Aurora Over a Dead World

"...Urgh...th-this place is kinda cramped." She speaks as we enter the sewers. Unlike what she undoubtedly imagined, the sewer isn’t a channel full of dirty water.

In reality, it’s a small, dry tunnel that just smells of dust. It’s like this because around the walls, inside them, there are several very large pipes. The pipes are bigger than the tunnels themselves.

And these tunnels we’re walking through lead to the central area where the pipelines meet. They’re also used to check the pipes with detectors if something seems wrong, so sewage doesn’t actually run through these places. At most, water when it rains.

"Yeah, there’s not a lot of space. The height is only 1 meter and 65 centimeters, and the width is just 90 centimeters, but it’ll get bigger as we get closer to the open inspection area," I say to her as we follow the tunnels for a few moments.

"D-Do we need to go so far to catch a monster?"

"No, if it’s hiding like this, it’s hardly powerful. But do you think you can handle a strong monster? You’ve never seen a monster in person, or have you?"

"...A-A few times, b-but I’ve never fought a real monster." She says something that’s good. It would be terrible if she froze up in fear during a fight against a real monster. Even if she has simulator experience, that was a fight where she wouldn’t actually die. Now there are real risks.

"Here..." I grab her hand and pull her into a passage in the wall. Running a little, we reach a staircase that leads directly into a kind of dome, a gigantic area below the earth where countless pipes run through.

"This is the control area. You’ve never thought about how the sewer works, right? In the past, apparently, they used pipes to discard most of it, but nowadays we can’t discard anything. So everything is filtered, material is collected and molded into new things after a select process of cleaning and breaking down. What’s useless is thrown out off the island."

"But that’s only about 10% of what comes through these pipes. All of this is pure vector technology. It’s kind of funny. Thieves have been trying to steal vector technology for years, while the very piping that allows for society’s most basic care has this tech."

"W-Wow...I can feel a lot of energy..." She speaks, surprised, as she touches one of the pipes.

"Yes, some of these tubes transport energy to the separator. By the way, I don’t recommend you ever try to enter one of the pipes. The speed of the stuff inside will push you straight to the separator, which would kill you instantly."

"The separator uses energy to break matter down at a molecular level, separating everything so machines can collect it later and redistribute it between what’s going to be thrown away and what stays," I explain to her. Not because it matters, but because it’s good for her to know that everything she uses requires a lot of work to keep society functional. Things don’t work by magic.

And I think it’s good for her to be a little more grateful to the normal people who risk their lives handling these pipes daily.

"There!! That’s what I sensed!" I say, pointing to the ceiling, as we see some kind of reddish ball. It’s suspended in the air by thick purple threads, and the ball has a vibrant reddish tone. It seems to be made of flesh.

"I’ll leave it to you. Knock it down from up there, Ashlyn," I say to her, who generates a sort of giant spider. The [Shadow] created by her climbs the walls quickly and strikes the threads, knocking a piece down, which makes the ball descend like a pendulum.

’Looks like it woke up...’ I notice the slight movement of the sphere and a vibration, as if it were about to start rotating.

"!!!" I quickly step in front, just in time to defend Ashlyn. The suspended ball suddenly lunged at Ashlyn, trying to collide with her while spinning at high speed, but I managed to stop it.

With a skillful maneuver of my arm, I slam the ball against the floor, seeing that it’s bigger than I expected, easily 1 meter across.

"..." The ball recoils and opens up, revealing a being that looks like a centipede in terms of its physical structure, but all its legs are somewhat misshapen hands, while its head is very elongated and thin with a single eye at the tip. It looks like it uses this long form to curl into a ball and uses the arms to lock the position. Besides, now that it’s open, it’s easily 5 meters long.

’Looks like an insect, but also doesn’t look like an insect...probably generated from the fear of insects that live in sewers, hence the somewhat cowardly attitude.’

"...Th-That’s scary...and grotesque." Ashlyn takes a step back. It’s not exactly the most beautiful sight, really, especially that dripping purple slime. It looks like digested fluid.

’It was eating something...’ I look around and see a helmet on the wires in the ceiling. Looks like some worker was devoured, but I don’t say that to Ashlyn.

"It’s also common for weak monsters. Ironically, the stronger a monster is, the closer it gets to looking like a human in certain physical aspects. Of course, outside the infiltration class of monsters, which resemble humans in a much more stable way."

"Now do something, Ashlyn. It’s very weak, just as I imagined. Even humans with proper equipment could kill it," I say to her, who seems nervous, but the spider she created heads towards the monster.

’What a useful power. She doesn’t even need to enter combat if she doesn’t want to...but the shadows she creates are very weak...’ Unfortunately, Ashlyn will never be a combatant, not with this level. She will be a wonderful support, but I doubt she has a future as a team leader, commander, or anything of the sort that requires frequency in direct combat.

"You’re basing yourself on common things again! Ashlyn, try creating a stronger shadow." Her spider is losing. The monster coiled around it and is crushing it as it contracts into a ball shape.

"O-Okay!" She creates another "monster," and I can only be offended because it’s me. Just like when she entered my mind and kept creating those multiple versions of me.

’Does this girl have some problem with me?!’ I get irritated, but I don’t say anything because the form is still interesting. The shadow that is my copy advances against the monster, throwing a punch that slams it against the floor.

’Quite strong and fast...probably based on an unrealistic image of me...’ My copy starts fighting intensely against the monster, but it loses to the same problem. The monster’s crushing force breaks the [Shadow] completely.

"Ashlyn, don’t you control their movements? They’re kinda dumb. Both died to the same thing, if you can even call that death." The monster advances in our direction, perhaps confident now that it seems to have the upper hand.

But when it reaches me, having rolled into a ball to hit us, I simply give it a kick. The kick makes it bounce off the walls like a rubber ball until it reveals itself again, colliding with a beam.

"S-Sorry, generally I just give a few basic orders and then they do what they want to obey the order." She just answered that she’s much more limited than I expected.

"Just that? So no strategy, no plan, and no complex orders? Just advance stupidly against an enemy? They manage to be dumber than normal monsters!!!" I grab the monster as it lunges at me again. It tries to coil around me.

But I grab one side and step on the other, throwing a punch that pierces through it. This makes it squeal in pain and escape from my hands, trying to run into one of the tunnels. I grab one of its arms and pull it back.

"Kill it before it flees," I say, throwing the monster towards her. She freezes in shock but manages to react in time, forming a sort of monster this time, similar to the monster we are seeing. The two grab each other, and the monster she created tries to crush the other.

’So just by seeing something, she can already create a shadow of it...interesting...maybe the key is experience?’

"Ashlyn, have you ever thought, instead of giving an order, about simply trying to give these things intellect? When creating them, think of something intelligent. Don’t think of strength, speed, or resistance. Focus on giving it a strategic mind. The other attributes become secondary." I see that her [Shadow] is losing this fight.

"I-I’ll try...b-but what do I create?" She backs away to the wall, retreating from the monster that has her as a target.

’Maybe the problem is what she thinks a monster is, and what she thinks something intelligent is...’

"Create Nemesis. That monster from the simulator. An extremely strategic and intelligent monster that can even talk." When I say this, a Nemesis materializes in front of us. Obviously totally black, but unlike the others’ reaction, the Nemesis uses its size to grab the monster’s head, and steps on its middle, twisting the monster’s body in a torque movement.

It also uses a levering motion with its own body, tearing the monster in half while crushing its head with its hand.

’Why is it so strong?!’ I am shocked. Obviously, it is much weaker than the simulator’s Nemesis, but something in the way it uses what it has is almost absurd.

"If you could always do this, why have you never done it before?" I speak critically to her. This monster she just created is obviously stronger than everything she’s ever created in front of me.

"S-Sorry, it’s just that I’ve n-never had to use my powers to fight, and most people inside the nightmare realm in their own minds can’t react well to the swarm of monsters I always create..."

"Could it be that?! Then what you lack is just experience?" I feel a pang of envy, only just now realizing that even she, who seems weak, has an absurd talent. Just from hearing what I said, she already created a better version.

’I thought she was one of the weakest and least talented. How foolish of me. It seems all my students are absurdly talented... If she can control the intelligence of the monsters, then she would literally be one of the strongest combatants of this generation, and maybe even have the potential to become a commander.’ I was wrong in my initial deduction. She does have the potential to be much more than a mere support.

"Whatever. Let’s hunt more monsters. I’ll help you create the strongest monster version we can manage. Now, undo that Nemesis there. I hate seeing it, even if it’s not her, and let’s keep going through the sewers. This place always has hidden monsters."

"Besides, I think I figured out better how your power works. I think it depends on your experience in relation to everything, be it appearance, capabilities, intellect, and even the way monsters attack. Otherwise, Shadow Nemesis wouldn’t have used a levering move that I taught you in physical training." When I say this, she looks surprised, but I see a small smile on her face.

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