"Guardian"
A faint voice echoed and a bright blue light shined.
"Wake up guardian."
A sudden jolt ran through Void’s body as he jerked awake. Surveying the surroundings, He found himself dozing off while squatting near the caves walls.
"Ghost...how far are we from the Last City."
His voice resounded in the solitary cave.
"Hmm, according to my calculations we are still 13,898 Km away from the Last City. At a regular pace it might take over 500 days to reach. Our only options remain a Jumpship or land vehicle to hasten the journey guardian. "
13,898 Km...It was too far. Unless Void wanted to trek on foot, he needed an alternative.
"Ghost, scan for the nearest Jumpship.....No, wait. Scan for the nearest vehicle we can access. Display the safest choices on the map, along with enemy locations and threat levels"
Void spat out instructions.
A new player might be overwhelmed with that distance. But Void had practically lived through destiny his entire adolescent life. He knew full well the advantages of owning a ghost.
Ignoring its returning abilities, a ghost was perhaps the strongest super computer capable of analyzing and scanning areas from miles away.
He knew this, simply because the game had justified the radar and navigation in the gameplay through these lore points.
Just as he had thought, the ghost's body split up into tiny spikes, as a blue sphere from its center sent out faint pulses of light, scanning the surroundings.
Naturally, the mini-map had already appeared on his HUD.
"Scan complete, according to my detection, there are no accessible Jumpships within 25 Km. Three Fallen pike speeders within 10 Km, currently surrounded by a small squad of fallen dregs. I have already marked the relevant locations on your map guardian."
Hearing the analysis he heaved a sigh of relief.
"Fallen dregs..."
The lowest class of fallen. That was one enemy he could definitely go against.
If that squad had a captain, he would definitely not make it out alive. Though dying wasn't permanent. Void wasn't eager to test that feature out.
Pulling out the menu, he scanned his equipment once more.
====
Name: Void Blade
Class: Hunter
Level: 0
Light Level: 5
Subclass: None
Equipment: (LL refers to Light Level)
>Primary: Traveller's Chosen(56/56) 5LL ] Armor: (Head) > Trashed Mask
>Secondary: None ] Armor:(Gauntlets) > Golden Age Grips (Common): 3 LL
> Heavy: None ] Armor:(Chest)> Golden Age Vest (Common): 4 LL
> Ghost Lv1 ] Armor:(Boots)>Scorched Hunter Strides 3LL
====
"Sure enough," Void sighed.
His Light level was still too low. It was enough to deal with dregs and the like, but a fallen captain would prove challenging.
Trekking outside the cave, a breath-taking scene awaited.
The harsh sun of the Cosmodrome had long since set. What remained was a mesmerizing sea of stars above the night sky.
Each speck of light was a star, and he could see millions. Every inch of the desert was illuminated by the moon's light.
"Beautiful..."
With no lights to drown out the sky, he saw the endless starry horizon. Yet as he looked into the sky, he could also see a faint halo of light, practically invisible to the naked eye, as it lingered above in the horizon...
The Traveller, in all its glory. He couldn't make it out yet, but could definitely feel its presence.
"Ghost, can you camouflage yourself again?"
It immediately turned translucent. The cover worked perfectly, as the light disguised its figure.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"Then can you also camouflage me?" Void thought out loud.
‘A far stretch, but if that was possible…’
"Apologies, guardian, I do not currently possess the ability to camouflage others. However, it is possible to obtain this module in the future."
"Guess it was too good to be true." Void sighed.
Accepting the reality of the situation, Void bolted out of the cave, sprinting as fast as he could without attracting any attention.
The Hunter class was famous for being phenomenal at tracking and stealth. Despite Void running at full strength wearing a somewhat full suit of Armor, not a single step produced any significant noise.
With his quick strides, about 20 minutes later he had reached the destination.
Void leaned against a boulder to catch his breath while the ghost surveyed the area.
A few meters away, there were six Fallen dregs visible on his radar.
‘A simple job,’ Void resolved himself.
Peeking through the side of the boulder he could see the group of five loitered around their pikes.
Convening and conversing.
Unfortunately, all he heard were strange *clicks* and *clucks*. Their language was practically indecipherable.
"Ghost, analyse the best position to engage in combat." Void whispered.
He had absolutely no experience in combat, hence it was vital to use all the facilities available to him when possible.
A few seconds later, a white marker appeared on Void’s radar.
"Guardian, the best vantage point with our loadout would be above the short hill about 20 meters away." its mechanical voice leaked.
Seeing the marker on his HUD, he could definitely understand the advantage. A clean shot would still attract their attention, but a shot from the hill would leave them clueless to his position.
Even if it all went wrong and he was found out, There was ample time to retreat...
‘As expected, ghost's were simply a technological marvel’, Void thought to himself.
Sneaking away from the dregs, he crept up along the hill.
Taking a deep breath, he envisioned the sidearm in his hands, and as he had done so, a faint glitter emitted from Void’s hands.
The kinetic sidearm appeared in his grip, ready to be used.
‘It seems the inventory works similar to in-game’
As long as he had it equipped, he only needed to think of it to use it.
Clutching the adaptive grip of the gun, Void aimed its sights on one of the dregs.
Lining the red iron sights along the head of a dreg squatting near its fellows. Void felt the weight of the gun in his hands. A feeling completely foreign to him.
With a finger on the trigger, Void channelled all his focus into aiming.
Taking deep breaths as he gripped the firearm with both hands.
Just as his finger poked the trigger.
Instantly countless notifications spammed the system panel, appearing in front of his eyes to block his sight.
‘What....the’
=====
{Legendary Guardian System}
!!!! ATTENTION !!!! +Sudden Quest Issued!!
> GUNS BLAZING (0/1):
Objectives: "Defeat all Fallen Dregs engaging in close combat using any weapon! Announce your arrival and let them fear the light!"
Rewards: +Fallen Pike(Rare), ++XP, +Combat Perks, +Weapon Aptitude
(Failure) Penalties: -Fallen Pike (Destroyed)
Remarks: Don't be a P*ssy. Be Legendary, Guardian!
====
Void paused.
His eyes settled on the mission's penalty, ‘A damaged pike.’
From what he understood, the moment he pulled the trigger, the chances of him obtaining a usable pike would be close to nothing.
‘The system…what is it?’ Void wondered.
How had it estimated what he would stand to lose or gain in this situation? What basis did it have?
He did not know. But he was sure that going against its advice wasn’t logical. For now at least, he was bound to it.
Astonishingly, the ghost had not reacted to this sudden surge of messages. Perhaps, he was the only one who could react to the "system" part.
Void heaved a cold sigh and slowly crawled down the hill.
Coldly gripping the sidearm, he waited for an opportunity to pounce.
He had already formed a somewhat rough plan. As long as he could get a few headshots, taking out the first two wouldn't be a problem.
‘Well... here goes nothing,’ Void shook his head.
"Ghost, on my signal reveal yourself and distract the dregs." He whispered
"Affirmative Guardian"
Composing himself, Void felt his heart race.
"Now"
The dregs were immediately caught off guard as they spotted the ghost circling them. It was merely a distraction but super effective.
He waited until they all had their backs turned as they gawked at the ghost, unable to even comprehend what was going on.
Void immediately lunged from the bushes.
Before they moved a muscle, his hands moved instinctually, firing two shots swiftly into a dregs head.
The bullets had alerted them, causing a panic as they all jumped away, but to Void it was far too late
Deftly sliding across the sand, his hands grasped onto one's shoulder, immediately grappling him to the ground and serving three shots into its gaping mouth.
Within seconds, two were gone.
At this moment, Void’s body moved as if possessed, like a predator playing with its prey. He leapt towards the third dreg, two bullets shot through its legs, paralyzing it completely.
A horrible screech was all it could manage, before a third bullet was skilfully placed between its temple
‘Three down’
The remaining dregs had finally understood what occurred. Brandishing their guns, they fired indiscriminately, a storm of shock bullets rushed towards him.
But it was useless against golden age armor.
The bullets barely grazed his vest as he sauntered up towards the party of fallen.
Their fear was apparent, but Void did what had to be done.
Brandishing his own sidearm he fired thrice and the dregs had their arms blasted off.
With no threat remaining, Void crept closer to them as they tried desperately to crawl away.
‘ A useless endeavour’ He clicked his tongue.
Lining the barrel on its heart, Void pulled the trigger mercilessly, and the fourth was done.
The fifth only yelped as a gaping hole pierced through its heart.
"Last one"
Void pointed my gun at the sixth. One, two , three. He shot enough times to make sure that Its corpse was riddled with holes.
All he saw next was a simple prompt on his screen
===
+ Quest Completed GUNS BLAZING (1/1)
===