NOVEL NEXT B1 | Chapter 4
Aria
After we clear up the town of soldiers, capturing a couple of them in the process and finishing off the rest, we get word from base across the radio.
“Attention all units, this is Colonel Raiden Hawk. Finish up your missions as soon as possible or abandon them if that is not possible and head straight to Delta Fortress. Any units stationed within a day’s trek from the fortress who are not back within two days’ time, be prepared for strict discipline once you return should you not have a reasonable excuse. Any units stationed further away are to call in with your ETA and arrive whenever possible for a recap. Units who are conducting covert operations are exempt from this order. Stay tuned to your radio for further orders.”
That was a quick response.
I turn to the warrant officer and nod my head, to which he nods back. Then he turns to address the soldiers under us, raising his voice, “Soldiers, back to base!”
“Yes sir!” everyone shouts as I begin walking out of the town, the others following after me seconds later with the two captives being pulled along with rope around their wrists.
I break the silence by radioing into the leader of our mission, “Crimson here, mission complete and we’re heading back as per the Hawk.” And after that I repeat my statement to the contact at base but with our ETA along with it.
Then the rest of the trek is done in silence.
Once we make it back to the fortress, we immediately find it incredibly busy as all of the officers in our teams are directed towards the main meeting hall. Meanwhile the rest of the soldiers are sent to their quarters to await further orders.
I frown the moment I enter the main meeting hall, finding the place incredibly full. And from the smidgens of conversation I can hear across the room, the first order of business has already been mostly decided from the higher ups.
All soldiers and officers are to report their Class and Purpose to the military under a truthseeker. An ability user with the ability to detect lies.
That’s annoying, but manageable.
They aren’t starting until the end of the two day period, which won’t be until tonight. So we’re gonna be sitting here for a while.
Since that’s the case, I focus on the strange icons located in the corner of my screen similar to buttons on a computer. One of which has some sort of fireball on it and the other an image of what looks like a hand and finger pointing at a screen.
I try various things in an attempt to figure out what they are including reaching out to touch them physically, which does nothing besides make me look weird to anyone watching, mentally focusing on them, which also does nothing, and lastly thinking about selecting them. Which works.
The one with the hand and the screen turns out to be another way to open my status, so I close out of that one after it opens. But the other one… I have no idea what this is.
Skills
Skill Name:
Skill Description:
N/A
N/A
What on Vortel is a skill?
I stare at the strange screen for several seconds before deciding to put off figuring that out till later. After I’ve had the debriefing we’re all about to have with the higher ups.
Since there’s a chance they’ll have already figured that out.
The wait lasts for quite a while but once everyone who hasn’t called in already that they can’t make it arrives, the colonel makes his way to the front of the room and shouts, “Attention!” Everyone stiffens up. “The Fifth General has something she would like to say to you!”
Then a projection appears at the front of the room through magic. One depicting the Fifth of the nine Generals of the Military. The highest ranking officers and leaders of our government with power over even the emperor who at this point is little more than a mere figurehead, unlike the Tyrant Emperor of the Arterians.
“Attention officers, we at command have come to a decision regarding the strange phenomenon calling itself ‘The System’ and wish to spread the word to all the soldiers in the military,” the General, a woman with long blond hair and golden eyes wearing a very fancy military uniform filled with more bars than I care to count, states, her voice filling the room. “The Council of Generals has decided that the System is here for our benefit after conducting various tests revolving around people and their Purposes, along with poking and prodding at the System itself to see if it will respond to physical action or magic. We have also concluded thus far that the System is most likely unable to make decisions and is similar to the newly developed devices known as computers. Therefore we urge all the soldiers within the military to put in some real thought on your Purpose and fulfilling it as the benefits that we’ve seen from doing what the System refers to as ‘leveling up’ are a major boon to your combat efficiency. Even if your Purpose and Class have nothing to do with combat.”
Yeah, looks like they came to the same conclusions there that I did. Although it also looks like the leveling up thing might be more beneficial than I thought if the government is advocating we do it.
“As a precaution we are also requiring all citizens, civilian or otherwise, to disclose their Class and Purpose to authorized personnel who will record it for the use of the government. However, do note that we will not disclose this information to anyone lest you wish for us to,” the General continues. “This process is required to find those with talent and useful Classes that may be of help to the Empire in the future and to mark those with evil Classes and flag them for watch.” The General then nods her head once and concludes, “Thank you for your cooperation and we are still looking for the ‘invaders’ mentioned by the System with no luck. For the Empire!”
“For the Empire!” at least half of the officers in the room shout before the General vanishes, the spell projecting her image here ending.
Almost immediately after the General finishes, the colonel steps to take her place, his hands behind his back, and says, “We have been searching the Empire ever since the System made its appearance, but as the General implied, we have not been able to find any of the invaders mentioned by the System. Almost as if nothing has changed since the System arrived except for the System itself.” He then moves one hand in front of him and raises three fingers. “This can mean one of three things. Either the invaders are not on our side of the continent and are instead across The Great Divide in the Arterian Empire, they are not on our continent at all, or they are within The Great Divide itself.”
I frown at that last option. An option that would be the worst of the three since it would complicate the war by a significant margin, possibly even delaying it entirely.
“As you should be able to guess, the first and second options are the most desired ones,” the colonel says while replacing his right hand behind his back again. “If it’s the first option, then we will be able to watch and see what happens as the Arterians come into contact with the invaders. And if it’s the second option, we won’t have to worry about the invaders at all since they will likely perish on those radiation-filled rocks.”
One of the officers in the room raises his hand, following which the colonel nods at him and says, “First Lieutenant Grayson, you may speak.”
The first lieutenant quickly asks, “Sir, what if there are no invaders?”
“If that is the case, then we will advise you to take the decision of following your Purpose into your own hands,” the colonel says, his face still as stern as ever. “There isn’t much we can do at that point beyond monitoring everyone’s Classes and Purposes.”
Silence fills the room for several seconds, indicating that no one has any more questions. Then the colonel clicks his boot on the ground once and brings them together before stating, “Officers, you are now ordered to wait outside your assigned medical rooms for the debriefing on each of your Classes and Purposes. Dismissed!”
I get up from my seat alongside all of the other officers before heading to my assigned medical room and make my way inside after finding that I’m the sixth one here.
This won’t be a problem.
The wait doesn’t take long since they’re only asking for details on your Class and purpose with a truthseeker there, and while a lot of the soldiers have fighting related purposes, some don't. Some are crafters whose purpose is to craft things, or guides, or hunters, or various other types of Classes and purposes. Various different ways to level up, many of which don't even involve fighting at all. But surprisingly I'm the only one whose purpose directly states killing others.
There are plenty who level from fighting and advancing their training, but not a single one directly states that they have to kill. Most could even end up fighting battles that aren't to the death and still level up.
Although some do have purposes that result in killing even if it's not directly stated to do so. But they're limited in scope to just certain types of people or creatures.
Which is rather interesting. Especially considering my own Class and purpose.
Soon enough I find myself sitting on a chair across from a major with a truthseeker standing to the side of the room.
“Warrant Officer Crimson, you know the drill,” the major, a woman I’m familiar with since I’ve worked under her multiple times by now, states.
Without hesitation, I answer, “I am the Crimson Blade.”
She raises her eyebrows for a second before glancing at the truthseeker, finding the truthseeker nodding her head. Then the woman turns back to me and asks, “And how do you level up?”
“I level up when fighting the enemies of the Empire,” I answer completely honestly.
The corner of her lips quirks slightly at my answer before she glances at the truthseeker again. And when the truthseeker nods her head, she turns back to me and says, “Very well. You’re dismissed.” Then begins writing my answers down.
I stand up, give a salute, and leave the room without a word.
Good thing I got the major. Because I know her rather well by now.
Major Curtz by now knows me well, along with the fact that I speak curtly and in short sentences. She also doesn’t like speaking more than she wishes, which was why she didn’t bother explaining the process beforehand and just got down to it. Didn’t say anything about what they would do with my information either.
So the best way to handle it was simply to answer truthfully, but not the questions they asked.
I don’t show any emotion on my face as I walk through the hall and eventually reach my room, where I lock the door and collapse onto my bed right afterwards.
The truthseekers can’t tell what you’re answering. A fact not all that many people are aware of.
I’m only aware of it due to Dad and one of his truthseeker subordinates.
And if you simply state a random fact that in some way answers what you’re asked, then you aren’t lying. As long as you don’t think you are.
Nothing I said was wrong, since I am known by the title people have given me of the Crimson Blade, and I do level up while fighting the enemies of the Empire. So there wasn’t any falsehood to detect.
Most people never see truthseekers though, so most don’t know about this. And I doubt they’d think someone like me would try to hide my Class and Purpose.
Plus the officers trust me to a certain extent at the very least.
It is a little annoying that they didn’t give us any intel on that other menu I saw though. But I’m sure they’ll give it to us when they learn more about it.
If I had to guess, if it’s not important right now then it’ll likely become important as I level up. Or something like that.
I wait in my room for a while until night arrives without any new orders. So I just go to sleep.