The Phantom Riser

CHAPTER TWELVE - A DANGEROUS ENEMY

“So, who is this Isaac Wayne really?” Victor asked.

“He’s a very dangerous individual who was later to be known as ‘The Decimator.”

“Oh, Decimator. Sounds fancy,” Karenia goaded.

“This is not a joke Karenia. He’s real trouble,” Kiro retorted.

“Fine, fine. So, Phantom Riser? Sounds fancy too,” Karenia chuckled, completely ignoring Kiro’s warnings. Kiro simply sighed. Victor was enjoying the sight.

“Open your system to check the rewards list. There’s something I want to tell you,” Kiro instructed.

***

System Update

Kiro Ner

Test: The Mesh

Rewards List

For defeating an enemy – 100 coins

For defeating a low tier creature – 50 coins

For defeating a mid-tier creature – 200 coins

For defeating a high tier creature – 500 coins

For defeating a boss tier creature – 1000 coins

For saving a Riser– 10 coins

For securing the heart of Azulon at the end of the test – 10000 coins per member

For securing Dominic’s necklace at the end of the test – 10000 coins per member

For securing the Red vase at the end of the test – 10000 coins per member

***

“10 coins for saving someone?” Karenia and Victor exclaimed.

“Yes. I received 90 coins for saving you all. This test is not just to help us improve. It is to w**d us out. To cut out as many as possible.”

“But shouldn’t we go after the special items?” Victor asked.

“We would become targets,” Karenia responded.

“Aren’t we targets already? Can it get any worse?” Victor asked. And he had a point. It might not make any difference if there was an extra reason to be hunted.

“It can. Big time. Besides, these items are extremely difficult to obtain. The last time, only one was obtained and that was Dominic’s necklace. It is being worn by the strongest boss tier creature here.”

“Dominic?” Karenia goaded.

“Obviously.”

“So why do we need the map? And where?” Karenia asked.

“The map shows the position of all the Risers present. We need it to keep tabs on Jovak.”

“So, I’m guessing he was the one who obtained Dominic’s necklace?” Victor asked.

“Yeah,” Kiro responded. A large howl emerged from not to far off their position. They were being hunted by some creatures.

“Should I try to talk to them?” Karenia suggested. She still didn’t sit well with the idea of killing the creatures.

“Will it give us more coins?” Victor retorted sharply.

“Victor has a point. Just focus on amassing points for now. We need to level up as much as we can, especially if we’re going to take on Jovak,” Kiro responded. In a few moments, they ere surrounded by raptors. Raptors were like mini T-rexes except that they had a long beak. They were quick on the ground. “Have your fun Victor,” Kiro said.

“Me?” Victor was surprised. Sure, he needed the coins, but how did they expect him to fight off so many creatures. They were at least fifty of them.

“Yeah. You are still yet to try your fire ball. This is definitely a good time to try it out. And if anything goes wrong, we’ve got your back. Feel free. Besides, they are low tier creatures,” Kiro assured him. It was more than just the coins. He needed Victor is good form and confident before they faced off with Isaac. And it was a stroke of luck that they came across low tier creatures.

Victor took a deep breath before finally responding to Kiro’s suggestion.

***

System Update

Victor Vaneki

Skill move: Fire ball; create a ball of fire.

***

Victor created a fire ball that was almost have his size. One shot of it completely obliterated one raptor.

“You know, I didn’t have my hopes up when I heard fire ball. This is actually pretty impressive,” Karenia commended.

“You have no idea. He is an Ascient after all,” Kiro said joyfully. He watched with smiles as Victor fought his way through the raptors. More like slaughtered actually, considering how one sided it was.

Victor relished in his new found abilities. The understanding of how powerful he was and how much more powerful he could get made him even more confident.

System Update

Victor Vaneki

Skill move: Multiple fire balls; create multiple balls of fire.

Current maximum: 5

***

Victor toyed with the raptors creating five fire balls at once. Karenia was really impressed. Deep down, she felt that the Ascient might not be anything special. How wrong she was. It was only a few minutes and he was done.

“Did you see that Karenia? I’m actually pretty awesome myself,” Victor gloated but Karenia chuckled instead of taking offense. Deep down, she was glad. At least now she was sure he could handle himself.

They encountered a few raptors on the way, which they took care of with ease. It didn’t take long before they encountered another team. One of the opponents use an enlargement skill. He grew up to five times his original size.

“He is clearly of beast origin. But I’ll take care of him,” Kiro said. he was the more relaxed of the three by far.

***

System Update

Kiro Ner

Skill move: Force field zone; force field spheres pop around a certain range creating a defensive cover that deflects incoming projectiles. However, they can easily be shoved aside/ destroyed, making it a low-level skill. It is however useful in places with low visibility to act as traps or to put off sensory type Risers as each sphere acts as an energy source.

Active Time: 30 secs.

***

Kiro used his force field zone right below his feet. He made them smaller however and positioned in such a way that they acted as rollers for the big guy. One step and he slipped, almost taking out his own team mates. Before they could react, they were already surrounded by Karenia and Victor, who pointed their abilities at them.

“Give up and we will spare your lives,” Kiro proposed.

“Do we still get our coins?” Karenia asked.

“Yes, it still counts as a defeat,” Kiro replied. He wasn’t the type to kill needlessly. And he also wasn’t nice enough to let them go like that.

“Fine by me then,” Karenia said. as long as they were rewarded, she wasn’t worried about the means.

In the obvious face of defeat, they surrendered. Kiro and his team walked past them, in a bid to put as much distance between to them and Lea’s team, in the event that they get found by Isaac’s team. But they were closer than anticipated. Energy beams from behind them finished off the opponents they had spared. And as the dust cleared, Isaac and his team walked through. “That’s how you defeat an opponent,” he said.