Rebirth of the Supreme Sentinel

Chapter 11: Solo Raid

[Oregon Rangers Association]

Receiving the notification from ORA last night, the day where Nichol will be recognized as an official Ranger and above that, will regain his identity as Nichol Schade, finally came. At the reception desk, he presented the QR Code sent to him, received a receipt, and after a brief time, he was ushered towards the examination room.

The examination room is surrounded by surveillance cameras alongside a couple of speakers while two Rangers are stationed there in case of any untoward incident. Lastly, there’s the official who will supervise the process.

“Your name is Nichol Schade and according here, you’ve been pre-registered,” Gemma Watts, the said official that’s supervising the process, said after reading the details from her computer tablet.

“Indeed,” Nichol replied. “My awakening transpired during an accident so Mr. Bowen paid me a visit. The assessment was conducted then.”

“Rank C, Specialist-type,” she read his files again. “Your license is ready but we still need a demo of your ability.”

In practice of the unspoken courtesy, the Association will never encourage nor force the registered Rangers to reveal the name and nature of their Innate Skills. However, they still have to demonstrate the effect produced by their Innate Skills to the Association in order to identify their compatibilities to fellow Rangers and to certain tasks.

“I would need some materials.”

“What kind of materials?”

“A standard issue Mana gun and a few stuffs.”

Ms. Watts nodded and made a call. A few minutes later, a young woman arrived with the requested materials.

“Ms. Watts, if you will?” Nichol picked the Mana gun and offered it to Ms. Watts. “Could you summon a dummy and shoot it?”

A frown appeared against Ms. Watts’ beautiful face but thanks probably to her prior experiences in dealing with Rangers and their abilities, some if not most are obviously weird, she didn’t question his request and complied. Before accepting the gun, she pushed some buttons first on her tablet and a dummy emerged from the floor 15 feet away from where they stood.

*Boom!

She fired the Mana gun and hit the dummy’s shoulder, leaving a gaping hole the size of a nickel. By the way, the durability of the dummy is similar to that of an average human with a layer of titanium covering their entire body.

“Thank you,” Nichol said, taking the Mana gun back from her. “Shambles!”

Then, he activated Shambles and the Mana gun was disassembled into pieces.

Rotating in the air, the other requested materials also floated and joined the disassembled Mana gun and commenced to reconstruct itself. When it was done, a Mana gun with an entirely different design was formed. If before it has the size and shape of a .45 ACP, now it’s a splitting image of an Uzi. Then, the Mana gun was handed again to Ms. Watts.

“Ms. Watts, could you shoot the dummy again?”

 Again, Ms. Watts complied and shot the dummy.

*BOOM!

The firing produced a louder sound and when the bullet struck the dummy, it didn’t just pass through like the initial shot but instead, the Mana concentration, which is the bullet, had spun first and exploded before continuing its advance.

*Kabooom!!!

“Oh my God!!!” Ms. Watts loudly exclaimed when the explosion blasted the dummy into pieces.

“Ms. Watts.” Then a few moments after that, Mr. Bowen’s voice rang from the speakers. “Send Ranger Schade to my office right now.”

“AH!” This completely snapped Ms. Watts from her trance. “Y-yes Chief!” Complying, she turned to Nichol, “Please follow me.”

For the second time, Nichol was led inside the ORA building. They rode the elevator and from the 1st, they headed to the 19th, the second prior to the top floor, where RD Chief Bowen’s office is located.

“Please come in.” Ms. Watts opened the door, then closed it after they entered.

“Ranger Schade, welcome.” Mr. Bowen immediately stood from his seat and extended his hand in which Nichol accepted.

They briefly shook hands and Nichol greeted back, “Nice seeing you again, Mr. Bowen.”

Mr. Bowen then shifted his gaze briefly to Ms. Watts. “Ms. Watts, you may go now. Thank you.”

“Yes,” she inclined her head deeply then left without a word.

“Please, have a seat,” Mr. Bowen returned to Nichol and offered the seat in front of his desk.

“Thank you.”

“Ranger Schade, I’ll go directly to the point,” he said immediately after Ms. Watts exited his office. “We want to invite you to join the Association under the Reconnaissance Department.”

“I must refuse.” In which Nichol had given a definite response just as fast.

This caught Mr. Bowen off guard. “Wait Ranger Schade, don’t be hasty just yet. Hear out our offer first.”

“It doesn’t matter,” he told him. “It’s not about the money or the privileges whatsoever. I simply does not wish to work under anyone ever again.”

Nichol had been a slave to an authority his entire life and still is now in the form of the Akashic System who governs the Rangers. Hence, to whatever form of freedom he still has, he’s resolved to keep it no matter what.

“Though, I’m open to other forms of cooperation,” he said next to the disappointed RD Chief.

“Other forms?”

Nichol nodded. “I know what the Association is after. It’s the weapons my Innate Skill can create.”

No in depth deduction required, it’s pretty obvious.

“I’m not joining the Association but I won’t deny humanity too of what I can contribute. Just give me your support and a place where I can conduct my operations and ORA can access my weapons.”

Nichol needed an operation base, ideally a factory, which will also double as his new residence, a steady supply of top quality materials, and protection. ORA can grant him all of these and if they do, he will advance their weaponry technology.

Mr. Bowen rubbed his chin and mused. “Your offer, I’m in no authority to give you a definite answer. But, if you tell me the things you require, I will recommend it to the President.”

◆◆◆◆◆◆

Leaving ORA with his license and his registries, Nichol immediately took a taxi and pulled out his phone. Through the feeds captured by their surveillance network in real time, they were notified that two fresh Mazes were just summoned today here in Portland and coincidentally, the other one that is still yet to be discovered is just nearby.

Located at the 5th floor of a postponed construction, the earliest possible notice would have been six hours from now when the securities of the property will make their scheduled rounds.

Before then, Nichol and Sen intends to clear the Maze and monopolize all the rewards, hoping too that the clearing reward would be similar to the Rank 2 Maze where he was awakened which gave a (+1) to ALL Stats and a (+2) Mana. Through raids, they intend to fill some of the lacking Stats.

“The Mana reading is Rank 2, right?” Nichol inquired from Sen as he too performed his own scanning of the Maze’s entrance through Libra. “So the Boss could either be a Level 3 or 4.”

-Correct. (Sentinel)

Sen confirmed.

-A Rank 3 Maze. This is going to be a challenge. (Sentinel)

“We’ve prepared enough,” Nichol said, tapping the huge backpack behind him. “The worst thing that could happen here is a rife of Deviants and a Level 4 Boss and surely, we’re capable of handling those.”

Ding!

______________________________

You have entered the Clawnest Swamp

______________________________

Clearing Conditions: 1. Eliminate every single monster, 2. Defeat the Boss.

______________________________

Thankfully, there are no restrictions. There’s even no entry limit. On the other hand, as expected of a potential field-type, there’s another clearing condition aside from defeating the Boss.

Nichol’s face then creaked when the nasty humidity of the Maze invaded his nose.

‘Stink Swamp would have been a more suitable name.’ Nichol internally complained as he covered his mouth and nose with his palm. ‘I better start so we can get out of here the soonest.’ “Shambles!”

*Swooong!!!

Dozens of drones flew out of his backpack and scattered to explore the swamp. Then half an hour later, they’ve returned after supplying them of all the data they needed.

The size of the swamp 5 square kilometres and the monsters spawned in it are Level 2 Lizardmen. There’s a total of 101 Lizardmen including the Level 3 Boss, the Lizard Chieftain. Lizardmen are known for their speed, toughness, and regeneration, making them one of the strongest monsters among the Level 2s. In fact, despite having a handicap of one Level, the Lizard Chieftain is a lot tougher than the Level 4 Werewolf.

As for their weapons, they all wield either spears or halberds and their reptilian nature enables them to navigate the swamps as if it’s a solid ground. Fortunately, they have bad eyesights and relies solely to their sense of touch and hearing to assess their surroundings. This makes the silent and floating drones advantageous against them but on the other hand, an attack that could accomplish a one-hit-kill against them will consume a lot of the drones’ energy reserves.

‘The nearest group is 30 metres from here and it’s a group of three that patrols this perimeter,’ Nichol thought and activated Shambles once more, weaponizing all of his drones. Nichol is stranded, surrounded by swamps. Making it impossible for him to physically navigate the Maze and hence, he would have to fully rely to his drones to fulfil the clearing conditions.

He has 50 drones in total. 40 of them will be solely for combat and support while the rest has logistics as their primary function.

“Go!” Nichol waved his hand forward and the 50 drones simultaneously moved to their targets in synch. Then opening his laptop, he monitored them while analysing their situation in real time.

The first to be eliminated were the nearest three and the four drones that targets them simultaneously plunged a hole to their heads when they stopped to rest.

Ding!

Eliminating them, a notice came up before Nichol’s eyes.

______________________________

Clearing Conditions:

1. Eliminate every single monster: [Progress: 3 out of 100]

2. Defeat the Boss: [Progress: Incomplete]

______________________________

The four drones then absorbed into another group. Eliminating the succeeding groups of targets won’t be as easy especially the Lizard Chieftain who is surrounded by a couple dozen of Lizardmen. Sneak attack won’t work on a cluster of that number and hence, it will take the effort of all of the drones to defeat the Boss and the minions at his disposal in a full frontal engagement.

The drones gradually engaged and eliminated the groups of Lizardmen that are often in five, seven, and sometimes ten. The drones were not completely unscathed but with each victory, they unite and assemble into a larger group, eventually giving them an advantage in number.

*Swish! Swish! Swish!

Seven Lizardmen corpses collapsed to the ground and the last of the patrolling group was finally eliminated. That leaves only the Boss and his guards now.