The Cyborg System-Chapter 53: Bad News

The following day, Lenny awoke to a notification. He was pleased to see he had been awarded another stat point outside of the system upgrades, but was surprised to see it was in the stamina stat once again. His current stats were now:

------------------------------

[Name: Lenny Hope]

[Ability: Transmogrification]

[Strength: 16]

[Speed: 14]

[Stamina: 11]

[Perception: 8]

[Spirit: 22]

[Health: 15]

------------------------------

His stamina was still lacking compared to the others, but it seemed slightly easier to train than his other stats. He still had some way to go to match the exceptional red sashes who specialised in one area, or those with a physical enhancement ability. Still, he was well rounded, relatively speaking, with some good added durability in the mix and he was now making constant progress. Perhaps a couple more trips to the Jade Garden would be all he would need to max out his available enhancements—at least as far as speed, strength and stamina went.

There were always options for some decent weapons and armour too, once he felt comfortable taking out the prey tier beasts and really upgrade his arsenal. Still, he’d have to be careful not to be greedy by clearing the training ground. Taking too many in a short period of time would not go unnoticed. If they ended up posting guards, or other security measures, there was a high likelihood his new training ground would become unusable. Also, he had noticed that his spirit weapons did not really look like other weapons made by forgers. It was more as if they were made from beast parts than earthly materials imbued with essence.

However, the prospect still excited him. Who knew what could be unlocked with further absorption of spirit essence too? Even at present, in an emergency, by utilising his muscle stimulators and Adrenaline Rush skill, he’d be able to defend himself from strong adversaries, at least for a short period of time. For now, though, he’d just have to concentrate on improving the old fashion way: practice, practice, practice.

*

The Sanctuary Gang had agreed to meet in the canteen that morning for breakfast. They were all consuming toast or a thick porridge with mixed fruit and nuts, although Harry seemed to be playing with his rather than eating it.

Rose had seemed to be in her own world too. Eventually, however, she had broken everyone’s silent reverie. "The Drowned asked me to train with them yesterday."

Harry gave her a strange look.

"How’d it go?" asked Lenny.

"Ivy came to see me while you were in your class. She wasn’t alone either. Our whole team went to find somewhere we could practice our abilities. We carried on till draining point, then pushed some more, then did the same with our bodies while the essence recovered. I think it was quite effective."

"I don’t think I have much essence to practice my ability to begin with," said Harry, watching the oats fall off his spoon.

It was then that Lenny had an idea. "System, scan."

------------------------------

[Name: Harry Lawson]

[Ability: Earth]

[Strength: 10]

[Speed: 11]

[Stamina: 12]

[Perception: unknown]

[Spirit: 21]

[Health: unknown]

------------------------------

"Looks like Harry improved his stats too," Lenny thought. "Wait, how come I can see his spirit stat now too?"

The system chimed in: "Although you’re still not be able to accurately assess the essence of stronger opponents, as your essence has increased, you have a better awareness of weaker ones."

Lenny pondered the implications of this for a moment. If he had more essence than Harry now, that would mean he must technically be a yellow sash now too. For now, he could fly under the radar. But when they were re-graded in a year’s time, it might be suspicious if his essence was to increase too much.

"We can hide that," said the system. "Just use your Spirit Share on someone before the session and you can lower your essence reading."

Lenny smiled. "Harry, I think I’ve got an idea that could help you out. Let’s go training later."

"Sure," said Harry. "Although I’ve got Elemental Fighting too, so I might not have much strength left after.

"I wouldn’t worry about that," said Lenny with a smile.

*

"As promised," said Bob. "Today, we will be discussing the mega fortresses off-world. You might be interested to know, that the destination has been selected for your first expedition. This will be Xeno Minor, the smallest of the three beast planets, and also, the one which has been explored the most. It is by far the safest, and the Western Alliance maintains 13 such fortresses on the planet, which many other factions help us to maintain. You will likely see some of them on your expedition if you spend any length of time there.

"You might be comforted to know that, for most people, you will be hunting around Fortress One. This is very much in the centre mass of all the fortresses, the heart of it so to speak. You will be using hunting grounds with many scavenger beasts and some prey too, that the stronger ones of you or your fighting masters can deal with.

"Although there is always the chance a portal opens up nearby, the likelihood of this happening is incredibly low. Besides, forces will be available to support as required, should something go wrong."

Rose had her hand raised.

"Erm, Rose was it?" he asked.

"What do you mean ’most people... will be hunting around Fortress One’?"

"The decision has been made that those of you who are led by an indigo or violet sash will travel to the coastal areas to hunt some bigger game. It must be said that the reward for this is considerable, offering those of you effected the chance to gain many prey and even some predator tier cores. Of course, there is always the risk of the next tier appearing, which your Masters should be able to deal with."

"How sure are you of that?" asked Rose.

He gave her a strange look. "Who’s your Team Leader?"

"Ivy from the Drowned."

He nodded in understanding. "If any monster tier beasts appear, listen to your weapons masters and do as they say. As for their ability to protect you, they do not call Mr Yamamoto the Oni Slayer for no reason."

There were whispers amongst the students at that point. There were only a few hunters, even at the national level, who could take on a demon tier. Although demon tier portals were rare, they did happen, maybe once every few months. They always made the news when they did and while the national hunters would work together to take them down, the vast majority of their numbers were more effective against the large wave of monster tier beasts that would come through the portal just before. Even the leaders of the great factions would get involved for a level 5 gate. That was something that separated the Four Pillars from most of the other clans—their ability to clear a level 5 portal. In fact, the last time the leader of Les Chevaliers and their Council of Twelve had cleared a portal by themselves, the following day was declared a national holiday.

For his softly spoken voice, and moderately built stature, Mr Yamamoto represented a part of one of those elite forces from the Eastern Suns. They really had done well to get him. Bob himself had wondered what they had traded for such a warrior, even in the short term.

"Now, as for the fortress itself, you will be—" Bob began, but he was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in!"

"Hello," said the man at the door. He was wearing thick glasses and had a scrawny frame. There was a bald patch on the top of his head that he scratched nervously. "Can I speak with the salamander boy, Nicholas Pyre? It’s important."

"Please, take him," said Bob.

The young salamander stood up and left.

Although no one thought anything of it, perhaps from his general wariness of the Salamanders as a whole, Lenny couldn’t help but find this action strange. Was he getting some kind of special treatment? Perhaps there was another secret sparring session going on, although that couldn’t be the case as there was the two other blue sashes and even an indigo left behind.

"Where was I?" asked Bob. "Oh, yes, as I was saying... When you arrive at the fortress, you may be surprised by its appearance. What I would say is, building resources are somewhat limited, and we must use whatever strong materials are available...

"Anyway, if you have not already, you should seriously consider who you would like to be in your teams. Try to find complementary skill sets. Support abilities are important in these group expeditions. They do not have to be in this room, but ideally, it will be someone you know. If you are unable to provide a team, we will assign you to one. Any questions?"

There was silence in the room at first, till a boy at the front stuck up his hand.

"Yes, you," said Bob. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Will we be able to keep any cores we collect?"

"We have a rule in the Western Alliance: you keep what you kill. At least, you will each keep some of the cores you collect. We must take a portion from you, but you get to have your pick and if your group collect five or less cores, you will not have any taken from you. This ensures everyone gets a chance to get some new equipment after their first outing."

"Why would we keep hunting after 5 cores, then?" asked the boy.

"Good question. Not only will you have more cores to choose from, plus more experience fighting beasts, but we will also award those that do well with additional cores of a more advanced level. Are there any other questions?"

However, at that, the door burst open. Nicholas walked in, his eyes were pink and wet. Everyone stared at him, aware he must have been crying for some reason. As a strong ability user from one of the leading factions, one feared by many, this was unexpected, making them think something truly terrible must have happened.

Not everyone in the room was feeling quite so compassionate, however. Ben, the indigo sash with a transformation ability from the Fiends said to one of his friends by his side: "Must’ve been a lover’s tiff."

There was no hesitation, no delay or moment to process, and no chance for anyone to get in the way, simply a deluge of flames that covered the boy. It had caught him by surprise so much, that even with his high level of spirit essence to protect himself from the ability, his face and eyes had been scorched before he had the chance to protect his face or transform himself for greater durability.

"Stop!" screamed Bob, using his barrier ability to stop the flames, at least momentarily. However, it had given Nicholas the moment he had needed to cool down and realise what he had done. The skin on Ben’s face had started to melt and the room stunk of barbecued pork and burnt hair. He screamed in pain, in agony, and the screams stretched the melted skin on his face, causing more screams. Many in the room turned away, shocked by this sudden outburst.

Rose leapt across the room in an instant and began to use her healing ability on the boy’s face. In that moment, everyone realised something if they had not done previously: Don’t fuck with the Salamanders.