[Void Blink activated - Cooldown: 30 seconds]
Noah materialized five meters to his left, just as a beast rolled through his previous position. Without hesitation, he squeezed the Ravager's trigger, the blast catching the creature mid-rotation. 'Getting predictable, aren't you?'
Kelvin's eyes and hands glowed an eerie green as his technopathic ability interfaced with his weapon. The Ravager's standard firing rate doubled, then tripled, turning his shots into a constant stream of energy that cut through the armored beasts like they were made of paper.
"Now this is an upgrade!" he shouted, his normally timid demeanor forgotten in the rush of combat.
"Show-off!" Cora called back, dropping three more beasts in quick succession. "Some of us are doing this the old-fashioned way! And loving every second!" Her Ravager sang in her hands, each shot perfectly placed. "Who needs powers when you've got good aim?"
A beast launched itself toward Lila, but suddenly arrested mid-roll, hanging helplessly in the air. Without any visible indication of her power, she held it suspended while putting two precise shots through its exposed underbelly. "They're learning," she noted, her voice calm despite the exertion. "Starting to coordinate their attacks better."
[Void Blink cooldown: 15 seconds remaining]
'She's right,' Noah thought, watching three beasts synchronize their rolling patterns into an overlapping attack formation. He counted eight shots from his Ravager before the energy cell needed cycling. 'Time to move.'
"Lila, on your six!" he shouted, noting how quickly she responded to his warning. Two beasts dropped from her blind spot, caught in their own momentum as her invisible power redirected their attack runs into each other.
Above them, Micah had apparently grown bored with their firefight. His gauntlets pulsed with energy as he carved a path up the mountainside, each punch reducing armored beasts to scattered fragments. "If you children are done playing," he called down, not even looking back, "we have actual objectives to complete."
[Void Blink ready]
Noah blinked forward, closing distance with a beast that had managed to flank their position. His Ravager's blast caught it square in the center mass, the energy penetrating straight through to the other side. 'Twenty-three down,' his system updated. 'Thirty-two remaining.'
"Hey Eclipse!" Kelvin's amplified shots created a curtain of covering fire as he moved positions. "For someone with no combat rating, you're pretty good at staying alive!"
'If you only knew,' Noah thought, but said aloud: "Lots of practice running away!"
Cora's laugh cut through the chaos as she dropped another beast. "Is that what you were doing in that cave? Running away?"
Lila's next target seemed to disintegrate with particular violence. "Focus on the fight," she snapped, though whether her irritation was at Cora's comment or the memory itself wasn't clear.
[Void Blink cooldown: 25 seconds remaining]
The remaining beasts had started to adapt, their rolling patterns becoming more erratic, harder to predict. One suddenly reversed direction mid-roll, nearly catching Kelvin before his enhanced Ravager fire turned it into scattered pieces.
"They're getting smarter," Noah called out, tracking another pair of synchronized attackers. "Tightening formation might not be a bad idea."
"Aw, worried about us?" Cora quipped, but she was already moving closer to the group, her shots never missing a beat. "Or just don't want to face Micah's disappointment if one of us gets flattened?"
Above them, their team leader continued his methodical advance up the mountain, his gauntlets leaving small craters where particularly stubborn beasts had tried to stand their ground. Each impact sent shockwaves through the rock face, dislodging loose stones that clattered down around them.
The battle reached its crescendo, Ravager fire lighting up the mountainside like a deadly fireworks display. Each beast that fell seemed to trigger something in Noah's vision – floating numbers that no one else appeared to notice.
[+50 XP]
[+50 XP]
[+50 XP]
The notifications stacked up with each confirmed kill, and Noah found himself instinctively knowing these weren't simple hallucinations. His team continued their synchronized dance of destruction, oblivious to the strange phenomenon.
'System rewards for kills,' he thought, maintaining his firing rhythm. 'Just like a game, except this is very, very real.'
When the last beast fell, silence descended over the battlefield, broken only by the sound of cooling weapon systems and heavy breathing. The scattered remains of their mechanical-looking adversaries littered the ground, their armored shells cracked and smoking.
"Where's Micah?" Lila asked, her eyes scanning the path above them. "He should have waited."
Before she could suggest investigating herself, Cora stepped forward. "I'll go check it out with Eclipse. You and Tech-boy can handle core extraction." Her grin hadn't faded since the fight began. "Wouldn't want to miss any more action up there."
Lila looked like she might argue, but Kelvin was already moving toward the nearest fallen beast. "We should get these cores out quickly," he said, his hands already shoving through the cracked armour "Most beasts have a habit of drawing energy from their cores to make sure predators found them useless after killing them."
"Right, we'll go help Micah then," Noah said running to catch up with Cora who clearly couldn't wait!
As Noah followed Cora up the winding path, he felt a sweet sensation, akin to receiving a massage. But this was not a spar treatment he was receiving.
It was the system updating. The accumulated experience points had pushed him to a new threshold, and he couldn't help but smile as the notification appeared:
[Level Up! You have reached Level 5!]
[Attribute points available: 20]
[Skill points available: 4]
'Time to see what this system can really do,' he thought, reviewing his updated profile as they climbed:
[Name: Noah Eclipse]
[Level: 5]
[Class: Void Walker]
[Talents:]
Void Summoning [SSS RANK]
Perfect Echo [Sealed]
[Skills:]
Void Blink (Level 3) - Enhanced range and reduced cooldown
Null Strike (Level 2) - Increased damage and void energy efficiency
[Attributes:]
Strength: 15 (+5)
Agility: 18 (+6)
Vitality: 12 (+4)
Intelligence: 18 (+3)
Wisdom: 14 (+2)
Cora glanced back at him, noticing his expression. "Someone's in a good mood. Don't tell me you actually enjoyed that firefight?"
"Let's just say I learned a few things," Noah replied cryptically, knowing she couldn't see the interface that had become second nature to him. The path ahead was littered with more destroyed beasts, their armor plates bearing the distinctive impact patterns of Micah's gauntlets.
'Category 3 threats,' Noah mused, remembering his previous encounter. 'The same class that nearly killed us in that cave. Now they're just scattered debris. Either we've gotten stronger, or these ones are just...' He left the thought unfinished, unwilling to assume anything about their relative strength.
They found Micah at the summit, his fist buried wrist-deep in what could only be described as a supersized version of the beasts they'd fought below. The creature's armor, nearly twice as thick as its smaller counterparts, crumpled under his assault like aluminum foil.
"Took your time," Micah said casually, withdrawing his hand from the beast's shattered core housing. He gestured at the massive corpse. "Herds always have a matron or patron. Bigger, stronger, smarter than the rest. They coordinate the attacks." His smile carried a hint of smugness. "Start extracting the core. We're behind schedule."
'Behind schedule for what?' Noah wondered, but he kept the thought to himself as he moved to comply. One thing wouldn't change for sure – Micah was still Micah, and that meant questions would only be met with more cryptic responses or outright dismissal.
The whole time they worked, Noah couldn't help but notice the distinct lack of core pieces from certain beasts below. They were safely stored in his void space, absorbed when no one was looking. The system notifications had finally ceased their constant updates about nyx needing to feed, leaving him to process just how much stronger he'd become in such a short time.
'From barely surviving two Category 3 to helping take down an entire herd,' he thought, carefully extracting a fragment of the patron beast's core. 'But something tells me this is just the beginning. Why else would Micah seem so... unconcerned?'
The final count came to 78 cores, spread across their makeshift collection bags. Cora's proud grin made sense – her kill count was second only to Micah's devastating gauntlet work.
'Five levels in one hunt,' Noah mused, watching the others pack up the cores. 'The system rewards combat against high level threats. I didn't get an XP point for my fight against Raven though. Could it be because he's human?'
'Or wait, what if I killed him?' Noah thought briefly for a second. Raven didn't deserve death, at least not yet anyways.
'Those Category 3 beasts were worth far more than anything I've faced before.'
He discreetly checked his void storage while pretending to adjust his gear. Within that dimensional pocket, several "missing" cores pulsed with residual energy. 'Nyx will feast well for a while. Growing dragons need their energy sources, even if they're barely the size of a house cat.'
Kelvin's furrowed brow as he counted the cores again didn't escape Noah's notice. 'Count all you want, my boy. Those cores are long gone.'
When Kelvin opened his mouth to mention the discrepancy, Micah's sharp command to move out silenced any discussion.
The rest of their mountain trek proved surprisingly peaceful, much to Cora's vocal disappointment.
They stopped occasionally to examine bizarre formations that could only exist on an alien world: crystalline structures that hummed in harmonic frequencies, plants that seemed to phase between solid and gaseous states, and geological patterns that defied Earth's physics.
'A whole new world of threats and opportunities,' Noah thought, marking each location in his memory. 'And each one could be another chance to level up.'
When they finally reached their extraction point, Micah activated his combat bracelet, signaling for pickup. While they waited, the group dug into their supply of nutrient pills – poor substitutes for real food, but necessary for extended field operations.
"Wonder how the other classes are doing," Kelvin said between bites. "1A and 1C probably got the easier assignments, knowing our luck."
"And the rest of 1B," Lila added. "There were some interesting team compositions. I mean, look at Adrian's team!"
Noah half-listened to their conversation, his attention split between monitoring Micah's isolated position and reviewing his recent gains. 'From struggling against just two Category 3 to helping take down dozens. The system's rewards are exponential in the right circumstances.'
Their discussion turned to Micah's performance, voices hushed despite their target being meters away.
"Did you see how his gauntlets just punched through their armor?" Cora whispered, excitement bleeding through her attempt at discretion. "Top 25 students are on another level entirely."
"Number 5," Kelvin corrected. "He's ranked fifth overall."
'Enjoy your reputation while it lasts,' Noah thought, watching Micah's rigid posture as he stood apart from them, maintaining his role as the aloof superior officer. 'One day, when I'm strong enough, we'll settle our score. The system's given me a path to power I never had before.'
The hatred that burned in his chest whenever he looked at Micah hadn't diminished. If anything, his recent power gains had only intensified it, giving shape to possibilities that were once mere fantasy.
'Those beasts couldn't end you, but they've shown me exactly what I need to do. Keep getting stronger. Keep leveling up. Your smug superiority has an expiration date.'
The distant hum of their approaching transport finally cut through the mountain air. As the others gathered their gear, Noah allowed himself a small smile. 'One hunt. Five levels. And this is just the beginning.'