Battle Of Planets

Chapter 61: Point System
”It’s not that hard,” Shaun said as he traced the equations in Tyson’s notebook, his eyes scanning the intricate formulas by the campfire’s glow.Lara leaned in, her eyes sparkling with curiosity as she examined the notebook’s contents. Meanwhile, Ken and Bee slept peacefully in their tents, completely worn out from the intense workout earlier.

The chilly night air was crisp, yet the crackling warmth of the fire between them echoed the lone groups of cadets gathered around their own campfires post-dinner.

”You can skip the math,” Shaun continued, flipping through the pages. ”Just concentrate on the basic concept—that’s the most crucial part of the lesson, after all.”

Rangers and Rogues’ core knowledge centered on breaking through Power Points to become stronger. As their Power Points grew, their armor’s strength and durability increased, enabling them to endure heavier hits in battle.

It was essentially like gaining life and attack points as they leveled up. Additionally, each breakthrough increased the storage capacity inside the Meta-bot, enabling it to hold more Nano Particles, further enhancing a warrior’s abilities.

”Here,” Shaun continued, tapping the notebook, ”one PowerPoint is divided into a hundred sub-PowerPoints.” He glanced at Lara to ensure she was following. ”It’s just an assumption to help us understand the dynamics of the PowerPoint system created by nature... We consider it as X.”

Lara nodded as if she understood, although her brow was slightly furrowed.

Meanwhile, Tyson tried his best to mask his disinterest. He couldn’t understand why they had to assume ’X’ at all. Why not just ignore these pointless equations and concentrate on physical training? Hard work in battle appeared far more beneficial than crunching numbers.

But he couldn’t express his frustration—not when he knew he had to outdo Alex.

Initially, Tyson believed he had the advantage. However, as he returned from dinner, he noticed Alex sitting by his campfire, surrounded by four girls who were eagerly explaining the theory to him.

Now, doubt began to creep in. How much of this did Alex truly understand? Was he genuinely making progress in both training and theory?

”Are you even listening?” Shaun asked, noticing that Tyson was zoning out.

Tyson blinked and swiftly refocused. ”Yeah, yeah, I’m here.”

Lara chuckled, a mischievous smile playing at her lips.

”In my case, I’m at Power Point 7, and I need a hundred sub-points to reach 8,” Shaun explained. ”If I meet the criteria of a hundred sub-points, I’ll advance. If not, I won’t.”

”Oh, so you didn’t advance in the last battle because of that?” Tyson asked, starting to understand the concept.

Shaun nodded. ”That’s correct. We can calculate Power Points, but we can’t calculate sub-points, as that’s simply a human-created term to help us grasp the logic behind breakthroughs.”

Tyson hesitated for a moment before responding. ”I understand... So, are sub-points similar to experience points?”

Shaun’s face lit up. ”Yes, exactly! That’s why some people were promoted to Sergeant while others weren’t. The ones who advanced were able to accumulate enough sub-points through battle.”

Tyson exhaled, finally understanding. ”But why complicate things? Why not just let them be? Why overthink it?”

Shaun shook his head. ”Because we need to understand the natural phenomena behind it to push ourselves further. Math helps us measure, solve, and predict things—just like we did with gravity centuries ago.”

Tyson glanced at the ground, his thoughts wandering to the tale of an apple falling on a man’s head.

What if he were sitting under a coconut tree instead?

”So how does that help us?” Lara asked. ”I understand that knowing about sub-points might ease our worries, but is an actual battle the only way to advance?”

”No,” Shaun replied. ”That’s the key point. Look at yourself—you’re at eleven Power Points now, but when you first got your Meta-bot, you were around seven, right?”

”Yes,” Lara nodded.

Tyson gulped. She was at seven? He understood the belief among Rangers—that those chosen by a Meta-bot with higher Power Points were seen as more talented and naturally gifted. In his case, he had only started with three PowerPoints, while Alex began at fourteen.

”You’re talented,” Tyson admitted.

Lara blushed as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. ”Thank you, senior.”

”Cut it out with the flirting,” Shaun interrupted, rolling his eyes. ”Just focus.”

”I’m not flirting,” Tyson replied, as Lara’s blush deepened.

”Sure, sure,” Shaun said. ”Lara, you haven’t been in life-or-death fights or done anything too intense. Yet, you still gained four Power Points.”

”That’s true...” Lara mumbled, a wave of embarrassment washing over her. She didn’t have any impressive stories to share with her senior.

”We can earn sub-points through training as well,” Shaun explained. ”However, the gains are lower compared to actual combat. Typically, intense physical training for hours can yield one to two sub-points, depending on how much we push our limits. On the other hand, training in the simulation pod provides us with three to five sub-points, based on our performance in that world.”

”That’s fair enough,” Tyson said. ”Real-life battles with life-or-death stakes might earn us more sub-points, but if that’s true, why haven’t you gained at least one full Power Point?”

Shaun chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. Now it was his turn to feel embarrassed. ”Because I wasn’t fighting like you, Sergeant. I was mostly protecting people.”

”No one fought like Senior,” Lara murmured, her mind wandering to the news reports she had seen that day.

She vividly recalled how Tyson had stood his ground against overwhelming odds, battling enemies far beyond his level. His fight had become the talk of the Rangers—someone at Power points 15 confronting Rogues at points 67. It was nothing short of a miracle. That battle had deepened her admiration for him.

She had long wished to meet the now legendary White Dragon, but sitting beside him, she felt a bit embarrassed. During their first encounter, she hadn’t even recognized him.

”I might have gained at least 200 sub-points from those fights,” Tyson mused, lost in thought.

Since 100 sub-points equaled one Power Point, he had gained two full Power Points from the battle. Alex had also achieved the same, indicating that he had also pushed past his limits in those fights.

”And what about Blue?” Tyson wondered. ”If Alex and I gained two Power Points, maybe Blue managed to secure at least one or two as well. But I wouldn’t know; he was taken into custody right after the battle.”

”I understand now! So all I have to do is follow the concepts and solve the assigned math problems,” Tyson said with a grin.

Shaun agreed, saying, ”I am uncertain about the theories the Sergeants should study, but this has inspired me to move forward.”

”Absolutely! Me too! I’ll train hard and earn more sub-points!” Lara stretched her arms wide as if trying to embrace the whole sky. ”Small steps at a time!”

Tyson smiled as he got up, yawning. ”Alright, guys, it’s time to sleep. Don’t forget—we’re training early tomorrow morning.”

”Yes, Senior! Good night! Sweet dreams!” Lara said with a cheerful smile.

Shaun groaned. ”Ugh, training... My legs are still sore from the run.”

Lara patted his back reassuringly. ”Don’t worry, we can always shift the extra workload to Ken.”

Shaun chuckled at her comment as Tyson walked away toward his tent.

”He got what he deserved. I’m happy to be on Senior’s team.”

”Yeah, me too,” Shaun agreed.

---

”General, these are all the belongings we found at Coco’s place,” the lieutenant said, placing a box on the desk in Edward’s office.

Edward lounged in a swinging chair, lost in contemplation. With a nod, he quietly dismissed his subordinate and returned to the box.

Gently, he sifted through Coco’s belongings until his fingers grazed a framed photograph. It depicted three young men—Coco, Edmund, and himself—when they pledged to improve Elria.

His gaze softened as he traced his fingers along the frame. Just then, he noticed something wedged behind the photo—a folded piece of paper. Gently, he pulled it out and unfolded it.

The paper featured rushed, chaotic sketches, and at the bottom, scrawled in hasty handwriting, were the words: ”Victor’s Engineering!”

Edward’s brow furrowed. Victor? The same Victor who had fought alongside them until his last breath on the Ice World?

Why would Coco write something like this?

He examined the sketches, which made little sense—merely messy, incoherent diagrams. Frustrated, he placed the paper into the scanner. ”Analyze and decipher this. Provide me with everything you can.”

As he waited impatiently, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Coco had discovered something important.

Shortly thereafter, the AI replied, ”These diagrams illustrate an exceptionally intricate method for engineering Meta-bots, General. Replicating it would be nearly unfeasible, but I will make an effort to reconstruct it.”

Edward acknowledged the information, taking it in thoughtfully.

The AI then explained, ”Moreover, I found subtle traces of writing, probably from another page that was pressed against this one. It says: ’I will try it on Blue’s Meta-bot.’”

Edward’s eyes grew wide in shock.

What did that even mean?