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Chapter 09: Chasing Her 2

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After the meeting, Thorn and Loni were the only ones left in the gathering hall.

She was just using her interface to type in a few details on her journal and Thorn was talking to someone else in the comm line.

“I see. Then good luck with your quest. Yes, yes. I will be in touch with you.”

He clicked off the line and faced the table where Loni also shut down her task panel and braced herself for the principal topic why she asked to be left here.

“Loni,”

“Is this about my failure?”

Being interrupted on his sentence, Thorn closed his eyes and sighed. “No.”

There were empty chairs in the room, the table, a round shaped long table with a space in the middle opening towards the back side.

“Failing to do that mission is… perhaps a lucky strike to our cause. If you have been discovered, you would have fallen by his hands.”

“I am not weak!” He retorted lively.

“I know.” But Thorn remained calm, sitting down on his leader’s chair with his back on the dark wall that can become a large screen for a [email protected] call.

“But you are still an asset for this Guild. Even if you can’t be defeated easily, with that attitude of yours, it’s a given fact that you’ll face him head on just to prove your strength. And that’s what I want to point out as a weakness in your strength.”

“I can take him down!”

“No you can’t, Loni. Not before, not now, especially now that he got Cramer’s MOD.”

The mission Thorn referred to was the mission that Loni said about tailing Siva. One reason why she was excluded in the Intervening Team in the War of Two Powers is because she was trying to tail Siva’s location and observing and noting his every move.

It was a necessary if they want to keep him in check. A plan with a big uncertain cog like him would certainly cause big mishap that may arouse failure. Tower of Sol is group, now a guild, that was founded with a specific purpose and function. They are preparing to fight that fulfill that function, that’s why as much as possible, they were trying to gather up powerful allies to join their cause.

Cramer’s defeat, losing Thor’s Hammer (Mjölnir), and even losing a Legendary MOD to the target of his eyes were actually a shameful failure on her side.

But, it was also a trick of its own. The reason why she failed to report sooner is because of the forces that caught her when she was fulfilling her duty. Not only her but the other eyes that also watched Siva was also caught by the people that worked under the Witch of Aarun.

She was lucky to be able to save herself because those people were just second rate B-ranked hunters. But the other people they’ve sent to watch The Destroyer’s movements weren’t as skilled and as lucky as her.

She wasn’t able to report in time because of all the trouble and fighting she had to go through to escape all those men.

“And about that report you sent me with him, being a part of The Union that's affiliated with the Miranda? I should say that that’s also a mistaken information.”

“What?! What do you mean?”

Apparently, even though she failed to report in time that the Miranda and The Destroyer was going towards the location of her Guild, she was at least positive that the information she gathered was of news.

That’s the reason why she was utterly shaken by the words she heard from Thorn.

“From an external information network I used, there is no connection between The Destroyer and the Miranda that intervened in the War of the Two Powers. There was a request from The Union to stop the war using the Miranda as a mediator for the two sides. But due to some unforeseen problems in the Pacific Ocean, most notably attacks from S-Ranked monsters like Lapis in waves, their arrival was delayed and their mission was supposed to have been cancelled and they were ordered to return to their base.”

“No, but… they came! You saw them!”

“Yes, they came. Do you know why?” Loni shook her head in reply. “”Because there was a certain ‘guest’ in the Miranda who defeated S-Ranked Lapis on his own without help.”

“No! Don’t tell me he…”

“That certain guest is The Destroyer.”

Loni dropped off to her chair as she clenched her fists under the table. She just stared down to her lap as her whole body trembled from restraining her anger from exploding out.

“He’s…”

“He’s that strong, Loni. You saw the video of how he defeated Cramer. With the Killing Zone and that ability to summon Lightning, plus the ability to vanish and throw a counter at high speed attacks from all direction, he is a becoming a force that can rival a whole guild.”

Loni remained shaking on her chair and staring down, biting her lips to the point that it almost bled, with her hands sweating underneath her clenched fists.

“Why? Why is he that strong?”

“Apparently, despite his strength, and mostly the way he had displayed it, one thing we’re sure is that we are still positive that he has a different agenda than the rest of the normal players.”

“And Rogue?” she asked and him.

This question was based on the last scene before the destruction of the Fortress of Mooran.

In that video, The Destroyer and Rogue (as identified by Commander Elsass), were obviously not friendly with each other.

Rouge was obviously the villain that orchestrated the war and when it seemed that his plan was about to fail, he personally sought the destruction of the fortress by himself. From his Dark Weapon (weapons forged by alien technology, Black Ball), and his purpose, it was clear that he was an existence sided with the aliens.

Apparently, his real affiliation (whether he’s a player or an NPC ) is still unconfirmed.

The Destroyer, however, from the unpublished reports from the Two Powers Coalition (the partnership made by TGG and the Sylphs), it was disclosed to the allies that he was a free existence that doesn’t war neither the will to join any organization.

—an information that probably came from the Witch of Aarun who open secretly owned The Miranda.

He was simply a guest there, she just now learned, and obviously have a rather different agenda. What that is, is what she wanted to know so she asked that question to confirm what suspicions she already have.

“He’s the dark piece in our plan. Perhaps, he’s the real target and we just don’t know it yet. We don’t have any lead to his identity, we don’t even have any lead as to where he was. But what’s actually scary despite al our uncertainties are the fact that he is powerful beyond compare. Even The Destroyer was left intimidated.”

“Thorn, if… however, we force The Destroyer to join our cause, we…”

“Loni.”

This time, Loni was stopped by Thorn’s forceful tone.

“Forcing him requires strength, just like how we made Cramer one of our members. Truth be told, his element is rather… problematic if ever we do so choose to use that method.”

“I… I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s alright. It is true that my Poseidon is naturally weakened if used against him but it doesn’t mean that I won’t stand a chance against him, if ever. After all, I’m still a veteran of this game.”

Loni smiled and nodded, relaxing down to her chair. If there was actually one person she saw as really stronger than her, then that would be the person she is with now.

Thorn, the name alone gave her enough pride to be one of his companions. She was invited to join his cause and saw his strength. She respects and admires his way of battles and so she believes every word he says and the cause he fights for.

“Anyway, so what are the reason why you made me stay here?”

“Regarding that. It’s actually just a trivial matter. It’s regarding to… e-ehem… regarding our, umm, target of mobilization.”

Loni blinked. “Don’t tell me you…”

She found it funny and shocking to see that Thorn was blushing from ear to ear. Even though the room was not that dimly lit, it was still clear from the way his whole face’s color became darker than his neck.

“E-Ehem… I can’t… really say this clearly but, I need you to spearhead the recruitment team with Scion. Our men will be unable to speak clearly if they are to talk to her directly regarding this.”

“Even you?”

“Even me.”

Loni paused to process for a moment, sneaking a finger to the [Snap Shot] button that appeared at the tip of her left hand. Of course the target of her mischievous deed was none other than this S-Class rare sight of their usually stout commander blushing from ear to ear.

“Loni.”

Sadly, just as she was about to press the button, the rare treasure she could have sold in underground fans club trading unions (randomly generated name), was lost.

“…can I trust you with this?”

This time, Loni pouted and puffed her cheeks when the ‘usual stout commander’ came back on his feet.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m on it.”

“Why are you… angry?”

“Angry? I’m not angry. Why’d you say I’m angry?”

Thorn paused a moment then sighed. “Well, I’m going to Dakar for a moment. Take as many people as you like to Maria then contact me if something happened. Oh and also, please, no matter what happens, do not lose your communicator again.”

“Hmp.”

Loni turned around, ignoring another sigh from Thorn and from the sound of the wind entering the gathering hall, she knew that the balcony doors are open and that her esteemed commander already flew away.

***

One of the most expensive items in Terroa is the TD or with the official name of Teleportation Device (T-D).

Monster hunts are difficult. Angle of attack, attack type and force applied, hit area, element of attack, and many more things to consider, Virtual reality Games aren’t just a game where you choose a target and kill it with brute force.

Using one’s real body to move his avatar, not only the feel of game is altered within its core, the feel of reality is also changed by a big margin.

One reason why Virtual Reality is a dream come true is because of these two principles colliding with each other. Strategies and tactical skills, as well considering personal ability and of the enemy’s is just few of many elements that modified the feel of VR Gaming.

Considering all these, monster hunts becomes not only a challenge of martial prowess, but also the player’s ability to adapt and adjust to the enemy’s behavior.

Unlike other games where mobs and enemies have a specific set of data it uses to attack players, Terroa is VR Game that boasted of its uniqueness of 90% reality.

Imagine a wild tiger from Africa attacking you in the wild. Upsize that into 30 meters or so, put scales and thick skins that repels bullets, wings that spans triple its size, and then the ability to either use air or fire elemental attacks like magic to attack or defend itself…

Now, when it’s hungry, it will look for food.

So imagine crossing paths with one. Can you defeat it?

80% of players of Terroa answered yes but only 20% of those 80% survived. And yet, they did not do it alone.

Fighting monsters not only need time and maximum effort, it also need team work and the right damage dealing attacks.

The monster that was just described is called a Garuda and it’s a C-Ranked Monster. Defeating one needs at least 300K Zentra worth of items from all the members of the hunting team combined. Selling a whole Garuda costs 500K, depending on the damage. and you can only sell one if you defeated one after a minimum of 12 hours fighting it.

One T-Device costs 1M Zentra, depending on where you bought it.

So think about just how much expensive a T-Device is and imagine eight people who bought five of those in the NPC Shops down the Clover Field Town Fort.

These five are all S-ranked players. Spearheaded by a sexy and beautiful Loni, yet alluringly striking as to also bid fear to those who knew her personality, this team of eight elite people are all battle hardened users and had hunted down countless monsters and still doing so each and everyday.

The sight of them spending that much money was so jaw dropping that the other players who saw them all turned away in both envy and shame. It just shows how courage and experience can change one’s game life.

“Ready?” She asked when the eight people regrouped in the plaza. “Now remember that the person we’re about to make contact to is a powerful Mage so do not, in every way, agitate her or in any way be affected by her charms. I will do the talking. The men will stay a distance from us and observe the area from suspicious individuals while the women will come with me and conduct the negotiation. Is that clear?”

A strong nod and eye contact after exchanging glances to one another was the reply Loni received. Three men and four women, all of them were intimidating enough to cause passersby to change directions.

“Coordinates have been sent to your communicators. I forbid you to use any form of violence to anyone aside from what I command. This mission is of importance to our guild and to our cause. We will recruit the Mage with the name Scion in the Walled City of Maria and we, as the ambassadors of our guild, will not fail this mission. Is that clear?”

Against there was a strong reply.

“Well then, let’s not waste anytime. Teleport, Maria!”