Soulforge Legacy Series

When I finally stepped out of that cave, I found that the sun had not just moved, it had vanished from the sky. In its place was a moon. One that was already halfway through its journey.

It wasn’t the fighting that took forever. I mean, while there were a few creatures down there, they were few and far between. If I had to guess, most had become food for the army of spiders.

No, it was the searching through every cavern that took forever. And even then we only managed to clear out a small portion of the space down there. The various passages and caves seemed to go on forever. It was our Unit Captain that ended up recalling us. Something about leaving the job to people with the skills and equipment to do the job more effectively.

As with the rest of the day, my team only talked to me when they absolutely had to. Even when Tomâs joined us, they ignored me. The man himself just sneered at me the one time he looked in my direction before focusing on his job.

Honestly, that was fine. At this point I didn’t care what the group did or said. I didn’t even care that they ignored me while we were in a battle. That is, just as long as they didn’t turn around and attack me. It was enough to have dealt with one group effectively betraying me for their own ends.

If anything, this also gave me a chance to explore the area and even collect some materials for myself. One such place had been down a small hole in one of the cave crevices. One that I pointed out to the group. When they ignored me, I took the opportunity to explore it on my own.

Sure, this could have been a monumentally stupid idea. It wasn’t like I knew what was on the other side. But what was life worth if one didn’t take a chance now and then.

It was a good thing I had. A small number of worm like monsters had used the narrow holes to turn this into a safe haven for their brood. Though, that was probably not the reason they had done so. The small earthen crystal set into the center of the cave was what had likely drawn them in.

One flurry of fireballs blew the various creatures to bits, clearing the way for me to approach the meter tall crystal. And now that we were on our way back to the city, I was going to see a certain jeweler about how much it was worth. That is assuming I had some free time.

Yeah, I should have expected that wasn’t going to happen. Almost the moment we returned we were pulled into training. Given the various things that Dimitri was shouting at us, we are slow and weak. That each person should have been able to take on all those monsters and had time to spare.

Even as he shouted that, I tried to even think about how such a thing would have been possible. Fuck, I probably wasn’t the only one. Not that any of us was going to tell him that.

But, almost as a result of our ‘shortcomings’ we were forced to endure non-stop training until the sun set. To say a few people passed out would be an understatement. Fuck, I passed out a couple of hours in.

After what could have only been a dozen or two minutes, I was jolted up by a constant stream of ice water. And no, the stream did not stop until I managed to get out of the caster’s range.

Finally, though, we were released to do whatever we wanted. Most of the group just passed out on the spot. I was probably one of the few to attempt to make it to my bunk.

I shouldn’t have bothered. Especially as I was pulled out by my hair. Yet another reminder to cut the stuff.

Unfortunately, even if the pain was enough to jerk me awake, the angle and darkness prevented me from being able to make out my attackers. Even as they started to hammer into me, I was unable to see them.

Of course, if that was my only sense that had been hindered, I would have been fine. With just my hearing I could have at least avoided their attacks, if not retaliate. But the world was dead silent. Various bugs, usually loud at night, were completely silent. Even the city beyond the walls had gone silent.

Fuck, I couldn’t even hear my own breathing. And it wasn’t alone. Every sense was being hindered by something. So much so that I didn’t feel the air move until the attack was on top of me and it wasn’t like I could smell my attackers. Not that I could before now.

Finally, the attacks stopped. And while I had expected whoever it was the do some real damage, I was happy they had limited their damage to blunt attacks. At least with those I could heal it on my own in time for training.

It was as my mana started to flow that sound returned. And while I would like to say it was because I had healed whatever damage had been done, the spell had just started and it was focused on my chest.

Still, I breathed a sigh of relief as I took in my surroundings. Genuinely happy at being able to sense so much. I just hoped that when I did get the gods to fix their fuckup, I would be allowed to keep these senses because, honestly, being human sucked.

Unable to sleep, I made my way out of the building. And while I could have probably left the compound, there wasn’t much to do this late at night. Well, nothing that I wanted to do.

Even getting a drink was out. Not because I didn’t want to get drunk or anything. Just thinking about how many people would try to pick me up caused a shiver of annoyance and disgust to ripple across my skin.

So, I laid down on the one section of grass in this place that had yet to be trampled to death. And for the first time since coming to this world, I took my time to look to the sky.

Unlike the skies of Earth, the sky here was covered in stars. Whether because of some magic or because they were much brighter, the stars made themselves known. Something that shouldn’t be all that possible with how bright the city was.

To me, the sky looked like some god had taken a thin piece of cloth and stretched it over some bulb. Some parts were thinner than others, allowing the light on the other side to force its way through.

Actually, what was up there? Was it some kind of illusion or was there a whole universe out there? If I was to fly up, would I hit a wall or leave the planet? Would I ever find out?

After a minute to think about it, I tossed that question out. Of course I would find out sooner or later. Even if I wasn’t the one to fly up, someone else would. If not because they were bored, then for some militaristic or commercial reason.

Just look at the space race. Two nations that raced each other to the sky and beyond. Not because they could but so that they could say they beat their competition there.

Though, while the USA could have stopped going to space when the USSR fell, they didn’t. Sure, they slowed down, but they didn’t stop. Not when there was so much they could do up there. And with the trips, came various pieces of technology.

From GPS to satellite communication. Mapping to CubeSats. Everything that went up had countless commercial and military uses. Which made the question of if we would find out what was beyond the sky a matter of when, not if. And if I had to guess, it would likely be sooner rather than later.

Though, what kind of satellite would they put up first? Something that we used back home as it was proven, or something more esoteric? I could almost imagine someone making a laser com satellite only for the government to use it as a laser weapon. Not that such a weapon would be all that powerful against anything on the planet. There was just too much atmosphere between it and the planet.

Well, that is assuming that the atmosphere was as thick and as dense as the one around Earth. Then again, with how seamless my body had handled the air on Earth, it couldn’t be all that different. So it really depended on how mana affected the atmosphere.

I kept my gaze focused on the stars, tracing out various images as I let my mind wander. Eventually, the sun rose on yet another day. With its rising came the groans from each bunkhouse as people woke to bruised and battered muscles.

Honestly, I almost wanted to thank my attackers. Without them forcing me up or forcing me to heal, my body would be just as bad as everyone else. But thanks to my need to heal my body, the spell had dealt with the muscles on top of everything else.

So, with a simple grunt, I got to my feet and made my way toward the dining area. Maybe this time I would be able to snag a plateful of those spicy sausages before they vanished to the hungry hippos of our unit.