I Hate Systems

Compass Carburettor arrived at his class, one held in a large training hall where fifty students had gathered. He noticed Millie and Vahor in the mix, thinking for a moment before coughing once to gain the attention of everyone.

"You can address me as Compass. I\'ll be in charge of developing your abilities." Saying so, he snapped his finger, suddenly causing a set of tight-fitting clothes to appear on the bodies of all the students, replacing their uniforms.

He had morphed their uniforms into a set of armour to defend against all attacks.

"W-What is this?" Millie was shocked as she felt the tough but flexible armour covering her, "It feels amazing to the touch."

"It\'s an armour I designed for today\'s training exercise. Since it is the first class, I\'ll be keeping things simple." Saying so, Compass Carburettor let out a subtle grin before snapping his finger, making an Invader appear next to him, causing the students to let out exclaims of shock.

"This is a watered-down replica of the Invader I fought just recently." Saying so, Compass Carburettor patted its back before vanishing, "Your armours would ensure you don\'t die or sustain an injury. But you\'ll still feel the same pain if you were injured for real. You have thirty minutes to prevent this Invader from killing the people."

"What?" Vahor looked around in shock, noticing the interior of the training hall morph like it was a mirage before they found themselves in a cityscape, littered with collapsed buildings all over.

There was just one intact building a dozen metres to their back. Vahor noticed around fifty people huddled within the building, expressing terror.

"W-What are we supposed to do?" The students panicked, unable to take action as they stepped back slowly, watching the Invader walk their way.

Swoosh!

Suddenly, the Invader crouched a little before condensing spiny long blades all over its arms as it rushed at them, alarming everyone.

"Shit, run!" Vahor turned tail and sprinted towards the rubble, intending to hide behind and evade the senses of the Invader. The memory of the original was still fresh in his mind. Its mere pressure prevented him from being able to move.

Fear overwhelmed him, \'Shit! Shit! Shit!\'

"Eh?" Millie braced herself for impact when the Invader arrived before her. But immediately after, it leaped past her and evaded the students to make a beeline towards the intact house.

Thump! Thump!

Vahor felt an intense sense of unease, turning around to stare at the intact house to notice a familiar face staring out from one of the windows. A second later, his face paled as he realised the identity of the person, "Mom!"

"Prey!" The Invader let out a guttural laugh before leaping towards the house, hearing the screams of the people within in delight.

"Oh, screw you! Not my mom, you bastard!" Vahor\'s shout arrived as suddenly, the dust on the ground sprung up and transformed into a fist that slammed into its face, sending it flying away. And shockingly, the moment it was hit, its face lost all colour, turning transparent.

Once it turned transparent, it was brittle like a glass vase. The Invader\'s body adapted to the attack as colour filled the transparent spot from other locations. But this resulted in the overall radiance of the Invader dimming in contrast.

This caused its strength to diminish by a fraction. The fist of dust slammed it again, this time sending it slamming into the ground, a tad stronger than before. And coating its surface was the same colour as the Invader\'s face.

It had absorbed the colour, and with it, some of its powers.

"You won\'t target my mom!" Bellowing as such, Vahor flew across the air, carried by a hand that seemed to have been created by absorbing the colour from a nearby wall. The wall was now transparent, shattering as it was unable to bear the load of the rubble atop it, transforming into water when it collapsed.

Hero—Spectral Solvent!

That was Vahor\'s power, a complicated ability that had broadened uses but required a specific skill set to employ.

"He\'s strong! Almost on the level of a D-Class Hero." One of the students muttered before they observed the desperation on Vahor\'s face, noticing how he was sending the Invader flying away from the intact house. They stared in that direction, eyes widening in shock to see a familiar face, "B-Brother?"

"No, no, nonono!" The student wasn\'t originally intent on risking his life to save others, especially when he was ridden with fear by the strength an Invader possessed. But once he saw the person he respected the most—his brother—in the house, fear didn\'t matter anymore.

This was someone he would protect even at the cost of his life. The thought didn\'t even settle down in his mind when the student noticed he was skating through the ground to target the Invader already.

"This should be an illusion." Millie said as she rushed in one direction, frowning when she had run for almost a kilometre, "The training hall isn\'t even this big. How did he do it?"

Thinking of something, she punched the ground, watching cracks form on the road as pieces of asphalt flew around. She grabbed a piece and inspected it, noticing that it seemed as real as the original.

She couldn\'t understand how this was created, but upon seeing the students swarming the Invader, she thought of something before picking up a rusty rod from nearby.

Hero—Friction Covalence!

She glared at the Invader, "I\'ll first deal with the issue at hand before thinking of the rest."

Her glare stunned the Invader, for it suddenly was unable to stand on the ground, slipping easily. Moreover, when it punched the opponent, its fists slid off the student\'s cheek, not even scratching him.

Even its blades failed to harm them, casually slipping past them. At this moment, Millie skated through the ground like a speeding car and crashed into its back, suddenly sparking its body to catch fire.

"Phew!" She skid away and arrived at a halt behind Vahor, calming her thumping heart to say, "It won\'t be getting anywhere near the house. It\'s a thousand times weaker than the Invader we saw before. Get it!"

Roar!

The students bellowed in response and spammed attacks on the Invader, managing to destroy it within a couple of minutes.