Inside-Outside-In

 

Shae

The next two months were packed with lots of training, studying, and occasionally spending scant free time with teammates. One of the Center’s rules was that if one member of the team was lagging behind in any area, then everyone else on the team was to help them. They would remain trainees if someone didn’t meet the passing requirements.

The reason they either passed or failed as a team was so new mercenaries would know how to work within one, even if they chose to mostly go on missions solo. After someone passed the graduation test, they weren’t required to stay in a team, but everyone in Shae’s had said they would.

It had been more than half a year since her arrival in this world, and it saddened her to think that she had been away for so long.

She had also decided that she wanted to live here. She liked it too much to want to return to her life from before. The magic, the fights, her teammates, the sheer variety of people and monsters, the air-five thank yous, she would miss all of it.

If Victoria said she would stay on Earth, Shae would accept that. Shae wouldn’t live with her, but she would be sure to visit frequently.

Today was when the team would take their graduation test, and Shae was not looking forward to it. The written portion had been easy and everyone had already passed it. For the practical exam, they had to find and kill a man who had been assaulting people.

In the Arvace Kingdom—and most other places as well—prisons and elaborate trials were reserved for nobility and special cases where one person had a lot to answer for.

Shae had seen more dead bodies since her first visit to the Center, some of them even quite fresh, but she hadn’t seen their deaths. She also knew that most of those people had been criminals. They were people who had gone too far and paid the price for it.

She had been feeling paranoid about it, so she looked into who some of the people were and what proof there was that they had done what people said they did. The reports weren’t lying.

Shae wasn’t going to lose any sleep over there being one less person like their target in the world. It was the fact that she was going to personally and permanently end another person’s life that was gnawing at her.

She quietly sighed and closed her eyes.

This is what I signed up for. I knew this day would come eventually.

Cases like the one they were taking would typically be left to the city guards, but the guards had an agreement with the Mercenary Center to let them take care of some of them.

Shae felt a hand rubbing her back, and she opened her eyes to see Zena beside her. She smiled slightly. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she reciprocated. “How are you doing?”

“Okay enough, I suppose. I’m not ready for this, but I don’t think I will ever be. I was taught on Earth that life is precious, but it wasn’t always true there, and it’s even less so here.
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“There are horrible people out there who do horrible things, and too many of them get away with it. Logically, I’m aware of that fact. Emotionally, I feel like I’m about to cross a line.”

Zena nodded as she thought Shae’s words over. “It’s important to hold onto those kinds of thoughts,” she finally replied.
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“It’s true that not everyone who does bad things is a bad person. People are just trying to live their lives, and some of them are good people who’ve been forced into bad situations.
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“But the man we’re going to take down is not such a person. He has seriously hurt several people with his cruelty. There is no place in this world for people like him but the ground.”

Shae hugged Zena. “I know. The piece of shit doesn’t deserve mercy. It’s the thought that not everyone I might fight in the future will be so irredeemably, obviously bad.”

“You’re thinking of theoretical situations that may or may not even happen. Just focus on tonight. And remember that even if someone has a supposedly good reason for doing a bad thing, in the end, they are still doing a bad thing.
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“True, some of those cases probably wouldn’t need to end in death, but sometimes, that’s just the way of things.
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“If someone were to attack you because they had had serious trouble with otherworlders in the past, they are simply acting on the truths they know, what they believe is right. In such a case, a calm conversation wouldn’t be possible.”

Shae looked at her in concern. “Has there been trouble with otherworlders before?”

“No no, I’m sorry to worry you. I was just trying to come up with an example where you would be forced into an unavoidable bad situation.”

Shae relaxed back into Zena’s arms.

“Thanks. If the opportunity presents itself, could you let me cause at least one serious injury to him before he dies? That sounds like a fucked up request, but if I don’t participate tonight, I might struggle in future situations even more.

“That’s a good point. I’ll try to make that happen. And remember that I’m here for you, not just right now, but during and after as well. You can get through this.”

Shae smiled. Ahh, I love her. Now is really not the time to ask her out, though. Or maybe it’s because of this situation that I should ask her out right now? …No, I don’t know how I’ll react after it’s over. There’s a chance I'll quit being a mercenary if it’s bad enough.

 

———

 

With her first time killing a person about to happen, she looked over some of the changes to her Status again.

Shae had fully adapted her [Pain] and [Healing] sub-skills a while ago. The Passive abilities remained the same, but the Active ones had changed.

—

[Pain Adaptation]:
[Active]: You may dull, or even turn off, your sense of pain.

—

This was a dangerous ability to have. People experienced pain for a reason. Shae was actually thankful for her weakened magic in this case, as it meant completely turning it off took significantly more mana for her. Reduced pain was fine, but no pain was bad.

Using this ability now caused a red aura to manifest around her body, which was a hallmark of berserkers, though she didn't experience the so-called "battle focus" that they did.

—

[Healing Adaptation]:
[Active]: Focus your mana to boost your healing speed. This includes regenerating missing limbs and removing foreign objects from the body. For an additional cost, you may also heal others.

—

This was a great addition. Her healing was still slow, especially on someone else, but having another person on the team with a minor healing ability was a great benefit.

This ability would cause a gentle green glow to emit around whatever was being healed. When her pain and healing abilities were active at the same time, the simultaneously glowing colors made her feel a little like a Christmas tree.

She had also gained [Ice] and [Acid] sub-skills from other mercenaries, but neither were very high yet, so she wasn’t going to concern herself with those two tonight.

—

[Acid Adaptation]: Getting burned by a man dropping acid turned out to actually be a pretty good day for you.
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[Passive]: Damage of a chemical origin won’t be as effective on you.
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[Active]: You may manipulate acid.

 

[Ice Adaptation]: You walked up to a total stranger and asked her to shoot you with a spell. Her complete lack of hesitation left you frozen.
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[Passive]: Colder temperatures mean to you than without this sub-skill.
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[Active]: You may turn water to ice.

 

———

 

Shae and Zena had been walking throughout the city, scoping out the types of places their target went to. Their teammates were in a separate grouping doing the same thing. They had a location they met at every half hour to report where they had been and if they had seen anything.

On their first night of this mission, they had only spotted a few people matching their target’s description, but none of them did anything bad. The second night turned out the same.

On the third night, a man with the appearance they were looking for and similar behaviors was spotted, and after following him around for around an hour, he slipped out with someone who seemed way too drunk to be okay.

When he began rushing off to an isolated area, the entire team moved in. He made it somewhere people didn’t pass by, and then the sound cut off.

That’s sound magic…

The drunk person suddenly fell, meaning the man had probably used his sound magic to disorient them even further.

Melo telekinetically pushed the man away while Konial sent a bolt of lightning his way, now that the drunk person was out of the way.

The man reacted quickly, and an ear-shatteringly loud blast of sound magic hit everyone. They all stumbled and couldn’t hear anything.

Shae was momentarily reminded of standing next to a giant speaker at a concert, except the feeling here was so much more intense. Her entire body had been vibrated.

She activated her [Pain] and [Healing] sub-skills as she charged at him, her body glowing red and slightly green, with her ears, in particular, glowing a stronger green.

The man hadn’t hit himself with his own magic, and he was already running away. One of Melo’s daggers slammed into his back, causing the man to yelp and stumble forward, only just barely managing to catch himself with his hands.

Shae’s combined sub-skills allowed her to recover a little quicker than her teammates, and she reached him first, as he began crawling away.

Her eyes glowed an intense red, matching her fury at both what the man had been about to do and what she was about to do to the man in turn.

Her perception of her actions slowed, with her second mind focusing solely on her spells.

Shae didn't hesitate, and was very aware of what she was doing as her fist slammed into his skull, smashing his face into the cobblestone. A sickening crunch rang out, muffled to her still-damaged ears, and a puddle of red began forming on the ground.

Shae was panting heavily, but the man wasn’t dead yet. Konial stabbed his sword into the man’s heart from his back.

A moment later, the man was dead.

Shae stared angrily at the body. So much of her pent-up frustration was directed at him.

She briefly remembered that the soul was an actual thing that people and even monsters had, but it was inside the body and vanished nearly instantly upon death. She thought that his had to have been black.

As she calmed down—much faster with Zena’s arm around her—she still felt fury and frustration, but also a sense of relief.

It had been four and a half months since she had decided to become a mercenary, and had fully committed to that decision a few weeks later when she arrived in Marlonn.

For all those months, she was aware that she would one day kill a person. It had been hanging over her head every single day as a constant source of anxiety.

And now it was over.

Having calmed down as much as she could in this situation, she began tearing up.

The sense of relief from knowing that it was finally over was immense, but so too was the confirmation that her mentality had definitely changed, and this time, it wasn’t a result of her Skill.

Her teammates were doing a bit better than Shae was, but they weren’t just walking around and chatting casually or anything like that. The several fights with monsters they had been in were all taken seriously, and this was a level higher than that.

The man’s target had run off the moment the fighting began, and wherever they were, Shae hoped they were safe. Melo was talking with a guard that had just arrived, and another guard left, having been sent after the victim to help them.

Konial picked up the body after removing Melo’s knife and handing it to him.

As soon as the guard left, they all began walking back to the Center in silence.

 

———

 

After returning to the Center, everyone met in training room two, where Cara was waiting for them. Both Shae and Zena had been healing everyone as they moved, and everybody had been all healed up at this point.

Once they had all gathered, she spoke, “Congratulations, everyone! You passed. On all the key missions you’ve gone on, I was watching from the sky as you developed and improved.”

Everyone was surprised by that revelation, much to Cara’s joy and amusement. Shae got the feeling she loved doing that to all her students.

Continuing, she said, “Depending on the students, I might have them turn in a report of their final training mission, but you’ve all done good work in that regard, so it won’t be necessary this time. Consider it an extra little reward for your diligence.
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“All of you did well, and I would like to compliment Shae in particular, as she had the biggest obstacle to overcome.
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“As for what comes after this, you no longer have to stay in this city, but you do still have to complete a minimum of one mission per month until your debt is repaid.
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“This can be done at any Mercenary Center location. Our couriers are fast, so you will not have to report back here every time.
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“Besides that, you have two weeks remaining of free dorm rooms. After that, you will have to pay a fee to stay in one, just like any other full-fledged member. Also, remember that priority for the rooms is given to trainees. If there aren’t enough rooms, then tough luck.
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“The three of you wearing the trainee armor sets we give out may keep them, but no one is allowed to take any more armor pieces from the Center. They are for trainees.
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“And that’s it! You’ve been some of the better students I’ve had. It’s been fun.”

She held up her palm to the group, and everyone did the same for her.

She smiled. “I’m no longer your trainer, but feel free to chat for a bit if we run into each other.”

After Cara left, the mood was a little somber, but also happy. They talked a little, but Shae didn’t have the mental energy for it, so she decided to leave for the night.

Everyone gave her a hug before she left to go to bed.