Precedence System: I Take My Rewards In Advance

Zishan kept his eyes on the Highland Griffin for several more seconds before forcing himself to leave the question alone.

Whatever had happened to her after she flew toward the Kingdom of Degenerates, he wasn’t going to figure it out by staring at her from behind the barricade. Someone was riding on her back now, adding several more questions to the growing pile in his head, yet the thousands of people marching beneath her were a much more immediate concern.

Another explosion rolled across the western field.

Zishan turned toward the sound and saw a massive section of the ground erupt far from the station. The battle between High General Holmes and the enemy High General had already moved away from where he had last seen them, and even from this distance, the Mana released whenever the two collided made his skin tingle.

He couldn’t properly follow everything they were doing.

His PER had already passed one hundred, yet there were still moments when one of them seemed to disappear from one place and reappear somewhere else before his eyes caught up. Wind, Lightning, Gravity, and several concentrations of Mana he couldn’t identify kept tearing through the battlefield, leaving holes in the ground that looked ridiculous from this far away.

Zishan stared for several seconds longer. ’Level one thousand five hundred and ten...’

He imagined himself reaching that point someday.

Not simply Level 1,510 either. He wanted the Stats, Skills, Bloodlines, Physiques, and whatever other insane rewards the Precedence System might throw at him along the way. The thought should have felt unrealistic considering he had arrived in this world not too long ago at Level 1.

Instead, Zishan smiled.

Of course, he would reach it.

’Why the fuck wouldn’t I?’

He had gone from Level 1 to Level 59 so fast that several people had already looked at him as though his existence had personally offended the concept of progression.

Another blast shook the field, and Zishan finally remembered something far more practical.

Mana Recovery Potions.

His eyes brightened.

He turned away from the Griffin, ignored the soldiers still watching the approaching army, and ran back toward the station.

The supply section had become far busier than it had been during the Stampede. Soldiers were carrying arrows, replacement weapons, medical supplies, and ammunition toward different portions of the defensive line while several attendants moved between wagons checking what remained in reserve.

Zishan found the medicinal supplies without much trouble.

”Mana Recovery Potions,” he said as he approached one of the attendants. ”I need another satchel. I lost my other one.”

The man looked at him, then at the approaching battlefield behind him. ”For your unit?”

”Not just mine.” Zishan pointed toward the officers organizing the defenses as though this explanation should have been obvious. ”The Commander, Majors, Captains, all of them are going to be using Mana once the fighting starts. Do you want them running out in the middle of battle?”

The attendant hesitated.

Zishan nodded gravely as though the man’s silence proved his argument. ”Exactly.”

”Did Commander Holtz authorize—”

”Do you want me to go drag the Commander away from preparing the entire station so he can personally tell you that officers fighting an army might need Mana?”

The attendant looked past him.

Commander Holtz was, in fact, occupied with several majors and captains near the defensive line.

Zishan also looked back and saw the commander.

Their eyes met, but the commander just looked away.

Zishan turned around again. ”See? Very busy man.”

A reinforced satchel containing several Mana Recovery Potions was handed over a few moments later, and Zishan slung it across his shoulder before the attendant could develop second thoughts.

”Thank you for supporting the war effort!”

Then, he ran as fast as he could.

Behind him, the attendant stared at the empty space where Zishan had been standing and slowly began wondering whether he had just made a mistake.

Commander Holtz saw him running and called, ”Soldier Walker!”

Zishan heard him, but he acted like he didn’t hear him and kept running.

”Soldier Walker! Where the fuck are you going?!” the Lieutenant from before yelled. ”Are you courting death again?!”

Zishan raised one hand without turning around, which was probably not the military response Commander Holtz had been expecting.

The Majors and Captains standing around him followed the young Soldier with their eyes as he passed the forward defenses and continued straight toward an enemy army containing more soldiers than any sane person at his rank would voluntarily approach alone.

One of the Captains frowned. ”Commander, who is that?”

Commander Holtz’s expression had already begun changing in a way several people under his command had learned to recognize.

”Soldier Zishan Walker.”

The Captain looked at him again. ”A Soldier?”

”Yes.”

Another Major watched Zishan continue running. ”Why is a Soldier charging the enemy army by himself?”

Commander Holtz inhaled through his nose. ”If I knew what went through that boy’s head, my life would be much easier.”

”Walker! Get your ass back here!” Commander Holtz hollered. ”Are you trying to kill yourself?!”

Zishan just ran even faster.

He had already begun calculating distances.

The enemy formation was spreading wider as it approached the station. Infantry occupied most of the front while several Magic Beasts moved among them, and the officers farther behind were maintaining enough separation that one attack probably couldn’t catch all of them.

That was fine. He wasn’t aiming for the officers yet. Instead, his attention settled on the lower-Level soldiers and Magic Beasts packed more closely near the front, where Wildfire Requiem would have far more bodies to spread through.

Zishan smiled. ’There you are.’

Then, a voice suddenly entered his head.

’What the fuck?’ Zishan nearly tripped over his own foot.

He recovered before falling and looked around while continuing to run. ”What?!”

[The System did not speak.]

’I know that wasn’t you!’

[Correct.]

The voice returned.

’Why are you running toward the enemy army?’

Zishan slowed down.

That voice sounded familiar.

His eyes moved toward the distant battle between the two High Generals. ’High General Holmes?’

’Yes. Stop speaking out loud. I established a telepathic connection.’

Zishan’s pace dropped further as several explanations reached him through the connection. Elinox told him that she had extended a thin channel of Mana toward him while maintaining the fight, that he could answer through thought as long as the connection remained intact, and that there was no need for him to shout across half the battlefield like an idiot.

Zishan absorbed everything while watching another explosion rise near her position.

’You can do this while fighting that guy?’

’I am doing it right now.’

’...’

Elinox avoided an attack while maintaining the connection, and the pressure from her Gravity Mana drove a large portion of the ground downward beneath the enemy High General.

’That is not the important part. Why are you running toward the enemy? Go back to the station!’

Zishan glanced at the army and said, ’I have something I want to test.’