Feeling the vibrations of the road on my head, I looked out of the window I'm leaning against, watching the scenery pass us by before sighing once again.

"You know it's said that every time you sig-"

"A bit of happiness escapes, yes thank you Sheep, you've said that more than enough today." Sitting up and brushing the hair out of my eyes, I sigh again.

"Look, at least we got the fridge and freezer done, even if they're not the best, at least the food won't spoil quickly."

Last night there was a scramble to make a fridge and freezer and we managed to achieve it. The food I had purchased had been sorted and from what we have it'll last about a month at normal consumption rates for ten people. Most of it is snack food, even the meat Ghost had seen wasn't really anything big, just a few small steaks and chickens. We had eaten a bit of it and all felt satisfied though.

"Well, your intentions were good and everyone is in a better mood now. Honestly I never expected us to receive such an amount for such a low cost. We can only buy it once, right?"

"Mm, it's gone from the shop. Jupiter can buy another one so we'll have food for a bit more, even though it's mostly junk food."

"We really need a renewable source of food. Once this is over we should fully focus on Ghost's farm. Should we spend prime coins on livestock?"

"Not for now. We can't provide for them after all, and if we only have one shot I'd like to ensure that we are prepared."

We remained quiet as Sheep drove. It's only the two of us in the SUV and we led the convoy of cars towards the town. Using Hawkeye every now and then to try and relieve some boredom, I sighed again and leaned my head against the window.

"If you're that bored we could always talk about your plan for Aerith."

"Mm, she needs basic combat training. It's why I'm taking her by herself, she needs to learn how to handle the pressure in a high tense situation. She is only fourteen though, so I plan to keep a slow pace but we can't be too slow."

"So what will you do first?"

"Find a pack and eliminate the dangerous Husks, leaving anything that isn't a threat and have her handle the remains with me on standby. I won't let anything touch her, but I can't just baby her the entire time either."

"That's for the best. If we could just have her be safe at Alpha that would be for the best but if the enemies keep getting stronger then her life will always depend on us, making her a burden."

"Don't say that to her, she'd crumble under the pressure of needing to get better and push herself too much." As I say those words, I lean against the window once more. For the next hour of driving we remained quiet and using Hawkeye I saw the town. A bit relieved as we approached and stopped, I got out and jumped onto the semi along with Winter.

The two of us kept watch, with me sniping anything that stumbled around on our route while Winter took care of anything that came from my blindspots. Thankfully the level of danger hadn't increased and soon we arrived at the little house we called base.

Unpacking everything from the semi took the rest of the day and once inside, we set up a rotation for night watch between Winter, Sheep and I. Sitting in the room designated for watch, I leaned back and got lost in my thoughts.

My time here will revolve around me doing machinery to get radio communication going, followed by training Aerith and backing up the others if needed. Flickering through my Job menu while ignoring the sounds of the Husks outside, I wondered on how to progress.

The Job System is honestly a hot mess, there is no way to fully focus on a specific category of machinery, instead it's dependent on getting a plethora of random blueprints to build. Machinists in our world would focus on a group of machines to specialise in, yet there isn't anything like that.

If I had to choose, I wanted to specialise in team orientated machinery and power. Looking at the three nodes I had arrived at, I decided to forsake backtracking for now and focus on advancing this line as much as possible. Between Computing and Electricity, what is vital to us? Both had a high degree of usage and usefulness to us, and I'd have to take all three nodes to advance it. Right now though, Electricity would be the best for us.

Closing the System, I looked out the window at the hordes of Husks swarming the streets under the moonlight. They had come out of the ground as usual at night, and at this point it had to be due to the moon. They never rose up within a house nor did they ever come toward it, is there something about the night sky they enjoy?

Sighing once again, I used Hawkeye mainly out of boredom towards the moon and oh my God, I can't believe it, there is nothing. Shaking my head with a small smile, I ignored my delusional thoughts of travelling to the moon to fight some sort of moon monster and continued to watch the horde until sunrise.

Watching the Husks leave the streets, I got up and headed down stairs. There weren't enough rooms here so the girls shared one while the boys shared another, keeping the watch room free. Grabbing an Iced Coffee and apple from the fridge, I sit down against a wall while listening to the sounds of everyone else waking up. Winter sits down next to me with some fruit, the two of us quietly eating.

while leaning our heads together.

“Bek?”

“Mm?”

“Is Aerith awake?” I had yet to see Aerith, making me a bit concerned.

“Mm, she’s snoozing. I figured I’d let her sleep a bit more.”

After a while, they gathered and after reaffirming their plan for the day they left. Sheep had the duplicate sniper and would be on overwatch until they arrived at a point of interest we had intended to explore before. They would be fully focusing on gathering as much as possible while also hunting and leaving it to them, I watched them off before entering the house once more and heading upstairs.

Entering the girls room, I saw a sleepy Aerith sitting on the edge of her bed, turning to me while yawning.

“Morning, is everyone eating?”

“Aerith, they’ve left. I came to wake you up.”

She blinks for a minute before jumping to her feet, eyes wide open. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to sleep in!” Rushing past me, she went downstairs as I chuckled to myself and followed her. Seeing her in the kitchen grabbing an apple and coffee, she looked at me once more. Before she could speak, I held up a hand.

“Take your time. Remember what Winter said before? Chill, eat, get a cup of coffee into you then get your day started.” Seeing her relax for a moment, I dropped the bomb on her. “Because today will likely be the last day you get to relax for a few weeks.”

She stares at me in confusion before tilting her head. “What do you mean?”

“You’ll see. Have your breakfast.” Sitting down in the spot I previously had, I checked out both my sniper and handgun before getting up and dressing into my ghillie suit. It didn’t do much in the town itself, but I wanted to get used to wearing it. Grabbing an empty bag, I head back to the kitchen and pass the bag to Aerith.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Fill it up with a few cans of food, bottles of water and snacks of your choice. We won’t be returning here for a few days.”

Doing as I say, Aerith sets her nearly empty cup down and starts to fill the bag up while I look at my Job menu again. Deciding to go with Electricity, I selected the three nodes and with another sixty remaining, I thought about going with Computing but left it for the time being. It’s probably what I will go at some point, but I wanted to stockpile Job Points for now. As the three blueprints arrive in front of me, Aerith sets the bag down and sits next to me.

“What did you get?” Aerith leans forward with excitement as I pick up one of the blueprints and lightly tap her on the head with it.

“I just got them, how would I know?” Giving her a smile as she held her head where I tapped her, giggling slightly, I turned my attention to the blueprints as I used them.

“Tsk, should’ve gone with Computing.” Sighing as I let the knowledge of the last blueprint go through my mind, I closed my eyes and sorted my memories and knowledge again, as if it were a folder with multiple folders within it.

“So so, what did you get?” Looking at Aerith’s excited face, I told her what I received. Electric Motor, Switch and Circuit Breaker. “Switch, Circuit Breaker?” Aerith tilted her head.

“Like a wall switch, but bigger basically. Or not, they are various sizes. Circuit Breaker is sorta like a switch, but automatic in the case something wrong happens to the power, like an overload.” Explaining as plainly as I could, I got up and offered a hand to Aerith, who accepted it, I pulled her up. “Right, enough questions, let’s head out.”

I pick up the bag and carry it easily. Handing my handgun and holster to Aerith, she tilted her head before looking at me. “I-I don’t need a g-gun.”

Before she could continue saying she’s an Ice Magician, I spoke first. “Yes, you do. Magic will serve you well, but what happens if you run out of mana? You’re dead if you’re by yourself, and if you’re with us you’re a weak link the second you run out of mana and can’t do anything. I don’t say that to upset you either, because that goes for everyone that will be fighting with us. The second they can’t do anything is the second they become a burden to us. Do you want to be our burden, Kate?”

I had spoken harshly to ensure she understood our situation. Truth be told, I'd been worried because I’ve never actually seen her use a gun, nor shoot a Husk, since the first time we were in the town. It could be possible that she’s never had the chance or there might be something deeper. Seeing her stare at the handgun, I knew there wasn’t anything in particular that would be a problem for her as she took the gun and holster, giving me a determined look.

“No! I’ll get better at fighting, Ruby!”

“Good, keep that up for the next few days, got it?” Patting her on the shoulder, I led her from the house as she put the holster on herself and we began walking down the street. After a few minutes, I climbed onto a roof with Aerith, and grabbing her around the waist, started to jump between houses before stopping and putting her down.

“Aerith, you’ve shot Husks before with us, right? That’s where you got the Class Points.” Aerith nodded as I reached over and took the glock that she had holstered. Looking it over, I loaded it, flipped the safety on and handed it back to her. “Unload it.”

She looks at the handgun before frowning a bit. Looking up, she handed it back to me. “I don’t know how.”

“Good, always admit it if you don’t know. I’ll never be angry or upset if you don’t know, I’d prefer you tell me so I can teach you. Now, watch carefully.” Unloading the handgun slowly, I point out what to do and why. Reloading the handgun, I handed it back to her. “Always keep the muzzle pointed away from you and people you want to keep alive. You don’t need to slam the trigger for it to fire, a gentle squeeze will do the job and guns can misfire, so never ever point the muzzle at someone, even as a joke, got it?”

Aerith nods before unloading the handgun slowly then looks at me once done. “Why are you looking at me? Reload it, come on.” Nodding quickly, she reloads it slowly. “Alright, unload it again.” She unloads it at the same speed as before and crossing my arms with a frown, I watch as she finished. “Reload it but pick up the pace slightly.”

Aerith starts to reload it, once again at the same speed as before. I clap my hands. “Ghost is dead, where is our covering fire?!” Aerith trembles at the sound of the clap before speeding it up a bit. I clap again. “Winter is dead, we need to retreat, where is our support?!” She fumbles the magazine and drops it, picking it up while trying to load it into the handgun. Clapping again, I see her bite her lower lip. “Lemon is dead, Midnight and Sheep are surrounded with no protection, it’s game over.”

Aerith looks at me with a frown, as if asking me what I’d been doing. “Finish reloading. The scenario I played out for you is a scenario from our full dive beta testing, the same timings and all. You don’t have minutes on a battlefield to reload your weapon, you have seconds. I didn't do this just to tell you you’re being slow, but because you need to know you can’t spend so long on reloading. Don’t worry, we’ll work on having you increase the speed slowly. Now, do it again.”

For the next hour I had Aerith practice reloading and unloading the glock. In that hour she decreased her time by nearly half, impressing me quite a bit. After reloading the weapon again, I had her stop.

“Alright, we don’t have the ammo to do target practise so I will teach you how to aim at least. Hold up the handgun like you normally would.” She does so, having the gun at eye level. “Why are you holding it at eye level?”

“To aim?”

“How?”

Aerith tilted her head while looking at the handgun before answering. “I-I’m pointing it at the window to aim at it.”

“Then shoot the window.” Aerith holds the gun and fires, the bullet slamming into the wall next to the window. “Do you know why you missed?”

“R-recoil?” The gun had indeed shifted upwards a bit.

“No, otherwise you would’ve hit above the window, not to the side of it. Do you know what this is?” Pointing at the iron sights on the handgun, Aerith frowned for a moment before shaking her head, telling me she didn’t know. “Iron sights, they’re not there as decoration. You need to aim down them before shooting. Try again, but this time look down at the iron sights, don’t rush it. I want you to hit…hit the streetlight.” Pointing at the streetlight just opposite of us, Aerith nods and aims at it, closing one eye to aim and after a few seconds fires. With a pop, the streetlight bursts apart as the glass crumbles down.

“Good. Now, I’d love to have you keep it up until you’ve increased your speed in shooting, but we don’t have the ammo, at least for the handguns. Now, unload it.” Aerith unloads it quickly and holsters the handgun. Handing her my sniper, I tell her to unload it. Taking it, Aerith frowns before looking at me.

“Why? Wouldn’t I just be using a handgun and magic?”

“Scenario. We’re under attack by a swarm of Husks, your weapon has no ammo and under my orders you run to the armoury to get another weapon. All you see in there is a sniper or shotgun, what do you take?”

“Uhh…”

“Bang, Ghost is dead. What weapon do you take?”

“T-the…” Aerith glances at the sniper as realisation dawns on her face. “I see…”

“What do you see?”

“I’ll never be guaranteed to have the same weapon, so getting used to other weapons is important.”

“Good, exactly the point. Depending on the weapon the method to unload and reload is different, so is aiming and shooting it.”

“H-how do you know all of this?”

“The Dark Reapers sent us to a training course on firing weapons of all types as part of our learning experience for full diving. Remember, esports teams are highly competitive people, orgs will spend thousands to ensure they win. We spent a lot of time learning how to use all different types of guns because of that, even bows and crossbows. Sadly none of us know how to use melee weapons. Alright, watch as I unload and reload this."

After showing Aerith a few times, I watch as she slowly does it herself and over the course of an hour her speed picks up a bit more, but not as much as the handgun.

"Aerith, do you know what factors one has to consider when using a sniper?"

"Wind?"

"That is one of them. Range, location, wind, temperature, ballistics and positioning. For example, shooting while standing is different to shooting while kneeling. Wind is also the most important factor, if there is a strong wind you must compensate. Sniping isn't all about looking at a target and firing, you need to also consider the target's movement, their abilities and durability. Will they die in one shot? Can they dodge the shot? I need to consider those two questions in this world since it's highly likely something will appear that can tank and dodge my shots."

Directing Aerith, I acted as her spotter while she got used to firing the sniper, adjusting the scope as per my instructions and applying the correct pressure to the trigger. We used street lights around the block as targets as Aerith got used to the weapon.

"Stop. Unload the weapon and hand it back, you did well. As it's getting close to sunset we will find a place to rest for the night." Aerith hands back my sniper that I immediately reload as she gives me a weird stare. "Never hand over a loaded weapon, it doesn't matter what you're told. You unload it and give it to them, then you're not responsible for it going off by accident when they take it, got it?"

"Y-yes!" Understanding passes through her eyes as I pat her shoulder. Together we found an intact house, breached it and settled down.

"Get dinner, you will be on first watch tonight."

"W-watch?" Aerith looked a little troubled before breathing in and nodding. "OK."

Finding a good spot for her to watch from, I told her to come and get me in four hours. Heading into the room opposite her, I closed my eyes and fell asleep, planning out the next day of training for Aerith.