2024-06-20 16:59:15Jed arrived at the Earth Allied Defense Force’s Emmiton Province Base minutes after the appointment ceremony was held.
“Dude! You’re late! I thought you didn’t make it!”
A blond man with one mole under his left eye approached with a cheerful face. They bumped fists, and Jed instantly remembered who this person was.
“Ricky Mitchell, nice to see you again.”
“Are you okay? I heard you stayed in the hospital for a week? I’m so sorry about that. It was my fault. If not because of me, you wouldn’t get eaten by the monster–“
“It’s fine, Ricky.”
“Are you sure?” Ricky shifted on his feet uncomfortably, “Because if not, I’ll give you half two thirds of my monthly payment to make up for the horror and injury you suffered for the rest of my life.”
“That’s just too much.”
“I agree.”
Jed faltered at Ricky’s shamelessness.
“I mean,” Ricky rubbed the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly. “I have five younger siblings who live below my minimum wage working in the Monster Disposal Unit. I just, ugh, I’m really thankful that you saved my life, but… will you be okay to get only half of my payment?”
“Listen, I don’t want your money, okay?”
“You don’t?” Ricky was somehow doubtful.
“I have plenty of it. I think. Besides, I saved you because that felt right. I wouldn’t be able to live normally if I didn’t do anything back then.”
Ricky’s grin brightened like a light bulb. “You really are my saviour, Jed. I’m forever thankful to you.”
“Ah…”
“That’s right.” Ricky looked like he got an idea in his head. “You can order me to do anything you want for the rest of my life. As long as you don’t take my money or hurt my family. That is.”
Jed chuckled, “You’re going too far.”
“I mean it.” Ricky grumbled and spit on his hand. Then, he offered that hand for Jed to shake.
“Yeah, I’m not going to do that.”
“But that’s how Spombop sealed the holy agreement with Petrack.”
“That's a cartoon.” Jed backed one step away. “I’ll accept your gratitude if we don’t do it.”
“Okay. Deal!”
Jed sighed a relief.
But then, he heard someone scoff from behind. He turned to find Ellie Hawkins with a disapproving frown on her face. Even wearing the formal uniform, the wireless yellow headphones were still around her neck. He didn’t know they were allowed to wear such earphones in a place and time like this. Was this favouritism?
“Do you have a problem with me, princess?”
Ellie glared at him, “You’re just lucky to be here.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“Don’t think you can joke around and take things lightly after this, Hunter.”
The corner of Jed’s lips quivered, “You remember my name?”
“Of course I’d remember the soldier with the lowest synergy force in history who was eaten by a monster like a fool.”
“I’m a survivor, you better remember that, princess.”
Ellie turned on her heel and placed her wireless yellow headphones on, leaving him flabbergasted at her cold treatment.
“What’s wrong with her?” Jed asked the loyal blond.
“Dunno, man. I wouldn’t go near her when she’s that pissed.”
“At me?”
“Well, yes… considering you don’t even thank her.”
“For what? Mocking me every time I breathe?”
“Dude, she’s the one who saved you!”
“…” Jed narrowed his eyes in confusion, “Huh?”
“Did no one tell you?” Ricky sighed and face-palmed. “She’s the one who found you near the alien monster’s corpse and helped you to the medic. If not for her, you’d stop breathing from the amount of stomach liquid in your lungs.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner, you dumbass!”
After hearing Ricky’s half-hearted explanation, Jed rushed to catch Ellie. Thankfully, he spotted her bright yellow headphones in the hallway. Running after her, Jed tried to grab her shoulder, but almost got hit instead.
“Careful there, princess!” Jed ducked, grimacing at the sheer speed of her punch. If he was even one second late, his face would have an additional black and blue colour.
“Don’t sneak up on me, idiot.”
“Pretty sure my footsteps are loud.” Jed straightened himself, “Besides, how can you move so fast?”
Ellie glared, “That should be my question. How can a three percent like you dodge without a scratch?”
“Ugh, you want me to get punched?”
“I want to have a match with you.”
Jed blinked in confusion. “I’m sorry?”
“The training starts tomorrow, so we’re free today. Meet me at the training room 1G at nine.”
“B-b-but–“
“It should be impossible for you to dodge my punch just now. So we’ll have a rematch with the combat suit on. Let’s see what trick you’ll use.”
Jed gawked at her proposal, “But I just wanted to thank you for helping me while I was unconscious at the selection exam. I didn’t know about it earlier.”
“Save your thanks,” Ellie sternly stated, “Training room 1G at nine tonight. Don’t run away from me.”
It was decided.
Final. There was no way to make her reconsider it.
He was screwed.
He only wanted to thank her, but got challenged to a match with her. How wonderful.
“Dude,” the familiar voice of Ricky Mitchell made him turned. “I’m sorry to hear that, but you’re royally fucked.”
“Don’t tell me about it.”
“Not only the top three in the physical exam with the highest synergy force for a rookie, but she also scored the highest in the third exam. To be precise, she single-handedly defeated five monsters before she came to help you.”
Jed’s eyes widened, “She’s that powerful?”
“Yes.”
“Fuck me.”
“I can only give you moral support, but I doubt that’s enough.”
[Failure to use Ultimate Skill – Devouring for the next 1 hour will result in punishment.]
Jed’s heart skipped a beat. He stared in horror at the floating white and blue panel only he could see. The traumatising public punishment that happened yesterday played like a broken record in his mind.
“You okay, buddy?”
He exhaled in tremble. “I don’t think so.”
“Understandable.” Ricky paid him condolences. “I’d feel the same if I was in your position. Besides, it’d be pretty–“
“You said you worked in the Ministry of Planetary Affairs Monster Disposal Unit, right?”
Ricky faltered at the sudden change of subject. “Why are you asking?”
Placing both hands on the blond shoulders, Jed looked at him in the eye. “What I will tell you is a secret you have to bring to your grave. Can I trust you with it?”
Chest puffed, Ricky put his right hand where his heart was located. “I swear on my life, you can trust me with anything. I owe you my life, so I’ll do whatever you order me to.”
“Good. Because I need to eat an alien core right about now.”
“…”
“…”
“… what?”
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53. Unknown Potential
Ricky groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. The dim lighting of the infirmary comes into blurry focus. His body ached, a dull reminder of the events he vaguely remembered from the previous day.He sat up, wincing, and looked around the room. Several of his younger siblings were there, along with a few base personnel, all of whom seemed to be grinning at him.“Hey, sleeping beauty,” his brother Michael said, smirking, “Decided to join us again?”Ricky rubbed his eyes, confusion etched across his face. “What… what happened?”“You don’t remember?” his sister, Lily, asked, her eyes wide with excitement. “Your teammate said you took down two flying aliens. By yourself.”Rikcy blinked, his heart skipping a beat. “What? No, that can’t be right. I don’t even remember half of yesterday's attack.”“Believe it, bro,” Michael said, crossin
52. The Sniper’s Prey
“…what the hell?”As he was busy trying to figure out the control panels, Jed almost missed the moment the humanoid alien and his Draquilonis were blasted from behind. Precisely, from the ground where the base was located behind the spaceship.Like lightning, the sniper took down the humanoid alien in one shot. Something Jed dreamed he was capable of doing, sadly, he couldn’t.Seeing as the humanoid alien was killed, he thought it was safe to land the spaceship now. The large viewport in front of him showed more city lights below. He had to turn the ship towards the west, where a desolated rocky plain with no building or civilian housing was located. Nothing was there, making it a safe place to land.Jed gritted his teeth as he pulled on the controller bracelets. The spaceship thrusters roared against the planet’s gravity as he tried to redirect the ship.However, he heard a sharp crack echoed through the alien spaces
51. Alien Spaceship
[Active Skill – Molten Pierce]Jed grinned as he activated his skill.Molten Pierce took less than a second to form in his right hand. The jagged material of his Threxian Exosuit morphed into a drill with a fiery orange edge. He punched the alien’s chest with it, enhanced by a penetrating force that sent the alien through the metallic airlock.The slender humanoid alien was thrown out of the spaceship, but Jed was sure it’d still be alive. Moreover, with one Dracuilonis flew past the broken airlock to save its master. At least, this gave them enough time to do something about the nuclear bomb aboard in this ship.“Max–“Jed stopped himself, realising that he called the captain’s name. But, Max ignored him as he was busy trying to speak through his earpiece and connect to the base. “Control room, can you hear me?”He doubted it would work. The last thing Jed heard was that craz
50. Dual Blades and Warhammer
Jed’s dual swords, Noxblades, glinted under the flickering lights of the narrow corridor. His breath came in measured intervals, each one syncing with the hum of the ship’s bio-engines. Standing across, a slender humanoid alien mirrored his stance, its own dual blades that came from its long limbs shimmering with an eerie, otherworldly glow. With a sudden movement, both of them lunged. Blades clashed against blades, sparks flying as they exchanged rapid, fluid strikes. Jed’s muscles burned as he parried and struck, his eyes locked onto the alien’s unblinking human-like gaze. The alien’s movements were almost dance-like, its agility matching Jed’s Hyperreflexia, a passive skill that granted him superhuman reaction times for dodging and countering attacks swiftly. Not stopping, Jed recalled the skills that came with these dual blades. ‘Crosscut!’[Active Skill – Crosscut][CD: 59 minutes 59 seconds][Core: -500]As if his arms were moving on their own, Jed gave a crisscrossing attack
49. Stealth and Speed, He Said
Jed managed to find a small opening to the alien spaceship and cautiously stepped through the airlock.The spaceship was a massive, imposing vessel with an eerie otherworldly design. Its walls were composed of a dark, metallic material that seems to absorb light rather than reflect it. The corridor was lined with sharp, angular edges and adorned with pulsating crimson energy conduits that gave off a dim, menacing glow.The air was thick with mechanical hum, and the occasional flicker of blue and purple energy fields added to the foreboding atmosphere. It seemed that everything here felt almost organic in nature.“Alright, my awesome self, just stick to the plan.” Jed muttered to himself. “Find Max, get out. It’s all about stealth and speed. You got this.”He had less than five minutes to do that. Awesome, he said.Jed moved forward, his Sky Dominator boots didn’t make any echo as he thread inside, thanks to his n
48. Sky Dominator
[Item – Frogsbane Coil was drawn.]Jed swung the dull pink whip, snapping his wrist to make the end curl around the tailless manta ray reptile. It screeched in anger, but Jed didn’t let go. He gave a thug on his Frogsbane Coil, making him and the manta ray reptile to jerk each other.He managed to get on its back despite the flying monster’s useless roar of shockwave and struggles. Once he got a good grip on the manta ray reptile, Jed drew his right arm and shot it quickly to its thin back.The flying monster roared and roared in pain, but Jed didn’t let go. He curled his fingers on the small core located in the middle of its chest and wrenched it out. The manta ray reptile gave a final roar and its struggle ended. It dropped dead from the sky, along with Jed who couldn’t stop grinning.“Well, there’s no better time to eat a snack than now, hmm?”And so he did.[Ultimate Skill – Devour was activated.]“Damn right!” Jed laughed as he was free falling from the sky. “I better get the bes
47. Headshot
“Do you think this is enough to defeat me?”The slender monster said as its cracked face reconstructed in a matter of seconds. Its twig-like hand reached out for Jed, the four fingers spread right in front of Jed’s face. From its narrow palm, a crack formed and opened, showing a small hole.Jed barely had time to react before the slender monster shot him dead in the head.[Active Skill – Fungal Shield][CD: 59 minutes 59 seconds][Core: -100]Bang!Agony exploded through his head, and he fell to the ground and screamed in pain. His vision went dark, and for a moment, he was sure he was dead.[Alert!][Alert!][Alert!][HP: 7/100]Through the haze of pain, Jed desperately tried to call for a skill in his repertoire.[Active Skill – Regenerative Spores][CD: 359 minutes 59 seconds][Core: -400]Miniscule spores were released from the small gaps
46. Shadow Cloak
The air brushed fiercely all around Jed’s body as he tried to make sense of the monster’s strength. He had to do something before it greeted him in the sky and kicked him down to the earth.“Shadow Cloak!”[Item – Shadow Cloak was drawn.][You may activate its invisible feature at will.][However, attack initiation will deactivate its feature immediately.]A dark cloak shrouded around Jed’s body, and he disappeared into thin air.Invisible.“So I was right.” The semi-translucent humanoid monster remarked. Its slender face looked like a piece of chopped wood with a pair of slanted eyes and wide mouth, looking around it in wonder. “You absorb creatures to get their strength too. Just like me. I wonder if you can fly, too.”Jed couldn’t. It’d be cool if he could, though.The semi-translucent monster looked up at the sky, couldn’t
45. Curious Monster
[Ultimate Skill – Devour was activated.]Boooom![You have devoured Velociphron.]Something fell from the sky. A tall humanoid figure with an ominous presence that sent Jed reeling.[You received rewards as follows.]He ignored the blue and white panel that only he could see. It told him the rewards he got from devouring the humanoid monster just now. How could he, when a more menacing creature dropped from the sky, like a bad omen for a curse after he ate another alien core.Jed cautiously observed the new alien.It stood taller than Velociphron, with a semi-translucent, shimmering skin that shifted colours every few seconds. It had elongated limbs and fluid movement, like a walking serpent as colourful as a disco ball.“What are you?” It asked curiously, staring at Jed with unblinking six eyes on its face.When he locked eyes with the colourful slender creature, he felt an eeri
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