Chapter 56: Purpose

/Lately, I have talked a lot about arches, rifts, tears and so on, however, I feel as though I have neglected to talk about their big drawbacks and benefits.

See, sometimes countries will establish themselves around arches, some smaller cities even around doors, since these are permanently open paths to places rich in... well, everything! Arches especially are oftentimes filled with precious resources, gems, mana crystals, stamina-regenerating rivers, and many other wonders.

These places even are intrinsically linked to the system, in the fact that oftentimes, upon entering one of those places, it would give out a quest, asking to clear it. Of course, these quests aren't always handed out, especially for gates that stay open, but when it comes to rifts, tears, or even just cracks, then these will very often be handed out.

Why then does the system want us to clear them and close up those pathways, when they are so rich in items and value?

Quite frankly, the reason is simple. The monsters inside can leave occasionally.

These "breaches", as they are called, occur rarely nowadays, but they do still occur. Oftentimes, it happens when rifts appear in unpopulated areas, like dense forests, or deep down in the ocean. Those places then grow infested with monsters, becoming nests, where the things breed, and increase their numbers.

Eventually, they want to expand and wander out of the nests, attacking humans, small villages with little protections, or even larger cities. If these rifts then aren't cleared, more monsters will spill over, even if the ones that are already repopulating here are killed.

This makes the war between us people of Chronagen and the monsters inside the pathways an ever-lasting one, always fighting each other for territory in a never ending struggle of life and death. And yet, there is one more curious bit.

It has been discovered that the monsters of the arches also have the system. This has been found out by Ayren, the runesmith of forstbay, as she once had captured a monster, and uniquely created a translator for it. A truly one-of-a-kind piece of art that deserves a text of its own.

Still, it isn't the focus of this one, and much more important are the fruits of the discussion she had with the monster.

The thing introduced itself as Garrognosh, an orc, as we understand it, a species that appears both natively on Chronagen, as well as within the rifts. Surprisingly, it was more cooperative than what anyone would have expected.

As Ayren asked it questions, the orc obliged. It offered up some resistance, of course, but it didn't insult or spit in Ayren's face. Their talks were many and varied, however to keep things on the topic of the system, I will only summarize the important parts here.

Firstly, Garrognosh explained, that the monsters inside the paths also have a system. They receive experience for killing those poor souls who wander inside the rifts, as well as killing those who come to close it up. In fact, they even receive quests to protect the core of whatever path they are occupying, be that core inside a boss, or a free-floating one guarded by a sentinel.

However, while inside the rifts, Garragnosh remarked that it felt as though there was a fog over his mind. He was acting mostly on instinct, rarely thinking about what he wanted, or who he was, and according to him, the monsters only grow aware of who they are and what they want once they leave the rift.

Whenever they reach the outside world just so happens to also be the point in time, when they become able to form a main quest, though many of them still act largely on instinct, and have a strong, innate connection to the rift.

Garragnosh himself said that he still didn't want any harm to come to the crack he had been born in, and later on said that after it was closed, it felt as though a part of himself had been ripped out.

Still, he was happy with his newfound freedom, sense of self, and unlike most monsters, his main quest was to taste the cooking of different places. Apparently its first instance was to taste one local specialty drink, and three unique meals.

Over time, he and Ayren had many more talks, until the point when Garragnosh wanted to roam the world himself and he was denied the request. The orc frenzied, according to the records, and was promptly put down.

This bizarre story asks many questions. Is the system sentient? Where do the monsters in the paths truly originate from? Does the system have a side in the conflict between Chronagen and the things inside the paths? And is it possible to maybe establish amicable relations to some of the monsters that come out of the gates?/

An excerpt of "A documentation of Tunneling" by Armeyus the Scholar

- - - - - -

Rondo had trained the city guard quite well. He wasn't an idiot, and while he might look like a bear, he also wasn't one to storm head first into a battle.

Before anything else, Rondo went to check up on the medical tents. A couple commanders and marshals had moved when he was still buried under the rubble, setting up two decently sized white tents at the city gates in about 15 minutes. The healers were already in there, and teams went out with stretchers, carrying back any who couldn't walk themselves.

He nodded at their efforts for a moment, giving the guards protecting the facility a once-over. The one leading the efforts was Frikke, an old friend of his. He would have smiled when he saw her, if it weren't for the blood on her face, and the handful of corpses around her.

"Well, well, well, see who's back up. Finally thought you might wanna help out, old man?" the woman asked him with a grin, brushing her long, blonde hair behind her back. She was tall, muscular, with a sharp chin, sharp eyes, and an even sharper tongue.

"Bah! That's how you talk to your captain?!"

"Things are looking rough around here, cap," one of the other guards interjected, a middle aged man with the first strands of silver in his hair, Doyle.

"Report."

"They're hitting us hard," Frikke said. "We're hitting them back harder, but our healers are busy patching us up rather than the civilians, and they blew our stockpile of potions. We can last like this for two more hours, tops."

"Guard the perimeter in shifts. Any soldiers who need healing take priority, any life-threatening injuries take even higher priority. Get a few teams up and running and pay a visit to whatever pharmacies are still open. I want to see all the healing potions in this damn city here!"

"Yes sir!" Frikke quickly saluted, banging her long spear on the floor, before stepping off to arrange orders.

Then, Rondo turned to Doyle. He looked him over, checking his wounds, and saw that the man was still quite fit. He had a couple wrinkles on his face, but he was well built, and the wear of age hadn't set in fully yet. The man also wasn't too injured, just a couple scrapes and bruises, and seemed quite determined.

"Doyle, you're going out with me. We're on civilian duty. Also, someone get Beckham back on his feet! Move it!"

"YES SIR!!"

Doyle didn't hesitate when he was given orders. Him and Rondo moved out quickly, scouring through the streets that were littered with dust and shrapnel. Broken wood and stone covered every surface, some occasionally splashed with dried blood.

"Sir-"

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"Shhhh," Rondo said, putting a finger over his mouth. He ducked behind a corner and pointed forwards, where Doyle saw a parade of enemy soldiers walk by.

"We ambush them," Rondo whispered, slowly drawing his weapon. A giant broadsword, almost as tall as him, and heavier than it looked. It had a couple nicks in the blade from when he was pelted with stones and had to dig it out of the rubble, but it honestly crushed more than it cut.

Doyle simply nodded at the declaration, drawing the spear he was given as a city guard. Most of them used spears, as the weapons were decently easy to learn, and horribly hard to master. They allowed you to keep a good distance and poke at many things, and worked well against both humans and monsters, with their ability to stab and slice.

Rondo wasted no time, turning the corner and sprinting at the enemy. They turned to meet him, but by that time, he was already swinging his sword, and there was no more chance for them to react, as half their patrol was immediately wiped out.

"Fodder," Doyle muttered under his breath, watching as the remaining northerners reacted quickly, trying to get at the guard captain. He moved quickly, sneaking out from behind the goliath that was Rondo and striking at their legs. His movements were fluid, honed by more than a decade of training, and with him being hidden, he landed a couple good blows before one managed to parry him.

There were three soldiers, their tendons severed on the floor. The patrol leader was still standing, same as 4 more northerners. Rondo quickly used his chance to smash his sword towards them once more, but his strike was slow, letting the northerners duck and get some distance. One of them pulled out a shortbow, and quickly fired an arrow, which Rondo blocked with the wide side of his sword.

Doyle knew he was there largely for support, but still, watching his captain clean up shop and swing a sword that massive around shocked him every time it happened. He shook his head for only a moment, before crouching down and using the moment of distraction the enemies showed to swing his spear. He used all the leverage he could, and exploited the flaws of leather armor as he had been taught, slicing another northerner's knee clean off.

Rondo gave him a quick nod, before turning back to the remainder of the patrol.

"You're paying now," he said, his steely eyes growing darker. "!"

For a moment, Rondo's sword seemed to glow red, hissing as it cut through the air, before it sent the upper bodies of the remaining patrol members flying. He had sliced them in half.

Doyle didn't allow himself to even flinch at this, finishing off anyone who was simply injured before they continued on, rushing further into the city.

- - - - - -

[Level Up!]

----

Status:

Mercury Rainfall Starlight

Lv.: 14 -> 16

Species: Zetraspa

Titles: , ,

Hp: 109/245

Mp: 145/322

Sp: 94/200

Strength: 52 -> 55

Vitality: 48 -> 54

Dexterity: 40 -> 45 (+1)

Agility: 34 -> 36 (+1)

Intelligence: 51 -> 53

Wisdom: 58 -> 59 (+2)

Willpower: 59 -> 64

Luck: 19 -> 22

Ability points: 31

World points: 19

Skill points: 1160

Gold: 66

Beast familiars: 1/2

----

He had gotten many stat increases, and even two levels over the duration of this slaughter. The first level came fairly soon, he must have been near the cap after his last couple fights, and just now there had been another.

Both times, they refilled half of his stats, and for just a moment, Mercury could stop panting. But this wasn't enough yet. There were people out there who he could still help, people in whose lives he could maybe, just maybe make a difference.

And so, Mercury ran off again, using to be able to move through the streets just a little faster. All of his fur was caked in red by now, and all of his muscles were burning even after his stats had been restored. But that didn't matter.

His was running more than any of his other Skills, as he had forced himself so very far, pushing himself. But it was the very least he could do. The very least he had to do, to prove to himself that he was being worthwhile. That, at the very least, there was some point to it all, some difference he was making.

And for that, to prove it to just himself, he would take one more step, he would carve his very existence into this world, never to be forgotten.

"Mercury? Is that you?"

"What? Marcel?" Mercury turned his head to face the voice. What was Marcel doing here? Wasn't he a receptionist?

"What are you doing here? The godseekers have already gathered and spread out in a grid, to cover as much area as possible," the young man quickly explained, walking closer to the mopaaw.

"Well, okay, where's an extra pair of paws-"

"How did you get that much blood on you?!" Marcel yelped, quickly tapping his long staff of white oak against Mercury's head. "," he said, before kneeling down and checking for any more severe injuries.

"It's a long- OW! Don't touch that! Look, I don't got any fancy weapons, or hands to hold them with for that matter, so I gotta get very close. Now, I'm fine, so tell me where I can help!" Mercury quickly jumped back from the receptionist a little, looking at him in a slightly different light now.

"Stubborn bastard," Marcel whispered, before letting out a long sigh. "Fine," he then said, "if you want to help so badly, head southeast. Mages are holding down the fort, but quite a lot of the enemies have gathered there. We got the nobles covered, but they need anyone they can get."

"Thanks! See you later!"

Just like that, Mercury sprinted off, activating without hesitation. It didn't take him too long to get there, maybe 10 minutes. He had been pretty close to the city center before, and given the amount of flashing colors, the mages weren't very hard to find.

Without hesitation, Mercury lunged into the fray, activating his and , trying his best to maximise efficiency.

By now, Mercury had his fair share of battle experience. Sure, it wasn't like he had been part of hundreds of them, but he was a decently quick learner, and the situations he had been in forced him to develop quickly. It's surprising what people can manage when they're trapped between a rock and a hard place.

Mercury swiped his eyes over the lines as he soared through the air.

Most enemy soldiers wouldn't expect him. They had their hands full dodging the rocks, flames, and ice thrown at them, while being pushed around by harsh winds. A cat like him? He would just fade away, and then fuck them up.

With that, he had decided. In this battle, he didn't need to directly kill someone. Simply knocking someone over with a tackle, or slicing at their legs would probably be enough of a distraction for the mages to capitalize.

But still, they were the ones being pushed back. The mages wouldn't do too well in a melee confrontation, so the northerners continuously charged at them, either screaming loudly, or screaming more quietly from behind a shield. And of course, some of them didn't even care about their injuries, simply charging forwards, tackling one of the robed figures to the ground and bashing their skull in before roaring.

Mercury shivered as he saw it. Yeah, these people really needed his help.

He sprinted forwards as soon as he hit the floor, past the ranks of all those magicians and wizards as he headed far deeper into the midst of the enemies. For some reason he felt light as he ran around, yet his hold on the ground was solid.

Within moments, he had gone past the enemy line, and was now skittering about between their feet, and only seconds later, he made the first few people shout out. It didn't matter if he got the experience for the kills this time, he just needed to take down as many northerners as possible.

Luckily for him, most of them were focused on the barrage of magic from up above, and only some even saw him coming. Still, when it hadn't even been a minute, he was beginning to get noticed. One soldier saw him and pointed, only to have a spear of ice lodged in his throat.

But the damage had been done. Some messengers must have spread the news about some mopaaw fighting for Stormbraver. His cover was blown, and he now had multiple people honing in on him.

Yet they couldn't catch him. Whenever Mercury dodged, he felt as though his feet moved across the ground so effortlessly, and sometimes, it even felt as though his enemies were slower than they were supposed to be.

"Speedy Speedy Kitty!!" he heard a voice in his head. That of a young man, maybe in his early twenties, and it was only because he was used to being suddenly approached, that he still managed to dodge another attack.

"Sorry, bad timing. I'm... uh... Support mage. Wind magic. Yes?"

"The fuck are you doing in my head?!" Mercury thought back very loudly, only to feel the wind let up as he jumped out of the way of a sword.

"Need to focus. I'm making you speedy. Do your thing!"

Kids these days, Mercury thought, though he hid it from the mage. Whoever it was, they were being very helpful.

"Name's Elliot! Dream work!"

"What?" okay, maybe this kid didn't quite have all his peanuts in order.

"Teamwork makes the dream work?"

"Okay, for real, save the talking for later," Mercury thought, before biting the shit out of someone's ankle, throwing the soldier onto the ground and leaving her to get hit in the face with a sphere of fire.

"Alrightey!"

Mercury was full of questions, but even fuller of determination. With this kid's support, there was nothing in this world that could stop him. Yes! He would- OW! Get kicked in the fucking face apparently.

Mercury quickly got off his high horse again and zoned into the combat, using both and to know when to dodge, where he would be hit, and who he should attack. It gave him a right fucking headache, sure, but at the very least he could dodge attacks this way.

Still, every now and then he got hit, but perhaps things were slowly looking up...

- - - - - -

Iris never liked being called lazy. It was rooted deep within her. She needed to prove herself every day, she couldn't become a burden. Her duty came first, before even this city, and that duty right now was finding Lucia.

She wore her full combat outfit, dressed in black and carrying more weapons than what was perhaps necessary, but none of that mattered. She flew by any northerners, because those didn't matter. She flew by civilians, because those didn't matter either. She disregarded ongoing fights, and disregarded people who were hurt, and disregarded the people hurting them.

None of those were her lady. Only that one person mattered. No one other than her deserved even a shred of attention...

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the 'Black Ivy', Iris."

Without a second of hesitation, Iris stopped. She dug her feet and hands into the pavement, sliding to a stop in just a few moments.

"Who said that?" she asked, looking all around her through the broken streets, her muscles coiled tighter than any spring.

"Seems like your past has come to catch up with you," the voice giggled. "Your 'lady' is already with me. Stand down or see her get hurt."