- Oliver -
The st image was the massive explosion, which caused every camera to stop w. Oliver quickly switched from el to el until he found ohat was still broadcasting.
The footage required areme zoom to capture what had happened.
Still standing, the White Ranger had both arms raised as if holding up an invisible barrier. At his fiips, the faint traces of the translut shield he had projected could be seen, proteg everyone behind him, especially the Emperor. However, in front of them, all those who failed to take cover were utterly vaporized. Pieces of sers who had only been partially behind the barrier were still falling to the ground when the broadcast was finally cut off.
As the final images of the harrowi faded from the s, Oliver mustered the strength to stand. His muscles protested, still weak from his ret ordeals, but urgency spurred him on. He crossed the dimly lit room to where the waste bin usually sat. To his surprise, it had already beeied.
‘That hss... it was the same as the one from the letter,’ he thought, a knot tightening in his stomach. The memory of the cryptiote fshed in his mind: "Do not accept your award." At the time, he'd dismissed it as a prank or a vague warning.
‘As if being hunted as the Green Ranger wasn't enough,’ he thought. ‘Now there's a terrorist group involved—ohat apparently knows more about me than I do about them.’
He slowly ran his hands over his face, pressing his fingers into his temples as he grappled with the gravity of his situation. The room felt oppressive, the walls closing in as his thoughts raced.
"There's only oh forward," he cluded, taking a deep, steadying breath. "I o take step by step."
Returning to the edge of his bed, Oliver sat down heavily, the mattress creakih him. He needed a pn—something tain trol in a world spiraling into chaos. Staring at the floor, he began to map out his moves.
‘I o plete my basic training,’ he reminded himself. ‘I also o improve my synization with the Green Crystal. Without that, I won't stand a ce against what's ing.’ The memory of the armor's initial resistand the almost unbearable pain spurred him on.
‘I also have to warn Katherine and Isabel about the Sns,’ he thought, etg lines on his face. The Sns' influence ran deep, and ignorance could be deadly.
Those were his priorities—solid, aable. Yet his body had other ideas. A wave of exhaustion washed over him, a remihat recovery was still necessary.
"But for now, I o rest," he ceded. "Pushing myself won't help anyone if I colpse." His gaze shifted to the holographic dispy emanating from his wrist unicator—the was still active, data streams flowing across the translut s.
As he settled back against the headboard, he scrolled through the most talked-about threads—headlines and entary passed by, each more distressing tha. The Empire was a tinderbox, and someone had just lit a match.
"The audacity of the Children of the Past..." oicle excimed, detailing the terrorist anization's brazen attack during the award ceremony. Specution ran rampant—who were they? What did they want?
Ahread focused on the Republic of Encedus, the breakaway fa led by Mordred Lot. Debates raged in the ents, loyalties fracturing along ideological lines. In every discussion, the on thread was clear: division.
"Feelings of separatirowing," Oliver noted grimly. The Empire's unity was unraveling, and threads were pulling apart to reveal the stark realities beh.
‘The Nameless already didn't feel like part of society,’ he reflected, ‘Now they'll be even more ostracized. And the ists have ruly been seen as part of the Empire, yet now they're being branded as traitors.’
He shook his head. The Empire's enemies were multiplying, both externally and internally. And he was caught in the middle.
Notifications blinked softly on his gau—messages he'd missed over the past few weeks.
| Blight Killed: 200 Experieained
| 10 Orks Killed: 1000 Experieained
| Red Ork Killed: 1000 Experieained
"None of those Titans I attacked ted as a kill?!" Oliver muttered. "Damn it. They regeed way too fast."
He navigated to his status page, the familiar interface materializing with a soft chime.
| Status Page| User: Oliver [Nameless]| Level: 4 [Knight]| Experience: [2286/800] [Click to Evolve]| Credits: 11.260| | Stats| Strength: 7 [Pawn] [Buy for 400 Exp] | Agility: 19 [Knight] [Buy for 200 Exp]| stitution: 6 [Pawn] [Buy for 400 Exp]| Energy: 23 [Bishop] [Buy for 1600 Exp]| | Boons| Insight [Knight][Growth]| [Use 800 Experience Points to Upgrade]|| Observation [Knight][Growth]| [Use 800 Experience Points to Upgrade]|| Left Eye of Learning [Knight]|| Right Eye of Secrets [Knight]|| Glitches| [Too Muformation]| [As long as I see]| [A Timed Power] - [Only when using the Green Crystal]| [Our Secret] - [Only when using the Green Crystal]| [Oliver the Battery] - [Only when using the Green Crystal]|| Skills | Ranger on Handling [Knight]| Robot Maintenance [Pawn]| Mecha Repairing [Pawn]| Mecha Piloting [Pawn]| Energy Perception [Pawn] || Teique| [Language] Orkish | Progress: 32.14% | [Language] Elvish | Progress: 0.01%| [bat] h Army Style | Progress: 10.51%| [bat] Imperial Ork Style | Progress: 0.06%| [bat] Prometheus|| Ranger on| Energy Pistol| Twin Daggers
‘It's the first time I've had this much experience,’ he mused. ‘Makes it harder to decide what to improve.’ His eyes flickered over the options, reading them multiple times as he weighed the potential paths. Each choice could signifitly impact his future, and he couldn't afford to squahis opportunity.
Before itting to any upgrades, he recalled the pending reward notification he'd received before. ‘Better to see what that is first,’ he thought. ‘No point in spending experiehout knowing all my options.’
With a mix of anticipation and caution, he pulled up the alert.
| Oh! You survived?!| Defeat a Red Ork| [Click to Redeem]
"Just don't let it be a Boon Level Up," he hoped. "It's better to get those when they're more expensive." He remembered how Booed in cost at higher levels.
He tapped the prompt to redeem his reward. The interface shimmered, transitioning to a new s that presented him with a set of choices.
| Select your reward| 1. A at| 2. A New Skill| 3. A Neon| 4. Improve your Sync
When Oliver saw the four options, he felt a surge of uainty. All of them were valuable in their ht, and choosing the ohat would be him the most required some sideration.
"A neon?" he muttered, shaking his head. ‘I just got the Twin Daggers—they're perfect for close bat.’ The bdes had already proven their worth in the heat of battle, their band cutting power plementing his fighting style.
"Improve my synization..." He pohis. His sync rate with the Green Crystal was still critically low, causing him a whole lot of issues. "That could be useful, but it doesn't say by how much. If it's only a 1% increase, it might not be worth it."
He gnced back at the remaining options. "So, a at or a new Skill."
Skills were tempting—new abilities could open up different strategies and bat teiques. But he'd been able to learn skills through training and practice without too much hardship.
"A skill doesn't seem as valuable right now," he reasoned. "Unless it's a Boon, something superhuman. But I've mao pick up new skills on my own."
He focused on the first option. "A at... That could enhance my overall abilities, maybe even unloew possibilities."
The decision crystallized in his mind. "Let's try a at," he cluded.
| Thinking …
"Are you sure?" Athena's voice resonated in Oliver's mind, clear and melodic yet edged with hesitation.
"Of course. That will make it even more iing," unnos replied fidently. It was as if Oliver could hear him speaking into his other ear, the trasting tones of the two voices creating a surreal stereo effect.
"Okay. Just wao firm," Athena ceded, her tone suggesting she was relut tue further with her terpart.
A new notifiaterialized on Oliver's HUD.
| You have obtained…| Myth
"Myth?" Oliver muttered aloud, eyebrows knitting together in fusion. He didn't uand what he'd just received.
| Stats| Strength: 7 [Pawn] [Buy for 400 Exp] | Agility: 19 [Knight] [Buy for 200 Exp]| stitution: 6 [Pawn] [Buy for 400 Exp]| Energy: 17 [Knight] [Buy for 1600 Exp]| Myth: 0 [No Rank]
‘Zero, and there's no option to purchase? What am I supposed to do with this?’ Oliver thought, fusion creeping into his mind. The stat was there, but its purpose was obscure.
In an attempt to get any hint about it, he tapped oh stat. As with other aspects of the system, a new windoened with some text that was supposed to help him.
"Those who walk uhe light of legends do not tread on paths. Myths are the invisible bonds that unite mortals with a gods and fotten heroes. Uheir influehe bearer transds the limitations of the mundane. Each step echoes like thunder in the halls of fate, and each word resonates like ts iernal choirs. Only the chosen or the foolish dare to carry the weight of a Myth. In their hands rests the power to write new legends."
Oliver read and reread the passage, but uanding remained elusive. "So this will... remove my limitations? Allow me to write a new legend? What does that even mean?" he asked, frustration bubblih the surface.
He gnced around, half-expeg Athena or unnos to offer further expnatioe having heard their voices just moments ago, her of them seemed ied in guiding him on how to use this at. Their silence was as enigmatic as ever, leaving him to fathom the mystery on his own.
"Ah!" Oliver sighed deeply, rubbing his temples. "Doesn't seem like I wasted the reward, but it doesn't look like it'll be very useful right now."
He took a moment to pose himself, pushing aside the enigma of the Myth stat. There were other pressing matters at hand—things he could trol.
A glint of determination sparked in his eyes. "Well the's go on a shopping spree!" he decred, uo tain his eagerness.
| 800 Experience Points deduced| Observation upgraded
| Observation [Bishop][Growth]| [Use 1600 Experience Points to Upgrade]
‘Observation will be valuable,’ he thought, firming the purchase. ‘I'm fag stronger oppos more frequently.’
| 800 Experience Points deduced| Insight upgraded
| Insight [Bishop][Growth]| [Use 1600 Experience Points to Upgrade]
| Insight - Failure Odds [Updated]| Minor Brain Injury [10%]| Traumatic Brain Injury [30%]| 7 Days a [30%]| 30 Days a [20%]| Partial Memory Loss [9%]| plete Memory Loss [1%]
"At least a bit better," Oliver murmured with a hint of relief.
He leaned back, running a hand through his hair. His gaze drifted to the [Left Eye of Learning] Boon. ‘It's a pity I 't improve the [Left Eye of Learning],’ he mused. ‘I 't use it more sistently due to the excessive fatigue it imposes on my body, not to mention the Energy ption.’
| 400 Experience Points deduced
Like the st time he upgraded his stats, a massive six-sided die materialized before him, floating in mid-air. It spun rapidly, the numbers blurring together, before finally settling on the number 4.
| Stats improved| +4 points in stitution
A warm sensation coursed through his body as his physical resiliencreased. He stretched his arms, feeling a newfound stamina.
He tinued scrolling through his stats, pting his move. His remaining experience points were dwindling, but he knew holding back wasn't an option. ‘I still have 286 points. Now's not the time to save,’ Oliver decided. ‘You never know what the mission will be. Even low-risk assigs seem to turn into high-stakes ones when I'm involved.’
"Only Agility remains," he thought. "But it'll still be handy."
Once more, the enormous die appeared. It rolled and came to a stop on the number 3.
| Stats improved| +3 points in Agility
| Stats| Strength: 7 [Pawn] [Buy for 400 Exp] | Agility: 22 [Bishop] [Buy for 400 Exp]| stitution: 10 [Knight] [Buy for 1600 Exp]| Energy: 23 [Bishop] [Buy for 1600 Exp]| Myth: 0 [No Rank]
‘My sed stat at Bishop level,’ Oliver grinned, pleased with his adva.
GCLopes
