Kill the Sun

After leaving the stall behind, Wyntor pulled his three employees to the side and explained to them how they could activate and configure their Barriers.

Using these Barriers was very easy since there were only a couple of options to choose from.

"The Barriers you bought do not have AI chips, which means that there isn't much you can do with them," Wyntor said.

"AI-chips?" Nick asked in confusion.

Jenny and Trevor also didn't know what that meant.

"I'll tell you in detail when it becomes relevant," Wyntor said. "Advanced Barriers need AI chips, and they are the most expensive part of a Barrier. They regulate the size, strength, and attribute of a Barrier while also activating and deactivating it. You can view AI chips as an autonomous mind that controls your Barrier."

"Your Barriers don't have AI chips, which is why we managed to get good ones for a relatively low price. The drawback is that you have to activate them yourself," Wyntor said.

After a bit of fidgeting around, the three of them managed to activate their Barriers.

"I can't see it," Nick said after he put his activated Barrier into the pocket of his uniform.

"Watch," Wyntor said. 

Then, Wyntor walked back a little…

And charged right at Nick.

Wyntor jumped and kicked forward.

Nick's eyes widened in wonder.

'Will the Barrier activate?'

BANG!

Sure enough, a bronze sphere appeared around Nick's body for just a second before vanishing again.

Wyntor was halted and fell onto his feet. 

The next moment, Wyntor moved his arm through the space where the Barrier had just been.

But this time, it didn't activate.

"See that?" Wyntor asked. "The Barriers you bought are effective, but they have very simple activation triggers."

"If an object with high heat, extreme cold, high speed, or with a lot of force is about to pass through the Barrier, it activates."

"There are also a couple of other triggers, but those are the main ones."

"Sadly…"

The next moment, Wyntor slowly took out a silver knife.

Then, he slowly moved the knife past Nick's Barrier before rapidly striking forward.

Obviously, Wyntor stopped before he hit Nick.

Meanwhile, Nick, Trevor, and Jenny were surprised about what they had just seen.

Nick's Barrier hadn't activated, even though Wyntor had essentially stabbed towards Nick with a sharp knife!

"You see?" Wyntor asked as he pulled back. "If I slowly move past the Barrier's activation point, I can launch an attack from within its domain."

"If a sizable solid object occupies the space of the Barrier, it can't activate. The Barriers you guys bought don't have the ability to cut through strong objects."

"Of course, if you want to use a long weapon, like a spear, you also have to be careful that your spear doesn't stretch past your barrier."

The more the three of them heard about their Barriers, the more appalled they became.

They had paid so much money for that?!

"There are so many weaknesses!" Nick spoke loudly, almost shouting.

"It can't be helped," Wyntor said as he put his knife away. "That's the tradeoff, and I'm not even done telling you about them."

Nick took a deep breath.

"The standby mode of the Barrier drains a considerable amount of Zephyx," Wyntor said. "You should be feeling the drain by now."

Nick furrowed his brows and moved his arms a bit.

He felt a bit sluggish.

"I do feel a bit exhausted and sluggish," Nick said.

Wyntor nodded. "When the Barrier is on standby, it continually drains your Zephyx. Without any external help, a Zephyx Extractor needs about an hour to refill their Zephyx storage."

"As someone who has already advanced a couple of levels, the primary energy source is slowly transforming to become Zephyx. Food and water will become less relevant the more you advance, and most of your power will start coming from the Zephyx your body produces from the Prephyx in the atmosphere."

"Sadly, compared to Specters, humans can't split the Zephyx they produce from their bodies, making it impossible to harvest it. Trust me, humanity really, really tried."

"Anyway, the Zephyx your body uses to move and fight will be drained by the Barrier until you deactivate it, or you are critically low."

"Because of that, your Barrier has to stay deactivated for most of the time, and you have to activate it manually when you are about to enter battle," Wyntor explained.

The three of them were not big fans.

The Barriers sounded horrible.

"But don't underestimate the Barriers," Wyntor said. "That one Barrier you bought, Nick, should allow you to confidently win against the Dreamer."

Nick raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Really?

Wyntor nodded like he had just read Nick's thoughts. "If the Dreamer decides to attack you, your Barrier will activate, and the Dreamer will be stopped just a bit in front of you. At that point, it will simply be stationary in the air. At that point, you can just use a pipe or whatever to hit it and break some of its bones. Of course, if you had a weapon, it would be even better."

"Being able to resist a powerful attack is extremely useful and will many times turn the tide."

Nick thought about Wyntor's words, and he had to agree.

It would be like the Dreamer flew against a hard wall.

The next moment, the wall would disappear, and Nick could just kick the Dreamer's torso, caving in its chest.

Even though Nick's body was a bit weaker than the Dreamer's, a fully powered kick to the chest was still devastating to the Dreamer.

Additionally, the Barrier could probably block more than one attack.

Another alternative to the battle would be Nick just jumping on top of the Dreamer and encompassing it with his arms in an effort to suppress it.

Even more, Nick could also just run out of the Dreamer's Containment Unit without dying with the Barrier.

Nick's gaze moved to the pocket of his uniform that held the Barrier.

'That is actually way more useful than I thought.'

"Let's take a look at some weapons now," Wyntor said.