I flicked to the next page and began to examine the schema on display while listening as the librarian continued. “The battle harness is another of our greatest creations, though I did have no influence over the development of this one. It was designed to be used in conjunction with the factory’s facilities, to provide a basis for growth.”

I took in the librarian’s words, looking at the diagram of the battle harness on screen. I could see the way the piping was united by screws and hinges in order to create the flexible framework that had protected me so far. It was fairly easy to see from the diagram the places where further additions could be made to enhance its protection, or mount other tools. My war drill served as an excellent point of comparison for these future developments and I soon found the design clicking into place in my head.

I flicked over to the next schema and turned my attention even more focused on the diagram. It was simple, dead simple. “Why didn’t I learn this schema when I first learned the skill?”

The librarian shook his head slowly. “We knew that you’d be receiving a bundle of perks and skills when you first received the path. This is a large quantity of information to be uploaded into your brain directly. I’m sure you remember the pain of it quite clearly.”

“Wasn’t as bad as the system integration,” I said. “But I do remember it.”

“Well, we’ve discovered that additional information grows exponentially more stressful on the nervous system, and since we couldn’t know the limits of your physiology, we erred on the side of caution. Even one more schema could have made the transfer lethal.”

I blanched at that particular thought. “Well, probably for the best then.” The librarian let out a small huff of agreement, and I turned my attention back to the schema.

It was just a piece of metal, okay not just a piece of metal, but most of it was just a piece of metal. Now, that metal had to be curved into just the right curvature based on the location it was to be installed in order to maintain optimal defense, but that was something I probably could have calculated on my own. Well, with my laptop at least. The schema would provide the extra aid of automatically calculating the points where the plate connected with the harness, but again, that was something I probably could have done on my own.

Then it occurred to me, this schema was not just teaching me this schema, this schema was also teaching me how to take my engineering knowledge and create schemas out of that. Seeing the process going this way, and knowing both ends of it, seeing the ways that I could reverse engineer the process became a glimmer in my eye. I’d have to study a whole lot more schema before I was to that point, but it seemed entirely possible.

Then I flipped to the next schema and had no idea how to reproduce it mechanically. With a sigh, I dug back in, falling into the steady rhythm of study, of expanding my knowledge.

That night, I slept well. A real night’s sleep seemed like a distant memory at this point. Even before everything ended, I rarely slept well. Now, I was almost certainly not doing enough exercise, not doing enough to burn off the day’s energy, and I was eating terribly which didn’t help, but there were plenty of extenuating factors further complicating everything. So, a comfortable bed, a clean body, a fresh set of pajamas, it all contributed to sleeping so well for so long, with the sun well near its peak by the time I stirred from bed.

The rest of the day was spent on prep work. I had the schemas that I needed to know, but I needed more resources. First, I made a logging axe, which proved a simple enough task, I already had the resources I needed. Then, I left from the gate and chopped down a couple trees. The task took long hours, despite the trees I picked being relatively small. Fortunately, nothing interrupted the process and soon I had my inventory packed with lumber.

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From there, it was back to the mine. Time passed there in a calm, unthinking void, the simplicity of the labor allowing me to stay relaxed without getting too deep into my head. The mining gave me time to process the lumber, and I did briefly grumble about the lack of production facilities. When I got back from this trip, they would definitely become a higher priority. For now though, getting to see another human being rose higher and higher in the priority lists. The librarian was a perfectly fine person, but he was too devoted to the cause to have a real conversation with.

I did eventually empty out the ore deposit, leaving a hole in the earth where once the rock had been. With nothing to fill it easily on hand, I left it be then returned to the survey chamber. It had the most comfortable chair, and I was going to be spending quite a while working on crafting. If I was a wiser person, I probably would have gone for a jog while waiting for everything to process. Instead, I stared at the ceiling, watching as more of the terrain filled in. It was surprisingly soothing, despite also being incredibly boring.

By the time the crafting was complete and the custom bits had been added to my battle harness, the sun had set and I was growing increasingly exhausted. I made sure to fill my belly before I slept, with both water and food. The next morning I woke up quite a bit earlier, with dawn spilling in through the window of my room. I stared out at the crater, the place I had made home, for a long time, before dressing and strapping on the harness.

As with my last journey, I kept my map open and just at the edge of my vision. This time, though, the map was much more expansive in the area that it displayed. I’d have some hint of the terrain before I hit it, which would help if things took a turn for the worst. Fortunately, it was a short walk all things considered. While five miles was more than I was used to walking in a given day, it still wasn’t entirely unviable, especially if I took my time and rested when needed.

I had decided to not take the highway. The open space would be too much of a threat, I’d be too easily visible. With my erg sight on, the trees formed a powerful camouflage that kept me concealed from prying eyes. It did, however, keep me from seeing threats in return, but I’d rather we all miss each other than have us wind up in a fight that I probably wouldn’t do great with. I was more prepared than for my last fight, but that wasn’t saying much.

On the other hand, I didn’t have a path to walk this time. Instead, I had to slowly but surely carve my way through the underbrush and the overgrowth. My axe came in handy here again, liberally pruning back branches. I could have made a less disruptive path through the forest, but already I was thinking of future plans, of the potential of a road between the settlement and my home base, something that would allow for an easier transit of goods between the two locations. With walls along either side, such a passage could be made relatively safe as well.

Of course, not everything could go smoothly, and so far this whole Great Game thing had been going far too smoothly. No lasting injuries, no real deviations from my plans, only a slow unfolding with no major twists. So of course, while I was making my way forward at a slow pace, I failed to notice the creature stalking me through the trees parallel to my path, at least not until it was too late.

I didn’t even catch a good sight of the thing until it was on me, bearing me to the ground, sharp teeth digging into my now armored harness, while claws began to tear away the plating. I saw red scales and yellow feathers, and those bright claws and teeth. A claw lifted and went for my face, I attempted to block its attack, but I was too slow, the claw carved its way through my soft flesh.

With my arm free though, I was able to bring my drill towards the creature’s side, causing it to leap away from my attack. Using that moment, I began to stand and with my attention briefly distracted, the creature charged again. This time, I didn’t simply go down, I went backwards and tumbled over a cliffside that had been barely visible on the map. I bounced off of the walls of the cliff as I fell, which probably saved my life, turning gravity’s energy into bumps against my armor, rather than just splatting me at the bottom.

I hit the ground and felt something break, a leg maybe, or an arm. I couldn’t tell through the haze of pain. I was able to roll onto my back though, and the armored harness provided enough support that the broken bone in my leg, it was definitely my leg, remained set. The armor would serve as a cast until the bone healed, another advantage of these preparations. I reached a hand up to my face, finding a long cut over my left eye, but the orb itself had just barely managed to avoid serious damage. I still couldn’t see out of it, thanks to the blood and the light scratching making it painful to keep open.

I looked up and saw the cliff looming, far too much for me to climb in my state. I looked to the side and saw a cave. In there, I could rest and hopefully heal up enough to find some other way out of this ravine. I pushed myself to stand and limped into the cave. When I saw the message it was too late, the entrance had closed behind me.

Welcome to your first dungeon! The Caves of Lost Arrays! Succeed by defeating the boss enemy at the end of the dungeon! Succeed will provide a variety of rewards! Defeat will will result in death!

in death in death in death in death