Notice: Please take note that the events of this chapter are completely unrelated to the current storyline of TCOI, It is the second part of the Halloween special which takes place on the planet Xyphos and has no connection whatsoever to the canon yet. I might connect them later if it looks good but this chapter will not affect the storyline in anyway! Enjoy and a very Happy Halloween '24!
SPECIAL TWO: A DROPPER FROM FARLANDS
(Voltaris Strider)
We were completely surrounded by the ProtoBots. They had their shooters aimed at me and Kai. I aimed my SoulCharger at them, and activated it.
With a faint hum and slight vibration, it activated. The Bot in front of me was blasted away as the high power beam hit it. It lay across the room, sizzling and sparking out. However my SoulCharger needed time to recharge after five shots. Putting it back in Inventory, I activated my Energy Drain Skill.
With a blast, I absorbed all the energy I could from my surroundings. The good news was I had knocked out half the ProtoBots. Bad news was I had also absorbed the energy from the room and could no longer absorb anything. However, I had just the solution for that.
With my Photon Release skill, I blasted out the stored energy, aiming it at the Bots. I turned myself slowly, blasting them out of the way. I burnt the remaining Bots and still had a little energy left. I kept it handy for later use. But now we had to escape.
All the alarms had been triggered, and my Arm Console said that the entire CAS was surrounded by the Corps. Our Hovercraft wasn't suited against military grade weapons. And by now all of the planet's military must be on their way here.
What we had done, was commit the most heinous crime in history. No one had ever done it before. I was a Level 63 Quester, and had a lot of Skills and weapons unavailable to Xyphian troops. However, I did not have a transportation device that could carry both of us. We would have to fight the Corps and get out of here.
But there were only two of us and hundreds of thousands of them and more on the way. I did not like these odds. But we had to do it.
I placed a Sonic Imploder on the Arch to the ProtoBot room. So that no one could enter. Or rather they would need some time to deactivate the Imploder. I turned on my Energy Vision Skill. I could see the troops outside. They were on standby. There were thousands of them on our level alone. And more were entering from below. They couldn't phase in through these walls. That gave us a little time.
"Well, I guess this is it. The end of the line. There's no way we can get out safely. Maybe you can, being a Quester, but I won't be able to fight off so many Corp Sentinels."
Kai sounded really hopeless right now. He went over and sat down by the wall. I put my Armor back in my inventory. We had expected the Corps to be here. But we didn't expect the Bots to override our command and enter KillMode. And that took the time we had reserved to escape from the Corps.
I went over and sat down next to him, "I ain't leaving you Kai, we do this together and we pay for it together."
He didn't speak.
We had no way of getting out of here. Even if we went back down to Level 2000 and phased out, there were too many Corp Sentinels waiting for us and already on that floor maybe. Things looked really helpless.
DING!
[BREAK THE FORCE CUBE TO COMPLETE THE QUEST]
That was new. The System had never given me a direct command before. But now that I thought about it, we were so focused about escaping that we forgot that completing the Quest would power me up greatly and unleash the System upon everyone. My eyes lit up.
"What?" Kai asked.
I had forgotten that he couldn't see the screens. But I didn't have much time to explain. I could already hear the Sentinels on the other side of the Arch.
I took out the Cube from my inventory and put it in front of us. I had no idea how to break such a powerful Artifact. But I had a feeling the System had been preparing me for it for so long. I closed my eyes and used my Energy Drain Skill, touching the Cube.
I could feel the godly amounts of Zyphora's Mana flowing into my body now. The dormant mana container cells were being awakened to their full potential. I could feel them flowing from my fingertips to all parts of my body. I could feel the warmth and power in my brain too. I was Ascending. I could feel my Mana going beyond its limits. But my body could absorb it all. I could sense every lifeform on this planet. Every vibration of the brain could be felt by me. And then it stopped.
I opened my eyes. There was the Quest Completion screen. There was one more screen:
[CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE ASCENDED TO LIBERATOR CLASS]
Your Previous Energizer Class will be converted into Shards
I pulled up my Emmisary Page. I was now Level 100! I had gotten all the promised rewards. I kept them in Inventory for now. Looking at Kai, I realised the plan had succeeded. He was staring dumbfounded in front of himself. It looked a bit stupid, but I knew he was looking at the System screens.
And about the Corps, they were all powerless against me now. I had pulled up the information panel on Liberator class and it was something of a God status for the planet Xyphos. I was Level 100, and they were just Level 1. I had tons of weapons and skills, while they just had the starter skill and no power. Escaping will be easy now.
After the heist, me and Kai separated ways. It was for his safety. I was now a wanted criminal all over the planet. But that didn't matter to me. I was still stronger than any Xyphian and was still bound to grow. The System gave me some odd jobs now. Nothing major. Stuff like stabilizing the transdimensional portals, surviving for some periods of times. Even the System had no idea what to give me perhaps. My role was fulfilled I guess. Boy oh boy was I mistaken!
Two Nyxara Cycles had passed. Everyone was doing Quests now. And people were starting to like them. Maybe they would realise I did them a favor and take off my bounty.
I had received a Zyphora's Staff from the Godly Artifact Box. I got three Epic skills. I got Hyperlight Streak, Xyphian Hero, Smooth Speaker. I could move at around fifty six times the speed of light. Which was the fastest in the Zovida Galaxy. I could use any Xyphian fighting style with perfection. And I could convince any one with Xyphian Blood in them to do my bidding. But that one had a cooldown and needed practice.
I didn't really realize why I got these odd jobs and the new Skills. I thought they were just random. But I should have realised by now how cunning the System was.
It was three Nyxara Cycles after the heist. I was just lazing about. When finally a major Quest popped up. It was SR+ Difficulty. I stepped outside. I scanned my eyes for any falling projectiles. I scanned all over the news on my Arm Console. There it was. A report of a meteorite in the calm Lunasol sky. Lunasol was the moon on the darkest side at this time of the year. Perhaps the System wanted his arrival to be hidden.
Without wasting a breath, I Streaked across Xyphos. I spun around a couple hundred times to gain the required momentum. Then leapt as high as I could. I used my refined Photon Release from my feet and hands to propel myself into the orbit. My new Class provided the required respiratory gases in the vacuum.
I sped to Lunasol. I landed there and watched the meteor draw closer to the ground. I ran after it. It fell into Lunasol's attraction field. It was slowing down, going lower. It was burning, but the outer shell was burning off and I had to dodge falling debris. Then with a loud BOOM! it crashed on the surface.
There was someone among the ruins. Smack centre of the blast radius. He was my target, The Dropper from Farlands! He was crouched. He looked up to the skies and gave a hoarse scream. I slowly went nearer to him. He had some sleek fur on his head. Blue color. He was wearing strange clothes. A black shiny top. I couldn't see the rest of his appearance. He then lifted his arms, and looked at the palms of his hands. He had only five fingers on each hand! Maybe he was tortured and lost the other four fingers. Then I realised he also didn't have a tail.
He was a pinkish, white, peachy colored alien. And at the moment he looked furious. He looked up at the skies again and screamed again. There was pain in his voice as he yelled out (the System translated for me) a hoarse blame, "HOW THE FUCK COULD YOU?! AFTER EVERYTHING I DID FOR YOU AND YOUR TEAM?! I WILL BE BACK!! I WILL EXACT MY REVENGE ON YOU, YOU FUCKING PYROMANCER!!"
Note: The last bit joins this Special with the canon storyline but I will mention it later anyway! I hope y'all enjoyed this special series! Hope y'all had a nice Halloween! Keep reading and keep supporting! Y'all keep me motivated to write more!