It was the first time in my life someone had complimented me for something not Soccer.
For my entire life, Shaolin Soccer had been everything to me. My star power and fame being proof that I wasn't less than Dad. That I'm just as good. It was my needy little cry for attention to them that Dad never answered.
I had tried my entire life to be kind and genuine as a person, but nothing ever works out. Why couldn't they see me? Why do they call me a nice guy and good at Soccer?
"You can do this. You're the son of a legend and superstar. You have the talent." Was what my manager told me while answering a bunch of calls. After my uncle disappeared to look for Dad, I was left to enjoy my life as a star.
Rich, and good at what I was doing… No, I had put the effort everyday to keep myself fit and skilled. My mastery wasn't an accident or something inborn, it was cultivated over time.
"You have your father's talent." My manager smiled at me, and so did the rest of Valkcry.
They had good intentions.
So why couldn't I accept their compliments towards me? It wasn't like they had bad intentions. It's just… Everything started to become more hollow and routines every single day. Acting the leading role of myself.
The real me becoming obscured by shadows.
It was only after losing everything did I realise things that I couldn't. There were still those regular compliments, but the person saying them wasn't a fan or a manipulative manager.
It was just a friend I made in this future era.
He saw my drawing skills and complimented me. Actually looking at 'me' when saying that.
Not expecting anything based on my father.
I'd never felt so content in my life. So free to pursue something apart from being a superstar. Is this what they called an 'Isekai' at home? No wonder no one would come back. New worlds are full of interesting stuff.
"What's up?" Lex asked while looking at me suspiciously. The way he was so passionate about teaching me 'Curses' and 'Charms' would've been misunderstood anywhere else. It made me chuckle and say nothing.
I smiled and rubbed my head. Pretending it was nothing important. My 'party member' continued helping me draw Charms of every element. Explaining their inner workings.
When we were confident, it became time to test what we had theorised on our own.
"This is how you manipulate elements." Lex said while holding a 'Earth Charm. It was a talisman drawn with the Earth Attribute. A simple product that was easy to create.
He held it to his head and instilled his commands into the paper beforehand, then threw it in front of him. The moment it had touched the grass, a lump of the ground twisted and moulded. Shooting as a lance.
This was the 'Earth Lance'.
It was a little bit slow to be of practical effect in battle, and was too easy to predict using the information on hand. Unless we managed to hide the colour of the talisman beforehand, it would have no effect on those expecting it.
"That's why you said it's more for environmental changes, right?" I said after he proved the point. He nodded at me. Knowing that it was better to see results in order to understand. Words alone wouldn't help.
Imagine throwing a talisman on the floor and having to calculate the timing as well as the position of a moving target. That, on top of having to personally code the Charm itself.
That sounds like a nightmare.
But it was still a lot more useful than what I could do without one. Thumb sized external manifestations of the elements were pretty much useless most the time. Unlike what the so-called 'Sages' of this era could do to grow their Mana Capacity, all I had was my F Rank.
Not much to rely on if it wasn't for my Innate Gift— 'Seven Stars'. I could probably forcibly raise my internal capacity by combining my weapons, but couldn't change my innate talent. Nor how much I could externalise.
"You have to remember that Charms weren't the same as Spells. You can't alter a Charm after it's taken effect." That's what Lex told me confidently, but was it true? I was sure there was more. He said it himself while teaching.
"But we can improve it." When I said these words, he looked at me with a mix of surprise and anticipation. Teething with joy at seeing the works he passed on taking a new form.
I was ready to show him my 'interpretation'.
"You're joking. No… You're joking~" A bright smile on his face while looking at me being so proud. Ready to see what I got for him. There was no need to keeping him waiting anymore.
"Take a look at this." I said those words as I held up the same talisman. The opal Earth Charm didn't stay in my hands for long. The paper was thrown out immediately, and took effect the moment it had touched the grass.
I gestured with my hand. The target was still the floor, but the method of coding the result was changed to 'manifesting'. There was no need for preparation. No hesitation. The only thing I needed was the imagination required.
A similar lance grew from the ground and curved towards Lex. He tried moving out of the way, but the lance was following my gestures and being manipulated by willpower and Mana. Abiding my commands dutifully.
I was almost like my uncle now. He'd thought I'd never have this experience of manipulating the elements like this, but look at me now. All I had to do was stop training alone all the time.
"Crazy… I'm guessing you're manipulating it using your Magic Pathways. Can you use several different Charms at once?" After he'd realised dodging wouldn't work, Lex stepped forward and grasped the Earth Lance itself.
He tried moving it around, and I felt a small shiver of feedback from having extended my willpower forward. Not enough to actually feel a sensation or movement, but enough to know that the Mana was being disturbed.
It was really uncomfortable to be honest.
"Not yet. That's gonna take some getting used to. I should be able to do it soon enough to make it worthwhile… Anyway, what about saving Rin? Shouldn't we help her?" I felt bad that we had to abandon that mission earlier.
"You're the one to decide. But we'll have to do it without a car." Lex spoke like we were back to square one. I felt bad about this. There was hardly anything to do in our current situation.
I had to talk to Betty about this.
"Hey, Betty? We had a little situation." I took out the walkie-talkie and started speaking.
"I know." There was an immediate answer.
"Then…" My face was twisted. Feeling a little embarrassed that I wasted so much time.
"I'm doing this myself." She spoke with a determination in a voice. Resolve beyond anything I'd felt from her. It made me almost drop the communication device in shock.
"WHAT?!"
"I tried to get help, but… you know." Although we had our circumstances, she sounded a little disappointed in us. We couldn't have screwed this up more than we already had.
"We can get there…"
"Too late. I'm marking Lex's home as a nearby shelter. Just protect us when we get there. Bye." The communication line was cut off. I couldn't connect it back no matter how many times I tried opening up the channel.
She was serious about this…
My eyes looked up at Lex, who had a serious but accepting look in his eyes about this.
"We have to help."
"Don't. We have our job." He ignored my plea and shook his head. It was amazing how the roles had shifted between us. My attachment wasn't enough reason to act recklessly here.
All I could do was look outside the water barrier and wait. Hope that she'd be safe.
"…" I looked down silently. My eyes unable to hide the despair I felt for being so useless. It was probably because of this that Lex patted my shoulder. His eyes showing helplessness.
"We can put some Warding Charms on ourselves in the meantime. We can't go right there, but we CAN meet them halfway. You just have to believe she will do well without us." Lex gave me something else to do.
It was on the basis she would succeed, but I get that running over wouldn't help anyone.
I agreed and nodded.
"Hey, that-"
"Shhh." Lex suddenly looked at the window above us. His expression dramatically changed. There were a lot of unreadable emotions flying across his face all at once.
Why could I see sadness in his eyes?
"Dad is calling me. You know how to use Warding Charms, right? Just stick them on your weapon or body, then it'll take the brunt of the damage targeted at you. Make sure it activates on the condition of meeting a Death Force attack. Anyway, bye." He continued and brushed me off when his father called.
Leaving me behind to worry about the first person I'd met when coming to this world.
My one and only savior.
…..
….
…
..
.
"Don't do this nonsense. She isn't worth the risk." An unfamiliar woman's voice resounded on Betty's walkie-talkie. The mature and womanly voice held a sense of anxiety in it.
"She's my only lead. I need her safety." The conversation was hard to figure out without context. They had their own problems, and not everything was the work of pure emotion.
This rescue operation wasn't out of heroism.
She got to a place nearby the mansion Rin was kept and looked at the environment. The place she had no choice to infiltrate to rescue her teammate. Someone important to her.
And that was enough to rev her engines. Get her geared up. Then ready herself for battle.
She took things patiently.
Her entire system of magic was different from Lex's, Ryan's, or Tia's. All of them walked a different path starting from the same spot. A journey towards the same overall destination.
To her, the sniper she held was her 'wand'.
This was simply a tool to her, and right now she needed more tools to reach her next destination. She wasn't some genius sniper that could do the impossible with that alone.
So she put that gun away and equipped another. Finding a glock that had a D Rank Coloured Steel of the White Hue. Perhaps it wasn't strong, but it could be worthwhile for someone skilled in espionage like she was.
She looked at Project Scavenger floating behind her. The bear knight always by her side. Having it lugging around wouldn't really help infiltration, so she added a magic to it.
Pointing her gun towards the floating knight.
'Optical Camouflage' was coded and put onto Project Scavenger. The invisibility became less useful with movement, but it was enough to be completely invisible when standing still.
It was good but wasn't going to be enough.
She, by herself, wasn't even certain to get out of there alive with what she had on hand. It'd be nice if she had a genius sniper and close combatant who could support her in a fight.
Even when she had two high-tier companions with a focused set of skills, she managed to lose them due to unforeseen circumstances popping up. Nothing was going as planned and if she waited too long. Night would come and end up making death almost a certainty.
Rin likely wouldn't survive the night there. At least, her mind wouldn't be able to stay intact if they took the time to torture her. There were a lot of unfortunate things that could happen.
All that Betty Black could do was try her plan.
It was an extremely detailed and sophisticated one-person operation draft in her head, but it'd have to be enough. There was literally nothing that could be done.
No backup. No assistance. She'd have to minimise the amount of risks by combining the data she'd learnt through Lex and Ryan's encounters. Add that into the action plan.
'Hmmm… Their behavioural patterns are simple enough. The environment could be adjusted if I had time. Location of target for extraction is certain.' Betty thought while using militaristic techniques taught to her.
The schematics were drawn on a 3D virtual interface seen through her visor. Marking the location of known 'wolves' and the actions predicted that could change their behaviour.
Although they had good equipment and battle tactics, she found from the data that they were the worst at adapting. She should be worried about interference from the two unregistered anomalies. Priority should be avoided in that aspect rather than others.
Could she engage with 'wolves'? Well, as long as the dangerous anomalies didn't find out, she could try her hand. There wasn't anything she could do if they found her.
How many 'wolves' could she silently initiate takedowns on without being detected? She theorised the number to be two. As long as they didn't have ways to detect the disappearance of 'wolves', she could use a cannon from Beary Kuma each on them.
A third target of takedown would significantly raise the risk of being detected. She should avoid skirmishes if possible. Especially after entering the mansion. It didn't have space.
The mansion itself only had three levels when including the basement. There wasn't any soundproofing, so any shouts made by the wolves would alert everyone in the building.
She had to be careful…
'What else is there?' She spun her virtual pen while looking at the data, but couldn't think of anything to add. It was only after putting some thought that she looked at exit points.
What if she could only exit out of the building on the opposite side after being caught?
Such a scenerio would lower the chances of anyone surviving even if she got out with the rescue target. She could only pinpoint the best ways to leave was blasting open a wall if she was detected with her on the way out.
Several routes were drawn towards the shelter Lex and his father had made.
With all that done, she was finally ready to initiate the rescue operation. There was nothing she could do if something outside her expectations occurred. She hoped that attempting this before sunset would catch those two anomalies off-guard. That's it.
'Wait for me, Rin.' A steel resolve appeared in Betty's eyes. Knowing her death was likely.
Still, a mercenary couldn't avoid such jobs.