by Tao Wong
“And if General Miller is assassinated?” Laila asks from her chair. I’m amused that she’s in a sleeveless pantsuit, one that shows off her tightly toned arms.
She looks almost as delicious as the dark-chocolate aide who sits by her side, his arms shown off in a sleeveless vest. For a moment, I wonder if it’s just coincidence or a case of well-designed uniforms before I pull my attention back to Miller.
“The chain of command passes from General Miller to myself to Colonel Wier to Mr. Lee,” Sanchez answers, waving his fingers and flicking over a document. In it is the new chain of command.
I’m surprised to note Lana’s and Sam’s names on it and relatively high, though we go through a couple more military personnel before it seriously switches around to non-military personnel.
“Why’s John so high up?” Kaylee asks, prodding the paper. “He military too?”
“No. Mr. Lee’s special Skills dictate his position in the chain of command. If he is still able to function at that point, he will be in the best position to ascertain the next steps for our attack,” Miller replies.
“Ah, he gets to decide if we run away?” Daniel asks, stating the obvious.
There’s more than a few frowns at the mage, but he ignores them all. Whether it’s a case of the programmer being entirely oblivious or not caring, he seems more than happy to annoy everyone.
“Or press the attack,” Miller says. “Our troops have been so informed. Now, we have much to discuss and not much time.”
The grumbling stills, at least for the moment, as we turn toward the minutiae of battle prep. It amuses me slightly since my own portion of this is done. I’ve got Sabre, Ali, and my sword. Everything else… well, that’s for others to handle. My people are in good hands. Once again, I’m the damn transport hub.
“You were pretty quiet in there,” Sam says to me later that evening where our team has gathered in the house we’ve been allocated.
Everyone’s here, including Carlos and Ingrid, which is a nice change of pace from the recent norm. Perhaps it’s because we’ve all lost our families that voluntary gatherings like this are all the more important, familiar bonds reestablished to offer comfort and succor.
“Didn’t have much to contribute,” I say with a shrug. “You and Lana have a better idea of what our men are like these days. Though I’m surprised you weren’t there.” I say that to Mikito, who sighs.
“Training. We’re closing in on clearing the fiftieth level zone of your dungeon,” Mikito says with a slight bite.
“Ah, right.” I blink and duck my head, recalling that I was the one who had mentioned we should try to clear the dungeon ourselves. We never got around to it, mostly because I’m too busy running errands. Truthfully, outside of pulling the team in for the occasional clearance of a newly found, uncleared dungeon on my route, we haven’t had much fighting time together recently.
“Leave him alone, Miki,” Carlos says. “He’s busy doing hero stuff. We’ve got the dungeons covered.”
“Miki…?” I do my best to hide my astonishment at the lack of naginata protruding from Carlos’s body at the use of a nickname.
“Lazing around and road-tripping,” Mikito mutters grumpily, though mostly good-naturedly.
“That does raise the question—when are we taking the rest of Canada?” Ingrid says, leaning forward. “Not that helping the Americans isn’t important, but you know…”
“National pride,” I say with a half-smile. “After this. I’ll be porting up to Calgary and heading east once the battle here is over and things have settled. Wier has promised more help from his people. With the marines clear, they’ll have enough people to make an actual push of it by themselves once they settle LA. Calgary’s pretty secure now and Edmonton is raring to go, so we’re next on the agenda.”
“Good,” Sam grunts.
I glance at the older man, recalling his concerns over Ontario.
“We’re pretty settled up in BC too. The mountains farther north are an issue, but things are beginning to settle. The negotiations with the sirens in Victoria Island are nearly over,” Lana adds, shaking her curly red hair. “Though I’m not entirely sure we’ll get many immigrants from there.”
“Men,” Ingrid says with a snort.
“Good,” Carlos says happily, returning to the initial topic. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind helping them but…”
“It’ll be good to get started,” I say, nodding. “Any news on the Rockies?”
A few faces are made at that question.
Ingrid answers without hesitation. “Level 80 to 120 depending on the zone. No survivors. Our scouts have indicated a series of flying monsters ranging from gargoyles, griffins, and drakes to elemental rock hounds and creatures we don’t even have names for. And that’s at the edges.”
“Sounds like the passes up north are the way to go, unless there’re a few lower Level zones down south,” I say.
It’s frustrating, but we’re also lucky. As the latest Dungeon World, we’re still considered “new,” and while certain zones have a higher level of ambient Mana than others, we’re nowhere close to the levels of older Dungeon Worlds. Over time—measured in years and decades, thankfully—the amount of ambient Mana on Earth will rise too. In fact, the introduction of Earth as a Dungeon World has helped the other Dungeon Worlds significantly, slowing down the Mana saturation in their worlds. The continual increase in zones and Levels in older Dungeon Worlds is what makes City Dungeons so damn popular. The City Dungeons themselves are much more controlled and it’s why we haven’t seen a rush of new Galactic Adventurers. While the rewards in experience and loot is better in a Dungeon World, City Dungeons are just safer and more accessible for those at the lower end of the scale. It’s like travelling to a new country to take a degree – sure, technically possible but it’s expensive and risky. Of course, not a rush is relative. When you’re talking populations of hundreds of billions, fractions are still huge.
“The scouts are working that route right now, but it’s slow going. Between the Galactics streaming in, the need to locate and work with survivors, and the lack of a base, I don’t expect there to be any major developments,” Ingrid says. “They’ve asked for funds to build up a Fort they located, but it’s pretty broken right now.”
“Done. Talk to Kim. He’ll arrange for the Credits.” I trust the assassin to know and vet the scouts. While she isn’t directly in charge of their operations—it’s a tad too much responsibility for the lady—I know she’s interested in the process. It’s almost like stepping into a new world each time you explore a new region these days. “The Americans giving them a hard time?”
With the border down, there’s little to separate our countries except an imaginary state of mind—certainly, we don’t have a giant wall to demarcate the difference. But the walls we build in our minds can be harder to break than even a diamond-studded wall in reality.
“Not too much. Many of them are happy to see just about anyone. The few who aren’t… well, our scouts are some of our highest Level Combat Classers,” Ingrid says. “Anyone who objects too pointedly gets the point.”
“Badoom-Krash!” Ali shouts, playing imaginary drums to go alongside the sound effect.
“And that’s enough of that. On another note, there’s been talk about reclaiming some of the other settlements,” Lana says. “Some of the survivors have indicated a desire to head back home. Others just want to explore. We’ve been able to keep it in check mostly, or at least redirect them to one of our smaller Villages in BC, but it’s not just us. Alberta’s indicated the same thing—people want to go home. Even if that home is now owned by a seventeen-foot-tall green man.”
“That’s an oddly specific example,” Carlos says.
“It is, isn’t it?” Lana says sweetly.
“What do you want me to do about it?” I say with a frown.
“Nothing. There’s nothing you can do, but you remember how the System called us NPCs? Like we were just backgroun
d to their lives?” Lana says, and I nod. “Well, I wonder if that’s because it’s true. Once we start populating the other settlements, we’ll need the Galactics to help keep order. To keep them settled. We don’t have the population anymore to keep all our cities going.”
“You think they knew. That they planned for this.” At her nod, I glance at Ali. The Spirit nods and I sigh. Time to let the team know the truth I’ve already read. “They did. It’s common practice for the Galactics. We’re not the first, the second, or the hundredth world to be taken over. The only reason they’ve only got six Dungeon Worlds is because at a certain point, most Dungeon Worlds self-destruct. The ambient Mana pushes the monsters to a point where it’s impossible for all but the most Legendary individuals to visit. Many of the core worlds among the Galactics aren’t very different from those Dungeon Worlds by now.”
My words make the group blink—not at the words themselves but at the Quest Notification they receive. For the first time, Carlos gets introduced to my private obsession—the System Quest. All of them receive a little experience as they uncover another secret of the System. And as always, there’s no way to tell why or how this piece of knowledge and not another is important enough that the System will award us.
“Thanks for the experience. I think,” Carlos says, his brow furrowed as he reads the quest log.
“Don’t worry about it. John’s obsessed with it. He even reads books,” Ingrid says the last mostly teasingly but with just a hint of derision in her voice.
“Enough of picking on John,” Lana says, frowning. “His book reading is actually useful. If we know what they’re planning, maybe we can do something about it.”
“Like what? Not die?” Ingrid says with a snort. “The problem is we don’t have enough people. And I’m not sacrificing my body to put more babes in the cradle.”
Sam snorts, almost choking on the drink he was sipping. Ingrid grins evilly, making it clear that was on purpose.
Even if she doesn’t, the number of babies that have popped out and that are due is staggering. Probably a quarter of the female population is expecting or will be expecting. It’s not natural, but from the conversations I’ve lipread, the pregnancies are all going extremely well—much better than previous experiences. No morning sickness, no cramps or swollen feet or overheating. It’s a dream pregnancy, if it weren’t for the fact that in many cases it’s a surprise.
“I’m not sure how,” Lana says, not bothering to rise to Ingrid’s bait. It’s never worth it with her. “But at least we know the Galactics are pushing us to work with them. So maybe we have more of a bargaining position than we thought.”
Ingrid snorts but doesn’t rebut Lana. I nod, content to let the redhead work on this problem too now that I’ve put the bug in her ear. I have my own thoughts on the matter, but as always, they diverge somewhat.
As Lana falls silent, Sam takes it upon himself to switch topics to something lighter, a recounting of finding some old rock band that survived the apocalypse in their retreat and is having an upcoming concert. Even in the worst of times, there’s always a silver lining.
Chapter 13
Six days. It takes six days for preparations to be complete before the first major steps are taken. Of course, with my Skill, I’m privy to the majority of the changes, including the process of transporting hundreds of marines to Fort Irwin. By the end of that week, I am sick of the often-repeated snarky comments and gloating by the marines about how they were all “Marines,” unlike the other non-Classed generic soldiers. The marines are just the start, of course. After that, I port over fighters from settlements all across the country.
Six days. And in those six days, I manage to catch up with Lana, Mikito, and Sam and even get to know Carlos a little better. The Hispanic man is an interesting mix of confidence and sudden attacks of doubt, at times certain of his place in all this and other times completely out of his depth. Then again, perhaps he’s just easier to read than most. Six days and we even manage to sneak in a full day of dungeoning, making a speed run through the majority of the buildings in Vancouver’s City Dungeon to grab loot and experience. It played out well, with some modest loot that sells for good Credits and very decent experience gains.
Six days to get all our preparations sorted. At that thought, I pull out my character sheet, staring at the screen and the latest series of upgrades I’ve made. Upgrades. So weird to think of myself like a computer that gets its RAM switched out, my hard disk defragged, or new peripherals added.
Status Screen
Name
John Lee
Class
Erethran Honor Guard
Race
Human (Male)
Level
48
Titles
Monster’s Bane, Redeemer of the Dead, Duelist
Health
2240
Stamina
2240
Mana
1740
Mana Regeneration
135 / minute
Attributes
Strength
116
Agility
207
Constitution
224
Perception
63
Intelligence
174
Willpower
170
Charisma
18
Luck
33
Class Skills
Mana Imbue
3*
Blade Strike*
3
Thousand Steps
1
Altered Space
2
Two are One
1
The Body’s Resolve
3
Greater Detection
1
A Thousand blades*
3
Soul Shield
2
Blink Step
2
Portal*
5
Army of One
2
Sanctum
2
Instantaneous Inventory*
1
Cleave*
2
Frenzy*
1
Elemental Strike*
1 (Ice)
Shrunken Footsteps*
1
Tech Link*
2
Combat Spells
Improved Minor Healing (II)
Greater Regeneration
Greater Healing
Mana Drip
Improved Mana Dart (IV)
Enhanced Lightning Strike
Fireball
Polar Zone
Freezing Blade
Inferno Strike
Mud Walls
Having gotten over my hesitation about “buying” Skill Levels, I spent my most recent earnings on upgrading Thousand Blades twice, adding two new blades to my arsenal. Luckily, the Skill increases also let me set how many new blades I call forth, since actually wielding five swords, four of them free-floating, is rather difficult, especially with my butchered Erethran Honor Guard style of appearing / disappearing blades. It was only after playing with them a bit that I realized I desperately needed to increase my Perception to help aid my sense of where those blades are.
I also upgraded Mana Imbue and Blade Strike with the last of my funds, increasing my attack power in my stalwart combat Skills.
Mana Imbue (Level 3)
Soulbound weapon now permanently imbued with mana to deal more damage on each hit. +20 Base Damage (Mana). Will ignore armor and resistances. Mana regeneration reduced by 10 Mana per minute permanently.
Blade Strike (Level 3)
By projecting additional Mana and stamina into a strike, the Erethran Honor Guard’s Soulbound weapon may project a strike up to 30 feet away.
Cost: 30 Stamina + 30 Mana
The decrease in my Mana regeneration sucked, but the increase in base damage helped. Over time, I’ve realized how powerful this unresistible increase in ba
se damage can be. Sure, it might seem small when compared to the thousands of hit points an enemy might have, but it’s base damage. That damage is multiplied by where and how well you hit the individual, after which of course armor, dodging, and other passive skills take effect. In the end, a few points increase in base damage can make a big difference, especially when that amount isn’t reduced by resistances.
All this is, of course, a minor addition when stacked up against the huge gain in my attack power when it’s multiplied by Army of One. As tempting as it was to use both of my free Skill points to upgrade it again, I instead purchased another point in Sanctum. Surviving takes precedence, no matter how much fun it is to kick ass. Having an ace in the hole, an “ignore all attacks” card is something I can’t ignore.
Sanctum (Level 2)
An Erethran Honor Guard’s ultimate trump card in safeguarding their target, Sanctum creates a flexible shield that blocks all incoming attacks, hostile teleportations, and Skills. At this Level of Skill, the user must specify dimensions of the Sanctum upon use of the Skill. The Sanctum cannot be moved while the Skill is activated.
Dimensions: Maximum 15 cubic meters.
Cost: 1,000 Mana
Duration: 2 minute and 7 seconds
The upgrade for Army of One, on the other hand, was slightly disappointing. For another point, I somehow expected a little more.
Army of One (Level 2)
The Honor Guard’s feared penultimate combat ability, Army of One builds upon previous Skills, allowing the user to unleash an awe-inspiring attack to deal with their enemies. Attack may now be guided around minor obstacles.