The Over-Break System

Fifteen minutes after discovering he could manipulate the cave walls with his Terra Affinity, Brance brought B-squad to a stop at a ledge overlooking a vast, open cavern filled with primitive huts.

Crouching behind an outcropping of boulders with Benny and Selene nearby, Brance’s eyes narrowed as he analyzed the cavern and its inhabitants below.

Frantically running around like a swarm of ants, Yetis in many different sizes and shapes ran around the village, gathering primitive weapons, barking orders, and rushing away from the safety of their homes toward what Brance assumed was an exit to the surface.

However, one thing stuck out to Brance: the lack of what he could describe as children. The weakest creature he spotted was early Tier-3; it stood a full head and a half taller than his impressive height.

[Cyn, you’ve got over a hundred bogeys incoming.] Brance reported after clearing his guilty conscience, thanks to remembering this was only a simulation.

Unlike Cynrik, who had no hesitation when committing Genocide or acts of mass murder, Brance shied away from the idea. Although these creatures had some form of intelligence and community, Brance knew they weren’t real. The only thing that would have frozen him in place as if there were children, even If they weren’t human, killing younglings didn’t sit well with the kindest of the two Jetlensr Brothers.

---

Above ground, Cynrik slid in the snow on his knees and avoided a bombardment of Icicles from the Yeti mages positioned in the back line of the enemy group.

[Tsk, a hundred plus, you say. Any equipment, or are they sticking with skills?]

Spinning and kicking out with his left leg, Cynrik tripped one of the Melee Yetis before decapitating it with an X-cross slash of both Kodachi.

WOOSH, WOOSH WOSSH, WOOSH, WOOSH.

Staying down for half a second, Cynrik felt five objects whizz passed his head, bolts from Gabby’s crossbow, and jumped back to his feet in time to watch all five attacks pierce through a Yeti’s Mana shield and into its head, putting it out of commission.

---

In the Cavern, Brance monitored the evacuating Yetis carefully with [Mana Sight].

[Around 125 to be exact, and yes, they have primitive weapons, such as clubs, spears, and bows. Be advised that they are on the move in droves of six, with an ETA of five to seven minutes. Their path is way shorter than what we used to make it down here.]

As he spoke, Brance spotted an elderly-looking Yeti, who seemed twice the size of the others with Grey fur instead of white, staying back, alone by the largest hut in the village.

This grey Yeti saw off the last of the group before it turned around and observed the ledges surrounding the village with narrowed hazel eyes. It was as if the creature was searching for something, and when Brance noticed its line of sight getting close to his location, he motioned for Selene and Benny to drop to their bellies before doing the same thing and hiding.

When Brance was sure the coast was clear and the Yeti had retreated into its home, he signaled to move forward. With only a single, albeit strong, Yeti remaining in the village, Brance didn’t want to take any chances of alerting the group who had left to their presence.

Until the over 100 creatures were completely gone, he wasn’t going to risk that gray one yelling for help; thus, everyone stayed stealth while slowly and carefully climbing down the ledge, dropping nearly 200 meters to the ground below.

With a couple of hand signs to Selene and Benny, B-squad split up, with Benny and Selene going around the left side of the village and Brance the right.

The reason for this combination was simple, Selene could keep herself and Benny shrouded in darkness. At the same time, Brance could bend the light around himself, allowing everyone to stay hidden until the moment of attack.

Walking through the oddly spaced huts and makeshift homes, Brance began channeling Terra Mana into both of his hands and feet and, along the way, slowly started accumulating small chunks of bluish rock, which he had floated in the air silently behind him.

He had opted for using this method to construct the sled because of how time-consuming it would be to try and create a full-sized sled in one go; that and the sheer amount of his own Mana it would take to do so was way too counterproductive.

Making his way slowly through the village, he eventually came to a stop two houses down from the largest one, where both the Gray Yeti and the Mana Gem were located, and took a knee while using a hut as cover to assemble his sled.

Luckily, unlike the stone huts in the First Egress he entered, [Mana Sight] could penetrate the walls. Thus he knew precisely how large the Gem was and the location of the now-sleeping Gray Yeti.

[[Sel, get ready; I am almost done with the sled. When I give the go-ahead, move in using your Shadow cloud skill thingy, sneak up on the big guy, and kill it while it’s sleeping.]] Brance said as he put the finishing touches on the 10x15 meter stone sled.

He had added a mounting for the Gem, as well as handholds for Benny, Selene, and himself, and by taking over as the ”engine,” all Brance had to do was supply an appropriate amount of Mana to the sled’s skis, and it would glide with ease over the terrain.

[[Copy, how strong is it?]] Rolling out her shoulders and taking a runner’s stance, Selene asked. Having seen the creature, she had her guesses about how strong it was, but it didn’t hurt to ask since she knew Brance, like Cynrik, had a personal method of determining a being’s Tier and power level.

[[Roughly Initial Tier-4. But keep on guard; something doesn’t sit right with me. They seem too smart for mindless creatures; hell, not only do they live in complex communities, but they also use tools.]] Brance said as he spied on the sleeping Gray Yeti again.

[[That’s because they aren’t mindless monkeys. Sel, be advised, every single one of these fucking Yetis has a shield skill. Not only is it a rigid shell of ice, but from what I can tell, it draws almost no power and once broken, there is only a 10-second CD before they can use it again.]]

Just when Brance was about to give Selene the go-ahead to move out, Cynrik’s voice infiltrated the party chat, causing him and Selene to freeze in place.

[[Aside from the Mana Shield, they have classes, Warrior, Archer, Mage, and the complementary skills to back it up. It would be best to hit it hard and fast to eliminate the Village Chief. If you fail to do so, stay on your toes and do NOT, under ANY circumstances, use your Abyss Affinity, Understood?]] Cynrik didn’t wait for a response as he fell silent in the chat and went back to fighting.

[[Fuck, well, I guess my backup plan won’t work then. Alright, Brancie, what do we do?]] Selene asked while looking in the direction she knew he was posted up hiding.

[[Bring Benny. The two of you can combine your efforts and tag team the Gray; I have no doubt that either of you could solo this thing if allowed to go hog wild, but with the restrictions Cynrik has put on us, that won’t be possible.]] Taking a deep breath, Brance looked down at this sled for a second before stepping away.

[[Scratch that, we move together. Since I’ve already shown that I can handle Tier-4 creatures to everyone, it won’t be that big of a deal if the three of us work together and take it down.]]

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