Chương 91: A Full Team - 3

"DAMN IT!" LANCE shouted. He leapt backwards in an attempt to re-enter the portal before it closed, but it was hopeless. The portal had closed the very moment it had ejected them back to Headquarters. His father's magic was far too advanced to allow for even the slightest delay.

Lance, for the first time in many years, acted his age and stormed down one side of the room to the other, swearing and screaming and hitting the walls, which, had it not been built of a super-dense crystal, would've broken due to his incredible muscles. Frank was the only member of the party who did not look at him in disbelief or display a shocked look at why their team co-captain was cussing.

Even so, after so many minutes of no one daring to stop his storming or potty language, Frank laid his hand on his shoulder.

"Lad, enough." In an instance, all the fire and piss drained from him. He mumbled an apology.

"What happened?" Outlet asked, softly as their mechanical voice allowed. Frank explained what happened back at The Grotto before the three of the team — Outlet, Horn, and Penn Vic — left. Of how Warhol held no compassion for his humanity and intended on continuing his mutations despite his monstrous path. Lance added bits to Frank's explanation about how he had helped his father a couple of years ago and felt powerless in doing so now. No one knew what to say.

Though Horn knew what to do: he approached Lance, bowed, and said, "I apologize for your caregiver's mania, friend. In my tribe, it is not unheard of for the strongest to wander off in 'power lust,' as we call it, and seek to destroy ever stronger opponents to grow their strength. Many such dragon folk end up getting themselves killed or imprisoned in a far-away land, never to be heard from again. Though our circumstances are different, this feels a proper parallel."

"Thank you, Horn. It means a lot to hear you say that" he replied. And he meant the words. Seeing the best and strongest of his tribe succumb to 'power mania,' must be hard, especially to those younger members who needed effective role models.

"I don't know what I can do anymore." Penn Vic came over to hug him.

"I'm sorry, Lance. How about we unwind from everything for a little while, huh? Take a day off, rest, and get our heads on straight. Everyone has been through a lot. You, me, though not in the same way as you, obviously. But this sudden overabundance of Boon Points is stimulating in a different way, and I wouldn't mind your help with sorting it after we have had time to process what's happened." Outlet nodded.

"Penn Vic speaks wisdom. I implore you to take some personal time, Lance. When you are less worked up, we can tackle everything together, as a team. Including what to do about your father."

"I think that is an incredible idea, Outlet. I can help you and Horn in understanding what to do with your allotment of Boon Points. Lance," he stared at the lad.

"You can assist the young lady. Does a couple of days sound good?"

"Yeah. Two days is fine," he confirmed as he and Penn wandered off to his dormitory. What he needed was a good nap. It sounded childish, but it wasn't, not after the high emotional toll of the day combined with the last time he slept normally being, sometime in the past... Awake, he dried his tears, meditated, and spent a relaxing day with Penn Vic.

Together, they saw the city; they attended plays, watched street performers juggle and perform slight-of-hand tricks, and eat their body weights in eateries all over the city, from cart vendors to the fanciest restaurants. They finished their day with a 'constellation tour' out on the city's greenback. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. And then it was over and both of them agreed it was time for them to get back to work.

"Are you sure you don't need more time off?" Frank asked in a busy control room whose many strange inventions were blinking and ringing nonstop.

"I am good, Frank. Really. I just needed to vent and have a crash day. I'm ready to get back to it." He explained.

"And just in time, too? Looks chaotic."

"You can say that twice!" Frank wiped some sweat from his brow to prevent it from streaming into his eyes.

"You remember that meteorite monster? We've been getting reports that similar monsters have been reported all over the Eastern Continent. I've dispatched Outlet and Horn, but even using portals to get around quickly, there is only so much two guys can do against a literal storm of these freaks." Penn Vic looked at the situation and smiled.

"Frank. Give me twenty minutes. I will have this chaos more organized than my father's taxes."

"Thank you, darling," Frank said warmly.

"Lance, I want you... crap! Two alerts are coming from here!" Lance patted Frank on the back.

"It's okay. I got these two new ones!"

"Wait! Did you purchase some holy magic from the Holy Shop?"

"Yup! Already taken care of — I purchased the [Absolute Infuse] when my father trained me on Murder Island! I'll be fine!"

"Okay! I'm relying on you, kid!" Frank tossed him an earpiece; really, it was a shiny rock that was infused with telecommunications magic. What that meant he hadn't the slightest idea, but evidently, from his father's 'research' into 'fusion magic,' people were using such insights to create brand new magics.

'Telecommunication' was but one type of new magic being explored because of their contributions.

"Sure!" Lance inserted the rock into his ear. It was uncomfortable but there wasn't anything he could do about that, so he would just need to suck it up. He ran from the building and shot toward the first signature location — near the poor district.

"Can you hear me?" Penn Vic's voice rang in his ear.

"Loud and clear," he replied.

"What's it looking like, Penn?"

"The energy signatures inside the city are the same from last time. They should be the same power level, then. I doubt you will have any trouble!"

"Here's hoping!" Lance arrived at the poor district and saw the monster right away. It had already consumed several people, leaving only skeletons in its wake. The monster was wrapped around a streetlamp like a spidery snake. It was clearly hoping unexpecting victims would come along which it could string up and devour. Not anymore!

He gave the creature no quarter and willed his weapon into a crossbow: he channeled Holy Magic into his weapon and fired as many bolts as quick as he could, given the dynamics of his Boons. His bolts shot into the creature and delivered immense agony, as indicated by its shrieking. The monster fell from the lamppost and writhed on the ground as ichor blood splattered onto the street.

Lance rushed ahead; he willed his weapon to take the form of a two-handed battleaxe and brought it down on the monster seconds after infusing it with another surge of holy magic. The strike hit clean and severed its head. Then, for good measure, Lance heaved several more times against the monster, not resting until he knew for sure it was dead.

[You Have Killed Horror Assemblage: You Have Gained XP] Satisfied the monster was dead only when he saw the System message, he rushed then to the next signature in the city, letting Penn know of his win.

"That's my man!" she chirped back.

'Her' man? What did she mean by that? The next meteorite monster was near a tourist site called 'the infinite well.' Although the well was not actually infinite — perish the thought! — it gave a decent appearance of infinity by the way of moving water leylines beneath the city always shifting the deepest point of the well. It wasn't an impressive tourist attraction in Lance's book, but that aside, the quality of city attractions wasn't why he was peering into the well.

It was the monster, of course, and the fact that it took up its habitation inside.

"Come on out, you ugly sack of shite!" he yelled into the well. He willed his weapon to change into a long pole, infused it with holy energy, and got to stabbing! Needing more depth, he decided to jump into the well, weapon tip first! He fell for only seconds before his weapon bore into flesh. Lance's crash into the monster killed it instantly. He dismissed the notification, then shimmied his way back up the well. He gasped for some fresh air.

"Hardly a workout," he mumbled to himself. To Penn Vic, he said, "All taken care of, babe!" Why did he say that? Because he was being playful with a friend? Sure, that made sense.

"Sounds great, hot stuff. Come on back to Headquarters and— wait!" But Lance did not need to wait to hear what she was about to say, for his saw it with his naked eyes: a massive meteorite strode through the sky and crashed just outside the city, leaving a gray plume of dust in its wake.

"I'm already on route, Penn! Leave it to me!"