The rest of the lecture has gone by without any significant events.
“Do we have any more lectures today?” asked Gerald.
“No“ Ahren answered before asking. ”Want to go out?”
“No, I have to study.”
“Ok, see you tomorrow.”
The trip back was filled with wonder at the new world for Gerald, but otherwise uneventful.
Damn, I forgot to test out the Eye of Insight.
Swearing to fill this gap tomorrow, Gerald shifted his focus to the system.
Profile.
Host: Gerald de Gretz
Profession: ‘Starship Engineer’
Abilities: Eye of Insight – active
Fleet luck boost - passive
Points: 100
Progression Points: 0
Number of Starships: 0
Missions:
Quarterly Mission (Not Received)
Annual Mission (Not Received)
Technical Drawings:
Tier 3 Light Interstellar Battlecruiser - Winter
After checking if the descriptions of his profession and abilities changed, he concentrated on the Winter technical drawings. With a thought, dozens of smaller windows and one big one opened before his eyes. He marveled for a few seconds at the beauty of the design. Although he personally has not seen many starships yet, just comparing the designs he had seen at the lecture, only the Lumine Imperial – Interstellar carrier, has been close.
Just when he shifted his focus from the superficial aspects of the vessel to the details of its systems, he was interrupted by the popping of the message window.
Do you want to download Tier 3 Light Interstellar Battlecruiser – Winter technical drawings?
Yes / No
Download? What does that mean?
The system remained silent. Gerald denied the request and attempted to view the details of the drawing one more time, only to be met with the same query.
I wish there was a manual for this thing.
Gerald was worried. He opened his wrist terminal and directed the floating display towards the windows opened before his mind`s eye. Nothing Happened. With a heart full of reluctance, Gerald selected ye-
Alloy composition.
Placement of armor.
Ion Thrusters.
Helix coil guns.
Ammunition.
Fusion Reactors. Wires. Crew compartments. Warp drives. Lights. Length. Hull durability. Main particle beam. Time of reload. Waste disposal. Bridge. Control consoles. Corridors. Ammunition feeding mechanisms. Plasma shield. Electromagnetic interferences. Heat dissipation. Storage compartments. Charge time. Required voltage. Delta v. Acceleration management. Gravity control. Fluid piping. Plasma dynamics. Self-similar space. Target acquisition. Quantum communication. Quark dynamics. FTL navigation. Atmosphere entry. Helmsman. Energy storage. Blizzard mode. Gun range. Blind spots. Structure. Reload speed. Thruster cooling system. Compartment pressure menagmen-
Knowledge.
Pain.
Agony.
Relief.
----------------------------------------
Gerald woke up. The first sensation he felt was a headache and thirst. After opening his eyes, he took his time to realize where he was and, more pressingly, where water was supposed to be.
Still disoriented, Gerald rose to his feet, only to realize the puddle of vomit and a smidgen of blood beneath him. When he began standing up from the floor, he was hit by the stench of dried vomit and the cracking of coagulated blood. After a few seconds of finding a water bottle and swaying toward it like a drunkard, he sighted with relif. After quenching his thirst, he opened his personal bathroom and looked into the mirror above the sink.
Gerald looked equally horrible as he felt, with vomit on his shirt and blood on his face originating from his nose. His dark short hair were disheveled, dark green eyes bloodshed, his expression exhausted, and his hair and skin oily from sweat.
Deciding that washing in the sink did not make much sense, he discarded clothes on the way to the shower, and with warm water sprinkling down his body, he finally dared to shift his focus to the part of his mind demanding his attention, clawing at the back of his skull.
It was tender, like newly regenerated tissue with a terrible itch. He ignored it and focused on the content. It was all the knowledge about Tier 3 Light Interstellar Battlecruiser – Winter. Its attributes, uses, physics, composition all of them, and more. The knowledge of the scholar after years of learning, research, and experience.
With such a thorough understanding, if Gerald was questioned about anything regarding to Winter Battlecruiser, he doubted he would be unable to answer. It was updated into his mind, his being, with mechanical precision and ruthlessness, uncompromising on misconception. He even found instances when this newfound knowledge contradicted the established truth his alter ego learned in the previous years, yet the idea of doubting its validity was foreign, inconceivable, forbidden.
Gerald cursed to himself, he had a feeling this would happen. The system was too mysterious and convenient to not come with the cost.
Checking for any changes on a system profile, he found a new notification.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
New Quarterly mission received!
Build a starship
Dismissing the notification and mentally noting the overlap between the 3-month mission deadline and the 1-month starship ownership requirement by the academy, Gerald climbed to the shower.
After getting rid of all the gunk, he found the bed and passed out once again.
----------------------------------------
Ringing. Knocking.
Still groggy, Gerald rose to his feet, bought some pants, and approached the door to his apartment.
“Who is it?” Gerald asked, surprised by the soreness of his throat.
"It's me, Ahren. Are you alive, man? You did not show up for the first lecture today. Did something happen?” Asked his friend anxiously through the door.
After considering the situation, Gerald opened the door halfway through.
“Hey, I think something got me, dude. How many lectures did I miss?”
“Nearly all of them, I have called you since morning, but you did not answer the terminal.” Ahren paused, considering. “Did you bump into Aveline on your way back yesterday?”
“What? No. I did not. Why?” Gerald was surprised by the sudden change of topic.
“Well, I don’t know if she stopped pretending or if it is new, but I have seen Aveline with other guy.”
Gerald was astounded. Aveline, his fiancée, seen with another guy? It was preposterous, completely contradicting the strict traditions of the Stellar Empire.
“Who is this guy? Were they intimate?” asked Gerald, not hiding his surprise.
“Yeah, they were hugging. As for his identity, it is a little complicated.” Ahren averted his gaze.
“Complicated? What is complicated? Who was it?” Gerald narrowed his eyes.
Ahren seemed to search for the conviction in his gaze, clearly not persuaded by the sudden change of attitude in relation to his fiancée from the previous day.
“The son of Viscount Guillaume de Hanghast, Roger de Hanghast.” Ahren said it with resignation.
The Hanghast noble family was an affluent family managing 23 star systems on the other end of the Stellar Empire from the North Star Military Academy. Situated in the Green Lagoon star sector, more than 450 jumps from the North Berth star system, Polaris star sector, where the academy is currently.
Despite the distance and diminishing political influence, Viscount Hanghast sent his son here to gain notoriety, most likely. Which means the situation should still be salvageable.
Wait, do I have to salvage this?
On second thought, Gerald realized that this disgrace could be beneficial to him. As long as he played his cards right, he could be seen as the underdog in this situation. The powerless Baron in the face of greater authority. This way, even if he took some hit to his reputation, he would get rid of unwanted baggage and focus on building a fleet.
“Where are they now?” Asked Gerald hastily.
“What? We have a window in lectures right now, so they are most likely in Chaw Hall, where the majority of students are.” Answered Ahren surprised.
“Great, wait here, I will be ready in a minute!” Gerald shut the door, dodged the unwashed stain on the carpet, and hastily got dressed. He pondered for a second and selected on his terminal a request for a cleaning of his room, surprised by his deftness with the device but ultimately brushing it off.
“Ok, let`s go.” Gerald said this after stepping out of his dorm.
“The chaw hall?” Ahren asked for conformation with lingering surprise and worry on his visage.
“Yes, let’s get this over with.”
----------------------------------------
On the route, Gerald pondered on the situation. The strategy he came up with was to feign ignorance of the situation and act surprised and angry at the sight of his fiancé being intimate with someone else, only to “discover” that someone else was the son of the Viscount and fold to his claim of Aveline.
That way, his engagement will have official justification to annul and earn him some “social” points by adhering to the noble hierarchy. A perfect strategy for a guy wanting to be left alone.
What could possibly go wrong?
With a clear strategy in mind, Gerald entered the chaw hall and began looking around to find Aveline and her sugar daddy, only to be met face-to-face with the pair of them at the entrance.
“Gerald de Gretz! The scum of the academy! Have you finally decided to face your crimes?!”
Before Gerald could even greet the other party, he was thrown in a loop by a sudden, loud accusation in the view of the majority of the students present.
Aveline was hugging the son of the Viscount from the back, wailing and burring her face in his immaculate uniform.
“ Wha-“ As Gerald recovered and attempted to formulate a response to the sudden accusation, he was loudly interrupted.
“Well?! Why don't you have anything to say for yourself?” Roger de Hanghast gestured widely in Gerald`s direction before turning around and, with a soft yet loud voice, begun to `console` his fiancée. “It`s okay, Aveline. You are safe now, he won’t hurt you again.”
By the time Gerald figured out that he was being set up, it was already too late. Whatever he will attempt to say in his defense likely won’t be heard by Roger, who is clearly convinced of whatever lies Miss Sociopath has told him.
As he was franticly formulating the next plan of action, the emotionless voice of the system and the popping-up window, which only he was able to see, brought his racing mind to a complete halt.
New event quest received!
Challenge individual `Roger de Hanghast` to the starship duel
Reward:
1 progression point
300 mission points
Do you accept?
YES / NO
Time until event quest becomes unavailable: 000h 00m 29s
Gerald was stunned by this development. He dove into his memories to find information about the starship duels, ignoring the further accusations thrown by Roger.
Apparently, it was a relatively rare but still acknowledged form of conflict resolution between nobles stemming from pre-expansion-era Terran culture. One noble or a family challenges another, if they accept, the challenging party determines the time and challenged one, the location. The starship duel, as its namesake suggests, is made happen with starships in space, with the conditions of the duel is made public and upheld by noble of higher status than either party or appropriate institution.
This straight-forward solution, however, like its ancient equivalent, is highly unpopular due to the high mortality rate. To uphold the honor of both parties, starship duels are conducted on neutral ground with unarmed scout drones as the only permissible man-made objects in 10 light minutes, making `accidents` quite a common occurrence despite the stipulation that if ether spacecraft sustains more than 50% hull damage, the party that operates it loses the duel.
“Hey, scum! Are you listening to me?!” Roger put his arm on Gerald`s shoulder, ripping him from recollection.
By now, a large crowd of spectators had gathered around the commotion.
Gerald could feel that the shimmering cloud of anger and indignation in his chest was becoming hard to manage.
He mentally checked that he had less than 9 seconds left on a timer and made his decision despite his lingering doubts.
I accept the quest.
Event quest accepted!
Time to complete: 719h 59m 59s
Failure penalty: 100 mission points
“Of course not, who would be able to listen to the stream of garbage coming out of your mouth?” Gerald asked loudly, knocking the arm of his shoulder with exasperation.
It was evident that the self righteous punk did not expect that answer, looking at his surprised expression. He decided to seize the momentum.
“From what I managed to salvage from your word vomit, you want my woman, right?!” Roger's expression has begun to morph from surprise to anger. “I mean, I cannot fathom why you would choose such low-quality goods with your status, but that is non of my concern. What surprises me the most is that the man of your stature, instead of making a demand, decided to throw random accusations in my face in front of the crowd like a peasant.”
Most of what he was saying was random ideas cobbled together last second, mostly targeted at the pride of his opponent, but despite this, their effect was undeniable because the wild anger of Roger turned into cold, focused fury.
“What do you propose, then?” asked Roger, with a low voice almost growling.
“I challenge you, Roger de Hanghast, to a starship duel! The time is at the end of this month! If you win, I will give you my fiancée.” Gerald said, looking straight into the eyes of the noble in front of his face.
Gasps were heard in the crowd around them.
There was a glint of surprise and doubt flashing in his eyes before it drowned in the sea of rage.
“I accept the duel! The location is the Caldar asteroid field.” Roger seemed to pause for a split second before smirking slightly. “However, if you lose, you will have to leave the North Star Military Academy in addition to your annulment of engagement with Aveline de Granville.”
That raised the stakes, his entry into the academy was accomplished with the help of his older sister. Just the thought of disappointing her made a pit in Gerald`s stomach, at least the part of him did.
“Fine. In the event of my victory, I demand 1 000 000 star coins. If you accept these terms, I propose we go to the administration building to officially endorse this duel.”
Roger was silent for a long moment, staring into Gerald`s eyes, before nodding. In the next moment, he turned towards the door without saying another word.
Gerald glanced toward shocked Aveline and began to tail his opponent two steps behind him, before being forcefully stopped by frantic Ahren.
“What are you doing, man? You don`t even have a starship?!” Ahren whispered loudly.
“I have a plan, Ahren, thank you” answered Gerald loudly, forcefully continuing his gait, the gathered crowd dispersing before them.