Chương 10: 177. Safe Zone

Warrior reached around behind his neck, blindly feeling for the small, flat dial that controlled the collar. It was a complex piece of enchanting, and there would be very little for him to report back to the main-Alex. The dial turned to the left and right, causing his stats to rise or fall depending on the turn. That was it. He looked up as a huge burst of air filled the workshop. Raising his arm, he squinted against the twisted pressure and waited for it to die down.

"Would you stop that?" Warrior asked. Mage fixed his hair and straightened his t-shirt before looking around him in a small circle.

"Shit, where did the list go?" He shuffled a few steps away and grabbed the slip of paper from under a stool before addressing the other clone.

"You know I can't. There are still…" he paused, checking the list, "seven more of these for me to test."

"That's not too bad. Which one was that?"

"Not too bad? That doesn't even count the four new runes."

"What are you complaining about? Only the swift rune is actually primary there. The modified draining rune is a control rune. Also, the extend and exempt runes are modifier runes, so there's nothing for you to test until we take the next step."

"Bah," Mage said, waving his hand.

"That's bad enough. One new rune means it needs to be tested with five bases: Alteration, Directional, Area, Targeted, and Trap." He scratched his head and answered the previously asked question.

"Anyway, that was the breeze rune with the area base, with me at the center. Seems like the breeze rune almost always wants to create a tunnel, maybe because the spell bases are circular in shape? Not sure… here, throw this at me." Warrior caught the pen that was tossed in his direction. He looked at the blue writing utensil and shrugged before throwing it at his look-alike. Just as the piece of plastic was about to reach Mage, another gust of wind spun into existence.

The pen flew in a random direction at a higher speed than it had been originally thrown.

"Ha!" Mage called.

"Seems a little drastic," Warrior said skeptically.

"But what if it was an arrow? Or a bunch of arrows?"

"Don't you think arrows would be flying at you a bit faster than that?"

"Well, sure. Want to try again?" There was a brief pause before they both looked at each other with boyish grins. Warrior turned the dial down to no adjustment and removed the collar before standing to get the pen.

"Okay, let's start a bit harder and work our wait up until it makes it through. Sound good?" Warrior tossed the pen up and caught it.

"Works for me. Ready?" Mage held out his hand to the side, likely creating the spell circle on the ground, before nodding.

"Go for it." The next five minutes were spent with them steadily increasing the speed and strength with which the pen was thrown at the wind barrier. Even at his full Strength, limited as it was, Warrior was unable to get it to pierce the wind tunnel.

"Guess I need to go and get a bow. You think Sarah would let me use hers?"" I-I think we're good here," Mage said with a nervous laugh.

"As fun as that is, it seems more wasteful than just using a barrier spell."

"Aw, come on," Warrior said with a goofy smile.

"You said they need to be tested, right?"

"No, no, no. I've got other spells to try, and I want to try the swift rune with the targeted base anyway. Can I try that with you while you're not busy?"

"That's totally why you pulled me away from the collar work, wasn't it? No way. You just don't want to cast it on yourself," Warrior accused. They all still had the clear memory of Alex shocking himself with the spark rune in his first test of the targeted spell base.

"Fine. Had to try. At least watch while I try it, in case something goes wrong." Warrior agreed to watch while retrieving the collar and clasping it back around his neck. Mage shook out both of his arms and moved his head from side to side, preparing for the worst-case scenario. He breathed out quickly a few times before holding out his hand and going still. Stopping to watch, Warrior waited for something funny to happen. A few long heartbeats went by, but nothing changed.

"Did you do it?"

"Yeah, not sure what it did," Mage said, though the words came out far too fast, and his head turned to look at Warrior as if fast-forwarding.

"Holy… wait, it did work. Quick, run to the wall over there," he said while pointing. Mage looked at him with an odd expression and took off to jog, though he only made it a single step before he fell to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Warrior asked, coming to the other clone's side.

"What happened?"

"I… I think it's worn off now." Pushing himself up, Mage looked around with wide eyes.

"Okay, that was so weird. My limbs were moving way too fast; it just made me trip. I need to try that again." Warrior referenced their shared memories while he spoke, fascinated by the feelings and change in perception that Mage had felt. His mind quickly ran back through the scenario a few times, and he helped Mage to his feet before moving away to create space for himself.

"What are you doing?"

"Might as well try it too, right? We have the same stats; if we both practice it, we can combine what we're figuring out."

"Yeah, good call. You work on the movement, I'll work on the perception?"

"Works for me," Warrior said.

"Fits our naming convention at least." They both laughed. Warrior took a few more steps to the side, creating extra space, and turned to the right, looking from one end of the workshop to the other. Spinning up the first test spell, he did it with as low an amount of power as he could. This meant building the spell circle just barely large enough to fit around his body and intentionally keeping the [Spell Weaving] stacks low.

Building the targeted base, followed by the control nodes, and finally the swift rune, meant he was naturally at three stacks when it was cast. He stayed still, wanting to test things incrementally. First, he moved his dominant hand up and down, surprised at the speed with which it moved.

"Fuck, that's awesome," he said, his eyes growing wider with each movement. Within a few seconds, the spell wore off. He looked at the other clone with a huge smile, expecting to see a similar expression. It surprised him to see the frown from the seated Mage.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. Let me try again." Warrior took the time to do the same, casting the spell with the same parameters before attempting to take a few steps forward. With more caution than Mage's first attempt to run, he was able to move without falling, but it felt awkward. His muscles and legs were moving with more speed and force, but gravity remained unchanged, causing the natural timing of his steps to feel strange.

"It's not working," Mage said. He turned.

"What?"

"The spell isn't working on my mind. It's only working on the body."

"You're sure?"

"Definitely. Wait, that might make sense," Mage said, rubbing his chin.

"The spell circle for targeting was originally made from the body tempering rituals. I bet if we get more into its composition, there's a function of it that is specifically designed to target the body."

"Hmm.. that's not good," Warrior said, thinking about how quickly his limbs had just moved.

"I don't think it's bad either, though," Mage said, his excitement growing.

"What's our biggest strength?"

"Dashing good looks?" Mage let his face fall into an unamused stare.

"Fine, fine. Willpower."

"Yes. We've been told from the start that it's the mind's equivalent of agility. I doubt it will take too much training to adapt our minds to that speed. If speed of thought or mental agility is the only thing this spell is lacking… does that really matter? We just need to adjust our mind to move this fast. I'm certain it can keep up."

"I guess not…" Warrior said, seeing the connection and nodding in agreement.

"Guess we just need to get to practicing then, huh?" His grin grew with his excitement.

"Hell, yeah. Where should we start?" Mage asked.

"Let's start with base [Spell Weaving] stacks and go through a few mana pools' worth of casts to get used to the movement. When that's a bit better, we can move to increasing the stacks and eventually do a few tests with the layered circles."

"Oh, yeah. That will be amazing. Holy…" he tapered off as the implications fully settled in.

"How long do you think this'll last when layered with the extended duration?"

"Extended duration? I was thinking more about the empower rune layer. If it's already moving this fast… what happens when it's boosted?" They both laughed, eagerly jumping into testing the new spell's limitations. Scout sat nervously, looking at the metal table that acted as the centerpiece of the HA holding room. He'd been worried that something like this would happen while entering the Safe Zone. Edwin had even warned them before he left that the requirements to get in had grown stricter over the last month.

But the main-Alex had assured them that it wouldn't be an issue as long as Scout had the government-issued ID card from the shadow rift.

"I told him," Scout mumbled. He'd been waiting in the holding room for what felt like an hour as the guards followed up on the legitimacy of the ID. Apparently, it was different enough from the newest ones that it raised their suspicions. In the end, he knew that there wasn't really anything they could do. The ID was legitimate, and if they called anyone with actual standing, they'd find out that the ID was from the Epic Rift they had specifically set aside for power leveling their stronger members.

Scout's thoughts were interrupted by the guard's return. He tensed upon seeing the two other guards close behind him.

"Mr. Moore?" The lead man asked, still holding Alex's ID card.

"Yeah?"

"You're free to go. I apologize for the inconvenience. Would you like an escort through the safe zone?" Scout raised an eyebrow.

"No, thanks." He found it a bit funny that the man was apologizing, considering he'd actually been quite polite and professional through the entire matter. The only inconveniences were the wait and lack of communication.

"Can I have my ID back?" The man took a half step forward and set it on the table.

"Of course."

"Is this the wrong one to have now? Do I need to get a new one made?"

"No, the one you have should work. The issue is only that we didn't have it in our system, it uh.. hadn't been scanned out here." From the wording, he realized that they must have found out where the ID was from.

"So you have my mana signature recorded now or something? It should work next time I want to come through the checkpoint?"

"Yes, sir," the man's head bobbed. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"Hmm." Alex wasn't sure how he felt about them having his mana signature recorded. In reality, he knew how unlikely it was that he could keep such a thing private. From the magitech he'd helped the HA researchers build during the last month in the Rift, scanning and analyzing mana patterns and signatures would be a reality they'd all have to deal with soon enough. He picked up the identification card and slid it into his pocket.

As he stood, the two rear guards moved to clear the doorway, and the original one gestured for him to follow. The temporary building looked similar to the one he'd come to get Sam out of during the other misunderstanding. Remembering the stressful situation and how worried he'd been about Sam, he spoke up.

"How often does this sort of thing happen?"

"More than you might think, sir. With the increased security and sponsorship contracts from the Hunters, many people are seeking to distance themselves from the Safe Zones. But for whatever their reasons, many try to come back. Either it's more difficult out there than they thought, or they want to work on trading. Some people try to sneak back in with fake or stolen identification."

"I could see that. You guys have really increased the checkpoint security since I was last here."

"It was a necessity. We had several people just muscle their way through with skills, and I know one of the Midwest safe zones had a wave of monsters cause a ton of injuries." Scout nodded along.

"How has it been inside the Safe Zone? I think last time I was here, there was a pretty big food shortage." The man seemed to relax into the conversation, weaving his way through the building and stopping when he reached the front parking lot.

"It's still packed to the brim, but we've been told not to turn people away. Construction is going on every day, but for the most part, things have been improving rapidly. Food is less of an issue, though trade supplies with other nations gets more strained every day. Think that's going to be our next hurdle to overcome."

"I see," Scout said, scratching his chin.

"Honestly, I haven't been paying too much attention to the global situation."

"Don't worry about it. There's plenty to worry about here at home for now, and most people seem to be keeping their heads down and focus on making it through what's right in front of them." He looked over his shoulder at the checkpoint and the much shorter and managed line.

"Here are your keys, sir. Sorry again for the confusion." Handing over the keys to the black SUV Scout had driven to the Safe Zone, he waved and turned to join the other guards in processing the short queue.

"Wait," Scout said, stopping the man.

"I'm looking to do some shopping and grab some food. Any advice on where to go?" The guard gave him an odd look.

"Do you know the zones?" Scout shook his head.

"When you pass through, you'll be in Zone 3. It's mostly for through traffic. If you go north," he said while pointing to the left, "you'll head into Zone 4 and the construction of Zone 5. That area isn't as nice and is mostly just for additional housing. You'd have some trouble getting over there since you don't have a residence permit attached to your ID. If you go south and east from here, you'll enter the trading and admin zones.

Both Zone 1 and 2 have housing nested into them as well, but there's a lot more going on there outside of that."

"All right, sounds good. Thanks… what was your name?"

"I'm Drew," the guard said.

"Drew, nice to meet you. Thanks for the help."

"No problem, sorry again—""You don't need to apologize," Scout said with a laugh.

"Maybe just communicate a bit more the next time you keep someone in one of those rooms. I was mostly just bored and confused." Drew waved again as they parted, and Scout walked back to the SUV he'd taken from the garage. He started it up and locked the doors, taking a few moments to watch the checkpoint he'd barely passed through. The guards were efficient and managed the lines well, but, more interestingly, it was how everyone seemed to treat the checkpoint as just another mundane activity.

The world had only been changed for a few months, yet people were already so accepting of this new reality, treating the entry into a super-sized city and military checkpoint like a daily commute. Shaking his head, he pulled out of the parking lot and slowly merged with the line of slow traffic entering the safe zone. He drifted to the right, following Drew's instructions to head toward the first two zones. Almost immediately upon entering, he noticed a difference compared to his previous visit.

The roads seemed cleaner, and there were fewer people camping out on the streets. There were still more people than normal walking around, but based on how painfully slow the traffic was moving, he assumed it was simply faster to walk or bike. The area just inside the safe zone was filled with more of the government prefab buildings in free areas, and those previously established buildings all seemed to be filled with government workers and HA guards.

He crawled along with the rest of the vehicles in line and slowly made his way deeper. Feeling a bit bored by the scenery, he changed the radio station a few times, finding most channels filled with static, until he found one with a radio host.

"—all there is to the new Safe Zone Ordinance #12. The update should help those of you with larger families get the rations you need, without cutting back by any noticeable amount from those of you who are independent.

"In other news, a second MFC, Mana Fatigue Clinic, opened at the corner of Kearny and Midland Ave. The prices are still extremely high, but if the hiring standards are anything like the first clinic, it's well worth the cost." Scout continued to listen to the local talk and gossip, finding the host's personality a bit grating, but enjoying the speed at which they moved through topics.

It took him some time to find the entry into Zone 2, and then almost twice as long to find a place that he felt comfortable parking the SUV for a while. Most public parking lots, as well as multi-story parking decks, have been turned completely into temporary housing stations. Locking the car, he got out and looked around, knowing from his time listening to WKXW that he wasn't too far from a stretch of trading stalls and pop-up shops.

"Sorry," a man said as he bumped into him. Scout raised his hand in apology and joined the walking traffic. It was extremely uncomfortable for him to be around this many people after so many months of being in his small group and carefully avoiding contact with other hunters. He had a strong desire to use a breeze spell and his stats to jump higher up and get to some elevation away from the general crowds. As tempted as he was, he saw that no one else was using skills.

Instead, he focused on observing those around him with his Heavenly Eye. The fact that his new fractured body shared the natural function of his mana sight was invaluable. Without the System's assistance, he wasn't able to scan other statuses, but that wasn't too important to him. He amused himself by following the general direction of the crowd and observing the small clouds of mana that leaked from most people's bodies in a way that he might see body odor depicted in a comic strip.

What was immediately noticeable was the large percentage of people who were Awakened. He could guess that somewhere around eighty percent of the people he saw were all leaking at least a bit of mana. He was watching the way that the mana seemed to drift into the space above the crowd, dissipating into the naturally mana-dry environment, when his attention was pulled by nearby shouting.

At first, all he could hear was the volume of speech, but as he continued to move, he could tell that it was the shouting of someone talking to a crowd. Scout craned his neck to see what was happening, and in another minute, the stream of foot traffic began to divert around the source of shouting. He pushed to the side and made his way out from the crowd to find a space where thirty or so people all faced a man standing on an elevated section of brick wall.

One man stood on the brick wall, preaching to the small crowd that had their backs to Scout, watching the speaker intently. A few people stood behind the crowd, facing the stream of passersby, calling out and offering sheets of printed paper. Since he'd stepped from the normal flow of people, he was easily singled out, and within moments, two of the criers approached him, speaking quickly and offering him a folded piece of paper.

"Sir, have you considered supporting your local RRA branch? You look like someone who understands what it's like to question where our world is going, and by that scar, I can assume it hasn't been easy going for you. The HA plays favorites, but we don't! The Rifts gave us a voice, and the RRA makes sure that everyone's voice is heard. There are innocent, sapient, and sentient races out there in the Rifts willing to fight for justice, and they need your help."

"Pamphlets?" Scout said in bewilderment, looking at the paper that had been stuffed into his hand.

"Yes, exactly. That there has everything you need to know about the initial steps for membership," said the brown-haired girl who walked up to join the other RRA members.

"Oh- uh, okay. Thanks," Scout smiled awkwardly and raised the piece of paper toward them in a wave while stepping back at the same time.

"Wait, wait, please come and listen to our branch director. He'll be speaking to the public for the next hour, and if you're willing to—""Ah, seriously. I'm good." With that, Scout stepped back into the moving group of people. When he glanced over his shoulder at the cult-ish people, he saw they were already moving on to the next hapless victim. He shuddered and stuffed the pamphlet into his pocket while keeping up with those around him.

It was a longer walk than he expected to reach the area of Zone 2, where he saw shops and set up stalls. It seemed surreal that whoever was in charge let them put pop-up stations in the street, cutting off all traffic. It left the sidewalks open and a space in the middle of the road, between hastily erected tents and tables, for people to pass and look at the goods being offered. Interested, he pushed to the left and out of the moving throng of people once again.

This time, he stepped into a smaller, slower-moving group that milled among the wares. With a bit more space between bodies, the smell wasn't quite as bad. It was an odd sensation to walk down the double yellow line of the road and bump shoulders with more people than he would have normally seen on his morning commute. He followed the yellow line, accompanying the general crowd on the right side of the street, looking at the tents as he passed.

Part of him was surprised at the large number of items being sold that were totally mundane and secondhand. A connection was made quite quickly between the people offering normal goods, their appearance, and their stations, when compared to those offering even a few mana-infused items. He didn't see anything like skill books or tokens being offered, but more than once, he saw mana leaking from a few jackets or clothing items that were being offered.

When he saw a green sweatshirt that reminded him of the one Sam had worn so often, he stopped and asked the woman about it.

"I like this one," he said while pointing at the green hoodie.

"I see the mana leaking from it. Did you enchant it?" The woman's face shifted through several emotions quickly. First shrewd, then calculating, then nervous.

"No, sir. My daughter is learning to stitch and was about to patch up the jacket. The System considered it reinforcement, and so the jacket will be more durable than normal fabric."

"You make it sound like I shouldn't buy it," he said with his most disarming smile. Her face relaxed a bit, and she gave a small smile.

"Just don't want to exaggerate the quality, sir." Scout raised an eyebrow, noticing that she'd called him "sir" twice, despite the fact that she was old enough to be his own mother.

"Do you mind if I try it on?"

"Please," she said, gesturing for him to pick it up. Someone jostled him lightly while he pulled the hoodie on over his black t-shirt. He rolled his shoulders and looked down.

"I like it. Do you have any more like this? Maybe in black?" The woman was already shaking her head.

"No, sorry. It was my husband's, and old enough that we also didn't try to sell it here."

"No worries. How much?"

"Excuse me?"

"How much for the hoodie?" He gestured at his chest.

"Oh." Her eyes flicked across his face.

"It's a quarter credit for the jacket." His face scrunched up, and before he could ask her what a credit was, she changed her answer.

"I can't go any lower than that, sir." The woman looked as though she might break down in tears.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm not mad at you. I have no idea what a credit is. Do you take card?" It was her turn to give him an odd look.

"No? No one has been able to take standard credit cards in the Safe Zone for a few weeks now. Most of the big exchanges have had issues, and internet and cell coverage have been spotty at best."

"Oh, I see. So, what's a credit then?"

"Ten credits make up a Mana Stone." Scout almost asked her which tier Mana Stone until his brain caught up with him. He did some quick math. Last he'd heard, a Mana Stone was roughly five hundred dollars. Making a single credit around 50 dollars.

"So… a quarter credit? You're charging me twelve-fifty for this?"

"Yes, a quarter credit… but, sir, your math is wrong. This would be about fifty dollars." His eyes grew wide. That meant that the value of a mana stone had quadrupled in the last few months. Fuck… I just became a lot richer. That did leave him with a big problem, though.

"How are credits tracked?" She glanced down at his wrist before raising her own. He saw a silver bracelet there, with a small green gem embedded in it.

"Any bank in the country is issuing one of these, but it costs a mana stone to create and start an account." Glancing around at the others at nearby stalls, he could see several more bands of similar design on wrists or sticking out from under sleeves.

"Is that safe?" he asked.

"They tie it to your mana signature when it's made. If someone tried to steal it, they wouldn't get any credits out of it, and my balance is recorded at the bank. So it would just mean I need to go pay for a new one." She winced, telling him just how expensive that was to do. He didn't ask the questions that continued to pop into his mind. Though there was one that he felt he needed to know before moving on.

"So that means only Awakened can use credits?" She nodded.

"It's part of the government's initiative to get more people to Awaken, even if they don't plan to fight or level. Traits and skills will make a stronger workforce," she said, the last bit as if quoting something. Scout puffed out his lips and thought over the concept. It was pretty brilliant, though it did feel a bit cheap. If the only way to buy things right now was through trading or credits, it would become almost mandatory to at least have one member of each household Awaken.

This did bring him to an issue he hadn't anticipated having, though.

"Can you show me all of your husband's clothes that you're selling?" There was a pause as she shifted gears in the conversation, but she quickly moved to the rack behind her and began pulling down hangers of shirts and jeans. He looked through them all and picked enough of them based on prices to come out to a full mana stone or, as he now tried to think of it, ten credits. Her eyes went wide as he discreetly pulled the small stone from his pocket and handed it over to her.

She looked around and thanked him profusely before asking the man at the table next to her to watch her things. She thanked him again before briskly walking away and into the crowd moving behind the tents. Alex scratched his head and looked at the small pile of clothes.

"I told the bastard he should have given me one of the spatial items," he grumbled before looking at the man she'd asked to mind her things.

"Sir, do you have a bag?" A short time later, he was moving back down the road, following the general direction of the crowd and looking at each booth like he could buy the world. The walk down the road took more than half an hour to reach the end, and in that time, only one other stand had drawn him enough to want to stop. The man had been claiming to sell mana-infused tobacco leaves.

Even though Alex didn't smoke and had only ever tried to smoke two cigars in his life, the concept had interested him enough to stop and ask some questions. In the end, he bought some of the man's product that glowed the strongest to his mana vision, excited to have something to share with Sam and his work in the greenhouses. When he reached the end of the road, he paused and stepped away from the people for a few minutes to get some fresh air and stand apart from the muggy throng of bodies.

His thoughts were filled with the possibility of magically enhanced or addictive drugs like tobacco, which quickly evolved into the worst-case scenario. He wondered how long it would take for people to start creating insanely addictive, magical drugs and felt his heart drop with the knowledge that it was almost inevitable. He still had one more goal to accomplish, and it was to find a potential tailor or armor crafter, though he wasn't sure if these stalls were where he'd find such a person.

The goal would need to shift to finding more established or well-off shops if he wanted to recruit someone for his purposes. Adding to that list was also the need to find a bank and get a bracelet created for the main Alex. As he started off into the crowd, eager to ask questions and look at more wares, he made a mental note to ask Edwin about the credit system and his thoughts.

The butler hadn't mentioned anything to him about it before leaving, and part of Scout wondered if Edwin had found a way to continue using normal currency, or perhaps just stuck to using full mana stones. The projects around the house were obviously large enough to justify it, but if this was how things were changing, he wanted to make sure that they were prepared and adapted as needed. He adjusted the strap of the overfilled plastic bag and stepped back into the street.

Voices and the sounds of a new city rose up all around him, and he felt eager to continue exploring.