The fighting lasted for a total of seven hours, with a short reprieve at the fifth hour as the monsters regrouped. There was a roaring cheer that ripped itself out of the throat of every soldier on the battlefield. This time there was not a single fatality that needed to be reported, and the worst of the casualties would only need a few weeks of recovery, at worst before they would be cleared for duty. Damian grinned and returned his knife to his inventory. After the fourth hour of combat he had run out of bolts and joined Ulf and Big Lu on their mad dash up and down the front lines. The soldiers around him gave him slaps on the back as he passed by to join his friends. Big Lu had a few cuts and slashes across his torso but other than that seemed no worse for wear. His friend seemed to be trying to hide behind his comically oversized great hammer as the nearby soldiers were chanting his name. Big Lu’s face was as crimson as the blood stains on his weapon and Damian could only laugh as he approached and heard the tail end of Ulf’s advice for the big lug.
“……..and then after you have drunk the others under the table you grab the closest comely lass, or lad I don’t judge, and toss them over your shoulder to take back for a fun night. The prowess you showed was impressive enough to get yourself a wife, or husband….” Ulf continued causing a few nearby soldiers to laugh and some of the ladies started posing as if to present themselves for Big Lu’s consideration, much to the large man’s mortification. Damian found himself laughing along with the soldiers and calling out ‘advice’ of his own for which of the female soldiers his friend should go with, much to the ladies’ amusement as they strutted by Big Lu as if on a catwalk.
“Damian! You ass, don’t just stand there help me!” Big Lu whined.
“Fine, fine. Alright everyone let the man breathe he gets embarrassed easily.” Damian turned and winked at the ladies who were teasing the big man and stage whispered, “Just wait until he’s had a few drinks later, he is much less shy then and will probably take a few of you for the night if you’re willing.”
“DAMIAN!”
Everyone burst out laughing at that and started to disperse as Damian walked up to Ulf and Lu, who was glaring daggers at him from behind the head of his weapon.
“That was a wonderful battle my friends! I do believe the warriors of Valhalla will love it here. If I remember correctly there was a giant bird some time ago what happened to it? Ulf rumbled out.
“It’s corpse is over in an open plaza not too far from here. Come on I’ll show you.” Damian waived for the two to follow him. A system prompt briefly flashed in his eyes but he waived it away, whatever it was could wait Damian wanted to get his hands on some feathers to have Big Lu line a leather jacket for him. The bird carcass was a withered and wrinkled thing, lying in the middle of the plaza. The beasts feathers had fallen out and littered the ground around its wrinkled husk and Damian made a beeline for them and began sorting through them. Ulf and Big Lu followed behind him and whistled in appreciation of the beast.
“This is a wonderful trophy young warrior; you must tell me of the battle over a drink later!” Ulf boomed out as he started to circle the bird, “Do you think it is still good to eat?”
Damian just shrugged, “Shouldn’t be a problem, we can have some of the guys from logistics carve it up for us. Hey Lu, think you could make a jacket for me and line it with some of these?”
“That shouldn’t be a problem, but Damian does its abdomen look swollen to you?” Big Lu asked and sure enough when Damian looked it did indeed look enlarged.
Curious Damian brought out his knife and started to cut into the bird. After a few careful slices later they peeled back the skin and found out why the withered corpse had a distended abdomen. The Tlanuwa was carrying an egg. The egg seemed like it belonged inside an art museum instead of a real egg. It had a metallic luster to its shell and had intricate carvings on its surface. The carvings were all of a hawk mid hunt or observing its land from on high. Its texture was like a porous stone and was ruff against Damian’s hands. As they stared at it another system prompt flashed before his eyes.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Damian sucked in a sharp breath, he knew it was possible in some stories to tame a Tlanuwa but it was incredibly difficult and often could only be done by shamans. If the system could bond it to him then the choice was a no brainer. How could anyone turn down having a giant hawk that you could eventually ride as a pet? Yet, Damian didn’t have any essence left, unless? Thinking of the previous system prompt Damian opened it and began to read.
Sure enough. The essence gained seemed low for the amount of dead creatures he assisted with but beggars can’t be choosers and all that. Going back to the first prompt Damian accepted and his essence started to drain.
Damian selected yes and thought on what to spend his essence on. He looked through the skill trees and one caught his eye, artificing. The skill was a mix of mechanical engineering and alchemy; it would give him enough practical knowledge of both fields to design small handheld devices that could assist with a variety of purposes. Damian’s mind immediately went to the gadgets used in various spy movies and steam punk novels and couldn’t help but choose the skill. He spent 350 essence raising the skill tree to tier two and received a perk that detailed ways to make his devices less conspicuous and harder to detect. Before he could get distracted by ideas of new toys to make, Damian turned his attention to the remaining 825 essence. He decided to use it to enhance himself, he felt his current reflexes and mental acuity was more than enough for now and decided to split the enhancement between his senses and physical endurance.
When he confirmed his selections, he felt a warm current run through his body but before he could focus on what it was doing his nose erupted in searing agony. It felt like someone took a fire poker fresh from the flames and jammed it into his nasal cavities. He felt the cartilage in his nose shift and felt the formation of channels that previously never existed. The pain ended as abruptly as it began and suddenly, he could smell everything. The acrid tang of gunpowder, once cloying and familiar, was filled with a subtle nuance and scents that weren’t there before. From people passing by and even his friends by his side more new scents wafted, ones that he could for some reason now associate with emotions. A vibrant joy and enthusiasm from Ulf, embarrassment and interest from Big Lu, along with relief, lust, anxiety, and many others from passing soldiers. It was overwhelming and he had to take a moment to gather himself. He pinched his nose shut and took deep calming breaths before slowly letting up the pressure on his nostrils. Damian was only able to focus on the changes for a few minutes before another pop up appeared, and from the multiple hitched breaths he could hear from formerly passing soldiers and the sudden uptick in the scent of anxiety he guessed everyone could see it.
Congratulations Earth! You’re Inducted have closed the first portal on your planet! You have made the first stride towards the end of the integration period, and the rest of the universe eagerly awaits you. With the closing of the first portal, you have unlocked the right for your Inducted to participate in the integration market for new civilizations. Here your Inducted will be able to purchase technology and items to make your lives and ongoing integration smoother. They may trade goods produced from your planet or essence to acquire anything they desire. The next market day is in two months prepare well Inducted.
Damian and Big Lu exchanged a glance and then started pulling up the governors’ chat group hoping to find more information. Any information on what the portal scenarios were like was crucial for their survival. After all, it wouldn’t take long before they were sent to close a portal themselves. The chat group was exploding with activity. Demands for information and congratulatory messages flashed across the screen at speed until one of those responsible for closing the portal spoke up.
