POV Mitsuko
"Kyaaa!!" "Kyaaa!!" `CRASH!` "Ouch, ouch! Ouch!!" "SORRY! SORRY! SORRY!"
'Ugh.. again. Focus, Mitsuko! Don't relax! Don't cause any more trouble… .'
I got distracted for only a moment and caused another accident. This time only a few light falls were the result of my mistake, nothing too serious. After apologizing to the girls that I've knocked over, I head back to the ASC room.
Just a few more work days and the allure of summer vacation will make everyone properly finish up their duties, and not need anyone chasing them down!
'I'm too tired to be running around looking for students who haven't completed their assignments or other silly things! We all want to start relaxing, so get your things together by yourselves!'
I almost want to smack some of the pretentious girls on purpose and not by accident!
"Risa: Judging by the screams outside, I take it that the message was delivered and those fools will get to work?"
"Kate: Hehe~, good work Mitsuko, come, it's almost teatime. I'll get the kettle started."
'Damnit Risa, haaa… .'
"Mitsuko: The notice has been delivered, it is now up to them, to get the work done and enjoy the summer vacation with everyone else."
I don't acknowledge the fact that I'm addressed as a violent woman, who has just beat up someone for fun. It was an accident anyway. 'Even with my klutziness, I'm not the weird one here!'
Looking back at the last two months… There was a sudden change in the atmosphere after we had officially taken over positions of the ASC. Kate was much more… unfriendly and Risa is getting even sharper with each passing week. So much so, that there are times when she has an actual katana in hand! Not a wooden stick, but a real, sharpened metal weapon.
`Tap, `tap, `tap. "Caw"
"Risa: I'll get it. … .. Mm, good day to you too. Hmmm.. I'll have a creamy croissant and … ask if he has made any brownies."
'There is also that. How is this normal? I could still get behind passing notes, but this is ridiculous! The delivered sweets are also ridiculously good, so I won't say anything about it.'
"Mitsuko: I'll ask for some apple souffle and pancakes with that strawberry sauce, easy on the alcohol."
"Caw. Caw."
"Kate: Mmm today … Chocolate mousse with ice cream and some cookies for later."
The crow gives an actual little bow and flies away. 'Does it really not have a miniature microphone? How do our orders get to the intended person? This is so odd.'
"Mitsuko: Have the two of you already decided how to spend your vacation? Plenty of hot summer days are right around the corner."
There is definitely some dark secret between those two and maybe even the USC and some upperclassmen. Not that I'm not curious, however, I have a feeling that it will become dangerous for me. Especially if you look at and smell Risa more closely, as I've had done on accident a few times… .
The smell of gunpowder and blood. Just a light whiff. Kate smells of perfume, so it's impossible to tell, but Risa definitely has a thin trace of that dangerous smell sometimes.
'I'm perfectly fine with being left out of anything coming even remotely into close proximity to dangerous activities.' With my luck, it may spell horrible disaster for everyone and everything around if I step close to sensitive or dangerous equipment.
My colleagues give pretty standard responses: family trips, going for a swim, a bit of travel. Nothing questionable.
.. ..
We clean up the tables and get ready for tea. Risa lets in a group of six birds, carrying packages with our orders. The point that gives me pause is that they set them to the right spots without messing up the orders.
The desserts are as delicious as ever. 'Huaaa mmm, I'll miss this during summer.' We chat a bit in-between bites, and I almost spill my drink when Kate asks about my hobbies, before leading into an unexpected question.
"Kate: Mitsuko, what do you think about Fated Champions? The characters you usually read about can be described as such, no?"
I make a pause, trying to figure out how to answer and what kind of answer she is looking for.
"Mitsuko: … Yes and no, it depends on your definition of the concept of fate. You can say that a great general is fated to do great things or that a warrior with enough prowess can surpass even haven. In my personal opinion … mmm… a Fated Champion is … Like a cat with a ball of yarn."
"Risa: Bwa ha ha ha! Hehe, you are a cat now."
I receive a glare in response to my short answer and hurry to explain before I get my sweets taken away.
"Mitsuko: What I mean is that fate is a massive tangled ball of yarn, interwoven a countless number of times with a countless many things. If you simply hit and pull at random, it won't get you far, so 99.9…% of us will be just like a cat playing. The title of champion is reserved for those that can see the small and the big pictures, the cause and effect. Wisdom, temperance, courage, justice, it's an infinitely delicate balance that only those with the most, most, most profound senses can even hope to grasp a single strand to change something below the surface!"
My follow up with a bit of praise at the end helps in getting her to retract the claws. 'The hellcat is now a maneki-neko. Good, my sweets are safe.'
I don't start delving deeper into the conversation, neither exalting the characters from 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms'. That has already cost me my desserts once, and I'm not repeating that mistake.
'Sigh, just another week and a month away from all these troubles will be within reach! Soo much free time for reading and relaxing!'
POV Anna
Almost three full months have passed since we have come to know Valentine and have started participating in this extraordinary operation.
"Anna: Don't you both think that we should start making concrete plans for after graduation? Not just talk about it, but to actually get things moving?"
"Tai: Yeah… I'm still trying to figure that out. I mean … I'm expected to attend university after graduation, same as the both of you but… ."
"Yumi: But after getting a taste of this place … after seeing what can be. A whole new planet to explore, a portal that will very soon be able to take us to even more habitable planets, fricking magic and monsters… . Attending university for the next 5-6 years… you know, …sucks."
'Yeah. I know.'
"Anna: After the potions breakthrough, I've been talking to Mari and Kate. You do remember that Mari's father is working on getting the academy under him? … Mm. So, we thought… a dummy research and testing base. … … It's not a joke. We were thinking of creating a collaboration between all of us. There are actual results that have already been achieved from studying the things that we have brought back. Some, that are ok to make public, and some that can only be whispered in secret."
"Yumi: … We will play the part of actual scientists? Ummm… I don't think that will be very believable."
"Tai: Yeah, I wouldn't buy it either. Sounds very fishy."
"Anna: We know. It's also the reason for involving all of our families. It will be presented as a group project started by children, that was never expected to be anything but an excuse to strengthen the ties between influential families. But now that tangible results were achieved, it will be flaunted to high heaven."
"Tai: Oh… That does sound like something rich people would do. Getting a professional team of researchers to do all the work and putting their children as the figureheads to flaunt and claim credit."
"Yumi: You will leverage global acclaim, making a fortune and strengthening connections with powerful figures, in contrast to spending years in a university for little value but to get a piece of paper saying you're qualified to do something."
"Anna: More or less you are correct. There will be much more going on in private than in the open, but that's the short of it. Considering how much has already been discovered, by the time we graduate there will be a more solid foundation to build our charade upon."
"Tai: Do we stay hush, hush for now? Until the big three make their moves?"
"Anna: Yup, we act like normal until a decent plan of action is proposed. At the end of things, we will hold token leading positions and focus on getting the alien things for the smart people to analyse and work on."
Everything I've talked about is just a vague draft, so there aren't many details to discuss yet. At the same time it will be a convenient excuse to pack up and be mostly unavailable during the vacation.
"Yumi: Speaking of vacation. Did anyone keep count on our exp? Are we close enough to achieving Lv 2 in July?"
'Good question…' Tai throws me an inquisitive glance, and I can only shake my head. It is hard to keep track of all the goings-on during the heat of the moment, and we aren't too sure that the exp has divided between us as we expect it to.
"Tai: Personally, I estimate that we are only halfway there, maybe less. It's just so fricking hard to be on that shitty floor during the day! It's just hours of walking and minutes of fighting!"
"Anna: Yeahh, too much snow, low visibility, difficult terrain… Haaa, we might have to start sneaking out during the night for a few hours. Each day, one group at a time, for safety we can have Juliana shoot half of the bug things, we finish the rest and take all the exp. That way, we should get very close to Lv 2 by the end of July and finish it up by early August."
"Yumi: Mmmm, lucky her. `Sigh, maybe a token position is a good idea, we could do what we want with our time and only sometimes make an appearance in public saying that we've had a breakthrough or something."
"Anna: Would be nice, yeah. I'll talk about it with the rest, but we still can't stop working on our own skills even if we get to Lv 2. We are making progress, right?"
Easily getting physically stronger by simply stabbing a few monsters, or having someone shoot them for you is an attractive option. It's the obviously wrong one too. Grow complacent, arrogant, overconfident, and a big bad boss monster will crush you to a bloody smear on the floor. 'A trap for the cowardly and prideful.'
"Yumi: I'm still not getting any luck in making my healing skills to work on others. It just feels like there is a barrier between another person and me. The strength buff skill works though, … only for 25 seconds."
"Tai: I'm improving my ninja arts too! It's just that the terrain is messing with my movement skills, but I'm seriously working on it."
It seems that we are getting something back from all the time we've put into training. We sure as hell don't lack motivation!
.. .. .. ..
My suggestion to rotate our groups for the night raids has been approved, and we started clearing the winter floor every day.
"Tai: Shouldn't we try taking on the small dinosaurs? There are five if us here and I can distract one by myself for a few minutes."
"Yumi: With three heavy hitters it should be safe, no?"
Tonight we have already finished cleaning out four swarms and are nearing the dinosaur territory. Waiting for the monsters to move away takes time, and we haven't had much challenge taking on the bug monsters one on one.
"Valentine: Hm, fine. Better to get a feel for them sooner than later. … We move to this quadrant. The terrain is more favourable for us there. TJ will draw them in from here, focus fire on only one of them."
Valentine consults the map and Juliana points out a favourable position for long range fire. Our focus will be on taking down one of them while Tai distracts the other.
The monsters are a bit too large for us, so aiming for the head and neck is problematic as it is, we will have to hit its bulk or disable the legs.
'This will be dangerous, we need to be careful about the tail swipes and the sturdy legs the size of tree trunks.'
I try to compare the benefits to the danger posed. Practice makes perfect, we need a challenge to grow and improve our battle senses. Not a reckless bet of one's life but a weighted decision.
In the end … we do need to put our skills into practice, and there is an escape route a short distance away.
"Anna: TJ, just to confirm, the escape route is foolproof in case we really need to retreat, yes?"
"Juliana: As long as I don't start shooting from there, yes. Learned that the hard way, this place doesn't like cheaters."
I've read that report: trying to kill the monsters from a safe spot resulted in a stampede of the apple zerg that could bypass the obstacles and reach the hidden attacker.
'Is this a natural reaction from the dungeon? Sending all the nearby monsters to scratch an itch? I sure hope that the dungeon doesn't actively start hunting us, or we will be neck deep in monsters and probably dead.'
We take our time to get familiar with the layout and plan for different situations arising.
.. ..
Once everything is ready, we lay in wait.
.. .. ..
"Contact, 650 m, fire in 3 .. 2 .. 1."
`POP … `POP `POP.
"Targets en route, hold positions. Tai, on 5 .. 4.."
Tai uses her throwing weapons to attack the second monster, while TJ keeps shooting the first one.
`POP `POP `POP.
"TJ left 20 go! Strike team, 1 m … On 10 .. 8 ..4.."
….. … `POP `POP. Juliana shifts position to make the monster move in the direction we want it to move.
Yumi and me are taking cover behind some rocks and ice. On the radio, Valentine's voice is barking out orders as we ready a heavy surprise attack. Hopefully, it will be a decisive strike in one go.
I feel a rising surge of strength flowing through me.
"Yumi: Greater strength, greater strength."
I prepare myself for combat. 'Wings of the Valkyrie.'
"Strike!"
We run up the rocks, steps solid and powerful. My aim is the head, or preferably the eyes, while Yumi will aim for below the neck area.
I leap, propelled by a magical strength behind my back, the monster has no time to react to our surprise appearance right beside it.
I infuse my will into the spear as I fly to deliver the best strike that I can.
'Death or glory.'
For a moment, I become a powerful comet that has ripped through space for eons and deliver its devastating furry upon my target.
"Yumi: Sundering blow!"
I impale the monster's head first, and the impact from Yumi's blow comes a split second later.
Though my momentum has ceased when my spear embedded deeply in the monster's head, I push of empty air, maneuver and land without issue.
My spear forced the monster to turn its head and the heavy impact from Yumi's war hammer sends it tilting. Our combined efforts and its own momentum has made the monster crash, sending snow everywhere.
`Crash!`Puff! ….
`Boom`Boom`Boom`Boom`Boom.
Without missing a beat, Juliana has already arrived, switched to the shotgun and is hammering the downed monster point blank. We make 100% sure that the monster will be staying down for good.
"Juliana: Catch your breath for a moment. Val is switching with Tai to keep the other one running like a headless chicken. Nice work by the way, I'm almost afraid to ask for a sparing session now."
Juliana gives us thumbs up before running back into position. I quickly turn to look at the situation with the others.
Tai and Valentine are using the terrain, combined with hit and run tactics to lead the monster around by the nose.
"Yumi: We good to go? Same tactic? .. Greater strength. Greater strength."
We inspect our weapons while catching respite for a minute and Juliana has returned to a more convenient position to open fire and draw the second monster to our trap here.
"Anna: Yeah, I'm good to fly."
"Drawing next target, Val 50 right …" … `POP `POP. `POP. `POP. `POP `POP.
'Ok round two! Wings of the Valkyrie.'
"Strike team in 4 ..2 .. GO!"
We repeat our attacks, but this time it came in slower and didn't have that much forward momentum, so it didn't fall.
"Anna: Yumi! Wind up for a spin!" I get the monster's undivided attention and make a quick retreat around the rocks. While the skills are in effect, I move swiftly while the rest prepare for the next attack.
"Yumi: Hahaha! Sundering strike!!!"
Yumi takes the advantage of the monster being half blinded and takes a wide swing at its head, sending it flying all the way back.
By now Tai has joined us and is stabbing it in the neck while utilising a quick movement skill. I grab my short spear and add a few stabs before it finally goes down and becomes completely limp.
"Tai: Phew! Good exercise! All good on your side?"
"Anna: All good, the first one got done in after taking the surprise attack right in the face. This one was more trouble because it didn't stumble. You two were ok? I don't see Valentine coming over."
"Tai: He was catching his breath last I saw. .. you know .. he doesn't have a convenient movement skill or a power up. It's exhausting running in the snow while a dinosaur right on your heels and is trying to eat you alive."
"Anna: Right, got it. All good, as long as no one is injured."
We move closer to the first monster to get the exp, and not a moment later it disappears into light particles.
"Yumi: We sure that there's no need to let one of them turn into loot?"
"Anna: We won't always be able to retrieve the exp, even this one was only 10 seconds away from turning into loot. Also… I think it will be some unfamiliar mushroom, judging from how its head looks like."
"Oh." "Makes sense."
We move towards the second one and wait for the magic to happen.
..
"Valentine: Haaa. Haaaa. Damn Jurassic Park, haaa. Great work ladies. I'm beat for today and we are on time for our return. Haaa… Finally done."
"Juliana: Hehe~ I've done a good job too, right? Enough to earn an extra box of takeout, yes? … Thank you very much! Also, I'll need a picnic basket for tomorrow. Thanks in advance!"
The dissatisfied grunts given in reply are interpreted as a promise to prepare everything with extra care. 'I have no idea how Juliana can decipher those noises. Maybe we should take some lessons from her on "men talk" when we have some free time to chat?'
We don't encounter any monsters on our way back and after a nice hot bath we have breakfast together. There is not much reason to sneak back into the dormitory right now, so we spend an hour here before donning our sportswear and going back.
"Anna: Tai, how did Valentine keep up? Should we try keeping him more on a support oriented role?"
"Tai: Mmmmm… Well… He wasn't trampled to death, so that's something, though there were a few too close for comfort moments. I would rather he doesn't get close to that boss monster, that thing is insanely fast for its size. Even with my movement technique, I'm not confident in evading it completely. Hana has an advantage over me in that aspect. She is like the fricking wind when going all out. Even when running on snow!"
"Yumi: So… It's decided then? We will face that monstrosity after everyone has reached Lv 2 and is confident in using skills? …It will be our first prolonged battle. Until now, everything fell from 2-4 hits. I doubt it will be that easy with the big bad boss monster."
I am nervous too, with every passing second in heated combat, the possibility of making a mistake grows exponentially larger. …A fatal mistake, most likely.
"Anna: We will need to practice teamwork on the smaller dinosaurs and make a foolproof plan as much as possible. It will be risky, there is no denying it, the most risky so far. … Regardless of when, if anyone feels like stopping, you know that you will be heard by your friends, right? This will always be a personal choice, not an obligation… … Except for Juliana, she is hired to protect Mari. You two know what I meant to say."
""We do. Yup.""
Even if there is no way to delete our accounts from the system to let someone else register to use the portal, there will never be any coercion or any kind of other shenanigans. A failsafe, of sorts, that we all had agreed on, and also … a personal failsafe of my own.
"Anna: Hitting the gym after class? Or personal training?"
Another day, another lesson, another small step forward into the future.
