Chapter 60: A Little Update (Patreon)

Zed got to his feet slowly, and vertigo hit him. He staggered before his feet realigned beneath him and returned his balance. He looked down at them with a nod.

“I guess those still work.”

Zed looked around him at the rubble he’d been forced to crawl out of. Behind him was a mountain of destruction, ruins of concrete slabs and broken debris mounted on top of each other. It seemed he had survived that.

“I guess regeneration’s still working, too.”

The words were barely done leaving his lips when he remembered what had happened. He’d seen the eyes of the man who’d shot him through the slit in his mask, watched deep yellow eyes stare at him with calculated calm before he’d fired the last shot that had brought his rune shield crumbling.

A small pain touched Zed’s mind as more memories came flooding in. Someone had damn near shot his arm off and he looked down at it in mild panic, relieved to find it still attached.

“Thank God,” he sighed.

He turned away from the rubble in front of him and looked around, one hand going gently to his neck as he remembered the shot that had put him down. When he touched his neck, trailing a scared hand down to his shoulder, he found his skin tender, soft, and especially sensitive. That had healed fast and it wasn’t done healing.

“Well, it’s the little things,” he said. “Should be good in a day… I hope. Until then…”

He cast his gaze around, eyes wandering through the littered corpses. There were a few cars around, some of them open with bodies hanging out of them. Those were the mages who’d been lucky enough to get to their cars but not lucky enough to get the doors closed.

“Whoever came after us last night really meant business,” he said. “What do you think, Oliver?”

Silence met Zed and he remembered he was alone. With it came a flood of worry and panic and the slightest touch of relief. He was actually alone, his last memory being of men with guns and shields mowing through a hall of mages. That hall of mages had had Oliver and everyone else in it.

Zed’s eyes wandered through the littered corpses again with new interest. He sought out recognized forms, anything to indicate any member of the team. He saw a girl lying face down, her hair blonde and held in a ponytail and rushed towards her. When he turned her, a sigh of relief slipped from his lips.

“It’s not Ash, thank God.”

Before long Zed was certain of one thing: none of the team was among the bodies, not even Imani or her boyfriend. Still, it didn’t mean they were not beneath the rubble. Sadly, he couldn’t check the rubble, but there was something he could check.

Zed walked farther away from where the auditorium had once been and into the place where the cars had been parked. He sought out the jeep they had come with and found nothing. There were destroyed cars and more corpses, but no jeep, at least not the one he’d come in.

Zed hoped it meant they had survived, driven off in time to secure their safety. They were not the nicest people but he really hoped they weren’t dead.

“But if that’s true,” he mused. “Then that would mean they left me. On the one hand they’d be alive so I’m happy for them, but on the other hand, they left me to die so…”

Zed frowned slightly, face scrunched up in thought.

“I’m not entirely sure how I’m supposed to feel about this,” he muttered to himself. “And I’m not really sure which of the options would be justified. On one hand, I think I’d have left me behind, too. On the other hand, they know I heal very fast.”

He put a thoughtful hand to his neck.

“Then again, I did get my neck blown out. Kinda hard to believe someone would come back from that.”

He sighed in resignation. Choosing a justifiable emotion wasn’t working for him, not that he really had many options, so he chose to be happy for them, accepting the possible delusion of their survival and ignoring the chances of their death, then moved on to more important things.

Zed grabbed one of the bodies hanging from a car door and pulled it down. The body weighed a lot and hit the dirt with a loud thud.

“Ash was right,” Zed groaned. “Mages really do weigh a lot.”

He was about to search the body for anything useful when something caught his eye inside the car. Ignoring the body, he pulled the car door free and ducked inside. Rested at the foot of the passenger sit was an axe. It looked designed to split specifically large trees in one swing. The axe head was wider than Zed’s, double its size if he was any skilled measurer, and it had a weight that implied it wouldn’t break easily. He hefted it comfortably as he came out of the car.

“I definitely need a weapon, that’s for sure,” Zed mused as he swung the axe, familiarizing himself with its weight. “A tomahawk, then an axe. What are the odds? If I didn’t know better, I’d say someone’s trying their best to make me an axe murderer.”

He looked up at the empty sky, a soft orange from the setting sun then shook his head.

“Nah,” he snorted. “Can’t be. I mean, you’d think magic would fall under his purview but I think he’s more on the subtler side of things than that. If he was real, though.”

He thought about that last part and found he wasn’t sure.

“I guess I still haven’t found my place on religion then.” He swung the axe and rested it on his shoulder. “That can wait, right now I’ve got more important things to figure out.”

Another few minutes spent scavenging through the bodies and Zed was standing in a better shirt and pants. The shirt had a small finger width burn mark in its chest just where the heart should be and he had a good guess how the mage he’d taken it from had died. That and the burn hole he’d seen in the man’s chest. Zed had since kicked off his shoes and had cared nothing to get new ones.

He wiggled his toes in the sand as he went through what he felt was his most important loot. It was a small note with countless scribbles in it. He had taken it off a corpse in a car with a distorted door, bent as if someone had been trying to meld it together with something else and had messed up. Zed had assumed the state of the door was why the mage hadn’t been able to close it in time to save her life.

Zed flipped through the pages of scribbles, identifying a few of them for what they were: runes. He closed the small book back and slipped it into his back pocket. He was going to need to make his way back to town on foot, seeing as none of the cars were in any state to be driven. Perhaps he would make a journey of it, learn a few new runes while he was at it, or get a nose bleed while trying. Either one was fair game.

In the back of his mind a small part of him assured him that returning to town was the last thing he wanted. He ignored it for now. Right now, his destination was the least of his worries.

“Now, for a little update.”

Zed pulled up his notifications with a mental shrug, reading through it with a stern expression.

· Basic rune [Force shield] has applied effect [Deflect] on [T-95 .950 caliber runebullet].

· [T-95 .950 caliber runebullet] attack power is too high.

· [T-95 .950 caliber runebullet] has resisted effect [Deflect].

“I remember that one,” he noted, the notification moving along with a mental command.

· [T-95 .950 caliber runebullet] has inflicted [Disruptive damage] on you.

· You have received [Disruptive damage].

· [T-95 .950 caliber runebullet] has inflicted [Mana distortion] on you.

· Due to the trait [Mana blessed] you have resisted instance of [Mana distortion].

· You have been dealt a fatal blow.

· You are critically wounded.

“Yup, don’t remember those ones.”

· Attribute [Regeneration] is in effect.

“I guess it was that bad,” Zed said. He knew his attributes were always in effect but the notifications only informed him of it when it was truly horrible.

· [Mana core] depleting.

· You do not have sufficient [Mana] to conclude [Regeneration].

· Attribute [Regeneration] does not take effect.

“Uhh, okay?”

Zed scrolled further.

· You are critically wounded.

· You have been afflicted with effect [Blood loss].

· You are under multiple instances of effect [Blood loss].

· [Blood loss] refreshes.

· You are critically wounded.

Zed moved on, looking for the part where he survived.

· Seeking alternate mana source.

· Alternate mana source not found.

· You are critically wounded.

· Attribute [Regenerate] does not take effect.

· Attribute [Bone density(physical)] is in effect.

· You are more mana than human. Innate control over mana is exponential.

· Trait [Mana blessed] is in effect.

· Supplementing [Mana core] with [innate mana].

· Rerouting [innate mana] to [Mana core].

· You have sufficient [Mana].

· Attribute [Regenerate] is in effect.

“Hold up,” Zed said, concerned. “Isn’t that like using life force to replenish my mana? That doesn’t sound very safe.”

· Insufficient [innate mana] noted.

· Kindly replenish [innate mana] to avoid sever damage.

· You have insufficient [innate mana].

· Due to insufficient [innate mana] you have been afflicted with [Comatose].

· [Comatose] has applied effect [Coma].

· You have been afflicted with an instance of [Coma].

· You have insufficient [innate mana].

· [Coma] takes effect.

· Attribute [Regenerate] is in effect.

· You have gained +3 Wil.

· You have gained +2 Strength.

· You have gained +1 Agility.

· You have gained -3 Mana.

· You have gained +48 Exp.

· Exp to category 2: 1458/2500.

“How the hell does that even make any sense?!” Zed scowled at the notification. “How do you call a negative number a gain? That’s stupid.”

The notification gave no response, staring at him as he scowled at it. Zed’s displeasure dissipated after a while and he had a vague idea of why he had a loss in his mana aptitude. If he was to take a guess, he’d say using innate mana for anything led to that. He pulled up his information just to be sure.

Melchizedek Nyborn

· Specie: Human (Mana blessed).

· Category: 1/3.

· Rank: Beta (category 1).

· Exp to category 2: 1458/2500.

Skills

· None.

Titles

· None.

Attributes

· [Equilibrium] (Physical, mana).

· [Regeneration] (Physical, mana).

· [Hypersensitivity] (Physical, mana).

· [Bone density] (Physical)

Affiliations

· None.

Aptitude

· Strength: 36(+7).

· Agility: 27(+5).

· Speed: 24(+4).

· Mana: 48(+21).

· Will: 21(-5)(+3).

· You have 0 Unallocated [Aptitude points]

· [Aptitude points] will be gained at each category.

· You will gain 5 [Aptitude points] for each rise in category.

· You have a pending Quest.

Zed frowned at the effect of the loss to his mana aptitude. He’d expected it to affect the additional mana but it hadn’t. It had taken a chunk from the main aptitude. As demotivating as it was, he took his consolation in the fact that he still had more than enough mana to spare.

“Alright then,” he said, ignoring the still pending quest. “Now I’ve got to find my way back.”

Zed strolled out of the midst of cars and bodies and into the world waiting for him. Maybe if he was fast enough, he could get back in time and find a way to his next category.

………………………………

Ven sat in his chair, receiving a debriefing he believed was unnecessary. He was in his platoon’s air craft, nothing near the finest VHF had to offer. He’d switched the light settings so that the entire room was white as he sat up straight in his chair. On the table of iron and glass in front of him was a hologram of a woman. She stood with her hands behind her back in a body fitted suit, covered in a white lab coat.

“Have you made contact with the locals, captain Ven?” she asked in a crisp voice.

“No, ma’am” Ven answered. “We had a run in with a few mages but no one important. My men put them down before they could do any damage.”

The lady scowled within the hologram.

“Need I remind you, captain Ven, that while rumors exist in the less civilized worlds that shed the VHF in a poor light, we are not the VHF in those rumors. We do not kill unless we are faced with sufficient threat.”

“And my men felt, at the time, that they were faced with sufficient threat.”

“They did?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ven answered in a void tone. It was the way with soldiery, you either sounded eager or you sounded empty. There were no in-betweens.

“How many men are under your command, captain?” the lady asked.

“Sixteen ma’am.”

“And if I’m not mistaken, each of these sixteen men have been outfitted in Olympian armors, even if it is old tech.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And you expect me to believe that a team of Olympians felt threatened enough by no name mages in a backwater land to use lethal force?”

Ven clenched his jaw, unable to give an answer for it. His mind was filled with more important things than what the lady was talking about and he had slipped up. He was usually a better liar than this.

“Unfortunately so, ma’am,” he replied. “However,” he went on, interrupting her next words, “we have a bit of a situation on our hands.”

“A situation, captain?” she asked, displeased, permitting the divergence from the topic.

“Yes, ma’am. A few nights ago, some of the local mages held something of a soiree and there was an unfortunate massacre.”

“Unfortunate,” the lady sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with thumb and forefinger. “You are not judge, jury and executioner, captain Ven. Whatever your excuse, you will answer for it once you return to base. If your mission wasn’t so important I’d have re-called you and your team this instant.”

“My apologies, ma’am,” Ven said, always placid, “but while I do appreciate your view of me as a lethal and slightly barbaric captain, the massacre was not perpetuated by my team.”

“Really?” the lady said, displaying genuine surprise when she’d had nothing but disgust the entire conversation. “If it wasn’t your doing, then whose?”

“From the intel I’ve gathered, it seems the anti-mages have followed us this far out.”

“And you think this is because they are aware of the surge?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“That is a bit of a situation, then,” she agreed. “Do you believe your team can take them?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Then handle it at your own discretion. There’s no need to disturb the higher ups with this. Kill them if you have to. No one likes those pretentious pricks and no one will miss them. Now, back to the matter at hand. Your request for a propulsion detector has been approved and has been dispatched. ETA is between ten to fourteen days. I am assuming that you have made the request because you have found the general location of the mana surge and need a pin-point accuracy. Am I correct?”

“Yes, ma’am. We have a rise in monster activity and monster ranks that is consistent with the appearance of a monolith core or even its dissolution. It is my hope that it is not a dissolved one.”

“Even if it is, bring it back. It will amaze you how often teams bring back dissolved remains of a mana surge and what the VHF is capable of gaining out of them. That noted, captain, I have a meeting with my superiors and would like a more tangible update when next we speak. Is that understood?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The hologram disappeared and Ven was left sitting with himself. He leaned back against his chair with a sigh and let his muscles relax. The white room gave him a calming sensation. And while the visage wasn’t what he’d been going for, it also gave this section of the rune-craft a futuristic appeal. Walking into this section was like walking into the boss room in old sci-fi movies where the leader behind the conglomerate always sat pulling the strings that commanded events.

That, too, was a nice feeling.

“Ten to fourteen days, huh,” he mused, running a hand through his red hair.

It was more than enough time to meet with the leader of the closest town and map out a plan for the expedition they would need to embark on.

His team had surveyed the area and had come to one simple conclusion. The mana surge was in the opposing forest to the one they currently inhabited. They were certain of it, at least the latest technology they’d been given regarding detecting mana surges was certain of it. However, it was an odd thing. Apart from its odd and colorful look, a sharp contrast to everything but it, there were no signs of extreme levels of ambient mana. At least it wasn’t in the air. But the tech had detected significantly low levels of raw mana in the trees, and while mana surges didn’t work that way, odd things did happen in a world full of magic.

Ven discarded his thoughts on the subject. Once the propulsion detector got here, they would know for certain. Until then, he needed to map out how to handle the anti-mage crisis should his team run into them. That and the new monster species.

“What was it Ronda called them,” he mused. “A Chemo blob and a Spittle spork.”

The names sounded stupid but one could never be too careful in a world such as this. The Chemo blob seemed more terrifying than the Spittle spork for now. After all, a monster with enough power to actually give a mage symptoms of radiation in one attack was nothing short of terrifying.

Once he got back to base, he’d make sure to send them in to update the VHF official bestiary.