A roar of sound sent alarm through Ava as she struggled to react. The world around her was drowned out as something blew up behind her. The pressure wave washed over her prone form. She lay paralyzed with her face in the grass. Her thoughts were turbulent as primal instinct warred with her more reasoned motivations. She could not move yet her body screamed at her to flee. Scattered debris thrown up by the blast rained over her back.

Ava's fingers twitched as she decided to ignore whatever was happening behind her. Instead she focused on trying to regain control of herself. Behind her the initial explosion was followed by a cacophony of hissing whip cracks as someone or something began to barrage the group of men with the wizard.

Ava's ears rang. Only just able to make out the noise of a battle kicking off. Her desire to move again redoubled. Slowly, starting with her fingers and toes, Ava’s body released it’s paralytic grip. Her skin stung across her body as minor burns made themselves known. Her muscles ached as the tension bled out of her. Ava gasped hard, drawing deep a breath as she realized her lungs had barely been functioning.

With trembling arms she turned herself over and flinched back when she caught sight of the carnage. The explosion had obliterated several decorative trees between the lawn and the nearby road. Jagged splinters of wood had pinwheeled through the air and punched through whatever they encountered first. The group of foreign men. Probably the invaders, Ava speculated. Were scattered around the crater.

The wizard stood tall on the lip of the crater. His staff was impossible to look at as he projected a huge dome like barrier in front of himself. The electric-blue and yellowish light streaming out before him rippled hundreds of times as projectiles splashed against the barrier. Ava’s eyes watered after just a glimpse.

Ava caught a glimpse of his mouth hollering instructions to the recovering troops he protected. The one she assumed was their leader was throwing his men to their feet as he rushed around to everyone he could. Several of them lay still near the epicenter of where the explosion had caught them unaware.

Besides the obvious fantastical nature of this battle, something stuck out as odd to her mind. Without the interest or time to try and figure it out, she ignored any growing curiosity. She glanced over at Edwin. He lay on his side, looking away from the battle as he had fallen. He had been the primary recipient of the paralyzing strike and looked to still be unable to move.

She felt like she ought to do something to try and help him after what she had done to him. The guilt at using Edwin to defend herself was stronger than she anticipated it would have been. Everything around her was a mess, Ava did not have time to let her emotions follow suit. She could not help Edwin regain himself and she could not move him, he was too large for her to even drag. So Ava turned to the side and saw the brick facade of the cafeteria building. There was a corner nearby where she could duck behind.

Ava hid herself and watched as the battle grew fiercer. The wizard’s scintillating electric barrier was punched straight through by some huge projectile. A massive explosion threw a dozen of the sheltered soldiers. Despite the damage to her ears Ava could still hear the familiar roaring boom which deafened every other noise for blocks. Half of the soldiers lay on the ground screaming and grabbing at their new wounds. The wizard’s barrier collapsed, and Ava realized her hair had been standing on end until that moment. The wizard suddenly flew off the ground and rushed towards his foe. His revealed flight capability did not faze Ava at this point.

The stream of bullets continued to pour down. No longer shielded by the barrier, the soldiers were raked by hundreds of rounds.

Their sluggish movements turned frantic as they were torn into. In contrast to earlier when one of them had walked off three pistol rounds to the chest with naught but a wince, here they were being cut down like any other human would be. The barrage was unceasing and deadly.

The wizard’s charge drew the gunfire off them. A personal bubble shield sprang up around the man as he flew into the withering storm of projectiles. The officer roused those still able to walk and had them grab anyone who looked savable. They were retreating in good order when a third roar followed the arrival of another explosion. With a superhuman reaction, the wizard was somehow able to deflect the missile off course.

Ava winced and ducked behind the corner as the explosion threw her from her feet. Her head rang, a headache pounding on her temples. Crawling to the corner she looked around and saw one of the frat houses across the street with a huge section of it blown out. Smoke and flame flickered at the edges of the blast zone.

In the air, the wizard darted around, hurling lightning bolts of a far greater intensity than those he had used against the dorm residents. His shield strained against the accurate fire that tracked his movements.

His distraction was succeeding as the rest of his group was able to slink away down the street. The wizard gave space to his opponent, backing up through the air as he swerved and dodged as best as he was able to.

Ava watched as some sort of large machine walked into view from the other side of White Hall. Four articulated legs bore a large oval body above the road in pursuit of the wizard. The machine was about half as big as a car, five feet tall tall while the oval body was around twice as long. The legs reached wider than that. A large rotating gun barrel stretched off the front of the machine. The gun spat several thousand rounds in a minute, without pause. A tube sat on the backside of the machine next to half a dozen blinking red and green antennas. The body of the machine was sleek, gunmetal gray. Except for a large symbol painted above the gun port. A black hexagon surrounding a green circle. It reminded Ava almost of a stylized eye without a pupil. Though there was nothing that indicated it might be such. It just gave her the feeling that it could see her, that it was tracking her.

For such an odd looking machine, it moved with an oiled grace and speed. The legs synchronized without error. This gave the gun a stabilized platform to fire from. The tube on the back revealed its purpose as a missile blasted out from it and shrieked towards the wizard. The explosion rocked the man’s shield and tossed him backwards, out of Ava’s sight. Ava did not even bother to try and cover her ears at this point, her hearing completely ruined. Blood trickled from both ears, matting her hair against her head.

The machine followed the wizard out of sight. It unloaded on the man without pause. But as the battle drew away, Ava felt like she was able to release a breath she had been holding for an hour. She sagged to her side against the brickwork. She had managed to live, but now came to tougher work. She needed to see what could be done to fix things here.

She left the cool facade of the bricks. The tall dorms cast a shadow where she had been sitting and so she strode out of the shadows and made her way to Edwin. He was still unmoving. A worrying sign as she had managed to shake the effect off not longer after it had put her down. Edwin did not look to have suffered any other wounds, beyond the blood coming from his ears. Anyone who had been so close to the fighting and explosions would be similar impared.

Uncertain how to go about rousing him, she tried nudging him with her foot. When he did not react, she decided to give him more time. A hand clamped down on her shoulder and she whirled around. She grabbed the invasive limb and hurled it away. A snarl on her lips and she used the momentum of her turn to drive a fist right in Roy’s surprised gut. He crumpled.

Roy rolled to his side and threw up. Ava sighed and covered her face with a hand. “Holy fuck,” she swore under her breath. Ava’s hands shook as she got down to one knee to pat Roy on the back. As he recovered he looked at her with wide eyes, a hint of fear in his gaze. Ava clasped her hands together and let her face work it’s magic. Roy shook his head but the tiny grin that crept onto his lips let the tension fade.

Roy seemed to recall something as he scrambled to his feet and waved to get her attention. Then he turned and jogged off, careful not to step on anyone alive or dead. He led her around the back of White Hall. Kurt sat there slumped against the wall. His hands were clasped around a splinter of wood as large as Ava’s arm protruding from his side. She grit her teeth and looked away. Roy obviously expected her to fix this somehow. She was more interested in looking to fix her own injuries. However, to abandon one of her tagalongs would alienate the other. In a time like this, she needed all the trustworthy backup she could secure. To which she was glad to find that Roy had recovered enough from that disastrous owl fight to act on his own one more.

Ava struggled to find an answer before one revealed itself to her unknowingly. The side door of the lobby opened and someone stumbled out and vomited onto the ground several feet away. The guy was someone she vaguely recognized and she let her mind spin over a familiar quandary. Eventually she matched his face to a name. “Daniel, are you alright?” Ava called out overly loudly.

Daniel turned to look at her and said something back. Ava had no idea what he said and she cursed the situation. Daniel got to his feet, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He turned and spat once more on the ground. “I’m afraid I can’t hear anything at the moment,” Ava explained as he looked at her for a response. “My ears sustained damage from those explosions.” A sympathetic look crossed Daniel’s face. He looked down at Kurt and saw Roy nervously hovering over his friend.

Daniel took a deep breath and reached down into his pocket. He pulled a granola bar from it and walked over to Kurt. He spoke to Roy briefly. Roy reacted badly to whatever Daniel said and turned to Ava to ask for her help. In that moment, Daniel moved. His hands reached out and tore the impaled wood right out of Kurt. Kurt surged awake and screamed bloody murder. Or Ava surmised he did as Roy flinched and covered his ears. The look on Kurt’s face helped to confirm her interpretation.

Ava was stunned into inaction, to think that Daniel would just ensure Kurt’s death like that. It was quite a vicious move, but it would unburden them. She weighed the pros and cons, and thought of how she should act next. Daniel’s next action confused her though. He stuffed half the granola bar into his mouth and started to vigorously chew. He turned to Roy and held a hand out to stall Roy’s fury. Kurt slumped back against the wall, that scream was his last vestige of energy spent.

In a bizarre twist of expectations, Daniel reached out to Kurt and propped his jaw open. Before he moved in and pressed his lips to Kurts. Roy reacted by ripping Daniel back and shoving him away. Ava was bemused but found her curiosity growing greater. She was unsure if Daniel had lost his mind, having just stumbled out from the lobby, he had probably just witnessed a massacre inside. Or perhaps Daniel was performing something greater, his actions had seemed intended to help.

Roy and Daniel were shouting in each other's faces. Roy’s beet red and fuming. Daniel seemed more annoyed than angry. With a quick gesture to Kurt, Roy stalled out. Whatever the two were saying Daniel pressed his argument as Roy faltered. Some sort of consensus was reached and Daniel rushed over to Kurt. Where he started to massage his throat. Kurt reflexively swallowed to clear his airway. Daniel tore into the other half of his granola bar. He chewed it up and spat the granola pulp into his palm, where he forced it into Kurt’s mouth and coaxed it down his throat.

Daniel shifted and reached over toward Kurt’s injury. He wiped his hand over the wound and smeared the clinging blood around. He wiped several more times to reveal smooth unbroken skin. Ava’s eyes widened, her eyebrows rose and she felt her mouth gape. She connected the dots a moment later. Her mind whirled with the newly presented opportunity. Daniel had a healing skill.

A wicked grin filled her face, her eyes glinting. With a conscious effort Ava focused on Daniel and allowed her new skill to work it’s magic. Daniel preened under Ava’s sudden attention. That she would spare him her attention filled him with untold happiness. Without asking he grabbed a second granola bar and tore the wrapper away. He walked toward her and got to one knee. He presented it to her like a man proposing. Ava reached out and grabbed it before she greedily ate it. She waited a moment before she felt a warm wave flow out from her stomach. It passed through her indiscriminately. It was pleasant and she sighed. The tingling numbness she had sustained from the lightning attack faded under the wave and she felt it wash over her ears, the sudden return of her hearing staggered her. Her mind overwhelmed for a moment as it was bombarded with new stimuli. Ava hunched over, her hands reaching to her ears to try and provide some relief.

The nausea passed as quickly as it came and she righted herself to see Daniel nervously shifting around. His hands rubbing together in front of him. Ava smiled to reassure him.

A distant ringing still filled her ears, but when Daniel said, “can you hear me now?” Ava’s grin grew wider, to the point it threatened to split her face.

“Well enough for now, Daniel,” was her polite reply. “My thanks for your assistance.”

“It was nothing, I was more than glad that I could help you,” Daniel said in response. “But please, call me Dan. All my friends do.”

“Dan it is then. My pleasure to make your acquaintance once more.” After she ended the conversation Ava allowed her skills' effects to fade. She felt tired in a way she had never before but Ava brushed it aside. This was no time to rest, this was her moment to firmly establish herself.

“Roy,” she turned to address her hanger-on. “Help Daniel search for anyone who is still alive inside. I believe there will be more wounded inside than out front. As the building may have helped to shield them. I will be over there. Edwin should be regaining himself soon and he and I will search there. If we find anyone you can heal Daniel, we will call for you. Understood?”

They both nodded without question and Ava strode around the corner. She could hear the fighting still raging nearby. Somewhere down the road. After walking over to Edwin’s prone form she caught sight of the wizard zipping around over by one of the other dorms. Orr Hall, on the other side of the cafeteria. He was not retaliating, seemingly only on the defensive for the moment. She watched his actions for a time.

After a bit the wizard turned and pointed his staff towards the base of Orr Hall. Ava glimpsed with astonishment as two entwined lightning bolts leapt from his staff and span through the air before impacting the dorm building. A colossal explosion shook the building and its surroundings. A shudder ran up the building before it sagged and leaned towards the fighting. The wizard collapsed the dorm onto the machine. A giant dust cloud plumed up and out as the building came down. A booming reverberation ran down the road and Ava had to shield her face for a moment.

Roy and Daniel came running out. She told them what happened. Roy robotically turned back around and returned to his task, his way of dealing with stress, Ava was discovering. Dan looked appalled. There were undoubtedly people still holed up in the building and they would be dead or trapped beneath enough rubble that it doomed them all the same. Ava reassured him that they needed to do what they could here before they could go over there. It would not even be safe there, as the machine was likely still there. Buried under the rubble if it had not been destroyed. Dan rejoined Roy in the lobby as they searched for survivors.

Now alone, she checked on Edwin once more. His fingers were twitching a tiny bit and she could see his eyes moving around beneath the lids. She crouched down next to him and smiled gently. Ava had the feeling that he would not enjoy her presence, but he was still out of it.

Ava stood up and stepped over him. A predatory grin crossed her face as she walked over and picked up an abandoned spear. She walked over to the prone form of a soldier who still drew breath. He was unconscious but alive. Not likely for much longer though as his legs were blown clean off. Ava decided to expedite the process. She placed the leaf bladed tip to the man’s throat and pressed down.

The man’s skin resisted her attempt. Ava leaned into it and felt the blade slowly sink in. These men were abnormally sturdy. To the point that she was not sure they were even human. Or humans of this realm perhaps. One of the so called invaders had been named as Humans-2(Mana). As mana was a popular culture term for magic, these people would fit as candidates for the invaders under that banner. That they had a stereotypical wizard along with them was what gave Ava confidence in her assumption. Their tough bodies were likely the result of some sort of skill. Or perhaps, she speculated that people might have a way to make themselves tougher or stronger in this new system.

That machine then would be a robot, and fit in nicely as one of the Synthetic-3(Qiurrent) invaders. Ava moved on to the next man still alive. In that manner she moved around and executed a handful of them. There were only about a dozen of them spread around and most of them were already dead.

Ava’s mind wandered as she went through the ruthless process of finishing off those left behind, too wounded to run away. She wondered about the invaders. What their goals were, the limits of their strength and how they intended to interact with the locals. The mana humans had not seemed interested in interaction besides hostilities. Though the wizard had spared her and Edwin with a promise to fight them at a later date. Something to worry about later.

One thing that stood out to her was how excited that officer had been when he found the silver box. She had a feeling that the box was important. She was not certain what was significant about the box. It hadn’t been that large, but perhaps it contained some sort of item or resource that was important to other people within this game-like system.

After ten minutes Ava found that she had killed all the surviving invaders. A feeling of disappointment filled her as she turned to return to Edwin. A pillar of light exploded around her as a soft chime rang in her head. Ava felt the urge to clap her hands and jump around. Success!

A familiar message appeared before her. Though the numbers boggled her mind. She had levelled up nine times. Killing those men had netted her a ton of experience. This evoked a new thought in her mind, about the nature of experience points. How exactly were they rewarded, and how was the amount determined? Her curiosity was set aside for the moment as she revelled in the reward. Her status screen popped up a second after she read through the level up notification and let it vanish.

Status Window

Name

Ava Springley

Title(s):

N/A

Age

22

Gender

♀

Level

14

Race

Human-1 (Psych)

HP

230

Psych

280

Strength

7

Capacity

14

Vitality

9

Acuity

10

Agility

10

Endurance

11

Dexterity

9

Luck

10

Unspent Points: 70

Ava grinned as she read the numbers. 70 unspent points. She wanted to find out how she was meant to spend them. To her disappointment, the screen vanished as well after she had glanced through it.

An unexpected third screen followed after the status screen vanished.

New skill acquired:

Cleanse: The ability to remove impurities.

Ava found this to be a very pleasant surprise. Exactly why she gained this skill was unknown, but considering she gained her first at level five, she was just going to assume she gained her second upon reaching level ten. This did lead her to wonder what level Edwin was. Perhaps he had lied about only possessing a single skill. Maybe she would be able to coax the answer from him with some liberal use of her first skill.

Ava was intrigued by her new skill but decided against using it for now. She had no idea how it might manifest, and she would prefer to keep it a secret. She hoped that no one had seen the display of her levelling up either. If she was asked about it she could claim it had only been one or two levels. The men had been on the edge of death already, who would believe they were worth much experience.

Unbeknownst to her, Edwin had regained control of himself in time to witness her slay the last man among the wounded and then saw her very visible level up display. He watched as she read through what seemed to be several screens in the air before her. Each one eliciting a larger smirk on her face. She was so caught up that she had failed to notice him standing twenty feet away. But as the last screen dimmed their eyes met. Her grin vanished, as quick as any of those screens was likely to do.

“Ava,” Edwin said calmly. Before he let his self control slip. “What the flying fuck!” He shouted. His eyes wide and his arms animated. “Did you just slaughter all those dudes? What the fuck?”

“Edwin,” came her stern reply. “Quiet down. We may still be in danger.”