First mission debrief

Mark and Emerald moved back towards the garage where Julian would most likely be. Mark informed her that everything went okay with the delivery as she said she had some other task in the Transportation Department.

It didn't take them long to reach it, and at the entrance, there was Julian, talking with Jack, Max, and Claire. Jack was the first to notice Mark and moved his gaze toward him, which made the others do so.

"Just in time, both of you," Jack said.

"Hmmm? Don't tell me there is finally a mission you want me to be part of, "Mark said with evident excitement at his office.

He didn't know precisely how the missions of the Combat Department went, but he knew that they often had either to do about possible Transcendent candidates or tech they could use.

"Yep. A-Rank nonetheless. That will be an interesting first mission, but don't worry, you won't be alone. As usual, a four-man team will be sent. Agent Diamond and Sam will be with you, as also another one I hear you have some history with. "

Mark didn't find it weird for Sam to be assigned to his team, as she was one of the best members of the Department. He was curious, though, why they assigned 'Agent Diamond' on this mission as, from what he had heard, it was random when she was 'around. 'As for the fourth member, he had a good idea about who they may be.

"So what is it we going to do? "

"Well, you two need to follow me for that. Will debrief you both back at our place. We have nothing else to discuss, do we? "Jack said, with the last part being referred to the other representatives of the other Departments.

Everyone shook their head to show that they had nothing more to discuss, but someone else had a question.

"Why didn't you call me here, then? "Emerald asked with evident confusion.

After all, she wasn't part of the Combat Department, but Diamond was, and the two didn't know the existence of each other.

"Oh… well, as you know, Agent Diamond is… 'a wild card.' We need you to be around Mark and the rest until she appears… Miss Claire has agreed to let us borrow you for the time being, and we, of course, are going to compensate you as usual, "Jack explained, giving a clear response that he had prepared beforehand.

Emerald nodded in approval and followed Jack. She had a very polite personality and was happy to help, but they did not use her for the wrong reasons.

That was another difference between her and Ruby, who was more than happy to not do anything about anyone else and just work on what fancied her. If someone wanted Ruby's help, they needed to pay the price, which most time involved money or helping her on doing tasks given to her she considered beneath her.

They reached a room, which Mark knew was used for mission debriefing. Mark saw Sam and the fourth member of their team.

"You are late, "Rubes said as he stared at Mark.

"Well, I just returned from my actual task of the day and wasn't sitting on my ass all day, "Mark responded, as he didn't plan to be that friendly anymore with Rubes.

He had tried to speak with him and make amends, but Rubes was clearly avoiding him. So, in the end, Mark had no reason to use kid gloves on him, even if he considered Rubes not to be that bad of a person.

"As far as I am aware, though, driving is all about sitting on your ass, "Rubes said, demonstrating that he would not stop being on unfriendly terms with Mark soon.

"Ladies, ladies… how about you put your nails down, and we keep moving with the debrief? I have others things to do, "Sam said.

Rubes turned his head to see Jack, who seemed to not enjoy seeing that Rubes and Mark weren't on good terms.

"Well, I can't share with you much as we know little, either. Our scouts have detected something of interest at a hotel facility just west of Odonta City. We aren't sure about the source or the nature of what we are looking for other than being not of this world and would be in use for us or danger if dropped in the hands of others. We will send the four of you as two teams of two, but you need to cooperate with each other and work together. It isn't a competition. You will receive more details on your personal tablets on the day of the mission tomorrow. Questions?"

Mark was ready to make some, but Emerald took the chance to ask first.

"How long will this take? Also, who am I paired with? "

Those two were things that curious wanted to ask too, so he waited for their answers before asking his questions.

"There is no specific timeline other than if a month passes and you have nothing, you will be ordered to return, most likely, unless we have found any additional details. But if you identify the source and acquire it or destroy it, that would be the end of your mission. But keep in mind destroying it is the last option, and you should ask permission to do so unless your lives are in danger. As for your partner, you going to be assigned to Mark. Even if he isn't as experienced as the rest about how things work, he is the best to be around to keep you safe."

Mark and Emerald were the only ones who kept asking questions, as Rubes and Sam seemed to be familiar with how things worked already.

He learned little, and all he could do now was wait for tomorrow morning when they would drive there. He and Emerald/Agent Diamond would go there separately from Rubes and Sam, who actually would get there a few days later than them. His team needed to do some preparations before being joined by the second team, but nothing too bothersome, especially with Mark's abilities.

Since he met Sam and he had already finished his tasks of the day, he asked her if she was interested in another training session. Even if he didn't earn any EXPS for winning their battles, his Skills were leveling up, especially his <Martial Art> Skill.

Since he had fought with her so many times, sometimes even twice a day, her defense had increased tremendously. Mark needed to use a force of similar power to what he used during his first training test to make her fall unconscious, like in their first rematch.

But even if his control over Trucki had also significantly increased, especially after <Martial Art> reached level 75, he couldn't pull off hits of that power fast enough. Or at least he couldn't in one attack but could split it into multiple hits, which combined could have the same force power.

Splitting an attack like that and combining its power needed almost perfect control and balance of his body and speed, which he still hadn't mastered. He could pull off this combination but had to do it multiple times before succeeding.

He was at the point that one out of twenty of his attempts to pull off this combo was successful. Of course, that didn't mean that if he failed in the combo's timing, it still would deal with some damage on others, but he reached a point where nothing else worked on Sam.

From his understanding, Sam's talent wasn't increasing her defense but helping her build resistance to harmful effects. So, for example, even if he kept using punches that could even break bricks, that didn't mean that hitting her with a hammer with an equal force wouldn't affect her. But their effects would also lessen if someone else tried to punch her.

Somehow her Talent/Skill differentiated the sources that were to cause her damage and helped her build resistance to their effects. But there were some limitations to its effects as far as Mark could tell.

First, to raise said resistance, she had to face head on this source, letting her body be affected by it and absolve it. Also, things like Trucki she couldn't build resistance against, most likely because it wasn't something ordinary people could use.

Mark used his Trucki typically to amplify the force of his normal attack, which in the end seemed to Sam's ability at least to be the same as his punch power. But Mark started using Trucki in other ways, which helped him get stronger and affected Sam.

He usually surrounded his fist with Trucki and released it outward on the point of impact to put further pressure on where the impact happened. But once 'pushing 'his Trucki outwards, he had no further control over it, or so he thought at first.

During his fights with Sam, he noticed that even after releasing his Trucki, he didn't lose control over it as instantaneous as he thought. He noticed that after getting his <Martial Art> at level 75, reaching his Master State.

It wasn't part of the knowledge that came with the Skill. No further knowledge came with Master State, as they left it to him to discover how everything worked.

He could still manipulate his Trucki for a couple of seconds after it stopped being in touch with him. He could increase that time by getting in physical contact with it or send more Trucki to power it, similar to how he did with his energy into machines he had hacked and left 'commands' on.

With that new knowledge, he tried different approaches to using his Trucki and made a breakthrough. If he released his Trucki forward while still keeping it at least in the rough shape of his fist, he could do similar damage as before, but in a lower amount since he hadn't mastered it.

But this attack didn't count as involving his punching power, as it only used it to propel itself forward, so it was a different type of attack. Until now, Sam had shown no signs of adjusting to it, as the damage kept increasing instead, as Mark was becoming more familiar with how to use it.

It was a costly attack on SP, and he could use it currently less than a dozen times without rest. But, of course, that number would be even lower during combat since he needed to spend his SP on other things, too.

As Mark and Sam reached the spot where they usually had their spars, there was another person there, clear that they had waited for them, even if not that long since they last met each other.

"How about we spar with each other? I am interested to see what tricks you have on your sleeves," Rubes said as he took a defensive stance.

Mark turned towards Sam, who nodded at him like she read his mind and gave her an answer before he could ask.

Next, Mark took a deep breath as he charged toward Rubes. He looked forward to this round two for some time in the end.