"One of those camps with bad cultivators that train their students to be assassins.”
“You want to… kill someone?” Jack grimaced.
“Depends. Are you in or not?”
“I’m in if it’s to save lives.”
“That’s the idea.” Peter slapped his hands on the table, pushing himself up. "Let's go."
They walked out of town briskly, stopping in a copse. After Peter had equipped his full battle gear, adding his pants and ballistic helmet, they went on, Warping again. The ridge Peter set themselves on was half a mile away and the only vantage point. Taking a pair of binoculars, he examined the base.
The College Camp was surrounded by earthworks, trench fortifications, and watch towers here and there. It was square in shape and better defended than their camp but not as well as the CIA base. It had an Arena obelisk in the middle and four taller pillars forming a square, each sixty feet from the central totem. Their purpose was unknown. A weird flag floated on the mast. There were foraging parties outside but staying close to the base.
"What do you make of this?" Peter gave the binoculars to Jack.
"The flag is sick…" Jack said after a minute.
"Why?"
"Quebec's flag with a svastika?"
Right… they’re from Floor Two… “Pff... I thought it was some Celtic stuff again...”
“Again?”
“I saw similar signs on some ruins.”
“I didn’t think about this before, but why are they doing what they’re doing? I mean… who enjoys being that evil?” Jack asked.
“There are two big factions. One wants to use the students as an army to plunder other planets; the other wants to train them as assassins to eliminate the first. The idea is to hit key targets in both camps to make them delay their plans.”
“Who’s the target down there?”
“Either a student who killed her doppelganger’ family or the headmaster who made her do it. Or both, if possible.”
“I dunno, man… I’d say to go for the headmaster. He’s the one in charge, right? Kids are stupid and influenceable… Why are you staring at me like this?”
You mean like you? “You’re right,” Peter sighed. “I’ll Stealth and—”
“You can Stealth? Fuck, man… you must show me that training book.”
Not going to happen… Sorry, Jack, I still think you’re an idiot. No way I’ll trust you with the System.
There was no answer to his internal monologue. The System was still out. Peter was curious about what was happening back in their camp but had no choice but to continue on the mission. “OK, here I go.”
“What am I supposed to do?” Jack asked.
“Right… Here, take this,” Peter said, pulling out a sniper rifle from his inventory. “Don’t shoot unless absolutely necessary. This is just a scouting mission. You know how to use it?”
“C’mon! Biathlon champion, remember?”
“Oh, right, that’s about shooting…”
“Give me a sec,” Jack nodded, looking around and moving into a nook in the ground, on which edge he arranged the rifle.
Activating his cloaking, Peter Warped near the camp, hugging one of the wooden palisades, climbing over it, and jumping down behind a large storage tent. It was a spot in the shadows, taking less of a toll on his Mana. He had a large pool now, but still, he was convinced that it was better to be safe than sorry.
He stood there for a few minutes, eavesdropping and peeking, but there was nothing to learn. A few students in the camp, those on kitchen duty, came to pick provisions from the tent but talked about normal things: who was dating who or music. Half a dozen teachers were meditating together on a wooden platform, but none was the headmaster. Their robes showed their ranks, and none was above the Journeyman tier.
As he prepared to return to Jack, disappointed, a crackling noise aroused from the pillars. A thunder clapped in the distance, and four branches of a single lightning hit the poles. A Cultivator appeared in the middle of the base, forty yards from Peter.
“Qi message: Master Wu immediately summons all the students.”
Now that’s more like it…
The headmaster was built like a bodybuilder, with black hair and a beard. He was holding a girl by the shoulder. She was barely standing up.
“Master Wu,” one of the teachers rose and bowed. “What’s happening?”
“You’ll find in due time,” the man replied bluntly.
Soon, the students packed themselves around the central open space. They had run as fast as they could, and many panted. Most looked at the girl, whispering between them. That made Peter scrutinize her too. The student looked in her late teens, slim, almost anorexic, but with wiry muscles. Short black hair and a snake tatoo on the back of her neck.
“You wonder why I called you?” Wu bellowed. His eyes, cold and piercing, scanned the youngsters, lingering on each face as if searching for the faintest flicker of guilt.
The students shifted uneasily, their whispers rising like a swarm of insects before being abruptly silenced by the cultivator’s raised hand. “It’s because Jenni has betrayed her oath.” Wu paused, allowing the weight of his accusation to settle, the rumor of the students’ murmurs spreading like a shadow before vanishing.
“Her mission was simple,” the cultivator continued. “Kill her doppelganger and all her family. Yet, what did she do?” His lips curled into a cruel smile. “She spared the toddlers. Replaced them with dolls, thinking her deception would go unnoticed. The fool. The idiot. She didn’t realize our friends from the CIA and Gestapo analyzed every photo, every detail.” Wu’s gaze darkened. “And now, her failure will be answered.”
The cultivator hit the girl in the middle of her chest with a lightning-fast gesture. Her body fell to the ground, twitching and vomiting blood before remaining still. The girl’s core had been broken.
Hate to admit it, but Jack was right… Peter clenched his teeth.
“Prepare the straws,” the master ordered his subordinates. “You will draw lots for the killing squads. We’ll execute all her friends and family. We leave in ten.”
There was no way he would allow the killings to go on. Boiling with anger, Peter prepared to jump forward and engage the headmaster while the man had his back turned at him. The plan was simple: A Warp ending in a Phase, taking Wu by surprise, a one shot, one kill hit.
System, you’re back!
Fuck…
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“Engage,” Peter whispered, hatred rising bile in his throat. “I won’t let someone who kills toddlers live.”
Shit, I forgot I had that… Peter sighed with relief.
Fafnir’s voice sounded deep and rough. Exactly like how Peter imagined fantasy dwarves were supposed to speak. He left the tent's cover and advanced on the alley in between. The hair was raised on his head, fighting against the helmet’s interior.
“Howdy,” Peter raised a hand, trying to sound casual. Everyone froze, staring at him. "I'm Impulse, the Bounty Hunter."
"What do you want?" the Master asked, snarling like a wolf and moving into a defensive position.
"Not much,” Peter shrugged. “I took a bounty on your head. Would you be kind of sparing me the work and detach it yourself?”
“A bounty? Offered by who?” Wu frowned.
“Sorry. Confidentiality clause.”
“I’ll pull the name of the one who hired you from your dying lips,” the headmaster promised.
“The contract is only for Wu. But I’ll kill whoever intervenes,” Peter frowned at the students and other teachers. Shit, they can’t see my frown, he realized.
"Pah,” Wy snorted, flourishing a spear that appeared from nothingness. “I don’t need help to kill you. My subordinates will stay out of the fight."
"So be it," Peter said, taking out his weapon, shaped into a poleaxe, and stepping forward. On the way, he inspected the 'public'. Seven teachers—an older one had appeared from a tent—and a few dozen students. Less than forty.
The fight began in earnest. Slamming the butt of his weapon into the ground, Master Wu shot up four strands of lightning. They went each to a pillar, then joined in one sole beam aimed at Peter. His True Aura activated instantly. Its exterior shone like a plasma globe for a few seconds, surrounding Peter’s body three feet away. Thrusting his spear out, Peter gathered the electricity and threw it back at the Cultivator. It felt like using a Lacrosse stick.
Your Lightning affinity has reached the Journeyman Tier.
"Hahaha!" Wu leaned his head back, roaring in laughter. His hair was standing straight up, but otherwise, he was unharmed. "You have to do better." He raised his spear again.
A loud whistling preceded the arrival of the bullet, and one of the pillars' tops exploded. When Wu's spear hit the ground, only three lightning beams appeared. The impact was weaker, but so was the reflected attack.
"There's a sniper!" one of the teachers screamed. He erupted in flight, a direct trajectory toward Jake's location, leaving behind a white trail like a fighter jet. A bullet collected him from the air only after ten yards of flight. The projectile left a fist-sized hole in the body and continued its path, breaking another pillar.
“Mu and Lu, on the sniper. The rest: get him!" Master Wu screamed.
Everyone in the camp rushed at Peter, impeaching him to identify the two cultivators sent after Jack. It was also bad because he couldn’t retreat and help his friend. He unleashed Terravolt, but without spikes, only with mounds and holes, to knock out as many students as possible without killing them. That did the job; however, Wu remained untouched, floating in the air for the duration of the attack. Another bullet arrived, obliterating a teacher’s skull into smithereens and crashing into a pillar. This time, the totem showed cracks but remained intact.
A teacher tried to slash Peter with a sword. He dodged the swipe, grabbed the man's arm, and broke it, skewering the cultivator with his own weapon and throwing the body into the path of incoming adversaries. He then unleashed another Terravolt to get a breath. As the weapon's properties permitted, Peter changed its form into a large cleaver with a spike on top.
I have to help Jack, he thought, alarmed. However, he was surrounded, and any path of retreat was cut off. Wu started a new attack, throwing lightning bolt after lightning bolt. Peter danced off most projectiles, anticipating their trajectory from the master’s position, running for the cracked pillar. His attempt to smash it failed, his blade bouncing away.
Shit…
Another teacher hit the dust from a bullet just as he was preparing to strike Peter with a sword from behind. The following bullet slammed into Wu’s chest but didn’t do much except elicit an angry groan.
"Enough!" Wu roared. "You think you can come on my turf and challenge me?"
Almost doubling in size instantly, the headmaster instantly transformed into lightning and reappeared near Peter, grabbing the youngster in a bear’s hug and raising him. At the same time, the Cultivator enveloped himself in a sphere of blue fire. It was incredibly hot, overwhelming Peter’s True Aura. Peter’s instincts tried to Warp away, but it was impossible.
Wu sneered. "How does it feel to have your qi-channels on fire? Who sent you?"
The qi-channels were not a problem because Peter didn't even have them; the burning, choking, and inability to escape were. He tried to thrust his weapon at Wu, but the position was too awkward. Letting the blade go, he summoned his gun, discharging all his bullets into Wu's belly, adding as much Kinetic Impulse as he could.
There were fifteen bleeding holes in the Master's body, oozing blood, but he appeared as strong as before. The monster was still undeterred and intensified the heat. A red blinking HP indicator appeared in front of Peter’s eyes. His health was at ten percent. A jolt of adrenaline passed through Peter’s body.
Suddenly, Wu’s grip didn’t appear so strong anymore. Pushing his arms laterally, Peter broke from the restraint and kicked the Master twice, in the groin and in the belly, in the bullet wounds, making the hulk step back.
A scream arrived from behind. The girl who was supposed to be dead jumped like a spring and wrapped her hands around Wu’s head, covering his eyes. Strands of smoke hissed up.
Wu clawed at his eyes while stepping back further. Grabbing the girl, he threw her away like a rag doll.
Peter prepared to eat a health pill when Fafnir’s voice yelled in his head:
Wu charged at him, screaming and wobbling, and Peter rushed forward as well. The two met in less than a second. Wu’s enlarged size helped Peter duck the master’s blow. He slammed his fist against the cultivator’s chest with all his enhanced strength, adding a Kinetic Impulse. He felt the thoracic cage collapse, then a lump of resistance that broke a moment later. The core. Wu was thrown back ten feet, crashing into a pillar, which broke into dust. The cultivator’s body returned to normal size, and he fell on his knees, immobile.
<3/4 Pillars destroyed. +20% HP and MP back from the blow. Jack needs your help. You’re able to Warp from your position.>
Peter took his cleaver, Warped up, and Glided. Back on the hill, Jack was sprinting downward. A cultivator was trying to cut his path and another one to catch him from behind, albeit Jack’s speed was higher. They both threw Mana bolts, which Jack dodged like he had eyes on his back.
The immediate threat was the one in front, now only ten yards from Jack. He had a jian sword at the ready. Peter Warped next to the cultivator. The man raised his arms in surrender, but he was not in a merciful mood. The head and body parted ways a second later, and Peter repeated the move with the cultivator behind.
“Thanks, man!” Jack shouted. “But next time, leave me more bullets.”
“Wait here!” Peter yelled, returning to the camp in two jumps.
The base lay in ruins, mostly from Wu’s indiscriminate projectiles. All teachers but the oldest cultivator were dead, and as far as he could see, all except a handful of the students were alive, rushing to flee through the teleporting obelisk. No one dared to attack him. Peter had no way of knowing if the ones lying still had died because of his Terravolt or Wu’s flurry of lightning bolts, but he didn’t really want to find out.
Shit… This is not the kind of fight I wish Regina to participate in…
Peter approached the short-haired girl. She was still breathing, and he made her swallow a pill, but her body was not showing any sign of improvement.
“Thanks to your help, we prevailed. Wu’s dead,” Peter said curtly. “You fought well. I’ll take care of your family.”
The girl opened her eyes for a second, smiled, then froze, her eyes glassy, the smile still on her face. Peter closed her eyes and rose. About half of the students were still there, and he growled at them. The elderly teacher put himself in front of the students protectively.
“If I let you live, will you continue the culling?” Peter asked, trying to appear impersonal and cold, like a professional killer.
“No, Grandmaster. We’ll go into hiding,” the teacher promised, bowing with his hands kneaded together. “I was against this foolish plan from the start, but who listens to an old crippled cultivator?”
"Listen to me!” Peter yelled. “You disgust me. I know all your names, addresses, everything. If I don’t kill all of you this instant, it’s because of Jenni,” he pointed at the dead girl, whose name, in truth, was the only one he remembered. “She died a hero and defied her orders to save innocent children. Leave behind your wicked ways,” he tried to sound commanding, “or I’ll find you anywhere.”
The students looked totally terrified. Peter waved his hand, stepping aside, to signal they were free to leave. A minute later, the camp was deserted. Approaching the teleporting obelisk, he attempted to pick it up, but it was too heavy. He loosened the earth around the totem and tried to send it into his spatial storage instead. It worked. On the other hand, the sole remaining glass totem was too big to fit into the storage.
Next, he dug a trench using his powers, sending a shock into the ground. He carried the girl and the students into it, covering it up, not before taking the girl’s military tag. It had a codename on it: Cobra. Peter stored it, wishing to find out more about her history. He couldn’t care less about the teachers’ bodies and Looted those.
To Peter’s amazement, Wu was still alive. He approached the Master, cleaver in hand. The cultivator painfully turned his eyes toward Peter. A rivulet of blood and saliva came out of his mouth with his words."Too… powerful… for a Wild Mage… how?"
"Ah, that…" Peter leaned down, whispering in Wu's ear. "I have a System!" The jerk of surprise in Wu's body ended as Peter cut his head, storing it.
When he was poisoned, he could have retreated, Peter thought. That would have meant losing face, though… Elfidor was right; we can play on their weaknesses.
There were several notifications, but the one that mattered was the last.
You have slain Master Wu, rank eight. Your Lightning and Earth affinities are now Journeyman tier. You have reached level 67. +10 to Will. +5 to Constitution, Intelligence, Concentration, Charisma, and Magic Power.
The adrenaline rush was leaving, and everything ached, outside or inside. Peter threw a Health pill in his mouth, but it didn't make much difference.