Free Web NovelChapter 69: Chapter 68 - First Missions
Point-of-View: Aurora Pretorius
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"Alright, you four, it’s finally time...," Remarked Neo, before adding, "You’ll each be heading out on your first missions, along with a Category 0 or high level Category 1 to guide you."
It was currently the middle of the day on the 8th of January, 2026, and Kiyana had called us to gather here, where Neo had been waiting.
"Well, it’s about time, we’ve been here for over nine months already," Responded Inoka with a gleam in his eyes.
I have to admit, I’m a bit intrigued by the idea of testing out my powers too, but...
"Wait, if I go, who will take care of Dot?" I frowned as I raised my hand.
"Oh, um, if it’s okay with you, I volunteered for that. I promise to take good care of her, if you don’t mind, of course," Spoke up Kiyana in response.
"Hm, well...if it’s you, then I guess that’s fine. Hey, how long will this mission take?" I inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, each of your missions will take different lengths of time, but yours shouldn’t take more than a couple of days," Neo replied, after mulling it over.
"I guess that’s fine...and I’m assuming that you’ll be using your portals to transport me, to save time?" I responded with narrowed eyes.
"Actually, uh, you’ll be paired with Tara, and I’ll be paired with Inoka, so-," He began sheepishly.
"So, what? It won’t even take you ten seconds to take the detour," I pointed out as I interrupted him.
"I mean, that’s true and all, but I’m not a taxi, you k-."
"Then, it’s settled," I cut him off.
"But I-."
"But what? It just sounds like you’re being lazy to me," I remarked bluntly, "Or am I wrong?"
"...alright, fine, I’ll transport you and Tara to and from the location of your mission, happy?" He relented reluctantly.
"And what about us?" Chimed in Zoraiz with an inquiring look, gesturing to himself and Alexis.
"Yeah, no. If I say yes to anyone, then I’ll be stuck doing it for everyone," He denied firmly, "If it’s an emergency situation, then fine, but otherwise, just use regular modes of transport."
"Oh, I get it, you only agreed to Aurora’s request because she can kick you ass, isn’t that right?" Spoke up Alexis with a click of her tongue.
"Yup, I’m not going to pretend like that’s not the case, because it very much is. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go prepare and get ready. I suggest that the four of you do the same," He instructed us, before opening a portal and leaving before any of us could say anything else. freewebnovel.cσ๓
Prepare for what? He didn’t tell us anything regarding the details of our respective missions...he just wanted to get out of here before the others start yelling at him.
"So, uh, Neo mentioned that Inoka is paired with him and Aurora is paired with the bitch...so, who am I going to be paired with?" Zoraiz asked Kiyana.
"I have the same question. Also, what exactly are our missions, anyway?" Added Alexis curiously.
Guess they had the same questions as I did.
"Right, I suppose I need to explain everything since he left without doing so himself...for starters, Zoraiz, you will be paired up with Mike and a couple of others, who you’ll meet on-site. And Alexis, you will be paired with Richard Walsh, a Category 0, along with a small team of Category 1s," Kiyana informed them.
"Seriously? Why am I always stuck with Mike?" Sighed Zoraiz in exasperation.
Kiyana then went on to explain what each of our missions were. Mine was to scout out a potential Eden hidden base that had been discovered, and to try and capture some of their members for interrogation.
Alexis’s assignment was to investigate a possible Outlier lead, while Zoraiz’s was a simple Monster extermination mission. And as for Inoka...Kiyana didn’t know, Neo had been supposed to explain it to him, but since he left so abruptly, he didn’t tell Kiyana what it was.
"Just great...well, whatever, guess there’s no helping it," Sighed Inoka, with an annoyed look on his face.
"Anyway, you should all go get ready...you’ll each depart later today. Well, except for you, Inoka, you’ll be leaving tomorrow morning," Said Kiyana, as she glanced at the time.
"Yeah, okay. By the way, about my mission...I’m supposed to help investigate a lead regarding the next Outlier? Should I really be going on a mission like that, since Eden might be there too?" Alexis pointed out with a look of concern.
"Actually, this seems to be a similar case to Aurora’s, though the Aura isn’t under control. There isn’t any social media attention on this, one of our members sensed this Aura by chance. Eden doesn’t have any hideouts in that area, so there should be little chance of interference, our members that are scouting the area in which the Aura is coming from haven’t spotted any unknown Metas so far. Of course, we aren’t ruling out that possibility, so you’ll be getting plenty of back up," Explained Kiyana, before adding, "Not to mention that, if the worst does happen and Eden members do show up, you can contact Neo and send him your coordinates to have him use his portals to intervene."
"I guess that makes it a little bit better, but still feels kinda risky," Frowned Alexis skeptically.
"Don’t worry, if any danger arises, those that you’re all paired with have been instructed to contact Neo immediately and send him their coordinates. That was the higher ups’ condition for letting you four go out on missions in the first place," She informed us.
"Ohh, now I get it...he must not have liked that, and that’s why he reacted the way he did when we asked him to use his portals to transport us," Realized Zoraiz with a scoff.
As the others continued to vent their frustrations towards Neo, I decided to head back to my room, so that I could spend more time with Dot before I go.
I have to admit, I’ve been enjoying the peaceful days I’m experiencing since coming here, agreeing to join Harmony was the right decision. That said, I also have to admit...I am looking forward to the opportunity to test out how much I’ve improved in the last few months...
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Point-of-View: Zoraiz Rafayet
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"Yo, ready to go?" Inquired Mike, poking his head inside my room.
Maybe I should have locked the door...
"Don’t rush me, I’m com-...I mean, yes, I’m ready," I sighed in response.
It’s not like I had a lot to do to get ready, just picked out an outfit for myself.
"Heyy, you can’t just change what you’re saying, that’s not fair!" He complained indignantly.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Come on, let’s go," I replied as I rolled my eyes.
Antarctica, where this base is located, has changed a lot in the last half-decade or so. There are a lot more buildings, and people actually live here now, there’s even a shopping mall.
Of course, all that means that there’s a proper airport here too, and that’s how we were getting to the location where our mission was to take place. Specifically, a small town in the Mendoza province of Argentina.
It was supposed to be an eight hour flight, and the first time that I was going to be flying on a plane. I had to admit, I was curious and a little excited to see what that was going to be like.
Anyway, the mission was Monster extermination, nice and simple. Apparently, it’s possible for normal humans who are extremely spiritual or whatever to awaken a tiny, negligible amount of Aura, nowhere near enough to use any powers, but enough to occasionally attract Monsters.
Such people have such a small amount of Aura that they can’t even see the Monsters, it’s a fraction of the amount that an Aura output of 1 is. It’s pretty rare though, it’s not like all religious people have this.
It’s more like those cases where people basically give up their entire lives and dedicate themselves to religion and worship...I’ll never understand that. Why throw away everything for something that you’re not even sure is real? It just doesn’t make sense to me.
Anyway, Mike and I then got in a car, before driving out through a hidden garage in a cave, heading towards the airport.
"Hey, this church or whatever, where the Monsters are supposed to have appeared...how do you guys even know about it? I haven’t seen anything on social media," I said to Mike in curiosity.
"Oh, it’s thanks to one of our Space Skill users, who specializes in a technique called Dimensional Detection. It can detect any areas where beings that don’t belong to this world appear...in other words, Monsters. A rift has been detected in the area we’re headed to, and a pretty significant one at that, there’s likely a fair number of Monsters using it, either than or maybe a really big Monster or two," He explained in response, "Though from what I’ve heard, it sounds like the rift isn’t fully open just yet, meaning that the Monsters haven’t yet been able to gather enough energy to use as a catalyst."
"I see...hey, do Eden also have someone who can use this Dimensional Detection technique?" I asked him.
"It’s definitely possible...actually, it’s highly likely. They don’t really do Monster exterminations unless the Monsters show up near their hideouts or something, but I doubt they’ve just neglected it. See, the Dimensional Detection technique isn’t particularly difficult to learn, but takes a whole lot of time and effort to master...those that are usually tasked with mastering it, don’t typically master any other techniques, and if they have other Skills, those will stay neglected. It’s a technique that you have to devote yourself to, otherwise you’ll find it near-impossible to fully master. As you can imagine, not many people volunteer for something like that, so when someone does, they’re kept well away from the front lines," Mike informed me, as we arrived at the airport. freёwebnovel.com
Yeah, that does sound like a pretty miserable responsibility to take on. Well, whatever, it has nothing to do with me...time to depart for this mission...
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