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Volume 2 upgrade specialist interval chapter 34 - limits of the cards

Moving on Alice held up the accelerate card.

Alice: ACCELERATE!

Holding the card towards me she activated it. Like the meteor card it glowed with a green light. Then the light coalesced around me, filling my body with a feeling of lightness. After it had finished the light disappeared completely, leaving me feeling weightless.

Alice: did it work?

Though I thought it was weird she couldn't tell, I answered her.

Solomon: it did, I feel much lighter.

Jumping lightly on my feet I tried to feel its effects.

Solomon: I'm going to try it out.

Running towards the far end of the training room I instantly felt the effects. After making it to the other end I doubled back. At a guess I felt around 15% faster. Then again this was just movement speed.

Arriving back to the end of the room, I kept running at the wall. A few meters before meeting it I jumped upwards. Most of the forward momentum was transferred upwards, propelling me. Like this my normal jump height was doubled.

Being as I was already in my wolf form the height I could jump was great. Reaching the apex of my jump, I clawed into the wall with my claws. Looking down from where I was hanging I was at least 6 meters into the air.

Looking at this it seemed it wasn't just the speed in a straight line that was increased. Dropping to the floor I tested the last factor, attack speed. Smashing my fist into the wall several times I could feel that even this was increased.

Solomon: seems quite good.

Turning around I walked over to Alice. No longer having a need for it I returned to my human form. As I shrunk down a wave of vertigo hit me. Seeing me stumbling slightly forward, Alice stood towards me. Moving under my arm she supported me.

Alice: are you okay Solomon?

Looking up at me concern was clear in her eyes. Seeing such an innocent act I was caught in the moment. Leaning forward I brought her into a passionate kiss. After a moment she pushed back against me, kissing me back.

After a few seconds, we broke away from the kiss.

Alice: what was that for?

With slightly reddened cheeks, she looked very adorable.

Solomon: nothing, I'm just thankful your with me.

Gareth: kukruum

Clearing his throat, Gareth reminded us of where we were.

Solomon: sorry about that, anyway I've got a rough idea of the cards use.

Taking a half step away from Alice, I continued talking about the card.

Solomon: the card increases the speed at which your body moves. This goes beyond just movement speed. Anything you do will be sped up. Both your attacks and your movement through the air. Based on what I felt the increase is at least 15%.

Gareth: that’s gonna be a lot of help then. Especially for me and you. It can increase my scouting speed, as well as your wolf forms strength.

Solomon: the only thing that could limit it is how long it lasts.

Hearing this Gareth became slightly downtrodden.

Gareth: I didn't think about that. Guess it's too good to be true, huh?

From the sudden change in attitude I imagined he was chastising himself. In a world where one mistake cost your life this was a huge mistake. Trying to cheer him up I pointed a couple of things out.

Solomon: maybe not. We don't know how long it will last, so when it runs out we can check how long it lasted. Anyway don’t worry about it too much. Were a team for this reason. We cover each other's weaknesses. That's the point right?

Gareth went back to normal after hearing this.

Gareth: yeah, that's right. Thanks Solomon.

Solomon: no problem, anyway that only leaves the potion to test right?

Nodding Alice held up the card.

Alice: that's right, the thing is I have no clue what It does.

Though it would obviously heal somehow. The strength of the healing and its requirements were a mystery.

Solomon: guess there's only one way to find out.

Pulling out my scimitar I drew it down my arm, drawing a cut from my shoulder to my wrist.

Seeing me do so both Alice and Gareth pounced towards me, wanting to stop me. However, they were to slow.

Alice: WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?

Gareth: DON'T DO IT!

Reaching me Alice wrenched the sword from my hands. At this time she seemed to have a supernatural amount of strength. To my surprise she easily took it from my hand.

Gareth reaching my side grabbed a hold of my arm, holding it upwards.

Solomon: calm down, we need some way to test it. Won't this do?

Both Alice and Gareth looked at me like I was an idiot. Actually after thinking about it, wasn't it weird. Most normal people couldn't just cut themselves up. It seems I had changed a lot more than I thought. However, now was not the time to think about this.

Alice: POTION!

Not wanting to let the wound get worse, Alice activated the card. Like before green light spew forth from the card. Once it had reached its brightest the light began to condense. Unlike I expected, it didn't flow into my wounds. The light dimmed down, eventually revealing a small battle.

Grabbing a hold of the bottle, Alice sprayed it onto my arm. As the liquid flew into my body the wounds began to visible heal. As she continued to spray it down my arm, the wounds continued to close. Though the bleeding stopped, there was still a large scab down my hand. After spraying my arm 20 times the bottle shone brightly, returning to it's card form.

Solomon: wow, I can't even feel the pain anymore.

As I watched my arm the mystical effect of the potion continued to work. Looking at the scab change color, I imagined the wound would disappear in under 10 minutes.

Alice: why did you do that?

Now having healed me Alice glared at me. By the tone of her voice and her facial expression, She was extremely angry.

Solomon: sorry, I didn't think about it.

In all honesty, I didn't. It was like I just thought we needed a way to test it. So I made a way. It seemed my thought process had become a lot more cold since coming here. It was probably made worse by the enhancements to my body. Having become "not human" made me more detached than before.

Making a mental note to think before I act, I tried to gloss over the situation.

Alice: what were you thinking, don’t ever do that again.

Solomon: I promise I won't. I guess I've changed more than I thought, huh.

Seeing that I was genuine, Gareth tried to help calm Alice down.

Gareth: Alice, he's not lying to you. We've all been under a lot of stress, can't you cut him some slack.

Though she was still upset she put it aside for now.

Alice: all right then, let's keep testing then.

Solomon: so what's the cost?

Alice: quite good, it's one percent. Anyway, I've still got one last card to test.

Grabbing a hold of the unopened pack, she reminded us that she still had one card left to test.

Gareth: let's take a look then, shall we.

Ripping of the film she revealed the card. Once again I recognizing it. It was a Digimon card, hackmon.

Alice: do you recognise it.

Solomon: I do. It's from Digimon. From what I remember it's quite strong as well.

Alice: all right then, let's test it.

Holding forth the card she summoned Hackmon. Unlike the last time I saw her summon a creature, she no longer had to say anything. This was probably because she had greater control of her energy now.

With a bright flash of the light the card disappeared. Standing before Alice was hackmon. Coming up to her waist it was around the size of a dog. It had white metal covering its body, with a red Cape from its neck to its tail. On its head there was two triangular ears made of a darker metal. Sprouting from its snout, the tip of its tail and paws were long claws. Overall it looked like a small robotic wingless dragon.

Hackmon: Hackmon greets master.

At the same time, it bowed its head towards Alice.

Alice: it's nice to meet you too. So, what can you do?

Like usual Alice showed her cold side when talking to subordinates. In front of her soldiers, she tried to act like the perfect leader. As the leader of the group I understood her wanting to do this was not a healthy way to lead. Eventually when she can't hold up that façade anymore, her men will lose all their moral. I had learnt this lesson myself. Once again I made a mental note to warn her about that.

Hackmon: I have three skills, as well as my usual bodies strength.

Solomon: show me your strength then. Let's spar.

Not knowing my relation to his master, hackmon looked towards Alice.

Alice: this is Solomon, he is my guild leader. Also that there is Gareth, he is a founder of the guild, like me. Lastly this is necro, he is also one of my summons.

Saying so she pointed us out before summoning necro.

Necro: I look forward to working with you.

Hackmon: likewise.

Solomon: so, you up for a fight?

Having some knowledge about hackmon I thought he would be very strong. Within the digimon universe he could hold his own against digimon one evolution higher than him. This was like skipping a rank in domain.

With such a reputation I was very interested in how strong he was.

Hackmon: I'm willing to fight. But, I don’t want to injure you. Are you sure you are strong enough.

Looking at my appearance he was probably incredulous. Though I would look intimidating to humans, he had probably fought digimon several times my size.

Solomon: don't worry about that. Just make sure you don’t hold back.

Taking back my scimitar from Alice, I settled into a stance. After gaining the new strength of my silver wolf race, I felt extremely confident in my physical abilities.

Seeing my seriousness hackmon matched it. Taking the initiative he lunged forward, leaving deep grooves in the floor. The speed at which he flew through the air was comparable to the demonic bandit I had fought before.

However, I was much stronger now than I was back then. Taking a step forwards I jabbed forwards with my scimitar. As Hackmon was in the air, he couldn't avoid the attack. Bringing his head down, he met the sword with the sharp horn on his snout. As the momentum behind his attack transferred into me I was pushed back half a meter.

Using this opportunity he pressed off from the sword, landing on the ground. Then he opened his mouth.

Hackmon: baby flame

A fireball 1 meter wide spewed out of his mouth, speeding towards me. As I was still recovering from the first attack I had no time to avoid.

Solomon: holy light mantle

Summoning forth a meter wide panel of light I blocked the attack. After a moment of struggle, both the fireball and my barrier ran out of energy. Seeing me use such a move hackmons attitude changed.

Seeing me block such a move so easily he no longer felt I couldn't match him.

Hackmon: I must apologize, up until now I doubted your strength. From now on I will fight seriously.

Once again taking the initiative he jumped several meters into the air. Then pointing his tail towards me he activated another skill.

Hackmon: teen ram

All of a sudden his tail started rotating. With this new movement his descent from the air would end with him impaling me. It seemed he was using his trump card. Not wanting to be shown up I also used a strong attack. By now I had a rough assessment of his strength.

Grabbing my arcane orb, I channeled half of my remaining qi into it. Just before his tail reached me I released the flame serpent art. As the lizards arms punched at him, Hackman was pushed away. Just as the qi was about to explode, I dissipated the attack. There was no need to kill him, Especially since it cost Alice energy to summon him.

Landing back on his feet hackmon thanked me.

Hackmon: thank you for your mercy.

Solomon: don't worry about it. It was an enjoyable fight