《The Original Beefcake》
Chapter 1: The Path of Thorns
Chapter 1: The Path of Thorns
It was a dreary day in southern France, the sun was nowhere to be seen and a slow drizzle covered everything with thin layer of water. Even so, several hundred people formed a line spiraling around a small hill in a no name forest. The place would be of no further interest to anybody if not for the 30 meter tall black monolith that silently floated on top of the hill.
Every few minutes a colorful light erupted from the top, followed by cheering and applause. And then the line moved up one spot. Another burst of light, pale blue with a hint of magenta. ¡°Arcane Archer¡± Marcus thought. You could tell the classes apart by the color the monolith emits when it ¡°elevates¡± a person, but in this case Marcus had fully memorized the order of classes the monolith would bestow this day. 23 to go.
Cheer, step up, cheer, step up...With every step he came closer to the top and Marcus¡¯ heart beat faster. He was now close enough to also hear the sounds of agony as the monolith did his miraculous work. The transformation was painful and people could suffer anything from nose bleeds to complete collapse. With the next cheer Marcus finally stepped on the top of the hill where a handful of security guards ensured everyone followed procedure. 4 left.
A guard waved him closer to check his identity and application number. As he waited for confirmation he could hear the two men in the line behind him whispering and shaking their heads. He did not catch everything but ¡°Fighter¡± and ¡°death wish¡± was part of the conversation. He tried to ignore them and took back his ID card from the friendly guard. ¡°Just wait over there, if you have any last question or you need help just tell one of us.¡± The older man gave him an uplifting smile and pointed to the place he had to wait his turn.
As Marcus limped over, a sudden bark made him stop and turn. ¡°ENOUGH¡±. An older gentleman, right behind the two gossiping men, stared down on them and the authority in his voice alone made them turn as gray as the sky. ¡°Not everybody is here for fame or fortune. People have their own circumstances. The boy has clearly a good reason to be here.¡± The older man made a small gesture towards Marcus¡¯ leg. Marcus quickly turned around and continued towards his goal while his face turned red. He could hear the two men apologizing in the background.
A deep purple light erupted (Defiler) and the young woman in front of the monolith collapsed with a moan. Everybody still cheered, even as the guards carried her towards a small rest space on the other side of the hill top. Even if you get knocked out everybody supports you, it is this kind of a situation, Marcus thought.
In the small pause caused by the incident, Marcus glanced at the old man from the corner of his eyes. He had white hair and beard, all well trimmed, and together with his lavish black coat he gave of the air of nobility.
Three places behind him, Marcus thought for a moment, ¡°Blood Mage¡±. One of the top ten classes according to the official power ranking. He better be nobility or filthy rich to be able to pay for the spot, he thought. A top ten class spot can cost tens of million of dollars.Stolen story; please report.
Of course his own spot was basically free, and he had to wait only about two years to get it.
¡°Next¡±. It was his go. With his heart beating in his throat Marcus stepped towards the giant floating stone. Even up close the thing made no sound. Slowly Marcus stretched out his arm and put his hand on the surface of the black stone. ¡°It is cold¡± he thought just before heat rushed through his hand and arm into his body. Fire rushed through his body and he clenched his teeth to smother a scream. The fire moved through his chest and arms and rushed into his head making him feel like he had stuck his head into a furnace. Then the heat moved into his bad leg and all other pain became trivial. He could feel his knee burst into flames, white hot pain radiated from his leg and Marcus screamed until everything went black.
Cheering and clapping slowly dragged his consciousness back from nothingness. The face of the nice guard appeared before him with a smile ¡°It is over.¡± The man helped him up and guided him towards the exit area. Marcus was sweating and his whole body still felt hot and weird.
After confirming that he was okay to the guard, he slowly made his way down the hill, taking deep breaths and listening to his new body. In theory he knew what was happening. He had read and studied every piece of information he could get his hands on. But the actual physical experience was a completely different matter.
His arms and legs felt strong and full of energy. Every time he set down his right foot, the expected and well known pain failed to appear. By the time he had reached the bottom of the hill he was walking in a brisk manner with a wide, stupid smile on his face. He ignored the still waiting people and made his way over the large parking lot towards the bus stop but he ignored it too and walked towards the foot path to the nearby town.
His body was brimming with energy and after he made some distance to the crowd he stopped behind a tree. He put his hand over his heart and concentrated, like he had trained many times before (while looking really silly). It took only a moment and a faint white light appeared over his chest, quickly changing into a red floating symbol. He moved his other hand from left to right through the symbol and it changed form and color. First green than blue, then purple and lastly a bright yellow. The urge to activate his five crests, which everybody gets on gaining a class, was immense but Marcus clenched his teeth and forced himself to release the crests again. ¡°Stick to the plan.¡± he repeated to himself a few times. He had planned this for the last two years and it was not yet the time to activate the crests.
With a push he moved away from the tree and slowly started to run towards the town. 9 kilometer. It did not take long and his horribly untrained muscles begged him to stop but Marcus continued anyway. This was nothing compared to the agony of waiting for years for this day to come and he knew that his new body would adapt and allow him grow stronger much faster than any natural human. In truth he welcomed the pain. It was prove of his change and that he was finally moving forward. He was no longer a classless human, he was a Fighter now.
Humanity knew of 162 classes bestowed by the monoliths. The Fighter was rated 162nd in power according to the official ratings. A true trash class nobody would want. But Marcus did not care, because he knew something nobody else did. Humanity was completely wrong about the ¡°Fighter¡±.
¡°Sir, we will reach the jet in less than 30 minutes, and we will arrive at the family mansion in about 3 hours. I have prepared a spa and relaxation program.¡± The man nodded to his secretary and looked at his own reflection in the rain covered window of the limousine. It was the same old face but now a new energy radiated from it. The first step was made and it was a good idea to take it easy for a moment, adapt to the physical changes and to the activated crests.
The car moved quickly down the road and passed by the figure of a teen age boy running in the rain. The old man¡¯s gaze stuck to him for a moment and a wolfish grin appeared on his face. ¡°Change of plans. We are going right to the training facility. Make sure Hamand and Rita are there, I want to start as soon as possible.¡±
Chapter 2: 2 Years, 6 Months and 9 Days
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¡°th birthday which had been the deadline he had set himself. ¡°Alright. But you pay this time.¡± Frank just laughed and shrugged his shoulders as if he did not know what Marcus was talking about.
Chapter 3: That鈥檚 a big Hammer!
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Chapter 4: 18 is just a Number
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Chapter 5: Caravan of Trash
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Marcus had short contact with the man, Pavel Czerniak, ¡°Take a seat. I will put your bags in the trunk.¡± Marcus sat down in the passenger seatin the heavy off road car. With great joy he found the inside nice and toasty, a complete opposite of the cold and snowy Helsinki.
By the time they had reached the small base in the middle of nowhere Marcus had learned pretty much everything about Pavel¡¯s rather large family. If the man could fight like he talked they would be able to hold of an invasion without any problems.
Pavel showed him the barracks and promised him to give him the full tour later. ¡°As you can see everything is really new and nice. But we are the only team here right now. Normally it should be up to five teams but they just can¡¯t find enough people willing to do the job. Not me of course, as I said before¡.¡± Marcus watched Pavel and was not sure if he even drew breath or needed air at all.
The sun was finally up and it promised to be a nice clear day with -10 C¡ã. Pavel lead him to the canteen were the rest of the team was at this time. They entered the small building and found a warm room with several tables and a counter full of food. Three people stopped their breakfast and openly checked him out. The oldest of the three, a man in his 40s, stood up and shook his hand.
¡°Welcome Mister Freimann, I¡¯m Luca Russo the team leader.¡± Marcus nodded. ¡°Marcus is just fine for me.¡± One after the another, the others introduced themselves. The young woman with the short blond hair was Janette Brown from England. Lars Nilsen was a tall, reserved man from Norway with striking blue eyes.
After the introduction everybody went back to eating and Marcus also got himself something that was for once not purely made outof sugar. ¡°Now spill the beans big man. What is your class?¡± Janette went right for the jugular while Marcus still had a piece of bread in his mouth. ¡°Janette, you are rude. You can not just ask somebody for their class.¡± The tall blond Norwegian scolded her. ¡°Alright.¡± she moaned. ¡°My name is Janette and I¡¯m a level 4 Hawkeye. And what are you?¡± She asked, playing the role of a grade school girl. Everybody laughed but their eyes rested on Marcus anyway.
The moment he had dreaded for the whole journey had come and it was the worst circumstance. He swallowed a few times and cleared his throat to gain a few more seconds. ¡°Ehmm. I¡¯m a Fighter, level 1¡±.
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Chapter 6: First Blood
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Chapter 7: Enemy Contact I
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th day, shortly after noon, that the alarm activated and Russo¡¯s voice came from the intercom ¡°We have an unsecured portal. Standard equipment, in 5 at the heli.¡± Everybody scrambled to their rooms and Marcus¡¯ heart was beating in his throat. With shaky hands he put on his armor, double checked his gear and ran towards the transport helicopter. On the way Janette sprinted by him ¡°slowpoke¡± and reached the helicopter first.
Chapter 8: Enemy Contact II
Chapter 8: Enemy Contact II
Pavel opened up with his rifle but the hits did not seem to bother the beast or to slow it down. It charged at Lars who quickly jumped to the side, swinging his blade at the attacker. A howl of pain proved Lars had hit his mark. As the beast turned towards Lars, Marcus saw an opening and with a few big steps closed the distance ready to strike the flank of the monster.
A weird, piercing cry came from the large beast and it turned its head towards Marcus. He had just time enough to raise his arms as a claw, bigger than his head, swiped him with brutal strength. It felt like his arms were ripped clear off and he was thrown on his back. Arms still attached but with deep gashes in his armor he took a deep breath. And then he saw it.
Over the back of the wolf monster peered another set of eyes. A creature much smaller, with thick white fur and beady red eyes looked at Marcus lying in the snow. It showed its row of white sharp teeth, nearly as if it was smiling. ¡°There is another creature on its back!¡± Marcus shouted while trying to get back on his feet. Just a heart beat later Pavel appeared a few meter next to him and went full auto on the smaller critter. A hail of bullets executed the little devil on the spot. The large monster howled in rage lashing out on Lars and Pavel while Marcus finally got back on his feet.
For a moment Marcus took a deep breath, ready to join the others, and that saved his life. In a split second he saw movement out of the corner of his eyes and an instinct older than humanity made him brace and protect his head. Something collided with him and smashed him to the ground, pain radiating through his whole body. He felt stinking hot breath and a maw of daggers closed around his head ready to crack his skull. His helmet bent and Marcus could feel his head being crushed. The growl of the beast intensified as the heavy helmet stopped the beast from feasting on Marcus¡¯ brain. It started to drag and throw Marcus around who was still unable to defend himself.
After several seconds the beast finally let go and Marcus threw himself around just in time to see the big jaws coming down again. Without thinking he hit the big snout with his right fist. Impulse Hammer came out without any effort and the beast jumped back in pain. Still on the ground, Marcus desperately tried to get up before the next attack, as Lars jumped over him. His blade was soaked in red and danced over the body of the enemy. The beast howled and another of the smaller creatures jumped from its back onto Lars. It clawed and bit the tall man causing him to lose his sword. While Lars was fighting off the little devil, the other predator prepared to attack once more.
Marcus moved forward without thinking and shouted ¡°Here you filthy mutt!¡± More his waving than his insults seemed to draw the attention of the bigger monster, it lunged at him jaws wide open. This time Marcus was prepared, and for once not on the ground. He stepped back and let the attack go wide and dropped a vertical blow onto the massive skull in front of him. Something cracked and the eyes of the beast went wide. It staggered and Marcus followed up with one, two, three, four...¡±It is dead Marcus. You can stop now.¡± Lars voice reached him through the haze of exhaustion and adrenaline. He stopped and turned. Lars stood over the corpse of the small critter and Pavel joined them cursing in polish while working the mechanics of his rifle.
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As the thrill of battle slowly faded from Marcus the team secured the area and informed Russo and Janette about the events. The two had also taken down another beast combo.
Over the next hour they confirmed the portal was secured and placed surveillance systems to monitor it remotely. On the way back stories of their encounters were shared and Marcus inspected his helmet. Deep grooves and puncture holes showed how close he had come to death. Marcus promised himself to never cheap out on armor protection in the future. When they departed the helicopter the whole team gave him a hearty pat on the shoulders and only much later he really understood the meaning of it. He was now part of the team.
Over the next days training continued and he had to write a short report about the mission. But more importantly, he had leveled up. The singular best thing for a class holder. The big beasts must have been worth a lot of experience points because he had directly jumped to level 4. Which meant three more crests into vitality, bringing him to eight. Thanks to that boost his beaten body recovered even faster and he was fully healed long before the rest got back to 100%. Upside of a vitality build.
Eventually Russo called him into his office for a debrief. The room was small and had barely any furniture or other decorations. Just a desk, some chairs and a PC.
Marcus took place and Russo started without delay. ¡°I read your report. Very detailed.¡± Marcus felt like there was some hint he did not fully grasped. ¡°You did well for your first actual combat encounter.¡± the ¡°old man¡± sized him up. ¡°This was far more dangerous than one would hope for a first encounter, especially for a level 1.¡± He continued without taking his eyes of Marcus. ¡°Are you aware how close you came to dying?¡± The question came fast and without any emotion.
Marcus thought for a moment and remembered his torn helmet. ¡°Yes.¡± Russo nodded. ¡°And do you think you or anybody else did something particular wrong?¡± Marcus thought again for a moment and just shook his head. Russo continued to pierce him with his eyes.
¡°This is the reality of combat. Even if you and everybody else does everything right. You can die. Just like that.¡± After finishing the debrief Marcus left the office with a head full of heavy thoughts.
At the same day the others prepared a surprise party for Marcus¡¯ first successful mission. There was cake and laughter and Marcus was happy to be there with everybody still alive.
Later, back in his room, he sat in the darkness with many thoughts on his mind. A familiar set of colorful circles and symbols was on the wall. For the first time he completely ignored the symbol in the middle of the vitality circle. His eyes rested on four other symbols.
¡°When that beast put their jaws around his head I nearly lost it.¡± Lars admitted. It was late at night and everybody except the youngster was gathered for a drink. ¡°Yeah, I thought we lost him right there. But then he came up again and even finished one of those things off.¡± Pavel added and the rest of the team listened in silence. ¡°He did well. Damn. He did great, much better than I did in my first real battle.¡± Pavel took a sip from his beer. ¡°He directly pointed out those pesky monkey riders and even drew that wolf thing away from you Lars when you were monkeying around.¡± He joked and everybody laughed, even Lars. ¡°But for real, that was a tight spot. With my gun empty and me unable to reload¡¡± Pavel trailed off but Lars gave him a fist bump. ¡°We would have made it somehow but Marcus stood his ground like a real tanker.¡±
After a few moments of silence Lars added ¡°He does not have any strength.¡±. ¡°You sure?¡± Janette asked not convinced. ¡°If you grapple with somebody you get a really good sense how strong they are and he might be big but I doubt he has spent even one crest on strength.¡± Lars replied.
¡°He does not use weapons, he does not scale strength. What is he spending his crests on?¡± Pavel shook his head and opened up another pack of sweets. ¡°It¡¯s not dexterity, I can tell you that.¡± Janette stole some sweets from Pavel and hid behind Luca to avoid retaliation. ¡°Vitality. Given how fast he recovered from that beating it can¡¯t be anything else.¡± Luca¡¯s words just spelled out what the others already suspected. ¡°But that is no long term strategy¡¡± Pavel started but Luca stopped him.
¡°We trained yesterday and he got a hit in. He is improving fast.¡± he pulled his shirt up and his ribs up to his shoulder showed a blue, purple color. Janette gasped and Lars put down his drink. With a thoughtful look Lars slowly spoke ¡°Either he is not really a Fighter or¡¡± he paused and Luca finished the sentence ¡°...or Fighters are not going to stay on rank 162 much longer.¡±
Chapter 9: Killing Pain I
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Chapter 10: Killing Pain II
Chapter 10: Killing Pain II
Janette brought the large car to a standstill and killed the engine. They had reached their destination. Thick snowflakes landed on the still warm car and melted in seconds. Just to spite them it had started to snow heavily and the visibility was at best 10 to 15 meter. Janette had a grim expression on her face. ¡°Hey, you know that this is not real. Death flags-¡± Marcus tried to ease the tension but she ¡°shushed¡± him to be silent. ¡°Never tempt fate. Never mock the gods. You never know who or what is listening.¡± she said in a very serious voice. ¡°Okay, the portal is 100 meter in that direction, we check the equipment and then we go straight back to the car. Five minutes top.¡± She said it more to herself than to Marcus.
Outside, they moved slowly through the heavy snow. Janette had her rifle ready and now even Marcus started feel nervous. They reached the surveillance equipment ready to remove some snow and maybe change some batteries. Instead they found the equipment trashed and scattered in the area. As soon as they realized this, Janette put her rifle to her shoulder and Marcus went mentally into combat mode. ¡°Shit¡± Janette cursed under her breath. ¡°Back to the car, we need to inform the base.¡± They had a special satellite phone in the car for exactly these kind of situations.
They slowly moved back covering each others backs. The thick snow had removed any tracks from potential attackers and the dense curtain of flakes shrank the world to a few meter in radius. Marcus felt under threat from all directions and what¡¯s worse with his thick helmet he could not hear well. Eventually they reached the car and his heart started to beat a bit slower. He went around the car and opened the side door. Janette kept watch, scanning the white nothing for potential hostiles. Marcus remembered the code words and correct procedure and quickly informed the base. ¡°Understood, we will take the heli and be there in less than an hour. Do not engage. Take the car and make some distance and wait for support.¡± Russo¡¯s voice sounded calm and professional.
Marcus looked up with a smile only to see Janette stand perfectly still, her rifle aimed at something in the flurry of snowflakes. She jumped to the side and something hit the car exactly where she stood a moment before. A scream of metal and the back door vanished in a roaring explosion. As soon as Janette hit the ground she started to fire back into the snow storm. Then, Marcus could see shapes appear between the snow flakes. Two Humanoid shadows charging at them in a pincer move. He moved towards Janette, to give her cover, but one attacker already charged him from the side.
Marcus could barely make out the movement of the enemy in the snow but it took him only a heartbeat to know who was after their lives. A creature from his nightmares. Orks.
The tall ork charged right at Marcus, a black spear point aimed at his heart. His body moved on reflex alone and he turned just in time to avoid most of the attack. He could feel the spear tip tearing through his armor and a sharp pain followed before the spear punched right through the car door. If it had been any other weapon Marcus would have been hit full on but he had been training against a spear user for a month now and his body moved on painful experience.
Marcus stepped forward, using the moment the ork needed to free up his spear, to close the distance. Instead of moving head on Marcus side stepped the enemy and avoided a brutal swing from the armored arm of the ork. In the same motion Marcus turned and delivered a back hand swing to the head of his enemy. His hand connected only with the shoulder as his target was much larger than his normal sparring partner. Impulse Hammer threw the ork around and against the battered car door. More importantly he let go of his deadly weapon. ¡°Follow up!¡± He could hear the harsh voice of Russo in his head and like in training he stepped in to deliver an effective hit.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Marcus did not know what class his opponent had but he was sure he was a class holder as the green warrior brushed his strike away before it could connect and the power of that blow was enough to make his arm numb. A terrifying scream filled the battlefield. It was Janette crying out in pain. When did her gun stop firing? Raw panic was running through his veins. He had no time to lose. Clenching his teeth he rushed right into his enemy.
The ork did not disappoint and a heavy fist, driven by strength enhancing crests, buried into Marcus¡¯s already hurting side. The pain made him lose sight for a second but he forced through it stepping right up to the ork pressing his hands on the warriors face. For a brief moment Marcus could clearly see one eye of his enemy. Impulse Hammer. The head of the ork was smashed backwards with such force that his neck broke like a straw. Marcus turned in blind panic towards the place he had seen Janette last. The other ork stood with his back to Marcus, wielding a menacing looking club, focused on his prey on the ground.
The next seconds happened like in a dream. The ork raised his bloodied weapon and Marcus rushed around the corner of the car screaming who knows what. The distance to Janette was only a few meter but it felt impossible far. Marcus¡¯ mind was blank besides one singular thought: Stop the club.
Any second he would strike! Marcus jumped, straining his body from tip to toe. He hit the ork in mid swing and they both went to the ground. He scrambled to get on the ork but something hit his helmet like a bomb. His body went limp and he collapsed. His foe rose on one arm and lifted the horrible instrument of carnage and Marcus could see it coming. His body did not react to his will and in a terrible moment of clarity he knew it was over. BANG.
A sharp crack filled the air, followed by several more and the ork dropped over. Marcus could see the dead eyes of the ork and the back of his head shattered by bullets. All the tension in his body vanished and the only thing he could hear was his own heartbeat. He felt tired. So very tired.
His eyes closed softly and darkness embraced him like an old friend.
Marcus felt warm, pleasant even. He could not remember the last time he felt this relaxed. His mind drifted through a warm fuzzy nothingness listening to a melody he knew from somewhere.
Slowly, against better knowledge he opened his eyes. He was lying in a bed in a barely lit room. Somebody was next to him, humming a melody. ¡°Mamma¡± he whispered and a hand padded his head. ¡°Va tutto bene.¡°,
Marcus lifted himself up and mentally checked his body. Everything was still there and in working order. A familiar warm feel in his chest told him that he had leveled up at least once. Janette was still crying and holding on to his hand. He turned to her to make an uplifting joke but she spoke first. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± her voice was muted. ¡°I nearly got you killed.¡±
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Chapter 11: Power Up
Chapter 11: Power Up
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She blinked a few times and then walked over to the window. She stood there for a while, Marcus could see her eyes moving over the landscape outside the base. ¡°Willpower, eh?¡± she said it in a soft voice. ¡°I would never have guessed.¡± Marcus watched her a bit longer. ¡°Does it make a difference?¡±
She nodded ¡°If I get a few more willpower crests I¡¯m not going to need a scope ever again.¡±
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Marcus took a deep breath and went into a wide and fairly deep stance. Then he tensed up his muscles and imagined to be stuck in place like a metal pole anchored in the ground. Nothing.
He tried a few more times and also had Lars push him to see if there was some increased resistance.
Chapter 12: Gearing for War
Chapter
¡°From here on out everything will be recorded, so we will stay in English.¡± Marcus stomach felt weird and he suddenly regretted his large lunch.
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After this was done and Marcus assured his boss that he could go and take the spear right this moment, Russo became serious once more. ¡°Marcus, I know you have already recovered from your wounds but the mind heals much slower than the body. Even for normal humans.¡± Marcus did not know what to say, he did not feel bad. ¡°Give yourself time and if you want to talk, no matter when and no matter about what you can come to me. Anything we discuss stays between us.¡±
Marcus woke up in the middle of the night. He was covered in sweat and his heart was racing as if he had just run a marathon, with his armor on. He went into a sitting position and tried to calm himself. He closed his eyes and a particular picture came to his mind. The moment he had his hands on the face of that ork. The look in his eyes. Marcus shivered and put his hands around his legs.
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Chapter 13: Before the Storm
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They had of course a proper name but
And still, Marcus despised them. He did not learn everything, that was known about the green menace, because he was curious.
Life was complicated and the more you know the more complicated it be
¡°At this speed you might miss the ork raid all together.¡± A female voice dragged Marcus out of his deep thoughts.
¡°I saw you
Marcus quickly tried to get back on track. ¡°I was training
Monika, who looked really nice in her training suit, tilted her head. ¡°You are level 7 and you already have unlocked the second ability of the Fighter?¡± Again Monika surprised him. ¡°Can I try?¡± She asked holding
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¡°I saw that.¡± Marcus had just left the showers and
Marcus denied any knowledge of sexual attraction from anybody at any point. ¡°Ahh geez. Marcus, I could feel the hot waves coming from the two of you on the other side of the hall. This one has an eye on you.¡± She tipped against the side of her nose. ¡°Your big sis can tell when a girl is looking for some booty.¡± Marcus swallowed hard. Could it be? Me? Her? Suddenly he felt he needed another very cold shower. Janette put her arm (somewhat) around his shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.
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He was not the only one with new toys. Janette unpacked a giant rifle that looked at least one size to big for her. ¡°50 BMG¡± she just said and annihilated a target dummy in one shot.
Eventually the brass decided it would be a good thing if the troops socialized a bit more. So a social evening was announced and everybody was asked to appear. The common room, and some rooms next to it were packed and the team hid in a familiar corner playing chess and watching the chaos from the side line. ¡°About now some dick should show up either hitting on Janette in
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They talked for a bit and Monika snugged up to him because it was cold, even with her jacket
He was completely nervous and Monika calmed him by whispering into his ear, she knew how to take care of him.
He expected her to move onto him or lie next to him but instead she went
Still aching from this happiness, Marcus saw Monika moving up on him with a red face. Her soft body press
Her fingers clawed into his
Afterwards, he spent time kissing and gently embracing her body. He
Chapter 14: Being an Adult
Chapter 14: Being an Adult
Marcus sneaked back into the barracks and had a morning shower. Thanks to his high vitality he felt fully refreshed and ready for the day. The door knocked. Janette barged right in, squinted her eyes and said ¡°sit¡± pointing at his bed. Unable to resist the command, Marcus sat down unclear what was going on. Janette had her hands on her hips and looked down on him like a drill sergeant.
¡°Congratulation Marcus, you are now an adult. It is very important that you learn this lesson right now.¡± She continued in a serious tone. ¡°You had a one night stand. And it is important that you understand what that means. You meet. You bang. You do NOT cling.¡± Marcus started to get where this was going. ¡°You do not call. You do not show up to her yoga class and you do not try to make it happen again. It is one and done.¡± After saying this Janette looked sufficiently happy with herself.
¡°I know.¡± Marcus said after a moment. ¡°Monika told me she just wanted to have some fun. Nothing more.¡± Janette gave him a smile and sat next to him. ¡°Was it good?¡± she asked. Marcus nodded ¡°Amazing.¡±
They sat in silence for a while. ¡°Did you show up to yoga class?¡± Marcus asked into the blue. ¡°Sure, did. First girl who turned me from an insecure wallflower into the blazing star I¡¯m today. I wish somebody had told me the rules of one night stands before that.¡± She laughed and Marcus was impossibly thankful that Janette was his friend. They shared breakfast and the ¡°old man¡± called the team together shortly after. ¡°Finally we have several teams on base and that means we can have team training.¡± Moaning came from several of the more experienced team members. ¡°No excuses. We will train with the team from Cullen. It will be good for you to train with other people and classes.¡±
With Russo leading, they went to the training hall were the other team was already waiting. Cullen, a smaller man with short red hair and a stern face shook hands with Russo. They started out by introducing their classes and abilities like before. Alternating, one class holder from each team stepped up. Declaring their name, class and level and showed what they could do.
Lars started out, simple like before. Elise Bakker a woman with thin black hair and an athletic body stepped up. ¡°lvl 22 Shaman¡±, instead of going for the target she pulled out a pistol and shot at her own hand. She dropped the bullet and showed her undamaged hand. Body reinforcement, Shaman (31) was a buffer type but Marcus did not remember all their abilities right now.
Next up, Russo moved and showed of some spear work and Cullen nodded in respect. Cullen himself moved forward as an ¡°Alchemist, lvl 31¡±. He pulled out a small phial and threw it at a target. The glass broke and the red liquid inside covered the front of the target. It melted in seconds into sludge. ¡°Besides that, Mrs. Brown already has gained the benefit of my other ability.¡± Janette nodded and moved her, now surprisingly healed arm. Without further explanation Cullen stepped back into the neat row of his team. Alchemist was a rank 22 class. They can create powerful medical products like pills and potions. Marcus was surprised to see an Alchemist here and a level 31 to boot.
Marcus was about to go but Janette nudged him to stay. She introduced herself and put a few bullets of her pistol in a target. Somehow it seemed far less flashy than what he was used to from Janette. Her counterpart was a small man with dark hair and sharp features he introduced himself as ¡°Pierre Martin, lvl 20, Accelerator¡±. Marcus could see how Pavel¡¯s knuckles went white for a moment.
Pierre pulled out a knife and in the same motion stood in front of the target. His hand moved so fast that Marcus only saw a blur but the target suffered half a dozen hits in a second or two. What was going on! Accelerator was rank 24, all their classes are high to mid rank and addition to that much higher level than their own team.
Pavel did not move and Marcus knew why. Instead, Marcus stepped forward and introduced himself. He did not look at the other team, he just moved to the target and punched the head off. ¡°Wait what is your ability?¡± Elise asked. ¡°That looked like a normal strike for somebody who has some strength crests.¡± She put more salt in the wound. ¡°Heavy Strike.¡± Marcus said and moved back without any further explanation. The tallest of the other group was next, a dark skinned man with the name Thomas Fairbank, he was a lvl 18 Firelord. He stepped next the target and it started to burn and eventually melt away. ¡°Give me enough time and I can turn anything into slag.¡± He shrugged his shoulders and went back. Rank 62, nobody can win a fight of attrition against this class Marcus thought. He was also the only one of the other team who seemed to wear something beyond light armor.
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As the last of the team Pavel just moved behind the target with Wind Walk and put a rifle burst in its back. The last in line was a young woman who had not shown much interest in the event. She had snow white skin and platinum blond, long hair. She moved one step forward, pointed her hand at one of the targets and snapped her finger. Something appeared above her hand and moved with extreme speed into the target, punching clean through it. ¡°Elena Volkova, Elemental Mage, level 16.¡± she said and stepped back. Rank 8, Marcus thought. They have a top ten class in their team and he felt a knot in his chest.
After this ¡°friendly¡± event they went outside for one on one sparring. Melee classes performed unarmed combat while the ranged ones had a shooting competition. Marcus got paired up with Pierre. To make matters worse for the first time temperatures had risen enough for the snow to melt and the ground to be soaking wet.
Marcus went into his basic stance like he had learned. He wanted to let Pierre go first to get a feeling for the fight. Before he even got ready Pierre moved up kicked him into the stomach. The impact made him bent over only to receive another kick against his left leg. He went on his knees and Pierre followed up with a barrage of strikes. Marcus desperately tried to keep his guard up but a heavy blow pushed his arms away. Strike after strike hammered into his face until everything went dark.
Shouting brought him back to reality, that and pain. Marcus blinked and saw the face of his team leader while he heard Janette shouting and cursing. ¡°How are you? Can you stand?¡± Russo asked and Marcus came up on his feet. His head was still hurting but the rest of his body seemed to move well. ¡°You see, he is already up again. No reason to be upset.¡± Cullen tried to get things calmed down. ¡°Because he is built like a tank. Anybody else would be in the medical ward.¡± Janette had fire in her eyes and the rest of the team looked much the same. ¡°Was it fun to beat up a level 7 Fighter?¡± Pavel asked. ¡°It was nothing.¡± Pierre replied and shrugged his shoulders.
¡°Very well, everybody back to their tasks. Marcus can you go again?¡± Russo asked and Janette¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°Luca!¡± Some blood dropped out of Marcus¡¯ nose but he nodded. ¡°Back to sparring¡± Russo said and then bent to Marcus¡¯ ear ¡°Don¡¯t hold back.¡± Russo gave him a pat on the back and made space for the ¡°sparring¡±. Marcus could see Pierre and Elena talk for a moment and a thin smile appeared on the man¡¯s face.
Marcus went into his stance and brought his guard up. Then he put Anchor to max.
Pierre also got into position and charged with blinding speed. Marcus couldn¡¯t see the kick, only feel the pain of the impact on his right knee. But the level seven Fighter did not budge, instead Pierre staggered with surprise. Marcus did not think or hesitate and delivered a plain palm strike to the chest of the surprised man. Impulse Hammer.
Since the time with Mr. Tree Marcus had not put this much power into Impulse Hammer. The man was blown over and rolled over the soggy ground. Marcus flinched as he remembered that he had gotten six more vitality since then, something he had not taken into account.
¡°THAT was reckless.¡± Elise Bakker shouted. ¡°If I had not reinforced him in the last second this could have killed him!¡± Pierre¡¯s breath was rattling and he held his chest unable to stand up. ¡°Na, na. Look, he is fine. No reason to be upset.¡± Russo sounded rather relaxed.
Marcus felt he had to say something, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I have not yet adjusted to my increased power.¡± The Cullen team looked even more pissed but Janette could not stop laughing for minutes.
Even later in the common room she replayed the scene in her own style for the whole room to hear. ¡°Ohh. I¡¯m sorry! I didn¡¯t know how awesome I was!¡± Janette laughed tears and hit Marcus on the back so many times he worried his vitality could not keep up.
¡°But seriously. Thank you for being a weird, super tanky Beefcake.¡± Janette said removing tears from her eyes. ¡°It feels so good to see those elites speechless for once.¡± Pavel gave him the thumbs up. ¡°Elites?¡± Marcus felt he was missing something.
¡°I told you, we are the trash caravan. We are the trash that gets stationed at the end of the world. Or why else do you think they send us a level 1 Fighter?¡± Janette said with a bitter voice. ¡°The LCPS has more elite teams where they put the high rankers and hopefuls. Those guys get the good gigs were they can earn a lot of EXP and can level up until they get scouted by big money.¡±
Marcus looked around his teammates and saw a lot of pain behind smiles. Being second or third rate and still pushing on. Being stepped on and not say something because you need the money. Things like that hurt. ¡°I think you are all awesome.¡± He said. ¡°I drink to that.¡± It was Russo, who raised his wine glass.
¡°That we all survive the next mission. CHEERS¡±. Janette¡¯s words caused laughter but Marcus felt a heavy mass in his stomach. ¡®They might not all survive¡¯ until now this fact had not been real to him. Maybe something like this is also part of being an adult, he thought.
Chapter 15: Thunder Squad
Chapter
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The muscular black man on the podium continued. ¡°This is more than we originally expected but we had ample time to prepare our defenses and to coordinate with the
I
¡°We are going to use a dynamic defense were half of our troops will be placed in tactical defense position and the other half will be mobile and engage at hot spots as needed. Your commanders have been informed, prepare yourself.¡± Brahms ended the presentation and the troops scattered, murmuring and discussing the news.
The new ¡°car¡± turned out be a modern military light truck. Armored and reinforced with a central armored turret mount, the perfect place for Janette. It also had handles and boards on the side to allow soldiers to ¡°hitch¡± a ride. Which was
The base looked like an ants nest, people running around, shouting and vehicles roaring. Marcus also caught a glimpse or two of Monika. He had to fight the urge to wave
Hot memories visited him all too often but he also felt a weird sense of discomfort. As wonderful as the night has been, Marcus slowly realized that this kind of ¡°pure fun¡± interaction was not what he wanted. When Lars or Pavel talked to their
With every hour that went by the tension on the base grew
He knocked heavily and the door opened,
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Marcus¡¯ heart skipped a beat but the door already closed behind him. ¡°We are going to be out of chairs soon.¡± Russo joked and offered Marcus a small
Brahms slowly turned the glass in his hands. ¡°We know.¡± The other men nodded and Marcus felt a bit silly. ¡°Have you told anybody?¡± Brahms continued. Marcus denied that and the black man gave him a strong look. ¡°Keep it that way. The last thing we need right now is a panic.¡± Marcus suddenly understood why they had not said anything about this.
¡°If we can not take the warlord down with teamwork and concentrated fire it will fall to me to best him or her. I¡¯m a level 62 Berserker myself.¡± Brahms smiled at the last words. Russo thanked Marcus for his initiative and led him out of the door. ¡°Sleep, gather your strength.¡± He said sending Marcus to bed.
¡°That boy of yours is really something else. He got there only with the limited information he had.¡± The strike force commander took some extra from the expensive looking bottle. ¡°And he did put one of yours into the ward, Rian?¡± that comment went to Cullen. ¡°It would have been a different thing in a real combat but I¡¯m actually happy he did. The kids are too focused on the strength of their
Marcus went to bed but he only got two hours of sleep before the sirens started and everybody rush
¡°
With this the Thunder Squad moved out. Pavel was the driver, he was the one who could move the fastest out of the car. Also nobody wanted Janette to drive. The rest squeezed into the back for the most part of the journey to the portal. Once they got close to their defense positions Russo, Lars and Marcus stepped on the outside boards and Janette moved up to the armored turret
A massive explosion shattered the silence of the night. A blazing ball of fire appeared in the night before the shock wave rushed over the Thunder Squad.
Chapter 16: Night Raid
Chapter
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A portal stone. Nobody could have predicted the orks have such a rare artifact. Humanity had only found a few dozen of them since the portals opened. They are ancient alien artifacts from an unknown civilization with the ability to copy a portal and to create a new one with the same destination.
¡°
As they moved closer they could hear gun fire and see colorful lights erupt
Marcus sprinted as fast as he could and reached Lars who fought back two orks at the same time giving a wounded man time to draw back. Marcus did not slow down but kneed one of the surprised orks into the side. Impulse Hammer. The timing was not perfect but the force was more than enough. The ork went down with Marcus on top, a quick jab with Impulse Hammer shattered the head of the ork and mud splash
More orks pressed forward and with the element of surprise gone the next fight would be much harder.
As the woman fell another ork stepped up from behind a small group of trees that once
Something heavy hit Marcus on the back and exploded. He suddenly was on his hands and knees and his ears were ringing even with the helm protection. His back was a mess of pain but he could still breath and turned to see his attacker. An ork wielding a large bow just readied a new arrow aiming at him. Marcus threw himself to the right in a desperate attempt to avoid the attack but it never came. Pavel appeared next to the ork and gunned him down.
That beast was a Windwalker! And not a low level one. Ice cold terror r
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Marcus dove forward reaching out, missing the leg and only holding onto the armor
Marcus
Pavel steered the car in the direction Russo had determined. They passed by gruesome battlefields
¡°Don¡¯t do that.¡± Marcus looked up
Flames and screaming welcomed the
The team double teamed the other orks and Janette held her fire. After the two were taken care of Marcus¡¯ sight wandered to the defender. Only now he recognized Elena. Her white face was smeared with blood, twisted in pain. Her left arm looked lifeless and burned but every few seconds she shot out another flame blast. Next to the tree, on the ground, was Elise who looked exhausted but fully concentrated on Pierre who fought against the dual wielding ork. The other two were Cullen
At the moment Elise screamed ¡°NO!¡±. Pierre and the ork had exchanged hits. The short sword of Pierre stuck in the stomach of the ork, but two red crescent
¡°Marcus with me. Lars, Pavel help Elena with the rest.¡± Russo moved past Cullen without a word. Marcus took his place next to the ¡°old man¡± and Janette¡¯s voice
The blades of the ork were black and by no means ordinary. Even with Elise¡¯s reinforcement they had cut Pierre through his armor. The Blood Knight moved with great ease and confidence, parrying spear blows while also keeping Marcus at bay. Right now, Marcus was sure, the only reason
The time of testing did only last so long. In one move the ork was next to Marcus and one blade cut into his arm. His armor stopped most of it but the tip got through and some blood colored his new armor red. The ork jumped back, suddenly cautious. Russo used the moment and his
In the few seconds he had, Marcus could only find one path to victory. Janette would be so mad at him later.
Both blades sank deep into Marcus¡¯ body, piercing through his armor. For a moment Marcus stood face to face with the ork and then slowly
¡°YOU MOTHERFUCKER! IF YOU DIE I WILL KILL YOU!¡± Janette¡¯s voice screeched over the com line while Marcus tried to move as little as possible. The pain was so bad he was about to lose consciousness. Russo was next to him and then Cullen. The man put some black pill in his mouth that he swallowed. Then the
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Chapter 17: Blood Price
Chapter
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¡°I was and I am, but before I rip your head off I want to hear your reasoning for such a stupid stunt.¡± She said cutting down another apple. ¡°Knowing you, you had a plan and did not just
¡°He would have killed all of us. I realized this when he avoided th
¡°Sooo, I tried to come up with a strategy to defeat him and the only thing I had seen that looked remotely like a weakness was, that he took a bit too much pleasure in causing pain and
¡°I trusted my vitality and armor to keep me alive. And I trusted you.¡± Marcus said in his feeble defense. Her eyes looked watery but she did not say anything for a minute. Finally she said, ¡°This is going to happen again. You getting hurt badly over and over.¡±.
Marcus looked a bit sheepish. ¡°5 level
EXP from kills is not rewarded to the last hit but shared
¡°Shall I spent them?¡± Marcus asked with a smile. ¡°Sure¡± Janette leaned back watching him activating all five crests for vitality. ¡°By now, you should have the vitality of mid to high level front liner. I don¡¯t think handguns or knifes can actually kill you anymore. My rifle surely can.¡± She added the last part while squinting her eyes. They laughed and then she became serious again, ¡°Am I supposed to spent only on willpower from now on?¡±
Marcus got up and stretched his empowered body. ¡°I would say 3 willpower, 1 dexterity and 1 of what ever else you feel you need.¡± She gave him a thumbs up and then it looked like she thought
¡°Do you understand how helpful this is to me?¡± She started and Marcus
Marcus had left the medical war
Marcus felt selfish and bad but a part of him did not want to share his knowledge. Janette was a different case, she was¡ she was¡ The word that cam
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Brahms held a speech about the cost of success and the loss of comrades and caring on their spirit. 32 Caskets and one of them held the remains of Thomas. Pierre had barely survived and was still in the medical ward,
Inside was Pierre, still in bed but far from dead, and also Elise. A moment ago their hands had been touching and Marcus decided
A moment of silence followed the next. ¡°How is your body.¡± Marcus started, standing there like
¡°
¡°Listen, I was out of line with my attack. Elise was right I could have seriously hurt you. I was so angry at the moment¡¡± Marcus
Pierre sat up ¡°I thought you were a phony with a big body and a fancy armor. A nobody who tried to look big. I wanted to teach you a lesson but it went all wrong.
¡°
¡°How the heck are you so tanky and still have so much power?¡± Pierre asked straight up. ¡°Wait, don¡¯t tell me.¡±
¡°
T
The base quickly emptied out as the other teams packed up and machines and equipment was shipped off to other places. As quickly as it had started it also ended. With no good reason to have more troops in the area, the Thunder Squad stayed behind in a far too large base. Marcus did not dislike it. Just a day later the team gathered up
Most of the loot was easy to decide and everybody agreed Russo should get the stuff from the big ork. Sadly, as it turned out, the axe was nothing special only the power of the ork made it impressive. The female ork (who nearly killed Pavel) and the pesky bow ork, both had some nice stuff (according to the official price catalog, image recognition is such nice technology), Pavel and Janette got the bonus. Lars had taken down some burly ork by himself while
Lastly the Blood Knight came up. His armor was at least one step better than the light armor anybody in the team had and after some debating it was decided Lars would get it with compensation to Janette. The two deadly blades were given to Marcus who disagreed ¡°You took the shot, it is your kill.¡±
Then Marcus sat there while the team silently looked over the documents. For each, attribute distribution and thoughts on ability development and ideas for potential new abilities. The silence was so heavy even the turning of pages sounded loud. Nobody talked, or laughed or told Marcus that
¡°I need to push up my vitality a lot.¡± Lars said into the blue. ¡°Apparently I scale with vitality and not with intelligence as I thought.¡±.
¡°
More time went by and apparently nobody was questioning the information. ¡°Do you not want to know...how¡¡± Marcus asked softly.
Chapter 18: When you have fun, time flies
Chapter
Half a year ha
The daily routine kept everyone going. Portals came and went again with only a few smaller monsters and critters showing up. The highlight was a giant bird that looked like a red eagle but several times the size. Any hype quickly vanished when Janette took it down in one shot. She really can not miss anymore.
Not long after the ork incident Janette told Marcus she would soon leave. Which caused him to nearly have a
¡°Can you believe that.
The next big thing happened one evening when Pavel suddenly ran screaming through the hallway, only
Marcus had been very serious about the topic and did his best to
The hardship was worth it. With ¡°Air Step¡± Pavel c
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Still, one aspect of Anchor was troubling Marcus a lot. Even with his high vitality, it ate through his endurance extremely quickly. At max power it drained him dry in less than five minutes. I
Birthdays and other festivities came and went and Marcus felt more and more at home. In truth he started to worry about the day he had to leave this base in Finland.
On a warm and sweaty Friday night Russo joined the team around a small fire place where sausages (imported from Germany) sizzled and for some reason pirate songs filled the air. He had a grave expression and the mood quickly changed. ¡°The Finnish authorities have been talking to the LCPS. Over the last months, there has been a marked up tick in illegal objects
¡°They definitely have
As Marcus soon learned the ¡°Hard Boys¡± were not some small gang but a
He felt uneas
Chapter 19: Blind Spot
Chapter 19: Blind Spot
Four people sat in a far too large conference room around a far too large table. Chips and sweets lay scattered between them and their heads hang over tablets, endlessly scrolling through a list with names and personal information. The room had no real windows, as it was situated deep under ground. Instead large screens gave the impression they were in the middle of a jungle at dawn.
Once a month this group came together to sift through mountains of prepared data. An arduous task, if you go by their faces.
¡°If I see another Berserker or Blood Knight with level 30+ who is barely 20 I throw that thing against a wall.¡± A man with green hair moaned. ¡°Then be prepared to get a new tablet.¡± A tall blond woman answered without looking up. ¡°They produce those power leveled babies on mass now. I would rather take a level one over such a brain dead-¡±. ¡°HA!¡± The other woman in the room suddenly exclaimed. Her oriental face was covered with tattoos and a wide grin. ¡°There he is again. I¡¯m telling you we need to talk to the tech guys. They need to retrain the AI.¡± The first man leaned over, ¡°Who?¡±.
¡°This German guy, how do you pronounce that? Anyway, he is a low level Fighter, of all things, and has shown up at least twice in the list. I just remembered because his name looked funny.¡± She pointed at the young man. The last person in the room, a black haired Asian with licorice in his mouth scrolled to the name. His eyes hang on the basic information for a second than he swiped the name over and ¡°Marcus Freimann¡± appeared on the large screen on the wall. The screen was empty besides this one entry and the headline ¡°watch list¡±.
The green haired man leaned back with an amused look on his face ¡°You can¡¯t be serious Kim.¡±. The other man looked up and squinted his eyes, his fingers moved over the name again and detailed information appeared. His eyes glanced over various points while his hands reached out for more sugary delights and stopped. ¡°You are right Jack.¡± He put his finger on the name again and a few seconds later a new symbol appeared next to the name on the big screen. ¡°High Priority¡±
Far away from this meeting in a training hall in the middle of nowhere a group of class holders gathered around a young man. ¡°My name is Ben Greyer and I¡¯m a level 17 Weapon Master.¡± He said with a strong German accent. Like the rest he had shown up in his full gear including a tall two handed blade. Without much further ado he stepped near a test target and swung the blade with speed and precision. The blade arced in fluid motions and first both arms and then the head flew off. With a last rotary motion the chest was cut in half. Marcus watched it in awe, there had been no breaks in the attack and they were precise without any extra motion or wasted power. The rest seemed to think so too as clapping and nodding was going around. The tall man smirked and got a bit red around the cheeks.
Marcus took a deep breath. Now, that the introduction was over a certain re-match would be next and Marcus¡¯ body still remembered the beating he had taken last time. Janette remembered too and had from somewhere produced an actual cup of popcorn and a soda. She wiggled her eyebrows when she saw his look. She enjoyed this far too much.
¡°As I understand it. A sparring match has been declared.¡± Russo started and also looked far more chipper than Marcus liked. ¡°About that.¡± Pierre intervened, looking a bit uneasy. ¡°Ben should take my place. He needs the experience more than me.¡± Marcus was surprised and looked at the tall blond man who stepped up. ¡°If that is okay with you Marcus?¡± Pierre added. Marcus was completely thrown off his game by this change and agreed more out of reflex than anything else.
¡°I will just get my training sword.¡± Ben said. ¡°No need for that. Just use your real one.¡± Russo said with a smile. RUSSO! Marcus screamed internally. ¡°You are skilled enough to control your strikes. As long as you do not dismember Marcus everything is fine. He heals fast.¡± Russo and the rest made a lot of space for the two young men. Marcus could not believe this betrayal. Just use a real sword. Marcus heals fast. As the men took there stances Russo called a last time. ¡°Don¡¯t kill him Marcus.¡±
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Ben¡¯s eye sharpened at these words and Marcus wondered why his own team leader agitated his opponent. He took a deep breath, closed his helmet and got into his stance. He had some experience with fighting against blades thanks to Lars but the two handed blade had greater reach and was as fast- Marcus nearly missed the sword. In the last second he turned his body and the edge scratched over his heavy armor. He had underestimated the reach of the sword and before he could find his footing another swing came at him. He could not avoid it and instead brought his arms forward to deflect the blow somewhat. Anchor activated nearly as a reflex as the blade made contact.
Any martial weapon in the hand of a Weapon Master was deadly. They became sharper, sturdier and the WM can control them better than any other human or class holder. The sword hit Marcus at a bad angle and yet the blade buried into his armor and cut a deep red streak into his forearm. Ben flinched back, nearly loosing his sword and Marcus saw a chance and stepped closer. His enemy turned and Marcus expected another cut with the sword, instead Ben used his momentum and turned into a powerful kick.
The attack connected at Marcus¡¯ calf and confirmed that Ben had a good amount of strength crests but the result was not in Ben¡¯s favor. ¡°Argh¡± with clenched teeth the Weapon master hobbled back, trying to create some distance. Marcus was already next to him, unleashing a right hook towards Ben¡¯s ribs. Somehow the blond man managed to turn in time and use his arm and shoulder for protection. Impulse Hammer connected and the man was pushed back by at least one meter. Gasping he swung around, readying his sword. ¡°That¡¯s it. It¡¯s over.¡± Cullen¡¯s voice suddenly ended the fight.
¡°But I can still fight.¡± Ben pleaded and Marcus was also surprised by the quick end. ¡°Yes you can. But that is only because young Marcus here greatly reduced the power of the strike. If he had hit you in earnest you would be on the floor and your arm would be shattered.¡± Cullen explained. Ben¡¯s eyes moved to Pierre who nodded and then the Weapon Master lowered his sword and let his head hang. ¡°Thank you for the match.¡± he said and Marcus repeated it. Pierre took Ben with him and gave Marcus a thumbs up.
Marcus was still befuddled as a popcorn chewing Janette stepped next to him. ¡°What just happened?¡± Marcus asked. She looked at him and sucked her fingers clean. ¡°You really have no idea what a dangerous opponent you have became.¡± She said without a hint of sarcasm. ¡°She is right.¡± Lars had joined them. ¡°Hitting you feels like hitting a block of steel. Power attacks are a no go. Only piercing attacks and things like throws and holds are a real option for melee types. And throwing has become nearly useless since you started to use Anchor all the time.¡± Marcus did not know what to say. Sure, he had become stronger but he still had so many weaknesses. ¡°That Ben just got the scare of his life. An enemy who can just step into his blade and does not back down.¡± Lars said and helped Janette with her popcorn. ¡°I guess this is why Pierre made him fight you. He used you as a learning lesson.¡±
Janette turned Marcus¡¯ arm. His armor was slightly damaged but the wound beneath had already stopped bleeding and overall the cut did not seem that deep. ¡°If a normal class holder had tried this they had lost an arm.¡± Lars remarked. ¡°Your insane vitality for such a low level makes you a deadly enemy to anybody who can not completely overpower you.¡± Janette agreed. ¡°Maybe you do not realize this because you have a bad match up against the rest of us and we train with you all the time.¡± With this Lars send him to the showers.
Bad match up. Marcus thought, while hot water ran over his body. It was true, Janette¡¯s super strong rifle attacks, Pavel¡¯s high speed movement and ranged attacks, Lars¡¯ nasty channeled lightning and Russo¡¯s deadly piercing spears. They were all strong opponents for him but he had never thought that other classes saw him as a dangerous match up. This realization gave him confidence.
After dinner that evening, Russo invited him into his room and made some tea. ¡°Marcus, the coming confrontation is different from what you have experienced until now.¡± His boss said, while sitting down on the chair in front of Marcus. Marcus nodded. He would engage humans, potentially with modern weapons and knowledge about classes. He understood what Russo wanted to say ¡°I will be careful.¡± Marcus answered.
Russo gave him a sad smile and looked at his tea for a moment. ¡°Marcus, with your powerful armor and great vitality you can take several bullets and keep going.¡± Russo¡¯s looked up from his tea and right into Marcus¡¯ eyes. ¡°The rest of the team is not that sturdy. A head shot or a hit to the neck might be deadly for most.¡± The old man¡¯s voice was calm but firm. ¡°Do you understand what I mean?¡± Marcus did. Slowly it dawned on him what Russo meant, why he had asked him to speak in private. A serious expression formed on Marcus¡¯ face and he nodded. ¡°Good.¡± Russo patted his shoulder.
Chapter 20: Might makes Right
Chapter
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The teams prepared, set out by car and
He held on to the
Half a kilometer from the portal they left the cars behind and hid them well. It was possible the ¡°boys¡± would use drones to scout the area.
Marcus was one of the closest to the portal, together with Russo and Ben. Support
The waiting was hard for Marcus, stupid visions and scenarios went through his head. The longer this took the more nervous he would get. The com line cracked ¡°Several cars are approaching the area.¡± police spotters picked
¡°LCPS! LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND SURRENDER! YOU ARE IN VIO-¡± Cullen¡¯s voice over speaker broke the silence and near instantly the criminals raised their guns or tried to get into the portal. The first shot fell and Marcus sprinted from behind a large tree towards the cars. As he ran Janette and the fast
Marcus felt somewhat stupid and useless too as the situation was resolved. Pierre suddenly
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Soon after,
¡°
¡°
¡°
Chapter 21: Dark Mirror
Chapter
¡°What do you think?¡± Russo looked around the
Slowly, with Marcus in front, they moved down corridors, opened doors and checked rooms for hostiles. It was eerily quiet and Marcus
They turned around and started their way back
Every hit felt like somebody was driving a nail into his body and he clenched his teeth to suppress a scream.
¡°
¡°Look at that.¡± After
¡°Where did that bastard come from. We just cleared that storage room.¡± Pavel said pointing in the direction of the deceased enemy. ¡°Maybe he hi
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A
¡°
Marcus planed his attack and the woman raised the next knife as something rushed by Marcus and hit her square in the face. Her head seemed to explode
S
Marcus and Elena moved up to the position they expected the enemy. A pink ball came from behind some machinery and missed Marcus by centimeters. It splashed against
Something quickly rolled over the floor. A yellow ball hit the rack next to Elena and broke apart. Yellow smoke covered her and she started screaming and flailing her arms. Her body shook in quick succession and her eyes stood wide open without blinking. Marcus pushed
Marcus did not wait to see the result and instead delivered a heavy blow against the body of the man.
¡°
¡°
Marcus turned and looked at the man, feeling he saw him only now for the first time. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Marcus asked.
Chapter 22: Final Push
Chapter
Russo¡¯s team had found the barracks and
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¡°So, what do you think? Half a dozen mooks, maybe one or two tougher guys and the Druid?¡± Russo asked. Cullen nodded ¡°If we are unlucky.¡± This time, there was not much of a plan. They had one entrance and the best way to deal with a strong Druid was to rush them down as fast as possible. Marcus felt drained and wondered how bad it must be for the rest if his vitality could not keep up. They decided to move quickly before they los
They opened the door and a hail of bullets greeted them but they had taken cover
The few bullets Marcus took from his charge were not as bad as the first time, most likely not armor piercing, he thought. The druid went down to Pierre¡¯s blade and some big guy in a spiked armor and skull helmet got double teamed by Lars and Ben who seemed to work well together.
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And then it
I
Marcus finally found Janette, she was talking with Elena of all people, in the common room. He
Janette looked at the woman who was
M
For lunch and later for dinner Elena and Elise joined them. Elise and Pierre seemed more at ease showing their feelings in front of Marcus and Elena
In the evening, the team was gathered in the common room spending their time the usual way. Marcus felt at ease, he had spent his crests
¡°More ice tea please!¡± Janette waved her empty glass and Marcus got up to get the prince
Chapter 23: Burning Down the House
Chapter
T
Marcus pushed himself up trying to say something while also trying to figure out what happened to the rest of the team. Movement on a blown out window drew his attention and a masked man with an assault rifle aimed his gun into the destroyed room, searching for a target. The lights had died in the explosion and that together with the room being all over the place bought Marcus a few seconds. BANG. A shot r
More people appeared outside of the windows and one after the other gained another hole in their heads. ¡°PAVEL. I need a gun.¡± Janette shouted. Marcus looked around the room for his companions and Russo dragged himself out of the remains of his favorite chair while a fleeting shadow moved
The door on the far side of the room burst open and several men charged in, guns blazing. Their dark combat uniform made them hard to see but Janette threw herself to the floor and unloaded her new toy into the attackers. Marcus had never seen her shoot an automatic rifle but ¡°chain saw¡± was a fitting description. Guided by her Hawkeye sight the woman mowed down the whole group of attackers in seconds. ¡°Yippee Ki Yay, Motherfuckers!¡± Janette shouted, sprinting for to the fallen to get more ammo. ¡°Pavel, Lars try to get to your rooms and gear up, if not possible fall back to the operations building.¡± Russo shouted and grabbed Marcus by the arm. ¡°We go to the armory and get some equipment there.¡±
They climbed out of the back windows and started running towards the other main building. Gun fire and shouting echoed through the night and half way to their target the night turned to day for a second. The front part of the barracks exploded in fire as another fireball hit its target. Marcus prayed no one was there at that moment. They made it through the front door and a group of armed men stood over a dead body. Marcus did not stop instead he charged right at them screaming at the top his lungs. It worked, the second they took to overcome the shock was all he needed and the first hit decapitated one man and threw the headless corpse against the next, toppling him over. The third raised his gun but was hit by the butt of a throwing knife which had the momentum of a grown man.
There was a cracking sound and the man collapsed. Marcus finished off the last survivor and looked at the civilian on the ground, it was the team¡¯s pilot. They had gunned him down.
¡°Can you hold the entrance while I get some spare equipment?¡± Russo asked and brought Marcus back into the here and now. Marcus nodded and placed himself behind one of the doors, ready to jump on who ever came through the door. His heart was hammering and he tried to not look at the corpse he knew as a man for nearly a year. The shooting continued and Russo vanished into the basement. Marcus¡¯ thoughts were with the others and it took him a second or two to realize that the shooting had stopped. No, Marcus could not hear anything at all. The door smashed against his face and he flew back against the wall. But nothing made any sound.
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He got his barrings back but a man in a black, skin tight suit stood right before him and the sound returned to Marcus¡¯s ears. ¡°YOU!¡± The word hammered into Marcus¡¯ brain and he screamed out of pain. His ears ruptured and the world tumbled as he went to the ground. The man kicked him into the guts and Marcus felt like a car had hit him. He crashed against the wall again, unable to concentrate on Anchor. ¡°You filthy animals. You killed my beautiful Mina. You burned her perfect face.¡± Marcus¡¯ ears were torn but his head vibrated with every word. Marcus tried to get up but another kick against his head sent him flying once more.
Marcus rolled over the floor, the screeching laughter of the man let the ground vibrate and Marcus could see his blood dripping from his eyes, nose and ears. The guy was a Ravager, rank 84, he uses sound control, Marcus¡¯ brain provided information that was not really useful at the moment. I need to get up but a punch between his shoulders send him back down. ¡°You deserve to suffer.¡± another kick followed and Marcus was on his back. Marcus sight was blurry and his brain wanted to shut down but Marcus knew that would mean death and fought against the darkness with every fiber of his being. The man stepped closer and put his boot on Marcus¡¯ throat, slowly increasing the pressure.
That was the first mistake the man had made. It was all Marcus needed. He stretched out his hand not to push back the boot, instead he aimed higher. A normal attack from this position would have been weak but Impulse Hammer did not care as long as it connected. And it did connect to something for sure. There was a screech and the man fell to the ground blood spilling between his legs. While the man was suffering Marcus slowly crawled over to him and put his hand over his mouth. Impulse Hammer shut him up forever.
Marcus crawled to the next wall and slowly got unto his feet. His head was swimming and he could not hear anything but with every step his condition got better. The healing rate of his body would solve the ear problems in a few minutes or at least hours. That was what Marcus was hoping.
The armor was far too small for Marcus but it would be some help for the rest at least. Russo needed to rest in one of the empty offices. The bleeding was bad, Marcus did not know who or what had attacked him but Russo had suffered a deep cut on his stomach and leg. Marcus, already moving normally thanks to his vitality, searched the medical ward for supplies and Russo patched himself up as good as possible. But the fact was, Russo was out of the fight. Marcus grabbed the armor, some grenades and made his way back to the rest of the team, Russo stayed. He hid in his office with his spear ready to pierce any intruder.
Marcus¡¯ ears were still dead but he followed the trail of gunned down attackers and finally found the rest of the team in a burned out room on the far end of the barracks. Janette and Pavel looked fine, besides some small cuts and bruises. Lars was in a corner, heavily breathing, his back and one leg were burned and Marcus cursed himself for not bringing a first aid kit. ¡°He will pull through but not if we all get shot to death.¡± Janette still had the energy to joke and Marcus was happyto hear her voice, even if it sounded dull and far away.
Janette was holding on to her own rifle, the only thing they had recovered before the barracks went up in flame. ¡°They are keeping their distance and surrounding us. The real problem is that Elemental Mage, if he gets a good hit on us with his Fireball we are done for.¡± Janette could take him out but he was hiding in the shadows and behind a wall of goons. ¡°If I can get one good shot.¡± She said while aiming down her gun. ¡°I have another bad idea.¡± Marcus¡¯ said with a weak smile.
Chapter 24: The Queen of Hearts
Chapter 24: The Queen of Hearts
Marcus moved through the ruins of his room while the rest kept the attackers busy. They had only limited ammunition and that meant it was only a matter of time until the Hard Boys would overrun them. His shiny armor was a burned mess but Marcus searched for something else. His big closet was half collapsed but he was able to draw out a large bag that was mildly singed. He opened it and found his old armor in good shape. Armored up he made his way to the starting line. In his left hand he carried a bag full with grenades, some from the armory others from fallen enemies. He crouched against a burned wall and took a careful look through a blasted out window. In the night, behind cars and some other cover, most of the enemies were getting ready for the next assault.
Marcus prepared several grenades and was thankful that Russo had forced him to learn to use them. At the time he had been against it, because it did not fit his combat style but a lot had happened since then and he was wiser now. Not being able to hear well would be a blessing in a moment.
He threw the first grenade far into the direction of the enemies. It did not really matter what he hit. Quickly two more went flying while the first exploded. Then he jumped through the broken window and ran in a zig-zag over the open courtyard while throwing more grenades. Enemies ran out of cover to avoid the explosions and were picked off by Janette.
Between the explosions, Marcus could hear shouting in a language he did not know and bullets filled his path. A few hit and hurt but his trusty armor and whopping 19 vitality kept him going. He moved closer and closer while emptying his grenade stock and Janette took down several enemies, who ran into her line of fire. Then something heavy scratched his shoulder in full sprint. Armor pieces were torn off and Marcus could see the outline of the Elemental Mage 50 meter or more away. The guy retreated, staying not only out of reach of Marcus but circling away from the lethal Janette. The mage send more goons to Marcus and he threw his last grenade.
He was trapped behind a burning car unable to reach the commander and the goons were closing in. With every second more bullets found their mark and time was running out. Marcus could see the Elemental Mage far away, hiding behind a tree while shouting orders. A blur appeared behind him and the flash of automatic fire illuminated the night. Pavel eliminated the Elemental Mage with a precise burst in the back of the head and took cover behind the tree. It took a few seconds before the rest of the enemies understood what happened and that they were now trapped between Janette and Pavel, without a commander or class holder.
The rout happened quickly and nobody from the team felt the need to follow them. That said Janette¡¯s gun took down a few more before they had fully vanished into the darkness. Marcus¡¯ body hurt all over, he wished Cullen was here and sat down for a moment.
But there was no time to rest! The buildings were still burning and people were wounded or dead. Marcus pushed himself up again and ran back. The team evacuated the buildings and took care of the wounded as well as they could. They finally got a call for help out, after the phones had been jammed the whole time. It seemed, the Hard Boys were really gone, for now.
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¡°That was a great plan but you put yourself in significant danger.¡± Russo said with a white face. Janette was on the phone, most likely Cherry, and Lars looked miserable but stable. It was thanks to him that Janette had gotten her gun but he had paid for it by being too close to the Fireball. ¡°If I had a better plan or somebody else who could have played bait I would happi-¡± he was saying to Russo as Janette suddenly shouted. ¡°NO.NO...NO..no..no.¡± Marcus turned his head and saw Janette staring at her phone, her face as white as Russo¡¯s. ¡°What happened?¡± Marcus asked. Janette looked distressed ¡°Cherry is coming here.¡±
That was reckless, Marcus thought. The situation is not safe, it is likely the Hard Boys would strike again. He could understand that Janette did not want to see the love of her life in such danger. If Cherry got the first possible flight from London, Cherry could be here by tomorrow afternoon, give or take. ¡°Janette, we still have time. You can try to stop her or get to Helsinki tomorrow and put her in a hotel. We will be able to manage without you.¡± Marcus said but Janette did not seem to listen.
She bit on her fingernails and mumbled ¡°If she is with Rin she is going to be here much sooner.¡± Marcus was not sure what she meant but Janette had her eyes closed and looked as if somebody was about to pull one of her teeth out. Then a loud noise, like a thunderclap, rippled through the dark sky.
Marcus looked up and saw a nightmare under the crescent moon. Something as big as a house moved in the sky. The thing looked like a mixture of dragon and crow and had six glowing red eyes. It circled around the compound and drew ever closer. Now Marcus saw more details and it felt wrong, like something that had been cut out of a manga and just slapped into reality. Uncanny and not real and yet too real to be ignored, it hurt the eye and the mind.
A hundred meter off it landed in the field with barely a sound and vanished. It was just gone, no sound, no smoke, just gone into nothingness as if it had never been. Instead two people moved over the field, one of them suddenly leaped forward, red hair flowing under the moon. The woman moved with great speed and landed just meters away and fell into normal step without a break. Her red, golden armor was adorned with a golden three headed dog and she was surrounded by an aura of absolute authority. ¡°Never have I interfered with your goals and you do know I support you no matter what. But IF you think I will stand back while criminals try to murder my woman in the middle of the night than you could be no more wrong.¡± Her voice sounded clear and she stopped right in front of Janette.
Janette looked like a school girl that just got scolded. ¡°Okay.¡± she sobbed. The taller woman embraced her and kissed her passionately. It was in that moment, that Marcus knew he was nothing more than a side character in somebody¡¯s epic story. ¡°The moonlit Villainess and her Lamb.¡±
Everybody watched and for a few seconds nobody dared to say something or even could come up with something to say. Marcus stared at the couple and his brain refused to comprehend.
He knew the woman, he had seen her photo, he knew her name and he knew that there was no way she could be here. Amelia ¡°Queen of Hearts¡± Long, United Kingdom¡¯s top class holder, a level 98 Phantasmal Mage (rank 2) and one of the three heads of the Cerberus clan. That woman could not be here kissing Janette, because if she was that meant that Cherry¡
The women parted and only now the woman, who could not be Cherry, looked around and spotted Marcus. ¡°Marcus darling, are you okay?¡± Marcus nodded but felt very weak in the legs. ¡°So, hmm, well this is my betrothed Amelia.¡± Janette said with a look of discomfort. ¡°She is really nice if you get to know her.¡± She looked to Marcus and then to the rest. Sirens were howling in the background as emergency services were about to arrive. ¡°Hello Janette.¡± The other person had reached the group and turned out to be another woman with Asian descent and an armor not unlike Amelia¡¯s Cherry¡¯s. ¡°Hi Rin. Sorry for the bother.¡± Janette said but the other woman just smiled it away.
The ambulances arrived and medical personal quickly tended to the wounded. Marcus looked at Janette and she was apologetic ¡°Sorry, for keeping it a secret.¡±. This was just all too much for one night. The base was burning, people had died, his body was a mess and Janette¡ Marcus sat down, right were he was and closed his eyes. Everything had gone wrong.
Chapter 25: Beginnings and Endings
Chapter 25: Beginnings and Endings
Marcus searched through the remnants of his room. Fire and water both had taken a toll on it. Most of his clothes were a goner but the most important thing was intact. His laptop had melted on the top but the hard drive was still okay. There was a lot of data on that drive and some pictures he did not want to lose. He really should make a back up copy, Marcus thought.
He could feel eyes staring holes in his back while he sifted through the remains, squatting on the floor. ¡°How long are you going to give me the silent treatment?¡± Janette was directly behind him. He could feel her presence and her breath on his neck. Marcus stayed still for a while, ¡°It hurts.¡± he took a few breaths ¡°It hurts and I do not know if I even have the right to be hurt. And that hurts even more.¡± the words started to jump out of his mouth. Words that have been gathering there for the last few days. ¡°We only know each other for a few months. You do not owe me anything. You have no obligation to tell me. But I wish you had shared this part of your life with me. I do not know where I stand, what I am to you.¡± He said more than he wanted and felt more than he wished.
¡°I wanted to take you with me, the next time I would go home. I wanted to introduce you to her.¡± She whispered and put her hands on Marcus¡¯ back. ¡°Some things are complicated and we do not always have the strength to confront them.¡± she said and Marcus was happy to hear her words. ¡°Marcus, there are important things in your life you have also not shared with me, yet.¡± She continued to whisper and Marcus slowly turned and looked her in the eyes. ¡°Like what?¡± Marcus asked unsure what she meant. ¡°For example, your father. You never talk about him or why you spent the last years basically alone.¡± She spoke carefully as if she was afraid her words could break him.
He tried to say something but could not. She was right, he had kept all of that from her. But not to hide it, to not bother her. Did she keep her secret to not weigh on him? Was her relationship that much of a problem? Marcus nodded and got up. ¡°Okay I will tell you but this is not a good time.¡±
The rain was getting worse and there was no roof anymore. He started to move but she stopped him and hugged him tightly. ¡°Knowing that you were hurting because of me, hurts like hell.¡± she tightened her embrace, ¡°This is where we stand.¡±.
The last days had been full of pain. The funeral of the civilian casualties foremost. Russo and Lars would need weeks to recover and it was not an easy process. Russo¡¯s enemy had infected him with a poison that damaged his organs and Lars¡¯ skin was badly burned. Also living in containers and seeing the burnt down buildings all the time was a constant reminder of the events.
But finally things had turned around. Cullen sent a big care package and the men recovered much quicker now, rebuilding of the buildings would take some time but the first constructions had already started and now Marcus was talking with Janette again.
There was also the situation with the Hard Boys but that was being handled by Cherry and Cerberus. The woman went after the criminals like the devil incarnate. She made it a big media spectacle ¡°The clans have to take responsibility too!¡±. Somehow she managed to make her own agenda into a crusade for justice and other clans chimed in too. Politicians loved the show and cooperated happily, taking all the credit and no responsibility. In a two week purge the Hard Boys vanished from the face of the planet. Cerberus was a scary group.
Marcus knocked at Russo¡¯s office and entered. Russo was most of the time here, now that his own room was burnt down. ¡°Hello Marcus, tea is nearly ready. Take a seat.¡± Russo welcomed him and a minute later brought some cups of tea and took place behind his desk. They talked about the progress on the base and how he felt and then got to the topic at hand.¡±There is something I want to talk about. Actually for several weeks but with everything that has happened it never felt right.¡± The man looked unhappy with the situation. ¡°Do you know that the LCPS does work under a mandate of the UN?¡± Marcus nodded, but the fact had no real consequences to their daily lives. ¡°The UN has of course many other programs and one of it has made a request to lend you out to them.¡± Russo said and Marcus had to replay the words in his head again to be sure he had heard correctly. ¡°They want to rent me? Why?¡±
Russo showed him a letter and Marcus checked the official request and purpose. Protection of an expedition crew for off world work. That meant a portal expedition, Marcus heart made a jump. ¡°It is your own decision but I would advise you to take it.¡± Russo said. Marcus felt overwhelmed by this news and leaned back, taking a deep breath. ¡°It would be for a month, two at most and then you would return to us. And you earn as much as in a full year at the same time.¡± Russo said with a smile. Marcus head was brimming with questions and ideas. When, who, why, what and then fear struck his heart. Leaving here, leaving the place he now knew as home. Leaving the team, Janette...¡±How long do I have to decide?¡± He asked and Russo told him ¡°at best a week¡±, because things had been drawn out already.
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¡°Come in!¡± Cherry¡¯s voice, Marcus thought and opened the door to the container Janette and Cherry shared as long as Cherry was around. It was warm and cozy inside and smelled lightly of oranges. Cherry was alone, sitting on a small table with a tablet in hand. Marcus greeted her and realized she had changed into her ¡°Cherry Outfit¡±. Gone was armor, waving hair and grim expression and in was a woolly pullover, large round glasses with gold rims and her large amount of hair was nicely braided. To finish the look she had a big cup of hot cocoa. If it was not for her piercing blue eyes and impressive figure you would never guess this was the Queen of Hearts.
¡°The little demon will be back soon. She is scrounging some food from the kitchen.¡± She said with a happy smile. ¡°Take a seat, darling.¡± Marcus followed the advise but still felt stiff. He watched her scroll through pages of data and marking sections with a pen. ¡°You just watching or you wanna say something?¡± She said without looking up.
Marcus felt trapped, of course he wanted to ask a lot of questions but he was not sure which ones were appropriate. ¡°You already seem to know a lot about me.¡± Marcus said to start somewhere fairly neutral. ¡°Of course, Janette tells me everything and you have become a big part of her life. She talks about you all the time.¡± Cherry said and looked at him with a smile. ¡°Ohhh.¡± was Marcus very slick response. Lucky for Marcus fast steps approached the door and in came a little demon with an arm full of snacks and other food stuff. ¡°The raid was successful!¡± she declared before seeing Marcus sitting on the side like a school boy who was questioned by the headmaster.
With cookies and tea in hand Marcus watched some very different women being cute with each other. ¡°How did you two even happen?¡± he just asked and Cherry laughed. ¡°Well one day, I was in the Class and Clan Administration in London, with some more than boring business. And a blond woman walked right up to me and asked me where the office for international affairs was. And while I was still surprised anybody would just nonchalantly approach me these days she looked straight at me and said: ¡°Also, would you like to have coffee with me?¡±. Can you believe that!¡± Cherry was laughing so hard tears came out. ¡°Some girl walks up and makes a move on me.¡± Janette drank her tea in total calm. ¡°In my defense I had no idea who she was, only that I wanted her body in my bed.¡±
¡°Ha, you ended up in my bed and never left.¡± Cherry said and gave her big kiss. ¡°How she even knew I was into girls I do not know. It was a very well kept secret, I once hang an editor out of a window in the 30th floor to make this very clear.¡± Marcus felt a shiver run down his spine but also remembered something Janette once said. ¡°I can always tell when a girl is looking for booty.¡±
Marcus watched these two women who looked nearly the same age fight over the last chocolate cookie. Cherry was actually 53 years old, according to her official profile, but being a high level class holder has strong effects on aging and overall health. Right now nobody knew how old a high leveler can get, 200 maybe 300 years? It was all just speculation. But age was not a hindrance for those two, at least.
¡°Now spill the beans.¡± Janette said out of the blue. Cherry looked surprised but Janette was focusing Marcus. ¡°When he is fidgeting around like this he has a problem and needs advice.¡± Janette said with the air of a scholar. Marcus tried to deny it but eventually told them about the offer. ¡°Do it.¡± Janette said and Cherry nodded. ¡°This is a great opportunity for you. Even if absolutely nothing happens it will look good in your vita.¡±
Marcus exchanged looks with Janette. ¡°I will still be here when you come back from your adventures. You just make sure you don¡¯t get eaten by some big nasty critter.¡± Janette said putting on her widest smile. Marcus knew that smile and was assured she would miss him too.
Marcus left to set everything into motion. He would soon fly to a small island near the Philippines to go on his first expedition. Janette watched him walk towards the admin building and Cherry put her arm around Janette. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. He will come back.¡± but Janette felt dark claws closing around her heart. ¡°He is moving forward so quickly, he will soon leave me behind.¡± she said with a broken voice and turned to hug her betrothed. ¡°Then you better get your ass into gear and start moving yourself.¡± Cherry gave her a kiss on the forehead. ¡°You said, you have a feeling you know what your second ability is. That would be a good place to start.¡±
Just two days before he left, Marcus turned 19 and a small celebration took place. He gained a few small items and cherished them. Janette, of course, gave him a paper book about survival techniques and a jumbo pack condoms. ¡°For safety.¡± she said and ran away before Marcus could catch and strangle her. It had been nearly a year, only a year, here in Finland but so much had happened.
He had made friends and comrades and had improved leaps and bounds. He had touched a woman, faced death and also taken lives. He had changed and that was part of life, Marcus had learned that too.
Somewhere far away a man sat in a nice office with elegant furniture and worked a strange device.
¡°What about our operations in eastern Europe?¡± the alien machine sent the message to a similar device on the other side of the planet bypassing all normal communication channels. The answer came fast. ¡°All assets and players lost. Financial damage insignificant. Setback in projects can be recovered. Involvement of Cerberus was unpredictable. Retaliation?¡±
The machine had been recovered from a distant world and was marvelous in the eye of the man tipping an answer. Only the limit in information per message was a nuisance. ¡°No. Further complications are possible. Retire projects and restart in three years with higher quality players.¡± he waited a few minutes for an answer. ¡°Power hungry idiots who do not question orders are still idiots. Quality means questions, means complications. Approve?¡± He sighed reading the message. They want to cover their asses. ¡°Keep idiots, plant oversight agent next time. Information about restructuring will follow in the next days.¡±
He sent the message and leaned back on his comfy chair. He closed his eyes and had already forgotten about this minor set back. Bigger, far bigger things demanded his attention. The troubles and misfortunes of the common people were beneath him. One day he would not only rule over Earth but many worlds, it was only a matter of time. And he had all the time in the world.
Chapter 26: A Group of Misfits
Chapter 26: A Group of Misfits
Marcus stepped down from the ferry and admitted defeat. He had clearly underestimated the tropical heat after living in a Nordic country for a year. It was not that the heat was too much for him, his vitality made that not a problem. The problem was, he had a giant body and in the wet heat he was sweating like crazy. He wore only shorts, sandals and a tank top but he still felt he should shower and change his clothes every five minutes.
The remote island, with a name Marcus would never be able to pronounce, had seen drastic changes over the last few years. After a portal appeared and it was decided to make it permanent, a large military base was constructed with all the facilities that were needed.
Marcus took the shuttle service to the base and was impressed by its size. He could see the large main building that fully covered the portal and the layers of defense around it. Since the Massacre of Rome all ¡°official¡± portals had extreme security measures. Too late for me, Marcus thought.
ID, credentials, name tag and then a basic security drill, and Marcus was free to move. He needed half an hour to find his goal, a large multistory building. The guard on the entrance barely looked at his ID, made a call to somebody inside and let him in. The inside was much cooler, less wet and very modern. After a few seconds a young man in shorts appeared and approached Marcus with a serious face. He reminded Marcus of Japanese people but he had a darker complexion.
¡°Marcus Freimann? I¡¯m Kou Saito responsible for the security of the expedition and also the team leader. You will be working under me.¡± Well, that was an entrance, Marcus thought. ¡°Nice to meet you Mr. Saito.¡± Marcus gave him a small bow and a smile. ¡°Yes, hmm, how was your trip I hope everything went well?¡± The other man said but did not leave Marcus any time to answer instead started walking towards an unknown direction. ¡°I will introduce you to the science group first and then to the other team members. You are the last to arrive. We will not have much time to prepare, so you will have to adapt quickly.¡± He walked and talked quickly and Marcus realized that Mr. Saito was very nervous.
They entered an elevator and moved three levels up. His new boss did not say a thing but shot several glances at him. They entered a conference room where the scientists had a meeting and Marcus quickly introduced himself. Their leader was a middle aged woman, Carmen Holder-Smith, who seemed quiet pleased to see him. Marcus looked around the conference room and saw a lot of familiar things. Men and women with intelligent eyes, coffee cups and large electronic boards filled with symbols and badly written words that only meant something to people who were in the know. He had grown up around people and places like this. There was also a bad mood in the air and Marcus was not sure if that had anything to do with him, his boss or something else.
After the lightning speed introduction, Marcus was led down in the basement towards, what Marcus expected were the dorms or training areas. Five steps out of the elevator Mr. Saito suddenly stopped. ¡°I will be honest to you Mr. Freimann¡± ¡°Marcus is fine by me.¡± ¡°Marcus, you are not exactly who we wanted. To be frank you are all we could get.¡± The maybe Japanese man had his hands on his hips and looked at Marcus for a reaction.¡±I can understand that.¡±
What ever Mr. Saito had expected it was not this. ¡°Really?¡± Marcus had spent most of the journey here trying to think of a reason why somebody would hire him specifically. ¡°I¡¯m a low level Fighter with no experience off world, the best reason I can see is that you are desperate and short on money.¡± Marcus explanation hit the nail. ¡°That is correct, and you can call me Kou.¡± Kou smiled sadly and moved a hand through his hair.
The young men stood awkwardly in the hallway, trying to move on from this situation. ¡°We had budget restrains for certain reasons and you were the only option for a front line tanker we had. I will also admit you are not at all what I expected.¡± Kou said awkwardly but with a straight face.
¡°I get that often.¡± Marcus tried his best to be diplomatic but started to worry how the rest of the team looked like if that was the leader. He found out a second later.
A young Asian looking woman, in light training cloths, came around the corner. Once she saw the men she quickly introduced herself ¡°I¡¯m Achara Nam, level 10 Catsith class and member of the security team.¡± She made a big bow and Marcus did the same. ¡°Marcus Freimann, level 16 Fighter and also part of the team.¡± He gave her a smile and she laughed. The Catsith class is considered as weak as the Fighter. Their main ability was to turn invisible for a short time but they can not interact with anything or be revealed. It must be hard on her, Marcus thought. ¡°Well, yes. Of course. Marcus just follow me the rest should be around her too.¡± For some reason Kou seemed even more awkward now.
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They passed by Marcus¡¯ new room and gathered the rest of the team in a small common room. The rest turned out to be a middle aged American with dark long hair named Mason King, Arcane Archer level 40 and a priest. When the priest entered Marcus needed a moment to catch himself because the woman looked ancient. ¡°Candis Russell, I¡¯m a priest level 20 and I¡¯m old I know.¡± She gave Marcus a warm smile and he apologized for his rudeness.
¡°Great we have a granny, a useless girl, an overly nervous leader, a washed up guy and now a child as a tank.¡± The American announced into the room without a hint of sarcasm. If Marcus had counted right, Mason himself was the washed up guy and how could the team have a level 40 Arcane Archer if they had no money? But anyway, Marcus had to agree with the rude American this was a recipe for a disaster.
¡°MASON, we all will do our best and we have yet to see what Marcus can do.¡± Kou tried to get the initiative back. ¡°All right. Mr. Tank Man please come to the training room and show us what you can do.¡± Mason said and walked right out the room. Kou looked unable to decide what to do so Marcus defused the situation. ¡°Okay, I will just change. How do I find the training room?¡±
A few minutes later Marcus marched into the training room, in his old armor. The armor was pretty banged up since the last fight but his new armor had to be replaced (LCPS insurance ftw!) and this was all he had. The room was much smaller than what he was used to by now, but it had a combat area and some training machines in addition to enough space for five people to train at the same time. Mason carefully observed him while the rest gawked in surprise. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to put on your armor¡± Nam said. ¡°Train as you fight.¡± Marcus said but kept his eyes on Mason. If Kou is not surprisingly high level than this man is by far the strongest in the group, he thought.
Mason walked into the combat area and Marcus followed him. It seemed this would be a sparring match. Kou just watched looking deeply unhappy. Mason had no armor on but pulled something out of his pockets, ¡°Catch¡±. Something small flew in Marcus¡¯ direction and he instinctively protected his vitals. But the small thing suddenly changed course and missed him by centimeters. Kaboom. The moment it hit the reinforced wall an explosion rocked the room. ¡°MASON, do you intend to wound our tank directly after he arrived!¡± Kou shouted angrily but Marcus did not leave Mason out of his sight. Arcane Archer can enchant objects with special properties, like explode on impact, and given by the size of the explosion of the small thing, Mason was the real deal. But that did not explain why it changed path mid flight. Somebody interfered with it and the only option that was left was Kou. Marcus still did not know his class or level.
¡°Kou,¡± Mason turned to the red headed team leader ¡°this time you got really lucky. The kid is a real tanker. He will do nicely.¡± Kou and Marcus looked a bit surprised but Marcus did not relax until Mason stepped out of the combat ring. ¡°How can you tell?¡± Achara asked and stopped Kou from chewing Mason out. Yes, how can he tell, Marcus wanted to know too. Mason took out a cigarette (a real one not an electric one) and tried to light it but Ms. Russell snatched it and buried it in the large pockets of her jacket. Mason shrugged his shoulders and explained ¡°First his armor. He showed up in it and it looks like it saw real action. Secondly, he instantly reacted to my attack, not by dodging but by guarding himself. A tank needs to endure damage not avoid it. Thirdly, he did not step back or flinch which tells me he has full confidence he could take what ever I threw at him.¡±
Marcus was sure that Mason was a proper veteran, he gathered all this from a few short interactions.
¡±But he has no weapon, don¡¯t Fighters need weapons to deal damage?¡± Achara asked into the room. ¡°I thought so too.¡± The old woman seemed to be of the same mind. ¡°Well tanker do not need to deal damage generally, that is up to damage dealer like me but I agree a weapon would make sense for a Fighter.¡±
All eyes were back on Marcus who shrugged his large shoulders. ¡°Do you have a practice target or something like that?¡± They did and it turned out to be a strange green, round blob made out of an elastic material. The 1m in diameter target had target rings on it and Marcus could see some discoloration and bullets sticking in it. ¡°This is an elastic target, if you have not seen something like that before. It can absorb a lot of energy and still stay intact. It is more efficient than traditional targets. Give it your best shot.¡± Kou explained while the rest stood around in a half circle waiting to see how Marcus would fight.
Marcus stepped up to the green blob while he debated what to do. He did not know how tough the target was and he didn¡¯t want use too little power and have it do nothing. He also wanted to show off at least a bit. Marcus just reached out and put his hand on the ball and unloaded a full power Impulse Hammer. In a fraction of a second the ball ballooned to three times its size and then SPLASH ripped into a million small pieces covering everybody with blob. There was a silence followed by ¡°You sure you are a Fighter?¡± from Mason.
Marcus was back in his new room and cleaned up his armor. Only now he truly appreciated the Russo team. How efficient and effective they were and how good a leader Russo was. What was this group? Okay it was not that bad, Marcus told himself. Mason is actually a real veteran no doubt. They had a healer, no matter how old, and himself. Achara was a Catsith, rank 161 so the second worst class if you believe the rankings. They are only used for scouting and have neither offense nor defense abilities. And Kou¡ Achara told him, after asking, that he is a Spatial Mage (rank 16) around lvl 18. That was an amazing class for sure, Rin the left hand of Cherry was also a Spatial Mage. But after all he had seen from Kou today he was not sure if he was capable at all.
Tonight they would go out, to get to know each other. Tomorrow then would be training and tactics. Marcus just hoped things would improve or this trip might be his first and last.
Chapter 27: A True Support
Chapter
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Marcus himself found it hard to relax. He had never been the social type and the time in Helsinki had only reinforced that. The loud and busy restaurant was just too much for him, he thought back at the common room with just a few people talking and chilling. ¡°NO WAY, Marcus you are only 19 years old?¡± Achara seemed shocked. ¡°I thought you were at least my age! You look so mature.¡± Marcus shrugged his shoulders ¡°It is because I¡¯m big, people think I¡¯m older.¡± But Achara gave him
¡°Are you really a Fighter? I looked up some videos in the web and Fighters usually look more like wannabe Berserker.¡± Marcus nodded, that was true. Most Fighters try to go a strength, dexterity route and wield some big weapon to produce enough damage. ¡°I do things a bit differently. My way.¡± He just smiled and they continued without talking for a while. ¡°
Next morning, Marcus was indulging a large breakfast
¡°Is it that obvious?¡±
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¡°Ahh I¡¯m pathetic, asking for advise from somebody who is much younger than me and knows me for just
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¡°
¡°That was my first ability. My second one is more straining and I¡¯m not that good at it yet.¡± As Kou said it, Marcus lost the ground under his feet floating a few centimeters in the air. ¡°
Marcus enjoyed a large meal in the general cafeteria of the base. Kou had turned out to be amazing, not only his abilities but also the speed of his decision making and adaptation. Marcus now realized that Kou was very intelligent, something that was buried under a thick layer of awkward and nervous tension. The more they talked and the more Kou
¡°You are really smart.¡±
¡°We just started support training this morning and you have already grasped the most important points. I was worried we would not be able to work together well before we set out but now I feel we will be an awesome team. Has nobody ever told you that you are smart before?¡± Kou said leaning back on his chair enjoying a cold soda. Marcus thought about his answer. ¡°I spent a lot of time thinking so that might be the cause, but I¡¯m not ¡°smart¡± I have known smart people. I know the difference.¡± after he said that he realized he opened up a difficult topic.
¡°And who were these smart people.¡± Kou d
¡°I knew the name Freimann was familiar but I just did not connect you with Professor Freimann. You are his son?¡± Marcus nodded like a piece of wood. The man, who introduced himself as Malcom, was over the moon and quickly went to tell the rest of the team the news. Kou watched him ¡°Difficult topic?¡± Marcus nodded and Kou did not ask further. From that moment on the science team greeted
Chapter 28: Through the Portal
28: Through the Portal
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The portal led to an area (on a different planet omg!) that was mostly arid and hot.
The
Marcus understood now a few comments
The base
An hour later they walked out
Their ¡°bus¡± was more a monster bus. Special reinforced wheels of 2 meter diameter
Inside the portal building all manner of weapons were aimed at the portal at any time. The caravan rolled to the portal, it was over 10 meter in diameter. Soldiers made a last check that only authorized people entered and then they moved through. It was like stepping through
It was the middle of the night on the other side and they had to adjust their (expedition) clocks to a 27 hour day. On this side of the portal was also
They slowly moved towards their goal,
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They had missed the entrance to the peninsula and so they drove along the shore at sunrise. The water was a mixture of blue, purple and red sun light. It was beautiful and alien at the same time. ¡°Marcus don¡¯t forget to put your sun blocker on. This sun is stronger than our home star.¡± Kou reminded him but Marcus was certain his vitality would protect him from sun burn, he still did it anyway.
Not far from the structures they made camp. Kou had to stop the scientists from going to the ruins
¡°When I heard ruins I thought old temples and pyramids and not¡¡±, ¡°Modern buildings?¡± Carmen the leader
¡°
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¡°It is, relatively at least. There have been measurements of the magma layers in the area and serious eruptions only happen every ten years or so.¡± Malcolm answered, he was the geology expert. ¡°And what is a not ¡°serious¡± eruption?¡± Kou asked squinting his eyes. ¡°Maybe earthquakes in the area of 5-6 on the scale and mild lava flow.¡± Malcolm answered without realizing the sarcasm in Kou¡¯s question. ¡°
¡°But, but, the peninsula is fairly safe, or the ruins would not be here anymore.¡± Malcolm quickly added.
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¡°We need to stop its movement or turn it on its back.¡± Kou¡¯s voice on the com. ¡°Marcus let¡¯s try to hold it down together.¡± Marcus jumped forward and grab
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Chapter 29: Worse than Monsters
29: Worse than Monsters
I
¡°Why do you think the earthquake has anything to do with the monster?¡± Achara asked with a mouth full of curry. ¡°Chew, than speak.¡± M
Finally Kou stomped into the light of the campfire and picked up a water bottle, he emptied half of it in one go. ¡°They have finally settled down. This was harder than fighting the beetle.¡± He rolled his eyes. ¡°Speaking of the monster, two
¡°You think they are a monster species? Like reproductive?¡± Mason stopped eating his soup and played with his spoon. ¡°It seems that way.¡± Kou said. ¡°So we should expec-¡± blood splattered over Marcus face and Kou¡¯s lifeless body dropped in front of him.
¡°HEALER¡±
Achara was gone, Mason moved quickly through the dark shooting arrows at something Marcus could not see but he had already all hands full with the Aspect Warrior in front of him.
After a few seconds of bombardment the attacker changed his
On connection Impulse Hammer activated in a concentrated area and shattered the leg, breaking bones, tearing muscles and the man fell to the ground screaming. Out of nowhere
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The heat and pain on his arms was immense but he quickly reached her.
He turned to find the next attacker but it had become quiet suddenly. ¡°Ready check. Are there any enemies left?¡± He used the com and Achara and Mason gave green light. Marcus sprinted back to Ms. Russell who was working on Kou. Something like an emergency bandage covered the large hole in his chest and the old woman pressed her hands against the damage
Marcus had gained another level from the bug and had already spent it so his vitality was currently 21, he hoped it was enough. ¡°This will make your own wounds worse.¡± The old woman said but Marcus just nodded. The priestess put one of her hands into Marcus¡¯ hand and he felt an odd sensation. Warmth moved through his body and he quickly started to feel weaker, as if a giant wave of exhaustion
For
Finally Ms. Russell let his hand go and removed her other hand from Kou. She dropped back, exhausted to the bone. Kou¡¯s chest was slowly moving and Marcus¡¯ vitality returned to him silenc
Marcus
¡°I thought that was a thing of the past.¡± Marcus looked at the people who had tried to murder everyone here. The face of one man was vaguely familiar and Marcus traced it back to the restaurant a few days ago. ¡°In the past it was mainly about EXP, today they do it for the money. Even low level parties have enough gear to be worth millions, more
Marcus and Ms. Russell rested in the first car while Mason was on the wheel. Achara was alone in the second car but she was fine with that. Some very loud and angry music came from
Marcus looked at her but
She padded his head and went to sleep afterwards. Marcus looked at her and also at Mason who heard the whole conversation,
Chapter 30: Sharing is Caring
30: Sharing is Caring
¡°So this is what happened.¡± Kou touched his chest, where the skin was still fresh and rosy. ¡°We have already informed the authorities and given them all the evidence. On
¡°Did you know this was the second attempt of an expedition by this science group?¡± Kou said staring out of the window and Marcus shook his head. ¡°The first time we meet a swarm of small nasty things that tried to eat us. The security group ran away leaving the civilians behind. I was the only one who stayed to defend them. Four people died before we got out. Of course we burned the names of the bastards who ran away but it matters not.¡± Marcus was shocked to hear this but remembered a tense atmosphere between the scientists and the security group. ¡°This time nobody died and nobody ran away.¡± Kou smiled but it didn¡¯t reach his eyes. ¡°But we might be cursed.¡± Now both
¡°It is not for me. It is because of Achara.¡± Kou said. ¡°I¡¯m a supporter I know that and I really enjoy it too. I never wanted to be leader¡¡± his voice trailed off. Than his eyes focused again. ¡°Achara does not show it but you being so strong really hit her hard. You
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With the money from the sells of the bandit gear Mason payed Marcus back,
To Marcus surprise Mason took out a cigarette, quickly checked for Ms. Russell, and lit it up. ¡°A few years back I would have agreed with you. I was quiet proud of my abilities and performance and I never bought into the whole ¡°second rate¡± damage dealer shit you read in the forums. That was until I saw a high level Elemental Mage in action.¡±
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¡°I realized I will never be able to compete with something like this and started to look for alternatives. A hybrid style is more demanding but it offers more options.¡± Mason said and added ¡°If you like, we can go a round or two.¡± Marcus was happy to do that. ¡°Just don¡¯t go overboard¡± Kou warned them, they wanted to move
F
They went back into their starting stances and the dance started anew. Marcus was extra cautious and Mason danced around him with his superior speed. They clashed several times and suddenly Marcus felt pain rushing through his left arm. When he looked at it, Mason¡¯s knife stuck in it
¡°You know about Penetrating Arrow? It is based on our ability to harden materials for a short time. I can do the same with these knifes. They are extra thin and in the hand of the average person they would break or dull quickly. But in the hand of an Arcane Archer who knows
¡°Yes don¡¯t tell Kou, he would be mad.¡± Kou stood at the door and watched them with his arms crossed. ¡°Oops.¡± Mason said. ¡°It will be alright Kou. There will be no problem tomorrow.¡± Marcus tried to defuse the situation but Kou had a wolfish smile. ¡°
¡°
¡°Your abilities are scaling with vitality don¡¯t they?¡± Mason said and Marcus felt caught and panic set in. Marcus turned without saying anything but the other man continued. ¡°It is the only way this is possible. When do you intend to share this knowledge with the rest of the world? There are a lot of Fighters out there struggling.¡± Mason did not wait for answer and walked towards the shower leaving Marcus behind feeling like an ass.
Chapter 31: Cooking up a Storm
31: Cooking up a Storm
¡°...
The journey back to the dig site felt a bit like routine now. Marcus sat in the car with Achara and Ms. Russell.
¡°No,
Marcus spent the drive
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¡°Well that is not good.¡± Kou said looking down a big hole. The hole was several meter deep and wide, goo and something crystalline covered the walls. ¡°
As the days moved on Marcus spent more and more time alone. He felt restless, there
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The beast must weight at least five tons and its body alone
Since the days of Mr. Tree Marcus had always carefully controlled his power to avoid hurting himself. Even in combat he kept his cool, let rational thoughts guide him.
Marcus
Chapter 32: Breaking the Silence
32: Breaking the Silence
Marcus stood silently in front of the smashed beetle and
¡°Marcus?¡± Achara¡¯s voice reached him and he turned. The rest of the team was several meter behind
¡°H
Somehow this was needed,
The next
¡°
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He made a 30 minute video titled ¡°Fighter, all the basics.¡± and it took him two full days. Clicking the upload button took him another hour but in the end he went through with it.
H
It was late afternoon and Marcus sat down in the soft sand and buried his toes in it. He had nothing to do and just watched people coming and going and listened to the sound of the ocean. After a while two young women in bikinis talked him up. Marcus enjoyed the small talk and the view. There was lots to see and very little cloths hiding it. The girls moved on with a vague ¡°Maybe we see each other
The sun slowly moved towards the horizon but Marcus felt no drive to leave his little spot as another woman walked up to him. ¡°Marcus.¡± Ms Russell greeted him with a warm smile. She had a wide hat and wore a long red skirt and a white blouse. She carefully sat down next to the large Marcus ¡°I did not expect you still being here.¡± She said and Marcus explained he decided to have a day off.
¡°I will go back to my team. There are people I miss and then¡ I don¡¯t know yet. Maybe taking a real break would be good. After that, I ha
¡°Well, I think I will return home and then find rest.¡± She said without much fuzz. Marcus looked at her and needed a second to understand what she meant. ¡°Are you ill?¡±
She looked down the beach and for a while they both said nothing. ¡°There were a few things I wanted to experience and see. The last was to walk on a different planet and
They spent more time sitting on the beach talking about nice things and then they parted ways. He watched her leave, walking over the beach at sun set, and his heart grew heavy.
Chapter 33: Everything Changes
33: Everything Changes
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¡°A lot happened in a short amount of time. Who was that woman?¡± he asked and Russo scratched his head. ¡°Right, you would not know, yet. Lars has quit the job and went back home to his family.¡± Russo explained that after the last attack and the heavy burns Lars
¡°Pavel has left
¡°Are you not going to gre
¡°And what about you. You look like you crawled through the forest on your belly, is that part of your ¡°epic training montage¡±?¡± Marcus said and Janette took a super hero pose. ¡°You bet. You are looking at a super badass, who cracked the second ability of the Hawkeye
In the range she put a paper target at 25 meter and drew her pistol. One shot and the bullet hit the center of the target without fail. Marcus played surprised ¡°UNBELIEVABLE such accuracy!¡± she kicked him. ¡°You just wait I¡¯m going to make you drop on your knees and call me prodigy, even my Cherry was impressed.¡±
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¡°To show you the full power of Hunter Sight we need to go into the forest.¡± She said and Marcus played along.
She
¡°
Marcus looked at her and that strange feeling from before returned. ¡°Good enough for what?¡±,
Marcus looked at
¡°I¡¯m selfish.¡±
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¡°Do you have the hots for Cherry? You can tell me, I¡¯m not going to be angry.¡± Janette asked and Marcus nearly got red ears. ¡°No, I mean your girl is super hot but there is no chemistry between us. Coincidentally, I just met another hot girl and it was the same, no sparks at all. With Monika it was fireworks from the first second.¡±
¡°
¡°Pffftt. I can pay myself, thank you. But I like
¡°Cherry is loaded btw. I¡¯m marrying into big money.¡± Janette said wiggling her eyebrows. ¡°
Chapter 34: A Glass half Full
34: A Glass half Full
Marcus lay awake in the darkness and stared at the ceiling of his room. They sure had said a lot of embarrassing stuff in the heat of the moment, but Marcus was glad they did.
¡°
Marcus found himself back in the training hall, in full gear. Russo had his full equipment on
¡°Marcus, I was not holding back, you just have become this much more of pain to deal with.¡± Russo was sweating and his hands looked raw and trembled. ¡°You have finally found your own style.¡± My own style? Marcus did not realize he had changed his fighting style. Sure he had a bit more experience and more confidence in his toughness but he was still using the same attacks and moves. ¡°Until now you have been a defensive fighter, using your toughness to weather blows and wait for a chance to counter attack. Now, you always step forward and pressure your enemy. Your toughness allows you to take attacks and your Anchor makes it near impossible to force you back.
J
Belgium, France, Spain they stayed several day
Although, Marcus was not doing so bad either. Maybe it was the presence of two pretty wom
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Marcus moved upon her, carefully touching and kissing her until their bodies were in the right position to unite. He moved into her and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Marcus had yearned for this experience and could not resist the urge for long, moaning as he f
There was something Marcus wanted to try and he slowly turned
After the excitement, Sarah wrapped herself around him and he cradled her in his arms.
Saying goodbye
B
After a day of exploring the area, they came back into the hotel lobby to find everybody huddled around the large TV screens in the bar. A news show was on and a woman spoke ¡°We return to the exclusive story. Just hours ago the White House has announced that American explorers had encountered
A clip was played, showing a man with white hair standing on a podium. ¡°The American Government has decided to release information about an encounter of Raid Team 5 with the group know
The video was shaky but showed something of massive ha
The battle took only seconds and
With a stiff drink in hand Marcus and the women sat in a corner of the bar,
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Chapter 35: Connections
35: Connections
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Cherry, well, Amelia Long no longer ha
Marcus found himself in a trendy suit in the winter garden of the manor, watching Janette and Amelia Long getting married. It was not a churchly marriage but the two women did look divine. Janette had a blood red, tight fit, dress that covered her neck and Cherry had a shoulder free white dress that made her red hair look even more fiery.
The next day, the newly wed wives parted ways.
They compiled a list (Marcus made tables and graphs. The joy!) and discussed options. On the second day of planing he got a call from an unexpected source. ¡°Marcus?¡± It was Kou.
Marcus
They pushed back their plans for monster hunting and
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¡°Achara that was some very interesting training right now.¡± Marcus said and she smiled ¡°Thanks to you I have been exploring new ways to use my ability and have been successful.¡± she said. ¡°
¡°Now, who wants to see my amazing skills in action?¡± Janette drew the attention to herself. A demonstration of her skills very quickly made Achara and Kou drop their jaws. ¡°Wait I have never heard about this, since when can
¡°That is an easy test.¡± Janette concentrated on Achara and she went invisible. Janette moved her finger around the room and Achara appeared exactly where she pointed. ¡°THAT is unfair.¡± the Thai woma
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They met Carmen and Marcus good a big hug to his surprise and Janette introduced herself very ladylike which made him suspicious. Carmen was super happy that they were able to join the team at such short notice. ¡°I feared we would not be able to make the deadline. Two weeks later and the funding would be gone. But Kou was as reliable as always and brought
After a long day the team sat down in the small kitchen and Achara made some original Thai food.
Marcus listened to the chatting of his friends in the small kitchen. He felt warm in the inside and outside, and eventually he started to talk. At first it was difficult but the longer he spoke the easier it got. ¡°When I was 12
When the alarm came I
My mother found me
After this my father became more and more distant to me and eventually he left me behind working far away while other people looked after me. I think he blamed me for
Marcus stopped and suddenly felt very weak and drained. Janette stood up and put her arms around him stroking his hair. ¡°It was not your fault. I
Janette escorted Marcus to his room and he listened to music until he fell into a deep, long sleep. She returned to the kitchen shortly after and the other two were already cleaning up. ¡°That was horrible. I can not imagine to suffer through something like this.¡± Achara said and Kou gave her a clean plate. ¡°He was at the heart of the Rome Massacre, I never thought I would meet somebody who survived that.¡± Kou said with a strained voice.¡±But his father abandoning him is just the icing on the cake.¡± Achara said angrily
¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±, Kou¡¯s voice was thoughtful, ¡°This is what happened from the viewpoint of the young child Marcus. I doubt that this is the whole story.¡±. Janette said nothing more to the topic
Chapter 36: Golem vs. Cat
36: Golem vs. Cat
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Marcus finished his cereals (with lots of chocolate pieces and extra milk) and quickly got into his armor. Janette and Kou were also in the room,
They both got into position and Achara held t
Achara
¡°What is her second ability?¡± Janette asked. Marcus turned and removed his helmet. ¡°Phase Shift, she can then move through objects while invisible, but it eats endurance like mad I have heard.¡±
¡°
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¡°
The impact was not fully gone but it was lessened by a lot. He tried with the fifth floor too and it hurt somewhat but his vitality cleaned that up in seconds. ¡°That is an amazing upside for Anchor, falling damage is
With this the morning was over and they met with the scientists and discussed the mission. Th
¡°The reality is, ruin diving is dangerous and full of surprises. Things might turn out vastly different once we are there. We also have to carry a lot of supplies and gear.¡± Kou had been researching the topic.
They prepared for the journey and they had the whole giant bus just for seven people. Provisions for over three weeks, special gear and personal items filled most of it but there was still a lot of space. The journey at least would be relaxing. In the evening before the start, Janette appeared at Marcus¡¯ door with an annoyed look and put her phone into his hand. Cherry greeted him
¡°You two done treating me like a child?¡± Janette said, lying on her bed and kicking the wall with her feet. ¡°I told her you are a pro and she does not need to worry.¡± Marcus sat down on the bed. ¡°And you believe that?¡± Janette asked and stopped kicking. ¡°You remember the ork Blood Knight?¡± Marcus answered with another question. ¡°Give her time. The more she sees how capable you are, the less she will worry.¡±,
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They slowly made their way north with Kou at the wheel (Janette was banned from driving by Marcus¡¯ order). It was mainly a slow, boring trip. The are
¡°Guys, how likely is it, that there is a cave troll
Chapter 37: Better Bugs than Snakes
37: Better Bugs than Snakes
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Janette did hang back while Marcus slowly advanced, there was a multitude of scratching sounds coming from the inside of the cave. He tried to imagine what kind of thing would cause such a sound but he
¡°I hit what ever it is but it is armored on the head.¡± Janette shouted and Marcus decided to use this interruption to quickly push forward. He made two steps, as suddenly something big rose from the darkness, just two meter to his left. ¡°MOVE¡± Kou¡¯s voice and Marcus jumped to the right feeling lighter than usual thanks to Kou. An organic sound followed by something splashing against the stone behind him. He turned and
A centipede like thing, half
¡°
Two more, Marcus thought and started another attack. He climbed over rocks and moved from the right this time, a centipede head lifted up but a ¡°clang¡± against it¡¯s head made it vanish again. ¡°Their heads are completely armored, we have to aim lower.¡± Janette said with frustration in her voice. ¡°But I have this one locked.¡± Marcus saw where she was aiming and moved closer, ready to jump back as soon as the head would
Claws and mandibles scratched at him, tearing at his armor and trying to get to the soft goodness underneath. The thing was much heavier than he expected and only Anchor stopped him from being thrown to the ground. He pushed his right fist through the clawing legs and punched the body with Impulse Hammer. The beast shrieked and was thrown back, toppling over and writhing on the ground. Marcus stepped forward to finish it off but a ¡°Behind you!¡± from Achara made him turn and cover his face with his arms. The last centipede had risen behind him and was ready to cover him with acid but the attack never
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They quickly finished the wounded on
¡°Is it okay to come out?¡± Carmen asked and after double checking they gave the okay. Malcolm quickly, as quickly as he could, moved to the corpses and inspected them with scientific vigor. In the meantime Marcus checked his armor. The claws had cause only some minor damage but a few drops of the acid had made holes in his arm and leg armor. ¡°Would have been bad if you had taken a full loud of that.¡± Janette looked at the small holes in his armor. She was right, next time they should use the lights first or he needed to remember that his armor has IR sight.
¡°Hey, has anybody else gained
¡°If they devoured the green bugs, th
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¡°Some kind of concrete maybe, but much smoother.¡± Carmen touched the wall and made some close up photos.
The tunnel quickly opened up into a larger room with some parts of the ceiling collapsed and undefinable remnant of objects on the floor. Everything had withered to the point
Walking through the ruins was exciting but also mind numbing. Corridor after corridor, room after room was filled with ruble or undefinable trash. Still, Marcus found the idea, to walk in the footsteps of another civilization exhilarating.
They had some tools at hand but Achara thought to use a heavy crowbar first. She was the one with the most strength crests in the team, Janette did not fail to point
Marcus watched her go to work, trying to find an anchor point for leverage, to open the metal door. She put her foot against the frame of the door and started to apply pressure. Marcus saw a small trickle of water escaping beneath the door and jumped at the same moment Kou pulled Achara away from the door
Chapter 38: Under the Mountain I
Chapter 38: Under the Mountain I
Janette hurried the confused scientist down the hallway, while Achara had started to run on her own. Marcus looked back at the door and a high pressure water stream shot water over his head. The door buckled and finally broke. A torrent of water rushed down the corridor and quickly reached them. The water level rose in three seconds to their knees and then their hips. Bianca fell but Marcus grabbed her and held her head high, as the water reached his shoulders. The faster team members were ten meter ahead but the wave caught them too. The water pressure dragged them along the corridor until they reached a larger room and were able to free themselves.
Gasping they came up and Marcus tried to remember which way to go, but Kou was already pointing at the correct corridor. The water reached their knees again and they quickly moved forward. Marcus helped Malcolm while Kou shouted ¡°Do not swallow the water!¡± and they continued to run. Two more corridors down and one large junction and the water finally stopped following them, for now. ¡°If there is a fresh source of water behind that room, we might have just flooded the whole complex.¡± Kou said and looked around how everybody was feeling.
They were wet and unhappy but nobody had swallowed some water. They had protective shots but a full load of micro-organism from a different planet could be dangerous, and fatal at worst.
¡°From now on, we should check every closed door by knocking.¡± Marcus said and everybody agreed. In their wet state they finally decided to make camp. Change some clothes, eat some food and get some rest. ¡°From what I can tell this was some form of bunker or storage facility. It also has space for inhabitants. We have not seen many rooms suitable for large projects, like a workshop or heavy machinery.¡± Bianca said, feasting on an instant noodle dish. ¡°Maybe an emergency bunker against catastrophes.¡±, Carmen said and the women continued their debate. Janette talked with Achara, and Malcolm did some work with his tablet. Marcus sat down next to Kou and ate some dried meat and a paste, he didn¡¯t want to know what it was, let¡¯s call it tomato.
¡°That was a close one.¡± Kou finally said after some silence. Marcus nodded and ate more ¡°tomato¡±. They watched Janette and Achara talk and the girls gave them looks from time to time.
¡°You think, they are talking about us?¡± Kou asked. ¡°Most likely.¡± Marcus answered and worked on the rest of his dry meat.
¡°Have you told her yet?¡± Marcus said and had some nice fresh Earth water to finish. ¡°No. But I think she knows anyway.¡± Kou said and they sat in silence. They watched the infrared lamp flickering and humming for some time, and were satisfied with the conversation.
An hour later Janette joined Marcus in the corner of the room and used his arm as a pillow. ¡°Good talk?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°Yep.¡± Janette said and closed her eyes. Achara had the first guard shift, Marcus would be next. He was not really tired and rested with his eyes half open while his mind worked on the ¡°Anchor-Falling Damage¡± problem. Two hours later he took his shift and Achara went to sleep. Marcus walked around the perimeter and peered into the long dark hallways. ¡°splish, splash¡± Marcus turned and walked to the doorway he had checked five minutes ago. It was completely silent and dark. He activated his IR view. ¡°Slowly grab your gear. We have hostiles.¡± Marcus whispered into the com.
Through the IR vision he saw dozens of bodies in the dark hallway, small creatures with elongated heads, needle sharp teeth and claws on hands and feet. Even so IR vision did only give limited details he knew what he was looking at. ¡°Goblins¡± he whispered. Like ¡°orks¡± ¡°goblins¡± are not your fantasy variety monster. Humans just call these nasty monsters goblins because they are just as much a menace. They exist on many worlds, always a bit different, but fundamentally cruel and brutal. They hunt in large packs and devour their targets to the bones. Marcus tried to count but there were so many and they started to move silently forward, exposing their sharp teeth in anticipation of soft flesh.
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Marcus made a quick decision. If the horde entered the room we are royally fucked, Marcus thought. We do not have good aoe damage and those bastards will devour the scientist even if the rest can survive. Marcus slowly stepped back towards to the doorway. The closest goblin crouched down on its legs and with a screech lunged at Marcus. The same moment light flooded the corridor blinding the little devils and a bullet from Janette tore the monster apart before it could reach Marcus. He planted his feet in the doorway prepared to take on the horde. ¡°Achara help me take on those which break through. Janette support Marcus.¡± Marcus smiled as he heard Kou¡¯s voice, the man instantly knew what Marcus tried to do. But then there was no time to think.
The first wave of four little shits rushed him and he kicked and stomped two to red paste while one caught a bullet from Janette. The last one jumped at his leg but the small teeth and claws did not penetrate his armor. He punched the thing right between its red, cat like eyes. He had not finished his strike as several more monsters jumped up on him and some squeezed by him, smelling more things to mutilate in the room behind. The roaring of Achara¡¯s and Kou¡¯s weapon mixed into the screaming of the monsters and the ear shattering noise of Janette¡¯s rifle.
Marcus quickly lost sight of everything and just flailed wildly at everything that came from the hallway. He bleed from a dozen wounds and small claws tried to cut his throat and needle teeth bit into his muscles and joints. Marcus could not tell how long this was going on but his lungs ached like fire and the floor was covered with goblin viscera as finally the last goblins fled into the darkness.
He took a deep breath and leaned against the doorway. Everybody in the room looked exhausted, Achara was wielding her swords and was covered in goblin blood, Janette had discarded her rifle and wielded her pistol and Kou stood in front of the civilians with deep cuts on his face and arms.
¡°That was unreal.¡± Janette said and moved to Marcus checking his wounds. ¡°Nothing serious I will heal quickly.¡±, he said and it was true. Even so the little monsters had clawed at him dozens of times the damage to his body was very limited, his armor though looked torn. Achara helped Kou with his wounds and Janette took the guard to allow Marcus to rest for a moment. ¡°If you had not plucked the doorway this would have been a massacre.¡± Kou said enjoying Achara taking care of him.
The scientists looked rattled but fully unharmed. They thanked the team and sang praises about their courage and skill. ¡°I thought this was it. At some point Marcus was buried under those little devils and I believed we would all die.¡± Carmen said with a white face.
¡°Bloody hell, I think I got two whole levels.¡± Janette shouted and shook everybody up. Marcus and the rest checked and it was the same for them. ¡°How many of those rats did we kill?¡± Janette asked, ¡°At least 50?¡± Achara said and gave Kou a short kiss (on the lips!) and got up. Kou instantly looked more alive and it was not the levels he had gained.
They spent their crests and cleaned the camp and themselves up as good as possible. ¡°Even if we find nothing here, 4 levels alone was worth the trip.¡± Janette said and smiled. Marcus was happy too, very soon he would have enough vitality to start searching for his third ability. He had 28 vitality now and he was certain that 30ish was the next threshold. He looked at his hands and after half an hour all the smaller cuts and bruises were gone. Unreal.
They rested for six more hours and no more problems showed up. Janette told Marcus she had spent a few points in vitality and dexterity to increase her survivability. Hearing that, the other two also reported to him and he felt a bit awkward. Achara still pushed her intelligence (based on Marcus¡¯ insider knowledge) and Kou had also increased vitality and dexterity. ¡°I have one clip for my rifle and two for my pistol left.¡± Janette said with a worried look to Marcus. ¡°You can take my gun if you ran out, I can still fight with my swords.¡± Achara said and Janette gave her a grateful nod.
Marcus got up and stretched his legs. He walked around and looked at the pile of dead goblins and a distressing thought crept into his mind. ¡°What do you think, how many goblins does it take before one shows up that evolves?¡± He asked the team and Janette kicked his leg. ¡°Thanks for the death flag!¡±
Chapter 39: Under the Mountain II
Chapter 39:Under the Mountain II
After recovering their strength,
¡°Pretty sure that room has not been looted. But I doubt we can get into it either.¡± Kou said and Marcus agreed. This door looked like nothing short of a large, industrial plasma welder or drill could force this open. ¡°We will have to mark it on the map for future expeditions with heavy equipment.¡±
¡°
The idea was simple enough, the execution took another 4 hours. They went back up to the cave, Malcolm dissected one of the dead centipedes to gain the acid gland and went back down again. On their way they were ambushed two more times by small groups of goblins but they were far better prepared and obliterated them. Finally at the door, Malcolm worked together with Kou who had some basic knowledge about security devices and they removed the outer armor above the lock and finally the lock itself. With a lot of physical work the ancient door finally opened. At the last moment Janette said a prayer and rubbed her hands together. ¡°Dear great spirit in the sky
The inside of the room was very much a vault. Rows of shelves, half disintegrated, held remnants of weapons and armor. What remained of the treasure was rust, dust and sometime the outline of an object that crumbled once you touch it. They walked through the rows of shelves and their enthusiasm quickly faded. Janette was the one who found something like a special strongbox in the back. In it¡¯s days it must have been an impressive piece of hardware but time had broken even this alien object. The door had fallen off and dust fell out of it, but Janette rummage in it either way. ¡°Achara, I think it is your birthday.¡± she said and pulled something out of the ruined strongbox. She held it in the light and everybody could see a transparent block of an unknown material and it was a sword. ¡°Is this for real?¡± Marcus asked and helped Janette to put it on the ground carefully, it was surprisingly heavy.
¡°
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Marcus looked to the other class holder
A
T
Hallways, corridors and trash rooms, the alien bunker continued to be mainly uninteresting and empty.
A
Marcus looked at the several meter high painting and considered the implications. Somebody came here much later, as this was already a ruin and made the effort to paint all of this. Why? To leave a message that could endure the times?
Marcus pulled himself away from the depressing sight and made his way to their
Chapter 40: Death鈥檚 Embrace
Chapter 40:Death¡¯s Embrace
Marcus slowly turned, keeping the monster in his sight, and moved backwards
It charged towards Marcus,
Marcus sprinted after the beast and reached its tail as it tried to snap after Achara who turned invisible and re-positioned. Marcus jumped on its back and held on to its rough back armor and hammered his fist into the giant body. He was not sure how much this would help but the monster¡¯
He
Marcus, took a deep breath and charge
Janette landed a few good hits on the softer underside of the monster and purple blood dro
As Janette sprinted around a pillar
Marcus rushed the
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He passe
Marcus reached the elevator shaft and no
Achara was waiting for him, following instructions from Kou over com, they put Bianca in the emergency medical bed of the bus and Achara put a breathing mask on Bianca¡¯s face. She continued to give Bianca medicine and Marcus grabbed a bottle of water and tried to calm his nerves.
It was a hell ride. They had to bind down Bianca and the rest held on for dear life as Janette pushed the massive bus to its limits. Rolling over or crushing through smaller obstacles, actually drifting the massive thing around large boulders and avoiding collisions by a hair, Janette proved to be a demon at the wheel. After two hours they met the emergency
The priest, a young, bald man thankfully took Marcus¡¯ offer to link him to Bianca ¡°She is no longer in mortal danger but she will need trauma treatment to fully recover¡±. After that he took a look at Malcolm but
Marcus got rid of his cloths and took a long shower. Only now he had calmed down enough to feel the warm existence of unspent crests in his chest. Two more level, he spent them as always but had not the energy to feel happy about it. He still felt tired and
¡°
Kou jumped right next to her and checked Marcus¡¯ vitals, as Kou touched Marcus his eyes widened. ¡°He is burning hot.¡± He quickly checked and Marcus¡¯ whole body was hot, much hotter than it should be possible even with a fever. ¡°What is happening? Is this from the battle? Was he attacked?¡± Janette¡¯
¡°
¡°Achara, drag him under the shower we need to cool him down no matter what.¡± Kou said and they quickly got the large man into the shower area and covered his body with cold water. ¡°He is still burning hot, how is he even alive?¡± Kou wondered, which made Janette
Kou stared at Marcus and tried to understand what was going on. This was no regular illness or effect. Something connect to the class holders then? He looked at the man and an idea formed in his head. ¡°You all also gained levels right?
Kou took out his phone and called Carmen ¡°Do we have some kind of bathtub in the building?¡±. Second floor, a tub designed for cleaning of large artifacts or other archaeological pieces was the answer. ¡°Help me get him to the second floor we need to control his body temperature.¡± Kou said but Janette did not move. ¡°Should we not call an ambulance, a priest?¡± she asked but Kou shook his head. ¡°The
Chapter 41: Superhuman I
Chapter 41:Superhuman I
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Kou was next to her and looked at the clock. ¡°Over 24 hours, If I¡¯m right two or three days should be the maximum time
Achara came into the room and brought a sleeping bag and some food and water. ¡°If you are not willing to leave him alone, than at least rest a bit. We will look after him.¡± She put the stuff down and Janette gave into their demands. She had no appetite and only drank some water, slipped into the sleeping bag and closed her tired eyes, just for a moment.
When sleep finally came, she dreamed of the world being flooded and she was trying not to drown. Marcus stood on an island with a volcano and told her to join him. He was burning but laughing without a care. She pull
¡°¡.c¡...r¡...eat¡..a whole boar.¡± Marcus knew the voice. Sound trickled into the ocean of nothingness and the pain slowly faded away. Marcus felt light and warm and with a soft breath he opened his eyes. ¡°
¡°No need to cry.¡± Marcus said with a weak voice to Janette. ¡°I¡¯m not crying, I¡¯m just really hungry that is all. Because of you I lost a lot of weight, what are you going to do if my boobs get smaller? Cherry will be mad.¡± Janette spouted nonsense and continued to cry while they dried his body and gave him water.
W
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¡°
Marcus¡¯ recovery was as fast as his former decline. Half an hour out of the water and he was moving around, testing his body. ¡°I think I want to go to the training room.¡± He said and the rest looked unsure what to think of this. ¡°Okay I will bring you there and make sure you don¡¯t do something stupid.¡± Janette said and pulled him towards the door while the others were still trying to keep up with the events. Janette took Marcus¡¯ hand and lead him to the elevator. Once they were alone she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.
¡°ding¡± the elevator reached the target floor but Janette did not
Once in the training room, Marcus stretched and moved his body but for now he could not feel any difference to his normal state. He was excited, a passive ability was a big deal, it could drastically change one¡¯s combat performance. Achara and Kou showed up too, ¡°
T
Marcus looked at his body and tried to come up with some passive effect that would
¡°No jokes. This alone might be enough to move the Fighter into the top ten.¡± Achara said and Marcus agreed. If this g
A
¡°One thing we should check¡± Janette had brought a gun and without a second hesitation put a bullet into Marcus¡¯ chest. ¡°HEYYYY!¡± Marcus shouted but Janette did not flinch and instead inspected the wound. ¡°Tss it barely went in. You are already too tough for small guns.¡± And she was right the small dent from the bullet was already gone. Janette
¡°This time the bullet at least got in, but look at this, it is coming out again.¡± The bullet fell out of the wound and the wound closed in a few seconds. ¡°That confirms it. Small stuff gets pushed out but if something large is in the wound, you can not heal.¡± Kou said and Marcus agreed. Ultimately this was good, or stuff could get stuck inside
Chapter 42: Superhuman II
Chapter 42:Superhuman II
Marcus watched the last seconds of the video and listened to his own voice. It was not Spielberg but it would do, he
He
Two hours after uploading
Ten seconds later his phone rang again, unknown number. ¡°Marcus Freimann¡± he said and the same voice answered him. ¡°If you give me a second I can prove to you,
¡°Marcus, nice to meet you.¡±
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Marcus said goodbye and watched his friends turn into ants as the helicopter left the base behind. As soon as they reached the
Marcus heart was pounding and he was sweating in his cloth
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¡°
¡°There are a few reasons but one thing at the time.¡± Kim offered him some water and Marcus took it but forgot to drink any of it. ¡°I¡¯m actually super hyped about seeing you.¡± Kim continued and looked as happy as a kid
Kim carefully observed as the cut on the back of Marcus¡¯ hand closed. ¡°This is a first without a doubt.¡± Kim said, now carefully removing any blood with a
¡°Some in depth experiments might give us a
¡°I have been watching you for a few months now, based a strong hunch
Chapter 43: Superhuman III
Chapter 43:Superhuman III
K
Kim laughed. ¡°I knew, I was right about you. You are
Marcus was dumbstruck, did Kim actually believe Marcus could somehow figure this out even so he himself could not do it for years? ¡°Why me? There must be many capable Paladins or other class holder
Kim laughed again and looked happier somehow. ¡°You sell yourself short Marcus. You have already achieved more than most class holder do in their life. And I¡¯m going to help you to go much further still.¡± He gave Marcus a short smile and went on. ¡°Why you? Because you are like me. I
Kim looked serious and
They started a mega brain storm session. Kim told Marcus everything he had tried, all the ideas he had and about various situations and encounters over the last years. Marcus asked questions and made notes on a giant interactive screen that
¡°Could it be that I still don¡¯t have enough scaling crests? I ask myself that often.¡± Kim said but Marcus shook his head. ¡°No, it is very clear you need 70 scaling crests for the fourth ability and no matter how you look at your attributes you have that for sure.¡± Kim smiled on Marcus¡¯ words. ¡°So what is left?¡± Marcus did not know. They finally ended it for the night and Marcus was shown to his gigantic room. It was a suit with several bedrooms and baths.
M
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¡°Welcome to my private training room. I thought some activity would be nice. I have some spare cloth
¡°Have you finally run out of steam?¡± Kim asked with a smile but Marcus turned and looked at Kim with different eyes. ¡°You are peerless. You never lose.¡± he said and Kim looked embarrassed ¡°Thanks.¡±, but Marcus shook his head. ¡°No, that is your problem. That is why you can not find the fourth ability¡¡±, ¡°...because I never lose.¡± Kim said and hit his forehead. ¡°OF COURSE! Marcus you damn genius.¡± He laughed from his heart and stomped the ground. ¡°You are thinking of a conditional passive ability connected to defeat or suffering damage.¡± Yes, Marcus thought, and you grasped that from a few words, you
¡°
¡°All is well, love. Marcus just helped me to find out what my fourth ability is.¡± Kim said
Kim had talked with him before he left and the impression of that talk was still on Marcus¡¯ mind. ¡°
When he landed
¡°I¡¯m in.¡± Kou said. ¡°Me too.¡± Achara was next and Janette just
¡°
Chapter 44: Soul Searching
Chapter 44: Soul Searching
It was a dark room, only lit by the gentle glow of a laptop screen, the soft hum of the CPU fan filled the silence. A man sitting on a chair, rested his head on many pieces of paper, which lay scattered over his desk. Words connected by lines and circles filled every page, a labyrinth of thought with no solution. The eyes of the man were wide open but empty of hope, he had lost the will to live.
How can it be so hard to find a name for a clan? Marcus thought.
Just choose one that sounds good! Hilarious! Since the gang had decided that they would make a clan and that Marcus was NOW the leader, he had been agonizing over a name. You can not just choose any name, not when others have such perfect names like Cerberus. A clan name must express the very essence of the clan but also sound strong and interesting. It must be short enough to memorize but profound enough to be worthy of memory. You can also not copy or just slightly change existing names, that is not good enough. A simple generic name is out of the window, too. It is bland and proof of bad taste. And YES it has to sound good too in the end. Marcus ruffled his hair and moaned in agony. His brain was melting and he was out of ideas.
The husk, that once was Marcus, dragged itself to the kitchen to find more coffee and maybe some sugar in the form of small wrapped sweets. He found coffee but his hope for sugar was destroyed by a small hill of plastic wrappings on the table, that somehow reminded him of Janette. It was two in the morning but time was relative when your brain existed only on coffee and (not enough) sugar. ¡°Can¡¯t sleep?¡± Kou¡¯s voice entered the room and shook at least something awake in Marcus. ¡°Hmmmm¡± he answered eloquently.
¡°I have created a new account and also prepared the documents for a clan founding. We should get some funding if we play our cards right. We still have to choose a name and also a place for our headquarter. It will be no more than a house at best. We need to decide on various other points too, clan taxes, code of conduct, hire and fire regulation and maybe a clan slogan too.¡± Kou said all these words and Marcus admired him for the ability to speak at this time of the day. Maybe he had eaten all the sweets?
¡°You should be the clan leader.¡± Marcus said, some coffee had reached his brain. ¡°Absolutely not, I will take care of the bureaucracy and the numbers but I¡¯m no leader material. I figured this out some time ago. You on the other hand, you have charisma and you inspire people. You will do great.¡± Kou said and Marcus¡¯ suspicion, that Kou had eaten all the sweets grew. ¡°I will send you the founding documents, you just need to add the name and we are good to go.¡± Kou said with the innocents of a child and vanished into the dark. Marcus was in deep thoughts, wasn¡¯t there a chocolate bar in one of the drawers? He searched and only found paper pieces. Janette.
Marcus moved through the darkness of the dorms to the lair of the evil chocolate devouring witch. The door was not completely closed, he peeked. Janette looked like a little, mean angel, wrapped around her ¡°Cherry¡± stuffed toy, sleeping without a care in the world. There were chocolate remains on her sideboard and her mouth. Marcus just closed the door silently and slumped back to his room. He was too tired to sleep and went back to his many, many notes.
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Marcus followed his own train of thoughts, rode the lines and danced on the circles. There were many smart words here, good words. But nothing that felt right, nothing that felt like THEM. That was the main problem, who are we? A group of nobodies drawn together by circumstance, his own brain offered as an answer. Sure, that was true but it was only one perspective. They all choose to be here and trusted each other with their lives. Going forward together into an unknown future.
Marcus wrote down ¡°growing¡± and ¡°together¡±. He followed it up with ¡°garden¡± and ¡°forest¡±. ¡°Garden of the No Goods¡± another stellar offer by his brain. HEY who are you working for brain? Try to be less sarcastic. It is your fault Marcus, you did not provide sugar so I provide only acid.
Maybe he should eat something proper, Marcus thought. No, Achara is going to be up in a few hours making breakfast for all of them. She and Kou are so serious and strict, the total opposite of the free spirit Janette. And Marcus? Overly serious, overly impulsive, overly insecure Marcus was somewhere in between, his brain added for more acid. We are all over the place, not like Cerberus who are fierce, rough and direct. Or Sleeping Sky, who are imaginative, creative and excellent in every way.
But you wouldn¡¯t want to do this with anybody else, right Marcus? You were so happy when they said they wanted to make clan, after you just mentioned it once. That is why you try so hard to find a good name. Because you do not want to disappoint them. Marcus¡¯ brain knew Marcus very well.
Marcus wrote down ¡°different¡± and ¡°connected¡±. Marcus closed his eyes and thought about the words. He walked in a forest with many different flowers, pulsating colors and the smell of magic. Something a bit mystical like the ¡°A Midsummer Night¡¯s Dream¡±, with music and laughter of elves.
On that thought he took out his earphones and listened to some soft music. It was three in the morning.
Marcus and his brain, both of them really, started to get tired now. The lightning storm caused by the coffee was finally dying down and soon he would be asleep, giving his brain time to sort some stuff out. He entered those last minutes were everything starts to go silent and all unnecessary thoughts vanish into the nothingness of near sleep. Marcus took his pen and wrote down a few words and looked at them for a while. Yes.
He opened his laptop and the file with the clan registration and choose the name entry. He tipped in the words. ¡°Please confirm name: Colors of the Wild¡± the program asked and he obliged. Marcus went to bed and was gone in seconds.
It was morning, at least outside, and Janette left the shower without much of an idea what to do next. She found the kitchen but the great angry dragon Achara was already at work and one can not steal food before breakfast, punishment awaits. The next best thing was to find Marcus and see if something fun happens. Janette opened the door to his room and found him on his bed with all his clothes on. She watched him for some time and resisted the urge to do something mean. Her eyes wandered to the desk with the many papers. He had been working hard again, that dummy. Something simple would be good enough but he wanted it to be great.
She saw the words next to the pen and smirked. She silently closed the door again and returned to the kitchen to spread the news.
¡°Give me that, and that too.¡± Achara waved and Kou gave her the correct spices. ¡°Can you cut this?¡± She gave him carrots and she took care of the eggs. They worked in silence, they did not need many words, they understood each other. Achara looked up and watched Kou cut the carrots with an intense look in his eyes. She gave him a kiss, and he looked happy. Maybe I give him too many lately, but I really want to, she thought. At that moment Janette walked in and Achara¡¯s mind went back to the duty at hand.
¡°I know the name of our clan.¡± Janette said with a wide grin. Kou and Achara stopped their work and waited for the announcement.¡°Colors of the Wild¡± Janette said with a big smile and glowing eyes. The others nodded after a moment. ¡°I knew Marcus would come up with something good.¡± Kou said. ¡°It has a good ring to it and sounds intriguing too.¡± Achara said and stopped Janette from stealing carrot pieces.
¡°It sounds like us.¡± The half asleep Marcus stood in the doorway and watched them with a smile. ¡°Pffftt. Look at your hair!¡± Janette laughed and attacked the bowl of fresh rice, Kou intervened by levitating the bowl away. Achara rolled her eyes and got up to make a cup of coffee for Marcus. This was life. This was them. Colors of the Wild.
Chapter 45: Proof of Growth I
Chapter 45: Proof of Growth I
¡°We need money. Lot¡¯s of it.¡± Kou said and looked around the kitchen to the rest of the clan. ¡°We need money to set up the clan and we need money to improve our equipment. To be honest, we are using trash for the most part.¡± Kou¡¯s judgment was swift and sadly correct, Marcus thought. Forget enchanted gear, besides Marcus they all wore base level light armor. The only weapon they had that was outstanding was Achara¡¯s black blade.
If they wanted to play in the bigger leagues they had to get better gear. ¡°What is the best way to earn money quickly?¡± Janette asked, as if she was not filthy rich. Some time ago, she had shown Marcus her bank balance and he needed a moment to count all the zeros, but that money was off limits. Things needed to be earned to have value, they both agreed on that.
¡°In our current situation I would say monster hunting for parts. IF we can get a good contract that is. There are a lot of bad faith contracts out there and the better paid jobs are deadly dangerous. So we have to be careful. I will look around for an opportunity.¡± Kou said, already making mental notes and working on his phone. Nobody had objections and Marcus was happy Kou was taking care of all these technical problems. As they got up from the table a ¡°Stop. Sit down.¡± put Marcus and Janette back into their place. Achara wasn¡¯t done yet, ¡°We need to decide where we are going to place our HQ. At least the region or country needs to be decided so we can start looking for a suitable place.¡± Janette moaned but Marcus knew Achara was right.
They discussed various options but it came down to ¡°Either something in Europe or Japan.¡±, Marcus said. ¡°Japan would be much closer to your families and Kou speaks the language.¡± Janette said who did not care where they went unless it was too cold. No more Finland for her.
¡°I¡¯m against it. Not for a beginner clan like us. It is expensive and in the influence of the Chinese Block. Besides I may speak the language but you all do not, I think Europe is a far better option. Money, connections, English is viable nearly everywhere and good laws.¡± Kou quickly countered and the rest agreed. They did not manage to come to a final decision but agreed it should have nice weather.
Finally they were allowed to flee the table and Marcus wanted to work out in the training room. Since the meeting with Kim, he had been working on the fundamentals of Impulse Hammer. It was a slow process, one that forced Marcus to relearn and undo some of his habits. He knew that if he ever wanted to reach the heights of Kim he needed to master his basics. When exactly he had started to think about reaching such a level, he did not know but it was a nice long term goal, Marcus found. He had created a new spreadsheet on his laptop for various attack forms for Impulse Hammer. Besides the large scale ¡°blunt¡± strike he wanted to build up a proper ¡°cut¡± like attack and a ¡°piercing¡± strike too. The cut, he had used before in battle, but there was a lot of space for improvement.
Two days later, Marcus, Achara and Janette were in the training room and Kou announced that he had found a good candidate ¡°It is a company with a seat in Hong Kong, ¡°Rozman and Derling¡±. They are a big name in the monster parts business and I got us a date for a try out.¡±. ¡°Try outs?¡± Janette asked while doing handstand push-ups to improve her body balance. Like so often when she trained, she only wore a top and hot pants. Her skin was glistening with sweat and drops of sweat were running down her body, dripping on the floor. Kou was somewhat distracted by the view but he quickly refocused ¡°Yes, because we are low level and unproven, we have to do a basic try out. It is mandatory because of the insurance of the company. But anyway, two days from now we have a date and if we succeed we can do at least the low level jobs they offer.¡± Kou said and purposefully looked somewhere else than Janette.
After Kou and Achara were gone Janette came back to her feet and walked over to Marcus who still trained his new striking motions and timings. She watched him for a bit and he stopped as she obviously wanted to say something. ¡°No jokes. How attractive am I to a man?¡± She asked with a straight face. He looked at her ¡°Enough to get Kou into trouble with Achara.¡±. Janette sat down for a while and wiped her sweat away. ¡°Too bad, I can¡¯t ask you the same question.¡± Marcus said and sat down right next to her.
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¡°You mean two hot girls sleeping with you after knowing you for a minute doesn¡¯t give you a clue?¡± Janette said but Marcus fired back ¡°And a woman like Cherry marrying you doesn¡¯t give you an idea?¡±. She laughed ¡°Sounds like we are sandbagging hard but I get it.¡± she paused for a minute. ¡°It is hard to think of yourself as attractive no matter what others say.¡± She pulled out her phone from her nearby bag and a moment later presented a picture. It showed a slightly chubby teenage girl with long black dyed hair and far too much make up on her face. Marcus looked at it for a while and grabbed his own phone. He showed her a picture of a thin boy with a too big head and no muscles or signs of masculinity. ¡°How old were you?¡± she asked. ¡°That was shortly before I got my class. But in my head this is still how I look.¡± Marcus said and took back the phone.
After a long silence Janette spoke up ¡°Marcus, since you came back from your first expedition you are far more confident. That, plus your buff body is going to make a lot of girls want to have sex with you. I¡¯m not going to tell you what to do but if you are not careful you can end up as a slut.¡± Marcus listened but did not know what to say. ¡°I will hit the showers.¡± Janette said and left Marcus with his thoughts behind. Marcus knew she did not mean he was a ¡°slut¡± right now, she actually encouraged him to make experiences. But down the road¡ the thought of a lot of pretty girls wanting to sleep with him was actually exciting. Could he end up being one of those player types, sleeping with another girl every night? This was definitely not what he wanted. Did something like this happen to Janette? Marcus followed the train of thought until his cold sweat made him uncomfortable. He got up and went to the showers, to wash the heavy thoughts away.
Two days sound like a lot but if you count in travel time and preparation it was just around the corner. The team was together with a few dozen other people in a large training facility from Rozman and Derling. Marcus felt a bit naked without his armor on but the information letter said they would get equipment as needed. ¡°There are a lot more people here than I expected.¡± Achara said who also had some basic training clothes on. ¡°We might have to get good marks to get accepted if there are so many low level applicants.¡± Kou said and Marcus looked around the room and saw a lot of strong looking people.
A sharp looking man in light armor stepped in front of the group and welcomed everybody. ¡°I¡¯m Gunther Walthers and in charge of today¡¯s try outs. The process is simple. We have three categories, tanker, damage dealer and support, choose the one that fits you and draw a number from the correct line. Once you are called, you will enter the test area and the rest will be explained then. Because of the high interest we will no be able to accept everybody even if you pass the basic level. It will come down to your performance, so everybody give your best.¡± The man finished and walked off without another word.
They wished each other luck and the team split up. Marcus made his way to the very short tanker line. He insert the ID badge he got before and a number appeared on a small screen together with a small paper with the same number. Marcus waited and his heart rate started to increase with every minute. Eventually his number appeared on a screen above the door and he moved in. A short corridor led to a large empty room. The room was two floors high and there was a row of one way windows on the second floor.
The only other person here was a tall man in training armor, armed with a sword and a shield. A man¡¯s voice came from a hidden speaker: ¡°Mister Freimann, thank you for coming today. Your task is to stay standing for two minutes. You can choose equipment from the side racks. If you are ready tell your opponent and the time will start.¡± Marcus turned and saw a row of equipment shelves appear from the ground. Fancy he thought and picked the heaviest armor and put it on.
Satisfied with his choice he went to face his opponent but a question was on his mind and he turned to the windows ¡°Am I aloud to fight back?¡± the disembodied voice answered quickly. ¡°Of course but it is not needed to pass the test as a tanker. This is an endurance test.¡± Marcus nodded and faced the other man who took his position too ¡°No weapon?¡± the man asked but Marcus took his stance making it clear he intended to fight unarmed. A two minute countdown appeared on the wall and started ticking.
¡°Look at that. A low level Fighter who fights without a weapon. Charles will tear him apart, he hates to be underestimated.¡± David said to Angelique who held a tablet with the information of the applicants. The woman looked up and raised her eyebrows but did not say anything. The two sat in the observer area and watched the fight through the windows and several monitors connected to cameras in the walls.
Charles did not hesitate and dashed forward using his shield as a ram and his Lancer ability to produce a large amount of momentum. David could see that he had been right, Charles was unhappy and intended to finish this quickly. The Lancer collided with the Fighter in a heavy impact but to the surprise of Charles, David and Angelique it was Charles who bounced back and nearly lost his footing. The Fighter quickly advanced and threw a wide hook which Charles easily parried with his shield. A moment later Charles was on the ground and without a shield. David was on his feet trying to understand what just happened ¡°Charles are you okay?¡±. Charles was moving on the ground and over the com came his pressed voice ¡°My arm is broken.¡±. David stared at the Fighter who tried to help his opponent up and gave the woman next to himself a look. Angelique taped the speaker button ¡°Mr. Freimann you pass. You can now return to the waiting area.¡±
Chapter 46: Proof of Growth II
Chapter 46:Proof of GrowthII
K
¡°
¡°It is actually insane. If I had not seen it with my own eyes I would not believe it. The details are not clear yet, limits and costs etc., but it makes an already tough class a nightmare to handle.
¡°And about his attack, yes it is slow but it works on contact. He does not need to throw a punch, he just needs to touch you and he can use it with strikes, kicks, knees, elbows. If you are confident that he will never touch you, you don¡¯t have to worry but I¡¯m telling you from experience it hurts. He gave me a full hit and I had to toughen it out, not to talk about the fact that i
T
¡°
It was Janette standing in something like a fake building for combat simulations. The structure was several levels high and had openings for doors and windows but was basically empty. She stood in the middle of a room with several windows and a door.
The video restarted and they watched it again. ¡°Look at her eyes, she knows where her opponent is. How does she do that?¡± Amy pointed out and was as worried as Jack. ¡°I have no idea but given that she is very close to Marcus I would bet that this is connected
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¡°Jack, we are certain that these are the only copies of the videos?¡± Kim said and turned to his right hand man. ¡°Yes, I used our usual contacts and also put pressure on the company to keep their mouths shut. If something should pop up in the web we will smother it.¡± Jack said and Kim gave him a thumb up. ¡°This needs to stay out of the public eye as long as possible. For their sake and ours.
¡°No Fighter?¡± Jura asked but Kim shook his head and moved from the table. ¡°
¡°I will work on improving our relationship with Colors of the Wild.¡± Kim walked towards the door but Amy stopped him. ¡°Are you not going a bit overboard with this? They are a
Kim thought
A
¡°I agree, I just had to answer some basic tactical question and show my abilities a bit. The minimum level for acceptance seemed a bit low.¡± Kou said and shook his head. ¡°Of course you did not break somebodies arm or beat somebody until they begged for mercy.¡± Janette said with a mean smile. ¡°Nobody begged, he surrendered and that was the goal of the fight.¡± Achara answered but her ears turned red.
¡°Here are the information I promised.¡± Kou handed out a few pieces of paper. ¡°Our main target in the area is the so called ¡°Death Stinger Scorpion¡±.¡± he explained and Janette moaned ¡°Another bug, again?¡±. But Kou shook his head. ¡°If you look at the picture you can easily tell it is not. The name is misleading. It
They continued their meal and discussed potential weak points and tactics. Marcus looked through the other targets and found a few smaller, hard to find critter but also some very scary, larger ones. ¡°That Terror Stomper looks like an unholy amalgamation between a dinosaur and a gorilla, it is huge.¡± Marcus said and pointed at the picture. ¡°Yeah, we are going to stay away from that
The previous planet, with the
Chapter 47: Hunter Hunter
Chapter 47: Hunter Hunter
Their plane landed on an airport strip in the middle of nowhere. Just a few years ago this had been nothing more than barren soil in the hinterlands of Egypt. Then, a portal opened and a private company paid a lot of money to make it stable and secure. The Egyptian government was only to willing to rent some useless land for a high price to Rozman and Derling and allowed them to build a state of the art base. Everything here had the RD logo on it, Marcus found after a few minutes.
It was modern, efficient and half an hour after landing they already stood in front of the portal in cold weather clothing.
Everything was planned and a company advisors delivered all the information they needed. Once they were through the portal they would use a transporter to make the journey to their target portal. About 500 km through a dessert made out of ice and snow. RD had made that ice world a crossroads to several other planets they exploited for monster parts and other materials. It was a high frequency connection and even now large, special purpose trucks entered and left the portal holding materials worth millions. The large amount of security at the base was not only to avoid invasions but to protect against potential theft.
After another giant truck made its way into the base, the team was given green light to move through. Marcus took the lead and stepped through the portal first, the transition was a shock. Ice cold wind and snow hit Marcus in the face and temperatures under minus ten degree Celsius invaded his clothing and gnawed at his skin. It was dark, some times in the night and large floodlights illuminated the base, ¡°Ugh. Why does it have to be dark and cold again.¡± Janette was just behind him and looked very unhappy. Achara and Kou followed shortly, but they did not bitch around, ¡°The transport station should be that way.¡± Kou said and pointed at a large hangar like building.
The base, on this side of the portal, was not any less defended with heavy gun turrets, guards and tall fences. Marcus watched a patrol of three guards walking by, they had company logo armor and at least one of them was a class holder. A private army, Marcus thought with some discomfort and Janette¡¯s face revealed the same emotion. They entered the hangar and quickly discussed the situation with a woman who apparently managed the transporters. ¡°Okay, one trip to the hell hole for four people is coming up. Johns should be on standby, I will call him over.¡± The woman made a call through the internal com system and Marcus wondered if ¡°hell hole¡± was the official designation or just her personal idea of being funny. Johns turned out to be a middle aged man with a lot more gray in the hair than you would expect ¡°That is going to be a long drive. If you are ready we can start right now.¡±
The transporter was a large snowmobile, larger than anything Marcus had ever seen. It had giant treads and you had to go up a ladder to get inside or let down a ramp. It was roomy on the inside, it had enough space for twice as much passengers, and even had a lavatory. ¡°Take a seat, we have hot water and if you need juice for devices just plug them in. This baby has power for days. We will need about 10 hours to the portal so you better get comfy.¡± Johns showed them around and then took the driver seat. With a roar the machine woke up and a soft humming filled the cabin as the large machine moved down the path, out of the base. They watched through small, round side windows how they left the perimeter of the base behind them and entered a white nothingness.
At the start Marcus spent some time on the co-pilot seat and talked to Johns. He learned a bit about the planet and how it was to work here. ¡°The damn planet turns only once every five Earth days and even at day time it is freezing cold. Only good thing is that there are not many things out here and the pay is good. In contrast to the place you are going. You look a bit soft for the ¡°hell hole¡±.¡± Johns said and Achara¡¯s ears in the back of the cabin perked up. ¡°We are tougher than we look.¡± Marcus said with no real confidence, ¡°But just for the sake of it, why is it called ¡°hell hole¡±.¡±
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Johns laughed and shook his head ¡°Because it kills people. Can¡¯t remember the last time I made a trip back from that place without a bunch of coffins in the back. It¡¯s damn creepy I tell you that. Ten hours drive with a bunch of corpses as your only companions.¡± The team¡¯s faces fell as they heard that and Marcus felt, that this had been a mistake only grew.
They spent most of the drive playing card games, thanks to Achara who was better prepared and brought cards. Eventually Marcus listened to Kou talking about his father¡¯s vintage card collection of some game based around balls and monsters. It sounded hilarious to Marcus until he heard what the collection was worth. People are crazy.
¡°OHHH SHIT! Hold on!¡± from Janette at the window, was the only warning he got before something hit the vehicle with tremendous force. The heavy snowmobile was pushed around and everybody inside was thrown down. Marcus came back up to his feet as he heard a terrifying roar and giant claws suddenly cut through the hull of the vehicle. Something gigantic tore and scratched at the machine and was about to turn it into scrap metal.
Marcus stormed to the back ramp and opened the door. Ice cold wind welcomed him and he could see the giant, white furred body of a monster leaning over the snowmobile. Marcus jumped down and Achara and Janette were right behind him, weapons in hand. Right now, Marcus congratulated himself for being adamant on the ¡°always wear armor on other planets¡± rule. Not that this would help much against a monster of this size. A head, and what a head it was, with long sharp teeth and gleaming black eyes bend down focusing on Marcus. The maw opened and snapped after him with blinding speed, but Kou was faster. Marcus felt a ¡°jank¡± and did not resist it and was dragged back two meter just outside the reach of the monster. The jaws closed and Marcus could smell the foul breath of the beast which looked like an oversize saber-toothed tiger with long white fur.
Seeing an opportunity Marcus smashed Impulse Hammer into its jaw and send it reeling for a second. Long enough for Janette to sink a shot into its head what made it howl and growl. Thick, red blood dripped into the soft snow and it jumped back ready to pounce again only to fall prey to Achara who turned visible near its hind legs and cut deep with her blade. Immobilized and desperately clawing at the retreating Achara it was a prime target for Marcus, who run up and landed a hook into its flank. Bones broke and organs tore, the beast fell down in pain and a shot into the eye from Janette ended it abruptly.
¡°Well you just might make it in the hell hole.¡± Johns stood at the open ramp and looked down to them. A glowing plasma ball floated over his right hand but vanished a moment later. ¡°A Grumbler, have not seen one of those in quite some time. It¡¯s our lucky day I guess.¡± he said and looked at the damage of the cabin. Marcus and the team looked at each other and gathered themselves after the fight. Johns brought out a small device, activated it and planted it at the corpse. ¡°Nice, you did not damage it too much, the fur, teeth and claws are worth a lot. I think the going rate is 500k for a well preserved corpse. Maybe a bit less, there is a basic 50/50 split for these kind of cases if you are okay with it. Could have done it myself but you looked eager to stretch your legs.¡± He smiled and rubbed his hands.
After they had patched up the damaged parts of the vehicle they continued the journey and Johns offered hot tea against the cold. Marcus carefully prodded Johns and learned he was a level 55 Elemental Mage. His feeling, that they were out of their league increased even so Johns said they were doing okay, especially the girls had impressed him. ¡°Have not seen an Catsith being aggressive like this. I like it.¡± he said and Kou looked all but good. For the rest of the cruise Kou did not say anything and looked lost in thoughts, even a small kiss from Achara only cheered him up for a moment.
They reached the smaller base near the target portal and said goodbye to Johns. He promised to take care of the documents for the corpse and vanished into a canteen to get some proper food. For the team the real mission only now started. They walked through the guarded portal and faced another climate shock. Hot burning air drove the cold away, they got out of their winter clothing before they did anything else. Marcus looked around, they had entered the main base on this planet and it looked a lot like the one on the cold planet with some major differences.
There was far more activity around here and an industrial building with a large smoke stack released thick black smoke into the sky. ¡°Great, after ruining our own planet, we move on right to the next.¡± Achara said with a painful look in her eyes. She was right, there were no environmental laws out here, Marcus thought. The whole planet was fair game and here for us to exploit.
Chapter 48: Fresh Meat
Chapter 48: Fresh Meat
Marcus took a look around and found very helpful signs and even arrows on the pavement. Although most of the arrows were hidden beneath the sand that seemed to be covering every surface. Kou shielded his eyes against the sun and inspected the distant landscape ¡°You can see the large mountains from here, they are much greener. The whole place feels like Africa, well some parts of Africa.¡± Kou was right Marcus thought, but it was not a big surprise, comparable environmental factors create similar results. The real questions was why so many planets were so much alike Earth in the first place.
They followed the signs to the main building and tried not to get run over by light trucks with hunters and heavy trucks with monster corpses. This was a large operation and Marcus wondered how much money was made here every day. It must be in the millions he decided.
The main building was climate controlled and they quickly found the person in charge of the hunter organization, Mr. A. C. Hornfogger. Mr. Hornfogger (everybody tried not to laugh) was a small man with a receding hairline and he wore suit pants, a vest and a white shirt. In contrast to what the name suggested he made a sharp impression. He took care of the bureaucracy efficiently and then showed them a large map that had dozens of small markers on it. ¡°Do you have a target or preferred area? You are free to go where you want but we like to know where everybody is in case a problem arises.¡± He came straight to the point which Marcus liked ¡°We are going after the Death Stinger Scorpion. Can you recommend an area for the hunt?¡±, he said in a polite tone.
The man gave them a look and then pointed at an area to the north that was situated between a river and the mountains.¡°You can find them in this area for the most part. They also exist further south but they are more sparse there. Which is not a bad thing by the way.¡± The team looked at the map and Marcus made a photo. ¡°Do you know what to expect and how to handle the monsters?¡± Mr. Hornfogger asked.
Marcus and Kou explained their knowledge and the basic tactics they had read about. He nodded and added a few points ¡°What the information material does not tell you is that those bastards are smart and devious. Do not take them for mindless brutes, they hunt too. The second thing is that they can very well work in groups. Make sure you only engage singular monsters of this type.¡± and after a few seconds added ¡°Don¡¯t rush, if you can take one down in your first week you are on a good trajectory. The most deaths we have here come from people trying to get rich fast or overestimating their own abilities. Slow and steady wins the race.¡±
After this surprisingly helpful meeting, the team left the building and got all the gear they needed for a whole week in the field. All the equipment and provisions were very expensive but there was no way around paying a premium on a different planet. They got one of the reinforced pickup trucks and a handful of corpse retrieval beacons and a powerful com system (yes, that costed extra) for the truck in addition to the provisions. Their target area was roughly 200 km away and was several thousand square kilometer large. According to the local time they were still a few hours away (22hr day) from nightfall and the white sun burned heavily down on them. Marcus was fine but the rest already ached under the heat. Kou looked especially down trodden, but Marcus was not sure it was because of the heat.
Because Achara was driving, and not Janette, they reached a viable place for camping as the sun finally vanished behind the horizon and the air slowly started to cool. It was not their first camp in the field and everybody knew what to do, which made things go fast. It was back to prepared meals for all of them but they were not half bad. Janette and Achara were discussing something about clothes, while Kou sat a bid away from the rest and Marcus decided not to be a chicken and see what was going on. He sat next to Kou and after a moment Marcus said ¡°Are you going to tell me or are you going to make me ask?¡±. ¡°Remember when I asked you to help Achara and I said I don¡¯t need it because I¡¯m a support?¡± Kou said while staring into the night. ¡°I feel different now. I feel like I¡¯m holding you back or at least not pulling my weight.¡± Marcus had feared it was something like this.
¡°You know that your class is a late bloomer. Eventually you are going to be a priceless addition to our team. Every clan looks for Spatial Mages.¡± Marcus said after a moment. ¡°I can not wait ten years before I get useful to the group. I need to be useful now or you have to replace me.¡± Kou said with a somber voice which made Marcus angry ¡°Listen, you have been more than helpful in the last encounters and your quick reaction in the centipede fight has most likely saved Bianca¡¯s life. Don¡¯t say you are useless or that you should be replaced. I will punch you.¡±
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Kou gave him a thankful smile. ¡°But you know what I¡¯m talking about.¡± and Marcus nodded. More time went by as Marcus worked out how to deal with this. ¡°First you have to decide if you wan to stay support or try to change to a damage dealer.¡± Marcus said with a firm voice and Kou was surprised but quickly said ¡°I want to stay support.¡±. Marcus had hoped to hear this answer even so he would have supported Kou on a different path too.
¡°First, you should only be a few levels off your third ability which will open up a lot of new options. Second, I will think of a better way to use your abilities in the group but it will most likely be very demanding on you.¡± Marcus explained and Kou nodded with a smile. Taking care of the problems and growth of the members, Marcus felt like this was part of his duties as the clan leader.
The night went by without any troubles and the next morning Kou looked a lot more energetic, which made Marcus feel better too. After breakfast they got ready and slowly moved through the hunting area with their truck. Janette stood on top of the driver cabin and acted as look out. By now her eyes were better than any binocular and after half an hour she spotted one of the ¡°scorpions¡±.
They left the truck behind and approached on foot. Death Stinger Scorpions are wicked monsters with sharp senses and before the group could get into an ambush position it became aware of them.
Instead of running away the monster charged them, but not in a straight line but in an angle. Marcus moved to intercept the beast while Janette gave off her first shot which hit but without major effect.
Like before Achara went invisible and Kou moved to support Marcus, who came into striking distance. The DSS was over 1,5 meter high, three meter long (without tail) and weigh over a ton, but it was extremely agile for its size as Marcus learned. The fiend dodged Marcus¡¯ attack and continued to circle around him, going after Kou. In only two seconds it was at his position but Kou was more than four meter in the air which caused the beast some distress. Achara struck in the same moment, her blade pierced right between two armor plates into the skull of the scorpion. It died.
¡°Ehmm.¡± Achara said not yet fully sure that the fight was over. ¡°First frag.¡± Janette said.
They celebrated with a series of high fives. Afterwards they brought their truck over and called in the retrieval team. Janette sat down on the cabin of the truck to avoid any unfriendly surprises. It took several hours before the large truck came into sight but the process itself only took five minutes. ¡°You guys don¡¯t need to wait around really. It barely never happens that somebody tries to steal a kill. We are very strict about shit like that.¡± Said the driver of the truck.
After hearing this was their first day he congratulated them ¡°You got lucky to find one this fast and make a clean kill like that. The price for them went up lately because demand is much higher than supply. You will get 400k for this one, most likely.¡± The general morale of the troop improved after hearing this.
With the same method they managed to take down two more of the monsters before the sun went down. It was common sense not to hunt at night and they decided to make camp a bit outside the hunting area. As it had turned out, Kou¡¯s floating and Achara¡¯s invisible attacks were a deadly combo against the beasts. In addition, Janette¡¯s eyes were the key to finding the illusive monsters so quickly. The only one who did not do much was Marcus. He had to take care of the food and cleaning up to compensate. ¡°Still, remember what the clerk said. The moment we get careless we end up in a coffin in the back of Johns driver cabin.¡± Marcus said and reminded everybody that this was not a game.
His predictions became true much faster than he would have liked. The next day, as they fought with another scorpion, a second one suddenly shot out of a dip and charged Janette from the back. Marcus rushed to her while she ran his way and they passed each other, just a second before the beast came into range. Marcus prepared to engage the monster as he suddenly felt a terrible impact and pain, the large stinger of the scorpion had punched right through his armor and shoulder in blinding speed. The stinger was stuck in Marcus and the monster tried to push him down but Marcus resisted it with Anchor. Janette side stepped and put two rounds through the eyes of the monster from a short distance and ended the attack.
Marcus held on to the tail and slowly moved backwards pulling the stinger out. He nearly lost consciousness from the pain and Janette stood next to him with a white face, completely forgotten was the other scorpion. Luckily, the other two had finished the first monster off and joined them quickly. The 40 cm metal stinger had pierced Marcus¡¯ flesh and had shattered his collar bone but as soon as it was removed his body started to heal at unbelievable speed. They watched as flesh and bones reformed and even broken bone pieces were discarded. Ten seconds later Marcus was fully healed but his armor had a big hole.
He moved his shoulder and there was no pain left but he felt a wave of exhaustion. Marcus had expected for some time that there would be an endurance cost to the healing but given the damage it did not seem a lot.
¡°Thank you.¡± Janette said and touched his shoulder. ¡°I would have hated to have such a hole in my armor.¡± She laughed but Marcus could see the shock in her eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s put down some beacons and take the rest of the day off.¡± Marcus said and nobody disagreed.
Chapter 49: Flesh Wound
Chapter 49:Flesh Wound
I
Day six brought another 2 kills and another two level ups had accumulated. They were all so close in level
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Achara¡¯s scream and Janette¡¯s horror-stricken face was all Marcus saw before he turned around. A massive thing was behind him,
Directly
The arm was already reformed
Janette gently touched Marcus¡¯ arm and he made a decision ¡°We are going home.¡±, nobody opposed him but he felt the need to explain himself. The thing that was on his mind wanted out and now it had all the reason to. ¡°We have been running on pure luck for far too long. We have been rushing things, trying too hard, too fast. Everything has gone bananas, the centipede, Kim, making a clan and going on a bloody cat. 3 world.
The first to say something was Kou ¡°You are right. No excuses. Let¡¯s take it slow and build up a proper team. If anything, the fact that we were able to be this successful here, even so we are all lacking, shows that we are strong or at least have a strong potential as a team. Let¡¯s find a home and go step by step.¡± Achara smiled and held Kou¡¯s hand.
T
One last time they would go back to the dorms in the Philippines to get all their stuff but already on the flight back they looked at potential buildings for a HQ.
Chapter 50: Building Up
Chapter 50:Building Up
Heavy beats were pounding in his ears, driving his thoughts, guiding his will.
Marcus looked at the remains of his training
Marcus took a towel and a bottle of water and got himself cleaned up and refreshed. He was only wearing short pants for his training and only now
This has been the solution to make Kou more effective, he no longer makes move
Achara had become much better with her fighting style and she was getting ready
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It
The other reward was a special black mobile phone with Kim¡¯s personal number. The letter in the package made it clear that he can only use this phone to call him and nobody else. Marcus got the feeling that Kim¡¯s life was more complicated than he thought. You did not need these measures against monsters or some crazy fans. This is something you
The announcement was meet with great hype, which only increased when Kim said ¡°I was only able to unlock this ability through the help and support of my disciple.¡± in the press conference. Kim never revealed Marcus¡¯ name, but Kim had
Of course the internet wen
M
Marcus nearly jumped to the ceiling and
In a different place, another
Chapter 51: Hope and Fear I
Chapter 51: Hope and Fear I
¡°This was the third security check! It is getting silly.¡± Janette moaned and the team gathered their belongings and finally entered the inner parts of the military base. ¡°What ever it is they are going nuts with the security. If Carmen had not vowed for us we would never have been hired for this job.¡± Kou said picking up his bags. ¡°And she really did not say anything?¡± Marcus grabbed his heavy bags with both hands. Kou just shook his head ¡°Not one word, but for one million dollar per person I¡¯m willing to accept some secrecy.¡±, they walked further down the main road.
This had been a remote area of Scotland not long ago, but like in many parts of the world a portal appeared that looked promising and now a brand new base had been constructed around it.
Normally these kinds of operation are very busy but the base was nearly empty besides the expedition they joined, thanks to Carmen. They had to sign a gigantic NDA that covered about anything and everything and still were not told anything, besides the types of cloths they had to bring. Apparently they had to expect mild to warm weather where ever they were going.
A small, electric car came their way and Carmen with red cheeks waved to them ¡°Hello!¡± and they all waved back. Carmen greeted them with a hug and helped them with their luggage. ¡°I¡¯m so happy you decided to come. You will not regret it!¡± The car was not large enough for all of them so they walked into the direction of their dorms while Carmen drove next to them. ¡°Can you finally tell us what is going on?¡± Achara asked but Carmen sadly said no. ¡°There will be a briefing tomorrow morning and then you will all learn what is going on.¡± Marcus did not say anything but this level of security was not normal at least not for any job they should be qualified for.
¡°Grace, are you kidding me? Have you read the make up of the last group?¡± the red haired man looked very upset and Grace stopped eating her meal. Even now she could not catch a break. ¡°Yes, I have.¡± The man, second in command on the expedition and a member of the UK Royal Expedition Forces, was Mr. Torp a level 60 Guardian and a pain in her ass. ¡°A Fighter, a Hawkeye and a Catsith. This is normally how a joke starts and not how a part of a security for a vital mission looks like.¡± The man was steaming and Grace wondered if there was a chance he could get a heart attack. ¡°Carmen has recommended them, they passed the security check, signed the NDA and according to the base logs have arrived on time. I do not see the problem.¡± She talked very slowly and still held out hope for a heart attack.
¡°The problem,¡± and he bent over to her face ¡°is that this is not security personal but trash.¡± His white face had turned red but Grace had to deal with him for weeks now and did not lose her patience, yet. ¡°If everything goes to plan we will not need any combat troops and we all will just twiddle our thumbs while the scientists do their thing.¡± She said wondering if she would be able to finish her meal before it got cold. ¡°If everything would always go to plan we would not need security in the first place.¡± He countered and she admitted he had a point. ¡°If you are so worried why don¡¯t you go and check them out?¡± she said and apparently this was what he was waiting for because his face turned into a grin. ¡°Very well, I will see if they are viable. If not we will send them home. I would rather have less but capable people than a horde of amateurs.¡± He said and before she could answer he left her private office. Grace returned to her meal feeling a migraine coming her way.
Half an hour later somebody from the base personal came running. ¡°Miss Taylor! We have a problem. Mr. Torp has been injured, he is in the hospital wing.¡± Could it be? Have her prayers been answered? Quickly, Grace went to the hospital to check on the poor, poor man.
As she entered the room, Mr. Torp lay on a bed and looked very much KO and a doctor tended to him. ¡°What happened?¡± she asked. ¡°According to witnesses Mr. Torp confronted some members of the expedition and demanded prove of their ability.¡± The doctor said and grace knew that Mr. Torp was very proud of his powerful barrier abilities. She had seen him more than once challenge other classes to try and break them only to ridicule them when they failed. He never let me give it a try, Grace thought.
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¡°Well, he got his wish and a large gentleman hit him right into a wall. We have taken care of the injuries but the problem is he has a concussion and that is not something we can quickly cure. Maybe an Alchemist can help.¡± Grace looked very worried and said with a firm voice. ¡°No. This is not something we can take lightly. Mr. Torp should rest until he has fully recovered. This is a heavy loss to the expedition but his health comes first.¡± She left the room and the doctor looked after her, deeply touched how much she cared for her people. Of course he did not see the victory dance she performed in the hallway.
¡°It has only been a few hours and I have already messed everything up.¡± Marcus lamented but Janette gave him a hardy slap on the back. ¡°You did nothing wrong. He told you to give it your best shot. It was his own fault, that stupid prick.¡± The others seemed to be of the same opinion but Marcus was not so sure about it. He walked up and down in his room where everybody had gathered for the moment.
¡°What if-¡± he started but a knock on the door stopped him. Achara opened and a blonde woman greeted them. ¡°I¡¯m Grace Taylor and responsible for the security of the mission.¡± She introduced herself but they already knew her from various TV outings. She had the aura of a leader and a strong warrior, and from close up Marcus had to admit she was quite attractive too. ¡°Marcus Freimann, I¡¯m very sorry about the incident. I should have held back no matter wh-¡± Marcus started to apologize but Janette cut in ¡°Mr. Torp got what he asked for. It was his own fault underestimating you.¡± she said confronting Ms. Taylor with crossed arms.
Grace took a look around the room and put on a smile. ¡°As you say it was his own fault. I came here to make myself a picture of the people under my command.¡± With these words she reached out a hand and Marcus shook it. It was a firm handshake and her eyes were piercing his own. She let his hand go and repeated it with the rest of the team. ¡°Tomorrow 0800 will be the briefing, don¡¯t be late.¡± she said before she left. Grace walked back to her office reviewing the impressions she got from the unusual team. After half the way, she decided to change her direction and to meet Carmen.
¡°What was that about?¡± Achara asked but Janette scoffed. ¡°She is a sly one. Trying to get a read on us. Nice ass tho.¡± Marcus wished Ms. Russell was already here but it would take a few more weeks before she would join them. But it was a nice ass, he had to agree.
The next day, punctual at 0800 the team, the rest of the security forces and a whole lot of scientist waited in a large hall for the briefing. Ms. Taylor took to the podium and started: ¡°For now 20 years humanity has been sending expeditions through portals. In that time we have found many horrible and wonderful things. But there is one thing we have not found.¡± she made a short pause for effect. ¡°A functional alien civilization. Ruins yes. Bands of savages, yes. But on no world we could find a functional society of any technological level. Until now.¡± A large picture appeared on the wall behind her. It showed a humanoid with green skin and basic clothing, carrying wood on his back in a special backpack, walking on a primitive cobblestone road. Orks, Marcus thought with a hint of discomfort.
Another aerial picture appeared, showing what looked like a city with massive walls and houses as far as you could see. ¡°These are pictures a reconnaissance drone has made before it was destroyed. It shows a fully functional society of the species commonly known as orks. We estimate the city population between 50000 and 100000 and a large amount but low level class holders.¡± Ms. Taylor continued and Marcus started to get a really bad feeling. ¡°I hope I do not need to point out what a groundbreaking discovery this is. The goal of our mission is to make peaceful contact with this society and build up communications.¡± She continued and the room was full of little whisper fires. ¡°The insight and knowledge we could gain from these orks is invaluable to us. The result of this mission could change the way humanity looks at the universe.¡±
A large black man from the security forces raised a hand. ¡°What if things don¡¯t go peaceful?¡± he asked and Marcus was thankful for the question because he did not expect things to end peaceful. ¡°If we can not engage in a peaceful manner we will get the heck out of there. We are not there to fight, this is a diplomatic and scientific mission. For more details¡¡± she stepped aside and Carmen took the place. What followed was some basic info about the place and the way they hoped to communicate. They brought some specialists for diplomacy, language and the tech to quickly learn their language and exchange ideas. They had gifts and a whole lot of good ideas.
Janette stepped next to Marcus ¡°You okay?¡± and he nodded. He hoped Carmen and the scientist were right about this because if not, nobody would make it back alive, security team or not.
¡°One last point.¡± Ms. Taylor stepped up to the microphone at the end. ¡°Because of a tragic accident Mr. Torp will not be able to join us. He needs to recover and we wish him well. As a consequence the Royal Expedition Force members will also be under my direct command.¡± After the announcement Marcus was sure he heard cheering from various people and Janette smirked ¡°Told you, he was a prick.¡±.
Chapter 52: Hope and Fear II
Chapter 52: Hope and Fear II
¡°Do you think it is as big as a deal, as she made it sound like?¡± Achara asked lying on Kou¡¯s bed who played in her hair. Until the start of the expedition they had nothing to do and they were hanging out together in the ¡°boys¡± room. ¡°If things work out, yes. The monoliths showed up only 20 years ago but it is likely that the orks had them for centuries and maybe longer. Even if they are a primitive civilization they might posses knowledge we do not have. Like what this is all about? Who is behind it? Information about classes and maybe they know other worlds with advanced societies.¡± Marcus said enthusiastically while eating the last of his chips before Janette could steal them.
¡°Besides that, just observing another intelligent humanoid species can give us insight about our selves, I mean humanity. Their history, culture, religion all of that can give us important information too.¡± Kou pointed out. ¡°What makes you think they are going to share with us? And to what price? Would you tell a stranger all your secrets and knowledge? Even if this works out, it might take years before we hear anything relevant.¡± Janette totally killed the mood and was punished with a pillow to the face. Marcus knew she had a point but hope was, it was worth the risk they were taking.
On the next day the expedition started. They stepped through the portal early in the morning and arrived on a late afternoon. There was a sizable base on this side of the portal and more than that. As they passed by the gates of the base Marcus spotted something akin to a small village and industrial buildings. This was a colony no doubt about that.
Their journey ahead was long, they had to cross over two planets and portals to get to the planet of the orks. At least the total distance was only a bit less than 500 km and most of it was here on the first world. Their convoy was made up of giant trucks and buses like the one they had used before and the path to the first portal was well known. 8 hours and 400 km later they reached the second portal and here the journey really began.
The portal was much smaller, too small for the vehicle and they had to continue on foot. They stepped through the portal, with the security team in front, and entered a hot, wet jungle. ¡°From here on out we will move in the predetermined order. Everybody take your places.¡± Ms. Taylor gave orders and their team moved to the back of the caravan. The route to the next portal was across a heavily forested area on this scarcely explored planet, that had been categorized as level 2. But that did not mean a lot, given the sparse information they had, Marcus thought.
If everything worked out they would need three to four days for this part of the journey. But Marcus doubted it would go so smoothly. They had over twenty security personnel and about twice that number of scientists. The chance something would go wrong with so many people was high. ¡°Somewhat odd that we got placed at the back.¡± Kou said. ¡°Why?¡± Janette asked stepping over a large root. ¡°Because in a situation with a large convoy like this you want to put your most experienced and capable people at the back. Not your lowest level beginner squad.¡± Kou explained and Marcus agreed to an extent. He did not think they were a beginner squad anymore.
The mystery was solved shortly after when Ms. Taylor with her personal team joined them in the back and Marcus realized they were put here to be in view range of the leader. She keeps an eye on us, he thought.
The trek was slow, the scientists were not famed for their physical abilities, even so the class holders helped them wherever they could. Marcus observed Ms. Taylor helping several times, not caring about her rank or position. ¡°She seems to be the real thing.¡± Achara said walking next to Marcus and he nodded. The media loved to hype her, but in person she seemed to be a smart and dependable leader, which improved Marcus'' mood a lot. We will need a level headed person in charge once we get there, he thought. Thanks to Light Soul (their second ability) Paladins made great raid leaders in general. Not only does this ability prevent all matter of mental status effects it also stops you from panicking in general. Paladin¡¯s are known to be cool headed.
They slowly moved through the dense vegetation that made scouting very difficult. Two hours went by without incident but shouting and the sound of combat suddenly came from the front of the convoy and the commander and her team quickly charged towards the source of the commotion. Marcus could hear her calm voice in the com line and listen to the reports of an attack. Colors of the Wild held their position, guarding the back. Marcus watched the jungle but also had one eye on Janette, if somebody would spot something it was her.
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Half a minute went by and they still could hear sounds of combat as Janette suddenly raised her rifle and shot into the jungle. ¡°They are in the trees, looking like monkeys from hell.¡± Was her short comment and the rest moved up to protect the civilians. Janette continued firing and soon Marcus could see movement in the trees above. Several large bodies moved over the branches and jumped right into their ranks. One large beast turned unnaturally in its fall and smashed against a close by tree and fell down lifeless, Kou¡¯s action blunted the initial attack. ¡°First priority is to protect the civilians.¡± Marcus shouted and engaged the closest beast.
Now that the thing was in front of him he realized they were much larger than he first thought. Monkey was the wrong word, gorilla was better, add in glowing red eyes, a stone like face with metal tusks and you got really close.
The monster smashed a black furred fist down on Marcus who used Anchor to take the hit and prepared to counter. The impact was painful and before he could act the powerful finger of the mega ape grabbed his shoulder and it pulled itself to Marcus, biting in his other shoulder with its savage teeth. He did not hesitate and before the monster could close its powerful jaws fully he smashed his fist and knee in quick succession into the attacker. Impulse Hammer drove it back and it staggered. This was more than enough time for Marcus to follow up and deliver two fatal blows to its head. The monster sank to the ground with a shattered skull.
As soon as it fell Marcus turned to take note of the situation. Achara had just felled another monster and Kou held one in the air while Janette stood next to two corpses aiming into the treetops. Another wave of attackers came down the trees, Achara supported Kou against another attacker, but one horror gorilla charged right by them, aiming for several civilians in the back row.
Marcus ran and ordered ¡°lift¡± over the com. A second later he felt lighter and he jumped right on the back of the wild beast. He landed and put his arm around its throat, while it tried to throw him off. He also wrapped his legs around the waist of the monster and it turned and smashed his back against a tree. Marcus felt a few ribs crack but he did not let go, instead he placed his other hand on the back of the gorilla monster and field tested Jack Hammer. Marcus quickly pushed half a dozen red orbs of energy down his arm and the giant ape shook with every impact, its legs and arms gave out and it was dead before it reached the ground.
Marcus dismounted his unwilling horse and looked around for more trouble but the last of the monsters ran into the jungle. ¡°Status report.¡± Marcus said over com and everybody was there, unharmed. The civilians looked frightened but nobody got hurt. The team got back into position and waited until the sounds of combat from the front vanished. Ms. Taylor gave the all clear sign and they allowed themselves to relax. Shortly after, Grace Taylor and her team returned to the back of the convoy and Marcus reported to her.
The ambush at the front had been brutal and they had lost two security members and one scientist. Now Grace looked around the carnage at the back and nine giant apes lay dead around the team of Fighter Marcus Freimann. ¡°Any loses or injuries?¡± She looked at the large, young man who had blood on his shoulders but did not seem fazed at all. ¡°No loses and no injuries.¡± he said and Grace nodded. Many more had attacked at the front and that without warning, but still. Carmen had not been overselling them at all, they are dependable and capable, Grace thought.
¡°Yeah, level up.¡± the blond woman of the team, Janette was it?, exclaimed. Grace looked at her and the corpses around her had precise holes in their heads, throats and chests. ¡°Very good work.¡± Grace said and gave the order to continue the march.
As they moved on, Grace watched the large Mr. Freimann talking with his companions. He did not look wounded but there was definitely blood on his armor and it was not from the apes. He could not have healed this quickly. Did he use some kind of Alchemist potion? But it could have been only minutes since the attack and even top level potions do not work this fast.
She would keep an eye on him, actually the whole squad. There was something very strange about them, by conventional wisdom they should not be this strong. She had been at the front and had not seen them fight, next time she would stay close to them if possible.
Janette watched Ms. Taylor returning to her own squad and talking to her team members. ¡°You can¡¯t hide your healing ability for long Marcus. Any idea what you are going to do when Ms. Taylor or the others find out?¡± she asked her tall friend. Marcus thought about it for a few minutes ¡°I will tell the truth. That it is the third ability of the Fighter class. I will not reveal how potent it is if I can help it.¡± he said and added ¡°It will eventually become public, Kim warned me about that.¡±. Janette listened and nodded as if in deep thoughts, ¡°Will we still be best friends, when you become famous?¡± she asked with her most innocent voice and puppy eyes. Marcus squinted his eyes and gently punched her against the arm. She laughed and overplayed the damage she had suffered ¡°Uh, violence against women, that doesn¡¯t look good in the news. I might have to write a revealing book about the ¡°true¡± Marcus Freimann. The scandal!¡± He tried to hit her again but she ran away.
They continued their journey for another 4 hours, until nightfall on this planet. Given their speed today, they would need five days to reach the portal, Grace estimated. This would reduce their provision and exhaust them more than she would like. If things turned out badly with the orks they would have to make a run for it and when that happened¡ She took her mind of the topic and Light Soul helped her to stay calm.
Instead, Grace took out her personal tablet and re-watched the reveal video from Kim for the tenth time. The man was a genius and her role model, and now he had a secret disciple. Many had asked her if she was the disciple, she wished! But she had no idea who it could be nor would she ever have guessed he was right now camping only twenty meter away from her.
Chapter 53: Hope and Fear III
Chapter 53:Hope and Fear III
M
He enjoyed the silence of the morning and was very happy that once again,
From time to time the hell monkeys had gotten close but Janette and an Elemental Mage had made it their sport to shoot them down before they got to
T
Marcus and the rest of the convoy tried to get a look through the portal but all he saw was
The commander waved them over ¡°I want your eyes in the front. Your team will be with the first to step over.¡± Ms. Taylor talked to Janette. Over the last days her opinion on
¡°Okay everybody!¡± Ms. Taylor shouted and everybody turned and fell silent. ¡°Remember this is a peaceful mission, hold back as much as you can. There will be tension but it is up to the diplomats to make things work. IF things go pear shaped we will fall back beyond the gate and hold it as long as possible to allow the civilians to get away safely. But I¡¯m an optimist and I believe we will today make the first contact with an alien civilization. Let¡¯s make history!¡± People clapped and then it was go time.
They stepped through the portal and a drier and colder air welcomed Marcus. They were on
¡°
There has never been
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Ms. Tay
¡°Everybody keep your weapon
¡°This is good. Talking is good.¡± Ms. Taylor stood next to Marcus, and like him she watched the meeting.
Shortly after ten more orks slowly walked up to them. They were armed but did not make any signs of hostility. ¡°They are going to escort us to their city. They understand we are messengers or traders maybe.¡±
The quick
The woman at the
Her perfect face was framed by long glossy black hair and her eyes were dark and perfect like pearls. B
The other woman stepped out behind the leader
The
Chapter 54: Demut
Chapter 54:Demut
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The tall ork woman turned back to Marcus and curiously observed his teammates, like a child who ha
The discussion seemed to have reached a pause and
¡°Not a lot of it. It is not like they are asking to kill you or to bleed you dry. We made certain this is not the case. These are not savage primitives.¡± Jerry quickly added but Marcus felt no better about the whole situation. ¡°We do not know why you and they were not very open for what they need your blood, but they made absolutely clear that there would be no further talks until this has happened. For some reason this is extremely important to them.¡± Jerry finished. Marcus felt trapped, it was clear what the diplomats and also Ms. Taylor wanted him to do. ¡°
¡°That is not the case. I can and will not order Marcus to do this but as it stands the success of the whole mission is hanging on this. Although, as you are aware if they wanted they could take your and all our blood by force.¡± Ms. Taylor said and Marcus knew she was right. ¡°
¡°I will do it.¡± Marcus said and the relief in the faces of the diplomats was overwhelming. It was the best, no most likely the only path forward, Marcus thought. If they get upset and use force every human here could end up dead and he looked at Janette. She held his gaze until he turned and followed the diplomats back to the negotiations. Jerry and the others explained a few things and Marcus observed their work. Neither side understood the language of the other but the use of the drawing tablet made things quickly clear. Both ork women were very happy and Marcus could see their white teeth with elongated incisors as they smiled. He could not help and imagine vampires waiting to fe
Marcus expected the Blood Mage go to work, she had a nasty blade and most likely a bowl or bottle on her body somewhere. Always ready to drain somebody dry, Marcus thought. But instead the woman drew on the tablet. She seemed to have quickly understood how to use it and what she drew made it clear that they wanted Marcus to come with them into the city for the ritual,
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The two ork women exchanged more words and the Blood Mage gave Marcus a sign to follow her. He passed by the waiting orks and saw many faces looking at him with great interest. He felt the eyes of the team in his back but did not turn around, he was not sure he could give them a confident look in this moment. They passed the gate, the streets and houses behind the gate were full of orks. Orks of all ages, they all stared at him while the woman lead the way. She turned her head from time to time,
The
They finally reached a large multi story building. It looked far more sophisticated with many ornaments and large banners with unknown symbols on it. The palace? Definitely did not look like some religious place or
On the inside, his guide walked up a wide stone staircase with beautiful flowers on the side. They walked through hallways with large windows (they seem to know how to make glass?) and Marcus saw many pieces of elegant furniture and works of art. She finally stopped at a large double door and knocked. After a second she opened it and indicated Marcus to step in. He walked
The lavish decorated room with a wide window front had a stone throne in the middle, on it sat an ork of massive proportions. The man was at least 220 cm
His own fate suddenly did not matter anymore, he had to tell humanity about this ork. This was not a mortal being, this was a demi god. Something that should only exist
The woman next to him exchanged a few words with the giant ork and Marcus heard his deep and heavy voice for the first time.
The
Chapter 55: Blood Bond
Chapter 55:Blood Bond
¡°What ever happened with you, it completely changed things for us. We have been invited into the city and the diplomats and scientist are running around town.¡± She said and Marcus only slowly remembered what happened to him. ¡°I need to talk to Ms. Taylor and all of you too.¡± he said trying to put his cloths on. ¡°Okay but first you eat something, I called the boss the moment you woke up anyway. Her orders by the way.¡± Janette put some ration bar
¡°Marcus what happened?¡± Ms. Taylor asked again with a serious face. ¡°Miss Taylor..¡±, ¡°Grace please.¡± she said with a smile. ¡°Grace, the Blood Mage drew my blood and gave it to another ork. That ork has a malady I think and for some reason my blood helped him. It might be related to my class.¡± Marcus said, voicing his o
¡°
The room was already full but everybody made way for her to reach Marcus. Her face was no longer painted white and now Marcus could see her light green skin color. Her eyes meet his and she carefully put her hand on his neck and nodded after a few seconds. Satisfied with the situation she stood up
¡°
¡°We will surely find a solution for that. If this turns out to be as fruitful as it looks the UN is going to pay you handsomely
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Too bad, they could not eat or drink anything here, the food that was offered looked just heavenly. Unknown birds and mammals had been cooked or roasted and garnished with bright fruits and vegetables. Marcus knew adaption to the micro organism of a different world was time consuming and
The next day, shortly after breakfast, he was asked to join the Blood Mage sister for another blood draining session. He was not keen on it but given how well everything was going he did not want to cause problems for the rest of the expedition.
Looking at her it was hard to imagine she was the sister of the silver
Marcus greeted the ginghi woman with a bow, she returned the gesture and pointed at the
He pointed at himself
A
Her hand was on his back and slowly the spot started to grew warm and then hot. Before it started to hurt she moved her hand and the process repeated. Azaa continued her treatment for several minutes and Marcus finally realized that this was a form of massage. His back felt warm and sweat formed on his skin but
After nearly twenty minutes she stopped and Marcus thanked her while putting on his shirt again.
Azaa¡¯s eyes widened and she quickly repeated the question but the translator gave the same answer. Even so she was not human Marcus could tell she was suddenly upset, extremely upset. Az
Chapter 56: Destroyer of Worlds
Chapter 56:Destroyer of Worlds
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With a wide gesture Azaa stopped the discussion and talked to the two translator while the rest was waiting for the reason for the disruption. ¡°For how long have the monoliths been on our world?¡± Was the question she wanted answered. Grace and the diplomats looked at each other and Grace said ¡°Roughly 20 years.¡± The translator did their work and the faces of the two ginghi women changed completely into utter disbelief. Twice the
The sisters started to talk quickly with each other and after a minute turned back to the humans with deeply concerned faces. ¡°
After getting the okay from Grace the translator gave the answer and the reaction was shock and terror on the women¡¯s faces. The
For some reason Marcus remembered the paintings on the wall on a different planet. A black cloud and red eyes over a destroyed world. ¡°
Another question came from Azaa ¡°How many ,ehm... carrier of corruption? I think it means class holder, How many do we have?¡± The translator said. ¡°Shall we tell them?¡± Carmen looked to Grace and she nodded ¡°Tell them over a million.¡± The news caused more dismay in Azaa¡¯s face and she formulated a new question. ¡°
The room went quiet until Carmen spoke. ¡°Marcus do you remember the painting
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The other sister slowly spoke with the exhausted translators while the humans tried to come to terms with the news.
It had been hours since the talk started but Marcus felt like years had gone by. The impact of this news was beyond reason. It changed everything. The monoliths destroy societies and using the portals too much draws in some eldritch horror that consumes your world. Corruption¡ Marcus looked at his hand and remembered the day he touched
As everybody moved apart Marcus grabbed the translator for one last point. He stopped Az
Marcus
B
¡°By the way. Azaa, the Blood Mage, is whooping 141 years old.¡± Marcus said with a
-
I
¡°The boy, Marcus, he is only 20 years old and I nearly killed him.¡± She said in a grave tone after a while. ¡°I nearly murdered a child.¡± It was true and there was nothing she could do about this fact. Her father put his large hand on her head and padded her. ¡°No matter how old we are or how wise we believe to be, we still can make mistakes. Your emotions made you blind and caused you to make a mistake. But no real harm was done.¡± She looked up to him and nodded in silence. The treatment was nearly done. ¡°It is suchgood fortune that a Titan has come to our doorstep. He is still weak but if he grows strong enough we might be able to fully heal you.¡± She smiled and finished the treatment. As she walked out, her father looked after her and wished her mother was here right now. She would have been able to handle these kinds of things much better than him.
Chapter 57: Life goes on
Chapter 57:Life goes on
M
¡°Say, aren¡¯t we caught up in something really big?
Just and hour later a ginghi servant
This question had been on his mind since the first
The whole area was lit by small green stones that shone brightly with no obvious power source.
Now Marcus experienced something new, Azaa laughing. The ginghi woman laughed hard and Marcus wondered if something was wrong with the translation. Azaa talked ¡°No. Blood is only a vessel(?). My burden is¡ life former
Azaa walked to another symbol and Marcus knew it too ¡°
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T
What started as a silent blood letting turned into two hours of talking about classes. But eventually they left the underground library and Azaa returned to her other duties. Marcus returned to the human quarters to change into
Achara saw him and told him the ginghi actually had a training field that the humans could also use. Curious, Marcus followed the directions Achara gave him and ended up in something that reminded him a bit of an arena. Some ground was stone other sand and several ginghi men and women were working out or training together. He also saw two humans, class holder
Once he was going though the motions he calmed down and started training his attack moves.
As he worked on his attacks he saw ginghi helping the humans train. It was obvious that they
Bodies moved at ludicrous speeds and abilities of several classes unleashed on the field. It was a spectacle worth asking money for and he knew, if he was ever aloud to tell Kim he would die of jealousy. Uela was beating them all, Marcus did not know how, it was completely above his level. She looked like an archangel, beautiful and untouchable. She was swinging her blades, jumping high into the sky, only to float there for a second and to descended like a meteor. Three rushed her only to be blown away like leafs and powers that melted sand and burst stone left her unfazed. The men and women struggling to hold her down were all as or even stronger than Kim, Marcus was sure. This was the level you needed to have, to be worthy to train with her. The world is a large place and the heavens are even greater.
Marcus watched Uela and company discussing the sparring as somebody behind him spoke ¡°I think she is a bit out of our league. How about we go for a round?¡± Marcus turned and Grace stood behind him in full gear. She smiled like a shark.
Chapter 58: Communication Error
Chapter 58: Communication Error
The hair in Marcus¡¯ neck stood up and his instincts screamed danger. ¡°So, do you often come here Grace?¡± He watched Grace warming up, ¡°It is my first time, I overheard Achara talking about you being here.¡± Great! She only came here for me, Marcus thought.
He tried to find an excuse to avoid this ¡°sparring¡±. ¡°I just had my blood drained again. This might not be the best time for a sparring match.¡± Marcus said but she smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will be gentle.¡± This was what her mouth said, but her eyes said I will cut you into pieces and feed you to my dogs. While Marcus tried to find a way out, she finished stretching and walked closer ¡°Over the last days I have come up with a theory about you and I¡¯m about to find out if I was right.¡±
Grace wore heavy armor, a shield and a sword that was definitely enchanted. You could call this the ¡°Kim Standard¡± for a Paladin. Marcus went into his combat stance but felt nothing but dread. She was a level 70 Paladin and a great one too. He wanted to believe this was a friendly sparring match and she would hold back but her eyes told a different story.
¡°Ready?¡± Grace did not wait for an answer and instead pushed her legs into the ground and instantly accelerated towards Marcus with her shield in front. Marcus clenched his teeth and stepped forward.
She completely outmatched him but there was a tiny sliver of hope for Marcus. For one, she was a stout Kim fan and copied his fighting style to the T, a style Marcus was very familiar with. The other tiny upside was that she did not know what he was capable off. He stepped right into her charge ready to take the attack and to counter hard. He had not long ago learned that shields did not help against Impulse Hammer and if the impact was hard enough this match might end in one move.
A fraction of a second before they collided Grace changed her footing and rotated around Marcus, making him miss his counter attack. The edge of her shield hit his back and Marcus could feel an explosion, heat and pain rushed through him but it was only a weak hit.
He turned and Grace had made some distance and watched him carefully ¡°That did not even faze you!¡± Marcus could feel that she became more serious and the next hit from Channel Light would hurt a lot more. Channel Light is the foundation of the Paladin. While not the strongest ability it is extremely versatile. The Paladin can form Channel Light on their own body or equipment they hold. It can become something like a weapon enchantment that burns on contact, it can become an aura that burns everything around the Paladin but it can also be compressed into an explosion. The last and most dangerous form for Marcus was, when it was compressed and became something like a plasma blade. Grace could wield a wooden sword and it would cut through him like butter.
She came at him again and Marcus could barely follow her fast strikes with shield and sword. Paladins have no outstanding attributes, they increase strength, dexterity, vitality and willpower to some amount but that also makes them extremely flexible combatants. Marcus could feel that she was ramping up her speed and the strength of her attacks. Her blade cut deeper and deeper into his heavy armor. He pushed forward and she side stepped him, her blade formed a glowing arc and cut his arm, but Marcus had already turned because he expected that move. He kicked her into the stomach and gave her a lot to think about. Grace was thrown back and needed a second to find her footing.
She glared at him. Now I really made her mad, Marcus thought.
Grace charged him again at full speed, no even faster this time, and Marcus only defended. This was it, his chance. He did not interfere with her attack and she would ram her shield into him together with Channel light, one of Kim¡¯s base moves. Until now he had only used Anchor at low power but in this moment he put it up to max. He would break her charge and counter with full power. She came at him as predicted and Marcus prepared for the impact, that never came. Grace stopped centimeters in front of him and for half a second he looked into her smiling face than her sword pierced through his left arm. The powerful blade cut through his body even without Channel Light and a moment later she pulled it back leaving a trail of blood in the sand.
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Marcus suppressed the pain, he had already felt much worse and her sword had left a clean wound like a scalpel. Grace¡¯s eyes were focused on his wound ¡°That is unbelievable¡±. The cut vanished in seconds and Marcus stretched his arm to remove that last phantom pains the cut had left.
¡°Satisfied?¡± Marcus said with a cold voice. ¡°More than that, to be honest I did not expect something this grand and I also did not expect you to be this strong. It is hard to believe you are only a bit over level 30.¡± She was suddenly back to the Grace he knew, the sharp cold eyes had vanished.
¡°You could have just asked.¡± Marcus walked off the field but Grace caught up to him. ¡°Would you have told me?¡± Marcus didn¡¯t look at her ¡°Yes.¡± and continued to walk. What did he expect? That he could beat Grace Taylor even in a sparring match where she holds back. That woman was not a phony who had become famous because of her good looks, she was a proper badass. The fight just now was proof of that.
¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Grace said with a soft voice and Marcus stopped in surprise. ¡°I thought I had to pull it out of you.¡± Marcus looked at her and felt truly defeated. ¡°I¡¯m not ready yet, to tell the world.¡± he said and Grace tilted her head. ¡°It is not only this phenomenal healing ability it is everything. Your fighting style, that truly devastating attack ability and¡ what would have happened if I had finished my charge?¡± she asked and Marcus shrug his shoulders. ¡°You would have hit a hard rock and I would have smashed you with all I had.¡± she laughed and shook her head.
¡°You know my fighting style. I realized that the moment you avoided that one attack so skillfully. How come?¡± Grace asked with honest eyes and Marcus saw no reason to lie. ¡°You pretty much follow the Kim style of fighting and I¡¯m a big fan of his.¡±, a complicated look wandered over Grace¡¯s face. ¡°You mean I¡¯m a cheap copy of Kim.¡± and Marcus was again surprised by her. ¡°No, after what I saw today anybody who says that is a moron. You clearly use your own head and adapt and innovate instead of just copying his work. You completely beat me and you did not even use Judgment.¡± Marcus still felt bitter to what extend she had outmaneuvered him.
¡°You know, you have the right to be angry with me. I purposefully played the bad guy to test my theory. Instead you praise me and you are bitter about not beating an enemy nearly 40 levels higher than you.¡± Grace looked amused. She stretched out a hand and Marcus took it unsure what it meant. ¡°I will keep your secret until you tell the world. But I feel Fighter does not really fit the class I have seen today.¡±
Marcus smiled ¡°I think so too. The ginghi call it Titan and I think I will go with that.¡± and Grace laughed again. ¡°No small ambition here, a Titan, somebody who challenges the gods themselves.¡± Marcus had not thought about that interpretation before. He had only thought about Titan in the terms of big and strong, titanic, not in the more mythological meaning of the word. Now he wondered what Azaa meant when she chose the name. He should ask her, Marcus thought. Marcus and Grace parted ways without bad blood between them. He had seen a different side of Grace today. She could be hard and unforgiving if she had to. A good trait for a raid leader.
Marcus returned to the quarters and freshened up, the ginghi had no showers, sadly. Not long after he found the others who looked drained from a day of actual work. Since they had gotten to the city, Marcus had been exempt from his normal duties because of his special circumstances but the rest had to work. ¡°Look the freeloader is here.¡± Janette was emptying a bottle of water. ¡°Did you have fun playing while we were working to set up communications and protect the incoming food provisions?¡± She was salty but his day had been not easy either. ¡°Well if you think getting your blood drained and later being beaten and stabbed by Grace is so much fun, you should give it a try too.¡± Janette¡¯s eyes glowed with interest and Achara looked shocked ¡°She has stabbed you? On purpose?¡± Marcus sat down with his friends and was happy to have an interesting story to tell.
¡°How about you join us tomorrow? We are actually doing something interesting for once. We are going on a ¡°Monster Patrol¡± with some of the ginghi warriors.¡± Kou said later that evening. ¡°I bet we can make it so you can first finish your date with Azaa.¡± Marcus rolled his eyes ¡°It is definitely not a date unless she is a vampire than it would make sense. But I would love to join you. After the beating I got today, I need a victory soon or I lose my self confidence.¡±
Janette nodded in understanding ¡°It is a well known male problem, if they have problems to ¡°perform¡±, they suffer from a lack of self confidence. I heard there is medication that can help.¡± Marcus took the joke on the chin and threw a water bottle to exorcise the demon.
Chapter 59: Being Young I
Chapter 59: Being Young I
Marcus was in a particular good mood this morning. Fresh food had arrived and after several days of food bars and pre-made meals, biting into a fresh apple felt like heaven. He was on his way to Azaa for his daily bloodletting, but later he would join his team to go on a ¡°Monster Patrol¡±. He was looking forward to some action and also to see the ginghi warriors in actual combat. If some EXP would also come his way, he would not mind at all.
Marcus knocked and entered Azaa¡¯s study and like always she was already waiting for him and the room looked very busy. By now he had been here several times and never actually asked her what she was doing, Marcus realized. He greeted her and the female translator that once again was joining them. He had been rude, not only to Azaa but to the Asian woman too. With all that has been going on he had forsaken even basic manners and it was time to rectify that. He formally introduced himself to the human woman and she gave him a sweet smile ¡°Linda Sato¡± was her name.
Azaa started the daily procedure and Marcus used the time to ask a few questions, he had on his mind. ¡°What are you doing normally? What is your occupation?¡± Mrs. Sato worked her magic and Azaa answered ¡°I¡¯m responsible for many things but mainly I¡¯m the Chief(?) Preserver of knowledge and wisdom. I and the people who work with me ensure that we as individuals and as a people do not lose knowledge and understanding. We investigate and learn from the remnants of other worlds and teach them to our people.¡± Marcus felt like he needed to slap himself. From the start he had thought that Azaa had some kind of religious role but that was before the humans learned about their origin. These are not some backwater primitives that worship golden idols, this is a fallen society that tries to preserve and relearn as much knowledge as they can. This is why Azaa and the rest were not surprised by things like electronic tablets. They might not have the capacity to produce such a technology right now but they did not think it was magic. HECK, Azaa is basically a scientist and historian at the same time.
Azaa watched Marcus, how he processed this news, and a faint smile appeared on her face. She finished the blood draining and moved on to the blood massage. ¡°If I may ask, how did your leader get affected by his malady.¡± and Marcus could hear Azaa laugh behind his back (literary). ¡°First my father is not the leader of our people. He has a very important role, Grand Protector(?), but he does not rule in that sense. There are several institutions that govern our people. The Protector, the Council of Elders, the Preservers and the Explorers(?).¡± Mrs. Sato was not sure about all the special terms but the meaning should be correct. Wait, the mega buff ginghi class holder was her father? Did we already know this, Marcus wondered.
¡°To what caused his suffering. On a fateful day many years back he was hunting on another world, together with many strong warriors of our people and encountered a dragon(?). They tried to escape, but one breath of the dragon removed all life in the area and killed all our warriors. My father was the only one to barely survive and yet the corruption of the monster ate away at his strength for years.¡± Marcus listened to the translation and shivered. The dragons (there are several!) were not just a myth they were real things that wandered the worlds? And it brought that ridiculously powerful man to death¡¯s door in just one attack? Azaa had finished the treatment and watched Marcus¡¯ expression. ¡°It was a great misfortune. Meeting a dragon is a thing of myth and legend. Surviving such a meeting is worthy of tale.¡± Marcus realized she tried to calm him and he gave her a thankful smile. He needed to tell Grace and the scientists about what he learned here.
The daily ritual was over and Marcus put on his shirt, but before he left he had one more question. ¡°What was your reasoning about naming my class Titan?¡± He asked and Azaa and Mrs. Sato discussed for some time. ¡°We have our own name for it but it would not mean much to you. It is based on a legend, a mythical figure from the times when we were still powerful, even after the fall. The meaning is ¡°Dragon Wrangler¡±, one who kills dragons.¡± Then Titan was a good choice of a name, Marcus thought. Even if it was totally over the top and unrealistic, of course.
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Marcus thanked Azaa and Mrs. Sato and said his goodbye but stopped as he heard the translated answer ¡°Until later.¡±. Marcus turned with a surprised look ¡°Later?¡±. ¡°I will join you on your patrol.¡± Azaa said and Marcus did not know how to react other than to nod and smile. He walked back to the rest to the team and completely ignored the events around him. She is joining the patrol? Why? Marcus knew Azaa was unbelievably strong and had a lot of duties, there was no way this was normal. Was she there to make sure nothing happened to him? He reached the quarters and was no closer to an answer. The rest of the team was as surprised as Marcus to hear that Azaa was coming with them ¡°That means we will not get a lot of action. But we might get to see how she fights.¡± Was Kou¡¯s rational comment and Marcus agreed reluctantly.
A few hours later the gang gathered in a courtyard of a larger building. The sounds of people and animals filled the air. ¡°What is that?¡± Marcus stood in front of a large beast that had a suspicious looking saddle on its back. It was a mammal, had four legs, short fur and a long neck with a surprisingly small head. A long tongue escaped its mouth and licked over Marcus¡¯s armor. ¡°It likes you.¡± Janette laughed. Mrs. Sato had joined the patrol for obvious reasons and a handful ginghi warriors prepared nearby too. Several of the beasts called Kakou were prepared for the humans to ride on. The apparent leader of the warriors said something ¡°Apparently we are too slow and weak to keep up, so we have to take the mounts.¡± was Mrs. Sato¡¯s translation. Marcus looked at the warrior and even so it hurts he was most likely correct. If the warriors moved at full speed the humans would only slow them down. The ginghi showed the humans a rough map and the path they would follow. If Marcus got his dimensions right they would cover over a 100 kilometer in one day. He could without any problems run such a distance but he was not fast and the others were faster but had most likely not enough endurance to keep up the speed. The Kakous were a good choice.
They stored their items on the backs of the beasts and Marcus saw that Janette had more weapons than usual with her. Besides her pistol and large rifle she also had several grenades and a machine gun with a big magazine stowed on her Kakou. ¡°You got something else planed after we are done? Maybe start a war?¡± Marcus said as a joke but Janette looked serious. ¡°If I run out of ammunition I¡¯m dead weight and Achara does not bring her rifle anymore. I don¡¯t want to become useless half way through the patrol. Besides it is better to be prepared for different scenarios.¡± Sometimes Marcus forgot Janette had also this side on her. The tough soldier who wields deadly power.
The last person to arrive was Azaa. She wore a dark blue coat and underneath a silver armor like her sister. Once more Marcus suspected that this armor had been made just for her. It perfectly fit her body and reinforced her slender look. Besides her armor she also wielded a spear with a silver point and metallic looking shaft. The weapon was not ordinary Marcus was certain, but he did not dare to ask about it. The other warriors bowed to Azaa and Marcus could feel the reverence in their actions and body language. They set out after the humans got on their new rides. It felt like the mounts were following the warriors more than the humans actually steered them but that was okay for Marcus. He had no experience with riding and he hoped to not end up in the dirt in front of Azaa.
They quickly moved over fields and through forests and they got to see ginghi working the fields. There were no machines and most was done by hand or supported by animals. If we would give them farming machines they might be able to greatly improve their agriculture output and food security, Marcus thought. It would be a small price for an alliance and the knowledge they had gained already.
They left the city well behind and after an hour they reached an area of forests that was hard to traverse. Rocks, rifts and steep hills made progress difficult and the humans went on foot. Marcus was not sure how far they had come but Azaa looked not even one bit exhausted after keeping up with the quick mounts. Janette looked over the top of a small hill, together with one of the warriors who was most likely a scout, ¡°Monsters.¡±. She said and the man said something too that seemed to confirm her words. Azaa said something and Mrs. Sato translated ¡°Your friend has very good eyes.¡±, ¡°Yes, and ¡°his friend¡± can also shoot very well too.¡± Janette said with a snide tone. Mrs. Sato translated and Azaa smirked.
Marcus joined the rest on top of the hill, to get an impression of the situation. Further down in a valley several dark furred creatures moved around. It was hard to tell their exact numbers but there were at least ten and each had the size of a grown brown bear but was not nearly as cuddly. The leader of the warriors said something ¡°It is time to fight. These are Frillars(?), they move fast and far, and attack our villages. They are pests we need to eradicate.¡± A second later the crack of a shot started the fight prematurely ¡°First down.¡± Janette said without a hint of regret.
Chapter 60: Being Young II
Chapter 60: Being Young II
Janette!!! Marcus screamed internally but he had no time to strangle her. The monsters had taken note of the party and started to move up the hill. They had at least 200 meter to go but as the ginghi leader had said, they were fast. Marcus started to run towards the monsters and gave short orders ¡°Kou concentrate on crowd control, use your aoe to separate them if possible. Achara stay invisible until I have their attention and take them out from the back. Janette pick off those who try to flank us.¡± Marcus was not sure what the ginghi would do but he did not want to sit around and wait to be saved by Azaa. Somehow he did not like the thought.
He rushed down the hill, which was easier said than done. The forest was dense and the ground was rough with lots of crevices. The beasts did not seem to care to much and quickly moved up the hill. Two of them came at Marcus at the same time while the rest moved much slower thanks to Kou. From close up they looked like your standard big scary wolf/bear monster with claws, large teeth and a short horn on their forehead. One jumped at Marcus and he went low and let Anchor handle it. The impact was heavy but he did not fall, teeth buried into his left arm but a second later his fist connected with the monsters skull and the head came apart. Pieces of the monster splattered over the surrounding vegetation but Marcus had no time to celebrate his new found strength.
The other Frillar had only waited for an opening and charged him head first. The horn on their head was neither long enough or sharp enough to worry Marcus and he decided to take the charge and to counter like with the first monster. The head of the beast smashed into him and he held on to the head ready to sink his knee into it. The moment the horn touched Marcus¡¯ armor a familiar pain rushed through his body and he lost control over his movement for a second. Electric shock!
The monster pushed him down and sank its claws into Marcus¡¯ chest and tried to bite his helmet. Marcus could not use his hands from this position but his legs were free, he kicked the monster into the abdomen and Impulse Hammer lifted it a few centimeters off the ground before it slumped down over Marcus. To remove the already dying monster Marcus slammed his right fist into its flank and the body was pushed away from Marcus, finishing the monster off. He came back to his feet took a look around, and informed his teammates over com ¡°Everybody advised, their horn can shock you. Do not let it touch you.¡±. Several monsters were already dead and one was floating in the air helplessly. Marcus could not see the ginghi but he had no time to be upset.
Achara had finished off at least two of the beasts and just now jumped over one and vanished mid jump. Marcus rushed over to her to keep the monster occupied and before the Frillar was able to attack him Achara appeared again and sank her blade up to the hilt into the side of the monster. ¡°How many are left?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°One is floating and one is coming around the left.¡± was the answer from Kou. Good they nearly got them! ¡°Several Frillars are approaching from the other hill. I count at least a dozen.¡± Janette reported.
¡°Achara take the one floating. I take care of the other one than we regroup.¡± Marcus made his way to intercept the straggler on the left. While running he looked up the hill and the ginghi warriors were gone, only Azaa stood there silently watching the fight. What was she thinking?
Marcus passed a tree and jumped over a small rift and ran right into the last Frillar on this flank. He made sure to avoid the horn and did not care that it was nibbling on his leg while he delivered an elbow strike from hell. An unappetizing sound accompanied the death of the monster and Marcus removed pieces of monster brain from his armor.
Marcus ran back as fast as he could and the team was already waiting. Janette had joined them and had her machine gun in hand ¡°Too much trees for sniper fire.¡± She said reacting to his look. He nodded and took his place in front of the rest. ¡°Are we going to do this alone?¡± Kou asked, he also had realized their ¡°friends¡± were gone. ¡°Seems that way.¡± Marcus said but his mind was focused on the monsters charging through the woods in front of him. ¡°Ohh boy. There is one bigger and meaner that leads the rest.¡± Janette gave an early warning to the team.
A few seconds later Marcus could see it too. It was significantly larger and had white stripes together with black fur. But what was most alarming were the two large horns on his head. ¡°That must be an evolved form.¡± Achara said and Marcus agreed. ¡°I will keep the leader busy. Kou and Janette you mow down the rest. Achara you intercept flankers.¡± and without another word he moved to engage the big guy. The massive beast overrun a few small tree saplings and broke branches left and right. Marcus steeled himself, if everything goes to hell Azaa will interfere he was sure. She still needed his blood.
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Marcus quickly closed the distance and he could hear the roaring of Janette¡¯s machine gun. She had put several crests into strength just so she could control the recoil from heavier weapons and from the corner of his eyes Marcus could see Frillars being eviscerated by point accurate fire. A weapon like this should not be able to be this precise but in Janette¡¯s hands it was possible.
The large monster was only ten meter away but did not just charge into Marcus. Maybe the remains of several other monsters on his armor made it careful. Or...there was a crackling and Marcus hair stood up. The monster lowered its head and slowly moved closer like a bull ready to pierce him. Marcus stepped back desperately trying to think about a way to deal with, what he expected, was death by electrocution.
He started to circle the monster and pulled closer hoping to avoid the charged horns. As it turned out this strategy was too simplistic and the head of the evolved Frillar turned quickly. At a distance of half a meter lightning jumped from the horns into Marcus¡¯ chest and shoulder. With a thunder clap Marcus fell down and his sight was filled with dancing lights while his body shook with pain. The mega Frillar did not wait until Marcus recovered and closed its massive maw around his upper body. Large teeth pierced through his armor and into his stomach and back. Marcus screamed in pain as the monster lifted him up and shook him around for a few seconds before it slammed Marcus against a nearby tree. Gasping and aching from various wounds, Marcus saw the beast charging his horns again and felt the electricity in the air.
His wounds were closing and against all odds he was still conscious but another combo like that might kill him. He pushed himself up to a crouched position and held on to the tree next to him. Several half broken branches hung in front of him, remnants from his collision with the tree. He grabbed one and threw it directly at the nearby monster and it ducked away allowing the branch to hit its flanks. Well look at this, it does not want to discharge on some random piece of wood, Marcus thought.
Marcus took a deep breath and threw another big branch while grabbing a third with his other hand. As soon as the beast avoided the hit against its horns Marcus charged at it. It turned back but Marcus was ready to throw the third branch. The monster raised its head and the branch only hit a front leg but now Marcus was right next to it. He grabbed the thick fur with one hand and pressed the other against its chest. Jack Hammer. How do you like them apples you bastard! Powerful waves of force ravaged through the body of the monster, tearing arteries and organs alike.
The large monster growled and thrashed but after ten discharges of Impulse Hammer it fell over, its large maw open and still covered in Marcus¡¯ blood. Only now the sounds of the battlefield returned to Marcus¡¯ consciousness and the words in the com link became clear. ¡°Achara is down! Janette push them back I will get her out!¡± Kou sounded desperate and Marcus started running again.
His wounds had already healed and he was only slightly out of breath, even after all of this. He saw Janette giving deadly cover fire while Achara¡¯s body floated out of reach of the monsters and towards Kou. There were only three Frillars left and one was taken apart by Janette right this moment. The second was slowly moving through a field created by Kou and the last¡ just made acquaintance with Marcus foot as he charged into the monster from behind. Not very sporting but its hind legs broke and it fell over only to be finished off a seconds later by another Impulse Hammer to the back bone.
Marcus turned towards the snail Frillar but it had lost its head and so Marcus ran to Achara and Kou. Kou was treating her but Marcus could see deep claw marks on her back and sides. Her face was white and she was clenching her teeth in pain. ¡°She has lost blood and the wounds are deep.¡± Kou said with a pressed voice while he continued to work.
Marcus looked at the hill, from where they had started the combat. Azaa was descending at incredible speed, jumping twenty, thirty meter in one go without any effort. With her slender figure and silver armor she looked more like an elf than anything else in that moment. With one last elegant jump she landed right next to Marcus and her eyes wandered over the writhing Achara. Azaa looked back to Marcus who was about to say something but instead watched Achara using her curved blade to cut his left wrist and a small amount of his blood floated towards Achara. Kou watched this with large eyes but Marcus was already an expert in getting his blood drained. The blood entered Achara¡¯s wounds and they closed in seconds.
Achara jumped on her feet and jumped into the air ¡°HOOORAY!¡±. Her face was red and her eyes looked like she had ten energy drinks in the last five minutes. ¡°WOOOAAA that is amazing. My whole body is tingling! I feel like I could rip out a tree!¡± Achara jumped up and down while the rest of the team watched her in disbelief. ¡°Is that the effect of your blood?¡± Janette asked holding her still smoking machine gun. ¡°Seems like it. But it only works when a powerful Blood Mage does it. You can not just drink my blood Janette.¡± Marcus said and the tension of the battle slowly faded away.
Marcus looked down his ripped armor and saw that Azaa was also inspecting him. He looked into her the eyes and they were cold and calculating. He wanted to say something but Mrs. Sato and the warriors were still coming down the hill. With nothing to say Marcus held Azaa¡¯s gaze for some time and wondered what was going on behind those dark eyes.
Chapter 61: Being Young III
Chapter 61:Being Young III
¡°
¡°
¡°How are you Janette?¡± he asked and she
Mrs. Sato conveyed his words and the leader reacted. ¡°He thought you knew. Why else would you come, if not to train and grow? They could remove the monsters faster alone. Bringing you has only the purpose of training you. It should be obvious.¡± Marcus heard the answer and realized that the ginghi did not think of them as equals but as children that needed oversight. He
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¡°Janette, how is he.¡± Marcus asked without taking his eyes of the fight. ¡°Bad, really bad, half his body looks crushed,
Marcus reached the fallen man, who was still conscious.
He reached the team and Azaa, and gently put the wounded ginghi warrior down.
The other warriors quickly returned but their brother in arms was already standing again and bowing to Marcus. The ginghi thanked him for saving their friend and giving his blood. They bowed to Azaa who said a few words that Mrs. Sato did not translate. Lastly Sehk
It was
Chapter 62: Binding Oath
Chapter 62: Binding Oath
Another morning, another breakfast. Waking up on an alien planet, in alien city had become normal far too quickly, Marcus thought. He had gotten used to it, to the green people, to the strange rhythmic language and a certain blood draining woman. But how much had he actually seen or learned. While he was busy with Azaa, the scientists had investigated the ginghi and interacted with them on a daily basis. There were piles of research documents and Marcus decided to read a lot of them once he had more time at his hands. He looked up from his, now empty, bowl of cereals and looked at Achara who just finished a piece of white toast with strawberry jelly. ¡°How are you feeling? That was a nasty hit you took back there.¡± He said.
¡°I¡¯m all fine now, thanks to your blood. I have never felt a rush like that before.¡± Achara said and Marcus could see Kou being not that happy. Marcus had a hunch why. Friends or not, right now the blood of another man was pulsing through the veins of his woman. You can not escape basic instincts, Marcus knew all to well. No matter how rational you think about something, if your instincts get involved you can not ignore them fully. ¡°Glad to hear it.¡± He just said to finish the topic. ¡°I think, once we are back home I might want to start training for Phase Walk. I hit my limits for just using invisibility. My vanishing time is about 0.3 seconds and getting it much faster will take a long time. Getting invisible does also not protect me against giant claws.¡± Achara said and Kou nodded. I bet they have already discussed this in detail before telling me, Marcus thought and gave the two a positive smile. ¡°Sounds good, let''s go over this when we are back.¡±
Marcus knew Achara had unlocked Phase Walk for quite some time but had not integrated it into her fighting style yet. It was a big task and she had decided to improve her vanishing combat style first before trying to add in something new. Achara was always the most silent member of their team and clan. She rarely took the initiative or spoke up but that was not because she was weak, it was just her character. She could get very scary, especially when Janette was stealing food before it was ready to be served. Marcus smiled thinking about it.
The chair next to him was drawn back and he expected Janette but it was Grace and next to her Carmen. ¡°Good morning.¡± he said but they did not look like good or like morning. ¡°Because of the time differences we have been awake half the night talking with the big shots back home. Things are moving quickly.¡± Grace said and buttered up a piece of bread and put a few slices of cheese on it. ¡°There will be an important meeting in the next days and we are told to come home to give our report in person. That includes you Marcus.¡± Carmen said and looked even more tired than Grace.
¡°Me?¡± Marcus was surprised. ¡°Yes, you had a lot of contact with Azaa and had combat experience together with the ginghi too. Besides you are the only human who has ever met her father, the Grand Protector.¡± Grace said while eating. Marcus was not aware that nobody else had seen him until now. ¡°Me leaving might cause some problems.¡± He said and thought about Azaa¡¯s angry face and what she could do when she got angry. He shuddered on the inside. ¡°Exactly because of this we have a meeting with the ginghi in an hour. You should be there too because your case will be the most problematic point.¡±
Janette joined them at the table just before they wanted to leave. She had some fruit with her and started to work on a big juicy orange. They had not spent much time together over the last days and when they did, a lot of people were around. Marcus wanted to just hang out and talk about a lot of stuff he had on his mind. He watched her eat and smiled.
¡°Love you too.¡± Janette said with a wide grin and orange pieces in her hands. Marcus needed a breath or two to get his calm back after this surprise attack. He glared at her, took his plate and left the table. ¡°Later, love.¡± he said without turning back but he could hear Janette laughing, enjoying their private comedy.
On the way to the meeting Grace walked next to Marcus ¡°I did not know you two were lovers.¡± She said with a good bit of curiosity. ¡°Ohhh we are not. We are friends, but she is a demon and has a wife.¡± Marcus said still trying to figure out a way to get back at Janette for that stunt. ¡°A wife? Interesting, must be a tough lady to keep up with her.¡± Grace said and Marcus laughed ¡°You have no idea.¡±
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They entered a large room, that looked very official. A half circle of chairs, a podium and a lot of benches in front of them. Marcus could imagine that politics happened in here.
Carmen and the diplomats were already here together with Jerry the translator. They greeted everyone and a few minutes later Azaa and her sister Uela entered together with Mrs. Sato. Marcus was about to greet them when eight more ginghi men and women walked in.
They all were of advanced age and Marcus made a safe bet that this was the Council of Elders. The elderly men and women took place on the special chairs. Azaa and her sister stood on the sides of the council and Marcus could feel Azaa¡¯s eyes on him.
The discussion started and the diplomats together with Jerry explained the situation. For several minutes they discussed procedures and finer points of the whole operation going forward. Marcus learned that the UN intended to open a formal embassy in the near future and that various aid packages where planned too. Then his name came up and things got a bit more heated. Azaa spoke up and Grace quickly intervened making it clear Marcus would return for the ¡°procedure¡±. Marcus did not say anything and dared not look into Azaa¡¯s direction but after some debate, a once per month schedule was accepted. Marcus realized that there was no ending date for this agreement and wondered if he would do this for the rest of his life. More things were discussed but after his point had been cleared up, everything worked out smoothly.
The meeting dissolved and Marcus watched small groups come together and discuss the meeting. He was about to go too when Azaa stepped in his path and said ¡°Follow me.¡± in English. Her tone did not leave any room for discussion and Marcus together with Mrs. Sato walked through the city to a well known destination. Marcus followed Azaa and let his eyes wander around. The ginghi had gotten used to the humans too. He watched a small child, standing next to its mother, wave to Marcus with a smile. He waved back and nodded to the mother. They walked past one of the markets and people made space to let them through, not for him but for the ancient mega Blood Mage in front of him. Marcus enjoyed this city a lot, he realized. There were no cars, no advertisements, no phones and hasty people. Everything felt a bit slower and more natural.
The door closed behind Marcus and he walked over to his usual place of sacrifice. Azaa carried the glass carafe to the table and waited for Marcus to get ready. They had not talked since the meeting and Marcus felt bad that this was the way they would part until he returned in a month. He watched his blood slowly curve through the air and gather in the finely crafted glass container.
¡°Mrs. Sato, if possible I would like to have a private conversation with Azaa. Can I count on you to keep the contents of the discussion secret?¡± Marcus asked the translator and she nodded without hesitation.
Marcus turned to Azaa and formulated what he wanted to say while the ginghi women observed him carefully. ¡°You can not trust all humans. The people here are good people and they want to learn and understand. But not all humans are like that and the politics on Earth are complicated and often cruel. Many humans are going to want to use your people for their own profit or take from you what you call your own. Stay vigilant and don¡¯t easily trust strangers.¡± Marcus finished and Mrs. Sato translated without a hint of dismay. On the contrary she seemed to enjoy her work.
Azaa reacted much quicker than Marcus expected. Mrs. Sato translated ¡°She wants to know if she can trust you.¡± Marcus looked into Azaa¡¯s eyes and nodded. She said something again and Mrs. Sato looked a bit surprised. ¡°Are you willing to take an oath? Will you vow to return, to give your blood until my father is healed?¡± Azaa finished the blood letting, stretched out her arm and grasped Marcus wrist. He held on to her wrist too and was surprised how soft and warm her skin felt.
¡°How long will it take until your father is fully healed?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°You are still too weak, your blood is not yet strong enough to remove the corruption completely. The strength of your blood needs to grow at least by half.¡± Azaa explained and Marcus calculated. That means I need at least 60 vitality? Or maybe a bit more, 65? That might take years, no, that will take years to achieve. Marcus thought about the consequences and looked into the calm, strong eyes of the ginghi woman. This was a great commitment, he understood and pressed her wrist slightly. ¡°I vow to return and offer my blood until your father is fully healed.¡± Azaa nodded even before she heard the translation.
She let go off his arm and Marcus was a bit surprised, somehow he had expected some kind of blood oath. Like, both would have to bleed and combine their blood kind of a deal. As he pointed that out Azaa said something that made Mrs. Sato smile in a certain way. ¡°I take your word as a man.¡±
Marcus walked back, a bit light headed, still absorbing the impressions of the events. She really did say man. I¡¯m no longer a child in her eyes or did she just say it to manipulate him, like a child? No matter what, he would stand to his word, there was no question about it. He felt invigorated and more focused than in a long time. He had a new goal to work towards. Level 60.
After returning to the human quarters he looked for Grace and found her together with Carmen, working through electronic documents. Marcus knocked on the open door of her room and stepped in. ¡°I want my team to come with us, back to Earth. We will need an escort anyway.¡± He said in a resolute tone and Grace looked at him with her head slightly tilted. ¡°I also want a proper contract regarding the blood draining, as we discussed before.¡± A lot of decisions have been made regarding him, without his consent. It was time he took back some control.
Chapter 63: Truths I
Chapter 63:Truths I
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They had been on the tr
¡°You should join us.¡± Janette said out of the blue after another ten minutes of silence had passed. Grace laughed ¡°Seriously?¡± but Janette looked at her and said. ¡°What, the great Grace Taylor could not possibly join a tiny clan?¡±. Now Janette smiled ¡°Choosing a clan is like choosing a lover. You have done neither Grace.¡± the taller woman carefully controlled her expression and slowly started to understand why Marcus called this woman a demon. ¡°I have my own reasons.¡± Grace said but Janette followed up as soon as
¡°Why do you think I¡¯m weird.¡± Grace asked after another minute of silence and contemplating. ¡°You think stabbing Marcus, just to prove your theory, is not weird? You play the friendly neighborhood Paladin. The poster girl for a whole generation of new class holders. But that is not you. Going after Marcus with a sword and enjoying it, that is you. Hanging out with us instead with
¡°
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The second point was Achara¡¯s training. ¡°To be honest I¡¯m freaked out. Using
¡°Third point. I make a motion that the clan put
¡°Fourth point. I will go to Paris tomorrow and speak at this special secret UN meeting. I honestly don¡¯t know what will come off it but I expect I will be back a day later.¡± Marcus explained. Nobody saw a problem with that.
¡°Well¡¡± Marcus started and Janette said ¡°Here it comes.¡± and everybody
He took a deep breath and put a small cylindrical object on the table. ¡°That, is my secret. I got this from a ¡°Pearl of Wisdom¡± when I was a kid.¡±
¡°Once you
¡°Why tell us now?¡± Achara asked and Marcus formulated an answer ¡°Because I¡¯m sick keeping it a secret from all of you. Because I feel like an impostor because my insight comes from this device and not from me being special.¡± Kou
¡°
¡°I did not know and I think it is really sweet of you to share your secret with everybody else.¡± Candis said and gave him a heartwarming smile. ¡°
A
¡°Now tell me about Azaa. You spent a lot more time with her than I did.¡± Janette said and Marcus talked about all the meetings and interaction he had with her. Janette watched her friend talk about the ginghi woman for
Chapter 64: Truths II
Chapter 64:Truths II
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Marcus followed the rest of their group through
The two women were still debating last points and Marcus remembered what Grace had told him just this morning. ¡°Marcus, if at all possible you should keep the illness of the Protector and your
The higher and also deeper into the building they came the less people were in the hallways. They passed two more security points and finally stopped in front of a large double door. Carmen came to Marcus and like a mother started to inspect and correct his attire. ¡°Listen Marcus, what ever happens in their you need to stay calm. This is not personal, this is nation level diplomacy. If you lose your cool you give others leverage and cause problems for the people who support us.¡± she said and Marcus wondered who those people were. ¡°Non of the diplomats in t
F
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Marcus mind froze. He could not breath and
Marcus followed the discussion and eventually the topic moved on to the revelations about the portals and monoliths. It caused a great amount of unrest and the discussion became heated. The diplomat from the USA outright called it a lie and superstition of a primitive race. ¡°The United States of America will under no circumstances allow others to curtail their freedom. Not in the use of the monoliths nor in the use of the portals that exist in its territories.¡± The man said.
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What followed
¡°This statement is worth less than nothing coming from somebody who can not even be called experienced. This young man has not the capacity to identify a strong class holder in the first place. If that ork (again) was even level one hundred it would be a surprise but it would be enough to impress somebody lacking the experience or mental capacity to evaluate such an encounter.¡± Was the instant reply from the
¡°In contrast to your accusation I do have the experience to make this statement. I have met the strongest human on Earth and with all due respect he is an ant compared to the Protector.¡± Was Marcus¡¯ cold answer. ¡°An obvious lie. THIS is the exactly why another expedition under the stewardship of the USA should be send to fully evaluate the claims.¡±
¡°To avoid misunderstandings, with the strongest human you mean...¡± The sharp diplomat from China asked Marcus. You know exactly who, I will be damned if China is not aware who goes to or leaves Sleeping Sky¡¯s island, Marcus thought. ¡°The Grand Paladin Kim Ye-jun.¡± Marcus said and whispering went through the room. Before the American could continue his harassment the voice of another man came from the speakers. ¡°With all due respect to the dignitary of the USA, but your assumptions and claims are without foundation.¡± The large screen changed and showed a middle aged, white man in a suit. Speaker: Professor Reinhardt Freimann, Chief Scientist of the UN ExpeditionResearch Program.
¡°For one the ultimate strength of class holders has not been discovered. Only a few years back we expected level 100 to be the limit, but that has been disproved. The individual strength of a class holder is also not depended on the size of the nation that they belong to. Mr. Kim is level 136 and hails from a comparable small nation. If, as we expect the life of a class holders can exceed several hundred years, it is possible that outstanding individuals could reach heights as described in the report. Thirdly, the claims that my son has met Mr. Kim can easily be verified by asking Mr. Kim. And lastly I can assure you my son¡¯s intellect is well above average, I can show you his IQ tests, even so they were made while he was still a child they should be fairly convincing.¡± Marcus listened and felt torn on the inside. He was afraid and angry but also happy and confused. He had not expected that his father would come to his defense in such a way. The rest of the room had gone silent and the American looked surprised by the circumstances.
¡°Professor Freimann. How do you evaluate the claims of the expedition concerning the monoliths and portals?¡± Spain wanted to know, China and Australia joined the question. ¡°Everything presented here is consistent with the reports of my and other teams over the last years. It is no secret that we have found more than a dozen fallen species. And that are only the confirmed ones, through a lack of funding and manpower we have not been able to keep up with the speed of exploration. More than thirty potentialspecies, ruined by yet unknown forces have been found. The explanation offered by the ginghi is the best we have at this point.¡±
Marcus¡¯s father continued to talk and Marcus finally turned and looked at him. It was his father but it was not the man in his memories. He looked older but also less cold and distant. His voice was more alive than Marcus remembered. As his father went on Marcus had to admit, he had forgotten how much he enjoyed listening to his fathers explanations. Clear, sharp and intelligent he swayed the opinion of the room towards the expedition and an hour later the USA stood alone. The meeting ended and the nations would continue to discuss what actions they would take from now on.
Together with the rest of the group Marcus got up and slowly moved out of the room. Janette seemingly teleported next to him and took his hand. ¡°You wanna run or do you want to fight?¡±
Chapter 65: Truths III
Chapter 65:Truths III
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Marcus¡¯ father walked slowly closer and said ¡°Marcus, could we please talk.¡± What choice did he have? Running away now would not solve anything and he
They walked into the room without sitting down and his father inspected him and he could see
¡°I know you are, for many good reasons, angry with me. More than that, you must despise me for abandoning you the way I did. I don¡¯t expect to gain your forgiveness because I can not forgive myself for what I have done, but I want you to hear from me why
¡°
Marcus looked at his father who cried. No, no, no this is not how it is supposed to be. His father never cried or showed weakness. He was cold and distant no matter how much Marcus hurt inside. ¡°When I entered that room and found Lucia, my world ended. I was convinced I would find you lying next to her but you were alive. I remember how I pulled you out of that hiding spot and you were so cold and barely breathing.¡± his father talked and Marcus felt pain radiating through his body. ¡°Our son was still alive. I thought that would be enough but it was not.¡±
The older man looked down to the ground ¡°I tried to heal, tried to move on from that horrible day but no matter what, every time I looked at you I remembered your mother. I saw her in you! Her hair, her eyes¡ and the pain came back. I started to think about killing myself and the only way I could go on was by running away. Abandoning my own son, because I was too weak.¡± The pain in the eyes of his father was true, Marcus could see it.
¡°You lost your mother and your father. I can not undo this. And I have no right to ask for your forgiveness but please believe me I never ever gave you fault for Lucia¡¯s death.¡± Marcus just stood there. His inside was a pile of broken glass, he cried. Nobody stopped him and seconds ticked away.
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¡°Why did you not tell me earlier. Why wait so long?¡± Marcus said but his voice was now silent and his throat hurt for some reason. ¡°Because it took me a very long time to get better. Only after I met Sophia and accepted professional help I made progress. But the more time went by the harder it became to reach out to you. You did not want to have anything to do with me.¡± Sophia, so that is her name, Marcus thought.
He was not mad about that, he could see that his father had changed so much. Marcus turned a bit and looked at Janette, I had luck too and found somebody who helped me move forward. Marcus looked at his father and felt an impossible distance had turned into nothing. The world he had build for himself as a child, the explanation he had found for his own misery, it was an illusion. The cruel distant father was just a man who lost his wife and could not bear it. And he himself was a stubborn son who never gave his father a chance to explain himself. He had held on to his pain and used it to move forward, but he did not need this anymore. Everything was different now.
Marcus sat down on one of the comfy chairs and exhaled. ¡°Maybe you want Sophia to come in.¡± he said and his father brought her in. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Sophia Rodriguez.¡± She formally introduced herself. And Marcus gave her a smile. ¡°Sorry you have to keep up with my father. He is a difficult person.¡± she laughed and smiled. Janette moved forward and shook her hand. ¡°I¡¯m Janette. I have to keep up with Marcus, but it is okay.¡± Now Marcus¡¯ father laughed and had to sit down too. ¡°It seems we are both in good hands.¡± he said and Marcus nodded. ¡°How do you know Janette?¡±
¡°
¡°You walked your own path since the day you broke open that Pearl your mother gave you.¡± His father said and Marcus was honestly surprised. ¡°You knew? About the Pearl and what was inside?¡± His father laughed loudly. ¡°How could I not. You were holding on to the thing as if your life depended on it. The first days after the attack you were catatonic. We had to force feed you and you never let go of that ball. It was the only thing that mattered to you. Later you started to decipher it and when you did you hid away the device inside. I guess it had something to do with you wanting to become a Fighter and why you have defied all expectations.¡± His father explained and Marcus did not remember that part of his life. He knew...of course, why else would he have allowed me to become a class holder so early...Marcus mind still had problems keeping up with the new information.
¡°What now?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°We are both busy people and I expect things are going to be even worse in the future. But if it is okay for you I would like to call you from time to time and maybe we can also spent some time together. A weekend or a short vacation. We can take it slow.¡± Marcus¡¯ father said and the two man stood up shaking hands slowly. Marcus still felt resentment in his heart but this was a very good first step. They left the room and said goodbye for now. ¡°I bet you are happy that you did not run.¡± Janette said while they slowly walked to the exit of the building. ¡°Thank you for being there.¡± he only replied.
As they came to the security checkpoint Grace was waiting for them and Marcus could see cold fire in her eyes. ¡°Ohhhh, I forgot about that.¡± he said and once they had past the checkpoint Grace was right in his face. ¡°How do you know Kim.¡± Marcus was really happy she had no sword this time but she could most likely carve his heart out with her bare hands, the way she looked right now. What should he tell her? ¡°He is Kim¡¯s disciple.¡± Janette said as if it was nothing and Marcus wished he was somewhere else. Grace¡¯s face froze for a few seconds and when she recovered her voice was very silent ¡°He is not even a Paladin.¡±. Janette shrugged her shoulders ¡°But Kim really likes this weird guy and Marcus also cracked the fourth Paladin ability.¡± Grace looked like she had a heart attack and Marcus wondered what Grace had done to Janette that she tortured that woman to this extent.
Grace started laughing, first silently but louder and louder as time went on. She threw her head back and laughed deep from the heart. Tears of joy were running down her cheeks. ¡°I think you broke her.¡± Marcus said and honestly worried about Grace. ¡°I tried so hard, so bloody hard all the time. And then you come along and become his disciple. It is hilarious.¡± Marcus watched her and the woman looked different. Her eyes had a different gleam and even her face looked different. ¡°I give up.¡± Grace said and leaned again the wall. ¡°You will stop pretending to be the poster girl and join the weird people?¡± Janette said to Marcus¡¯ complete surprise. ¡°Yes. But I might be a handful.¡± Grace said with a wicked smile on her face. ¡°Can somebody explain to me what is going on?¡± Marcus said.
¡°You remember the Grace that stabbed you and beat you up?¡± Janette said with a wide grin. ¡°How can I forget.¡± Marcus looked suspiciously to Grace. ¡°That is the real Grace. We were still in need of black in our Colors of the Wild.¡± Janette said and Grace looked happy. Everything she had worked for and built up over years would soon turn to dust, but she did not care. She was going to have fun with a bunch of weird people, and kick some ass.
Chapter 66: Are there no normal people left?
Chapter 66: Are there no normal people left?
Marcus walked through the door of his hotel room dropped his jacket and took off his suit. With an audible moan he fell on his bed and relaxed. He had spent the evening of a very demanding day with Janette and ¡°New Grace¡±. Or old Grace, or true Grace or, WHATEVER. He met the real Grace and it was interesting to say the least. The blonde, heroic Paladin was gone and in came a rogue like character who was direct, tough and cunning. Marcus turned on his back and looked at the ceiling of his room. She was definitely far more interesting and fun than the always stuck up, perfect, smiling Grace he had met first. And now she was a Color of the Wilds. Marcus could not wait to see the faces of the others when they learned about this. And the reaction of the media...oohhh boy.
Marcus stretched and opened his bag to get some clothes and his eyes fell on the small unassuming black phone Kim had given him. A small green light blinked on its front and Marcus activated the phone. Six missed calls from Kim. SIX?
Marcus used the return call function and waited. After only two rings he heard Kim¡¯s voice ¡°Marcus! Where are you right now?¡± Hello to you too Kim, he thought. ¡°I¡¯m in my hotel room in Paris. Why have you called?¡± Marcus had a bad feeling about all of this. ¡°Does your room have a balcony?¡± Kim completely skipped Marcus¡¯ question but Marcus confirmed a balcony. ¡°Good, please get on it right now.¡± Kim said and Marcus walked over to the balcony door and stepped outside.
It was a moonlit night with only a few clouds, and Paris was still Paris even at this time of the night. Lights and sounds of the large city kept the night alive and Marcus was about to ask why he was on the balcony when the sound of a thunderclap echoed through the streets. Marcus looked up into the sky and saw a man floating about 100 meter away from him. The man had long blonde hair and he wore a flowing white robe that moved in the night wind.
The stranger moved with immense speed closer to Marcus ¡°You got to be kid-¡± The man with the blue eyes smiled and touched Marcus on the shoulder. Everything vanished in an instant and Marcus was not sure if he even still existed, maybe not. A fraction of a second later everything came back and Marcus exhaled before gravity took control over him and he started falling. The blonde man grabbed Marcus under the arms and together they floated towards the ground. They landed on the rooftop of a very high building and Marcus looked around. This was not Paris.
Marcus looked at the man in white ¡°Gamma?¡± and he nodded with a smile. Gamma was one of the top members of Sleeping Sky, their Spatial Mage. Marcus had read a lot about him but had never met him before. Marcus looked down on himself, he only had his underwear and socks on. ¡°Could you not have waited until I got dressed?¡± but Gamma shrugged his shoulders. ¡°He said as fast as possible.¡± and pointed at a door to the roof that opened and a rocket in the form of a man shot towards Marcus. ¡°You have to tell me everything about the ginghi!¡± Kim said with a red face. ¡°Nice to meet you too Kim. Could I get some clothes?¡± Marcus said and wished he knew even one normal person.
Minutes later, Marcus sat in Kim¡¯s private office eating breakfast and drinking coffee. He wore an XXL training suit and looked at the waiting faces of a dozen people. ¡°How the hell did you learn about this anyway. And so fast?¡± Marcus looked at Kim who chewed on a bit of candy. ¡°Come on, the UN is the biggest rumor mill in the world. Did you think that these kind of news would stay secret even for a day? An hour after your meeting I had four countries calling me and offering exclusive information.¡± Marcus lost all hope for humanity but only sighed. ¡°Okay what do you want to know first?¡± and looked at the top level class holders of Sleeping Sky gathered around him.
¡°The Protector.¡± Kim said and Marcus could feel the intensity of his gaze.
Marcus told them as much as he remembered from his meeting, including the healing part. Kim and his people were too smart to miss something like this anyway. ¡°So you think level 300 or even 400?¡± Kim asked with large eyes? ¡°I really can not tell. With Azaa and Uela I could still compare to you Kim but their father¡. It is like staring into the sun or trying to hold a hurricane in your hand. Comparing him to anybody else is useless because he is peerless.¡± Kim absorbed every word from him and Marcus could see how his mind worked behind his eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t think you can meet him for now.¡± Marcus said and Kim¡¯s look told Marcus he had guessed right.
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He continued to tell them about the ginghi and his experiences, far beyond any report. When he told them about the sparring of Uela they all looked dumbstruck. ¡°Let me get this straight that women took on six people as or stronger than our Kim? And bested them?¡± Marcus nodded to Amy, who was loosing her faith. ¡°Don¡¯t forget Uela is over 130 years old. Not only her high level but her skill and experience makes her absolutely deadly.¡± Marcus said and finished his breakfast. ¡°Thank you Marcus for this insight. The existence of the ginghi changes everything. As a clan we will have to discuss what we will do about all the news you brought.¡± Kim said with a thoughtful look.
I guess that is the point where I leave and let them discuss? Marcus though but instead the clan members walked off and a minute later he was alone with Kim. ¡°Well, when you are done eating we can go to the training room.¡± Marcus face expressed a question mark. ¡°You did not think I brought you here just to get some info from you? I¡¯m not that self centered. Last time we did not have the time to look over your second ability, Anchor was it?¡± Kim explained. Marcus had been awake for nearly 24 hours now but in this moment he was wide wake.
They entered the same training room he had seen before and Kim changed into light training gear. Marcus felt a bit naked without his armor but the chance to train and learn from Kim was worth any discomfort. ¡°Okay, based on what you told me Anchor does make it harder to move you and also somehow reduce falling damage.¡± Kim said after they both had warmed up and stretched.
¡°Show me.¡± the Korean man stepped in front of Marcus and he put Anchor to max power. Kim pushed against him, several times. At his chest, shoulders, hips and legs. ¡°Interesting.¡± was all he said and walked around Marcus and pushed him with various strengths from the back.
As Kim walked back into Marcus¡¯ sight he looked thoughtful. ¡°Please stand completely relaxed and drop Anchor.¡± Marcus did as he was told and felt like he was in a physical examination. Kim stepped to Marcus¡¯ side and used a single finger to gently push against his arm. If Kim did not look deeply concentrated Marcus would have thought he made fun of him. What was he looking for?
¡°Alright, now please use Anchor at full strength.¡± Kim said and Marcus followed.
Kim once more prodded his arm at the same point and it must have told him something, a smile grew on his face. ¡°Hohohoho Marcus, this Anchor of yours is far more interesting than you think. And I believe you might have to come up with a new name.¡± Without further explanation he walked over to a wall and pressed against a button. The wall vanished and a large shelf with various weapons and tools appeared. Kim searched for something for a while and Marcus expected some special electronic device or magical artifact.
Kim returned to Marcus with a needle. ¡°Please stretch out your arm and hold your hand horizontal. Continue to use Anchor at full power¡± The man with the needle demanded. Marcus watched the demonstration with bated breath. Kim held the needle a few centimeters above Marcus¡¯ hand and then let it drop. The needle fell and the moment the point touched the back of Marcus¡¯ hand the needle suddenly jumped up ten centimeter. Kim caught the needle and smiled to Marcus.
Marcus thought about all the things Kim had done and the weird behavior of the needle and formulated an idea in his head. And the more he thought about the more like a moron he felt. ¡°I¡¯m a moron. I should have seen that.¡± He said but Kim laughed. ¡°You figured it out?¡±
¡°Anchor, well the second ability causes some kind of counter force to external forces. That is why it is hard to push me over or why strong attacks cause damage to the attacker. There is of course a limit but¡ it acts like an invisible armor.¡± Marcus slowly put things together. ¡°And that does explain why falling damage is reduced too, your ability is at least counteracting the impact of the fall. The negative acceleration on your body is a different topic, but you are plenty tough.¡± Kim added with a wide grin. ¡°Piercing attacks would be most effective attacks against you while large blunt attacks do nearly nothing. It is an amazing ability for a tanker. If it scales well with your vitality you will eventually become untouchable for most physical attacks.¡± Kim explained and Marcus felt a strong sense of relieve. He had feared that Anchor was inferior to Impulse Hammer but that was clearly not the case. ¡°Thank you, this will help me a lot.¡±
Marcus would have to refine, no, rethink his mental picture too. Now that he understood the ability much better he would not be surprised if he could actually make it more powerful with a more fitting picture. ¡°You need to think of a new name too.¡± Kim said watching his disciple absorbing the new information and already creating plans to improve. ¡°Carapace.¡± Marcus said without hesitation.
The name came so easily to him as if it had waited all this time to finally emerge. ¡°Carapace, very fitting and sounds great, too.¡± Kim said and Marcus was happy he liked it. I¡¯m such a fan boy, Marcus admitted to himself.
¡°This reminds me. The ginghi call my class Titan and I think it fits much better than Fighter. Maybe people will adapt it in the future.¡± Marcus said and Kim laughed. ¡°Marcus once you make all this public this class will become your class and people will call it Titan, believe me. I have seen it happen before.¡± Kim said and Marcus could see some remorse in the man¡¯s eyes. Too much fame is not good, Marcus remembered.
They finished up with some light sparring and made their way back to the office. In the elevator Marcus went through the events of the day and realized something. ¡°How did Gamma actually teleport to me?¡± he said and Kim smirked. ¡°Your phone is far from trivial. Besides other small improvements it also acts as a teleport beacon.¡± Marcus took the phone out of his pockets. ¡°Then, how do I get back?¡±
Chapter 67: Campfire Talk
Chapter 67: Campfire Talk
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¡°Yes, hello?¡± Her voice sounded like crap, this early in the morning. ¡°Good morning Janette, it is me Marcus.¡±, her brain only slowly processed the sounds that came out of
Marcus did not make it back to the HQ until noon next day and as he walked into the estate he could see Achara training hard with Grace. She is already here, Marcus thought. He stopped and watched the two women and it was clear that Grace was pushing Achara hard. Basic training, sword fighting, nothing fancy but Grace seemed to have a problem with basically
¡°Oh she loves it. She finally
¡°Hungry?¡± Kou asked with a smile, Marcus
¡°I will concentrate on developing Carapace from the ground up. That also means I will need some help.¡± he explained. Grace and Janette looked far too eager to ¡°help¡±, for his liking. Besides that, Marcus was happy to see how well Grace integrated into the clan. Candis acted as a natural counter weight to the rough girls and as long as she was around they behaved quite well.
A
From her point of view she got far too much credit for the
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As the clock ticked beyond midnight they became all philosophical and Kou brought up an interesting topic ¡°What is the class you would most hate to face one on one?¡± he said. ¡°For me it is actually a
¡°Alright, I will go next to balance things. My worst enemy is a Titan.¡± Janette said and Marcus looked surprised. ¡°Really?¡± he said but Janette nodded with a serious look on her face. ¡°Right now I have still the upper hand but I can see how, down the road, a Titan becomes so tanky that I can eventually no longer kill them. Does not matter if I get all hits in, all the time, if the Titan can out tank and heal it. The only hope I have is that you never get anything that helps you move faster or better that I can kite you forever. Well until I ran out of ammunition.¡± She explained and it made sense.
¡°Now it is your turn Marcus.¡± Janette said with a smile. ¡°Well, generally there are a lot of classes that are scary but my worst enemy are those with powerful crowd control abilities, like the Spatial Mage. But on the top is definitely Onmyoji (rank 11). They are incredibly skill based but if you meet a really smart one, there are so many ways they can mess you up with their talismans.¡± Marcus said. ¡°True, have you seen that viral video some months back of that Onmyoji girl who killed the twenty level higher Berserker without as much as a scratch?¡± Grace said and they watched it just to confirm how scary that class was. With their ability to cause a wide range of effects on things their talismans touches you need to be constantly on the look out for those talismans. Miss one and you might be dead meat like that Berserker who stepped on one and was paralyzed.
Last was Achara, because Candis did not want to fight anybody ever. ¡°I don¡¯t have a singular class that I find most scary but anything that can cause large scale aoe attacks with fire I truly dread. I hate the idea to be burned and my invisibility does not protect me against it. If I ever get Phase Walk to work it would be a lot better but things like the Paladins Channel Light or the Firelord¡¯s burn effect can¡¯t be avoided.¡± Achara said and Marcus could understand that. ¡°With so many classes every class can be countered in some way. That is why we need to work together.¡± Marcus said and Janette reacted with ¡°Hear, hear, the wise words of the clan leader.¡± When the laughter died out Grace spoke up once more. ¡°Besides other classes there are of course monsters too. Have you ever heard of a double evolution monster?¡± and a lot of head shaking followed.
Grace vanished into her new room and came back with a tablet. She searched for something and finally showed everyone a picture of a terrifying monster. The closest thing Marcus could compare it too was a bone dragon from one of his old computer games. But it was not bone instead it had a skinny body made from dense white flesh, it also lacked wings. The eyes were glowing purple and it was surrounded by an air of death and destruction. ¡°That thing alone wiped out a full 20 man raid team. Everybody level 80 or higher. Happened two months ago in an underground ruin on a ghastly ice planet.¡± Marcus felt cold fear grasp his guts. ¡°Does that mean evolved forms can evolve again? How often can that happen?¡± Achara asked and Grace shrugged her shoulders. ¡°So far this kind of thing is the worst we have seen, but I would bet it is not the end of it. If class holders can become as strong as the Protector, I bet the monoliths and their creators have made things that can stand up to them.¡±
Marcus fully agreed with Grace. They often talk about how powerful a level 100 class holder was but out there were things that could rip them apart like wet paper. It reminded him of the Undead on that horse a while back. ¡°Grace what do you think about the Undead?¡± He asked. Grace thought for a moment ¡°What ever they are, they are no monsters, they are intelligent and they have purpose. From what I have heard from rumors there have been several more encounters that have not been made public and the Undead are extremely tough. According to one rumor the Chinese have actually destroyed a foot soldier type by bombarding it from long range. But they completely exhausted several level 100+ class holders and that thing was trapped at the time. So, my opinion? They are an absolute nightmare, maybe worse than the monsters.¡± And on that note they disbanded the meeting and went to bed. Marcus still lay awake for a long time thinking of Undead riding on the back of bone dragons.