by Noam Oswin
Anything that didn’t further that should be tossed aside.
[Seventh Sense – Incoming Collision!]
My body spun on instinct, weaving out of the way at the last second of bumping into the person in front of me. It’s just one thing after another today.
“Are you alright?”
Three things drew my attention. The person was wearing a uniform that Neo’s memory told me only belonged to Generals. The person was floating, my gaze calculated that it was five inches above the ground. The person was female. The person’s skin was white as snow, and their hair, to my utter and complete disbelief, was all seven colors of the rainbow.
[Undisputed Master of the Electromagnetic Spectrum]
[Lieutenant General of the Alhamisian Adventurer Army]
[Commander of the Seven Amendments]
Human Champion
Luxeme Vi Engarde
Lv. ?
I didn’t move. I didn’t breathe. I didn’t speak. Luxeme’s heterochromatic eyes were constantly changing in color. Red and green, then blue and yellow, then purple and black, then white and red.
“Ah, didn’t see you there.” Her voice was a pitch higher than I expected. I placed her age from it and her appearance. Mid-twenties at the very latest.
“Silly me, have so much on my mind. But I can’t go around bumping into recruits… no no, Lux, don’t bump into the recruits. Cause then they’ll freeze up, and then they’ll start apologizing, and some of them start to wet themselves and ah – this and that and this.”
I didn’t trust myself to speak. Would it be suspicious to not say something, anything? Would it be more suspicious to end up saying something, something that revealed my identity as a nightmare?
“Hey, you…”
My breath hitched as her eyes narrowed.
“You have such smooth skin!”
“Thank… you?”
“Can I touch it?”
“I would rather you didn’t.”
She blinked at me. A laugh tore from her lips. “Wow! You refused!”
We seemed to be drawing a small scene. Several soldiers were looking in my direction, more than I was comfortable with. I don’t need an audience damn it –
“Ah, you’re the shy type! I understand. Let’s fix that.”
She snapped her fingers.
“There! Now – ah – what are you doing?”
Instinct. It was instinct that told me that whenever someone powerful snapped their fingers, I should simply prepare for the worst. Hoplite’s snap summoned a black hole that had engulfed me. When Luxeme snapped her fingers, I dropped to the ground on instinct, preparing for a meteorite or something similar.
“…Ah… I…” Ah, fuck it. “I thought you were going to kill me for a moment there.”
She frowned. “I wouldn’t kill a recruit just because they didn’t let me touch their skin.” She crossed her arms. “Don’t tell me those rumors are still spreading. It was Cori wasn't it? Damn it, Cori, it was just one time!”
There was a story there that I was just dying to know. “I… see.”
I noticed nobody was looking at us anymore. It wasn’t that they were ignoring us. It was as if we weren’t there. They were passing us by, completely as if nothing strange was happening.
“You made us invisible?”
“I noticed how tense you were,” Luxume said, smiling. “I get it. I used to have the worst anxiety. I mean, look at me, I was born with rainbow-colored hair! People kept thinking I dyed it to make myself appear special, but no – they would never believe it’s natural. After a while, the staring got annoying. But like a fairy-godmother, I figured out a way to make it all go away. Just refract the angles of light accurately enough – and ta-da! No more stares.”
Refract light to turn invisible?
“If you did that, you wouldn’t have light hit your eyeballs, and wouldn’t be able to see.” The words slipped out of my mouth before I realized who I was talking to.
Luxeme merely waved her hand and laughed. “Someone’s a clever cookie! It used to be that way, true, but you see – my eyes are special.” She pointed to her eyes, the orbs that were flashing with two different colors. “I can see a lot of stuff that normal people can’t. I can also see tons and tons of more colors that most can’t. I can even see through objects!”
Luxume’s eyes stopped changing color. Her left eye turned white. Her right eye turned black. She blinked at me, several times, and I cursed underneath my breath. Did she figure it out –
“Oh wow.” She said, looking up. “You have really large genitals. That’s awesome!”
“…You…” I couldn’t help it. I snickered. I laughed. “Hahaha!”
“Oops! Sorry! I forgot some people don’t like it when I do that.”
“No, no, it’s fine.” I kept my laughter under wraps. She can’t see through my disguise. “Although, if you go around saying things like that, people might get the wrong idea.”
“Wrong idea?” She placed a finger on her lip. “Oh! They’d think I want to have sex with them!”
“That’s the one.”
Luxeme laughed, lightly tapping me against the back.
[CRITICAL DAMAGE TAKEN]
Sweet mother of god –
I resisted the urge to scream to the high heavens from Luxeme’s ‘tap.’
“Don’t be silly, silly! I’d never have sex with someone weak! If I squeezed my legs, you’d snap like a twig! Like snap!”
I could believe it. I could genuinely believe it. Her tap had sent my HP down into the triple digits. This was worrying considering my HP was over six digits normally.
“But hey! You’re pretty interesting. No one thinks about not being able to see when you refract all the light away from you. I learned that lesson the hard way myself. You should have seen me, invisible, stumbling around and shouting ‘I’m blind! I’m bliiiiind!’”
Against my better nature I found my lips turning upwards, all while trying my damned hardest to hide my pain.
“Though, thanks to that experience, I learned to do super cool stuff with my eyes. Now I can just blink and then pew-pew!”
“Pew…pew?” I repeated.
She nodded. “Pew-pew!”
“Pew-pew.”
She can’t seriously be talking about what I think she is…
“Hmm… You’re Neo right? Neo Saintarelli. Looking over your records. Your numbers are still low. You’ve got to work harder Neo! Work hard and one day you might take my number one spot for most nightmares killed! Wouldn’t that be great?”
“Yay.”
“With more enthusiasm!”
“Yay!”
Luxeme laughed. I noticed she did that a lot. She was completely unlike what I expected for the person with the record holder of the most nightmares killed.
This cheerful, hyperactive ball of energy, was the person who had killed more nightmares than anyone else in Alhamisian history.
Good lord she’s perfect.
“Can you…”
“Something wrong?”
“I was just wondering how fast you can go.”
Luxume’s eyes went from black and white to pure white. Her lips turned into a happy smile. “Teleportation is for scrubs.”
Of course it is.
“Oh, oh, you just reminded me that I’m supposed to be somewhere! Ah, damn it, Lux! Don’t forget important meetings!”
This might be my chance – “Lieutenant General Luxeme –”
She waved her hand. “I hate it when I’m called that. It’s Lux. Or Luxe. Or Deluxe when I’m feeling sexy.”
“…” I cleared my throat. “Lux –”
She squealed. “You called me Lux!”
“You said that’s what I should call you!”
“Yes, yes, I tell everyone to do it but no one ever does it! Everyone’s like, no Lt. General Luxeme, that’s too informal or I’m sorry Lt. General Luxume, I can’t do that. You’re the first one to actually do it!”
&nbs
p; Great job, doubt she’ll forget you now. “I wanted to ask about the Planewalker that was detected.”
Luxeme’s eyes flashed red, literally. There was a hint of bloodlust in her gaze that set me on edge. “Oh? Tell me why? Call me curious.”
“I was thinking why a nightmare would ever want to break in, and if we had enough to make sure that if one did get in, they wouldn’t be able to get out.”
“Ooh, ambitious are you? Do you want to track down the Planewalker? Tut tut. To think a newbie recruit wants to hunt my prey.”
My heart skipped a beat. For all the wrong and right reasons.
“Come again?”
Luxeme reached out, patting me on the head. “Don’t worry about it, Neo. We don’t know how the Planewalker got in and out with all of Hop’s anti-space distortion thingamajigs, but it doesn’t matter. Now that Lux is on the job, the naughty nightmare is as good as dead. I’ve never had a nightmare escape me in the fourteen years I’ve been in the AAA, and I certainly won’t start now.”
“That’s great!”
“It is!” she chirped. “Now, you go on and focus on increasing your kill count surviving your First Mission. You’re in the Lance Brigade right? I heard Hop’s got it out for you guys because you guys got the Godscript when you weren’t ready. The First Mission will cut your numbers by more than three quarters, so make sure to confess any lingering crushes and get reimbursed for any outstanding debts!”
“I’ll be sure to remember that.”
“All right!” She snapped her fingers, and I flinched, giving a gritted smile. People passing by jumped away in shock from what must have been to them, our sudden appearance.
“Why are you so scared of finger-snapping?”
“Bad memories.”
“Then be sure to make lots of good ones while here! And try to stay alive Neo!”
In a yellow flash of light, Luxeme was gone. The overwhelming pressure that had been centered on my shoulders lifted and I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I clutching at my mouth to stop myself from drooling because I knew it would make an impossible sight.
Luxeme smelled divine.
There was the scent of something I’d never perceived in my lifetime, but my instincts told me that the scent was the scent of light. I did not understand how light had a smell, but all I knew was that the smell was unearthly.
I want to eat her.
I found it worrying that I had two different meanings in mind when I thought that. Sighing, I shook off the sensation, my lips twitching in amusement from the memory. I made a beeline in a random direction, all the while ignoring the rapid beating of my heart.
Alamir is filled with all sorts of monsters.
And I’d just met the most beautiful one of them all.
Chapter 23: Camaraderie
“You came.”
The time was 15:00 on the 12th day of the month of the Sycophant, 2141AE. Advanced Era, or Automagical Era, as others preferred. It was on this day, against my better judgment, I found myself standing in front of Mess Hall 7 in Sector One-Zero-One, an AAA Training Facility doubling as a major base.
“Disappointed?”
Juma smiled, his shoulders lifting and dropping. “I didn’t think you would.” He gestured in. “Come on. Let’s head in and get some lunch. Though, you look like you could use a drink.”
I thought over my words. “I just met Lt. General Luxeme.”
“Ah,” Juma said. “Let’s make that seven drinks then.”
My lips twitched. “I take it you know what she’s like?”
“I’ve heard the rumors. Two guys from the Saber Division met the Lt. General two weeks ago. They became the Captain and Vice-Captain this week. Their Kill Count went up, unlike anything.” Juma sighed. “The Lt. General doesn’t have a filter. She says whatever she thinks and that’s that. It got out that she said she’d marry whoever could beat her record. The number of collective Kill Counts skyrocketed unlike anything that day alone.”
I couldn’t help the smile that came on my face. “Can’t say I don’t understand.”
Juma hummed. “Still doesn’t mean you can beat her record.”
I sighed. “Give me some alcohol to wash off the bitter sting of my impossible task.”
Juma laughed. “Can’t drink on duty. Have to wait till sundown to get properly sloshed.”
“Food, then. Grant me food as an offering to placate my sorrows.”
“That, we have plenty of. Come on.”
Mess Hall 7 was more beautiful than it had any right to be. Long, spacious corridors. Benches with enough room to sit ten on one side and ten on the other. Chefs in pristine white outfits, complete with hairnets and gloves. Upon entry, my nostrils immediately picked up the smell of different varieties and species of meat and spices. As a Ghilan I was an obligate carnivore like a dog or cat. I could eat other things apart from meat, yes, but I wouldn’t truly get any nutrition from it.
“Hey, Juma!”
“What’s up, Miki?”
“Yo! It’s the Juju-Man himself! Juma!”
“How’ve you been Rico?”
Juma was popular. As we walked further, nearly everyone we passed greeted, waved or invited him to sit over with them. Both people from the Lance Brigade and people from other Brigades. Cadets – the rank above recruit we would get upon completing our First Mission – were especially fond of Juma for some reason. The boy would salute them of course, as order dictated, but anyone could see he was doing it more or less out of a formality than as a requirement.
“What’ll ye have?”
The man at the serving station had a rough, gruff voice that almost reminded me of Wunder. With a scar of his right eye, he pointed to varying foods and cuisine that I’d never seen or heard of before. Thankfully, Neo had, and I searched his memory for help in identification.
“Mr. Hasid, you’re looking better today.”
The scarred man’s face softened as his gaze landed on Juma. “Ah! Juma me boy. It’s all thanks to you. That herbal incense recipe ye gave me worked miracles on me sinuses. Cleared me cold straight right out.”
Juma laughed, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. “It’s nothing at all.”
Hasid shook his head. “Oh come off it. Yer a real helper me boy. Heard from that yer singlehandedly gathered the red bear meat we needed for me Pumpkin Ursa Stew.”
“I just happened to be in the area – and thought it might be of help.”
“Bah, again with the modesty!” Hasid said, laughing. “Just for that, ye can pick any meal ye want. On the house –”
“Oh, no, I really couldn’t.”
“Come on me boy! I insist!”
The back and forth exchange continued until Juma finally acquiesced, leaving me watching the exchange with curiosity. I knew what faux modesty looked like, and faking humility for the benefit of others was something I had extensive knowledge in because of my father. Juma, however, didn’t have any of the tells of signs of someone who knew well how to play the humble act.
“What’ll you have, Neo?”
I glanced over the options. “Whatever you’re having.”
“So that’s double on the sugarcane milkshake and beancake combo.”
Someone has a sweet tooth.
“Oh, and a small side-dish of your Twelve Game Soup for my friend here.”
I rose my brow a bit. Juma grinned at me. “You’ve never tried Mr. Hasid’s Twelve Game Soup have you?”
I checked Neo’s memories. “…No.”
“Twelve different kinds of meat, cooked separately until each one has a near equivalent texture, then, everything is stewed with pumpkin leaves, devil peppers, carrots, onions, garlic and – well, you’ll see for yourself.”
Once the meals came on the trays, I ignored everything except for the soup filled with juicy, delicious meat. I could almost feel myself drool at the sight, and reigned in my impulses. We took a seat at a bench near a rotating blue orb. The tiniest blast of cold breeze washed ov
er me before my [Ice Damage Immunity] disregarded it. I checked Neo’s memory for the name of the object and discovered to my surprise that even the boy didn’t know what it was.
“What’s that?”
Juma took his seat opposite me, turning to stare at the blue orb. “Heard it’s a new item the Eminency of Progress is mass-producing. Environment Chilly Orbs they call it. ECOs for short.”
“Why not just call it air conditioners?”
Juma tilted his brow. “Air conditioner? How do you condition the air?”
“By making it colder?”
“Sounds complicated. ECOs, go straight to the point. They’re orbs that make the environment chilly. Anyone can understand that without a roundabout explanation.”
That was probably the first time in my life I’d heard someone say that air conditioners sounded complicated. I snorted at it, before grabbing the utensils – a spoon, thankfully – and digging directly into the Twelve Game Soup.
It was with delectable pleasure that the sauce entered my mouth. The sensations I’d long since forgotten came back rushing to me. Spiciness. Umami. Thick, rich flavors of fruits and herbs and something cooked in a bowl by someone who knew what they were doing.
I never thought I’d be able to eat real food again.
I’d argue, certainly, that meat tasted much better when it was cooked and spiced. Ghilan instincts be damned.
“Tastes good rig – whoa. Are… are you… crying?”
“No – it’s – just, I got pepper in my eye…”
“Must be the devil peppers.”
“That’s right. The devil peppers.”
We ate in silence after that. It was my first time eating real food since I came to Alamir. Not eating my way out of a snake, or ants or live rabbits. Not eating crudely roasted rabbits as a skeleton but being unable to taste or feel anything. Not eating a person, because a Ghilan required sustenance in the form of human prey. This was the first true meal I ever had –
And strangely enough, I ate it, in relative silence and company of a strange boy called Juma.
You have eaten the meat of a [Unique] Animal.
You have fed.
You will need to feed again in [9] Days.
