The village rewarded them well. Their first bounty was a plastic bag containing a hundred round-shaped, metallic chips. The village having access to plastic was more astounding than the currency itself. The bag looked well-worn, its label faded, so Adam supposed someone scavenged rather than produced it.

The second was three day's worth of stay in the local inn. The building was far from swank, but it had lighting and beds without cockroaches. Water came from a faucet connected to the main river. A wire mesh overlapped the broken glass window in his room, allowing the bustling of the town outside to flow in. Dead bugs were caught in the gaps.

"…three bandits, all at once? Good riddance I say…"

"Star-tech like that…can't be anything…oh you know how it is…"

"This autumn is getting dryer…might not have enough for the…"

He slumped further in a chair, tuning the voices out. The inn had provided his crew with a wash and the inn's chef cooked up a stew for them, all free. He still felt dead-tired. It wasn't just the physical exertion. There was something else, too. Something…deeper, like the difference between a crack in the road and a sewer pit. There was a faded movie poster opposite the wall, a memento from the original owners' pre-ruin, and no-one had bothered to repair the peeling bits.

Status.

His Plasma was at 100%, but his Vitality was at 75%, as evidenced by his aching neck. Only 15% experience remained until Competency Level 2-2. Maybe he could upgrade his [Hacking] augmentation to [Hacking 2]. Certain computers in the MOB had proven too tough for him to crack, and they were the ones containing actual useful data. Beyond [Hacking 2] lay the [Remote Hacking] upgrade, which allowed hacking to be conducted wirelessly via electromagnetic signals.

Trouble was, it required the [Electrokinesis] mystic first. He needed to find its corresponding Mystic Imprint, or have someone teach him. Both sounded like a real pain. It might be worth it, if he got into a battle where the enemy deployed their turrets or drones, or like when Laboz choked him out and his hands had been too floppy to…

His vision swayed on an axis. He touched his forehead and realised it was drenched in sweat.

He killed Laboz.

He blasted him straight through the head. Didn't even realise he pulled the trigger until it was too late. No cause, all effect.

He stared at his rifle, resting near his pack. It did its job. It was loyal. It was in self-defense. It was murder.

No, stop it.

To hell with this! What was he, a wimp? He'd seen dead bodies on the streets before. He signed up for the US Marines, for god's sake. This was supposed to be his job! So what if Laboz's brain had splattered like a sack of meat mince across the concrete? So what if he couldn't get the imprint of that fatass's last expression of despair and surprise when he closed his eyes? He wasn't about to shiver like some infantile sack of sorry shit. He wasn't clutching his throat to steady his breathing.

Stop it, damn it!

A knock on the door. His gun flew to his hands via mystic.

"Chosen?" Lucy's muffled voice filled the air, "May I come in?"

"Y-yeah." Adam said, after a pause. "Sure. Whatever."

Lucy opened the door and walked inside. She had exchanged her filthy War Maiden's uniform for a set of clothes the innkeeper that graciously granted her. This amounted to a hand-stitched vivid-red T-shirt and a pair of used jeans, both of which clashed with her natural golden-blonde hair and baby-blue eyes. The result was an uptown girl who tried to mingle with the commoners and failed.

He didn't. Lucy walked over to the bed opposite him and sat on its edge. "Are you alright, Chosen?" she said.

"What makes you think I'm not?"

"You looked pale on the way back and during dinner." Lucy said, "I thought it would be prudent to check up on you."

He shrugged. "We walked miles today. Got into a fight. Of course I'm gonna be tired."

"Is that all?" She asked.

He glared at her. "Get out if you don't have anything."

Lucy didn't move a muscle. "Chosen," she said.

"For fuck's sake, has it ever occurred to you to use my actual name?"

"Just this one thing, okay? Please hear me out." She crouched down until they were both at the same eye-level, "Was that the first time you killed someone?"

He jerked up in his seat, a scowl crossing above his square jaw. "Piss off."

"No."

"Lucy, I'm not in the fucking mood."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I still have to talk to you about this. Otherwise, it would be a dereliction in my duties as your attendant, and as a War Maiden that cares for her comrades." Lucy said. Adam gripped the armrests of the chair, the wood grinding beneath his skin. She knew full well he was incapable of forcing her out. She was taunting him, that damned—

"I'll ask again. Was that the first time you killed someone, Adam? Because if it was—"

"Yeah?" He snapped. He slammed his fist on the right armrest, "It was. So fucking what? You here to laugh at me? I blasted a hole through that lug's head. He was coming at me. He tried to choke me."

If his words offended Lucy, she didn't show it. "So, it was self-defense?" she said.

"You think?" Adam said, "You should teach kids with that amazing intellect of yours!"

It was as if a valve inside of him ceased to work. Once again, the words kept pouring out of his mouth straight onto Lucy's vicinity. She just stood there, hands rested in front, patiently waiting for him to finish.

"He was a complete bastard too! I heard what those guys downstairs said about bandits! They burned down a farm, they shot up an innocent kid and that fatass probably went out and assaulted some chick too! They all said he deserved to die!"

"And is that why you killed him?"

"No! I told you, he came at me first! Seriously, didn't you get it? I wanted to beat the shit out of them in the first place. They were easy targets. I didn't care about being a good person or doing good or anything you talked about!"

She let the words ring out through the confines of the dusty hotel room. Adam gulped a lung-full of air, his forehead as clammy as springtime leather, red lines streaking the insides of his palms from clutching the arm-rests.

"I see." Lucy's gaze softened, "I'm glad you killed him, Chosen."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"What?" Adam said, sitting up. "The hell do you mean?"

"Because he tried to kill you. You did the right thing." Lucy said. She placed a hand above her heart, "You know, I was so, so afraid when we became separated and I lost track of you in the chaos, but you survived and even defended yourself properly. I'm happy for you, Chosen."

Adam slumped back, head reeling. "Why do you always say the most unbelievable shit?"

"You did the right thing. Why wouldn't I praise you?"

"Because the Chosen is meant to be pure and chaste and uncorruptable and all that?"

"Excuse me?" Lucy scrunched up her nose, "Where amongst the stars did you hear that? It's not true at all, because if it was, the other Chosen couldn't have completed their trials and She would never want us to remain incapable of defending ourselves."

"I…" He didn't have a response to that. He swallowed, then looked away towards the window. The sky outside was darkening. Soon, the streets would be empty and the night watch would climb up to the wooden towers. He let his senses fade away until he couldn't ignore the other person in the room.

"How do you feel?"

"Awful. Unreal." Adam said. "It was another person. I mean, I beat the crap out of people before, but this…"

Memories from his youth flowed through his head. Him, the brash and tough Pitbull, screaming "You're gonna die!" or "I'll kill you!" to whatever two-bit thug dared to stand in his way. He never followed up on those shouts. No-one did, even at their worst. It was an unspoken rule, a terrible, irredeemable act only reserved for the world of adults.

And here he was, having done that exact act, with a killer of dozens, maybe even hundreds, comforting him with the idea that he'd done the right thing. Then again, he said it himself. This was supposed to be his job. What right did he have to bitch and moan?

"So stupid…" He muttered.

"You're not stupid. You're not a bad person, Chosen. You weren't wrong!" Lucy cried, pumping her fists. She leaned closer. "Listen, did you want to die?"

Adam shook his head.

"Then that's it." Lucy said, crossing her arms, "Simple as pie. This isn't about what you did, anyway. It's about how you feel."

"Well, I feel like ass. God damn it, I saved my life, but it doesn't feel like a victory. Like, I didn't realise people could…"

"Die like that." Lucy finished.

"Yeah." Adam said, "Think I fucked up the whole thing too. You were right. We should've just sniped at them."

"No, you cannot take all the responsibility! I was the one who failed to stop their summoning in time. That almost got you killed. My mentor would have my neck for such a foolish mistake." Lucy said, sounding pained. She bowed her head. "I'm so sorry, Chosen. It won't happen again, I swear!"

"Raise your head, damn it!" Adam said, shaking his own, "This is just weird, Lucy. Stop it."

He was the green-as-grass rookie who didn't even make it to his first deployment. She was the actual soldier with years of field of experience. It didn't feel right. Like, god, he wasn't even of age back home.

"What was it like for you?" He asked.

"Pardon?"

"Killing. You know, in your service." Adam said. Lucy didn't get upset. She just looked sad. She had their own memories.

"There were those who became corrupted by the scourge." Lucy said, "Their bodies twisted into horrible imitations of their original selves, while heresy and evil defiled their minds. We had no other choice but to put them down."

She gazed down at her knees. There wasn't a single hint of pride in her words. "Sometimes it's with a rifle from far away. Other times, it's in close combat with blade and mystics. In time, you'll get used to taking the shot and seeing the bodies fall. It becomes a job like everyone else's."

And he would've followed this same path, had he stayed on Earth like he planned. Adam craned his neck to stare up at the ceiling. There were no clocks ticking, no phones ringing, no noise from the occupants downstairs. The musty, slight acrid scent of the walls calmed him, somehow.

"You killed that bandit." Adam stated, "[Photon-Smite]. ADOSCH told me."

"So, you saw. I warned you."

"I know. Even so, what the hell was that? Is that normal?" Lucy nodded. He didn't even have the energy to feel surprised.

"It's an accelerated method of sending the corrupted back to Her Mercy, as they are the ones who need Her the most. There, She will purify the sin and heresy from their souls and reforge a new core for them out of plasma and human essence. When the time is right, they will break off from Her Wings and return to humanity with a clean slate. It's part of the Great Cycle." Lucy said. "Even the worst of sinners are embraced by Her. They just take a bit longer."

"And that's all heretics." Adam said.

"The ones that are clear about their actions. The ones I mentioned earlier are those that have lost their reason, little more rampaging beasts. If we War Maidens can smite them that way without risking our lives, we will. It's faster than letting the soul find its own way, or, as She forbids, rot."

"I'm gonna see the way that bandit screamed in my nightmares, Lucy."

"She's in a better place now."

From your perspective, maybe. He thought.

"You don't have to worry about her, Chosen. She won't hurt you, or anyone in this village, ever again."

He almost laughed. That wasn't who he was constantly worried about.

"So, in summary, you understand that you did nothing wrong today, correct?" Lucy said.

"Yeah, I get it." Adam said,

"Would you want to do it again?"

He hesitated. The sight of the spilled brain goo leaking from Laboz's head sent a shudder through him. "I guess? I have to defend myself."

"No, you can't guess. You have to be sure, Chosen!" Lucy cried. She grasped her hands in his and he jolted. She pulled him close until he could see the sleek strands of her blonde hair and smell a faint trace of vanilla soap she used to bathe, "You cannot kill indiscriminately, and you don't have to revel in it like some, but when the Scourge is battering down your family's doorstep, and you're the only one with a gun in hand, you have to be absolutely, one hundred percent sure that you can pull that trigger and end that evildoer's life."

The fervor burned inside her like the flame on the end of a torch, or the core of a star floating in space.

"Repeat after me, Chosen." Lucy said. "I did nothing wrong."

"Jesus, you're talking my ear off here, Lucy."

"Chosen!" Lucy snapped. "This is important. Again. Repeat after me!"

"Alright, I did nothing wrong." Adam said, too struck to bother resisting. The phrase sounded stupid, even to himself.

"Louder." Lucy said. "I did nothing wrong."

"I did nothing wrong."

"Firmer. With more conviction!" Lucy patted her front, "Use those lungs, Chosen!"

"I did nothing wrong!" Adam shouted. "He was about to kill me, so I had to kill him. I did nothing wrong!"

The words rang through in the silence. Adam breathed in and out, his chest tired again, yet feeling lighter all the same.

"Good." Lucy said, and she smiled. "Thank you, Chosen. I'm sure She would be proud of you."

----------------------------------------

Sufficient combat data has been gathered regarding War Maiden Lucy Klavdia! Her Physical and Mystical Attributes are now available!

Physical Attributes:

Name

Value

STRENGTH

3

RESILIENCE

2.75

STAMINA

3.25

FINESSE

3.5

MOBILITY

3.5

PERCEPTION

3

Mystical Attributes:

Name

Value

CAPACITY

3

MIGHT

3

PRECISION

3.5

RESISTANCE

3

The definition of [Photo/Psycho-Synchronization] has been updated. During activation, energy will flow into the recipient War Maiden, granting them a temporary increase to all Physical and Mystical Attributes.