Chapter 20: Last Minute Preparations

“Professor, can I ask you something?” Evelyn asked.

He had asked Evelyn and Alexis to help him with drawing the very elaborate magic circle for the ritual, Alexis because she was very good at drawing precise diagrams and Evelyn because thanks to her Deva arms she was very good at hoisting things out of the way as she worked, like the king-sized bed they had to draw the circle around.

“Certainly,” the Professor replied. He was fiddling with something electronic but apparently he was capable of multi-tasking just fine.

“This army we're going to face,” Evelyn began, “couldn't I just drop a Vasavi Shakti on them and have done?”

He paused. She thought she was making a pretty good point but then he said: “I'm very sorry Private, in all the excitement I forgot to tell you.”

“Tell me what?” she asked.

“That ability of yours was actually one of the topics of discussion when we decided on how to handle this situation.”

She was about to open her mouth and ask if that meant she would get to use it but before she could say anything he continued:

“And it was decided that we would prefer you not use it unless absolutely necessary. I apologize. I forgot to inform you of that.”

She blinked. “Why?”

“Your ability is powerful,” he said. “Incredibly so. But that is why we need it as a last resort.”

“But if I just drop a bomb on them and destroy that army, there wouldn't be any need for a last resort, right?”

He was starting to look exasperated. “Do you honestly think the army marching on that camp is all our enemy has to offer?”

She blinked.

“This is IDS we're up against,” he said. “You've read what these people are capable of. If we destroy this first wave with a powerful ability like yours all it will do is cause our opponent to send in another force, this time armed with some way to stop an attack like yours. Never mind that you would likely fall unconscious the moment you used such a powerful ability.”

“But doesn't that mean we're screwed either way?” she asked. “If they can just send in more and more fighters?”

He shook his head. “Their resources aren't infinite. Caulder is perfectly willing to send multiple waves into the fray but he is smart enough to understand sunk cost fallacy. He is attacking this camp to gather bodies for his research. If we can make it pricey enough for him he will cut his losses. But that does mean not wasting your ability until we're about to get overwhelmed.”

She looked at him, thinking through his words, and then nodded.

“But there is another reason we don't want to use your ability early,” he said.

“And that would be?”

“The EXP you earn are not an absolute unit of measurement,” he said. “They are an abstraction of the amount of growth you have achieved while fighting an enemy. If you merely drop a bomb on an opposing army then I suspect your EXP rewards will be rather paltry. This fight is, first of all, an opportunity for all of you to get stronger. If this hadn't happened you would all be preparing to march on Buffalo right now. So even if Caulder ends up deciding that this force is all he can spare, it would still be beneficial for all of you to fight them head-on.”

“This seems like a really flimsy distinction,” she said. “Shooting an enemy with a gun doesn't make me grow all that much either.”

He shook his head. “But it does. While you aren't using your magic or your strength, your coordination and your aim are still being tested, as well as your ability to outsmart the opponent. Shooting a Thrall is easy and thus it awards you very few EXP. Shooting a wendigo is much harder as you need to predict its movements and lead your shots accordingly and thus it's worth far more EXP. Meanwhile, if you drop a bomb on an army you aren't outsmarting the army. You are outsmarting its commanders.”

“I... think I see your point,” she said.

**

When Elaine returned to the Professor she only found Cassie waiting for her. For the first time in months she was wearing something that wasn't a military uniform. She was about to have an intimate encounter with two breathtakingly gorgeous women and was potentially going to die so she at least wanted to go out in style. So instead of the normal uniform she was clad in tight dark gray jeans and a top that looked like a red blouse with a black vest over it. She had showered in a rush, then dried herself off with a bit of fire and air magic and then she'd applied the tiniest bit of make-up.

Elaine thought she looked pretty decent normally but with just that little bit of time to prepare she thought she was pretty sexy. Hopefully it'd be sexy enough for Jeanne and Rachel.

“Where are the others?" Elaine asked as she got close to Cassie.

“Wow Elaine, you look amazing," Cassie said, then caught himself. “They set the ritual circle up in Nurse Rachel's private room. Apparently she has a nicer bed than us cadets.”

“Ah," Elaine said. “I admit I have no idea where her room is, though.”

“That's why I'm here, to get you there," he said.

“Thanks," she said and followed him until they reached a corridor she'd never been down before. It looked like it held private quarters just like the ones the Shard Bearers and Awakeners resided in but the doors were spaced slightly farther apart, hinting that the rooms were much bigger. Elaine supposed it made sense that the brass would have nicer rooms than them.

Once they reached that corridor it was pretty easy to see which room was the right one, considering that Alexis, Evelyn, Ophelia, Abigail and the Professor were waiting in front of it.

“Sergeant," the Professor greeted her. “Are you ready? One way or another, if you do this you will shed your mortality.”

“Almost," she said, then turned to look at Cassie and Abigail. “Could you two please buy your new abilities before I do this?”

“Do you assume the extra stats will help you?" the Professor asked.

“No," she said. “But if I die they will need to find another Awakener and bring their Bond Level back up again. Better they buy the abilities they want now.”

Everyone around her swallowed and she added:

“I have no intention of dying but I can't discount the possibility.”

Cassie took a deep breath and said: “Okay, if that's what you want.”

“Wormwood," the Professor cursed.

“What is it?" Cassie asked.

“That ability," the Professor said. “'Protector of the Innocent'. The Angel Lord of Patience, Raphael, can do something similar to this. His ability to protect those around him with nearly perfect efficiency is lauded throughout Heaven and Hell. And your Soul Shard just handed you an only slightly weaker version of his most powerful application of space magic.”

“Yeah, I think I'm buying it, too," Cassie said. “In a hectic fight this might as well just be limitless teleportation.”

The Professor nodded.

“And there goes all my EXP," Cassie said theatrically.

“Look at that Vigor stat, though," Evelyn said.

“Yeah, that's what all those apples did," he said. “Think I can stop gouging myself on them now?”

“I'll say," Elaine said. “You can start sharing them but maybe consider keeping one a day to yourself.”

“One is okay I guess," he said. “An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but three of them will make you sick of apples pretty quick.”

“Yeah," Elaine said.

“Your turn, Abigail," Elaine said when Abigail made no move to futz with her menus.

“I believe in you, Elaine," she said. “You'll survive.”

“I would be much more calm about it if you did this," Elaine said. “Please.”

Abigail sighed. “Alright.”

“So, while I can buy all four of these, only two will count for my stats since I can only level up once. Between my now pretty high Vitality and that new barrier ability I'm pretty sure I don't need the points from the recovery skill. By that same logic I don't really need the extra Fortitude so I guess I'm buying the bow and the support skill first so they count towards my stats and the rest I buy after the level-up so they count when I level up next time," Abigail explained to a round of nods.

“At least we got that out of the way," Elaine said. “Thank you both.” She fumbled a little, unsure what to do next. The situation was bizarre. She was about to go have sex with two breathtakingly gorgeous celestials but she might also die from it. She really didn't know how to put that into words.

Before she could come up with some new way to make a fool out of herself Alexis slammed into her and hugged her tight.

“I believe in you," the blonde said. “So make sure you come back to me.”

“Of course," Elaine said as she leaned down to give Alexis a gentle kiss.

Before the blonde could disentangle herself Evelyn caught them both in a hug. “I know you've got this. I l...” Her mouth almost twisted into an 'o' but then she caught herself. “You're precious to me.”

“You're precious to me, too," Elaine said and gave the redhead a gentle kiss. She wasn't quite at the point where she dared to use the L-word with any of her girls but hearing Evelyn stumbling over it was encouraging.

Ophelia caught them all in a group hug. “I know you'll be fine," she said with a grin, “so just enjoy your time with those two hotties in there.”

“I will," Elaine said and gave Ophelia a kiss as well.

“You know what's waiting for you if you get through this, right?" he heard Cassie whisper into her ear as he led one of her hands down to cup his ass.

She smiled and told him: “I can't wait.” And then she kissed him as well.

“I'm not going to wish you good luck," Abigail said as she got close and squeezed Elaine's shoulder, “because I know you won't need it. So, see you later.”

“See you later," Elaine told her and then took a chance and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead that made the singer blush.

This was it. She was going to seize the power she needed to save everything precious to her.

**

Stollos had to swallow as he watched Sergeant Caldwell's team hug her and wish her well. Not because the show of affection bothered him but because he could see the feelings surrounding them all.

The ties that bound all but strangled the Awakener, giving her resolve beyond measure. As she was right then it would be utterly impossible for the Oath to fail. In fact, the only way it would still be able to fail would be if he told her how easy it would be and she grew complacent. So he didn't say anything and merely watched as Elaine Caldwell disentangled herself from her group and went into Rachel's room. The next time he would talk to her she would be a Lacrima, the first in decades.

She would be powerful beyond any human limits and once she got to grips with her new powers she would be an even more invaluable part of Project Divinity.

He walked off to prepare a video for her, to congratulate her on her successful ascension and to explain to her all the intricacies of the power she was about to seize.

ChrisLensman

And with the Oath of Crystal Tears about to commence I want to take this opportunity to remind you all that the Knights & Maidens Anthology, which I have a short story in, is still up on Kickstarter until May 27th and it'd mean the world to me if you considered backing it. The Kickstarter can be found here. Have a great weekend!