Chương 57: Machina

Gray and his team materialized in the middle of a sprawling meadow. A vibrant patchwork of wildflowers blanketed the grass, their petals swaying gently in the breeze. Delilah immediately wandered ahead, her attention catching on a lone blossom among the sea of color. She crouched, plucked it from the earth, and tucked the stem behind her ear.

"How lucky am I?" Delilah said, admiring the flower.

"This is the only red spider lily in the entire field. They're my favorite."

"Really? I figured they'd be delilahs." A smug grin spread across Gray's face. Delilah stared at him flatly. Gray cleared his throat into his fist.

"Anyway, where do you guys think we should drop the pylon?" Delilah swept both arms toward the open meadow.

"Here seems perfect." Andre glanced around at the vast stretch of exposed grass and scratched his cheek.

"Is putting our base out in the open really a good idea?" Both he and Delilah turned toward Gray, waiting for the final decision.

"Honestly, open fields give me a little PTSD." Gray rubbed the back of his neck.

"Let's find somewhere with actual cover."

"Don't worry your little head about it. Nobody's sneaking up on us." Before Gray could object, Delilah snatched the pylon from his hands and drove it into the soil. A hexagonal pulse rippled across the ground. Steel panels erupted from the earth around the crystal, locking together with a series of metallic clanks until a three-foot high defensive perimeter surrounded the base. The top, however, remained completely exposed.

"You can't be serious!" Gray threw up his hands.

"You just turned us into sitting ducks. We're practically begging to be hunted out here!" Delilah drew the twin revolvers from her waist. White light washed over the weapons as their frames stretched, fused, and reshaped into a heavy sniper rifle. She settled the long barrel over one shoulder.

"The only one doing the hunting is me." She rapped her knuckles against the rifle.

"Besides, we shouldn't waste half the day debating real estate when we could be earning points."

"Delilah is right," a quiet voice called from behind them. The trio turned in unison. Eugene squeaked and stiffened as all three sets of eyes landed on him. He nervously rubbed a hand across the chassis of his drone.

"I-I can scout for us. Once it's airborne, it'll detect any other Awakened in the vicinity." Gray's expression brightened instantly. He stepped closer and leaned in to inspect the machine. Machina's Drone [Soul Blade] [Common]"A soul… Soul Blade?" Gray shouted. He glanced toward Delilah and Andre, then hooked an arm around Eugene's shoulders.

"Give us a second, guys," Gray said, raising one finger.

"Uh… polish your weapons or something." He steered Eugene several paces away before lowering his voice.

"So…" Gray scratched his cheek.

"Can you explain the whole Soul Blade thing? Is that a typo? Because unless I'm missing something, that is very much not a blade." Eugene gave a quiet chuckle.

"I asked my mentor the exact same thing. The way he explained it, a blade doesn't necessarily have to be a sharp, pointed weapon. It's more like a lethal extension of yourself. So technically, any weapon or tool can qualify as a 'Soul Blade.'" Gray folded his arms and shook his head.

"Sounds to me like Tim just couldn't be bothered to change the label."

"Tim?" Eugene asked. Gray flicked his wrist dismissively.

"Never mind. Anyway, how did your Soul Trial go?"

"It was quite simple, actually. I only had to prove I was competent at piloting the drone. My class already instilled the foundational knowledge in me, so it wasn't difficult at all." Eugene's gaze drifted toward the katana resting at Gray's hip.

"How about yours?"

"Have you ever tried sleeping while choking to death?" Gray asked flatly. Eugene's face twisted into a grimace.

"No…" If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"Mr. Kim! Come over here!" Delilah called, waving him over and mercifully cutting the morbid conversation short. Gray jogged toward the others, with Eugene trailing a few steps behind.

"What is it? And stop calling me that."

"Open your status screen and check the shop menu," Andre said. Gray raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? There's a shop menu?" He summoned his status sheet. Sure enough, a Shop Menu tab sat in the upper-left corner of the translucent window. With a thought, Gray opened it. The selection was sparse, offering only ten items for purchase. Most consisted of basic defensive equipment—spike traps, cannons, barricades, and similar fortifications. Two entries, however, immediately caught his attention.

Guild Communication Device — 10, 000 GP Base Reinforcements — 3, 000 GP Gray selected each entry, expanding their descriptions. Guild Communication Device — 10, 000 GP A must-have for forming alliances. Use this device to communicate and ping your location to potential allies. Base Reinforcements — 3, 000 GP You didn't think you'd get a fully outfitted base right off the bat, did you? I can't stop hearing Tim's voice whenever I read these descriptions, Gray thought.

Beside the Shop tab was another labeled Point Distribution. He tapped it, and a fresh interface unfolded across his vision. Point Distribution Auto-Assign Contribution Points: Y/N Contribution Point Percentage Allocation: 100% Remaining Gray Kim: — Delilah Hall: — Andre White: — Eugene Whitaker: — Delilah promptly leaned into his personal space, peering at his chest as though she could see straight through the translucent interface. Gray dismissed the window before she could get any closer.

"You're not getting me a second time," he said.

"What do you need?"

"Well, I was wondering…" Delilah folded her arms.

"How will you be allocating the points, Boss?"

"Oh, so you can see that menu too." Gray glanced between his teammates.

"I bet that's going to cause some problems for other parties." He rested his hands on his hips.

"I'm assuming an even twenty-five percent split works for everyone?"

"Very reasonable." Delilah gave a firm nod.

"That's incredibly generous of you!" Andre said, beaming. Eugene hesitated.

"Really?"

"It only seems fair." Gray shrugged.

"Nickel-and-diming everyone based on individual performance is just asking for drama. This saves us the headache." He reopened the menu, then locked in the distribution settings. Point Distribution Auto-Assign Points: [Y]/N Contribution Point Percentage Allocation: 0% Remaining Gray Kim: [25%] Delilah Hall: [25%] Andre White: [25%] Eugene Whitaker: [25%]"So, what's the plan now?" Delilah asked. Gray rubbed his chin as he surveyed the open meadow around them.

"Scouting the area should be our first priority before we decide anything else." He turned toward Eugene.

"Do you mind?"

"Of course not," Eugene replied. Eugene set the drone gently on the grass. A moment later, his pupils shimmered blue, and the machine's propellers spun to life. Despite their blistering speed, the blades produced no sound. He raised both hands as though an invisible keyboard floated in front of him. His fingers tapped through the air in quick, precise motions, and the drone shot upward. It climbed rapidly into the sky in complete silence until it was little more than a dark speck against the blue.

Eugene abruptly stopped typing, and the drone locked into place overhead. Gray craned his neck and squinted up at it.

"Holy crap. Can that thing actually see us from all the way up there?"

"Not clearly, no." Eugene resumed tapping at the unseen controls.

"I sent it that high so I could use the radar scan. It can pinpoint the location of any Riftborn or Awakened participant within a thousand-foot radius."

"One thousand?!" Andre exclaimed.

"There's practically no chance of anyone sneaking up on us. Can it tell the difference between Riftborn and Awakened?" A faint grin tugged at Eugene's mouth.

"That's the beauty of the technology. It can." Gray's eyes widened. With that kind of surveillance, they could clear the pseudo-Astral Rifts with efficiency—pinpointing targets before they ever entered visual range while steering clear of unnecessary fights with rival parties. Eugene paused his motions. He lifted one finger, then brought it down sharply as though striking an invisible Enter key.

"And that should start the scan." Gray watched the side of Eugene's face. A thin blue line swept across his glowing pupils from left to right, mimicking the motion of a radar display. Several seconds passed before Eugene began rattling off the results.

"There's a cluster of roughly twenty beasts about two hundred feet that way." He pointed toward the dense forest bordering the meadow.

"Another fifteen are about a hundred feet adjacent to them." His hand shifted slightly.

"Around ten more are five hundred feet east." He swept his arm farther out.

"And there's a party of four Awakened just under nine hundred feet from our base." He adjusted his aim a few degrees to the right.

"Those are only the nearest open rifts. There are several more farther out."

"Great. We've got options." Gray glanced toward the forest.

"Which one do you think we should hit first?"

"Probably the closest," Eugene replied. Gray clapped his hands together.

"Perfect. Let's move out."

"Guys?" Andre spoke up before anyone could leave.

"Shouldn't somebody stay behind and guard the base? Just in case?" Gray shook his head.

"No half-measures right now. We need everyone if we're going to clear as many rifts as possible before the other parties do. They'll be thinking the exact same way." He gestured toward the pylon.

"The points for destroying another guild's base scale with that guild's leaderboard ranking. And since everybody is still sitting at the bottom of the barrel—""It's basically worthless to prioritize destroying another pylon right now," Delilah cut in. Gray snapped his fingers and pointed at her.

"Exactly."