The Phantom Riser

CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE - THE TEAMS (3)

Noah wasn’t sure how to react. Kiro had disrespected Azak in front of everyone. Not just the Risers present but everyone else watching on the feed. Kiro was trying to pass a message to everyone. It was a declaration of war to anyone who went against them. Noah saw it for what it was. And so did Azak. It was difficult to tell from his expression what he was thinking at that moment, but Noah could tell that he was up to no good. Azak sent his clone to meet up with them while he watched from Noah’s control room. The last thing he expected was a Riser seeing through it. He wasn’t the best at clones. They weren’t really his forte. He used them mostly for the sake of battles and not espionage. They carried his abilities well, but just that. A strong Ranger of a Knight would see through his clone easily. But not a Riser. And even worse, one that had just passed only one test. A newborn Riser. It was scary to think of what he would be capable of in the future. He was showing even more promise than the Ascient.

“Have the analyses arrived?” Azak asked.

“Yes, they have. A while ago,” Noah said. He brought some data on his screen. Data that was gotten from analyzing the first test. Particularly, the power levels emitted. Both Noah and Azak were curious to know just how much power Kiro used. They had a fair idea when watching Jovak and Victor. It was nothing short of impressive. But Kiro took down a Ranger. You couldn’t just guess something like that.

“The system rates their power levels based on output and application. While this is greatly affected by their levels, it doesn’t take their levels into play. There are five spectrums from A to E with A being the highest. Ideally, E would be for levels 20 and below, D for 20 to 40, C for 40 to 60, B for 60 to 80, and A for 80 to 100. This analysis was done strictly to classify Risers so it won’t be able to measure the two Rangers’ power levels. According to this, most Risers stayed on the E spectrums. Only a few entered the D spectrum namely our top ten. However, during the last fight, both Jovak and Victor crossed the D spectrum and slightly into the C spectrum. That’s actually really impressive considering it's above their level range. For Kiro, he was mostly on D. He crossed to C as well! That’s not shocking, I guess. But that was when he was facing Isaac. Let me check for his fight against the Ranger,” Noah said as he scrolled through his screen. The words that he saw shouldn’t have been much of a surprise considering he had seen it before, but it amazed him nonetheless. Azak wasn’t facing the screen so he was surprised to see how long it took for Noah to complete his analysis.

“So, what did it say?” he asked. He was a lot more curious now.

“It says… ‘cannot read power level. It is beyond the given spectrum range’,” he said. Noah and Azak stared at each other for a while. Neither was sure of what to say. “He really did break the Riser spectrum barrier. Possibly even that of a High Riser as well,” Noah said, finally breaking the silence.

Azak grinned in excitement. 

“No wonder they are after his head,” he said.

“Were all Phantom Risers like this? I heard they were ridiculously powerful,” Noah asked. He had been a Knight for quite some time, but he had not become a Riser when Phantom left. That was how long ago it was.

“They were all crazy. Every one of them was almost an Ascient. Somehow, they were able to tap into Phantom’s powers quite easily. I think it had something to do with her. But they weren’t powerful at the earlier stages. They were all weak. It took a long time before they became anything to notice,” Azak said.

“Why do you think he’s different? Is it possible that because he’s the only one, she is sharing him more power than she normally would? Could he be an Ascient or maybe even higher? Is there anything higher than an Ascient?”

“That would be the Eight,” Azak said affirmatively. “However, there are many things we don’t know. It’s possible there are levels higher than the Ascient and we may never have come across them. But in time, we will find out. If they don’t kill him first that is,” Azak said.

“So, you want him to live?” Noah teased. A while ago, he was clamoring for Kiro’s death.

“Nothing’s changed. I’m just a little intrigued that’s all. But I won’t give him the easy way out. It’s time to see what exactly he’s made of,” Azak said.

***

Kiro and his teammates had logged in their teams like they were instructed to. All they waited for was their positions to be assigned; hunter or hunted. They all knew that some unfair judgment was going to be passed on to Kiro, especially after what he did. They could only but pity Olivia who was caught up in the whole thing just because they were teammates. And finally, it came.

Kiro and Olivia – Hunter Victor and Lucas – Hunted Karenia and Theodore – Hunted Jovak and Nami – Hunter Leroy and Isaac – Hunter  Among others.

The positions were set to put Kiro’s team at a disadvantage. It was blatantly obvious. Kiro was a defensive specialist and Olivia couldn’t attack, yet they were assigned as Hunters. Victor and Karenia were attack specialists but were assigned as Hunted. At least Victor had some defensive abilities. Karenia had none. Neither did Lucas and Theodore. All they can do is run. Yet, Jovak’s team was greatly favored. It looked like a ploy but Kiro didn’t seem worried. In fact, he looked very excited.

“What is making you smile?” Karenia asked. She was pissed at her ridiculous positions. She was looking forward to hunting down a lot of Risers. Now she had to be running around with a teleporting Riser.

“It’s not surprising. You should all have expected something like this,” Kiro said.

“But what do we do,” Olivia said.

“Well, remember that I said I remembered how to manipulate my abilities but yet, I was only using defensive ones? I wanted to give off the impression that I was a shield. That all I could do was defend. I was saving the others for something else. But I guess using it now wouldn’t be so bad,” Kiro teased.

“What about me? I can’t do anything throughout the test. It’s as good as failing. And the others,” Olivia said. She knew fully well that Kiro only put her on his team to protect her. The limitations of her ability made her more of a liability than an asset. And now, they were put in the worst possible scenario. The others may be able to figure something out. Their powers were a lot more versatile compared to hers.

“Are you new here? I always have a plan, my dear!” Kiro said. He followed with a poor attempt at an evil laugh but had to stop when he realized that no one seemed to be impressed. “That bad?” he asked. He did think he was good at evil laughs. Was he wrong?

“Yeah. Stick to frowning,” Karenia teased. And just like that, they forgot the hurdle that was ahead of them. But a bigger one came before they began.

“Attention Risers! The rules of the tests are simple. The system has explained them all. While Hunters cannot attack other Hunters and the Hunted are prohibited from using attack skills, this rule doesn’t apply when dealing with the Phantom Riser. You may attack as you will. The one who takes him out levels up by an extra 20 levels. And more importantly, if he dies, he will not be respawned,” Azak announced from Noah’s control room.