Man Of Systems

Chapter 16: Flame Bull and Frost Queen

The class spanned for four hours, at the end of which the professor dismissed them. Rael returned to his room, left with nothing else to do, carrying a batch of tonics with him while returning.

The professor had given each student ten bottles to continue practicing for the night, asking them to assemble first thing in the morning the next day. Based on the progress, it seemed he needed almost a month to complete the course.

But, that would mean he would run out of Credits. So, Rael wished to apply for other courses as well. Unfortunately, they were all part of the next step after the basics. So, unless he completed the basics, he would just be wasting his time there.

So, he didn’t take any impulsive choices, returning to his room before sitting on his bed, ‘I should continue training my Flux.’

The Flux was how a soldier varied the Plasma’s temperature, moved it around their bodies, condensed them into various shapes, etc. So, it was of paramount importance if he wished to become a strong soldier.

After training for an hour, he headed out to have dinner, crying in response as he paid one Credit for the food. It was just a basic dinner without anything fancy or nourishing, enough to satiate his hunger. If he wished to have anything with greater nutritional benefit, he would have to spend more Credits.

And in his present state, that wasn’t possible, especially since he was neck and deep in Credit consumption. ‘I think they have purposefully given 100 Credits so that it’s only enough for us to last long enough to complete the basic course. And beyond that, we’ll have to strive hard to amass more Credits.’

Sighing, he was just about to return to his room when he noticed roars from a crowd. Curious, he proceeded in the direction of the sound to see a group of people huddled before a massive theatre-sized screen, cheering as two people fought in it.

“The Frost Queen will win!” A student roared, cheering whenever the figure he supported gained an advantage.

Rael gazed at the screen, noticing a woman wearing a simple pair of blue clothes, sporting a mask that covered her face. It was green in colour, sporting golden antlers, giving her a strange vibe.

Her eyes were cold as anything she touched turned into ice.

“As if, there’s a limit to how quickly you can freeze something, unlike heating it. Heat Transfer is a major topic of thermodynamics for a reason.” A student suddenly rebutted the previous student’s cheers, “Your Frost Queen has been wasting a lot of Plasma from the start. In contrast, Flame Bull has barely expended any. He’s just biding time for her to run dry.”

Rael then focused on the Frost Queen’s opponent, seeing a bulky man wearing tattered clothes, sporting a mask that looked like a bull’s face. Unbeknownst to his bulky frame, he had condensed a Plasma Whip, lashing out at his opponent.

Anything that came into contact with the Plasma Whip caught fire, melting quickly, displaying the extent of heat condensed within it.

In response, the ice cast by the Frost Queen didn’t seem as menacing, beginning to melt under the heat as more and more of their surroundings caught fire. With plenty of inflammable fuel around them, she was indeed at a disadvantage.

There were pulses of fire around the two people as their figures flickered all over the place, causing a lot of damage. Suddenly, the Flame Bull’s Plasma Whip coiled around the Frost Queen’s left arm, tightening around as he yanked with all his strength, severing her arm.

“Why did he do that?” Rael stuttered in shock.

“You must be new here.” A student nearby laughed, explaining, “What we are seeing isn’t real. Those two are battling in VR.”

“VR?” Rael’s eyes widened in surprise, “You mean to say, this isn’t real.”

“Of course,” The student laughed, “Our Virtual Reality technology has reached a high enough level to completely scan our bodies and replicate it digitally that we can control. This is a great boon to us, since we can accumulate battle experience without injuring ourselves in reality.”

“Though,” He laughed, “To keep it realistic, everything is kept at a hundred percent realisation. So, if you are injured there, it’ll be as painful as being injured in real life. Most cannot overcome the trauma of dying in VR.”

“Then, how can they still fight like this?” Rael asked, “Isn’t that dangerous mentally?”

“You don’t have to worry about that.” The student laughed, “There is a team of doctors responsible for treating any trauma or mental injury you sustain. Even those suffering from the trauma of death in VR are fully treated in a month. And this is for F Rank Soldiers. E Rank Soldiers are more resilient than us and have a stronger mind.”

“Hah!” Suddenly, the Frost Queen shouted after losing her left arm, condensing a Plasma Spear that she thrust into the Flame Bull, enveloping his body in flames. The flames were cold, beginning to freeze his body.

In response, the Flame Bull roared, emitting a torrent of heat from his body, causing the Frost Queen’s body to melt in response.

A few seconds later, the fight came to a standstill as the Frost Queen dropped to the ground, dead. Immediately after, the Flame Bull slumped, gasping for breath, noticing a massive hole in his chest as a dense layer of frost began to form on his body. He was unable to move for the time being.

Gazing at the charred corpse before him, he muttered, “I’ve barely managed to win this time. Your accumulation in the negative degrees has improved once again.”

The sign of the match ending appeared, showing the Flame Bull as the victor. Half of the crowd cheered in response while the other half threw out mocking remarks, leaving while uttering words that their Frost Queen would win the next time.

“Is there a rivalry between the two?” Rael asked the student that had been calmly explaining to him all along.

“Of course,” The student nodded, “The Frost Queen and the Flame Bull are among the top 10 strongest in the D-Rank of our academy. There is fierce competition for the ranks since the rewards are lucrative. You’ll get 2000 Credits every month just for being in that rank, not to mention other facilities that you can use for free.”

“Those 2000 Credits are just icing on the cake, something that they won’t be using unless they wish to purchase Plasma Skills. The rest of the rewards are even better. And the higher your rank, the greater the rewards.” He said before asking, “Have you completed your basic course?”

“No, I just started today,” Rael replied.

“Then, just focus on it wholeheartedly. Don’t try anything else until you complete it.” The student said, “After that, you too can enter Arena and try your hand at the F-Rank rankings. As long as you gain a good rank, and maintain it, you’ll get rewards every month. So, it’s a great way to passively accumulate Credits.”

“Thank you for the information.” Rael thanked the student.

“No worries, man. If we ever meet on the battlefield, aid me.” Smiling in response, the student waved his hand and casually walked away.

“So cool.” He muttered unconsciously, smiling wryly as he returned to his room and began to train wholeheartedly. The fight between Frost Queen and Flame Bull allowed him to gain a better grasp of the means to use Plasma.

A simple manifestation of Plasma was in a fire. Followed by it were within lightning strikes in nature or the tube lights used by humanity. Even in its raw form, Plasma was destructive. But, when it was controlled, the might it unleashed was on another level.

“It’s not to mention the fact that Plasma’s temperature can be controlled, raising it to thousands of degrees in Celsius or even in the negatives.” He muttered, “Though, I don’t think an F-Rank soldier can achieve such prowess.”

He clenched his hand into a fist, anticipating the day when he would attain such might, “Mom, dad, just you wait. I’ll avenge you.”

He then slapped his cheeks, dissipating his rage, slowly calming himself down before continuing to train. “I only have two units of Plasma now. I neither know the method to increase them nor the means to vary their temperature…”

As he continued to list them out, he realised that he didn’t know much about them, asking his System, “System, how do I raise my Plasma?”

[There are ways to do that. You’ll learn about it in your upcoming classes]

“Fine…” He muttered in disappointment before saying, “I want to get my Quest rewards now.”

[The process would take three hours]

“Alright,” Just as he nodded, his face convulsed as Rael felt like he was sitting in a massage chair as his muscles were slowly being pressed.

An intense vibration was added to the sensation as he felt an external force pressing down on his muscles while a similar force did the same from the inside.

It was an uncomfortable situation, mildly painful as he flinched from time to time, suddenly focusing as he closed his eyes, sensing his body emitting Flux now.

And, it was way denser as compared to what he had emitted in class before. And, the Flux was actuating his Plasma, causing it to wildly circulate in his body as it dispersed, moving through him as his body heated up a little.

It was like a typhoon was forming in him as the sensation of heat moved from one area to another in his body. “What…is happening?”

[This is how the stats of all soldiers are raised. You’ll learn some basic methods for the same in your classes.]

“So, the Flux is necessary to amplify my stats too.” He muttered, still unclear as to how Plasma was capable of strengthening his body. But, it wasn’t like he was even aware of the basics yet, chiding himself to not grow impatient.

Three hours passed in such a fashion as Rael observed the way in which his Flux actuated his Plasma, obtaining a lot of insight into the process. As he wasn’t the one doing it, his mind was fresh.

And, as it was happening in his body, he was accumulating experience in the process. Finally, three hours were up as Rael got up, panting in the process as he gazed at the mirror, ‘Appraise.’

[Name: Rael Rukh]

[Origin: Wrister City (Planet: Strombus Nebula)]

[Age: 15 Union Years]

[Race: Human]

[Might: 7]

[Toughness: 5]

[Mobility: 8]

[Endurance: 7]

[Plasma: 2]

[Rank: F]

His mobility had increased by one while his endurance had increased by two. Rael was able to feel the difference, noticing that he would be able to run a bit more than before, faster. “This is awesome!”

“System, give me more Quests.”

[Only when the conditions are apt would a Quest be generated]

“And, what are those conditions?” He asked in response, only to be met with silence. Sighing, he took a seat, “Fine, I won’t ask.”

He then drank a bottle of tonic and began to meditate, focusing on his Flux as he moved his Plasma, immediately noticing the difference. As compared to before, he was able to move the Plasma faster with less effort.

Thanks to the System’s actions, he gained ample experience, now able to use it to his advantage. Excited, he continued to train, drinking the tonic from time to time whenever he felt tired.

As it revitalised him, he ignored sleep, continuing to train nonstop throughout the night, noticing that he was grasping the process better and better, also able to move the Plasma faster.

The morning of the next day, Rael regretted his actions. After all, once he had run out of tonic to sustain himself, exhaustion set in, making him wish to kick back into the bed and fall asleep immediately.

But, he couldn’t do so, for the professor had already told everyone to assemble. He didn’t wish to get a lower score due to absence, quickly reaching the class early.

He took the same seat as before, closing his eyes as he continued to meditate, increasing the range his Flux enveloped, sensing the Flux of the students whenever they moved in range, observing the quantity of their Plasma this way.

‘So, I don’t need to rely on the System for every single thing.’ He nodded, understanding the gist of things and the System’s purpose.