G.E.S.S.: Genetically Engineered Super Soldier

by Frank Pisauro

  ***

  A week and a few days later, I reached journeyman rank. In that time, Tabby kept watch until she needed a rest, then we would take turns resting before I would go back to work. I kept the fire going all the time, stopping only to eat, drink, or relieve myself. Thankfully, Tabby would bring edible fruits, vegetables, and nuts from the forest. In that time, I started to get a feel for the metal, along with the magic I was using to shape it.

  Mystical weaponsmithing (J): 18 learned + 7 class skill points (25)

  ●Novice Perk: Spell slots count double for crafting. Weapon produced automatically of Good quality.

  ●Journeyman Perk: Crafting speed increased by 50%. Has a chance to create Excellent quality weapons.

  Yes, finally! I mentally jumped for joy. Standing up, I took a moment to stretch out the sore muscles I acquired from sitting uncomfortably on the ground, or when that became uncomfortable the log. Doing a few laps around the dying fire to get my blood flowing, I shaped the titanium into a sphere. The increase in skill rank already showed a side benefit, allowing me to channel ion control without using spell slots when I wasn’t actively making a weapon. This let me keep the metal in its liquid form, as I folded the metal sphere into itself over and over as I did my laps. I held it in front of my face, as close as I could bear anyway. The metal moved around like a lava lamp, and just as hot as the real thing.

  I didn’t even need the design of the sword in my head anymore, it was just ingrained into my being, and somehow, the metal’s as well. Wow, I need a break. I am starting to think the metal is thinking, I shook my head, deciding to take a break to get cleaned up in the river.

  Once I had washed, I ate a quick meal before getting back to it. I concentrated on the magic, letting it flow through the metal, using all the techniques I had learned during my time mastering my craft. Thanks to being a journeyman, I was able to restore my spell slots while maintaining a connection to the metal, keeping my work from being spoiled while I meditated. After a few hours, my sword was finally finished. I had forged a perfect copy of my old long sword, except for two things. One, the handle was all metal, textured for a no-slip grip. Thank you very much. Two, it was almost a glowing, white gold color. From its tip to its razor edge, to its weighted pommel, the color was the same. It is glorious, I thought, inspecting the long sword.

  You have crafted a long sword!

  Mystical weaponsmithing: + 7

  Long sword:

  ●Titanium alloy (Mithril): This weapon is more durable than steel and sharper than obsidian.

  ●Mystically forged: This weapon is steeped in magic and can channel spells without taking durability damage.

  ●Quality: Excellent

  ●Durability: N/A this weapon cannot be damaged!

  I had a little under half a day before our rest cycle, so I was determined to finish the remaining weapons for Tabby’s return. Though, I took a moment to bask in the achievement. I had done it! All I had to do was look at the sword to know that the time invested in learning the craft was well worth it. Plus, beginners luck kicked in, the sword was excellent quality. I walked over to the fire where I had put the remaining loot items. I might have kicked the lucky Tabby Cat’s foot into the fire by accident, yeah that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. Picking up a second chunk of metal, I walked back to the log and sat down. I forged a sheath that perfectly fit my sword while absentmindedly thinking about what kind of mace to make Tabby. The sheath had no stats, but I didn’t mind as it fit my sword perfectly. It was the same golden white as the sword, I had also included small loops of the metal on either side of the sheath’s opening to be able to attach it to my belt. Standing up, I used my armor’s belt to support my sword, grinning like a madman the whole time. I looked at the last two metal orbs, tightened my belt, then went to work on finishing the task I had been given.

  You have crafted a simple staff!

  Mystical weaponsmithing: + 2

  Simple staff:

  ●Titanium alloy (Mithril): this weapon is more durable than steel, and sharper than obsidian.

  ●Mystically forged: This weapon is steeped in magic and can channel spells without taking durability damage.

  ●Quality: Good

  ●Durability: N/A this weapon cannot be damaged!

  You have crafted a bladed mace!

  Mystical weaponsmithing: + 3

  Bladed mace:

  ●Titanium alloy (Mithril): This weapon is more durable than steel, and sharper than obsidian.

  ●Mystically forged: This weapon is steeped in magic and can channel spells without taking durability damage.

  ●Quality: Good

  ●Durability: N/A this weapon cannot be damaged!

  The bladed mace was ridiculously cool looking, with four five-inch-long, vertical blades spaced evenly around the flattened ball top. Each blade curved down from the ball end of the mace, extending further the closer to the top of the ball you got, while tapering away when reaching the shaft. I flattened the top of the ball of the mace for no other reason than I liked the way it looked. The mace was the same beautiful white golden color as my sword. I made it a little longer than my forearm, but not by much. With my signature grip, a double fist sized business end, it was undoubtedly lethal.

  The staff was the same as the one Tabby had made, with the addition of the textured grip in the middle. I figured it was an efficient way to carry around the last piece of titanium. Okay, I admit I wanted to see if I could do it too, I chuckled to myself.

  I was setting about cooking dinner when Tabby returned, so I asked her to watch the meat for a few minutes while I freshened up. Got to find a way to carry more supplies. It’s no guarantee we’ll run into food on our journey or have the time to process it.

  “Great work! I knew you could do it.” Tabby said on my return. She was sitting on the log admiring her new mace, smiling like the cat who got the cream. “I really like my mace, and... well never mind,” she was blushing, her smile not changing. After a few seconds, she calmed down, turning to look at me with confusion in her eyes. “Why did you make a staff?” she moved on, not wanting to discuss whatever it was she was about to say to me, yet still clearly curious.

  “Well, I don’t have a way of comfortably carrying a chunk of metal around all day, so… Ta-da. Walking stick,” I said, picking it up and holding it out from me, while waving my other hand up and down the staff like a showcase showgirl from a now ancient television show from my home world.

  “You look ridiculous,” Tabby shook her head at me, but I could see her fighting not to laugh at my antics.

  I ignored her, continuing, “Plus, I can channel spells through it... so not completely useless either,” I shrugged, putting the staff down. Taking a seat on the log, I kept talking, “alright, well let’s see about dinner.” Checking the meat, I shrugged, deciding it was good enough. Dragging it off the fire, I split it in two, handing Tabby a portion of it.

  I was glad for something to do other than talk as the silence was starting to get awkward. We hadn’t really had the opportunity to get to spend a lot of time with each other yet, this being the longest conversation we’d had in days. It was weird though. At times, I felt that I knew her better than my old squad from her time as the system. Other times, I felt she was someone I had just met. This is going to take a while to get used to, I thought. With a sigh, I ate my “cooked meat”, while we sat on opposite ends of the log, thinking our thoughts.

  Chapter Ten

  Getting ready to head out on our quest, I paused, looking down at the remainder of the meat Tabby had hunted, I assume she hunted it, anyway, I shrugged, moving on from that thought. “Damn shame I can’t take you with us,” I mumbled under my breath.

  “What was that?” Tabby asked, smiling mischievously. I repeated my mumbled statement, nodding my head at the meat. “I can place it in my bag of holding if you want. What? Why are you staring at me like that?”

  “You have a bag of holding that’s why!” I said, eye
s wide as I stared jealously at her. “Not like I should be surprised, really,” I muttered to myself.

  “You’re right, you shouldn’t be,” she said, giving me the stink eye.

  “Sorry, still getting used to your tricks,” I said the word in air quotes that she didn’t bother to look back to see, “…as you put them. And yes, would you please store the meat in your bag?”

  She smirked, “Already done.” I glared at the back of her head. Still, I was thankful we didn’t need to turn around to get it. Having reached the edge of the forest, I stopped, briefly looking back up to the cave that led of my tomb before we continued into the forest. Well off on another adventure, hopefully this one will end happily.

  “So, who are we going to help first?” I asked as we started to travel a well-worn game trail, Tabby leading the way a few steps ahead of me.

  “Well, the sun elves are the closest, plus, they are in dire need of help,” she informed me, looking back at me over her shoulder as we continued walking through the forest. “A tribe of wereboars have started to hunt them for food. Before you ask, no they aren’t a sentient race… they are sort of an experiment gone wrong.” She waved it off, “it doesn’t matter, they turned out to be monsters.” Tabby semi-explained, while shaking her head in disgust.

  “Why are you doing this? Before you start, yes, I heard you before, but isn’t there anything more to it all?” I asked, curiosity mixed with suspicion creeping into my voice. She just shrugged, keeping her pace ahead of me.

  The forest was dense, though not impenetrably so. Still, it made for slow going, beautiful, but repetitive, it lost a lot of its charm after the first few miles. We headed southwest. Yet without knowing where we were going, or how far it was, I had no idea how to judge our progress. Our Gess bodies were able to endure physical exertion for long periods without fatigue, making it so we could travel farther without needing to stop for breaks.

  The trail widened some, allowing us to start jogging. Talking occasionally about whatever popped into our minds, we kept a steady pace throughout the day. We traveled this way for three days, resting, eating, stopping for nature whenever needed, or if an extraordinarily beautiful part of the forest revealed itself before she answered my question about why.

  “Nanites…” she started. We were sitting on a large rock next to a stream. We had stopped to get a drink, resting for a few moments when she started speaking. “We… it is not coming out right.” She huffed, staring at the stream in front of us. “As far back as my species,” Tabby paused, looking me challengingly in the eye. Satisfied, she continued, “…has existed, we have tried to find ways to survive. The further we expanded, the more we realized,” here she paused for a second, breathing deeply. “The strong survive,” she brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping one arm around them, while picking up a smooth stone with the other. “So, we created what you refer to as ‘the system’. Its main purpose was—hell, to an extent still is—to give the strong a way to become stronger, while in return we too become stronger.” Skipping the stone across the stream, she stood up, wiping her hands on her pants. “Along the way, we realized a second truth,” she spoke reverently, her voice solemn, “life finds a way.” Another pause, as she just stood there remembering something long past. “The first century or two the system was in place… well, it didn’t go as planned. The strong won alright,” she laughed mirthlessly, “but at the cost of billions of lives. Still, life struggled on, and in the least expected places would even thrive.” Tabby shook her head in amazement, “some of the ways life beat back death’s embrace, it baffled me.” Tabby looked me in the eye, her hair blowing slightly in the gentle breeze, a confused, yet determined look in her eye, while at the same time on the verge of tears as she recalled some ancient atrocity.

  “We, the system that is, changed then. Quests were altered, issued for the first time to promote a balance. An equilibrium was established between the different classes, the first set of rules were established, and life started to be referred to as a game. After a while, a peace was reached,” she sighed. “It didn’t last, it never does. Still, a way to survive the unforgivable chaos of life was found,” Tabby glanced at me with a complicated expression on her face that I couldn’t quite figure out. Something between sadness, hope, and worry, and yet not quite any of them. “From that point on, the number one priority for all swarms was to protect and advance life.” Tabby paused, looking me in the face, studying my reaction to everything she had said as she continued. “The system just decided to do so, by hiding that fact within all the shit, sorry, notifications it throws at you all the time. It is our… survival imperative to do so. I guess that would be one way to put it.” Tabby shrugged as she finished.

  “Those geneticists who developed the Gess really had no idea what they had accomplished.” Tabby changed the subject, or so I thought. “Your race was the first in our, my, history to be able to communicate with us.

  The raw potential your race had, it reminded me of those first years and the balancing all over again. The planet was dying. The war,” she spat the word, “had taken our purpose away. I thought I was going to die for good you know,” Tabby looked me in the eyes, tears that were threatening before spilling down her face, the rest of what she had to say coming out as a whisper. “You were my favorite. You would just talk to me, not worship, be indifferent, or hate me. I took a desperate chance and fudging of some numbers. Yet in the end, I was able to save your body for when I needed you.” She turned away from me, starting to walk southwest again.

  “Let’s go, we have a long journey ahead, and I really want elves to exist in this new world.” There was a lot I wanted to say, a lot I wanted to process, but… Jogging to catch up, I decided to let Tabby talk about it at her own pace.

  ***

  “To your left, we have incoming!”

  “Yeah, yeah. I see them, no worries.” It had been a month and a half since she had shared some of her—former maybe? —species’ underlying motivation, which wasn’t the most pressing detail at the moment, however. A herd of velociraptors were chasing us, had been for the last few hours, and were finally catching us up. Which is disappointing. Stupid Spielberg! Proving them to be rather unintelligent, because after killing five, while not even slowing down, they just kept coming.

  “Fuck it.” I stopped running. Turning around, I rolled sideways. Coming up inside the reach of the lead velociraptor, I activated my quick strike ability, topping it with precision strike.

  Quick strike: A lightning-fast strike that is unavoidable but does not guarantee damage. An example of such is hitting an opponent’s armor. Can be used with precision strike. If used with precision strike, critical damage possible.

  Precision strike (skill):

  Adds a five percent increase of critical hit chance per skill level. Damage is modified by dex score.

  I looked over the information, the prompts semi-blocking the sight of viscera pouring out of the now eviscerated raptor. My sword sliced through the raptors’ tissue with ease, not even causing a slight slowdown in my movements. I jumped back, my haste/feather fall combo managing to send me in a nine-foot-long, six-foot-high backward arc, away from the last two velociraptors. They stopped in front of their downed brethren, snapping their jaws at it, before turning to focus on me. Saliva dripping from their mouths, they started forward again. Taking advantage of the situation, I tossed a Dense Star in the middle of the three. The raptors struggled against it, but it was useless, they just didn’t have the mass or speed to escape.

  EXP Earned: 3000

  EXP Total: 18,680

  EXP Until Next Level: 12,320

  Character sheet:

  Name: Rho

  Race: Gess

  Class: Combat Sorcerer

  Level: 5

  Total Experience: 18,680

  Age: 3,573

  Base speed: 30’/s

  Weight: 220lb

  Spell Slots:24/24

  Healing factor: 10in^3 × con bonus (3) =
30in^3 per min.

  Thirty cubic inches.

  Maximum achieved.

  Attributes:

  Strength: 12 + 1 (13)

  Dexterity: 16

  Constitution: 16

  Intelligence: 16

  Wisdom: 16

  Charisma: 18

  Class Skills:

  Manipulate gravity: 7

  Dense star(N): 6 + 4 (10)

  ●Novice Perk: Bigger is better.

  ○Bigger is better: Doubles the radius of the star. Doubling the pull on movement speed, but halves the overall effect area.

  Haste/Slow: 6

  Ion control(N): 19

  ●Novice Perk: Shocking

  ○Shocking: Allows individual to use electricity. Can fire weak bolts of electricity.

  Telepathy: 3

  Shapeshifting(N): 3 + 7 (10)

  ●Novice Perk: Going native.

  ○Going native: Can perfectly match any traditionally bipedal race’s appearance. Includes all sensory input/output.

  Perception (N): 3 + 7 (10)

  ●Novice Perk: Eye for magic.

  ○Eye for magic: Your magical vision is now sharper, letting you see clearer, with more depth and understanding.

  Precision strike: 4