The Saurian had abandoned his pursuit of me in favor for a storage shed positioned at the back of the school. Situated right in the rear of a colossal courtyard, the storage shed was a weathered and shabby building that appeared neglected, save for the occasional visits from academy employed janitors and gardeners who needed rusty tools and equipment for beautifying the school garden.
Personally, I hadn't passed by the storage shed much, other than when the Voice's training regimen directed me past it in the usual running laps every morning. Even then, I hadn't spared it more than a glimpse, but now that I thought about it, it was because the Voice would uncharacteristically urge me on whenever I drew near, ordering me to pick up the pace. Perhaps she wanted me to run past it before I could notice anything odd about it?
Clearly, though, whatever Relic the Saurian was looking for was hidden in the storage shed.
…or so I thought, until the Saurian leveled it in a single leap. He had been bounding toward the decrepit structure from the main campus buildings, and mercifully enough, most of the students had already left the school grounds in their desire for safety and fear of the monster that had suddenly appeared in our midst. That suited me fine because I couldn't afford to protect anyone from the Saurian at the moment.
Hell, I doubted I could defend myself. I wasn't sure what the Voice wanted me to do. Against a larger and well armored opponent, I could only envision one end for myself. Being torn apart by his claws.
"How am I supposed to defeat him? Even if you ask me to ambush him, it's not like I can hurt him?"
"Please do not worry. Saurian may be physically stronger and more resilient than the average human, but they are not invincible. There is no overwhelming gap. As long as you attack the unarmored portions, you can still deliver an incapacitating or even a lethal blow. They are still vulnerable to blunt trauma, and a well-executed strike with a bladed weapon will be able to pierce their scales. In fact, your primitive firearms are still effective against them, as long as you aim for the unarmored sections."
"Where am I supposed to get firearms? This is Hua Xia, not Country M! It's not as if we can easily obtain guns in this day and age of peaceful modernity?!"
"There are still makeshift weapons that you can use in substitution of ranged armaments," the Voice replied in her infuriatingly and maddeningly calm tone. I guess that was why she asked me to train in sword techniques. I wasn't enthusiastic about whacking the overgrown lizard with a thick tree branch, but she said that blunt trauma was effective.
The only concern was how to sneak up on the Saurian.
He wasn't making it difficult, though. Watching from a safe distance as I crept from the school building and used the trees in the campus courtyard as cover, I witnessed the Saurian bound toward the storage shed. That was when I caught sight of him flattening the entire structure in a single landing, reducing the poor shed into billowing dust and flying rubble.
"Ugh!"
I instinctively ducked behind a tree, flinching as debris struck the trunk. As providence would have it, a sharp metallic pole, presumably from the rafters or perhaps a part of a gardening rake, rolled across the grass near me. I snatched it up, noting the jagged, sharp point at the snapped end of it. As long as I could apply enough force, I might be able to stab the Saurian in the face. At the very least, I could use it to parry his claws.
A poor makeshift weapon was better than no weapon at all.
Jogging into the dust, I peered into the gloom, the lenses of my glasses blurred by the flying dirt. Even with reduced visibility, I could barely make out the black shelled silhouette of the Saurian standing in the middle of a crater. He was snarling something indecipherably before he dropped to a crouch and began digging with his claws.
Ripping out rotting wooden floorboards, he tossed soil and rock into mounds on either side of him. He was astoundingly fast too, having dug a small hole about a meter deep in the space of a few minutes. His claws blurred, his arms swinging almost like pistons as he dug furiously.
So absorbed in his task was he that he failed to detect my presence, even as I cautiously approached him, the snapped pole held tightly in both my hands. I caught sight of something glinting deep within the ground, embellished by dirt.
Apparently, I was mistaken. The relic wasn't hidden in the storage shed. It was buried underneath it.
Sucking a deep breath and immediately regretting it when the dust tickled my throat, I clamped down on a cough and pounced. Recalling the combat drills that the Voice hammered into me every morning, I went for a simple but well-practiced thrust.
However, the Saurian was clearly a veteran in combat, and either through instinct or my amateurish mistakes, he was able to whirl around reflexively to deflect the sharp end meant for the back of his neck.
"Argh?!"
I found myself smacked backward, but I immediately rolled the moment I hit the ground and got back to my feet. Good, I didn't lose my grip on my weapon. Holding it up warily, I eyed my opponent as he snarled and hissed at me, revealing glistening fangs. He darted at me, slashing viciously in a strike that would have opened me up from shoulder to hip, but I had reflexively stepped back to avoid the blow. Dodging an eviscerating slash, I countered with a riposte that was poorly aimed, the jagged end glancing off the smooth black armor that covered his torso.
Damn it.
The Saurian raked me with his claws, but I fended off the sharp tips from the dull length of the pole. The blow sent me staggering and the Saurian seized the chance to close in and behead me with a swipe, but I ducked under the claws and kicked his unprotected knee. Though I didn't have practice with a live opponent, I did take the maneuver to heart during training, often simulating.
My schoolmates might have made fun of me for "shadow boxing," but it appeared that the countless practices paid off. The Saurian stumbled, his leg now bent from the blow, but he appeared more astonished than hurt. He growled and lashed out, almost knocking the pole out of my hands and sending me reeling.
Then the Saurian whipped around and his tail slammed into me with meteoric force. I grunted as I was sent flying, crashing into the ground in an undignified heap. Coughing, I tried to rise to my feet, but I was winded from the blow.
Worse, I had lost my weapon too. It clattered away, out of my hands and into a pile of broken debris. Scrambling toward it, I was then forced to switch direction and hurl myself away when the Saurian landed between me and the mound of rubble.
He bore down on me, slashing wildly and occasionally flicking his tail at me with enough force to break stone. His tail actually smashed a piece of concrete into powder, throwing up a cloud of dust. As the Voice claimed, his senses weren't unnaturally sharp, and so I was able to take advantage of the sudden obscuration to move around him as he foundered. Snarling, he slashed, and even when partially blinded, his reach was longer and I was just as visually impaired.
Once more, I could see the thing that he was seeking, a gleaming object that was still half buried in the dirt and almost hidden from view by the hole that he had dug up. I suppressed my curiosity and returned my attention to staying alive. Ducking under another slash, I countered with a kick. I had to remind myself not to hit his armor or I would end up injuring my foot instead.
Flipping myself over his whip-like tail, I spun in midair and threw out my leg in a high kick that slammed against his skull. He grunted and staggered, but retaliated with his claws that swiped through thin air when I crashed back down to earth. Staying down, I instead whirled around and swept my leg out to trip him up.
Good thing he wasn't wearing boots, but his clawed talons made it difficult for me to hook my foot around his ankle. Even so, I got lucky and was able to sent him tumbling onto his back. He flailed, and I hastily retreated, not wanting to get caught by his frantically rending claws.
Adjusting my glasses, I got to my feet. By now, the Saurian had also risen back up and was snarling. Apparently, he was done playing, for his back-mounted cannon was revolving and snapping down onto his shoulder, pivoting about to aim at me. I could see its barrel glow hot, and something about the incandescent flare seemed familiar.
…the crocodilian ships in my dream. They sported the same technology, though on a far more colossal scale.
It didn't matter if the damned thing was tinier. I had seen what the volcanic beam could do to ships. A miniature version of that weapon would completely incinerate me. I immediately dove to cover, though in the ruins of the storage shed, there was nowhere to hide behind. Even if there was, I doubted the flimsy wooden or even solid concrete walls were durable enough to provide protection against a beam that erupted with the heat of molten magma.
"Over here! Activate me!"
The Voice called out to me, the usual composure now replaced with urgency. Not exactly panic or emotion, but in a tone modulated to stimulate me to pick up the pace. I obeyed without question, not because I was a spineless beta loser like the comment section claimed, but because it was obviously my only chance at survival.
Also, the hole conveniently provided me the best cover at the moment. I tumbled into it, landing hard against the packed soil. Now that I was inside what might be my grave in the next few seconds, I saw more clearly the gleaming object that the Saurian desired. Or rather, the part that protruded out of the earth.
Without needing instruction, I reached out to touch it. Maybe it was a telepathic signal from the Voice, or perhaps it was just plain obvious, but I just knew it was the only way to activate what appeared to be my only salvation.
"Biometric scan complete. User authenticated. Commander Li Tian Xing, you are authorized to activate me."
"Yeah! Activate!" I yelled, just as the cannon flared and the Saurian launched an immense incandescent beam at me. The attack left a molten trail across the ground, red-hot furrows in both concrete and ashes in its wake, and seared a devastating path toward me.
The relic glowed azure and erupted from the ground, hovering in front of me. A light blue barrier engulfed my position, solidifying into a defensive barrier that absorbed the powerful lance.
"Aegis activated."
"What?"
I could only gape at the sight of the ancient technological relic that I had just recovered. The Voice was emanating from it – this I just knew, even though she spoke in my head and not through any conventional transmission of sound. This was the Voice.
"My name is Aegis, and I am at your service, Commander."
An appropriate name for the device she manifested as. A hovering shield that looked like she was manufactured from several hi-tech components, a segmented shield with smooth curves and groves that emanated esoteric energies to protect me. An alien piece of technology…
"No, I am not alien. I was manufactured by humans."
I nodded, awestruck. I wanted more information, but the explanation had to wait. The Saurian had ceased firing, his cannon smoking from the sheer heat. He snarled and glared at me, balling his claws into distorted fists in rage.
"Thanks for the save. So…how do we proceed from here?" I narrowed my eyes, trying to analyze the situation. "I see that you're capable of deploying a barrier. That's great. Do you have any offensive capabilities?"
"Unfortunately, no. Aegis is a defensive armament. I am only capable of protection, and do not possess any ranged weaponry."
"I see. I guess we'll have to improvise. Still, with your barriers, that opens up more options. At least I'm not completely helpless now." I smiled. "Now's the time to counterattack."
"I am at your service, Commander."
"Excellent. Is there a limit to your barriers? How long can you sustain them for? Is there a number of times you can deploy them before you run out of energy?"
"Please do not worry, Commander. I operate on Zero Point Energy. In theory, I am able to draw upon a limitless supply of power, and so for all intents and purpose, you can assume that I can deploy a barrier an infinite number of times and sustain it for eternity if necessary."
Pushing my glasses up my nose, I considered her response with a smile.
"Mobility?"
"Unfortunately, I cannot move when a barrier is deployed."
"So there will be a window of vulnerability when we need to switch positions."
"Correct."
"That's fine. I think I have a rough idea on how to fight now. When I move, switch off the barrier. Deploy it when you see fit. I'll be relying on you for cover."
"Understood, Commander."
I was about to climb out of the hole and charge when I noticed a sudden change in the Saurian. He had glanced away for a few seconds, his slit eyes narrowing curiously. Following the direction of his predatory gaze, I saw why.
For some reason, a newcomer had appeared. Drawn by the noise of combat?
"Oh no…"
As the dust settled and smoke cleared, and our vision was less obscured, I could make out the silhouette of the newcomer. She appeared to be a student like me, a girl of around the same age. A schoolmate who had strayed into the battle by accident? My eyes widened when I saw the Saurian turn toward her, ready to pounce.
"Get away!" I yelled, but the girl ignored me. I was about to shout another warning, but the words died in my throat when I saw that the newcomer was aiming something at the Saurian, her expression determined and fierce.
…she was holding a gun and pointing the barrel at the alien.