CHAPTER 319 – STRATEGIC PLANNING
Tom woke to the tentative push of a spear. He lay gathering himself expecting another nudge, but it never came. Eventually he faced the waking world, accepted the offered food and glanced around to assess the situation.
There was nothing to surprise him. Everyone was dressed and ready to go and the entire campsite had been packed up. Apparently Vidja’s team was extending the same courtesy that his had been giving him.
“Eat, it’s great.” Harry promised. “Only ten of them were made, and I managed to snag one. So tasty and good.”
He looked at the three breakfast burritos filled with an overdose of eggs and bacon that he had been given. “Only ten? You guys had something else?” There were nods. “Is that normal?”
“Yeah… we eat whatever. You’re usually served something you can eat while walking.”
“I’ve been getting sandwiches and wraps. What have I been missing out on?”
“Depends on the day to be honest. Today was magic porridge, or if you were lucky, like me a burrito as well. Other days it might be refried leftovers or thicken stew that was cooked overnight.” He shrugged.
“We’re similar,” Gerald confirmed. “Mostly leftovers, to be honest.”
Tom stood while Rahmat knelt down to roll up his bedroll and took his first bite. The taste danced over his tongue. “So good.” He scoffed it down. There was a slight ding.
Harry grinned in excitement. “Did you get it?”
He hesitated. That noise had been very distinct. He focused on Harry. “Are you serious? Do the burritos give a buff?” “Yes Bao, amongst her other talents is a chef. She made them just for you. The bonus is tailored just for you.”
He shut his eyes and stepped into the system room.
Buff: Energising Breakfast
You have received two units of the buff Steady Energy. For the next twelve hours, the physical and mental toll of tiredness will be reduced. This is a healing effect and not one that only covers up symptoms.
This buff can be stacked up to eight times.
Quietly, he returned to the real world and examined his breakfast with a lot more respect than he had been.
“The effects are low.” Harry told him. “If you acquire the full eight stacks, which Bao thought you might get close to with three of them, then it’s about as good as one of my rituals. But unlike them, this is a passive impact and you can do everything else like normal and it also lasts for half a day. You can shut your mouth now and stop looking so impressed. Yes, Bao made it for you. Yes, it’s miraculous and yes you should say thank you.”
Tom devoured the remaining two burritos and got seven stacks of the buff. If it was equivalent to one of Harry’s rituals, then there was a chance instead of using a directed dream every three to five days he might end up physically capable of attempting it every second night. Breakfast finished he retreated to the temporary toilet Keikain had created and did his business, used the toilet paper from his soul storage and then set off to clear the final cave.
“Your dream last night? Can you tell us about it.” Harry asked as they walked.
Tom quickly detailed the key points of his dreams.
Michael frowned more and more as he finished up. “Just to get this straight Tom! Are you concluding that this was in relation to the wador?”
Tom hesitated. Anything that he was going to say was stopped by the way his body had reacted to Michael’s question. There had been resonance there, but also a sharp tang of discord. “Um, possibly,” he answered. “The sentiment is not exclusively linked to the wador, but yes. This is a warning to be careful of them.”
Michael stared at him. “And this vision was exclusively intended to help with this trial?.”
“Oh, definitely.”
“Giants a problem as well, then.” The healer concluded. “And we should assume the same for the inventor until we know more about it.”
“Giant,” he muttered… it made a lot of sense and felt right.
“If it was only the wador you would have got a historical view of one of their interactions. I’m sure there are trillions of incidents in their history that could have been drawn on. The fact that your skill chose to teach through the giant has to be significant.”
Tom’s curse from SANATORIES thankfully closed his throat before he said something too stupid. He thought about the dream and the personality of the person he had shared a body with. She was clearly not the champion that had entered this trial, but Tom guessed that a lot of the mindset that she had would be reflected in his thoughts. The characterisation of the morals was pretty clear. There were parallels that could be drawn. “You could be right. It’s almost certainly a warning about him as well.”
Once more there was a resonance in the words, but it was not anywhere near as strong as what had occurred when they had talked about the spears and slingshots being necessary to kill the dragon. There was an element of truth there, but apparently a weak one.
They cleared the final room and destroyed the altar and kept going. Everlyn had chosen a zone with a treasure location, but they couldn’t tell what type of monster they would be fighting. On the little pictures from the tiles, they looked like some form of mist-magic based robot and they weren’t like anything he had ever fought before.
To get there, they entered into the area controlled by the burrowers and Tom had to concentrate on killing them before they got too close. It was repetitive and annoying, but he guessed it was at least good experience.
Three hours later, they reached the safe room.
With their usual discipline, they checked the quest performance with Tom going last. Metal walls greeted him and the poster with the information that he was searching for was displayed as usual right in front of him.
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Congratulation for completing your quest.
Your contribution is 12%
Experience awarded 840,000.
The significant contribution was unsurprising given how he had hard countered the burrowers. That hard counter should have got him something higher than a thirty percent rating for what was a quarter of the floor. That was eight to ten percent contribution just for that area. The damage he had output against the trolls and the shadows had obviously contributed little to the final outcome, boosting him up just two percent or so. There was an argument his cut should have been slightly higher, but Tom was happy with getting less. Mathematically, because of diminishing returns, the group would be strongest with the experience distributed over a larger number rather than more of it being funnelled directly into him. With their combined teams now numbering over twenty, any outcome greater than five percent was a positive.
“How much group experience is it?”
Approximately seven million
A genuine smile broke out at that answer. That was higher than expected, especially since the zone had taken less than four days. Seven million meant that they were each receiving three hundred thousand on average… that was a hundred each day. At one point, that would have been an unimaginable windfall. Tom could remember himself agonising over whether to buy a tier one or tier two skill because of cost and not being able to even considering a tier three version and now everyone in this group was generating the experience necessary to buy five similar abilities per day. It was extraordinary, but even as much as they were earning, it wasn’t going to ever feel sufficient. This was sort of the minimum they needed to keep pace with how quickly the difficulty of each level was rising.
“It’s good,” he told himself. “Or at least it’s enough.”
He smiled ruefully in the privacy of his system room. If they kept going, if their luck continued to hold and if he found the right solution to counter the dragon, then they might just survive this.
With a thought, he returned to the real world and together they marched down the tunnel, which sloped upward.
Everlyn halted in front of the double doors that led to the next area and turned to face them all. “Listen up everyone. Beyond this door is a new zone and we have to accept the fact that there are some near sapient and quest combinations that the chosen can’t deal with. We need to change how we enter zones and us all entering at once is no longer acceptable.”
“You’re suggesting that we prepare to be split up.” Michael said, cutting straight to the crux of the issue. The healer was standing with Thor amongst Vidja’s team. Tom was sure he was making a conscious effort to engage with them. Hopefully, the teams were going to be combined for another two months with the ramping difficult of each layer. He couldn’t see them surviving in smaller fragmented groups, so establishing friendships between them was vital.
Everlyn pointed at Michael. “Exactly. My proposal is that I’ll go to check the quest type. If it’s compatible, then you all follow me, but otherwise, the chosen leaves and finds another door.”
The healer whistled at that suggestion. “It means we might never see them again.”
She shrugged helplessly. “Maybe, but the alternative is to do what the insects did. Send one of us to check and then abandon them if it’s not compatible. I’m not willing to do that.” The elder started to move to enter the conversation and then backed off when Everlyn glared at it. “We’re not making that sacrifice. Plus, if we agree on which zone, they’re going to target we can always link up in the next layer.”
Michael scratched his head absently. “Or if there is a volunteer, a human can go with them and then we can communicate. Confirm the next layer is what we expect and organise to join the chosen because we’ll know where they are and what they’re doing.”
“Are you volunteering?”
“Everlyn,” the healer sighed. “No, I’m not. Given my expertise is healing and the same as a chosen, I’m about the worst person to accompany them. I need to stay with the main human group. What happens if you run into something like the shadows? I have to be there to counter that.”
“The chance of running into anything like the shadows again is…”
“Gerald, with all due respect,” Michael interrupted. “There are lots of things I have to be there to help deal with. If they’re venomous or wounds inject foreign energies, or they apply unblockable curses. I can handle any of those. You need me with you as insurance.”
“You have a point,” Everlyn told him having considered the problem. “But I’m not going to order someone. It has to be a volunteer.”
“No, nor would I. And if I was a fighter instead of a healer, I would go.”
Michael glanced around. No one from Vidja’s team would offer because they didn’t know the chosen. It had to be one of them.
Tom weighed his options. Where was he best placed? He felt like he owed the chosen for the stupidity that created the grace break, but the arguments for Michael applied to him just as strongly and humanity had to come first.
As much as he would like to help them, he couldn’t justify it.
Harry raised his hand. “I’ll go.”
He stared at the ritualist in shock. His mental calculations had concluded that one of the murderers most likely Clare would agree to protect them. After all, the chosen had literally saved their lives.
“Don’t feel pressured. Harry.” Everlyn said immediately. “You don’t need to take these sorts of risks.”
“I’m the best choice. For one, the chosen, providing they’re in a compatible zone are probably the safest team to be in. Second, I’m likely the weakest here in direct combat.”
“Excluding me.” Michael said good-naturedly.
“Not including Michael.” Harry corrected. “And he can’t go so it has to be me.”
Tom couldn’t stay silent. “No, it’s a bad idea. You’ve been critical to our survival since we arrived in Existentia.”
“But I’m weak in direct combat and if the chosen aren’t here, that’s what we need. Sustain won’t be as important as being able to destroy enemies quickly.”
“That’s a stupid argument. Direct combat is only a small part of what we do. I think someone else should volunteer.”
“Who? Tom? Who don’t you think will be missed. From where I’m standing, we’re all pretty critical.”
For his team, that assessment was very accurate. They had all stepped up and helped save each other’s lives multiple times. His throat choked up as he attempted to suggest someone from Vidja’s. He tried other avenues, and it didn’t help him. He cleared his airways aggressively, loosening it enough to breathe easier. His mind raced for things he could say and an avenue opened up. “You’re right. Anyone who goes will be sorely missed.”
“Exactly. We all have incredible strengths, and I don’t know Vidja’s team’s abilities… but out of our team, if we’re drawing from one of the eight of us I’m the one who’s departure hurts the least.”
Tom’s mind raced. Everlyn, Rahmat, Michael and Clare had obvious utility. They couldn’t be lost. Thor in most ambush type situations, which was when they were most at risk was also more useful than Harry. His throat made him almost burst out into a coughing fit as he tried to express that sentiment into words. Apparently, ranking people publicly was a bad idea. He was sure his face was going red due to asphyxiation. A brief coughing fit overtook him, and it was enough for him to gather his thoughts. “Everyone is very much equal, aren’t they.” He said with a self-conscious smile.
“We are.” Harry agreed simply. “Now if there are no other objections I’ll go.”
There were none.
“Hopefully, I won’t be required, but it’s good discipline to include me.”
“Hopefully Harry, the entire group, including the chosen can stay together.” Everlyn said brightly. “But putting in place decent contingencies is what sets us apart from animals.”
The brains trust, Everlyn Michael and Keikain with the inclusion of Harry, Vidja and the Elder had a quick conversation where they decided which zones on the next layer the chosen would target and what alternatives made the most sense.
They broke up, and Everlyn turned to Thor. “If we split up, then the chosen will need something that can send a signal through the zones.”
“Um… why…” the big man asked and then understanding swept over his face. “Because just like here, they’ll need to test future zones before entering.”
“Exactly. Now I’m going to go through and check this zone’s quests. I’ll try to send notes every twenty minutes. Wait here. You’ll be contacted shortly.”
With that, she disappeared alone into the tunnel that sloped upward. The zone doors didn’t shut, but Tom knew if she tried to backtrack now, they would.