"I want to go to the front lines! Let me aid humanity in the extermination of the vile aliens!" Michael's voice boomed across the armory.
Bryce nodded with approval. "You will be assigned to an experienced team. Assist them to the best of your ability, and don't disappoint me, cadet!"
"Yes, sir!" Despite being told there was no need to, Michael saluted once more before going toward his assigned team.
'Powerful and humble, not to mention the looks the female soldiers were giving him earlier… It seems we have a real prodigy in our hands.' Bryce chuckled softly as he rubbed his overgrown beard.
Oliver, meanwhile, had the complete opposite reaction.
'Just recently I lost face before Victoria, and now I did once more! At this rate she will never recognize me, much less share my feelings!' He gritted his teeth in anger.
'You better pray that you die in your first mission, Cadet Michael! Otherwise, should I get the chance, I will make it so that you wish you were never born!'
Meanwhile, Michael, unaware of Oliver's feelings or simply not bothering with him at the moment, arrived at the team he was meant to join.
"Ava?" He was surprised to see the petite woman. The impression he got the first time he saw her was that she was a sweet girl that worked behind the counter.
That was why he was shocked to see her with an annoyed expression on her face. A cigarette in one hand, while with the other she was holding a giant hammer that must have weighed over a whopping ton.
"Um? Michael?" Ava's expression immediately beamed. Moving faster than Michael could perceive even with his senses boosted by Berserker, she tossed the cigar out of sight and approached him.
"How… Can you carry such a huge hammer with a body like yours?" He asked.
She raised an eyebrow before glaring at the hammer resting on her shoulder.
"Oh, that." She chuckled before rolling her sleeves, showing him her arms.
"Both are replaced with cybernetic arms? No wonder…"
Rolling her sleeves to hide her arms, she glanced at the huge sword that he was casually handling with one arm.
"What about you? Have you also replaced a part of you with cybernetics? And what are you doing here?"
He smiled warmly. "Sadly no, I don't have the money for such a major modification yet. As for why I am here… Under the orders of Bryce, I am to join your team."
Ava's eyes widened. "Wait, now that I look closer, Isn't that Jack's greatsword?! You have made it recognize you as its owner? No wonder Bryce assigned you to my squad."
She was naturally shocked, however not as much as before. Since she had witnessed Michael doing things that seemed impossible before, it was slowly becoming more common.
"Hey Daredevil, why are you acting so chatty with the new guy?" A man with broad shoulders butted in.
"Let me tell you, young one. Don't be fooled by her appearance. Ava has such extreme mood swings that she has the nickname Daredevil! I heard that you met her in the examination room? The reason she was there was a disciplinary action since she cursed at Oliver not too long ago."
"Leo! Don't fill Michael's head with lies!" Ava protested, clutching Michael's hand and staring at him with her puppy eyes.
Leo burst into laughter seeing her action. "Whatever! Just remember my warning, new guy!"
Unwilling to experience Ava's merciless beating once again, Leo distanced himself from the two of them.
At that moment Michael's sword spoke in his head.
'Let me tell you, women like this one are wild and dangerous. And according to Jack, they are the best in bed!'
Michael sighed, shaking his head. 'It might turn out that the sword is a pervert and not as bloodthirsty as I thought…'
"Anyway, ignore that idiot!" Ava insisted, leading him by the arm. "Let me introduce you to the rest of my team."
Aside from Ava and Leo, there were a few more soldiers, all veterans.
Michael was pleasantly surprised. All of them were more experienced than him, yet they showed him no disrespect despite it being fairly common.
He guessed it was because he had come here because of Bryce's direct order.
However, that wasn't exactly the truth. The reason for the respect he was being shown was that all of them could feel that Michael had much more to him than he let out to appear.
When speaking to him, he didn't give the feeling of an inexperienced cadet. But of a powerful veteran that had slain numerous aliens with his hands.
Ironic that all of them were much closer to the truth than they thought.
Once introduced to the team, they entered the specialized military vehicle and took off.
They weren't at Earth, but at Triton. Despite it being terraformed to house breathable air, the atmosphere was still very cold. That, coupled with the uneven ground and the little sunlight from the faraway sun, made it so that any proficient team would need a well-equipped transportation vehicle in order to get anything done.
Thankfully they were well equipped. The vehicle was large enough to house two exoskeleton suits that were able to increase the power of most humans that wore them. There was also a hatch that allowed a sniper a clear view of the surroundings.
"I can see the wave!" Leo called out from the driver's seat. On the large display that showed the results of the scanner, hundreds of red dots began to appear at the edges, quickly nearing.
Boom!
"I can see them too!" The sniper called out before letting go of another shot.
"Okay, our mission is simple. Since there are too many of them for us to kill, we need to slow them down. While we keep them busy, another team will attack them from the rear, slay the monster that has opened the portal, and support us." After explaining the mission details, Ava assigned each member of her squad a role.
The vehicle stopped, and the members of the squad came out ready to slow down the alien wave. The idea of slaughtering them didn't even cross their mind since they were so overwhelmed.
…With the exception of a single person.
"Michael?" Ava muttered, seeing the way he was walking forward nonchalantly.
'This system is very handy.' Michael thought, looking at the window panel before him.
[Quest: Slaughter the alien wave]
[Difficulty: Medium]
[Task: Slaughter the alien wave and destroy the opened portal in less than a day]
[Reward: Rare cybernetic, 50 Skill Points]
'The difficulty is classified as 'medium'? I am not sure if it's overestimating me or what…' He chuckled before activating Berserker to its full power, making his eyes glow bright crimson.
"Let's see what this alien wave has in store for me."