Hazard Lands Revenge

Chapter 17 – Year (Unedited)

Author’s Notes –Glossary updated again, this time it doesn’t look bad and has additional info on characters and spells.

Any similarities between this novel with real life events, people or other novels are purely coincidental.

--* Mildr City, World Nations’ Central Army Base *--

“Boy, wake up. It’s the end of your term here. Better not slaughter anymore people this time,” a guard banged on Nik’s cell.

“Five more minutes…” a lethargic voice came from a pile of blankets.

“If you don’t wake up, I’ll tell everyone that…” before the guard could complete his words, Nik yelled out.

“Fine! Fine...” a pale hand rose from the blankets and slowly peeled them off the bed. Left behind was a handsome young man. His body was not overly muscular, and could even be called lithe, yet it seemed to contain explosive amounts of power. The man’s face was what most would consider feminine, but his eyes would remove all that false sense of fragility. The piercing crimson seemed to contain the universe, chilling anyone who stared deep into his glaring eyes.

“Heh, you’ve been sleeping for over ten hours. Anyways, get out. I’ll be the one escorting you towards the Mission Guild,” the guard unlocked the cell door, waiting for Nik to follow him.

Over the course of his imprisonment, Nik had been training endlessly in the Prison’s faculties. Seeing as he banned from using a sniper rifle, he had chosen to train with all the weaponry available. From shotguns to knives, he had achieved rudimentary understanding of their uses, but he was far from being a master. In addition to weapon usage, he had undergone intense exercising sessions to strengthen his body further, along with sparring sessions with other prisoners and even guards to shape his experience.

Nik knew that the reason why the prison allowed him so much freedom was because they wanted to use him as a tool for war. Instead of resisting their ploy however, the boy wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to gain strength, even if he was dancing in the hands of the military. Although he has grown in power, the Demon inside of his body remained untamable. It would constantly haunt him with nightmares, but would keep quiet when Nik was awake. Just like an imp, it was difficult to capture the being.

In regards to Nik’s Mysticism, he was tested once again in the presence of the General and Grand Patriarch resulting in absolutely no aptitudes for anything. Perhaps the Demon took all of his potential or perhaps he never had any to begin with, but in the end, he could not do anything about it.

Snapping out of his daydream, Nik examined the giant metal gate blocking their way. He noticed various eyes examining him as he looked about, most in fear, while others with rage. It seems like even a year of imprisonment was not enough to drive away hatred. Though their hatred might not have changed, Nik saw that many of them held various weapons that he did not recognize.

From a dark blue blade, which radiated a cold feeling to jackhammer-shaped guns, he examined them all with curiosity. A year might be able to change an individual’s attitude, appearance or habits, but to civilization, that year could drastically mutate societies or the state of technology. Before he could spot more curious weapons however, the metal blockade quickly disappeared after transforming into a cascade of bright particles.

“Come, I’ll explain what has happened to the world over the course of your imprisonment while we walk to the Mission Guild,” the guard who was leading him suddenly said, as he stared in amusement at the shocked boy. With a dry nod, Nik went through the now nonexistent gate, following the guard.

“Hmm… where do I start…? Bah, let’s just begin from whence you were imprisoned. From that day, October 21, 2043 to December 20, 2043, the world was actually pretty calm, aside from a few skirmishes with the Mutated. Due to the fact that fighting was almost absent, the World Nations’ provided the Library, Storm and Priest Branches half of all the other branches’ funds. This led to frenzied research both on the laws of Science and Mysticism.

With higher funding, researchers were able to create multitudes of new types of magic and technology. The Storm Branch was able to discovered new spells along with a new way to battle using runes and while the Priest Branch did not do anything groundbreaking, they had minor success in lowering how long chants lasted and the amount of energy it took to heal injuries.

The one with the most progress was the Library. Having been completely focused on gathering and recording intel, members of the Library had many theories to improve our sciences, but were lacking in funding to properly test them out. Being given access to more than ten times of their usual funding however, changed all of that. New energy sources were created, many new guns were built, while others were redesigned or scrapped. Even the Army’s vehicles, Air Force’s planes and Navy’s ships were not left behind, as an improved engine replaced all of the old ones.

Obviously, many people who weren’t part of these three were enraged, but after the Library released one of their prototype inventions, most people quit complaining. This growth however, could be considered negligible when compared to the E.L.E.C’s technology, which is decades above ours.

As for the Blood Rain Apocalypse, it’s just bad news. Before, stage ones, twos and threes were the most common Mutated creatures, but after a year of soaking in the tainted liquid they’ve all evolved into stage fours and above. Like I said, most of them were calm and did not attack any human cities or settlements, but after December 20th, every Mutated we’ve found was in a berserk state and would try to kill as many troops even at the cost of its life. Currently, every day we suffer over a thousand casualties from the army alone.

Our food situation is dire as well. In truth, many of the buildings in this city are purposed as farms, but the amount of food they can produce is way below our needs. We’ve tried underground farming as well, but it turns out that all of the soil has been tainted by the rain, including the one you’re standing on. On the political side… well, I’m just a prison guard, I wouldn’t know anything. Anyways, here we are, the Mission Guild,” after a few minutes of walking in discussion, the two men had made their way before a gigantic building.

Around it, hundreds of men and women gathered. Some were collected into groups while others stood around alone. Forcing their way across the sea of people, Nik and the prison guard entered the building, where jubilant shouts and merry talking filled their ears. The smell of delicious food and exquisite drinks pilfered into the air, soaking them with pangs of desire for a meal.

Unlike the outside, the building contained only a few handfuls of people, who were either eating on one of the many tables dotting the floor or were gathered around an enormous board across the room. To the side of the lobby, or perhaps tavern, were receptionists who were energetically responding to any of the soldier’s questions and requests. Above them were even more tables on the second floor, which had a hole cut out in the middle to allow an overhead view. Many more soldiers dined there, watching the ground floor with curiosity. Nik’s eyes followed one of the waitresses walking around, her hips swaying seductively.

“How… lively,” Nik muttered.

“Heh, you’ll be part of this crowd for the rest of your life lad. I doubt you can even finish that debt you have to the military,” the guard joked. Having been responsible for Nik’s well being in the prison, he was notified about the boy’s situation.

“We’ll see,” his eyes pried off the waitress.

“For now, I’m going to go back to the prison; I still have a job y’know. Come visit me if you can and not as a criminal this time,” with a wave of his hand, the guard returned to the ocean of people, where he disappeared.

“I guess I’ll have to find that lady…” looking around, Nik frowned. The building was quite large and had multitudes of rooms branching out from the lobby. In addition, from what he could estimate from the building’s size, there were about three higher floors. This really would take a long time.

Before he could move to search however, he noticed a woman approach him. Unlike most soldiers who wore the standard green camouflage uniform, she wore leather armor, covering her whole body, though it could not hide her mature curves. Many of the men locked their eyes on her, with drool threatening to spill down their mouths, while the women glared envious eyes.

“Are you Nik?” a melodious voice came from her pretty mouth, her brown eyes sizing him up.

“Yes… who might you be?” the boy questioned cautiously. After suffering hundreds in hateful glares during his walk towards the Mission Guild building, he knew that people’s ire against him had not disappeared whatsoever.

“Come with me. The guild master is waiting for you,” ignoring his question, the woman turned towards a staircase next to the board and walked up. With a little hesitation, Nik followed.

After climbing two floors, the two individuals found themselves standing in front of another lobby, though there weren’t any diners there, but prestigious looking individuals. Various men and women in reception desks to the left and right answered their needs, many of them constantly writing something down.

On the opposite wall sat a massive oak door. Before it stood two vicious looking guards, who wielded weapons that, once again, Nik could not identify. It seemed like his training in prison was not going to bud. The boy sighed as the two of them approached the door. Nodding at the guards, the woman grabbed hold of the door and threw it open.

Weapon Files #16

Name: Death’s Calling

Aptitude: Ice

Type: Sword

Ammunition: N/A

Rank: B7

Cost: 100,000 Merits

Description: A sword crafted from a newly created metal found deep inside of the Arctic. Due to the origin of said metal, Flosgrine, the sword constantly emanates a cold aura. If an enemy is struck with the sword, their flesh and blood will freeze causing severe frostbite. In a prolonged fight, this sword has a chance of rendering an enemy ill due to hypothermia.

Do note that the sword will also harm the user if it is used improperly. It is recommended that soldiers use gloves and wear warm protective gear in order to prevent themselves from being affected by the sword’s cold aura. Any accidents caused by this sword caused to the user will not be the responsibilities of the Library, but the one who provided the sword. To prevent these accidents, the Library is providing a sheath specially crafted to contain the coldness of the sword.

Fire mystics are to never use this sword, unless they want their aptitude for fire to be absolutely abysmal, however, ice and water mystics will benefit greatly with this sword. It is up to the soldier whether to use this sword or not.