Amazon Apocalypse 6: Chapter 27

I spent the night at home, told Bridget and Sakura of my ongoing adventures, then was back in my Himmel disguise the following day. I made arrangements with Margaret for the joint training exercise quest and had everything set up by the time my team arrived for lunch.

Charlie came first, followed by Abby, Suzie, and Meghan. As we sat down, ate, and planned our mission, I realized there were a dozen other groups doing the same.

All the way up high in my farmhouse-turned castle on the mountain outside of town, I’d fallen a bit out of touch with how things were for the average resident of Crownhill. For many of them, this was their life. This was where they planned the D-Grade missions that would see them through to a better future. Whether they knew it or not, they were counting on me to hold things together at the top. I would have to be sure to not let them down.

“So we’re meeting up with the military guys just outside of San Antonio? What do you think they’re going to be like?” Charlie asked.

“They might look down on us. They’re soldiers, we’re civilian hunters,” Suzie replied.

“Monster hunters. There’s a difference there. Mostly in terms of scale and danger level,” Abby said.

“My brother was in the military. He said his friends were nice,” Meghan said softly.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine. The whole idea being the joint training exercise thing is that we’re supposed to work together. After all, us and them are the only real human-ruled shards. It would make sense for us to form an alliance and work together." I shrugged.

All four of my companions perked up at that.

“I heard there was a shard from Japan somewhere east of us. Was that not true?” Abby asked.

“Things have been way too quiet lately. I’ve been expecting an attack at any moment. You say there are no more humans out there other than these military guys we’re about to meet?” Suzie eyed me with interest.

“I hope there’s a shard with magic out there. And I hope they’re willing to be our friends...” Meghan curled her hair around her finger. Her eyes darted between her food and me.

“What kind of monsters are coming at us this time? And how’d you figure it out? Do you know someone on the council?” Charlie asked. He looked equal parts excited and suspicious at my words.

I realized that I may have accidentally spilled top-level government secrets over dinner. I was too accustomed to eating with Bridget and Sakura, who knew everything already. The same way was true of my occasional meal with Frank.

I hadn’t intended to keep any of this news secret from the general populace, but thinking it over, I hadn’t exactly gone to any great lengths to spread the information, either. Maybe I’d need to make another appearance on Margaret’s radio show and tell people what we were up against. It sounded like the average citizen of Crownhill only had the rumor mill to rely on.

I coughed. “That is to say... that’s what I’ve heard. Maybe the guys we’re going to meet will know more. Come on, let’s go.”

We took the teleportation array to San Antonio, since it would be a long walk for D-Grades. We were early, but the team we’d be training with arrived ahead of time.

The soldiers introduced themselves, five in all. We shook hands and did the same.

“I’m Sergant Benton, and I’m in charge of these boys here. I take it you’re in charge of the adventurer team?” asked the leader of the soldiers.

He was dressed in camouflage fatigues, with a rifle slung over his back. The big Bowie knife sitting on his hip looked like it had been used just as often though, and leaving it there in place of his pistol was a tribute to the way the world had changed since the apocalypse.

It was nice to finally put a face to a name. I’d heard of Sergeant Benton from several adventuring parties. This wasn’t the sergeant’s first joint training exercise.

“A pleasure to meet you, Sergeant. I’m Himmel. No fancy title for me,” I replied.

Sergeant Benton raised an eyebrow. “If you say so, hero. Anyway, you and me over there. Let’s put together a plan.”

Sergeant Benton and I walked away from the others, letting my adventurers and his troops socialize. His squad was all men and seemed particularly interested in chatting up the three women in my adventuring party.

“How long have they served?” I nodded back in the direction of Sergeant Benton’s soldiers.

“Trained them up myself. We ran into a few survivors earlier in the integration. I think two of them are European or something.” Sergeant Benton shrugged, then eyed me.

“Mine have been adventuring on their own a while, but mostly small jobs like copper salvage. They only started hunting monsters with me a day ago.”

“Will they follow orders?”

I nodded. “They’re a good bunch. You won’t get the sirs and the marching from them, but they haven’t let me down yet.”

“Good. Now it looks like we’re hunting something called a water elemental. Any experience?”

I nodded again. “The whole shard got together to take out a big C-Grade Lava Elemental a while back. They’re weak to the obvious, and a water elemental can be frozen fairly easily. I have a spellcaster in my group who could do the job. She’s not a frost mage, but she knows a spell.”

“Good, because the last time I fought one of these things, the bullets just went straight through the damn thing. We’ll be counting on your magical girl. Which one is she? I’ll tell my boys she’s the VIP and to defend her.”

I pointed out Meghan, who was shyly laughing at a joke a young red-haired soldier made. Sergeant Benton and I chatted a bit longer as we ironed out the details of our plan. I wanted to include the entire group in the discussion, but he seemed more intent on the two of us hammering out the details and then presenting our plan to everyone else as orders. We ended up doing something between the two.

I got the distinct impression that Sergeant Benton was sizing me up. Really, he was sizing up all my fellow adventurers, but he paid special attention to me. Maybe it was just because I was in charge of the others, or maybe he sensed I was more than I seemed. I made sure to keep my cloak draped about me at all times.

I spent just as much time sizing him up in return. He was a stern and capable man. From the look of his gear and the way he held himself, he’d been in more than one scrap. It was odd that he was only D-Grade, given the veteran countenance he wore, but maybe he was wondering the same thing about me. I examined him when he introduced himself, and even with the many proficiency points I had in the skill, I didn’t turn up anything unusual.

The two of us walked in quiet silence, which was in stark contrast to our underlings. They were happy to chat about everything from life in the barracks back where the soldiers came from to daily life in Crownhill. I didn’t intervene, though I listened in.

Everything I heard told me of a military base that had made a lot of compromises lately and wasn’t sticking as close to traditional doctrine as they would like to present at first glance. Given a decreasing supply of guns and ammunition and the increased effectiveness of melee abilities, some soldiers had taken to more primitive weapons.

Nowadays, new recruits were being drilled with spears almost as much as they were with guns. The rumor was that this development was largely due to witnessing our own success during these joint training exercises.

None of it was new information to me. I’d assembled all these separate facts from my many interviews. No doubt, whoever was in charge of this operation on the military guys’ side of things had done the same.

They certainly knew by now that San Antonio was not our primary settlement, and they probably knew exactly where Crownhill was. But I was pretty sure I knew where to find their primary military base and would pay it a visit soon.

Compared to side-eying one another throughout the whole trip, the actual fight was somewhat boring. The ten of us were more than enough to take out a D-Grade water elemental, though Meghan’s ice spell proved crucial, as I’d predicted. I had hoped I’d get to see Benton in action, but both he and I stayed back and shouted orders while the others did the bulk of the fighting.

The military guys had an interesting fighting style. They all seemed to share the same class, but it was a versatile one that allowed them to deploy any type of weapon they wanted. They had an improvised grenade that flung ice shards in all directions. I was pretty sure Benton had researched our enemy and prepared that countermeasure accordingly. He’d been feigning ignorance when asking me for a water elemental’s weaknesses.

The journey back was one of shared camaraderie for the soldiers and my adventurers. Something about going into battle with other people forged bonds of friendship fast, which was the whole point of these joint training exercises.

For me and Benton, however, there was a bit more tension in the air. We sat down to recover and give a bit of advice on stat point distribution and talk about the fight.

“Went smoothly. No complaints here,” Charlie shrugged.

“We made quick work of that thing.” Abby smiled at everyone.

“You all fought well. We could really use people like you over at the military base. The general recently realized that it might be time to let some old ways die. Bullets won’t solve every problem, and some of these System abilities are damn powerful. We could especially use some of that magical healing and firepower you ladies bring to the table. General Marshall has permitted me to offer you a hefty signing bonus,” Sergeant Benton said, scanning my adventurers.

My people took on a contemplative air at the offer. But I wasn’t about to let General Marshall poach an entire party of my adventurers, even if we were supposed to be entering into an alliance.

“My team is pretty pleased with how things are going for us here in Crownhill. I’m not sure we’re up for switching locations, let alone plugging ourselves into a professional military.” I shifted to position myself between Sergeant Benton and my subordinates.

Sergeant Benton addressed my people over my shoulder. “You should keep the offer in mind. I know the Shardlord of Crownhill is showing increasing favoritism to the large guilds. Only God knows what such powerful and secretive organizations are up to. If you want to fight for a better future and make a positive impact on the world, consider enlisting. That’s all. Boys, we’re moving out.”

Sergeant Benton’s last words had left some additional tension in the air. The soldiers left in silence, and we sat there a while, looking at one another.

“Should we talk about his offer?” Charlie asked.

“You're actually considering leaving Crownhill, Charlie?” Abby turned to regard our tank curiously.

“I’m not sure I’m cut out for military life,” Meghan stared at the ground, refusing to meet anyone else’s eyes.

“I’m not going to turn my back on Crownhill. The recent stuff with the big guilds has me on edge, too, but I’m not about to abandon the people here before I've paid them back. If not for them, I’d still be a slave to some thug from Crownhill County Prison.” Suzie twirled her daggers around her finger, and there was heat in her words.

“It’s not a terrible offer, though.” Charlie held his hands up placatingly. “The required level for the big guilds climbs higher every day. Originally, I was holding out to join the Adventuring Guild run by Councilmember Frank, but I’m not sure I’ll ever qualify.”

“I’m sure you could join Frank’s guild if you put your mind to it. Just find Frank and show him what you can do. I’m sure he’ll let you in.” I put a hand on Charlie’s shoulder. I knew Frank well and had spoken with some of his new recruits. They’d all been quite capable and strong, and Charlie would fit right in as soon as he got another twenty levels under his belt.

Charlie seemed unconvinced by my words, though.

“It’s not as easy as hunting down the guildmaster and giving him a firm handshake. Maybe a few months ago, but not anymore. The big guilds are all run by top-notch fighters at the peak of C-Grade, and Frank himself has reached the legendary B-Grade. Who would have the guts to just walk up to somebody like that and waste his time?” Charlie shook his head.

My mind went to my own interactions with Frank. To me, he still felt like that same exhausted programmer I remembered from before the integration. He took a long breakfast every morning, ordering multiple burritos in case a certain talented elven mage swiped one on him with her magic.

To me, walking up to him and asking to join his guild seemed completely natural. Hell, if I asked Frank, he’d probably take Charlie on even if he was level one.

“You can earn plenty of opportunities in Crownhill. The trusted guilds are only trusted because they’ve been around for a while, and the Shardlord knows all of them since they’ve been fighting for Crownhill for a long time. They had to earn their current status by risking life and limb against the ogres, trolls, undead, Torchdragon, Lich King, that wizard on another world, and who knows what else,” I explained.

Charlie scoffed. “Yeah, well, it seems like a big club to me. And we’re not in it. The way I see it, more and more opportunities are going to go to a select few, and the rest of us are going to be cut out of them.”

“You can’t think that, Charlie. Come on, what would a bunch of D-Grades do in the deep wilderness if they ran into a C-Grade water elemental? Like the one we just fought, but as big as a building? I’ll tell you what’ll happen. They’d die. They wouldn’t even have a chance to escape and warn others of its location. There are fewer opportunities for low-level adventurers and guilds because some of these threats are too dangerous.”

Charlie crossed his arms. “Don’t give me that. You think Frank, the Adventuring Guild leader, ever shied away from danger? You think he rose to the top by not fighting against long odds and coming out on top? What about Shardlord Carter? I hear story after story about him fighting up entire grades. If we ever want to rise out of mediocrity, we need to take risks and do the same.”

I let out a long sigh. I hadn’t expected this kind of passion from Charlie. Nor had I realized how little the average person understood of the big picture. I’d taken the risks I had to in the past because I had no other choice, not because I wanted to.

And I’d worked myself up to those big fights, snatching every advantage I could along the way to help me fight up a grade. It wasn’t something that just happened. If Charlie went up against a C-Grade monster as he was now, he would be dead.

“Don’t fight, guys. We had a good day,” Meghan mumbled. Her shoulders were pulled tight together, and her fingers tapped nervously against her elbows.

“Listen, Charlie. We’ve made incredible progress these last few days. If we just keep doing what we’re doing, clearing monsters every day, we’ll be fending off guild invites left and right. Just be patient and keep working hard with the rest of us,” Suzie said. Abby and Meghan nodded along.

Charlie looked around and saw he was outnumbered. Eventually, his shoulders slumped.

“Yeah, alright. I guess you guys are right. We just have to stick it out for a few months. I just wanted to at least hear what these military guys had to say.”

I placed a hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “I know you have big dreams. But there’s no easy way to make them happen. It’s a long journey, but as long as you work hard every day, you’ll get there. All of you will.”

The girls smiled brightly at my prize. Charlie tried to smile as well, but I could tell it wasn’t as genuine as he tried to make it seem.

<Note>

I find it funny that Carter is fighting the urge to tell Charlie to just walk up to Frank and give him a firm handshake and he'll definitely get the job.