Chapter 80: Cheesed (Patreon)

“You can move through space!? I thought you were stuck in place when you did that!” He blurts, gobsmacked.

I shrug, a smile still wide on my face.

“Gah! I was so close!” He yells to himself, getting to his feet and pointing at me. “You!- You knew you couldn’t be trapped! That’s why you made it part of the rules!”

Again, I shrug. “Who’s to say? What’s important is that I won.” I nod like a philosopher.

He thrusts his finger at me. “You- You!” He lets out a deep breath of air and slumps. “I need a meal.”

“Ha! That’s the spirit!” I slap him on the back, sending him stumbling toward the kitchen.

As I take my first step, a tingle of pain shoots up my leg.

It’s my big toe, hanging loosely from my foot.

Brax turns around, and I wipe my grimace away and smile as if nothing happened.

There’s no need to make him worry.

He might not want to spar again if I scare him.

Both of us return to the kitchen and check on the meat.

We have to wait half an hour for the meat to finish.

When the moment looks right, I pull out all of the many pans filled with the glistening brown fowl.

Brax licks his lips as he juggles his pieces and moves them to a plate.

As for me?

I eat them straight off the pan.

Secretly, I set the broken bone in my big toe and begin channeling mana through Heal Companion.

Thankfully, Brax is too infatuated with his meal to notice.

A loud snap echoes with a slight burst of pain as the toe sets itself.

Brax looks up curiously, and I pretend not to notice while I continue eating.

He shrugs and goes back to his meal.

Phew.

That would have been an awkward conversation.

Green wisps of healing energy drift around me, but Brax doesn't seem to notice. 

Or if he does, he doesn't say anything. 

Eating stifles the hunger caused by healing and eventually starts powering Stamina Stomach. 

The giant legs of meat go down quickly.

One, two, three, four.

A few times, I have to stop and drink from the faucet.

Eventually, the drain for Heal Companion overfills, indicating my health is full.

Still, my muscles ache.

Especially my arms after holding up these gauntlets all day.

My eye lights up as I remember a fix I once used for this exact problem.

Compressing my mana, I force it into the drain and overflow the skill.

Healing pumps itself through my body.

With nowhere to go, it pushes itself onto what’s already there.

My muscles tense and thin jets of blood shoot from everywhere on my body, the pain not enough to get through the command.

Brax grabs his plate and jumps backward. “What the hell!?”

Oh yeah.

Forgot that happened.

“Uh, sorry.” I say sheepishly, scratching the back of my neck.

“Sorry!? You just shot blood all over the table!” He looks flabbergasted, as if I’m an alien.

In this case, I guess it’s true.

“Don’t worry,” I wave him off. “It’s one of my skills. I’m not actually hurt.”

“You have a skill that… makes you shoot blood from your skin?” He asks, apprehension clear to see.

“Mhm.” I nod, mouth full of food.

“O-okay then.” He gently sets his plate on the table, noticeably avoiding the splatters of blood. “Just uh, please don’t do that while I’m here.”

“Yeah, sorry. I forgot that happened.”

We both go back to eating, albeit with a slightly more awkward atmosphere.

Legs of chicken? They go down one by one.

Eight, nine, ten, eleven.

By this point, my stomach is more than full and everything is being routed into stamina.

Thanks to the extra healing, all of my aches and pains have left in the form of blood on the kitchen counter.

Not the most sanitary thing, but I think my fortitude is high enough to ignore mundane diseases at this point.

System, time.

[   2.45 cycles until next phase   ]

Only a quarter of the original time left.

I need to get moving.

The rest of the meat disappears as I rip off giant chunks and chew as quickly as I can.

Brax looks up from his book more than a few times to watch.

We meet eyes.

“Let me guess, another skill?”

I nod.

“Sheesh. How many skills do you have? They must be pretty diverse to have so many applications.”

Oh, if only you knew.

Once I’m finished, I jump to my feet.

The twitching in my limbs and the overflow of energy tells me I’ve started overflowing stamina.

“It was good eating with you.” I say, walking to the exit.

“Mhm.” He nods, mouth full. “Things are always a spectacle around you.”

I chuckle and push the door open.

“Wait!”

Eyebrow raised, I turn back. “What?”

“Where’s your fireball staff?”

I take a moment to process his words before my hand shoots to my back.

As expected, the holster for it is empty.

My mind speeds through past events, until I come to the conclusion.

DENDRA!

I left my staff with her!

Dammit!

I really liked that thing!

“Lost it,” I say sadly.

“Well, don’t lose too many. Those things are worth a fortune.”

Yes, I’m well aware of that.

I want to talk more, but the energy coursing through my veins is too much to bear.

A quick pass through the shower takes off all the blood and leaves me looking brand new.

I look at my status as I run to the exfiltration room.

[Health: 2024]

[Mana: 1020(622)]

[Stamina: 1844(1985)]

Oh yeah, that’s a lot of stamina.

I don’t hesitate to lay my hand on the starry orb.

The surroundings change in the blink of an eye.

A sunny sky casts itself on my skin, and the sound of bustling activity enters my ears.

People pass by me on all sides, wearing different clothes and traveling to different places.

Chime

I pivot on my heels.

Chime

Buildings of mortar, stone and wood beams stand on the edges of the massive plaza I’m in.

Towering walls loom a few hundred feet away in one direction.

The smell is… bad.

Chime

The constant cacophony of voices and the sound of thousands of footsteps are washed away by a single voice.

“LAST CALL! LAST CALL FOR RECRUITMENT!”

My gaze snaps to a man who stands on a stage before a podium, the giant wall behind him.

The system screen invades my vision.

[   Primary Objective: Slay Lieutenant Commander Sieve   ]

[   Secondary Objective: Slay Lieutenant Commander Sieve Unassisted   ]

[   Time remaining: 0.198 Cycles   ]

Lieutenant Commander Sieve?

Who the hell is that?

Chime

Chime

OKAY DAMN! What is it?!

[   Intelligent Universal Translator   ]

[   Language deciphered: Peregin   ]

[   Language deciphered: Sa   ]

[   Language deciphered: Unbelin   ]

[   Language deciphered: Rantan   ]

[   Language deciphered: Yoopa   ]

Where the hell am I?

“FINAL CALL!”

Shit, that must be for me.

I hope.

I make my way through the dense population, slipping around people to get to the announcer.

It doesn’t take long until the crowd opens up.

The announcer is an older man, maybe in his fifties. He wears a bushy mustache and finer clothes than most of the crowd.

About a dozen people are lined up at the stage, all of them equipped with visible weapons. 

The person in front is leaning over and writing something.

With no other clue as to what I should be doing, I walk up and stand at the end of the line.

A few different people give me glances as I walk past.

It must be because of my handsome looks.

Surely not at the fact that everyone is wearing cloaks, armor, and thick clothes while I’m in a skin-tight onesie.

That can’t be it.

In the following minute, the line moves up a few spaces.

The man in front of me turns and looks me up and down with a sneer.

He has stubble covering both his head and beard along with being a foot shorter than me. He wears a heavy cloak with a reliable sword and shield combination.

It’s clear he wants me to speak and pick a fight or something, so I ignore him.

Thankfully, he turns back without a word.

As the line moves forward, the announcer eventually comes down to the person who’s writing.

“Having trouble?” The announcer asks the man at the front.

“Can’t write.”

I hop left and right while listening, the stamina overflow still running through my veins.

I try to focus on the clearly important conversation, but my mind keeps curving away.

“Kevin, focus.” I whisper.

The jumbled thoughts in my mind are forced into order.

“And your position?” The announcer asks.

“Well, usually, I-”

“Stop doing that.” The man in front of me is now facing me.

“Sorry, what was that?”

He looks down, and my gaze follows.

I’m still hopping from foot to foot unconsciously.

“Oh, sorry.”

I stop and stand still, but it’s hard to control the excess energy.

“What’re you, some kind of pansy?”

Dude, give me a break.

Identify Living Being

[   Defensive Swordsman (Igigig Traksik) lv. 57   ]

[   Highest stat: Strength   ]

That name’s a mouthful.

“Look, I’m sorry for bothering you. I don’t want any trouble.” I give a placating smile and attempt to look naïve.

Which is exactly the case.

“Hmph.” He turns back to the line, which is quickly shrinking.

I’d love to fight you, buddy, but I have no idea where I’m supposed to go and I don’t want to get lost.

Minutes pass as the line moves up.

Peeking behind myself, it looks like I’m the last one to sign up.

The disgruntled man in front of me walks away after writing, which leaves me alone with the announcer.

Wordlessly, he gestures to the paper.

Despite the surroundings, there’s a pen made of wood and metal instead of a feather with ink.

As expected, the words on the paper are completely foreign.

I spend a few seconds staring at the paper until the announcer speaks up.

“Can’t write?”

“Not this language, no.” I smile sheepishly.

He chuckles and picks up the paper and pen for himself. “Don’t feel too bad. We see faces from all over in Annex.”

Annex? That’s a horrible name for…

Actually, I don’t know if he’s referring to the city or the country.

He clears his throat while setting the pen on paper. “Name?”

“Kevin Shoeman.”

He nods and writes. “Position?”

“Uh, frontline?”

He chuckles again. “No, I was asking what your initial class was.”

If the lieutenant commander from the objective is on the enemy’s side, I need to get as close as possible.

“Warrior.”

“Level?”

If I give a level that’s too low, I might not get to the front and meet the lieutenant commander.

“Seventy-four.”

Again, he chuckles. “That’s all I need. You’ll be in the sixth platoon, fourth squad.”

He points with the pen behind himself toward the wall. “Take a left and ask around. Someone’ll point you where you need to go. Good luck and don’t die.”

As he turns to the wall himself, I step toward him.

“Wait!”

He pivots, his eyebrow arched.

“Do you know where I can find ‌Lieutenant Commander Sieve?”

His eyebrow raises higher. “Were you at the generals’ meeting?”

“Uh, yes. I was in the back and didn’t hear too much, but I have to know where he is.”

“And why is that?”

Bullshittery, don’t fail me now.

“He led the platoon that killed my sister.” My eyes narrow in faux determination.

Please, please, please don’t let Sieve be one of this city’s commanders.

Tension escapes my shoulders when his expression softens.

“Boy, you should know revenge isn’t a good thing. It will only leave you feeling empty in the end. That’s the entire reason you’re here, isn’t it?”

I nod sombrely. 

He sighs and massages his forehead. “I shouldn’t do this, but I can sympathize.”

He picks up the paper and scribbles out a part at the end, then rewrites it.

“Take a right outside the gate and go to platoon two, squad fourteen.”

I nod and give my thanks while walking past him.

A hand grabs my shoulder as he pulls me around gently. “And Kevin, don’t do anything stupid. Don’t get yourself killed over the past.”

The look he gives me drives guilt into my heart.

“I won’t.”

He gives me one more pat on the shoulder before I walk away.

Once I’m a few steps away, I deflate and slump, letting out a deep breath.

I’m sorry, random announcer guy.