Chapter 12

Darci was busy washing glasses while Jacik was off pretending to be a hero named Ryan. What a dumb Earth name, she thought, before refocusing on her tasks. They still had a few hours before opening. She nodded to one of her employees as the guy placed new bottles behind the bar. "Dave, remember to bring up another keg as well, please."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied before heading into the basement. Suddenly, her wrist phone started softly beeping. Most of the tech installed in this Club wasn't Jacik's; it was hers. She had been hiding among the humans for such a long time only because of the sophisticated alien tech she brought with her. Granted, Jacik's magic tech did add an extra layer of security, but his tech was designed against Metas. Hers was designed against spying and surveillance.

"What do we have here? The dots indicated spy drones had been detected, but she was having a hard time locating them. So, instead, she triggered a device that sent invisible rays of light over every inch of the Club.

Outside, Cyberpunk suddenly lost contact with all his spy bots. "What the hell?"

"What happened?" Radian Jack asked.

"Something fried my bots. That should be impossible. I'll have to use larger ones with shielding. Let's try the wasps." The side of the van had three holes open up, and three wasp-like drones flew out. They made entry into the Club through an open vent and then immediately traveled to the elevator. Once on the elevator, the drone's wings spread out, and each drone became flat. Then, they used micro legs to move up between the elevator doors and the wall. The goal was to get above the elevator and fly upwards. Suddenly, another light struck the drones, but this time, little shields intercepted the lights. "I detected some kind of attack on the drones, but they're still operational. But this Club does know they're there. This might not work according to plan."

"As long as you can plant some of the bugs, then you can put them into passive listening mode, and that should negate any active scans they have, right?"

"Yeah, that's correct."

"Then, make sure to plant a few obvious bugs to be found. That way, they don't look for the rest."

"On it, the drones are about to…" he suddenly stopped. "What the hell? I lost connection to these, too. Sorry boss, but whatever kind of security they got in there, it is leagues above my tech."

"Can you hack anything?"

"I can't even detect anything. Just who is this Jacik guy?" Cyberpunk asked.

"I do not know."

Inside the Club, Darci held all three crushed drones in her tentacles. She placed them on a tray to be studied later and then withdrew her tentacles back into her mouth. Next, she walked over to the covered window, moved the curtain slightly, and eyed the van sitting suspiciously outside the Club across the street. "Tsk tsk, Metas. You have no idea what you're in for." She tapped a button on her wrist phone, which was disguised as a human wrist phone but was really a quantum computer, and a bot of her own rose out of the roof of the Club. This one was the size of a bird but was completely invisible. It hovered silently down to the van, landed on the roof without a sound, and merged into the van. It infiltrated every piece of technology, gathering data and infecting it with a super virus. Even Radiant Jack's helmet was infected.

Every monitor, phone screen, and visor suddenly displayed a laughing skull. Next, the screens went dead, sparks and fires ignited about the place, and Radiant Jack was forced to remove his helmet, revealing his face. But things were about to get much worse for him. On every television and broadcast, a video of the van's interior showed Radiant Jack's real face.

Stories and scores of information broke the internet as his secret identity became known to the world.

"See, you don't like it when your secrets are leaked. That should teach you from sticking your noses where it doesn't belong," Darci said to no one but herself. Her smug grin stretched impossibly wide.

~~~

"Alright, we got a good estimation of your capabilities. Ryan, go ahead and scout ahead. But do not engage without us. Be aware of any flying monsters as well," Max told me. I nodded and lept into the skies, summoning my bolt of lightning. "Keep the comms channel open and clear everyone. Ryan will relay anything he spots."

As I flew ahead, the rest of the team began their trek once more through the snow. Oden took up the rear to guard the healers. Plus, he liked that I had given the bag of biscuits to Bubbles to occasionally keep him happy. But she said he had to behave and be vigilant in spotting or sniffing out threats if he wanted treats.

Using Dragon Vision and Esoteric Vision, I spotted several traps beneath the snow and ice. I relayed the information and marked it on our shared map, which was integrated into each of our wristphones. The team took their time disabling the traps and then moved on. "Hey guys, I found our missing ice giants. Now they have friends."

"How many and where?" Max asked.

"About forty and just up the bend, they have an ice fort set up. Is this typical dungeon behaver?"

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"Only in A and above. Their intelligence level rises. If we had killed those two before they ran off, then we'd likely only run into packs, but now they've had a chance to rally," Sally responded. "Any other threats with them?"

"No more wolves, but they have some kind of monster in a cage. Hold up, they have ten cages full of monsters. Let's see, slimes, goblins, and something that looks like giant ants but with whip-like tails."

"Low-level monsters, but in swarms, they become a serious threat. But even if we kill them all, the ice giants expect us to be injured and tired, if not down several people. Then they have their fortification to fight us with. They have a clever leader. Probably the dungeon boss and they are typically S-rank," Sally informed us.

"Normally, a team like ours would take this very slow. Lure the swarm into a trap of our own. Then spend a day recovering before engaging the fort," Jasper explained on comms.

"But," Max continued, "we have the two of you. Between your buffs, healing, and attack power, I say we wrap this up and be home by lunch. This could've been a two-day dungeon, but our enemies were generous in gathering in one place for us, HA HA HA," he barked out a laugh.

"Honey, we're supposed to teach them the right way, not encourage them to develop bad habits."

"Bah, they'll end up forming their own elite team of S-rankers, and stunts like this will be the norm for them. Besides, it is too damn cold here," he bristled against the chilling wind. "Move out."

While they still had half a mile to trek through the snow, I hovered high above with my wings. I used illusion magic to make it look like I was still using lightning, but hovering in place on an electrically charged bolt wasn't easy. If you haven't guessed, those things like to move quickly.

I began to weave several spells that wouldn't trigger until I wanted them to. Mostly stuff to make my lightning easier to use without having to force brute the spells. But I also wanted to refill my mana pool without drinking blood. I noticed this place was filled with magic. I could feel the mana all around, which gave me an idea for siphoning the mana from every kill since the monsters housed the greatest portions of that mana.

"Should I stay up here and just drop bolts of lightning on the monsters as they rush toward you guys?"

"Yes, that's a great idea. We're at the bend now. Wow, that's their fort?" Max asked as he looked up the hill around the bend. At the top was a structure three times larger than the twenty-foot ice giants. The fort was pure ice, sparkling in the sun, with jagged crystalized edges all over. The large gate opened and all ten cage doors opened to unleash a wave of monsters to rush down the hill.

I opened with a plethora of lightning bolts, easily staggering, killing, and destroying swaths of monsters. But the cages were large and held hundreds of monsters each. Jasper drew his bow, aimed in an arc to the center, and let loose a large golden arrow. In mid-flight, the arrow split into hundreds of arrows, and with each strike, the arrows exploded into laser-like golden beams, slicing apart enemies by the droves.

Jackal's black flames created a barrier of black fire that ignited any monster that ran through the flickering flames, which caused trails of smoke and a trail of fire to spread further. Some monsters leaped over the wall of flames, and that was when Max stepped in, channeling new amethyst lightning that spread in a wide pattern to strike every foe. The lightning didn't cause damage due to the widespread of the power, but it did aggro them to focus their attention on Max. Also, it caused minor muscle spams, which made it difficult to run and attack.

This made it easier for Sally to ensnare them with scarlet threads. Oden attacked on command and tore through them with devasting destruction. The two support kept up the shields and heals, as needed, along with refreshing buffs as needed. It only took four minutes to completely wipe out the horde of monsters.

Only Oden really took any damage, but that was mostly due to his reckless nature and his belief in his durability. Still, the wounds were more scratches than anything, and the heals were not really needed, thanks to his regeneration. But the healers wanted to feel special, so Oden thanked them and got some head pats before asking for his treats. That manipulative pooch, I thought to myself.

Music began to play, along with horn blasts. The ice giants were hyping themselves up with drum beats and warcries. "Wow, boss music," I spoke over the comms.

"You have to be blowing through power, Ryan. Come on down. We'll engage on the ground," Max ordered.

"Okay, but what if I land on the other side of the fort, and we hit this from two sides?"

"There's no telling what kind of threats might be on that side. We can't leave you alone, even knowing how powerful you are. This is our career on the line after all," Sally responded in Max's stead.

"Okay, I understand. On my way." A moment later I landed with a heavy thud, kicking up snow in my wake, as I dropped out of the sky.

"Look, all you've seen so far is a few spear throws from the ice giants. But they have far more devastating magic. When they believe they're in a position of strength, they'll use it to the fullest extent. Don't expect only ice-based magic, either. They are actually masters of all elemental magics," Jasper told us. "Also, we do not want to engage them in a melee fight. Their physical strength is on par with the likes of Titan, even though they're A-ranked monsters."

Titan put away his axe and pulled out a tower shield from thin air. I was stunned. I knew I could do that, but I had never seen anyone else use something similar. "How did you…?"

"Oh? A double S-ranker hasn't gained access to the Tempest Zone? We lightning users are not like normal magic wielders. Yes, we'll call our powers magic for the simplicity. Hell, even Jackal's power is considered magic by most, but the truth is, we're not mages. We're elementalists aligned to an aspect of whatever element. The Tempest Zone is a space where items can be stored and imbued with lightning. That is how my axe can freely channel my power. Not just any weapon or item can do that. It has to bathe in the power of the Tempest Zone. This here is my Tempest Sheild. And it can absorb most forms of magic thrown at it. I plan on tanking as much as I can and relying on Bubbles to shield you all from the rest. Your job will be unleashing everything you have at range. We aim to bring down that fortress and, with it, the ice giants. Got it?"

"Got it," I said while faking a gulp. But what he said was fascinating. But I don't think my fakery of lightning magic could do something like that. This was a Meta-based power. I'd need to drink his blood and hope to gain that power. But as with many of my victims, I could either gain their power or some physical trait instead. It didn't matter. I would never drink their blood. Really. Honest. Okay, I cross my heart and hope to die. Fair?

The drumbeats continued, as did the horn blasts and the chants. Yet, I could see one particular ice giant, standing a head taller than the rest, continue to glare at us in disdain. Clearly, his attempts to intimidate us went unnoticed by the rest of my team as they continued to talk amongst themselves about the next steps of the plan.

"So, we're all in agreement now?"

"Yes, I just wanted the good boy to have a roll," Bubbles said while giving Oden another treat and patting his head.

"You're spoiling him," Jessica admonished.

"All good boys need to be spoiled," Bubbles retorted.

Oden agreed by pushing his snout further into Bubble's legs to illicit even more head pats. I rolled my eyes.