19 Chapter 19 - Suck-It-Up!
Tamer Ethan Johnson (POV)
Day 6 A.F.P 7: 00 PM
Ethan Johnson. "I know most of you have been busy with training all day or traveling between countries to meet influential people.
But I have been given a search and rescue mission to recover a V.I.P from Saint Petersburg in Russia from the top leaders of the U.G.P.
They want me to bring along the best flying Tamers to get their boy back to H.Q before the sun rises tomorrow. So that's why I skipped the mission briefing in the base and got you all in this fancy transport drone.
I don't care why we have to do this quickly or wonder who this V.I.P. fella is. But I do know that you all better go in with your A-Game because this will be the first-ever night air raid mission given to the Tamer Battalion.
Think of this as a test to see if Civilian Tamers with hardly any military training can handle a simple smash and grab from hostile territory without losing anyone.
Honestly, I wanted Dale's firepower on this team, but he refused to operate at night. A few other flying types weren't confident about their abilities yet to risk screwing up in a mission. So that left you all for me to work with.
Since you folks were civilians till a few days ago. I would have waited for a couple more days to get you all to know the layout of the city, the V.I.P., the types of monsters you will encounter, run some mock battles, or get some shut-eye before sending you on a mission.
All you get from me today is three hours of prep time and three words, Suck-It-Up!
Not every mission or battle will give you the time to plan, study or even rest properly before being called into action.
To make you understand what that means is by making you listen to a recent experience that taught me that lesson the hard way.
I had retired from active duty and settled down somewhere quiet in the countryside with my new wife. However, I still listened to the news and started playing around with the monster app out of curiosity when it appeared. I managed to get my monster, Sobek, to hatch five days before the apocalypse began.
I heard from my Monster App about all the cities being attacked by monsters and a worldwide communication blackout.
I thought it was some twisted Hollywood movie promotion and just ignored it.
I spent Day One A.F.P in ignorant bliss while ticking off all the requirements to evolve my Sobek. Then, when he turned into his second form, I was ecstatic and showed my wife my combat style and all the things I could do.
My wife Helena was surprised, but she quickly adapted then told me to pack away my new toy and sleep, but I couldn't do that. So I charged out into the woods that night to practice my new monster skills on some wild cougars when I heard the first screams.
Even though the ranch was far from the cities, giant flying Ice bugs swarmed the skies above like locusts that tore through everything below that moved or had a heartbeat.
Those damn Ice-bugs destroyed my ranch, the animals I raised and took my wife all in twenty minutes. I still remember tearing bugs apart as I tried to find her remains.
I was the only survivor because I played around in the woods and escaped a surprise attack while everyone was deep asleep. Lucky me, right?
All that training for war and the ability to kill anything was useless because I wasn't around to use it all on those monsters when I still had something to protect.
All I could do was mindlessly kill the monsters that came at me for almost the entire second day of A.F.P. Finally, the military came out to search for survivors when the hostiles disappeared, and all they found was me going insane with grief.
They drugged me so that I could be transported to one of their bunkers, where their boys patched me up and sent me over to their scientists to see if fusing with my monster changed my human body.
Thankfully nothing biologically changed inside me, so they didn't do further lab tests. However, when I recovered my senses, the General in that bunker there told me that he needed my strength for a critical mission.
That mission involved me leading Tamers into battles they were not ready for and bringing them home alive.
I was the first Tamer to be inducted or reinducted into the U.S military because I killed enough bugs to cover the entire ranch with their corpses on my own. But, sadly, no one took a video of me doing that and showed the whole world what I was capable of, like our friend Zao here.
Now you all know the pain I have endured in the past week but do you see me crying my heart out for what I lost?
That is called Sucking-It-Up!
Now let's get on to business! Pull out the files stored under your flight seats. Everything you need to know about the bunker in Saint Petersbourg where our V.I.P is located is mentioned, along with our entry point and extraction details.
We have three hours before this Bird will touch down in the snow-covered forests outside the city. But, before that, everyone in this fight deck will be paired up and assigned to handle different tasks to complete the mission.
We cannot predict the enemy monster's abilities or their numbers. However, we can neutralize everything we see on our way to the points on the maps in your files.
I know that doesn't sound like a quiet night raid, but we have a couple of Tamers suited for silent attacks or have skills that don't attract too much attention.
As you all know, Russia is infested by Metal Bird monsters of all sizes and shapes that you can imagine. But, lucky for us, we have a Tamer here whose skills can brainwash those Bird monsters and make them his minions.
Now I will not take the trouble of introducing or explaining the skills. Everything you need to know about each other's info is in those files.
It was a pain in the ass for me to gather those details from you all when I arrived at Seward since some of you wanted to hide it for some stupid reason or the other. Study those files, and it might help you return home alive!'"
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Tamer: Ethan Jason A.K.A The Real Killer Croc
Summoning Monster: Reincarnation of Sobek (Sobek)
Type: Body, Mountain, Strength, Reptile, Metal
Mastery: Unarmed Combat
Combat Style: Monster-User Fusion
Skills: Primal Instincts (Beginner), Berserker Madness (Expert), Primordial Roar (Intermediate), Sobek's Armor (Intermediate)
Skill Features:
Primal Instincts - Monster can process the world in the most efficient manner possible to find the most practical solutions to all kinds of problems that it faces. It can use its jaws, claws, and tail to fight logically or illogically.
Berserker Madness - The Monster will lose its sanity, but its strength will triple in exchange. It can be activated at any time, but deactivation will require it to be exhausted or knocked out.
Primordial Roar - The monster unleashes a quaking roar that strikes unnatural fear into the enemy. Leaving them unable to find the courage to battle for one minute. This skill will not work on life forms that are deaf or soundproof.
Sobek's Armor - The scales on the monster's body become Indestructible Gold for five seconds at the cost of movement.
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Tamer: Braian G. Moreiras
Summoning Monster: Blackmoon Raven (Selene)
Type: Mind, Moon, Mana, Bird, Ice
Mastery: Extra Skill Slot
Combat Style: Monster-User Fusion
Skills: Moon Rock Aura (Beginner), Razor Ice Feathers (Beginner), Icy Mist (Beginner), Lunar Charge (Beginner) Darkness Manipulation (Beginner)
Skill Features:
Moon Rock Aura - The Monster is cloaked by the Moon's aura, which allows it to withstand and recover quickly from physical attacks. This skill can only be activated at night and needs Mana to sustain it.
Razor Ice Feathers - The monster can throw a dozen sharp Ice kunai-like feathers at the opponent from a range of five meters. It can be used twice in succession before the skill enters cool down for fifteen seconds. This ability requires Mana to activate.
Icy Mist - The monster can summon an icy mist to blanket ten meters around its body. All those who enter the fog will not see anything further than a meter and will suffer from a steady drop in body temperature.
Lunar Charge - The monster can absorb the Lunar energy and convert it to Mana by using the magical Lunar Tattoo and Runic symbols on its body. The stored energy can activate any skill that requires Mana.
Darkness Manipulation - The monster can create or wield weaponry with the power to solidify darkness. Mana is needed to activate this skill.
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Tamer: Angel
Summoning Monster: Winged Bird Drone Carrier (Air force one / A.F.O)
Type: Mind, Sky, Intelligence, Bird, Metal.
Mastery: Extra Skill Slot
Combat Style: Equipment Transformation
Skills: Bird Brainwash (Beginner), Drone Commander (Beginner), Surveillance Drones (Beginner), Basic Hangar Dimension (Beginner) Intelligence Network (Beginner)
Skill Features:
Basic Bird Brainwash - The monster can subjugate the mind of a Non-Tamer Bird species monster with less intelligence than it and turn it permanently into a minion. Only a maximum of ten Bird minions can be controlled.
Drone Commander - The monster issues orders to any number of Bird Minions under its control to attack or defend a target. The skill is equivalent to a hive mind.
Surveillance Drones - Bird Minions can share their sensory information with the Tamer Monster.
Basic Hangar Dimension - Bird Minion monsters will be transported to a separate dimension when they are not needed. The skill can be used to summon and un-summon ten bird minions.
Intelligence Network - All Bird minion intelligence will be added to the Tamer monster and vice versa. The more extensive the network, the greater their collective intelligence.
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Tamer: Jia Li Wang
Summoning Monster: Poison Vampire Bat (Bianfu)
Type: Body, Sky, Vitality, Beast, Poison
Mastery: Ranged Attacks
Combat Style: Monster-User Fusion
Skills: Blood Bow & Arrow Manipulation (Beginner), Blood Transfusion (Beginner), Regenerative Healing Factor (Beginner), Blood Sucker (Beginner)
Skill Features:
Blood Bow & Arrow Manipulation - The monster draws upon the Blood pool within its body to create solid bows and arrows. Opponents hit by the blood arrows will be infected with Blood Poisoning that damages their internal organs and causes delirium over time if left untreated. This skill can only be activated if there is a sufficient blood pool in the monster.
Blood Transfusion - The monster can inject regenerative Blood into others by biting their necks. For 10 minutes after receiving the bite, wounds will be healed, and lost limbs will regrow. There is no risk of blood poisoning for the receiver with this skill. This skill can only be activated if there is a sufficient blood pool in the monster.
Regenerative Healing Factor - The monster's Blood is heavily enriched with regenerative properties, which will heal wounds and regrow limbs. This skill will be deactivated when the blood pool is lower than ten percent, or the heart stops beating for any reason.
Blood Sucker - The monster can restore its internal blood pool by extracting Blood from victims through a direct bite to an artery. There is no risk of blood poisoning for the victim with this skill.
