The Rising Of The Anomaly - Chapter 158

“Yo, been a while, little dude!”

“Oh…so you’re the one who’s assigned to observe and guard us this time, huh?” I responded with a sigh.

“What’s with that tone, man, so not rock!” Replied Altan with a shake of his head.

Right, so today’s the 28th of October, and it was about time for the teamwork exam to begin. My permanent teammates and I had gathered at a Teleportation Point a few minutes ago, waiting to meet the Ace that was going to be in charge of our group.

He just showed up, and it turned out to be Altan Jargal…I was kinda hoping to meet an Ace that I hadn’t met before, but he’s not so bad, I guess. Sure, he has way too much energy and is aggravatingly loud, but besides that, he’s a nice enough guy.

“You’ve met him before, Kilzachs?” Inquired Mitchell, slightly wide-eyed.

“Yeah, something like that,” I responded with a shrug.

“Well, kid? Aren’t you gonna introduce your teammates?” Grinned Altan, acting friendly…the others seem a bit nervous, guess he’s trying to get them to relax.

I’m not good at playing along with these charades though, so don’t count on me for stuff like this…

“Why should I? I mean, they’re not kids, they can introduce themselves…right, guys?” I inquired, turning around.

“You’re so cold, man, seriously,” Sighed Mitchell with a shake of his head, before introducing himself, “Hi, I’m Mitchell Jones, it’s nice to meet you, Mr Jargal.”

“Hm, I don’t really like the sound of that…please, just call me Altan,” He responded with a thumbs up, before shifting his gaze towards the others expectantly.

“Hi, uh, I’m Seila Khan,” Introduced Seila, a bit awkwardly.

“Suri Patel, nice to meet you,” Added Suri with a polite nod.

“I’m Katie Cummins,” Came the final introduction.

“Oh, I remember you, you were one of the semi-finalists during the X-Warrior Championship! Your power is seriously badass, I mean…it’s a freaking dragon, so cool!” Exclaimed Altan, his eyes lighting up.

“O-oh, uh…thank you,” Responded Katie awkwardly, looking a bit taken aback and overwhelmed by the sudden and gushing praise.

Not often we get to see her break her poker face, and from the look of it, I imagine that she doesn’t do too well with people like Altan. Neither do I, for that matter. People like him tend to exhaust me.

“Now, then, it’s about time for your exam to begin…let’s get going, shall we?” Suggested Altan, as he glanced at the time.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Replied Suri, looking like she was amping herself up.

“Yeah, lead the way,” I added, as he headed into the Teleportation Point and began specifying the destination.

Since the area outside the Sanctuary has now been secured thanks to the bases that’ve been built, there would be no point in heading out from those underground bunkers that we used to rely on.

Within a radius of a hundred and twenty-five plus kilometers of the Sanctuary, not so much as a single Mutant could be found. The warding radiation and Disintegration Fields make sure of that. With that south base that was destroyed, there are now thirty-nine bases in total.

Each set of eight bases formed a ring around the Sanctuary, in incremental radial distances of twenty-five kilometers. There were five sets in total, and the destroyed base had been a part of the second-farthest set, at the hundred kilometer radius mark.

Therefore, to start the exam off, we’d be teleporting to one of the bases that was on the farthest ring, which was at a radius of a hundred and twenty-five kilometers from the Sanctuary. From there, we’d head straight out in whichever direction the corresponding base was from the Sanctuary. For my team, that was north.

We were to keep moving until it gets dark, and then spend the night outside, before heading back after sunrise. So, naturally, we had a lot more baggage than usual…tents, food and water, flashlights and some other stuff. All that said, we actually brought very little food and water with us, mainly because we don’t need to bring more.

“I know I’m primarily just supposed to observe, but I gotta say…you kids don’t look like you’ve brought nearly enough food,” Remarked Altan, as we teleported to the base, and one of the people stationed their led us to the exit.

“We don’t need to bring much, I can just make copies of whatever we did bring, it’s way more economical that way,” I responded with a shrug, “But my copies don’t last forever, so with tents and other equipment, we didn’t skimp out.”

We’d brought along two tents, each big enough for about four people. The others had all brought a flashlight, but I didn’t need one, the night vision in my glasses is more than enough to help me navigate in the dark.

“So, we’re going with the usual formation, right?” Asked Mitchell, as we exited the base.

“Yup. You’ll be our eyes in the sky, I’ll provide back up from a distance, and the girls will be evenly spread out in front,” I surmised, to make sure everyone knew their roles.

I could take over the flying role if necessary, but no one else had any long-range sniping options in their arsenal, so I was the only one that could carry out that role reliably.

“Hey, I’ve been wondering,” Suri said to Mitchell curiously, “What’s that thing on your back?”

Hm? I glanced over in curiosity, as Mitchell took out a metal stick, which was about six or seven inches long.

“Well, actually, I’ve been doing a bit of secret training on my own…I decided that I need another attack option, so I started using this,” He replied with a grin, before twisting the stick.

The moment he twisted it, it suddenly and rapidly expanded to about a meter in length, before he ran his XFE into it, and a short blade-like shape manifested at one of the ends.

“Oh, it’s an X-Weapon,” Remarked Seila, as Mitchell swung it around a couple of times.

“Glad you’re expanding your arsenal or whatever, but just so you know, you probably won’t get to use it much, considering your role,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, I know. But you don’t get to use most of your abilities in your role either, so it’s no biggie…just having an additional option up my sleeve gives me some confidence, you know?” He responded with a shrug.

“Fair enough, I suppose.”

We then reached the boundary of the Disintegration Field, as Altan, who was walking in front, held his arm out to get us to halt.

“Hang on a sec, I’m supposed to get a message the moment that this section of the barrier is lifted,” He informed us, before receiving a notification, “Alright, that’s the signal, let’s get going.”

We followed after him and exited the barrier through the opening. It was pretty nerve-wracking since the Disintegration Field is so hard to see, but it should be safe enough, considering the backlash that resulted from the injuries caused by this barrier before the Dampening Field was put into effect.

“You should get to the back now, best spot to observe from,” I said to Altan.

“Right, guess it defeats the purpose if I lead the way,” He responded sheepishly, “This is the first student exam I’m overseeing, so it’s a new experience for me.”

Hm, that could either be really good or really bad. Good because his lack of experience might result in him being a lot less lenient in scoring us…and bad because the opposite could also happen, his inexperience might result in him being overly strict in scoring us.

Well, whatever, no point worrying about that now, I just need to focus on executing my role as flawlessly as I can.

“Hey, we gonna start yet or what?” Inquired Suri, a bit impatiently.

“Yeah, let’s begin. Mitchell, your role is the most tiring, so I’ll let you decide when we take breaks…though if it’s too frequent, I’ll object, depending on the circumstances. Cool?” I asked him.

“Sure, that’s cool with me,” He responded affirmatively.

After a few more minor clarifications, we began heading out, our formation set. I had a backup plan for if Mitchell can’t fly all day, I still have the bug-sized drones installed in the frame of my glasses, they can take over.

I kept that to myself though, since it might hurt his pride, which could cause him to underperform. The less unknown variables, the better. I prefer to keep things as simple as possible, the situation becomes hard to control the more complexities there are.

“Gotta say, I’m impressed by your leadership skills…you keep it simple, and yet, your tactics are airtight,” Remarked Altan with a nod.

“Thanks, I guess, but, uh…I don’t think that you’re supposed to share your thoughts with us, that’s kinda counterproductive as an observer,” I replied with a wry smile.

“Crap, you’re right! I was told not to say or do anything unless something unforseen happens, like a horde of powerful Mutants showing up or something. Let’s, uh, pretend that this didn’t happen, ‘kay?” He requested sheepishly.

“Pretend what didn’t happen? No idea what you’re-…,” I began, before trailing off and freezing as I felt the ground rumble…no way, it can’t be…

“Kilzachs?” Prompted Suri, snapping me out of it.

“Everyone, halt. Put your guards up and keep an eye out, there’s something beneath us,” I quickly instructed, as I focused on the vibrations…I can’t afford to panic, stay calm and focus…

Okay, it’s not the Crocsnek, the rumbling is too weak…and anything less than an Ace Mutant, I can handle.

“Over there, about five meters behind Katie’s position!” Suddenly exclaimed Mitchell.

Katie swiftly spun around and sprang back, right as something burst out of the ground with a shrill screech, a massive dust cloud rising up with it as the creature emerged…

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