Chương 108: Envisioning

Let's not mess it up. I shouldn't have said that. I didn't know exactly what the water golem would do, but I had a guess. First, its head snapped toward Yesman's squad's front line, and it approached, arms up. As it approached, it moved faster than the level guardian, so I used an Art to hold it back, angling it diagonally to pull the golem backward. As the golem pushed forward, I released it. Our timing was almost perfect, and Yesman's squad scattered in perfect synchronization as the golem slammed its arms down.

But that was about as well as it went. It was all downhill from there. Habit's squad attacked from the side, aiming to damage the arm joints—or simulate an attack. We weren't actually trying to kill it. The golem released a wave of pressurized steam from its core, projecting it from the flame, almost like the central golem's sun beam. Habit blocked it with his shield, but the wash of steam scalded another Dupe from his squad. The rest scattered in time, and no one died, but they'd need a healer, and quickly.

I moved my squad in to fill the gap, wary of any approaching attacks, and at the same time, I used a gravity well to pull the golem's arms up, helping it reset its attacks faster—and helping simulate the floor guardian. Technically, I was working against us, but that was the point. It would be better long-term. As the beast prepared to attack, I shouted, "Yesman! We need a different formation!"

"Scatter Two!" Yesman yelled. Instead of approaching from the same direction, our squads took different positions, all aimed at a different point around the golem, hoping to confuse it and draw its attacks in different directions. It didn't help. The golem moved too quickly, lumbering forward with a speed that the larger floor guardian couldn't match, and I slowed it. It aimed for my squad, and we shifted away, then peppered it with attacks. It didn't do much to the golem.

Yesman's squad moved in, hoping to land some heavy hits, but the beast swung its arms outward. I didn't even have a chance to enhance their speed properly, but if I had, it would've hit both of Yesman's tanks. As it was, it scattered his formation. Habit's squad was next. The golem pushed itself up, then planted a steam-covered gauntlet in the middle of his squad's formation, scattering them as well, and burning another.

"Yesman!" I shouted.

"Habit! Pull back outside the plaza! We need to debrief!" This wasn't working. We had to disengage while we still had a bit of control over the situation. We pulled back to the original meeting spot, a street at the edge of the plaza, while I held the golem in place with my Arts. Of course, three squads working together could have destroyed a quarter guardian with ease. But we were here for far more than a quarter guardian.

Our formations needed to be perfect, and this wasn't going to cut it against the floor guardian. And if I was going to simulate this situation better, I'd need a stronger Art.

"That could've gone better," Yesman said, lowering his arms and sighing.

"We've got plenty of time to practice," I said.

"But we need to change our approach. We can practice our squad formations all we want. That's only going to help so much, and if all we learn to do is beat golems…well, the orcs aren't using golems to fight us."

"You're worried about beating the orcs?" one of Habit's squadmates asked.

"Even now?"

"Well…yeah?" I replied.

"We're going to be deployed to fight orcs."

"The top squads get a choice of deployment," Habit said.

"We could take a comfortable deployment in the inner rings of Eraen-Kalora if we chose."" If you chose," I replied.

"But soon, that's not going to be any guarantee."

"Why do you care about Gate, Levi?" Habit asked.

"What has this country ever done for you, 'cept force you to be a soldier?" I scowled.

"You're right, but I'm also one of the idiots trapped in this country. We don't know what's left outside it. I'm not interested in dying. And how about this? Gate's the best of the worst."

"Gate was built on an idea," Anchor said.

"That we could live freely and peacefully, that kings weren't absolute and decay wasn't inevitable. We've forgotten those ideas in recent years, it seems." This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"What he said," I replied.

"I may not be able to articulate it the best but…there are things we can change. Things we can make better. We can save Gate and change it." I shook my head. Everyone stared at me, scowling.

"That's beside the point. The point is that we need to get more Skills. We can use this golem to develop applicable fodder Skills for everyone, while keeping up the guise of practice. We can't waste this opportunity—while it still poses a threat to us, we have to use the Labyrinth to our advantage." I paused.

"I don't care where you go after this, where you choose to deploy. But right now, you can do more than just the bare minimum. Next week, we're going to gain Skills, and fast." Everyone kept staring at me, silent. I knew it wasn't the best motivation, but we were getting there. I'd show them it could be done, and as long as we held on a little longer, we could turn this to our advantage. ~ ~ ~ The Drillmaster—or Rib, as was his given name—watched his top three squads give their worst performance to date.

Even worse than their initial entrance exams. His aide stood beside him, holding a sheet of parchment and a quill.

"A massive rank deduction is in order, Rib?" He opened his mouth, then narrowed his eyes. Something was going on there. Any one of those squads on their own could've beaten the quarter guardian. They had no reason not to. And yet they'd pulled back. Narrowing his eyes, he said, "Wait. Don't deduct any points. They are making a wise choice."

"Drillmaster?"

"They're planning ahead and practicing," Rib said.

"We shouldn't punish them for thinking ahead. If they're doing what I think they're doing… they will have the fastest time to clear the upper layer of the city that we've ever seen. Let's not rob them of their chance just yet, shall we?" ~ ~ ~ That afternoon, I didn't get a break. The rest of my squad did, but before I could leave the castle to head to Winworth, Lord Ceonwin summoned me to his office. As soon as I shut the door, he said, "Frythlid will be here tomorrow. I have no doubt she's coming for you."

I swallowed.

"You know this?"

"I have my own people keeping watch on the roads, now."

"Then we don't have much time. I'm close, but I'm not sure if I can resist them perfectly. And I can't… create a memory."

"We will have to cheat. Your Art—it concentrates your Focus, yes?"

"Correct."

"Was it easier to draw on old memories when you used your Art?" I chewed my lip, considering for a moment what he said.

"Well, yes. Technically, it was. But won't she sense it if I use an Art?" I asked.

"Potentially," he replied.

"But she also is aware of my Arts. It is reasonable that I, as a wicca, would activate a general body-enhancing Art, and as a Gold, have enough Presence to maintain it. My Art would be strong enough to mask her senses, and as long as you redirect your Focus to old memories, she will not notice." I nodded.

"Alright. So my Art can help me Focus on the memories I want. How do I create a memory?"

"We just need to envision one scenario. The important point is to shift the blame. Frythlid must know about the Subtle Man's mission. She knows what was supposed to happen. If you ended up killing a Subtle Man, while he was following orders from the Warlord, you will be in trouble. But if you simply encountered a dying messenger and saved him?"

"How would we explain that?"

"You don't have to explain it. You just have to convince her you weren't responsible for killing the Subtle Man, that you weren't fighting against the Warlord. You found a messenger with an arrow in his neck, dying, and saved him." I nodded.

"Understood, sir. But how do I create the memory?"

"There are two methods. You can either repeat a lie to yourself enough that you believe it, or you can let your colourful imagination take hold, then latch onto your imagination in that single instance, and treat it as though it were a real memory. Both are dangerous, but the former has a far higher chance of driving you mad." I glanced around. What had I gotten myself into? Was I actually going to try to delude myself? But what if I could control my memories and my Focus?

I didn't know exactly what it would accomplish, but it had to be a Skill of some kind. And if I merged that Skill into my gravity Art, how would it synergize with the other foresight-based effects? If I played my cards right, this could be the start of an unfathomably powerful Art.

"I'll go with the second option, sir," I said.

"Very well. Attempt it now. You must create the memory in your imagination minutes before you use it, then use your Focus to latch onto it as though it were real. Since you're only modifying an existing event, it shouldn't be too difficult." I nodded, then attempted the technique he described. I recalled our approach toward the messenger, then noticing the arrow and picking up the pace. But instead of a sapper arrow, I blurred it.

I told myself I never saw what the arrow was, what colour its feathers were, or who it belonged to. By the time we arrived, I imagined the messenger having pulled it out of his neck, worsening the wound, but it was nothing Sage couldn't handle. We protected him as we healed him, and no more arrows came. Once I'd imagined the scene, without overriding my old proper memory, I latched onto it with Focus, holding it in the forefront of my mind, remembering an 'alternate' past.

With any luck, the Subtle Men wouldn't notice the way my Presence shifted. They'd just see the new memory, and treat it as if it had always been there.

"Did it work?" Lord Ceonwin asked.

"I think so. You can't tell?"

"I cannot. Nor can I sense anything strange with your Focus node." He dipped his head in respect.

"Keep practicing. Be ready for tomorrow."