Chapter 19: Blind Spot

  Four people sat in a far too large conference room around a far too large table. Chips and sweets lay scattered between them and their heads hang over tablets, endlessly scrolling through a list with names and personal information. The room had no real windows, as it was situated deep under ground. Instead large screens gave the impression they were in the middle of a jungle at dawn.

  Once a month this group came together to sift through mountains of prepared data. An arduous task, if you go by their faces.

  “If I see another Berserker or Blood Knight with level 30+ who is barely 20 I throw that thing against a wall.” A man with green hair moaned. “Then be prepared to get a new tablet.” A tall blond woman answered without looking up. “They produce those power leveled babies on mass now. I would rather take a level one over such a brain dead-”. “HA!” The other woman in the room suddenly exclaimed. Her oriental face was covered with tattoos and a wide grin. “There he is again. I’m telling you we need to talk to the tech guys. They need to retrain the AI.” The first man leaned over, “Who?”.

  “This German guy, how do you pronounce that? Anyway, he is a low level Fighter, of all things, and has shown up at least twice in the list. I just remembered because his name looked funny.” She pointed at the young man. The last person in the room, a black haired Asian with licorice in his mouth scrolled to the name. His eyes hang on the basic information for a second than he swiped the name over and “Marcus Freimann” appeared on the large screen on the wall. The screen was empty besides this one entry and the headline “watch list”.

  The green haired man leaned back with an amused look on his face “You can’t be serious Kim.”. The other man looked up and squinted his eyes, his fingers moved over the name again and detailed information appeared. His eyes glanced over various points while his hands reached out for more sugary delights and stopped. “You are right Jack.” He put his finger on the name again and a few seconds later a new symbol appeared next to the name on the big screen. “High Priority”

  Far away from this meeting in a training hall in the middle of nowhere a group of class holders gathered around a young man. “My name is Ben Greyer and I’m a level 17 Weapon Master.” He said with a strong German accent. Like the rest he had shown up in his full gear including a tall two handed blade. Without much further ado he stepped near a test target and swung the blade with speed and precision. The blade arced in fluid motions and first both arms and then the head flew off. With a last rotary motion the chest was cut in half. Marcus watched it in awe, there had been no breaks in the attack and they were precise without any extra motion or wasted power. The rest seemed to think so too as clapping and nodding was going around. The tall man smirked and got a bit red around the cheeks.

  Marcus took a deep breath. Now, that the introduction was over a certain re-match would be next and Marcus’ body still remembered the beating he had taken last time. Janette remembered too and had from somewhere produced an actual cup of popcorn and a soda. She wiggled her eyebrows when she saw his look. She enjoyed this far too much.

  “As I understand it. A sparring match has been declared.” Russo started and also looked far more chipper than Marcus liked. “About that.” Pierre intervened, looking a bit uneasy. “Ben should take my place. He needs the experience more than me.” Marcus was surprised and looked at the tall blond man who stepped up. “If that is okay with you Marcus?” Pierre added. Marcus was completely thrown off his game by this change and agreed more out of reflex than anything else.

  “I will just get my training sword.” Ben said. “No need for that. Just use your real one.” Russo said with a smile. RUSSO! Marcus screamed internally. “You are skilled enough to control your strikes. As long as you do not dismember Marcus everything is fine. He heals fast.” Russo and the rest made a lot of space for the two young men. Marcus could not believe this betrayal. Just use a real sword. Marcus heals fast. As the men took there stances Russo called a last time. “Don’t kill him Marcus.”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Ben’s eye sharpened at these words and Marcus wondered why his own team leader agitated his opponent. He took a deep breath, closed his helmet and got into his stance. He had some experience with fighting against blades thanks to Lars but the two handed blade had greater reach and was as fast- Marcus nearly missed the sword. In the last second he turned his body and the edge scratched over his heavy armor. He had underestimated the reach of the sword and before he could find his footing another swing came at him. He could not avoid it and instead brought his arms forward to deflect the blow somewhat. Anchor activated nearly as a reflex as the blade made contact.

  Any martial weapon in the hand of a Weapon Master was deadly. They became sharper, sturdier and the WM can control them better than any other human or class holder. The sword hit Marcus at a bad angle and yet the blade buried into his armor and cut a deep red streak into his forearm. Ben flinched back, nearly loosing his sword and Marcus saw a chance and stepped closer. His enemy turned and Marcus expected another cut with the sword, instead Ben used his momentum and turned into a powerful kick.

  The attack connected at Marcus’ calf and confirmed that Ben had a good amount of strength crests but the result was not in Ben’s favor. “Argh” with clenched teeth the Weapon master hobbled back, trying to create some distance. Marcus was already next to him, unleashing a right hook towards Ben’s ribs. Somehow the blond man managed to turn in time and use his arm and shoulder for protection. Impulse Hammer connected and the man was pushed back by at least one meter. Gasping he swung around, readying his sword. “That’s it. It’s over.” Cullen’s voice suddenly ended the fight.

  “But I can still fight.” Ben pleaded and Marcus was also surprised by the quick end. “Yes you can. But that is only because young Marcus here greatly reduced the power of the strike. If he had hit you in earnest you would be on the floor and your arm would be shattered.” Cullen explained. Ben’s eyes moved to Pierre who nodded and then the Weapon Master lowered his sword and let his head hang. “Thank you for the match.” he said and Marcus repeated it. Pierre took Ben with him and gave Marcus a thumbs up.

  Marcus was still befuddled as a popcorn chewing Janette stepped next to him. “What just happened?” Marcus asked. She looked at him and sucked her fingers clean. “You really have no idea what a dangerous opponent you have became.” She said without a hint of sarcasm. “She is right.” Lars had joined them. “Hitting you feels like hitting a block of steel. Power attacks are a no go. Only piercing attacks and things like throws and holds are a real option for melee types. And throwing has become nearly useless since you started to use Anchor all the time.” Marcus did not know what to say. Sure, he had become stronger but he still had so many weaknesses. “That Ben just got the scare of his life. An enemy who can just step into his blade and does not back down.” Lars said and helped Janette with her popcorn. “I guess this is why Pierre made him fight you. He used you as a learning lesson.”

  Janette turned Marcus’ arm. His armor was slightly damaged but the wound beneath had already stopped bleeding and overall the cut did not seem that deep. “If a normal class holder had tried this they had lost an arm.” Lars remarked. “Your insane vitality for such a low level makes you a deadly enemy to anybody who can not completely overpower you.” Janette agreed. “Maybe you do not realize this because you have a bad match up against the rest of us and we train with you all the time.” With this Lars send him to the showers.

  Bad match up. Marcus thought, while hot water ran over his body. It was true, Janette’s super strong rifle attacks, Pavel’s high speed movement and ranged attacks, Lars’ nasty channeled lightning and Russo’s deadly piercing spears. They were all strong opponents for him but he had never thought that other classes saw him as a dangerous match up. This realization gave him confidence.

  After dinner that evening, Russo invited him into his room and made some tea. “Marcus, the coming confrontation is different from what you have experienced until now.” His boss said, while sitting down on the chair in front of Marcus. Marcus nodded. He would engage humans, potentially with modern weapons and knowledge about classes. He understood what Russo wanted to say “I will be careful.” Marcus answered.

  Russo gave him a sad smile and looked at his tea for a moment. “Marcus, with your powerful armor and great vitality you can take several bullets and keep going.” Russo’s looked up from his tea and right into Marcus’ eyes. “The rest of the team is not that sturdy. A head shot or a hit to the neck might be deadly for most.” The old man’s voice was calm but firm. “Do you understand what I mean?” Marcus did. Slowly it dawned on him what Russo meant, why he had asked him to speak in private. A serious expression formed on Marcus’ face and he nodded. “Good.” Russo patted his shoulder.