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"Hey! Hey! Seriously? It hasn't even been a day since we came here!"
"What do we do? What do we do?"
"Shit! So fucking unlucky!"
"Great, this just had to happen when I'm with the noobs!"
"Is this part of the tutorial?"
"Guys! Calm down, don't panic! I'm sure that this is just a simulation. We're not in any real danger right now. Just perform to the best of your abilities."
"The only thing I agreed with you on was your last sentence, the ones before that were completely delusional of you. Wake up! This isn't some game. We're at the edge of the entire fucking realm, you dingus!"
Cedric ignored the panicked screams and shouts of his fellow cadets. Instead, his eyes narrowed and his pupils constricted as he scanned the environment for any hints of danger.
It's a bit difficult to do so because of the flashing red lights flooding the entire zone and the loud noises of the sirens blaring, but Cedric has long learned how to filter information with his senses.
With a kick of his leg, he jumped on top of the building where they were scanned earlier to get a clearer and broader view while clutching his standard-issued weapons.
The first sign of a dangerous threat was seen over the horizon at the far end of the camp.
There's a presence that behaved like smoke that can't easily be dispersed. Its tendrils extend ever so slowly but unimpeded. The presence distorted everything it touched.
Just by looking at it, a strong sense of repulsion rose from Cedric's heart. His senses screamed at him that, whatever that thing was, doesn't belong here, and it shouldn't appear here either. It also tells him that that smoke, or whatever it was, must never make any physical contact with his skin. He couldn't inhale it either because that would kill him faster than anything he had ever encountered before.
Following his instincts, Cedric exhaled and willed the Void Suit to manifest on his body.
This void suit was the very same one he was given during his training as a security officer in Site Delta. It was the most basic Void Suit issued to personnel like him, but at times like this, having one is already a blessing.
To his surprise though, when the Void Suit made contact with the standard-issued weapons he was given, it caused a unique interaction. The rifle and the dagger attached to him were absorbed by the suit, and instinctually, Cedric was informed that they could be summoned at any moment he needed them at any part of his body.
'Hmm, it's been a while since I fired a gun. Hopefully my aim hasn't gone horrific.'
Cedric had this thought as he once again hopped on the roof of the building before starting to rain fire on the spores.
TAK TAK TAK TAK TAK...
The sound of the rifle fire startled the still clueless and panicking group of his fellow cadets, causing them to look at him.
Your next chapter awaits on empire
In their eyes, they all saw this one guy who's wearing a Void Suit holding on to the standard-issued rifle, which gave away his identity, firing fearlessly at the spores raining down on the camp.
The scene shook them awake. So much so that some began going through their things to find their Void Suits so they could wear them too.
Cedric didn't care about what they thought; he simply doesn't have the time to do so. Fortunately, his aim hasn't gone completely rusty. Unfortunately, his high accuracy rate was only possible since, with these many spores raining down, it'd be hard for him to miss.
As expected, the unique materials used to create this rifle made it effective against the void creatures and their means. That said, there's simply too many he needs to shoot, and even though Cedric was already firing as fast as he possibly could, some spores still landed on the ground.
And as soon as the spores hit the ground, the withering of all life commenced. The air of the void distorted the surroundings, making things brittle and weak. The voidlings were born the second the spores hit the ground, and as soon as they appeared, they began eating all life around them by instinct.
Even with Cedric's frenetic shooting, he still found the camp crawling with voidlings in a blink of an eye. They formed a wave of strange beings that swallowed everything they came into contact with, and the scene was especially terrifying.
It was only thanks to Cedric's quick thinking and actions that he and his fellow cadets were safe. Had he not hacked the security systems of the building that launched this barrier, they would've turned into living feed for these creatures.
Be it the air of the void or the voidlings themselves, they couldn't pass through the barrier of the building since it seems to be made specifically to counter them. That said, this doesn't mean that the cadets inside are invulnerable. There is no such thing as eternal and perfect defense against creatures of the void.
This barrier could only endure so much. Cedric doesn't know how high its tolerance was, so the best thing he could do is to help out by thinning out the horde as much as he can to buy more time.
Fortunately, the barrier doesn't prevent him from shooting from within. His shots pass through the barrier without any resistance.
And to increase his slaughter efficiency, he threw the dagger out. Before releasing it though, he infused it with the highest level of fire laws he could emit, coating it with terrifying flames, before having it fly with his mind.
With his shooting rate and his increasing accuracy rate, plus the mind-controlled dagger piercing through voidlings like a hot knife through butter, Cedric's slaughter efficiency skyrocketed, allowing him to buy more time before the big guys come to rescue them.