James sighed and closed his book tiredly. Leaning back, he crossed one leg over the other before taking another deep breath. "It"s been a h.e.l.l of a week," he thought. Just as he was about to give up for the day and head home, two soldiers rushed in, gasping for breath.The one on his left, a female, took a quick gasp of air before she spoke, quick and concise, not beating around the bush, nor looking at James with the reverence he almost always saw in his subordinates eyes. The other one, a male by the name of Ken, gazed at him with so much adoration James almost couldn"t take it. Still, the report had to be made with two cadets, so he supposed he"d put up with it for a bit.
"Reporting sir, activity in the uppermost level of Abyss 1-A has been disturbed. Reports of a ma.s.sive insect coming up from lower levels have been non stop coming in from all scouts in the sector. The visual description is a huge beetle, around ten meters tall, with mandibles as large as a human. Help has been urgently requested."
James let out yet another one of his sighs, he was getting to old for this. "Thanks cadet, I"ll handle it. Dismissed."
"Yes sir!" The female cadet quickly saluted before dragging her squadmate out of James" office. James winced. How many times has it been this week that a cadet is stunned at the sight of him? Five? Ten? Too many, that"s for sure. He let out a breath he didn"t know he was even holding.
Oh well, the surge was due in a month. Only one more month up here and he could finally return to where he belonged. He longed for the deep, lived for it. It was too bad he was forced up to the top for recruitment this time around. James stood up and went to a shelf in a corner of his temporary office. It wasn"t much of an office really. A small square room, with just enough s.p.a.ce for a chair, desk, and a bookshelf in one corner. They didn"t truly respect him here.
After making sure no one was looking, James flicked three levers on the shelf before A part of it slid back, revealing a small compartment filled with clear vials. Without wasting time, James took a vial and stabbed it into his arm, letting the clear fluid seep into his body before he tossed the vial into an automatic trash can. The trash can then disposed of the vial immediately, leaving no trace of what has just occurred.
James sat back down, eyeing an old blunt hammer in the corner. Sadness embodied him as his memories took over, distracting him with memories of bloodshed and war, victory and sacrifice. Oh, how he wished he was down there right now, fighting along with his brothers, protecting his true family from the horrors that lay below.
He"d have to get the hammer treated tomorrow, it looked like he would have to help the little cadets fight back a pesky monster. He didn"t think it would be that terrible, they could probably handle it with a little help from him. Then he would go back to his office, patiently awaiting the next time help was requested. Of course, everything had to be handled in one month, but it shouldn"t be too much trouble. It wasn"t like an ant was spotted, just a beetle. Beetles were easy targets, and as long as they were alone they"d go down without a fight. For him, anyway. The people up here were just too weak. All of the mercs and adventurers, they couldn"t even handle this, and they wanted to go deeper?
He was honestly tired of the d.a.m.n weakling who thought they were all this and that. How many d.a.m.n times had his team have to save them from their stupidity? How many times were members of his training regiment almost killed putting their lives on the line to save arrogant a.s.sholes? Way too many d.a.m.n times. Oh well, soon it would all be over. He just had to ride out the anger for one month. Just one more month. He could do it.
James sighed and stood up, striding out the door after picking up his hammer. He would go now, there was work to do in the morning. Just one more month.