"Now!"
At his signal, all the soldiers rushed out of the forest, sprinting at their maximum speed. Rael could feel his heart thump loud enough that he feared it would jump out of his chest.
Before his brain could process the state of things, his body had reacted, surprising him as he actually stayed in line with his teammates.
He hadn't ever thought a day would come where he wasn't physically held back against his peers. But, there wasn't enough time for Rael to revel in this fact as cold sweat drenched his back, noticing the three Arrankars in the air had detected their presence.
Screech!
“Shields!” The captain bellowed as the battle suits of everyone spiked in Plasma, glowing bluish-white as the air around them vibrated, causing their legs to turn wobbly.
“Gah!” A soldier shouted, having been a tad late in activating his battle
“Don’t delay! Continue attacking! Drown it with your attacks.” The captain shouted, “Only D-Ranks can take down an Arrankar. Just tie it down until I’m done here!” Saying so, ripples of flames jutted out of his back as they resembled rocket thrusters. The captain’s figure flickered, vanishing before reappearing to the side of a Dynamite Glomus, condensing two long Plasma Swords that he sliced into their flesh, drawing a long line. Dynamite Glomus; they were shaped like worms, possessing a gelatinous membrane in place of their exoskeleton that can instantly harden when necessary. Due to its gelatinous nature, even when the hardened exoskeleton gets chipped, the gelatinous mixture would just seep into it before hardening. They possessed two fore lobes that acted as both arms and mandibles, their sole moving limbs. Thanks to their whip-like joints, the fore lobes were capable of moving as they pleased, also capable of
“Today, we’ll be focusing upon the last part of our lesson: blocking your Flux and Plasma.” The professor said, "Flux is something we use to sense and control our Plasma. Similarly, we are also able to control the Plasma of others to a certain extent if our Flux is strong enough.” “And, in a battlefield, you may not know what is happening.” The professor said, “So, you’ll need to protect your Flux and Plasma from being sensed or influenced by others.” “But sir, humans won’t be harming us, right? Aren’t we the only ones who can use the Flux?” A student spoke. “Utter foolishness.” The professor raised his voice, glaring at the student before asking, “Have you ever been bullied in class? Or have you witnessed bullying in school?” “Y-Yes…” The student nodded, startled upon seeing the always calm professor raise his voice all of a sudden. “Have you seen a criminal before? A
Calca Duta! Upon seeing the familiar Mauman, Rael became excited for some reason. But, just when he planned to greet her, he noticed that she was talking with three Maumans. And, there was a crowd behind them, situated a fair distance away, as if they were not worthy of mingling with them. The four Maumans seemed close, judging by how well they conversed with one another. ‘Are they the four royals that Dune said?’ Rael thought. Four days ago, a notice was circulated to every E-Rank soldier that recruitment to a Force would begin. And, it wasn’t just one Force, but four. So, everyone among the E-Ranks was excited. The notice also had a registration link to apply for a screening test. Once they passed the screening test, they were qualified to join the Force of their desire. Of course, Rael too had applied. That was also why he was spending two hours daily to gain combat
“It’s finally happening today.” An E-Rank soldier said in excitement, rushing towards a massive auditorium in the academy. “Yeah, I never thought I would have the opportunity to join a Force so early.” Another E-Rank student laughed in response, “We are damn lucky.” “Indeed, we are.” As the E-Rank soldiers muttered in excitement while moving towards their destination, those from D-Rank and above looked at the scene in envy. One of them snorted, “Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. Once the leader reaches the D-Rank, those useless among the E-Ranks would be kicked out and we would be recruited instead.” “Anyway, most of these E-Ranks are damn weak. They’ll become Garrack fodder sooner or later.” Those among the F-Ranks were even worse off, gritting their teeth at the missed opportunity. One of them shed tears, “Dammit, I have 99
Hah! Clack! Haah! Clang! Rael grunted as he hacked with a scimitar, severing the joints of the zombie until it was unable to move anymore. “Haah…dammit…why is it this tough?” In order to conserve his Plasma, he tried using the zombie’s scimitar to wound it. Even though it was difficult, he was somehow able to sever its joints. And now, he saw its twitching body that was unable to move as it was in pieces. “Damn, unless it’s burned, this bastard won’t die.” He wiped his sweat and grabbed hold of the four scimitars that it was carrying, planning to use them as weapons in his upcoming fights. This way, he could conserve the limited plasma he had. Even though he had been conservative in his Plasma use, he had already spent 20 Plasma. That was an eighth of his reserves already. And he had only killed one zombie.
The atmosphere became tense as the woman looked on the verge of cutting up Rael. But in response, Rael acted like he hadn’t noticed her actions. Because, technically speaking, she was facing his back. And thanks to Derisher, Rael was unable to turn around. Though, using his Friction Displacement, he had a clear understanding of everything, proceeding with his act as he said nonchalantly, pointing in the direction he came from, “If you walk for two hours in this direction, you’ll find a waterfall. That’s where I came from. But,” He then pointed at the five-metre-tall zombie that behaved like a pillar, “There are similar pillars along the way. Once you cross that, you’ll reach a waterfall. I’ve marked the route with arrow marks. That should help locate it.” “A Waterfall?” The eyes of Derisher lit up in response as he turned around and nodded. Two people that were in hiding walked out before hea
“Chief, we’ve managed to collect 38 Agate this time. It’s a better haul than before.” Derisher saluted, saying in response, “We’ve also located an exit that leads into a waterfall. We can obtain a steady stream of freshwater supply from there. And most of all, no zombies can come from there.” “A Freshwater supply from a waterfall…” The Chief muttered, “That’s great. With the recent influx of people, the water in our pools has proven insufficient for all our needs.” He then nodded at Derisher, “Good work out there, Captain. You can submit all the Plasma Blades for maintenance and rest for the day.” “Thank you, Chief,” Derisher said with the utmost respect before getting up, motioning for the scouts to do the same. “Who’s this child?” The Chief suddenly pointed at Rael. “A survivor we found. He was the one that showed us the route to the waterfall.” Derisher said, patting
“That’s…a zombie? It’s huge!” Rael exclaimed, tumbling onto the roof of a house as the momentum generated by his Pulsor wore off. Deriri got up with a start, turning around to see a boulder at the place where she had been just now, shuddering to think about what would have happened had Rael not saved her. She then looked at him, noticing that he was staring at the ceiling, pale-faced, trembling in fear. And…when she turned to gaze at the ceiling, she froze up. A massive zombie head was peeking through the ceiling, grinning with a humanlike semblance to it as it slowly wriggled its head, causing large blocks of the ceiling to collapse. A large piece of rock that formed the ceiling collapsed, breaking the house it fell upon, killing the people hiding within. Screams resounded as a result as everyone began to scatter in panic. “Dammit, the situation is the worst.” Deriri s