“What’s the rush, Morr? I hear they have you on some rough schedule, but you only got back yesterday!”
“And it’s time to get back at it,” she said, her face hard.
Myrrin’s mouth dropped.
“You can’t be serious! I’ve been told thousands of times how dangerous it is to overexpose to the Dungeon! You need to take a break.”
Morrelia didn’t pause in her stride. There hadn’t been any breaks for weeks, and she wasn’t about to start now.
“This is my decision. I need to push if I’m going to succeed in my goals, and that means killing monsters and polishing my Skills. I don’t have the luxury of holding back; I need to make up for lost time.”
The other elites within the Legion didn’t walk away from service like she had, they’d been battling ever since they’d passed their initiation alongside their brothers and sisters. If she wanted to stand shoulder to shoulder with them, if she wanted to rise above them, then Morrelia had no choice but to run herself ragged, despite the risks.
“I don’t understand what’s going on here, Morr.” Myrrin grabbed hold of her friend’s arm and dug in her heels, succeeding in stopping the other woman. “Talk to me.”
A flash of irritation flickered through the berserker’s mind before she suppressed it. She sighed and gestured for the two of them to sit down in a quiet area of the camp.
“I’m not trying to brush you off, but I really do have a patrol I need to meet up with soon, so I’m going to be quick,” she explained. “I’ve been put forward to participate in a training program for officers and deep Dungeon Legionem Abyssi. During the wave, I was basically part of an accelerated development program where they had me fighting pretty much around the clock.”
“And you still are,” Myrrin pointed out.
“I still am,” she confirmed. “That’s largely because of the path I chose to pursue. During my last Class promotion, my father laid out several different ways I could progress. Heavy armour, berserker, or try to develop leadership Skills to complement what I already have.”
“And what did you pick?”
“All of them.” Morrelia grinned.
Her friend stared back at her for a long moment before she started laughing and shook her head.
“That’s just like you, Morr. Your appetite is bigger than your stomach!”
“Can you blame me? If you had a chance at wearing Praetorian Armour, you wouldn’t take it?”
“Why not just choose to follow the heavy armour route?”
“I didn’t want to leave my Berserker Class in the dust, it’s been with me my whole life. It’s part of who I am.”
“Alright then, so why bother trying to incorporate leadership Skills?” Myrrin said, exasperated. “Aren’t you just making things difficult for the heck of it?”
Morrelia rolled her eyes.
“I’m not exactly enjoying this schedule. I’m in pain constantly, tired constantly, on edge constantly. It’s rough. But I decided it wasn’t enough to just be a killer for the Legion. I wanted to be a leader for the Legion. I want to have a say in when and where I fight. I want to know that I’m picking the right battles.”
With so many opponents to face, she didn’t want to see the Legion wasting lives throwing themselves against the Colony anymore. It would be a long time before she was qualified to make decisions like that, but she didn’t want to accept never having that authority. Their enemies were too great for them to be wasting energy.
“From what you’re saying, you’ve basically picked the most difficult path you could possibly have picked?”
“That’s right.” Morrelia sighed as she pushed herself up from her seated position. “Obviously not the smartest decision I could have made, but it was the only one I felt I could be happy with. The reason I’m going on so many patrols is to quickly Level through my leadership Class and polish the accompanying Skills as fast as possible. This way, I’ll be ready to transition to something that can combine all of my strengths. At the very least, I’ll be qualified to learn all that they have to teach me.”
She reached down and helped pull the younger Legionary to her feet before they once more resumed their march to the armoury. Morrelia needed to get her Abyssal Armour on before she could head back out into the Dungeon, and she’d intended to use what little time she had left to give it a thorough inspection. If Myrrin helped, they could look over the suit and she’d only be a few minutes late. Going out into the field without making sure of your equipment was a cardinal sin within the Legion.
However, as the two young women made their way to the imposing and well-defended building in the heart of the camp, they found a small delegation waiting there. Without any discussion, a uniformed centurion stepped forward and addressed them.
“Is one of you Legionary Morrelia Faronicus?”
“That’s me.” She saluted, her fist crashing into her heart.
The officer nodded.
“Your deployment has changed. Pack your gear and meet us here in an hour.”
“Yes, sir!” Morrelia saluted again then turned on her heel, running back toward her tent as fast as she could.
Myrrin watched it happen with a dazed expression before she turned back to the centurion.
“Where is she going? If you don’t mind me asking, sir.”
The armoured man flicked a glance at her, and she couldn’t help but feel as if her entire service record had been summed up by this person in that moment.
“She’s going deeper. That’s all you need to know, Legionary.”
18. Running Rings About the Place
“Have you seriously been running this entire time?”
“Yep-Yep! I don’t feel right unless my legs are moving. You feel the same, yeah? You have to move! Standing still is like dying, I can’t stand it! Being still is just—”
“Enough! No matter how fast you talk, I don’t have enough time to sit around and get chattered to death!”
I shake my head slowly. Vibrant has been evolving into more and more of a speed demon, to the point where it’s getting hard to interact with her in a normal way. When every inch of her has been mutated with speed in mind, including her brain, it’s only to be expected, I suppose. It just goes to show how extreme a monster can get if they allow one aspect or concept to completely take over their evolutionary path. I have no idea how fast she’ll get before she’s done, but I imagine it’s going to be pretty damn fast. If she keeps going like this all the way to tier eight or something, I doubt most monsters would even be able to see her. Especially since her Dash Skill reached rank six.
“So, you’ve done your job, then? No reinforcements have reached the city, none have left?”
“That’s right! I’ve been sure to check that no demons have been able to climb up the pillar and none have climbed down! No prob!”
“What about those flying disc things? Have any of those left, any of them arrived?”
“Oh sure-sure! Heaps! But there’s nothing I can do about those, right?”
“No, there isn’t. You were supposed to keep track of where they went and where they came from, though….”
“Whoops! Haha! I forgot about that!”
“Vibrant!”
“If you don’t mind me breaking in, Eldest, I have kept track of the information that you are asking about,” a nearby general spoke up.
“Yay! Thanks, Emilia. I knew I could count on you to keep track of this stuff. I don’t have the patience, or the time. Hah! Isn’t that hilarious, you’d think I’d have more time than anyone due to being so fast but I’m always thinking about going fast or running which means I guess I’m always going fast, either in my brain or with my legs or both! I suppose I’m just not thinking about anything that’s all that important. Ha! Hey, Crin-Crin!”