Captain Angelton stood in the center of the clearing he and his team had just cleared. He figured a 200 ft radius should be enough. They had chopped down plenty of wood, then burned everything that was left. Now there was nothing but a dirt patch waiting to be filled with a temporary camp.
Looking over, he saw the two former hunters, Sergeants Peyton and Jackson, stripping the branches from the trees. Specialist Howard was floating in a lotus position, mentally monitoring the area. Meanwhile, Sergeant Blackwood was setting up the ward stones.
With his hands on his hips, he breathed in the scent of the forest. The after effects of the burn were already dispersing, and the smell of growth and danger was thick. He had missed this. It had been years since he was part of a monster-hunting squad. The constant danger had always been something he felt comfortable with, it felt like home.
Sergeant Blackwood walked over and said, “The ward stones are placed. All functions seem to be available. You want anything other than the misdirection ward online?”
Nodding, he replied, “Yes, and an essence cloak. We’ll keep them up for 2 days. We’ll need to be able to work without distractions. Our camp needs to be ready and waiting for the teams to arrive.”
With a calm, “Yes, sir.” Sergeant Blackwood left to help Sergeants Peyton and Jackson prepare their logs.
The captain walked over to the floating mage and asked, “Specialist Howard, you see anything I need to know about?”
Without opening his eyes, the mage replied, “Nothing special. All the teams are doing well enough. No one has run into anything they couldn’t handle. However, Wesker’s team is struggling a little. The two young ones don’t have the levels for prolonged combat. And Nick, the older lord that is, he isn’t suited for combat. But overall, they’re handling it well enough. That Averett woman is picking up the slack.”
Nodding, Captain Angelton said, “When all of our teams are out of your range, don’t force it. Just keep an eye out as long as you can, then join us.”
Eye’s still closed, Specialist Howard nodded, and said, “Yes, sir.”
Captain Angelton walked off, and started plotting the buildings they would be making. Using shield constructs, he cut deep grooves into the dirt designating where the walls would be. They only had a few days to construct a barracks, an outhouse, a shed, and a basic dining hall.
Before he had even finished the outline for the barracks, he felt Sergeant Peyton approaching. He looked up to see the man carrying two 12ft tall posts. He offered the man a nod and pointed to where the wall should start.
Sergeant Peyton said, “10 ft tall ceilings enough? We usually don’t bother making them any higher.”
Captain Angelton replied with a stare, “The recommended height is 12 ft.”
Sergeant Peyton returned the stare and didn’t seem to care. He just stood there waiting for the captain to continue talking.
With a smile, the captain gave in. “10ft is fine. You know what you’re doing. Just let me know how I can help. It’s been a few years since I’ve been in the wilds, and I’ll be relying on your expertise.”
Peyton didn’t smile, or offer any sign that he appreciated the victory. He just nodded in agreement, dropped off one the posts, and then went to plant the one he was still carrying. Over his shoulder he said, “You’re doing fine, sir. Me and Jackson don’t have any complaints. We’ll let you know if you’re doing something stupid.”
Captain Angleton went back to work and replied, “That’ll be fine, sergeant. I appreciate the help.”
The command team worked well into the night, keeping the conversations to a minimum.
-----
Nero was exhausted. He was sitting on a stump, staring at a small fire, absently chewing on a ration bar. Nick and Rose were with him, and they looked just as tired as he was. Meanwhile, the sergeant and Cathleen seemed ready for more.
Looking over, Nero saw Cathleen standing guard, facing the forest with a determined look on her face. She had her spear sticking up from the ground next to her, while she ripped into a ration bar and drank from her canteen. The entire time, her eyes never left the surrounding woods.
On the other side of the fire, Sergeant Wesker was doing the same thing. Nero felt ashamed at how well they were handling everything.
He had lost count of how many encounters they had survived throughout the day, and it had only gotten worse after night fell. With a thirty hour day, they had spent 6 hours walking after the sun had set. But eventually, the sergeant told them to set up their camp, and get some food. The plan was for each of them to have 4 hours of sleep, then 4 hours of watch. Cathleen would serve the watch with Nero first, then Nick, Rose, and Wesker would take over until dawn.
Checking his identity, Nero didn’t like what he saw.
Name
Nero Walker
Level
11
Race
Human
Growth
84%
Tier
1
Condition
92%
Age
14
Center
27%
Body
3
Mind
4
Soul
2
Confluence
10
Stars
0
Pillars
1 / 1
He had barely grown, and his center was low enough to make him feel woozy. The familiar pains he had come to associate with a low-center were making it hard to concentrate. All he could do was stare into the fire and try to keep hold of his sanity. He felt like screaming, or passing out. Both sounded like great ideas.
Nick spoke up, “Nero, try and meditate. You’re feeling a disconnection from reality right now. Your body is your tether to the material plane, and your center is what holds your aspects of existence in balance. It’s imperative that you keep your identity healthy.”
Nero turned his head to stare at the man, and said, “Nick, buddy. I love you man, but you gotta stop talking like that. I’m in no mood to hear about all that mystical crap right now. I just want a beer and an internet connection.”
Rose asked, “What’s an ‘internet connection’, it sounds kind of like a link? You know there aren’t any hubs out here, right?”
Nero slumped further into the small impromptu wooden stump he was using as a stool. He said, “Don’t worry about it. Just ignore me.”
Nick said harshly, “Nero! Stop talking and meditate.”
Nodding weakly, Nero took a last sip from his canteen, then he put his half eaten ration bar along with his canteen off to the side. Closing his eyes, he fell into his soul space and returned to his path.
Everything was a jumble of terrifying images. He felt indistinct, like his body wasn’t really there. Hazy clouds were moving all around, depicting the encounters of the day. The fog was so dark it was almost black, and he couldn’t see the path beneath his feet. Trying not to panic, Nero took a deep breath and focused.
He confronted the memory of the bug swarm they had fought. The little bastards were almost a foot long and had stingers that stung like a bitch. He remembered the feeling of being surrounded, and then lashing out with fire. The smell was awful, and the sound of popping exoskeletons put his teeth on edge. Immersing himself in the feeling of being there, he let the fear wash through him.
Memory, after memory, he confronted the horrors he had seen. There was the pack of small weasel looking things that Nick called ‘weedevils’. Wincing, he remembered the wolf pack that required him to regrow his left hand. Then the different cats which occasionally pounced and tried to steal one of their party. And how could he forget about the damn bear/beaver things. They must have fought 20 of them. Sergeant Wesker said that they were probably coming from the spawn point which they should reach tomorrow.
Nero faced each memory with a growing sense of stubbornness. He felt the anger in his belly growing. The damn wilds were a nightmare. It was insanity to live next to them. But that was just how the world was outside the walls. It may be a little worse than normal, given the fact that there was a density shift happening, but the danger was everywhere in some form. Nero would have to get used to this being his new normal. No more casual hiking trips, not that he had ever actually taken casual hiking trips before. Nevertheless, he always liked the ‘idea’ of hiking. He had been glad that the option was there. But that world was now his past.
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Now, he was in a world of adventure. Outside of the city, battles were common place, and only the strong survived. He needed to get his shit together. Here there was magic! It wouldn’t be easy, but with a little effort along with his patented refusal to admit defeat, nothing would stop him from achieving his goals.
His heart was beating wildly, and he felt like shouting a challenge to the world. He was Nero fucking Walker, and nothing would stop him!
The level-up came as the fog in his soulscape cleared. The dark fog seemed to brighten, and then fade away, revealing a healthy forest with shafts of sunlight breaking through the canopy. The light brown cobblestone path was back under his feet, and he could see it leading off into the distance, promising future adventures filled with wonder and magic.
Feeling renewed, he opened his eyes to see a smirking Nick, and a stunned Rose.
Nick said, “I’m guessing you’re feeling better?”
Nero smiled and said, “I feel awesome. I’m ready to slap this forest like it owes me money. Before you distract me with whatever it is you want to say, let me spend my star.”
Closing his eyes, Nero opened his identity and stat panels.
Name
Nero Walker
Level
12
Race
Human
Growth
12%
Tier
1
Condition
100%
Age
14
Center
100%
Body
3
Mind
4
Soul
2
Confluence
10
Stars
1
Pillars
1 / 1
Body
3
Base
Operative
Level Stress
Presence
15
24
3.2
Durability
18
28.8
6.2
Recovery
34
54.4
5.3
Speed
21
33.6
4.8
Adaptability
41
65.6
3.5
Power
20
32
4.6
Mind
4
Base
Operative
Level Stress
Weight
26
46.8
13.6
Control
29
52.2
21.2
Field
23
41.4
28.6
Precision
39
70.2
34.1
Endurance
46
82.8
39.5
Focus
48
86.4
29.1
Soul
2
Base
Operative
Level Stress
Size
29
40.6
1.1
Density
101
141.4
0.8
Intensity
76
106.4
0.7
Pressure
27
37.8
0.5
Harmony
24
33.6
15.3
Adaptability
270
378
0.3
Nero already had a plan, and he was going to stick to it. He was going to throw one more star into his mind, then keep at least 5 levels between his confluence and his highest stat. Nero had a theory that his ability to handle having low-center levels was due to his high confluence in relation to his other stats. It was getting harder to handle having anything under 30% of his center since he started growing his stats. It may be a waste, but he didn’t want to end up like most people. Nick had told him that people usually started feeling like crap with anything under 50% in their center. Nero had once been down to around 12% and hadn’t felt too bad. He’d have to start putting some stars into his confluence if he wanted to get back to that.
But, for now, he needed to increase his mind stat. His level stress was high, but that was probably because of his pillar, and he planned on taking advantage of that. Without any more hesitation, he pushed his star into the mind stat.
As usual, he felt his mind expanding. The feeling of understanding was just as amazing as he remembered it being. It felt like he was capable of doing any Sodoku puzzle, dominating any quiz show, pointing out all the discrepancies between the Star Wars movie’s plot points. But the feeling faded all too quickly, and he returned to his usual level of faux-intelligence.
Mind
5
Base
Operative
Level Stress
Weight
32
64
0
Control
39
78
0
Field
36
72
0
Precision
55
110
0
Endurance
65
130
0
Focus
61
122
0
Nero looked at his numbers with pride. His operative levels were really getting up there. This had to be some kind of record for a level 12.
He spread out his psychic field, and felt it reach further than ever. It even felt more ‘full’. Compared to before, it seemed effortless to conceptualize what he was seeing. Instead of having to concentrate, he could just ‘know’ where everything was. Even the resolution was better, everything was clearer.
Nick said, “Nero, you should lighten your touch. You are broadcasting your position.”
Shaken out of his thoughts, Nero did as he was told. The world lost a little resolution, but he could still feel everything around him in a large bubble, he guessed it must be over 50ft wide now. He couldn’t affect everything at that distance, but he could still see it.
Nick said, “Good, but you’re going to have to work on your control. It’s amazing how fast you’ve grown, but you need to train hard in order to take advantage of your stats. Your skills are probably lagging.”
Nero offered Nick a glare, and said, “I’m not dealing with skills at the moment. I have enough problems just dealing with stats. I’ll look into those later… probably. I’ll just get better with practice.”
Holding up his hands in surrender, Nick replied, “Do what you want. I’m just saying that you are fumbling around like a child right now. You need control. Instead of just closing off your field to hide, you need to learn how to use your psychic field while still keeping yourself hidden. It’s not an all or nothing proposition.”
Nero nodded, and was about to reply when their conversation was interrupted by Rose.
“Did you really level again? That’s like 2 levels in less than a week. What are you now?” she asked in wonder.
Nero offered her a smirk and said, “I’m level 12. Don’t worry about it. I just level fast.”
Rose seemed too shocked to be offended, or jealous.
Just then, Sergeant Wesker walked up and said, “All right, Walker it’s time for your first watch with Averett. Wake us in 4 hours, then you can get some rest. Congrats on your level. Try not to let anything eat us while we sleep.” With that delightful pep-talk, the man crawled into his sleeping bag, then laid his shield over his chest.
Nero chuckled, but stood up to take over the watch. Nick and Rose gave him a nod, then went to their respective sleeping bags. For a moment, he wondered why they weren’t using tents. Then he remembered the sergeant ordering them to just use their sleeping bags since the weather was clear. Nero’s memory seemed a little fuzzy, he really hadn’t been paying attention for the past few hours. He really needed to up his game.
Turning away from the fire, Nero looked into the dark forest and spread out his field to monitor for any threats. He was ready to face the horrors once more, and this time he wouldn’t flinch. There was nothing here he couldn’t handle. At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.