The Over-Break System

”Are you not entertained?” Cynrik’s chilling voice played over HoloTvs, computers, and Watcets all around the continent. And most viewers could only nod passively in agreement with his words.

Meanwhile, back in the Pinhurst Mansion, the home was filled with the boisterous laughs of Rikard, Maeve, and Jessup. However, Cinyah groaned loudly at her son’s cringeworthy choice of words.

”Ha..ha…hahaha, Did he seriously just say that.” Maeve choked out between giggling like a schoolgirl and wiping the tears from her eyes.

”That boy of yours sure is a trip sometimes, Cinyah,” Jessup added as he took a sip of his beer between chuckles.

”Ugh, of all the stupid things, why did he choose that.” Smacking her forehead and causing another round of laughter from the others present, Cinyah wanted to shake Cynrik until these idiotic thoughts left his head.

---

Roni and Cesar were at a loss for words in the commentator booth as they watched Cynrik glide around using the strange devices on his wrists. Setting those tools aside, neither of them could come up with a viable reason as to how he was able to locate the cameras.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t as if they could stop the event and ask him directly. Quickly jotting down a note on the paper shared between them, Roni took over the commentary. At the same time, Cesar began brainstorming ideas about the skill Cynrik used to kill the previous Chimera.

Roni: ”Although I have no idea what that tool Cynrik is using could be, it clearly gives him a free rein of motion, allowing him to transfer from the ground to the air and back easily. If we zoom in on his wrists, it appears he has some kind of device hidden under his equipment, and depending on a pattern of twists and flicks of his wrists, he can either extend or retract the cabled grappling hook.”

After hearing her words, Cesar tapped the onboard touchscreen of the commentator’s desk a few times. By doing so, he could clip a few moments from the footage when Cynrik fired his grap-shot and retracted it, adding a visual reference to Roni’s commentary.

After clipping the proper footage, Cesar swiped up on the touchscreen and sent the stitched-together video clip to the primary monitor, where Roni pointed and brought attention to Cynrik’s actions.

Roni: ”Here, and here. From what I can tell, there seems to be a bracer of some type under his armor, and built into that bracer is approximately 50 meters of ultrifiber, lightweight cable.”

Cesar: ”Now, I am no engineer, but to make something that can handle a person’s body weight while still being able to sustain damage and work as a weapon, is an achievement that requires, at the very least, an Master Engineer.” Cesar added as he watched Cynrik flipping around like an acrobat before pulling himself along with the strange device.

Roni: ”I can only imagine how helpful that tool is when in a forest environment or one with multiple tall structures. The fact that Cynrik can move with such precise movements shows how much experience he has when using that device.”

---

”Che, they sure are hyping up Cynrik’s Grap-shot; it’s not like it’s anything special. Just a few dozen strands of high-strength, malleable Cold-Steel fiber. The only reason it works so well is because of that child’s way of using it. He first infuses the cable with Mana, then fires and retracts it at exactly the right moment to optimize the distance he can cover.” Jessup snorted while waving at the HoloTv in an overly dissatisfied manner.

”Oh, come on, Dad, you may act like the tool is some cheap byproduct of scraps, but I know how long you spent working out the proper formula to balance the weight and strength of that cabling.” Rolling her eyes and throwing a handful of popcorn at Jessup, Maeve teased.

She had been there nearly every step of the process and had even helped braid the fibers into their present state; if anyone could harass the old man and make fun of his Tsundere act, it was her.

”Wave Twelve is done, and the boys are taking another break.” Cutting in and steering the conversation back to the TV, Cinyah stated while glaring at her best friend.

---

Back in the Swarm Event

BANG

[I can’t believe you just said that on live TV. How can someone who is so fucking antisocial spout such cringy lines like it’s nothing?] Shaking his head in disappointment, Brance said while sitting on the ground and watching Cynrik dismantle the last Chimera in a not-so-kind way.

BANG

[Eh? What the fuck? You used to LOVE Gladiator; how the hell are you going to shit talk the most famous line from that movie?]

BANG, BANG

Turning and shooting Brance a worried look, Cynrik gripped the now legless, wingless, and tailless Chimera by the back of its head and slammed its face into the ground hard enough to shatter its beak and facial bones.

[Whether or not I like those movies doesn’t mean I want to hear their most famous quotes in person—resource Stat check.] Brance said while flexing the muscles in his back and sitting perfectly straight.

[I’m still at 100% HP, there is no chance these little shits can touch me; they aren’t fast enough.]

BANG

[My Stamina fell a bit, but it’s still at 81%.]

BANG BANG

[STOP SMASHING ITS FUCKING HEAD INTO THE GROUND, MORON!] Annoyed by the constant banging caused by his brother’s sadistic tendencies, Brance roared, causing Cynrik to pause, look him directly in the eyes.....and smash the Chimera’s head into the ground a final time before stepping away from the unconscious creature with a dissatisfied expression.

[I needed to drop its HP down to 5%, the damn things have over 400k Health Points, so it isn’t easy getting them to a stable unconscious state. Anyway, as I said, my MP is fine, 72%. Nothing I can’t recover from with a couple of minutes of rest.] Shrugging his shoulders and plopping down beside his brother, Cynrik glanced up at the clock and noticed it took them 15 minutes to kill off everything in Wave Twelve.

Well, it took HIM 15 minutes; Brance spent at best two minutes killing his batch off before spending thirteen watching Cynrik bounce around.

[Your expenditure wasn’t as bad as I figured, on my end, HP is at 85%, MP 83%, and Stamina is at 97%. I took much more damage than I initially assumed by doing that cannonball stunt. Those guys are like brick walls. It’s not fun crashing into them at high speeds, but luckily between my plate armor and my shields, I walked away, only losing 15% of my Health Points.] Closing his eyes and slowing his breathing, Brance entered a half-meditative state, increasing his passive regeneration.

’Tsk, I need to work on my MP output,’ Cynrik thought as he matched Brance’s posture and half meditated with a frown on his lips.

’I didn’t expect it would burn so much Mana to cook that fucker; seriously, how densely packed are the muscles in those creatures. Like I understand the higher up on the food chain creatures get, the more mass they pack on, but fuck, it was like trying to cut through thousands of layers of wet mud; my Kodachi just wouldn’t budge without the aid of both Fire and Umbra Mana.’

The more Cynrik thought about it, the deeper his frown became.

’28% wasted on a handful of weaklings; I guess the difference between Stats when it comes to Mid and High Tier is that big. Oh well, I simply have to hit them harder next time.’ Cynrik thought as he started counting down from 300 in his head.

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