CHAPTER 376: ATHERIS PRIME

The icy winds howled across the crater as Mako, Alexi, and Erin stood amidst the shattered remains of the three golems. The silence that followed the battle was as deafening as the clash itself. Each of them was panting heavily. The intensity of the encounter weighed on them, evident in the grim expressions they exchanged.

Mako slid his katana back into its sheath, the flames extinguishing with a quiet hiss as the cold quickly cooled down the blade. He glanced at his teammates, his face a mix of relief and frustration. "That was way harder than it should’ve been," he muttered.

"No kidding," Alexi said, slumping onto a nearby chunk of ice. "You were right, judging by their auras, I could tell that they weren’t stronger than a high-tier beast and yet we struggled against those three. High-tier! I killed dozens of them with my own hands during the recruitment test without breaking a sweat."

Erin crouched by the rubble of one of the golems, examining the glowing fragments. "The environment didn’t help," she said, pulling out a small container to collect some of the glowing shards for their other mission of documenting all the different species of beasts that they encountered.

"The gravity, the lack of water for my abilities, the freezing temperatures... nothing could have prepared for this," Erin added.

Mako nodded, his jaw tightening. "Erin’s right... This isn’t Earth; this is their domain and we’re the intruders here, and they have every advantage. Those beasts’ natural defenses alone were tough enough to handle, but adding the hardening ability on top of that made it even harder to break through."

"Hardening ability...?" Alexi suddenly questioned with a quizzical look as he processed Mako’s last comment. "How did you figure that they had the hardening ability?"

A sudden wave of realization hit Mako like a speeding truck as he realized that he had made a critical error and had slipped up. The only reason Mako knew about the Golem’s details was because of his Analyze skill that outright told him everything he needed to know.

"Well... I just figured they must’ve had some kind of reinforcing ability," Mako said, his tone slightly awkward. "That crystal on their chest was ridiculously tough to crack, even with all our abilities and weapons. And, uh... since they didn’t seem to be using any other abilities, I assumed it had to be something like hardening."

Alexi and Erin looked at Mako with a slightly quizzical and suspicious look but they had no basis on which to be actually suspicious of him so they quickly chalked it up to him just getting lucky while making an educated guess.

"Anyways...It’s no excuse, though. We can’t afford to be this sloppy. If this is what high-tier beasts can do to us, what happens when we face advanced-tier ones?" Alexi voiced his concern.

Alexi was completely correct in this regard as all three of them knew that these golems wouldn’t be the last beasts they would face while they completed their missions on Infernis and who was to say there weren’t beasts stronger than those golems wandering around on Infernis.

This first fight acted as a wake-up call for all of them but for Mako, it was much more as this fight opened his eyes to the shocking truth and reality of the power that each tier of beast possessed.

This was why weapons, armor, and tools forged from crystals of the same rarity as the beast’s tier were often far stronger on Earth than the beasts themselves.

Mako clenched his fists, realizing that his original plan of farming these beasts to level up was no longer practical, given how grueling and challenging each battle would be.

*DING!*

[A Difficult High-Level Beast Has Been Defeated]

[+2000 EXP]

Mako grumbled, picking up the glowing crystal from the golem he defeated. "At least we got these. Let’s just focus on finishing extracting Cyrolite and getting out of here before any more of those things show up. We can figure out a game plan once we know were are safe from any danger."

The group agreed and quickly regrouped at their makeshift extraction site. Despite the tension and exhaustion, they worked methodically, wary of any sign of approaching danger. Alexi resumed his makeshift thermal drill method, this time with Erin heading back to the van to use its scanners to see if any other beasts were approaching their location while Mako stood guard right beside Alexi ready to intercept any threats.

As they continued their task, Mako’s mind wandered to their other teammates. Leon, Nathan, and Isabella were on Atheris Prime, a crystalline planet with even higher gravity than Infernis. He couldn’t help but wonder how they were faring.

******************

The scene shifted to the surface of Atheris Prime. The ground shimmered with a kaleidoscope of colors, crystalline formations jutting out at every angle. The gravity was oppressive, three times that of Earth, making every movement a test of strength and endurance.

Leon, Nathan, and Isabella stood back-to-back in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by a swarm of mutated crystalline cockroaches. Each creature was the size of a small dog, their iridescent exoskeletons reflecting the faint light of the planet’s distant sun. Their mandibles clicked menacingly as they closed in, their movements unnervingly synchronized.

"We’re surrounded," Leon said, his voice tense but steady. He held his twin daggers, electricity crackling along their edges. Sweat dripped from his brow, not from heat but from the effort of moving under the planet’s crushing gravity.

"I’ve got an idea," Nathan replied, his nanite suit shifting around him. The suit’s sleek black surface glowed faintly as he commanded it to form a circular shield around the group. The cockroaches hissed and clawed at the barrier, their sharp appendages scraping against the metallic surface. "This won’t hold forever. Isabella, any chance you can thin them out?"

Isabella, standing with her staff-like weapon in hand, nodded. She raised it high, channeling her wind ability. The air around her began to swirl, growing into a powerful gale. With a shout, she unleashed the wind in a sweeping arc, sending dozens of the creatures tumbling backward.

"Nice shot," Leon said, using the opening to dash forward. His speed ability allowed him to move in short bursts despite the gravity, and he targeted the disoriented cockroaches. His lightning-infused strikes crackled as they made contact, shattering the exoskeletons of several enemies.

But the swarm was relentless. For every cockroach they defeated, it seemed like two more emerged from the crystalline underbrush.

"They’re not letting up!" Isabella shouted, using her earth ability to summon jagged spikes from the ground, impaling a cluster of the creatures. "Nathan, any other tricks?"

Nathan’s eyes glowed faintly as he activated his Hacka ability. The nanites formed a pair of floating blasters at his sides, firing concentrated energy bolts into the swarm. "I’m running low on power," he admitted. "We need to find a way to either retreat or finish them off quickly."

Leon skidded to a halt beside them, panting heavily. "We’re not outrunning them in this gravity. Isabella, do you have any water left?"

She checked her canteen. "Barely a few ounces. Not enough for anything big."

Leon frowned, thinking quickly. "Fine. We’ll have to make do. Nathan, can you channel your blasters into a single burst?"

Nathan nodded. "It’ll burn out the system, but yeah. What’s the plan?"

Leon grinned, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten. "Isabella, create a funnel with your wind and earth abilities. Direct as many of them as you can into one spot. Nathan, when they’re clustered, hit them with everything you’ve got."

"Got it," Isabella said, already summoning her powers. The ground around the swarm began to rise, forming walls that guided the cockroaches into a tighter formation. At the same time, she used her wind to push them forward, her control precise despite her dwindling energy.

"Ready when you are," Nathan said, the energy in his blasters building to a brilliant glow.

"Do it!" Leon shouted.

Nathan unleashed the full power of his blasters, a massive energy beam cutting through the center of the swarm. The crystalline cockroaches screeched as the beam disintegrated their bodies, leaving behind a smoldering crater.

The remaining creatures, now severely diminished in number, hesitated. Sensing the tide of battle had turned, they scattered, retreating into the crystalline wilderness.

The trio collapsed to the ground, utterly spent. Leon let out a breathless laugh. "That... was insane."

"No kidding," Nathan said, his suit reverting to its default state. "But we’re alive. That’s what matters."

Isabella managed a tired smile. "Let’s hope the others are having an easier time than we are."

As they caught their breath, the faint glow of the crystalline formations around them provided a stark reminder of the planet’s dangers. Their first task might have been completed, but Atheris Prime was far from finished with them.

*****

The battlefield fell silent, the only sound was the labored breathing of the group. Mako knelt beside Alexi, who was clutching his side where the earlier hit had left a nasty bruise. Erin leaned against her bow, her hands trembling from the exertion.

"We did it," Mako said, his voice hoarse. "Everyone okay?"

"Barely," Alexi muttered, wincing as he tried to sit up. Erin nodded, though her pale complexion betrayed her exhaustion.