12: UNQUIET SILENCE
//
10:09 A.M. // 10 - 16 - 2023 // Swamper Dungeon
Starring Reyenal Ato
Featuring Nolan Faust
//
[ ‘GIANT SWAMPER’ || HP - 824 (0%) [ 0 (247.9%) (+41412) / 16708 ] ]
The kama disappeared from my hand as the last of the giant swamper’s health disappeared. Its giant sloth body slumped inwards as the shell fell down on it as I stumbled a couple hasty steps backward, breathing heavily.
Dead.
My throat was completely dry. The sludgy mud all over me stank like sewage, and my own sweat smelled terrible.
The lifeless swamper was bathing in its puddle of muddy blood, the enormous shell over its back covering the body buried beneath, the arms stuck out like it had been flattened. A few steps, like hard and muted stomps, and I sluggishly brought my attention to the top of the shell. From the other side a head of short hair appeared, more steps, and my partner slightly emerged over the top.
We made eye contact.
Around us was the hollowed cave on the side of the mountain, as flooded as the rest of the dungeon, the home of the giant swamper. Water dripped from somewhere close by, a constant plink of noise. The shade of stone above felt like it could collapse any second, with so many arrows embedded everywhere from bouncing off the shell of the big swamper.
It was a painfully silent moment. Everything was dead. “Did you… get it?”
The ragged and muddy jock lifted his chin. His shirt was torn from being thrown around so much, grabbed by the sharp claws and slammed into every orifice possible of the shallow cave. The guy’s whole top had basically been shredded, leaving the bits hanging on his solid pecs and carved abs, bodybuilder arms hanging from wide shoulders, so long as he was tall and out of sight from behind the shell. A teen’s fantasy.
[ ‘PARTNER’ || HP [ 3102 (70.2%) / 7560 ] MANA [ 0 / 0 ] ]
Clickbait for crap. The uniforms were literally made of high graded material, and the webtoon multiverse forgot because of the rule of fanservice: the greater the relevance to the story, the greater the amount of unholy fanart.
“Well, do you have it or not?” I snapped. Even the slightest change in his muscular posture irritated me.
With a wordless and brooding glare, he lifted his right arm, the uniform also tattered there like some sort of rabid animal had come by, and opened his hand in a standing cup.
The jewel was as ugly as I expected it to be. It looked like month-old dog feces.
Sighing shortly, I curtly nodded my head and then turned away.
[Your exam is complete and is being evaluated. Please stand by.]
…
It didn’t take long for the extraction team to find us, as we had made it very clear of our presence. Bodies everywhere, sun-dried mud all over the trees, the sickly water irreversibly tainted brown, and an odor that reeked, a trail of gross.
I put guard up upon seeing the Holimont rose on their chest. Something inside me told me that they were not on my side, however normal they looked. Just two men and two women, a pair that beckoned for me and the other for my partner.
One of the men glanced down at his watch, and then looked back up to address us. “Great job you two. It’s time to head on back. No need to rush, you two can relax now.”
We walked back in relative silence other than my escorting officer’s confusion on how my partner’s uniform ripped. I warily looked at her back as she led us, the sloshing noise and disgusting smell filling my numb ears and clogged nose.
The officers seemed to know exactly where to go even in the midst of a whole battalion of dead swampers and so many random trails of my partner and I searching. And it was… just straight forward.
Yeah, okay.
Not three minutes passed and we made it to the portal where we had entered, the polluted watery color of copper suspended in the center of a particularly large and very dead tree.
Compared to the portal I had taken so long ago to Arc, the dungeon portals were different. Portal transportation for around the world was blue, purified mana. For dungeons, it was raw, unfiltered mana, each a different color that apparently inspired the colors which graded a person’s ability. Different gradients, different purity, different color, different meaning.
Rust is dangerous only if it cuts.
The woman in front of me stepped aside. “Go. We’ll be behind you.”
I nodded unfeelingly and stepped through without a second thought. The journey through was harsh, but for my own sake I shouldn’t show weakness. I guess that was my role in the world.
The mana fluctuated in a spasming moment, an epilepsy of colors and mana and then light. My grimy shoes touched down on the marble floor of the Arc Dungeons facility, and my eyes adjusted again. Portals were an experience, to say the least.
The portal made a sound, almost like a shortened and reversed toilet flush, and my partner stepped through. Realizing he was a bit too close, I moved on towards the nearby benches to take a seat, and a shiver spiked up my body. Though it may have been a relief, the cold air and seat against my dried and cracked skin and in contrast with the mud was already starting to get on my nerves.
The sound of the portal and sloshing feet again, I glanced over and from the rippling brown-orange portal came the officers who seemed rather unbothered by the shift.
I stood up as the lady furthest left poised to speak, “You two are dismissed now. Remember, you must write a minimum of two comments for your other Awakened peers by the end of this week for full credit. The rubric is on the Arc app, as well as all of the replay footage. Your practical scores will be posted soon. Have a good day.”
Without another word, they marched out of the spacious room, leaving just my partner and I in awkward silence. Replay footage?
I broke the ice. “You surprised me with that last one. Good job.”
He still didn’t acknowledge me, so I didn’t say anything else. No need to waste my breath on him.
…
I waddled into the shower room with my gym bag in hand, still covered head to toe in the mud which was now crusting. The fragrance of shampoo and the sound of chatter echoed along with the clack of my dried shoes.
“Heey, stop it!” A girl giggled. “Penny!’
The steam was already beginning to dampen the dirt back into mud. I needed to move faster.
“Rubia, your hair is so tangled,” another girl responded. “Stop moving!”
“Fine, fine.”
I set my bag down on a bench and unzipped it, pulling out my clothes and a pair of baby blue slippers, setting them aside, also shampoo and bodywash. I quickly took off my shoes with my feet and reached down to pull off my gross socks, replaced them with the slippers, then with all my things made a mad dash to the nearest empty stall.
With the sound of a brush scraping through hair and the constant grunts of pain in the background, I turned on the shower.
“Cold!” I yelped.
I pressed my back against the stall wall to avoid the water and waited for it to warm, and took that moment to realize that the girls had fallen silent.
“Was that Reyenal?”
“I think… hey, is that you, Reyenal?”
—CLACK. CLACK. CLACK.
Another pair of footsteps came from the hall towards the shower room, the only other noise being from the showers running.
“Hey, Reyenal—”
“Did someone say Reyenal?” A different voice, the source of the footsteps. “Like, did you see her? She’s like, actually filthy. It looked like she had been eaten and—”
“That’s me,” I tested the water with my finger, ignoring the little gasp of surprise. Good enough.
As I eased myself under the cooling water, the girl from the doorway whispered, “W-why are you here, Reyenal?”
Penny also added in, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you shower in public at the Institution.”
Closing my eyes, I sat down on the little bench and lifted my chin up at the white and steamy ceiling. The mud was washing off so nicely.
“It’s because I don’t want to get that ‘filth’ in my shower,” I said as the mud rushed off my skin and clothes, clearing out my clogged pores, it felt so good. This water definitely had something in it. “That’s all.” I reached out and turned the knob to stop the running water for a moment, and pulled myself out of the Arc uniform. That thing was going straight to the laundromat after I was done with showering.
“Hey, you know,” Rubia started, “Penelope here and I were actually watching a bit of your livestream earlier on her watch. You know, it’s kind of funny how you act around high rankers. It’s like you hate them all.”
I froze.
…
Livestream?
They… heard me?
“O-oh, no—well, nevermind, no, I don’t,” I stuttered, not really understanding her, my brain computing slower than before… well then, might as well go with the flow. “Actually, you know, that guy—”
“Nolan is totally my type though,” the newest girl squealed, now in the stall across from mine, and I held back a cough. I had forgotten his name until just now. “I mean, like, oh, my god, he’s so…” She paused for a moment.
The steam only served to romanticize the mood, which I wasn’t prepared for.
“Hot?” Penny offered.
“I mean, there’s got to be a better word for that,” I managed in an attempt to ease the awkwardness. Everyone on campus had at least some level of hotness. I glanced to my right, and then a huge screen appeared.
========================
Vitality (Health Points)
Mana
2712
2712
Health Regeneration
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
Mana Regeneration
0.0026/s - 0.0002/s
0.13/s
Endurance
Strength
27.1 - 1.3
27.1 - 0.6
Intelligence
Magic Power
35.8
27.1
Dexterity
Movement Speed
27.1 - 0.5
27.1 - 4.1
Charisma
Luck
27.1 - 2.8
25.6
Debuffs: Dirty ( -CHR, -MS, -HR ), Tired ( -ED, -CHR, -MS, -HR,-STR, -DEX )
Buffs: Refreshed ( +CHR, + ED, + HR )
========================
Venerability
B+ All of Reyenal’s stats are shared besides her two Innate stats.
I shook my head with a smile of denial. I was way over the average and yet, I still just looked average.
Arc kids were something else.
“No… juicy.”
I knocked over my shampoo bottle in a knee jerk physical cringe, and then began coughing on my spit.
“Hey, Reyenal, are you good?” Rubia’s concerned voice echoed over.
Clearing my throat and hacking out, I put the shampoo bottle back up. “Yeah, all good.”
“If you say so…”
//
1:12 P.M. // 10 - 13 - 2023 // Arc - Training Center
Starring Avil Daniase
Featuring Gwen Olynn, Cedrance Manamune, Aythe Siena, Ben Roswell, and Professor Carmela
//
========================
‘Avil Daniase’ has been presented with a task:
[Prove yourself]
========================
“Let’s go, Avil! Move!” Gwen yelled at me. My eyes were locked onto the screen straight past her, the vignette of daze from the bombardment of stone discoloring the edges of my sight.
She grabbed my arm and pulled me up as I shakily held the shield steady against the tormenting torrent of shrapnel. We leaned into the shield and moved slowly.
And then…
I saw the sword in slow motion, swinging straight towards Gwen.
Her face turned around.
Shock.
Fear.
I pushed the shield forward, and a huge clang pushed us back, me into her.
Ced’s water blade swept towards me and parried an incoming slash from Aythe, and Gwen in a spurt of strength pushed me off of her only to then pull me towards her again as more attacks flew our way.
“Stop this!” Cedrance yelled from beside me, the extreme tiredness apparent from his huffing and sweat. “You guys shouldn’t even be using your abilities here!”
The entire sparring area of the training center was completely and utterly decimated now. It wasn’t built to withstand the Awakened clearly.
“Yap yap,” Ben roared, “keep yapping. See what happens!”
Suddenly a huge wave of sickness overcame me, a pounding in my head. My knees buckled, there were gasps all around as students surrounding the scene hit the floor in my periphery. Gwen too fell down next to me, her chest very uncomfortably leaned into my arm. I tried to open my mouth to say something, but it was completely locked shut, tried to make noise but my throat was clogged.
As quickly as everything had started, it had all come to a halt. There were no sounds, the constant noise of metal on metal on stone and screams were all gone, and replaced with the eerie silence of noiselessness.
Against my will, the will which I was fighting so hard to get back, my chin lifted up, and then my head turned to face the lockers… and there was someone there.
Professor Carmela. I could recognize that face from miles away. Anime waifus danced in my mind, and yet that woman outdid all of them, a perfectly seductive body and a terrifyingly sexy face, the kind that would make any man sell their life for a bit of her love, and the kind that could start wars. I didn’t know much about her other than the fact that her classes were insanely difficult and that every boy and possibly girl had eyes for her.
I couldn’t do anything but stare.
It was extraordinarily painful.
“Everyone here will be deducted 200 points,” she said softly, but her pointed cold eyes suggested a different tone as they swept around the scene. Her authority was clear, and it was scary.
I barely even had 20 points, but nevertheless I knew this was quite a reasonable punishment. The whole training center was a wreck, each crater in the floor another point lost. Moreover, students definitely weren’t supposed to go around and brawl like a bunch of barbarians. The cherry on top was that no one did anything about it.
She gave Cedrance a half-interested look, and then disdainfully glared at Aythe and Ben. Then her eyes landed to a rest on me and Gwen, still somewhat buried beneath the shield. Confusion?
And it was completely still for a contemplating moment.
Carmela pointed to the general area of the main street around the corner. “Everyone, out.”
Like a clock had unfrozen, suddenly all around was the noise of people gasping for breath. I could hear the shakiness in some, and fear and confusion and lust and hate and so much more. A quiet murmur floated around, but everyone was too scared to say anything.
But I was still stuck.
Unmoving.
Posted to the floor.
I could still feel Gwen’s squoobs on me, and she hadn’t moved either.
It didn’t take Sherlock Holmes to realize what was about to happen. We were going to have a talk.
Soon, everyone was gone. It was just Ced, Gwen, me, and the two bastards.
The two bastards who started it all.
The professor sighed, and then waved her wrist. Feeling returned back to my body, and I gasped for air which I realized I hadn’t been breathing, shakily standing back up, and the sound of life returned as we regained our movement. Next to me Gwen also made a noise as she pushed herself up, like a breathless squeaky scream.
“T-two hundred!” She whispered, “two hundred!”
“It’s okay, Gwen,” I tried to reassure her as I helped her keep her balance, my mind slightly numb from the lack of oxygen. “We’ll find a way to make it up by the end of this year. We’ll manage.”
Cedrance glanced back at me with a set of sad eyes, which had lost the fuel of rage driving him to fight earlier. His sword by him was no longer enveloped in water, simply just the standard sword. It was for my sake, wasn’t it?
I grinned, shelving away all of my feelings again. “Ced… thanks, bro. You really saved me there.”
He nodded tiredly, but returned my gesture grimly. “Don’t worry about that, Avil.” His face was full of apprehension. “That’s the Agent Prep teacher. Worry about what she’s gonna do to us.”
I only politely smiled, holding back my sarcasm. No duh.
But, I was on my best behavior just for my savior.
My head turned as Professor Carmela huffed in frustration, “Yeah, smile at each other, go ahead. Do you kids know at all just how much trouble you’re in?” She spread her arms out to make her point, massive pitfalls in the ground like a storm of mini-meteors had fallen down from the sky.
“Miss,” Aythe started, his twin swords clicking in their scabbards, “I can assure you we’re friends that just got carried away in the moment—”
“It’s Professor, if you’re talking to me,” she cut in angrily, slamming her hand with a loud bang into the metal locker. I flinched, and Aythe immediately shut up. “And also, I don’t care. That goes for all of you,” she pushed herself off and walked towards us, her pointed finger shaking accusingly. “Don’t even try to make any excuses.”
“But Professor,” Gwen said hotly, “if you check the video footage—”
The professor turned to glare at Gwen, who shrank under the woman’s stink eye. “Didn’t I tell you that I don’t care?”
I felt Gwen sag down beside me. “B-but 200 points…”
“And that’s not all,” Professor Carmela went on, but then paused as her watch buzzed, and she glanced down.
“Actually, I just read something interesting.” She smiled, her eyes twinkling dangerously as she brought her attention to me. I shivered. “You there, what’s your name?”
“Um, it’s Avil, ma’am—uh, I mean, Professor.”
She shook her head to my chagrin. “Full name.”
“Avil Daniase.”
Her smile grew. “And you, girl beside Mr. Daniase, are you Gwen Olynn?”
Gwen automatically said, “Yes, Professor.”
How did she know Gwen’s name? And did she already know mine before I even said it? Or… was she confirming something with me…?
I looked upwards towards the top edges of the buildings around, and as I was turning around I spotted something on the corner of the turn into the sparring area.
A small black lump, standing out from the white tiled walls.
A camera.
Gwen whispered into my ear, almost making me jump. “You saw it too?”
My attention returned to the scary woman now watching me, and I slightly nodded.
“Well, I take it you two aren’t stupid at all.” She clapped her hands twice, and like a lightning strike hit everyone simultaneously flinched and put their hands to their ears.
‘SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER FOR THE SAINT HOSPITAL.’
In the voice of the woman, the message rang in my head. The horrible noise kept bouncing around in my skull and intensifying multiplicatively in its echo chamber.
Loud.
Loud!!
LOUD!!!!
“FINE!” I screamed, and suddenly the noise stopped. I was on the floor again, my knees and hands on the ground, bowing my head dokgeza style. There was a sound like someone stumbling backwards, and I glanced up to see Cedrance, worry plastered in his eyebrows, his hands pulling back as if they were to reach for me.
Realizing my position, I stood up as fast as I could, surprised at how easily I did it. No side effects.
To my left Aythe stood over Ben, huffing very loudly, his eyes wide open in distress. Aythe looked bored. “Ben, calm down. Stop resisting.”
Another sound beside me became very apparent, the hyperventilation of the girl from a whole month ago on the floor after the weapon selection.
The one who looked and sounded like she had seen a dead body.
Gwen hugged her knees tight and buried her head down, completely still, but definitely not breathing normally.
“Gwen?”
I froze, not really knowing what to do. My instincts and thoughts conflicted in my head.
She’s not my friend.
I’ve known her my whole life.
I don’t care about her.
We are childhood friends.
I’ve only known her for a month.
For that month, she’s always been by my side.
“Gwen!” I got down onto my knees in front of her, now she was rocking back and forth, making sounds like a child wailing silently, a plea for help, and a desperate noise.
The message wasn’t even that bad, what the hell is up with this girl? I grabbed her shoulders, she was shrunken into a little ball. “Gwen, it’s okay, just accept it—!”
She looked up at me, and I flinched at her expression. The hate in her tilted brows, the fear in her rheumy eyes, the disgust in her flared nose, the betrayal on her tightened lips.
“I did,” she murmured quietly. I doubt anyone but me heard her.
“I’m so sorry. It wasn’t my fault.”
Her eyes completely glazed past me, and then she buried her face back into her legs again.
========================
‘Gwen Olynn’ wasn’t looking at you.
========================
I turned my head.
Cedrance was behind me.