"If the Universe sees me break my vow, will it completely un-erase me. It's an ancient language that touches upon the source of reality"
Leo Skyfang understood that Madelin was serious about trusting her so he switched to Sharpshooter mode. She had no reaction because there was a secret on his body that meant Sharpshooter was not the Sharpshooter she was familiar with.
The first shot hit the shoulder and fell to her surprise. She did not see the shot coming nor did she detect any trace of anything. It was a clean hit that if were serious, would've taken her out of battle.
"Did you use any affinities or sub-affinities just now?"
No response. He just continued firing more shots. She attempted to counter-attack but her own affinities and sub-affinities were suppressed with each shot. Her daggers barely advanced more than an inch before falling. Her lightning snake was similarly trapped.
The closest thing she could think of was a powerful trait combination known as 'Redirection'. It re-routed the rules and parameters that glued everything together. But she knew the requirements for it and nothing on him met the threshold for it. What he did was literally 'Nullify' her or if it was a trait, 'Nullification'.
Suddenly, she disappeared. He looked around but couldn't find her. Also suddenly, the Nano-Suit warned him of extreme danger coming from a 145 degree angle to his right. He side-stepped in the opposite direction while turning. A flying dagger produced sparks as it failed to penetrate his suit of armor. He fired a shot as fast as he could and the dagger fell once again.
She didn't reappear but his visor showed non-stop danger messages all around him. It was a self-defense mechanism in case his current ability was not sufficient to save his life.
Sharpshooter: Scatter Mode!
8 mechanical arms appeared out of nowhere holding 8 fancy guns. The pistol he held had turned into two, one in each hand. Then he spun. This was not a new mode or version 2.0 of Sharpshooter. It was an internal Augment that dramatically increased the combat capabilities of Sharpshooter. The Augmented Sharpshooter could be enhanced with sub-augments.
One of those sub-augments was the sub-branch known as Cluster. It was locked behind an unknown requirement. Big flashing text told him the result of the battle:
Success Rate: 100%
On the screen were dozens of enemies represented by small x's. His own bullets were represented by green circles.
The Nano-Suit's analysis was that the limited amount of flying daggers could not catch up with the infinite output of projectiles. Eventually, the opponent would run out of steam but he didn't have such limits.
"Ahhh!"
Madelin screamed before crashing into the ground. When she looked up again, her surprise was replaced by fear. Horror. Shock. Disbelief. Just what the hell happened? The kid had suddenly become a spider out of nowhere whose output dramatically increased.
She had no counter to this because this was no longer any Sharpshooter she knew. This was a Machine of Destruction. The ex-general had told her that the kid had a fortuitous opportunity in the Yin-Yang Lake. The thing is, that Lake was… basically the same as wishing someone 'Good Luck'. The fact that he gained any tangible benefit from it at all, was earth shattering news.
The cracks on her barrier told her to end the assessment. Even the tiniest crack might be probed by an expert stronger then her. She didn't want any harm to come to the kid before he matured into his true potential.
"I've gotten a good read on your ability. I'm going to discuss it with my partners to determine the most appropriate projects for you. Keep in mind. You shouldn't expose those secrets freely"
Leo nodded and then the milky white barrier vanished completely. Madelin had also disappeared. Cat and the Rogue were both staring at him out of curiosity. He ignored the Rogue and left while Cat followed him. The Rogue thought about it before leaving to do her own thing.
—
The coastline of the Eastern United States was lit up by smoke, machine, and blood. There were at least 100 deaths a minute, officially. WMRs, regular civilians, animals, and even the smallest insect. Nothing was spared.
The attacks came from underneath, from up above, and through sub-channels. Engineers worked round the clock to ensure that nothing slipped past the military's defense. They were Magicians who used their spells to constantly reinforce the technology used to defend them. Since Magicians had limited intelligence, they were always on rotation. It kept them sharp and attentive and significantly broadened their perspectives. In fact, most of them became professors, scientists, and private civilian contractors after retiring.
A huge war machine was facing the endless ocean and 100's of engineers were constantly looking it over for flaws and upgrades.
A rocket was loaded into the chamber and the counter-attack unit responsible for its operation pressed a button. A huge explosion caused a ripple in space as terrifying screams could be heard. Then bodies fell into the ocean out of thin air.
"Hit confirmed. Target threat level: Charlie"
Echo, Delta, Charlie, Beta, Alpha was the threat assessment scale used worldwide to categorize the level of danger something posed. Soldiers were Echo level threats. Something to be ignored. WMRs and Natural Disasters were Delta level threats. Precaution needed to be taken against them. Strong but not unstoppable. Specialists were at the lower end of Charlie level threats while Magician dominant Specialists were at the higher end. They needed to be taken care of asap. The separate branches of the military, when swarming out in droves, were somewhere in the middle.
The specific scale for the last hit was a 4.5 which meant that it was a new Specialist brave enough to ask to go to the front lines.
If they survived, might become a 5.0 or higher. Then they would need to break out their own Specialist to handle the situation.
The waves flooded in and receded about several dozen times before they focused on the next threat. The coast had long been polluted by the after battle of hundreds of wars. It was very difficult to swim in it, let alone survive it. The collapse of a sub-channel normally teleported all the participants into the ocean. If the Specialist hadn't made it out within a dozen breaths, they were as good as gone. Still good to be on the lookout in case they were an exceptional person.
"Keep up the excellent work. 1089 days and not a single outbreak ye-"
Those words resembled the start of a curse as a commander was blown to pieces the next second. Giant spider like creatures emerged from within the commander through a sub-channel. They devoured the body as more commanders across the coast exploded. Giant flies, bears, crocodiles, and other natural predators emerged from and devoured the corpse of the sacrifice used to summon them.
The engineers were caught off guard before they recalculated the situation and start tinkering with the settings. The WMRs under the command of their former leaders responded swiftly.
—
The southern edge of the United States was similarly dealing with their own infestation of Giant War Machines. They came openly and honestly and were locked in a stalemate. One of the invaders was holding a giant flag. The sun blinded the vision of those looking up but the soldiers knew this wasn't a peace offering. It was a declaration of war.
A barrier prevented long distance attacks from breaching the perimeter. It had been holding for months now and wasn't showing any signs of breaking down anytime soon.
—
The Western United States was relatively calm and the Northern United States was negotiating war efforts with their allies.
In a secluded building somewhere that served as the front for a large operation.
"No one can break your defense so what's the purpose of this meeting?"
"Our newest batch of military WMRs is very promising. Scores of top notch Specialists"
"Any Elites?"
Silence.
"Let's talk about realistic expectations"
"Realistic is the Asian Alliance openly showing off their hundreds of Elites that were trained to deal with the United States and its intercontinental allies"
"You think that because we don't have as many, that ours are of lower quality?"
"Then what's your secret weapon?"
"Projec—"
Before the person could finish, they reached into their phone to check the caller ID.
"I'll be right back. New advancements"
"Hurry up. Every day we delay preparations, the smaller our corner becomes"
—
Several minutes later, in a secluded dark room.
"What's the good news?"
"Wildcard"
"What??"
—
It was 6 P.M. and Leo Skyfang was currently calculating complex equations for a client. He would earn $100 for every problem he found a solution to and he often found dozens of them a day.
These equations were for a new government funded project to create what were known as 'Artifacts'. What they did, the equations spelled it out. Currently, he was designing a very ingenious Artifact.