FVR
Chapter Nineteen.
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The burned woods around them were somehow lonely now, rather than eerie. Knowing nothing could harm him with Aurora around had placed a strange charm in the air; one that robbed Joel of all fear.
The muscles in his arm cried in his place as he sheathed his bloodied blade. He exhaled loudly, his chest trembling with a pensive sadness. There had only been one person among The Touched Ones they had killed, but it was one too many for Joel.
"It became easier, no?" Aurora asked, sheathing her cleaned blade.
Joel looked up to meet her calming eyes. "Easier?" Joel echoed.
"After the man. It became easier," she clarified, stepping closer.
All Joel could see of her was her tarnished armor, which became more and more fitting the more he talked to her, and her bright eyes that lied of the callous being beneath them.
His eyebrows furled at her words. It had been easier. That was the point... to cross the line so extremely that the lesser evils became easier.
"Hmm," he nodded, wondering whether it was a line he should have crossed.
"Good. Then we've done what we came to do." She turned and walked away with the mountainside on her right to guide her return. "And you should maintain your mana sense while moving, it needs to become second nature to you."
Joel nodded, then followed while moving a single bead of mana within his body.
Every collected step now came with the unalarming crack of a charred stick or the crunch of burnt foliage beneath his feet. With The Touched Ones gone, the only thing Joel had to think about was the line he had crossed, and whether it truly meant the same thing within a game than it did in real life.
Games don't normally feel this real, he thought to himself as he held out a hand and studied its grooves. He sent a bead of mana to his fingertip; real life doesn't have this though... His eyes scanned the game as he walked, noting the realness of it all. The burnt trees and their charred remains that'll never reach for the sky, the air that carried the acrid scent of smoke which mingled with the lingering aroma of burnt wood; he even shivered as the night air cooled his skin and ruffled his hair. With heavy eyes, Joel looked up to the sky as the trees began to give way, and saw the familiar twinkle of the stars and the sleepy clouds that drifted lazily across the heavens. It's not real, he told himself, a tear forming in his eye. It can't be real?
***
Joel sleepwalked to the stables, his mind drifting back and forth between his internal mana sense and the realness of the game.
With the sound of a deep sigh from Aurora, he snapped back.
"Everything alright?" Joel asked with a hushed voice, showing his tiredness and his distraction.
Aurora glanced back at him. "Having such a large mana shield for so long is... exhausting," she replied, her hand to her chest.
Despite not being able to see her face, Joel could tell she was tired by the slight hunch in her back and the weary way she placed each step.
I can't imagine how tiring it must be to keep that up. But... "Isn't it better?" Joel replied while looking back at his palm, picturing his own mana shield.
Aurora paused as she deciphered his words. "No. And for a frontline unit, it's not usually required," she replied, climbing onto her horse. "We have to conserve our mana for long, drawn-out battles," she pulled in the reigns and led the horse out, "and rely only on our own shields. Sharing often means weakening. Everything that is weak, dies." She stopped by Joel, who climbed up with more confidence than before and placed his hands on Aurora's waist without flustering.
"Why," Joel stuttered, a moment of silence fell between the two of them, "why did you help me?"
It had been burning on his mind since she showed up in the courtyard. He wondered if it was all part of the game, if this was just how she was coded. Somehow though, that thought didn't sit well with him. The world the developers had created was real in every way, to the point where Joel was starting to wonder just what consequence his actions may have, and if being a murderer in a game made him a murderer out of it. Even the non-player characters all seemed like real people - and to Joel's experience - real people always had their selfish reasons for anything they did.
Aurora hesitated with her reply.
As the horse struggled up a steep incline and came to a peak that overlooked Kyrstil in the far distance, she spoke with a quiet voice and an unbending determination in her words. "I need to leave this place."
As the seconds drew on, and Joel realized what was being asked of him, a fraudulent sense of dishonesty peppered his mind. "I can't help with that," he replied, a slight tinge of fear finding its way to his tongue.
"Do not play games. You entered a closed country; you must have connections."
Shit shit shit. It's this rich foreigner shit again. Why the shit are the NPC's so astutely aware of me being an outsider!? Joel thought how to reply for a moment, then decided on a mostly honest, but still ambiguous response. He was, after all, petrified of being in the middle of nowhere with such a strong figure. "It wasn't intentional," he said with a questioning tone.
She snapped back assertively, "intent or not, I need to leave, and you can make it happen."
The rhythmic movement of the horse suddenly became a moving jail Joel couldn't spring from. How the shit am I meant to make that happen? A series of thoughts passed through his mind before he wondered whether this was another plot point. That, perhaps, he should take Dalton up on his offer and leave with Aurora.
"So?" Aurora persisted.
"I'll look into it. But it'll take time." He regretted those words the moment he said them, and hated his own cowardice for not being able to resolutely say no.
As the journey back fell into an awkward silence, Joel replayed imaginary conversations in his head of how to let Aurora know he couldn't get her out. But nothing he thought of ended particularly happily for him.
***
The wave timer showed seventeen and a half hours remaining as they approached Kyrstil. Some point tomorrow evening, huh? Joel remarked to himself as he glanced at the familiar fortress walls. Whether it would happen here, or if he would find himself elsewhere, was uncertain. But he knew he was continuously coming closer to the end of the line. The only thing I can do right now is dash, he reflected on the fights he just had, and the one move he used throughout. It worked against The Touched Ones, but I can't keep relying on it.
They came to a stop and Joel deftly dismounted the horse - a lack of concern or fear made it a much simpler task. As he landed, his boots sunk into the muddied ground, and a shake of his head betrayed his frustration. He looked up and followed Aurora with a thoughtful gaze as she led the horse into the stables. A reluctant sigh filled his chest. Aurora...
With the waves coming with an increasing speed, Joel felt the urgency to be prepared intensify with each passing moment. He knew that there will come a time when he'd face an unsurmountable threat, but he also felt he had everything he needed to put that off as long as possible. When Aurora returned, Joel stepped to her, catching her eyes with his firm gaze.
"Get me out of my unit. Train me. And I'll do what you asked," he spoke with an authority that wore the urgency of his situation, but didn't match his slender frame or worried eyes.
Though a flicker of irritation crossed Aurora's unseen face, she chose to ignore it. "So be it," she replied curtly before turning and walking away.
Doubt filled him, but his unwillingness to accept death triumphed over his reluctance to lie. I can worry about what I've done later. For now, I just need to survive.
The walk back to his quarters was eerily quiet, the silence broken only by the distant sound of a man sneezing somewhere across the fortress. Joel paid the absence of guards no mind as he silently entered his quarters, kicked off his muddied shoes, removed his buckler, and climbed into a vacant bed. The quiet of the evening wrapped over him like a blanket, and his own words of doing whatever it took to survive echoed in his mind; a nagging sense of alertness had managed to consume him in the recess of the room. He wanted to sleep, but his body had too much energy, and too much to think about.
Sitting up in his bed, his body itchy with emotion, Joel began to use the mana he had recovered to train his sense. After a few minutes of the usual motions, he was down to one mana, but his heart wouldn't stop thumping against his chest, and his mind felt too awake with the flutter of sadness and looming fear. He opened his character page, noting twenty-eight unspent skill points, and rued the fact that he couldn't spend them on mana without being noticed. He then opened his inventory, and an idea consumed him. Tiredness becomes exhaustion, but exhaustion can be recovered using a status potion. I have one blue potion, which I assume is for mana, and two status potions; that's surely enough to stay up and train my mana until morning.
Time was against him, and was actively closing down to repel him from the game. Sleeping, therefore, wasn't doing him any favors. With a racing heart and thoughts replaying what he had done in the burnt lands, Joel stayed up until dawn.
***
As the first rays of morning fluttered through the windows along with a cold breeze, the rustle and bustle of personnel began to flood the rooms. A sudden booming echo of something breaking vibrated the walls, but drew no attention from the guards who continued to talk normally as they passed by in the halls. Joel ignored the noise, instead choosing to focus on the reward for his night of training.
〘Skill Unlocked: Mana Expansion〙
〘Title Unlocked: One With The World〙
〘Reward For Title: Two Skill Points〙
Mana expansion... I guess that's a precursor to mana shields and moving elements, just as mana sense was a precursor to this? He had another question and had found another hurdle to jump, but it was still a leap forwards. He immediately closed his eyes and grabbed a bead of mana from within his body. As he extended his mana out, it gained a new weight to it and became less clear than it was inside his body. It was like holding a small marble in his hand that felt the brush of every drop of air, and filled with a clear liquid with every movement.
He delicately moved the mana to the end of the room and into the wall, then closed his eyes and felt with his thoughts where his mana rested - sat alone in a void, touching nothing but air. Yet, the mana couldn't feel the wall, even though it should have been within it. Mana can't sense inanimate objects, he echoed Dalton's words and remembered how Dalton had tripped on the sword during a spar. Shit. It suddenly dawned on him just how disadvantageous that really was.
Everything else in the room was a pitch darkness to him, but that one piece of space where his mana rested was clear. He opened his eyes and moved the bead over to Smithy, then placed the mana on his arm. An image vibrated to Joel, showing him a faint trail that captured the image of the space between them; the bead told Joel where Smithy was, and what was between them. Then, with a sudden whisper, the mana vanished.
So, this is how you can see without looking... The mana had dissolved much quicker than if he had kept it inside his body, likely due to the decrease in proficiency, but regardless, it had been massively worthwhile for him to pull the all-nighter.
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A few moments of practice later and the door to the room opened, followed by the unchanged metallic silhouette of Aurora who appeared side by side with a groggy and perturbed Rupert. Smithy and the others jumped up at the noise - the shock of being woken to such a sight sent them into a state of survival, and they stumbled out of their beds to prostrate on the cold floor.
"This one," Aurora said, gesturing to Joel.
"Fine, fine, do what you like," Rupert replied with a snort, "just don't break my damned door again!"
"You should have answered when I knocked."
"I was sleeping!" Rupert cried, then cursed under his breath as he left.
"Outside." She turned and left.
Joel checked the wave timer: 11.21.17. Soon. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The previous wave had introduced him to real combat, in a place he wouldn't have survived without Aurora. I'll run out of luck soon, he thought, placing on his shoes and his buckler, and preparing for what could be his last day in the game.
***
Dawn broke with no sound of wildlife as the morning sun seemed to struggle against the thick, dark-grey clouds that climbed from over the mountainside, each one casting an ominous shadow over the fortress.
Distant rumbles of thunder echoed softly through the air, foretelling the approach of an impending storm. With the thunder came a sense of anticipation, as if nature itself was holding its breath, waiting for the downpour of what was to come.
Joel found Aurora waiting outside, her back pressed against the imposing walls of the barracks, under the overhand of the eaves, her arms crossed against the chill in the air. Joel acknowledged her with a nod and a tired smile before following her into the courtyard. Each step stretched out his legs as he walked - the night of sitting upright hadn't done him any favors.
Despite his weariness, the fresh air was inviting, and he couldn't help but prefer the cold against his skin compared to the heat.
Aurora reached for a wooden training sword, her movements fluid and precise as she tried some practice swings. Her voice cut through the tension like a blade, "ready yourself," she instructed. "Focus on your strikes. No need for flair, just precision. Let's see what you can do without kicking."
Kicking, again. I guess she's still referring to my dashing ability.
Joel's tired thoughts switched into a higher gear as he awkwardly mirrored Aurora's stance, his muscles tensing with uncertainty. With a tight grip on his sword, and a shaky breath, he tried to recall the basic movements he had seen the others make the day before. Ali stepped in, he reflected back to the spar with Dalton, but was easily dodged and had a different weapon to mine.
As he stood there, thinking of how to act, he couldn't help but feel a little pathetic. I've no idea what to do. Every inch of her seems untouchable, no matter how I think about moving. He had never realized just how impossible it felt to attack someone who wielded a sword with such proficiency. He would think to swipe low, and her body would react to his eyes in such a way that a low strike wouldn't hit or would easily be intercepted.
Aurora's movements were smooth and precise as she shifted her balance to match Joel's indecisive movements, leaving no room for him to target.
Certain he wouldn't be able to hit her, he struck from high, and was effortlessly parried and countered. She stabbed slowly enough for him to evade, then gracefully rebalanced and stepped away.
As they continued, Joel tried to focus on his footwork and his strikes, rather than actually hitting his target, but found his movements hesitant and clumsy compared to Aurora's fluid motions. She reacted so fast that he wondered if there was a telepathy spell that read his every thought, or, if she was just that good at reading body language.
With each passing minute, Joel grew more fatigued, and his arms felt starved of oxygen as he gripped the handle harder. Sweat began to dab his brow, which was cooled in the air, chilling his body.
As another hard hit of Aurora's wooden blade crashed upon Joel's shield, a message popped up.
〘Passive Skill Unlocked: Shield Wielder〙
〘Title Unlocked: Apprentice To The Mountain〙
〘Rewards For Title: One Skill Point〙
Finally, after several minutes, Aurora called a halt to the mindless training, and Joel lowered his blade with a refreshing relief.
Shield wielder is nice, but I'm not getting anywhere. Skills are useless without ability, and I have none.
"Thoughts?" He asked through slightly exasperated breaths.
"You fight thinking you'll lose, like a child would." She critiqued, gesturing Joel toward the training dummies, and walking with him before positioning herself at his side. "Now, pay attention, and replicate my movements." She instructed, holding her wooden sword in hand.
With a swift slash, she struck the dummy diagonally; her blade cut through the air with a practiced precision. Joel looked on, a little demotivated that she felt she needed to teach him something so simple.
"That's just a basic slash?" he asked, then mimicked her movement with the same basic slash, ending with his blade near the floor.
"So, you do know how to follow through?" she remarked mockingly, a hint of amusement in her voice. Ah. Joel nodded, his eyes blinking with embarrassment as he turned to face her, she knew I wasn't trying to hit her. "Now, do the same to me," she said, holding up her sword with her calm readiness. Joel hesitated for a moment before slashing down from left to right. As he did, Aurora stepped to the opposite side, and guided Joel's blade down with a controlled parry, her blade ended atop his. "From here, what is my move?" She questioned.
"A slash up?" Joel replied tentatively. His doubt had stemmed from the weakness of an upward slice across the body from such a weak position. His skepticism, however, was dispelled immediately, as Aurora sliced upwards with enough force to drive him back a few feet.
"A sword has two edges. You must learn to move gracefully and powerfully with each edge." Joel steadied himself, holding his pained chest as he struggled to breath. "Remember to use your sense every moment you can. It needs to become natural - like moving a limb." She took a moment to recenter her helmet, which had moved slightly during the slash. "Now," Aurora continued, grabbing a shield and returning to the center of the yard while Joel recovered, "let's work on defense. Assume my stance," she demonstrated a low guard with her feet shoulder-width apart and her sword held at the ready. "Your shield defends. It parries and it stops. Your sword attacks." Joel mimicked her stance with a hint of wavering indecision. "Good. Now, I'll strike and you'll block."
She slowly explained her deliberate movements as she followed with a series of strikes. With each attack, she explained the correct position, then followed it up with a new strike. As she pushed him into the wall, she remarked how he should twist and move to use the space around him, rather than always moving backwards. As the lesson continued, and they rehearsed several patterns, Joel naively began to think swordplay was simpler than it seemed.
"Is it just memorizing patterns?" Joel asked, wondering if that was all there was to swordplay.
"Yes, and no." She replied with an unamused glare. "Learning the movements helps your body, not your mind. Once your body learns how to move, it will learn how to react to every new position. But your mind must always stay alert - always stay fluid - ready to react with the movements your body has learned."
They continued with another series of movements, and slowly started to speed up.
From what started off with slow, deliberate strikes, now had much faster swings and parries, each one defending an actual strike as Joel's feet navigated the yard and his arms continued to feel the heavy strikes of Aurora's attacks.
They continued on like this as the clouds blotted out the sky completely.
As the training continued, and the minutes became hours, Joel struggled to keep up as Aurora offered guidance and encouragement. Bit by bit, despite his initial hesitance, however, Joel's confidence began to grow.
"Keep your shield up," Aurora reminded him as they practiced a series of several strikes. Slashes, stabs, and parries, all while considering footwork and the potential of a counter.
"Anticipate," she said, lowering her body and moving her sword. An opening! Joel's slow movements tried to capitalize, but his exhausted muscles screamed at the thought of moving too quickly. Aurora continued, "and respond accordingly," she swiped at Joel's legs with a kick, felling him to the ground, then loomed over him with an outstretched hand and a hint of familiarity in her voice. "Swords are not the only weapon a person has."
He could sense a smile beneath her helmet as she helped him up.
"Thanks," Joel said as he stood.
"How goes the mana sense?" She asked.
He knew she meant his internal mana, but his first thought went to his night of study. "I can extend it now," he replied with a hint of elation in his voice.
She blinked a few times, telling Joel he had acted out of the norm again. "That's good," she replied, putting the training sword and shield away. "Work on extending as much mana as you can." She continued to speak while miming her words, "don't extend it too far, like I did in the burnt lands. Instead, you want to have it hug your skin, like my armor does. Once you can cover your body, we will train with defending an attack."
"What's that like?" Joel asked, "do I tell the mana to defend?"
Aurora softly laughed inwardly, "tell? No, nothing quite so strange." She unsheathed her sword and placed the blade against her palm. "As you know, I cannot sense this blade with mana. However, if I make the mana firm enough," she rolled the blade an inch above her palm, "I can stop most things from reaching me." She sheathed her blade, then continued to talk. "Hardening mana is costly, though. It is much more efficient to deflect with the wind, or to sense the enemy's movements from afar and act accordingly."
It was becoming too layered and complicated for Joel to really follow. What he understood was that there were a lot of ways to use mana, and some were more effective and efficient than others.
"Mana shields really are important," Joel pondered aloud, looking down at his hand as he extended a mana bead above his palm.
"Not just from attack, but from the elements, the magics, and the vismana." Aurora added.
Joel's thoughts lingered on the vismana. Its origin from hundreds of years ago, and how it corrupts living things both confused him. He gazed at her with tired eyes while trying to find the right question to ask. "Vismana is dense mana, right?" He pondered aloud again as Aurora nodded. "But mana doesn't corrupt people. I don't understand why denser mana is so dangerous?"
"You're mistaken. Vismana and mana act the same way. They both corrupt."
"What do you mean?"
Aurora hesitated, "You've never seen mana burns?" Joel shook his head instinctively. Aurora took his silence as shyness to his own ignorance. "I see. No matter. Just be wary that both mana and vismana have their own dangers."
"Such as?" Joel inquired; his curiosity piqued.
"Not now." She stretched her back then walked to the exit. "Time for lunch. Meet back here when you're finished."
Joel looked at her tarnished armor as she walked away, reflecting on her words. Mana has its own dangers, while the rarer vismana is lethal but only appears around The Touched Lands...
Joel replayed the events of the night in his mind and found he still didn't know why the vismana stayed in one place, or why he didn't need a mana shield here in Kyrstil. As Aurora turned the corner, Joel sat on the ground and wondered just how many mysteries this game had.
***
〘Timer Until Next Wave:〙
〘07.01.52〙
His fatigue hadn't yet turned to exhaustion, but his muscles were starting to feel the burn from training. I can't keep this up all day and still wonder into a wave, which means I'll have to use a recovery potion. Shit. What a waste.
Joel sat up straight and shook off his frustration, then closed his eyes. I can worry about that later.
Not needing to eat or drink has its advantages, eh? He smirked. Days into the game and he had yet to crave food - it should have troubled him, but it filled him with a sense of control, having one thing that I don't have to stress about is nice.
With the appearance of a break from training his body, he returned to training his mana. It had proved difficult to multitask mana sense while training, so he still had plenty of mana left to practice with.
This morning, extending one mana had opened up a small path in one direction, but what he wanted was to extend his mana all around his body for a three-hundred and sixty degree view. So far, however, that was impossible. At best, he was able to grab three beads of mana and reach out with them, but it wasn't nearly enough, and his mana was dropping three times faster.
He delicately moved the beads around the yard, which floated through a void, occasionally touching the mana in the air. There was less mana around him than he expected, but it also felt differently to mana from a living being. It felt clear, and directionless. Mana from another person had a drive to it, a purpose, and a direction.
"Hello again, my friend," a familiar distorted voice echoed through the air as a hand touched his shoulder.
Joel opened his eyes to find a silent Ali standing before him. He smiled instinctively - the piercing blue eyes of Ali welcomed him like a close friend. "Ali!?" Joel stood up, "what're you doing here?"
Ali removed his hand, "it is time for food. Do you care to join us?" He gestured over to the entrance, where several conscripts stood. Joel recognized Tobias, Jordan, and Callum from the day before, now all dressed in equipment similar to the guards; but the others were new to him.
"Of course!" Joel said, feeling a measure of peace wash over him. The distraction of company with people similar to him made him feel at ease. It was almost nostalgic.
As Joel joined the group, he couldn't help but notice the varied appearances and demeanors of the ones he didn't recognise. The three he knew all shared starved figures, with alert eyes and dirtied skin. The other men, however, bore a rugged look, more so than the disheveled faces of Ali and the others Joel had arrived with from the capital. These other men had faces that were etched with experience, and the faded scars of long forgotten battles. With calloused hands from years of wielding swords and shields, and a presence that exuded an aura of resilience; they reminded Joel of the possibility that he could be trapped here, forever living out his life as a recruit.
Despite the differences in age and experience, there was a palpable sense of camaraderie between these men and Ali, who had only arrived the day before.
He has one hell of a power, Joel thought, listening to their conversation unfold. As they made their way into the building and toward the dining area, the conversation focused on the merits of traps when dealing with a raging enemy.
"Each trap does the work of fifty men," one said.
"There's no fucking way fifty fucking men are doing more than a measly fucking trap could," another replied.
Cedric, an older-looking conscript with a green name, assumed the role of leader without uttering a single word. Every sentence spoken by the other men concluded with a subtle glance toward him, acknowledging an unspoken authority and respect. His broad shoulders and imposing frame were reminiscent of Dalton's, and his confident demeanor and wide smile hinted at his experience and his time spent in the fortress.
All the while, Ali observed the conversation with a quiet intensity, his piercing gaze darting between the others as they spoke. Occasionally, he interjected with a thoughtful observation that added a unique depth to the conversation. Each time, the others remarked on his insight; each time, his presence seemed to detract from Cedric.
Although new and out the loop, Joel felt a sense of belonging he had missed since meeting Lor, Thad, and Taffy. The idle chit-chat and easy banter of a friendly group rattled an unsteady anxiety within him as he tried to find the confidence to speak out. Yet, even with his anxiety, he felt an immediate acceptance from the group.
Ali slowed down to meet Joel, then placed a hand on his shoulder as the others turned a corner into the dining hall.
The two of them came to a stop with nobody around.
"There's a way out," Ali said within the same distorted silence, "but I'll need your cooperation when the time comes."
Joel froze for a moment as a path became clear to him - one that led him to safety along with Aurora - fulfilling his promise while keeping himself safe. In a moment of clarity, Joel nodded, then reached out to Ali when he turned to walk away.
"Why trust me?" He asked, skeptical of the intent of others.
Ali opened his outstretched hands, showing nothing inside. Joel's brow furled as he looked back up to Ali, then remembered his words from before: A man with nothing, must risk everything to gain something...
Joel nodded, then smiled. "I guess we must both risk everything."