Chapter 301
All told, the trip to Kertan Six was a simple one. Unlike when Garth and his expedition departed, Corthian Mining set up multiple teleportation relays along the way. A trip that had likely taken Garth and company several months was completed in a span of just a few days. For his part, Kyle stayed to himself. The mercenaries and crew were a rowdy bunch, and while Kyle enjoyed listening to their stories, he didn’t feel particularly interested in swapping his own.
As it was, he was already gathering plenty of attention. From what he could gather with Identify, most of the mercenaries in this group were likely between Level 25 and Level 40 in D Grade. None of the elites that Tillienne acknowledged before were on his ship, and many of Corthian’s hirelings looked at Kyle with a mix of awe and interest. Still, he was hoping to maintain his low profile until arriving, until a message came through on the last morning before arrival.
Mr. Mayhew,
Your presence has been requested in the training grounds. Several of the Mercenary’s Guild employees are interested in testing your mettle, and it’s kicked up enough of a fuss with my crew that I’m afraid very little will get done unless their curiosity is satisfied.
You’re welcome to refuse, of course, but I think it would be a good thing for morale to see some light sparring. Particularly before landing on-world and dealing with the mess ahead of us.
If you feel differently, let me know and I can do my best to quiet them down. Otherwise, get your behind to the training grounds.
-Captain Luke Worthington
Kyle sighed. He intentionally suppressed his aura during his time out among the crew, and it seemed that decision may have bitten him. He’d caught wind of some rumors circulating, with some people questioning Kyle’s involvement given that he was neither a member of the Mercenary’s Guild, nor giving off a powerful impression. Others speculated that he was Corthian Mining’s hidden ace, a talent they’d nurtured for a disaster like this one.
The reality was much more mundane, but Kyle understood the real question behind the rumors; when the time came, could they count on Kyle to be an asset, or would he be a liability? After only a little thought, he decided there wasn’t much harm in some light exercise. Plus, it would give him a good opportunity to see how his Muscular Compression and Iron Will held up under a little pressure.
As on the other Corthian Mining flagship he’d traveled on, the training grounds had a fairly large section for spectators. Quite a bit of the crew was waiting, as well as most of the mercenaries. Kyle noticed with some amusement that the more powerful among them were in the stands, while a handful of the weakest were standing impatiently in front of the large arena that had been prepared.
Captain Luke Worthington, a pale man with stylish, platinum blonde hair was waiting for him. His voice was a booming baritone, commanding attention and respect.
“Welcome, Mr. Mayhew. I heard you were on the way. Rules here will be simple; no boosting skills, keep activations of large-scale destructive skills to a minimum, and try not to seriously injure or kill anybody. That last one should go without saying, but given the fact that they’ve issued this challenge, I mentioned it anyway.”
Kyle couldn’t help but smile. He liked the man, and respected his directness. Even though Captain Worthington was only in the upper E Grade, his force of personality was enough to get results even among the rowdy D Grade mercenaries.
“Nobody will get hurt, don’t worry about it,” Kyle reassured him.
Worthington snorted. “You’re sure of yourself, I give you that. Of course, from what Rochelle shared with me, I get the sense that you’ve also got the skills to back it up. Good luck out there, Mayhew.”
“Wait, you know Rochelle?” Kyle asked.
“It’s not that big of a company, especially at our rank. She’s already on Kertan Six, so you’ll probably get a chance to see her soon,” Worthington said, raising an eyebrow. “Now, are you going to get into the arena?”
“Right, sorry about that,” Kyle said, giving him a nod as he walked past where a group of mercenaries waited.
A tall human with a large training broadsword stepped forward, a grin on his face. “Thanks for making the time. I’m Creston, I’ll be your first opponent. Assuming you don’t get beaten up too badly, a few of us would like to see what you’re made of.”
Creston’s voice carried a mocking note in it, which made Kyle smile. “Then let’s get started.”
“Hold on a moment,” Creston protested. “You don’t even have a training weapon.”
“That’s right, I don’t,” Kyle agreed.
A disbelieving chuckle went out from the group as Kyle walked into the arena.
“Are you coming?” Kyle called back.
With a shrug, Creston walked in, raising his hands to his weapon. “You ready, Courier?”
Kyle raised his hands in a fighting stance. “Whenever you are.”
Creston charged, training blade parallel with the ground. Identify showed Kyle that Creston had a modest advantage in terms of Strength, but had otherwise lower attributes. As the blade closed in, Synaptic Barbs revealed that Creston hadn’t made a full step in. A feint.
Without conscious effort, Kyle ducked beneath the thrust, and then stepped in close to pivot around the horizontal sweep that was following. Synaptic Barbs warned Kyle that Creston had let go of the sword with his left arm, which was reaching to grab him. Reflexive Evasion kicked in again, and he hit the ground, releasing a blast of Repel from his shoulder as he did.
Creston was knocked back as Kyle sprang back to his feet, a shocked expression on the mercenary’s face. Kyle didn’t let up, jumping back in close. This time, the training blade flashed out in a series of swift attacks, each with greater power and precision than the first. Kyle dodged the first two, Reflexive Evasion helping him move without further conscious effort. He could have sidestepped the third attack, a vertical slash toward his shoulder, but decided to test the improvements offered by his Iron Will.
Raising an arm, Kyle blocked the strike directly. The blade rebounded off his arm, as though it struck metal. At the same time, Kyle raised a palm, releasing another shockwave of Repel and slamming Creston back against the wall of the arena. The weapon clattered to the ground as the fighter staggered to his feet, raising his hands.
“I yield,” Creston said, panting heavily.
Kyle walked over to him, clasping his hand. “Good fight.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Creston gasped. “I feel like I got hit by a train.”
“It was still helpful,” Kyle said. He turned to the remaining mercenaries, and smiled. “Now, who’s next?”
The next opponent was a goblin wielding twin daggers, followed by a skrell Ice Mage, then another human, this time a Ranger. In each case, Reflexive Evasion shone through. The synergy it had alongside Synaptic Barbs was incredible. Synaptic Barbs detected the movements around him, while Reflexive Evasion guided him to the most efficient means of escape.
Of course, he didn’t really need to evade any of these attacks. Each of the sparring matches ended in much the same way, with Kyle choosing to take one of the blows head on to create an opening for a more devastating blast of Repel. Each time, the mercenary yielded after, and Kyle checked them out for injuries before moving on.
When the last match ended, there was a round of applause from the spectators as the mercenaries left. Kyle saw smiles on the faces of the stronger mercenaries who were looking onward. Luke Worthington walked over, and rapped Kyle’s knuckles.
“Impressive fights, Mr. Mayhew.”
“Thank you. It was good to get a little exercise in before we get to Kertan Six.”
“Hopefully that’s the hardest fighting any of us have to do,” Luke said.
Kyle offered him a weary smile. “I think you and I both know that’s wishful thinking.”
“Very much so,” Worthington agreed as they left the training grounds. “I knew people on the missing shuttle, you know. Crewmates I served with, many years ago. This expedition is important for my closure, as well as you and your people’s.”
“You mean to say that the fungal colony and the missing shuttle are connected,” Kyle said, confirming a suspicion he’d been carrying for a while.
“Precisely. Your friend, Boltsbury, will have more to share. Suffice it to say that I look forward to putting this behind me.”
Worthington’s expression was tired, and Kyle didn’t push any further. “I look forward to it, too. Have a good evening, captain.”
Kyle returned to his room, washed up, and decided to spend the remainder of the day in solitude. The Corthian Mining training indicated that this fungus was able to infect humanoids. Assuming nobody from Garth’s expedition had been infected, it was pretty clear where they’d gotten that data.
Worse still, Corthian Mining mentioned that a confirmed unawakened had been spotted with D Grade levels of power. How could they have known, unless that person was recognized after their infection? The longer Kyle thought about it, the more concerned he grew. Finally, sensing Kyle’s growing frustration, C.H.A.D.D. spoke.
[YOU SEEM PERTURBED, DR. MAYHEW. WHAT CAN I DO TO ASSIST YOU?]
“That’s because I am, C.H.A.D.D. Can you pull up any records you have on mana-enriched antifungals? Or interactions between standard healing skills and awakened fungal infestations?”
[WHAT IS IT THAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR, DR. MAYHEW?]
“I’m looking for treatment options,” Kyle said. “Is there a way that we can treat anybody infected? Remove the fungus altogether?”
[IT DEPENDS ON THE TYPE OF INFECTION, DR. MAYHEW. IF IT IS CAUGHT EARLY, THE ANTIFUNGAL POTIONS BREWED AND PREPARED BY CORTHIAN MINING WILL BE QUITE EFFECTIVE. TRADITIONAL HEALING SPELLS TEND TO BE LESS SO, THOUGH PURIFICATION-TYPE SKILLS CAN OFTEN PURGE THE SPORES BEFORE THEY HAVE TAKEN ROOT.]
“What about after an infection?” Kyle pressed.
[THERE IS VERY LITTLE LITERATURE ON THE SUBJECT, DR. MAYHEW. HOWEVER, FROM MY RECORDS, IT APPEARS THAT MOST DO NOT EVEN ATTEMPT IT.]
“And why is that?”
[BECAUSE OF THE NATURE OF HOW THESE INFECTIONS PROGRESS. THE FUNGAL STALKS BEGIN TO SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE BODY, RELEASING DIFFERENT CHEMICALS AS THEY BIND WITH THE HOST’S NERVOUS SYSTEM. BY THE TIME MANY OF THE EXTERNAL SYMPTOMS BEGIN TO MANIFEST, THE FUNGUS HAS LARGELY INTERWOVEN WITH MOST OF THE CORE FUNCTIONS OF THE HOST. ATTEMPTING TO REMOVE THE FUNGUS AT THAT POINT WOULD RESULT IN CATASTROPHIC DAMAGE TO THE HOST.]
Kyle rubbed his chin absentmindedly, considering the problem. “What if we tried to purge bit-by-bit, healing the damage in the process? It would be slower, probably pretty painful, but could it be theoretically possible?”
[THERE ARE THREE DIFFERENT ACADEMIC PAPERS THAT MENTION SIMILAR PROCESSES. UNFORTUNATELY, NONE HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL. AWAKENED FUNGI TYPICALLY HAVE INCREDIBLE VITALITY, WHICH IS MERGED WITH THE HOST’S UPON FULL INFECTION. THE FUNGUS WILL CONTINUE TO ATTEMPT TO HEAL THE DAMAGE INFLICTED TO IT, AND WILL BURN THE HOST’S LIFE ENERGY TO DO IT.]
“There has to be something that can be done,” Kyle protested.
[ALL OF THE RECORDS I CURRENTLY POSSESS INDICATE THAT IT HAS NOT BEEN DONE. DR. MAYHEW, I CAN CONTINUE TO THEORIZE; HOWEVER, IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU DO NOT ALLOW THIS TO CLOUD YOUR JUDGMENT.]
“I won’t,” Kyle promised, closing his eyes. “Just see what you can do. If this thing has our friends, our people, I want to know that we don’t have another choice.”
[UNDERSTOOD, DR. MAYHEW.]