Slumrat Rising

Captain Clavegaugh looked her usual collected self. She nodded at Truth (who had to control the instinct to salute) and then nodded him to his seat. “You have a lot of questions. Sit, listen, then ask.” Truth nodded. Clavegaugh continued.

“This first part I’m saying with my military hat on. I reviewed the recordings from your drop armor. Your skill put down so many enemy combatants so quickly, there was no chance of any organized resistance. We took down an island fortress with zero dead. None. None of the hostages were lost either. And, Medici, I know you had to make some hard choices. But you did the right thing. Every single person on that island was complicit. They either helped the terrorists, turned their eyes from the victims, or benefitted from the terrorists' crimes. You did nothing to be ashamed of.”

He nodded awkwardly. One more friend and family point. More elixirs. Some cash on top of that, just to save up for the next point. The mission reward… had kind of lost its joy.

“This is where I put down my military hat,” she mimed taking off a hat, “and put on my district manager hat. You are exploitable, beyond what you are militarily capable of by yourself. We can use you as a selling point.”

She waved at his outfit. “You scrub up well but don’t look too pretty. You are low enough level that you are routinely affordable, which makes you a steal in credit/effectiveness ratio terms. You have proven that you understand operational discretion. Lastly, you have a flashy as-hell combat record. Killing a giant bird-headed warlock without spells? Surviving a major firefight in a hotel, saving the beautiful actress, an orbital drop followed by you slaughtering half an island without getting touched once? All COMPLETELY marketable. I’m swarmed by invitations to bid. We just have one major problem.”

“Yes, Ma’am?”

“Corporal ain't a sexy rank. Makes you sound kind of half-assed. Sargent, however, sounds badass. So you get an off-cycle promotion. Congratulations, SERGEANT Medici.” Captain Clavegaugh stood to shake his hand with an honest, if odd, smile. “Told you that you were on a promotion rocket. Welcome to C-8-U. PMC privilege again, you skip straight over C-8-L. Your pay raise is around ten grand, but with your absurd bonuses, it’s more like twelve and a bit. Congratulations on joining the six-figure club. Incidentally, do you know what a sergeant in the Army earns?”

Truth’s head was spinning. “No, Ma’am.”

“With twelve years experience in grade, including all benefits and allowances, about sixty-six thousand wen. But since you are paid in credits and not wen…”

“I can buy Army sergeants by the six-pack. Sorry, I knew I was up for promotion but… I am getting promoted early because “Sergeant” sounds better on the flyers than “Corporal?”

“Yep. Ain’t capitalism grand?” Clavegaugh looked amused. “But let's put that aside briefly. This rank comes with a serious system upgrade. More options in the various shops, but, more importantly-

Shutupshutupshutup! Shut your whore mouth! All Chuckles here needs to do is astral cultivation and read books. THAT'S IT!

“Are you familiar with body cultivation?”

Oh, fuck you.

“Body cultivation? Doesn't the body improve as you cultivate and gain levels? Why would there be a separate cultivation system for the body?” Truth asked. He had never heard of such a thing, but he had lost all faith in his schooling.

“It does improve, to a point. I’m guessing they didn’t cover this in school?” The captain asked.

“Nope.”

She muttered something that sounded suspiciously like “Fucking slums!” and pressed on. “Ok, stepping back a long long way, all magic is powered by stellar rays, right?”

“Right.” Truth nodded. He knew that much.

“And those stellar rays resonate with a lot of things in a lot of ways, including human bodies. But everything and everyone is a little bit of a different shape, inside and outside, so it hits everything a little differently. Sometimes the little differences are too tiny to make a noticeable difference. Sometimes the difference is very big. Starting to see where I am going with this?”

“Not… really? Improving the body to make it interact better with cosmic rays?”

“Simply put, yes. When you cultivate, the cosmic rays flow into your body and are transformed into cosmic energy, which is then dumped into your spell apertures, expanding them. What overflows from that goes to opening the next aperture. Since you are filling more “holes” with cosmic energy, and those “holes” get bigger the more you cultivate, it gets progressively harder to cultivate enough energy to fill the holes and open new holes.”

“Which is why cultivation aids cost a fortune. Speed up the absorption of cosmic rays for a period, improve the body’s tolerance for the energy, all that.” Truth nodded along.

“Exactly. It’s also why the elixirs people use before breaking through to Level One are so crucial. A good elixir directly affects the interaction of the cosmic rays and the human body, ensuring that the body’s internal energy systems can resonate harmoniously with the stars. It also ensures that the naturally occurring “flow” pattern of cosmic energy through your body will be comfortable and effective. No two people have identical patterns, but generally the better an elixir at breakthrough, the better the mage long term.”

“Got it. So… is my flow pattern good or bad? I have no idea.”

“Extremely good. I have no idea where you found that elixir, but your testing shows that your body is extremely well attuned to cosmic rays for your level. This leads me back to body cultivation. Basically, while your naturally occurring system improves your ability to cultivate and your progression as a magus, body cultivation improves the performance of your body.” The captain grinned and handed Truth a thumb-thick steel rod. “Bend that.”

Truth shrugged and tried. He thought he detected the tiniest degree of flexing, but that might have been wishful thinking. He handed it back to the captain. She grinned and snapped it like a twig. Truth just stared at the steel rod- two rods now.

“Now, I’m Level Four, almost Level Five, so I would probably be able to… maybe bend the rod a bit, if I really gave it my all, without body cultivation. That’s with constant military training and conditioning. And it’s only a maybe. But with body cultivation? I can run faster than normal people at my level, and for longer. I can jump higher, hold my breath longer, see farther, have a better sense of my body and the ability to control it effectively… I am literally better in every meaningful way. Hell, I could improve my looks if I really wanted to.” The captain sounded smug, which was fair enough, really.

“Your looks?” Truth asked, suddenly more interested.

“Every single thing about your body can be refined and improved, in ways you cannot even imagine. Literally cannot, because the spells aren’t available on this planet, and there are tens of thousands of different body cultivation spells across the universe.”

“Amazing!” Truth was completely invested now.

“And there is a catch.” The captain grinned. Truth deflated. He knew it was too good to be true.

“The overwhelming majority of people on this planet pick a single spell at Level One that becomes their job and identity and that’s it. Nobody is going to waste a spell slot on a spell that only improves your body. And body cultivation is a spell. So nobody bothers.” The captain grinned nastily. “Except people with a certain degree of seniority in Starbrite, and people with certain jobs… in Starbrite… that require exceptional physiques.”

“The improvements stick around even when you swap out the spell?”

“Why, yes, they do. So much so, that you will find a new tab in your system interface. Focus on your Body menu.

Truth did and felt the System shift slightly inside of him.

BODY DEVELOPMENT

Stellar Ray Attunement- 63%

Strength- 2.3

Speed- 2.5

Perception- 2.4

Proprioception- 4

Reflexes- 5

DETAILED BREAKDOWN NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL REFINEMENT SPELL IS SELECTED.

Wait, what? How is your nervous system so developed? This is… alright, alright, I am going to be the bigger spirit here and step back from shitting on your body development dreams. This is… not right. Thanks for the upgrade, trash. Seems like I need to keep an even closer eye on you.

“Whoa! Em. Numbers. What do the numbers mean? I’m guessing bigger is better?”

The captain nodded. “Yep. One is a normal baseline human at Level One. Comparing it with Level Zero would be meaningless. It’s apparently calculated by averaging all the F-Tier Starbrite Employees based on your age, gender, and a couple of other factors. You shouldn’t have any stats less than two, as a Level Two. Three at Level Three and so on.”

Truth winced. “So Two and a fraction means I’m kinda basic in terms of my body development without body cultivation, huh?”

“Totally normal. Actually, the fact that you have anything a bit over two is really good. Starting with a 2.1 or 2.2 can give you that extra little edge that will carry you past your competition. Now, you won’t have access to the really detailed stuff like elemental alignments, muscle twitch controls, bone lengthening, and all that, until you pick a body cultivation spell and get to work on it. Pick carefully, as not all spells will produce the same results and you are making permanent changes to your body. If you start with a spell that gives you a lightning-aligned body and then swap to one that improves nerve reactivity, well, you are going to have a very exciting time. Briefly.”

“Okay… are there any guides on what spells to pick?”

“Yep. Ask the System, it can produce a custom answer for you. Costs a credit or something.” The Captain shrugged.

“I think I can just about afford that.” Truth smiled and she nodded.

“Now, you are probably used to your spells being free or very cheap, right?”

“Sure.”

“Because you only ever use mission-critical spells.” The Captain said with dark suspicion.

“Sure. I mean, what else are you going to use them for?”

“Cleaning your house? Cooking? Full body massage whenever you want it?” The Captain looked sardonic.

“Massage?” Truth looked interested.

“The Thousand Hands of Ebin-Erhun. Costs twenty credits an hour. You… never really dug into the System much, did you.”

“It turns me into a demigod on the battlefield, Ma’am. It lets me buy all the cultivation resources I need for my family. Not sure what else there is to know, really.” Truth shrugged. The Captain looked outraged.

“There are one or two additional things that it can do. For example, classes.”

“Oh, right. I think I do have some personal development missions still active. I do them when I’m bored sometimes.”

She looked at him pityingly. “Go to the Treasure Pavilion. Search for ‘Treasures of Wisdom.’”

A blizzard of listings appeared- ‘Joinery for beginners.’ ‘Which Glue Is For You? An advanced bookbinding guide.’ ‘Reshi, Soshi, Ponshi and their use in tying fishing fly’s.’ ‘Intermediate Sigil Crafting for Medical Devices.’ ‘Ars Goetia For Degenerates.’ ‘Essential Flushing Toilet Geometry, and Six Hygienic Alternatives.’

It went on and on, filling his vision. He quickly closed the search. “You can buy lessons on… anything?”

“Anything available under your tier and level that is permitted by your job category. Which is a lot more than you think. Starbrite has no need or desire to gatekeep glassblowing, even if you aren’t going to be doing it professionally. On the other hand, they might keep an office drone away from the more robust demon-summoning spells. And they keep everyone except specialists away from spatial spells.”

“Huh. Cool.”

“Alright, so here’s the deal. You are now, officially, our branches’ golden boy. We use you to lure in clients, offering an incredible value proposition in hiring a Level Two soldier with Level 3… ish… capabilities, at a fraction of the price an actual Level 3 would cost. Your full-time job, unless on assignment, is personal development with a focus on high-end bodyguard and close protection work. That means getting used to wearing nice clothes… and fighting in them. It means learning how a lot of shit works so you can see when your client is doing something dumb or suicidal.”

She took a breath. “You are going to run through the protection detail courses because while you are hell on wheels in a fight, you haven’t been trained as well as you could be to keep civilians alive. And to sell your image of the omnicompetent wonder child, you are going to invest a big chunk of your new salary on Body Cultivation. In exchange for the extra work, you are going to be taking home a very big chunk of credits with each job. Plus smart bodyguards can pick up all kinds of little extras on the job.”

“Yes Ma’am!”

“Good. Pick out a good spell and don’t go cheap, this is for the rest of your life. Maybe fix up your face a bit. Always helps with sales. Just not too pretty, you still need to look like a soldier.”

Truth winced. “Is it really that bad?”

“By Army standards? Nah. High four is my guess.”

Truth looked stricken. “Four?”

“Get to work!”

He got.

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