Chapter 163: Superior Halo (1/2)

Chapter 163: Superior Halo

Valera sighed through the telepathic link 'I know Ever the one to never leave a quest incoardless of whether they hail froreatest of Gods I suppose, though, that is yet another thing I do like about you

A one track oals, seeks them out, and achieves them with no room for distraction When I first met you, my master, and my purpose so very lost, it was your deteret things settled here, I look forward to clearing out those quests in the Nexus with you,' said Aldrich 'It'll be just like old times, won't it?'

Except this time, for Aldrich at least, it would be for real Valera had lived all the quest and adventures she had gone through with Aldrich They were a deeply personal part of her being and cherished memories that defined her character now

But to Aldrich, all that had been a gah, it would all be real, and he looked forward to it Who knew that the game that had once been his escape, his hideaway from a world that tried its best to crush hied his life like this?

'Like old times, yes,' said Valera 'I would have wanted to stay with you a little longer, I always do, but I suppose pro our foes in quests will have to do

…'

A pause Aldrich waited, having a feeling that Valera still wanted to say so

'Master? About that time in the Red Circle…no, never mind,' said Valera 'I should know better than to distract you any further I will await you in the Nexus, tending to your Legion with all the care I can give them

I know I do not have to say this to you, but I will still say it, just because it makes my heart ache a little less: please stay safe, my master, for I would not knohat to do without you I would sooner tear this strange neorld down into nothing but bare wreckage than bear the thought of walking it without you'

'Nonsense,' said Aldrich 'We'll clear the Trial quests together And we'll take over this world together too'

'Together…,' Valera repeated the word, savoring it on her tongue 'Understood, master I shall ensure that all our forces make it to the Nexus without harm Until then-,'

'Until then,' repeated Aldrich, and their communication ended

Aldrich took a hts about Valera He knehat she wanted to ask She wanted to ask what his feelings for her were After all, he did prooing to be? He had not thought about it much, admittedly, and that was not only because he had been so busy this fighting andhis units and whatnot It was because, to be honest, he did not knohat his ansas

At first, it seemed so obvious Here was Valera, a beautiful woman fiercely devoted to him, who believed him her world and more Who would not say yes to that? Who would pass up a chance like that? If Adauy would have said yes a million times over

But it was precisely because Aldrich could feel so much love frohout his entire life, the only people he had loved were his parents, and even that had been torn fron, almost alien, to hiive it properly

Aldrich did not like to ad, of facingdown the hateful eyes of powerful Alters that wanted nothing more than to reduce hi and struggling and surviving – Aldrich had never felt fear from all that

But Aldrich was afraid now

Afraid that he did not have it within him, within that broken void carved into hiive Valera the love she deserved To give her just as ave him He just did not knohether he was capable, and he did not knohether he wanted to find out

"I don't like the sight of that," said Seishts

"What is it?" Aldrich turned to Seis the older man look up into the sky There, in the distance, he could see that several Panopticon Bugs had forht

"Bright green That's a Clear Signal," said Aldrich

Once Panopticon drone fleet responses caned to do, which was usually wiping out variant threats, they forhts to allow civilians souide heroes for post battle operations like tending and evacuating the wounded, repairing critical infrastructure, clearing corpses, and so on and so forth

There were other, differently colored signals for things like asking for reinforce an area, detection of poisons, etcetera

"You're surprisingly knowledgeable about how the AA works," said Seise isn't absolute," said Aldrich "If you know so, tell me"