Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 480 COUNTRYSIDE

CHAPTER 480 COUNTRYSIDE

“So how’s school?” I asked hesitantly to the girl on my back. 

“Seriously? Jinwoo didn’t tell you I graduated?” She asked, laughing. She said the name Jinwoo, but instead of picturing someone from this world, I remembered someone from my private school in Omniscient Reader with the same name. “I swear, all you think about is fighting.” She began to explore my back, rubbing my muscles. “How did you get so strong, anyway?” 

“Pushups,” I said with a nod. I was more than a little lost, but her Haki was pleasant. Like wearing a little sister for a backpack. “Look, there’s the coast.”

“Awesome,” she said slowly, her haki practically beaming with joy. The sun wasn’t up yet as we flew West, but the coast was alive with lights. “Where are we?” She asked. We were traveling close to the speed of sound. I didn’t want to push her and make the trip uncomfortable so I went slower for her. 

“California, I bet,” I said.

“No way,” she said, growing more excited. “Can we see any movie stars?”

“I wasn’t planning on it. I have an appointment in New York,” I said. Though I could technically Chat with Weston to get a better idea who this girl was, a part of me was saying I shouldn’t. The Weston in this world was kind of a dick. Besides, I was enjoying the girl’s company. “They’re probably asleep.”

“True,” she said, putting her finger to her mouth as she thought. “Is there anything fun to do in New York?” 

“You could see a show,” I said. “Other stuff…” I said at a loss for ideas. For all I knew 9/11 didn’t happen in this world, or another building was attacked. Since people were super powered I wasn’t exactly sure what stuck to my original world’s path. “Or get a hotel and engorge yourself on room service.”

“Fancy, are you paying?” She asked, moving her mouth back beside my ear. 

“For you? No,” I said with a shake of my head.

“What? Why?” She asked. “You’ve always told me I’m super cute.”

“You are,” I said truthfully. “But I feel like you’d abuse it.”

“Oh come on, I’ll make it up to you,” she said practically rubbing herself on me. I didn’t think she realized how sexual that was. At least she didn’t at first, then stopped herself as shame leaked into her. “How’s Hancock?” 

“Uhh, sick?” I asked. She wasn’t herself, but I had full confidence we could get her back. “Yeah, sick. She got infected in some weird dungeon.”

“That’s too bad,” she said, meaning it. “Jeez, that was the last time I saw you.”

“When?” I asked. 

“Your wedding,” she said as if it were obvious. I opened my mouth, about to say something, but instead nodded. Hancock seemed the type to want an actual wedding. From what I understood, she had friends in this world. Weston had a lot of money, as did she too if she was leveling up like him. I pictured a grand event. Her in a lace white gown reminiscent of her clothes in One Piece. Doves were probably involved, snakes too, knowing her. 

I let out a sad sigh. I had seen her only a day ago in that weird vision from the Incubus. My love for her as strong as ever, I wished I had been there. Not for the wedding night, but to see her in the dress. In my original life my wife and I didn’t have the money for a grand wedding. One thing after another had gone wrong. Family flaking or causing drama, the DJ played the music way too loud, and the beer was flat. We never looked back on it fondly, but did eventually laugh about it. 

“Are you okay?” The girl whispered into my ear. We had flown over the cities on the coast and were still heading East.

“I’m fine,” I said. A part of me had needed this break from Comics. So much drama in Marvel I really did want to find someone like Hancock there. Someone I could be myself with. A woman that accepted me for who I was. I wanted no lies between us. I had learned my lesson with Hancock. Though our start in the worlds had been rocky, it seemed Weston and Hancock had gotten into their own groove. I knew he wanted her back, which was nice to see. For me, this was the whole point of living. 

I had originally died. I had lived a good life. I was ready at any time to die back then, content to let those I had raised pass on my legacy. Though that legacy was meager, it was at least something. But I continued on. I now jumped from world to world, messing up lives of other people that had most likely been like me. Going to work, raising kids, trying to keep a marriage together. The love I found along the way, somehow pushed me forward. 

I could be content picking a world, finding a woman or women to stay with, and letting my next Challenge take me. These worlds depended on me now. The gods or whatever controlled them setting me right in the middle of the canon, where I was most needed. Where every fighter had to give their all to help the world. It was almost ironic.

In my first life I was a nobody. Living a normal life, reading, watching, and playing some new form of entertainment to spice it up. Now I was living in these worlds. Worlds I picked, and I was essential to the story. I was never a fighter, but during my fight or flight responses I had become one. 

It was endearing to know I had survived. From what I remembered, 10,000 people had originally been given this task of jumping worlds. I wasn’t sure how many of us were left, but I knew it was very few. Killed by the canon, or in Challenges as we did what we wanted in these worlds. Whether good or bad. 

“Woah,” the girl said, pointing to my right. There were lights heading toward us fairly quickly.

Brought out of my thoughts I extended my Haki out and smiled. “I guess they noticed us.” As I said that the jet plane slowed to point lights mounted on the front at me. I waved, then the girl did the same. “You caught me!” I yelled, but doubted they could hear me. The haki of the person inside relaxed as he recognized my face.

Eventually a speaker sounded from the plane. “Weston Woon, do you need assistance?” I shook my head. “Where are you going?” I thought for a moment, and rather than yelling I made a motion for big, then took a bite from an apple. It didn’t take the pilot long to decipher. The ship did a weird flail from side to side then he flew off. It wasn’t too long before he and another jet came back. Each one flying some distance away at my sides. 

“We get our own escort?” She asked. 

“Looks like it,” I said with a nod. Unsure if that was a good or bad thing. Conversation died down a little as the night wore on, and the girl fell asleep at my back. The jets beside us didn’t approach, but were a constant thrum of noise at my sides. I was left to my thoughts for a time. Then as the sun peeked over the horizon I felt something.

Frowning, my Rift skill was activating again. Mirroring the power of a portal. I motioned to one of the jets below me and pointed down. I began to descend as they figured out what to do. Below us was a barren wasteland. Not so much from death and destruction, but because there was nothing around. I estimated we were somewhere in the no man’s land of Colorado or Kansas. Flat as the eye could see we were between mountains and plains. The environment more desert than anything, I didn’t sense anyone for miles. 

But below me was a dungeon portal. Slightly hidden by a dried up creek bed, the portal was situated where you could only see it from above. I was pretty sure this world had ways to scan for portals, but this one had apparently been missed. No vehicles or people around it, I wanted a closer look. 

I opened my subspace and pulled out a blanket. Throwing it on the ground I laid the girl on it. She stirred but didn’t wake. Wanting my own look at the portal I approached it as I received a notification. 

“Shit,” I mumbled. Not only because the reward was exactly what I wanted from a game world, but also because the dungeon was breaking. Other Weston had explained to me that dungeon breaking meant monsters on the other side could come through. Somehow there was a time limit on all portals that prevented this, unless it was conquered that is. 

“Do I want to conquer it?” I mumbled. I could gain levels now, there was no reason not to. 

-Hey, did you get a quest too?- Weston sent me, a window popping up automatically from my Chat skill. 

-Yeah, I’m near a portal in America- I typed back.

-Where-

-America, you idiot-

-Where in America, you dumbass?-

-Oh, somewhere in the middle. Colorado maybe- I typed. 

There was a long pause then he replied. -Yeah, they just called me, confirming it was me. You’re in Kansas. They requested you close it since they don’t have a team that can get there in time.-

-Alright, I want whatever money they give you-

-I literally just gave you 95 billion won!-

-oh right, well I’m broke. So…-

-Yeah, yeah- he typed. -I have a reservation for a large suite at the Mandarin in New York. Close that thing, and I’ll see you there in about 9 hours-

-Sounds good- I sent back and refocused on the Portal. It was blue and black like the one I had seen earlier. But as I focused, I noticed tiny bolts of electricity coursing around it. “Must mean it’s breaking,” I mumbled. I moved to within a few inches of it and hovered my hands over the portal. 

My mind’s eye could almost feel how close I had to be to step through to another world. A distortion in the air that almost felt like a void. Frowning, I also got the sense of tropics for some reason. “What?” I mumbled. Looking around there was nothing that should have hinted at that. My eyes on the portal though, I got more of a sense of the Amazon or something. Like hot weather and sun. 

“Let’s try it,” I mumbled and stepped into the portal. My Rift skill came alive during the split-second I was inside the portal. Calling to me to be let out, to open more portals, go to new places. Then I was through the portal and it quieted down. 

On the other side I was in a world that was as I had pictured. Standing on the side of a hill, splayed before me was a dense jungle. Two suns above my head there was a giant pterodactyl looking monster flying over head. A waterfall splashing water to a lake beside me, I felt like I was in the Amazon, or at least my Hollywood addled vision of it. 

Large monsters that looked like a mix between an alligator and porcupine shot out of the lake below, snapping at bugs the size of cars. Everything felt and looked as I had pictured it. Like I was experiencing deja vu from a vision I had only a second ago. 

Curious, I turned around to face the portal. As I approached it again I got the same feeling. This time instead of a jungle I could feel a cold desert vibe. With my eyes closed, I could almost picture it. A girl strewn on a blanket nearby, the edges of the once creek on either side. Without any further ado I stepped back through. 

Again, my Rift came alive. Wanting to absorb into the portal for some reason. Not seeing any reason not to, I let it. Shooting the now red energy out of my body, it mixed with the blue and black of the portal. The cyclone of the portal turning brighter with the red as the sun continued to rise to the east. 

After a couple of minutes the red Rift energy began to pull back into me. It felt almost ecstatic, like a kid riding high from a fun recess. My face in a constant frown, it turned out I didn’t know what the hell my power was. Almost acting like a living being in this world, I needed to get back to DC to find out what had happened to me. 

For now, I needed to focus. I knew there would be some boss monster on the other side of the portal that would allow it to calm down. But I was gaining too much with my Rift skill. My mind thought of possibly being able to make my own portals, making travel in other worlds far easier. 

Letting out a tense breath I relaxed. Extending my arms out, I hovered my hands just outside the range of the portal. Fully on Earth, I called my Rift skill. It was a little reluctant as if tired, but came to me. Red energy covering my hands it began to act like it had done this a thousand times. 

Rather than shooting into the Rift it began to absorb the blue and black energy, growing stronger as it did so. The new alien energy was alive with power, but my Rift calmed it down. Making it docile as the energy flowed into me. 

The swirling cyclone slowed, each rotation pushing more energy into my hands. The Rift getting stronger with each second, it became full. The energy almost too much to be held, then as if a threshold was passed, the portal dissipated into the air. Somehow becoming reabsorbed into the environment.

“What the fuck,” I mumbled as a couple of notifications came in. 

The skill was added to my Solo Leveling screen. To be honest I was more excited about the Identification skill. Added to my main screen, I used it on my Rift skill. 

“Great,” I mumbled. Weston’s Journeyman Eye had told me more than that. Back when Weston used it on my Rift skill it had said, Open and close portals as well as a linked subspace to the user. 

Unhappy with the information I studied my Solo Leveling screen. The Portal Closure skill was listed there, telling me that it was a System skill, not exactly linked to my main screen. “Solo leveling uses mana…” I mumbled. “Is that what the difference is?” Was my Rift skill mixing with mana in my body or in the air. Making it have the capability to close portals?

“Interesting…” I said as I thought it over. Mana was a new power to me. Mostly utilizing energy systems focused inside my body, I needed to figure out what this new power system was. I headed back to the sleeping girl, my mind’s eye trying to find this elusive power as I searched. There were a lot more possibilities in this world than I thought. Especially if just being there could make my powers stronger. All I could do was hope they stayed this strong in other worlds.