Chapter 271 - Mecha And Shika

From the moment he saw the different powers wielded by the Haggon Transcendents, Compass Carburettor had an inkling as to what he had to create.

And thanks to the Warble, he had the freedom of choice, able to perfectly designate the set of powers he required. Though, he needed to have an idea about it first. Thankfully, Hekatra had helped him a lot in this regard.

"Mecha," He spoke, gazing at Grisha, "That's the name of this ability that fuses my Warrior and Puppeteer Paths."

"Now that you've attained this power, are you planning to confront them head-on?" Grisha asked, curious to see just how strong Compass Carburettor actually was. She hadn't yet seen a Haggon fight, at least go all out.

So, she was curious about his strength as a Haggon transcendent.

"Yes," Compass Carburettor nodded, using Directional Misalignment to observe the positions of the two System Hosts, 'For some reason, the both of them are voluntarily clashing time and again.'

"But, not yet." He said, clenching his hand into a fist, "I'll have to familiarise myself with the abilities first. Otherwise, it'll be hard for me to confront them."

"Besides, I'll only be aiming for one of them." He said, confusing her.

"Which of the two are you aiming at?" She asked, noticing Compass Carburettor smile mysteriously in response, causing her to snort in response and walk away.

"I'll inform you later. Continue making the External Items please." Saying so, Compass Carburettor summoned his boots and flashed away, hearing towards an ant nest as he engaged in slaughter.

This time, he only used his Body Layer to fight, getting accustomed to its usage while in battle.

A two-horned guardian ant slammed a breath attack at him, sending him flying away from the impact. Even though the sudden movement rattled his insides, he only suffered damage from the movement.

The layer of the energy blade over him remained firm, undamaged from the attack. As a Transcendent, the strength of his energy blade could be varied. But, it was already on the level condensed by an Armament with five States.

And if necessary, he could make it even stronger.

But, he didn't fight for long, soon following a group of ants working under him, reaching the surface. He surfaced far away from the System Hosts, ensuring he wouldn't be detected. With that, he arrived before a large lawn where the grass grew and a bunch of Grassmen stood amidst, silent.

Taking on his Haggon form, he unleashed Mecha, creating a flat surface that formed underground as he lifted up a patch of land. After boxing it to ensure the grass trapped within wouldn't escape, he began to run through the ant tunnels, soon reaching the massive cylindrical bore they were digging up.

It was the trap that he was preparing for the two System Hosts. Most of the ants in the nest under his control had been working on this all along, digging until the depth had reached 400 metres by now while the radius of the bore remained 20 metres.

He dropped the patch of land at the bottom, watching the grass take root here and begin growing. While it began to slowly spread out, Compass Carburettor took on his human form, condensed the pair of boots and flashed towards the surface, capturing two Grassmen with each trip.

He brought them back, dropping them into the tunnel, repeating the trip enough times until the bottom was fully covered by them. And, as the grass continued to grow through it, the ants began to close up all the tunnels, patching them up with the soil.

They ensured there wasn't any tunnel opening at least for a distance of 200 metres from the cylindrical bore. This way, the trapped System Hosts wouldn't be able to escape that easily.

Once everything was prepared, he accompanied Grisha, walking through a tunnel, arriving closer to the surface as he closed his eyes, concentrating as he summoned two Spydragons.

He had controlled two Spydragons a couple of times, having some experience in doing so. But, this was already his limit, as his talent as a Puppeteer was very low.

Both the Spydragons were tiny, spanning 10 centimetres in length while in their serpentine form. They drilled out of the ground before heading in opposite directions, slithering through the corners of the buildings to stay as hidden as possible.

…

"I feel like I'm closer to attaining an enlightenment." Shika, the Night Ranger System Host muttered, clenching her hand into a fist before she commanded mentally, "System, display my profile."

<Ding!>

Followed by the System notification, her profile was displayed. 

[Name: Shika Gobulimar]

[Race: Human]

[Strength: 38]

[Agility: 71]

[Vitality: 44]

[Dexterity: 51]

[Stamina: 76]

[Vital Energy: 408] 

[Core Skill: Night Ranger (Doubles all Stats and Skill Power during the night)]

[Skills: Night Blanket (Level 4), Cross-Eye Sighting (Level 6), Tracking Stigma (Level 3)]

Upon seeing the development of her attributes, Shika was content, "I've grown this strong within two months and already have three Skills, beyond my Core Skill."

She then gazed into the details of her three mutated beast abilities, observing that she was gaining instinct related to them the moment she thought about them. 

Before, she was only using them based on the information surge. The information surge consisted of the means and the necessary muscle memory to use the abilities. But, that was it. 

But now, she was gaining inspiration to apply their effects better. Strategies formed in her mind, allowing her to club the activation of her three abilities in interesting ways to turn the tides of battle. 

And, as such ideas sparked in her mind continuously, Shika realized that she was on the verge of discovering new potential for her abilities. 

To be frank, even the Night Ranger System was excited. After all, once she obtained a breakthrough, it too would gain a lot of benefits.

As she was deep in thought, she noticed a spark of light in the corner of her sight, turning around abruptly as she saw a tiny creature slither on the ground at tremendous speeds. 

It unleashed a yellowish-white light, gentle in nature, making her curious. 'What is this mutated beast?'

She became curious since it seemed different from the norm, 'If I can obtain an orb from it, maybe I'll get an interesting ability.'

Thinking as such, she began to tail after it.

--------------------

[Skill Descriptions]

Night Ranger: Doubles all attributes and abilities during the dark. A passive ability that takes effect at night, during the solar eclipse, or anywhere that is dark (without sun rays)

Night Blanket: A Skill that condenses energy to create a dome where light is snuffed out. Even the light from devices such as flashlights, fires, etc. is snuffed out. For fire, it would still be burning, but just won't be producing any light. Those trapped in the Night Blanket would still be able to feel the heat it emits.

Cross-Eye Sighting: A Skill in which her eyes act like camera lenses, capable of zooming in and out, focusing on things, automatically tracking rapid moving objects etc. Thanks to this ability, Shika doesn't have to fear any moving objects, able to focus on them perfectly in such a way, they appear static in her vision.

Tracking Stigma: A Mysterious Skill that can mark people or objects. Without special Skills to counter it, the stigma cannot be destroyed, unless the marked object is destroyed and the person is dead. It doesn't require physical contact and can be transmitted through air, water, solid, etc. Shika had placed her stigma on a lot of objects before, causing CC to be marked by one of them when he touched that object. This way, she didn't even reveal herself but kept an eye on his actions.

Vital Energy: A bogus energy the Night Ranger System gave her, just like her attributes. this is what Shika relies on to use her Skills. In truth, this is just an inferior version of Mental Energy that it had purchased in the Astral Network, just for her use.. To her, it would seem as if her Vital Energy recovers over time, but it is her System refilling it in such a way by expending Mental Energy.