The room looked like one of those stereotypical interrogation rooms with just a table bolted to the floor and two chairs sitting opposite one another. The exception was that there was no observation window in here, just four very plain walls.
Taking a seat across from Lisa, Mark saw the man standing just behind her flip open the leather file, and hand her some pages. When she took them she started talking.
“Okay Mark, so the rest of your group had already gone through this. After they arrived quite a few people were unconscious from injuries acquired during the journey. You are one of the last people to regain consciousness. We already had your file on record, but this interview will serve to update that.”
Mark voiced his understanding and she began to fill out the stack of documents.
“Right, let's get to the bottom of this. Mark, can you confirm your level for me?”
Mark had not expected to be stumped on the first question and was surprised by the straightforwardness of it. When he didn’t answer right away Lisa looked up.
“Right… I understand your hesitation. But here your level is something of public of information. Some people even wear badges denoting their exact level. If others know your level it gives you a certain credibility. If you still feel uncomfortable with revealing that information you can state the highest level you are comfortable disclosing”
Mark frowned. People willingly broadcast their levels? Why? There were so many reasons he could think of, not to.
Mark searched Lisa’s armor and found nothing indicating her level.
She must have seen him looking because she smiled and said.
“I don’t wear one outwardly, but it is public knowledge that I just reached level fifty-one”
Mark was shocked, how in the world had she gotten to that stage? Mark had an exp boost and had been fighting from the very beginning. Granted he was a healer, but he had always been confident that he was close to the front of the pack when it came to levels.
“Of course, I am not the norm. I am pretty high up there in the ranks, but to be honest as of late we have learned that while levels are a strong indicator of strength they are not everything. Items and technique can make all the difference”
Honestly, ever since he’d laid eyes on the woman he knew she was strong but he had not thought he was talking to such a powerhouse. He'd thought she was some midlevel investigator.
Why send someone like her to talk to him?
Mark thought about what he remembered from before he’d passed out. Andy had said something about level fifteen, because of his previous testing, choosing that wasn't believable. So perhaps half her level?
“I’m level twenty-five” Mark stated
Lisa’s gaze bore into Mark and then turned to look at the man in the corner of the room.
Turning back to Mark she nodded.
“We can record that as your level, but no one is going to believe it”
Mark's brow furrowed in irritation.
“Why?” he asked.
From what Mark had seen that was a decent level nowadays.
She seemed to continue to search Mark’s face as if trying to tell if he was playing with her.
“... Because you were in full view of the wall when the bridge went down. We have dozens of eyewitness accounts of what happened on the bridge, not to mention scouts with far-sight abilities. You demonstrated in front of everyone that you are capable of holding up tons of collapsing concrete, do you really think they would believe you were middle of the pack?”
Mark bit the inside of his lip, he usually preferred to fly under the radar, but it seemed he’d accidentally made a significant impression on the people here.
Then something she said reminded him why he had had to do that in the first place. The Mana surrounding Mark became turbulent, sending the room’s energies into chaos. Looking up at her he said coldly.
“We were still on that bridge when those charges went off, whose order was that?”
The man in the corner tensed.
Lisa’s expression remained the same but she answered slowly.
“Truthful we had no idea those charges were there. After searching other bridges onto the island, we found similar explosives hidden there. You don't have to believe me but know that this city is made of many warring factions, all vying for control but bound under one banner. Humanities survival”
She even managed to look sorry for what had happened. Mark wanted to find whoever had done this and knock them around a bit, but being angry at some faceless organization wouldn’t solve his current problems. In the end, they had made it across, but that didn’t mean he’d forget this.
“Fine. What level would you believe?”
Lisa tilted her head in thought.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Well, from what our people saw, they estimate you’d be somewhere in the high thirty ranges. There are only a few casters at that level right now. So my guess would be about forty?”
Mark's face twitched, that was a good guess, and way too close to his actual level.
She seemed to mistake his hesitation for indecisiveness and continued talking.
“Level forty is the point at which most people leap forward in power. Aura users are the fastest getting there, followed by Casters, and finally, healers are the slowest. Your file says you are a powerful healer, but no one would blink if we changed your designation to Caster.”
Mark sort of understood what she was getting at, and it made sense. Aura user could level up the fastest because of their endurance and ability to keep their damage output constant. Casters were slightly slower because while they had the ability to create devastating spells, they were limited by how fast their resources could regenerate. Something Mark was all too familiar with.
Finally, healers were the slowest because they were in the same situation as casters, but their indirect leveling method restricted them further. They only really got an advantage when working with large groups of people.
Basically, a high-level Aura user was more common than a Caster and a healer was even rarer still.
By offering to change his designation, it would divert some attention off Mark. But all things came at a price.
“Let's say I was level forty, what would it cost me for you to change my designation?”
Lisa’s smile broadened slightly.
“Nothing, I told you there are many factions in this city. All plotting and scrambling for control. A powerful healer appearing serves to strengthen one group and throw out the balance of power. Hiding you helps us”
“But the people arriving here with me know I’m a healer, surely that wouldn’t work”
She agreed but said.
“It will muddy the waters for a while and that’s all that matters. Big factions take time to make any sort of decision, and NAS is not exempt from this. Helping you helps us, and the fact we can make a good impression is a nice bonus”
Her lips curved into a smile, with a hint of a conspiracy playing on them.
“And I'm assuming NAS is the name of the group helping me now? Just so we are clear I won’t deal in favors” Mark said firmly.
Lisa seemed to hold up her hands in good-natured surrender.
“Not at all. Yes. We are called NAS, New Age Society and we represent a more modern form of leadership. You are going to get a better idea of who we are the more time you spend here. When you do, you will realize that old structures should die out. With the arrival of ‘the fall’, people are ready for something new.”
A resolute tone entered her voice as she finished the latter half of her sentence.
For the first time since meeting Lisa, Mark felt her Aura flicker to life in the room. It burned through the space like a purifying flame. Leaving as fast as it arrived, snuffed out as she reined it in, but there was no mistaking it, she truly meant what she said. Mark had thought she was with the army, but now he was certain she wasn't.
They continued to go back and forth for a while and it was finally decided that Mark would be put down as a level thirty-eight Force Caster. She said that these records weren’t public to everyone, just those with enough political power to request them. And that if he really wanted to sell the act he shouldn’t heal people. However, that was a completely unacceptable outcome for Mark, so he thought he’d find a way to heal people under the radar and if people found out, then they found out.
Mark was glad to know he would still be able to hide himself from the general population. There was no way he’d be displaying his level openly.
She continued to ask Mark menial questions and in turn, Mark asked her about where he could learn more about the Inscriptions.
Apparently, there was a public university campus, that had been converted into a space for people to go if they wanted to learn and exchange new techniques.
The campus was a combination of all three main attributes and NAS helped to maintain order on the campus.
To be honest, a place like that sounded too good to be true, Sam would probably have a fit if she hadn’t already.
When Mark asked if people were expected to assist with the defense of the wall, Lisa shook her head with an amused smile on her face.
Signing up to work on the wall was one option but he would have to go through basic training to get up there. The walls were a full-time job and maintained by the army, there were many other ways to earn Sp if he needed it.
The city didn’t have mandatory jobs, one worked to earn enough to spend on their own needs and wants. Good to see capitalism was still going strong.
Anyone above level fifteen was expected to help defend others should a wall break ever occur, but that was an unofficial request and up to the individual.
Everything she said seemed too good to be true, so Mark was ready for the other shoe to drop. From the way Lisa described this place, it was a literal paradise compared to Prospect Park or anywhere right now, and Mark didn’t believe it for a second.
“Right, I think that's everything, Mark. I should let you get to your people. I’ve just gotten a report that someone has been stationed out front to collect you. So good luck and I look forward to our future chats”
Mark didn’t know about her final comment but he thanked Lisa anyway and got up. Overall his impression of her was good but he’d be weary of making any deals with her faction anytime soon.
The entire conversation was observed by the man in the corner who had not said so much as a word, but on multiple occasions, Mark saw her looking over to him and having almost full conversions with their eyes. Mark had thought it might be a mental connection but he couldn’t sense one when he checked. He had just made sure to maintain a construct around his mind during their chat, to stop any intrusions, but he’d felt none.
As they left the room Lisa shook Mark's hand and said.
“Welcome to New, New York, Mark”
Mark couldn’t help but smile at the lame joke. Getting out of the building was easier than he had first expected. He had been on the second floor and going one level down led to a public area where swaths of people moved throughout the corridors. Walking out a large set of glass doors, Mark realized they had been inside one of the skyscrapers that made up the wall. For lack of a better term, a guard house.
As Mark stepped out onto the busy street he was reminded that Lisa had said their last known population estimate of the city was two hundred thousand. Of course, they had only reclaimed a part of the city from the Corrupted, and many people had died along the way but this could be one of the largest remaining human settlements out there.
The number sounded impossible but as he looked around Mark saw people going about their daily lives as if nothing had changed. There was traffic in the streets along with buses running on schedule, and if you could ignore the cracks in the buildings and odd caster flying overhead. It almost felt like nothing had changed and all of this was before the fall.
Mark would have happily continued to look around like some country bumpkin if it weren't for someone calling his name across the street.
Looking over he saw Daphne standing up from a seated position under an old tree on the sidewalk. She looked as beautiful as ever, if a little tired.
Crossing a busy street was almost a novel experience, just so he could pull her into a crushing hug.
In all the uncertainty of the end, at least this piece was organized.