Raine dove forward, eyes glued to the nearest man. His Donstreaker shoes from Shillids gripped the smooth floor like a spider clings to a wall. Raine was large and slow, eliciting grins from the five as the idiot threw himself into the lion’s jaws. A meter away from his obvious target, as the man lifted his club, Raine suddenly accelerated to the side in a blur of speed well beyond expectations.
The trained martial on the outside of their encirclement had almost no time to react, but still managed to whip his head sideways and raise his arms. Raine, seeing the contractions of his neck muscles, adjusted the trajectory of his elbow strike. The deadly attack contained the combined torque of his entire body. It blasted through the hastily raised guard and the tip of Raine's elbow crashed into the man's temple.
A sickening crunch was drowned out by Mel’s scream, and the first of five fell like a sack of rice.
Raine’s body ached from the explosive use of internal force. The concept behind the martial technique was simple; the execution, however, took years to learn, and its mastery decades. By perfectly utilizing micro bursts of specific muscles while deactivating the stabilizer counter-muscles, extreme levels of speed and strength could be displayed. The primary reason it was so difficult to master was that it required disabling the brain’s limiter that protects the body from injuring itself when exerting too much strength.
In the past, Raine had reached the second stage of internal force. Disabling that part of his brain was second nature. Unfortunately, his current physique couldn’t keep up with such explosive power. He had at most two more uses of internal force before seriously injuring himself.
Raine spun with his momentum, immaculate footwork bringing him in a circle behind the still collapsing thug. Three of them charged, murder in their eyes. Raine hopped back a step, forcing them to come around the fleshy obstacle.
Two reached him at the same time, the third having to wait his turn. A powerful front kick shot toward Raine’s gut. He stepped forward and to the side, both into its range and dodging with the same movement. His arms snapped out; one in a flat knuckle fist that took the kicker in the throat, the other lifted at an angle to protect his head from the other’s incoming club.
If he had the choice, he would have avoided being hit in the first place. He was still too slow, and against multiple trained opponents, there wasn’t time to draw out the fight. The weapon cracked against his jacket. The smart-cloth detected the impact and currents raced through its fibers, hardening them along the length of his arm. When the club hit, the shock spread along his skin in a dull ache.
Raine’s foot flashed out in a low side-kick at the clubber. The man had taken a large step forward to improve the power of his swing, and now his forward knee was exposed. Raine’s kick connected at the top of the joint and a loud pop filled the air as his leg bent backward. The break was clean and wouldn't be permanently disabling, but for some reason the man didn't appreciate Raine's thoughtfulness. He screamed, a perfect match to the gurgling choking of the man with a crushed throat.
The third man, whose passage had been blocked, was no longer in a hurry to continue his charge. Indecision crossed his features, and Raine made the choice for him. He bent his legs and jumped straight at him in a pitiful flying knee that barely cleared the collapsed obstacle.
Seeing his chance, the martial’s eyes lit up and he swung. Raine’s knee was a feint, his leg blasted forward in an internal force fueled kick at the last second, taking the idiot right in the cojones. His feet lifted from the ground and his eyes bulged, all the better to see the follow-up elbow strike that instantly stole his consciousness. He collapsed on top of his friend.
Raine casually stepped out of the way, his gaze boring into their leader—the last man standing, “Break your arms and sign for you, right?”
He spun toward the door, only to find it blocked from the outside by a dozen floating drones equipped with crackling stun batons. Their cameras shone an eerie crimson in the darkening twilight. The man slid to a stop, and his left knee promptly exploded forward as Raine’s kick destroyed the joint from behind. He screamed, only to have his hair grabbed and his head smashed into the floor.
Raine picked up one of the clubs and gently guided the choking man, and his friend—backward-leg man, to a blissful slumber. His body was on fire, every joint aching like it’d been dipped in lava. He didn’t let it show as he rejoined their leader, crouching over the dazed man to look him in the eyes.
“New deal, five hundred thousand. Take it, or lose both your feet.”
He tried to respond around the pain of his ruined knee, his cracked skull numbing the pain as Raine had intended, “I-I don’t, enough.”
“But you have access to the acquisitions dip fund, and that should have exactly enough,” Raine’s foot came down on the man’s hand. He didn’t even scream, unable to tear his gaze from his ruined fingers. Dazed, shaking, and in shock, the man nodded imperceptibly. He tucked his other hand into his armpit as though that would somehow save it from Raine's tender mercies.
“Great choice,” Raine growled darkly. By the time he accessed his watch’s interface, Morty had already sent him an updated contract. This one through ZionLine, making it untraceable and fully enforced by the funds CronGate had already deposited. Raine released an explosive grunt, smiling sardonically. He flicked the new contract to the leader, who didn’t even read it before authorizing it with his LinQ.
Raine flicked the contract to Mel as well. She didn’t know which direction to look, her brain struggling to catch up with the brutal fight that had lasted only a handful of seconds.
“Sign it,” his voice was considerably gentler. He crossed the room to her, an unavoidable limp appearing in his gait. “There’s nothing I can do to stop them. They’ll come back with hundreds after tonight. That’s more than enough creds for you to disappear. Look, I know this place was imp—”
“It’s done,” her whisper was faint, but silenced him nonetheless. “What do we do with them? Are you going to…”
“No. This place is theirs now, they can clean up the mess they made all on their own,” Raine grabbed their dinner, stuffing it back into its bag and walked as casually as he could to the exit. A drone service commissioned by Morty was already busily shipping off her crates by the time they were back in the taxi. Mel was shaking uncontrollably, the day clearly too much for the unvetted girl.
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It’s not over, Mel. You don’t know it yet, but ZL can give you more than enough power to take back everything you lost. Or, you could rebuild your father’s legacy somewhere else. It might be tough now, but if you choose to fight, there’s no limits to what you can achieve.
Raine’s hand comfortingly squeezed her shoulder, “I can't know how hard that was for you, but I can promise it will get better from here on. You did good.”
His words and thoughts once more soothed her but she remained entirely overwhelmed from the whirlwind of the night. Mel shook her head, “Thank you. I… Thank you.” She gave up on words, falling to the side where her soft hair landed in his lap as the taxi took her home.
image [https://i.imgur.com/7AF18SZ.png]
Mel dashed into her apartment long enough to unlock the windows for the drones coming to relocate her stuff.
Raine sent a quick message to Morty, asking the AI to book her a room at the Notlih—Carter Cities premier, and very secure hotel. The drive there was made in silence, though judging by her shifting posture and wrung hands, she was feeling a bit better than her previous catatonic state.
Raine opened her door, offering his hand which she took with a light smile that reached her eyes. She hesitated, not letting go right away.
His voice was soft and deep, the sudden words giving her an adorable jump-scare, “Goodnight, Mel. I'm glad we both have something to be thankful for tonight. I'll check in on you soon.”
[Can you stay instead? Then you won't have to check… H-he's probably busy. He's an important man.]
Not being nearly brave enough to voice the thought, she nodded and released her grip on his strong fingers. Two steps away, he shut her door and the sound caused her stomach to clench and churn.
[What if he doesn't check? What if this is getting his Ncode all over again. Not like this. Not like this!]
She turned back and ran to him. On her tippy toes, her hands against his broad chest, she leaned to kiss his cheek. Raine's head spun at the last second and their lips met for the briefest of kisses.
Her eyes flew wide and she clapped a hand over her mouth but it couldn't hide her embarrassed smile. A giggle, high and quick escaped her throat and without a word, she dashed away.
Smug as hell, Raine grinned at her back.
Damn she's cute.
Hearing his thought, Mel turned and waved with a dazzling smile. Then she went through the front doors and Raine was back in the taxi.
Back home, Raine limped to Morty’s closet and thoroughly thanked him for everything he did that night. Before leaving, he gave the AI access to Selpherius Industries hypernet page so he could order the arms he wanted. Raine relieved himself, strapped several thermo-wraps to his joints, and got as comfortable as possible in his bed. He flipped on the power to his thetadrive headset and fell down a tunnel of light, finally returning to the real world.
image [https://i.imgur.com/7AF18SZ.png]
Raine appeared inside his residency in the Silvergate Kingdom Crafting Hall. His office had expired, but that was fine. He had no intention of closing himself off in one ever again. It was now the eighth in-game day since launch and with the time he spent on WIDOW, he was positive many had managed to catch up to his level. With the funds to mature his future guild soon to come through from Frontier, and the class change token burning a hole in his inventory, he didn't feel pressured in the least.
That didn't mean every minute wasn't precious. Now that the dilation was ticking, his first order of business was taking out his newest growth weapon, and pumping it full of Superiority.
[Level down! -5 free attribute points]
[Cassidy’s Comet - Lustrous Blue - LVL 0 > 9 - 0/100,000 SP: (AP 10 > 55) (PTC 2 > 11) (PHY 2 > 11) (Durability 90/90) Innate Skill - PuriPuri Comet Burst: Single target physical attack dealing 400% > 760% physical damage with 400% > 760% bonus force. Ignores defense. (Skill name must be shouted to activate) (Cost: 20 Discipline) (Cooldown: 1 hour > 40 minutes)]
The bonus attributes and Attack Power were mediocre for a Lustrous Blue. The increase to its special attack however was tremendous, and the reduced cooldown was pure icing. He shivered at how deadly the attack was becoming.
Raine stored the item and quickly left the building while sending a message to Richtor for an update on their status. With that out of the way, he called Morty to discuss the last of the chores he'd given the AI, “How many of their background checks were you able to block?”
“Block Frontier, with the assets at my disposal? Impossible. I was, however, unexpectedly successful in another avenue.”
“Out with it, Morts,” Raine grumbled as he exited the building, his brows rising upon seeing hundreds of players on his street alone.
“As far as the world outside ZL is concerned, you no longer exist. Your girlfriend, too.”
Raine stopped in his tracks, making sure his voice was muted to those nearby, “What's that supposed to mean? You can't erase peoples records, that's not a thing.”
“Would you believe me if I said I wasn't sure either? Every time I accessed one of your files to slow down Frontiers systems, it simply vanished. I'm still looking into it, subtly. As you said, such a thing should not be possible and I am highly motivated to discover its cause.”
No matter how Raine looked at it, the situation made no sense. His ZionLine account was obviously unaffected since he was currently using it, and ultimately, he had too many other things to prioritize. Not to mention this issue was way outside his wheelhouse, “Keep me apprised. Thanks again, Morty.”
“Of course, Master. I took the liberty of transferring your assets and bills to your ZL account.”
The nature of ZionLine accounts allowed them to be both highly integratable and secure. They acted as a bank account, yet any payment or statement would only display a long serial number rather than a name.
“You're spoiling me. Gotta go,” Raine arrived at the auction house to find it overflowing with level ten players.
He estimated at least twenty thousand in the town. Considering the war was occupying the two most prominent guilds, it made sense for regular players to get ahead. It was common to die several times in wars, with hundreds of thousands involved, the cost in lost levels and equipment could quickly reach unfathomable quantities.
In the past, Righteous and DyingNight hadn't entered full-fledged combat at all, allowing their focus to remain on murdering and absorbing smaller guilds and solo players. Now, those very players had pulled ahead, though likely not for long. Major guilds with financial backing could achieve nearly anything in ZionLine. Once their focus returned to absorbing these player’s and their gains, the tides would rapidly shift.
Raine had no intention of still being around when the slaughter began. He entered the nearest free kiosk and accessed his account to withdraw the coins from his equipment sales. When he saw the number waiting for him, his eyes shot wide, “One thousand gold?!”