The Ultimate Regressor System

They walked outside towards the men stationed at the gate.

"Open up."

"Yes Goddess." Saying that, they rushed towards the either side of the gate and opened it.

The gate creaked open with a heavy groan, the Relic’s crimson barrier shimmering faintly as it allowed them passage before going invisible again.

Lucas stepped out first, his body still protesting every movement from the sleepless night.

Eleanor followed close behind, her posture alert and sharp. Mark brought up the rear, [Aegis Gauntlets] shimmering on his hands.

"Alright, five Bora," Eleanor said quietly, scanning the deserted city beyond the fortress walls. Tall grass swayed gently in the breeze, dotted with ruined cars and crumbling concrete from what used to be their city.

"Stay sharp. The barrier’s at our backs...if things go south, we retreat fast."

Lucas nodded, flexing his fingers. A faint spark of [Ignition] flickered briefly across his knuckles before sputtering out. "Got it. Let’s make this quick."

To him, the fight felt like a necessary distraction, a way to prove he could still be useful despite the system’s cruel twisted games.

Mark grinned, "Piece of cake. We’ve handled worse. Just don’t let them bury you, yeah?"

They advanced cautiously into the street, boots crunching over debris. The quiet was unnerving. No distant shrieks, no rumbling charges.

The five Bora that had paced the barrier all night seemed to have vanished. Lucas squinted against daylight, his sluggish mind struggling to stay focused. The ground here was disturbed in patches, but nothing moved.

"Think they finally gave up?" Mark whispered after a few minutes. "Maybe the Relic scared them off for good."

Eleanor frowned, her hands glowing faintly with energy. "I doubt it. Stay sharp. They were relentless yesterday."

They pressed on, fanning out in a loose triangle formation.

The fortress loomed behind them, a beacon of fragile safety and for a moment, the world felt almost normal—birds chirping faintly in the distance, wind rustling leaves. Lucas allowed himself a glimmer of hope.

Maybe they didn’t have to fight... maybe he didn’t have to risk dying this time...

He was just about to totally let his guard down....

Then the ground erupted.

With a thunderous roar, the earth exploded in five different spots around them. Dirt and grass flew outward as the Bora burst forth from burrows they had dug during the night.

**BIFF**

One slammed into Lucas’s side, sending him tumbling. Another lunged at Mark, while two more circled Eleanor. The fifth charged straight for the gap between them, trying to cut off retreat.

"Ambush!" Eleanor shouted, rolling to her feet with graceful precision.

Lucas scrambled up, heart slamming against his ribs. Adrenaline surged, burning away some of the exhaustion. "They were waiting underground! Clever bastards!"

The fight exploded into chaos. Eleanor faced one Bora head-on.

She activated her ability, earth swirling around her arms and coating her hands and forearms in thick, rocky gauntlets.

The material hardened with a crackle, turning her fists into living hammers. The Bora charged, horns gleaming. She met it directly, sidestepping and slamming a powered punch into its armored flank. The impact echoed like stone on stone, staggering the beast but it shook it off before charging again.

"Come on!" she growled, dancing around it. The Bora roared and swung its head, but Eleanor was faster. She ducked low and drove an uppercut into its jaw, chips of rock flying.

It was a brutal fistfight as Eleanor relied more on skill than her ability. The creature’s bulk pressed her back, but her earthen armor absorbed the worst of the hits, though each collision rattled her bones.

On the other side, Mark and Lucas engaged the remaining four. Mark darted forward making them turn their attention to him.

"These things are tougher than I remember!" He swung hard at one Bora’s leg, his fist cracking against armor with a dull thud. The beast barely flinched, countering with a tusk swipe that grazed his shoulder, drawing blood.

Lucas cursed as he faced two at once. "come on!" A weak flame sputtered to life in his palm, smaller and less controlled than before. He hurled his fist at the nearest Bora, hitting its snout but failing to ignite properly.

The beast shook it off and barreled toward him. He dodged, barely, feeling the wind of its charge.

His body screamed in protest—legs heavy, reactions sluggish from the night before. He landed a kick to its side, but it felt like hitting a tank.

The battle dragged on, a grueling test of endurance. Mark weaved between two Bora, his hits landing but lacking the decisive power from earlier days. "These abilities are garbage right now!" he yelled, rolling away from a snapping jaw. One Bora caught him with a glancing blow, sending him skidding across the dirt. He came up spitting blood and grass. "Lucas, cover me!"

Lucas tried. He summoned another weak flame as it went up his arm creating a brief distraction that let Mark regain footing.

But the Bora adapted quickly, their pack intelligence shining through. They coordinated, one drawing attention while another flanked. Lucas took a hit to the ribs and the pain flared hot.

His vision spotted for a second, then forcefully regaining his footing.

"Keep pressing!" Eleanor called from her duel. She was fully committed now, her stone gauntlets cracking under repeated impacts but holding.

The Bora she fought reared up, trying to crush her. Eleanor roared and met the descent with both fists, the collision sending a shockwave through the ground.

She followed with a series of devastating blows—left, right, uppercut—targeting joints and softer gaps in the armor. Sweat poured down her face, but her hits were barely enough to bring down the beast.

Minutes stretched into what felt like hours. The field became a churned battlefield of craters and blood.

Lucas’s breaths came ragged, his weakened [Ignition] flickering like a dying candle. He managed to sear one Bora in the eye, blinding it temporarily, but the others pressed harder. Mark’s fists rattled as he found it increasingly hard to keep up.

Finally, Eleanor saw her opening. The large Bora lunged recklessly. She dropped low, slamming both stone fists into its underside as it passed over her.

There—a vulnerable spot, unarmored and soft beneath the plated hide. Her gauntlets punched deep. The beast shrieked, thrashing, but she twisted and drove upward, shattering something vital. It collapsed in a heap, twitching once before going still.

"Yes!" Eleanor pulled back, breathing hard, her arms shedding bits of cracked earth. "The underside! Aim for the weak spot under their bellies—it’s unarmored! Just like back at the Edge"

A spark of hope glimmered in their eyes. The weak spots were the same. That much hadn’t changed..

Mark and Lucas adjusted immediately. Lucas rolled under a charging Bora, thrusting a weak flame burst directly into its exposed underbelly as it leaped. The creature howled, smoke rising as the fire caught more effectively on soft tissue.

Mark followed suit, vaulting onto it’s back and hammering downward with his fists toward the same area. One Bora went down, squealing.

But the remaining three adapted with terrifying speed. As if sensing the vulnerability, they lowered their stances, tucking their bellies closer to the ground and using their armored heads and sides as shields.

They circled tighter, protecting each other’s undersides with coordinated movements. Horns flashed defensively, and their roars took on a new, furious edge.

"Damn it! they’re learning!" Lucas shouted, dodging a horn that nearly impaled him.

Eleanor rejoined them, reforming her stone gauntlets with fresh earth. "Of course, stay together..don’t let them isolate anyone!"

He tried another [Ignition] spark, but it fizzled weakly against the Bora’s adjusted guard.

"Arggh fuck this skill!" Lucas shouted in frustration.

Mark wiped blood from his lip, clenching his fists tighter. "This just got a lot uglier. Three left, but they’re smarter now."

The field fell into a tense standoff. The surviving Bora pawed the ground, eyes glowing in fury and their bodies angled to shield their weak points.

The air hummed with impending violence. Lucas, Eleanor, and Mark stood back to back, abilities at the ready, chests heaving.

The easy victory they’d hoped for had evaporated. This was no longer a simple extermination. It was about to be a hell of a battle, one that was about to test every limit of their weakened states.

Lucas gripped his fists, [Ignition] finally flaring.

’Finally.’

As the Bora prepared to charge again, the three faction leaders braced themselves, knowing the real fight was only beginning....