Chapter 130: Merits

Chapter 130: Merits

Reivyn held Kefira's wrist as he channeled his unattuned Mana from his hand into her meridians. The frown on her face gradually lessened as his Mana acted like rain on a dry desert. She had completely emptied her Mana Pool, that last Spell she used to alter everyone's time had cost a lot of Mana. Reivyn had seen a Mana Stone disintegrate in her hands before she collapsed.

That last Spell had also come as a shock to Reivyn.

She wasn't lying when she said she was a magical prodigy, he thought. I was told that it's impossible to be skilled in both Space and Time simultaneously, yet she is. I wonder what mother will think when I tell her? Reivyn chuckled.

Reivyn sat on a stool next to Kefira's cot, and Serilla stood at the foot of the bed, watching him like a hawk. Reivyn wasn't in the mood to get up to tricks regardless, but he was actually appreciative of Serilla's attitude. It meant he never had to worry about anyone trying anything funny when he wasn't around.

The frown on Kefira's face gradually eased, and the sweat beading her brow evaporated. Reivyn had been pushing his Mana into her pathways ever since he had caught her on the hill, and it had been a couple of hours. He couldn't read her Status to see the exact numbers of her Mana Pool, but it was only now that he could perceive a noticeable uptick in the Mana within her.

It wasn't that she had so much Mana that he couldn't fill it, though. Most of the Mana was dispersed to deal with the side effects. Not only the Mana he sent to her, but her own passive recovery as well. One of the consequences of a Mana expenditure backlash was requiring Mana to soothe the body before it could fill the vessel.

Kefira's eyelids fluttered briefly before she opened her eyes. She gazed around in confusion for a moment before her face took on a look of panic. She leaned over the side, and Serilla expertly tossed a bucket to Reivyn. He caught it, and Kefira immediately emptied the contents of her stomach into it. She continued to dry heave for a few moments before finally settling down.

She collapsed back onto the cot, exhausted from the strain, and Reivyn gently wiped her mouth with a wet cloth. He was relieved to see that the discomfort seemed to have finally fully passed, though, and she didn't relapse back into unconsciousness or break out into a sweat again.

"Ugh... That sucked," Kefira muttered, her forearm covering her eyes. "How long have I been out?"

"Three hours," Reivyn said quietly, afraid a loud voice would give her a headache.

"Whew, I've never had such a strong backlash before. My worst one before now was, like, twenty minutes."

"You shouldn't have pushed yourself so hard," Serilla rebuked.

Kefira rolled her eyes.

"It was necessary. You saw what we were up against. Not only were we outnumbered twenty to one, but that Jezebel was pretty tough."

"Jezebel?" Reivyn muttered, confused. "She told me her name was Aeriella."

Kefira focused her attention on Reivyn, staring at him with a flat look for several seconds.

"A Jezebel is a woman who... never mind," she waved her hands to dismiss her words. She narrowed her eyes at Reivyn. "But I see that you know her name. Have a pleasant conversation with her?"

It was Reivyn's turn to roll his eyes. He grabbed her hand and patted the back of it with his other.

"Knock it off. You have nothing to be jealous of. I did learn some valuable information from her, though."

Kefira sat up without letting go of Reivyn's hand and scooted back so she could sit cross-legged in her cot. She kept her blanket pulled up to her waist like she was just enjoying a comfortable day in bed. Her expression went from narrowed eyes to one of curiosity.

I would never say jealousy looks bad on her, but this look is definitely cuter, Reivyn thought to himself.

"Like what?" Kefira asked.

"Should I call for Major Dobrik?" Serilla asked, taking a half step toward the tent flap.

"Sera, you can be really stupid, sometimes," Kefira sighed. "He can wait. I'm talking to Reivyn."

Serilla resumed her stance, arms folded across her stomach with a small pout at the rebuke. Reivyn just chuckled.

"I learned that they're not actually invading the kingdom and that they'll let the civilians go if or when they complete their objective."

"And you believe her, just like that?"

"I have a Skill. It's not very high, but my gut tells me she was being honest."

"Did you find out what that objective is?"

"No, but I imagine it has something to do with the caves beneath the Lizaldon settlement."

"The Spider Lair?! What could she possibly be after with the spiders?" Kefira was genuinely confused.

"No idea, but that's not the only thing down there," Reivyn replied. "Do you remember what I told you about how I ended up here?"

Kefira nodded.

"You said something about being in a Dungeon, and you got separated from your teammate and ended up here somehow."

"Uh-huh, but I left out a couple of key details. Do you remember how you told me the desolate sands are the remnants of something people from the Verdant Realm did, sucking the life out of the Region?" Kefira nodded her head again. "Well, there's more to it than that. There's a connection to the Abyss Realm down in the depths."

Kefira gasped and Serilla's eyes widened at the news.

"There was a gateway in the Dungeon I was in with my teammate, and when we went through it, we were on a bridge between the Realms. That's actually where we got separated. Some things happened, the bridge was destroyed, and I got chased by... something... and I ended up escaping back into our Realm through a different gateway.

"That gateway led me to one of the Boss Dungeons at the bottom of the Spider Lair."

"I couldn't see very well while I was down there, so I'm not 100% certain, but I would guess at least five. The Dungeon I came out of had a high Tier 3, maybe low Tier 4, boss in it, and its position makes me think it was on the low end of the power scale. The other Dungeons might have Tier 5 or 6 variants in them."

Of course, Reivyn had to reveal the information that he had traveled to the kingdom of Drallo through a connection between the Dungeons. He didn't reveal everything about the experience, but he did have to tell them about the bridge to the other Realm.

Kefira had insisted on everyone making a System sanctioned vow to not ever reveal anything about the information without Reivyn's express permission. Even accidentally revealing the truth would lead to harsh punishments, though Reivyn had exempted Kefira and Serilla from that aspect of the vow.

Serilla had complained that it would make her job more difficult to keep that information hidden from Kefira's parents, but Reivyn didn't care. He simply said he and Kefira would tell them all the facts when the time was right. That concession had marginally mollified Serilla.

"Going down there to destroy the Dungeons would be a suicide mission, though," Kefira pointed out. "It definitely wouldn't be enough to kill the Spider Matriarch, and if the energy released is powerful enough to hurt it, it would kill those involved. If the destruction of the Dungeons somehow didn't kill the ones down there, then the Spider Matriarch definitely would, and I don't know anyone who would volunteer to be eaten alive by a giant spider"

"So destroying the Dungeons is a last resort, one we don't even know will be necessary," Major Dobrik replied. "What about engineering a Dungeon Break? Even if the boss monsters inside the Dungeons are snapshots of the Spider Matriarch from the past, they're just soulless shadows. They would be seen as an invading nest, and they would be mindless monsters that would attack the Spider Matriarch all on their own."

"That's all well and good," Kefira said, "but do you know how to engineer a Dungeon Break?"

"No," Major Dobrik conceded. "I had hoped that you would maybe have some ideas on that, being a noble Caster from Wispan, and all."

"Nope, sorry," Kefira denied. "Even those of us from the Tier 4 empires don't know how to cause Dungeon Breaks. That being said, there is someone here who has experience with them. Lieutenant Reivyn," Kefira turned to look at him, "you've been through a Dungeon Break before. Do you know how to make one happen on purpose?"

"I do not," Reivyn shook his head. "All I know is that there was an excessive amount of Mana leaking out of the Dungeon prior to it happening, but it lasted for months before the break occurred. Even if I knew the mechanism behind doing so, we wouldn't have enough time for it to happen in a timely manner."

"Hmm, pity," Kefira said.

Major Dobrik stared at Reivyn for a moment, still stroking his chin.

"Lieutenant Reivyn again," he muttered, a gleam in his eye. "You'll have to sit down with me one of these days and regale me with your story. Just one soldier to another."

"Certainly, sir," Reivyn agreed. Since he had already come clean about his origins, and he didn't have anything particular to hide, there was no reason he couldn't tell the Major about his experiences.

The meeting continued for several hours, most of the lower rank officers growing bored at the constant back and forth with no clear plan established. They would occasionally be asked for their ideas on the situation, but most of them, even the captains, didn't have the experience or knowledge to contribute anything worthwhile.

The meeting eventually ended with the tentative plan of continuing to hit the enemy bases, luring them out of their fortifications and whittling their numbers down, while they chose a wait-and-see approach toward dealing with the enemy's objective.

Major Dobrik motioned Reivyn over as the officers filed out of the tent. He walked over to join the Major with Kefira and Serilla, Kefira giving him a wide grin as he approached.

"Lieutenant Reivyn," Dobrik said, holding his closed fist out, palm down, "with the recommendation of Lady Kefira, as well as in light of your own, personal merits, I have decided to give you a field promotion to Provisional Captain. Captain Sanjin will remain where he currently is, and you'll take over as the full-time Company Commander for your company."

Reivyn held his hand out, and the Major dropped something into it. He opened his hand and saw that it was the rank insignia of a captain.

"You're still not a regular officer. As a Provisional Captain, you're a half-step below all the other captains in the chain of command, but you're now above even the regular lieutenants. Keep up the good work, Captain."

Reivyn offered a salute, that Major Dobrik returned, before turning on his heels and marching out of the tent. There was no official ceremony or anything for the promotion. Reivyn simply removed his lieutenant's insignia and pinned the captain's insignia on his lapel. Because everyone wore their own armor, the rank insignias could be attached anywhere on the lapel or shoulder area. Reivyn's heavy armor had a leather strap in place where he could attach such a pin.

He stepped out into the sunlight, and Jek immediately threw an arm around his shoulder. He leaned his weight on Reivyn in a friendly manner and immediately spotted the new captain's insignia.

"Well, it looks like I really do have to address you as 'sir,' now," he chuckled. Lieutenants Laris, Grent, Furok, and Derik were also waiting nearby. They all fell in together as they made their way to the mess tent that had been erected. The meeting had lasted so long that it was nearly lunchtime the following day after Reivyn and his platoons had been surrounded.

Each of the other lieutenants congratulated Reivyn on his promotion, and they bantered back and forth while talking about their experiences engaging the enemy.

"The war has hardly begun, and you're already hoarding and cashing in on all the merits," Jek joked. "See, boys, I told you we wouldn't go wrong following his lead."

"Haha, you say that now, but don't you know the old military maxim, 'crap rolls downhill?'" Reivyn quipped. "Credit goes up, and responsibility goes down. All of you will have to work twice as hard to make me look good from now on."

The others laughed at the joke, obviously knowing that he wasn't being serious. They had had enough experiences together to know Reivyn wasn't like that.

"By the way," Reivyn said, "does anyone know what a Jezebel is?"

The other lieutenants shared a look before breaking out into laughter.

"Let me guess, Lady Fira said something like that about that Aeriella girl," Laris said, chuckling.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Reivyn frowned.

Jek slapped him on the back, still laughing.

"A Jezebel is a woman who sleeps with a married man," he answered.

"Oh. I see," Reivyn said.

"Looks like Lady Fira didn't take too kindly to the offer that Aeriella made to our captain, here," Laris said, failing to suppress his mirth.

"Ooh, you'll have to explain it to us in more detail," Jek jabbed Reivyn in the ribs.

"That woman is definitely crazy," Reivyn shook his head.

Reivyn explained the situation, with Laris adding remarks about the encounter from the side, over lunch. The other lieutenants thought it was the funniest thing in the world, but Reivyn was actually a little worried about Aeriella's intentions.