“Lance, where is your report on the new arrivals?” Veronica asked
They were in her office on the top floor of the wall. Veronica was the division head of Nineteen, twenty, and twenty-one. She was essentially Lance’s Boss.
“Right here Ma am.” Lance said, handing her a small packet.
He, Stubby, Picard and Kathy sat on one side of the conference table while Veronica and her assistant Keith sat on the other. She perused the list before looking up.
“Most of these are convicts, correct?” She asked
“Yes ma am.” Picard answered
“What of these five stowaways?”
Seth Ravensword
Age: 26
Region II
Matrix Glitch
Class: tank/Healer
Affinity: Light, Water
Level 39
Carl Stricklin
Age: 23
Region VII
Class: Ranger/ Rogue
Affinity: Dark, Void
Level 30
Atiyah Frostburch
Age: 25
Region II
Class: NA
Affinity: Ice, Water, Air
Fiz Wizzlesnipe
Age: 42
Region I
Class NA
Affinity: Lightning
Race: Half Gnome
Grace Stricklin
Age: 19
Region VII
Class: NA
Affinity: NA
“Two human males with matrices. One half gnome male with experience in magitech and dungeon core maintenance, One Ice Elf Princess, she was top of her class at the Magical Academy of Elvin Kind in region II. One human Female. She is the little sister of one of the matrix holders. She has no affinity, no combat experience. She does appear to be an adept alchemist and herbalist” Lance said
“Did I hear correctly? Did you perform a core replacement operation last night on one of these men?” Veronica asked
“Yes Ma am, the poor matrix was damaged by its prior owner, the young man’s grandfather. He was suffering from dementia, mana blockage, and an above average amount of sensory misfires. I do not know why no one ever treated him sooner. The poor boy had to attend the compound and was also a soldier in the regalian war, all with a malfunctioned matrix.” Kathy explained
“And this half gnome assisted you with the operation?”
“Yes, Mr. Wizzlesnipe is an absolute marvel. The amount of information he has with no formal training is impressive.” Kathy said
“We obviously cannot use the half gnome or the girl. They may be put to use within the wall. Kathy, would you like to take the half gnome under your wing?”
“Yes Ma am.” Kathy said happily
“Send the girl to the lab on floor five. Have Phillis test her and see if she can be put to use.”
“Yes Ma am.” Picard said
“Classify the other three.” Veronica said.
“Carl appears to be a ranger class with a subclass in rogue. He has an affinity for dark and void related energy. He is more than adequate with a bow and although I noticed he has daggers and a short sword equipped, I did not see him use them on the train. He appears to be fresh out of the compound” Picard said
“Miss Atiyah is a quick little elf. I would place her as a type of rogue or mage. She has a fair bit of mastery in air, water and ice magic. She used daggers primarily and was just wicked quick.” Stubby said
“From watching Seth, it is obvious that he attempted the tank route, but was unable to progress due to his matrix. His affinities are in light and water. It is odd that he does not have a holy affinity also. Normally if you have light then you also have holy or if you have dark then you also have void. He does not appear to have the holy aspect but he did change to a healer and served on the backlines during the war. His skill is there. He has had to overcompensate most of his life due to the matrix not working correctly. His brother, was one of the top of his class at the compound and received many honors for his service in the war. Their grandfather was even a Marquess at one point. It is obvious that the bloodline is formable and with a repaired matrix, he may grow into an excellent leader and an even more capable fighter” Lance said
“What about the rumors of his family? Did he really kill his brother?” Victoria asked
“He thinks he did. Reports are coming in that the brother survived. He is in critical condition, but all evidence points to a freak accident. His father overreacted and disowned Seth, which caused him to flee his home. The young princess appears to have been arranged to marry the older brother. She chose to flee with Seth, instead of staying by her betrothed's bedside. No one knows that they made it here. No one knows what really happened.” Lance said
"Did she leave the older brother for the younger brother?" Veronica asked
"I do not think so. They do not seem intimate. Just closed friends. Only time will tell however." Lance said
“Should we turn them in?” Veronica asked
“That would be a waste. Both have huge potential and are excited about the prospect of starting over. We all know how that feels. Seth is also now in our debt. We fixed his matrix. He will do what needs to be done. I think Atiyah will be equally in our debt once the POS are installed” Lance said
“What exactly did you do to his Matrix?”
“With Glitch talking through Seth, we were able to access the core socket. We did a deep clean and scrub to get rid of the residue left from the original core. We then tested each sensor and overlay and thankfully did not have to replace any as they were performing within parameters. We then installed the replacement core and did a final diagnosis and set up to make sure it was functioning correctly before performing the usual modifications that we do to all matrices that come here.” Kathy explained
“Where did you get a replacement core?” Veronica asked
“With the help of Mr. Wizzlesnipe, we were able to unlock some of the damaged matrices we had in storage. The ones we obtained after burying our fallen. One of them happened to have a core that was a match. I was not expecting anything to happen but, the gamble paid off. Glitch or Kelvin as he used to be called, is fully functional with no issues. He appears to be an Epsilon model from a long time ago. He may even be one of a kind. We do not know how combat will go, but as of now, Seth should be ready to begin training.” Kathy explained
“Do we have any other matrix users or capable fighters like Ms. Frostburch? With these three, we might be able to create another team to go forth with.” Veronica said
“We do.’ Lance said handing her another sheet
Austin McTrosslidge
Age: 30
Region: VIII
Matrix: Kay
Class: Monk/ Sorcerer
Affinity: Water, Ice, Nature
Level 45
Roberto Riddleston
Age: 33
Region: VIII
Matrix: Moe
Class: Duelist/ Sorcerer
Affinity: Water, Air, Nature
Level 47
James Straynabb
Age 33
Region: VIII
Matrix: Rune
Class: Boxer/ Sorcerer
Affinity: Earth, Sand, Nature
Level 47
Joshua Wrestleworth
Age: 55
Region: Regalia I
Matrix: NA
Class: Guard/ Warrior
Affinity: Earth, Fire, Lava
LevelL NA
Francesca Wrestleworth
Age: 23
Region: Regalia I
Matrix: NA
Class: Healer/ Mage
Affinity: Water, Nature, Light, Holy,
Level: NA
Jasmine Wrestleworth
Age: 24
Region: Regalia I
Matrix: NA
Class: Healer/ Rogue
Affinity: Dark, Void, Fire,
Level: NA
“Why are these men here?” Veronica asked
“They just walked up and asked to join.” Lance said
“Like walking up to the train?”
“Nope, They literally showed up a few days ago to this wall and asked to join up. They are locals from Region VIII. They went to the Compound Delta and fought in the war even.” Lance explained
“What do we think? Infiltrators?” Veronica asked
“No ma am. They were high as shit just trying to hangout and fight demons.” Lance said.
“Do you think it a good idea to have drug users with us fighting demons?” Veronica asked
“We confiscated their stash and made them spend 48 hours in the detox tank. Once they were lucid, they still wanted to fight. The hazing will weed them out if they are not serious.” Lance said nonchalantly.
“What about this family of Regalians?”
“Part of a refugee program the King is implementing. They serve three years and will be granted civilian status, housing, and a relocation allowance to whatever region they wish. Joshua is the two girls' father. Mother did not make the trip unfortunately.” Lance explained
“What happened to the mother?”” Veronica asked
“Demon attack near the coast. One of the passenger vessels was hit. Joshua and his wife, Clairese, were reported to have slain the beast. The Gridarnian guard assigned to protect them was not up to the task. It was a category four demon. Clairese was hurt and succumbed to her injuries three days later. The King’s personal aid came down and offered to give clemency to the surviving twelve. Twelve refugees out of two hundred I must add. Joshua and the girls were the only ones who refused it. They said they would complete the three years as promised. I personally spoke with Joshua. He is a good man. He wants an honest life and his daughters to be provided for. He was a captain in the Regalian Special Forces. A bit more research into his service and I found that Clairese was a medic on his platoon. The girls were not part of the war as they were too little. They spent their time in one of the Regalian academies on the other side of the country away from the fighting. Joshua was one of the first to surrender after the dragon fell. He said that too many people had died in service to a mad man and he was done. His platoon followed him with no question or revolt.”
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“Sounds like your replacement in the making.” Veronica said. Lance chuckled but did not comment
“Let’s keep an eye on all of them and see how they get through the hazing process. I want brands or graves by the end of next month.” Veronica said before moving on to other business.
…
“How do you feel?” Atiyah asked
“Very odd.” Seth answered.
They five were sitting in the cafeteria at a table to the far corner away from everyone. While Seth and Fiz were in the lab, Atiyah, Carl, and Grace were ushered with the others to the cafeteria for a meal and then to their sleeping quarters. Grace and Atiyah were placed in the same room together. They shared the suite with two other girls that they had met. Atiyah pointed them out to Fiz and Seth. Carl, Fiz, and Seth were placed in a different suite with an older man. They later found out he was the father of the two girls. Carl had spent most of the night inspecting the room and speaking to the older man. Seth learned that his name was Joshua and the girls' names were Francesca and Jasmine.
“They brought you in at around four this morning.” Carl said “Fiz didn’t even take his clothes off. He just asked which bed was his and passed out in the drawer next to it.”
“Gnomes like small places” Fiz answered between bites of a sandwich.
Seth and Fiz learned that the were given today to rest and adjust. There was mandatory line formation tomorrow at Five AM. Seth had slept through breakfast and had just woke up before being dragged by Fiz to the cafeteria. He was eating some sliced cheese, bread, summer sausage and drinking tea.
“How is Glitch?” Fiz asked
Seth closed his eyes a moment and reached into his mind to try and wake his matrix. Surprisingly enough, Glitch was ready to go.
“Hello.” Seth mentally said
“Hello Master Seth.” Glitch said
“How are you feeling buddy?”
“I feel like my old self. Start up sequence was normal. All existing programs are currently loading. I have some memories being defragmented from my prior bond with your grandfather. There is an interesting overlay going on with this new core, but all is okay. I should be able to show you your grandfather's old skills and abilities in a few weeks. There is a lot of data that needs to be unpacked.” Glitch said
“He said he is good. He has a lot of data to unpack from when he was in grandpa and the new core has some additional info he is processing, but he is ready to go.’ Seth explained
“Seth, i noticed that you are stuck at tier one of healer and tank. Are you able to upgrade that now?” Carl stated
“I think so. I need the rest of today to get everything sorted. I have Compound and war logs that I need to go through. There should be skills, equipment and upgrades now.” Seth said
“Good. Get as prepared as possible. I think we will start the hazing tomorrow.” Carl said
“The hazing?” Atiyah asked
“They have to put us through some sort of initiation. They call it The Hazing. Basically they will put us through drills and training programs and try to make us quit. If we make it through then we get branded and are part of the team.” Carl explained
“That makes sense. Let me do some now and we can head to the training room.” Seth said before opening up his pop up window and zoning out of the conversation
Matrix “Glitch”
Reboot Complete
Recovery Mode Complete
Vocal Recovery Completed
Stats, inventory, skills, abilities and rewards available
*Advisory*
Matrix Core has been repaired
Matrix Core has been replaced with
“Transcendent Spark”
Matrix Defragmentation 12%
Prior Bond Memories, Skills, Abilities Temporarily Locked
Seth Ravensword
Matrix “Glitch” Level 39
12 / 167 Available Attribute Points
Strength 35
Defense 35
Health 25
Agility 35
Intelligence 25
Affinity: Water & Light
Class Archetype:
Tank Level 30 - Stage Increase available
Healer Level 25 - Stage Increase available
Magic Skills
Heal
Cleanse
Light burst
Light Barrier
Water Blast
Vapor Shield
Abilities
Shield Bash
Light Dash
Scan
Horizontal strike
Vertical slash
Compound Alpha
Status: Graduate
Participation Regalian War -1 year
Status - Retired/ Reserve
Inventory:
Battle Gear Set x1
Short sword x1
Buckler shield x1
Water Dagger x2
Collapsible Bow x1
Quiver of Arrows x250
Battle Gear Set Mk. 2
Water Guardian's Shield
Water Guardian's Sword
Wand of the Light Maker
Ring of the Light Maker
Connections:
Carl (Sheen) - Teammate
Fiz - Ally
Atiyah - Teammate
Grace - Ally
Lance - Superior
New Connections
Joshua - Teammate
Francesca - Unknown
Jasmine - Unknown
Seth reviewed his status tables. His tank class had skyrocketed from the battle on the train. His healer class moved up a little bit but not much. He was now capable of increasing to tier two.
“Carl, What does a stage increase feel like?’ Seth asked
“It’s subtle at first. You wont feel anything really until you get to stage three or higher. I think your healing becomes more effective and you're able to protect a bit better with the shield. Are you able to go to the next stage?”
“Yeah. It looks like I can go to stage two now.” Seth said. He looked back at the screen and selected yes on the stage increase
Stage Increase from Tank to Guard successful
Your Previous Experience has been calculated, You have risen from level 1 to level 20
Stage Increase available. New Skills, Abilities, and spells available
10% increase in shield based attack and defense
10% increase to magic resistance
New Ability unlocked - Taunt
New Skill Unlocked - Shield Throw
New Skill unlocked - Parry
Stage Increase from Healer to Cleric
Your Previous Experience has been calculated, You have risen from level 1 to level 20
Stage Increase available. New Skills, Abilities, and spells available
10% increase in healing skills and abilities
10% increase in status cleansing skills and abilities
10% decrease in mana usage on healing skills and abilities
New Skill unlocked - Heal II
New Skill Unlocked - Cleanse II
New Skill unlocked - Mend Broken Bone
New Skill unlocked - Mana transfer
“Whoa! That was a nice bump.” Seth said, “ I just learned seven more skills.”
“Nice. More should become available as you level up.” Carl explained. “Did it send you to level zero of stage two?”
Seth looked at his stats again.
Seth Ravensword
Matrix “Glitch” Level 39
12 / 167 Available Attribute Points
Strength 35
Defense 35
Health 25
Agility 35
Intelligence 25
Affinity: Water & Light
Class Archetype:
Guard Level 20 - Stage Increase available
Cleric Level 20 - Stage Increase available
Magic Spells
Heal I & II
Cleanse I & II
Mend Broken Bone
Mana Transfer
Light burst
Light Barrier
Water Blast
Vapor Shield
Skills & Abilities
Shield Bash
Light Dash
Scan
Horizontal strike
Vertical slash
Taunt
Shield Throw
Parry
“Uhh, It bumped me to level twenty in each and said I could do another stage increase.” Seth said
“Oh shit. That is awesome. I bet it is because you have been blocked all this time. You should easily be stage three or four if you had done this with a fully functioning matrix.” Carl said excited
“Don’t upgrade just yet.” Fiz said
“What not?” Seth asked
“Oh that's right. You need to get acclimated with stage two before you jump into stage three. You might miss something important and it could hinder your growth to stage four.” Carl explained
“How long should I wait?” Seth asked
“One week.” Lance said, walking up grabbing a chair and sitting next to Lance at the table. “You will need to train in stage two for at least a week before jumping to the next stage. Congratulations by the way.”
“Thank you sir. Thank you again for fixing Glitch.” Seth said “Do I owe you or Kathy anything for the service?”
“No, You were useless to me before and now you are usable. You will pay the Kingdom back with your service.” Lance said
“Mr. Lance, is there anything specifically you want us to do before tomorrow?” Carl asked
Lance looked to his right and motioned to Joshua. He and his daughters got up and walked over to sit at the table. Seth was able to get a better look at each of them as they walked closer. Joshua was a mountain of a man. The standard issued gear was a bit bagging on him but Seth could tell he was built. He carried himself like someone who had been in countless battles and was held in high regards to the upper echelons of Kingdoms. Francesca was tall, blonde, thin and had fair skin. The issued jumpsuit swallowed her but she walked as if not paying it any mind. Her hair was long and straight down her back. Jasmine was a bit shorter, was of darker complexion like her father and had long black hair. It was tied in a bun. Lance waited for them to sit down before moving on.
“Good. I am glad to see everyone has met. I want to go over this all at once before the morning. Tomorrow you will begin what is called The Hazing. I will not be involved with this. You will go through a period of learning the basics of this facility, lots of hard work, and lots of difficult tasks. Lots of fights against each other and others here in the wall. I will tell you that everything is designed to break you and tear you down. Any prior notions, habits, customs, and ideas that you have of the outside world needs to be tossed out the window. We are not in the real world anymore. You are entitled to nothing and you will not be given a place on my team unless you earn it. You are for lack of a better term, in Hell. The Kingdom uses the Term “Pledges” for those in their training period. You are now considered “Matches”. You will either rise to the occasion as a flame capable of burning the devil or you will burn out and be left as a pile of ashes. Any questions?” Lance said
There were looks around the table but no one said anything.
“Grace and Fiz are excused from this by the way. Their skills are such that we have placed them under different departments. Grace, you will be meeting Mrs. Phillis tomorrow. She is a lovely young woman who will test you in your knowledge and abilities with herblore and alchemy. Fiz, you will report to Mrs. Kathy and she will be doing the same. They will each supplement your training according to what is needed.”
A look of relief came over Carl as Lance said this. Seth knew he was worrying about how to keep her safe out there. Now, he did not have to. Fiz just sat there eating another sandwich.
“Mr. Carl, as to your previous question of what you should do to prepare for tomorrow. Rest. Stretch. Allocate any points you have and learn any skills, abilities, or spells that you can. Carl, here is a list I would like for you to try and have as a minimum. Seth, here is yours. Strive to obtain these before anything else. Seth, there is a combat simulator upstairs. You all will have mandatory time each day, I implore you to spend a little extra there when you can.”
“Sir, what is the environment like out past the wall?” Seth asked
“If your stats are not equal or above the list I have provided, you will receive negative traits, decreases to your stats and other afflictions for every minute you are in the wall. We will cover that in more detail in the next few weeks. During the peak of the day, it is hot and dry. Hot really isn’t the correct term because it makes the Arkadian Desert feel like a cool day in spring. At night, the temperature drops and not even the north can compete with the sub zero temperatures. ” Lance explained
“What about us who do not have a matrix?” Atiyah asked
“You will be receiving a matrix-like device after you are done with lunch. The installation process is simple and it will take the rest of the day to set up which you can do while resting. It is by no means the same as having a matrix, we are unable to install those into nonhumans unfortunately, and we do not have the funding to give just anyone one. We do however have what is called a Power Augmentation Sphere or POS for short. These devices do not have intelligence, but they allow you to operate a similar system and allow us to monitor your progress out there. Carl, we need to make an adjustment to your matrix so it can communicate with the POS. Seth, we already adjusted yours last night while you were out. ” Lance said
The non matrix users quickly finished their meal and left with Lance. All were eager to get their POS installed. Carl followed with so he could get his adjustment. Seth perused over the list he had been given and was not surprised that he had almost none of the required Skills and abilities..
Seth Ravensword
Healer / Tank
Water & Light
Recommended Level: 35
Minimum Stat Requirements:
Strength 40, Defense 40, Health 30
Recommended Magic Spells:
Water Blast III
Water Barrier II
Heal III
Cleanse III
Light Orb II
Flash
Recommended Abilities:
Temperature Balance II - Passive
Imbue Weapon II
Recommended Skills:
Shield Bash II
Shield Throw II
Horizontal Slash II
Vertical Slash II
Piercing Strike III
“Glitch, any recommendation as to how we get all of this?" Seth asked
“Master Lance did suggest the training room sir.” Glitch said
“Right.” Seth said getting up and heading out of the cafeteria.
“I would recommend spending your points as follows sir: two to Strength, Five to Defense, and Five to health. The next level we can add the three points to strength which will meet the minimum stat requirements.” Glitch said
“I like it. We have a few hours before bed. What do you suggest for the skills?”
“Sir, you can learn the first rank of these skills right now. With training, we can progress them to the second and third rank in a few weeks. I will work on a training program once we explore the simulator.”
“Lovely. Let us get to work. Happy you are whole again buddy.”
“Me too sir. Me too.”