“Michelle, the Infinite Block is a bad idea. It is infinite,” he replied.

“And that is what makes it great. It multiplies itself. It doesn’t summon and put stress on energy. It can form a perfect wall. It is highly adaptable.” All those reasons were why it had been one of the worst fights against a level 6 boss monster.

“And it called the rest of the level 5 monsters, the Expanding Blocks. It was a nightmare to fight these things off. And you want to capture, the hell block itself?” Doctor Katz asked with a sigh.

“Yes. It also can provide platforms to fight on. It is the single best possible level 6 monster. You both know it. I know it. We all know it. The Infinite Block, is just something we have to figure out how to capture,” she replied.

“Capture, not beat. That is the problem. Keeping a Rod of Taming on it for a hundred minutes, just isn’t possible. It will break through any type of hold. We tried capturing it before,” I countered. “It is broke out of your capture box idea.”

That had been a clever attempt. Get an enchanted box, with a small, braced hole for a Rod of Taming. Toss a monster into said box and touch the rod to tame the monster trapped inside. Unfortunately, the monster would move away from the rod and in the cast of the Infinite Block, it just exploded its confinement.

We were all silent. It was the best monster to capture, but it was just impossible to capture. “There really is not other option, unless we get multiple level 6 monsters,” Michelle finally said. She was the monster expert, so her opinion carried a lot more weight on this topic than other people, even my other team members.

Captain Francis would back me up unless there was an extreme amount of danger. Joyo also backed up my dangerous ideas. The only one willing to push back was Doctor Katz and to a lesser extent Michelle, when it involved monsters. On that topic, she was the subject matter expert, and she took her role on the team seriously.

Even without me telling her, she reviewed our notes on previous monsters over and over again. She added more notes when she captured monsters, and learned about unique abilities they didn’t always displace in a short period of time. All of that was why I let her have the final say on matters such as this. But the issue now was one of feasibility.

“Then how?” I asked.

“I have perfected the remote taming method. We should try that,” she replied. I winced at the thought. I winced at any kind of monster taming, since it meant I had to do the hard work to capture the monster. Still, I wanted to keep exploring and see a level 7 monster. To clear level 6 zones.

To do that we needed the Infinite Block on our side. That meant we had to capture it. “It is a metal type monster. Pushing a rod into it won’t work. Also, it will force the Rod of Taming out,” I replied.

“That is where I plan to use my spiders, bind the Rod of Taming to it, and use one of them on the surface to tame the monster. You have seen me do it,” she replied.

“On level 5 monsters. And that is where I can force the rod through. The problem is the rods aren’t tough enough for the kind of force I need to apply. Which means, having to make a hole.” I countered.

“You can do that. You picked size for both your beam skills,” she replied. “Just drill in a hole and quickly put in the rod.” I wanted to cry at that. It sounded simple, but in practice, while the monster was fighting back, it wasn’t simple at all.

“When it attacks? That is a level 6 monster. I can’t tank the damage,” I told her, and she nodded at that.

“That’s why we need to get the Reverse Reflection Mirror. To cover you as you get in close to the Infinite Block. Get a level 5 monster to counter the level 6 monster.” That meant putting a lot of trust in Michelle. “If you want to go to a level 6 zone, that’s what we need to do,” she replied.

I understand that, but I don’t like it,” I replied with a heavy sigh.

“You really think it will work? I know you have dried that level 5 monster in the past, but its staying power isn’t that great,” Doctor Katz said.

“There are techniques to using it. We didn’t go back, since it was in the mushroomlands and we kept moving at the time. But the Reverse Reflection Mirror takes skill to use. Immense skill, since you have to attune to the correct energy to counter it. Higher level monsters have a wider range as you pointed out.”

“You can adjust on the fly?” Doctor Katz asked her. Now they were going into science mode and leaving me out of the discussion.

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“Something I have been working on. Glass type monsters tend to be more fragile, but there is very high skill ceiling. The further you move from glass type energy to other portions on the type chart, the harder it becomes to reflect, with sand type impossible as far as I can tell.”

“Which would annihilate the energy of the glass type. But even something like death or fear type energy you would be able to reflect?” he asked.

“No. Not yet at least. But with all the monster types and the experience I have gained, I should be able to do anything that is not sand type adjacent. That includes metal, null, glass, oil, and melt that the Infinite Block uses for its attacks,” she replied.

“Hmm, that does make sense. But you will have to be in close, otherwise you risk your control being disrupted,” Doctor Katz replied.

“I would force my control with my Puppet Strings skill for that opening engagement. Then fall back and provide as per normal,” she replied.

“Doable, but your Body stat is the worst out of any of us and this will be in the shatteredlands, so I guess the Crystal Vortex could be brought in close to assist,” Doctor Katz said.

“Indeed. The beam attacks will be needed to suppress the level 5 monsters. Joyo and Francis will engage,” she explained.

“That would work. But it will be a hard fight for sure. With you engaged at the start, you won’t be able to prep as many as your summons,” Doctor Katz pointed out.

“It will be difficult, but necessary. We can get some disposable level 4 monsters to provide cover. Get six Bulwark Shields, and they should draw enough aggro for the airship and our team to cover the rest while Michael moves in on the boss and I support him,” Michelle outlined.

“And I am sure you have other monsters in mind after the Infinite Block?” I asked.

“The first one is the hardest. Once I have that, I should be able to trap the other level 6 monsters that I want. It would make our fights a lot easier,” she replied.

“All right. The Reverse Reflection Mirror then. Where is that?” I asked.

“South of East Bastion, at coordinates (8,-1),” Michelle said from memory. That was why she got to plan these types of things out. She instantly knew where to go and what to do. While they hadn’t all gone well in the past, our retreat from a level 6 zone the biggest failure, she had more than earned her right to take the lead in team planning.

“Alright then, let me tell the Captain,” I replied. I left my two teammates and the two soldiers at the top of the airship, as I made my way back down to the first deck. Captain Francis was waiting on the bridge.

“Work things out?” he asked me.

“For the most part. South of East Bastion, coordinates (8,-1). We are going for the boss in that zone,” I told him.”

“Alright, let me plot our return path. Rush or no rush?” he asked me.

“No rush. Clarissa can wait,” I replied.

“She asked me to remind you to hurry up,” Captain Francis said with a tired response. I could set my own agenda, but Clarissa wanted the next city upgrade. I didn’t want to do it until after I had beaten a level 7 monster. Captain Francis didn’t have to remind me, but I accepted it with good humor. It was one of our little rituals for the last year.

“As you command Emperor Michael. At the current time, expected departure ten minutes” he replied, using my title. Well time to go get in position a bit early, since there was nothing else left to do beside wait until the Captain ordered our departure. All hands would need to be awake and ready.

There was an elaborate ritual to moving the Crystal Vortex. Trying to communicate quickly across the entire airship wasn’t possible while maneuvering. If any of us moved off of the airship to engage in combat we could be left behind. Using the cannons pointless, when I could kill monsters was also a waste of points.

Over the years there had been a lot of learning and a lot of damage to the Crystal Vortex. I had thought learning how to fight as a superhuman was difficult, but learning hot to fight and maneuver an airship was far more complicated. We also wouldn’t mention all the times I kicked off the second deck and damaged it.

All those points I had reckless wasted made me want to cry. I went to my position at the front of the airship. Michelle quickly began to summon monsters, but she would be remaining inside along with everyone else, once maneuvers were engaged. Soldier Smith was a poignant reminder to not be outside the airship while in maneuvered at high speeds.

He went over the edge when the airship made a rapid change in directions to avoid a monster. We never found him again. Soldier Smith was a reminder to not be out here, once the airship started moving. A soldier ran out to me.

“Confirming maneuvers in one minute,” she said.

“Confirmed,” I replied and braced myself against one of the center masts. I pulled out my pair of enchanted clear goggles. The soldier rushed back down to the first deck and inside. The beam cannons were unmanned, but trying to fire while flying was asking to miss.

I counted down the seconds in my head. The airship quickly turned, rose up, and then began to accelerate. You either moved or were still, trying to mix the two was a very bad idea. A massive, winged worm burst out of the storm clouds ahead of us. Or at least that was the only monster I cared about. We could outrun the ones to the sides and behind while moving. Coming to a stop they would be a problem.

Bringing up both hands, I made finger guns with them to help me aim at a distance. I then triggered Void Beam and Radiant Beam. It took a second for both beam attacks to charge, but it was worth it. The two beams were angled slightly to get it just right.

Having them combine too soon, and the annihilation effect would activate and explode right there. To spread apart, and the beams wouldn’t intersect. I had to take into account the airship moving, the monster moving, and the wind. The goggles were important so I could see.

That was the crazy thing. Beams attacks moved with me. If I was on the airship, they moved very quickly. The two beams were a bit wide, but I quickly adjusted the angle slightly. Better to be a bit wider at the start, otherwise the front of the Crystal Vortex would get damaged in an annihilation blast.

Both beam attacks merged, and the monster was blown away, clearing our flight path forward. We flew in straight lines on this airship, otherwise, there would be issues aiming like I had just done.