I'm Slowly Being Converted. Goddamn It!
As a few months went by, I had slowly gotten accustomed to this new way of life and was slowly starting to appreciate how good the service was. I learned a lot in all of my classes, and I was starting to accumulate a lot of helpful information. Things like how frequently the Leader came to visit, or the kinds of events that were held here. My most burning question, though, was the relationship between my grandfather and the Leader.
As of now, I still didn't have enough clearance to actually access those files. Maybe if I did well in the war, which was happening a few weeks from now, I could rise in ranks. There were two separate ways to go up in rank. First, you could do well in your schoolwork and other classes, which I was already doing. Finally, you could play a major part in wars.
There had been a lot of political instability going on in places around the world, primarily because of the rifts between the different kingdoms. We were exploiting those to create further division between the different political factions. We utilized the underworlders to reopen wounds. They profited from weapons of war, and we profited from the chaos that ensued. Even though all of them were Pro-Royalists, few wanted the Kings and Queens back. It's just that royalty was better than the Leader since he left no voice in the people.
The Leader was kind of like an absent father in the government, usually leaving it up to small governors or the military to do his bidding. The instability had to do with a conflict of interest between land and resources.
Of those the Leader hadn't conquered due to the risks of them banding together being high or not wanting to waste manpower on them, the Leader just waited for them to tire each other out, and then doused the flames thoroughly. He didn't bother setting up governments or taking over them, but instead, took away all the big weapons and allowed them to continue ruling themselves. Especially this year, there were a lot of small battles due to various groups of rebels seeking revenge or just being greedy.
What made it worse was that most of the factions mentioned earlier didn't have their Kings or Queens to govern them. The Leader had captured most of them in earlier conquests. Even though he let them self-govern, he didn't give them their rulers back.
Another interesting thing was that the Leader kept building these strange rectangular pillars. They were about the size of an outpost as well. Every time a base was captured, he'd build that strange thing. Was it like a memento or something? On the weekends, I'd sometimes see him on TV, and when he put his hand on the pillar, a ray of light would erupt. We never got to see what the light did. Even when the camera panned up, it didn't even seem like there was any change.
For now, I didn't worry about it. I focused on doing well in my classes. I had been able to keep up with the Sergeant for a while now, so I started to teach some other students as well. One of them was named Bucket. I remember earlier, how he used to get scolded a lot by the Sergeant. But now, he was quiet. He hated the Sergeant with a burning passion, but he really was in good shape now. He was no longer fat, and he was a really good fighter, even though his preferred weapon of choice was a shovel.
He had the quality of a survivor. He was very good at adapting and changing rather quickly. He was a pig when I first saw him, but not even a week later, he had completely switched his personality. He only ate healthy food and tried not to sit in one place. He was also in my squad, and we got along reasonably well, so we liked to eat lunch together.
In my Circuits/Enchantments class, I was really good at writing precise enchantments quickly. That was probably the only class that everyone could do well in because the teacher was so helpful. If anyone needed help, he'd split himself into clones and then go to them. I'd say he would be my favorite teacher.
In my art class, everyone mastered the art of making incredibly realistic portraits, kind of like what detectives do. We learned sewing and stitching, and basically the things that came with it. Surprisingly enough, this class was basically forensics because we learned how to identify broken locks or stitches, what kind of weapons made them, and the traces that they left behind.
Meanwhile, in the supplemental portion of that class only taught to a select few, we learned how to make fake skin masks, do forgery, and the art of disguise. It was all incredibly exhilarating, knowing that you'd one day use it at some point. Every kid imagines being like their favorite superhero or spy, and I was living the dream!
Michael had also been released into the direct army. He hadn't gotten formal training and had been sent right away into the battlefield. It seemed that this fortress only kept the ones who could survive. Even if you were chosen to stay and learn, the classes were super difficult. You might be sheltered, but you'd still be freakishly strong and extremely intelligent.
Normies(Those who didn't go into the Fortress), on the other hand, if you managed to survive the battlefield without any formal training, then you were picked to stay and serve under the captains and commanders. You would even be granted cradle kid privileges if you did well. (They called us cradle kids)
Another good change was that I finally got to meet with the Builder, and as luck would have it, it was at the best possible moment and ended up being one of the reasons I was promoted to executive. The Builder was like a celebrity. Every time he came to visit one of the outposts, the entire place would be in uproar.
He was a very jolly man; always smiling, he wasn't the arrogant type, and that made him fun to be around. All of his jokes were funny in a witty sort of way. But as a result of this, some of the guards would neglect their posts to be around him. Unfortunately for them, that was when Lava Cake chose to strike. It was a cold winter day, and as a cadet, I usually didn't have too many responsibilities, even though I was one of the highest-ranking people in this place. The only thing I needed to do was homework and learn about how this place operates. Exactly what I was doing when it happened.
I was lying peacefully in my bunk when it happened. The floor rumbled, and I could hear what seemed to be explosions outside. Alarm bells were blaring. I got my uniform top, caplet, and had my pistol at the ready. I looked out the window, fires raging outside. I couldn't see very many people, which meant that someone was stealthily taking advantage of the situation. I looked outside. There was a ring of burn marks outside the outpost. That meant that it was a break-in rather than someone letting them in.
Most likely, it was Lava Cake. Boom! More explosions. They were blowing up parts of the base. I had to get everyone to safety. I quickly headed down several corridors and flights of stairs, making sure everyone was out. I finally headed out of the big building. The outpost was like a small complex. It was around as big as a small school, but we were in an outpost that was close to the main fortress, the kind that allowed cadets to visit from time to time.
Soldiers took cover behind small barriers that we had deployed much earlier. We fired at an enemy that was difficult to see, hidden by the snow of winter. As we fired, I could hear small groans followed by flashes of green light. I aimed for that green light, realizing that the light was caused by the healer, and I managed to take them out with great difficulty. Things weren't over just yet. But as time went on, we couldn't stay outside. It was snowing and cold, and it was difficult to treat everyone as the Builder was missing. Things were not looking good. I realized that this was a good opportunity to meet with the Builder. I left things as they were on the battlefield. I told the men to hold out while I got a healer. They nodded and didn't protest.
We all knew we wouldn't survive without him. Quickly, I scoured buildings. There was no way that he didn't hear the explosions. Since it was only evening, I doubt he would've gone to bed yet. This meant that he might've gotten injured in one of the explosions.
Soon, I arrived at the engine room. I looked around. There were flashing red lights, fallen soldiers, and an open bunker door. Pipes and tubes had collapsed all around and killing everyone except for the Builder and one soldier.
I discovered him unconscious, underneath a pipe. It had fallen on him, but it hadn't killed him since another pipe was there to protect him. I found some balancers stashed away in some random shelves and placed them underneath the pipe.
I was going to cut the pipe, and the balancers would prevent the pieces from putting their weight on the Builder and would place the weight on the balancer instead. I then took out my tiny saw bug and placed it on the pipe. Slowly, it crawled around in a circle, cutting the pipe as it moved. I then took out my water flask and poured it on his face. He still wasn't waking up. I slapped his face a couple of times, and I began to see movement in his eyelids; they fluttered awake. He looked around, and suddenly the pain hit him. He clenched his teeth and groaned. He looked up and saw me.
"Hey, Builder," I said in a calm voice, "Everything will be alright soon. I'm in the process of freeing you right now.
"That... is amazing. I can't wait."
I sat down, awkwardly, not knowing what to say. I wanted to use this opportunity to get close to him, but I just didn't feel the words in my system.
"What's it like outside?" he asked.
"Soldiers are fighting hard. They're getting injured. A few of them are dead as well. They need a healer. Not... that I'm blaming you... I'm just saying."
"I... see."
"..."
"Erm... You are a cadet, right?"
"Yeah."
"So... why are you out here?"
"Sergeant Matoke ordered some of us to go here. It was just my luck that the friggin Lava Cake faction decided to attack now."
"I guess it's kind of my fault."
"I mean... It's kind of the guard's fault for neglecting their posts. To be honest. You're kind of a celebrity. Making the Leader his iconic armor and such. Those who look up to him also kind of look up to you. You're like his barber."
"Well, I actually am his barber. But I had no idea people thought of me this way. I thought people really liked my jokes."
"That is one likeable thing about you. You do tell good jokes. People aren't trying to gain popularity by association, you know. That's only something that Damon would do."
"Damon? As in Erinyes Damon? The Damon that's pretty much the bane of almost every person on Bitesize? That Damon?"
"Whoa, that's surprisingly specific. I didn't know her first name was Erinyes."
"You poor guy. How's it been?"
"Oh, it's not been going great. While I have been scraping by with top grades, the best anyone has ever gotten in her class is an 82."
"What?! You've gotten an 82? In her class?"
"Why, is that bad?"
"Hell no! You've been doing much better than other generations. Their highest was 78, and in the second generation, when she'd started to get arrogant, the highest was a 57."
"That's rough. Luckily, she doesn't grade the entire assessment anymore; her TAs do like half."
"That's good."
"Man, I wish she had to fight in the war. I could just do a little bit of this," I did a pushing motion with my hands, gesturing at me, making her trip and fall."
"Ha, ha, and maybe I could sorta accidentally make her fall into a tub of cement," he said as he gestured it with his hands.
We started to bond about several different ways to hurt Damon while he was freed. Boom! More explosions. We were running out of time. We had to get out quickly. I used one arm to pull him free, and he popped out. He was mostly uninjured but slightly sore, especially his thighs. I rushed up the stairs and tried to leave through the front door, but something was blocking it. Must be outside debris. The only way out was up. I found another set of stairs leading up to the first balcony, only to find that there was barely any balcony left. The reason why the main door was blocked was that the balcony had collapsed on top of it. Another explosion took off the rest of the balcony. I jumped back and silently closed the door. They could see me, and they were trying to kill me.
I didn't have a big chance left. I looked around. There were large windows that were almost as tall as I was. Luckily, they still couldn't see us, and it didn't seem like they wanted to waste cannon shells either. I pointed at the window and signaled that we would break through. I signaled. 3...2...1... go! I grabbed his hand and used my other elbow to smash the glass, breaking through it. It normally is very tough glass, but my armor is tougher, so it was barely able to break through. Another shot was fired. Boom! Right where we had been. As we were falling, I held the Builder in princess pose, carrying him with both my arms. The Builder crushed a cookie over my boots, activating slow fall, and we were able to get to the ground gently.
We ran over to the men. Things weren't looking good. Almost half of our troops were gone. He didn't dilly-dally and got to work quickly. He didn't have anything special like healing magic, but he specialized in engineering and medicine. He got his surgical tools and carefully picked out bullets from soldiers. They didn't writhe in pain due to the anesthesia, and once a little bit of low-grade healing potion was poured over the stitches, they vanished, leaving the soldiers only a little sore. Soon, they were back in action, surprising the enemy with numbers. They had lost a lot, too, but they had no way to recover their numbers after their healer was gone.
After a while of fighting, we managed to push them back. I had signalled for a hovercopter to pick us up a while back, and they started to arrive as we set our guns down, shaking in relief. We climbed the rope, weary that it still wasn't over, but we finally settled as we took off.
"Dude," said the Builder, "That was pretty awesome. We should hang out sometime. You could come to my office and we could chill, build stuff, and drink cocoa."
"I'd love to, but the Demon makes sure that we don't have any free time."
"You know what, I'll handle the demon for you. I'll teach you from now on."
"For real?!" I said, incredulously.
"Hey, you saved my life, so I'm saving yours. We're survivors. We have to stick together."
We fist bumped each other, and we lay back in the hovercopter, exhausted. However, this trip wasn't for naught, as I had finally completed an essential part of my plan.