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Chapter 222

  WITH THE FAE GROWTH REMOVED, the passage leading deeper within the bunker lay open. He investigated and removed from the wall the Urgent Fae Repair Kit, at MAC's behest. Inside was nothing more than some archaic tools. "Keep them on your person. They will be very useful during a pitched encounter should fae be involved," MAC told him.

  "No doubt! I will keep it in my satchel. When the time comes, I'm sure it will be useful. For now, though, I am going to join Whiskey in going to sleep," he said, pinging his response to MAC.

  "Now, you're feeling the tired, too... we did well today. Let's get some rest," Whiskey said to him.

  "Yeah. It came on so suddenly. One minute, I was flowing so well. The next? My magic over surged or something and I had nothing. I ran out instantly," he told her.

  "Sounds like you overextended yourself. Did too much magic at an extended period, I think. Or had just done too much in general. I've heard of it happening," she replied.

  "Great. So, I am normal. Not a freak. Good to know," he said, a slight smile to his face.

  Although he wondered what feats and foes lay beyond room nineteen, he knew he couldn't tackle those feats and fae by himself. It would be too dangerous to do so. He had to have his teammates by his side. Otherwise, he would be caught weak and off-guard and possibly killed or rendered into some lifeless husk... a husk being a soulless creature who wanders the earth little better than the reanimated dead. Thinking about such a fate caused him to shudder fearfully.

  Yet the fear was short-lived as his mind broke away from such dark fancies upon his leaving of the bunker.

  Back in the great outdoors, whose crisp, earthy air seemed so much more invigorating than the stale air of an abandoned bunker, he breathed deeply for a time and even got a sum of a second wind.

  He sat down at the fire pit, cooled so completely, not even an amber sizzled in the ashes. From he and his brother's shared tent, he heard Jiehong snoring. He let the sweat slid down his forehead and down through his cheeks, dripping to the ground. He shut his eyes and focused on how good the night air seemed. How pure, how wild.

  And then Whiskey interrupted his concentration. But if anyone was to interrupt, his teammates had the right to. "Not going to bed?" she asked.

  "No, not right now. I just want to take in nature for a moment. We spent so long in that bunker. I just want to remember and taste the world outside. I'll take first watch. If you could help me get a small fire going the old-fashioned way, I would be much obliged," he told her, sweettalking her to help him with more of the camp chores. As much as starting a fire could count as a chore, he guessed.

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  "I like that trade-off. I will get a fire going for you, a small one to keep you warm, and then hit the hay myself," Whiskey said, stretching, and then quickly finding some brush, flint, and stone to start a new flame.

  The fire got built and Whiskey headed to bed as she said she would. "See you in the morning. Have Jiehong be the nest watch since he buggered off before any of us."

  He said he would wake up his brother next for watch duty. Whiskey closed her tent and was gone for the night.

  He noticed in his HUD something uncommon. An exclamation point, with an animated flame, as though fire engulfed it, he saw on the bottom lefthand side of his vision. "What's that?" he asked himself. "Open," he said, verbalizing the action he thought-performed. Instantly, the exclamation point materialized in front of him, vanished, and in its place were notifications.

  [Magical Artes: Level Increased to (3)] and then [Constitution: Level Increased to (2)]. "Why didn't these notifications go off when they should've," he asked no one but himself. "I guess I was pretty distracted at the time," he answered before his headset, hearing his muttering queries, announced: "Headset Detected Life-Threatening Situation -- re: Fae Encounter -- and placed itself into Non-Intrusive Mode. Would you like to change this Setting? This message will not repeat." He thought for a moment how to respond but then thought better of it. "Non-Intrusive Mode is fine," he told it.

  Once alone and with time to think once more, he let the day's adventure re-play in his head. "Not a bad day," he observed of the situation. Other than the fae constructs which tried to hurt him. He didn't like these 'fae'... Why was it even in an ancient bunker he had to contend with threats upon his life?! Not that he was intimidated by them. Fae seemed little better than artificial animals. Or even like the automotrons. They had nothing except the mimicry of life. "Heck if I know," he summed up the situation. "Well, better keep my vigil."

  Letting the stress of the day leave his body, the cooling evening weather doing him good after being cooped up in the bunker all day, minus a water trip, he felt much better after taking a good drink of water and resting his feet. As the minutes passed and a couple of hours eroded, he increasingly felt alive. Tired, sure, but well in both the head and his body. He was 'doing it,' he had to tell himself more than once, he was doing this grandmaster thing to the best of his abilities. And so far, people seemed to like what he was doing. Or if he was messing it up, clearly the situation was not so horribly he was in danger of being deposed. He had that going for him...

  Feeling his eyes droop more than he would have liked, the fire still going slow and low in front of him, he had to rise to shake off the crawl of Father Sleep. He paced around the campsite and made sure no beasties or ne'er-do-wells were nearby. They were alone, as usual.

  Stretching, yawning, he knew the point where he would switch watches with Jiehong approached. By now, he was so tired, he knew he would fall asleep as soon as Jiehong relieved him. He looked forward to bed. He was looking forward to when his head hit the pillow and -- he heard a twig snap.

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