Several bottles were surrounding me, activating Void Style. The purple mist briefly appeared before it hardened to become that purple and black energy sphere. Unlike last time, when keeping the sphere without draining my Mana was impossible, it's possible to hold it for several minutes now. It was because I had spent twenty points on Mana while sharing five with strength and defense.
Right now I was testing the limits of this ability. With the sudden influx of Mana entering it the purple ball slightly glowed–all the bottles were instantly pulled towards it like it was a black hole, not just the bottles; dust and dirt were also getting sucked in too, feeling the air brushing against my cheeks as it headed towards the purple-black hole.
Instead of going into it, all of the objects rotate around the ball, the bottles had shattered from colliding with one another, though the shards didn't fall as they roared around the circle. There was a slight risk that if too much Mana were put the entire room would collapse so I had to be careful. That was its only weakness; it won't let me pick and choose what objects that'll get sucked into it, it'll drag everything in the sphere excluding myself. Holding out the Void sphere for several minutes the objects of broken glass bottles, dust, and dirt had converged into a ring that looked like a ring of Saturn.
Now that test one was successful it's time to move on to test two. In one instance, all the objects flew away at such high speed they seemed like a blur. I had reversed the polarity of the Void sphere to push back instead of pull.
Now was the time for the final test. Pouring Mana into my mind to enhance my reaction time activated Lightning Style. Cackles of electricity surrounded my arm, and I felt the surge of electricity running up to my shoulder. It wasn't painful by any means; it was more like a pleasant shock. With absolutely swift and precise movement, I cut all of the shards of the bottles in no less than a second, reducing them to dust. Not once did a bottle land on the ground without being shredded to dust.
Standing up to watch my handicrafts, the reason why I cut them to dust was to test my skill with Lightning Style and partly because it would be a hassle to clean up the bottles.
Lucian began to clamp; hearing her clamping made me happy, a fuzzy warm feeling in my stomach. A feeling you get when a parent is praising you. Honestly, it was an amazing feeling that made me want to try to impress her more. "That was amazing Jackson!" She says. Since Lucian was the student president and a third year it was hard to meet with her so he did it late into the night.
"Uh, thanks Lucian," My cheeks were probably red as a tomato.
"So, that's the power of the System?"
"That's only the tip of the iceberg."
[I THINK THY IS MAKING A MISTAKE]
"Well, you want to be fixed right? We need more people to help out."
"It's talking to you?" She said.
"It's skeptical about sharing its existence," The reason why I told Lucian about the System was to get help, this world is big and has lots of danger in it so having another helping hand would be nice. Since Lucian is a noble she probably has great influence to gather info on if there are others with similar abilities as me, apparently the System can't track where the other shards are so it'll make finding them a lot more difficult.
Surprisingly Lucian was pretty calm when revealing the System to her, she said getting possessed by a greater power isn't that unheard of; There have been rare cases of people getting possessed by something called Greater Spirits and other stuff. Lucian also agreed to help me because in her own words, I'm a 'cute boy'. Something I didn't get since I'm pretty average in looks.
There was another secret I had told her something was of the same importance as the System itself, I'm not from this world.
"It's still amazing to know you're from a different world," She said.
"Sorry about keeping it a secret."
"No problem, it's amazing to know the multiverse theory might be true," She said.
"Did the System pick you because of that?" She said, hearing about it made me curious too then asked the System about it.
[MAYBE THE GIRL IS CORRECT, DESPITE TRILLIONS OF YEARS ONLY THY HAS THIS POTENTIAL TO WIELD MY GRAND MIGHT]
"It means the other shards of you might be in people similar to me."
"What did it say?" She said, right Lucian can't see the text box of the System.
"It confirms your theory," I said.
[I STILL THINK THY IS MAKING A MISTAKE]
"She'll be helpful," I whispered to the System so Lucian wouldn't hear it.
"There might be someone who has a shard," Hearing this made me listen intently.
"Who?"
"Haruto Yamato,"
"Uh, who's that?"
"He's the self-proclaimed 'father of manga and anime'," She said.
Then it instantly clicked to me, that's why there was anime and manga despite no Japan, and that's why there are manga series that's similar to my world manga–it all makes sense now. Could there be more people like us getting transported to this new world?
"He appeared in the Royal Kingdom around thirty years ago, with his unique art style and great storytelling that changed the literature landscape forever. His works included are . . . " Lucian listed down every manga he did which was quite a lot–to be honest hearing how his storytelling was superb yet all of his works were already established titles back on earth. Something tells me he isn't that good of a storyteller.
"So can you contact him?"
"It'll be hard, Haruto is a busy and recluse man, but if it's for you I'll try." She smiled warmly at me.
"See System, it was the right call."
[LET US OBSERVED]
Then someone knocks on the door, that's weird it's late out. "Who's that Jackson?"
"No idea," Approaching the door and opening it, I was met with the emerald green eyes of Hana. "Good evening Maverick, sorry if I disturbed you."
"It's fine."
"Hey, who's that?" Instantly froze as Hana saw Lucian sitting on a chair waving at Hana with a friendly smile; seeing a girl in my room late at night it was obvious what conclusion Hana made. "Sorry to interrupt something."
"Wait! It isn't what it looks like-!"
"No, you weren't, we had a good time don't you agree Jackson?" To make it more worse Lucian said it in a sultry tone–it would've been more exciting if Hana wasn't here!
Quickly tried to tell Hana the truth. "Hana don't believe her! It's not true!"
"How hurtful to say such things after how passionate you were," Lucian began to cry.
"May I borrow Maverick for tonight?" It was clear Hana was somewhat embarrassed by how red her face was. Covering my face with my hands to hide the shame and embarrassment that was overwhelming me–why Lucian! You cruel devil!
"Sure our little meeting is over. See you, Jackson." Lucian left the room, now it was me and Hana.
Maybe now without her, I'd clear the misunderstanding. Before I spoke Hana said. "I'm impressed you courted the Student President, that's a worthy achievement."
"Thanks?"
"But still you shouldn't be having sex! It's against the rules!" Jabbing her finger into my chest and twisting it, I'd imagine fumes would've come out of her ears because of how mad she was.
"Hana we didn't do anything!" I said praying to god she believes me. But seeing her face it's clear she didn't believe it. "It's ok Maverick I won't tell the school just stop doing it."
You know what screws it, throwing up my arms in disbelief. It wasn't that having sex with Lucian was wrong, that's one of my goals right now. It's the fact that someone who's prim and proper like Hana knows it was embarrassing–plus affairs with the bed should be private.
Going to the bed to sit, I'm wondering what Hana is doing here. "So Hana what brings you here?"
Hana coughs her throat, probably remembering why she was here in the first place.
"I want us to participate in the Gauntlet." She said.
"The Gauntlet?" That sounded ominous and dangerous, then I sat down on the bed interested in what Hana was talking about.
"It's an event where all the first years participate," She said sitting down on one of the chairs, hearing about this event intrigued me more. "What kind of event?" I said.
"It's a set of trials and whoever wins the Gauntlet wins four million Silver."
"FOUR MILLION SILVER! Can the school even give that much money?" No way the school can give that much money away? I know the school is backed by rich people but still to give that amount is unbelievable. Hana gave me a grin full of pride and puffed her chest in pride. "That's just chump change for me."
"Still it's surprising the school would pay that much.
"The school isn't hosting this, the third and fourth years are. All of them pooled their money together for this."
"If the school isn't hosting this, then is this even allowed?" It was surprising Hana of all people wanted to join considering her rule-abiding personality. It was strange she wanted to join in the first place.
"No, but you shouldn't worry about it." She waved off my concerns. It still didn't give me any comfort.
"Don't know Hana, I don't want to get in trouble," It was curious to see Hana so eager to join.
"It's a yearly event for all first years, not once the teachers found out."
"Still it's strange you of All people wanna join."
"What is that supposed to mean!" she said, giving me an angry pout.
"It's just that I'd expect you to be against something like this."
"I would but Avoure made a deal, whoever wins the Gauntlet shall decide if I'm gonna marry him." Hana sighs then she looks at me. Looking uncomfortable and vulnerable. Yet at some time, something surrounded Hana; it was a spark of defiance. In her eyes, she was ready to cut off the marriage.
"So you're asking for my help?"
"Yes. Only a three-man team can participate in the Gauntlet."
"I see," So that's why she came to me.
"I know it's asking too much, but please help. I'll give you the sufficient reward I promise," She looked at me with tears in her eyes. A second later I nodded.
"Sure I'll help you, no reward necessary," But a small part of me wanted the reward.
"Wait really?" It was clear Hana was shocked at how easily I had agreed.
"Yeah, after all, we're friends."
"Thank you." She said, giving me a warm smile.
"So who's our other teammate?" I preferred our last teammate to be Ayjin but knowing how rocky Hana's relationship with her is, it's highly unlikely so with her out it could be one of the others.
"The others were occupied so I was hoping you could . . . Convince Fe to join us." Hana's eyes stared down not meeting mine, a pink hue forming on her face as she moved uncomfortably.
"Sure I'll try," I was interested in joining the Gauntlet now, with the amount of cash prize I could buy an entire mansion with that!
"Really you want Ayjin's help?" A small grin appeared on my face, I had never expected Hana to ask Ayjin's help out of anybody but I'm happy maybe she got over that prejudice of hers.
"It pains me to admit Ayjin's very useful," She said.
"When is the Gauntlet starting anyway?"
"Tonight," She said.
"We gotta move fast then."
__________________________________
We were walking down the corridor all alone, as it should it would've been suspicious if there were people there. It was strange to see the once lively and bustling hallways to be this empty and desolate. It was kinda creepy in its way like a liminal space.
The only things that occupied the hallway except us were the sounds of our footsteps and the buzzing from the lights. Ayjin had given directions to her room if I ever wanted to hang out with her.
If was goes straight to the west hallway and then goes right, her room should be at the corner with plate number 309.
"Oh, what are you doing here filthy commoner?" A person walked from the corner, instantly recognized him after seeing his smug face, and my mood immediately plummeted.
[BE CAUTIOUS, DO NOT LET ANGER CONQUER THOU]
It was the one who had bullied Ayjin at the second day of school. I'm sure his name was Noah.
"Strange to see you here?" Hana said as she gave him a dismissive look. Seeing how his face subtly twitched I could guess that affected Noah pretty badly. "A personal business, but what are you two doing here?"
"A personal business," Hana said with a mocking tone.
"I suppose this personal business is the Gauntlet?" He said and waited for her to answer. A few seconds passed in silence then he smirked probably having all the confirmation needed. "Well then be careful you commoner, because there might be an accident," He said while staring at me smirking.
Noah gave off a creepy laugh before continuing to walk, intentionally bumping into my shoulder. "It's truly sad to see someone from the prestigious Von Yue family galloping with a commoner," He said before leaving.
"Screw that guy," I said. I don't know which one was worse, him or Avoure.
"Ignore him Maverick."
We made it to Ayjin's door. It was the same bland design as the others: composed of dark wood and a golden plate displaying the number 309.
Knocking on the door, though making sure it wasn't so loud it'd bother the other people.
A few seconds pass by. We heard something tumbling down and the faint sound of I'm coming.
The door opened. Feeling my cheeks heating from Ayjin–She was wearing simple black pants and a white tank top leaving little to the imagination of her curvy body. The cherry on top was that Ayjin oddly enough was covered in sweat; because of it her tank top was somewhat see-through; she was wearing a black lace bra.
"Hey Jackson! What are you doing here?" She said with flushed cheeks.
"Hey Ayjin, I was wondering if you would like to join us?" Internally inside I was desperately trying not to stare too much at her breasts fearing she'd think I was a pervert.
In the corner of my eye, I saw Hana too blushing from her appearance.
"Join you in what?"
"Something called the Gauntlet."
"The Gauntlet? Now that you mentioned I heard my classmates saying something similar."
"Fe were you training?" She said.
"Um, yeah why?" She said.
"You're covered in sweat, please change or Jackson will get a nosebleed looking at you!"
Ayjin looked down to see her transparent shirt her face immediately went red and slam the door; I was worried that had awoken some people but luckily no one came out yelling angrily. A few minutes later Ayjin opened the door, she was now wearing more appropriate clothing though admittedly some part of me was disappointed to no longer see such view.
"Sorry about that," She said.
"It's fine."
"You ruffian . . . " Hana said quietly but Ayjin heard that she glared at the Noble.
"Ok pig," Ayjin said.
"Guys please focus. So you want to join?" It was getting tiring to see them keep fighting.
"Does the Gauntlet have a prize?" She said.
"Yeah, it's four million Silver!" I said, still can't believe that amount of money I'm motivated to win this event.
"That much?" She said exasperated at the amount, I nodded to confirm it.
"I'll join . . . " She said, but before I could celebrate Ayjin continued. "On the condition, she doesn't get a single Silver," Ayjin pointed at Hana strangely enough Hana wasn't that bothered about it.
"Really Ayjin?" I said.
"I don't mind it Maverick, the prize amount is simply a drop in the bucket of my wealth," Hana said.
"But still it's unfair," It didn't sit right to me. Considering how much powerful Hana is she'll be the biggest help yet she gets nothing.
"Jackson this prick doesn't need any more money," Ayjin said.
"Fine, we'll split the money between you and me," I said, still it felt bad not giving anything to her.
Ayjin locked her dorm room before all three of us left the hallway. Hana was in front as she knew where the Gauntlet would be held. I was kinda nervous to be walking around after hours. I hope to God there weren't any of the faculty members here.
"You ok Jackson?" Ayjin said to me.
"Uh, yeah?" I said.
"You don't seem to be ok," She said.
"To be honest I'm worried if a faculty member catches us," I didn't really get in trouble.
"We'll be ok look," Ayjin pointed at something. Looking up a metallic bird was flying ahead of us all.
"I have eyes in the sky."
"That's reassuring," I said.
A couple of minutes later as Hana was about to turn a corner unexpectedly Ayjin grabbed Hana's shoulder and dragged her back. For a brief second Hana was surprised but it quickly turned to anger. "What was that for you!-"
Ayjin puts a finger on her lips, making her quiet, I was also wondering what she did that for. Then Ayjin pointed at something in the hallway. Me and Hana peeked our heads to see that it was that train guy were about to fight. Guess he was also the janitor here with his attire consisting of blue pants and a shirt. He was mopping the floor, this is bad news.
"Hey Hana, is there any other route?" I said.
"Unfortunately this is the only hallway that leads to the Gauntlet." She said pointing at another hallway next to where the man was.
"I may have a solution guys," Ayjin said, both of us looked at her curious as to what's her plan.
At the ceiling, Ayjin's bird flew across the hallway going past the man and turning around a corner, a second later there was a loud sound of something falling and breaking.
"What was that?" The man said before he left to see what was; at the same time, the bird flew back over to our head.
"Quick!" Ayjin said.
All three of us ran but not before making sure we didn't make any noticeable noise going to the hallway.
"Thanks, Ayjin," I said letting out a sigh of relief.
"Admitally that was clever," Hana said.
"Thanks," She said.
Eventually, we made it to a room with double doors after turning another hallway and going down a set of stairs.
"This is the place?" Ayjin said.
Looking around the place to see if there were any other students here, if what Hana had said about the gauntlet was true there should've been another student here, but there weren't it was just the three of us, but there were very faint voices that could be heard inside the room.
"So do we go in?" I said.
"You can't, this is how you'll enter," Hana pulled a slim black card out of her pocket, then slid the card underneath the doors.
The doors were opened by another student, he looked to be older probably a year above us.
"Welcome Ms Von Yue and her teammates! Come in all of us we're waiting for you."
Behind him, from afar there were even more students. In the crowd were Naobulim, Michael, and Barbatos. Unfortunately, Avoure was here too but considering this event was a big deal it make sense.
When entering I was surprised to see there were so many students there, easily a dozen or so students whispering to each other. "Just wait the Gauntlet will start shortly," The guy said before disappearing into the crowd.
"You guys finally made it," Naobulim said as he along with the other came.
"Didn't know you would come along," Hana said.
"Duh! The prize money is four million!" He said.
"I'm surprised you were able to convince Barbatos to join," I said, from what's seen so far Barbatos seems to be the type of person to not care about money or anything else.
"Strong fighters are joining this, I'd like to test my strength," He said.
"So you're sharing the money with Michael?" I said.
"Yep," He said.
"Well then good luck," Flashing him a thumbs-up.
"Maverick don't 'good luck' with the competition!" Hana said.
"That's harsh," Even though they are competition they're still our friends.
"She's right, tonight Jackson my boy we are enemies," He gave me a confident grin.
"Jackson, can I switch with you tonight?" Michael said out of the blue. All four of us looked at Michael confused.
"Why?" Naobulim said.
"His team is stronger," He said rather bluntly.
In the corner of my eye I saw Barbatos' eye twitch, crap he was probably angry. "Don't discredit your team," I said.
"NO!" Hana said.
I looked at her with a surprised expression. "Ok, but why?" I said it was surprising to hear how annoyed she sounded. But she didn't answer me.
Michael let out a sigh. "As your wish," I wonder what made Hana sound so annoyed, does she have some kind of grudge with Michael?
"All right everybody just before the Gauntlet starts I want everyone's attention!" In the middle of the room were more of the seniors. Seemingly the one who's managing all of this spoke up clamping to get everyone's attention.
"First we need to establish some rules. The first one is no seriously injuring other participants if you're caught hurting another participant you'll be ban on the spot, secondly please don't cause too much destruction as it'll alert the staff."
"Before we start this I'd like to mention this; The Gauntlet is a yearly tradition we seniors created for freshmen like you. It's a celebration of making it to this prestigious Academy, a school that created legends like Midas Von Yue and the Silver Saint. As much as it's a celebration it's also a test to see if you like those living legends. To rise in position and make a name for yourself here, now then let us begin the Gauntlet!" He shouted the last part out, and immediately after the room was filled with a roaring applause from everyone. In fact, it was so loud I had to cover my ear. How the heck no one else heard this?
"I'm fired up!" Naobulim said with a wide grin.
"So the buffoons finally grace our presence," Avoure said with his smug smirk approaching us, behind him were his teammates too.
"You!" Hana said with venom in her voice.
"Why do you want?" Ayjin said.
"Shut up animal-fucker," Avoure said.
"What do you want?" Hana said while glaring at him.
"I'm simply here to make sure you keep the end of your bargain." He said.
"Of course you idiot, we made a Sacred Vow," She said.
"You made a Sacred Vow!" Michael said in shock. Lucian had explained the concept to me a long time ago, Hana doesn't want to marry him.
"What's this about Sacred Vow?" Naobulim said to me.
"It's a long story," I said, leaning to Naobulim and whispering to it
"Let me guess; an arranged marriage?" He said.
I nodded. This seemed to catch Avoure's attention and glared at me.
"Commoner you should be careful," He said before leaving us, while his other teammates were snickering at us. Even though it was scary, I'm confident this time with my new abilities I can beat them.
"Be careful Jackson, you never know what he might do," Ayjin said.
"If that guy messes with you, call me up," Naobulim said.
It was comforting to have people like them to support me, I gave them a grateful smile. "Thanks guys."
"Hana why'd you make a Sacred Vow!" Michael said; hearing how angry he was surprised me.
"It's none of your Business Lee," Hana said, she looked away from Michael while crossing his arms.
It looked like Michael was about to say something but he didn't as he noticed that we were watching them. "Let's discuss this another time," Michael said before storming off angrily.
"Do you know what Michael's relationship with Hana is?" I said, he replied with a shrug.
"I'll go talk with him, come on big guy," Naobulim and Barbatos followed Michael.
"Hey Hana, what's your deal with Michael?" I said.
"We have . . . History," She said, hearing how vague she was about it; I shouldn't push on further.
A few minutes passed by. All three of us moved to the end of the room as it was pretty quiet there. I was reading some Manga I had brought when a person walked up to me.
"You must be the Bloodied Survivor."
He had dark skin with his hair being tied into dreadlocks, he looked to be older than me so probably one of the people who arranged this event. "You are?" I said.
"Ryan Van Meako," He said and bowed to me.
"Jackson Maverick," I said, greeting him back.
Hearing the name Hana turned to Ryan with a surprised face.
"Meako? Isn't your family famous for making weapons?" Hana said.
"Yes, you're from the Von Yue family, it's a pleasure to meet you," Ryan said, bowing to her and even kissing her hand.
"It's marvelous to see a beautiful lady like yourself here," He said. Next to me, Ayjin groaned muttering something about how Nobles are always frivolous and weird.
"Charming," She said, giving him a polite smile.
"Maverick come here for a second?" He said. Dragging me to a more secluded area of the room.
"What is it?" I said, he whispered in my ear.
"It's an impressive feat of killing a Greater Demon on your first day, try not to grow that head of yours, or I'll remind you of your place commoner," Ryan promptly left me. Leaving me speechless.
"What was that?"
[THY OUGHT TO BE CAUTIOUS, THEY ARE THREATENED]
"How?" I said confused as to why, I couldn't recall anything to warrant such a reaction.
[THY ACHIEVEMENT HAS THREATEN THEIR STATUS]
"Really? That threaten them?"
[THE STATUS QUO HAS MADE THEM COMPLACENT, A WEAKNESS OF ANY PREDATORS]
Ryan walked over to Ayjin and leaned into her ear, probably whispering the same thing he had said to me. But this time, he looked disgusted by her presence. After leaving her, she turned towards me, confused.
I shrugged. "Ignore him Ayjin I'm sure we'll be fine."
"If you say so," She said, fidgeting with her fingers, seeing how nervous she was, I gave her a reassuring smile. "If that guy gives you any trouble just ask me or even Hana."
"I'll ask you," She said, smiling brightly at me. Seeing a gorgeous girl like Ayjin smiling at me made my heart flutter with happiness.
"Come on, Maverick. It's about to begin!" Hana said. While walking to her, I noticed the seniors approaching a large metal door and typing a code on a keypad next to it.
"All right, everybody. I want you all to huddle with your group mates!" the senior said. This was the same senior who spoke out earlier.
All of us began to huddle together. Our position was nearer to the back of it.
"Please guys don't mess this up, especially you Fe," Hana said.
"What's that supposed to mean!" Ayjin said.
"Hana you're the one who asked Ayjin's help!" I said.
"That was a last resort, at the very least she is better than others like her," Hana said.
"Do you wanna get punched that badly?" Ayjin said, snapping in anger.
"Guys please it's about to start!" I said it feels like I'm watching over two kids right now.
"You must complete a series of obstacles to gain a ticket. Whoever gets a ticket and returns here will complete the first part of the Gauntlet," the senior said.
[IS THY READY?]
"You bet."
Hana readied her rapier and Ayjin got into a running position.
The entire room was filled with anticipation, everybody's energy was at a boiling point awaiting the signal. It was an eternity until he said. "Go!"
The giant door slammed open and the water finally broke.
Before me or Ayjin could run, Hana stopped us. "Wait!"
"What?" Ayjin said.
It was a tsunami of people coming through the door, people stampeding on each other and others lagging. Luckily we weren't unfortunate souls to get trampled on as we stayed behind a bit thanks to Hana. There were fewer people so it was safe to run.
"Quickly!" Hana said. Passing through the metal door on the other side was a deep staircase with a wide open space, it looked like it would go down for a few miles. On each side of the wall were metal turrets mounted, each one oen rapidly firing out jelly-like substances hitting the other students and then hardening to the point they couldn't move. There was this student who dodged one of those jelly substances, but a stray shot hit the student's leg which had hardened like cement in a matter of seconds; its color changed from a bright orange to grey. He tried to pull his leg out but it wouldn't. More of the jelly shot at him until his entire body was covered only his head was left.
"Maverick look out!" Hana pulled me in time as one of those orange gelatin substances hit the ground quickly hardening it. Thanks, Hana," I said. Breathing in a sigh of relief.
"What are these?" Ayjin said, she was looking at the gelatin substances, I was wondering about that too.
"There are Liquid Microgen, I'm surprised the seniors have this," Hana said.
"What's a Liquid Microgen?" I said confused.
"It's a way for the government to detain dangerous criminals," Hana said to me.
"Guys no time for chitchat, we'll be left behind!" Ayjin said, Crap most of the students weren't on the stairs anywhere! Still, probably a quarter of the crowd was here trapped by the gelatin substance. I reinfused my legs with Mana and then ran down the stairs as fast as possible, soon Hana and Ayjin followed my lead. We kept dodging the turrets' gelatin bullets; I ducked in time as one of those flew over my head and hit an unfortunate victim.
"Oh no!" Ayjin suddenly came to a halt, one of those had hit her in a leg quickly hardening. She tried to pull it out but it couldn't budge. "Help me!" She said.
"Can you do something?" I said to Hana hoping she could do something. Hana shook her head. "No," She said. Maybe I could use Lightning Style to break the rock on her leg. "Hey Hana can you block those things?" I said.
"Yeah," Hana pulled out her silver rapier and slashed the ground with enough force sparks of flames came out; those flames then grew in size and side. The flames surrounded us so we should be safe in here."What are you doing Jackson?" She said.
"Do you have something to break it?" Hana said.
"I might," CLosing my eyes and focus, imagining my Mana as water flowing through my veins, shifting my Mana to power, but not the power of Critical Strike but of LIghtning. I heard it, the cackles of electricity surrounding my hand. "Jackson!" I heard Ayjin gasping.
"Maverick how are you doing that?" Hana said it was clear solely from her voice she was shocked. Crap I have to come up with an excuse or should I tell them? Never mind that I'll cross that bridge another time right now I have to help out Ayjin. Touching the rock to transfer the electricity I'm generating to the rock, in mere moments cracks covered the rock and it began to crumble like it was sand. "I'm free!" Ayjin pulled her leg out with ease now.
"You're welcome." It was surprising that it had worked well, even though I had come up with it on the spot.
"Maverick are you a Hybrid?" Hana said.
"I thought you were only a Mana Arbiter," Ayjin said.
Both of them looked at me waiting for their answers, but I didn't have some. What should I say?
[THY HAS CERTAINLY FOUND HIMSELF IN A TROUBLESOME SITUATION]
Help me!
[I'TS ALL UP TO THY, IT WOULD'VE BEEN BETTER TO LEAVE HER BEHIND]
"Were you hiding this?" Hana said.
"Um, guys shouldn't we finish the Gauntlet first?" I hoped to god this would work.
"Jackson is right, we don't have the time right now,' Ayjin said.
"Fine, we'll talk about this later Maverick," Hana said.
All three of us made it to the bottom safely. We saw there were multiple tunnels to go through, specifically eleven tunnels. A sigh was also placed on top of one of the tunnels it read maze.
"I suck at mazes," I said.
"Fe can you use that Lycrow to track an exit?"
"I summon Shadow Fang!" Next to her, Shadow Fang emerged from the shadows. It looked at her, awaiting its orders. "Hey, boy, can you locate us a way out of here?" Ayjin crouched down to pat its head. Seeing its owner's affection, Shadow Fang rapidly waggled its tail and began sniffing out the ground and then over to the last possible tunnel. "Let's go—look out!" Ayjin shouted.
Flames flew across the room, aiming at me. I dodged in time, and the flames melted the wall behind me into a pile of goop. "What the heck, Hana!"
"T-that wasn't me!" If it wasn't Hana then who? I heard what sounded like groups of footsteps and looking back several people were exiting the tunnels all of them surrounding us. "What's happening?" I put my guard up and got into a fighting stance.
"What's the meaning of this?" Hana pointed her rapier at them.
"Von Yue this has nothing to do with you, step aside," One of them spoke out.
"You tried to hurt Maverick. Explain or else." Hana's voice had an edge that screamed danger. Even I was scared, and I was the one she was protecting!
"We don't want to hurt you!" Another one spoke out.
"Why are you protecting a commoner!" A girl spoke out.
"Get lost!" A boy said.
"One more time, leave or I'll show you why the Von Yue family is respected so much," Sparks of flames surrounded Hana. Seeing this some of the people backed away a few feet while the other held their ground. Seeing how many people were here fighting all of them was the last thing I wanted.
"Hey, didn't he say he'd protect us if she sued us?" one of them whispered to another.
"Yeah, he made a Sacred Vow to protect us with his resources."
"Let's not hurt her too badly," Flames fly across the room aiming at me, before the flames could melt me something big blocked its path, it was Void Tank. It waved its hand at me, I reciprocated its action. "RUN!" Ayjin said.
A tsunami of flames burned everything in its path around Hana except us. Many in the group returned in the tunnels while others stayed.
I ran up to Ayjin, but before I could reach her one of the people burst through the flames and rushed at me, He punched me in the gut with his golden gauntlet. I was sent flying into the tunnels. I tried to stand back up feeling the very familiar taste of blood seeping from my mouth. "Crap . . . " He rushes to me shouting. "You're mine!" Luckily I dodged out of the way but he punched straight into the wall with enough force it shook the area; the entrance of the tunnel collapsed on itself from the shockwave. "NO!"
"Hey focus on me!" He sent me flying to another wall and came running at me as if he was a bull, like last time I dodged out of the way and he crashed into the wall. The shockwave shook the area we were in and even more rubble collapsed in the entrance. Seeing how both of his arms were stuck I didn't waste this opportunity. Grabbing his head and sending enough electricity to knock him out, he resisted at first wildly shaking his head until a few seconds later his body went limp. "Sorry about that," I said.
I walked over to the collapsed entrance, trying to see if I could somehow get back. There was too much rubble in the way, and even if I used the Critical Strike to get through, more rubble could fall. My best bet would be to find the exit and regroup them there. Ayjin has Shadow Fang to guide them, and Hana herself is strong. I'm sure they're fine.
"Look what do we have here?" Turning around were two more of them.
"You gotta be kidding me," I said.
"Vin Mae paid a large bounty on your head," The other guy said.
"Avoure was behind this, go figure. " My left hand was surrounded by cackles of electricity, and the blue flames of Critical Str lit up my right arm.
"OH WORLD MAY YOU BLAST THEM!" A voice rang throughout the hallway, and both of them were sent flying to the rubble. What the heck!
"Who was that!" I said.
"Calm down it's me Jackson my boy," From the Darkness came out Naobulim and Barbatos. Naobulim waved at me. "YO."
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[Name: Jackson Maverick]
Level: 48
Title: Incel|Loser, Bloodied Survivor
[STATS]
Points: 30
Strength: 51
Speed: 49
Defense: 39
Mana: 20
Calamity Point : 100
[SKILLS]
---
-Lightning Style-
-Void Style-
-Critical Strike-
-Mana Reinforcement-
[QUEST]
[SHOP]
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