Chapter Fifty-Seven: Departure
Finally arriving back at the barracks, I am met with an unexpected scene of moving bodies throughout the building.
Despite my expectations of Vince standing at the door like a pissed off parent, I instead find everyone scuttling about with various green duffel bags on each of their beds. Gingerly closing the double doors of the building behind me, I almost find myself getting away with being gone for so long without a single update give through the Forum.
That is until Wade opens his fat mouth.
“Well, lookie who decided to grace us with his presence!” He announces loudly in a faux annoyed tone. “The nerve of this guy am I right, everyone? Just waltzing back in here without a care in the world! No call, no text, no nothing!”
The people scattered about the barracks slow down a bit as I get a few side glances and amused looks. The shit eating grin grows ever wider on Wade’s face as I see Mr. Leadership himself emerge from behind a bunk locker with bundle of clothes in his hand.
Vince’s scowl is almost strong enough to be qualified as an attack skill, yet he doesn’t raise his voice at all after setting aside the items he was moving. I’m a bit worried by his reaction, and I passively mana directly into my chest to reinforce my cracked bones that are still in the midst of recovering.
“Did you look at the Forum?” He asks while flicking a glance at the glowing ring behind my back.
“No…” I answer timidly.
“Did you get your class?”
“…Yes.”
“Good. Hope it’s related to time so you figure out how to read the built-in clock that’s on your Status.” Turning away from me, the man goes back to filling the green duffel bag on his bed with the contents of his locker.
“We are shipping out to the Veil at dawn. Pack your shit and be ready to leave by then. Better take a nap with the time you have left. The rest of us who were here on time already got some sleep in preparation for the move.”
Vince says nothing else and doesn’t even bother mentioning the Flare Loop that now has enough stored energy to level the building we are inside. His lack of addressment somehow makes me feel even worse, and I glance around at the others who watched over the small interaction before going back to their packing. I stand there nervously for a few more beats before heading to my bunk near Wade where an empty bag awaits me.
Flicking a middle finger at the blond-haired bastard near me, I ignore his continued antics and begin packing my belongings. I wasn’t expecting for us to move so early tomorrow, as I thought we would be spending the majority of the next day waiting on another cart from the Veil to arrive. I guess I assumed the escort's timeline would reflect the long and boring journey we had ahead of us.
Musing over what to expect of the upcoming change in scenery, I check my status really quick to see how long I have until our departure tomorrow.
Pillar Difficulty: Death is Certain
Floor 2: The Silent Castle
Time Used: 23:01:33:11
Time Left: 2166:58:26:49
Oof.
I had been a little scared to check just how long I had been gone on my little side quest. It would seem that tomorrow is already today, so I would be lucky to manage even a couple hours of sleep after packing and taking a quick shower before we need to leave.
Whelp, it’s not like I can do much about it now. Blinking my eyelids heavily, I mentally prepare myself for an all-nighter while I continue to shove the mess of random clothes from my locker into the bag.
“So, what’s with the floating onion ring?”
It doesn’t take a genius to know that the voice belongs to the annoyance I used to know in middle school.
“It’s my contingency plan for if Vince tries to kill me in my sleep.” I reply dryly.
“Not a bad idea honestly. I thought the guy was going to wring your neck earlier when you didn’t answer any of messages on the Forum.”
Just having finished filling my bag with the little clothes I own, I sit down on my bunk while trying to ignore the laughter the older boy muffles behind a hand.
“That bad, huh?”
“You seriously gotta check the group thread, man.”
Closing my eyes for a moment, I can feel my forehead wrinkle up as I mentally prepare myself to pull up the Forum. Letting out a breathe I had been holding, I call the screen with my mind while running a hand through my short, scruffy hair.
[Forum]
< Server: Death is Certain >
< Thread: Squad Five >
< Members: 11 >
< Niner > - Still, report.
< Niner > - Still, report.
< Niner > - Still, report.
< Niner > - Still, report.
< Niner > - Still, report.
< Niner > - Still, where are you.
< Niner > - Report.
< Niner > - Report.
< Niner > - Report.
…
“Jesus Christ, man.”
“Yeah. You really gotta stop testing his patience. Start using the Forum, dude.”
“Yeah, you might be right.”
Lying back on the bunk while letting the Flare Loop hover nearby, I put my hands behind my head and stare up at the ceiling while coming to terms with the fact I’m going to have to start reporting in every hour like everyone else.
“It’s not too bad. Just send a quick location every now and then when you are by yourself somewhere.”
“It’s just too annoying man. This guy is allowed to not tell me shit and forces me to spar with him all the time, but I can’t go a few hours without telling him where I’m at. Sounds like I’m living in a surveillance state.” I huff.
“Give Vince some slack man. He is trying his best to be responsible for our sake. Think about all the legwork he had to do to get us access to the training yard, scout out the city, and scheduling stuff. He’s a stickler about stuff for a reason. I don’t think we would’ve made it out of Floor One without him.”
As much as I hate to admit it, Wade is right. The guy might have a stick up his ass, but he is doing his best to make sure everyone is prepared for the wave. He could stand to be a bit less of a helicopter parent though.
“So, did you actually get your class?” Wade smoothly changes the topic.
“Indeed.”
“Is it any good? If you show me yours, I’ll show you mine!”
“You got issues, man. What do you mean by show anyway?”
“Ah, I forgot to tell you- Sandra picked up that little trick you showed her. Now we all know how to broadcast our screens to each other. It’s been pretty handy so far, and we are thinking about using it to communicate under the NPCs' notice.”
“They can’t see it?”
“I guess not. Sandra tried it out with the nurse and she said the lady didn’t see it.”
Huh. I hadn’t really thought about using the screen like that, but it’s not a bad idea by any means.
“How’d you figure out how to show her your screen by the way? I’m curious.” Wade asks.
“I was pretty annoyed when it happened, so I kinda just forced it to appear in front of her.”
The other boy nods along in understanding while he looks around at my bunk for a bit. Honestly, I’m not really sure how I figured it out either, but a memory from the cave on Floor One tugs on my brain.
“Where’s Pawl?” I wonder.
“Huh? Oh, he is hanging out with Benny while Kathryn helps him pack his bag. Sandra just went out and bought them not that long ago, so we haven’t had much more time than you to pack up.”
Leaning over to the side of the bed, I sit up for a second to spy Benny sitting in crisscross-applesauce fashion on his bed with the cat in his lap. Kathryn doesn’t notice me looking as she shows him various pieces of clothing which he either nods or shakes his head to convey whether or not he wants to pack the item.
“Yeah, he has been hogging Pawl for a while now. I think the cat is kind of like his emotional support animal. I can’t blame him though- the kid must be having all kinds of scary thoughts about the wave. I honestly can’t believe Garf would make an elementary schooler go fight at the Veil, but I expect it’s probably a matter of The Pillar screwing around with stuff.” Wade grouses while a pitiful look turns his normally jovial face into a mask of frustration.
Now it’s my turn to change the topic into a lighter one, so I wave my hand over at his bunk to catch his attention. The vague memory of my time spent with Pawl in the cave can wait for now, as it isn’t that big of a deal anyway.
“Whelp, if the little man is getting his packing done, you should too. Go finish up and maybe we can talk classes later.”
“Speak for yourself man, I’m basically done. What about you? It looks like you just have some clothes in there, did you only pack a bunch of shirts? You seem to burn through those things pretty quickly. Maybe it’s time to just ditch wearing them altogether and stick to the poop pants you always like to wear.” He complains while covering his nose.
“First off: don’t hate the pants. Secondly, I’m all done packing. I didn’t really have enough money to buy stuff like the rest of you. I’m sticking to the free clothes compliments of Locker Co.” I say while pointing toward the metal cabinet filled with random beige articles.
“What about that knife you have under your mattress? You might need it for the wave.”
Confusion fills my mind for a second before I realize that Wade is talking about the Iron Alloy Dagger I got as a reward from the first floor’s quest. Thinking it over for a moment, I shrug to myself before reaching over to pull the knife out from its spot behind my pillow, pinned against the wall. I guess it couldn’t hurt to bring with me, even if I seriously doubt its ability to help me in the upcoming fight.
Surprised that Wade even remembered me stashing the small weapon, I bundle it around some spare shirts before tucking it off to the wall of my bag so as to not poke holes in the rest of my stuff. The dagger is pretty dull, but I would rather be safe than sorry in cases like these.
“Well, if you are actually done- let’s talk classes!” Wade prods again with a giddy expression.
“If you just want to flex your class, then feel free. I’m not going to stop you.” I say, finally exasperated with his incessant badgering.
“Awe, come on man! At least act like you care!” He whines.
Running a tired hand over my face, I give him the most attentive expression I can muster at the moment.
“Oh, please tell me your class!”
“Huhuhu! Of course I will tell you, my friend! Just don’t start hating me when you hear it though!”
The blond boy’s eyes sparkle as he does some ridiculous gestures with his right hand while holding out his left toward me. Watching in only slight interest, I wait for his antics to expire while examining the left hand he so obviously wants me to focus on.
“Steel yourself Sebastian. For in my left hand lives a beast unlike any other… A monster so evil and intense that I can barely contain its mighty spirit with my will alone. Now observe as I unseal the hundreds of invisible chains that hold back its power!”
His right-hand waves over the other arm while his fingers act as if they are ripping apart some heavy restraints binding the extremity.
“Here it comes!”
A wave of scales flips over Wade’s left hand, all the way up to his elbow. Within the next instant, I watch as his arm begins to morph and bulge. The man’s previously tanned skin turns a dark shade of grey as long hairs begin to grow and multiply in number. The nails on his fingers tremble for a moment before long, black talons rip through the beds and extend out while almost doubling his finger length. The muscles also ripple and change as fibers of tissue seem to form from nothing underneath his skin while adapting to the beast-like limb extending from his elbow.
When the transformation is complete, Wade raises the disfigured arm up for me to see its new appearance that resembles some sort of bear. Thick grey fur and black claws have turned his slender, human appendage into some sort of monster’s.
“Ta-da!” He exclaims with a triumphant grin plastered on his face.
“Is that it?”