Chapter 32: 2nd Street

They were all surprised at seeing Atlan pick up the tons of weight on his shoulders like it was as light as a feather. He didn't even look like he was struggling at all.

"Woah…"

"As expected of a Porter…"

Neumann and Lizzie chuckled to themselves because they found the youth's reactions amusing. They reacted the same way that they did when they first saw Atlan show his strength.

"Okay, now that we're ready, let's depart," said Neumann as he led the group out of the HeadQuarters.

"Where are we going," asked Atlan.

Neumann showed him the stone tablet with the engraved Canzer Report. "This says that the Symptom appeared in the SpringField District, specifically the 2nd street."

Lizzie added, "They'll get there by their mounts. But because the equipment you're carrying is too heavy, we'll go there by truck."

Atlan saw that the youths, along with Neumann, all mounted their horses parked by the side of the street.

"Those are presents from their parents. Usually, a beginner like them can't get access to those mounts as of yet," Lizzie said.

Atlan someday wanted a mount of his own. But it seemed that it was unnecessary since he was a Porter carrying hundreds of kilograms on his back.

Unless his horse was a colossal monster, then it wouldn't be able to hold his weight.

They all departed and went through the streets of the City, getting away from the City Center and towards the middle layer. The mounts were at the front, and the truck was following them from behind.

"You aren't nervous about your first mission?" asked Lizzie.

"Not that much."

She smiled. "That's good. This mission has a 1st stage Student difficulty, which means that it can be completed by a group of novices in the 1st stage.

And with Neumann with you to assist, there's nothing to worry about."

Atlan smiled and didn't say anything further.

He watched as the truck traversed through the streets of the City and through a small bridge that separated the inner and middle layers of the City.

Along the way, he saw a sign on the street that said,

That's the location of the symptom…we're close.

SpringField District was made out of tightly packed residential apartments that were all about two or three floors high.

Some were abandoned and some had living residents, but all of the apartments looked to have aged a lot. There were chipped paints, broken windows, and leaking sewers all around. These houses weren't as good as the houses near the City Center.

The roads also got thinner, just enough for the truck to pass by.

As they got closer, Atlan saw soldiers guiding residents out of their houses, whether they wanted to or not.

Finally, the group of horses at the front of the truck stopped as they finally reached their location. Neumann and the youths dismounted and walked forward.

Lizzie and Atlan followed suit after he put the massive bag on his back.

A group of soldiers barricaded the whole 2nd street of the district, preventing anyone from coming in or out.

In the very middle, there was a large circular construct that was as tall as two humans. Inside the circle was a portal made out of black swirling liquid, just like what Atlan saw at the elevator in the HeadQuarters.

This must be the portal to the Remedium, thought Atlan.

Suddenly, Atlan felt a shaking on the ground. It was an earthquake.

He thought something was wrong, but when he looked around and noticed that none of them were panicking, he calmed down.

"Let's keep this brief. As you all felt just now, the Symptoms are getting worse." Neumann turned around and faced the youths.

"We are facing a Destruction Canzer called the Deiztruphia." Neumann then gave specific instructions to the youths to help them in their fight.

Meanwhile, Atlan whispered to Lizzie. "Destruction Canzer?"

"They're one of the two types of Canzers. Destruction Canzer specializes in durability and ruination. This means that their symptoms usually involve some kind of destruction around the City."

Atlan looked ahead beyond the portal and saw a glimpse of the apartment houses on the other side.

He was surprised to see that most of the buildings were leaning on one side or the other.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the walls of the buildings were melting like hot wax!

The balconies on the second floor were drooping down. The glass windows, instead of breaking from collision, deformed like wet clay.

Bricks, cement, and stone buildings lost all their toughness and melted like hot lava.

And because those walls were starting to lose their integrity, the apartments leaned to one side and crashed. And since the buildings were so packed, the destruction created a domino effect that toppled every building in the street.

"That's the symptom?"

She nodded. "Yes, and if the Canzer isn't killed, it could get worse or spread to other places."

"If we kill the Canzer, will those houses return to normal?"

"Unfortunately, no. The damage is already done. But don't worry, we have Operators who can rebuild houses in a matter of hours."

At this point, Neumann finished his orientation with the youths. They already knew the theory behind teamwork and all that, but he made sure to remind them to stick to what they learned.

Then, he walked over to Atlan and told him what he needed to do.

"Atlan, your job is simple. You stay behind the backline carrying that equipment.

And once we defeat the Canzer, I'm gonna order you to take out the bag and put it down on the ground. After that, you don't have to worry as the equipment activates on its own.

Once everything's over, you pack up the equipment back into the bag and we go home. Easy."

Atlan nodded and took all of Neumann's words to heart. His job was very easy.

"Okay, let's go and finish your very first mission!"

DUM…DUM DUM…DUM

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