“Cooper?”
“Over here.”
I replied and tiredly lifted my arm, seeing Commander Pollux head over in my direction.
“Where are you?”
“I’m buried. Right here.”
“Oh. Shit.”
“John!”
Amary came running when Pollux found me. I tried brushing away some of the crap around me, but my arm – and the miserable pain everywhere else – made that difficult.
On the contrary, Amary easily picked up the tree that was on top of my leg, throwing it to the side.
“Son of a bitch…”
I let out a curse, feeling the horrible sting as blood circulated through my broken leg.
“I need a healer, Commander.”
“What happened?”
“The tree crushed my leg. That shit is really broken.”
“Amary, carry him. We’ll head back over.”
“Got it.”
Amary reached out, so I gave her my arms and she pulled me into hers.
I shuddered a bit when my leg moved around.
“Damn that hurts.”
“What happened, John?”
“Oh, nothing much. I was hiding.”
“And the forest?”
“Cut down by one of the Royals. It got pissed when it couldn’t find me.”
I chuckled a bit, still impressed with myself. I actually managed to evade an Authority 8.
Aura was really something.
Pollux asked.
“Which Royal?”
“The one with all its tits and shit out.”
“Temptress?”
“Is that what they’re called?”
“Well, they’re technically Breeders. But they’re known for their powers of seduction and temptation. They’ll fuck just about anything that walks though so that’s where their technical name comes from. She caused us some issues during the battle when she appeared behind us.”
Pollux sighed as we made our way to the valley, the stench of blood and iron hitting my nose.
I saw the strike force, consisting of several Steeds and a single huge armored vehicle that looked strangely like a tank. Two apertures were mounted on a large turret with three smaller ones scattered across the tank.
Both Alois and Miron were there as well. It seemed they made quick work of those Royals as I spotted some of their corpses, including that of the Breeder who almost killed me.
While walking into the midst of the vehicles, I heard Eric’s familiar voice chime from atop a Steed.
“What’s wrong, summoner? Got hurt a bit and had to be carried like a child?”
“Don’t be jealous now. My boo boo was pretty big this time.”
“Pfft.”
Amary stifled her laughter, continuing to walk past. I smiled when Eric scoffed and rolled his eyes.
Once we reached the area where some wounded were being treated, Pollux shouted.
“Commander Lupe! We could use some healing over here.”
“One second.”
One of the warlocks tended to his patient for a bit longer before lifting his head and looking over to me. By now my shin was showing off its new joint. Commander Lupe raised his brows as he walked over.
“What happened here?”
“A tree crushed my leg for about 45 minutes.”
“Well, that’ll certainly do it.”
Lupe, dressed in some black robes, kneeled down and tapped my knee. With a flash, hundreds of white lines were drawn down my leg, turning red and twisting when they flashed over the injury.
I asked warily.
“Think I’ll lose the foot?”
“... No. It should be fine. I’ll need to treat it now though. This is going to hurt.”
“Fun.”
“Here.”
He handed me a piece of leather, which I took with a sigh and bit down on.
Then, after feeling my leg get pinned in place with a spell, I felt the changes as Lupe’s hands flashed with power. My leg twisted as bone was reset inside my crushed flesh. I let out a long grunt, my jaw clamping down and my free hand banging on the dirt beside me.
He mercilessly continued. Thankfully, the first part was the worst. Once the bone was back in place, the pain diminished and started fading as the muscle and blood vessels were healed.
The process wasn’t quick though. Even after 15 minutes, Lupe was still working on the leg, trying to repair as much as he could. Those lines that occasionally flashed across the leg were indicators at how ‘correct’ everything was. Like a game, Lupe needed to reform and fix the lines, making everything uniform and straight again.
But there was a lot of damage, even though it was just a leg and not an area with organs.
At some point, I took out my cigar case, picking one of the slightly red sticks out and lighting it. That breath of medicinal air felt particularly amazing, especially when its potent rejuvenating effects reached my leg. I could feel it tingle with every pump of blood.
Then, once about 25 minutes passed, Lupe stopped and stood while wiping off a small drop of sweat.
“Well, if you were a knight, this certainly wouldn’t have been as easy. I’ve never worked on a summoner before either.”
“Did I handle differently compared to a warlock?”
“No, I didn’t notice anything different. Your leg is mostly repaired. The main thing is that everything is back in its place, and blood is moving through your foot again. But the bone is still a bit broken, and the muscle and flesh isn’t any less damaged. Stay off of it and get regular treatments once we’re back at the Stronghold. I can’t do everything right here and now.”
“Understood. Thank you very much, sir.”
“Mm.”
He nodded and spoke with Pollux a bit longer before walking off and continuing to treat others. There were a dozen or so wounded, a fraction of the strike force. But I noticed that not everyone was happy and healthy.
After looking around some, I found a few dead bodies, human, being laid down to the side. There were six from what I saw, and there was a woman kneeling over one of the bodies.
Tears fell silently as she bowed down at the dead man in front of her. His chest was completely flattened and one of his arms was missing, telling the gruesome story of his death.
The woman looked to be in denial, understanding what she was seeing yet unable to register that it had happened.
Her Aura was tainted with the darkness of despair and sorrow. I could see it all so clearly, soaking in those emotions and so easily placing myself in her shoes.
To lose the one you loved. I was experiencing that hell by proxy, and it made my insides twist.
I eventually pulled my eyes away and tapped my Aerial, waiting.
“... John?”
“Hi.”
I eased a bit when I heard Umara’s voice. She was still here.
Her voice was groggy. We were in different timezones, not to mention that it was around four in the morning for me anyway.
“Sorry for waking you.”
“That’s alright. Is everything okay?”
“... Yeah. I just wanted to hear your voice.”
“Well I can certainly talk. How are you? Late mission?”
“Mm. Night raid on a Scourge camp.”
“A successful one, I assume?”
“By most definitions, yes. There were a few deaths though.”
“... I’m sorry. Must be hard to see.”
Her voice fell to a mutter, making me nod in silence.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Then, her worried voice came over.
“You'd tell me if anything happened, right?”
“Would you want me to? I don’t want to distract you.”
“As if! Being worried about you isn’t a distraction!”
“Yes it is.”
“Shut up! Are you saying I should hide my close shaves with death from you?”
“No. I’m okay with being distracted by you.”
“... You think you’re such a smooth talker. This is a two-way road, mister! So tell me. What happened?”
She went silent, waiting, so I sighed and spilled the beans.
I gave a brief overview of what happened with the mission and Royal, attempting to downplay just how close to dying I was. The fact that I was in such close proximity to a Royal at all though was telling enough, and Umara wasn’t stupid.
“Fuck, John.”
“I know. My leg still hurts like a bitch.”
“I don’t care about your leg! I know you understand how dangerous what you just did was. Can you not go volunteering for the most dangerous jobs? Sounds to me like without you there, the entire scout team would have died. And the only reason they survived was because you took on the brunt of the danger. Why the hell did you do that anyway? You should’ve just had the knights carry you.”
“They were my bait. It just didn’t work out as well as I’d hoped. My stealth abilities are still a work in progress…”
I scratched my cheek. The plan was foolproof, until they started literally sniffing me out. If that hadn’t happened, all the enemies would have gone after Amary and the others while I slipped away with none the wiser.
I had now learned my lesson the hard way and knew where my limits lay, as well as what to look out for. Still, I could admit that it was an unnecessary risk, even though I think we got plain unlucky being discovered like we did.
Barely five minutes with my Aerial on and they started converging on our position, from around 800 meters away from the base too. I wasn’t sure whether to be skeptical about the whole situation or if my Aerial was just that obvious.
I looked at my own Aerial. My eyes had gained the slight ability to see magical energy. I generally couldn’t notice it unless the source of the magic was potent enough, like with a White Crystal.
And I could definitely see some of the magic that radiated off my Aerial. It was like a glow, not that bright, but still noticeable.
When I looked around, I could also see fainter glows coming from a select few people with Aerials, including bright glows around the vehicles.
Maybe my Aerial really was a shining beacon. A cluster of aerials would make it even more obvious. And even if the Aerial wasn’t on, the Crystal was still there. I doubted that it was airtight to its own energy.
But unless every other recon team regularly got caught while doing these kinds of things, it wasn’t reasonable to assume Aerials were really that obvious to scouts and the like.
I’d have to ask about it. Fishy or not, I needed to know why we got caught and learn from this. If it turned out that Wallace was just being reckless or a dumbass and gave away our positions, then I’d learn to be less trusting.
I sighed.
“I’m sorry, dear. It won’t happen again.”
“I really hope not. It’s been all of a week since you got there and you’ve already come close to losing a limb. I love you, scars and all, but losing arms and legs will make our future battles more difficult.”
“I think I could rock a peg leg.”
“Please no.”
“And if I lose my hand I’ll get a hook. I can still pull triggers with a hook hand.”
“Oh God…”
I laughed as Umara facepalmed from the other end.
“Pathfinders, let’s get going!”
“Oh. That’s me. I’ll let you go so you can get back to sleep.”
“Mm. Stay safe John. Oh, I’ve been poking around in regards to Feiden, seeing if I can get him transferred to you, but he’s dipped beyond my mother’s reach. I’ll keep working on it, but without someone to be your shield, you’ll have to take extra precautions.”
“I know. But don’t let your worry distract you. I happen to be pretty good at staying safe, and although Tana is with you, you still have yet to really weaponize my knowledge. I don’t like worrying about you either, but the very fact that I can’t watch over you makes me anxious.”
I frowned while levering myself up. Amary lent me her arm so I could start hobbling over to one of the trucks.
Umara hummed in response.
“There you go again. You can worry about me but I can’t worry about you. Don’t you hate hypocrisy?”
“It’s not hypocrisy, just a double standard.”
“I thought you didn’t like those either.”
“Well, when it comes to my future wife, I’m alright with throwing away some of my principles.”
“I think my future husband is just shameless.”
“A matter of perspective.”
I smiled, imagining Umara rolling her eyes.
“Sure thing, darling. Whatever you say. Now go rest.”
“Mm. You too. And say hi to Tana for me...”
We gave our goodbyes as I laid back in the bed of a supply truck transporting some other wounded.
Once the call ended, I let out a sigh.
……
Umara rubbed her face while setting the Aerial down, feeling her grogginess set back in with full force.
Tana, laying in her bed across the room, propped her head up with a fist. There was a smile on her face, half covered by her long blonde hair.
“Future husband and wife? I didn’t realize you two had gotten so bold. When’s the wedding?”
“... Hopefully before shit really starts to hit the fan.”
“Hm, and how long do you think we have?”
“Not much longer than a decade.”
“I see. Then it seems like we’ve got some more work to do. Your future husband can hide from an Authority Eight in plain sight. Stealth has become my primary Aura technique and I’ve only barely started to do that. I’ll send him a message tomorrow and ask about it, but either way, he just keeps pulling ahead of us.”
Tana laid her head back down on her pillow, letting a drawn out breath escape her lips as she prepared to go back to sleep. Umara could only nod in agreement. It was exactly what she had been worried about.
But she had been more confident recently. Her own Aura finally found its technique, and she was making faster progress than ever before. It almost scared her, making her think she was moving too fast.
She was already primed for Authority Six. She could advance at any time. She had also perfected her second affinity for Fire. She would go into Authority Six with a two-thirds affinity, perfecting it completely on her way toward Authority Seven. But none of that was what had her concerned.
It was the fact that she had finished perfecting her second affinity just a week after developing her new Aura technique, over a month ago. That technique, which allowed her to observe the world directly in its rawest and most precise form, had also allowed her to figure out the rest of her fire affinity with shocking ease. Combined with John’s knowledge and hypotheses he had posed in her grimoires, she almost wondered why she had ever struggled to begin with.
But she had waited to advance because she was a bit paranoid about missing something. Normally, after perfecting her affinity for that level, she would just accumulate enough power to create her mana core and advance. She already had all the necessary power, and she had mentally created her mana core ten times over. She could form it in a record time of just 2 minutes, when under normal circumstances it would take hours.
But she kept asking herself. Was there really nothing else to do? More importantly, was she really destined to walk the same path as every other warlock?
The most glaring issue with warlock advancement, which had supposedly been an issue for thousands of years, was the lack of ‘room’ for building every affinity.
It took 3 Authorities to build a perfect affinity, each one contributing a third before finally combining. Failing to perfect a third of the affinity during any of the three levels would leave you with an imperfect mana core for the rest of your life.
However, the first Authority, which every Magus entered during their awakening, didn’t give any opportunity for developing an affinity. Once you chose and developed your first elemental affinity, you’d advance into Authority Two with that single one-third affinity.
Which meant, 10 authorities later, you’d be short a single affinity. You could have perfected three of the elements and have perfected two thirds of the fourth element, but because it was impossible to get to Authority 13, you would lack that final affinity which would allow you to perfectly master every element.
Warlocks had been wrestling with that issue for a very long time, and they’d attempted no small number of experiments to try and fix it. They’d tried to get people to comprehend an affinity before their awakening, and many warlocks, including the best in history, had tried to advance two affinities in a single Authority. But without exception, they all failed. An Authority 13 existence was mere fantasy, and no warlock in their recorded history had managed to develop four perfect elements, regardless of their enlightenments.
Now though, Umara was questioning what they said was impossible. Perhaps every warlock was simply screwed during their awakening. But chances were the answer didn’t lie there.
Instead, she believed the answer lay higher. Not necessarily at a higher Authority, but at a higher level of comprehension.
Not even she could see an opportunity for developing two affinities in a single Authority. It simply wasn’t something their system of advancement accommodated, no matter how easily she comprehended the element. Many warlocks better than her had tried, some famous ones doing so at the cost of their lives. And she had no intention of testing her limits like that.
Instead, she was beginning to see something…
She didn’t know if it was a place, a realm, another dimension, or a source of power. All she knew was that when she looked in the distance, she could see that something, that place, over the horizon.
But there was a massive wall blocking her way. She was nowhere near it, and less than capable of even trying to break through it yet, but she could see how colossal it was.
She would need to make preparations to break it down. She had thought about asking her mother for advice since she definitely knew about what it was, but she refrained. Umara knew knowledge would distort her perception, so she wanted to understand it herself, using the knowledge she had attained from both her mother on magic and from John on science.
Lately, she had been studying that wall, this barrier to higher power, and trying to figure out what she could do to prepare for it. She felt like she needed to figure it out before advancing; anything for a higher chance at not just breaking through it, but doing so quickly.
After an hour of pondering though, nothing came to her. Eventually she let out a sigh and laid back down, bundling up under her covers, hugging a large pillow that could never replace the warmth of the one she wished was in its stead.
After some silence, she whispered.
“I miss him, Tana. I miss our squad. It feels like everything changed after Anarchy.”
“... It did.”
Tana whispered back, a bit of depression lacing her voice.
“Someday though… I think we’ll come back together. Maybe… he’ll come back to me…”
“...”
Umara listened quietly. She knew Tana missed Vetsmon. The two had gotten close, but after the tournament, they had no choice but to separate.
Then Anarchy happened, and since he left, not a single word had come from him. The only person in contact with his parents, John, also hadn’t asked about the situation. He had opted to wait and see.
Still, it seemed Tana was a bit more lovesick than she thought. She felt bad, because she at least had John up until they left for basic.
After glancing at Tana, Umara faced the ceiling. Eventually, pity and sorrow turned to determination.
Without power, they wouldn’t have the right to fight for what they wanted, for something better. And Umara had a feeling that what she wanted lied beyond that barrier on the horizon.
So she went to sleep. Tomorrow would bring more time for her to study, and the sooner she found what she was searching for, the sooner she could advance and move on.
……
…
We got back to base around morning, and it was only six hours after that when we embarked on another journey back to Stronghold Charlie.
There were still Pustules and such around the land to clean up, but that would be a job for the Treehouse to take care of. We had fulfilled our role, which was to boost numbers and combat strength to demolish the encampment with overwhelming force.
Apparently, there were seven deaths, three of which were Pathfinders. Because of that, the mood on the trip back was somber. However, it affirmed to me the necessity of having taken up the recon position, especially when I thought about Alois’ attitude.
If I hadn’t been on the recon team, then I would’ve been put somewhere in the main strike force. And when your superiors didn’t know nor care about who you were, how you operated, and had no regard for your safety, things could get dangerous very quickly, especially if you were put in a shit position.
At least on the recon team I could somewhat dictate how safe I was. Out there, nobody was stopping me from pulling out like I did, and when I did.
I needed to have more control over my circumstances. Thankfully, I had a good commander, unlike Alois, who cared about the strengths and weaknesses of his soldiers while placing us in positions we could handle.
So I would say I learned two lessons on this mission. Now I just needed to heal. Commander Lupe was nice enough to give me some attention on the way back as well.
Although I had my clavicle broken before, that injury was healed right away, not to mention it was a bit less traumatic. This time, my leg had remained broken for almost an hour. I was honestly lucky it didn’t just take off my leg, or perhaps the only reason I still had two feet was due to magic.
Either way, it would take a few more days to heal it completely with active treatment. This also meant that I was free from work for that duration, having the time to myself, which I would use for more training.
After I caught up on sleep, of course.
The trip went by quickly as I spent most of my time either sleeping, eating, or projecting through my 5th Star. I still remembered that weapon that started calling out to me while hiding. It wouldn’t take very long to find, and it seemed particularly powerful.
Like that we arrived back at base, Polly calling me in first thing for a debrief.