Ch. 3: Tedious Training
The sun was bright overhead, if not blinding. There were crowds of people moving in and out of the markets of Henesys, as busy as ever. In the masses of people, an Assassin and Cleric, both female, somehow managed to move through the living labyrinth.
"Uh," muttered the Assassin as she fingered the Steelies in her pocket that she had recently found from a Red Drake, though she had no intent to draw them. "I've never seen so many people in Henesys at once in all my life."
"Then why aren't you using Darksight and Haste and get out of this mess?"
"It was your idea to not use any skills, to 'conserve mana and energy'."
"Actually," replied the Cleric. "It was you who told me not to use teleport. You said that you wouldn't be able to catch up to me, even with your crappy haste."
"Crappy?!"
"Yeah. I could teleport right out of this mess if it wasn't for you."
"Just wait till I get flash Jump," retorted the Assassin. "Then we'll see whose skill is 'crappy'."
"Hey look!" someone shouted. "A hot Cleric and Assassin!" Everyone stopped moving and turned their attention to the pair. The two of them froze as well.
The person who drew attention to the two gave a loud whistle. Trying their best to ignore the stares and whistling of all the males, they continued walking in the general direction to Ellinia. "I'm going to get Mystic Door as soon as I can," the Cleric muttered under her breath.
When they finally got out of the crowds and reached the dense growth of trees, the two resumed talking.
"I remember you used to get a lot more attention back then when you wore the Red Night Shift set and the Red Qi Pao, Evelyne." The Cleric said, looking at Evelyne's Mantis set.
Evelyne twirled one of the Steelies on her palm and, looking at her Dark Requierre responded "I remember when you wore the Fairy and Amoria sets. You drew so much attention that it was almost impossible for me to see you, Celina, even with your ridiculously bright blue hair."
Suddenly there were the sounds of Lupins screeching as several bananas were thrown at them. Celina whipped out her Evil Wings fast as lightning, dodging the projectiles, commanded "Shining Ray!" as the whole place was illuminated. When the blinding light disappeared, all the Lupins had fallen dead. Satisfied, the Priest—Cleric no longer—sheathed her staff. Turning to Evelyne, she said "You really need to work on your reflexes. Are you going to become a 'dexless' Assassin? Or Hermit, for this matter?"
Evelyne rolled her eyes. The she said, "Speaking of dex-less… remember about the one guy I told you about?"
"Yeah," replied Celina, as they continued walking. "I'm pretty sure he's getting on everyone one's nerves."
"Well, he's gotten a lot on my nerves."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, recently I just saved two guys—a Warrior and a Crossbowman—from him. At Pig Beach."
"Were they cute?" Celina asked, suddenly interested.
Ignoring her friend's question, she said, "The Crossbowman was—different.
"So he was a lot cuter than the Warrior—or anyone else you've met before?"
"Celina, stop talking like that."
"C'mon, Evelyne. I've known you for years. I know your personality. You would've traded dolls for boys when you became eleven years old."
Finally reaching the dock at Ellinia, the pair realized the ship for Ossyria had just left. The two sat down on a bench and waited for another ship to arrive.
"Well," said Evelyne. "When I saw one of the Crossbowman's hands, it had a strange glove on it."
"Glove? You mean he had a Stormcaster?'
"No. It didn't really seem like a glove. It seemed more like… a claw."
"A claw? Are you sure you weren't hallucinating or something? Or maybe your eyes were playing tricks on you."
"Celina," Evelyne said exasperatedly. "I'm an Assassin. I wear claws. I've seen them nearly all my life."
"A Crossbowman…with a claw. That is strange. Maybe he's a prodigy or something?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Celina." But even before all four words completely left her mouth, she began to doubt herself.
"He seemed pretty nice," Evelyne added.
"And probably cute, too."
"Celina," Evelyne said, giving her a serious look. "I think you're the one who would've traded dolls for boys when becoming eleven years old."
Celina gave her a knowing wink and said, "I am four years older than you," just as another airship that was to head for Ossyria arrived, and the two boarded it.
-X-
"You want me to do five dozen push ups just when I've just finished running a dozen laps?!" Phil asked Agent Marco as he wiped sweat off his wet forehead.
"You can do it. You've leveled up faster than anyone I know. Probably faster than anyone in history."
"You're just saying that so you can make me do more exercise," muttered Phil as he began doing pushups.
"Believe me when I say my words of encouragement."
"Why am I doing this, anyway?"
"To prepare you." Agent Marco replied simply.
"Prepare me for what?"
"The future."
"What will…happen…in…the…future?" Phil grunted.
"Nobody knows."
"What if…nothing…happens?"
"Then nothing will happen."
"Then all this will be a waste of our time!" Phil said, finishing the push-ups.
"As they say, 'The pride you gain is worth the gain.'"
"Who said that?" asked Phil as he dusted himself.
Agent Marco didn't reply. Instead, he said "That's enough for now."
"For now?! You mean there's going to be more exercise later?"
Agent Marco nodded. "Go rest up. There's going to be something else for you later. And it's going to be fun."
"Fun?" Phil plopped himself on a nearby chair.
"Oh, and here, take these." Marco fished a number of pills out of his pocket. It didn't seem like any of the Mana Elixir Pills, Warrior Pills, Sniper Pills, or any other pill Phil had seen before.
"Why?"
"They're vitamins," he replied. "They'll be good for you. Boost your energy. Restores your body's stores of electrolytes and everything else."
Phil had no idea what "electrolytes" were, but took them anyway.
On an impulse, he asked "Tell me more about the Agents."
"Very well," said Agent Marco. "As I have already said, they were the guardians, known for their strictness, loyalty, and secretiveness. They were extremely esoteric."
"Secretiveness? Esoteric?"
"Oh, yes. They were a secret organization. Nobody outside the organization knew about them. Nobody knew they even existed. Not even the leaders. You know how there are all those fairy tales?"
His listener nodded. "You see," continued Agent Marco, "Most of it is all sham. At least, the stories were. Many of the heroes really existed. They had most of the abilities that were described in the stories. The monsters and demons, most of them were real as well. However, you could bet that the heroes didn't kill the monsters all by themselves."
"A lot of the time, a hero would be seriously wounded at one point or another. That is when an Agent would come in, do whatever needed to be done, and disappear. Heard but not seen—and sometimes not even heard at all—would do their duty, and return to one of the HQs."
"HQs? You mean there used to be more than one?"
Agent Marco nodded. "There used to be hundreds, perhaps even thousands, dotting the Maple World. All were unknown to the outside world. There is a reason why this place is called the Omega Sector. It is—or was— known as the last HQ and refuge for the Agents."
"How many Agents are there right now?"
Agent Marco gave a long sigh, and replied, sadly," I am currently the last of the Agents."
"You're the last one?"
"Yes. The Agents are bordering on being extinct." For a moment, Phil thought he saw a tear run down Agent Marco's cheek. "That is why you are so important. To me, to everyone—even to those who don't even know about the Agents."
Phil finally understood. All the past, tedious training was for a reason. That was why he had been so hard on him. He wanted him to be the best there is, not just doing it for his own entertainment. He wanted to ensure there was heir to the Agents, to carry on the legacy. If he passed away, there would be virtually no one to train new Agents. General Maestro and Jr. Officer Medin might be able to take his place, but it wouldn't be the same. Nothing would ever be the same. And he would now understand the harsh training that was to come in the future. Marco was doing all this for a reason. And a very important reason.
Agent Marco continued with his speech. "Most of the 'blinding light' or holy ray or something similar that saves the hero or heroes was usually the work of Agents." Standing up, he said, giving Phil a firm look, "So now you know. Go rest up now."
"I hope no Crimson Balrogs come," said Evelyne, starring up into the sky. She looked around nervously for a black ship with spikes that would signify the arrival of the beasts.
"You always say that," replied Celina. "And no Crimson Balrogs have ever appeared."
"That's why I'm saying it," Evelyne said. "So no Crimson Balrogs will appear."
Suddenly, the sky began to be filled with dark clouds. There was a flash of lightning, though, thankfully, was nowhere near the ship. Heavy rain began to fall, and the two rushed inside.
"But pretty much every time you say that, it begins to rain."
"I guess," replied Evelyne.
"You guess?! Look here," said Celina, pulling out a piece of paper. "See, I've recorded the number of times that this has happened. Every time you said that 'I hope no Crimson Balrogs come,' 99.9 percent of the time, rain comes. And out of the 99.9 percent, 36 percent of the time a mild storm came with it. Like this time." Smirking at Evelyne, she added, "though thankfully, none of the times lightning has struck blown up the ship."
"Well, at least a little rain is better than having a bunch of freakin' Crimson Balrogs fly around the ship and send black spheres of energy at you," retorted Evelyne.
"But remember: 99.9 percent of the time it began it rain."
"We haven't even been on this airship a thousand times," mumbled Evelyne.
"Nice calculating."
"I'm not stupid. You think that you Magicians are the smartest people in the world. You people think that all the other classes are inferior in intellect. Well, how do you think us Rogues get our reflexes and agility? And anyway, you can't get 99.9 percent unless we've done this a thousand times, and 999 times it rained.
"I rounded the numbers."
"You can't round percentages like that!"
"Who says so?" Asked Celina as the sound of rain hitting the roof began to increase.
"Magicians…" muttered Evelyne under her breath.
-X-
"Ahh, you're back." Agent Marco said to Phil.
"Yeah, I'm back. What do you want me to do now?"
"For now, I feel like it is time for you to learn Martial Arts—fighting without a weapon. I do not want you to be cornered without a weapon and have no way to retaliate."
"I can already fight without a weapon, can't I?" He then performed several Flash Fist attacks, a Somersault Kick, a Backspin Blow, and a Double Uppercut.
"Yes," replied Marco. "Those moves were certainly part of it. However, it is time to get into more sophisticated fighting of that kind, and also types of attacks that require little to no mana."
Phil looked around, and then nodded. "Okay. So what do I need to know?"
Agent Marco told him. Phil spent the next three hours training relentlessly on everything Agent Marco told him, resting for only a minute or two before resuming training. After about the second hour, Phil was so absorbed in his training and dreams of becoming a martial arts master that he had completely forgotten about Agent Marco or anyone else.
"Feet apart, Center of Gravity low, Marco had told him."
"What?"
"It is the average location of the weight of an object. If it exits its base, then it will topple over. This goes for any object. If your Center of Gravity is low, and you have a large base, the harder it will be for someone to push you over."
He showed him the stance.
"Now I want to see you punch."
Phil punched the air.
"That's good," he said. "But you must keep that arm firm in case someone hits you from that side. That way, it can serve as both an offense and a defense.
Agent Marco had moved over to where General Maestro and Jr. Officer Medin were a few minutes after Phil had begun practicing.
"He learns fast, doesn't he?" Agent Marco asked General Maestro and Jr. Officer Medin.
"Indeed. Faster than anyone I've ever known," replied Jr. Officer Medin.
"He seems to be able to learn things in hours that would sometimes take others days."
Agent Marco turned around to take a glance at his student. Phil was doing number of backward double-somersaults in quick succession, and then continued with doing several high kicks. He finished with a chain of cartwheels, and then stopped to rest for a moment. After taking a quick gulp of a Mana Elixir, he returned to practicing anything and everything he was told and was taught, punching and kicking the air at every angle he could.
After another hour of training by himself, Agent Marco went over to him and said "I think you should stop for now."
Phil, who was in the middle of practicing standing on his hands, gave his teacher a strange look.
"Now?" he responded, still upside down.
Marco nodded, as if everything was normal.
Phil suddenly lost his balance and landed flat on his face. He quickly got up and brushed himself of any dirt that had gotten onto him.
"I think you should go back to your room for now."
Phil reluctantly obeyed, and headed back to his room.
"Well, I think it's time for you to out and test the skills you've learned." Agent Marco said to Phil when he came back out. "You seem competent enough in Martial Arts for now.
"Against what?" Phil asked.
"Why, the aliens, of course."
"Already? Uhm, Sir, what level are they?" Phil asked nervously. In fact, he had the word "nervous" written all across his face.
"Well, the weakest one, the Mateons, are level 66."
"66?! So you want me to fight a monster that's more than 20 levels higher than me? I'm only like, 41..."
"Actually, you're 45, to be exact."
"They're still more than 20 levels higher than me."
"You can do it. I have confidence in you."
"What if they kill me?"
"I would never let anything kill you," replied Agent Marco. "Look. I'll be out there with you in Off-Limits. If any of the monsters overwhelm you, I'll be there to save you. Besides, we need more of the Mateon tentacles for research."
Phil replied with a long sigh, and then said, "Alright. What weapon do you want me to use?"
"Whatever you want. Use what suits best."
Phil went to his room and grabbed the Traus along with the Steel Tower Shield, got the Hall Staff, Lunar Shooter (with Split Bullets, of course), and Heckler. On an impulse, he grabbed the Bazlud and a dozen Steelies too—he figured they were small, and didn't weigh much either. Looking around to see if there was anything he missed, he turned and dashed out. The total weight of the equipment wasn't as heavy as he thought they would be.
"Invisible Shot!" A salvo of bullets was launched across the grass of Off-Limits, striking and penetrating a handful of Mateons. He was in the middle of the area, allowing him to shoot in all directions. Seeing another handful of Mateons crawling towards him, he aimed and the closest one and shouted "Recoil Shot!" as he slid backwards across the grass, giving him more space to maneuver. He put away his Lunar Shooter and unsheathed his Heckler.
"Arrow Bomb!" An arrow flew across the plain and exploded forcefully against one of the Mateons, stunning it and several of the others near it.
"Final Attack!" he shouted, as he launched another arrow at the weakened and stunned Mateons, killing them all. He rushed over and cut of the tentacles from the dead aliens. He was extremely glad that he wore gloves (even though they were just plain Work Gloves) as he watched the purple slime run down his gloves. Just killing one Mateon would yield 8 tentacles; 3 Mateons would yield two dozen tentacles. The tentacles he had were accumulating fast. He lifted his Heckler once more, practicing using a Bow's skill on a Crossbow, and shouted "Arrow Bomb!" The attack stunned another group of aliens. He quickly finished them off with a series of Double Shots.
His white Work Gloves had literally become purple Work Gloves by now. It was now becoming hard to hold the bow steady, but, as Agent Marco had told him before, life wasn't always easy. Despite the circumstances, however, he found himself smiling. True, the monsters had their own long ranged attack, which was a nuisance, and in addition to that was the slime from the tentacles, which was also annoying, there was a certain satisfaction to killing the creatures and counting the number of tentacles he had accumulated. After all, the tentacles would allow the scientists to further advance their studies, right?
"You're doing very well," encouraged Agent Marco, several yards behind him. Phil looked at his Heckler. His Crossbow also began to be covered with the slime as well. He lifted his weapon again to aim at the monsters, but just as he was about to fire another bolt, his hand slipped. One of the aliens took the opportunity and, aiming its ray gun at him, fired. The attack hit him on the chest. Luckily, his armor absorbed most of the damage, but he stumbled backwards. Phil was about to throw two of his Steelies at the alien, but instead Agent Marco took over. True to his word, Marco dashed out and, lifting his own weapon, muttered "Rapid Blast." A series of light beams, unlike the aliens', was fired at the Mateons. Although Agent Marco did "save" him, he seriously overdid it. The speed of the attack was so fast, faster than Hurricane, that it seemed like a single line. Not only that, each beam created a massive explosion upon impact, whether it impacted against the ground, an alien, or something else. The explosions were bigger, brighter, and more powerful than Phil's own Arrow Bombs. In seconds all the aliens were destroyed. And it was not only the ones that Phil was about to attack. The entire place, all of Off-Limits, was completely ridded of the aliens. The few survivors scurried off in fright, some to the Boswell Field, and others to the Kulan Field (which the Grays inhabited.) Phil stared in disbelief of the power of his teacher's weapon, and the power of the attack, able to do so much, and seemingly used with minimal effort. Is that the power of an Agent?
Agent Marco looked around the empty area and smiled sheepishly. "I guess we can stop the training for now. The Mateons will come back in an hour or so. They aren't too smart, and won't recognize us. Much." Looking at Phil's pack, he added, "Besides, it looks like you have enough tentacles for the time being."
Agent Marco gave a waving motion, signaling for them to return to the Omega Sector. Phil followed him. After they had fully left Off-Limits, the electric wall was turned back on.
-X-
"Tell me again why we came to Orbis' Cloud Park V." Evelyne asked Celina as she threw another pair of stars at a Luster Pixie.
"So we can trade the items with Staff Sergeant Charlie for good stuff. Magic Claw!"
"For example?"
"We might get a Scroll for Cape for Intelligence with a 60 percent success rate." Celina responded, licking her lips at the thought of that award.
"That's only useful to you," mumbled Evelyne. "Lucky Seven!"
"We might also get a set of Icicles or Maple Throwing Stars." Celina added.
"If we want those, we're going to need to hunt a different set of monsters," replied Evelyne dryly, glancing at Celina as she said it. "I'm not stupid, you know."
At that very moment, Evelyne was hit on the head by the light from the wand of a Pixie, and staggered backwards. Celina immediately teleported over to her and cast Heal. As the green aura covered the Assassin, she could feel her friend's healing powers soak into her.
Rubbing her head as she got up, Evelyne said to Celina, "You can stop healing me every time I get hit by something. I'm not a baby anymore. Besides, I know Drain as well."
"Oh, shoot. I haven't learned Dispel yet." Muttered Celina. Evelyne turned around and realized that the "Pixie" that had hit her was a Luster Pixie, and it was quickly casting its spells over an entire mob of Lunar and Star Pixies. Celina shouted "Shining Ray!" but the attack had little effect on the Pixies' improved magic defense. The mob of Pixies was now coming right after them, with dozens of light being fired at them. Celina turned to Evelyne as she shouted "Bless!" Evelyne sighed as she leapt forward and, with a shout of "Haste!" she began to furiously hurl stars and knives at the hat-wearing monsters. She was ubiquitous, dodging, leaping, and twisting every which way, avoiding the spells of the Pixies, whom had their attention all focused on the Assassin, and completely forgot about the Priestess. The Luster Pixie, who had originally powered up the mob, had somehow managed to survive the storm of metal and got extremely close the Evelyne. Picking up a Shinkita dropped by a Lunar Pixie, she finished it off with a shout of "Double Stab!" The moment the Luster Pixie was killed, she felt a surge of energy that indicated that she had leveled up.
"That was fun!" giggled Evelyne as the two started collecting all the items that the Pixies had dropped.
"How do you know Double Stab?" asked Celina, ignoring her previous statement as she scooped up several Moon Pieces.
"Well, at first I wanted to be a Bandit," replied Evelyne. "But you know what? I realized I didn't want to go stealing other people's stuff. I found it to be revolting. I also didn't want to spend the time to walk up to each of the monsters to kill it, even though Assaulter and Boomerang Step sounded good on paper. And it would be cool to strike a monster so many times with Savage Blow. But I wanted to save that time by just being able to kill the monsters from a distance. Besides, the term 'Assassin' only sticks with me for one job. The term 'Bandit' stays for two."
"Evelyne, you are weird."
"Well, the bottom line is, I wanted to become a Bandit at first, but then changed my mind. And ta-da! Here I am now." She twirled a Steely on her palm to add to the effect.
"I knew you even before you became a Thief—"
"Don't use the term 'Thief'." Evelyne cut in, slightly annoyed. "Use 'Rogue'. It's got two meanings, and I like to think of the better one. Or at least, the slightly better one."
"How come I never knew about this?" asked Celina.
"I dunno. Maybe you were off in Ellinia trading your dolls for boys."
Celina muttered something under her breath. "Hey," said Evelyne. "You're the one who brought up the idea." Celina quickly turned her attention back to the items they had collected and said, "Hey, I think we have enough Luster Pixie's Sun Pieces for exchange!"
"Very well. I guess I don't need anymore experience for now. Let's see what you get."
The two left Cloud Park and returned to the general area of Orbis. Finding Staff Sergeant Charlie, they turned in the items. To both of the girls' astonishment, they got the scroll Celina had wanted. As soon as the two had left his sight, Celina was so ecstatic that she began jumping up and down, shouting "Yes! Yes! Yes!" the entire time.
Celina quickly applied the scroll to her cape. However, to her horror, the scroll blew up in front of her face, the tell-tale sign that it had failed. Evelyne fell down laughing, clutching her stomach. Celina was lost for words, as she stared at her now empty hands. When Evelyne finally got back up, she giggled and managed to utter a "Too bad," grinning the whole time. Celina didn't know whether to be surprised, angry, or somber. All she could was to stare at her hands where the scroll once was.
"C'mon," Said Evelyne, waving her Shinkita. "Let's go back to Cloud Park and see if we can find more stuff from the Pixies.
Celina finally managed to utter "It was sixty percent!" She still couldn't believe it had failed.
"Hey. You still have to remember the other forty percent. I thought you were some sort of mathematical genius."
Celina sighed, and then followed Evelyne to the Pixies.
"Ground Smash!" A shock wave of energy traveled across the rocky grounds of Perion. The monsters hit by the force were killed instantly. Behind the attack was a warrior, carrying a sword and a shield; a Neocora and a Silver Legend Shield, to be exact. He wore a Dark Orientican set, Blood Camel Boots, a Red Oriental Helmet, and a Dark Clench, with a Black Magic Cape following him. The Warrior moved quickly along, so fast that one could have mistaken him for a Bandit with and unusually long dagger and shield. He was clearing out whatever monsters got in his. Evidently, he was not training on them. A Fire Bull came charging at him, but he didn't flinch. He didn't even block. With a shout of "Power Strike!" he extinguished the monster's flames. He continued moving along, not even stopping when he executed attacks, while hapless monsters were quickly swept aside, literally and figuratively, as he continued to head for Sleepywood, where the "formidable" monsters were.
After five more minutes of sweeping "noobish" monsters away, he arrived at the town of Sleepywood. Looking around, he went to the potion shop for more Mana Elixirs, for he had run of them while hacking through the monsters.
"Hello there, Brent," muttered the shopkeeper. "Gonna head into the dungeon to train again, eh?" Brent nodded. He had been doing this everyday since the encounter with the Assassin that had tried to kill him and a Crossbowman that didn't seem like 100% a Crossbowman. He rarely slept for more than 5 hours, and would often wake up at night to fight more monsters. He had put off training for nearly a year; now he was to resume, maybe even surpass the other two Adventurers he had met at Pig Beach. After all, he had been the oldest one there at that time. Even though none of the others had known that he was the oldest, the embarrassment was his. It was now his priority to level as fast as possible. He may never meet them again in his life, but…
He shoveled out a handful of mesos to the shopkeeper and, tucking the items he bought under his belt, headed off the Sleepywood in a flash. Entering the Ant Tunnel, he made his way to the Drake Caves. As the first Drake came charging at him, he gave a shout of "Power Strike!" stunning it. He whipped around and delivered a roundhouse kick at it, knocking it back a few feet. The Fighter finally sliced it apart with a Power Strike. A few of the others, noticing his presence, also came charging at him. He sent several Ground Smash attacks towards the Drakes, weakening them, then finished the mob off with Slash Blast.
Making his way deeper into the dungeon, he met more Drakes, but these of different color. This section of the cave was littered with Red Drakes. Catching the closest Red Drake by surprise, he brought it down with relative ease. There was a sudden rise in the area's temperature as a dozen or so Red Drakes sent a stream of fire towards the Warrior. He brought his shield around and shouted "Power Guard!" and managed to block the majority of the attacks.
"Rage, Slash Blast!" His Neocora, with its power amplified by his support skill, sliced through around half a dozen or so Red Drakes with relative ease. Brent delivered numerous Ground Smashes to the he rest of them, which were unsure of what to do. Realizing he was low on mana, he hitched his shield on his back, whipped out a Mana Elixir, downed it all in one gulp, and sent another ground smash toward another group of Red Drakes, all in one swift and smooth motion, while almost immediately the empty glass bottle was replaced by the shield. Looking around the area, he saw a Red Gaia Cape dropped by one of the monsters. Picking it up, he gratefully put it on, replacing his Black Magic Cape and taking in the sensation of a greater power from his newly found cape.
After another half hour of fighting different colored Drakes and having the fortune to come across a set of Steely Throwing-Knives from an Ice Drake, he found the Unknown Snack Bar behind several Dark Drakes. Grinning, he rushed over to the Dark Drakes and eliminated them. After clearing the area, he turned his attention back to the boss with a sleeping fish on the counter. He cleaned his Neocora by wiping it against some dirt, which made his weapon look just as bad, then cast Rage.
"Ground Smash!" The attack that hit the Bar woke it up, and legs and arms came out of it. It fired a beam of energy at him, and he ducked. Getting back up and holding his Neocara in both hands, he shouted "Power Strike!" The Fighter's attack sent it stumbling backwards. The boss retaliated by firing another beam of energy. With no time to dodge, he brought his shield and yelled "Power Guard!" Brent was sent sliding backwards several meters. His shield also didn't seem to block all the damage. Taking out several White Potions and downing them in a single gulp, he delivered a salvo of shock waves at the Bar, all the time running forward. Striking it with another Power Strike, he was hit unexpectedly by another blast of energy from the Snack Bar and crashed into a stone wall. Getting up painfully, he managed to move out of the way of another blast as deepened the hole he had already made. He launched another shock wave at the monster, but it had already moved out of the way and was preparing for another attack. Missed, dang it. This monster is tough. But then again, he was fighting a monster several levels higher than him. Charging at the Bar, he managed to damage his target a number of times more before he was swept off his feet from a monster charging from his side. Getting up, he saw that more Dark Drakes had spawned. He would have to get rid of them before he could continue his attacks on the Snack Bar.
Recasting rage, he sliced more Dark Drakes in half with Slash Blast. He evaded another blast of energy from the Snack Bar and resumed his elimination of the Dark Drakes.
A few more minutes later, when the Drake Cave: Cave Exit, was cleared of Dark Drakes, he continued his assault on the Snack Bar. Several minutes later of repetitive attacking, he finally demolished his original target. Panting hard, he rummaged the place for anything useful for him. To his dismay, he did not find a Red Katana. However, after a minute or so of collecting mesos from all the monsters he had killed, he picked up a Gold Ancient Shield. Not exactly what I was looking for, he thought. But I guess this is good enough. He stuffed the shield into his pack along with the Steelies. He headed back up to ground level. He had had enough of Sleepywood, Drakes, and Snack Bars. Upon his return from the underground, he fought a few more monsters, and on the last one, he felt a surge of energy rush through him, informing that he had reached the next level, telling him that he was well on his way to becoming a Crusader. Oh, how he looked forward to the day where he could blow mobs apart with Coma. Sure, Slash Blast and Ground Smash were useful, and they would still serve a use in the future, but they were becoming extremely repetitive. He also wanted a skill more powerful than Power Strike—Panic. He had also heard that Panic carried a secondary effect. The orbs that orbited him wouldn't look too bad, either.
"Looks like the Mateons have returned," said Agent Marco. Phil looked outside, and saw several of the octopi crawling around carrying the ray guns, with some (futilely) attempting to break into the Omega Sector.
"Alright," replied Phil. "Let's go out there for some more alien hunting." He grabbed a bunch of the equipment, and headed out, Traus in hand, with Marco following him. The moment he got out there, He executed a number of Slash Blast attacks at the aliens. As more got nearer, he sheathed his sword and, a Vaulter in hand, slammed it into the monsters, sending them sliding backwards.
Aiming his bow at the mob, he shouted "Arrow Bomb!" and an arrow exploded against the aliens, stunning them. He quickly brought out his Traus once again and screamed "Ground Smash!" several times, as the shock waves destroyed the Mateons. Just as he was about to attack the rest, he saw them crawling away.
"Looks like the Mateons are getting smarter." Marco chuckled. Phil gave a long sigh, as his teacher added, "Mateons aren't the only monsters around here."
"But is my level high enough to train on the other monsters?"
"Why, you're level 59 now, from all the training on the aliens." Phil looked at Agent Marco, but said nothing. "You can probably go up against the Plateons and Barnard Grays."
"Aren't the Grays a lot smarter?" asked Phil.
"Yes. But are you or are you not a lot smarter than the Grays?"
Phil stopped walking for a moment, and then replied "I guess."
Marco let out a laugh and said "You guess? You have the intelligence of a Magician, the strength of a Warrior, the agility of a Thief, the dexterity of a Bowman, and the diversity of a Pirate."
"Oh, all right." The two headed towards the Boswell Field.
"Let's try out the Plateons first," suggested Marco. "They may be faster, but have no ray guns or that sort of thing."
"They have no long-ranged attack?" Phil asked in surprise, suddenly stopping in mid-step.
"Yes. There main means of attack, as I have observed, is to ram themselves into their opponents, since they have a thick hull."
Phil realized what he had meant when he finally saw them in person. They were like miniature flying saucers that, to say the least, didn't fly. They wore the same "space helmet" that their Plateon friends wore, but the rest of their body was encased in the so called flying saucer. Instead of flying, they seemed to only have the energy to levitate, making them to move faster and give the impression that they were sliding around the place.
"Well, here you are. Let's see how well you go against them."
Phil drew his Heckler and shouted "Arrow Bomb!" The bolt struck a group of Plateons, but they seemed largely unscathed, even with the subsequent explosion. He's right…they do have a thick hull. Undaunted, he switched to a different tactic.
"Iron Arrow!" The spinning bolt managed to pierce a series of the hulls. Even though it bore just a few small holes, it gave him new confidence. He followed up with "Final Attack!" The next arrow blew apart one of the Plateons.
"Not too tough, eh?" asked Marco.
He sheathed his Crossbow and drew out his Traus. Casting Rage, he struck a Plateon with his sword. It inflicted a deep gash, but didn't penetrate its armor. He whirled around and stabbed down, this time slicing it through. He was suddenly knocked off his feet by another Plateon that had rammed into him from his left. Getting up, he furiously attacked the one that just hit him until it was all battered up and almost unrecognizable. He delivered one last Power Strike to it and blew it up. Returning to his original target, he did the same thing until it too blew up. Sheathing his sword, he drew his Hall Staff and commanded "Thunderbolt!" as a spectral show of half a dozen lighting bolts descended down upon the aliens as they exploded.
He was suddenly hit by yet another Plateon that rammed into him from behind, causing him to fall on his face. He turned over, pulled out his Lunar Shooter, and fired several rounds of Double Shots and the monster as a storm of Split Bullets struck the Plateon, with the sound of metal clanging against metal rang about the place. He unsheathed his Hall Staff and cast another Thunderbolt that struck another half dozen Plateons. Getting up, he Healed himself and fired several Fire Arrows at the surrounding Plateons and burned them up.
Looking around, he saw that another Plateon was charging at him. Lifting his Hall Staff, he commanded "Ice Strike!" as a massive ice spear pierced one side of the Plateon. He followed up with Thunderbolt and blew it apart. He was suddenly aware of a rush of energy returning to him that signified that he had leveled up.
Just then, Agent Marco said, "Phil, come back to the Omega Sector. There's something I need to tell you."
Phil turned around, wondering what had happened—surely it had nothing to do with him leveling up. "Yes sir, Agent Marco."
When they passed the electrical wall, Marco told him. "I think I know why you're having such a hard time killing these aliens."
"Why?" Phil asked, almost afraid of the answer.
Marco pointed at the Hall Staff that Phil still clutched in his hand. "Outdated equipment"
Phil stopped for a moment and stared at his weapon, then realized virtually all the equipment he had were 20 levels too weak for him.
"What do you suggest I do, sir?" asked Phil.
"I suggest you take a break for now. The Omega Sector will take care of the upgrades for you."
Phil nodded, and headed back to his room.
When he woke up the next day, all the level 40 equipment—Traus, Zard, Titan, Heckler, Bazlud, Hall Staff, Lunar Shooter, Steel Tower Shield—had virtually vanished into thin air. They were nowhere to be seen. In their place was level 60 equipment. He looked at the spot and saw a Neocora, Hawkhead, Tamus, Asianic Bow, Golden Crow, Dark Gigantic, Deadly Fin, Skylar, Silver Legend Shield—all the level sixty, or near level sixty, equipment placed in his room, ready for him to decimate monsters with. Making sure he wasn't dreaming, he extended his hand and picked up a Neocora. It was real. Putting it back in its place, he touched the Holy Spear, feeling its needle sharp point.
How does the Omega Sector do this? Then again, the Omega Sector was no ordinary place. He had seen many of the things that the Omega Sector had, from the electric fence to the Command Center to the missile silo. He figured that they had a large budget and good connections. Still, he wondered what all this training would mean for him, and what it would lead him to in the future.