Grunts

“Why do we have to do this?” Moans the young furred beast that has wondered into what was meant to be our home. He has not yet seen sign of us as he continues to grump.

A light wand, not unlike our own sits in his hand as he nervously gazes into the deep darkness from whence he’s come. These ruins are day by day proving themselves less abandoned than I’d expected of them.

“How many times do I have to tell you to shut up!” The second of the intruders quietly hisses, turning his sharp reptilian gaze onto his companion, “We’re here because we drew the short fucking straw. I know she told you that you’d be safe with that stick of yours, but she lied. Without a fighter with us, we’re dead meat if any beasts take notice of us.”

“Really?” Furry says doubtfully as he waves a mana dense wand around, “It seems powerful.”

“It’s a trick, dumbass. You think we’d be trusted with something worth anything?” Scaly says, back at the first “We need to get out of here before something hungry notices us.”

“Can’t we just throw them the meat?” Furry asks Scaly, still looking at his glowing wand.

“Sure, if you want the boss to carve you up instead when we get back.” Scaly shakes his head, “Dumbass.”

They walk through the door into my domain, their greedy eyes looking over the corpse of the beast that Nel killed. The beast that was set upon my people.

“You think we could take some?” Furry asks, “For us, I mean. We don’t get mana potions or nothing, and I hate being weak.”

“Sure.” Scaly replies with his low hissing voice, “Long as you’re happy eating it now. We’re not sneaking nothing out of here unless it’s already in our stomachs.”

As if to highlight the point, Scaly grabs a mouthful of the dead beast and shoves it into his mouth. He schools his expression before turning to his companion who’s clearly grossed out.

“Disgusting!” Hisses the furry beast, coving his snout with a hand as if to try and hold back from throwing up.

“Idiot, if you’re not gonna eat, let’s just get to it.” As Scaly says as much the doors behind them close. The same stone doors that lead deeper into the ruins.

“What?!” Furry asks, waving his glowing wand at the door before slapping at the symbol that should open it, “What’s happening?”

“What did you do, idiot?” Scaly scolds, looking back at the door, as he wipes his bloody hands on his front.

Ria’s switch works well, as the pair find themselves locked in with us.

“That won’t work.” I say stepping out of the shadows. Beside me the others follow, though Adler is a little more uncertain than the others.

“L-leave! This is none of your business.” Says the fluffy as he tries to pretend he’s dangerous, lifting his glowing stick up as he aims it at me.

“You might want to lower that.” I say, “Unless you want to see how it works when shoved deep up your ass. My bet, it’s not a vibrator.”

My own little toy is sitting in my hand, itching for it’s first chance to shine. These beasts could do with some proper taming, and I’m not currently much of a mind to use the carrot.

“Do you know who we work for?” The Scaly says, trying to sound intimidating.

“What a coincidence, that’s exactly what I was about to ask you.” I reply, relaxing my stance but keeping the pistol out and ready. Unlike their weapons it doesn’t glow overmuch to my mana senses, which only makes it that much more of an interesting weapon.

“Orsa. We work for Orsa. She’s a big deal down here, you know. Runs the businesses and makes sure everyone’s good to one another. You don’t want to go crossing her.”

“Oh? I think it’s a little too late for that.” I reply tapping the barrel of the pistol against my leg, “I rather think it best if we set up a meeting with her, to get a few things formally settled between us.”

“Ah, well… she doesn’t just meet with anyone you know.”

“Really? It doesn’t much matter, I’m sure I can help her clear up some time in her schedule. Lead the way.”

“I think you’re confused,” The Scaly says, the critter standing a little taller now that he thinks he has some measure of authority. “We’re here for other business, you can just piss off.”

I aim the pistol towards him, but he doesn’t seem to recognise the threat. Easy enough to rectify.

“Are you going to lower that, or did you take my last threat as flirtation?” I ask the furry creature politely.

“Leave!” He shouts in such a pathetic whiney tone. He couldn’t make it any clearer that he’s a worthless grunt. “You leave now, or I’ll make you regret it.”

“Drop the stick,” I say firmly, dropping my sarcastic smile as I lift my gun at him.

He opens his mouth to say something back, but I’m not listening. He should’ve dropped the stick.

I shoot.

There’s no gunshot, no recoil, and not really any feedback at all but the pressure of my mana sinking into the gun. The bullet flies out and hits the grunts arm, popping like a small firework a moment later, sending blood and flesh flying. His hand is left hanging from his arm by a single frayed tendon and a small patch of fur.

It’s actually a little surprising that I hit so perfectly, even without gun training, I know that a short pistol without real sights isn’t going to be accurate. Still it worked quite nicely.

I ignore the screaming and load another shot, the locking mechanism quite smooth so long as I don’t fumble the bullet.

“Dumbass.” Eshya says, stepping up to kick the glowing stick away from him as he clutches at his new stump, screaming with wide open eyes at the sight. A bit of blood spray hits me, warm and putrid, but there’s still some mana to it that I absorb before wiping it away.

Checking with Chip, I find that the pistol has consumed about 3 units of mana. Which isn’t much considering the spells I’ve been throwing around, but the effect was certainly nice considering the investment into it. Using an automatic version would run me dry in minutes, but damn it would be beautiful.

The image of an army of heavily armoured troops lugging around miniguns returns to my mind quite pleasantly, as I turn to Scaly who seems a little more capable of speech right now.

“So, where’s Orsa?” I ask, waving the newly discovered glow stick his direction to see if it does anything. Adler steps up to snatch it from my hands, before taking out a bandage to torniquet the bleeding stump on the furry critters arm.

Scaly looks between his companion and us trying and failing to find words. I patiently wait for him as I watch the others at work.

When Adler hesitates over the loose hand Eshya steps up.

“Allow me.” She says, running her blade along the last tendon to cut the hand loose. She has a dark smile rising on her lips, and it looks quite charming right now.

“Hi I’m Eshya, nice to meet you.” She says, shaking his loose hand. He stares between her and his severed hand that’s held as if in a handshake, his snout opens and closes a few times as his breath quickens in panic.

“No humour to them.” She says, throwing the hand back to him as he tries to catch it with his stump. It hits the ground, and he desperately snatches it and holds it tight to his chest.

Vii laughs nervously as she watches from my side.

“He was probably just worried you were going to palm it,” I say.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Scaly shouts at us, finally finding his voice.

“I would also like to know.” Adler says, turning to glare at us, “This… I know that the Unified States isn’t perfect, but this? It isn’t right.”

“They killed a person, and tried to kill more. Nel included.” I say slowly and firmly, letting my anger out to play in the tone of my voice, “I’m not going to waste time fucking about while our enemies plot. We’re dealing with these problems before bed tonight, otherwise I’m not going to get any sleep.”

Adler grumbles to herself at my reply but doesn’t counter my words. I feel her glare at my back when I turn to face Scaly, but I’ve already got a few plans in mind for the worst-case scenario.

Eshya is still watching her closely to keep her from surprising us.

“So, where are we heading?” I ask Scaly as he looks between us with wide eyes, it’s writing on his face that he thinks we’re totally insane. There’s an interesting amount of respect in that, the terrified sort of respect, where he’s trying to think of what he can do and say to keep from ending up like his partner.

“Come on, let’s get a move on. We wouldn’t want to keep Orsa waiting, would we?” I ask.

“She might be at her base.” He squeaks out, “It’s where we were taking this. It’s not far, really, just down a few tunnels and-”

“You can lead the way then,” I say, forcing some fake cheer, “Go ahead, do you need a light?”

“I, I can see fine.” He squeaks as he pulls out his own light wand. I make do with my pistol aimed at his back.

“This thing’s not bad at all.” I say back to Nel who’s following closely, “A little strange to shoot, but it works perfectly.”

“That’s what I was trying to say.” Nel says, eagerly pulling out her own, “It popped off a whole chunk of flesh from the beast I was fighting. It’s easily as effective as any magic that uses the same mana.”

“I’m excited to see what our crafters can do given a few months…” I say, as I prod the furry creature standing off to the side. “You too furry, get walking.”

He bursts out with a panicked squeal before chasing his companion.

“We’re working fast on the guns.” Ria says, her own eyes wide as she quietly hums. Her expression grows a lot more stiff as her gaze returns to the dead beast on the ground, and I can actually watch as her sympathies for the furry creature dies.

“After everything… I think I’d like the sort that Wally talks about.”

“Fast-shooting, heavy-hitting, death-dealing toys?” I ask to clarify.

“Ah, yeah. At the moment we’re just focused on fast shooting.” She sighs, before finding a pleasant tune to hum. Ordinarily I might suggest that she be quiet, considering that we’re walking through dangerous ruins.

Today though, a little gung-ho confidence just feels right. We’re not here to sneak about and try and play at being adventurers looking for ancient gems in monster filled ruins. We’re here to reclaim our home, and that means fucking up anything that gets in our way.

Eshya joins in with Ria humming the pleasant tune as she walks a little behind me, eyeing Adler with one hand on her new pistol and another on her sword. Vii takes up the back, watchful for any enemies that might follow us.

Nel walks by my side, her hand free but twitchy. I know that she can pull a knife or pistol out in a heartbeat, her slight of hand something that might actually be partly magic. It’s clear from her stiff expression that she’ll be glad to see this done.

These musty corridors don’t feel like they’ve been inhabited for many years, but I know that beasts have been crawling through here recently. A few of the more intelligent sort at that.

A soft slurping sound echoes out from a hall to our side. My two pet beasts jump at the sound, glaring quietly at the source of the sound in growing terror. They’re clearly trying to figure out whether to run or quietly freeze.

“Run and I’ll shoot your legs out from under you.” I say, looking down the empty hall where the sound is coming from and getting a spare bullet ready for a quick reload.

“What is it?” Adler asks stepping up to my side.

“Beast of some sort.” I say lifting the pistol and aiming at the shifting shadows that I can barely make out at the end of the hall.

With barely an airy whisper the pistol fires, the projectile hitting something in the dark that squeals the moment it explodes. Another lucky hit. Either I’m freaking amazing, or my good luck streak is going to run out just when I need it.

The sounds of the beast down the hall retreat deeper into the labyrinthine ruins. Whatever it is, it’s not up for the sort of food that bites back.

“You shouldn’t act so rashly when fighting beasts.” Adler says, a sour expression on her face. “You really must be careful that you don’t take on their traits.”

“It’s fine.” I reply, gently patting her shoulder, “I didn’t kill it. I just scared it off.”

I return to the whimpering pair, which were thankfully smart enough not to run off into the dark. If I actually burst their kneecaps, they’d be slowed to a crawl.

“We ready to keep moving? Or did the beast awaken some suicidal urges in you?” I ask, and they awkwardly stumble on ahead.

“Why did Orsa do this?” Eshya asks, watching the miscreants. “Why so suddenly? She didn’t seem the sort.”

“We barely met her for a moment.” I say, laughing and hearing it echo back darker than I intended it to sound.

“But violence, killing? I would’ve noticed if she was… well, like me.” She says running her hand down her sword thoughtfully.

“That’s because she’s not like you.” I reply, “You’d have personally charged in and dealt with things yourself. Not stupidly, you’d have enough power on your side to win, but you wouldn’t send a beast out to kill someone in a trap, or at least, it wouldn’t be your preferred tactic.

“If I’m to guess, this Orsa prefers planning and scheming to actual killing. The beast she sent to us wasn’t there to kill us, though she clearly had no care if it did, it was to frighten us away. In essence, it was intimidation.”

“You think?” Eshya asks, looking into the dark halls around us.

“It’s my theory, but the why doesn’t bother me much. It’s not going to change anything.” I reply, “No, I just need to know where she is, and who she works with.”

Eshya’s eyes shine through the darkness as she looks at me. The soft smile rising on her lips tells me how much she’s looking forward to what I have planned, though perhaps it’s a little much to call it a plan. Though, I suppose the simple plans are the hardest to fuck up.

Her eye’s turn to Adler worriedly.

“I might have a way to deal with collars.” I say, a little hesitant to say much more considering the risks involved if things go wrong. “Just… be prepared.”

“I see… so we should use the proper method.” She says, “Force a dangerous beast to submit?”

“Exactly.” I reply with a smile, “Before dealing with them however we wish to.”

“What…? What are you going to do with us?” Asks Scaly as he leads us.

“Well, you seem fairly harmless.” I say, feigning thought, “I’m sure if you behave yourself, we might find some use for a beast like you. Say do you still take classes or is your life down here all you have?”

“We’re still students!” he cries out, the furry one still whimpering by his side, “You can’t… please don’t do anything more to us.”

“Just lead us the right way, and don’t screw us.” I say, “If you’re students, what led you down here doing work like this?”

There’s only a moments silence and thought before I get a reply.

“We got screwed.” The Scaly hisses glaring down at his feet as he walks, “We came down here for the party, but didn’t quite get it… you have to pay for things down here. Trade and barter, but how were we supposed to know that? How are we supposed to get anything for trading without pissing off the welfare officers?

“I’m not a crafting student, we can’t just pilfer things from the top markets to bring down here without getting too much attention on us.” He mutters, “I’ve heard of others who got collared for taking too much to trade down here.”

“It’s how they get most of they’re stuff.” The other one whimpers, “Stupid new students, from the third grade civilisations all grab as much as they can and drag it down here. Then get collared and sent off.

“I’m not stupid, I’ll work my debt off.”

“You’re much safer with a collar and in the care of the welfare officers than down here.” Adler says with a sad sigh.

“It’s not all like this.” Scaly says grumpily, “We’re not idiots, most of the work is just small things. This!” He hisses waving his arms about, “This is all just madness.”

“What’s so scary about Orsa that you don’t just leave?” I ask, “Why go through with this ‘madness’?”

“She’s important.” Scaly hisses, “You don’t anger her, or she’ll mess your life up.”

“Even on the surface?” I ask.

He grumpily shakes his head, “Just down here, but who would give this up? Live up there on the surface without ever getting the chance to take a breath? We need time down here, and she can take that away.”

“Does she kill people often?” I ask him lightly, feeling the cold metal barrel of my pistol.

“No…” He replies, “It’s… strange for her to go this far. What did you lot do to her?”

“The only thing I can remember doing after meeting her is answering her stupid questions.” I reply, peering down a dark hallway wondering if there’s something that I can’t see.

“She does that with everyone.” He says grunting, “How did you answer that she went this far?”

“Just that I’d save the people I care about.” I reply, “Not exactly a good excuse to kill us over. Though in the end, I guess it’s turning out a little like her test in a way…”

He just grunts.

Conversation dies down for the rest of the short walk but that doesn’t mean that we’re quiet. Ria is still nervously humming from the middle of the group and sometimes the rest of us join in when we catch the tune.

It’s not too long until we reach a door where our unwilling guides pause. The furry one has started bleeding through his bandages while still clutching his spare hand, which has stopped bleeding.

“What’s the matter?” I ask, “Don’t know which way to go?”

“No, it’s just… just through here. I’ve got a bad feeling about this room is all, so don’t blame me if things turn into a trap” Scaly says nervously, he’s too transparent for it to be a trap of his own design, but from his nervousness it could definitely be something meant for him.

He hesitantly opens the door and we enter into a wide room filled with scattered metallic debris. I can’t tell what this room was in the past, but now it feels more akin to a dumping grounds for the shittiest scrap.

“Are you sure this is the right way?” I ask, and he nods quietly before pointing ahead towards a door while looking carefully into every dark corner as if expecting an ambush.

“Was there a problem?” Asks a lithe man by the far door, “Why are you’re arms empty, and who’s this?”

“We’re here to lodge a complaint.” I say loudly enough to echo in the hollow room.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Skills & Stats

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 739 units

~Mana distribution:

Skin: 24/24%

Muscle: 12/12%

Mind: 22/30%

Cardiovascular: 11/11%

Misc.: 10/10%

Efficiency: 79/79%

~Skills:

-Mana sense

-Mana drain touch

-Mana skin

-Mana shield.

-Mana surge strike

-Mana surge kick

-Grapple

-Flame burst

-Fireball

-Infused delayed casting

-Harsh petting

-Chaos dance

-Multi-mind messenger