After getting his Earth spell, Jamie saw he had 4 more pending spells from Levels 40, 55, 65, and 70.
"I don't have to use them now, do I? What if I go and collect more affinities to choose from then come back and get new spells?"
Chuckling at his idea, Jamie decided to grab one more water spell to prepare for the rig fight and save the 3 remaining spells.
[Water Spell - Bubble Trap learned]
"This one is pretty unique." Jamie commented upon the spell's knowledge filling his head.
To use Bubble Trap, there had to be pre-existing water in the area to turn into a bubble. Luckily, he had the Water Wave spell to create that water with.
Finished, Jamie looked over his stats one more time.
[Prime]
[G***** Prime Unit]
==Mecha Core==
Level: 69
FUNCTIONS:
Overdrive
ATTRIBUTES:
Strength: 39
Agility: 40
Durability: 40
Flight: 35
Energy: 40
Attribute Points: 0
==Mecha Core Abilities==
Rocket Punch (0 Energy Cost)
Wrist Missiles (3 Energy Cost per both compartments emptied)
Thermal Vision (0 Energy Cost)
Energy Cyclers (20 Energy refill per second)
Smokescreen (2 Energy Cost per 10 seconds of being active)
Cloak Projector (1 Energy per second of being active)
Optic Lasers (5 Energy per use)
==Magic Core==
Level: 70
QUALITIES:
Capacity: 35
Control: 15
Affinity: 35
Quality Points: 0
==Magic Core Spells==
Fire Blast (2 Mana per spell usage)
Summon Killipede (Teen) (5 Mana per Killipede summoned)
Water Wave (2 Mana per spell usage)
Wind Drill (6 Mana per spell usage)
Electric Armor (0.5 Mana per second of being active)
Boulder (4 Mana per spell usage)
Bubble Trap (2 Mana to use, 5 Mana per minute to keep active after)
"Phew, that's all the upgrades for now. I think I'm ready for the rig now."
Closing the interface, he turned to see his family. Aiden was playing with Yeti, Amy was sitting on the couch, Armin was humming to himself, and Amanda was busy in the other room.
"Alright guys, I'm heading out."
"Can I come?" Armin stood up and asked, to which Jamie shook his head.
"Sorry, this one needs Prime's flying ability. I'm doing this solo. How about you stay and watch over everyone instead?"
"Sure." Armin shrugged and sat back down.
Jamie rubbed his hands and looked around as he thought of something to bring.
"Where's my old music player?"
******
As evening arrived, on a building rooftop overlooking the port behind the Dynamos HQ ruins, a man sat in a chair, a dented telescope set up in front of him. It was currently his turn to watch the port, and he was alerted as he saw a boy enter his line of sight with a large metal humanoid thrice his size.
As the boy hopped on his mecha's shoulders and flew off, the scout grabbed his communicator and turned it on.
"The Mecha has left the port, sir!"
After a short crackle, a voice answered.
"Alright. Good work."
A few streets away, inside of Beck's office, Lowe lowered his communicator and turned to the middle aged man behind the desk.
"I just got word that Jamie left the port. Phase 2 is a go."
Beck nodded as he felt a weight get taken off his shoulders. "Good. I was afraid the rig would try to contact us before he woke up."
"Fortunately for us, he did."
Beck nodded, rising from his seat.
"Let's get those boats ready."
******
"Hey, hey, what's the matter with your head~ hey…"
In the middle of an artificial ocean, a Mecha hovered a few meters above the water, just enough to avoid any sudden waves. The blue flames from Prime's back thrusters along with the red lights all throughout his body illuminated the water below them, but not enough to make them visible from afar.
Sitting on Prime's shoulders, Jamie was singing to himself as he stared into the distance, strumming an imaginary guitar. He wore vintage wired headphones that were connected to a small music player at his waist. Knowing it would be a long trip, Jamie decided to bring it along so he could listen to his ancient music on the way.
"Come get your love, come get your love, come get your love now! Doo doo doo doo doo…"
Jamie kept singing until his voice was tired, but even after a couple of hours, there was still nothing in sight.
"They weren't kidding when they said you couldn't fly to the other sector, at least if you relied on fuel. Isn't that right, Prime?" Yawning, he remarked, patting the metal head. "I'll take a quick nap. Keep flying, okay?"
Jamie lay down on Prime's massive shoulders and took a nap. He knew that the mecha would still obey his order and keep flying, since he had tested it before. He couldn't keep controlling Prime in his sleep, but he could give it a specific order to do before sleeping, and the mecha would obey until either the order was completed or until Jamie woke up and gave a new order.
He slept for a few hours at least, but after waking up, there was still no rig in sight.
"Ah jeez. If I didn't have to make sure the control panel stays intact, I could just blow the place sky high the moment I get there."
Groaning, Jamie patiently waited for the rig to come into view as he flew over the ocean.
******
A large rig in the middle of the ocean was full of hustle and bustle, with people in white and blue coats looking over containers carrying things around. The rig was one wide platform supported by thick, interconnected steel beams that led below the water.
Large, bulky Mechas with guns instead of arms were lined up on one side, their pilot chambers empty. On the other side stood a booth with a control panel, two technicians seated inside it. In the center of the rig was a small building where everyone stayed during their breaks. It contained rows of beds, most of which were currently empty.
On another side of the rig, two workers set down a glass cylinder larger than them under two officers' watchful eyes.
"Careful with that!" The older officer barked. "Those samples are volatile."
Inside the cylinder, a thick, black substance could be seen moving around, occasionally pushing against the glass. It was like someone spilled a bottle of ink.
"Why does the UHF want this, anyway?" The other officer crossed her arms.
"Apparently it's some sort of new alien species. They want to study it."
"But why are we the ones transporting it? Old Orion isn't even a major subsidiary colony."
"It's just part of the route." The old officer sighed. "Once we ship to the high class sector, they're shipping it to Eveburn, then Mole, then Aurora, all the way till this thing reaches New Earth."
"Damn. You don't think this thing will lead to something big?"
"Who knows, kid. In all my years…"
As the senior and junior officer walked off to chat, below the rig, a metal humanoid was letting a boy get off his shoulders. With black hair and red eyes, the boy sat himself comfortably on a horizontal steel beam before shooting the Mecha a thumbs up. Ready for action, Prime flew upwards.
One second, the rig was just having a regular night, the next second, the break room exploded. Many screamed in fear and confusion at the sudden occurrence. Some of the officers bolted towards their parked Mechas, instinct telling them it wasn't just an accident.
"What the hell!?" The junior officer screamed.
[You have killed a Level 19 Dynamos Cop]
[You have killed a Level 2 Technician]
[You have killed…]
[You have killed…]
[You have killed…]
Since time was of the essence, Prime landed on the platform with enough force to leave a dent, right in the middle of a bunch of confused cops and workers. With the control booth in sight, Prime jumped to the side to peek through the doorway and see the two operators, but not the control panel.
Activating his newest ability, Prime's eyes glowed and red hot lasers shot out, piercing the operators and the wall beneath them but not the panel itself.
[You have killed a Level 4 Technician]
[You have killed a Level 3 Technician]
"HOSTILE!" Realizing they were under attack, an officer yelled, alerting the others.
Before they could act against Prime, the area filled with smoke, obscuring their vision.
"Where?"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
While hidden in the smoke, Prime took to the skies and shot all 50 micro-missiles at different points on the rig, wiping out more than half of the officers and technicians present. Notifications of his kills popped up, but Jamie ignored them since they weren't enough to level up.
The missiles were even able to knock 2 of the empty Grunt Mechas into the water, making them inaccessible.
Seeing that 6 officers made it into the mechas while 2 remained empty, Prime began to attack as Jamie climbed onto the platform using his new body. He entered the control booth to get a better view of his fight.
Just like the picture, the white and blue mechas were bulky, bipedal, way bigger than Prime, and had heavy guns attached to their sides instead of arms. Jamie stretched his arms and cracked his neck, ready to fight.
The closest Grunt fired at Prime, who dashed to the side to dodge. The single shot released by the Grunt was enough to punch a hole in the steel platform, though it was slow.
Skidding to a stop, Prime raised both arms and aimed at two different Grunts, a third in the middle. His right arm gathered mana while his left detached at the elbow, thrusters pushing it forward to fly and crash into the Grunt's torso, making the officer inside flinch.
In front of his right arm, rocks and dirt began to gather until a boulder the size of Prime was formed, shooting towards the rightmost Grunt. The boulder broke through the layer of glass and crushed the officer inside, before the Grunt fell backwards and fell into the sea.
As these two actions happened simultaneously, Prime was able to fly forward and shoot lasers at the middle Grunt before the rest could shoot at him.
[You have destroyed a Level 79 DG-262]
[You have killed a Level 19 Dynamos Cop]
[Mecha Core has leveled up!]
[You have gained Attribute Points.]
"Oh? There's a different message for Mechas? I wonder if there's a unique function with them, like with affinities and the Magic Core…"
Even while thinking, Jamie was still focused on the fight. As Prime kept shooting lasers while approaching the middle Grunt, the layer of glass was already melting. Arriving at the Grunt, Prime kicked in the half-melted glass layer before igniting the pilot chamber with Fire Blast.
Leaving behind the screaming officer, Prime flew to the Grunt that still had his left fist stuck in the glass. After a second or two, the burning Grunt exploded.
[You have destroyed a Level 72 DG-302]
[You have killed a Level 15 Dynamos Cop]