Shield Bros

Jacob slowly opened his eyes, seeing the ceiling of the new quarters City I gave after the mission.

The team immediately rested once they arrived ready to deal with the next day with a full energy bar.

He sat upright in his bed, seeing the small room he was sleeping in. His teammates all slept in their own beds, in different positions.

But Clara was not with them, having left to deal with and bring her reports to the other researchers.

'Well, that was fun' Jacob sighed, from surviving an attack on his home to taking the fight to the enemy, only leaving him with the want to fight more.

'Maybe that system glitch will give more tasks of fighting them. I hope it does.'

—--

After a while, the metal door of the room opened, and Clara went inside. Her clothes looked new, and her wounds were fully healed. She held her phone, still typing on it as if talking to someone at that moment.

"Resting time is over, we found more information from the tablets, and wish to speak to all of you," Clara explained.

Heeding her order, everyone began getting up, everyone except Ella.

She gripped onto her pillow tightly, not letting it go.

"Wake up, Ella." Zeph poked her face the the butt of his sword, trying to wake up his sleeping comrade. But she didn't respond, only hugging the pillow tighter than before.

"Ella, wake up" Jacob pleaded, but Ella simply groaned. He could sympathize with her, simply wishing to spend a whole day just cuddling a pillow, but now was not the time.

In a bid to try waking her up, Jacob touched the pillow.

Before he could even blink, Clara sat upright and smacked Jacob as hard as she could with a hastily activated shield. Everyone was shocked by her speed and the sudden action, stepping back from them.

Even though she was asleep just a moment ago, she was strong enough to slam a shield into Jacob's head. He stumbled back with Rin rushing to see if he had any injuries.

But the attempt worked as Clara was wide awake, wiping her eyes and slowly realizing what she just did.

"Oh crap, i'm sorry!" She immediately jumped out of bed checking on Jacob's head.

"No, it's alright." Jacob muttered.

"I will wait for all of you outside," Unamused by what just happened, Clara hastily left the room.

"I'm so so sorry," Ella repeated over and over, guilty for what she just did.

"At least we know that City P defenders are still extremely protective," Jacob let out a dry chuckle, trying to cheer up the team.

"Question is who they are more protective over," Zeph added, crossing his arms.

After a few minutes, everyone prepared themselves for what Clara needed. With Ella looking down, still riddled with guilt.

—---

Outside, Clara ordered them to follow her through the hall.

Along the way, Jacob walked closer to Clara.

"Thanks by the way for the bed," He spoke.

"Just a simple request, and the least we can do for a glitch." She replied. She snapped her hands, gesturing to Jacob to do the same.

The screen appeared in front of them, showing a full energy bar along with his other stats. With it, the glitch appeared again.

[Enjoying the new ability? Also good morning fair lady!]

'This thing really doesn't stop with the whole flirting thing huh?'

"You provided him with a unique unregistered ability, something no other city has. How did you get it?" Clara asked, staring at the screen with a curious expression.

[Let us just say that, I have certain powers that exceed the dumb system limits that cities are stuck to. Same goes for the few other glitches that were found in those cities.] The text read, Clara typed away on her phone before looking up to it again.

"What is the purpose of this soul thirst?" She looked at the bizarre stat on the screen.

[Every good thing needs a curse, like an immortal vampire who needs blood. Or a succubus who needs someone to-]

"I get your point, no need to continue," Clara finished typing on her phone, finished with her questioning. With nothing else to say, they continued their walk in silence.

—-

They walked down countless halls, passing by dozens of researchers who looked at Jacob with deep curiosity before rushing away.

While they walked, Jacob turned to his team behind him, and to his surprise, Ella had been walking with the pillow clutched tightly in her hands.

"Did you carry that thing the entire time!?" Jacob questioned.

"Yeah, a squishy pillow is the second best thing a City P defender can have, only beaten by sweets!" She replied.

"By the way, sorry again for earlier, to make it fair you can bash my head in with your new shield," Ella added in a calm tone. Jacob was taken aback. She closed her eyes, expecting to be hit

'She's actually serious? Well, as long as it makes her feel less bad,' Jacob activated his shield, but instead of a smack that was equal to what she did earlier, he lightly smacked her on the head with it.

"It wasn't that hard. Why? Are you trying to bully me!?"

"Well you said i can, you didn't say if it needed to be hard," Ella pouted at his response.

"Great, I feel more guilty now," She buried her face in her chest.

Jacob looked at the shield on his hand, examining it closely, still trying to understand how he managed to get the ability from the man.

It felt and acted like a shield of a normal City P defender, but now in the hands of some random farmer who has harvest abilities.

'Does this mean I can get abilities from other cities too? Just like the funny mixed builds I made for my characters in rpg games.' Jacob thought.

Soon, they reached their destination, a door guarded by a few City I soldiers. They could hear the muffled voices of people inside, as if an argument was going on.