《Soldiers of Mana》


 Chapter 1 - This is our world

    Humankind is born capable of manipulating mana projected around them like an aura, strengthening the body, and mind. Strengthening with mana can go even further as to be projected on the weapon the individual is using, this can increase the sharpness, durability, even penetration power of projectiles. Martial prowess is defined based off of the combat efficiency tied together with the quality, and amount of mana one has. Humans cannot increase the amount of mana they have, but they can train it to be more refined as well as collect condensed mana from nature using it as a resource to power machinery and other types of technology. Most warriors leak out their mana aura to show their strength which can be used to repel threats in the wild or to intimidate an opponent.


    Just like water vapor, mana is in the surrounding air mixing to condense into raindrops creating a high desire to gather at the source. The nomadic sky nation of Ailiven sails through the sky controlling most of the mana pools creating friction among the nomadic sea nation of Lorerien, and the Kingdom of Ayria who controls the land. During one of the nation of Ailiven¡¯s expeditions to a recently formed mana pool, the mana gathering ship came in contact with an Ayria gathering ship, with Ailiven¡¯s warrior based mentality, insufficient restraint, and desire for the resource, a battle ensued. Ailiven managed to shoot down the enemy ship but an engine was tagged in the process, they were losing altitude but they managed to get some survivors onto the life raft before the ship plummeted to the earth.


    Five years have passed...due to the continuous aggression of Ailiven, war broke out causing both factions to desperately increase their war potential. Ailiven¡¯s soldiers looked through orphanage''s on their own ships searching for prospects they can raise and train into next-generation weapons with the new technology they have been working with, creating loyal slave soldiers with abnormal abilities that will excel in suicide missions, special op missions, recon, and assassinations. While aboard one of the middle sectors ships that housed an orphanage they came across a boy, and two girls that they could sense a healthy dense mana coming from, and if trained could have potential, so they brought them back to the base where they would implant mana machines. Human created mana that acts as an organic creature creating a frequency allowing others to connect as one, sharing desired thoughts even awareness of surroundings. Unfortunately for the three children, they happened to be testing another concept known as mana cores for a secret test run of elite soldiers.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Mana cores are devices created to circulate the mana within, automatically training the effectiveness of mana projection and mana manipulation. The strain and instability the core can cause in one¡¯s body is dangerous, and painful, but would allow the individual to develop at an exponential rate. After carrying out the implant the soldiers dragged the unconscious young boy down a dim hallway, where he was brought into a cell and tossed onto a hard mattress covered by a thin itchy blanket while three others stared at the young boy from their bunks, before looking back towards the soldiers with caution on their faces. ¡°Good luck boy¡±¡­ said one of the guards as they exited the cell in a loud fit of laughter that echoed through the hall.

 Chapter 2 - A New Life

    The boy curled into a ball, clutching his chest as a burning ripping sensation spread across his stomach, ¡°what is this pain...what did they do to me?¡± thought the young boy as tears, dripped down his cheeks.


    The mana core was absorbing a larger amount of mana from the surroundings than normal causing his muscles to rapidly increase in mass greedily accepting the nutrients supplied by the mana. While simultaneously his skin began to stretch around the healing wound, tearing it open as the muscles expand, and deflate at a rapid rate. He screamed out in agony, as the surroundings faded into darkness. The scenery of a large cherry blossom tree encompassed by grass and pink flowing petals, a blurry building off in the distance, surrounded in the orange sympathetic glow of the sunset came into view as he opened his eyes.


    ¡°Ah... Am I back at the orphanage¡±, thought the confused boy clutching his head as he slowly sat up, from the pile of petals he has laying in. He looked to the left and saw two young girls around the age of six, and seven playing tag with the cherry blossom tree as a medium, ¡°ha-ha you can¡¯t get me¡± yelled out the older girl, as she giggles swaying from side to side around the tree, while the younger child pouts, and angrily cries out ¡°you are cheating!¡±


    ¡°Cheating, I am only using my surroundings to my advantage, maybe if you weren''t so tiny, your stubby little legs would move fast enough to catch me hehe.¡±


    Seeing the two children he never thought he would be allowed to see again tears began forming in the corner of his eyes. Liza, and Kathryn, two of the few orphan children he looked after like his own younger siblings. The parents of the girls died along with his, during an expedition to a newly formed mana pool five years ago. The beginning of the conflict that sparked a bloody war between, Ailiven, and Ayria.


    ¡°Oh, Niko is awake,¡± exclaimed the younger girl who ceased her crying, as she ran full force before diving straight into the embrace of the sitting boy.


    Niko began to look at the face of the girl in his embrace but was jolted awake. Opening his eyes Niko bent forward tracing his face left to right scanning his unfamiliar surroundings. He Spotted a frightened young boy, sitting across from him, staring at his face. Niko began to open his mouth to speak,


    ¡°Where¡­,¡± but before he could finish he heard the trembling voice of the boy


    ¡°What...what are you? Your body was going swoosh and whoosh shaking everywhere and bulging like a monster was going to pop out!¡±


    Niko was confused, he could not understand what the boy was talking about, ¡°D-d-d do you have a monster in your body? Are you gonna eat us?¡± cries another child from the top of one of the bunk beds, in the right corner of the room. Hearing sobs, and small whispers coming from around him as the grogginess finally faded, it hit him. Niko was in a cold dimly lit cell closed off by metal bars, locked shut by a huge chain and lock, with pipes running across the rusted metallic wall, it was a rather small room, with only three bunk beds, a toilet, and sink.


    ¡°What...no, I am not a monster. Those soldiers did something weird to my body, anyway wha..where are we?¡± The boy sitting across from me seemed, accepting that the soldiers could have done something, but still had a bit of childish innocence looking to be relieved at me not having some monster in my body. Seeing how frightened the children were, and the understanding that the soldiers appear cruel gives me a feeling these soldiers aren''t gonna be friendly. It is also leaving a terrifying chill just thinking about what will happen to us.


    ¡°I do not know where we are exactly, but the soldiers brought me down here, like a few days ago. Then the rest of you guys have been dragged down here and thrown onto the beds, last night they brought you in here, where you just curled up into a ball like a pill bug crying and holding your chest, it looked like your skin was crawling around.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    The last thing I remember is being dragged away from the orphanage with, Liza, and Kathryn, they separated us into different rooms, all white, with men and women wearing white coats, after being told to lay on a table they covered my mouth with some mask and I lost consciousness waking up here. They must have done something to Liza, Kathryn, and I. That is the only thing that would make sense based off of the course of events, as well as, what these children saw, especially why they are so scared of the soldiers. What place have they brought us to? what do they plan on doing with us? where have Liza, and Kathryn been taken too?. Anxiety slowly began to once again take over Niko, but he tried to keep calm, as to not frighten the other children. It will be better if I stay calm and try to understand the situation and work together with the children, keeping them calm, thought Niko as he struggled to keep his anxiety in check and hold back the tears forming in the corner of his eyes.


    ¡°Since it seems like we are gonna be seeing each other a lot from now on, it would be good to familiarize ourselves with one another, My name is Niko.¡±


    After I introduced myself the boy on the bunk across from me took initiative to introduce himself first, ¡°ah, Niko huh? Well Niko, I am Tyler, and since I was the first inhabitant of this room I am the leader, an..and since you are not a monster I won¡¯t have to beat you up or anything, so consider yourself lucky you hear! Cause I ain''t scared of anything, not even any monsters!¡±.


    The boy on the top bunk towards the right of where Tyler was, quietly introduced himself next ¡°my name is Daniel I was brought about a day ago¡±.


    ¡°Speak up Daniel or no one can hear you gosh!¡± exclaimed Tyler. Tyler seems like a loud individual, who acts confident in an attempt to mask how scared he is, while Daniel is a shy quiet individual.


    ¡°Who is that asleep on your top bunk Tyler?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ oh, that¡¯s Eric he was brought in the same day as Daniel.¡±


    ¡°The three of you seem pretty familiar, did you guys come from the same civilian ship?¡±.


    ¡°Yeah the three of us are from the bottom sect, also known as the slums of the fleet¡±, ¡°the slums? What is that?¡±.


    ¡°It¡¯s the civ ship at the bottom of the fleet. I am not surprised you have not heard about it, the only people that go down there are poor people and those abandoning their children in the rundown overcrowded orphanage down there. What about you? What orphanage are you from? You must be from one if you were dragged here, huh?.¡±


    ¡°I''m from the middle sect orphanage.¡± Right after I finished my sentence. Three soldiers walked to the front of the metal bars, the soldier in the middle had a smirk on his face as he opened his mouth to begin speaking.


    ¡°Well good evening you little bastards, I hope the four of you are ready for some fun aha-haha¡±.


    ¡°Why have you brought us here? What do you plan on doing with us?. Where have you taken Liza and Kathryn? What have you done to them?¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± yelled the man, ¡°You are out of your fucking mind if you think you have a voice here.¡±


    The soldier walked up to Niko striking him in the face with a closed fist. ¡°Aah,¡± Niko cries out in pain falling off the bunk with a large ¡°THUMP¡± the children around him gasp, and whimpered, in fear of being next.


    ¡°You filthy bastards are only here to become weapons, tools of the military, nothing more, nothing less¡±.


    ¡°Now get your tails out from between your legs, like scared little pups and line up in front of the door!, you got 10 seconds, GO!¡±.


    Tyler held out is hand helping me up before running to get in-line along with the other children, after lining up the soldiers began leading us out of the room down a long hallway, consisting of other cells containing trembling, confused children lining up under the beck and call of soldiers. After a few minutes of walking, we came across a large wide door, the soldier opened it walking through, while the others stood to the side, verifying that all the children were accounted for. Upon walking past the door, we are brought into a large open part of the ship, that functions as an inside ecosystem mimicking a forest. After verifying that all the children have come, the soldier that lead us here moved off to the side, and another more important looking man stood in front of us, with a wide smirk on his face but a seriously scary look in his eyes.


    ¡°Welcome maggots, to your first official day in hell!¡±.

 Chapter 3 - Survival of The Fittest

    The insidious smile the man had made my skin crawl, every part of me was screaming danger, I could feel that this was the beginning of something awful. I took a quick glance around my surroundings, all around was filled with huge towering trees with a dirt path straight down the middle, accompanied by the echo of monkeys howling, tigers growling, and birds chirping.


    ¡°Take it in children, this is your home for the next three months¡±


    Everyone looked at the man emotions filled with confusion and horror. My hands began trembling, I couldn''t think straight, I did not understand what was happening before I knew it I yelled out.


    ¡°What do you mean we are stuck in here for three months! why are we here! what do you mean we are nothing but weapons! I don''t understand what you want from us!!¡±.


    ¡°Who told you it''s okay to address the sergeant boy!¡±


    One of the soldiers off to the right came over kicking me in my chest, ¡°UGH!¡±... I fell to my knees gasping for breath. The soldier grabbed my hair pulling my face up, as the sergeant slowly walked directly in front of me picking me up by my neck turning around, casually tossing me off the platform. I looked at the sergeant standing at the edge of the platform as it slowly moved further into the distance as I feel my body fall through the air. Hitting the ground with a loud ¡°THUMP!¡± I scream out as the sound of snapping rings throughout my brain accompanied by a stinging pain in my left arm that causes me to fall unconscious. My eyes slowly begin to open, the pain rushing back causing me to let out a low groan. Immediately after I hear the voice of Tyler.


    ¡°Niko! Are you okay man?¡± I try to tell him I''m fine but a sharp pain prevents me from speaking. ¡°I..It..It''s okay man everything''s fine we''ll make it through this, Daniel is pretty knowledgeable about cleaning wounds and taking care of the injured since Eric and I always got into fights with the older kids in the bottom sect.¡±


    ¡°Cough..Cough..Thank you..all three of you, did they say anything before they left? Like why are we locked in here?¡±


    ¡°Uh-uh... Since Eric is bigger than Tyler and I, he carried you on his back while we tried to find a safe spot to clean you up. They just told us to go down the stairs before leaving. Tyler and I discussed it while you were still unconscious, it seems as though its some hellish survival training, maybe to weed out the incompetent and weak children? We have heard some screams come from the east and west a few times within the last hour, I can only think the worst...¡±


    At that moment, Eric came back holding two dead squirrels, his shirt had a patch ripped off which looks to have been used to make the stone sling he held within his other hand. After handing the squirrels to Daniel, Eric walked over to me sticking his hand into his pocket pulling out a handful of berries. Managing to pull myself to a sitting position, I use my right hand to hold the berries. ¡°Thank you Eric¡±, He silently nodded to me with a smile before quietly relocating next to the fire.


    ¡°I just realized, I have not heard Eric talk is he a bit shy?¡±


    Without stopping his fiddling with the sling Tyler casually replies ¡°Oh, Eric is mute, he is unable to talk, he is also partially deaf in his left ear.¡±


    I began opening my mouth to continue the conversation but was interrupted by the snorting of a boar.


    ¡°Here Niko, take this!¡±


    Daniel handed me a stone sling,


    ¡°We can use these slings to take out the boar¡±,


    he said as he hid behind a large rock. I slowly stood up, wobbling behind a tree leaning on it waiting for the boar to come into sight.


    ¡°There he is!¡±


    whispered Daniel


    ¡°it looks like he''s a big one no? Must be a mana boar, they grow a lot more compared to normal ones, make sure to use the trees, and rocks as cover. do not let it charge you!¡±


    While we were talking the boar came into attack range,


    ¡°Now Tyler!¡±


    ¡°SQUEEEAL¡±


    a hard ¡°THUMP¡±, sound followed by a squeal, Tyler hit it directly in the head making the boar wobble, the boar then immediately focused in the direction of Tyler preparing to charge ¡°Swoosh, Swoosh¡± The sound of the heavy hoof scraping the ground ¡°SQUEEEAL¡±....¡°Thump...Thump...Thump¡± The boar recklessly charged in the direction of Tyler. Tyler waited for the boar to get close before jumping onto the other side of the tree ¡°BOOM¡± the boar smashed through the tree.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Niko, Daniel, Eric, NOW!¡±


    We all swung around our sling releasing the stone in the direction of the boar, I missed miserably, but Daniel and Eric hit the boar dead on causing it to wobble again ¡°SQUEEEAL¡± It looked injured but does not appear to be enough to take it down.


    ¡°Tyler, Daniel, How are we gonna take it down? It seemed damaged but hasn''t gone down yet and we already used our stones?¡±


    during my conversation with Daniel, Eric runs at the boar stabbing it in the neck with a sharpened stone, causing the boar to go into a rage.


    Immediately After being stabbed the boar begins attempting to shake Eric off, squealing louder than when he was hit with the rocks. A few seconds later the boar managed to shake Eric off sending him flying a few feet away, it then looked in my direction preparing its charge. I was still injured so I could not move very fast yet, I saw that Erics knife had landed next to the tree I was behind. Grabbing the knife I prepare for the boar. ¡°THUMP...THUMP¡­¡± the boar comes barreling towards me, I tuck myself behind the tree, measuring the distance of the boar using the sound as it comes closer, and closer, finally a few seconds later I jump out from the side of the tree, out of the way of the boar hearing a loud ¡°BOOM¡± as the tree crashes down. Temporarily dazing the boar long enough for me to take the knife driving it into the side of the boar''s skull. Finally, after wounding it multiple times the boar falls down no longer breathing. I sit next to the boar enduring the pain of my broken arm, and tattered body. Shortly after my mana begins to circulate absorbing mana from the vicinity causing my body to feel as if it is burning from the inside out. ¡°AAAHHHH¡±, I scream out in pain as I roll on the ground, hugging my stomach with my noninjured arm.


    ¡°Tyler go check on Eric! Niko, what...what''s wrong?¡±


    Daniel comes running over, he begins to check my body for new injuries.


    ¡°D..Daniel..UGH¡­ I don¡¯t know, it feels as if my body is burning!¡±


    The burning began to fade away after a couple minutes,


    ¡°what is the matter with Niko? Are his wounds hurting again?¡±


    ¡°I..I..don''t know, he screamed out in pain but it seems to be fading away now¡­.Niko, how are you feeling now?¡±


    ¡°I actually feel a lot better, my arm doesn¡¯t hurt anymore either!¡±


    I sat up shrugging my shoulders and waving around my arm surprised that all my injuries seem to have healed.


    ¡°Woah dude..you are pretty freaky, you were in a pretty busted state a few minutes ago¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s weird, it felt like after I killed the boar my body absorbed its mana, mixing, and condensing into mine..¡±


    The three boys looked at me with shock on their face. Daniel thought for a second.


    ¡°Maybe it is related to the incident from when we first met you? The soldiers must have done something? Humans normally are not able to gain any more mana then what they are born with right?¡±


    I remember the teachers at the orphanage teaching this, it is even common sense among humans, one of the first things taught in class. ¡°I guess this is one of many mysteries we must solve concerning the situation we are in.¡±


    ¡°Heh, your right about that, for now, we should focus on surviving. We might be from the bottom sect but Eric, and I are pretty used to needing to fend for ourselves, while Daniel has always focused on books, and learning new things. Working together we should be able to manage these three months.¡±


    ¡°mm..sounds good, I look forward to the three of us walking out of here.¡±


    I walked over to the boar pulling out the sharpened stone sticking in the side of the boar''s skull then began cutting into the tusks,


    ¡°what are you doing Niko? ¡°


    Without stopping what I was doing I replied to Daniels question.


    ¡°I was thinking we could take out the tusks and use them to defend ourselves.¡±


    "Oh, oh, that''s a good idea. I am gonna take Eric back to the campsite so he can rest, you and Daniel should try to cut that boar up a bit. Don''t forget to bring some of the meat, and hide back after you collect those tusks.¡±


    ¡°mmm...will do¡±.


    Two and One-half months later.... The three of us have managed to survive by working together using rocks, twigs, and animal parts to craft weapons and to eat. I have not seen any other children that entered along with us. Screams and shouts can still be heard from time to time followed by the howls of large animals. We have done well in avoiding the larger foe''s within this forest by hiding in the trees or within the caves, we have come across boars, and bears but have managed to defeat them using our slings, the bigger animals that possess large condensed quantities of mana we did our best to avoid, like Tigers and Giant Anacondas. The slings are not strong enough by themselves to take them out.


    Throughout these last two months, my body has managed to absorb the mana fleeing from the body¡¯s of the prey we kill, changing my body to become stronger, faster, and allowing my body to regenerate at abnormal speeds whenever I begin to feel tired or get injured.


    ¡°Guys look a boar!¡±


    I look in the direction Tyler pointed in, load my sling, and launch it towards the boar. The piece of stone pierces through the boar''s skull with a loud ¡°CRUNCH!¡± as it passes through cleanly.


    ¡°Damn Niko! Maybe you are a monster after all. You have gotten insanely strong during our time in this forest your body is weird man!¡±


    I roll my eyes at Tyler¡¯s words as I walk over to the body of the boar, ¡°SSSSSS¡± I hear the loud sound of hissing


    ¡°Guys! Where is that coming from?¡±


    ¡°I don¡­.¡± Right before Daniel could finish his sentence a large anaconda towering twelve feet over us slithered into sight.


    ¡°FUCK! Guys we need to run!¡±


    I scream towards the others while turning my body to begin running when a strong force sweeps me off of my feet throwing me into a tree off to the side.


    ¡°Niko!¡±


    Tyler shouts my name and the three of them turn around to come help me


    ¡°No! Don¡¯t!.. Run away!¡±


    I tried to get them to run away but they were already using their stone slings while Eric tried to help me up. Tyler and Daniel got two clear hits with the slings without any benefit. It only seems to have pissed the creature off. Moving its body darting towards Tyler. Not being able to move out of the way fast enough the snake managed to unlatch his jaw swallowing Tyler whole.


    ¡°NOOO!!!¡±


    the three of us screamed as we watched Tyler disappear down the throat of the snake,


    ¡°You bastard!¡±


    Daniel sprung forward as fast as he could launching his sling while taking out his knife running straight towards the huge snake. ¡°Swoosh!¡± the snakes tail whips through the air hitting Daniel hard, causing him to fly backward slamming onto a rock with a loud ¡°CRACK!!¡± as his head hits.


    Eric hits my shoulder than points to Daniel indicating he wants me to go check on him. When I got over to Daniel his body was twitching, he wasn''t breathing either, his eyes cloudy with blood leaking from his head,


    ¡°FUCK!¡±


    I looked over towards Eric who was wrapped in the tail of the snake being squeezed, I took out my sling shooting the snake in the eye, causing the snake to flail around letting Eric go. Running as fast as I could hoping to grab him and get out of the area. As I reached him the snake slammed down his tail squishing Eric''s body. Immediately after the snake looked towards me opened its mouth then darkness filled my surroundings.


    I felt a burning light breach through my eyelids causing me to blink my hazy eyes, slowly the room focused as the haze dissipated. In my view was a white ceiling, I manage to lift myself into a sitting position where I looked at my body which had wires leading to a machine at my bedside. ¡°Wha..what..happened? I..thought¡­we all¡­¡­..died?¡±

 Chapter 4 - Training Day

    The experience from the forest came flooding back into my mind fresh as if it just happened. Fear, anxiety, and pain began to overtake me, when suddenly ¡°Tap..Tap¡± the sound of footsteps came near. Lifting my head I noticed my surroundings, a white room with beds spread in a circle with machines by the side like the one I am currently connected to. Looking to my left I see Tyler, Daniel, and Eric laying on beds next to me.


    ¡°Hey gu¡­.¡±


    ¡°Quiet boy now is not the time.¡±


    Before I could call out to them, soldiers accompanied by a doctor and nurse walked into the room. The nurse walked over to the others who began to wake up, she questioned them about their experience while checking their bodies making sure there are no abnormalities. As I am tuned in to the conversation the doctor walks to the side of my bed and begins to examine me.


    ¡°Any abnormalities? Pain, feelings of fatigue?¡±


    ¡°No, I feel fine...but what happened exactly? I remember being in the forest where we were killed by a giant snake but now we are here?¡­.¡±


    ¡°Ah, yes that would be the machinery at work. These machines use mana to create an astral projection allowing us to train this new generation of special soldiers. That room you were in can be changed to any type of biome, cities, and villages can be recreated as well. During cases of death or recall the mana escapes the projection returning to the original body retaining all memories and experience.¡±


    ¡°Whenever I killed an animal my body seemed to absorb the mana released into the surroundings is that the work of the machines as well?¡±


    ¡°No, not exactly. That is from the mana core we placed into your body when you were brought to this military ship to be trained. It allows one''s body to absorb pools of mana in the surroundings, such as the case when the animals released theirs upon death. Taking the absorbed mana it manually circulates condensing it with your own, strengthening the body, and quality of mana.¡±


    ¡°But why me? There were to girls with me the day I came, where are they?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know boy but now is not the time, we have other matters, let us finish the physical and collect your information...Name?¡±


    ¡°Niko Lee¡±


    ¡°Age¡±


    ¡°13¡±


    ¡°Hmm..okay, black medium length hair, hazel eyes, on the short side...alright, that is everything we need. Put on these fatigues then follow these soldiers back to your bunks. He''s all yours boys¡±


    After saying those words the doctor turned around and left the room taking the nurse along with him. The other boys and I put on our new uniform then walked over to the soldiers.


    ¡°Line up single file in front of the door!¡±


    One of the soldiers shouted out for us to line up, after we completed the instructions the soldiers led us back to our bunks.


    ¡°Alright, ladies lights out in 10!¡±


    The soldier''s voice carries, echoing throughout the hallway. Once he was gone Tyler, Daniel, Eric and I moved to the end of our bunks discussing what had happened, sharing the information we collected so far before each of us slipped away into a deep sleep. Moments later I open my eyes to a familiar scene while sitting under a cherry blossom tree with Liza hugging my gut.


    ¡°Liza!..Kathryn!¡±


    No answer¡­


    ¡°Hmm...they must be tired from playing. Well¡­ it does seem like the sun has begun setting. I suppose we can sit here a little longer before heading in.¡±


    ¡°No, they are not sleeping they just cannot respond...¡±


    I hear a familiar voice from in front of me, I raise my head opening my eyes in shock, the figure in front of me is a spitting image of myself.


    ¡°Wh..Who..are you?¡±


    ¡°I am your opposite..I am Okin¡±


    ¡°I..I don''t understand, what do you mean by my opposite?¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°You are the light...I am the darkness. You are hope¡­.I am despair.¡±


    ¡°Where did you come from? How are you here? Where are we exactly?¡±


    ¡°We are in your dream...Created by your subconscious just as I. I come from all your hate, desire, pain and sadness. I have been around a long time but only recently have I grown enough to begin morphing into my own entity.¡±


    ¡°What do you plan to do?¡±


    ¡°For I am just another one of your personalities. I will reside in your dreams for when I am needed...Rely on me, I will protect us destroying anything, or anyone in our path.¡±


    ¡°BANG!...CLANK!¡± Jolted awake by the sound of the cell door opening I lift my body slamming my head onto the top bunk


    ¡°oww!...fuck!¡±


    ¡°Time for another day ladies! Let''s get going! Outfits on, then line up at the cell door. You have three minutes, GO!¡±


    The four of us jumped from our bunks shoving our limbs into our uniforms before lining up as instructed. The soldiers lead us down the usual hallway until we got to an intersection taking a left. After a few minutes of walking, we were brought to a dining hall.


    ¡°Line up over with those other children, after eating you and the other children will be brought to the projection rooms for training¡±


    After speaking the soldiers walked to the side of the room where they watched over the dining hall. Seeing the soldiers walk away we begin walking over to the line to obtain our breakfast. While doing so a boy who looks to be around my age collided with another boy who looked a few years older, causing him to fall onto his bottom. Standing back up the younger boy yells out to the older boy.


    ¡°Watch where you are going you big prick!¡±


    Without replying back the boy clenched his fist swinging directly into the younger boys stomach.


    ¡°OOF!¡±


    The boy falls clenching his stomach in the fetal position.


    ¡°Watch who you speak to like that kid! You, newbies, don¡¯t know how to act at all...it''s the same thing every six months, coming in here thinking you are tough shit for whatever reason..heh. Well, prepared to be humbled, this is the not the place to be overly prideful.¡±


    ¡°I bet you cried, and wet your pants during the first survival training...I''ll let you in on a little tip, that was only to check competence, measuring your current worth. I promise you it gets worse. Good luck kid!¡±


    The two older boy¡¯s walked away chuckling amongst themselves while walking to a seat surrounded by their peers. Glancing over at the soldier none of them bothered to even take any action, they just stood talking amongst themselves.


    The rest of the experience was relatively normal, we got to the counter grabbing our food, we managed to find seating where we talked amongst the four of us, still unsure of the others in the vicinity. After about 30 mins of being in the dining hall, the soldier leads us to the projection room where we are instructed to lay on the beds. The doctors and nurses walked around the room hooking each child to the machines. Moments later, I lose consciousness before waking up in the forest again. Except for this time we are all in a clearing together accompanied by soldiers and the sergeant from last time.


    ¡°Alright, children after the forest survival competency training we have adequate information on each and every one of you. The general consensus is that the majority of you are weak and soft. As of today, we will begin combat training starting with close quarters combat.¡±


    After one of the lower ranked soldiers discussed the curriculum for today the sergeant stepped forward.


    ¡°Everyone stand off to my left shoulder to shoulder.¡±


    We all lined up as we were told to do, after seeing that we finished following instructions the sergeant nodded to one of his subordinates. Who stepped forward pointed at one of the children telling him to come in front of him.


    ¡°Child, come at me¡±


    One simple command led everyone into confusion.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I mean exactly what I told you. Come to attack me! I will not repeat myself again!¡±


    The child even though still confused attempted a punch on the soldier, ¡°Swoosh¡± the soldier dodged the punch easily following it up with a punch to the child''s gut, ¡°OOF!¡± the child folds falling to his knees.


    ¡°Try again! Put more effort into it!¡±


    Getting up from the ground the boy wobbles forward before sprinting to the soldier throwing out punches in succession. Easily weaving out of the way of the incoming flurry of punches the soldier grabbed the child by the neck slamming him back straight into the ground.


    ¡°Alright children, just as in this session you need to learn to hold no fear in battle. You need to have situational awareness and read your opponent. Everyone find a partner, we will begin with takedowns.¡±


    Throughout the rest of the training session, the soldiers guided us in form, and execution of mixed martial arts. My body easily followed the forms quickly building muscle memory being able to easily repeat what was taught. I was especially confident in my stand up game, being an aggressive in-fighter which fits my short body and arms. After hours of training, the soldiers brought us to the dining hall for our supper, before we were lead back to our bunks to rest. Repeating the same process the following morning, although this time the soldiers did not come along for the training leaving the children to train amongst themselves.


    Having already memorized everything taught, I gave a hand to Daniel, Tyler, and Eric. Eric and Tyler were used to defending themselves so they did not need as much help since they had some fighting sense already. All that was left was learning the moves. Daniel, on the other hand, being more interested in learning wasn''t very combative. He struggled due to a slow reaction speed and low strength. While I was teaching the three, other children struggling walked up asking if they could join us in practice, and if I could help guide them on some of their flaws.


    ¡°Ah, so this is the boy genius huh?¡±


    A loud sarcastic voice came from behind me, I turned to face the person who called out to me


    ¡°Would you like to join us? It would be a bit easier for us to work together?¡±


    Without saying anything back the boy swung at my face. I dodged his right fist by sliding on my left knee cupping under his buttocks lifting him vertically over my shoulder, slamming him to the ground. He puts his guard up wrapping his legs around my waist, I throw a punch instantly breaking through his guard dazing him. Seeing that he is not able to react, I continue raining down punches onto his face before his legs fell limp along with the rest of his body as he lay still, blood flowing from his nose and mouth.

 Chapter 5 - Training Day Pt.2

    I reached out my hand offering to help him up. He sat there for a moment but eventually grabbed my hand, standing to his feet, slouching his shoulders staring at the ground with an air of defeat.


    ¡°Listen, man, we gotta work together to get through this. No one asked to be here, all I know is if we are going to survive we need to do it together. I saw what happened between you and that older boy during lunch. Frankly, he is right man, all we can do is learn how to better defend ourselves to stay alive. They talk about us being weapons, eventually, they will want to use said weapons, so unless you plan to die quickly you better be prepared. Tyler, Daniel, and I have talked about our situation trying to understand more about what is going on, It seems our cell blocks work as units which would explain why we are training together but not with the other children we have seen at lunch.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it seems we have been taken from the orphanages due to our mana quantity and quality, probably something that must be related to the experiment done to us, as well as the training we are currently doing. We need to prepare for when they decide on testing us live.¡±


    Daniel backed me up supporting the idea of everyone working together. Succeeding our short discussion with the other children about the positives behind cooperating, soldiers following behind a couple scientists walk towards our group.


    ¡°Alright children, time to change the curriculum up a bit now. During the time of your training these last few days the goal has been teaching close quarter combat, as well as strengthening the body and mind. Now that the body is strong enough we will begin teaching you how to manipulate the mana within your body, as well as projecting it across objects to strengthen items.¡±


    The rest of the week started with going to the dining hall where the children began eating together in a group discussing flaws, as well as joking around as young 12-13-year-olds should. Following the breakfast came training, daily we would be hooked up to the machines where we would use mana to project an astral projection of our bodies into the training room. This method allowed us to get real training in harsh situations keeping the experience and benefits, but not retaining any of the physical harm. During the time I have been here, in this facility, I have noticed the soldiers constantly watching me, more so than the other children. There are always eyes watching my back everywhere I go.


    Our group¡¯s new training went rather well, other than the fact that a few of the children struggled when initially trying to manipulate the mana within them. In my case, learning how to control my mana was relatively easy. I have felt my body train my mana ever since I first woke up on my bunk. During the training we have endured, it feels like my body has trained my mana within myself automatically, condensing it, progressing into a higher quality, non-stop.


    A few weeks floated by, during this time the training has become more and more intense. We were instructed to fight full force in all training exercises with our mana activated to full output. Even though this helped train us in efficiently manipulating our mana as well as strengthening our mana, it caused great strain mentally. Having to kill the peers you train with, even if it is only a projection of them created using mana, they still retain all experience¡¯s of the projection. Being desensitized to killing and being killed, no longer caring about the pain, or even your own safety. The only focus we had was training to be as efficient as possible.


    I have noticed the biggest change in myself. Each time I dream, the scenery gets more and more blurred, the sunset becomes darker giving off an eerie aura, Cherry blossom petals no longer look vibrant and pink, instead, they are wilted leaving the branches of the trees empty. The tree mixed with the cool soft breeze chills my spine giving me a sense of emptiness. Okin day by day becomes so much more defined as a person. Seeing each other nightly, conversing about topics we care deeply about with the same feeling at opposite sides of a solution, but as of late, I find myself agreeing with Okin more and more. I even feel myself slowly forgetting about something, I don¡¯t know what, but¡­ I feel as if it was deeply important to me. Something I had to figure out. Now I only feel a strong desire to survive along with those closest to me.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll ever have freedom again or what my future will be like, or if I even have one. All I know is Okin says we will have a future. That we need to survive until we get our freedom. Okin is also surprisingly knowledgeable when it comes to different areas including, fighting, tactics, strengthening and using mana. Following the initial introduction to mana use, the doctors decided to take it to the next level.


    ¡°When we brought everyone here to the facility we implemented something called mana machines into each and every one of you. The man-made mana injected into you creates a connection allowing a group to increase their awareness in battle. Starting today we will begin tuning into the connection. Building the strength of it finding ways to use it in combat situations. The six of you here will break into groups of three, then skirmish while connected as practice to familiarize yourselves with being connected.¡±


    Connecting through mana was extremely simple. I began manipulating my mana, which heightens the senses. While heightening the senses it is possible to see the mana of other people, with the mana machines in our body, we can send mana into another person creating a two-way transmission. An individual¡¯s mana creates an aura surrounding them like a beautiful white colored cloak, the cloak is created during the condensing of the mana, a result of training our mana through use. It is also designed by the wearer the first time they manipulate their mana. Individuals develop their strength which causes the cloak to morph, becoming more detailed, longer, and more majestic. When an individual activates their mana cloak, it gives off a feeling based off of the emotions of the wearer.


    Individuals who just began training their mana have a weaker aura, with the design being more subtle, the length is also short, more in the style of a scarf wrapped around the neck. Our days went by training our bodies, becoming more familiar with mana, but the most important thing we trained was our minds. Learning how to make quick precise decisions on the spot. The process of connecting to one another became an extremely useful tool, the usages we found while skirmishing was unlimited, plans could be carried out faster not to mention more accurately, by being able to understand the location of our group members as well as knowing when they spot an enemy or when requiring assistance.


    Two months have gone by since we began training our mana. We have all progressed well, our mana has begun taking shape, especially my own. My mana aura has grown to the size of a poncho, my design being a reaper with a huge scythe finely printed on the back, which Okin talked me into agreeing with. Finishing up our training for the day, we awoke then began getting the wires taken off by some nurses, during this process a doctor walks in gaining the attention of everyone.


    ¡°Alright children, tomorrow rather than having normal training you will be having a skirmish with another group. Victory will be decided after one group is defeated through either death or submission.¡±


    After being brought to the projection room the next morning, we got hooked up as soon as we laid down on the beds. We are then transferred to a locker room where soldiers direct us to enter, they then inform us that we are supposed to equip ourselves with combat gear which included fatigues, helmet, combat knee pads, a combat knife attached on the right side of the belt, with a gun in a holster on the left hip. During the process of gearing up, the soldiers began explaining a little about the skirmish.


    ¡°Like mentioned yesterday, the objective for today is to win. You will be faced against another group as your opponent, kill them, or force them to forfeit to obtain victory. Use every tool or trick available, anything goes.¡±


    Our group finished gearing up while we listened to the soldier talk about the skirmish taking place today. Finishing up what he had to say the soldier left the room, indicating for us to follow behind him. We followed him through the door, down a hall leading out into a large circular arena that had walls, towers, and other types of objects that can be used for tactical advantage, or cover. Walking to the center of the arena we stood face to face with the other group.

 Chapter 6 - Skirmish

    Standing face to face with our opponents was a weird situation. Training day in, day out, without hardly any human contact besides the doctors, soldiers, or other members of our group, made it a bit strange to meet others our age. Especially when the whole goal is to kill each other.


    ¡°Ah, so you are the ones we will be facing today huh. Looks like it will be an easy win hahaha.¡±


    A boy from the other team stood forward scanning our members before scoffing. Their team seems to be a lot more experienced with these kinds of situations, it might be difficult going against a group that is used to handling situations that you will encounter out in the field. My mind was already trying to formulate a plan, looking at the enemy team before me looking for any sign of weakness or unsurety. Calm, collected, the feeling I got from this group was one of confidence, a victory being already decided in their minds. While looking through my brain for any ideas that could give us a winning shot, I heard Okin¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Hah, why the struggle there little guy? Especially against a bunch of small fries.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean Okin? We have never gone against any other humans. Our only type of realistic training was during our time in the forest.¡±


    ¡°Exactly, you did well during that time. You are not like these other children Niko.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean I am not like these other children? Is this related to the experiment?¡±


    ¡°You could say that haha. There are many things you do not know yet, things you need to figure out yourself, but, until then, let''s focus on training shall we?¡±


    I could visualize a smirk on Okin''s face as he spoke. What does he know? How does he know it? So many questions, so many mysteries to solve. AS the conversation I was having with Okin came to a conclusion, the group of children we are going to be fighting against began walking back to the doors on their side of the arena. I turned around leading the group back to our starting position, reaching our destination the soldier looks at the two of our groups holding up a pistol


    ¡°Ready?...BANG!!¡±


    Seeing both groups ready to begin, the soldier fires his pistol into the air signaling for us to begin. Following the sound of the pistol firing the wind within the arena began to pick up throwing dust everywhere hindering the sight of everyone in the arena. I burst forward in the direction of a nearby car frame left for the sake of being used as cover.


    ¡°Daniel sit in the back, you will be in charge of strategy, use us to gain information on the enemy to relay orders, guiding everyone into suitable positions alright¡±


    Daniel immediately began collecting information, guiding each member of the team to cover.


    ¡°Niko, I have gotten everyone into cover but we still do not know where the enemy is we have to find their positions.¡±


    I take a few seconds to condense a medium sized ball of mana that fits in my palm then toss it. Landing 20 feet or so in front of me, the ball of mana rapidly expands. The mana expanded in a dome shape across the vicinity, after a few seconds, I managed to detect six bodies. During the process, one of the enemies began firing in my direction.


    ¡°Alright everyone, I succeeded in finding where they are taking cover, move forward, lay suppressing fire, then begin moving up.¡±


    After shouting to my team, I begin shooting my rifle in the direction of the enemy that originally shot at me after I threw my sonar grenade. I tagged them in their arm stunning them, following that up with a shot to the chest dropping the target, no longer reading any life signs from the target, I can confirm they are defeated. One of the connections to a teammate disappeared, turning around I see the enemy flanking our side heavily. Seeing the team struggling to push back the enemy, I ran as fast as I could hopping from cover to cover while condensing another sonar grenade throwing it towards the enemy.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Before the grenade could land an enemy threw a ball of condensed mana, colliding with it, absorbing it, then dissipated. Immediately after I condensed four small sonar grenades in one hand while condensing one medium sized grenade in the other. I threw the grenade then directly after I threw the sonars, the sonars landed on obstacles around the area sticking to the surface before expanding. Due to the small size, also the fact that it was able to stick to surfaces, made it more difficult for the enemy to not only see them in these conditions but, also stopped them from destroying the sonars before they could take effect.


    Even though they could not stop the smaller sonars grenades they attempted to stop my grenade by once again throwing out a ball of condensed mana. Right before the ball of condensed mana could come in contact with the grenade and negate it, the grenade split into two, one half colliding with the mana, the other half landing on the ground then exploding a few seconds later. The impact of the grenade did not manage to take any of the enemies out, but managed to disrupt them as well as take up some of their time, and focus.


    Approaching my teammates that were taking cover behind a wall, a grenade lands directly in front of the wall blowing it up sending me flying. Standing to my feet while grabbing my head trying to shake the ringing out of my head, I look around me, Daniel, Eric, and Tyler are still managing to hold the enemies off at our flanks, while the other one in our group who is still alive had also been blown away. I wobble over to her trying to help her up but as she grabs my hand a bullet flies through her skull.


    Following the shot that killed her, another comes directly at me. I hold my hand towards the bullet leaking out a bit of mana grabbing the bullet causing it to disintegrate. Three more shots come at me, I manage to stop two of them but one makes it through catching me in the leg. Grimacing in pain I concentrate mana in my legs running in the direction of the remaining members of my team.


    ¡°What¡¯s the plan boys?¡±


    ¡°Hmm..the one in the back looks to be the one collecting information from the battlefield, and organizing the strategies for their group. If we can manage to take them out then it will make it more difficult for them to act as efficiently as they currently are.¡±


    ¡°Gotcha, cover me I will take him out.¡±


    ¡°Roger¡±


    Nodding to Daniel I launch myself forward accelerating using my mana, heading straight for their back line. Right as I was about to reach the target the boy who scoffed at us, in the beginning, slid directly in front of me pulling out his pistol, and knife, swinging it at my throat. Leaning backward I managed to dodge the blade while taking out my own, then lunging at him swinging my knife at his wrist. He drops his grip on his knife changing the direction it was facing downwards intercepting the blade of my knife with his own.


    ¡°Wow!, what a surprise. I figured you were gonna be complete trash, just another boring, easy win. This time it looks like I can have some fun after all¡±


    Ignoring his taunting I began to assault him with slashes and stabs. Managing to intercept my blade each time he began returning the attacks. Catching his knife with my own I created 3 needles, tossing them at his leg. Dodging the needles he jumped backward before wearing a grin while staring at me.


    ¡°Hoho lemme guess. Those needles stab into my leg then burst causing my leg to split open huh? Clever but you are gonna have to be quicker, Lemme show you a trick of my own.¡±


    The mana in the air began to fluctuate while his aura started to become more, and more intense. I charge at him trying to prevent him from doing whatever he is about to do, but instead, he appears behind me grabbing me, then throwing me. Sending me flying a few feet, I hit the ground rolling a couple more inches before stopping. Looking up, I no longer see him, Sensing him from behind me I begin turning around, not being able to react fast enough I am thrown into the air, before being axe kicked straight into the ground again.


    I hear my team trying to assist me, but they are being pushed back by the other enemies who are completely suppressing them. Managing to stand back up to my feet, my enemy walks in front of me with a large grin on his face, his mana cloak surrounding him as if made out of fire.


    ¡°Hahaha¡­. So, looks like you newbies haven''t learned about mana burst yet have you. Ah, what a shame, you lot never stood a chance.¡±

 Chapter 7 - Skirmish Pt.2

    Standing hunched over gasping for air I stare at my foe. Mana burst what is that? I have never heard of it before. It must be related to his mana aura flowing in the wind engulfed in a gentle flame. As I thought about how to fight against this new element known as mana burst, I feel the connection with the rest of my team disappear.


    The rest of the enemy team slowly surrounds me with grins on their faces. Wielding weapons that did not look like they were built using metal ores. I could tell through my senses that these weapons were cloaked in their mana, no, they were created using their mana.


    ¡°Okin! How is that possible to create weapons using mana?¡±


    ¡°Hmm..oh it¡¯s actually quite easy, actually, time to create one now hehe.¡±


    ¡°Wait... What... How?¡±


    ¡°Simple, the same way you project your mana onto a weapon. Simply let the mana flow from your hand enveloping the weapon. Only, this time...there is no weapon.¡±


    ¡°Sigh, as expected from the advice you would give...always make it sound so damn easy¡­.¡±


    ¡°Stop the bitching, and get to it or you are just gonna continue getting your ass whooped.¡±


    Ugh, Okin always has a habit of making things so easy. Especially tasks that normally take time, as well as effort to be able to successfully accomplish. Then again¡­. He is always right¡­. Sigh¡­. The enemy team was now surrounding me in range to attack, but right as they lifted their weapons to engage their leader halted them.


    ¡°Stop!... This one is a bit different I want to take my time fighting this one. I feel like he is still hiding a few tricks under his sleeve..¡±


    During his conversation among his team, I began leaking mana from my palm. Envisioning it forming around a weapon the same way I would in the case of augmenting the abilities of my weapon using my mana. I tried my best but was not succeeding in forming any type of shape, during my time of concentration their leader began once again focusing on me. A wide smile across his face walking with a swagger forming his own mana weapon. Next thing I know we are nose to nose his arm swinging towards my throat with a sai in hand. His sai scrapes across my neck next to my jugular leaving a small cut.


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    Just barely managing to dodge I augment my legs jumping into a triple backflip in an attempt to gain some distance. To no success right as I land, I am welcomed by another rush hearing the cold ¡°Fwoosh¡± of the metal flying through the air. Not being able to dodge the attack, I stick out my palm, catching the sai with my palm causing it to pierce directly through my palm to the hilt.


    At that moment I finally manage on a whim to manipulate my mana into the form of a weapon. Using the dire situation I am in and the adrenaline rush I was able to push myself, the result is a huge long scythe, clouded in a dark eerie shadow like aura.


    ¡°Ah, so you managed to make a breakthrough in the heat of battle, have you. Congratulations, although...that will not be any help, after all, not being able to mana burst will be your downfall.¡±


    He retracts his mana dismantling his sai, using the momentum and insufficient resistance to move past my hand then once again re-producing his sai. Knowing his burst form is strong enough to break through my guard. I instead use my newly acquired scythe, swiping up diagonally upwards like an uppercut, catching the sai by the side of the hilt. Yanking back my scythe I manage to ruin his stance. Attempting to cash in on the gap in his guard I spin around my scythe, ducking, spinning my body in circles swiping my weapon at his feet.


    Successfully dropping him onto the ground, I slash my scythe down onto his body, but I only pierce into the dirt below. Looking up from the ground, his weapon is inches from my face. Throwing up my scythe in hopes of dodging, the second the sai reaches the scythe of my blade the enemy re-appears holding the sai passing it through my scythe piercing his weapon directly into my chest.


    I thrust out my leg kicking him in his chest then jump backwards out of his reach.


    ¡°Hmm... You are much stronger than I anticipated¡­.even without burst form. You are a very interesting little beginner, but, It is time to put this to an end.¡±


    Telling me that he no longer wishes to dilly dally he reaches his hand into the sky. Strong raging currents of mana begin to leak from the palm of his hand, dashing toward him in an attempt to stomp him, a fiery spear descends stabbing in the ground directly before me. Looking towards his direction I see right above his handheld to the sky, he has hundreds of spears created from fire floating above him. Dropping his arm downwards the spears began dropping towards the ground, everything in front of me turned red.


    Laying on the ground leaking blood, gasping for breath. The enemy leader walks up to me.


    ¡°You lasted long, and managed to do pretty well, but, this is your loss learn well from this¡­¡±


    I stare directly at him anticipating the blade an feel of my flesh being pierced, but right as the sai was about to stab into my heart. The surroundings freeze, confused I looked at the enemy before me, then the surroundings. Everything stopped frozen in time, I notice that all my pain, all my fatigue, all of it, was gone as if it never happened. Standing up I looked around, then called out to Okin.


    ¡°O-Okin... What is going on?¡±


    ¡°Ho-Ho... Looks like your real body is beginning to wake.¡±


    ¡°Wait what do you mean? Normally awakening from our astral forms does not happen in this manner?¡±


    ¡°No, Niko... I mean your Main body is awakening... This...body is not your own. Actually, it is not your body at all, you are only watching through the body of another living vicariously through them. Unconsciously you used your own mana projection without any machine to infiltrate the consciousness of another.¡±


    ¡°No.. N-No, no way that doesn''t even make sense they called my name, talked to me, I felt pain, sadness everything!¡±


    ¡°That is just your astral projection taking on the experiences as your own, which also caused you to hear, feel, touch, everything as if it was your own.¡±


    ¡°W-what..so for what reason am I hooked up to an astral projection machine then?¡±


    ¡°You aren''t Niko. It¡¯s part of your ability, you managed to do it without using a machine¡±


    ¡°T-Then.. Where am I really?¡±


    ¡°Where do you think? Looks like it is time to wake up and find out.¡±


    ¡°What? Okin... Hey, Okin!¡±


    Okin finished what he was saying, then he went quiet. Towards the entrance to the arena the gate we entered from there shone a bright light. Feeling drawn to the light, I slowly walk towards it.

 Chapter 8 - Awakening

    Passing through the blinding light I am engulfed within. Unable to see anything, I continue walking forwards a few steps before the door behind me slams shut with a ¡°THUD¡±, all light within the room snapped off, except for a tiny spot under a lightbulb that was slightly swaying. Moving towards the small bit of light I hear Okin''s voice.


    ¡°Ah, so once again this brings the end of another short journey eh?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean Okin? What journey? What do you mean again?¡±


    ¡°You see Niko, the one thing the military did not expect when creating us, was some of our abilities being stronger, as well as having effects that go beyond their calculations.¡±


    ¡°Is this related to you mentioning us not being in the body of that other boy?¡±


    ¡° Much so¡­. We have a stronger form of mana projection, usable without machines. The downfall of this ability though, is we retain the muscle memory as well as the mana of your slain enemies, but, you will lose all visual memories and emotions from your time in mana projection. You are also, only able to latch onto other people like a leech, you cannot personally train within mana projection.¡±


    ¡°So does this mean we have done this multiple times before? Having it end with me forgetting everything?¡±


    ¡°Basically¡­. That is how an anomaly or I, Okin, was created. The Mana projection before this one was our first, feeling the visual parts of the experiences fading, you decided to split into two, carrying the knowledge, and visuals over to me. Although I like to envision myself as the darker more corrupted version of the two of us, while you are the innocent child that still has a chance¡­.¡±


    ¡°How long did we spend in our first projection, where are we now?¡±


    ¡°Hmm... I believe the first guy was about a year before he was mowed down in battle, pretty brutally actually, poor bastard was shot off of one of the transport ships falling straight for the ground. For our location¡­. We are¡­ in a vat within the military research ship.¡±


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    ¡°A what!... Why are we there?¡±


    ¡°Oh, simply put, this is where we were created. We were created two years ago, in the vat we are currently unconsciously floating in.¡±


    ¡°But...even if we never actually fought in the arena within the body of that kid, weren''t we in his subconscious for 5 years?¡±


    ¡°No, not at all. Not even close, think more along the lines of just the last two months, but that was just playing out parts and bits of his memory. The feeling is longer due to absorbing the memories, experiences, etc, it makes you become the person in personality causing the illusion of physically being the person.¡±


    ¡°Wha...so...then, what is next?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ good question. I believe that depends, we cannot actually see or hear what is going on outside of the tank, just muffled voices, among other noises. So there is no way to be one hundred percent sure of when they plan to wake you up, so unless they do that, you will begin losing your memory within the next half hour, then continue the cycle of endless mana projection training. Not only that, once you wake up you will be a blank slate due to the effect of our mana projection, mixed with the fact that your awakening will be your birth, so without the memories of others you have nothing.


    ¡°Sigh...sounds like a pain in the ass, it''s so hard to believe but... I suppose I do not really have much of a choice eh?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the leftover personality talking, based on the situation the unbelievable has already happened, no reason to deny it now.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough, So...what is your goal Okin?¡±


    ¡°Mmm...goal eh? Same as when you split yourself creating me. Survival for Niko¡­¡±


    ¡°How do I know I can trust you?¡±


    ¡°Well for One, I am you¡­. Two, I am stronger, having the capability to take over whenever I like. I choose not to, it is too much work. Would rather work in tandem as long as I can rampage from now and then. Being the personality with a huge burden due to some of our abilities, it''s nice to let loose a little.¡±


    ¡°Fair... Wait, what other abilities do we have?¡±


    ¡°That my friend, will come in due time, more fun when used in battle hahaha.¡±


    ¡°Sigh¡±


    Following my sigh of defeat, I feel my mind turn fuzzy while slowly opening my tired blurry eyes. Not being able to see much of anything, I scan my surroundings, I can¡¯t make heads or tails of anything happening. I do not recognize my surroundings, not even the things in front of me. Thinking to myself trying to understand the current situation, I hear a clear voice speak to me.


    ¡°Ready yourself, they are coming over, remember to them you are their creation, a tool for war, few people will be trustworthy.¡±


    ¡°.....¡±


    I do not bother replying to this strange, and random voice that I do not recognize. "CLANK", "SHHH", I hear a loud clunking noise followed by a strange hissing, bubbles from below begin to float up while water drains out the bottom. A person wearing a lab coat walks forward as I fall on my ass no longer being carried by the water. The person walked closer reaching down towards the tube in my mouth, Reacting to the person''s movement I grab their arm twisting it behind their back before reaching for a pen in their right breast pocket holding it to their throat.


    ¡°....¡±


    I don¡¯t speak for I don''t even comprehend my own actions when he reached towards me, my body moved by itself performing a very smooth, natural feeling sequence of motions. I look up staring at the other lab coat wearing people, while the soldiers aimed their guns at me with strange looks on their faces, the guns held within their hands slightly shook.


    ¡°Niko, we are not trying to harm you. We only want to take off the cords and the tubes in your mouth.¡±


    My eyes dart in the direction of the voice landing on a tall slender mature looking woman wearing a lab coat. Looking into her eyes I see no wavering, I then use my mana to sense her heartbeat...she is not lying. After confirming she is telling the truth, I quietly put down the weapon, releasing the terrified lab worker from my grasp.

 Chapter 9 - Awakening Pt.2

    Being released, the lab worker quickly stumbles past the soldiers. I begin to look around me, seeing the unsurety in the faces of the soldiers who still look a bit shaken up, I steady myself. Raising the pen with my thumb on the bottom for the purpose of making it easier if the need for using it comes into play. The women who called out to me earlier looks towards me who is preparing to attack, quickly rushing over to one of the guards shoving his gun downwards.


    ¡°Stop! Put the guns down or do you want him killing all of us!¡±


    Hearing what the women said, the soldiers around jolt slightly before quickly putting down their guns.


    ¡°....¡±


    I quietly stare at the woman as she takes charge of the situation smoothly, and quickly.


    ¡°Niko, you can understand what I am saying right?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Quietly nodding I verify my ability to understand her.


    ¡°Perfect! Now is it okay if I come over to take off those cords?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Again nodding my head, I gave her permission to come closer. She smiled then began to sprightly walk over. While she was fiddling about with the cords, I once again heard a clear voice speaking as if it was directly in my ear.


    ¡°Hmm... She seems so familiar¡­... Oh, I remember, she is the sister of the body from our first projection...ah, that would explain why you are feeling so accepting of her. Although, for a second I was thinking it''s due to her just being a beauty, but, then again, you don''t have the understanding for what that means as of the moment huh... Sigh, this memory loss thing is gonna be hard, especially with the lack of emotion and understanding...ugh.¡±


    ¡°..... Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Wow, quite aggressive there huh buddy, calm it down a few levels why don''t you, I am not the enemy here. I am Okin, think of me as a more handsome, confident, better version of you. During the conclusion of our first projection, we decided to split into two, seeing as how you lose your memories after every projection, only retaining the physical memory. I, on the other hand, retain everything. Which to the looks of it, is useful, seeing as how due to your only experiences having been the projections, you have lost those experiences, so now that you have been awoken from the vat we were created in, you are a literal newborn.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Hmm... So... We are connected then?¡±


    ¡°Connected, dude we are literally the same person!¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    After explaining who he was, and our connection, Okin began going on a tangent about how great he was as well as the things he is capable of. It seems he is pretty excited that we are finally out of the vat, moving around on our own two feet. Ignoring his consistent babbling, I dive back into reality, where the woman seems to be finishing.


    ¡°Niko, why don¡¯t we go ahead with getting you some clothes'' huh?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    I nod accepting her offer. Seeing this she smiles once again before grabbing my hand as she leads me to the door of the lab before being stopped by a lab worker.


    ¡°Ashley! What are you doing, we have to run some tests to make sure everything is fine. He was just awoken for the first time. We still need to figure out what the extent of his abilities is.¡±


    ¡°Alex, it¡¯s fine, let me at least get him some clothes, as well as get him a tad bit more comfortable so that everyone is not on edge. Afterwards, there will be more than enough time to run the tests.¡±


    ¡°Ugh... Fine, but remember, He is not just an ordinary little boy so do not try treating him like your younger brother who passed away. He alone could easily kill everyone in this room if we upset him.¡±


    ¡°... I know...but, I am the only one he seems willing to trust, so why don''t we make this easier for us huh?¡±


    ¡°Fine, we will try this your way, as long as you get him to do what I want him to, I would hate to have to lose our first successful attempt at our new projects shortly after it awakens.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Ashley tugged on my hand continuing to move past the door into the hallway, as I passed by the lab worker known as Alex he glances at me causing us to meet eye to eye. Our eyes connecting made Alex show a slight sense of unease.


    Ashley and I walked down a large wide hallway that diverged into different rooms. A few moments of walking, we came to a split, continuing to walk forwards Ashley eventually came to a stop in front of a room. Ashley took out a keycard, swiping it on a panel next to the door, ¡°Fwoosh¡±, the door flew open.


    ¡°Alright Niko, this is the room you will be using. First, let me help you get dressed, then I will go over the features of the room.¡±


    Ashley helped me get dressed in the uniform I have seen the soldiers wearing. She explained the differences in our uniforms, she even vaguely explained why I was wearing a soldier uniform, telling me I was created by her team to help protect the people of Ailiven. After showing the inner workings of the room like the alarm, lights, card panel, closet, phone, etc, we left the room returning to the lab.


    Upon entering the room to the lab we saw the lab workers huddled together while Alex was speaking to an older man wearing a military uniform. Noticing Ashley and I enter the room, Alex turns around yelling out to Ashley.


    ¡°Ashley! Finally, General Felix has been awaiting your arrival to observe the checkups of Niko.¡±


    General Felix looked down at me with a look of surprise before activating his mana creating a large majestic cloak that wrapped around his body, giving him the appearance of a king in military fatigues. He then leaked his mana pouring it out rapidly before shooting it in my direction. Using nothing but reflexes, before I knew it, I had activated my own fully formed mana cloak that draped down my body, it resembled a poncho with a section wrapped around my neck like a scarf. It exuded power, after quickly forming my mana cloak I sent the aura of my mana howling towards the general. The glass to the vat exploded, paperwork on desks was flung around the room.


    ¡°Interesting, he is powerful no? Let us move to the training room why don¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    The general stopped using his mana, then began to walk towards the door, waving for everyone else to follow behind.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go Niko!¡±


    Ashley called out to me before beginning to follow behind the general. Leaving the room we walk down the hallway until we hit the split, this time we turn down the hall that leads to an elevator at the end of it. Entering the elevator we went down three floors to the bottom of the ship, when the elevator doors opened up we were introduced to a wide open, and empty room.


    ¡°Alright boy, let¡¯s see what you got!¡±


    Immediately following his words, the general and I, were already face to face as he lifted his fist, hurling it directly at my face.

 Chapter 10 - Awakening Pt.3

    Tilting my head slightly dodging his punch, I feel the strong wind and power of his punch brush past my cheek. Quickly grabbing the generals arm, I twist my body throwing him over my shoulder. The General manages to land on his feet, before launching a kick directly at my stomach. I slide on the ground through his legs condensing my mana into threads, then I throw the threads wrapping them around the general¡¯s other leg.


    I enhance my arms with mana before positioning myself onto one knee firmly grasping the thread, then swinging it as hard as I could, then dissolved the thread wrapped around the general¡¯s leg sending him flying into the wall. The others off to the side spectating stared into the cloud of dirt with looks of shock and surprise. Looking into the cloud of dirt I could vaguely see a pile of rubble with bits and pieces sliding around along with the sound of debris scraping each other.


    ¡°Haha, what a strong little monster eh? We will have many uses for something like you¡­ Good¡­ Good! Now! Let us see how you hand it when I actually go all out!¡±


    The General stood from the debris activating his mana cloak along with a hulking mass of mana that formed the shape of a two-handed broadsword. I was not really sure why he was getting so excited about being tossed aside like a sack of potatoes, so, I slightly tilted my head in confusion. Sensing that he was about to make a move, I activated my mana cloak while leaking mana out around me creating a light fog that quickly spread filling the room.


    General Felix became slightly more cautious due to the fog, but, during that slight hesitation, General Felix noticed his mana was being drained from his body, while the energy within Niko, increased.  The Generals mana cloak flickered as he was slowly losing the ability to keep it activated, falling to one knee as he looks at Niko. Looking at Niko, General Felix noticed that the fog was spread throughout the whole room, he looked to the direction of the lab members who came with them, they were all on their knees struggling to keep conscious as their energy was sucked from their bodies.


    ¡°Niko! Enough! Dissipate the fog before you kill them!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I tilt my head looking at the general


    ¡°Okin, what does it mean to kill?¡±


    ¡°Ah, that¡­ It means to Cause someone¡¯s Death¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Death?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the permanent ending to the living process of the beings that reside in the world.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Do we care? He attacked us¡­so he tried killing us right? So now we kill him?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ He just wanted to see how strong you were he wasn¡¯t trying to kill you. Killing him and the other¡¯s doesn¡¯t really matter, personally, I would be down to do it anytime, buuuut¡­ The memories I have of Ashley from our first projection won¡¯t allow us to kill her too much of a connection¡­ maybe next time.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Well, go with what you say Okin.¡±


    I deactivated my mana cloak while absorbing the mana I had leaked out. Everyone collected themselves after a short rest, then we all made our way back to the lab. Returning to the lab Ashley began doing the basic tests they meant to do before the earlier commotion. General Felix and Alex watched us as they conversed about the recent events.


    ¡°Alex, what did you guys create? He is far more powerful than you guys said he would be.¡±


    ¡°Ah, yes general. It seems he has surpassed our expectations. He has all the tech from previous projects built into him directly, that have all been re-developed and perfected. We also gave him basic knowledge like fighting tactics and language understanding abilities, it would be a problem if he was dumb.¡±


    ¡°Can he speak? You say he was given basic knowledge but, he just blankly stares?¡±


    ¡°Well, he can, it just seems like he doesn¡¯t care to bother with us, even though we gave him basic knowledge, he has yet to develop nor truly understand what it all means, as well as lacks common sense¡­. For some reason he seems pretty taken to Ashley, she is the only one he responds to at all.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ well, we need to use that as an advantage then. With his strength, he will prove to be the strongest soldier, a truly efficient machine of war.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir, first we should teach him some basic common sense, or else, it will be hard getting him to be efficient for our cause.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ that is true, what do you suggest? The academy?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir, it might be risky, but, it is the only way for him to get some military education before we have him sortie.¡±


    ¡°Understood Alex, get it done make sure you have Ashley watch over him properly, she is now in charge of him. The last thing we want to do is lose control of him.¡±


    ¡°Yes General!¡±


    The general left the room, immediately after Alex started walking up to Ashley.


    ¡°Ashley, how is it looking?¡±


    ¡°Alex, He blows way past our calculations. We sat him down to take the standard academy test for applicants, and he managed to get perfect scores, not only that but, as you saw before he has amazing strength as well as unbelievable mana manipulation. He will without a doubt become one of our strongest assets.¡±


    ¡°That is good news! The General and I just discussed the idea of having him join the academy. Do you think you can control him?¡±


    ¡°Uhh, I suppose. I also don¡¯t really think I have much of a choice, he doesn¡¯t seem to even react to anyone else, not only that, even though he is intelligent with high combat capabilities, he is ignorant to everything else, also lacks in common sense of the world. Although I worry about what may happen if he loses control.¡±


    ¡°True, we will have to keep a very close eye on him so he doesn¡¯t ruin some of the children that might have valuable talent.¡±


    ¡°Will do, for now, I think it will be good to allow him to retire for the night, then I will bring him to the academy in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good Ashley, Come back when you are done we have a lot more to discuss and prepare for.¡±


    Ashley began to walk to the door waving for me to follow behind her. She leads me back to the room, making sure I properly had everything I needed for the night then left. I laid down on the bed thinking over the events that happened today while getting explanations and lessons from Okin. A few hours later I rolled over shutting my eyes, shortly after, I was woken by the sound of banging coming from the door.

 Chapter 11 - Sirens Are Never Good

    ¡°BANG¡± ¡°BANG¡±, hearing the loud banging on my door I get up and walk to the door, as I stand before the door getting ready to open it, I finally begin fully waking up and the sound of a loud piercing siren enter my ears. Pulling back the door, I stand face to face with one of the soldiers from the other evening.


    ¡°Niko! I was sent to come to get you by Ashley. The ship is currently under attack, we must hurry!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Lazily staring at the soldier I follow behind him as he quickly leads me towards a large room with a gigantic table inside surrounded by The General, soldiers, Ashley, as well as other crew members.


    ¡°Ah, Niko!¡±


    Walking into the room Ashley called out to me, trotting towards my direction. Approaching the front of me, Ashley kneels down looking into my eyes.


    ¡°Niko, this fleet has been stationed here because this zone is an area known to accrue many mana pools over time. Due to the war, we have with Ayria this has been a hotspot for battle, although we have managed to hold the position. Today is different though, there ¡¯s a huge fleet coming in this direction. It looks like they wanna take this zone so that they can gain the resource for themselves for a mana heavy project we may have uncovered through our spies. I need your help to repel them. Will you help me?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I tilt my head a bit before nodding to Ashley letting her know I accept her request. She gently smiles at me before giving her thanks and walking me over to the table the other¡¯s have been standing at while having a heated discussion.


    As we were about to reach an open spot at the table to listen in to the conversation a loud ¡°Boooom!!¡± Rang out shaking the entire ship. Now instead of the one-alarm ringing non-stop, there were multiple sirens blaring absurdly loud as soldiers frantically yelled and hollered trying to find out what was happening as we heard the agonizing scream of those in pain.


    ¡°Where did that come from!¡±


    ¡°Beneath us sir¡­. Somehow they snuck up on us under the radar!¡±


    ¡°Fuck, everyone get ready for battle now!!¡±


    Everyone hurriedly scattered in every direction, but the barrage continued.


    ¡°Boom!¡± ¡°Boom!¡±


    The sound of other ships being destroyed and damaged by the enemies could be heard in the surrounding area.


    ¡°Niko! This ship is fitted with a mana powered generator that radiates an aura of concentrated mana into the surroundings. Use that tool to fly with the other troops to board their ship and go on the offensive!¡±If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Turning away from Ashley I notice a hole on the side of the ship caused by the first barrage from one of the enemy¡¯s ships. I decide to use that as an exit, so I walk towards it. As I  approached the hole my view was filled with the scene of ships shooting each other as soldiers flew in the skies towards the ships in an effort to board, gun, and magic wielding soldiers shot at those on board while being shot at from the soldiers attempting to prevent the boarding attempts. Groups of soldiers had already managed to reach the enemies ships, but, we¡¯re having a hard time contesting the bow and stern of the ship. Our forces seemed to be on the losing side, being sneak attacked and now also being overwhelmed in the combat strength of the personnel.


    ¡°Niiko!, let me play! Let me let loose a bit come on dude!¡±


    ¡°¡­ Fine¡±


    Okin wanted to take over this situation, he saw it as an opportunity to let loose a bit. I don¡¯t have a reason to disagree, so I handed over control to him.


    ¡°Fuck yeah time to cause some mayhem!¡±


    Immediately after his statement, Okin turned around towards Ashley giving her a wink before allowing himself to fall backward off the ship.


    ¡°Niko, remember that the machines used by these people in these wars are all created and powered using processed mana, sometimes man-made mana alternatives. The mana within us can still interact with that mana allowing us to do many things, for example, fly, all you have to do is feel it!¡±


    Okin, activated our mana cloak as our body began to glide through the sky in the direction of the enemies ship as cannon fire, magic, and bullets bounce off of our protective barrier Okin created using mana.


    ¡°Remember the feeling when I fight, you will be able to develop your own abilities and understand our powers better.¡±


    Okin created bullets of mana shooting them into the bodies of soldiers as we whizzed past them at high speeds. The bullets did not stop after piercing the first person, as if they were alive they began zigzagging from one after the other weaving in and out.


    ¡°Ahhhhh! YES! Gotta love that fresh supply of mana we absorb from the bodies of our fallen foes such an invigorating feeling, I love being a monster hahahaha!¡±


    Okin continues his slaughter as he loudly howled in laughter. Minutes later we finally landed on the bow of the ship cracking the ground, momentarily stopping those around causing them to stare in our direction before having all the enemy soldiers began focusing on us. The barrier was too strong none of their magic, weapons, nor bullets could put even a scratch onto us. Noticing that their attacks have no effect at all they begin to run in panic.


    ¡°HAHAHA, you will not escape me, I will absorb your mana!!¡±


    Okin flicked his finger in the direction of the retreating enemy sending the bullets that were floating around him piercing directly through each and every one of the enemy soldiers. During this whole course of events Okin, and I had not noticed the ship aiming a gigantic cannon on the stern of the ship aimed directly for the ship we came from. Okin¡¯s face turned serious sending the bullets flying towards the cannon where it expanded on impact with the cannon causing an explosion destroying the stern of the ship.


    Even though we managed to destroy the cannon it had already shot a concentrated ball of pure mana directly towards our fleet, once it made contact it expanded rapidly engulfing the whole fleet in a bluish white tint causing the surrounding audience to cover their eyes as the winds howled in our ears. A few minutes later the draft calmed down allowing us to put our arms down no longer needing to cover our faces, leaving an empty view. No ships were left from the fleet, everything moments ago had been completely vaporized.


    ¡°FUUUUUUCK ASHLEEEY! YOU PIECES OF FUCKING SHIT!¡±


    In an angry fit of rage Okin concentrated a large amount of mana then quickly expanding it out from our entire body causing a gigantic explosion even bigger than the cannon blast destroying everything within sight. Expanding so much mana caused our body to grow weak as we fell from the sky, our vision fading to black.

 Chapter 12 - Lost

    I slowly opened my hazy eyes only to be blinded by the brightness of the sun. My touch fluffed by a soft, yet hard feeling as my fingers ruffled through the small moist blades of grass. I could not help but wonder where I was as I slowly looked around, only to see the debris of destroyed ships scattered around the area. It looked as if I was currently in a forest with trees that towered over me as high as my eyes could see. My body ached with pain, I was hardly able to even move.


    The mana within my body didn¡¯t seem to respond either, so trying to heighten my senses to scan my surroundings was impossible.


    ¡°Okin, I.. Can¡¯t use my mana what is going on?¡±


    ¡°¡­.¡±


    A few minutes went by without any response from Okin. Whatever has happened with my body has shut out not only my mana but, also the connection between me and Okin. Managing to slowly wobble to my feet, I aimlessly started to walk south of the site not sure how deep in I was, or when ill stumble across any form of civilization. Fumbling around in the woods for a few minutes, I hear a large growling coming from a short distance in front of me within some bushes. Not being in a fit enough position to fight whatever is over there, I hide behind an old tree that had fallen over at some point in time in an attempt to avoid battle.


    ¡°Raawr! Raaaaaaaawrrrrrrr!¡±


    The ear piercing howl of the beast cried out once again, but this time it was closer than before. Moments following the roar, I spot a panther slowly coming out from the bushes. Scanning in front of its area the panther progressed towards my location, closer, and closer. As the panther was losing interest in the area, he decided to wander away from my location. Right as it was about to leave my sight disappearing into the tree¡¯s a squirrel jumped down from the trees crunching twigs as he crossed sides to climb up onto another tree. At that moment the interest of the panther was re-triggered turning him around to face directly at my location, managing to see my head peeking over the fallen tree.


    ¡°Raaaawr!¡±


    After spotting me, the panther sprinted at me full charge leaving little to no room to react. With my crippled body, I attempt to run as fast as I can before diving in front of a tree just barely missing the paw of the panther as it leaped directly where I was previously standing. Landing on the ground I turn around facing the panther who has already begun changing directions, leaping directly onto me while I don¡¯t have enough time to move out of the way.


    ¡°BANG! BANG!¡±


    Gunshots pierce through the sky quieting the world as the panther goes limp in mid-air. The mana from the panther was not absorbed this time, unlike normal my body rejected the intake of any more mana. Instead, it caused my body to feel even weaker as well as causing me to vomit then shortly after, I passed out. Once again waking up, I scan my surroundings, this time I seem to have been brought to someone¡¯s home to rest and recover. I could smell something sweet coming from outside the room, collecting myself, I slowly sat up walking towards the exit of the room. Just before leaving the room I could hear faint voices on the other side, when I open the room I see two women, one around my age while the other looks to be in her mid-thirties, she is probably the younger girls mother.Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°Ahhh so he is awake!¡±


    ¡°Kya!¡±


    ¡°Oh, my!¡±


    Once the two heard me enter they turned towards me as they greeted me. The younger girl let out a small shocked cry, while the mother covered her mouth with flushed cheeks. Noticing their stares I looked down towards my own body, I did not notice that I was naked.


    ¡°Mmm¡­ let me get you some clothes, the ones you were wearing are all tattered and destroyed.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I was not sure why my current appearance warranted a shocked reaction but it seems the cause was because I Was not wearing clothes, I did not bother rejecting her offer, I figured it would be easier to cooperate for now since it seems as though these people have helped me.


    ¡°Go back into the room, and I¡¯ll be right back with some clothes for you to change into.¡±


    The women left the room, for several minutes before reappearing with a handful of different pieces of clothing spread across her arm.


    ¡°Here sweetheart try these on.¡±


    She pushes the clothes into my arms before backing out of the room. Changing my clothes I notice they have a different feel from my previous outfit given to me on the ship. These clothes had a bit of a lower quality but were still decently good. Finishing up changing into the new clothes I once again exit the room.


    ¡°Ah! How handsome!¡±


    Clapping her hands together the women commented on my appearance in the clothes.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing that our neighbor still had clothes from when their son was your age. So, why don¡¯t you come sit down now that we have that all situated and let¡¯s enjoy our breakfast shall we? Afterward, I¡¯ll take you to speak with the chief of the village to talk about your situation. Oh, by the way, My name is Erica, and this is my daughter Hannah.¡±


    ¡°Hello!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I quietly nod in their direction then point to myself stating my name.


    ¡°Niko.¡±


    ¡°Ah, so you do talk!¡±


    The younger girl who has more or less been quiet up until now ended up blurting out after hearing me talk.


    ¡°Oops! My apologies, I was just surprised to hear you talk this whole time you just calmly looked around nodding your head or tilting it to the side in acknowledgment to our words. I was not sure if you could speak or not.


    I couldn¡¯t help but be confused by the outgoing and easily excitable personality of this mother-daughter duo, being pretty new to people there is a lot to learn, and among the few, I have had contact with none of them were like this¡­strange.


    Following the little episode, I quietly sat eating the food the mother served as mother and daughter spoke about the village telling me about the people, and the simple jobs they do around the village. Finishing our breakfast the three of us walked to the chief¡¯s dwelling located at the north side of the village. Reaching the outside, Erica knocked stating it was her, a few seconds passed by before the door flew open as a man guided us inside.


    Entering the village chiefs home we were greeted by a room filled with men and women seated at a table who were having a heated discussion.


    ¡°We can¡¯t allow him in the village, not only do we not know where he came from, we don¡¯t need an extra mouth to feed!¡±


    Immediately after, everyone heard our group enter the room and turned their heads staring back at us.

 Chapter 13 - Lost Pt.2

    Having all eyes fixed on my location made me feel slightly uneasy. So far I have consistently garnered attention from those around me. Of course, I have learned in this short amount of time that the cause is due to being an anomaly. Although this is the first time I have had eyes on me filled with worry and distrust.


    ¡°Ah, Erica!! Welcome!¡±


    One of the women at the table called out, prancing up to Erica with a friendly smile on her face.


    ¡°Oh, is this the boy? Hey there, my name is Katie, but, most call me Kat.¡±


    She crouched down to my level while looking at my face with a warm genuine smile.


    ¡°Hello¡­. I am Niko.¡±


    ¡°Niko, huh. Welp, why don¡¯t we go over and have a seat and get started with the meeting, okay.¡±


    ¡°Nods¡±


    Katie began turning around to walk back towards the table but is stopped due to Erica lightly grabbing her arm. Katie turns around with a confused face, Erica scoots closer to Katie whispering to her.


    ¡°Hey, Katie, why do some of the council look so upset about Niko?¡±


    ¡°They are afraid that he might be one of the child soldiers from Ailiven, They are worried they might come for him if they know he is here.¡±


    ¡°But, we can¡¯t just abandon this child who is in need, even if he is one of the child soldiers then we need to try helping him, I hear they are treated horribly, tortured and forced to become killing machines it¡¯s so awful.¡±


    ¡°I understand how you feel Erica, some of us on the council are not against helping him, but, we still don¡¯t know anything about him, so if we did decide to help him we would have to be sure he is not going to cause a threat to the village by being here. For now Let¡¯s sit and finish the discussion with the council, okay?¡±


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°Okay¡±


    Katie led the two of us over to where everyone else sat, there were two seats open next to Katie where she gestured for us to sit. As if sitting was a sign to once again continue the conversation the others around the table seemed to have forgotten our existence already and once again began debating.


    ¡°I understand the opinions of those who are worried about bringing in Niko, due to the fact that he was found half a mile from the wreckage of the altercation between the Nation of Ailiven and the Nation of Ayria. When he was found he had a military uniform common among the Ailiven forces, so of course, we can assume that¡¯s where he is from. During the two weeks that he has been unconscious no one has come looking for him, the soldiers only came to check the wreckage and ask questions. They know we are a neutral village settled in between the two warring factions if they wanted to raid our village looking for him they would have done so without the worry of any repercussions. This leads me to believe that for whatever reason they are unaware of his existence and think he is dead along with the rest of the crew.¡±


    The whole table agreed with this point. Why would they just come and go without any search for the boy if they knew he existed? The children soldiers are rumored to be some of the most effective elite¡¯s Ailiven has. Some of the council once again stole a glance in my direction with a face full of thought. I could tell they were trying to come to an understanding about how they feel regarding the situation.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I hear your side clearly, Niko could you tell us a little about your situation? Where do you come from and how did you end up in the forest?¡±


    ¡°I was on one of the Ailiven ships. Ashley asked me to help defend against an attack when we got ambushed by Ayria ships trying to take over one of the outposts setup at a mana pool. Ayria destroyed the ship Ashley was on, so, I destroyed Ayria¡¯s ship in a fit of rage. I used up a significant amount of mana during the battle as well as causing myself to be injured, then I lost consciousness before waking up in the forest, where I managed to stumble around before being attacked and once again losing consciousness. Now we are brought to this current moment.¡±


    Everyone seemed surprised by my words. Erica looked at me, her mouth opening and closing before finally managing to speak.


    ¡°Niko, are you saying you managed to take down an entire ship?¡±


    ¡°Mmm¡­ Yeah, although I used up all my mana during my rage so it seems like I am unable to tap into my abilities, all I have left is my physical capabilities.¡±


    ¡°Is that normal for child soldiers?¡±


    ¡°¡­ I.. Don¡¯t know, I have never met any. Although due to the attitude of those that surrounded me, my capabilities seem abnormal.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ your situation seems a tad odd but due to the fact that the soldiers are not aggressively looking for you from either side, we will allow you to stay tell your wounds have healed. Worse case scenario we should be able to pass it off as just helping a child who was lost in our forest, and being neutral should save us from any issues, but, if we decide to allow you to stay you will be put to work helping the hunters on top of other jobs alright.¡±


    ¡°Nods¡±


    ¡°Alright then¡­ All in favor of allowing Niko to recover in our village say Ay.


    (All) ¡°Ay¡±


    ¡°Alright, then this will conclude the meeting for now. Erica, Katie, Since the two of you call the shots for the hunters why don¡¯t you take Niko to the training grounds.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good Chief!¡±


    Katie and Erica waved to me gesturing for me to follow behind, we then exited the village chiefs house.


    ¡°Chief, that boy is an unknown how can we just allow him into the village? Especially being a child soldier we have no idea what may happen.¡±


    ¡°Although he is a child soldier we cannot just leave him on his own. If Ailiven comes searching for him we can try to garner favor using the fact we helped their own. The child seems a little disconnected, who knows what he has been through, if we can help him then we should, you have heard the rumors of children soldiers correct? That is no way to live.¡±


    ¡°True, We all agreed in hopes that you are correct, so, let us pray we do not regret this decision.¡±

 Chapter 14 - Lost Pt.3

    Shortly following our exit from the chiefs house, we arrived at the training grounds. The training grounds were pretty small, only large enough to fit a few dozen people at once. Currently, there were about ten or so people training, who all looked rather young probably around 16-18 years old with a few being about 22-25.


    The form they had was not bad they seemed to have been trained fairly well, although, for the young ones their movements showed that they lacked experience. Seeing that I was watching the movements of the one¡¯s training Katie could tell that I was quietly judging them.


    ¡°Alright Niko, why don¡¯t we have a little spar to stretch your body a little bit seeing as how you were unconscious for a while?¡±


    ¡°Nods¡±


    Katie flashed a smile before walking to a rack that held some practice swords. On her way back a small group of the younger kids walked up to us, a boy who looked to be the oldest of the group looked down at me before smirking then facing towards Katie, and Erica.


    ¡°Good afternoon Captain Erica, and Vice Captain Katie!¡±


    ¡°Hello there Roger, how are all of you doing today?¡±


    ¡°Hello everyone!¡±


    ¡°Good¡± x3


    ¡°Everyone, let me introduce you to Niko. He will be staying with us in the village for a while.¡±


    ¡°Hello¡± x2


    Roger did not bother saying hello, instead he acted as if I did not exist at all.


    ¡°Vice Captain, we were wondering if you would give us some guidance in our training?¡±


    ¡°Of course! But, it will have to wait a little bit, I am actually gonna spar a bit with Niko here¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think you will be too much for him? Why waste your time and not have one of the younger kids spar with him? It will be more worth the time since they will both get something out of it, better yet why don¡¯t I spar with him a bit, I don¡¯t mind showing him a few moves, no point in the vice-captain having to bother with something so minor.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that is a good idea, Roger, Niko is a little bit abnormal I am not sure if you would be able to handle it.¡±


    ¡°Haha seriously, he won¡¯t even make me break a sweat, here watch!¡±


    ¡°Alright, Niko, do you mind?¡±


    ¡°Shakes head¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Alright then, here you go Niko¡±


    Katie handed me a sword that had its edges dulled so that they could not cut anyone. Erica, Katie and the group that was accompanying Roger moved off to the side so they would not hinder our sparring session.


    ¡°Are the two of you ready?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡±


    ¡°Nods¡±


    ¡°Alright, BEGIN!¡±


    Immediately after Katie yelled for us to begin, Roger Launched himself while readying his sword. I thought he was gonna go for a more complicated move but, instead stuck with a straightforward attack, it seems he completely underestimated me. I waited for the moment he was directly in front of me then in one swift movement while he was attempting to attack I parried, grabbing his wrist afterward throwing him to the ground.


    Seeing how quickly Roger was taken down Katie was trying to hold in her laughter while remembering how cocky he was seconds ago. Erica sat calmly with a face that showed she already expected the outcome. Roger stayed on the ground for some time with a shocked expression before he once again flew onto his feet shouting excuses from his mouth.


    ¡°He only won because I was going easy on him. He would not last even a second if I tried! Let¡¯s go again, this time I¡¯ll put some effort into it since it seems like you are not completely useless!¡±


    Somehow Roger managed to continue his cocky attitude, I found it a tad bit interesting but, mainly annoying. Once he finished complaining he once again readied himself, this time his face was more serious, interested to see what Rodger is capable of I also readied myself, standing in anticipation of an interesting battle. Erica looked at me with an apologetic face before collecting herself to watch over the next match.


    ¡°Are the both of you ready?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡±


    ¡°Nod¡±


    ¡°BEGIN!¡±


    Once again Roger pounced after the signal, closing the distance, instantly reaching directly in front of me, Roger disappears for a quick second before reappearing right behind me. I easily sensed his location, turning around blocking a kick he aimed for my head. Following Rogers kick, I lightly swiped his other foot out from underneath him sending Roger crashing to the ground.


    I was disappointed at the quick ending to our spar, due to his attitude and the way he was acting I got my hopes high expecting him to be a little bit more of an opponent but, I guess we don¡¯t always get what we want.


    ¡°Alright Roger that is enough now, we still have some tasks to finish for the day.¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±


    With his shoulders slumped and a face full of defeat Roger along with his group walked away going back to the training they were doing beforehand. Of course, Roger did not forget to make some more excuses as well as scowl at me. I was once again shocked at his constant attitude yet confused where the confidence comes from.


    Katie continued where we had left off with her and I sparring. Afterward, we walked through the village so they could give me a rundown on where the facilities are located including simple breakdowns of how the jobs are conducted. After an afternoon of sparring finished up with a tour of the village, we all retired to our dwellings for the night.


    ¡°Niko, tomorrow we will be leaving the village to hunt so try to rest up so you are ready alright!¡±


    ¡°Okay¡±


    Finishing preparation for tomorrow¡¯s hunt we all sat down for dinner, after eating I went to the room I am using, now that I finally have time to myself I sat on the bed trying to manipulate my mana. In my effort to circulate the mana within my body I was attempting to investigate the injury that is stopping my body from absorbing mana. An hour or so of trying to find some answers with no results I decided to leave it for the night, and get some rest. Tomorrow morning I will bring this up with Erica in hopes that she might have some information on this issue.

 Soldiers of Mana – Chapter 15 – Mirror

    Shortly after falling asleep my view was filled with an unfamiliar scenery of a huge cherry blossom tree. Off in the distance, you can still see the fading outline of an orphanage, the sun was low in the sky stuck in a frame as if it only had seconds left before setting. What is this place? And why have I been brought here in my sleep? I decided to look around for clues in hopes to find anything related to as why I have been brought here.


    The more I wander around the more I got the feeling of belonging as if I have been here before. Not only that but, the feeling of mana could be sensed again, although the feeling was weak I was surprised I could manipulate it seeing as how just minutes ago I was having trouble sensing or manipulating any mana at all. Soon after my excitement began to fade leading my attention elsewhere, in the distance I noticed a small figure lying under the cherry blossom tree, walking closer I saw a boy sprawled out fast asleep. His face looked just like mine but a few years older, his shaggy hair was short with his body being only slightly taller in height than me.


    Following my initial examination, my eyes settled on his clothes. He had strange black, grey fatigues with a lavender accent. During the short time I spent with Ashley and the others, they went over some military information, as well as basic common sense. In no current military uniform does the color purple or any variation of purple exist in their color scheme.


    I nudged his boot with my foot in hopes of waking him up. Two, or three nudges later there was still no response from the body below, slightly annoyed I raise my leg kicking angrily into his shoulder. Being knocked over the boy groaned a little bit in pain as he rubbed his shoulder looking in my direction. Once laying eyes on me the boy raised his lips in a welcoming smile before slowly standing up propping himself up on the cherry blossom tree.


    ¡°Ah Niko, finally you have come, I have been awaiting your arrival.¡±


    Standing up from the ground the boy''s face was revealed from underneath his shaggy hair. Revealing an eyepatch on his right eye while his left eye was purple.


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Great first question! But, have it be noted that the answer you desire is going to be more complicated than just a simple answer. Come sit with me underneath this beautiful tree, basking in the cool breeze as we talk and watch the sunset that never sets.¡±


    Not being able to sense any mana being used actively nor any aggression I decide to walk over to the tree sitting on a root protruding from the base.


    ¡°Perfect! Now to begin with your question Niko, I am you. More specifically I am the Niko from three years into the future.¡±


    Hearing the words that came out of his mouth left me a tad dumbfounded, I mean it would explain the fact that it feels like I am looking into a mirror that shows a few years into the future. Still, I never would have expected those words to come from his mouth. I put my mind to work in an attempt to wrap my head around the issue, granted it wasn''t hard to do so seeing as how his answer was straightforward, but, even still it leads into a multitude of questions.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°What proof do you have? How do I know this isn''t just my injured body playing tricks and in reality, I am just talking to a figment of my imagination? Maybe even Okin just fucking around with me.¡±


    ¡°Fair! I can see how this is an odd situation. Talking to a version of you from three years into the future. I better start defending my argument a tad bit here then eh? Welp, that will come as I explain my purpose of being here as well as how to begin, we will start with the state of your body. You are currently suffering from what is known as mana starvation, a normal person would just die after depleting all the mana within their body but of course, we are special now aren''t we. Your body has gone into a state of ¡°WHAT THE FUCK is happening¡± attempting to gobble up any mana that it can find until it feels the levels have gone back to normal. Being able to consume the mana of fallen foes managed to recharge your body enough to keep you alive after the depletion, it even kept you alive after your little Humpty Dumpty episode, fuck being unconscious for two weeks we would not be here at all. Although it is to early to be happy, this is an issue no one in this time frame has dealt with so you cannot bring it up with anyone or else it''ll cause a stir. The last thing we need is ending up back in a lab this time with a bunch of crazies that wanna experiment on us, and this time they won''t be killed from a lucky ambush.¡±


    ¡°Yeah that is probably the right choice, I was gonna bring it up with Erica but, I do not know how much I can trust these people, not only that, some of them seem to only be tolerating me being accepted into the village, the last thing I need to do is give away every detail of my currently weakened state.¡±


    ¡°Erica and Katie are trustworthy but, not as of now. They want to help you due to your current situation, when more of our situation comes to light it gets weird but, they are good people all in all. Harvey is the one you need to be wary of, I can''t remember when you will be introduced to him but he is not our fan. I believe tomorrow Erica should be taking you along with the hunters of the village correct?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡±


    ¡°Good! Take advantage of that situation to absorb all the mana you can. Tomorrow should allow you to replenish your mana just enough to avoid being at risk of death giving you the chance to begin manipulating your mana again. Once you have reached that point you have to continue increasing your strength by tagging along on hunts as much as possible. ¡±


    ¡°Is there a reason for the immediate need to recover all our strength?¡±


    ¡°Yes! I can¡¯t tell you everything or else I¡¯ll fuck up the timeline, being in here is already screwing up who knows how much but, be wary of some of the council members.¡±


    ¡°Will do, How are you able to come to this time though? Do we have that ability in our current time?¡±


    ¡°Not yet you have not met the requirements needed to mutate your abilities. So currently you are unable to do what I can, soon you will meet the requirements allowing you to freely manipulate the timeline, but, be warned that this ability I am currently using is a mutation of our ability to implant ourselves in the subconscious of others gaining their memory. A Lot about that ability is unknown to the current you and the Okin of this time has completely misunderstood its capabilities as well as how it works.¡±


    ¡°Then how does it actually work? Also, when will Okin return I have not been able to communicate with him?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you that, giving too much information will destroy the timeline as I mentioned before I can only vaguely describe things with some exceptions to lesser important events. Okin will return after fixing the mana problem since he is a personality separated from ourselves using our mana to be able to actively communicate with us.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense. So what was the main reason you came here?¡±


    ¡°I came due to the urgent need to power ourselves earlier than my current self in approximately one-month the¡­¡­¡±


    Right as my older self-was about to speak about something important his body vanished as I woke up to the cracking of floorboards. Not able to sense the intruder without my mana I focused all my energy on my hearing while I prepare myself to counter-attack. The sound of creaking grew closer¡­ and closer, when the sound reached the head of my bed the creaking ceased, guessing the position and distance based off of the previous sound I open my eyes launching my hand latching onto the wrist of the assailant stopping them from stabbing a dagger into my body. I twist my body kicking the assassin in the stomach launching myself out of the bed onto my feet as I ready myself once again for the next attack.

 Chapter 16 - Hidden Within The Shadows

    The assailant steadied themselves after their failed attempt at taking my life. Failure was obviously not part of the plan and seeing how the assassination attempt has failed, the assassin needed a way to escape which was obvious by the way they looked towards the window in hopes of an easy getaway. They quickly twisted their entire body bursting forwards in an attempt to leave through the window. Noticing the retreat, I knew I had to stop the assailant to figure out who is after me, with this thought on my mind I stomped my foot onto the cold hard floor board launching myself past the assassin as my hand grabs their throat picking them up a few feet off the ground before slamming them on the ground with a loud ¡°BANG¡±.


    Due to the loud sounds during the brief scuffle, Erica barged into the room with a pistol in hand. When Erica entered the room she had a surprised face due to immediately walking into the room with me on top of the assassin using one hand to wrap around their throat while also pinning them down with my legs over their arms stopping the person from having any free rein. When Erica entered sounds of the door banging open and footsteps attracted my attention, having my attention focused elsewhere the assailant opened their mouth spitting out a small thin needle from under their tongue. Barely managing to dodge the needle I put pressure into my wrist and arm choking them until they fell unconscious.


    ¡°Niko, what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°... Apparently, someone seems to be unhappy with my stay here¡­.¡±


    ¡°WHAT! There is no way this would be the doing of our village!¡±


    ¡°Who else knows of my current location? On top of the fact that some of the council were unhappy about my stay, only agreeing out of respect for the chief¡­.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ let¡¯s lock him up, then in the morning we''ll get the council all together to figure this all out.¡±


    ¡°Sure¡­.¡±


    Erica and I tie up the assassin before we escorted them to a jail cell located in the back area of the village, afterwards the two of us went back to Erica¡¯s house retiring once again for the night. Come morning Erica had called for an urgent meeting to discuss the events of the previous night. Once someone was sent to get the prisoner for questioning they were found already dead, last night someone paid our prisoner a visit to keep them silent. Without the prisoner to question the meeting turned quiet but, the tension could be felt. The tense feeling increased when the identity of the prisoner came to light, he was a member of the village, a farmer who was active in the community. In a small village like this, the community is very close knit which caused me to think back to my conversation within my dream from the other night, Harvey must be involved in this, that must be what my older self-meant by ¡°keep an eye out¡±. Instead, I am gonna go one step further, I am gonna kill Harvey before he gets a chance to do anything to me, but, first I gotta figure out which one is Harvey and how I am gonna get to him. I am also curious as to what his plan is and why he is coming after me. Is it just the fact that I come from Ailiven? Or is there another reason as well, my stay in this village so far has been nothing but strange from the way the villagers have treated me all the way to the assassination attempt last night. My older self-said Erica and Katie can be trusted so I have no reason to doubt them but I also need to keep an eye on them since it might give some leads.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    I continued to think about my plan, trying to analyze everyone on the council as well as the guards who attended the meeting making sure no unwanted guests intruded on the meeting. Some of the members on the council were appalled at the actions of the man from last night as where some of the others faked their shock which was obvious to me, maybe it was due to having no emotional attachments to these people being at the point where everyone is a suspect so I am attempting a clear reading without any care. Part of the logical side of me keeps saying to just leave the village, to not even bother with whatever fuckery is going on here, but, something inside of me welcomed the challenge, welcomed any type of conflict. I felt my body flush with excitement the more heated the council''s debate got my cheeks became rosy as sweat beads slowly developed I could feel a wide smile spread across my face, my heart began to race... I was ready, ready to take on the enemies hiding in the shadows coming after my life.


    I guess this is just a part of who I am... I¡¯ll never be able to escape it, ready for confrontation, ready to face endless battle. I wonder if the Niko I met the other night is the same, I wonder if his life consistently revolves around conflicts and he openly welcomes it, I wonder if this is just how we were built... As my mind continued down the rabbit hole further...and further, eventually Erica grabbed my hand looking down at me while asking if I was okay with a worried look on her face. Hearing her voice snapped me back to reality where I stared into her eyes before telling her ¡°I don''t know¡±, the look of worry intensified as she clutched my hand tighter.


    ¡°Niko, I won''t let anything else happen to you, I am not gonna allow the bad things from your past ever affect your future again, nor will I let any new enemies ever harm you! You are your own person no longer bound to Ailiven or the life of a soldier¡±


    Part of me was surprised that she would bring this up¡­ I never knew that I could be viewed this way, to some of the people here I am just a child forced into a life of turmoil, trained into a child soldier. I wonder if those thoughts would change into fear and horror if they knew the truth, the truth that I am not a normal child at all instead, I am a tool created in a lab for the purpose of war so they wouldn''t need to bother with subpar soldiers. Instead, they decided to just create the ideal soldier training them to do as instructed without any emotion.


    Even though I was created this way, part of me feels weird when Erica shows that she cares. Not knowing what the feeling meant I ignored it and instead opened my mouth to talk to Erica but before I could reply to what she said a man barged into the room with a loud ¡°BANG¡± as the door slammed open gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

 Chapter 17 - Hidden Within the Shadows Pt.2

    Once the figure came into my sight I saw a blonde haired middle aged man wearing green cargo pants, with a white tank top. He began to walk towards the table where there was an empty seat, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Erica fly out of her seat slamming her hands on the table.


    ¡°Harvey!, how could you be late to an important meeting? This has to do with the possible security of our village!¡±


    Harvey looked over with a face that spelled out annoyed before rolling his eyes grabbing his seat than sitting himself down.


    ¡°Better hold your tongue little girl!¡±


    Erica was seething with anger it was obvious her and Harvey did not get along, actually, it was already passed the point of not getting along they were like oil and water.


    ¡°I demand that you explain to the rest of us the reason for your tardiness!¡±


    Harvey was going to retort but, could see some of the other members of the council nod their heads in agreement with eagerness to hear an explanation.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Fine then!¡±


    Harvey takes a moment to glance at my direction before continuing with his explanation.


    ¡° I was over at Bellmane Village due to a dealing in some of our village specialty trade goods¡±


    Hearing the explanation seems to have calmed some of the members seated but, Erica still looked as if she had more to say.


    ¡°Oh, what''s wrong Erica something else you would like to bring up?¡±


    Harvey slightly taunted Erica with a slight smirk.


    ¡°I do! Last night Niko here was attacked by someone within the village. He was a farmer who dealt in specialty trade goods for our village who I happen to know is one of your direct subordinates!¡±


    Immediately upon hearing subordinates, I could tell that specialty trade goods was lingo, I had a feeling from the moment I noticed Harvey''s caution while explaining his tardiness. He seemed hesitant and wary of what he was saying, at the same time the idea seemed rehearsed, and everyone understood the meaning, not even bothering to question it. Normally that would be tolerable but, now add into the mix the slip up from Erica about subordinates and immediately my intuition is telling me that there is more to this village than one would think.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    I tried delving deeper into the thought process abruptly drowning out the surrounding until they were inaudible. Drifting off into my own world I started processing all the information I already knew, this village was known as Lunaris they focused on monster subjugations, and farm goods like potatoes. Or so I was told by Erica, and Katie, thinking deeper I remember overhearing the General talking to one of his subordinates about hiring the mercenaries within some of the border villages for an espionage mission.


    I mix the idea of a trained monster subjugation force with an assassin attempt in a village on the border that I overheard had trained mercenaries. I begin to believe this village¡¯s look is just a cover-up. Timber framed houses on the outside made to look plain and simple, the insides still held not only the technology but, also the comfortability of houses found in bigger cities. I am beginning to believe this village was one of the small independent mercenary villages the general had mentioned.


    Harvey''s dealings and work he dealt with in Bellmane must involve the mercenary business, everyone in this village must be involved taking on other jobs around the city as a sort of guise but also a way to self-sustain. It would make sense why they haven''t been taken over by some of the bigger nations, by being strong enough to cause threat they would lose too many resources taking over these neutral territories while also fighting their true enemies. So instead they give them work using their powers for gain. Wait, but, then for what purpose does Harvey have to go to Bellmane? He did not take a large group of people so it could not have been anything related to subjugation¡­. It must have been some type of dealing, if the others were not made aware of it, then the possibility of it being a deal related to personal profit is definitely possible, also gives him a cover for being out of the city allowing him to blame the assassination on lack of loyalty or personal ideals of the individual.


    I was right this man must die! But, how? The warm sensation from earlier came back, this time was even more fierce as I stared daggers into the side of Harvey''s cheeks as my body boiled with excitement from the thought of fighting, the feeling of soft flesh ripping underneath my fist, the sounds of bones breaking accompanied by the smell of fresh blood. I envisioned myself on the fallen body of Harvey and those of his followers¡­. My own melancholy hill. Slowly I began to resubmerge from my own thoughts only to realize my whole body had moved in front of Harvey''s seat crouched on the table staring into his face with a wide smile while leaking bloodlust from my entire person. Everyone had stood from their chairs with a sense of alert and weapons were drawn, Erica who was also on alert had not pulled any weapon, instead, she was calling out my name asking me what was wrong. But, my focused attention derailed any idea of unfocusing the target in front of my eyes. It seems like my body has realized its true purpose for creation knowing by itself what the threat is and what it needs to do.


    Harvey on the other hand still sat in his seat with a serious look, sensing my hostility during my movements he had activated his mana cloak preparing for any confrontation. Without any dialogue, I immediately launch a meia lua de compasso from my crouching position striking nothing but air due to Harvey jumping back out from his chair. Following my missed kick one of Harvey''s peers on my left side ran at me slicing at me with his dagger, I dodge by using the momentum of my missed kick to lead into a spinning handstand where I gain more momentum before dropping onto my back continuing my spinning, rolling my torso in a circular motion with my legs twirling through the air in a V-shape. While spinning I roll onto my shoulders popping myself high into the air landing feet first onto the back part of the dagger-wielding man''s neck with a loud ¡°SNAP¡± killing him. Mana rushed into my body violently rejuvenating my deprived body, apparently the man I just killed was pretty strong managing to restore my mana reserves just enough above the line of safety that was needed to begin using my mana once again.


    Feeling the cold flow of mana rushing through my body I slowly materialize my mana cloak along with my scythe as I turn around in my place once again staring back at Harvey. Using my mana always causes a sense of melancholy due to the attribute of my mana being darkness but, while still standing on the body of one of my fallen foes caused an increase in the urge for my very own melancholy hill.

 Chapter 18 - Finishing What They Started

    The confusion began to settle leaving a wary air and heightened senses as some of the council had mixed feelings about the situation. Some have already been at odds for a long time due to inner power struggles, peace had been held due to one said not being ready to get aggressive, as were the other faction had no acceptable reasons for confrontation. During this moment, Harvey''s faction seemed ready to go all out. They were no longer able to hold in their eagerness towards the plans of taking over the mercenaries along with control of the village.


    ¡°Niko, what are you doing! Why have you attacked Harvey so abruptly?¡±


    ¡°I have deemed Harvey the leading cause for the assassination attempt on my life among other problems, such as the obvious rebellion he was concocting within the shadows¡±


    ¡°we can''t just attack and kill him nor his followers. Keeping order by making them go to trial and properly convicting them is extremely important!¡±


    ¡°This is no longer an issue that needs further investigation, he came after my life, you are either with me or against me at this point in time. Everyone who opposes me within this room will not be leaving alive¡±


    Without paying the others any mind I continued engaging Harvey and his followers. Harvey''s Mana cloak illuminated the still dim room with a warm orange glow reminiscent of a cozy fireplace. Ah, his attribute was fire, attributes have no direct effect on one''s capabilities but, normally reflected one''s personality sometimes even influencing it as well.


    Having a fire attribute leader can be useful because of their calm and well thought out plans, along with being able to properly rally their soldiers, the more grounded and collected they are, the more effective they will be.


    ¡°Niiiikooo! Heya boi! wanna quit thinking useless shit and lemme have some fun? Heh, heh!¡±


    ¡°Wait, Okin, is that you? How are you here? I thought you were gone?¡±


    ¡°Well, I am apart of you separated using our mana as a medium. So of course with the reunion of our mana I am back, duh, you fucktard. Now enough bullshit lemme at em!¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Not wanting to deal with Okin''s overabundance of energy I said fuck it, allowing him to take control. Immediately the merging of my main source of mana with the mana used to separate Okin molded the mana cloak into an exotic more majestic cloak, surrounding my body in darkness causing myself to resemble the grim reaper. I could see shock and horror in the gaze of our watchers as well as fear in the eyes of my foes.


    The change was instantaneous leaving the enemies engaging me vulnerable as I took their moment of weakness to swiftly chop them all to pieces leaving only Harvey himself on his factions side.


    ¡°Hahaha wow Y''all are trash, man, I was kinda hoping for more fun since I don''t get to come out to play much. Well, fucking hell, hey, yo pops, you better do your best to stay alive or else your death will...be...oh, so painful.¡±


    A gaping smile spread across our face as Okin taunted Harvey. From his face I could tell he was intimidated, no longer able to hold himself back, Okin launched a vicious punch directly at Harvey''s face. Harvey put his guard up in anticipation but, right before impact Okin teleported behind him grabbing around his throat lifting him high into the sky before dropping him down slamming his body into the ground.


    Our strength was too abnormal for the average warrior. Harvey had very little chance to counter, let alone defend against the violent attacks of Okin and I. Okin continued his attack on Harvey by hitting him with a ground and pound, relentlessly slamming our mana strengthened fist repeatedly into his face.


    Seeing that Harvey no longer had any fight in him, Okin started the slow and painful death that was promised at the beginning of the fight. Okin Picked up a knife that one of the followers had used, stabbing it into Harvey¡¯s right leg twisting the handle to embed the blade as deep as it would go. Harvey refrained from screaming out in pain while keeping a look of hatred on his face.


    ¡°Hoh, I see. You think by refusing to scream out you have won something? Welp, no worries I accept your challenge. I easily pierce through the reinforcements of your mana cloak, you are too weak to stop me from toying with you as I please, but, I insist, keep trying to hold out as long as you can it would be boring otherwise.¡±


    Harvey¡¯s face twitched in reaction to my words. He knew I was correct, he wouldn''t last too long against continuous stabbing, eventually, he would buckle under the pain. Okin raised the knife in our hand preparing for another go at Harvey¡¯s leg when Erica grabbed our wrist.


    ¡°Erica, sweetheart. What did I mention before, hmm?¡±


    ¡°I am not stopping you to oppose you, I am stopping you because you have already won. If we are gonna torture him which I don''t mind at all, I hate this bastard just as much as the rest, but, I would like to at least get some information out of it. So, at least allow us to ask questions in between the stabbings deal?¡±


    ¡°... Fine, make the questions quick though, I do not have the same self-restraint like Niko has, I just want to see the streets dyed in red.¡±


    Erica paused for a minute looking as if she had some questions to ask. I am guessing it is regarding not only the change in attitude as well as the insatiable bloodlust compared to the good little kid from earlier who did such a good job at holding back until the end, but also to the comment about Niko, which obviously would sound weird to someone not aware of my dual personality situation.


    ¡°I have some questions to ask you later Niko, but for now let''s go ahead and finish this whole situation up.¡±


    Erica moved past the questions she had realized that it would be better saved for later, and instead beckoned Katie to come over. Erica had Katie, and what was left of the council who were either not followers of Harvey, or smart enough not to retaliate clean up the bodies scattered all around the room. Erica, the chief and I moved to the prison along with Harvey for further interrogation.

 Chapter 19 - Dreams of Control

    We made our way to the south side of the village where the jail building was located. Being a small village the jail was rather small, with a dimly lit jailers area used for supervising the prisoner. The jail only included one single cell which consisted of a small floor mattress and toilet sink combo. Entering the building, Erica threw Harvey at the wall in the back of the cell.


    ¡°Alright Harvey, time to tell us all the details behind your collusion with Ayria. We have been trying to uncover your endgame for a while now, we just have not had the evidence to bring it up to the rest of the council, but, due to the current situation, we are now moving past those ideals while we aggressively push towards extracting information from you. I will insist that you give up and just tell us what we need to know.¡±


    ¡°I refu¡­¡±


    Harvey began shouting his refusal before being stopped midway as I stabbed the dagger in my hand hilt deep into his shoulder.


    ¡°AAAAAHHHH!!¡±


    ¡°Fine, Fine!... Stop! I''ll tell you!.¡±


    ¡°Great! First off I want to know what your plan was, for what reason did you go to Bellmane village?¡±


    ¡°Bellmane was supposed to give assistance to me and my faction in our pursuit in taking over the village.¡±


    ¡°But, for what purpose would you want to do that? We have a good thing going here.¡±


    ¡°Because I am tired of being under that passive old man who is content with our current state. I want our village to explore more possibilities, grow, build, compete for our place in this world. Don¡¯t you desire more for our village? Are you not tired of being treated like small fry by those bigger nations without ever fighting back? With the help of Bellmane, I could subdue the rest of the forces residing here taking control by force. Together we would continue to grow in the shadows'' retaliating through stealing supplies and defectors while deflecting the aggro towards the bigger nations who already have conflicts daily. Eventually, we will have the strength to expand into our own independence.¡±


    ¡°The council all have this goal in mind, we have the desire to expand but, we desire to do it together. The council was created so that we have mutual agreements and can discuss the issues at hand while covering multiple different aspects without one sole person making all the decisions. We have seen by watching some of the bigger nations using this way of ruling comes with far too many negatives.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°I tire of the council''s ignorance, and weakness. I have my desires the council has theirs, either way, what is done is done. Speaking of, I would begin preparing for Bellmane village¡¯s assault, by my guess they should only be half a days march away, hahaha!!.¡±


    ¡°What!! How could you endanger the people of this village!¡±


    Erica screamed out at Harvey while turning around dashing for the exit. Okin stares at Harvey for a second before following suit, while the chief stayed behind to further interrogate Harvey.


    Erica ran back to the rest of the council informing them of the information that we had just gathered from Harvey.


    Having heard that Bellmane will be leading an attack on our village in half days time sent everyone into high alert scattering to prepare Intel, weapons, rations, and other supplies. Katie took some of the forces to the edge of the town where they began setting traps, barricades, and scouting the land. Hoping to devise tactics where our forces can not only defend against the enemy but, also counter-attack as well.


    Erica, on the other hand, helped gather the noncombatant villagers, such as the injured, children, and elderly to ready supplies so that they can take cover in basements around the village. Following the scene of the whole village rushing around trying to finish their respective jobs and tasks, what was left of the council once again had a meeting to discuss how they shall navigate the new course of events.


    ¡°Niko, I would prefer to keep you out of the fight but, I feel like this situation is quite an emergency, will you help us protect the village?¡±


    ¡°...mmm, I suppose I am not against the idea of letting loose a tad longer.¡±


    ¡°Okay! Perfect! with the skill you have shown earlier against Harvey and his followers, I am pretty sure your strength will count as a small force in itself.¡±


    Erica showed me a pleasant smile while breathing a small sigh of relief knowing that she had more strength on their side to help combat against what was to come.


    ¡°Alright everyone, we are all aware that Bellmane is a larger village than ours meaning they will outnumber us by quite a bit. We currently have no Intel on how many they will be bringing. we have scouts searching for their forces and will be contacting us via mana to inform us of the details regarding their numbers, among other information. We have barricades set up all around the village with flame towers that will be used to fend off the attackers, also, be wary of traps set up on the outer side of the barricades, we do not want any accidental casualties on our side. Niko and I will be on the frontlines, while Katie will lead you other council members to defend the village. If any attack from our flanks or get past us it will be your jobs to defend the inner parts of the village.¡±


    ¡°BOOM!...BANG!¡±


    During Erica''s breakdown of the strategy, there is an explosion that sounded like it came from nearby, immediately following the explosion was the bang of the door being busted wide open.


    ¡°Chief!! Bellmane has sent an airship and is currently bombing the village!¡±


    ¡°WHAT! Everyone gather your equipment! we must defend against that airship!¡±


    ¡°But..but how? How are we supposed to take on something that is in the sky? our village does not have any airships, we are but simple mercenaries specialized in ground combat.¡±


    Everyone''s face was filled with horror as they did not expect Bellmane to be capable of having an airship. Seconds later the airship grew closer dawning the flag of the Nation of Ayria. It looks like Harvey was in alliance with more than just Bellmane village, for what reason would Ayria have for working together with Bellmane and Harvey to take control of this village? what was their endgame?


    While everyone was scattered around the village trying to find ways to handle the damage caused by the airship, a loud clunking could be heard from above. Looking up I could see something quickly speeding towards the ground¡­ it was a bomb, that was hurling itself straight towards the earth, beneath it stood a crying little girl holding a teddy bear as she was crying for her mother. The onlookers all gasped holding their breaths as they stood by in despair as the bomb came down on top of the child.

 Chapter 20 - Invasion

    BOOOM!... The bomb exploded engulfing the entire area in a thick cloud of smoke. The gasps of the surrounding onlookers could be heard, they were anxious as they waited for the smoke to clear hoping for a miracle, one where the child somehow managed to survive. Seconds later the smoke and dust began clearing showing the faint outlining of a person.


    Kneeling with a young child wrapped within his arm as he held his other arm in the air with a worn down broken shield created out of mana. Upon seeing the bomb closing in on the child, Niko darted to the young girl creating a shield made out of his mana to protect the girl as well as himself. His mana is still not as strong as it was before his accident so the shield only barely managed to hold out long enough to stop the majority of the blast.


    Due to not having the strength he used to have, his whole arm was burnt and bleeding. Sighs of relief accompanied by some slight sobbing could be heard from the surroundings. The small group of villagers that had been holding their breaths looked at Niko, eyes filled with admiration and respect, they appreciated his sacrifice even though he had not been in the village long. They were also well aware of the fact that Harvey attempted to kill him. Niko carried the child over to the group of bystanders stopping in front of a woman who had darted out from the crowd crying with her arms stretched out ready to accept the child Niko had in his arms.


    Niko Stole a quick glance towards the mother and daughter before focusing his eyes once again at the crowd. The crowd was giving thanks but, since Okin was still in control he saw it more as an annoyance especially with the current situation at hand, Okin raised his burnt hand pointing towards a building that a group of villagers was taking refuge within.


    ¡°Hey, idiots! Go follow behind the rest of the villagers and find somewhere safe to hide or else you will all end up getting in the way¡­¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Seeing Okins annoyed face the group was once again brought back to reality remembering the current situation they were in, as they all began running to find a safe place. Watching them running towards the building I looked at my surroundings, gauging the situation of the surrounding areas. I saw the majority of the village soldiers still busily moving from place to place as they attempt to clean up some of the damage caused by the airship while still trying to finish the defenses for the incoming enemy forces.


    The village had no way of handling the airship that was flying above us wreaking havoc from the skies. Not wanting to give the airship enough time to reload its missiles I decided to stop one of the soldiers nearby having them guide me to a supply of swords and rope. Being pointed in the direction of a location nearby holding supplies for the soldiers, I took a dagger along with a long piece of rope wrapping around my left shoulder. I ran to the location the airship was slowly flying near and began tying the dagger to the handle of the dagger as tight as I could, when I felt that the knot would hold I held it in my hand like a dart wrapping my arm along with the dagger in my mana, then with all my strength cocked back my arm throwing it in the direction of the airship. Airships used for basic military operations were a lot smaller than the ships used in main fleets or for example the ships of Ailiven, which are also used as living environments and sometimes also have entire ecosystems, and cities built within. Due to this fact, I would not be able to effectively mount the aircraft on the outside but, should be able to use my mana to keep grip long enough to find a way in. while having that thought the dagger had finally hit the side of the ship lodging itself into the metal of the airship, thus I began my climb to the top. Managing to arrive at the side of the airship I let my mana flow using it to grip the side, making the rest of the climb to the top of the ship.


    Peeking my head over the side to look at the situation on the top of the airship I managed to find a small walkable path that led to a door leading into the airship. I approached the door, without wasting any time I flow my mana into my legs giving the door a nice forward kick breaking the door, ripping it from the hinges sending it flying to the back of the room. Apparently, there was a guard getting ready to come outside for some scouting but instead was launched along with the door dying instantly as he hit the wall. The man was embedded in the wall squeezed between the huge metal door and the wall. Immediately upon bursting into the airship, the crew jumped into high alert sounding off the alarm in an attempt to figure out what was happening. I quickly took a look around stopping my eyes on a ladder leading down to the main parts of the ship. Immediately upon turning around, enemy soldiers came around the corner. Noticing my existence they began running at me full force.