“Hey, Isa?” Jamie said awkwardly, drawing the former goddess’s attention from the monsters below.
Isa paused her efforts and turned around curiously, wondering what had caused her temporary Team Leader to rush over so suddenly.
“Is everything alright?” Isa asked.
The curly-haired man shuffled in place for a moment before forcing himself to remain still. He still had moments where he struggled to fill the role of ‘leader,’ but he was getting there.
“I hate to ask this, but would you be willing to make [Stone Wall] and offensive wands for the rest of the day?” Jamie asked without meeting her eyes.
Isa was a little surprised by the request, but a quick peek at the man’s phone explained his discomfort.
Teams were being shuffled starting the following day, and Isa and Benji were being pulled for some undisclosed special assignment. Isa didn’t bother reading any further than that.
Without Isa and Benji, the team would no longer be able to build walls and enclose ‘safe zones.’ However, that would no longer be an issue if she could make a few [Stone Wall] wands.
“It won’t take me the whole day to make enough for the team,” Isa said. “I already gave everyone an offensive habetis. Are you asking me to arm the rest of the teams as well?” she asked with a raised brow.
Normally, she wouldn’t mind too much, especially since she’d gain a small amount of experience from each kill made with her equipment. But giving up a whole day… that was several levels if the number of monsters remained consistent.
It was a lot to ask so early in her journey.
Jamie looked at the young woman pleadingly. “It would make such a huge difference. If you want to throw some of your exploding beads every once in a while, that should keep you from missing out on too much. I’ll even keep an eye on them and tell you when to set them off.”
In the grand scheme of things, it was a small request. But Isa couldn’t help but feel annoyed at the imposition. She’d already given away weapons and tools without true compensation. Being asked to give more while simultaneously being forced to miss out on easy experience grated her.
Not only that, but there was no information provided about what Isa and Benji would be doing once they left the next day. They could probably decline the reassignment, but that would likely cause a slew of issues the teenager did not feel like dealing with.
The former goddess furrowed her brow, careful not to display her true feelings. “I don’t mind helping; I just don’t understand the sudden shift. Did something change?” she asked.
Jamie’s head dropped. “Yeah. I just got word that they’re reorganizing teams. You and Benji are being put on some special assignment. I already asked for more information, but I haven’t received it yet.”
“Isn’t it a little early to start changing things?” Isa asked. “We’ve only been here for a day.”
“I was surprised, too,” Jamie admitted. As he opened his mouth to say more, his phone chimed. “It looks like they need the two of you and another Mage to build walls in the capital. A priority request came in, and it looks like whoever is running things on our side picked the three fastest builders to help secure the city.”
Isa was unsurprised that her newest world adhered to the same unspoken rule that seemed to span realms: those who performed exceptionally well were often rewarded with more work. It was practically a law of existence.
“Whatever is fine,” the former goddess said after a moment.
She fully intended to keep progressing, regardless of what assignment they gave her. Isa was sure whatever security forces the Empire maintained were probably capable of handling a single city, especially if it wasn’t being overrun like Branston City.
Jamie’s eyes slid to Benji. “I should probably go break the news to him.”
Isa looked at the wand in her hand before glancing back at the window. With a sigh, she put the wand away. “I’m going to toss out a few explosives. I’ll work by the window so I can monitor things while I craft.”
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“Thank you,” Jamie said sincerely. “I’m sure the other teams will be equally grateful for whatever support you can provide.”
Isa nodded as the newly minted Life Mage walked away. She truly didn’t care about their gratitude. The former goddess was annoyed, but she understood Jamie’s perspective.
She’d have to be careful not to let whoever she worked with on the next assignment know how capable she was. The last thing she wanted was to be voluntold to produce weapons instead of directly contributing to the fight.
If something like that happened, Isa would probably just disappear. There was only so much she was willing to accept before the benefits of civilization outweighed the negatives.
----------------------------------------
“Isamie Stone, Roman Jadenson, and Benji Aspen?” an armored man asked from inside the small shuttle. The man’s armor was identical to the modular armor the dungeoneers wore, marking him as a member of Horizon’s forces.
After verifying their identities, the man ushered the trio aboard and sealed the door behind them. Once everyone had buckled in, the man pressed a button, notifying the pilot they were good to take off.
“I’m not sure how helpful you three will be, but it was apparently enough to warrant a trip out here to get you,” he said once they were airborne. “You all have access to some kind of special magic, I presume?”
As the oldest of the trio, Roman took the initiative to speak for them. “I don’t know how special it is, but we can all use Earth magic. We’ve mostly been building walls to keep monsters out, which I’m assuming is what we’re being asked to do wherever we’re going.”
Isa surreptitiously scanned Roman and was surprised to find the Mage was only level seven. He had not yet advanced his race or class, making her suspect he had spent the previous two days exclusively building walls instead of fighting monsters.
The rest of his team had probably already left him behind as far as experience went.
Unless his team was open about their level gains and racial upgrades, he probably didn’t even realize he’d fallen behind. The ability to scan people and obtain information was still pretty rare. However, by D-Grade, almost everyone would gain access to the ability.
Isa tuned out the men’s chatter as she pulled out several items and began working. The trip to Lustria would only take an hour, and she planned to use that time to add to her arsenal since she’d left almost everything she’d crafted the day before with her now-former team.
Isa didn’t want to fall too far behind Jamie and the others because she was too busy building walls to earn experience. Sure, she’d earn a trickle from the others' use of the habetes she’d made, but that was like a drop in the ocean compared to the experience she needed to reach the next race threshold.
“What are you making?” Roman asked as he leaned closer to get a better look. “Is that bone?”
Isa smirked at the man’s reaction. “Yes. Monster bone, to be specific.”
“You can use that stuff?” the man asked curiously.
“Yes. I can embed spells into most mana-infused items,” Isa replied as she continued to shape the bone into a wand. “I can also turn them into foci, which helps strengthen spells of a similar type cast through them.”
“Fascinating,” the older man murmured as Isa began carefully engraving runes into the item.
She could have easily sped the process, but the former goddess was still a touch wary about drawing too much attention or showing unexpected powers. She was already pushing it with the number of spells she displayed.
Having been a deity, she understood how difficult it was to look closely at any one individual mortal, especially without faith connecting them. As long as she didn’t draw too much attention, it was unlikely any deities would look any closer at her.
And even if she did, it would still probably be okay as long as they weren’t looking for a reincarnated goddess who might still have her memories.
Instead, Isa was concerned about drawing too much attention from the government. After realizing how different Gentrius was from the planet she’d picked for her reincarnation, Isa had dug through hidden records and government documents to better understand how things ended up the way they had.
She was probably the most aware civilian alive when it came to the shady actions taken by the semi-shadow government, and that awareness had only grown since the decision to exile her was made. Consequently, she had zero faith in the Senate or any of its supporting government agencies.
The fact that she’d already been singled out to work on a ‘special project’ was concerning enough, and Isa hoped to minimize the attention she drew from that point forward.
“Why are you making stuff like that anyway?” Roman asked.
“Making what, weapons?” Isa asked, looking up from the delicate work. It was hard enough engraving the runes on a moving shuttle without the distraction, but the former goddess was trying to keep a pleasant demeanor with the others.
Roman nodded and leaned back slightly. They were separated by an aisle, but the younger woman’s focus made the Mage instinctively withdraw a bit. It was a subconscious thing that he didn’t even realize.
But Isa did.
“I don’t know about you,” Isa said with an amused smirk, “but I plan on killing plenty of monsters wherever we’re going. That’s the mission I signed up for. I’m not going to limit myself to just building walls, regardless of what the idiots running the Empire want. Killing monsters gains the most experience, and I’m here to get stronger. Helping people is secondary.”
If Roman was bothered by Isa’s dismissive attitude toward civilians, she didn’t particularly care. The mission had been sold as an opportunity for leveling, and playing a construction worker was not fulfilling that promise.
Turning back to her project, Isa ignored the people around her, opting to focus on creating better weapons in the limited time she had available before they reached their destination. She had no idea where they were going, and wherever it was, they’d have little or no support from Horizian personnel.
Their escort had already verified as much when he mentioned leaving them with Empire overseers. He hadn’t been pleased with Horizon citizens being left in the hands of Empire personnel, but there was little he (or they) could really do about it.