The white lights led John from the pod room and past the door where the monster still lay on the floor. It was a long corridor, but the lights only continued for another 20 meters, turning left.
The omnipresent Vera still talked to him as he jogged along the corridor. “My logs tell me you prefer using a greatsword. Is that correct?”
“That’s right. Larger than most, I’m pretty sure.”
“Then I think I have one perfectly suited for you. If you like it, you can use it as your core weapon. It’s through this door,” she said as a door opened to John’s right.
He entered it to find a larger room filled with weapons. They all looked expertly crafted, but at the same time, their design lacked elegance and emotion. Like the blacksmith only cared about function.
“What do you mean, core weapon? What’s that?”
“Right. All breakers can store equipment in their core, making them grow in strength alongside them. This equipment can be summoned at any time, can be repaired regardless of the level of damage, and can be reinforced by putting essence into them,” Vera explained quickly, trying to hurry things along.
Even more questions were stacking up in John’s brain, like why he had never been able to do so before, but he decided to focus on the present. “And how do I make something into a core weapon?”
“You just insert your essence into it and try to drag it into your core. Once inside, it’s yours forever. So you have to make sure it suits you.”
John looked around, searching for the promised greatsword. None seemed to suit his tastes. “Hey, where is it?”
“On your left, but I think you saw it. Is it too small?” Vera asked, sounding slightly nervous.
“Oh, that’s the biggest you have? I’ll take it for now, but I’m not using it as my core weapon.” He grabbed it by the shaft to take it from the wall. “Hey, you're sounding much more human now than you did earlier. Why’s that?”
“I can explain in the elevator; just follow the lights now.”
Understanding that time was precious, John did as he was asked, following the white lights ever forward. “I’ve been a bit curious about this elevator you keep mentioning. Does it elevate people?”
“... Yeah, that’s exactly what it does. You’re currently underground, so it will take you to the surface.”
“Underground?” John asked quietly, no longer feeling very shocked. It was a minor thing compared to the other things revealed to him so far. “I thought it was metaphorical lifting, like mentally preparing us for combat.”
A light chuckle could be heard from Vera, but she kept quiet. John continued following the lights, forced to backtrack slightly to reach the elevator. They stopped before another door, larger and more complicated than the others. It opened to reveal a tiny room, which John found confusing.
“In here?” he asked, wondering if Vera had made a mistake.
“Yes, the entire room will move once you close the doors.”
“Oh, that’s clever!” he replied, stepping inside. The doors closed behind him, and soon after, he felt himself being pressed against the floor.
“I sound more human now because I could focus more on you once the other people here had left to fight. I’m responsible for this entire building, so I usually spend much less… effort, on some orders.”
The elevator was large enough that John could swing the sword around, so he did, testing the feel in his hands. “Like multitasking? I’m pretty bad at that myself.”
“Yes, something like that. Once you step out of the elevator, I won’t be able to speak with you anymore, so just follow the road straight to the gate on the giant wall in front of you, okay? Someone will probably be there fighting already, so just speak to them.”
“Oh…” John replied, starting to feel the nerves. Vera had been very helpful so far, answering his questions, preventing him from going berserk, and letting him figure out what he should do. “Well, then. Thank you for your help, Vera. I’ll be back to bring Serah back home.”
“... Yeah, good luck, John.”
The room slowed down, making him feel lighter than usual, before it stopped completely and opened the doors. The sight of the outside world left him speechless, forcing him to wonder how far away he was from his home. A smell of metal and broken rocks hit him hard, like something familiar but alien at the same time.
The sky was red instead of blue, and there were no signs of the sun or the moon. A wall, at least 50 meters high, stood in front of him, blocking whatever was behind it from this side.
The ground before him was black and grey, showing no signs of grass or dirt anywhere. Grey buildings, taller than he had ever seen, were systematically placed around the wall, filled with windows and glowing lights.
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John absentmindedly stepped out of the elevator, staring at the tall buildings. The more of them he could see, the smaller he felt. Several tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people, could live here.
The flashing red lights outside indicated something was wrong. Nearly no people were in the streets between the buildings, so he assumed they had gone into hiding during the attack.
‘So this is what these people are protecting? How big is this damn city? How much of it can I see?’
It wasn’t just Serah or those other 246 ‘candidates’; countless lives were at stake here. This made everything he had been told feel more real, and much more justified.
A vague sense of seeing something like this before hovered around in his mind, but no memories could explain it. He figured he would have remembered something like this and dismissed it as a passing sense of deja vu.
The grip on his sword got firmer as he walked, still staring at the buildings. He couldn’t even imagine so many people living in one place. The technology needed to make something like this was far beyond his understanding, but it was obviously real.
‘This is like a completely different planet… So how the hell did I get here?!’
The sound of jogging footsteps brought him back to reality. A man dressed in similar clothes to Captain Dirk approached him. John assumed it was standard clothing in the underground facility.
“Hey, you’re EC? Head over to the gate, man!”
“EC? I… I think so,” John replied, recalling how Vera had first said something about ECs.
The man stared at him for a second, furrowing his eyebrows. “What, are you fresh out of the sim, or what?”
“The sim? Is that the underground building?”
“Oh wow, you are! You’ve had some terrible luck to run straight into this. Well, whatever, just go to the gate and fight! We need the help; a horror has expanded its territory, forcing lesser monsters toward the city.”
He continued jogging past John, heading towards something reminiscent of a metal carriage. John didn’t bother wasting more time and headed straight for the gate.
As he approached, a few guards seemed to be waiting for him, starting to open the gate for him. Several large metal locks moved to the side, allowing the gate to open.
‘That gate would hold back anything I’ve ever faced before. What kind of monsters do they have here?’
He was surprised to see nature on the other side of the gate. Grass and trees seemed almost unnatural in this place, but it was a refreshing sight. It likely meant that the outside of the gate was utterly untamed, forced to stay that way because of the dangers that lurked.
Loud and rhythmic bangs and the sound of combat accompanied the opening, meaning the fighting had started without him. John stepped through, gripping his sword and preparing for battle, into another unknown.
The rhythmic sound was a ranged weapon the people guarding the gate used. They were trying to keep the monsters away, assisting another person dressed in the uniform from the underground.
A woman this time, fighting with a long spear, clearly well accustomed to combat. She was fighting three of the bargs at once, using the superior reach of the spear to attack from a safe distance.
She looked at John briefly during her fight and smiled. “Oh, good, I was starting to think Vera was lying. Come help me, newbie!”
John noticed that the weapons from the guards had little to no effect on the monsters, only distracting them and pushing them back. The woman seemed to be in control, but it would be trouble if more of the bargs approached.
“Have any experience?” she asked, keeping her eyes on the enemies.
“Yeah, plenty. I should be able to take on at least four at a time.” He wasn’t exactly trying to one-up her, but he felt confident he could beat her in a fight after watching her spear-handling.
“Oh, sure you can, tough guy! Well, take over these ones first; I need a short break.” She jumped away from the fight and ran over to the guards, nodding in the direction of the monsters while looking at John.
The bargs ran after her, but John stepped forward and readied his sword, eager to fight. Even if it wasn’t as wide as he wanted, it was still as long as he was tall.
The sensation of the sword in his hands and the simple task ahead felt liberating in this chaotic new world. He had only himself, the blade, and the enemies to care about.
With the sword near the ground behind him, he leaned forward, baiting the beasts to attack his seemingly open pose. All three approached him simultaneously, forcing him to sidestep while swinging the sword forward. He was aiming for the leftmost beast.
While rolling away and easily avoiding the danger, his underhand slash hit the beast in the stomach. It cut through skin and ribs, severing several vital organs and leaving no doubt as to the beast’s fate. Their charging speed was easy to take advantage of, just like the beast he had fought earlier.
The slashed barg was neutralized, but the others split off, one going after John and the other attacking the spear-woman.
‘Ahh, I can’t let her get attacked after I spoke so confidently!’ John thought, admonishing his earlier pride.
He jumped at full speed towards the furthest barg and threw his sword, giving up his only weapon to keep his pride intact. It flew through the air, piercing the barg’s side and pinning it to the ground behind it—an instant kill.
The final barg approached him from behind, overconfident now that his weapon was gone. That was a huge mistake, of course. As John landed, he turned around and used his momentum to kick the last barg in the side of the neck.
A kick with full power, further reinforced by essence, was enough to cause massive damage. The impact produced a loud thud and crack, making it clear that a bone had broken.
The force caused the barg to spin around several times before falling to the ground, unconscious and probably dying. The difference in John’s combat ability with and without the essence coursing through him was immense, quickly taking out three enemies he couldn’t manage to hurt without it.
Feeling the rush of adrenaline again, John jumped on the spot. He felt terrific. There was a reason he had managed to become champion in the royal tournament. Well, several, probably. But the biggest one was his intense love for combat.
“Don’t get cocky, newbie! Wargs approaching from the tree line; get your sword!”