War's Beginning (4)

'Whoever they are, they're currently far above me.'

He needed to grow stronger as soon as possible. Reaffirming his determination, Liam heard One's voice.

"If that was all, then let's go."

The other soldiers all started moving. One left the room as Liam followed in tow. It was only then that Liam had the opportunity to notice how distinct their armor was from that of the other soldiers. While also black, theirs didn't cover them entirely, leaving the snout and face open. Some also didn't have helmets. Additionally, the Elite Armor was much simpler compared to some of the more ornamented armors of the Captains Liam saw. They were tighter, as well.

Wherever they went, the soldiers and assistance personnel looked at them with respect and avoided being in their way. Nevertheless, this couldn't keep them from throwing weird glances at Liam.

'It must be very surprising to see a human in one of the Elite Squads.'

Liam was lost in his thoughts as he followed One and the others. He would eventually be forced to kill all of these creatures, but could they truly be considered evil? He doubted it. It was more accurate to say that they were following the orders that came from above. Many of them would also have families and things they loved and wanted to protect. From what he had seen of the Drakkhan, they were strikingly similar to humans when it came to emotions and sociability. It wouldn't be surprising for them to develop the same kind of interpersonal relationships and value them the same way.

A bad feeling wormed its way inside Liam's heart. It was born out of the realization that he would kill innocents in the future. It was the same feeling as when he killed the soldiers of the organization in the Ancient Forest. Guilt. Self-blame and self-loathing. It was an ugly amalgamation of negative thoughts and emotions that ate away at him. Trapped in this feeling and by the thoughts that emerged from it, he barely noticed when they reached their destination.

Raising his head, Liam saw a sleek, small ship, the size of a large galleon. Its design, however, was more aerodynamic, resembling the tip of an arrow. It was as if it had been built with the specific purpose of cutting through the atmosphere. Like the others, its surface rippled and opened, allowing the group to enter it. Liam threw his thoughts to the back of his mind and focused on what was in front of him. The ship was already full of soldiers who stopped to greet them. The ship's insides were less cramped than Liam expected. Made entirely of the black metal, the main corridor gave way to big rooms filled with beds, as he could detect with his Aura Sight, while a small floating platform led to an upper level with smaller, individual rooms.

One went for the platform and started going up, the others following him and jumping on. He stopped in front of the corridor that led to the thirteen individual rooms, looking specifically at Liam.

"Pick a room. We will stay inside until we arrive at Zancorix. Soon, this ship will go inside the Commander's and we will depart."

Then, he turned and entered the first room to the left. Liam entered the first one to the right as the others sorted themselves out, conversing among themselves. It seemed like they were highly used to one another, each going to a specific room with accustomed ease. One of the soldiers, the big one called Three, stood in front of Liam's room for some time before lifting his arm and slamming it on the door, opening it.

"That's my room, newbie. Get out."

Liam sighed. The lack of respect they had for him was clear as day, but he hadn't expected them to show it so blatantly. Nevertheless, this wasn't a matter to fight over, especially considering that his opponent was probably far stronger than him. Calmly, he walked past the big Drakkhan and out of the room, going over to the last remaining one and entering it. Inside it, he released his Aura, which slammed against the thick walls. His weakness was frustrating. He could not do anything against Three except acquiesce. Even speaking out would result in nothing, since the other team members would be favorable to the Drakkhan.

'I need to get stronger.'

Feeling the need to get more powerful as quickly as possible once more, Liam inspected the room. It was largely empty, except for the mat on the ground and the small black table in front of it. A stand to his right had a bottle with a mysterious liquid. As Liam picked it up, a System window appeared in front of him.

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Drakkhan Nutritious Solution

* Standard means of nutrition of the Elite Squads of the Drakkhan Empire. A tasteless, extremely concentrated solution of all the nutrients a Drakkhan needs to survive without Aura. Usually saved up for extreme situations.

* A sip can sustain a Drakkhan's body for 4 days.

* Increases a Drakkhan's reflexes and stats minimally for an hour after drinking.

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'…Can I even drink this?'

There was no guarantee that what a Drakkhan's body needed to survive would be the same as what he needed. The solution could even prove to be harmful to him. Putting the bottle back on the stand, he sat on the mat and closed his eyes. He started to meditate, clearing his mind and focusing on the flow of Aura inside his body. By repeatedly trying to find new Pathways and optimize the flow as a whole, he could consistently keep his Aura usage as efficient as possible. Some time into it, he felt the ship move. It was a very slight vibration, almost undetectable, which he had only noticed because of his state of heightened concentration. Clearly, the Drakkhan had taken great care to make the ship's movement as smooth as possible, likely in order to avoid disturbing the Elite Squad inside.

'I wonder how powerful the other members are.'

While One was much stronger than him, he was also the Captain. It was unlikely that the other members were on his level; as such, Liam felt the need to know how large was the gap between him and the others, although the pressure he felt from Three just a while ago made him realize that he was likely the weakest one in the Squad. On that note, he should also remember to consider his Skills. Opening his eyes, Liam stopped concerning himself about the Aura flow and got to actively thinking about his skillset.

'I still lack damage potential.'

Crescent Moon Wave's composition was too dispersed to allow for a great amount of damage to be dealt at once, even though it was his best area of effect Skill. Once again, he thought about fusing the Skill with Drought, running into the same problem as before. Their natures were too different. While Drought consisted of concentrating his Aura on a single point, Crescent Moon Wave did the opposite. Liam lifted his finger, a small blade of Aura in the shape of a half-moon appearing on it. It was a miniature version of his Skill. Then, it expanded to become almost as wide as the room he was in.

'Drought.'

The blade crumpled in on itself, bending until it became a small dot.

'As expected, it won't work like this.'

He needed to change his strategy. Drought expanded at the moment of impact; maybe he could take advantage of that somehow.

'I could also try to change Crescent Moon Wave itself.'

Naturally, that was much easier said than done. It was a Skill devised by Eynart, who had lived and trained for centuries. While the Golem had called him talented, Liam doubted he was enough of a genius to alter such a technique for the better. He needed to base himself on something before even thinking of changing the Skill.

'The Drakkhan probably have techniques of their own. Varlian would have access to the best ones.'

Since they were already in an alliance, why not take advantage of it while he still could? Liam decisively brought out the Communicator from his armor's inventory, putting his Aura into it and focusing on the first name that appeared on the contact list. Soon, he felt a connection through his Aura.

"I didn't expect you to contact me so soon. Is there a problem?"

"No, I just need something from you. Is there some sort of database of Skills and the methods of acquiring them? You should know what I'm talking about. Your species has been around for a long time, after all. I find it unlikely that you would have made no attempts to categorize and organize the System's workings."

Varlian was silent. Taking this as his cue to keep going, Liam tried not to lose momentum.

"You said it would be better for me to become stronger as fast as possible. One of the quickest ways to do that would be to acquire new Skills and improve the ones I already have. Don't you agree?"

"…We do have a database, but some of the skills won't work for humans. Many of them were created and improved with the Drakkhan's anatomy and physical capabilities in mind. We also had much higher base stats at level 0 than your average of 10, so they would also place a strain on your body and that of any other human at the same level."

Liam narrowed his eyes. It seemed like Varlian had been researching humans to a great degree. He thought the lizardman would have stopped after finding out about the Personal Attributes, but it wasn't farfetched of him to also investigate the base stats at level 0. It allowed the Empire to quickly and effectively calculate humanity's potential.

"Don't worry about that. How can I access the database?"

Varlian was silent once more. It was as if he were gauging the possible gains and losses in his mind, deciding on the course of action that would benefit him the most. Liam knew this was a gamble. Varlian would risk having Liam become too powerful too quickly, allowing him to get out of control when the time came. At the same time, not allowing Liam to do so would hinder his development, diminishing his usefulness in the long term. It was a luxury the prince could not afford, since he was losing the war and the clock was ticking. Finally, he seemed to have made a decision.

"Normally, it would be impossible for you to be granted access to it, but I'll humor you. I'll give allow you to browse the first level of the Library."

"The first level?"

"It's where the most common techniques are. Don't you have very few Skills? Even our common ones should be of use to you. Unless you expected me to give you the secret techniques of the Empire without gaining anything in return?"

Varlian's voice carried traces of mockery.

"…No, it's alright. Thank you."

Liam was forced to accept it. Even common Skills were better than nothing and he was currently stumped, so maybe they would enlighten him somehow. He felt the connection being cut off, but the sphere continued to glow blue. A larger holographic window appeared in the air, its contents being shown. It was like a rather minimalistic shopping website back on Earth, except the only category he could see was labeled "Skills". As he tapped on it, the window instantly changed.

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[First Level]

[Second Level]

[Third Level]

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Tapping on the second or third levels made a pop-up appear saying he did not have access to them, so he settled for the First Level. The website changed to a big list with various categories at the top. With amusement, Liam observed it was much like the shopping lists back on Earth indeed. There were various filters, from "Weapon Skills" to "Aura Circulation techniques."

'Aura techniques?'

Curious, Liam tapped on it and watched the list change in real-time. He then tapped the first technique that showed up.