We sit down around eleven in the morning and clear out a small grove for our midday meal. All of the fighting has really worked up an appetite, and Jackie soon after confirms my suspicions. In addition to speeding up the body’s natural healing rate, it also accelerates the target’s metabolism, with all of the predictable consequences that follow. I pull out a few pieces of leftover jerky from the morning to share with Chloe while we wait for the day’s lunchtime MRE to start heating up.

Today’s entree is a chicken and cheese enchilada coated in red sauce. I don’t know if I just got unlucky with yesterday’s selection, if I cooked it wrong the last time, or if I’m just that damned ravenous and don’t mind that I’m chowing down on the culinary equivalent of garbage. It’s absolutely heavenly after the battle, and I have to force myself to slow down a time or two lest I choke and earn Chloe’s ire yet again for being so reckless. The grape-flavored water is a perfect complement to the meal, and within ten minutes, I’ve licked the whole tray clean and dug into my spare pieces of hardtack for more.

Nicholas is the one to speak. “Now then, Sera, Chloe, since you two are both new here, you may not be fully aware of how these work. As our lieutenant and the squad’s [Tactician], I will facilitate these meetings after every engagement. Our goal here is not to assign blame or fault for anything that happened in the past. These reviews are designed to inform you and all of us about our capabilities, things we did well, and how we can improve going forward. Sera, if you would like to start us off.”

“My biggest flaw was that I was insufficiently prepared for such a creature. My strength is that my skill-set is flexible and adaptable, able to use different glyphs and craft new weapons and tools as the situation demands. However, if I’m caught off-guard against an enemy that can render my current preparations irrelevant, then I’m up shit creek without a paddle.

“This ties into the second weakness that I made. When I modified my [Simple Blowgun] into a [Simple Lightning Blowgun] the night before yesterday, I gained a massive amount of power, power that I desperately needed to overcome the foe I faced. However, that came at the cost of more flexibility. Today’s encounter was the first against a creature that was completely immune to an element, in this case, fire. And this rendered my backup weapon completely useless.”

“Oh for sure,” Anna chimes in. “I’ve faced one of those assholes before, and I wouldn’t have fared any better against it myself despite probably having half a dozen levels on both if you. If it’s weak to fire, I can burn it, but I’m about as one-trick as they come.”

“I’m not much better,” Alexey says. “I’m the leader and have the most experience working on these sorts of missions, but my class is all about hitting harder. That’s why it’s my responsibility to make sure that each of us has opportunities to gain experience. In that sense, Anna and I are the opposite of you, Sera. Real damn good at one thing, but lacking the flexibility when our power gets blunted. I gotta rely on all of you to do the things that I can’t.”

“Moving on,” Nicholas says. “I want to commend you on your quick thinking. And in a similar vein, I want to commend Chloe on handling her role in the fight spectacularly. The way she moved her barriers around was nothing short of remarkable.”

“I have to thank Sera for making me take advanced physics with her,” Chloe says. “That, and watching her when we fought a Razorfeather Eagle, I think it was called. Its direct attacks nearly shattered Sera’s [Barrier] effect, but the glancing blows bounced off without much to show for it.”

“Nasty assholes, those things are,” Lindsey says. “You got a good projectile weapon and you can hit ‘em clean between the eyes, they go down real quick. But if you don’t, they’ll just keep diving down on you until you’re a pile of fileted meat. Good work taking it down, especially if it had gotten within the city limits.”

“Far northern edge of town,” I say. “Not quite sure if it was in the legal city limits, nor whatever else the System considers the outer edge of the metropolitan area.”

“Still, good work,” Lindsey remarks. “Did the city and its people a service by eliminating the monster.”

“And got arrested and exiled for it.” Chloe says.

Alexey laughs. “That’s the way it always is. You do everything you can right, and the higher ups will always find a way to twist one regulation just right to screw your sorry ass. Generals come and go, presidents get voted in and out, and us poor enlistees doing the real work get the same shit no matter the boss. Might as well get used to it.”

All of the others nod in reluctant agreement. I’m forced to laugh, feeling a bond forming with all the others who understand my mindset on authority and getting screwed over by it. Chloe doesn’t seem to fully understand, but she doesn’t speak up regarding any objections she may still harbor.

“Anyway,” Nicholas adds, “Impressive display of impromptu crafting under hazardous circumstances. However, I do agree with your assessment that being better prepared will go a long way toward ensuring the mistakes made today will not be repeated. Is there any reason why you don’t enchant your bullets instead of your weapon?”

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“They’re too small for me to etch onto them. Even if I got my [Basic Glyph Manipulation] skill high enough to manipulate them, there would be the time cost associated, which isn’t negligible. The worst part is that my [Ether Bullets] aren’t fully stable. They last at most three to five days, and tend to last for less time the more I’ve made. Probably feeding off my Skill somehow.”

“Can you use regular bullets?”

“Cost and availability would be the big factors there. I didn’t grow up wealthy, and there’s not exactly groups of vendors lining up to sell ammunition and handguns to a girl who just turned eighteen.”

“That can be arranged,” Alexey says. “As long as you’re working with us, you’re under the auspices of the ranger division of the U.S. Army, and we can see to it that you have an appropriate weapon and supply of ammunition. Hell, it’ll probably be a fairly easy procurement, considering how useless they are against everything over about level 5.”

“What about sharing that knowledge of glyph scribing with others?” Nicholas asks. “If we can train others in the art–”

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I don’t feel comfortable sharing that information more broadly. I don’t mind fighting myself or creating weapons for this small group, but I don’t want this information getting out more broadly. Because anything developed by the military in this country eventually ends up in the hands of law enforcement, to be used against the people. I know you mean well and all, but I’ve watched families in my neighborhood have to deal with SWAT raids in the early morning and the middle of the night. I don’t want to give the cops even more of that kind of power, especially while we’re still in martial law.”

Chloe looks straight at me with concern. Lindsey looks away. Anna stares out into space. Nicholas furrows his brows. Brent shakes his head, and Jackie gives me The Look. But Alexey is just nodding along with every word I say.

“I follow you, Sera. I wouldn’t want to give those KGB bastards the time of day if I could help it, let alone load the gun that they’ll hold at my head.”

“Sera,” Jackie says in a biting tone. “You need to–”

“Let. It. Go,” Alexey says. “She’s not the one who killed Jordan, nor does she hold any blame for it. If you need to take time off rotation to properly grieve, we can discuss that when we make it back to the city. But antagonizing an ally in this war against these goddamned monsters is only going to ensure that we’re going to have that many more casualties in the weeks and months to come.”

“But, Alexey, Sir–! Sera–”

Jackie lunges toward me and I activate my [Barrier]. Before she can reach me, Alexey darts up so fast my eyes can barely track him. He grabs the arm she’s already thrown back, which glows slightly with the characteristic blue wisps of [Ether] being expelled. Jackie struggles against his grip for a few seconds before exhaling and shaking her head.

“Why?”

“She’s got her own reasons for fighting, just as we all do. In case you’ve forgotten, we don’t exactly have the luxury of only accepting regular enlistees who go through full training regimens, swear their oaths, and all that good stuff. If you need to go punch a few monsters to vent off your aggression, then take your leave and be ready to depart in an hour sharp.”

“Tsk.” Jackie shakes her head as she turns around and off into the woods.

Alexey walks back to his seat and sighs. “Please try not to be too upset with her. She lost her partner the day after the System arrived. She tries to push herself past her grief, but the wounds are still raw.”

I nod. “Lost my mother to bandits who broke into our house the night the System arrived myself. We weren’t exactly close, but… Guess all of this trying to push myself to get stronger is part of how I’m trying to cope with the loss in my own way.”

“I get you. Sera, we all got demons in our closets and we all gotta deal with them in our own way. I’m no [Therapist] and I won’t claim I know how you feel, but don’t go rushing to throw your life away in guilt. You can’t do anything to move forward if you’re dead.”

“I understand, Alexey,” I say. “Should we go ahead and finish the after-action report in the interim?”

“I don’t have much to say, myself,” he says. “Chloe, we’ll need to get you better trained with some sort of way to defend yourself. You did well to keep yourself alive out there, but I could tell you weren’t going to last much longer. Sera, I know you aren’t keen on helping the military more broadly, but I take it you’d be willing to build something for your friend?”

“Of course. I crafted the wand for her, but I can do better work with the knowledge I have now. We’ll need better gear and materials though, which means dungeons.”

“There is a dungeon about a day’s march to the northwest of here, though it may have shifted with the new world modifications. Normally, we’d not bother delving into something dangerous if it’s far from civilization and not likely to cause immediate harm to any civilians. Even considering your abilities and the potential gains, I’m not keen on the idea myself. Too much risk, too much opportunity cost.”

“I understand,” I say. They are trying to keep the monsters from encroaching upon the city more than anything. And we’re hardly equipped to venture within, as much as I hate admitting my powerlessness.

“Alright,” Lindsey says. “I’m going to scout out the next portion of our path. I’ll report back in forty minutes if I don’t see anything, and sooner if I do.”

“Be careful out there,” Alexey responds. “‘No unnecessary risks’ goes for all of us.”

Lindsey nods before disappearing into a blur. All in all, even taking into consideration my tensions with Jackie, this group is starting to grow on me. Still, it’s going to be a long rest of the five days before I can enjoy the beautiful comforts that come from sitting upon a porcelain throne once more.