There were a couple of seats around the staging area, so I took one. Tawny and Hait were already sitting, and both of their eyes were glazed over. I placed my head in my hands, well one hand and a cast. The shouts blaring through the command tent melted away as I contemplated the situation.
How utterly ridiculous. Being scared of women isn’t a personality trait, it's just some dumb 2000s sitcom bit and not even a good one. Like low tier garbage characters dealt with such a stupid holdup. Maybe it is just a result of the swallowed acid. Len said it would mess my stomach up. Yet when I looked up and saw Daila’s fleeting form walk away, another twinge of anxiety tap danced in my gut. Ugh, that’s so lame.
I tilted my head over to the twins. Both wore smiles as their unfocused eyes looked over their character sheets. I wondered if they too leveled up. That’d be great. Then my gaze focused on Tawny. I’d been talking with her since the medic tent incident with no issue. And last I checked she happened to be a girl.
But I felt nothing. No difference whatsoever. My stomach grumbled a little bit, but that wasn’t new. That was from the slight char smoke wafting from the bonfire and tickling my nostrils. I could eat more but I didn’t have the willpower to fight the acid ability right now.
It’d most likely be for the best to just shut the form off. We were going to fight with Jaren’s squad, of which Daila and other women presumably, were a part of. Dying because of middle school angst sounded like the positively worst way to go.
“Yep,” I said to myself. Then I went to turn off the form.
…
I looked down. The cast was still there; moisture still covered my face and arm. What?
I struggled for a few more seconds, but nothing was happening. Every form shut off with just a thought. I just willed myself to change and I did. But it wasn’t happening in this form.
I tried to shift into another form, but that failed as well. Both creature and object mimicry wouldn’t respond.
“Liam, Tawny, Hait.” Len’s voice brought me back to reality before panic fully rested on my shoulders.
“Wha?” I said, standing up in a rush. The twins had pretty much the same reaction, jumping to their feet.
“We need to move out to our position, Jaren’s squad is waiting for us at the Fourth’s staging area. It's right over there, on the other side of the tent.” He pointed in its direction.
I looked at Len. He seemed off for some reason. He was usually so playful, obnoxiously so sometimes. But since the raid began, all of that had flown out the window, especially right this instant.
He had this presence about him. His back was straighter than I’d even seen it, his face hard and unwavering, his words curt and concise. Not in an anger filled way, it was more of a reserved severity, like that of a high ranking military official. But then again, that is exactly what he is. He hasn’t spoken much to me about this distant past, really only about his time in Laurelhaven. Seeing him now, and how he’s talked during this whole raid, I realized I was looking at a Len of the past. Somebody with years of experience commanding troops. Len lowered his hand, then looked at us once more. His face strained for a moment, like he was fighting with some thought in his head. Then his expression softened, coming to a decision.
“Before we head out I need to make something abundantly clear. This is not going to be like the fight you were just in. No matter how easy the first two waves are, the boss wave is always bloody. You will see others fall. And you won’t be able to save them. All of your attention must be on keeping yourself and your squad alive. Every decision and every action must be dialed in on that singular goal. You concentrate on the monsters in front of your squad. That’s it. The second you start worrying about anything else, death will come to you and yours.” He turned back, gesturing to the city walls—the Capitol Building, the hulking tree that sat in the center of the city bathed in twilight.
“You three have already fought and completed one wave. That is all that is asked of any squad. You can go back. You have fulfilled your duty. But I am asking you to stay. To fight once more. To protect the innocents back in the city.” Len looked right into my eyes. “All of them, even the shunned.”
He turned to the twins. “To prove you’re worthy of the lofty expectations. To show them that your strength, your power, your honor is not painted green with inexperience, but red. Red from the blood of those creatures that threaten your home.” Yellow light glinted in Tawny’s eyes, Hait balled his fists, nodding.
Even I felt myself getting swept along. Pride burst in my chest. The fatigue built up in my limbs and the worry about the form melted away. I wanted to fight, to establish my place in this screwed up city. A city where only power is respected. I had that power. Or that potential at least.
Len smiled. “Even though this squad was thrown together at the last minute. You all have already surpassed my expectations. That is why I know you can do even more. Capable of surpassing every Sub-10 Squad on this battlefield. So show them all. Are you with me?”
“Yes Sir!” The three of us shouted out.
“Squad L7, Move out!”
Len led us over to the front of the tent. I got a good look at the battlefield for the first time since the medical tent. It was absolutely covered in monster carcasses. Blood and iron drifted into my nose as a gentle wind brushed across the field.
The Second Legion—who our squad fought within the Second Wave—marched away from the frontline, replaced by pockets of Fourth Legion troops. They set up behind the holes this time, probably to give the monsters one more obstacle to fight through. It was a good idea to me. Free blockades. Or whatever you would call them. Not really sure.
Len slowed down and stepped beside me.
“Is that arm healed? I see it's still in the cast,” he asked, in a hushed tone, though I’m not sure why.
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“Yeah, I think it is.“ I whispered. “It’s not actually a healing ability. It's an armored one with an added healing element. I’m just having trouble turning it off. The whole form for that matter.”
Len grabbed his chin pensively. “That doesn’t sound good. But we really don’t have time to analyze it. Can you fight?”
“Yeah, it shouldn’t be a problem. I’m not sure how much damage this can take, but my right hand is free. Find me a sword.”
Len shook his head. “No, that won’t do. What’s the name of the acid ability?”
“Acidic Salvo.”
He nodded. “Right, ranged spit attack. Good, focus solely on that ability in this fight. All three of you are suited for midrange fighting then. It looks like our whole Legion is based on that right now. We’ll have Jaren and his front liners keep the monsters at bay and fight from behind.”
“I don’t know. I haven’t even tried it out yet. I should focus on getting back into a different form, right?”
“No. I didn’t want you fighting upfront in this wave, to begin with. I meant it when I said this wave would be harder. The monsters will be stronger than the last.”
I reflexively gulped at his words.
He grabbed my shoulder. “Don’t worry so much, Me and Jaren will be there the whole time. At least until boss time. That is when your squad will need to pull back. Do not, under any circumstances, get even remotely close to the Boss or his Bodyguards.”
“Understood.”
“Good.”
We walked for a couple more minutes before we got to our station, if you could call a blood soaked patch of grass that. Three minutes according to the Ursa timer. Which meant the Wave countdown was almost halfway there. I took a deep breath, attempting to ward off the pre battle nerves that normally wracked me.
“How much time do we have left?” I asked Len, returning to a normal speaking level.
“The notification should still be in your view,” Len answered.
I looked at my status bars, a little exclamation mark sat next to the Ursa Timers. I mentally clicked it.
FINAL WAVE APPROXIMATELY: 10 MINUTES
Wait, it hasn’t changed? I voiced the question to Len.
He scoffed. “I’ll give you the answer I received way back when. See that word before the time?”
“Yep.”
“There you go.” He said with a shit-eating grin.
“Really?” I said while rolling my eyes.
“I know. Guess work seems strange but it's what we have. It's when it starts counting down that we need to be ready. And I hate to say it but I really hope it does soon. The sun is barely holding out. But for now, take this time to get yourself ready. Practice that acid ability.”
“Is this really a good time to practice? I mean should I be saving my stamina?” Especially when I lose thirty percent of it to this freaking cast.
Len waved his hand around. “Look around, plenty of others are running some last minute drills. You didn’t really have time in the Second Wave to see it but it's a normal routine. Helps get the blood rushing. Even Jaren is shaking the rust off.”
I looked around. Len was right. To the left of our squad stood some soldiers sparring with each other. Swords clashed together, shields met axes and hammers. Never enough force to break or hurt themselves or the equipment, more like they were just making sure they had the technique down.
Jaren’s squad was directly in front of us. He stood in the center of them, fully armored now, helmet in place. His giant double-sabered blade waved through the air as he flung it around. Each swing flows into another with no added movements, no mishaps or mistakes. It was quite mesmerizing.
“Okay, um but I probably shouldn’t just start spitting, might melt something or someone you know.”
Len pondered on my words for a second. Then looked over at the twins. Tawny played with arcs of electricity, sending some from one hand to the other. Hait made some water walls of different shapes and sizes.
“Hait, come here.”
The water immediately fell to the ground as Hait rushed over to us.
“Yes, Cap, eh, sorry. Commander sir.”
“How many walls can you keep up at one time?”
“Two, but they have to be pretty small. No more than two feet or so.”
“Hmm. Okay. Won’t quite work. Okay for now just make a single large wall, place it five meters away, back toward the command tent, away from Jaren’s squad.” Len said before turning back to me. “Aim for the wall.”
“That’s it?”
“Yep, I have Terl come over and replenish your stamina when the timer begins to countdown.”
“Uhh, sure.”
“Good, then get to it.” He said with a clap.
Hait and I looked at each other, and then with a shrug, we walked away. After he traveled the requested five meters, he put up his hands. The barrier of water formed in front of him. It looked to be about the same size as when he blocked the arrows for us. So a little larger than my Ursa form frame.
Alright, here goes nothing. I thought, praying this ability would listen to me, unlike Protective Mucus.
I gathered spit in my mouth, then thought about the ability. My cheeks heated up just a tad, and then I felt it. The strange liquid flowed out of the small holes that sat at the back of my cheeks. They mixed together, creating a goopy strange texture. An almost gelatinous one that was weirdly tasteless, almost like unflavored jello. It didn’t burn the inside of my mouth either like I thought it would.
Once I had an ample amount in my mouth—enough to fully fill a single cheek— I paused. I wasn’t sure how I could manage to spit this much junk that far, or at least with any real velocity. But the character sheet never lied, so I went to spit. As I pursed my lips, there was this bulging sensation at the back of my throat. Then a surge of power flowed from it.
Keeping my eyes on the wall of pure H20, I spat. The small orangish glob shot through the air, way faster than I thought it would. It landed right at the upper left corner of the water wall in less than a second.
That was… “awesome!” Tawny was the one to finish my sentence. “Do it again.”
I smiled at her, then turned to Len. He gave me an approving nod. “Good job, keep it up. I’m going to speak with Jaren.”
He walked past me, grabbing my shoulder before continuing on. I caught a glimpse of his face as he passed by. His smile was gone, totally replaced by that severity from earlier, and maybe, if I read it right, just the smallest glimmer of worry.