Chapter 30: The Battle Begins!
'Thinking'
"Talking"
[System]
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- Mental Simulation Training Field -
- Arthur Pendragon -
"Fire is the element of power and the one that suits you. You have desire and will and the energy and drive to achieve what you want. Earth, however, is an element of substance, and people who use it are diverse and strong, they are persistent and enduring. Air is the element of freedom, people who use the element tend to detach themselves from worldly concerns and find peace and freedom. Lastly, water is the element of change and people who use the element are capable of adapting to many things. They have a deep sense of community and love that holds them together through anything." My new mentor said as he drew different symbols in the sand.
"If Fire is the element that best suits me, then why are you telling me about the others?" I asked.
"It is important to draw wisdom from many different places, if we take it from only one place it becomes rigid and stale." He said drawing a line between the elemental symbols. "Understanding others, the other elements will help you become powerful. So, get up, I will show you how to gather the chi surrounding you and bring it in under your control, or as you call it Mana." He said indicating for me to get up. "First, take deep breaths and focus on your core, feel it expand with each breath and imagine that as you breath the particles in the air, they travel through your lungs and into your heart." He continued after I had stood up in front of him.
"Sigh..." After taking a few breaths I could see out the corner of my eye that my Mana was slowly increasing. I had used up a few thousand of it earlier after me and my new mentor sparred in hand-to-hand combat, and I was eloquently beaten. As I continued to focus on my breathing, I drew deeper and longer breaths and with each breath I would replenish fifty to one-hundred Mana points.
"Good, slowly your breath will become energy in the body. The energy extends past your limbs and becomes fire!" he said punching his fist towards me, sending a blast of fire that dispersed before hitting me. "Now try it."
I set myself into a firm stance and concentrate on releasing that energy through my fist. "Haaa... HA!" I yell, punching away from my mentor and into the open air. At first only a puff of smoke came out but as I continued to force my mana through my body and into my fist, a sudden bolt of fire erupted out of my fist and into the air. It carried itself for a few meters before dispersing.
"Impressive, Chancellor Arthur." he said with a smile on his face.
"I already told you mentor, you can call me Arthur, I don't mind."
"And I already told you to stop calling me mentor. We will continue with our training, but first let's have some tea!" he said excitedly.
"Okay, Iroh let's have some tea." I say walking over towards his tea bag with him.
[Hidden Quest Completed!]
[Quest Info:]
[Firebender!]
[Complete] Bend your first flame --- [1/1]
Rewards: Fire Magic Crystal
'Fire Crystal?' I think to myself as I stopped in my tracks and pulled the fire magic crystal from inside my inventory and into my hands. [Observe]
[Item: Fire Magic Crystal]
Item Rarity: A
Type: Magic
Enhances the users Fire Magic granting it +500% in power and abilities. Enhancing its strength, durability, and efficiency.
I immediately press the crystal into my chest and await the notifications while resuming my walk towards Iroh.
*Ding!*
[Skill Gained:]
[Fire Magic] (Active) - Lvl. 1/100 {Novice}
Allows the user to use and form Fire. The Fire can be formed into many different things from weapons to simple Fire balls and Flame blasts. Also, grants the user the ability to block incoming Fire attacks with swift kicks, jabs, or other defensive maneuvers. Higher levels allow for stronger Fire Magic to be used.
[Fire Magic] (Active) - Lvl. 1/100 {Novice}
[Spell List]
[Fire Augmentation] - Cost: 100 MP - Unlocked: Skill Lvl. 0
Firebenders can alter and control the size of any nearby flames and can draw them in to manipulate them at will. Attack Dmg +1 x INT, Causes effect: Burn
[Fireballs/Fire-Jabs] - Cost: 300 MP - Locked: Skill Lvl. 10
Basic jabs and punches produce miniature fireballs and missiles of flame. Attack Dmg +5 x INT, Causes effect: Burn
[Fire Daggers] - Cost: 600 MP - Locked: Skill Lvl. 20
Blow torch like jets which are created from the fist or fingertips. Attack Dmg +10 x INT, Causes effect: Burn
[Fire Whip] - Cost: 1,000 MP - Locked: Skill Lvl. 30
A continuous stream of flame that has a semi-tactile quality and is used as a whip. Attack Dmg +15 x INT, Causes effect: Burn
[Fire Lashes] - Cost: 1,600 MP - Locked: Skill Lvl. 40
The ability to create a long lash of fire and bring it down on your enemies. You can also create smaller multiple lashes and envelop an area in fire. Attack Dmg +20 x INT, Causes effect: Burn
[Fire Streams] - Cost: 2,400 MP - Locked: Skill Lvl. 50
Shoot continuous streams of fire from your fingertips, fists, palms, or legs. These streams can be widened to create flamethrower-like techniques. Attack Dmg +25 x INT, Causes effect: Burn
[Fire Blade] - Cost: 3,600 MP - Locked: Skill Lvl. 60
By narrowing and condensing your flame projections firebenders can create thin blades of fire to slice through objects without completely destroying them. Attack Dmg +30 x INT, Causes effect: Burn
[The Dancing Dragon] - Cost: 5,000 MP - Locked: Skill Lvl. 70
*One time Use!*
An Ancient Firebending technique used by the ancient sun warriors. Enhances the users Fire Magic by +200% in power and efficiency.
[Fire Comet] - Cost: 7,000 MP - Locked: Skill Lvl. 80
An advanced form of the fire stream in which the user pressurizes the fire into a ball and shoots it toward the enemy. Attack Dmg +50 x INT, Causes effect: Burn
[Jet Propulsion] - Cost: 9,000 MP - Locked: Skill Lvl. 90
Skilled firebending masters are able to conjure massive amounts of flame to propel themselves at high speeds on the ground or through the air. This can only be used for short periods of time.
[Lightning Generation] - Cost: 15,000 MP - Locked: Skill Lvl. 100
The ability to generate and direct lightning requires peace of mind and a complete absence of emotion. Attack Dmg +100 x INT.
'Thank god for fire bending!'
"Arthur? Arthur?" I heard Iroh say.
"Huh... Oh, Iroh sorry what was that?" I asked.
Iroh reached down and took the kettle off the fire and poured it into a small cup and held it up towards me.
"Ginseng tea?" he asked smiling.
"Sure." I responded and took the teacup out of his hand and took a sip. "Damn, this is good!" I shouted before drinking the rest of it and asking Iroh for more.
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- Mount Weather | Hidden Room Level 2 | The Ground -
- President Dante Wallace -
"Sir." One of my guards greeted me as he walked into my study.
"Yes?"
"The majority of our soldiers have been captured or killed, sir. There's only eight of us left."
"Where are they? The eight."
He looked down in shame? Before looking back up at me with shaky and nervous eyes. It was like he didn't know where to look.
"They've all gone and turned themselves into Cage and are now helping with the defense of the dam." He said quickly, almost too fast to hear.
"Our power? What happened and what about Jet?" I asked, Jet was one of my favorites, I had practically raised him right along with Cage but somewhere somehow, he and Cage after their sixteenth birthdays both grew to resent and hate each other.
"Jet... he was captured on level two after losing in an engagement with sergeant Paul. He sacrificed himself for the outsiders. About the power situation... currently the Commander, Clarke, and the Chancelor of the Ark Arthur are outside preparing a turret of some kind, but they also sent a team to the dam. We only spotted it because they had forgotten to hack into one of the cameras. Cage sent a team out to the dam but... I doubt it will be successful." he said while keeping his eyes focused on the floor.
"We?" I asked as the realization struck. "You couldn't-..."
"I'm sorry, sir, but to combat the threat to us from outside we must do what is necessary." The guard finished before walking out.
Four Mount Weather soldiers came in right after he left, two of them were armed with only police batons, but the two in the back were armed with submachine guns.
"Dante Wallace. You're under arrest for treason and being an enemy of the state, place your hands behind your back, and stand up. Slowly." He said angrily.
Not wanting to cause any further incident I complied with his demand and slowly got to my feet, walked over to the nearby wall, and placed my hands behind my back.
"This is all your fault; I hope you know that, Dante Wallace. If you would've accepted being arrested peacefully the first time, none of this would've happened. There wouldn't be a total of fifty-six soldiers dead, and we would have them in the fight against the savages and the outsiders. But no, you had to go and turn neighbor against neighbor. You've killed us." he said hatefully into my ear.
"I tried to save us..."
"Save it for your son, the President-... Wait on better thought." he said as I felt the cuffs that were put onto my wrists just seconds ago loosen and then come off completely.
As soon as I turned around, I knew what they planned to do. They were going to frame and then kill me.
"Punch me. Right here." the man with the badge named - Edge - on it said as he indicated towards his chin.
"Are you sure?" the man asked unsure.
"Yes! Now do it!" he yelled.
The man clocked back his fist and then fired it towards Edge causing the man to stumble back a few steps due to the force of the punch.
"H-Holy shit, George you hit like a truck!" Edge exclaimed shocked.
"T-Thanks, sir?" George said confused.
"Now... I have one more thing to tell you Dante Wallace." Edge said as he straightened up and resumed his strict firm tone from before he was punched.
"And what is that?" I asked, knowing where this was going.
"Die." the man said simple before drawing his pistol and aiming it at my face.
*BANG!*
Everything went dark.
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- Mount Weather | Philpott Dam | The Ground -
- 3rd Person -
*BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!*
*THWAP! THWAP! THWAP! THWAP! THWAP!*
Bullets and arrows flew over Raven and Wick as they attempted to set up the hydrazine explosive charges that would blow up the turbines that powered Mount Weather and its facilities.
Raven and Wick had been dispatched to blow up the turbines that powered Mount Weather with a group of six grounder archers and five Arkadia rangers, one of them being Murphy. They had broken in, deactivated the cameras and killed the skeleton crew that guarded and maintained the facility. Then not seven minutes later the elevator doors opened on the far side of the facility and outpoured a group of thirteen Mount Weather soldiers armored in tan ballistic vests and with submachine guns.
A firefight insured and Raven and Wick had to struggle to make their way past the bullets and arrows that flew by them as they set the charges. Currently they are losing, there are four Mount Weather soldiers left who are blind firing over the cover they scrambled to when they were fired upon by the combined forces of archers and rangers.
While on their side there were two rangers left, one being Murphy and one grounder archer. And he was bleeding on the floor not too far away from them. But they only had one turbine left, they knew they could do it.
"AHH!" They heard a voice scream out from where the Mount Weather soldiers were hiding, so they made their move. They hopped up and sprinted towards the final turbine, sliding into the turbine they barely missed the few bullets that flew by their head.
"Shit!" Wick hissed.
"What?" Raven asked, turning back to look at him, and then the ground. "You idiot." she mumbled as she saw the hydrazine pouring out of the cannister and onto the ground. "You just had to go and drop the last one, didn't you?" Raven asked loathing.
"Oh, shut up any engineer worth his salt knows to plan for failure, I'm not the one who didn't build enough bombs."
"Five turbines, five bombs. Maybe if you didn't drop the last one, we could do this!" Raven said over the sound of whizzing bullets and the sound of heavy machinery.
"And like I said any engineer knows to plan for failure, two is one, one is none. It's called re-..." Wick went to finish his sentence but was cut off by an irate Raven who was struggling with the wires on the control panel of the fifth turbine.
"Redundancy. Yeah, I know what-... Wait. That's it! Redundancy." Raven shouted as she began pulling out wires left and right.
"Hey, can you guys hurry the fuck up!" Murphy shouted over to them.
"SHUT UP MURPHY!" They both yelled at the same time, before Raven went back to tearing out wires.
"What are you doing?" Wick asked alarmed as she continued to pull out and fiddle with an alarming number of wires and other machinery.
"They built more turbines than they needed. We blow four, this one will take the load. Surge protectors will ramp it down to keep it from blowing up." She said as she glanced between him and the control panel.
"...Oh, you've got to be kidding me, really? Catastrophic failure? That's your plan?"
"Where are we with those explosives, Raven!" Murphy shouted as bullets whizzed by his head.
"Almost done, just buy us a few more minutes." she responded before telling Wick to go and set the detonators on the other turbines. Hopefully without getting shot.
"God damn it!" Murphy shouted as he peaked around the corner and shot one of the soldiers in the head. Murphy then proceeded to drop his Rifle as it had run out of ammo and charged the last soldier with his newly acquired blade that was given to all the rangers and the guard.
"AAHHHHHHH!!!!!" Murphy shouted as he jumped over the small barricade and began to hack and slash at the man until Murphy's entire shirt, face, and vest was covered in blood.
"If you wanted to gain recognition that's certainly one way to get it." Raven remarked as she made a sprint towards the door, they entered from with Murphy hot on her trail.
It took Wick a few more minutes to set the detonators but once he made his way to them, Murphy and Wick helped the surviving ranger escape along with them. Only when they were a little ways away from the door did they look back, and as they did the door flew open releasing a brief flash of light, the sound of a massive explosion and smoke.
"YES! WE DID IT!" Raven screamed happily, Murphy and Wick simply smiled and then they were back on their way to the front lines with an unconscious ranger in tow.
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- Mount Weather | Outside | The Ground -
- Arthur Pendragon -
*STATIC*
"THE POWER IS DOWN! I REPEAT THE POWER IS DOWN!" I hear Raven scream over the radio.
The guard who had control of the rocket turret looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded my head.
The rocket activated and the hydrazine rocket sped towards the steel door.
*BOOM!*
The ground shook underneath us, and then suddenly hell fire rained down on us. Hard. Hundreds of bullets flew towards us, and most of us were forced to duck underneath the steel rectangular shields that the commander and I had created. The others that hadn't ducked were dead.
I looked back and saw the hundreds of troops behind us and their hundreds of torches that they held in their hands to light the path ahead of them.
[Fire Augmentation]
[-100 MP]
[-100 MP]
I continued to draw in the flames that engulfed the torches and soon I was sweating, straining under control of a total of fifty-seven torches. My MP was zero and I was ready to direct the flame in a direction.
l jumped forward, landed, squared my feet, and shoved my arms towards the entrance to Mount Weather. The fifty-seven fire filled torches all combined before colliding and filling the bunker doorway to its entirety. The screams that were heard were blood curdling as soldiers burned and watched their own flesh melt off their bodies.
"CHARGE!" I screamed out as I lifted my sword up in the air and ran forward like a freight train, all the while calming my breathing and focusing it into my core.
[+100 MP]
[+83 MP]
[+85 MP]
[+64 MP]
"AHH!!!" I heard the screams and hollers of a one-thousand-man army as I ran in to Mount Weather and began to swing my blade left and right like I was mad with bloodlust.
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A/N: Here we go, the battle begins and some people die and are captured! What will happen to Jet? What will Arthur do to Cage? And What will Cage pull out in his last resort?
Thanks for reading everyone! Also, thank you admins of Webnovel for fixing the PC issue!