HM, Bradley, and James sat across a gruff military official. The man tapped the cherry off his cigar. Bradley sat there completely calm, while HM and James were extremely nervous.
The man leaned forward, “So, you left an entire squad to die, stole their gear, and want me to compensate you?” Bradley laughed, “Let me ask you a question in response. Do you want to be supplied with products that can actually kill the monsters pouring into major cities?” The man sighed and turned towards HM, “Is this brat worth ruining our contract over? We’ve already made a lot of purchases that should be worth it to you and your company.”
HM put his hand over his face, “This man here, the one who was almost killed by your squad's negligence, is the one and only one who can manufacture such supplies. If he isn’t willing to produce them, then I couldn’t possibly force him to.” The man slammed his hands down onto the desk, “I heard the one producing was a non-combatant, and that he spent most of his time in development. Why was he in a small squad in that goblin forest.”
Bradley snickered, “It seems your intel is a bit lacking, just as the man who attempted to take my life. While I may be a producer, I am not a non-combatant. Not only that, but I’m the leader of Squad 0 and the others who your subordinate tried to kill were also Squad 0 members. It’s fine, I’ll just contract with the Navy instead. Sea routes are far more important than selfish bastards who want to maintain absolute control without having the skills to back it.”
The man quickly snuffed out his cigar and stood up, “You ignorant child, I will have you executed for your behavior.”
Bradley laughed, “Ohh will you, and snuff out a long period of time while I’m the only one capable of production? Sure you might find someone with the skills to do what I do in the future, but what about until then? I’m sure you all are having a good time with all the civil unrest. Sure that’ll go away once you mow down all the people capable of dealing with your problems.”
Bradley sighed, “Look, I understand wanting to keep superhumans in check. I support that notion, as who’s to say they’ll be any better than you guys. My concern is that you don’t have control over your men, and every single life they snuff out over their ego is hundreds or even thousands of preventable deaths when this barely balanced situation gets worse.”
The man sat back down and took a deep breath, “So there’s still negotiating on the table then?” Bradley smiled, “No worries, I just need a couple things. If my requirements are met, I will continue accepting contracts at the same rate, if not, I’ll hike up the prices a bit.” The man lit a new cigar, “What are your conditions?”
Kathy and Devin waited outside, being watched by soldiers around the clock. No one dared approach, just watching from a distance. Kathy felt nervous, “You don’t think these men will attack us too right?” Her eyes darted around the area, scanning it for danger.
Devin kicked back in his chair, “After finding out who we are, I don’t think so. We’re the saviors of USDC, the golden ticket of the branch. Those guys in the forest attacked us because they thought we were some desperate noobies on a last ditch mission to meet quota.”
Kathy kept darting her eyes around, and rubbing where the bullet had hit her, wound now healed, “I’m nervous for Bradley, he hasn’t even been fully healed yet. We should’ve brought Trisha. It’s all my fault. I didn’t protect him.”
Devin rested his arm on Kathy’s shoulders, “No one could’ve stopped that ambush. Even Bradley didn’t expect it, and Ben has the best sensory skills and he didn’t notice either. You could start wearing that tacky ass armor everywhere.”
Kathy giggled, and calmed down, “It’s so gaudy. I’m afraid if I was wearing it they’d try to rob us instead.” Kathy let out a deep breath, “I panicked back there, and lost complete control. This composure I’ve felt since becoming awakened vanished, and I’m only now calming back down. It’s like the old me just popped back up.”
Devin thought about it, “You make a good point. Why have we been so composed fighting for our lives, and why only did you lose that.” Devin shook it off, “When we get back to Ben at home base maybe we can talk to him about it. Can’t believe he stayed to deal with an influx of newcomers.”
Kathy and Devin sat in silence for a while, “Ohh I realized something after almost breaking my hand hitting a tree in that forest.” Kathy turned to him, “Ohh really, what was it?” Devin looked at the lingering damage on his hand, “I think we need the material for the zones. The tree’s were so much tougher than anything I had ever hit. I think it has the same properties as the enemies, where they have a defense against non-magical things.”
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Kathy thought for a moment, “So if we get the wood, the stone, maybe even metals or something else, we can build weapons and structures that can hold up better to monster attacks and completely defend against non-magical attacks?” Devin nodded, “Like a bunker made of the stuff could survive if the military decided they didn’t want us around anymore.”
Kathy nodded, “We’ll have to tell Bradley about it.” The car door opened up quickly, freaking out Kathy, “Tell me about what?” Bradley grinned as he sat next to Kathy. Kathy and Devin explained what they figured out while Bradley and James hopped into the back, leaving HM to drive.
“That’s good information, we should start clearing out that forest, and set up a mining operation.” Bradley smiled, “In other good news, we got military authority within danger zones, access to the civilians we couldn’t initially bring with us, government funding for building their housing, and James’ soul.” Devin laughed, “Did you just say his soul?”
James awkwardly laughed, “Yea, I’m no longer a part of the military and am now a direct subordinate of Bradley at USDC, heh.” James sighed, “You won’t torture me right?” Bradley waved him off, “I don’t think it’ll be torture so only on accident.” James whined, “Come on man, I didn’t even wanna be there, can’t you cut me some slack?” Bradley just laughed maniacally a bit.
Bradley calmed down, “Anyways, we have some work to do now. I found out my defense stat went up after being shot. I’m thinking we will do some extreme training.” Everyone showed extreme discomfort. Bradley continued, “I won’t make anyone do it who isn't willing, and obviously we’d do it in non-lethal areas with Trisha on standby. I just don’t want what happened to me happen to any of you guys,” ‘Or myself.’
3 Months Later…
Devin was entirely out of breath, sweating and laying against the floor. Bradley stood over him, completely composed. “Jesus Christ man, how much did you shoot yourself since last time?” Devin wheezed out. Bradley laughed, “I also had people use magic against me. My defense stat is now almost as high as my int stat.” Devin used his spear to pick himself back up, “That’s ridiculous. Fuck it, I’m gonna go full force, alright?” Bradley turned towards Trisha, “Stay on standby.” Trisha nodded and stepped away.
Devin readied himself and Bradley stood there, with his hands behind his back. “Eclipse Thrust!” “Magic Skin!” Devin collided with Bradley’s now shining body. His spear stopped abruptly on impact, and Bradley was pushed back only slightly. Devin pulled away, only to notice his Spear had a crack in it now.
“God damnit, now I need a new spear. You’re making me a better one damnit.” Bradley laughed, “Sorry man, but your attack stat is way too high not to use the armor. Your skill is what, level 7 now? That’s like a 150% buff. No fucking way I’m taking that to the gut.”
Devin slapped Bradley on the back, recoiling a bit from the still active magic, “You’re one crazy bastard, you know that right?” Bradley shook his head, and turned towards Kathy, in the corner, facing off against a turret, “I think she’s the crazy one. She didn’t even hesitate to jump into this training with me.” Bradley scanned the rest of the training room, “Betty’s doing really well too.” She was next to Kathy, standing against a turret at a lower intensity.
Devin looked around, “How’s James doing? He seems pretty frustrated he can’t join in.” Bradley sighed, “Every time I’ve tried to awaken him it hasn’t worked, so this time I’m just gonna wait until I get everything as prepped as I possibly can.” Devin nodded, “Can I watch this time?” Bradley nodded, “I’m sure he’ll complain less if you’re around.”
“Keep up the training, and let Trisha know when you need treatment! Good work today everyone.” A groan echoed out of the training room. “It took way longer to build this place than I thought it would. Guess you should expect wood and rock would need mad magic power to cut down.” Devin nodded, “Glad we had your support, otherwise it would’ve been a total pain in the ass.”
Bradley and Devin arrive at Bradley’s private workstation, now with a new expansion, “James, get your ass out here right now.” James shuffled out, feeling a bit nervous, “You think it’ll work this time?” Bradley sighed, “It’s been charging up as best as it can, and I’ve tested how sealed the room is, this is the best chance we have.” Bradley pointed to the stone door, “Now get in there or Devin will give you a brotherly slap on the back.”
James immediately rushed into the room, and Devin shut it behind him. Bradley walked over to a crystal along the wall, and focused mana into it. Suddenly the crystal began shining, and Bradley heard James from the other side of the door screaming out, “Status” repeatedly. Then the crystal stopped glowing, and Devin swung open the door.
Bradley entered the room, “For the love of god, tell me it worked.” James turned over to him with a sad wide grin, “I’m a blacksmith. What the hell am I supposed to do with this?” Bradley began laughing, “Hot damn buddy, calm down. Even classless can gain combat ability through training, no worries. We’ll get you over to Ben, and see what we can do with you.” Bradley grinned, ‘The son of a gunsmith is a blacksmith. Things are gonna get interesting.
Ben reassured James about his stats, but could not comfort him about his skills. There wasn’t a single one there that could be used directly as a combat skill. Most had to do with forging weapons, increasing durability, etc. Control of flame was the closest thing to an attack skill, but it did not create fire, merely controlled its size, heat, etc.