Monroe

Chapter Four Hundred and Thirty-Six. Setting the stage.

Bob looked around the now empty room, giving his ritual diagram a final inspection.

The two Lovar who had been left to watch over them, Mishkal and Thorumm, had helped them remove the remains of the shelving. Well, they'd mostly directed them to a smaller cargo bay where the team could drop them off, but that had been sufficient.

He knew he wasn't the best at reading non-verbal cues, but he was starting to get the impression that the Lovar didn't trust him.

Rolling his shoulders, he nodded to his friends.

"I'm going to cast the rituals," he began, "I doubt there will be any difficulties, but it's better to prepare for the worst." He paused for a moment. "There is a lot of mana around. It isn't that dense, but in terms of sheer volume, it's like nothing I've ever dealt with. I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I suspect that monsters are going to start spawning almost immediately, and I wouldn't be surprised if they respawn quickly. We'll need to be ready to clear them and to time the respawns."

"Right-o," Jessica replied cheerfully. "We'll mop up the mobs, no worries."

"And by we, she means the rest of us," Amanda complained good-naturedly, bumping her shoulder into Jessica's.

"Yep," Jessica agreed with a smile. "I'll patch you lot up if the big mean monsters beat you up, but it's your job to get rid of them."

"Well, we all know our roles," Bob said as he settled down on the floor, pulling out a large bag filled with Mana Crystals.

He immediately began to pull mana from the crystals, channeling the energy through his matrix and then into the rituals he'd constructed.

What he was doing wasn't really any different from casting the five-fold rituals he'd used back when he was first building a Dungeon in Glacier Valley. It had been a while, but he'd done it often enough that he hadn't forgotten anything.

As the energy continued to flow through him, he shut out the world around him as he concentrated on weaving the magic.

"So, how do you think we're meant to escape this place?" Jessica asked idly as she watched the cable-thick strands of mana follow the intricate pattern Bob had laid out.

"The mana is moving," Mike grunted in reply. "Stands to reason that where it's moving to is probably an exit, other wise it would just sort of slosh around. That's all assuming there aren't planets in this place, which is a pretty big assumption."

"Why Bob?" Amanda asked, her voice thoughtful. "I mean, yes, he's the sort to help strangers, but when you read that message, it implies that this is a place for tier ten and higher beings."

"That's exactly why, I reckon," Jessica replied. "You remember the Eire, yeah? That tier fourteen Sheila flat out said that she couldn't help or hinder people below tier ten, something about the System not letting them punch down." She grinned broadly as she gestured to Bob as he continued to weave the thick, glowing tapestry of mana. "So when you wind up with a job lot of tier four and five people stuck in a tier ten and up zone, you have to bring in someone under tier ten to fix the problem."

Amanda nodded. "That makes sense," she agreed.

Jessica started as a System notification appeared in the corner of her vision. She pulled it up.

Quest updated!

The Hurstall'Kalwin is in danger of being pulled into a section of the flow with a much higher mana density. This will result in a significant increase in the tier and level of the monsters that appear. Time remaining until this occurs 43:16:49. Either remove the users to a habitable planet, or correct the course of the Hustall'Kalwin.

Course corrected.

"Looks like the captain hasn't been twiddling his thumbs," she noted.

"One problem solved," Mike grunted. "Probably the biggest one, too. If monsters spawn in the areas these people are using, they can take care of them, although not with impunity. If the monsters suddenly jumped to tier eight, they'd be massacred, and we can't be everywhere at once."

"Well, obviously we need more raptors, yeah?" Jessica said happily.

"No," Dave interjected, shaking his head. "I get that Bob needed permanent summons to patrol the ship, but we definitely don't want more of those things."

"Yeah, I'm still not sure exactly how Bob controls them when they're permanently summoned, but I imagine that, like everything else within the System, it's a quantified number," Amanda agreed.

"I wonder how many of these new Dunny's we'll need," Jessica mused. "He showed me how he mapped the mana flows when he was laying out the Dungeons in Glacier Valley, and it was lunacy," she shook her head. "If you were ever bored enough to measure, they aren't laid out in a perfect grid, and he had to update his placement with each Dungeon to account for the changes to mana flows that he wasn't able to anticipate as each Dungeon started pulling in mana."

"He never shared that with us," Dave replied.

"You've got him sharing secrets now, eh Jessi," Amanda gave her a wicked smile as she delivered a shoulder nudge.

"Maybe a few," Jessica returned the smile.

"Are you going to share?" Amanda asked.

"Nope," Jessica shook her head. "We haven't worked out any terms or treaties like you two, so I'm erring on the side of privacy, at least until I know what loopholes I need to look for."

Dave shook his head, affecting an expression of sad disapproval as he slipped an arm around Amanda's waist. "Now now," he intoned gravely, "you two know the terms of the Collusion Treaty of 2018. As written, I think you'll find that applies to Bob as well."

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Jessica gasped. "Say it isn't so!" She turned to Amanda, her eyes wide.

Amanda's brow furrowed as she closed her eyes for a moment. "I think it might," she said hesitantly. "I'd need to go over it again, but depending on the wording..."

Dave, Jessica noted, managed not to look all smug as he delivered a kiss to Amanda's cheek.

"It's the clause about reciprocity if we should ever somehow find someone that came anywhere close to your unbridled awesomeness," Dave offered. "It was for you, but not exclusive to you."

Mike chuckled, drawing the trio's attention. "You kids are too much," he snorted.

Jessica was once again struck by the fact that Mike was not, in point of fact, her peer. It was easy to forget, as he was the same level and, having reincarnated at the same time, looked roughly the same age.

But he was old enough to be her father, and every now and then, the fact that he was actually a fifty-plus-year-old police detective shone through, his mannerisms belying his apparent youth.

He sighed, and for a moment, Jessica could imagine the world-weary detective, cheap suit and five o'clock shadow.

"But who am I to judge?" He asked rhetorically. "Maybe if I'd have had those agreements and treaties with my wife, things wouldn't have gone sideways."

"Maybe you should make a few with Annisa?" Amanda suggested.

"I'm supposed to be with her now," Mike admitted. "We were going to take a vacation, ride along that new railway Kellan had built to connect all those new towns."

"Oh, were you going to go see Felixville?" Amanda asked excitedly.

"What?" Mike asked.

"Kittytown," Dave explained.

Mike still looked confused.

"Felixville is one of the towns that people from Earth built around the Dungeons on those equatorial continents," Jessica explained. "The people who got together to build it are all cat lovers, so one of the rules of the town is you can't live there if you don't have the familiar skill and a feline overlord to keep you in line."

"I heard it's amazing," Amanda giggled. "They've got a statue of Bob in the town square, feeding a kitten while Monroe watches."

"She didn't say anything about which towns she wanted to visit in particular," Mike said. "It's less of a destination trip and more of a chance to enjoy spending some time together and making memories."

"I knew there was a closeted romantic lurking in there somewhere," Amanda beamed.

Kharvic read over his message one last time.

I am happy to report that we have finally found the aid we desperately need.

A group of aliens, known as either Humans or Wayfarers, have been dispatched to aid us by way of a quest generated by the System.

While they are still working on a plan to help us leave this place, in the meantime they have already dealt with an incursion in a manner I can only describe as 'definitive.'

The leader of the group, Robert Whitman, has summoned creatures of his own to help us handle the incursions. I have attached an image below of these creatures, as they could easily be mistaken for hostile creatures. Rest assured, if you see them, they are here to battle the incursions on our behalf and will not harm you if you don't attack them.

Robert Whitman was tasked by the System to save us and was to be sent here alone. However, when he told his friends in the few scant minutes he had before he was brought to this place, his friends demanded to accompany him. The fact that he came, not knowing the circumstances and that his friends joined him speaks volumes for their characters.

These people are from a society that hasn't yet mastered intrastellar travel, let alone interstellar, and are lacking quite a few of the technological advancements we enjoy. While I know it is tempting to view them as a bit backward, it is imperative that we do not make the same mistake with them as was done to the Dharlings. They are not lesser. These people are tier nine and are so powerful as to defy our imaginations. We must not offend them.

In addition to his friends, Robert Whitman has brought his pet cat with him. This cat, named Monroe, is twelve feet long, not including his tail, and stands six feet at the shoulders. Monroe is tier eight and, while not sapient, is quite clever. He apparently enjoys eating, sleeping, and being petted. He is also a terribly powerful combatant. I witnessed him bisect a trio of creatures with a single, almost lazy, swipe of his paw.

The group is currently working to construct a 'Dungeon' in one of the unused cargo bays. This will not function the way the Dungeons described in the System menu do but rather will ensure that the mana entering theHurstall'kalwin will coalesce into incursions, or 'monsters' as they call them, in a specific place. Their plan, should this prove successful, is to place these Dungeons around the ship, preventing incursions from appearing at random to threaten us, and instead concentrating those appearances to areas where we can have people ready and waiting to deal with them.

According to Robert Whitman, he is able to construct the Dungeon in a manner that will force the incursions to produce creatures of a certain tier and level. He has further indicated that he will configure this first Dungeon to produce tier five, level two 'monsters' which will provide us a reliable source of mana crystals to increase the level of those who haven't yet leveled, and those who have only leveled once.

Assuming this project is successful, additional Dungeons will be constructed with the aim of producing ascending levels of creatures, providing us all with a gateway toward advancement.

Together, we will go beyond survival, and we will thrive in this place. I implore all of you to consider what the shape of your trunk will look like and work together to develop a plan. We will increase our levels. We will improve. And when we leave this place, we will find a new world upon which to sink our roots.

I remain your Captain.

Kharvic Eldwater

He nodded to himself, and sent the message out. He should have done it sooner, but Bob's arrival had been hectic.

Stretching carefully, he stood up from his seat. He hadn't even realized how battered he'd been before Jessica had filled the cargo bay with her healing spell. Lily had healed his wound, but she had directed the spell. Healers always directed the spell, otherwise much of the healing seemed to be wasted. They'd long suspected the truth, that much of magic's effects were being absorbed by other minor injuries or conditions, but this was the proof they'd needed.

He hadn't felt this good in years.

Part of that, he knew, was that they finally had hope.

Laying down on his bunk, Kharvic allowed a smile to tug at his lips, as for the first time since that awful day when the world went mad, he was able to let someone else shoulder some of his burden.

Bob finished his ritual, the patterns coming together in a brilliant flash of multicolored light.

Opening his eyes, he rolled his neck as Jessica swayed over, offering him one hand to help him to his feet, while the other held a bottle of water.

"Thanks," he said gratefully as he rose to his feet and accepted to bottle.

He deliberately kept hold of her hand after he stood.

Bob knew that, in a lot of ways, he was an idiot when it came to social interactions, which was why he often relied on shoving Monroe at people. He also knew that when it came to women, he wasn't just an idiot, but he was damaged.

Fortunately, Jessica was bluntly straightforward and had sat down with him and explained that she was attracted to him and was interested in seeing where that might lead. He'd initially thought it was because she was an Australian, but it turned out that she was exceptional, even for an Aussie, a group of people he'd found, with a few exceptions, to be exceptionally agreeable and welcoming.

He wasn't sure when, or even if, he would be able to fully reciprocate her affections. He still had trouble with the occasional brief kiss, and he was in no way ready to progress into more intimate situations.

What he was sure of was that he didn't want to lose whatever it was that he had with Jessica. So, he'd been making a concentrated effort to initiate casual physical contact, an effort that was noticed and appreciated by Jessica, as evidenced by the brilliant smile she gave him.

His moment of introspection was interrupted by a cacophony of sound as monsters appeared all around the cargo bay, unleashing their battle cries.

"MMmmmmooooooooooooo!"

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