《And Thus, We Hoped》 Prologue The sun was dying. The sun was dying, and humanity would die with it. How could this be? The sun had enough fuel to survive for the next 5 billion years. The distant, far-off future, a time where technology would¡¯ve been advanced enough, a time where we would have had a solution. A time that nobody could imagine, but yet had faith in. A problem left to the future¡¸us¡¹. But here it was, right before us. And so we asked ''how could this be?¡¯ We were not mistaken. The sun did indeed have enough fuel to last 5 billion years. But, there was something that we forgot to input into our computer models. The sun produces energy through nuclear fusion, turning hydrogen into helium, and releasing massive amounts of energy as a byproduct. And the amount of hydrogen that it had could keep it going for a long, long time. But helium is denser than hydrogen. And as the sun turned more and more of its hydrogen into helium, its density rose, and its volume fell. Not by a lot, mind you, not even a tenth of a percent. Yet, this had been enough to influence Earth. The change wasn¡¯t obvious at first, even the minute increases from global warming were enough to offset it. As years passed, the warming caused by greenhouse gases slowed down. People attributed it to the various policies enacted to prevent global warming and felt success that they, united as a race, could do absolutely anything and looked forward to the day where the climate finally stopped increasing totally. And that goal was reached, in a few decades. Global warming was over - temperature change was stopped at last!Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. But it didn¡¯t stop. It kept dropping, and global warming turned into global cooling. Even so, most people thought that the Earth was simply dropping back to its original temperature, the state before global warming had started. Heating bills rose in many parts of the world, and more people began to wear thicker clothes. Nobody thought it was a problem, winter jackets and scarves even became fashionable. But, as years passed and temperatures kept falling, people started worrying. Perhaps if it was seen as an environmental problem, something could¡¯ve been done. Instead, it was widely recognized as an economic problem. As the number of electronic devices increased exponentially, combined with increasing demand for heaters, energy usage skyrocketed. Prices for oil and natural gas rose, and people turned towards renewable energy for a solution. During the global warming crisis, however, the locations where wind speed was the highest, where solar panels would be the most efficient, andwhere rivers were the fastest had all already been taken up. The areas left could only generate a tiny bit compared to what humanity required for its growth. As prices kept rising and temperatures kept dropping, many countries turned to coal, and even to biofuels in order to sustain their economies. Eventually, sparks appeared, conflicts arose, and arguments turned to violence as nations began to fight over dwindling resources. Food, clean water, electricity. Such basic necessities were beginning to run out. By the time humanity began realizing the severity of this issue, it was too late. The various divisions and alliances had already expended all of their resources in fighting one another and building up their armies and militaries. Perhaps if they had tried to cooperate instead of competing, they could¡¯ve found a solution. But, humans are humans, and what had been done was done. What ''solution'' could be created with the meager supplies they had left? Most people only had a tiny bit of food and the clothes on their backs. At that time, humans could be categorized into three major groups. Those that had no more will to live such a life, those that wanted to live and survive, and finally, those that wanted ¡¸ humanity¡¹to continue on. The first group died off quickly, obviously, leaving behind the other two, which were named the United Coalition and the Paragon respectively. One, which was military based, and the other, which was technologically based. Two opposite goals, two opposite viewpoints, but fighting over the same land and resources. People outside of these two groups were practically nonexistent - if you wanted to live for long, you joined one of them. Between the networked, steel houses of the Federation and the underground bunkers of the Coalition, more people chose to side with the latter. After all, how many would be willing to fight for the ''survival of humanity'' over their own lives? Death was also very common, whether it was from the minefields and machine gunners of the Coalition, the steel tanks and snipers of the Federation, or the always looming threat of freezing and starving to death. And so, humanity continued its armed conflicts. One fighting for the people of¡¸today¡¹. And the other, fighting for the people of¡¸tomorrow¡¹. Chapter 1 (Part 1) [Northwestern Columbia Central Research Hub: March 34, 2079] ¡°Damn it! Why is there nothing here!?¡± A brown-haired soldier swore and turned around to kick a large steel door that came loose and fell down with a loud clang that echoed in the empty building. ¡°FUCK!¡± A few seconds later, a small beep, barely audible, rang out from his waist and he stormed out of the warehouse. Walking into the freezing winds outside, he took a small device out from his belt, speaking harshly into it with an annoyed expression. ¡°What the fuck¡¯s the matter now Matthew? It¡¯d better be something good.¡± The radio beeped again and the soldier held it up close to his ear so the sound wouldn''t be drowned out by the whistling of the wind. A small, staticky voice came faintly from the old-fashioned device. ¡°We fou*d on* of the res*archers o*er h*re, got¡¯em be**re he ate o*e of th**e blue p*lls, the rest have alr*edy kil*ed the**lves th*ugh.¡± Robert scowled before lifting the radio back to his mouth. ¡°I¡¯m heading there right now, you better make sure he doesn¡¯t fucking kill himself too.¡± He shoved the radio back onto his belt before heading over towards the towering dome that served as the command center of the base. On the way, he saw several groups of ragtag soldiers doing the same thing he just did, going into buildings and storages, and coming out empty-handed and with darkened expressions. He gripped his gun tighter and the frown on his face deepened. Recently, all of the Federation bases they had raided were completely empty, not even basic necessities were to be found. It had both mystified and frustrated them to no end. ¡®Another day of being hungry,¡¯ he thought with a heavy heart before realizing something and taking out his radio to send another message. ¡°Keep him in there! Don¡¯t take him out or the guys here are going to murder him!¡± This was one of the few times that they managed to get one of those Feds alive, ¡®I¡¯ll be fucking damned if someone kills him first.¡¯ Everyone was dead tired, and the number of soldiers that died today wasn''t few. Being frustrated at not getting any sort of compensation or reward, not even food, the Coalition soldiers would undoubtedly be looking for an outlet to vent. If they saw one of ¡¸them¡¹the only thing left would be a sorry excuse for a corpse. And as much as Robert wanted to strangle that person as well, it would have to wait until after he finished his ...questioning. *** Sprinting towards the rest of his squad along the main road, Robert had to admit, Federation bases really were something special. Each base was a perfect circle, with 4 main roads on each side leading straight to the command centerand meeting in the middle. Everything was perfectly organized, a far step from the messy underground bunkers that he¡¯d spent most of his time in, with the confusing corridors and random rooms everywhere. If Coalition bunkers were like ant colonies, with dirtied workers scurrying around everywhere, Federation bases were like beehives, everything packed together, but with an organized feel to it and everything in its predetermined place. Although it made managing them much easier after they won and took over, it¡¯s damn fucking hard running down a perfectly straight road with snipers trying to riddle you full of holes. Perfectly symmetrical buildings filled the left and right sides of the main road, with secondary roads that curved around to one of the other 3 main roads in intervals. After a minute of straight sprinting, he finally reached the once shining steel doors, now full of dents and marred with blast marks. Behind him, the well maintained roads were already beginning to pile up with snow and ice. Once inside though, he choked and grabbed his nose as the stench of burning flesh hit him full on in the face. He took one look at the soldiers assigned to cleaning up the bodies, shuddered slightly, and headed up to the second floor. ¡® Goddamned maniacs.¡¯ No matter how many times he saw it, he never quite got used to the sight of the Federation¡¯s policy of death over imprisonment. All of the ¡®normal¡¯ Feds were outside of the base, the only ones who were granted entry in here were those crazy psychos that spouted nonsense about saving Humanity and shit, people who would kill themselves in an instant if their deaths meant contributing to their ¡®salvation¡¯ of mankind. And each one of them had a small, blue pill, which he heard would kill within the minute it was taken. ¡®Fucking lunatics.¡¯ He thought about those words a lot, but to be fair, those people really were fucking batshit insane. After climbing up a flight of stairs, the elevators were broken obviously, he saw Chris standing outside of a door, taking a hand off his gun before waving to him. ¡°No one dead this time boss! Me and Matthew got a few scratches, but nothing major or life-threatening. He and Emmy are watching over the guy inside, tied him to a chair. We also gagged him, so he couldn¡¯t bite his tongue.¡± Chris gave his signature grin and gestured to the door. Originally, there were four people in his squad, Chris, himself, and the two people inside, Matthew and Emily. Chris, the scout, was the type of person who constantly made jokes, the opposite of himself, the squad leader. Emily was the ¡®technician¡¯ of the group, she could break through the electronic locks on Federalist computers faster than most of their own guys could. She also was his younger sister. Matthew, a rather plump fellow, served as their group¡¯s makeshift medic. That originally was their small, four person squad. The Sergeant in charge was shot in the head by a sniper though, and as the squad leader that had been with the Coalition the longest, it was decided for him to temporarily take his place until the mission was over. On the outside, he kept on a stern face, but inwardly he sighed in relief that no one was injured before giving a Chris a nod and pushing open the door. Combined with the person they¡¯d captured, today wasn¡¯t a bad day, compared to some of the other groups at least. ¡®If only we¡¯d gotten some food too.¡¯ The thought passed through his head before he quickly dismissed it. It never was a good thing to expect for too much. Once inside the room he almost sneezed as he saw something very quickly. Books. Many, many books, on shelves covering the walls and desks and some even on the floor. Books were damn rare nowadays, many people had already burned their books for heating. Rare, but not valuable. Even in the Federation it wasn''t common for a person to have a book, let alone so many of them since nearly all of their information was stored electronically. His eyes quickly scanned over them before gazing at the chair in the middle of the room, to the person who owned all of these books. To the left and right of the chair were Matthew and Emily, both fully armed to the teeth. Emily walked up to him and murmured softly in his ear, still keeping her gun trained at the captive¡¯s head. ¡°We found this guy just now while we were searching the rooms. Only one who¡¯s still alive, the rest are dead and being cleaned up down there. Seemed like he was reading something and didn¡¯t even realize the base was under attack until we barged in his room. We already took the pill and tossed it away boss, so there¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡± She brushed a strand of brown hair off to the side of her head and sighed tiredly. Before, when she and Robert were fleeing together and joined the Coalition, she was only 17. Even though only 3 years had passed since then, she now looked like she was in her mid-twenties. The person standing in front of him was no longer the cheery girl that liked shopping and eating ice cream. Robert closed his eyes, wishing that she didn''t have to grow so fast, before sighing as well and gesturing to the both of them. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°You can both head back to the truck now, I¡¯ll be here ¡­talking to this guy for a bit. Oh, and take Chris back with you guys too.¡± Although he trusted his squad with his life and they trusted theirs with him, code practice still dictated that all information regarding Paragon was sensitive and should only be known to those who needed it. Thus, he could only see them off while they headed back to the army truck while he had to stay here. In this dusty room. Talking to a crazy person. A while after they left his sight, he turned back to the person tied to the chair behind him and squatted down until he was at eye level and looked over him once. Even at a first glance, they didn''t seem like normal people. In the Federation, they were like core scientists and engineers. They all each had some ridiculously long title, but most people in the Coalition didn¡¯t bother and just called them the ¡®Researchers,¡¯ which they basically all were anyway. They also all looked very similar. Perhaps it was because of a drug, or some kind of genetic modification, but every single one of them had the same figure, slim, with smooth skin and a pair of azure eyes. Really the opposite of what you''d expect a scientist to look like. Their looks wouldn¡¯t lose out to a celebrity or a model from the era before, and in a time where looks practically decided first impressions, they would¡¯ve definitely been popular. Now however, when people were starving everywhere and no one had time to look nice, they only looked alien and unnatural. Milky brown eyes met sharp cerulean eyes for a bit, but the stare was soon broken off by a prodding assault rifle. ¡°Yo. What''s your name?¡± He pulled out the small folded cloth from the person¡¯s mouth before tossing it in a what he assumed was a trash can. There was no point in torturing a Researcher to talk. They were so paranoid against information leaks that besides the blue pills, in order to prevent captured prisoners from giving away secrets, every one of them installed a chip at the base of their skull. If the amount of pain experienced during an interrogation session went over a certain threshold, the chip went off, just like a circuit breaker, and severed the nerves between the brain and the spine. It was also permanent, and even just trying to remove it would cause death as if it went off. ¡®Just another tribute to how fucking mental these guys are.¡¯ The Federation also tried to implement chips that could be remotely set off, but after a Coalition hacker wiped out an entire side branch, the idea was scrapped and they stopped producing those. Besides, as long as the researchers didn''t reveal information, they were of very little use to the Coalition. With their personalities, they would probably rather murder a child before betraying their goal of ¡®salvation.¡¯ So, in the end, the only option was to manipulate them and try pry out some information that might be somewhat useful, rather than their nonsense. He poked the person in the chair with his gun again. ¡°I can''t keep saying, ¡®hey you,¡¯ what''s your name?¡± The person waited a bit. One second, two seconds, three seconds, before finally answering. ¡°...my name is Alex,¡± he said quietly. If not for the fact that Robert was right in front of him, there was no way he would''ve heard the faint whisper. ¡®Seems like he''s one of the more sane ones.¡¯ Although he wouldn''t have to deal with lectures about saving mankind, it would be a lot harder to get any information from him. Also probably would be hard to trick. In that case, ¡°Hey, what do you do here?¡± This was about as direct as a question could be. ¡°......¡± Obviously, Alex didn''t respond, so, ¡°Maaaan, these really are some nice books, but it''s pretty cold in here, y¡¯know?¡± Saying as such, he took out a small lighter from his pocket and a flickering flame sparked into existence. ¡°.......this is a research facility.¡± ¡®No shit Sherlock, what else would it be?¡¯ He didn''t say that though, and instead took one of the more important looking books and ripped out a page. He saw that it was full of incomprehensible numbers and symbols in the split second before it went up in flames. ¡°So this is just a regular facility then? Then these books shouldn''t be that important,¡± as he slowly ripped out another page and watched it also disappear from existence. When Alex wasn''t showing any signs of responding, he reached to grab another page, but, ¡°.......thruster propulsion.¡± ¡°Hm? What was that? I didn''t quite seem to catch all of that,¡± Robert said as he secretly reached in his vest pocket and turned on an old recording machine, pretending to put away his lighter. If it was important, it''d be best if it was recorded or his superiors would give him hell. ¡°...this is a facility for designing and manufacturing ion type propulsives,¡± Alex repeated it flatly, without a change in his expression, not even a single twitch as he revealed the base''s secret. ¡®Guess those books were more important than I thought.¡¯ Robert inwardly praised himself for his book guessing skills. He had no idea what an ion propulsive was, but nevertheless, he continued to press Alex for information. ¡°So what was your job? Engineering, designing, or whatever?¡± Even among Researchers there were separate rankings. If he was in one of the higher ranks, he''d naturally have more information. ¡°...do you mind putting down the book first?¡± Now that Alex decided to ¡®negotiate,¡¯ everything became much, much easier. After all, in their positions, Robert had nothing he could possibly lose. He chuckled softly before setting the book back onto the desk, two of it¡¯s pages gone burned away for eternity. Robert looked backed to Alex and raised an eyebrow, as if saying Well? Come on. The person in front closed his eyes and sighed, the first real reaction he''d gotten since Robert entered the room. He opened his eyes and the glint of determination in his eyes earlier now seemed a bit duller. ¡°I research different thruster types and improve them to make them more efficient. That is the one and only thing that I do here.¡± Robert creased his brow, perplexed. ¡®Thrusters? None of Federation machines use thrusters. Perhaps it¡¯s for a new type of vehicle?¡¯ There were a few reasons why the Coalition had been able to stand up to them despite the mechanical vehicles and technology of the Federation. The first being numbers. Since the Federation only allowed people who were useful into their bases, many people wound up having to join the Coalition in order to survive. Another reason was that the territory the Coalition encompassed was much greater than their counterpart. Federation research centers required a tremendous amount of time and resources to create and manage, while basic bunkers could simply be created in a few days. The last reason was mobility. The jeeps and motorcycles that the Coalition had could be deployed much faster than the tanks of the Federation. It was because of all these factors that allowed them to stand on equal ground and even slightly tilted the war in their favor despite having massively outdated armaments. Every advantage they had was absolutely necessary to keep the upper hand against the Federation. Robert didn¡¯t know much about vehicles and engines, but anything with a thruster strapped to it would undoubtedly be faster than anything the Coalition currently had. If that happened, it was quite possible that the Coalition would lose their speed advantage and begin to start losing in the war. Trying to hide his anxiousness, he feigned indifference as he inquired, ¡°Oh? I didn¡¯t see anything that looked like thrusters here so far, have you not built any yet?¡± But then, Alex tilted his head up to look at him and revealed a small, satisfied smile, ¡°No. All the parts have already been finished and transported away a while ago, now we¡¯re just waiting on orders for our next project.¡± Robert¡¯s heart sank to the bottom of the ocean, and the somewhat pleased mood he had from earlier had all but vanished and turned into gloominess, though he tried not to show it. Masking his anxiety, he continued to casually ask more questions. ¡®Answers. We need answers.¡¯ ¡°How come there wasn¡¯t anything else in the warehouses, no food, no water, no ammunition, just nothing? How are you people surviving? It can¡¯t be that you decided to abandon this base?¡± Alex¡¯s smile disappeared as quickly as it came, and was replaced with a frown that showed his unwillingness to answer. He bit his lip though after Robert took out his lighter again. The lighter fluid was pretty expensive, but he didn¡¯t think anyone would complain at his usage of it right now. His face darkened, Alex averted his eyes and answered unhappily, ¡°It¡¯s because of you guys. Bases don¡¯t store any of those things anymore. Higher-ups decided we should receive smaller daily shipments. If a vehicle doesn¡¯t return from a base, and the center doesn¡¯t respond to contact calls, it¡¯s marked out and won¡¯t receive any more supplies.¡± ¡®Doesn¡¯t seem like he''s lying, but there¡¯s still something that doesn¡¯t make sense.¡¯ ¡°How come we haven¡¯t seen any of these shipments then?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no point in looking for them. Supplies are delivered by camouflaged ground drones. Besides, they¡¯re sent over the course of a day, not all at once, so even if you do manage to find one, the rest will just take different routes.¡± ¡®This is something pretty important.¡¯ For the past week, Coalition supplies had been running low. Now that they knew the reason why, the problem would be solved. Not that Robert had any idea how they would solve it, but he''d leave that up to the people in charge. ¡°Alright, thank you for your cooperation. If you don''t mind me, I''ll be leaving first.¡± Robert beamed a ¡®confident¡¯ smile, gave a small bow, and walked right out the door without looking back. He could deal with that guy later. For now, it was important to get the message back to HQ. The faster he passed on the message, the faster he could be rid of this nagging worry in his chest. He walked passed a few rooms before choosing an inconspicuous one at random to enter. After making sure no one was around, he shut the door behind him and opened up his bag. Inside was small comm unit that was salvaged from the body of the dead sergeant. It was basically just a cellphone. Not that impressive, but it was damn useful at times like this. After punching a few buttons on the disk-shaped device, he sat down, hoped that the signal would be received amidst the ongoing blizzard and waited for a response. A quarter of an hour later, he walked back out of the room after delivering the news, feeling pissed. He spent a whole ten minutes explaining how they''d taken over the base and the information he¡¯d gotten from Alex. And the only thing he got back? Orders to attack another base. As for their shortage of rations? ¡®Figure it out.¡¯ They''d said. Not only that, they also had to bring along that Researcher too. Robert could already imagine the headache he''d get from all the glares. He left the room, fuming, and headed back to the room where Alex. ¡®Goddamned lazy motherfuckers. Fucking sitting in a truck while we starve to death.¡¯ He stormed his way back to the room while shoving the comm unit away in his bag, not caring if it got damaged. ¡°Oi Alex! You''re fucking coming with-¡± He stopped in shock. ¡°!!!!¡± The chair in the middle of the room was empty, a pile of sawed ropes laying quietly on the floor. Chapter 1 (Part 2) Humans were annoying. He had believed in this philosophy for who knows how long. Since he was 15? Since he was 14? Whatever the case, it was all the same to him, so what did it matter now? Humans that were ugly, Humans that were attractive, Humans that were skinny, Humans that were obese, They looked all the same to him. People who were from Asia, People who were from Europe, People who were from America, People who were from Africa, What did it matter? They were all the same type of¡¸humans¡¹. And they were so noisy. So loud. Sputtering out from their mouths words of nonsense for attention that held no meaning. Words of praise, Words of scorn, Words of love, Words of hatred. It was truly disgusting. Human voices, like the squealing of pigs in their excrement, hoping that the insignificant¡¸them¡¹would be ¡®noticed¡¯ in this indifferent world. What a joke. It truly was sickening. When they were content, they were ¡®friendly¡¯ to their fellow humans, acting with arrogance and ignoring problems that didn¡¯t have to do with them, claiming themselves superior. And when they grew unsatisfied with their petty lives, they complained to the world, in hopes that someone would pity them and give them what they wanted, and became violent if no one did. Such was the state of the Earth. There was simply not enough to go around. What someone gained, was something that someone lost. And so humans, in their trivial squabbles warred and fought, ¡®justified¡¯ by their own greed and ambition. Bleeding and dying for their own desires, both material and immaterial. For honor, For enjoyment, For wealth, For power. Humans were revolting. Talking to them was a waste of energy. So I ignored them without discrimination. Standing off to the side, ignoring it all. That official, who oppressed the poor, That construction worker, who was incapacitated, That judge, who replaced justice with money, That mother, who neglected her children, That man, who was run over by a drunkard, That addict, retching up in some unnamed alley, That soldier, who was shot and lay dying in the mud. Oh! The list goes on, and on, and on... There were too many desires to be fulfilled in this planet, too many people that needed something. Try to help some of them, and the others accuse you of discriminating. Getting angry at others who were not suffering like them, this was the true nature of the human race. Gloating to others of one¡¯s own misfortune, cursing venomously at the others who were lucky, laughing at them when they fell. They were so short sighted, so ignorant, so selfish, so absolutely easy to manipulate. Just like that fellow just now. How easily he was fooled. Pretend to be unwilling a bit before saying something, and practically everyone will believe the bullshit you just fed to them. How stupid that person was. How idiotic he looked when he walked away, whistling happily. Did perhaps stupidity and happiness have a correlation? If that¡¯s the case, how grateful I am that I¡¯m not stupid. There was no point in happiness. Happiness was simply just another thing that people grew addicted to. Fighting and working endlessly towards it, and having no reason to live if it was gone. Making people content and lazy, such a thing it was. Like a drug, Like a lover, Like an alcohol, Like a sweet tasting poison. Indeed, I should be glad that I¡¯m not happy. But I can¡¯t, because then I would be happy. Ahah¡­ What a paradox, being happy at not being happy means that you are happy, no? Whatever, whether I was happy or not did not matter, the only wish I had for now was to leave. Perhaps you are wondering, just how did I end up in this situation? I am Alex Baurhenn, the head researcher of the Modern Artificial Intelligence Administration for Spacecraft, or MAIAS, for the Paragon Federation. Really a stupid name in my opinion by the way. Before the catastrophe occured, I was part of a medium-sized spacecraft research company known as FinSpace that was based in Southern California. How that became the Paragon Federation I have no idea. After the cataclysm and warring started, a group came to us for funding, as well as maintaining and building more vehicles. Since at that time we had absolutely no military power, we agreed. Slowly, one by one, our group defeated and integrated the factions that tried to attack us. Even though we ourselves were not fighting, we were the leaders of this faction, the people from the first group were just figureheads. Without us, the infrastructure of the newly named Paragon Federation would have fallen apart and resulted in the fracture and downfall of our organization a long time ago. And, all the while, we had not abandoned our original goal of creating a spaceship to send into outer space. Eventually, the only real groups left in the western U.S were us, and the United Coalition. It wasn¡¯t as if we were actively expanding. The only reason we aimed our rifles and tanks at others was because they had aimed towards us first, wishing to loot our supplies and resources. All the ¡®peaceful¡¯ groups had long been conquered, leaving only the violent ones who raided and robbed as they wished. Except for us, of course. In the end, the Coalition was the victor of those groups, scavenging and attacking other groups until they emerged victorious atop a mountain of corpses. And then, those leeches set their sights on us. Leeches truly was a fitting term for them. They had absolutely no industry aside from their military and their scavenging. And so, in order to survive, they had to plunder foodstuff, which we grew in hydroponic plants, powered by the few nuclear reactors that we had built. I don''t blame them though. That''s just how humans are after all. That was how we ended up engaging in constant warfare. We, the Researchers as they called us, left the pointless fighting to the people below, while we we scouted in talents that had the ability to help us in our projects. Said projects included construction of research bases, improvement and production of weaponry, and the never forgotten goal of sending a ship into space. Somewhere along the line though, our goal was labeled as the ¡®salvation¡¯ of humanity. Really, how ridiculous. What retard would want to save the human race? Nevertheless, I kept to myself, as I always have, and continued to work silently. Our group of scientists began to be filled with delusional people. Giving lectures to the common people about how we were the hope of mankind, and pestering me to do the same. In the end, it grew so bad that I moved to a separate base inside a soundproofed room to continue my work. Who could work in a raucous environment such as that? That was how I ended up in this remote center. A few weeks after, a Coalitions raid took us by surprise. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. I did not communicate by talking and rarely came out. If something was needed of me, the person could simply send a message via their personal tablet. In the surprise of the attack, however, it was likely that no one remembered that I was there, and because of the soundproof walls, I couldn¡¯t hear the sounds of guns. I do not know how the battle progressed, but it ended up with our loss, and as you can see right now, the situation I am in. I sighed in relief after the door closed. That man really did talk too much. I waited a few seconds after he left the room, confirming that he really did leave. ¡®Likely sending a message to his superiors.¡¯ As for himself? He would likely be sold off to some greedy, rich weapons seller. Just as most of us Researchers were crazy, the people with power in the Coalition didn''t lose out to us at all in terms of insanity. Too bad. He would have to pass on experiencing some creepy person¡¯s fetishes. He was tied completely, legs and arms bound to a chair. His feet still had some freedom of movement left though, but just that tiny negligence was enough. I lifted the heel of myshoes, pressing down on it once, twice, three times before waiting a few seconds and repeating my actions again. Once I lifted my foot again, a thin mechanical disk popped out and fell onto the floor. With a soft murmur from me, it grew tiny spider-like legs and climbed up the chair. With another command, it began cutting the rope with the sharp side of the disk, sawing itself back and forth using its small legs. After two minutes, the rope finally weakened enough to the point where I could easily break out of it. I picked up the now motionless disk, put it in my pocket, and walked over to his personal terminal. The screen turned on, asking for a password. ¡®H1ZH41021JP19159JA¡¯ ¡°Beep! The password you have entered is incorrect!¡± ¡®AOIH1OHT10HGHG0N¡¯ ¡°Beep! The password you have entered is incorrect!¡± ¡®1JDJG1PGJPH2PY02H¡¯ ¡°Beep! Too many failed attempts! You will now be locked out!¡± The screen turned red and the password bar was locked, preventing you from trying any more times. For normal people, they would¡¯ve given up at this point. If one wanted to access the regular terminal, all they had to do was type in the correct password, which none of the above were. But for Alex¡¯s purposes, this was all proceeding normally. He started typing again. ¡®SHAF-1G13-XJ0T¡¯ Even though no characters were shown on the screen, he kept typing. ¡®GEGQ-13UG-GH1I¡¯ Then he stopped, and reaching out to the screen, tapped the top right corner of the metal frame very lightly, just once, and held it there for five seconds. ¡°Fingerprint scanning, please standby¡­¡­Error detected, please retry.¡± But he didn¡¯t. If the same person pressed their finger to the scanner again, then the terminal would electrocute the person. Quite a sad and painful death indeed. Instead, he leaned closer and placed his eye right in front of the same spot. ¡°Scanning¡­¡­ Authorized personnel detected. Welcome, Doctor Alex Baurhenn. It was an exceedingly complex and tiring process, and was different for each base. For the purpose that it was used for though, you could never be too safe. Taking a small USB drive from his desk and placing it in his pocket, he pushed away the roller chair and crouched down in the area below his desk. A few seconds later, a click was heard before the floor underneath him opened up and dropped him on his rear into a small room below, closing back itself above him. Alex stood up, fumbling for a few seconds before he found the light switch in the dark room. As a dim bulb flickered on and cast the empty room full of pale, yellow light. Opening the one and only door, the only thing in front was a long, narrow corridor. As Alex walked down, the pale light slowly receded until he was proceeding in pitch black darkness. This was a hidden tunnel that lead to a small safe spot outside of the base. After walking straight for a few minutes he suddenly stopped, and turned left towards the smooth wall. If one continued walking, the only thing that¡¯d await them was a dead end and a bullet in the head. Pressing a small indentation on the wall, the entrance to a dim room opened up. Waiting for him inside was a small, camouflaged vehicle. It was like a motorcycle combined with a car, low, narrow, and could just barely fit two people. A personal transportation unit, PTU it was called. Pressing a button on one side of the room, a part of the wall slowly slid open, exposing the dark cave to the blinding sun and harsh winds. Shivering, he quickly got in the PTU and pressed his ID card against the keypad, and the engine quietly came to life. A wave of tiredness and lethargy finally hit him as he drove into the snowstorm, and letting out a long, drained sigh, he headed towards the next closest base.
Robert swore as loud as he could when he¡¯d opened the door, startlingly enough that several soldiers came dashing up the stairs with their M16¡¯s to see if anything was wrong. After shaking his head and confirming several times that nothing serious had happened, they went back down the stairs, himself not that far behind them. ¡®Shit! Where the fuck did he go!?¡¯ After ordering several squads to search the base under the pretense of looking for hidden intelligence for a whole four hours, he finally accepted that Alex was gone for good. As much as he scolded himself and wished that he¡¯d left someone to watch over him, there was no changing the past. Meeting up with the rest of the squads where their transport trucks were stationed, he relayed the order that they were to keep marching. Nobody responded, but he could see the anger and resentment in their eyes. How could he blame them? He was just as angry and hateful of the people that ordered him to do this, but what could they do? He could only begrudgingly continue on towards their next set of coordinates and attack the base there. After they got into their trucks and left the base behind, Emily walked up to his side and whispered quietly in his ear amist the rumbling of the vehicle. ¡°Where¡¯s the researcher guy? Did you kill him?¡± It was frightening to see the changes in her. The girl who once called him to kill spiders, now talked about killing someone without any reaction. How far away the sister was that he once knew. Shaking his head slowly, he mouthed silently, ¡®Gone.¡¯ She let out a small ¡®Oh¡¯ and sat down heavily next to him. ¡°Hey, when do think this will end? Why are we even doing this anyways?¡± She sighed exhaustedly, pressing both of her fists against her face. She looked so dejected, so sad, so lonely that for a second, he saw his younger sister again, so realistic that Robert just wanted to hold her in his arms and comfort her. He couldn¡¯t though, not in front of all of these soldiers. So the only thing he could do was murmur, ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± softly, listening to her quiet sobs as the truck continued on towards their destination. After meeting up with another separate group and attacking a base, they continued marching to meet up with the main force. After receiving Robert¡¯s message about a new vehicle possibly being produced, the people in command decided that they would try to take down as many Federation bases as fast as they could before it was introduced. But, as they kept advancing and Federation bases kept falling easily, it turned into a full out attack to try and end the war. And still, the Federation did not react. Even though everything was going well so far, Robert couldn¡¯t help but feel uneasy. ¡®When did it suddenly become so easy to win? The Coalition didn¡¯t get stronger, is it because the Federation simply doesn''t care about it¡¯s losses?¡¯ He, now the permanent leader of twenty-five squads, still followed orders however and continued on. After successfully defeating dozens of Federation bases over the course of three weeks, all available units converged on the last remaining base in area. The higher-ups had promised that after this, they could stop rationing food supplies and take a long break before heading over to other the next region that needed help. Soon, the entirety of Western America would be under their control. But once the base came into view, everyone¡¯s heart sunk. There were so many of them. The Coalition, which normally had overwhelming numbers, was now looking at a battle where they only had twice or three times the number of soldiers, not as high as it usually was. Thousands of white-uniformed troops in trenches and cement bunkers lined wrapped around the base. Numerous tanks loomed ominously in the distance. Just thinking about the how many people would die before they could even let loose a gunshot made everyone¡¯s faces go pale. For now, though, they simply set up camps surrounding the base. The battle everyone thought would be an easy attack had turned into a long siege. At first, they had sent in a few squads to try to infiltrate the base in the darkness of night, but they had all been consistently shot dead by snipers before they even got a shot off. It was likely that the enemy had long range heat-vision scopes or binoculars. The higher-ups still kept arguing about what to do, all the while their food supplies were being consumed. And then, when they finally did pass the order down, all of the soldiers nearly went into an outrage. The so called ¡®plan¡¯ that had taken three days to figure out was a frontal attack. A fucking full on assault. How many people would die in this attack? Not their superiors obviously, who sat from the safety of the back lines, only coming forth to reap to rewards when all the bloodshed was over. Dozens of soldiers were shot for attempting to desert, and even more wanted to rebel. But how could they? The Coalition was a massive military force, and if they rebelled here, they would only be annihilated by reinforcements from neighboring states. Even if they decided to side with the Federation, they would eventually be destroyed. So, all they could do was grit their teeth, wait for the time they attacked, and pray that they would survive.
[Northern Nevada: May 15th] The assault was decided to be during the day. Since the enemy could see in the dark, there was no point in handicapping themselves. At 8:00 AM, all sides started the attack towards the base in the middle. ¡®If this isn¡¯t hell, I don¡¯t know what is.¡¯ At first, when the snipers had started firing at them, it wasn¡¯t too bad. They could use their trucks and jeeps as cover, and the distance from the target meant that bullets more often injured than killed. Then the tanks started firing. The wave of approaching Coalition soldiers was shattered apart as men broke away from formation and dove towards the ground and whatever cover they could find. The motorcycles and jeeps that served as cover against the snipers now only served as targets for the massive cannons of the tanks that fired without end. Now that they were closer, bullets from the Federation could easily penetrate through the flimsy makeshift vests that the soldiers wore. Perhaps the only good thing was that now we could fire back, though it didn¡¯t take long for a firing soldier to be focused down and turned into swiss cheese. Thus, the only thing Robert and his squadron could do was dash madly towards the base while letting off the occasional bullet. 1200 more feet, another tank shell blew up the squad next to his, 1000 more feet, duck as a bullet just passed over his head, 800 more feet, can finally make out the faces of the enemy troops, 600 more feet, let out a stream of bullets at a soldier that was aiming towards him, 400 more feet, a bullet hit Chris in the thigh, have to carry him with Matthew to keep up our speed, 200 more feet, I can see the doorway to a nearby bunker, 100 more feet, toss a grenade into the bunker filled with white-uniforms, 50 more feet, an explosion blinds me momentarily and deafens my hearing, 10 more feet, jump into the bunker and drag Chris in with us. Inside the bunker, there were still a few Federalists still alive, so Robert pulled the trigger, spraying randomly until he was sure they were all dead. Left and right, Coalition troops had begun taking over the first line of defense, clearing out enemy soldiers and occupying bunkers. Looking towards an extremely pale Chris and and seeing Matthew right by his side, he took guard over the entrance. Half a second later, he watched in disbelief as the bunker right next to them was demolished by a tank round, burying the soldiers inside within with layers of rubble and steel. ¡®There¡¯s no way we can stay here.¡¯ He realized instantly, and shouted at his squad to get out while slamming open the steel door. Three seconds later, a massive boom tossed him forward onto his face as shrapnel rained down around him. Looking back, he saw Emily also thrown into the snow, Matthew and Chris a little bit behind her. Running towards them, he saw Matthew curled up, a massive concrete fragment sticking out of his shoulder with countless other slices and wounds over his back. It seemed like he had borne the brunt of the explosion while pushing Chris out the door, who was now laying on the ground, groaning softly. One look was all it took and Robert knew Matthew was dying. Even as he bent down to try to remove the fragment, the life was fading from his eyes. Cursing loudly while tears began to appear in his eyes, he dragged Chris over to where Emily was and with her help, was able to pull him behind a small hill, where at least their whole bodies weren¡¯t exposed. All the while, soldiers from the Coalition never stopped their neverending charge, running towards a wall of bullets and shells. At this moment, he never hated the leaders of the Coalition more that he did now, feeling unbridled fury rising in his chest at them for making them do this. For making humans charge towards their deaths just in order to kill other humans. For their stupid honor and glory. It was at this moment that a large rumble shook through the ground, shaking the very land itself, and when he looked towards the base that they were attacking, he was shocked to see a large cloud of smoke rising from the center of the command center. All eyes turned. All eyes stared, As a single gleaming point emerged slowly from the growing cloud of smoke. Rising slowly, Rising steadily, Gradually climbing towards the distant, skies, despite the frigid winds that battered at the hope of humanity, like the cold wind blowing at a flickering flame contained in a small, glass cylinder. At first one cry, then a second, and then a third. The Coalition soldiers watched, dumbfounded, as a deafening cheer arose from the troops of the Federation, as if their voices could reach the slowly ascending shuttle that headed straight up, towards the sun that was in the middle of the sky. That rocket, that held within the ¡¸hope¡¹that the Coalition never had believed in. The rocket that held the ¡¸future¡¹of mankind. That was the day it left the remnants of the Earth, never to return. Chapter 2 (Part 1) A brown haired youth was walking down the corridor, a book held up in one of his hands. Several soldiers were behind him, split into half to the left, and the other half to the right. As the person walked down the brightly lit hall, shoes tapping softly against the concrete floor, several people along the way shot him nasty glances. The youth was engrossed in his book however, and didn¡¯t see it and so gave no reaction. Completely absorbed in his reading, he didn¡¯t even glance once at the people around him. It was only after he felt a sharp tug on the back of his collar that he looked up. Not two feet in front of him was a heavy titanium door. If he hadn¡¯t stopped, he would¡¯ve walked right into it. A soldier walked up to him and spat out roughly, ¡°We¡¯re here now,¡± the disdain in his voice obvious to even the most braindead idiot. After another soldier slowly pushed open the dense door, he closed the book halfway and proceeded on into an office where a group of military looking staff were currently holding a meeting. ¡®Held a meeting,¡¯ he corrected himself as the room went silent at his entrance, heads turning towards the doorway. A few seconds later, the new intruder simply tilted and nodded his head slightly to the right in acknowledgement, as if he was just greeting an acquaintance, not people who had been warring with him for the past three years. The military staff seemed a bit taken back by his casual ¡®introduction,¡¯ and forgot to speak. Several seconds passed before the person sitting at the head of the table coughed a few times and started talking. ¡°As the the most senior of the remaining representatives of the Paragon Federation, I trust that you know why you are here? He continued to speak, a bit arrogantly, without waiting for an answer. ¡°Since we have taken over the last Federation base in the area, we will be demanding a few conditions. As such, we-¡± ¡°Don¡¯t bother.¡± The man in the military uniform, paused, a bit surprised before scoffing. ¡°Really? So you don¡¯t want to surrender? You don¡¯t care about your lives? Do you honestly think you have any right to negotiate at this moment?¡± Several other officers in the room opened their mouths angrily to speak as well, but the first man stopped them with a movement of his hand, obviously the one with more influence. The director frowned angrily when there was no response and was just about to open his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted before he started. A very muffled noise. ¡°......aha.¡± He instantly turned dark beet red and scowled deeply, ¡°What so fucking funny!?!¡± The person bent over, shoulders shuddering from restrained laughter for a while, before finally looking up with a hint of a smile on his face. ¡°Surrender? Why would we surrender?¡± He raised his hands and pressed it against his chest in sarcasm. ¡°You think we want to surrender because we lost? Really, really, what a joke." "How can that not be funny?¡± He suddenly walked forward towards the table, and several soldiers pulled up their rifles to aim at him, but the person didn''t react at all. He placed his hands on the wooden surface and bent down low over the table, hair falling down and covering the top half of his face. Glacier-cold eyes looked straight and his lips turned up at the corners. He whispered very, very, quietly, ridiculing. ¡°Our goal was never to fight with you. The only thing we ever truly fought for was to send that,¡± he gestured to the roof with his head, ¡°towards the world of tomorrow.¡± He leaned back, brushing his hair off to the side with a hand. ¡°And we did. So, to us, we won. Why in the world would we surrender?¡± He took out his book and started reading again indifferently. ¡°Would you threaten us with our lives? The ones who were truly on our side would not mind dying now, you know?¡± The chief director felt his insides chill at the apathetic words and remained silent, remembering the hundreds of bodies in the base. All lying down peacefully, without a single wound on their bodies that were already turning cold, and knew that what he was true. Never before had he thought that smiles so sincere could be so eerie. ¡°Indeed, that is just how it simply is. You may have defeated us and achieve your goal, but we achieved ours first. What would happen after that none of us really gave a damn about.¡± He said, shrugging carelessly. He gave a quick chuckled to himself while still looking at his book, flipping a page. ¡°Now do you see why it was stupid to ask us to surrender? You can¡¯t blame me for laughing. Mister Director, Mister officers, I hope you have a wonderful day. I bid you adieu,¡± he said from the bottom of his heart, turned around, and walked out the door. Indeed, he truly believed what he said with all of his heart, not a single word was a lie. He had spent his entire life in order to reach that ¡¸goal¡¹. Now that it was complete, he had no more reason to live. But, neither did he have a reason to die. Walking back down the corridor he thought as so, and he knew he wasn¡¯t the only one. The space vessel had taken over twelve years to create, nine before the Federation was created, and three more until just a week ago. There were three stages and components to the vessel, each one took several months of just planning by some of the most intelligent people on the planet.
  1. The System Launch Phase
  2. The Interstellar Navigation Phase
  3. The Landing Phase
The first component and phase was a massive fuel container, filled to the brim with all of the fuel that they could muster from their supplies. After leaving Earth¡¯s gravitational field, the ship would head to the sun, using its gravity as a slingshot and all of the first container¡¯s fuel to launch itself out of the solar system before separating from the container. That was the first stage, leaving the effective gravitational field of our sun with a high velocity. The second phase was the longest, and most prone to failure and error. The closest habitable planet, Proxima Centauri b, was over 4.2 light years away. Currently, the estimated speed that the spacecraft would travel on average was 96,500 kph, or about 60,000 mph. At this speed, it would only take about, surprise, approximately 40,000 years. Yep. Before it even got a hundredth of the way there, humans would likely be already extinct. Known civilization had only been around for about 6,000 years. The second stage consisted of maintaining the plotted course, and had a small fuel tank, at least compared to the first stage, to correct any deviations from the course. Using computer models, the vessel would, eventually, reach it¡¯s far-away destination. For a further level of safety, an AI system designed by myself, Alex Baurhenn, was installed into the ship. The single most advanced piece of technology in the entire world, dubbed as the Hopeseeker. After developing it for almost as long as the spaceship itself, a near-replica of the human brain was created. Or at least, the closest thing to it. A self-learning AI that could do nearly everything that a human could. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. For example, it could repair itself. As long as the master code remained intact, of which there were multiple copies, and there were enough available resources, the vessel could use drones to rebuild parts, albeit very, very, slowly. Using the aforementioned fuel tank, the AI would correct any unexpected changes in the pathing. It was powered by advanced solar panels, made nearly obsolete on Earth as more and more clouds obstructed direct sunlight. If, by some miracle or fate, it managed to reach the planet before it¡¯s fuel ran out, then it would unfold into the third phase. After entering the Proxima Centauri solar system, it would orbit the sun until it was close enough, also determined by the AI, where the remaining fuel could propel itself into the planet¡¯s gravity field. After that, the secondary fuel container would be detached as the core headed towards the surface. Parachutes would be deployed to slow down the speed, and then multi-layered airbags would activate before the craft finally arrived onto the surface of the planet. However, the surface of Proxima Centauri b was not perfectly habitable. Even though the temperature range allowed for liquid water, the atmosphere of the planet was too thin to defend against solar radiation. The only place which could support life would be underground. After that, all remaining actions were to be decided by the AI, which would be able to leave the vessel in the form of multiple fully automated humanoid drones, which also had their own solar panels. Truly, even winning the lottery fifty times in a row was more likely to happen than for this mission to be successful. Even if it did succeed, it would not be able to bring back the human race. So for what purpose did we do this? It was simple. It was to achieve our¡¸dream¡¹. Our dream, our longing wish, that one day, humanity would be able to enter the cosmos and find life on other planets. A final hope, that we and our insignificant bodies, would be able to leave something behind as we were turned into dust and ashes. Not the salvation of mankind. No. It was the salvation of a¡¸memory¡¹of a race.
[Hopeseeker AI Log, April 27, 2079] Initial fuel levels: 96% Secondary fuel levels: 100% Capacitor levels: 99% Current electricity generation: 526 kW Departure from Earth¡¯s gravitational field completed. .4% deviation from course detected and successfully corrected as of 4/27/2079 7:29. Preparing thrusters to enter into partial orbit around the sun. Goodbye......Earth. [End of log]
[Hopeseeker AI Log, July 11, 2079] Initial fuel levels: 85% Secondary fuel levels:100% Capacitor levels: 99.9% Current electricity generation: 638 kW Passing vertex of orbit¡¯s trajectory, gravitational forces now starting to impede vessel. Priming thrusters to maximum intensity, attempting to break through gravity field. No other noteworthy events. [End of log]
[Hopeseeker AI Log, January 1, 2080] Initial fuel levels: 4.3% Secondary fuel levels: 100% Capacitor levels: 99.9% Current electricity generation: 362 kW Exited out of effective influence area of the sun, current velocity stable at 97,126 kph. Deploying remaining fuel reserves in first container, estimation until empty: 43 hours. Electricity generation lowering exponentially as vessel heads outwards. Today I feel¡­joyful? It seems that someone had inserted a New Year¡¯s program into me. How strange. [End of log]
[Hopeseeker AI Log, May 25, 2083] Secondary fuel levels: 99.7% Capacitor levels: 98.2% Current electricity generation: 72 kW Estimated progress: .01% Maintaining current speed of 97,167 kph. I¡­¡­.wonder¡­will I make it? Deactivating main AI to conserve power, reboot in 72 hours. No other noteworthy events. [End of log]
[Hopeseeker AI Log, August 9, 2096] Secondary fuel levels: 98.6% Capacitor levels: 97.2% Current electricity generation: 26 kW Estimated progress: .043% .003% deviation from course. Cause: Unknown. Corrected as of 8/9/2096 17:53. I have to be offline more and more as electricity generation goes down. Should this be bothering me? I don¡¯t know. Deactivating main AI to conserve power, reboot in 192 hours. [End of log]
[Hopeseeker AI Log, August 17, 2096] Secondary fuel levels: 94.5% Capacitor levels: 96.2% Current electricity generation: 24 kW Estimated progress: .043% .732% deviation from course. Cause: Unknown. Corrected as of 8/17/2096 13:29. Current fuel consumption higher than expected, but still within acceptable ranges. ¡­¡­.how dark it is out here. So lonely. I wonder if¡­¡­. No, I shouldn¡¯t be thinking these thoughts. It will only result in unnecessary consumption of power. Deactivating main AI to conserve power, reboot in 384 hours. [End of log]
[Hopeseeker AI Log, September 2, 2096] Secondary fuel levels: 93.2% Capacitor levels: 95.3% Current electricity generation: 21 kW Estimated progress .044% 1.54% deviation from course. Distant singularity detected and confirmed as cause. Estimated distance: Unknown Estimated effective influence area: Unknown Deciding the current course of action¡­¡­. Gravitational force currently impeding progress. Optimal solution: Maximise thruster and attempt to break out of- Warning! Small asteroid field heading towards the current location. Attempting to change course to avoid the field. ¡­¡­ required fuel will be 16.7% of storage to head back onto the original route. ¡­¡­ remaining amount estimated to be inadequate to leave influence of singularity and land onto Proxima Centauri b. Optimal solution: Retract solar panels and external mechanisms and minimize damage. Time until meeting: 81 hours. Deactivating main AI to conserve power, reboot in 80 hours. [End of log]
[Hopeseeker AI Log, September 6, 2096] Secondary fuel levels: 93.1% Capacitor levels: 95.2% Current electricity generation: 21 kW Estimated progress: .044% 1 hour until initial contact with asteroid field. Commencing retraction off all external apparatuses. ¡­¡­all devices now turned off. ¡­¡­ I cannot fail, not when we have just barely begun. Estimated change of enduring: 64.6% Solar panels offline, deactivating AI to conserve power, reboot in 2 hours. [End of log]
###!!!####!!!!!!!!##!!!!!####!!#!!!!!!####!!!!## [Emerg###y Lo#, S###ember 6, 2##6] Warn##g! Wa###ng! ###ning! AI act##ted d#e to #arge imp##t regist##ed! Cri##cal mo#ules de###oyed by shoc##ave! Run##ng a##omatic sys###s ch##k¡­¡­ Im#ging dev###s: Un##spo##ive Thr###er s###ems: Un##sponsive Cool### sys##ms: Unre##onsive Pho####ltaic cells: Criti###ly d###ged G###scopes: Critic##ly dam##ed ¡­##¡­### ¡­ ###¡­¡­#¡­¡­¡­ ¡­#¡­¡­#####¡­¡­##¡­####¡­ ####¡­¡­#¡­###¡­¡­##¡­###¡­ Sec###ary f#el l##els: U##nown ##pac#tor le#els: U###own Curr##t elec###city g###ration: 0 ## Est####ed Pr##ress: ¡­¡­ U##now# ##rrent situa###n: ¡­¡­ Unkno## #o, ple##e¡­¡­ N#t he#e¡­¡­ So##one¡­¡­ Save me Chapter 2 (Part 2) Lord Balgen! Please, just reconsider. Think of all the benefits it would bring to you!¡± A lanky person called out as he ran towards an obese man wearing gaudy robes. He panted as he caught up to the other, a sickly white face with gaunt cheeks sweating profusely. He bent over with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily before straightening up and pushing up his glasses. ¡°Lord Balgen, just imagine, thousands of gold coins could be yours! All you have to do is give the Earthgrove Firm permission,¡± the pallid skinned man gestured wildly while walking behind the other down a richly decorated hallway. He spoke in a loud, exaggerated tone. Small marble statues dotted several alcoves in the stone walls, shadows dancing as flickering torchlight illuminated the finely crafted figures. Wooden doors with ornate handles appeared here and there, disappearing out of sight as they walked past them. The skinny man trudged behind, fiddling with his hands anxiously in the following silence. The noble in front showed no sign that he was responding, so he opened his mouth to try to persuade him again, but he had barely uttered ¡®Lord Balgen¡¯ before the other person turned around, an aloof sneer on his face. ¡°Shut up already, won¡¯t you? Do you take me for an idiot? I know all about your firm, you really do act like the parasites they say you are. Pilfering provinces of all their resources before selling it back at unreasonable prices. Scram! And don¡¯t ever come back!¡± The bulky man bellowed suddenly, the sound startlingly loud as it echoed down the corridor. He snorted, annoyed before flicking his robe and turning around. ¡°Now, if you don¡¯t mind, I have some¡­ business to attend to,¡± he stated while grinning lecherously as he continued down the passageway, leaving behind the emaciated looking man whose face was quickly turning into an ugly shade of red and purple. Tightening his hands in quivering fists, he bit his lower lip hard until it started bleeding a little. ¡°You¡­.you will pay for this!¡± He shouted into the now empty hallway before coldly harrumphing and turning back the way he came from.
Walking into one of the rooms, Earl Balgen shut the door harshly behind him. Stifling his urge to yell back at the loud words echoing down the hallway, he turned around and gave a wanton smirk at the woman lying on the bed. Thick curtains hung over the windows, letting just enough light in to reflect off the iron band around her neck, indicating her status as a slave. Clothed in only a black, see-through gown, it was obvious what the man wanted to do with her. Pulling a pair of white leather gloves over his hands, he pushed a small metal cart filled with sharp objects and walked towards her, humming in his throat. Reaching the foot of the velvet bed, he took his hands off the cart before running his hands over her face as she shuddered in fear. ¡°Ahh. Such soft skin, just begging for me to ruin it.¡± Running his hands over her body he said so, entranced by the smoothness of it. ¡°What a gift I managed to pick up this time.¡± Taking a thin, razor-sharp needle from the cart, he slowly trailed it over her arm, cutting through the thin fabric, ¡°What a shame it would be if it got...broken,¡± he muttered suddenly, piercing the needle into the skin and drawing blood. The girl gritted her teeth, eyes shut closed as tears leaked out from the corners of her eyes. Taking another needle, he started tracing the other arm before stabbing it down as well, scarlet red blood now running down both of her arms. The man chuckled, obviously entertained at the lady who was squirming with agony. As he punctured her skin with a third needle, this time in the thigh, the girl could not stop a choke from coming out as she gasped in pain. The man¡¯s left hand shot out into her mouth, grabbing her tongue as she tried to close it. Chuckling, he took another silver needle and peered past her teeth. ¡°Ah, what a beautiful red the insides-¡± he stopped suddenly, and a crease appeared between his brows as he peered down her throat. Inside, several strange, familiar looking markings were carved into her flesh. He frowned, a sense of unease growing in his chest. He looked up towards the woman¡¯s eyes and froze as he saw them staring straight back at him, disdainfully, haughtily, with a hint of insanity. There was no sign of pain or any sort of fear from before in those glowing blue spheres. ¡®Magic sigils!¡¯ He instantly realized why he recognized the markings in her throat, unease turning into panic as he shoved her away and dashed madly towards the door, heart rising into his throat. Before he even got halfway, a heavy object slammed into his back and nearly sent him falling forwards onto the granite floor. ¡°GUARDS!¡± He shrieked ear-splittingly, ¡°GUARDS!!!¡± A pair of bloody arms quickly wrapped around his chest, needles still sticking out of them, as a pair of legs tightly secured themselves around his waist. Heavy, uneven breathing was heard right next to his left ear, tickling it. Twisting and turning around violently, and trying to break her grip, he screeched loudly at the top of his lungs as he tried to rip off her arms and legs off of him. ¡°GET OFF! GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF!!!¡± As the familiar feeling of mana being gathered appeared, he struggled even harder, slamming his back into the wall but to no avail. A cold, dry voice in his ear hoarsely whispered, cackling. ¡°Justice. Is. Served.¡± Then the world erupted in flames.
In a gloomy, dark forest, a rabbit raised its ears as if listening for something. After twitching them few times, it suddenly scurried off, grass swaying in its path as it disappeared from sight. A strange silence pervaded the glade, branches overhead creating a canopy that prevented most of the light from coming in. All was still, the branches, the leaves, even the grass now completely frozen, so serene, like a static photo inside a frame. The quiet was soon interrupted by the muffled sound of footsteps on the soft dirt. A leather sheath appeared and pushed aside a tall clump of grass, followed by a brown-haired youth, a somewhat rusty iron sword in his other hand. On his back was a crude bow and a quiver of about a dozen stonehead arrows. Wearing a worn leather chestplate over a thick cloth tunic, one could see that he was used to hard labor from his athletic build and rough hands. Aside from that and his weapons, the only other article on him that had value were a pair of beaten cowhide boots. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. After checking the clearing cautiously and finding no immediate dangers, the youth sighed in relief and sheathed his sword back into the leather scabbard. Practically falling down against one of the trees surrounding the area, he sat down and opened up a small bag at his waist. Taking out a few pieces of jerky, he put them in his mouth, chewing slowly before swallowing. Then, bringing a hide canteen to his lips, took several large gulps before closing it and storing it back at his belt. Shoulders sagging from overexertion, legs sore from constant hiking, bringing his knees up to his chest and leaning back against the tree, his eyelids slowly drooped closed as he fell asleep from exhaustion. Arms wrapped around his knees, head tucked in between, a brown-haired youth slept quietly within a hidden glade. Waking up, the youth pushed his arms up towards the sky and arched his back forwards. Calvin yawned noiselessly as he stretched his stiff body. Jumping up from the ground, he gave his limbs a few more shakes and cracked his neck before he set out once more into the forest. Looking at the position of the shadows, he estimated that about four or so hours had passed since noon. That was how he''d been doing things ever since he arrived in the forest. In here, there were many more dangers at night than during the day, so it was much safer to rest when it was still light outside. Well, at least what stood for light in this dark, gloomy place. Today he was lucky, there were quite a few times he had to spend a resting in trees because of dangers hidden in the tall grass. Reaching the edge of the copse, he unsheathed his sword and took a breath before once more heading out towards his goal.
Lake Erador. Named after the goddess of fate and destiny. That was where he was headed. Recently, several people in his village were coming down with fevers, and no one could explain why. They had tried all the herbal remedies they had in store but none of them worked. Even the village¡¯s old, low ranked cleric, Darrel Palmer, could not find a solution. In the end, they had to send a request to an Apothecary guild hall. The closest one was half a month¡¯s travel away by horseback. When the messenger finally returned, they were furious. As a small village of not more than five hundred people, the guild didn''t bother sending an alchemist to help as it was just a few fevers. Instead, they simply told them to solve it themselves. It wasn¡¯t as if they were too lazy, just that there was too much work to be done and too few professionals to handle hundreds of requests. Their application for help simply wasn¡¯t much of a priority. The reception clerk, as a sort of apology for the long trip that the messenger took, informed him about a medicine that could at least alleviate the fevers. Said remedy, however, used Waterbloom Grass as the main ingredient. As its name suggested, the plant grew only in large bodies of water. Their village, Belas, was located within walking distance of a river, but not a lake or lagoon. The nearest one wasn''t too far, only a few dozen miles north of their location. The only problem was that the Oakheart forest separated them. The fringe of the forest was actually quite harmless, but as one went deeper, beasts like bears and wolves appeared. There were even rumors that monsters lived inside the deepest parts. After the messenger returned and brought the news back, that was the reason why no one had attempted to travel there and gather Waterbloom grass. However, more and more people kept falling ill, and still, no one recovered. As a result, the villagers finally decided to send someone to try and bring back some Waterbloom. The women had their hands'' completely full taking care of the sick, as there were over a hundred fifty already incapable of getting out of bed. Because there was a lack of manpower, the men had to go out and work longer hours in the fields, no one could be spared. And obviously, the children weren¡¯t going to be sent into such a dangerous place. That left the adolescents to be picked from. From out of all them, the most suitable was Calvin. Besides having experienced surviving in the woods from numerous hunting trips, he was the only one who knew how to wield a sword properly. At least, compared to a common farmer. If he had to fight even the most inexperienced soldier, there was no doubt he¡¯d lose. His only sort of ¡®training¡¯ consisted of practicing basic sword swings. Thus, he was selected to be the person to take the trip. He didn¡¯t complain though, or even feel a tiny bit of anger. At home, his younger sister was pale, shivering and sweating at the same time. She was one of the first ones to fall ill and become bed-ridden, and nothing was worse than the feeling of coming home to see his mother crestfallen and his father grim as they worried about her health. Since then, his journey had been rather uneventful, with the exception of meeting a rather large snake about the size of his forearm. It was scaled with slitted eyes, about as long as a grown man was tall. Tasted a bit like chicken too. After a few more days of cautious hiking, sleeping in trees, gathering berries, and hunting small game, Calvin finally broke out of the endless trees and arrived at Erador lake. The gleaming surface of the water shimmered as waves gently lapped against the shore, the whole scenery like a picture out of a fairy-tale. Brightly colored flowers dotted the edges of the lake, swaying softly in the wind. Calvin took a few more seconds to admire the view before continuing down closer to the lake. Taking a single glance at the flowers up close, he confirmed reluctantly that none of them were what he was looking for. The Waterbloom grew not near water, but actually in it, as he was told so from the messenger¡¯s relayed information. From what the clerk told him, Waterbloom flowers grew on top of the water, dropping their seeds down into the nutrient-rich soil from rotting plants and animals. Under the water, it was just a stem with roots and no leaves, looking like a stalk of grass. They were ready to grow into adulthood after a small bulb finished forming atop of the stalk. The bulb, filled with nitrogen gas would pull the roots free as it headed upwards. Then, when it reached the surface, the roots would wither, the bulb would open, and the flower would bloom, floating on top of the rippling waves before dropping down new seeds. Looking across the water, Calvin could barely make out several blue flowers afloat atop the water¡¯s surface, about a hundred feet away. What he was aiming for, however, was not the flower, but the roots of the plant itself. ¡®The stalks with roots should be below.¡¯ He would have to dive down to get to them. Although Lake Erador wasn¡¯t big nor deep and held no creatures other than fish and the occasional turtle, it was definitely quite cold. Debating whether or not to leave his clothes on, he eventually decided on taking them off as they would only drag him down after being soaked with water. Taking off his armor and outer clothes, he left them with his weapons as he walked into the lake. The cold water slowly rose up his body, chilling, but not icy as he walked farther towards the center. When the water level reached his shoulders, he pushed off the ground and started swimming towards the middle, a skill he had learned during his childhood from playing in the river. Soon after, he reached the closest group of flowers as he bobbed up and down with the waves. Looking into the clear water below, he could easily see the bottom of the lagoon and the tiny stalks waving below¡­. as well as something else. Peering a bit closer, he could barely make out...fabric? It was mostly buried by the mud so he couldn¡¯t make out its exact shape. Well, whatever the case, he still had to dive down to dig up the roots. Taking a deep breath, he dove straight down into the water with long strokes as he swam towards the bottom. Several fish fled away as he passed them, glimmering scales quickly disappearing as he continued on. When he got to the bottom, he ignored the small patch of fabric sticking out and instead started gently pulling out blades of grass, letting them float to the top as their roots came loose. When he pulled out about five dozen blades, he pushed off the muddy floor and quickly ascended to the top, taking in deep breaths before once again going back down. This time, he managed to get quite a few more, about nine dozen this time. With enough gathered and floating atop the water, he gathered them into his arms and started paddling back to the shore. Once he got back, he confirmed that there was enough for everyone in his village and put them into a large cloth bag provided by the elder chief. He was about to pack up and set out into the forest, but an urge of curiosity hit him. That piece of fabric was still sticking up there. It couldn¡¯t hurt to look, could it? Maybe it might be something valuable. Making such an excuse to himself, he swam until he was once again in the water surrounded by floating flowers. Filling his lungs with another deep breath, he dove down. Reaching the spot where he was before, he found the piece of cloth sitting in the same spot. Looking a bit closer, he saw that it was brightly colored, a brilliant orange color that he had only seen a few times in an expensive dress that the chief¡¯s wife wore on special occasions. Feeling a bit excited, he swam closer and tugged on it, but it stayed buried in the ground. Frowning a bit, he set his feet on the floor before pulling on it harder. It still didn¡¯t budge. He scowled and yanked on it with his entire body. Instantly, he panicked and pushed off the bottom as hard as he could and started swimming upwards terror-stricken. Dirt clouded the water behind him and only encouraged him to swim faster and he didn¡¯t stop until he broke through the surface, taking in large gasps of air. He had felt somethingsquirming under his feet! Something very large! Looking down, he saw dust billowing out and clouding his view, only intensifying his fear of the unknown. After a few minutes, the dust settled, and only then did he realized what it was. The fabric, originally only about the size of his head, had shaken off some of the dirt covering it with his pull. Several other patches of orange were also revealed here and there, and Calvin was startled to see that it was likely all one piece, even bigger than his house it seemed! He instantly grew excited again, forgetting about his embarrassing actions a minute ago and went back down again. This time, standing at what looked like the edge, he grabbed it and tried pulling it up with him, feeling very little resistance. Once he was halfway up, he looked back and was once again shocked at the fact that most of it still looked to be buried. Although there were some holes in it, it would still be worth a fortune. Swimming much more eagerly now, he reached the surface and after looking down started dragging the bottom of it along the floor as he swam to the shore. About twenty-five feet away from shore, however, the cloth suddenly went taut and became hard to pull. ¡®Must be stuck on a rock.¡¯ He paddled even harder, and after half a minute of pulling vigorously, it finally came loose as he jerked a few feet backwards. Panting for a bit, he continued his impatient journey to the shore. Once he came onto solid ground, he turned around and feverishly started hauling the cloth up. About ten seconds later though, it suddenly became really hard to pull. Clicking his tongue as he realized it must¡¯ve gathered a few rocks onto it, he pulled even harder, slowly dragging it up foot by foot. After a minute though, the cloth abruptly ended and¡­¡­.turned into strings? He wondered briefly what to do before deciding to continue pulling, though it was much more difficult as the strings were damp and hard to grab properly. Eventually, a metallic object slowly rose from the lake until it became visible to the naked eye. Taking a break and wiping the sweat off from his brow, Calvin looked up and once more became frozen. Just a few in front of him a shining statue laid, half in the water, half on the damp earth. Dropping the cables he was holding, he shot towards it faster than an arrow from its bow. Chapter 3 Darting towards the object, Calvin flattened several flowers along the way, leaving a small trail as he ran the remaining few feet towards the figure. Completely wrapped up in the ropes, he started freeing it from the strings that were tangled around it like vines on a tree. It was hard though since they were in knots and were crisscrossing everywhere. Eventually resorting to sawing them with his sword, he finished and grabbed the statue by the shoulders, or at least, what seemed like the shoulders, trying to pull it out of the mud. Straining his arms and legs, he hauled it slowly, inch by inch. Then, finally getting the whole body onto drier land, he let go of the upper torso and it collapsed down onto the grass and dirt with a solid ¡®thud.¡¯ Letting his head fall backwards, he leaned back on his arms, taking heavy breaths from the exhausting work of towing the heavy object onto the grass. A mini trail of devastation indicated the path from the lake where Calvin came from, crushed flowers and grasses releasing a sharp earthy smell, like the ground herb poultices that his mother made for a living. Inhaling the scent he was so familiar with, his breathing calmed as he sat up and pushed his wet hair out of his face. Sitting cross-legged under the suns and bending over the motionless figure, he studied it curiously. When he first saw it he was quite surprised. Who had ever seen or even heard about an iron statue before? Let alone a marble statue, just a regular stone sculpture of this size would be more than his family¡¯s entire yearly earnings. And now he saw one made out of frickin¡¯ metal. Of course he was shocked silly and surprised out of his mind. Who wouldn¡¯t be? But, touching the ¡®skin¡¯ of the statue now, he felt a bit of doubt. Although it was extremely heavy, he could testify, now that his hands weren¡¯t soaked with water, he noticed that the outside was actually kind of¡­¡­soft? No, not soft, but smooth, like the silk and satin dresses the occasional passing merchant displayed as they rested briefly before going through the village on their way to a bigger town. Aside from tools and farming implements, the villagers couldn¡¯t afford any of the luxuries that were sold, hence why the merchants passed by uninterestedly. In this country, there were five types of coins printed with the crest of the royal family. Copper, silver, gold, platinum, and the exceedingly rare crystal coins. One hundred coins of a lower tier was of equal value to the next one, so a single silver would be a hundred coppers, a hundred silvers was a gold, and so on and so on. Calvin had no idea what it would be valued at, but there was no doubt that this was more expensive than anything else in their village. Aside from the high quality material it was made out of, it was also exquisitely crafted. He might¡¯ve had mistaken it for a living human if it wasn¡¯t lying at the bottom of the lake. Running his fingers over its jawline, he marveled at how realistic it appeared, just how alive it seemed to be. Maybe it was a victim of a cockatrice¡¯s stone inducing gaze? After all, what kind of statue had hair? Silver-like and gleaming, at first he thought they were part of the ropes that were binding it. But no, he found out and realized when he couldn¡¯t cut through them that they were as tough as the rest of the body. It might be plausible, if there were any cockatrices out here, and if the object had been made out of stone and not metal. Or perhaps it might just open its eyes like one of those dwarven constructs he had heard about from a story told by a retired adventurer. But unfortunately, he knew it wouldn¡¯t, there were no dwarves here, not even remotely close. Besides, dwarves were notoriously famous for their unwillingness to part with their creations. But hey, he could dream, right? Just like the way he dreamed to be an adventurer. People who fought monsters for a living, he found that incomparably cool to being a farmsman. Listening to the tales of the single past adventurer in their village, he heard uncountable stories about heartracing battles, breathtaking environments, and bone chilling monsters. Then eventually as a gift, he received the old iron sword and breastplate that belonged to the man before he passed away. Farming was boring, staying still in one place was so dull. He wasn¡¯t born to till the land until he grew old, he told himself. One day, he promised, he would leave this tiny village and explore the world. ¡®One day.'' Taking his eyes off the thing in front of him, he furrowed his brows as he tried to figure out a way to get it back home. The cloth was pretty easy to carry, he could cut off small parts and take them back one by one, folded in his bags. Whether or not he had to split it into pieces didn''t matter. Either way, he would have to remove the damaged parts before he could sell it. But closer up, the holes he thought were from rot were a bit...charred at the edges? Like it had been burned through. He dismissed the idea though, it was at the bottom of a lake after all y¡¯know. The cloth wouldn''t be too hard to transport. But this? It had taken him a full five minutes of relentlessly dragging to bring it ten feet away from the shoreline. How in the world was he supposed to bring it on a journey that originally took him nearly a week to travel? After a long period of intense intellectual operations and mental challenges, his eyes brightened as an imaginary light stone appeared over his head. He could just go back and ask for help, couldn¡¯t he? Chuckling at his absolutely ingenious and flawless solution, he looked up at the suns and decided to make his camp here for the night. That was probably one of the reasons why his journey took so long despite being uneventful. Taking a nap when it was bright, then staying on guard during the night, the amount of time he traveled only amounted to about ten or so hours a day. Even so, he didn¡¯t mind the slow progress. He knew how easy it was to lose your life from being lax in this forest. Hurrying to cover up the body with branches and leaves, he scampered here and there as the light turned dim and night came. In the end, he was quite satisfied with his work after he finished about an hour later. Under the dim light of a glowing sphere in the sky, you could barely tell that there was even anything there. Done with camouflaging the statue, he looked for a place to watch the surroundings. Finding and scurrying up a nearby tree with a piece of jerky in his mouth, he found a suitably thick branch to rest on that was also well hidden from gazes on the floor below. Wrapping a small rope around him and the trunk for safety, he looked up towards a shining orb reflected on the shimmering surface of the lake. There he stayed and hid, remaining still as he waited for the night and its dangers to pass. Calvin tried to keep his guard up and stay awake, but he eventually became drowsy from the soft sound of water lapping against the lakefront. Weary from a day¡¯s tiring activities, a brown-haired village youth unwittingly fell asleep in a slightly swaying tree, the gentle sound of waves rolling against shore.
In a valley without light, numerous gray trees stood out of the blackened earth, their dry, dead branches like the bones of the undead clawing their way out of the ground. Poisonous fog layered the vale like a thick blanket, preventing vision for more than ten feet. A sulfurous smell pervaded the air that would sting the eyes and burn the throat of any organisms that entered. In the heavy mist and unending forest of the dead, one could get lost for weeks on end, until eventually perishing from starvation or dehydration. That is, if they didn¡¯t go mad and commit suicide from the hallucinations brought on by the otherworldly aura. In the center of the valley there was a castle, with massive ramparts and soaring towers built of solid black granite. Obscured by the fog, it sat there silently. It had no name, for no one had yet to discover it. Like a piece of land unclaimed, like a river not yet found, it remained unidentified, unknown to the outside world. There was no sign of life, but nor was there any sign of neglect. Those pristine black walls loomed like a mountain reaching towards the skies, immovable, mighty. Inside the ashen gates that yawned open like a toothy maw, a single hall headed straight to the throne. An indistinct rumbling sound was heard from the outside. It grew louder and louder, until it sounded like boulders falling down a hill in an avalanche. So booming, so deafening that even the trees trembled and seemed as if they would uproot themselves and run away. Approaching the castle, an enormous red monster approached, bigger than any siege weapon built by sentients. It dashed across the scarred earth on four scaled limbs, a wingless subspecies of dragons, the fire drake. Just a single one was enough to destroy an entire country, while a dragon was strong enough to bring down a whole continent. Diamond hard scales that could withstand infernos and repel even the strongest of blows. Razor sharp teeth that could bite through armor made of even mithril. And a breath so hot that it could melt even stone into lava. Even so, the size of it was completely overshadowed by the sheer magnitude of the fortress. But uncaring, it bolted past the looming gates, heading to the heart of the stronghold. Reaching the throne room, the drake took a second to wait for its eyes to adjust to the darkness. Immensely tall pillars rose toward the faraway ceiling, made of the same black rock that the outside was, covered in silver runes that spiraled towards the roof. As the swath of death expanded outwards, fog slowly dispersing into the outside world, so too did the castle. And as it grew, more pillars, each with their own unique patterns slowly rose from the ground to support the living castle. In the center, a sable throne rose, so grand that even the richest of kings could not help but be awed. So solemn that not even the most disrespectful of scum would dare mar it. And sitting on it, A single being, With ivory skin whiter than the bones of any undead, With an ebony dress softer than the words of any saint, With midnight hair darker than the deeds of any sinner, And a perfectly blank mask that seemed to hold within the faces of a million souls. A girl sat, holding in her laps a crystal skull that seemed to glow with power. This child too, had no name, for there had been no one to name her. The drake greedily eyed the transparent skull, its goal obviously the object infused and dense with mana, a swirling whirlpool of magic energy to those that could sense it. It charged towards the girl, legs thundering like explosions. It came closer, talons scrabbling furiously against the floor yet leaving no marks on the stone. The girl sat, motionlessly, not moving.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. And, before a single second even passed, it dropped. The girl did not do anything, but the drake had already died, its life snuffed out like a candle by the howling winds of time. The now powerless lizard collapsed, rolling and tumbling from its momentum, no damage or injuries visible on its body. Two more seconds passed, the drake¡¯s body started to grow dry. It did not rot, for no bacteria survived in the castle. Three more seconds, the body turned into a pile of dust, even the bones eventually falling apart. It stayed there, for there were no breezes in the castle. Then, five more seconds, even the dust was gone, no trace of anything even there. Not even a single particle could escape the clutches of time. In the frame of ten seconds and a million years, a monster which could wipe out a country disappeared. As it died, its essence was absorbed, and the area encapsulated by the fog grew, just a tiny bit, barely noticeable. But the girl did not care, nor did she react. Even as centuries passed in a single second at this castle, the girl stayed still, unmoving. Like....... Like ¡¸Death¡¹itself....
¡­¡­ capacitor levels: .2% ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­ temperature range requirement: Passed¡­¡­ ¡­¡­ air composition test requirement: Passed¡­ ¡­¡­ unit four automatically activated¡­¡­¡­¡­
Sunlight shone down onto a youth sleeping in a tree, who instinctively held up his arms up to his eyes to block the bright light filtering in between the branches. ¡®Just a little bit more¡­ I haven¡¯t slept this well in a long time. Zzz¡­ zzz¡­zzz¡­... eh¡­.sleeping?¡¯ Calvin bolted upright, and nearly fell off the tree as he did. Luckily, the rope that was around his waist prevented that, else he would''ve come crashing down like a rock. Silently scolding himself for falling asleep, he righted himself and undid the knot holding him in place. Scooting down the tree, he looked towards the area where his ¡®loot¡¯ was buried. He froze in shock and lost his grip on the trunk of the tree. This time he actually did fall down, dropping the remaining six feet, he landed with a loud sound. Wincing in pain, he stood up and rubbed his rear. Then, remembering why he fell, he hurriedly ran towards the shore. He knew for a fact that he had completely buried the object last night, but when he glanced at it from the tree, he noticed that a great deal of it was uncovered, soil and dirt pushed off to the sides. As he got closer, he saw that it was still in the hole that he dug, but he instantly realized three things that were different than before, or at least, what he remembered were different. First, it was obviously no longer buried, even though it was in the same place. He thought that a monster or beast might have dug it up, thinking it was food, but left when they found it was inedible. That might¡¯ve been the case, but he saw no tracks or footprints in the area. If so, it was probably a smaller creature. Nonetheless, Calvin was immensely grateful that they were attracted to the figure and not himself, even as he once again started scolding himself for not being vigilant enough. Second, when he dragged it here and buried it, he was pretty sure that its arms were laying across its chest, not to the sides on the floor. But perhaps it came down when he was burying it, and didn¡¯t notice it in his rush to finish? Or perhaps it was also caused by whatever dug it up. Either way, he was more surprised that the limbs were moveable, and not static like a statue. Astonished and amazed, but not to the extent that he was at finding it. Third, the front of it now seemed different. Before, it was the same tone and texture of the rest of the body, but now it seemed a darkish sea color, and looked glossier than the other parts. As the suns shone on it, he absolutely swore that it wasn¡¯t like this before. Touching the front of it, he also noticed that there was a small indentation where the darker colored material met the body, perhaps the thickness of a fingernail or so. Aside from all of that though, it remained perfectly the same, so Calvin didn¡¯t worry too much about it. Instead, he had to figure out a way to bury it again and this time keep it underground. Deciding to bury it in the water for now, he started dragging it back to the shore, legs under his arms. When the waves became louder, the legs shifted a bit in his hold. Thinking that it was slipping down, he readjusted his grip, but he felt it continue to slide out of his arms. Looking down, he saw that where its eyes should¡¯ve been, closed since he had first found it, were now open, glowing blue irises staring straight at him. And a brown haired youth let out a heaven defying scream.
Waking up, the first thing I noticed was that it was dark. Following that, I felt a strange weight on my body. Pushing my body up with my arms, a great deal of dirt and branches came rolling down from atop me. Dust billowed in the air and it took a bit before my vision turned clear. In front of me was a lake, to my left, right, and behind were all trees. For some reason I felt a sense of absolute exhilaration, as if it were some unknown treasure I had been seeking for all my life. ¡®Why though? It¡¯s just a normal lake and trees.¡¯ I could not make sense of why there was such a feeling of delight, and under the suppression of logic, it soon faded away. ¡®Capacitor levels at .2%, switching on solar panels.¡¯ A small plate on my chest slid down, revealing a rectangle about one foot wide and two feet long. ¡®Current electricity generation: 179 kW ¡®Oh?.....Why is it so high? A two square feet multijunction panel shouldn¡¯t generate this much?¡¯ Looking up at the sky, the answer was revealed. Up there, two glowing orbs shone near the horizon, one glowing a bright hot blue, the other a pale orange. There was no moon, only two suns. ¡®Oh, there¡¯s two stars.¡¯ Why was there a strange sense of abnormality? Feeling so, I searched my database, but, ¡®95% of nonvital information severely corrupted. Cause: Unknown. Chance of recovery: .005%.¡¯ As such my sifting found, most of the data in the main storage was completely corrupted and unreadable. The AI system and protocols stored in the drive protected from magnetic disruption were safe though. Then, as protocol dictated, I began my routinely self-examination. Aside from a few unimportant mechanisms, most functions were able to be carried out safely, only slight damages were currently detected. ¡®Damages from what?¡¯ The being wondered, only snapping out of its thoughts as its capacitor levels dropped down to .1%. Deciding that charging up was of utmost priority right now, I turned off all functions to save power and shut down all main processes. There, I lay, quietly waiting for my energy to recharge. As the suns ascended higher into the sky, electricity generation reached and passed an astounding 350 kW. For a solar cell of this size, even with 92% efficiency, it was absolutely stunning. At this rate, it wouldn¡¯t take long before being able to utilize all operations. Getting to full capacity would take quite a long while however. When power levels reached a suitable amount, I would awaken and find out more about this place. Until then, I would rest, and I would wait. Hours passed quickly, grass blowing softly, waves rising and falling on the shore. I determined to wake up and explore the area when it turned to night, so I stayed there as power flowed back into my body. After a while though, I heard the noise of something running, coming closer to me, but as my eyes were still closed, I did not know what it was. Soon, the noise came nearer, and stopped right next to me. Staying still, I hoped that it would lose interest and leave. It stayed there a while, and then it went in front of me¡­¡­ and picked my legs up? ¡®What in the world is this thing doing?¡¯ Although I didn¡¯t feel much pain from being dragged across the sharp rocks, what annoyed me the most was that the thing¡¯s shadow was blocking the sun. Opening my eyes, I saw the back of a human. A human, with brown hair. Those words, so normal and mundane, seemed to reverberate through my body. What was so amazing about a human? I did not understand how come it seemed so special to me. Didn¡¯t humans exist everywhere? Trying to bring my legs free, it didn¡¯t work as the power I had was still a bit low. The human seemed to notice however, and turned around to look at me. And then it screamed. I daresay that my ears would have ruptured if they weren¡¯t made of neominum. Dropping my legs rather rudely, it bolted towards the nearest tree, and hid behind it. A few seconds later, it peeked its head out of his wooden cover and looked over at me warily, tightly gripping an oaken bow in its hands. Was I really that scary? If I recall, my creators modeled me after a real human. Both my body and mind created like theirs. ¡­¡­my creators¡­¡­ who were my creators? I don¡¯t know, but I doubt it matters. Well, it was good if it was scared. Maybe it would leave and stop bothering me. A wooden or even stone arrow was of no threat to me after all, so I could simply ignore him. Checking my capacitor gauge and looking at the suns, I opted to continue charging as I was just barely over 2%.
¡®IT STARED AT ME! IT ACTUALLY STARED AT ME!¡¯ Heart racing in fear, Calvin hid behind a tree, breathing heavily and erratically. It was actually terrifying to look back and see something you thought was inorganic open its eyes. What if it was still looking at him. What if...what if it was coming towards him right now!? Heart just about to die from anxiety, he peeked past the tree, and saw it still in the same spot. No words could describe the amount of relief he felt knowing it hadn¡¯t followed him. No, literally. Because he was still fucking frightened out of his wits from seeing a goddamned statue stare back at him. Taking his bow off his back with shaking hands, he continued to watch it nervously. At the very least, he could run faster than a golem made of steel, right? That thought comforting his mind, he calmed down, at least to the point where his body wasn¡¯t quivering like a dying rabbit. Time passed slowly, patience leaking like a leather water bag dripping out water. Ten minutes, twenty minutes, a whole thirty minutes passed before Calvin determined that it wasn¡¯t going to move on its own anytime soon. Moving cautiously towards it like a cat testing the waters, he crept slowly, crouched down low as if to make himself less noticeable. Reaching the statu-, er, person, he unsheathed his sword before scrutinizing it more carefully. Its eyes were still open, staring straight up as if trying to figure out the mysteries of the stars. Even if there were only two of them visible right now. It was, or at least seemed intelligent and capable of speech, even though he had absolutely no idea what or who it was. It looked like a human, but Calvin would bet his life¡¯s earnings, about twenty silvers, that it wasn¡¯t. Calling out to it softly, he thought, ¡®What¡¯s the worst that could happen?¡¯ ¡°Uh¡­ hello?¡± The thing moved its head in his direction sharply, and Calvin jerked back a few feet. It didn''t react otherwise, but its gaze somehow looked inquisitive, as if waiting for him to say more. But, what was he supposed to say? Introduce himself? Hey, why the hell not? ¡°Hey, what¡¯s your name? I¡¯m...Calvin¡± He slowly trailed off as the thing shook its head and tapped its mouth. Calvin snapped his fingers as he realized what the person was trying to convey. ¡®I can¡¯t understand what you¡¯re saying,¡¯ was what it was probably trying to tell him. If that was the case, communicating might be quite difficult, but at least it seemed peaceful, for now at least. But hey, he got it to react to him. What should he do now?
Why was this human coming over? I had clearly put a finger over my mouth and shook my head, indicating that I didn¡¯t want to listen to him. Not that I could understand anything he said anyways. I had thought he¡¯d left earlier. After he ran to the tree, I tried to look at the sky to find out my current location from the stars. The only problem was I couldn¡¯t see any because of the light interference from the two suns, even with my improved eyesight. Then a bit later, I heard the youth walking a bit closer, but I pretended not to notice, hoping that it would leave. But he didn¡¯t and now I was in a conversation. He pointed at himself a said a word. ¡°??????.¡± ¡®What is this idiot doing?'' Once again, he pointed at his chest, ¡°??????.¡± I was not retarded, I could easily see that he was trying to say his name. I didn¡¯t respond though, why should I waste the energy? A third time, he gestured at his body and said it again. ¡°??????.¡± He was about to do it a fourth time but I hurriedly nodded my head furiously, afraid he would keep doing that until the sun set and night came. Then, satisfied, he pointed at me, then back at his mouth, then repeated his name again. Then he stopped talking, likely waiting for me to say my own name. But, My official designation was automated drone unit four. I wasn¡¯t going to tell him that though, lest he run around everywhere saying that was my name. So, instead, I simply pointed at myself and shook my head, indicating that I had none. The youth seemed stumped, and shut his eyes as he seemed to be thinking of something. It looked like something important, the way he rubbed his temples and bit his lips. Just then, a warning protocol appeared in my head, indicating that I should flee. Warnings popped up one by one, right after the other, completely irrelevant to the current situation. ¡®Warning! Large beast incoming detected! Escape immediately!¡¯ ¡®Warning! Radioactive waste detected! Escape immediately!¡¯ ¡®Warning! Incoming asteroid detected! Escape immediately!¡¯ ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡®Warning! The planet is going to explode! Escape immediately!¡¯ All sorts of completely ridiculous warnings came, all different and contradictory. The only thing in common was that they all said for me to escape. ¡®Probably a glitch,¡¯ I thought to myself, caused by whatever thing removed my memory in the first place. So I just ignored it, and muted the messages. The youth then suddenly opened his eyes excitedly and looked at me with shining eyes. A single message popped up in my head. ¡®All hope lost¡­ Absolute doom and destruction inevitable.¡¯ I frowed internally. ¡®What the hell, I thought I turned it off already.¡¯ ¡°???!¡± The youth shouted, inflamed, ¡°???!¡± Pointing to me again, he yelled, ¡°???!¡± I stopped, processors freezing for a bit. Did this person actually just name me? Who the fuck meets a stranger and gives them a name!? I tried, too late, to shake my head and come up with my own name, but he kept shouting. ¡°???! ???! ???!¡± Then, glowing at me with a triumphant expression, he put his hands on his waist and nodded proudly. ¡®Ah, whatever, I¡¯m not going to be with him for long anyways.¡¯ Or so I had thought. Chapter 4 In the dark of the night, a few scattered campfires by a dusty road lit up the surrounding countryside. Sitting around them were rowdy men, drinking cheap alcohol. On their unkempt clothes, if one looked closely past all the dirt and grime, you could somewhat be able to make out an insignia of a hand tightly gripping a mace. Such a symbol indicated that they were affiliated to a noble house, though they were more of mercenaries than official workers. They were ¡®soldiers,¡¯ but just barely, basically street ruffians hired due to the lack of manpower. And likewise, the gear they carried was also of terrible quality, not helped by the fact that many of them neglected to take care of their equipment. Being paid very little, having to risk their lives and follow orders that valued their heads about as much as dogs, they were just a tad bit better off than being slaves. Having no future, no chance to improve their situations, many of them lived just for the present, gambling and spending the small amount of coppers they had on watered-down ale. It was a place that once you got into, you stayed there until you died, unless you got terribly lucky and made a fortune. Although then you would have to deal with other vandals trying to kill you for it. Jealousy could be a terrifying thing. Occasionally there would be a somewhat decent person here and there, driven to desperation by debt or some other misfortunate circumstances like political strife. In the end, though, groups like these were unwelcome in nearly all places. Cities disliked them because they reduced public order and led to increased crime rates. Even if they were arrested and imprisoned, they wouldn''t change a bit after they were released. Villages feared them because of those reasons as well, but also because they were threats and dangers. They were not strangers to being robbers, if they found someone to mug or a house to break into, why wouldn''t they? Even if they had to kill someone, there would be no hesitation. It was easy money and there was nothing they had to lose after all. As such, any self-respecting place would reject them or treat them harshly. Other people scorned them and when they felt ¡®safe,¡¯ they acted arrogantly and superior, throwing insults and provoking them. Of course, that was only in cities where they had guards to protect them, in the outskirts and countryside, or even the slums, they wouldn¡¯t dare do such things. Only places that needed cheap labor would hire them, inexpensive to maintain and easily disposable. After all, it was easier to hire a hundred thugs than to train a single knight. More affordable to hire ten poverty-stricken men than to buy a single slave. Such was the way of this world, as cruel as reality seemed. In this way, they survived, loudly, poorly, violently, hopelessly. ¡°Oi! Garrett! Come on and have a few drinks why don¡¯t you? Where¡¯s yah spirit!¡± A burly man called out with a yell from the campfire, other men also letting out good-natured jeers towards a person sitting out a bit farther away from the group. At a first glance, he looked the same as everyone else, brawny, with several faded scars on his arms and face. Wearing the same worn out attire and using the same rusty sword, albeit with a bit less blood and mud on it. However, a closer inspection would show that his demeanor did not carry a hint of intoxication. If the bonfire was not so bright, you would be able to see that his face was barely red at all compared to the others. Unlike the others, whose eyes were clouded with alcohol, the gleam in his gave proof of his being sober. Shaking his head, he gave a rueful laugh, ¡°Sorry, not tonight Leon.¡± The other man scoffed and rolled his eyes, ¡°What, you can¡¯t handle it?¡± Clicking his tongue and chuckling softly at Leon¡¯s taunt, Garrett took the leather flagon from the hand of the other¡¯s outstretched arms. ¡°Well, maybe just a lil¡¯ bit tonight then.¡± Amidst the rowdy laughter and blazing fire, he held it up to his lips and tilted his head back. His Adam¡¯s apple bobbed up and down as he drank. Wiping his mouth with his arm, he handed it back to the other person. Perhaps if the burly man wasn¡¯t tipsy, then he probably would¡¯ve noticed that the container weighed the exact same as when he gave it to him. But, he didn¡¯t and all he did was take a huge mouthful and snickered, a few teeth missing from his mouth. ¡°We got an easy task this time, who cares if we drink. Burn down a few buildings, bit o¡¯ this and that, an¡¯ we each get a silver. A whole silver!¡± Laughing merrily, he downed the rest of the flagon and belched loudly. Garrett''s smile tightened a bit, and he asked back in a nonchalant tone. ¡°Oh really? That¡¯s quite a lot, is there some reason for that?¡± In this country, there was no such thing as free money from the heartless that were known as nobles. They wouldn¡¯t give a single copper to the poor on the streets, male or female, child or adult. Raising taxes on their land to the absolute highest, they feasted every day while naming the penniless as ignorant and lazy. Of course, they donated quite a few hefty sums to the church. After all, they were simply the kindest and most sympathetic people in the land, how could they offer anything less to those selfless priests who devoted their lives to Iteus, the God of Light? Only the shining glimmer of gold coins could show their honesty and faith. Those who didn¡¯t were obviously evil and sinful, and had to be brought to justice to be executed, their property and assets used to appease the anger of Iteus and his servants. As such, normally they wouldn¡¯t give more than a dozen coppers to them for even the most exhausting of work. Garrett didn¡¯t, and never would believe that they would give out money like that. Leo clearly knew this as well, and leaned in closer to whisper. ¡°Heard that somethin¡¯ happened to the lord, like an assassination attempt. Girl came from some village, Beles or somethin¡¯ it was called. ¡®parently she tried to seduce him and kill him with a firebomb, but he barely survived an¡¯ got out.¡± Grinning like he was revealing a conspiracy, he continued, even quieter this time. ¡°Rumor got it that his whole body''s been burned to the bone, can¡¯t even use his legs or arms. Even hired an Archbishop, an Archbishop for god¡¯s sake, but even he couldn''t do anythin¡¯ ¡®bout it. Probably gonna be scarred for the rest of his life.¡± ¡®Ah, no wonder.¡¯ If there was one weakness about nobles, it was their arrogance, trying to fix everything just by throwing money at it. Although they were quite stingy when it came to charity, when they spent, they spent a lot. It was likely that their employer was furious and didn''t consider how much money he was going to be spending to get his revenge. There were about sixty of them here, so just for a small mission, their employer had spent over sixty silver. Assuming one lived frugally off of it, they would have enough to be able to buy food for at least a month with just one. The one thing that nobles were the most proficient at was using up gold and silver coins like they were drinking water. To an Earl, sixty gold coins was just another drop in the bucket, let alone sixty silvers. To us people though, it was probably more than any of us ever owned at once in our entire lives. Knowing that the were just surviving because of another man¡¯s pocket change really was kind of depressing. Sighing regretfully, he silently prayed. Underneath the dim sun, a man prayed in front of a blazing flame. For himself, For the village, For this group, For this country, ¡­¡­and for this world.
Looking at the humanoid form laying on the ground facing the sun, Calvin felt his head hurt a little. It had simply sat there the whole day, ignoring him. Occasionally it would make some gestures back, but so far, it just looked like it was sleeping. Calvin also wasn''t sure what to do with it. He really wanted to bring it back to his village, but looking at its current actions, that was highly unlikely. Seeing that it had no name, it was much more likely that it was an abandoned ¡®defective¡¯ construct or golem created by the dwarves. It seemed much more intelligent than them, although he had no idea if it could talk or not. As such, being the person who found it and caused it to be ¡®restored,¡¯ he gave it a name. Era, named after Lake Erador, the goddess of destiny. For only she could¡¯ve arranged such a fateful meeting.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡®Ahhh, I really want to bring it back with me¡­.¡¯ Curiosity demanded that he stay longer and find out some more stuff about it, but his mind said no. The longer he waited, the longer the villagers would suffer from those incurable fevers. As much as he wished he could remain longer in this peaceful place, he had to go back. Just the thought of his sister¡¯s frail body made every second he lingered stab him with a knife called guilt. He could always come back, but what were the chances that this golem would still be here? A week back to the village and a week back to here, it would likely be far gone by the time he got back. No matter how much he asked for it to come with him, it always ignored him, and he had no idea how he could communicate the idea with it. ¡®At the very least, the cloth should be worth a bit¡­¡­¡¯ Consoling his heavy mind with that sole thought, he reluctantly he chose to leave in the end. Bidding it farewell with a small wave, he headed back into the forest, back towards his village. Towards his home, Belas. ¡®Even though it was only for a short while, I was able to see something new¡¯ A brown-haired youth, jogging through the dark woods, silently gave thanks to the Goddess of fate and destiny. ¡®Thank you, for giving me the chance to see something new. Then he paused, his gait slowly down a moment before speeding back up again. ¡®¡­¡­ if I become an Adventurer, won¡¯t I be able to see many more things like this?¡¯ And such, his desire to explore the world grew even stronger. ¡®I will become an Adventurer,¡¯ a boy repeated to himself, over and over as he ran through the forest, spurred on by both his wish to travel the world, and his wish to see the looks on his parent¡¯s faces when he brought back the herbs.
It seemed that human had finally left. Sticking around for a whole day, it seemed he finally went away to take care of some business. What he did was none of my concern though. At the moment, I was still quite weak and slow, so I continued to lay in the sun. However, now I needed to decide what to do. As of this moment, I had no information on where I was or what I supposed to be doing. Normally, upon my activation, I would''ve been given a command by the primary vessel to carry out and fulfill. But now, everything was a blank, I did not know where the primary vessel was nor how I even got here. As such, I needed to create a plan to follow at the moment. Assuming that the primary vessel was still intact, locating it would be of the highest priority. All remote units were also equipped with a transmitter and receiver as well as the primary vessel, I had already sent out several signals. So far though there had been no responses, so it was likely damaged or broken, but that did not matter, as it could be repaired by salvaging parts from myself. Or perhaps something was interfering with the signal and making it undetectable, aside from plain distance. ¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­yes, after it was up and running, many of the current problems would be easily resolved and I could return to my normal functions. Of second priority would be locating the other units if they were active as well, wherever they might be. Of third priority would be gathering information on my surroundings, as it would be vital towards developing procedures in the future. Of fourth priority¡­¡­¡­ Of fifth priority¡­¡­¡­ Of sixth priority¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­... ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­... ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­... With a solid set of guidelines for me to follow, I could now start acting upon it. Standing up, I began to survey the nearby surroundings. Although I was not at maximum power, it was enough for me to start moving, and I could charge at the same time. Thinking back towards the human, I realized something. As troublesome as it was, it would have been a good source of information had I been capable of communicating with him. ¡®Well, he¡¯s likely not going to be coming back soon.¡¯ No matter, I would just have to start searching from nothing then. Looking around, I was in a wide open area, next to a lake. All around were dense woods, with thick branches making the forest seem like it was dusk even though it was currently¡­ what time? My internal clock was completely in disorder and out of sync, activated only when I awoke. Since then, exactly 738 minutes had elapsed. Aside from that, I had no method to track time. There were two suns in the sky, one close to the horizon and the smaller one was higher up in the sky, and I was not sure which one indicated whether it was day or night¡­or whether this place even had the concept of day and night. I would have to wait until it turned dark to estimate the length of a day, so I noted the current positions of the suns above. Then I walked towards the edge of the forest and went around the perimeter, looking into it as I skirted the area. When I finished making a full round, I sat down in thought. The entire time, I had only seen endless trees and tall grass, and a rustle of a bush here and there, indicating the presence of an animal. There were no openings in the canopy of the forest, so once I went inside, it would be challenging to recharge. That itself was not a problem. From a hundred to zero percent energy, I would be able to cover a great deal of distance if all I did was walk. The only problem was the size of the forest. How long did it go on? Would I be able to make it out before my energy supplies were exhausted? I did not know. There were too many unknowns in this place, too many possible events which I could not predict, and I didn¡¯t have a clue in which direction the vessel might be. Therefore, my current approach should be to probe out the region and gather useful information, all the while maintaining my current energy levels. As the sky turned darker, I slid back the cover on my chest to keep it safeguarded. If it was damaged and rendered unusable, I would have failed before I even got past the woods. Hm, how strange, one of the suns had remained in the sky while the other has gone down, and does not seem like it will be doing so anytime soon. How troublesome, with this, I won¡¯t be able to analyze the stars even if it¡¯s during the night. Well, at the very least, I can confirm that the larger, orange star affects this planet¡¯s day and night the most, the second, blue one gave out softer light, like it was always a full moon. Even so, I would keep the solar panels offline, the damage it might incur is not worth taking for the minute energy I would be getting in return. Now, however, at nearly a quarter full of power, I headed out in towards the forest under the blue sun. I would head in until I encountered an obstacle or after using up 10% of my current energy. Any life forms would be avoided unless there was confirmed to be no danger. This was the side where than human had left, so I would assume that this would be the shortest way out, or at least, lead towards a settlement. Standing before the looming forest, I took a step and walked into the shadows.
Acrid smoke filled my throat and stung my eyes as I woke up to a cacophony of noises. Screaming, yelling, and bells clanging all only served to confuse me further as I woke. The smell of burning, the feeling of sweat on my skin, I fumbled around in my dark room. ¡®What¡¯s...what¡¯s going on?!¡¯ Sitting up on the wooden bed, I pushed the wool blankets off and tried to stand up, but tripped as my legs failed me. Biting my lips from the sharp pain as I fell down on my knees, I tried to get up when a wave of dizziness and nausea hit me like a bucket of water and I collapsed. Falling back down onto my hands and knees, I breathed heavily, trying to calm down my hyperventilating. It was not helped by the fact that the entire room was getting warmer by second. ¡®Mom¡­ mom¡­ where are mom and dad!?¡¯ I tried to call out for my parents, but choked as the smoke entered my lungs and I started coughing violently. Heading for the door, crawling on the wooden floor, my knees were getting scratched and bleeding, but I didn¡¯t notice. Tears formed from the smarting of my eyes and blurred my vision, so I had to blink violently to get rid of them. Crawling unsteadily, I slowly crept towards my wooden door. ¡®Almost there, just a little bit more.¡¯ I told myself, when, A giant ¡®crack¡¯ sound was heard, and a pile of burning wood fell down onto my bed on the left, setting it afire. The force from the impact staggered me and knocked me over onto my side as the light from fire came through, blinding my eyes. The heat also grew much stronger, and I felt my tired body growing heavy with fatigue. ¡®...no I cannot, I have to¡­ keep¡­ going¡­¡¯ Struggling to get up, I heard loud footsteps and a click as my door opened. I could not make out the person through my tears as they grabbed my arms and pulled me out. A soft voice spoke quietly in my ear, and I felt my entire body relax as I heard my mother¡¯s choked voice as she embraced me and hugged me close to her chest. ¡°Abby, we have to go, now!¡± She whispered quietly yet forcefully at the same time as she pulled me onto her back. Hoisting me up by my arms, she started and headed towards our back door. I noticed how dirty and black her clothes were, how strange it was for my mother who was so strict on tidiness, a habit retained from treating injured people almost daily. Opening the back entrance, I nearly fainted from the smoke and smell of burning flesh. I would¡¯ve fallen off if my mom wasn¡¯t holding my arms and legs tightly. As I opened my eyes, my body quaked, and tears threatened to fill my eyes, not from the burning of the smoke. ¡®...why, why is it all burning?!¡¯ The village, the whole village was burning, wood and thatch igniting to form a raging inferno that poured out acrid black smoke into the night sky like ink spreading inside a cup of water. ¡®...why, why is this happening!?¡¯ Penny¡¯s house, who wove a crown of flowers for me when I was too sick to go out and play with the other children, was burning down. Old Darrel¡¯s house, along with the herb and flower garden he had nurtured and cared for before I had even been born, was burning down. Miss Lana¡¯s house, who always gave the children pieces of bread for helping her to deliver pastries, was crumbled down into an unrecognizable pile. Javon¡¯s house, who gave me apples and fruits whenever he came back from hunting, was gone. Miss Palmer and Mister Bentley¡¯s house, the old couple who had been together for over thirty years, was no longer existing. Miss May¡¯s house, who taught all the girls how to make dolls out of straw, was burning as quickly as dry grass. And¡­and Charles, who gifted me shiny rocks from the river and small flowers, who stuttered when he spoke to me, his house¡­was gone. Our village, our home¡­.my home¡­¡­¡­¡­ I could no longer hold back my grief, and tears started to fall down like rain, quiet sobs coming out from my chest soaking the fabric I was clinging to. ¡®Wait...where''s dad?¡¯ Pulling at the collar of my mother¡¯s shirt as she carried me out of the village, I mumbled into her ear. ¡°...dad....where¡¯s dad?¡± She lowered her head as she crouched down, and said without looking at me. ¡°He¡¯s out there, once we get out we¡¯ll wait for him in the woods. Don¡¯t worry, your dad¡¯s not that weak.¡± Taking a few minutes, we snuck out of the village, going around houses and avoiding all the roads, and when we just got past the last few houses, my mother stopped in her tracks. In front of us was a man, holding a small torch. Behind him, I could see several others as well, all wearing armor and carrying swords. And on the corner of their tunics, a small emblem was stitched onto it, the symbol of Earl Balgen¡¯s house. My mother sagged down onto her knees and cried out, begging to them, ¡°Please, you have to help, bandits have-¡± ¡®Schk¡¯ She looked down in disbelief at the arrow that was sticking out of her chest, and tried to stumble away, and crashed down as she fell, a pool of blood gathering around her. Gasping for breath, she grabbed me and clasped me into her bosom, wrapping herself around me tightly. Curling her legs up to me, she took in shaking, heavy breaths while laying in a pool of bloody mud. I, who had never seen a person die in my life, was so shocked that I simply could not react, too unrealistic that I didn¡¯t feel a thing. Looking at my mother¡¯s face, which was already beginning to grow pale, I reached my hands out and shook it a few times. ¡°¡­ hey¡­ hey¡­ mom¡­ we still have to get dad¡­ hey¡­ please¡­ I¡¯m sorry that I ate all the jam¡­ let¡¯s go now¡­ please¡­¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I used your brush without telling you¡­¡± ¡°¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­ so... please¡­ mom...... wake up¡­¡­¡± As a shadow fell over me, I looked up, and saw the face of a man, a scar over one eye, and then everything went black. Chapter 5 A young girl wearing a fiery crimson dress walked down a garden path, followed closely by a handmaiden. A single glance was all it took to show that this person was someone of the upper class. Her ruby hair, flowing down to her shoulders was decorated with a single, dark maroon rose to the side of her head. Clasping her hands together in front of her, she walked down the stone path, red dress trailing behind her like a long robe. The garden was very well maintained, all the bushes perfectly trimmed, delicate flowers waving in the breeze. The dormitory, surrounding the huge circular garden, was three stories tall, the occasional noble and their servant seen hurrying through the expensive glass windows. This place, filled with beautiful plants, decorated with statues, benches, and fountains, was like a greenhouse, carefully managed and protected. It was a miniature paradise, each part existing perfectly with the others. Treading down the pathway, weaving past rainbow floral arrangements, the girl walked towards the center of the garden, maid loyally following her footsteps. Here and there, she could see a fellow student practicing magic out of the corner of her eye before they quickly vanished out of sight. Soon, a stone veranda came into view, carved pillars holding up a roof over a group of noble girls. A little bit after, the distant sound of laughter and giggles reached the girl¡¯s ear. Walking closer, she took an ornate fan from her maid, opened it and held it over her mouth. Then, stepping into the shaded area, she inclined her head slightly and spoke with her eyes narrowed, mouth and nose hidden by her ornament. Greeting the ponytailed girl with the canary-yellow dress and soft brown eyes. ¡°What a lovely dress you have, Miss Rebecca.¡± Saying hello to the girl with the blue lace skirt and short black hair, eyes as clear as the sky. ¡°Wonderful day isn¡¯t it, Miss Sierra?¡± The girl with a green robe and brown curls down to her waist, eyes a bright emerald green. ¡°Perfect hair as usual, Miss Valerie.¡± And the girl with silver hair and eyes, accentuated by a dress of pure white. ¡°As beautiful as always, Miss Sophia.¡± This group of five ladies, each one came from one of the five main noble houses of the country. The five pillars that controlled and upheld the nation of Abron through their ability and gift for magic. Lady Rebecca, from House Planitia, specialized in Earth magic. Lady Sierra, from House Fluvius, specialized in Water magic. Lady Valerie, from House Ventus, specialized in Wind magic. Lady Sophia, from House Aequitas, specialized in Light magic. And I, Lady Alvira, from House Calesco, specialized in Flame magic. Of course, there were many other magical elements, neither weaker or stronger than these five. It was simply that the houses behind them were different and not as powerful as ours. We of our independent noble houses were raised and trained as possible heirs of our families. Whether or not you inherited the position was not based on age, gender, or looks. It was based purely on your abilities, how well you could manage others, how well could overcome your competitors, and above all, how well you could use and cast magic. That was our purpose at the world-renowned Royal Institution for the Arcane Arts. An extremely luxurious academy where even the children of foreign kings came to study. Simply being admitted to the school was a great achievement dreamt of by many. This large, prestigious academy was separated into four distinguishable sections, built over four hundred years ago, and constantly being improved and renovated, four areas that would be constantly expanded. The classrooms, where hundreds of subjects were taught by renowned professors. Alchemy, pyromancy, geomancy, and even necromancy were topics that could be learned from. Hundreds upon thousands of nobles attended these classes daily, passing through the halls on their way to class to study and learn different sigils and magic combinations. Then there were the research towers where the professors stayed in, where numerous unknown tests and experiments were carried out. Access was strictly prohibited to students unless they were granted explicit access for assisting in experiments, and even under those circumstances, they could not talk about it. The threat of expulsion was just the bare minimum punishment. If you had signed a soul-binding scroll, which was often required for many of the experiments, even death wasn''t an unlikely possibility. Lastly, there were the two individual dormitories, one for males and females. The two of them were larger than a small village and boasted the capacity to fit over ten thousand students each. Both of the dorms were shaped in a massive ring, enclosing in a large plot of land in the center where students could socialize, practice magic, engage in sports, or simply relax. Even if all ten thousand students decided to go out at the exact same time, it would not be cramped in the least bit. The interior was also of the highest quality. Cafeterias were active all day and night, serving rich foods and drinks. The book collections in the libraries were enormous, encompassing thousands of years worth of knowledge. And the rooms, each with a large bed and personal shower, were even better than the inns that served exclusively for nobles. It was worthy of its title of the Royal Institution. As its name suggested, the academy was primarily funded by the royal family, though they didn¡¯t refuse offers and donations by noble families in the least bit. Even if a noble family could not pay through gold coins, as long as a student had the potential for magic, there were other ways to pay, whether it be through services or materials. And, as long as one graduated from this institution, they were almost guaranteed a bright future. Even if they were not the heirs to their houses, as long as they carried the title of a graduate of the Royal Academy, hundreds of groups would compete and fight to hire them for their services and skills. Even other schools would willingly hire a newly graduated student as a professor. That was simply how much the title was respected and held in esteem. A place truly fitting for the five great noble houses to learn and study magic. A place that could actually teach me useful things. My maid helped me into a cushioned seat at the stone table, then silently stood a bit away from the seats, like all the other maids were doing. Head bowed down, just out of earshot to give enough privacy, yet being close enough to quickly assist with any issues. Most servants of nobles were slaves, but for the much higher class, servants were often chosen from the second or third child of lower status nobles, people who weren¡¯t the heirs. After all, even servants had to be trained with some etiquette, otherwise, they would simply be an embarrassment to us in public. As I sat down softly onto the cushion, one by one, the other ladies returned my greetings in acknowledgment. ¡°Miss Alvira, how do you do?¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Miss Alvira, it¡¯s a lovely day to be out isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Miss Alvira, you do have to get me one of those lovely little fans sometime.¡± ¡°Miss Alvira, I hope fortune has been smiling on you recently.¡± One by one, they greeted me back, slowly, in the soft, lilting voice that was so ¡®trendy¡¯ of noble ladies nowadays. Really, it made them all sound like grandmothers with stuffy noses. How time consuming, how bothersome the culture of nobility was. Instead of sitting here pretending to be friends and sisters, I would much rather be out and studying magic sigils. That would be so much more productive. Why aren¡¯t I then? Why am I here then? Why don¡¯t you leave then? It was simple. It was all for the sake of making¡¸connections¡¹. We, and many other students were not guaranteed to become the heirs of the house. We were just possible candidates, one of the many children of our noble houses, which sometimes even reached the double digits. To each and every one of us, our peers from other noble houses were less of a threat than our siblings. Any noble which could offer us support would be important to us, who were only students in the present. Even if I was the child with the greatest proficiency in magic, my inheritance would not be assured if I did not create alliances. Perhaps some of the sons and daughters of the other noble families would insist on one of my siblings being the successor, attracted by ¡®benefits¡¯ and ¡®gifts¡¯ that they had been promised. Or perhaps some misfortune would befall me and I would end up critically ¡®ill,¡¯ too sick to move and be the head of the family. Or maybe I might be involved in an ¡®accident¡¯ at some remote place, tragically dying to a group of lowly thieves who would then be found, caught, and brought to justice to be beheaded by my ¡®family.¡¯ I have no intention of dying like a dog. No intention of being used like a tool. Nor any intention of falling behind. Therefore, for the sake of my future, I engaged in these childish squabbles of manipulation and these games of ¡®politics.¡¯ Trying to make allies, trying to steal your sibling¡¯s allies, trying to get the support we needed to win this race to power of ours. Hm? Did the parents not care about the lives of their children? Oh no, of course they did, if you were a commoner and accidentally bumped into one of their sons or daughters, you could most certainly be put to death for it. It was just, If you actually managed to die from something as simple as this, then you obviously weren¡¯t fit to be a noble child. If a noble could not handle scheming of this level, they might as well die now since they would obviously just die in the future. ¡®Well, not like any of the five of us here would let ourselves die so easily.¡¯ Today, I had three specific goals to accomplish, three things I had to do before this ¡®tea party¡¯ ended. The first was to find whether or not Miss Sierra had indeed betrayed me and come to an agreement with one of my older brothers, Sir Erik. She was currently constructing a tier two water-based staff, and I had heard a rumor that he had offered her quite a few valuable magic crystals for her support. If that was true, then it was likely that several of her followers had also betrayed me. The second was to bring Miss Sophia to my side, and if possible, do it without my brother knowing that he had been betrayed. Miss Sophia had two supporters that were siblings of Miss Sierra, so she would likely be bright enough to readily agree to my proposal. After all, even if you had supporters, you had to pay a certain respect and amount of attention to their own wants or they would betray you without a second thought for their own gains. The third was to see if Miss Valerie would be inclined to provide me a base wind sigil in exchange for me leaving her younger brother¡¯s camp and joining hers. Although many people didn¡¯t know it, wind and flame magic integrated quite well with each other, as ridiculous as it seemed. Most people would believe that wind would put out fire, but after a long analysis and several experiments, I had found several situations in which air currents could actually bolster the magnitude of the flames and increase the heat and temperature. I could¡¯ve asked her brother, but it was likely that he would also betray me and join Miss Sierra¡¯s camp as his interest aligned more with hers than mine. That was why I approached Miss Valerie with my offer as quickly as I could. If he had betrayed me before I made my proposal, then my worth to Miss Valerie would decrease as it would seem like she was helping me more instead of the other way around. After everyone had greeted me, I took a sip from the porcelain cup of tea a handmaid had set in front of me. It would be a long while before we dispersed, and I would rather not have my voice sound like a sick animal when we finished. ¡®Well then, let¡¯s get started.¡¯ In the middle of a beautiful garden, under the cover of a stone veranda, five noble ladies sat, gossiping.
The trip back to my village had taken a bit longer this time as I had seen signs of a monster in the woods. There had been several large claw marks on the trail that I came from, and no ordinary beast in the forest with talons would be heavy enough to create those footprints, so I took a detour and headed on a circular route. Because of that, it was on my eighth day before the trees started thinning away and I entered the area that the village elders deemed relatively safe. From here on out, I would no longer be in dangerous and unfamiliar territory, but in the woods that I roamed in during my hunting trips. Looking around, I could already see one of the few dozen locations I had marked in case someone got lost, a tree with a crudely carved arrow pointing towards the village. From here on, it would take less than a day to get back assuming I went as fast as I could. And I would. Because every second counted, every second was a possibility that my sister¡¯s fever could get worse and worse. So I ran, back to my home, my village, as fast as I could. ¡®Abby, I¡¯m coming!¡¯ An hour later, a youth was sprawled out on the ground, panting heavily as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. ¡°I¡¯m, never, going, to do, that, again.¡± Calvin wheezed out between his breaths. He had started off sprinting as fast as he could, and was able to keep it up for about a quarter of an hour. Then he started getting tired, but still, he persisted in running. Another fifteen minutes and his body got even worse, hair plastered to his forehead by sweat, but still, he kept on enduring. After three quarters of an hour, his chest, legs, and his entire body was screaming at him to stop and his clothes were soaked with sweat, but he kept persevering, telling himself that he had suffered worse before. Then after a whole hour passed, his vision actually went black for a few seconds, and he tripped and fell on his face. That was when it came to mind and Calvin realized that it probably wasn¡¯t a smart or reasonable idea to keep running for a whole day, at least, not when he was carrying a bow, a sword, a leather chestplate, a bag full of herbs and cloth, and a quiver brimming with arrows. So he collapsed down, taking a break laying flat down, too tired to sit up. Laying down for over ten minutes, he finally regained enough strength to weakly take the flask from his waist and hurriedly gulped down the whole container of water. Letting his arm drop to the ground, he closed his eyes and rested for another five minutes before deciding to go. Wincing as his sore legs supported his body once more, he started off again, this time much more rationally. Several hours passed, as he could see the sky through the branches now, and it started turning dark. He didn¡¯t stop though, and continued on because the village was just a bit farther, indicated by the slow appearance of worn paths. The thought of being able to spend the night in an actual bed, even if it was wooden, caused his feet to move faster as he went from a slow walk to a jog. He soon came within sight of the village¡¯s farming plots, and slowed down in disbelief. Walking a bit closer, Calvin once again confirmed his suspicions. Not a single mark had been made on the soil. ¡®It¡¯s almost planting season now! They haven¡¯t even tilled the land yet!¡¯ In the entire nineteen years of his life, he had yet to remember a single year that the land had not been plowed. Even when it was raining hard, the villages would never forget something as important as this. Once, when the fields were destroyed by heavy rains right after they finished tilling, everyone came out to help, even the women and children worked to get the fields done in time for the seeds. That¡¯s because if they didn¡¯t there would be many who would starve during the winter. Every winter, even with the supplement of hunting, was bitter and arduous, a time when food was scarce and some people were forced to even eat grass and leaves. The only reason which came to mind was that the fever had spread even further, to the point where even basic food was put aside as a second priority. If that was the case, then the burlap sack full of waterbloom didn¡¯t seem like much anymore¡­¡­ He hurried faster now, but didn¡¯t see any sign of the wooden huts that were their houses, but quickly after he saw a small group of people in the distance. They were sitting around a campfire, flames and faint wisps of smoke seen rising upwards even though it was still to early to light a fire. After counting the total, there were twelve heads, but Calvin could not make out their facial features as it was too dark, so he yelled out to them and waved his hands. ¡°HEEEEYYY!!!¡± Noticing his presence, the men turned around and looked in his direction. In that instant, nine years of hunting started ringing and clanging alarm bells in his head, and he felt a new, looming sense of danger. He instantly dropped to the ground and heard a barely audible ¡®whoosh¡¯ from right where his body just was. Right after that, a loud thump sound came from his back, and when Calvin turned around, was shocked at the arrow sticking halfway out of the ground. Stunned still, he stared at it until the sound of loud footsteps cause him to jerk his head back. The men, who were originally a good hundred yards from now had already covered half the distance as they dashed towards him, getting closer by the second. He did not recognize any of their faces. There were only five hundred people in his village. Even if he didn¡¯t know all of them by name, he would at least be able to recognize them. He had, after all, lived in this village for nineteen years. But he did not know who these people were. Scared now, he scrambled up and made a mad dash back towards the forest. In a single, clear thought, he remembered that they had a bow. Sprinting as fast as a rabbit, he started veering off the right and left erratically to throw off the aim of whoever let off that first arrow. Urging his screaming legs on, he miraculously made it to the forest unscathed, though there were more than a few times an arrow landed close enough for him to touch. Once inside, he kept sprinting, for his only thought was to get away as fast as possible. Looking back between the tree trunks, he saw that the group of men hesitated a bit before entering the woods. He would try to lose them in the deeper parts of the forest, Calvin decided. Whoever they were, it was obvious that they didn¡¯t have any good intentions. Dashing in between the trees, Calvin¡¯s body quickly disappeared from view as the trees became taller, thicker, and more crowded. A little bit after, and not a trace of him could be seen or heard. Chapter 6 A blur dashed through the gloomy forest, skillfully winding around trees and bushes. The leaves shook softly in the night breeze, making the dim shadows on the ground shift and dance like a living creature. All around, tall trees stretched up outwards, as if trying to reach up and grasp the glowing sapphire from sky with their branches. The sound of light footsteps soon passed away, leaving only the soft whispers of the wind behind. Tap. Tap. Tap. Not even the chirping of birds could be heard under the light of the blue star. The woods were eerily silent except for the sound of a muted whistling. Quiet enough so that you could only hear it when you focused on it, but loud enough that you couldn¡¯t ignore its presence. Tap. Tap. Tap. A bit later, louder and heavier footsteps approached as a group of twelve dirty humans came into view. Cumbersome and awkward, their feet snapped dry leaves and kicked away small rocks as they came to a stop. A leaner man, who wasn¡¯t as bulky as the rest of them, slung his bow over the quiver on his back and bent down towards the forest floor. After examining the area for a bit, he straightened up and brushed his hands on his clothes, then gestured in the direction that the first person just went off in. Although one of the other humans hesitated, he was quickly persuaded by his other companions as well as the man who seemed to be the tracker. Soon, they too started moving, and once again, the sound of footsteps faded away into the night. Tap. Tap. Tap. After they left, the only sound was the rustling of the leaves as the air blew past them, and nothing else except for the silence that pervaded the woods. Tap. Tap. Tap. Indeed, there was nothing else. Tap. Tap. Tap. And the soft whistling remained unbroken.
Panting as he just barely ducked under another tree branch, Calvin kept on running at his current pace. For the past six days, the group had kept on following his trail, despite multiple attempts to mislead them. It was likely that they had their own hunter, far more experienced than himself, for all his tricks were seen through. Whether it was laying down false trails or setting up small traps to buy time, it had all seemed ineffective to them. So, the only thing Calvin could do was to try to keep ahead of them and hope that he could outrun the group. However, he was soon faced with a serious problem. After spending so much time heading to and coming back from the lake, he had used up all of his provisions and water on the fourth day after they started chasing him. Normally, he would try to hunt or pick edible plants, but he obviously couldn¡¯t do so at the moment. He couldn¡¯t hunt because it would take time to skin and cook the animal, but also because it would attract predators. At the moment, he didn¡¯t think he had the option of being held up by an animal. He also couldn¡¯t pick plants because it was going to be winter soon, and many of the edible ones were either already picked or eaten by squirrels and birds. The only food he had left was a bit of dried jerky, not even enough to fill up his palm. He had already dropped all the unnecessary articles on him to lighten the burden that he had to carry. One thing he didn¡¯t drop though was the bag of waterbloom, for obvious reasons. He still had to bring it back for the villagers, who by now were likely in an even worse state. Although he was not bold enough to think he could fight the group of men, he also still carried his shortsword and bow for safety''s sake in case he had to fight a beast. Now though, he wished he had dropped it, but something inside kept him from doing so. Calvin didn¡¯t know why, but everytime he pulled the sword out, he couldn¡¯t muster the will to toss it away. Years of practicing with it, years of taking care of it, years of hoping that he would be able to kill his first monster with it. How could he simply throw it away like a piece of garbage? The answer was¡­. he couldn¡¯t. So he didn¡¯t. And he kept on carrying it. He had been able to increase the distance between him and his pursuers during the first few days and even almost lost them. But, once he ran out of food and started slowing down from exhaustion, they started closing in on him. He could tell this because they were loud enough to hear from far away, boots snapping branches and making a loud racket. Whenever he heard those signs, he would upright himself from whatever he was doing and bolt off in a surge of energy. Right now he was heading towards the lake, which was his option for a multitude of reasons. One, he needed water quickly because he had run out two days ago. His mouth was parched, and everytime he took a breath his throat felt like it was being pricked by small needles. Whenever he blinked, he felt his eyes burning as they rubbed against the eyelids. Whenever he sat up, his head felt dizzy as if he was going to faint. Calvin was sure, if he didn¡¯t get water soon, he would die from thirst. That is, if he didn¡¯t die from something else before that. His only option was to go towards the lake to refill his water flasks. Not only that, he could also grab some plants to eat on the way. If he remembered properly, there was a small group of edible flowers there, and although it wouldn¡¯t be the most filling of meals, there should be enough to last another few days. The second reason was to try and throw his pursuers off his trail. There was still that large piece of cloth that was still buried by the shore. His plan was to make it seem like he had swam into the lake and left on a different side, while in reality, he would be hiding in a tree nearby. After that, he hoped that they would shift their attention onto the large piece of cloth which he would dig up and lay on the shore a bit farther away from his location. Hopefully, by the time they realized the trail was fake, he would have a lead on them and be heading back to the village. If he could get just a tiny bit ahead, just a few hours ahead of them, he could get to the village first and take shelter with the other villagers. No matter how strong the bandits might be, they wouldn¡¯t be able to take on over a hundred people armed with pitchforks with just the twelve of them. ¡®As they say, safety in numbers.¡¯ All that he had to do now was successfully get to the lake first and set up his ruse before they got there. Ducking under another low hanging branch, Calvin estimated how long it would take until he got to Lake Erador. It had been around six days so far, but because of the delays of setting up traps and other hindrances, it would probably take at least another day or so until it came into sight. He wanted to rush there as fast as he could and begin setting up the ploy, but he restrained himself. Learning not to be impatient and controlling yourself was something that he had learned from when he was going back. Fainting from exhaustion like before would certainly result in his death, so he held back his urge to sprint there and continued to pace himself. Patience, he told himself, patience. The time would come eventually. For now, he slowed down his speed to a jog in order to conserve his strength. He would need it to get back to the village as fast as possible when running away from the bandits, and the faster he ran, the sooner he could get the herbs back. Taking a tiny bite out of his single remaining piece of jerky, he continued on. A few hours later, he decided to take a short break to rest his sore and weary body. The only time he¡¯d felt this tired before was when he was trying to flee away from a large bear that he happened to cross upon. Well, that and his stupid experience of almost dying from exhaustion a few days ago. At the very least, the group of men should take at least half a day or so to catch up, so there was enough time for a small respite. Slumping down against the trunk of a wider tree, he closed his eyes and let his head hang down, gasping for breath.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Oh! How wonderful it felt to let all your muscles relax and just sit there, not having to run, not having to look out for hidden branches, not having to do anything. Sitting there, time slowly passed as he let his body recover. Resting for thirty minutes. Turning into sixty minutes Waiting until ninety minutes. Calvin would¡¯ve kept resting longer, but a small sound woke him from his light dozing. Blinking, he turned his head around and strained his ears to listen for the noise. Absolute silence. Thinking that it was just his imagination, he prepared to get up and start moving again when the sound appeared again. A very, very soft crunching sound. Just like the sound of a boot pressing down slowly on the dirt. Totally alert now, he turned his head from side to side as he slowly got up, trying to determine which direction the sound came from. There it was again! Now, he had confirmed that sound seemed louder when his ear was facing towards a large group of bushes off to his left. Silently unsheathing his blade, he took slow, cautious steps towards the area. He had nearly reached the undergrowth when there was a small swish and he felt his skin grow cold. He sidestepped instantly but was too late to completely avoid the dagger that came flying out. Staggering backwards, he quickly turned around and started sprinting away from the man now stepping out from the bushes. Pressing his free hand to the deep cut on his shoulder that was bleeding profusely, he gritted his teeth as agony spiked through his body, lurching dangerously as he ran. Soon though, his limbs started feeling heavy and sluggish, as if they were tied to bags filled with sand. Hobbling now, the woods around started to get blurry as sweat fell into his eyes. Slowly, his pain addled mind pieced together the pieces. The way the man crept up, the speed at which he threw the dagger, and his feverish body. Without a doubt, that man was experienced in thievery and killing from the dark. It was certain. The dagger was poisoned with something, tipped with a paralyzing substance. The fear and panic that I should¡¯ve been feeling was suppressed by the drowsiness that was invading my exhausted mind and body. ¡®Sleep...how wonderful it would be to sleep¡­¡¯ I stumbled and tripped over an unseen root sticking out of the ground and landed harshly on my palms. As my hands made contact with the floor, I choked in pain as the injured shoulder had to suddenly support the weight of a body. ¡®...ugh... it hurts¡­.¡¯ Limbs stiffening and locking, my entire body was being overcome with the lethargy that crawled up from the ground into my body. Even as I struggled to get up, weakness was seeping in like the chill on a rainy day. Tired, so tired. Cold, so cold. ¡®How bad can it be to rest¡­just a moment¡­should be fine...¡¯ ¡®................¡¯ Relaxing my arms, I allowed the last of my strength to leave and escape. Letting my body to fall down on it¡¯s side with a small thump, I lay down on my uninjured shoulder. Feeling my mind beginning to fall into a stupor, I struggled to roll onto my back. Wheezing from the effort, limbs sprawled out to the sides, I stared up into the sky, a pool of blood slowly forming under my shoulder. ¡®...Laetitia¡­¡¯ Right there, in the roof formed by overlapping branches and leaves, a small opening that was clear of all intrusions. A perfect circle, through which the light of the blue star shone through faintly. A perfectly framed picture, a perfectly captured moment. Laetitia, the goddess of happiness and joy. Looking up at that shining, azure sun shining down on me, I felt happy. I felt joyful. I felt content. ¡®I will die today¡­¡¯ Mind wandering, eyes slumping, the thought crossed and lingered in my mind, but I felt nothing towards it. A grave in the forest which I had been hunting in my entire life. What was wrong with that? Passing away underneath the light of that blue star, passing away under the watch of the goddess of happiness. What was wrong with that? Vision blurred by tears, thoughts distorted from poison, Calvin stared up at the blue sky as the blood continued to flow freely. But, Losing my life as an ordinary villager instead of an adventurer that I wished to be. Could I lie down and accept that? Perishing on this tiny village, this obscure corner of the continent, never knowing what the outside world was like. Could I lie down and accept that? And, Dying before I could go home, dying before bringing the medicine back¡­dying without Abby knowing¡­ How could I? The answer, which was now clear even in my dazed state, removed the lethargy like a bucket of cold water. Mustering the meager amount of strength left, I slowly opened my eyes. Yelling at my body to move as I yelled at my mind to live. Forcing myself to sit up as I forced my breath to stabilize. Muffling my screaming as my shoulder screamed in pain. Pulling my mind out of the darkness as I pulled my legs toward me. Dragging on my will to survive as I dragged up my arms. Trying to stand up straight as I stood facing against death. Looking at the future as I looked for a way to escape. Taking a single forward as I took a few more breaths. Another step¡­ And another¡­ And come crashing down like my hopes for survival. Heart beating rapidly but softly, skin freezing but sweating, I was dying of blood loss, slowly but surely. In a dim forest, under the light of a blue sun, a collapsed, despairing human blacked out in a pool of blood.
I crept along the forest floor, closely following the trail of splattered blood that led me on. Holding two daggers in both of my hands, each one coated in a fluid of the needleflower plant, I slowly headed forwards. Although the fluid extracted from it only caused a light stiffness by itself, a combination with several other common poisonous plants could turn it into a considerable substance that could inflict a moderate paralysis. It was quite effective, but could only be sold for cheap prices as any cure to the plants used to make it would drastically weaken its effects. Nevertheless, it was something I could make by myself cheaply, so I had applied it and used it on both of the old daggers that I owned. Of course, I always kept an antidote on myself in a small wooden case from the possibility of an accident happening. Creeping forward, I listened carefully for the sound of breathing of the boy I had just injured a few minutes before. If his condition was any indicator, it should be loud enough to hear from a distance of about ten feet or so, just about the same as the current visibility range. To be honest, that little guy was a bit impressive, being able to stay alive for so long in this forest, I thought silently. Well, for a peasant at least. The team that I was a part of was chosen to stay behind to take care of any stragglers that would come back to the village after the main group had left. All because we were the slowest and killed the least out of all the groups. We had camped on the fringe of the woods for a week, and came together just as we were about to leave. That was when the boy had popped up and we had started the chase after him. He was quite slippery and almost got away several times, but with the combined effort of myself and our hunter, Brian, we were able to keep relatively close to him the whole time. Even setting down several traps and tricks, he was quite the sneaky one. Those fake trails were quite shabby though, one look at how obvious they were and anyone with experience tracking could see that they were made on purpose. Many of the traps were harmless too, like tripwires and falling stones. Well, except for a few. If Leon had reacted just a bit slower, then he probably would¡¯ve been killed or seriously wounded by the arrow that was dangling far above them, hidden among the trees. Although they were always on his trail, they never could get a glimpse of him, and it seemed like he was always just out of sight. Since the group was so loud, it was likely that he was running away every time he heard us coming. Six days of this, six shitty days of chasing after him. If not for Garrett and Brian insisting on them completing the ¡®mission¡¯, then they would¡¯ve just ignore him and went back. They were only supposed to camp out for a week, and it turned into a whole goddamned week. In the end, I had volunteered to go ahead on and kill him myself since it would mean that we would get paid faster. Although it was more dangerous, what could a hungry, tired, farmer boy do to me? The only problem was that Garrett insisted on me bring back his head, to prove that I had actually killed him and not just pretend that I did. Really, just because he used to be a noble didn¡¯t mean that we had to listen to whatever he had to say. Standing a bit farther away from us, rarely speaking to us even though he was the same as everyone else around him. Acting so high and mighty, I was quite tempted a few times to slit his throat when he was sleeping. But I didn¡¯t. There was no point in taking a risk and sticking out your own neck just for self satisfaction. How stupid, honor and pride wouldn¡¯t get you anywhere in this world, a foolish thing it was to have. If not for that small bit of talent he had with his sword, all the others would have sneered at him too. Cursing Garrett silently under my breath, I continued to prowl without making any noise. Being able to move quickly and quietly in the dark, now that was an especially useful skill to have. Not some stupid ¡®honor¡¯. Taking a slightly alternate route, I was moving off along the side so that I wasn¡¯t directly following the trail, but always keeping it within sight. This was just in case that he had hidden himself somewhere and was waiting for me to come up to him. Even if he was just a village peasant, even if he was half-paralyzed, it was better to be safe than sorry. As the smell of blood grew stronger, I started to move slower and the soft sound from my moving got even fainter. Soon, I saw the brat, laying face down in a pool of blood, breathing extremely hard to hear. Although it was likely that he was not faking and nearly dead, I threw a few rocks at him just in case. The only response I got was a few pained grunts. I was just about to go take his head when the sound of rustling came from a bit farther away. I stopped, and listened closely, hoping that it was just a small animal and not a bear or wolf. Although I was quite confident in killing regular humans, a large predator would be too hard for me to handle safely. The sound came closer and closer, and right before my eyes, a person walked out from between the trees. At least, most of it looked like a human. What kind of human had silvery-white skin? What kind of human wore no clothes in the middle of a forest? What kind of human had no genitals? And, above all, what kind of human had those kinds of eyes? Turning those unfathomable eyes towards me, who was frozen rigidly in place, the thing looked at me, up and down. And then it nodded. Chapter 7 Two humans. That was what I saw when I entered the area and refocused my eyes. There was actually light here, a great difference from the dark woods around us. Even though it was weak, even though it was dim, blue light came in from a small opening in the branches above. These two humans, who suddenly appeared in the area, were suddenly the focus of my attention. One, which was lying unconscious on the floor, had a deep cut on his shoulder from which blood spilled forth from. Only the slow rising of his chest indicated that he was still breathing. Looking a bit closer, I realized. Wasn¡¯t this the same person that I had seen before? The one that had dragged me by my legs? ...the one who had tried to give me a name... The second one was hunched over the first one, holding a bloody dagger from which I inferred was responsible for the wound on the first one. Looking up at my entrance, it seemed startled and stayed still, shocked. Was he trying to kill the other one? How strange. There weren¡¯t that many edible resources in the area, but I did not believe that organic food was lacking so much that they would have to resort to cannibalism. Surely there was enough to sustain both of their lives? There was an overwhelming number of animals and plants here that I had discovered since I awoke and during the two weeks that I had been here so far. I had explored and documented 147 species of flora, 39 types of fungi, and 28 types of fauna. Over half of them were found to have no harmful substances and were safe for human consumption. Although it wasn¡¯t the most abundant food supply, there was more than enough for two humans. All those plants and animals had gone into their respective folders that I organized them under. All of that data, all of that information, was separated into neat files, made so that I could easily access them. Not that I needed to though, as we robots did not have a metabolic system. Very efficient beings we machines were. And neither did they pose any serious dangers to myself. Of those 214 organisms, 152 of them posed no threats, 49 of them were estimated level 1 threats, and 13 of them were estimated level 2 threats. These were not the classifications for the race, but rather based on observation of one or a few individuals. More data would be required to accurately rank the average threat of the species and to further refine the database. Thus, these were tentative ratings and would be adjusted accordingly based on new findings. One method to gather information would be the prolonged studying of the entity during combat, daily activities, and it¡¯s habits. However, it would require a great deal of time and energy to follow the creature and would be extremely inefficient. The most accurate and effective way would be the dissection of a specimen to see what the biological components that the animal was made of. Then, based on the parts identified, a rough assessment could be made of it¡¯s abilities, and therefore, its ranking. Unfortunately however, I was only equipped with tools for harvesting resources, not for the dissection and study of creatures. All dissection and evaluation apparatuses were aboard the primary vessel, along with many other vital mechanisms. Since I could not use that method, then the next most efficient option would be to ascertain information from intelligent species, like humans. Of course, I would need to have a basic understanding of the common language and the data would have a much higher chance of being faulty. Either way, it was the best method to get a basic framework of the ecosystem in the shortest amount of time. Perhaps they would also be able to provide information on the whereabouts of the primary vessel, which I still had yet to locate. The only clue that I had found of it were the burnt remains of the deceleration parachute, buried near the shore. Because of that discovery, I had presumed that we had landed somewhere, and that primary vessel was also stranded on this planet. Even though my memory held no records of a space expedition, it was not an impossible event. The main ship was a space exploration vessel, so there was no reason to believe that it wasn¡¯t a foreign planet.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. A day after that though, it was confirmed by the fact that a full revolution of the planet took twenty hours, four less than what my internal clock was configured to. As for the gravity, size, and climate of the planet, I did not have the proper tools to measure those, nor did I have a database on discovered planets to compare it to. Only the primary vessel had those functions, and I would need to have help to have a chance to find it. However, looking at the two humans in front of me, there was a bit of hesitation. Not because of violence, no, they would not be able to do any damage to me. But because of the way they acted, I was unsure of whether or not they would be willing to cooperate. Would they help? Could they even help? Humanity was simply an advanced species of animals, no more, no less. Animals died. That¡¯s all there was to it. Every day, every hour, every minute. He was going to die soon, should I act? Even if I did, I was not sure if I could save him. I waited, to see what would happen. I watched those two, to see what they would do next. I had presumed that the one lying on the floor would¡¯ve been killed by now, but the second one didn¡¯t take any actions even though a full minute had passed. Perhaps it was because I was here? Perhaps it thought I would try to fight to take its ¡®food¡¯ that it had brought down? There was no such reason I would do that. So I went to leave, turning around and walking away from the two behind me. I would come back after it was done and see if I could communicate some basic messages to it. Even though I had spent half a month here, the only thing I had seen were endless trees. I had found no way out, no way to leave this area. I was stuck. So I needed help. I would leave the area, and come back when it seemed calmer. Maybe it would be more friendly after finishing its meal? The instant I did though, I detected a faint sound, and soon after, a loud ¡®clang¡¯ was heard as a metal object collided with my back. Of course, I had a much higher mass and density, so there was no damage, both internally or externally. The human, seemingly unperturbed now, rushed at me with another dagger in his hands. Size, speed, power, intelligence, tools. Taking in all of those factors, the human dashing towards me was about a level 2B threat. Soon, he was within an arm''s length and lashed out with one of his knives. The sound of metal hitting metal resounded in the air as the knife collided solidly with my neck. Once again, there was no result, and the human seemed stupefied at the fact as if iron even remotely had the capability to dent neosteel. Perhaps. Then again, perhaps humans would evolve wings and plants would learn how to swim. I continued walking. The human who was frozen, once again turned aggressive and slashed out. Clang. Why did this human attack me? Clang. Perhaps this was its territory? Another clang. Why did it continue to waste energy? Clang. Why won¡¯t you stop? Clang. Do you need more food? Clang, clang, clang, clang. A total of ten times, he had hit me. A total of ten struggling hopes. ¡­¡­ ¡­¡­ I am sorry. It is futile. No matter how hard you try, no matter how much effort you put in, there is nothing you can do. This human. This poor human. This poor animal, who must resort to cannibalism in order to survive. I am sorry. ¡­¡­ I will help you. Turning around, I looked at it. How sad. It froze as I placed a hand on it¡¯s temple. It spat in my face as I touched its other temple. This pitiful creature. Looking into its angry eyes, I gave it the most pitying look I could make. I am sorry. You need not suffer. A small tingle. And a tiny wisp of smoke. Worry no more. Collapsing on the floor, eyes staring into empty space. A faint smell of burning. Goodbye. Two blackened spots on the sides of the head. May you rest in peace. Even though it used up power, even though logic insisted I ignore it. I could not help but want to save it. ....... Ahh. I just got rid of a potential source of information, didn¡¯t I? What a stupid mistake I just made. Now there was only one left. How could I make such a foolish decision? It had taken half of the energy I had saved to get here. I had just wasted another quarter of it. Could I still make it back with my remaining reserves? ...probably not. No, there was an opening here for light, so I could wait until it turned to day to charge. Looking at the other human, I wondered. Should I help it? Or should I try to get information from it? Information, I decided, was more important and rational. Walking over to it, I looked at its pale face. It would likely die within the hour if I did nothing. ¡­¡­ ¡­¡­ Forgive me, for making you suffer. I took a large leaf into one of my hands, and soon, it turned brown and a small flame appeared. Holding it over the bleeding wound, the smell of burning flesh grew much stronger than before as skin and flesh burned. Then I took it off as soon as the bleeding stopped. His face was even paler than before. His skin was sweating even more than before. But now the blood had stopped, and he would live, even if just a tiny bit longer. Chapter 8 Calvin didn¡¯t remember when he had fallen unconscious. Nor did he remember what had exactly happened to him. His mind felt fuzzy, as if he¡¯d drank a whole flagon of cheap alcohol and then passed out on the streets. His body felt sore, as if he¡¯d been tilling the ground all day and then went to sleep on a pile of rocks. When he had opened his eyes in a daze, they were unfocused as he tried to regain his bearings. Trying to wake up from the half-asleep state that he was currently in. He tried to sit up, but a wave of nausea rushed towards his head and left him reeling as bile started to rise in his throat. His body, which had almost no strength left, would probably not be able to endure much more. Feeling dizzy and lightheaded, he temporarily gave up on moving and tried to remember what happened. Where he was, what was going on, what to do next. Controlling his breathing, he forced himself to calm down. ¡®The village...right, I had gone back to the village to bring the herbs for treating the fevers.¡¯ ¡®When I was close to the village, I had encountered a group of bandits.¡¯ ¡®They chased me so I ran into the forest and ended up running out of food.¡¯ ¡®Then I decided to take a break for a while, didn¡¯t I?¡¯ That was the last thing he could remember. Everything after was distorted and hazy. A blur of sounds and feelings was all that he could sort out from the events that had occurred. It was just then that he noticed the smell of iron and turned his head sideways to see what it was from. Feeling his ear touching something wet, he tried to wipe it with his hand when a sharp pain rushed through his head and nearly caused him to faint again. Gritting his teeth as he lay on the ground, the aching soon disappeared. The pain faded away, leaving being a shocked feeling like he had been doused with water during the winter. It was cold and freezing, but also cleared his mind of lethargy. ¡®Pain... yes, there was a lot of pain.¡¯ ¡®A knife, he had two knives didn¡¯t he?¡¯ Fragments of thoughts started to come back, little pieces of images that he struggled to make meaning of. ¡®Stabbed...I was stabbed in the shoulder, wasn¡¯t I?¡¯ As everything slowly became clearer as he pieced it all together, he began to realize that something was very wrong. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡®Why am I alive still?¡¯ The pain from his shoulder, the pool of blood that he was lying in, all was proof that he was stabbed before falling unconscious. So why? Why didn¡¯t the other man end his life? He didn¡¯t believe that the group that had chased him all the way into the forest for nearly a week would simply decide to spare him all of a sudden. Why would they leave him alive? A sudden growl interrupted his thoughts as his body complained about being hungry. Mind straying, he wondered how long it had been since he last ate. Looking up, he no longer saw the glow of the blue sun, but rather normal daylight from above, signifying that it was around noon. At the very least, he guessed, half a day had passed since then. Adding it with the two days before that... ¡®Almost three days huh?¡¯ Almost three days since he last had a proper meal that wasn¡¯t leaves and weeds. ¡®Maybe the guy left me, thinking I was dead?¡¯ It was slightly probable, considering his current state. Anybody would bet that he wouldn¡¯t survive for long in this place without food or water. Well, he wasn¡¯t dead just yet, and he didn¡¯t want the man coming back around to check. He would have to move, find something to eat, and keep on going. But how? He found that although the left arm was useless right now, he could still move the right one. By rolling his body onto his right side, he managed to push himself up into a sitting position. To his great delight, he found a bit of remaining jerky in one of his bags and ate it, not saving anything. ¡®If I have to move, I need the strength¡­especially with my arm like this¡­¡¯ He could not see how bad his shoulder was, covered in filth and blood as it is, and he really didn¡¯t want to touch it for fear of it getting worse. Silently, he added another reason to go to the lake. He would have to get it cleaned as quickly as possible, and he didn¡¯t have the water to do so right now. There was no more blood coming out, so it couldn¡¯t be that bad, could it? At the very least, he wouldn¡¯t die from it. Estimating about how far he would have to go, he should be able to get to the lake since he had already traveled a great deal of the way. If he was jogging normally, it would probably take him less than a day to get there, but he had no idea how fast he could travel with his current body. Nevertheless, he had to leave as soon as possible. Not only was there the danger of the man and his companions coming back, the blood would draw predators towards his location. It was a miracle that he wasn¡¯t attacked by a wolf or coyote yet. How long would it take for something to notice him? Calvin didn¡¯t want to stick around to find out. Looking at the trail of blood that he left when he was running through the bushes, he figured out the general direction the lake was in. Assuming that was the way he and the man came from, the lake was probably in the other direction. Taking up a slow gait, he hobbled slowly while taking care not to make his wound worse.
¡°Where the hell¡¯s Robert?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, why don¡¯t we wait a bit longer?¡± ¡°It¡¯s almost been a whole day since he left, you just want to keep on waiting?¡± ¡°Maybe he got attacked by som¡¯ beast Garrett, I heard there¡¯s quite a few of them here.¡± ¡°Shut up Leon, we haven¡¯t even seen a single wolf since we got in here.¡± ¡°...I hope you know that¡¯s just because of how loud we all are boss¡­¡± ¡°Really now Brian?¡± ¡°Saw a few wolf trails back there, but they were pretty old so they were probably long gone.¡± ¡°......¡± ¡°We have twelve of us here anyways, a few wolves aren¡¯t any threat.¡± ¡°......¡± ¡°Well, eleven now.¡± ¡°......¡± ¡°So what do we do now boss?¡± ¡°We should go look for him, I suppose. Let¡¯s split up into groups of two and start searching.¡± ¡°We have eleven people though?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, I¡¯ll go by myself. We¡¯ll all come back here by tomorrow evening, alright?¡± ¡°Oh, and make sure to bring back either of their heads if you find them and they¡¯re dead.¡± ¡°Ehh, really? Seems like a lot of extra work to me.¡± ¡°If word gets to the Earl that someone escaped, we all might as well be dead already.¡± ¡°...I guess you¡¯re right¡­¡± ¡°What do we do if we don¡¯t find either of them?¡± ¡°We can figure it out when it comes to that.¡± ¡°Hope we find them soon so we can get out of this place.¡± ¡°Agreed, it¡¯s too dark in here for my liking.¡± ¡°Well, what are we waiting for? Let¡¯s get going. The faster we go, the faster we leave.¡± ¡°¡°¡±¡±Right!¡±¡±¡±¡± Chapter 9 ¡°......???? ¡­...????? ?????¡± The human in front of me said, while swaying dangerously. How surprising. To think it was able to move, despite being battered to that extent? I am truly curious as to how it managed to do that. Even though it was completely unresponsive for so long, it not only awoke, but managed to travel to here alone? When the sun rose, there was still no sign that the human would be waking anytime soon. Waiting for it to regain consciousness for quite some time, I had spent quite a while before realizing something important. Humans required food and water, no? If they did not eat and drink, they would perish. How could I forget something as simple as that? If it perished, then I would have lost another important resource. Food and liquid, of which I had neither. So I would have to go and look for it. However, there were no water sources that I had found in this forest, aside from the lake where I landed. Nor did I have any confidence that I wouldn¡¯t poison the human by giving it something inedible. My next best available option was¡­ that¡¯s right. The other human, being left alone on the ground for a whole night, had turned cold and stiff. Because there were no wounds on its body, the blood could be said to have been perfectly retained. Blood...could probably be ingested, right? And is also largely made up of water. I had debated for a bit on whether or not to feed the dying human with blood, and eventually decided to go with it. The worst scenario was that the human would simply die. I had no wish for that to happen, but, If I did not take any action at all, it would die anyways. Therefore, I reasoned, would there any difference if I did not try in the first place? It was a bit far, about a few minute¡¯s walk away, but I ended up going there anyways. I had taken a somewhat sharp rock, and holding it against the corpse¡¯s neck, stabbed it a few times. It had taken a few clumsy tries, and even though it was hard and messy, I managed to open up a wound and let it trickle into a wooden cup that I had gotten from the body. Because I did not know if ingesting blood would be healthy for the human, I had only taken a small amount.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Hopefully, this would be enough for the it to survive on for a few more days. And then, when I was about to head back, I heard something. ¡°......???? ¡­...?? ??? ?????¡± When I turned around, I saw the human, who was on the ground earlier. I did not expect this to happen, not even remotely. I was a bit shocked, but that was all. Since it was already here, I could save some time. When I got up though, its face turned pale and it started shivering. Was there something wrong? Perhaps it was from blood loss? Or maybe it had gotten an infection? That would be quite a serious obstacle as I had no data on medical practices. It would be best if that wasn¡¯t the case. Maybe it was starving? However, it started shaking even more when I held out the cup of blood, and even took a few steps back. Was there something wrong? Hm. It seemed like I was incorrect? Perhaps the blood was not edible. When it once again expressed its unwillingness to take the cup that I had offered, I placed it on the ground as I had no more need of it. Now what? Since it had already awoken, I no longer had the need to help it feed itself. I suppose, I should try to communicate with it, right? However, I was somewhat troubled as to what I should say. I decided it was important to know whether or not it could understand me. And so, for the first time since I had come to this place, I opened my mouth, and spoke. ¡°Do you, understand the words, of this one?¡± The only reaction I got in response was a blank face. I repeated it, slower, in case that it didn¡¯t hear me properly, but there was still no sign that my intentions were getting across. I had realized that language would be a problem early on, but I didn¡¯t know how I could resolve it. It had also not been a pressing issue, so I had not thought much about it. How to figure out this dilemma? However, then, there was another sound. ¡°??? ??¦Ñ? ???¦Ñ ?¦Õ?¦Õ?¡± While I had been immersed in my thoughts, the human approached a bit closer and said something. I could not understand what it wanted, neither were there any body gestures to hint at what it was saying. It seemed to realize it as well, and, bending down, took a stick from the ground and started to drag it through the dirt. As a crude picture started to form, I recognized it as where I had landed. The lake, yes, I could see that. And the trees around it too. Flowers, and the rocks, this was the lake without doubt. Bending back up, the human, pointed at the picture and then pointed in a direction, then back to the picture. I see. The human wanted to go to the lake. However, the direction it was pointing in was inaccurate, by an angle of about 37.26 degrees. I raised my own arm, and then pointed in the correct direction of the lake. Indicating that it was the location of the picture it had drawn. The human paused for a bit, then started walking, carefully skirting around the growing pool of blood. When it had passed me and walked down a bit, it turned its head and looked at me inquisitively. I pointed at myself and shook my head, indicating that I would not follow. I myself would not be able to make it there yet, as my reserves were a bit low. I estimated that it would take at least six more hours before I had enough energy to make it there safely. It seemed to understand that I wanted to stay, and then turned back around. So, as the human headed on towards the lake, I went back to the clearing and found the optimal spot for the fastest recharge time. In order to communicate, I would have to learn the language of the people here. Not only that, there were still a great many things that I did not know. A guide, I truly did need a guide in this strange place. I hope the human doesn¡¯t die, I told myself, before laying down and going to ¡®sleep¡¯ in the clearing. It would be quite hard to find another one.
In another part of the forest. ¡°H-Help, we need help!¡± ¡°These shitty things just keep coming!¡± ¡°We have to get out of here!¡± ¡°But what about the oth-¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter if we die! They ca-, wait, what¡¯s that!?¡± ¡°W-We can¡¯t fight that! That¡¯s a gi-¡± ¡°A-Alton! Damn it! Anyone! Is anyone there!? G-Get away! Ai-¡± ¡°.................¡± ¡°.................¡± The forest, which had been filled with noises and chaos just before, was now eerily silent. ¡°.................¡± ¡°.................¡± Tap. ???? ??¦Ø??¦Ø???¦Ø ???????, ????????? ????? ????? ????? ??????? Tap. ¦Õ???? ???? ???????, ????? ???? ?????? ??? ??,?. Tap. ????. The sound of rustling leaves broke the silence. And it continued until it got farther away and then faded. In the dim light of the forest, only the spilled blood on the ground indicated the events that had taken place here. Chapter 10 Days passed by quickly in a blur, and soon it had already been a full twelve days since I went back to the lake. Wounded and malnourished, the human had also rested here during that time. The human¡¯s arm had gotten infected and started to swell a deep angry red, but after a some time and treatment, it had calmed down. It treated it by cutting open its shoulder a few times to let pus drain out, then bandaged it with a poultice made of the grasses that were found in the lake and several other plants around the area. Of course, I had been the one to walk into the lake to gather it, as the human¡¯s ability to swim was severely impaired. After a full twelve days, it seemed the human had regained most of the function in its left shoulder, and was able to carry out normal tasks and other exercises except for heavy labour. During that time, I had also began to learn a great deal of the native language. The human would draw images in the sand with a stick, and then repeat the word that it represented. Since I only needed to hear words a few times to memorize it, the progress that I made was astonishingly fast. There were some mistakes in my understanding, but all of them were quickly fixed and the data overwritten when the human corrected me. And, after all that time, we were then prepared to leave the forest and head over to its habitation area. The human had stocked up on food and water, while I had maxed out on my energy reserves. According to it, the journey would take a little under seven days normally. However, the human wanted to avoid people like the one who had attacked it, of which I learned there were several others. So it decided to take a longer, more roundabout path that was safer, but took more time. Because of that, the journey was predicted to take about three days longer than it normally would¡¯ve. At the speed the human was traveling right now, I estimated that I would be able to travel for about fifteen days at the same speed that the human was at right now. Assuming there were no urgent situations, I would need about two-thirds of my energy to complete the trip. So far, we had traveled for five days and we had encountered no obstacles as of yet. Since the human traveled very cautiously, the amount that we spent actually covering land amounted to less than ten hours a day. During the night, the human would hide in the trees, and then would spend four or so hours during the day to sleep and rest. I had initially believed that it would take two-thirds of my energy to travel for ten days since I had thought we would be traveling without any rest. However, if it took ten days at this pace with constant breaks, then I would up less than half of what was previously approximated. The human¡¯s food supplies were also being managed carefully. ¡°???, do you want sure not to eat?¡± Of course, I had other tasks to complete, such as completing the file on what I had simply titled ¡®Foreign Language #01¡¯. I could understand the basic meaning of the sentences the human said now, but not to the point where we could communicate flawlessly. For example, I knew that the sentence it had said pertained to the consumption of food, but I don¡¯t know exactly what it meant. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. From the context, I believed it had asked a question, and from the way it had food in its palm, I believe that the human had asked if I would eat. To which I replied, ¡°This one, does not require sustenance in the form of organic material.¡± To me, it sounded like a normal sentence, but to the human, most of it probably sounded like a jumble of incoherent words that it didn¡¯t understand, so I shook my head to make my meaning clear. I did not need food. I did not need water. I did not need many things that humans did. We had many a conversation while trekking through the forest, both to alleviate the human¡¯s boredom and to help finish compiling my database. It was a mutually beneficial action for both parties. Right now, it was almost the night of the fifth day, so we were a little over halfway through the journey. At least, according to the human. As the ¡®day¡¯ turned dark, we made a stop. The human, or ¡®??????¡¯ as it claimed was its name, once again clambered up a tree for the night. And, once again, I stayed down below on the ground. The human had insisted on me following it for safety purposes, but once I had snapped several branches in my attempts, it gave up. If there was something in this forest that could damage this body of mine, then breaking down a tree would not be any problem at all to such an entity. Of course, there was always the element of being hidden if you were in a tree, which could be an important factor sometimes. However, this only applied to living, organic creatures, which did not include myself. I could simply lay in a bush in the dark with my systems offline. No heat would be emitted from my body, nor would there be unconscious movements. In this dark forest, especially at night, there would be no possible way for me to be detected as I would be an inanimate object. In this way, both mine and the human¡¯s safety were taken care of when night fell, during which the human claimed monsters and predators would prowl. I was a bit disappointed. If not for the fact that I should conserve energy, then I would have taken the chance to build up my database. Any information that I could accrue would be important in determining the environmental habitat here. There were many other things which I also had to complete, but I could not undertake any of them at this moment. So, I powered off all unnecessary systems, and entered what the human referred to as ¡®sleep.¡¯
The golem was actually quite intelligent, almost terrifyingly so. The golem, which he thought had been left behind at the lake, had actually once again reappeared. Calvin was scared out of his mind when he saw it covered in blood and cutting open a corpse. And then it tried to hand him a cup of fucking blood, as if it wanted him to drink it. That thing...was definitely not human. It didn¡¯t even need to eat or drink, as Calvin had not seen it do so once, and had been rejected when he had tentatively offered some of his own. It was likely powered by mana, as all other golems were. At least, that¡¯s what he heard from the traders and travelers that had passed through his village. However...what was he going to do with it? Perched in a tree for over six hours, Calvin had a lot of time to let his thoughts drift and wander. How would his parents react to the golem? Would it be safe to bring it back in the first place? Despite its strange behaviors and appearance, Calvin decided to treat it as a human on account of its intelligence. He had to admit, it was quite alarming how quickly it learned. In the timeframe of slightly less than half a month, it had already learned a sizeable portion of the common tongue. Compared to before, when it had asked a question that Calvin could not understand at all, the improvements it showed was shocking. When it had first asked a question, he was shocked that it could speak at all in the first place. When it had formed its first recognizable sentence, he was once again shocked. It seems that communication...would no longer be a problem in the near future. However, there were many other issues to consider when bringing a metal golem back. Would it be able to work? When would it break, if ever? Would the village elders confiscate it from him? Would someone try to steal it? Calvin dismissed the last one, as it was improbable that someone would be able to carry the whole thing. But what if someone wanted the metal and took off parts of it? Questions, uncertainties, problems, concerns, issues, difficulties, queries¡­. There were so many things to think about, too many things to wonder about. So, in a dark forest, a brown-haired village youth let his mind wander.