Chapter 126 - Escape

Blake knew better than most that the Architect did not care about fairness. However, despite its cruel nature, the scenarios were always capable of being completed. They may be more difficult than normal, or require ingenuity to finish, but it did not give impossible tasks.

He fought the desire to use his Ambassador to the Architect title. It would grant him a face to face meeting with the alien AI, but he doubted the machine would be sympathetic to his plight. Even worse, he would waste his only chance to effect change. Once used, it could not be re-used until he broke through the first threshold, which was years away.

I’ll save that for plan B.

Blake calmed his mind. He needed more information from the diminutive rodent. He glanced back down to the ColoColo and resumed his interrogation. “You sounded like you tried to escape once before. What happened?”

“Escape through The Great Barrier is impossible,” it repeated. “However, the surface is unmapped. We hatched a plan and reached the frozen wasteland above, despite the alarms on our wrists.” It then looked downward, morosely. “Unfortunately, the cold quickly sapped our strength. We travelled for many days before we collapsed. The guards found us and dragged us back.”

Days? There’s no way the boundary’s that big.

Blake growled in frustration. 

While this scenario had a large boundary, he had seen all of it when he launched himself into the air. There was only a single cave entrance within its bounds. Blake was certain that there would be others if he traveled far enough. However, that was not permitted due to the small scenario area.

“Why didn’t the guards have any trouble outside?” he pressed.

“They have access to mana spells that can ward away the chill,” it replied.

Blake nodded. He was familiar with the ability, Frost Barrier. It was very similar to his own spell, Flame Shield. However, instead of projecting siphoned heat outward, it created a barrier of ice to protect its target. In his past life, Montgomery had eventually learned the spell, but had never evolved it. It mostly sat unused, except on rare occasions.

“What does being ‘rescued’ mean to you?” he asked carefully.

Experience had taught him to clarify difficult seeming objectives. It was possible that he misunderstood the instructions he was given, and the interpretation was sometimes established by the captive, not the rescuer.

“It means we have escaped our clan’s reach,” the ColoColo answered honestly. “It means we have a chance to survive, even if on our own.”

“For how long?”

It frowned. “I am not sure. At least a day or more.”

“If I ensured your clan couldn’t reach you, and that you could survive, at least for a few days, would that be enough? You would consider yourself rescued?”

The creature paused to consider his question. After a moment, it bobbed its head in agreement.

Okay, I can easily collapse the tunnels behind me. That will prevent the guards from following for days. But, how can they survive on the surface? I could get Montgomery and Jeff to collect children’s jackets, gloves, and hats. Along with supplies such as fuel, fire starters, and food, that could allow them to survive on the surface, especially if they dug out igloos to last the night.

Blake suspected it would be that easy. They would need to survive long enough to reach another tunnel, and since the clan did not use the surface to bypass The Great Barrier, there had to be some other reason why it was ignored as well.

Is there some monster on the surface or something? Maybe a huge chasm you have to cross to get to another tunnel down?

He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. There were too many unknowns. Of course, if the portal were open, he could easily just use it to escort his charges to the safety of Earth. Unfortunately, it would remain closed until all objectives were complete.

Or would it?

Blake knew for a fact that the AI listened to his directed thoughts, and any communication over its interface. He focused intently on addressing the Architect, in case it would help, and sent his mental message.

I can accomplish the objective by sending them through the portal to Earth. If you open it, and they travel through, it will satisfy the terms of the scenario.

After his message was sent, he waited in anticipation. He had never heard of anyone asking for a change of rules and receiving it, but it did not hurt to try. However, after thirty seconds passed, he slumped in defeat. Blake ran a hand through his hair.

Kill missions are so much easier.

He suddenly straightened.

I’m an idiot! Why did that not occur to me?!

Why would he attempt to escape the guards, when he could just kill them all. Blake entered the portal with the expectation that he would eliminate dozens of monsters. Yet, somehow his thinking had gotten off track. He had been so focused on escape, he did not see the obvious solution before him.

Blake rounded on the small ColoColo and rapidly fired off questions. “Do I need to kill everyone in the clan for you to be safe, or just the guards? How many guards are there? Do I have to go through each tunnel and kill those guards, or just the ones in the city?”

The creature shied away at his intensity, but answered each quickly. “I am not certain. We are hated for not choosing the path of mana. Even if the guards are eliminated, the others may join together to punish us.”

Damn.

“I am not certain how many guards there are, but dozens at least. The clan, however, is numerous. At least five hundred live in this enclave.”

Five hundred? Can I even kill that many in four hours?

The ColoColo straightened. “Do not worry about the tunnels. If you attack the enclave, they will sound the alarm and the guards will come to you.”

At least there’s that. Am I really doing this? How fast will I have to kill them?

After Blake did the math, he winced. Unless he was mistaken, he would need to kill a ColoColo every thirty seconds for four hours straight. No breaks, no relief, and no slacking.

I’m going to need attribute potions.

Since the scenario was level two, he expected it to be easy and had not consumed the boosts. Now that he knew what awaited him, however, he needed every advantage he could muster. He focused on materializing the potions in this Spatial Storage. While he waited for them to assemble, he addressed the captive before him.

“Can you quietly collect the other captives and hide? I’m going to eliminate the entire clan, and it might get messy.”

It gasped. “The children as well?”

Blake peered directly into the rat-like creature’s eyes. “Only if the Architect forces me to.”

It slowly nodded and hobbled off. Blake renewed his Flame Shield on himself and waited. A minute later, his potions were available, and he quickly downed them. He used Oblate Mind Sense and found that all five captives were huddled together under a rock overhang by the wall.

That’s good enough, I’ve wasted enough time.

Blake unclasped his spear, cast Alacrity on himself, and sprinted through the stalagmites toward the center of the cavern. A moment later, he left the rock field and spotted five guards on the smoothed road. Before they reacted to his presence, he cast Mind Blast on all of them. 

The first fell to the ground unconscious, while the others clutched their heads in pain as the squealed. Blake quickly closed the gap and executed all of them. Then, he sprinted along the road toward the city center. 

In the distance, he saw a multitude of ColoColo gape at him in shock. However, their inaction did not last. Eventually, shouts began to echo off the walls, and an alarm sounded.

Good, that will bring them to me.

While Blake eliminated the closest ColoColo, guards began to fill the street. Rather than charge, they remained stationary and began the mana forms required to cast their spells. 

Your spells take too long to cast.

Before they could finish, Blake used his left hand to cast his Hastened Gale, teleported directly before them, and released the wind spell directly in their faces.

They were blown backward and tumbled along the ground. Even as they continued to roll, Blake closed the gap and rapidly eliminated the threat. As he executed the last guard, he was suddenly hit from above and behind by a Fireball.

It splashed harmlessly against him. However, the Ice Spike behind it did not. The spell impacted his steel plated tunic, and he stumbled forward. He quickly recovered and whirled to search for the threat. 

There they are!

Two ColoColo stood atop the flat roofs of buildings on each side of the street as they cast their spells. Meanwhile, a horde of guards had arrived. Blake was about to swap out his spear for his bow, but realized there would not be enough time. 

The new force had split into multiple smaller groups. Those at the front had protective shields and charged him. Meanwhile, the other groups remained behind and cast their spells. While he could teleport up to the roof and then rain arrows down on them, he only had so many arrows. His quiver would replenish his arrows over time, but not fast enough to be used in this battle.

Time to see this armor in action.

Blake activated his level four, steel plated tunic’s spell, Force Resistance. A bubble of inertial dampening surrounded him, which slowly leached away at his aetheric energy. Once it was active, all projectiles which entered the field would lose their momentum. 

He would still be in danger from some spells, such as Shocking Stun, but most abilities relied on speed to reach their target. It was a weakness of mana based spells, which he planned to exploit. As long as he remained mobile, their offense could not reach him.

Thank God they don’t use Psi or Aether.

Force Resistance could be effective against telekinetic psi spells such as Wrench Object, or aether spells like Attract. However, those were the exceptions. Most would bypass the spell’s defense and attack him directly.

Blake rushed into the incoming guards and unleashed fury. As he fought, the armor slowly drained his aetheric energy. However, as long as he refrained from using Spatial Step, the spell would remain active for hours before his aether was drained.

Too bad I don’t have a friend to cast Regeneration on.

The First Responder achievement would increase all energy regeneration for an hour after he healed another human. Unfortunately, Blake was the only human present. For a moment, he actually considered asking Montgomery and Jeff to join him. If they joined his party and entered the portal, they could join him in his slaughter. 

No, it’s too dangerous.

While these enemies were weak in comparison to Blake, they were a full level higher than his friends. They would quickly be overwhelmed, and doubling his Magic Stamina was not worth the risk.

Each time his Sustained Alacrity was available, he renewed the spell. For fifteen seconds every minute, he became untouchable. Unfortunately, the majority of the time he was not. Most spells or attacks were avoided, however, some remained a threat.

Walls of stone quickly surrounded him, while the ground beneath his feet softened. Before his feet could become trapped, he cast Spatial Step and appeared twenty feet overhead. 

Damnit! There goes more aether!

For two hours, he fought against the relentless horde of ColoColo. The intelligent aliens worked together to form traps and ambushes, and at times he barely escaped. However, his attributes were too high for the diminutive creatures, and he countered their mana-based abilities. 

In the end, after he had killed hundreds of enemies, they began to flee. Blake cancelled the Force Resistance provided by his armor and teleported atop a high roof. From there, he traded his spear for his bow and began to eliminate the last of the resistance. 

Finally, after his twentieth arrow pierced through the back of a guard, a notification appeared before his eyes.

You have successfully completed the Combat Scenario. Would you like to choose your reward now?

It’s over already? Guess I didn’t have to kill the children.

Blake stared at the message in confusion. While all guards were eliminated, numerous ColoColo remained alive. He expected he would have to execute another two to three hundred civilians before he finally received this message. According to the clock, he even had another two hours to accomplish the grisly deed. 

Maybe they learned their lesson and will leave the captives alone now?

Blake doubted it. While he had no idea why the Architect considered the objective completed, he would gladly accept the win. Without the constant threat of danger, he collapsed. Strength fled from his muscles, and he sank to the roof below him. 

While he recovered, he decided to check through his rewards. The scenario was only level two, so the prizes were unlikely to be useful to him. However, he could gift it to his faction members, or even sell the item if he so wanted. He quickly read through the list of four items and began to laugh when he saw the second.

That’s perfect for Bobby.

For the hundredth time, he wondered if the rewards were truly random, or if the Architect actively selected them. Since the scenario had been far more difficult than it should have been for level two, it would not be out of character for it to give him the item he desired. 

Blake selected the shield as his reward and opened his status to see how much Nano he gained.

Nano: 921m

All that for just thirty-four mega-nano?

He felt like this level two scenario was far more difficult than a typical level three. Despite that, he received less nano for completing it.

Stupid Architect.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed movement and focused on it. The five captives proudly walked down the street, their heads held high. Meanwhile, the surrounding civilians shied away in fear. Curious, he used Analyze on one of the ColoColo shopkeepers.

ColoColo Level 0

Physical Power - Average

Physical Stamina - Average

Physical Resistance - Average

Magic Power - Average

Magic Stamina - Average

Magic Resistance - Average

Interesting. Are they all level zero?

Blake used his general skill repeatedly on the aliens. Except for the five ex-captives, every single creature returned the same result. This surprised him, as the Architect usually kept the enemy levels homogeneous. 

No wonder it considers my objective complete. These guys wouldn’t stand a chance against rats two levels above them.

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