Jacob Copper

I looked at the container I had. “Sphere energy is at safe levels,” I said as we flew towards the site of the battle. I could tell with just a glance, with how much I had been studying the effects of sphere energy versus system energy. Countless people had been sacrificed in order to understand the exact impact of the energy. Like putting diesel into a gasoline powered vehicle. It just clogged up everything.

“What about the lower layer?” I asked Michelle. It was frustrating to a certain extent that she was more skilled than me, but it was also nice. Back in the Dragon Empire, I had to come up with everything. There was no trust and very little support. At least Micheal had competent people around him.

“It’s open,” Michelle said, and I nodded at this. It would take time and resources to construct another portal device.

“Keep going?” Captain Francis asked. I had to consider the risks, which should be limited. Whatever the System was going to do, it would have already been done by now.

“Yes, let’s check the battle site,” I replied. I gave one more look at the gooified terrain. It was getting better, but there was lingering sphere energy everywhere. Captain Francis lifted the airship up and we took off.

There were no monsters out here, and with the height limit that Michael had found, we couldn’t afford to lose any zones. Would there be a new void zone, or would there be something else? The blocks had sunk away into the inky blackness.

“So, what exactly is happening, are things going to recover?” Michelle asked. I let out a sigh as that was a loaded question.

“There is still a lot of lingering sphere energy. But there is no large influx of system energy. It is recovering, but slowly. We are looking at a hundred or more days if nothing changes. But based on the outer zones recovering, it is a good sign,” I replied and she nodded.

“A hundred days, that is a long time,” Captain Francis said.

“It is. But that is what we are looking at based on the spread of energy. The worst of the sphere energy is gone, but it is lingering around. Like a toxic miasma. Anyone with less stats than us, I would be worried for them. The engine of the airship should also be fine,” I replied.

“We lose another one, you will have to explain it,” Captain Francis joked. It fell flat.

There was silence as we continued to fly slowly over the terrain. We crossed the swamp area towards the former block terrain. I had managed to recover a couple of pieces of the block terrain. I was trying to figure out what they did, since they clearly seem to be purpose built.

There was nothing but a large inky black hole in the landscape where it had all been. “Keep flying out?” Captain Francis asked.

“Yes,” I replied. We had to check. If we came all this way and didn’t check, there would be questions that would be asked about why not. We took off over the inky black. It was a third type of widespread energy. It was chaotic, grinding everything else down from what I could tell.

At least there was a limited amount as we flew the airship about, and it was breaking down the sphere’s lingering energy. We flew over the entire area and there was nothing of note. Losing access to the flesh terrain was annoying, but it appeared to be a level 8 terrain. Perhaps I could impose on Michael to get some more samples. They would be useful for so many projects.

“Any luck with the lower layer here?” I asked Michelle and she gave a negative reply. That would mean we would have to attempt to access the lower layer of this place at a much greater distance.

“Purgatory then, unless there is something else?” Captain Francis asked me.

“No, nothing else. We best not stay around here for long,” I replied. The inky black was too dangerous to experiment with. Its erosion properties were incredibly dangerous. Best not to risk over exposure. We took off back towards Purgatory to see if the city was still intact.

This threat was not over by a long shot. We had achieved a victory, but it was only temporary as far as I could tell. The fact that the System hadn’t fixed everything directly, indicated there were far more serious problems happening behind the scenes. We needed to figure out what was wrong and try and get the System working again.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

There was no escape from here either. I had entertained that idea, but with a height barrier, we were in a prison of some kind. A large prison, but a prison, nonetheless. There was nowhere to run to. If I could have escaped, I would have already done it by now. But I was stuck, for better and for worse under Emperor Michael.

I hoped he kept pushing himself while I was gone. The stat damage he had taken was immense. And incredibly damaging. If he had lost store access, that would have made things infinitely worse. While there was a small part of me that thought I could take charge and do a better job, there would be a lot of fighting. And I wasn’t a fighter. I had skills and stats, but I was no Divine Empress or Emperor Michael, rushing headlong into danger.

This recent battle with the sphere only confirmed this in my mind. I was content to play nicely with the others. But the moment it came time to jump ship, I would be the first one off.

High Priest XLR8

“For in the darkest of hours we must believe. To have faith in our Emperor that he will deliver us from this disaster. People of Purgatory, let us pray!” I roared out to the listening crowd. No one was in a good mood from the city shield. It was aggravating in a way that was hard to describe. Thankfully, things were still under control.

There had been some deaths, but for the most part people weren’t panicking too much yet. I continued the sermon as people listened in across the plaza. It was packed like it was every day. Unfortunately I had no news to hand out. Once the sermon was done, I went back inside to my office, collapsing on my chair and sipping water.

Points were being rationed and there was no fruit juice left. “Commander Carlson, what brings you to my office?” I asked as the man entered.

“There is a change. The shield has been cracking less, and the terrain outside appears to have solidified slightly, but it is hard to tell,” he said.

“Sending another person out?” I asked. The last volunteer had collapsed screaming, before their body exploded.

“I am considering it. We don’t have much time left until the shield runs out.” There had been talk about dropping the shield when we saw Emperor Michael a while ago but decided against it. That was when the volunteer had been sent out to poor results.

The other big moment was when we switched from one shield to another. That had almost gone poorly from having two shields on at once. I felt like my teeth were trying to rip their way out of my mouth. Thankfully, it only lasted about a half a minute at most. Two shields being active at the same time was a bad idea.

“We have nine days, right?” I asked. And Commander Carlson nodded at this.

“We do. But people know about the time limit. Since the cracking on the shield has greatly decreased and the ground outside appears to be solidifying, we might consider opening up the shield,” Commander Carlson said.

“Get a volunteer and run another test during the night. I will keep the people contained as best as I can,” I replied, exhausted and tried.

“And if they survive?” Commander Carlson asked.

“Then we lower the shield and see what is going on out there. The biggest concern is the risk of debris falling down around the edge of the city, or flooding it, if it is still partially liquid. We don’t have room for everyone inside the inner walls and there are security concerns,” I added.

“I will make the arrangements to plan a test,” Commander Carlson said and then left. I rolled my eyes as he left my office. That man had a stick up his ass. While he was nominally in charge, I had a lot of support as well and the backing of Emperor Michael directly. He was just some minion under Clarissa who got unlucky by being left behind here.

I sipped my water. This entire place was a death trap. I hesitated for a moment. “If there is an Almighty System or you are listening Emperor Michael, then please save me. And all those other people as well. Save us from this disaster,” I prayed.

There was no response. I hadn’t thought there would be a response. But one could hope. This entire place was a nightmare. I stayed in my office as it got really dark. I didn’t want to sleep as I waited for testing to be completed.

In the morning Commander Carlson returned to my office as I was dozing in my chair. “Good, bad?” I asked.

“Good,” he said with a slight smile. “The volunteer didn’t immediately die and they seem to be alright for the most part. But a second volunteer with no stats went out and they did die, but it took a while,” Commander Carlson explained.

I let out a sigh of relief. “So, the no stat people are at risk. It looks like things are getting better then. Any sign of other people outside and the terrain?” I asked.

“No one has been spotted yet. And the terrain is slightly better, but still soft. Like pudding. It is best to wait until the shield runs out, but we should be fine once it goes down,” Commander Carlson said.

“I will make sure to convey the good news. That will put the city at ease,” I replied, feeling a weight lift off my shoulders. We were saved someone. For a brief moment I thought that my prayer sessions might have worked but discarded that notion. While the Almighty System might be powerful and watching over everything, it was also uncaring in the extreme.

Commander Carlson left, and I got up and stretched. Sleeping in my office chair was never a good idea. It was comfortable, but it wasn’t good for my back. I began to mentally prepare for today’s sermon as breakfast was brought to me. Something along the lines of hope and prayer strengthening the community so that the situation could be reversed.

I needed to be sure to avoid specifics until I got more information. It wouldn’t do to create a narrative that I would have to change later on. I couldn’t wait for the shield to go away and things to return to normal.