by Riker Kane
“Gimme the Cage.” I motioned for it and Nina put it in my hand.
As all of the crows Quentin hit turned into Mana, I just managed to activate the Cage and capture one before it faded. I tossed the Cage back to Nina as Quentin came crashing back down to the ground. He hit the street so hard he crumbled the pavement like a meteor.
“Oh… Crap…” He groaned as he rolled onto his back.
“Watch out!” Nina ran forward and leaped into the air, slicing through another group of crows diving toward us.
I helped Quentin back up to his feet. We all looked up at the crows circling the larger one just above us.
“If we’re gonna beat that thing, we need to get it out of the air,” I said. “We’ve gotta lure him in.”
“How you gonna do that?” Quentin asked.
“I’m gonna give him a target. Stay here.”
I ran into the street by myself and the crows began coming toward me. I turned around just before they reached me.
“Here goes nothing…”
I focused my energy and activated my Spiral Swing. My body took control of itself as I began to spin around faster than I ever thought I could. Light blue energy formed around me and ripped through the crows trying to come near me. I stayed in my position until every crow next to me was down. When I finally came to a stop, a rush of blood ran through my head and dizzied me.
“Crap,” I said as I rubbed my temple. “I really need a Captain to go over that with me—”
“Soul!”
Nina called out to me just as the giant crow began swooping down toward me. Its claws extended, long enough to impale me if it caught me. I wouldn’t move though. Not when I could impale it before it got to me.
It opened its beak, ready to snatch at me. But then I saw something strange. A light coming from inside its mouth. Orange. Red. The light grew brighter, swirling into what looked like fire.
“What the hell?” I dived out of the way just as it swooped down on me. I looked up just in time to see the flames coming from its mouth. It torched the ground next to me, pointing its mouth at everything in front of it.
“I got you!” Quentin dashed forward and raised his shield up to block the flamethrower from the crow’s mouth.
“A fire-breathing crow,” I said. “And I thought I’d seen everything… Rose!”
She was already ahead of me, leaping up and pouncing on top of the crow with icy katanas. Her frozen blades slashed into the crow’s dark feathers and plunged into its flesh. The sound of the blood squirting from it was joined by it squealing.
It flapped its wings and spit flames in the air as it struggled to shake Nina off. As the frost spread from its wounds, the crow began to slow. It gave me the opening I needed. I rushed forward and thrust with my saber. The tip of my sword met some resistance but I pushed harder to sink my saber even deeper into it. It reached up with its claws and knocked me back ten feet away.
The sudden shove was fast enough to knock me into a daze. I shook it off as best I could and slowly got back up to my feet. “Q… Follow up…”
Quentin dashed forward. His shoulder lowered, he pressed his shield into the hilt of my saber to push it in even deeper into its chest. More black blood spilled, its potent smell strong enough to burn my nostrils.
Nina leaped off the giant crow’s back as more of the crows above descended upon us. She raised her katanas up and met them, twirling and cutting them down. But some of them managed to get through because of their sheer volume, clawing and pecking at her open skin.
I ran toward the larger crow but it lowered its beak down and breathed more flames at us. Quentin kept his shield up to block it, pushing forward and making a path for me to grab my saber. With my hands tight around the hilt, I tugged down on my blade and opened the wound even deeper. I walked underneath it and tried to split it down the middle. Blood and guts spilled out, spraying against my skin. I kept moving beneath it until it suddenly burst into Mana.
The other crows Nina was dealing with did the same.
The stench of blood was gone. The silence returned.
I looked at Quentin and saw the burned silver of his shield. He rubbed his fingers along it and sighed.
“A fire-breathing crow,” he said. “I really hope that’s the weirdest thing we have to deal with.”
I listened close and swore I heard something. Something more than the wind or my own breathing.
“Yo, Soul… You all right?” Quentin put a hand on my shoulder.
“There’s something there… do you hear that?”
“I don’t hear anything. Rose?”
Nina shook her head.
“No…” I walked forward and looked out onto the streets. “There’s something still out there…”
The noise started to become clearer. Something moving against the pavement. Footsteps. I stared down the dimly-lit road. I squinted past the ash falling and could barely make out a figure moving in the darkness. It was faint. A shadow or something.
“Hey.” Nina suddenly put a hand on my shoulder. I looked at her then turned back down the road. The figure I thought I’d seen was gone. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Nina was always so headstrong. The slight bit of concern in her eyes made me forget about everything I was thinking. “It’s nothing,” I said as I shook my head. “Let’s head back and give this to Dr. Bonet.”
31: Curiouser and Curiouser
Dr. Bonet’s personal lab was a lot different from the rest of the Nerve Center. The construction was the same. The walls were made of the same silver steel as everything else. The floor was a polished black granite. It was spacious enough to move around comfortably. But outside of that, it looked like an explosion had gone off. Tables had all sorts of machinery and electronics scattered around on top of it. Tubes and containers had varying shades of Mana inside of them. Digital displays showed off numbers that didn’t appear to mean anything in particular. I guess it gave the place a little character. I was a little wary about being inside of his lab even though he was one of the lead scientists on campus.
He held the Shadow Cage in his palm as he brushed his white hair to the other side of his face. His eyes were wide with anticipation as he twisted it.
“Let’s see here…”
The device began to expand into a cage. Silver bars held the small black crow just as I remembered it. It fluttered wildly before realizing there was no way for it to escape.
“I don’t suppose it would have been too much to ask for you to capture a non-flying Shadow.”
“There were some wolves but they weren’t exactly cooperating,” I said. “Does it make a difference?”
“A Shadow is a Shadow. I just need to take a sample from it.” He poked a syringe through the bars and plunged the needle into the crow.
Quentin had a strained look on his face as he watched. Nina leaned forward intently.
Dr. Bonet pulled the syringe away and moved over to one of the workstations on the side.
“You mind telling us what this is all about?” I asked.
“I don’t see the harm…” He tapped his fingers on the display of the machine. “As you well know, we’re having trouble getting a gauge on the world. Usually we’re able to figure out just what kind of world you’ll be heading into. The makeup of your surroundings. How many dimensions it’s compromised of. The strongest Shadow lurking. We haven’t been able to get proper readings.”
“Uh… That doesn’t sound like a good thing,” Quentin said. “Does that happen very often?”
“It’s been known to happen on occasion. But rest assured, I’ll get to the bottom of this, now that I have this Shadow.”
“How are you able to tell what we’re dealing with from a Shadow?” I asked.
Dr. Bonet’s fingers continued tapping away on the tablet. The machinery scanned the sample he’d taken from the crow, which was sleeping peacefully inside of its prison.
“All things are comprised of matter,” he explained. “You. The food you eat. The a
rmor you’re wearing. The bed you sleep on. All of it is made of something.
“In Pandora, all matter is comprised of Mana. Every tree you see. Every building you walk through. The Shadows you fight. By measuring the Mana density of a Shadow, we’re able to determine how strong the Shadows are. The greater the density, the higher the threat.”
He stopped tapping his fingers and scratched the side of his face. “Hmm… This is interesting…”
“What is it?” I took a step closer.
The numbers appeared on one of the displays hanging on the wall and he pointed toward them. “The Shadows in this dimension are considerably stronger than we intended.”
“We were able to handle it.”
“You were able to handle a Junction. Judging from these measurements, the World Boss may be too much for you to handle. The Vegas District is the LOD’s newest academy. We should let one of the other Districts with higher-ranking Omegas deal with it.”
“That sucks,” Quentin sighed. “You’d think they’d give us higher-level Junctions now that we’re Omegas.”
“Just because you’re Omegas doesn’t mean you have to face the most dangerous threats immediately. You can still do your part against Pandora without fighting above your level. I’ll inform everybody and let them know we should look for another dimension to deal with. Thank you for your time, cadets.”
Quentin had a look of disappointment on his face. Even Nina seemed bothered. I put my hands on my hips but quickly realized there wasn’t much I could do.
“The Junction Room will be shut down for the time being,” Dr. Bonet said. “Don’t worry. The threat of Pandora is constant. We’ll find a way to get all of you to contribute.”
“Oh, well,” Quentin said. “We might as well make the most of it. I’m gonna head to the Med Bay and get some levels. Maybe Captain Bell is free so he can teach me how to use this Hyper Charge I learned properly. Maybe after we can get a bite to eat.”
“That’s a good idea,” Nina said. “I think I’ll speak to Dr. Marchal about using the hyperbaric chamber as well. After the last Junction we just went through, I was more fatigued than usual. Are you coming with us, Liam?”
“Yeah… I’ll be there.”
Nina and Quentin left. I stayed behind and watched as Dr. Bonet continued to go over the readings from the crow.
“Is there something I can help you with, cadet? I don’t have any other missions for you but I might be able to come up with something after we find another dimension to sync to.”
“It’s not that. There’s just… something I wanna ask you.”
“What is it?”
“When we were in the last Junction. We destroyed the Obelisk and we were attacked by a giant Shadow. Not anything I’m not used to. But before we headed back through the gate, there was something else. I couldn’t see it clearly. There was something in the distance. I know there was. Not a Shadow but a literal shadow. Like the outline of a person.”
Dr. Bonet slowly raised his head up and gave me a blank stare. “You saw someone.”
“I think I did. I thought I heard footsteps, too. But they weren’t there when I looked again. If it was a Shadow, I figured they would’ve chased us all the way back to the gate. Maybe it was another cadet but there’s no record of anybody else going through the gate except my squad. I guess it’s just my imagination.”
I chuckled at the possibility of hallucinating. But Dr. Bonet’s expression didn’t change. I knew something was wrong because he was usually showing some type of emotion. Now he just looked like he’d seen a ghost.
“Hey, doc… You all right there?” I waved my hand in front of his face.
“You saw a Herald.”
“A Herald? What’s a Herald?”
Dr. Bonet turned his back to me, pacing back and forth while he rubbed his chin. I laughed again to shake away the growing anxiety beginning to twist my stomach.
“Are you sure you’re okay? You want me to get you a snack at the dining hall or something?”
“If you spotted a Herald, that means it’s true.”
“What’s true?”
He stopped pacing then looked up at me. “Thanks for collecting the Shadow, cadet. Please be on your way now.”
“What? But you didn’t tell me—”
“Thank you, cadet.”
The seriousness in his eyes hadn’t gone away. Dr. Bonet made it clear he wasn’t planning on explaining anything to me.
“Yeah… Any time…”
If he wouldn’t give me the answers, I’d get them somewhere else. And I knew just where to find them.
32: Long Shot
Liam Aldridge
Level 18 Bronze 1-Star Cavalier
(900 Red Mana until next level)
Hit Points 100
Endurance 50
Strength 17
Speed 15
Durability 13
Control 10
Red Mana 5,025
Blue Mana 6,250
Green Mana 750
More Red Mana meant another five levels. I’d gotten far enough to feel the difference from all of my stat gains since first arriving. Having more strength to deal with bigger, tougher beasts always helped. It was never a question to build speed. Extra durability to make things hurt a little less was always pleasant. The possibilities of what I could do with my control stat lurked in the back of my mind.
I chuckled softly when I realized I had this conversation with myself too many times already. The opportunity to infuse more Red Mana into myself was always exciting. It was a chance to open a birthday present all over again.
It was all the reminder I needed. There was no wrong choice. I only had to tailor my stats to how I wanted to fight. So I balanced myself as best as I could. One point in strength. Another in speed. Two in durability to make myself a little sturdier. And the last point in control to make sure I wouldn’t have to play catch up when it came down to it.
The Red Mana injected into my veins like a drug. A surge of warmth spread from my arm and through the rest of my body. My muscles swelled and firmed. The weight of my armor became lighter. I found it easier to move around.
I moved my communicator from the display and walked by all of the doctors and other cadets on the other side of the Med Bay. Several chambers had been set up for the cadets to take advantage of the hyperbaric training. Nina already had a mask on, her eyes closed as she sat calmly inside of the chamber.
Quentin turned his head sideways as he looked through the window at her. “You know… I’d say she looks like a weirdo with that mask of hers. But that’s just Nina, I guess. What are you up to, Liam?”
“Dr. Bonet said he was gonna have the Junction Room shut down so that they could find another world closer to our levels.”
“I can’t argue with him. Even the senior cadets haven’t even been here for more than a year. There are LOD facilities all over the world. Let them handle these damn question marks.”
“With the Junction Room closed, we’ve got more time to ourselves now. Didn’t you say you were gonna go see Captain Bell to work on your ability training?”
“The thought of sitting around twiddling my thumbs has a certain appeal but I think I’ll talk to Bell. How about you?”
“I’ll go see Captain Hamilton and learn about the intricacies of the Spiral Swing. How about when we’re all done, we meet in the Central Square tonight?”
“Sounds like a plan. You in, Nina?”
The redhead slowly opened her eyes and nodded softly. Judging from the bead of sweat on her head, the chamber was making her work a lot harder than it appeared.
“All right,” I said. “The Central Square. See you all in a few hours.”
~ ~ ~
The Central Square at night was always a pleasant sight. Even without a full moon in the clear skies above, the lights lining the stone pathways made it easy to see everything available to all of the cadets. Burger and pizza joints had all of the fast food young people always wanted
to stuff their faces with. An Internet cafe had enough PCs for some to get their fix. Dozens of buildings lined the paths. At the center of it all, the small water fountain splashed peacefully next to the park area where some cadets were sprawled out on.
After some quick ability training with Captain Hamilton, I headed back to my dorm room to wash away the filth that built up from running through a Junction. My armor no longer weighing me down, I sat comfortably with my squad just outside of the coffee shop.
Quentin slurped on his milkshake and smacked his lips. “Nothing like some sugar after a long day of running through a Junction and training. It’s funny. Back home when classes were over, I’d sit in front of my desk and start gaming until it was time to go to sleep. Now I’m too tired to even try to do that. I’m guessing you’re a little tired, too.”
Nina sat calmly, both hands cupping the latte in her lap. “The chamber drained me just like Dr. Marchal said it would. But I checked my stats after and noticed a ten-point increase in my endurance. Seeing as how the Junction Room is closed, you’ll have plenty of time to try it out for yourself.”
I was just as tired as the both of them. But the conversation I had with Dr. Bonet still lingered in my thoughts. His reaction kept replaying in my head to the point I couldn’t ignore it.
“You all right, Liam?” Quentin leaned forward and slapped me on the arm. “We should get something to eat.”
“We’ve been eating a lot of junk lately,” Nina said.
“We’re burning everything off. But they’ve got some cleaner stuff in the dining hall. Maybe it’d be a good idea to save a few bucks.”
I looked down at the mission log on my communicator.
CURRENT MISSIONS
Defeat 100 Shadows in Pandora
Reward: $400
Complete 1 Hard Junction
Reward: $250
COMPLETED
Collect a Shadow for Dr. Bonet
Reward: $500
COMPLETED
Available Balance: $1,723