"Around here?"
"Yeah, I feel it."
A few kilometres north of Delth, Tom, Lisa and the freed beastkin were finally nearing what Lisa believed was a fairy circle.
"Are you sure these young ladies can use it?"
"Yeah, all demihumans are taught how to use them during childhood, and it isn't really that hard; you just have to think of home. I've also talked with them about it."
The relative ease of use the fairy rings had also made them hard for outsiders to abuse, as even if human mages managed to replicate the subtle mana emissions beastkin or elves had when they thought of their home, they would never be able to replicate their complex mental of image of their home which served as a destination for the spell formation.
"Most of us have been taught how to use it, and those who haven't can travel with those who have."
Interjecting to ease Tom's worry, one of the beastkin assured him that it was easy for them to use the fairy ring.
In the end, the lockdown of Delth only lasted a day after Tom had detonated his remaining munitions, although even before that there had already been preparations for reassigning the countless guards and soldiers before that. Even as powerful as they were, the suppression unit were running into increasing resistance against their aggressive and seemingly pointless power moves.
"Yeah, this is the place."
Stopping at a seemingly mundane clearing, Lisa closed her eyes to focus for a moment before she reached out a hand. As if the forest itself was responding to Lisa's movements, trees started shaking slightly before a circle of mushrooms in the clearing started glowing.
"Well, this is it. Be safe kids."
Having already cleared the area from above, Tom let down his guard slightly and turned to the freed beastkin slaves expecting to just leave, but instead both he and Lisa were swarmed by hugs from all sides.
"Hey, hey. No need to get all emotional."
While Lisa just accepted the acknowledgement, Tom was visibly uncomfortable for as long as the hug lasted.
"Okay then, hop along. And stay out of trouble."
Finally (gently) freeing himself of the group hug after multiple uncomfortable seconds, Tom waved goodbye to the beastkin as they slowly faded from sight inside the fairy circle
OBJECTIVE_STACK_PRIMARY_UPDATED.
FIX_THE_WORLD.
STATUS:_0.000000009103%_COMPLETE.
SAW_WEAPON_CLASS_UNLOCKED.LMG_WEAPON_CLASS_PARTIALLY_UNLOCKED.
HOSTILE_REINCARNATED_AGENT_OF_ANTAGONIST_CONFIRMED_OPERATNG_IN_AO.SANITISE_HOSTILE_AGENT.
SECONDARY_OBJECTIVE(S)_UPDATED.
DESTROY_THE_DELTH_SLAVE_HUB.
OBJECTIVE_COMPLETED._REWARD(S)_AWARDED:
8.75MM_PERMANENT_DISCOUNT.50.000_POINT(S)_AWARDED.
NEW_ACCOUNT_BALANCE=90.450_POINTS.
END_OF_REPORT.
"Wait, what the fuck?"
"What just happened?"
Seeing confusion visibly spread across Tom's face (which didn't happen that often) Lisa was also immediately alarmed when devine mana rushed into him.
"I just completed that assignment to destroy the Delth slave hub…"
Taking a second to digest what he had just said, it was now Lisa's turn to become just as confused as Tom was.
"... Didn't that one expire?"
When Tom and Lisa had been forced to hunker down, Tom stopped checking on the time limit for multiple reasons; first, he didn't think looking at something he wasn't going to get his hands on was all that useful, secondly, he didn't want accessing his resupply and mission status to be detected.
(There was no way I would just execute the freed beastkin to 'complete' the mission in time…)
Tom had expected that the mission had expired and he wasn't going to get any of the rewards, but when the shock wore off it turned into a welcome surprise, and unlocking a new weapon class on top of everything was great.
(They're giving me a ammunition discount, and the fucking squad automatic weapon class at the same time? Guess my employer really wants me to get rid of this shitstain from my old world.)
"Tom?"
"Yeah, sorry. I unlocked a few nice choices and was stuck thinking for a second… I'll need some time, secure the AO."
"... Whatever."
In the end, theory without any significant data to back it up was just a fantasy, so Tom decided to put his ideas to the test immediately.
INTERFACE_CONFIRMED:_ACTIVE.
CONNECTION_SECURE.90.450_POINT(S)_AVALIBLE.
Accessing his resupply, the first thing Tom wanted to know about was this permanent discount for the 8.75mm ammunition that his M-909 and Lisa's M-503 took, if it was significant enough it would affect his choice of SAW.
(How much for a 60-round box of 8.75mm API ammunition?)
60_ROUND_BOX_8.75MM_API
STANDBY… QUREY_COMPLEATE
STATUS:_AVALIBLE
COST_PER_UNIT:_500
CURRENT_DISCOUNT=50%
NEW_COST_250_POINT(S)
"Heh. You really shouldn't have done that…"
Seeing that he could now get an entire box of 8.75mm ammo for just killing a few gobs, Tom got a stupid smile on his face as devious ideas and plans started forming.
(What about EXACTO?)
STANDBY… QUREY_COMPLEATE
STATUS:_AVALIBLE
8.75mm_EXACTO_AMUNITION
STATUS:_AVALIBLE
COST:_500_POINTS
CURRENT_DISCOUNT=50%
NEW_COST_250_POINT(S)
8.75mm_EXACTO_MOD_2_AMUNITION
STATUS:_AVALIBLE
COST:_900_POINTS
CURRENT_DISCOUNT=50%
NEW_COST_450_POINT(S)
"Since when did it become christmas?..."
"What the fuck is christmas?"
Hearing Tom continue to mutter nonsense while she was scanning the surroundings, Lisa interjected partially to get him to stop, but also to see if he was too deep gone in his 'old man ways' and she needed to start ignoring him.
"Christmas is a yearly celebration from my old world where a fat old man gives you gifts, don't worry about it… I just found that 8.75mm ammo is now half as expensive as it used to be because of the quest reward. Even EXACTO ammo has been discounted to the level where we can now start using it a lot…"
"That's great."
Zoning out again, Tom settled on using 8.75mm for his new SAW. While a smaller calibre would be less of a pain for his shoulder and would grant the weapon a longer barrel life, the reduced cost was too great to ignore.
(How much for a M-909X 'hog' conversion kit for my M-909?)
STANDBY… QUREY_COMPLEATE.
M-909X_CUSTOM_SAW_MOD_'HOG'.
STATUS:_AVALIBLE.
COST:_12.000_POINTS.
CONVERSION_KIT_M-909_TO_M-909X_CUSTOM_SAW_MOD_'HOG'.
STATUS:_AVALIBLE.
COST:_8.000_POINTS.
"We're moving to pick up our weapons, keep up."
By this time Tom's somewhat stupid looking grin had transformed entirely to a full on shit-eating grin, like a child waking up and realising it was christmas morning there was nothing that could stop him from getting to his presents.
Heading north fast, Tom and Lisa dug up their buried rifles fast before Tom requested his conversion kit which arrived in a large reinforced polymer case.
"So what did you buy this time?"
Surprised by the size of the package Tom had just summoned, Lisa looked on with curiosity as Tom opened it to find a number of new components for his rifle.
"I got a kit that converts my rifle to a SAW."
"Saw?"
Hearing an unfamiliar therm, Lisa figured that the kit Tom had just summoned wouldn't make his rifle better at cutting down trees… Although, in a way it would do exactly that, it just wasn't the intended use case.
"Squad automatic weapon, a gun with a larger magazine, quick change heavy barrel and improved recoil system."
"So what exactly aren't you switching out? It sounds like an entirely new weapon."
Stopping for a moment to think about Lisa's unexpectedly poignant question, Tom glanced at his M-909, then at the conversion kit, and then back at the M-909,
"... The trigger assembly, lower receiver and the attachment rail? Honestly I have no idea why now that I think about it, but the conversion kit was way cheaper than getting an entirely new weapon so I just went with it."
"... Well, fair, I guess…"
Also at a loss for words seeing Tom had completely forgotten himself in the moment, Lisa felt like she couldn't criticise him for some reason.
"Teach me about the components."
Deciding to ignore the strangeness of the situation for the moment, Lisa sat down on her knees next to Tom as she looked on at the components Tom had laid out and were currently inspecting.
"Sure… Let's start with the barrel then."
Picking up the new barrel, Tom handed it to Lisa who was surprised at the heft of it, it weighed about one and a half times as much as a normal one.
"Woah, why is it so heavy?"
"Because of the outer shroud and attached bipod."
Expanding the bipod attached to the bottom of the barrel, Tom went over its basic concept where he explained it could even be used as a foregrip for shooting on the move, something he was quite used to.
"Then there's also that right there, pull the lever down."
Instructing Lisa to pull out the inner barrel that he took and inspected, Tom continued explaining.
"This guy normally uses 120 round magazines, putting that many bullets through a barrel that fast sometimes requires switching them out mid firefight, hence the quick change barrel system."
"I see… I'm glad I don't have to lug that thing around."
Handing the entire barrel assembly back to Tom, Lisa was glad that her personal M-503 was much less of a pain to carry.
"Yeah, there's a reason this mod is nicknamed 'hog'. It's a pain to lug around and eats through ammunition and spare barrels without a care in the world. If it wasn't for the discount in ammunition I would have never considered it."
Assembling the full weapon while explaining the other components, Tom was left with a large, cumbersome light machine gun as his new primary weapon.
"Okay, now for the fun part…"
Extending the bipod and setting down the hog, Tom opened his resupply again.
INTERFACE_CONFIRMED:_ACTIVE.
CONNECTION_SECURE.82.450_POINT(S)_AVALIBLE.
(I need 6 boxes of 8.75mm API-T ammunition and 3 8.75mm box magazines with their accompanying polymer links.)
BULK_REQUEST_CONFIRMED:NOW_SEACHING.
60_ROUND_BOX_8.75MM_API-T
STANDBY… QUREY_COMPLEATE
STATUS:_AVALIBLE
COST_PER_UNIT:_500_POINT(S)
CURRENT_DISCOUNT=50%
NEW_PER_UNIT_COST_250_POINT(S)
M99_BELT_LINK
STANDBY… QUREY_COMPLEATE
STATUS:_AVALIBLE
COST_PER_UNIT:_1_POINT(S)
120_ROUND_8.75MM_MAGAZINE.
STANDBY… QUREY_COMPLEATE
STATUS:_AVALIBLE
COST_PER_UNIT:_100_POINT(S)
TOTAL_COST:_2.160_POINTS
POINT(S)_AVALIBLE:_82.450
CONFIRM_TOTAL_PURCHASE_Y/N?
(Yes please.)
At Tom's confirmation, 6 boxes of ammunition appeared in front of him along with the 3 box magazines and a box of disintegrating ammunition links for the feed system of the hog.
"What's that?"
Seeing the small plastic clips that came along with Tom's new magazines and ammunition, Lisa made the mistake of involving herself.
"These are belt links, you press a round of ammunition into them like this, and then the next link fits like this, and links to the other like that. See?"
Quickly showing Lisa how the links chained together, Tom's shit eating grin returned as Lisa copied his actions.
"That's easy."
"Right, so each magazine takes 120 rounds that need to be linked like this, get to it."
Recognizing Tom's intent far too late, Lisa's expression turned sour as she started glaring at her teacher like the piece of shit he was.
"Tom."
"Yeah?"
"I really fucking hate you."
"I know. Now get to it, you should be done in an hour, if you take to the rhythm of it quickly."
55 minutes of bitching and bickering later, Tom finally showed Lisa how the belts of ammunition fit into their box magazines before finally attaching a loaded mag to his new LMG with a sense of satisfaction.
"Couldn't you just get those belts already fitted?"
Watching Tom play around with his new toy, Lisa was still in a mood, so she complained.
"..."
"Hey Tom?~ Why are you silent all of a sudden?~"
Feeling like his silence was a quiet affirmation, Lisa's face contorted into something fierce as she closed in on Tom to keep him from escaping.
"Awnser the fucking question, please~"
Radiating cold bloodlust with a calm smile as her eyes started shining, Lisa didn't realise that vines started growing from the ground and wrapping around Tom's legs.
But even if Lisa did notice she wouldn't mind, given the circumstances.
"... Please have mercy."
"Nope!~"
"Argh!-"
-
Stopping to make camp early (partly due to the lasting pain in both of Tom's shins), he and Lisa started discussing their future plans.
"So, what next?"
"... We need to figure out who exactly that fuckface is… So hitting up a larger city to 'talk' with a few information brookers."
Delth had been a clear eye-opener in Tom's eye, they lacked information about the antagonist that was targeting them to a critical degree.
"That sounds good, but getting caught off guard again would be dangerous."
Lisa agreed that they needed to know more about the 'fuckface' that had been targeting them for the last while, but being surrounded again was something she wanted to avoid.
"Yeah, entering a town unarmed was a mistake, so we won't be doing that anymore."
Although it would be a pain to carry larger weapons around half vigilant guards, Tom saw the trade-off as worth it at this point. Besides, the more losses the kingdom suffered, the easier it would eventually be to rescue Lisa's mother.