PftA Book 2 - Chapter 45

Chapter 45 – Plans and Preparations

“So, you don’t want me to worry about killing the Harpies?” I asked to clarify.

Rhona shook her head. “No. There’s no need for you to bother. I have people trained for situations like this. Besides, you have other things to focus on – like your family and preparing for the dungeon.”

“And work,” I added jokingly.

“Only for another couple of weeks,” the Administrator said with a smile. “I plan to give you the last few weeks off. You’ve more than earned them.”

I appreciated the sentiment. The last several weeks of almost nonstop work had been rough. Thankfully, things seemed to have settled down quite a bit over the last week or so, aside from the Harpy situation. I was glad that wasn’t another thing that I needed to worry about.

“Since we’re on the topic,” Rhona continued, “I want you to shift to portal construction for the remainder of your contract. Focus on assembling intraplanetary portals in the new settlement locations being built right now. I’ll assign Denver to work with you, so contact him later today to make the necessary arrangements.”

I acknowledged her order and had Lisa set a reminder for later. I’d worked with Denver several times on the portal project, so I was familiar with the crafter.

“Have you collected all the materials you’ll need to prepare for your stay in the Realm Dungeon?” Rhona asked.

“No,” I replied with a sigh. “Stella set up an LT3 Space-dominant rift, but we didn’t get a chance to challenge it because of the Harpies. I plan to go back next Fifthday to get the rest of what I need.”

“You know you don’t have to make everything yourself, right?” she asked. “At Tier Three, the only restriction is that you can’t enter the dungeon with anything beyond Tier Four. You can use the market if needed. There are quite a few Tier Three items listed now that we’ve established a few low and mid-Tier Three rifts to balance things.”

I’d heard about the additions but hadn’t gotten a chance to see what was available. I hadn’t even sold my unwanted or excess loot to the local merchants yet since we’d reported directly to Rhona after leaving the rift.

Stella had given me a few minutes to gather materials from the rift after we cleared it, so I had plenty to trade with. I just hadn’t had a chance yet.

I could also use my MealMaker to [Transmute] materials if I needed something specific. It was a feature only unlocked on my personal devices since there were restrictions on commercially available products.

It made sense. Selling unlocked transmutation devices that could make almost anything was a great way to tank an economy.

= = =

“Did you hear about the Training Towers the Alliance is building?” Mom asked as we cooked another recipe from the list I’d made to incorporate into my MealMaker.

Since I needed a completed dish to register a recipe, I’d started cooking – and having my mom cook – daily to build up my options. The MealMaker wasn’t really storing recipes, even though I called them that. It was more accurate to call them culinary blueprints, but it felt like a matter of semantics.

“Duo never watches the news anymore,” Bell commented from the living room as I shook my head. I had a good idea about what she was referencing – having been partially responsible – but I feigned ignorance.

“What about Training Towers?” I asked.

“Evidently, the Alliance thinks anyone leaving Earth should take classes first so they can blend in better with the rest of the universe,” Mom commented.

“Not the universe, just the Alliance,” I said without thinking. There were other forces in the universe, one of which was in a near-constant conflict with the Alliance. It was one of the reasons the Space Exploration Force (SEF) was always recruiting.

The entire ‘Space Expansion’ had been little more than a recruitment drive to drum up interest. Unfortunately for the people of Earth, the SEF didn’t start accepting applicants until Tier Three. I’d learned that little factoid from Stella, whose family apparently had a tradition of joining the SEF for fifty years upon reaching Tier Three.

“I thought you didn’t know anything about it?” Mom asked with a raised brow, turning away from the sauce she was stirring on the stove.

“That’s not it,” I replied, focusing on the vegetables I was chopping. “I knew something was being implemented, but I didn’t know they would use Training Towers like in the game. I think it’s a good idea. They require every citizen to train when they awaken, so why wouldn’t they implement that here?”

“Because we already have access to the system and are not kids.”

“It has nothing to do with that,” I said with a touch of unintended defensiveness. “People leaving Earth should be taught what is expected of them on other worlds. It’s just like going to a country with a significantly different culture here on Earth. Not learning about and respecting the culture you’re entering is rude and reflects poorly on where you came from.”

I remembered living in Asia while my dad was on Active Duty and seeing how some foreigners acted. I also remembered the expressions on the locals’ faces and their obvious distaste for the lack of manners exhibited, often through sheer lack of awareness. A very similar thing had happened when I left Earth.

Unfortunately, I had sometimes been the idiot who didn’t know better, and it had impacted how others treated me. I’d tried to assimilate and blend in, but I hadn’t been aware of what I didn’t know. Hopefully, Tower Training would reduce that problem for those who cared enough to pay attention.

Having finished my portion of the meal prep, I struggled to resist the urge to return to the small workstation I’d set up in my room. I liked spending time with my family, but I found it increasingly difficult to relax and be present around them.

More often than not, I caught myself focusing on all the things I still needed to accomplish before leaving, which defeated the purpose of spending quality time with my family when I spent the whole time distracted. It made the upcoming vacation Rhona was giving me all the more valuable.

I broached the topic once Dad arrived, and we sat down for dinner. “I get to take some time off before the portals open. I was thinking about doing a world tour and using the pods as mini-apartments if anyone wants to come.”

“That sounds fun,” Dad said. He’d been working with one of the Smiths since moving in, having effectively quit his job when the apocalypse came. His bosses had tried to convince him to keep working, but he’d seen the writing on the wall and submitted his resignation the same day the interfaces activated.

“It does,” Mom agreed.

“I want to go to Thailand!” Amie said enthusiastically. “Bell says that’s where Curry Chicken is from, and it’s my favorite!”

“I thought pizza was your favorite?” Dad asked playfully.

“Nuh-uh. Curry Chicken. My next favorite is chicken fingers, then spaghetti tacos, then pizza, then sushi, then the Wellington, no! Then dumplings and then the Wellington!” Amie continued listing her favorite foods. She still leaned toward simple items, but I doubted many four-year-olds would have as variable a list of favorites.

I found it particularly interesting that Beef Wellington had made it on her list. Then again, we had eaten it recently, so the memory was likely fresh. I doubted she realized how lucky she was to have such food choices as a preschooler.

“Rhona probably won’t mind giving me some time off, right?” Bell asked. “I want to take some time off after Justin returns, so maybe I’ll just join you guys for the last week.”

I shrugged. “I doubt she’ll care, especially since you extended your contract with them.”

My roommate smiled lightly before shrugging. “It made sense with them being the only reliable employer at the moment.”

We discussed some potential stops on our trip, and eventually, the evening wound down.

I spent most of my free time the following week creating a new modular staff. Technically, I made two staffs since the four thick scepters could be combined into two individual staffs. But it wasn’t like I could dual-wield quarterstaffs.

By the time Fifthday rolled around, I was ready to challenge the Space-dominant rift Stella had prepared for me.

I was shocked by the change in the area when I arrived at the site. In only a little over four days, Alliance Mages had managed to transform the area. The space within the newly constructed walls was now temperature-controlled and allowed plants to grow in the previously unwelcome soil for the first time in recorded history.

Unlike some of the mundane settlements near the coast, the rift location was much closer to the South Pole, making it inhospitable for the majority of plant and animal life. But it seemed that was no longer the case within the confines of the small settlement.

The verdant enclosure wasn’t the only surprise I found.

“Hey, Emie!” Robert greeted me as I stepped away from the small teleportation beacon that had been installed. Beside him stood Sumi and a younger girl who I assumed was Sumi’s little sister, given the resemblance.

I greeted the trio and was promptly introduced to Kiko, Sumi’s now-fourteen-year-old sister. Like many thirteen and fourteen-year-olds who’d played Atlas Online, Kiko had awoken alongside the adults during the reintegration. Also, like most who had awakened early, she had only manifested a single affinity.

Some spontaneously gained a second affinity later, and I suspected the occurrence was because affinities didn’t fully manifest until people were fifteen (or sixteen, according to Ros). It was just a guess, though.

“Mage Stella told us you were coming to challenge the rifts today,” Robert said with a friendly smile. “We’re part of the Harpy raid—”

“Not me,” Kiko pouted from the side. “They won’t let me go because it’s ‘too dangerous.’” She said the last bit with finger quotations and an eye-roll.

Robert smiled at the younger Amari sister and exchanged a knowing glance with the older sister. I wasn’t surprised to see they’d gotten closer since Robert became her bodyguard. Unlike our situation, Sumi’s value was such that she qualified for a full-time guardian, not just a rift guardian.

Based on their interaction, it seemed Robert had bonded well with the tri-affinity native. It was good to see him acting relatively normal around the young woman. His initial super-fanboy mentality had been weird to watch.

“I’ll ask if I can set up an LT1 rift for you to delve when I’m done. I’m not sure what plans they have—”

“No need,” Stella said from behind me. “There are tons of Tier One rifts popping up on the other side of the mountain. I only bothered clearing the immediate area when I set up the Space rift. I’m sure we can find a couple of people to help Sumi’s sister gain a few levels.”

Stella nodded politely toward the aforementioned tri-affinity native before turning my way. “Are you ready?”

After saying goodbye to my unexpected visitors and promising to stop by before leaving the continent, I entered the new rift with Stella behind me. While I could have challenged the Space-dominant rift first, I wanted to test my new weapons in a rift that didn’t counter my personal magic first.

The forest from before was gone – not that I expected the same environment in a newly established rift. Instead, Stella had designed the rift to have platforms of interconnected gardens and mineral deposits connected by floating stone pathways.

I’d never challenged a rift curated quite so heavily since they were rarely available for adventurers to enter. Instead, they were usually controlled by the organizations or families who’d established the resource rifts, often with teams paid to fully delve and clear them on a set schedule.

It didn’t sound like a bad gig. It just wasn’t something I’d ever done. I only knew it was a thing because the process was common knowledge within the Alliance, and I’d been taught how to create such rifts during my training.

The mobs were additional resources that were profitable to harvest. Most appeared to be food resources instead of crafting resources, though some overlap existed.

I was glad to see boars once again. I suspected they were one of Stella’s favorite mobs since I noticed them in several rifts she’d curated. I liked them because… well… pork was yummy. Bacon, ham, barbeque pork ribs, little marinated pork bits for all my favorite Asian dishes… it was all good.

Also, their tusks and bones made great crafting material. I was almost disappointed when I didn’t find any variants of pork in the Space-dominant rift, but the sheer variety of available crafting materials more than made up for it.

It took more time to gather the resources in both rifts than it did to defeat the mobs. It was usually the opposite unless someone took the time to dress their kills inside the rift.

The mobs were still dangerous, especially for someone who was effectively challenging the rifts solo. While Stella didn’t need to step in to save me at any point, her presence provided an extra bit of confidence that allowed me to be bolder than I might have otherwise been.

Stella didn’t seem to notice – not that she would, having never joined me in a rift before. Still, she complimented my abilities several times and opined I should be fine in the dungeon as long as I was careful and didn’t encounter any rival sect members.

Before leaving Antarctica, I shared a pleasant meal with Robert, Sumi, and Kiko. The trio planned to stay in the new settlement until they reached peak-Tier Three, at which point they intended to leave Earth and head wherever Rhona wanted them to go.

They seemed largely unconcerned with the future, which caught me off guard until I remembered that Sumi, and by extension, Kiki, were under the protection of a royal family. I wasn’t sure how things with Robert would work out, but he didn’t seem concerned, so I didn’t ask.

After saying goodbye, I teleported to my workstation and focused on creating the best spatial devices I could manage while still at Tier Three.