Chapter 16 – Space Oddity

It was an old man, thin grey hair only covering the sides of his head and a wooden cane in the right hand. He walked slowly, as if he had all the time in the world and wasn’t rushed by Hall’s impatient glare.

When he stood before him, the old man, barely reaching his shoulders in height, opened his mouth and talked even slower than he walked. His behavior caused Hall to be forced to breathe slowly to stay calm. He had a deadline to meet and had no idea how much time was left until the ceiling would cave in and bury him.

Even the thought gave him goosebumps. It was somehow worse than being stabbed, shot or set on fire by magic, he didn’t know why exactly but that’s just how he felt.

“My name is Patienius and now I will observe your reaction to what I show you.” Again the light overwhelmed his senses and before he knew it, he was back in a bright, endless space.

Pictures of a young boy raced past his eyes. A human born into slavery. Used by a magical race, smaller, weaker, yet infinitely more powerful thanks to their abilities.

For generations humans, who weren’t able to use magic, were under the thumb of their cruel lords, without any hope of better times to come. As Patienius grew up, he witnessed the brutality his people had to suffer.

He waited, thought it was part of life and never harbored any desire to strike back. Instead he was taught to forgive those that wronged him and show mercy.

It all changed when his mother fainted from overworking and instead of letting her rest, they used whips to torture her for hours. She died after days of suffering. Patienius was barely fourteen and his whole world changed.

The light of his life extinguished, he only saw death, sorrow and agony around him. Over the following years his rage festered inside of him like a disease, consuming him and making him forget everything he was taught.

He found others who felt the same and they formed cells of resistance. Yet they couldn’t do much against the magic of their lords.

Still, they tried, lurking in the darkness, planting traps and using poison. After a few successful hits the reaction was gruesome. Their groups were flushed out, their families publicly executed. It was a bloodbath that fueled his rage and made his determination even firmer.

After years they finally got a chance they never thought they would get. The mana well that supplied their country dried up and the nation was in disarray. It was the moment the humans and Patienius waited for.

Without magic their lords were powerless against their physical superior bodies and in one night the streets were colored in thick, almost black blood that flowed from countless wounds of the magical race, they systematically slaughtered.

Patienius laughed as he tore thin limbs from small, grey bodies, cracked skulls and broke bones. The rage in him took over and a curtain of read covered his sight as he butchered even women and children. In a few days a whole race was drowned in their own blood.

At the beginning Hall was glad when he saw the humans taking up arms and grasping their freedom. Though soon enough he frowned. His face was distorted as he saw the mayhem unfold and he had to swallow hard to keep his stomach from rioting.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t turn his head away or close his eyes. After a while he even thought about logging out, yet he persevered and wished he could scream at Patienius to just stop the slaughter. Justice was long served. Revenge taken.

What he witnessed was genocide. The collective punishment of a whole race for the crimes of a few. Sure, the tolerance of slavery was abominable, yet a nation could learn and change for the better if the cancer that poisoned it was removed.

Hall had no problems with punishment and revenge. On the contrary, he still sometimes dreamed of the moment he could smash in the faces of those that wronged him.

But this was simply too much and he was thankful when he finally was surrounded by darkness again and soon was back inside the room, standing in front of the old man.

Patienius’ facial expression barely changed when he raised his head and looked into Hall’s eyes. “So what did you see young one?”

Lily remained silent as she observed Hall, she knew he was in turmoil, but she didn’t know what to do in this situation as she didn’t see what he did.

Sighing he shook his head. “Old man, you forgot what you were told! By your deeds you loaded guilt onto your people coming generations would have to carry. Inextinguishable for centuries. You became something you never wanted and your mother, the only good thing, the only light in your life, would have turned away from you in anguish.

Tell me, do you remember her face? Her voice? Do you even remember her name?”

Silence and the grinding of teeth was the answer he received as the old man turned around without another word and stepped away while the light around him dimmed.

Even though he didn’t really expect a great speech, he was surprised Patienius simply remained silent, but just shrugged it off. He still didn’t really like the situation. The pictures he was shown were bloody and sad, his time was ticking and he barely got any experience or skill gain for a while now.

Furthermore he didn’t trust the figures around him, so he couldn’t even talk to Lily without giving her presence away. A few meaningful glances and Lily’s hands on his shoulders were the only thing he had to support him. Still, it was enough.

The third figure stepped forward while Hall took some sips of his canteen and ate a part of his rations. A young woman, dressed in plain ocher brown cloth. She seemed modest. Her bronze colored hair was bound behind her head and her delicate hands were resting on her thighs as she bowed lightly to greet him.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, brave adventurer. My name is Temperia and I ask of you to experience my story.”

He did not look forward to another tale, though cursing didn’t help and he couldn’t do anything but wait for the bright light to envelop him for another time.

Almost wishing for another dark dungeon full of goblins to smash, images started to flash past him. Just like before they showed a young child growing up. A girl, from a poor family, raised on thin broth and stale bread in the slums of an old, dirty city.

Yet she was always humble, took never more than she needed or her family was able to spare. Even when hungry she could control herself and never stole or forgot about those that were in an even worse state than herself.

Always covered in dust and mud she never wore clean clothes until the funeral of her parents when she was in her early teens.

Yet luck was on her side as she was adopted by a couple of wealthy merchants who weren’t able to have a child of their own.

It was the first time she ever had something she could call her own and she loved it, every second of it. There was more than she needed, more than she could ever use, simply more.

Yet somehow, inside her there was something missing. Since the day her family was no more, she felt… empty. Her adoptive parents were trying hard, but they were an older couple that just never really connected to her and tried to show their love with opulent meals and valuable goods. But it wasn’t enough. It never was.

While watching her grow up, somewhere between her sixteenth and twentieth birthday he felt a familiar pull and suddenly Hall looked around, seeing tables that bent under copious amounts of food.

He also noticed his petite hands and the smooth skin. ‘Oh great.’

A state he was not familiar with and felt very comfortable in. The blinking satiety bar was the only thing that distracted him from the fact that he seemed to be a girl now.

Almost unbearable hunger and countless different dishes in front of him made it hard to think straight. Without waiting any longer he grabbed some meat and took a large bite out of it.

Buttered bread, chocolate cake and pork cutlets were all scooped up and landed inside his stomach followed by sizeable amounts of sweet tea and lemon soda.

His satiety bar barely filled no matter how much food he devoured, the gold and jewels around him hardly satisfied him. There was a deep pit inside his stomach and it was too painful to let it remain empty.

Every bite, every bit of riches made it a little better but after a moment without them he felt the emptiness grow larger again.

Hall felt disgusted with himself as he stuffed more and more food inside his mouth. He wanted to stop, tried to, but his body just wouldn’t listen to him. It felt as if he was imprisoned inside his own body while it was controlled by a stranger. The irony was not lost on him.

Dizziness and nausea were the results of him resisting, the result of his attempt to stop. Of course that was no reason for him to give up. Instead he welcomed the sickening feeling. It meant there was an effect, a reason to continue. Unyielding. Relentless.

With an inner grin he let out a dark laugh as he put his whole mind and soul into resisting the control that was put on him. His small, trembling hands stopped moving and it almost tore him apart as his satiety bar dropped until it was finally empty.

With a roar of determination and tenacity he took a chair and smashed the ebony wood into the plates and pots, scattering pieces of meat and porcelain and covering expensive cloth in dark sauces.

A high pitched scream inside his head hit him like a sledgehammer and he almost blacked out as he noticed the crying noises of a small girl beneath the deafening shriek.

The moment he thought his mind would be torn asunder all his senses shut down. The last image he saw was a young woman, not as young as he recalled though, but five times the size he remembered. Breathing heavily and sweating while eating, she sat in her own filth, covered in luxurious clothes and jewelry.

Her tears were the last thing he saw before everything turned dark and he was back inside the large chamber where Lily and the seven figures waited.

Temperia stood before him, a single tear rolling down her cheek and without uttering a single word she turned around and left him in silence.

Meanwhile he had to breath in deeply not to vomit, although he didn’t know if it was possible while in the game. It certainly felt like it. His stomach was turning and he was shivering slightly. The sickening feeling didn’t last long and when he felt better again, another man stood a few steps away from him.

The rimless glasses and the short cut grey hair together with the neat blue trousers and vest and the grey shirt of above average quality made him look diligent and earnest. Hall would feel compelled to give him his watch to repair or ask him for a train ticket if he’d see him in the real world.

His back was slightly bulged and his hands showed calluses. Although he seemed a little exhausted, his eyes were wide awake and it was as if Hall was judged when they taxed him carefully.

He didn’t wait long before he spoke. “My name is Industius, let us get to work.”

No time was wasted as the familiar blinding light enveloped him. This time he didn’t stay in the endless white but was thrown into a body immediately.

No images flew past him, no scenes of Industius as he grew up or went to school. ‘Very efficient, no problem here.’

When studying his surroundings, he saw an insufficiently lit room. A workshop filled with tools for woodworking and pieces of lumber scattered everywhere.

The window showed a sleeping town in the depth of night. At this hour the workshop should have been empty, yet he saw a younger version of Industius sitting at one of the tables, carving a piece of wood, that was about the size of his head, into a sculpture of a knight.

There were already dozens of little statues on the table and when he finished his piece he picked up another chunk of wood. Lifting his knife and placing it on the chestnut lumber, he noticed the gawking Hall.

“Who are you? Whatever, get to work or get out, we have an order to fulfill and the due date is approaching quickly.”

Although he had no experience carving wood, he sat down on the opposite side of the man’s table. In his mind playing around with a pocket knife and a stick as a child did not count as experience in commercial wood work.

“Where is everyone when there is so much to do?” He took one of the carving knifes in front of him while Industius sighed a little dejected but without any accusation in his voice.

“They are at home with their families, probably sleeping by now. It can’t be helped, it is my workshop and I carry the responsibility to finish an order I accepted.”

Hall nodded, it was an attitude he could get behind. He grabbed a piece of wood but before he started to work he took a closer look at the carving knife.

Fine Carving KnifeDamage:4-7Durability:75 / 95Quality:CommonA reliable tool for carving wood.

Requirements:

-

It was, as the description implied, absolutely common. He had hoped for some special knife that would increase his carving ability.

Starting anyway, his hopes weren’t too high. Yet he still surprised himself as he witnessed his complete lack of talent. It actually made him a little sad, he never wanted to carve wood but it would be nice to know he had the ability to. ‘Oh well, can’t have everything…’

Industius didn’t seem bothered with his utter failure. It was probably because it was a part of the story and the only important thing was that Hall did anything at all, so he gained approving nods as he misshaped and blemished the expensive wood. A crime against artists and craftsmen alike that would make any real sculptor sob thick tears.

Shrugging he continued to transform chunks of wood into slightly rounder chunks of wood. Of course he also added cuts and furrows into it, completely intentional.

A few hours passed by, but as he raised his head he was surprised to see it had to be years. The man sitting opposite to him was an aged Industius and he wasn’t carving anything, just sitting on a larger, comfortable chair, staring into the air.

The whole workshop changed. It was a lot larger. A lot meaning it was a factory hall. ‘Guess he made the order and then some.’

Although the place was filled with expensive machines, it was completely devoid of any worker. Cobwebs and dust were covering most surfaces and the only one in the factory other than Hall was Indiustius.

“What happened? Why aren’t you working? Why isn’t anybody here working?”

It took several seconds for the now older man to realize what Hall asked. He slowly turned his head to him and with half closed, tired eyes he answered while yawning.

“So tedious. Work. Payments. So tedious… just… so… tedious.”

He had no idea what happened but the man that used to work so diligently turned into a lazy sack of meat, falling asleep after speaking a few words, without even forming whole sentences.

Looking around he hoped to find a clue what to do, then he noticed there were still a few chunks of wood left on his table, the only pieces he could see anywhere.

“Industius, let’s finish them. Our last order.” But the man just snorted at him, making no effort to even open his eyes.

Sighing Hall could only shake his head. It was not his style to leave something unfinished, so he picked up the lumber and carved it into weird forms, resembling nothing at all.

He already confirmed this body had the stats of a newly made character and no skills at all. Because of his class he couldn’t learn any crafting skills but he hoped to gain the dexterity attribute he read about or maybe some kind of deft hands skill.

Unfortunately it seemed he either hasn’t spent enough time carving or there were additional hurdles he had to overcome to acquire these abilities. There was also the possibility he just wasn’t cut out for fine and delicate movements that required a high level of dexterity but he hoped that was not the case.

He would have to look into it sometime because he saw videos and pictures of passive and active skills that required a certain amount of dexterity. They would increase his chance of critical attacks, their damage and the chance to evade an attack. Right now he had to concentrate on other things though.

When he put the last finished piece down he was rewarded with what he had hoped for. He was back in the round room, Industius, now awake again, watching him closely.

“Why did you finish the work? A work you had no talent for? Something others long gave upon.”

Thinking about it for a moment Hall gave a simple answer. “I don’t believe in luck and talent only gets you so far. Without hard work you will never achieve anything of worth and if you start doing something, you better finish it.”

Swaying his head, neither nodding nor shaking it, Industius turned his back on him while the fifth figure stepped up, shining brighter by the second. He was used to the spectacle by now.

This time a tall young woman stood before him. Her blond hair at shoulder length and the red linen dress gave her a modest yet beautiful look.

With an enchanting smile she raised a hand to greet him. “Hello young man, Benvoleia is my name, I feel grateful you will bear witness to what I have to show. I know you must be exhausted so I will try not to be a burden.”

Her cheerful expression disappeared under the bright radiating light that enveloped Hall and once again threw him into an empty space where pictures paced past him.

A beautiful but plainly dressed girl whose parents died early. She was barely sixteen and had to take care of her two siblings and her bedridden grandmother. It was hard, but she managed.

Her parents left her a good deal of money and it was enough to bring her two little brothers through school, pay for food and medicine and buy a few clothes every now and then.

She rarely complained as her friends bought expensive clothes, went to the theater or the opera. Of course it gnawed at her, yet she knew she had no right to complain as there were those that had it a lot harder.

As an employee of the city she often worked with those less fortunate. The poor, the sick, the homeless. Sometimes she brought food or worn out clothes from her brothers, helping out where she could.

Smiles and laughs were reward enough… for a while.

It simply bothered her when she got older and her friends got married by showing their best side to the young noble sons. Yet she was stuck in the same building every day, helping out her family, helping out others.

She loved them all, but what about her? Didn’t she deserve something nice? Wasn’t she entitled to it? Those were thoughts she tried to avoid. Though no matter how hard she did so, they always seemed to creep up on her.

When she ate and observed the busy street or when she lay in her bed, tired from a day’s work.

Hall somehow knew, he shared her feelings, her guilt over them and her hidden desire for their fulfillment. Although he only saw her like a spectator, it was as if he was part of her.

Experiencing the feelings of others and your own at the same time. Certainly a confusing and unpleasant experience and after a while, an overwhelming one.

Soon it was hard to differentiate which feelings belonged to whom.

Why should the other women get what she was entitled to? Resentment grew in him. Animosity and bitterness. Hall was convinced, Benvoleia had the right to some nice clothes or to some good food. She deserved it, more than the others.

He shook his head violently in his bodiless state. ‘Get out of my head, damn it!’

It took all his concentration and will to withstand the intrusive thoughts smashing against his mind like a tidal wave of corrupted emotions.

It was hard for him. Jealousy was an emotion he knew well as it accompanied him many years. It was others that had a family, friends, a home, but he beat these feelings once and he was not to be defeated now.

Before he knew it, the kind eyes of Benvoleia turned cruel, her compassion was swept away by resentment. A pitiful sight that made it easy for Hall to defy the voices in his head.

The moment the unusual battle was decided, he returned to the waiting, kinder and more sympathetic looking Benvoleia. A woman not devoured by jealousy.

Yet she seemed hurt by his blatant disapproval. However Hall did not really care and used the time in his own body to drink and eat a bit before he was gone for an undetermined interval again.

Forgetting his manners, he talked with a full mouth. “You know, you should have really concentrated more on what you have than on what you were missing. You could have had a really happy life.”

She wanted to say something, but instead remained silent and turned around. He just shrugged while packing away his rations.

“Can anyone tell me how much time I spent in this chamber so far? My inner clock seems to be out of tune.” He was not graced with an answer immediately, only when the sixth figure stood in front of him, he received one.

“We are not at liberty to say. The uncertainty is part of your trial.” Hall nodded at the man’s words but his eyes remained on Lily. To the seven it looked like he was simply staring into the air, but he was signaling Lily to talk to him.

“Three days. Three long days you did not move from that spot and were mostly gone. I am so bored right now, it is unbearable, so you better get on with it and then you’ll better show me something nice.”

Her eyes sparkled a little bit. “Some battle would do too, an exciting one, we against an army of evil or something like that.”

Hall had to force himself not to chuckle at Lily’s outburst, but he couldn’t hold it against her as it had to be terrible monotone for her to just sit around while he witnessed all these stories.

Considering he still couldn’t talk to her openly without giving her existence away, he simply gave her a quick smile and an unnoticeable nod for support and turned towards the man who spoke before.

The one standing before him was impossible to read. His age, his expression, he wasn’t even sure it was a man, but it was easier to think of him that way.

His blue clothes, accurately cut and well fitting, almost seemed like a uniform. His arms behind his back, he was standing straight and unmoving. If not for his words, in a voice as neutral as his facial expression, he might as well be a statue.

“My name is Caritius and I hope you will be part of our endeavor. Our task, our obligation, was a simple one. We wanted to spread prosperity and knowledge. Peace was our way, we even gave up our lives in the hope of reaching the hearts of those that bared their fangs at us.”

After the light, which enveloped him, slowly died down he woke up in confusion.

Sixth Trial

During the period of the sixth trial all notifications will be deactivated.

Experience, stat points, skills and skill increase will be applied when you return.

Mana, health and stamina will be invisible

Status, skill window and item informations can’t be displayed

Private chat and log out menu available

You are allowed to take a single item with you, choose wisely!

Barely noticing the message, he turned around and now lay on his back.

The narrow bed under him creaked as he rubbed his tired eyes and stretched while pushing the rough woolen blanket away with his feet. ‘What a strange dream…wait…’

He tried to make sense of the situation. Remembering the trials and that he was not actually waking up took him several moments and the siren ringing in his head did not help.

It took him another moment to notice the siren was not inside his mind, but actually resounding through the room he was in. The nerve wrecking sound was accompanied by a flashing red light above a metal door on the opposite side of the windowless room.

With a single glance he took in every detail of the small room he woke up in. Beside the bed there was only a white metal desk with a single chair next to it. The cupboard next to his bed was of the same color as the table and the lamp that hung from the ceiling, which had turned on by now and spread surprisingly warm light.

Next to the door was a small sink with a mirror above it and a simple towel on a grey rack. Even though the furniture barely covered the basic needs, it made the tiny room seem cramped.

“This is the captain speaking, this vessel is under attack, everyone to their posts, this is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill.”

The roaring voice drowned out the siren and contributed to Hall’s confusion. ‘What the hell is going on?’

His mind was in disarray, but he remembered Caritius saying something about spreading prosperity, though he didn’t imagine he would wake up on a ship in the middle of the sea.

What added to his bewilderment was the lack of wood surrounding him. It looked more like a metal alloy and was cold and hard to the touch.

He wouldn’t get any answers if he continued to sit on his bed, so he stood up and noticed he was dressed in dark blue clothes that reminded him of the ones Caritius was wearing. On the left side of his chest he noticed letters, saying “HALL”.

The last time he had clothes with his name on them it was the uniform he wore in the army.

His boots were made of hard black leather and his shoulder marks showed a single golden sun cross on each side. Well it might as well be a plus with a circle around it but to him it looked like a sun cross.

He assumed it was a military rank though he had no way of knowing if it was a high one or on the low side. Only now he noticed a wide, silvery bracelet on his left forearm which was blinking fervently. A flashing green button with the picture of the silhouette of a head and the word “bridge” beneath it was shown on what looked like a screen.

Although he was confused by what seemed to be futuristic technology he pressed the button and the face of on older man, maybe in his fifties, with a white, well groomed beard appeared.

“Lieutenant, damn it, I need you on the bridge…now!” The connection was terminated and Hall was left somewhat lost and overwhelmed by everything happening.

The siren was still penetrating his eardrums while the flashing red light from the lamp above the door together with the one on his ceiling almost caused dizziness. The excited voices outside his door got louder and the repeating message of an incoming attack made him nervous.

As he decided to leave the room his gaze fell on the mirror that now showed his face as he was not on his bed anymore, but standing next to it. His eyes went wide in surprise and he raised his hands, examining his face, making sure he wasn’t imagining it.

In the stories before, he was thrown into the bodies of others, new ones were created for him or he simply observed the actions people took. Now he was in his own body.

The face that looked at him in the mirror was his. It was not the one he used in the game, but his real one. His hair had no tinge of red and he looked a little younger than he was used to.

Right now he was probably around the age when he finished school, maybe a little after joining the army, which would make him around 18 or 19.

Still, he looked different than he remembered. A little less exhausted. His eyes sparkled a bit more and there were no deep circles around his eyes. The small picture that was clamped between the right side of the mirror and the wall explained why.

It was a picture of his parents and him on what looked like graduation day. He wore a uniform similar to his own, yet it was in grey and not dark blue and there were no markings on his shoulders yet. So he probably visited a military academy and his parents never died.

Closing his eyes for a moment he shook his head and clenched his fists. ‘I don’t know if this game is cruel or if it’s a nice thing to see something like this.’

Fighting with his emotions as he looked at the picture and swallowing hard, he didn’t even think about how the artificial intelligence was able to create the image. Of course a machine as advanced as the AI that controlled Novus Vita had no problem to comb through social media sites, articles in newspapers and even police reports.

It was a widely known fact that before the game was created the AI already existed and was designed to gather and work through incredible amounts of data. Probably every single book written in the last 100 years was read by it and it was informed about every known event in history dating back to the beginning of the universe.

So it was no coincidence the game would hold familiarities. They were used as references for movies or books the player loved or maybe to historic events he learned about in school or wished to know more about.

Of course the biggest part was newly created material but it should be no surprise for someone who likes Shakespeare to stumble upon a king who walks disguised among his people to learn what they think of him.

Although Hall also knew this, the image of him with his deceased parents came as a shock. Breathing deeply, he grabbed the picture and put it in his chest pocket.

The moment he turned to the door, it opened by sliding to the side and a young woman rushed in, slightly panting as she seemed to have been running to get to his room. “Hall, come on, you will be late again, this is our first mission and you are an officer now so get going already!”

Hall was completely taken aback and gaped at the girl with wide eyes. She was around his age, her black hair bound behind her head and a smile on her lips. Her face was a beautiful and familiar one. Even though he remembered her only younger and older, as he never saw her around the age she was now, he was sure he wasn’t wrong.

“Ja…” His gaze fell on the name on her chest before he could finish. “Belinda…”

“You don’t have to look so shocked, who else were you expecting? I’ve been making sure you were on time for years now, right?” She put her hands on her hip and pouted playfully. Only now Hall noticed the urgency in her voice and the flippant act to cover up the fear she felt wasn’t keeping her from trembling slightly.

It still took him a moment to shake off the new surprise. This story was getting really intense.

When he moved in her direction, she stretched out her hand, stopping him.

“Don’t forget your mana gun and your shield, seriously, are you still half asleep?” With her other hand she pointed at top drawer of the table that stood beside him.

After he pulled it out he saw several items. One was a silvery bracer that had rails at the top and bottom edges. It looked like they would perfectly fit unto the wrist band that was already occupying his left forearm.

When he put it on top of his wrist it connected to the device on it. The top of his forearm was now covered by the bracer which held a thumb size blue crystal in the middle of it. Faint lines, cuts not deeper than a hairs breadth were drawn through the metal and seemed to melt into the crystal.

Although he didn’t know how to use it, he assumed it was the shield she mentioned.

He could still access the screen on his wrist band that was visible on the inside of his arm.

The next item he picked up really resembled a gun. It reminded him of the half automatic pistols he used in the army.

The metal it was made of was similar to the shield’s material, although it was slightly darker and didn’t reflect that much light. He also noticed faint lines running through the material.

Engraved on the grip was the same symbol that was sewn to the upper right arm of his uniform. Three five pointed stars under a bridge.

Two clips of ammo lay right beside the weapon. Instead of the bullets he almost expected, it was filled with small glowing crystals that contained blue light. There were sixteen crystals in each magazine and a few dim and lightless ones were scattered at the bottom of the drawer.

Shrugging, still more than confused, but somehow dealing with the situation, he put the pistol into a holster made of black leather and attached it to the right side of his belt.

It seemed to be standard equipment as Belinda had the same armament on her. There was still another item in the drawer.

A sword with straight blade of almost a meter in length with a triangular tip. Its backside was dull and thicker than usual while the sharp edge looked like it could cut paper.

What really impressed him was the pitch black color of the metal. It wasn’t dull but at the same time didn’t reflect any light, instead it seemed to swallow it. There were deep cuts drawn through it, similar to the other equipment, yet there were no crystals to be found.

Without thinking too much about it he sheathed the blade and attached the scabbard, which was made of the same leather as the holster, to the left side of his belt.

When Hall was finally done Belinda was already looking at him impatiently and urged him to move faster. “You know, I think you are the only one in the army who’s younger than seventy and still wearing a sword. Doesn’t matter now, let’s get going, the captain already called me before because he knew I had to get you again.”

It barely had been five minutes since he was confronted with the unbelievable development of the story and he could only shake his head in disbelief. ‘This game is just too much.’

Following the impatient girl he left his room and ran through a well-lit corridor with doors on either side. The walls were made of the same metallic alloy he found in his room and as he walked by the largest door he saw so far, he noticed a sign that labeled the room behind it as the engine room.

The door opened and a man, only wearing half his uniform and franticly yelling orders, ran into it. What he saw inside did nothing to ease his amazement.

Five people stood around a crystal which was integrated in the wall in the back of the room. It was a large piece, at least the size of a human. A part of it would probably emerge from what looked like the rear of the ship.

It was glowing in a bright blue light and the people around it were continuously pouring their energy into the crystal. So far it looked like these crystals were some kind of mana repository, storing energy that would be released at a later time.

With this, the crystals in the magazines of his gun and the one in his shield made sense. Energy for attacking and for defending at the same time. Though he did not really understand how it worked, it was a start.

They took the stairs next to the engine room and went up, passing a large window.

As Hall went past it, he came to a halt as if he hit a wall. With wide eyes he slowly turned around and opened his mouth in disbelief.

He expected to be on a ship in the middle of an ocean. What he saw though made him beyond speechless. He was on a ship that much was true.

Contrary to his initial guess it wasn’t on the sea though. There was endless darkness outside of the window, yet he could see countless stars shining in the distance.

What made him gasp was the giant green and blue ball ahead of them that filled out a big part of the window. ‘A planet… a freaking planet…’

He was on a spaceship. In space. On a ship. Although he was in a game it felt overwhelming. This was supposed to be a fantasy game, but there were guns and spaceships and giant planets.

There was also another ship not too far from them that fired massive energy beams into their directions, only missing them by a hairbreadth or grazing their hull, causing violent shaking in their ship.

The sirens, the emergency lamps and the flashing beams painted a terrifying picture. Their ship was slowly pulled from its orbit by the planet’s gravity as the engine tried to fight the violent force. After several hits by the enemy’s weapons their ship was in pretty bad condition while the other spacecraft looked completely unharmed.

Hall had to grab onto a rail on the wall to not fall as another beam grazed them. Desperate screams were audible as wounded and scared people ran around helplessly. Bursting pipes caused liquid oxygen, cooling fluids and water to leak out and black oil seeping out from mechanical parts transformed the hallway into a dangerous path.

It was still not clear to him what was happening, but right now there was an enemy in front of him which made him almost glad as he knew what he had to do. Fight!

Belinda rushed the now determined Hall through another corridor and they finally arrived at the bridge, the command center of their vessel. Utter confusion dominated the scene. People were yelling with fear and urgency in their voices, trying to drown out the others, begging for orders.

“Commander, all outgoing communication is down, we can’t call for help…”

“Report from the engine room, propulsion is down to 15%, captain, we can’t maintain orbit…”

“Sir, our shields won’t hold much longer, the mana crystals are almost depleted and we don’t have enough mages to refuel them…”

“Medic bay reports two dead, eleven wounded…”

“Our portal generator was hit, unable to make the jump…”

The only one remaining calm was the captain of the ship, the older, bearded man Hall saw on his communicator before. From what he gathered the captain held the rank of commander, which seemed to be represented by a triangle in a circle, the markings visible on his shoulder.

Shadows of sorrow were spread on his face because he felt helpless and all he could do was to endure. His gaze fell on Hall as he entered the bridge.

“Lieutentant Hall and Ensign Belinda, about time you got here, you know what to do, get to it.”

Actually Hall had no idea what to do, but Belinda rushed to one of the consoles and replaced the person operating it who was in utter despair, unable to cope with the situation.

Within moments the angle of the ship shifted slightly, now facing the planet, yet they were also heading straight at the enemy vessel.

The front of the bridge was a large screen that directly projected everything happening outside and most people on the bridge gasped sharply as they changed their course. Though it was probably to adjust the angle of entry into the planet’s atmosphere so they wouldn’t suffer a fiery death.

Still, the sight of the enemy’s spacecraft becoming larger in their field of view was a terrifying one.

Hall simply approached the captain of the ship with fast steps. “Commander, why aren’t we returning fire?”

The old man in front of him looked incredible tired as he sighed and shook his head. “We are on a mission of peace, if it were up to me these ships wouldn’t be armed at all.” He brushed a few hairs out of his face with his left hand.

“It is a very sad thing… all this, our whole alliance of planets, and the task of spreading knowledge in a peaceful way, it was a noble goal and even though we suffered so many setbacks, it was the right thing to do.

Now, if there is a rich planet, wealthy tribes and peoples with valuable resources or maybe even new technologies our own ships attack us to get there first, blinded by greed.”

Hall stared at the man in shock and remained silent for a moment. “We are attacked by our own people? Why…isn’t there some kind of rule?”

Shrugging the captain’s voice was filled with grief. “Of course, but in the end nobody will intervene. Out here we are on our own, but we are not the only ones who will suffer. They won’t kill us, probably, but simply force us to land and then claim they had to rescue us.

Then they will proceed to either take the riches of the planet in exchange for scraps or even attack its inhabitants claiming they were defending themselves.”

Again the old man sighed heavily. “In the old days our people would die before striking down others, but now they are the ones to attack. I fear this universe has no more room for good deeds or…”

Before he could finish, he was hit with another energy beam, but it was worse than before. The impact caused a violent jolt running through the ship. Hall himself was blown away right into the captain’s chair that was right next to him, keeping him from being injured. Many others weren’t so lucky.

Screams of agony were resounding through the ship, even drowning out the sirens. Shaking his head, he tried to put his senses in order and looked around. Most crew members, including Belinda, seemed alright as they were sitting at the time of the impact.

A few others were smashed against walls, or instruments. Blood streamed from their wounds, many limbs broken. The captain was among the victims. One of the men called the medical bay for someone to take care of the wounded. Others already looked after them, checking for life threatening injuries and getting them out of the way.

Several eyes rested on Hall who just regained his composure after hitting the captain’s chair hard.

He saw the Commander lying on the ground, unconscious with a bleeding head wound and two people taking care of him.

“Who’s in command?”

A few of the crew exchanged worried glances. “Sir, this is a small ship, there are only a few officers on board. Aside from a handful of ensigns, there is only you and the commander. So you are in command Lieutenant.”

He could only gawk at the man who uttered these words. ‘Oh damn, might as well…’

Nodding determined he sat down in the captain’s seat and with a firm voice he made a decision. “I don’t know about you, but I won’t be taking a beating lying down and watch my subordinates die while others get away with a fortune.

No, I will stand and I will fight. Who is with me? We will remove this obstacle and we will prevail. Everyone not willing to fight can leave the bridge now and move to the escape pods, there won’t be any consequences.”

On his way to the bridge he saw several doors labeled with signs that said emergency escape pods, so he knew they existed. Apart from that he just used his knowledge from books and movies to make things up and hoped it would be the right decision.

After a few seconds nobody even moved an inch from their posts, instead their faces, fearful and helpless before, showed grim determination and the will to resist. Hall’s words gave them hope and another option than simply waiting for the end.

Nodding, his gaze returned to the ship on the screen they were slowly approaching and he continued to give his orders.

“Shift manpower from the engines to the weapons systems. The only people left at the engine should be there to correct our angle of entry, we’ll go down either way, so we may as well go with a bang.” He could have phrased that one better.

Not entirely sure of his orders, he just hoped he understood the system correct. Before, he saw the mages fueling the crystal that was a part of the engine and then he heard others were imbuing the crystals that were used to sustain the shields. So he assumed most elements of the ship, like weapons and shields, were separately maintained by a number of crew members.

Shifting personal should allow him to increase efficiency of certain systems at the cost of those that weren’t their priority right now.

“What’s the probability of us destroying their weapons in a single shot?”

Several of his crew were already working with renewed vigor and he had the numbers in seconds.

“We don’t have experienced attack mages on board, our men only went through basic training. So right now the chance of completely disabling their means of attack is below thirty percent. If we approach them a distance of 0.001 light seconds, we’ll increase our chance to over 90%, this will be the case in around four minutes.

From then it will take us five more minutes to enter the planet’s atmosphere. Our likelihood of survival is at around 40%.”

‘They might as well shoot us out of the sky instead of playing with us. Well, they’ll regret it…’

Calming himself, Hall controlled his breath and closed his eyes for a moment.

“All right, abandon all shields except frontal ones, keep those at full power, we are heading straight for the enemy. Ram them for all I care, but I guarantee, they will evade us.

As soon as we are close enough to destroy their weapons with a chance of 90% we attack with everything we got. Afterwards switch fire to portal generator and engines. Then proceed to attack the bridge. Give them hell. Payback for our lost friends. Show them what you are made of!”

A loud roar went through the crew as they clenched their fists in anger and their blood boiled in anticipation of fighting back.

The other ship was a lot larger than their own, still, he could only see one beam cannon. Just to be sure he asked his crew and his observation was confirmed, there was only a single gun mounted on the ship. It was probably true, that these vessels were based on an old code of avoiding violence and only slightly altered in recent times.

He was sure though, the people on the other spacecraft would be vastly superior in a battle on the planet’s surface.

“Every non-essential personal has to find shelter in the emergency pods and to immediately evacuate the ship as soon as we destroyed the enemy’s weapon systems.

At the same time allocate the energy to the other shields so we increase our chance of survival during the atmospheric entry.”

An infernal grin appeared on his face as he put his chin on his folded hands while his elbows were placed on the armrests of the chair in the middle of the bridge. “No more running, I aim to misbehave.”

‘I always wanted to say that.’ As Hall quoted the movie that followed up on his favorite show he seemed calm on the outside but was tensed within and his thoughts were running wild at what was happening around him.

After giving orders to deactivate the alarm throughout the ship, he made sure the wounded and those not that were not needed for the operation, were safe. Then he simply stared at the enemy vessel as if his gaze would penetrate its hull and bring down death and destruction.

It became deadly silent on the ship, nobody yelled or screamed. The creaking metal, as liquid oxygen leaking from the pipes froze it, could be heard, as well as the grinding of teeth.

The bridge, just like the whole vessel, was mostly veiled in darkness and the eerie light from the occasional passing beam, fired from a large mana cannon, created shadows that danced for seconds before disappearing as if they were signs of things to come.

A timer appeared on the screen that counted down the last moments until they were within range to destroy the enemy’s weapon.

“Make sure the aim is correct and prepare to fire at full power.” Hall watched the countdown carefully trickle down and breathed in deeply.

“Fire in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… FIRE!”

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Author’s Note:

New chapter, hope you like it :grin:

I decided to expand the story, especially the last one, so the trials will probably take another chapter, hope you don’t mind^^

I’m not sure I can make the release next week,

as many of you may have noticed, the birthday of RoyalRoadL is coming and to celebrate there are several contests.

Birthday party

Maybe some of you want to participate or simply enjoy the content offered, have fun :D

Thanks for the comments last chapter and please continue with your advice and suggestions, I’m grateful for your support

:bye: