thenovelthief Chapter 7-17
Chapter 7-17
“Fucking Mondays, amiright? This is DJ Demophon Kerner here on K-RAD LA, the only radio station that brings you the truth!
“Well, I got no truth for y’all today – other than the eternal truth of song! We’ll get to the tunes in just a moment, right after this important message from one of our biggest sponsors!
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- DJ Demophon Kerner, on K-RAD LA, July 21st, System Year 453
It didn’t take more than a few minutes for us to organize our stuff. I still didn’t have a replacement backpack or camping supplies, so I had to store my clothes one by one. That proved why bags were so useful, as it consumed stamina at a surprising rate.
Since we were already in full gear for Physical Training, we were out in the courtyard well before Thompson’s deadline. There we found Professor Osco waiting, and she waved us over to join her. Squad Excel joined us minutes later, and we exchanged greetings. I noticed Tara looking around, probably hoping to spot Maya, but the other students were off on the morning run.
We followed the Lightning Mage out to the front of the buildings where Thompson and Trite were waiting for us. I’d never asked where the monster lived while we were in town, though I supposed Thompson could hardly be the only trainer-type Class in the city. Maybe all their pet monsters hung out together somewhere. Somewhere I never wanted to visit, that was for sure.
Thompson agilely hopped up onto the spiderwolf’s back, sitting just behind where the three necks merged into the thick torso, and then set off. We nearly had to jog to keep up, and it wasn’t long before we’d retraced the path we’d followed on our arrival just a couple weeks before. As we left the city gates, Trite sped up further, and we had to start running to keep pace.
Arlo said with a theatrical groan over the Comms.
That received a less positive response, to the point where I finally held my hands up in surrender. Tara looked at us curiously, and I realized she still hadn’t rejoined the Squad.
I groaned to myself as I realized that we were going to be spending all our time together for the foreseeable future. There wouldn’t be anywhere for her – or me – to run off to back at the Academy. Not with only two Squads and a few instructors around…
Shit, do I actually have to do something about this whole fucking situation now? I don’t wanna!
The whole thing was so dumb. I knew it, I was sure she knew it, but I didn’t know how to fix it, and she wasn’t helping. And now there was the whole Maria thing added to the mix. I really didn’t know how I felt about that.
It was fun… If I’m being honest I have to admit that. And I don’t have anything to apologize for! Tara hooked up with Maya first! And why do they both have names that start with ‘M’, anyway?! And unusual hair colors? And they’re both rich and pretty?
Dead fucking gods, did I just copy Tara?! No, that’s impossible, it’s just a cruel joke by the universe! Or PAST! Yeah, I blame PAST, it must be his fault! Right? Right!
Convincing myself of that was easier said than done, however. Fortunately, I had this lovely run to distract me…
The running got harder as the day wore on and the sun rose higher, beating down on us with the fury of summer. I was very grateful for my thermal regulation mod, but I was still drenched in sweat by the time we finally stopped for lunch. At least I’d finally gotten Summon Jet Cola down, so I had an icy refreshing beverage to accompany the lunch of rations that Thomspon handed out.
The sweet fizzy drink helped boost my stamina as we got back on the road maybe thirty minutes after stopping. I was curious to learn more about Squad Excel, but that would have required talking out loud, and I didn’t have the breath to spare. Instead, I listened to my teammates alternately complain and joke over the Comms.
We stopped in a town for the night, and even G’hala and I were grateful for the break. The orcs might be incredibly strong, but that also meant they had far more mass to carry around when we moved quickly. They kept up remarkably well, considering, though they had the advantage of finding the blazing hot sun to be ‘refreshingly warm’ as H’ruk had put it earlier.
I lay in my bed practicing Embrittle, fighting off the fatigue of the day and my aching muscles to concentrate on the Spell. When I succeeded in casting it, a strangely shimmering black and purple ball of energy would appear, hanging in the air. I wasn’t stupid enough to stick my finger in there to find out what would happen. I definitely wasn’t even tempted.
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We were on the road again early the next morning, following behind Trite at a brisk jog. I was impressed at my ability to keep up the pace despite the weight of my armor, cutlass, and monster pistol. Thinking back to the day we’d marched out of East Bank and through the Tier 2 zone, it was obvious how much stronger and fitter I was now. Not to mention the extra Stats I possessed.
It was in the early afternoon that the road started to rise up, heading into the foothills of the Eastern Range where the Academy was located. The combination of the incline and the pulsing afternoon heat dragged at all of us. Our impending arrival pressed down on me, reminding me that I needed to do something about the Tara situation. I was running – literally – out of time.
Gritting my teeth, I informed my team that I needed to talk to Tara, and ordered PAST to remove them all from my Squad. Then I told the System to invite Tara to join it.
[Tara has rejected your Squad invite, Gunner!]
With a muttered curse I slowed down slightly, trying to drop back next to the Defender. I swear she tried to slow down to stay behind me, but with Zenia bringing up the rear of the group she didn’t have anywhere to go. She still rejected my next Squad invitation, though. But when I sent her a third, fourth, and fifth, she finally gave in.
The glare I was giving her probably helped.
She stored her helm, revealing her sweat-soaked hair, and returned my earlier glare, emerald eyes boring into me. Then she seemed to remember that Zenia was only a few strides behind us and her head snapped back to the front.
Great, now just I have to figure out what to fucking say…
To my astonishment, she didn’t yell back at me. She didn’t say anything, in fact, not for quite a while.
I did not enjoy the way my heart skipped a beat when she giggled in response. I’m still fucking mad at her! Stupid feelings!
I grunted in agreement at that, sweat dripping down my face. After a few dozen more strides I decided that was enough not-apologizing for today. I ordered PAST to invite the others back into the Squad, and Raylan started re-telling whatever story he’d been in the middle of.
I tuned him out, grateful that the Knife Fighter was there to carry the conversation. It really annoyed me sometimes that there was no Stat for charisma. Surely that would make all these stupidly hard talks much easier, right? I wasn’t always too proud to admit I could use the help.
It was mid-afternoon when Backhorn came into view, and I sighed in relief, knowing we were close. It was shocking how small the towns we’d passed through felt now, after just a couple of weeks in the city.
At our place, it didn’t take long to reach the Academy. The gates were closed, but opened slowly as we approached. We came to a relieved halt in the main square, drinking thirstily from our canteens. To my surprise, what I could see of the school looked pretty much the same as when we’d left. There was still a gaping hole in the side of the dining hall, only now it was covered up by a tarp. The top of the watchtower was still wrecked, and I assumed the dorms weren’t in any better shape.
I’d forgotten that the veterans dorm had been the least damaged of the three, and all the broken glass and blood had at least been cleaned up. The windows hadn’t been replaced, but enough of the shutters had that we were all able to find habitable rooms. The inside of the dorm was exactly the same as ours, only mirrored. With so few of us there, everyone got their own rooms. Except for Raylan and Jayce of course, who were happy to share.
In the morning Wilson appeared to summon us to Thompson’s office. He surprised me when he asked for “Squad leaders and seconds,” which forced me to consider for the first time who exactly should be second in command.
My instinct was to pick G’hala, but the orc was already feisty enough about her role as our Healer keeping her away from the front line. If I told her she was second-in-command, she’d either take it as an excuse to do what she wanted or she’d be mad at me if I told her it was another reason she shouldn’t.
Jayce was visibly happy when I asked them to come, and no one else objected, so it was the two of us that followed him into Thompson’s office. Their leader was their Ice Mage, a girl named Leyla, and their second was Armando, their Arbalist who looked more like a Fighter with his size and impressive muscles.
When the door closed behind me, I felt the strange sensation of being cut off from the rest of my team by the wards built into the Head Instructor’s office. Leyla and I took the seats, while Jayce and Armando stood behind us. Thompson leaned forward on her desk and gave us a measuring look.
“Ostensibly I’ve brought your teams here to run the dungeon. In case any of you have forgotten, a stable dungeon must be regularly entered or it will fade away. Thus, bringing you here fulfills the requirement to keep it active. However, there is a deeper motive at play as well.”
I sat forward intently at that, staring into Thompson’s grey eyes as she looked directly at me.
“I see an opportunity coming in the next few months, one that would be uniquely suited for Squad Hard Limit’s… particular talents. However, your Squad is not yet ready for this particular challenge. Thus, the focus of your upcoming dungeon runs will be to accelerate the growth of Azure’s Squad.”