by Xander Boyce
The AI's projected form disappeared, and Drew walked over to the square. In the blink of an eye, he was back on the ledge in front of the gate. Looking around, he waved at his three companions who started shouting at him. However, they were all shouting at the same time, so it took him a moment to realize what they were saying. Turning to look at what they were pointing at he saw one of the bodies shaking. Hair having grown all over its form.
As he watched it sat up, feral eyes and a fanged mouth opened to scream at him.
"Shit, we need to leave," Drew said, launching a fireball at the wereghoul, which killed the beast, and running towards his team. "Out! We need to get all our people out now!"
Chapter Forty-Six — Sub-Lieutenant
The three kids were already halfway up the first spiral, so Drew merely ran towards them and activated gravitas flying to land next to them. They stopped to stare at him 'flying' through the air. "Stay behind me! Whatever you do, don't stop moving!" The spiral was long, although it didn't cover all that much ground. The fact that they had to go all the way around to gain a few feet of elevation meant that they would be traveling hundreds of feet just to get out of the room that was fast becoming a deathtrap.
Lightning sprang from his fingers, catching a rising wereghoul and sending it back to the earth. Drew wasn't sure if it was dead, or re-dead, or no longer undead, whatever it was that you called killing undead creatures. But they moved past its smoking form and continued up the spiral. Only about one out of thirty of the bodies were turning, but that still meant that they were going to have a dozen wereghouls on their tail soon.
A fireball crashed into two newly turned wereghouls that had died close together. Engulfing them in plasma and added the smell of burned hair to the miasma of noxious smells already filling the pit. Around and around they went, following the spiral up and out. The first wereghoul that dropped down from a level above might have killed his three young teammates, but their screams arrested his forward movement. With a thought, a lightning bolt altered the trajectory of its fall to make it land on the next spiral down. Dak had turned into his stone form, and it took a few seconds for him to shift back into normal so that he could move.
The delay was long enough for another couple of wereghouls to drop down on them. Glenn's daggers took them in the throat right before a cone of frost froze them solid. They landed with a tinkle of shattering ice and the group moved on.
They were all covered in sweat and gore when they finally made it to the exit, ten minutes at a double-time march would have been draining to Drew a few weeks ago, but the advent had done wonders for his fitness. The other three were keeping up, although they were slowing down. At the entrance Drew slipped from the lead position to the back, "Alright, move. We're gonna make a short detour when you get to the first left turn, otherwise don’t stop unless I start screaming, then come save my ass."
The three kids in front of him kept moving down the tunnel as Drew turned and faced the rear. A wereghoul appeared and he shot it with lightning bolt before it got out of range. Next, a head appeared around the corner watching Drew, but ducked back before a hastily launched acid arrow could kill it. Drew heard a growl that varied in tone as it continued. Were they communicating? The only other wereghoul that had done that was Rob. He mentally created a second tier of the undead creatures that he called wereghasts. If he was right about that, then wereghasts would be even more intelligent and able to control their lesser brethren. This was just becoming an even worse day.
The wereghast poked his head around the corner again, locking eyes with Drew and twisted its head slightly, almost questioningly. Its eyes weren't as feral as the others; there was a sense of awareness in them, just like the wereghast Rob had become. Could they learn to communicate? He shook his head as the head disappeared beyond his vision again.
No other wereghouls appeared down the tunnel, although they soon lost sight of the pit exit. The kids stopped at the first left as he had asked them to do. "Daryl?" Drew shouted into the room,
"Daryl, I know you're in there, we've got wereghouls chasing us you need to come with us, we're going to be evacuating soon."
Daryl appeared a seconds later, looking at Drew with bloodshot eyes. "Daryl, your wife would have wanted you to survive. I own the node now, so we'll be coming back, and we'll build a proper memorial." Daryl's eyes had never been so vacant before. He simply nodded and turned invisible, heading down the tunnel and away from the node.
Drew turned on his mana sight to make sure the man was following them. To his surprise the ley line underneath them no longer blinded him; it had taken on a muted coloration, although it now blazed like a fire of shifting reds, oranges, and yellows, unlike every other set of nodes he was near, which remained white. More stuff to figure out later. Daryl went ahead of the group. The three kids were next and Drew held up the rear. The angry blinking of notifications in the bottom corner of his vision was new, a response to enemies in the node maybe?
They managed to get all the way back to the entrance room where Sarah and the others were without further incident from the wereghouls. However, they were followed the entire time by the creature's angry howls echoing down the tunnel.
They were met at the entrance by Robbi, Trista, Sarah, Hoffecker, and Snyder. "What did you do?" Snyder shouted angrily.
Everyone looked at him, surprised at his outburst. Hoffecker put a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to look at his defacto XO as she whispered something into his ear.
"We need to get everyone out, I was down in the pit and the bodies started to turn. I killed at least a dozen, but then a wereghast, or a pack leader turned and they all hung back. I think they’re amassing for a bigger attack. I don't think we can protect both entrances at the same time."
"But it's still night out there." Gary had come up while Drew was looking at the officers. Gary had far more experience with the night than most, having traveled above ground for some distance before getting captured. The fear in his voice was evident; at this point, they all knew what sort of monsters existed out there.
"I know that, Gary. But I'd rather take my chances with the bats and the bugs than wereghouls. They're intelligent," Drew frowned, looking around at the group. "And I'm hoping at some point we'll figure out how to communicate with them. I think they remember something of their previous lives." Nearly everyone in the room had lost someone they cared about in the pit, and the idea that they could someday be able to communicate with their loved ones again was a powerful motivating force.
"Fine, we'll evacuate. What's our status, Major?" Snyder asked, the anger in his voice still evident.
"I can have everyone moving in fifteen minutes," Hoffecker answered.
"Make it so," the captain said, causing Drew to roll his eyes, a Star Trek reference? Really? The captain turned back to Sarah, "Ensign Rothschild, I need your people to secure the exits until we can leave. We also need a scout to move ahead of the group." He turned away from Drew and stalked away.
"Guy has a stick so far up his ass he can probably smell it," Gary said softly. Drew bit back a chuckle; the goth kid was growing on him.
"Alright, Drew, you and your three stay here. Robbi and Trista, take some of your people over to the other tunnel. Daryl?" Sarah said, looking around, then focusing on him when the scout reappeared. "Daryl, are you up to scouting ahead, or should I send someone else?"
Daryl looked at Sarah then glanced over at Drew, "I can do it." His voice was raw, and he turned away.
"Daryl, wait," Drew said. He cast refreshing rain, then opened his interface and traded mental blow to the other man. "Take this; it’ll keep you safe."
Daryl blinked as he read through the xatherite information, and immediately slotted it. Drew cast energize on the other man when he saw him do so.
"Thanks, Drew. It'll be nice to be able to fight back finally," Daryl said, before turning and heading up the tunnel, looking much readier than he had just a few minutes before.
Sarah touched Dr
ew's shoulder and smiled at him, "Thanks, Drew," she said, squeezing his arm, "I've got a ton of stuff to do. Drew, you've got rear guard. Robbi and Trista, you'll be first out the tunnel when we start moving." With a nod from everyone that they understood their jobs, she was off to organize the rest of the action.
Drew turned to his tunnel, but nothing was coming out of it, so he pulled up his notifications.
Congratulations Midshipman. You have conquered your first node. You are awarded a bonus experience for being the first person on Earth-3 to do so.
Congratulations Midshipman. You have conquered a primary nexus node. You are awarded a bonus level experience for being the first person on Earth to do so.
You have reached level 2. You are now a Sub-Lieutenant. Interface options have expanded.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant, you have attuned your Sacred Shield xatherite.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. You have attuned your Major Mana Sight.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. You have attuned your Major Gravitas.
You have completed a six linked section of xatherite. All xatherite abilities and linked abilities inside the linked section will receive double your mana discharge bonus.
You have completed a constellation.
Beginning constellation analysis.
Analysis complete. Constellation has been renamed: Elemental Trempest.
All xatherite abilities and linked abilities within Elemental Tempest will have their elemental effects doubled.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Linked skill: “Gravity Tempest” has been obtained.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Linked skill: “Cone of Binding” has been obtained.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Linked skill: “Grav Ball” has been obtained.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Your Sacred Shield xatherite has reached level 5. Damage absorbed has increased.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Your Sacred Shield xatherite is ready to be upgraded.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Your Acid Arrow xatherite has reached level 5. Damage has increased.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Your Acid Arrow xatherite is ready to be upgraded.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Your Dancing Sword xatherite has reached level 5. Duration has increased.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Your Dancing Sword xatherite is ready to be upgraded.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Your Energize xatherite has reached level 5. Charge requirement has reduced.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Your Energize xatherite is ready to be upgraded.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Your Lightning Bolt xatherite has reached level 5. Damage has increased.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Your Lightning Bolt xatherite is ready to be upgraded.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Your Mana Shield xatherite has reached level 5. Damage absorbed has increased.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Your Mana Shield xatherite is ready to be upgraded.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Your Storm xatherite has reached level 5. Damage has increased.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Your Storm xatherite is ready to be upgraded.
Linked Skill Name: Gravity Tempest
Xatherite Color(s): Red, Orange
Linked Skill Grade: Advanced
Type: Magic
Effect: Create a localized gravity tempest around a target location. The storm will have a radius of 24m and will cause major amounts of gravity damage within its radius. Secondary results may occur.
Complete Linked Skill bonus: Double benefit from your mana discharge stat.
Elemental Tempest Constellation: Elemental effects doubled.
Total effect: Create a localized tempest around a target. The storm will have a radius of 24m and will cause substantial amounts of gravity damage within its radius. Secondary results may occur.
Mana recharge time: 1 minute, 45 seconds
Linked Skill Name: Minor Cone of Binding
Xatherite Color(s): Red
Linked Skill Grade: Advanced
Type: Magic
Effect: Creates a cone of gravity, which causes all objects to be bound to the ground with significant force. Cone can originate from any part of your body. Cone will extend 10m and has an arc of pi/4 radians. Secondary results may occur.
Duration: 10 seconds.
Complete Linked Skill bonus: Double benefit from your mana discharge stat.
Elemental Tempest Constellation: Elemental effects doubled.
Total effect: Creates a cone of gravity, which causes all objects to be bound to the ground with major force. Cone can originate from any part of your body. Cone will extend 10m and has an arc of pi/4 radians. Secondary results may occur.
Mana recharge time: 21 seconds
Linked Skill Name: Grav Ball
Xatherite Color(s): Red
Linked Skill Grade: Advanced
Type: Magic
Effect: Create a ball of gravity at the target location within 100m. Causing major gravity damage in a 1.5m radius around the blast. Secondary results may occur.
Complete Linked Skill bonus: Double benefit from your mana discharge stat.
Elemental Tempest Constellation: Elemental effects doubled.
Total effect: Create a ball of gravity at the target location within 100m. Causing substantial gravity damage in a 1.5m radius around the blast. Secondary results may occur.
Mana recharge time: 13.1 seconds
Slightly disappointed that he only got three links out of gravitas attuning. That is until he read the results. They were all considerably more powerful than he could have hoped for. Also, they all had that ominous line at the end of their effects, “Secondary results may occur.” He was itching to cast them to see what those results may be but didn’t think the cave was the right place to try. Grav ball was amazing though, it didn’t have to pass through the intervening area, which meant it could be cast anywhere he could see, within range.
Drew immediately clicked the option to upgrade storm and lightning bolt.
Xatherite Crystal Name: Major Storm
Xatherite Color: Red
Xatherite Grade: Rare
Xatherite Rarity: Common
Type: Magic
Effect: Create a localized storm around a target. The storm will have a radius of 12m and will cause high amounts of wind, water, and lightning damage within its radius.
Complete Linked Skill bonus: Double benefit from your mana discharge stat.
Elemental Tempest Constellation: Elemental effects doubled.
Total effect: Create a localized storm around a target. The storm will have a radius of 12m and will cause ample amounts of wind, water, and lightning damage within its radius.
Mana recharge time: 1 minute, 17 seconds
Xatherite Crystal Name: Major Lightning Bolt
Xatherite Color: Red
Xatherite Grade: Rare
Xatherite Rarity: Widespread
Type: Magic
Effect: Creates a bolt of electricity from any body part to a target no more than 20m away. Deals moderate Lightning damage and stuns the target for 4 seconds.
Mana recharge time: 4.2 seconds
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Your linked skill Frostfire Storm has been upgraded to Major Frostfire Storm.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Your linked skill Frost Storm has been upgraded to Major Frost Storm.
Congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant. Your linked skill Fire Storm has been upgraded to Major Fire Storm.
Storm's radius had increased by two meters. It had also upgraded damage to high. However, the bonuses from completing a linked chain, and for being in a named constellation, boosted that to what must be the next stage of damage, ample. The linked skills had likewise increased. In fact, fireball, cone of frost, and all the linked abilities looked like they all jumped two levels of damage. Which meant that each level of damage must have been double the previous level.
He had leveled up and gotten additional interface options; a quick glance told him that he could now get a status report for each of his teammates. It consisted of: a general health status including how tired they were and how hurt they were, consciousness status, and something called mana fatigue level. There was another window that represented his own status and pulling it up gave him more detailed information.
Sub-Lieutenant Drew Michalik-3’s status
Physical: Intermediate.
Resistance: Common.
Pain Threshold: Intermediate.
Speed: Undeveloped.
Mental: Advanced.
Mana Receptivity: Intermediate.
Mana Discharge: Rare.
Mana Charge: Advanced.
He wasn't entirely positive, but he was pretty sure both his physical and resistance stats had been one stage lower during his initial evaluation, although the other stats hadn't changed. The last function of his new interface was the ability to designate positions under his command that looked like they would provide bonuses to those individuals in them.
Drew was pulled from his examinations of his new interface options when someone cleared their throat behind him. Turning back again, he saw that Major Hoffecker had returned. She reached out a hand to shake Drew's, "I just wanted to personally thank you, IT2. I know you've put yourself in harm’s way to rescue us. I also know the captain isn't handling this whole thing very well. He wasn’t exactly prepared for this kind of thing. Hell, I don't know if any of us are prepared for this, except you. I don't know how you do everything you've been doing but keep it up." She then saluted him.
