Thoughts of former coworkers were quickly swept aside as Isa’s days blurred together. Her exile had effectively removed any real need to suppress her goddess persona, so it naturally became more pronounced as time passed.
None of her new compatriots knew Isa well enough to recognize the change. However, they could see her growing boredom. She didn’t even bother to hide it. The safe, overly controlled jaunts into local dungeons barely allowed her to gain levels, and the former goddess’s patience had started to wear thin.
What she thought would be an exciting opportunity to grow her newest incarnation’s power had turned into a chore. Her team was too large to be efficient, dungeons weren’t being grown or enhanced, and she rarely got to use her magic.
Part of that was because the weapons issued by the armorer were more than sufficient to handle any of the mobs they encountered – so far. The other reason was that there were just too damn many people on her team for her to get much of an opportunity to do anything.
Just a month after her first group delve, Isa was already contemplating the possibility of leaving the ultra-modern city. The biggest factor keeping her from leaving was the sheer convenience of having others around.
Were she to take off on her own, she’d have to handle everything – cooking, cleaning, mending, planning, foraging, crafting… It was a lot for one person to deal with.
Not that she couldn’t handle it. She just didn’t particularly want to.
It didn’t help that Horizon had already been almost fully explored.
At least, the surface had.
There were a few dungeons that her hacked sensors had discovered that the local population hadn’t already found, but it was only a matter of time before one of the scouting teams discovered them.
If she were to strike out on her own, she’d probably have to leave Horizon to find any challenges worth the effort. Given how many miles separated Horizon from the next closest landmass, that wouldn’t be the easiest feat to accomplish.
While Isa liked the people on her team well enough, she hadn’t really put much effort into getting to know any of them. Even the friendliest of her teammates were mostly relegated to acquaintance status.
The fact that she’d loosened some of the restrictions on her ‘goddess persona’ likely had something to do with that. It was hard connecting to people who were just so obviously… lesser. It was almost like an adult trying to develop a genuine friendship with a toddler.
They simply were not equals.
“Meeting in the conference room!” Dion called out just seconds before Isa’s tablet chimed with an alert. The echo of notifications being received drifted through the open door, informing the former goddess that she was not the only one who’d received the alert.
[Volunteers requested!
Branston City has fallen, and the Senate of Gentrius Empire has requested your aid! Exiles are being offered the opportunity for reinstatement as Empire citizens for participation in this mission.
Click HERE for more information.]
That happened faster than I expected, Isa thought as she secured her room and headed toward the conference room at the other end of the building.
More than just her teammates filtered into the room over the next several minutes. It looked like someone had spread the word through all the dungeoneer teams billeted in the building.
Isa listened to the hushed whispers around her. Most sounded excited at the thought of fighting dungeons in overflow. She didn’t blame them. Dungeoneering had gotten increasingly boring after the initial excitement wore off.
“This can’t be real, can it?”
“It figures they want fighters now that they’re in danger.”
“Screw the Senate. I’m not putting myself in danger for people who treated me like garbage.”
“It’s about time something exciting happened!”
She didn’t hear anyone express any interest in regaining their lost citizenship, but she knew it would be a draw for some people, if for no other reason than the family members they’d been forced to leave behind.
“Alright, listen up!” Dion called out when the flow of new arrivals slowed. “I’m sure you all got the alert. From what I’ve been briefed, the offer is genuine. Anyone who wants to leave Horizon and rejoin the Empire can earn that right by performing well in the recovery and subjugation efforts. It won’t happen right away, but if you’re interested, make sure you annotate that on the volunteer paperwork.”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“Can I join even if I want to remain a Horizon citizen?” someone asked. Isa didn’t see who it was, nor was the voice familiar.
“Of course! But our contacts with the Senate were insistent the offer be extended,” Dion replied with a knowing smirk. “It seems they realized the folly of throwing away everyone capable and interested in fighting. But don’t let the selfishness and fear of a few politically powerful people stop you from saving those you might have a connection to. Innocents are dying, and they need help.”
There were immediate murmurs to the man’s words. Many of the people involved in dungeon exploration were those who’d been exiled in the beginning after accepting ‘combat-oriented’ classes, so the point was particularly relevant. Their connections to the government that had so callously discarded them were also much fresher than it was for the rest of the exiles, for good or ill.
“How are we supposed to get there?” someone asked from the front of the room.
“The same way those of you who aren’t native Horizians arrived – via shuttle. Obviously, we can’t send everyone to Branston City since we need people here to keep the dungeons in check. The last thing we need is for our own dungeons to overflow because we’re all busy somewhere else. Keep in mind that part of the mission is to stop the dungeon overflow occurring around the city, so not everyone will be working in an urban environment,” Dion replied before continuing.
“There’s a good chance other sieged cities are going to ask for our assistance as well,” the newly promoted detachment leader added. They weren’t part of any military, but their group had swelled over the last couple of months, requiring an adjustment in leadership. “You should expect this to take a while. Those of you who stay behind will have to train some new people to cover down while we’re gone…”
Isa barely needed to consider the offer before beginning the paperwork required to volunteer, only half listening to the briefing that followed. She’d been feeling bored and stifled lately. Dealing with the dungeon breaks might be exactly what she needed.
The former goddess immediately set about making several tentative plans as she filled in the document on her tablet. In her boredom, she’d already collected most of what she’d probably need, so there would be little she’d need to obtain prior to leaving.
“Are only combat classes getting the offer?” someone behind her asked.
Dion shook his head. “No. Every device got the alert, so we can expect to be joined by people who have no idea what they’re doing. Any dungeon team members who accept the mission will be placed in a team leader position once reinforcements join us. We don’t have nearly enough people with experience to go around, so everyone already familiar with fighting will likely find themselves in a leadership role once more people join the effort.”
There were probably a lot of people who would respond, even with the hurt feelings associated with exile. Isa had been surprised to learn how many people the Senate had exiled in the first week just for their class choices, but a lot of people had taken it in stride once they realized the Wastelands weren’t wastelands at all.
“When are we supposed to do that?”
“Shouldn’t we stick to our normal teams?”
“How long do we have?”
The voices spoke over one another, but only the last question was answered.
“The first wave needs to be ready in an hour.” He glanced around the room. There were more than fifty people in the conference room, but that was only about half of the active dungeon explorers. The other half reported to another detachment leader and were probably having a similar briefing in another location.
“No more than half of our total number can go, and we’re only taking volunteers,” Dion added as he looked over the gathered dungeoneers. “Reinforcements will join us in just over a week since any outside volunteers will have to take a crash course in dungeoneering and squad tactics. Those remaining behind will assist in their training.”
“Do we get a bonus?” someone asked, causing Dion to sigh.
“No. A chance to gain levels while saving others should be motivation enough,” he said, giving the person who asked a sour look. “I’ve heard a lot of you complaining about how slow your gains have been with how carefully we’ve been approaching the dungeons. Well, now you have your chance to progress as fast as you want.”
Several people seemed excited by the possibility of fighting without restraint, and people started talking amongst themselves quietly as Dion answered a few more questions. After about five minutes, he interrupted the side conversations to tell everyone to make their decisions quickly.
“Are you going to volunteer?” Jamie asked as he walked over while messaging someone on his phone. He was probably contacting his mom or the new girl he’d started seeing a few weeks prior.
“Yep,” Isa said with a grin. Jamie was a nice kid, and it wasn’t hard to be friendly with him. “I already submitted the paperwork.”
“I think I’m going to go as well. There are probably a lot of people who will need healing over there.”
“Is your new girlfriend going to be okay with that?” Isa asked jokingly, causing him to blush.
“I’m sure she’ll understand,” he replied. “Lives are at stake. I just wish I could do more than just heal…”
“I’m sure the people there will be ecstatic to see a healer coming to their aid. Not everyone can help others so directly,” Isa said supportively. Jamie nodded resolutely and clicked the link on the alert, not bothering to wait for a response from his earlier message.
----------------------------------------
Things moved quickly, and Isa found herself disembarking from a large transport shuttle amongst a scene of chaos just hours later.
Most of Isa’s team had volunteered for the mission, but given the number of opponents and the area that needed to be cleared, the call had been made to separate the fifty volunteers into ten teams of five. Each was assigned a leader, which, for her team, was Jamie.
Teams with someone capable of building walls were assigned to the city, with the rest being dropped near dungeons to stop the source of monsters. With an Earth Mage on her team, Isa’s team was dropped onto a skyscraper near the center of the city, well above the worst of the devastation.
Isa didn’t particularly care about the people in the cities, but she didn’t mind saving them, either. What she was really there for was to earn experience – both literally and quantitatively. More soul growth was always good, and that required doing and experiencing new things.
She also wanted to grow more powerful in this life – and every subsequent life – to avoid falling under the rule of lesser beings.
For now, she would focus on pushing back the horde that was assaulting the city. What happened after that was still yet to be seen.