Chapter 130- The Voicers (Patreon)

“How dare you! We did not abandon anything! We have been fighting the Gray from infiltrating the south. We have paid for every centimeter lost with the blood of our comrades. I know who you are, Cameron Amyntas, and even so, I will demand satisfaction if you do not retract your accusation.”

What the heck, Cameron? Did something happen between him and these guys before Niya and I arrived in the city?

The three officers gave Cameron a venom-filled glare and the nearby soldiers tensed, prepared for anything. Jiran raised his brows and waited, having no desire to intrude on something he didn’t understand.

“How many of you are left?” Cameron met their gaze unflinchingly.

“Besides us here, two full companies.”

Cameron’s shoulders slumped and his gaze lowered for a moment before he met their eyes again. “Less than half? My apologies, Captain. I was unaware of the burden your men have shouldered. I spoke hastily and without thought. May their many sacrifices never be forgotten, and may they be the last. Alor!” His salute crashed against his chest with a resounding thud that echoed the reverberation sent through the ground from his foot smashing into the soil.

The nearby soldiers breathed a sigh of relief before answering his salute, though theirs failed to match Camerons’ intensity. “If only they could be the last,” The captain sighed, “With the fall of Mortan, I fear the casualties to the civilians along the eastern front will only escalate. Was that blast truly caused by a bishop? Did you lay eyes upon it? Has there been any confirmed communication with Astarte’s squad?”

“Fall? What are you-Oh! Is that why you’re here? You’ve got it all wrong. That blast was caused by him,” Cameron hooked his thumb at Jiran before answering the rest of the captain’s questions. “Mortan isn’t lost, she’s safer than ever. He even figured out how the worms are getting through the wards. As far as I know, Astarte’s squad is still in the mountains intercepting any bishops from coming south. We certainly haven’t seen one.”

All eyes shifted to Jiran as Cameron shot him his signature troublemaker’s grin while taking a step back. When Jiran didn’t say anything, and the only sound for several seconds was the thumping of Graymin against his wall of ice, the Captain finally spoke.

“My apologies, Sir! Thank you for the timely intervention. Now may not be the most opportune moment for full introductions, so I will be brief. My name is Captain Sorook of the Voicer’s Third Interceptorial Brigade. This is my second in command, Captain Fornalahad. My third, whom you’ve returned from the dead, Captain Morgais,”

The man dropped to the ground, his forehead touching the dirt, “Thank you!” He shouted, his voice full of reverent praise.

Slightly embarrassed by the man’s prostrated form, Jiran’s eyes flickered up to check the party window in his interface. After confirming Niya, Olive, and Mayalyn were still at full health, he responded. “Pleasure to meet you, Captains. I’m Mortemer…”

Crap, forgot the rest of the stupid name he came up with.

Jiran squinted at Cameron who was admirably maintaining a stony disposition despite the mirth dancing in his eyes. “What does an interceptorial brigade do?” Jiran tilted his head at Captain Soraak.

Voicers? So they’re a squad directly under the command of the church? Best if I don’t say much to them. I should wrap this up soon and get back to the girls.

All three captains shared a confused frown before Soraak responded, “We are usually responsible for intercepting any Gray that trickle through the mountains outside the passes. Our current orders are to investigate the explosion, confirm the presence of a bishop, and that Mortan has fallen. Are you truly the one responsible? My apologies if this is rude, but I have memorized the names of every eighth tier ascender alive and dead, yet I do not recognize your name.”

Jiran looked at Cameron again but he merely shook his head with a bark of laughter. “Oh no, I’m not bailing you out, it’s way more fun to watch you squirm. This is your mess, you clean it up.”

“Ungrateful pain in the ass,” Jiran turned away from Cameron, “You probably don’t recognize my name because I’m not tier eight. Thank you for answering my question, Captain. I assume you’re leaving now that you know Mortan isn’t lost?”

“Uh, that is correct, Master Mortemer. Please, forgive my rudeness!” The captain bowed so low he was parallel with the ground before standing at attention.

“Which way are you going? I’ll clear the path for you,” Every soldier within earshot inhaled abruptly at Jiran’s statement, and the captain’s mouth opened and closed like a fish before he found his words.

“Our camp is seven kilometers in that direction, Master Mortemer.”

Jiran nodded and jumped over their heads. By the time he landed, twin discs of elemental ice, and two of fire, hung suspended before him. All four picked up speed, whirling in place as the quickly moving mana within them filled the air with a high-pitched whine. Two blades of crystalized cobalt cut across the land, leaving behind icy barriers that stretched away from them as far as the eye could see. The discs of elemental fire were unleashed next. He swept the beams through the space between the two barriers, eradicating any Graymin within and leaving a relatively safe, walled highway for the soldiers.

Charisma: + 2

Yup, saw that coming.

These men should be used to stuff like this, not shocked speechless. It’s disgusting that higher-tier ascenders never bother to help out due to mana constraints.

“There you go, Captains. That should last a few hours. If you’ll excuse us, we have a lot of training left to do today,” Not waiting for them to respond, Jiran jumped over his wall of ice back toward the city. Cameron caught up to him a moment later, his laughter ringing through the air and attracting the attention of every Graymin in range.

“Olive is going to lose her mind when she hears about this. My Voice, being around you is non-stop entertainment, Master Mortemer,” Cameron erupted in another bellow as their auras went to work crushing the pawns that swarmed around them.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. It’s not my fault the empire’s elites are so mana-constrained they never bother to help anyone lower-tier.”

Cameron sobered quickly after seeing Jiran’s frustrated scowl. “Not for much longer. We’ll find a way to spread your method without breaking the church’s doctrine, and then mana won’t be nearly as much of a constraint. At least for everyone below tier seven. Learning to instantly convert density to mana won’t help if there isn’t enough high-tier meat to go around.”

“With access to the teleportation platforms, we may solve that issue soon too. Speaking of issues, what was your deal with those guys? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so worked up.”

Cameron tsked before responding with a sour tone, “They abandoned the city’s defenses the second news leaked that the wards were beginning to weaken. They didn’t even stick around to escort the civilians to Cruex. The worst of it is they had the only unit capable of taking down the rooks. The minute they left, the Graymin spread out in force; at least a dozen towns and villages were lost before they could be evacuated because they left so early. I don’t know who gave them their orders, but I swear when I find out, I’m going to kick their teeth in.”

“A dozen towns? All so they could lose half their number anyway?” Jiran looked over his shoulder at the retreating men. Suddenly, he found that their bright-white uniforms weren’t stained with nearly enough blood. His stomach churned at the thought of twelve villages just like his home being reduced to rubble. All of those defenseless citizens consumed by the Graymin swam, just because of one man’s orders. “Every time I learn something new about the church, I hate them more. Just when I thought they might have some redeeming qualities, I learn they probably let far more die than they saved.”

“You can say that a dozen more times,” Cameron snarled.

With the mood fouled, there was nothing more to say. His party interface showed the girls’ location as little blips not far from the dome he left them in. He and Cameron arrived to find them slowly working their way into the wall of pawns north of the city. Cameron jumped ahead of them with a roar, eager to work off the emotions from their short encounter with the voicers.

Jiran refilled everyone’s mana before firing a few flares above the horde and then hunting down the rooks that revealed themselves. By the time he finished and returned to the party, Niya had solved the second phase and was dashing through the Graymin in a state of Oneness, laying waste to them by the hundreds.

He landed next to Mayalyn, who was faithfully protecting Olive. The royal must have been revolted by Mayalyn’s blood-soaked appearance since she was freshly cleaned, her new armor sparkling in the suns’ rays. She looked bored, gazing longingly at the beasts in the distance when Jiran spoke, “You can go have fun, I’ll take over from here.”

Mayalyn’s eyes lit up with excitement and she dashed off without a word, zipping after Niya with trails of arcing electricity chasing her every step. “We need to be careful with her. She may end up being more reckless than me,” Olive pursed her lips as she watched Mayalyn go.

“It’s going to be hard for you to look after anyone if you can’t even move. What’s the hold-up? I expected you to be the first to figure this out.”

“I’m not sure. I’ve been close a few times, but then I start thinking again and it’s gone. How am I supposed to keep random thoughts from my mind? Which reminds me of another question I keep forgetting to ask. Being connected with my manapool all the time means constantly acknowledging my emotions. It’s so distracting! How do you keep anything straight like this?” Olive stopped trying to move as she waited for a response, her bright blue eyes searching his face for answers.

“Good questions. For me, I was so desperate to connect with my mana that I had all the motivation I needed to push through no matter how awkward the emotions were. I had a lot of time alone in those days to learn to focus as well, so really it’s just motivation and practice on the emotional front. As for keeping your mind clear of thoughts, I don’t even try.”

“What?! How do you do it then? That makes no sense.”

“The brain is designed to rapid-fire its synapses, which triggers memories and the emotions attached to them. The only time that’s ever going to stop is when you’re dead. You can’t force your thoughts to cease simply by focusing on staying quiet.” Jiran tapped the side of his head, “You have to give your brain a direction, a goal, a purpose so absolute it has nothing left to direct toward those stray thoughts.”

Olive scrunched her brow, clearly not getting it. Jiran stood beside her, constantly scanning the horizon. “That! Right there! Do you see it!” His voice turned excited as he frantically pointed.

Olive turned so quickly that she nearly fell. She squinted, leaned forward, and blocked the sun with her hand. Several seconds ticked by before Jiran smiled and his hand fell on her shoulder, surprising her out of her desperate search for what could have set him off.

“So, what were you thinking about just then?”

“What?! Nothing, I was looking for… Oh. Wait, it’s that easy? I only need to focus on my surroundings so much that my brain loses its ability to distract me?”

Jiran raised his brows at her suggestively before sliding behind her. He pushed on her shoulders hard enough to send her stumbling forward. She squawked and only barely managed to catch herself before face-planting. “What was that for?” Her question was met with another shove, then another. By the fifth, she was on to the game and did her best to resist being pushed and pulled about.

On the fiftieth push, something finally clicked and she moved with fluid grace at a speed Jiran could only match with his own state of Oneness. They turned to a blur as he kept trying to get behind her, only for her to weave out of the way each time. Suddenly, her aura exploded from her body to claim three meters of space around her. She beamed up at him and he grinned right back, truly happy for her.

“Great job, now join the others while I corral the knights your way. We’ve still got a good eight hours of sunlight, plenty of time to get you three capped on EXP.”

Her smile wavered as she gulped nervously, “Not a-all of them at once, I hope?” Jiran only laughed and took off to the north. Olive only watched him for a moment before she clenched her jaw and followed behind in a golden blur of aura, mana, and body combined into one.