"Holy crap, what is this?!" Roke shouted
in surprise. He was practicing in the training room, gearing up for his first
mission.
See, they had received the news of their first
assignment yesterday, and Roke was so hyped he couldn't even sleep, even though
they didn't actually know what the mission was yet.
He had just discovered in the training room that
his power wasn't just about glowing, he could actually channel that energy into
his hands.
So, he tried it for the tenth time. He visualized
an explosive light, and his body acted as a shield, just as it had before,
sending every object around him flying.
He tried again, thinking of the explosive light,
only this time he channeled the force into his hands. The light surged,
concentrated and ready.
Still, he had no target to hit. That was all he
wanted right now, to really test this power, or something like it. Deciding it
was finally time to get some sleep, Roke opened his Menu just to take a quick
look.
Skill Acquired
Explosive Light | Level 2
Power Unlocked
???
CEF: 0000
"Whoa, I reached level two," he said
aloud, still standing in the room.
Right then, he understood the key: to level up, he
needed to unlock the secrets of how his abilities functioned.
With that in mind, he headed back to his guest
room, a grin on his face.
He was exhausted now.
But just as he lay down to finally get some sleep.
"Hey, man, wake up!" Sevin was pounding
on the door.
He slowly dragged himself out of bed and went to
open the door.
"What now, man?" he asked, looking
half-asleep.
"Time for the mission!" Sevin said,
beyond pumped.
Still half-asleep since he hadn't actually closed
his eyes yet, he grabbed his bag from the floor and headed out.
He left the room behind.
As they descended the stairs, geared up and ready
to go, they spotted Acedia. He was standing there as if he'd been expecting
them.
"Good luck on your first missions…" he
said, letting out a yawn.
They made a beeline for the tower.
Upon reaching it, they headed for the elevators.
They stepped into one, and Sevin reached out to hit the button for the 70th
floor.
They talked for a bit about the nerves of their
first missions as part of the Hunter's Light guild.
Finally, the elevator reached the 70th floor.
They stepped out and turned right, heading up a
short flight of stairs.
They stepped into the boss's office, where he
stood waiting with a paper in hand.
"Put your signatures here."
Once they finished signing, the boss gave them a
quick rundown of their mission. He told them it was a Rank E mission and that
their first task would be a total piece of cake.
"The diggers need a hand finding some
gemstones," he said, passing a GPS-like device to Mary.
"Just follow this and you won't get
lost," he said with a half-smile on his face.
"Go on then, give them a hand. Don't let me
down," he finished.
They left the office, headed down the elevator,
and walked out of the tower.
Following the device the boss had given them, they
made their way toward the cave.
When they arrived, they immediately saw the
diggers waiting for them, looking as if they were scared out of their wits.
"Take this shovel," a jacked, muscular
guy said, tossing the tool toward them.
"Help us out, but stay out of our way,"
another digger added.
They got to work immediately. While Sevin and Mary
were already panting and covered in sweat, Roke still looked fresh.
He tossed his shovel aside and turned to Sevin,
who was right next to him.
"Watch this. I'm gonna test something
out," he said, smiling.
He visualized his explosive light and squeezed his
fists tight, channeling the white flow directly into his hands.
Once he was finished…
"Whoa, your hands are actually glowing!"
Sevin said, caught off guard.
Mary, being further in, couldn't see what was
going on at all.
Roke was about to start punching, hoping to wrap
things up quickly, but the moment he touched the rock, everything exploded.
"Hey, brat! What the hell did you just do?
You lost your mind?!"they yelled, looking absolutely terrified.
When they looked ahead, they saw that their path
was completely blocked.
"Now punch that thing so we can get out of
here!" one of the diggers screamed from a distance.
But just as Roke was about to throw another punch
to clear the way, a giant spider loomed out of nowhere.
The shock sent him leaping backward, and he landed
hard on his butt.
"Wait up!" Mary cried out, running to
catch up with them.
"Whoa... I thought this was a Rank E
mission," she said, her voice full of surprise.
Hearing her, one of the diggers pointed at Roke.
"It was this kid right here who got us into this mess!"
This spider was no joke; it pinned all the diggers
to the wall at once with a burst of webbing.
But that wasn't all it could do.
It was lightning fast, way faster than anything
they'd expected.
Still, dodging wasn't impossible just yet.
The spider targeted Sevin while he
was distracted and attacked, but Roke was even quicker. The white flow appeared
instantly as he lunged forward, light already gathered and ready in his hands.