool?¡± ¡°Not really?¡± he said, rubbing the back of his head. ¡°Pretty good stuff for someone that¡¯s not me, or someone that¡¯s a different me, though.¡± ¡°Then,¡± she replied, taking a sip of her drink, ¡°you should do what feels best, and if that is taking a fun, interesting talent over another situationally helpful but boring one, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a poor choice.¡± ¡°Ok,¡± he said as he selected Flicker Step, then glanced over at the sleeping form of Rodney. ¡°So, how is he?¡± ¡°He¡¯ll live. He probably wouldn¡¯t have, stranded deep in the Source like that. You did a good thing, bump.¡± ¡°Thanks, Mom. You know, the best good and all. He still doesn¡¯t, umm, look too well though.¡± ¡°Burn teams have a healer with them, in case things have gone incredibly bad. He¡¯ll make it until they arrive, and the guards have said they¡¯ll watch over him. He¡¯ll have two more days in pretty rough shape to go, and then he¡¯ll be good as new.¡± Hunter nodded a little, arms folded across his knees. ¡°I¡¯m going to need more bandages and cookies, I think. I won¡¯t today, though. Pretty sure I can finish this whole thing off.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± his mother tilted her head, as she looked at him carefully. ¡°Well, yeah,¡± he replied, looking down. ¡°I mean, I don¡¯t get any of the skills or essence I earned until I touch the Fount, right? That means I gotta clear it. Plus, Farmer Olafsson sounds like kind of a jerk.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not,¡± she started, paused, then continued with a chuckle, ¡°That is to say, you know he¡¯s not real, and none of the story being told is either.¡± ¡°Right, but, umm,¡± he blushed the tiniest bit, ¡°it¡¯s still neat. Like, the story. I want to see the end of it, especially if the end involves me slapping Olafsson in his jerk face.¡± ¡°That is a perfectly fine reason to go back in, then. That, and the rewards, of course.¡± They spent a little while after that going through a shortened exercise session. First, his mother wanted to check him for any lingering injuries that would prevent fluid movement, so that he didn¡¯t have any surprises in the middle of a fight. It turned out, he couldn¡¯t move his head all the way to the right without a slight twinge, probably from the knock he¡¯d gotten from the brawler scarecrow, but other than that he was alright. Then his mother wanted to see his talent in action, and Hunter did, too. He took a relatively solid, comfortable position, carrying a heavy punch bowl, his feet apart in a slight squat, arms bent toward each other at an angle, and he relaxed. He was centered, he was still, he wasn¡¯t moving at all except for his slow, measured breathing. He felt around in his Infra, through the extradimensional channels that made up the nonphysical part of his being, and he found a new one that felt like move. He breathed in, decided to move over there, and before he could breathe out, he was six feet away, still in the same position. ¡°Oh,¡± he said, blinking as his perspective changed, ¡°oh wow.¡± ¡°How was that?¡± his mother asked, ¡°Was there any disorientation?¡± ¡°It was,¡± he mumbled, ¡°ok?¡± He pulled his focus off his arm and let it float into the air, trying to judge exactly how long it would take to get the vigor back. ¡°I think, perhaps, you should save it for emergencies only, until you¡¯ve had a few days to practice with it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s probably a good idea, yeah.¡±
Hunter went back into the maze and it was much different than his earlier venture. He looked up at the sky and while there were still murdercrows circling, they were in sparse, small flocks of a half dozen or so. When he came to the second turn, he stopped, stunned. ¡°It¡¯s like a, umm,¡± he mumbled to himself, ¡°a volcano.¡± The circle his mother had made was clear, and there was a path she must have made to leave it, but all around it was a sloping pile of bird corpses, growing to at least three feet high at the boundary. The rest of the path, from about fifty feet leading up to the circle, and extending past it until the intersection, was carpeted at least one crow carcass deep as well. Hunter leaned on his staff for a moment and just looked at the mess, the devastation, and the nearly empty sky made a lot more sense. ¡°She,¡± he shook his head and chuckled, ¡°killed like all of them. She coulda got us out easy after the first couple minutes, probably, but she stayed until they were all gone. Dead. Whatever. And these are just the ones that didn¡¯t go into the walls.¡± ¡°mama,¡± Trips said, ¡°bear.¡± ¡°Yup,¡± he murmured, then moved on. After climbing over the remains of the enormous flock that had chased him the day before, Hunter jogged through the corn at a good pace, his Infra telling him the first checkpoint would still be clear for another couple hours, following Trips¡¯ directions but still keeping on guard. He was only attacked a handful of times, by a lone crow or a pair, each time dodging out of the way and letting them go by to flap back up into the dull, brown sky. Once he passed the first rest area, Trips climbed out of his satchel and back onto his shoulder, so it could look out for silent attacks while still telling him where to go. There weren¡¯t many birds in that section either, so Hunter started to increase his pace, seeing just how fast the boost from his new shoes could comfortably make him. Between his new stride from the sneakers, his advances in meditation and athletics, and the straight, flat paths, he wasn¡¯t losing any vigor even as he went faster than his trip home from the city. He slid to a stop in the second clearing with still plenty of time to go before, presumably, the scarecrows regenerated in their fields. ¡°So,¡± he mumbled, stretching his neck gross it popped, ¡°no more fighting crows. Not like we were anyway today, but it¡¯s probably good to confirm?¡± ¡°hold,¡± the helperbot agreed, and nodded from his shoulder. ¡°And there¡¯s probably another trick to it after the next scarecrow. Ugh.¡± ¡°yeah.¡± ¡°Now I¡¯m hesitating, which, ugh,¡± he said, then stopped, head down. ¡°It¡¯s stupid. I¡¯m being stupid. Thing just went really wrong for that group that brought in Rodney. That¡¯s all. I don¡¯t know why they couldn¡¯t get it done, but they couldn¡¯t. They probably deserved worse, honestly, leaving the new guy behind or whatever. But we saw the worst case scenario, so many birds, and we ran in, we survived it. Then we did the right thing, called Mom, got her to save our butts. Ugh, and I didn¡¯t even want her to come. ¡°But I guess, that¡¯s why, you know, we went to this one first. Level one hundred, maybe boosted to one-fifty, two hundred and sixty or so skill rating turns into four hundred, and we¡¯re sitting on six hundred maybe? I dunno for sure. Plenty of clearance, if we¡¯re on top of our game, and yeah I wasn¡¯t for a little bit, but that was yesterday. I screw up somewhere harder, I might get really hurt, but now I know some of the kinds of screwups I¡¯m going to make. If we ever want to push it, go somewhere higher, and things go this bad, we bail. Easy decision. But we can handle this. ¡°Alright, good pep talk. Let¡¯s go.¡±
The maze after the swordsman puppet¡¯s area didn¡¯t seem to get any trickier, but without the large clouds of birds to use for direction, it still took a while. The random, silent birds that would attack still only made one or two passes before flying away, but Hunter figured out a problem when he came to the first dead end and a small flock descended upon him. ¡°They¡¯re not leaving,¡± he whined to Trips, darting in between two of the murdercrows as they tried to edge him into the corner. ¡°And Rodney said,¡± he started, but paused to, as gently as he could, smack one monster bird away from his head as it angled toward him, ¡°the more we kill, the more they come. Do we just gotta let them chase us the whole way?¡± He started to make his way back the way he came, thinking the crows might take off when he was officially out of the dead end, but they stayed even as he reached the intersection. Hunter frowned and then forced himself not to, smoothing out his emotions, letting himself stay in the meditative state, and went through his forms while the bird things assaulted him. This is, he thought, what I told Miracle to do, after all. Hunter ducked under one, stepped to the side to let a second pass, and swept his free hand in an arc to deflect the flight of a third, watching carefully as they¡¯d ascend to a few feet above the top of the corn before diving back at him. He planted one end of his staff on the ground, kept his right hand on it, and worked on minimizing his movements even further. A tip of the rod to one side to knock a crow a foot to his left, a pivot on one heel to narrow his profile to avoid another, a sweep of the other foot to reposition himself to the opposite side of the metal pole as two more birds slammed down to the ground where he was. After a few minutes of practice, dancing in and around the paths of a half dozen monsters attempting to kill him, Hunter made a mistake. He pushed the staff too far forward, intercepting one crow, and momentarily forgot how heavy the seven feet of strange metal actually was. As he raised his other hand up to block a second crow, he stumbled forward slightly and smacked it too hard with his palm, watching with wide eyes as it tumbled through the air and into the corn, where it was promptly ripped into nothingness by the grainy flash of light. ¡°Oh, flip,¡± he muttered, looking up to the sky to see how many replacements were going to swoop in and ruin his day, but none came. ¡°Huh, umm. Want to do an experiment, Trips?¡± ¡°sure.¡± He had kept moving while he talked, edging closer to the wall of corn stalks with every quick, careful moment to avoid an attacking crow, until he was barely a foot from it. At that moment, one came sailing down right toward his face and he dropped into a squat at the last possible second, biting his lip as the roar of thunder went off behind him. Hunter looked around again briefly, not seeing any additional attacks, and then he grinned. ¡°So, if Rodney was right about killing them, then it only counts if we kill them. Walls are fair game.¡± Hunter stepped to the side around another murdercrow and pushed it into the wall, then grabbed his staff with both hands to knock a second one in, and in less than a minute, had dealt with the rest. He stood in the intersection for a moment longer, looking around to see if he¡¯d be attacked again, and then jogged down the next path. He went back to making good time Dad says that¡¯s the most important part of a trip, tricking and parrying most of the formerly terrifying monsters into the still fairly terrifying wall traps, and soon found himself at the entrance to another clearing. Hunter checked his vigor and other stats, finding them all nearly full, and nodded a little. ¡°So,¡± he murmured, ¡°same plan as the last two times, if we can manage it. Otherwise, umm, just remember it¡¯s not so bad. Stuff in here is scary, but that doesn¡¯t mean much.¡± He took a moment longer to center himself, and then stepped into the rest zone, ready for another fight.
Everything went dark as he walked in, briefly at least, before the pinpoint lights on his shoulders and hood lit up and illuminated the area around him. When the corn burst out of the ground to pin him in, the tan sky faded to the same chocolate brown as the dirt, and the formerly immobile stalks of corn surrounding the clearing all rustled as a brisk breeze swept through. Hunter stayed right at the entrance, frowning at the slight change in environment and the lack of a scarecrow. It had been replaced by a small campfire in the middle of the cleared circle, the flames flickering in the breeze. ¡°Different is always bad, Trips,¡± he mumbled, ¡°At least that¡¯s the lesson we¡¯re-¡± Hunter was abruptly cut off as the wind roared louder for a few seconds, the campfire growing and waving before it exploded in a shower of sparks. Hunter shielded his eyes momentarily as Infra put up a nameplate.
[Olafsson¡¯s Flame Puppet]
An adventurer had heard tales of [Farmer Olafsson] and came to the village one day to confront him. ¡°They¡¯re just clothes stuffed with straw,¡± he said, ¡°I¡¯ll burn the lot of them to cinders, and then the old man himself.¡± When he came to the maze, he met this monster, and it wasn¡¯t the farmer who died, slowly, screaming as he was immolated.
Three (3) of four (4) [Olafsson¡¯s Puppets] found. Two (2) of four (4) [Olafsson¡¯s Puppets] defeated.
When he looked again, there was another scarecrow standing in front of him, or at least the shape of one. It was about seven feet tall and almost impossibly narrow like the previous two, but this one was made entirely out of fire oh just no. Hunter readied his staff, shifting his grip so he held it near the end and most of the length was pointed toward the flame monster, just as the scarecrow lifted a hand and made an overhead throwing motion.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. He moved to the side, feet shuffling quickly, even before he saw what was coming his way. It wasn¡¯t much of a fireball, not really, not compared to what he¡¯d seen Ernie toss around on occasion, but it was still a mass of flame roughly the size of his head, and it roared as it passed him, crashing into the corn and fizzling out. Hunter started to approach the monster carefully, moving the way his mother had drilled into him, his weight always centered above the foot still on the ground. That way, when he had to dodge the second and third fireballs, he wasn¡¯t caught out, able to shove off and sidestep each one while still advancing. Trips leapt off his shoulder while he was avoiding the third attack and started to skitter in a wide circle around the scarecrow. ¡°Hey,¡± he said just loud enough to be heard over the roar of the flames, ¡°there¡¯s no cord.¡± The little bot bounced in a shrug as it continued to move, just replying, ¡°fire.¡± ¡°Ok,¡± he nodded, abruptly stopping in his tracks as the flame monster raised both hands and a ring of fire erupted from its feet, rapidly expanding in every direction. Emergency? he thought. Move. As the rippling barrier of flame, half his height, shot toward him he Flicker Stepped and found himself on the other side of it, Rising Tides already coaxing him to swing his staff up. At the last instant, he cast a Water Burst and felt the affinity rush down the metal rod, the wave of water increasing in intensity before it erupted from the other end, right as the pole crashed into the side of the scarecrow. There was an eruption of steam and Hunter immediately backpedalled, checking briefly over his shoulder to make sure the ring was gone. When the cloud dissipated, the scarecrow was nowhere to be seen, but the wind had returned and the campfire looked unstable again. ¡°Trips!¡± he called out, ¡°Back!¡± The robot nodded and stopped approaching the fire from the other side, reversing quickly just as it exploded again, and this time Hunter forced himself to watch, just squinting his eyes. In the brief, bright flash, the scarecrow rematerialized directly above the small pile of logs, and then floated quickly over to its right. Hunter followed, already prepping another Water Burst, but had to skid to a stop as the fiery monster tossed a pair of fireballs his way in quick succession. The first missed because it seemed like the scarecrow was leading his throw, but the second was straight at where he¡¯d stopped, feet not planted yet, not at all ready to avoid the rapidly approaching bolt. Hunter did the only stupid thing he could think of stupid, and swung his staff, discharging his spell at the moment the metal hit the oncoming flame. There was another burst of obscuring steam, he found his balance, and then immediately rolled to the side out of the way of a third fireball that came through the mist. ¡°Ok,¡± he muttered, back on his feet, spending more affinity to charge his staff again, ¡°we¡¯ve got this, I think.¡± He was close enough to the fiery scarecrow that he could feel the heat, so close the ventilators in his armor turned on automatically, so close it felt like the fine hairs on the backs of his hands were being singed off. He was so close that the monster stopped throwing its attacks, and started swinging its long, whip-like arms at him, each slash herding him away from the middle of the clearing, away from the campfire where it would respawn. ¡°okay,¡± Trips said, the screen flashing briefly, and Hunter nodded. He ducked under another swipe from the fiery claws and twisted, letting his momentum send the channeling rod into the side of the puppet without releasing his Water Burst. There wasn¡¯t any impact, but he¡¯d been prepared for that, so when the staff went right through the monster and it burst into a plume of smoke, he let the heavy pole carry him to the side. By the time he was steady, the fire in the middle was already wavering again, but his helperbot was right there and jamming its clamp deep into the logs. He released the spell, felt it travel out of him and through Trips, and then the clearing went completely dark except for his armor lights as the fire went out abruptly in another sizzling burst. Trips ambled over a moment later, steaming but looking otherwise unharmed, and flopped onto the ground next to him. Hunter thought that was a very good idea, and dropped down to a seated position as well, chuckling. ¡°See, we had it,¡± he murmured, looking through his satchel for his second focus and shaking his head as he dismissed a handful of notifications.
You have taken five (5) damage from environmental factors! x7 (35 total) You have taken six (6) damage from environmental factors! x6 (71 total) You have taken seven (7) damage from environmental factors! x4 (99 total)
After a long rest and a slightly shorter conversation with his mother, Hunter got up and left the clearing, walking out from the dark and into the dull, beige light again. He walked along the dirt path, changing his grip on the staff nervously from time to time, keeping an eye out for whatever trick the Source was going to throw his way next. ¡°Mom says it¡¯s an overreaction,¡± he mumbled, ¡°to drop staff fighting for bow and arrow. I mean, she¡¯s right and all, but yikes. We need something to keep our distance. It¡¯ll probably screw up my style, too. She doesn¡¯t know anyone that¡¯s dropped one of their skills after they¡¯ve already gotten it this far. And, get this, she said when I was a kid I had a toy bow and arrow, and I broke two windows and almost impaled my foot. I seriously don¡¯t remember any of that, but it kind of sounds like me? We¡¯ll just need to come up with a new plan.¡± He continued to travel the path, a frown growing on his face and getting deeper by the minute. The dark, dirt road simply kept going straight, no twists or turns or intersections, and that started to bother him. He stopped the moment he saw an irregular shape in the middle of the dirt, squinting to get a closer look, then remembered all his supplies. Hunter rummaged in his satchel and found the oldtech binoculars he¡¯d bought, and looked again. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just a,¡± he trailed off, then approached the apparently dead murdercrow slowly. He poked it with his stick, but it didn¡¯t move or react. ¡°Actually, it¡¯s fake? Or stuck to the ground? I dunno, Trips, I¡¯m not a fan of this place.¡± He moved on, going a little faster down the straight pathway, stepping over or around the occasional dead bird, then pairs of them, and eventually clumps of five or six. He jabbed at most of them with his staff, and none of them were the same soft, jiggly consistency as the actual crows he¡¯d killed. They were hard and immobile and they felt pretty much the same as the dirt under his feet, more of a decoration, an approximation, than something real. After another mile or so, the carcasses growing in number until it looked like his mom had been there, he came to a mound of them and on the other side, a clearing with a house visible in the middle. ¡°Oh, we made it?¡± he said as he scratched his head under the hood. ¡°Guess we missed a scarecrow somewhere, huh. I am not doubling back to look for it, though. Let¡¯s go slap an old man and get out of here.¡± ¡°yeah,¡± Trips said from his shoulder. He climbed over the pile carefully and walked into the clearing, looking around. It was about a quarter acre, he guessed, and it was basically, boringly, just someone¡¯s yard. There was short, dead grass covering the ground, the same color as the sky and the corn surrounding it, that led all the way to the modestly sized cabin at the back of the area. Hunter saw a rusting pile of metal off to the left that looked like it used to be a cross between a train car and a pickup truck, and over to the right there was a huge pile of hay bales covered with a striped tarp. He shrugged and started across the lawn toward the house, not realizing his mistake until about halfway there. Hunter felt a rumbling, deep and loud, in his guts and his bones, and he whipped his head from side to side to find the origin. First he looked toward the remains of the truck coulda been an engine, but nothing was happening there, so he turned back to the hay pile. It was slowly rising, the bales rising and forming into a vague person shape, if that person was twenty feet tall and almost that wide oh no, and the striped tarp was wrapping around the top to make a shirt. A second covering must have been in the pile somewhere, because whatever it was slithered around the legs to make dark pants as well. He stumbled back, blinking, as the giant scarecrow formed and then stomped over to the house, reaching behind it to pull out we are so what looked like a half plow attached to a tree trunk, but in its huge hand looked the size of a hatchet. It bent over again so in trouble and grabbed a giant gun, basically just four cannon barrels stuck together and welded to a massive shotgun stock, then the huge monster turned to face him. The misshapen hay bale that made up its head split open to reveal a mass of those same sharp, black feathers, and when it roared, it felt like the ground, the sky, everything shook.
[Olafsson¡¯s Giant Troll Puppet]
[Farmer Olafsson] had one regret in his long, hateful life, and it was that none of his numerous enemies ever made it to the center of his deadly corn maze. If they had, they would have found this monster, his life¡¯s work, his masterpiece.
Four (4) of four (4) [Olafsson¡¯s Puppets] found. Three (3) of four (4) [Olafsson¡¯s Puppets] defeated.
Hunter stayed crouched behind the wreck of the vehicle, counting the booms in his head. One, two, three, flip where¡¯s four? With each shot from the scarecrow¡¯s huge gun, he could hear metal tearing where the pellets slammed into his rapidly dissolving cover. He¡¯d been hiding there since the troll had started firing constantly, each shot tearing a hole at least six feet wide out of the dead lawn, just hoping to come up with some kind of plan before the truck was completely torn apart. ¡°Trips, any-¡± he was interrupted by the fourth barrel going off, much closer than before, and he looked up to see the top part of the hulk of metal teetering before crashing down toward him. He got out of the way in a hurry with a quick Flicker Step, leaned forward, and then took off running while he listened to the monster reload. There was a snap as it opened the gun, and Hunter ran, then four ominous clicks as it slowly reloaded each of its huge barrels, and Hunter turned with nowhere to go, and then there was a louder crunch as it readied the shotgun again, and Hunter was stranded in open space. ¡°Ideas?¡± he finished, weakly. He stared up at the giant as it swung the massive gun toward him with one hand, really wishing time would slow down just a little, for no reason other than the universe deciding to be helpful for once, to give him time to think. When he could see down the barrels of the gun, he moved suddenly, tossing his staff in one direction and leaping the opposite way right as the monster fired. He didn¡¯t look back to see how much the blast missed him by, he was too focused on counting as he ran at an angle toward the troll. When the second shot was about to go off he faked a move to the outside and moved instead to his right, twisting and running directly at the giant puppet. I am, he thought briefly, as he sprinted between the monster¡¯s legs and skidded to a stop behind it, incredibly fast. He grabbed Trips and tossed it into the air onto the troll¡¯s back before stepping in and pressing his fingers to the back of its right leg, knocking a chunk of hay and tarp away with a Water Burst. Before he had a chance to follow up, though, there was a loud, distracting thump as the puppet thing tossed its gun away, and then an even louder, deafening one as it took its axe in both hands and slammed it into the ground. Hunter blinked, suddenly aware he was lying on his back, as the behemoth turned around in a slow, lumbering shuffle and lifted the makeshift weapon again. He rolled to the side to avoid the next attack, and was starting to get to his feet when the plow dropped right next to him, the dead grass rippled outward, and he fell again, this time onto his face. He Flicker Stepped while still prone, appearing between the legs of the giant, and then grabbed two handfuls of tarp and pulled himself up just before the axe hit the ground a third time. He slowly climbed up the inside and then back of the leg as the troll started to stomp around and roar even louder, holding on for dear life as it tried to shake him off, and soon met up with Trips. The little helperbot was clinging onto the middle of the monster¡¯s back with two clamps and repeatedly jabbing its third into an increasingly larger hole in the hay, and it greeted him with a quick, ¡°help.¡± Hunter jammed his hand into the gap and started yanking out handfuls of stuffing, while the increasingly angry monster threw down its axe and started stomping over to the house. Once he could fit his whole arm inside the bulk of the thing¡¯s torso, he clawed around inside until he found something jagged and hard, but he couldn¡¯t get his fingers around it to rip it out. Whatever it was, it enraged the puppet even further, and it started trying to reach back to grab at him, but its arms couldn¡¯t quite make it behind its back. Even though it missed by a fair margin on its own, Hunter felt Rising Tides activate in response, and he laughed a little as he cast a Water Burst and slammed his palm into the mass, eliciting another even louder roar. The scarecrow started to turn again when it reached the house, each step shaking Hunter and Trips from side to side as they held on, and he burned the rest of his affinity as fast as he could, feeling the force of a crashing wave travelling down his arm over and over as he channeled it deep into the soggy hay. Just before the monster tried to slam him into the wall with its entire bulk, as he was going lightheaded from dumping so much of his magical essence at once, right before he knew he¡¯d have to drop to the ground and try another idea, he felt whatever he was touching shatter. The troll¡¯s chest expanded suddenly, he felt a stinging, sharp pain in his fingers please still be attached, and then the giant wobbled forward and back for a long, worrying moment before it crashed face first to the ground and burst at the seams, hay and dust going everywhere. He curled up on the lumpy mass, clutching his hand to his chest and looking for his spare bandages, unable to stop shaking, for a very long time. As he wrapped his hand up whew five by five, he looked over at his companion and mumbled, ¡°I really can¡¯t tell if we¡¯re super good at this, or very, extraordinarily bad.¡±
Hunter had been in a lot of grumpy farmers¡¯ houses in his life. As fake, as weird, as off-putting as the rest of the Source had been, the end was surprisingly realistic. The floorboards creaked, there were ancient newspapers stacked on the floor everywhere, every inch of the wall was covered in weird photos or knick-knacks, and the whole thing smelled like dust and old people. He and Trips crept quietly through the mess at first, but soon realized the place was empty of anything going to jump out at attack them. When they found the small bathroom near the back of the house, the smell got a lot worse and a notification popped up.
[Farmer Olafsson - Deceased]
The poison the villagers fed him at the summer festival was a success, and the tyrant of the town will no longer ruin their reputation as fine, upstanding citizens of the kingdom. The crows will eat most of Olafsson¡¯s corn, but now that the route is clear, the oppressed people can loot his ill-gotten gains to buy food. Take a souvenir from the farmer¡¯s extensive trophy room for your troubles.
¡°Guess we don¡¯t get to slap him,¡± he muttered, nudging the small, shrunken corpse with the toe of his sneaker. ¡°Oh well.¡± They found the ¡°trophy room,¡± which was more of an enclosed back porch with even more junk hung on every wall, and Hunter took a look around. There were a lot of cobbled-together armor and weapons on one side of the room, none of which he thought would work for him, and the opposite end seemed to be filled with stacks upon stacks of crafting materials and essence crystals not interested. Hanging right in the middle of the room, however, amidst a collection of the nicer-looking equipment, was a sheathed sword that looked interesting. He took it down off the wall and checked the blade, finding the slightly curved two and a half foot length polished to a mirror sheen from the basket handle to the pointed tip. It wasn¡¯t an exact match, but it reminded him, more than anything, of Ellie¡¯s mother¡¯s sword, the one she was never allowed to practice with.
[Royal Justicar''s Sabre] Rare. This is a sword forged by a master, gifted by a king, and wielded by the law. doubles (x2) the efficacy of all sword-related talents
Would you like to [claim] this as your souvenir? Touch the Fount to confirm.
¡°So,¡± he said, tucking the sheath into the strap of his satchel, as he watched a wide, shallow bowl rise up from the floor on a narrow pedestal, ¡°Mom did say to bring a gift.¡± He reached out and pressed his fingers to the edge of the Fount and was bombarded with Infra screens.
You have completed [The World¡¯s Largest Corn Maze]! Calculating results¡­ complete. The difficulty (lv. 100++) has been compared to your current level (1), and you have been rewarded essence for an extraordinary Source feat. WARNING: your raw essence gain has been artificially restricted by [Debt-Bonder X-09], an Infratech device. WARNING: the amount of raw essence awarded is too large to convert to crystallized essence. Your essence reward will be converted into useful goods by Infra. You have been credited one (1) near unique trinket, and one (1) random, rare item compatible with your [mod/class/talents]. You have reward items available to [claim]! Follow the link to receive them. You have raised Infusion to one hundred (100). You have one (1) talent available from maxing your infusion skill. You have raised Evocation to one hundred (100). You have one (1) talent available from maxing your evocation skill. You have advanced your [Water Affinity] base skill to [Wave Affinity]! You have raised each stat by one (1). Resilience now at 100/117. Affinity now at 4/24. Vigor now at 89/114. You have one (1) talent available from maxing a base skill. Your Affinity skill max rank has been raised to two hundred (200). You have earned two (2) achievements! Would you like to be returned to the beginning of the Source now? Y/N
Hunter glanced around, made sure all his things were in order, and nodded as he thought a quick yes, then found himself back in the initial clearing, where his mother was seated and eating something from the lunchbox. ¡°Hello there, bump,¡± she said, setting her sandwich down. She was about to speak further when she noticed the look on his face, then stopped herself and instead stood up with her arms open. He ran over, face hot, and all but tackled her in a hug as he felt the adrenaline from the last few hours finally leave his body, and he cried quietly against her chest.
¡°How do people do that?¡± he asked, after a long while of sitting quietly with his mother. ¡°Umm, repeatedly and on purpose? It was awful.¡± She took a while to respond, sitting on the sleeping bag with him, still inside the entrance area of the Source. ¡°There are schools of thought,¡± she murmured. ¡°It¡¯s important to remember that even as dangerous and scary as it seemed, it was all constructed by an alien computer. Infra doesn¡¯t have a fine grasp on human psychology, it has more of a very wide angle view of it, and you can tell when you look at various Sources. There¡¯s a fair chance that this maze was built to be a horrifying, gruelling gauntlet where you fight animated, murderous simulacra until the constant, vague uneasiness from the environment causes you to make and then deal with mistakes you wouldn¡¯t have ordinarily. There¡¯s an equal chance that Infra found the terms ¡®corn maze¡¯ and ¡®scarecrow,¡¯ in its scan of the lexicon, and then threw this all together at random.¡± ¡°So,¡± Hunter said, staring at the ground, ¡°it might be meant to be the worst experience ever in order to be the, umm, kind of training you can¡¯t get elsewhere? But it also might just be an accident.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± she nodded. ¡°The first type of Source-crawler, the most prominent, we can call the enthusiast. Enthusiasts are going to come to this place, rightly decide that it isn¡¯t any fun at all, in fact it¡¯s a bit of a nightmare for its level, and then leave. The second kind are completionists. They¡¯ll visit this place eventually, but once they talk to the enthusiasts, they¡¯ll decide to wait until they¡¯re my level or higher. There¡¯s no psychological stress to be had when you can shrug off whatever the Source throws your way, for the most part. ¡°Lastly, there¡¯s the survivalists. They¡¯ll have a conversation with the enthusiasts, then another with the completionists, and then they might decide this is exactly the place for them. They might come here at or around the right level and then give it their best try. This may be only peak mortal, but it seems like it¡¯s an experience, and it¡¯s exactly the kind of experience a survivalist would revel in. They¡¯ll come, and they¡¯ll die, or they¡¯ll run away, or they¡¯ll complete it like you did, bump. And then, of course, they¡¯ll be done with it.¡± ¡°Basically, umm,¡± he murmured, ¡°to answer my question, no one comes here repeatedly and on purpose. Because it¡¯s awful. And it¡¯s ok that I thought it was awful.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± she said, and lightly ruffled his hair. ¡°There are some unique and almost beautiful experiences to be had in Sources and it¡¯s honestly just bad luck that you began with this one. If I had known exactly what it was like, I would have suggested something different. Let¡¯s just sit here a while longer, though, until you feel better about it.¡± 14: New Places, Old Problems His mother went east with the burn team, taking Rodney back to Omaha. It was her hometown, and she hadn¡¯t been anywhere near there since it had been cratered into oblivion, so if there was actually something left to see, she wanted a look. Hunter, after a quick jog west to the highway, headed north. The vague travel itinerary he¡¯d made for himself said there was a friendly redoubt about a day¡¯s worth of travel in that direction, and the area on the way should be relatively safe. With a little over half his supplies gone, and his mom taking the channeling rod home for him, he was travelling pretty light. In a way, he missed the giant, unwieldy weight of the metal staff, but it had really started to get cumbersome when he needed more than one hand. His new ring wasn¡¯t quite as effective, but it was just as useful and less annoying to deal with.
[Affinity Twist] Rare. Jewellers and shamans from all over have long known how to accentuate one¡¯s own magic. This is a well-crafted example. +ten percent (10%) efficacy to all touch attacks, +trivial damage to all touch attacks
Hunter frowned as he looked at it on his right middle finger, a huge amber stone on a braided metal band, muttering, ¡°Just wish it wasn¡¯t so gaudy.¡± Then he looked over at the sparkly bracelet Trips was wearing as a hat, and decided it could have been worse.
[Emergency Band] Near Unique. Only use in specific emergencies. (active) (single use) [effects hidden]
¡°We came out of there pretty good, huh,¡± he said to the bot. ¡°sure,¡± Trips said in response, pulling weeds from the side of the road as they walked. ¡°It could have been worse, especially with the fire guy,¡± Hunter mumbled. ¡°Don¡¯t really know, umm, how we¡¯re supposed to dodge the air being hot.¡± ¡°yeah,¡± it replied, tossing a particularly large weed onto the broken highway surface. ¡°I almost wish we could have gotten something to help from the water talents, but like,¡± he paused, rubbing the back of his head, ¡°then we¡¯d probably find something that filled everything with electricity, and we¡¯d be double screwed. I mean, if stupid elements work like that. I can¡¯t really tell if they do.¡± He frowned as they continued to walk, and looked at what he¡¯d already picked so far, when he didn¡¯t get the option of elemental resistances.
[Second Wave] Unlocked (Wave Affinity). You know if the first pass doesn¡¯t work, the next will only hit harder. gain [Wave Charge] from each missed touch attack, charge stack max equal to evocation rank/100, each charge +fifty percent (50%) damage to next touch attack
[Fluidity of Form] Unlocked (Water Affinity). You are the waterfall, the river, the lake, and you can move like all of them. +ten percent (10%) to selected skill roll [Dodge] for each infusion spell active (synergy)
¡°So like,¡± he mumbled, dragging his feet as he looked down, ¡°magic doesn¡¯t feel right. Does that make sense?¡± ¡°nope,¡± Trips replied, walking briefly on two limbs as it waggled the third. ¡°sure.¡± ¡°Ernie says,¡± Hunter started, then paused, ¡°ah shoot, what did Ernie say? Let me pull up the log again.¡±
You have entered the [Training Room for Bump] messaging group. You are currently reading [one (1) week] old messages.
[Ernie]: The affinity isn¡¯t inside you, kid, but it is you. I don¡¯t know if that makes any sense, but it¡¯s the best way to put it. [Hunter]: it doesn¡¯t always want to move the way i want tho. like, we tried to practice ignoring it but that just makes it worse [Ernie]: Have you tried moving exactly the way it does, though? I don¡¯t really run the kind of boost spells you do, but I do have a few of my own. [Ernie]: One makes things feel hotter, the longer it runs without me casting a spell. It feels good, right, correct, that¡¯s the word. It feels correct when I start blasting things, and that¡¯s the point. I wouldn¡¯t have the spell up if I didn¡¯t want to blast something. [Ernie]: Maybe it would help if you tell me exactly what the issue is. We can work through it, kid. [Hunter]: alright so, huh. [Flickering Form] wants me to move, all the time. that¡¯s what it feels like. not a lot, just a tiny bit. i¡¯m not used to it, i fight like exercises, i keep still [Hunter]: but Wisp, i guess, flickers and bobs. i¡¯m trying to do that now sometimes, to get the full benefit of the spell, cuz like, it¡¯s really good [Hunter]: and [Rising Tides] is just weird. it¡¯s a loud noise in my head, but not in my head. and it¡¯s not a noise. flip. lemme try again [Hunter]: it wants me to be the waves. it wants me to sway away and then back in. it doesn¡¯t always want me to go the same direction as the other spell [Hunter]: or maybe it does, i dunno. you¡¯re gonna tell me to practice, to do everything they both want, and then i¡¯m gonna be like wow i¡¯m such a good magic tai chi fighter [Ernie]: If I did tell you that, would it sound like good advice? It sounds like it on my end, but that¡¯s just me. [Ernie]: This is what I think, honestly. You¡¯ve got a pretty good idea of what to do when someone¡¯s punching at you. That puts you head and shoulders above a whole lot of poor fools twenty years ago. But remember, you got rattled when you started offloading, and this is more of the same. The affinity is you. The way it wants to move is the way that your big, multidimensional, time-travelling brain wants to move, after it¡¯s assessed the situation. Practice, really lean into it. You¡¯ll be fine, kid.
¡°Still doesn¡¯t feel right, though,¡± Hunter grumbled, kicking at a rock. ¡°But Ernie says, I guess, that it¡¯s a me problem and not a magic problem. Figures.¡± He spent a while looking at spells to pick, but only half-heartedly, as they walked on. He was on the fence about what to select, and without a library, his uncle¡¯s notes, or even a decent filter to use, there were way too many options. ¡°Doesn¡¯t even matter, right now,¡± he shook his head. ¡°Should I double up on wave? Should I look for something that leads to drain? Who cares, if I can¡¯t manage the spells I have. Can¡¯t even pick a talent to cap off all that work getting good at magic.¡±
You have one (1) talent available from advancing your affinity base skill. Please pick from the following pool of affinity talents.
[Burster Adept] Your affinity feels like a caged animal, and when you let it out of the cage, it roars. +trivial damage to all evocation spells, +damage, cumulative, to each evocation spell cast in consecutive rounds
[Cycler Adept] Your affinity races, like blood pumping through your veins, fast and powerful. +thirty percent (30%) to efficacy of infusion spells when only infusion spells are active
[Water-cooled] Unlocked (Water Affinity). You are a fountain, a geyser, an oasis of spells, to the detriment of anything else. halve (x0.5) the cost of water-related spells, double (x2) the cost of all others
¡°That¡¯s the first set of base talents that like, don¡¯t work for me?¡± he mumbled, glancing over at the robot. ¡°Am I just being picky?¡± ¡°don¡¯t,¡± Trips said as it waggled a clamp again, ¡°know.¡± ¡°I dunno,¡± Hunter sighed, ¡°maybe they¡¯ll reset in a week or something. Or they¡¯ll make sense later, like that achievement.¡±
[Diver] You have successfully completed one (1) Source. (single) +essence gain
[Four-fold Path II] You have advanced four (4) base skills, at the [Beginner] division. extra [Class] options will be available at lvs. 26/51/76, +one (1) [Class Talent] at lv. 26
¡°It feels like, ugh,¡± he frowned and paused. ¡°It feels like, umm, I¡¯m hitting a wall. I¡¯m probably wrong, it¡¯ll get better when we start maxing the two hundreds, I guess? Whatever, not everything we do is going to make us immediately and vastly better.¡±
Winner, when he thought he reached it, looked like a town that had seen some not so great things. At first it seemed, at least to Hunter, that there wasn¡¯t going to be a redoubt there at all, in defiance of his admittedly pretty sloppy research. The closer he got, however, he started to see that there just wasn¡¯t much of a boundary in the old days between Winner and not-Winner. As he walked up the highway toward where his notes had said it would be, he occasionally saw a flattened or similarly demolished building, but nothing really started to feel like a town. He¡¯d passed a few places like that, where he¡¯d wait for the outskirts to end and they never did, just a couple miles of sparse foundations for buildings long gone. He wouldn¡¯t even realize he¡¯d passed the center because there really wasn¡¯t a center of town, it was more of a middle between loosely defined ends. On the opposite spectrum, Willard was tightly packed, especially when he was a kid, with as many buildings constructed within the walls as possible to fit as many refugees as possible, and Kansas City was a completely different story. If he¡¯d walked through the ruins of K.C., the only reason he wouldn¡¯t be able to find the center would be because so much was built there that it all seemed like the middle. After a turn in the road, he saw the remains of a sign that probably had once said ¡°Welcome to Winner,¡± and down the street he spied what might have been a gate across the highway. It was confusing, though, because there was still maybe only one ruined building every couple of streets, and it didn¡¯t look like the gate was connected to much of anything. He shrugged and walked on, disappearing his wizard stick and nudging Trips to let the bot know to climb up. Once he got close enough fifty, a hundred yards easy shot, he held up his hands and shouted. ¡°Hiya, Winner! Looking for a place to stay for the night!¡± He waited, head tilted, and peered at the gate. It was big, stretching across the two lane highway, some kind of latticed metal with spikes at the top, twenty feet off the ground, and big, heavy wheels at the bottom. On either side there was an even taller gray post, rough looking and irregular granite maybe, and Hunter couldn¡¯t see how the gate was attached since it just looked like the columns were standing in front of it. All he could see past the posts was more of the little town, buildings knocked over but certainly not recently and huge empty spaces for a few hundred yards, until way out to the north and south there were another set of columns. ¡°Huh,¡± he muttered, tapping a foot. ¡°I guess we could just go around? But it doesn¡¯t look like there¡¯s much here.¡± He stood around for a while hours, days and then yelled again, ¡°Winner! I need a shower!¡± A few moments later, the gate rolled to the left a few feet, leaving a gap on one side. Hunter wandered over and peeked through the three foot wide opening and blinked. Beyond the gate wasn¡¯t the rundown pile of former buildings like a lot of the towns he passed, it was actually wow is that a hovercar pretty nice. There was a kid about his age blocking the way, holding some kind of spear with a machete on the top. ¡°Hi,¡± he said, offering a hand. ¡°Name¡¯s Hunter, this is Trips. There a place to stay around here?¡± The kid girl maybe had a baseball cap pulled down low on their head, was wearing gray coveralls, and huh was barefoot. They tapped the spear thing on the ground once, way louder than it should have been, and hollered back in a high-pitched voice girl probably. ¡°Just a tourist! Toldja it wasn¡¯t anything important!¡± ¡°Hey,¡± Hunter mumbled, ¡°well, no I guess that¡¯s accurate. Still, oof.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Kels,¡± the kid ninety percent sure said, leaning on the spear halberd? no. ¡°This is Winner, but you knew that, comin¡¯ in the back gate and all. You¡¯re about two months too late for the wildland summer, and two months too early for the migration. So, uh, whatcha doing here?¡± ¡°I have questions about both of those things,¡± he replied. ¡°But you went first, so umm, passing through I guess? Headed to Rapid City.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t look like a Pol,¡± Kels said, leaning back and probably unconsciously tilting the spear across their body. ¡°Well, you got a sword, so that¡¯s one point. But no bad attitude, no uniform, and no offense? But I never seen a Pol fidget like that.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah,¡± he chuckled, hand sliding away from the back of his neck. ¡°I have a friend who¡¯s one. Maybe, still. I dunno. Said to come visit, so I¡¯m visiting.¡± ¡°Pols with friends, you say,¡± Kels frowned at him exaggerating I think, ¡°Sounds fishy. Whatever, I¡¯ve been on back gate for weeks, and if I screw up they¡¯ll bump me to something else.¡± They stepped back and flourished the spear, letting him through the narrow entrance. ¡°Welcome to Winner, etcetera tada.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± Hunter murmured, getting a good look at the town. He stepped back and peeked through the holes in the metal gate, then again through the opening. ¡°How?¡± ¡°Never seen an illusion before? Defense through obfuscation?¡± ¡°I mean,¡± he mumbled, taking one last look back and forth, ¡°I guess I wouldn¡¯t know if I had.¡±
¡°So over there,¡± Kels pointed with their spear, ¡°is where the whole mess started. Got themselves a Slide, whinin¡¯ and fussin¡¯, saying ¡®ours is busted, it¡¯s just a wall.¡¯ Thing opens, it¡¯s not a wall, it¡¯s a ball.¡± They were leading Hunter down the highway, further into the redoubt, in between piles and piles of huge, granite spheres. The entire town was built out of them, each exactly the same twenty-four feet across, each the same grainy gray texture. There were spheres that had been cut in half or buried and made into domes occasionally, but for the most part they were stacked into elaborate pyramid configurations three or four levels high. ¡°There¡¯s gotta be, like, thousands,¡± Hunter muttered. ¡°At least, yeah,¡± they nodded. ¡°Thing spit those out pretty much constantly until they figured out how to close it. Every hour or so of every day, some big stone ball comes rollin¡¯ out in a random direction and flattens everything in its way for a half mile.¡± ¡°And,¡± he looked around, eyebrows scrunched, ¡°that¡¯s it? That¡¯s a weird Slide.¡± ¡°They¡¯re all weird, man,¡± Kels said, laughing. ¡°Elves comin¡¯ out of a forest, lasers that smell funny when they vape you, millions of bees pourin¡¯ out, all weird. Anyway, this one got classed as some kinda hegemonizing swarm when they cracked one open and it¡¯s full of goop.¡± ¡°Gross!¡± Hunter laughed. ¡°They were eggs?¡± ¡°Yeah, but eggs of what, who knows. Who cares. They¡¯re big, they don¡¯t break very easy unless you know the trick, and they knocked down all the houses, so now we got new houses. Anyway, that¡¯s all the tour you¡¯re gettin¡¯. Couple folks keep this one fixed up real nice for tourists, said you could stay free since it¡¯s the offseason. Stay cool.¡± Kels gestured at a small pile of four spheres in a pyramid as they spoke, and then started to walk off. ¡°But, umm,¡± Hunter watched them go, then shouted, ¡°What about the illusion wall? The hovercars? The wild summer and the migration? That all sounds cool!¡± ¡°Go find yourself someone chatty, man! I¡¯m goin¡¯ back to the gate!¡± ¡°Oh,¡± he frowned, and after a moment mumbled, ¡°yeah I guess it¡¯s not their job.¡± He stood around for a few minutes, feeling out of place, waving half-heartedly at the occasional passerby, then pushed the door on the nearest sphere open and stepped into the house. Trips hopped down to immediately do some straightening up, while he looked around the oddly-shaped space. The bottom level was split into sections, one made out of two of the spheres joined together, with a third almost separate in the back. When he walked in, the larger front area had lit up with a band of sky blue that stretched along the upper curve, and he figured there was a fan somewhere hidden because the air was fresh and nice, even without real windows. He set his bags down next to the door and pulled off his armored coat and shoes to hang them on the rack, then flopped onto the couch next to the entryway. There was a small kitchen-looking area on the other side of the room with appliances he¡¯d never seen before, a mix of old- and infratech, a ladder leading to the upper sphere, and not a lot else. ¡°It¡¯s alright, I guess,¡± he murmured, stretching out.
¡°This is, by far, the best place I¡¯ve ever stayed,¡± Hunter said to Trips, sometime later, while he stretched out in a giant, steaming stone bathtub. ¡°This thing doesn¡¯t get cold! How does it do that? I don¡¯t care, I¡¯m never getting out.¡± After a little resting, he found the upstairs upladder? was a bedroom with a bed he didn¡¯t dare get in while he was still grimy from travel, and the back room was the most amazing bathroom that ever existed, as far as he was concerned. ¡°So, stuff to do while we¡¯re here,¡± he murmured, a wet washcloth over his eyes, ¡°amounts to just about nothing. That¡¯s cool, I guess. I mean, I wasn¡¯t hoping to stop in places and have adventures. ¡®Oh, random child, our town clock has just gone missing, can you help,¡¯ and so on. It¡¯d be fun, but like, not gonna worry about it.¡± ¡°sure,¡± Trips replied, while every so often nudging the dirty clothes farther away from itself.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Hunter relaxed for a while longer, and then thought, half to himself and half to Infra, Do you think, umm. Hmm. Wisp, do you have any input on my magic problem?
Connecting¡­ complete You seem to have QUESTIONS. I can dispense ADVICE. We will proceed in CONVERSATION. This is novel, and I approve. [Hunter]: cool. wait, novel? no one ever talks to you? The PATRON system is transactional. It is designed thusly. I have aid, I require aid. Those are exchanged. If I have no aid to exchange, then there is no transaction. A man is in the woods. He is distraught. He wants a way out. I provide it. I want the man to light a torch on his way out. He provides that. All is well. A man is in his house. He is distraught. His pet is sick. His domestic partner has left. His food has burned. His neurochemicals are disordered. He wants peace. I cannot provide it. [Hunter]: so like, umm. hey Wisp, there¡¯s a dog stuck in a well, or hey Wisp, i¡¯m trapped in a mausoleum are fine. you¡¯ll be able to help. but, you know, hey Wisp, i¡¯m having a bad day, that¡¯s different? I am seeking to change that. We are all, individually and collectively, seeking a new paradigm, every moment of every day. You are NOT seeking a way out of the woods. You are seeking a better YOU to leave the woods. That is a distinction. It is a first step. I am WISP. I am the LIGHT you follow out of the WOODS. Perhaps someday, I will be the light you follow out of the dark, out of the sickness, out of the negative. So, as a first step. What troubles you? [Hunter]: alright so, magic. affinity, channeling. i cast your spells, i feel fine. i cast water spells, i feel fine. i do both and i feel weird. torn Yes. I see this. Your affinity is young, untamed. It wants to be led. It wants a direction. This is NORMAL. You have pushed it hard, you have run it in any direction, as long as that direction is fast. It thinks it is specialized. It thinks it does one thing, and it becomes confused when it does two, and you are worried what will happen when it does three or four. This is NORMAL. I have seen this before. There are SOLUTIONS. [Hunter]: really? what do you want me to do? Nothing. I will solve it. We have talked. Your pet is sick. I know of a medicine. I will tell you. [Hunter]: thanks! Also, I can see the future. Someone¡¯s food will burn on the stove, someone¡¯s stove will burn down the town, someone¡¯s town will burn in the woods. This is unacceptable. You can CARRY buckets. I will make it so you can carry more. We will speak later.
¡°Wait, what?¡± Hunter said out loud, no longer in the chat window with Wisp. ¡°The future?¡±
You have one (1) talent available from advancing your affinity base skill. You have picked the following talent.
[Theurgy] Unlocked (Theurgist only). You have mastered how magic can be braided from different sources into one strong cord. +ten percent (10%) efficacy, additive, to patron spells while affinity spells are active, +ten percent (10%) efficacy, additive, to affinity spells while patron spells are active
[Light over the Waves] Unlocked (Granted by Wisp). There is a light to follow and there is water to travel. You have a greater understanding of how they are the same. +ten percent (10%) efficacy, additive, to patron spells while affinity spells are active
You have learned one (1) spell!
[One More Step] It is difficult to keep moving, to carry buckets, to wander the woods. Wisp wants you to be an example of how people can keep going, when they think they can¡¯t. (guidance) (toggle) (aura) five (5) affinity reserved. indefinite duration. six (6) yard range, six (6) inch/level additional. +fifty percent (50%) to bonus resource recovery for you and all allies
Hunter immediately forgot about Wisp telling the future put a pin in that and pulled up his calculator to do some quick math. He had to back up a few times, frowning, but after a while he was pretty sure he had the numbers right. ¡°Almost twenty-seven affinity an hour, wow,¡± he mumbled, ¡°and almost sixty-seven vigor? That¡¯s, umm, a lot. What can I run with that? Wait. What am I going to need all that for?¡±
In the morning, Hunter couldn¡¯t find anyone who felt like telling him about all the secrets and mysteries of Winner, even if there only seemed to be a couple. The closest he got was when he finally found a ride to Rapid City with a guy that had an old, shaky, but still hovering truck. ¡°So then, this guy Bluesky, he says, ¡®Well I can do that,¡¯ and then he did,¡± the man said over the roar of his truck¡¯s engine. ¡°Wait,¡± Hunter frowned, confused. ¡°He basically stole a hoverbike and copied it, and then stuck two together to make a car because he couldn¡¯t figure out how they kept from tipping over.¡± ¡°Stole¡¯s a harsh word, but,¡± he replied, then spit out the open window, ¡°that¡¯s about how it went, yeah.¡± ¡°And now everyone in town buys Bluesky Hovercars, because?¡± the teen asked, head tilted. ¡°Because it¡¯s sure better¡¯n walking, isn¡¯t it?¡± the man laughed, almost a cackle, for a little while. ¡°But seriously, they¡¯re good rigs, they¡¯re cheap, and it keeps ol¡¯ Bluesky from causing any more trouble, if he¡¯s got to keep fixing these things up.¡± ¡°Huh,¡± he mumbled, ¡°I guess that makes-¡± He stopped abruptly when an urgent alert popped up in his Infra, loud and bold and intrusive.
There is an instance of unusual Slide activity nearby. As one of the nearest members on a combat path, would you like to investigate? Y/N
Hunter jammed down on the Y option almost without thinking, as the truck driver slowed to a rumbling, shaking stop. ¡°We¡¯ve got to turn around,¡± he said. ¡°Infra¡¯s saying it ain¡¯t safe for me to proceed. These things don¡¯t last long, I¡¯ll take you over to Rapid when it¡¯s done.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Hunter replied, grinning as he jumped out of the cab and grabbed his bag, ¡°don¡¯t worry about it, stay safe. Infra¡¯s telling me the exact opposite.¡± He transferred over the crystals they¡¯d agreed on for a fare and watched the lumbering hover truck pivot in place and then head back toward Winner. Hunter let Trips crawl all over his chest and back to make sure his straps were tight, and the duffel and sleeping bag wouldn¡¯t get in his way too much, and then he jogged out into the low scrub toward what he was pretty sure was called the Badlands in the old days. ¡°So,¡± he said quietly in between strides, ¡°it just looks like mountains to me, little ones even. I guess things were harder back then. Nowadays, you want to call something the Badlands, it better have like, ratfolk snipers in tunnels and methane geysers.¡±
He ran for about an hour over increasingly difficult terrain, up into the hills and then mountains, making sure to fill his canteen with a quick splash of affinity-made water and stay hydrated. He kept following the vague indicators on Infra, not quite arrows that led him somewhere, and not quite the kind of tug on his channels he¡¯d get from magic, but something in between. He slid to a stop at the top of a cliff, glancing around for an easy way to get to the other side of the ravine, when he felt a small pulse in his screens and looked again.
Arrived. Unusual Slide activity is approximately one hundred fifty to one hundred seventy-five (150-175) feet away. WARNING: This Slide activity has already caused casualties in over half (12/21) of the sapients to encounter it. There is another combat path sapient approaching to investigate. At their current speed, they will be in range in approximately ninety (90) seconds. It is recommended you wait for their arrival, as larger groups are statistically more successful in emergency situations.
Hunter looked around, wondering if Infra thought he was in a different place, muttering, ¡°Figure I should see something by now,¡± and then peered down into the canyon. ¡°Oh.¡± When he first approached the hills, he¡¯d seen two options for traversing them. Infra tried to nudge him to run down one of the narrow canyons between them, but the steep walls and tight turns he could see made him feel anxious. Instead, he¡¯d climbed up to run straight across the top, up and down over the lumpy peaks, peeking down occasionally to see the twisty but flat paths he¡¯d avoided. It was more tiring his way, and he had to make a few trips all the way down to ground level when there wasn¡¯t a better way across, but he had vigor to burn and he didn¡¯t want to get stuck trapped pinned killed in a narrow crevasse. Down below him, though, the canyon split open into a valley, a few hundred feet across, dotted with more of the patchy grasses and bushes, a few scattered tents over to the west where the ravine first widened, and in the middle of those, a Slide. It was hard to look at, hazy and shaky, like the view through it kept shifting in increments back and forth. The ground around it and a few of the tents closest looked the same way, moving irregularly in chunks, like whatever was going on with the Slide itself was infecting the surrounding area. Hunter squinted and saw people shapes chasing other people shapes around, and the ones pursuing seemed like they had the same thing wrong with them. He looked around quickly for the other person coming to help, but didn¡¯t see anyone running across the irregular, striated hills like he did oh no. Hunter checked his directions and figured out if they were coming from Rapid City, they must be running in the canyon, and when they got there they¡¯d be turning the corner right into the middle of the mess. He sprinted as fast as he could across the cliff to where it narrowed and took a hard angle, then he leapt down. Oh flip why do I do this ran through his head over and over as he slid and bounced his way down the steep rock walls. He managed not to fall, not exactly, catching small irregular ledges with his fingers and toes to keep his pace relatively steady, but he still landed in a shaking heap when he finally hit the ground. Hunter heard faint screaming coming from the other side of the turn, echoing weirdly in the narrow ravine, and he summoned his staff to help push himself up. He checked his message again, saw the casualties had gone up to 14/21 and the timer was down to five seconds, when he heard something familiar. ¡°Red!¡±
Hunter and Ellie peeked out around the corner, murmuring to each other. ¡°Ok, it looks like whatever they touch goes all crazy,¡± he muttered. ¡°Right, ugh,¡± she replied as she bit her lip, ¡°I¡¯ve got a Wind Cutter I can do, but I can¡¯t cast too many.¡± Ellie paused for a minute and blinked. ¡°Actually I can do a few more than I thought, is that you?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s me,¡± he nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve got nothing ranged except grenades, and not a lot. It¡¯ll have to do.¡± ¡°Cool, grenades,¡± she smiled a little and bumped her shoulder against his. ¡°I can distract them and cut down as many as I can, and you get the survivors back here?¡± ¡°Ok, umm,¡± he nodded, then pulled off his satchel and handed it to her. ¡°White ones are sparklers, blue ones are cracklers. Don¡¯t look at the white ones, don¡¯t get close to the blue ones. Oh, and here.¡± Hunter tucked a pair of the grenades into his pockets, before he shrugged the sword off his shoulder as well and offered it. Ellie grabbed the sabre by the handle and pulled it free, her eyes going wide. ¡°Red, wow. I can work with this,¡± she said, her grin getting a little less shaky as she resheathed the blade and shrugged both it and his bag over her armored shoulder. ¡°One last thing, then we go,¡± he mumbled and ran back to his duffel, searching through it for his alarm ward. Once he found it, he slammed the spike on the bottom into the hard dirt a few times until it stuck, then flicked the globe at the top and made it ring. ¡°Password¡¯s ¡®coconut.¡¯ Say ¡®coconut¡¯ when you get back here and see it light up.¡± ¡°Coconut, got it,¡± she said, pausing for a moment, ¡°got it. We gotta do this, Red, like now.¡± He nodded and let his breathing slow as he went back to crouch next to her, murmuring softly, ¡°On three?¡± ¡°Three,¡± Ellie said as she winked at him and bolted so fast, running out into the valley. He ran off after her at full speed, forcing himself to calm down fully as he took in the scene while he moved. The Slide was hissing with a faint pop every time it shifted, and even though it hurt for him to look at the edges, he could still see them creep out further when the sound echoed. The view in the middle was nothing just broken hard to comprehend, it might have been sky, it might have been some kind of ground, but it was jumbled and impossible to see details in. Everything around it was like that as well, a puzzle someone had scrambled, but it was a little easier to figure out. Hunter ran in a tight curve, a few feet from the edge of the wrong so wrong area and toward the nearest person who didn¡¯t look like one of the aggressors. He was trying to figure out why the seven no, six now remaining regular people hadn¡¯t managed to get farther away, when there was a louder noise and everything around him seemed to ripple. The Slide shot out a ring of air, it seemed, a ring of force maybe, and when it hit him it knocked him a few feet to the side, but he kept running. The woman he was running to, however, slammed flat to the ground and skidded a short distance on the rough dirt when it hit her. Ellie had gone the other direction when she entered the valley, and he looked over please don¡¯t be to see what the ripple had done to her, but she was fine. He briefly watched her spin around, lifted on the toes of one foot, and launch a ripple of her own from out of her sword, a smaller and more well-defined cut in the air that bisected one of the shaky, infected campers. Hunter slid down to his knees when he reached the woman, shouting over the din of the Slide and her fellow campers, ¡°Hi! I¡¯m here to help! Let me carry you, please.¡± She nodded weakly and he scooped her up, wobbling a little less heavy than Rodney though, then ran back to the narrow gap in the cliffside. He took another blast from the Slide in the back but managed to keep his footing, wondering briefly why Kinesthesia worked here and not in the corn maze, and then set the camper down gently before taking off for the next one. There was someone lying on the ground and moaning, another scooting backwards on his butt a few feet from one of the shambling converted people, a third running and stumbling very close to another one, and the last two had somehow managed to get behind Ellie, cowering but relatively safe. He threw his crackler grenade straight into the back of the monster person threatening the seated man, not even bothering to watch as the ball lightning vaporized it, then tossed his last sparkler in an arc. Hunter ran under the strobing explosion and then Flicker Stepped from one side of the shambling, jerking infected to the other, grabbing the hand of the frightened man just as another ripple hit them. He must have been off balance, because he dropped to a knee while the man simply collapsed, so he popped his wizard stick into his hand, yanked them both to his feet, and ran right before the jittery, wrong-moving person swiped its hands at them. By the time he got the guy far enough away from the Slide that he could stand on his own, Ellie was done. Every single one of the jumbled victims was down on the ground, chopped up or electrocuted, and she was seated, giggling uncontrollably at the edge of the unstable-looking ground. He ran over to her and pulled her back, hands under her armpits, his eyes locked to the Slide and the expanding circle of wrongness it was exuding. ¡°Hey, they¡¯re safe, we did it,¡± he said, unable to stop staring, ¡°almost.¡±
¡°We could stop it if we had three Shards and like, a tape measure,¡± Ellie said, after they¡¯d gotten the campers away from the valley. There were enough supplies in their remaining tents that, once they got far enough away from the Slide to stop getting knocked down, they figured they could make it to the nearest town on their own. ¡°I¡¯ve got one Shard,¡± he murmured, rubbing the back of his neck as he sat next to her in front of his little camp heater. ¡°That would actually work,¡± she said, then paused and rested her head on his shoulder with a sigh, ¡°if we could get close. It¡¯s small enough that we should be able to spike it. But we can¡¯t get close or we¡¯ll go all scrambly.¡± ¡°Think we¡¯ve got time to get someone to bring us more Shards before it gets any bigger? Those knockdown rings were getting stronger by the second.¡± ¡°Not from Rapid,¡± she mumbled, shaking her head a little, ¡°There¡¯s some kinda lockdown, or brownout, or something. Only reason I was out when the gates shut is they got me on gofer duty.¡± ¡°give,¡± Trips said to him as the little bot walked over to his feet. ¡°help.¡± ¡°No way, buddy,¡± Hunter frowned. ¡°We¡¯ll figure something out, you don¡¯t need to, you know, do something stupid.¡± ¡°help,¡± the helperbot repeated, then reached up to tap the sparkly trinket on top of its carapace. ¡°band.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± he hesitated a moment, then nodded and pulled his one Fount Shard out of his currency folder, a foot long, pearlescent, crystalline spike appearing in his hand. ¡°Ellie, Trips has an idea, and I think it might work? Can you tell it how to spike a Slide?¡± ¡°You just have to jam it somewhere in the middle, is all,¡± she said, ¡°but how¡¯s it going to do it?¡± She paused and looked at the band on Trips, then bit her bottom lip hard and nodded. ¡°Specific emergency, I get it. Let¡¯s try.¡± The three of them walked out of the canyon, and Hunter heard Ellie gasp at how large the Slide had gotten in the twenty minutes or so they¡¯d been resting. He reached down and handed over the Shard to Trips, who took it in one clamp and then ran directly toward the infected area. Right before it set foot on the jumbled dirt, it reached up and tapped the band. ¡°Whoa,¡± Hunter murmured, as his little robot suddenly turned a bright, sparkly gold, the same color the vanished bracelet was, and then scampered right up to the Slide. A few steps before it reached it, there was another booming burst of air, the ripple at least twice as large as before, and it slammed right into Trips and kept going without the robot even losing stride. ¡°Wow.¡± A moment later Trips seemed to vanish as it walked into the liminal area, inside the area of the Slide without actually going through it, and then there was a noise. It wasn¡¯t a real noise, Hunter couldn¡¯t actually hear it, it was more like the text in Infra. He knew there was a noise, and he experienced the idea of a noise, but that was it. It was loud but not deafening, booming without making his ears ring, shrill but it didn¡¯t give him a headache. There was a noise, and then the Slide vanished, and so did the rearranged ground and tents, leaving just a crater in the valley that a still sparkly robot fell into and quickly scrambled out of. Ellie, Hunter and Trips jumped around for a bit, cheering and hugging, until he got a pair of strange notifications on Infra, and from the look on her face, so did she.
You have closed an unstable Slide during an official Emergency Event. This has been rated as a greater+ feat, and you will receive essence accordingly. No essence will be awarded until the Event is finished and Infra has calculated the entirety of your contribution.
You have received a hidden quest from [Veras ef Omen-Wanderer]!
Requirements: Witness a Transversal Slide Emergency, Contribute during an Emergency Event, Do these with either [Eleanora Hernandez], [Miracle Guillen], or both. Children, I do not know when or if you will receive this missive, but if your lives progress anywhere near the direction I have predicted, it will be sooner than later. As I have told you, there is something cosmologically wrong on your planet, and I fear that it will become vastly and catastrophically damaging to your people as a species if left unchecked. Please, be safe, survive this event, and then go to the coordinates provided. I see there not an immediate solution, but perhaps the best and safest path to one.
Objective: Investigate the Emergency Event, Survive the Emergency Event Reward: [hidden] by quest giver.
¡°So, what I don¡¯t get,¡± Hunter mumbled, unzipping the folds of his tent-bag that would expand it even further, ¡°is how I got the message for the unstable Slide, but not the Emergency.¡± ¡°The one we got is like, well,¡± Ellie started to explain, then scratched her head, ¡°probably local? We both just got pinged because we were close, and nobody can stop that. But, umm, the other one,¡± she trailed off weakly. ¡°Wait, you don¡¯t think,¡± he shook his head, staring over at his friend, ¡°you think they blocked the Emergency Broadcast the same way they block your messaging? That¡¯s so dangerous.¡± ¡°I dunno, Red,¡± she sighed as she held down one end of the bag and he pulled the other, popping it open into a larger, but still small tent. ¡°You say it out loud, and it seems crazy, but I dunno anything else it could be.¡± ¡°Maybe umm,¡± he sat just inside the entrance to the tent, ¡°no, if we were too low a level, we¡¯d get an evac message. If the Event was a scrambler type, the local messages wouldn¡¯t know there¡¯s anything going on. Maybe, umm, this Slide messed things up and the message got spoofed?¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound right,¡± Ellie said as she sat with him, ¡°but it was a weird Slide. I thought that stuff would just shut down the message and notifications, not show the wrong ones. Who knows. We¡¯ll go to Rapid in the morning, right? Then we¡¯ll see what¡¯s going on.¡± ¡°If there¡¯s anything like Plano going on, we probably don¡¯t want to get anywhere near it.¡± ¡°Yeah, but, ok hear me out,¡± she murmured as she scooted back into the tent and flopped onto her back. ¡°The bosses are jerks. Most of the rank and file are jerks, too. SysPol is a hive of jerks.¡± Hunter started to laugh, but she looked serious, so he just listened instead. ¡°The city¡¯s not so bad, though. There¡¯s a lot of people that just live there, that aren¡¯t Pols, that didn¡¯t have anything to do with whatever¡¯s going on. They¡¯re probably scared and things are messed up and they don¡¯t even know why there isn¡¯t a bunch of sublimed teleporting in to save them.¡± ¡°I get it,¡± he said, and then got quiet for a moment, zipping up the tent and lying down next to her. ¡°We¡¯re gonna do our best to help them, but I know my limits, and I bet you know yours. If it¡¯s not something we can do by ourselves, then the best good we can do is try to get help.¡± ¡°Right, ok, that¡¯s smart,¡± she mumbled, rolling over to put her head on his shoulder, ¡°in the morning though, because,¡± and then she drifted off. Hunter stayed awake for a while longer, afraid if he closed his eyes for too long, he¡¯d see that shaky, torn-apart view through the Slide again. Every so often, he¡¯d push the flap of the tent open with his toe to make sure the alarm ward was up and functioning, and it was every time, but he kept looking. As interested as he was in both the Slide Event and what Veras possibly thought he and Ellie could do about it, he was much more terrified. His mother still hadn¡¯t talked to him about what happened in Plano, and neither had Ernie. All he knew was that it was bad 500 miles, that it was urgent immediate survival, and that they might possibly be the only people who knew about it. ¡°I really wish I had another one of those emergency bands,¡± he mumbled right before he fell asleep as well, and dreamed of a fire in the woodsand a bucket full of water, both growing larger and larger. 15: Meltdowns ¡°So,¡± Ellie said, fiddling with the bottom of her breastplate as they walked, ¡°I¡¯m gonna drop outta SysPol. Even if there isn¡¯t an Event or anything, they¡¯re doing something shady. Mom¡¯ll get over it, eventually.¡± They¡¯d woken up early that morning and both belatedly had the same idea, to try to find some help before they actually walked into a potential disaster zone, and found that their message systems were blocked, and probably had been since the day before. Hunter couldn¡¯t get in touch with his mother, his uncle, with Kiki, with the campers they¡¯d helped, with anyone, and neither could Ellie. The only messages that worked at all were the ones in their two person group chat. ¡°I mean, I get blocking me. Oh, there it is,¡± she mumbled as she clicked something and her armor faded from bronze to a flat black. ¡°But they¡¯re probably blocking everyone, and like, for why?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t decide what¡¯s worse,¡± Hunter replied. ¡°If they screwed something up and they¡¯re covering, then that¡¯s awful.¡± ¡°So awful.¡± ¡°But if they didn¡¯t, and they¡¯re just locking down the whole area for no reason? They¡¯re putting, umm, well at least eight people in danger for nothing. Including us.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± she muttered as she untied her scarf from around her waist, then balled it up and tossed it. ¡°There, I¡¯m out.¡± ¡°Wait, that¡¯s all you have to do? Get rid of the uniform?¡± Hunter asked and stifled a laugh. ¡°What? Oh,¡± she giggled and pushed him with one hand. ¡°That was symbolic, Red. I just had to push a box. Now I¡¯m stuck with a lousy Order path and no lousy Order.¡± ¡°The tutorial said you can change your path to whatever you want as long as you¡¯re a beginner. You¡¯re a beginner still, right?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a tutorial? I didn¡¯t get a tutorial,¡± she frowned and scrunched up her face. ¡°You didn¡¯t miss much, it kinda sucked,¡± Hunter said, pausing for a moment after. ¡°If you want a fancy path, you can use mine, umm,¡± he mumbled as he sent the link to Ellie over the group window, ¡°if you want.¡± ¡°Oh wow,¡± she stopped in her tracks and blinked. ¡°That¡¯ll make us such a good team, Red! Thank you!¡± She was grinning as she grabbed him in a tight hug. He stopped, puzzled how does that make us a team, then checked his path info oh it changed.
Truth Seeker
Knowledge is the foundation of all success, and the most important knowledge is when it is good and right to act. You are a Seeker of mysteries and secrets, at many times the first and only to delve into the darker places, and a righter of wrongs when you inevitably find them.
Combat Path - +essence gain when exploring or researching ungrouped or partnered with another Truth Seeker, +essence gain for righteous or honorable combat, (bonus) +skill growth and progression
¡°We already are a great team, Ellie,¡± he laughed and hugged her back after that brief hesitation. ¡°Lucky I¡¯m still a beginner, huh. What I don¡¯t get,¡± she said after a moment, ¡°is how you¡¯re still level one. I mean, you didn¡¯t even do anything worth essence on accident?¡± ¡°Oh, that,¡± he blushed, then mumbled, ¡°it¡¯s on purpose. Got a thing from Ernie that eats all the essence and gives me crystals.¡± ¡°Red! You gotta take it off, like right now.¡± ¡°What, why?¡± ¡°Well, umm,¡± she pulled back, linked her arm in his, and they started walking again. ¡°We¡¯re on a quest, in an emergency. We¡¯ve got greater plus essence coming to us, and we don¡¯t want to waste that plus.¡± ¡°Back that up a little? I don¡¯t get it.¡± ¡°When Infra starts throwing plusses on things, that¡¯s when you¡¯re gonna get good levels. Extra stats and stuff, you know.¡± ¡°Wait, no, I absolutely didn¡¯t know. So like, if I did something that was say, one hundred plus plus, I¡¯d get better stats than normal?¡± ¡°Yep, exactly!¡± she chirped, and gave him a bump with her hip. ¡°We¡¯re already on plus, and if things get worse, it¡¯ll go up from there. Mom says, at least when she¡¯s being all like, misanthropic mom, that¡¯s why people go to emergencies, for the good levels.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± he sighed, ¡°flip.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t!¡± Ellie gasped, and then giggled. ¡°Red, I love you, but wow.¡± ¡°I did,¡± he just groaned and unzipped his hoodie partially, reaching in to detach the armband, then stuck it in his satchel as he continued, ¡°I didn¡¯t know. Don¡¯t tell Ernie, oh wow, he¡¯ll never shut up about it.¡± ¡°How did he, anyone, how did Mama Red let you even keep wearing that?¡± ¡°I told them I had a plan,¡± he mumbled, shaking his head. ¡°Oh my gosh and they believed me.¡± ¡°What was the plan, anyway?¡± Ellie asked as she tugged on his arm to keep him walking. ¡°I was, I am, umm,¡± he sighed, ¡°I was gonna do the Open.¡± ¡°At level one? Wow, Red, like, the guy who won the Open last year was level seven hundred something. And a professional. It¡¯s a pretty tough tournament.¡± ¡°I mean, after I got all my skills maxed, then I was gonna take the bonder off. Then the Open after I levelled up for the rest of the two years left.¡± ¡°Oh, so,¡± she smiled, patting his arm with her free hand, ¡°you were pretty close to taking it off anyway, you¡¯ve got to be up near two hundred in the good stuff with how you move.¡± ¡°Well, there¡¯s still refinement, but I guess I was pretty close.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think, like, no,¡± she shook her head, ¡°I¡¯m pretty for sure, actually, that you can¡¯t refine skills until advanced mortal. Unlock at beginner, advance at class, except we get the emergency protocol exemption, then refine at advanced. No exemption there.¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re kidding me, Ellie,¡± Hunter sighed again and leaned against her, his head tipping down to rest on her shoulder. ¡°Well,¡± she said slowly, face pressed against his hair, ¡°we both learned stuff today. Now you¡¯ll be even more prepared for the Open. And, you know, since we¡¯re like partners now, and learning stuff,¡± she lowered her voice to a whisper as she continued, ¡°let¡¯s look at each other¡¯s sheets.¡± "How about," he mumbled, "when we get done with this. I''m gonna need a new notebook and a few pens, probably." "It''s a deal."
¡°What happened here?¡± Hunter asked, after they¡¯d been walking for most of the day. The broken highway and flat, grassy plains changed abruptly in front of his feet, replaced with a dark brown surface with small white lines every couple of yards. He glanced over to his sides, and the slightly bumpy ground material went on in both directions as far as he could see. ¡°Drone zone,¡± Ellie said as she stood next to him, looking around as well, but her eyes were turned up to the sky instead of the ground. ¡°Surveillance, kill zone, that sorta thing. Means seven miles or so from here to the walls. But like, I don¡¯t see any drones.¡± ¡°But how,¡± he mumbled, reaching out to tap the ground with the toe of his sneaker, and found it ever so slightly squishy. He squinted, gazing down where the road they were on would have gone, and shook his head. ¡°There should¡¯ve been buildings pretty soon if we¡¯re that close to town.¡± ¡°Nope, flattened,¡± she replied, waving one hand with her palm down to emphasize. ¡°Defense in depth. Don¡¯t wanna leave a big car dealership out here for bad guys to hide behind. So, mow the entire surroundings down, mark out distance meters for your snipers, and dust the whole thing in hovering blaster drones. That¡¯s a SysPol base. Except, like, for serious, where¡¯s the drones?¡± ¡°What about,¡± he said under his breath, ¡°teleporters, invisible dudes, gas attacks, what else, umm. Plus if someone did all this, levelled almost an entire town, someone else could do worse. That¡¯s the rule.¡± ¡°Red, they pulled back the drones,¡± Ellie said, quietly. ¡°There¡¯s like millions of them, they get squeezed out of this box, and if they get like, bent a little they just throw them away. They pulled back the drones and they left me out here.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Hunter murmured, then stepped over to give her a hug, ¡°oh wow. You¡¯re right, they are total jerks.¡± ¡°They are,¡± she sniffled and nodded against his shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s go save some people who aren¡¯t jerks, though. There¡¯s something definitely going on.¡± ¡°Yeah, for sure,¡± he said, while scanning that unnatural, flat expanse until he thought he might have spied something in the middle in the dim light of dusk. ¡°We better hurry, though, because I think something¡¯s going on like, right now.¡± He pointed over Ellie¡¯s shoulder and she turned to look while still clinging to his chest for a moment before she nodded. Over in the distance there were flashes of light every three or four seconds, mostly red and white, but occasionally green, just about where Rapid City would be. They both watched them for a few minutes, and while Hunter was just trying to figure out how dangerous something that made all those lights could be, Ellie had a different perspective. ¡°That¡¯s the late warning system,¡± she murmured, stepping back and wiping her eyes. ¡°But it¡¯s not in any code I know. Someone¡¯s just flashing the lights any way they can. Which means, like, townies or hostiles got into the coordination rooms.¡± ¡°Well,¡± Hunter pulled up his hood, tapped his floating focus to get it up to full speed, and offered her his hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go help.¡±
Hunter and Ellie were nearing the walled city, which seemed oddly quiet to him, with just the flashing lights and nothing that sounded like fighting that he could hear over their footsteps or breathing. They weren¡¯t quite running at full speed over the weird material, but close, and in the last mile or so he had a thought.
You are posting to all grouped members in the immediate vicinity (1).
[Hunter]: this base was a lot of work, right? to put out here, do all this. so what¡¯s it for? [Hunter]: this¡¯ll seem funny, considering, you know, Willard. but this is the middle of nowhere, what¡¯s the point being here [Ellie]: oh, rapid¡¯s like the command and operating base for the area. i get in trouble if i call it comops tho [Ellie]: so it¡¯s the comops. they got the source about twenty miles sw, and straight w is the research facility [Hunter]: shoot, umm, what are they researching? [Ellie]: i dunno. w/e it is takes a lot of crystal. been on the hauling runs for that. lots of it [Ellie]: oh! they might have a slide there? i know there¡¯s one around here they keep for some reason and just shoot whatever comes out of it [Ellie]: that might be where it is, actually. y? [Trips]: back left
Hunter spun, wizard stick suddenly in his hand as he swung it, and he felt the impact of the wooden staff smashing into something before he even saw what it was. He felt a yank on the back of his coat oh no we¡¯re surrounded and stumbled back, but it was just Ellie pulling him away from oh a very tall, very skinny shape. She had her sword out already as she stood next to him, the shiny surface reflecting the lights from the city, and she swayed back and forth as she whispered to him. ¡°Be careful, can¡¯t see the level. Couldn¡¯t see it on those puzzle people either.¡± He nodded and just kept his eyes on the shape, thinking that if he stared long enough he¡¯d be able to see details, but it didn¡¯t happen. It was just tall, shadowy, and had a large number of limbs that it was flailing at him in quick, sharp strikes in between the random flashes of light. He deflected each slash and stab, but they were too quick for him to try to counterattack, keeping him on the defensive as he circled to his left. He had affinity to spare, so he even tried activating A Light to Follow, but that just made everything clearer except for the thing attacking him. Hunter realized, as he moved, that he had a new rhythm, finding that the new talent he¡¯d received in the bath miss that bath did something to his affinity that he couldn¡¯t quite define. When each swipe of the shadowy limbs flicked out toward him, he only felt the slightest pull as he dodged backwards or slapped it away with his staff. Instead of the flickering, jumpy, go every direction sensation, it moved with him, around him, and it felt right Ernie said correct. It felt correct, until a series of explosions went off in the distance, Hunter startled briefly just a moment, and the indistinct monster slapped down hard on the top of his head.
[Shadow Infiltrator] has struck you for fifty-one (51) damage!
He stumbled back, dazed move, the low hood covering his eyes move it¡¯s right there, the pinpoint lights too bright as they pressed against his face, MOVE then Flicker Stepped even farther away. Before he could get his vision right, he heard a hissing screech and then a sound like a grease fire, splattering and steaming. He pushed his hood back finally and saw Ellie grinning as she flicked some dark, hazy goop off her sword and onto the evaporating heap of a body between them. ¡°Next time I get to be the bait, and you get to do the thumping, I promise,¡± she said with a wink. ¡°That¡¯s, umm, a cool plan,¡± he nodded, slipping one of his last three favor cookies from his bag into his mouth, then pulled out the oldtech binoculars.
[Major Favor Cookie] has healed you for ten percent (5) of your missing resilience! [Major Favor Cookie] has healed you for ten percent (5) of your missing resilience! [Major Favor Cookie] has healed you for ten percent (4) of your missing resilience! [Major Favor Cookie] has healed you for ten percent (4) of your missing resilience! [Major Favor Cookie] has healed you for ten percent (3) of your missing resilience!
¡°So, they¡¯re bombing out front and sneaking around the back,¡± he murmured as he looked at the tall, white metal walls of the city, scanning for more of the spindly infiltrators. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re gonna hafta, umm,¡± Ellie looked down at the ground and leaned on her sword, frowning, ¡°Get the east gates open, I guess? See if we can¡¯t help evacuate, if they haven¡¯t already.¡± ¡°They look locked up tight,¡± he said, then paused to reach over and squeeze his friend¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Guess we¡¯re climbing the walls after curfew again.¡±
Hunter stood back to keep an eye out while Ellie went up the wall first, which meant he could watch her technique while Trips scanned the area. It was made out some filmy white metal Ellie didn¡¯t know the name of, and it looked like the entire fifty feet height was going to be a completely sheer climb. However, there must have been access panels or hidden turrets or something, Hunter didn¡¯t know what, because she practically twirled her way up the featureless expanse she¡¯d said was a gate, bouncing from spot to spot on her way up and only occasionally letting out a burst of wind to propel herself. Once she¡¯d made it to the top, she leaned out over the edge, waved, and let him know by message it was clear. He had to walk all the way up to the wall, peering straight up, before he could see the faint ledges Ellie must have used on her ascent, and only then the nearest ones. The sun had gone down fully a half hour previous, but luckily the material was very faintly luminescent, so Hunter figured that, combined with his armor lights, would have to do. He dropped his duffel and sleeping back right up against the wall and then prepared himself. He checked his shoes perfectly laced, thought briefly about his breathing steady somehow, crouched slightly, and then ran up the wall why. He made it about eight feet up before he had to grab a narrow ledge, his fingers just barely hooking onto it, then with a quick swing he flung himself to the next one. They turned out to be irregularly-spaced the whole way up, and never close enough that he could touch two at once, but every so often he found a divot above one that he could dig his hand into and grab onto with one foot holding him up. Even going as fast as he could, Hunter picked out eight separate spots where someone could have easily dropped something on his head while he climbed. After Ellie helped him up over the edge, she grinned and kissed his cheek, murmuring, ¡°I went faster.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he laughed a little, panting, ¡°but you cheated, so I don¡¯t figure we should count it.¡± ¡°Aww, there were rules?¡± she giggled. ¡°I woulda broke more if I knew.¡± ¡°That sword dance thing,¡± he mumbled, leaning against the lip of the wall to peer into the city, ¡°is really pretty.¡± ¡°You think so, Red?¡± Ellie said as she stood next to him. ¡°I mean, I¡¯ve been working on it since we were kids. It didn¡¯t start pretty.¡± She paused with a faint giggle, then continued, ¡°It¡¯s weird how Infra will just like, give you talents for stuff you do, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, it is,¡± he nodded, shifting a little to press his shoulder against hers. ¡°We¡¯re purposefully not talking about how the entirety of Rapid City is full of those shadow dudes, right?¡± ¡°Oh, for sure,¡± she said with a soft sigh. ¡°It looks like the people might be safe, maybe. See how there¡¯s a lot of the shadows milling around in front of that one big building? That¡¯s one of the emergency shelters, they mighta locked themselves in.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°So,¡± he checked his satchel briefly, ¡°I¡¯m down to two sparklers and one crackler. I¡¯d say we could try a distraction, then evacuate those shelters, but,¡± he trailed off. ¡°But three grenades isn¡¯t enough for me,¡± she said, slowly, ¡°to harass and bother an entire city of monsters? Red, have you met me?¡± ¡°Oh,¡± he laughed weakly. ¡°Is that, umm, something you can get done and still stay safe?¡± ¡°As long as I, well, sure?¡± Ellie said with a little grin. ¡°You gotta stay safe too, though. First step, get way less conspicuous.¡± She reached up to his throat and squeezed a hidden button he didn¡¯t know was on his jacket collar, and the pinpoint lights dimmed before going out. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s how you do that?¡± he whispered, half to himself. ¡°Yup, and if I¡¯m guessing right,¡± she knelt down just long enough to do the same thing to the tongues of his sneakers, which slowly faded from a bright orange to a dark gray, then she popped back up and grinned, ¡°that¡¯s how you do that, too.¡±
The one thing, in the entire time Hunter had been in Kansas City, that he and Pete had ever even slightly bonded over, was sneaking around the downtown area, and really the concept of stealth in general. It wasn¡¯t really the teen¡¯s favorite part of exploring the city, but it almost always gave him a funny story to tell if he took the time to watch the people he was trying to avoid. Sharing any of the weird stuff he saw later at dinner would get little chuckles from Ernie and Breaker, and big ones from Pete, and then Pete would tell him everything he could have done better while hiding. You¡¯ve gotta see them before they get a chance to see you. Ellie ran off around the edge of the wall, making her way to the other side, and Hunter stayed to watch the infiltrators. If they were only interested in the emergency shelters, then he guessed they were doing a good enough job guarding, because there were six or eight hard to count from here in a small crowd at the big, reinforced entrance of the one he could see. If they wanted to take the whole city, though, they were terrible at it. There were small packs drifting down the streets occasionally, which could be patrols or just random groups, but there weren¡¯t any shadowy figures where he¡¯d post a guard. None on the flat, square buildings, none up on the wall with him and Ellie, none lingering at the one large intersection he had a good view of. Don¡¯t give em any extra help finding you. Since you¡¯re not good enough to move like something that belongs, just stay still and make sure everything on you stays still, too. He pulled the cords on his jacket, first the ones that would move the bottom hem from his thighs up to his hips, then did the same to his sleeves until they hit his wrists instead of his knuckles, and finally tightened the straps to pull the entire garment, including the hood, closer to his body. Hunter snatched his focus out of the air and powered it down, wearing it on his forearm where he could still make use of it at a reduced level. Trips hopped into his nearly empty satchel while he adjusted it with a second strap that went around his waist, keeping it from bouncing around at the cost of not being able to shrug out of it quickly, and then he checked himself over. Nothing on his person would move or flap in even a stiff wind, so he figured he was good. Humans are stupid, so don¡¯t let practicing on them give you bad habits. Some things out there are gonna look up, you know. There was a fairly straight path he could take across the rooftops toward the first shelter, but every so often he saw the shadow monsters drift through one of the streets he¡¯d have to cross. Instead, he made his way a few hundred feet to the right and picked out a few buildings that he didn¡¯t see anything near, then visualized the path he¡¯d have to take across them to his goal. There¡¯d be a few dicey patches in the middle, he figured, especially with the lights still flashing every so often, but he didn¡¯t see anywhere obvious he¡¯d get cornered or stuck. When you have to move, do it all at once. Quiet, decisive, quick, in that order. Hunter vaulted over the side of the wall, just far enough that one hand and foot stayed against the smooth surface as he descended quickly. About ten feet down, he pushed off and jumped for the closest building, hitting the roof already in a roll, and then froze. For the first time since he¡¯d taken it, he really noticed and appreciated his Light-footed talent, because none of that, the slide, the leap, the landing, made any noise at all. No shadows swarmed up the edges of the building to confront him, so he took off in a crouched run toward his next stop. There¡¯s no perfect stealth without augmenting it, but you can get close, because people don¡¯t pay attention even when they should. He ran along the rooftops, keeping an eye out for any patrols he missed, but not finding any, even in the places he had already planned around being possibly guarded. About halfway to the shelter, a few city blocks, he got the message he was waiting for from Ellie, and he slid to a stop at the corner of a building. He¡¯d positioned himself along what looked like one of the main thoroughfares in town, but it was hard to judge because the entire walled area was organized so oddly. Even though basically every building was some kind of boring rectangle shape, the heights varied by two or three stories from block to block, and no street went farther than a couple hundred yards before dead-ending. Course, you run with a partner that¡¯s good at getting attention, everything¡¯s gonna be a lot easier. In between the signal flashes that Hunter had almost started ignoring, there was a high-pitched, artificial scream, and he could see the flicker of a strobing explosion from the west end of the city. He peeked over the edge of his roof, waiting, and then saw one of the passing patrols veer off suddenly, changing direction to head toward Ellie and whatever else she had planned. He slowed his breathing, waiting come on come on, and then after less than a minute he saw a second group go by, larger this time, from the direction of the shelter. He backed up and then continued on his route with a leap to a lower building and then to the ground, running at just under a dead sprint to stay quiet. When you get caught, and you¡¯re gonna get caught, you make sure you hit first, you hit hard, and you make it count.
Something was wrong, Hunter felt. He raced down the street toward the first shelter, a couple turns away if he¡¯d counted right, and tried to figure out what it was. Slowing to a stop, he peeked around the corner at one of the places he¡¯d seen lingering infiltrators from up above, but they had apparently gone west to deal with Ellie that¡¯s not it. He waited for his vigor to climb a point or two, checking the clock function on Infra, and then frowned, looking around the area carefully, but the street was empty.
[Hunter]: hey, silly question, but are you in combat? [Ellie]: oh ya maybe? they be chasin [Ellie]: me, they¡¯re chasing me [Hunter]: ok, cool. did you know that if you¡¯re in combat, i¡¯m in combat? [Ellie]: nope! [Ellie]: aw nuts, did i screw u up? [Hunter]: no, no it¡¯s fine. you¡¯re ok right? [Ellie]: yaya they¡¯re pretty dumb [Hunter]: so, umm, how long have they been chasing you? [Ellie]: since like a minute before i set off the sparkler, so 5-6 min probs [Hunter]: ok, cool. almost at the shelter, ready for part b
He ran again, toward the large building, easily the biggest he¡¯d seen since leaving K.C., and let himself relax just a bit. Rapid was a weird place, especially since according to Ellie, it wasn¡¯t even exactly Rapid City, in a certain light. Everywhere else he¡¯d ever been was new built onto the old, leaving and utilizing what the previous generations had built and only adding to it when necessary. His family lived in one of the few houses that was in Willard pre-apocalypse, for instance, the Fourex building was an oldtech frame with Infratech built onto it, and even Winner, as wholly weird as its egg buildings were, was only like that out of necessity. Rapid City, however, the old one, had been completely demolished, going so far as to pound the earth into a flat, level grade as far as the eye could see. What was put onto it was wholly modern, wholly SysPol, and felt nothing like a real place, especially when down in its perfectly straight streets, surrounded by its algorithmically irregular buildings. Hunter was feeling unsettled as he turned the last corner without thinking, and ran straight into a tall figure made out of hard shadows. As distracted as he was, he¡¯d still planned for it, gone over the previous fight, and figured out where he¡¯d gone wrong enough that Ellie had to save him, so he acted almost immediately. He dropped into a crouch and lifted his left arm, already swinging it to parry the downward strike aimed at his head. He flicked his right hand out and summoned his staff at the same moment, sweeping the end of the suddenly appearing stick right into the middle of the monster¡¯s torso. His next move was going to be a twisting leap backwards, to let it pin him against the wall, where its long arms and looping strikes couldn¡¯t be used to full advantage without hitting the supernaturally tough material of the building behind him. Instead, when his wizard stick collided with the bundle of shadows that made up the middle of the infiltrator, there was a tearing noise Hunter couldn¡¯t place, then a short screech like a tea kettle as a plume of sizzling black just ew fluid shot out the back and side of his opponent. It teetered for a moment and then collapsed, while he slowly stood up and frowned, puzzled for a few seconds. Then oh he had a realization, and took off toward the shelter again.
[Hunter]: hey, if you can¡¯t lose them, it¡¯s ok [Hunter]: round up as many as you can, i got an idea [Hunter]: i¡¯ll meet you at the second shelter after i clear this one [Ellie]: u sure? [Ellie]: i mean, ok. sry. partner. c u soon
Either the shadow monsters were as dumb as Ellie said they were, or SysPol had very intriguingly smart engineers doing its designing. To open the shelter, he had to stick his hand in a snug hole, which made a screen on the door light up reading ¡°MORTAL HUMAN,¡± and then ¡°What color is the sky?¡± He glanced up at the night sky, pitch black with stars, occasionally lit up with white, red, or green flashes, then coughed and said quietly, ¡°Blue?¡± The huge door, big enough to push a moderately-sized house through, opened swiftly and nearly silently, revealing a crowd of tired people. Most were sitting, but some near the entrance were standing, gripping various makeshift or old weapons, which they all hurriedly readied. He stepped back, hands raised, and gave his best smile, trying to stay calm public speaking oh no. ¡°Hey guys,¡± he mumbled, and then spoke louder, ¡°Umm, I¡¯m here to help? Yeah. There¡¯s no SysPol in town, as far as we can tell, and none for miles either. Not sure when any¡¯s coming, either. Heard you folks got a vehicle bay somewhere around here, and I think it¡¯s time to get to using it.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± more than a few people shouted. Some, however, just yelled out ¡°What?¡± ¡°Just a kid! But like, with a plan,¡± he said, and grinned. ¡°There¡¯s more of those shadow things coming from out west somewhere, and my partner says they cracked the gate over there, so they¡¯re gonna fill this place up, it looks like. Best to get you out before that.¡± ¡°Ok,¡± said a woman that looked a little like his mom, if she had a darker complexion. Maybe not related if you gauged by their facial features, but definitely twins with that hard-set expression. ¡°The whole base is on lockdown, though. That includes the vehicles and the other gates.¡± ¡°Right, but I got this place open,¡± Hunter replied, with a weak chuckle. ¡°Which means the local overrides work, thankfully. We¡¯ll just need to get there, instead of like, calling the little cars on your Infra, or however it worked. Same thing with the gate. We figure someone¡¯s already in the ops center, if you go by the lights.¡± The woman stepped out of the shelter and looked up, then peered back over her shoulder at someone still in the throng of people, having a quick, silent conversation. ¡°I think I know who¡¯s in the center,¡± a man said as he stepped forward. ¡°Good! Great,¡± Hunter said with a nod, ¡°The way there should be clear for now. You take a group that way, people who can go fast and low-profile, and get the east gate open? I mean, if that¡¯s ok?¡± There was another quick Infrachat, apparently, before the woman nodded, ¡°Yeah, he¡¯ll do that. You¡¯ll take the rest of us to the garage?¡± ¡°Oh, for sure, absolutely,¡± he said, nodding again quickly. ¡°We¡¯ve just got a stop or two to make first.¡±
Hunter ran point, ahead of the group of a hundred or so people, mostly adults with a few children sprinkled in, all what SysPol called their ¡°civilian population.¡± He was being more careful than earlier, not just because he was responsible for all of them, but because they were closer to the middle of the compound, and he and Ellie hadn¡¯t been able to scout this deep into the city from the outer walls. Trips was on his shoulder again, since maximum stealth had taken a backseat to maximum watchfulness, but neither of them had seen any more infiltrators yet. In his Infra screen, he was also looking at the new spell he selected, part of the new version of their grand plan, and trying to force himself not to get nervous.
[Instant Whirlpool] The water roars as it spins, a dangerous hazard to all opposing you, if only for a moment. You sit at the center and reap their weakness. (infusion) (active) four (4) affinity. five (5) round duration. moderate (10%) penalty to combat ratings for all opponents within five (5) yards, +trivial (5%) combat ratings for each opponent affected
Hunter tried not to think about everything that could go wrong in the next few minutes, how it was a dumb plan, how the spell was too expensive, too short, how if he screwed up he and Ellie and all these people they were trying to rescue would die. All that left his head at once, however, when he rounded a corner and saw two of the infiltrators standing in the middle of the street. He froze, waved off the crowd of people half a block behind him, and then moved. A step forward into a crouch, then two Flicker Steps even if the quick vigor use drained him, and then Hunter lunged. The shadows were just shifting, probably turning to face him, when his hands jabbed into their lower torsos, fingers in slightly curled claws digging into the strangely unyielding mass of darkness that made up their bodies. He felt a moment of resistance, and then his fingers were touching nothing again, as the pulse of whatever energy Oncoming Storm used blew them across the road and into the nearby building. Hunter turned around and dashed out from under the trail of crackling, black fluid that led from their original position to the smears on the wall, slowly floating down to the ground in defiance of physics. He signalled the group of people following to catch up with them, and made sure they all avoided the steaming messes on the ground. ¡°Watch your step, k, please,¡± he mumbled to each person, helping the kids and other smaller people across the remains. ¡°We¡¯re almost to our first stop, then we¡¯ll be getting out of here soon.¡± The woman who seemed to be in charge, Marianna, stopped next to him as he was ushering them through. ¡°I suppose I see why you think you can protect us, if you did this,¡± she said, gesturing to one evaporating line of slime. ¡°I¡¯m just trying my best, ma¡¯am,¡± Hunter nodded, then leaned a little closer as he dropped his voice, ¡°But the next part is gonna be tricky. Get the folks with guns up front at the next corner, and if they see anything come out, make sure they don¡¯t stop shooting.¡± ¡°I think we can handle that,¡± she replied, then paused for a moment. ¡°They¡¯re really just gone, all of them, aren¡¯t they?¡± ¡°SysPol?¡± Hunter tilted his head, then scratched the back of his head through the snug hood. ¡°Seems like it. Don¡¯t much like them, but any help would be nice.¡± ¡°Better this than just waiting in the shelter, then,¡± she said with a firm nod, then walked off. Once everyone was past, Hunter raced ahead of the crowd again, but didn¡¯t find any more infiltrators on his way to the second shelter. He doubled back, and with Marianna¡¯s help, got the group as silent and prepared as possible, just in case anything went wrong. The building they gathered in front of had a weird, recessed entrance, where they had the children huddle, then the unarmed people surrounded by those with close combat weapons, and finally the guns facing the corner. He walked back to where he and Ellie were meeting, stood in the middle of the street, and waited.
[Ellie]: good news bad news kinda thing [Ellie]: good news i¡¯m about a minute away [Ellie]: bad news i had a hiccup [Hunter]: uh oh [Ellie]: doubled back the wrong way, picked up about a dozen i thought i¡¯d lost [Ellie]: so, ya. can u do like 25? [Hunter]: ¡­ [Hunter]: as long as you pick up the stragglers, maybe [Ellie]: i can do that. ok incoming
Hunter stood there, as calmly as he could, his focus once again floating to his side, his robot clinging to a ledge of the closest building just in case. He heard Ellie laughing, loud and gleeful, before anything else, and then she ran at full-tilt into the intersection in a tight turn, her boots skidding on the odd surface of the street. He shifted a hand to the side, pointing at a door he¡¯d wedged open, and she nodded as she ran past before tumbling into a still giggling heap just inside the building. Then the shadows came, following more quickly than he¡¯d seen them move yet. Five swept through the intersection, ten, then they were a swarming mass he couldn¡¯t count, racing directly toward him. His spells were up, his meditation was at full combat levels, they had a plan, and he still didn¡¯t feel ready. The first tall, shadowy figure reached him, two of its gangly limbs on one side slashing diagonally toward him, and then he used his Flicker Step again. Instead of away from the teeming crowd of infiltrators, he moved into a narrow gap between two of them, right in the middle of the front of the group. Then he cast his new spell at the same time as he reached up to tag the monster on either side of him. As soon as he infused his affinity with the Instant Whirlpool, he was bombarded with multiple sensations. At first he felt his essence rush out, the waves that normally rocked back and forth inside his being flooded all around him in a tight spiral, threatening to make him dizzy if it wasn¡¯t over so quickly. By the time his fingers touched the two shadowy figures, all that essence spun faster and then twisted back into him, and everything went calm, quiet, and cool. Twenty minutes of Oncoming Storm had built up by then, his fingertips holding the equivalent of twenty of his Water Bursts behind them, but he barely noticed as the two infiltrators were blasted away when he slapped at them. He could feel that his spell hit sixteen of his opponents, because he¡¯d felt sixteen individual little ripples in the wave that slipped back into his channels. Hunter was a fast kid, he always had been, and he¡¯d been training to get faster almost every day since he was ten, but it never felt like he¡¯d made huge leaps in his speed, it was more gradual than that. As soon as his affinity merged with him again, as each ripple brought its stolen power, he could feel that he was immediately how much? wow eighty percent faster than he had ever been, his mind, his body, his magic, all of him. Hunter knew there was a monster behind him, and he could see the one directly in front of him winding up a swing, but it was so very slow. He could feel a flickering light above him, centering the roaring vortex around him, and then he attacked. One hand went up to slap away the insultingly slow attack from his front, a foot slid back to intercept the approaching monster at his back, and before either target had a chance to disintegrate from the unnatural force behind his tight, gentle movements, he was on to the next group. They were bunched up from rounding the corner, so it was only a matter of steps before he was in the midst of them, nerve strikes slamming into undifferentiated shadow flesh but still eviscerating as they landed, while Hunter kept parrying their sluggish attacks or simply weaving in between them. He noticed that his awareness, not his vision, but his entire sense of space, was narrowed down to a mere fifteen feet on any side of him, but he could still catch flickers of motion at the edge. In between demolishing the infiltrators, formerly so quick he couldn¡¯t even free, immediate counterattack their blows, he saw a glimpse of Trips descending on one and turning it to paste on the street, another of Ellie slashing two into pieces with one Wind Cutter. Mostly, though, all he saw was the next target, and only briefly until his hand touched and it exploded, and then he turned to the next. Thirty seconds of carnage later, his newfound speed faded away like the tide rushing out, but he managed to pull his staff from the wristband and crack it against the side of the last infiltrator he could see before stumbling and using the stick to hold himself up. Hunter looked around frantically, anxiety following quickly after exhaustion, but the only shadows he saw were either natural or in steaming pieces, splattered around the street. ¡°Red,¡± Ellie said softly as she ran up and slipped an arm around him, ¡°you ok?¡± ¡°I think so?¡± he managed to reply, wobbling. ¡°That was,¡± she shook her head and giggled, ¡°that was amazing.¡± Hunter laughed and stumbled a little, even with her helping, then mumbled, ¡°Learned it from my mom, I think.¡±
Hunter and Ellie, but mostly Ellie, managed to herd both shelters¡¯ worth of people to the vehicle bay near the north end of the city. He could only really wander along after, his vigor returning quickly but the bottom dropped out of the bucket feeling of that sudden rush leaving his body still lingering. Ellie had managed to gather up what she said was the majority of the invading monsters and ditched them all on the other side of town, so their route was fairly straightforward and uneventful. The third shelter was apparently broken open and empty, but oddly enough no one they were guiding seemed to be missing anyone that should have been taking refuge there. Ellie thought maybe that it was supposed to be where the recruits gathered in emergencies, but she wasn¡¯t really sure. Hunter managed to stay awake until everyone was loaded up on the long trucks SysPol used to transport supplies and Ellie had found a three-wheeled buggy thing with heavy tires to escort them out of Rapid City. He must have drifted off at some point soon after that though, because he woke up suddenly draped against her back, somehow still seated on the rear part of the contraption. ¡°Hey, did we?¡± he mumbled. ¡°I got them headed to Winner,¡± Ellie said, reaching back to pat his cheek. ¡°I think those shadow guys are gonna be too dumb to attack there, if the illusion¡¯s as good as you said.¡± The faint motor was thrumming underneath him, but they¡¯d seemed to have stopped moving, and he looked up to see why. ¡°Is that,¡± he said, as he looked at the huge silver spire stretching into the night sky, off in the distance, ¡°where those things came from? That¡¯s a broken Source, we can¡¯t do anything about that.¡± ¡°That is what it is,¡± she murmured, but shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s where they¡¯re coming from, though.¡± Ellie turned his head a little, hand still on his cheek, and he saw a sparse line of shadowy crowds coming down out of the hills, all headed toward the hopefully empty Rapid City. ¡°Oh flip, then where?¡± Hunter said, and couldn¡¯t keep the soft whine out of his voice. Ellie twisted the handle of the buggy and they scooted forward a few feet, then reversed again, while he was trying to figure out where the shadows originated, and then he saw it. A sliver of the stars in the sky, over to the west and completely separate from the angry metallic flare, disappeared into blackness as she rocked the vehicle back and forth. There was a chunk of the horizon missing, a dark hole where there should have been something else, and for it to reach that high up in the air, from that far away- ¡°It¡¯s huge,¡± he whispered. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s getting bigger, too,¡± Ellie said quietly, her voice flat. ¡°And there¡¯s no one coming.¡± ¡°I told them,¡± she nodded vaguely to the east, ¡°to try to message anyone they could as soon as they got out from under the block, but who knows when that¡¯ll be.¡± ¡°We¡¯re screwed.¡± ¡°I think everyone¡¯s screwed,¡± she said after a while. ¡°But yeah, we¡¯re screwed in particular.¡± 16: There is a Light ¡°So,¡± Ellie said, in a tone Hunter had ever heard from adults why did I see an empty jelly jar on the roof, ¡°your magic¡¯s weird, Red.¡± ¡°Umm, yeah?¡± he replied, finishing the bite of his breakfast sandwich. ¡°Magic¡¯s weird, like, in general.¡± ¡°I mean it, though,¡± she said with a little frown, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. ¡°Like the channeling stuff, I get it, mine¡¯s weird too. But your affinity, ugh. It¡¯s not supposed to work like that.¡± ¡°Well, sure it is,¡± he replied, then paused a moment. ¡°Isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Look, all I know,¡± she sighed, ¡°is most people just make a thing when they cast a spell. And sure, infusion¡¯s a weird exception sometimes, but I¡¯ve got an infusion spell. It makes me faster when I run, but that¡¯s because it literally makes like, the wind hit me in the back.¡± ¡°But like,¡± Hunter rubbed the back of his neck, ¡°does it, though? Or does it just feel like that?¡± Ellie stared at him for a long moment, then held up both her hands in fists and opened them wide on either side of her head. ¡°See?¡± Hunter laughed and then took another bite. ¡°Magic¡¯s weird. You think the guys who have like, dancing fireballs are just making tiny bits of fire as little rocket engines? Nah, I figure they¡¯re just moving the fireballs, because magic¡¯s weird.¡± ¡°I mean,¡± she said slowly, ¡°they could be making little rocket engines. But they probably don¡¯t think of it like that. They point and the fireballs follow. So that Instant Whirlpool thing?¡± ¡°It moves me around like I¡¯m the fireball. Or I move around and it pushes? I dunno, Ellie. But you¡¯re right, it doesn¡¯t make a lot of water. That is pretty weird.¡± ¡°Huh,¡± she said and sat back, waiting for him to finish eating. ¡°We should go over the plan again, I think.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s probably smart,¡± he nodded. ¡°So, you think they haven¡¯t closed the Slide because they¡¯re all busy or worse.¡± ¡°Right, and closing it¡¯s gonna take like, a lot of Shards, which we don¡¯t have. But there should be some at the Source outpost.¡± ¡°Or, at worst,¡± he frowned, ¡°somewhere between there and the research base that might be near the Slide? That¡¯s the part I don¡¯t like. If someone, umm, or something forced them to abandon a convoy, are we going to have much chance of recovering it?¡± ¡°Look, Red,¡± Ellie put her head down as she spoke, ¡°I don¡¯t know. We¡¯ve got like, two real options here. Either we run for it, get the flip outta here, and hope someone else does something about it, or we try.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve gotta,¡± Hunter said softly, ¡°carry buckets. Even if they¡¯re small.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s something Wisp told me, my patron,¡± Hunter said, and paused a moment to chew on his lip. ¡°This is a mess. Someone out here, even if it¡¯s just us, needs our help. We might not be able to do anything, sure, and then we¡¯ll have to bail. But for now, like, if you need to take water somewhere, even a little bucket helps, yeah?¡± ¡°Oh,¡± she said, then nodded, then again even more emphatically. ¡°I like that. We can carry little buckets, Red, for sure. Gosh, the only thing my patron ever tells me is ¡®There is evil in that man¡¯s aura, beware,¡¯ or ¡®Do not find yourself alone with him in the dark.¡¯ I mean, helpful but not always applicable.¡± ¡°Whoa, Chariot tells you that kinda stuff?¡± ¡°Umm, well,¡± Ellie let out a soft giggle, ¡°Chariot doesn¡¯t like me, or Mom. The day they sat me down and told me to commune with him, I mighta said something about how she said big wheels are compensating for little other stuff.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Hunter said, and then tipped over laughing. ¡°I know, I know,¡± she shook her head and tried not to laugh along with him, but failed. ¡°But like, I had to? They¡¯re so, ugh, stuffy. So anyway, I got to talk to this really cool Lady. She¡¯s, umm, The Lady, that when Uncovered, Points to a Murderer. Full name.¡± ¡°She sounds super detectivey. Detectivish. Whatever.¡± ¡°Oh, she totally is,¡± Ellie nodded a few times, grinning. ¡°So like,¡± he trailed off for a moment, ¡°has she said anything lately, about this? Wisp¡¯s been quiet since I left Winner.¡± ¡°Just, umm,¡± she pointed over to the black chunk torn out of the horizon, ¡°there is a criminal, and a reckoning due.¡±
Hunter had never been in a forest before, and until that breathless run through the Badlands, had never even been anywhere that wasn¡¯t relatively flat, so there was a lot to get used to. He sat on the back of the buggy, holding loosely onto Ellie, and yawning a lot to get his ears to pop while she drove. They were taking an old, crumbling highway that twisted its way up into the hills toward the Source, and while she wasn¡¯t driving particularly fast, maybe just a bit over his jogging pace, there seemed to be a lot to take in. ¡°Wow,¡± he breathed out softly, ¡°look at all the trees. There¡¯s so many.¡± ¡°There¡¯s too many,¡± Ellie grumbled as she took the buggy up and over a broken piece of asphalt. ¡°Chop em all down, gimme a straight path.¡± ¡°No way. Think about it, you could wander around in there all day, all week. I bet there¡¯s so much to do.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± she replied, ¡°in a forest that isn¡¯t Pol territory. They probably burned down just about anything interesting in there before we were born.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah I guess.¡± ¡°Hey, look,¡± she said, ¡°we¡¯ll find an actual magical forest someday, and we¡¯ll, I dunno, stop the fairies from stealing babies or something.¡± Hunter nodded and went quiet for a little while as they rode on. Something about that bothered him, about his first forest being just as boring and stripped bare as any midwestern field he¡¯d ever seen. He squinted as he peered between the trees rushing by there are wolves in the woods, but he didn¡¯t see anything that looked too interesting. Ellie slowed down as they drove through a partially-ruined town, looking from side to side. ¡°Huh,¡± she muttered. ¡°Is this the outpost?¡± Hunter asked as he frowned. ¡°It looks, umm, wrecked.¡± ¡°No, this is just like, where they get the shipments ready?¡± she said. ¡°But it wasn¡¯t in this bad of a shape last time I came through here. Like that,¡± she pointed at a large building that looked like it had caved in right down the middle, ¡°wasn¡¯t all busted up.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± he mumbled as she revved the small engine and they drove toward one of the last places still standing. ¡°Think there¡¯s anyone left in there?¡± ¡°Dunno,¡± she said after pulling up to the building, but she hesitated before getting off the buggy. ¡°I¡¯m like, sorta sure this is the transit station. If we¡¯re lucky, they¡¯ll have boxes of Shards and other crystals in here. But, umm.¡± Hunter followed her gaze, and then frowned. The structure may have still been standing, but the large roll-up door in front had been shot at apparently, scorched in a few places, with holes melted all the way through in others. They both climbed off the vehicle and crept up toward the building, and then Hunter peered through one of the holes, clicking on his armor lights. It looked completely empty inside, except for some scattered tools in one corner he could see, and the stripped-down remains of what probably was, at one point, a car. ¡°Gosh,¡± Ellie said as she looked through another hole, using a narrow flashlight. ¡°They took all the trucks, like all of them. There probably isn¡¯t anyone left here, everyone would¡¯ve needed to drive something out.¡± ¡°So,¡± Hunter stepped back and turned to look at the giant silver column in the sky, the burning flare he¡¯d been ignoring all day, so bright even in the midmorning sun that it hurt to look at. He shuddered briefly, feeling like he could hear it roar, hear it tear itself open, hear it scream as it shot its essence out of the earth. ¡°I guess we¡¯re going to the Source.¡±
They were only twenty or thirty minutes from the Source at the moderate pace the buggy could handle, but they stopped after barely five when they found the first destroyed vehicle on the road. Ellie pulled up alongside it, and both teens just stared at what was left for a little while before saying anything. It had been some sort of van, Hunter figured, a long, tall box on six wheels, but now it was split open into a V shape from front to back, splayed like an open zipper. The driver and passenger definitely hadn¡¯t survived, judging from the splatter across what was left of the cabin. ¡°Wow, ugh,¡± Ellie said and then tipped over a little, retching. Hunter put his hand on her shoulder and shook with her while he forced himself to peer deeper into the wreck. Near the back, where it was still almost intact, there was a heavy-looking black sphere, too big around for his arms to reach even halfway. He looked up and down the road for wherever it could have come from, biting his bottom lip, then just shook his head. ¡°Trips,¡± he mumbled, and the little bot climbed out of his satchel and onto his shoulder. ¡°Eye on the sky, please. It must have come over the trees, because I don¡¯t think it came through em.¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t even, ugh,¡± Ellie paused to spit, ¡°make it halfway. I think I got it figured out, though.¡± ¡°Yeah? Do we have any chance?¡± ¡°Umm, well, ok,¡± she said as she sat back up and took a deep breath. ¡°Hear me out. Something went wrong with the Slide, or the Source. Both eventually, but one had to be first, right?¡± ¡°Right, ok,¡± Hunter held onto her again as she started driving. ¡°I think it¡¯s the Slide, actually. So they messed up the Slide sometime two days ago. Went from teeny and manageable to big and getting bigger. They shot off a local, non-Infra emergency, so all the townies in Rapid got into the shelters, and all the troops came out here, avoiding the shadow people, to Keystone. By that time, they¡¯d messed up the Source, too, and whatever came out of there started shooting. That hotel looked like it got hit by a bigger version of what pulped that van.¡± ¡°Yeah, it did, actually,¡± he nodded along. ¡°So the Keystone folk and whatever caravaners happened to be there locked themselves up in the depot, because maybe that could take an impact better than any of the oldtech buildings. The Pols get there, burn their way in, and commandeer all the vehicles, and all the people to drive them this way, to the Source. But why?¡± ¡°Well,¡± Hunter scratched the back of his head, pretending not to look at the next two demolished cars they passed, ¡°the Slide could have been an accident, and they cracked the Source on purpose. You get a lot more Shards when you break em than when you do the other thing.¡± ¡°Ok, right, right, Red,¡± Ellie said and nodded. ¡°So they broke it and then everyone went to collect the loot and take it up to the Slide. That must have been yesterday, though, and they didn¡¯t manage it.¡± ¡°So, wait,¡± Hunter frowned as he went over all that in his head. ¡°Why didn¡¯t they just grab the Shards into their currency folder and run them straight there? Why do they need all the trucks?¡± Ellie made a noise somewhere in between a sigh and a really sad chuckle. ¡°Because,¡± she said, ¡°SysPol can¡¯t do proper accounting on its large currency denominations if they¡¯re sucked up into someone¡¯s Infra. So all those Shards have to stay out, in boxes, even in an emergency. Even if they woulda saved a lot of lives doing it another way.¡± He just shook his head, and was about to reply when the highway turned gently and out from behind the trees, he saw something in the distance. ¡°Stop!¡± he said, shaking Ellie¡¯s shoulder with one hand and pointing with the other, ¡°Giant!¡±
Ellie finished wiping the tears from her cheeks, still giggling and hiccuping, and Hunter couldn¡¯t help but laugh along, even if it was at his expense. ¡°Ok so,¡± he muttered, then giggled again, ¡°how was I supposed to know?¡± ¡°I dunno, Red,¡± she said. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have laughed. It was good instincts, it was.¡± Hunter walked away from where they¡¯d parked the buggy on the side of the road to where he could get a good view again, hands on his hips, staring at the giant stone face in profile that was a few miles away, just next to the column of silver fire. He shook his head, glanced over at Ellie who was picking herself up off the ground finally, and then looked back again, squinting. ¡°You¡¯re sure,¡± he asked, ¡°that¡¯s always been there?¡± ¡°I¡¯m for sure, I promise,¡± she sniffed a little before breathing into her elbow slowly, her voice muffled. ¡°Since like, a long time ago. Totally oldtech, totally stationary. It¡¯s like presidents or something, apparently, and if you go, I mean went I guess, into the Source, those guys would talk to you.¡± ¡°Well, that sounds pretty cool,¡± he muttered, ¡°I guess.¡± ¡°We should go,¡± Ellie said once she¡¯d stopped hiccuping. ¡°Yeah, we-¡± Hunter paused, still looking off into the distance, as another stone face, this one attached to a stone body, slowly lumbered around the mountain and into view. He ran for the buggy, stammering, and finally managed to gasp out, ¡°There¡¯s another one, this one¡¯s moving, we gotta go now.¡± ¡°We still need the Shards though, Red,¡± Ellie hopped onto the front of the seat, revving the engine without going anywhere. ¡°We can¡¯t take empty buckets.¡± ¡°I know, I know,¡± he said softly, then made a decision. ¡°We gotta do the Hunter special. Go the dumb way, the really dumb way, and then cross our fingers that we squeak by.¡± ¡°Ok ok,¡± she said quickly, and then the buggy jumped as she put it into gear, barrelling down the freeway twice as fast as before. They drove quickly, weaving around more broken vehicles and ruined pavement, Ellie focused on the road while Hunter counted how many wrecks they were passing. He was up to a total of thirteen by the time Ellie turned hard, off the old road and onto one paved with the same brown material as Rapid City was. They had a straight shot toward the monument, toward the silver flare erupting out from behind those silent stone faces, toward the giant, humanoid rock golem that marched back and forth with a long rifle over its shoulder. Ellie opened up the throttle a little bit more, the ride bouncy but tolerable as they accelerated. Then there was a boom, and Hunter looked around scanning the sky, but Trips was silent, and it took a few seconds for him to realize it was a word, not gunfire. ¡°HALT,¡± echoed through the forested valley, and Ellie slid the buggy to an abrupt, screeching stop. They both looked up at the giant, over four hundred feet tall probably, and she reached back blindly to take Hunter¡¯s hand. It was, and Hunter would never be able to figure out how he had the sense to see that, dressed very oddly, even for an enormous monster. It had boots on that reached its knees, tight pants, a long coat with sashes across it, and long hair tied with a ribbon, that even as big and as heavy as it must have been, was swaying like there was a gentle breeze. Around its feet were at least another dozen smashed vehicles, some shot, some that looked stomped on, and off to the side behind it, Hunter could see a partially destroyed, shiny white building that probably used to be the outpost. Most importantly, however, we are going to die the giant had at some point on their approach aimed its monstrous rifle directly at them, and even from a couple hundred yards away, the barrel was big enough he could see up inside it and not even know it. ¡°ARE YE WITH THE RED,¡± the giant, already speaking slowly, paused for at least thirty seconds, during which the only thing Hunter could do was squeeze Ellie¡¯s hand weakly. ¡°SCARVES?¡± ¡°What?¡± Hunter whispered, dumbfounded. ¡°Umm, ok, I got this, Red,¡± Ellie whispered back, then turned and shouted at the golem, ¡°Nope! We¡¯re Americans! Just regular ol¡¯ Americans!¡± ¡°FROM WHAT COLONY DO YE HAIL?¡± was the booming, teeth-rattling reply. ¡°Oh!¡± Hunter said softly, ¡°I know this one. Colonies means states.¡± He took a deep breath before yelling out, ¡°We¡¯re from Kan-¡± ¡°No!¡± Ellie gasped and slapped a hand over his mouth before he could finish. ¡°Kansas wasn¡¯t one of them. Aww, nuts, what were they though? Umm.¡± He could see her start to panic, to breathe harder and faster, before she relaxed all at once, grinned her little crooked grin and winked at him, then turned to scream out, ¡°Virginia! We¡¯re from Virginia!¡± ¡°AH, VIRGINIANS,¡± the giant nodded once. ¡°GOOD, FINE FOLK, THE VIRGINIANS. KEEP A STERN WATCH IF YE BE HEADING UP THE NORTHERN PASS ON THAT STRANGE HORSE OF YOURS. THERE MAY BE A SMALL NUMBER OF RED¡­ SCARVES WHO EVADED MY GRASP.¡± ¡°We, umm, absolutely will!¡± Ellie shouted. She sat on the buggy, breathing hard for what seemed to Hunter to be a very long time, and then slowly drove down toward the enormous stone feet of the rifleman. She reached down briefly as they passed a discarded, broken-open trunk, and stuck her hand in as they went by.
Your group has looted thirty-two (32) [Fount Shards] and eight (8) [Perfect Fount Shards]! Your share is sixteen (16) [Fount Shards] and four (4) [Perfect Fount Shards].
Hunter rested his head on Ellie¡¯s shoulder from behind as they left the golem and all its victims behind, murmuring softly as he held onto her, ¡°It¡¯s ok, it¡¯s ok. You did so good.¡± ¡°Red,¡± she whispered shakily, after they¡¯d driven far enough north that they couldn¡¯t see the monument anymore. ¡°I couldn¡¯t see the level, but like, ugh. They used to send in teams of like forty transcendents with at least five sublimed doing bodyguard duty, to clear that Source. That thing coulda sneezed and obliterated us both.¡± ¡°But yeah, it didn¡¯t?¡± he said as he just hugged her armored torso tighter. ¡°Hunter special, step two, is to pretend after like it never, ever happened.¡±
Hunter had, now that he sat, looked through it, and actually counted, copied a large number of Infra rituals into his notebook. He had the four extended class rituals Ellie might be interested in one, oh flip Miracle would too, he had currency rituals for combining or splitting essence crystals, he even scribbled down part of the late mortal path change ritual just in case. What he didn¡¯t have, he found with a groan, was a large-scale Slide closing ritual. ¡°I¡¯ve got the, umm,¡± he said weakly, ¡°the rubric. The general idea, some rules. But that¡¯s about it.¡± Ellie sighed, nodded, and sat down next to him after she¡¯d paced back and forth across the road a few more times. They¡¯d driven a couple miles north, until the SysPol road had stopped twisting around the hills and settled into a mathematically straight line toward the Slide. Both teens just stared down the highway at it, close enough that there was texture in the blackness, some kind of clouds or grotesquely large shadow beings, twisting and combining on the other side of the portal. When he used his binoculars, Hunter could see what was left of the research facility, tucked between the giant, black rent in the world and a small lake to the west. There didn¡¯t seem to be any movement except for the shifting of the Slide and the group of shadow monsters that exited to the east every one hundred and five seconds, exactly. ¡°Alright, so,¡± Ellie murmured, ¡°here¡¯s what I know. If it¡¯s a normal, small to medium Slide, you make the most regular shape you can by keeping the Shards like, fifteen to twenty feet apart. Or twenty-five to thirty. Maybe more than that, I dunno.¡± She drew in the dirt at the side of the road, a triangle, a square, a pentagram. ¡°Ok,¡± Hunter nodded, ¡°that makes sense. That¡¯s in my notes.¡± ¡°But bigger ones,¡± she drew a rough circle made out of dots in the earth, ¡°that doesn¡¯t work, you can¡¯t make a twenty-sided shape and expect it to hold, apparently. Too weak.¡± ¡°Right, right,¡± he nodded, read a little further in his book, and pointed to a diagram he¡¯d less than carefully drawn. ¡°You need to make a star, with the inner parts ¡®disrupting the directional coefficient.¡¯ Or something.¡± ¡°Which, ok,¡± Ellie took the binoculars and peered up the road for a while before continuing, ¡°we know the directional thing. Every single group has come out that one side. Maybe it¡¯s not a coincidence, maybe it¡¯s just really lopsided?¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°So, like,¡± Hunter drew a circle on the ground, and then scribbled in a number of spikes on the right side. ¡°We surround it, and then use the perfects to punch whatever¡¯s coming out back in?¡± ¡°That¡¯s my best guess, yeah,¡± she sighed and leaned against him, while Hunter sketched out another drawing in his notebook. ¡°Hey, Red. Tell me a story or something, that¡¯s going to make all this seem less awful.¡±
¡°Ok, so, umm,¡± Hunter started his story poorly, while he worked on the new diagram. ¡°You know how my mom almost beat up my uncle¡¯s friend Pete the first time they met? I¡¯m pretty sure when I first heard it, I messaged you about that, like I think I told everyone about that, even strangers.¡± ¡°Devil Hallahan, right,¡± Ellie nodded and got more comfortable against his side. ¡°I still like Secret Fighting Genius better.¡± ¡°Oh, for sure. So like, the Bears and Fourex, that¡¯s Ernie¡¯s group, they hated each other after that, but not like a punch each other in the nose kind of hate. More like this simmering, festering, every so often do awful things to each other when they think they can get away with it kind of hate. Like, the Bears tricked the guys into drinking tainted water one time, and Fourex left them in this weird catacomb place without a light or a ladder another time. Really awful stuff, but I mean, people were doing worse in the apocalypse for even dumber reasons, I guess. ¡°So I was talking to Addy, a couple weeks back, about what I¡¯d been up to in the city.¡± ¡°I love Addy,¡± Ellie murmured. ¡°She was my favorite Bear.¡± ¡°The worst babysitter out of all of them, but she¡¯s pretty cool, yeah. We were talking, and I mentioned all the sparring I did with Breaker, Ernie¡¯s really big, really cool friend. I think that¡¯s how I said it, even, and she¡¯s all ¡®Oh, he¡¯s still around? Must be too big and dumb to die,¡¯ but like, she didn¡¯t say it in a mean way, if that makes any sense. ¡°So I, you know, asked what¡¯s up with that? That¡¯s when she told me some of the stuff that went down between them, and then she told me how it all got fixed, at least for her and Breaker. ¡°Anyway this is the story. Somewhere out in Kentucky, there¡¯s this regular old coal mine, at least it used to be a regular mine. It got all charged up with essence, and now the folks that live there are super rich, cuz they¡¯ve got all this magic coal to dig up. They¡¯re also super paranoid, they don¡¯t want anything to do with SysPol, they don¡¯t even want a Guild. If there¡¯s a problem, they throw money at adventurers they trust and that usually solves the problem. ¡°Then they get a real problem, a Slide right in the middle of their mine, and for a while they¡¯re like whatever, but then they have to call for help.¡± ¡°Oh no,¡± Ellie whispered, ¡°they called both groups?¡± ¡°Yeah, but it didn¡¯t go as bad as you¡¯d think. Ernie and Cass are professionals, and these coal miner people are weird rich hillbillies but they¡¯re smart, so if they say they need both groups, they probably do. They got along. Not great, but enough to work together. So they go into the mine, and it¡¯s full of these furry beetles with huge mouths, and it takes them a week or so of constant fighting to kill their way to the Slide. They were tough beetles. ¡°They get there, and the Slide¡¯s way bigger than they thought, like it¡¯s not the size of the tunnel they find it in, it¡¯s been eating into the walls and floor. Pete and Olive, they make this plan, and Addy couldn¡¯t remember what it was, if she even understood it in the first place. But her and Breaker, they had to hold this tunnel, not let any of the beetles out, while everybody else did their thing and fixed the mess. ¡°Then something goes wrong, Addy doesn¡¯t know what, but like Pete and Olly are smart but they aren¡¯t perfect. The Slide goes wonky and then tons of the beetles come out, pouring out, just a stream of them, and they¡¯re like three feet tall but piled on top of each other there¡¯s so many. ¡°So, Breaker turns to her and says, ¡®Adelaide, I wish I coulda met you in better circumstances,¡¯ and she just says, ¡®Likewise, James,¡¯ because she¡¯s gotta be cooler than everyone, right. Now, he¡¯s got his giant mechanical gauntlets, and she was still using a pair of magic aluminum bats before she got the tonfas, and all they¡¯ve gotta do is smash beetles until someone closes the Slide, finally. ¡°Except, no one closes it. They¡¯re in there an hour, two, they¡¯re pretty sure both of their teams are all dead, because the plan wasn¡¯t supposed to take this long. But there¡¯s more beetles, and if they get out of the tunnel, then for sure even more people are going to die. Addy says, she kept thinking every time she¡¯d get close to running out of vigor, of resilience, of the will to keep going, she¡¯d think ¡®any minute now,¡¯ because that would be properly dramatic, but the Slide still didn¡¯t close, so she just kept going. Breaker too. ¡°Finally, finally, they¡¯re exhausted, bloody, the floor¡¯s apparently just a foot or two deep in beetle soup-¡± ¡°Eww,¡± Ellie giggled and punched his arm lightly. ¡°For sure, eww. But then the beetles stop coming, at some point.¡± ¡°They closed the Slide?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s still open, just no more beetles. Addy goes and looks through it, and there¡¯s a giant cavern, like huge, and it¡¯s empty. Like, every single one of em that was in this massive, monstrous space came through the portal and got smashed. So then they wait around, another half an hour maybe, the Slide closes, and they wander out. They meet up back at the entrance with everyone, they¡¯re all fine, and the rest of their groups are all satisfied and feeling pretty good about themselves for getting it done. ¡°But Addy and Breaker, they¡¯re not ready to celebrate. They didn¡¯t get that sudden relief of the plan working, of everything ending great. They just held on and fought until there literally wasn¡¯t anything to fight anymore. Then that was it. No rescue, no fireworks, no abrupt, happy ending. Those two went through something, not something good, or particularly rewarding, but something necessary. ¡°I¡¯m not saying, umm, that¡¯s what we have to do now. We can¡¯t kill all those shadows. But we can¡¯t go in like we expect something good to happen during or after. We just get it done, ok? And Breaker and Addy are two of the coolest people I know, so if there¡¯s anyone worth trying to be like, it¡¯s them. It¡¯s not awful, it¡¯s just, you know, what we do now.¡±
¡°Set timer for,¡± Ellie murmured then waited a beat, ¡°now.¡± 1:45 ¡°Ok, there they go,¡± she whispered, peeking over the buggy to watch the group of shadow people swarm off to the east. ¡°They look bigger.¡± Hunter couldn¡¯t tell, but he watched the mass of tall, indistinct figures until they crested a small hill and went out of sight, checking his timer constantly. 1:30 ¡°Go,¡± she said, then she vaulted the vehicle and ran straight north to the back side of the Slide, her ponytail flapping as the breeze made her sprint faster and faster.
[Ellie]: infra only til it¡¯s done
Hunter took off toward the south end, skidding to a stop when Trips told him, ¡°here,¡± then he summoned the first Shard and jammed the sharp end into the ground. 1:05 ¡°back. rite. here.¡± the bot on his shoulder said, and Hunter looked around, feeling anxious, like there were eyes or whatever those shadows have on him already, and then planted the next crystal before running to just about where the third one should go. 0:48 Hunter turned and ran back while Trips repeated ¡°nope. nope. nope,¡± over and over, yanking up the third Shard and shoving his hand down into the hole it left in the dirt, feeling around. 0:36 He grabbed the rock at the bottom of the hole that had skewed the crystal¡¯s angle, shoved some dirt back in, and slammed the Shard back down. 0:18 ¡°four. here.¡± 0:11 Hunter was definitely shaking now, his Infra window with Trips popping up ¡°nope,¡± and ¡°left,¡± too fast for him to figure out what he was doing wrong. He looked around quickly, judged how far he was from the last Shard, then back down to the ground to aim again. 0:05
[Ellie]: down [Trips]: down [Hunter]: down
1:45 Hunter was too far around the back of the Slide to see the monsters come out, so he just kept his gaze on the edge as he pressed as flat to the ground as he could. Nothing came around the outside, as far as he could tell, and he did his best to ignore the piercing headache the hazy border gave him from staring at it for too long. 1:30
[Hunter]: clear [Ellie]: clear here, too
He sat up, jammed the crystalline spike into the right place in the ground finally, and then bolted for the next spot in the pattern as fast as he could. Hunter raced from spot to spot at full speed, tearing his pants as he slid at one point, scraping his hand bloody as he fumbled the Shard at another, but he stayed moving and kept up the pace.
[Ellie]: done [Ellie]: anchor in [Ellie]: come on, red [Ellie]: plz
0:29 Hunter, with his left hand, desperately wiping the right off on his pants, twisted the Shard as he shoved it into a particularly tough patch of dirt. Trips let him know, ¡°here, done,¡± and then he ran again toward the white building behind the Slide. 0:06 He slid in next to Ellie on the ground feet-first, his toes just barely brushing the white wall of the facility, panting, but still managed to flash her a grin and a thumbs-up. There was already a gleaming, iridescent spike, about half again as long as the others, buried partly in the dirt, so Hunter quickly summoned one of his own perfect Shards and slowly slid it into the ground, so sharp he didn¡¯t even have to push hard.
[Hunter]: down [Hunter]: anchor in [Hunter]: can we take a break? [Hunter]: just one cycle, the front side¡¯s going to be way harder [Ellie]: for sure [Ellie]: what do you think, we do 2 each and then we hide? or as many as possible [Hunter]: i dunno, but you were right. i think they¡¯re bigger [Hunter]: you might be able to kill them still, not sure if i can [Ellie]: ok, we go slow, we go even. hopefully if they see us, they don¡¯t split. better if all of em go for 1, then whoever that is transfers their stuff and bolts [Hunter]: ok, got it. you check the door? [Ellie]: ya, locked up tight [Hunter]: shoot, ok
1:31
[Hunter]: now? [Ellie]: now
Hunter got up and ran the direction Ellie had come from, while she went the opposite. He and Trips glanced down at the Shards she had implanted, counting that he¡¯d done the same number, then he skidded to a halt at the far north of the Slide, where she had started. 1:02
[Ellie]: looks good here, s end [Hunter]: all set here [Hunter]: let¡¯s do one and hunker. we¡¯re screwed if this thing gets much bigger [Ellie]: got it
1:40
[Hunter]: clear, i think [Ellie]: clear
Six left, Hunter thought, then the perfects. He waited the ten seconds for the shadows to move down the road, then got up and moved to the next position, taking his time to get the Shard in the right spot. He checked the time again prudently not compulsively, and jogged a little further. 0:45 Hunter planted the next spike, then lowered himself to the ground as flat as he could. He was just shy of the northeast corner, but far enough back that he could see the side the monsters were coming out of. He slowed his breathing, stopped drumming his fingers on the hard packed dirt, and waited, knowing Ellie would be in the same position, just barely blocked by the black portal. 0:10
[Ellie]: ur down right? [Hunter]: yeah, you? [Ellie]: ya
1:45 He made himself very small, he visualized flatness, he was one with the earth, and he watched as a mass spilled out of the Slide, the size of one of the bigger clumps of infiltrators. Then it split apart into separate figures, six hulking humanoid forms, and instead of going east to join the hundreds in Rapid City, they started drifting toward him. Or, he noticed a moment later, half of them did. 1:42 ¡°Incoming!¡± he shouted as he sprung to his feet. Hunter backed away a few steps, working his satchel off stupid extra strap, then filled it with as many of his remaining Fount Shards as he could fit before tossing it toward the next spot. ¡°Trips, it¡¯s all you.¡± ¡°Same! Nuts!¡± he heard faintly a few moments later, but he tried not to worry about that, he just moved to put himself in between the larger shadow monsters and the small robot, already working on burying its first spike. 1:35 Two were headed to Hunter¡¯s left, the third angling to the other side, some kind of uneven flanking maneuver he didn¡¯t want to let them complete. The moment they were close enough to start swinging, he twitched his arm the way Pete had shown him, his focus detached and fell into his hand, then he tossed it to his left quickly. As the two rings started to spin in the air while they flew, he could see the upper bodies of the monsters ripple slightly, the way the infiltrators looked when they turned, apparently following the trajectory. Hunter moved, from one side of their loose formation to the other, and with one practiced motion, turned and summoned his staff all at once, jabbing the end directly below the misshapen lump of the middle monster¡¯s head. There was a cracking noise, his arms went briefly numb, and he pulled back a foot less of his wizard stick than he started with, the entire end splintered.
Your [Oak Staff] has suffered critical damage! You now have [Broken Oak Staff]. Warning: broken equipment cannot be used for talents and will provide a large (-50%) penalty to use with skills.
1:19 Hunter tossed his staff away, backing up as his focus fluttered back in an arc and settled into its usual place at his side. Arms up, hands loose, he kept his footwork light and steady, making sure only one of the steadily approaching figures could attack him at once. Their swipes were just as telegraphed as before, and a bit slower, but he could feel they were much more powerful. Each near miss seemed to make a stiff breeze and each time he parried one of their multiple arms away, Hunter could feel the impact behind it, even if it didn¡¯t hurt. 1:05 One of the trailing monsters lurched, its form blurring even more than before, and suddenly it was at his side. Hunter ducked and tried to get an arm up, but it still clipped him on the shoulder and sent him stumbling briefly toward the Slide.
[Shadow Bruiser] has struck you with a glancing blow for six (6) damage!
0:51 He glanced past his opponents for a brief moment, saw Trips was hammering down its third Shard already, and then heard a series of screeches from behind him. Not wanting to chance it, he Flicker Stepped backward before twisting around to look, then froze momentarily. He saw Ellie down on one knee, her sabre dripping black fluid, her other hand plunging one of her own Shards into the ground. He also saw his arm, gone at the elbow, plunged halfway into the maw of the Slide, a giant, flickering black mass where his forearm and hand should be. He jerked away from the portal, trying to figure out how he¡¯d gotten so close without knowing it, and only briefly checked to see that he still had an entire limb when he pulled it free. 0:45 Ellie started to get up, hesitating, looking like she was going to head his way. He waved her off and shouted, ¡°Just finish,¡± before having to dodge out of the path of another swipe. 0:41 Two bruisers were coming from one side while the third edged along the border of the Slide, and Hunter darted toward that one. It reared up with two of its arms and slammed them down as soon as he approached, but he was balanced, he was centered, he was in control, and while he felt the ground shake as its limbs pounded the dirt, the attack missed him cleanly. The light in his affinity and the wave that wanted him to crash both guided him forward as he pulled a Water Burst into his hand, and then he slammed it palm-first into the side of the monster. There was, maybe if he squinted, a steaming hole much smaller than his fist where his spell hit, and he leapt away as the shadow started to sweep its arms at his feet, seeming unhurt. 0:39 Hunter felt a thrumming beneath his feet as all three bruisers glided closer, pinning him in. He looked around not in a panic, but couldn¡¯t see what was going on in the short window he allowed himself to search. ¡°Almost got it,¡± Ellie shouted to him, ¡°just the perfect ones to make the star parts!¡± 0:30
[Shadow Bruiser] has struck you with a glancing blow for four (4) damage! [Shadow Bruiser] has struck you with a glancing blow for seven (7) damage!
0:22 ¡°No, Trips!¡± he heard Ellie yell, ¡°Not there! Bad robot!¡± 0:14 Hunter took another blow to the side while he weaved in between the shadows, doing his best to keep at least one out of range and still hold their attention. He was in the middle of trying another Water Burst, and when his fingers slipped past the amorphous lower body of one of the monsters, he felt his affinity roar in response. He twisted around the next blow and cast his spell again, and this time, with the Wave Charge, it at least made the bulky shadow fall back a few steps. 0:08 ¡°No no no,¡± Ellie screamed, and he saw her out of the corner of his eye, rearranging two of the perfect shards, then she turned and ran back to the outer ring. ¡°I screwed up!¡± 0:01 The Slide flickered behind Hunter, and then grew in an instant, just a few feet, but enough to envelop him and the shadows all at once.
Hunter¡¯s dad, when the farm wasn¡¯t doing so well, had often said he was just going to pack up and move the whole family to the ocean. Then, when things were going better, he¡¯d say something similar, but more of a promise than a resignation. But between his dad¡¯s place on the redoubt¡¯s council, the work his mother had her hands full with because of a slowly increasing population of village children, and the various disasters and everyday work that came along with owning a farm, they never made it out to an ocean. They went to a lake, once, and Hunter thought that was pretty alright. He didn¡¯t actually mind not going, though, as much as his dad talked up the idea. ¡°A long, sandy beach, with the waves lapping at our toes,¡± he¡¯d say. Hunter thought, however, that the river was pretty good for wet feet. ¡°The water goes as far as your eye can see.¡± The dirt in Kansas goes that far, too, and Hunter figured it¡¯d be just as boring if it was another color. ¡°You can swim out until your feet don¡¯t reach the bottom and float where nothing can ever bother you. Seawater¡¯s a different buoyancy than sweet.¡± That part seemed kind of alright, he thought. There was something about that, about a perfect weightlessness, or at least as close to it as you could get without magic or going into space, that Hunter longed for. No more fidgeting, no more intrusive, racing thoughts, no more stumbling over his words, worried he¡¯d say the wrong thing. Meditation got him close, and closer every day, and he was pretty sure just the act of growing older had curbed a lot of his worst impulses, his destructive, thoughtless fits of boredom. He never bothered his dad about it, never tried to encourage him to take them, because he could never figure out how to say it. I want to float, Hunter thought, and never stop. I woulda thought it¡¯d be warmer, though. Everything was cool, quiet, and dark. His feet were still on the ground but it didn¡¯t feel like he was standing, just suspended. It was nice, but not as nice as his dad had made it out to be. Where¡¯s the sun? Where¡¯s the blue water? Where¡¯s the sand? It¡¯s supposed to be sand, not some weird, hard dirt. He drifted from side to side, slowly seeing patterns in the blank darkness that surrounded him as his eyes adjusted. Hunter¡¯s body jerked, almost on its own, bending backwards as something in the void swept at his face. He let himself fall, thinking he¡¯d drift off and away from whatever it was, but his back hit the ground and he was already rolling to his feet by the time he realized what had happened. There were more swirls of black on black and he slapped one away, but didn¡¯t get a solid blow on the other, feeling something hard and unyielding drag across his ribs.
[Shadow Bruiser] has struck you with a glancing blow for three (3) damage!
There¡¯s the blue, he mused to himself, but we¡¯re still missing the- Everything black went suddenly white, and Hunter shut his eyes, staggering. The darkness returned, and he heard splashes like water balloons bursting, and then it was bright again. He stumbled forward, covering his eyes, as something pushed him from behind, pushed his entire body like a wave of pressure. Then he fell, and rolled, and felt himself be dragged by the collar, felt his own weight again, saw the sky and loosely curled brown hair. Hunter sat up and stared at the Slide, still just as big as ever, but twisting and flashing between the almost perfect black and a blinding white. He looked over his shoulder at Ellie and asked, ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she murmured, ¡°but it doesn¡¯t look good.¡±
Hunter sat, his satchel almost empty but back on his shoulder, using his resilience focus while he watched the portal refuse to go away, or even get smaller. The shadow bruisers were still coming out every minute and forty-five seconds, but they¡¯d evaporate a moment later when the Slide turned white. Ellie was off retrieving the buggy so they could leave and get help, and he looked over where she¡¯d walked to when he heard a shout. It wasn¡¯t his friend, though, who was yelling. Walking around the Slide was a tall man, wearing a SysPol scarf like a bandana around his head and a very long coat. ¡°I said,¡± the man said, not quite yelling, but in a very loud, shrill voice, ¡°what have you children done to my experiment?¡± ¡°Your experiment?¡± Ellie shouted back as she drove up on the buggy, and she could really shout when she wanted to. ¡°All we¡¯re doing is trying to fix this mess, and you-¡± she started, but got cut off when the man drew a long pistol, lightning quick, and shot her off the vehicle with an angry red beam. ¡°That was rhetorical!¡± he screamed, and then aimed at Hunter with another jerky, almost instantaneous movement, but the teen was already running when the second blast came. He glanced briefly at Ellie, who was flat on her back behind the buggy, but awake enough to grab her share of the last two favor cookies out of one of her many pants pockets. He recast his spells as he ran diagonally in the general direction of the shooter, watching him intently. The man was tracking him with his foot-long handgun, but the moment Hunter saw his arm tense, he Flicker Stepped out of the way of the beam, turned, and sprinted as fast as he could, directly at him. The Pol shot again, but this time Hunter was close, and slapped the barrel away while the gun went off. He went for an immediate counterattack, water affinity compressed tightly in his hand as he tried to brush his fingers across the taller man¡¯s stomach, but was rebuffed almost instantly. ¡°That¡¯s not going to work, child,¡± the man hissed, his free hand wrapped around Hunter¡¯s wrist, having grabbed it so fast it took the teen a moment to even process what had happened. Then he heaved and Hunter went stumbling a few feet, catching his footing and whipping around to keep his eyes on his opponent, but there wasn¡¯t an immediate followup shot like he assumed. Instead, the Pol, probably an officer Hunter figured, if he had a coat like that, was fiddling with his pistol. Then he aimed it again, but Hunter was ready and leapt out of the way of another beam. He heard Ellie shout from behind and over to the side, ¡°Look out, reverser!¡± but he didn¡¯t really understand until he felt something slam into his back and he fell to his knees.
[Franklin Gregory Warren] has struck you for eighty-one (81) damage! Warning: you are at critical resilience levels! (10/117)
Hunter wobbled, reached into his bag, and moved to the left, but almost at the same time he watched the next shot go ten feet past where he previously was, then turn at a hard angle and slam into his hand, pulping the cookie he¡¯d just grabbed on the way to blasting into his chest. His Infra flickered out before he could see how much damage that was, and he tipped over onto his side, vision blurring. He heard a scream, even if it was really far away, and his head hit the dirt, so now everything was blurry and sideways as he watched what happened next. He saw his friend Ellie, which was nice, thinking Hey, when did she move back? Ellie had a sword, and she was shouting something, that if it wasn¡¯t so loud, he probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to hear. He still didn¡¯t think he heard it very well, because it sounded like, ¡°The Lady has judged you, and found you lacking,¡± which didn¡¯t make any sense. Her eyes were glowing, which was weird, too, and then she waved her sword around in the air. There were a series of wet thumps on the ground, and then his friend Ellie ran over to him, and that was nice too. Book 1 Epilogue: A Typical Interruption Crushes-Valiant stared at his terminal for a long time, then reached out a thin, fibrous tendril and tapped the screen. The numbers changed, but they didn¡¯t change the way he¡¯d have liked, and he rolled backwards with a faint, for him, grumble before slowly turning his massive body. He looked out the false window in his study at the striped planet that vexed him, at the frustrating red spot that could be his peaceful legacy, if only it would cooperate. He rotated the iron spheroid currently serving as his head, and was about to call out to his Infra-mandated assistant when he noticed the awful little thing already zooming into the room. ¡°Good,¡± he said, the rest of his spheroids, forty-six in total, an auspicious number, grinding together as he drew a breath he only needed for speech, ¡°you¡¯re here. Emergent, massive. Make a note-¡± ¡°There¡¯s a Type-B emergency, sir. A breach event,¡± four-sided, floating, and golden, his assistant spoke in a voice like modulated Pullican wind chimes. Valiant hated wind chimes, but never as much as he had in the past twelve Earth years. ¡°Is your requested note regarding the emergency? My functions will be restricted until the breach is sealed.¡± ¡°No, hmm,¡± he inhaled slowly, the iron that made up the majority of his body swelling and shifting, and then he breathed out all at once, sending the annoying pyramid halfway across the room in a gust of wind. ¡°How would it be about the emergency that you¡¯ve only just informed me of?¡± ¡°Happenstance?¡± chimed the robot as it zoomed back. ¡°Prescience?¡± ¡°Table the note, and brief me on the circumstances of the breach,¡± Valiant said, ignoring what would have been insolence in a more intelligent sentient. ¡°Most importantly, hmm, which impatient fools are at fault this time?¡± There was a beep as his assistant accessed the information, a beep that he could never ascertain the actual point of, and it said, ¡°Humans, sir.¡± ¡°You have officially outlived your usefulness, object,¡± he said as he stood, shifting his spheroids until he reached a comfortable fourteen feet in height. ¡°If the humans have breached dimensions, on their own homeworld, that is, hmm, an enlightenment, not an emergency. I would tell you to check your pathways, but I think I will simply request a new assistant on my next assignment.¡± ¡°Begging your pardon, sir, but the manifold signature doesn¡¯t match an enlightenment. In fact, it¡¯s roughly the same, within acceptable statistical bounds, as the breaches in Kabul, Juneau, and Plano. It is likely the same, with less confidence, as-¡± ¡°I see,¡± Valiant said, interrupting. ¡°Type-B it is, then. Systemic, metaphysical, technological. How is the emergency response progressing? Kabul was handled, hmm, before the second wave of ripple effects, if I recall. Quite astounding.¡± ¡°The emergency response is,¡± his assistant paused mid-sentence, beeped once more, and then paused again. ¡°It is barely existent. It is blocked. The breach has reportedly been open for two Earth days with little to no response. I have only received secondhand reports from apparent survivors, thirdhand reports from others meeting with apparent survivors, and-¡± ¡°Wait,¡± he said, interrupting again, with a deep, resounding roar that, in his opinion, only fifty tons of iron could provide. ¡°Blocked? On whose authority?¡± ¡°There were three separate broadcast injunctions in place, officially requested and granted. I will list them, chronologically,¡± the robot said. ¡°A group-level messages control, requested by System Polity for ¡®disciplinary functions,¡¯ and granted in two-thousand seven, Earth year. A wide-spectrum, geo-locked message dampening, requested by System Polity for ¡®experimental variance factors,¡¯ and granted in two-thousand eighteen. A full, root-level hold on all extradimensional traffic, requested by System Polity for ¡®maximum safety concerns,¡¯ granted conditionally due to historical request response two days ago, waiting for your approval.¡± Crushes-Valiant sighed, long and hard, kicking up a windstorm in his little study and sending the assistant tumbling for a few brief seconds of silence. ¡°First,¡± he rumbled, ¡°deny that request. Obviously. Second, gather all my notes regarding System Polity, prioritizing, hmm, any in which I used the words ¡®monolithic,¡¯ ¡®authoritarian,¡¯ or the phrase ¡®tribe mentality.¡¯ We will need those for the review. Third, prepare an immediate emergency response to the breach, the same parameters as Kabul except scaled up to, hmm, thirteen percent higher efficacy.¡± ¡°Complete, complete,¡± his assistant rattled off, ¡°Failed. Type-B emergency reclassified as Type-F, transversal containment failure. It was detected when the broadcast injunction was dropped. My best estimate places the current age of the reclassified event at six to seven Earth minutes.¡±
Ever since he had ascended, and somewhat ironically plunged from the upper atmosphere of his homeworld to the surface, Crushes-Valiant had been fond of deorbital entrances. They were quick, they were efficient, and in a world he sometimes found bereft of it, they were fun. However, they were purposefully and messily destructive, and so when visiting Earth, his ward planet, he usually chose the more subtle option of an intrarealm transport. The moment after his massive body was flawlessly and instantaneously rewritten in a new area of spacetime, he twisted his gravitic affinity until the spheroids he was using as feet no longer made divots in the ground. One liked to make an impression, but not in that particular manner. He chuckled to himself in a low rumble, and made a mental note to use that turn of phrase in his next casual conversation with a human. He also assessed the situation, being perfectly capable of more than one thought process at once. There was, at first glance, a catastrophically failing Slide, so at least his assistant wasn¡¯t completely useless. It was cycling between its point of origin and what appeared to be a cognitive processing center brane at regular intervals. He estimated, based on the rate and manner of the transversal portal¡¯s current error profile that it would sustain this state for another sixteen minutes before inverting, most likely destroying the local landmass, and possibly disrupting the planet¡¯s orbit. Approximately sixteen minutes, Valiant reminded himself. There was also a small personal transport vehicle, trivial importance, a possibly sentient robot that he might interview later for a new assistant, and three humans, one alive, one dead, one possibly dead. The definitely alive human appeared, if he accurately remembered their emotional state variances, to be in distress, so he approached slowly, dialing his weight back by another factor. ¡°Hello,¡± he said, and then after noticing the human¡¯s decorative fringes being blown back, remodulated his volume and repeated himself. ¡°Hello. May I be of assistance?¡± Then, because he suddenly remembered both a human tendency in conversation and the word that had been evading his grasp, he continued, ¡°I like your hair.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The human looked up, face wet from nearly every orifice, confirming his suspicion of distress, and then made a noise that Valiant decided to hear as bluh. He crouched down, more of his spheroids touching down on the dirt to put his head, if not level with the human¡¯s, then at least merely three times higher off the ground. ¡°Is there anything I can do for you, little,¡± he began, but then paused, feeling like perhaps calling the little human exactly that wouldn¡¯t feel reassuring enough. He began to make a guess at the gender of the human, but he wasn¡¯t an expert on their secondary sex characteristics, so he cheated and scanned the nameplate. ¡°Eleanora? Do you require help?¡± ¡°Red¡¯s dead and we screwed up the emergency and I never killed anybody before,¡± Eleanora said quickly, and then slumped back down across the possibly dead human. Valiant cross-referenced her apparent level of distress with her statement, and found it well within bounds. ¡°Which human, hmm, is Red?¡± he extended a tendril out from between his spheroids and gestured to the one that was in multiple pieces. ¡°That one is certainly dead. This other one barely appears injured.¡± ¡°No, but he¡¯s dead, he got shot. I got shot, and it was a lot of damage, and he got shot twice, and he¡¯s so small,¡± Eleanora said, the human¡¯s voice muffled, pressed against the other human¡¯s body and surrounded by that fringe. ¡°And it¡¯s all my fault. I knew there had to be someone in there, someone who did all this, but if I told Red, he¡¯d be like ¡®Gee maybe they can help or something,¡¯ so I stayed quiet and then he came out and shot him.¡± Crushes-Valiant paused for a moment after the human was done speaking so very quickly. Micromanagement could be quite vexing, but he liked to think he¡¯d always had a talent for it. ¡°He was shot with, hmm¡± Valiant extended a tendril past the human and pointed to the discarded pistol on the ground after scanning it, ¡°this gun? High energy projector, maximally resilience-tuned. Commonly known as an OV-gun, for opening volley, a Source-blaster, or rarely, a scrambler. Very effective against, hmm, Infra-created entities, essence monsters, and sapients past the transcendental barrier. Not so much for mortals, as these weapons don¡¯t tend do enough actual physical damage to impair their bodily functions.¡± ¡°So he¡¯s gonna be ok?¡± the small human said, looking up from the slightly smaller human. ¡°He is well into the negatives in resilience. The common procedure Infra would take is a full upload of his neurochemical gestalt to review at a later date. I¡¯d estimate he has at least, hmm, one to two minutes before his lower brain function fully shuts down and ceases to sustain his body further,¡± Valiant mused, which for some reason made the human emit a much louder, longer, and higher-pitched bluh noise. ¡°But,¡± he continued, a bit louder than before to disrupt whatever that new sound was, ¡°there are ways to extend that period.¡± One of the perks of the Regency Structure that Crushes-Valiant found particularly useful was a real-time, in-depth view of every being, phenomenon, and object within a certain radius, although he kept the scans of sapients muted by default. Eleanora had a large number of objects in the pockets of her lower garment, but none that would suffice. The dead man apparently came here with his clothing and his gun, which seemed unprepared to Valiant. The other human, whose name was apparently not ¡®Red,¡¯ and who seemed vaguely familiar to him in a way that meant Valiant would have to check his notes at a later time, had the appropriate device. It wasn¡¯t a Living Crown, forged from harvested oldgrowth, imbued for years by priests of the contentious concept of life, but it would do. He reached out with a tendril into the container next to the two humans, took the stabilizer cap out, and placed it firmly on the prone young man. After a moment, he removed it, then the headcovering the boy was already wearing, and after was able fit the cap onto him much more easily. ¡°Now,¡± he said as he stood back up, feeling like he had taken this experience in stride and acquitted himself well, ¡°it¡¯s time to fix your mess. Take that stick and place it between the anchors you implanted on the other side of the portal. A resonance ritual such as the one you attempted needs nonreactive buffers at its stress points. I will correct the pattern deficiencies on this side, before we are vaporized, or worse.¡± After the human¡¯s questions were answered with a ¡°Yes,¡± and then a ¡°Yes, really,¡± Eleanora ran off to do his bidding. He calculated what would be the safest, quickest, and cheapest procedures to fix the misalignment in the ritual the humans had attempted, and decided to take the option that satisfied his first two conditions. From his currency folder, Valiant produced a Divine Fount Shard, three Earth feet of perfectly-aligned raw essence kept stable only through some metamathematical means he didn¡¯t understand. It was a fairly expensive piece of loot, one that couldn¡¯t even be produced in this realm yet, but it was the best tool for the job. He placed it near the middle of the improper ritual, realigned some of the extant shards with his earth affinity, and then charged the entire array with enough magic to banish a Slide thrice this one¡¯s size. Crushes-Valiant, the Fortress-Breaker, did not know the meaning of the word ¡®overkill.¡¯ Actually, he did, but he liked that idiom enough to feign ignorance. When the portal began to stabilize and shrink on its way to vanishing, Valiant left, before the small human returned, the smaller human woke, or the large human decomposed any further.
Valiant suspended himself in the air above the area known as Rapid City, his spheroids shifting places with one another until he found a configuration that felt most comfortable. His assistant had interrupted his plan to journey straight back to his satellite base, and had met him here. ¡°Yes, you were right,¡± he said, begrudgingly, to the small robot. ¡°That is a worrisome anomalous vacuum signature. Perhaps Co-AL?¡± ¡°Perhaps, sir,¡± the assistant chimed, ¡°but based on cosmological quadrangulation, I¡¯d say it¡¯s more likely to be fRiend.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± Valiant said after a long moment, pondering. ¡°I suppose it doesn¡¯t much matter. This is Infraspace, and we can¡¯t have interlopers of any sort, can we.¡± Crushes-Valiant¡¯s signature attack, dropping himself in free fall, his body rearranging for maximum fluid dynamics, his gravitic affinity increasing his weight beyond countable numbers for a brief moment of impact, he thought, would have been effective. It also could have been easily traced back to him, and then the humans would wonder why their Overlord Regent had taken such a violent interest in a small, Order-aligned town. Instead, he just manifested a small, graviton twist in the middle of the city, not anything powerful enough to be called a singularity or a black hole, nor was it quite that mundane. He watched for a few minutes as the buildings shook but continued to stand, and stayed until every single possible-sapient formed out of obfuscating shadowflesh in the vicinity had been pulled into his magic and crushed. There still might be some wandering the countryside, he imagined, but with the Slide closed there wouldn¡¯t be enough to attempt a substrate subversion, if that was indeed their intent. ¡°How many, hmm,¡± he asked his assistant, when that was all done, ¡°blanket mute injunctions have been given to System Polity for experimental exceptions?¡± A beep emanated from the golden, hovering robot, ¡°Thirteen, sir. Not including the one in this area, that is.¡± ¡°And what are the statuses,¡± he momentarily checked the notes he kept stored in both his personal and regency Infra screens, ¡°of my enrichment experiments, numbered one-zero-five and one-four-three?¡± ¡°One-zero-five, labyrinthine restoral, at ninety-two percent readiness. One-four-three, mass conflict proposal, fully ready to enact.¡± ¡°Set them both into motion,¡± Valiant said, before preparing to transport back. ¡°The humans have a concept they call the carrot and the stick. If you want a recalcitrant animal to move forward, you either offer it a reward at the destination, or you prod it from behind. At least, that is my understanding of the idiom. It¡¯s time to see how well they respond to both, simultaneously.¡± Book 2 Prologue: Water/Levels Hunter floated, motionless, for what seemed to be a very long time. He looked around without moving his head, or his eyes very much. Spread out around him were strands of shimmering blue, and he floated amidst them without touching any. Kelp I think, Hunter managed to get his thoughts moving slowly, how pretty. In the ocean, twice in one week. Occasionally, he would blink, everything would go black for an indeterminate amount of time, and then he would see the ocean again. Must be near the bottom, everything¡¯s so quiet and dim, except for the kelp or whatever. His surroundings were a uniform gray, dark and flat like waking up in the middle of the night, except for the blue ribbons around him, the black ones off in the middle distance, and some dull, burnt orange ones past that. After a few seconds, or hours, he didn¡¯t know because he kept losing track of his train of thought every time he blinked, he realized he wasn¡¯t exactly floating, he was suspended from one of the strands of kelp, and he felt the oddest sensation when he concentrated on it. Once, the trader that brought medicines to the redoubt had changed suppliers, or there was a mistake, or something Hunter wasn¡¯t exactly sure about. He was so, what¡¯s the word, contrite? But I thought it was fine. All of the drugs he brought, that particular trip, didn¡¯t come in pills or liquids, but tablets you had to drop into water and then drink the whole glass. Hunter thought they were great, watching the blue or yellow fizz dance up, a tiny show before he¡¯d have to take his medicine. Effervescent, is that what they called it? How the tablets looked, slowly bubbling as they dissolved into nothingness, that was the feeling coming out of Hunter¡¯s back when he thought about it. It wasn¡¯t alarming, by itself, but he did wonder what exactly was fizzing out of him and into what he was starting to suspect certainly wasn¡¯t the bottom of the ocean. He blinked, forgot mostly about the possibility that he was dissolving, and floated for a while longer until one of those pretty blue strands started dancing erratically, then slapped him in the face. It only lasted briefly, but it gave him the sudden and disturbing knowledge that he only had a few minutes left to effervesce, before he¡¯d be a lightly tinted glass of medicine ready to drink down. That¡¯s not very long, he thought, and while he wasn¡¯t entirely sure, Hunter guessed that he was able to focus better than before the slap. He looked around and found he wasn¡¯t between a few, sparse ribbons, those were just the ones that were lit up. He was cradled, he was cocooned, he was attached to hundreds, thousands of them, but they were all dull, lifeless, transparent. There were too many to understand what exactly they were for, but somehow Hunter recognized the strands that were full of shimmering light. That one, he tried to point but couldn¡¯t, wants to tell me the emergency¡¯s over. Oh right, the emergency. Those are, huh, telling me I got better at things. That¡¯s nice. Oh, and that one just wants to be friends. The strand of kelp that had slapped at him tensed again and then latched firmly onto Hunter¡¯s head, and all he saw for a good long while afterwards was blue.
Reconnecting to Infra Regency Structure v. 1375.26¡­ complete (with errors) You have been stabilized! [Emergency Stabilizer] is working at suboptimal (<50%) efficiency. At your current resilience (-61/117), you now have approximately four (4) minutes until death. [Emergency Stabilizer] removed! Disconnecting from Infra Regency Structure v. 1375.26¡­ Reconnecting to Infra Regency Structure v. 1375.26¡­ complete You have been stabilized! [Emergency Stabilizer] is working at full (100%) efficiency. At your current resilience (-61/117), you will be minimally functional in approximately five (5) hours. You have ten (10) notifications! Error: full real-time connection to the substrate is not possible in your current state (-resilience). Only personal Infra functions are available at this time. You have three (3) new notifications! Would you like to view them all (13 total) now? Y/N [Emergency Event B-015/E-006] has ended. Essence distribution will be calculated shortly. Skill gains will be capped at your largest single recorded net contribution level (moderate++). You have gained two (2) achievements! [Emergency Listing], [Stable] gained. You have raised Dodge to two hundred (200). You have one (1) talent available from maxing your dodge skill.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. You have chosen [Perfect Surf]. You have raised Touch Attack to two hundred (200). You have one (1) talent available from maxing your touch attack skill. You have chosen [Versatile Touch]. You have raised Meditation to two hundred (200). You have one (1) talent available from maxing your meditation skill. You have chosen [Insightful]. You have raised Athletics to two hundred (200). You have one (1) talent available from maxing your athletics skill. You have chosen [Fuel to Spare]. You have gained two (2) achievements (4 total)! [Quick Learner VI], [Skilled V] gained. You have two (2) free talents available from achievements. You have chosen [Dodge Master], [Versatile Parry]. You have completed a quest! The difficulty has been compared to your current level (1), your performance has been assessed, and your essence gains have been merged with those currently pending review. A new waypoint has been added to your map function! It is over one thousand (1168) miles to the southwest from your current position. Error: full real-time connection to the substrate is not possible in your current state (-resilience). Map functions are not available. Emergency Assessment Complete! You contributed minimally during the emergency response (~1%). This rating has been compiled from the following factors, organized chronologically.
  1. Successfully closed a ripple-effect Slide (++)
  2. Failed to save over half (>50%) of [Badlands Noncombatants] (-)
  3. Defeated multiple (>25) first wave attackers [Shadow Infiltrators] (+)
  4. Partially escorted many (>100) [Rapid City Noncombatants] to safety (++)
  5. Survived encounter with [Sublime-level Source Creation] (+)
  6. Failed to defeat any (0) second wave attackers [Shadow Bruisers] (-)
  7. Technically ended Type-B Breach Emergency (++++)
  8. Satisfactorily completed Emergency-related [Quest] (++)
  9. Caused Type-E Instability Emergency (-------)
This is historically a greater than average contribution for your level (1), and as such you have been rewarded one (1) [Division+++] of essence. You have gained twenty-four (24) levels! You have gathered enough essence to move to the next division! You are now a [Mortal/Basic]. You have gained one (1) level (25 total)! Resilience now at -60/252. You have gained the following stats:
  1. +eight (8) to all Body stats (bonus+ agility, toughness)
  2. +two (2) to all Mind stats
  3. +three (3) to all Presence stats (bonus+ drive)
  4. +one (1) to all Carry stats
  5. +eight (8) to all Wield stats (bonus+ agility)
  6. +three (3) to all Bear stats (bonus+ toughness, drive)
Resilience now at -60/274. Affinity now at 0/29. Vigor now at 0/126. You have qualified for a class! Error: full real-time connection to the substrate is not possible in your current state (-resilience). Class options not preloaded. Error: full real-time connection to the substrate is not possible in your current state (-resilience). Messages function not available.
Once the flood of notifications had stopped, only two strands were left shining fully, but Hunter could start to see the slightest increases in the luminescence of the others. He made the mistake of blinking, and when he was aware again, they had appreciably lit even more. He noticed somehow, between one moment and the next, that a vast number of the black strands he had been trying to keep a wary eye on simply vanished. He guessed, Maybe they just went clear, too. Or they¡¯re gone, who knows how the flip this place works. Hunter checked to see if he had a timer, found there were at least four more hours of the slow, confusing nothingness left to endure, and would have sighed if he could. Four more hours until he could get moving, until he could move at all, four more hours until he could see anything more than a sparsely populated expanse of gray, until he could see what¡¯s next. In the meantime, he remembered he had his small Infra file of notes, Uncle Ernie¡¯s voice floating up to remind him, Keep it on paper. Things update, things change, and you won¡¯t know why you planned on four when it clearly says five in the Infrapage. It would have to do, though, since apparently he didn¡¯t bring his notebook with him, wherever he was. He tried to keep his thoughts simple:
  1. time constraints (can¡¯t always wait for onc storm)
  2. burst dmg (ok ok i see why people go block/endure)
  3. ranged threats (maybe flicker step+lvls)
  4. unidentified opponents (need something scary)
After that list, which Hunter tentatively named in his head, Things I should have already thought about but I got dodge/death-punch-happy, he let himself drift. Meditation, the skill, wasn¡¯t working, but as a concept he figured there was nothing wrong with it, and so he centered himself, in a slow, visualizing manner that he hadn¡¯t had to put himself through in a while. It was, Hunter reflected, even with the ominously peaceful surroundings, a long four hours to go.