New Game+

While Lanterk and Jane had their little talk, the battle outside had already begun. This was because several families hurriedly sent their groups to attack the three Exoskeletons since the rewards would be given on who could first shoot or hit any of the three.

There were over forty Exoskeletons on their side that had started to attack three.

Three Exoskeletons fought underwater against forty and dove in the barrage of bullets that constantly assaulted them like rain.

The Exoskeletons used had state-of-the-art bullets that were designed for maximum speed and accuracy during underwater battles. 

And yet, even with the speed and power of these bullets, not one seems to have fallen to hit the three.

Cliff watched the entire battle and continued to layout the ongoing developments all over the entire map.

Cliff was watching and memorizing every Exoskeleton and every minor tech that they began to use. Although everyone could only use bullets to attack, the techs that either supports them in their aim, vision, and movement underwater were allowed.

Each family began to deploy unique techs as they fought.

Cliff continued to do his job and informing the group, but as it was Cliff's first time to command Ranked Heroes and an Overcomer, the mission was the most stressful thing for him.

"Meryl, the number of enemies shooting you will increase by five Exoskeletons if you continue in that trajectory. Erm... No... I meant you should stop that. Why are you diving into that place?"

"Lynd, when I said it would be impossible for you to evade all those bullets if you stay on that place, it wasn't supposed to be a challenge."

"Seeker! STOP DOING THAT!"

Cliff's anxiety increased all the more. Everything he said was supposed to be taken as a warning. But the trio was doing the exact opposite and wanted more chaos.

Meryl was intentionally looking for places where the bullets would pass and would swim through it as she would chuckle and shout about the great fun she had.

Lynd was shooting small bullets that would hit and trigger the anger of the Exoskeletons. The angry bunch was now in a circular formation that kept on a barrage, and Lynd was testing just how far he could stay there without using any of his ability.

Seeker only has a few enemies attacking him, but he tested the limits of what he could do. He was staying at a place where the Exoskeletons near him could shoot him at point-blank. Seeker was trying to evade everything while waiting for the last possible moment he could move.

Slowly, Seeker's skill kept improving as he estimated the right time when he could move his Exoskeleton finger from the hole where the bullets would be released.

The particular pilot of the Exoskeleton that Seeker was toying with had already flown into a wild rage. They tried to tackle and punch Seeker.

"BOOP!" Seeker booped the nose of the Exoskeleton before retreating, driving the pilot into an even more insane tantrum. 

"Cliff. Give me five more Exoskeletons." Lynd asked.

"Hey, Lynd. Don't go hogging all the Exoskeletons! Cliff, give ME five more."

"I can't GIVE you Exoskeletons! I don't control them!"

"Can't you use your Path thingy to give me more!"

"You're not even following my instructions! If you want to get five more, you'd have too-"

"Eh, you're too slow. I'll do it on my own." Meryl dove even further into the horde of Exoskeletons who were focused on Lynd. She shot a few rounds which startled the enemy, and turned towards her.

"Meryl! You jerk!" Lynd cursed and fired several rounds at Meryl.

The attacks of bullets flew and somehow filled in the various Exoskeletons' gaps in their constant barrage.

With just a few bullets, Lynd was able to corner Meryl and force Meryl to block the attack.

Meryl shot several rounds that struck the bullets that were headed towards her.

The few people that managed to discern that Meryl managed to shoot a bullet accurately were amazed.ha

But this attack triggered Meryl's anger, and she began to shoot Lynd.

Cliff felt that he would spit out blood from the frustration and the anxiety that he had.

"Seeker! Tell Meryl and Lynd to sto- WHY ARE YOU NAKED?!"

Seeker had ejected himself from his Exoskeleton and was now swimming around. He was controlling his Exoskeleton to boop the nose of the nearby enemies that were shooting him.

As the Exoskeletons they had were the first designed Inhuman Exoskeleton and were made with their cultivated cells, the science was still far from perfect. There were delays to the release and activation of the Inhuman cells in their Exoskeletons. If Seeker wore any clothing, be it the synthetic suit that was made with their cells, the delay increased all the more.

Of course, Cliff didn't know this. So when Seeker left his Exoskeleton, he had nothing on him but the detached helmet of the Exoskeleton, which was his air support and his connection to Cliff.

Apart from that, Seeker had sported a rather tight, black brief, which was his the only apparel the stopped him from being fully naked.

"Hmm... I was only able to impress one pilot when I stripped off my clothes..." Seeker murmured. He had been experimenting on a certain trick that Lowengren would do. 

"Ugh. Harker can do it... Why can't I? How can I do a Cool Stripping Maneuver that would impress my enemies..." Seeker wondered.

Cliff disconnected from the call in his anxiety.

"You're missing the point, Cliff..." Charles finally interjected. He had been next to Cliff the entire time.

"You're Path makes you vital in becoming this sort of Commander who relays commands and communicates to his man how the battlefield is. But you're weakness is that you've always commanded normal folks."

"Normal folks?"

"You were able to hear, Seeker's story, right? Lynd did you a favor in calling you on that line so you could hear Seeker's story. Remember how Seeker was able to stand above Inhumans in the tales that he shared. The three individuals that you are now commanding are experimenting and showing you what they can do."

"No, those three are acting insane!"

"That's exactly the point! You are a commander! The problem is, even in Seeker's time, they couldn't afford to have a small team that has beings that defied logic! Seeker had his unit. Meryl led their own! There wasn't a Unit that was composed of several Inhumans at once! But in this timeline, that is possible! How do you expect to lead and command the Gamer squads soon?"

"The Gamer Squads don't strip or shoot each other in the middle of a war!"

"That's because they can't. Seeker and those two can. Cliff, you are commanding three beings that are on their way to becoming immortals. That's what it means to be a Hero. You yourself will be one of them! So this is your chance to grow and learn just how they are to fight! That's why they asked you to be here! Do they really need you?" Charles asked.

Cliff was silent and glanced back at the insanity that the three made.

"Then what exactly am I here for? What are they expecting from me?"

"I don't know. I don't have your Path. But this is your battle as well, Cliff. How can you be of help to them? I think Seeker is trying this now rather than later. Two Presiders will soon emerge from those jets. How are you going to help them? You have to figure that one out. What are the possibilities of your Path? What is the truth of it? Have you figured out what your limit is? I think those questions will be helpful."

Charles relayed the prepared speech Seeker asked him to say. The entire facade of the group was meant to drive Cliff to exasperation.

Cliff gazed back at the screen and began to fall into deep thought.

"What exactly is Seeker up to? Why did he need me to be here? Is it just for the Presiders? No! Those Presiders won't act beyond their means and will fight like normal people. They won't show anything that Seeker and the group can't handle! So why am I here?"

Cliff cursed.

His memories about each of the three surfaced.

Each of their skills their abilities was made known.

Cliff also focused his attention on the two Presiders and even on the book of Lowengren that he read.

It was then he realized it.

"That's it! They won't act beyond the normal! Which means... It's the perfect opportunity to push their limits! If we can annoy that Goat just right on the sweet spot before he becomes insane... we could actually force him to show a few techs! And Lynd can copy those!" 

It was then that Cliff started to realize the many complicated plots of Seeker and how he would often milk every single drop to whatever opportunity they had.

"That's it! They need me here for that! They want to harass that Kid without harassing that Kid! Everything that they did right now was for me to have an idea as to what their capabilities were!"

"You know you could just tell me everything!" Cliff finally cursed as he called Seeker.

"Oh? You finally got it?" Seeker laughed.

"Well, he didn't get the part as to why we didn't tell him everything." Lynd shook his head.

"Tell him what? What are you guys talking about?" Meryl was confused.

Lynd suddenly stopped shooting her.

"We didn't tell you because you need to have this mindset, Cliff. There will be times when the three of us will be so busy at hand that we will have to rely on you to tell us what the best course of action is that affects everyone. Right now, you figured out the intention of this whole thing because Charles led you to it. But you need to understand our intentions even when we can't say it. Your Path of Memory can do this, Cliff." Seeker explained.

"Right. They say you can't truly know a person. But you can. Every memory that comes to mind allows you to create a draft of who you are as a person, and you could even guess what you are thinking. If Arthur can predict our actions through his knowledge and practice of psychology and other disciplines, you also can do the same because you can make an intelligent conclusion based on what we do."

"What are you guys talking about?" Meryl frowned.

"But can't you guys do the same? You're making it sound like I will constantly be adapting to your movements! Why don't you guys adjust to my pace?" Cliff complained. He poured his heart out now. The next stage they were set to go to had Presiders!

"It's as if this mission is depending on how smarter and stronger I become in this mission!"

"That's because it is. Cliff, both me and Seeker, have to copy you. Arthur's Pseudo-Path broke through the three dimensions. In truth, Arthur had a Pathless Path before. Maybe because he somehow had faith in Seeker and grew to attain that power. Right now, in this timeline, he met Seeker earlier on, and that pseudo Path has become a powerful one. Arthur is a World Champion in this respect. Not in combat but in his plans." Lynd explained.

"Right. And you, little Cliffy, is the same case. You have to grow stronger. Right now, Lynd can't copy your Path because it hasn't broken the dimensions yet. Haven't you wondered why Lynd could copy Arthur and imitate it, but he can't copy your Path? He can't because Lowengren being the personification of lies, makes it next to impossible for Lynd to copy. The same with Vender."

"I can't stand Vender..."

"But your Path, believe it or not... Has yet to cross the dimensions. Which means we can't thread on it yet!"

"So you must grow. Do you get what we want?" Lynd finally asked.

"I already have an idea of what you want. So... Zeek, do you want me to arrange the chaos for the Goat? Or for both of them?"

Charles smiled when he heard Cliff ask that question.

"Wow. Seeker is right. Cliff is easily given in to pressure, and he overcompensates. So that's why Seeker kept urging him on those crazy missions..." Charles recalled how Cliff was assigned on various missions on the past months.

"That battle against Typical must have made them realize how strong Cliff could be if he prepares." Charles assessed.

"Now he even managed to immediately see through one of the conflicting plans between Seeker and Lynd." Charles praised.

"Obviously, Both of them." Lynd answered.

"Just the Goat." Seeker answered together with Lynd.

"Zeek?" Lynd asked and couldn't help but frown.

"Use Zeraphine to give painful and even life-threatening attacks to the goat if possible." Seeker smiled.

"Hm... That is better. But you're obviously forcing the issue to protect your little girlfriend." Lynd frowned.

"What are you guys talking about?" Meryl cursed.

"Zeek. Why am I going through this entire training session to be able to adjust to you, but Meryl isn't?" Cliff cursed as he finally realized the unfair treatment between him and Meryl.

"Because she's beautiful.." Lynd and Seeker answered together.