“By then, a bigger picture was beginning to present itself to us. A consensus emerged that intelligent life would not exist anywhere else, not just in our galaxy, but in the entire universe.”
----------------------------------------
By the time he made his way to the square outside of the town hall, he had drawn the attention of almost all of the fighters, and the fighting had slowed down as both humans and Ulumous tried to make sense of the new arrival. Some Ulumou tried to rush him, but humans held them back. Still, they were unsure if he was an ally or an enemy.
Alex climbed up the steps of the town hall, trying to muster up as much courage as he could. He was far from a natural public speaker, but now he had an audience that was at least somewhat willing to listen.
“The System is pitting us against one another. We cannot afford to be victims of such manipulation. As you should all see from the Control Decision, there are far greater threats.”
He heard whispers and laughs coming from the square, with a few hurling insults. Many fighters just ignored him, still locked in combat.
“Who does this boy think he is?”
“Looks like getting the shell has triggered a savior complex.”
Alex started to get frustrated.
“I have the shell now. Anyone who wishes to challenge me can fight me. Come at me 10 at a time, 20 at a time, I don’t care. But if I win, you will hear my proposal.”
The humans holding back the Ulumou from attacking him backed away uncertainly, and a wave of twenty Ulumou charged at him. Just then, though, the female Ulumou leader from before arrived with a group of ten other Ulumou. Immediately processing the situation, she shouted in a commanding voice above the square. He could see that she had now reached level 10.
“Halt! Attacking this human is forbidden. We will open a dialogue.”
The Ulumou slowed down, but clearly some of them were more experienced fighters, and one of them was the same level as the leader. It was not obvious that they were under her direct command. Alex braced himself as he prepared to have more Ulumou deaths on his hands. He readied the Script that would change their intra-species cooperation, and slowly poured energy into it in a way that he hoped they wouldn’t notice.
But suddenly, he saw movement from the alleyway from which he came. The Ulumou elite that he had spared shouted out. His voice was deep and had an authority that Alex hadn’t noticed before. When Alex listened more closely, he could make out an exotic, beautiful tune in the bass register.
“Obey the orders of Onounai.”
This time, the Ulumou stopped. For the first time, the square was silent, as the hundreds of fighters all turned to face either Alex or the Ulumou leaders. Alex cleared his throat and prepared to speak again. But out of nowhere, a new notification appeared on his screen.
Skill Quest
Objective
Forge a set of Tier 0-C bone armor. Quest can be declined.
Requirements
932.1 pounds of Tier 0-D bones
58.4 pounds of Tier 0-C bones
Calcium Forge Building (0-C)
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Outpost containing 29.1 acre area in which calcium, by mass, exceeds 30,540 tons
Reward upon completion
Chitin Shard Skill (Tier 0-B)
Affinity to hydroxyapatite (principal compound in bones) increased by x256.
Punishment for failure
Delay for new Skill Quest: 14d 14h 8m.
[This is absolutely incredible! Increasing your affinity by that much means an Insight-bearing Treasure is pretty much guaranteed to give you an Insight into that compound. It will be extremely potent to have Insights into both the materials comprising bones and chitin. And having two related Insights will be of vital importance in breaking through to Tier 1.]
Alex cursed under his breath. The giant limestone outcroppings on the mountain no longer seemed so random — he remembered from chemistry class that limestone was partially calcium. He could be wrong, but the System was once again creating the conditions for a conflict to emerge. And he was indeed tempted. The difference in ten levels between him and the Outpost Leader was massive, but if he had an army behind him… but no, the Outpost leader almost certainly also had an army.
Alex was stuck in a moment of indecision. At first, he had just wanted to mediate the conflict in order to prevent needless deaths, and perhaps gain some initial followers. If he chose to become a Pretender, though, he could potentially conquer an entire Outpost and fulfill his Skill Quest. Yet rationality finally won out. He could not hope to face an unknown opponent with unknown capabilities that was 10 levels above him. So he began to speak.
“My name is Alex, and because of some weird circumstances that I haven’t even processed yet, I happen to be one of the forerunners among humans. In a lucky strike, I killed the first Hirar, and I gained a ridiculous amount of energy because of that. The Hirar shell was taken while I was recovering. With the help of some kind acquaintances, I followed the tracks of the one who took it back to this village.”
Alex spotted Caitlyn and Deacon at the edge of the square, where more and more humans and Ulumou were gathering. He was gaining confidence as he spoke, and the sight of familiar faces boosted him even more.
“This fight is the exact opposite of what we need right now. The chaos of the Integration and the System have thrust our two species into a conflict. I know both sides have reasons to fight, but right now, we have a much more important matter to deal with. The fact that this area is now owned by a powerful creature that is not of either of our races means we need to do something. I see that most of you haven’t made a decision yet, which is good. We need to determine the nature of this B’shrak figure. And worst case, if they are not someone we would willingly submit ourselves to, we need to work together to either fight or flee. If we fight between ourselves before then, we will likely be too weak to resist.”
Chattering erupted from the crowd as soon as he finished his speech. Alex felt drained. It may not have been the best speech, but it got the job done. What was more important than the content of the speech was the space he created, the fact that the conflict was being mediated in some way. But the chatter was interrupted by a booming voice.
“Very nice speech. I’m looking forward to having you as my loyal Subject.”
The crowd parted in fright as a dark figure strode in from the left alleyway leading to the town center. The figure looked bipedal, but it was completely covered in a black robe. Even the head was covered, and it was impossible to tell what the face, if it had one, looked like. This was the first time Alex had seen anyone wear clothing since the Integration, aside from the tight gray jumpsuits. The words that the creature spoke carried a percussive undertone. The true language seemed as if it were mostly a variety of noises with very little actual vocalization, but it was obscured by the System’s translation.
Alongside the creature were nine other figures, all wearing the same robes, but of a dark gray color. Looking at each of them, the tooltip only read the following:
Unknown
Level: ?
Estimated Combat Rating: ?
Estimated Value: ?
A tremor of fear ran through Alex. How could they all be so powerful? If their mental resistance was so high as to resist even the reading from the tooltip, they were likely all above his level. And the one speaking was clearly K'Mposhe B’shrak, unless he had completely misread the situation.
It looked like the humans and Ulumou felt the same way. They cowered as the hooded figures walked past, and some of them even moved to run away. But the gray figures, upon seeing this, took out enormous bows, and shot arrows that immediately killed the people trying to run. Well, it looks like my fears about the T’Kordish were not unfounded, Alex thought.
“Do not move or try to run. You will now pledge loyalty to me. I have forgiven all of those who are of Outlaw or Trespasser status, but that will only happen once. If anyone refuses within the next [8.4 seconds], they will be killed immediately.”