THE ASCENDANCY -- The Boundary - Early morning Day 2

  Her voice had an edge I'd never heard before, and it made my blood go cold.

  I looked toward the treeline, and my stomach dropped.

  The trees were moving, not swaying. Moving. Something massive was pushing through them, and I could see the canopy shaking in a line headed straight for our boundary. Even from here, I could hear branches snapping like gunshots.

  Through the bond, Bishop's alarm hit me like a physical blow. Raw panic and aggression mixed in a way that made every nerve in my body scream.

  I saw them. The utility constructs, breaking through the undergrowth at the boundary's edge. One of them was barely functional, being dragged by the other. And Bishop, in scout mode, five legs churning while he used a sixth to help pull the damaged construct toward safety.

  The ground vibrated. A rhythmic pounding that I could feel through the rock beneath me. Heavy, fast, and getting closer.

  I was scrambling down the rock formation when my foot slipped on loose stone. I barely caught myself, skinning my palm. I hit the ground running and sprinted for the den.

  "It's coming!" I gasped as I burst through the door.

  Everyone was already awake, moving with the kind of focused urgency that came from knowing something was wrong.

  "The damn thing attacked our constructs," Tanya said.

  "Is Bishop okay?"

  "He's fine," ARi said. Her projection flickered near the hearth. "He helped get them across the boundary. One of the constructs was heavily damaged, but they made it into our territory."

  I moved toward the table, still trying to catch my breath from the sprint. "What is it? Can you tell?"

  "No," ARi's expression was grim. "But it's massive. I'd been tracking a handful of raptors near the outskirts of the boundary, but when this thing started getting close, they all fled."

  My stomach dropped. The raptors that had nearly killed us earlier had run from whatever was out there now.

  "Can the constructs make it back in time?"

  ARi hesitated, and that hesitation told me everything. "I don't think so, Gavin. And I don't think Bishop can take this thing alone."

  I looked around at the others. Everyone was watching me, waiting for a call. Shit. "All right. Get Bishop back in here, absorb the two constructs. We'll have to deal with recreating them later."

  "I can do that, Gav," ARi said. "But it's gonna get real crowded in here. They were carrying a lot of material."

  Kyle stepped forward. "ARi, after you absorb the material, before you convert it into raw resources, I'm thinking pikes. And I don't know how effective it's gonna be, but we can try some of that padded armor."

  "I can do that, Kyle," ARi said. "But I'm gonna have to pause the research for the Miner."

  "Let's do it then." I wiped my bleeding palm on my pants. "Whatever you can do to help us. And, ARi, I think you're gonna have to take control of Bishop for this one."

  Yumi was staring toward the door, and I could see real fear in her eyes when she looked back at me. "Gavin, how are we supposed to fight something like that?"

  I thought about the Ceratorex. How I'd barely survived that with luck and terrain. This time we had numbers. We had Bishop. We had ARi. "Honestly, Yumi, I think we do it the same way I took on the creature that used to own this den."

  Padded armor started forming and falling onto the ground in front of each of us. The quilted pieces were made from layers of the same soft gray plant-fiber fabric as our clothing, stitched together in overlapping sections. Split reeds, each half curved like a shallow channel, were laid side by side and sewn into the quilting, forming flexible plates across the chest, shoulders, and forearms. It wasn't plate armor, but it was better than nothing.

  Two shorter spears appeared next to each pile of armor. They had a shape I'd never seen before.

  "These are called pilums," ARi said. "This was actually an idea Kyle and I came up with when you guys were down by the river. We can throw these. Honestly, I'm hoping the effort of trying to fight this thing, throwing these spears and everything else, will open up some skill and research options. Like when Gavin created the spear and unlocked spear research."

  I noticed there were no weapons or armor on the ground in front of ARi.

  "ARi, I don't want you physically coming outside, but you've gotta armor up as well. Take a couple of these shorter spears and barricade yourself in the corner. Control Bishop from in here, but in case this is some kind of diversion, I don't want you unarmed."

  She didn't argue. Another set of padded armor and two short spears landed on the ground in front of her, and half the den was filled with raw resources. Clay, wood, and plant materials among other things as ARi absorbed the two utility constructs.

  "Is that thing still holding at the treeline?"

  "Yes," ARi said. "It hasn't moved."

  "Good. Here's what I want you to do."

  I quickly explained my plan. We put the armor on as fast as we could. Tanya, Yumi, Tim, and I followed Kyle through the entrance. Outside, we each found long, heavy pikes. They looked like oversized versions of our original obsidian tipped spears but without a counterweight. The damn things were probably eight and a half feet long, and they weighed a ton.

  I could tell Tim was doing his best to keep himself together. Surprisingly, Kyle had his eyes open this time too.

  "Listen, you guys, if this is one of those stupid Rhino Rex things, I outran the last one and I was by myself. They're big and they're scary, but they're not as maneuverable as we are. We've got this, okay?"

  As we approached the boundary, the five of us stood shoulder to shoulder as a large predator stepped out of the tree line. It had an elongated snout lined with serrated, dagger-like teeth that jutted out at different angles. The thing stood roughly fifteen feet tall on powerful hind legs, its muscular tail whipping behind it for balance. Spiked bone protrusions ran down its spine like a jagged ridge, each one catching the fading light.

  Rows of brilliant feathers, deep crimson and amber, fanned out along either side of the bony ridges and flared around the back of its head like a lion's mane. Beautiful and absolutely terrifying at the same time. But it was the arms that made my stomach drop. They were massive, over-muscled, and tipped with curved black claws easily the length of my forearm. The damn things hung so low the knuckles nearly scraped the ground as it moved.

  The creature's eyes locked onto us. Cold and calculating. Its nostrils flared as it scented the air, and a low rumble came from somewhere deep in its chest. I could feel the sound vibrating through the ground beneath my feet.

  "These pilums are still pretty heavy," I said. "We should probably wait for it to get a little closer before we start trying to throw them."

  The creature broke into a bounding run, charging straight at us.

  Kyle's voice went up an octave. "How close were you thinking there, Gav?"

  "I think that's close enough!" I yelled, reaching back and throwing the pilum with all my strength.

  The others followed suit, but our first throws came up short.

  "Again!" I shouted, grabbing my second pilum as the monster came into range. It wasn't slowing down.

  Three of the five pilums hit flesh. One of mine glanced off the side of its head.

  Behind us, Bishop stood on his hind legs, shifting into bipedal combat mode. The sudden movement drew the creature's attention. It hesitated, focusing on my familiar instead of us, and lunged charging at the larger threat.

  "Now!" I screamed.

  We all grabbed our long pikes, bracing them as best we could, the back ends anchored to the ground as the monster crashed into the wall of sharp obsidian points.

  The thing reared back and screamed in pain, swiping at Tanya, but she threw herself backward barely avoiding the blow. Heavy footsteps thundered behind the creature as the real Bishop charged in from the rear as ARi's projection of the Bishop behind us flickered and vanished. She took full control of the familiar as it moved fluidly with deadly accuracy.

  Bishop had grabbed one of the long pikes himself, using his upper arms to lock onto the creature's neck while the lower arms drove the weapon in and out of its back. The monster shrieked and stumbled forward, collapsing to the ground.

  My familiar flipped over its head without letting go, dropped the broken pike, and grabbed the creature's snout, twisting its upper clawed hands in the opposite direction from the lower, breaking the monster's neck in a loud crack that echoed through the clearing. The beast went limp. Bishop released it, took a step back, and kicked the carcass hard in the gut.

  ARi's projection snapped back to life beside me. "That's for messing up my construct, asshole!"

  I looked around, trying to take stock. "Who's hurt?"

  That's when I saw Tim on the ground, a broken piece of his pike sticking out of his leg.

  "Oh my god, Tim, are you okay?" Tanya shouted.

  ARi didn't waste a second. Using Bishop she dropped the familiar to all fours, reached down, and gently picked Tim up with careful precision. In moments she was carrying him back toward the den.

  Once inside, I slammed the door shut behind us and dropped the bolt across it. Clay jars on the table were swept off and shattered to the floor as Bishop cleared the space and laid Tim out across the surface. He was wincing in pain unable to speak.

  "Everybody stand back," ARi said. "And don't pull it out."

  A pile of fabric strips materialized on the bench next to the table.

  "I'm gonna absorb the piece of pike that's in his leg. You'll need to move fast and wrap the wound as soon as it's out. Don't let him lose too much blood."

  "Wait," Tanya said. "I need a stick about the size of our smaller spear halves. It needs to be about ten inches long."

  ARi didn't ask why or hesitate. She simply phased the stick onto the bench next to the wraps. Tanya grabbed the stick, and one of the longer wraps, winding it around Tim's upper leg. She twisted the stick through the wraps and began turning it tightening a strong tourniquet.

  "Hold this and don't let it move. Hold it tight," she told Kyle. "Go, ARi!"

  Kyle clamped down on the stick and kept the tourniquet tight while ARi dissolved the broken pike and Tanya wrapped the wound as neatly and firmly as she could. Once she had the wound bandaged, Kyle released the tourniquet, and we watched as Tim's tension eased a little.

  Tanya sat back onto the bench and leaned forward grabbing Tim's hand. "It's okay. We got it. You're gonna be okay."

  I looked around the den at everybody. Everyone was covered in blood, bruises, and scrapes. For the first time, the real danger of this place became clear. It'd been one thing when my own life was in danger when I first spawned here, but at that moment I realized the thought of losing any of these people would be too much to bear.

  A couple of hours later, we'd moved Tim to his cot. He'd finally passed out, but I was pretty sure it wasn't from fatigue. He was in a tremendous amount of pain. The rest of us sat around the fire keeping our voices down and letting him rest as much as we could.

  For the first time since the day I'd met her in that break room, I watched Tanya break down and cry. Yumi sat on the floor next to the bench hugging her knees close. She looked like she was still in shock. Kyle held his arm tight against his chest pretty sure he'd broken it as well.

  I looked across the fire at ARi. "What do we do?"

  Tanya answered before ARi could. "I leveled up, and have a new skill option that I think I'm gonna go ahead and accept now."

  Tanya's eyes went distant for a moment as if she was reading a window only she could see before her whole body began to glow. Taking a deep breath she walked over to Kyle and gently placed her hand on his arm. Her hand began to radiate light and the glow spread up Kyle's arm to his shoulder.

  Kyle winced in pain but only for a moment. The glow faded, and he reached his arm out turning his palm up and down, flexing his shoulder while staring at Tanya in awe.

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  "Sorry, Kyle. I needed a guinea pig and I would have warned you, but I didn't want you to chicken out and not let me try that."

  "What? Wait, what?" Kyle said still trying to comprehend what'd happened.

  "I didn't want to try it on Tim. His injuries are a lot worse. I needed to make sure it was gonna work."

  "Tanya, how the hell did you do that?"

  She smiled and swept her hand through the air. A projected window appeared above the hearth for the rest of us to read.

  [SYSTEM WINDOW] CHARACTER SHEET

  Tanya Ramirez, 27-year-old Human Female, Level 4.

  Experience: 0 out of 2,000, for Level 5.

  Health: 173 out of 180. Stamina: 180 out of 180.

  Energy Reserves: 80 out of 150.

  Base Attributes:

  Strength: 13.

  Constitution: 19.

  Agility: 12.

  Willpower: 17.

  Intelligence: 18.

  Perception: 15.

  Charisma: 11.

  Skills:

  Botanical-Analysis 1.

  The system interface highlights plants containing curative, toxic, or reactive compounds and logs usable materials for synthesis and crafting.

  Unlocks the Alchemy skill tree.

  Cellular-Restoration 1.

  Converts personal Energy Reserve into controlled biochemical output that stimulates cellular repair and accelerates tissue regeneration in living targets. Effective for stabilizing bleeding, fractures, and surface wounds. Unlocks the Medical skill tree.

  "Holy shit, Tanya," I said reading her stats in shock. "That says you have energy reserves like ARi does. Does that mean you can do that phase stuff like she does too?"

  "Not quite like she does," Tanya replied. "It seems like my new skill's are pretty focused on healing and Alchemy."

  "I know you guys wanted to wait so we could all talk about the different skill offers we were being presented with, but I'm sorry, Gavin. I couldn't wait. I needed to help Tim."

  She took a breath. "For future reference, so you know, the system won't let you add only a couple of attribute points from your total. You have to spend them all. Same thing for skills. I couldn't skip my first skill option to save it for later. I had to choose before it'd let me get to my second skill choice."

  "It's okay, Tanya. I understand. So I'm assuming you probably have to let your energy reserves recharge before you can try to help Tim. How long do you have to wait?"

  "I think I can do it again in about twelve minutes. He's hurt pretty bad though. I'm probably gonna have to use that skill at least a few times to fully repair the damage in his leg." Tanya said quietly.

  "This is my fault, you guys. I rushed us right into that fight."

  "Gavin don't," Kyle said. "We might not even have known it was coming until it was too late. Did you see how fast it covered the ground between the tree line and the boundary? Seconds. Gavin, seconds."

  "Honestly, if the stupid thing hadn't attacked our constructs and followed it back here, we wouldn't have even known anything happened," Yumi said.

  "We would've been totally caught off guard. We still should've looked at our attributes and skills before we went into that fight. I know we wanted more time to look over everything, but we could've been a lot better prepared."

  "Maybe," ARi said. "Gavin, if Tim hadn't gotten hurt, and Tanya hadn't taken charge trying to wrap his leg or come up with that last minute tourniquet, she might not've been offered that skill path at all. It was already walking her down a path of alchemy. And don't get me wrong, I can see the benefit of having both of those skill paths open to her. There's some real synergy there. But it seems like action and experience are the drivers for all of this."

  "She's right, Gavin," Kyle said from across the fire. "Have you actually looked at any of your system windows yet to see what options you've been presented with? There are some real patterns that are pretty easy to pick out about how this whole system works. It seems like when we do something, it takes that experience and puts it into the choices we're presented with. And when it does offer a choice, it's always the same some type of aggressive and defensive option and some type of utility. Like the original choice it started us with in that lobby."

  "Well," Tanya said. "I still have one more skill I can choose. I've leveled up a total of three times. I guess I leveled up during the fight with the raptors as well."

  Tanya waved her hand and another system window appeared over the fire.

  [SYSTEM WINDOW] SKILL SELECTION

  Congratulations, Tanya Ramirez!

  You have 1 unassigned skill point to spend. Please select one of the following:

  Catalytic-Compound 1.

  Advances the Alchemy Tree and grants the ability to accelerate chemical reactions in controlled mixtures through a focused pulse of energy.

  Tissue-Mending 1.

  Branches from the Medical Tree and enables sustained regenerative output over an extended duration, gradually repairing soft tissue damage without direct contact.

  Adrenal-Control 1.

  Improves personal regulation of stress response and physical output. Temporarily boosts reaction speed and endurance during combat or crisis situations and reduces fatigue buildup from extended healing or crafting.

  –

  "Tanya, I mean, it's totally up to you what direction you want to go," I said. "But from what I understand your Cellular Restoration skill required you to touch Kyle's arm. If you look at Tissue Mending, that second choice, there's a little detail in there that's pretty crucial. It basically says healing without direct contact with your target, as in we could have you standing out of the line of fire and healing us at a distance. I mean, that's how most healers do it in games right?"

  "I see what you mean, Gavin," Kyle added. "At first glance Catalytic Compound looked amazing. It'd be cool if you could make different salves and stimulants for extra stamina or recovery. But being able to keep us in a fight without actually having to be in the fight makes a lot of sense."

  Tanya looked over to Yumi and to ARi. They both nodded.

  "I went with Tissue Mending. After looking at the details, it'll be more useful once I have a higher energy reserve. But I think it's worth picking up now," she said.

  Her body glowed for a moment as she sat back down on the bench.

  "All right then," she said smiling faintly. "Who's next?"

  "Yumi why don't you go next?"

  Yumi stood up and waved her hand and a new window appeared above the fire.

  [SYSTEM WINDOW] SKILL SELECTION

  Congratulations, Yumi Tanaka!

  You have 3 unassigned skill points to spend. Please select one of the following:

  Combat-Drone-Link 1.

  Unlocks two personal control points that allow manifestation and command of autonomous combat constructs. Constructs at this tier are small, mobile, and capable of short-range engagement using kinetic or melee systems. Constructs can only be phased in or out while within established territory.

  Adaptive-Weapon-Modulation 1.

  Optimizes grip and swing in real time for improved accuracy and penetration with melee and spear-class weapons.

  Collaborative-Research-Protocol 1.

  Reduces research time and energy use when actively assisting a project, enabling on-the-fly data adjustments before processing.

  Yumi sighed hesitant. "Guys, I think I want to choose the first one. It makes the most sense for me. And honestly, I don't want to fight holding a spear in my hand again unless I have to. I'm sorry but I feel like the Combat Drone Link's the right option here. I mean Collaborative Research sounds cool too. Maybe we can look at that later. But right now most of the stuff we're researching doesn't seem to be too overwhelming."

  "You don't have to apologize Yumi. I mean all of us are academics and we've been thrown into this."

  "Tell that to Tim," Tanya said glancing over at him sleeping on the cot.

  "I know right?" Yumi said. "That dude's ripped!"

  Kyle and I exchanged an uncomfortable look. I cleared my throat. "Moving on. I'm assuming you've selected that drone option. The only drawback I see is that for now the only way you can phase the drones you create into existence is if you're inside our territory. Doesn't look like they have a shelf life though. It seems like they'll continue to operate until you break them. It also doesn't say anything about range."

  "I'm gonna assume they're probably pretty short range in the lower tiers," Kyle interjected.

  "Yumi go to your next skill selection. Let's see what it gives you," ARi said.

  Yumi's skin glowed faintly as she selected her first skill. She raised her hand and changed the window projection again revealing her second set of options.

  [SYSTEM WINDOW] SKILL SELECTION

  Congratulations, Yumi Tanaka!

  You have 2 unassigned skill points to spend. Please select one of the following:

  Assault-Drone-Protocol 1.

  Deploys an autonomous assault drone with advanced targeting and flight control capable of engaging marked targets or patrolling beyond direct range.

  Barrier-Drone-Subroutine 1.

  Deploys three barrier drones that project an energy lattice to absorb kinetic and heat damage. Multiple drones can link to form a protective field around an object.

  Maintenance-Sync 1.

  Allows idle or out-of-combat drones to run self-repair routines, reducing material costs for full restoration or redeployment.

  "Are you guys reading this? I can't believe what I'm seeing right now. This is getting crazy. That literally is talking about force fields right? Force fields? I mean I don't know how strong they're gonna be at level one, but look at the expanded details tab. It says the strength's tied to her Willpower and Intelligence and she's got fifteen points available to spend right now."

  "Gavin's right Yumi," Tanya said. "I mean the Assault Drone Protocol sounds like it could be a big deal too but I kind of think that's something we might gamble on and see if you get another skill like that, or maybe even that skill again, on your next roll. But force fields are on that list of technologies we'd want to bring back to Earth."

  "I want Assault Drone Protocol, but you're right. The type of technologies that could be derived from the Barrier Drone Subroutine skill, that's not something I can ignore." Yumi hesitated. "That doesn't mean I want to be the team's tank though either."

  "I don't think that's what this role is at all," I said. "Honestly this kind of feels more like a summoner role. You know if you're playing a fantasy game, the wizard who stands in the back and summons golems and puts energy shields around players who are taking damage. It's much more of a utility role than a tank."

  "Yeah I like that Gavin. I think this is what I want. It is what I want. I'm choosing the Barrier Drones."

  Yumi's skin glowed faintly and she flinched as the light faded steadying herself as she cleared her head.

  "Yumi it doesn't have to be a dice roll," ARi said. "As the system guide I do have the capability of putting that first option Assault Drone Protocol into your next set of choices. But keep in mind if I do that it'll override whatever potential choice could've been presented to you and I have no way of seeing what that would've been."

  "I think it's worth taking the chance. ARi will you do that for me?"

  "Of course," ARi said waving her hand and changing Yumi's projection to the next window. "Here are your next skill options."

  [SYSTEM WINDOW] SKILL SELECTION

  Congratulations, Yumi Tanaka!

  You have 1 unassigned skill point to spend. Please select one of the following:

  Assault-Drone-Protocol 1.

  Deploys an autonomous assault drone with advanced targeting and flight control capable of engaging marked targets or patrolling beyond direct range.

  Drone-Overclock 1.

  Temporarily boosts all active drones by increasing internal energy flow, enhancing speed, targeting precision, and combat efficiency.

  Remote-Fabrication-Link 1.

  Connects to the system’s fabrication lattice to reconstruct or deploy a small drone outside established territory, provided valid materials are within network range.

  Yumi jumped up from the bench. "Are you kidding me? I can't believe this!" She swung her hand through the projection and began pacing clearly angry.

  "Wow Yumi I didn't see that coming," Kyle said cautiously. "But it might not be that bad. If you read the details on Remote Fabrication it does look like it has some pretty potentially crappy downsides."

  "Bro she has a right to be annoyed. I'd be annoyed too. Potentially spawning a more expensive drone to replace a damaged one, that's better than having no options at all. If she lost all of her drones that could put her in a pretty compromising position without it."

  "Are you happy now you jerks?" Yumi snapped flipping off the ceiling as she selected Remote Fabrication.

  Once again her body glowed. She sat back down on the bench took a deep breath and tried to clear her head still visibly irritated. She assigned her attribute points, and waved her hand pulling up her character sheet.

  [SYSTEM WINDOW] CHARACTER SHEET

  Full Status Overview:

  Yumi Takahashi, 26-year-old Human Female, Level 4.

  Experience: 0 out of 4,000, for Level 5.

  Health: 130 out of 145.Stamina: 145 out of 145.

  Energy Reserves: 80 out of 215.?Control Points: 0 out of 2.

  Base Attributes:

  Strength: 10.

  Constitution: 11.

  Agility: 12.

  Willpower: 18.

  Intelligence: 25.

  Perception: 13.

  Charisma: 10.

  Skills:

  Combat-Drone-Link 1.

  Unlocks two personal control points that allow manifestation and command of autonomous combat constructs. Constructs at this tier are small, mobile, and capable of short-range engagement using kinetic or melee systems. Constructs can only be phased in or out while within established territory.

  Barrier-Drone-Subroutine 1.

  Deploys three barrier drones that project an energy lattice to absorb kinetic and heat damage. Multiple drones can link to form a protective field around an object.

  Remote-Fabrication-Link 1.

  Connects to the system’s fabrication lattice to reconstruct or deploy a small drone outside established territory, provided valid materials are within network range.

  "Guys maybe Kyle and I should hold off. I think it's been long enough for Tanya to work on Tim. And honestly since I've reached level five it's gonna give me a class choice too and I kind of want to wait until Tim's awake for that."

  "I think that's a good idea Gavin," ARi said. "I kind of want to wait for Tim to be awake as well before I go over my upgrade options since they're gonna affect the entire team in a more direct way."

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