ã€ŠSilver Spoon Book II: Gaining Groundã€‹


 Chapter 1

    Alan stumbled slightly as he stepped out of the dungeon entrance and set foot back in the tier two valley. He had been moving quickly to get through the exit and the transition had left him off balance. It was also disorienting to go from such a crowded setting into his deserted zone.

    ¡°So, can we talk about it now?¡± Tamee¡¯s voice came through in Alan¡¯s head.

    She usually didn¡¯t speak to him while he was in a dungeon, saving her comments for a post-adventure breakdown. As a much higher leveled person, with experience in the wider universe, he usually listened to what she had to say. Not this time, however.

    ¡°Nope,¡± was his only reply.

    The disappointment in her voice was clear, ¡°aww, come on. That got really steamy at times.¡±

    Alan just ignored her. Recently he had suffered a catastrophic injury, which had cost him his left hand. It had taken him quite a while to regrow it, using a combination of a special potion and a new spell. Until his hand had grown back, he hadn¡¯t wanted to explore any dungeons since his combat ability was severely affected. Then, after healing, the first dungeon he entered hadn¡¯t involved combat at all.

    New Quest: The Coven¡¯s Den (100)

    [A family of witches guards a secret. Infiltrate the family and seduce the Matriarch to discover what they¡¯re hiding.]

    He had appeared just outside of a bustling town, whose occupants numbered somewhere around five thousand people. The town was controlled by a small family of witches. The Matriarch of the family was a beautiful older woman. How old, he couldn¡¯t have said. She was an Orange grade human, and so her life expectancy was far beyond a normal persons¡¯. Thinking back, he did allow himself a small smile. She might have been a couple hundred years old, but she was very attractive.

    Of all the skills he had learned over his life, first growing up in the country, then from joining the Army, followed by the Green Berets, becoming a doctor, and finally training with the Space Force, wooing a woman was not one of them. However, since being press ganged into this tutorial where he had to fight for the survival of Earth¡¯s people, he had noticed that women were finding him more alluring.

    To be fair, he had never thought of himself as ugly, but many found his personality off putting. They were usually looking for someone a little more upbeat, less focused. But in the approximately three weeks since induction, he had been actively pursued by three different women. Well, after that dungeon he would have to up that number significantly.

    Tamee had obviously gotten a kick out of it. ¡°I mean, I know you hate it when¡­I mean if, I watch you take a bath. However, I would have had to cover my eyes for most of that dungeon if I wasn¡¯t going to see anything.¡± Alan continued to ignore her.

    The first few hours he spent in the dungeon involved scouting out the situation. Alan had walked the streets listening to conversations, and then spent some time in the many taverns. The witch, Gianna, was known to be lonely after her husband had recently passed away. Her most recent apprentice had also been killed under mysterious circumstances.

    Alan had presented himself to Gianna¡¯s manor as a potential replacement. He had a mage class, in addition to others, and Tamee had assured him that Witch was just a possible upgrade of that class. It turned out that he was acceptable as a new apprentice, but she was even more eager to use him as a replacement for her husband.

    Very little seduction was required on his part. She did all of the flirting and Alan mostly tried not to screw it up. By the end of the first day he was already in her bed. By the end of the second he had discovered the family¡¯s ¡®secret¡¯. It wasn¡¯t even a good one, just something invented by the dungeon.

    They had a collection of opal Witch stones that would allow him to upgrade his mage class. In return for his amorous activities she was willing to give him one. It didn¡¯t seem like a bad class, but it was only uncommon and he already had a rare class upgrade stone.

    The dungeon had awarded him the one hundred points, and the Witch stone for the completion of the quest. The problem was, even though he was ¡®done¡¯, he couldn¡¯t leave the dungeon. Every time he tried to leave the manor, he was accosted by one of her servants who made sure to redirect him. They had even taken to locking the front doors.

    ¡°And some of those outfits she had you wear! Who knew that you would look so good in pink?¡±

    That got a grumble out of him. Gianna was big into the idea of role-play, and he had been of a similar size to her late husband. The variety of costumes, and the embarrassing nature of some of them, didn¡¯t bear thinking about. After the fourth day he had jumped out of a window. None of them opened, so he had been forced to crash right through the glass.

    It caused quite the commotion, and the townspeople were quick to surround him, thinking foul play was afoot. If only they knew. The head of Gianna¡¯s household came out and assured them that everything was okay and that they would take care of him inside.

    The sixth day dawned with Alan tied up in the bed. It wasn¡¯t as a punishment for trying to escape, no one had even told her about that, it was because she had wanted to try tickling. Alan was apparently very ticklish, but since he was stronger than she was, Gianna insisted he be restrained so he couldn¡¯t resist.

    That was the last straw. He became desperate and realized he would need help to get out. The servants all thought it was a great joke and felt sorry for their lonely mistress. They wouldn¡¯t be any help. However, Gianna had a daughter who appeared to be around Alan¡¯s age, but she was also an Orange grade human, so she was probably many times older. In trying to enlist her help, he had ended up in her bed as well. It turned out that Gianna kept her children fairly sheltered, and she was looking for a good time as well.

    ¡°I was surprised by how big of a family she had, I mean four daughters!¡± That comment caused Alan to blush, which only encouraged Tamee more.

    ¡°It was amazing how oblivious they were, too. The house wasn¡¯t that big, and yet none of them seemed to realize you were boinking the whole lot.¡±

    He hadn¡¯t, in fact, been ¡®boinking¡¯ the whole lot. The youngest daughter, who was probably slightly older than he was, appeared to be a teenager. That was a line he wasn¡¯t going to cross. The other three daughters, yes. The oldest had initially promised to help him sneak out of the house, but she kept delaying, telling him just one more day.

    Alan had tried approaching the other two daughters after the tenth day he was trapped in that house of debauchery. Neither of those daughters had shown any sign of helping him either. In fact, the third daughter had threatened to tell her mother about them if he stopped her ¡®morning lessons¡¯.

    That was when he found out how much trouble he was truly in. Gianna¡¯s husband''s death, and the apprentice¡¯s untimely demise, were in fact linked. The matriarch had discovered that they were having an affair, and she had killed them both in a fit of rage. It seemed that the husband hadn¡¯t been meant to die, but he had tried to get in the way and ended up as collateral damage. If she found out about what Alan was up to, there was no doubt she would murder him in an unpleasant fashion.

    ¡°The most shocking moment for me was when you convinced the son to help you.¡±

    ¡°I said I didn¡¯t want to talk about it,¡± Alan snapped at her.

    The witch had four daughters, but she also had a son. He was the middle child, and not favored by the rest. It was in his desperation that Alan approached him. Juadin was a large man who had ended up with more martial classes than magical. Technically he was a witch, but he focused on it very little. It turned out he was just as lonely as the daughters.

    Tamee started in again, ¡°I had no idea that you were willing to¡­¡±

    ¡°I DON¡¯T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!¡± Alan shouted back at her.

    ¡°Touchy.¡± was all that Tamee said with a giggle.

    Alan put her out of his mind. It wasn¡¯t difficult since she wasn¡¯t actually present. She was an administrator overseeing his zone in the tutorial. Early on he had figured out how to include her in a sort of party chat so that he could gain information from her. The new universe he had become a part of came with a wiki, but it was light on the details. Tamee, unfortunately, was also not always that helpful.

    It was on the twentieth day in the dungeon that he had finally made it out of Gianna¡¯s manor, with the help of her son, and he had literally sprinted through the town and run through the exit. Much of his time there had been spent in idle, if pleasurable, pursuits. This meant that none of his skills had actually improved. Luckily it didn¡¯t really cost him all that time. The dungeon time was accelerated by a factor of ten, so it had only been two days in the real world.

    It also wasn¡¯t a complete waste. The dungeon points he earned could be turned in for a variety of items. He had recently spent about half of his points upgrading his armor and collecting some more talents for his classes. The new points would help make up for that, a little, but he was in no rush to spend any more at the moment. Every couple of days the list of items to purchase would grow, and unless he ran into a need, Alan was going to wait till the end to see what the final items were. He didn¡¯t want something great to pop up and not have enough points to purchase it.

    The current zone was supposed to last for a month, but he wasn¡¯t quite sure how much time was left. He had learned the hard way that the dungeons¡¯ time dilation changed if you stayed in them too long, which he had. Hopefully this last one hadn¡¯t also run too long. When he had come out of the previous one, he had lost anywhere from two to several days of his time.

    That had been a nasty surprise, because he now had a town. It was pathetic, consisting of only a one room hovel and a small fruit garden. It also had a population of one. Well, maybe one and a half. However, that was apparently good enough for the Network. He had earned an achievement, but he now also had to worry about an obelisk near his house that would occasionally spawn monsters.

    Alan could prevent that from happening if he killed the boss that showed up every three days. Because of the lost time before, he had returned home worried that his town was destroyed. Luckily, the other creature who made the town home had kept it safe. Two Socks had made himself a feature of the town when he was still a tiny wolf. He had since grown into an adolescent and even evolved into a rarer form. Alan had discovered that the wolf was quite capable of handling security.

    This last dungeon had taken longer than he thought it would, again, and the boss timer had reset again while he was inside. Alan was less worried this time. He was counting on Two Socks to deal with the random spawns. The only concern he had was if the boss had made its way to the town. The last two times the wolf had been reluctant to take on the boss itself, and rightfully so. While the minions were only level two or three, the bosses had been at least level six and also more powerful variants.

    He was actually hoping that there was still a boss to fight. He had spent a lot of effort improving himself to get ready for the last dungeon, and his fighting skills had proven useless. It would be nice to break some heads. Alan had long reconciled himself to the more violent nature of life in the Network, but it wasn¡¯t like his previous life had been without bloodshed.

    As a Green Beret, he felt himself uniquely suited to thriving in this new life he had been thrust into. It was a good thing too, because he was also the only person in his entire zone. At the end of the month he was going to be in direct contention with three other zones, all of which should contain ten thousand recruits. If he didn¡¯t turn himself into a monster, metaphorically speaking, he would have no chance by his lonesome.

    Before checking out the boss, Alan made the decision to head back to his house. He could make sure everything there was ok before tracking down the new boss. It would also be good to see Two Socks again, and to restock his snacks. It turned out that eating fruit off of each other¡¯s bodies was a kink that the entire witch family had shared.

    ¡°Why are you blushing?¡± Tamee asked.

    ¡°Nothing, leave me alone.¡±

    ¡°Oooo, look at me, I¡¯m Mr. Surly. Poor guy had to make love to an entire family of beautiful women for days on end. And then whatever that was with the son as well. Do you need some regrowth potion for your downstairs?¡±

    That last one got a chuckle out of him. ¡°Ok, ok. Sorry to be so surly. I just didn¡¯t enjoy feeling like a piece of meat.¡± Even as he said it, he knew he was in trouble.

    ¡°Weird, as a woman I have no idea how that feels.¡±

    Alan was saved by a disturbance ahead of him. The grass was still up near his waist so it wasn¡¯t until it got close that he noticed the grass moving. Then the creature causing it stood up, and what looked like a pony charged at him.

    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Beast: Adolescent Stalker Wolf (rare) level 10, threat: medium. A stalker wolf is adept at moving unseen and ambushing its prey.

    Identify was the one skill that he could work on in the last dungeon. Unless the Network recognized carnal skills, which it apparently did not. He was now getting a little description about his target, in addition to the threat level. It wasn¡¯t much, but it was a sign that it would become more useful than it already was as he improved it.

    It was a good thing that the overly friendly wolf didn¡¯t try and jump on Alan this time, he could have done some real damage. Instead he was content to rub his head up against his chest. He was now around one hundred and thirty centimeters tall and looked almost big enough to ride. That was actually a thing in his new world, riding around on beasts. The Network didn¡¯t rely on technology like he was used to, it was more of a medieval society.

    Two Socks had changed in more than just size. Previously he had been almost entirely white. Now his fur had shifted to a light brown color. Interestingly enough, his front two paws were still white, just like his namesake.

    He had increased his level twice more, but his threat level was still rated medium. That could have been because of how much stronger Alan had gotten. He took out a large piece of watermelon he still had left, and spent a moment infusing it with mana. Setting it down before his friend, Alan sat and watched as he gobbled it down.

    ¡°How are you doing, everything okay at the house?¡± Alan asked him as he chewed.

    He had never been able to tell exactly how much the wolf understood, but Alan felt like his furry friend could follow the general idea. Two Socks laid his ears back and growled. He started to get up with his treat only half finished. Something about his question must have set him off.

    ¡°Relax, whatever it is, we can take care of it together.¡± Alan had a feeling he wasn¡¯t going to like what he found when he returned home.

    His lupine friend settled down and resumed his feast, but his fur was still standing up. After he finished, they started the short journey back to the house. Alan had yet to see the wolf travel more than a couple of kilometers from the farm.

    The fact that they hadn¡¯t run into any dungeon creatures yet was a sign of how effective Two Socks was becoming as a warden. As they approached his stone and wood house, he was dismayed to see that his fruit garden had been attacked. Several plants had been uprooted, and others were eaten down to stalks. A few of his vines had been completely devoured.

    The culprit was easy to find. A stranger might have thought there was a boulder in his front yard, but Alan knew there were no rocks that large in the area. He had scoured the surroundings for stones to build his house, so he knew it was something else.

    Beast: Glyptodont (Boss) level 7, threat: high. A glyptodont is a previously extinct animal with a hard shell and a mace-like tail.

    The boss reacted to their arrival by standing up. It looked like a giant armadillo that had been crossed with a morning star. In addition to standing even taller than Two Socks, its shell, made of small fused discs like a version of scale mail, looked incredibly tough. Its tail also extended about a meter behind it and had a knobby ball on the end with small protrusions. They weren¡¯t spikes, barely sticking out more than a couple of centimeters, but they would dramatically increase the force a blow would deal, similar to the rounded side of his own weapon, a spewn.

    Drawing it from its sheath, he admired it again. It was of dwarven make and a recent acquisition. He had been gifted it for helping to free almost forty prisoners captured from a mining camp. Its design was well suited to Alan¡¯s fighting style, allowing him to use it as a long knife or a mace, depending on the situation.

    He had fought a tortoise boss with it before, and he figured this encounter would be similar. The armadillo, he had trouble thinking of it using its real name, soon proved that it was much faster than the lumbering turtle. It was able to quickly close the distance between them and then it spun around, lashing out with its tail.

    Fortunately, Alan had the reflexes of a trained killer and a dexterity that was greater than an Olympic gymnast¡¯s. Jumping forward, he flipped over the tail and landed on the other side, already striking out with his spewn. For his first attack he was trying out the sharp edge that ran along the tip of his hybrid weapon. To his surprise, it actually managed to crack the armadillo¡¯s shell.

    It didn¡¯t puncture all the way through, but the boss reacted to the blow by forming a partial ball and rolling away. As it did, Alan could see where his weapon had opened a small gap in its armor. No blood seemed to be leaking out, but it gave him hope that the blunt side of his spewn would be able to smash it apart.

    Before Alan could chase it down, Two Socks decided to get in on the fight. He ran after the boss and shoulder checked it as it rolled. The scaly mammal was pushed out of line and quickly unfurled. As it did so, it sliced toward the wolf with an outrageously long claw on one of its back feet. Poor Two Socks wasn¡¯t expecting the attack and it cut him open along his side, exposing ribs.

    Blood gushed out, coating his fur, but that wasn¡¯t all that was bathed red. Alan was usually a rather level headed guy. Being a Green Beret meant being able to think and assess in crisis. They weren¡¯t jarheads who were full of rage and testosterone. However, seeing his only physical friend in this place get torn open had done something to him.

    With an angry roar, he charged the armadillo. Now that he had two hands again, he had his spewn in one and his pugio in the other. This would be his first opportunity to use the dagger with his larger spewn. A smart man would have eased into the fight and tested out a newly adopted fighting style. Instead, Alan rushed in, weapons flailing.

    The boss was also looking to play and it swung its heavy tail at him. Rather than dodging, he shifted his grip on the spewn and countered with the mace side of his weapon. The ball and egg met with a tremendous collision, but the strength of the blows cancelled each other out. The only casualty was Alan¡¯s arm which was dealing with some impressive vibrations.

    Ignoring the numbing in his right arm, he stabbed forward with his pugio and connected with the crack in the shell he had made previously. The blade plunged in up to the hilt, which was dragged out of his hand as the armadillo tried to gain some distance again by rolling away. The dagger served a second purpose, as it caused the boss to give up the attempt when the hilt jammed into the ground, stopping its momentum and probably causing it a lot of pain.

    Two Socks was a fighter, and was still on his feet. He was a little hesitant, though, since he had likely never been this seriously injured. Alan¡¯s head cleared enough for him to realize he was better off healing his friend, rather than attacking the boss at the moment.

    His minor healing spell didn¡¯t require him to be touching his target, but it did seem to make it more effective. He placed his hand on the wolf¡¯s back, as near the cut as he dared, and sent healing energy coursing through his partner. It wasn¡¯t enough to fully heal him, but it was enough to stop the bleeding and seal most of the wound. He would have cast it again, but the boss was turning around and shuffling towards him.

    He had momentarily lost his second weapon, but he had several back-ups. However, he thought he might be better off using his new shield instead. While his spewn had been able to crack the beast¡¯s shell, it was a far superior weapon to anything he was carrying. That meant that his other weapons would likely prove useless unless he could create another opening. His shield, on the other hand, had dropped from the tortoise boss, and could help deflect the boss¡¯ claw, or even its tail. That would allow him to focus on dealing damage with his pride and joy.

    As the armored beast closed, Alan tried to draw it away from Two Socks. The boss was only too happy to oblige. One of Alan¡¯s Guardian class talents was Taunt and he seemed able to better hold the aggression of his enemies. When the beast was almost in range, he cast a spell.

    Alan was all alone in his zone, but that had led to a special advantage. In the previous tier, recruits explored a set of eight dungeons to earn stones that would enable them to learn classes. These classes tied in with an attribute to both make their bodies more powerful, and also to give them knowledge of how to use their bodies in new ways.

    Just because you earned a stone, didn¡¯t mean you could gain the class associated with it, however. The stones varied in power, and would only work if you had a limited number of classes. Without anyone to compete with, Alan was able to get the best stones, which allowed him to gain all eight quartz classes. Most others would be limited to three or four.

    The first class he had gained was rogue, which was why he favored daggers. The one he had seen the most growth in was his mage class, though. Much of that growth could be attributed to his time spent in a special realm with the man who became his Mentor, Dracon Mazus. There, he had learned how to improve his spells, and how to create new ones. It was one of his self-created spells he used now.

    A rainbow hued ball shot out from his hand and exploded in front of the boss¡¯ eyes. It didn¡¯t deal any damage, but it left the creature disoriented and unable to see. Alan followed up with a solid mace blow to its head. It wasn¡¯t as effective as he was hoping, the beast must have a very thick skull, but it did seem to disorient it further. He landed a second blow with his spewn on the beast¡¯s side.

    He had been correct earlier in thinking that the rounded side of the spewn would be able to break it open. A ripple of force spread out from the point of impact and a ten centimeter hole was left as the tiny scutes shattered apart. The pain was enough to get the armadillo focused back on the fight.

    It turned to expose its unbroken side to Alan, and at the same time it brought its tail around toward his left. Positioning his shield to take the blow, he slammed his spewn into the unblemished scales in front of him. Another large hole was opened up in the shell. However, the boss¡¯ tail was now unavoidable.

    It slammed into the center of his tortoise shell buckler, forcing Alan back several steps. The shield was able to partially absorb any damage it blocked, and his Network enhanced body was quite capable of dealing with the rest. A silhouette appeared in his vision with its left arm showing yellow, but he was used to far more significant injuries.

    Rather than close with the boss again and engage in melee, he pointed his spewn at the hole in the boss¡¯ side and used it in a manner he had only recently discovered. In addition to being a knife/mace hybrid, it also acted as a wand. He sent a ball of fire shooting into the armadillo''s body, straight through the hole in its shell. His aim was getting better all the time.

    There was a plume of flame and shrieking from the boss. In its pain it must have forgotten about the dagger still sticking out of its shell, because it tried to roll away again. Alan was ready this time and he ran along with it. When it got stuck on the hilt again he bashed down with his spewn causing a third hole, this time near its spine.

    As it uncurled, it tried to slice him with its claw, just like it had done to Two Socks. He was ready and got his shield in the way. This was a blow his shield was easily capable of blocking and his arm didn¡¯t even darken on the silhouette.

    It immediately tried to follow up with a tail whap, but Alan had anticipated it again. This time he didn¡¯t block, or get out of the way. As the tail came around he sliced down with his spewn, having already shifted his grip so it would hit with its edge.

    While the bony ball on the end was almost twenty centimeters across, the tail attaching to it was only six or seven centimeters thick. The spewn cut right through, and the severed end went sailing past him, since it was no longer connected to the body.

    After that, the rest of the fight was clean-up. The boss still had those large claws, but it wasn¡¯t nimble enough to really use them effectively. And while its armor was tough, his spewn was tougher still. Stamina had become a concern, but with the boss unable to escape by rolling away, and no longer needing to dodge attacks from multiple threats, he was able to slow down his attack to the point where his stamina leveled off.

    He also started to rely on his spells more, mostly his fire bolts, but occasionally light and shadow bolts as well. In the end, the glyptodont, its persistence had earned Alan¡¯s respect and so he forced himself to learn its real name, was burned all over and its shell was more holes than armor.

    Alan switched out the spewn for his gladius to deliver what he hoped was the final blow. Just in case, he didn¡¯t want his spewn stuck in the boss. With a burst of energy he slipped past the boss¡¯ feeble attempt to catch him with a claw, and buried his sword in the beast up to the hilt. It did thrash a bit, ripping the sword out of his hand, but no more attacks were necessary.

    Stepping back he watched as it slowed and then stopped moving, its chest no longer rising with its breath. Moving forward again, he retrieved his weapons, and then headed back to check on Two Socks. The wolf was lying on his side, panting lightly. Alan took out his alchemist cauldron and used conjure water to fill it.

    The wolf gratefully lapped it up as he placed his hand on the partially healed wound. Using the last bit of his mana, he caused the wound to close all the way. There wasn¡¯t even a scar, just a small line of hairless skin. Hopefully it would grow back.

    Two Socks finished his drink and stood carefully. He seemed to test his movements, as if not believing he was healed. Once he realized there was no more pain he gave a happy yip and gamboled about. Finally he padded over and helped Alan check for loot.

    This time there was no item, just another bag of gold. It would have been nice to get something to make up for all the work he would need to put his farm back in order, but the gold was appreciated. He had burned through quite a bit of the pile he had found in his necklace.

    Alan had found the necklace on a dark elf that he had killed, and the item was actually a spatial storage device. It had contained a lot of stuff. Most of it was gone by now, except for some clothes, a class stone, and a much more reasonable pile of money.

    It was only mid-afternoon, so Alan set about putting his fruit garden as right as it could be. A few plants he ripped out and replaced with seeds, not seeing how he could salvage what was left. Thankfully most of the rest would just need some TLC, and a little mana infusion, to fix.

    Frustratingly, his special plants were still not bearing fruit. He had planted several seeds inside magic circles that were supposed to boost the mana levels inside of them. He wasn¡¯t sure what the result would be, but so far they had grown to look like normal versions of the plants, but without producing any fruit.

    With all of that done, he cooked dinner for the two of them. It was much easier to do now that he had both hands again. Tonight¡¯s dinner was more of the lizard steaks he had gotten from the last time the town dungeon had started spawning monsters. He supposed that dealing with monsters was an important role that adventurers played in the Network.

    If every town had a dungeon, and it would leak monsters into the surrounding area, you would need skilled individuals to take care of the bosses right away before the smaller creatures could attack the normal citizens. His dungeon obelisk only produced level two or three creatures, but his town was so basic, it didn¡¯t even get a real grade. It was tier zero. He couldn¡¯t imagine what it would look like for a town like the one Gianna had been in charge of. Thankfully, that hadn''t been an issue since it wasn¡¯t a ¡®real¡¯ town, but simply something created for the dungeon.

    After dinner, Alan decided he would break with tradition. Normally, he would use this time to work on developing his aura reading and sharpening his weapons. Then he would get a good night¡¯s sleep before cultivating in the morning while exercising.

    The fight with the boss had gotten his blood pumping, and the work around his house hadn¡¯t satisfied him. He decided that instead of resting tonight, he would get moving right away. He said his goodbyes to Two Socks and headed out for his next challenge. He had previously discovered a one way dungeon, meaning the only way out was to complete it, with a high difficulty level. There had to be some good fights in there.

    He maybe could have waited, and instead worked on evolving one of his classes to opal. Before his most recent fight, he had leveled all of his classes but two all the way to the maximum. The last two had only been a few points off. This fight had pushed them even closer, and the dungeon he was about to run would probably max them out.

    That meant he would lose out on some potential growth, but he was okay missing out for two reasons. The first was that his Mentor, that was an actual Network recognized relationship, had suggested he wait as long as possible to evolve. The second was because he still wanted to upgrade his rogue class first, and he hadn¡¯t gotten his sneak skill high enough to use his upgrade stone yet.

    Hopefully there would be a chance to work on it in this dungeon. This would be the highest difficulty dungeon he had attempted so far, so there should be plenty of chances to improve his skills. His last thought before he stepped inside was that it better not be another sex dungeon.

 Chapter 2

    After entering the dungeon, a notification popped up, but he was too focused on his surroundings to look at it now. Taking in the scenery, post-apocalyptic is the only thing that sprang to mind. Not the dusty, dirty, Mad Max type, though. He was surrounded by rolling hills that looked to have once been covered by a dense, mature forest. Now many of those trees had been blasted apart.

    Blasted was the appropriate word since many of them were charred or even currently burning. As he watched, he saw a distant hilltop explode, sending what looked like hundreds of wooden splinters flying. Adjusting for the distance, he realized they were probably more like spears for anyone nearby.

    Looking up he saw a nightmare of a sky. Dark clouds were actively roiling with electricity. It was a lightning bolt from those clouds that had taken out whatever was on that hill. The thick cover above was completely blocking out the broader sky and left the land below it covered in a gloomy shadow.

    Looking closer at his surroundings he started picking out people moving around. Most of those he saw were trying to stay below the hilltops, moving in the small valleys to help hide them. Occasionally someone would break cover and dash across the heights. There was a large camp in the valley next to him, which he assumed was his destination.

    New Quest: The Battle of Ashford Hills (200)

    [The Protian Faction has launched an assault on a nearby world controlled by the Untar Republic. Report to the nearby Headquarters to receive further details on your quest.]

    The dungeon point reward was the first thing that stood out. Other than what he had earned from the chained quests of becoming his mentor¡¯s apprentice, this was the highest amount he had seen for one dungeon.

    The second was that it mentioned a Faction and a Republic. He said their names aloud, testing them with his mouth. While these could be made up for the dungeon, Alan was more inclined to believe they were real forces in the Network. Did that mean he was inside a dungeon or had he been teleported to an actual place.

    ¡°Are you still watching this?¡± Alan asked his overseer.

    ¡°Yes, of course. Why?¡± She sounded distracted.

    ¡°Can you tell me, is this a dungeon, or have I been sent to another world?¡±

    ¡°You interrupted me for that? I was reading a really good book.¡±

    Alan tried not to get angry. ¡°I¡¯m sorry my life is too boring, but if you could answer my question.

    Tamee released one of her trademark sighs, ¡°you would know if you had been teleported. If you are traveling anywhere other than a point on your own planet, there is a significant delay. The farther the distance, the longer the wait. This is most likely a recreation of one of the millions of battles that have taken place in our history. Before you ask, no I have not heard of those two factions, but there are so many major ones and uncountably many smaller ones that there is little chance I would have recognized them.¡±

    ¡°Ok, thank you. Out of curiosity, what book are you reading?¡±

    ¡°Does the name Temeraire mean anything to you?¡± she asked.

    ¡°No, should it? Also, how are you watching movies and books from Earth? I thought everything was destroyed.¡±

    ¡°The Network is fascinated by culture and goes to great pains to preserve as much as possible. All of your world¡¯s entertainment is contained in a series of crystals that all of us managers have access to.¡±

    That was nice to know. Assuming humans were able to win this competition, maybe it would be possible to get back some of what had been lost. That was a consideration for after, though, it was time to focus on the task at hand. Alan was currently on a small rise and had some cover from a small clump of partially charred trees.

    The Headquarters he was supposed to find seemed obvious, it was most likely the camp he had seen below him. It was made up of around twenty large tents and several smaller ones. The entire collection took up a couple thousand square meters, and the entire thing was covered by some kind of shimmery dome.

    It didn¡¯t appear to be a physical object, more like some kind of magical protection. That seemed prudent since he had seen three more lightning bolts strike while he stood here. Someone, and he didn¡¯t know if it was his soon to be allies, their opponent, or both, seemed to be calling down the devastating attacks whenever they detected movement. It did indeed seem like his sneaking would have a chance to improve.

    He cautiously made his way down the back of the hill and then crept around the bottom toward the camp. As he did, he encountered a column of about twenty humanoids who were making their own way to the camp. A taller, stocky man whose skin had a slightly green tinge to it, spotted him and called out.

    ¡°If you¡¯re looking to join up, get in line. We¡¯re on our way to HQ now.¡±

    This seemed too fortuitous to be a coincidence. It was also weird that the man just assumed Alan was a recruit and not an enemy. No base he had ever been assigned to would have been so lax on security, but he wasn¡¯t about to point that out and make it harder for himself now.

    As they got closer, Alan was able to pick out a couple of fortified positions just outside the shimmering barrier. There were several people in heavy armor and carrying crossbows standing behind stone walls. Those walls had some kind of runes on them, probably enchantments to strengthen them and provide protection for those behind.

    Seeing the column and the green tinged man, the guards waved them through. There was no questioning or code words, not even a cursory inspection. He hoped this wasn¡¯t a sign of how unprofessional the rest of the outfit was. If he was going to be fighting with these people, he wanted them to be as powerful as possible.

    On the short way here, he had used identify on the others in the column. They were all subtle variations on human with a mix of classes. All of them had at least opal classes, though, since none of those listed were one of the eight basic quartz ones. His identify only listed their most advanced class, but it now listed their grade along with their race. So he also knew all of the recruits were white grade, the same as him. Even the green man was white.

    The entire line of the recruits hesitated before crossing through the magical bubble around the camp, but there wasn¡¯t even a tingle when Alan entered. They were then led to one of the larger tents, and inside they were directed into one of three lines.

    At the head of each line there was a person in uniform interrogating each new soldier. A quick scan showed that these people were red grade, so they were significantly more powerful than Alan or those he came in with.

    When it was his turn at the front, he was asked to equip himself for battle. He was already wearing his helmet, chainmail, and hide pants, so all Alan had to do was take out his spewn and pugio. While his main weapon, for a long time to come, would be his spewn, he did have a lot of choices for his off hand.

    He had spent most of his time since being brought to the tutorial fighting with two daggers, but he now had a shield and a sword as well. While there were times that his shield would be useful, like against that last boss, he still thought of himself as a dual-wielder. Also, while he was becoming more ambidextrous by the day, holding the larger gladius in his off hand just didn¡¯t feel quite right.

    In deciding between his two knives, the double-edged, stabbing pugio, or the single-edged slicing seax, he thought the pugio complemented the spewn better. When not wielding it as a mace, the hybrid weapon functioned like a short spear, and the pugio¡¯s two edges were the most similar.

    The man in front of him, a hairy person who was only slightly taller than Alan, with purple eyes, took in his appearance. ¡°Not a main line fighter, you look like you would best work as a scout. Agreed?¡±

    While the last was phrased as a question, he acted more like it was a given, and he didn¡¯t even pause before handing him a slip of paper, pointing him toward an exit, and calling for the next person.

    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    Alan glanced at the paper, but it didn¡¯t make any sense to him. Pixel, S2. He assumed it was some kind of assignment, but the specifics eluded him. Making his way over, he reached the indicated exit and was met by another soldier in uniform who took the paper from him. Alan was starting to feel more comfortable here.

    A huge chunk of his life had been spent in the military, and the return to familiar surroundings was comforting. Even though the specifics were different, this was close enough to his experiences in basic to make him nostalgic.

    He could see a few of his fellow recruits standing in clumps outside of the tent, but he wasn¡¯t directed to one of them. Instead, the soldier called over another man in uniform from a short line waiting behind him. He handed the soldier the paper and told Alan to follow him.

    It wasn¡¯t that long of a trip, but the tents were not set up in neat rows, so there were a lot of twists and turns to get to their destination. The soldier handed him back the paper and pointed him inside a smaller tent. It was well over two meters tall, but it was only a few meters on a side.

    Pulling aside the tent flap, Alan stepped inside. There were four cots set up along the edge of the tent with only a few other items strewn about. Sitting on those cots were two men that he identified quickly. Both had opal classes, one was simply scout and the other was tracker. They were wearing stained t-shirts and loose fitting pants. The third person in the tent was crouching by a bag, but they stood up when they heard Alan enter.

    Pixel: Earth Fairy[R], Shadow Walker, Threat level: deadly

    Well, that was one mystery solved, was his first thought. His second was that he should close his mouth. The person before him was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Not only was her face one that men would go to war over, but her body was even more impressive. She was so tall that her long blonde hair was almost brushing the ceiling of the tent, and her body was clearly that of an athlete. Her eyes were a bright blue and her pale skin almost glowed in the dark.

    Surreptitiously moving his gaze down to take in the rest of her. She was wearing what could generously be called a tube top and an incredibly minuscule pair of shorts that looked like spandex. Her outfit left little to the imagination, and there was plenty to imagine. Her long toned legs led to an ample backside. The tube top showed off her six-pack abs and was straining to contain her very well formed bosom.

    He only realized he had been staring when she spoke. ¡°They¡¯re boobs. Get over ¡®em.¡±

    Alan blushed furiously and directed his gaze upwards to meet her eyes. The snickers of the other men in the tent let him know that this was likely a common reaction. Still, he hadn¡¯t missed the rating next to her race, indicating she was red grade. That made her far more powerful than him, and not someone to piss off.

    ¡°That¡¯s better.¡± The large amazonian woman took the opportunity to give Alan a once over in return. Her gaze caught on his spewn with a look of recognition. She had clearly seen one before, and it caused her to smile a little. Then she reached out and snatched the paper from his hand.

    ¡°So, you¡¯ve been assigned as our replacement. Great.¡± The tone indicated that it was anything but. She continued, ¡°our group is tasked with scouting ahead of the main force. It¡¯s our job to identify any threats and call in hits on any large enemy concentrations.¡±

    She continued describing their general assignment, before outlining their upcoming mission. Alan found his eyes constantly darting down to admire her ample cleavage. To be fair, because of their height difference, her breasts were literally right in front of him. He knew it made him a bad person, but it was like driving by a car accident, you couldn¡¯t help but look. It also was making him feel guilty. He and Cassidy had not had a tearful departure where they professed their undying love for one another, but it had hurt to have to leave. Her presence had become more than just comfortable for him.

    Cassidy was also clearly affected by the parting. Nothing had happened, physically, between them, but emotionally there had been a lot. Partly it was from his efforts to repair her soul wound, but it was also from how compatible they found each other. And yet here he was, ogling another woman¡¯s body.

    ¡°If you can¡¯t keep from staring at my tits, how can I expect you to pay attention to your surroundings!¡± This last Pixel delivered with a shout.

    Once more Alan turned bright red and his eyes shot upwards. ¡°I¡¯m sorry mam, it won¡¯t happen again.¡±

    She snorted at his response, and then suddenly, she was wearing a thick leather jacket and hide pants similar to his own. When the jacket had first appeared it was open, but she deftly reached down and zipped it up. ¡°Maybe this will help.¡± Somehow, she must have equipped herself directly with spatial storage. That was a neat trick. His storage items didn¡¯t seem to work that way. Anything he withdrew was in one of his hands, and if he wanted to put clothes on he had to do it the old fashion way.

    ¡°Now, if you can focus, I¡¯ll start again¡­¡±

    At the risk of further angering her, he broke in, ¡°no need mam, I heard everything.¡±

    With a raised eyebrow, she indicated her disbelief. Alan then repeated back to her everything she had said. Mission briefings were nothing new to him and he had long learned to memorize everything he was hearing, even while multitasking.

    ¡°As a scout squad we are supposed to move in advance of our larger forces and we also act as spotters to call in strikes on enemy concentrations. Our specific squad, though, has been tasked with another mission. We are supposed to penetrate far beyond the front line and¡­then I embarrassed myself, mam, and you stopped telling me the rest.¡± Alan was proud of himself for only turning slightly pink at the last part, and his eyes never flickered from her gaze.

    Pixel continued to stare at him for another few heartbeats before she continued. ¡°Hmmm¡­well maybe you aren¡¯t totally useless. Are you any good with that spewn?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s pretty new to me, mam, but I¡¯ve had a chance to use it.¡± He felt like he was probably more skilled than he expressed, but it was better to undersell and over perform than the other way around.

    One of the two other men in the tent finally spoke up, ¡°listen to this guy. Mam this and mam that. He¡¯s gonna give you a big head in addition to your other big assets!¡±

    She smiled at that, but then her manner became all business once again. The brief interruption suggested that this was a tight-knit group, and also that Alan maybe hadn¡¯t ruined himself in their opinion already.

    ¡°I was going to say we will be traveling all together. No offence, but you look like a green recruit and you haven¡¯t even evolved an opal class yet. However, if you think you can keep  up with us, we can try and get a little more creative.¡±

    She hadn¡¯t asked a question, but he could hear it all the same. Did Alan think he would be a liability? He had spent enough time in the special forces to see a lot of rookies come through. You never wanted one when you were going on a tough mission, one where you had to count on everyone pulling their weight.

    ¡°I¡¯m a little new to my classes, mam, but I have a lot of experience in assignments just like this.¡± It might be hubris, but he wasn¡¯t lying. He was probably the low man on the team, but he would be damned if he slowed them down.

    ¡°Fine. Enough with the mams, call me Pixel.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­Pixel.¡± More snickers from the peanut gallery. At least the morale in the group seemed to be high. Pixel continued the briefing.

    ¡°New plan, our objective is to locate the enemy HQ. It will be well shielded, but if I can plant a location marker nearby, our heavy hitters will be able to focus their attacks and start to hammer them. At the very least it will make it more difficult for them to dispatch forces from their gathering area.

    ¡°Instead of sticking closely together, we¡¯ll split into pairs. I don¡¯t want us getting too spread out, but it would be good if we could keep a few hills between us. That will dramatically increase the area we can cover, while still staying close enough for support. Mikael, Jordan, you two will take the left side. Alan, you¡¯re with me on the right.¡±

    Both of the other men saluted her with a fist to their hearts. They were suddenly much more professional looking. Alan was starting to get really excited about his mission.

    Quest Update: The Battle of Ashford Hills (200)

    [The Protian faction has recruited you into their forces. Proceed with your unit to identify the enemy HQ and help them plant a location marker.]

    It seemed the dungeon was also pumped about his assignment, updating his task. The next few minutes were spent ironing out some details of their search area and getting Alan caught up with the larger battle.

    The Ashford Hills area was strategically important because controlling it would allow the Protian faction to threaten several cities. This would force the Untar Republic to assign more soldiers to defend them. The current front line was about three kilometers away from their position and the enemy HQ should be no more than four or five kilometers beyond that.

    The roiling sky above them was actually a type of siege weapon that the Protians had purchased from the Network. Alan didn¡¯t understand the mechanics of how that worked, but somehow they had caused the system that controlled the entire universe to spawn these volatile clouds above the contested area.

    These types of things were not cheap, but this particular variant was a fraction of the cost of some other options because it was actually a neutral weapon. Either side, as long as they had mages capable, could make use of it.

    The Protians were counting on the fact that they had better Siege Mages than the other side. That wasn¡¯t an actual class, but more of a designation for any one of many classes that had a special ability that let them harness such objects. Jordan had explained for him the difference between class talents and abilities after seeing his look of confusion.

    All quartz classes had six different talents available. As Tamee had tried to explain to him before, these talents were not actions you could take, or things you could do, they instead improved your ability to accomplish things.

    Class abilities were instead exactly that. Things you could do, actions you could take. Class abilities started popping up after quartz. Not all opal classes had them, but everything after would have at least one ability available.

    As it became clear Alan was woefully uninformed about something they otherwise took for granted, Pixel started to become concerned again. She was wondering what other blind spots he had.

    ¡°Alan, are you from a newly inducted world?¡± she couldn¡¯t help the question escaping her lips.

    He winced before replying, ¡°I am.¡± He was worried this was going to cause her to go back to the more cautious approach that she had been originally intending. He was worried about the wrong thing however.

    ¡°Please tell me you know what an Army Array is?¡±

 Chapter 3

    Alan in fact did know that Army Arrays existed, but he didn¡¯t know how they worked. When he had earned an achievement for building his house back in the tier two zone, he had also become the founder of a Town. This had given him access to a Town Array.

    After that he had researched arrays in the wiki, but it had only contained details on the one array he had access to, the town version. It didn''t contain much information, though. With Tamee¡¯s help and some trial and error, however, Alan had been able to play around with it some.

    The array was a way of letting him manage the town, kind of like in SimCity. Alan had fond memories of playing that game while growing up. At the moment, his options through the town menu, which allowed him to interact with the array, were limited since his town was a tier zero village.

    The wiki had told him about another type of array, and that was the Army Array. He had zero details, but at least he knew it was a thing, and could make guesses about what it did. Luckily he wouldn¡¯t have to, because Pixel was currently giving him the cliff notes.

    ¡°In a broad sense, an Army Array is like joining up with a party.¡± This was probably supposed to be meaningful to Alan, but other than his ersatz version with Tamee, he had no experience with parties. ¡°By being part of the array you are automatically flagged to all other members as a friendly. In addition, unless you are the leader of the array, you will be designated as part of a group. For example, we are Scout 2, the second of five scouting groups that our General can maintain.¡±

    This explained the other half of the note he had been given. ¡°When you say maintain, does that mean there is a limit on how big the army can be?¡±

    ¡°Yes, depending on the Rank of the leader, their level in the Array, and a few other things, there is a maximum size. We are lucky to have both a powerful General, and a good group of officers. I myself am ranked as a Sergeant, so I can command my own squad.¡±

    The structure sounded like his old military days, so that was easy to adapt to. However, she hadn¡¯t really explained why such a thing existed. There must be a benefit to it.

    ¡°You might be wondering what the point of it is.¡± Pixel was a sharp one. ¡°In the normal course of events, you and I should never fight each other. I am so far above you that it would be almost unthinkable for you to defeat me in battle. Even if you brought ten friends, there is little chance you could take me.

    ¡°However, if you were part of an array, even one by a mere Corporal, those ten friends could tear me apart. The array is able to elevate everyone who is a part of it. There aren¡¯t any hard and fast numbers since there are so many variables, but in general, a force under an Army Array could easily defeat a foe three or four times their size that lacked one.¡±

    Alan was curious how that worked, and Pixel did her best to explain with the help of Mikael and Jordan. An Array was similar to the siege weapon in the sky above. They were ways of allowing the Network to do some of the heavy lifting for them. In terms of the clouds, it allowed the Network to provide the energy and all they needed was someone who could direct it.

    For the array, it allowed the Network to infuse the soldiers, allowing their stats and abilities to work better than normal. It somehow used the ambient mana around them to accomplish this, which meant there was a limit to the boost. The Ashford Hills were located in a region whose mana level was in the mid to high red grade. Alan could guess at what that meant, so he didn¡¯t ask for further clarification.

    What that meant for the Army was that even a soldier like Alan, who was normally at the quartz level, would be a worthy soldier once included in the Army. He would in practice end up having the strength of someone just on the edge of evolving to red. For someone like Pixel who was already red, she would gain a more significant boost, putting her at the peak of red, or possibly low orange grade.

    It seemed to operate similarly to a percentage handicap in bowling. Everyone below a certain level got a boost, but that didn¡¯t put everyone on an equal footing, merely a closer one. Those with a higher starting level would still end up being stronger, but by a smaller degree than before. Those who were significantly above the ambient mana level would only receive a few benefits, like a shared chat ability and some administrative effects.

    The effect of the array, though, and why they were so important, is that if you could collect enough people, even if they started out much weaker, you could overwhelm a smaller group of more powerful foes who were not part of an Army. The trick was, usually both sides had an Army Array, and so then it was about maximizing the benefits and hoping your leader was better.

    A successful battle would still come down to strategy and tactics, but the leaders array could give their soldiers a much needed edge when it came to meeting the enemy. After they had explained the concept to him, Pixel invited him to join her squad.

    Army Array Invite:

    [You have been invited to join a Protian Faction Army as a member of the Squad Scout 2, under the command of Sergeant Pixel. Would you like to Accept?]

    Alan accepted and swayed slightly. All of his senses went ballistic and his body suddenly felt both uncoordinated and incredibly powerful. He closed his eyes and slapped his hands over his ears and waited for his brain to stop spinning.

    He couldn¡¯t see the smirks the two other members gave each other, but his Sergeant¡¯s words appeared in his mind. She must be using the chat feature of the army to speak to him. It seemed to be similar to the party chat he and Tamee shared. He appreciated that she wasn¡¯t speaking normally, sparing his hearing somewhat. She still had to speak the words out loud to activate the chat, but she could whisper them and they would still be audible to the whole squad.

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit much at first, I know. Especially the first time. Just wait for your body to adjust.¡±

    When he had closed his eyes, Alan hadn¡¯t just been shutting out outside stimuli, he had focused his senses internally. Perhaps his single greatest advantage over the others in his tutorial was a skill called Aura Reading. He had gained this skill far earlier than most and he had been able to use it to help himself many times.

    His pathways were currently in turmoil. These were not physical constructs, but they were like a second set of blood vessels flowing through his body, delivering energy throughout. Usually, his aura, that was the technical name of the pathways, was fueled by his soul. Souls were a verifiable and semi-quantifiable thing in his new universe.

    Under the effects of the Army Array his aura was being flooded with external mana. It was more than his pathways could truly handle, even though he regularly spent time cultivating to improve them. However, he could detect some kind of effect that was helping them hold together. Without that, his pathways, and then his body would most likely have exploded.

    After about thirty seconds, he could already notice a difference in the chaos. The pathways were still overloaded, but the internal and external energies were moving together better, no longer swirling angrily together. Almost a minute after accepting the invite, he felt comfortable in his body again and opened his eyes.

    A couple of deep breaths later and he was back under control. ¡°That was intense.¡±

    Mikael clapped him on the back, ¡°not bad rook, you didn¡¯t even pass out or vomit.¡± Alan hadn¡¯t known that had been a possibility, and was glad to have avoided it. He couldn¡¯t imagine what the reek of vomit would have done to his improved sense of smell.

    Taking in his squadmates he noticed a few changes. Pixel had a pleased look for the first time since he¡¯d met her. Jordan also was smiling warmly at him. It seemed he had passed some kind of test. He also saw a blue tag floating above their heads. Trying to inspect it closer led to a game message informing him of each of their names, the squad designation, and the fact that they were a friendly.

    He also noticed a new series of silhouettes in his peripherals. They were smaller than his own, collectively the three took up about the same space as his one, and they corresponded to his new squad members. This would be helpful in letting him know their status even if they were separated.

    Speaking out loud again, Pixel explained some more, ¡°Since you have no Army Array ability of your own, you will have fewer benefits than others. For example, as a sergeant I have options for organizing my squad, or selecting certain benefits. Because of my class Shadow Walker I can boost the stealth abilities of our group. You will find it easier to sneak and blend into shadows, and there is a chance that casual gazes will slide right past us as long as we are at least partially concealed.¡±

    These arrays were useful indeed. Pixel told us to suit up and get ready. We were leaving shortly. Mikael and Jordan donned sets of leather armor, they too had some kind of storage that allowed them to instantly equip their gear. They both had shortswords strapped to their belts, but Mikael also carried a recurve bow.

    Alan was already geared up, so he had little to do. Instead he took out some blueberries and had a snack. The others grew interested in what he was eating, and he ended sharing with the rest of his squad. They thanked him before snarfing them down.

    Then it was time, and the party was out of the tent. Pixel was in the lead and they followed her through a twisting path out of the camp. They entered the forest as a group. Until they got closer to the front line they would stick together. There was no point in splitting up until they approached enemy territory.

    That didn¡¯t mean they could travel openly. Both sides had spotters and scouts combing the battlefield, searching for targets. At any opportunity the siege mages on either side would bring lightning down on anyone who was spotted. This meant they had to stick to the valleys between the hills as much as possible, but also try to use the partially blasted forest for cover.

    There were areas that were completely blasted. These had obviously been targeted by strikes before, and the trees and other plants had been leveled or burned out. As much as possible they avoided or went around those breaks, but sometimes it couldn¡¯t be helped. It was better to be momentarily exposed at the bottom of a hill, rather than risk going through even a full forest on the top.

    At first, Alan was aware of the rest of the squad¡¯s attention. They were all studying him to determine if he was going to be a liability. He could tell that they were better at moving silently and blending into the shadows, but they must have decided he was good enough, because they soon stopped watching him. Their entire focus was now directed to the surroundings.

    About twenty minutes into their mission, Pixel held up her hand, and most likely for Alan¡¯s benefit, whispered ¡°hold¡± through the squad chat. Alan had a high perception, but that was most likely nothing compared to these three higher leveled, scout-specific soldiers. He hadn¡¯t seen anything, but when Pixel pointed into the trees, both Mikael and Jordan seemed to lock onto targets.

    With a few more hand gestures, the other two broke off and went in opposite directions. Pixel didn¡¯t look back at Alan as she sent his role over chat. ¡°You stay here and stay low. There¡¯s an enemy squad about twenty meters ahead of us. We¡¯ll take care of them, but be ready to back one of us up if we seem to be in trouble.¡±

    As an untested warrior, in their eyes at least, he understood keeping him out of it. However, he was itching to prove himself, but orders were orders. He was already crouched low, and he made his way over to some bushes against a nearby tree.

    So far he hadn¡¯t seen what weapons Pixel used, but she now pulled them out of her storage. The giant woman held a tomahawk in each hand. Her large hands made them look like toys, but their edges appeared sharp and he could make out engravings carved on the blades. They were obviously lethal.

    What happened next maybe shouldn¡¯t have surprised him, but he wasn¡¯t ashamed to admit it did. A large patch on the back of her jacket opened up. He hadn¡¯t realized it could do that, and then a pair of dark brown wings appeared. Not like a bird¡¯s wings, more like a butterfly''s. They were not that large, no more than a meter across, but with a few flaps she quickly rose off the ground and was soon hiding in the treetops.

    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    Her class had said earth fairy, but for some reason that hadn¡¯t really sunk in. It made sense she could fly, but his brain was still adapting to his new reality. It was just as well that Tamee didn¡¯t bother him in dungeons, otherwise she would probably call him an idiot again. Alan was getting tired of hearing that, he had been a doctor for goodness sakes.

    The wait was less than two minutes before he saw the enemy squad. They were humanoids as well, but like the rocky behemoth he had seen in the gladiator arena, they were very solid looking. Rather than being formed from rock, though, maybe these guys were made from clay. More durable than flesh, but probably not as tough as the Bodarian he had seen in the gladiator arena. That thing was made of muscles and they had seemed incredibly dense.

    There were four of them and they all were at least as tall as Pixel, and their arms were much more massive than his squad leader¡¯s. For all of their bulk, they moved through the foliage well. He noticed one with a single bladed battleaxe at his side, and another with a spear. A third had a crossbow and the last had what looked like a wand. Curious what they were up against, Alan used identify on that one.

    Thorp: Untar[W], Green Mage, Threat level: severe

    Suddenly the mage looked around intently and somehow found Alan through his cover. A whispered hiss sent his companions scattering and he pointed his wand at Alan. He wasn¡¯t sure what had happened to give him away, but he was ready to adapt to the tactical change. Depending on what spell came his way, he was poised to dive for cover or try to counter, but nothing happened. He caught a flash of mana coursing down the mage¡¯s wand, but after there was nothing.

    Then he felt something crawling up his foot. Looking down he saw a root creeping out of the ground and it was wrapping itself around his left leg. Soon a second one appeared and coiled around his right. Trying to pull free, he found himself stuck fast. Reaching down he found his strength unequal to the task of tearing them away with his hands.

    The mage¡¯s companions were closing in on Alan from several directions, and the one had his crossbow pointed straight at Alan¡¯s chest. It was at that moment that a gleaming comet plummeted from the sky and buried itself in the crossbowman¡¯s head. It was one of Pixel¡¯s tomahawks and she herself followed it down and yanked it out of his head.

    Jordan appeared from Alan¡¯s right and engaged the enemy with the axe. The only sign of Mikael was a wooden shaft suddenly appearing in the spear wielder¡¯s torso. The green mage found himself under the glare of Pixel as she sprinted towards him. He lowered his wand and tried to escape.

    The roots stopped crawling up Alan, but they didn¡¯t let go. He took out his new axe and started chopping at the base of the roots. After a couple of blows to each he was able to pull the rest off. Looking up again, he found the fight almost over.

    A second shaft had joined the first one and the spearman was dead. Jordan, on the other side of the fight, had a gash on his shoulder, but it seemed his opponent had swallowed Jordan¡¯s sword. Silly of him, those things were sharp. That only left Pixel, who was bent over the mage, pulling her tomahawk out of his back. When she stood up and turned back around, Alan stopped breathing.

    The look she threw him promised pain, hurt, death, and despair. ¡°I told you to stay down, what the hell was that? You could have gotten us killed.¡±

    Alan finally sucked in some air and tried to explain ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened. I identified him as a green mage, but then suddenly he knew I was there and it all went to hell.¡±

    She started stalking towards him, but diverted towards Jordan when she saw his injury. ¡°Idiot! Don¡¯t you know that some people can tell when they are being scanned. As soon as you did it, he knew there was someone here.¡±

    After snapping at Alan, she placed her hands on her injured squadmate and Alan saw healing energy encase the wound. It quickly stitched together. So she was a healer in addition to her other class. He belatedly realized he should have offered to do it, but he had been shocked by Pixel¡¯s anger.

    In fairness, there was no way Alan could have known that some people could sense the identify skill. No one had ever told him about it, and he had never experienced it himself. But it didn¡¯t matter. He had been hoping to prove himself, and he had, but not in a good way.

    After seeing to Jordan¡¯s injury, she walked over to Alan. ¡°When I tell you to do something, you damn well do that, and nothing else. Got it?¡±

    Alan felt like a green recruit back in basic. ¡°Yes mam.¡±

    ¡°Now it¡¯s mam again huh?¡± Mikael had been standing nearby and chose that moment to enter the conversation.

    He wasn¡¯t certain, but Alan thought he caught a slight tugging at her lips as Pixel turned away. ¡°Let¡¯s check the bodies and then get moving.¡±

    Other than their weapons and armor, each had some type of spatial storage device holding a few items. They didn¡¯t find anything crazy, and they all went into a pouch on Pixels belt. It was just a regular pouch. You can¡¯t store spatial storage items inside of spatial storage, apparently the universe frowns on that.

    As they made their way across the battlefield, his Sergeant stayed close. ¡°Look, I may have been a little severe, I get a little amped up from combat. However, I need you to understand that you don¡¯t know anything. Next time, follow your orders, and don¡¯t improvise. And just so you understand, when you identify something, it works by establishing a brief link between you and the target. The stronger people get, the easier it is for them to sense that connection. So be careful who you try to identify and when.¡±

    Alan kept his head down, figuratively speaking, for the rest of the trip to the line. They didn¡¯t run into any more scouts, but they did pass by a squad returning from a skirmish. That squad was made up of over a hundred soldiers. These were the solid melee types. They had engaged a similar sized unit, and were actually doing well in the battle, but they had needed to pull back. Someone had communicated the location to a siege mage on the other side, and lightning bolts had started raining from the sky, killing a third of their unit.

    None of the Protian mages could respond in kind because they were busy elsewhere on the battlefield giving similar treatment to another enemy unit. It highlighted for Alan the importance of staying under cover, but also that all units were not the same. Technically their General could have a certain number of units, but specialty squads, like the one he was in, required more effort for the Network, so it greatly reduced the size of the unit. It meant that while his squad only had four people in it, the more basic one had almost two hundred.

    Now that they could see the frontline in front of them, Pixel had them pause and take stock. The area wasn¡¯t what Alan was expecting. He had thought to find two masses of soldiers hacking into one another, like something out of lord the rings. Instead, there was nothing to see but devastation.

    The ¡®frontline¡¯ was more of an imaginary boundary dividing the hills. It was kinda like a capture the flag game. Nothing special happened here, but once the line was crossed, there would be repercussions if you were spotted. Mikael tried to explain something about range of enchantments and passive effects of the arrays, but Alan was having trouble following.

    His key take away was that soon after crossing this imaginary line, the enchantments and buffs provided from the enemy HQ to its soldiers would become stronger and stronger. These were in addition to the normal benefits the enemy received from their own Army Array.

    ¡°This is where we split up,¡± Pixel began, ¡°Jordan, Mikael, you take the left, don¡¯t get too far away. You know what to do. Alan, you stick to my ass like a puppy to its bitch of a mother.¡±

    ¡°Does that make you the bitch, Pixel?¡±

    ¡°Next time Jordan, maybe I won¡¯t heal you.¡±

    ¡°Yes mam,¡± he said with a wink to Alan.

    They watched as Mikael and Jordan slipped through the forest. Alan lost sight of them after thirty meters, but Pixel was able to track them a little longer.

    ¡°He does have a cute butt, and a good amount of sass. Too bad he¡¯s not a little shorter,¡± she mumbled.

    Alan didn¡¯t think he was supposed to hear that, as Pixel¡¯s gaze lingered on Jordan¡¯s departing form. Then she turned to Alan.

    ¡°Ok, remember, this is a recon mission. If we see a large force, I can call in some strikes, but our main objective is to find that HQ. We do that, we can end this charade a whole lot faster. No heroics, killing a couple guys here or there won¡¯t make a difference, but finding their base will.¡±

    They started off, and Alan didn¡¯t notice any difference between the previous skulking and what they were doing now. They were on the enemy¡¯s side, but he didn¡¯t see anyone. A couple of times Pixel rerouted them, but Alan never saw what they were trying to avoid.

    Suddenly he heard Pixel¡¯s voice coming through his head again. Rather than risk being detected by having a normal conversation, she was whispering through the army chat, and he could still hear her loud and clear.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have access to the array menu, so I¡¯ve switched chat over for you. Right now, when you talk, I¡¯m the only one that can listen. We¡¯ll still be able to hear the rest of the squad if they try to contact us, but for now we don¡¯t want to distract them with our chatter. This is the time for you to ask any questions before we get in the shit show.¡±

    Alan thought through what he could ask her. The problem was, there were a million things he probably should ask, but he didn¡¯t know enough to know what he needed to learn.

    He went with the first thing that came to mind. ¡°Won¡¯t the enemy have spells or wards or something, around their base. How do we avoid tripping those?¡± Network forces probably wouldn¡¯t have motion detectors and surveillance cameras, but there were magical equivalents.

    ¡°Those kinds of things do exist, but they are hard to maintain in a hectic area like this. The lightning blasts do more than take out the forest, they also blast apart any enchantments in a wide area. So yes, they probably have some of those things active, but they are constantly having to be reset, so they are only used in a limited capacity.

    ¡°If we run into one, that will just be our bad luck. On the other hand, assuming we live long enough to report it, that¡¯s a pretty big clue as to where their base is.¡±

    That didn¡¯t make Alan feel any better, but they don¡¯t say ¡®war is hell¡¯ for nothing. Even though she had downplayed the danger of hidden surprises, she was moving methodically through the foliage. If he had thought they were moving slowly during the first part of the trip, they were now crawling like a glacier.

    When he asked why, Pixel told him it was to look for traps. They were also rare, for the same reason as the wards, but more people were capable of setting them, so they weren¡¯t quite as rare. Also, and he liked this bit, ¡°I can actually see traps, so it¡¯d be my fault if I got killed by one. Also, it makes me feel like I¡¯m being careful instead of blundering into the enemy.¡±

    Alan didn¡¯t mind all the sneaking, as his skill was sure to shoot up after this. He also was enjoying watching the way his Sergeant moved. Not because of how good she looked doing it, well not just because of that. He was learning about how he should be moving.

    You would think that over a decade in the Army, and most of that in the Green Berets, would have taught him how to move stealthily. And you¡¯d be right. But his body was not the same as it was then, literally. It was now capable of moving in ways a non-Network human simply couldn¡¯t.

    This towering woman was slipping through the trees far better than he was. She was less than a shadow creeping through the forest. Alan was sure that he would be spotted long before she was. But, it was while he was watching her that he learned she was not infallible. Raising her hand to push through a bush, an iron bolt suddenly tore through her shoulder.

    Her silhouette showed that her shoulder was red, but there was also a purple halo around her whole image that Alan had never seen before. In his real vision, she dropped to the ground and they were suddenly surrounded by the enemy.

    Without moving a millimeter, he scanned the area with his eyes. He counted eight individuals, and none was wielding a crossbow, so there was at least one more out there somewhere. Surprisingly enough, they actually hadn¡¯t spotted Alan, but it was only a matter of time before they did.

    He could try and make his escape, but chances were that they would spot him as soon as he moved. Also, he didn¡¯t like his odds of getting all the way back to his own area, even if he could get away from these guys initially.

    So what could he do? He couldn¡¯t even ask Mikael and Jordan for help since he couldn¡¯t switch his chat channel. He had been locked into a two way setting with his unconscious leader. Pondering his options, he only saw two. He could try to run, but Pixel would surely be killed and Alan would probably not last much longer. Or, he could try to engage their ambushers and take them out. As possibly the lowest leveled soldier on the battlefield, he would almost surely die, and then Pixel would follow shortly after.

    ¡°Alan, what¡¯s going on?¡± As if sensing Alan¡¯s dilemma, he heard Jordan¡¯s voice in his head, but he was unable to respond. Alan realized they too must have seen the change in Pixel¡¯s silhouette.

    Again Jordan spoke up, ¡°Alan¡­damn, he probably can¡¯t answer us. If you can hear this, stay close, we¡¯re gonna try and find you.¡±

    That was a possibility, but the enemy had managed to find Pixel well enough to ambush her, what chance did Alan have of not getting caught when they started searching the surroundings. That gave him an idea though, what if he surrendered, and then waited for the right time to get away, most likely when Jordan and Mikael managed to find them.

    That always works in movies, but the bad guys here were a little better at their jobs. He caught one of them giving orders to the others. ¡°Search the area, she probably wasn¡¯t alone. Porter, finish her off and search her corpse.¡±

    It didn¡¯t look like they wanted prisoners. Surrendering was out. He also couldn¡¯t run away, he would never be able to live with himself. Trying to fight them here was suicide, so then what did that leave?

    He really wished he had his MK 46 right about now. Few things in life couldn¡¯t be solved by the judicious application of hot, high-velocity, lead applied in rapid sequence. Or, at least, few things on a battlefield.

 Interlude I

    Afilada stood over her fallen foe, but she felt no sense of victory. The rest of her party stood around with their heads hung low. The remainder of her party, she should say. Sabi was quietly sobbing, but Afilada¡¯s keen hearing could easily pick it up.

    Sabi was a gorilla person and their healer. She was also becoming a talented mage, and it was this split focus that had led to their first casualty. Ayuna¡¯s broken form was lying on the ground beneath her, silently collecting the normally stoic Sabi¡¯s tears.

    The dungeon they were currently in wasn¡¯t supposed to be that big of a challenge for them. Other groups had gone through previously, and most escaped relatively unharmed. There had been a series of monsters to fight as the party made their way along a path in the enclosing jungle.

    Pierto had been especially happy after the last monster had left behind its rather impressive club. Not only was it bigger and harder than his old one, but it also had an enhancement that caused bonus shadow damage when it hit.

    The final obstacle to overcome had been a large beast, twice as tall as Forto, the group¡¯s tank and a rhino person. Its body was covered in plates of hard keratin, and its meaty fists were the size of boulders. It was bipedal like the Corellians, but its head was more monstrous than anything she had ever seen. Rather than a nose it had an oozing hole in its face, and three eyes in a triangle adorned its forehead. It wasn¡¯t fast, but it was capable of turning quickly. Pierto had discovered that early in the fight when he tried to sneak up behind it.

    The monster had turned when the tiger person¡¯s fancy new club had smashed into its calf. Little damage was done, but the creature reacted by swinging its arm around and backhanding Pierto across the clearing. Luckily Sabi had cast a shield over him, or the resulting collision with a tree might have caused him serious damage.

    Forto was able to recapture the attention of the ugly monster and prevented it from trying to finish him off while he was stunned. Despite that early setback, they were able to regroup and were able to steadily wear down the final boss. It had turned into a long and frustrating battle because its armor was thick enough to repel most of their blows. It was Sabi, mostly, who was able to inflict damage.

    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Her mage class had upgraded to an Icemancer at the opal level. She was able to send large icicles shooting up at an angle that allowed them to slide between the plates of armor and impact the tough skin underneath. She was also using her healer class, which had upgraded to Defender, to shield the three melee fighters.

    Seeing how little effect they were having, they had mostly stopped trying to inflict wounds, and instead were merely keeping it away from Sabi. Ayuna, the archer, also occasionally sent an arrow or two towards its face, but it had picked up a fallen branch and used it to shield itself.

    The fight had dragged on a bit and Afilada, her impatience getting the best of her, had told Sabi to hurry it up. She started sending the icicles in an almost constant stream, quickly shredding its already damaged chest. Channeling her mana to create an even larger icicle, she planned on finishing it off with this last spell.

    It was a sight to behold, the shard of ice grew from the size of a finger to a thick shaft that was longer than Sabi herself. Ayuna was momentarily transfixed by the glittery spear of frozen water and didn¡¯t notice the beast¡¯s desperation attack.

    It hurled the arrow studded branch, three meters long and around eighty centimeters across, toward the rapidly forming death blow. Its aim was off, however, and it sailed past the channeling mage to catch the slender cheetah person full in the chest. Sabi was too focused on finishing her spell to shield Ayuna, and the force shattered the relatively frail archer¡¯s ribcage.

    Hundreds of small shards of bone tore through her internal organs and she was dead before ever realizing what had happened. If Ayuna had been paying proper attention, she could have easily avoided her wooden demise. Or if Sabi hadn¡¯t been channeling so much mana she could have deflected it with one of her shields. If only Afilada hadn¡¯t been in such a rush to have the fight finished¡­

    Pierto was the first to move. He walked up next to their devastated healer and simply placed his hand on her shoulder. Forto followed suit and rested his giant hand on her other shoulder. Neither said anything, but their shared grief allowed Sabi to regain some control of her own emotions.

    That left Afilada all alone. Afilada, the fierce cat person who had been banished from her own tribe because of her bloodthirsty nature. Afilada, the one who thrived on arriving here in the tutorial by killing anybody she wanted and taking everything they had. Afilada, the warrior queen who would one day rule this world, regardless of the cost. Afilada, the sad, lonely girl, with a giant ache in her heart and tears on her cheeks.