Horizon Breach

Chapter 1

Prologue:

“Shiroe, where do summoned creatures come from?”

Shiroe paused his work, looking up.

Minori met his eyes from across the room, her own stack of paperwork somewhat obscuring her face.

“I… don’t know. Maybe Regan has something on it? I can try asking him the next time I see him.”

Minori tilted her head back, pursing her lips, then nodded. “Okay.”

Shiroe returned to his work.

~oOo~

H O R I Z O N   B R E A C H

Log Horizon © Mamare Touno

This work provided under section 107 of the copyright act of 1978

Chapter 1

~oOo~

Roderick had to admit-- taking orders from a little girl half his age would have been weird even outside of Elder Tale, back in Japan. Now, as the guild leader of one of his own self-titled crafting guild, it was downright bizarre.

But because that girl was politically well connected and the apprentice to Strategist Shiroe himself, he swallowed his pride.

And it wasn’t like he could deny his own fascination with the topic.

He fiddled with his pen and clipboard, marking off results.

Fading afternoon sunlight filtered through the windows of the warehouse. The corrugated walls had yet to be painted, and reflected the light for better illumination.

“Horse talisman, level 5, open doors, wolf tribe, summoner!” Minori barked out her order.

His employee cast the spell, and within seconds, the sound of hoofbeats could be heard echoing through the warehouse. The horse that came galloping towards them was the same speckled white and brown mare that had appeared every other time that specific talisman was used, materialising somewhere out of sight beyond one of the open doors before making its way inside.

“Direction?”

The reply was barely audible in the cavernous warehouse, but after a few miscommunications early in the tests, the experimenters had taken to remaining on raid chat with each other.

Minori looked at him, and said “West entrance.”

Roderick nodded, and wrote down the result.

The horse was dismissed, and trotted off.

“Horse talisman, level 5, obstructed doors, wolf tribe, summoner!”

The dull scrape of metal against concrete came from each of the four sides of the warehouse, as metal grates were pushed in front of each of the doors.

Again, Roderick’s subordinate used the talisman. Again, the same horse appeared.

“Direction?”

“...”

“Disturbance?”

“...”

“West side, undisturbed grates.”

Roderick filled in the final box on the page. “Thank you very much, everyone. That concludes testing for today. I’ll contact you if we make any immediate breakthroughs, or when we need more testing, but you’re free to collect your payments from my second in command.”