Penny sat on the clean bed in the clean room in her new clean clothes. Her knees were curled up to her chest. Beads of water dripped from the ends of her straw-colored hair. It was still dirty, but a good deal of the sweat and mud had been rinsed out. Adam, the man (boy?) who beat the Blast Witch, had shrugged and said, "Good enough."
She rocked back and forth, staring at the wall. Her mind buzzed like the dragonflies she used to play with in her hometown. If she opened her mouth she might start screaming and never stop and piss off the Blast Witch, so she pressed her lips against her elbow instead.
Adam and the Blast Witch gave her a bunch of broken machinery to fix. Lights, a door panel, a strange coffee maker, and the internals of a tablet. Star-tech possessed strange operating systems written in foreign languages, but their hardware followed similar principles to the other machines. She almost relaxed in her work. Granny said she had a rust angel’s hands, owing to the time her mom swallowed a pill of red on accident when on a trip with her dad.
She never thought her skill was anything special. No-one cared if someone breathed well, right? But others, including Adam, thought otherwise. Even the Blast Witch stopped glaring at her for a moment.
Gods, the Blast Witch. The memories of that battle still burned hot in her brain. Raz, that complete moron. He'd acted so confident in the bar, telling the crew how they were about to receive the biggest payday in the entire valley and live rich for the rest of their lives. Then, they arrived at the base. The Witch assaulted them the instant they broke down the gate, sniping off Mack and Jones before they even had the chance to draw their guns. Even then, she tanked all their bullets and blasted them into ashes. Half the crew had been literal sons of whores, the types to bully her out of a few more chips, but to go out like that?
She didn’t even want to consider how strong Adam was. She wasn’t going to question his decisions, such as his strange refusal to hit her. She was going to do a proper job and not end up with her head rolling across the dirt, even if she was basically Adam’s slave.
…okay, maybe not that. When she blurted out the word, Adam looked like someone just told him to swallow chunks of cow shit. Employee, then. Or prisoner, considering she tried to blow him up with a thorn grenade. He was merciful in comparison to other crews wandering around. Raz would’ve shot her in the head had she tried the same.
She flopped on the bed, rubbing her eyes. A yawn escaped. Maybe, this wouldn’t be so bad. She’d never see Mom or Dad or Granny for a long time, but she already prepared for that ever since she left the farm to rummage around in scrap. Maybe Adam would let her see her family if she did a good enough job.
The doors slid open. The Blast Witch walked in, her silky golden-blonde hair trailing behind her, and Penny almost shat out the stringy wheat things she ate for lunch today.
"W-what do you want?" Penny cried, then placed her hands over her head. Stupid! Adam told her the Blast Witch couldn’t understand English yet.
The Blast Witch gave her that same, hateful glare and approached. Penny cowered on the bed, waiting for the Blast Witch to pull out of her sword and slice off her head like she did with Raz, Mick, and the rest.
Instead, she reached into her uniform pocket and pulled out…a tablet?
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"Lucy."
"Yes, Chosen?"
"Don't screw with Penny's head. We need it for all the broken crap around the base."
The War Maiden had the gall to look surprised, "I only gave her something to read. Otherwise, she might try planning a means of escape and we can't have that."
"Think she's too scared shitless of you to even bother trying." Adam said, "What did you give her?"
"Something to read, Chosen. Not text, all pictures. She’ll understand it."
They sat in Adam’s new room in the Barracks, having just eaten and washed.
"I don’t trust that girl, Chosen," Lucy said.
"Feeling’s mutual," Adam said. "Like I said, she’s not going to act up in a long while, Lucy. Girl’s terrified of you."
"I’m not sure…"
"Nah. Trust me Lucy, I’ve seen this before. She’s paralysed. There’s zero doubt in her mind that you’re the dominant one here." He shrugged. "Applies to me, too, since she thinks I beat you,"
Lucy frowned, but did not press the issue further, "If she tries anything again, you must tell me, Chosen. I’m serious."
"Assuming I don’t get to her first," Adam said back, eyes level with the War Maiden.
Lucy tapped the side of the table, "You're more comfortable than I expected."
"With what?"
"Coercion. Intimidation. Normally, that's part of my duties. We even had entire classes dedicated to that in training." Lucy said, "What colony were you born from, if I may ask?"
Great. This question. He expected Lucy would ask this at some point and it didn't make him any more settled. She may be dedicated to him as a Chosen, but only one of Astraea—a place he'd never been to. Penny already disgusted Lucy enough. He didn't want to imagine how she'd react if she found out he was from Earth.
So, he employed a tried and true tactic whenever a social worker asked him about his past: flat expression, tired voice, and then the words, "I don’t want to talk about it."
"Are you sure? Because—"
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
"Lucy, I don't." He stressed the last word. She backed off. He kept himself taut, as if daring her to pry further, even as his own heart pounded in his chest.
"It's alright, Chosen. You have your circumstances and I..." She shook her head. "Wherever it was, it's taught you good life skills."
He leaned back in his seat, stifling a sigh of relief.
Best case: Penny fixed the communications and administrative computers across the MOB, allowing them to easily track the rest of the Astraeans. Worst case: she made life less cluttered. Less than a week on a new turf and he’d acquired an underling. It would’ve been nice, if it weren’t for the whole transported into a hell-world situation.
"Not enough..."
"Pardon, Chosen?"
He didn't answer her, instead flicking through ADOSCH's menu. Up came the Mystic Core. Multiple upgrades were available.
"Lucy, you ever heard of Stellari?"
----------------------------------------
Lucy checked Penny’s door was locked one more time, then escorted Adam to the Prayer Hall. He sat in the center of six pillars, each one standing in the corner of a hexagram in the ground. White and blue runes covered the outer rim. A sword and a scale. A star and a ring. A heart and an open palm.
Adam swallowed a wad of candy, then sat cross-legged in the center and composed himself. Lucy stood ahead of him, ready to intervene. Her feelings were mixed, which he knew.
"You received Stellari from purifying me? Is that true, Chosen? Really, really?" She had exclaimed. Excited tears had gathered at the corners of her eyes and she gripped his hands so tight his fingers threatened to fracture. "That’s the highest grade of plasma out there. Only Apostle-tier heroes are allowed to absorb those. Stars above, this is such an honor for both of us! I can’t believe this!"
And here he thought those boy-band fangirls from the tenth grade were irritating enough.
Her good mood had flatlined when he informed her of the process to utilize the Stellari. At the same time, she agreed that Adam needed to be stronger. Time was precious, the MOB had cracks in its walls and neither of them wanted to be caught with their pants down.
"Let her with strength protect the man who cannot." She had recited. "But first, she must grasp it with both hands."
Then, she had said. "If those tech-heads hurt you, Chosen, I will personally kick down their office doors and throw them before the Apostle's feet myself."
"All good?" Adam said.
"Yes, this should help reduce any plasma burden," Lucy said, "Are you ready?"
He nodded.
"May Her Justice stabilize your journey and Her Prudence guide you to what is right and true. Good luck, Chosen!"
The following Mystic Core upgrades have been selected for acquisition:
-Increase MIGHT by 1.
-Acquire the [Psycho-Crush] technique.
Total cost: 150 Stellari. 50 Stellari will remain.
Please ensure that you are in a secured area before proceeding. It is also recommended that a buddy watch over you. Have these conditions been satisfied?
"Yes. Do it."
Initializing Mystic Core Accelerated Development Process...
Beginning time dilation…
A myriad of blue lines lit up on his palm, running down to his chest. Along with them came the heat, the shivers and white particles radiating off his flesh, surrounded by a deep purple aura. He saw Lucy gasp, and then his vision stretched and tunneled forwards at immense speed.
He soared down a lane surrounded by walls of a shifting kaleidoscope and crashed to a halt in a field of white. Hexagonal blocks littered the empty landscape. The sky was a dull blue with no clouds. He looked into the distance, where yellow lines trailed up to the atmosphere and disappeared.
"Welcome, Chosen."
He bit down a groan as he turned around. The dream girl was here. Her form was that of a short-haired redhead, dressed in a War Maiden's uniform of white coat and white pants. She sat atop a hexagonal block, arms and legs crossed.
"Oh god, not you again," Adam said.
"How have you been?" The dream girl said, in the unknown War Maiden's voice. Chipper, was energetic and with a twang that brought memories of the Southern-born kids in some long-forgotten classroom. "I saw your fight with Lucy and the interrogation with that peasant intruder. Very exciting! She will be pleased."
"You got a name?" Adam said. "Cause if you don't, I'm gonna refer to you as complete bitch."
"Rude," The dream girl pouted. She bounced a cube in her hands over and over as she thought. "I suppose you can call me Esther, then."
"The hell kind of name is that?"
"A good one. You asked." Esther leaped off the platform. The ground pinged as her boots landed. It was too smooth to be natural. "You're wondering where you are, yes? This isn't a physical location. Your body is meditating, while your mind has been confined within ADOSCH's simulation matrix for mystic training. The tech-heads performed miracles to make this work."
"Figures." Adam said. What happened once could happen thousands of times. "Why are you here?"
"Because it wouldn't be ADO technology without Her influence, silly! That's just the way things are in Astraea. That War Maiden would pity you so much, if she learned you grew up in a world uncared and unloved by Her Compassion."
Adam rolled his eyes. "I survived just fine."
"But did you really live?" Esther asked.
"…yes?" Adam said, after a pause. He smirked, flexing his arm muscles. "I’m still alive, aren’t I? Despite all the bullshit your goddess put me through, I'm still alive and kicking. Got a problem with that?"
Esther shook her head. "You need to spend more time with your new lady friend. Maybe you’ll understand then. Oh well, we can talk about it later."
She clapped her hands. The pillars rose out of the ground and floated in the air. She flicked her hands and they separated into smaller blocks. One of them aimed at Adam with the tip of its corner. He leaped back, his plasma flaring.
"Normally, casters would spend weeks and months researching, understanding, and experimenting with a new mystic. We don't have that time, so instead the techniques will be transmitted straight into your brain for you to practice in the real world. This won't account for any physical training, so you'll have to do that yourself when you get back."
She winked. "Now, catch!"
A block fired itself at Adam. He seized it with [Psycho-Pull]. It felt slippery, as if it was both serrated and slick with oil at the same time. He heaved it aside onto the ground, panting. More and more came his way until one bounced off his head. He rubbed the spot. The pain felt real.
Esther raised a finger. "Number 1! [Psychokinesis] is a versatile power. It’s easy to learn, but difficult to master. It’s one of the few mystics that can be developed to its fullest potential alongside all four Mystic Attributes, without sacrificing one for the optimization of the other. Do you understand?"
Adam nodded.
"You’ve done well so far, but merely well is not enough for what might be out there. You need to be more deadly, more controlled in your [Psycho-Push] and [Psycho-Pull]. The end result of the [Psychokinesis] journey is a soldier who can part clouds of gas with the flick of her fingers while crushing the throat of a Scourge-beast from halfway across the battlefield. So, shall we begin?"
A wave of cubes broke free from the ground and rose up in a straight line. Adam stepped back, color draining from his face. Esther’s smile turned vicious.
"You wished to increase your MIGHT, yes? What better place to start by teaching you how to throw and catch with more power? I heard your Earth baseballs can break skulls. I'll teach you how to break steel."
She took a single step forward.
"Don't worry about plasma capacity in this realm. Or the passing of time. I’m going to pound those techniques right into your Earthling skull..."