B2Ch22: Upping the Ante_Team Player

[D Rank Surveyor Alex, Gatekeeper]

[Ascension Level: 7]

[Role: Porter (Role Skills: None]

[Role Level: 2]

[Experience: 60/3600]

[Attributes: Strength -> 7, Speed -> 10, Life -> 4, Devotion -> 0, Control -> 0]

[Current Skills: Combat Balance(19), Motion Trance(21), Combined Arms–Axe/Shield(18),

Holy–Storm(16)]

[Permanent Skills: Battle Maneuvers(14)]

[Current Titles: Empress of War (Increases Skill grade of Melee, Combined Arms, Weapon Mastery, and Battle Maneuvers by five.),

Aggression (Increases Skill grade of Melee, Weapon Mastery, Combined Arms, and Combat Balance Skills by five.),

Fated Hero (Increases Skill grade of Dodging, Anticipate, Battle Maneuvers, and Inspect by five),

Eternal Motion (Increases Skill grade of Recovery, Running, Marathoning, and Motion Trance by four.),

Tireless (Increases Skill grade of Recovery Skills by three.),

True Sentinel (Increases Skill grade of Deflect, Dodging, Blocking, Resist, Zeal, and Combat Balance by five.),

Peaceful Flow (Increases Skill grade of Meditation, Focus, Recovery, Arcane, Sense, and Motion Trance by three.),

Elite (Increases Skill grade Combat Balance, Battle Maneuvers, Battle Mastery, and Battle Dance by five.),

Title Lethality (Increases Skill grade of Melee, Weapon Mastery, and Combined Arms Skills by five.),

Blessed (Increases Skill grade of Holy by one.),

Fight Specialist (Increases Skill grade of Battle Maneuvers, Rush Assault, and Heavy Assault by one.),

Battle Flow (Increases Skill grade of Combat Balance, Riposte, and Battle Dance by one.)]

Alex considered her situation and grimaced a little. Her training had been more than a little disrupted by the constant chores that Wells had assigned her, and even worse, it seemed like he’d started to catch on to how exactly she was managing the trick of fighting all day without getting tired. She’d seen him watching her as she ran on the walls the previous day. If he figured that out…

She shook herself. There was time enough for that later.

[Please select your intent]

[Exploration]

[Vengeance]

[Patrol]

[War]

[Salvage]

She actually felt lucky to be choosing Patrol again, given what she was worried awaited her on the other side of the vortex. Liliana had been sending an almost constant stream of Grue at her before; somehow, she didn’t believe that it would be less of a problem now.

[Your intent is to Patrol]

[Quest Issued! Clear at least twelve Grue patrols.]

[Quest Issued! Destroy at least eight Grue Brutes.]

[Hidden Quest Issued!]

Alex grimaced as she registered the appearance of another Main Quest, and an even worse requirement for the one before. As if things weren’t already hard enough. She pushed forward into the light…

The difference in the city was almost immediate.

From her very first step outside the portal, Alex felt Liliana’s eyes on her. It was as if the Shade had been waiting for her, those grey eyes peering out from some window with a good view of the portal. The feeling disappeared after a moment, but she doubted that the Shade had somehow forgotten about her.

Alex’s hunch was confirmed a moment later as she trotted out of the portal building with her team and turned left, only to see a Grue patrol prowl out and around a corner two blocks away. The monsters turned to face her team and howled, immediately trotting towards them with their weapons ready.

[Hidden Quest Discovered! Destroy twenty-four Knights and twenty-four Archers.]

Alex blinked as only one of her Hidden Quests revealed itself. How hard was finding out the other one going to be?

Then she shook her head and charged forward, refusing to let herself get distracted. To her surprise, the other Surveyors charged along with her, even though they had no chance of matching her pace. She spared them a glance as she left them behind and then focused on smashing through the ranks of the Grue in front of her.

The Soldiers seemed to melt away as she hit them; the Knights didn’t seem to last much longer as she burrowed deeper into their ranks. When the Brute reached her, she blocked a hammerblow, ducked inside its reach, and cut it down in a handful of brutal, sharp strokes. After that she danced and dodged her way past a handful of Soldiers—using slight brushes of wind to knock the spearpoints aside, and then tore some of the Archers apart.

She turned and found that the other Surveyors were only now reaching the line, so she idly just dodged attacks and wounded the Grue that came near her, leaving them for the rest to clean up. As the last one fell, notifications popped up in her vision.

[Battle Maneuvers advances to 15!]

[Combat Balance advances to 21!]

[Combined Arms–Axe/Shield advances to 20!]

[Holy–Storm advances to 17!]

[Main Quest Progress: 1 of 12 targets destroyed!]

[Main Quest Progress: 1 of 8 targets destroyed!]

[Hidden Quest Progress: 4 of 48 targets destroyed!]

Alex relaxed slightly as she read through the words, the bodies of her enemies burning around her. She cocked her head and turned, finding Liiana watching her from a nearby pedestrian bridge. The Shade flickered and vanished, leaving Alex to sigh. Hopefully, they’d have enough time to gather the materials before the next patrol appeared.

It was looking like it was going to be a very long day.

Team one’s day was over just an hour and a half after it started. They barely made it five blocks from the portal and were grateful that she turned them back when she did; at least two Grue patrols ambushed them on the way, and the younger Surveyors were already worn from the other four they had fought earlier. Alex had bid them farewell with a certain amount of fondness. After all, they had already started to improve; their combat times were getting dramatically better already, and a lot of them had taken to Chaining their Skills and developing them enough that she was sure they would hit D rank, given enough time.

Unfortunately, time was something she now had in abundance. With almost half an hour until her next team appeared, she was left to herself and the Shade, who kept appearing and disappearing at rather irritating intervals. Alex was sure that Liliana wouldn’t avoid the opportunity that Wells had handed to her; after all, it was her chance to catch the person she’d hated the most alone and unsupported.

Sure enough, a Grue patrol came trotting along the street just five minutes after team one had left. Alex hesitated for a moment, but there was no real point in trying to avoid the combat. Most of her Skills were already close enough to maximum, and it was early in the day. She might as well see if she was still capable of handling things on her own.

So she left the portal building and faced the patrol. They howled and charged immediately, their snarling breaths tearing the still air of the dead city around her. Alex watched them come and crouched, ready to charge into them again.

Then she caught a flicker of motion nearby and ducked behind her shield. A pair of Killers’ arrows slammed into it a moment later, nearly knocking her back. She grimaced as she picked out the lethal snipers’ forms a moment later, hiding on top of a nearby abandoned cargo truck. So, Liliana had upped her game, had she?

[Hidden Quest Discovered! Destroy eight Killers]

Of course. Alex snarled and then charged forward. She had no doubt that the Killers wouldn’t hesitate to shoot into their own kind, but at least it would make hitting her harder, and she could winnow down their numbers a little before team two arrived. A spattering of arrows from the Archers came towards her, but she scattered them with a hint of her magic.

It occurred to her, as she charged, that for the first time in a long while, she wasn’t being watched by anyone. She could unleash her magic however she wanted, and there wouldn’t be any reports making their way back to Wells and his friends. Alex smiled.

As before, she slammed into the front ranks of the Grue and began cutting them to pieces. Soldiers didn’t stand a chance against her axe and shield; their spears snapped as easily as their bones, and she barely acknowledged them as a threat anymore. The Knights were tougher, with their own shields and their massive swords, but her Skills were all near maximum now. She dodged past their blades, blocked their seemingly feeble strikes, and cut them down the second an opening presented itself.

The lumbering Brute presented more of a threat, but Alex simply ignored it. She dodged past its wild swings and cut her way through the rearguard to charge the Archers. This time she didn’t have to leave any for her friends to fight, so instead she scattered them like a fox among hens, slaughtering them while they panicked.

Then the Killers fired again, and she was forced to sidestep their arrows. They grinned at her, equally malicious and hateful; their grey eyes flared as they reached for another arrow, each ready to try to end her life again.

So she reached out to the Storm and pointed with her axe.

Lightning abruptly crackled, orange streaked with yellow. One of the Killers staggered, its face burnt from the bolt of lightning, and Alex cackled. She struck out again, knocking it from its perch and onto its back, dead before it hit the ground.

The other Killer snarled and loosed another arrow at her, but she was already moving aside to let it pass by. She sprinted straight for the remaining Killer, her speed making the buildings look like a smeared painting on either side. Wind whistled in her ears, and she grinned as she realized that if she could use her magic to split the air in front of her slightly…

Alex accelerated even more, and within heartbeats she reached the Killer’s roost. She jumped onto the truck’s hood, and then ran straight up to where it waited. The thing had dropped its bow, but it was still trying to pull out its daggers when she fell on it, her axe flashing. It managed to deflect one axe strike, she blocked a stab with her shield, and then her axeblade tore into its side. A second strike severed its head, and she spun to face the remnants of the patrol below her.

The Grue were still chasing after her, but their pace slowed. Wide grey eyes were staring at her; even the Brute seemed shocked at what she’d done. Alex felt her grip on her weapons tighten, and she threw her head back and laughed for a moment, magic searing through her veins. A handful of the Soldiers actually came to a stop, seeming unsure if they should continue forward.

She didn’t give them a chance to retreat. Alex was on them only moments later, and there was no mercy for the Grue in her axe. A few of the Soldiers did end up turning to run, but she focused through the fog and let lightning snap out and into their backs. By the time she was finished, the road was clear of her enemies, their broken forms already burning with purple flame.

Notifications appeared shortly after.

[Battle Maneuvers advances to 24!]

[Motion Trance advances to 22!]

[Holy–Storm advances to 22!]

[Main Quest Progress: 7 of 12 targets destroyed!]

[Main Quest Progress: 7 of 8 targets destroyed!]

[Hidden Quest Progress: 36 of 48 targets destroyed!]

[Hidden Quest Progress: 2 of 8 targets destroyed!]

Alex didn’t bother to collect the materials scattered in the street. Maybe some of the other Surveyors would pick them up, but she had other things to do. She began a calm, leisurely jog around the portal building, searching for hints of Liliana. She might not be able to kill the Shade, but perhaps she could take out more of the thing’s pawns while she waited.

Alex only ran across one more patrol before team two came through. She decimated it as quickly as she had the first one, along with the pair of Killers that had lurked along in their wake. It seemed like she could almost taste Liliana’s frustration as she loped back to the building to welcome her new team, but even then, it wasn’t like the Shade was done yet.

Patrol after patrol came howling out after Alex and the other Surveyors, but she helped her teammates tear their way through each of them in turn. It seemed almost simple, now, to rip a hole in the enemy formation and let the others clean up the riffraff. She kept an eye out for more Killers, but the majority of them appeared to be looking for her as a lone target.

When the last of the patrols fell—while she had team two already back on its way to the portal, of course—she straightened up from the burning wreckage of the Grue to see Liliana once again glaring at her. The Shade disappeared, but not in a subtle way this time. Glass shattered as a window broke, and the other Surveyors jerked in surprise.

Alex just shook her head at them and told them to collect the materials. They had to finish their Survey, after all.

Team two made it almost all the way back to the portal before the Killers showed up again.

Alex had only a hint of warning before the arrows slashed down. Only a sudden gust of wind kept them off target; there had been a single arrow for each of the younger Surveyors. She spun to face the enemy with a snarl. They had taken up cover in a building on the side of the street, and were leering at her from the second floor.

She glanced at the others. “Get back to the portal. I need to deal with these ones.”

Their eyes wide, the other Surveyors obeyed. Alex ran along beside them, blocking the incoming arrows or catching them on her shield. Occasionally, she sent one of them tumbling away with a burst of wind.

Then, as the others sprinted for the vortex, Alex changed direction. She ran straight for where the Killers were hiding, seeing a nearby doorway she could use to get inside. Arrows slammed into her shield with all the force of a wrecking ball, but she kept going, her feet eating up the distance between her and her enemies.

She smashed through the glass door of the building, letting the pebbles of safety glass roll off her armor. Alex caught sight of the Killers starting to run, their sleek forms already racing along the balcony where they had been crouched. The stairs were only a temporary barrier; she was up to the second floor and racing after them in an instant, weaving her way through the discarded office furniture that littered the vacant balcony.

The Killers were waiting for her. Two of them shot at her, the arrows blurring across the distance. She dodged one arrow and knocked the other aside. Her other two targets were already crouching with knives drawn, waiting for her.

She might have paused for an honorable duel once, but she chose another way. The moment she drew close enough, she unleashed a burst of lightning that slammed into both of the closest Killers. They jerked and twisted as the lightning crawled over them; her vision blurred slightly as she exhausted most of her remaining magic.

Then she was on them, and two brutal swipes of her axe finished both. Alex barely even slowed; she was on the remaining two before they could throw down their bows. One tried to block her axe with the curved wood. It snapped in half, and her axe cut its head in two. The other threw the bow at her as it went for its knives. A simple swipe of her shield cleared the way, and another axe blow turned its torso into a ruin.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

As the four Killers slumped to the stained carpet of the balcony, Alex let out a satisfied breath. She glanced up to see Liliana’s Shade staring at her from the window of the opposite building.

[Hidden Quest Completed!]

Laughing, Alex waved at the thing before it disappeared. Then she went back to the portal. Unless she missed her guess, she’d earned some extra rest time between now and her next Survey team.

[Mission Report]

[Successful Return! +20 Experience]

[Main Quest Completed! +140 Experience]

[Secondary Culling Quest Completed! +80 Experience]

[All Quests Completed! Glorious Victory! +80 Experience]

It was hard not to gloat at the full clear, despite all odds. She didn’t know how much worse it would get, but unless Liliana pulled something extreme out, it was only going to get better.

[Battle Maneuvers increased from 14 to 30!]

[Combat Balance increased from 19 to 25!]

[Combined Arms–Axe/Shield increased from 18 to 25!]

[Motion Trance increased from 21 to 23!]

[Holy–Storm increased from 16 to 25!]

The sight of so many of her Skills near maximum made her want to cackle as well. If Wells only knew, he’d probably be gritting his teeth.

Of course, he’d probably try to ‘transfer’ her faster, so it would be better to keep concealing her progress. In fact, she started wondering if she should begin holding back during the sparring sessions…

[Battle Maneuvers has reached level 30! Skill is at Max Level and can no longer increase.]

[Reset Battle Maneuvers to gain a Title?]

She agreed. Battle Maneuvers increased slowly, but she would be able to use this run of Surveys to bring it back up quickly. If there was a time to invest in it, it would be now.

[Title Fight Specialist upgraded to Title Skirmish Specialist (Increases Skill grade of Battle Maneuvers, Rush Assault, and Heavy Assault by two.)]

The next option appeared a heartbeat later.

[Combat Balance has reached level 25! Skill is at Max Level and can no longer increase.]

[Reset Combat Balance to gain a Title?]

This time, she declined. She needed some of her Skills available, to make it so that she could survive. As nice as it would be to reset it each time, Battle Maneuvers and Combat Balance were going to need to switch off.

[Combined Arms–Axe/Shield has reached level 25! Skill is at Max Level and can no longer increase.]

[Reset Combined Arms–Axe/Shield to gain a Title?]

Combined Arms, however, she’d take the risk for. She still had Combat Balance at full, after all.

[Title Attack Master gained (Increases Skill grade of Combined Arms, Lunge, and Snipe by one.)]

Despite herself, Alex frowned. She’d hoped for something a bit more impressive, but she would just have to take what she got.

[Holy–Storm has reached level 25! Skill is at Max Level and can no longer increase.]

[Reset Holy–Storm to gain a Title?]

Alex grimaced. She’d just gotten the Skill to where it was useful; resetting it would hurt. All the same, it was better than allowing it to stagnate.

[Title Blessed upgraded to Title Favored (Increases Skill grade of Holy by two.)]

At least she’d have plenty of time to practice the thing, if Liliana kept having her way. She closed her eyes and stepped forward into the light…

The portal room was filled with the buzz of conversation, though some of the Surveyors stopped chatting and stared up at her as she exited the vortex. Alex blinked and looked back at them, surprised they had even noticed her arrival. She saw Clara looking up at her with a raised eyebrow and shrugged back at her.

Then she went over to where Wells was waiting, tapping his foot impatiently. “Surveyor Morrison.”

“Chief Wells.” Alex nodded to him. “The first two teams performed extremely well, despite a lot of patrol activity on the other side of the portal. I think they are learning well.”

“So I hear.” Wells folded his arms. “I also heard that there were Killers active. And that you charged them on your own.”

Alex paused. She obviously didn’t want to reveal too much of her capabilities, but she also didn’t want to give him an excuse to pull her from her remaining Surveys. “They weren’t that much of a problem. I managed to catch them off guard, and nobody was wounded.”

Wells studied her for a moment longer, and then nodded. “Okay. Please report if there are any more Killer sightings for your next Surveys. If there are more out there, we might have a problem where we need to purge more Camps to bring the activity back to normal.” She nodded, and he gestured for her to be dismissed. “Be ready for the next Survey. You’re leaving in thirty minutes.”

She nodded and headed for the ready room. First some food, then a text to her father. All in all, a good start to the day.

With the third team, the Grue started to come even faster than before. It seemed like Grue spilled out of every alley and came howling from every building. Liliana’s Shade was appearing more and more frequently now, her baleful eyes staring out from windows, street corners, and bridges.

The attacks were constant enough that even Alex was starting to feel a little tired by the time the sixth patrol fell. Part of it was the fact that she wasn’t getting the chance to jog much between combats, but the other part was just the sheer number of fights. Watching for any incoming Killers wasn’t helping either, though none of them showed their faces that quickly.

Once she took team three back to the portal, barely an hour after they arrived, the story quickly changed. Suddenly each patrol that came running at her was accompanied by at least one or two Killers, and they were running towards her even faster than before. Alex went out to meet them; there was no point in waiting for the Grue to come to her, and she figured it would be better to keep the area clear in case other teams were coming back. Besides, she wanted the chance to let loose with her Storm abilities some more.

If her Skills hadn’t already been nearing maximum before the rush of enemies, she might have been overwhelmed. As it was, Alex was left breathing hard over the remains of her sixth patrol alone, watching as their bodies burned and wondering how much more she could take.

[Main Quest Completed!]

[Hidden Quest Completed!]

[Holy – Storm advances to 25!]

Blinking in surprise, she dimly realized that she’d already completed all of her Quests. She glanced back at the portal building, which was barely a block away. It hadn’t quite been enough time for team four to be ready to come through, but it was getting close. If she came back through the portal, it might tip her hand to Chief Wells… but at the same time she could maybe fit even more than three Surveys into the rush.

Alex hesitated over the choice for only a moment. Then she was running back to the portal, Motion Trance carrying her past the scattered remnants of the Grue in a flash. After all, she was putting the work in. Why shouldn’t she get the reward?

Alex stepped out of the portal with a grin. Team four was still walking in through the door, so she hadn’t overestimated the time she needed. She’d probably not have time to text her dad, but he wasn’t really expecting another note from her for at least another hour or two.

She trotted over to Chief Wells, who had both his eyebrows raised. “Surveyor Morrison. Are you giving up for the day?”

“No. Just popped back through to make sure everything was still on schedule.” She’d also just reset another batch of her Skills, of course. This time, she’d chosen Combat Balance, Combined Arms, and Holy–Storm. Favored had changed to Hallowed, Attack Master had turned to Strike Master, and Battle Flow had turned into Tactical Momentum.

It would leave her just a little vulnerable on her next Survey, but it would be worth the chance to keep boosting her Skills. If the next three teams went just as quickly, she might even be able to be most of the way to her next level by the end of the day—and each Survey she completed got her closer to Wells’ level.

Wells seemed a bit nonplussed by her response, and he nodded slowly. “Still no signs of those Killers?”

“I don’t have anything to report.” The words were technically true, and if Wells noticed she hadn’t actually answered his question, he showed no sign of it.

“Good.” He nodded and then gestured to the portal. “I believe you have another Survey to do. Get to it.”

Alex nodded and then trotted over to her next team. Things were going well indeed.

Less than an hour later, team four was back through the portal, and Alex faced the madness of the Grue alone.

They had been a decent team. Some of them had looked nervous about being out with her. Understandable, given what the other teams had probably told them about the swarms of monsters waiting for them. A couple of them had eyed the materials that she’d left strewn across the streets around the portal building and given her strange looks, but she’d just encouraged them to gather what they could between fights.

She let them scoop the crystals and other materials from the ground while she paced around each new battlefield, her eyes alert for incoming patrols. Alex could see Liliana more and more now. The Shade was lingering longer, seeming more and more solid every minute she stayed in the other world. For now, the thing was still just sending Grue to fight, but part of her was starting to worry that she’d be fighting Liliana herself soon.

Once team four was safe, then she turned herself loose on the patrols that Liliana continued to send at her. Killers were appearing in groups of three now, sending their hateful arrows to try to catch her off guard. Patrols almost didn’t wait until the previous one had been killed before they showed up, howling for her blood. Alex lost herself in a haze of violence and desperation as she fought her way through them.

In less time than she’d thought possible, her Screen was informing her that her Quests were done, and Alex broke away from the latest patrol to run back towards the portal. She heard some of them still howling behind her, but she just accelerated away, knowing that she’d have plenty of chances to destroy them once she got back. For now, though, she needed some food, and the chance to text her father.

Some things were important, after all.

Alex felt a bright sort of weariness as she walked out of the portal room.

Wells had been just as frustrated as before, though he seemed to be containing himself when he gave her the slight break she’d been expecting. She had nearly forty minutes, thanks to how quickly she’d finished things.

Not that she’d just left things as they were. She’d reset Battle Maneuvers along with Combined Arms and Holy–Storm this time. Skirmish Master had become Combat Prowess, Strike Master became Assault Master, and Hallowed had turned into Sanctified. It would be a pain to bring her Permanent Skill back up to maximum again, but every reset brought her that much closer to where she’d be able to be confident of her chances against whatever Wells had planned.

She passed Mary on her way into the bathroom and went straight to where her phone was stashed. A quick text let her parents know she was still okay—though her muscles were starting to protest about her mistreatment of them—and then she went back towards the ready room. They’d have some kind of dinner set up there; one of her teammates had mentioned something about tamales that she had every intention of investigating.

On her way there, though, she ran into Ed, who was going the opposite direction. He gave her an amused look. “Still doing all right? You know everyone would understand if you called it a day, right?”

“I’m doing just fine. Just have to make it through another couple of Surveys.” She grinned at him. “What, are you worried I’ll get too strong to spar with?”

Ed grunted with a surprising amount of sourness. “I’m just… worried about you, you know. You’re pushing yourself too hard, and it might be getting dangerous. Sometimes it’s better to admit defeat so you can survive another day.”

Alex studied him for a moment, surprised by the fact that he was pushing the subject. Was he that worried about her? She put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll be fine, Ed. It’ll turn out all right.”

He stepped away, clearly not convinced. “Okay. Just… be careful, all right? I don’t want to see anything happen to you.”

She watched as he passed by her in the hallway, still thinking over his words. Something was obviously bothering him, and he wasn’t the only one that had mentioned danger. Calvin had said something similar; were they picking up on rumors about retaliation from Wells?

Then the smell of tamales brought her back to her original plan. Whatever was going on with Ed could wait until she needed to deal with it on a full stomach. A quick nap probably wouldn’t hurt either.

[D Rank Surveyor Alex, Gatekeeper]

[Ascension Level: 7]

[Role: Porter (Role Skills: None]

[Role Level: 2]

[Experience: 1260/3600]

[Attributes: Strength -> 7, Speed -> 10, Life -> 4, Devotion -> 0, Control -> 0]

[Current Skills: Combat Balance(25), Motion Trance(25), Combined Arms–Axe/Shield(0),

Holy–Storm(0)]

[Permanent Skills: Battle Maneuvers(0)]