Chapter 5: Tutorial: I am not gonna get it beaten into me this time Part 2
"Program Lluvia, your User's pain is quite amusing. He doesn't seem to give in, well not too easy at first glance. I am enjoying this more than I should. Also since someone has placed "My daughter" as his Temporary System, I have taken the liberty to increase the difficulty of my own accord. If it turns out it was just a coincidence I will boost the rewards, however...." Galtana the head of the table said to them all. Her eyes glowed with a calculative cunning. On her face, she smiled.
Later she will feel a little bad about not boosting the rewards for the User. Even more so after her and Galtea would talk again.
A fluctuation of power is felt within the assembly hall. The tables all rattle off. Glass shatter..no more like disintegrate into a fine powder from the flex of her aura. The chairs made of steel buckle and turn in on one another the cushions made of a gelatinous material stretch downward and almost give away, before holding togethor and reforming. The screens all burn out.
The guards on the outside feel the hackles rise as if a beast is nearby. On some of the guard's faces fear can be seen, on others' joy at what can be felt from the power of the old days. The joyful guards separate their Second mind, to think about the old days while the Primary mind remains on the task of guarding. The scared guards doubt the plan they have been working on for countless years will work. Fear causing them to think again.
The staff members on the floors seem to be slightly pained by it all but keep a smile on their faces. It has been quite a while since they have felt the anger of one from the Old Admin system. They will not forget to bring the more durable equipment next time. Every time equipment is destroyed it has to be replaced no matter where the budget comes from. And last time it came from the extended vacation fund. They will not lose out, no.. not again. The pain of staff workers.
"Your Ladyship Galtana, please allow us... A short break to change the equipment for you all. It will only take a few moments." A middle-aged man stepped forward with orange hair, clean-shaven cut, a neatly tidy military esque uniform. His tone and approach were respectful. His uniform was the same as the rest of the staff but contained two bars of solid black metal located near his left breast pocket.
After a slight nod from the council members, the crew began replacing the items in the room. Approaching the broken items with one hand extended and the other checking a light screen. The broken material changed into numerical data.
"Ah!" One of the staff says. " This will take so much energy to clean out and replace. I am gonna need a good breakdown when this over."
A few zap and feedback from power saturation happened every now and then. Little yelps could be heard all over as the equipment is being changed out and replaced with better equipment. With each part replaced the staff looks exhausted.
"Well, this is quite boring if I do say so myself." A man with thin glasses, a pointed chin, no hair can be found on his head, comments quite dryly. His very words seem to lack a certain warmth.
"No one asked you Dead Eyes!! Let's just start the ruling already!!" A yellow-haired man yells out. Skulls adorn his battle attire. Mostly just outlining any exposed points of his armor.
"At ease, everyone it is a little change-up is all. " Another man dressed in standard BattleMage attire. Robes on his person a staff floating to the side. With hollowed-out eyes, it is hard to tell where his gaze is located. He speaks up with a calm voice. He looks to the man in yellow. "Calm yourself, Mason, the others are still not here yet as well. I am sure Lady Galtana is just a little rusty at controlling her abilities, she has been away for a while and has just retaken over her duties. Do you all not think she deserves a little consideration especially after what she has done? Even more so, considering all of you here before me and the other's that are still out and about begged her to return."
Not waiting for an answer, he already begins to speak again. The slow wits of the youngest people in the room always bothered him. That and there treachery.
"In any case, Program Lluvia it has been a long time coming..." The Old man pauses as a twinkle catches the others as they look into his eyes. Little small lights in the sockets. The old man goes through several changes of emotion before resting on a neutral one.
Time passes for a little shy of three minutes.
The others sit quietly as they try to decipher what he could have seen. The old geezer had the Sight. The staff had continuously worked on cleaning up. During this time while the higher-ups were distracted, it gave them the time to do what needed to be completed. Using quick spells to work quicker with some chants helped. Council always grumbled about the chant from them. To messy and loud.
All the while Program Lluvia just stared at the Old man. 'I am ready to go already. Please hurry up.' Lluvia was poised on the outside. But on the inside, she started to get nervous.
At this time orange hair steps up.
"My council everything has been replaced and we are ready to continue." Orange hair steps forward and takes a bow. Then steps back to the side to his former place.
"Very good Clawdis, It is time we finish up don't you think?" Mason addresses the council members.
"Yes, Proceed." The other members say in tandem.
"Program Lluvia you reconnect with your user once the tutorial is over. You are hereby given your System abilities and your duty sector. May you guide your User well, and your future Users as well young one." Lady Galtana says to her in a more soothing tone, a very noticeable softer tone than what was used when addressing the council members earlier.
"Thank you, My Council, I will do my best!" Lluvia states joyfully.
At that time the doors to the chambers are open, another three members dressed in strange ensemble come in. They take seats all around in the council room. What is to be noted is that their seats are all on the outskirts, not within the inner circle.
"Lluvia you have your task go to it," Clawdis states plainly.
"Uhhm y..yes at once." With fear and excitement, Lluvia hurriedly leaves the chamber.
The room becomes extremely heavy once again as Lady Galtana makes her next statement.
"If it turns out that it is was on purpose I will increase the difficulty even further. And all those involved can expect all of their users across the different planets and systems to be punished to the full extent of the System law! Do I make myself clear?"
The new council members look visibly displeased, one cannot tell if it's from her power or from her statement. A few doubted there plans where woth it. If the Administration didnt punish them, the System's Avatars would.
"Since there are no objections lets proceed with the new issues." Lady Galtana smiles as she readdresses why they are all gathered. 'Cunning little shits think I will forget the trouble they caused. In their dreams. I will make them pay dearly for their treachery. So many Users and Others killed for their greed.'
-Back In the Tutorial-
"Arrggh damn you !!" Azul couldn't help but scream. If he had his old body he could have just moved forward and killed the man in an instant.
System: 87% of defragmentation of System.
"What in the world ...defrag? So wait the System didn't leave me to do this myself!?"
Galtea: 100% defragmentation. User activate your Biotic Shielding, death is quite imminent. Displaying status Health 14/54. Adrenaline Rush on cooldown Biotic Shielding available.
"Right doing it by relying on instinct. Gotcha right by instinct!" Azul couldn't help but yell this out. 'Zelda the same things are happening still. This is so weird.'
'It is funny to watch.' Zelda said joyfully. 'The twins are enjoying it as well. Seeing how you first fought is very interesting to them.'
Galtea: Just think about usuing Biotic Shielding like a mental shield to help trigger it.
"What the flying hell you have got to be kidding me!! Biotic Shielding activate!!" Azul yelled out at the top of his lungs. Blood flying out of his mouth with a little trace of flesh mixed in.
Instantly a clear membrane formed up around him. He could barely stand let alone move. The response of his body was taking to long.
"Crap how much health do I have left?" Azul just had to ask when he noticed his fingers were crossed, it looks like I have the strength for certain habits. 'Freaking extra blasted Thugs all over.' He looked at the other four he had killed. They got the drop with numbers and did as much damage to him that he recieved in the original run through.
Galtea: Health 7/54 You are on death's door. I suggest you get into cover. Also, keep your Hub up changing your load to Match your Preferences.
"Heh! take this. Warp!" The last Common Thug gleefully yelled. A Vortex of energy came slamming into Azul's defenses, swirling and tearing away at it.
"Bwoom Bwoom," his shielding was taking a beating. It visibly warped in front of his eyes.
Galtea: Willpower is exceeding parameters. Be careful User.
Azul ducked behind cover forces his body to do as he commanded. Taking a deep breath he couldn't wait to rip this guy apart. "Stupid.. no ..good.. b.s."
"Come out, Come out wherever you are kid, I just wanna finish talking to you. That Barrier was weak and flimsy just like you. Killing you is gonna make my life so much easier." Common Thug spoke so carefreely. He thought he already had him to rights.
'He called me kid! I am centuries old dammit!' Griding his teeth he felt like something inside him was breaking. 'Like everything was just gonna be so easy, for him when this was over.. he had what freedom, and all I had was what... being dead... ah, screw that.' Running to the next piece of cover he realized his thought were scattered. My thoughts are the same to still. This is getting ridiculous!' Azul saw a pipe on the ground and pulled it over with his biotics.
"Come on kid. Come out and play." The thug yelled again.
'He was being loud now, the same thing he was able to get me on last time. Well, that's it, that's how I can find him.' Azul slowly waited for him to get closer to the crate he was hiding behind.
'Lv1 Adrenaline Rush activate!' Time slowed down the pain in his gut faded away slowly, then it went numb. He looked around the crate right there in front and punched him in the kneecap.
"Krck," a nice cracking sound could be heard coming from his knee. Last time it was Azul's fist.
The Thugs face started to scrunch up. Azul stood up and kneed him in the gut. He missed but the pipe didnt. The unbalance footing causing him to bump into him as they both fell backward. Azul on top of him. Time returned to normal.
"Kid have fun in hell!" The Thug sneered at him and raised his hands to Azul's chest. "Pus..." Before he could get all the words out, Azul latched onto his throat. He didnt care about his appearance as he was desperate to end it. His patience was about up and he was out of options. "shh" As he got the rest of the word out. Nothing happened as Azul had ripped the man's throat out. Tossing it up into the air several feet away.
With his throat ripped, the thug grabbed at his throat to staunch the blood, that didnt happen. Azul moves the pipe next to his eye and dropped his weight on top.
"Splrt," the thug stopped moving and Azul just stared angry. His anger boiling over as he was upset and felt like the system was toying with him.
Health 1/54
"Shit, this was it. I was gonna die!" Azul shook his head. 'So close to death door again.'
Galtea: All enemies defeated. Experience awarded Level upx2! Spend your four new attributes User. Rewards will be available to use after the tutorial is over.
"Shit I won.. hell yeah!!" Throwing his hands up in joy he felt a deep exhilaration. He was a higher level then last time. "Spend on Consistution And Strength please!!"
System: Generating new status... You have three minutes till next tutorial....would like to view your new status?
"No, I rather not get distracted," Azul said looking around and using the Medigel to help with the pain.
Galtea: One minute till next part of the tutorial begins.
'Careful Azul, something is different.' Zelda said. 'A strange toxin has been introduced in the rooms. The difficulty has jumped up quite a bit.'
System: Perception Check 14 Pass
"Well damn, is it gonna be in the same area?" Looking around he didnt find anything to help. Looking at the corpse he pulled the shirt off and wrapped it around his nose and mouth. 'The damn communication was as crappy as before actually.' Taking a small step he felt the change. "Ah.. damn it's hard to breathe. I should shut up." Stopping he waited to see how bad it got. 'Gotta get moving..wait what was I doing again...? Everything is freaking woobly wabbly.'
'Gotta think. Gotta think this area ..is.. the same area, Tutorial right...I need to do the thingie....I have been poisoned and I gotta get ready... cause something is coming...I gotta win..cause ..life.. right..that's what I'm doing..living..and if so I need to hide and get some medical treatment? Cause that's what smart people do.' Azul stumbled about. 'There is such a pounding in my head..why does it feel stronger than last time.'
System: Consitution Check 21 Fail.
Azul looks down at his feet there's blood all over. 'I think its all mine.. shit. That explains why everything is all bleagh to much blood loss maybe..no not maybe..definitely the reason right there. Need me a bloodshot..no..blood ..bag .." His words are as messed up as his head. 'This is getting ridiculous.'
Galtea: Increase in synchro rating by 276%
'Azul you are gonna have to do the same as last time even more now. Something is wrong with your senses. You are more or less going on Autopilot between fights for awhile.' Zelda was alarmed as well as the twins. 'We can break you free from it but risk exposing your power.'
'No dont do it. I won't risk us. We are almost done so dont worries about it.' Azul felt himself level out as he thought the benefit would out weigh the negatives. 'I won't risk any of you!' Smacking the panel, he waited.
"Bang!" The panel fell down revealing some supplies.
Galtea: Synchro rating decreasing and stabilizing to normal levels.
'Wait there is medigel in there.' With the adrenaline rush down, he could feel his guts. It felt like it was being massaged with a meat tenderizer. 'Same sensation as last time. Ugh why is it like this. The difficulty increase only happened slightly before. This way more.' Shaking his head he realized he was a little confused. 'I am repeating my thoughts over and over again it seems. That is not good.'
Using everything inside he restored to full health and felt the toxin subside a little. Looking around, he wasn't finding anything else to use. Not in this area beside the corpse of Common Thug over there. He had to move to the next room.
System: Perception 19
There in the corner of his eye, it's so tiny but he was able to recognize it but not read it. The words moved around and reshaped themselves. The toxin drove him to misread. There on the wall, he could see a Medical container in green. The language changed again before he could grab what he needed.
"Shit what the hell is this language!!!" Azul couldn't help yelling out. Then he heard his echo throughout the warehouse. "Dammit, I got to learn to talk inside my head..." He paused and started laughing. "Hahaaha, I am going nuts." Shaking the fatigue away he pushed harder.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone