Apollos Thorne

Update and Heaven's Laws

Sorry to leave you guys hanging on that cliff after the last Heaven's Laws chapter. I've been tight lipped because I have a tenancy to say too much. So one of the things I've been doing the last two weeks is making sure the cultivation system that was started in Heaven's Laws Prodigies, mainly the Energy Cultivation and the laws Chao and Huifen discover, fits with the rest of the universe. Chao is about to go through a fundamental breakthrough. I need to make sure that Body and Soul Cultivation, as well as some of the other Monster and magic Paths, don't have any contradictory rules or power levels.

In other words, if there's a discrepancy between the different Paths, it needs to be on purpose and with reason.

As for the next chapter, you can expect Heaven's Law tomorrow or the next day. Body Cultivation Hurts will also continue for the next week or so. The book should be finishing up around that time. Also, I'm going back and updating the prologue.

Nathanial Kane is unlike most of the MCs I've written in that he doesn't start as a coming of age story. I love seeing characters grow from immature and naive to come into their own, but this it not that. His personality is a lot clearer to me now.

You can read it here.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/86807599

Finally, there's another character who's short series, we're talking two, maybe three books, will be touching on Soul Cultivation even more than in Body Cultivation Hurts. It will be next year before I post any chapters from it, but here's just a heads up.

Heaven's Laws, Body Cultivation Hurts, and this final series will eventually all meet up in the Divine Realm for an Avenger's like mashup.

Here's a link to BCH Chapter 35 that was just released.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/body-cultivation-137491241

Body Cultivation Hurts - Chapter 35

Yuma watched as her grandfather Takao Jun approached the northern region boss with Elder Ma Mencius. Jun’s katana was held at ready to the side as he rounded his approach. Mencius did the same with his spear drawn as he circled around the massive bear in the opposite direction. They both stayed clear of the lake so they’d have an opportunity to retreat if they must.

Her grandfather wore the traditional Kendo Gi with a blue jacket and silver pants. Mencius wore the traditional Chinese Tang Suit with a red shirt and black pants. It was a clash of two ancient martial arts while simultaneously a joining of the two.

She wore a Gi with the same colors that her family was adopting. If things went well, they were about to go viral and become famous.

The size of the bear was unreal even from two hundred meters away where she stood with the elders from her family and a few allies. They were ready to join the fray if things went badly but were to wait until that was clear.

Yuma felt the pommel of her sheathed katana as she rubbed the middle of her palm against in small circles. There were very few people in the training camp that had chosen Soul Cultivation as a Path, but she wasn’t alone. Nathanial-san had sent her a lot of information to improve her use of soul techniques and improve her soul’s power before the training camp even started. She had been diligent to follow his instruction to the fullest.

In the last week, he’d pulled her aside personally. It made her uncomfortable knowing that his true age was ten years her senior, but her grandfather had made her befriend several foreigners including Americans. She knew he wouldn’t have asked her to call him by his name if he didn’t desire it. It must have also been strange for him since he’d known the future her. The respect he showed her was currently unearned, so she paid special attention to his advice.

Nathanial hadn’t hidden what could’ve been discouraging. Soul Cultivators, even in the Blood Realm, were the weakest of cultivators. Their techniques just couldn’t compare. However, there was one thing her soul sword could do that the techniques of just about any other Path could not. She could stun even the most powerful of creatures in her same realm. It wasn’t a long stun, but it should work even on this region boss.

The region boss lazily came to its feet. On all fours, it was over three meters tall, or around ten feet. It shouldn’t be possible for two humans to fight such a monster. It was at least one and a half tons. Their weapons shouldn’t even do any damage.

The boss monster looked back and forth between the two men, then unceremoniously charged the closest which happened to be Elder Ma.

She’d been in the training camp. She’d seen the superhuman feats that had happened there and even accomplished many of them herself. But until Ma Mencius darted to the side with the speed coordination that would make the mightiest male lion jealous, she hadn’t believed it.

Her own Patriarch flashed forward with matching speed. His cultivation method Lineage of the Heartland Blade activated. A slight red aura covered her grandfather. What covered his sword was much more visible. Just as he was about to slash into the monster’s side, a pulse of qi, like that of a beating heart, shone from his blade. He’d remained low, slicing into the beast’s ribs just behind its front shoulder. The sword proved to be far more lethal than she could possibly imagine.

Its fur parted and a deep gash more than a meter long opened up. Blood seeped out. Some flew from his blade.

Just as the beast spun back to address what had injured it, Elder Ma seemingly flew in from ten meters away. It was like the air had scooped him up and surged toward the beast. The man’s spear was driven into its uninjured ribs.

Unlike the first attack where the bear remained silent, a deafening roar sounded as the thing stood to its feet.

The color went out of Yuma’s face. It was over six meters or twenty feet tall.

Both of them retreated to its rear and made some distance between them and the boss monsters.

It fell back to its front feet she could feel vibrations through the ground. This thing was not one and a half tons. It was maybe two or even three.

This time the boss chased her grandfather.

Ma Mencius circled behind it only for the air to once against rise up and carry him toward the creature’s rear. Something started to happen to his spear before he landed. It was like a reverse whirlwind was forming on its point.

Just as the massive creature was about to reach her grandfather, the man jumped to the side while slashing back. The katana pulsed red again as a hard to discern sword arc smacked into the side of its face.

It rose up only partially to get away from the man’s sword only for Elder Mencius to drive the whirlwind covered spear into the back of its neck with all of his bodyweight behind it.

As the man leapt off the creature and another sword arc struck it from the opposite direction, Yuma consciously closed her mouth and visualized what it might look like for her to join the fight.

She’d found a few of the demons after her breakthrough to the Blood Realm. They were many times easier than they’d been, but she still doubted. Yet here she was. How could she deny her own eyes?

There was one thing Nathanial Kane had said so often he’d turned it into a mantra. “You are not the same.”

It was true. Her grandfather, Elder Ma, and Nathanial Kane could no longer be considered just human. Either that or the word human would adopt a new meaning. It wasn’t just the three of them that had changed. So had she.

As the fight continued, the two men and the massive beast seemed to only get faster. Damage was being done to the boss monsters, but it was giving no signs of slowing down.

***

“Get back!” Nathan cried after Leroy the Undead Paladin finished the last Naga he’d knocked over. It was the last of the elites in the ruins. There had been about two hundred of them spread out over an area as large as a small town. “Out of the ruins, now!”

“You want us to just leave you?” Zera objected.

“Yeah, I don’t know—” Wolfgang began before the ground beneath them started to shake.

He couldn’t help but snicker. Then he gave Wolfgang a pointed look and said, “Go.”

The Spell Goblin gave him a nod then grabbed Leroy by the arm and pulled him away. Zera might have objected, but she didn’t hesitate to go with them.

The tremors weren’t just from the hidden boss monster’s size. Nathan backed up as the bricks of the ancient street swelled upward with the ground. The nearest fallen building rose with it, crumbling as it did.

As if rising from a deep slumber, the Queen Naga burst from below. Straightening to her full height, she was at least twice as tall as Nathan. Her tail twice as long as that and four feet wide at its thickest. Her face was a mix between humanoid and serpent. She was incredibly feminine except her mouth opened all the way to her jaw which painted her as something from a horror movie.

Clearing his throat, he spit a giant loogy across the gap between them. It landed right before her.

Nathan was a good forty yards away and just standing there glaring at her. His endurance in the Blood Realm was at a level that the battle he’d just finished was a decent warm up. Not only could he still take in qi from his surroundings with each breath, but it was now a part of him, swimming through his bloodstream.

Bending down, he picked up a large stone about the size of the average brick. The Nava Queen tilted her head as if curious. With qi-empowered speed, he pitched it at her.

The hidden floor boss swayed sideways, watching the brick speed by. When she turned back, her two upper fangs, like those of a viper, dripped with venom as she scowled.

Nathan was already sprinting right for her. The distance was almost nothing. He was there in an instant. His fist technique could be used at distance, but it was especially destructive up close when his qi and fist impacted as one.

He wasn’t sure if she had a solar plexus like a human, but he aimed above her bellybutton and just below her ribs. His fist battered into the massive, serpentine torso. That segment of her body was tossed back.

Then she slithered her vital, human-like form back and placed its body between us. Then her tail flew in like a flexible battering ram that was half as thick as I was tall.

Jumping up and back, he dodged its attack. As soon as he landed, he surged forward.

She tried to knock him back with her tail before he reached her, but he leaped over it, soaring at her nearly as fast as the brick he’d thrown. He’d drawn his fist back, readying to smack her upside the head, but she swayed to the side, and raked at him with her claws.

Instead of blocking, he let them tear at his chest as he unleashed a qi-powered superman punch a yard from her face.

She scurried away as he flew over her. Landing in a skid before he came to a jerking stop against a large block of stone, he watched as she distanced herself while studying him.

He dared to glance down at what was left of his t-shirt. Grabbing it by the collar, he ripped it from his back and tossed it. Her claws weren’t as impressive as a large cat’s, but she’d left five deep gouges in his chest and upper abs.

His blood was already coagulating. It itched something fierce, and he saw why. His flesh was visibly knitting itself back together. It wasn’t abnormal in the Blood Realm, but his regeneration was rather extreme. There were several reasons for that including the synergy between Organ Bolstering, Sinew Reinforcement, and Nervous System Fortification. However, the primary reason was obvious. He’d taken the Blood Essence Enhancement. It allowed him to heal that much faster.

Not only did he feel his flesh repairing itself, but he could feel his cultivation strengthening. It wasn’t a breakthrough, but he still needed to consolidate his breakthrough to the Blood Realm. There were two ways to speed up the process. One was to push your body to the extreme. The other was to get injured and to recover from it. This allowed the blood to do its job, which would allow the body to adapt to what it was now capable of.

He stretched his chest and flexed to make sure there were no muscle impingements. Seeing that there weren’t, he remembered the state he’d been in when he was dying. One arm had been torn off and one of his legs had been devoured.

Up until now, he hadn’t really been in a good fight since regressing. The western region boss called the Putrid Undead Cannibal had been alright, but it was more a hassle than a real challenge. Death was unlikely. The Naga Queen was different. A single swipe of her claws had sliced into his toughened flesh. And she was fast. Fast enough to dodge and counter. Fast enough to kill him.

He hurtled over the Queen’s tail as it flashed under him. He surged toward her body. Her tail appeared between them like a defensive formation. He jumped against, except this time he slammed his fist down, sending a burst of qi into its torso. The creature’s body’ shivered, but he wasn’t finished.

Darting around to her flank, he lunged toward her head, his fist was back.

This time, she swiped with her claws, but instead of his chest, she aimed to parry his attack.

As soon as he saw his feint had worked, he spun. Did she really think he could only attack with his fists? With all his momentum and weight backing it, his foot slammed into the Queen’s chest. It threw her back half a dozen yards.

At first, he thought he’d stunned her. A shadow proceeded the Naga’s tail as he was swatted out of the air and sent tumbling.

He rolled some distance before pulling his body into a four-point stance as if he was a linebacker reading to blitz. As he came to a stop, he tasted the blood in his mouth. She’d just given him a full body bruise. He was the ball, and she was the bat. Everything hurt.

Then he felt the sudden intake of qi. The damage was enough to force his Blood Essence Enhancement to work in hyperdrive. He rocketed right passed consolidation to the top of the first small realm.

She was no longer interested in observing him. Rapidly slithering at him, he gave her the widest, bloodiest grin he could manage. He erupted from all fours, heading straight for the boss monster. This time she was too angry to hesitate.

Instead of lunging right at her, he jumped to the side, landing on a toppled over building, then shot toward her midsection from the flank.

She turned in time to face him, but he was already mid-front flip.

His heel wheeled over his body, striking her hard in the ribs. He used the impact and his other foot to jump back.

Her tail flew in. He barrel rolled as her tail clipped him. It sent him off trajectory, but he landed on his feet.

“Ha, you missed,” he taunted. “Mostly.”

When she rushed toward him, he bounded back and let her chase him. That was until he reached another toppled over building and used it to change directions and leap for her head.

***

“What is he doing?” Goo Gee hissed. “He’s letting it hit him.”

“I’m not certain,” Isacara replied in a somber tone. “Battle is one of the best ways to consolidate your cultivation…”

“Battle? He’s exchanging blows with a monster seven small realms higher than his own. And he isn’t causing it any damage.”

The Divine Lord glanced in the merchant’s direction.

Seeing it, Goo Gee closed her eyes and bowed her head. “Sorry.”

“I know you’re not upset with me, sister. I have the same concerns. He fights more like a beast than a cultivator. He’s barbaric…” Her eyes narrowed.

“What is it?” Goo Gee asked.

She gave the woman a tight grin. “It’s as Father Wei said. He must become a brute, and so he is.”

They continued to watch as the battle raged on. There was barely an exchange where Nathanial Kane didn’t get injured.

His wasn’t the only battle. The one against the northern gate region boss was well underway. To the west, the first monster spawn had been spotted. An army of cultivators, and, to a lesser degree, people from other paths, were joining forces to clear the area. In the east, the region boss had been spotted. People were coming together before the assault. And to the south, the conglomerate of strength athletes already had the Naga King on his back leg.

The reason for the southern group’s success was because they didn’t try to face it as a small group. Whoever dealt it the finishing blow would be considered the winner. So a hundred of what this world called strong men and body builders piled up on top of it as they beat the life out of it. It helped that many of them were around the level of the region boss.

In actuality, it was exactly how a region boss was supposed to be fought. Except they forgot to plan any strategy. A few men had gotten bitten by the King, and were in dangerous territory, but they had plenty of healers following behind with nothing better to do. If they faced the Queen, most of them would’ve been able to retreat, but its venom wasn’t so easy to manage. And its size. It was still too early for them to be facing the Queen. If they insisted, they would all die.

Isacara turned back to see Nathanial driven hard into the ground beneath the Queen’s massive tail. Not only did she leave it on top of him, but she slithered over to put most of her weight over his body to encourage him to suffocate if he wasn’t already dead.

Closing her eyes, she still sensed him. His life energy was strong.

The Queen streaked, slithering away to reveal a bloody mouthed Nathanial. This time, the blood wasn’t his.

“Is there something wrong with him?” Goo Gee asked suddenly.

She found the merchant grinning. They were soon sharing a laugh.

“I just hope he doesn’t get himself killed,” Isacara muttered.

The man had another brick in his hand which he tossed at the Queen’s face. Then he took off in a run in the opposite direction.

“He’s finally retreating?” Goo Gee asked.

“Perhaps…”

She observed him closely over the next thirty seconds as the Queen chased him. He was certainly running, but not to get away from it. He was buying time, but for what?

They both watched closely. It made little sense. The anticipation was palpable. The Queen almost snagged him out of the air with her first strike with her fangs from the fight but missed.

Only then did he jump from one building to the next before rebounding back and striking the Queen on the side of the head. The next moment, he was running again.

Then it happened. Isacara stiffened as all the qi in the area collapsed on the shirtless man with countless scrapes and bruises. He was breaking through to the second level of the Blood Realm.

“Already?” Goo Gee said in unbelief.

“He does have Rank S Talent…” she replied, pulling up the system to get a full breakdown of the tower’s assessment of the young man. “I see.”

Before her guest could ask, Isacara made the panel visible.

Blood Essence Enhancement

This upgrade increases your blood essence, giving you greater vitality and a longer life. You will heal quicker, and your blood will absorb qi much faster.

Note: This will speed cultivation during the Blood Realm. It will have no effect on your cultivation while you’re still in the Body Realm.

“This Blood Essence Enhancement allows for quicker qi blood absorption on top of his already extreme talent,” she explained. “It shouldn’t be possible, but he’s taking advantage of the damage the Naga Queen is doing to his body and using it to accelerate his cultivation to an extreme I’m not sure I’ve ever witnessed.”

“He planned this.”

“No,” Isacara objected. “Blood Essence Enhancement isn’t common, but it’s taken often enough that it’s limits are known.”

“Then how?”

“Instinct. He likely felt his body’s absorption improve when he first got injured.”

“But that means he doesn’t know his limits.”

The Divine Lord nodded. “That’s exactly what it means.”

The elven merchant’s brow creased in concern. “He’s not going to stop.”

It wasn’t a question. Nathanial Kane would break, or he wouldn’t. And they had front row seats to watch the whole thing.

Body Cultivation Hurts - Chapter 34

Many kilometers above the first floor in a floating, five-story pagoda, Divine Lord Isacara observed what was going on below. Her perceptions had reached such a level that there was no place hidden from her senses. She’d been watching the training camp put on by Nathaniel Kane. It was exactly what it seemed. His knowledge and skill shouldn’t be possible unless he really had returned from the future. And now, watching the men and women he trained advance on the remaining region bosses was almost too good to be true.

Rarely was the first floor of the towers sent out by Father Wei conquered in less than a month unless the planet had cultivation legacies already. Those conquered so quickly usually possessed someone with enormous talent before Initiation. There were such people out there in the galaxy even if they were extremely rare.

To have someone without extreme talent do the same was even rarer, but not entirely unheard of. Some individuals had a unique mindset or insatiable desire to fight. So like this Nathaniel Kane, they accumulated a large number of points before their genetic modification to turn it into something special.

The first level of the tower was designed for the Body Realm of cultivation. Now that so many from the training camp had reached the Blood Realm, it wasn’t surprising that they’d turn their attention to the region bosses. However, their time at that realm was too short. Not even two weeks had passed in the tower. Normally, such arrogance would get people killed, but she’d heard the advice Nathanial gave to the others. He knew too much.

Looking to the east, she saw four hundred men and women led by Silvester Hitchens and Mitch Travis. The men were exact opposites. Silvester could lead people into battle with the sheer weight of his personality, while Mitch was a team builder. He watched people. Studied them. He didn’t micromanage. There were a few select people he’d introduced to each other and suggested they team up. He didn’t even try to control their overarching plan. He simply threw in suggestions to improve aspects of the other leader’s plans.

Just like with the group to the west that was spread out and looking for monster spawns, this large group in the east had multiple objectives. The region boss, monster spawns, and eastern pillar that would allow them to go home once all four pillars were activated were all in their sights.

Unlike the group heading north, the party that would face the boss wasn’t as obvious. Whoever found it first would get to fight it. That wasn’t exactly the wisest approach, but she applauded their zeal. The region bosses weren’t designed to be defeated by an individual or even a small group. It was supposed to take the combined effort of several teams to take them down.

The eastern boss was a golem in the shape of a spikey shelled turtle. It had the head of a viper and a tail that could toss men around without any effort. The true challenge was breaking its shell. It easily had the most formidable defense out of all the region bosses.

The southern boss was much like the hidden boss Nathanial Kane was going after. It was a Naga King. The difference between this King and the hidden Queen to the naked eye was the size difference. The King’s human-like torso was about the size of a large man at eight feet tall. He had a venomous bite. While the queen was twice that size and large enough to swallow someone whole. Her venom was a magnitude more potent than the King’s because it was reinforced by far more qi.

Isacara sighed to herself. Reason told her to warn Nathanial against fighting the Naga Queen so early with his low cultivation, but he’d defeated the western region boss within days of arriving. The Queen’s venom was not like that of the poison breathing boss, however. The region boss used a poison that caused one to bleed. The Queen’s venom was similar to bullet ant or scorpion sting in that it causes intense pain. Fighting became nearly impossible once bitten.

She had the freedom and authority to warn him—even to stop him. Instead, she chose to trust that he knew what he was doing. For now.

One of the more powerful qi signatures in the tower was approaching her door. The woman was an old acquaintance who had amongst the best reputations among merchants.

Just as the woman arrived, Isacara sent a thread of qi to the entrance and opened the door from where she was standing across the room. She was on the balcony of the top floor of her pagoda. Using her sight to observe wasn’t necessary, but the air here was clear and the temperature was appealing.

When the woman walked in, Isacara spun to greet her. “Guenavera Geylinisse, thank you for coming.”

The woman bowed her head, replying, “Thank you for inviting me, Divine Lord”

“Please, call me Isacara.”

“Yes. And please, call me Goo Gee.”

Nodding, she asked, “You’ve adopted the simplified version of your name among friends?”

The purple-eyed elf’s micro expressions weren’t difficult for Isacara to read. There was a fondness in her gaze.

“I regret that we haven’t had more of these visits,” the Divine Lord admitted. “I have not been very accommodating the last few centuries.”

“You’ve been busy,” Goo Gee countered, giving her a particularly wide grin.

Isacara couldn’t help but match her smile. “So we’re just two old ladies comforting each other.”

“After what we’ve been through?”

They laughed together.

When they’d regained their composure, Goo Gee asked, “How is their progress?”

Isacara waved her over, using the tower interface to bring up five different panels. The top one showed the battle readying to begin against the northern region boss. The one to the left depicted the dozens of groups sweeping the region for monster spawns. The panel to the right showed the group in the east looking for the boss. The bottom panel displayed several groups of giant men doing the same for their region.

The man that had kicked off this unbelievable push to clear the first floor so soon after initiation was fighting in the middle panel. He remained in the back, guarding the rear and flanks of the group he’d dragged along. They were one of the better small groups in the tower, but they were facing Naga Elites. Fighting one at a time was likely their limit, yet here they were facing off with a squad of ten. If it wasn’t for their Force Mage, they would’ve already been overrun. Even as she thought it, several of the humanoid snake soldiers surged past the wall of encircling qi to attack the Zombie Tank from either flank.

A smirk spread across Nathanial’s face before he moved. Despite his genetic modification and strong jawline, he had youthful aspects to his appearance that were a little uncommon even for cultivators. It reminded Isacara how young he was. His dirty blond hair was short, almost a crew cut. Except it was a little longer on top and she’d seen him spike it or mess it up. His eyes were a bright smokey grey with a tint of blue. He seemed out of place. Only his physique was lengthy and powerful. As he leapt forward, he called out, “Right!”

As soon as he said it, the healer Zera fired off a Light Arrow in the Naga’s face. The Spell Goblin’s hand flew forward. A wall of force staggered the same snake-man.

The zombie warrior was already clashing swords with the Naga in front of him. Three of them was too much. His only course of action was to retreat, but then their barehanded guide appeared at his side. It was fast enough that the Naga flanking the man was only just reaction. Then Nathan punched out.

The body cultivator didn’t bother closing in, punching out from nearly ten feet away. The qi ladened fist slammed into the Naga’s gut, bending it in half as it was driven back.

Nathanial’s timing wasn’t an accident. The encircling wall of qi summoned by their force mage battered the Naga from behind.

When the rest of Naga squad was reinforced with another ten soldiers, the smirk fell from Nathan’s face. He called out a new order, “Wolfgang, drop your wall. I’ll knock them down. Be careful as you approach finish them.”

There was a moment of hesitation from the Spell Goblin, but he stopped the flow of qi to his defensive spell.

This time when the body cultivator moved, he was no longer holding back. The Naga facing off with the zombie warrior was struck with fist qi in the midsection before a qi upper cut knocked it unconscious.

He left them with the last Naga on the opposite flank as he surged toward the incoming wall of heavily armored snake men.

She expected him to make use of the short range of his qi fist technique, but instead, he dipped under a spear thrust and threw himself at the closest monster. He flew into its side, as he brought his knee up to meet it. Accompanying the blow was a burst of qi. As strong as the creature’s armor might be, it was the kind of attack that would disrupt internal qi flow.

He pushed off the first Naga and battered one standing a yard away. He was using their close proximity. As humanoid-snakes, they should’ve had the advantage up close, but their superior armor was restricting them, and they were trying to use weapons instead of their hands and fangs.

Bouncing off as much as weaving between them, Nathanial both created the chaos and courted it. The unspoken danger of them using blades was that they were just as likely to wound each other as they were to hit him.

She noticed it right away. When he struck one, he pushed it into another. Those that dared to ignore him and go after his group soon found one of their companions colliding with them even if the body cultivator wasn’t close to them. The first one fell fifteen seconds into the brawl. He was staying low so as to dissuade them from poking their venomous fangs into the fray. As insane as the concept was, he knew what he was doing.

Isacara and Goo Gee’s gazes met but no words passed between them. They turned back to the show.

A minute later, Goo Gee muttered, “I still have trouble believing my eyes.”

“Same,” she agreed. “But Father Wei confirmed it to me personally. Nathanial Kane died and returned from the future to the present.”

Even as they watched the Naga fall one after another, they were still trying to juggle reason and what was rational.

Isacara reminded her friend, “He’s already found the location of the Naga Queen even though its much further away than all of the other region bosses from their gates. He also knows he has to clear the ruins for her to appear. It’s unbelievable, Guenavera, but it’s happening as we speak. If he doesn’t get himself kill facing her too early, we might be witnessing the dawn of something unseen in our galaxy in a very long time.”

“But can he defeat her?” she asked.

She shook her head. “She’s already reached large success of the Blood Realm. No, it should be impossible.”

“Are you going to save him if his death looks inevitable?”

Isacara narrowed her eyes. “I… I don’t know. Father Wei said something.” She proceeded to tell Goo Gee about what he’d said about the path of a body cultivator.

“So you’ll do nothing?”

Her mouth parted but words didn’t come. She was being indecisive, which wasn’t like her at all. She came to a decision. “If it’s obvious he will lose, then yes, I will save him. If it’s indiscernible, I’ll leave it to fate. Just because he can’t win doesn’t mean he won’t be able to escape.”

“Even that’s improbable.”

She nodded her assent.

Just as he asked, the group following Nathanial finished off the Naga. It wouldn’t earn them as much energy as fighting and killing them would, but it would still be worth the effort.

They turned their attention to the upper panel that showed the northern region boss battle that was about to begin.

Heaven's Laws - Book 3 - Chapter 2 b

“You’ve already refined the first drop of Esh Vine Nectar,” Zan said, addressing his son who sat shirtless in his old room in the Ice Phoenix Palace. His daughter-in-law was also there. She was once again wearing a blue Ice Phoenix gown and would be helping with her husband’s advancement.

He continued, “As for treasures capable of helping you break through, you have many. So many, in fact, that even I’m having difficulty deciding which we should use.”

The couple gave each other a concerned look.

A gust of qi puffed into their faces. “You have nothing to be worried about. This is something to celebrate. And after the excessive amount of qi Chao took in during his Sky Realm breakthrough, I expect your advancement to Overlord to be just as extreme. We’re prepared for it.

“Now Little Lotus, are you confident in your Qi Balancing?”

“Yes, Father,” Huifen said, looking him in the eye.

She was confident and fearless toward him. It was a level of trust that Zan still found unbelievable at times after the man he’d been before coming to this lower realm. It brought the largest of grins to his face. “Enough,” he said with a snort. “I’d ask your opinions, but this old one has already prepared everything.

“Little Phoenix, send them in.”

Quinyuan opened the door to reveal where their family and friends were waiting. The first person to enter was someone familiar to them. The bald Sage Ju-long of the Lightning Celestial Sect strolled in and offered a martial salute the moment he saw them. The man’s robes looked like polished metal with a white tint.

Chao and Huifen were about to bound to their feet when Zan perception fell upon them, causing a bit of pressure.

“Remain where you’re at. They have come to help. Greet them from where you’re seated. You’ll have plenty of time to thank them later.”

Sage Ju-long wasn’t the last.

A weathered face with a severe expression entered the room wearing silver martial robes that belonged to the Li family. Li Chung, the Sage from the Heart of Jian Sect, was a sword cultivator with an Earth Cultivation.

Zan almost laughed when he had to remind the youngsters a second time to remain seated with some pressure from his perceptions.

The next person was someone they didn’t know. The middle age-looking man wore light green robes and had a full beard almost as impressive as the white beard of Sage Li.

As he gave them a martial salute, he introduced himself, “I am Sage Jida, father to Sage Ping.”

Zan felt the fluctuations of qi from the two youngsters. He applied a little pressure, and they remained silent.

The man introducing himself didn’t remove his eyes from the floor as he added, “The gift you have given this one by returning his daughter in one piece after what she has done is priceless. The least I can do is help her savior with his breakthrough.” The man bowed deeply.

There was a moment of silence that seemed to stretch on into eternity until Chao filled it. “Sage Jida, thank you for coming. Your help is welcome.”

His son glanced at Huifen who was more likely to object to the man’s presence. Instead, she bowed her head and replied, “Thank you, Sage Jida.”

With a clap of his hands, Zan announced, “Take your places everyone.”

The group encircled them, standing near the wall while spreading out.

Then he addressed Chao and Huifen. “As you can see, we have Sages here that cultivate every major element. They have agreed to help supply Chao with qi during his breakthrough to bestow upon him their unique concepts. Not even you will have touched on all of them because of the differences in your cultivations.”

Then he went down the line, “Lightning from Brother Ju-long, Earth from Brother Li Chung, Nature from Brother Jida, Ice from your Mother Quinyuan, and I’ll provide the fire.

“Of course, Huifen will also be adding her concepts to the mix.”

He then looked both youngsters in the eye before continuing. “You must recognize how abnormal it is to bring so many Sages together for a lower realm brat’s breakthrough. But because of Chao’s Heaven and Earth cultivation, he needs every advantage he can get. This is unheard of. You must thank everyone here today that’s participating.”

“Yes, Father,” Chao and Huifen said as one.

“Now, take this,” Zan said, tossing his son a pill that was nearly as translucent as a qi crystal and almost too large to swallow.

His son tilted his head in question.

“Do you really think your father wasn’t prepared for the day you might break into the Overlord Realm?”

Chao’s eyes widened. “And the other pills we have?” he asked.

“Remove all the ones sufficient for advancing to Overlord from your spatial ring. There are a few others you’ll be taking as well.”

“A few?” Huifen said in shock.

“After what you tried during your breakthrough, Little Lotus, you’re lucky to be alive. But this old one came through, did he not? If you’re going to break all the rules, why shouldn’t he?”

Her lips parted, but she said nothing.

Giving his son another look, he watched the young man tossed back his head and sent the pill down his throat with the help of law summoned water.

“Now, while we wait, I hear you’ve written your own music, son. Why don’t you play us a song?”

Chao didn’t hesitate to remove his pipa. It seemed playing in front of other cultivators at the Divine Spire had improved his confidence in front of people.

“I’m still experimenting with what structure helps the most with cultivation…” As he said it, he began to play.

Now all they had to do was wait for the pill to begin to be absorbed.

Heaven's Laws - Book 3 - Chapter 2 a

There was a glimmer in her eye as Huifen laid eyes on the Ice Phoenix Place as they drew near. It was like a mountain peak of icy quartz. She’d grown partial to the Divine Spire in their living quarters on the seventh floor, but she’d grown up here with Mother Quinyuan and Sister Pangfua close by. She knew that it would always feel like a true home to her.

As if sensing something, her Chao grabbed her hand.

The smile she gave him came naturally. It was almost relief she felt at returning to the joint sect, but that feeling was overshadowed by the knowledge that this might be their last visit to their sect in a very long time. Their visit to the north, the Asura Continent, would be the last place they visited before ascending. With the speed at which Huifen was advancing, it was inevitable now. Not to mention, Mother Quinyuan had already advanced to the tribulation realm. She was waiting for them.

Glancing at her husband, she saw Chao grinning foolishly in the same way Father Zan often did. It wasn’t really foolishness. It was a goofy confidence she looked down on at one time. The reason was probably because her father Tu, a merchant cultivator, had often worn the same expression when she’d been a child. She’d looked down on him as if he weren’t a real cultivator. Or at least one that wasn’t on the level of the Ice and Fire Phoenix Sect. It was also because of her bias as an Ice Phoenix disciple that caused her to look down on men. In the end, the foolishness was her.

It was still a little awkward, but she was starting to find the expression endearing. Especially when her Chao wore it. It was exactly as Mother Sya said.

Chao had started out as overly polite. Annoyingly so. He also lacked confidence and was naïve in many ways. But she’d been at his side as he grew as a man and cultivator. She’d helped him. And now he was one of the most competent cultivators she’d ever known. He’d helped her in the same way. They’d built something together that was undeniable. Separate, they were amongst the most formidable cultivators on Lifestone. Together? If she didn’t include old monsters like Zan from the divine realm that were currently calling this planet home, she was convinced that they were the greatest under heaven. And not just compared to the strongest overlords. Their journey to the Asura Continent

The Divine Spire’s Trial of Might didn’t lie. Huifen hadn’t been able to defeat the two hundred and sixty-two thousand one hundred and forty-two cultivators equivalent to her overlord realm with the same speed Chao had, but she too had defeated the spire’s original owner’s record. The record of a peak Divine Lord. The scope of her husband’s space vortex wasn’t something even her Frigid Falling Star could match.

As for which one of them could win in a one-on-one match, they knew too much of each other’s minds and how they thought. They both had advantages and disadvantages. They sparred often enough, but there was nothing inside her she believed capable of attacking her husband in earnest.

She didn’t expect Mother Quinyuan to fly out and meet them. She saw her old master shoot out of the Ice Phoenix Palace and appear before them an instant later.

Their traveling party came to a stop and was arrayed before the Ice Phoenix Sect Master. “Welcome back to those returning. And greetings to those of you new to the joint sect. We have heard of the events that have transpired at the Divine Spire. It pleases me to see all of you in good health. Now let me take a look at you.”

As she scanned the crowd, a boisterous laugh suddenly surrounded them. Father Zan skipped the pleasantries and grabbed several people with his qi. Moving back to float next to Quinyuan, he announced, “It seems the join sect is about to set a record for its most breakthroughs at once.”

Huifen didn’t move to stop him and Chao was pulled away with the rest of those readying to breakthrough. They’d know about Eu-meh and Sister Genji, but there were several others including Core Disciple Shoi-ming.

Her Chao didn’t complain about being dragged away but instead turned to the giant man that had been a great help in the spire and developed a close friendship with him. “Brother Shoi-ming. Why didn’t you say anything?” Chao said, trying to spy on the man’s dantian.

The peak sky realm cultivator gave him a teethy grin. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“My son failed to recognize a peak sky realm cultivation?” Zan scoffed. “How embarrassing.”

“This is the first of its kind I’ve seen,” Chao retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. “I have more experience with ice cultivations.”

“Now you’re just bragging that you have an attractive wife.”

Huifen rolled her eyes. Her husband glared while Zan glared back. Her father-in-law was just teasing him. Probably because no one else did any longer.

“Husband,” Quinyuan raised her voice.

“Just making sure Little Chao hasn’t gotten too big for his britches,” Zan said with a snort. “We have little time before the Divine Envoys get here, and Chao will want to help with most of your breakthroughs. So everyone, hold off for a few more days. Trust me when I say it will be well worth it. Especially at your level, Shoi-ming.

“Little Lotus, come with me. Your mother will join us as soon as she gets the others sorted. It’s about time for your husband to become an Overlord.”

A murmur rose up in the crowd.

Huifen didn’t wait to fly forward and gave her father-in-law a sharp nod.

Before they left, Zan didn’t forget. “Brother Tu, Sister Sya, I’m sure you’ll want to observe. I’ll give you a tour inside his inner world after he’s broken through.” He waved for them to follow.

Flying over to Chao, she weaved her fingers between his.

“Looks like Father isn’t going to let us rest,” Chao humoredly said.

She gave him a look as if it were to only be expected.

Zan then looked to his wife Quinyuan who shook her head before waving for him to go.

With a loud clap of his hands, he pulled a good dozen people including her behind him with his qi and headed straight for the Ice Phoenix Palace.

Heaven's Laws - Book 3 - Chapter 1

They floated outside the Divine Spire near its peak. Chao admired the silver specks covering its glassy black surface. It was made of a divine marble not found on Lifestone. Its durability allowed for intergalactic travel. That wasn’t something they’d be needing it for anytime soon.

Expert Ji, the artificial tower spirit, had given them several options that would allow them to transport the tower as they wished. The one they had chosen wasn’t possible for most in this lower realm. Not even Overlords. It was only because the spatial ring Father Zan had given him and its divine realm origins that his ring had the space to house such a massive structure. It required a couple of things. The first was that every living creature had to exit the spire. The second was that Chao had to be the recognized owner by Ji. As for the tower spirit, it wasn’t a living entity, so it wouldn’t have any problems entering his spatial ring.

Glancing down at the crowd that was gathered below, he couldn’t shake the feeling of unfairness toward these sects in the northern part of the Monolith Continent. He was taking from them what had been a cultivation wonderland for thousands of years.

Chao looked at his Huifen. She had reached large success and the eighth small realm during their months here in the spire. Soon enough she would breakthrough the Overlord Realm and reach the Tribulation. Her progression was extreme even for the divine realm. That was thanks to the Divine Spire, but also her cultivation with her husband. They’d refined so many pills that Chao had almost lost count. She too looked contemplative.

They’d discussed this at length. When they arrived at the Ice Phoenix Palace, they’d take many of the rarest resources and give them to the joint sect to cultivate. There were hundreds if not thousands of natural treasures that the spire no longer gave out as prizes because it was down to a handful of each. It would only be a matter of years, decades in some cases, before there would be enough to share. The plan was that the Joint Sect would start holding a continent-wide competition and give off a decent portion of the resources as prizes. Rogue cultivators would be welcome. Longterm, it would benefit far more cultivators than leaving the spire at its current state.

There would also be an added benefit. If they could grow these natural resources on Monolith Continent, overtime, it would increase the qi density. The difficulty was that divine realm vegetation required a divine realm supply of qi. It wasn’t just qi plants needed through. Water, soil, sun… Such vegetation could produce far more qi than they took in. Once they were established, and if there were enough of them, Lifestone could categorically change. Such a project would take centuries if not millennia, however.

Seeing that he was still struggling, Huifen grasped his arm at the elbow and rested her head on his shoulder. They remained for a few long moments as he retraced the benefits in his head.

“I’m ready,” he said with finality.

Placing his hand on the spire’s surface, something miraculous happened. The spire disappeared. He checked inside his ring and found everything as it should be. The space was something he couldn’t imagine ever filling up. Even if he started collecting buildings.

They flew down to stand next to Sage Pangfua. The Ice and Fire Phoenix Sect members were lined up behind her. Brother Shoi-ming was at the head of the Fire Phoenix disciples.

Elder Alfori of the Night Pearl Sect was there with the fairies of her sect to wish them farewell. They weren’t alone. After the tragedy Elder Harnish had caused, things had been quite in the spire ever since. The Morning Mist Village left entirely. That gave room for more cultivators mostly of the rogue variety. Some of which they’d befriended or would be joining the joint sect.

Chao spotted Dvora and Baros who had been married in the spire. They would be joining the joint sect. A water and moon cultivator wouldn’t fit directly, but both of their cultivations had were close enough for them to gain benefits. With Huifen pushing the training of laws to all students, Baros would fit in well with the ice cultivators. The same would go for Dvora with the fire cultivators. He hoped that with a little training, they could help the sect expand into other, related laws.

Elder Alfori gave Sage Pangfua one last martial bow. The woman’s face was shrouded by her veil.

Something flew out of Pangfua’s hand that Alfori caught. Without even looking at it, the Night Pearl Sect Elder tilted her head in question.

“For the help you’ve given my joint sect,” Pangfua announced. “At first, I didn’t trust you. I still don’t.” The Sage gave one of her rare room-brightening smiles. “You’ve been a friend to us, Alfori.”

“This,” the elder began, but couldn’t find the words so she bowed deeply. “This one will not forget your kindness,” she said.

“Don’t mention it. I hope to see you in a few years when the Joint Sect holds our first continent wide martial tournament.”

“I’ll be there,” she swore.

Turning her attention to the rest of the crowd, Pangfua lifted her voice and said, “Safe travels.”

Turning back to them, the Sage gave them a nod.

With Mother-in-law Sya, brother Shoi-ming, and several other sky realm elders, they lifted the disciples of the joint sect and those that would be traveling with them into the air. They began flying toward the joint sect.

It had taken Chao and Huifen weeks to reach the monoliths, but that’s because they’d been seeing the sights as they traveled. This time they were heading there directly. It would take two to three days.

There was a reason Chao and Huifen weren’t carrying the others. Huifen’s internal injuries had healed long ago. She was to be one of the vanguards during their travels. As an overlord, she had the best chance of protecting them with Sage Pangfua at her side.

Chao would also help defend them if it came to it, but his circumstances were also special. He was at the peak of the sky realm and ready to breakthrough at any time. It was the reason they left now instead of waiting a few days for the Divine Envoys from the Divine Sects to arrive. Father Zan and Mother Quinyuan would be meeting them at the Ice Phoenix Palace.

The breakthrough to the overlord realm was perhaps the most foundational one in all of cultivation. It was the creation of one’s inner world—their first planet. Chao could’ve already broken through, but his father had told him to wait if at all possible. His old man wanted to be there to help. It seemed foolish to do it without him.

Seeing that their trip would take days and that there were so many of them, Chao removed his pipa, Breath of Windblown Reeds, a genuine overlord instrument, and flew back to join their discipleship group.

His tawny skinned friend Li Qiang tried to say something, but the speed of the wind stole his words.

Chao quickly fixed that by surrounding the entire traveling party in a sound barrier that would allow them to converse. He announced it to everyone.

“You’re going to play, Brother Chao?” Li Qiang asked.

“I don’t see why we shouldn’t get a little laws practice in while we travel,” he replied.

His friend gave him a sharp nod before turning to the others and getting things started. Qiang and Eu-meh always took the initiative to get things organized.

He gave the young woman whose face had been scarred a warm smile. She now wore a veil even if she was still undeniably beautiful in her unique way in large part because of her dimples. He didn’t believe for a moment that her scar hindered her cultivation.

As he’d once promised, Chao would provide the resources she needed to breakthrough to the sky realm as long as she reached it before they left the spire. She was currently at the peak of the earth realm and readying to breakthrough at any time so he counted it. The reason she’d waited was because the Ice Phoenix Palace was better for ice cultivator breakthroughs. It simply housed the largest supply of ice qi on the planet.

The elder carrying them with her qi rearranged the group so that they might cultivate. Fairy Zhu, the blond friend of his wife, was only a few small realms from the sky realm herself. Fair Diu, the library clerk who had inadvertently joined their discipleship group at the beginning was right behind her in cultivation. Dvora and Baros would also be joining their practice as they had often in the past months. Fairy Genji, Sage Pangfua’s personal disciple, was also there. Right now this was their core group, but the other sect disciples with them new the borrow game well enough. Many were preparing to practice as soon as Chao made the announcement.

Seeing how things were going, a mischievous smile came to his face. He put away his pipa and pulled out his flute. The flute itself was a mighty instrument nearly as high quality as his pipa. He was the one at fault for not being able to play it.

The moment it appeared in his hands, Eu-meh and Zhu cried out as one. “Brother Chao, no!”

His wife’s hand found his arm, but he couldn’t help it. Shaping his mouth over the mouthpiece, he blew. To everyone’s surprise, it was an actual note. A shrill, ugly thing, but a note all the same.

It drew the eye of almost everyone.

Eu-meh’s sharp tongue was still fully functional as she proved by calling out, “That almost sounded decent, Sage Chao.”

Zhu, Eu-meh, Diu, Genji, and his own wife all laughed.

His friend Qiang grimaced before adding, “I think I just regressed an entire realm.”

There was more laughter.

He grinned as he observed. To keep his title as the Silly Sage, it took work. The darker side of himself came much more naturally.

Pulling out his pipa, he began to play in earnest.

Heaven's Laws Quick Update

Chapter 1 is getting close. I've ended up doing some outlining, which I rarely do. The pacing with this book is going to be faster then the first two.

Heaven's Laws Update

I had a false start on where I was starting book 3, but everything is looking good now. Should have chapter one out tomorrow.

Cheers!

Body Cultivation Hurts - Chapter 33

Jared wasn’t shy about using his jade to communicate with his contacts at Citadel News who he’d been invited to join this large group of cultivators heading to the Mountain King of the northern gate. He’d only been with them for a few hours and the things he’d seen left him questioning everything he thought he knew about the different Paths. This group wasn’t flashy. There weren’t any fliers, teleporters, impressive magic spells, or rage monsters, but they walked through everything they ran across.

That wasn’t the half of it. His main contact reached out to him about an hour ago with more information about this group. He’d known about Nathanial Kane and the cultivation videos he’d put up. How the man singlehandedly beat the life out of a murderous gang in the first few days of Initiation was especially news worthy. But the man had promised he was bringing a bunch of people into a training camp and would post new videos after. It was confirmed. This group of cultivators had attended the camp. So had many of the people gathering at the other gates. If they were all this powerful, then something massive was happening and their Citadel News startup was right in the middle of it.

He had been so busy making sure his connection to the his contact was working that he hadn’t realized they’d made it. In front of the group was a steep grassy hill that led up to a valley between mountains. The peaks of the two mountains were so perfect it was almost as if someone had designed them, but they were far too large for that to be possible.

The trek would’ve left Jared a heaving mess before Initiation, but he could’ve run up it now without much of a problem. The monsters they’d consistently been running into were suddenly sparse. It was as he’d heard. The closer they got to the valley of the northern region boss, the less creatures they would see.

When they finally reached the top, everyone lined up side by side to look down into the shallow valley. Immediately before them was a crystal clear lake that collected water from the surrounding peaks. But beyond it, as if it were waiting for challengers, the largest creature Jared had ever seen was curled up under a shade tree.

Even from what had to be half a mile away, he knew this was no mere bear. Not even the largest Earth variety. It was an African elephant in the shape of a bear. It was brown with a silver streak down its back.

Two men stepped forward. The two of them were leaders he’d heard called Jun Takao and Ma Mencius. A few others stepped forward, but they stood back as if intending on escorting the two men without interfering.

The young woman, Yuma, who had been answering his questions said, “Excuse me.”

Leaving him in there in the crowd, she was ushered to the front then joined the small group of escorts.

It was so unconscionable that such a small number of people would face the region boss that he didn’t say anything until they were already heading toward the lake. It was then that he asked a woman standing next to him that wasn’t dressing in the same martial arts garb, “Are they really going to fight it with just the twelve of them?”

The woman shook her head. “No, Yuma and the elders are just there for back up. They have a few healers just in case.”

It wasn’t until it was said out loud that Jared dared to believe it. “Are they crazy?” he asked.

The woman gave him a humored look.

Before she could respond, he waved off his remark. Then he placed his communication jade to his mouth and didn’t bother sending a text-based message.

***

Nadine and her father, Lucas, had stuck with the same group since the beginning of the tower. They had a Kite, their flier, and Dustin, their teleporter. Kite wasn’t his real name, but like more and more people, they were adopting nicknames and using them in place of their real names. Kite was handsome enough with his dark hair and afternoon shadow, but he only just turned eighteen. He was rather desperate for attention. Nadine’s attention especially.

She didn’t mind his crush. She was more concerned that he would hurt himself trying to impress her. At least Dustin used his own name, but the twenty-eight-year-old was just as daring as Kite was. She had to heal him almost as much as Kite. The way the two guys fed off each other didn’t hurt.

Her father seemed more humored by the pair than annoyed. After Initiation had restored her old man’s old knee injury to health, he was rather rambunctious himself. It didn’t help that he was an Illusionist. The main way he fought was by deceiving monsters with a spell called Mirrored Image. Just like when someone was crossing their eyes, it created a second image of the enemy’s target. The hardest part about using the spell was that the illusion was visible to everyone. It didn’t take long for their group to get used to it though.

They’d spend almost all of their days hunting outside the western gate. Each day they took the same path, but went a little deeper, looking for new demon variants. The demons were the best part about the western gate. There weren’t as many beasts out here, so it make hunting for demons they could sell to Googee. They’d already sold a few dozen rare variants and made a couple hundred thousand points off their corpses.

It was all thanks to the man who’d look like a walking corpse and had insisted she not heal him. He’d told them about the corpses and Googees. She hoped the man was still alive. His name had been Nathan.

Her group wasn’t the only one that traveled this deep to the west. Omid and his family often traveled with them. Technically, they didn’t hunt together, but they were always close by in case the other needed help. More than once the number of demons had gotten out of hand. They’d joined forces at those times and everything had worked out.

So when she saw the first group of three moving through the ruins at a jog, she didn’t think much of it. Only, she could’ve swore she recognized one of the men who was wearing MMA shorts and little else. The others at least had clothes on.

The ruins were sparse in this area. They’d set up on a hill with a building that had fallen over on its side at their backs. This gave them a place to retreat to. It also gave them a good view of their surroundings. The group of three ran headlong into the first group of demons they saw. They were outnumbered. There wasn’t just one of the bigger ones. There were six of them.

The half-naked guy led the way. She’d thought they’d been moving too fast for their small group, but then the man surged forward. It was difficult to see his movements. One moment he was a good ten feet from the closest large demon, the next his knee slammed into the seven-foot creature’s chest, launching it back. Several other demons fell with it.

The man landed with his fists at his sides as if just waiting for one of the monsters to counter. The moment it did, the man kicked out. His front kick jutted into a demon’s gut. It too was sent to its rear.

Then she saw the other two act. One wielded a katana. The other a spear. For an instant, she thought she saw a faint aura covering the swordman’s blade. It flashed as he rushed through the flank of the demons. His target? The demons’ limbs.

Nadine group had a melee tank and a damage dealer. Both of them were level six. Their strength was undeniable. She’d seen their Naginata wielder cleave one of the smaller demons almost in two. The large ones were just too thickly muscled, and their bone thickness and density were on another level. Yet this man cleaved through them with little effort. Limbs flew.

The spear wielder took the exact opposite approach. The man had stayed in the back the longest, but when he lunged forward, his spear pierced straight through a large demon’s chest and out the back. Perhaps more impressive was how smoothly the spear exited the same way it had come.

Then she saw one of the larger demons run up to the barehanded man as if to give him the last embrace he’d ever have, when the man shot to the monster’s legs and drove it to its back. The next instant, he was mounted on the things stomach and pounding its head into the ground.

It was an impressive display. They were one of the better groups she’d seen even if she preferred their approach to hunting.

However, before the group was even done with the demons, another arrived in her peripherals. Turning, she saw not one, but half a dozen groups spread out amongst the ruins. It only took her a moment to see that they had a similar level of competence as the first. And most of them were fighting with melee weapons. A few others were also fighting bare-fisted.

She and her father shared a look. They hurriedly walked over to corner of the fallen over building to get a peek only to see dozens of groups and hundreds of people all spread out and moving westward as if they were some army.

“This…” her father muttered.

Then Nadine saw her. At the head of a group of ten, the blond, supermodel thin popstar was ascending the hill. Nessa was a childhood singing competition winner with incredible talent. She could hit whistle notes as easy as she could breathe. Nadine forgot which show she’d been on, but Nessa, or Vanessa Montgomery, was best known for staying true to her roots. So often, childhood starts made raunchy coming out as adult albums where they tried to out-slut all the other popstars that had come before them. Not Nessa.

Nadine hand found her hair and felt how matted down it was with sweat. The singer wasn’t wearing designer clothing or her typical summer dress but wore jogging pants and a long sleeve shirt. She looked really good in something so simple. Nadine clammed up.

Thankfully, her father didn’t.

“Hello, are you guys with them,” Lucas asked, motioning to the army of groups advancing.

The sunglasses wearing popstar smiled as she replied, “Yes, we are. Sorry if we’re stealing your kills. We’re looking for something.”

“You’re an American?”

She nodded as another woman in a business dress stepped up to stand beside her. “Only about half of us are. But you don’t have to worry. We’re just passing through.”

“Might I aske what you’re looking for?”

“I’ll tell you, but please don’t spread it around. We’re looking for the demons’ spawn.”

“As in where they’re coming from?”

The woman grinned.

Nadine finally built up the courage to ask, “You’re Nessa?”

The popstar laughed before taking off her sunglasses.

She’d already known, but her eyes went wide anyway. Turning to her dad, she asked, “Can you contact Uncle Omid? Mariam is the biggest fan.”

Turning to Nessa, she asked as sweetly as possible, “Do you mind waiting for just a minute. My friend is nearby, and she loves your music.”

Her manager, Ms. Jennings, gave her an insistent look, but Nessa dismissed the woman’s worry with the wave of her hand.

“We don’t have a lot of time, but if she’s nearby…” Nessa replied. “It’s the least we can do for stealing your kills.”

Her father chuckled and took out his communication jade.

She bounced up and down where she stood. As they waited, Nadine had to ask, “Why are so many of your people using melee weapons? Are there no mages?”

“Oh, we have some,” Nessa replied. “Most of us just got back from a training camp. We’re primarily made up of cultivators.”

“Do you know Nathan?” She cringed the moment she asked. How could the woman possibly know every cultivator. There had to be millions of them.

“Nathan? As in Nathanial Kane?”

Nadine narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know his full name.” She proceeded to explain how she’d met this man carrying the corpse of a demon variant who’d looked like a corpse himself. The man had insisted she not heal him.

“That sounds like him,” Nessa said. “He was probably carrying the region boss. We’d be hunting it now, but he needed its poison sacks for his cultivation.”

“Region boss?” Her face lost all color. “I thought they were supposed to be the strongest monsters on the first floor?”

“They are. This one might have been a little weaker, except it exhaled poison. So what would’ve probably killed most people, Nathanial wouldn’t have much problem with.”

Then her father rejoined them. “They’re on their way. So that Nathan guy is still alive?”

Nessa laughed heartily while her manager rolled her eyes.

Ms. Jennings said, “He’s probably the hardest to kill idiot in the entire tower.”

That sent Nessa into a laughing fit. “Too true,” she agreed. “Since you know him, why don’t you travel with us? Once we find the spawn points, you guys are welcome to hunt there. Our goal is to clear much of the monsters by the western gate and take control of the spawn points. Not to control who hunts there, but to create a safer hunting environment. From what I hear, the spawn points are supposed to be crawling with monsters while new ones are added all the time.”

Glancing at her father, Nadine blurted out, “Really?”

“We’ll have to ask the others,” her father reminded her.

It was then that they saw Omid walking toward them with his family. His wife was close by with his daughter, Mariam, at her side. The man’s three boys were following at the rear. They’d sold their rifles and were now making full use of their Paths. Omid had taken Persian Immortal with strength and speed enhancements. Two of his sons had been drawn to the same Path but had varying Superhuman enhancements. Mariam and her mother were both healers. Only one of their boys had gone against what his parents and most people that held to similar ideologies objected to. Magic was not viewed as a good thing, yet he’d become an elementalist.

Omid had a warm smile on his face as he greeted all of the groups they passed by thrusting his spear up and shaking it as if waving. He wore a white keffiyeh, or scarf, on his head that had black patterns. Like his sons, he had a scale mail breastplate over his tunic and trousers. His wife and daughter also wore scale mail. His wife wore a more traditional Hijab while Mariam wore a Eşarp, or silk scarf covering her hair. Miriam’s was pale pink with a floral pattern.

Since their group didn’t have any monsters to face, they joined Nadine and her father when they saw Omid coming to welcome him.

As the family trudged up the small hill, Mariam suddenly saw Nessa and froze in place. Then she screamed.

Her father looked back to see his daughter shaking in giddy delight. She met his eyes. He nodded her on.

Her father looked back to see his daughter shaking in giddy delight. She met his eyes. He nodded her on.

Mariam darted passed them, joining up with Nadine. Holding hands, they giggled together. Nadine introduced her.

Omid glanced at his wife who just shrugged. They didn’t know who Nessa was.

Lucas and Omid grasped hands, and her father proceeded to ask if they wanted to join them. It didn’t take a lot of persuasion.

As soon as Kite and Dustin recognized Nessa, they ran forward and fanboyed as much as Mariam did.

Nadine watched how the young man that had a crush on her forget about her entirely. She understood it to a degree, but he was drooling. It wasn’t exactly attractive behavior. She may have also be a tad jealous.

Ms. Jennings got them back on track with help from Nessa. The popstart added one more thing that stopped any objections. “We’re also looking for the pillar that will allow us to go home.”

The popstar quickly explained that there was a pillar outside each gate. They were located deep into each territory. All they had to do was reach it. They had people looking for them at the other gates too. Except, their region bosses would have to be defeated first before they’d light up. Once all the pillars were lit, anyone could exit the tower through their Personal Chambers to arrive at any of the portals that were still active worldwide.

And so, what would’ve been another day hunting demons turned into something much more exciting for Nadine and her group. A chance to return home.

Body Cultivation Hurts - Title Poll

Body Cultivation Hurts has always been a title place holder for this series. So this is a series name, not the name of this novel. The series can stand alone but it's also in the Heaven's Laws universe.

Yes, there is a planned meet up between characters in the future. Think Avengers meets cultivators. Cultivengers? Avengivators?

The cover art is in the works, and here are a few of the titles I'm considering. Feel free to throw out any other ideas you have in the comments.

Note: I won't necessarily pick the most popular. I just want you're guy's thoughts on the matter and thought this would be fun. Feel free to pick more than one that you like. These are just from a brainstorming session and some of them are pretty bad. Gloriously so. :D

Heaven's Laws - Cover Update

Giving you guys a sneak peak at the next cover for Heaven's Laws book 3. I'm liking the new artist. They've done the last three covers.

Body Cultivation Hurts - Chapter 32 b

Nathan studied the trio as they fought the common desert monsters. There weren’t as many demon-zombies this far out except for rarer variants. Even the faster moving ones were much easier prey compared to the desert monsters found this deep into the southern gate. There were large snakes that liked to hide beneath the sand, giant scorpions, and the most annoying were spikey-backed jackals. The first two were ambush predators, while the last attacked in packs and were about the size of large dogs.

Leroy stood out front with his long sword in a two-handed stance. The guy was wearing dull plate armor with a blocky great helm. He was only level seven but was annoyingly durable enough to make a good tank. In many ways, the guy shared many characteristics with Nathan.

The Death Knight that insisted on not being called a Death Knight had two modes, or strategies. He was in the middle of utilizing the first right now. They were being surrounded by the jackal porcupine wannabes. So Leroy wasn’t swinging to try and kill anything. He was kind of bouncing around in front of the group and swinging in wind arcs to remind the hungry predators that it was going to hurt if they got too fast.

Nathan’s first assessment was that the guy used way too much energy on wasted movements. At the same time, this guy wasn’t just some normal human that was dead the moment he gassed out. The Death Knight had two things going for him. His regeneration was almost at the level of Nathan’s, and secondly, Zera was a very good healer.

As game-like as the tower could sometimes seem, Zera didn’t have to worry about healing Leroy because he was undead. There was no such thing as undead in the traditional gaming sense. The guy’s body had been modified to absorb death energy. That was true. What that really meant though likely isn’t want it seemed.

Once mana permeated a world, it’s present in all forms of matter and during every natural process. What death-energy really was, was just mana’s interaction during the decomposition process. A very specific kind of mana clings to a decomposing corpse or carcass. This mana-type remains until the carcass is broken down completely. In a very real way, an abandoned morgue filled with corpses is the perfect cultivation grounds for the Zombie Path. A cave filled with carcasses would be just as good. Its greatest advantage is that it can also collect energy from kills like a lot of other Monster Paths.

As Leroy was dancing around and swinging his sword, Zera was periodically casting a stamina restoring spell between them. Like a thin thread, it snaked from her fingers and landed on the hyperactive Death Knight.it shared with him some of her energy.

That wasn’t her only job. As a pure Holy Mage at level six, she also had Light Arrow as a spell. Later on, magic would become much more customizable, but there was a straightforward spell list for Mages in the first few Realms.

These Light Arrows were really just condensed mana in the shape of an arrow with a Light Mana affinity. There were so creatures weak to the affinity like Vampires with a Dark affinity, but it was to a limited degree. They were really just modified humans after all. There were real Dark Mana creatures out there that the Light affinity would wreak havoc against.

It wasn’t too surprising that Wolfgang was making the largest impact as a level ten Spell Goblin. His level wasn’t because he hunted more than the others. All three of them had to be obsessed to have reached the levels they were. It was because Wolfgang was a goblin, and he leveled like crazy. As for what he was doing, as a jackal lunged toward Zera from the flank, a wall of Force Magic sent the beast flying back ten feet. Like a left in the wind, it tumbled.

The jackals were testing the group by approaching from every which angle. Each time they came in from the flanks or rear, Wolfgang sent them flying. Well, except for directly behind him. Nathan was hanging out there.

When a jackal lunged for Nathan, he let it snap down on his forearm. They were powerful beasts for the first floor, but, at most, the jackal was at large success of the Body Realm. Most creatures on the first floor never made it to the Blood Realm. It was one of the reasons the slower leveling Paths were able to catch the faster ones in his first life. Until the Region Bosses were dead, there was no reaching the second floor.

Currently, the jackal didn’t have what it takes to cause any real damage. The qi running through his blood strengthened his skin even if he wasn’t directing it to. And when it was, his flesh was even tougher. With that said, unless Energy and Soul Cultivators, he didn’t have an aura of qi covering him in a protective layer. So even though he could take as much if not more punishment, he could only take it with his body.

These jackals had an impressive bite. Unlike Earth native jackals, these were between 120 and 200 lbs. Even if its teeth couldn’t break the skin, he felt the crushing force. It just wasn’t enough.

Grabbing it by the throat with his free hand as he watched the group of three work, he strangled it until it passed out from blood loss to its brain. He gave it a toss. It landed next to another that Wolfgang had just pushed back.

“Be ready,” the Spell Goblin called out. “Three. Two…”

As the countdown reached zero, Wolfgang’s hands shot out to either side. It wasn’t force that extended from him but mana. When it reached a good twenty feet in either direction, two walls of force formed and began to move counterclockwise. The little guy was shaking as he controlled the amount of mana he supplied to the spell so that he’d have enough for later.

As the opposing walls of force moved, sand churned with it until the four of them were surrounded. The jackals caught in the storm were sent tumbling. Many tried to escape, while those stuck inside the giant wall of sand were cut off from retreat.

The moment the sandstorm was in place, Wolfgang cried, “Now!”

Leroy flipped the switch. Instead of dancing around and swinging wildly, he cleaved horizontally. One jackal was clipped by the blade and spun under its force, while another was slashed deep in the neck. The Death Knight followed up instantly before the clipped one could recover.

The jackal’s spikey backs were like a thick layer of quills that made decent armor. It wasn’t enough. The beast was spit down the back. Its spine was severed in places.

Zera started casting Light Arrow like mad.

Their switch from defense to offense was enough to leave seven jackals writhing with the throes of death in less than ten seconds.

Nathan couldn’t help but to be impressed. Initiation hadn’t happened more than two weeks ago, and they were already this proficient. He certainly hadn’t been at their level so early his first life in the tower.

Wolfgang dropped his Force Storm ability once they’d finished the last jackal. As soon as he did, the remaining ones rushed in, unsure what had happened to the rest of their pack.

Nathan caught one by the back leg as he sidestepped its lung. Swinging it over his head, he brought it down, smacking it with the ground. It didn’t even yip. Was it a bloodthirsty beast that would eat him? Yeah, but he was a dog guy. If it didn’t yip, that meant it died right away. Or he’d knocked it senseless enough that it wasn’t conscious for its last moments.

A minute later, it was all over. He applauded their battle. It was the biggest group they’d faced yet.

“How you doing on mana,” he asked Wolfgang.

The Spell Goblin shrugged. “It’s pretty costly, but I could cast it three more times without taking a break if it only stays active that long.”

He smiled at the guy. He’d been on the first floor for a year in his first life, so this wasn’t his first Force Mage he’d hunted with of a similar level. And more than that, cultivators weren’t the only ones that had techniques to master.

Some spells were less complex than others, but the more involved spells like Force Storm had many variables a mage could manipulate. There was a large difference between a skilled and unskilled mage of any magic school. It was so early that no one had had time to develop the most skillful uses of the better spells.

Phrasing it as a question, Nathan asked him if it would take less mana to keep one wall of force encircling them. “Does it cost less if it’s moving slower?”

His new friend answered in the affirmative.

“And does it take less time to ramp up than to cast all at once?”

The moment Nathan said it, Wolfgang eyes widened as he pondered the implications.

The Spell Goblin approached the next battle with a single, slow moving wall of force encircling them. It wasn’t as formidable, but what looked like a dust devil orbiting around them made even the most aggressive creatures tentative in their approach. They had to be constantly aware that if they didn’t stay on their toes, then they’d inevitably be flanked.

Even though it cost the Force Mage exponentially less mana, it was the annoying kind of spell that an enemy couldn’t ignore. And when he needed to ramp it up?

A group of three giant scorpions were all caught up in Force Storm as they tried to rush in. All it had taken was for Wolfgang to speed the force wall’s movement by supplying it mana to trick the beasts’ sense of timing. They hadn’t been ready for it.

After the three scorpions did cartwheels and Deadpool in plate mail stabbed them in the face, Zera screamed in delight that she’d leveled up.

Nathan watched the three of them quite literally do their victory dances. The elf healer may accuse her two companions of being dorks, but even if she was more gracious in the way she moved, she fit into the same category. He wasn’t going to tell her though.

They fought several groups of mobs, more than a few hundred monsters all together, when they reached what seemed like a valley deep in the middle of the desert. It didn’t make sense. There was a hill of sand a quarter of a mile high that descended gently until it reached the sandstone ruins of some ancient city. There was more than enough wind that it should have blown sand into the ruins, but the stone pathways worn by foot traffic were swept clean.

“Alright, people. Listen up,” Nathan said. “I’ll be taking a more active role from this point forward. You can expect a lot of giant snakes and Nagas, or snake people. The boss doesn’t spawn until we clear the central area. It’s best we clear the perimeter around it so that there are no adds once the fun really starts. Any questions?”

“You said these are some of the highest-level monsters on the first floor?” Zera asked.

He gave her a teethy grin. “Excited?”

“Uh. Sure.”

He grinned even wider. “Let’s go.”

There was a reason Nathan had chosen to go with Wolfgang and this group instead of inviting his friends from his old gym or anyone from the training camp. They’d seen the videos of his time in the tower so far, but he was afraid of what they might think if this fight became as dire as he thought it might. He was sure they’d try to interfere.

He’d lied to them—allowed them to think it was just like another region boss. One of which he’d already defeated. They’d seen the video of that too. After everything, they still didn’t completely grasp what a Body Cultivator was. He wasn’t sure if it was too early to tell them—to reveal the full extent of what they might be called to do.

Update

Heaven's Laws chapters should start early next week. I'll be trying to do Body Cultivation Hurts chapters at the same time since they are both in the same universe. BCH will likely be done first since it's almost complete already.

Cheers!

Codename: Freedom - Book 5 is Live!

Codename: Freedom - Dragonslayer is Live!

Book 5

https://geni.us/CFDragonslayer

Summary:

Vanguard continues.

Prodos’s competition is ranking up. Major Lucius Edwards is a year behind.

Without victory, Earth’s preparation will be severely lacking.

War is coming.

Can skill compete with overwhelming force…

Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 39

After winning three of the four events in Vanguard including from the opening day, Prodos no longer had to worry about placement in the last event. It was impossible for them to lose. That allowed them to approach the one-on-one tournament that had been teased since the beginning without the same pressure.

There was also the question of the consequences Lucius would face which Victoria addressed in an interview. “It’s being discussed now and will be carried out after Vanguard is over.”

Training took on a more contemplative tone as Lucius’s trainers walked him through the decisions he had made. Not even Krato killed him one for the first week after he’d returned.

The Combat Development team celebrated the execution of the plan they’d developed to capture the first flag in the face of Brendon Black’s direct assault. Kline was the hail the Hero of Self Destruction, and Hwan was his unofficial sidekick. What would’ve been the rank D hunter group was handsomely rewarded for sacrificing themselves so early.

Speaking of Hwan, the stealth team received a large bonus in SP after their performance. Most of them had died trying to capture a flag, while only Hwan and Handshake had gotten to do what they did best.

Now that it was guaranteed that Victoria would lead Earth’s psionic training program, she began meeting with the other Colonels. She provided more than just her philosophy but undeniable data that the average Prodos member had unlocked more psionic abilities than any other battalion without slowing their forward advancement.

The last event of Vanguard started at the beginning of the last month. With more than a million participants, it couldn’t all happen in a day. Despite Prodos already declared the victor of Prodos, that didn’t discourage fans from watching their favorites.

Things progressed mostly as expected. Participants were allowed to use military gear while fighting, so even those that couldn’t use every psionic ability could utilize most of them with the right equipment. It actually gave those with less psionic talent an unnatural advantage. But the argument was, if in a battle, they wouldn’t be without their gear, and it took skill to use it.

Lucius and Mel were obvious favorites. After walking through their first opponents, most people forfeited instead of facing them. It was the same for men like the Real Major Jeffery Wright, Master Sergeant Ebrima Okoro, and Master Sergeant Brendon Black. Only, their opponents forfeited less often. Their reasoning was clear. One had the best moment technique in Vanguard. The other had the most powerful long-distance attack. Facing either of them, especially considering they were Freedom participants with a year’s less psionics experience, could be rather embarrassing.

There were exceptions. The arena used was uniform for every fight. It wasn’t small, but it measured thirty by fifty feet with a ceiling at twenty. Whether it was meant to limit the abilities of someone like Lucius who could gather a great deal of momentum if given the room or the size was kept small so that Mel would have to face his opponents up close, it didn’t end up mattering. Lucius easily made use of the walls and ceiling of the large rectangle and Mel didn’t need more than a couple shots to take down all but the most defensively talented individuals. Not to mention that they trained together, which sharpened them. Also, Mel’s movement abilities improved to look more and more like Lucius’s.

Until the last days of the tournament, it was easy going for the two of them. Brendon Black was defeated early by Ebrima Okoro. He would go on to face Mel in the semifinals.

As they faced off, Mel sent an overcharge bolt as his charging opponent. The lengthy Master Sergeant moved with grace no small giant should possess. The most interesting thing about Okoro was that he didn’t have the push ability unlocked, but he ran across the arena walls with his aura blazing and leaped through the air as if he did.

Mel had always been told he was athletically talented, but in the face of the Ebrima Okoro, he seemed rather average. Psionic push bridged the gap between them. The limit of Okoro’s natural ability was that he had to rely on his physicality to move his body while Mel could defy gravity and move in unexpected directions.

The Master Sergeant ended up being the most difficult opponent for him to hit with his psionic bolts in the entire competition. Their fight went on for several minutes. In the end, it wasn’t enough. When a single attack could kill from a distance, it was only a matter of time. There was only one person that was nearly impossible to hit.

One of the most anticipated fights of the entire tournament happened next. Major Lucius Edwards verses the Real Major Jeffery Wright. Once they were called to the arena, both men greeted each other with a nod. There was nothing but respect between them. If anything, Lucius looked up to the older man with a reverence he held for an elite few. Achilles was one of those men. Cornelius was another.

There was an irony to their opening stances. It was the Real Major that took up a defensive stance with his shield forward and spear at the ready. It was almost like looking at Lucius a year in the past, except Jeffery Wright had the mass and power of body equal to any Combat Master. Lucius still hadn’t reached such a level.

Now, the Freedom participant hovered barehanded, wearing only a leather bodysuit. Anyone that followed Lucius’s career knew how partial he was to a shield. He’d once masterfully used one to defeat a rank E user while still in rank F. The Real Major shifted with the same optimization of movement. Instead of matching Lucius’s speed, Jeffery Wright pivoted. Seeing the angle of attack, he shifted his weight just so.

Perhaps it was because of Lucius’s own mastery of the shield, but he tested the man’s defense as he hovered circles around him at breakneck speed.

Lucius’s approach wasn’t what anyone expected. Dodging the man’s spear for the dozenth time, he landed another dragonslayer on the man’s shield. It was an exchange that happened repeatedly. After four minutes at an exhausting pace the purpose of Lucius’s approach appeared. The Real Major’s pshield had fractured.

Jeffery Wright howled in laughter as he tossed his shield away. With a spear in his left hand and his sword in his right, he waved Lucius to come. Using his overcharged weapon bolstering, he began trying to time his opponent’s approach and slashed out.

Even with the Real Major summoning his psionic shielding to block Lucius’s counters, it wasn’t enough. A dragonslayer landed through a kick to the side of Jeffery’s knee. It buckled, sending him to the ground.

 Despite that, the man didn’t give up. Since the tournament was being held in sim, he was determined to force Lucius to kill him.

In the final exchange, Lucius flew in from the side after a push off the wall.

The Real Major extended his spear, which was pushed aside with psionics. He hadn’t used it to stop his opponent, but to judge the distance. His overcharged blade slashed downward.

Slipping right around it, Lucius appeared on his flank. Instead of delivering the decisive blow, he reached out and tagged the Real Major on the side of the head.

Tossing his weapons to the ground, Major Jeffery Wright called out, “I’m done.” Walking over to the victor, he presented himself.

Clasping hands, they walked out of the arena together chatting as if it were just another spar.

There had been speculation as to what the finals might be like if Lucius and Mel had to face one another. Very few had actually thought it would happen though. Vanguard had both been popular worldwide. Other nations had Cubes and their own approaches to making money to supplement their cost to build, but none of them had been as successful as the United States. What was unique was their approach with Freedom. To merge initial training with a game-like world and invite the most psionically talented celebrities to participate was genius even if the Devs execution at times was questionable.

In many ways, Vanguard was similar to what other countries had tried to do from the beginning. To start their psionic programs in a military environment. The US already had the resources, but due to the popularity of Freedom, other countries just couldn’t compete.

That was just in comparison, however. Many nations had successful programs. Vanguard was simply viewed as the chief amongst them.

When more than 4 billion people showed up to watch Lucius and Mel’s fight through the meta, it shouldn’t have surprised anyone. The Freedom participant who upset Ebrima Okoro against his friend, the man who defeated the Real Major and dominated the last two events.

They put on a show, but Mel and Lucius also had another objective in mind. Something had to change. They sparred daily, so it’s not like they didn’t know the likely outcome. Their current record was four to six. Four out of ten times Mel beat Lucius.

Facing off in leather bodysuits, they seemingly bounced around the small arena like human bouncy balls. Mel was faster. His psionics were simply more powerful. But Lucius’s skill was still on a different level.

It wasn’t a real fight. After a few minutes of putting on a show, they met in the middle. Mel released a rank D bolt into Lucius’s chest from less than a yard away. If casting, that meant his shield was down. A rank E bolt struck Mel in the head at the same time. They both died instantly. They’d practiced the timing. A tie was the point. They left their competition with more questions than answers. They agreed to share first place.

It was the best possible outcome for Prodos’s future, and the consequences Lucius was about to face.

Liam sat back in his chair as he finished his summary report. For the safety of Lucius and Victoria, there was one piece missing from the story they were crafting before the final scene.

Even though Victoria didn’t do longform interviews he’d discovered because it would require her to go a location Peter had little control over, she answered some questions over the meta with Mia of Mia’s Haven.

“Is there any romantic feeling between you and Lucius?” Mia asked, trying to look as innocent as possible.

“No. Even though we don’t see eye to eye on many things, I still consider him a close friend,” Victoria said, giving her interviewer a sly squint.

Liam acknowledged her approach. If she had answered while just trying to be as sincere as possible, it could come off as fake. Instead, she fed off Mia’s silliness and treated it as a challenge.

“So you don’t mind putting in a good word for me?” Mia said tentatively.

Victoria laughed. “You guys would make a cute couple. But you know Lucius. As young as he is, he’s already married—to his training.”

They shared a snicker.

“And as for his punishment for disobeying Prodos’s Warrior Queen?”

Cringing, Victoria replied, “I don’t generally make the discipline of my men public, but I will say that it won’t be a punishment as much as something that he’s had coming for quite some time. There’s much that has been going on behind the scenes, and I think what has been shown publicly is a little unfair to him. Perhaps, I could’ve worded things better and been more aware of what message the public was receiving.”

“So he’s in trouble, or no?”

She shook her head. “Not as far as facing disciplinary action even if it might feel like it to him. The reason I mentioned consequences at the beginning of the last event was because of what the public hasn’t heard. You saw me threaten him, but you don’t know what I was threatening him with.”

Mia gave her a sidelong glance. “Is that something you’re willing and able to reveal today?”

Victoria smiled. “Lucius will be promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and be given a battalion of his own. From what I hear, he already has a name for it. He’s calling it, Nexus.”

The host’s mouth dropped open as she turned to a side camera and mouthed, “What?” Turning back, she asked, “It’s named after his guild from Gravel?”

The Colonel nodded. “You might even see some familiar faces. One stage of preparation remains before the war with the Ekseliksi officially begins. So far, only a small section of our galaxy has been explored by either civilization. There are a lot of resources up for grabs and military outposts to be built.”

“So Lucius?”

“His days of being planet bound are coming to an end.”

***

As I left the meeting with Victoria and Prodos’s new leadership team, I congratulated Kline on his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel. He’d now lead Hectate’s primary defensive force.

For once, he had little to say. His mind was all over the place, but he still embraced me like a true monster.

Mel had also been promoted to Prodos’s Right Hand. He was no longer brooding to cover his lack of confidence. After our game of battalion capture the flag, he was easier going. It wasn’t just his confidence that had gotten a boost. The way he put it was that he no longer felt like he had to make up for what he wasn’t. Instead, he could focus on becoming something more.

It sounded a whole lot like he’d just gotten a confidence boost, but I wasn’t going to give him a hard time about it.

Barrell hadn’t expected it, but he was also promoted. He’d been hard on himself since the capture the flag event since all that he could do was help Heather escape in case they needed her if our base was attacked. But now as Prodos’s Left Hand, he’d be in charge of finding the best locations and setting up military outposts on Hectate.

Despite still being at the middle level of Rank E, he’d placed in the top 1,000 during the one-on-one tournament. He was one of the few men to defeat a rank D opponent with rank E psionics.

I promised him that as soon as he had fully unlocked the push ability that he’d join us in trying the “crazy flying stuff”, as he called it.

With my closest friend’s promotions, there were many that followed. Jerrek, Olivia’s troublemaker brother took over lead of Mel’s casters. He was still a bit of a loose cannon, but he was much better at aiming it than he used to be.

Another man that got a promotion was Ma. He’d be directly under Kline from now on, helping to lead the defense force.

Isamu wasn’t left out either. He’d be a Captain under Ma. They had good chemistry so why not put them in charge of the sword nuts?

They didn’t walk me out as I left Prodos headquarters. Walking out the front door, the first thing I noticed was that the psionic energy dome was down. It was impossible to miss the reason for it. An inner planetary space shuttle the size of a large house had landed on Prodos’s front yard.

Technically, Victoria had had a landing platform installed, so it’s not like the several thousand-ton shuttle was sitting on the grass.

This one had an aerodynamic, jet-like appearance since it would often be used to move in and out of a planet’s atmosphere. It was also combat ready, so almost all of Prodos was gathered outside to check it out while also bidding me farewell.

I was greeted by a thousand familiar faces and many more besides those. Prodos was well on its way to become far more than just a military base. Victoria couldn’t do anything like a normal person.

Barrell had been talking my ear off about a mountain range he planned on building an outpost at that also had several promising slopes for a ski resort. He hoped to convert one for the Prodos, but Victoria was going all in with her encouragement. Not only would there be an outpost. She had plans for a resort. If they could really get the space tourism industry going, then who could say what Hectate would look like five years from now—or ten.

It took me fifteen minutes, but I reached the main parameter around the shuttle to find Hwan shaking hands with HandshakeDeath. LadyHeadshot was standing beside Prodo’s official Captain of stealth operations and her future husband. She wore a summer dress that covered most of her tattoos except for her sheaves and was rocking a baby bump which she didn’t seem to want to take her hand off of.

I strolled over and grabbed all three of them up in an embrace that LadyHeadshot slipped out of almost immediately. I held them both there for a few moments longer than appropriate because Kline…

We were all smiles, but as I pulled away with Hwan at my side, it was impossible to ignore what was happening. Freedom had brought us together originally while Prodos had become one massive family to all of us. And now, some of us were leaving. It wasn’t a long-term farewell.

Out of sim, we were still all stationed at the same base. We’d also be able to use a sim within a sim to train together, which would become a common occurrence very soon. There would also be shared training between battalions. I looked forward to working with the Real Major, Ebrima Okoro, and even Brendon Black who had agreed to be there.

In some ways, we were still competing, but in others, our priorities would change over the next year as we put a greater focus on Earth verses the Ekseliksi instead of battalion verse battalion.

Hwan and I waved to the crowd as we slowly made our way to the onboarding ramp where two familiar faces were waiting for us. The reason we’d agreed to call our battalion Nexus wasn’t just because it was a part of our history, but because the founders were getting together again.

Timur waited at the top of the ramp with his grizzly bear arms crossed over his chest. He smirked at us as we came. The man still wore full body ballistics, but he had unlocked the push ability, so I’d be trying to convince the human tank the benefits of being able to bounce off walls.

Despite his smirk, there was something about him that had changed from before. He seemed more accommodating of the people around him just by the way he acknowledged them. That didn’t mean he’d lost his touch.

I was considered the number one rank E user after the last event’s tournament. The man standing before us ranked second. There were a few rank E users who had been credited with defeating rank D opponents. Timur was the only one besides me who had defeated three or more. His massive sword had doubled as a shield that he could hold away from his body, which allowed his to tank psionic bolts easier than most people.

He and I clasped hands.

Hwan chose that moment to say, “Why do I have the sudden urge to stab you?”

The way Timur looked at him. It was as if they were about to go at it like old times when they embraced instead.

Standing beside the big oaf, the blond headed, Viking-looking guy with long hair and a full beard watched us with an awkward expression.

“Brad,” I said, offering him my hand.

The man took it.

“Thanks for agreeing to join us.”

He shrugged. “You promised we’d get more action than any other battalion in the next stage, Colonel. How could I say no?”

“Good, man.”

Once we were strapped in, Victoria called Prodos back before giving us permission to launch. Soon we were vertical, flying toward the exosphere where our battlecruiser was waiting. Technically, I had no authority aboard the spacecraft. A Space Force Captain was in charge of the ship. What I oversaw was a ground force battalion. In other words, we were just hitching a ride and would be for the next year. My focus would be on training, my men’s and mine, and securing any location that had military significance in this sector of space.

All of it would revolve around Hectate, which was already considered a major military destination. So our dealings with Prodos were far from over.

Unlike the designs of the largest spaceships I’d seen from games, most of them were cylindrical in shape and had boosters on every side of the vessel. There were minor engines and the major ones though. This one was large enough to house two thousand men. We weren’t at full capacity, but half of the ship’s population would be from Nexus, while the other half lived in and ran the spacecraft.

I couldn’t help but feel giddy as if I were a kid again. I’d never been one to dream about space exploration to the extent of some. That didn’t mean I hadn’t fantasized about it either. This would be the best of both worlds. I was now officially an explorer and space marine in one.

Glancing around the flight deck, I saw Nexus’s founding members and a few of them men that had joined Timur’s version of the guild in Freedom. Even if our friend had taken it in the wrong direction, he had changed for the better. And men like him were needed.

As excited as I was, the truth was never far from me. War was just around the corner.

***

It was late that night when I logged into our sim within a sim. Victoria stood there in her ballistic suit with her arms crossed, tapping her foot as if it were about time I showed up.

“Hello, Colonel,” she said, emphasizing my rank.

“Have they made you a General yet?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I have yet to insist. Politics and all.”

“Sounds exhausting.”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

Ignoring her very true words, I turned my attention to more important matters. “Sounds like you might want to get more comfortable.”

She tried to hold a serious expression and managed it for a few long seconds. The moment she faltered, she rushed forward and jumped on me. We could finally celebrate not having to hide our feelings for one another every day when our paths crossed in the Prime Sim. And celebrate we did.

---

The End of Book 5

Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 38

Standing alone in a sim within a sim with a tube of chocolate ice cream, Krato Aeneus Raptis watched as his charge ascended to prepare his assault against the four rank D men in defensive position. He’d watched the event from the beginning.

It was unlikely he would ever see his wives and children again now that he was in custody of the enemy. He’d constantly questioned the point behind him remaining alive. His life was a life of honor, receiving glory for his deeds and a life of service. He was Krato. An Ekseliksi who lived by the sword, reaching the highest rank he could receive. This was not a dishonorable end. To think being brought here would have such a purpose.

How many hundreds if not thousands of men had he trained? His own children, a few that had earned rank equal to his own, were his pride, but no two were the same. The variety of psionic abilities mixed with unique talents was far vaster than the people of Earth understood. They were too young to psionics to understand the difference between nuance and significance. Not one of the men Aeneus had trained took what he’d developed as far as this Earthborn néos at this psionic rank.

They shared one thing in common. Necessity. Because of the limits of his psionics, Aeneus hadn’t had any other choice. This boy didn’t have the same limitations, but the responsibility he heaped upon his own shoulders was an impossible burden. Aeneus had seen it himself. After all the failures the boy had faced, today’s success was almost cruel. It wouldn’t humble him but cause him to hope.

The star that burns the brightest is often the first to burn itself out. An ancient saying that was more often true than not. This Lucius would burn.

As the boy threw psionic bolts down on his competition to blind them from his true bearing, Aeneus’s eyes gleamed as they reflect thy boy’s brilliance.

Lucius used the wall to build up speed and descend at an unexpected angle. If that was all, it was something the men he faced would catch onto soon enough, but the boy hadn’t been trained by just any Centurion inspired by Ekseliksi elite. He used the wall a second time before darting to the ground.

His opponents remained shielded as they observed his approach and tried to get their bearings.

Hovering across the ground, feet first, Lucius relied on his weight and momentum as his foot caught an ankle.

The defender was favoring his front foot as he leaned forward to reinforce his shield. His foot was swept out from under him and thrown out with considerable force. The man’s psionic shielding saved him.

The impact spun Lucius across the ground like a top, but he’d anticipated it, pushing himself across the surface until he reached a wall. Rebounding, he flew at the defender jostled by his neighbor’s fall.

A sword flashed.

He dodged just enough to cause the man to miss before for landing on the man’s shield. It was like getting hit by a human-sized hammer. One that proceeded to use you as a takeoff platform before launching himself into the air.

The man flew back, battering the remaining men standing. It wasn’t enough to ground the rest of them, but all of them were sent stumbling.

When the boy had remained too long in one area, the group’s leader dared a moment’s use of his aura to race after him. He threw himself into the air, resummoning his psionic shielding over his entire body.

The man’s timing was good. His war hammer flew in a wide arc.

Lucius soared over them, but not out of the man’s reach. A blast of push from the side of his body facing the man was the only thing that kept him from getting a mouth full of hammer.

Aeneus’s eyes narrowed as he watched the spike of the man’s weapon clip Lucius’s knee.

The néos he had trained cushioned his landing against the opposing wall just long enough to take in the damage. It sliced through the leather and skin of his kneecap.

As far as injuries went, it wasn’t debilitating.

Brendon Black’s eyes shone with bloodlust.

The enemy’s psionic bolts started flying again as the war hammer wielding man gave chase while keeping his psionic shield active as much as possible.

A thin smile took Aeneus Raptis’s face. His competition had finally figured out something to resist him. “Come, néos. Show them how brightly you burn.”

***

There wasn’t enough time to heal my injury. It wasn’t bad enough to require it anyway. There wasn’t even a lot of pain. Every movement I made seemed to tug at the skin, which was annoying.

Avoiding Black wasn’t difficult if he was my only concern, but his three men had recovered and were throwing rank D bolts at my head. Since their leader was using his psionic shielding, they dared what they hadn’t earlier, casting bolts dangerously close to hitting both of us. The difference was, he could tank one or two without it phasing him, while I’d be turned into flying charred man-steak.

I dove below Brendon, using the wall to diversify my flight pattern. My aim were the casters, but as soon as the saw me descend, they summoned their psionic shielding unless they were absolutely sure they knew where I was.

Their leader tried to take advantage, bounding higher to get directly above me. It didn’t work, but he was a constant variable I had to avoid. He also began throwing bolts from above since his men were also shielded.

Instead of attacking, I found myself on the run. There was no clear target. Those on the ground were now spread out enough that it was difficult to use one to shield be from the others. But they also weren’t far enough away for me to single one out.

The best target remained Brendon Black. I just had to give those on the ground something to think about.

I didn’t even aim directly by looking at them. I simply tossed psionic bolts as I flew in the direction I felt their own bolts coming from. There was little chance I’m get lucky and hit one with his shielding down, but they couldn’t throw bolts if they had to block. They also seemed reluctant to move from their current positions. That I could use.

Ascending from below Brendon, I hoped a few of his men’s bolts would land. It should at least distract him. But his back-and-forth rhythm between walls was too consistent. It made it easier for his men to miss.

Bounding off a wall at an upward angle, I did something that he didn’t expect. I was on a collision course with his war hammer. With all the psionic shielding covering his body, he might still be able to use his weapon, but that didn’t mean he could create the force he could while using his strengthening aura or the destructive edge of his unique double weapon bolstering ability.

I saw his triumphant smirk the moment before we collided.

He swung downward to meet me. It was a direct hit.

His hammer slammed into my arm I’d thrown up to block it with. My own psionic shielding was covering me from head to foot.

My psionics might have been a rank lower than his, but against his war hammer without his psionics boosting it, it clanged off as I rammed my shielded shoulder into its shielded face.

If anything, his shield won out, but he was sent flipping toward the wall, while I pushed myself in a different direction to avoid the incoming psionic bolts.

It was as I expected. He recovered quickly. The man had the athleticism of a cat even without his psionics. He kept his shield active, blocking the bolts I threw after him.

Once he repositioned and was coming again, we both knew what would happen next. We flew at one another to go at it again.

This time he stabbed out with his war hammer, trying to impel me with its spike.

Swatting it to the side with a shielded hand, I spun past his weapon, unable to strike back.

I had to push myself off course, then reposition four times before I was clear of the psionic bolts from below. It felt like I was jousting while playing dodgeball.

When the volley of bolts slowed, I suspected he’d commanded his men. There was no way he’d have them stop. He just wanted to have a go at me, so they’d probably resume after our next exchange.

From where we brawled fifty yards above the ground, our trajectories once again went head-to-head. Then it happened.

He stabbed out, but this time his body glowed with green power.

As I dodged, I rebuked myself.

His shield was bashing forward with all of his strength behind it.

Instead of catching him with a psionic bolt like I desired. I pushed against his shield, sending myself wide.

It spun him, but he easily corrected himself. His shield was already active as my bolt struck home.

I was right. His men’s bolts were already flying after the exchange.

As I came in contact with the wall, I glanced up. Maybe…

When I bound upward, he didn’t follow. Instead, he descended and began firing off bolts at me.

I could still try and get some more altitude, but if they decided to leave the tunnel, I’d have a rougher time if they reached the maze. At least here they were surrounded by walls with no quick way to ascend to the summit.

Throwing psionic bolts of my own as I descended back to a level Brendon was comfortable with, I committed myself to what I saw as the likely end.

So we jousted several stories off the ground.

The thrust out, once again trying to bash me out of the sky.

It didn’t matter which way I dodged. His initial strike was dangerous enough because of our momentum that the advantage was his.

I could go up and over it, but then I could at the most fire a bolt at him. He’d proven it was something he was ready for.

Going under it gave me more options, but he wasn’t lazy with his shield as his man I had killed.

No, ending this would require risk.

He seemed to come to the same realization and called out, “You’ve had a good run, but I’m starting to figure this out.”

“You think you can compete with me after your first day of training?” I shouted back.

He was kind enough to tell his men to let up on the psionic bolts while he taunted me. “I’ve been at this for a decade, Major. You’re the one thinking he can show up and change centuries of combat.”

I fell into a rhythm matching his, I faced him directly. “Change? I’m just learning from your enemy that has centuries of experience.”

“I admit that there’s something to your ‘call to action’, but who do you think we’ve been fighting all this time? In a single battle we’ve figured out how to counter you.”

“Have you? And how would things have gone if Mel would’ve stayed? What if there were more of me, or I had rank D psionics?”

He shrugged. “And if I had all of my men? I’ve killed the Ekseliksi before.”

“I guess that means there’s only one thing left to do.”

Drumming his war hammer into his shield, Brendon gave me a toothy grin. “Let’s hurry then. After killing you, there’s still enough time for us to grab another flag from one of the weaker bases. Look at the bright side. We might end up with a three-way tie for first.”

I didn’t respond. Instead, I shifted my heading, throwing a series of psionic bolts toward his men below to keep them guessing.

Brendon Black exploded from the wall with more commitment than any of our earlier exchanges.

I used a full powered push to rocket toward him.

His shield remained active until I drew near. Then his strengthening aura billowed into lie with finality.

My psionic bolt surged from my hand.

Seeing it coming, he cut his aura threw his shield up to block his face and reactivated his psionic shielding. It was an expert use of psionics that not everyone could duplicate. To be able to switch instantly between abilities… He’d returned to that almost impenetrable state.

I didn’t summon my own psionic shielding but went all in. My silver, rank E aura filled me with inhuman strength. Instead of dodging in the incoming shield, I slammed into it, catching its top rim with both hands.

We spun in midair since our momentum was similar. Then I proceeded to do something that wasn’t taught me by Krato, but a grinning madman with an epic beard.

Climbing to his back, I wasn’t holding on to Brendon Black, but the intense energy shield exuding from his body. If I hadn’t been using my aura, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to hang on at all. Before he could counter, I had made it to his back and had my arm around his neck in a rear naked choke. The obvious problem was that there was no way I could squeeze with enough force to defeat his rank D shielding.

He began chuckling wildly. “You think this fall will kill me?” he lambasted with even more laughter.

He thought I grabbed ahold of him to force a fall. Oh, but that was the furthest thing from the truth. Placing my mouth as close to his ear as I could get it, I cried, “Kline says, ‘hi.’”

While holding him in place, I slammed a Dragonslayer covered fist into his temple. His rank D shielding was powerful, but the mixture of force and precision were more than enough.

The man’s body went limp as they fell long before his psionic shield stopped working.

I tried to push myself off his body with enough force to dodge the incoming psionic bolts from below, but the moment I landed on him, it was almost inevitable. A rank D psionic bolt sank its electrifying tusks into my calf.

The job was done, so all that I could do was flee. All the while, there was an electric eel wrapped around my left leg.

The pain was enough that my vision blurred, but my adrenaline was kicking in overtime. Reaching the top, I threw myself to my side. It was then I saw the damage. Not only was my calf missing completely, but the bone was gone.

Before I could scream out to Destiny, a cord of some type had been brought to me by Wink my scout drone. I wrapped it around my leg above the knee to cut off the blood flow. This wasn’t something heal could help with. If I tried, I’d more or less be grown back my leg. There wasn’t enough time for me to even try.

Demanding a sword from Destiny who I was in too much pain to hear even though I knew what she’d be saying. As soon as my hand found the hilt, I bolstered my blade with psionic energy and slashed down.

Only then did I let the healing energy flow. I cried out to Victoria even though there was no need for me to raise my voice. “Where do you need me?”

“Lucius, no,” she answered me instantly. “Mel is sniping at Lethal Accord from above as they’re trying to secure a flag from a base. He has it under control.”

“Where?” I demanded.

Destine sent up a giant beacon through my headset so that I could see where they were fighting in the distance.

Pushing myself off the ground into a hover, I cleared the gap over the tunnel in which I’d just been fighting and headed in their direction.

***

Mia laughed. Nothing new to see here. Of course, Lucius would defeat Brendon Black only to get seriously injured in the last moment. The thought turned her chuckle into a fit of laughter.

The other three panelists just watched her quietly.

It was LeLisa who spoke first when she’d settled down a little. “Are you okay?”

“You don’t think he does this on purpose, do you?” Mia asked.

When the main screen on the wall panel changed, they saw one of Brendon Black’s men run over to where he’d landed. With his hand to the side of his neck. The man announced, “He’s dead.”

Another of his men stomped over as if insisting that he’d check himself.

As for the third man, he was glaring up the way Major Lucius Edward had gone. Without any warning, the man leaned back and loosed a furious howl.

Mia was about to turn away, but she noticed as Mr. Rachet leaned forward.

It happened with impossible swiftness. A hand appeared on the man’s forehead as a ceramic dagger was driven up into the back of his skull.

The assassin wasn’t finished. Leaving the knife in place, he stepped back as he drew a pistol. The small rail-cannon was exceptionally quiet as a round plunged into the back of the head of the closest man bending over their dead Master Sergeant.

The man’s rank D shielding activated, but it was too late. While trying to extend his arm to fire off a psionic bolt, he slumped over.

The third man reacted by summoning his own shield. By the time he realized what was going on, HandshakeDeath had activated his stealth suit, and he flickered out of existence.

The man wasn’t a fool. Instead of firing bolts off randomly, he jumped to his feet and ran to the area the assassin had been. He started systematically slashing out with his sword, keeping at it for thirty seconds without stopping even when he didn’t have any luck.

It’s not like someone in a stealth suit could run away without a visible flicker giving him away. And as for his footprints? One look at the ground revealed a thousand possibilities.

The man drew to a stop a moment later, but at no time did he drop his psionic shielding.

“Well, Prodos isn’t the only battalion that utilized stealth tech during the event, but is anyone surprised that arguably the best VR gamer to ever do it is also one of the best in Vanguard?” Mr. Rachet asked.

“No,” Bolt said but offered no explanation.

Mia studied him before following his gaze.

He spoke again. “Something’s wrong.”

The subject of his attention was Lucius.

Oren brought of a side profile with a closer view. The Prodos Major wasn’t using his legs at all as he pushed himself across the gaps between walls. He even summoned his psionic shielding as he did. As he moved, he swayed in an indistinguishable pattern as if his balance was off.

Mia noticed his blinking. Maybe he had something in his eye, but it seemed excessive for even that. Then as if tripping, he landed and there was no rebounding push that came. He teetered right over the edge.

“He’s going into shock,” LeLisa announced.

It was undeniable. Mia had seen his eyes roll back.

A fall from half a mile up wasn’t a fast one. It was a miracle he wasn’t hitting the wall.

“Wake up,” Bolt pleaded.

“Come on,” Mr. Rachet echoed.

Mia was thinking the same, but the words didn’t come. She wanted him to save himself, but then she remembered that if he died his suffering would be over. With her shoulders slumped forward, she watched in silence. Tears ran down her cheeks as she did.

Five seconds passed, then eight and ten. As he neared the ground, she could only hope. She flinched as she struck. The rest of the room gasped.

It was a minute or two later before she recovered enough to turn her mind to what was happening. Mel was once again on top of the outer layer after capturing the flag and taking shots at Lethal Accord from above. Time was running out.

Prodos even had one of the higher ranked battalions attacking their base, but they didn’t have to make a move.

In the end, it was enough.

Scoreboard

First Place – 18 Points

Ø  Prodos

Second Place – 17 Points

Ø  Lethal Accord

Third Place – 15 Points

Ø  Forefathers

Fourth Place – 14 Point

Ø  The Burden Bearers

***

Aeneus Raptis scrapped at the bottom of the tub to get the last bite of his chocolate ice cream. It was a little melted by now, but he enjoyed it all the same.

He just shook his head at how things had ended. Not at the way the boy had died. It was a good death. He’d quite enjoyed the theater of it. It was the way he’d killed the enemy that amused him. They hadn’t even started working on aerial grappling. His technique was decent, but if he’d simply controlled their positioning once he had a hold of his opponent, there would’ve been no reason to get his leg blasted off.

There was time. In a year or two the boy should reach rank D. Maybe sooner with the Epithumia’s help. Then he’d be able to exert himself.

Glancing at the scales covering his hands, he imagined what it would be like to have other psionic abilities like the boy instead of having to get his body modified. It worked for him, but the boy’s layering techniques would improve greatly once he reached the next rank.

Seeing that the event was over, he opened the sim menu before phasing out.

Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 37

The remaining six rank D users didn’t dare to scale the manticore or go around it. The exception was Brendon Black who jumped up to the monster’s side. With a shield in his left hand and Warhammer in his right, he stood lazily as he smirked up at me.

“Are you going to keep running?” the man challenged.

“Why would I leave when there’s a perfectly good point offering itself up to me?” I asked.

Grinning widely, the man showed his teeth. “So you want me to have my men stand down so we can have a fair fight?”

I slowed my forward movement as I idly pushed myself back and forth between the gap a good twenty yards above them. Then I replied. “Why would I want that?”

Brendon chuckled before releasing a mighty psionic push that threw himself toward the wall. The moment he reached it, he sprung right at me.

His special attack was charged. His war hammer was ready to go. Like a lion in full leap, his attack blurred as he reached me.

I full body wind walked in an angle he couldn’t follow, then kicked out, giving his feet a psionic push with my own. Suddenly, he was spinning end over end as he sped toward the far well.

He was too athletic for it to be his end. Just barely getting his feet underneath him, he caught himself before returning to the ground.

“Nice trick,” Brendon said with a snort. “Enough games.” He’d returned his war hammer to his back. Throwing out his hand, he unleashed a psionic bolt. Five others flew in my direction.

Rank D psionic bolts didn’t fly as fast as rail-rounds, and they were much easier to see because their size, but the slowest flew at least twice as fast as even the most powerful man could throw. The fastest were several times that. And they could be far more accurate. The range of skill was that vast. These men were not weak.

I was nowhere as close as Mel had been, but I was also midair. This was the same dilemma I’d faced when trying to take to the air to dodge Krato’s dive bombing attacks. His skill and ability were beyond me. It had forced me to think beyond everything I knew. To lose the ballistic suit and look for every advantage I could gain while in the air.

One of my greatest shifts in the way I thought made today possible. I no longer used psionic push just out of my hands and feet. It hadn’t been natural at first. Krato had been right. But something happens when you leave the ground.

It wasn’t my eyes I could depend upon in that moment. Energy thrust out of my side from head to foot, sending me on a collision course for the wall.

The six psionic bolts sizzled past.

It was a deadly game I was playing. I didn’t have the defensive ability of Mel or Kline. But I believed I could win. It wasn’t a game I just played daily. I unceasingly bared through having an alien predator kill me as soon as my resistance faltered. I floated amongst a world of endless cuteness as a semi-sentient AI did her darndest to tag me with bubbles and reward me for my failures as much as my victories.

It wasn’t just my death and entertainment. The wife I’d taken in secret had challenged gravity and danced with the wind from childhood until now. As she teased and flirted, chasing after her became synonymous with my intimate refuge and relief. But most of all, the limits of what my mind believe possible shattered at an unknown time during the process.

As if balancing on the edge of a knife, I slipped past flesh-rupturing energy bolts as I flew back and forth. By the time they reached their third bolt each, they were growing wise to my evasion pattern and acted accordingly.

They didn’t just throw bolts at me but anticipated where I would be.

I wasn’t relying on a pattern or what I thought they might do. It wouldn’t have mattered what they were throwing at me. Destiny had made sure of that. Even without extending my psionic energy into my surroundings, I was sensitive to the world’s fluctuations. Psionic bolts were the easiest. They had a glaring presence. It made it that much easier to feel them coming.

A push to the side. A turn of the shoulder.

When the last bolt came, one I couldn’t avoid, I didn’t resign myself to the end. Turning sideways, I greeted the bolt’s arrival. I pushed. Not only did I fly backward, but the bolt blew off course, burning into the nearby wall.

Brendon Black squawked as if it actually hit me. “Lucky,” he called out. “But what’s the point if you can’t hurt us? Go on. Fly back up to the place that you came from and fly at us again. I dare you.”

His insistence could only mean he had something in mind to counter Falling Spear. It was only a matter of time before someone figured something out.

The next wall I rebounded off of sent me flying over their head in a large arc. Once I reached the side opposite them, I didn’t remain airborne but landed and faced them.

I hadn’t put myself in a better position. It was far worse than where I’d been just moments before.

***

“What’s he doing?” Mia asked frantically. “He just barely parried that last attack.”

“He’s about to give them a point,” Bolt complained.

LeLisa muttered, “I mean, he has been one to sacrifice himself to make a point in the past. But this doesn’t make sense. Even if they figure out a way to stop his diving attack, it will have more meaning if he keeps fighting.”

A screen appeared in the bottom corner where they found Colonel Victoria Golshan removing her headset. To one side of the room filled with their small intelligence team, a wall panel from floor to ceiling lit up with Lucius facing off with Brendon Black and his men.

“Did her headset break?” Bolt wondered aloud.

“No, she’s obviously making a statement, “LeLisa said.

They watched as she walked over to stand before the panel, folded her hands behind her back, and watched intently.

“Is she trying to make the point that if he loses, it wasn’t her that made the call to put his point in danger?” Mr. Rachet asked.

“That’s not the look of an enraged superior officer,” Mia rebutted. “And you guys saw what she did at the end of his fight the first time he fought a Manticore King. They might disagree and not get along, but that doesn’t mean there’s no respect. If anything, I’d say she’s eager to see what he does next.”

***

The Forefathers noticed how bad of a position I was in and slowly took up a more advantageous formation as we spoke.

Brendon chuckled. “You said you were after the point for beating me. Going back on your word already?”

“Win or lose, I’ve already won,” I said. “Look around you.”

Inclining his head, the man looked down his nose at me.

“You’re struggling to kill a rank E user who just barely reached high level before the event. It might be a year before I reach rank D. This isn’t a fight, Brendon. It’s a call to action. I’ve unlocked every basic psionic ability, but you’re more talented than I am. I don’t have any unique psionic talent like you do, or Mel, or the Real Major.”

Scowling, he licked the fronts of his teeth before countering, “Your movement techniques.”

“Are not unique. That’s the point. There’s nothing special about what I’ve developed. Anyone that has unlocked psionic push at the same rank has the potential. But it’s not your fault. Not really. You’ve been trained to fight the way you do. And I’ll give you credit. You’ve dared to join me in the air when no one else has. Even if you only lasted one exchange.”

Clenching his jaw, the enemy leader took an aggressive stance. “Thank you for the point.”

Firing off a psionic bolt, Brendon’s men followed suit.

Dodging from such a close distance while grounded should’ve been my end and even would’ve been a month before. But there was something Victoria inspired, and Destiny helped me take to its full conclusion.

I didn’t launch myself upward or bound to the side. Pushing out of the back of my head and the front of my feet, I flipped where I stood as a push from my back tossed me face first to the ground. Their bolts flew over my head where I’d just been standing.

With my stomach hovering just an inch off the ground, I was seemingly in the worst position possible.

The closest guy was ten yards away. It wasn’t a shot anyone should miss, let alone a career soldier at the highest rank.

This ground material was not psionic friendly, but by using the surface area of my entire body, I flashed upward, dodging their next attack only to stop and hover there six feet off the ground.

A few of them laughed uncomfortably. I looked absurd.

At first, this position had bothered me. To them, I was a head and shoulders, looking up at them even though they were the ones firmly on their feet. There was something unnatural about it. A creepiness to having only a head as a target that darted around in every which direction as it willed.

When I’d thrown out my innate desire to keep my feet under me, something incredible happened. I could make myself as small a target as possible to any enemy I faced. Therefore, floating on a bed of psionic downforce, I lay there comfortably on my belly while watching the enemy gawk at me.

Aeneus Raptis’s ability to quite literally fly in the right environment had fascinated me to no end. It had equally disappointed me when I realized it was impossible for me to do what he did. But it wasn’t impossible. My limitations were simply greater than his.

They tried again.

I launched myself to the side, staying parallel to the ground. Like a rubber ball, I bounded from the wall, but I didn’t obey the trajectory physics required. As I flew over their heads, I was what I’d once considered upside down.

A few tried following me with their eyes, but I stayed lower just overhead. Most of them turned to face where they thought I’d end up. In their hands, they had bolts ready. What they didn’t have were their psionic shields active.

Reaching down, I touched one on the top of the head. Out sprang a simple rank E bolt at point blank range. What his rank was didn’t matter. Without his shielding or internally walls active, the man’s brain ruptured.

Where I ended up, they couldn’t have guessed. I didn’t move like an airborne ball or even the birds they’d watched all their lives. A full body push sent me back to the same wall I’d bounded off of.

Those who had tried to follow me in the air had lost me. The rest were facing the opposite direction. This time I did use my feet and push as I rocketed at one man’s back.

He sensed me and spun.

A psionic push from my palm caught his wrist, sending his bolt flying upward. Dragonslayer pierced into his chest as I struck out before he could get his shield around to block it.

Psionically pushing myself back, I blasted him into his nearest ally. Then I was darting around their parameter while remaining low to the ground.

“Bloody ghost,” a man cursed.

With two of them down, I returned to where I’d been standing. Except this time, I was hovering about four feet above the ground on my back while gazing up at them.

It was Destiny that reminded me that if my movements looked creepy to me, it most definitely would to them as well. I didn’t feel as confident as I must have come off, but I was all for messing with their heads.

There was no guarantee I could beat them. If the first man would’ve used his psionic shielding when he lost track of me, then he would’ve barely felt it. The second man died because his shield arm lagged as he spun. It was a foolish mistake Achilles had drilled out of me long ago.

However, this is exactly what Krato meant when he spoke of variables. There were countless paths to failure and death, but also many to victory. Finally, my eyes were open.

Seeing that I had my opponents’ attention, I spun to return to my feet and faced them. Four men remained.

Brendon must have issued a command through their headsets. They formed up in a tight diamond with their pshields ready and psionic energy covering them. He unhooked his war hammer from his back again and his men unsheathed their weapons.

Despite their bravado from earlier, they knew I’d have to get close to them. They’d seen my fist technique during the Gathering of the Guilds.

I sighed. For me, this was the worst-case scenario. They’d successfully limited the variables.

Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 36

After all the bloody scenes Mia had seen since Freedom had begun almost two years ago, rarely had she seen such a beating. Unlike the last four rank D users, Brendon Black didn’t rush in to face off with Mel. There were seven of them against one. Instead of clearing the distance when their bolts didn’t seem to work on him, Brendon kept his men back and kept attacking.

Bolt after bolt struck Mel even as he tried to avoid them, pushing the limits to his defensive psionics.

“Brendon Black knows he intends on defending the flag, so he’s punishing him for it,” Mr. Rachet said.

“He’s so cruel,” LeLisa huffed.

“Maybe, but you saw how Mel handled the last group. He’s also playing it smart. What would you do if you came upon any enemy with four rank D users dead at his feet?”

“So you’re saying Brendon Black is afraid of Mel?” Mia scoffed.

Mr. Rachet frowned. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

“I think there’s more to it than that,” Bolt said. “Brendon and his men keep glancing up as if they’re expecting someone.”

He rarely came off as the insightful one, but Mia knew he wasn’t nearly as dense as he played at. What he mentioned didn’t bode well. Lucius wasn’t far behind, but if they knew he was coming? They certainly had enough opportunities to observe Lucius while they were competing for flags.

“All at once,” Brendon Black called.

Seven more bolts flew.

***

Mel remained still as if he had every intention of taking the assault. Flashing sideways, he dodged the volley. He gave the group a bloody grin, throwing a bolt of his own that struck one man, doing little damage. He could create an overcharge bolt quickly. Compared to his normal casting, though, it wasn’t that fast. It would cost him dearly if he tried to cast one now.

They didn’t let up. Staggering their bolts for their next attack, several struck Mel as he tried to dodge at least a few of them. His internal walls and shielding combination was powerful, but it didn’t make him invincible. He’d tanked what, fifty to sixty bolts already not including they ones that had missed? If they’d been spread out more, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but it seemed he needed to start training his walls with Kline. The density of one’s internally psionic energy went a long way to allow them to shrug off the electrifying effects of psionic bolts. There was a large difference between a momentary shock and constant current, however.

At least he was still standing. Nor were they going after the flag. He’d liked to think he’d earned some respect, but no one had ever considered him intimidating. He knew there was more to their actions than just wanting to torture him. He’d let Lucius know they were expecting him.

Another round of bolts tried to shake his resolve while simultaneously sending a tremor through his body. His internal walls reacted more like slabs of gelatin than stone. It forced him to a knee. He could only take one or two more rounds of this.

Whether he began laughing as a ploy to distract them and buy some time or to encourage them to get it over with, he couldn’t be sure, but even if they had no intention of listening to what he had to say, he said it anyway, “Waiting for Lucius is the biggest mistake you’ve made in Vanguard.”

It wasn’t just a little trickle of blood in the back of his throat. He spat out a mouthful.

Brendon Black took the bait. “Your rank E friend is a little better at running than I thought he’d be. That’s all. Catching the most evasive prey requires the right bait. I should be thanking you.”

“I should be thanking you,” Mel retorted. “Yes, I’m the bait. But Lucius isn’t the prey. You are.”

The answer he received was in the form of violent green energy blasts. He tried to roll, but just kind of flopped over instead.

“That’s enough,” Brendon commanded. “If we kill him then it will give his friend less incentive to come and play. Two points and we’re tied for first place.”

At that, Mel dropped his psionic shield as if daring them to attack. At the same time, he was careful not to let his energy show as he secretly began to heal himself. It wasn’t an ability he was that proficient at yet. That meant he couldn’t heal his throbbing head, but he wasn’t dead yet.

He expected Lucius to try to make as stealthy an entrance as possible. So why in the world did he use a massive push to throw himself more than a hundred feet above the top of the half mile-high wall where everyone below could feel and now see him.

Brendon and all of his men glanced up. Lucius wasn’t directly above them but closer to the narrowest part of the chasm-like tunnel a half mile away.

Mel put his hand behind his back, planning on getting in one last good shot to take one of them out when the enemy leader smirked, glancing in his direction. It was a dare he realized. The man had known Lucius was coming and wanted him to try one last cast.

Whatever he’d been thinking was quickly forgotten as Lucius didn’t waste any time falling. His friend hadn’t even entered the tunnel and yet he could see the distortion under his feet as he propelled himself toward the tunnel as quickly as psionically possible.

Once he was up to speed, the man didn’t stop. Mel tried to swallow down the forming knot in his throat and tasted blood.

***

“He’s going too fast!” Mia said frantically. It was her turn to jump to her feet.

“LeLisa, what has been his fastest speed in today’s event?” Mr. Rachet asked from his feet.

Their in-house genius with the ditzy personality already had her AI creating a side-by-side comparison. The window popped up a moment later.

As for his fastest speed, he’d reached 239 MPH once while averaging a top speed of 221 MPH when diving. But now?

His current speed was 270 MPH.

He wasn’t even at the halfway point and was still accelerating. The moment he did, Mia’s hand shot to her mouth. 330 MPH.

“How can he accelerate that fast?” Mr. Rachet asked.

A sudden close up appeared on screen with the image brightened thanks to Oren. It showed something that was mostly invisible to the naked eye. He wasn’t just pushing out of his feet as most psionic users did. Psionic energy was flying out of him at an outward and downward angle from his head all the way down to his feet.

“That’s why he chose the wall by the second layer,” LeLisa said matter-of-factly. “He’s using the wall.”

“Isn’t he cutting it too close?” Bolt blurted out.

“Was he?” Mia wondered. He still hadn’t angled his approach. She watched as he flew toward the ground at a reckless pace. She didn’t even realize she was holding her breath.

When he did pull up, the angle looked too sharp, but his legs parted, and his elbows flared while he kept ahold of the spears he was carrying.

Before his trajectory changed, Mia saw the last reading. 392 MPH.

It should’ve been impossible. Not only did he manage to round his approach, but there was a smoothness to it that hadn’t been there in his earlier dives.

He’d slowed down. He would’ve had to, right? But as he rocketed over the ground that didn’t seem to be the case at all.

Mia checked. 346 MPH and he was beginning to slow. Was it the momentum he was going for?

Brendon Black and his men were already there waiting for him. Psionic bolts began to fly. Even if they girth of the tunnel was about twenty feet at the narrowest, it was twice that where the Forefathers stood.

“Lucius should be an easy target, right?” Bolt asked.

As if to answer his question, Prodos’s Right Hand flew to one side of the tunnel, ascending slightly as he did.

“His speed,” LeLisa said in unbelief. She came to her feet to stand by Mia.

Lucius was using the one wall to push against and increase his speed even more. He’d dipped below 325 MPH but was once again climbing slowly.

Mr. Rachet cuffed Bolt on the back and motioned for him to stand. Soon the four of them were on their feet and watching anxiously for how the exchange would go.

Except, something was wrong.

Traveling at such speeds, even the smallest movements would affect his trajectory. He was able to remain against one wall momentarily, but soon he was flying across the gap toward the other. As soon as he reached it, he used it as well. That too was short lived.

They could all feel it. He was about to lose control. He was just going too fast. Then it happened. He darted toward the opposite once more only to seeming bound off of it toward the other one. Like a human pinball machine, he ricocheted between walls at an ever-increasing pace.

Mia had her hand covering her face even if she was peaking between fingers. Leaning forward while squinting, LeLisa froze while trying to calculate the possibilities. Mr. Rachet had both hands up in fists as if reading to block the wall when it came. As for Bolt, well—Bolt screamed.

Lucius’s entire descent took a matter of seconds. He reached them quickly. Not only was he in a state of frantic rebound, but he was also gaining altitude in small increments between each ricochet.

When Major Lucius Edwards approached and none of their bolt struck home, Brendon commanded for his men to throw themselves against the walls. His timing was good, and their opponent was going to soar right over their heads.

As the man reached them, his trajectory changed. He was gone as quickly as he had come.

Nobody even noticed it until they’d caught their breath. One of Brendon’s men that hadn’t fully reached the wall had been cut in half.

Then Mia saw him. Lucius had regained control of his flight path and was even using the ground to slow. It took him so long that he exited the tunnel all together and stood before the base belonging to a battalion that hadn’t been able to defeat their Manticore King.

Pushing himself up off the ground, he remained there for a brief moment and waved at the men in the towers. Then he hovered back the way he came.

“How many times did he die when trying to learn something like that?” Mr. Rachet grumbled. “What would posses him to even try?”

Mia knew Lucius well enough to know exactly why he dared such a thing, so she snapped at him. “War.”

***

He had to hand it to Lucius. When the Forefathers hadn’t been able to hit him with their bolts, Mel had found it quite easy to scale the Manticore King, steal the flag, and tumble to the ground on the other side of the monster. Leaning his back against it, he continued healing himself. Lucius wasn’t delaying his return. Mel was getting dizzy just watching the guy jump back and forth between the walls as he flew this way. At least he wasn’t flying at a ridiculous speed.

“The flag,” someone called.

It wasn’t the only thing he heard. Lucius had definitely hit someone for there was a guy moaning at the top of his lungs. He was all too familiar with the sound. The slow bellowing way he sounded meant he was dead, knew it, but it would take some time, and he wasn’t in his right mind to do anything else.

Then he heard something that he didn’t expect. Brendon Black rebuked the guy and called for him to end their man’s suffering.

As Lucius drew near, Mel heard him say through his headset, “Good job. How bad is it? Can you make it to the top and continue healing yourself there?”

“Can I have a nap first?” He held back a laugh. “Yeah. It might be ten minutes before I can make it back to the base, though.”

“That works.”

“Sure you don’t want to just return the flag yourself?” He already knew the answer.

“Tying for first isn’t good enough.”

“I could try to bleed on one and blind him.”

“You could probably also kill a few with your overcharged bolt while I distract them, but you've already done enough. It’s time.”

He knew what he meant. They’d been spending a lot more time together and discussed this at length.

“Fine,” Mel said, forcing himself to his feet.

Lucius was close enough that they’d already seen him bounding toward them from about three stories up. That didn’t mean Mel was in the clear. He knew this was going to hurt, but it was time for him to go. He took two explosive steps before pushing himself into a hover and darting away from the manticore and the Forefather just beyond it.

“Please, try it,” Lucius said, lifting his voice.

Mel took that as a sign that that he should stop hovering in a straight line. He grinned when not even a bolt was thrown in his direction. He waited until he neared the end of the tunnel before beginning the painful ascent.

Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 35

When Brendon Black and his men were halfway to the central flag array with Lethal Accord not far behind, Ebrima Okoro appeared at the podium with the last flag. It was the very one they had failed to capture.

What was surprising was that Ebrima was alone. He stood there momentarily as if he wanted Brendon to see him. Then he turned around, summoned his rank D aura, and sprinted away.

If it was anyone else, Brendon would’ve given chase. Ebrima was the only person to beat him when they raced on the track. Not only was there distance between them, but The Burden Bearers weren’t in any position to win the competition. Brendon let him go.

There was another flag in play, so he spun around and commanded his men to follow.

***

Mia watched as Mel descended feet first. The exact opposite of Lucius’s approach. He also controlled his speed by bounding from wall to wall as if taking the stairs. It was a much more cautious, rational approach. Except, if he didn’t do something soon, four rank D users would be on HandshakeDeath.

The man was running for his life with no sure end. He’d entered the tunnel to the outer layer before the Forefathers, but the first group of three had already reported what they saw. It wouldn’t be long now.

When the group of four entered the tunnel and saw the man running with the flag, one of them prepared a psionic bolt. Another of the men stopped him. “Don’t. This battalion hasn’t killed their Manticore King. He’s trapped.”

The man answered by dropping his rank D bolt and flaring his aura. They ran at the rank E user at full speed.

Glancing back up at Mel, Mia faced the inevitable. He still had halfway to go.

Prodos’s only rank D user must have realized this, because he cushioned himself with his legs against one of the walls as if considering his options. He then followed the example of the craziest participant in all of Vanguard and dove toward the incoming men.

Handshake had only made it halfway to the manticore, maybe a quarter mile. It was a short distance for superior psionics. They were seconds away.

Then she saw the rich green of Mel’s overcharge attack forming in his hand. Just like Lucius, he didn’t use psionics much as he descended.

The Forefather that was closest to reaching his target removed a psword from his belt. He moved to strike the man from behind.

The speed wasn’t at the same level as Lucius’s, but the bolt arrived from above in an instant. It landed atop the man’s head. With only his aura going, it was as gory as anything they’d seen yet.

Mel swooped in from above as the three remaining rank D users scattered. What missing was the smoothness in which Lucius’s flew. As soon as he neared the ground, Mel seemed to bounce. Not because he’d touched the ground, but because his push ability was too powerful. He jerked upward.

Then she saw the green psionic shield cover the man as he sped across the ground. As he neared, he spun shoulder first. As soon as he touched the ground, he rolled.

“Crash landing!” Bolt cried, coming to his feet.

It was, however, there was a uniformity to his roll that shouldn’t be there if he were out of control. After a good twenty feet of rolling, Mel slowed. His hand jabbed out with a push, tossing him up from the ground to his feet.

“Did he just do that on purpose?” Mr. Rachet asked.

“Style points,” LeLisa proclaimed.

“He did make it look good,” the man agreed. “Even if it was an accident.”

Mia’s friend rolled her eyes.

Mel was standing there facing his three aura empowered opponents. They were already to their feet and looking at him like they were just as unsure as the metacasters as to what had just happened.

The three men didn’t hesitate to make use of their main advantage. As had proved to be the primary weapon in squad warfare at this level, three hands shot out and green psionic bolts flew.

In the face of what should’ve been a debilitating attack, Mel didn’t try to dodge. Instead, he took his first step forward.

There was nothing slow about rank D bolts. Even the most common. The three struck him all at once. One of the men even turned to keep an eye on the flag.

He just kept walking toward them.

***

The three men saw it and acted accordingly. Sure, this guy might have a talent for defense. He wasn’t the only one. Each man sent out a flurry of bolts. Before they were done, thirty or more hit him from short range.

They let up a moment later to get a look at their handy work.

Mel had stopped in his tracks. He’d lowered himself with one foot in front of the other. Even if he was a defensive genius, it wasn’t just the energy from rank D bolts that was dangerous. The force behind each blow could knock his over if he wasn’t ready for it.

Just a year and a half ago, his skinnier self probably couldn’t even brace against the force from one of them without falling over. He had a lengthy build, but he was no longer the same. One couldn’t train with the likes of Lucius, Kline, and Barrall and remain mediocre. Even if he hadn’t desired it, just hanging around them had greatly benefited him. They wouldn’t allow him to be content with a lack of confidence or incompetence. He’d started out as the least of them. That ended today.

A grin tugged at his normally somber bearing. They’d known long before he had. Not that he was talented. He’d been told that his entire life. But that it was possible for him to have the mentality to actually make use of that talent. To push it further than potential’s boundaries.

He could sense what his opponents were thinking. His ability to overcharge wasn’t limited to his casting. With his psionic shield and internal walls active at once, only his own overcharge bolt could cause him harm. They acknowledged this and changed their approach.

One man remained where he was and cast bolts as a distraction. The other two came. Their weapons were drawn.

Mel moved.

After everything they’d learned in Vanguard, he couldn’t look down on the Genesis participants. Yet, there were obvious differences between them and Freedom participants. They came at him with swords drawn. Each had their own talents. Anyone that had reached rank D was amongst the most talented psionic individuals. The elite. And these were the first soldiers of Earth to unlock psionics. Soldiers with real experience on the battlefield that may have found the Ekseliksi before such alien power was even an option for them.

However, etched upon Mel’s chest was a tattoo identical to Lucius’s. He’d considered others or different versions, but he’d walked the same path. It all began with a spear stabbed into the top of a hill with a shield leaning against it. He wasn’t a soldier. He acknowledged that wholeheartedly, but neither had these exception men been trained by the most decorated Combat Master of all time.

Causing the bolts to miss was easy enough. Moving out of the way, he placed one of his opponents between him and the caster.

Without a shield, his stance was different. He had his sword arm forward and stood sidelong to make himself as small of a target as possible.

The man used his strongest aura to back and two-handed downward slash. It was meant to end him instantly.

Mel didn’t block or dodge. His own aura shone. A flick of his wrist was all it took to divert the man’s blow to the side and leave him overextended. Even if he didn’t practice his swordsmanship often, he hadn’t neglected it entirely either. And after countless thousands of making the same motion, his wrist flicked a second time, growing taut.

For a single beat, bolstering psionics shot up his blade as his gladius’s tip sunk into the side of his opponent’s neck. He didn’t have to remove it but gave his blade a little flick. What had been a thrust turned into a precision cut. One whole side of the man’s neck was severed.

His psionic shield appeared an instant later. The next man wasn’t wielding a broadsword, but an elegant saber.

It whirled toward him without the same compartment as had come from this first opponent. He didn’t parry the man’s attack this time. He retracted his blade only to jab at the man’s face the moment it passed.

The man arrogantly scowled as his saber swatted it aside.

Mel dropped his full body shielding to opt for his aura.

Seeing it, the saber user struck again, preparing a furious combination. What he hadn’t realized was they he fell for an old trick from Freedom.

His aura was but a pulse of outward power. As it flashed, so do was a psionic bolt forming in his hand. It was the kind of thing most people would only fall for once. He dodged the man’s slash, but his counter bolt was already flying. If the man’s opponent was anyone else, perhaps he would’ve seen the ruse in time. No one could cast as quickly.

The bolt slammed into the man’s gut. As he crumpled forward, Mel lopped off his sword hand at the wrist and swiped his feet out from under him with a backhanded flick to the back of his knee.

Mel stood there over the man, but he wasn’t watching his suffering. He’d found the wide-eyed gaze of the last caster.

The man quickly summoned his shield, unsheathing his weapon. It was a short sword, similar to Mel’s own.

They stood there watching each other, daring the other to make the first move.

Ignoring the tension, Mel cast a quick bolt.

The man flinched even if it was the kind of bolt he could block. Instead of striking him, it plunged into the chest of his dying companion.

Allowing the man a moment to consider his friend, Mel prepared an overcharged bolt.

Seeing it, the psionically shielded man wasn’t finished. There was more than twenty feet between them. He prepared to meet the attack with his sword.

There was more to the man’s actions than he knew. His overcharged attack was extremely powerful, but that didn’t mean it was impossible to defend against. With the man’s rank D psionic shielding and the correct swing of his sword, he might just manage it. Because a weapon was extended from the body, it could provide better defense against such an attack than even a shield—if you could manage to hit it. This man’s weapon was likely too short to fully block it, but survival was possible.

Mel’s arm shot forward as if aimed right for where the man was about to swing.

The man slashed out. He’d managed to time it.

Even if Mel’s arm was aimed for the man’s chest, the bolt flew downward.

The man’s weight shifted toward his front foot. It was impossible to correct in a split second.

The bolt slammed into his knee. Despite his shielding, he tumbled forward.

Mel didn’t let him recover. Most rank D users could block a normal rank D bolt with their shielding. But too many bolts and the destructive energy accumulated inside your body. Enough of them would still do the job. So he sent a flurry of bolts at the fallen man until his shield disappeared.

He’d felt their psionic energy coming. He found seven more rank D users at the tunnel’s entrance with Brendon Black leading them.

“Take it and go,” Handshake said, tossing the flag to the ground between them. “I’ll either disappear or die. No biggie.”

Mel frowned, but he’d been at this far too long now to object to the most reasonable course of action. Without a moment to lose, he grabbed the flag and launched himself toward the closet wall and began to ascend.

He expected a storm of bolts screaming up at him that he’d have to dodge, but when he didn’t feel any coming, he glanced back to see Brendon Black bounding from wall to wall and chasing after him. Not only was the man coming. He was fast.

Rebuking himself, Mel knew he should’ve spent more time perfecting this, but he wasn’t done yet.

As he ascended, he began throwing bolts at Black between jumps.

The man wasn’t dissuaded. Instead of coming right for him, he sped up his ascent.

It wasn’t long before Mel had to admit that the man was better at this than he was. He was second guessing his decision not to wear the leather jumpsuit Lucius had insisted on.

 Despite their speed, half a mile straight up was not easy or fast. When Brendon started pulling away and was maybe ten yards above him, the bolts started to fly from below. They weren’t even trying to hit him. It wasn’t that easy to hit a moving target from this distance. But then again, they didn’t have to. They aimed above him, cutting off his ascent.

There were still options. He could flee toward the battalion’s base and try and outdistance their casters. That’s exactly what we intended on trying when the bolts stopped flying from below.

Brendon Black flew in from above. He wasn’t wielding his weapon, but a shield in each hand. Like a human flyswatter, the man was trying to knock him from the air.

He didn’t have Lucius’s expertise. That didn’t make him a novice. He kicked out with his hand outstretched and pushed from both to wind walk out of the man’s path.

It worked. Brendon went flying by.

Mel tossed a bolt at the man’s back as a parting gift.

The upward shower of bolts returned.

Only then did he notice his predicament. Black was now behind him, climbing at a speed faster than his own. And above his head was a constant stream of rank D bolts. They’d successfully cut him off.

Mel chose that time to call out to the enemy, “Do you want to have to run back to the central arena?” He held up the flag that he carried.

Brendon Black knew as well as anyone the pain of a flag getting damaged in the midst of a fight. The barrage of psionic bolts from below stopped. The man motioned for him to descend.

Nodding in agreement, Mel did as asked, but not without aiming for a better position. Diving, he soon had to pull up because of how close they were to the ground.

The Forefathers let him, but as he swooped across the ground, he sped away in the opposite direction directly under Brendon Black.

As much as he wanted to go all the way to the base that owned this tunnel, it was not a skill in his repertoire. Besides, there was a Manticore King standing in his path.

The monster was crouched at the ready.

He had an overcharged snack prepared for it. As he darted for it, he pushed, launching himself up and over its head. He fired his bolt downward.

The Manticore didn’t just get struck, but caught the bolt with its open mouth, snapped its jaws shut around it. Its entire body went limp.

Mel landed opposite it. He considered making a run for it, but there was another option. Turning back to the beast, he leaped to its side. Summoning another overcharged bolt, he cast it downward. The monster’s armored flesh opened like cracked chitin. Then he dove the shaft of his flag into its squish innards.

With his psionic shield and walls active, he hopped down to face off with seven rank D users. It wasn’t a fight he could win, but he didn’t have to. All he had to do was last long enough.

Codename: Freedom- Book 5 - Chapter 34

“Lethal Accord, takes the lead!” Mr. Rachet proclaims.

“It’s coming down to the wire,” Bolt replied, looking at the timer.

Countdown

1:11:59

Giving Mia an apologetic look, Mr. Rachet continued, “It’s due to the long-term strategy of Lethal Accord. They have more rank D users, so they’ve been able to field more people while allowing others to rest. They’ve been doing it systematically from the beginning. The Burden Bearers, who were keeping them in check, didn’t have the same luxury. I’m surprised they lasted this long. They’re running out of energy. The Real Major is showing us why slow and steady is often the best strategy.”

The score was being kept up in a smaller window below the others.

Scoreboard

First Place – 17 Points

Ø  Lethal Accord

Second Place – 16 Points

Ø  Prodos

Third Place – 15 Points

Ø  Forefathers

Fourth Place – 13 Point

Ø  The Burden Bearers

They’d watched The Burden Bearers pull back for the first time since the event began. Over the last couple hours, they’d anticipated it. Lethal Accord had made their move, scoring three points in the last hour. The last two had gone unanswered. As soon as their capturer reached their base, another soldier grabbed a flag and took off at a sprint.

“The Forefathers look like they’re trying to flank them from atop the maze walls,” LeLisa said, showing the roguish twenty rank D users led by Brendon Black.

They’d entered the maze hundreds of yards to the west and were jumping from one wall to the next as they sped toward Lethal Accord.

“They’re going to try and intercept their runner,” Mia suggested.

The four metacasters were on the edge of their seats. An event that lasted forty-eight hours was not normal for them, but they’d eaten on stream and taken the best stimulants so that they could make it the distance.

“I can’t imagine how tired they are,” Bolt said, yawning. “It’s got to be slowing them down mentally even if it isn’t physically.”

Mr. Rachet cuffed his friend on the shoulder. “You’re saying Lethal Accord won’t see this coming?”

“I don’t know what I’m saying. I’m tired.”

The girls giggled. It wasn’t even that funny, but they were feeling it too.

Then they saw Lethal Accord react by pulling back from the central flag array for the first time since the event started. They hadn’t missed what was happening, but those at the center of the arena weren’t close enough to stop it. The Forefathers wreaked havoc amongst the rank E users and caught the rank D runner, killing him and taking his flag.

The chase began.

***

“This is it,” Hwan said, turning over onto his knees while allowing the blood to flow back into his lower regions as it should. “We’re not going to get a better chance.”

“I’m right behind you,” Handshake swore. “Thankfully there’s any flags left at all.”

“It’s certainly kind of them to leave us one. Sure you don’t want to hang out and maybe try to sneak up on the Real Major?”

“Tempting.”

“Crap. There’s a group coming from our part of the maze,” Hwan pointed out. “Still. I’m going.”

Without another word, he jumped out of his hiding spot for the first time in two days and ran down the line until he grabbed one of the last flags in play. All of the major players were busy. They weren’t the only ones looking to take advantage, though.

It was then that he called out to an old friend. “Destiny, I need a clear heading.”

His psionics had only reached rank F, so he ran as fast as his strengthening aura could take him. He wasn’t a speed demon like Lucius was in the first place.

A beacon lit up in the west. It was between the incoming battalion hoping to get their first flag and the retreating Forefathers.

He headed right for it. It’s not like he had any other choice.

“The fighting between the Real Major and Brendon Black in intense. They’re both losing men,” Destiny reassured. “Find a place to hide. I’m sending Mel and Lucius your way.”

The run from the central array to the entrance to the maze was the longest of his life. It’s like his nerves took that few minutes by the edges and pulled to stretch it out. When he made it, he felt a moment’s relief before realizing that anyone after his flag would’ve seen him run in here.

He kept running until he passed the corridor where the paths to main battalions’ bases met and dared to choose one at random that Destiny didn’t object to. Not every battalion had even defeated their manticore. As for those that did, only maybe a hundred in total had even tried to capture a flag. There were many maze exits into the arena that hadn’t shown any activity since the beginning of the event. As far as he knew, this was one of them.

The maze was called that because the passages between its walls had sharp and winding turns. They weren’t designed to cause a person to get lost, however. They existed to make the battlefield that much more interesting.

Hwan had had a lot of time to consider what he might do in any given situation. Once he found he most out of the way corner he could, he tossed the flag he’d captured to the ground and pulled back, relying on his stealth gear to hide him. There was no way they were going to make it back to their part of the maze.

The flag glowed with its own aura, but it couldn’t be seen through walls. It was possible that no one would ever find it here. If they did, he and Handshake would be waiting. So they got into position and waited for help to come.

***

As soon as Hwan grabbed his flag, Victoria reached out to me. “A flag is in play,” she cried.

The problem? I was already diving into a heavily guarded courtyard to hopefully grab another flag of my own. With one in play, that meant I wouldn’t be able to pick it up even if I wanted to.

Gritting my teeth, I tried to divert my direction, but to do so substantially would require psionics, and I was nowhere near a wall that could have helped. I’d have to rely on Wind Walk.

The timing was terrible, but it also meant someone had grabbed ahold of a sudden opportunity. That was something I could get behind.

I was able to move off target and aimed for the top of a nearby building. The moment I did, a blaring alarm sounded from below. The hundreds of men scattered about in defensive positions looked up all at once. They didn’t see me immediately, but their eyes scanned the sky.

They weren’t the first to have learned my secret. Knowing and defending again it was something else entirely. Freefalling without activating my psionics was simply that powerful.

The first silver bolt flew wide. Three more came.

I dodged without psionics.

Then several more came from multiple angles.

Usually I was doing evasive maneuvers after I’d pulled up from my collision with the ground. Not this time.

A full powered psionic push sent me wide of the roof toward a sidewalk between buildings. I used it to keep myself from going splat and darted right past the entrance to their main building where people were flooding out.

There was no straight flying. Side to side—up and down—I just kept moving. It wasn’t until I reached the wall to their base that I saw an out until a group of psionic casters poked their heads up over the wall and tired their hand at bird hunting.

I was sure that this was it. I did the closet thing to a ninety degree turn against the inside of their defensive wall which slowed me down drastically. I used it like a raceway, pushing against it and the ground as I sped toward the rear of their base, but I was too much of a sitting target.

Mel was the only thing that saved me. Doing his thing and firing off green lightning from on high, he skipped the overcharged bolts and became a human gatling gun. Those on the wall and who’d been chasing after me were forced back. Suppressive fire was nothing new, but this was not the kind of thing just anyone could do. Even his normal bolts took large chunks out of the stone wall.

Once I was mostly in the clear, I called out through my headset, “Go. I’m right behind you.”

I’d heard some of Destiny’s explanation to him the last few seconds. Hwan, that pretty faced punk had grabbed a flag from the center and ran. They were currently in a safe position, but it might not stay that way. Their flag needed an evac.

“You need me,” Mel insisted. “If you die, this battalion gets a point.”

“Doesn’t matter,” I objected. “We just can’t let Lethal Accord or the Forefathers kill me. Anyone else can have me. I’m going to try to go up the back corner. The point to tie this is waiting. Get going already. Unless all that talk about you not wanting to rely on me was nonsense.”

“Fine. I’m leaving.”

“Oh, and Mel. Don’t fall to your death while trying to get down from up there. That would be embarrassing. Especially if we lose because of it.”

“How about you step out into the clearing and let me shoot you. Do you think if I killed you it will count as our point?”

“It wouldn’t count,” Destiny replied.

We both laughed at her, which I realized a second later was a really bad idea. Even if I’d stopped between the wall and a building, it didn’t mean this battalion didn’t have people in towers looking for headshots.

He did actually leave a moment later after sending one last overcharged shot at sniper to keep them honest. Now I just had to figure out how to get out of this mess.

***

“Now of all times?” Bolt complained. “Lucius has been successful on all his other attempts. Who now?”

“This is only the third base he’s attacked that wasn’t under siege by another battalion,” Mr. Rachet reminded them. “There are too many eyes on the flag, and their AIs aren’t overwhelmed. It’s impressive that they were able to spot him before he reached it.”

LeLisa suddenly squawked in laughter, which was not like her at all.

Everyone turned their attention to the screen she was pointing at. Oren put up a replay without anyone asking. The flag the Forefathers were fighting to keep was struck by a rank D psionic bolt and disappeared from the hand of the man holding it.

“No way,” Mr. Rachet said.

Bolt slumped back in his chair.

It had easily been the deadliest skirmish between rank D users of the event. The Forefathers lost six men and Lethal Accord lost four. When Brendon Black called for a retreat, most of them stayed together, which had been one of the main reasons they’d had so much success. Not everyone could do as they wished, however. The Forefathers had tried to keep their superior position on top of the maze walls throughout the fight, but the only way to pull out was to jumped into the maze to escape Lethal Accord’s constant barrage of rank D bolts.

The majority of them remained with Brendon Black, but two smaller groups retreated into different passages. With the flag broken, Brendon’s objective was obvious. He was going to make a play to return to the central arena to try and grab it before Lethal Accord.

As for the other groups, they didn’t have the same kind of numbers. Including Brendon, there were seven rank D users in his group. Another had four, the next had three, while the remain one was the odd man out. He dove into the maze and found a corner to hide in. With so many Lethal Accord members close by, it was the only thing he could do.

As for the other two small groups, they traveled the maze as far as they could before returning to the top of the walls and bounding across them in the opposite direction.

“I can’t say I’m sad to see the Forefathers lose that fight,” Mr. Rachet said.

“Guys,” Mia said, leaning forward. “They’re retreating to where Prodos’s stealth team is hiding their flag.”

Oren pulled up an overhead angle that showed the three- and four-man groups heading toward them. The maze wasn’t a small part of the map, and it seemed the four-man group would likely miss it entirely, but there was a chance the smaller of the two would jump right over the place the flag was secured. It was still possible they wouldn’t see it, so they watched intently.

It was as it seemed. The four-man group missed them entirely, but then the three-member group drew near. The flag was up against the wall facing the direction they were coming. It was in the best possible position and Hwan and Handshake didn’t try to move it.

The first two men leaped over the gap overhead without stopping. The last man did so and readied to jump over the next gap when he hesitated. Glancing back, his eyes were pulled toward the glow. The man’s face lit up.

LeLisa of all people cursed.

“Audio’s cut,” Oren replied.

The woman cringed, giving Mia’s producer a grateful look.

The rank D user called the other two guys back. They jumped from the top of the wall to the ground and approached the flag.

“Someone must have hid it here and wasn’t about to get back,” one of the men said as it took the last remaining steps before reaching down for it.

“Let’s hurry. They might be coming back. The last thing I want to do right now if face an army of rank E users.”

“Agreed,” the man said before grabbing ahold of flag’s pole. The moment he did, he froze.

A long dark dagger appeared out of nowhere. Its blade was already deep in his neck.

***

HandshakeDeath appeared where he was crouched behind the flag.

The other two men of the Forefathers summoned bolts to end the darkly dressed man. The moment they did, another man appeared behind them. He had a handgun trained one of the men and had already pulled the trigger. The small formfactor railgun was a favorite among assassins. Electronic propulsion was much quieter than more explosive methods, and the bullet used traveled at sub-sonic speeds.

Rank D shielding could block rounds many times more powerful, but a psionic user dropped their shielding when casting a bolt. Not only that, but the man had no ballistic armor covering the back of his head.

Handshake’s blade placement and twisting technique made it a sure and mostly silent kill, but Hwan’s target was dead before he even knew it.

In an instant, the Forefathers had lost two more rank D users. Hwan started firing his weapon at the last man standing. He moved behind the man’s falling comrade to give him a few last moments to try something.

Handshake had done something similar, except instead of trying to attack, he grabbed the flag from the man who’s throat he’d just slit and jumped out from under his fall. The last thing he wanted was for the man to grab and hold him until his last dying breath.

The last remaining rank D user standing turned his psionic bolt toward Hwan since he didn’t have a clear shot on the first guy. A few pathetic rounds slapped him on the ballistic suit. He held his bolt ready until the man that had been standing nearby slumped to the ground. He found his target and fired.

Hwan dove to the side, but the bolt was too fast. It slammed into his hip, crippling him.

The canister flew from Handshake’s hand.

Another rank D psionic bolt was aimed at his chest.

The canister exploded. Blinding agent billowed into the area, blanketing the world in darkness.

The only thing Hwan could manage was to roll over. Another psionic bolt nearly ripped his arm off. Maybe it had. A bloody grin came to his face. He had the right lenses to see through the gas, but moving his head wasn’t an option. Enough damage had been done that he’d bleed to death soon anyway.

After sitting on his butt for two days hiding, he’d finally got to do something. Grabbing a flag and running was certainly something, but he’d just assassinated a rank D user in the coolest way possible. Well, maybe not as cool as Handshake’s kill, but his timing had been perfect. That was something to go on his resume. He wasn’t sure if this last thing would count, but he was happy to have met so many nice people on Lucius’s Combat Development Team. One in particular had a very explosive personality.

He left the timing to Destiny. His own AI could’ve handled it, but working with Lucius’s AI gave him Gravel vibes. “Those were the days,” he thought as the explosive backpack built into his ballistic suit detonated.

***

The panel of metacaster watched as the last man remaining for the Forefathers was thrown from one side of the maze to the other only to collided headfirst with the wall. He’d been using his psionic shielding just in case the gas would mess with him, but it wasn’t enough. He’d walked right by the dying Prodos assassin when the man had self-detonated. Psionic shielding could block a lot of damage, but it couldn’t strengthen the neck.

They watched through the gas as the man’s shielding dropped. He’d died on impact.

The four meta personalities shared a look. HandshakeDeath was running as fast as he could through the maze.

LeLisa announced it as they saw it happen. “The four-man group from the Forefathers are giving chase.”

“Lucius?” Bolt asked.

“He just made it back to the top,” Mia replied. “Mel?”

“Uh…” Mr. Rachet began but stopped to watch.

Mel was standing at the ledge of the half mile high tunnel that HandshakeDeath was retreating toward. A Manticore King was curled up in the middle of the tunnel, enjoying a nap. Instead of requesting his psi-rifle from his shadow drone, Mel stepped off.

Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 33

Twenty-four hours into the event, we were returning what would likely be the last of our “easy points”. Not that fleeing from a dozen rank D casters could ever be easy. It wasn’t even our intention to continue antagonizing Brendon Black and the Forefathers. They were just our only real competition when going after these the flags captured by weaker battalions. They were also helpful enough to attack the bases in question to give me all the distraction I needed.

Of course, Brendon and his battalion were looking out for us now. Mel didn’t stay put in one place. That was our main advantage. We could attack from any angle. We also had a much better view of the defending bases.

It had been an interesting first day. The Forefathers leaving the central arena to the Real Major and Ebrima Okoro had far reaching consequences. It wasn’t exactly a stalemate since both battalions occasionally scored a point. However, they certainly slowed each other down or the competition would already be over. It also allowed other weaker opportunist battalions to make it to the center and get away with a flag more often. That gave us more flags to target.

Only one other members of the top ten had been defeated besides the man I ambushed which left eight of us.

Scoreboard

First Place – 9 Points

Ø  Lethal Accord

Second Place – Tie – 8 Points

Ø  Forefathers

Ø  Prodos

Third Place – 7 Point

Ø  The Burden Bearers

Only about half of the flags from the center had been taken. The Real Major’s advantage over Ebrima Okoro was too much for him to keep up but not overwhelmingly so. As for the race for points between us and Brendon Black, it was very back and forth. We’d been ahead, but Brendon had personally taken out the other top ten guy.

Points came slower, but our strategy didn’t change. Mel’s sniping paired with my stealthy overhead approach was a deadly combination.

***

Hwan had been sitting here with his back to a podium for more than a day. His butt was asleep. They had a squad worth of stealth users left. There had been some close calls, but they weren’t the only battalion looking to take advantage of any lulls or chaotic moments on the battlefield. He knew that no real opening had come. Not one that would allow one of their guys to grab a flag and run the mile plus back to the maze. It didn’t help that they no longer hand any men waiting there to cover them.

There was no way to sugarcoat it. The Forefather’s had messed up a whole litany of contingency plans when they attacked them as soon as the event began. It was always a possibility, but it had put them in the worst position.

Of course, not all of the stealth team had died. A squad had returned to the base. As long as they didn’t grab a flag, getting out alive wasn’t impossible. Grabbing one, however, made any stealth technology worthless.

Some of them had decided to stay. He and HandshakeDeath either had the patience to be elite stealth users, or they were foolishly optimistic. The latter seemed more likely at the moment.

“Maybe we should try something a little different,” Handshake said. “I could grab a flag and throw it to The Burden Bearers, then one of our guys could try and run for it.”

“Why throw just one?” Hwan wrote back. “Why not go down the line and start throwing them in random directions in mass. Why do things halfway?”

Another guy responded. “I’ll do it. You two should stay here just in case there are any other opportunities in the future. I’ll start throwing them and let the rest of our guys grab a flag and run in different directions. Have Lucius be ready to come and grab it if one of the guys makes it to the maze in a place not close to the base.”

Hwan felt a smile pull at the corner of his mouth. “Just wait until they start fighting again and there aren’t any other battalions making a run for it.”

As he said it, his AI showed him a squad from a section of the maze they hadn’t seen much action from that was about to do just that. Hwan didn’t even have to wait until they got close for him to see something strange was going on. Without needing to take a peek, he relied upon the eyes of one of the many microdrones to give him a close up. Lumbering toward the flag array, was a group of large men dressed in what looked like homemade plate armor. The man at the lead was excessively wide in the shoulders and carrying a sword strapped to his back as wide as a small surfboard.

Destiny chose that moment to appear in the other corner of his peripherals. “It’s ceramic,” she reported. “And two to three inches thick.”

“To repel psionic attacks?” he asked.

“Not quite, but it should greatly damper the effects. It’s just… extremely heavy.”

It certainly didn’t look like it was slowing down Chewme. He couldn’t even see his old guildmate’s aura except threw his helmet’s eye slots. They looked more like golems than armored humans.

Hwan wasn’t on the right side of the podium array to see the man when he arrived, but they made it there easy enough. Chew was the one that grabbed the flag. They then unceremoniously ran back the way they came.

They made it a quarter mile before a flurry of bolts including several rank D ones flew at them from Lethal Accord.

Two of Chewme’s men fell. The group tried to run faster.

The next volley came, but the group was moving fast. Despite the armor, they were running at full speed with their rank E aura carrying them.

Another of their men fell and a rank D bolt hit Chewme in the back. It staggered the giant man, but he just kept going.

Hwan realized his massive sword made as good of a shield as it did a weapon. He internally shook his head to himself. He was kind of proud that they’d at least score one point even if Lucius might come by later and steal it.

“Get ready,” Handshake wrote. “You call it.”

The man who was in charge of the nonsensical mission was already crawling across the small gap between the circle of podiums to the side where Lethal Accord and The Burden Bearers were facing off. Once he was in position, he waited until the conflict between the two powerhouse battalions was at its worst before plucking a flag from its podium and throwing it half the distance between them and Ebrima Okoro’s squad.

Both groups paused in the middle of battle and just stared at its sudden appearance for the briefest of seconds.

The man had already grabbed a second flag and was throwing it before he spoke verbally through his headset, “Go!”

Seven other individuals grabbed flags from the opposite side of the array of podiums and ran for it. Not one of them were headed for the exact same entrance to the maze.

Hwan even flinched as the man called it. He wanted to finally be doing something, but he and Handshake were the craziest of the bunch.

Not all of them made it. Even out of the four that did, two of them were quickly taken out by lesser battalions and their flags were captured. Two slipped into the maze without being caught.

As for the man who had tried to play javelins with the flags, he’d reached his forth one before he became the first psionically, deep fried human. Six or seven rank D bolts pulverized him. At least his death was quick.

One of our two men made it back to the base himself. The other found a corner in the maze the hide. A few minutes later, their own messenger pigeon flew down and snagged it before flying away. Even if it wouldn’t last for long, they’d once again taken first place.

Scoreboard

First Place – 10 Points

Ø  Prodos

Second Place – 9 Points

Ø  Lethal Accord

Third Place – 8 Points

Ø  Forefathers

Fourth Place – 7 Point

Ø  The Burden Bearers

Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 32

It was like Lethal Accord had been waiting for this moment. Even if it wasn’t obvious to the battalions that didn’t have surveillance on every base, it was to Prodos. I had only just sat down to eat dinner when Destiny relayed it to me and the intelligence team.

The three major players all had a squad of rank D users by the central flag array. Only the Forefathers had formed up there with every rank D user they had. It was what forced a tentative stalemate.

Lethal Accord was on the move. They had one primary squad filled with rank D users but had several others with two or three leading them. Leaving approximately ten rank D users at base, they sent everyone else toward the central arena. As the only battalion with over thirty rank D users, the initiative was theirs to take.

A wave of rank D-led squads reached the maze’s exit to the central arena. The moment they did, the squads that had been in formation there to keep the path clear rushed forward. Two platoons worth, almost one hundred men, rushed toward the central flag array throwing bolts as they went. Even if the majority of them were rank E users, there were ten rank D users leading the charge. Their main target? Ebrima Okoro and The Burden Bearers.

It was their position between Legal Accord and The Burden Bearers that made them the respective target. It forced Ebrima Okoro and his men to shield up. Brendon Black took advantage and ganged up on the pinned down squad.

Everyone had been anticipating the possibilities. Someone from The Burden Bearers and Lethal Accord sent runners to grab a flag, while The Forefather’s second rank D squad came running from their defensive position in the maze.

I couldn’t help but imagine the Devs in charge of this event somewhere dancing in celebration. It had finally begun.

“Mel,” I called, coming to my feet while chewing a big juicy mouthful of cheesesteak. I’d only taken a couple bites, but it was hard to not appreciate one of the universe’s most epic hot sandwiches. Especially if it had enough melted cheese.

He’d been sitting across from me in the mess hall sipping on one of the better protein shakes. He stood with me, knowing what I intended without me saying anything.

Olivia was there with us. She stood with her hairy-chested man that looked younger than he was and kissed him firmly on the mouth. They weren’t shy with public displays of affection. They just usually limited it to handholding.

I turned to ask about getting my own kiss, in jest of course, but Kline wasn’t there. He’d already sacrificed himself early so that we could secure our first flag. Even as I grinned across at Mel and Olivia, I had a tumult churning inside me. I’d seen everything my friend had endured as well as the others.

A firm slap on the back pulled me momentarily out of my darker thoughts to see a grinning Barrell kiss at me. “For good luck?”

I pushed him, grinning. “Yeah, no.”

The fact that he’d been thinking the same wisecrack as I had just proved how much the old man had rubbed off on us. I smacked him back on the shoulder.

“You ready for this?” I asked Mel.

“One more” he replied, proceeding to pick Olivia up and kiss her as she squealed. Putting her down, he followed up, “I’m ready.”

Victoria didn’t show up to object to what we had planned. Instead, she reached out to us through the leadership channel. “Lucius, you should wait. If you’re killed trying to win another flag, then not only will it be that much harder for us to if we must, but they’ll also gain a point if they kill you. It’s the same if you’re defeated, Mel. If both of you are gone, the only other option we have is to risk hundreds of lives to try and pull something off. Can you at least wait to see if someone surpasses us?”

“Oh, we’ll wait,” I reassured her. “I just want to be in position for when it happens. And if an opportunity arises…”

In the end, Victoria allowed it. Secretly, we shared the same philosophy in our approach to this. The tension was necessary though. Even though there was a rational reason she sent us to the back gate that faced the half mile high enclosure surrounding our base, it felt like we were being punished for not obeying.

The forcefield shifted from the outer wall to the inner as we stood in the courtyard alone. When it had shifted, I asked, “Ready to climb?”

“Nope, but a guy doesn’t always get what he wants,” he sighed.

“So true. My poor sandwich.”

He jabbed me on the shoulder. “Let’s get this over with. And no, I haven’t changed my mind. I don’t have the same skydiving fetish as you. Getting down is hard enough without trying to get there as quickly as possible.”

I gave him a side-long look. “You’ve done it at lower heights. It’s mostly the same. You just have to get the timing down.”

“And wear a skintight leather bodysuit. I’ll stick with my body armor, thanks.”

I shrugged.

We scaled the wall with the help of push and soon found ourselves in the back corner of the cage enclosing our base.

“Want me to go last so that I can catch you if you fall?” I teased.

“I’ll be right behind you,” he asserted.

“Fine. Ready to get some revenge?”

“We’re headed to the Forefather’s base?”

I smirked. “Who else has all their heavy hitters out playing with other battalions and all those flags just sitting there?”

His expression turned grave. “There isn’t a battle going on at their base this time, Lucius. If you really try to dive in and snatch it, you’ll have hundreds of psionic bolts aimed at your back. It doesn’t matter if they’re just rank E.”

“Who said I’m going to dive into the middle of their base?”

“Uh. Then what?”

“We’ll see.”

I didn’t give him a chance to pry more into it and launched myself upward toward the wall, using the corner to ascend.

***

“If you hurry, you might be able to intercept a flag,” Destiny alerted us.

Mel wasn’t exactly happy about running atop half mile-high walls and leaping from one to the next, but most of them were thicker than a lane of traffic. It’s not like we were tightrope walking.

Once we’d reached the top, reaching the Forefather’s tunnel to their base was quite quick. As we kneeled at the ledge and looked down on their fortifications, it was obvious they’d earned more SP, or Simulation Points, than many of the other battalions. Not only did they have a decent wall, but they had an E-Field covering the courtyard like a screen. It wasn’t as grand as Prodos’s dome, but it would make diving in to snatch their flag difficult.

Destiny reassured me that the E-Field couldn’t stop me as long as I shielded my entire body with rank E psionics and was traveling fast enough. The E-Field was only rated at low level rank E equivalent. I’d seen enough bugs splat on windshields to not be super excited about trying it.

“He made it,” Destiny muttered. “Incoming.”

Because Victoria had requested we leave through the back door, as a matter of speaking, we weren’t by the entrance to the second layer maze, but close to the base side of the canyon tunnel. We were still a couple hundred yards for looking directly down at the base and keeping our observations to peering down through the corridor of the tunnel. It was more than enough. It also gave us a good position to see a green glowing guy with a flag in his hand enter the tunnel from the maze end and sprinting toward his base. He was using his full aura to move as fast as he could. As a rank D user, he was fast.

“Didn’t they capture the flag a while ago?” Mel queried.

Destiny explained, “Because they have their strongest soldiers competing in the central arena, they’re having to rely on rank E users to keep the maze passage way open. Let’s just say when the other battalions saw a flag coming, they took that as their opportunity to try and win their first flag. So the Forefathers had to fight back multiple battalions at the same time.”

“Back me up?” I asked but didn’t wait for him to answer. I pushed myself into a hover and darted across the top of the wall until I was in position. Instead of coming at him from the side or behind, I’d be taking him head on. If I managed the angle just right, however, he wouldn’t see me coming.

Grabbing two steel spears from my shadow drone, I glanced over to see Mel to do the same. Except, instead of a spear or sharped steel shaft, I watched as he unfastened what looked like a rifle except it was longer than Captain Ma was tall. Coming in at eight feet long with a thin barrel made out of some of one of the most psionic friendly compounds known to man. It was like the silver of electricity conductors.

My friend managed the rifle with an expert’s hand. Positioning the bipod at the walls ledge, he readjusted it so that he could remain standing in order to aim at such a low angle. When he was behind his psi-rifle which was the closest thing to a sniper rifle for psionic users, he waved. It had only taken him a few seconds.

I dove.

Even though to rank D user was racing down a mile long tunnel, I’d experienced just how fast they could be when I’d had to race the top ten users in Vanguard. This guy wasn’t amongst the fastest, be he was still going over one hundred miles per hour. I’d soon be going double that. The upward turn I’d have to take would cause me to slow. Our combined speeds would still make this one of the most difficult uses of Falling Star I’d ever tried.

As always, I used as little psionics as possible as I dove. I focused on my breathing so as not to become overly anxious. This man wasn’t Brendon Black, but he’d undoubtedly been there when they attacked Prodos and Kline and the rank D hunter team had sacrificed themselves so the others could flee.

It would’ve been wise to stay above the man’s head as I pulled up, but there was a higher chance of missing if I did. Instead, I flew at him on a collision course. We were both traveling so fast.

For an instant, I saw his face. He didn’t recognize me. Nor did it register that he was being attacked.

I let go of my spears, and spun off in an evasive maneuver, just missing him. I don’t it enough that Destiny dared to show me live footage of impact on a small panel in my peripherals. Not only was it a direct hit, but his torso ruptured.

Unlike every time before, I wasn’t looking to escape as quickly as possible. Reminiscent of my days in Freedom, beacons lit up at the entrance to the second layer. The Forefather’s men that had just helped this flag bearer escape the maze had been paying attention. There were too many to count. They were swarming the tunnel.

The rank D user had already cleared more than half the distance, so it would take them time, but rank E bolts flew in my direction even if their aim was off.

I pulled up sharply as what looked like a green bolt of lighting flash from above. The psi-rifle did two things to help a caster. Because it conducted psionics far better than the air, the projectile remained stronger for longer. It was for a further distance than you might think. Especially when a rifle barrel that was nearly eight feet long. Not only did psionic energy not lose power, but it traveled faster and in a straighter path than normal. It wasn’t as powerful as rifling was when causing a bullet to spin. It had a measurable improvement, though. And secondly, it made psionic casting much more accurate at range. When also paired with Mel’s overcharged bolt, it was devastating even to a psionic user.

From more than half a mile away, Mel struck a man in the chest, killing him instantly.

I was careful as I returned for the flag. The Forefathers had to turn off their E-Field to send men to help from the direction of their base, but it was done in a few seconds. Thankfully, they were all too far away to stop me. It didn’t hurt that Vanguard’s deadliest sniper was wrecking them from above.

Once I made it to the top, I saw Mel aiming down his rifle’s eyepiece while he had his psionic shield blaring. Only then did I hear the high caliber rifle rounds scream by. I activated my shield immediately. He might be able to tank a 50 Cal or rail-sniper round, but I didn’t trust my rank E psionics to do the same.

He fired off one more overcharged bolt before taking a knee and pulling his rifle back from the edge. Glancing over, he gave me an impish look. “That was fun.”

I waved the flag in my hand like a cheerleader. “I suggest we use our psionic shields as much as possible from here on out. There’s no way the other major battalions don’t have surveillance drones out and know what we’re up to. And who wouldn’t want to snipe me from the ground for another point?”

His mouth snapped shut, and he nodded. “Let’s do that.”

And so we began the trek back to score another point. It was then that Destiny filled us in. “While the Forefathers had delays trying to return their flag, Lethal Accord hasn’t. They’ve scored two points since they showed up in full force, and The Burden Bearers scored one as well.”

Scoreboard

First Place – Tie – 4 Points

Ø  Lethal Accord

Ø  Prodos

Second Place – Tie – 3 Points

Ø  The Burden Bearers

Ø  Forefathers

Third Place – Tie – 1 Point

Ø  The Amplifiers

Ø  Survival Mode

Ø  Fatal Glory

Ø  Humanity’s Forehead

Ø  Mockery

Ø  The Ugly Gentlemen

Ø  I Need a Nap

Mel and I shared a look before bounding across the gap to the next wall. Neither one of us were surprised. Thirty rank D users plus a battalion full of high-level rank E was not a force any other battalion could overcome on their own.

As we reached the top of the wall over Prodos, I asked, “You sure you don’t want to fly down with me? It’s fun.”

“I’m comfortable up here, thanks,” Mel retorted, his hands up in surrender.

The psionic field covering the outer wall shifted to the inner one as I flew toward the ground. In some ways, landing directly was more difficult than redirecting momentum and skirting across the ground. The grass wasn’t a good surface for it anyway, so I hovered over it for a few dozen feet before reaching the paved road in the middle. Touching down, I deposited the flag and waved before moving to leave.

Destiny updated me as I left the base and headed upward toward Mel. “The Forefathers are changing strategies and have left the central arena.

“Including ours, there are ten bases they can attack to steal flags and only one of the top ten ranked players had been defeated. That puts 30 Points in play other than those from the arena.”

“They still have the most overall and officer kills, right?” I asked.

“They do.”

“What’s their most likely target?”

Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 31

Lethal Accord and The Burden Bearers captured their first flags with little effort. They both had similar strategies even if they used different approaches. Thirty-one rank D users gave Lethal Accord the advantage in overall military might. They had several powerful squads with multiple rank D members a piece lined up along the path from their base to the central podium. As soon as their first flag was taken and captured, another person grabbed a flag and sprinted toward their base.

The Burden Bearers had a squad less in the rank D department, but it was still a strong enough force that Lethal Accord couldn’t just bully them. They gave the Real Major who had personally stationed himself by the central podiums a wide birth, but they too had runners grabbing their next flag as soon as one was returned.

The gas in the area was bad, but manageable. Psionic shielding made it bearable.

The unspoken ceasefire lasted until the second flag was secured. Neither battalion could afford to let the other capture as many flags as they were able. While the Real Major was positioned close to the podium, Ebrima Okoro’s lead squad was about fifty yards away securing their flags from a different angle. Facing off with one another in formation, they both knew it was time to act, but they had great respect for one another.

The two men shared a look, nodding to one another.

The Burden Bearers were the first to act. A volley of rank D psionic bolts flew.

Lethal Accord defended against the bolts with a shield wall only to return fire a moment later. It was rather neat and clean compared to what had been seen so far.

It was only when the Forefathers showed up, attacking anything that moved, that both squads pulled back to more tenable positions. Prodos, Lethal Accord, and The Burden Bearers were tied with two points by the time Brendon arrived. He still had two squads of rank D users and several elite rank E users with him. Even as they received fire, they quickly reached a podium and grabbed their first flag.

The positions of the major squads had Lethal Accord to the far north with The Burden Bearers to the east. That placed the Forefathers to the southwest and Prodos to the south.

So as their three biggest competitors tossed bolts back and forth, Lucius was securing the Manticore King Total Kill Bonus Point. It was more than that though. Soon the others would realize it when the clear path they had through the maze to their own battalions were soon quite filled with traffic from other battalions.

Within the first hour, the major four were the only to capture their flags except for one other battalion that only had two rank D users. The most impressive thing was that they hadn’t gotten into a single fight. How had they accomplished this you might asked? Stealth, of course. So a mostly unknown battalion called The Amplifiers were on the scoreboard with 1 Point. They did have some claim to fame. One of their most famous members was First Lieutenant Priscilla ‘the Fire Flower’ Torres. She was considered one of the best casters in Vanguard.

That made Prodos’s strategy for their third point difficult. Their stealth team had been suspiciously absent from the conflict up until now. That’s because they were spread out near the central array of podiums with three powerhouses facing off. The question in Hwan mind was if the other battalions had noticed. The event was set up where the moment they grabbed a flag it would be visible even if the person carrying it wasn’t. It was also possible that they missed their best window. The gas wasn’t as clear as it had been before.

Handshake sent a text-based message to the stealth platoon because even a whisper was too much. “I need volunteers. There’re too many eyes on the area to think we have a good chance of getting out of here without being seen. But with good timing, there’s still a chance. Who’d be willing to grab a flag and try and make it back to base on their own? The maze is clear, at least. For now.”

Hwan didn’t hesitate to volunteer. He wasn’t alone.

Someone suggested they should go in twos. That way in the person carrying the flag was attacked, the other person could wait for an opportunity to grab it and make a run for it.

In the end, they agreed. Even though going together might give them a better chance all at once, there was something they could do if a couple rank D users came after them. The moment the person carrying the flag was killed and another battalion touched it, one of two things would happen. First, if they didn’t have a flag in play then they’d be able to try and capture it. Secondly, if they did, it would disappear from that spot and reappear at the central array. So splitting up would give them several opportunities. It was a gamble, but if someone timed it right while the others were fighting for example, then it was possible. This also opened up the possibility for them to steal more than one flag this way. Even though they had to stay immobile to remain invisible, they had people in place.

As for the rest of Prodos? They were setting up their defenses. And if someone made it far enough, a team would be sent to help them make it the rest of the way.

Stealth combat was as much an art as a science. There were multiple technologies that allowed for invisibility and there were just as many to discover those using it. That why they weren’t just standing around but hiding behind the podiums.

A pair was chosen to go first. They didn’t wait. Grabbing a flag, one remained in stealth, while the man carrying it made a run for it toward the west where none of the major factions were had squads waiting.

He made it a quarter mile before there was a reaction from their opposition. The Forefathers sent a rank D user to give chase, but he wasn’t alone. Lethal Accord didn’t have a choice but to do the same. Now that the Forefathers had captured their first flag, their points total shot up to 3. Not only did they have the Bonus Point for most kills, but also the most officers killed.

Their man was chased down like dog. A bolt hit him in the back, causing him to drop the flag. Prodos’s man with him waited. Lethal Accord’s man didn’t go for the flag, but for Brendon Black’s man.

The speed at which they exchanged blows with their swords caused Hwan’s eye to twitch.

The man that remained hidden let their fight rage for a few more moments. Handshake even sent a message recommending him to withdraw.

The man had other plans. Seeing that the two rank D users were out for blood, he grabbed the flag and took off. He even made it within one hundred yards of the maze when they took off after him. There was a gap in speed that the man just couldn’t make up.

The Real Major’s man cut the flag carrier down, while Brendon’s man attacked the flag itself. As soon as his sword struck its shaft, the flag disappeared. An instant later, it appeared back above its pedestal undamaged.

The two faced off a couple more times before they retreated back to their squads. All the time Hwan was sure they’d come check the podium array for stealth users, but they never did.

It was then that Handshake sent him a personal message. “I want you to wait until after everyone has already tried. You have a knack for timing these things. Hopefully, we won’t need it, but you’re our last resort. So even if you have to wait until the very last hour of the event, don’t go until you know that you’re sure.”

“And if that time never comes?” he asked.

“Then you have my permission to grab a flag and just do what you can. This whole operation is a long shot. We’re playing the odds.”

“What about you?”

“You know me. I’ll probably try to kill someone far stronger than me and get myself killed.”

“You’re going after someone in the top ten?”

“The way things are going, I doubt I’ll get the chance. But a man can dream.”

And so they waited, using the podiums as barriers against stray bolts. About two hours into the event, a new battalion made a run toward the center array. The moment they did, three other battalions that had been waiting at the entrance of the maze decided they’d try and use the other groups as cover.

Their timing wasn’t terrible either. The Forefathers tried to forcibly take another flag when The Burden Bearers turned all their casting on them and Lethal Accord joined in. So even if Brendon Black had more men present, it was about even when their opposition joined together to suppress them.

When their play for another flag was stopped in its tracks, several rank D users with many rank E users in tow broke off from the Forefathers and headed for the closed group of newcomers.

It wasn’t the slaughter they anticipated, for the new group of about thirty had two rank D users that impeded most of their attack.

A few rank E users fell. The Forefathers took that as a win before veering off and heading toward the maze section that connected to their base.

When Lethal Accord and The Burden bearers took that opportunity to send a few men back toward their bases as well, Hwan knew that Lucius had been successful killing select Manticore Kings to pester their opponents.

Prodos’s stealth platoon shifted their positions to the other sides of the podiums. They were about to be in the thick of it as the encroaching battalions raced for their flags.

That wasn’t all. Two more guys from Prodos prepared to take advantage of the chaos and give it another shot. As soon as the first newcomer reached for a flag, mayhem.

***

Scoreboard

First Place – Forefathers – 3 Points

Second Place – Tie – 2 Points

Ø  Lethal Accord

Ø  The Burden Bearers

Ø  Prodos

Third Place – Tie – 1 Point

Ø  The Amplifiers

Ø  Survival Mode

Ø  Fatal Glory

Ø  Grin and Bear It

Ø  Humanity’s Forehead

Ø  Mockery

Ø  The Ugly Gentlemen

Ø  I Need a Nap

Countdown

40:19:47

I checked the scoreboard for probably the tenth time in the last minute. Eight hours after we’d captured the first flag and the battlefield had taken shape. The three largest battalions were forced to split their biggest hitters between the maze and the central array of flags. A few of the lesser battalions had been successful racing to the center and grabbing their flags. Most of them were hunkered down now with every intension of holding on until the end of the event. They all had one thing in common. They had a couple of rank D users capable of shrugging off rank D bolts with their shields.

Glancing at my Manticore King kill count, we’d racked up 47 kills. In that amount of time, it could’ve been more. Destiny reminded me constantly that this was as much an endurance event as a race. She also was confident that we’d defeated enough of them that we could move on to other things. The second-place battalion currently had 3 kills, and they’d stopped trying hours ago. It seemed getting a high kill count early had discouraged others from bothering.

That’s why I was here. High above another battalion’s outer layer tunnel, a large company of two hundred soldiers advanced. They had three ranked D users. Their goal was twofold. The base they were attacking held a captured flag they wanted to secure for themselves to bring their total up to two flags. Their secondary goal was the kill the defending battalions sole rank D user who just happened to also be in the top ten. If things went their way, they’d end up tied for first place.

My goal was simple. I would use the attacking battalion as a distraction and steal the points from under their noses.

Brendon Black would’ve loved to be here. It was exactly the kind of target he was looking for. The problem, if he moved from his current position in the central arena then Lethal Accord and The Burden Bearers would take advantage. They were the point leaders.

Instead, I was here in his place. No, I wasn’t bullying them with superior numbers of rank D users, but it made me feel just as dirty as if I was. Stealing a flag was one thing. Killing someone when they were distracted was another. That wouldn’t stop me. Honorable or not, I was here to win. I just knew that if I succeeded then the battlefield would change once again. None of the three top battalions could let a new point leader go unanswered.

I didn’t know how incredible base Prodos was until I’d had a look at some of the others. Few of them had the money to do what we had, but neither had they tried. At least this base had an actual wall. The irony was that this battalion’s name was Grin and Bear It. It was nice to know that they’d still be smiling after I was finished.

Since the flag had to be placed within the boundary of a base, but it couldn’t be secured in an actual building, theirs was resting smack dab in the middle of their motor pool. Their front gate wasn’t far away. As for vehicles, it looked like they couldn’t be parked close enough to hide the flag outright. They had surrounded it with them. More than that, each base was only allowed one functional deterrent rated as light artillery or less. The primary defense would be soldiers.

There were exceptions available for defending one’s flag, but not everyone had purchased E-Fields or psionic force fields, nor could everyone afford them. And even if they did, few battalions had the energy reactors that could supply them with enough power to repel rank D attacks. Perhaps that was Prodos’s greatest advantage. The money we’d acquired in large part due to our popularity earned during our time in Freedom.

I watched as two hundred psionic soldiers charged the twelve-foot wall. It had two guard towers with a whole squad of snipers in each. The top of the wall was covered in a variety of firearms including those that utilized a person’s psionics to the commonly issued rail-rifles. Their 105 mm rail-cannon was mounted directly above their front gate. Even if every other projectile weapon wasn’t fatal, the rail-cannon ignored rank E shielding entirely. Dozens died as they charged the front gate.

My expression darkened while watching it. How many people had died in real combat in this exact manner? Of course, this wasn’t ancient or modern combat for Earth. Psionics had been introduced. Nothing would ever be the same.

The soldiers that reached the wall summoned their aura and leaped, clearing it in a single stride. Once they were over the gate, the real battle began.

The defending battalion had numbers on their side. There were strategies Destiny had mentioned they could use to successfully defend their base. Grin and Bear It used none of them.

That doesn’t mean they didn’t defend themselves honorably. Their sole rank D user took position on the roof of the building closest to the motor pool. Instead of throwing himself into the fray, he tried to take out as many as possible with rank D bolts as he could. There were many people with him.

I made my way around the upper wall surrounding the base that was supposed to keep the bases separate. Getting into position, I waited until the inevitable happened.

The three rank D members of the invading battalion made it to the roof. A firefight followed where many rank E defenders died.

They had the man pinned. I chose that moment to jump. I didn’t need to get the first hit, but the last. The defending rank D user was wielding a shield and a short sword and the men attacking him weren’t Mel. He shrugged off even multiple bolts at a time. So they switched to melee.

It wasn’t a canyon tunnel I fell into this time. I dove off a wall into a wide-open space. For as long as I could, I used my body to control my fall instead of psionics. Then I used small pulses of push to stay on target.

With so much psionic energy churning in the air from so many different directions—nobody noticed.

I dove in behind the man who had taken position in the back corner of the building as his three opponents tried to flank him. Psionics were necessary to swoop in and reach him. I belly surfed against the wind as I came at him from behind. I was a little low to just drop my spears. If it didn’t do something, I collide with him from behind.

Spinning off and over the side of the building, I released both spears. Aim wasn’t a problem. It was too close for my liking.

I skirted down the side of the building until I reached its front end, then flew directly into the midst of the raging battle. My momentum was more than enough, but the vehicles around the flag were going to make it difficult to snag it and pull up. Especially considering there were defenders standing just opposite the flag, trying to keep it from defenders.

There was no other choice. With an arm outstretched, I fired off a psionic bolt at the men standing there. As they flew, they seemed to go in slow motion even if they flew faster than I was.

Catching one it the back, I watched him fall. Only the person next to him turned back. He saw me coming.

I cast psionic bolts at the man as rapidly as I could, but with never taking my eye off the prize. I don’t know what happened to the man.

My hand found the shaft of the flag. I desperately pulled it to my chest.

Knowing where the fallen man had been, I used push and full power to force my way through. As I did, I pulled up as best I could, knowing that a vehicle was not far away. I felt it with push before I saw it, causing me to redirect all my psionic strength into pushing against it to keep myself from running into it.

The moment I cleared it election filled me until I felt something flick my big toe. The pain came all at once. There was only one possibility. My toe had grazed the top of the vehicle. Why did such a small body part cause such blinding pain?

Great. After all that, I was about to die from getting distracted from stubbing my toe.

I found the front wall and sped toward it. Still lying parallel with the ground, I send a push from my chest to propel me over it.

Only then did I land feet first with push keeping me off the ground. It was quieter here off to one side of the watch towers. But the people up there could see me easily enough with a somewhat glowing flag in my hand. So I did the last thing they’d expected. I fled away from the escape tunnel in the opposite direction. Rounding the corner of their defensive wall, I kept it to my side to stay hidden from anyone inside the fort.

It worked surprisingly well except for my toe screaming in protest as I headed to the base’s back corner. From there, I used the wall’s ninety-degree angle to ascend.

I was halfway up when a rank D bolt flew at me from below. It was too far to easily hit a moving target, and I could feel the psionic energy coming without having to see it.

Glancing down as I bounded from one wall to wall, I almost wanted to fly down there and stab the guy with my flag. That was just the pain talking. Once I made it to the top, I sat down and began to heal my broken toe.

I dared them to try and chase after me. They might just be able to make it, but it would be interesting to see how they respond to getting pushed off. If they hadn’t unlocked push, then they wouldn’t have a chance.

The battalion I’d just stolen from was in the northwest, so it took me a good fifteen minutes of jumping from ledge to ledge to make it back to Prodos.

There was one significant problem this would cause for me since the flag’s glow was easy to see even from a distance. Anyone paying close enough attention would soon know what I’d been up to. It could make assassination attempts from above a little more difficult.

I approached from our main tunnel so that the others would see me coming. Of course, I’d reached out so that there were no major surprises.

As I landed and stepped into the opening, I saw Prodos’s city-sized green glowing dome towering over me. The green energy over the front gate flickered before shifting to the wall opposite the courtyard.

They didn’t bother opening the gate. A guy with a green aura jumped up from inside the gate to the top of the wall and waved.

I didn’t waste time, hovering forward and quickly ascending to join him.

Mel was waiting for me with his arms crossed. “Took you long enough,” he jibed.

“Hey. I broke my big toe kicking a truck. Give me some slack,” I countered.

“Lucius,” Victoria’s voice sounded loudly in my headset. “I’m terribly sorry that your toe suffered, but would you two mind getting off the wall so I can secure our flags with the barrier?”

“I suppose.”

Mel and I shared a laugh.

Our first flag that had been so costly was stuck in the ground in the middle of the yard just to the side of the main road that bridged both gate entrances. I placed this one on the other side of the road.

Only after it was in place and the psionic barrier had shifted back to the outer wall did the thousand men and women on the inner bulwark of the outer wall cry out in celebration. Prodos had taken the lead.

Suddenly dozens of people ran in our direction from their posts. The event wasn’t over. Not even close, but this was something to revel in. I might even have a meal and a bathroom break before getting back out there.

The reality of the event had changed. Now that someone else was on top, the major players would have to start taking chances. I feared what I’d just done would only waken sleeping giants.

Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 30

Mia and the metacaster panel were on the edge of their seats as the Forefathers retreated only to use their auras to leap up to the top of the maze walls. Even if they were holding their breaths while their shields were down, the gas also affected their eyes. Many of them struggled momentarily, but someone figured out that intensifying your aura blasted much of the gas from the surface of your skin. That included your eyes. It was then that the Forefathers ran across the inner walls, leaping from one to the next until they were above the opposing army and facing off with them men they had positioned there. The moment they could use the full range of their psionics then any advantage Prodos had disappeared.

Brendon Black had lost two rank D users in the first battle of the event, as well as fourteen of his elite rank E users. It was an awful showing. Especially considered that Ebrima Okoro of The Burden Bearers had just grabbed a flag and the Real Major wasn’t far behind.

It was a comforting thought for an instant until the Forefathers fell upon Prodos’s men in the maze. Many threw bolts from above while a group led by Brendon Black leaped into the maze.

Prodos fought back. Even if each man or woman could only delay them for an extra blow, it was something. Their all was not good enough to stop the slaughter.

On one hand, the event was to Prodos’s advantage since they had so many people. They could only field a thousand in total, but their remaining soldiers could defend their base.

There wasn’t much commentary during the slaughter. Mr. Rachet did his best to address the overall competition and how this was giving Lethal Accord and The Burden Bearers an early advantage.

Many of Prodos’s men made it to the outer tunnel before the Forefathers reached them, but still more than a hundred and twelve men died before they did. As for them stopping Mel from capturing the flag, there was no chance. He delivered it to their base before Brendon Black made it through the maze.

As soon as they scored the first point, a scoreboard appeared in everyone’s peripherals. It was only clear when someone focused on it. Oren pulled it up for everyone to see.

There was currently only one battalion listed, and they didn’t have one point, but two.

Scoreboard

First Place – Prodos – 2 Points

Countdown

47:58:43

When the first-place battalion was selected, a breakdown was revealed.

Prodos

1 Point – Flag Captured

1 Bonus Point – Currently leading with the number of Manticore King’s killed (5).

This visibly seemed to anger Brendon Black, who backhanded a rank E user with his shield before rushing another and leveling the woman.

They reached the tunnel and a group of some of Prodos’s most familiar faces were waiting. Their position was pulled back so that those atop the maze walls wouldn’t have much of an elevated advantage. The casters would have to stand back ten yards on the wall to get the right angle.

“Why aren’t they running?” Mr. Bolt protested.

Mia’s gaze was already narrowed. Her teeth were grit hard enough that her jaw was trembling. “To give the others enough time to escape,” she managed.

Prodos’s Left Hand, Kline, who had already singlehandedly taken out one of the Forefather’s rank D users, stood out front of a squad with a large round shield in one hand and his infamous poleaxe in the other.

Behind him was a row of shields with the small giant of a man, Captain Ma, shouldering a greatsword. Treetop was there, as was Isamu. Every single one of them had ranked near the top of rank E users.

“I hate to say it this way,” Mr. Rachet began. “But isn’t it a waste of psionic talent for them to sacrifice themselves for the others? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

“They’ve already thought of that,” LeLisa countered. She made a few motions with her hand only to highlight a young black man sprinting away with an unhappy redhead thrown over her shoulder like a sack.

He nodded to acknowledge her point, but he didn’t let it go. “However, why only Barrell and Heather Esper? Their abilities are good. Some of the best. But Isamu has one of the strongest short-range attacks they have, and you saw what Kline did.”

Mia couldn’t hold back. “I want to agree with you, but Isamu may have a strong attack, it just isn’t strong enough against rank D users. And Kline. Well, I know him. He wouldn’t leave even if Victoria tried to make him. And let’s face it, he caught that rank D guy off guard. His defensive ability makes him a human wall. This is exactly what he is good at.”

The guy who never let an opportunity for conflict go unstirred opened his mouth to say something when he just huffed out instead. “I guess you’re right.”

“Brendon is approaching alone…” Bolt said wide eyes.

No one replied as they watched the exchange.

The war hammer wielder swaggered forward while swinging his weapon around casually as if it were a walking stick. “You again,” Brendon jeered before turning his head and spitting. It seemed he was still trying to clear some of the gas from his system.

“You’re too late,” Kline called out. “Don’t feel bad, though. You’re twenty rank D users lost to our one. I recommend a hot shower. It’ll rise off the embarrassment, amongst other things.”

Brendon frowned. “You’re that former soldier, right? Kline was it? Prodos’s Left Hand.” Raising his war hammer and shield, he shook them. “We all know what your fantasy game’s queen does with her hands.”

A chorus of snickers came from the Forefathers.

Kline shrugged. “Shield her eyes from having to look at your ugly face?”

Tilting his head to the side, Brendon wore a half smile. “I guess I was wrong. She only plays with the pretty one.”

“Oh, but I am the pretty one.” Throwing his poleaxe to the side with his shield, Kline popped his pecks with his arms outstretched. It didn’t matter if he was wearing a ballistic suit or not. His chest was large enough that his entire suit moved with it.

With a sigh, Brendon tossed his shield and weapon to the side before muttering, “Taking you out will make things easier later.” His men waited behind him.

Kline took that as an invitation and strolled forward with his E-Field still active.

Snorting, the top ranked psionic user’s hand shot up as his shield dropped. A psionic bolt flew at grinning black man with thick beard. It was at such a close range that it was almost impossible for him to miss, but the man didn’t even flinch.

The moment the bolt struck home, the angry pop of several firearms went off at once. Several of Prodos’s lesser-known shield users revealed hidden handguns. All of them were aimed at Brendon Black.

The whole thing was a ploy.

Kline tanked the rank D psionic bolt and charged. Ma and Isamu did the same, coming at the Forefather’s strongest with their swords ready.

Then there was Treetop. He was aiming to do the same when he saw that several of Brendon’s men were lifting their hands to end the surprise attack before it started. So he did something only Treetop would do. He jumped in front of the others spreading out his hands and throwing his feet out to the side until he was parallel with the ground.

Several bolts flew. He caught four of them with his body to give the others a chance. He was dead before he reached the full height of his jump.

His sacrifice spared Ma from all but a bolt to the hip. The man’s face turned pale as a furious scowl proceeded him slashing down with his sword with both hands.

Isamu wasn’t so lucky. The man had anticipated the coming bolts, but he was only able to release one sword arc to split one of the rank D bolts in to before several others stuck his body.

Brendon Black hadn’t left his shield down for more than a second. It was just long enough to fire off a bolt. He’d already been struck with a few stray bullets. But he hadn’t expected the sudden barrage, nor for Prodos’s Left Hand to play dirty. Even then, he’d resummoned his shield to block most of the damage except for one round that had caught him high in the chest.

He didn’t have time to check the damage, for a large blade was raining down from above. Trying to step back, his legs were tied up. Glancing down, the annoying Left Hand had grabbed him around the waist.

The sword struck him between the shoulder and the neck with such force that it drove him to his knees. He tried to push the man holding onto him away so that he could get in a good position for block another blow or dodge it entirely when he saw several rank D bolts strike the sword wielder.

Turning his full attention toward the man that just wouldn’t die, Brendon found that sticking his arm out to try and push him away was a mistake he wouldn’t soon forget. The instant the man had ahold of his wrist, he leaped upon him. The man’s legs found his chest and his arm was being pried back. Despite his rank D psionic shielding, it didn’t protect him from this kind of force, or the suddenness of it. He heard it pop.

The only reason it wasn’t worse was because his men fully attacked. Not only did the man clinging to him get struck with two additional psionic bolts, but one of his men had just skulled him with a broadsword. The man’s shielding was still going, but it was enough to cause the man to let go.

Testing his arm, he found he could move it, but damage was done. When he turned back to the fight, the others had already taken care of the rest.

The metacasters were silent. Kline had been so close, but even with the rest of the group sacrificing themselves, it wasn’t enough to even seriously injure the man, let alone kill another rank D user.

“There’s more,” one of Brendon’s men said. He was pointing to the ones fleeing.

He didn’t respond right away as he watched them go. Shaking his head to himself, he turned and spat again. Taking a step back, it looked like he was getting ready to call a retreat when he stopped himself. He looked like he was weighing their options. Most of Prodos’s retreating members had made it to the halfway point. There was about a half mile between them now.

Mia leaned forward while trying to get a better look at what she’d just seen. It looked like a green glow coming from the end of Prodos’s base. “Is that Mel?” she wondered aloud.

A moment later, Oren zoomed in and they watched as the blond headed Captain, and Prodos’s only rank D user rocketed higher into the air than any of them had ever seen. As he climbed, green rank D bolts flew toward Brendon Black and his men a mile away. His aim wasn’t perfect, but still impressive from such a distance.

Mel kicked off the wall when he reached the full height of his jump and used it to slow his descent as he bound from one side of the wall to the next. He didn’t stop firing off rank D bolts all the while.

He landed behind the last retreating members of Prodos a little more than half a mile away and stood there with his aura blazing, daring them to come.

The rank D bolts didn’t do any damage from the distance since they could see them coming. Brendon Black took that as an excuse to leave. “Let’s capture our flag,” he commanded. “With the number of people we’ve downed, we should have the highest kill count.”

As they turned to go, they didn’t see a bloodied Kline whose E-Field had been deactivated where he was lying on the ground. Not until the man flipped over to his stomach. At a glance, what covered his back just looked like any ballistic suit. But up close, it was hard to miss that it was several inches thick. The next moment, he exploded.

The concussion was large enough that it sent Brendon Black and more than eight other rank D users flying back and toward the walls.

“What the—” Bolt started to say but just stared with his mouth agape.

They all had the same reaction except for one person. LeLisa had a giggle fit.

Even Mia looked at her friend like she’d lost it.

So LeLisa responded to their reactions. “He always does something crazy like this. Remember the Ekseliksi guy on the first day of Vanguard? He stuck a grenade in its face.”

“True…” Mr. Rachet replied.

Mia stared at her friend as if she didn’t know her.

“Don’t give me that look,” LeLisa said. “I’m not laughing at his death, but just at how ridiculous it is.”

Mia’s expression lightened. “I guess.”

“Besides, it looks like the rest of them will make it.”

Looking back at the screen, her friend was right. Prodos had escaped, but at the same time, the rank D users that had just suffered the explosion were starting to get up.

***

“How many of Brendon Black’s men made it?” I asked after watching what Kline’s last moment.

“All of them,” Destiny replied. “There’re probably injuries, but nothing they won’t recover from in the next forty-eight hours.”

Folding my tongue in my mouth, I bit down.

“Patience,” she said, seeing my reaction.

“Are you talking to me or yourself?”

She laughed bitterly. She didn’t answer my question directly, but said, “Let’s head to the opposite side of the coliseum to kill some of the manticores by Lethal Accord and The Burden Bearers. After that, we should have killed enough of them that no one will bother trying to catch up.”

“Fine. Let’s go.”

Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 29

The longer the Forefathers waded through the gaseous compound, the faster they moved. Much of Prodos had run ahead in force to be ready for a fight on their way back from capturing a flag. The mortar team was there guarded by a platoon to secure the entrance to the arena. There were several teams behind them in the maze and upon the walls at the entrance to the second layer. The approach of the overpowered enemy was relayed to them early. So when the army of green psionic shields appeared marching toward them in the gaseous cloud, they didn’t panic.

Twenty men with psionics shields were kneeling. Another twenty men were behind them. They were all covered with rank E psionic shields to defend from the gas. The single sounded through their headsets. “Fire!”

Many standard issue rail rifles peppered the incoming enemy, but they weren’t alone. Even without the explosions from traditional powder cartridges, the mini-rail was known by the swarming sound produced by 100 hypersonic rounds fired a second. Compared to the ancient miniguns, these were much more compact. Rail rounds were smaller than full cartridges even if the projectile was the same size, but carrying enough rounds was still a problem. One that was solved by mule drones.

The moment the mini-rail started to spin, the shielded enemy was met with a level of force they didn’t expect. Shrugging off rail rounds was common enough, but the size of such rounds and sheer volume slowed the income horde. Faces couldn’t be made out through the gas. Not with one hundred yards between them.

For a moment, the men of Prodos were pushing them back. If they applied enough pressure, maybe the psionics rank D monsters would move on to easier prey. But then one of them dared to drop their shield long enough to fire off a single bolt. Green energy shot toward them with a speed rank E psionics couldn’t match. The aim was good, but not good enough. Instead of hitting the man behind the mini-rail, the psionic bolt struck the shield of one of the men below. Despite it not being a direct hit, the man teetered over and began to convulse.

The cracks in their defense started to show.

More bolts flew. More of their men fell.

Then a green glow shone from their flank.

The mini-rail user spun and got the man right in the chest, but the moment he did, green glowing monsters collapsed in on them from the front and flank. They were close enough now that their faces were revealed. Brendon Black slowed as he presented himself before the floundering platoon.

The mini-rail users answered the man’s arrogance by training his mini-rail on the man’s face. It should’ve worked. There was still enough distance but…

Brendon dropped his psionic shield just long enough to fire a bolt at the heavy railgunner’s chest.

The gunner’s rank E shielding wasn’t enough. He collapsed before he could bring his minigun around.

A few rail-loads struck Brendon’s ballistic suit when he dropped his shielding. He snorted at the assault as his psionic shield reappeared. Rubbing at his shoulder where he was struck, he turned to the side and only let down a small window of his shield so that he could spit. He rolled his neck while examining how much the gas was affecting him. As he did, he held out his hand and a shadow drone flew down from above and delivered his war hammer.

***

“I need you,” Victoria said from Combat General’s control console. Her headset was on, and she was totally engaged. With help from the micro-drone swarm and Destiny, she had eyes on everything. They were starting to collect data on how individual bases were setting up their defenses. That information with what was already common knowledge of each battalion base’s layout, they were beginning to get a clear picture of the overall battlefield. It wouldn’t be long now.

“I’m on it, girly,” he replied with that same gruff enthusiasm he always had.

“This is not a battle you can win. Just hold off as long as you can until Mel can make it back with the flag. Then retreat.” She did her best to match his enthusiasm even though she knew what she was asking.

“Yes, ma’am!”

She glanced to the side where she’d set up a window with Lucius’s perspective. He was already heading to his fourth Manticore King. They were about to take the lead. Not just with one point but two. There likely were other battalions looking to kill manticores for the bonus point, yet before they even got started, Lucius should put them far ahead of the competition.

He was doing it. She knew he could. She didn’t always sleep as soundly as he thought she did. Getting to know him better than everyone else was a privilege that she didn’t take for granted. She could call on him now to help with the Forefathers, but keeping as many of her men alive wasn’t the goal. Winning was.

It was the worst part of being a Combat General. Not only could she send her men to their deaths, but she could watch as it happened through their own eyes. That too was a privilege. Some part of her insisted it shouldn’t matter if the person she was sending was dear to her or just a common soldier she didn’t know well, but she wouldn’t shy away from reality. She’d called on one of the few men that had joined their cause without hesitation. A man she respected like an older brother. Even an uncle. She’d just commanded her Left Hand to do the impossible.

***

Patting his belly, Kline confirmed his E-Field belt was firmly in place. This wasn’t any standard issue E-Field he and his men were about to utilize, but a specialty kind made to defend against gases of all kinds. Since E-Fields were a much older technology, they had all kinds of different ones. He had even used this specialization before when he’d still been in the military.

It wasn’t as efficient at blocking things like kinetic and energy projectiles, but it would do the job. It would also give them the advantage they needed.

He was racing through the maze with more than one hundred men at his back. His men. The ones he’d trained and fought with. The jovial smirk fell from his face to be replaced by something much darker. Even though he loved to fight, he didn’t like combat. There were no rules. That meant the best of men died along with the worthless. Often by no fault of their own. The Cubes changed that to a degree but only the dying part. In this type of warfare, there were no rules. He wanted a fair fight. He didn’t always get what he wanted. So he’d cheat to gain an advantage just like everyone else.

Seeing the fight already in progress, Kline gave him men a single command through their headsets, “Drive them back.”

His E-Field activated, and his strengthening aura billowed beneath it. Sprinting toward the one-sided battle that had turned into a melee, he heaved his spear into an overhand position before launching it at the nearest glowing green guy. It didn’t kill him, but it knocked him back.

Then he was on him.

The rank D psionic user cut his shielding and fired off a psionic bolt at point blank range.

Kline had already dropped his strengthening aura to have it replaced with his internal walls. As the rank D bolt struck his shield, it quickly breached his E-Field and leaped on his face like some claw covered alien octopus that was close cousins with an electric eel.

His enemy was already looking for his next target when this bald black man that should’ve just had his brain melt, grabbed ahold of his wrist. The next instant, the rim of a pshield slammed into the side of his head.

Mounting his opponent as he fell, Kline unsheathed a specialty kind of knife meant to work with his E-Field. Choking the guy out may have been far more satisfying, but he opted to jab his knife into his jugular to save some time.

He didn’t come to his feet as to attack his next target, but rolled to the side, double-legging another to the ground. This one was smart enough to keep his shield active, so Kline climbed on top of him and drove his head down. His headbutt didn’t do any damage, but the next instant he and the man were facing off with their faces feet apart. Kline was daring him to release his psionic shield to try something. The knife was already hovering above the man’s throat. It looked like a stalemate.

The reality was far different. He might not have been that tech savvy, but he was familiar with military tech. His men weren’t fairing as well as he was. He didn’t have to get up to see that over a dozen of them had died in the first exchange and they were dropping quickly.

His men had completed the first part of their mission. There were still six mortars active that had begun firing again.

It was a flash of green that caused Kline to bring his shield up an instant before he was struck and sent flying. As soon as he landed, he came to his feet, positioning his shield between him and the war hammer wielding man that had hit him.

“Still alive?” a voice scoffed.

Despite their initial success in pushing the Forefather’s back, Kline glanced around to see that there were still approximately twenty green shields standing against them and almost the same number of silver rank E shields. The battle was still raging but no one attacked him.

He turned his attention back to Brendon Black.

The leader of the enemy glanced down to see one of his rank D users dead between them. “This was you?” Brendon called out. Leaning to his side, the man ordered, “Do it.”

A rank D psionic bolt shot from the man’s hand, landing solidly on Kline’s shield.

“It’s not his force field that’s blocking it,” the man continued. “Did Prodos have another rank D user we didn’t know about?”

His man leaned in and said something that Kline couldn’t make out. His enemy’s leader nodded before several other rank D users nearby turned their attention to him. A series of bolts struck him in rapid succession. He fell to a knee.

Brendon smirked. “I don’t know what kind of ability you’re using, but it’s limited.”

Kline returned the man’s smirk. “Well looky there,” he called out, motioning toward the arena’s center.”

When his opposition glanced back, they leaned as if trying to see something through all of the gas. At first there was nothing, but then a shadow in the shape of a man appeared followed by dozens of others.

“Now,” Kline commanded.

As soon as he said it, all of his men in the area dived to the ground, covering their heads with their shields. An instant later, a pulse of light and sound rocked the area, knocking many of the rank D users from their feet.

Such a simply strategy. Even small drones could carry flash bang grenades. Why not send in an entire swarm with a bunch of them that went off at the same time? Their range was that impressive, but they could see better than the enemy.

Seconds later, Mel led the returning charge of the flag capture team. He held a red flag attached to a bronze pole the length of his leg. As he passed, he unleashed an overcharged bolt into the back of a sprawled-out enemy. Despite the man’s rank D shielding, Mel left the man a writhing mess.

It wasn’t the only bolt he tried to fire, but Brendon Black had kept his footing. He was also more than twice the distance as the first man Mel had struck, so when his overcharge bolt landed on the man’s shield, it sent his sprawling. The next moment, the man was already scrambling to get up.

Kline licked the fronts of his teeth. Not everything could work out exactly how you wanted it to.

Then he heard Brendon howl, “After the flag.”

“Can’t have that now, can we?” Kline chuckled to himself before ordering, “Now.”

His main force had the hard job of physically forcing them back, but that didn’t mean he was alone. One thing the gas had done was limit visibility. It was bad even for those that had the right lenses to see through the blinding agent. So setting up a few people on the tops of the walls with high-powered rifles was easy enough.

Not only did they get help from on high, but they now had more than one mini-rail at their disposal. It was working. Kline had the bulk of his men pull back into the maze. There was enough firepower to push them back or keep them grounded even if it wasn’t enough to pierce their psionic shields.

When it changed, it happened all at once. The enemy began to retreat.

Kline heard the cheers of his men and those from above, but even as he tried to get his men to form up, he it had finally happened.

The screams first came from his left flank. He spun, commanding the rest of his men to head for the maze and ultimately their battalion’s tunnel. He personally kept his E-Field running with his strengthening aura going at full blast to sprint back the way they had come.

Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 28

What I saw below caused me to think well of the battalion in my sights. They weren’t a major player and didn’t have any rank D users, but they had two lines of men facing off against their Manticore King. The front row of forty focused their rank E psionic bolts on the creature. The row behind them was the same except they wielded modern firearms. There were a few rail rifles, but nearly half of them had laser or plasma weapons.

“They’re trying to overheat it,” Destiny said in amazement.

“Okay, that’s smart. I almost feel bad,” I replied. “Make a note of them. Maybe we can work together in the future.”

“Done.”

When the manticore charged, the front line was up and gone as if they’d practiced it a thousand times. The back row took the front during their retreat until they switched places again all while still moving backward. Talk about discipline.

It shouldn’t have worked, but the monster didn’t like the heat the lasers and plasma were causing. It was like a cat jumping up and down trying to get out of a tub of water.

The assault force moved back to a point near the tunnel entrance to which the manticore wouldn’t follow. It actually started retreating itself, returning to its original position.

“I’m not going to get a better shot,” I muttered.

The battalion’s assault force had stopped firing. Someone in charge was testing the beast to see what it would and wouldn’t do.

I hovered across the top of the wall until I passed the manticore. It was still retreating. Holding out my hand, one of my pizza shaped shadow drones flew in and placed a spear in my hand. At second thought, I grabbed another one. With the kind of firepower they were using, I wouldn’t get a second shot at this. I couldn’t exactly use psionic shielding while flying, so even though I could manage the lasers that needed time to heat up their target through evasive maneuvers, if I got tagged with a plasma canister the rest of this event was going to be excruciating with part of me melted. I’d heal what I could, but there was no time to fully recover.

Without using psionics, I dove off the side. If anything I did would grab their attention, it would be a strong psionic pulse. There was no need for that. Especially since this called for a different angle of attack. I wasn’t rounding my approach, but free falling directly at my target with only the slightest of slants to my dive. The reason was that I was attacking its back.

My weapons weren’t even normal psionic spears. These were rods of steel. I purchased hundreds of them for the event. They weren’t the kind of weapons you fought with. They were more like farm tools, but they took nice to psionic bolstering and once let go their trajectory didn’t move a lot in the air.

Covered in leather with my feet together and pointing downward, my body was an arrow. I had a spear in each hand tucked tight to either side of my chest. As I rapidly approached the manticore below, it didn’t even flitch. Only when it was about time to let go did I make some slight psionic adjustments and filled the spears with psionic bolstering. The instant before I pulled up, I extended the spears from my chest, eyeing their placement. Thrusting wasn’t necessary. With lazy finesse, I let go.

It was then that my psionics erupted from the front of my body. One moment I was moments from a head on collision with a manticore, and the next I was a mere couple of inches from bellyflopping on the ground.

Despite the g-force, I rounded my retreat. Even if they hadn’t seen me coming, they’d see me now.

I stayed low to keep the manticore’s body between me and whatever it was they were going to fire at me as I flew in the opposite direction. It was only when I neared the second stage that I started to ascend again.

“So what’s the damage?” I asked.

“As long as they don’t do anything to overly damage the wounds you left in its heart and lungs within the next twenty seconds or so, that’s two,” Destiny responded.

“They’re reaction?”

“Confusion. Until their AI have finished scanning the scene, they don’t seem to know what just happened.”

“Perfect.”

A handful of seconds later, I reached the top of the wall and looked down. The battalion I’d just stolen the manticore kill from was approaching it cautiously to make sure it was dead. It wouldn’t be long now before they joined the fray. Their direct competition? The Forefathers and Brendon Black.

There were about five different outer layer tunnels that connected to the second stage in the same maze cluster. The end of their maze all arrived at the same point. So if I killed the manticores for all of the battalions that struggled next to them, it should keep the Forefathers busy for some time. The only issue was, they weren’t the only battalions we had to worry about.

I began searching for the Forefathers’ current bearing and found them easily. They already had scouts on top of the second layer wall and were among the first. This meant a couple of things. Not only were they in a good position to compete and keep the upper ground, but they were able to look at the battalion banners and find where Prodos was.

“Where’s Brendon now?” I asked.

Instead of answering, Destiny placed a pillar above his head. It was then that I saw them. They were already in the maze and moving fast. They killed their manticore quicker than I anticipated, but it wasn’t really a surprise. Brendon must have suppressed his desire to fight it one on one and take the glory for himself. I didn’t know him well, but he didn’t hide his motivations at all. He needed to win this event and would do anything necessary to make it happen. It was as simple as that.

“Lucius,” Destiny said abruptly.

“Talk to me,” I replied.

“He’s traveling with the twenty-two other rank D members of his battalion.”

“All of them?”

“All of them. And several high-level rank E users.”

“So they stacked their squads. And Prodos?”

“Entering the central arena now.”

She didn’t say more but brought up a panel that showed them entering now.

***

The metacaster panel was speechless. Not only had Lucius not had any issues descending the skyscraper-sized wall, but he’d practically flown. If that was all, it would be astonishing, but he’d also happened to one-hit another Manticore King in the process. Well maybe two-hit, but he’d launched both spears at the same time.

“I was wrong,” Bolt said suddenly. “He’s easily in the top ten. As for his actual ranking, I just don’t know…”

Mr. Rachet gave the guy’s shoulder a squeeze. “I don’t see how its possible. His movement ability was already superior to everyone else’s.”

LaLisa ignored the surface level speculation and had gone straight to calculating what had just happened. Once her AI was finished, she sent a chart to Oren, who didn’t hesitate to throw it up on the screen.

“At the time he released the spears, he was traveling 210 miles per hour or 93.8 meters per second,” she reported. “And his spears, for a lack of a better word, weight approximately 20 pounds each.”

A picture of a rail rifle appeared on the screen. “The average rail rifle produces 8,000 to 10,000 joules of kinetic energy. A high-powered rifle can produce 15,000 all the way up to 20,000 joules for the most powerful sniper rifles. A few handheld rail rifles with the largest projectiles have produced 30,000, but what Major Lucius Edwards just did produced 40,000. And I don’t even know how to calculate the benefit of adding psionics to the spears.

“It’s no wonder that he was about to do that to this monster that’s practically bulletproof.”

The moment she said it an image appeared of a manticore lying on its stomach with what looked like two small spikes jutting out of its back. There were only about five to ten inches visible of the spears that were at least six feet long.

“It’s genius, really,” LaLisa added. “Even with the technique he used to kill the first manticore it might be difficult when fighting top ranked psionic users, but if he could hit them with this? He’s just using the momentum of his movement. Where did he come up with this?”

“I’ve gotten the sense from talking with him that he held a grudge against the Manticore King from the first quarterly event,” Mia said.

“And why wouldn’t he?” Mr. Rachet inserted himself. “We all saw him fight it. This is revenge at its finest.”

“They’ve reached the center arena,” Oren announced.

The wall panel cleared to show Mel at the head of Prodos’s company. After crossing the threshold into the wide-open arena that was nearly a mile to the central array of podiums and flags, Mel stopped as his men filed in. At the rear were three squads of men carrying what looked like old fashioned mortars. They were still used in military operations, but rarely.

Each squad carried five mortars, making it fifteen in total. As they started to load, Mel gave a command and every man among them attached something to their goggle-type headsets.

“What are they doing?” Bolt asked.

Before anyone could answer, the mortars began to fire. Their trajectories must have been set incorrectly, because they weren’t flying outward as much as upward. Then the projectiles burst. Clouds of gas dispersed above the area right in front of them. More mortar shells were fired. These exploded further from their position.

They kept firing. The shells exploded what seemed much higher that necessary or even practical. But by the time the gas from the first round of shells was reaching the ground, the method to their madness was revealed. Mel and some of Prodos’s best casters as well as Barrell and a few of their fastest and most skilled squads started to run. Not only were they filling the entire arena with some kind of gas, but they were using it as a smoke screen.

LeLisa was ready with an explanation. “They’re using a mixture of tear gas like substances, pepper spray, and the blinding agent their stealth team uses at times.”

“That’s nasty, but can’t they just use energy shields to protect against it?” Bolt asked.

“Some gases, yes. But both energy and psionic shields are weak against others. That’s why they’re using gas masks.”

“So that’s what they are. I get what they’re doing now, but didn’t they just waste their lead?”

Oren brought another panel up that showed Brendon Black just moments away from reaching the arena.

As if to answer his question, someone from the already quickly advancing Prodos darted out ahead of rest of them using the same push technique that gave him superior speed to the rest of psionic users of the same rank.

“Lucius joined them?” Mia asked, sitting forward in her seat.

A close up appeared of the person in question. It was not who they expected it to be. Mel was hovering a few feet off the ground as he rocketed toward the center while wearing his gasmask.

Mia burst out laughing. “Not only is he using Lucius’s technique, but he had rank D psionics. At this speed, Prodos is going to be the first to capture a flag.”

Mel was already halfway there when the Forefathers were the second battalion to reach the central arena. There were about forty of them in total. They had others not far behind, but those were setting up sniper nests on the walls above the maze and in select positions below to secure the area.

Once they drew near, the Forefathers saw the gas and only a few of their rank E users ran into the to test it out. One had their psionic shield covering their body while the other was using an e-field. The man using the e-field started coughing first. He turned around as quickly as he could. The man using his psionic shield also coughed and shook his head, but he didn’t retreat. After another ten seconds, he gave the man leading the Forefathers a sharp nod.

Brendon Black stepped out of the maze into the wide arena wearing a crimson red ballistic suit and had his greasy black hair cut short. His green rank D shield simmered around him. He sniffed at the air filtering through his psionic shielding then rounded his neck before waving the rest of his men to follow.

He gave his men a moment to get used to the gaseous area, then started to move.

“So that gas doesn’t work?” Bolt asked. “Then why bother?”

“What do you mean?” Mr. Rachet countered. “If they have to keep their psionic shields active then they can’t switch to their auras to move at their fastest speed. It’s kind of a cheap trick by Prodos, but they’re not using mustard gas or anything. It could be considered more crowd control than a chemical weapon.”

“I guess. But why are they moving in that direction? Can they not see it? It’s not even close to the flags.”

Mia noticed it too but found it difficult to speak.

LeLisa patted her hand under the table and said, “They aren’t headed for the flags. They’re headed for Prodos. Brendon Black said he was going after Lucius first…”

“That’s stupid,” Bolt objected. “Don’t they know they have to get a flag first before any bonus points start counting?”

“They will count after they get ahold of a flag,” Mr. Rachet corrected. “Whether they do it now or have to attack another battalion later, they’re confident that they can get one anytime they want it. So they’ve decided to take out some of their competition first.”

“But Lucius isn’t even there.”

“They don’t know that?” Mia said, finally finding the strength to speak.

“Then are they cheating? How do they know where Prodos is?”

“The banners. The developers made sure that everyone would know where everyone else was.”

“Oh crap,” Bolt said, slumping back in his seat. Then he sat up again as an idea struck him. “But if they are limited to using their shields, doesn’t Prodos have a chance?”

“Brendon Black isn’t stupid. He’ll enter the maze and kill as many people from Prodos as possible where he doesn’t need his shielding. With so many rank D users, there will be nothing they can do. Then he’ll wait at the outer layer, blocking them from being able to capture their flag.”

“Victoria will contact Lucius, right?” LeLisa of all people asked.

“She has to, right?”

“You’re forgetting something,” Mr. Rachet said excitedly. “Mel is able to use Lucius’s movement technique. Even if the Forefathers block the way, do you think they can stop him from reaching their base?”

Mia snapped. “They’re going to lose the majority of their most skilled people.”

“Yes,” he replied knowingly. “But that doesn’t mean it’s over.”

Mia summoned her psionic aura, but she was no fighter. She released it a second later and stuck out her tongue at him.

***

Another Manticore King was in my sights. This battalion was even more tentative in their approach than the last. Releasing both spears, I resisted the urge to celebrate as I stopped my descent and darted away.

Destiny waited until I’d reached my perch on a wall overlooking the coliseum to give me an update. She didn’t hold back. Mel had almost made it to the flag and everything was going as plan, but Brendon Black had made an unexpected move. He was headed for Prodos.

I rebuked myself. I should’ve known he’d pull something like this.

“They aren’t unprepared for this,” Destiny asserted.

“Let’s pick the next one nearby, just in case,” I suggested.

“Very well.”

Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 27

Note: Needs some editing, but you guys have waited long enough.

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“I’m just concerned that Brendon Black is going to make things difficult for Lucius, is all I’m saying,” Mr. Rachet insisted from where he sat next to her.

Mia and LeLisa’s eyes met. Her fake-ditsy friend rolled her eyes. They were sitting next to each other on one side of the panel where Bolt was on the other side of Mr. Rachet.

“You promised Lucius you wouldn’t be making the same mistake again,” Mia reminded him.

“I’m not saying Lucius doesn’t deserve to be in the top ten. But if he has Brendon hunting him? Not to mention fifteen other battalions that think they can take advantage of their one or two rank D psionic users to defeat him to earn a quick point.”

She took that moment to leaned toward him while glaring. It wasn’t lost on her how comical it probably looked considering her size. And even if she was dressing more maturely, she was more cute than beautiful. She knew it. However, she chose that moment to summon her angry red rank G aura. She hadn’t unlocked her psionics nearly as fast as Greg, but neither had she been as consistent with the herbal supplements.

Never one to miss an opportunity, Mr. Rachet craned his neck while scooting, making it look like panic. He recovered quickly enough, only to summon his own beginning stage aura and lean into her challenge.

Bolt chuckled from the side. “I’m the only one here that is ready to admit that Lucius just can’t compete with the top ten right now, but there’s something that seem obvious to me that everyone is missing. Nothing Lucius has done up to this point has been foolish. He’s not going to stick his neck out just to give his competition a free point. I expect him to stay in the back and wait for his opportunities.”

“You’re wrong,” LeLisa said bluntly. “Mostly. He’s earned his ranking, but as much as I hate to agree with you, I do think Lucius will remain with his men and rely upon teamwork for much of the event. When he sees an opportunity, though…”

Mia squinted one last time at Mr. Rachet before sitting back and cutting her aura. “He’ll swoop in and take it,” she said with a grunt of finality.

“It’s not often that we start off these meta-cast agreeing on something,” Mr. Rachet said with a chuckle. “Lucius will lead his men from the back while looking for opportunities. Brendon Black will be prowling around with several other rank D users hunting the top ten. All while Ebrima Okoro and the Real Major use tried and true military strategy for a sure and steady approach.”

“Yes,” Bolt said, nearly shouting. “Since the battalions are finally facing one another directly, the true military professionals will get to show us why the traditional approach to warfare is superior. Not only does Lethal Accord and The Burden Bearers have experience in real battle, but they also have as many rank D psionic users as anyone else. If I’m being honest, I don’t think this competition will even be close.”

With her aura flashing, Mia asked, “Do you want to bet?”

Bolt smirked, but Mr. Rachet urged, “No more betting. Let’s just say that if your favorite loses, you have to admit something embarrassing live.”

Mia shrugged.

The others ended up agreeing.

Ever since her interview with Kline and Lucius, she couldn’t help but have a bad feeling about this event. She wasn’t just pretending to be grouchy. Afterall, she was a terrible actress.

As the event started, they watched the opening explanation for those that hadn’t been paying attention the last two months. Starting at the center of the open coliseum, they showed off the circle of one hundred podiums with flags hovering above them.

They took turns commenting on each layer until they reached tunnels heading directly to each battalion’s base. There were hundreds of them.

The moment the feeds for each battalion became available, Oren threw up the four major players in the four corners of the wall panel. The only except was the bottom section of the wall in quick twenty smaller screens were lined up side by side in two rows.

At the top was Lethal Accord. The Real Major was lined up at the front of a company with his pshield in one hand and psword in the other. He wore a red on black ballistic suit similar to most of his men.

On the screen next to the first was The Burden Bearers. The formidable Ebrima Okoro Stood at ease with a single squad. There ballistic suits were grey and blue.

Prodos was placed on the large panel below Lethal Accord. Lucius stood beside Mel while chatting. They also had a company behind them with some of the most famous faces from Freedom. Barrell was a little further back standing before a squad that was separated from the rest. Captain Ma, Treetop, Heather Vesper, Isamu… They were stacked.

It was just minutes away now.

Then Victoria was shown marching toward the front line. Her hair was back, and eyes were shining. She was wearing a professional jacket with an attached skirt that extended over her hips but left her bare from the waist down to reveal form-fitting ballistic pants and thin-soled boots designed for psionic users. As she came, the crowd split down the middle.

The moment she reached Lucius, she asked, “Are you really going to do this?”

He folded his hands behind his back and replied, “I don’t believe we can win this while playing it safe if we’re going to win this.”

“Do you understand by doing this you’re changing our entire strategy and forcing everyone else to go along with it?”

“I will act independently of the rest of the battalion. Only, if you need me, ask.”

The Colonel then did something no one saw coming. As if to mock the Major, she pushed herself off the ground with psionics and stared down at the normally taller man. With a deadpanned expression, she warned, “I can’t in good conscience stop you here and now, but there will be future consequences. I’ve encouraged you to take charge in the past, so I admit to my limited fault, but you’re breaking a direct order, Lucius. Do you still insist on going through with this?”

“I must.”

“Then you better win.”

Falling back to the grassy ground of their courtyard between gates, she spun and marched back the way she came.

“What’s going on?” Bolt blurted out. “Is he seriously going off on his own?”

Mia just stared at the screen not knowing what to say.

“What, is he going to try to make a run for the flag?” Mr. Rachet suggested. “Maybe it will work if they can defeat the Manticore King fast enough, but that things like a bloody dragon. And even though he proved he’s now capable of injuring one now, let’s not forget how difficult it was for him in the first event.”

LeLisa didn’t say anything either. She grabbed Mia’s hand under the table and gave it a squeeze.

“Is this as bad as I think it is?” Mia whispered to her friend in hushed tones.

“I think so. But maybe…” LeLisa began when the announcement was made. The third quarterly event was ready to being.

It was then that Lucius cuffed Mel on the arm before walking toward their base’s open gate. There was some space between it and the walled passageway with the Manticore King hiding inside. The rule was that the battalions had to stay inside the walls of their bases until the countdown time reached zero. Of course, not all bases had the same design. Many had fences, and even those that had walls didn’t have anything even close to the thick, several story tall bulwarks of Prodos. The green hum of their psionic shield was already in place over the inner wall and the rest of the base.

“Wait,” Mr. Rachet said. “Is he going to try and get past the manticore without killing it to get a head start at capturing a flag? It wasn’t said explicitly in the rules they could do that.”

Oren saved them some time and brought up a screen over the series of panels to reveal that currently there was energy field at the end of the tunnel that blocked every battalion from proceeding to the next layer. It was only as high as the shorter walls of the maze, but the implication was clear.

“No, he can’t do that,” LeLisa confirmed. “I read the extended explanation that was released. Anyone that leaves the first layer without defeating their manticore will be disqualified. The energy field is just a warning. It’s not designed to physically stop anyone from passing through.”

“Maybe he’s just planning on being the first to reach their manticore,” Bolt suggested. “You saw Brendon Black. He defeated that one in training in less than thirty seconds. Lucius probably just wants to start the battle as soon as possible. The sooner he gets started, the soon the battle is over.”

“That makes sense,” Mr. Rachet agreed. “Mel isn’t far behind with his own men. That guy can probably one hit the Manticore King if he hits it just right in the head.”

“It has a big head.”

“Yeah, maybe a couple shots then with his overcharge ability.”

The two guys seemed to agree when the countdown started.

***

Well, Victoria had sold her part. It wasn’t exactly an enjoyable experience even if I knew it was an act. If I really did fail early on, I wondered what punishment Liam would recommend. I snickered at the thought. The only way this part of his plan would work is if I did well during the event. It was rather strange to think that Liam had that much faith in me.

Glancing at the giant timer in the air, I watched as it ticked down to 14 seconds. There was a blue energy field covering our front gate. As soon as the time reached zero, it would disappear.

“Ready?” I asked Destiny.

A blond with a ponytail and serious expression appeared in the corner of my peripherals. “Your Mule Drones are in place. I’m prepared to flood the coliseum with microdrones for surveillance as soon as we bypass the first stage. Are you ready?”

“I may have eaten too much steak last night. My stomach feels funny.”

She rolled her eyes. “No it doesn’t.”

“Hey, I think I’m started to like this acting thing. Do you think they’d stop the timer if I needed to use the restroom?”

“Lucius, don’t you dare.”

Throwing out my arms and faking a yawn, I said, “I guess it is too late.”

I spied 5 seconds left on the timer and pushed myself into the air.

“You didn’t forget what to do did you?” she snarkily asked.

“I’m supposed to do something?”

“Lucius,” she growled.

2 seconds to go.

I grinned. “I love you, dronehead.”

The forcefield dropped and the countdown ended. I didn’t start things gently or at a slow roll. Grass and dirt spayed as I sped forward. Entering into the canyon-like passage, I felt a sense of comfort that could only come from extreme familiarity. In the last month and a half I’d spend more time in a simulated version of this very place than I had anywhere else. Some event. It was like they were throwing me a welcome home party. Except, someone had brought a pet Manticore King to ruin the furniture and eat the guests.

At no time did I stop accelerating on my approach. I even drew near to one of the walls so that I had more surface area to push against and build up speed.

As I drew near, I noticed this particular Manticore King was taking its time getting up. Either the Devs want it to have a slow rise to its feet to build tension, or it had just woken from its nap. That made the angle of my approach tricky.

I arrived when it was only halfway standing. A massive push against the ground and air before me drastically slowed my speed as I arrived in front of it. Akonizo’s compressed energy formed over a single knuckle. I floated a yard until I was at the side of its neck. It was turning its head, but it had yet to turn cautious. As far as I could tell, the muscles of its neck were relaxed.

I found that place above its jaw and right behind its skull. The angle was a little awkward. A microburst of push gave me the slight adjustment in elevation I needed. My fist flew. Keen energy shot forward with some help form an Othisi push only to be slammed home with Apotho shielding covering my knuckles. It sunk right in. Everything felt just right.

A psionic push sent me soaring over the creature’s back, and any retaliator tail swipes.

Before Destiny even confirmed, I knew it.

“Direct hit,” she confirmed.

“Now that’s how you start an event,” I replied with some celebratory flare.

The moment I came close to the ground, I didn’t look back but propelled myself toward the entrance to the next layer, accelerating as I went.

***

The panel of meta-casters had exasperated reactions all around. Mia stood, slack jawed. LeLisa’s grip around her hand tightened as if she was only able to sit up straight because the smaller was holding her in place. Mr. Rachet slammed his palms of on the table, and Bolt made some noises that went something like this, “Duh-oiy-ah-What?”

The guy with a bolt of lightning panted across his face recovered and asked, “Did he just one hit a Manticore King?”

“No…” Mr. Rachet replied not believing his eyes.

“Yes,” LeLisa corrected in annoyance.

“Um,” Mia started, trying to come up with something but nothing came to mind. She noticed he hadn’t even checked to see if he’d killed it. He simply knew. Then she realized what he was doing. “He didn’t stop.”

“Holy,” Mr. Rachet began before biting his tongue. “Is he going for the flag?”

The next thing he did put Mia back in her seat. As Lucius neared the next stage, he didn’t pass through the gate. Instead, he leaped to the wall of the narrowing passageway before pushing off and sending himself soaring higher to the opposing wall. As if climbing a set of stairs where each step was a story high, he bound from side to side until—

“Where’s he going?” Mia muttered.

“Up,” Bolt stated the obvious.

“But why?” LeLisa pondered. “If he reaches to the top, getting down will be difficult, even for him.” She hesitated before adding, “Although, he did just kill the Manticore King faster that any of us could believe…”

“Look. Prodos is already entering the second layer,” Mr. Rachet announced.

He was right. They’d been so focused on what Lucius was doing that they missed the fact that there was an entire company of Prodos’s finest led by Mel that was already surging into the maze of the second layer.

“That gives them, what? A thirty second head start?” Bolt asked.

“It seems so.”

“Everyone sure they don’t want to make bet?” Mia said suddenly.

Both of the guys ignored her.

LeLisa croaked.

***

As I reached the top of the outer layer wall, I landed at the edge overlooking the entire colosseum. It was massive. The first thing he confirmed was that the banners in front of each outer layer tunnel were actually there. They were. That meant they could continue with the next stage of their plan since they knew where the opposing battalions were.

While I took in the view, Destiny filled the sky with hundreds of thousands of microdrones. These weren’t solely her personal ones, either. Even if publicly Victoria and I were squabbling, there wasn’t a single aspect of our strategy that we weren’t in agreement on. More than that, Destiny wasn’t just controlling her own microdrones. She had the bulk of Prodos’s at her disposal.

“Where’s my first target?” I asked under my breath.

Not far away, Destiny highlighted a banner. It was the one for The Burden Bearers. Our position near each other was no accident. At least the Devs hadn’t placed them right next to us or in the same maze cluster. That would’ve been far too obvious.

A second banner right next to the Forefathers’ flashed. Destiny’s voice followed, “This battalion should have difficulty defeating their manticore, but they’re well organized, so if they reach the maze, they should give them some trouble.”

“Perfect,” I replied, then used a psionic push to clear the gap between walls. There was only about a twenty-five-foot gape between walls, so after the first few, I bound from one to the next. When I reach my destination, I looked over the edge.

Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 26

For the last week until the event, I continued my training with the same relentless fervor. Except for a few meetings, the development team, and my time with Victoria, I didn’t even see anyone else. Destiny didn’t count, of course. As much as possible, my life became one of aerial combat. Not just free falling from above and surviving. I was confident with the basics.

I upped the difficulty. Destiny did her magic and I faced simulated versions of the best rank D users. Not just of the likes of Brendon Black and Jeffery Wright, but of those that reached Krato. If I wasn’t dying, then I wasn’t learning.

Of course, Destiny didn’t like it one bit. Her game changed to imitate the cavernous tunnels. I had to admit, flying around and dodging her attacks covered in girly cuteness was a nice change up. And instead of fighting rank D dragons, she had me popping bubbles of various sizes and bubbles. Her insistence on top of time with Victoria added a lightness to the darkness of my mission. Instead of adding to my plate, they were like a release valve.

The day before the event, I did something I wasn’t quite sure was the right move. I spent the first half of the day recovering my energy in the recovery chamber, then exited my Cube entirely. I called my parents, hung out with the guys, and tried to relax. Inactivity wasn’t something I did well with, so I headed to the Jungle, or parkour building.

I hadn’t been here since early in Vanguard. One of the first people I saw was Marabella. She was here on her own. It’s one of the places she came to think. When she saw someone reach the top of the stair-shaped wall at the entrance, she did a doubletake. I waved at her, waiting when she headed in my direction.

“Optimo! Fancy seeing you here,” she said, eyeing me suspiciously. She was wearing a black leotard with purple stripes at seemingly random places that just happened to accent her best features.

“Don’t make me say it,” I replied.

“I beg you,” she pleaded while pretending like she was about to take a knee. “You swore to me you’d never do it again.”

“Did I?”

Straightening, she tapped her bottom lip. “I can’t be certain, but better to be safe than to be sorry?”

I gave her a suspicious glare but nodded in the end.

She jumped up, pumping her fist in victory. Clapping her hands together, she rang them as if washing, then asked, “So what’s the occasion? Heading up to show off to us mere mortals?”

Glancing up, I saw some of the mock-buildings I used to practice on that were several stories tall. Rarely did people go that high, but even they weren’t the highest section in the building. Near the back wall there were mock-buildings that nearly reached the ceiling. I’d never seen someone up there, let alone use them for training.

“You know what? Why not?” I said. “I’ll be right back.”

***

Mara patted at the sides of her thighs, unsure what she should do with her hands. She hadn’t expected to see Lucius today, which made her extra nervous. She always needed to grasp ahold of something when she got like this.

As soon as he said it, off he went. Except instead of picking a line through the obstacles like most people, he propelled himself above and skirted over the time. How he was using a long set of monkey bars, she didn’t know, but from there he leaped to the top of the building only to take one large leapt to the other side before launching himself over two stories up to the next one.

She found herself having to swallow the forming knot in her throat.

After his last jump, if you could call it that, she wasn’t the only one watching. He was known for his movement ability, but he was simply bypassing the normal obstacles all together. Soon, dozens of people that had been practicing stopped to watch as he reached what was normally the highest building advanced people commonly practiced on. He kept going.

One of the reasons people rarely went higher was because of the danger. There were two buildings side by side that would require someone to jump back and forth between their walls to scale them. The med drones could likely save your life if you fell from that height, but it would not be a fast recovery.

Her mouth drooped open as Lucius didn’t just try it out. He jumped out between them into open space. Her heart seemingly dropped into her gut. He’d missed? But then he shot upward without touching either surface. Like a bullet from a barrel, he shot upward, skipping past the next obstacle that would normally take advanced skills to even attempt.

He leaped from the top of one building to the next until he was at the highest point in the building. She’d never seen someone reach it in all her time here. Not even close.

The other people here to practice were starting to gather. Their voices were rising. There was praise. Concern.

Then Lucius did something absolutely insane. He dove right off the side.

Disappearing behind buildings as he fell, Marabella started to move. She didn’t even know where she was headed. She just cleared the obstacles between her and him as quickly as possible.

She was about to jump to grab onto a ledge when she skidded to a stop. Out from the midst of the taller buildings at the center of the Jungle, she saw someone dart across the horizon. He was flying.

He darted past people who’d been practicing only to rapidly approach the other wall. She was thinking this wasn’t going to be pretty, when he looped upward as if the outer wall was some giant ramp. Reaching the top of his momentum, he’d spun and was crouching there, suspended. But how?

Only after he’d gotten his bearing did he start to fall again. Fall wasn’t exactly the right word. There was no flailing, and he’d obviously practiced making himself as aerodynamic as possible. This time, instead of going across the tops of the lower obstacles, he went through them. Not like a normal person, but by showing he wasn’t limited to flying in a straight line.

He reached the top of one of the higher buildings still commonly used before coming to a stop. Standing at the corner, he found her and waved.

She speechlessly waved back.

Then he jumped. His form was lazy.

She’d seen him do something similar in the past, but never so carelessly. There was a line between confidence and stupidity. This seemed to be the later, but as soon as he reached the surface below, his push ability cushioned him for what had to be the most comfortable landing anyone had ever made from that height.

Then he hopped down from obstacle to obstacle only to find her a moment later.

“I can’t get too carried away,” he said. “I already recovered my energy today and I’m trying to take it easy.”

“Shut up,” she replied. Realizing what she’d just said, her hand shot to her mouth.

Instead of taking offense, Lucius burst out laughing.

“So you’re impressed?”

She held her hand up with her thumb and index finger close together. “You realize you’re not in your Cube, right? If you make a mistake, you could die traveling that speed.”

***

I did my best to remain casual and shrugged. “I was taking it easy.”

Folding her arms over her chest, she began tapping her foot. “Of course. That’s why it was only a little impressive. You still need to be careful.”

“I’m just having some fun, Mara.”

She froze as she was getting ready to speak, then her mouth snapped closed. She glared.

After that, several people came up and greeted me. I tried to get caught up with Mara, but we were just getting interrupted too often. So I decided to leave her to it but not without asking, “How you doing?”

It had quite literally freaked her out when Krato Aeneus Raptis praised her in the middle of battle before killing her. She’d opened up to me then, and a few times after. As soon as I asked, her brow creased in consideration. The banter was gone.

She looked me in eye and nodded reassuringly.

We shared a side hug.

I kind of wandered around for a while, unsure what to do with my time. My mind kept returning to tomorrow’s event, but I was determined to relax.

It wasn’t until dinner time that I met up with Kline. Mel and Barrell arrived a little after me. The establishment? The same diner we’d used when Kline inadvertently tried to talk me into collecting women.

There were no speeches this time. Just good food, full bellies, and a hologram of Destiny atop her orb drone holding her stomach while mocking us. Good times.

Victoria reminded me that she wasn’t going to hold back tomorrow. Liam insisted that this would be the best opportunity to go through with his plan. For both of our long-term safety, it was necessary.

As much as I wanted to sleep, my psionic energy was topped off and my body was as rested as it had ever been. It was the same for Victoria. We stayed up chatting but didn’t let ourselves talk about strategy until early that morning. With our game faces on, we headed to breakfast. It was the last meal we’d have outside of the event for the next couple days.

Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 25

There wasn’t a day that passed that I didn’t improve. Even though it probably would’ve been wiser for me to sleep more often, I tried not to. About once a week my mental fatigue caught up with me and I slept when Victoria did.

She attached herself to my side as we slept. It made me feel bad that I didn’t allow it of myself more often for her sake, but I was training for the same reason. Our future depended upon my progression. So did the future of Prodos, and possibly even the Earth, Ekseliksi conflict.

She didn’t complain once.

I spent ten to twelve hours per day training with Krato depending upon the amount of energy I had. After another month, my total energy reached what seemed like a preposterous level.

Psionic Energy: 9.6 million (Units)

3.9 to 9.6 million units. Victoria had reassured me that there was nothing odd about the jump. It just meant I was getting closer to the highest level of rank E. It was the same for Mel and everyone around the same level even if mine was a little on the high side.

I couldn’t give Destiny enough praise. Krato’s training did allow for efficiency, but it still cost me more energy than any other kind of training I’d ever done. If I started to run low, when I normally would’ve headed to the recovery chamber, she simply manipulated the simulation to allow me to practice the same skills without using any energy. How she tricked my body and mind, I didn’t know, but the reality was, regardless of the sim, I was on a Cube platform the entire time. She made it possible for me to keep training even when it shouldn’t have been.

What did that buy me? Far more time in the air. Whether I was with Krato, playing Destiny’s game, working with the Development Team, or fighting manticores and rank D psionic users, I was off the ground.

It was all about taking advantage of the variables extreme mobility afforded me. To be able to move up and down, side to side, and back and forth with such control that it would baffle the minds of my competition was the goal. At times, it seemed to be working.

At the same time, we kept a close eye on the competition. The closer we got to the third major event, the further victory seemed to be. When we were a week away, what would likely be the final count of rank D users came out. At the top of the list, Lethal Accord. The Real Major Jeff Wright would have nearly three squads worth of rank D users at his disposal. The Forefathers and The Burden Bearers were for all practical purposes tied with two squads. As for Prodos, we didn’t even make the top ten. We had one.

It didn’t mean that all rank D users were created equal. I was still personally ranked in the top 10. There was no way they were going to take me off the list despite there being more than a hundred and fifty total rank D users in Vanguard. Mel hadn’t been added.

Mel and I had been spending a lot more time together. Although, it felt a lot more like he was challenging me lately than asking for help. And rightly so. His defensive ability had reached a level that made the Manticore King look fragile. He wasn’t exactly immune to my full powered Dragonslayer technique, but neither could I seriously injure him in one hit. And if I struck his shield? He was as close to invulnerable as one could get.

Of course, that didn’t mean he could take the brunt of my Falling Spear. At least, I didn’t think he could.

Glancing over the edge of the half mile high wall, I spotted him below. He was ready.

A pulse of push rocketed me upward. With a subtle push through my foot, I corrected my trajectory and dove. My headset was a minimalist one but also shielded my eyes from small debris. It was more than enough.

With another burst of energy from my feet, I quickly reached full speed as I fell toward my target. A few micro-bursts perfected my heading. A stream of push became thrusters as I fell even faster. It was nowhere near Krato’s speed, but I couldn’t let some bird, the peregrine falcon, best me when I didn’t have to rely solely upon freefalling and aerodynamics.

I felt it was time as much as measured, when I cut my downward thrust and psionic energy gusted out the front of my body. It was like riding the world’s talent water slide and going down stomach first. All the while, my eyes never left my target.

Mel was low with his shield out in front of him. Green energy covered it and him.

As I pulled up, I waited until I felt the g-force bottom out. My energy flooded out my feet as I accelerated again. A mere moment before I reached him, the sharp energy of Akonizo covered my spear. I didn’t thrust it at him as much as let go.

My aim had improved to the point where I didn’t fear missing entirely. However, what Mel did next left me in awe.

While my eyes hadn’t left him, he hadn’t taken his off me either. He shifted his stance and the angle of his shield just in time. As I flew past him, my spear was diverted off to the side.

It wasn’t over. As soon as he blocked it, he reached back, sending rank D psionic bolts flying my way.

No longer did I struggle just trying to go straight. I swerved to the side in an evasive pattern drawing a small loop until I was a hundred yards away and started to climb. All the while, psionic bolts were flying by.

As I ascended, I used the wall like a flying pinball, pushing myself from side to side.

“Again,” he petitioned through my headset.

Even then, I wasn’t exactly jealous. He trained with me, trying to get used to flying, but it was as Krato said. It wasn’t the kind of thing someone should be able to become proficient at in just a month and a half. It was only because I was too hardheaded to stop, and rarely slept, that I’d come as far as I did.

Later that night, after dinner, Destiny contacted me with urgent news. We were getting ready to play around in her training sim, when she stopped me, insisting I watch.

The alien planet I was hovering above disappeared and a Manticore King took its place with one Brendon Black flashing toward it at the speed of rank D psionics. He swung from below. His double Akonizo slammed into its lower jaw.

The creature’s entire form rocked to the side.

Brendon didn’t let up, following the attack with another to its face on the same side. Over and over again, he battered the monster as if he was the larger of the two. After a few dozen strikes, he brough his twohanded hammer down on its skull, delivering the killing blow. The entire fight had lasted maybe fifteen seconds.

The next instant, Brendon was standing beside Mr. Rachet who was interviewing him on base while outside his Cube.

The professionally dressed, normal-sized man asked, “With all the different strategies the points system allows, what can we expect to see from the Forefathers?”

Standing there smugly, Brendon snorted. Seeing one of his men walking by, he stopped him and asked, “What’s our strategy?”

The man imitated the man’s smugness, and answered, “We’re going top ten hunting.”

Brendon gave Mr. Rachet a pointed look. “Was there ever any question? It’s the only real strategy any of the major contenders can take.”

“So you’ll be going after the likes of the Real Major, Ebrima Okoro, and Lucius Edwards?”

The man at the top of the ranking guffawed. “Lucius Edwards will be the easiest point to earn in the entire competition. I’ll be going after him first. Then we’ll see if the other two hide behind their men or not.”

The interviewer whistled, “So even with Lucius’s movement technique, you think he’ll be the easiest in the top ten to defeat?”

Brendon leaned toward Mr. Rachet as if he were getting annoyed. “It’s a joke that he’s even considered to be in the top one hundred. You saw the competition at the Gathering of the Guilds. He’s not even that fast against rank D psionics. If they want to pretend, then I’m more than happy to take advantage of a free point.”

Mr. Rachet was not normally one to back down, but in response to Brendon’s body language, he didn’t push it. “There you have it. Thank you, Master Sergeant, for taking the time.”

Spinning, Brendon waved and strolled off without another word.

“He’s not the only one that has said something similar, even if he’s certainly the bluntest about it,” Destiny said as the holographic reply disappeared.

“Any of the other big hitters?” I asked.

“If you mean Jeff Wright or Ebrima Okoro, then no. They’re always gracious in interviews. But there are several rank D users of lesser-known battalions that are looking to make a name for themselves in this next event. You’re a common target, and like Brendon said, considered one of the easiest points to get.”

“Are there any we need to be worried about?”

“Probably not, but a well-timed rank D bolt or blade that surprises you is all that they need. Brendon is the only one with the strength and personality that will likely come after you without think twice. And he has twenty rank D users backing him up.”

“Well, if they’re after me, that should make Mel and the others less of a target. It might even give our guys an opening if we played things right.”

Destiny appeared in the air about half the size of a real person with a war hammer twice as big as Brendon’s. A cartoony practice dummy that resembled him appeared below her and she proceeded to bash its head in.

After she had gone through a flurry of strikes, she stopped, acting like she was breathing hard. “I don’t like him,” she hissed.

“Obviously.”

She stuck out her tongue.

After Victoria had fallen asleep, I found myself a quarter mile off the ground slowly hovering two and fro between walls. It had become such a habit that I wasn’t descending or ascending while my mind was elsewhere.

We were getting so close and Prodos had improved across the board. Our rank D hunter squad didn’t have me, Kline, or Mel, and yet I was confident of them being able to take most squads that had only one rank D user. In some cases, two. Especially when the stealth team was there to back them up.

I’d also seen what was planned for the open arena of the coliseum. Unless someone stole details about our plan, I couldn’t find any holes in what Harrison had planned. There was backup contingency after backup. Getting our initial flag wasn’t something anyone could guarantee, but I was confident it would work. Especially if we could pull off what we were planning for the very beginning.

I was even fairly confident in being able to kill the most manticores. I wasn’t sure anyone else would even consider it as an option. It was just too difficult to move from tunnel to tunnel. Not to mention that any additional manticore killed would release another battalion into the mix. It was in many ways a double-edged sword. It was only my ability to move around the battlefield that convinced me it was the right move.

That left us with the same problem. If we could pull off two points, would it be enough? The answer was as obvious as Destiny’s annoyance with Brendon Black. Someone would get the point for most participants from opposing battalions killed. Another, maybe the same, would get one for killing the most officers. Some of the top battalions would even be able to assault the bases of battalions that had scored a flag. With one hundred flags in play not to mention the thirteen bonus points, I knew two points just wouldn’t be enough. The math didn’t work.

There was a final kink in our plan. If I died, one of our enemies would score a point. The very point that might make us lose.

The pressure I was feeling was extreme. I didn’t see a way to win. Achilles had taught me well enough to keep me from depression, but that didn’t mean my mind didn’t go there. When it did, the vice of discipline grabbed it by the throat and the same maxim that I vexed the Psionic Development Team with took center stage. There is no if. Only how.

In the end, I knew I was doing everything I could. That was all I could do. Whether it was enough or not, that wasn’t my place to say.

I’d been hovering there halfway to the top of the canyon tunnel when I felt a surprise aura. Victoria was awake and bounding from wall to wall in my direction.

When she reached me, she stopped across from me. With a smirk, she mimicked my side-to-side movement until we were moving in unison.

“What’s on your mind?” she asked.

“I’m just wondering it will be enough,” I replied.

“I figured as much.” She began to laugh.

“What is it?”

“Oh, I was just thinking about how often you distract me from myself. To pull me out of my own head. I think it’s my turn to return the favor.”

I let out a puff of air. “You’ve been returning that favor a lot recently.”

“Perhaps, but that doesn’t mean now isn’t a good time. If I haven’t told you before, one of my favorite things is playing around on a cliff face. It’s better when there’s a waterfall, but I’ll take what I can get. You should’ve seen how Peter reacted when I was a girl. It’s just about the most anxious I’d ever seen him.”

My eyes widened. “When exactly did you reach rank E?”

She smiled broadly. “How dare you ask a girl about her deepest secrets.”

I cocked a brow. “Really?”

She stuck out her tongue. “Most people aren’t crazy enough to try what you’re doing at rank E, Lucius. Well, except for someone like Aeneus Raptis. He didn’t have much choice, to be honest. But he was quite famous when still at the rank of Centurion for some of the acrobatics he pulled off.”

“You knew of him?”

She shook her head. “Peter thoroughly researched him and his family. His aerial abilities are rare, even for those at rank D. In that sense, he’s been a godsend as your trainer.”

I couldn’t deny it. “How does he compare to the Vasileia? His flying ability that is?”

Pursing her lips, she thought about it for a long moment. “He doesn’t have the power to remain mobile in the air if he’s not in the right environment.”

“And if he is?”

“His skill is undeniable. He would likely embarrass many Vasileia if flight was the only thing measured.”

I had to ask even though I was pretty sure I already knew the answer. “And could he defeat one?”

Her face lost most of its playfulness as she looked at me. “It wouldn’t be easy. It’s his deficiency that limits him to one primary psionic ability that has forced him to develop his mobility to the point that he has. However, it is still a deficiency. It would be very difficult for him to cause enough damage to a Vasileia that was ready for him. Maybe if he sacrificed himself in a head-on collusion... What makes him unstoppable against rank D and lower opponents in the right setting is what limits his effectiveness against Vasileia.”

“So it’s not impossible.”

“No. Now, enough of your questions. Come, kardia mou,” she said with an alluring tone. It was one of many pet names she had for me which meant “my heart”.

“If you catch me, I’ll massage your back.”

I snorted. “Tempting. What if I’m in the mood for something else?”

“If my husband has something in mind, all he has to do is ask—and catch me. Don’t forget that.”

Before saying another word, I launched myself toward her without changing position in the air.

She squealed as she spun, darting around me before propelling herself upward from one wall to the next. As she did, she flipped in the air while spinning. While upside down, she looked back at me while sticking out her tongue.

Then while she ascended, she mocked me further by changing into what might be considered an Epithumia dance unform that closely resembled a two-piece leotard. She’d been wearing it under her ballistic suit. In my mind, it was underwear even if she insisted otherwise.

And so, I chased after her as she spun around like some especially graceful but bored bird that wanted nothing to do with normal flying. She limited her psionics to rank E, so eventually I did catch her.

When morning was drawing near, I studied her features where she lay on the bed that Destiny had formed out of the floor. If she were only a pretty face, she’d be something to admire, but she was far more than that. Her just being some forbidden fruit I wasn’t allowed to touch was a thing of the past. She was my family.

Kline’s obnoxious grin flashed into my mind. Even as I cringed, I couldn’t deny that I considered him family as well. And Mel, Barrell… How far did it extend? Of course, there was also my mom and dad. Vector and Drool had helped with my courtship of Victoria at the drop of a hat, and I had to include Olivia on the list since she meant so much to Mel. If her cooking was as good as he said, then there was no way I couldn’t lump her in as well.

No. That wasn’t the extent of it. Only the beginning. Prodos was as much mine as it was Victoria’s. It was ours. All of ours. And numerous battalions were threatening the people I cared for most.

I think it was at that moment I understood what Major Jeffery Write was really trying to say during our private meeting at the Gathering of the Guilds. As nervous as I was in knowing it was unlikely for us to win, I was also secretly chopping at the bit. This is why I was here. A year and some months ago I’d seen a Combat Master in action. It had stirred something inside me that was only now fully realized. I’d want to know what it was like to have power like some of my favorite gaming characters that wielded super abilities at will. But now I sought to wield them with a level of skill no one had ever seen.

I was under no illusions. Krato Aeneus Raptis architect. The credit was all his. But I didn’t have the same limitations that he had, yet I was determined to reach the same level of mastery. Then I would take it even further with additional psionic techniques that I hoped could make up for his weaknesses.

The coming event was the first test. Could superior skill defeat superior power?

I remembered the first major even of Vanguard and the trouble I had with the Manticore King. I was not the same person, but the enemy wasn’t the same either.

I’d seen Brendon Black with a war hammer, and also carrying two shields. He would use whatever it took to accomplish what he sat his sights on.

Then there was the Real Major. He used a shield and a sword with an overcharging ability similar to Mel’s. He was possibly even more dangerous than Brendon. He was certainly more consistent and less likely to make mistakes.

And finally there was Ebrima Okoro. Out of the three, he possessed the freakiest athletic ability.

It was almost certain I wouldn’t get to fight them one on one. Neither did I know if I could defeat them if I did. But that part of me that remained after the responsibility and familial care was wiped away hoped that I’d get to try.

Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 24

Mel’s time came sooner than we expected. It was just a week later when he broke through. Victoria had been keeping a close eye on him, commanding he make his way to the recovery chamber before he broke through.

I only made it after he’d broken through. Even Krato insisted I go to congratulate him which I found curious, but it didn’t really surprise me. I doubted my Ekseliksi trainer would admit it, but the more my training progressed, the easier going he was. Or maybe he didn’t think he had to be as difficult since he was killing me so often in simulation.

Mel was still in the industrial dome I’d used while recovering after my rank E breakthrough with people surrounding him. Olivia was there with many of his men. Isamu was included. Victoria was also there. Peter and Oliver acknowledge my arrival.

They were all here.

As soon as the man of the hour saw me, the big grin fell from his face, and he marched toward me. He had the severe edge he got when serious.

I smirked.

Clasping hands, I pulled him in and dipped low.

A genuine rank D Othisi push kept me from snagging the back of his leg.

“Ha!” he chimed as he took a defensive stance even Kline would be proud of.

I prepared to lung when Victoria insisted, “Can’t you boys wait until your in a training sim?”

Olivia snickered.

We stopped sparring. This time when we clasped hands, I did my best Kline impression and tried to embrace the life out of him. It didn’t work.

After some giddy cackling, he sobered again and grabbed me by the shoulder. It was just a look he gave me, but it said everything that needed to be said.

It wasn’t until I was alone in the same recovery chamber with Victoria that night when I got to see his breakthrough. It wasn’t exactly dramatic, but the psionic rich air around him churned as a pulse of green energy erupted from him in every direction.

I couldn’t help but smile. Not just because his advancement was going to help us in the event or that I was finally going to have a real rank D user to spar against besides Krato. He’d changed a lot in the last year and a half. That talent of his that was always obvious to Barrell and me was finally out in the open. He wasn’t just coming to grips with it anymore, but excited about what he could do with it.

Victoria was standing at my side with her arm wrapped around my back. After Mel’s breakthrough had finished playing, she asked, “Are you okay?”

Looking down into the silver-streaked eyes, I asked, “What do you mean?”

She gave me her best puppy dog look. “Does it feel unfair? He certainly isn’t lazy, but no one trains as much as you do.”

I shrugged. “Maybe, but we’re on different paths.”

Her eyes slipped to my chest, and she nodded. “That’s true. There’s something you must know. Peter was able to test Mel’s genetics. He has the markers of a possible Vasileia candidate.”

“He’ll break into rank C?”

She shook her head. “It’s only possible. He isn’t a member of any of the current bloodlines. Because of that, it’s impossible to say for sure. He just has a much higher chance than normal.”

I narrowed my gaze. “But I thought the Vasileia reached rank C just like I might reach rank D. It was only a matter of time.”

She tried to look hopeful, but I knew her too well to miss the hesitation. “I could be like that. Not even children of the main houses have it so easy. Some of them also perish in the process of trying to breakthrough. It’s only the chief bloodlines like the House of the Epithumia that don’t have issues breaking through.”

She still hadn’t met my eye. “I was born with my psionics unlocked, Lucius. That isn’t even common amongst the Vasileia houses. Though, it does happen. If Mel had grown up Ekseliksi, then I’d have more confidence one way or the other. I can say that it’s likely, but not for certain.”

I snickered. “How long do you think it will be before he reaches rank C?”

“It could be a year or a decade. The closer he gets to the peak of rank D, the more I’ll be able to say.”

“Got it. At least I’ll have someone at rank C to train with if he gets there.”

She finally looked up at me if rolling her eyes counted. “Have you been using the techniques I taught you to speed your advancement?”

“Yes. And even when I haven’t in here, Destiny simulates the environment in my training sim.”

“So you’re using training and using recovery techniques at the same time?” She held up her hand. “Of course, you are.”

Slipping her hand under my collar, she reached for my chest. I felt a pulse of energy.

“You’re at what, 370 MEPS?” she asked.

With a smug look, I began to say my Maximum Energy Per Second was 369 but then found it had ticked up one point. With a sight, I replied, “Yup.”

“Your speed of advancement is still exceptional. I blame Destiny.”

The AI didn’t bother appearing, but she did respond through our headsets, “Thank you.”

As she went to remove her hand from beneath my shirt, I caught it.

“There are a few other things I needed to tell you,” she claimed.

“I’m sure there are.”

She tried to step back.

I didn’t let her go.

***

Victoria wasn’t sleeping tonight. While Destiny and I were studying a life-size Manticore King, she was playing around with a hologram of the future Prodos. It would one day be a city. For now, it was a fort with the strongest defenses in all of Vanguard. That was an undisputed fact.

There were positives and negatives to everything, of course. The psionically enforced walls and energy field made Prodos nearly impregnable. But that also meant that nothing could get out. We’d invested in some old-fashioned heavy artillery that were positioned between the inner and outer walls so that the psionic field could shift from one to the other in order for the weapon to be fired. Doing so left it vulnerable for a time. So unless the psionic field was moved, we had no offense.

In a game of capture the flag, that didn’t matter. The only time it would be an issue is when a flag was being captured, and the field needed to drop so that the flag could enter the base. The ability to move the field between inner and outer walls made it much easier. At no time did we have to completely drop the energy field.

That wasn’t Victoria’s concern right now. She was playing around with the diagram of what was supposed to be a living complex and convention center. It was like one of those high-end hotels with ballrooms with varying themes, gardens and swimming pools on the other floors, and mind-boggling architecture.

I still struggled with the answer she’d given me when asked why she was putting in so much effort—and money.

“There must be more reason for people to visit planet Hectate than natural resources and it being a strategic military position. There’s no guarantee Earth will always have the resources to supply us with everything we need once the Prime Simulation goes live. We must become self-sustaining. A place people want to visit and even live. There are several natural wonders. Places where the climate is just right for various recreational activities. Beaches, ski slopes… There’s a reason certain recreational activities have survived the test of time and are still practiced today.

“The first step it to give those with money reason to come here and invest. We cannot develop the entire planet ourselves. And even if we could, it would take too much effort.”

I chuckled. “So you want to tempt the kind of people that will build bunch of resorts and do the advertising for you?”

She winked. “We’re looking for the industrious and pioneer type.”

“Do we even have the authority over Hectate to do such a thing?”

“It doesn’t matter. All that we have to do is get the ball rolling. The more Hectate develops, the more they’ll need Prodos to defend what they build. Whether the money comes in the form of taxes that come directly to us, a new government is formed and that money if funneled to us through it, or corporations and individuals pay us directly, we will have more of what we need. And if we can get ahold of a few genuine battle cruisers, then we’ll have Earth’s greatest weapon against the Ekseliksi. We’ll be able to hold them back from landing planetside.

“Instead of being contested space, we’ll a stronghold in this sector. It will make us a staging planet. Instead of fending off invasions, we’ll be planning our own.”

She never ceased to amaze me. After creating a player bank in Freedom, why should I be surprised?

Turing my attention back to the massive dragon-like cat that had outlasted me in the first quarterly event, I walked around to its flank. A red glow came from a small location just behind its skull on its obsidian neck. As far as we could tell, at my current strength, this was the weakest point on the Manticore Kings body. There were a few points on its back that were susceptible to Falling Star’s spear attack. So it’s not like there weren’t other ways to kill it. But even if I had my shadow drone following me around with dozens of spears, there was no way I’d be able to land a perfect shot each time. They were big, but they could also move fast. And if I was attacking when they were in battle with another battalion…

I didn’t just need to be able to kill one but to perfect the process. And so we drilled. Phantom Fist wasn’t enough, but a correctly placed Dragonslayer came close. The problem was the angle. If I didn’t hit it just right, the blow didn’t even stun it. It was all or nothing.

So I didn’t just practice hitting it in the right stop but dueled against it as I did. That was just the beginning. Depending on its posture, the muscle of the neck could bunch up and make it even harder to hit.

After a few hours of that, Destiny and I moved on. It was something I’d continue to practice daily until the event. Where the Manticore King was positioned about halfway through the canyon-like tunnel, the walls were still a little more than three lanes of highway from one another. It made it easier for me to make use of the walls to better control my mobility, but it wasn’t the most efficient place for me to fight.

That’s where I stood now. We were close to the end of the outer layer, near the much shorter walls of the next. At this point, the walls were only two car lengths from one another. It was the best location for me to take advantage of what Krato was teaching me.

Standing at the center of the tunnel, I pushed myself up against the packed dirt floor. It wasn’t a great material for psionics, but it wasn’t the worst either. Loose soil with a lot of vegetation was about as bad as it got, and I’d practiced in it often. Rocks below the surface could cause a sudden change in how push responded, upping the difficulty.

I hovered toward one wall, then pushed energy out through my hand. I was still several yards away when push repelled me in the opposite direction toward the opposing wall. Once there, I pushed myself back in the opposite direction. Each time I neared a wall, I ascended a little, but that wasn’t my current focus.

I focused on the resistance, the feel. Soon I was flying back and forth as if I were bounding side to side except, I was five feet off the ground. This amount of exertion was comfortable. Enjoyable even. It was like warming up of a workout and everything just felt right.

Delaying my next push until I was closer to the wall, my energy erupted, sending me upward at a diagonal. I reached the next wall and pushed at a downward angle while pushing against the air on the opposite side of my body. It looked as if I was flying straight upward, but my momentum would only take me so far. When I felt myself slow, I didn’t just push myself across the gap, but backward toward empty space.

Reaching the middle of the tunnel, I used a full body burst of to send me back toward the same wall. It wasn’t as powerful as it would’ve been if I used the opposing wall, but it was enough that even Krato likely would’ve missed if he hadn’t anticipated it.

I did the same thing on the opposite wall before practicing moving forward and backward without the wall’s help. I couldn’t fly, but in this specific environment, I was getting about as close as a person could. What I needed more than anything else was practice. Both Marabella and Aeneus Raptis had given me the same advice in the past. I needed time in the air.

So this time, when Destiny spawned my rank D opponent, I was in the most advantageous place for me to fight him.