I increased my mana output to forty-five, the max I can release due to my probation period. My fatigue faded as the suit pumped my muscles and nervous system with this magical power that felt like a drug. 

My sword and pistol reacted to a vast increase in mana. Black lighting sparked and rippled off my body. 

“Let’s go quick before the recoil kicks in,” Racheal stated before stepping off her right foot and flashing into the cave, leaving a small crack in the ground and a shockwave from her speed. 

Following behind her, the surrounding area blurred when I matched her speed, unlike Racheal, who left a gust of wind. I have a trail of lightning behind me. The cave was dark, but we could move through the cave maze thanks to the tracker. 

Stopping just before a colossal clearing crackle of light made it impossible. PB-27 was licking its wounds, and once it spotted us. Racheal was the first to make a move. She hit the beast in the injured shoulder. 

Blood spurt out of the missing limb. It swung with its remaining front paw, but I shot lighting from my pistol before it made contact with her. This time the bolt shot through the leg and burned the wound shut. Racheal took the opportunity to deliver the final blow to the beast by cleanly cutting the beast's head from its body. The body fell to the ground with a thud.

Walking around the corpse, she stabbed the body multiple times in vital spots to ensure the core was destroyed. 

“Okay, let’s go and go back and tell hq that we successfully killed PB-27,” she said while placing another track into the beast's corpse. 

Lowering our output, both of us flinched as fatigue kicked in. I kept whatever I at my stomach and mouth. Racheal strained, and her whole body shook in response. I looked at Racheal, who was struggling to keep her body from passing out. 

Failing in this task, she dropped, but luckily I caught her before she hit the ground, even if my muscles protested from the quick movements. I set her down on the ground and closed my eyes to gather the strength to carry her and myself back to the others. No noise could be heard for a peaceful fifteen minutes, but something felt off about the size and damage the beast did to the ecosystem. Opening my eyes, I got up and walked over to the corpse. 

Examining it, I found it was smaller than I expected, about the same size as a brown bear rather than a polar bear. Either way, it’s dead, so what am I worrying about? I looked around the clearing; the entrance was much bigger than us, even the beast. I also noticed much more penguin corpses here than in the wild. The final thing I noticed was the giant claw marks on the cave walls. Picking up the severed leg of PB-27, the claw marks were roughly five times bigger than the ones on PB-27. 

Reality finally set in as I immediately dropped the limb and rushed to pick up Racheal. I was lifting her over my shoulder and grabbing both our weapons. I stopped just a couple of meters away from the entrance. My heart raced and pounded against my chest as two crystal blue eyes looked down at me. Like prey, when an apex predator has it trapped, dread and fear take over my body. PB-27 was just a baby whose mother or father stood before me. 

About twenty times bigger than PB-27, it could kill an elephant with its mammoth tusks, ice claws that could be considered small icebergs, and teeth that no creature on earth could defend against. If the megalodon had a land counterpart, it would be this. It had two large ice spikes coming off its back. Finally calming down, I set Racheal on the ground as I knew the only choice was to kill it. Grabbing my weapons, I took a deep breath and rereleased maximum output. 

My body wanted to reject the mana. But ignoring the sign and possible consequences of continuing, I let the mana take control of my body. The beast I’m dubbing mama bear took a step back before roaring with a bass that made my organs feel jelly. 

Aiming my pistol, I fired three bolts of lighting at her. Explosions and black lighting came off her body and struck the walls and ceilings of the cave. Sending debris down, mama bear didn’t react besides opening her mouth as a white mist emerged. Cursing, I grabbed Racheal and covered her with my body as a blast of frost shot out from mama bear’s mouth. The blast froze and encased everything in ice. 

A sharp pain radiates throughout my whole body. As my whole back was frozen, I could feel the very cells die from the low temperature. Looking down, Racheal was fine as I cradled her in my arms. Cursing again, I set her down and turned to face mama bear. Who now shows her teeth after seeing the corpse of her cub. I got up, and my body shivered violently as I felt my body temperature dropping. 

I need to increase my output, but these damn inhibitors stopped my actual output. Frustration and desperation kicked in as I clawed and ripped at my wrist and neck. Mama Bear took the opportunity to fire an ice shard at me from her mouth. Quickly raising my pistol, I shot at the ice shard, which shattered immediately. 

Charging underneath the mama bear, I swung my sword at her left front legs. Tightening my grip and muscle tendons, I felt ripped ligaments. But the force of the strike was enough to buckle mama bear, and she fell to the floor with a thud and snow. 

If my assumption was correct, the crystal-channeled mana allowed her to release a spell. The crystals lit up as mama bear stood up, knocking me off my aim. I fell to the floor and readjusted my aim to her right hind leg. The crackling of lightning lit up the dark cave. I pulled the trigger, and a large lightning bolt struck her hind leg. My left arm jolted back from the recoil, and I thought I heard some bones snapping. Rolling on the ground, I immediately got up just to be hit by her paw on the left side of my body. I went flying into the cave walls. I couldn’t tell if the cracking and breaking noise was from my bones or the wall. 

Coughing up blood, I tried to lift myself from the ground. My left arm had no feeling, and my back felt like shattered ice. Lifting myself up, I was now staring at mama bear; my vision was going in and out of focus. I felt myself slipping into unconsciousness as blood poured out of my body. Hearing a metallic thud, I saw the broken inhibitors fall onto the ground. Taking the opportunity, I took a deep breath and focused on my thoughts. 

Give me strength this time. Let me defeat this monster, and as if god answered my prayer. A burning feeling could be felt in my stomach, but it didn’t hurt. It was comforting, like being next to a fire on a chilly night. I let this feeling take over me and let my entire body embrace it. Mana erupted from my body in the form of black lighting. 

The lighting ripped and tore through the surrounding area, and at this point, mama bear stepped away from me. The once threatening eyes now switched to fear as I felt mana pour out of my body like a raging flood. Debris fell onto the floor. At this point, I could care less about the damage to the cave, but looking down at Racheal, who was still lying unconscious. I had to prioritize her safety; stepping with my right foot, the world around me converged onto itself. With the speed of lighting, I made my way to Racheal.

But mama bear finally regained her confidence as she stuck her paw between Racheal and me. Taking my sword, I swung down onto her paw. Lighting sparked to life, and thunder roared as I cut through the paw of Mama Bear. 

She yelped and shirked as blood spurted out of it. Taking the opportunity, I jumped onto her back, and once again, the crystal glowed, but this time brighter and brighter. The temperature dropped about the same as when PB-27 used the attack that knocked the others out of commission, but this time my gut told me to not let her release the attack. 

Focusing the mana into my arm, holding the sword and my legs. The recoil started returning, but I didn’t care at this point. My vision focused on the crystals, and the booming sound of thunder shook the cave. Soon after, the cracking and shattering sound of the crystal made the area’s temperature rise. 

My vision was so focused I could see tiny black particles move and vibrate in a zigzag pattern to the nearby objects. Is this mana in atom form? While taking in the new sight, mama bear was now stepping away from me. Her once terrifying appearance now looked like a frightened dog. Stepping towards her, my thoughts screamed and yelled at me to kill. Not just the monster but every life form. 

Jumping up so I’m above mama bear, the black particles moved to cover my sword and through my arm down to my stomach. Swinging down, a giant lightning bolt struck mama bear like the gods smiting a heretic. The cave lit up when the bolt blasted through mama bear’s chest and into the ground. Large cracks formed and ran up the cave walls to the ceiling, finally sending it down. Quickly rushing over to Racheal, the floor gave out as we fell deeper into the frozen cavern.

William Kaiser 

The sun was setting, and looking at the clock on my forearm, it was twenty minutes before they were supposed to return. While they were gone, I set up two tents and tried to save my foot from frostbite. Hanz is recovering much faster than I thought he would. He stared at the fire pit, and his face was somber and defeated. I will have to comfort him later, but making my inside the largest tent to check up on Diana. Her condition has worsened as her wound wouldn’t stop bleeding, and she might have an Infection because of the bandage. 

Removing the bloody bandage, I disinfected the wound on her side and wrapped it with a new set. Diana slept the entire process as her suit tried to heal the injury. One great thing about the suits is that they fill your body with mana through tiny needles inside them. Also, the suits have a mind of their own, maybe because they are made out of dead monsters, but the suit tries everything to save the wearer. Unfortunately, due to how the human body works, it can’t handle a certain threshold of mana without severely damaging its cells. 

Honestly, that’s probably why I envy General Wallace. She and the other generals are the closest things to gods a human can be, and I want to know what that power feels like. Hearing a loud noise, I ran out of the tent and saw Hanz standing up, looking into the sky. Following my brother’s eyes, I saw a helicopter hovering above us. Four ropes drop-down, with four soldiers sliding down the ropes. Ivan and Joshua were among them, while two others wore face masks and had rifles. 

“Where’s Ren and Racheal?” Ivan said, but not in his typically playful tone. 

“Um, they left to finish the mission; they should be back in five minutes,” I responded while saluting to the captain. 

“Okay, check Ren’s suit location.” He turned to Joshua, who already had his forearm screen on his location. 

Before anyone could move, an overbearing pressure took over the whole area. Even Ivan and Joshua were surprised by the pressure. Looking into the distance, black lighting shot up into the sky about 2 kilometers away in the direction they ran into. Even this far away, why do I feel like some great deity has awoken from their slumber and was very unhappy? 

It finally clicked as I stared at the black lighting moving wildly in the distance. Could Ren be the key to godhood?