The portal twisted and turned, filled with light and silent fury. It looked more or less exactly like what it was, a terrible wound in reality that had never entirely healed over. Once there had been a suburban neighborhood here, but the opening of the portal had driven the people out. Magic had been the cause; to unprepared people, it was deadly in time. It was the reason empty, abandoned houses surrounded the portal, with a chained link fence beyond that. Armed guards at the gate made sure nobody got too close for their well-being.
Later, as the world had recovered from the Rupture, when the portals appeared, the houses closest to the portal had been bulldozed, and the immediate area turned into simple pavement. The company had built a stage just in front of the portal as well, giving people a platform to stand on while the fracture in the universe spun and howled in their face.
Alex could taste the magic in the air around the place; it was a vaguely metallic taint to the wind that made her grimace. She’d never been this close to one before, but she could already feel the thing wearing away at her. There shouldn’t be a risk of magic poisoning yet—she probably still had an hour or two before that happened—but it was still a sign that she was in a dangerous place.
At least she wasn’t alone, however. All across the paved area, the rest of the would-be recruits milled around in idle confusion. They wore the uniform of the Golden Swallow Survey Group, the corporation that had been given the contract for the portal. She wore the same uniform, a white shirt and grey pants, with a grey jacket over the top and the company’s golden bird logo across her back. Her last name and company identification number had been stamped over her left breast as well.
She’d been issued four copies of that uniform three days ago. It was still an uncomfortable fit.
There wasn’t much she could do, though. When the Group had bought the company she’d trained with, they’d inherited her contract, which meant she was legally required to work for them ‘for a term no less than two years’. She shook her head. Eighteen years old, and she was already an asset on somebody’s account books. The summons to appear at her first Survey had appeared the day after the purchase went through.
Fortunately, the Blue Rider Company had already been getting her ready. She’d run obstacle courses, gone through hand-to-hand combat training, and taken course after course on what she’d encounter on the other side of the portal. It had all been meant to help her survive what she was about to do. Alex wondered how many of the others around her had gotten even half as much preparation before getting to this place.
She wasn’t willing to wager much on that bet. The Golden Swallow Group had something of a reputation as an ‘efficiency expert’ when it came to exploring the portals. They’d won countless contracts by cutting down on ‘unnecessary’ costs. All the company literature mentioned the importance of their survival, of course. Almost as much as it had emphasized the need to bring back enough materials and magic for the company to use and exploit. Magical materials were important for all kinds of industry and technology these days.
Her mother always had a lot to say about Surveyor companies like Golden Swallow. She hadn’t taken the news about the ‘merger’—more a hostile takeover—well. Her father had put in a lot of effort to calm her down, even though he hadn’t been any happier about it.
Now she was here, standing in front of the portal, tasting the magic in the air, and reminded herself that no matter who was employing her, she wanted to be here. It was the only way she could become who she wanted to be.
“Hey.”
Alex blinked. She turned to see another recruit in the same grey uniform looking at her. He was tall—meaning he fairly towered over her more modest height—with the kind of build that suggested he’d been through a decent amount of physical training as well. There was an intent look in his blue eyes and his sandy blonde hair was well groomed. She tried not to frown; there was a hopeful look in his eyes that she’d seen a few too many times before. “Hello.”
He stuck out his hand. “My name’s Stephen Evans.”
“Alex.” She shook his hand carefully, keeping her expression neutral.
“You’re one of the Blue Riders folks, right?” Stephen glanced back at the portal. “First time near one of these?”
“…Yeah.” Technically, that was true.
“Well, don’t worry about it. The Group has been using this portal for a while, and they wouldn’t send a bunch of new recruits through it unless it was pretty safe. We’ll be fine.”
Alex gave him a thin smile. “I’m sure we will.”
“I actually got to know a few of the D rank Surveyors back in the dorms. They told me a lot about what’s on the other side.” He gave her a conspiratorial smile. “I could give you a few hints, you know.”
Alex fought the urge to snort. If he knew who her mother was… but of course he didn’t. There had been no sign that the Golden Swallow Group had thought she was anything important, and she was sure that there would have been some kind of press release if they had found anything out of the ordinary about her family. “Oh. Thank you. I’ll let you know if I have any questions.”
He blinked, his smile fading a little, but before he could say anything, there was a stir in the crowd. A woman dressed in a black, more elaborate version of the company uniform mounted a short podium set up on one side of the portal. She tapped the microphone clipped to the stiff collar of her jacket and then spoke loudly enough that the gathered recruits jumped and fell into a wary silence. “Welcome to your first real day as members of the Golden Swallow Survey Group! Your employment at our company is an opportunity that I hope you will not neglect in the coming days. All of you, go to where your team sergeant is stationed so that you can be assigned your final equipment. Follow their instructions, obey the applicable regulations, and do your best. The Golden Swallow Survey Group thanks you for your willingness to further the progress of humanity.”
Alex felt her heart beat harder now, Stephen already all-but forgotten. It was finally time.
There were six more people dressed in the black uniforms standing to the side of the podium. Some recruits were already walking over to them, obviously already familiar with whose team they were on, and she felt a burst of worry and frustration. “Hey, uh, which one of them is Liliana?”
Stephen smiled again. He pointed to one of the team sergeants, a short woman with dark hair under her cap and a cheerful expression. She grinned. “Thank you!”
“No problem. See you on the other side!” He waved as she turned and headed for her new team, which she returned halfheartedly.
Alex nodded, and she made her way through the crowd to where her sergeant was waiting. Two other girls were there already, a tall brunette with her hair tied in a bun and a shorter Asian girl with long, straight black hair and an easy smile. They both nodded to her, and she tried to smile back.
The sergeant stepped forward, her plump face seeming a little out of place among the hard-worked recruits. “Alexandretta Morrison, welcome to our team! I hope we can all work together for the good of the company.” She gestured to the others. “My name is Liliana Grant. These are Clara Williams and Audrey Chen. They’ll be your coworkers for this venture.”
She nodded to the others. “Glad to meet you. Call me Alex.”
Liliana smiled broadly. “Of course, of course. Now, we just have one more new recruit…and here she is! Joanna! Joanna!”
Another girl made their way over, her frizzy hair tied back into a poofy kind of ponytail. She had a sour expression on her face, and looked Alex up and down. “So, you’re the newbie who’s replacing Ruth?”
Alex glanced at Audrey and Clara, both of whom looked uncomfortable. “I guess so.”
“Great.”
Sergeant Liliana clapped her hands together, getting their attention. She spent a moment beaming at each of them before she continued. “Now, I know the Blue Riders personnel transferred in at the last minute, but we here at the Golden Swallow Survey Group are nothing if not adaptable! We are going to have a lot of chances to prove ourselves in the coming weeks. Today will be the first chance you have to show your worth, just like them!”
Alex looked in the direction the sergeant was pointing and saw another of the teams lining up in front of the portal. There were four of them, all looking a little nervous as they stared into the swirling magic.
She watched as they all looked around at each other. Then they stepped forward as one and vanished.
When she looked back, Liliana had reached down and pulled out a collection of things that clinked in her hands. Alex’s attention immediately locked onto them, feeling her heartbeat grow even louder in her ears.
Liliana’s smile grew even wider. “Here are your Talismans of Ascension, also known as the Portal Assistance and Navigation Device Aids. PANDAs, as I like to call them!”
Alex made a brief mental note to never use that acronym. Ever.
“Your PANDAs will give you the chance to choose what role you will use going forward. Be sure to follow the company-mandated guidelines for your advancement. We want a well-balanced and thoroughly means-tested team going forward!” She passed them out to the waiting recruits, leaving Alex for last.
When the sergeant finally gave one to her, Alex turned it over in her hands. It looked like an old coin, about the size of a silver dollar, nothing particularly special. The coin was made of a grey-blue metal that felt cool to the touch. She rubbed her thumb across the surface, feeling the odd ridges and pits that told her it was very, very old. There was a hole in the middle, where four ridges met like the spokes of a compass.
She flipped it over to see if there was anything on the other side, but there was just the same pitted metal and the same four spokes. It was heavier than she expected, though, and Alex wondered what it was actually made of.
Then she realized the others were moving towards the portal. Clutching the coin, she joined them. The coins were important; nobody who had crossed the portal without one had ever returned. Alex felt a tremor of nervousness pass through her; the portal seemed even more unnerving up close, with the energies inside swirling like a vertical whirlpool of voracious magic. A glance to the side told her that the others were just as bad off.
Alex clutched her coin and stepped forward. The vortex became a funnel, with the metallic scent of magic howling, then screaming around her.
Then the crowd of recruits, Liliana, and her prospective teammates abruptly vanished in a blinding flash of light.
Alex floated in a blinding void of light. Her feet weren’t touching anything, but she wasn’t falling either. It was like she was suspended in water, but she could breathe easily. Her training had talked about it, but she felt herself start to panic a little.
Then ethereal text appeared in front of her, floating just out of reach.
[Welcome, you who are Ascended.]
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[Select your Surveyor Role.]
[Squire – Bonuses to Strength and Skills related to heavy combat.]
[Porter – Bonuses to Life and Skills related to defense.]
[Page – Bonuses to Speed and Skills related to skirmish combat.]
[Acolyte – Bonuses to Devotion and Skills related to Divine Spells.]
[Adept – Bonuses to Control and Skills related to Arcane Spells.]
Alex stared at the words, her heart still hammering in her throat. Her mother had described the Survey Screen to her, but it was her first time actually seeing it. Nobody but the people who’d used a Talisman of Ascension ever saw the ethereal words, after all. No one was entirely sure where it all came from; the Talismans had appeared outside the first portals, and they’d been overlooked at first in all the panic and evacuations. Now they were some of the most precious artifacts to come out of the portals, because they were the only way to breach the gateway into other worlds.
She shook her head; her thoughts were racing ahead of her in a half-panic. Forcing herself to calm down, she considered the options. The company had provided ‘recommendations’ for what Role she should pick, but ultimately, the choice would be hers. What kind of Surveyor was she going to be?
A big part of her wanted to choose either Acolyte or Adept. After all, what good was a world with magic if you didn’t have any yourself? At the same time, the Group had recommended that each party have certain Roles in it, to keep things balanced. A Squire, Page, Porter, and either an Acolyte or Adept—and she’d been assigned the Role of the Page.
Which was convenient, given that she wanted to choose that Role from the start, anyway.
Alex selected Page. It was odd, interacting with the Screen; she navigated it by where her eyes were looking, and the actual selection happened when she focused. A moment later, however, the Screen reacted, and the words flared before vanishing. When they reappeared a moment later, they had changed, glowing a bright yellow.
[You have become a Page!]
[Your Role will grant you great speed and agility. Use your newfound power to fight against the encroaching darkness, and you will find greater strength.]
[Select two Skills.]
The Survey Screen shifted, displaying a broad selection of abilities. It would have been overwhelming if she hadn’t already made her choices weeks, if not months before.
Her first selection might have surprised anyone who really knew her. They would probably have expected her to pick Melee–Sword; her mother, after all, was known as the Crimson Blade. Instead, she chose Melee–Axe, and then Melee–Shield to go along with it. No matter what anyone expected of her, she was going to choose her own path.
A moment later, the Survey Screen shifted to display her current status.
[E Rank Surveyor Alex]
[Ascension Level: 0]
[Role: Page (Class Skills: Running(0), Dodging(0)]
[Role Level: 0]
[Experience: 0/100]
[Attributes: Strength -> 0, Speed -> 0, Life -> 0, Devotion -> 0, Control -> 0]
[Role Skills: Melee–Axe(0), Melee–Shield(0)]
[Permanent Skills: None]
[Current Titles: None]
It wasn’t exactly the most encouraging report on her abilities. A part of her was a little rankled over the complete lack of any bonuses, but then again, the Screen was just showing how much her abilities were being boosted by magic. Her training and experience were all still there; it just wasn’t getting any immediate help.
[Please select your equipment.]
A list of various gear and weapons scrolled out before her, all the obsolete stuff that a standard fantasy world would use. People had found that while they could take stuff out of a portal, they couldn’t bring anything into one—at least, not unless it had come from a portal originally. An assault rifle or a tank might have been helpful, but those weren’t the options she was given here. Her clothes were going to be fine—the Group had stitched them together from threads retrieved from other portals—but anything else was gone.
She made her choices quickly—a standard one-handed axe with a spike on the back, and a broad wooden shield with a metal boss in the center over the handle. It was what she had trained with so far, both at home and with the Blue Riders. Hopefully, it fit her here.
Then the Screen changed one last time, and her heart beat a little faster.
[Quest Issued! Destroy two Grue Soldiers.]
[Hidden Quest Issued!]
[Hidden Quest Issued!]
Her mother had told her about Quests; they were the way she could level up. Each portal assigned Quests to Surveyors that passed through them, some of which would give hidden bonuses, equipment, or Titles. If Stephen had been correct, she and her fellow recruits had just been sent through a low level portal, one that didn’t have a history of murdering the Surveyors who went through. Supposedly.
She took a deep breath and tried to brace herself. If her training had been accurate, then the next step was going to be—
Another flash of light, and Alex was staggering out into a brand new world.
The other world didn’t seem quite as strange as Alex had expected. For a moment, it seemed as if she had stepped out into a past version of the space around the portal on Earth. There were empty houses on either side, with a tidy row of others in front of her flanking a simple paved road. Overhead, the sky was cloudy, chock full of grey to the point the sun failed to poke through. It seemed shockingly normal after the experience of floating in the white void, and she shivered slightly at the contrast.
She wasn’t alone this time. Audrey was on her left, and Joanna and Clara were to her right. She looked them over and blinked. Audrey was holding a long knobby club, Clara had a crossbow, and Joanna was holding a two-handed broadsword that looked like she had decided on an upgraded version of the basic weaponry. “What Roles did you guys pick?”
Audrey gave her a wide grin. “Squire. Should help me do plenty of damage with this.” She twirled the club a little, seeming pretty fierce for a smaller girl. “What about you?”
“Page.” Alex shrugged, feeling a little uncomfortable. What was Audrey going to do if someone shot at her? She looked at the others, who were shifting on their feet. “What about you guys?”
Clara answered first, the tall girl tightening her grip on the crossbow. “Acolyte. Got some kind of healing potion with it, too.”
Joanna broke in before the other girl could continue. “You were supposed to pick Porter, Clara. I was supposed to be the magic user for our team!”
Alex blinked, and Clara raised an eyebrow at Joanna. “How did you know that? Been peeking at people’s papers?”
The other girl flushed, but she shook her head stubbornly. “So what? I wanted to know what team I was going to be on and what I could expect. Now the only person on our team with any defense is a frigging Page!”
Alex grimaced. “Are you an Acolyte too, Joanna?”
Joanna shook her head. “No. I chose Adept. Why did you pick an axe? That’s a Strength weapon, not Speed. You should have taken a two-handed weapon.”
Alex smiled. Her mother had suggested a similar thing, at first. “Felt like this would fit better. Besides, we’ll need the defense now.”
For a moment, it seemed like Joanna wanted to keep arguing, but she threw up a hand in frustration. “Okay. Fine. You take the front. Me and Audrey will handle the sides. Clara can stay in the back. That way, we can at least pretend like we know what we are doing.”
The others nodded, and Alex shifted on her feet. She thought she could hear weapons clashing in the distance. “Sounds fine by me. Let’s get going. We all got the same Quest, right? Two Grue?”
They all nodded, and Alex took a deep breath. The air still had that metallic taste, a hint of magic…but it no longer felt quite as offensive to her. In fact, it almost felt…familiar now. Was it something the Ascension had done to her? She knew that magic wouldn’t hurt her the way it did people back home, not anymore, but to have it work that quickly felt odd.
Of course, she shouldn’t have been surprised. Her mother had warned her, after all, just as she’d warned her not to look for the Talisman afterwards. It was a part of her now, just like her weapons were.
She started out into the street, looking around at the various houses. They were all in a state of disrepair, as if the families that had built them had simply abandoned them. It was a familiar sight back home, but there was something…wrong about it here. The houses weren’t just abandoned; many of them seemed damaged or vandalized. More than just looters or graffiti too; the words painted on the sides of the homes were in a language that she didn’t recognize.
A sense of unease filled her as they turned down a side street, following a map that Joanna had gotten from Liliana. She thought she could see a city in the distance, with skyscrapers that gleamed in the half-light of the cloudy sky, but it seemed alien and strange. Was she just letting the oppressive silence get to her? Why was it so quiet, anyway?
It was Audrey that finally broke the silence. “So where is everything? I thought we’d be in combat the moment we stepped out of the gate.”
“The other groups have already been through here. They probably already cleared out anything that was waiting near the portal.” Joanna’s voice was still tight with anger; her fingers were tight on the hilt of her sword. She was occasionally glancing in frustration at Clara, who was having trouble with the catch of her crossbow. “If we want to finish the Quest, we’re going to have to look for the Grue.”
“Or they’ll come looking for us.” Clara finally got the catch to click into place, and then looked around at the empty houses in sudden concern. “Should we start looking in these houses? I don’t want to get too far from the portal.”
Joanna rolled her eyes. “What, scared already? The other groups aren’t going to come running to help you just because you call them.”
The tall girl snarled at her. “Look, I just don’t want to end up lost here, since I doubt you’ve been paying attention to where we are—”
“I see movement ahead.” Alex tried to keep her voice even, but her heart was already hammering in her ears. It could have been just the wind, blowing a set of curtains set in a half-shattered window—but she hadn’t felt a breeze here. At least, nothing she’d noticed. “Three houses down. Did anyone else see anything?”
The other girls had gone quiet and tense, except for Audrey. She leaned forward eagerly, her club held out to her side. “No. We should go check it out, though. Anyone know what these Grue things are supposed to look like?”
Clara shook her head, but Joanna nodded. “Kind of like a scrawny werewolf. Made of black smoke or something like that.”
Alex grimaced. It wasn’t the best description, but it wasn’t like the Surveyors who made it back home had been able to share photos of the things inside. The training manual had been full of copied sketches and drawings, but nothing more advanced than that. “I think they’re supposed to have weapons too, so stay alert. Yell if you see one using a bow.” Her mother had specifically told her that those were the most dangerous kind.
They all proceeded forward in a crouch, trying to move carefully. Alex caught herself holding her breath and forced herself to breathe normally. Inhale, exhale. Step forward. Keep your eyes on the doors and the windows. If anything is in there, it probably knows where you are too, and if they see us coming…
The ambush happened quickly. Alex saw the front door of the house slam open, and a dark figure sprinted out into the open, a spear extended towards her. She reacted out of panic as much as training, just barely getting her shield down and in the way of the dark spear. It hit hard, shoving her arm back into her chest.
Her attacker reared back, preparing for another attack, and Alex swung her axe at it. She caught sight of a snarling, dog-like face, and glittering red eyes filled with anger. It dodged backwards, growling at her, and she resisted the urge to back up. Instead, she chased it, trying to keep it in range of her weapon.
A crossbow bolt whistled past her ear, missing the thing by a good foot or two. It flinched, just as Alex had when the projectile went by. Alex jumped forward, hoping to catch it off balance.
The thing yelped and lashed out with its spear, and she smacked the point of the weapon aside. She ducked in under it and lunged up above it. Her axe came up and over in an overhead cut that felt incredibly right. A part of her expected it to brush it off or dodge, and she braced herself for another hit.
Then the axe fell, punching through the dark smoke of the thing’s shoulder. It coughed in shock and staggered backwards. Alex followed after it, yanking her axe out and smashing the Grue with her shield. It fell over backward, and she hacked down at it twice before backing up.
The thing lay still, sprawled out in someone’s front yard. She felt her breathing hitch in her chest, as she tried desperately to suck in enough air to ease the burning in her lungs. It took her a few moments to bring her axe back up; the weapon kept wavering in the air as her hands shook. Alex couldn’t tell if it was the fear or the adrenaline.
Then she heard voices behind her, and she turned, looking for her teammates.
There was another creature crumpled on the street, with Audrey and Joanna standing over it. Alex had no idea where it had come from, but the same plain spear was lying nearby in the grass. Both girls seemed a little shaken, but Audrey was smiling. Joanna just looked disgruntled, her sword held loosely at her side.
Audrey seemed to check something on her Screen, and her smile grew. “Don’t worry, Jo, you’ll get the next one.”
Joanna grunted and stalked back to where Clara was fighting with her crossbow again, biting off a steady stream of curses. When the catch finally set, she slammed a bolt home and brought the weapon up, looking for targets. Alex flinched as the girl waved it across her; her father would have said something about pointing a loaded anything at a friend. “Whoa, hold on. I think we’re good.”
The Acolyte looked at her, a wild fear in her eyes. Then she slumped, and the crossbow turned toward the ground. “I saw it come at you and I-I tried to…”
“I know. Just…aim a little better next time, okay?” Alex smiled a little, and Joanna swallowed, hard. Then she looked over at her other teammates. “You two okay?”
“About as okay as we’re going to be.” Audrey exchanged a look with Clara, who was still unsteady on her feet. “This one nearly got Clara while I was looking in the other direction. Jo got a lucky hit in, though, and then I got it from the side.” She grinned and laid her club across her shoulders. “They are fast, but I think they break pretty easy. Maybe we can do this quickly.”
Alex returned her smile, hoping it didn’t look too shaky. “Sure.” She looked around again, trying to catch sight of anything else that seemed wrong. When she saw nothing, she brought up her Screen, imagining it appearing until the yellow words phased into being in front of her.
[Melee–Axe has advanced to level 1!]
[Melee–Shield has advanced to level 1!]
[Main Quest Progress: 1 of 2 targets destroyed]
One down, one to go. For her at least; they’d need another six for everyone to complete the Quest. She looked back at the one she’d killed and jumped as it started to burn. Crackling purple flame engulfed the Grue, leaving only a handful of items left when the body burned away. Alex gingerly picked up one of the items, a fragment of purple crystal that glimmered in the dim light.
Audrey was already busy at work, tucking away the loot from the other burnt Grue. They were contractually obligated to take it all back to the Group, after all.
Not a bad start, she supposed.