Beyond M-Eclipse: Easy Mode LIVE

———Lynda———

“Speaking of dungeons. I don’t think most people have a clue of how it was created.” Rico off-handedly mentioned. Well yeah, it’s kind of like how we don’t know what the hell that inciting incident was all about, really. Something that affects the entire world is simply not something even a worldwide government conspiracy can do.

“Is anyone supposed to?” I asked, since she makes it sound like she knows how it came about. I have been scouring through the books like she asked, but I never came across anything that even alludes to it.

“Well. Aside from a select few, not really.” She casually said. What in the world does that even mean?

…Is she not gonna elaborate? Hello? You can’t just say that and say nothing else. Are you gonna leave people hanging? Do you know nothing or do you know everything? What’s going on here?

“‘So what’s your power reading at?’. Come on now, no warriors worth their salt are gonna reveal that. We don’t even publicize your guys’ reading.” She chose to acknowledge that question despite not answering it.

It’s not like we can’t make educated guesses, but I doubt the numbers will be accurate. If we just go through the performance of her and Coach Wana in that exhibition match, which I heard wasn’t at their full strength, then they are at least… in the thousands? Mine is barely triple digits right now, and I can confidently call her over ten times stronger than me.

But speaking of the match. Some people were saying the second pair might even be stronger, simply because of their more flashy techniques and higher power output. I agreed with that at first, but that class all agreed that the first group was stronger. I know full well they’re much smarter than I am, so I’d rather go with their conclusion even if my initial impression is quite different.

“‘Is it in the 1000s?’. You are a few dozen digits off, buddy.” She sarcastically replied. I doubt she’s ever gonna confirm it… And how much damage can you even do with that number? The impact of the clash feels like it could level a few buildings if it wasn’t contained.

…After a period of silence, the sound of heavy rain makes itself clear once more. Hopefully it doesn’t delay things too much. Can’t imagine them having fun hearing all the complaints from our parents.

“‘Does anyone have a way of measuring a monster’s power level?’. Most of us can measure it by feel at this point. That won’t be necessary. I can understand the appeal, and there are tools for it, but I don’t have any of that on me right now.” She answered. I guess that makes sense, you just need to know if they’re weaker or stronger, but I don’t think my energy reading ability.

…Well, at least the atmosphere here feels nice. Don’t know if it’s the lighting or the decor. A bit more colorful than most buses I’ve taken. Also, the vehicle feels quite sturdy too.

“By the way. Since we’re probably arriving late with the rain and traffic, we might have to eat at the local place first before going to the dungeon.” She said during the downtime with no questions or commotions. “I hope some of you guys have strong stomachs. There is no such thing as content censors in real life.”

I know she meant stuff like monster guts and all that, but maybe bring that up later? Or before? Now you’re just making me worried that you’d really go wild. I swear if their entrails got on my shirt again…

“‘What if the monsters attack us?’. No need to worry. I have plenty of energy to spend erecting a barrier to cover for all of you. Not even a nuke would destroy it.” She confidently answered. She’s talking like we’re gonna run into monsters that could easily smash through buildings like they’re made out of cardboard. “Hm? ‘What is the Perfect Class up to?’. Why? They’re also going to a dungeon like the rest of us. Nothing different there.”

———Jeff———

“Argh! What’s with those fighter jets!?” I can’t help but complain. Those things are super loud and they’re surrounding us for some reason! Why are they even here!?

“What a nuisance…” The pink-haired P.E. teacher who came with us muttered to himself. “Edea! I thought you said they gave us clearance before this mess!”

“That did happen! It was two weeks back! How am I supposed to know their information network is slower than molasses!” The pilot shouted back at him. “We even warned them that it’s a kill-on-sight if they disturb us.”

“Come on now, are we seriously doing that!?” He shouted back in protest.

*Boom*

“What in the world? Was that a missile hitting us?” Orrel said, obviously startled. The place shakes a bit, but nothing else aside from that. The sound is quite loud though.

“At least do a warning shot or two!” The pilot shouted out the instruction.

*Boom*

“Do we have ear muffs around here!?” Kenni can’t help but complain in the midst of this very weird situation, another missile hitting the ship and causing more sound. It feels like we should be scared for our lives, but those two just comedically shouting at each other more than anything. Like, not even instructing us to jump off or something, and the ship is still airborne.

“Alright alright! Jeez.” He conceded and got onto the deck. Would he get hit before he got a spell or two off? How strong is he anyway?

“Is there a viewing screen for this?” Emmie meanwhile remains rather unbothered, drinking the fruit punch.

“Let me just bring it up, since you nicely asked.” They replied before a holographic screen popped up for us here in the lobby to see the situation better.

*Zap* *Boom*

He pointed his finger at one of the aircraft and hit its wing with his lighting attack, making it quickly descend down.

Very quickly, a few of the aircrafts quickly fly off while the rest seem adamant on shooting this down. What do they even get out of that?

*Shoot* *Boom*

He tanked the missiles without even erecting a barrier or anything!? He looks rather irritated that they keep trying to attack us.

*Zap* *Zap* *Zap*

He quickly shot down the rest of the aircrafts nearby and ended the encounter in roughly five seconds. He shot the wings and propellers to make sure they stopped moving and fell to the ground. I can see a lot of blue below us, so the likelihood of hitting something important is pretty low. Still rather concerning though.

“That was rather quick and efficient. I hope for their sake that they know how to work a parachute.” Emmie casually commented while many of us are obviously still at a loss for words.

“It wasn’t hard, but it does feel like swatting away flies, it’s not really enjoyable.” The teacher said as he got back inside.

“At least now we can go back to the normal schedule.” The pilot said. From how they’re talking it really does seem like those things weren’t a threat at all. They only stopped them because it became an annoyance. “Alright, you guys, relax and enjoy the scenery. You can now go to the deck if you want.”

…Should we do that though? Ah. Emmie stood up and went up to the deck immediately. She is a ballsy one, so that’s expected. Same with Kenni. She can just fly back if she accidentally trips and drops off the ship, since it’s not really moving that fast anyway.

“Well this is certainly not something we see everyday.” Gregori remarked. “No idea how a flying ship can tank multiple missiles, but we can just roll with it.”

“This thing is state of the art. That’s why.” The pilot said confidently, before looking at something on the control panel and turning to look at the teacher. “Able, looks like there is a giant power reading that is about to emerge from the ocean. Want to go take a look?”

“Why ask me? Ask the kids here.” He gave a non-answer and shifted their attention to us.

“Yeah sure.” Kenni quickly replied.

“Alrighty then!” They make the decision just off that!? “We’re going to descend down to get a good look at this leviathan-class Mystic Beast. Make sure to not be scared witless!”

“Was that all just pretense?” Useph muttered, bewildered at the turn of events.

“At this point it just feels like this is all completely unplanned…” Malk remarked. At least it’s interesting. I mean, we’re in a big flying ship. Those things like fantasy settings everyone is raring to get!

“I mean. They don’t seem to know where they’re going from the start.” Qyunda chimed in.

“Hey, if nothing else. It’s kinda entertaining.” Karra said to lighten the mood. I don’t think some of us are frustrated or anything, moreso bewildered. At least I am.

Soon enough we can see the ocean below us more clearly, the sky is dark and full of clouds, though there is no rain, as far as I can tell.

*Splash*

A giant wave hit the bottom of the ship as it moved closer to whatever they were talking about… Holy crap what the hell is that!?

“A giant squid.” The teacher said, looking slightly apprehensive. Isn’t saying giant a bit too much of an understatement!? This thing looks at least ten-stories tall! It has a crap ton of yellow eyes on both sides of its… head? Body? What do you call that big part of it? Anyway, the large pale blue body with a bunch of ominous yellow eyes all over.

*Wrap* *Wrap* *Shake*

“It’s attacking the ship!?” The pink-haired teacher said, sounding rather startled. “Wait, what about the two on the deck!?”

*Shake*

“Whoa!” This is rocking the boat a bit more than I would like! At least it looks like it’s backing off for a moment.

“Those two repelled one of the tentacles holding the ship. They didn’t do much damage to it, but enough for it to be surprised and momentarily back off.” The pilot explained the situation. Those tentacles are as thick as a bus, and probably even tougher if the intel is accurate. “Not for long though. Let’s float a bit higher than this so it won’t reach us.”

*Wrap*

“Are you kidding… Wait a moment.” Before the ship could completely get away, the colossal squid grabbed onto the ship even after it ascended quite high. How long are those damn tentacles!

*Shock*

The ship seems to let out some sort of electrical force field that makes the beast quickly retreat. Wait. Can it just do that instead of having one of us go to the deck and attack it!?

“Now then… I don’t really feel like using any of the weapons here. Able, be a dear and send it back into the deep sea, please?” The pilot said, putting on a fake cute voice. I’m not sure what to make of a grown-ass person doing that. I guess they are at least well-acquainted, but it’s still weird to witness.

“Are you kidding me!? Do it yourself! You’re stronger than me anyway, why don’t you do it!” He quickly snapped back with a complaint.

“Nah. I’m the pilot anyway, I can’t just leave my station, unless you want to steer it in my place.” They said, clearly taking a piss of the situation.

“...Yeah okay. Why am I even stuck with you.” He complained before walking to the deck.

*Shine* *ZAP*

“Agh!” I yelped with the giant and bright lightning strike completely covering the view and blinding just about everything!

…By the time I can finally see again, the monster is gone… Is it dead?

“Looks like it retreated. Honestly, I didn’t quite expect it to be so aggressive.” The pilot casually remarked. How did it survive that? That attack looks like it could electrocute like… I don’t know, a hundred miles worth of ocean? “...Did he make sure to localize it enough to not kill all the sealife around here?”

…Well that’s a terrifying question to ask…