“Hey hey hey! Voice of the People here, live on K-RAD LA! It’s a fine Saturday afternoon here – no, it’s ! That’s right, y’all, it’s been a good day here. And it’s almost over, which means the party is about to start!
“If y’all been living under a rock and haven’t heard, tonight is Yeah boy! I’m talkin ‘bout the mad show we're putting on tonight at Eclipse! It’s gonna be the hottest, filthiest, sexiest motherfucking show of the year! If you ain’t got tickets already, sheeeit, you fucked! Nah, I’m playing. You ain’t getting fucked, cause you gonna be lonelyyy tonight! Hahaha!”
- DJ Demophon Kerner on K-RAD LA, April 19th, System Year 453
As I suffered through another Leadership class full of cliches and vague, generic advice, I was starting to regret taking it. Even worse, my next class was PT2, and I was sure that was going to make Leadership seem like fun by comparison. We met back at the guard tower’s steps – the ‘Wasted Stairs’ as some of the students were calling them.
This time, the instructors showed us some actual techniques for rolling into a fall in order to absorb some of the momentum and reduce our chances of getting hurt. Then we had to do a series of jumps from different heights, first with a regular landing, and then rolling out of it.
Once they were satisfied that we could roll on landing even if our barrier broke, we had to go up platform higher to prove it. That put me at thirty-five feet up, once again a level higher than any of the other students. I became one of the casualties on my first attempt, feeling my ankle bend the wrong way as I landed, and my attempt at a roll turned into rolling around on the ground in pain.
H’ruk helped me to my feet after Lydia healed me. I hadn't needed healing yesterday, so I didn’t realize that she was also healing the pain until I started instinctively limping and discovered that it didn’t actually hurt to walk.
Once we’d sufficiently battered ourselves on the hard-packed dirt, we were excused for our second class with Head Instructor Thompson. As we headed towards the classroom, I realized I hadn’t spent any time considering the homework assignment we’d been given.
I quickly considered my list of Skills. Quick Step was obviously a movement Skill, and Tactical Reposition had to be a recovery Skill. Variable Load I wasn’t sure about – it seemed like it could either go in offense or tool use. I decided tool use was a better fit, since it didn’t do damage directly. Short Blades, Shotguns, Speed Loading, and Recoil Management were also all tool use Skills.
I thought about it as we filed into the large classroom and took our usual seats off to the side. My Aspect of Versatility was a major factor. Without it, I probably would have been focused only on the ranged damage role, plus leadership. I wasn’t sure I loved being in charge of the Squad, but would I want anyone else to do it?
Melee weapons were just a backup, even though I enjoyed working on my Short Blades Skill. I ran through the other options in my head, and decided that for now, I didn’t have the right Skills to build a foundation in any of the other areas.
All of the instructors were present, just as Thompson had promised. Wolf took us to one of the small classrooms and closed the door, then activated a privacy ward. He looked at me.
“Azure, since you’re the team leader, why don’t you go first? Tell us what categories your Skills fall into – you don’t have to give the details on each Skill if you don’t want to.”
“Well, I have a movement Skill, a recovery Skill, and, uh, five tool use Skills. Plus Identify, Inspect, and Inventory, of course.”
That got some surprised looks from most of the team, though Arlo just nodded. I assumed he probably had something similar.
“That’s not unusual at first. Now, what roles do you see yourself playing on the team?”
“Obviously ranged damage first, with leadership and melee damage as my secondary areas, but eventually – maybe all of them? Well, I don’t know about healing.”
That drew raised eyebrows from Wolf and interested looks from my newer teammates. Deciding that I trusted everyone in the group, I told them about my Aspect and how I felt that ‘feeding’ it would mean becoming a jack-of-all-trades.
“What does that mean for your Skill planning?” Wolf asked, and I thought about it for a moment.
“I think in a way it means I shouldn’t get too fixated on taking a particular Skill next. I should look at my options each time to see if there’s something that can both broaden what I can do but also synergize somehow with what I’ve got. And probably, I should be cautious about taking Skills that reinforce things that I already do well.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
The Ranger frowned at me before responding.
“I wouldn’t say that. You don’t want to leave yourself spread thin and become ineffective at everything. I think you’re right about your Aspect, but don’t think about it like you’re trying to get everything to the same level. Your Class is ultimately about ranged damage, so put that first and then try to balance the rest a notch or two below that.”
I nodded, and he moved on to talk to Arlo next. As we continued through the group, I had to ask him for a pen and paper to keep track of everyone’s intended roles.
Az – ranged damage, leadership
Arlo – ranged damage, scouting
Raylan – melee damage, scouting
Jayce – ranged damage, crowd control
Tara – crowd control, melee damage
G’hala – melee damage, healing
H’ruk – melee damage
Zaire – ranged damage, defense
Eventually, G’hala would add support, and H’ruk – well, the big orc clearly wanted to be a pure melee fighter, but I told him firmly that he needed to pick another area to develop as well. I really wanted a backup healer, but there didn’t seem to be an obvious candidate for that on the team.
We also learned that I wasn’t the only one with an Aspect. H’ruk had the Aspect of the Barbarian, which gave him an additional point in Strength and Regeneration with each Level. Unfortunately, it imposed a penalty on the speed of Leveling any Spells.
He’d picked Mage because it was the only combat Class he’d been offered, then unlocked the Aspect at the end of the Tutorial, when he’d also improved his Class to Advanced. Unsurprisingly, he was much more pleased with his Aspect than his Class.
Once the distraction of classes were over, we headed to the dining hall for dinner. Yuri, walking with his team towards the restaurant, mockingly called out for Tara to join them. She flipped him off, causing the asshole to flush with anger. We stayed in a tight group and he didn’t follow. Most of the other students seemed to find the whole thing amusing, though they didn’t know what had happened at the restaurant on Thursday.
Our conversation at dinner focused on what we were going to do with our day off. I had no conception of what to do with an entire day to myself. There were no little kids to watch out for, no chores to do, and no Hazel hovering over my shoulder. We overheard some students at a nearby table talking about going into the nearby town. After questioning them, we learned it was allowed as long as you went as a full Squad and were back before sunset.
It was less than an hour’s walk to the town gates, and the way was regularly patrolled by guards from both the town and the Academy. Raylan, H’ruk, and Tara were eager to explore. Lacking any better ideas, we agreed that we’d get to the dining hall right when it opened at noon for lunch. If we left by 1230 we’d have plenty of time to look around the town and get back well before dark.
We lingered around the table for a while, until one of the workers came over and politely kicked us out. She told us that they needed to clean up before the second semester students finished their classes and came in ‘like ravenous wolves’ as she put it. Everyone – except me – wanted to celebrate the end of our first week with a drink, so we ended up at the bar.
I found myself sitting next to Jayce, on their right side, so I was looking primarily at the sleek, feminine lines of the white metal that made up their cybernetic half. She – they, I reminded myself – was the only one other than me drinking water.
“You don’t like beer either?” I asked curiously, and they turned to look at me, so I could see their masculine half as well. The flawless transition from flesh to metal running down the middle of their face was… weird. I was getting used to it though, just like I’d adapted to the orc’s fang-filled smiles.
“It is not that we do not enjoy beer, Azure,” they replied in their buzzing dual voice. “It is simply that alcohol only affects half of us, and the effect is most disconcerting.”
My eyes widened. “Wow, so you mean your flesh half gets drunk but your cybernetic half doesn’t?”
“Indeed, it is a thoroughly unpleasant sensation and we have no desire to experience it again.”
“Hey, stop me if I’m being rude, but is half your brain made out of metal too?”
“We sincerely hope never to find out,” they replied, and I laughed once I realized what they meant.
“OK, fair enough. Um, are there a lot of people like you in LA? I never met, well, pretty much anyone but humans in Sunland,” I said, throwing a brief glare at an obliviously cute Tara.
Jayce shook their head with what I thought was a hint of sadness.
“There are not, Azure. We are a small group, and reproduce slowly.”
“Oh. How does that work, I mean, I assume you were born like this? Sorry, if that’s not rude to ask.” I flushed slightly at my own awkward question.
Jayce waved off my hesitation. “It is a common question from those of the singular flesh. We were indeed born like this, though, obviously quite a bit smaller.” They smiled, metal lips moving in sync with flesh.
“I didn’t realize metal could grow,” I commented. “Do you have to consume other metal as food?”
Jayce’s laugh was oddly musical.
“No, we eat as humans do. Our internal processes convert our food into the necessary materials, but it requires a great deal of mana to do so. My parents, like all cyborgs, had to supply me with their mana every day when I was young. Eventually, we grew strong enough to absorb the mana needed to fuel the rest of our growth on our own.”
My attention was pulled away from the fascinating conversation by a rowdy H’ruk demanding a toast to Team Hard Limit. We all clinked glasses, and for a while I forgot about Yuri and everything else beyond our table. It was hard to believe that I’d gone from having basically no friends back in Sunland – or at least, none my age – to having most of a Squad full of them.
I decided.
by SOMBRAcorpDT
"... Even if I'm devoured, even if my body is torn apart, even if my head is ripped off, and even if my heart stops… I'll come back from Death. Such is my fate."
[Death and Resurrection], capable of bending the fabric of space and time in order to bring Tristessa back to life.
Points of interest:
?? Dark High Fantasy. The story is going to be brutal, with gore, extreme violence, psychological horror and uncomfortable topics. Be aware about it.
???? LitRPG and Soulsborne genre. No System. Statistics appear from "Chapter 76 - Divinity of the Dark Room" onward.
?? Slow-burn progression. Very weak MC. Acquiring skills and progressing comes with its share of suffering and pain. Nothing is free in Nekrom.
?? Lots of worldbuilding and lore. Currently creating a map of the world with the Inkarnate app!
?? Some romance here and there. That be Het, GL, BL, it doesn't really matter since characters try to grasp some happiness amidst a very bad context. (Also no harem, but our lovely MC is a greedy teenager with a big, troubled heart. Keep that in mind).
?? Release schedule: Monday-Wednesday-Friday, at 15:30 UTC. The average is about 1000-1500 words/chapter, but once in a while I'll release a 2500-3000 words chapter if the gods of literature are willing.
