Modern warfare with a twist

In a ruined city located among the Indonesian archipelago, a weird-looking group was engaged in combat with two mutated humans.

A man holding a plain-looking wooden spear was keeping an axe mutant busy while his two less experienced companions were having some difficulties defeating a mutilated sword type monster.

"Don't force it, the thing is missing half its head and an arm. Hannah, use your smaller frame to strike at it from unexpected and tricky angles; your daggers will make short work of it in close range." Delvin was quite pleased with the Hannah's combat prowess, she had responded to his advices by positively; taking them to heart and implementing them in combat as soon as possible. Her proclamations of knowing a thing or two about knives were more than truthful.

Hannah's graceful movements and perfectly timed attacks were on full display, and she hadn't suffered a single serious injury so far. Sure, her uniform now looked like a designer piece of 27th century fashion, riddled with small cuts and tears. But her skills were not to be underestimated, at least when compared to Joshiah.

They had already come across three groups of mutants, all of which consisted of one axe and one sword-type mutants. The strategy the came up with was simple: Delvin would attack the sword wielding one first, severely damaging it before moving on to pin down the more bulky axe-type, then came Hannah and Joshiah, their role was to solely focus on taking down the weakened one first at which time Delvin would maul the pinned axe-type and the military duo would finish it off.

But Delvin hadn't considered the age-old proverb '90% of strategies fail'. And this strategy would fail due to one member not rising up to the challenge.

While Hannah was proficient with knives before the awakening, the same couldn't be said for Joshiah and his swordsmanship. He was a man of the military through and through, his expertise was using guns and commanding troops, not fighting chest-to-chest against these hellspawns; and with medieval weaponry none the less.

In the first three fights, everything that could have gone wrong for the lieutenant had done so. He was indecisive when attacking and clumsy when defending; his balance was way off and Delvin noticed a look of panic strewn on his face whenever they came upon a new mob of enemies.

The final axe mutant they felled managed to score a nasty gash on Joshiah's chest, and the trio were forced to halt their journey in a run down apartment building as they banged the wound; bandages and sterilizing alcohol were proving to be useful even after the introduction of mana.

While Hannah stayed on the lookout, and with the lieutenant recovering and ranting about the injustice of the System, Delvin found a few minutes of solace to familiarize himself with the final reward of slaying the gorilla.

[ACHIEVEMENTS]

Underdog Triumph

-Defeat an enemy of a higher Advancement than yours. Everybody loves an underdog story, but no one wants to be the one telling it; you have taken that mantle upon yourself.

+2 All Stats

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...

Defeat a Tier 2 enemy for further upgrades to this Achievement

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The achievement's description confirmed Del's theory that Advancements were simply fancy words for higher Tiers. He was currently a Tier 0 Half-Android, and getting an Advancement would purely mean he had reached Tier 1. This solved one of the gazillion puzzles plaguing Delvin, with the +2 increase to every stat being the cherry on top.

This was Delvin's most valuable Achievement, and both his HP and Stamina broke through the 100 mark. His power was at an all-time high, with three new skills, an OP achievement and his boosted STR from augmenting the Half-Android Physique, Del knew that if he chanced upon a Tier 1 mana-cracked human, the fight would go in a totally different direction.

Joshiah was good to go before long, and the trio continued their journey through the maze of buildings and vehicles. They had made several wide turns as the once properly planned city was now a mix of destruction and rubble; various streets were now overgrown in dense jungle-like woods, and scant few buildings retained their structural integrity.

Luckily the one thing Joshiah was good for was navigating. He admitted to being stationed in this part of Indonesia for the better part of a year so he was familiar with the layout of the city. Speaking of which, the city was named Mebaya and was freshly-built as the government located large natural gas reserves off the coast some years back. Joshiah's estimate placed Mebaya's population around 35 thousand, with hundreds more living on the outskirts and near the coastline.

The place was supposedly filled with researchers. scientists and students all of whom moved out here in hopes of making a name for themselves. Unfortunately, the System made its appearance and all these people were now stranded on a remote island with no help arriving apart from the android and two soldiers.

Delvin's reminiscence was interrupted by sounds of struggle as Joshiah failed to hold his ground after a powerful swing of the axe mutant's weapon sent him into a telephone booth. The slow-forming pools of blood around the lieutenant warranted Del's involvement and he promptly jumped of the balcony he used as an observation deck. A quick inspection showed the discrepancy between the mutant and himself.

[Mana-crazed Human] (Common)

Level: 6 (Tier 0)

HP: 43/80

Highest stats: END, STR

Hannah saw his descent and took it as Delvin being displeased with their performance. "We're fine, the lieutenant's new skill will mend those wounds in seconds. Your ring can als-" She quickly stopped talking as the android threw his spear away.

"I know First Recovery will heal him and all, but I don't want you taking this thing on by yourself; besides, I've been dying to test some things out." Hannah threw Del a weird glance when she saw him adopt a defensive posture with both hands in front of his face. Why wasn't he using the weapon he was most familiar with?

Before she could retort, Delvin waved his hand in a nonchalant manner while explaining, "A measly level 6 mutant is no problem, even without my spear. And as I told you," His face twisted into a malicious smirk as he waited for the mutant's charge.

"There's some testing to be done." He called the name of the new mana skill, hoping it would prove to be as useful as he hoped, 'Mana Infusion'

As the words left his mind, an easily-missed response was felt in his core. A pulse of energy, most likely mana, shot out from the core, through his body and mana channels before finally settling in Delvin's fist. The whole process happened in just two second and there were no apparent problems so far, the energy went just where he wanted it to. 'So far so good.'

The mutant was soon upon him, cleaving and weaving even before its weapon was in reach of Delvin. A telegraphed and amateurish move that—with an agile twist of the hip joints—was flawlessly dodged, leaving the monster's side wide open. The monster realized its mistake and was rapidly trying to reposition before the human went to town on its exposed midsection.

But would Delvin allow such an opportunity to simply pass him by? Of course not.

A swift right hook broke some of the mutant's ribs while a sharp jag landed on its moving head, knocking out some teeth. In a daze from the strengthened punches, the mutant clumsily tried to hit the far faster human with little to no accuracy. Delvin's Dodge was truly giving him the upper hand in this short exchange; quite literally in fact.

A resounding left uppercut signalled the end of the mutant's jaw and it hung loose after the blow. Not wanting to draw things out, Delvin seized the momentum with two quick punches which knocked the mutant unconscious.

He instructed the still-puzzled Hannah to finish the mutant off as those who did got the lion's share of exp%. Del would still got a couple percentages from the kill but nothing that would break the camels back; the noobish Joshiah would also leech off a few measly percentage points. This calculation was based on their previous fights and the exact distribution went something like this: 75% to the one dealing the finishing blow, 10% to the one who dealt the most damage with the final 15 percent being split among everyone else who inflicted even a sliver of damage.

Mana Infusion's first test was rated a success with the skill working as he thought it would. It exchanged the invested mana for an increase in strength. Mind you, the increase wasn't to the actual STR stat but rather to the effective force behind the Infused area. Delvin decided to expend 10 mana in his first attempt and it proved to more than enough to break the sturdy axe-type's ribs, despite its tested endurance.

Just as he was trying to focus on the aftermath of the skill, a golden cocoon formed around Hannah, meaning she levelled up again. The army duo had already accrued two levels with this one sending Hannah through the halfway point of Tier 0. Familiar sounds of pleasure were soon heard, indicative of her gaining a skill or two.

'Looks like the orgasmic moans aren't reserved for the lieutenant' Delvin mused. When Joshiah was recovering(after the 3rd fight) he had suddenly started yelling out in delight with drool dripping off his lips; it was a sight that Delvin wouldn't soon forget.

The android was a bit disappointed as he had acquired three new skills but there experienced no heavenly sensations. At this point the only common denominator Delvin came up with was his Race being different than theirs and that had somehow changed his receival of skills. Him being a half human of the android variety probably changed many a thing related to the System with skills being just one of them; of course this was all speculation with there being no sizeable sample or concrete proof.

The golden dust evaporated shortly after, revealing the beauty beneath. A malicious smile spread across her face, like a businessman whose hostile takeover of a company just succeeded, "Level 5! I also got two new skills- aah, I guess these are technically those Techniques you mentioned Delvin.' The wannabee-assassin proclaimed proudly

Delvin had to admit the girl had the potential makings of a future powerhouse. She had gained three skills on the first day, just like Joshiah, but with one colossal difference. Both Inspect I and Beginner Gunmanship made an appearance, but it was the third skill that would set Hannah apart from many others.

The skill was called Dagger Mastery and it carried many similarities to Delvin's own Spear Mastery. It allowed Hannah to wield all dagger-type weapons below a certain rank while also boosting her damage when wielding one such weapon, in addition to providing fragments of knowledge during combat that taught her when and where to attack and how to move adequately to achieve the biggest gains for the smallest investments.

Undoubtedly the crème de la crème of Mastery type skill were their associated sub-skills called Techniques. They were Delvin's bread and butter, and that notion was the same for Hannah. She disclosed the two Techniques that came with the skill, appropriately called Stab and Backstab, with the latter dealing double damage and inflicting a Minor bleed debuff; if Hannah landed the skill on an enemy's back that is.

Joshiah looked dissatisfied as he only gained around a dozen exp% and no new techniques; not that he could receive them since he didn't possess a Mastery skill. Yet the lieutenant's professionalism shone through and he congratulated Hannah on her gains while subtly asking about their features.

"Well they're called Tumble and Eviscerate. The first one is basically a skill version of a forward roll with a really low Stamina expenditure, and Eviscerate is a high damage, high cost damaging skill. I'll have to familiarize myself with them but they seem very handy, I've sorely been lacking a movement-type skill." Delvin was pleased with her cryptic explanation, showing that she truly absorbed every piece of information he gave her. The part of not revealing your skillset to others was a short comment Delvin made when Joshiah bragged about the effects of First Recovery; a skill that would restore 10% Max HP and an additional fifteen over five seconds for a whopping cost of 35 Stamina with an even whoppinger 10 minute cooldown.

(Author Note: Is whoppinger even a word? I found it too funny and couldn't forgive myself if I didn't place it.)

"Don't get ahead of yourself though, if a Tier 1 monster emerges you stick to the plan; I'll whittle it down while you two will act as backup. Hopefully that won't happen and we'll only run into more groups of these idiotic mutants." The wannabee-assassin nodded thrice with such vigour Delvin would assume she was thanking him for the greatest piece of insight known to man. "Well just stay attentive and focus on what's ahead of you. Let's pray this one also learns a thing or two." A quick jab to the still-recovering lieutenant prompted him to stand up; Delvin had learned an attack on Joshiah's pride always came with an immediate reaction. It was one of the things he was coming to like about him as it acted as a fix-all solution whenever Joshiah was feeling down or disappointed with himself.

It showed he at least had a willingness to improve, something that would scantly appear among the survivors they were going to find in the near future.

And as the say: 'The future is now.' A scream reverberated over the broken glass and concrete of Mebaya before reaching the trio. A silent look was shared among them and they immediately set out with blazing fervour. Delvin wouldn't let another Earthling die in front of him.

Unbeknownst to the army duo large amounts of energy were expended from the android; fuel for Mana Infusion and Sprint. Delvin rapidly shot off ahead of the Earthlings while staying focused on the loudening cries for help, he calmed his mind and let his upgraded Physique skill guide him up and about the rubble and debris. The rarely-seen fragments of knowledge didn't seem to be tied to Mastery skills, but rather to Skill Rarity? He would have to figure that out at a later date as he found the scene of the crime in just 10 seconds.

Among the cars of a parking lot where freshly-sprouted pink trees had formed Delvin felt the sensation of being in uncharted territory, yet also familiar ground. Five panicked humans were fleeing in terror from a massively tougher foe who threatened to end them at a moment's notice.

As he stepped through the pink canopee what awaited him was the sight of an evolved axe-type mutant and a struggling group of earthlings that would become his most faithful followers.