The Over-Break System

-Current Track, “MKAlieZ” from Aldnoah.Zero by Hiroyuki Sawano. The song is set to an infinite loop.-

A mass of Dark Mana particles swirled around Cynrik before completely erasing his presence entirely; this was [Spectre Concealment]; the main difference between the newly Evolved version and its former self, [Cloak of Shadows], was how completely concealed Cynrik would become. Unlike before, only a minute Mana signature leaked out, and unless someone were an entire Tier and a Half stronger than him, any being would perceive him as not present.

Gliding through the Shadow Realm with his BGM blasting in his mind, Cynrik flipped and broke into reality, silently landing mere centimeters away from the unsuspecting mouse.

[[In position, beginning Operation “Gotta Catchem All” in 2 minutes. Selene, be ready to make a move. If my theory about the Headmaster and his Affinity Skills is correct, he should be locking down the area, separating us into a Spatial Dimension within his control. The instant I attack, I want you running to grab Benny and Melody, enter your [Void Shift], and exit the building asap.]]

As Cynrik spoke, his eyes never left the little bastard sitting by his feet; even though he was so close, the creature still hadn’t noticed his presence, which was what he wanted.

[[Brance, odds are Geralt will summon a couple of Instructors to deal with whoever is outside, try stalling him as long as possible. Once I take out this rodent, we will move on to the spies, taking them into custody before the Headmaster can make a move. That is OUR XP, not his, and I want to get as much as possible. However, keep on your toes and use long-range attacks until we can gauge how strong those people are. Once we have a handle on them, you and I will move in and….]]

[[Too late, Headmaster Rivia is on the move, if you are going to do something, do it now, he just summoned Garrison and Alistar, and they are en route.]] Cutting his brother off, Brance informed Cynrik of what was happening on his end, causing the older boy’s left eye to twitch.

[[Sel, let’s do this shit!]] Realizing he was pressed for time, Cynrik drew his leg back as far as he could, and soccer kicked the Void Mouse using all his power.

“SREEE!!!” The helpless and unaware creature screamed in a mixture of fright and pain as it was sent sailing across the hallway and into the wall separating the kitchen and the living room with a loud BANG.

Sliding down the wall, it landed on all six feet and rapidly looked around with its large red eyes, searching for whatever had attacked it. To its surprise, it found nothing, but just as it was about to creep forward cautiously, the door to Cynrik’s bedroom flung open, and Selene burst out, dashing down the hallway and kicking in Bennys door.

“Reep?” The mouse squeaked in fright. Then, suddenly appearing besides it, Cynrik, still under cover of his stealth skill, kicked it across the room, smashing it through the tv-stand housing the Holo-TV and electronic components, causing a chaotic mess of wires, sparks, and smoke to come out.

With the abrupt and unexpected door kicking in and Selene appearing, Melody screamed in fright. However, Benny, who had been expecting this to happen, quickly went into action, rolling off the bed and swapping into his uniform, which was already preloaded into his Loadout. Next, he scooped up Melody and rushed to Selene’s side.

“Melly, don’t freak out; we are under attack, so stay calm, I will protect you.” Benny valiantly said, but that was wiped away the instant Selene grabbed him by the back of the collar like a cat and tore Melody from his arms, holding her in the same way.

“Welcome aboard the Selly Express; keep all hands inside the fog at all times, and please do not puke on my particles.” Selene sarcastically spat as she activated [Void Shift], targeting not only herself but her two passengers, turning everyone into Dark Mana particles and forming a vast hazy black mist.

However, just as she was about to move toward the front door as Cynrik’s plan dictated, there was a massive explosion of fire and black Mana Particles that rocketed Cynrik into the wall beside the entrance to Benny’s room.

[[SELENE, OUT THE WINDOW NOW!]] Cynrik howled as he jumped back to his feet and manifested two miniature suns, one in each palm. Then, leaning into Benny’s room, Cynrik made a counterclockwise motion with his right hand, triggering the revolving mechanism and swapping to projectile mode before firing off one of the hidden blades infused with BlackFire at the window. The blade rocketed through the room and shattered the tempered glass forming an escape route for the others.

Showing no sign of hesitation, Selene, in her black mist form, surged forward and out the window away from the fight.

“Little fucking rodent, that hurt,” Cynrik growled as he flung both fireballs into the living room, one of which veered off towards the front door. After releasing his attack, Cynrik dashed out of the same window Selene and the others had just left.

BOOOOOOOOOOMMM BOOOOOOOOOOOMMM

The instant he made it out of the Dorm, a massive explosion shook the entire building and the surrounding area, as the front door exploded with a powerful jetstream of highly compressed fire particles.

“SCREEEEEEEEEE.”

“OH SHIT!”

BANG

When Cynrik turned to look into the window, he was caught off guard by the small shadow charging toward him almost too fast for his eyes to register. The shadow slammed directly into his chest, forcing him over a dozen meters across the lawn into the wall of the neighboring Dorm.

Before he could even react, the Void mouse was on him, appearing in the air to his left and spinning its body; the creature struck Cynrik with its tail, rocking him several meters away.

[[CYN!]] Selene yelled as she watched her boyfriend being toyed with by a creature not even 1/8th his size. Each hit the Void Mouse landed resounded with a powerful shockwave, making Cynrik grunt in pain.

[[GET OUT OF HERE! RENDEZVOUS WITH BRANCE AND THE OTHERS, I’VE GOT THIS!]] Cynrik shouted, snapping Selene out of her worried daze and making her move away from the battle.

Standing up slowly and wiping the blood from the corner of his lips, Cynrik spat a mouthful of blood mixed with bile onto the ground and activated [Mana Sight] once again. He had quickly realized that his normal eyesight wasn’t good enough to keep up with the little mouse, but at least with his ocular skill, he could follow the after image created by the Dark and Space Mana particles clustered around its body.

Cynrik’s eyes flicked to his resource stats bar and noticed he had lost almost a quarter of his health from the small exchange of no more than 7 or 8 strikes, which was well within his acceptable range.

‘Where are you?’ He thought as his eyes constantly scanned the surroundings.

SCHWIP POP SCHWIP POP SCHWIP POP

“THERE!” Focusing on the faint popping sound created each time the creature used its teleportation skill, Cynrik narrowed down its rough location and could spot the Mana trail it left behind. Once he had a pinpointed location, he kicked off the ground, calculated the spot it would re-appear and was right there when the Void Mouse showed its ugly little face.

TAP …TAP

Unleashing a full force Futae no Kiwami right into the small head of the creature, Cynrik rocked its head to the side and catapulted it several meters away. Even with the delayed reaction of the attack, and the fact that the initial impact was small, it was no different than hitting a golf ball with a golf club, and the attack had enough power behind it to hurl the small creature through the air.

Unfortunately, Cynrik had fucked up his timing in his haste, and the effect on the creature was minimal at best, just enough to rattle its pea brain a little bit.

-You have received a failing grade on execution, please obtain a grade of at least B or Higher to add this skill to your skill list.-

‘No shit, Tobs,’ waving his hand and force closing the notification, Cynrik flexed his right-hand several times to double-check that he hadn’t sustained any damage from the failed attempt, and luckily he, the bones in his right hand were still intact, albeit a little sore.

On the ground 10 meters away, the tiny Void Mouse shook its head several times and glared fiercely at its enemy, scraping its front right paw on the ground and lurching forward.

While Cynrik was locked in heated combat with a creature small enough to fit on a dinner plate, up above the confined space, Headmaster Rivia watched the fight below for a moment before turning and watching the two Instructors touch down on the ground and move swiftly towards the six spies, who were already in the midst of panicking about their cover being blown.

“Sir, please let me and Gabby go down; we need to be there; by staying up here, you are forcing me to watch my friends be in danger and my only brother fight for his life.” Brance pleaded with Geralt, who only gave him a passing glance before drifting down to the top of the Cube.

“Student Björn, you do realize what you are asking for goes against everything this Academy stands for, right? We do not put our students in danger nor allow them to freely engage in combat with enemies far over their level and Tier.” Headmaster Rivia sternly said.

“To hell with the rules, Headmaster! Arent you the one in charge? Don’t YOU make the rules? Who else but you can break them as he pleases?” Brance practically yelled, forcing Geralt to turn and face him.

Although his space was locked down and not even sound could pass through the confinement skill, Brance could tell that each hit connecting with Cynrik was hard enough to create a loud impact.

“Please, Headmaster Rivia, we have a rule in our Faction, if one member is in danger, we all rally to their aid. Please don’t make us break our vow.” Gabby quietly spoke up, her words seeming to resonate with Geralt as his expression softened with the girl’s input.

“Student Ivar has put himself in a highly unfavorable position, and although he can keep up with that creature because of his high AGI stat, he is only barely in the fight. What makes you think that you two won’t get in the way?” Headmaster Rivia countered.

“But Headmaster, aren’t you wrong? Isn’t there five of us, not two?” Brance shot back, startling the man with a confident and adventurous smirk.

Silence descended on the group of three in the air. After a few seconds, Headmaster Rivia sighed loudly and snapped his fingers, making Brance and Gabby vanish for an instant before re-appearing inside the Cube.

“Go, you have until Garrison and Alistar finish defeating those six spies, don’t make me regret giving in.” With that said, Headmaster Rivia crossed his arms and diverted his attention to the two adults wreaking havoc against their six opponents.

Gripping Gabby’s hand with his right, Brance looked back and nodded at the Headmaster before stepping off the platform and dragging his girlfriend into a freefall towards Cynrik.

-This series is exclusively published on Web if you are reading it anywhere else…You Wrong, Fam. PS Check out the discord, https://discord.gg/dcxKNJEMwg