The wind in Sector 4 didn't just blow; it screamed, threading through the jagged needle-rocks of the badlands like a chorus of dying ghosts.
Xavier stood back-to-back with Mikhail, the sensors in his MK-IV Nanotech suit painting the darkness in shades of green and digital amber. His HUD was cluttered with red warning triangles.
[WARNING: MULTIPLE HOSTILES DETECTED]
[TYPE: CRIMSON RIPPER]
[DISTANCE: 15 METERS AND CLOSING]
"They're circling," Xavier said, his voice synthesized into a metallic growl by his helmet. "Mikhail, check your six. Don't let them flank us."
"I see them," Mikhail stammered, his blue-and-silver suit trembling visibly. "There's... there's too many."
From the shadows, the first Ripper lunged.
It was a nightmare of biology and mana radiation—a wolf-sized ant with chitinous red armor and forelimbs that ended in scythe-like bone blades. It moved with a terrifying, jerky speed.
Xavier didn't panic. His stats—Speed 80—slowed the world down just enough.
He didn't try to block the blade; his suit's light armor wouldn't hold. Instead, he dipped his shoulder, slipping the attack by a millimeter. As the creature sailed past him, Xavier planted his right foot, torqueing his hips.
[SKILL ACTIVE: KID DYNAMITE]
Style: In-Fighter. Range: Close.
He unleashed a short, brutal left hook to the creature's exposed neck joint.
CRACK.
The impact was sickeningly wet. The Ripper's head snapped to the side, its spinal column severed by the kinetic force of Xavier's 70 Strength amplified by the suit's hydraulics. The monster crumpled, sliding into the dirt.
But there was no time to celebrate.
"Left side!" Xavier shouted.
Two more Rippers burst from the rocks, shrieking. Mikhail raised his arm, his 19% output flaring wildly. He fired a bolt of blue mana, but his aim was shaky; the shot went wide, scorching a boulder.
"I missed! I missed!" Mikhail shrieked.
"Stop aiming!" Xavier roared, ducking under a slash that sparked against his helmet. "You have 19% output! Don't be a sniper, be a wall! Push them back!"
Xavier rolled forward, coming up inside the guard of the second Ripper. He delivered a rapid-fire combination—jab, jab, cross—to the creature's underbelly. The soft tissue gave way, violet blood spraying across his visor. He grabbed the dying beast and used its body as a shield to block a leaping attack from a third monster.
Mikhail, hearing Xavier's command, squeezed his eyes shut and screamed. He didn't fire a beam; he just shoved his mana outward.
A shockwave of blue energy exploded from his suit. It wasn't refined, and it wasn't tactical, but the sheer raw power of a 19% output was undeniable. The blast hit the three Rippers charging him, knocking them backward as if they'd been hit by a truck. They skidded across the gravel, dazed.
"Good!" Xavier yelled, throwing the corpse aside. "Do it again! Keep them off me, and I'll finish them!"
For the next ten minutes, it was a brutal dance. Xavier was a blur of red and black, weaving through the horde. He was tactical, efficient. He used the System's weakness detection to target joints, eyes, and throats. He didn't waste movement. Every step was a pivot; every punch was a kill shot.
But he wasn't invincible. A Ripper he hadn't seen slashed his thigh.
[ARMOR INTEGRITY: 85%]
"Gah!" Xavier grunted, spinning and backhanding the creature with a mana-infused fist. The suit held, but he felt the bruise forming underneath. He was fast, but there were simply too many of them.
"Xavier! Watch out!" Mikhail yelled.
Xavier looked up. The Rippers were pulling back. They weren't retreating; they were making room.
The ground beneath them began to vibrate. Pebbles danced on the cracked earth. From behind a massive spire of rock, a shadow emerged that blocked out the twin moons.
[BOSS ENTITY DETECTED]
[TYPE: CRIMSON JUGGERNAUT (ALPHA)]
[HEIGHT: 3.2 METERS (10.5 FEET)]
[THREAT LEVEL: C-RANK]
It was a monstrosity. Ten feet of muscle and plated armor. It stood on two legs, its arms thick as tree trunks, ending in claws that looked capable of tearing a tank in half. Its eyes burned with a sickly, intelligent yellow light.
It roared, a sound that popped the audio dampeners in their helmets.
"That's... that's not a Ripper," Mikhail whispered.
"No," Xavier said, his breath hitching. "That's the Alpha."
The Juggernaut charged. It didn't run; it thundered.
"Scatter!" Xavier commanded.
He dove to the right, Mikhail to the left. The Juggernaut slammed into the space where they had been standing, its fist cratering the solid rock. The shockwave knocked Xavier off his feet, sending him tumbling.
He scrambled up, raising his fists. "Hey! Ugly! Over here!"
The Alpha turned its massive head toward Xavier. It snarled and swiped. Xavier ducked, but the wind pressure alone staggered him. He tried to counter, throwing a heavy overhand right at the creature's knee.
CLANG.
It felt like punching a bank vault. Xavier's wrist jarred painfully inside the glove.
[WARNING: IMPACT DAMAGE DETECTED. TARGET ARMOR TOO THICK FOR CURRENT OUTPUT.]
"My punches aren't getting through," Xavier cursed. His 4% output, even with his physical strength, couldn't pierce the Alpha's natural plating.
The Juggernaut didn't give him time to think. It backhanded him.
Xavier didn't see it coming. The blow caught him in the chest, lifting him off the ground and slamming him into a rock wall twenty feet away.
[CRITICAL ALERT: ARMOR INTEGRITY 40%]
[VITALS: UNSTABLE]
Xavier slumped to the ground, gasping for air. His chest burned. The HUD flickered red. Through the cracked visor, he saw the Juggernaut looming over him, raising both fists for a crushing blow.
"I can't... move..." Xavier wheezed.
The fists came down.
BOOM.
But they didn't hit Xavier.
A shimmering, translucent blue barrier had materialized inches above Xavier's head. The Juggernaut's fists slammed into it, sparks flying wild.
Xavier looked to his left. Mikhail was standing there, his legs planted wide, his arms thrust forward. His silver backpack had unfolded into a complex array of mana-emitters.
"Get... away... from him!" Mikhail screamed.
His face was pale, sweat pouring down his forehead, but he wasn't running. He was pouring every ounce of his 19% output into the shield. The barrier cracked under the monster's strength, but it held.
"Mikhail," Xavier breathed.
"I can't hold it forever!" Mikhail yelled, his voice straining. "Do something, Xavier! Be the Zero!"
Xavier grit his teeth. The pain in his chest flared, but he forced it down. He pushed himself up, his eyes scanning the Juggernaut through the blue haze of the shield.
System. Weakness. Now.
The violet text scrolled rapidly.
[ANALYSIS COMPLETE]
[TARGET: CRIMSON JUGGERNAUT]
[ARMOR GAPS: NONE]
[INTERNAL WEAKNESS: THERMAL VENT (THROAT)]
[NOTE: TARGET EXPOSES VENT ONLY WHEN ROARING.]
"I need it to roar," Xavier muttered. He looked at Mikhail. "Drop the shield on my mark! And then blast it in the face! Blind it!"
"What?!" Mikhail cried.
"Trust me! Three... two... one... MARK!"
The blue barrier vanished.
The Juggernaut, suddenly meeting no resistance, stumbled forward slightly. Mikhail didn't hesitate. He switched his output from defense to offense, unleashing a chaotic flare of blue light directly into the monster's eyes.
The Juggernaut shrieked in annoyance, blinded by the flash. It reared back, opening its massive jaws to unleash a furious roar.
There it was. Deep inside the throat, the armored plating gave way to soft, glowing flesh.
Xavier didn't just run; he exploded.
[SKILL: VORTEX ENGINE - ACTIVATED]
[COMBINING WITH: KID DYNAMITE]
He sprinted toward the monster, jumped onto its knee, and vaulted upward. He was airborne, face-to-face with the towering beast
Time seemed to freeze. Xavier pulled his right arm back. He didn't just use his muscles; he channeled his entire 4% mana pool into the hydraulics of the glove, pushing the nanotech to its breaking point.
"Shut up!" Xavier roared.
He drove his fist straight into the Juggernaut's open mouth.
[CRITICAL HIT]
The impact was thunderous. Xavier's fist connected with the soft tissue at the back of the throat, discharging the kinetic energy directly into the monster's brain stem.
The Juggernaut's eyes rolled back. Its roar was cut short, replaced by a wet gurgle. The massive creature swayed for a second, then collapsed backward like a falling tower.
Xavier landed on his feet, skidding in the dirt. He fell to one knee, panting, his right arm smoking.
[TARGET ELIMINATED: CRIMSON JUGGERNAUT]
[QUEST COMPLETE: SURVIVE THE INITIATION]
The silence that followed was heavy. The remaining Rippers, seeing their Alpha dead, chittered in fear and scrambled back into the darkness.
Mikhail walked over, his steps shaky. He looked at the massive carcass of the Juggernaut, then at Xavier.
"You..." Mikhail swallowed, then broke into a nervous, hysterical laugh. "You punched it... inside its mouth? Who does that?"
Xavier stood up, clutching his ribs. He walked over to Mikhail and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Someone who has a teammate crazy enough to block a tank with his bare hands. Nice shield, Mik."
Mikhail looked at his own hands, stunned. "I... I didn't run."
"No," Xavier smiled behind his cracked visor. "You didn't."
Ping.
[QUEST REWARD PROCESSING...]
[100 STAT POINTS GRANTED]
[SPECIAL REWARD: PERMANENT MANA OUTPUT BOOST APPLIED]
Xavier felt the heat in his chest again. It was stronger this time. More potent.
[CURRENT MANA OUTPUT: 4.0% -> 6.5%]
"6.5%," Xavier whispered. It was a massive jump. He was getting stronger.
Just then, headlights cut through the darkness. The black SUV roared over the ridge, sliding to a halt near the dead Alpha. Spector jumped out, an assault rifle in his hands, ready to fight.
He stopped dead when he saw the Juggernaut lying in the dirt. He looked at the two battered cadets—one with a cracked visor, the other shaking from mana exhaustion.
Spector lowered his gun. A slow, impressed whistle escaped his lips.
"Well," Spector grunted. "Looks like you two pass."
Xavier looked at the dead monster, then at the notification blinking in his vision.
[NEXT QUEST: THE FIRST GATE]
"Let's go home," Xavier said.