A Jump into the Unknown (Reality Benders Book #5) LitRPG Series

by Michael Atamanov

  I walked down the line again, trying to look each of them in the eyes. I stopped in front of Destroying Angel and Grim Reaper. The German brother and sister pair’s levels had grown explosively! They’d almost caught up to me!

  “None of these biting words apply to the two of you. I’m perfectly satisfied with your performance. Sure you didn’t survive but, by some miracle you managed to take down a high-profile level-207 Spy before you died. When I saw the ghastly Meleyephatian ringleader’s corpse, it looked like a screen door!”

  But as for Kisly, Svetlana Vereshchagina, Imran, Eduard and all the other soldiers I was decidedly unhappy, and said so openly. No matter how sudden the Meleyephatian attack may have been, that was why I had fighters in my crew – so they could quickly respond to threats and offer resistance! I survived killing two attackers, and took another one captive. Meanwhile, the whole rest of the crew was only able to take down five Meleyephatians, and three of them were killed by newcomer Eeeezzz 777. That was a shameful result. I might even call it humiliating!

  I sharply fell silent because the gangway came down behind me and the eight rescued La-Shin Faction soldiers came down. No matter how great my dismay may have been, I was not going to dress down my team in front of outsiders. This was strictly between us and none of their business!

  However, not all eight of the La-Shin Faction players were outsiders as such:

  “Gerd Uline, come over here! The redhead,” I pointed at San-Sano, who had already scared up a light spacesuit to replace her thin cotton clothing, “sign her up to our crew as second Engineer and assistant to Orun Va-Mart. She has proved herself quite intelligent. In fact, she was able to figure out how the synchronized power units were setup all on her own. We need clever minds such as hers. And have Gerd Ayni bring the others to hangar 8-505. We rented a Shiamiru shuttle there to transport cargo to the Relict Faction. Have the Translator tell the captain to bring them to Earth and let them out at the Geckho spaceport. And then start trying to sell the rare-earth metals we captured. I need those five boxes of lanthanoids and other goods sold within one day!”

  Much to my surprise, curly-haired Machinegunner Timka-Vu stepped out in front. He didn’t speak a word of Geckho but somehow understood we were talking about him among other things. The muscular dark-skinned guy in torn black and green clothing got down on one knee and began:

  “Coruler Gnat La-Fin! I most humbly request you take me with you as well! I am a capable and fearless warrior, a great shot and I have won several Army competitions in un-gaki, a kind of martial art. I am prepared to swear allegiance to house La-Fin. And I promise you will not regret it if you deign to take me in!”

  Intriguing. Very intriguing... I looked at the leader of the boarding team, but Gerd T’yu-Pan just shrugged his shoulders indefinitely. He didn’t know anything about the Machinegunner and thus could not give an answer.

  “Can you tell me about un-gaki?” I asked, wanting at least one question answered. And I got a long-winded detailed reply that un-gaki was a form of no-rules fighting that used a wooden slat as a stand-in for a knife along with hands and feet. A “knife” to the eyes or heart counted as a fatal blow, and the receiving fighter would be eliminated. The rules permitted strangling and submission holds, as well as matches with more than one fighter. And that could take the form of “team versus team” or “everyone for themselves.”

  Okay then, my interest was piqued! Of the eight La-Shin Faction players we rescued, Timka-Vu was the only one to survive the Meleyephatian attack. I’d have to test how good he really was and see whether I saved him by coincidence or it was a sign.

  “You’ll fight against two warriors at once,” I suggested to the level-112 Machinegunner. “If you can take them, you’re in. Captain’s word! If you can’t, you’ll be sent to Earth along with the others. Do you accept my conditions?”

  Successful Authority check!

  The dark-skinned athlete pulled off his torn shirt in silence and started flexing his wrists. I ordered my team to form a thirty-foot-diameter circle, then ran my gaze over them. I figured choosing Gerd T’yu-Pan the Shocktroop as an opponent for Timka would be too harsh. The experienced veteran was a big bruiser. He would tear the young Machinegunner to shreds even one-on-one. Gerd Ayni or one of the Miyelonians? That wouldn’t even be a fight, just a series of fast movements and stabs to the back. What about Imran? The Dagestani sambo fighter had raised a hand to volunteer. And my wayedda Minn-O also raised her hand next to the Gladiator. So, my wife wants to limber up and prove herself? Why not? Her pregnancy isn’t all that far along. The child won’t be harmed. I announced my decision:

  “Up against Timka-Vu will be Princess Minn-O La-Fin and Vasha Tushihh!”

  The huge furry Vasha gave a satisfied rumble and entered the circle. Minn-O changed out of her usual spacesuit into a form-fitting track suit. However, the dark-skinned fighter’s reaction was as instantaneous as it was unexpected: Timka-Vu... laid down on his back, admitting defeat!

  “I could never hit Minn-O the magess. She’s a member of the La-Fin ruling dynasty! I’d be hanged for that back home,” the Machinegunner explained.

  Damn! Again I had overlooked a peculiarity of the magocratic world. Did that mean all Minn-O’s trainers and phy ed instructors in childhood were court mages? After all, someone must have taught the Princess to fight. But Timka-Vu was clearly not a court mage, so I had to tweak my choices:

  “Imran and Vasha Tushihh! Uh, no!” I stopped Timka-Vu from taking out his wooden knife. “And all three will be using real blades!”

  IT WAS AMAZING! THE battle had everyone on tenterhooks from the first second all the way to the last. And that with the fact that Timka-Vu very nearly lost right at the beginning, when Vasha Tushihh displayed surprising speed for his four-hundred-fifty-pound bodyweight, got up next to the dark-skinned fighter and grabbed him by the shoulder with a clawed paw. Blood spattered. Raising the human body over his head with a roar and holding it in his outstretched paws for several seconds to the jubilant cries of the audience, the massive Geckho threw Timka-Vu forcefully back-first onto the hangar’s metal floor. The thundering crash was so loud I figured the dark-skinned fighter was dead. But no! The level-112 Machinegunner’s life bar fell into the orange, but he still had thirty hitpoints left. Cripes! I would have died if someone threw me like that!

  Meanwhile, the enraged Geckho discovered much to his surprise that his opponent was still kicking and let out a war cry, then forcefully slammed his heavy right fist into the fallen Timka’s stomach, knocking the wind out of the dark-skinned fighter. The blow was as forceful as could be! But Timka was still alive, and Vasha meanwhile... froze in fear when a steel blade came to a stop one millimeter from his eye.

  “Vasha Tushihh is eliminated!” I declared and immediately stopped Imran, who was already getting a better grip on his knife, about to finish off his barely moving enemy. “Break! Gerd Mauu-La Mya-Ssa, stop the wounded fighter’s blood loss!”

  Vasha, upset, stood heavily and shuffled over to the audience where his crewmates gave him approving pats on the back. While the nimble Miyelonian Medic fussed around closing up the tear wounds on the dark-skinned fighter’s shoulder, I took a thermos from my inventory containing a cocktail for restoring Endurance Points.

  “Timka, catch!”

  The Machinegunner sitting on the floor got his bearings, extended a hand and caught the flying vessel, giving a clear demonstration that his coordination was just fine despite the fresh wounds. He opened it, sucked greedily at the thermos and, a few seconds later, threw it back empty.

  “Thank you, Coruler! I’m ready to continue!”

  Timka-Vu stood decisively despite the fluffy Medic’s objections and walked into the center of the ring. The audience greeted the return of the dark-skinned fighter with shouts of elation and applause. Even Imran bowed in respect, expressing reverence for his rival’s determination and bravery.

  What came next was a series of repositionings, blows and blocks inter
spersed with the sound of metal clinking on metal. The Dagestani’s agile slicing very nearly brought the fight to an end, but Timka dodged against all odds, avoiding a stab to the chest by falling to the floor and rolling. Imran’s serrated blade meanwhile went in up to the very handle and got stuck, embedded in a floor grate. The Gladiator’s next unarmed minute was rough going, but you don’t earn the rank of “Sambo Master” for nothing! It’s has great techniques for fighting empty-handed against a knife! And soon Timka’s dagger flew out of the circle, knocked away by a spin kick. After another series of blows, I announced another break because now both fighters needed medical attention.

  “I think that’s enough!” I voiced my decision. “Timka-Vu has proven himself worthy of joining our team. Gerd Uline Tar, sign him on!”

  Shouts of delight rang out from all directions. Even the repairmen sent down by the dispatchers at the hangar entrance were whooping for joy, expressing their approval of the hard-fought battle. And they started congratulating the dark-skinned sweat- and blood-soaked fighter right away. The crew of Tamara the Paladin greeted its new member very warmly. I then sent a mental message to Medic Gerd Mauu-La:

  “As soon as you’re done with these two, go over to the long-distance communications cabin at the end of the hall. And don’t forget to take your flying coffin of tools with you. The time has come for the complex operation to remove all implants from the Beastmaster’s body.”

  The orange Medic gave a nod of comprehension without turning his big-eared head in my direction. Great! Then I called Valeri and, in an even tone, said that her and I needed to go to the nearest long-distance communication cabin to talk with Tailax because the Meleyephatian Horde was reacting “very strangely.”

  Five minutes later I was standing at an automatic terminal and, casually blocking it from Valeri’s view with my body, paid for a whole ummi in the cabin. Yes, it cost a pretty penny. But Valeri’s life was worth incomparably more to me!

  Once inside the long-distance communication cabin with its constantly changing fluid-like walls, totally cut-off from the outside world, I explained to Valeri what we were really doing. I was worried the proud Beastmaster would just laugh my fears off, but the Tailaxian girl wasn’t the least bit surprised:

  “You know, Gnat, I could sense something was up! I’ve been feeling an ache in my chest all day. I even went to Mauu-La for a consultation. I thought I was having heart troubles. My Danger Sense improved three times as well, but there was never an obvious reason... I guess that means my prison-guards sentenced me to death as a punishment for failing to recruit you. Thankfully, I’m safe here inside the long-distance communications cabin. But I won’t be able to stay here forever!”

  I told Valeri about the operation I’d been planning with the experienced Miyelonian Medic to remove her implants. I even turned on my Prospector Scanner and showed her the placement of all the microcapsules on the three-dimensional image. The Beastmaster was intrigued and spent a long time staring at the diagram of her body, turning it every which way. Then she laughed:

  “So, I guess you were peeking when I was swimming nude in the sea by Rocky Island. Secretly taking pictures of a naked girl... Shame on you! Pervert! Okay, I’m joking. Sorry captain. I’m just very nervous. After all, you probably know this but no one has ever successfully removed all the tracking microcapsules before. Tailax is famed for it – the invisible leash its intelligence services put around their prisoners’ necks is impossible to remove. One wrong move and... kaboom! My heart’s in tatters or a lethal poison is coursing through my veins. And after all, in my case the operation will have to be carried out twice – first in the game, then in the real world! But I still agree to risk it.”

  She crouched down and extended an arm into empty space. A moment later, Little Sister was right there, presenting her neck for her master to stroke. The Beastmaster spent a long time staring into her pet’s eyes, sending a mental message to the Shadow Panther. Then out loud, so I would hear, she said:

  “Be a nice girl until I get back. Do what this man says. And if I never come back...” Valeri took a sigh of pity, little tears quivering out of her huge hazel eyes. “Then Gnat will be your new master!”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven. Electronics and Medicine

  THE OPERATION was entering its eighth hour. I just had to pay for another ummi on the long-distance communication cabin, because our time was almost up. At first I was sitting in the nearest automatic cafe, sating my hunger with Miyelonian treats and watching the local news on a big screen. Then I moved to the captain’s berth in my frigate. The Miyelonian Medic forbid me from being with him in the long-distance communication cabin, saying he had to maintain a sterile environment, so I had no idea how the operation to remove all Valeri’s tracking microcapsules was going.

  On the ship though, repair was in full swing. The clanging, the shrieking of metal being cut and smell of slag reached me even in the captain’s berth, which had not been damaged in the Meleyephatian attack. Princess Minn-O couldn’t take all the noise and exited into the real world. The other crew members also tried to request leave to exit the game but I exercised my authority and sent everyone not involved in the repairs to the shooting range. I’d had enough of seeing my crewmembers’ corpses after every firefight! Let them train at the firing range, level their skills, improve their survival chances and learn to work together as a team!

  Now I was regretting that I didn’t have Fox with me. She really knew how to make people sweat their guts out! No messing around or goofing off with her. The deadly Morphian was quick to punish for disobedience and had a perfect awareness of all her students’ health and endurance levels. That made it a bad idea to act smart or try and save strength. Fox was the ideal trainer, making people push themselves to the point of exhaustion, and spar to the verge of death. Gerd T’yu-Pan and Svetlana Vereshchagina could conduct classes too, of course, but they were no competition for the ghoulish space fox.

  But I stayed put and didn’t go to the shooting range with the others. First of all, I was currently undergoing my required uninterrupted three-days in game before I could change my virt pod location. A chance death in that time would be extremely bad. Second, I figured Gerd Mauu-La the Medic might need me at any moment.

  The wall screen was showing a rerun of the local Kasti-Utsh III news. I frowned and turned off the monitor, because I’d already seen the leader of the Pride of the Sweet Voice’s “masterpiece.” What a bitch that Journalist was! To pervert and warp material like that! There wasn’t a single word about me or my crew. And meanwhile, the only reason I brought Gerd Undi Ar Miyeyauu on that flight was to raise the Fame of myself and my crew!

  According to the dark-furred Journalist, she was working off a hint sent in by fans who worked for station security. Detecting a sensation with her journalistic sixth sense, the Miyelonian snuck onto the starship where a special operation was being planned to detain a Meleyephatian spy ring. And the video clip I shot showing the First Pride ready to repel the attack was included. Yes, it was powerful footage, but Gerd Undi took credit for the scenes and her journalistic success. The rest of the video was quite erratic – fussing around, guns firing, the camera falling on the floor, a mess of articulated spider legs... Gerd Undi was trying to hide that she had been found and killed by the Meleyephatian spies, which made the report vague and hard to follow. But at the same time, she claimed to be an example of self-sacrifice for the sake of valuable footage! The report contained a few more scenes I shot – the Meleyephatians tied up with satisfied First Pride soldiers standing next to them. There wasn’t a single word about the frigate Tamara the Paladin, or Captain Gnat and his team! She never even showed the attack of the Pride of the Bushy Shadow or Big Abi being captured. And that, after all, was the part I was most hoping would get airtime. I wanted to screw up my implacable enemy’s Authority, but most importantly send a message to the Great One that I fulfilled her condition and defeated the pirate leader.

  Clearly sensing my frustr
ation, the Shadow Panther, who was lying at my feet, gave a growl of dismay and lifted her head in worry. Little Sister had refused to eat ever since her master left and was always trailing right behind me, clearly afraid to lose me too. I gave the huge snow-white beast a scratch behind the ear:

  “Yes, Little Sister, I am also worried about Valeri. But everything will be fine!”

  That calmed the panther down a bit, and she lowered her snout onto her paws again. But I just didn’t know what to do with myself. I’d already spent my free skill points (five each into Medium Armor, Danger Sense and Eagle Eye). And studied the sprawling Relict-language texts in my Listener Energy Armor because I finally tracked down the guides and “help section” in the operating system. Well, not exactly operating system. That’s too simplified a term, this was... I just didn’t have the words to describe it. Too complex and all-encompassing, a sort of generalized method of creating and systematizing everything – from computer files all the way to planets and galaxies.

  For a moment, I even thought I might have touched upon the great mystery of creation if not of the Universe itself, then certainly of the game that bends reality. It was possible that top Relict Hierarchs were in fact behind its creation. Either that or they were first to discover it and adapt it to their needs, changing reality at their discretion. However, I simply lacked the Intelligence, skills, knowledge and even Relict-symbol vocabulary to really make sense of what I was reading. Too complex. Yes, my Astrolinguistics was up to 97, and Electronics 88. However, after the hundredth message saying I’d failed an Intelligence check, or lacked this or that skill, I realized it was time to give up. I’d hit my limit for one day. To make matters worse, I couldn’t focus. I was constantly distracted and I was not working effectively at all.

  Still under an impression from what I read, I even tried to study written Meleyephatian from wall panels in the frigate corridors and instrument arrays. But then I got stuck, not understanding how to connect the words I knew with the webs of thin intersecting lines. But nevertheless, I had made up my mind to study the spoken language of the Horde with the help of the Translator Ayni and Eeeezzz 777. After all, they controlled forty percent of all star systems in the known part of our galaxy.