The mission consisted of two parts. The first was a tier-three trial mission, while the second made Su Xiao feel uneasy when he saw it.
Su Xiao had killed many violators before, but this was the first time he had heard of 'abnormal' violators. This seemed like a title similar to the 'leader' or 'lord' titles given to plot creatures. Thinking of this, he immediately opened the mission list.
[Trial Mission: The Grimoire of the End]
Difficulty Level: Lv. 23
Mission Brief: The Grimoire of the End is a special magic book not recorded in the Magical Library and has been lost for 300 years. Its current location is Academy City.
Mission Information: You can seek information about the Grimoire of the End from the plot character Tsuchimikado Motoharu and obtain the Grimoire within the mission timeframe.
Mission Duration: 13 days
Mission Reward: Promotion to Tier 3 Hunter
Mission Penalty: All attributes -10.
[Hunting Mission: Abnormal Violators]
Mission Brief: Eliminate abnormal violators by any means.
Mission Information: Abnormal violators are extremely dangerous and have life signs between those of contractors and void creatures.
Mission Duration: Before leaving this derivative world.
Mission Reward: 2 Gold Honor Medals, Permission Level +3.
Both missions were difficult. This time, Su Xiao's main goal was to advance to tier three so he could temporarily put off the hunting mission. In most derivative worlds, violators were quite active. With the 'Derivative World Communication Platform' function, contractors could share information and learn about major events in the derivative world through the communication platform, making it easier to expose violators.
Drip, drip...
Pale green liquid dripped from Su Xiao's hair. This liquid was similar to water and had no smell. He needed to determine his location, although he had a rough idea already.
He was currently in an abandoned laboratory, deserted for a long time. The backup power was almost depleted, and the lights flickered intermittently.
Su Xiao focused ahead, narrowing his perception for more acute sensing. He vaguely felt that something was monitoring him in the laboratory.
This surveillance was constant. In his perception, jellyfish-like objects floated with the airflow, similar to dandelion seeds. These things were too small to be seen with the naked eye, and Su Xiao could only vaguely sense them.
Su Xiao knew what these were. They were a type of surveillance device called Aerostatic Reins, used by Aleister Crowley, the chairman of Academy City, for monitoring. These things were almost everywhere in Academy City.
Upon discovering the Aerostatic Reins, Su Xiao confirmed he was in Academy City. He recalled the plot and worldview of A Certain Magical Index. Overall, it had a somewhat ambiguous power system featuring angels and saints.
Having experienced the Holy Grail War world, Su Xiao knew the power system here would be clearer. Even if some beings were called angels, their abilities wouldn't be overwhelmingly powerful.
But since this was a tier-three semi-open world, the power system wouldn't be significantly higher than the tier. A semi-open world allows contractors of any tier to enter but limits the power system to within tier four. Only tier-three contractors could enter.
Based on the original story, Su Xiao suspected Aleister Crowley was at least tier four, even if limited by the world's tier, making him a top-tier figure not to be provoked.
Aleister was the leader of the science side. Since this was Academy City, there wouldn't be too many magicians. The relationship between the science and magic sides was generally non-interfering, though some factions ignored this rule. Aleister's constant presence in Academy City deterred invasions without a solid plan.
Therefore, Su Xiao guessed that most enemies in this world would be at various levels of Espers, with a few magicians.
If the enemies primarily used superpowers, the power system was clearer:
Lv.0: No Power, unable to bend a spoon, but not completely powerless. Makes up 60% of students.
Lv.1: Low Power, with little practical use, can barely bend a spoon.
Lv.2: Sub-Power, abilities useful in daily life.
Lv.3: Medium Power, providing significant daily convenience and some combat capability.
Lv.4: High Power, abilities valuable for tactical use in the military.
Lv.5: Superior Power, able to single-handedly confront a military force.
Lv.6: Absolute Power, reaching god-like levels, which no one has achieved.
These Espers might have bodies as strong as ordinary people, except those with physical enhancement abilities. Despite this, their combat capabilities shouldn't be underestimated due to various powers like electricity, space, elements, force fields, and mind control. Espers develop various offensive and defensive methods to compensate for their physical weaknesses.
Su Xiao used his senses to locate the laboratory's exit. After forcibly breaking the door, he stepped out.
It was around 8 to 10 PM. Streetlights illuminated the roads, and the city was bathed in colorful lights, with sparse traffic moving along the streets.
In Academy City, only teachers and researchers could drive. Students were prohibited from driving and could only use public transportation like buses and subways.
Su Xiao leaped to the top of a three-story building, then jumped to a high-rise overlooking the city.
Academy City's technology was 20-30 years ahead of the world, though 50 years wouldn't be an exaggeration, making the city extremely prosperous.
However, Su Xiao saw it as a large, legal testing ground. Under the guise of developing superpowers, they attracted many qualified individuals for various experiments.
This didn't concern Su Xiao. He was just passing through as a righteous man. He was more interested in finding Tsuchimikado Motoharu, a double agent serving both the magic and science sides, wielding magic and superpowers.
Finding someone like him and extracting information wouldn't be easy and could attract attention from both sides.
He needed to act quickly to avoid giving the major players on the science side time to react or consider joining the science side himself. He never considered joining the magic side due to its chaos.
As Su Xiao stood on the rooftop, a bowl-thick green laser shot toward him, breaking the night sky's silence with incredible speed and without warning!