Chapter 3: Nothings ever easy

The shuttle jerked to one side as something beeped frantically near John, and he chuckled. The sound was loud in the shuttle.

“Everything okay?” I asked quietly. Yet, Doc and Denver both were staring out the front window with wide eyes.

“Small flier trying to prove something…” grumbled John. “We’ll lose them in a moment. I’m taking a wide detour away from the area they like to fly in..." The shuttle leaned too tightly to the right, and the left side shuddered as the wing touched something. "We only have this one following, the others stayed to check out the shuttle cavern.”

“That’s good news,” I added, my fingers gripping the seat in panic. The vibrations flowing through the shuttle reminded me too much of the crashing and falling that we’d done recently.

“It’s the best news for right now, though it does mean we won’t reach the compound early.” The shuttle stopped turning and the shaking paused at the same time.

“All that matters is getting to the compound safely,” interrupted Hawk. “This is a heavy load, after all.”

“Yeah, that’s the other reason... I haven’t packed a shuttle this full before. We'll need to recharge after we land.”

That was the first I’d heard of crystals needing to recharge, but I didn’t ask. “I’m gonna try to get some shut-eye,” I said, then I leaned back against the headrest and closed my eyes. I tried to release my fingers from digging into the seat and settle back. I trusted John to fly us. My mind wasn’t tired, but part of me felt achy, like I’d put in a decent workout and my muscles needed to recover. Given everything I'd accomplished so far, from cutting the crystals out of the cavern walls to getting through a few fights, it made sense that I needed to rest.

“You're sleeping at strange times,” said Noseen.

I found myself back at the log by the lake, staring across the water at the rock formation. “Well, in the mines, darkness is usually safer, though right now I’m back on the shuttle heading to the compound.” The fact that I'd fallen asleep that quickly felt strange, though I wondered if it had something to do with Noseen. Had he been waiting for me?

“That’s one way to use wings.”

“It makes travel faster.”

A buzzing sound came from my right side, moving closer to me. “You’ve gained a Profession,” said Noseen, almost curious.

“Crystal Singer. I can now create things with crystals,” I said with a smile. “Now, I need to level it up, but I can fix my own weapons now.”

“Better weapons are a good thing, whether they be claws, teeth, or crystal tips.”

I chuckled, leaning back on the log. The sunlight didn’t feel warm, but I ignored the minor detail. Dreaming like this was strange. “When will I be less squishy?”

Noseen chuckled. “You might be less squishy in a few hundred levels.” Noseens voice trailed off, and I got the feeling he was checking out my stat sheet. I waited to hear his thoughts. “You need to keep growing,” this time his voice was low, thoughtful.

“I plan on going hunting once we land. I’m trying to get some sleep now to prepare for that.” I outlined going after the flier near the compound, then some general hunting before we left the area.

“Hmm. Your focus needs to be on growth.”

Something small flying near my head drew my attention. This was the first time I'd noticed Noseen flying around. “I know that, but I’m not going to just wander off for days in the jungle. I need to help my family as well.”

Noseen didn’t say anything for a few seconds. “Once you leave the Sanctuary, you will need to hunt and devour more. Become stronger, and complete dungeons.”

My nodding paused on the last word. “Dungeons? Like, ‘dungeon’ dungeons? Like in a game?” I asked, slightly confused. Then I tried a real question. “What do you mean?”

“Places to grow and receive rewards,” answered Noseen. “There aren’t any in the Sanctuary, but there are plenty on the planet outside of it. Plus, you will need to complete the citizenship quests.”

I couldn’t picture what a dungeon was, outside of a game, and it’d been years since I’d played any games. By the time our family had been selected for the mission, fun things like games were gone, replaced by training.

“That might be fun,” I muttered thinking of the loot and rewards. Getting some real armor would be a huge improvement over the clothes I currently wore. Weapon-wise, my spear was good enough. The last part of Noseen’s statement caught up to me. "Citizenship quests?"

The dark speck paused in midair in front of my face. "For some races, you aren't an adult until you complete them. Everyone needs to, even beasts. Once they are done you are a citizen of the system universe. For beasts, it is when they usually gain sapience."

I let that sink in as I thought about it. There was a set of quests I needed to complete to become a citizen. Weird. "What does that get me?" Already I was an adult, though my father didn't always treat me like one. Quests had to mean rewards.

"More like roadblocks are removed. You will see." Noseen moved in the air but didn't add anything else.

“So what are you up to?” I asked, to keep the conversation going.

“I am traveling to speak to an old friend. I will meet up with you after you leave Sanctuary.”

Before I could ask about the friend, the lake vanished.

I woke up some time later, feeling refreshed. The night sky covered the window in front of John. Quiet, even breathing came from the back of the shuttle. I wasn't the only one who’d decided to rest. Denver and Doc were both sleeping, while Jimmy and Hawk sat facing each other on the floor.

I unclipped my harness and got up to stretch, being careful to not touch the two sitting on the floor. I leaned toward John. “How are we doing?”

“Almost there..." he said with a grin. "I’m going to need to sleep after this. I saw you got some shut-eye.”

“Yep, feeling better after getting some rest. All the fighting adds up.” I twisted my shoulders back and forth before sitting back down. With how crowded the shuttle was, there wasn’t anywhere else to go. As things were, I was thankful I had a seat. I clipped back in and then pulled up my stat sheet. Noseen mentioned needing to grow more. My free stat points sat at 18, and I decided to allocate them. It didn't take long to increase my strength, quickness, and flexibility stats. I didn't want my strength to lag too far behind my two dexterity stats.

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Name: Alex

Level: 18

Race: Human

Traits: Survivability, Adaptation, Hangry

Class: Devourer, level 18

Profession: Crystal Singer, level 3

Stats:

STR: 56(60)

DEX:

>QUICK*: 76(85)

>FLEX: 66(70)

CON/TOUGH: 61(61)

INT: 55(55)

WIS:

>FORT: 55(55)

>WILL: 55(55)

CHA: 49(50)

FREE: 0

Monstrosity: 4%

Titles & Achievements:

Jack-of-all-Trades

Lucky Stars

Badass

Skill: 9/10

Improved Body

Crystal Singing and Attunement

Insight

Augmented Senses

Stealthy Camouflage

Blades and Polearms

Free Spirit

Poisonous Bite

Claw Strike

Skills Categories: +

The progress felt good, though I wished I could compare it to someone else. My brother, Benny, had shared his stat sheet with me in the past, but I didn’t remember much besides his level being around 18. Maybe I could corner John and ask him to share his stat sheet, to get more info on where his stats were and try to understand the system a little better. However, that reminded me that my actual stats were different from a normal human. Dexterity and Wisdom were both broken down into multiple stats, which I’d never heard of before it happened to me.

A blinking light off to one side of the window caught my attention, and I unclipped my harness again. John twisted the shuttle around to look at it more clearly through the night sky.

“Is that from the colony?” I whispered, leaning forward and trying to see better. The light came from a far distance, but I didn't know Morse code to make out what it said. This was the second time during this trip I wished I'd learned the skill from my family members. It was one of those things that just didn’t stick, though.

He nodded, but his focus stayed on the light, mumbling to himself. Hawk stood up behind me, to see what was going on.

“That’s not good,” he added and John grunted in agreement.

“Details please…” I asked.

Hawk leaned close with a worried look. “The main fence is out for the colony. They need a crystal to reinforce it." He kept his voice low, so I could barely hear what he said. "Lots of fights with dinosaurs.”

I frowned, thinking of the entrance to the valley. It was narrow, and that one crystal with the poles held off almost everything. If that crystal had shattered during the meteor shower, they’d be back to where we started when we’d first settled the valley, trying to protect it through manpower alone.

“Can you send a message back?” I asked John.

“Trying to, with the wing crystals." His eyes narrowed as he flicked a button on the panel. "I'm saying we’ll arrive tomorrow night.”

The colony needed to only last tonight and tomorrow, since we could fly there tomorrow night, unless we wanted to risk another fight with more fliers. The airspace around the colony supported a large flyer population, though they tended to be of the smaller variety.

The light sequence in the distance changed.

“Message received,” said John, letting out a breath before turning the shuttle toward one side. “Alright, we are almost at the compound.” He motioned to the distance and some lights flickering in the jungle, creating a familiar circle.

The small crystals on the fence lighted the area up around the compound, not to mention the bigger crystal next to the drop ship. I quickly sat back down and buckled in. The last time we’d been here, we’d gotten attacked by a flier even though it was dark out.

I closed my eyes, wishing I had wings. Somehow I needed to figure out a way to fly by myself. Or, maybe that was one of those things people got as they leveled up? I didn’t know.

The shuttle quickly landed on the ground without a problem, and lights turned on inside. I snapped my eyes open as the sound of the back ramp being lowered filled the area, along with low talking. Hawk already was gone, and the same went for Jimmy. His voice came from the back, giving orders and directions to the miners.

I waited as John powered down the shuttle and Doc slowly got up, along with Denver.

“We're back at the compound,” I said with a smirk, unhooking myself from the harness.

John stood up, stretching. “Yep, but that was always the plan for us. Next was supposed to be the scientists, but that’s not happening now.” The dark circles under his eyes stood out as he glanced around.

I shrugged. “At least we can check in with Dad and the others.”

John nodded, but he had a strange look on his face. Before I could ask about it, Doc spoke up. “Sang needs to go to the scientists, unless y’all have a healer at the colony that could help instead.”

I winced. The woman needed a healer, or a real Doctor, and that meant the scientists.

The back of the shuttle cleared out of miners except for David, who stood next to the cot with Sang. His head turned toward Doc. “She’s doing better, but still has a fever.”

“The fact that she’s lasted this long is good,” added Doc. He motioned to Denver. “The same went for him, but in his case it was an infection. Poison is harder to knock out, since we just don’t know as much about it.” Doc moved in that direction, along with Denver.

Hawk marched up the ramp with two miners. “We’ll move her inside. I assigned people to various bunks, but no showers until we clear the way to the spring.”

I moved to step forward, but John’s hand touched my arm, making me pause. He waited until everyone cleared out of the shuttle. “What’s up?” I asked.

“I’m going to lock up the shuttle, and then rest. Our focus needs to be on getting back to the colony and giving them that crystal.” He motioned to the large crystal that sat in the back. “We’ll take anyone with us who wants to relocate, but staying out of these politics is going to be key.” He stared at me until I nodded.

“I’m not going to get involved.” I held up both my hands. "Believe me, I don't want to deal with Mars."

“Just be careful about what you say.” John frowned and motioned for me to leave the shuttle. “And don’t do anything dumb while I sleep.”

“Dumb?" I asked nonchalantly. "I’m gonna take out that flier so we can all shower again. Maybe go hunting to help stock up on food. All good things.”

John grumbled something low I couldn’t hear and followed me as I walked down the ramp. The sunrise peeked out over the trees as the ramp closed behind us. The fence looked intact, and I took a deep breath, letting it out in relief. Now that I’d slept some, all I wanted to do was leave to hunt and find some space away from everyone else. Between the smells, weird looks, and tense atmosphere, the jungle was easier to deal with.

Hawk stood by the glowing crystal next to the entrance to the drop ship. The wooden door was wide open and people milled around inside. He gave John a nod. “There should be two bunks open in the bunk room.”

“I slept on the ship, but John needs some shut-eye.” I patted John on the back as he entered the dropship, not stopping. “I’m going to check out the flier’s nest and finish taking care of that problem. I really want a shower.” Well, I wanted John to take a shower, and anyone who planned on flying with us back to the colony to shower as well. Before I’d gained my class, I didn't realize how much people could smell.

One of Hawk’s eyebrows rose. “Just like that?” he asked in slight disbelief.

“Just like that,” I said with a frown and a shrug. “I’m at its level and if I sneak out quickly before dawn hits, I should get an attack in aiming for its wings.” If I used enough of my spit, it should even slow the thing down, especially if I caught its wing. That’d be the best-case scenario.

Hawk looked like he wanted to say something, instead he turned to look around the common room at everyone who hadn’t gone to the bunk rooms. “I’ll go with you.”

I triggered Insight, and his info popped up.

[Hawk, Level 18, Archer, Predator.]

He’d gone up a level and was now tied with me. The Rock Bear fight might have done it.

“Sounds good to me,” I said, turning toward the gate that led out of the fence. While I’d rather have the experience to myself, after the flier was down I’d go hunting on my own. Without anyone watching.

The sky slowly lightened as we quickly but quietly made our way out of the gate and onto the path leading toward the spring.