Deep within the seventh floor of the Shifting Woods, a lone tank crept through the snow. The howling blizzard made visibility extremely limited for the crew, but also provided a small benefit to the medium tank's stealth. Its frostbane armor naturally blended into the never ending flurry, its soft white hue and ice blue highlights were difficult to spot in the world of dark and white. Camouflage wasn't its only form of passive stealth, its tracks had been made from shadow steel, greatly reducing the noise emanating from the tank as it rolled along. Shadow steel had also been used in the creation of the main gun, muffling the sound and flash it made. Rocket racks adorned the sides of the turret, providing additional firepower to the three and a half inch, fifty-four caliber gun.
Inside the tank, Nash could feel her heartbeat inside of her vulpine ears. Her long raven hair was as dark as the inside of the metal box she was driving. Only the faint glow of neon blue holographic screens provided illumination inside the tank. These screens were created by the crew’s magic and provided important information for their roles. While her sapphire eyes couldn't find anything in the great expanse of white, her gut told her something was out there. Something large and dangerous was close. The fox girl’s ears and tail twitched nervously at the uncertainty.
Her co-driver, Alex dutifully plotted a course on the grid map he had created using his navigation skills and mana. He used landmarks and his best guess to determine where they were and record where they had been. His most important role however, was to keep track of the next shift in the Woods. It was a job Nash refused to do. The thought of having all of your work undone and starting over and over again was unbearable.
Nash could easily look at his screen, but it filled her with anxiety. She didn't like the countdown timer or the guess work, she left it all to Alex. She just wanted to drive, it was the only time it felt like she was in control of her fate.
“From the information I've gathered, there shouldn't be anything dangerous on this route. Well nothing that could pierce our armor.” Alex said with a comforting smile. Unfortunately, she saw more kindness than confidence in his brown eyes. “That look’s not actually reassuring, Alex.” Nash thought to herself. She inspected his face for more information, but didn't find anything that would calm her nerves. Instead she found her anxiety growing as the awkward silence stretched on. “Do you use the same shampoo as your sister?” Nash asked, pushing the last thought she had out of her mouth as a last ditch effort to end the silence. It was a valid question. His brown hair had a nice sheen to it, like his twin sister Sam. Alex responded with a surprised blank stare.
As the awkwardness rose from the hull and into the turret, Liora realized she was going to have to do something. The busty elf with striking curves, amethyst eyes, and thigh length cyan hair, was the tank commander, loader, and gunner. She wanted to be the one to pull the trigger, and she could load with magic faster than some grunt. This tank was her steel kingdom. Its crew were her subjects that were there to take her from A to B and give her the information she needed to bring down her enemies. Having taken notice of her driver's nervous twitchiness, she did the most natural thing for a leader to do, she delegated.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Sam suddenly found Liora’s elbow inside of her back. “Oww!” The ponytailed brunette yelped. She turned around to give Liora a piece of her mind when she noticed her brother’s pleading eyes. The awkward silence hadn't yet reached the rear of the turret were the comms and radar station sat, facing away from the rest of the crew. This arrangement gave Liora the ability to look at Alex's map data when facing forward or turn around to see Sam’s radar screen. The headphones she wore, had initially insulated her from the awkwardness, but it was now time for her skill set to come into play. “I haven't gotten anything on my radar returns and there's been no radio contact.” She sent the information on her screen to Alex. He breathed a sigh of relief.
“See Nash nothing to worry about.” His smile brightened and his eyes filled with confidence. Nash trusted her gut more but she found it difficult to argue with the twins. They had all the evidence and were C-Rank adventurers. Nash was just a D-Rank starting out. She had jumped at the chance to join a tank crew with an A-Rank adventurer as the commander not realizing the kind of person Liora was. As the daughter of a kitsune and human paladin, her ability to detect evil creatures was overwhelming. She knew they were wrong she just couldn't prove it.
By adjusting the dials next to her, Nash could control what type of fuel was going into the engine. In this case, she was mixing predominantly, shadow and wind mana, with a small amount of fire mana. The tank slowly began to lighten and it's treads left a fainter track in the snow. “Nash at this rate, we'll make it to the palladium mines but we'll only have five minutes to gather before the next shift.” Alex said. His polite smile waivered for a second before returning. Nash understood and reached to change the dials, but hesitated she didn't know what to set the fuel mixture to. In order to up the speed she would have to compromise stealth. “Are you sure there's nothing on radar?” Nash asked Alex in a small pleading voice. “Hey Sam you got anything?” Alex yelled at his sister. “Nothing but a lousy older brother.” Sam yelled back. “According to my worthless sister we have nothing to worry about. I have to agree with her this time. FrostBreaker was built to withstand the conditions on the thirty-seventh floor. It's doubtful we'll come across anything that will be a challenge for our tank here.”
“You heard the Twins, there's nothing out there. Now giddy up!” Nash felt Liora’s grey knee boot connect with her shoulder. “I'm not your horse!” Nash wanted to snap back but instead she held her tongue. Liora the Excommunicated had a formidable aura around her and was the only one who offered her a job. So Nash was willing to deal with her, even though the offer came with taking on twenty percent of the debt owed on the tank. A small price to pay for her dreams. “If our fearless commander wants some giddy up, I'll give it to her alright.” Nash thought to herself. Alex squirmed in his seat. Although he couldn't see the evil smirk on her face, but he could feel a change in her mood.
Nash adjusted the dials, completely depriving the engine of all shadow mana and instead adding light mana to the fuel. The tank's armor improved slightly but more importantly it's engine would be temporarily stronger. Next she flipped a switch and drained one of their three high class health potions into the tank. Finally she maxed out the fire and wind mana, increasing them far beyond the maximum amount. The tank suddenly lurched forward fast and hard. The sudden acceleration almost threw the elven commander from her seat. Liora’s annoyance gave way to shock. She never imagined the tank could hit fifty miles per hour in a blizzard. “You might actually have some talent Nash.” Liora said with a faint smile.
