[MA] 306. Frightening (Patreon)

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[Chapters this week: 2/2

Reminder: As I said in the previous chapters, there will be no chapters from 09/23 to 09/28. See you on the 30th!

Next chapter: 09/30 - Saturday]

The Battalions' C-ranks had formed a wide perimeter in the darkness, encircling the D-ranks, who surrounded a single Battalion. Zyn, Abbav, Uya, and Xun stayed between the Battalions and the rows upon rows of Void Spawn, which remained inside the farm area. The creatures stood still at the border to the dark area, silently watching Reality's beings.

First Lieutenant Zyn had brought everyone who fainted back to consciousness. He had used his mastered Law so masterfully that Shen hadn't understood the little he felt. Shen's lack of Law Vision in this dark space was also annoying. The First Lieutenant had then ordered everyone to take turns resting.

Captain Abbav had taken a floating orb from a spatial artifact and placed it in the middle of their temporary camp. It glowed bright without hurting the onlooker's eyes and released star-level heat without burning anyone. It comforted everyone taking a break, but its influence stopped right before it touched anyone on duty. Shen was sure it wasn't because the artifact couldn't go further; Abbav was limiting its reach.

Shen couldn't judge the thing's rank because he couldn't even feel qi out of his body anymore. The longer they stood in that place, the worst his senses became. Then again, paradoxically, the growing pressure brought by the environment evidenced how special the orb was.

It was currently Shen's Battalion's turn to take a breather. He stood alone beside the sphere. Wu Bai was on the opposite side, sitting on a wooden bench he had brought on his spatial ring. The four Staff Lieutenants slept on the ground, as did most of the Battalion's D-ranks scattered around the area. Zyn had recommended they do it, claiming it to be a unique opportunity they were lucky to get.

Alicia had tried to approach, but Shen looked panicky and lied, saying he had orders not to mingle with D-ranks. She looked hurt, and he hated it. Alas, he had no choice in the matter.

He couldn't care less about Zyn's recommendation not to help Alicia deal with a dangerous enemy unless she couldn't fight anymore. She would lose the opportunity to gain AP if she was kept from the front lines, but she didn't need a shining career in the military; no one did. As Liya had warned Shen, survival came first. However, Shen had been directly ordered not to let anyone notice he was acting. If he let her in on the secret, Zyn might mark her for unpleasantries later.

Moreover, while he disapproved of lying to help someone improve, this would be good for her, at least theoretically. Shen had gone through similar willpower-honing experiences and highly profited from it. Earthlings were as new to walking a Path as he, but they were even less aware of everything it entailed, and most people's lives had been too comfortable before the Alliance came. They could gain the most out of this.

Speaking of which, now that he knew what was happening, he could easily see the threads pulling the troops in the ways Zyn had shared.

For instance, the orb showed the military meant well but couldn't always coddle everyone; they had an enemy to stand against. The resting time while the environment worsened gave the troops time to truly feel the weight of the situation. The contrast between the comfortable period and standing guard showed how important it was to be a sentinel against the Alliance's enemies while fuelling gratitude for the military, who had always been there for the Alliance's populace. People were also sleeping close to each other behind enemy lines, instinctively trusting at least Zyn to protect them. They were showing vulnerability, growing closer, and less likely to kill their fellow warrior.

Those were just some of the things Shen noticed. By all rights, he should've detected all of it earlier. The methods were too close to the drow's.

His ignorance until now went to show how frighteningly skilled Abbav was. That was the precise word to use here: frighteningly. Shen was afraid of Abbav; there was no sugar-coating it.

Zyn had wakened people up using an absurdly advanced technique. Shen's senses had been already dulled, and he hadn't fully understood the ability, but he could tell it took a lot of finesse, and the First Lieutenant had done it to everyone at once. Nonetheless, Zyn claimed to be unable to pressure all trainees' minds while protecting them in this place.

Abbav, on the other hand, could. He understood everyone's limits to degrees Shen couldn't fathom. On top of that, the B-rank Captain had highly privileged knowledge and a domain and was skilled in social manipulation and impressive techniques.

He wasn't just any B-rank either—not if Shen's slow mind was properly analyzing the situation.

While no B-rank could be considered average, exceptional gems could be found here and there. For instance, Liya had never gone into details about how strong the drow Triarchy was, but she had shared how difficult it had been to move against the Dreamer.

It wasn't just because of political and strategic difficulties, either. The Dreamer had been old and experienced beyond measure, their Path had been unique and mighty, they had been very skilled, and their massive physical body and singular existence gave them particular advantages. They had been B-rank, yet the drow had to throw everything they had to kill them—and the drow hadn't even killed the Dreamer's main body. Such a being was the perfect example of how difficult reaching A-rank was and how B-ranks could grow strong beyond reason.

And one of the Dreamer's traits was how they seemed not to care about living beings—how they treated others like ants.

Shen couldn't unsee the similarities between the Dreamer and Abbav after he saw it.

For instance, while Shen didn't know the Dreamer's race, Abbav looked half-dragon. Dragons were one of the twelve mythical races. If he had such ancestry, Shen doubted a human of similar strength could hold a candle to the Captain in a fight.

The unfortunate truth was that not all races were created equal, and some had even strengthened themselves over the ages. The drow had done it through magic bio-engineering, and Shen had undergone a radical change caused by the Pure Yin-Yang Water. He didn't fully understand what the liquid had done to him, only that it had unlocked some of his potential and removed some of his biological limitations. In a way, it had been a half-rank-up of sorts.

If even Shen had accomplished that with a mere expensive bottle of water, and if the drow had changed their entire race, what had more ancient races done? What were the limits of such changes? Shen had never learned about it, only that all such advantages became void at S-rank and mostly irrelevant at A-rank because of what those ranks meant. Still, only fools or heartless people would disregard how strong their races could be before reaching such levels.

One might ask why waste so many resources to strengthen the general populace if anyone who mattered could rank up. They would be partially correct. Yet, the following and more important question would be: if ranking up was a much more cost-effective investment than improving an entire race, how good would such improvements have to be to justify the cost?

Shen looked at Luthdel's Battalion. The high elves were naturally stronger, faster, more resistant, more beautiful, and lived longer than humans. All elves were, but the high elves took that to another level. The drow focused on resistance, adaptability, and potential instead. Those two races had once shared the same world and been much more similar than nowadays. History pushed them into distinct Paths, forcing them to adapt to different circumstances.

Yet, if Shen compared what he felt from Abbav to any high elf he had ever met, the half-dragon could only compare to the Queen—

Shen widened his eyes in shock.

He had just recalled how his instincts had clamored for him to dismiss the then-Lieutenant-Specialist as a threat. He had unconsciously classified the memory as irrelevant and not checked on it ever since. There were no barriers preventing him from recalling it as he scrutinized Abbav, confirming it was no invasive technique. Instead, the Captain's mastered Law had a natural passive effect on onlookers. Shen's memory had been there; he just hadn't felt like accessing it.

The link to the Dreamer was obvious, but for Shen to feel Abbav was similar to the A-rank Queen of Spring and Autumn...

Could it be a Realization?

Perhaps. Shen knew little about the subject. To him, Liya's Realization felt like another Law he couldn't identify. Then again, Liya hadn't felt this similar to the Queen despite having a Realization herself.

Shen didn't know which was worse. A Realization suggested Abbav had as much potential as Liya and had been at B-rank for who knows how long. No Realization meant Abbav made Shen feel he was on the Queen's level regardless; who knew what he might accomplish in the future?

Well, not on her level. But their presences were similar somehow. Shen couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Whatever the case, the half-dragon was powerful, and Shen didn't like being in his sight.

The subject made him wonder, though. The Dreamer had been absurdly powerful compared to their peers. From Liya's accounts, she might have similar potential; after all, she had erased Uk'Gaar from existence as soon as she Realized her Path. What if the Dreamer had also had a Realization?

Sure, they were B-rank. But what if a Realization was just one of the requirements for A-rank, and both the Dreamer and Abbav had been blocked by other conditions? The System Administrator had said she could prevent Liya from ever reaching S-rank. What if there were also ways to prevent someone from stepping into A-rank?

Wait a minute...

What if Abbav was originally an A-rank disguised as B-rank, who then pretended to be C-rank?

Shen sighed and shook his head. Truth be told, he had no business thinking about things so far in the future. Abbav's power was irrelevant beyond the fact that he could easily kill Shen and everyone he cared about—or maybe even manipulate them into killing each other.

Thus, his primary goal was to survive this Expeditionary Training.

If even Zyn was alert and believed people might die here, Shen should not treat it as an easy stroll. More importantly, he didn't trust Abbav to protect him and his people and had to be careful not to give the Captain reason to move against them. From what Abbav had said, Shen was part of some research that depended on Shen growing strong. Whether the half-dragon recalled it was irrelevant; he had once valued it, so Shen knew growing powerful would make it feel like killing him was a waste. Therefore, he had to do his best to look more valuable alive than dead.

Improving was crucial, and Sheen knew just the way to do it: master his Laws. However, with his mind as suppressed as it currently was, he needed to focus deeply to maybe find the deep connection to his Laws he had felt for a few moments. He wouldn't look paranoid enough if he did that here, surrounded by people he should distrust.

Not having to deal with the pressure would be easier, but the whole point of the Will-Path Merging was to keep his mind pressured, so he doubted Abbav would stop.

So, Shen had to focus deep within himself. It would leave him unaware of his surroundings, and people might notice. He had to find a way to do that here while simultaneously pretending to distrust his own shadows.

What excuse could he use?

He had to think long and hard about it to conclude the obvious: he didn't need to do it here at all.

He approached Wu Bai and moved his hands, using Stangue's hand sign version to say to Wu Bai, "I'll be right back."

Hand signs were not meant to be used unless strictly necessary. Sound waves were the primary form of Stangue, to the point that races that couldn't produce vibrations or hear were forced to learn techniques or use enchanted items for that. The trainees had never been told why, but Shen could link it to Liya's teachings on vibrations and their destructive capabilities. Everyone had been given strings to talk to each other from a distance if direct contact became impossible.

Shen used hand signs to match the reasoning he sought to display. Zyn's orders were for the resting Battalion to rest. They did it close to the orb because it was safer and more comfortable, but it hadn't been directly stated. So it could be argued that everyone was on mid-deployment leave instead of temporary relief.

Each rest state had its own rules. Temporary relief, which everyone assumed this one to be, required them to remain very close and ready to fight at any moment and only disregard vibrational Stangue if needed. Mid-deployment leave was more lax. It still had rules, like not getting too far from the Brigade Commander, endangering the mission, or contacting others without permission, but it allowed Shen to use hand signs and get out of the perimeter.

Sure, common sense dictated that Zyn's orders should be interpreted like everyone already had. However, there was another possible interpretation, and Shen also wasn't supposed to second-guess the intentions behind his commander's every word, or things would get chaotic quickly. When in doubt, he should ask for clarification.

So, he walked toward the First Lieutenant and waited silently for the muscular overgrown goblin to throw a string at him.

"What is it, Acting Second Lieutenant Shen?"

Blessedly, Abbav outright ignored Shen's presence. The Captain didn't even look in Shen's direction.

"Commander," Shen replied, "my Battalion has twenty-five minutes of rest remaining. I want to use it to meditate, but I can't do that without dropping the façade of paranoia. My mind is too pressured. Can I interpret your orders to rest as mid-deployment leave and get away from everyone until the resting period ends?"

"Why is meditating so important to you, Lieutenant?"

"I want to grow stronger, Commander. You said this place is dangerous. I was taking it too lightly."

Zyn immediately shook his head. "Your departure from the area might make you look more paranoid than otherwise, but it might also needlessly disrupt the exercise with questions I would rather no one asks. You didn't provide a valid reason to risk that. Whatever progress you can get in such a short period won't help you survive. Not to mention, you're a first-class talent. Achieving dramatic improvement during a life-and-death battle would be easier and faster."

"Commander, I might be wrong, but my talent won't trigger if my friends are the ones about to die."

"That is correct," Zyn replied without a care.

Shen glanced at Abbav and hesitated slightly before adding, "I will be honest, First Lieutenant. Right after reading my memories, Captain Abbav stated he wanted to see me improve as much as I could. He was very enthusiastic about how he portrayed it. If my talent isn't triggered by a life-and-death situation to give me instant improvement, I'll have wasted this time doing nothing. I don't want to risk disappointing the Captain."

That was Shen's roundabout way of asking how lenient Abbav would be about the desire to see Shen improve—and that Shen feared the consequences of failure.

Frankly, Shen didn't trust Zyn. The guy hadn't killed the tale-harvester before its identity was revealed by Luthdel and looked close to the Captain. But he distrusted Zyn less than he did Abbav.

The goblin considered for a moment, then replied, "Permission granted, for all good it'll make. You have twenty-one minutes. Don't be late."

"Thank you, Commander," Shen replied and walked deeper into the darkness at once.

[A/N: I felt like I had to give Shen some screen time to show how he was dealing with everything. I didn't want to waste too long on the implications, but it was important to show at least a few of his considerations, including recalling how he feels about Zyn.

As for the next chapter: unlike previous times, I won't get too deep into each Law this time. I'll reserve "deep dives" for sudden enlightenment or mastering a Law. We've seen enough of how things work already.

Also, at this point, my mortal mind can't comprehend things enough to describe them step by step, only to give the broad strokes.

So, expect about half a chapter on it, then killing Void Spawn.

Yes, I'm feeling talkative today. On that topic, I don't recommend salty spaghetti as a midnight snack. Now I know.]

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