Beyond M-Eclipse: Easy Mode LIVE

———Qyunda———

This one is quite a special mission, and from the look of the landscape… Perhaps I can cut loose for once, more than I ever had the luxury to, but that’s assuming things go catastrophically wrong, which isn’t something I’m banking on for a multitude of reasons.

It looks like this area was one of those that were devastated during the first few weeks. There doesn’t seem to be much in terms of repair… or rather, there ain’t any. Can’t say I blame the officials for it. They got a lot of things wrong, but trying to fix this up with what they had would’ve been a fool’s errand. And that isn’t even accounting for recent development.

I’m surprised that there are still some buildings standing tall. I know monsters tend to simply roam around and not care about destroying the environment, but I would’ve thought the skirmish between them or humans would’ve toppled them all already.

As nice as it would be to cleanse this place… for one, I don’t know how to do it, and probably lack the method even if I somehow figured it out. Secondly, that’s not my mission.

My current location is on top of a building, which seems to be the favorite area for them to place us at. It does help with making sure it looks like we truly came out of nowhere and left just as quickly. The mystique behind does help mask us just a little bit, because obviously no one would think a mere student knows how to teleport, or why we would be so far from home, or that the school would provide a system that could put us in jeopardy in the first place.

Now as for my target… there they are. Just four people, certainly not a size you could want in such a dangerous environment, but considering who they are I can’t be surprised.

“” The bracelet suddenly spoke out. I don’t see why not, let’s just get on with it. No idea how they’re going to help me with that.

“You really think I’m just gonna ally with any of you? What’s even in it for me?” The somewhat elderly voice became much clearer. Even with heightened senses that came from growing stronger cannot normally allow someone to overhear a conversation from this high up.

“Having allies is better than having enemies, that’s the selling point.” Another voice rang out, coming from a guy who looks middle-aged. “I think we can all agree due to a certain warlord causing a lot of fuss. We need all the manpower we can get, who knows what might happen if he actually shows his face around here.”

“Hmph. Seems like you just want to cover your asses since he’s closer to the territory of you three.” The elderly one replied, not mincing his words.

“I ain’t gonna deny that, but don’t act like it won’t become a problem for you either, old man.” A young-looking guy with cow horns and ears said. “He has already laid waste to a city like this one. You really think you can deal with someone like that alone? You looked like you could be snapped in half.”

“You think these bones of mine are fragile just because I’m old?” He said with a snicker. “You look like you just graduated high school! Don’t come lecture me about appearance.”

“I’m surprised someone old like you can even fight like that in the first place.” The fourth person in the meeting spoke up. The sole woman in this group. “But enough about that, I think all of us coming to a place like this in the first place already show more than enough sincerity, so what do you say?”

“Well, when you put it like that, it doesn’t sound too bad. Still, what do you expect me to even do anyway? Go after that guy immediately?” The old man asked, seemingly agreeing with the alliance quite quickly. I thought he would be more stubborn than that.

“That would be the smartest decision, he’s clearly not stopping his warpath. Still, I don’t believe any of us have a clear consensus on his ability just yet.” The middle-aged man said. “The best bet we got is gathering up our forces first, establishing a unit before any possible attack he would try to make.”

I’m surprised no monsters tried to attack them yet. While they are generally passive or simply less likely to attack strong people, this is a Forbidden Zone for crying out loud, strong monsters and even demons are what it’s all about. That’s why I’m even here to begin with, making sure this negotiation went smoothly with no casualty.

“Hey, can we make our way back already then? We all agree, so let’s get out of this place and make a game plan after the fact, it’s giving me the creeps.” The woman said. “And about that guy, can’t he command monsters or something? This is such a bad place for us to be because of that?”

“Huh? That’s the first I heard of it. I thought he was just an insanely strong guy.” The cow demi-human said while scratching his head.

“How the hell are you managing anything properly…” The middle-aged man said in annoyance. “Anyway, she’s right, we need to leave quickly in case something like that happens. We can’t be complacent now.”

“...Honestly I thought we were here to lure him out, even.” The one with cow ears jokingly said. “Four of us should be enough, right?”

“Hmph. I don’t care if that last comment is true, I would’ve put you all on my shit list if that was truly the intention.” The elderly man said in response.

“Just leave already, the monsters here are giving me the creeps.” The woman said before leaving first.

The rest of them then quickly left the premises without any conflict. Huh. I guess that was it?

“” The bracelet voice rang out. Dang, so that seriously was it? Went a bit too smoothly for my taste. I know that it’s good that things went the way it did, going straight for the point, but still.

“Screee!” A loud roar came from behind me.

*Swing* *Slice*

Not paying much attention to what was trying to attack me, I simply swung one of my swords in its direction and the force behind it caused it to split in half before it could even get close to me. Of all the people it tried to attack, it chose me? I suppose monsters aren’t known for their logic in the first place.

…Did I accidentally cut into the clouds? Maybe I used a bit too much power there. At least it doesn’t look like anyone noticed anything. They made sure to leave as quickly as they arrived…

…I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a mission popping up later about this mess. Something tells me it’s gonna get quite ugly.

…Looks like I gotta go back, there’s seriously nothing for me to do here. It went so smoothly it’s kinda anti-climatic and-

*Leap* *Swing* *Crash*

Well well well… Guess I spoke too soon.

Someone jumped towards me with a fist swung down and pierced through the building I am standing on. I take a few steps back so whoever this is simply hit the surface of the rooftop and drop down through it. It’s not exactly in the best condition to begin with so I’m going to get down from here as well. I know these probably need to be demolished whenever this place is purified anyway, but standing on top of something that could easily be destroyed is far from the smartest decision.

“Who the hell are you anyway?” I lazily said once I landed back on the ground, looking at this… generic men-in-black fashion sense on the guy. I know it’s a good look, but it just makes you look like you’re taking yourself too seriously. Way too many people on the news wearing stuff like that. Either that or a coat, a jacket, something to make them look more flashy. I didn’t think they’d care that much about appearance. All I have is a brown shirt and puffy pants.

“That’s my line. I was here expecting someone to come here. A little birdie told me.” He replied. Ah, I see how it is.

“Too bad. You miss the meeting by a few minutes, so it’s time to go back home. You can go file a complaint later.” I said while lazily shooing him anyway. 

“And you don’t get to tell me what to do!” He yelled out before his power began to rise. Doesn’t look like he’s here to be reasonable, but that is to be expected.

Now this fight is not something included in my pay grade. I can leave whenever I want, but I think I can do those guys a solid and maybe do their job for them.

“What a pain.” I remarked before pulling out my two swords, going up against his fists.

*Dash* *Swing* *Evade* *Swing* *Block*

He’s matching me blow-for-blow so far. Certainly far from a novice with his movement. Quick and snappy, responding to my movements and making sure to intercept my attacks with either a dodge or a block. Though more of a former rather than latter.

Despite his aggressive tone earlier, he’s fighting at a disadvantage right off the bat. He’s lacking in both range and power due to a lack of weapons… No, that’s oversimplifying it. He’s just not as experienced as his battle maniac behavior would’ve suggested. Lacking certain key skills to put him on par with that guy.

When it comes to the increase in your physical prowess during a battle, naturally your whole body becomes more durable, the invisible veins regulating your mana allowing you to easily manipulate and optimize your output, but when you start out, you can never use your ability at maximum efficiency, and with higher mana pool you could even lost some efficiency if your body gain too much power within a short period of time and not having much time to practice for the new standard.

That’s when the difference between having and not having a weapon came in. Weapons naturally don’t have these invisible wires for you to easily pump them with mana and amp up their power, causing massive loss in efficiency, but since they are naturally more durable than human flesh and bones, even a weak amp could make it comparable to one’s arms being enhanced, which seems to make them equal or perhaps disadvantageous for those specializing in hand-to-hand combat.

But since your arms naturally have these magic nerves to allow for higher levels of amplification, with a great practice routine they can even surpass having a weapon entirely, especially if you’re already going down the path of a martial artist. It’s like an enchanted weapon that everyone naturally starts up with, no need to go find a special blacksmith living in who-knows-where. It also applies to your legs as well, and the rest of the body, even. In fact, those who fight without a weapon tend to be naturally stronger even if their mana pool is smaller due to the mastery over their bodies. It’s why sometimes it’s better to train without a weapon even if you usually use one during a serious fight.

*Swing* *Stab*

“Guah!?” That is to say, this guy lacks serious training. He obviously has a lot of power to back up his bark, otherwise he would’ve been turned into sliced ham by now, but for someone who doesn’t use a weapon, the mastery over his own body is shockingly lacking. If he had proper training, my sword wouldn’t so easily stab through his right hand like it just did. All he could do to intercept my attacks was by hitting the flat side of my swords.

He quickly retreated before I could dish out some more punishment on him.

“Skree!” Something screamed at me from the back.

*Slash* *Slice*

I killed it quickly before noticing that there were a large amount of monsters showing up in the area. From towering insects to humanoid boars, no shortage of grotesque monsters. Over a dozen of them are targeting me specifically.

*Spin* *Swing* *Slash* *Slice* *Dice*

I cut through them all as quickly as I can refocus on the guy who started all of this… Ah.

*Flap*

He got up on one of those giant moth monsters similar to the one I killed earlier. He’s trying to get away already? We barely got started!

*Swing* *Slash* *Splat*

I threw out a hasty sword beam at him, which hit the moth and split its body cleanly in half, but he barely dodged it despite the sheer size of that attack.

*Swing* *Slash* *Slice*

More monsters came my way and I quickly cut them all down. Seems like the rumor about him was true. No way these monsters would’ve attacked me otherwise.

*Flap* *Zip*

By the time I am done with them, he has already found another moth monster to grab onto and make his escape. Lucky for him that I’m not on a mission to kill him specifically, otherwise I might’ve given him chase. At the moment that mangled right hand of his should be enough to scare him off from doing anything for a while, at least that’s what I want to believe.

…Alright, time to get home. I have already overstayed for long enough. There isn’t anything for me to do anyway.

*Zoom*