I open my eyes and then immediately close them as I am blinded by bright lights. I try slowly opening my eyes and the world comes into focus. I am in an infirmary again, in a medical pod. The thick sheet of protective glass is above me and I try to reach out for it.
Then I realize my right arm is missing, I try to move my right leg, and it is also missing. I feel very tired, my soul must be drained. It's a horrible feeling, like a part of myself is missing, sacrificed to serve a greater purpose. I suppose this is the price I had to pay, perhaps I should be more careful of accepting burdens and such from random voices in my head. However, that would be less fun and crazy, so perhaps not.
The air doesn't have aether in it, so I must be in the basecamp. I wonder how much trouble I'm going to be in, hopefully not too much. Maybe Violet will even carry me in her arms, that would be nice.
The glass retracts and an older looking woman peeks inside at me. “It seems the hero has awoken.” She presses some button on the side of the pod and I am raised into a sitting position. She must be a doctor of some form.
“So uh, what happened while I was out?” I shift around a bit and end up falling over. She has to help me sit back up.
“Not much, your comrades managed to stabilize you and brought you back to the camp. As for what will happen to you, I don't know. We were able to start the growth of new connecting tissue for an arm and leg, but we lack the facilities here to fully regrow limbs.” She moves to the door. “Ill go inform them that you are awake, there were some pretty interesting folks with nice badges that wanted to speak to you.”
It makes sense that they can't fix all injuries in a basecamp. They probably only have basic machines. I can't imagine it is a good idea to scatter super expensive medical equipment across a hostile planet. The stump of my arm and leg tingle a little bit, probably that connecting tissue she was talking about.
It seems like it will be a moment, so I decide to check out the last system message I got before passing out. Apparently I've got some new skills to choose, maybe I can get something cool to show Violet.
It seems each path has given me two options to choose from.
[Select A New Skill For Scout Path]
[Lethal Strike]: your next strike is drastically strengthened and guaranteed to be a critical hit. The damage bonus is added onto the 2x bonus from a critical hit.
Damage Bonus: x4 (+0.1/Lvl)
Aether Cost: 150 (+10/Lvl)
Cooldown: 10 minutes (-20 seconds/Lvl)
Unlock Requirements: 75 Agility, 75 Perception, Lvl 100 Scout
Skill Evolves at Level 150
[Trace Clues]: You are able to notice subtle clues that would otherwise go unnoticed. This can allow you to trace an enemy, or to spot traps before they can be sprung.
Aether Cost: 100 (+5/Lvl)
Duration: 2.5 Minutes (+15 seconds/Lvl)
Cooldown: None
Unlock Requirements: 90 Perception, 80 Intelligence, Lvl 100 Scout
Skill Evolves at Level 100
[Select A New Skill For Mage Path]
[Fire Focus]: You have gained significant skill with fire runes. You are now able to cast spells involving fire runes with less cost and to greater effect.
Fire Damage: +50% (+2%/Lvl)
Fire Rune Mana Cost: x0.9 (-0.01/Lvl, Minimum x0.25)
Unlock Requirements: One rote spell that is 90% or more fire runes, Lvl 100 Mage
[Meditate]: Increase mana regeneration, however agility is reduced to 5% of maximum value while active. This effect is multiplicative after other bonuses. The duration can be controlled at will, however the bonus scales to the maximum over thirty seconds.
Meditation Mana Regeneration Increase: x1.2 (+0.05/Lvl)
Unlock Requirements: Mana Capacity 50, Intelligence 75, Mage Lvl 100
I step back mentally and think about things rationally. [Lethal Strike] is very tempting, after all damage is cool and awesome. But I feel like my magic already gives me quite a bit of damage potential. Plus, [Trace Clues] says something about traps, and I feel like it would be good to avoid such things. So, I select [Trace Clues].
For magic, I don't think specializing is too great of an idea right now. If Moxie is any indication, it seems like combining different types of runes can be very powerful. But I have yet to really practice much with other magic types, and having more mana regeneration will allow me to do that far more easily. When I am studying, I'm not really concerned with moving. So meditation is also a way of boosting how fast I can increase my stats and knowledge.
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Plus, as a failsafe I can always hang back with Moxie and use the extra mana to lob a bunch of long range attacks. So, I select [Meditate].
Next up, I have gained a lot of levels. I'm already above level 110 in both paths, and Lemon is making pretty good progress too. I haven't been spending my stat points as I have been focusing on the battle. As a result, many of my stats are getting close to the caps, but now that I have 174 unallocated points, I should put them into something. It will give me something to train towards in the future.
I put 50 into aether capacity, and then I put about 25 into vitality, intelligence, perception, endurance and strength. My limits are now looking a bit more balanced. Which is good, because some of my stats were starting to lag behind my primary ones. I think such a thing is fine to an extent, but I don't want to become a glass cannon or be unable to run for long enough when I need to.
Makarious Ileon [Lvl 124 Scout / Lvl 112 Mage / Lemon Lvl 98]
Resources
Health: 110/245
Stamina: 225/225
Aether: 1075/1075
Mana: 1950/1950
Stats
0 unallocated points
Vitality: 49/77
Strength: 47/77
Endurance: 45/77
Perception: 92/126
Dexterity: 91/167
Agility: 97/167
Intelligence: 92/132
Mana Control: 27/46
Mana Capacity: 78/155
Aether Control: 18/26
Aether Capacity: 43/93
The instant I finish looking at my stats, three people in very fancy white suits enter the room. Their white hair is slicked back, and they are wearing a pair of slightly shaded glasses that seem to be overlaid with lots of information. At their hips they have pretty nasty looking pistols holstered, and I would expect that to not be their only weapon.
One of them, a shorter woman, steps forward. “Greetings Cadet Ilemon. We are with the Traver Military Investigatory Corps.” She pulls out a badge from her front pocket, it reads ‘Agent Allie’. It is very fancy, it looks like it is made out of a giant sapphire. Not something your average military officer has, these guys must be super special. “Your actions as of late have drawn a lot of attention, it's not every day that a cadet manages to unleash such a massive amount of power.” She pauses for a moment and her blue eyes scan over me. “Thus, we must request that you come with us for certain integratory procedures. We assure you, it will be mostly painless if you comply.”
I am no expert in bad situations, but this seems to be a bad situation in my opinion. Just as I open my mouth to speak, there is a commotion outside of the room. Then, Tien strides into the room, looking super serious and stuff. She takes one glance at me, and then at the agents and quickly moves into action.
“Pardoon me, officers. I will be administering the interrogation for Cadet Ilemon.” She pulls out a data shard and hands it to them. “The order is right here, directly from the High Imperial Court.”
“Po..ntiean.” The agent sputters, and then sinks into a low bow. Not too low of course – Tien may be super cool, but there is still a stratum difference. “Yes, of course, we shall be on our way.” She turns to look at me, there is a look of disappointment in her eyes. I think it's good that she is disappointed, I doubt I would like my situation if she was happy. “Cadet, hopefully we will get a chance to chat at some point in the future, I look forward to it.” She smiles creepily at me. If there is one thing that I can be certain of, it is that I do not want to ‘chat’ with her.
As they walk out of the room, one of the guys lets a scowl slip onto his face for a moment. Tien comes to stand next to my pod. “Whew, that was close. Good thing they didn't check that data chip, cause it was completely empty. Can't believe they fell for that trick.” She laughs loudly and slaps the nearby wall, leaving a small dent.
I just stare at her for a few moments. Then I remember that I should speak. “Uh, thanks I think? Who were those people?”
“People from the military. They investigate oddities, like yourself. Then they whisk said oddities away to be ‘interrogated.’ Though, there are many horror stories about what exactly happens in such interrogations, as you can imagine.” She takes a seat next to my pod, ignoring the wall she just dented.
“Well then, thanks a lot. I can't exactly move well at the moment. How are the others?”
She laughs. “Youve been out for a few days, so naturally they have been worried. You know, you really should try not to traumatize your squadmates, it's bad for morale.” She motions to my missing arm and leg. “We are due to ship out from this place tomorrow, a whole day early so that you can get treated. The riftliner has the necessary facilities, so don't worry about being a cripple.”
“It could be cool to try out a peg leg. I could even get a hook for a hand. Though I would have to lose an eye if I want to justify an eyepatch.”
“Ha, good to see you haven't changed a bit. Despite what the fuck you just experienced. By the way, I will need you to explain that.”
“Oh, right. Well it's nothing much, I just spoke with the nature of space and got a new skill and stuff. He was very weird, and as you can see, the skill has a hefty price.” I tell close to the truth, but keeping in mind what the note said, I don't tell her everything.
“Oh, yes of course just.. What the actual fuck, Maka?”
“Trust me, that is what I am thinking too. On another note, I hit level 100 in both my paths and got some fancy new skills.”
“Thats awesome. But for now, let's get you out of this place. We’ve gotta go open the augment and gear crates. The others decided to wait for you.” Then, she wraps her arms around me and picks me up, as though I weigh nothing.
“Oi, what are you doing?!” I exclaim as she carries me out of the room.
“Well, I am carrying you of course.” She seems way too happy about this. “Its not like you can walk.”
“I didn't agree to this. This is unfair! Mishandling a disabled person I say!” I pout. I wish it was Violet carrying me. Though she might drop me on purpose, I bet it would be wonderful. Well, that is if she actually carries me where I am supposed to go, I could imagine she would dump me in some random dumpster and walk away. As a result, I would get to see that cute scowl of hers, so it might not be so bad.
We stop at a door that says ‘Squadron Quarters 52.’ I hear some laughter on the other side, must be Liv if I can hear it through the door. Then, I come to a realization.
I can't move, thus Liv might just kill me with one of her hugs. A truly grim fate awaits me.
Next Chapter: A Shiny Red Nose
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