Chapter 29: The Trio Classes

"The Mana itself changed the Nature of the Planet, and we can harness that power."

She said, leaving a gleam of light flashing through the eyes of Arlo.

"With the descent of Mana, the metals in our ground became far more durable, reaching levels we had never before seen. "

"Old Combat Techs that had once been slashed apart by a single slash from a Vorath’s claw could now withstand their attacks without a dent."

"Bullets and swords that had bounced off their bodies could now rip them apart with a single strike.

"But though we could now harm them with newly developed tech, we eventually came to the realization that those tools were starting to grow even more powerful than we Humans can wield them."

"So we decide to take things up a notch."

"We began fusing with these metals. Human bones that had once been incapable of withstanding a simple slash from a Vorath’s claw were strengthened hundreds of times by Nanotech."

"Eyes that had formerly seen only a mirage, followed by splashes of blood and the sight of one’s own headless body lying on the ground, could now accurately track their movement from over hundreds of meters away, even through obstacles."

"We developed armor suits capable of withstanding their attacks and forged vastly strengthened bodies that was in no way inferior to theirs."

"We even created magic-nullifying weapons, wielding by the most powerful of our own, and strong enough to combat the strongest of Voraths."

She narrated leaving Arlo in both awe and alarm.

"These events, we humans call the Karma Era!" Captain Ennessa declared.

The images on the holographic display changed, revealing humans clad in armor fighting off Vorath.

This time, the bodies of the Vorath piled on the ground instead.

"The Karma Era..." Arlo mused.

"And tomorrow, you too will embark on this path."

"The path to reclaiming what was wrongly deprived from you and making the sacrifices of the early Humans worth it."

Captain Ennessa said heroically.

Arlo gave a nod of approval, though he did not quite feel the same way beneath the surface.

"But before that, you must learn about the various cybernetic fighter classes and undergo a test to determine which fits you best," she said.

The holographic display changed rapidly, and three images appeared.

"There are three classes of cybernetic fighters."

"The first are the Deadeyes," she said, pointing to an image of a man wearing armor and holding two pistols, with a larger gun strapped behind his back and two more hanging at his waist.

"Deadeyes are cybernetically enhanced humans who possess overwhelming precision and accuracy, with the majority of their fusion focused on their eyes, hence the name Deadeyes."

"The remaining enhancements go to their legs, granting them instantaneous burst speed to react to surprises and incredible agility to evade quickly."

"They also mostly use firearms as their main weapons and can fight at close range or from a distance, using their guns like snipers, making them well-rounded."

"They are also the fastest among all cybernetic fighters, capable of preventing enemies from closing in with their weapons."

"Because of these advantages, Deadeyes make up the largest group of cybernetically enhanced humans in the world, comprising seventy percent of all cybernetic fighters."

"It is also the least risky fusion, making it even more enticing."

"Your power rises based on how destructive your guns are, and the grade of your cybernetic fusion," Captain Ennessa said.

Arlo nodded repeatedly.

The Deadeyes do seem to possess quite a few advantages.

"So, everyone who went on the mission last time was a Deadeye?" Arlo asked, remembering the crew.

They had all use guns during the fight against the Voraths.

Captain Ennessa gave a nod. "I am also a Deadeye," she said.

Arlo nodded. He could still remember how skilled she had been with firearms during the mission."

"The next group of cybernetic fighters are the Colossus."

"Colossus fighters are the second grade of cybernetic fighter, and as the name implies, they are the heavy hitters among the classes, and possess the greatest defensive capabilities"

The holographic image changed, now showing a burly man clad in armor with a large hammer strapped behind him.

"Hmm," Arlo contemplated as he studied the image.

"You can better understand their defensive power by comparing them to Deadeyes."

"If it takes five stabs to the chest to kill a Deadeye, it will probably take ten to fifteen of those same slashes to kill a Colossus at the same stage."

"Wow," Arlo exclaimed, impressed. That was basically an extra life.

"Not only that, but Colossus fighters are also the undisputed kings when it comes to pure brute power."

"Due to being laced with heavy cyber equipment, their bodies become extremely heavy, and a single attack from a Colossus could probably end a battle against a Deadeye at the same stage."

"That is why their favorite weapons are hammers and axes, which are better suited to their immense strength."

"But they do have one problem,"

Captain Ennessa said, raising an eyebrow at Arlo as if asking whether he knew what it was.

He stared more carefully at the burly figure on the display, and a single thought appeared in his head.

"But wouldn’t such a heavy body and armor slow down their speed?" he asked.

Captain Ennessa clicked her tongue.

"You nailed it. Colossus fighters are slow, and I mean very slow."

"If it takes a Deadeye three minutes to run a certain distance, it will take a Colossus at the same stage six to ten minutes to cover that same distance,"

She explained.

"So sacrificing speed for power, huh?"

Captain Ennessa gave a nod.

"That is the essence of the Colossus. But you would be foolish to underestimate them due to that."

"With proper training, a Colossus becomes a nightmare on the frontlines of war," Captain Ennessa said.

She tapped her tablet, and a video began playing on the holograph.

It was the footage of a bloody war where bullets and claws flew through the air.

Soon, the sound of explosions began ringing out in the distance, and Arlo’s jaw dropped when he saw their source.

It was the foot of a five-meter-tall, armored figure. The figure suddenly brought its huge hammer down on a group of Vorath, and then...

BAAAAAAAAANG

The five Vorath beneath it were crushed into paste, leaving nothing but a cracked pothole filled with mushy blood and bones.

"That is horrifying," Arlo said as he watched blood drip from the hammer when it was lifted from the ground.

"Mind you, those are Vorath with the same power level as the Colossus, and yet, five of them were outright crushed with no resistance at all,"

Captain Ennessa said, pausing the video, now believing that her message had reached Arlo.

And truly, it had as Arlo’s disdain for the Colossus had now been cleared away.

While they were undoubtedly slow, their destructive power and heightened defense more than made up for it.

"But the Colossus transfusion is also very risky. The chance of survival is less than forty percent."

"What!?"

Arlo exclaimed, looking at Captain Ennessa in shock. She nodded repeatedly.

"But why?"

"Being laced with such heavy cybertech is not for everyone. Most die when their bodies can no longer support it."

"Going for a Colossus transfusion is literally signing up for a sixty percent chance of death. Only true psychopaths who deeply believe in their body’s durability ever go for it."

"That makes Colossus Fighters only about twenty percent of the entire Cybernetic Population."

Arlo nodded. The twenty percent figure made sense. Everyone might want extra defense, but not everyone would risk a sixty percent chance of death for it.

"Now that you understand the Colossus well, let us move to the last class of cybernetic fighters."

"They’re called The Primes" Captain Ennessa said in a somewhat weary tone.

Arlo’s ears immediately perked up.

"A fusion of the special characteristics of the two other classes. That is what describes the Prime class.

"They possess the agility and accuracy of a Deadeye, which is a headache to a Colossus, while also possessing the pure brute power of a Colossus that could easily overwhelm a Deadeye too."

"They are called perfect fusions in the cybernetic world."

"Now that! Is the perfect class," Arlo called out aloud, but Captain Ennessa shook her head.

"It sounds like it, but it is not."

She said and he paused.

"A Deadeye focuses on training accuracy and speed. A Colossus focuses on increasing destructive power and defense."

"Such training takes a minimum of two years of intense work before one can be called a master."

"But a Prime, being a fusion of both, must focus on all four areas. That requires training twice as intense as each individual group.

"The training for each class is already intense on its own. Training for both is perceived to be too much even for a cybernetically enhanced human."

"This leads to the creation of Primes who are weaker in both areas rather than stronger, a result of divided focus," Captain Ennessa said.

Arlo’s eyebrows furrowed in deep thought.

"But that does not mean there are no prodigies who are completely abnormal in every sense of the word."

"While very rare, a true Prime who embodies the class’s definition would easily lay ruin to a Deadeye and a Colossus at the same stage."

"And for the sake of it, you should know that the current strongest cybernetic fighter on Earth right now, Sir Amortura Lemor, is a Prime-class fighter."

"That sounds like a laziness problem," Arlo said after listening to her explanation of the Prime class’s disadvantages.

To him, it was an outright fusion of both classes, the absolute best.

People mostly ignored it because it required focus in four different areas and was harder to master than the other two classes.

Choosing an easier option due to perceived difficulty sounded like a bad choice no matter how he thought about it.