Chapter 303: Half-Truth (Patreon)

Author’s note: Hi guys.

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Quite interesting to go back to the original release schedule. :)

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Enjoy the chapter!

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Chapter 303: Half-Truth - Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/92937757

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Chapter 303: Half-Truth

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“Now onto the main part,” Rayden said to the men and women lined up on the training grounds after the morning roll call. Those who remained were the ones who had no duties to perform in these early hours, no patrolling the streets or guarding the city gates.

“As you know, Privates Palemoon and Grey returned from the Labyrinth after being lost there for over eight months. Sadly, not a feat that anyone can easily replicate, even with the knowledge they brought back. HOWEVER, they did gain insight into the purpose of the labyrinths and the system itself. Silence!” she shouted as doubt swirled among the city guards. “Do you think I would be standing here talking bullshit in front of you if I wasn’t sure of the truth of their claims? No. So open your minds and listen. I need you to listen - because you are the first to hear this, save for the higher-ups.

The prospect of being among the first to hear caught their attention - that and Rayden’s heavy voice. The woman knew she was unleashing a beast that would be impossible to stop. Sure, they could put a Geas on everyone present, forbidding them to speak of what they were about to hear. But that would be no better than remaining blind to the truth. If there was to be any hope of standing up to Eleaden, it was necessary for everyone to come to their senses, not just a select few.

Something even those above her agreed on, apparently.

And what better way to spread the word to the common folk than through the guards. Some would talk, some would not, but in the end it was the results that mattered. The truth they would see with their own eyes.

Like walking barefoot.

“The first thing I will tell you relates to what the Heralds of the Labyrinths have been talking about for centuries: the coming battle, the one our ancestors lost millennia ago. Whatever it comes in our lifetimes, we do not know, but the labyrinths were built as fortresses to ensure the survival of the races, and as training grounds for their protectors.”

That was something more or less known. Now came the part that was the reason I was standing here with the rest of Squad Four next to Rayden with my guts in knots: the system.

“The same with the system. As hard as it may be to accept, the system should not be used as it is today where it limits us in our growth. It is supposed to train us, to help us get stronger.”

At first, everyone remained silent as what they heard took time to sink in. Then doubts bubbled to the surface and the first one was spoken aloud, quickly followed by others - the half-truth was enough to throw them off.

“The system used differently?”

“What do you mean?!”

“Bullshit!”

“That would be known . . . ”

“You’re pulling our tits, aren’t you, Captain?”

“There is no way . . . ”

And so on and so forth. The noise of a few hundred guards was earsplitting. For me, at least. To make it even worse, this time Rayden gave them free rein to voice their opinions instead of nipping the uproar in the bud. While I covered my ears, she listened.

Only when the verbal exchanges between the lined-up guards threatened to escalate into brawls, did she flood the entire barracks yard with her aura, her authority as a former general. The entire training grounds fell back into silence.

“I understand you. I really do . . . ”

Rayden then followed by explaining what that actually meant and what she expected from them. She did not intend to order them to exchange their skills, but to listen to those who did, and perhaps even give it a try themselves.

“ . . . and what kind of commander would I be if I didn’t lead by example? But not before we, and yes, I do mean we, myself and the lieutenants included, are briefed by Privates Palemoon and Grey, their squad, and Deckard on their personal experiences.”

My hair stood on end as the attention of several hundred people turned to us, to me. My instincts were urging me to put them down with my presence, to let them know to shove their piercing stares up their ass. I didn’t. I held back. I had to.

Honestly, as uncomfortable as the attention was, I was more glad that it was all my instincts were telling me right now, that the potion I drank after breakfast was working the way it was supposed to. So far, anyway.

“Before I leave the rest to Private Stella Palemoon, I would like to remind you to keep an open mind. The world is never as simple as we would like it to be. Private, please.”

Fortunately, it was Stella who was supposed to do most of the talking, not me. A good choice, for she seemed to have prepared her speech well in advance, while I had no idea how to address the city guards in the first place, let alone where to even start.

“Fellow guardsmen, I am Private Stella Palemoon . . . ”

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***

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And so it went, each of us giving our pitch, the bits of experience we had with the system and how to use it properly.

“How do we know you actually swapped your skills?”

“Yeah, it could be you just pulling my balls.”

Fair question. Without the ability to show others my full status screen or teach them a high-level identification skill, it was a difficult thing to do. Handing everyone an Identification Station with the right to see my abilities would help. Apparently, everyone agreed on that, even Sah. But these tools, part of the Empire’s security, weren’t something to play with. Besides, it was one thing to talk about my skills, but to show everyone else my system info, the whole skill set, was something else entirely.

Eleaden got under my skin, I guess.

I mean, the longer I lived here, the more I saw how intimate the information in the system could be. Revealing everything there was about me was like parading my bits in public. Arguably, something I have gotten quite comfortable with, yet . . .

“That’s where you have to take a leap of faith,” Stella argued, her voice ringing with sincere understanding and apology.

“Faith, my ass!”

“Yeah, go fuck yourself with that bullshit.”

“We swap our skills, and then what? We’re going to bring order to the streets with sewing tools?”

Just the night before, I remembered how friendly they were to me, how happy they were that we were back, that we were having drinks with them. It was so sad to see them turn against us when their worldview was challenged - understandable, but sad. Worse, after Stella, Freyde, Harper, Meneur, Deckard and I had said what we came to say, I really didn’t know how to convince them to take the leap, other than to order them to do so. Something I would fight Rayden over. That would be no different from what the slavers were doing to the slaves.

“So you’re saying that your skills only amount to so much?” Deckard shouted for all to hear. “That if you get rid of your weapon skills, you won’t be able to pick up anything but a sewing needle, that you won’t know how to swing a sword or thrust a spear? If so - pathetic.”

An insult to their pride. Bold, clever. It certainly worked on me, even though I wasn’t the target of his mockery. No wonder some of the guards took the bait and said out loud what they thought of Deckard. And it wasn’t flattery.

“I was just like you,” he continued, giving them as much attention as a pesky fly. “Until a few days ago, I was working with the system the way I was taught, the way we all learned to live with, thinking I had reached my limits, afraid to step off the beaten path. And I think you all know where that got me.”

“Bottlenecks,” I whispered, along with many on the training grounds.

“Yes, stuck with my head up my own ass, unable to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And if it weren’t for my apprentice here, I’d still be in that dark, fetid dead-end, clueless about how to get out of there.”

That rather colorful analogy earned him a few chuckles.

“Sure, if you’re there long enough, you can get used to it and find the place warm and cozy. But if you crave a breath of fresh air, you should not let your fear hold you back and venture deeper into the unknown. And believe me, it’s more rewarding than you think.”

Silence again fell over the training ground, most men and women pondering, some shaking their heads in disbelief or outright denial. It was too soon to say they were lost causes. As with the barefoot case, they needed more hard proof and more time.

“Like we said,” Stella chimed in when it was apparent Deckard had nothing more to say.

“We’re not asking you to change your core skills on the spot. Just consider swapping one of your general skills, a support skill that you think you miss the least, for something you’ve always wanted to try.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t feel like knitting.”

“Yeah, me neither.”

“What skill did you choose? Or Grey, for that matter?”

Stella bit her lip, knowing it didn’t really matter. In the end, the skill swap only served to restart the skill you wanted to train in. However, lying now might blow away what little credibility she had gained with the guards. She had to tell the truth, the believable truth, no matter how lame it might sound.

“[Fair Skin] . . . and [Lush Hair]”

“ . . . ”

“Shit. I’ve never had access to skills like that.”

“And you find it strange? Look at you.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean, you baldhead?”

“Jealous? Maybe I’ll find a skill to make my head even shinier.”

“Please don’t.”

“Yeah, man. My eyes are already hurting from looking at your stupid ball.”

This went on for a while until their attention turned to me.

“I like flowers, in case anyone hadn’t figured that out,” I pointed at the moss on my head, which drew a few chuckles. “So I choose [Gardening] and [Flower Care]. And not only that. Better if I show you, though.”

Not really knowing what to expect from me, yet aware of my reputation, they all froze, ready to take whatever was coming. This one, however, required more caution on my part. To everyone’s bewilderment, my ears had grown all the way down to my ass, only to stand at attention like those of rabbits.

“I couldn’t do that before. I didn’t even know I could,” I tried to say as loudly as my hearing would allow, while doing my best to keep my ears up. Nothing easy. “You must know yourself how easy it is to get lost in the sheer amount of general skills. For fuck’s sake, there’s a skill for peeing. Yet I can take a piss without the system telling me how to do it.”

More laughter, laughter that hurt my ears. I endured it, clenching my fists.

“Same with these ears. I took the skill, let the system show me the basics, learned it, and that’s it. I don’t need the system to hold my hand anymore.”

As I retracted my ears, the training grounds fell silent again, men and women more lost in thought than ever. But they weren’t the only ones.

“Actually, thinking about it. I have a mental skill, you know, one that helps me keep those mind bastards from messing with my head. That’s something only I’m allowed to do.”

The laughter echoed through the training grounds again, this time more bearable, giving me confidence and tickling my feminine pride.

“However, as stupid as it sounds, I don’t have any pain-reducing skills.” They didn’t need to know that I could burn my nerve endings in a rather brutal style. “What I’m trying to say is that while Lieutenant Blaine has helpfully pointed out the possibility of pain reduction through my mental skill, I haven’t been able to do so yet. But there might be one among the General Skills that would teach me to do so . . . then I could either learn it separately and use it that way, or the system might reflect it in my core skills.”

“Damn, Little Beast. I didn’t think of that. The possibilities . . . you could shape your skills, not be shaped by them.”

His voice, the pride in it - it felt so good.

“You’re exaggerating, Deckard,” Blaine spoke for the first time in this briefing. “It’s not like we haven’t had an impact on our skills up until now. You’d be hard pressed to find two that are exactly the same. But I have to agree . . . this really does open up new possibilities. At the very least, you should be able to sharpen your existing skills.”

With that, a heated debate broke out on the training grounds as to what should and should not be possible. Chaos at first glance, but something Rayden has been trying to achieve for years. Sure, a good portion of the guards defended the good old ways. However, many of the men and women under her command were at least willing to entertain the thought. It even brought a tear to her eye, a tear she quickly wiped away.

“What about bonuses? The ones that come with the skills?”

“Yeah. What if I pick a bunch of skills with a bonus to [Strength]? Will it stack even if I swap the skills later?”

“We don’t know yet,” Stella admitted. “That’s something we’ll have to figure out together.”

Not the answer many wanted to hear, but the truth nonetheless.

“You mentioned skills like [Fair Skin] or whatever . . . . Are there any effects of that skill left?”

“What about [Big Breasts]? Will my girls stay bigger or shrink?”

“The same with [Big Dick]? Huh?”

“That . . . ” Stella stammered, not really knowing how to answer the question. Nevertheless, she kept her cool, unlike me, whose cheeks flushed at the thought despite the potion.

“No lasting effects,” Harper said to the shock of us all. “At least as far as I can tell, right, Freyde?”

Caught as off guard as the rest of us, the man cleared his throat. “Yeah, her tits are still the same. Unfortunately.”

“Fucker! That’s not what I meant . . . ”

As the argument between the two broke out, so did the laughter and heated debate between the guards. However, no one really figured out how long it would take for the effects to become permanent, if that was even possible.

“Listen up!” Rayden put an end to the debate with her aura eventually. “I am more than aware of how difficult a step this is. But if you take it, I will do my best to get your skills back to where they were. Including more frequent training in Fallen’s Cry. Now, to set an example, I’ll replace one of my General Skills.”

In the tense silence, everyone’s attention, including mine, turned to her. I don’t know what I was expecting, or what the others were waiting for. The skill swap was something that was done in the mind. At one point, however, Rayden’s eyes widened and she faltered slightly.

“All done,” she said as she straightened up, her voice a little shaky this time. “You’re looking at a [Pottery Making] skill holder.”

“Damn!”

“Traiana’s tits, she really did it!”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Shit!”

“How does it feel?”

“What about your initial skill, ma’am? How much did you lose?”

Rayden released her aura again to silence them. “It’s . . . it almost took my breath away, but it’s not as bad as I feared. As for the levels . . . let me see . . . my original skill is back at . . . .”

“Are you sure you want everyone to know San?” Deckard interrupted.

“Besides, the system needs to see what you can do first to measure your skill level, ma’am,” I added.

She smiled back, appreciation for our concern in her eyes. “It’s just one skill, Deckard.” With that, she turned to her men and women. “Just as Grey pointed out. Right now, my initial skill is at level 1.”

A murmur went up among the guards, the previous vigor fading.

“Deckard?” Rayden turned to my mentor, unswayed.

“Spar with me.”

“Oh, with pleasure. How long has it been, anyway?”

“Too long.”

I’d have to be blind not to see how much they were both looking forward to this - and so were the guards.

“Shit! Did I hear that right?”

“Captain wants to fight Deckard?”

“Damn! I’m so damn lucky to be off duty.”

“Quick, make room, make room!”

Before long, Rayden and Deckard were standing alone in the middle of the cleared training grounds, surrounded by guards eager to see their bout. And I was no exception. I had seen Deckard fight at full strength and even tasted some of his power myself. Rayden, however, except for her soothing aura, was an enigma to me.

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Author’s note: Honestly this one was quite a struggle for me as I found out I'm not good with speeches. I mean, I knew that it was the case IRL, but...the lack of experience really got to me here.

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Also, the ending surprised even me. Not where I intended to take it, but it just turned that way. I'm not sure if you'll want to read about another bout on the training grounds though so I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. I've already come up with an idea to move their bout somewhere else, but - damn, I just thought of another and even better one...okay maybe it won't be as bad as I feared.

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Nevertheless, let me know if you're interested in Deckard versus Rayden.

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