Chapter Two Hundred and Twenty-Four: In the Depths of the Earth (Patreon)

My maximum MP ticked up to 4,828.

And XP stood at 3.002 million. Out of 10.9 million required for a level up.

Level 78. The number stood mocking me.

Agni had been Level 40 when I met her. And when she died.

Seven hundred thousand Raptors.

If I killed every last one of the remainder, it wouldn’t make up for her loss. Or the rest of those who died at Tanisport.

Maybe if I killed every last one of the Guthnar.

NEW QUEST ALERT: LAST OF THE GUTHNAR.

THE LAST OF THE GUTHNAR HAS FORTIFIED HIS POSITION IN THE CAVERNS BELOW YOU.

YOU CAN FIGHT YOUR WAY THROUGH THE REST OF THE GUTHNAR ARMY. OR, USING HIFARA’S POWER, CREATE A PATH LEADING DIRECTLY TO HIM.

FIND HIM AND KILL HIM.

END THE LINE OF THE GUTHNAR AND SHATTER THEIR UNITY.

SEND A MESSAGE TO THOSE WHO WOULD OPPOSE THE PEOPLE OF EARTH. TEACH THEM THAN HUMANKIND SHALL NOT BE CONQUERED EASILY.

REWARDS:

+5,000,000 XP.

+2 CHARISMA.

+2 WISDOM.

TEMPORARY STRATAGEM AVAILABLE: ENCIRCLE AND DESTROY.

NEW TITLES UNLOCKED.

25% REDUCTION IN LIKELIHOOD OF HUMANITY’S EVENTUAL SURRENDER TO THE HIERARCHY.

“Hifara,” I said. “I have a task for you.”

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Two thousand metres.

That’s how deep Hifara’s newest tunnel ran.

It took her four hours to dig. Four hours, while the 6th and the 121st kept advancing, pushing the Raptors back inch by bloody inch.

In the depths of the earth, fighting in pitch darkness, Raptors and humans duelled. Plasma and lightning, lasers and bullets, grenades and radiation blasts streamed across confined spaces.

Medics carried away our wounded to the surface for treatment.

Anne informed me that Raptor medics were carrying away their own, deeper into the depths of the earth.

The Stratospheric Guard sent us a new cognitive, Prospector. The man supposedly had the ability to sense mineral concentrations below ground.

We put him to work trying to sense out concentrations of titansteel. The uniquely alien material dominated a lot of their equipment. Since we’d never figured out how to make it – and the stuff didn’t occur naturally – his power should help us locate the Raptor tunnels.

Working side-by-side with Hifara, Prospector was able to show her roughly where the alien tunnels led, and help to dig alongside them. Properly separated, of course, but we were now a few dozen metres from the alien walls.

With the aliens none the wiser.

Once we reached the end, we could break through – simultaneously – at multiple points along the Raptor line.  Bypass their defenses, attack from the rear, hit their staging and supply areas, and cut them off from food, supplies and ammunition.

At least, that was the theory. Considering that my quest reward was to be a ‘Temporary Stratagem: Encircle and Destroy’, it seemed fitting.

Did successfully completing the quest grant the stratagem? Or did the process of completing it create conditions where the stratagem would be available?

I had no idea.

<Nanocloud>: Every time we get a handle on your power it throws up some new weirdness.

<Belessar>: You’re telling me. I haven’t yet figured out the old weirdness.

<Nanocloud>: Another topic for after the battle.

<Belessar>: Fair enough. I’m a bit concerned about Prospector.

<Nanocloud>: Why?

<Belessar>: Man seems a tad unready to be in a combat environment.

<Nanocloud>: The Stratospheric Guard essentially shanghaied him. He’s mostly a civilian contractor for mining companies, and this is his first battle.

<Belessar>: That explains why he was shaking like a leaf. Better warn Hifara.

<Nanocloud>: He seems perfectly fine around her.

<Belessar>: He seemed pretty scared when I met him. Maybe she calmed him down.

<Nanocloud>: Maybe you might have been a bit intimidating.

<Belessar>: Why? I just told him what he needed to do.

<Nanocloud>: You made him repeat it. Thrice.

<Belessar>: He got it wrong the first two times.

<Nanocloud>: He stammered. You made him repeat himself until he could say it correctly without stammering.

<Belessar>: You know we can’t afford confusion in the line of battle.

<Nanocloud>: Right. And an eight-foot tall battlesuit roaring at him isn’t at all likely to cause the man to be nervous.

<Belessar>: Didn’t I have my voice modulator on?

<Nanocloud>: There’s only so much the modulator can do, you know. Try not to terrorize any more kids on our side, please.