American Isekai - Chapter 101 (Patreon)

There were 5 months until the end of they school year, and Maxwell was expecting me to be an Authority 5 by then.

The three layer advancement formation was difficult to start. Like any puzzle, I had to fumble around with the pieces and try to find patterns before I could even start making progress. It was a matter of accumulating information before finally realizing how the pieces fit.

But once it got started, the process was smooth until the first of three layers was complete.

Now, I essentially needed to build off the first layer and connect it to the beginnings of the second. That required me to find and piece together the beginnings of the second puzzle before finding how they connected to the first. It was technically more difficult than starting the first layer, but patterns were patterns, and I liked to think I was pretty good at recognizing them.

After accumulating during the vacation Umara and I spent together, I was on my way to making good progress with the second layer. I was already making the connections to the first layer, but in the process of doing that, my understanding of the first layer increased, and I realized that I could use that complete part to benefit me before the advancement.

The advancement to the 5th Authority was all about preparing my mind to accept a second Spark. In doing so, I needed to increase my hardware specs, meaning I needed to make my mind stronger and faster.

It was already seeing that happen. The ocean of stars within my mind now moved like a current. It was slow, but even that was significantly beneficial.

And after coming to a greater understanding of the first layer, I figured out how to cultivate that speed more.

Advancement formations were a set of instructions for how to move magical energies, in my case Psyka. There were steps, and there was nothing stopping me from taking some of those steps early. The only issue was that those steps were often obscured until the entire formation was comprehended.

Unless you were smart like I was, in which case you could figure out the steps early and start the process.

All I needed was to work on the first steps a bit, and since I got some unexpected free time, that’s what I did.

The Seige ended after a day, and the Puppet Master didn’t plan on sending out my squad anytime soon. So we were all stuck indoors with nothing to do while everyone else got sent out on missions.

So I used that time to train almost relentlessly. Or, it was more like studying if I was being honest.

Umara pointed out how relaxed I was about the whole situation. Getting targetted by Royals was no different from being targeted by the entire Scourge. It wasn’t something to take likely, as the Puppet Master had explained clearly.

But I understood clearly just how massive the target on my back was getting. I felt like I was being surrounded, the enemies I needed to face at a level that I couldn't handle, and my ability to hide rapidly dwindling.

I needed time to grow, and one thing after another was cutting into that time. The balancing act was delicate. I couldn’t seem to do anything that wouldn’t just end with a blade in my face.

So I could only redouble my efforts. My Aura was sensitive to danger, but it also helped me feel a sense of urgency.

Every gaze that landed on me, every thought of hostility, every threat, was yet another added level of stress that stuck with me throughout the entire day.

My Aura was reminding me relentlessly that I needed to get better. I felt like it was amplifying my subconscious thoughts, not allowing me to forget lest I fall behind.

So refusing to train was nearly impossible now. My mind wouldn’t allow me to. I didn’t tell Umara any of that, and in a way, that was because I was using her as my only source of comfort. I just wanted to to maintain normalcy so that she could be my rock.

After that day, the Puppet Master didn’t send us on any missions. We sat within the base and trained for 2 entire weeks. After a while, I felt like the man was paranoid

But after that time passed, he finally came to us with a mission.

……

We were called to the briefing room, and arrived early, eager to see what we had been selected for.

“You’re here. Good. Are you sharp?”

The Puppet Master asked me as I took a seat at a table with my squad.

“Yea. It’s bee nothing but training these last two weeks.”

“At least you’re not lazy. I guess that’s the only reason you’re not dead. Anyway, I’ve got a special task for you and your squad.”

He lifted his hand and pat the board he was standing beside. On it was a map, as well as a few images of some Scouts.

“From some patrols and scouting operations, we’ve received reports on Scout activity along this ridge. I have a feeling it has to do with you and the interest the Royals have taken. They’ve been trying to find both you and Ponteck. But it’s not like they can plan anything big. They aren’t willing to invest too much to kill you yet. So I want to use your specialty in order to run a counter-operation against them. You’re good at killing Scouts, and that’s what you’re going to do.

“You’ll be working with a squad of soldiers. There are 3 of them and they’re going to take you out there and bring you back. One of them is an Authority 8 knight, so you’ll be protected if anything goes sideways. The other two are warlocks, Authority 6’s, there in order to provide some extra firepower if you need it. Still, if all goes as planned, you’ll be the only one killing anything.”

“Are there any Royals over there? Plus, these Scouts are quite literally designed to pick things out. How am I supposed to kill them without fighting everything nearby?”

“We haven’t seen the Royals recently, though it isn’t guaranteed that the will be absent, so that’s wh you have the Authority 8. As for how you go about keeping yourself hidden, that’s entirely up to you. Killing just one Scout is fine by me, so do what you need to do. I’m going to be sending you on one of these missions again depending on what we find, so this won't be your only chance. Just do what you’re good at, and make this worth it.”

“Hm, alright.”

I nodded at him. He was giving me autonomy, which spoke to how much he trusted my abilities.

Well, it seemed I had earned that trust among several people. I seemed to be getting sent on these kinds of missions more and more. First Tavera, then the Key Master.

Well, I couldn't be surprised. I happened to be pretty good at what I did.

“You leave in an hour from the western gate. The location isn’t very far away, and there will be backup on standby. Any questions?”

He asked, but nobody spoke up. It was apretty straightforward mission.

Though I still had one concern.

“The soldiers. Will they defer to my decisions?”

“Yes. But they’re ranked higher, so don’t expect them to bend over backwards. I’ve already discussed all of this with them and the Commander agreed to trust me and let you be the centerpiece of this operation. If it fails, don’t expect to get called for it again.”

“I won’t. So long as the situation is reasonable.”

“I’ll trust you’ll make it so. I’ve heard what you’ve done over in the markets. You seem to have a knack for this. So go and prove me right.”

“Hm.”

I hummed, not completely surprised that the Puppet Master had heard of my doings in the black market.

It meant that my name was getting out there, or at least my infamy. Big names like the ones I’ve killed going down in the way they did would spread rumors, no doubt.

I didn’t feel much pride in it considering it was almost too easy for me, but that didn’t mean others wouldn’t see that too. For a moment, I made a note to myself to prepare for more of these missions in the future.

With my concern rectified, the briefing ended, and we were dismissed to prepare for the mission.

The others were just there for support, but we all still had to prepare for a worst case scenario. To do anything less would be stupid.

After an hour had passed, all of us made our way to the western gate where two small vehicles were waiting, as well as the three soldiers.

The Authority 8 appraoched me.

“I’m the Chief Commander. You’re John?”

“I am. I look forward to working with you guys.”

“Mm, likewise.”

We shook hands, my impression of this man rapidly increasing. He held a high rank, but wasn’t immediately an asshole. People tended to get that way it seemed when facing anyone lesser than them.

“We’ll be in charge of transportation and protection. We’ve been ordered to leave any offensive combat to you. In and out, is what they said.”

“If all goes well, it’ll be just that. They might not even know we were ever there.”

“Well, that makes me curious. Let’s go. You all will be with me. The Sergeants will take the backup Hummer.”

He waved, prompting my squad to board one hummer.

Once inside, we were quick to roll out.

By now, evening was arriving. The sun would set not long from now, affording me light, but dusk affording me a bit more stealth.

From the western gate we rolled across the relatively flat terrain around the base. A few hills here and there were the only outstanding features. Otherwise, there weren’t even forests.

But after about half an hour, that changed. We went from clear landscapes to a forestry ridge. Our speed plummeted as we were forced to navigate it, entering the wild.

Thankfully we didn’t have to go in deep. Just 10 minutes of driving through the ridge was enough to put us on top of a ledge overlooking the land below.

“Alright, let’s get off here. John, assess the area and let us know how you want to do this.”

“Sure.”

I nodded, leaving the hummer and stepping out onto the rocky ledge.

I walked to the edge of an outcropping boulder, squatting down and equipping my modified Springfield.

Through my scope I could clearly see what looked to be a small camp. There was a small river flowing through the area, and the Scourge beasts around it were sitting pretty.

There were some winged beasts, likely their transportation, and several Scouts. From a cursory count, I could see 6. It was possible that more could be out there, just not home yet.

And around the scouts were some beasts acting as their escorts, at least 40 of them.

I clicked my tongue.

“This shouldn’t be too bad. There’s six of them. Best case scenario, I kill between three and five from the shadows before bailing. Worst case, I kill one or two before bailing.”

“You can guarantee at least one kill?”

“Certainly. That’s the easy part. The challenge will be killing more before exposing my position.”

“Hm, that’s the least of our worries. There are Scourge beasts not far from here. The issue with launching these attacks is the possibility of getting surrounded in the process. By then, even I might be in danger. But we were told that you can kill them from a distance.”

“I can. But not this far. Let’s see.”

I lifted my head, scanning the surrounding area before pointing at one outcropping.

“Bring me there.”

“Very well. I’ll separate us into two groups. I’ll go with you while the others will hang back in the other hummer. I was told you have a partner?”

“Yes. Umara will join us. The rest of you mind waiting for us?”

“No problem.”

Vetsmon answered from the side, making the Chief Commander nod.

“Then let’s board and get on with it. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be back in time for chow.”

With those words, we all jumped on the hummers. Umara and I joined The Commander in his, while everyone else was in the other.

When we drove, they hung back a couple hundred meters from the outcropping, while we pulled up right behind it.

That was another benefit of these magic vehicles. They were completely silent aside from the tires rolling on the dirt. That made these stealth missions a lot easier.

After arriving, Umara and I jumped out witht eh Commander. The three of us approached the outcropping.

I laid down and crawled toward the edge of the rocky ledge. Springfield in hand, I scoped in.

My best estimation was about 350 meters from the center of the Scourge camp. Looking down, I saw the Scouts lingering.

They were eating dinner, it looked like, chewing on the carcases of some freshly hunted wildlife.

I smiled. Most of them were stationary. That made this a lot easier.

After that though, the smile on my face was wiped away.

I spoke in a low tone.

“The most I can kill in sequence is five, and that’s if all my shots are perfect. I’m not betting on more than three realistically. After the first shot, they’ll be alerted, so however many I get in five shots is probably going to be my limit.”

“Understood. If they find us though, we need to pull out quickly. They’ll give chase as soon as they spot us and after that, we’ll have all the Scourge beasts within the surrounding miles homing in on our location.”

“I’ll be prepared to bail. Just let me get off my five shots.”

“Sure.”

He nodded, and with that, I nudged Umara who lay right beside me.

“Ready? All I need is silence.”

“Of course.”

“Keep in mind though. My bullets will still make sound when they reach the Scouts. All this barrier is doing is keeping them from listening for our direction, to some extent.”

“Remind me to ask you about how that works again later.”

“Sure.”

I smirked a bit. At the same time, Umara’s sound barrier appeared around us.

I felt like I had gone deaf. No sounds reached my ears, making the whole world oddly silent.

I took some deep breaths, steadying my aim as I found my first victim.

There were six, and in my head I planned my sequence of attack. At the same time, the time dilating effect of my coat activated.

With all that, I centered my reticle on the large round head of a Scout, and fired.

*Click*

I only felt the recoil of the rifle, my hand moving with deft motions to pull the bolt and chamber another round.

Down range, one Scout dropped dead, its head sporting a brand new hole.

The others were still reacting, and I was able to catch one frozen, curiously looking at the corpse of its buddy.

*Click*

Another shot, though more hastily aimed for center mass. The bullet tore through its chest, dropping it, but not instantly killing it.

I ignored its reaction and moved on, finding another just as it started to move.

The beasts all around started scrambling. 30-06 bullets were supersonic and thus broke the sound barrier, creating a shockwave that exploded in the ears of anything it passed.

It had to pass the creature first before the shockwave was heard, but nonetheless, all of them were seeing their buddies drop to the floor before hearing an explosion. It was obvious that they were under attack.

But they didn’t know where the attacks were coming from. Some of them were already looking our way, probably inferring the direction from the way their buddies had fallen. That was an almost instinctual inference to make, but they couldn’t be sure.

They couldn't see anything, for one, and vision was what Scouts relied on. They would trust anything but their eyes, or at least, would hesitate otherwise.

And that uncertainty was exactly what I needed.

They couldn’t keep running, and eventually, the one I was following stopped to look around and communicate.

That’s when I fired, my body having steadied completely, my reticle resting right on top of its neck.

*Click*

I watched as the bullet tore through its chest, just like the last. All the beasts around it turned, watching its body fall.

Three bullets, two more to go.

The other three Scouts were now looking in our direction, doing anything they could to find us.

I could sense their gazes through my Aura. They weren’t locked on to us yet, but even the slightest movements would give our position away.

I ignored it and found another still Scout, firing.

*Click*

(Shit.)

I cursed in my mind as the bullet landed off center. Instead of shooting through its chest, I tore off its arm at the shoulder instead.

That Scout fell to the floor, and its erratic movements made it too difficult to shoot with certainty.

So I instantly racked the bolt before settling in for my last shot.

That missed shot caused me to panic a bit, so I got a nice spike of adrenaline that helped my hyperfixate on my next target.

One of the two remaining Scouts looked back at their screaming friend. The other one, however, was looking at me.

I could feel its gaze. That shot had given me away. But that was alright.

It was focused on me, our Auras meeting. It was enraged and was already sending beasts to me. Several of the escort beasts started running in our direction.

But its focus was its downfall. I could almost feel our eyes meet through my scope in an eerie sort of connection. That’s when I realized that my intent could be easily read.

It’s also when I figured out how to utilize the Aura technique I had theorized about.

Instead of making myself invisible, I could just create the illusion of me being invisible.

That also applied to my intent. If I focused on ntohign but killing the Scout, it would realize that and try to evade. It would be able to sense what I would do. It was almost like precognition.

But if I masked the intent coming from my mind, then it wouldn’t be able to read anything.

And that’s exactly what I did.

I created a veil around my mind, dividing it from the rest of my Aura that the Scout could see. It was as simple as making a barrier of power.

I could practically see the confusion on the Scouts face, as if it had lost me.

And in that moment, I fired.

*Click*

One shot, one kill. The scout’s head fell as my bullet severed its neck. That was four kills, and one casualty.

I spoke to Umara through my telepathy.

(That’s it. Release the barrier.)

(Got it.)

She responded, sounds of the world returning to my ears.

I spoke.

“That’s all. Let’s get out of here.”

“Haha, with pleasure.”

The Chief Commander seemed oddly happy as we backed out and boarded the hummer.

Like that, we drove away, the rest of our squad falling in as we went.

Before long we had left the ridge and no Scourge beasts were in sight. In and out, not undetected, but without contest.

The Commander laughed.

“You know, I’ve never seen anything quite like that before. No wonder he wanted you to do this mission. That was damn near the easiest mission I’ve ever done! Just like that, four Scouts are dead, and not a single man was killed in the process. Nothing more than a bit of magic power for vehicles and energy from you was spent.”

“Well, it certainly went well. I missed one, but they just kept standing still. They were almost asking to be shot.”

“Heh, how you did that from so far away is beyond me. Only the best archers I know of can pull off stunts like that. Which means that you, John, have earned yourself some more missions.”

“Hooray for me.”

I gave a sarcastic cheer, making him chuckle.

“Don’t be so down. These are the best ones to have. They’re fun, relatively safe, and don’t come very often. It may be another week before you get called again. So until then, you’re living the life.”

“That’s true.”

“Not only that, but your name is going to get passed around. Some might say otherwise, but I’m a firm believer in recognition being a most valuable resource. You’re still in the Magisterium, but if you want a good post once you enter the military, then you’ll need to have some connections. Make yourself desirable, and you’ll get desirable positions.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.”

“Of course. You’re quite amazing, and not just for a summoner. Would hate for that talent to go to waste.”

I smiled. This Commander was quite nice.

After that, I lounged back with Umara as we drove back to base.

He was right. This was rather fun.