“AP management is becoming a chore rapidly. It seems like at the moment, most of my AP is completely irreplaceable. Granted, the volume of AP I have is greater than Adelyn, but I must find ways to game the system to get me some extra AP naturally.”

- Excerpt from Lieutenant Hans Hoffman’s Journal Entries.

+++

+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

Ygeian Countryside

AUG 22, 1538 CE

Hans heard a muffled yelp come from Alizée.

“Is she fine over there?” He asked as he positioned his mech rapidly into the firing position he chose. Already, he had activated ‘UPG: Eye of Paranoia’ ever since they entered combat operations. En route to Fort Elmo, Hans and Adelyn found themselves suddenly cut off by the presence of hostile monsters attacking them.

“Not really,” came the answer from Adelyn. Her mech was trailing Hans’ Wanderfalke close from behind. It was dark at night, the rough road and the thick forested foliage masking their movements well. But in the darkness, Hans could see on his camera the warm bodies of the monsters attacking them. “She seems uncomfortable. She told me that she feels like we’re in danger.”

“There’s no demons here,” Hans said, as he looked left and right at the cameras, his mech continuing its cruise rapidly through the dirt road. “We’ll be fine.”

“I know,” suddenly, behind him, Adelyn’s mech stopped, as her heavy machine guns opened fire in the darkness. Hans stopped his mech and turned his turret to his rear, the legs of his Wanderfalke stopping and creating deep marks on the soil as he stopped. “Hostiles on my left!”

“Copy, covering you!” Hans said as he took aim at these bull-like creatures that had a reinforced horned head. They also seemed more buff, and heavier, and their bodies seemed to have these blackened plate-like armor. The group of bulls raced on the dark forest, charging straight to Adelyn’s mech as she sprayed her bullets at them.

Crap, they might get her.

He pulled the trigger. One after another, his bullets struck the racing monsters. Unfortunately, a lot of his bullets began missing, or they struck its heavy armor—armor that somehow resisted his gunfire. Hans tightened his hold on his controls, as he tried to lead his shots better. He sprayed a few more at one of them, hitting its legs and causing it to tumble and slide on the rough soil brutally.

Adelyn, sensing danger in her position as the rest of the monsters reached her, jumped out of the area with a surge of power on her mech’s legs. Due to the speed and momentum of the monsters, they weren’t able to turn and redirect their charge to her, causing many to slam straight into thick trees on the other side of the road.

Hans winced as he saw the old, thick, and supposed to be durable trees simply crack from the power of their charge, with one completely collapsing on the road. The two however finally gained the upper hand. The monsters, completely disoriented by their impacts, were unable to react much when Hans and Adelyn jumped them from behind with their focused gunfire.

The rear of the monsters was unarmored, and their bullets slammed into it easily, killing them into a bloody mess when Hans and Adelyn decided that each of them should receive a dozen bullets on their asses.

[4 HARD BULLS (AVERAGE LVL. 28) LIQUIDATED!]

[LEVEL UP! NOW LVL. 27]

[PROGRESS TO LVL. 28: 15%]

[AVAILABLE AP: 380 PTS]

“Clear! Alright, cease fire!”

“Copy,” Hans said, as he let go of his controls. “Damn, what the hell are these things?”

“Hard bulls?” Adelyn muttered over the comms, clearly bewildered. “I guess…that’s weird. These things are weird. Free level progress points though, so I’m not complaining.”

“I used up nearly two hundred forty machine gun rounds ever since we started this fight earlier,” Hans said. “I am quite a bit annoyed.”

“Well, fighting tends to do that. I expended three hundred rounds. Mostly just by firing wildly at the darkness.”

“We really have to control our usage of bullets,” Hans said. “Even with the arcane autofabricator, we’re still strapped low on AP. Would be bad if we ran out in an emergency.”

“Yeah,” Adelny’s mech drove forward to the corpses of the downed “Hard Bulls”, almost as if she was inspecting them. “I think I’m kinda hungry.”

At that, Hans suddenly laughed.

“Being the main target tends to do that.”

“It’s unfair! Why’d they target me more than you? I swear, you must be cheating or something.”

“Not my fault that you’re a juicier target, Captain.”

“I am not!”

“Well, those ‘Hard Bulls’ seem to disagree,” Hans relaxed in his seat. “But yeah, I guess I’m kinda hungry too. Up for a pit stop?”

“Yeah…I think Alizée’s the same too,” Adelyn replied. “Yeah, sure, let’s take a pit stop for now. And have some chow.”

“Sure, Captain,” Hans said, giving the area a quick scan with his turret. “Yeah, it seems like it’s safer now. Let’s find a place to camp.”

+++

Their Wanderpanzers were now parked on the side of the road. They had driven a few kilometers forward to avoid any further packs of the beast, and finally, took camp in this area.

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Alizée now sat on one of the logs, as Hans tried to keep the fire he started in the middle of their motley camp. On the other hand, Adelyn was heating up three MRE packs beside the campfire.

“There, that should be good,” Hans said, as he stepped away a bit. “Helps to have proper light.”

He turned off the flashlight that he used, as he didn’t really want to run out of batteries quickly. Alizée, watching the fire, smiled a bit as she raised her hand close to the campfire to feel the warmth.

That’s cute, Hans thought. Hmm, I guess for a kid it’s already kinda cold at this point.

“You know,” Adelyn sat beside Alizée on the log. “They said this route was supposed to be clear of infestations by monsters, right?”

“That’s what they said,” Hans said, eyeing the fire. “Doesn’t mean it’s reality.”

“I don’t know,” Adelyn placed her hand on her chin, thoughtful. “Seems to me that those creatures wanted us badly. That seems weird. I mean, why would those ‘bull’ things want to kill us? Predation? Territorial protection? What really was their motive? I don’t get it. It doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Well, apologies, but I don’t understand ‘Hard Bull’ language, Captain,” Hans grinned as he looked at her. “Maybe you should ask their corpses.”

Adelyn crossed her arms.

“Oh yeah? You’re gonna keep pushing with that?” Adelyn asked. “You know, you’re becoming meaner and meaner to me as time goes on.”

“Pfft, who the hell uses ‘mean’ at that age?”

“Why is there an age limit to words now?!” Adelyn’s eyes widened. “That’s ridiculous. And silly. Plus, I am free to speak and use any words I like with impunity. I don’t get to be restricted, I’m the one who restricts!”

Yeah, sure, lady. I’d be laughing if a guy’s that edgy to me.

“Hey, Alizée,” Hans called. Alizée looked at Hans. “I got a question for you, kid.”

“Yes, Sir Hans?”

“That woman beside you,” Hans said, and Adelyn interjected.

“Your superior officer, you jerk!”

“Yeah, she’s a bit childish isn’t she?” Hans asked.

Adelyn giggled.

“She likes sweets too much!”

“What, no. What, it’s a crime for an adult now?” Adelyn asked as she looked at Alizée. She raised her finger, almost scolding her as she shook it a bit. “Kiddo, I bet you’d love sweets too even when you grow old. It’s not child-like. Get it?”

“But mother and father rarely ate sweets,” Adelyn looked at the sky, swinging her feet a bit as she leaned back. “They always only give it to me.”

“What’d she say?” Hans asked.

“No idea,” Adelyn answered as she looked at Alizée curiously.

“Ah, actually,” Hans backtracked, seeing an opportunity. “I know what she said. She did say, ‘but’, which means she’s saying I’m right and you’re wrong.”

“You’re weaponizing translation issues! Lieutenant, how far will you stoop just to make fun of me?”

“I can understand her just fine,” Hans joked, tapping his head with his finger. “I win.”

Adelyn glared at him, as she closed her eyes, clenching her fist in faux anger.

“Alright, I see then Lieutenant. You got the girl’s favor for now. I’ll have you know, that advantage is fleeting. She’ll like me more by tomorrow. You’re playing a game that you’ll lose.”

“Heh, I found her first, so she obviously prefers me more,” Hans grinned.

Adelyn on the other hand just smiled with a twinge of pain as she backed a bit, completely in denial.

“She likes me more, you meanie.”

“Words of propaganda.”

“I'm hungry!” Alizée broke the discussion between the two as she nursed her belly. “I demand food!”

The two looked at the girl for a second, their back-and-forth ending. Then, Adelyn and Hans looked at each other, as they both smiled uncontrollably, the same words coming out of their mouths.

“She’s so cute!”

+++

“Thanks for the food!” Alizée cheerfully said as she finished her meal, placing her plastic spoon on the MRE pouch. Adelyn smiled beside her and gave Alizée a pat.

“Good, you ate it all!” Adelyn said. “No worries. Tomorrow, we’ll stop by a town and get some actual food.”

“Real food?” Alizée’s eyes shined.

“Yes, real food!” Adelyn replied as Alizée made a “yay” sound. Hans merely shook his head as he watched the two from the side, still busy munching on his share.

Crap, she’s fast. Hans took another spoonful of his food, as Adelyn gave Hans a side-eye, a competitive glint coming off from her eyes. I can’t lose. I never lose. No, wait, I still have my options. I might have to use the tactical chocolate soon, but if I have to…

Alizée suddenly stopped relishing Adelyn’s gentle headpats, as the girl visibly stiffened. Her eyes narrowed, as she became visibly guarded of their surroundings. Naturally, that alerted Hans, as his ears and eyes began scanning the surroundings for anything that might be a threat to them.

Already, his hands grew dangerously close to the SMG slung on his body.

“Alizée?” Adelyn cautiously asked. “Is anything wrong?”

“Bad,” Alizée muttered, as she left her seat, and stood up. “Bad guys.”

Immediately, Adelyn ordered Hans to check things, and Hans followed her order by dropping his MRE to the side and checking their surroundings again. Even Adelyn stopped and flicked the safety of her rifle off.

“Alright, you two,” Hans said, as he walked straight into the road, while Adelyn and Alizée looked around. “Get back to your vehicle now. Right now. Immediately.”

“Yeah,” Adelyn said, aiming her gun at their rear. “Alizée, get back inside. I’ll be following you.”

Alizée complied, following Hans, with Adelyn walking backward, keeping her eyes trained on their rear, while Hans cleared the area where their vehicles were parked. Suddenly, from the darkness, a night wolf appeared and pounced straight in Hans’ direction. His life flashed before him, as the wolf’s massive body fell rapidly in his direction.

Dead…again?

But before he could even dodge or train his gun on it, a bright pink flash of light sliced through the creature’s body, illuminating the darkness for but a brief second. The wolf didn’t even have a chance to react to it, as its neck completely disintegrated, separating its body from its head.

Hans immediately turned around, seeing Alizée, her eyes widened and her hands were still aimed at the creature. He tackled her to the ground as the head of the creature flew past above them, doing his best to shield her from impact by turning around, his shoulders hitting the dirt.

“Alizée!” Hans shouted as the girl looked down at him. “You okay?”

“Um, Sir Hans?” the girl spluttered. “Ahh! Sorry! You’re hurt because of me again…”

“What?” That was when Hans felt the searing pain on his shoulder. “Oww, goddamnit, pfft…did I hit a damned splinter or something.”

He pulled himself up as he winced, while Alizée separated himself from him, all while keeping her hands close to her chest. Hans checked his shoulder a bit, already half worried that he may have dislocated something from the impact.

Goddess, that was very reckless of me. He looked at a boulder that was near his impact sight. He could already imagine a different scenario where he bashed his head flat into it by mistake. Ouch.

“Lieutenant,” Adelyn spoke behind them. The two looked up at her. Adelyn’s eyes were extremely surprised, as she turned her head to Alizée. “She…she just killed that thing. With one magical attack. Again. Like…like what she did to the tentacled eel. Last time.”

Hans looked at Alizée, who just smiled awkwardly.

“Did I do anything wrong?” She asked awkwardly, hiding the hand she used to fire her magic.