Chapter 14: Drunk Preparations
POV: Adam/Pavel
The kvas tasted like liquid regret, which was probably appropriate given the circumstances. Adam sat in a circle with Mal, Mikhael, Dubrov, and a half-dozen other soldiers, all of whom had decided that drowning their pre-Fold terror in alcohol was a perfectly reasonable response to their situation.
"To the crossing!" Mikhael declared, raising his bottle with the exaggerated precision of someone already well into his cups. "May we all live to regret it!"
"Cheerful as always," Mal muttered, but he drank anyway.
Adam had been trying to pace himself, but the combination of fear and peer pressure was making moderation difficult. Every time he thought about the tutorial ending, about permanent death becoming a reality, he found himself reaching for the bottle again.
"This is stupid. I should be training, leveling up, preparing for combat. Not getting drunk with a bunch of doomed soldiers."
But when Dubrov started telling stories about his grandmother's recipes, and Mikhael began singing off-key battle songs, Adam found himself relaxing despite everything. These men were facing death with him, and there was something comforting about shared terror.
"Pavel!" Mal called out, his voice slightly slurred. "You've been quiet. What's your strategy for the Fold?"
"Strategy? My strategy is to hope my anti-magic field doesn't attract every volcra in the darkness."
"Volcra like hugs!" Adam announced with drunken conviction. "Bring snacks!"
The circle erupted in laughter.
"Snacks?" Mikhael wheezed. "You want to feed the monsters?"
"Rainbow fish are learning to—hic—tap dance!"
"Right," Mal said, grinning widely. "We'll pack some dancing fish. That should confuse them."
But as Adam reached for his cup, something strange happened. The kvas, which had been normal fermented grain alcohol moments before, suddenly refused to produce any intoxicating effect. The liquid in his mouth tasted flat, lifeless—like someone had sucked all the active ingredients out of it.
"My [Nullify] field. It's affecting the alcohol."
Adam looked around the circle and realized that everyone drinking from containers near him was showing similar effects. Their laughter was becoming more coherent, their words less slurred.
"That's odd," Dubrov said, examining his cup. "This kvas has lost its bite."
"Maybe it's watered down," Mikhael suggested, but he was frowning at his own drink.
"I'm creating null zones in the alcohol. The system is neutralizing the fermentation."
[NULLIFICATION EFFECT DETECTED]
[ALCOHOL COMPOUNDS DISRUPTED WITHIN FIELD RANGE]
[DISCOVERY: PERMANENT NULL ZONES CAN BE CREATED IN SMALL OBJECTS]
[DURATION: INDEFINITE]
[APPLICATIONS: UNLIMITED]
Adam stared at the notification, his mind racing with possibilities. If he could create permanent null zones in objects, that opened up entirely new tactical options.
"Nullified weapons. Nullified armor. Nullified anything."
"Hey," Mal said, settling beside him with the particular focus of someone trying to have a serious conversation while mildly intoxicated. "Can we talk? Just the two of us?"
Adam nodded, and they moved away from the main group to a quieter area behind the supply wagons.
"I'm scared," Mal said simply, the alcohol stripping away his usual protective barriers. "About the crossing, about Alina, about everything."
"Dancing bears love moonlight," Adam replied, but his tone was gentle, understanding.
"I know you can't say it properly," Mal continued, "but I can see it in your face. You're worried about her too."
Adam nodded, and something passed between them—a moment of perfect understanding despite the speech barrier.
"She's all I have left," Mal said quietly. "My family, my anchor, my... everything. If something happens to her in the Fold..."
"He loves her. Of course he loves her. They've been together since childhood."
"I can't protect her from what's coming," Mal continued. "I'm just a tracker. I can follow trails and shoot straight, but if there are volcra in that darkness, if there's magic involved..." He shook his head. "I'll be useless."
Adam reached out and gripped Mal's shoulder, trying to convey support through touch since words were impossible.
"I can protect her. My abilities, my system—I can keep her safe when her powers awaken."
"You'll watch out for her, won't you?" Mal asked. "I know there's something different about you, something special. You neutralized that Squaller during the bandit attack. If you can do that with volcra..."
Adam nodded firmly, making a silent promise that transcended the speech curse.
"I'll protect her. Whatever it takes."
"Thank you," Mal said, and there were tears in his eyes. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost her."
[RELATIONSHIP MILESTONE: MAL ORETSEV]
[DEEP TRUST ESTABLISHED]
[+20 AFFINITY POINTS]
[TOTAL: 35 POINTS - FRIEND STATUS ACHIEVED]
[BONUS: MUTUAL PROTECTION PACT]
[SPECIAL ABILITY UNLOCKED: TACTICAL COORDINATION]
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, two men facing an uncertain future and finding solace in shared determination. Around them, the camp was settling into the uneasy quiet that preceded major operations.
"We should get some sleep," Mal finally said. "Tomorrow we start preparations in earnest."
They made their way back to their tent, both swaying slightly from the alcohol that had managed to affect them before Adam's field neutralized it. But as they settled into their bedrolls, exhaustion and lingering intoxication combined to create a problem.
Adam woke to sunlight streaming through the tent flap and the distinctly uncomfortable realization that he was pressed against someone warm and solid. He opened his eyes to find himself spooning Mal, both of them still fully clothed but tangled together like old lovers.
"Oh no. Oh, this is awkward."
"Morning, sunshine," a familiar voice said from the tent entrance.
Adam looked up to find Alina standing in the doorway, her hand covering her mouth to hide what was obviously suppressed laughter.
"Rainbow fish are learning to tap dance!" Adam said desperately, trying to extricate himself from Mal without waking him.
"I can see that," Alina replied, her eyes dancing with mirth. "Very... interpretive choreography."
Mal chose that moment to wake up, blinking in confusion before realizing their compromising position.
"Well," he said with remarkable composure, "this is new."
"Magnificent cheese sculptures are plotting world domination!" Adam declared, finally managing to roll away.
"Of course they are," Alina agreed solemnly. "The important question is: are you two prepared to stop them?"
[HANGOVER EFFECT DETECTED]
[-1 TO ALL STATS FOR 12 HOURS]
[FRIENDSHIP BONDING BONUS: +50 EXP]
[EMBARRASSMENT MULTIPLIER: x1.3]
[TOTAL EXP GAINED: +65]
As Adam struggled to untangle himself from both the bedroll and the previous night's poor decisions, he couldn't help but notice that despite the embarrassment, something had shifted. The three of them had moved past formal acquaintance into something deeper—real friendship, built on shared fear and mutual trust.
In four days, they would enter the Shadow Fold together.
But for now, they had each other, and that was something worth protecting.
Even if his system insisted on documenting every awkward moment for posterity.
POV: Alina Starkov
Alina couldn't stop smiling as she watched Pavel and Mal attempt to restore some dignity to their morning routine. There was something endearing about their embarrassment, something that spoke to the genuine bond forming between the three of them.
"We're becoming a unit. A team. Whatever happens in the Fold, we'll face it together."
"I brought breakfast," she announced, holding up a cloth bundle. "Figured you might need something to settle your stomachs."
"Bless you," Mal groaned, accepting a piece of bread. "I feel like I was trampled by horses."
"Crystallized moonbeams make terrible fashion accessories!" Pavel added, but he looked grateful for the food.
As they sat together in the morning sunlight, sharing a simple meal, Alina felt a strange sense of completion. These two men—one who could barely speak coherently, another who loved her with quiet desperation—had somehow become the most important people in her world.
"Four days. In four days, everything changes."
But for now, she could sit here and laugh at their antics, pretending that the future held nothing more dangerous than mild hangovers and friendly embarrassment.
The Shadow Fold could wait a little longer.
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