Thursday, April 4th, 2069
“Why are we passing all of these Mana signatures?” Smegma asked, sounding aghast. “It’s really inefficient to drive by Portals.”
Since it was practically pre-dawn, I wasn’t really in the mood for much conversation, and neither was my father, as evidenced by his white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel. After a long pull on my coffee, I blearily checked where we were in the city by gazing out the window.
Mid-town?
Blinking, the buildings came more into focus and I found the Steel Stadium sitting in a mostly abandoned section of the city. Smegma was staring at it and then at me, waiting for an answer.
[It’s a Monster Field,] I answered, my mental voice sounding half asleep even to me.
“What in the actual husk is a Monster Field, dumb-dumb,” Smegma retorted instantly.
The question woke me up. I was operating under the assumption that Smegma was Summoned here from a planet that was at least somewhat similar to Earth. Seeing that Smegma’s knowledge and even what his Sect sold was leagues ahead of Earth, I’d also assumed that his planet was further along in the process then we were. Whenever I brought up Crendalar Five, Smegma changed the subject though, so it was tough to be sure. How though, would he not know what a Monster Field was then?
[A Monster Field is an area that surrounds a Portal that has no clear conditions—] I began.
“Every Portal has a clear condition for closing. I’m starting to think that calling you stupid is unfair to the human race…” Smegma stated over the top of my explanation. “It’s looking like the problem is genetic and generalized to your entire species, if this is ‘common knowledge’ among your kind.”
[Shall I finish?] I asked. Smegma spun a taloned finger in a gesture that likely meant ‘keep going’. [When we’ve conquered a Portal’s boss multiple times and it still won’t close, we erect a Monster Field, also more simply known as a ‘Field’ around it. Then when the Portal begins allowing the monsters to come out, they are contained. Fields then allows Hunters to enter and capture monsters. Hunters are paid bounties for each monster killed, and they can sell the corpses or materials on site, as well.]
“While that sounds sensible. You know that Portals grow stronger the longer they stay open, right?” Smegma asked, but more told me.
I looked at the Steel Stadium and nodded. [We’re aware that the creatures are going up in strength, yes. But I don’t think they’ve ranked up?]
“They will in time. Even just knowing that they’re getting stronger is a bad sign. Your race is fine with that?” Smegma asked incredulously.
[I already told you we haven’t found a way to close those Portals yet and Permanent Portals are pretty rare…]
I scanned the other direction to the Detroit River. It was behind a few houses, and a massive ten-meter-thick wall, but I wasn’t really looking at it. I was looking behind it to the city of Detroit. It was one of the largest ‘Fields’ on the planet. In truth, it had likely been at least five years since someone had entered the Mid-Rank Portal that started the field. Maybe longer.
I was pretty sure a few more permanent Portals had even sprung up since…That or some new Portals have had breaks because of Humanity’s limited access.
Smegma followed my gaze and his dark black eyes widened. “There’s multiple Dungeons in that direction. Are you telling me that you idiots left them all to grow?”
I didn’t bother responding. The massive ten-meter-high wall should be answer enough. Plus, Smegma’s tone was curdling the milk I’d drank this morning in my stomach. I took another sip of my black coffee, hoping it would beat the grumble into submission.
It wasn’t like I made the decision or even had a say in things of that magnitude. Still, maybe with—
My dad made a left turn which surprised me. Startled, I asked, “Wait, are we going to the Field of Detroit?”
“Yes, we’re meeting the teams at the wall and then convoying to one of three cleared Dungeons,” my father answered sleepily. He yawned, and a moment later I did too. He smiled at me when I did so, likely finding the contagiousness of yawns amusing. “Don’t worry. We’re being escorted by the Snowbird and Lynx Guilds.”
My eyes widened at the names of Windsor's two largest Guilds. Still, in the time it took for him to answer, the Wall had already grown larger. Smegma was eyeing my father with a suspicious narrowing of his eyes.
“Is he trying to reassure you, or himself?” he asked after a moment.
[Both,] I responded. [He always says there’s a reason Miners get danger pay.]
“And the other Miners only have a Mana Pool too? No other Skills to go along with it?” Smegma asked cautiously.
[That’s the most common Awakening gift, yes, but a few of them could have a different Skill and no Mana Pool beside it.]
“It seems that the System is acting differently upon your world than it did on mine in more ways than just the cards,” Smegma said as he jumped onto the dash and phased his head through the windshield for a better view of the Wall.
[On Crendalar Five you mean?] I asked mentally hoping he might be willing to share more this time.
After a few moments of silence, I realized he was acting as though he couldn’t hear me with his head outside of the car. I wasn’t exactly a hundred percent sure that wasn’t how mental communication worked, but I was somewhat confident that he’d heard the question.
My father pulled into a parking lot that I hadn’t noticed, but should have. While a parking lot was nothing to make note of, the massive military vehicles inside of it were. It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen the things before, at least on television, but to see this many together and with my own eyes, should have immediately gotten my attention.
In high school we had a history class that covered the World Wars and advancement of military technology. Still, the jump the technology made since the Advent of the Portals, Monsters and Mana was more akin to a quantum leap than a steadily achieved advancement.
The wheels alone on the vehicles were easily four times the size of my dad’s Ford Escort. Four times bigger than the entire car, not bigger than our car's tires. They also were made from Monster Materials that would help to prevent punctures and promote traction over almost all terrains. That was just the start when it came to the new technologies. The ‘metal’ or ‘rock’ on the exterior didn’t gleam or shine in the rising morning sun. No, it actively seemed to take the sunlight and convert it into shadows which wreathed the vehicle in a seemingly dark cloud.
My first-year class on Portal Materials with Miss Chavez discussed a few of the extraterrestrial metals, and I guessed that this one I was seeing was Necrograph, a ‘metal’ whose composition was more similar to diamond and coal than it was to metals from the periodic table. Some argued it wasn’t even a metal at all and that it was more of a rock, but regardless, someone had discovered how to shape it and it was now used as armoring and protection for vehicles. No Hunters used the stuff for armor though. It was simply too heavy and dense.
Though, considering the nature and ranks of Skills, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone out there, like Gamonji, had the sheer passive Strength to lug around armor made from the stuff. That got me thinking about what Smegma had said about Passive Skills being more abundant than active ones as well as his comment on how the ‘System’ worked differently on our planet. I immediately understood that his people probably didn’t merely get only one Skill Card, or that they had some way of easily accessing more—perhaps through this Shop of theirs.
Regardless, since humans rarely Awakened with more than one Skill, it made me think that, at least initially, the best possible first Skill for a single Skilled-human, as things stood—would be to gain a passive Skill. It completely bypassed the problem of either needing a Mana Pool to activate an active Skill, or needing a secondary active Skill to utilize the Mana inside your ownMana Pools.
Were there more people out there with such Skills, given that Smegma said they were more common, or were they merely more common for Demons than they were for humans? I couldn’t help coming back to the thought of some Superheroesque jacked physique of a man with a high-ranked passive Skill increasing his Strength Stat just walking through a hail of bullets, wrapped head to toe in Necrograph.
I returned to studying the vehicles with a childish smile at my daydream. The varying densities along with the new properties of these new ‘metals’ was another reason for our planet’s technological leap, however this one was in Engines. Fossil fuels were still used by common people like my family, but Mana Engines that could run off Mana Crystals were the height of wealth and power. These monstrous military vehicles could only be powered by one of them. Nothing else could move the several hundred tons of military-grade, mobile destruction.
Smegma landed on my shoulder as I exited the Ford’s passenger seat. It was strange, because despite knowing the Demonic Imp was there, this time I didn’t feel a shift in weight. I wondered if Smegma could just stand on the air if he chose to and just hadn’t ‘chosen’ too a few times in the past. My dad moved to the trunk and, after I took a quick count of the Military ATV’s, I joined him. Sixty-five of the huge vehicles idled in the shadow of the Wall.
“I don’t have a set of protective gear for you with me, or a pick. We’ll have to get you a loaner set from Mitch.” My dad’s voice was muffled as he pulled on an old highly worn leather chest piece. If I remembered correctly, it was made from Kobold hide, but thanks to massive dust and dirt build-up I couldn’t even make out the small scales I’d recalled that made up its surface.
After the chest, he strapped on thigh guards, stepped into knee pads, and tucked a pair of shin guards into his socks and under his stretchy jeans. He then reached back into the trunk and placed two small elbow guards into a helmet, grabbed his terribly worn pickaxe and hung the helmet strap over the spike. He motioned to a large cooler with his free hand. “Mind grabbing our lunches, Bro?”
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“Sure, bro.” I rolled my eyes but couldn’t stop the chuckle that escaped my throat.
My dad used to always call me Bro, until I grew old enough to hate it in elementary school. Mostly because I met a kid that called everyone bro, and the way that kid had made it sound was douchey, at best. Still, after many years of maturation, I found I didn’t mind it as much, since it also doubled as a short form for my name. I grabbed the cooler, and my dad used his free hand to close the hatchback.
We walked in the general direction of the ATVs as my father pulled out his cellphone and checked something. “ATV Forty-One is my crew’s transport. Mitch should be checking people in.”
We walked side by side as more cars came into the parking lot behind us. My father waved back to a few people that I didn’t know as we passed ATVs, crews, and administrative workers. The air was filled with the buzz of half a dozen ongoing conversations, all of which were too far away to make out more than a word from. I studied each ATV and the groups that were forming up beside them.
[Those are the Cleaners,] I mentally said to Smegma. He was staring at the same people I was, and I figured he might want an explanation.
“Cleaners?” Smegma asked.
[They butcher what’s left of the Monster Corpses for meats, skins, components, and reagents.]
“What about them?” Smegma asked while pointing a talon at a group of what looked like beekeepers.
I frowned, unsure myself. I pointed them out to my father, and asked, “What do they do?”
“Ahh, the Herbalists or Gardeners. You wouldn’t have seen the new uniforms, I guess. Remember a year ago I told you about that guy who died from a Dungeon insect bite?” At my nod my father continued. “Well, the insects only attack if you disturb them, and the only places the ones with stingers seem to congregate is in flora rich areas. So, using Widow silk the herbalists have created protective suits to prevent further casualties.”
“That clothing has to have about zero resistance against any Monster attacks,” Smegma commented in response. I nodded to my father first, conveying that I had been listening to him.
Mentally to Smegma I said, [The Monsters, other than the boss are supposed to already be dead. Plus, Hunters go in with the collection teams to make sure no mishaps occur.]
Smegma pointed at another group with an eye-roll at my answer. The people he pointed at made my steps hitch. The air suddenly felt a bit colder as I examined the group. They all wore smiles and conversed jovially, but every single one gave off a palpable aura of something dangerous.
[Those are the Hunters from Lynx and their Mana Banks.] I mentally acknowledged.
“Those are the famous Hunters?” Smegma responded, sounding disappointed. I glanced at my shoulder where he rested and then back to the Hunters that all had a white stylized cat somewhere on their armor. I found them beyond impressive, but Smegma made it sound like they were barely worth his notice.
[Why are you frowning? What’s wrong with them?]
“Half of them don’t even have Mana Pools!” Smegma said, disgust clear in his voice. I turned back to study the group. The two to three people surrounding nearly each of the dangerous looking Hunters had kind of faded into the background on first inspection. Mana Banks. They were the ones with Mana Pools that those with powerful Skills could draw from in order to use their abilities. I knew that they were there, and until the incident with Morgan, I wanted nothing more than to be one of them. Now, with Smegma’s trade options? I wasn’t sure what my future goals would be.
First things first, I needed to see if Mining with my father was a reliable source for Mana Coins. My father made a small adjustment to our path, and I followed along, scanning in front of me to see the reason. Sure enough, a piece of bristle board was nailed onto plywood and staked into the ground. It read ‘forty-two’.
We still had a few hundred meters of walking, so I asked a question of Smegma. [How exactly do you expect them to gain a Mana Pool? They Awakened with what they got and are making the most of it.]
“What? Monsters drop Card Shards. Portals reward full Cards on clears. Not to mention simply killing others with Powers and pulling the Skills from their chest?” Smegma retorted. He was using a voice that I associated with an owner speaking with a pet. I didn’t like the condescension that came with his words.
[We get Monster Cores as monster drops, and after a Portal closes there is a Portal Core,] I responded mentally matching his tone. [The part about pulling Skills from other human’s sounds exactly like what Morgan was doing and I just heard of the existence of these ‘Snatchers’ because he attacked me—so I don’t think it’s exactly common!]
Smegma’s earlier comments, as well as his confusion toward humanities’ issue of Awakening with only a singular Skill and never gaining more were beginning to make sense. His people didn’t necessarily start with multiple Skills—their Portals gave them access to them. No wonder they could build a whole economy on the buying and selling of those Skill Cards.
Smegma jumped off my shoulder and then hovered right in front of me with flapping wings to stare me in my eyes.
“What?! I just assumed a pathetic moral compass was the only thing stopping you from killing someone and taking their Skill and Morgan Hallsbrad had risen above it,” he said incredulously. “Show me one of these ‘Cores’.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me?” I said aloud, and immediately realized my mistake. My father turned to regard me as we kept moving and I pointed to a woman on the edge of the group. “Sorry, I haven’t seen Aunt Willa in ages. Mind if I go say hi?”
“Not at all,” my dad said with a huge smile. “I’ll talk to Mitch and get you a loaner set of gear for the week. After that you should have enough wages to buy one if you aren’t going back to school.”
His tone said that I would be going back to school, but I appreciated him at least allowing for the possibility of me choosing not to.
I nodded and rushed off. As I jogged, I responded to Smegma hotly, [There’s no way someone like me would have a Core! Do you think I moonlight as a Monster killer in my down time?]
“Okay, but we’re about to enter a Dungeon with Monster corpses, right? Is there not a way you can get close to one, even for a moment. I want to see these Cores,” Smegma countered.
[I said the Cleaners butcher what’s left of the Monsters. The Cores have so much value that the Hunters rip them out on the spot!]
“Valuable how?” Smegma asked, sounding sincere. That tracked, what with him being a merchant and all.
[Well from my understanding, crafters use them to create weapons and armors with Skills or effects built into them. With proper Enchantments some can even be used as Mana Batteries, but good quality ones are very rare and Hunters won’t use bad quality ones in case they break. Umm, there’s probably more things you can do with them, but I’ve never really looked heavily into it. In any case a Core of an F-rank monster starts at twenty-five hundred dollars.]
“So, the Cores impart Skills to the crafted gear or weapons?” Smegma said while tapping a talon on his fangs. “It sounds like they are similar to the Cards of my world…”
“There is no way that be, Brodie!” Willa shouted as she first stopped and assessed, then recognized me jogging toward her.
I hadn’t seen her in about five years, and so wasn’t surprised that it took her a minute to recognize me. However, I looked enough like my father at this point that it probably wasn’t too hard to piece together.
“I heard you were joinin’ us mole rats today, kid. How are you feelin’?” Willa said as she pulled me into a very tight embrace.
Willa was muscular even if compared to any man present. She had dark olive skin, with black hair and brown eyes. She used to come over to my house for dinners but since she now had small children of her own, she hadn’t made the trip in a long while. Still her tone conveyed that my father was still very close with her. Close enough to disclose the circumstances around my presence today.
I smiled at her concern and then said, “My dad has probably made it out to be worse than it is. I’m spending more time consoling my mom and him than I am about worrying over myself. I’m sure, I’m not one hundred percent over it, but I’m feeling better than people think I should. If that makes sense.”
She pulled me into another hug, and whispered, “We all handle stuff like this in our own ways. It’s like a roller coaster, though, and just because you’re okay right now doesn't mean you will be tomorrow. If it gets bad, just make sure you talk to Gary or Clara. Obviously your parents care about you. You can even call me. Don’t think that I didn’t notice that ain’t callin’ anymore.”
I pushed her off with a smile, as she tried to kiss my cheek affectionately.
“Eww gross!” I mocked even as she tried a bit harder to land a third kiss. She was stronger than me and managed to shower me with at least ten kisses before I fended her off.
“You used to love Aunty Willa kisses, kid,” she jested, as she lightly punched my arm. I made a show of wiping the slobber from my cheeks. She made a hurt face and the attack resumed.
It felt good to laugh with someone who took me at my word. While it had only been a day of my parents walking on eggshells around me, it was already getting old. My laughter died as Smegma made a wet raspberry sound while ‘kissing’ my cheek.
I froze and stared at the Demon-Imp, wide-eyed. [What the husk, dude?]
“Ahh, sorry I couldn’t figure out the significance or humor of the action. Plus are the noises necessary?” Smegma asked as he eyed Willa skeptically.
Willa in turn was looking at me. I realized I must look like I was staring off into empty air. With a shocked expression, I pointed at the Hunters. They were a little off from my field of vision, but I was sure that would be hard to discern for Willa.
“Are those the Lynx’s?”
“You know damn well they are,” Smegma shouted.
“Yep, they had an excellent draft year!” Willa answered, pointing out a few individuals that looked like they were either in newer armor or better kept ones. “That’s Zerker and that there is Flash. From the rumors, they’ll likely be A-ranks once the first-year assessments are finished.”
“What, really?” I said, not having to feign my interest.
“I shit you not. They’re one of the reasons that the Lynx Guild is tacklin’ the Detroit Field again. Supposed to be that both of them Awakened with two or more Skills.”
“Why would she ‘shit’ you, to begin with?” Smegma asked, looking confused. Then he looked over to the two hunters Willa was indicating. “They don’t look like much and they have those stupid Banks with them,” Smegma said, and then flew off in their direction. I hoped he was just going for a closer look. Still, he soon popped back into a position beside me. I glanced at him but tried not to stare, due to Willa. “They’re farther than a hundred yards,” Smegma explained sheepishly.
I almost burst out laughing at the shame in his voice. My dad walking over while carrying a rucksack with a Mining pick attached allowed my chuckling to go mostly unnoticed. Willa still gave me a side-eyed look, but I ignored it.
“Get this on and load up,” my dad said.
He held the bag out to me, and I quickly pulled out the ancient looking armor within. Clouds of dust formed above the bag as dust fell off each piece. Smegma sneezed a few times as he tried to get a closer look inside the bag.
I wondered how dust could affect him but not things like walls or physics, but then dismissed it. It wasn’t like it mattered. My dad and Willa helped me put on the patched gear, working together to understand straps that seemed to have been done away with on newer iterations. It only took a few minutes before I had everything but the helmet and elbow guards on. By the time they were done, the dust had mixed with my sweat and began coating my skin.
“Good you’ll fit in better with a bit of mud on your face,” Willa stated with a wide smile.
“Maybe a bit more will help,” my dad added, and then reached back into the bag before blowing on his hand. He didn’t direct the dust toward me, but instead emphasized just how much there was. “We’re storing bags and lunches in the fifth bulkhead,” my dad added with a gesture toward our lunches and the large, opened storage bin on the side of the ATV.
“You ready for this, squirt?” Willa asked, grabbing the dust filled bag and her own far smaller lunchbox.
I shook my head as I followed her and my dad up the drop ramp. “Probably not, but it’s what I signed up for, right?”
She punched me in the arm with a bright smile. “There’s the spirit.”
The ramp lifted up as the last of the Mining crew and protective detail boarded the massive vehicle, eventually cutting off the sunlight and the view of the remaining battle-ready Hunters outside.