“What do we do?” Mark asked, a scowl on his face as he sat on a throne of hardened mud.
“What is there to do?” Lina asked, shrugging. “Sure he might be an asshole, but he’s a strong one. I sure as hell won’t say no if he wants to put himself between me and whatever’s hiding inside that Rift.”
“Could we trust him though?” Helene asked, looking worriedly out through the flap of the tent they’d been given next to the fortifications. “I don’t know him well enough to tell, but the rest of you should. What do you think?”
“I don’t really know him,” Lina said, spinning up a little air twister atop her palm. A new nervous tick. Or was it just her version of fidgeting? Mia wished she had good enough control of her own mana to just play with it that casually. “I paid him monthly for rent and that was it. Then when I asked to be allowed to fight, he just shrugged and gave me a way to do it safely.”
“Mia and Brent know him best,” Mark said, fingers steepled and brows furrowed. “You two have been silent so far. Any input?”
Mia closed her book, one of the few she got from Kelvin’s stash of duplicates. It wasn’t a magical one unfortunately, but she hoped it would be a gateway for her to get into learning an arcane language capable of Chanting.
Imperial Common was apparently a catchall term for three different things. One was the standard language of The Empire — which was apparently something of a big deal in the Mystic Realm — another was a standardised runic language of this very same Empire and the third was supposedly an arcane language that was some weird mix of the two. Imperial Standard referred to the runic language to be specific, while the arcane language, the spoken version of the runic script, was so rarely used that it only had some arbitrary designation like ‘Imperial Standard Verbal’, shortened to ISV in the few segments that mentioned it.
The book in Mia’s lap was an introduction for the standard spoken language, Imperial Common, that apparently everyone from peasants and beggars to high lords and ladies spoke in the Mystic Realm’s higher Planes.
The language was … strange. Learning to speak the entirely non-magical version on a basic level and write it with letters was simple enough, the grammatical rules and such were even simpler than English’s. So Mia was making quite a headway just by having spent her off time studying it over the last few days.
“I’m not letting him watch my back,” Mia said resolutely. “I trust him as far as I can throw him not to kick me into the mouth of a monster.”
“I … think that’s a bit harsh,” Brent said, an uncharacteristic wince flashing across his newly bearded face. He sat on a stool, elbows on his knees and looked around at the rest of them with what Mia could only describe as regret. “I’m not saying he is not a cunt, he bloody sure is, but he is not a bad person. Just think about it, how many people from the district outside of his building survived the tide of monsters?”
“I’m guessing the answer is ‘not many’?” Lina raised an eyebrow.
“The answer is ‘nearly none’,” Brent said darkly. “Tens of thousands of people, and the only survivors either ran away and got lucky like us or survived due to his actions. Hell, I doubt most of us would have survived the first night if we were anywhere but inside his building.”
All factual truths, Mia knew, but it didn’t change her feelings on the matter. It dampened her vindictive anger—he had, after all, saved her life by being the paranoid cunt that he was.
Mia thought back to that first night, when she peeked out the windows like a scared little girl and saw the streets teeming with monsters. She hadn’t even been able to cast a single spell back then, but Brent and Jeff were down on the ground floor, keeping the tide of death at bay.
“And how do you justify his mind-fucking magic?” Mark asked, conceding to Brent’s point but still not happy with the state of things.
“I won’t,” Brent said, almost chuckling as he did so. “I never liked it that he did that, but I know that while his logic may have been horrendously flawed, it came from the right place … I do know now at least. He knew there had to be order and unity if a small group as diverse as he was trying to protect was to survive in this apocalypse without outside help.”
“Unity under his boot,” Mark said, scowling. He never liked Jeff, and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon by the looks of it. Plus, the feeling had always been mutual. “Order at the threat of getting thrown to the monsters.”
Brent gave a resigned shrug, looking around at either thoughtful or scowling faces. He opened his mouth and added a closing bit. “Regardless of his methods, the fact remains: he saved hundreds of lives.”
“Sacrificing the few for the good of the many,” Helene murmured, sounding like she was trying to see how well that proverb fit for the situation.
Mia saw Brent glancing at her, a complicated, questioning look on his face.
“What?” Mia asked, breaking out of her own thoughts. “None of that changes anything about what I said. Fact is, I don’t trust him nearly enough to watch my back if I were to go into a monster infested Rift with him. If he is going in, I am not. End of story.”
Brent nodded, understanding clear in his eyes and Mia let out a little sigh.
“I doubt he’d do anything,” Carmilla spoke up in the thoughtful silence that followed, drawing curious eyes at herself. The vampire just shrugged. “He is an Abyssal Demonspawn. His kind is wiped of most emotion, they are beings of logic. One of the species most in line with the Darkness and its main aspects of Order and Control.”
“You got that from the horns?” Mark asked. “Could be his dad was just a goatfucker.”
“He has an Abyssal Demonic Bloodline,” Carmilla said, ignoring Mark’s quip. “I can practically taste the sulfuric scent of the Demon Realm on him.”
“Why does that matter?” Mia asked. “If he really just wants to return order to the world and gain control over as many people as he can, then he’d just be a tyrant. A warlord. We’d be dangers to that, with most of us both powerful and not liking him. Why wouldn’t he throw us to the monsters again if he gets the chance?”
“Well … “ Carmilla trailed off, glancing towards the patiently listening Brent. “If what Brent thinks about him is true, and his primary goal is to save as many lives as he can … well, then killing us, who can help him accomplish that by destroying rifts, would be … illogical.”
“He sure has a bunch of level 10s just as strong as us,” Lina said, poking a hole into Carmilla’s idea. “With only ten people being allowed into a Rift, that’s all the number of them he needs to clean up the city. He doesn’t need us.”
“But having as many strong Classers’ help as possible would speed up the reclamation of the city,” Carmilla said. “Which would save lives as a side-effect. Killing us doesn’t make sense for him. Not if we don’t somehow try to fuck with those reclamation and monster killing efforts.”
Saying her bit, Carmilla shrugged and leaned back. She had that ‘I did my part of enlightening you, now you decide whatever you want to do with that new information, I don’t care’ look of hers on.
“Well, Brent?” Lina asked, sending her little twister to blow into the man’s hair like a soft breeze. “How confident are you in it that he wants to save lives and not just carve out a little kingdom for himself?”
“The two aren’t exclusive,” Brent said. “But I think his goal is the first and he thinks that the second is the means for achieving it. Much easier to save and protect more people if you have absolute power over their actions after all.”
“Well, this is a bloody quagmire of a debate,” Mark said, jumping to his feet. “I’m with Mia. I don’t trust the cunt enough to fight back to back with him. If he wants to dive the Rift, he can do it with his lackeys … either he destroys it and we win or he dies in there and we don’t have to worry about him anymore. Wins all around.”
Brent looked conflicted, but gave a resigned sigh. Shaking his head, he stood up. “I’ll take a walk, get some fresh air.”
“We could start digging out the rat rift,” Mia said, glancing at Mark. “How about it? You dig up the sewers, then we try to convince Jeff that he should dive that one while we take care of the goblin rift?”
“ … I can see the appeal,” Mark said rubbing his chin with a grin. “Yes. Him cleaning the sewers from a bunch of mangy rats stinking like a week old, sun-baked garbage heap. Very appealing. I’ll see whether I can get the good Colonel to agree to that proposition!”
With that, the dwarf practically ran out of the tent, cackling like a madman … or like a child preparing to play a prank on that one kid in school they always hated.
“Was that wise?” Helene asked, brows creased in worry. “The rat rift is buried under tonnes of rubble. That could hold off the monsters breaking out of it for weeks.”
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“Doubt it would take more than a day or two for the next escaping Guardian with about equal strength to the Troll to dig itself out,” Mia said, shrugging. “I really think it’s dumb that the army is just taking the ‘hope for the best’ approach without preparing for the worst.”
“Maybe they are preparing,” Helene countered gently. “And just aren’t telling us. We are still just outsiders and civilians in their eyes.”
“We’ll see how long it takes for that stance to bite them in the ass,” Lina said with a malicious grin. Then she shot out a little burst of air from both of her arms, propelling herself onto her feet. “Alright! Call me if anything happens, I’m so damned close to getting this Air Jump right, I’ll be going back to practising. Toodles!”
“I’ll go out for a bit too,” Carmilla whispered, looking thoughtfully out the tent before giving a meaningful glance to Mia. Oh, she’s going to snoop around for a bit.
“Be careful,” Mia said, a hint of worry in her voice. Jeff was strong, dangerous. Not the kind of rabble the vampiress usually stalked. “Very careful. I don’t want to learn what other messed up mind magics he unlocked since I last met him by them brain-fucking you, okay?”
“I’ll be careful.” The vampire gave a small, indulgent smile.
“I’m serious,” Mia said, frowning at her girlfriend so she got the message. “Promise?”
“Alright, I promise.” Carmilla nodded seriously. “I’ll be back in an hour.”
“See you later.” Mia gave her a little finger wave, and the vampire slipped out of the tent. Mia watched her go with an appreciative hum she was sure the vampire heard.
The way Carmilla’s every movement shifted when she was on a prowl into that sinuous predatory grace was a sight to behold. As was her posterior in skintight leather leggings.
With everyone else, but Mia and Helene gone, the two women just shrugged and settled back down to read in companionable silence.
*****
There are just so many damned things I need to do. Mia thought, feeling a little overwhelmed by it all as she now sat out in a nearby park — not the one with the goblin rift in it of course — and watched as her last attempt at forming a cube out of her mana atop her head fizzled away into nothingness.
“Your mana looks … uncooperative.” Lina patted her on the shoulder consolingly. “But you couldn’t even mould them into shapes just a week ago, no? That’s still awesome progress.”
Mia had basically tracked the girl down to her training place, having grown mind-numbingly bored by learning new words and phrases in Imperial Common. Mana Control training was her choice of poison, and what brought about her sense of hopelessness at just how many aspects of herself she has to improve upon.
Agility, Flexibility and mental exercises, for example, of the latter she had to do different kinds for all three sub-stats. Then there were the Spirit sub-stats, namely: Control, Manifestation and Sensitivity.
Then there would be trying to upgrade her Secondary Skills in Grade, practising her spells, practising with her Arcane Mana Manipulation to make it usable in a fight … and just straight up training how to fight better. I also promised myself I’d get some sword lessons from Brent.
When all of that came atop the fact that she also had to worry about fighting monsters and soon-ish diving a Rift that could very well kill her, monsters that would only be getting stronger as time went on. She had to stay ahead of the curve, ahead of everyone else too, if she wanted to feel any sense of security and safety in her life. It was all just so … much. She was getting buried under the items of her mental to-do list and she was drowning.
Then here was Lina, practising with her new anklets and Misty Steps Trait. The girl could already launch herself up into the air with a burst of wind, then take three flighty steps in the air before falling back down.
That had been a single step just yesterday, and a few days before that the girl launched herself into walls with her wind bursts more often than not.
Mia had thought Lina rash back when they first met. Rash, suicidal and battle hungry, but now while most of those still stood she also saw the reality for what it was. Lina was driven. And driven in a way no number of points into Will could replicate.
“What’s bothering you?” Lina asked, seeing the look in Mia’s eyes. “I could … hear you out if you want me to?”
“Do you think we can actually come out of this?” Mia asked, staring into the distance as the blonde Air mage plopped down into the grass next to her. “It just feels … hopeless. Can we really keep staying ahead of the monsters? How long can civilisation last like this? A year? Two? Ten? Is our generation going to be the last?”
“Hmmmm,” Lina puckered her lips, staring up into the swaying canopy. “Hopeless … I can see why you’d think that, but let me give you a counter perspective. We’ve been given a chance, a hope of actually controlling our fates. Even with all the monsters, all the other bullshit out there, we have a chance. We have been offered a power to make sure we wouldn’t be helpless victims.”
“I know that,” Mia said sourly. What I don’t know is whether I’m strong enough to take that power … no, I know I could. But can I do it fast enough? Can I keep up? With level 13 and 14 monsters already wandering around, can I ever hope to keep up with them in strength? Can I, when I can’t even make a damned cube of mana!?
The best she could do was to try and do her best. There was nothing else to do, she knew. Maybe she could run for an Obelisk and hope its Transportation function can take her out of the Realm and let her live out the rest of her life as a peasant on some Lower Plane?
That thought was strangely comforting. An alternative, an out, should she really not be up to par. It wasn’t do or die anymore, but do or … live out a mediocre life in another universe where power ruled everything.
The alternative was still looking horrible, but better than dying. Most things were better than dying, in Mia’s humble opinion.
She heaved a slow sigh, flopping on her back and just staring up at the swaying branches and the small bits of blue she saw in the cracks of the sea of green.
“Sorry,” Lina said, looking over at her with an embarrassed look. “I- uh, might not be as good at this consoling thing as I thought … but you look better even without my help?”
Mia felt herself smiling minutely as she watched the blonde. Lina clearly wanted to help, she clearly cared. Even if the crush Mia once had on the girl had gone nowhere — what with the girl liking men — Lina was still a good friend.
Mia had so few of those. I should treasure her more.
With that thought lingering in the back of her mind, she answered the girl’s unasked question. “I just realised that I can probably run to the nearest Obelisk, run away to another Realm and live out the rest of my five centuries of life as a potato farmer on some Lower Plane in the Mystic Realm if all … this doesn’t work out.”
I will try my best, that’s all I can do. That’s all anyone can expect of me.
“I guess you could … ?” Lina looked at her strangely. “I think I couldn’t, not with the chance to be powerful enough to be invincible dangled in front of me. I’m not … hating or anything, but I’d take the chance to be a damned god than mediocrity and helplessness. Even with the high likelihood of me ending up as the toothpick of the next Troll I come across.”
“I’ll try, don’t get me wrong,” Mia said, glancing over at the blonde with a resolute look. Now that she found a smidge of courage to marshal her willpower around, it was quickly snowballing into something stronger, something firmer. “It’s just good to know there are alternatives in case I … crumble.”
“It’d be a damned shame if you became a potato farmer though,” Lina said, a playful smile tugging at her lips as she saw the forlorn expression had left Mia’s face. “With magic like that? Will you blow the potatoes out of the ground? … and I don’t think one of those patch worked housewife dresses would fit you all that well. You don’t really give me ‘peasant girl’ vibes.”
“I was thinking more jeans-overalls and less medieval dresses,” Mia said, quirking a smile as Lina too laid down in the grass with a giggle.
“That’s even worse,” the blonde said, forcing an aghast tone into her voice. “Putting you into anything but extravagant dresses is a crime against fashion. Though I guess your current getup is … salvageable. Have you considered wearing black stuff? I think it would contrast nicely with your hot pink hair.”
You and your fashion ideas. Mia chuckled, remembering with a suppressed grimace how she’d once taken the girl’s willingness to put her into all sorts of dresses as something bordering on flirting. By now, she knew Lina was just obsessed with fashion and making people look pretty.
“Black?” Mia asked, raising an eyebrow. A good four-fifths of her wardrobe was black as the night … but she’d thought it wouldn’t fit her new colour theme. “With pink?”
“Mhmmm,” Lina nodded excitedly, sitting up with a burst of energy. “I mean, the current theme you have is also nice. The cute elfin look goes well with your cheerful smile, but if you want more of a dark femme look … I have some good makeup techniques that could really make a full black dress on you pop.”
“You’ll have to show me,” Mia said, a curiosity blooming in her heart just imagining how Carmilla would react. The girl had been more aware of Mia these last few days, and Mia had been drinking in every single lingering look the vampire sent her way. “I’m game.”
She was more than just ‘game’, she felt a thrill of excitement that she wasn’t entirely sure was there before just at the idea of being pretty and dressing up to show that to everyone else. Might have been her Fae blood showing, or just a repressed side of her own psyche.
Well, I doubt I have to worry about weirdos now that I can blow their heads off. I can dress as pretty as I want.
Her ears twitched, hearing a set of footsteps approaching. Stout, heavy, stomping … presence tastes like earth and metal.
“Mark? What are you doing here?” Mia called out, recognising his presence.
“Oh, there you are! … oh, jackpot, I don’t have to look for Lina. Nice,” the dwarf rambled as he jogged over. “So, you won’t believe this, but Zeigler actually thought the idea was good! He’s going to ask Jeff and his goons to head into the Rat Rift which’ll be cleaned out if he accepts.”
Mia felt a grin forming, though the many ‘if’-s about the plan dampened her excitement somewhat.
“Also,” Mark continued. “Have you checked your Rewards yet? The Realm Event’s countdown has just ended a few minutes ago.”
“We were a touch distracted,” Lina said with a chuckle, glancing over at Mia who just smiled. “Should we do it here? I really don’t want to wait?”
“Why not?” Mia shrugged, sitting cross-legged on the grass as she pulled up her Quests Interface. Time to get some more goodies for all my trouble. Give me something good.
[Realm Event: Rift Mayhem]
Objectives:
- Kill monsters: 563
- Enter a Rift! COMPLETE.
- Clear a Rift: 1
- Clear and Close a Rift: 1
- Contribute to securing your home against monsters: Mid (55%)
- Assist those fending off monsters and diving Rifts: Mid (12%)
[Rewards will be given at the end of each week based on each User’s contribution! The Event will end once the Realm is stabilised!]
[Failing this event might mean not only the end of your town, but that of your planet and the Realm as a whole]
[Rewards for Week#3 can be claimed now!]
[Claim Rewards now?]
[ Yes / No ]