Consul Alejandra Albright: Imperator

Class: None

Profession: None

Calling: Pending.

Consul Type: Imperator - Leader of Caesar's armies.

Sphere Of Influence: Conquest.

==========

The War no longer sang in Alejandra's veins. It howled like a trapped beast, tearing and gnashing its teeth as it tried to keep her alive.

The mantis was three times her size, five times her weight, and was faster than it had any right to be. She felt the ghost-touch of air on her scalp as she ducked under another reaping blade and responded by slamming the butt of her rifle into the thing's sternum as hard as she could.

She might as well have hit a brick wall. The Mantis stutter-stepped back one foot, then drove right back in again, trying this time to just overpower her with its larger size and strength.

She dove to the side, barely avoiding another slash–

But not the one that came up. The mantis's claw tore through the flesh of her left hip, leaving pain and blood in its wake. Alejandra shrieked and hit the ground awkwardly.

Get up, soldier. Get up!

She rolled, barely avoiding the stamping feet as they tried to crush her into the dirt. She managed to get to her knees, then her feet, swinging her rifle wildly, slamming away the blade trying to remove her head.

Inside, she felt what had to be the power of the coins roiling and churning like a living thing, begging to be used. But she couldn't. She didn't know how. She had killed enough mosquitos that she must have quite the surfeit, but she didn't know how to use it.

And the last time she'd tried, she'd been told 'no'.

She faced the mantis on shaking legs, feeling pain and fatigue leeching her energy away. She heard Bel screaming. She heard Matty yelling hoarsely somewhere behind her. Lucas crying. Olivia saying something. And silence from Dinah.

They were going to die, weren't they.

The War howled.

==================

Consul Matthew Albright: Aedilis

Class: None.

Profession: None.

Calling: Warden Of The Hearth

Consul Type: Aedilis - Keeper Of The City

Sphere Of Influence: Construction

Power Set: Defense

================

Matt smashed the butt of his shotgun right into one of the Mantis's compound eyes, and had the satisfaction of finally, finally hearing the thing let out a keening wail of pain. It was the first time he'd done anything more than annoy it. The thing had taken a full blast of buckshot to the chest and barely flinched, but this had hurt it.

Good.

He rammed forward, trying to press his advantage, but was forced back as the mantis swung its blades in a complex weave that would have left him in bloody chunks if he'd tried to keep going.

Move. Duck. Weave. Don't get stuck in one place. Don't let it overrun you.

The thing outweighed him at least half-again, and if he let it press the advantage of its size for even an instant he knew it would all be over.

It was a strange feeling. Matt was six foot and corded with muscle from a lifetime of construction. Usually he was the biggest thing in a fight, and he was used to using his size to his advantage. Or had been, back in the days before he had a family.

Now? Being on the receiving end of that tactic?

Sucked. Balls.

He kept moving. Kept dodging. Blocked when he had to. Felt the toll accumulate. The human body was not meant to function at this level for this long. Something had to give.

And it did.

He stumbled. Couldn't correct. A scythe came in from the side, too fast for him to block with the shotgun. Wrong angle to dodge away. He twisted and threw out his arm. Best he could do was catch it on his forearm, take the hit, pray that it didn't cut off everything below his elbow–

The scythe slammed into steel-reinforced wood, jarring Matt down to his socks but doing no damage. Human and mantis both froze for a second to gawp at the shield that had appeared as if by magic on Matt's outflung arm, a shield that he had seen before, a shield that he was certain he had left back at the Dilligaf the day before.

A shield that had just saved his life.

The spell broke, and so did the Mantis's jaw as Matt drove the edge of the shield right into the thing's face with all the power he could muster.

The Mantis staggered back, then let out a high-pitch keen and swung both sickle-claws at Matt in a fast arc. He blocked one, ducked the other–

And the claws on the mantis' front-left foot caught him right in the chest. He gasped as pain shot through his sternum, and he staggered back, bleeding from three new puncture wounds in his torso.

He swallowed hard and set himself as the Mantis came in again, chittering madly.

He prayed the others were doing better than he was.

=======================

Consul Olivia Albright: Quasitor.

Class: None

Profession: None

Calling: None

Consul Type: Quaesitor - Guardian of Knowledge and Treasury

Sphere Of Influence: Information, Distribution

Olivia Albright was in the zone.

"Dad's calling," she bit out, focusing on her dad as he fought the mantis in front of him. He was losing. Just like the rest of them. But she couldn't let that bother her right now. Because, somehow, she had to bring them all through this.

She was the one who knew about isekai, who knew about systems and classes how they worked together. She was the one who'd spent countless hours reading about heroes in this exact same situation.

Everyone else was busy. Mom and Dad and Dinah and Bel were all fighting their own mantises, and had to focus on that. Luc was scrambling for his shotgun, trying to get it loaded again, even though Olivia knew it wouldn't help a bit.

She was the one who could see it all.

She was the one who'd have to come up with the plan.

The owl on her shoulder slapped a scroll into her hand as fast as its talons could pull it from somewhere. She ignored the look on its feathered face–a cross between awe and raw terror as it looked back and forth between her and the mantises–and tore the scroll open. She'd discovered two scrolls ago that the things didn't really tear, so she didn't have to be gentle with them.

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Warden Of The Hearth:

Defensive Caling

Overview: A front-line fighter that draws power from fighting on the soil of his home. The first, the last, the ultimate line of defense. His shield can cover multiple allies at once, his sword gains powers based on the claimed area on which he stands, and his armor can withstand immense blows without crumpling as long as he is within the bounds of his territory.

"Great. Nifty." Olivia hucked the scroll over her shoulder. "Now we just need to figure out where 'home' is. Dad's Consul ability," she added without looking away from the fight.

"Who." The owl produced another scroll, and she snatched it from its talons.

Consul Type: Aedilis

Overview: The Builder And Maintainer. Responsible for growing the empire within its boundaries. Can confer System connections relating to build speed and building types upon its minions. Can designate buildings and/or territories to receive additional boons depending on connection type.

When Olivia was twelve, she'd learned how to speed-read. She'd reasoned, at the time, that doing so would allow her to read even more of her favorite books, and give her more time to discover new authors and new stories to sink her teeth into. It had taken her almost six months to learn the skill. And it had taken her exactly thirty-four seconds to realize she hated it with a fiery passion. Speed reading forces the reader to take out their own narrative inner voice, to remove all inflection and emotion, and to just consume the words on the page like they were a slap-up meal for one at McDonalds.

So she'd thrown away the books she'd gotten on the subject, and had cheerfully ignored everything they said so she could snuggle up with her books and get totally immersed in their worlds.

Now, it came roaring back to her with a vengeance as her eyes blew through the text on the scroll at record speed.

"This would be so much easier if time slowed down for me to read like it does in all the other stories," she growled and tossed the scroll to the side. Nothing in Dad's scrolls were helpful. They all needed 'territory' to work. But none of them talked about what territory was.

Well that was her next stop then.

"Territory," she said.

"Who." Another scroll from the owl.

Territory: Definition.

Any geographical area that falls within the boundaries of the empire and System's control.

Territory may be gained by claim, by diplomatic effort, or by conquest.

Olivia's brain hiccupped at that last word, and her eyes came up off the scroll. The crash of combat echoed all around her. Mom grunted as a scythe-blade sliced across her cheek, drawing blood. Dinah was backpedaling furiously as the mantis in front of her tried to bull-rush right over her. And dad–

Focus! Olivia tore her eyes away from the combat and went back to the scroll. Conquest. Why was that word important–

"Mom's Consul abilities," she demanded, holding out her hand.

"Who." the owl smacked another scroll into her palm.

Consul: Imperator.

Commander of Caesar's Legions

Overview: The Conquering General. Grants power to his legions through establishing direct connections to the System as needed. Responsible for conquering and claiming territory to add to the Empire.

Liv's eyes shot open wide.

"Dad's Calling. Again," she snapped, and snatched the scroll from the owl almost before it had manifested it. She read fast, ignoring the first half of the scroll and focusing on his abilities as a Warden.

She found the one she was looking for.

"The mantis thing–No wait, they came from the orb. Gimme what you got on the orb, fast!"

"Who!" smack.

Consumer Colony

Type: Wandering Monster (Unaffiliated)

Threat Level: Extremely Dangerous

Condition: Perfectly Healthy

Description: This–

"Yeah yeah, it's the Zerg crossed with the Flood crossed with a bunny rabbit crossed with a ghost pepper," Olivia growled and tossed the scroll away. She already had what she needed. The creature was a wandering monster. A mob. It didn't have an empire behind it, it wasn't something that could lay claim to territory. She knew that much just instinctively. Which was weird. Apparently this System–this stupid broke-ass system–functioned on a crazy combination direct knowledge through the scrolls and intuitive flashes. She'd never come across anything like it in her books, and it was pissing her off.

But now she had a plan.

And who knew, it might even work!

====================

Alejandra was tiring. She felt her muscles stiffening under her skin, felt fatigue sapping the strength from her limbs. She should have been better than this. Should be able to withstand the fatigue–But this was the second major battle for her in as many days. And her body, for all that Luc's magic had healed her, was still not at 100%.

Add to that the fact that her combat experience up to now did not include nearly as much hand-to-hand combat as she had gone through, and…

Well.

She was tired.

She ducked under another swipe of her opponent's reaper blade and tried to hit it in the compound eyes, the only weak spot she'd been able to find on the damned thing. But the mantis jerked its head back out of range and chittered out a string of sounds that sounded like laughter.

It knew she was fading. It knew it was only a matter of time before–

"Mom!" Liv's voice snapped across the clearing like a whip. "Claim the territory!"

What?

She almost turned to stare at her daughter, before remembering that she was in a fight and ducking to dodge a blow that would have removed her head.

"Liv, what–"

"Just do it! Reach inside your system connection and claim this territory! Hurry! You don't even need any coins! Just like you did with the doors! Hurry!"

It was like trying to think about a pink elephant with a dump truck barreling down the road at you. Alejandra forced her body to keep moving, to keep fighting, even as she tried to do as her daughter told her. She felt something within her, that strange connection she'd established with the door. She tried to reach out to it, to grasp it in her mind.

She tripped on an unseen stone. Her ankle turned under her, and she gasped in pain and shock as she went down onto a knee. Her instincts screamed at her, and she lashed out with the empty rifle in her hands without looking. She felt the crack as the polymer stock connected with a descending scythe-blade, knocking it to the side right before it could open the top of her skull up like a beer can.

The rifle was torn from her hands, and she went over backwards from the force of the blow. She stared up as the Mantis loomed over her. It didn't hesitate, just lifted its two front feet, claws extended and shining.

In one last frantic effort, Alejandra reached into that strange connected place in her mind and just yanked on the first thing she found.

Something changed.

And the footclaws descended.

===========

Matthew Albright glanced to the side when he heard Olivia's yell. And he saw his wife get knocked back. Saw the mantis she was fighting rip the gun from her hands. Saw it rear back. Heard Liv scream. Saw Allie try to move.

Saw Allie fail to move.

And then power slammed into him. He sucked in a breath as golden light washed over him. He felt wounds close, felt the fatigue slough off his limbs in a single wave, and felt strength beyond the norm roar through his limbs.

He didn't think. He just moved.

The mantis he was fighting managed a single slash across his back as he rocketed away from his opponent and across the dozen feet separating himself and his wife and her opponent. His shield became a battering ram that slammed into the mantis trying to kill Allie. And even though the thing outmassed him by a good hundred pounds at least, the blow lifted the mantis off the ground and sent it flying backwards. He planted himself over his fallen wife and turned, catching the blades of 'his' mantis on his suddenly-glowing shield. He felt the blades bite into the steel-covered wood, felt the mantis tug on the shield, trying to rip it away from him.

He snarled and tugged back.

And for an eternal second, they were locked in a tug-of-war that neither seemed able to win.

"Dad! Dad! Do 'Unyielding Bulwark'! It's part of your Warden skill list! Hurry! There's more coming!"

Olivia's voice broke through the tug-of-war, and the mantis released its hold and tried to swing its blades at Matt again, seeking to get around his guard. But the shield had gotten bigger, somehow, and it caught both blows without so much as a shudder. Matt glanced over the rim of the shield at the orb, and saw…

Four more mantises just emerging.

"Dad! Hurry! Use the coins!"

The panic in Liv's voice was enough to overcome whatever hesitation he might have felt. Just like when he reached for the door, just like Liv had told him, he reached inside himself. He felt the power of the coins there, like a great golden battery, just waiting to be used for something. Killing all those mosquitos must have given him a hell of a hoard.

He grabbed for the power.

What had she called it? Unbreakable something? How would he know if–

[Warden Arts: Unyielding Bulwark]

A blast of white light roiled out of Matt and rushed across the clearing in every direction. It washed over Allie's prone form without so much as mussing her hair. It rolled over Luc and Dinah and Olivia like mist over the backroads back home.

It reached the mantises, and it hammered them. Each one was lifted off its feet and flung back a dozen yards like they had been hit by a semi truck. Two of them struck trees with enough force to crack their exoskeletons in places. The other two impacted the dirt, rolled, and kept rolling as the wall of white light kept pushing them back and back and back.

It washed past Isabel and shoved her opponent back. His eldest daughter had the thing in a head-lock, somehow, and when the white light hit them and she refused to move… Well. The mantis's body was flung back. It's head stayed right where it was, dripping ichor onto Isabel and the ground in equal measure.

And then the light's expansion stopped, leaving the Albrights standing in the center of a circular wall of light a dozen feet high and domed over them. The light pulsed in time with Matt's heartbeat. The mantises–the ones who still lived from the original four and the new ones together–charged and started slashing at the barrier. But their attacks merely sparked against the light, unable to penetrate.

And in the back of Matt's mind, he felt a countdown begin. Forty-five seconds.

Forty five seconds, he knew instinctively, until the barrier fell. And the mantises would be on them once more.

Forty-five wonderful, God-given seconds.

"YES! IT WORKED!" Olivia's scream was one of pure joy. "SUCK IT ISEKAI, I'VE GOT YOUR NUMBER!"

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