Chapter 39 - XFE Takeover

Damn, these things are pretty nimble! I sprang away as one shot towards me, firing a couple of shots at it as I did. The second wave of Mutants had been six Doggos, which we dealt with a lot more smoothly than the first wave. I got two kills in that round, so I'd say I'm doing pretty well so far. The third round was currently in progress, and it was going...not so smoothly.

The type of Mutant species for the third round were called Spikys, which were monster lizard-looking things. They were each about two meters in length, had tough dark brown scales and spikes all over their backs, long claws on their fingers and a sharp, whip-like tail. They were a lot more agile than the previous two types we'd fought, and Asshole failed to hold them all back, which meant that our formation was immediately thrown out of whack.

I wasn't too concerned though...these things may be fast, but I can kill them no problem. My output at sixty percent had dealt some decent damage but not enough, these things had pretty tough skin and hides, so I turned it up to the maximum, meaning that each shot would consume two point five percent of my XFE. Which was totally worth it, since a well-aimed shot resulted in instant death.

The one that was currently chasing me had a deep wound in its chest from one on my sixty percent shots, and the shot I just fired was aimed at its head, but it had really sharp vision and darted its head off to the side, but my shot still managed to blast its right eye off, along with a chunk of the right side of its neck and shoulder...it wasn't bleeding much, looks like their wounds stiffen up to slow down blood loss. It stumbled back with a hiss, a cautious look in its eye.

I swiftly took out my X-Blade handles and ran my XFE through them, forming the blades and dashing towards the Spiky. The Mutant shrunk back and swung its claws at me defensively, I evaded and slashed off its left arm with my right blade, before getting in close and slicing off its head with my left blade.

Asshole and Alex had each killed one too, and Katie was currently about to kill her second one, she had caught it between the jaws of her Primary Manifestation and was repeatedly chomping down on it, blood dripping down onto the floor, and...she just hit it with her lightning attack, it's dead as fuck. Alex was firing his arrows down at the last remaining one, which was evading but not completely, and had taken a fair bit of damage so far.

He eventually killed it, hitting a couple of vital spots. Given the speed at which he fired those arrows, it was actually pretty impressive that the Mutant had been able to dodge for as long as it did, those things sure were nimble on their feet. Looks like we get a five minute break this time. Two more rounds to go. Alex signaled for us to gather again. Not surprising, since we couldn't even maintain our formation in that last round.

"What do you guys think, should we shuffle up our formation?" He inquired, looking around at us.

No one seemed sure about how to answer, which wasn't surprising considering the fact that we were all each currently in the positions that suited us best.

"I think we should just keep it as is, while preparing ourselves to react to things not going according to plan," I suggested, sort of stating the obvious.

But since no one had a better suggestion, we just went with that. I got back in position as we waited for the countdown to run out. Wonder what Mutant species we'll be fighting next...I was seconds away from finding out. Three...two...one!

I readied myself as the timer reached zero and the next wave of Mutants got teleported in...a group of six Birdflyn'ts...a Birdflyn't is basically a monster ostrich Mutant, they grew up to about three meters tall and were extremely vicious. They fought using kicks and bites, they had sharp fangs and a long, sharp claw on each foot.

All six surrounded and jumped towards Asshole, who stumbled back as he swung his sword about in a panic. I reluctantly fired a shot at one that was about to bite a chunk off his shoulder, striking it through the neck and killing it, while Alex managed to get three of them to back away with a barrage of arrows, while Katie drew the attention of one of them towards her by zapping it with lightning.

That still left two of them, Asshole was still swinging his sword about wildly while clutching his shield close to his body...he had decent skills at his disposal, but only used them properly when he was calm...catch him off-guard, even a little, and this happens...it'd be hilarious if he wasn't a part of the same team as I was.

The two Birdflyn'ts that he was fighting were keeping their heads low and making sure that he was in the way of my aim...they're using him as a meat-shield. How tragic, I won't be able to help poor widdle Tairo like this...oh, well, what can you do...

I shifted my focus to the three that Alex was keeping away from Asshole. Only one of them was injured, it looks like the other two were making it take the brunt of Alex's attacks while they hung back with their heads low. Good, they aren't paying any attention to me. I pointed both my arms at the two that were hanging back, took aim and fired out of both my X-Blasters at the same time.

I successfully landed the double headshot, killing them both, before Alex focused his arrows entirely on the remaining one and killed it with a rapid barrage. Katie had fried the one she was fighting too, so that just left the two that-...before I could finish that though, Asshole let out a delightfully agonizing scream of pain, as he failed to get his shield in the way of one the Birdflyn't's kicks, the claw leaving a shallow gash on the right side of his chest.

The two Mutants had been keeping close to him, which prevented Alex from attacking since he might accidentally hit Asshole, and Katie would have trouble helping without him getting caught up in her attack too. And they made sure to position themselves in a way that kept Asshole in the line of my fire...but that last attack caused him to stumble and fall back, giving me an opening.

These things are pretty clever, the moment he fell, they began to lower themselves even further, but unfortunately for them...I had already fired my shots, blasting off their heads before they could hide behind him or evade. Oh, looks like one of my shots trimmed the top of Asshole's hair a bit, nice.

Four rounds complete, one more to go. And it was a ten minute break this time. Alex looked like he was about to signal another discussion, but then seemed to change his mind. If I had to guess, he decided against it because he had no idea what to actually discuss, just like during the previous break.

Well, it's not like I had anything of value to add either, so I can't exactly criticize that. On the bright side, I was pretty pleased at how little XFE I had expended so far, once this current ten-minute break is over, I'll have a little over eighty-five percent of my total XFE intact.

So far, each round had been increasingly difficult, Birdflyn'ts are among the strongest species of Q-Ranked Mutants, and it was more than likely that this final round would be even more challenging. I should prepare to use my Square Blaster, just in case...

Ten minutes passed by in the blink of an eye, the countdown nearing zero. Even though they were several meters ahead of me, I could see that the others were pretty nervous, especially Asshole...I'd noticed that he'd been slowly taking a step back every so often during this break, and was currently about two to three meters behind where he'd started at. Katie and Alex had noticed that too, because they'd adjusted their positions to his everytime he stepped back, but neither had said anything.

Alright, the countdown is almost done...three...two...one! Now, then, let's see which type of Mutant we were going to-...huh? No way...you have got to be kidding me. Seriously!? It was a Two-Headed Serpent, and while it wasn't a fully grown one, it was still about twelve meters long, towering over us, as Alex hurriedly flew up as high as the Duel Field would let him. I swiftly fired a couple of shots at its heads, but my shots didn't fully pierce through, one hitting its mark and the other missing slightly and taking out the left head's right eye.

These shots did a significantly greater amount of damage than my old X-Blasters did during the last exam, the first shot leaving a deep wound in the middle of the right head but not enough to kill it...I'd probably kill it if I hit that same spot again, but now that it's remaining three eyes were keeping me in their peripheral, it wasn't going to be easy to hit the exact spots I aim at.

Well, Asshole's X-Abilities are pretty useless against a Mutant of this size and durability, and even if they weren't, he was frozen in fear and unable to move, as it opened its mouths with a hiss, venom dripping off its fangs. Looks like the other two haven't snapped out of it yet either. Do I really have to do this again...?

"Hey, snap out of it! Asshole, get back, and you two, attack it with your arrows and lightning!" I yelled out, as I shot towards the Mutant.

I'll have to use my Square Blaster, but since I hadn't tested it out yet at all, I'll need to fire it from mid-range to avoid the others getting caught up in the blast. Katie blasted it with lightning while Alex fired arrows down at it. The lightning did some damage, but the arrows weren't doing much, the Serpent's scales were deflecting most of them, and at best, a few of them were leaving shallow wounds that didn't even seem to phase the Mutant.

Katie had backed away after firing and was hanging back defensively...looks like she can't fire that lightning in quick succession, or maybe it takes a significant amount of XFE and she didn't want to waste it, instead waiting for an opening that'd guarantee significant damage. The Serpent looked like it was being cautious, shifting its attention to us one by one, though it was keeping me in sight with at least one of its eyes at all times.

And then, it suddenly sprung into action, opening both its mouths with a fierce hiss. The left one was aimed at me and the other was aimed at asshole, and in the next split second, blasts of venom burst out of its mouths, I sprang away to evade the venom spewed at me, the right shoulder of my jacket melting off with a sizzle as a bit of the venom splashed onto it.

As for Asshole...he'd been teleported out, failing to evade the venom. Katie looked like she was gearing up to fire her lightning straight into one of its open mouths, when it suddenly crouched low and leapt up like a coiled spring, shooting straight up to Alex like an arrow...hold on, these things can jump!? I didn't see that coming, and from the look of it, neither did Alex...the Serpent snapped its fangs at him, the Duel Field teleporting him out before he could even react.

It then twisted itself in mid-air rapidly, slamming its tail down onto the ground as it landed, sending out a powerful shockwave that sent Katie and I flying back and crashing onto the wall of the barrier, I formed my own barrier at the last second to bounce off the wall and avoid getting hurt, but Katie got the wind knocked out of her, letting out a sharp gasp, though it didn't look like she had broken anything.

The Two-Headed Serpent was rapidly slithering towards us, it's mouths wide open. Now's my chance! I took out my Square Blaster, setting the output to maximum and activating it, as it expanded out into Active Mode, the scope in my right lens activating. The Serpent's right head had both eyes intact, so I'll take it out first...I'm not sure where a snake's heart is, so I won't risk trying to take both of them out only to fail. As I got it's head in my sights, the scope locked onto it...well, not that I need it, but that sure is convenient. Now, then, aim and...fire!

As I pulled the trigger, my eyes widened as it fired...several rapid streaks of my Dark Attribute XFE burst out of the nozzle, like hundreds upon hundreds of tiny missiles, all converging onto the target...and hitting it with a loud bang.

I see, instead of a single, straight beam, it split the XFE into several hundreds of streaks, which spread out when initially fired before all converging onto the target, which not only makes it harder to evade, but it also limits and minimizes any potential collateral damage...and now I see why the scope activated, even if I'd missed, the countless streaks would have converged onto the same point since it locked onto the target before I fired.

As the smoke cleared, I could see that the right head was completely blown off, along with some of the body below it, and the left head had taken some damage on the right half of its face too. Alright now for the left-...and there's a timer on the gauge display, counting down from five minutes...a cooldown time, seriously? Though with such a powerful blast, I guess it couldn't be helped...still, I'd have been nice if Ruby had told me ahead of time.

"Wow, that was impressive...but now what?" Inquired Katie, as the Serpent warily slithered towards us, its one remaining eye locked onto me.

"Can you move you dragon-head-tail thingy up towards its head and then blast it with lightning straight down the throat of the head I blew off?"

"Yes, but...I don't know if that will be enough to kill it, and I won't be able to fire again for a little bit."

If only I could blast a ton of my Dark Attribute XFE down it's throat, that should kill it in no time given its weakened state, but my Square Blaster is on cooldown, my X-Blasters don't have the firepower to do enough damage, and the smoke bombs are still off the table since Katie was here-...wait, I can use that...

"Okay, there's something we can use, but there's no time to explain...sorry about this!" I exclaimed, before stretching out my index and middle fingers on my right hand, pressing them onto her back, right between her shoulder blades and below the base of her neck, running my XFE through that spot...

This is what I'd tried out with my sister, and it was effectively an undiscovered technique, which was why I didn't want to reveal it unless necessary. Let me explain, when a Prodigy activates their Manifestations, regardless of the type, the initial point of activation is in the upper back, the spot where I just poked Katie.

Well, at least I think so, this was something that I had discovered myself, no one had given any real thought to or studied how a Prodigy activates their Manifestations, so this little detail was overlooked. I got the idea when my sister overwrote the XFE I had charged into my X-Blade with her own...so I tried running my XFE through that point in her back...and when I did...

When I did, I took over her X-Abilities. Specifically, her red armor changed to black, and I could control her movements completely. The main drawback was that it drains my XFE at a rapid rate, and my control cannot exceed a radius of twenty meters. But, right now, I don't need to use it for long, and the limit of my range doesn't apply at all...because the Serpent was within twenty meters of us.

"Wha-...," Gasped Katie, as her Manifestation turned black and was no longer in her control...her body was also in my control, so she couldn't move.

I drew back my hand slowly, focusing on maintaining the stability of my control...I didn't have to keep my fingers pressed onto her back, I could cede physical contact so long as I kept a steady, consistent stream of XFE, like a thread, connected between my fingertips and her upper back. The instant I establish control, I instinctively know how to use the Prodigy's X-Abilities, though I immediately forget after I release them from my control.

Crap, her Primary Manifestation is taking a lot of XFE, better make this quick...I focused my control, and made her Manifestation shoot up towards the Serpent, snapping it's jaws at the remaining head, the Mutant shrank back slightly, but wasn't retreating, hissing threateningly. Now, then...

"<Secondary Manifestation: Dragon Lightning>," I remarked, wincing a bit as a chunk of my XFE got eaten up in an instant and a wave a slight dizziness hit me.

The dragon head opened its mouth wide, black lightning forming in its jaws, before blasting into the stump where the other Serpent head had been. The remaining head let out a loud hiss, as it's body began spasming violently and dropped onto the ground with a thud, blood pouring out of its mouth.

Damn, I can't believe how much XFE that took...when I take over someone like that, I bear half the XFE cost that it usually takes for them to use their Manifestations, which is why I can't use this technique for too long or it'll completely drain me.

When I fired her Secondary Manifestation, it was in the form of black lightning, essentially her lightning attack combined with my Dark Attribute...in other words, while I'm controlling someone, the XFE consumption of their Manifestations is evenly split between myself and the person I'm controlling.

"What...was that?" Groaned Katie, her eyes glossing over a bit and her face pale.

Oh, and as a side effect, since I do have the Dark Attribute, the person I control gets a bit...poisoned. Since I only controlled her for a few seconds, it shouldn't be too bad, but she probably wasn't feeling great nonetheless. My sister had been struggling not to throw up after I controlled her for about a minute, which drained over seventy percent of my XFE.

"Sorry I had to do that without warning you...I just took control of your XFE flow from its point of origin...and uh...you probably have some minor Dark Attribute poisoning, my bad."

Huh, her expression hadn't changed much, a hint of surprise on her face...I guess she was so shocked by the fact that I took control of her body and XFE that she overlooked the poisoning part. Well, at least it's finally over, though I have to say...the teamwork exam sure does have a habit of keeping me on my toes.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.