Chapter 12: Chapter 11 – Facts to Face, Decisions to Make

Molly St Clair

 

Faded once again into the background, She prepared to take the minutes of the meeting. This was largely for her personal use. There was a feeling of completion at having the notebook in hand. Having something to write in again brought forth a feeling of clarity to her. The arcane pen had lived up to the recommendation as well. From the little testing she had time to do, the cool-eyed woman was excited. A boon to be able to smoothly color code her notes on the go. Mechanical, multicolor pens had never been this easy!

The meeting began on the subject of their first confrontation. Molly wasn’t the only one to shudder when Malachi brought up the rat things. That dreadful feeling of uselessness during the struggle had become the foundation of night terrors and a fervent study of the mana textbook. The words from the book had echoed in her mind strongly enough that they had made their own appearance in her dreams. The recited phrases had often unbound her from the grim script of the nightmares.

She diligently recorded the discussion and found her attention more on the individuals. Maintaining a constant flow of notes while splitting her focus. Years spent in the corporate world as an organizational consultant had trained her well for meeting multitasking. An assistant could have freed her from the notes, but Molly felt better having her version of the minutes on paper. Also, looking busy always had a good effect on the perception of others.

It was clear to her that Malachi began the meeting with the fight discussion as a warm-up. It was a subject everyone had something to add. There wasn’t much they could improve upon in how the battle had gone, but it would get everyone comfortable with taking part in the conversation. This tactic would set up the later discussion for better participation. Additionally, Molly guessed that the lack of solid plans for the future would fire up attempts in the coming subjects. Not to say the battle went perfectly… thought the cool-eyed woman. It’s just there’s no way to make any solid plans until we understand how to use Mana.

For this part of the meeting, their impromptu leader sat back in a metaphorical sense. Acting as a moderator and fact confirmer. Watchfully, Malachi allowed the conversation to flow naturally. He would step in to make sure everyone had their chance to voice a concern before things moved. The lack of steering made her consider that the bearded man was also using the review of the battle as a means for them all to vent themselves free of it. Her pen skipped a beat as Molly made a quick note in the margins. The sword acolyte was wilier than expected. This will affect my predictions of the social currents, the cool-eyed woman noted for further considerations.

The meat of the discourse came from the others. The first to offer his opinion to be discussed on the altar of public opinion was Phelian. The man was convinced that practical training would be enough for a more decisive victory over the rat things. Molly judged this as overconfidence. The argument was founded on the idea that the rat things had shock and surprise on their side. Phelian passionately boasted that Vincent’s instruction would see the sixty prevailing in the next encounter. In general, the table cautioned the zealot and Vincent reminded him never to underestimate a foe. The aspiring warrior took the reactions with a smile.

While he continues to be overly optimistic, there is a balance to his character that wasn’t there before, evaluated Molly. Still potentially reckless, but perhaps able to be smarter about it?

Warner was playing a strong role in the talks. His sense of tactics gave him several avenues to participate in the group discussion. The big man pinpointed the size of the monsters as the source of their difficulties. Without prompting, he explained through tactics how they could better compensate for the proportion differences. The tone of the brawler was friendly, and unexpectedly mild when dissecting the course the battle took. The watchful Malachi encouraged his rival with leading questions that the brawler couldn’t help responding to. While talking, Warner smirked in reflection to a warm smile from his rival.

Malachi has held the high ground, but evidently doesn’t mind having rival claimants around, added Molly to her notes. This is a move to make use of Warner’s resources, but I will have to see if that could end up undermining him.

Surprisingly, Julia was active in the conversation Though she didn’t seem to be paying direct attention. The eyes of the curly-haired woman strayed rarely from the sketch from before. Even as the piece of art became increasingly polished, her additions to the talk never lost coherency. Molly also noted that the woman’s hand never lost precision when giving those rare moments of eye contact. The cool-eyed woman felt growing respect at the sight of this talented multitasking. Contents wise, the shield warrior expressed concern that the swarm tactics of the rat things made injuries impossible to avoid.

Will need to reevaluate Julia, decided Molly. Easily panicked, but perhaps a fellow organizer to network with. Potential communications line in case/when we split into small groups. Safe to say parties?

Fully within expectations, Clarissa is a much lighter touch in the conversation. Plenty of jokes for their own amusement, but respectfully, it can be said that many also are tension-cutting. There are a few times when the devil fox’s wit curtailed rising tempers. At Julia’s encouragement, the archer added their perspective to the battle. With an almost bored tone, they very professionally explained their personal tactics and then went over what happened in the aftermath. The attentive silence could have come from the redhead’s strange seriousness or the revelation of how much the group owed her. Clarrisa waved away praise and thanks alike. Also adding that like Vincent with swords, they had taken to archery at a young age. Never professionally, but nonetheless, a passionate lifelong hobby.

A chaotic factor that can only be predicted through affection, though likely not in the manner of the action, theorized Molly.

Feeling obligated to add something, Molly offered her observations that the acolyte class was largely useless until they could figure out Mana. She had begun to describe her tribulations with the learning from the book and Malachi kindly cut her off. Entreating her that this touched on a subject he had in mind, but would like to focus on the rat things for the moment. Smiling inside at being able to stay in the background, the cool-eyed woman nodded understanding. Her cheek did twitch a bit at the knowing look the sword acolyte gave her. It seemed the man had seen through the ploy.

I can’t rely on being the cleverest person in the room here, underlined Molly. Malachi, and I believe Clarissa, noticed my attempt to be seen participating while keeping a low profile.

When the conversations began to circle, Malachi called out that all that was left to do was to train and perhaps some active tests. At the moment, the best plan they had if Mana stayed unreliable was using the bluntness of an overwhelming force strategy. All seven of them agreed that it was a last-ditch effort sort of plan. Only if the rations ran out.

The idea is that it should be possible with enough people rotating between the frontline and recovery. Julia suggested that it could be pulled off if each person killed at least four rat things before ducking back for a potion, that a profit of cores could be made. At least enough for rations, but even that was assuming that the time to recover could be kept short by taking the potion at the beginning of the sickening. Molly was sure no one wanted to initiate that plan if it could be helped. Too many unknown variables. 

The discussion on the battle ended with Malachi asking Reuben to give an overview from his scouting mission. All eyes were turned to the exhausted man with open curiosity. You could tell who had been aware of the man’s deed beforehand. Horror played across the faces of the surprised, and  the informed, simply looked relieved more than concerned. 

“Alright,” began Reuben, while rubbing his face to wake up. “First thing, I have decided to call them Ratsins. I wanted a proper name, not just calling them rat things. Something to make their threat more palpable. Thought of it while doing the scouting… anyways  I watched those things for a couple of hours… and frankly, I’m still processing what I saw out there. I’ll give you what I am sure about. Ok, so Clarissa mentioned to me before I went that the rat things replenish. I can confirm that, but it ain’t just from death.”

“You saw those… gloop things… and the hangry birth?” asked Clarissa with a queasy complexion. “What else does it fall down for?”

“When they leave the tunnel,” answered Reuben. “There is like a... general... migration. Where they head further up the tunnel... once they grow to the right size. Interesting thing is, regardless if they eat that glowing shit, the rat bastards still grow. Once their at say... Pony size… they head off somewhere up the tunnel. You know how dark it is, but I’m pretty sure the tunnel tilts upwards after a bit.”

“Hmm, any idea why they do that?” asked Molly. “We saw them gobbling up the moss and it didn’t seem to cause much of a reduction. The strangest part is abandoning a food source the rat things fight so viciously over.” 

“I can’t tell ya that,” stated Reuben. He gestured his arms with uncertainty. “With every single one I saw, the rat thing would stop, and then runoff. All in the same direction. Can’t even really say size was the trigger, but that’s the one thing in common between them, y’know?”

“Once we’re strong enough to push further in, we’ll figure it out,” promised Warner with a grin and smacking a fist into the other hand.

“A mystery to keep in mind,” said Malachi. “Was there anything else of note, Reuben?”

“I noticed some variation in their growth, but once again, I can’t say what that means. Once I get some more shut-eye after the meeting, I’ll write a report for everyone. With the little details and such”

“Thanks,” smiled Malachi before turning to the whole table. “The next thing I think we need to talk about is, where are we in learning how to use Mana? I haven’t been able to get too far. I'm about halfway, and I can’t say that I understood much from the book.” 

Molly considered the opening was intelligent, even if it would show a weakness Warner could exploit. However, she did not believe Warner had even begun to look at the textbook. That would make it very hard for the big man to make any moves when he himself hadn’t finished the reading about Mana. I believe that Malachi was just being honest about his negligible progress to encourage a honest discussion, mused the cool-eyed woman. She had completed the book and had begun to utilize the suggested methods to train Mana awareness.

Sensing Mana was a strange and fascinating experience.

Molly put it to herself, It was like seeing that thing that hides in the corner of your vision and realizing that it had always been all around you your whole life. Entering the state of mind to notice the flow of Mana was coming to her easily now. As if knowing the right direction to walk after going somewhere enough times, thought Molly absently as the world became more vibrant. The easy description would be the new colors that entered her view, or just that every color became more alive. The cool-eyed woman saw it as a screen of new light shining on, from, and through the whole of everything.

The air shimmered with color that shifted in appearances, dust looking one moment or visible wind another. To various intensities, objects radiated ghostly impressions of times past. Molly had tried to listen to the objects in her room, but for now, the whispers were too distorted, too purely emotional for anything concrete. 

The Mana of people was a new sight for her. Mana sensing appeared to be less a mechanic of the body and rather it was an extension of the self through your personal pool. Practicing in her room Molly had never had the chance to see what human Mana looked like as self-reflection seemed an entirely different monster. The people at the table had a pool of Mana sharing the same space as them. The interactions between the two, body and Mana, varied from person to person.

 The most active was Julia’s. Her pool, conversely, was also the hardest to see. The Mana of the shieldmaiden was churning like cloudy water in a whirlpool. The power filled the shape of her as it spun, flickered, and spurted with brief periods of transparency. If I had to guess… which I hate to do… could this have an effect… no… an indication of melding with the Mana? contemplated Molly. Maybe since she is on the verge of going past my ability to understand it appears to vanish? Something to consider once I get further in my studies.

Phelian, Warner, Clarissa, and Rueben all had similar interactions with their Mana. There was the beginning of the movement and the slight definition of a Mana border along with the shape of them. Vincent and Malachi each presented a unique sight for consideration though. The Mana in Vincent twitched and shuddered between two starkly different states. It would jump between the utter stillness of a cave pool and an electrified vibrating field in the shape of the swordsman. A sense of something came to Molly, that he had somehow skipped a couple of steps in communing with his Mana and Vincent would need to figure out the missing steps before reaching unity. He needs to read the book probably, decided Molly.

The sword acolyte was an entirely different case, as he was the only other person at the table learning external Mana manipulation. His Mana was stirred in a steady current that fed very slowly into growing roots that pushed beyond the boundary of his body. It made Molly wish she was able to see how her own Mana looked like, but every attempt showed it to be impossible. At my current level at least, thought Molly with a frown.

The talk of where people were with their own Mana was reflective of what the cool-eyed woman had seen with her senses. As a result, a spectrum of shameful faces mirrored each other as Molly held back a smug smirk and Julia gave them an exasperated look.

“Come on, you all!” growled Julia. “Reading the books is literally the most important thing we can do! Why else give it to us with five days of rations before we have to face the damn rat monsters? I expected better effort from everyone. I thought I was behind! I’m just starting the book over a second time… and Clarissa, don’t you want Damian’s help? We have to read it twice before he will!”

“Well ju ju… I just sorta figured, I would work it out,” replied Clarissa with a shaky smile and a shrug. “I mean, I did pretty awesome in the first battle, so my plan was to coast until I had a chance to learn the Mana stuff.”

The shieldmaiden glared and then looked for something to throw. After a moment of hesitation, she threw the pen at the redhead. It struck the forehead and bounced back into Julia’s hand. Almost as if the trajectory was intended “That’s a terrible plan, idiot,” sighed Julia. With an evil grin added, “Well I guess I will just have to make sure you read the book twice.”

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After Clarissa’s whimper, Malachi asked, “You talked to Damian about Mana? I was surprised you got a chance to talk to him when I saw his information in the census. I was starting to worry about how long he was planning to hold up in that room. Haven’t seen him since the first day.”

“Yeah, we saw a violet glow under his door,” explained Julia. Giving the redhead a side glance, before continuing, “With the amount of knocking we gave Damian’s door, we didn’t really give him an option not to open the door. Anyways, we talked briefly with him about the violet light. It was from him practicing spells. In exchange for letting Damian read an internal Mana manipulation book, he offered to teach us how to use Mana if we read our copy twice.”

“That was nice of him,” said Vincent. “Already figured out the mystery of Mana and willing to spread the secret for the price of a book. Good guy.”

“Knowledge is power,” added Molly. “He agreed to help, but now he has an understanding of both methods presented to us. None of us know what kind of power even just one book offers us yet.”

“You both sound pretty suspicious,” warned Phelian. “Couldn’t this Damian just be willing to help, because he wants to? Maybe, he is just curious about what the other book says.”

Clarissa cut in to say, “Honestly, the guy seemed happy to do it because we offered to be his friend. Damian was super curious about the book we martials got, but more in the way a mega nerd would…. Y’ know like when they learn about a new book from their favorite author.”

“So, whatever the guy’s motivations are, he’s already slinging spells, yeah?” said Warner as he joined the conversion. “Sounds pretty clear to me. Vincent is taking the lead with fighting stuff and we can have Damian be our magic dude.”

“Only after reading the book twice... and assuming Damian can help us with internal Mana,” clarified Julia. “We don’t know yet if it’s one or the other kind of thing. I think... I might be on the cusp of really actively using my Mana... so if that goes well I can be of help.”

“Keep us informed, Julia,” smiled Malachi. “My experience with Damian leads me to believe that crowds aren’t his thing. Molly, I was thinking the two of us could go speak with the man about Mana and spells. One, to see if he would be willing to teach us, and two, ask if he would be willing to train the whole of the sixty how to use their Mana. Worse case, maybe we can learn external Mana enough to teach it ourselves.”

“Happy to do my part,” responded Molly. To herself, she thought, Reasonable request and I wouldn’t mind meeting someone who has already cracked active control.

“Does anyone have anything to add?” asked Malachi. There were some promises to read their book, but in the meantime, there was the start of a plan. Their impromptu leader considered the group as if to wonder if there was more that should be said about Mana. After a couple of heartbeats, the bearded man seemed to let it go and looked down at the notebook in front of him. 

At a nod from him, Julia began passing out stacks of paper that were kept together with a folded corner instead of a staple. “Before you is a sort of census of the sixty. You may remember before going into the tunnel, Julia and Clarissa agreed to ask some questions of the sixty. That has been compiled in the paper before you. I want to make this clear from the beginning, this isn’t just for us. Please spread these papers around. More eyes the better, it’ll help  finding clues on why us.”

“There are a couple of trends we noticed right away,” said Julia as she took up the conversation. “Everyone is between the ages of thirty to fifty. Our youngest is a… Anastasia Pascal at thirty one and Vincent you are our oldest at forty eight.”

“O’ dear, not sure how to feel at that reveal,” smirked the swordsman. “Can’t say age means much anymore. Not here at least. We all have the same physical age now.”

“True as that may be, it is still a pattern,” remarked Molly. “The maturity of our ages indicates that they were looking for a quality that they didn’t expect or couldn’t find in either extreme. Youth, perhaps too rash or unstable? The elderly, experienced, but too stable?”

“My thoughts were in a similar vein,” agreed Julia. “Another factor that must have been considered was our connections. Not one of the sixty was married or in a serious relationship before waking here. Family connections were minimal to none, from death to either way cut-offs. It disturbs me thinking about it, but they may have been looking for people with less reason to return.”

“Interesting as that is, are we abandoning the chance of this being some sort of full dive game?” asked Reuben. “Now I will admit that this shit feels pretty weird, but you all sound like you are trying to figure out the MO of a serial kidnapper.”

“If this was a game, where are the levels?” inquired Phelian. “I developed games for a living, and even with this being some beta… it would be a piss poor attempt at best. There haven’t been any instructions beyond vague words carved on the wall. All this feels like trials, not something to have fun with. I have felt from the moment I woke up that we were iskai’d.”

“I think a full dive is… too optimistic,” grimaced Clarissa. “To paraphrase the most famous of dimension hoppers, “we ain’t in Kansas anything.””

“Dramatic as that was, and well done Clarissa, we need at least treat this as a kidnapping,” stated Vincent. The redhead winked at him and Reuben frowned at the table. “If it turns out to be just a game, cheers and hooray… but we can’t hope for that. This place may have a purpose for us, but it is more than willing to let us get shredded by those Ratsins for the sake of it.”

“Alright, alright,” begged off Reuben. “I guess, I just don’t want to let go of the hope of being just a little piece of tech away from home. I’ll play along with looking for connections at least. Could be useful either way… So Julia, that last bit, you think it sounds like they want people willing to stay for keeps?”

The shield warrior frowned and shrugged, “I don’t know if that’s it, but it certainly looks like that. Another idea is that it could make it easier to accept this place. Or… the more you have calling you home, the more you might struggle against what we’re meant to do.”

 “What, like we are sacrifices or something?!” exclaimed Clarissa. “That’s dark ju ju! Let’s hope it’s just that they want us to move in...”

“This is just more speculation,” cut in Molly. “We don’t have enough facts yet to guess on the purpose. I expect to peruse the census several times over before coming to any conclusions. Are there any other trends that were noticed, Julia?”

“Based on how many people jumped on the full dive or iskai theories, we also did some cultural questioning,” explained the shieldmaiden. “I won’t bore you by going over all the questions, you can see them in the census yourself. What I will say is that we are not a random selection by any means. Ignoring the age limits, they were looking for a type of person. I have no doubts about that. All of the sixty read several books a year, mostly fantasy and sci-fi. Comic books, graphic novels, and manga are included for some. Video games are popular amongst most of us too. What I have come to conclude is that all of us are… The best way to say it is… we are all genre-savvy. Surprise awakening or not, most of us didn’t freak out that much. Either because this was a fantasy dreamed of, or because there was a sense of what to do from the media we all love.”

“So the fact that we all enjoy fantasy and such was a factor in why we are here?” questioned Molly. “That’s an interesting theory, preliminarily I am willing to agree that it has merit. I know for myself that I started planning with surprising ease once Malachi announced the picking a path.”

“I was just of the opinion that it was the same whammy that gave us the instinct for our number,” threw out Clarissa. “Like we were conditioned somehow to accept this dungeon life more easily.”

“I guess “conditioning” could be the reason for the easy calm of the group,” replied Warner. “My experience with people, tells me it’s more that the sixty were overwhelmed by so many things, that we latched on to the one thing that made sense. Iskai, dungeon crawling, another world. Our knowledge of those things was easier to accept than “fuck we got kidnapped and are sealed in a cave.” So, I suppose, I’m just saying that I agree with Julia on this.”

While they talked, Molly had done a quick study of the census. This led the cool-eyed woman to notice a trend she wasn’t sure had been seen yet. She decided now was a good time to bring it up as any and said, “Another aspect to consider, as both a general trend and why the calm… everyone’s profession and life experiences appear to be ones of accomplishment. Which does to some degree contradict the idea of less connection, but then again, competence would be worth threatening that. I would think so at least.”

“What do you mean by accomplished?” asked Malachi. “I’m not sure I would say I was very accomplished. I jumped to several different careers in my life.”

“I would need to hear more details to make the case for you,” began Molly. “I don’t, however, believe that dismisses this trend I see in the census. If anything, you are the exception that proves the rule. Since we awoke, you have been nothing, but a competent leader. Constantly moving us forward and seeing to a plan for the future. Whatever you did back home, I have no doubt you did it well.”

There was a hush that followed after Molly. This was an important moment she knew. The cool-eyed woman had deliberately triggered the event by acknowledging Malachi’s leadership. A decision would be made right here, whether Malachi would take the leadership role instead of just acting it out. There was also the question of how Warner would take the fact of someone else being in charge. She waited to see the reaction.

A shiver went through Warner and Malachi both, but neither said anything. The big manlooked at the bearded man for a long moment before giving a contained shrug and looked away. Malachi simply seemed to look into the distance, a look of tried patience appearing briefly at some unknown thought.

Perhaps sensing the tension in the air, Clarissa broke the silence first, “Alright, Mr. Leader, what’s the plan now?”

Rolling his eyes, Malachi replied, “The plan is to get ready for the fifth day. We could discuss the census more, but I can already guess at the circles we would talk ourselves into. I mainly wanted the information out there for people to consider. That's done, so let us put it aside until we aren’t up against a time limit. Day five is when the sixty eat their last free ration. We need to be ready to enter the tunnels again, at least some of us. I rather not use the zerg plan, for so many reasons. Spend the rest of today, and tomorrow, working on learning how to use Mana and learning our weapons. On the morning of the fifth day, we’ll have another meeting to see where we’re at. Any objections?”

None of them had anything to say and Molly was pleased to see that no one bucked at the idea of Malachi as the leader. The cool-eyed woman quickly ran through her notes to write a summary at the bottom and felt pleased with the results of the meeting. They had moved much closer to unity. Now, she would see to the rest of the sixty accepting the sword acolyte’s authority or at least someone who acknowledged that leadership like Warner did.

“Alright then, I adjourn this meeting,” said Malachi in closing. “Vincent, Warner, Phelian, please see to the martial training as discussed. Reuben, get some sleep man. Molly, you are with me. Let’s go talk to Damian about the secret to spells.”

Molly walked off with Malachi and in the background, she heard Clarissa say, “Woot, free period!”

“Nope, you and I are having a study party,” said Julia cheerfully.

“Noooo,” uttered a defeated Clarissa.

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