The canine lunged at another robot, which was about to electrify the water in the pool where all the recruits were taking refuge. With a swift motion, he struck the robot with his claw attack, prompting it to defend itself. Without wasting a moment, Podbe used his Firehead again, unleashing a burst of blue flames that enveloped the robot and burned through its internal circuits until it was completely deactivated. The kids in the water sighed in relief, happy they hadn't been electrocuted.
"The good thing about that attack is that it's effective. The bad thing is that I can't use it often; it has already cost me eighty mana," the dog remarked as he caught his breath.
"Yes, that's the downside. But since you reached level nine, your stats have been restored," Reia explained calmly.
"That's great. Then I'll go after those two."
"Don't rush it, little dog. Both of them are already heading toward you," the AI warned in a serious tone.
"Alright, I'll take them both out at once," the dog declared, preparing to launch his newly upgraded attack. Both robots drew their swords, ready to strike the brave animal.
"I've decided to use my hardness ability. That will help a bit so they don't cut me," the dog thought aloud. "Maybe that's the next one to level up," he reflected as he assessed the situation.
"Alright, I'll launch a direct Firehead attack." Without further ado, the dog charged at the robots with determination.
"Wait!" Reia shouted, but it was too late. The dog had already launched himself at the robots, but he only managed to hit one. The other, smarter, used the deactivated robot as a shield to block the attack.
"It seems that one is smarter," Reia commented with concern.
"Damn it, now I'll have to wait for my mana to recharge up to forty. That could take a couple of minutes," the dog muttered, frustrated.
Meanwhile, Lidia and Rino begin evacuating everyone from the area, helping the recruits climb out of the pool.
"I knew it. That animal has powers. Now I believe the boss sent him," Sanders said, emerging soaked and adjusting his sportswear.
"Yes, sir, he has powers. But what matters now is safeguarding everyone else," Lidia responded firmly.
"You're right. Alright, everyone, let's move in an orderly fashion toward the door while the animal takes care of the last robot."
"Yes, his name is Podbe," Rino clarified loudly and clearly.
"Alright, let's go. Let's give Podbe some space. Even though the place is spacious, we don't want to be a problem for him," Lidia added. Everyone nodded and began to exit slowly, cheering the dog on as they left.
The robot tried to follow the students, but the dog quickly stepped in to block its path.
"Why isn't the dog attacking? He took out the other three with that move," one of the recruits asked as he observed the scene.
"Yes, that's true," Rino said thoughtfully. "I imagine he's waiting for his mana to return. Apparently, that attack consumes a lot of mana and needs time to recharge. Maybe we can help," Lidia reflected quietly.
The kids ran to their lockers, pulled out their weapons, and began firing at the robot, who stared back at them with its central sphere glowing redder, as if entering a state of fury.
"Thanks," Podbe thought to himself.
"Well said, but we'll need more time to recharge," Reia responded through their mental link.
"How much longer, Reia?" the dog asked urgently.
"Just a little more," she replied calmly.
The other cadets, seeing what Rino and Lidia were doing, decide to pull out their weapons and join the attack against the robot. With almost supernatural precision, the robot blocked every shot, slicing through the bullets with its sharp swords as if they were butter.
"Keep going, guys!" Lidia shouted as she watched Podbe remain motionless in his spot, as if waiting for the perfect moment to act.
"Come on, Reia, just a little more!" the dog exclaimed with urgency.
"Our bullets are running out, damn it!" Rino muttered, sharing the frustration of the others as they watched their ammunition dwindle rapidly.
Finally, all the cadets ran out of bullets. The robot seized this moment of vulnerability and began running toward them with lethal speed.
"Reia, it's now or never!" the dog declared, and without hesitation, he sprinted with all his might toward the robot, taking advantage of its distraction to unleash his special attack.
The robot was about to reach the cadets, but just before it could deliver a fatal blow to Rino, it began to collapse, victim of the devastating impact of Firehead.
Everyone present erupted into cheers and applause, thrilled by the victory. However, Podbe, exhausted from the battle and ravenous after so much effort, collapsed onto the ground, panting.
"Congratulations, you're now level ten," Reia announced enthusiastically. "You've earned three experience points in the shape of a dog's paw. They appeared on the screen."
"And again, I tell you: you've completed the quest. You've earned two hundred experience points for destroying the robots, bringing your total to two hundred out of five hundred points. Congratulations, you've earned a skill upgrade."
"That's great. We'll look into it later, Reia. Right now, I want to eat," the dog said decisively, leaping to his feet and running toward where Lidia and Rino had previously indicated.
"Oh no! The kitchen!" Sanders exclaimed, horrified at what might happen.
"Let him be," all the cadets said in unison, grateful to have been saved by the brave animal.
Driven by hunger, the dog burst into the kitchen, passing through the dining area and heading straight for a giant pot filled with tomato sauce and ground meat. With insatiable voracity, he devoured the entire contents until he was completely satisfied. Then, content, he climbed out of the pot, let out a loud burp, and flopped onto the floor, legs up, completely relaxed.
"But what a powerful—and gluttonous—animal!" Sanders commented, incredulous. "We'd better not make him angry. I wonder where all that food went."
Sanders, feeling guilty about his earlier behavior, approached the dog and apologized. Podbe, always friendly, responded with a lick to the instructor's cheek. Sanders wiped his face, slightly uncomfortable but not upset.
"Alright, alright," the trainer muttered. "You can stay here as long as you want. And you two will supervise him," he said to Lidia and Rino, who accepted the responsibility without hesitation.
The instructor wasn't a bad person; it was just that the embarrassment caused by the dog had driven him to act strictly. Deep down, he knew he had to acknowledge the animal's value.
"I need to report the malfunction of these robots to Team D," Sanders stated as he left the dining hall, leaving behind an atmosphere of relief and camaraderie.
Once everything had calmed down, Podbe connected internally, reaching out to Reia both in their human forms.
"Alright, Reia, what do you have to tell me?" the dog asked curiously.
"Well, boy, the system has been updated. I still haven't figured out the crescent moon mark on your forehead, but your stats panel has been refreshed. Look," Reia said as she projected a holographic screen in front of Podbe.
On the screen appeared a paw-like shape divided into five pads. Each pad displayed the following categories: Strength, Vitality, Intellect, Perception, and in the central pad, a section dedicated to his special abilities. When hovering over each category, a pop-up box indicated the number of points assigned.
"The central pad shows your special abilities, along with a detailed description of each one and the points needed to upgrade them. Additionally, there's a skill tree that allows you to unlock new abilities based on the skill points you accumulate. For example, here's Ray, a power that shoots a laser beam from your snout," Reia explained enthusiastically.
"Interesting. I'll call it Ray Breath," the dog joked, letting out a mischievous chuckle. "But it's almost the same as before," he added thoughtfully.
"Yes, but now your health points and mana have increased. Both bars are at two hundred since you reached level ten," Reia pointed out.
"Uh-huh, but it's the same thing," Podbe repeated, shrugging.
"Wait, there's more. But the only new thing is this crescent moon that appeared in another box. Look at the box on the right."
Podbe examined the mentioned box, but everything was locked. "I don't know how to activate it," the AI admitted, curious.
"We'll figure it out along the way. For now, let's get stronger," the dog declared with determination.
"Alright. Let's win more battles to earn more points," Reia responded with a smile.
"For now, let's assign the points I have available," Podbe suggested.
"Let's level up the hardness," the dog proposed.
"Alright, leveling up hardness ..." Reia announced as she adjusted the values in the system.
"Hardness level two: Before, it lasted fifteen minutes; now it lasts an hour. When used, it creates an invisible armor that covers the body of the user or can be given to a companion, though in that case, it lasts half the time. It consumes fifty mana."
"That is interesting. Now let's move on to the skills," Podbe said, excited by the new possibilities.
"We have three points available. I'll need more strength. Facing Sir Larot wasn't easy with my current form," the dog reflected.
"You're right. Let's add one point to strength, one to vitality, which will give us more agility and endurance. And the last one... what about between intellect and perception?" Reia asked.
"Maybe being smarter will help this time. Later, I can upgrade Perception in the next level or during some quest that comes up," the dog thought aloud.
"To Intellect it is," Reia concluded.
"New techniques acquired," Reia announced as she showed Podbe two newly unlocked abilities on his interface.
"Three points in Intellect plus five in Strength generated the ability to extend the range of the link to two hundred meters."
"That's hardly an ability. It's just the link with Aiden," the dog commented with a slightly frustrated tone, as if expecting something more impressive.
"And the other technique: Recovery Level One. You can heal wounds once a day thanks to raising Vitality to four," Reia added enthusiastically.
"Well, that improves things. At least I won't have to drink that bitter concoction Eduard makes," Podbe joked, recalling some unpleasant experience.
"I wonder where the others are. We need to hurry and find Podbe," the dog said to Reia.
"I'm working on it, but I can't. I don't have the bandwidth to locate him," Reia admitted, frustrated.
"I hope Adia does it. He said he was going to recover his memories or something like that," Podbe reflected aloud as he prepared to leave.
"Alright, let's go, boy," Lidia said, while Rino nodded. The training had ended unusually, but it was finally over. They were tired and returned to their rooms, where Lidia suggested, "Maybe tonight you can take him with you, Rino."
"What? Why me? You're not taking him!" Rino protested before Lidia interrupted him with a quick kiss on the cheek and walked away.
The boy was left speechless, paralyzed by the unexpected gesture, until Podbe barked and tugged at his shirt to snap him out of it.
"Alright, boy, no way around it. She got her way. You'll sleep with me and my roommates tonight," the dog said mischievously as they headed toward the boys' dormitory.
When they arrived, Rino opened the door. The room was simple: three beds lined up, a shared desk, and a basic bathroom.
"Alright, Podbe, you sleep on the floor," Rino ordered firmly. However, the dog completely ignored the instructions and jumped onto the bed without hesitation.
"No, Podbe, on the floor!" Rino insisted, exasperated. But his commands only drew the attention of his two roommates, who were already lying in their respective beds.
"Shut up, Walters!" they said in unison, clearly annoyed by the noise.
"Yeah, shut up," they added disdainfully, unaware of Podbe's recent feats since they had been in a different class during the incident.
"Sorry, I'll be quiet," Rino muttered, resigned. He let the dog settle comfortably at his feet and turned off the light.
Meanwhile, Lidia was putting on her pajamas when her friends, who had been in the same class as her, began asking her questions about her field mission.
"Besides being with that big dog, why didn't you bring him?" one of them asked curiously.
"Well, I left him with Rino," Lidia replied casually.
"You mentioned it went really well, but it was a bit risky. I hope you don't have to go out much, though you will return to that town for..." the girl continued, leaving the sentence hanging.
"Oh! Do you have a crush, Miss Cooper? Spill the details!" one of the girls exclaimed mischievously.
"What? No! That would never happen. Rino is like a brother, just a friend to me," Lidia clarified quickly, blushing slightly.
"If you don't see what she means, silly. We're talking about a foreigner," another friend interjected with a teasing smile.
"Well, his name is Tecro, and we've been chatting since I met him," Lidia admitted, lowering her gaze shyly.
"Really? Haven't you contacted him?" one of the girls asked, surprised.
Lidia picked up her phone and checked the messages. Her expression changed dramatically as she read Tecro's latest message.
"Oh no! That can't be true!" she exclaimed, alarmed. "I'll call Marie for a moment, girls!"
Marie was discussing with her boss the details of how she might awaken Nick. The situation had her uneasy; she didn't like deceiving people or planting false information in their minds. It went against her principles, but she knew it was part of her job.
"I know," her boss said calmly, though his tone was firm. "But that's our job, and you know it."
At that moment, Marie received a call from Lidia. After listening carefully, she responded, "Sir, regarding what happened at the Aiden's location, apart from the orphanages' disappearing children, there was an attack. But there's more: the image we have was altered, according to what a police officer told Lidia, the cadet."
"Can you fix that photo? Maybe it could be a clue to help us figure out where to start looking," Marie suggested urgently.
"Alright, Marie, send it to Adrian. He might be able to show us the original version," the boss ordered without hesitation.
The leader of Team D received the image and immediately began working on it. With skill and precision, he reconfigured the photograph until it was restored to its original state. Once finished, he sent it back to Marie right away.
Upon seeing the restored image, the boss furrowed his brow. "Those two look familiar," he murmured thoughtfully, pointing to two figures in the photograph.