Monroe

Chapter Four Hundred and Thirty-Four. Well, that's a problem.

Bob frowned as he followed Kharvic into the infirmary. There were hundreds of people, mostly Lovar but with a smattering of Shallihs laying or sitting on cots, mostly suffering in silence.

"I'll need to be in the center of the room and uninterrupted," Bob began. "While what I'm about to do is a System spell, it's not one I have, so I'll be casting it without the System's help. That means it will take longer, and it won't benefit from school or spell levels, as I don't have them."

"We thought that the only way to use magic was through the System," Kharvic muttered.

"I received an achievement called 'The Old Ways' when I first cast a spell without the assistance of the System, so it's something the System recognizes," Bob explained as Kharvic guided him to the center of the room, carefully moving aside four of the cots to provide a bit of space.

"How difficult is it to learn?" Kharvic asked.

Bob settled down on the floor, cross-legged. "You would need to have mana sight as a bare minimum, which is a spell that can be found in the Shadowmancy School," Bob shook his head. "It also helps to have persistent effect so you're trying to split your focus on maintaining that spell while you try grasp and manipulate the mana to form another. It's something that should be doable for most people who take a spell-casting path somewhere around level eleven or twelve."

It was Kharvic's turn to shake his head. "We're a long way from that," he replied, the disappointment clear in his voice.

"Not really," Bob said, "but we'll get to that soon enough. For the moment, I need you to step back and keep everyone calm," he instructed.

Bob focused on the mana that permeated the area around him.

It was... richer than he'd ever seen before. It wasn't dense, quite the opposite, but while it lacked in mass, it made up for the lack in sheer volume.

In a way, it reminded him a bit of the flows of mana he saw being pulled down into a Dungeon.

He wondered just where all of this mana was flowing toward, as it was all moving in the same direction.

Shaking his head, he cleared his mind. First, he needed to heal these people.

Kharvic bit back an oath as brilliant cords of multi-colored light began to form around the man.

When the Hurstall'kalwin had first arrived in this place, they'd all been startled by the occasional appearance of flickers of colored light, the Dharlings more so than the Lovar, as the smaller people had sharper eyesight.

This was the same phenomena manifested exponentially.

He'd seen the Regeneration spell cast many times, but it had never looked like this.

Kharvic watched as cords became cables as they were woven together, then further twisted to form three-dimensional shapes, which became four-dimensional as they shifted in a steady rhythm. He was nearly overwhelmed by the complexity of the design, before it suddenly collapsed on itself as multiple threads were pulled taut. For a single moment, he could see the complex shape that had formed, before it seemed to explode, sending a wave of corruscating light out from where it had been, which was directly in front of Bob. Like a stone tossed into a pond, the wave of light rushed out, passing through the entire room.

Exclamations of surprise arose from the cots, first for the sudden light and then with the realization that their wounds were healing.

Checking his display, Kharvic was surprised to see that it had only taken a minute and a half for Bob to cast the spell.

Bob rose to his feet and offered him a smile. "I'm neither as fast nor as skilled as Jessica, but I can get the job done."

"Yes, I would agree," Kharvic nodded, beckoning the man to follow him out of the infirmary.

"It is somewhat frustrating to see what you are capable of and to know that there is such a large gap between us," Kharvic admitted as they walked down the hall.

"You could have your healers doing the same thing within a few months, once we get you setup with a Dungeon," Bob replied.

"We saw references to those in the System menus, but we haven't found one," Kharvic shook his head.

"Well," Bob began, "I think, and I could be wrong here, but I think that we're currently sort of outside or maybe in between dimensions," he said slowly. "The monsters that are showing up on your ship are mostly just a side effect of mana pooling. An actual Dungeon will draw mana from the area and condense it to form monsters. If you've checked through your menus, you know you can form parties and enter a Dungeon at a set level, but what you might not know is that Dungeons provide quests when you enter them, and by completing those quests, you receive mana crystals, normally a hundred or so for completing the Dungeon."

Kharvic forced himself to remain calm. If true, and thus far Bob hadn't done anything to indicate he wasn't being completely honest, then salvation was closer to hand than he'd hoped.

"I think it would set our roots in fertile soil if we were to have access to a Dungeon as soon as possible," Kharvic said.

"Yep," Bob agreed. "To that end, I think we should have you put together a group of your people and the Shallihs that can come with us when we go to talk to Kellan, the Emperor of Thayland, about offering you a place live and a Dungeon to delve while we look for a new home for you."

Kharvic nodded. He'd rather have a new world to settle on immediately, but in a way, gaining access to a steady supply of crystals with which to advance was more important.

"You said earlier that you knew this man, Kellan, well?" He asked.

Bob shook his head. "Dragon," he stated firmly.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Khavic cocked his head to the side. He'd already encountered a few instances when whatever translation power Bob was using hadn't quite lined up linguistically. "I'm sorry?"

"Kellan," Bob replied. "He's not a man, he's a Dragon. Capital D. Eighty feet long, scales, wings, propensity to breathe fire hot enough to vaporize steel. Do you not have Dragons in your mythology?"

"We do, actually." Kharvic frowned. "Why do we, though? I'm assuming that your world had those legends as well."

"From what I've been able to gather, while our universes didn't have ambient active mana, there were still people who were naturally gifted enough to get a glimpse of other worlds," Bob shrugged. "It's mostly guesswork and supposition on my part, but it fits, and until I actually need to know, I'll take it."

"Let's head to the cafeteria," Kharvic suggested. "I'll arrange for your friends to join us, and we can discuss our next steps."

Jessica found everyone sitting at a table in what had to be a cafeteria.

There were several Shallihs seated near them, casting envious glances at the side of beef that Monroe was sedately devouring.

Next to her, Lily let out a low hiss, her tail swishing.

As they drew closer, Jessica saw that the contents of the plates in front of everyone else were more... herbaceous in nature.

"Not a lot of meat, I take it," she said as they joined a short line in front of a counter.

"No," Lily agreed. "We harvest what we can from the monsters, but despite their ferocity, they don't have a lot of meat on them, and although they are a deadly menace, there aren't enough of them to feed us."

Her ears flattened as she continued, and Jessica once again had to fight the urge to pet the top of her head. "We can live on the plants the Lovar grow, but it isn't pleasant."

"Strewth, I imagine more than a few of you wind up a bit crook, yeah?" She shook her head.

"Not often, but yes," Lily agreed, as they reached the front of the line and she accepted her plate from another Shallihs who looked almost apologetic as he handed it over.

"Yeah, you're teeth don't so much say as they shout 'obligate carnivore,'" Jessica said as she inspected her own plate.

It looked like mashed potatoes covered in gravy, with green beans on the side. Of course, the mashed potatoes were lavender, the gravy was orange, and the green beans were, in fact, pink, but the shapes and textures more or less matched up.

Her time on Thayland and then on Url had done a lot to wear away her prejudices regarding the shape and color of her food. Alien worlds had alien foods, and especially during their trip to Url, she hadn't always had the luxury of falling back on food from Earth.

She walked over to the table and sat down next to Dave and Amanda, who had conveniently left a space across from Bob, who was steadily plowing through his meal.

"How were the other infirmaries?" Mike asked.

Jessica shrugged. "Not great, but not that awful. They've got some sweet medical tech that I'd bet some of the science boffins back home would be super keen to get their hands on."

"Like what?"

"They've got this neat two-piece bandage; you basically spray the first part into the wound, and it forms a sort of flexible jelly-like layer. It lets a bit of blood flow through it, but not much. Then you spray the second part on top of that, including the skin, which contracts, pulling everything together. It doesn't allow any blood flow at all," Jessica explained. "There's a bit more to it, like how the first layer of jelly stuff sort of forms a capillary network that responds to the veins and arteries, but I got lost when they started explaining to me the hows and whys."

"That does sound pretty awesome," Bob chimed in, having swallowed his food.

"I'm sure it saved quite a few lives," she agreed, taking the opportunity to nudge his foot under the table with her own.

"Hopefully that is one more thing that we might be able to trade," Kharvic said from his place on the side of Bob.

"To Earth, yeah," Jessica replied. "Thayland has had the System forever, so they're a long way behind technologically, but they're also sort of ahead when it comes to magic."

Kharvic frowned as he turned to Bob. "You're planning to take us to Thayland, though."

"I am," Bob nodded. "Earth doesn't have enough capacity for the people currently living there, in terms of Dungeons. Thayland has been letting people from Earth delve their Dungeons in exchange for half the Mana Crystals they receive. I'm sure Kellan would be willing to make a similar arrangement with your people."

"Also, we travel between the two worlds often enough, and this bloke," she nodded toward Bob," knows a boffin or two associated with one of the governments. They can likely set up a meeting with someone who can work out a deal with you."

"I'd say Alex, but I'm not sure that's who I want to lead with," Bob muttered as he scooped another forkful of mashed potatoes and gravy.

Mike winced. "Check with the White House; they'll take you seriously and put you into contact with someone," he suggested.

"I like Alex," Amanda protested.

"I like him too, but you have to admit he's a bit much, especially pre-morning coffee," Dave replied.

"When can we meet the Emperor?" Kharvic asked. "The sooner we meet him and sign an agreement, the sooner we can start moving people off the Hurry and to a safe place."

"Once you have your party sorted out," Bob said, covering his mouth. "It takes me about sixty seconds to cast the ritual."

"It will be Lily and I," Kharvic stated. "We are the respective leaders of our people, and honestly I don't have anyone else to spare."

Bob cocked his head to the side as he lowered his hand, having finished that bite. He smiled that crooked little smile of his.

"I think you might be in better shape than you think," Bob suggested. "Team Jake has been awfully busy."

"Is that what we're calling the Jurassic Park mistake?" Mike groused.

"What Bob is saying," Jessica interjected, flashing her own smile at her favorite bloke, "is that those dinosaurs he summoned have likely been chewing their way through any monster that shows up."

Kharvic tapped the bracer on his arm, which she suspected served a similar function to their own, although she couldn't see a screen anywhere.

He nodded slowly, his eyes moving rapidly.

"It appears you are correct," he murmured.

"How does that work?" Dave asked. "We have our own computers, but we have to pull up our screens," he continued as he demonstrated using his armband.

"An ocular implant," Kharvic replied. "I had the surgery when we first boarded the Hurstall'kalwin, as it was recommended for all officers." He grimaced. "Unfortunately, despite passing the diagnostics we ran beforehand, mine was defective, so I had to undergo surgery again." He sighed. "We did learn another set of parameters to test from the experience, though, and we were able to avoid anyone else needing a secondary surgery."

"It sounds," Bob began, "like while you have access to some pretty advanced technology, you don't have a lot of experience using or manufacturing it."

"We don't," Kharvic admitted. "Our ancestors planned to live a more agrarian lifestyle, and we've followed their plans. Traveling to and from the Hurstall'kalwin to learn and maintain her systems was actually considered a noble sacrifice," he explained. "While others were mastering their trade, establishing a homestead, and finding a partner, we were spending our time learning skills we never expected to need or use."

"It's a good thing you did, yeah?" Jessica shook her head. "You'd have been well and truly buggered if you hadn't."

Kharvic nodded.

"Monroe," Bob sighed. He'd been about to take another forkful from his plate when it had suddenly disappeared.

Looking down the table, Jessica saw the feline of mass consumption dragging his tongue over a plate that looked suspiciously familiar, his slab of beef gone.

"Well, it appears I'm done eating," Bob grumbled. "How about I pop open a portal, and we go see Kellan?"

He stood up and stretched, giving Jessica a chance to admire just how well that shirt fit. She restrained herself from licking her lips. Larry knew his business that was for sure. He'd also known that Bob had desperately needed a woman's eye for his new wardrobe and had discreetly engaged with her to make a few decisions regarding cut and color.

"Mind if I just open it here, or would you rather go somewhere else?" Bob asked.

Kharvic looked around at the mostly empty cafeteria.

"Here should be fine, I suppose," he replied.

"Alright then, give me a minute or so," Bob said as he began to cast the ritual.

He stopped a second later, his eyes opening wide.

"Well, fuck," he breathed. "Apparently, I can't open a portal from here."