43. Ground Level

Bonus?

Daniel adjusted the straps on his armor. Hardened leather panels were hand-stitched into the fabric and reinforced with denim. Glancing down, he picked at a loose thread his sister had missed and shifted the dagger sheath on his belt to make it less noticeable.

The spring sun rose over the repurposed warehouses. For now, the warmth from his gear was a blessing, though in a few weeks it would be unbearable.

Really, he was just willing to look anywhere other than at the passing patrol. It wasn’t that powerful people made him nervous, but it was hard not to feel small when level tens and fifteens passed within spitting distance.

Hunters. They were real adventurers with real power. One of them must have even passed the Hunters Association test to carry a weapon, because the large sword strapped to his back gleamed in a way that made his heart skip a beat.

They all wore real gear, no doubt crafted by other Awakened or received as rewards from Rifts. Daniel glanced at his own equipment again and sighed.

Still, he’d Awakened on his own. The Hunters refused to sponsor him because of his family’s debt, but he’d made his own way. It had cost him the corpse and mana stone from his kill, though the party that had taken him was kind enough to share what they knew.

It wasn’t until he had seen things up close—seen the cost of the life he wanted to live—that he hesitated. He sighed, rubbed his temples, and pulled up his Trait.

***

{Bestial Birth} - Your skill slots are halved. You gain 2 additional Free Points per level.

***

He set his jaw and pushed forward. Today, he would earn his first level and see if it was worth it. Raising his head, he studied the faces passing by.

Once they’d passed, he continued down the street and merged with the Market Street crowd. At this hour, the flood of foot traffic reeked of sweat and last night’s rain. He wove through tents and stalls, careful not to disturb the setups. From experience, he knew most vendors here charged credits so steep it felt like robbery.

Cutting through the crowd, he stepped up to the sidewalk and apologized as he cut off a woman. He stepped under the overhang of an old Minute-Clinic that had been turned into a low-tier request station.

Behind the counter, an older boy scrolled on his phone. He glanced up as Daniel entered and gave a lazy wave.

“Morning, Dan. Nothing new came in today, still going to be the same recommendation as yesterday.”

Stepping up to the counter, Daniel rested his elbows on the counter and massaged his forehead. “Okay. Can I read it again?”

“Sure thing,” the worker turned and grabbed a piece of paper from the board behind him before slipping it across the counter.

Job: Escort Looking for Bodyguards West Exit to Quarry Rift - 15 miles Requirements: F Rank with Firearm E Rank Priority: E Rank - Level 5 or higher

He paused, reading it several times. Flipping his hand, he rubbed his forehead and temples with his knuckles as he read.

“Mana fatigue again?”

Daniel looked up. “Just trying to practice this morning. Um, look, I’ll take it. When do they leave?”

“Already left this morning, you’ll have to link up with ‘em tomorrow.”

“That’s fine. Can you scan me in and give me a ticket?”

“Sure,” the man held out his hand while tapping with the other hand on his tablet.

Daniel handed him his Hunters Association ID, and after his information was recorded, he was given a paper slip approving his participation and credentials.

Finished and without much to do until the following morning, Daniel walked from the commission center and sat on the curb. A few people brushed against his back as they passed, but this zone didn’t smell as bad as his own.

He inhaled and watched the people walk past. His life in Philadelphia had changed in so many ways, and while he loved not having to deal with the annoying cliques of his high school anymore, a whole host of other burdens had been thrust upon him with his father’s parting words.

“I’ll be back. There’s an opportunity here for us. I know there is. I just need to find it and make it mine.”

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Not sure how often I'll do this, just had the sudden desire to write something from the lowest of the low in a new city and show some of the differences from the NJ Safe Zone that you guys have already seen.

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Chapter

Alex hopped the shoulder-height wooden fence of a small neighborhood that paralleled Route 1. Crossing the yard under a tree, he watched in fascination as a green leaf drifted slowly to the ground.

He reached out and touched it with his finger as he passed, the world passing unnaturally slow around him. As he reached the far end of the yard, he hoisted the staff up horizontally and gripped the other fence’s rim to jump and launch himself over to the side of the house.

As he crossed into the front yard and onto the cul-de-sac, the spell wore off. He drew a deep breath of spring air, tainted with gas and stagnant sewage from the nearby Safe Zone. He looked accusingly at a nearby sewer top as he changed his course toward Old Lincoln Highway.

From the maps, he knew it would pass by a car dealership before running into the interstate, which should guide him the final mile into the city’s checkpoint.

He felt the buff from his staff dissipate as he continued down the paved road. Two cars passed him, though he could see where they had to slow to merge with the line on Route 1. A bit of walking later and he passed by the vehicles again, walking proving to be more efficient.

As he crested the merge ramp and saw the entrance to the city for the first time, Alex was stunned. This safe zone looked much more militaristic than New Jersey’s did. The four-lane entrance, two lanes each way, had been separated further, with vehicles kept to the left and foot traffic to the right. As things got closer, tall sheet metal walls had been raised on either side of the road, reinforced by steel bars from the inside, and atop both walls was rolled barbed wire.

He slowed his walk after a few hundred meters as he reached the back of the walking line to enter the city. Farther back, tents leaned against the makeshift wall. Some were small, some large, but nearly all were occupied by campers who looked to have been living outdoors for a long time.

A few tried to talk with Alex, likely noticing his clean clothes and fresh appearance. He either ignored them or politely declined. A few grew frustrated, but most simply returned to what they were doing, indifferent to his reaction. If he had nothing for them, they had nothing for him.

Where he stood with the line, he could see the atmosphere change as it approached the city. The small, personal tents changed to large, more established military setups. When he peered through one, he saw people sitting at long tables talking to others in uniforms.

The man in front of him had headphones in and stared ahead blankly.

All of it felt surreal to Alex. Stepping forward, he entered the man’s peripheral vision and waved to get his attention.

“Huh?” he said, removing an earbud.

“Hey, sorry to bother you. Did something happen?”

The man gave him an odd look before turning around and putting his headphones in. “You mean other than the end of the world? Nah.”

“Fair,” he responded, a bit peeved. “Rude, but fair.” Alex craned his neck to look at he long line ahead of him and let out a sigh.

Maelis had long since fallen back asleep, and he knew he had practicing to do with the container rune before waking his mentor again.

“Might as well kill two birds with one stone.” Looking around, no one paid him any attention, even talking to himself as he was. He kept a close eye on the reactions of those around him as he activated his [Mana Thread] skill and started to work on mana shaping exercises that would help with the container rune.

It required his focus, but over the last week, he and Warrior had been able to find a natural rhythm with what he’d started to call mana thinning.

Lin had shown it to him, and even though he’d had some success on the spot, it was another matter entirely to work on thinning the mana to match the ambient gradient when it was outside his body. Even more so when talking about something as fine as his threads.

Consistent training had made it more natural. It still required focus, but not enough to strain him or risk slipping mid-cast.

If anything, the downside that came with it was beginning much of his mana shaping practice all over again. Learning to manipulate the threads while using mana-thinning felt like a whole new level of control that was a challenge even for his immense Willpower.

The next hour passed with the line moving at a crawl, often standing still for minutes at a time, before jerking forward by several yards. He saw both cars pass him by once more, the line for vehicles progressing faster than the dense line of herded individuals.

Nothing eventful happened, and as his ID was scanned, the national guard soldier who was checking him in paused. He looked at Alex for several long moments before frowning.

“Please step aside with me for a moment, sir,” he said.

“Of course. You should know that I’m an Awakened coming from New Jersey at the request of the HA. I think someone should be expecting me to arrive and help out.” Alex tried to sound understanding and easy-going.

Once out of the main line, the soldier directed Alex to a metal chair outside a green tent. Two others were waiting, but Alex’s guard was the first to reappear and wave him inside.

“Mr. Moore?” he asked.

“That’s me.”

“If you’ll follow me. Our shift scanner can verify your identity, and we’ll issue you a temporary housing permit for your stay with us.”

“All right,” Alex said skeptically, accepting his ID back and following the man.

They walked further through the tent, several uniformed individuals stationed behind laptops looking up as they passed. Passing through another flap into an adjoining section, Alex felt the temperature drop to a more comfortable level.

Seated on a couch, watching a small screen, was a man about his age, fit, with a few scars that stood out against his dark skin. He sat up as they entered, and Alex scanned the room. There weren’t any other exits, and it looked like an area where people could take breaks. There was a fridge and some more solidly built tables with cards discarded on them and charging cords strewn about.

“Sergeant, this is Alex Moore. I couldn’t confirm him, but if you can, we can get him processed and set up with a place to stay.”

The sergeant stood from the couch, and his tan undershirt caused him to stand out, though he grabbed his camo jacket from the back of a chair and put it on as he greeted Alex.

“Hey. I’m Sergeant Carter. I’m the scanner on shift. If you don’t mind, please end any skills that you’re currently using and remove any enchanted gear that you’re wearing.” He finished zipping his jacket and ran a hand down the front, fitting the Velcro into place.

Alex raised an eyebrow. “What for?” Skeptical of a skill that he didn’t know, he scanned the sergeant and was surprised by the information that he got.

***

Xavier Carter - Level 15

<Unbound>

Class: Elemental Archer (Novice)

Primary Stat:

Willpower: 150

Secondary Stat:

Agility: 30

Tertiary Stats:

Mana: 20

Constitution: 11

Intellect: 11

Most Used Abilities:

Analyze (Journeyman)

Gale Shot (Novice)

Volley (Novice)

Curve Shot (Novice)

Disengage (Novice)

***

The man’s Willpower was higher than anyone else he’d seen so far, and as their eyes met, he saw the confidence there.

Unfortunately, even with two of his clones active, Alex still had half of his mental stats, meaning that his Willpower was still triple the archer’s.

“It just makes the scanning process easier,” he answered.

Alex shrugged and offered him the staff he was still holding. “Other than the staff, I’m wearing a spatial item, but I won’t take it off. It’s not buffing my stats in any way.”

Xavier nodded. A few awkward moments passed before Xavier frowned and looked from Alex to his escort. “Damn. Yeah, it’s him.” He stepped forward and offered his hand to shake. “You can call me Xavier. They told me you had a high Willpower, but after my last level, I didn’t think you’d beat it.”

Alex shook his hand and returned his smile. “Alex. Nice to meet you.”

The sergeant dismissed the other man, then guided Alex back through the tent and gestured for him to sit across from an empty laptop. It took twenty more minutes of processing questions and recording Alex’s ID to get a temporary housing permit printed for him, but once it was done, Xavier said his shift was finishing and he’d show Alex how to get to Zone 2.

They stepped from the staff tent and back into the early afternoon air, the sounds of traffic and commanding voices drifting over from the line.

Alex was escorted through a side section of the line, and they passed into the Philadelphia safe zone without any further issues. Once inside, Alex looked around and immediately noticed the differences between the two cities.

Philly was busier and, as a result, more organized than New Jersey was. The buildings were more squat, and he saw many people hanging out in front of warehouses along the side of the roads.

“This way,” Xavier said, motioning for him to follow.

They turned right onto a sidewalk. Alex did his best to keep up and take in the brick buildings and the layout of the roads. “What are the zones like here?”

“Should be the same as Jersey. The government tried to standardize it within each safe zone.”

“So zone two is going to be admin and trading?” Alex asked.

Xavier gave a thumbs-up over his shoulder. “Yep. Most of the officers live around there, but some have started to move to Zone 5 now that it’s finished. The space is set up with a bit more purpose and doesn’t have to deal with quite as many people.”

“I see. We have a Zone 5 being built as well, but it’s not finished yet.” He thought back to Scout’s exploration of the zone near his home.

The trip through the zones passed quickly, and the differences became more and more apparent as they went. The streets were busier, but there was noticeably less chaos. There were more guards around, both Hunters and National Guard soldiers, especially focused on the food depots.

As they passed one, Xavier pointed it out. “You get one take-home box a week, and can come for an additional meal per day if you need it. Rationing your food is up to you; allotments are tracked through your ID, so don’t worry about missing out or getting more than your share.”

“The lines are shorter here than back in Jersey.”

“Yeah, they have this stuff down to a well-oiled machine. Come on, we’re almost to Market Street. Your place will be just past it.”

Alex was beginning to feel tired as they made their way down Broad Street, and he had to intentionally keep his steps light. It felt silly for him to keep walking with the staff around so many people, but he didn’t want to use either of his spatial items where others might see them.

They turned off the main street and onto a side street, to a narrow, three-story brick rowhouse. On either side of it was a boarded-up pharmacy building and an old deli store that seemed to have been taken over, if the change in signage was any indicator.

As they walked toward the entrance of the building, Alex noted a green flag fluttering on a pole near the door and how there were fogged plastic layers of reinforcement over the glass windows to either side.

They walked up the stairs together and turned left on the second floor. His room was three down on the right, facing the rear of the building. “Here you go,” Xavier knocked on the door and used a key to open it before passing it to Alex.

“Thanks. I appreciate the escort; people seem to give your uniform a wide berth,” Alex noted.

“Eh, I think the whole Martial Law thing is still really fresh in people’s minds. We’ve moved away from such tight control, but some people have still got the lingering fear or frustration from it all.”

“Sorry, you have to deal with that,” he said genuinely.

“It’s just part of the job. I understand how they feel. Anyway, I’m off. Report to Zone 1 precinct tomorrow morning, and they’ll get you set up with a team. You need anything else from me, feel free to text me. My number should be in the packet that the HA gave you.”

“I’ll look it up, thanks again.” He waved as Xavier made his way down the hallway. Turning into the open room, Alex looked around and locked the door behind himself.

There was a main living area, with a very small kitchen area to the right, and a single bedroom separated from the main space to the left. He walked through, looking at the empty walls and single bed resting on the floor, and couldn’t help but notice the dust and scuff marks on the floor.

There was a single window in the bedroom that faced the back of another brick building. He pulled it open, something cracking as he did so, peering out at the fire escape and the alley below. The room had only the bed and a metal trunk in it.

Satisfied with his potential escape route, Alex moved to the center of his temporary bedroom. Rolling both of his shoulders, he raised his hands and let the mana threads begin to form in a circle around his feet.

Unsure of the power needed, he opted to let the spell-weaving stacks build up to the max count as he layered the base for an area spell with the catalyst node. He wove in control nodes in their proper positions in between each step before finally setting the cleanse rune and flushing the spell with mana to activate it.

Through his mana sight, he saw three ripples spread out around him, almost like someone had dropped a stone in a pond of magic. As each wave passed over the floorboards of the room, the dust and grime were cleansed. The small waves of mana naturally travelled over the bed and trunk, and stopped only after a few inches of attempting to climb the walls.

He inhaled deeply and noted how the air smelled notably different. Cleaner and fresher. Satisfied with the cleaning job and happy to use one of the spells that Mage had tested for him, Alex sent his mind into his bracer and began setting up his room.

Storing the shoddy twin bed in the spatial item, he replaced it with a cot he’d grown used to using, padded and elevated from the floor. He removed his blankets and a few chairs. Next, he removed two of the heavy crates and set them side by side to set up a makeshift table to work at.

Lastly, he removed the four cornerstones he’d been using during their travels. Setting up the ward net in the room was easy, and he looked forward to taking the time to shop for the safe zones materials and create an improved set of ward stones.

Once the net was in place, he activated the controlstone. Instantly, a stress he hadn’t realized he carried bled out of him. The room didn’t feel like home, but it felt safe enough to hunker down in.

Satisfied with his immediate safety, Alex moved to the cot, kicked off his shoes, and crossed his legs. He unlocked his tablet and began to reread the information packet Jake had sent him a few days before.

Xavier's name and information were indeed there, along with two other points of contact. He added all three of them to his contacts and read through the responsibilities and expectations of his help in the safe zone.

Other than a weekly briefing, there wasn’t much for him to commit to. He was asked to be on call and report to any of the major checkpoints within an hour of a call, in case of a suspicious person or an individual that the Scanner on shift couldn’t identify.

He wasn’t being asked to investigate or begin taking shifts with the guards, which he appreciated. They seemed to recognize that he wasn’t some sort of private investigator and had no desire to work shifts at a job with a bunch of soldiers.

Also, an interesting turn was that they were paying him by the hour, rather than for a contracted length. He wasn’t sure that he’d normally appreciate that, especially if they barely used him had all, but as things stood, it would work perfectly for him.

His eyes flicked to the crates.

He locked the tablet, leaning his back against the wall. There were at least twelve hours until he needed to leave to meet with the task force. After the long day of travel, he knew that his body could use the rest, but both of his minds were wide awake and urging him to continue training and testing.

One half of his mind set to practicing the mana thinning and mana shaping exercises as before, creating shapes just over his hand as he lay on his back. He shifted to get comfortable, the canvas squeaking beneath him as is rotated on the metal of the cot.

His main consciousness took several moments to get centered. He waited for his breathing to slow to a steady rhythm.

While travelling, he’d made several attempts to use the new function of his eye, but hadn’t seen any progress, no matter what he tried. Despite further prodding, Maelis was also no help on the matter, restrained as he was by the limits set on his amulet by the System.

It peeved him to think that the spirit was limited still, after the Overseer had decided to lift the restrictions of the integration.

He stilled his breathing again, relaxing the muscles in his shoulders and lower back. Pushing thoughts of the System aside, he refocused on his exercises.

Even though Maelis couldn’t share information, the strangled noises he’d started making, mixed with the feeling of disbelief that came through the bond, made it clear that this exercise was doing something for him.

In the evenings, when he and the clones had taken to setting up their camp, Alex would meditate and think through ways to activate the new feature of the eye. It felt like a waste of time to sit there and simply think, so while meditating, he began to use an exercise that Eura had taught him months before.

It was when he started to cycle his mana using the focal point technique that Maelis had something of a panic attack. Alex had stopped and questioned the spirit. But when Maelis said he wasn’t able to speak on it, it was clear that the limitation from the System was coming back in.

The only thing Maelis could say was a strong encouragement to continue practicing it.

As his mind cleared, Alex focused inward. He visualized his core as a ball of magical energy in his navel and employed the tried-and-true mental image he'd learned long ago. He imagined pinching the center and slowly, steadily twisting to cycle the energy around the core.

Unlike when he first began this exercise months ago, he now felt minimal resistance. The speed at which he could make the mana spin had improved drastically.

Eura had explained that the goal of the exercise was to expel impurities from his mana, using the force of the spinning motion to push the impurities to the outer edge of his core and eventually be flushed through his body.

The cycle began slowly, then built speed. Alex’s mind went back to the vast amounts of impurities that had been cleansed from his damaged mana channels, and he wondered if the same would happen with his core.

The cycling continued for the better part of an hour, and he was forced to stop as the feeling in his stomach demanded that he expel the impurities. Jerking upright, he moved to the window, dismissed his wards, and puked.

He stood there, hanging half out the window, for several moments longer, knowing that it wasn’t done. Alex threw up twice more, abhorring the feeling of how his jaw clenched and his abs flexed just before retching as if suffering from the worst food poisoning imaginable.

Wiping his mouth, he pulled his head back into the room, while pulsing mana into the stone in his pocket. The wards reactivated as he sat back down on the bed, breathing heavily.

Alex focused inward on his mana. It was clear to him that, despite the cycle repeating multiple times through the last week, there were more impurities within his core.

“Makes sense. He said it was something that people practiced for years,” he said to the empty room.

Something about it just didn’t sit right with him, though. Maelis had a major reaction to the technique, and Eura had even told Alex that the exercise was somewhat advanced. But that was when he was an E Rank, meaning that the technique was appropriate for his current rank.

Even though that was the case, something about the exercise felt inefficient. Perhaps that’s because it was made for non-system users, or people with a fraction of his Willpower stat.

He sat back to ponder, relaxing the muscles in his aching stomach while watching the mana shaping exercises resume over his open hand. His other consciousness continued to practice even while he contemplated how ridiculous it was to try and improve on a technique from someone like Eura.

He let his eyes glaze over as the blue shapes danced in his left eye, zoning out as if watching the dancing flames of a fire.

Is there even a point to try and iterate on it? Am I just being impatient, looking for a shortcut to what should be achieved through dedication and time?

Alex sat with his thoughts, attempting to filter through his own motives and emotions. Slowly, his thoughts drifted back to the note that Eura left for him with his inheritance. Several lines surfaced in his mind, and he quoted them to the empty space.

“I see much of myself in you. Before becoming comfortable, I was also curious, determined, and unafraid to question what I thought was wrong.” He sat there, and the silence that followed let his mind filter through the rest of the note.

One final line stood out to him and firmed his resolve.

“Climb as high as your potential allows, Alex. And then push a little further,” he whispered the words as his eyes refocused on the dancing patterns of his own magic.

It’s my path.

He lay back on the cot, feeling a new sense of determination and confidence. If Alex had accepted what Maelis told him from the first time they spoke, he never would have created Spell Circles or any of the achievements that followed as a result.

Eura gave him a starting point. He would take that for what it was: a solid foundation and technique for him to build upon.

Refocusing on his core, he observed it in its idle state. To his mind’s eye, the orb floated, and the mana within churned slowly, like smoke in a glass orb. He could picture the impurities floating in the core, drifting black specks in the pure blue.

How do I clean this?

His mind went to the force and spinning power that he could create and how to improve upon the idea. The movement of the mana itself, especially moving through his channels, made him think of water.

Cleansing water impurities was most typically done through a filter.

Alex opened his eyes as the idea hit him. A filter.

He prodded his other consciousness, interrupted the mana shaping exercises, and opened his thoughts. Instant understanding passed between them, and mana spun over his hand, slowly creating a tightly woven, cross-hatching of threads.

Three iterations passed quickly, each one discarded as he hoped to make the netting finer.

When there was something well-crafted enough to use as a first test, Alex smiled. He prompted his other mind to maintain the filter and shift it to his core. At the same time, he closed his eyes and focused on beginning the same rotations as before.

The speed began to build, and when it was at a steady pace, easy enough for him to maintain, but not with as much force as he could muster, his hand connected with his abdomen, and the filter joined his core.

Instantly, the resistance was noticeable. At first, it felt manageable, but before a full rotation had even been made, Alex strained his mind in an attempt to keep the flow moving. His hopes fell as the rotations stilled and the core returned to a more natural state.

Is the filter too fine?

He pulled his hand away and watched as the filter pulled from his core, like a sifting pan from a creek searching for gold.

To his complete amazement, the filter was completely covered. The black flecks had gathered around the filter in such a thick layer that the mana hadn’t been able to pass through it any longer.

Hopes soaring, he thought of the implications. If he was able to pull this much of the impurities from his body in less than a single rotation, how many tries would it take to slowly see the mana become more and more pure?

And then, he threw up.

It was an unholy sound that crawled from his throat, the bile stinging his throat, and the black, gooey substance he’d seen on the ground after his body tempering, splattered the wooden floorboards of his room.

Unprepared, Alex barely managed to push himself off the cot and land on hands and knees. All the while, his body did its best to purge the impurities from his body.