Chapter 2: Maps and Madness
POV: Adam/Pavel
The wooden training sword felt like lead in Adam's hands. Each swing sent vibrations up his arms that his borrowed body wasn't prepared for, and his technique—if it could be called that—was a disaster of telegraphed movements and poor footwork.
"Kozlov!" Sergeant Yure's voice cut across the practice yard. "Are you trying to fan the enemy to death?"
Laughter rippled through the other soldiers. Adam wiped sweat from his forehead and tried to raise the practice blade again. His shoulders screamed in protest.
"Pavel's body is stronger than mine was, but he's still just a cartographer's assistant. Not a fighter."
"I'm trying my best, Sergeant," Adam attempted to say.
"Crystallized moonbeams make excellent soup ingredients!"
The laughter died. Several soldiers exchanged glances, and Adam caught the word "mad" whispered between them. Heat flushed his cheeks.
Mal stepped forward from the crowd, his own practice sword still in hand. "Maybe Pavel should sit this one out, Sarge. Head injury and all."
"Head injury." Sergeant Yure's tone suggested he was beginning to doubt that explanation. "Right. Kozlov, report to Cartographer Petyr. Maybe you can still read a map without spouting poetry."
"Thank God. I can't take much more of this."
As the other soldiers resumed their drills, Mal caught up with Adam at the edge of the practice yard. "You sure you're alright? Because that was..." He gestured vaguely.
"Magnificent purple butterflies are—"
Adam clamped his mouth shut, frustration boiling over. How was he supposed to warn anyone about anything if he couldn't control what came out of his mouth?
Mal studied his face with that tracker's intensity. "You're frustrated. I can see it. Look, maybe the medical tent—"
Adam shook his head vigorously and pointed toward the collection of tents that served as the army's administrative center. If he had to deal with this speech curse, at least he could be useful in the map room.
"Alright," Mal said slowly. "But if you start foaming at the mouth or something, I'm dragging you to the healers."
The map room was a blessed relief from the chaos of the practice yard. Canvas walls muffled the sounds of military life, and the air smelled of parchment and ink instead of sweat and steel. Maps covered every available surface—detailed surveys of Ravka, rough sketches of enemy positions, and most prominently, charts of the Shadow Fold.
Cartographer Petyr looked up from his work table as Adam entered. He was a middle-aged man with ink-stained fingers and the pale complexion of someone who spent his life indoors.
"Pavel! There you are. I need these supply route calculations verified before—" He paused, taking in Adam's expression. "You look terrible. Are you ill?"
"Maybe if I try really hard, I can force out something coherent."
"Just tired," Adam said carefully.
"Seventeen dancing teacups are holding a revolution!"
Petyr blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"
Adam's shoulders sagged. He pointed to his head and tried to look apologetic.
"Ah. Yes, Sergeant Yure mentioned you took a knock. Well, no matter. Simple verification work won't require much talking." Petyr handed him a stack of maps. "Just check these routes against the master charts. Mark any discrepancies."
Adam nodded and moved to a smaller table near the back of the tent. The work was actually soothing—precise, methodical, requiring only his eyes and hands. Pavel's training kicked in, and Adam found himself falling into the rhythm of cross-referencing coordinates and distance calculations.
It was while reaching for another map that it happened.
His fingers brushed the edge of a Fold chart, and the world exploded into vision.
Darkness. Screaming. The sound of wings like leather snapping in the wind. A skiff listing to one side, its mast broken. Bodies scattered across the deck. And in the center of it all, a figure wreathed in light—
"Alina."
Adam jerked his hand back, gasping. The vision faded, leaving only the normal map with its clinical drawings of the Un-Sea's boundaries.
[PROXIMITY BONUS ACTIVATED]
[GRISHA PRESENCE DETECTED]
[+25 EXP GAINED]
[CURRENT EXP: 30/100]
The tent flap rustled, and Adam looked up to see a young woman entering. She had dark hair pulled back in a practical bun and the kind of pale skin that spoke of mixed heritage. Her uniform marked her as First Army, like him, but something about her presence made the air feel different.
"That's her. That's Alina Starkov."
She was smaller than he'd expected, more ordinary looking than the actress who'd played her. But there was something about her—a quality that made him want to stare, to memorize every detail of her face.
"Excuse me," she said to Petyr. "I'm looking for the cartographer? I'm Alina Starkov, junior cartographer."
"Ah, yes! Pavel here is my assistant. Pavel, this is Miss Starkov. She'll be helping with the Fold survey preparations."
Alina's gaze shifted to Adam, and he felt the full weight of it. Those dark eyes seemed to look right through him, as if she could sense something different about him.
"Pavel?" she said. "I don't think we've met."
"Say something normal. Anything normal."
"Nice to meet you," Adam managed.
"Enchanted rabbits are hosting a tea party in my imagination!"
Alina's eyebrows rose. Behind her, Petyr sighed.
"Head injury," Petyr explained. "He's been like this all morning."
"Oh." Alina's expression softened with sympathy. "That's terrible. Are you in pain?"
Adam shook his head, not trusting his voice. But something about her concern, the genuine worry in her tone, made his chest warm in a way that had nothing to do with the system's proximity bonuses.
[RELATIONSHIP DETECTED: ALINA STARKOV]
[CURRENT AFFINITY: 0 POINTS]
[PROXIMITY BONUS: +5 EXP GAINED]
[TOTAL PROXIMITY TIME: 2 MINUTES]
[ESTIMATED HOURLY RATE: 25 EXP]
"Twenty-five experience points per hour just for being near her. The system wants me to get close to Alina."
"Well," Alina said, moving to the table beside his. "I suppose we'll be working together. I'm helping update the eastern approach maps."
She settled into her work with practiced efficiency, spreading charts across the table and pulling out measuring tools. Adam tried to focus on his own tasks, but his gaze kept drifting to her. The way she bit her lower lip when concentrating. The slight frown that creased her forehead as she worked. The careful precision of her movements.
"I'm staring. I need to stop staring."
But every time he looked away, he found himself glancing back. It was like trying not to look at the sun—the more you told yourself not to, the more irresistible it became.
"Is something wrong?" Alina asked, and Adam realized she'd caught him looking again.
"Smooth, Pavel. Real smooth."
"No, just—" He gestured vaguely at her work. "Impressive technique."
"Rainbow fish are learning to tap dance!"
Alina stared at him for a long moment, then burst into laughter. It was a bright, genuine sound that made something in Adam's chest flutter.
"I'm sorry," she said, covering her mouth. "I don't mean to laugh at your condition, it's just—rainbow fish tap dancing is actually a delightful image."
Despite everything, Adam found himself smiling. There was something about her laughter that made the speech curse feel less like a burden and more like an accidental gift.
[RELATIONSHIP UPDATE: ALINA STARKOV]
[AFFINITY: +5 POINTS]
[REASON: SHARED HUMOR]
They worked in companionable silence for a while, the tent filled only with the soft sounds of pencils on parchment and the distant noise of camp life. Adam found himself relaxing for the first time since waking up in this world.
It was when he reached for another Fold chart that the vision hit again, stronger this time.
The skiff lurched violently. Volcra circled overhead, their shrieks splitting the air. A soldier fell, his scream cut short. Alina cowered behind a supply crate, terror written across her face. And then—light. Blazing, impossible light that drove back the darkness and sent the volcra fleeing.
Adam's hand spasmed, and the map crumpled in his grip.
"The crossing. It's going to happen soon. She's going to awaken her power, and everyone who doesn't need to be there is going to die."
"Pavel?" Alina's voice sounded far away. "Are you alright? You've gone very pale."
Adam looked at her—really looked at her. In the vision, she'd been terrified, helpless. But she'd also been magnificent, wreathed in sunlight like a saint from an old painting. The Sun Summoner. The one person who could destroy the Shadow Fold.
And right now, she had no idea what she was.
"I have to warn her. I have to find a way to tell her what's coming."
"Alina," he said, putting every ounce of concentration into forming her name clearly.
"Crystallized starlight makes terrible breakfast cereal!"
Her expression shifted from concern to gentle pity. "It's alright, Pavel. You don't have to try so hard to talk."
But Adam was barely listening. The system had been silent since the vision, but now new text blazed across his vision:
[PROPHETIC CONTACT DETECTED]
[SKILL EVOLUTION AVAILABLE]
[[OBSERVE] - ENHANCED PRECOGNITION UNLOCKED]
[COST: 10 EXP]
[WARNING: TIMELINE ALTERATION RISK DETECTED]
[PROCEED? Y/N]
"Timeline alteration? What does that mean?"
Before he could decide, the tent flap opened again, and Mal ducked inside. His gaze immediately found Alina, and his face lit up with a smile that made Adam's stomach twist unexpectedly.
"Lina! I was looking for you."
"Mal." Alina's own smile was warm, familiar. The smile of someone greeting their oldest friend. "How did training go?"
"Better than Pavel's, apparently." Mal's gaze shifted to Adam, taking in his pale complexion and tense posture. "You look worse than you did this morning. Maybe you should—"
"The purple elephants are planning a midnight coup!"
Mal and Alina exchanged a look.
"Right," Mal said slowly. "Pavel, I'm bringing you some willow bark tea. For the... head thing."
"He thinks I'm brain damaged. They all think I'm brain damaged."
As Mal and Alina fell into easy conversation about their respective duties, Adam stared down at the crumpled Fold chart in his hands. The vision had been so vivid, so real. If he was right, if the crossing was coming soon, then time was running out.
He needed to get stronger. He needed to unlock his abilities. And somehow, he needed to find a way to warn people about what was coming without being able to form a coherent sentence.
[DECISION TIMEOUT APPROACHING]
[ENHANCED PRECOGNITION OFFER EXPIRES IN: 30 SECONDS]
[RECOMMEND ACCEPTANCE]
[KNOWLEDGE IS POWER]
[POWER IS SURVIVAL]
Adam thought about the vision again—the terror on Alina's face, the screams of dying soldiers, the creatures circling overhead like harbingers of death.
He thought about the system's warning: Timeline alteration risk.
"If I can see the future, maybe I can change it. Maybe I can save people."
[ENHANCED PRECOGNITION ACCEPTED]
[10 EXP SPENT]
[CURRENT EXP: 25/100]
[[OBSERVE] SKILL UPGRADED]
[PHYSICAL CONTACT NOW ENHANCES PRECOGNITIVE ABILITY]
[WARNING: OVERUSE MAY CAUSE TEMPORAL DISPLACEMENT]
The knowledge settled into his mind like a key turning in a lock. He could feel the new ability humming beneath his skin, waiting to be used.
"Pavel?" Alina was looking at him again, concern written across her features. "You're staring again."
"I'm staring because I can see your future, and it's terrifying and beautiful and I don't know how to save you from it."
"Dancing cookies," he said instead, because sometimes the curse almost made sense.
Alina laughed again, that bright, impossible sound. "Dancing cookies sounds lovely. Much better than the elephants."
[AFFINITY: +3 POINTS]
[TOTAL: 8 POINTS]
As the day wore on and the three of them worked in the map room, Adam found himself cataloging every detail—the way Alina hummed softly while she worked, the protective way Mal positioned himself between her and any potential threat, the comfortable familiarity between them that spoke of years of friendship.
"I'm the outsider here. The interloper. But maybe that's what they need—someone who can see what's coming and do something about it."
When the evening bell rang and Alina began gathering her materials, Adam made a decision. He reached out and briefly touched her hand as she passed, focusing all his concentration on the new precognitive ability.
The vision that hit him was different this time—clearer, more detailed:
Three days. The crossing order would come in three days. The skiff would carry fifty souls into the Fold, and only twenty would return. Unless something changed. Unless someone intervened.
Alina looked down at their joined hands, then back up at his face. "Pavel? What is it?"
For just a moment, the speech curse seemed to lift, and Adam felt words forming clearly in his mind. A warning. A plea. A desperate attempt to save her from what was coming.
"Purple monkeys are organizing a rebellion in the kitchen!"
The curse slammed back down like a cage door. Alina squeezed his hand gently before pulling away.
"Get some rest, Pavel. Tomorrow will be better."
As she left with Mal, Adam stared down at his hands. Three days. He had three days to figure out how to change the future with a broken voice and a game system that seemed designed to make everything as difficult as possible.
[DAILY SURVIVAL QUEST COMPLETED]
[+50 EXP GAINED]
[CURRENT EXP: 75/100]
[NOTIFICATION: [NULLIFY] UNLOCK AT 85% COMPLETION]
[ESTIMATED TIME TO UNLOCK: 2-3 DAYS]
"Two to three days. Right when the crossing order comes."
Adam looked toward the tent flap where Alina and Mal had disappeared, then back at the Fold charts spread across his table. Somewhere out there in the darkness, ancient horrors waited to feast on human terror.
But he would be ready for them.
He had to be.
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