5.9

August set off in the direction of the camp, keeping his eyes mostly on the ground, he wracked his mind to figure out how to start a conversation after the prior argument, but by the time he’d arrived, he was still mostly at a loss—thankfully Rittan seemed to be far more socially adept.

“August, what do you think?” Rittan said, waving one of his many hands at the almost completed structure. “It’s coming along?”

“It’s looking good,” August said, glancing over at it for a moment. “Hopefully, there are enough leaves left for the roof.”

“Indeed,” Rittan smiled.

August avoided looking over at where he could still hear Kalter working.

“Hey, I was digging up some clay in the pit before,” August said, scratching his cheek. “I had the thought to use [Analysis]—that was the information gathering skill I mentioned—on the markings on the walls.”

“The runes?” Rittan said, blinking. “What happened?”

Kalter stepped into view, eyes locked on where she was tying off the branch and seemingly just as content to ignore the previous argument as he was.

“I learned three of the runes,” August admitted, “Although I don’t actually know what to do with them yet—do you know anything about how to use them?”

Rittan shook his head, not even having to waste time thinking about it.

“The Voithos are not permitted to possess that knowledge,” Rittan said, sounding like he was reciting something by rote.

August tilted his head, thinking back to their earlier conversation.

“You said you used that armour they gave you, right?” August said, frowning. “Wasn’t that powered by runes or whatever?”

“We had to be given the authorisation to use that equipment each time, and it required no expert knowledge to utilise—you simply wore it,” Rittan admitted, “Apart from that, the only other Runic System we had access to was through a limited function PDI. Anything beyond that was forbidden.”

“How much is everyone’s day to day life powered by runes?” August asked.

“All of it, runes are present in every step of every Gaian technology,” Kalter said, speaking up. “You cannot so much as open a door without interacting with them.”

“We didn’t have runes; we just have—well, regular old technology, I guess,” August said, but he could almost see it. “I suppose we had doors that would only open if you showed the right keycard or whatever, but it was all run on electricity.”

Neither of them seemed particularly bothered by the picture he was painting of Earth, but then again, if they never got to learn about how the Runes worked in the first place, then maybe they wouldn’t really care?

“Most of the runes in the pit had eroded, but I managed to get three of them,” August said, speaking up again. “A battery rune, for storing energy. A connector rune that must send that energy somewhere else, and then a splitter that turns a connector into two? Does any of that mean anything to you?”

Kalter turned to watch him as he spoke, the intensity of her stare somewhat unnerving.

“I’m afraid not, but it is interesting to hear, I’ll admit.” Rittan said, scratching his chin, “I find myself wondering if a child of—if a Gaian, will suddenly appear and reprimand you?”

Kalter blew a breath of air out of her nose at the almost slip.

“I hope they do,” August murmured, glancing up at the sky as if they might fall down upon them. “I wouldn’t mind giving them all a bamboo enema for putting me here—”

“August,” Rittan chastised, but he could see him trying not to smile.

“Whatever,” August sighed, “It’s probably worth looking into, but we can try to figure out how to use them later.”

“You’re saying you’ll share what you learn about them?” Kalter murmured.

“I just did, didn’t I?” August said rhetorically, “I don’t care about monopolising this stuff; I care about surviving. You guys can teach whoever the hell you want after we figure it out.”

Kalter turned her gaze back to the vine she was tying off and said nothing more.

“Thank you, August,” Rittan said, smiling. “If this is an experiment by our creators, then this may draw them out of hiding—a Voithos with instruction on runic systems would certainly be enough to interfere.”

“I guess we’ll see,” August agreed, “There was something else; when I checked before, Ladybug had a bunch of new [Roles] unlocked. I’m guessing she completed some kind of hidden conditions like I did with the [Gatherer] role.”

“What were the ones that Ladybug discovered?” Kalter said, eyes on her fingers as she tied off another branch.

August took a moment to remember the names.

“[Striker], [Evader], [Guardian], [Hunter], and [Marksman],” August said, keeping his answer concise. “Before that, I just want to check something first—Rittan, can I use [Assign Role] on you again? I think you might have unlocked one of those since I last checked.”

Kalter lifted her head, looking between them, but Rittan just nodded easily.

“I believe I checked this morning, and there were no changes,” Rittan admitted, clearly curious. “But please, go ahead, my friend.”

“Thanks, man,” August said, ducking his head. “[Assign Role].”

[Select Target]

[Select Role]

He selected Rittan as the target and nodded as the roles appeared.

Striker

Defender

Evader

Gatherer

Hunter

Marksman

Labourer

“Okay,” August said, putting the pieces together. “You have three new roles, but they aren’t showing up for you for some reason.”

“Truly?” Rittan said, raising an eyebrow.

August went through and unlocked the three new roles for him.

Rittan has unlocked the Hunter Role

Rittan has learned Hunt

Rittan has unlocked the Marksman Role

Rittan has learned Range Guidance

Rittan has unlocked the Labourer Role

Rittan has learned Long Day

“[Marksman]?” Rittan said, visibly pleased. “How interesting—I suppose this was because of my use of the bow you made for me?”

Kalter looked a bit put out as the two of them discussed something that she couldn’t even see, but August made no mention of it

“I think so,” August admitted, “It makes sense given the name.”

“Indeed,” Rittan nodded, “What is your theory for the others?”

“You and Ladybug both have [Hunter] unlocked because you’ve both fought and killed a monster,” August said, giving his best guess. “I’ve fought several, but I’ve never dealt the killing blow to anything, which explains why I haven’t got it unlocked.”

“I think that might be correct,” Rittan agreed, folding his many arms. “Perhaps [Labourer] is like [Gatherer]? It may involve carrying a certain amount of objects? Or putting them to use in constructing something?”

“That was the one I’m less sure about, but you’re probably right,” August admitted. “Ladybug also received [Guardian]—could be because she’s spent a fair bit of time as a bodyguard or because she saved my life in the forest.”

“What benefit do these new… roles provide you?” Kalter said, watching Rittan’s face as the man read the invisible text.

“I’m afraid I’m not quite sure,” Rittan admitted, seemingly spending a moment navigating the menu. “Ah—[Hunt] highlights animals, creatures and monsters within a small distance. [Range Guidance] seems to provide some assistance when using range weapons, and [Long Day] provides a boost to endurance while it is activated—all three seem to reserve a portion of my available mana when activated.”

“That last one sounds pretty useful; I could use some extra endurance,” August admitted before wincing.

He could almost hear Alice offering a sly, ‘Oh really? Have you been struggling with that?’ or Ryan firing off a ‘That’s what she said.’ Neither Kalter nor Rittan reacted to the comment, missing the low hanging fruit entirely. It left him with a terrible mixture of expectation and loneliness.

“The summon timer is probably finished,” August said in an attempt to disperse the feeling. “If you still want to bring someone here.”

Kalter let go of the vine that she’d been pretending to tie off for the last five minutes.

“I do,” Rittan said, ducking his head in apology. “But I would like to apologise for not considering your feelings.”

“I was being a moody bitch about it, but I am still worried about getting demolished again,” August said. “I hope you’re okay with me using you as a shield this time Rittan.”

Rittan gave a startled laugh.

“I am willing to undertake this task,” Rittan said, keeping his voice light. “Thank you, August.”

“You say that too much,” August said, turning away. “Let’s get this over with.”