A man stands at the head of the army, speaking with authority. He looks no different to the rest, as an elf he fits in with the particularly diverse group of people, and his clothing doesn’t mark him as special in any way, not but for an insignia easily ignored. The only difference between him and the others is where they stand, and the fact that when he speaks they listen.

“He’s here.” The chief officer in charge of this world looks up at the scene, not noticing the way that Sedena quivers in terror. Gale, in comparison, couldn’t be happier. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Gale show the man around his little hell hole just to point out all the ‘glorious improvements’ he’s made.

The officer aboard the crystal vessel above gathers his forces, but while I expected them to come charging down towards us at any moment, they instead stay as they are. Only a few leap down toward us, stealth Skills hiding them on their flight down. Even with my advanced sight, I lose track of them in moments.

Scouts mean to hunt us, no doubt.

“Some of our people are struggling to get away,” Adler says, her tail working up a storm as she considers possible solutions.

“I can help!” Vii says. “I’ll move through the ruins and gather them together. We’ll be safe to travel all the way to the ship, too. It’ll be fine. Actually, what should we do about the gangs? We’re on good terms with that local gang, aren’t we? Shouldn’t we help them, too?”

“Vii, we’re not splitting up,” I say. “Eshya almost died, and I was right there with her. If you get into trouble…”

“Then we go together,” Adler says. “You’re just scouting with that Skill of yours, right? We’ll travel together, watch out for each other, and gather everyone before going for the ship.”

“I’m happy with that,” the girl from our class squeaks. “I don’t think I want to go out there…”

People wander down the streets without any particular sense of desperation, more curious than anything. They all travel in the same direction, quietly whispering thoughts to one another. To walk against the current would make us easy to pick out from the group, the same as if we start running anywhere.

I have to think that it’s intentional. They’ll spot us if we try to move above ground and more than likely swarm us in superior numbers. Furthermore, if they’re aware of the ruins, which is uncertain because of the strange rules they function under, they may focus their scouts down there where we’ll struggle to escape their notice.

Our stealth Skills aren’t up to the standard necessary to fool talented scouts who know what they’re up to. Not to mention we need to gather together a small community of idiots, most of whom are less stealth orientated than us.

“You mentioned the gangs,” I say turning to Vii. “I’ll tell them what’s at stake here. Let’s see if they can’t steal some ships for themselves.”

“Without a pilot…” Adler asks doubtfully.

“Even the ex-soldiers managed to get a jump in before they crashed theirs. Red was the same way when she took us away, there’s probably a reason,” I say. “It gives them a chance and it gives us a distraction. Win-win.”

“Except for all the people who are going to die,” Adler grumbles. “This is a mess. What’s going to happen to the people out there being gathered by the welfare officers? What’ll happen to the people on the ships we highjack? The people caught up in the violence.”

“It’s a war,” I say.

“No, it’s not. Not to them, at least,” Adler says. “This is a hunt, but they’re gathering all the people on this world? It’s not how this is supposed to work. This is… worrying.”

“And not our business,” I say. “I couldn’t even protect Eshya, we’re not saving this whole world. We couldn’t even if we wanted to.”

“I know… I know…” Adler replies, pressing her hands over her ears. She whispers desperate thoughts to herself, calming down only after a few seconds pass. She’s still a mess, but a functional mess.

“The tunnels?” I ask, turning to the shopkeeper that we’re holding here.

“I… I don’t…”

“I know,” Vii says, “There’s an access in the back alley behind here.”

“Vii?” I ask curiously.

“I studied a map,” she says. “You know that friend of Rudolf’s that we met when visiting the ruins for the first time? The one with the library and all the books, you never seemed interested in? He had some secret maps, and after we upgraded our support devices, or more accurately, after I lost my fancy future one and had to replace it, I copied the maps.”

I stare at her for a moment as she twitches energetically, her nervous energy is impossible to disguise and she’s barely even trying anymore. A few wet trails are running down her cheeks, and she’s wearing a smile that seems entirely dishonest, but she remains focused.

We’re all feeling the same way, suppressing the same pains.

“Alright, lead the way,” I say following her. Adler, reading my intentions, does something to the shopkeeper to knock her unconscious, leaving her resting on the showroom floor.

I’ve already pulled enough mana from all the gizmos and shiny ornaments around the room to fill myself as far as I can. I’m not yet at the point of reaching the crystallisation stage, but I’m rather sure that I can ride the edge of it without losing control.

“Stay low, we don’t want the glass egg to see us,” Vii says, pulling us down the back alley while crouching low to hide from the city above.

“Glass egg?”

“It sort of looks like an egg, right?” Vii asks, pulling us down into a basement and messing with a door in the corner. “We have to call it something, don’t we?”

“I guess that works,” I reply itching at the back of my head.

“It’s a good name,” Adler says, watching the room for any sign of trouble. The scouts will find us eventually, that much is a given.

As Vii sets foot into the first layers of ruins that fill this world, still far above the dungeons, I turn my attention elsewhere.

The gangs that I can reach are all in a panic, for very good reason, and my warnings only make things worse. I just give them a quick run-down of events and the simple advice to steal a ship and get off the planet before they get served up for dinner.

What they do from there is no longer our responsibility.

Above the surface and below the grand canopy of the world tree that sustains the ecosystems on this world, I notice a few changes. The ships that would ordinarily transport us between worlds are slowing their arrivals. Most of them never even touch port and simply move on to the next stop with all due haste.

That’s not to say that there aren’t ships about. Alongside the glass egg, other large vessels are appearing all over the world, they are less ostentatious, but it’d be difficult to be any more ostentatious.

From within, even more officers show themselves, limited groups of warriors at their sides but they seem even less of a threat than the ones aboard the glass egg. It’s not exactly a war fleet, but there’s certainly something more going on than a simple beast hunt. They’re after more than just us and Gale.

Most of my eyes are gathered with the local citizenry in the various fields and courtyards that they’ve been ordered to gather at. If anything this looks like an evacuation, which would be bad news for the dungeons and inevitably for us too.

“Beast ahead,” Vii says, summoning a few gusts of wind to cut it down. We don’t slow down to deal with the body and just charge right over the bleeding corpse on our way toward some of our gathered recruits.

Up a set of stairs and into an unfamiliar room, we find a few students who were welcoming of our offers. They stare at the world outside with a deepening horror and welcome us regardless of the blood-soaked into our clothes.

“What’s happening?” A young man asks, following us into the underground as we move to gather the rest of the groups that are hidden from us and regroup with Ria, who might help us with piloting the ships.

“We’re not sure yet,” Adler replies. “Whatever it is, it isn’t good.”

Whispered conjecture pushes away the darkness surrounding us as we rush on. A few stray beasts ambush us, others run from us, and in the end, it doesn’t make any difference as we hardly bother to slow down.

For every person we save, hidden away in a small home or shop, there’s another that’s stuck in the crowd. Unreachable to us, at least assuming we’re staying quiet. I spread my senses far to try and find some solution better than the others.

Which is why I notice as Sedena and Gale find themselves in a situation somewhat more interesting.

An elvish man steps lightly down from the air, standing before the gathered officers without a hint of pride. His eyes are sharp and analytical, but his motions feel more like that of a machine than a man.

“Greetings,” he says, looking over the group. “I am here to ensure that all officers are acting in a proper manner, and to assist in the correction of this world’s beast issues. Are there any other issues that are beyond your ability to deal with?”

“Greetings, we are glad to have you with us,” Gale says, jumping ahead a step and bowing low to the man. “I hope that you’ll be proud of what you see here. We’ve done amazing things!

“You should see what I’ve done here, I’ve gone a step above and beyond. You’ll love it!”

“Interesting…” He’s cold, observing the broken man before him. “You seem to be behaving in an erratic manner, unsuitable to your position. The reports were correct.”

“Excuse me?” Gale asks. “I’ve been doing everything possible to make this world better!”

“We do not make the world better,” the elf says. “We make it abide by the rules and principles of our empire. You seem to be bound by emotions that should not be so strongly expressed, altering your interpretation of your orders… interesting.”

The elf lays a hand on the man’s head, making a connection to his support device. The change that comes over him is subtle, a shift in his expression, a coldness that wasn’t there beforehand.

“I understand,” Gale says, his voice colder than it was before. “We do not exist to interpret but to act as conduits for the eternal rules. My mind was influenced by a religious fervour that consumed my life before this. It is better now.”

“Yes,” the elf says, coldly analytical. “Now, assist in the collaring process. There is much work to be done, and we mustn’t waste time.”

“Understood,” Gale says.

“Report below and start collaring the gathered beasts,”

“I’m unfamiliar with this protocol,” Gale says, lacking any inflection in his voice. “What is the process involved here?”

“This world is being quarantined,” the elf says. “Every being is to be collared and re-trained in the ways of proper etiquette. We expect issues and lack the resources to maintain this for a prolonged period. These beasts are to be critiqued in the most stringent manners. Any misbehaviour will lead to processing.”

“Understood,” the rest of the gathered officers reply. Sedena moves with them, hiding her shivering limbs as she gathers collars for the coming mess.

“This is bad,” I say looking around in the darkness at our small growing group of rebels. “They’re collaring everyone, it’s a genocide.”

“Everyone? Genocide?” Adler asks.

“The entire world is being treated as beastly and they can’t keep everyone collared for long. They’re talking about ‘processing’ people, anyone who makes a single mistake.”

Adler pales, shaking her head as she looks about.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Would they tell you about it?” I ask. “They got to Gale, too. They didn’t punish him per se. I think they used the collar to implant more stringent rules on his behaviour. He seems colder and more mechanical.”

Adler nods slowly, thinking it through for herself.

“It’s… it makes sense in a way,” she says. “They promoted him.”

“What do you mean?”

“They need monsters to enforce the rules, no normal person could… Gale is a perfect specimen, so long as they can force him to do the job correctly,” she whispers.

“Isn’t it beastly?” I ask.

“Sure, but then the Unified States has always made use of beasts. In fact… we have rules to keep us from directly overwriting people’s thoughts. We can punish them, or prevent certain actions, but we can’t interfere with their thoughts.

“We can’t interfere with people’s thoughts, but what if officers are less than people?” she asks, rubbing at her head. “If we’re beasts then… we’re just being used.”

“We can’t be sure, and it doesn’t matter anymore,” I say. “They’re collaring the world, and slaughtering most of them. We need to gather our people and get out of here.”

“How does this affect Arduelle’s plans?” Vii asks. “Like, aren’t the officers going to try and collar and tame the dungeons, too?”

“We can’t do anything about it if they try that,” I say. “Our role is to keep from making the situation even worse, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

“More people ahead,” Vii says, pushing through a door and into a small room where a few other students are waiting. Speka is with them, her pearlescent scales not quite so reflective in the dull light.

“I’ve changed my mind,” she says. “This situation is… unreasonable.”

“Glad to see you made it,” I say. “Let’s go get ourselves a ride off of this world.”

“Wait…” Vii says, startling and looking down a deep tunnel. “Over there!”

The air that she points towards shimmers for a moment, but it’s gone again a second later. I push my senses to their limits trying to find whatever it was, but it’s gone before I can find it.

“We’ve been found,” I say, watching as the soldiers above start moving for our location. “Time to get things started. Who here can fight?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stats and Skills

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 53,492 / 60,892 units

Current mana volume: 26,592 / 30,271 shards

Mana volume at crystallisation density (Max. mana volume):

Kyra: 30,271 shards

Kyra’s armour: 20,777 shards

Kyra’s throne: 1,109,298 shards

~Forms

Mana Canon

-Annihilation Heart (Adapted)

-Blood Fuel (Adapted)

-Bone Magic Storage (Adapted)

-Nail Shifters (Adapted)

Dancer

-Flash Nerves (Adapted)

-Quick Perception Mind (Adapted)

-Burst Reflex Muscles (Adapted)

-Layered Space Muscles (Adapted)

Turtle

-Rebinding Tissue (Adapted)

-Catalyst Sweat Glands (Adapted)

-Repulsive Skin (Adapted)

-Prehensile hair (Adapted)

-Fatty Tissue Blood Storage (Adapted)

Investigator

-Wide eyes (Adapted)

-Wide ears (Adapted)

-Sharp nose (Adapted)

Misc.

-Clean bowels (Adapted)

-Mana Drive (Adapted)

~Favourited Skills:

Magic:

-Annihilation Magic (Customised)

-Fire Magic (Functional)

-Space magic (Broken)

-Force magic (Functional)

-Ice magic (Broken)

-Wind magic (Broken)

Movement:

-Hand-to-hand casting (Functional)

-Mana surge movement (Functional)

-Stealth (Functional)

Senses:

-Eyes of an Empire (Customised)

-Combat Awareness (Functional)

-Watchmen (Functional)

-Hidden bug (Mastered)

-De-tagging (Mastered)

-Anti-stealth sight (Mastered)

Special:

-Spirit Transformation (Broken)

-Conformity (Broken)

-Training mana form (Functional)