“Sounds like a lot of work,” Kim said.
Erik raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t think you’d be the kind of person that would give up after a little work.”
“Ah, shit. Well, better get started, right?”
Erik went to the door and opened it. A team of medics came in with a hospital bed. They helped Kim stand and get onto the bed.
Leaving the room, they headed to the operating theatre.
“Thank you,” Kim Cheol said.
“Don’t thank me. My decision put you and everyone else in danger. It’s the least I can do.”
“Don’t think I haven’t heard of the blue-eyed medic that’s been running around Vuzgal and the hospital, helping out my wounded guildmates. You were doing what you hoped was the best for everyone. Now you’re putting us back together.”
“Wish that I didn’t have to.”
“Well, I’m going to get a Body Like Sky Iron. Damn, never thought I’d be able to get such a high cultivation.” Kim Cheol grinned, making Erik smile a little.
They went through the operating theatre’s doors, passing through a cleaning formation that pulled all the dirt and muck from their bodies and clothes.
Erik went to the side. A nurse helped him get into his medical robe, adding goggles and a mask, then helped him put on his Healer’s Hands gloves.
He turned back to Kim Cheol. An assisting alchemist had just finished using a bag-valve mask to deliver a powerful sedative, putting Kim into a deep slumber.
A nurse stepped forward and connected an IV tube to a cannula inserted into his left hand. Another nurse attached a breather over his mouth and nose. The air being pumped in had an aerosolized stamina potion added to it. The newly hooked-up potion entered his bloodstream as well.
Erik ran a Medical Scan as the nurses and medics moved around Kim, running checks, moving gear into position. The formations under the table were powered, but inactive. A formation master stood at a command console that controlled the different medical formations. It was the culmination of the concepts learned from Julilah’s stack formations, Rugrat’s formation sockets, Qin’s interlinking formations, and the work of dozens of other experts that enabled their operators to have control over the formations necessary for medical use.
Erik could see Kim’s body was trying to heal itself. Where there was necrotic or heavy scar tissue, the healing ramped up, overworking his body, draining his stamina.
The new potion was working through his body, obliterating blood clots as it passed through his veins.
Erik used his Medical Scan to locate the worst clumps of necrotic or scar tissue.
“Okay, ready on the retractors?” Erik looked at the nurse opposite him.
“Ready.”
“Scalpel.”
He was handed a thin blade.
“As we talked about, the first place we’re going to target is his right thigh.”
Erik saw right through Kim Cheol’s body as he used the scalpel.
The nurse moved in with the retractors, opening the incision.
“Forceps.” Erik held out his hand, feeling them land in his palm. He grabbed the necrotic tissue in Kim Cheol’s thigh with the forceps. Using the scalpel, he cut away sections of the blackened tissue. A nurse offered a bowl for him. He deposited it, moving on to the next section of dead tissue. He worked quickly, efficiently removing the damaged tissue.
“Status.”
“Stable!”
He worked through the thigh.
“Let’s seal him up. Heal Muscle.” The muscles started to regrow and reform faster. Erik stopped when thin bands of muscles connected to one another. He went muscle-by-muscle. The nurse released the retractors.
“Heal Skin.”
The line down Kim Cheol’s leg closed, becoming a pale, thin scar. He had only laid the framework, but his body could build upon that.
“How are we looking on stamina?”
“Eighty percent and increasing,” an alchemist reported.
“Okay, we’ll move to the other thigh, then to the left arm. I don’t like having so many problems near the heart.”
Erik repeated the same process with the other thigh. He made multiple incisions so he wouldn’t have to cut through healthy tissue, prolonging the healing process.
Time faded into the background as he worked.
He closed up the arm.
“Dipping to forty percent. Recovering slowly,” the alchemist warned.
“Okay, I want a minimum fifty percent of stamina. Crank up the healing formations till he surpasses that and maintain balance.”
“Understood.”
“Okay everyone, good work! There is still more tissue to remove, but this is a good start.”
Erik left the operating room, moving to the clean room. He stripped out of his gear and washed his hands.
“Erik, Glosil is requesting your presence in the command center.” Egbert’s voice came through the ceiling.
“He say why?” Erik conjured flames in his hands, drying them.
“The Willful Institute is mobilizing. They appear to be targeting Vuzgal.”
“Understood.” Erik passed through a clean formation. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Rugrat watched the range as the shooters took their time to aim before firing. The sounds of shooting were thrown off cadence, each shooter entirely focused and in their own world.
He had five squads’ worth of people out on the range, working on their skills and with their weapons.
The shooting died down and the shooters cleared their weapons, holding them out for inspection. Rugrat canceled the spell on his eyes while the range officers checked the weapons. They finished quickly, holding a thumb out to Rugrat.
“Range clear! Everyone stand!”
Everyone got to their feet.
“Okay, let’s go check out those targets.”
They walked toward their targets. It wasn’t mandatory shooting, just a fun shoot. Rugrat and Erik had introduced it. Rugrat was as good as he was at shooting thanks to practicing in his backyard. He could barely hit a target marginally better than a regular person before then, though he wouldn’t be any kind of a good shop past a few hundred meters.
“How’s it going, Lieutenant Acosta?” Rugrat asked as he neared one of the shooters.
“Not bad. I think that I got them all on paper at least.” She smiled as they kept walking.
“I don’t doubt that.” Rugrat grinned as they walked over the grassy ground. The range was attached to the first barracks. With formations, they could stop the noise from spreading to the rest of the floor and make sure none of the rounds went flying off and hit someone.
“You up for rotation soon?”
“Got my marching orders. There’s going to be an attack on a Fourth Realm location in a week. Whole combat company is going. We’ll be dressed down, though.”
“How are your people?”
“Eager, excited, scared. You know how it is.” Acosta shrugged. “I’m just glad we’re getting the opportunity. Some time or another, they’re going to face a fight. Best to get it into their bones now.”
“You just don’t want the CPD’s taking all the jobs.” Rugrat laughed.
“Shit, I’d damn well jump into the next spot on the CPD training rota just to get out there.”
They reached Acosta’s target. “So how did I do?”
Rugrat looked at the target. “You’re looking good. Haven’t forgotten what you learned in your sharpshooting course. You’d be an ace shot back on Earth with a grouping like that at three hundred meters.”
“Just we’ll be using bows and spells instead. I hope we don’t have to use rifles in the future.”
“Why?” Rugrat asked.
“Well, if we’re using rifles, something will have gone horribly wrong.”
Rugrat saw motion as Colonel Yui walked over to the firing line.
“And if a colonel is looking for your ass, it’s never a good sign,” Rugrat said out the
corner of his mouth.
“Better you than me.” Acosta snorted.
“Aren’t you due for a promotion?”
“When we’re back, they’re making me a captain. Gonna have my very own combat company. Yay.” She turned to look at Yui Silaz.
“Well, congratulations on the impending promotion. Piece of advice? Never become a lord of anything.” Rugrat looked at her. “You’ve got control of the range. Make sure people don’t start spontaneously forgetting how rifles work.”
He waved at Yui and walked over to him. A hundred thoughts ran through his head as he mentally reviewed the different units in the field, none of them good. There were fourteen CPD squads deployed, and an additional five thousand Alva military personnel. Three hundred and twenty thousand Adventurer’s Guild members. Seven battlefields in total.
Nearly fifteen thousand Alva military members were housed between Alva and Vuzgal, not including the undead legions and the four thousand that were training.
“The Willful Institute is mobilizing. The people of Vuzgal just got word from the Associations to evacuate. Glosil is in the command center. He’s stepped-up defenses in Vuzgal.”
Rugrat jogged away from the range, Yui right beside him.
“Erik?”
“A messenger has been dispatched.”
Niemm and his First Special Team fell in around Rugrat and Yui.
“We knew it was coming.”
Erik was last to arrive in the command center.
“As of four hours ago, the Willful Institute mobilized five main armies. Messages posted across Vuzgal confirm there will be an attack,” Glosil said.
Officers in the command center moved with purpose, but there was no panic. They updated plots on the different realms, sending and receiving information.
“Do we know if they have support?” Erik asked.
“Director Silaz is still gathering information on just who is aiding them, but we believe the Elsi clan is working to support them along with city lords around Vuzgal.”
“You’ve been planning for this for months. What are your thoughts?” Erik asked.
“Recall Colonel Domonos and his Dragon Regiment to man the defenses. They’ve been on the ground and know Vuzgal’s terrain and defenses better than anyone.”
“The offensive led by the Adventurer’s Guild?” Erik asked.
“We’ve already turned most of the control over to them. We can leave with minimal ripples.”
“Do you want to pull out Tiger Regiment’s people as well?” Rugrat asked.
“Yes, and call on the reserves. They can return to Alva, get organized into units, and armed.”
“Gives them time to get acclimatized to one another instead of fighting together with strangers.” Erik glanced at Yui, who was nodding in agreement. Yui was eager and young, wanting to prove himself, cut his teeth in a real battle, but he had the strength of character and confidence to wait. To do his duty. It might not be the most valiant looking role, but it was nonetheless vital.
“It will take time to pull back Domonos. In the meantime?”
“In the meantime, Yui will head to Vuzgal to prepare the defenses before turning them over. After which he will return to Alva with Tiger Regiment. Do you want to talk about your actions, Colonel Yui?”
“Thank you, Commander,” Yui nodded. “We are currently locking down the city. All leave passes have been canceled. We will run a full preparedness check on every weapon system. The bunker network will run through ready drills. All nonessential personnel will be pulled back to Alva or to the fallback dungeons. Kanoa is already stationed in Vuzgal. His people will fly recon over the passes, in addition to our sensing net and information from Director Silaz. We’ll get a clear picture of everything we’re facing.”
“Once we confirm the enemy is coming, our next moves will depend on the situation. Specifically, which weapon systems we are escalating to,” Glosil said. “We have come up with four levels of weaponry to use. Level one starts with repeaters and gear that is commonly used in the Ten Realms. Level two progresses to the use of mortars, explosives, the air force’s bombs, stack and interlocking formations. Level three allows the use of firearms such as the regular machine guns, semi-autos, and bolt actions. At this point, our troops would be free to use all their abilities. Level three also allows the use of enhanced non-direct weaponry, such as artillery cannons and the conqueror’s armor to double our people’s stats. Level four permits the complete use of all abilities, all of our railgun weaponry, as well as our conqueror’s armor dialed up two hundred percent.”
“Your recommendation?” Rugrat asked.
“We’ll begin with Level two and escalate as needed. If they learn all our trump cards, they’re going to wonder where the hell we got it from. It won’t make people run away. They’ll attack us for our secrets. If we keep pulling out powerful weapons, they wonder just what other secrets we have. It allows us to lull them into a sense of security, then wipe that away when we reveal a new weapon. It will be a morale killer.”
Erik looked at Rugrat.
“Are you going or me?” Rugrat asked Erik.
“What do you mean?” Glosil asked, his brows pinching together.
“You need heavy hitters, and we’re the biggest damn hammers you have. Erik will command the First and Second Special Teams. I will command the Third and Fourth. One of us will be in Vuzgal, the other in Alva. We won’t hide in the rear for this. Our people need to know that we’re in this fight, that they have our support, and we won’t leave them behind.” Rugrat's words were firm.
Glosil swallowed. “As a commander, I’m not pleased. But knowing you two, I’d expect nothing else. As an Alvan, I’m proud.”
“You’re gonna make me blush.” Rugrat smiled and fanned his face like a southern belle.
“If I go up there,” Erik said, “I can help the medics and on the front line, but you can do all that and work on people’s gear to maintain it and create more ammunition and weaponry.”
“I can do that from here too,” Rugrat said.
“But you have long range abilities. Your rifle, your spells. I’m up close and personal. I’m no help unless they enter the city. You go. You can help in more ways.”
“You sure?”
“I’ll work on getting people fighting fit. I can create the concoctions needed for the front lines as well. You’re more useful on the front lines.” Erik reassured him.
“All right.” Rugrat looked at Glosil. “Though I would suggest that Erik commands the First and Fourth Special Teams and I get the Second and Third. Roska and her people are up there right now. They know the situation. The First is still deployed with the Adventurer’s Guild.”
“You are the commanders of the special teams, but I agree.” Glosil nodded “Colonel Yui, prepare to move your forces to assist Vuzgal in five hours.”
Yui snapped to attention. “Yes, sir.”
Rugrat slapped the front of his vest, making sure it was secure. He breathed, feeling his body press up against the plates. It felt comfortable and familiar.
“You talked to her yet?” Erik grabbed Rugrat’s chest plate, returning Rugrat’s checks.
“Yeah, she ain’t pleased, but she understands.”
Erik turned to Rugrat, checking his gear. He pulled out the medic pouch, making sure everything was accounted for.
“She never is when we go off.” Erik closed the rip-away pouch and attached it back onto Rugrat's lower back. “All set, brother.”
Rugrat turned around to face him. “Ah, shit, feels like the old days.” Rugrat rubbed his clean-shaved face.
“Got the haircut, too.” Erik smiled. “Look like a proper marine now.”
“Feel like a teenager.”
“’Bout as smart as one, too.”
“Asshole.” Rugrat held out a hand.
Erik grabbed it, and the two men embraced. “Stay safe, brother.”
“Ah, you know me. Fucking hard to kill, man.”
The door ope
ned as Momma Rodriguez walked in. The two released one another. She looked at Rugrat, who was tucking a few straps away.
“You look after yourself and the others now.” She held it together, focusing on his gear instead of him.
“I will Momma,” Rugrat said in a soft voice and leaned down, hugging her.
Her breath caught in her throat as she wrapped her small arms around his neck.
Rugrat held her tighter as he heard her sniffle.
She let out a breath and kissed him, pushing him back.
“All right, you go now and finish up quickly. When you come back, we’ll have your favorites.” She put on a smile, even as her eyes brimmed with tears.
“Yes, Momma.” Rugrat pressed his teeth together. He couldn’t bring himself to say he would be back. What happens is what happens. Rugrat looked at Erik. Look after her for me, brother.
Erik nodded.
Rugrat kissed Momma Rodriguez on the cheek and walked out of his and Erik’s shared office.
He exited the front door to find Gong Jin and Special Team Three waiting for him.
“Off to Vuzgal we go.”
22
Man-beast, Man-elemental
Erik walked into one of the clinically clean body cultivation testing rooms again. “Nice display.”
He looked at the table where there were eleven monster cores lined up. There were assistants preparing testing equipment while scribes readied their various pencils.
“Lesser Mortal monster core all the way to a Lesser Sky grade monster core,” Melissa Bouchard said.
Erik let out a low whistle. “In the name of science.”
“Yes, expensive science.” Melissa gestured to the reclined chair next to the table.
Erik laid back and a nervous-looking assistant came up with a formation-covered band. He smiled. “I don’t bite.” He lifted his arm to make it easier.
“You are the city and dungeon lord, Erik. I was scared to meet you the first time.” Melissa checked her always present clipboard.
“And turned me into a guinea pig.” Erik looked at the assistant as she finished putting the band around his arm. “Don’t trust the researchers.”
Seventh Realm Part 1: A LitRPG Fantasy series (The Ten Realms Book 8) Page 25