Aided by mana, the fire burns hotter than it has any right to. It lights up what's left of the night, and we watch in silence as the man that raised Mike and I turns to ash.
Sat on the porch, surrounded by people on all sides, I feel lonelier than ever. I reach to the side, my hand searching for Emily's — for the reassuring squeeze of her fingers that helped ground me before.
All I get is the reminder that she isn't here.
Morning dawns as the flames rage on, and one by one, the others give us their condolences before they leave. In no time at all, only our core group — minus Jessica — is left. She was among the first to disappear, something William didn't miss either.
But he doesn't give me shit for it, and for that I'm grateful.
“I'll talk to her later,” he says instead.
I nod and climb to my feet despite my body's protests. Having finally slowed down, it doesn't want to get going again — enhanced stats or not.
“You should go get some rest,” William continues.
“But there's so much stuff left to do.”
“Don't you worry, the stuff won't go anywhere.”
We go back and forth on it for a few minutes, but I give in eventually. William is right, I need to rest before I shut down completely.
“How about this. I'll wait for the fire to die down here, then I'll go check out the bunker real quick. I'll go home and get a few hours of sleep after that.”
“Sounds good.”
He leaves as well after that, so it’s only Mom, Mike, and I watching the fire. It dies down after another hour or so, leaving behind a pile of ashes and smoldering embers. The mana fueled fire turned even the bones to ash.
We decide not to collect the ashes, so Mike covers the pit with the dirt from his inventory. Drained by the whole ordeal, Mom goes inside to get some rest.
“I’ll go look after her, okay?” Mike says when she’s out of earshot. “I’m worried for her.”
I nod, then I add, “sure. I’ll send someone over to get you if I need anything.”
Mike disappears into the house, and I linger for a short moment, staring at the churned earth. Then I get going as well.
----------------------------------------
The way to the bunker is uneventful. Few monsters are left in the town, and most of the people outside of the safe zones have their orders already.
Not slowed down by anyone, I put the pedal to the metal. My top speed easily surpasses the old world speed limits in the town, but it’s not all smooth sailing. I lose control more than once — slipping, falling, and skidding for dozens of feet before I come to a stop. Generating my own momentum is very much unlike the speed boost from the dash skill, which infuses me with a ton of momentum in the blink of an eye.
With only my own two legs, it’s a slower build-up. And the lower overall speed means I can’t rely on momentum to keep me going when I lose adherence or come across obstacles. I’m in full control at all times, but that means having to make a ton of decisions and corrections as I go.
Humans really aren’t built to run so fast, so it’ll take some getting used to.
Still, despite the many mishaps on the way, I make it to the bunker in one piece. Doug is outside, sitting on the stairs and stretching his legs.
“Is that place really that big?” I say as I approach.
Doug needs a moment to understand what I mean, but once he does, he waves me off with a tired smile. “Nah. It’s plenty big, but it’s not that. I’m just tired.”
“Okay. Tell me what we’re working with, then go find a bed to crash into.”
With a sigh and a bit of help, Doug gets to his feet. He leads me into the bunker through the heavy looking metal doors, and the inside is a lot more spacious than I anticipated. The ceiling is high, the walls are far apart — the structure is a far cry from the puny man made version that inspired it.
Neon lights shine on the ceiling, spaced some twenty feet apart, and the whole structure seems to hum as we go in deeper. I quickly realize that’s the basic life support array pumping air in and out of the corridor through palm sized grates in the walls. The air probably gets taken somewhere else to be scrubbed of carbon dioxide and whatever else isn’t healthy to breathe.
“We have a bunch of rooms,” Doug says, gesturing to the many doors lining the corridor on both sides, “but none of them are furnished. We also have two more floors above and below the ground. Mostly similar layout.”
The corridor twists and turns, splitting into tributaries, but we follow the main path. That takes us to a set of spiral stairs, and just like Doug said, they go both up and down.
We have a lot of space, but not enough to shelter everyone when the next siege hits.
I check out the other floors as well, but I don’t find much of interest. The rooms are all empty, and there aren’t any people in here yet.
The lowest level is the most interesting, holding the bastion core and the cage it made for itself in the center of a wide open space. Unlike the levels above, this one isn’t as heavily sectioned off. Big structures that look like intricate support pillars are scattered throughout, and after some prodding through the system, I figure out that these are the structural integrity compensators.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
On a closer look, I realize they look less like pillars and more like oversized shock absorbers.
“The generator room is also down here,” Doug says.
“Generator room?” I ask before remembering that the system did mention something about a solid fuel generator.
Doug leads me to it, but the generator room looks like a mostly empty industrial warehouse. A single structure is present in the far back of the room, the size of a truck and rumbling just as loudly.
“How does it work?”
Doug shrugs. “No idea, I didn’t mess with it.”
We spend the next few minutes doing just that, but there isn’t much to mess around with. The generator itself looks like a steam boiler, and although it has many moving parts, we mostly need to interact with it through the system. Even loading fuel into it is done by transferring it straight from my inventory, and it seems to accept any solid flammable materials.
“Long shot, but ask around for someone with knowledge on steam generators or engines.”
“Will do, boss.”
“We’ll also need a few people on fuel duty.”
We go back and forth about it for a few more minutes. The generator seems to have no trouble keeping up with the energy demands for now, but it still eats through the fuel at a fast rate. It came preloaded with these black fuel blocks, and the system is kind enough to let me know that they have a hundred times the caloric density of coal.
All we have to feed this thing is wood, and by the looks of it, the generator will eat tons of it each day just to keep the lights on. We’ll need a dedicated team just to handle that.
At least it doesn’t billow smoke everywhere, and the ashes get compacted into neat cubes for easy disposal.
“Let’s just keep it working for now. We’ll figure out the exact details later.”
Doug nods, so we leave the underground levels and return up top.
“What about the shop?” I ask. “We should’ve gotten a shop terminal somewhere in here.”
“That way.”
Doug leads me to it, and the shop terminal is nothing like I expected it to be. It’s at the end of a corridor, looking like a crystal ball on a waist high pedestal. I move towards it, but when I get to within ten feet, a milky white membrane appears and blocks my path. It looks like an energy shield of sorts, but when I go to touch it, I find that I can push through with just a little bit of effort.
I pass my fingers through it and pull them back out, and the shield lets me do it no problem.
“The hell is this thing?” I wonder aloud.
“No idea,” Doug says. “We checked it out earlier, and it let us pass back and forth with no problems. But when people went in, they turned transparent like they were ghosts.”
“What now?”
I ask for a demonstration, and Doug provides. He passes through the shield and it molds itself to his body, clinging to him and turning him transparent. I look away for a moment, and when I look back, I can’t even make him out anymore.
“Doug?”
His head appears from the shield up to the neck. “Yeah?”
“You disappeared completely for a moment there.”
We run a few more tests, but I have no idea what the shield is about. Looking through the system gives me no clues either, so I move on for now. I go in myself and approach the crystal ball, placing a hand on it. A bunch of notifications bloom before me, showing various items and prices.
“Doug?” I call out.
He stayed behind right outside of the shield, and it looks like he can’t hear me at all. I call out multiple times, but I fail to get his attention.
A theory about the shield forms in my mind, but I’ll need a few more people to test it out.
For now, I focus on the shop itself. The items come in many categories, ranging from clothes — both normal and armored — to guns, melee weapons, ammo, consumables. The categories and lists seem to go on and on, with no end in sight.
I try a few mental commands, and the shop is easy enough to navigate. I can filter the results based on item types and prices, and I can even use search terms to find what I need.
Most of the items don’t seem to be crazy expensive, and I’m tempted to go on a shopping spree with the credits I earned from ending the first siege. I could use new clothes, armor, and a few melee weapons at the very least. But I still don’t know how to earn credits, so in truth, I have no frame of reference for the prices.
Better to abstain for now.
I get ready to leave and have other people look into it, I’m pretty sure we have at least one economics major around here somewhere. But then I remember something, and I turn right back around.
“Guides,” I say after I place my hand on the crystal ball.
I’m greeted with a list that is thousands of entries long, and I let out an involuntary groan. But a few more filters later, I have what I want in front of me.
Item: Classes and You, an Advanced Guide to System Classes.
Description (User Generated): Whether you aspire to become a powerful warrior, a skilled mage, or a masterful artisan, “Classes and You” is the ultimate guide to help you plan your journey to greatness! In the digital pages of this guide, you will discover information on classes from all over the galaxy! From the technocrats on Quantara-7 to the Dragon Lords of Blazaris and the Chitin Benders of Skethara, I — the great Thalyn Xarcos, distinguished scholar and System researcher — have personally cataloged over a million classes from just as many worlds, just for you!
Price: 1000 credits.
Item: Basics of Bastion World Survival.
Description (User Generated): Have you suddenly woken up to monsters beating at your door? Did a strange alien System offer you powers that challenge mortal imagination? Has your world been turned upside down by forces beyond your control and comprehension? Or have you simply been born into this chaos? Whatever the case, this is the guide for you! Penned by Kaela Veshan, fearless leader of Chronoria’s last Bastion and survivor extraordinaire, this guide will teach you the ins and outs of not just surviving on a Bastion World, but thriving while you’re at it!
Price: 1000 credits.
The descriptions are a little bit…over the top, but I buy them both. Past that, I don’t touch anything else for now. I do, however, make a mental note to find James and his friends and have them look into the guides.
After I confirm the purchase, a tablet looking device appears in my inventory. I pull it out and find that it’s easy enough to navigate, but I don’t go into the guides to read them in full. With how tired I am, there’s no point to it. The information would go into one ear and out the other.
“Should I give people access to the shop?” Doug asks as I leave the shop’s shield. “A few of them got those system credits and they’ve been asking to be let in.”
“Sure,” I say after I think it over for a second.
Our fighters could really use the shop to get new gear and resupply on ammo, so there’s no point in holding them back. But just in case, I send word to William to post some guards by the stairs to the lower floors. We can’t have people messing with the core or generator.
Once all of that is settled, I set out towards my own home.