In a random alley in Metropolis-D, a dozen Climbers watched the blood gush out of their leader's throat, horrified.
Josh was relaxedly standing right behind the body that was now slumping to the ground. The victim had its throat perforated by the remnants of a dumpster wine bottle. Talk about a tragic ending!
There was a moment of silence, the others freezing as the harsh reality was slowly setting in. Josh was near the door leading to the LoA's test. Should he fight them or retreat underground? Estimating their exact strength would be hard.
One of the Climbers had a vein popping on his forehead as he bellowed: "How dare you!! Kill this fucker, or the boss won't forgive us!!"
Josh made a mental note. No matter the outcome of this fight, he would have a target to handle. He couldn't simply give up this face for now, not until he was done with the LoA. He could only grit his teeth and willed his set-items to cover his body. He would fight!
The shiny black Zoom armor enveloped his body. It had by far the highest stats of all the sets he owned. It looked very similar to the gear that dropped in the normal version. Only its sheen was slightly different.
However, only the thief barely noticed this small detail. He raised his eyebrows in surprise. Then, he took a step forward, fully prepared to help his savior. But, Josh signaled him to stay where he was. He didn't need an unreliable ally in the upcoming fight.
His enemies summoned their gear in a hurry as they zeroed in on him. Seven of them charged forward, with five remaining behind. He could notice a mage, an archer, and three others that he wasn't sure what their Class was.
The melee ones had a wide variety of weapons: sword, spear, hammer, and even a whip. This would make for a chaotic fight.
Should he focus on the ranged targets or the melee ones? His strongest gap closer was the Zoom set, but it only allowed him to go in a straight line. Swerving around the vanguard would be too hard, so using them as cover for the ranged attacks would have to do.
His greatest fear was Crowd Control. It would only take a few seconds of reduced mobility to cause his demise. He couldn't help but feel wary of this. This was the danger of facing Climbers!
How could he minimize the risks? He acted meek and uncertain. Josh had the look of a rabbit that was caught between a group of wolves. He appeared panicked and unsure what to do. The thief was the only one that was gasping at him in utter awe, realizing what was happening.
He waited until they were in the perfect range. That's when he suddenly activated his smelly set and his Zoom set all at once! He rushed with the speed of a rocket.
Meanwhile, the invisible poisonous cloud spread in his surroundings, barely reaching them. Would it be enough to make them lose focus for just an instant? Most probably! It wasn't about how strong it was, but about how unexpected!
He would use the confusion to get a few kills. Then he would use the opportunity to completely overturn the battlefield until none knew what was happening anymore. He would turn this 12 versus one into plenty of short 1 v 1s!
As he saw them all uncontrollably twitch, he knew that his gamble had been successful! His sword punctured an enemy's throat, and he was ready to go for the next victim but abruptly froze— what was happening?!
Josh suddenly realized that it seemed like he had underestimated the smelly set. Before, he had been convinced that it would only show significant effects against dumb monsters with a great sense of smell. The scene in front painted a different portrait.
The enemies weren't just feeling slight discomfort: they were bent as they relentlessly hurled while clutching their stomachs. Their faces were a mask of disgust, sickness, and pain. Had this simple ability really reduced them to this pitiful state?!
Josh used the opportunity to attack them. Needless to say, they didn't manage to put much of a fight as their heads were severed. He was putting them out of their misery so quickly!
As soon as he was done, he charged toward the flabbergasted ranged targets. But, the five quickly came back to their senses as their survival instinct kicked in. Without waiting, they instantly bolted away, trying to save their lives at all cost.
Just as he was about to catch one, Josh was met with a fireball barrage and a massive arrow almost impaling him entirely. He had to stop his charge ability early on before he collided with the attacks. This was the weakness of the set: it could only work in a straight line.
This was why fighting humans was troublesome. They had already noticed this point and were making use of it to completely stop him from using his charge ability by throwing projectiles right in front of him.
This was a race against time. Would he catch up to them, or would they manage to leave the desolated alleyways? Josh didn't give up as he kept chasing. Since they knew to keep their distance, he would resort to an alternative.
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He grabbed his bow as he began shooting their way. Many instantly quickly took cover, but two of them didn't react in time and were pierced full of mana arrows. They fell feeling indignant: how the fuck was he also an archer?!
The chase continued. As one of them exited his cover, he tripped. Josh didn't wait and used his charge ability. He reached the poor man and crushed his neck before turning toward the others. At this rate, he would manage to kill them all!
But just as the fighting was about to reach its peak, footsteps were heard, tons of them! Fuck! The Climbers smiled in relief as Josh wouldn't be able to kill them if there were spectators. They hurriedly went toward the noise.
Josh kept pursuing. So what if there were witnesses? He could silence them afterward! He knew how to be very convincing, after all. But as the prey and predator turned the corner, they were faced with an entire group of tourists.
There were about 30 of them with many wearing shirts with the caption < I ❤️ the D Metropolis >. their guide was enthusiastically leading them through a shortcut toward their next stop. Josh couldn't help but sigh deeply. His targets laughed in relief as they joined the group.
Could he silence 30 climbers? Well, yes, but it wouldn't be that easy. Plus, he was still in the middle of the LoA evaluation. It was one thing to act in self-defense and kill his enemies to prevent further problems, but another to brainwash an entire group.
He could only give up as he turned tail to return toward the thief who had been subtly following behind all this time. The youngster showed a worried expression:
"This could be troublesome. The members of that guild will probably want revenge for their members. If I'm not mistaken, they belong to High Octane. It's a C Ranked guild. While they aren't that strong, they are vindicative. Do you have any backing you can rely on?" He worriedly asked.
"C-Rank? Then it's not a big deal." Josh shrugged. He would leave this problem to a good friend of his: Future Josh. The youngster then continued.
"By the way, thanks for saving my life. I wonder if this is fate? Our respective mentors are close to one another, and here you are, coming to my rescue. From now on, you are my brother! Let's help each other!" He enthusiastically cried out.
"You seem mistaken about something. I didn't rescue you. I simply killed an idiot in self-defense. The same goes for the other idiots who tried to avenge him. I don't give a fuck about this mentor BS, and I already have a brother, so fuck off!" Josh made things clear with him.
The youngster recoiled back in disappointment, not that Josh would care about his mood. No, he was more concerned about the newcomer that had just turned the corner.
A veiled woman had appeared. She was wearing a long blue mantle and seemed so serene. As she passed next to them, Josh couldn't help but notice her lack of footsteps. It was as if she was gliding over the ground, akin to a specter.
She didn't pay attention to any of them at first glance, ignoring them entirely. Yet, this wasn't the case at all. Josh could sense something from her. It almost felt like there was an immaterial wind drifting about following her will.
Josh couldn't help but glance at this in stupefaction. Seeing his reaction, she lost her cool. Under the veil came a gasp so faint that it almost seemed imaginary. Yet, she wasn't emitting killing intent, only pure and unadulterated curiosity.
Josh rested his gaze on her as she slowly left, heading in the direction they had just come from. The youngster seemed totally oblivious to what had truly happened there as he commented.
"She's one of the candidates. She never speaks, she doesn't let anyone see her face, and she's a complete mystery overall. I think that not even her recruiter truly knows who she is. She's one of the few that are considered to have a high chance at joining the LoA."
"I see..." Josh slowly mumbled.
"Oh? Are you interested in her? Wait, seriously?!" The youngster misunderstood on his own.
Was Josh interested? Yes, he was interested in this power...
Creator's Thought
There is a theory that supposes that nothing the human ever invents is truly fictive. We just happen to have enlightened glimpsed at an alternate reality or another world entirely. This would explain why I had read about this earlier in my life...