“Here’s where your dorms are going to be. Girls to the right, boys to the left.” Ed seemed to be fairly neutral towards them so far. She’d have even described him as easygoing, if he was just a little bit more talkative. He answered most of their questions so far with just the minimum of words, though, and he seemed to be mostly glancing back out at the courtyard where his friends were still practicing. Whenever he did, he had a glum look on his face, like he had been denied ice cream for misbehaving at dinner or something.
“Oh, don’t get so sad, soldier! Alex is a bit of a freak of nature. We used to train against her two at a time, not that it did any of us much good.” Audrey grinned and nudged the Porter. He didn’t seem to budge at all, though he did give her a skeptical look. “You did well, I’d say!”
“Better than the last guy with a sword, at least.” Sam grinned when Alex gave him a very level look, but the Adept seemed to take the hint well enough. “So we are going to be doing a lot of Skill training here, right? At least, it seems like you are all pretty dedicated to it.”
Ed seemed to recover a little at the question. “Yeah. Here at Red Blade if you don’t train, you don’t go through the portal. Miss too many missions, and you go to the support staff. Permanently.”
Joanna frowned. She seemed to be calculating something. “How often does everyone go through the portal? How large are the teams we’ll be using?”
“Depends on the portal’s condition.” Ed shrugged. “It’s a D class breach, so it’s going to be a lot more dangerous than the E rank portal you’re used too. Lots more Grue, and more advanced types too. There’s even a Killer running around—”
Alex stopped and faced him. “A Killer? How many Surveyors has it killed? Does it show up every time, or just when there are enough Camps?”
Ed blinked in surprise. “It shows up every so often, but usually when it does, we send a D rank after it. Each team has one assigned, even if only one E rank is going through. It hasn’t gotten anyone in a very, very long time.”
Brian and Tim both relaxed at the news. They exchanged a look and then chuckled softly to themselves, but Alex ignored them. “Is it really that good at hiding? The one we saw seemed like it was aggressively hunting all the time.”
“How did an E rank portal—” Ed shook his head. “You don’t have to worry. Killers are confident going against a bunch of E ranks, but a D rank makes them cautious—and like I said, you’ll always have an escort, at least until you are D rank yourselves. Then they’ll start sending you in on your own.”
Alex frowned. When she’d hunted down the last Killer, it had been hard to catch up to it, and even harder to take it down. How was she going to manage it if the thing was starting out hiding instead of being easily baited into ambushes?
Clara nudged her. “Don’t get any ideas, Alex.”
She gave the Acolyte a quick glare. “I’m not, I’m not. I just… don’t like knowing it’s going to be out there.”
Ed frowned. “You’ll get used to it. Keep in mind that this is supposed to be a D rank portal. We aren’t going to be hitting it too hard, since we want it to spawn some of those more advanced Grue for the sake of training our D rank troops. Getting some experience against a Killer is a good thing.”
Brian grunted and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, wouldn’t want to miss out on that experience…”
Tim smacked him upside the head and then leaned into one of the doors for the dorms. “Oh, barracks style, huh? No top bunks, at least.”
Alex peeked in as well, and was rewarded with the sight of a fairly empty room with a series of metal-frame beds lined up along the back wall. Each one had a single twin mattress, with a set of drawers mounted below it and another set built into the frame above the bed. Each one had identical white sheets, as if they had been bought from some period film on old hospital wards or war documentaries, and they all seemed nearly unnaturally clean.
A thought occurred to her. “How does everything get cleaned around here? Nobody without a Talisman can work so close to a portal, right?”
Ed nodded. “Most of the workers around here are former Surveyors who opted for the support track instead of going through the portal.” He shrugged. “It’s safer, I guess, but they double the length of your contract and chop your pay back a lot. That, and you get stuck at whatever rank you are at when you wash out.”
She nodded slowly and looked around at the others. “I… don’t think you’ll need to worry about that with us. Not unless something goes really, really wrong.”
His eyes narrowed slightly. He folded his arms. “And if things do go wrong?”
“Then she’ll probably end up fixing it for you.” Sam laughed as she gave him another glare. “Don’t hate me for telling the truth. Though it might be harder for you to get ‘hunches’ here, though.”
Alex opened her mouth to respond, and then paused as her phone went off. The others seemed to be on the edge of laughing as she hesitated; Ed was mostly just mystified. Then Joanna and Clara both burst out laughing. She grimaced and took out her phone. “Sorry, I need to take this. I’ll be back.”
Clara waved her off. “We’ll get your stuff set up on your bed. Just don’t take too long with the call.”
Setting down her duffel, Alex gave her a grateful wave, and then answered the still-ringing phone. Trying to speak quietly, she turned away. “Hey Zach.”
“Hey! Am I interrupting anything? Did you get to the new place all right?”
His voice sounded warm as always, and Alex felt a blush heat her cheeks for a moment. “Yeah. Just getting a tour of the place. How are you doing?”
“Well, I did get some luck on the job front, though not as much as you.” He sighed. The collapse of Golden Swallow had more or less sunk Zach’s job at the company without giving him an option to be hired elsewhere. A junior researcher at the Portal Analysis Department—one that had been on administrative leave, and part of the department that ‘hadn’t caught’ the fluctuations in the portal—had not been a high priority for Red Blade to retain. Zach had been looking ever since he’d gotten his vaguely apologetic dismissal letter.
“Oh really? Where?”
“Not in another corp, so you don’t have to worry about conflict of interest. At least, not in that case.” Zach paused. “Actually, there’s an investigative reporter who was looking for an assistant. Kind of a mix between a secretary and a private investigator.”
“A reporter?” There was entirely a different worry in her voice as she continued to walk down the hallway. Zach was technically bound by the same gag order that the Regulation agents had slapped on the Surveyors, but he knew a lot more than even the rest of her friends did. After all, he was the only one that knew that her mother wasn’t exactly a normal housewife. “What kind of stories are you going to be doing?”
“Mostly just interest pieces. Maybe some corporate news.” He paused again, as if going over the phrasing carefully. “Nothing historical. You don’t need to worry about it.”
Alex relaxed. She rubbed at her eyebrows for a moment, trying to relieve some of the tension. “Well, I am glad to hear that you found something. Hopefully, it turns out better than the last one did.”
“That’s what I’m hoping.” He seemed to feel just as relieved as she did. “How’s the new company turning out? They seem like they have a… unique way of doing things, compared to most corps.”
“Yeah, that’s definitely true.” Alex shook her head. “It’s like I joined the military by accident. Lots of yelling and discipline so far.”
Zach started chuckling. “Yeah, that’s part of what I’d heard. Of course, it makes sense when you realize who they based their philosophy off of. They told you anything about that yet?”
Alex frowned. “No. What do you mean?”
“Oh, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” He chuckled again, unaware that she suddenly felt the urge to strangle him through the phone. “All right, I have to go. Say hello to Sam and the others for me, and take care of yourself up there.”
“I will. See you soon.”
The call ended, and she frowned at the phone for a moment longer. Then she heard someone clear their throat and turned around to find Ed waiting for her.
He raised an eyebrow at her. “Someone from home?”
The way he asked the question made her feel a little uncomfortable. She nodded, and he gave her an uncertain smile. “That’s fine. Just keep in mind that they don’t approve of a lot of idle time around here. It’s not the Red Blade model.”
She blinked. “The Red Blade model? Who is that based on?”
“The Crimson Blade.” He grinned, probably misidentifying the reason for her expression. “She was a Surveyor who never quit, and who was always dedicated to her training. She never let anything—or anyone—distract her from what needed to be done. Our entire program is designed to help us follow her example.”
Alex thought back to the many times her mother had taken a break from training to goof off with her husband and child. “That’s… interesting.”
Ed nodded. “Well, don’t worry. We aren’t only about training and seriousness around here, even if she was. Come on. The others are already headed to the mess hall. If we get moving, we can catch them on the way.”
“Sounds good.” Trying to look on the bright side, she supposed there were worse things than being assigned to a company that seemed to have her own mother as an object of worship. All the same, Alex followed Ed through the building with a distinct feeling of unease. There had to be some upside to all of it, didn’t there?
“Alexandretta Morrison? My name is Laura Eingard.” The woman was wearing the black version of the Red Blade uniform, but unlike Chief Wells, she had a bright smile and her shoulder-length hair drawn back into a ponytail. “I’m going to be your Vanguard during your first missions here. I understand that you’re at level four?”
Alex nodded she glanced around at the rest of the people in the room. All of her teammates had been gathered into the same small conference room. A mix of others joined them, some wearing normal grey uniforms and others wearing black. “My… Vanguard?”
Ed spoke up from where he stood nearby. “A Vanguard is going to be your D rank on the mission. This first time, we’ll be splitting you all up so we can get you more integrated into our team. You’re going to be with me and Bob for this first run. After that, you’ll need to earn your spot going forward.” Another Red Blade Surveyor, a small man with blue eyes and a sturdy-looking staff, nodded to her.
She didn’t exactly like hearing about the need to ‘earn’ a spot to go through the portal, but Alex tried to shrug off the feeling. All she needed to focus on for now was her first trip through a new portal—and a D rank portal at that. Who knew what would be waiting for her on the other side?
The others headed out first, following the black uniform who had apparently been assigned to lead them. Sam and Alessa went first, along with a couple of Red Blades. Tim and Brian were next, followed by Clara, Joanna, and Audrey, all clustered together. They each waved goodbye as they marched out, headed to wherever the Red Blades had hidden their gateway to another world.
Finally, it was her team’s turn. Laura gave her a professional nod. “Let’s get moving. Time for us to get to work.”
The Vanguard led them through the hallway, going further into the Red Blade compound. They passed by other conference rooms, some of which were occupied with other groups of Surveyors. Ed and Bob talked between themselves in low voices, even as Laura continued to stride forward confidently. Alex checked over her gear, making sure her axe, shield, armor, and helmet were all ready for what they were about to do.
Laura walked until they had reached a large metal door, one that was far too heavy and thick for simple human strength to open. She tapped in a combination on a keypad and then stepped back as the door slid open. “You’ll need to stay close to us on this one, Alexandretta. I don’t know what your last portal was like, but things can get difficult here.”
Alex nodded slowly. “You can call me Alex.” She paused. “What quest type should I choose? I’m assuming the Survey Screen will still give options at level four like it did for level three.”
The Vanguard smiled again. “Yeah, it will. Make sure to pick Patrol; we don’t want to fight any Camps or Killers today, and there’s usually plenty of patrols we can work with. Let me know if there are any weird requirements for it, but I think you should be fine. Again, just stay close and work with the rest of us. We’ll make sure you get back out.”
She nodded, unsure of how safe that reassurance made her feel. Then the door finished opening, and the sharp smell of magic pouring out of a portal at close range filled the air.
Alex stepped into the portal room with the rest of her small team, her eyes once again drawn to a swirl of chaotic energy. The portal here seemed a bit more intense than the first one she’d gone through, though it was not nearly as unstable as when she’d last seen it.
For a moment, she saw that sight in her mind again. The portal, tearing itself apart as Forsmith threw himself into it in a futile attempt to keep it under control.
She shook her head and followed the others to the portal. As they approached the breach, Laura and the others paused. The Vanguard raised her own pair of swords in a martial salute. “Salute the Blade!”
Ed and Bob both turned to raise their own weapons. Alex began to copy them—and then froze when she was confronted by a statue of her own mother. They’d captured Moira Morales, the Crimson Blade, as she had been with both arms and eyes. Her infamous sword had been grounded, point down, in a way that the real Surveyor would have been incensed about. Her expression was determined and cold, an imperious look that made Alex feel uneasy again.
Regardless, she completed the martial salute and then joined the others. They nodded to her, and then as one, all four Surveyors stepped forward. A rush of light and magic surrounded her…
It had been a while since she had been enveloped by the light. She grinned as she ran her eyes over the yellow text glowing in front of her.
[E Rank Surveyor Alex, Gatekeeper]
[Ascension Level: 4]
[Role: Page (Role Skills: None]
[Role Level: 4]
[Experience: 0/1500]
[Attributes: Strength -> 4, Speed -> 8, Life -> 0, Devotion -> 0, Control -> 0]
[Current Skills: Battle Maneuvers(20), Marathoning(17), Melee–Axe(20), Melee–Shield(20)]
[Permanent Skills: None]
[Current Titles: Lady of War (Increases Skill grade of Melee, Combined Arms, Weapon Mastery, and Battle Maneuvers by one.),
Ferocity (Increases Skill grade of Melee, Weapon Mastery, and Combined Arms Skills by one.),
Natural Combatant (Increases Skill grade of Dodging, Anticipate, Battle Maneuvers, and Inspect by one),
Persistent (Increases Skill grade of Recovery, Running, and Marathoning by one.)]
It wasn’t a bad report of what she was capable of. Obviously, though, she would need to make some changes going forward. At the moment, unless she made a change, the only skill she could level up would be Marathoning. Her Skills were giving her a shocking amount of combat power, but to gain any more before her next level, she’d need to reset or Chain some of them.
Of course, that would be risky if the portal or her new coworkers turned out to be dangerous—but surely they wouldn’t immediately turn on her, right? Even someone as petty as Liliana had taken weeks to try to kill her. All she needed was to put some Skill training in, and given that her own bed was within range to make that work…
Alex nodded, and the yellow text changed.
[Please select your intent]
[Exploration]
[Vengeance]
[Patrol]
[War]
[Salvage]
There was only one reasonable choice, unless she wanted to cause trouble. She selected Patrol.
[Your intent is to Patrol]
[Quest Issued! Destroy eight Grue Knights.]
[Quest Issued! Clear at least eight Grue patrols.]
[Hidden Quest Issued!]
[Hidden Quest Issued!]
[Hidden Quest Issued!]
[Hidden Quest Issued!]
Alex blinked for the moment. It would be a lot of patrols, and a lot of Knights if they weren’t going to hit the Grue Camps. Still, maybe it wouldn’t be that bad. She had other people to help out this time, too, and the D rank would be more than able to take on a mere Killer.
Then the light swept over her…
Alex stepped out into a very different world.
This time, she wasn’t confronted by cloud-covered skies and an abandoned suburb. Alex found herself in the lobby of some gigantic skyscraper. At least, that was what the place felt like; there was a high, marble ceiling with similarly fancy stone making up the columns and floor. She looked around in surprise, seeing the same signs of ruin scrawled across the once-fine furniture and broken statues.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Outside the broken glass of the entrance, she could see more buildings, a little indistinct in the grey light outside. She didn’t see any cars or trucks, which was a mild bonus—after all, getting turned into roadkill by a Grue with a vehicle wasn’t her idea of a good time. Alex stepped forward, intending to see what else she could find on the street.
Bob looked back at her, a small grin on his face. His staff was now complimented by some kind of glowing, hooded robes. “Welcome to the big city, Golden Swallow.”
Alex gave him a raised eyebrow. “Thanks.” Then she looked at Ed. “Anything I should be really careful about? My last portal was in the middle of a small residential area, not a city.”
Ed shrugged. He had an elaborately etched broadsword in his hands, but he wore a solid-looking chestplate and a full helmet in addition. “Keep an eye out for Archers and Killers. Both have distance attacks, and can try to put an arrow in you the moment you walk out those doors.”
“Good to know.” She looked over at Laura, who was looking around the room with an easy familiarity. “And we just follow her lead?”
“Until we have finished out our first Roles, yeah.” Ed grinned. “Then it’ll be our turn to ride herd on the troublemakers.”
“And I’m sure you’ll all do great at it.” Laura chuckled to herself, and then gestured for them to follow her. “All right, they have us assigned to the area a half dozen blocks north of here. Should be plenty of Grue, so don’t hesitate to call things out to us. The last thing we want is to stay here long enough to qualify as a Raid.”
Ed and Bob both laughed, but Alex couldn’t quite suppress a shiver at the thought. Unlike most E rankers, she had been on a Raid before. The experience had left her unsettled, even though it was something she’d had to do at the time. Truth be told, she never wanted to do it again, especially not on her first day here.
She followed the others out into the open, feeling tense as she saw ruined skyscrapers stretching above her to a familiar cloud-choked sky. Buildings rose around her, giving her the same claustrophobic feelings that she’d had back on Earth, only compounded by the fact that here she knew things were already hunting her.
The state of the buildings didn’t help. It seemed like every floor had multiple holes punched in their windows, with some skyscrapers leaning dangerously against one another. Alex pictured herself being caught in a building collapse and grimaced. It wouldn’t do anyone any good to get squashed by tons of falling glass, steel, and concrete, of that much, she was sure.
Laura took off at a light jog, headed north. She gestured for Alex to stay at the rear, while Bob and Ed took up positions to either side. Maybe it was some standard formation for working with a Page, but she couldn’t help but feel like they weren’t giving her a fair shot at whatever they were going to face. Since when would it make sense to put the fastest fighter at the back?
Then again, she realized slowly that she didn’t know what Roles Laura and Bob had. She could guess that Bob was either an Adept or an Acolyte, but Laura was a complete mystery. As a D rank, she had already graduated from one Role to another; for all she knew, her first one had been Page, and she was even faster than Alex was.
It still didn’t seem to be right for her to be at the back.
They made it three blocks, still at a decent jog, when they ran into the first batch of Grue.
The monsters spilled out of the intersection ahead of them, rounding the corner in a pile of smokey flesh and grey eyes. Alex felt her breath quicken as she recognized the hulking forms of half a dozen Grue Knights, their massive swords and shields standing out amidst the others. There were just as many Grue Archers, half hidden behind nearly twenty Grue Soldiers.
There was one more monster leading the pack of werewolf-style creatures. It was just as massive as the Knights behind it, though it didn’t have a shield in its hands. Instead, it carried a pair of warhammers, each one seemingly capable of caving in a Surveyor’s chest. The creature leaned forward, its grey eyes flickering and eager, and the whole pack howled as they charged.
Yellow text flickered in her peripheral vision as they closed.
[Hidden Quest Discovered! Destroy six Grue Archers]
[Hidden Quest Discovered! Destroy one Grue Brute]
Alex suppressed a grimace as the Grue came for her team. At least one of those Quests probably wasn’t going to happen, and she hadn’t even gotten one for the regular Soldiers. Did they not even count anymore?
She set those questions aside as the monsters sprinted into contact. Laura met the Brute head on, her swords screaming as they split the air. They met the Grue’s hammers, and the air filled with the noise of their clashing weapons.
Ed ducked right, his sword already carving a path straight through the nearest Soldiers on his way to the Knights beyond. Bob, by comparison, fell back slightly, his staff glowing with power. A blast of pure sunlight swept through the closest Grue, slashing through them like a hot blade.
As the steaming corpses fell in front of him, Alex sprinted past the man and slammed into the few Soldiers left in the gap. Their spears snapped, and her axe swung in two brutal arcs to bring them down. While they collapsed, she pushed forward as one of the Knights threw itself at her. Its gigantic sword was raised in challenge, and Alex took the first hit square on the boss of her shield.
The Knight seemed surprised that the blow didn’t send her staggering backwards, but Alex didn’t give it time to react. She ducked low, hooking its shield with the back spike of her axe. Then she pulled herself in and under its reach, her axe already flashing as she tore into it at close range. It backpedaled, but not quick enough to save itself.
Alex heard another Knight come howling at her from the side, but a sudden blast of light tore straight through its head. She grunted and paused long enough to give Bob a grateful nod, before charging further in, catching another Knight off guard. It lashed out with its sword, but she ducked around and to the side of the stab, and then chopped its ankle out from under it. A follow up pair of strikes finished the job, even as a pair of Soldiers closed in on her.
She dodged and weaved through their spears, cutting them down as they came and then sprinted for the nearest Archers. The Grue saw her coming, of course. One of the Knights had even stayed back, trying to give their long-ranged companions cover. It raised its massive blade, only to be forced back behind its shield as Bob unleashed yet another blast of light.
Alex ignored it and dodged past, running for the Archers. Arrows bounced from her shield or sped past her as she dodged them completely, and before they could switch to their knives, she was on the first of them. A blow from her axe killed one Grue; a shield-check sent another flying, and then a second swing finished a third. The fourth forced her to duck back slightly by taking a shot at point blank range. Her shield barely intercepted the arrow, and before it could escape, she cut the head from its shoulders.
Then she heard a roar behind her and pivoted to see the Knight swinging for her. She blocked the blade, sliding backwards from the impact. Alex spared a moment to finish the Archer she’d knocked over with her shield and took a second sword blow that sent her skidding even further backwards.
The Knight stomped after her, its eyes intent. Both remaining Archers began to sight in on her with their bows, looking to slip an arrow past her defenses.
A heartbeat later, Ed was there, tearing into them from behind. Both Archers went down almost immediately, and the Knight joined them a heartbeat later. Alex grinned as the remaining Grue were cut down, leaving only their broken corpses behind. Those lasted only until the purple flame sprang up to consume them.
[Main Quest Progress: 2 of 8 targets destroyed]
[Main Quest Progress: 1 of 8 targets destroyed]
[Hidden Quest Progress: 4 of 6 targets destroyed]
She let out a breath of relief. With the large amount of patrols they needed to kill, she’d probably have enough time to finish at least some of the Hidden Quests, too. Maybe Laura would even take enough pity on her to let her try one of the Brutes.
The others joined her in scavenging the materials from the fallen Grue just a moment later. Bob was shaking his head as he picked over the crystals and slabs they’d left behind. “Great, now I’m stuck with two overachievers.”
Ed raised an eyebrow at him. “You’ve never complained about me attracting attention before.”
“Who would complain about having a resident meat-shield? Now I’m going to have to race to get kills with the warrior princess over there, though. How is a little Acolyte supposed to keep up with you monsters?”
Alex shrugged uncomfortably. “There’s going to be enough Grue for all of us. We might not get a full clear, but—”
“You guys have been getting full clears? We almost never get those.” Bob looked over at Laura. “Hey, Vanguard, do you think we could manage a full clear one of these days? You’d have to half-cripple one of those big guys, but…”
“No, I don’t think so.” Laura shook her head, her eyes a little cautious when she looked at Alex. “We’d probably have to hit one of the Camps in order to make it work, and that’s not on our schedule today. Those things take forever to come back, after all.”
Alex grunted. The Camps she’d had to clear on a regular basis had been a near constant annoyance, thanks to Golden Swallow’s meddling. It was going to take her some time to get used to the idea that a Camp was something that took one or two weeks to recover, not a single day. “We usually get all the main stuff done, though, right? And maybe a few of the hidden quests?”
Laura nodded slowly. “Yeah. We do, but only if we can get through things without having anyone injured.” She smiled. “In the end, though, we have a schedule to keep, and I have my own Quests to complete. Anyone who wants anything extra is going to need to work harder. To the strongest go the spoils.”
Alex nodded, though that system didn’t sit entirely right with her. If only the strongest were levelling up, what were the others going to do? “Okay. Let me know if I need to cripple a few for people to snag them.”
Ed blinked. “You sound like you’ve done that before.”
She shrugged. “Whatever it takes to get the whole team what they need, right? Better to level up together than apart.”
Bob laughed. “Never mind, I like this new girl. Hey, we can even leave Mr. Serious over there behind if we need to—”
“Not happening, Sunshine.” Ed gave Bob a glare, but there was no real heat in it. He finished collecting a handful of material from a fallen Archer and then stretched slightly. “Shall we get back to it?”
The others nodded, and they set off together again along the street. Looking for trouble.
It didn’t take them very long to find it. They’d only made it another block before the next pack of Grue stumbled across them. Alex cut down another pair of Knights, and a couple of Archers as well, giving her one of her Hidden Quests. Another patrol ran into them as they passed by what looked like a large shopping mall of some kind, coming howling across the parking lot towards them. She picked up another two Knights there, giving her hope that she’d be able to finish one of her Main Quests by the time they reached the next fight.
By the time they finished the fourth patrol, just as it was coming out of what looked like an apartment building lobby, Alex was starting to feel the drag of her efforts. The constant fighting was making her muscles ache from the work, and one of the Knights had actually hit her shield hard enough to nearly send her flying. Her arm still ached from the impact, and it made her wonder if she was ready to take on a Brute after all.
There were other battles happening, of course. She could hear the clashing of weapons and explosions of magic echoing around the artificial canyons of the city. There was no hope of seeing the other teams as they fought, but it seemed like things were going well. Laura and the others didn’t seem worried, at least, and there hadn’t been any horns sounding.
By the time Laura called for a short halt, they’d been in the other world for nearly an hour. They took shelter in the broken entryway of a rowhouse and watched for passing Grue while they wolfed down ration bars. None of the monsters trotted by immediately, but it was clear the area was still thoroughly infested with them.
“Yeah, I’d say every block probably has at least one Camp inside it somewhere.” Bob seemed entirely unconcerned about that alarming fact, and he continued after he took a swig of water. “It seems like we run across one every time we explore too much, and then we can’t clear the Hidden Quests it gives us. Better to just run around the outside and stick to patrols, honestly.”
“And it really doesn’t cause any problems?” Alex tried not to sound mystified, but the concept of the Camps not being a problem was baffling to her. It was like they were a fact of life, not something to be assaulted at every opportunity. “I’d have thought that they would make the portal output more and more magic by building up over time.”
Laura gave her a curious look. “I mean, they could, but we have D rank teams that come in and specifically clear them out when things get too bad. Our Portal Analysis Department lets us know if there are any readings getting out of control, and we know where all the Camps are well enough that we can clear them out pretty quickly.”
Ed rolled his shoulders a little, his eyes on the street outside. “Why the worry? Are you thinking of going after them yourself, Alex?”
Alex hesitated. It wouldn’t have been the first time she’d gone hunting for the things alone. “Not if you guys don’t think it’s a problem, I guess. They were just always serious business back at the other portal.”
“Well, yeah. That’s cause you were working with an E rank spot. Any Camp close to the portal is a problem in that situation.” Bob smirked. “We Red Blade folks are used to deeper waters around here. You’ll just have to learn to love those things, especially since they’re how we end up with so many patrols to kill.”
She nodded, and the Acolyte chuckled to himself. Laura reached over and grabbed her shoulder for a minute. “Don’t worry about it, Alex, you’ll get the hang of it, eventually. You’re a good enough fighter that it won’t be too bad to get adjusted, I don’t think.”
“Thanks.” Alex looked around, following Ed’s line of sight. He was staring off into the distance at another rowhouse, one that seemed suspiciously untouched compared to the rest. “Hey, did you see something over there?”
“Maybe.” He looked over at Laura. “Wasn’t that one of the Anchor Point locations?”
“Hmm.” The Vanguard stood up and looked at the building. “Yeah, seems like it is.”
Alex felt an entirely unjustified bolt of alarm. “An Anchor Point? Is it active?”
Bob gave her an incredulous look. “No. Of course not. Otherwise we’d be knee deep in Grue, even all the way over here.”
Laura shrugged. “We took that one out a while back, when the portal was a much higher rank. I think there’s only one Anchor Point left around this area, but I’m not sure where it’s tucked away. We aren’t going to bother with that either.”
Ed snorted. “For a different reason, though. The last thing anyone wants is to run into some of the stuff that hangs around one of those things.”
She nodded in quiet agreement. Just as she was about to turn away, though, she caught sight of something moving in the upper floor of the house that Ed had been talking about. “Did you see that?”
The others glanced at her and shook their heads. Ed raised an eyebrow. “See a Grue or something?”
“I… don’t know.” Alex frowned, staring at the house for another moment. Had she seen a Killer or something peering out from the windows? Or had she just gotten a bit too tired?
Nothing appeared, and she shook her head. “Must have just been seeing things. Don’t worry about it.”
[Hidden Quest Discovered: Destroy six additional Grue Knights]
[Main Quest Progress: 5 of 8 targets destroyed]
[Hidden Quest Progress: 2 of 6 targets destroyed]
Alex knelt for a moment as the Grue burst into flame. Another patrol down, another Hidden Quest discovered. She’d been consistent about taking down Knights, but even though she’d nabbed another few Archers, she hadn’t gotten a new Hidden Quest for them. That left her with one undiscovered, and one for the Brutes that Laura was refusing to give her a shot at. Maybe it really was going to be impossible to get a full clear without actually hitting a Camp or two, but at the very least she wanted to give it a shot.
“Are there any other enemies we might be able to fight? I think I can get two of the Hidden Quests, but I have one more I haven’t locked in yet.”
The question seemed to take the others off guard. Bob shook his head and chuckled, while Ed just shrugged and looked at Laura. She stared back at Alex for a moment, and then sighed. “Kind of impatient aren’t you? You know that you have your whole life to reach D rank, don’t you?”
Alex restrained herself from telling the woman her goal of making S rank. They all probably thought she was strange enough already. “Just trying to make the most of our time here. Getting as close as I can to a full clear each mission seems like the best way to get to the next level.”
Bob rummaged around to collect the slab from a fallen Knight. “And how did you guys do it at the last portal? You weren’t seeing Knights on an E rank portal, were you?”
“Well, we were, just not as many as here. We also had Quests for just plain Soldiers, not Knights.” She shook her head. “Besides, we always had plenty of Camps to hit, so that’s what we focused on.”
The Acolyte tilted his head to the side; he seemed baffled by the answer. As Bob muttered to himself, Laura finally answered the question in a somewhat soothing voice. “There are other enemy types around here, but most of them would be even worse for you to fight than a Brute. I don’t think we want E rankers taking on Trolls or Witches.” She chuckled to herself. “Your best bet, without hitting Camps, would be to try for either a salvage or exploration quest. See if you can find a place that other Surveyors haven’t been to in a long while, or find some rare material people don’t usually pick up. That sort of thing.”
Alex nodded. “All right. Thanks.” She’d have to keep her eyes open. Maybe on her next mission, they’d let her a little more off leash.
A little over an hour later, the last members of the eighth patrol finally tumbled to the ground and burned.
[Main Quest Completed!]
[Hidden Quest Completed!]
Alex stepped back and drew in a deep breath. That would give her the main Quests, and two of the Hidden ones. Too bad she wasn’t going to get much more than that, but it was only her first mission after Golden Swallow’s collapse. She could be patient, if she had to be.
They collected the scattered materials and then headed back for the portal. The sounds of battle around the rest of the city had faded; clearly the other teams had already completed their own work. It didn’t take long to make their way back to the skyscraper where their exit was hidden, and no Grue appeared to block their way.
It felt odd, in a way, to just head for the portal without any real drama attached. There had been so many terrible fights and desperate chases at the last portal that Alex had a hard time not expecting the same kind of chaos here. The feeling that she was being watched didn’t help; every so often she thought she caught sight of movement in a window or a doorway, and half-turned expecting a Killer to be there, ready to take a shot.
There was never anything there when she looked, however, and the others started to tease her for being jumpy, so she tried to ignore it. At some point, she’d track down whatever it was, but for now she wanted to get back to the portal.
They arrived at the swirling vortex without any ambushes waiting for them, something that seemed almost luxurious to Alex. As they paused, she couldn’t help but tense and look for a threat to emerge. Bob was chuckling about something, while Ed just frowned at her. Laura clapped her hands and brought their attention to her.
“Now, Bob and Ed already know this spiel, but I’ll repeat it to help their memories and introduce it to you, Alex. Red Blade Securities highly encourages the use of Chained Skills and continuous advancement. If you want to get ahead, you’ll need to dedicate yourself to both.” Laura waited until they had all nodded before she continued. “After today, you’re going to be standing down from missions for at least three days, so you’ll have plenty of time for Skill training. I want you to be sure to take advantage of that, because if Chief Wells thinks you’re slacking, you won’t be going anywhere near a portal until he’s satisfied. Understand?”
They all nodded again, and Laura grinned. “With that said, you all did well today! I was happy to be your Vanguard. I’ll take care of the paperwork once we get back, so feel free to take some time to relax. And Alex, welcome to Red Blade Securities!”
Alex grinned back, and then they filed back through the portal. Just as the light engulfed her, she thought she heard a voice behind her. She turned to look, but the light surrounded her…
[Mission Report]
[Successful Return! +20 Experience]
[Main Quests Completed! +80 Experience]
[Secondary Culling Quest Completed! +40 Experience]
[Secondary Culling Quest Completed! +40 Experience]
[Secondary Adversary Quest Not Completed]
[Hidden Quest Undiscovered.]
Alex grimaced at the report. It wasn’t too bad of a result; she’d still make D rank within the next seven missions at this rate, which wasn’t bad at all. It just irked her to leave Quests undone, even if Laura was worried about the risks involved. She’d have to try to convince the Vanguard to at least give her a shot at one of the Brutes the next time she went out.
[Battle Maneuvers has reached level 20! Skill is at Max Level and can no longer increase.]
[Reset Battle Maneuvers to gain a Title?]
This time, she made the choice to reset it without hesitation. It would make things a bit more difficult to have her main combat Skill at zero, but three days of Skill training would give her more than enough of a chance to bring it back up to a decent level. Besides, the additional grades from a new Title would make all the difference.
As Battle Maneuvers went to zero, she got a brand-new message floating in her vision.
[Title Natural Combatant upgraded to Title Innate Fighter (Increases Skill grade of Dodging, Anticipate, Battle Maneuvers, and Inspect by two)]
It was a definite plus, though she was disappointed that Lady of War hadn’t gotten the upgrade. She shrugged off her dissatisfaction and continued through her options. There were similar options for Melee–Axe and Melee–Shield, but she had other plans for them, so she denied them.
The option she’d been hoping for came up a moment later.
[Skill Chain available. Do you wish to combine Melee–Axe and Melee–Shield?]
[Warning: Chained Skills lose all previous levels]
Alex agreed immediately. It would leave her light on combat skills, but the training would make up for it, and the increases from having Combined Arms back would be an enormous difference for her abilities. Besides, she’d have good use for the open Skill slot now, given what Laura had told her.
Sure enough, she felt a familiar rush of energy run through her as the change took effect.
[Skill Chain unlocked! Skills Melee–Axe and Melee–Shield removed. Skill Combined Arms–Axe/Shield gained! Skill Chain bonus gained! Title Ferocity upgraded to Title Savagery (Increases Skill grade of Melee, Weapon Mastery, and Combined Arms Skills by two.)]
Alex snorted. Savagery sounded about right, given the amount of additional damage potential she’d just gained. At this point, just taking the normal Melee Skills would give her an incredible increase in her power, but she already had plenty of Skills focused on that path. Better to spend her efforts in a so-far neglected direction.
[Skill Choice available. Please select an additional Skill.]
She chose Recovery again. The Skill was one she’d had before, but the fact was that the missions looked like they were going to be much longer and more intense than before. Her Persistent Title would help her a little, but Marathoning only helped when a lot of running was involved. It was time to have something that would help her out when she was just struggling through normal old combat again.
Satisfied with her choices, Alex dismissed the notifications and let the light sweep her back home…
Alex stepped out into the blank concrete room of the Red Blade portal, and was immediately confronted by her team saluting the statue of her mother again. She gave the thing a quick nod of appreciation, wondering how to bring it up with her mom, and then stepped away from the vortex.
Chief Wells was waiting there as well, the light of the portal making odd shadows on his hard face. Laura went over to him and spoke in a low tone, probably giving a report. Bob and Ed both nodded to the chief as they went by. Alex made to do the same, but Wells raised a hand to stop her. Laura glanced back in surprise, and then quickly smoothed her expression out to one of professional neutrality.
Wells spoke in his typically harsh voice. “Alexandretta, I want to congratulate you on your first mission. I hope to see such good performance from you in the future.”
Alex nodded back cautiously. She instinctively didn’t trust compliments from him—maybe it was just a legacy of her experience with Liliana, but there was just something off about the guy. “Thank you, Chief Wells.”
He gave her a broad smile. “Tomorrow we’ll start in on your Skill training again, but for now you have the rest of the day off.”
That statement seemed worryingly obvious. Was there a situation where she wouldn’t have the day off after a Survey?
Wells continued, apparently not noticing her slight frown. “A group of E rankers is going out for drinks later. I hope you’ll have the chance to join them.”
“I’ll try.” She wasn’t going to, but the man didn’t need to know that. First she wanted to report in with her mother and father, and then maybe get a little bit of an early bedtime. Clara and Audrey had gotten her adjusted to early wakeup times, the jerks, and she wanted to start her Skill training the next day with a good run.
“Glad to hear it.” Wells seemed satisfied. He nodded to her. “You’re dismissed. Again, well done today.”
She blinked at the comment and then headed out the door. Her mother was going to laugh herself hoarse. Alex just knew it.